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diff --git a/79241-0.txt b/79241-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f2d049f --- /dev/null +++ b/79241-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13794 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79241 *** +THE CHRONICLES OF BREAK O'DAY +BY +E. EVERETT HOWE + + +BOSTON +ARENA PUBLISHING COMPANY +Copley Square +1894 + + + +Copyrighted 1893 +BY +E. EVERETT HOWE +All rights reserved. + + +Arena Press. + + +DEDICATION. + +My readers who are familiar with the traditions preserved in this +history know one woman who is beloved by rich and poor, a comforter +of the afflicted, a friend of the friendless, a mother of the +motherless, in prosperity without arrogance, in sorrow without +complaint. To Mrs. Fidelia Gibbins, whose character suggested the +Mrs. Boyle of my story, this volume is respectfully dedicated. + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER + I. A Rural Philosopher + II. The New Jerusalem + III. A Glimpse of Farm Service + IV. A Cirrus becomes a Nimbus + V. Ramoth Gilead Predicted + VI. The Guerrero Mining Company + VII. Montcalm takes a Night's Ramble + VIII. Pursuing the Depredators + IX. How the Affair Ended + X. Two Kinds of Bud Blossom + XI. The Root of an Evil + XII. The Well with a Barrel Curb + XIII. A Daniel come to Judgment + XIV. Montcalm finds Dante inaccurate + XV. Ivanhoe Criticised by a Master + XVI. Mrs. Boyle's House + XVII. What Happened in the Swamp + XVIII. Break O'Day + XIX. The Village has a Sensation + XX. A Good Samaritan + XXI. Controversy and Reminiscence + XXII. Action is Equal to Reaction + XXIII. One Hour of Bliss + XXIV. A Beethoven and a Gibbon in one + XXV. Durgenson Demands his Money + XXVI. Ramoth Gilead + XXVII. Ruin + XXVIII. John hears an Account of his Adventure + XXIX. Among the Invalids + XXX. The Beginning of Mystery + XXXI. Awakening + XXXII. Liber Sextus + XXXIII. The House Divided against Itself + XXXIV. Verdure rising from the Ashes + XXXV. Stray Locals + XXXVI. In the Orchard Again + + +CHAPTER I. +A RURAL PHILOSOPHER. + +For a territory containing no high mountain system, Michigan has a +varied geography. In contrast to the sterile hills and grand, +pictured rocks of the northern peninsula, the productive farms in the +southern part of the state form an area of fertility unbroken save by +a few patches of sand and some irregular strips of swamp. The largest +and most remarkable of these swamps passes from north to south +through Ingham and Jackson counties, extending beyond the borders of +Shiawassee and Lenawee. + +This marshy territory is covered by a motley growth of willows, +huckleberries, spruce, tamaracks and a few pines, in places so thin +as to afford no inconvenience to a footman, in other places so thick +as to be almost inaccessible. Horse-thieves, escaped convicts, and +deserters from the army, have successively sought its seclusion; and +never has the asylum betrayed the confidence of one who trusted in +its hospitality. + +On the western side of the swampy belt lay a farm, which, according +to the census of 1870, shared, with but four others in the State, the +distinction of containing one thousand acres. + +The owner of this piece of property for many years was Major Ratke, +an officer of the Mexican war. He was ambitious of acquiring +distinction as a philosopher, both in his neighborhood and throughout +the world. He was especially desirous of becoming famous as a great +inventor, and to this end he had constructed a large quantity of +strange machinery. In his inventions he aimed at novelty, and so well +did he succeed in this respect that even his bitterest enemies never +accused him of a lack of originality. + +One March morning in 187--, the major was in the sitting-room of his +gothic house working at an abstruse problem in mathematical +philosophy, of which he was excessively fond. It was hard, however, +for him to give it his undivided attention. Troubles had been +gathering about his domain. A mortgage on his estate had been +foreclosed, and his hired help, never famed for efficient service, +now shirked duty with even more than their usual faithlessness. His +widowed sister, Mrs. Grippin, a more acute and vigilant overseer than +he, had from the chamber window repeatedly viewed through a telescope +the delinquency of two men who were cutting wood on a back lot. Her +vehement arraignment did not induce the major to take action upon the +matter, till an event occurred which he considered an insult to his +dignity as a master. He had sent them to the woods with an ax and an +invention of his own, which he termed a "one-man saw," but which his +men called, from the labor of running it, the "six-man saw." + +Next to the "one-man saw" the ax was the tool most shunned about the +farm. Accordingly, as soon as they thought themselves out of sight, +the indignant laborers took a half-day's vacation to get some tobacco +at the village of Break o'Day, which circumstance procured their +immediate discharge. + +The major had thought it an easy thing to supply their places. His +surmise, however, was incorrect. Of the first three visitors who +called at his residence after he put up the sign, "Wanted, two hired +men," one was a lightning-rod man, one was a book agent, and the +other a tramp, who hired out before breakfast, and after the meal +declared that it was cold weather to work and that he would come +around to begin when it got warmer. + +Notwithstanding the foreclosure of the mortgage the major was +planning sundry improvements on his place. A hill and a quagmire +opposite to the house were eyesores to his vanity, and he determined +to transfer the superfluous gravel of the one to the boggy surface of +the other. His first step was nicely to calculate the expense of the +undertaking, the only prudence of which he was capable, for expense +never stood in the way of his projects. When he had finished a survey +of the hill, he applied his mathematics to ascertain its cubical +contents, using a confusion of geometrical and surveying terms to +which Mrs. Grippin, though protesting, was obliged to listen. + +But, as he proceeded in his work, he determined to originate a new +method for ascertaining the dimensions of solid bodies; and his +inventive instinct prevailed to such an extent that it became greater +than his desire to improve his farm. + +He declared that he would invent a system of mathematics which should +be the basis of calculation for succeeding ages. He formed a small +earthen mound to represent as nearly as possible the shape of the +hill. He determined to ascertain the weight of the hill by the rule, +"Similar bodies are to each other as the cubes of their like +dimensions." + +As he was giving the miniature mountain a final pat to impart +additional depth to a depression on its side, his sister interrupted +his study. + +"James, there's a man coming." + +"Strong hand, is he?" asked the major, drawing his finger carefully +down the mound. + +"Go and look for yourself," retorted Mrs. Grippin tartly. "I ain't +going to wait on you and let you fool with that pile of dirt." + +"He is as faithful as the day is long," said the major, going to the +window. "I can tell by his gait. See how steadily he walks. He would +work at a good jog chopping and keep it up all day. He would cut, let +me see, a quarter of a cord an hour. Eight hours a day. That would be +two cords." + +"I'll bet he's the biggest shirk in four counties," commented Mrs. +Grippin sarcastically. "Anybody can tell all about a man by taking +him for just the opposite of what you say he is." + +Two nieces of Mrs. Grippin and the major now entered from the parlor. +The one in advance, Nora Warfle, was fair and vivacious, with eyes +over which solemnity rarely drew a curtain thick enough to hide the +merriment slumbering within. + +She was ever on the alert for the ridiculous and the mirthful, and in +her efforts at diversion she was not always scrupulous about wounding +the feelings of others. + +Her companion, Marion Ratke, who resided permanently at the farm, was +a true representative of her father's family. Her height was medium, +her form symmetrical, and her hair dark brown. She was somewhat +handsome, though she was too intelligent to be really a beauty. + +"Here comes a peddler, Manie," whispered Miss Warfle excitedly. +"Let's buy something of him and beat him down on everything he +sells." + +The man had drawn an attention altogether out of proportion to the +impressiveness of his personal appearance. A common observer would at +once have decided that he had long followed the occupation of +peddling. He was of ordinary size and wore ordinary clothes. Strapped +together and hanging, one before his breast and one over his back, +were two large satchels. They seemed to have crowded down his neck +and pushed out his chin until his shoulders were rounded almost to +deformity. + +The first characteristic act which he performed after passing through +the door was to anticipate the offer of a chair by placing himself in +one by the fire, as if he had done the same thing in the same place a +thousand times before. + +"I suppose you've heard the news?" he said, with the air of one who +holds a secret and who feels his power. + +"I have heard a great many items of news this winter," answered the +major. + +"Yes, but the news--the late news. You ain't heard about the +horse-thieves?" + +"Horse-thieves?" echoed Miss Warfle. "Are they around again? Uncle +James, you want to lock your barn or they'll be stealing Taylor." + +"Yes," continued the man, "they've been at it again. This time they +called on, what's his name?--this man that raises horses over here. +Queer I can't think." + +"Sparks," suggested the major. "Lyman Sparks has the best horses of +any man in Jefferson township." + +"No, that ain't his name," answered the man, "it's Holmes. That's it, +Holmes." + +"Oh," said the major. "The best horse Holmes has will not bring more +than $300. Sparks has one for which he has been offered $600--Madge +T., a very good blooded animal. He thinks she can outstep my Taylor. +He did pass me once, but he would not if Taylor had hung to the +trot." + +"No wonder he breaks up," put in his sister, "the way you train him. +Do you know how he does, Nora? He trains his team to run. He'll make +them stand stock still still he yells 'Charge,' and if they don't +jump the first thing, he thrashes them. Then the next day he'll take +Taylor out to trot." + +"Mrs. Grippin!" said the major, his voice sounding an octave below +his usual speaking key. + +"Maybe you can get this gentleman to work, Uncle James," said Miss +Ratke, wishing to put an end to the unpleasant controversy. + +"Well now, like enough," answered the major. "Do you want a job?" + +"I've got one now," said the man, drawing a bottle from one of his +satchels. + +"I'm going to do humanity all the good I can, sir, all the good I +can. I am agent for the Great American Panacea. This medicine is +compounded of pine, hemlock, tamarack, cedar and spruce, besides +sovereign roots and herbs known to the medical fraternity. It cures +cuts, bruises, sprains, wounds, incisions, hurts, proud flesh--" + +"What did you say your panicky is made of?" interrupted the +fair-haired Miss Warfle. + +"Panacea, Miss, panacea," corrected the peddler. "It cures cuts, +bruises, sprains, wounds, incisions and all injuries to the flesh. It +is also a sovereign remedy for asthma, bronchitis, tonsilitis, +laryngitis and all throat diseases, besides being an excellent tonic +for consumption, dyspepsia----" + +"What is your panicky worth a bottle?" innocently asked Miss Warfle. + +"Panacea, Miss, panacea," again corrected the medicine man. "Panicky +is in a battle where the men get in a tight place with the rebels +coming right onto 'em so they have to run, you know. Then when they +get whipped and can't fight any more, they have what they call a +panic, you know, or, as you might say, they get panicky. But this is +a different thing altogether. Better take a bottle. Mister. It is a +sovereign remedy for asthma, bronchitis, tonsilitis, laryngitis----" + +"I would like a good liniment for bruises," said the major, "but it +is impossible for one remedy to cure so many diseases. If it is +prepared for everything, it is pretty sure to cure nothing." + +"I ain't so sure about the consumption and the throat diseases," said +the agent reflectively. "I thought it would be good for them on +account of its healing properties, but it's sure business for +bruises." + +"Have you a good salve?" asked the major. + +"That's just what I've got," responded the man with alacrity, +"Derrick's Dough of Life." "There's Bill Higgins had a colt that got +his leg cut on a scythe. Laid it right open so the hide was left in +flaps. Bill says to me, 'Say, Dabney, what'll cure that cut?' and +says I, 'I've got the very thing for that.' Well, he put on the Dough +of Life. In two weeks the colt was capering round to beat all. He got +into the corn, knocked over a fence, chased the cattle and sheep, and +killed two lambs and kicked the hired man on the leg. And I don't +know what the hired man would have done if it hadn't been for the +panacea." + +When the agent had sold a box of the salve he moved toward the +back-door and said, "I guess I'll go down and try your men. Maybe +some of them'll want to buy." + +"You better wait till noon," said Mrs. Grippin. "Then the men won't +have to stop work." + +"They never mind that," said the agent. "They was always real good +about stopping whenever I come around." + +"Of course they'd be willing to stop and gab with him," commented +Mrs. Grippin, looking after the retreating agent. "James Ratke, if +you had the gumption of a man, you'd kick such loafers off the farm +when they come palavering round with an excuse for your lazy hired +men to stop work." + +"How did he know I had so many hired men?" asked the major. + +"How did he know?" repeated his sister. "Ain't he been here half a +dozen times before? He comes about every six months, and a nuisance +he is, too. Ain't you heard them tell about old Panicky? You're the +only man in the country that don't know him." + +"Oh, yes," said the major, "I do have some recollection of him; but I +was away from home when he made his last two or three visits." + +"In the name of mercy," exclaimed Mrs. Grippin, "if there ain't +another lightning-rod man." + +The young man coming up the walk might have been twenty-eight. The +preceding speculation concerning his profession seemed correct, for +nothing about him indicated acquaintance with farm labor. His elegant +form, his dark hair and eyes and a heavy brown mustache combined with +an air of easy grace to make him one of those so rarely met with whom +any apparel becomes. Yet, as is usually the case with such +individuals, he bestowed more care on his personal appearance than he +would have bestowed had nature made such attention more necessary. + +The stranger with few preliminaries made an application for work. To +this proposal Ratke did not immediately reply. He gave his own name +and requested the young man to do likewise. + +"My name is Montcalm," said the stranger, with a smile which at once +won the major's heart. + +"Montcalm," exclaimed the major; "that is the name of one of my +comrades in the army." + +"My father held the rank of captain in the Mexican war," said +Montcalm. "I am the heir to his given name, which was Traceworth." + +Instantly the major was shaking him by the hand. "Is he alive? Is he +well? Where does he live?" were his ejaculations. + +"He died fifteen years ago," answered Montcalm, "at his home in +Cortland, New York." + +"He was a noble fellow," said the major, "and his sword was one of +the best in the brigade. General Taylor, in his official report, made +special mention of him for bravery in the battle of Resaca de la +Palma. I was by his side during the engagement, and I, like the rest +of the men, noticed his impetuosity, though I had little time to +watch my comrades. It always seemed as if he ought to have been +promoted, but justice is not in every case meted out in this world. +Did you ever hear him speak of me?" + +"I have heard him mention his comrades in the army, but I have +forgotten their names," answered Montcalm. "I was young when he +died." + +"We first got acquainted in the Black-Hawk war," said the old man. +"He was generally good-natured, but he had a terrible temper and was +very set in his way. I have suspected that that was one thing which +kept him from rising in the service. One night on Wisconsin River, +after we had been chasing Black-Hawk all day, the mosquitos were very +thick. Some of the boys rolled and tumbled and some swore. As I was +exposing first one part of my face and then another, to see if there +was not some place the pests had less relish for, I heard a threshing +so regular that I knew whoever was making it meant to push +hostilities to the last, and when I looked, I saw Trace sitting up +and striking as deliberately as he would plan a compaign. But it was +a wicked vindictiveness, and when the lieutenant laughed at him, he +wanted to fight. + +"His set ways came near getting him into trouble once. It was at the +last battle in the Wisconsin territory. The Indians had been beaten +and were swimming across a slough, bucks, pappooses and squaws all +splashing around together. We had orders to fire on them from the +bank. + +"Trace told me he thought it was a hard sight, and he would fire, but +he would take care the bullets did not hit anybody. Most of the +Indians were shot down before they got across. One old buck turned +back to help a squaw, probably his own, to get her pappoose to shore. +Trace and I wanted to have that old fellow get clear; but I while we +were congratulating ourselves that he stood a little chance, Ben +Rogers, right close by, drew a careful bead on him. Now, Ben was the +best shot in the regiment, and my heart went down in my boot-heels, +but Trace jostled him just as he fired. Well, Ben was mad. He +threatened to report, and if he had. Trace might have got +court-martialed, but he never did. Trace's jostling did no good, +however. The old buck fell, going over the bluff on the other side. +How long before dinner, Maria?" + +"About three-quarters of an hour," answered Mrs. Grippin with +unaccustomed good-nature. "I'll ring the bell when it's time, and I +ought to have a load of wood, James." + +"All right," responded the major. "Show Trace his room. I must call +you Trace on your father's account, for it is a luxury to address his +son as I did him. We will make no bargain till after dinner." + +After bringing in the wood, Ratke waited a few minutes for Montcalm's +appearance. At the end of that period Montcalm came from the bedroom, +wearing a suit of plain clothes and a pair of stoga boots. Even this +dress did not give him the air of a farmer, which he had evidently +sought to assume. His hands, soft and white, indicated that he was +unacquainted with muscular toil; and his whole aspect and demeanor, +in ways not easily described, pointed to the same conclusion. There +was in his address something which was peculiarly winning, and which +would have fascinated Ratke without the assistance of the veteran's +friendship for his old comrade. + +"Why, you have made a farmer of yourself," said the major. "No, you +have only tried to. Well, suppose we look around a little before +dinner. Go to work now? No, sir, not a stroke do you do till one +o'clock;" and, leading the way, the master of the domain passed out +to a survey of the farm; but Mrs. Grippin called him back to take +from her table the pile of dirt intended as the basis of his +mathematical calculations. + + +CHAPTER II. +THE NEW JERUSALEM. + +Montcalm observed that part of the estate which was open to his view. +The white wrap of winter was nearly worn out, but here and there +islands and peninsulas of snow glimmered in isolated stations from +the somberer areas of lately uncovered earth, or stretched away in +varying and grotesquely formed curves to join the more protected +strips along the fences. The cultivated land on that side of the road +was enclosed in semicircular shape, and a strip of timber extended +from the swamp to a point northwest of the house, as if starting out +to cut the improvements in twain, and afterward repenting of its +design. At the western end it terminated in a patch of shrubs over +which could be seen the tops of the statelier trees beyond. To the +east the hardwood timber, mostly of oak, skirted, till it nearly +reached the road, along the marsh which bordered the great swamp. The +only signs of vegetable life which were visible to Montcalm were in +the spruce and pine, which could be distinguished from the tamaracks +by their evergreen branches. + +With the major discoursing volubly as they went along, the two men +passed to the barns. These were three in number. The largest, +ornamented on the top with three cupolas and a prancing horse, was +the center from the extremities of which branched the others, nearly +forming a yard, which was completed by a connecting fence. + +A discourse, which his biographer has not taken the trouble to find, +was given by the major on the character and phrenology of each beast: +on the horse which would threaten but never kick, on the one which +would kick but never threaten, on the cow which would jump from good +to poor pasture for the mere satisfaction of being unruly, and on +several others which would jump from poor to good pasture for obvious +reasons. + +"Here is the finest animal I have," said the major, laying his hand +on the hip of a horse with a long foretop and a fine head and ears. +"Zachary Taylor, probably the best blooded horse in the county. +Taylor went in two fifty-nine when he was four, just previous to his +purchase by me. He ought to beat that by twenty seconds now, but I +have let Maria and Manie drive him. Next summer nobody except myself +shall hold a rein over him. Taylor, old boy, you want an ear of corn? +You have not seen my machine shop," said the animated old man, +opening the door of a building at the west end of the group of barns. +"Are you interested in machinery?" + +"I have an interest in progress," answered Montcalm, "but little +knowledge of mechanics." + +A practical machinist would have had much difficulty in classifying +the various specimens of constructive talent hanging on the walls and +strewn in chaos about the floor. Old reapers, clocks, fanning mills +and threshing machines had been dissected to furnish material for +wild inventive schemes, more than half of which had been left +unfinished. A strange looking wagon had in an unusual degree the +merit of originality. Each wheel, six feet high, revolved on a peg +set between two upright posts. These posts were connected at the top +so that the vehicle had no axle-tree. Two boxes suspended from the +posts, and about two and one half feet in height, were joined +together by an attachment underneath. + +"A revolution in road vehicles is coming," began the major. "The days +of hard pulling and breaking horses' legs by blows from the tongue +are almost over. You can see at once that this wagon must have a +light draught. The attachment of the tongue down low lessens the +rolling friction on the ground, and the six-foot wheel does a great +deal to lessen the sliding friction on the axle. Let me make that +plain. The passage of the wheel along the ground is called friction, +but I question its right to the definition. One molecule is planted +on the ground and rests there until another takes its place, when it +rises and a second particle becomes the pivotal point, to be +succeeded by the third, fourth and so on. The only friction then is +in the adhesion of the surfaces as the upper one is planted down and +removed; a great difference, you observe, from that which comes from +passing parallel with the surface of a body. But that at the point of +the revolutionary pivot is different. Here the wheel is continually +scraping over the axle, a resistance which it requires much more +force to overcome. A six-foot wheel revolves every--let me see--every +six multiplied by three and one thousand and four hundred and sixteen +ten-thousandths," and the major began to figure on the wall, "every +time it goes eighteen and eight thousand four hundred and ninety-six +ten-thousandth's feet. A four-and-one-half-foot wheel revolves, I'll +tell you in a moment--every time it goes fourteen and one thousand +three hundred and seventy-two ten-thousandth's feet. The smaller +wheels, having a swifter movement at the pivot, occasion a greater +amount of friction." + +Montcalm, though tortured by the tedious harangue, practiced his well +learned art of flattery by attention, and tipped his head on one side +with an air of gravest concern. + +"If I had it in shape," pursued the major, "we would hitch on and try +it, but it is not ironed yet, and it has cost me too much labor to +use it up recklessly." + +Montcalm hastened to protest against the sacrifice to his curiosity +of an invention which had cost so much labor of hand and brain. He +was anxious, very anxious, to see the wagon tested, but he begged the +major on no account to subject it to a trial until it was properly +ironed and fitted for running. + +"I'll tell you what we can do," suggested the major. "Get in and let +me draw you, and we will try its draught." + +To this proposal Montcalm objected, but he volunteered to act as +horse while the major rode. Accordingly the inventor seated himself +in the product of his genius, which Montcalm drew back and forth, +praising the lightness of its draught and suppressing the grunts +whose utterance would have belied his statement. + +When Montcalm's energy began to flag, the major inquired, "You do not +know the name of the wagon, do you, Trace?" + +"No, I was wondering about that," answered Montcalm; "it seems to me +an ancient name would be proper, some kind of chariot,--Pharaoh's +chariot for instance." + +"No," said the major, shaking his head and clambering from the +vehicle, "I call it the New Jerusalem." + +"What induced you to call it that?" asked Montcalm. "Was it the +splendor of the ornaments you mean to put on or some reason which I +do not comprehend?" + +"Well," answered the major, purposely keeping his auditor in +suspense, "it is a long history. Some years ago there was, over +across the swamp, an old man by the name of Barrow, an out-and-out +Adventist. He said the world was coming to an end before long. He +could not tell exactly when, but it could not be longer than '69, and +he could prove it by the prophecies in fourteen different ways. He +used to go up and down the road to Break o'Day, and to the neighbors' +houses, without a hat, always with the same strain, 'Babylon is +fallen, is fallen.' A quarter of the topers and loafers who hung +around Rorus's drug-store were scared into leaving off an occasional +spree, and the other three-quarters had some fun repeating his +prophecies about the restoration of the Jews. One day he came +bareheaded out to the barn, where my men and I were looking over the +old wagon, the first one I invented, and he began: + +"'The world's going to burn--going to burn up, I tell you. The time +of the Gentiles is fulfilled. Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen' +(the old man always talked fast), 'and is become the habitation of +devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every +unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of +the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have +committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are +waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. Come out of her, +my people. The Jews are to be gathered to Jerusalem. + +"'When will the great day come? "For the day of vengeance is in mine +heart and the year of my redeemed is come. + +"'"From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and +the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a +thousand two hundred and ninety days." + +'"'That which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and +that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that +which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten.' + +'"'We've had the caterpillar and the grasshopper and the potato-bug +and the weevil. Describes it exactly. + +'"'And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in +the sight of all that passed by.' + +"'Jerusalem has been so they couldn't raise a thing there, not a +thing, and now they're raising wheat. Wheat in Jerusalem! They sent a +thrashing machine there last year. + +"'We've got to turn in with the Jews and go to Jerusalem. Never mind +your wagon, Ratke. You better make a Jerusalem wagon.' + +"Well, the idea struck my men so forcibly that they dubbed it the +Jerusalem wagon, and the name always stuck by it. I like it well +enough myself, and so after I made the second one, to distinguish +between them, I called it the New Jerusalem." + +It is as yet an unsolved problem how long the old man would have +continued the recital of these reminiscences had he not been +interrupted by a strange clamor from near the house. The noise seemed +to be produced by the strokes of some metallic object against a steel +plate, which had a resonance sufficient to make the sound continuous. + +"Dinner!" exclaimed the major. + +As the men left the machine shop, the cause of the commotion was +apparent to Montcalm. Mrs. Grippin, with the energy characteristic of +all her actions, was using a two-foot iron bar to belabor a long +upright saw suspended from an apple-tree, and that superannuated +piece of machinery was protesting against the punishment with the +most doleful lamentations. + +"You have not expressed your opinion of my bell. Trace," said the +major. + +"It has a very powerful voice," commented Montcalm. + +"Make an estimate of the cost of that bell," said the major. + +"Ten dollars," suggested Montcalm. + +"No." + +"Twenty-five dollars." + +"No." + +"I give it up," said Montcalm. + +"I calculate that that bell cost me about ten thousand dollars," said +the major, watching his companion to note the effect of his words. + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Montcalm, manifesting the proper amount of +surprise. "How is that?" + +"That is the old upright saw which used to be in McGraw's mill," said +the major. "I got it for one dollar, and, in less than a month, I had +the plan for a drag-saw for small logs that was ahead of any +invention which had been projected up to that date, for it was to +take only two horses. One day, about noon, I heard a hubbub loud +enough to wake the nations, and when I got where it was, I found +Maria pounding the edge of that saw just as she is doing now. See how +viciously she strikes, as if she were bent on destroying the last +vestige of its usefulness. She had banged the teeth so much that +using it afterwards was wholly put of the question. I always +suspected that she did it on purpose to defeat my plan. And she did. +I turned my attention to the old Jerusalem, and before I did anything +more with the saw, a Wisconsin lumberman had the start of me. If all +people were like her, this would be an unprogressive world." + +On entering the house, the veteran found awaiting him a visitor, whom +Mrs. Grippin introduced as follows: + +"James, here is a man that wants work." + +The major made mental observations on the capacity of the new-comer +for labor. + +The young fellow, who was not more than twenty-two years old, gave +his name as John Wrengell. His stature was above the common height, +but his form was not Stocky. He had Saxon blue eyes, light brown hair +and the sensitive nature which accompanies the nervous temperament. +The evidence of a strong character was visible in his well-shaped +head, his expressive countenance and his intelligent, though +embarrassed speech. + +The introduction to the ladies exhibited a vast difference between +Montcalm and Wrengell. Montcalm bowed with a courtesy which was at +once easy and pleasing. + +Wrengell blushed, mispronounced one name, half mumbled the other, and +in sitting down overturned with a backward sweep of his arm the heap +of dirt so much doted on by the major. + +Miss Warfle with much difficulty repressed her mirth, and the old +officer with still more trouble kept back his irritation from open +expression. + +"There, James," exclaimed Mrs. Grippin, who arrived on the scene just +in time to see the sand and gravel scattered over the floor. "There, +I told you you'd have that thing tipped over. Can't you bring in dirt +enough on your boots without lugging it in in a heap to make me sweep +up?" + +"I thought," responded the major, "that my model hill would keep its +line of direction within its base, and that its cohesion would not be +acted upon by external forces sufficiently to destroy it. My clay +mound stayed here two weeks, and it constantly maintained a +preponderance of attractive over repulsive forces, but clay possesses +more viscosity than sand." + +"Viscosity," repeated Mrs. Grippin in disgust. "Now you've got on one +of your high-sounding strains. Can't you talk so anybody can +understand you? Who ever heard of viscosity?" + +"It is a mortifying fact," said the major, putting a degree of +solemnity into his voice, "that I have a sister who does not know the +meaning of viscosity. It is derived from the Latin viscum. Viscum, +viscositas; French, viscosite; Provencal, viscositat; Spanish, +viscosidad; Portuguese, vis----" + +"'What do we care about your viscos and viscovuses?" retorted Mrs. +Grippin. "When you talk common English, folks give you credit for +some sense, but when you try to show off so smart, everybody is +disgusted with you." + +The approach of the hired men was now heralded by the confused hum of +voices, varied now and then by a boisterous laugh. When they had +taken their turns at the wash-dishes, the towel and the +looking-glass, they passed to the dining-room. + + +CHAPTER III. +A GLIMPSE OF FARM SERVICE. + +The farmhouse had been built in the days of Ratke's prosperity. It +was gothic in design and had three principal rooms--the sitting-room, +the dining-room and the parlor. + +On the northern side, and extending to the kitchen at the eastern +extremity of the dwelling, was a tier of bedrooms and closets. Not +satisfied with the half-dozen sleeping apartments in the row alluded +to and several more in the chamber, the major had provided for the +construction, on the side facing the street, of two more bedrooms +which, jutting inwardly, formed a narrow hall between the +sitting-room and the parlor. + +The main divisions of the house were inappropriately named, or, at +least, not named according to the uses to which they were put. The +dining-room served much as a sitting-room, the sitting-room on +account of its superior warmth was used in cold weather as a +dining-room, and the parlor, which contained the organ and the +library in four bookcases, was almost daily used by the family. It is +true that this subversion of common usage was much censured by Mrs. +Grippin, but there were, as we have seen, on this estate and in this +household, certain evils which even she was powerless to remedy. + +There were seated around the extension table thirteen persons, the +resident family of four, six hired men, two prospective ones, and the +agent, who was called Panicky, and whom the major had easily +persuaded to stay to dinner. + +"Major," said a fellow whose name was Brown, "how is it when you're +shooting birds on the wing? Do you want to aim straight at 'em or a +little ahead?" + +"A little ahead, to be sure," replied Ratke, and, laying down his +knife and fork, he gave a discourse of five minutes on the principles +of absolute and relative motion. + +"There, Wingscheut," exclaimed Brown, "the reason you didn't hit the +quail was because you aimed straight at her." + +"Tat ain't te reason at all," answered a tall German with dark hair +and a fringe of whiskers running underneath his chin. "I aim't chust +as you tolt me an' tat's te reason I titn't hit 'im." + +"Will," asked the major, "did you take good care of Taylor?" + +"I fed him and curried him off," replied Archer, the man whom Ratke +addressed. + +"Yes," said the German, in the loud tone he had previously used, +"unt, if it hatn't a peen for me, you vootn't a hat no Taylor." + +"How is that, Wingscheut?" queried the major. + +"Vell, you see," began Wingscheut, "las' night I vass sleepin' in te +clup-house. Unt, chust apout tvelf o'clock, I heert te parn toor co +skveak. Vell, I know provitin' te toor co skveak, somepoty pe tere. +Vell, I sit up. Unt I co out py te tool-house. Ven te toor stop, I +stop. Vell, ven te toor co skveak, I co on. Pimepy te toor go skveak +acin, unt two tam horse-tiefs, tey come out vith Taylor. Unt tey vass +pic fellers, piccern ole Chon Tafis. + +"Vell, ten I come out from te tool-house. Unt I catched poth of 'em +hiplock, von on von hip unt von on te otter. Unt I trowet 'em. Unt I +pountet 'em till tey hat te sorest faces. Provitin' you hatn't a peen +asleep so sount as you couldn't vake, you voot a heert 'em yell." + +"Why didn't you hold 'em when you had 'em?" asked Jake Sheppard, the +oldest and most trusty of the hands. + +"Vell, you see," answered Wingscheut, "Taylor he gits avay. Unt he +runs up te roat. Unt I titn't vant to lose a horse vat vass vorth a +tousan' tollars for two tam horsetiefs vat vass goot for notting at +all. So I coes on after Taylor. Provitin' you ton't pelieve me, I can +show you vere tey lay." + +"Wingscheut give 'em sore faces, for I saw him," whispered a +solemn-looking young man from the lower end of the table. + +Every one present listened to this confirmation of Wingscheut's +doubtful veracity. + +"Vell, you see," continued Daggett, the voiceless young man, mocking +the German's peculiar accent, "Vingscheut unt me, ve kilt te tam +horse-tiefs, unt ve took teir scalps. Unt four more tam horse-tiefs, +tey come up to git Taylor. Unt Vingscheut catched two of 'em hiplock. +Unt I catched two of 'em hiplock. Unt ve kilt 'em. Unt ve took teir +scalps. Unt ve vent on to te svamp. Unt ve fount sixteen more tam +horse-tiefs. Unt ve kilt 'em. Unt ve took teir scalps. Unt, provitin' +you ton't pelieve it, ve can show you te scalps." + +When Wingscheut had mastered his disgust and an immense mouthful of +beefsteak, he said: + +"Provitin' I vass such a liar as tat, I voot crawl off in a holler +loc unt tie." + +"How do you get along with the one-man saw, Jake?" queried the major. + +"Back aches like time," answered Sheppard, drawing his hand along his +spine. + +"That is strange," observed Ratke. "The one-man saw is certainly a +great saving of labor. It allows you, instead of stooping over, or +dropping your hands by your side, to push toward the log straight +from the shoulder. The motory power is in the muscles of the shoulder +and upper arm; and this power, the hand and the saw, should be as +nearly as possible in a straight line. The common cross-cut, as it is +worked, with the hands on a level with the hips, is a lever of the +third class, power in the center, fulcrum at one end and weight at +the other. In this lever there is a gain of motion and a +corresponding loss of power. But, as to the loss of motion in the +one-man saw, that can be easily made up by a swaying movement of the +body." + +At the conclusion of the meal Wrengell and Montcalm hired out for the +summer, Wrengell getting twenty dollars per month, and Montcalm, out +of consideration for Ratke's friendship for his father, receiving +twenty-five dollars. Montcalm stayed in the house, conversing with +the major, while the rest of the hired men, together with the vender +of medicine, or Panicky, went to the club-house. + +This building was a two-story upright, whose dimensions were +thirty-two by thirty-six feet. On the ground floor were three +bedrooms and one larger apartment, which contained a clock with an +alarm, a table, a stove, common chairs, rocking-chairs and all the +furniture necessary for the comfortable accommodation of a family. + +Panicky surmised that Archer was bilious, that Sheppard had lumbago, +and assured Daggett that all he needed for the complete restoration +of his voice was a bottle of Great American Panacea. By a series of +harangues on individual complaints, followed by an eloquent exordium, +he sold a bottle of the panacea to the hands, of whom all, except +Wingscheut, contributed equally to the purchase-money. + +"Well, boys," said Jake Sheppard, "I'm a-goin' to work." + +"Oh! there ain't no hurry," declared Archer; "the major he wouldn't +say anything if we didn't go for an hour yet." + +"Maybe he wouldn't say nothin'," replied Jake, "but right's right, +an' loafin' roun' when you're paid to work ain't right." + +The major sat watching the departure of his nieces, who were about to +drive his trotter, Taylor, to Break O'Day; The girls were passing a +small house not far from the swamp. + +The preceding spring Philetus Takum had come to Ratke with a piteous +appeal for help. He had been turned out of doors by his landlord, and +left without shelter for himself and his family. + +The major, against the remonstrances of his household erected a +tenement house near the swamp and put it into the possession of +Takum. But Philetus proved a disappointment to his benefactor. Not +only did he neglect to pay the promised rent, but he circulated some +annoying untruths and many more annoying truths concerning Ratke and +his mortgaged estate. + +The most valuable of Takum's personal property was a mongrel shepherd +dog which bore the name of Lina. + +Next in value were two of her full-grown progeny, which Philetus +kept, for he had made many a solemn declaration that he would not +sell a pup for less than one dollar, and he had been offered for the +largest one only eighty-five cents. Mrs. Grippin declared that the +dogs ate eggs, and that their master had an equal fondness for stolen +chickens. + +Ratke was sitting, as was his wont in meditation, with his left leg +thrown over the arm of his rocking-chair, his elbow on his knee and +his head resting on his hand. Left to himself, he plunged deeply into +his philosophical studies. His mind was clear, his absorption +complete. The principles of nature's mighty phenomena, enlarging in +scope and simplifying in form, passed one by one before his vision +with clearness and majesty; and, as he thought, more than ever showed +the harmony of natural and mental philosophy. + +He became conscious that something was drawing him away from his +delightful reverie. Some external circumstance was tugging at his +attention, which still clung tenaciously to the theories which he was +formulating. Reluctantly he dropped his hand and threw his left leg +from the arm of the rocking-chair, when he heard the voice of Mrs. +Grippin calling from the chamber, "James, James." + +"Yes," returned the major, throwing his leg back to its favorite +position. + +"James, James," cried Mrs. Grippin, more loudly than before. + +"All right," responded Ratke. + +"But it isn't all right," said the housekeeper. "Come up here, and +you'll see that it's all wrong." + +"I suppose I must go," thought the major. "Maria is a continuous +force, which, though exercising a slight amount of influence per unit +of time, in the lapse of concrete time brings to bear a stress, the +total amount of which is enormous." + +When he entered the chamber, Mrs. Grippin was standing on a box by a +north window, from which she was endeavoring to obtain a view of the +woods where the men were at work. + +"I can't see many of them," she said. "There is the new man you like +so well with the one-man saw. See how he has to pull! It looks as +though it would break his back. He's got that swaying motion of the +body you tell so much about. I guess nobody would pull that thing +through a log without swaying the body." + +"If that is all you want of me," remarked the major, "I will go +down." + +"I think some of the men are shirking," said Mrs. Grippin. "The woods +are in the way so I can't see them. You'd better go down where they +are." + +"I do not like to appear suspicious of them," the major remonstrated. +"Does it not please you to know that others have confidence in you?" + +"Yes, confidence in everybody," answered Mrs. Grippin; "that's the +trouble with you. Men consult their own interest and they don't work +hard for other folks unless they have to." + +"Why," ejaculated Ratke, "you are advocating the principles of +'Elementa Philosophica de Cive.'" + +"What do I care what you call it?" returned Mrs. Grippin. "I tell +you, you can't trust folks in that way without watching them." + +"Bolder yet!" exclaimed the major. "Now you are branching off on the +Leviathan. I never thought you would be a Hobbist, Maria." + +"Do I have any more hobbies than you do," furiously retorted the +housekeeper; "you, with your nonsense that nobody else can stand? I'd +talk about hobbies." + +"No, no, Maria," mildly expostulated the major. "A Hobbist means--" + +"I don't care what it means," interrupted Mrs. Grippin. "James Ratke, +if you don't go down there I won't get a morsel of dinner for your +men. Now, you can understand. You can do just as you like." + +"I can go for the sake of peace," said the major, with a sigh. + +When he started from the house, he was looking over the tops of some +tamaracks at the right of his destination, which he meant to reach by +means of the path leading to the woods. Now it is unlikely that +anything in the tamaracks interested him, if at that time he was +conscious of their existence. Whatever the cause of his abstraction, +it had the effect of taking him far out of his intended course. Nor +was he aware of the deviation until he was confronted by the thick +growth of bushes, which, to enter, he had to part with his hands. +Suspending temporarily his meditations, he came upon a path which ran +transversely through the shrubs, and which crossed at right angles +the one which he had intended to follow. + +He proceeded along this path and stopped near a broken tree whose +upper portion, lying on the ground, was hidden from him by the +standing stub. Glancing around and satisfying himself that he was not +observed he said slowly and emphatically, + +"Proposition I.: The will of man has the power of independent +decision. + +"Proposition II.: All external forces acting upon the will are +persuasive and not coercive." Here the major paused and spatted his +hands with great emphasis. + +"Proposition III.: Whenever in--" + +There was a rustling in the bushes followed by a succession of very +rapid and heavy blows from an ax. Going around the stub, the major +came upon Archer, who was working at a rate which, had it been +maintained, would soon have cut down the patch of grubs so +circumscribing to the observations of Mrs. Grippin. It is impossible +to tell which one of the two was most embarrassed, the hired man who +had been sleeping on the fallen tree or his employer who had been +caught in what would generally be considered a very foolish +soliloquy. + +Each felt that he had drawn the unpleasant attention of his +companion, and each consequently gave no heed to the weakness of the +other. + +The major was the first to speak. + +"You are knocking them down at a great rate. Will." + +"Yes," answered Archer, springing toward a sapling, which he felled +at a few tremendous strokes. + +"I would not heat myself too much," protested the major. "There are +other days coming." + +"Got to earn our money," returned Archer, rushing at another sapling. + +"It seems to me," remarked the major, "that one making such violent +exertions as you are would be encumbered by two coats and a jacket." + +"Ain't had time to take 'em off yet," explained Archer, as he threw +aside his superfluous clothing. "Whew, but it's warm!" + +"I think I will go over where the boys are," observed the major. "I +only hear one saw there." + +Archer, clearing his throat, struck up a fragment of a song, whose +pitch to the end was not more than a note higher or lower than the +one with which it commenced. + + "There was a man in days of old, + He had a daughter as I've been told; + And this daughter, she had a lover + Who was not liked much by her mother." + +At the conclusion of the doggerel strain, the woods were ringing with +life. A saw vibrated more energetically than the one which Ratke had +first heard, and several axes were swung so rapidly as to produce +almost a clatter. + +"Right at it," remarked the major, as he neared the spot where Brown +and Daggett were sawing. "I see that there are a great many ergs of +work in my men." + +Daggett's hard sawing, by which he had sought to lull the major's +suspicion, resulted in a fit of violent coughing, and he was obliged +to seat himself on a log and wait until the paroxysm had passed. + +"That is a bad cough, boy," said the major, "and you are making it +worse by getting heated." + +"Oh, I'm all right," returned Daggett. + +"No, you are in a bad condition," contradicted the major. "I insist +that you take a more moderate gait. I do not wish you to exhaust your +energy before the commencement of the summer's work. I must go up +where Trace is now." + +"Hanged if I ain't ashamed," commented Daggett, when the major had +gone out of hearing. "Here we've been playing off all we could, and +the first thing we know he comes around and tells us to go slower. I +half believe that, if I was well, I'd pitch in and work decent for +the old fellow." + +"Oh, no, you wouldn't," returned Brown. "You wouldn't like that any +better than you do now. We didn't have much warning, did we? Will got +asleep. He must of. An' it wasn't the square thing to do." + +"No, it wasn't," affirmed Daggett, forgetting his resolution to be +industrious. "We'll get even with him for that. Go up and tell him +the captain demands his immediate presence." + +Archer, whose craving for sleep had been nearly satisfied by +indulgence, was not loth to leave his position as sentinel. Such a +summons was usually the forerunner of sport, and he believed, from +the direct manner in which Daggett had sent for him, that, for the +coming amusement, he was not to pay the reckoning. + +But the discontented looks of the men gave token that they were not +in the best of humor, while by their frequent glances toward him he +was warned that he was the object of their dissatisfaction. + +"Well, boys," he called out, "has the old man gone? I done my duty as +a sentinel, didn't I? I warned you." + +"Yes, you did warn us," said Daggett in a whisper which was almost +vocalization, "after the boss had got here. That was a great way to +do." + +"I didn't see him," explained Archer, "until he got right onto me. +And the first thing I knew I heard him getting off some of his +philosophy trash." + +"You vass sleepin'," asserted Wingscheut. "Tat vass a mean trick. +Provitin' I cootn't vake up a little vile, I voot co to pet." + +"Take him to the guard-house," ordered Daggett. + +Archer was seized, and, despite his struggles and threats, thrown to +the ground, when the men began to cover him with brush. Whenever he +attempted to rise, he was pushed back; and, as soon as he threw aside +a bush, it was succeeded by another. So, realizing the uselessness of +further resistance, he lay still and was at once completely hidden by +a quantity of limbs. + +"Helloa, boys, here comes the major!" exclaimed Daggett. "Lay low, +Will, till he goes. It won't be long." + +"That rate would pile all the brush there is here in a short time," +remarked the major, as he stood among the men. "It is a good plan, +too, to complete the work as you go. Here are some limbs which have +lain so long that they have been grown over by sod. Pile on those old +poles while you are about it." + +Thereupon, to Daggett's delight and Archer's dismay, the major +brought a log larger than any of the hands could carry, and placed it +upon the brush-heap, which was already large. + +"Have any of you a match?" inquired the major. "I believe I will fire +this heap." + +The men looked at each other in alarm. + +"No, we haven't," answered Daggett. + +"Why, I have one," said Ratke. "Now let us get some of these dry +leaves together and we may make it burn." + +"It will not go," remarked the major, as the flame flickered and died +out. "If I had another match, I could start it. Now, boy, come up and +get something for that cough." + +"Oh, I don't want anything for that," returned Daggett. "That will be +all right when it comes warm weather." + +"We must attend to it now," urged Ratke. + +"No, I guess I won't go," said Daggett, feeling very uneasy at this +manifestation of his employer's kindness. + +"What, mutiny?" exclaimed the major, putting his arm around the young +man and dragging him along. "You see that you have no option in the +matter." + +Daggett noticed that the major made no remark about Archer's +disappearance. He had a suspicion that the philosopher, even when he +was showing him such marks of kindness, understood the faithlessness +of him and his fellows. Looking back as he was passing through the +shrubs, he saw a head of wavy black hair emerging from a brush-heap +and a fist shaken viciously toward him, but he kept the discovery to +himself. + + +CHAPTER IV. +A CIRRUS BECOMES A NIMBUS. + +"Did you get me any letters, Manie?" asked Ratke as he met his +nieces, who were coming from the barns. + +"Two of them," answered Manie. + +"Maria," said Ratke, when they were in the dining-room, "get Mark +something for his cough. I am going into the sitting-room to read my +letters." + +The first missive which the major opened bore a Washington postmark +and read as follows: + + + Washington, D. C., March 4, 187- + Mr. J. Ratke, + + Break o'Day, Mich. + Dear Sir:--As the commissioner expresses doubt concerning + the practical value of your invention, I find it is difficult + to obtain a patent. I must receive fifty dollars before I + proceed further. + + Respectfully yours, + + F. B. Sackett. + + +"The leech!" muttered the major; "he would gorge himself with my +substance. But let me once get my Jerusalem wagon started, and I will +bid defiance to patent lawyers and creditors. What do I care for the +few drops the insect gets if their place will soon be supplied by a +liberal infusion which will send vigor through my veins?" + +The contents of the second letter are given below. + + + Jackson, Mich., March 4, 187-. + Mr. J. Ratke, + + Break o'Day, Mich. + Dear Sir: We spoke to Mr. Green about the matter which you + mentioned. He says he cannot postpone the foreclosure of the + mortgage a day. + + Yours respectfully, + + Collins & Joy. + + +The effect of the two communications was to produce an unwonted +depression in the major's spirits. It was as if a cloud of whose +existence he had been not ignorant, but to which he had been +inattentive, had suddenly by a warning bolt made him give heed to its +proximity. + +No matter in which direction he turned, he could not find a way out +of the perplexing difficulty. Schemes which were his hope, his very +life, demanded money for their furtherance. His produce was sold, his +pocket-book empty, his credit gone. He realized his situation; and, +in the distance, he felt he saw, approaching, calamities which would +destroy his dearest projects and involve in ruin himself and his +household. + +Mrs. Grippin interrupted these miserable reflections by saying, "He's +in here, William Henry Harrison, if you want to see him!" + +The visitor was William Henry Harrison Hibbard, whose first three +names had been given him at his birth, applied in sport during his +boyhood, and used through habit when he had reached man's estate. +William Henry Harrison had fits; and these fits had reduced his mind, +if not to imbecility, to a state of intelligence considerably below +mediocrity. The spring before, the Republicans of Jefferson township +had, for want of better amusement, nominated him for constable; and +the Democrats had so far fallen in with the joke that, though they +had a large majority, the half-wit was elected. + +William Henry Harrison was tall and slender, his mouth was large, and +his hair was light The most conspicuous part of his raiment was a +long, loose ducking jacket which was belted tightly about the waist, +and whose lower edges flared out from his body like an umbrella top. +As this was his most expensive article of clothing, and as he never +wore it except on important occasions, it was by the local wits +called his official coat. + +"Well, William Henry Harrison," inquired the major, "do you have a +great deal to do as constable?" + +"No, not 'nawful sight," answered William Henry Harrison. + +"That was a fine run you made last spring," observed Ratke. "I +believe you beat Johnny Hemp?" + +"Yes, I lick 'im. I run 'way 'head." + +"Did you ever arrest anybody or serve a summons?" inquired Ratke. + +"Dono, guess not," replied the half-wit. + +"Probably not," said the major, half to himself. "In the machine of +law you are a pinion, whirled by the belts and pulleys of courts, +which are, in turn, propelled by the engine of legislation. But you +are satisfied with your condition, and that is more than can be said +of many who think themselves your superiors. Content, as you are, +with your lot, you may as well be a pinion as an engine." + +"Yes," remarked William Henry Harrison, "engine might bust." + +"By George!" exclaimed the major, "but there is wisdom in that. The +solid iron pinion can be broken only by external forces, while the +hollow engine may, itself, generate the power by which it is rent. +Likewise, the humble mind escapes those internal conflicts which +bring ruin to some of the mightier intellects. William Henry +Harrison, that, is the wisest remark I have heard in a month." + +Upon this unusual compliment, the author of the saying so highly +praised grinned, covered his mouth with his hand and looked steadily +at Ratke for some minutes. + +The major, tiring of the half-wit's scrutiny, had recourse to a +stratagem which seldom fails to remind a forgetful guest of the +object of his visit. + +"Let me take your hat," he said. + +"No," replied William Henry Harrison, taking his hand from his mouth. +"I no stay, Misser Green, he git mad." + +"So you stay with Green yet," observed Ratke. + +"Yes," answered the half-wit; "Misser Green, he git me new straw hat +I give you this paper." + +"Oh, it is a paper you are serving on me!" exclaimed Ratke. "Make +Green give you your regular fee, and tell him that constables are not +obliged to take straw hats in payment for the performance of legal +duties." + +The document proved to be a summons which had been issued by Justice +Lyman Sparks, in behalf of Josiah Green, who had purchased a note due +the Buckeye Manufacturing Co. of Marlboro, Ohio. + +"Go back to Josiah Green," said the major, "and tell him that you +performed your errand. Tell him that I bound up his financial wounds +when the priest and the Levite passed him by. Tell him I lent him +money when his place was mortgaged for its full value, and no one +else would trust him. Tell him he owes me yet for a cow and wheat +which I let him have when his family was sick." + +"I can't 'member so much," said William Henry Harrison, alarmed at +Ratke's vehemence. "Misser Green he whip. Oh! whip big." + +"Halt," ordered the major, as the unique constable moved toward the +door. "You have been a faithful officer and you have earned your +supper. You must eat with me. Instead of making Green mad, it will +please him to think he is relieved from the expense of feeding you. +Maria rang the saw before you served the summons." + +"But," said the half-wit, "I can't 'member that you say when mad." + +"You need not try to remember it," was the major's answer. "You could +do so if you could once comprehend it, for you have no doubt a +preponderance of memory over the reflectives. Your mind is not +brilliant, and, when by accident you stumble upon a sensible +expression, it shines as forcibly as a bolt of lightning from the +darkened sky at midnight. Do you understand what I say?" + +"No," answered William Henry Harrison. + +"It is as well that you do not," commented Ratke. "I would rather you +would not understand all I say, because I want to talk, and I do not +wish to hurt your feelings. Now, I will tell you something which you +can understand, William Henry Harrison. To-day you have been a +smarter man than I have." + +William Henry Harrison was so pleased with Ratke's approbation that, +at supper, he endeavored to obtain more of it by delivering some +witty speeches. Disappointed in receiving encouragement to continue +his remarks, he allowed his own appreciation of his sagacity to be +visible in several prolonged grins, the last of which was frozen by +one of Mrs. Grippin's frowns. + +After the meal, as he stood irresolutely in the sitting-room, he +remarked, "I have fit purty soon. I tell." + +"I will tell Trace to hitch up a horse and take you home," said +Ratke, hastily passing to the dining-room. + +The major, returning, found William Henry Harrison on the floor, with +his limbs alternately contracting and expanding to their utmost +capacity. The half-wit's eyes were rolled back, his face contorted, +his figure writhing and twisting and his lips covered with froth. On +the floor about him were the fragments of a large mirror, which had +cut his hands in several places. + +When William Henry Harrison had finished his first and last official +visit, Ratke observed, "The Buckeye Company agreed to wait a year for +that note. I wonder that so careful a man as Green should send such +an officer as William Henry Harrison." + +"You needn't wonder," returned Mrs. Grippin. "He did it to be mean, +just to tantalize you. If it ain't legal, he'll send another man with +it. Oh, I would like to talk to Si Green a minute. I'd like to tell +him some things. If it hadn't been for you, he'd have starved and his +whole family. You can get mad if you want to, Nora. I know he's your +aunt's husband. But that don't make any difference. I should think +you'd be proud of him, a man that's got rich making cider. He's done +more harm in this neighborhood than he could do good if he should +live to be as old as Methuselah. Him, a member of the church, making +cider and selling it to get men drunk." + +"I wonder how he found out about the note," said the major. + +"It's that Phleet Takum," replied Mrs. Grippin. "He keeps posted on +your business better than you do. He has done a great deal to destroy +your credit." + +"It is strange," remarked the major, "how a man of Philetus' ability +can do so much harm. I can explain it in no way except by the law of +virtual velocities: 'Power, multiplied by the distance through which +it moves, equals weight, multiplied by the distance through which it +moves.' To accomplish a given result, then, a man of half average +ability must move through twice the space, or, in other words, bestir +himself twice as much as an ordinary man. Here comes Trace. I must +see how he left William Henry Harrison." + +Montcalm informed Ratke that he had left William Henry Harrison at +Green's gate, apparently none the worse for his fit. + +"Do you know he is an officer of the law?" queried the major, as he +was unhitching a tug. + +"No, is he?" ejaculated Montcalm. + +"The Republicans and part of the Democrats of Jefferson township," +said Ratke, "disgraced themselves by electing that poor idiot boy to +the office of constable. Today he made his first official visit." + +"I am surprised," commented Montcalm. + +"That is all I can tell you," said Ratke quickly, feeling that he had +already said too much. "To succeed in business a man must bridle his +tongue. If he gives a knowledge of his affairs to the gossips, he +places them before a double convex lens, which may converge the heat +of public scrutiny to melt his gold, as that metal is sometimes +melted at a powerful focus." + +"I have no wish to pry into your affairs," replied Montcalm. "On the +contrary, I am opposed to receiving from you any confidence which you +may afterward regret." + +"This much I can tell you. Trace," said Ratke. "The constable's +errand was not to perform a duty connected with criminal law." + +"I felt assured of that," replied Montcalm. "You will never be +suspected of crime. I will care for this horse if you will tell me +how much grain to feed him." + +It often happens that a skillful investigator will by professed +indifference lull suspicions of his art and extract much information +which by any other means he would be unable to obtain. This is what +was done by Montcalm. Ratke thought that he had been boorish with the +son of his old comrade. He would atone for his surliness by a partial +explanation. + +"This is a civil matter," he remarked, "a little debt which I owe and +which I thought would not be presented for collection in a year." + +"You have been hardly fair with me," said Montcalm. + +"You have not allowed me to do the chores enough to learn them. How +much grain do you feed this horse?" + +"Never mind the horse," exclaimed Ratke impatiently. "You do not seem +to like to listen to me, Trace. I have been sued by Green. He has +bought a note of twenty dollars against me. Not that it is anything +serious, but some other things unite with it to make up a combination +which promises me trouble. The farm is sold on the mortgage in July." + +"Your Jerusalem wagon ought to help you out," said Montcalm. + +"Oh," replied Ratke. "If I could get my wagon into the market, I +could pay for my farm. If I could pay for my farm, I could get my +wagon into the market. Both are wedged in the narrow passage of +fatality, each waiting to be extricated by help from the other. +To-day I received a letter from my patent lawyer, stating that he +must have fifty dollars or he could not proceed further with the +business. I bought a cow of Osborne for thirty dollars and I agreed +to get her in two weeks. I can muster not more than twenty-five +dollars with which to meet these sums, I own a farm, the Barton +hundred and sixty, which is east of the county line and which is +unencumbered. I might mortgage that, but I hate to do it." + +"Is that the extent of your trouble?" asked Montcalm. "I can lend you +one hundred dollars. Last week I got my quarterly dividend on a +one-thousand-dollar share of stock." + +"One thousand dollars!" cried the major. "One thousand dollars surely +cannot bring a quarterly dividend of one hundred dollars." + +"The quarterly dividend is one hundred and fifty," said Montcalm. + +"In what kind of stock have you invested?" queried Ratke. + +"That I am not at liberty to tell," responded Montcalm. "Every member +of the company is bound to keep its operations secret." + +"Get out of it as soon as you can," advised Ratke. "It is fraudulent, +or there would be no need of secrecy." + +"I will do so at once," acquiesced Montcalm. "At the next quarter I +will withdraw my capital." + +"I am suspicious of such organizations," said Ratke. "Did you ever +hear of Nijni Novgorod oats?" + +"I never did," replied Montcalm. + +"That," pursued Ratke, "was the most successful swindle which was +ever worked on the farmers of Michigan. For every bushel of grain +which the company sold to a farmer, it received ten dollars and +agreed to sell for him the next year twice that quantity at the same +price, minus the agent's fee of twenty-five per cent. Thus, for each +bushel of grain the farmer bought, he gave ten dollars and got +fifteen. He was bound by agreement not to sell the oats for less than +they cost him. Jackson County went wild over the speculation. As the +Nijni Novgorod fellows gave credit and took notes for pay, every one +had means to invest. + +"After harvest the agents were not to be found. Then the crisis came. +The notes had passed into the hands of those whom the law calls +innocent purchasers and, of course, had to be paid. Men put their +property out of their hands to avoid payment. Jasper Smith, a +prosperous farmer who had been defrauded to the amount of twelve +hundred dollars, hung himself in his own barn. Yet this lesson, +severe as it was, did not educate the people. They would seize with +avidity the next chance to be swindled." + +"I will get out of the company at the next quarter," assured +Montcalm. "By that time I shall have doubled my investment." + +"Oh, I would not be too fast," said the major. "But they will never +draw me into the scheme. I would like to have one of their agents +come here. I would give him a snub which he would not soon forget." + +"The company will not attempt to inveigle you," replied Montcalm. "It +does not send out agents. It wishes to be composed of those only who +are now its members." + +"How clannish!" Ratke exclaimed, "to want to keep a good thing all to +itself. I have no patience with such companies. You can tell me +something of its nature Trace?" + +"Not without a permit from the president and directors," answered +Montcalm. "I must keep my promise of secrecy, even though I offend my +father's friend and mine." + +"Break your promise to no one," said Ratke. "But you can write to +them for permission to impart the knowledge I wish?" + +"They may not like to let you know," suggested Montcalm. +"Nevertheless, I will write." + +"I will risk it," replied the major. "They would give me permission +to join if I desired to do so. Now, I have no wish to join you. But +you write and ask them if I may. I will wager a box of cigars that +they will accept me as a member." + +"Done," said Montcalm, "and I will show you their answer. I am +certain of my cigars, however. They will admit no new members." + +"They are very exclusive," commented the major. "Are they afraid of +contamination from the common people? None of them have better blood +than I. My ancestor, Johann Ratke, was a grandson of Martin Gerard, +the uncle of Erasmus. What king of the fourteenth century wielded a +more powerful and more enduring scepter than the philosopher of +Rotterdam?" + + +CHAPTER V. +RAMOTH GILEAD PREDICTED. + +The next Sunday was cloudy and cold. The raw west wind swept along +stray flakes of snow in almost horizontal lines. Saturday Wingscheut +had hailed the sight of a chipmunk as a certain omen of immediate +spring; and this bleak Sabbath had followed, as if the very elements +delighted to disprove the predictions of the false prophet. + +For six successive days Mrs. Grippin had been indulging in regret and +blame for their absence from church the previous Sunday: regret for +the rain which had furnished an excuse for non-attendance, blame for +the inconsistency of the boastful soldier and philosopher, who +bragged of indifference to red-hot cannon balls, and yet was afraid +of a few little drops of cold water. + +For these trials the major had his consolation. It was the common lot +of philosophers to be censured and abused. Did not Guericke suffer +from popular ignorance and prejudice? Was not Galileo assailed and +even obliged to retract his theories? And had not Socrates his +Xantippe, the prototype of Mrs. Grippin? + +The church, which was of good size, considering its country location, +stood on a slight elevation, about three-fourths of a mile west of +the Ratke dwelling. Between the edifices the ground curved and merged +in a miniature valley which occupied most of the distance. Southwest +of the house of worship were the farm buildings and cider mill of +Josiah Green, who held the mortgage on the major's estate. + +The pastor, a man quick to discover motes and beams in the eyes of +his congregation, and ready to grab at the offending particle or bulk +the instant of its discovery, had prepared a philippic for the +special benefit of Green. + +His text was Romans fourteenth chapter and twenty-first verse: "It is +good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby +thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." + +Starting from the premise that each one, in a measure, molds the +character of his neighbor, he launched boldly into the theme of man's +responsibility for the conduct of his fellows. + +"What is it that we are to refrain from doing? Anything, remember, +anything, by which our brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made +weak. + +"That which injures our brother maybe quite harmless to ourselves. +Nevertheless, if it diminishes his virtue or his faith, we should +avoid it, even though the degree of decline be so slight that it is +visible only by Him on whom that faith is fixed. + +"One of God's people, if he were not in the trammels of Church +discipline, might be placed in such circumstances that he could dance +without moral degeneration. But if, thereby, his brother is led into +bad company, if possible converts avoid a faith whose votaries seem +insincere, it is his duty to lop off the pleasure, even though it be +dear as his right hand. + +"Card-playing could be indulged in without sin, provided we were sure +that no sinful consequences would follow the game. There is no +contamination in the pictures or the card-board. The queen of clubs +does not look wholly depraved. The king of hearts, though his +appearance is not prepossessing, is too lazy and inefficient to be a +power for evil. Bibles which carry a knowledge of the Saviour to the +center of barbarism, are made from the same material as spades and +aces. But for all that, card-playing entices to evil. Card-playing +should be tolerated in no Christian or moral home. + +"Who will say that there is evil in a glass of cider which is +guaranteed never to touch the lips of man? Yet, cider is the greatest +curse which this community has ever seen. More, than beer, more than +whisky, more than the horse-thieves, against whom so many anathemas +have been breathed, cider is bringing its awful harvest of pain and +crime. But in this congregation,--for I see them now,--are men in +whose cellars are cider barrels, whose sons, following their father's +lead, descend the stairs, turn the faucet and change themselves into +receptacles of the potion which would make fiends of angels. Ay, +brethren, I see those who manufacture the damning beverage poured +into the throats of topers and of boys now unpolluted, to lure them +on to places of infamy, to leave them helplessly wallowing in the +mire of debauchery and whiskey, for whisky is the natural successor +of cider. And these men, together with their victims, are descending +to the lake of fire and brimstone, not on a stream of pure water +reflecting the sunlight from its sandy bed, but along a river of +yellow cider reeking with the smell of rotten pomace and of dead +men's bones." + +The rural preacher supported the above denunciation by awkward +gestures and a high degree of earnestness. Green's manner, while he +was receiving in addition to this chastisement the glances of most of +the congregation, was less perturbed than usual. He was a spare, +nervous man of medium height. It was his custom in church often to +look out of the window, to cross and recross his legs and to show +other signs of restlessness. + +On this occasion, leaning his elbows on the back of the pew in front +of him, he looked steadily at the preacher He appeared heartily to +indorse the sermon and to have no suspicion that it was intended for +him; and, when he received a bolt more crushing than its predecessor, +he smiled, as if approving the condemnation which was to be meted out +to some other man. + +In class meeting he rose as he had done nearly Sunday for a dozen +years, said a few words hastily, and sat down with the air of one who +rejoices that he has finished an unpleasant duty. + +Montcalm was invited to a position in the choir as he and Manie sang +from the same book, many a rustic swain shared the jealousy of +Wrengell. + +After class meeting Lyman Sparks arose to make "a sejestion." + +"There's one thing we forgot about, brothers and sisters the donation +to Brother Osborne's. We ain't made any pervision for the +needcessties o'the 'casion. Of course, there'll be some needcessties, +an' we ought to make some pervision for 'em. I motion that we have a +committee o'three to pervide for the 'casion." + +When the motion had been passed, Mr. Sparks again arose. + +"I sejest the names o' Brother Osborne, Brother Green an', well, +mebbe I've said enough. I don't want to have too much to say about +this thing. Somebody else sejest another name." + +Sparks was chosen as the last committee man, the benediction was +pronounced and the people dispersed. + +"I'd like to see Lime Sparks tell me what to cook," said Mrs. +Grippin, as she was on her way home, "or Si Green. If they come +poking their noses around where I'm cooking, they'll get out, that's +all." + +In the afternoon, while the rest of the family were out at church, +Nora entertained Fred Loomis, the clerk in Dr. Rorus' drug-store at +Break o'Day. Loomis was stylishly attired. He had town manners, a +slight frame, and an equally slight mustache. On matters of dress and +general deportment, he trusted his judgment implicitly, but, in +conversation which required the higher attributes of mind, he felt +his weakness. Often, when he thought a remark or circumstance +amusing, he suppressed a laugh until one of his associates +demonstrated by example the propriety of its indulgence. + +When evening came, this village dandy, Nora, Manie and Montcalm were +in the parlor. + +The clerk and Nora on a couch whispered and giggled, while Manie and +Montcalm, in a further corner of the room, maintained less secrecy +and more dignity. + +"That is a fine likeness," observed Montcalm, pointing to a portrait +of a man who had a broad, high brow, large, expressive eyes and a +stern, intellectual face. "Every boy knows Senator Mallard's picture. +One can almost think that he sees the words of his last great speech +issuing from those firm-set lips. He is a recognized champion in +debate." + +"Yes," said Manie. "He and Uncle James were classmates at college. He +has visited us several times since I can remember. Uncle James is a +Democrat, you know, Every time Senator Mallard comes they engage in a +hot political discussion, which Uncle James begins, unmindful of his +previous defeats. Uncle James says he is the only man who ever +conquered him fairly in argument." + +"Conquest by him is no disgrace," returned Montcalm. "It is the +common fate of those who oppose him. Will you please favor us with a +song or some instrumental music? A love of the beautiful is the very +origin of music, and it is what you have shown in the decoration of +this room. The cheap and the gorgeous you have eschewed, while you +have drawn liberally from unpretentious and intrinsic beauty. The +picture at the right of the mirror is an illustration of my +statement. Here we have, well portrayed, a pleasing scene in rural +life, a fine house and barn, with mountains looming up in the +background. See how neat everything is about the place." + +"Everything is unnaturally neat and proper," replied Manie. "The +horses' heads are too high. The sheep are too large, and that cow +looks as if she were posing for a picture. Nobody ever saw so square +and high a load of hay as that one going into the barn. The man on it +is standing so straight that he will bump his head unless he stoops. +The artist could have improved the picture by tipping over one of the +lightning-rods and tearing down a gate." + +"It need not show slovenliness to be accurate," Montcalm answered; "I +acknowledge your superiority in logic, but I still contend that I am +right." + +"Allow me to give you a compliment in return," said Manie. "You would +make an excellent lightning-rod agent. Every man you met would have +fat hogs, blooded cattle or smart children. Get your note-book and I +will give you a list of flattering remarks which would insure a sale. + +"Compliment one, Intelligent farmer. Compliment two, Large chickens. +Compliment three, Smart children. But, if your pleasing speeches are +addressed to a lady, do not have them. + +"Compliment one, Robust and healthful. Compliment two, Fragile and +delicate." + +"I am wounded by the lash of sarcasm," said Montcalm. "Each +neighborhood has its local satirist, pouring out MacFlecknoes and +Dunciads on hapless Shadwells and Gibbers. This character, varying in +sagacity and bitterness, according to training and original talent, +native cheerfulness and the world's usage, is a necessity to +progress. No great reform is accomplished without his help. Whenever +society moves slowly in its duty, he strikes the hindmost; and though +the laggard may not afterward be found in the front of the +procession, he is apt to abandon the position of rear-guard to +another, who in turn finds it an inconvenient and dangerous post. But +I will not class you with the common satirist, for you have shown +more refined talent than he. You have been taking lessons of Pope, +Juvenal and Swift." + +"Now, you are losing your art, Mr. Montcalm," said Manie. "First, you +ascribe to me the most delicate sensibility, and now you class me +with as vulgar a satirist as Swift. Do you think I would write the, +'Tale of a Tub'? I am glad that, if I have not the genius to compose +the Dunciad, neither have I the vindictive spirit which prompted it. +You should memorize your flattering statements, and then they would +not conflict." + +"Now, I am hit sorely and wantonly," said Montcalm. "How often have I +been proceeding carelessly, if not unwittingly, in error when I felt +a smarting, agonizing blow; and I knew that I had been struck by that +scourge of scourges, that whip of scorpions, the lash of the local +satirist. Then, I sometimes encased myself in the armor of reasoning +and excuse, and, confident in my protecting mail, took up my old line +of march. But a certain man (or woman) drew a bow at a venture, and +behold, Ahab was smitten between the joints of the harness." + +"If Ahab would avoid the fatal arrow," returned Manie, "he should +shun the field of Ramoth Gilead, or, better still, he should not make +covenants with Ben-hadad." + +"Make covenants with Ben-hadad?", said Montcalm, nervously turning +his head. "What does that mean?" + +"Ahab did not enter into an offensive and defensive alliance with +Ben-hadad," Manie replied. "He merely spared the life of the wicked +Syrian when he had him in his power. He who compromises with, or +refuses to attack error, commits the sin of Ahab; and he will meet +his punishment as surely as did the son of Omri." + +"Then every man who temporizes with evil will meet a bloody death?" +queried Montcalm with a smile. + +"You must not infer that," answered Manie. "As the sin differs in +some respects from that of Ahab, so in all probability will the +punishment. But he who permits the perpetration of an evil which he +can prevent will not be held guiltless. To that man, in some way, in +time or eternity, Ramoth Gilead must come." + +Montcalm saw that, whatever his ability in compliment, Manie was more +than his equal in argument, He determined now to abandon the contest, +which he would not so long have continued had he not wished to give +her the flattering opinion of her own skill as a controversialist. + +"Give Ahab a truce," he said. "The donation at Mr. Osborne's is next +Friday night. Mr. Sparks advised us to make 'pervision for the +needcessties o' the 'casion.' My chief 'needcessty' is a companion +for the evening. May wicked Ahab presume to ask you to ride in his +chariot?" + +"Oh! I'm a-going to have some fun!" exclaimed Nora, jumping up and +rushing to the sitting-room. + +"What is she going to do?" asked Montcalm. + +"Nobody knows what she is going to do," Manie answered. + +In a few minutes Nora returned, bringing with her Archer. The hired +man, whose body was encased in a blue coat with large brass buttons, +strode into the room, carrying his head and shoulders very erect. + +"Good-evening, Mrs. Ratke," he said with a profound bow. + +Archer in his youth had been taught that a married lady's proper +title is Mrs.; and he had broadened this definition until he made it +embrace every member of the sex, whether married or unmarried. + +"Oh, Mr. Archer," said Nora, "we're so glad you've come. We want you +to sing for us." + +"Well," responded Archer, tipping back his chair and spreading the +sides of his coat wide apart with his hands, at the same time taking +care that the brass buttons should be conspicuous, "I don't pretend +to be much of a singician, but folks used to say I could sing." + +"Of course you can sing," persisted Nora. "Good singers do have to be +urged so. Fred can't sing bass, and Mr. Montcalm can't sing it, and +so we want you to. Now, Mr. Archer, don't make any more excuses, but +go right up and help them sing." + +Manie much against her will went to the organ and assisted Montcalm +and Archer to sing "The Sweet By-and-By." + +Archer, maintaining the same pitch throughout the hymn, tapped the +floor with his foot, bobbed his head from side to side, and without +any approach to a tune rumbled away with all his might. + +Nora's enjoyment of the scene was well-nigh perfect. She clapped her +hands, rolled over on the sofa and, but for Archer's monotonous +"By-and-By, By-and-By," would certainly have been heard by him. + +"Oh, that was splendid, Mr. Archer," she cried, when the hymn was +concluded. "I wish I could sing like that. Now give us a song, +please." + +"What kind of a song, Mrs. Warfle?" Archer inquired. + +"Something sentimental," answered Nora. "That's what we would all +like to hear." + +Thus encouraged, Archer began to sing a narrative, most of which on +account of its tedious length must be briefly told in prose. + + "Come listen to the awful tale, + That in song I shall bewail, + About a preacher's only son, + And all for love he was undone. + He was but eighteen years of age + When in love he did engage." + +When he was twenty years old, after receiving a call to preach, he +repeated his proposals of marriage to the young lady. + + "But her people, they did object + To him, because he had no prospect." + +Her affections blighted, the maiden pined steadily away, and an +anxious friend made the following inquiry: + + "Madam, what makes you look so pale? + Madam, what makes your colors fail? + Your cheeks was once like roses red, + And now they look as though you was dead. + Your eyes was once as black as sloes. + Now to the grave methinks they goes." + +On this solicitation the maiden, telling the story of her love, +imparted a warning to those who interfere with affairs of the heart, +and at the close of the injunction gave a wail of agony and expired. +The parents, stricken with grief at their loss, sent for the +minister's son. + + "Then to the funeral he did go, + Was dressed in black from top to toe. + This noble young man took his bed, + And in a week more he was dead." + +With a voice alternating between a roar and a yell, the singer told +the moral to the tragedy in forty lines, four of which are subjoined. + + "Now, all you people, far and near, + To stop true love you should ever fear; + For young folks parted sighs do heave. + Sometimes they die and oft do grieve." + +"Oh, dear! Oh, my! Oh, my! Oh, dear!" ejaculated Nora, making no +attempt to conceal her mirth while the clerk, as he thought, very +properly seconded, with less effusiveness, her demonstrations of +glee. "Oh! that's awful good, Mr. Archer. That's splendid. Oh! my! +Oh, dear! 'Sometimes they die and oft do grieve.' What! You're not +going now, are you?" + +"Yes, it's getting along towards bedtime," returned Archer, whose +perception, though dull, was still acute enough to show him that he +was being made the butt of ridicule. + +"It is too bad," said Manie, when Archer had gone. "I am ashamed of +you, Nora. You have no right to hurt people's feelings in that way." + +"Preach all you want to," retorted Nora. + +"Won't you do an errand for me?" she asked, accosting Archer, who had +not yet taken his departure from the house, and whose countenance +suggested that he was in ill humor from the treatment which he had +received. + +"Well?" answered the hired man gruffly. + +"I wish you would tell Mr. Wrengell to come up here," said Nora. + +"I'll see," returned Archer in a tone which showed that he had no +intention to oblige her. + +"Oh, please, Mr. Archer," pleaded Nora. "I do so want to see him. +Tell him, and I'll remember it a long while, and I'll think how good +you was. Won't you, Mr. Archer?" + +"Well, yes," said Archer hesitatingly, "I'll tell him." + +Wrengell was surprised at the summons which he received. Without +waiting to make some needed changes in his apparel he started, and +soon stood in the dining-room, embarrassed and expectant. + +"There are some young folks in the parlor," explained Nora. "We want +you to join us." + +"Oh, I can't possibly." + +"Yes, you can," said Nora, taking his sleeve and pulling him gently +along. "There is nobody in the house that will hurt you. Come on, +now, without any more excuses." + +"Don't you go into any of your nonsense, Nora," said Mrs. Grippin, as +they passed through the sitting-room. + +The major without the knowledge of Mrs. Grippin had placed in one of +the parlor bedrooms a chair, the rounds of which had been broken. +Nora, quickly slipping into the bedroom, brought out the +superannuated piece of furniture for Wrengell, who was too +embarrassed to notice the maneuver. At the instant he sat down, +however, the spreading chair legs and descending cane bottom warned +him of the insecurity of his position and compelled him to bear most +of the weight of his body on his legs. + +"Won't you sing us a song, Mr. Wrengell?" said Nora with a giggle, +which was echoed by the clerk. + +"I do not care to sing," answered Wrengell, now comprehending her +motive in enticing him to the parlor. + +"Oh, please, do sing us something sentimental," said Nora, +interspersing now and then a smothered laugh between the words, +"something about somebody that--that died for--for love, you know." + +"Sing something of your own selection," suggested Manie, endeavoring +by kindly encouragement to atone for Nora's misdemeanor. + +On hearing this invitation Wrengell came to the conclusion that the +company had entered into a conspiracy to make him appear ridiculous; +and his embarrassment was quickly supplanted by anger. + +"Thank you, I do not care to sing," he responded. + +"Perhaps you will play for us," said Manie. + +Springing to his feet, with such violence that the rickety chair +spread out its loose-jointed legs and squatted nearly to the floor, +Wrengell went quickly to the organ. + +The instrument broke forth into a roar of wrath. It seemed to bid +defiance to the company, to tell them that the man whom they had +insulted was above and indifferent to their sneers. Gradually the +notes decreased in volume and increased in rapidity, until the sounds +appeared almost to coalesce; yet not once did the fingers of the +player err in the selection of a key or appear to move more swiftly +than their normal gait. + +Such a manifestation of proficiency where none was expected filled +the four auditors with astonishment. + +Manie and Montcalm listened in admiration, Nora opened her mouth in +surprise, while the shallow clerk glanced at her to ascertain if he +were to grin again at Wrengell's expense. + +With exquisite modulation Wrengell changed the music from anger to +solemnity and from solemnity to pathos; and he brought out with +unusual distinctness that one superiority of instrumental over vocal +music, its application to individual thought without the +circumscription of language. + +A song beautiful in conception and glowing with power often fails to +produce an impression, because he for whom it is rendered finds in it +nothing which coincides with his sympathies or experience. But he who +hears a well-played instrumental has no assurance that it was not +composed for the benefit of his special class. To the resigned +sufferer the solemn largissimo may be a strain of patient +resignation, while to the misanthrope it is the wail of hopeless +despair. The sparkling brillante, which animates one to heroic deeds +and lofty aims, fills another with dreams of the revel and the +debauch. + +It was impossible to tell in what channel moved the reflections of +Manie and Montcalm, who, alone of those present, were capable of +appreciating the skill of the musician. But whether they were +impelled to noble or to base purposes, they were moved, in no common +degree, by those finer variations, those nicer shades of expression +which distinguish the touch of the master from mere agility and +correctness of movement. + +Wrengell rose from the organ with as much suddenness as he had +approached it, and, determined to show his indifference to their +opinions, he left the parlor, casting back a look of contempt, which +he meant to include every person in the room. Passing through the +sitting-room, where the major and Mrs. Grippin were engaged in a +controversy, deliberate on the one side and furious on the other, he +went through the dining-room, the kitchen and into the open air. + +It was with dejection that Wrengell entered the chamber of the +club-house and seated himself on the only unoccupied bed. The affront +which had been given him in the major's parlor was by no means the +first which he had been compelled to bear. From his infancy disgrace +had been his lot. He had been told the story of his drunken parents, +of his mother who was sent to the penitentiary, of his father who +wandered to a distant state, there to be imprisoned for some offense +the details of which were forgotten but the commission of which was +being frequently recalled. Taken from a poorhouse at an early age by +a farmer, who was ever reminding him of the charity, he strove +manfully to repay the debt which, he fancied, he owed. He was given +severe tasks to perform; and the story of his degradation was spread +broadcast by the man with whom he lived, to such an extent that he +was publicly shunned. + +When he was unable to bear the exactions of his foster-father, +Wrengell left the shelter of his roof and turned his attention to his +neglected education. Working between terms and studying nights, he +made excellent progress; and, at the time he commenced work for +Ratke, he had gone half through college and had taken the greater +part of a thorough musical course. + +And this boy, without wealth, with a lineage so mean that its very +mention gave him shame, was proud, proud as they who openly ignored +him, proud as that greater number who recognized his title to +acquaintanceship, but drew between him and them a barrier which, more +felt than seen, prevented the relations of intimate friendship. + +Slowly he drew off one shoe and bared his left foot. It was not a +perfect member. The main part of the foot was symmetrical, but from +the outer edge branched a sixth toe, which increased in size the +extremity of the limb and made a small protuberance appear on the +surface of the shoe. + +Wrengell looked down at the malformation with a feeling almost of +hatred. How often in his childhood, when, before he was large enough +to work, he went barefooted to school, had his companions pointed +sneeringly at his deformity. The drunken father, the depraved mother, +the sixth toe he had considered component parts of his disgrace. + +He had thought that, far from the associations of his youth, he might +escape the obloquy which had weighed him down. He believed that the +mark of shame was upon him, that it was visible to whomsoever he met, +that it had been seen by the Ratkes, and that by them he was +despised. + +Archer had been by common consent relegated to the farther corner of +the room, and was there snoring comfortably, and noisily. Wrengell, +knowing that no common circumstance would awaken the slumberer, went +to his bedside, and, taking down his violin, which hung over his +head, commenced to play a lively air. The music had been in progress +not a minute, when the loud talking on the ground floor ceased, and +Brown called "Helloa! what's the racket up there, Will? Less go up, +boys," he added as the playing continued. + +Wrengell had barely time to throw down the violin and get into bed +before the men were in the chamber. + +"He's learned a new piece," said Daggett, "and he's improved +mightily." + +"'Stonishin'," remarked the Canadian, Thompson. + +"Why, boys," exclaimed Daggett, as the sleeper exhaled a deeply +rumbling current of air, "he's asleep." + +"Did he play that in his sleep?" + +"He must of," replied Brown. + +"Less wake him up," said Daggett. + +"I tell you vat," observed Wingscheut, "you can push unt you can +pull, put tey can't no man vake up Vill Archer." + +Straws, snuff and pepper were applied to his nose, but their sole +effect was to make him give uneasy sniffs and change his position. + +"Say," exclaimed Brown, dragging him half out of bed and at last +getting the sleepy eyelids to unclose, "why don't you play like that +when you're awake?" + + +CHAPTER VI. +THE GUERRERO MINING COMPANY. + +It was a model spring day. The snow had quite disappeared, and the +ground was relieved of its superabundant moisture so nearly that the +roads were in fair condition for the passage of teams. Ratke's +barnyard, tracked up by the stock, was a lone quagmire, surrounded by +stretches of solid earth. + +Montcalm had just returned from Break o'Day, where the major had sent +him for the mail. Ratke, wishing to avoid the unpleasant observation +of Mrs. Grippin, made a detour and reached the barns in time to help +him unhitch the horse. + +"Here are your cigars," said Montcalm, extending a wooden box as +Ratke drew near. + +"What cigars?" asked the major. + +"Do you not remember?" Montcalm queried; "you bet me a box of cigars +that the company to which I belong would accept you as a member? I +felt sure of the wager, but you have won it." + +"You should have known better than to bet with me," said the major, +taking the cigars. "I have seen more of the world than you have." + +"I have discovered that to my cost," replied Montcalm. + +"I am anxious to hear the revelation which the company allows you to +make," said the major. + +"Very well," said Montcalm, "but first you must sign this agreement +not to disclose the information you receive. It is a mining company," +said Montcalm, when Ratke had signed the printed agreement, "and is +located in the province of Guerrero, Mexico. Two miners of Chicago +got tired of prospecting out West and finally went southward. South +of the city of Mexico they found what they believed to be rich +diggings. They returned to Chicago and interested some men of +moderate means, who formed the Guerrero Mining Company. In their +excavations they came upon many curious relics, such as pottery, +weapons and bodily ornaments. They exhumed a skeleton seven feet in +length, with silver bracelets on its arms and ornaments of the same +metal on its legs. The scientific men have disputed as to the date of +its interment. Professor McDowell claims it is the remains of an +Anahuac who lived previous to the union of that tribe with the +Chicimecs, while Dr. Hartsuff is equally positive that it is a relic +of the ante-Toltec period. Professor McDowell is writing a work on +the ancient races, which he intends to publish as soon as the +existence of the mines is generally known. What is your opinion on +the subject, Major?" + +"We will discuss that some other time," replied the major, who was +not particularly well posted on American aboriginal history, and who +wished to consult his authorities before committing himself. + +"Here is the letter which they wrote me," said Montcalm. + +"They seem like candid fellows," remarked the major, after perusing +the missive. "Notice that, Trace. + +"'Major Ratke's reputation as a veteran of the Mexican war is such +that we are not afraid to trust him with the knowledge he wishes. A +new mine has been opened, and we can let him have one share of stock, +provided he sends us his application for membership as soon as the +fourteenth of March.' + +"You see," continued the major, "they have heard of me. The people +are beginning to revere the veterans of the Mexican war. But they +have picked up specific information about me. Are there any of my old +comrades in the company?" + +"I do not know," replied Montcalm. "They may have read in the +histories of your military exploits." + +"No," said the major; "my name was mentioned in the newspapers which +gave an account of the war period, but it never appeared in history. +Tell me something more about your company." + +"All its members whom I know," said Montcalm, "are men whose +characters are beyond reproach. They wish to keep the knowledge of +the mines from the money kings, until they have occupied the best +diggings. They pay a quarterly dividend of fifteen per cent, on the +capital. That is sixty percent, yearly. Mr. Bruce, a friend of mine, +who used to live in Cortland, gave me the chance of membership." + +"I like your company," said the major, "because of the men of culture +who are in it and who prop it with respectability. Where are you +going, Trace?" + +"To the woods," answered Montcalm. "I have not yet worked up that old +tree-top." + +"What is the use of your being in such a hurry?" asked the major +impatiently. "You have not told me all about the mining enterprise." + +"I will do so at noon, to the best of my ability." + +"One thing troubles me," said Ratke, "and that is the mortgage on my +place. Unless relief comes, the farm must be sold in July. I hoped +that I might die where I had lived in the prime of manhood. Here I +have planned and worked. In that tool-house have been generated those +mental children, whose births have cost me the pangs of labor, whose +nurture and development have been my constant care, and which, I had +hoped, would be the comfort of my declining years. If I am to be +driven from my home, it would be a solace to know that that building +will be pointed out as the one in which were cradled the creations of +a mighty inventive genius." + +"I trust that you will not be reduced to so poor a consolation," said +Montcalm. "My father was heavily in debt, and he paid the mortgage on +his place." + +"How did he manage it?" inquired Ratke. + +"The mortgage so nearly covered the real value of the property," +answered Montcalm, "that it was difficult for him to obtain the +money. He was obliged to give his creditor a deed of the farm and +take a bond for the deed." + +"A bond?" queried Ratke. + +"Yes," responded Montcalm; "his creditor bound himself by a forfeit +of $20,000, to deed back the property, provided the debt was paid at +the specified time. My father cleared the place of the incumbrance in +three years." + +"If I could get such a chance," said the major, "I would accept it. +Of course it would be a risk. But, unless something is done, I am +certain to lose everything. Times are hard, and nothing will sell +now. Land would bring a very low price if it were put up at auction. +In case my property must go, I would rather see it pass into other +hands than Green's. Stay a little longer. Trace." + +"I am paid for my time," answered Montcalm firmly, "and I must +improve it." + +"Just like your father," said the major. "Nothing ever kept him from +duty. Well, since you will go, I will make it as easy as possible for +you. You can take the one-man saw." + +After Montcalm's departure to the woods, Ratke seated himself on a +log which was on the south side of the central barn. The sun, whose +warming rays are most appreciated after a hard winter, beat down with +just enough heat to make the position one of comfort. The major, +enjoying the delightful temperature of the place, glanced upward to +note the spot where the lines of heat struck the barn-boards and were +reflected downward to him. He located the angle of reflection formed +by that most pleasing ray which touched the back of his neck. It was +above and at the right of a protruding nail and under and to the left +of an oval knot. This done, he traced out the normal which with the +perpendicular completed the plane of reflection. He estimated how far +away must be an object which interrupts the sun's rays, to produce a +cold wave sixty seconds from the time of interruption. + +Opposite to his dwelling the hired men were engaged in the work of +transferring the hill to the quagmire. Some of them were laboring +faithfully enough. There were, however, two notable exceptions. +Wingscheut and Archer, on the sunny slope of the elevation, out of +sight of the house and, in their opinion, of the major, were seated +on the ground kicking up the dirt with their heels. + +Ratke wished that he could bar from them temporarily the calorific or +heat rays of the sun, so that the mild climate of the hillside would +be changed to the frigidity of winter. How he would enjoy watching +them as the gradual decline in temperature came on. They would slap +their hands and stamp with their feet and put off the hardship of +work as long as they could, but they would have to--yes, they would +have to, get up and shovel or freeze. Then, when they were +industriously at their work, he would remove the obstacle and let the +pleasant warmth again stream down upon them. Of course there would be +a relapse of laziness and a consequent reapplication of the remedy, +but they would soon learn that friction develops heat, that there was +a relation between the action of the shovel and the transmission of +the calorific rays, and he would have the power of securing efficient +service from his hired men. + +A foreign body passed between him and the scene of labor. To the +preoccupied major the object seemed to divide, the under and larger +piece remaining stationary, while the upper portion fell off and +continued to advance. With an effort the major drew his attention +from the hill and recognized Durgenson, a cattle-buyer and dealer in +agricultural implements. + +Durgenson also dealt occasionally in horses and sheep, and was well +liked in the community for his square dealing, his readiness to +accommodate and his frank, jocular manner. The only thing which had +ever blackened his good name in that region was his rumored +connection with the Nijni Novgorod oat scheme, but he had +demonstrated to the satisfaction of the farmers that he was guiltless +of complicity in the fraud. He was a large, square-shouldered man +with a closely-trimmed, full beard which gave him an appearance +sterner at a distance than in close proximity. + +"How is everything, Major?" he said, with the heartiness which had +made him popular among the rural classes. + +Ratke, resolved to reap some advantage from the intrusion on his +meditations, broached to the cattle-buyer the subject of a loan. + +"I don't hardly know what to tell you. Major," responded Durgenson. +"I'd like to accommodate. I would. But I don't see how I can now. +Can't you get the money of Berry?" + +"I have been to Berry," answered Ratke, "and I have been to every +moneyed man in the county. They all talk as you do. It will be no +risk to you. I will give you a deed of the farm; and you on your part +must sign a bond to deed it back provided the money is paid at the +specified time." + +"I don't see how I can help you, Major," said Durgenson. "I couldn't +let you have a loan any longer than August. That is, I wouldn't agree +to, for I'm thinking I'll want to use my cash then. That wouldn't pay +you at all. You might better get it of some one that can wait." + +"There are no such men in this vicinity," returned Ratke. "You can +let me have it until August, you say. That may be long enough to save +me. Whatever happens, I do not want the place to go on the mortgage, +for I cannot endure it to be gloated over by Green. I tell you, +Durgenson, I am crowded to the wall, and, unless I get help, I shall +be ruined. I will pay you twenty per cent interest and secure you so +that you can lose nothing." + +"Oh, I don't want your twenty per cent," said Durgenson. "Seven will +do me. If I can accommodate you, I'll be glad. That's all. Of course +I'll have to have the bond just as we talked. Maybe I can let you +have it four or five years. It depends altogether on whether I get in +a pinch or not. I shall have to draw up the papers to make it payable +in July." + +"That is satisfactory to me," said the major. "Suppose we meet at +Sparks's to draw up the writings this afternoon." + +"All right," responded Durgenson. "By the way, have you any fat +cattle to sell?" + +As the major had no cattle of any description to sell, Durgenson took +his departure. + +That afternoon in the office of Justice Sparks James Ratke signed the +instrument which gave sections fourteen and twenty-three and the +north half of section eleven to Hiram B. Durgenson, his heirs and +assigns forever. The major's hand moved unwillingly as he took the +pen. The word "forever" in capitals looked to him unnecessarily +large. He had hitherto refrained from placing an incumbrance on the +Barton hundred and sixty. But after the deeding away of the larger +part of his property, he went to Break o'Day and, that he might +invest in the Guerrero Mining Company, mortgaged this, the last of +his real estate. + +Returning to his home, he found Mrs. Grippin and Manie getting a +basket of cakes and pies in readiness for the donation, which was to +be held that night. + +Manie had accepted the offer of Montcalm's service as escort. Nora, +disappointed in securing the attention of Fred Loomis, had acquainted +Manie with her trouble, and that model of cousins had exercised her +influence on the major, who had invited John Wrengell to ride in the +wagon with the family. So it happened that Nora and he whose +awkwardness she had mercilessly ridiculed not a week before sat side +by side during the journey to Osborne's. + +The major soon after his arrival at Osborne's met a reverse in his +favorite warfare, argument. Lyman Sparks had brought with him +Largess, a nephew of his wife and the principal of the Sharptown +Academy, who, according to the rural custom, was honored with the +title of "Professor." Professor Largess was an atheist; and the pride +of the Sparks' who were professed Christians, was raised more by the +proficiency of their relative in debate than it was lowered by, the +defeat, of their creed. The professor was a tall, lank, loose-jointed +man, who, while he was talking, walked back and forth with a +bombastic swing and a rising and falling of his index finger, a habit +which he had probably acquired in the school-room. + +As the major was considered the argumentative champion of Jefferson +township, upon him, in the absence of the minister, fell the task of +defending the Biblical account of creation. This task he strove +manfully to perform. But his efforts were unsuccessful. The professor +was well versed in those evolutionary theories which have sprung up +in the last half century, and especially in such authors as Spencer +and Darwin, who, more than the direct advocates of infidelity, have +sown the seeds of unbelief. The effect of this logic upon Ratke was +something like that produced upon the Romans by the introduction of +Pyrrhus' elephants into Italy; but, with the perseverance of that +stubborn people, he determined to bring confusion to the opposing +lines by the use of the enemy's own auxiliaries. + +The call to supper gave him an interval of rest and an opportunity to +collect his scattered forces, just as the blows of his opponent were +driving him from his last redoubt. The major was a firm believer in +the benefit of an abstemious diet on brain labor. While he +appreciated a good meal, he liked better a controversial triumph. He +ate, therefore, very sparingly, keeping his mind on the discussion +and avoiding such food as is detrimental to clear thinking. Of all +viands he was fondest of roast pig, and near him was a young porker +prepared by a master hand, but he withdrew his gaze from the tempting +brown as he reflected that baked pork requires five hours to digest. + +He noticed to his satisfaction that Largess was eating heartily, +almost voraciously. The professor had taken two dishes of oysters, +besides pastry and other eatables, when Ratke passed toward him the +platter holding the pig, which, leaving a liberal share of its +contents on his plate, made a circuit of the table and returned to +its original position. Whenever Largess's supply of meat was nearly +exhausted and his longing glances again wandered to the platter for +which he was ashamed to call, the obliging major, who was nibbling +with pretended relish at his first piece of bread, politely supplied +his wants. And now the professor took his third and the last +remaining piece of pig from the platter, which had been seized and +passed by Ratke barely in time for it to escape the clutches of a +ravenous farmer at his right. + +The major had a suspicion that his conduct in this affair was not +strictly according to the rules of honorable warfare, that it +somewhat resembled the ruse of the Central African who feeds the +hippopotamus pease, or that of the sons of Jacob who converted the +Hivites to circumcision only to slay them before they had recovered +from the rite. Whatever his scruples, they did not deter him from +maintaining any advantage which he had gained. Approaching Largess, +who was picking his teeth and whose lank form actually seemed to have +grown rotund, he remarked, "So you claim that all growth springs +primarily from intelligence?" + +"Assuredly," replied the professor. + +"And intelligence is divided into two kinds--conscious and +unconscious?" + +"That is the theory of the leading men of to-day, sir," answered +Largess. + +"And," continued the major, "conscious intelligence alone possesses +the power of definite thought?" + +"That is not a debatable question," dryly commented the professor. + +The major congratulated himself that the roast pig was taking effect. + +"Which requires the higher degree of intelligence," he asked, "the +creation of the simple or of the complex?" + +"I am not partial to trivialities," angrily replied the professor. +"But, since you wish an answer to every petty interrogation which you +invent, I will tell you. The creation of the complex requires the +higher power." + +"Is there not some conscious intelligence about a tree?" inquired the +major. + +"Conscious intelligence?" said Largess, uncertain whether to give a +negative or an affirmative answer. "Why do you ask?" Then, thinking +the major's question a declaration and deciding that it was best to +oppose it, he added, "No enlightened modern scientist ever saw fit to +ascribe conscious intelligence to a tree. It is contrary to +recognized evolutionary theories." + +"And time is a period of constant progress?" + +"No man of sense ever had the hardihood to dispute it," answered +Largess. + +"Now," said the major, "one question more is all I will ask. What +kind of intelligence shaped that top, which Mr. Osborne's boy has +probably had for his amusement?" + +"If this is your last," said the professor, "I will have patience to +answer you. It was conscious intelligence." + +"Allow me to state several of your propositions," said the major. + +"Proposition I.: Conscious intelligence alone possesses the power of +definite thought. + +"Proposition II.: Time is a period of constant progress. + +"Proposition III.: The creation of the complex requires a higher +degree of intelligence than the creation of the simple. + +"Proposition IV.: A tree is not created by conscious intelligence. + +"Proposition V.: A top is created by conscious intelligence. + +"Do I state your position correctly?" + +"We will go back to protoplasm," said Largess. "The cause of +primordial growth is intelligence." + +"You wish to ignore my question," returned Ratke. "I have correctly +stated your argument. A top requires for its construction one kind of +wood, a knife and a boy with little mechanical skill. A tree is +composed of many different elements which I cannot mention. The tree, +therefore, is more complex and requires a higher order of +intelligence. It is not possible for all of your statements to be +correct. You assert, firstly, that the creation of the complex +requires a higher degree of intelligence than the creation of the +simple. And secondly, that the creation of the complex requires the +lower order of intelligence. Which one of your propositions is +wrong?" + +"Sir," said the professor, walking back and forth and resuming the +bombastic swing and the rising and falling of his index finger, "when +you confine yourself to reason, I will answer you. You have no +authority from science to ascribe conscious intelligence to a tree. +Time is a period of progress. When that tree falls, decays and its +substance is in the body of a man, then there will be associated with +it that intangible thing which is called mind." + +"If intelligence is the sole creator," replied Ratke, "and all growth +is self-creating, when you were an oak you might well be proud of +your intellect. Then you could measure out the exact quantity of each +ingredient necessary to your development, and, at the same time, tell +each rootlet what kind of nutriment it should contribute to the +general supply. Had you in weighing let the balance slip a notch, you +would have made an elm instead of an oak. Then you had knowledge and +ingenuity such as is possessed by no human chemist or inventor. Now, +I doubt if you have ingenuity enough to make a good ferule. And yet +you say time is a period of constant progress. Professor Largess, you +are indebted for your entanglement not to me, but to yourself." + +"Bertrand," said Mrs. Sparks, "come away. I wouldn't pay any +attention to him." + +"I will talk no longer with one so unreasonable," declared the +professor, going toward the bedroom, which had been made a receptacle +of hats and overcoats. + +"Largess," began Ratke, following him until the bedroom door was +closed against him, "which one of your propositions did I mistake? +Tell me. Does the creation of the complex require a higher order of +intelligence than the creation of the simple? Is time a period of +constant progress?" + +"My batteries were too strong for him," commented the major as he was +on his way home. "I completely demoralized him." + +"Didn't you tell him he beat himself?" asked Mrs. Grippin. "And now +you're claiming you was the one that did it." + +While they were going along a level stretch of road, they were passed +by Lyman Sparks, Mrs. Sparks and Professor Largess in a buggy drawn +by Sparks' trotter, Madge T. + +"Charge!" shouted Ratke. + +The horses instantly sprang into a run. Mrs. Grippin was saved from +falling only by clinging to her brother, and John and Nora were +thrown in a heap to the bottom of the box. + +"James Ratke," shrieked Mrs. Grippin, "you don't deserve to have any +horses. You stop now, for I won't ride so. You act like a fool." + +"Go on. Uncle James," cried Nora gleefully from the bottom of the +box. "Don't you let him beat you, Uncle James. Oh my! Ain't it fun! +We're gaining on him." + +The major ran his team by Sparks, and, wishing to show that one of +his horses excelled in another gait, steadied Taylor to a trot, +allowing the gray Bill to lope along by his side. The change in +tactics cost him his success in the race, for Sparks, urging Madge T. +to the utmost, again went by him and obtained the lead on a narrow +causeway where he could not be passed and racing was impossible. +After turning the corner west of the church, the major practiced his +team in making a quick start and in obeying instantly the summons of +"Halt!" + +"James Ratke," said Mrs. Grippin, when she stood by their dwelling, +"you act crazy. I never saw such a man. I've a good notion to say I +never will ride with you again." + +"I wish," said the major reflectively, "that I had brought with us +the cow I bought of Osborne. I might have hitched her behind the +wagon." + +"Yes," retorted Mrs. Grippin contemptuously; "then you'd have dragged +her home. Tie a cow behind a wagon when you drive." + + +CHAPTER VII. +MONTCALM TAKES A NIGHT'S RAMBLE. + +The spring was advanced to May. A few changes had taken place at the +farm. The major had prosecuted with more than his usual vigor his +various enterprises. He had improved his Jerusalem wagon. He had +exercised a better supervision over his hired men. He had succeeded +in reducing the hill almost to a level with the quagmire, a task +which, owing to his under-estimation of the number of grammes of +force required for the transfer, or to his overestimation of the +number of ergs of work in his men, had taken longer than he had +expected. Wingscheut, dissatisfied with the shoveling which he had +been obliged to do, had hired out to Lyman Sparks, where he had found +smaller wages and harder work. + +The large clock in the sitting-room had struck eleven, and the Ratke +family and farm hands, with one exception, had gone to bed. Montcalm, +thoughtful and gloomy, sat in his bedroom. The last month had not +been one of satisfaction to him. He had been accustomed to have his +attentions sought after instead of seeking for an opportunity to +bestow them. Some social triumphs, it is true, had been his; but +Manie, whom of all women he most admired, had declined to accept his +addresses, and had even hinted that his compliments savored more of +flattery than of sincerity. + +Irresolutely the restless hired man rose and peered from his window. +The evergreens, almost touching the house, were moving slightly their +branches and emitting a subdued murmur which was scarcely audible. + +Casting off his indecision, Montcalm began to unlock one of two +trunks which were in the room. The trunk was well fastened, requiring +him to press several springs and to turn a thin key before the lid +flew open and its contents were revealed. Had the major glanced over +Montcalm's shoulder at that moment, he would have been struck with +astonishment; but he could not possibly have named any considerable +proportion of the articles which he would have seen. There were small +saws, iron or steel implements, and, most curious of all, four large +woolen pads, to which were attached hollow columns of leather +resembling bootlegs, and each of which, when placed upon the floor, +covered an area of more than one square foot. + +Picking up the pads and a long steel bar and putting them into a +large sack, Montcalm opened the window and climbed stealthily to the +ground. From the shelter of the trees he scrutinized the road, which +showed no sign of being traversed. The moon had set, but the stars, +unobscured save by a few thin streaks of cloud, in a measure made up +for the missing light. Passing to the barn from the lower edge of the +shaded walk, he continued his way at a distance from the road +sufficient to escape the observation of a possible passer-by and was +soon in the rear of the tenement house occupied by Philetus Takum. + +His approach was heralded by a suppressed growl, and Takum's yellow +dog, Lina, and two litters of pups, one about the size of large cats, +the other larger than their mother, came out to give him a canine +welcome. The elder dog with the younger progeny trotted back to the +nest under the house, but the larger pups capered about him as if +desirous to become acquainted. + +The place had about it an air of thriftlessness, quite suggestive of +the character of its inhabitants. The fence which had bounded the +yard had yielded to the demand for fuel, and in the place where a +wood-pile had once been there were left not chips enough to kindle a +fire. A light streamed through a window, from which had been broken +several panes of glass, whose places had been supplied by a board, +some rags and two old hats. + +In the house, a female voice was charging Takum with a neglect to +provide wood, and from the loft came boyish complaints, which were +indistinguishable to Montcalm. + +"Harv," growled Takum, "you quit your crowdin', or I'll be up there +d'rectly." + +Montcalm, going to the rear of some bushes, whither he was followed +by the pups, lifted one of them by the tail clear from the ground, an +act which elicited a doleful lament, and brought the mother snarling +to the assistance of her offspring. + +"Shut up, you brutes," yelled Takum, poking his head from the door. +"What in thunder is the matter with 'em?" he ejaculated, as the noise +continued unabated. + +"Why! Mr. Montcalm," he exclaimed, as he suddenly confronted the +visitor. "I didn't know you was here. I thought somethin' was the +matter with the pups by the way Lina took on." + +"And so there was," replied Montcalm. "This one was clever enough to +call you out for me. Get your hat and come on. Get one you are not +used to wearing." + +"Ain't it purty light?" asked Philetus. "Seems to me it is." + +"Very well," returned Montcalm, "if you are afraid, I can get some +one else." + +"Oh, no, I ain't afraid," assured Takum. "But I thought, you know. +I'll git my hat right off." + +"Get one of those from the window," said Montcalm. "Do not let your +wife know that any one is with you." + +Montcalm and Takum traversed the field in front of Ratke's at an +angle sufficient to bring them some distance in the rear of the +leveled hill. As, after crossing several other fields, they clambered +over a fence which bounded a strip of timber, some sheep fled through +the bushes in alarm. + +"Jerusalem!" said Takum. "Wouldn't this be a fine place for a feller +to help himself to mutton? I thought they was runnin' over by the +church. They was last week. Green keeps his sheep fat, too. But they +ain't so fat as Lyme Sparkses. His sheep is just a wad o' fat. But of +all sheep ole Ratke's. Gosh all Friday! I wouldn't eat one o' his +sheep for a farm. But say, if you like chickens, Lyme 'Sparks has got +some o' the biggest, fattest Cochins you ever see. They grow quick, +you know. Why, the meat 'ill almost sqush in your hands." + +"I am not hungry for chickens," Montcalm shortly replied. + +"Mebbe you like ducks better," suggested Philetus. "Green has got +some o' the genuine Pekin. We might as well kill two birds with one +stone." + +"I have no appetite for ducks," answered Montcalm. "Let us attend to +the business in hand." + +"I s'pose nothin'll satisfy you but a goose," said Takum. "Widder +Smith is the only one in this hull country that keeps geese. They're +the plaguiest things to hook, though, you ever see. They'll get right +on the doorstep an' gabble, gabble enough to wake the nations. But +they ain't none on 'em sharp enough for me. Just you watch, an' I'll +show you a trick that'll make you open your eyes." + +"Is your name Phleet?" inquired Montcalm. + +"That's the handle I go by," answered Takum. + +"Well, then, Phleet, you have altogether too much mouth for a man of +your size. Do what I tell you to do, and never mind hens and geese." + +"What is that?" he exclaimed, as some animals came cautiously in view +at the edge of an open space. "They are your dogs." + +The older pups, which, alone, had ventured to follow, were by a few +clubs sent yelping back to the residence of Takum. + +"Nice help the boss picked out for me," commented Montcalm--"a fool +and his dogs." + +"I'm a-goin' back," said Philetus, "I ain't a-goin' to stay here to +be abused." + +"You can go a little ways, if you like," answered Montcalm, "about a +step. At the second I shall shoot you." + +Philetus was terrified as much by the kindly tone of Montcalm as by +the savage words with which it was coupled. So dreadful a threat, +uttered in such a manner, he believed was not an idle one. He +followed in silence his superior, whom he watched with wonder and +fear. + +Emerging from the woods, they came to a lane which led to the barns +of Green. + +"You are working in finely, Phleet," complimented Montcalm. + +"I'm glad you think so, Mr. Montcalm," responded Philetus in the +lowest of whispers, as much pleased at the compliment as was one of +his dogs at his own fondling. + +"Lie here by this straw-stack," commanded Montcalm, as they entered +the barn-yard. "I will take a turn about, the house. Can you tell me +where all the folks sleep?" + +"Ole Green and Mis' Green they sleep in the bedroom this way," +answered Philetus, so cautiously that he could be barely heard. "An' +the fool, he sleeps upstairs. An' say, don't git mad if I talk too +much, but mebbe ole Green ain't gone to bed. He don't always burn +lights, just to save oil, you know." + +"I am glad you spoke of that," said Montcalm, taking the opportunity +to soothe Takum's wounded feelings. "I will be careful." + +Philetus, whose nerves had not recovered from the shock which they +had received in the woods, was content to lie hidden in the straw. He +started nervously, as he heard the whisper of Montcalm, who +approached from a direction opposite to that in which he had set out. + +"Everything is all right. Bring on that sack," said Montcalm. + +Green, following the custom which prevailed among Jackson County +farmers, kept his horse-barn locked. Montcalm drew the steel bar from +the sack, inserted it in the staple, and at a few hearty wrenches +twisted the fastening from its place. + +Takum's curiosity concerning the sack, for the satisfaction of which +he had not dared ask a question, had now an opportunity to be +gratified. Montcalm took one of the strange-looking articles and +endeavored to put the boot-like attachment on the leg of a colt which +stood in a farther stall; but the animal was high-spirited, and he +was obliged to summon Takum to his assistance. + +The efforts of both were required to encase the feet of the colt in +the pads. Considerable noise was made by the beast, as he stepped +about trying to keep his feet from the clumsy coverings by which they +were being cumbered. + +Montcalm ordered Takum to stay close to the corn-crib, which was +between the barns and the house, while he made a second tour about +the latter building. + +"Everything is quiet," he remarked, as he returned to his waiting +ally. "Both of us must get that horse by the bridle, one on each +side, for he promises to give us some trouble." + +It was as Montcalm had predicted. The animal, when he comprehended +that the bulky articles were on his feet, shied from side to side and +came very near jamming Montcalm against the corner of a post. But the +pads, soft as boxing-gloves, so muffled the sound that it could be +heard but a few rods; and when the horse trod the solid ground, his +uneasiness abated. + +"You may ride if you like," said Montcalm, when they were in the +lane. + +"No, I'd rather foot it," answered Philetus, suspecting that the colt +would not prove a docile beast of burden. + +With a leap Montcalm lighted on the back of the horse, which plunged +furiously forward, but subsided to a slower gait when he felt the +grip of the master on his rein. Philetus, afraid to lag behind, raced +after his superior at a pace which severely taxed his powers and led +him to the conclusion that hereafter, should he be given the choice, +he would hazard a possible fall rather than accept the alternative of +certain exertions which were more violent than pleasant. At the +entrance to the woods Montcalm dismounted and opened the gate before +he was joined by his breathless subordinate. He led the colt through +the timber, as the trees and overhanging limbs might lead to a +casualty should he remain on the animal's back. + +"Say," whispered Philetus, "don't think I'm a-talkin' too much, but +Green calls this colt Billy." + +"I am glad you told me," replied the leader. "It may help me to +manage him." + +The direction which they were pursuing was southeasterly. Philetus +was astonished to see Montcalm, a stranger in the neighborhood, lead +the way through the woods with a facility which he, a practiced +raider of the vicinity, could not have equaled. Nor did his surprise +abate when his companion, tying his horse to a sapling, brought from +beneath a rotten log a sack, concerning the contents of which he was +too much intimidated to inquire, but which he believed to contain a +set of large woolen pads. + +They were obliged to let down a fence in order to pass from the +woods. After the rails were put back to their places, Montcalm told +Philetus that he might ride; and that worthy, remembering the strain +to which his legs were subjected in the lane, gladly accepted his +offer. + +Philetus had not far to practice his equestrianism. He passed through +a gate, which led into the road and which Montcalm opened. + +The large square house of Lyman Sparks, visible in the starlight, +stood behind its partial screen of small pine-trees. It was evident +from the buildings that the farm was owned by one whose success had +been obtained by mastering the details of his profession. Not a stray +board could be seen about the premises. Not a picket was loose in the +fence which enclosed the house. The barns were models of comfort to +the stock and convenience to the farmer; and between them was a +straw-stack symmetrically built and having a neatly rounded top. + +In front of the barnyard were some walnut-trees, and to a limb which +hung conveniently low Montcalm tied the halter-strap of the stolen +horse. + +"In which barn is Madge T.?" he asked. + +"In the one this way, the first stall," answered Takum. + +"Stand by that small building," said Montcalm, "and watch the horse. +If you hear any disturbance, notify me at once." + +Philetus was by the protection of a not unfamiliar retreat, for it +was the hen-house which he had so often visited. His instinct of +thieving--for the propensity had become an instinct--was stronger +than his fear of Montcalm, especially in the absence of the latter. +In a very short time he had one of Sparks' matchless Cochins stuffed +inside his jacket. His intrusion aroused a cackling protest among the +fowls, and the dog, which had hitherto kept quiet, now ran out and +added to the tumult. Philetus, alarmed at the result of his action, +went hastily to Montcalm, and whispered, "That dog's out, and they +can't nobody stop him." + +"The pads are all on," said Montcalm. "Help me lead out this horse, +and we will get away immediately." + +"Quick, Mr. Montcalm!" said Takum in excitement. "They're a-comin'! +They're a comin'!" + +Just then Sparks, clad in his under-garments, shouted from his back +porch, "Halt! Where be you a-goin' with my horse?" + +"Jump on her back," ordered Montcalm. "Ride east a quarter of a mile +and wait. I will join you as soon as I can." + +There was near the barn from which Madge T. had been taken a third +party, whose proximity was not suspected, either by Sparks or by the +depredators. The vender of "Great American Panacea," repulsed at +every house where he had asked for a night's lodging, had sought the +straw-stack, in the side of which a hole had been eaten by the stock. +The barking of the dog and the disturbance in the hen-house and in +the stable suggested that he was not the only intruder, and the voice +of Sparks confirmed the indications from other sources. With the +conviction that the location was becoming dangerous, the peddler +picked up his satchels and prepared to depart. He emerged from the +cavern in the side of the straw-stack at the same moment that +Wingscheut, who had dilatorily followed Sparks and his boy, came +around the corner of the hen-house and confronted him. + +Once face to face with the supposed horse-thief, the German was far +from feeling the courage of which he was wont to boast. His employer +and son were on the opposite side of the barn, and before their +arrival to his assistance, he might be killed by the desperate +stranger. His conduct was determined by the indecision of Panicky. +His valor returned with tenfold intensity as the peddler whirled, +dropped his satchels and made toward the barnyard fence, and with a +wild dash he caught him with his boasted hiplock and brought him +heavily to the ground, yelling at the top of his voice, "I'fe cot te +tam horse-tief! I'fe cot te tam horse-tief!" + +Poor Panicky clutched the wrists of Wingscheut, whose intention was +mercilessly to pound him. He would have given the contents of his +satchels, of his pockets, even the clothes he wore, to be placed, +unhampered, four feet from his captor. + +"Oh, let me up!" he pleaded, clinging to the writhing hands, which +threatened to descend upon him with crushing force. "I haven't stole +any horse." + +"Yes you haf stole a horse," affirmed Wingscheut, struggling to free +his hands, "te pest horse in te whole country. I'll cif you a face +vat von't look coot in Suntay-school. Let co my hant, I tell you. +Can't you mint notting? Come kill te tam horse-tief," he added, as +Sparks and his boy drew near. + +Montcalm did not wait to see his order to Takum obeyed. He ran down +the graveled drive and to the walnut-tree before he was passed by +Philetus. He had hitched the horse underneath the tree, the limbs of +which were low, so that he could distinctly see neither the house nor +the barn. An embarrassing difficulty was now presented. The +halter-strap, at which the colt had been continually pulling, could +not be readily untied; and he had left his knife at home in a pocket +of his working clothes. Pulling and twisting, he managed to break the +limb and disengage the severed extremity from the halter-strap. + +It was at this juncture that he heard Wingscheut proclaiming that he +had captured the horse-thief. He was at a loss to account for the +circumstance. Madge T. had certainly raced by him, but behind the +low-hanging bushes he had not ascertained whether Philetus were on +her back, although he had had no suspicion that such was not the +case. He laid hold of a strong stick which had been used to knock +walnuts from the tree, before he decided on his course of action, but +all doubts as to the cause of the outcry were at an end when +Wingscheut again called Sparks to come and kill the horse-thief. + +Whatever were the faults of Montcalm, he was not the one to desert an +ally. Assuring himself that his revolver was ready for use, he sprang +upon the back of the horse and dashed up the drive, through a gate +which had been left open by Sparks, and around the corner of the +barn. + +The Sparkses, happening to look up in season, fled before what they +supposed to be a rescue of cavalry, effecting their retreat through a +second gate which led into the lane. Wingscheut, intent on pounding +Panicky and unwarned by the muffled hoofs of the horse, which made +but little noise, did not realize his danger until communication with +the house and with his employer was cut off. He was frightened at the +prospect of receiving the violence which he was anxious to mete out +to another, and he limped around the straw-stack with a speed which +was, for a man who had a crippled leg, almost phenomenal. His terror +did not find vent in words until Montcalm raced up and struck him +several blows with his cudgel, when he exclaimed: + +"Ton't kill a man vat ain't to plame! Warum schlagst du mich? Was +hab' ich gethan? I ain't tone notting! Te teffil, I ain't tone +notting!" + +Montcalm, satisfied that those whom he had dispersed would not soon +organize for pursuit, turned his horse by a considerable effort and +rode back to Panicky, who, satchels in hand, was preparing to leave +the locality, which had for him no pleasant recollections. "Here," +said Montcalm, unable distinctly to see the man whom he had rescued, +and supposing him to be Philetus, "jump on quick and ride away." + +"I don't believe I care to ride," answered Panicky. + +"What!" ejaculated Montcalm. "Who are you?" + +The marauder leaped on his horse, from which he had dismounted, and +was instantly flying down the drive. His perplexity over the incident +at the straw-stack did not abate when he found Takum waiting at the +appointed place. + +"Oh! Mr. Montcalm," whispered Philetus, "I was afraid they'd caught +you. I heard 'em sayin' they'd got the horse-thief and they was +a-goin' to kill 'im. This ain't hookin' chickens. We better be +gittin' right out o' here." + +"There is no hurry," replied Montcalm. "They are no more anxious to +find us than we are to find them. Drive your horse out to the side of +the road, and we will trot along. Did you see any one around the barn +or straw-stack?" + + +"Nary a body," said Takum. "Can't you touch up your horse, Mr. +Montcalm? Caesar! how this mare pulls. I can't hold her. 'Twouldn't +do for us to git far apart. They'd git away with us sure." + +"I will try to keep so close to you that you can protect me," +Montcalm answered. + +"That's just what I'll do," said Takum. "I'll stick closer'n a +brother. Less see if there's any run in these horses." + +"We will stop here," said Montcalm, as they came to a wood at the end +of the road. "Let down the fence. Be careful," he cautioned, as Takum +threw the rails right and left. + +"They're a-gittin' the neighbors out!" whispered Philetus. "That's +Sparkses boy. Just hear him yell! Less light out!" + +"They will not be here under half an hour," said Montcalm. "We must +put up this fence or they will track us." + +The wood was here easy of access. It had been used as a picnic ground +and had been consequently cleared of underbrush. Most of the trees +were white oaks, the limbs of which, unadorned, save by newly +sprouted leaves, admitted the direct rays of the stars and the +diffused light of the rising moon, though that luminary was not yet +visible above the tree tops. Farther along the slope which the +plunderers and their booty were descending, the trees were taller, +closer together and covered with a more luxuriant growth of leaves. +The boundary between the forest and the great swamp was formed by a +strip of small ash and poplars, through which led, here and there, a +path. + +Ordering Takum to hold the horses, Montcalm went into the bushes and +soon reappeared with two pairs of high rubber boots. + +"Hello," exclaimed Takum, who was beginning to lose his apprehension +of pursuit, "how did you know them boots was there?" + +"It is no bad thing to be good at guessing," said Montcalm. "Strip +off your cowhides and put on a pair, for you will need them. After we +get through this thicket, we will ride till we come to the high +bushes." + +They rode easily through low brush and the belt of water, which at +the edge reached nearly to the horses' bodies, but which grew shallow +as they proceeded. When they came to the high bushes, however, the +brutes refused to proceed farther. Montcalm tied the colt, removed +the pads from the feet of the animals, and led Madge T., while +Philetus was ordered to urge her from the rear. Sparks' trotter never +before experienced such a castigation as was administered to her by +the tamarack pole in the hands of the obedient Takum. Although the +distance was not more than half a mile, and Philetus in wielding the +pole spared neither the brute nor his own muscle, it was thirty +minutes before they reached the tamaracks. + +"Well," remarked Takum, wiping the sweat from his brow, "we can't git +no horse through them tamaracks." + +"Let me show you how these trees grow," said Montcalm, pulling one of +them from the ground, in which a sharpened point had been sticking. + +"I swan!" ejaculated the wondering Philetus, "somebody has cut them +poles and stuck 'em back in again." + +Madge T. was again tied, and the two men commenced to pull the trees +from a narrow space which had been prepared for the speedy completion +of a road. Many fallen and nearly decayed tamaracks, which had been +left to give the way a natural appearance, were by Montcalm's command +lifted aside carefully, that they might again be returned, unchanged, +to their former position. It was necessary to be near the trees which +had been cut and set in the ground to distinguished them from those +which were standing as they had grown. But a careful observer would +have noticed that the ground was disturbed, that many of the trees +were leaning, and that his feet often stepped on the small stumps, +which were imperfectly hidden by ruffled moss. Montcalm depended for +the security of the stolen property on the loneliness of the place +more than on the measures he had taken to provide for the closing of +the road when his booty should have passed through. Nor was this +confidence ill-founded. The huckleberries and tamaracks were so thick +that in many places it was impossible to see at a distance of more +than six feet. The mat of bushes, catching at clothes and striking +when they were bent back and released, were certain to occupy a +liberal share of the attention of possible wanderer, if, as was quite +unlikely, he might be led at that season of the year, by business or +curiosity, to flounder through the mire and water which surrounded +the swamp. + +As they proceeded into the interior of the thicket, the trees were +larger and farther apart, so that few of them had to be removed. The +road here became more winding, not only because those who cleared it +found it easier to pass around than to chop down a large trunk, but +because this method offered less danger of detection. Presently the +way became straighter and the trees smaller and more numerous, as at +the edge of the tamaracks. + +In a cleared spot of a few yards in area the plunderers halted. Ample +provision had been made for the accommodation of the horses. By the +border of the clearing were a bag of oats, some bedding and a large +bundle of hay wound about with a rope. Had Philetus possessed the +spirit of romanticism, he would have reveled in the scene before him. +But unappreciated, even unnoticed, was that combination of +picturesqueness formed by the rising moon, the spoils of the foray, +the steed which had been ridden in the expedition, the dark, resolute +face of the leader and the wall of marshy forest which screened him +in his retreat. + +The ground, which in most swamps is highest at the center, was here +quite dry. It was covered by moss, on which was spread a finer +carpeting--the leaves which had dropped the preceding fall; and over +it arched the tamaracks, which had put forth their peculiar pointed +foliage before the phlegmatic oaks of the upland had covered their +naked branches after the lethargy of winter. + +The second horse was more difficult to lead than the first. He pulled +back on his halter and when urged by the blows with which Takum +belabored him, plunged ahead with such vehemence that Montcalm was +scarcely able to hold him. It was a relief to Philetus when both +horses were eating together in the opening. The work of replacing the +sharpened stakes occupied some minutes. Montcalm insisted that the +old brush and fallen poles should be dragged back to their places and +arranged with care. + +More disagreeable than the task which they had completed was that of +wading through the water which skirted the marsh. The rubber boots, +high as they were, sank beneath the surface, and the clothing of the +lower limbs was saturated with muddy water. In the border of the +woods the men changed their rubber for leather boots, and Montcalm +substituted for his drenched trousers a pair which he found in a +clump of bushes, and which had been left evidently with a view to +meeting that exigency. + +"Ain't it about time we was makin' towards home, Mr. Montcalm?" asked +Philetus. + +"Why, are you sick of foraging?" inquired Montcalm. + +"No, I ain't sick of it, as you might say," answered Takum, "but I've +got enough of it for just now, you know. My legs is about petered." + +"I think you and I can do a very good business," said Montcalm. + +"That's about what I think," returned Takum. "Me an' you is hustlers, +an' they hadn't nobody better interfere with us neither." + +As Takum finished this speech, his foot caught in a brush, and he was +thrown against a tree with such force that his jacket was unbuttoned +and the dead hen tumbled against a log with a thud. + +"How did you come by that?" demanded Montcalm. + +"Well, you see," answered the terrified Philetus, "I was right there, +you know, by the hen-house, you know, an' I thought it wouldn't do +any hurt, seein' I'knew the way in, to git this chicken." + +"Was that when the dog barked?" asked Montcalm. + +"No, just afore," acknowledged Takum. "You ain't mad, be you, Mr. +Montcalm?" + +"I would not try any such thing again," said Montcalm. "You must +attend to business and let hens, ducks and geese alone. You are green +at the work, but by training you will make a good hand." + +"You bet your sweet neck," replied Philetus. "I ain't no two-spot. +Say, don't you think me an' you could git them horses without +accountin' to nobody for 'em?" + +"No, it would not be best," said Montcalm. "We could not sell them +without getting caught. Besides, there is a great risk in taking +them. I never work in a neighborhood long after I start a gang. You +and I have too long heads to wallow through swamps and risk our necks +around other men's barns at night. We will do the planning, and let +some one else do the work." + +"Say, but there is somethin' in that," acquiesced Philetus. "Me an' +you can do the plannin'. I was to git ten dollars for what I done, +an' I've been scart more'n ten dollars' worth, take it all around. +Don't none o' the men you have to work for you ever tell?" + +"Oh, yes!" answered Montcalm, "they sometimes do." + +"An' do you ever hurt 'em?" queried Takum. + +"No," replied Montcalm. + +"So you never do nothin' to 'em?" said Takum. + +"Oh, yes!" said Montcalm, "we do something to them." + +"An' what do you do?" asked Philetus. + +"Shoot them," answered Montcalm. + +"I thought you said you never hurt 'em," said Takum in a disappointed +tone. + +"Neither do we. We kill them so quick it does not hurt them," gently +replied Montcalm. + +"Oh, I wouldn't tell nobody," said Takum earnestly. "I've hooked more +chickens'n anybody in this hull country, an' I never told anybody but +you." + +At Takum's house Montcalm struck across the fields and was soon by +Ratke's barns. In the shadow of the largest he paused and deliberated +whether it were not better to leave the neighborhood. He knew that +pursuit must have been organized for his capture. It was also +possible that he had been recognized by Wingscheut, Sparks or the +mysterious stranger whom he had rescued. Moreover, he had reason to +fear the instability of Philetus. But Philetus might prove a better +confidant than helper, especially after being impressed with the +certainty of punishment for the first breach of confidence. + +Montcalm decided to remain. He hesitated to leave her for whose +approval, though it could not be gained, no sacrifice would have been +too great. He told himself that, had she given him the least +encouragement, he would have averted the misfortunes which were +gathering about her and her relatives. He was tired of the life he +was leading, with its trickery and deceit, its wronging of honest +men. He would lay his plans, and at a few successful moves gather in +the money which would enable him to live at peace with all mankind. + +Strangely he felt the force of those words which that Sabbath night +Manie had spoken to him concerning Ahab and the Syrian. He had made +the covenant with Ben-hadad, but his Ramoth Gilead had not yet come. +And would it come? With that apprehension by which the guilty spirit +alone is haunted, he looked about him. In the peaceful air, +undisturbed by a sound harsher than the note of the whip-poor-will, +was no warning. The only foreign element in the quiet which reigned +about the place was the turbulence which agitated the mind of one +man. + +The night was now well advanced. Some stars which had by the +marauders been used as landmarks or timepieces, had changed their +places or disappeared. The Pleiades had descended to the westward. +The great dipper had lowered its handle until it appeared to be a +receptacle toward which were falling myriads of glittering drops. +Taking his way through the spruce, Montcalm raised his window and +clambered in. + + +CHAPTER VIII. +PURSUING THE DEPREDATORS. + +Toward morning the major was awakened by loud and repealed shouting. +As passers-by had sometimes amused themselves by calling him up and +cracking jokes at his expense, he did not at first respond to the +summons. But the continuance of the shouting argued the occurrence of +something unusual, and, hastily dressing, he went to the dining-room +window. + +In the road was a band of mounted men, the advance of which only +could be seen by Ratke, while the main portion of the body was +obscured by the evergreens. Some of the troop carried guns, several +bore pitchforks, not more than one or two appeared unarmed, and these +probably had revolvers. + +"What is the matter?" inquired the major. + +"Matter enough!" returned a voice. "Two horses was stole last night, +and we're after the thieves." + +"We've got some inquiries to make here," said Green, riding through +the large gate and within a short distance of the house, where he was +followed by the band. "You have men from every part of the country, +and nobody knows whether they are honest or not. What we want to know +is, where are they?" + +"You may search the premises if you like," said Ratke. "All of my men +are in the club-house. All but one," he added, "and he is above +suspicion. I will call him." + +"Trace, Trace," called the major, going to the door of Montcalm's +room with a lamp. + +"Come in," said Montcalm, "I thought I heard some one calling." + +As soon as Ratke had left him, Montcalm sprang up, scaped together +some patches of swamp muck which bad not been noticed by his +unobservant employer, and, wrapping them in a paper, threw them +hastily into one of his trunks. + +Stepping out of doors, he saw the thief-hunters, who were returning +from the club-house. + +"Hurrah, boys!" called a young fellow in a white hat; "everybody get +on a horse." + +"What is the use of making such a racket?" asked Green. "You let the +thieves know you are coming long before we get to them." + +"I am my own boss," answered the fellow in the white hat. + +Montcalm ran to the horse-barn, unlocked it with the key which he had +obtained from Ratke, bridled the steeds and led them out before he +was rejoined by his employer. After assisting the major to get on the +back of Bill, he too mounted, and they at once sped eastward toward +the party, which they presently overtook. + +The band halted in front of Takum's. + +"We want to see where Phleet is," said Green. + +Shout after shout was given, but Philetus did not respond. + +"There is no use in disturbing him," said the major. "He has not +enterprise enough for a horse-thief." + +"Don't be too sure," said Green, proceeding to the front door and +administering several loud taps. + +"Who's there?" asked a female voice after the lapse of a few seconds. + +"Where is Phleet?" inquired Green, ignoring her question. + +"He ain't to home," replied Mrs. Takum. "He's gone to his uncle's." + +"There, Ratke," exclaimed Green triumphantly as he neared the road. +"He's gone, and right in the middle of the night. We'll take a look +after him." + +"It is probable that he is where he hadn't ought to be," said a +red-whiskered man whose name was Holmes. "I shouldn't wonder at all +if he's with the horses now." + +Montcalm, realizing that it would be dangerous to allow suspicion to +fall upon his subordinate, jumped to the ground and inquired, "What +is his name?" + +"Phleet," answered Sparks, + +Rushing to the door of the house and giving it some kicks which +threatened to tear it from its hinges, Montcalm shouted, "Phleet, +Phleet, if you don't come, we will kick down your door and drag you +out of bed." + +"Yes, I'm a-coming'," answered the trembling Philetus. "Don't be +a-gittin' mad now." + +"There," said the major, triumphing in his turn, "he was afraid to +answer. He thought you were about to do him violence." + +The band, unanimously agreeing not to disturb Takum further, +continued their course, which they decided to direct through the +swamp, instead of along the road which branched southward. + +"Where have you been hunting?" asked Ratke. + +"We've been all along the road by Lyme's," answered Holmes. "We +turned the corner east of his house and went up by Rob Eliot's, and +so around to Oakville and your house. But we have found no trace of +the thieves." + +"The funniest thing of the whole bisness is that they didn't leave no +tracks," remarked Sparks. "There was a ways that the ground was all +scraped up, places two or three feet across. But it didn't go far, +an' then we couldn't find hide nor hair." + +"In my opinion," said Holmes, "we had better stop at the house of +every suspicious character. If we find them at home, very good. If +not, we will suspect them. I think the men that took those horses are +with them now. When I was a boy I had some traps stolen. There was a +very light snow, and I started to follow the tracks of the thieves. I +happened to meet an old trapper, and he said, 'I'll go with you, but +we won't follow these tracks. There's no telling where they go to. +We'll take the back track.' So we followed the tracks back. They led +to a house not more than half a mile from the trapping ground. They +were two surprised boys, when I caught them walking into the house +with my traps." + +"Had we not better divide our party?" asked Ratke. "Concentration of +power is necessary when we wish to apply a prodigious force at a +particular point. But in this case, where the resistance is apt to be +small, we had better get at the short end of the lever, thus +providing for much agility and extension of movement." + +"I can't make out how we can get around any livelier by dividin' up," +said Sparks. "I can move just as fast when I'm with somebody as when +I'm alone." + +"I am not to blame," returned Ratke, "because you cannot see why we +can look over more ground by dividing our force, why we can stand a +better chance to catch the thieves by watching a mile than a rod of +territory. I suppose that they would not dare make any resistance if +we found them." + +"There's just where you're mistaken," replied Sparks. "They come +a-chargin' up my lane to beat all, an' they drove me an' my boy to +the house, in spite o' all we could do." + +"Yes," said Wingscheut, "tey come a-charchin' up. Put, provitin' I +hat hat a coot man vith me, I coot a kilt efery tam horse-tief." + +"How many of them were there?" inquired Ratke. + +"Vell," answered Wingscheut, "tere vass two in te first place. Unt +von of 'em he run. Unt, provitin' my short lec vass crowet out long +like it vass started to crow, I coot a caught 'im. Put I catched te +otter von hiplock, Unt I trowet 'im. Unt, provitin' you ton't pelieve +it, you can ask Sparks. Ten tere vass four more, tey come a-ritin' +up. Unt von of 'em he was a pic feller. He vass proat unt he vass +long, Unt he vass pic all ofer. Unt he hat plack viskers Come vay +town here," said the German, drawing his hand across his waist. +"Vell, ten I let te feller co vat I hat, Unt I hit te feller vat hat +te viskers. Unt tey run teir horses pack, vippin' 'em like tey vass +no man vant to pe pehint. Provitin' I hat a hat somepoty vat coot a +het 'em off, tey vass cone up horse-tiefs. Unt, if you vant to know +who te feller vass tat I trowet, I can tell you tat." + +"Who was he, Wingscheut?" asked the fellow in the white hat. + +"Vell," answered Wingscheut, "maype you ton't pelief it, put he vass +Panicky." + +The German's statement was greeted with a laugh of derision which +silenced him for some minutes. + +"That was a fine animal you lost, Sparks," remarked Ratke. + +"Yes," said Sparks, "she was the best blooded animal in the county." + +"You are mistaken," replied the major. "My Taylor has better blood +than Madge T." + +"They don't nobody else think so," returned Sparks. "Madge T. is by +Wellington, an' Wellington is by Cyclone, an' Cyclone is by Mohammed, +an' Mohammed is by the Duke of Argyle, and he was good for 2:26. +Madge's mother was from Petoskey Chief, an' she could go in three +minutes." + +"Taylor has no blood as slow as three minutes," replied the major. +"Taylor's sire was Aleck, he by King Henry, he by Maurice A., he by +the Duke of Argyle. Taylor's dam was Matilda, sired by Cal, he by +Marshal Ney, he by Royal John. Matilda went in 2:28 on Long Island, +and every horseman knows that Aleck could distance Wellington." + +"The proof of the puddin' is in the eatin'," said Sparks. "Madge T. +could always go by Taylor." + +"Always?" said Ratke. "Sparks, did I not go by you coming from the +donation at Osborne's?" + +"Yes," admitted Sparks, "an' didn't you run your horses, too?" + +"Taylor did break up," returned Ratke. "But when you regain +possession of Madge T., bring her over and I will try conclusions +with you." + +"I'm afraid we won't race very quick," sorrowfully observed Sparks. + +They had now passed through the swamp and were approaching a +dilapidated barn, beyond which was an unpainted frame-house. + +"Had we better stop here?" inquired one. + +"Yes," was the answer. "They're hard customers. We better rout 'em +up." + +The crowd, stopping their horses by the front gate, called the name +of Wallace and uttered with it many an unnecessary and insinuating +remark. At last a window was raised, a head thrust out and Wallace +inquired, "What do you want?" + +In spite of their want of respect for the place and its occupants, +the party hesitated to answer the gruff interrogation. But Green, who +was unscrupulous in wounding the feelings of others, boldly replied, +"We wanted to know if you was at home." + +"I'm much obliged to you," said Wallace. "I like to be waked up out +of a snooze to hear some half-baked nuisance ask if I'm to home. I +s'pose you want to know next if the folks is all well." + +So saying, he shut down the window, and it was only after some severe +threats that the band succeeded in bringing him back for a second +interview. + +"There were some horses stole to-night," said Green, "and we thought +that we would satisfy ourselves that you was at home." + +"You see I am," replied Wallace. "Now I wish you'd go off and mind +your business." + +"Where is Ab?" inquired Green. + +"Abed, where all honest men ought to be," returned Wallace. "Got any +more questions to ask?" + +"We don't know whether he's there or not," said Green. "Call him up." + +"Ab, Ab," cried Wallace, "show these fools you're to home." + +A cord bedstead gave forth a dolorous groaning, and directly after +the face of Ab appeared at a chamber window. + +"Now," said Wallace, "get out of here, or I'll let daylight through +some of you." + +This injudicious threat brought a shower of stones, which several +substantial citizens, including Ratke and Holmes, in vain strove to +prevent. Two windows were broken, a piece of one clapboard was split +off and knocked down, and the house received other marks from the +rocky bombardment. It was fortunate for Wallace, that some of the +younger and more hot-headed of the party were at the barn looking at +his horses. They drew out an old buggy and rummaged through the empty +bay and stable. They even led out the horses to see if one of them +were not Madge T. or Green's Billy in disguise. But the protruding +ribs and low hanging heads were convincing proofs of the no +non-identities of the steeds. + +The morning was near at hand, and, tired and discouraged, the men +retraced their steps across the swamp. "If we could only get our +hands on 'em," said a man from Oakville who had lost a valuable +Percheron in the winter. "I'd like to see 'em hanging to an oak +limb." + +"The proper way to punish misdemeanor," replied the major, "is to +execute sentence proceeding from a legally organized tribunal. The +decisions of men unaccustomed to jurisprudence and unrestrained by +the statutes are apt to be hasty. Your conduct toward Wallace +illustrates my statement. You had not the slightest evidence against +him, but you waked him up in the middle of the night, insulted him, +and when he replied to your insults, stoned his house and threatened +to do him bodily injury." + +"There didn't any of it come amiss," was the response. "If he didn't +deserve it one time, he did another." + +"The greatest and most widespread danger to society," said the major, +"is lawlessness. It is in the rural districts, in high places, among +the legislators themselves. Citizens whose general morals are +irreproachable, who read the Bible and strive to abide by its +teachings, forget that they should remain subject to the powers that +be. It matters not whether the act of disobedience be the spearing of +a fish in May, the shooting of a quail out of season, or the illegal +hanging of a horse-thief; the effect is the same, for it brings +contempt of the law. The insubordination thus fostered, building upon +precedents unintended as such by their authors, walks with mobs in +cities, overthrows the virtue and very existence of states, and +spreads panic and instability among the nations. We must not be rash +in following our projects of vengeance." + +"Rash, or no rash," said the Oakville man, "I'd help put 'em where +they wouldn't do any more mischief." + +"If am along when they are captured," returned Ratke, "and any injury +is attempted, I will defend them to the best of my ability." + +"That's the talk," exclaimed the fellow in the white hat who was an +admirer of Ratke's courage. "And I'm with you every time, Major. +We'll turn 'em over to the law, and we won't give 'em anything more +than a good sound drubbing." + +"You'll see," replied the obstinate Oakville man. "If we can't hang +'em, I'll put some cold lead into 'em." + +"Afore you hang 'em or shoot 'em," said Jake Sheppard, "hadn't you +better catch 'em?" + +At the western extremity of the swamp they stopped. + +"Gentlemen," began the major, "we have made as thorough a search as +we could under the circumstances. But we can do no more without +organization. Random efforts will avail us nothing. In order to +recover the stolen property we must plan, and plans are quite certain +of failure when they are known to a strong and vigilant enemy. If the +measures we adopt are understood throughout the country, they will be +revealed to the thieves. I think we ought to choose a committee of +five to direct our movements. This committee should have the power of +making its deliberations secret or public, as it may deem proper." + +"The major is right," said Holmes. "It won't do to let everybody know +just what we are going to do. I move that we have an executive +committee of five." + +The motion was passed, and the party chose, as members of the +committee. Holmes, Ratke, Sparks, Green and Montcalm, of whom the +latter was nominated by the major. Ratke's house was selected as the +location for a temporary committee room, and two o'clock that +afternoon named as the hour of meeting. + +The business concluded, the band dispersed. The major's farm hands, +with the exception of Archer, who had been too sleepy to join the +hunt, commenced to do the chores. + +"Now, Trace," said the major after breakfast, "I am going to take a +nap. You were disturbed of your rest. Come in the house and lie +down." + +"Thank you," replied Montcalm. "I slept well the forepart of the +night, and I am not very tired." + +"I know what is the trouble with you," said Ratke. "You do not want +the gentler sex to suspect that you are so weak as to feel fatigue. I +do not blame you. Go and lie down in the club-house." + + +CHAPTER IX. +HOW THE AFFAIR ENDED. + +The deliberations of the committee lasted several hours. Ratke +convinced his associates that the horses were hidden in the swamp, +and that, consequently, the roads surrounding that portion near which +the animals disappeared should be watched. The supervision of these +roads, which had an extent of eight miles, was divided between the +five members of the committee. Each member was to find enough men +systematically to guard the part apportioned him. + +Montcalm cleverly secured the division extending eastward from +Takum's. He also obtained permission of the major to engage his +hands. Avoiding Sheppard and Wrengell, he secured the services of +Daggett, Brown, Thompson, and that still more valuable acquisition, +Archer, whom he promised some blankets and cigars and instructed to +pass the night as comfortably as possible. + +In some bushes near the road Montcalm left the blankets which he had +promised Archer. At Break o'Day he hired two topers whom he found in +Dr. Rorus' drugstore. + +Jimmy Martin and old John Davis, the men whom he engaged, were +chronic inebriates. They were harmless as doves, but not wise as +serpents. They worked much of the time by the day, and money they +valued solely as a means by which liquor was obtained. They accepted +the offer of the committee-man, because it necessitated no hard work +and because it promised better remuneration than common labor. + +Montcalm knew that criticism would be made on his action in engaging +such inefficient sentinels, but he was in a desperate strait which +required the use of desperate expedients. It was possible for him in +a measure to avert suspicion. In the presence of three listeners he +refused their request to be supplied with whisky, saying that they +must remain sober during the night. Moreover, he told them that, if +they took a drop of the beverage with them, he should secure other +help. + +At dusk he posted his guards. Commencing at the point where his +division joined that of Ratke, he placed his men in the order named: +Martin, Davis, Archer, Takum, Thompson, Brown, Daggett. + +These were, as he afterward claimed, all the sentinels whom he could +procure, Archer's position was near a creek, the laggard waters of +which were moving toward the first of a chain of lakes connected with +the Huron River, Near him and leading toward the highway was an old +road which had been used in the transportation of poles from the +interior of the swamp. + +"Here," said Montcalm, drawing the blankets from some alder bushes +where they were concealed, "you will have a comfortable time." + +"I hope so," said Archer. "Planting corn is hard work when you drive +it." + +"If you hear any disturbance," ordered Montcalm, "you call me. You +need not stay on your feet continually. Once an hour, or once every +two hours, you can go to the bridge and back. But do not let any one +know that you are favoring your legs in the least." + +"No, I won't," assured Archer. "Folks don't seem to realize that a +laboring man gets tired. You spoke something about some cigars, Mr. +Montcalm." + +"So I did," said Montcalm, handing him a half-dozen of the desired +gifts, which had a superior flavor to which Archer was unaccustomed. +"I must go and look to Takum. Do you think he will do his duty?" + +"Well, I don't know," replied Archer. "The trouble with Phleet Takum +is, he's lazy. He'll never set the North River afire." + +"How are you feeling?" asked Montcalm, as he joined Takum. + +"Not very bumkum," answered the subordinate. "I was nigh scart to +death las' night, I thought they was a-comin' right into the house +an' goin' to drag me out. They'd hang a feller sure if they got their +claws on him." + +"You are right," said Montcalm. "But they will not get their claws on +us." + +"How be we goin' to help ourselves?" queried Takum. "They'll hunt the +swamp to-morrer, and they'll have them horses as sure as preachin'." + +"We will look to that," said Montcalm, + +"I know what we can do," said Philetus. "You an' me can take 'em out +up toward Will Archer. He'll be to sleep in an hour, an' thunder an' +lightin' won't wake him. He's too lazy to stand for a sign-post." + +"We will let them stay for the present," replied Montcalm. "I want +you to do an errand for me." + +"'Tain't far to go, is it?" asked Philetus. "Ever since las' night +I've been afraid o' my shadder." + +"Up past Wallace's," said Montcalm, taking two quart bottles from his +pocket. "Carry these bottles under your jacket, just as you did the +chicken. Give one of them to Davis and one to Martin. But do not say +that I sent them. Make them believe that you came without my +knowledge, and that I would not like it if I knew it. Be particular +about this." + +"Yes," assented Philetus. "But what are you goin' to do with the +horses? They'll find them to-morrer as sure as preachin'." + +"The first thing to be done," said Montcalm, "is to go with the +whisky bottles. You must do exactly as I tell you now. I was patient +with you last night, but I will stand no more such work. I want you +to go there and get back as soon as you can. Remember, this is no +time to steal chickens." + +"I ain't had no hankerin' to since las' night," responded I Takum +gloomily. "Gosh all Friday! I wish I was out o' this. It seems to me +I'd git them horses away." + +"You recollect that I often had to warn you about talking too much," +said Montcalm. "Do what I tell you and no more. Go with the bottles, +come back and stay here." + +"Yes," answered Philetus, "they won't nobody hear a yip out o' me, +only Jimmy an' ole John an' you." + +After satisfying himself that his threats and the fear of popular +vengeance had impressed Takum with the necessity of caution, Montcalm +went to his post, which was east of the swamp. He held a short +conversation with each of several neighbors who passed him. Leaning +over the broken-down gate in front of the unattractive house, he +talked a few minutes with Wallace, who complained of the rough +treatment which he had received from the band in pursuit of the +horse-thieves. The hour of eleven was approaching when he proceeded +toward the sentinels whom he had placed at the extremity of his +division. Old John was standing in an attitude of meditation by the +fence, with his hands grasping the top rail and his body unsteadily +waving about. Unconscious that he was watched, he staggered to a jug +and emptied a quart of liquid, a part into his throat, a greater +portion down his shirt collar. With more volume than melody floated a +song from Jimmy Martin, which showed that Philetus had faithfully +performed his errand. Montcalm on his return stopped at Wallace's +house and knocked. There was no light inside, but the door shortly +opened and he was admitted. + +"I was tired and I went to bed," said Wallace. "I'll light the lamp. +Ab, get up." + +The cord bedstead in the chamber groaned, and in a few minutes Ab +appeared. + +"We'll take a turn at seven up," said Wallace. "Draw up your chair, +Montcalm." + +"Count me in, too. Pa," said a large, rawboned, masculine looking +girl, whose freckled face pushed through the opening door of an +adjoining bedroom. + +"Jule," exclaimed Wallace, "who told you to get up?" + +"I told myself," replied Julia. "If there's any fun, I'll have my +share, and don't you forget it." + +"Those windows ought to be darkened," remarked Montcalm. "If I should +be seen here, I might be accused of neglecting my duty." + +"Here, you, Ab," exclaimed Julia, grabbing her brother by the +shoulders and jerking him backward from his chair, "run upstairs and +get a quilt." + +"Don't be too smart, Jule," warned Wallace. "You may get set back a +peg. That girl's a trump," he said to Montcalm, as Julia disappeared +in another room. "I wish Ab was like her. If she was a boy, they'd +have to stand 'round for her. She and Ab don't always agree. They +fight like cats and dogs, and Jule is about enough for him." + +"Now, Ab," whispered Julia, meeting that individual in his descent +from the stairs, "don't you take that old quilt in there for Mr. +Montcalm to see. It ain't fit. You get the cat's-paw." + +"I don't know nothin' about any cat's-paw," said Ab, aloud. "You +can't make any cat's-paw of me." + +"Hatefulness," replied Julia, giving him a push and running up the +stairs. + +Julia brought down the cat's-paw and lugged out the best quilt from +the spare bedroom. These she put over the windows, and at Montcalm's +suggestion looked about for something to fill the keyhole of the +back-door. Passing by carpet rags and old clothing, she went to her +box of choicest finery, and from it selected a red ribbon which she +stuffed into the keyhole, taking pains to leave an end of it hanging +down for her visitor's inspection. + +"You and me can beat pa and Ab at seven-up. Can't we, Mr. Montcalm?" +she said, smoothing the pendent strip of silk. + +"They was rough on us last night," said Wallace, shuffling the cards +with dexterity. "It beat all how they tore around. They marked the +house all up with rocks, and turned the horses loose, and run the +buggy out. They hit one of the wheels against something and cracked +two of the spokes, and maybe three. It's a good thing they went just +as they did. If they hadn't, one of them would have got a lead pill." + +"Ab," cried Julia, "quit looking over my hand, or your ears'Il catch +a warmin'." + +"Shut up," growled Wallace, his looks betraying an admiration which +the severity of his language did not imply. "That's a girl such as +you don't often see, Montcalm. She's helped Ab an' me a good deal. +She's worked out for almost every one. She understands about the +houses and barns and horses, and how late the folks say up. That +comes real handy." + +"You bet I can help," put in the masculine Julia. "If anybody where I +worked got up to watch pa and Ab, I'd rattle things around in the +house so they could hear. Clubs is trumps, Trace. Ab, you look out or +you'll get your chops slapped." + +"You have engaged in a very profitable business, Mr. Wallace," said +Montcalm. + +"You can't tell me anything about the business," said Wallace. "The +time I went on the raid over in Eaton I just got away with my life. +They caught the horse and just missed me. The first thing after I go +into it again, my house is stoned and my property destroyed. Oh, I've +had experience enough." + +"This venture is likely to be more profitable," asserted Montcalm. +"You have already received twenty dollars." + +"I've earned it too," replied Wallace. "Hacking away at them +tamaracks and wading out to get to 'em ain't any fun. I noticed you +didn't do much of it. It was small pay I got." + +"It was better than raising wheat at a dollar a bushel," said +Montcalm. + +"No one but fools will grow wheat," returned Wallace. "I can get it +easier from barns than from the ground. I won't have my ribs smashed +by plow-handles to raise provender for some bloated bondholder. The +capitalists have got it all their own way, and they wouldn't give a +cent to keep us from standing to death. The laboring man has got to +look out for himself. The rich ones won't look out for him. You can +take five bushels of wheat from three or four bins, and it won't be +noticed, but when you take a horse, there's an everlasting pow-wow." + +"You can get your provisions that way," said Montcalm, "but you will +want money for other things." + +"Yes, Pa," cried Julia. "And I want some dresses and rings, and you +promised me a breastpin." + +"Oh, yes, you want," grumbled Wallace--"you want a good deal, but you +won't get it. Montcalm, hadn't you better pay me for them jugs of +cider that you had me take to Jimmy and old John? That's worth thirty +cents a gallon--sixty cents." + +"All right," answered Montcalm, as he felt in his pocket for some +silver. "It is right that you should have it." + +Presently Montcalm arose and stated his intention to leave. + +"Not yet," said Julia, "not till you play another game of euchre. Pa +and Ab are ahead of us now." + +"It is impossible for me to stay longer," replied Montcalm. + +"Now, we'll see," said Julia. "If I don't let you go, it ain't +impossible." + +"You must excuse me this time," said Montcalm. + +"No, you don't," cried the unfeminine Julia, making a spring toward +him and throwing her arms about him as he moved to the door. + +"Smack him, Jule," said Wallace, and the daughter obeyed. + +Montcalm, feeling very foolish and thinking that for once his +flattery had brought him not the most pleasant results, writhed from +her grasp and fled from the house. + +"You'll come again, will you?" demanded Julia. + +"Yes, I certainly shall," answered Montcalm. + +"When?" asked Julia--"next Sunday night?" + +"I cannot promise," said Montcalm. "I will come as soon as possible." + +"If you don't come then, there'll be a racket," said Julia; and with +this warning she shut the door. + +"That'll make a fine woman for somebody," said Wallace. "Wouldn't she +be the boss for a night-raider?" + +"Perhaps," said Montcalm, "if he wished to get married. Ab, go up and +see how Jimmy and old John get along, while I take a turn through the +swamp." + +Montcalm, as he had expected, found Archer wrapped in the shelter of +some bushes, oblivious to hi surroundings. His visit to Takum +convinced him that he need have no fears concerning the faithfulness +of that subordinate. + +"Oh, Mr. Montcalm," whispered Philetus, "I ought to tell you +somethin'. Will you be mad if I talk?" + +"By no means," answered Montcalm. "Talk on. Phleet." + +"There's some one a-gittin' ready to muckle us," said Philetus. "I +heard 'em a-talkin' together down yonder, an' they went in the +tamaracks." + +"I will go and see," said Montcalm. + +His trip was far from satisfactory. There remained not one of the +hired men who had been stationed along the road. He refrained from +relating his discovery to the Wallaces, who, he feared, might be +intimidated by the revelation. + +"They're as quiet as they can be," remarked Ab, as the three men met. +"That whisky and cider together laid 'em right out." + +"We must hurry," said Montcalm. "We have no time to lose." + +They took an angling course toward the swamp. When they reached the +tamaracks they commenced to remove the sharpened trees in the manner +which had so surprised Philetus. This road was shorter than the one +which led to the hiding-place of the animals from the opposite side. +It extended to an open strip, in the center of which ran the creek, +whose banks were overflowed. A distance below was a boat which +reached nearly across the stream. The men got into the boat. Montcalm +pushed once with the paddle, and they stopped on the opposite shore. +Twenty minutes later and they were untying the stolen Billy and +Madge T. + +The horses, apparently willing to leave the loneliness of their +retreat for a common equine habitation, gave little trouble until +they came to the creek, where they snorted and stood with their feet +braced, yielding only to the persuasion of some long whips. + +The creek crossed, they were led out, both at once, by the three men. +Wallace suggested that Ab should rearrange the newly cut path while +he and Montcalm attended to the stolen beasts, but the more prudent +superior would not consider the proposition. With his own hands he +replaced most of the trees and moved others which the Wallaces did +not place to suit him. He scattered brush and fallen trees +plentifully along the route, not, he said, so much for the purpose of +covering the signs of travel as of inducing the searchers to keep +away from the disguised road by going around the obstacles. + +"Maybe you're in love with this work, but I ain't," said Wallace, as, +after leaving the tamaracks, he was tramping through the water, which +reached above his boot tops. "This is fun. I suppose about to-morrow +night the crowd'll come along and tear down my bam and burn my shanty +over my head." + +"We have no expectation of getting caught," replied Montcalm, +expressing a confidence which he did not feel. "We had better go as +silently as we can. Probably we and the guards are the only ones in +the neighborhood who are astir, but it is best to use caution." + +Had Montcalm acquainted the Wallaces with the facts communicated by +Takum he might have been in his extremity deserted by his help, whose +selfishness would have allowed no consideration for him to endanger +their safety or that of their property. For this reason he encouraged +them and quieted their fears, using tactics exactly opposite to those +which he employed in the management of Philetus. + +"Ah," said Wallace, when they had arrived at his barn, "go in and get +that crank on the girt." + +Ab soon returned, bringing a crank and an iron bar to which was +attached a short chain. Wallace took the bar and inserted one end of +it in a comer of the barn, while the other protruded through a post +which was set near. In front of the barn was a long stack of hay, +which appeared to rest on the ground. Montcalm in the mean time had +laid down some straight, smoothly hewn rails, thus forming a tramway +between the post and the end of the stack. Raising some locks of the +dried marsh grass, he fastened an end of a short rope to either side +of a car which supported the stack. Then he joined the short ropes to +a longer one, which he connected with the chain by a hook, and next +he set the crank on an iron bar. Montcalm and Wallace turned the +handle of this contrivance, when the stack trundled slowly forward +and stopped within a few feet of the post. + +"There," said Wallace. "That's all I'll turn. I won't break my back +over a crank." + +The removal of the stack exposed to view a pit which had been dug +underneath the barn. So carefully performed had been the work of +excavation that, when the entrance of the cellar was covered by the +hay, its existence would not have been suspected by one unacquainted +with the secret; and neither about the barnyard nor in sight of it +was visible a trace of the dirt, the transfer of which must have +occupied some weeks. + +"That work was well done," observed Montcalm. + +"Thanks and compliments is cheap," answered Wallace. "I wish I had +what pay I ought to have. I'll never work so cheap again." + +The horses did not fancy entering the underground stable. The colt +hung back, braced his feet, and was induced to go in only by the use +of the whip, or as Wallace termed it, "the persuader." + +The stack was pushed to its first position without the help of a +lever, as the ground ascended toward the post. + +"You had better get into the house," observed Montcalm. "You may be +seen by some prowlers." + +Montcalm visited the drunken guards from Break o'Day. He shook them, +broke their bottles and jugs and complained bitterly of their +neglect. While he was still shaking and lecturing Martin, he heard a +long-drawn yell, which, as he instantly surmised, proceeded from +Archer. With many misgivings he sped toward the spot from which the +disturbance issued. Justice was on his track. Takum's only guaranty +of trustworthiness was his fear; Wallace cared for self alone, and +here was a new trouble, which he could barely locate, much less +define. In front of Wallace's barn he met Archer, who was much +excited. + +"They've gone," said Archer. "They've got away with the horses." + +"How do you know?" asked Montcalm, with an apprehension which he +succeeded in hiding. + +"Because I saw 'em," replied Archer, "and I thought I'd come up here +and tell you." + +Montcalm soon decided on his course of action. He would tell the +Wallaces of Archer's disclosure, and prepare, when necessity +demanded, to flee from the danger which menaced him. + +"Where did the horses go?" he inquired. + +"Up the road," answered Archer. "Up the road!" ejaculated Montcalm in +astonishment. "Yes," said Archer, "they come out of the old road in +the swamp where they used to haul fence-posts through." + +Montcalm, relieved, though perplexed, left Archer on his beat and +went to the station of Philetus, which was deserted. He called +loudly, but two or three minutes elapsed before a faint response came +from the swamp. Making his way through the tamaracks, which at that +point were large and comparatively far apart, he found Takum, who was +coming to meet him. + +"Oh, Mr. Montcalm!" exclaimed Philetus, "somebody got 'em and' +they'll find us! We're gone up! Great Augustus! I'm a goin' to +Californy!" + +"We are all right," consoled Montcalm. "Did you not expect that I +would get the horses? If I had not taken them from the swamp, we +would surely have been found out." + +"Was that all?" said Philetus. "I heard somebody a-comin' through +that road, an' I thought they'd found the horses. They raised a great +hellaballoo an' run up this way. I didn't think you'd make such a +noise, but it ain't none o' my bisness, an' I won't talk about it." + +"Get back to your post," said Montcalm. "You must let no one suspect +that you were frightened." + +In the road Montcalm discovered the horses' tracks, and, following +them along the highway, which was quite deserted, he ascertained to +his surprise that they led to Ratke's barns. + +As he was passing the club-house on the way to the family dwelling, +his attention was arrested by the sound of voices and laughter, and +as he stopped, he overheard the words of Daggett, who was saying: + +"Didn't we have a time of it waking him, though? I poked him with a +pole two minutes before he give a grunt. But he flew around lively +enough after he did get up." + +By nine o'clock in the forenoon a body of men and boys, to the number +of two hundred, had assembled at Ratke's. Carrying a variety of arms, +including, rifles, shotguns, revolvers, rusty swords and muskets with +bayonets attached, they proceeded in a body to the swamp, where they +separated in order to facilitate their search. + +The old men stayed on the hard land, while the younger portion of the +crowd, among which were a few boys, struck out boldly for the +tamaracks. But their ardor, as well as their persons, was dampened by +the water, which for the greater part of the year encircled the great +swamp, and against which, at that time, the highest rubber boots were +an imperfect protection. The water poured over the boot-tops of the +men. The brush scratched the bare legs of the boys, who had rolled up +their trousers. All were annoyed by the bushes, which in many places +were so thick that vision was limited to a distance of a few feet. +One by one, wet, tired and discouraged, the searchers returned to the +up-land, asserting that a horse would not venture where they had +been, and that no one but old Ratke would have imagined the thing. +With their zeal for the capture of the thieves considerably lessened, +they returned to their homes, disgusted with their own folly in being +drawn into any scheme projected by the inventor of the New Jerusalem. + +Jimmy Martin and old John Davis boasted of how they secured the +liquor in spite of Montcalm's precautions. This was an incident of +the hunt at which the people laughed heartily, and Montcalm was glad +to be subjected to ridicule instead of suspicion. + + +CHAPTER X. +TWO KINDS OF BUD BLOSSOM. + +The author whose ambition is that of the rural historian will not +attempt scientifically to analyze the causes which led to the +circumstances herein to be described. + +To the reader it may seem improbable, but certain it is that John +Wrengell was received with more favor by the Ratkes. The traditions +which might have thrown light upon the subject were imperfectly kept. +Brown, Thompson and Daggett, excellent authorities on farm-life and +the hunt after the horse-thieves, forgot those trifling incidents, of +which reminiscences would have assisted us in our speculation. + +John and Manie began to be better acquainted. + +Wrengell's manners and habits were undergoing a change, whether for +the better is a question on which the student and the man of fashion +would differ. He was entering the period which at some age is reached +by most men, the epoch of the anxiety to improve the personal +attractions. Had he possessed an opportunity he would have been +tempted to barter a part of his hard-earned learning for a more +perfect understanding of proprieties. At the church he saw Fred +Loomis, and envied him his style. Dr. Rorus' clerk was not brilliant. +Indeed, he seemed to be an automatic, imitative body, wound up for +life without the troublesome complication of a brain. His walk was +unmistakably that of the young man who is assured of his gentility, +and his hat was tipped at exactly the right angle to be fashionable. + +John, before going to Oakville to purchase a suit of clothes, took +observations of Loomis' apparel. The dress suit, his first +extravagance, was praised by the clothier as a perfect fit. John did +not mistrust that the trousers were too short, or that the loose coat +hung in wrinkles about his shoulders. + +The Sunday morning after the important purchase he took extraordinary +pains with his attire. But the clothes brush was filled with the lint +of the club-house, and the blacking-brush, which had been used on +greasy boots, would not impart to his shoes a perfect shine. + +He was before the mirror, trying to smooth down an obstinate lock of +hair, when Daggett thus addressed him: + +"Fix it up nice, John. I would if I was in your place. If you go in +the parlor now, you'll find her alone. She's singing, and all the +rest of them are in the sitting-room." + +John determined to make a terrible rejoinder, but before he prepared +it, he was assaulted by Brown and Thompson, and he was unable to +reply to them all. For the purpose of escaping the notice of his +fellows he went to the orchard, and walked around it in pretended +abstraction till he came to its western side. There, seated on the +fence, he chewed splinters from the rails and waited for the +keen-eyed Daggett to turn his attention elsewhere, so that his +arrival in front of the house might not be seen by the fun-loving +hired man. When this occupation became monotonous, he slid from his +position and started across the orchard. + +The warm May days had strewn verdure over the limbs of the +apple-trees. Leaves had pushed out, and buds had developed to +blossoms. Dressed in pink and white, the blossoms, stirred by a +strong wind, posed in different attitudes, and at each ample swing +cast off a portion of their loveliness. A few rods ahead of John was +Manie, standing with her back toward him beneath a tree. About her, +as if in homage, were falling the dismembered blossoms. As the wind +lifted her hair and threw a shower of the white leaves on her +shoulders, he thought it would be no misfortune, if he and she, like +Una and the red-cross knight, could be lost in a wood, + + "Whose lofty trees, yclad with summer's pride, Did spread so + broad that Heaven's light did hide." + +She Stretched her hand upward, trying to get possession of a bough +which was beyond her reach. + +"Let me help you," said John, stepping quickly to her side. "I will +pull it down, and you can make the selection you wish." + +John purposely held the bough so high that, to reach it, she was +obliged to raise herself on tiptoe and remain very close to him until +the desired flowers were obtained. + +"I wanted these," said Manie, "because they are fresher than the +others. These are just opened, while most of them are ready to fall. +What do you think of our apple grove, Mr. Wrengell?" + +"I think it is a kingly court," replied John, "in which reigns an +absolute monarch. The advent of summer holds perfect sway over our +fancy. Of all periods the beginning of a progressive era is most +interesting. When a state or system has been established a +considerable length of time, it is no longer able to draw the +strongest admiration; but awakening life is never without its charms. +That line of woods is now in its richest beauty. There can be nothing +more picturesque than the spot where that dark green tree is set +diagonally in front of the less deeply tinted background. As its +fellows advance to the same stage of development, the view will grow +less attractive. The reign of this scene around us over human +sympathies is transitory, for those white petals are now falling. In +a few days the trees will be clad in simple green, and in the autumn +they must surrender their authority and yield tribute to those whom +they have ruled." + +"The summer brings to the orchard little loss of authority," said +Manie. "You may prefer blossoms to fruit, but Phleet Takum's little +boys will not neglect yonder tree when it is loaded with yellow +pippins. There are Seven of our hired men. Only one of them goes a +rod out of his way to look at leaves and flowers, but they will all +come trooping over here as soon as they are assured that +harvest-apples are ripe. How many of the farmers stay in their +orchards all day now? How many of them will keep away from them when +it is time to gather fruit? You judge of an entire force by its +application in one place. It has not the universality which you claim +or imply that it possesses." + +John was in a dilemma. He believed that he ought to continue the +argument in order to appear to advantage before Manie. But he had +learned that in a nervous condition, such as he labored under at that +moment, he was certain to make statements which were fatal to his +logic. Furthermore, he might, under the influence of excitement, +utter some discourteous remark, which would nullify any good +impression which he might have made. + +"Are you going to meeting to-day?" he asked as Manie moved toward the +house. + +"I think so," answered Manie; "we usually go." + +"Can I go too?" inquired John, while his shaking fingers were picking +at a blossom-covered apple-limb. + +"Of course you can," answered Manie. "Who is to prevent you?" + +"But," persisted John, "can I go with you?" + +"If there is room in the buggy you can," said Manie. "Nora, Aunt +Maria and I can sit behind, and perhaps Uncle James will let you ride +with him and Mr. Montcalm." + +"No," exclaimed John in desperation, while a flush overspread his +face, "I mean will you go alone with me?" + +"Oh!" said Manie, "that is a different matter. Yes, I will go!" + +John would have expressed his appreciation of the favor which he was +receiving, but he had not mastered gallantry, and he was overwhelmed +with a sense of his inefficiency as an escort. That which he could +not speak he could act. Regard drew him near her, and the fear of +repulse drew him back, so that he walked in a zigzag line across the +orchard. He pushed aside branches of trees for her to pass; and, +coming to some bars, he threw down all of them but the bottom one, +which was caught at the end. He was tugging away at the unyielding +board when Manie put an end to his strenuous efforts by stepping +quickly over it. + +John left Manie at the house and hurriedly went to the road. He did +not dream of the ridicule he was preparing for himself by his excited +manner and walk. + +The drive to church furnished him the keenest enjoyment he had ever +known. He was the escort of the most cultured, the most esteemed lady +of that community. Samson-like, he was rending the bonds of his evil +fortune and bearing away the Gazan gate which shut him within the +city of disrepute. From the pit of degradation he raised his head +above its mouth and viewed the hills of respectability, the borders +of which he hoped soon to cross. He could think of nothing to say, +and, indeed, he was too happy to talk. The wind placed invigorating +touches on his face, and the wood to the south, with its thin +light-colored drapery and its flank of dark tamaracks, sent to him an +inspriation which found fellowship with his already awakened +feelings. + +At the church he was unpleasantly reminded of his abstraction by the +discovery that he had driven too far from the platform for Manie +conveniently to alight. Wishing to atone for his lack of skill by a +show of agility, he endeavored to clear the distance by a leap, but +as his feet caught in the lines, he was thrown on his hands and +knees; and it was only by very energetic and undignified scrambling +that he escaped falling to the ground. The boys and young men on the +steps contented themselves by exchanging a few knowing looks. When, +however, John had hitched his horse and awkwardly passed into the +church, they commented freely on his behavior. + +After this Sunday Ratke's favor toward Wrengell began to wane and +Mrs. Grippin's began to increase. She admitted that John was a very +good musician. He scraped his feet before he came into the house. He +did not always wipe his hands in the center of the towel. He was, +moreover, careful about disfiguring the butter-roll, and did not take +more of the butter than he wanted on his plate. + +It was the time of May-baskets, and parties hanging these souvenirs +had been about the neighborhood at night. + +John gathered some flowers from the swale which joined the swamp. He +tied them with a ribbon which he had bought for that purpose, +attached to them some poetry, hung them on the knob of the front +door, rapped and ran to the road. These were the stanzas which Manie +read: + + "We dwelt amid a marshy haunt, + Where youthful oaks and elms bend low, + Where shade meets sun, where breezes pant, + Where plants their fellows' secret know, + And laugh with joy and sympathize with woe. + + "Rude were the hands which bore us hence + From that loved spot where we were born. + The lofty tamarack laments, + The grieving poplar quakes, forlorn, + The grass blade bows its head to weep at morn + + "Death to the exiled flowers must steal. + Oh, let us not be spurned, but given + Cold water and this boon to feel, + That we from home have not been driven, + And on us falls the soothing rain of Heaven." + + +CHAPTER XI. +THE ROOT OF AN EVIL. + +The summer was remarkably hot. July had arrived. The great swamp +which, except in August, was usually too wet for a well-clad traveler +to pass through with dry feet, was almost ungirded of its water-belt. + +Ratke and his sister were preparing to start for Sharptown. The +preceding sentence should be amended by the addition that Mrs. +Grippin was actively flying about, while the major was conning a +treatise of Lord Shaftesbury's. + +"I'd like to know where you got the money to pay Green?", said the +housekeeper. "You hadn't ought to be afraid of me. I'm not going to +tattle about it. You've got secret all to once, haven't you?" + +"I believe in maintaining silence when the occasion demands it," +replied the major, "and it does in the present instance." + +"I don't care so much who you got the money of," said Mrs. Grippin, +"as what you had to do to get it. You said you couldn't find it, and +you'd hunted all over, and you didn't tell me any different till the +other day. I'm afraid you had to do something desperate." + +"I found the money to pay Green," said Ratke. "Further than that I +can tell you nothing." + +"James Ratke," said Mrs. Grippin, breaking into tears, "I have slaved +for you half life. I have looked to your interests when you were +careless of them. I have cooked for your hired men and scrubbed +floors till I have nearly broken myself down. Look at my hands, James +Ratke! They have been crooked doing your washing and mending. I never +wanted any pay. I only wanted to know that you was getting along, and +that I could have a place to stay when I was so old I couldn't work. +And now, when the home is going, you won't even tell me how long +before I am turned out into the streets." + +"We will not believe that we are going to lose the place," returned +the major soothingly. "An honorable man holds the claim against it. I +did not mean to hurt your feelings, Maria, or to manifest a lack of +confidence in you. I appreciate what you have done for me and I mean +to repay you, as far as I can, by making you comfortable in your old +age." + +It was seldom that Mrs. Grippin was absent from the farm. This rare +occurrence was welcomed with rapture by more than one whom it +concerned. Archer was at liberty to help himself to bread and butter, +whenever he chose. Brown and Thompson could have each two pieces of +pie without encountering a savage glance which destroyed their +appetites. Nora sat by Montcalm and talked and laughed with him in a +way which would have shocked her proper aunt had that lady been +present. + +"Come in this way. Trace," she cried, rushing to the parlor. "It's +cool in here. Oh my! Isn't this a nice place? I'll shut the door," +she said as Montcalm entered. "Then they can't hear what we say. Oh, +Trace, we haven't had a chance to talk alone for a good while. Aunt +Maria does watch us so close. I'm glad she's gone. It's the day Uncle +James promised to pay Uncle Si, and he's gone after the money. I tell +you it's a lot of it. It's over $14,000." + +"I should think Mr. Green would be afraid to have such a sum brought +to his house," said Montcalm, "seeing that there are thieves about." + +"He had to have it brought here," explained Nora. "It was to be paid +in this house, and then he takes a good deal of pains not to be +robbed. He has the strongest locks on his house, a lock on every door +and a burglar alarm besides." + +"That is caution itself," said Montcalm. "It is not often that a +house has a lock on every door. Generally some of them are bolted." + +"Oh, yes," said Nora, "that is the way with Uncle Si's. He fastens +the cellar door with a hook. I remember hooking that when I was a +little girl. Then the hook was higher than my head. Now it comes up +just to my shoulders." + +"You have forgotten," said Montcalm. "It lacks a trifle of being as +high as your shoulder." + +"What do you know about it?" asked Nora. "You never were there." + +"I know by intuition," said Montcalm. "Second sight, perhaps you +would call it." + +"Oh, bother your second sight," returned Nora. "Don't try to fool me +in that way. Are you going away before long?" + +"Perhaps," answered Montcalm. "I have thought of telling the major +that I can work for him no longer." + +"And you'll send for me, as you said you would, when you get the +store started." So saying, Nora sat in his lap and gave his collar a +playful shake. + +Montcalm looked down pityingly into her face. He had not at first +meant to win her affections. Feeling his power, he had determined to +test it, and its exercise had made her his slave. The lies which he +had told her were for the purpose of giving her temporary +satisfaction, but they had doubled the difficulty in disentangling +himself without giving her the pain which he dreaded to inflict. + +"Do not count too much on the store," said Montcalm. "I am not now in +the best of circumstances, and it may be years before I can start in +business." + +"Why!" exclaimed Nora, a disappointed look creeping across her face, +"didn't you mean what you said?" + +"Oh, yes," answered Montcalm, as he felt unable to use the candor +with which he had resolved to speak, "we will go just as we have +intended. But be patient." + +"It wouldn't need so much to start a store in a little village like +Break o'Day," said Nora. "You say you've got a few hundred. So have +I. I've got one uncle and an aunt that's well off. Right here are two +checks, Trace," she said, coming from her bedroom with some papers. +"They are for $500. Take them now. I won't want them. Aunt Emma gave +me one and Uncle Si the other. You see I can help, and I feel just +like helping to get along." + +"No, no," expostulated Montcalm, thoroughly despising his own deceit. +"I will not. I hope myself to earn the money soon." + +"Oh, yes, take them," urged Nora. "It don't make any difference to me +who has them, only I want to show you that I won't be a hindrance to +you." + +"No, you will not," said Montcalm sorrowfully. "Keep your money, +Nora. By and by we can share our property equally. But wait until we +are married." + +At the sound of the last word Nora's face lighted up, and she pressed +closer to him. + +"When will that be. Trace?" she inquired. "We have talked about it, +but we have never set the time. Once in a while I think it never will +be." + +"We must not be impatient," replied Montcalm. "It may be a year or +two before I am ready to marry. If the delay interferes with your +happiness, I will release you from your promise." + +"You are tired of me," said Nora, her voice betraying her +disappointment. "I was afraid you would be. But I won't beg for your +favor if I die. I'll keep away from you, and I won't bother you any +more." + +"What is my little girl thinking of?" asked the miserable Montcalm, +drawing her back to him. "Does she imagine I am tired of her because +I will not take her money? I could not do that, Nora. I would hate +myself for such an act. We can wait awhile. Neither of us are old. I +will prepare a home for you, and then I want you. We will be happy +then." + +"Oh, I hear Aunt Maria talking in the dining-room!" exclaimed Nora. +"She mustn't suspect that we've been in here together. Quick, Trace, +slip right out of this door. I'll toss your hat out of the kitchen." + +"You go in, Major," said Montcalm, as he neared Ratke. "I will care +for the team." + +"You may if you like," answered the major. "I am very hungry." + +Mrs. Grippin suspected that many misdemeanors had been committed +during her absence. Nora should have been taking care of the dishes +instead of sitting in the parlor. The men had not scraped their feet +when they came into the house, they had left the butter in bad shape, +and some of them had taken two pieces of pie. + +"Don't be so long," said the housekeeper, as her brother leisurely +entered the house. "He'll be here in a little while. You want to be +ready to do business with him when he comes." + +"Precipitancy," replied the major, "is a common evil, and I intend +that it shall not ruin me. If you think twice before you speak or +act, you avoid many mistakes which you would otherwise make." + +"Yes," answered Mrs. Grippin, "but if you are always thinking and +never acting, it don't amount to much. I wish you'd eat so I can get +my work done up." + +After dinner the major went to the bam to talk with Montcalm. + +"Come, Nora," said Mrs. Grippin. "Take hold and clear up the table. +You're not very tired. It don't hurt you any more to work than it +does me." + +"Some one is at the door," said Manie. + +"Come in," said the housekeeper, as she ushered their expected guest +into the parlor. + +"Are the folks all well?" asked Green, with a degree of politeness to +which he was unaccustomed. + +"Well enough," returned Mrs. Grippin shortly. "James will be in in a +few minutes. You can make yourself comfortable until he comes." + +Partly obeying the directions of the housekeeper. Green sat down, but +he did not make himself comfortable. He arose to his feet, and strode +about the room in an oval circuit, unconsciously following the same +path through each evolution. When this became monotonous, he resumed +his seat and tapped the floor alternately with his heel and his toe. +As the major entered the apartment, he wsa again walking the floor. + +"Why, Uncle Si," said Nora, following closely after Ratke, "you +haven't been here in a long time. Why don't you ever come around?" + +"Oh, I don't get around to visit much," returned Green. "I have a +good deal to do." + +"I should think you have a good deal to do," said Nora. "You never go +anywhere only on business. If I was worth so much as you, I'd call +around after my friends. You don't have so much leisure as lots of +poor folks." + +"That's what makes 'em poor," returned Green. "They have too much +leisure." + +"How much do I owe you?" inquired Ratke, with a mixture of dignity +and civility. + +"Fourteen thousand five hundred and forty-two dollars and ninety-two +cents," answered Green. + +"You are mistaken," said Ratke. "The amount is fourteen thousand five +hundred and forty-two dollars forty-one cents, four and sixty-three +hundredths mills." + +"There ain't any mistake on my side," returned Green. "Collins is as +good a lawyer as there is in Jackson, and he figured it." + +"Mr. Collins may be good authority," Ratke rejoined; "but the figures +are better, and I will show them to you." + +"Oh, I'm satisfied with Collins's work," said Green. "He's always +done my business, and he's always straight." + +"No doubt you are satisfied," responded the major, "because his +mistake, if sanctioned by me, would put a half dollar in your pocket. +I oppose it, not for the half-dollar, but for the principle which is +involved." + +"I'll take my mortgage and go home," said Green. "If I can't get what +belongs to me in one way, I will in another." + +"Maria," called the major, "you and Manie come here. Here," he +continued, addressing Green, "in the presence of three witnesses, I +offer you fourteen thousand five hundred forty-two dollars, forty-one +cents, four and sixty-three hundredths mills, or, on account of the +difficulty in making change, fourteen thousand five hundred forty-two +dollars and forty-two cents." + +"What is this about?" inquired Mrs. Grippin, looking in turn from +Ratke to Green. + +"He wants to cheat me out of fifty-one cents," replied Green. "I tell +him I'll take the mortgage and go home first." + +The money-lender shrank back as he saw the change in the aspect of +Mrs. Grippin. Her form straightened, her upper lip rose with an +expression of ferocity, her long fingers gripped together like the +talons of a destructive bird. + +"You, Josiah Green!" she said slowly. "You talk of cheating, you that +never did anything but cheat!" + +"Oh, Maria," expostulated the major, "remember he is a guest in our +house. We must not disgrace ourselves by treating him with +discourtesy." + +"You can't run me, James Ratke," retorted the angry woman, "if you do +run the rest of the town. 'Tend to your own business, and I'll 'tend +to mine. You bought a cow of him. Si Green, when you couldn't get +trusted anywhere else. You got money to help you with the mortgage on +your place, and you cheated him out of it. You got wheat of him when +your family was sick, and you said they'd starve if they didn't have +help. Do you remember you came here and said you'd like to get a few +pounds of butter, and you'd pay for it the next week.' You've never +said a word to me about that butter from that day to this. Now I want +you to settle that account." + +"I won't bother about the half dollar. Major," said Green. "Have it +as you want it." + +"Very well," said Ratke, "here is the full amount." + +"When do you intend to pay me for that butter?" asked Mrs. Grippin, +as Green was retreating to the road. "Si Green, you get up in church +and speak, and say you are glad you chose the better way. What better +way do you mean.' A better way to smouse folks is the only way you've +chose since I've known you. That's all the lingo you've got, and you +can't make up another. I sit where I can see you in meeting. If you +don't pay me for that butter, I'll look you right in the face as you +speak. Then say you've chose the better way if you can." + +"How much is it?" asked Green, turning suddenly about. + +"There was four pounds and a half of the butter," answered Mrs. +Grippin, "and it was twenty cents a pound. That would be ninety +cents. I'll call it six shillings." + +"Here," said Green feeling that he deserved credit for generosity, +"here is a dollar. That makes us square." + +Fearing that Mrs. Grippin would make another demand, the penurious +farmer hastened to the road, untied his horse by a few quick, nervous +jerks and drove rapidly away. + +Ten minutes afterward, in response to the call of a neighbor, Ratke +went out to the gate and received a letter, the body of which, +written by Durgenson, is subjoined: + +"I dislike to speak about the sum I lent you. But the trouble is I am +hard-pushed. I have got to have $4,000 the 24th of this month. After +that I will get along two or three hears without any more. Have it +ready for me the afternoon of the 23rd, when I will come to your +house." + + +CHAPTER XII. +THE WELL WITH A BARREL CURB. + +Again at the dead of night Montcalm climbed from his bedroom window. +Carrying a large bundle, he passed down the shaded walk and was soon +on the route previously traversed by him and Takum. The sheep in the +woods fled, as before, at his approach. + +He came presently to a pond the dimensions of which had manifestly +shrunk during the hot weather, for a dry, barren circle marked where +its edge had been. He untied his bundle, spread its contents on the +ground and threw off his coat and vest, for which he substituted a +thick, padded jacket which gave him a robust appearance. When to this +disguise he added a mask from which straggled a sandy beard, no one +would have recognized in the ruffianly looking figure the genteel +Montcalm. + +In the capacious hollow of an oak the adventurer stored the clothing +which he had removed, and with his lightened bundle again proceeded +on his way. Ere he reached the lane which led to the barns of Green, +he deviated from his former route. Turning to the right, he emerged +from the wood exactly in front of, though at a considerable distance +from, the church. In a few minutes he was stalking along the edge of +the graveyard, and a brief walk took him to a large wood pile which +was close to the house of the money-lender. + +The premises had an aspect, not of thriftlessness, but of +carelessness for everything unconnected with finance. The barns which +sheltered the stock were well and neatly built. The house which +harbored the family was paintless and old, the clapboards were loose, +and some of the bricks had fallen from one chimney. It consisted of +an upright and a long, low wing which lapped beyond the taller part +of the dwelling. Montcalm was before the overlapping part and close +to the outside cellar stairs. On the back-stoop were a swill-barrel, +three swill-pails, some hoes and rakes and a rickety table made of a +long box, on which sat pans and kettles. Whatever was useful merely +in pleasing the eye or fancy was unnoticed by Green. Whatever added +to his wealth received from him studious attention. + +Montcalm went down the cellar stairs, which were in front of the +stoop. His mask and padded jacket, annoying incumbrances in +midsummer, he stripped off; and taking an auger from his bundle, he +commenced to bore a hole in the cellar door, basing his calculations +on the account which Nora had given him of its fastening. The noise, +which he subdued as much as he could, might easily have been mistaken +for the gnawing of a rat. He pushed through the orifice a wire +instrument, and lifted a hook from the corresponding socket in which +it rested. The door, which opened outwardly, he blocked with a stone, +lest it should swing back and cause a strain on some attachment which +he had not yet discovered. He bored a second and a third hole and cut +out the spaces which intervened between them. Feeling through the +passage thus formed, his hand came in contact with a string which he +dared not critically examine. By means of the auger and a sharp knife +he further enlarged the aperture until he could push through it his +right arm and the fingers of his left hand, when, pulling the string +tightly from him, he severed it with his knife and immediately after +entered the cellar. An investigation showed the wisdom of his +precautions. The string was connected with a burglar-alarm, which, if +pulled, would have produced an explosion and might have brought ruin +upon his enterprise, perhaps discovery to the intruder. Montcalm +closed the door and lighted a small lantern. Boards which supported +milk-pans were suspended from the floor above. In a remote corner of +the cellar were some shelves which were in the course of erection. A +broad-ax, a saw and some short boards which had been cut from the +ends of the longer ones were on the upper of these shelves. +Montcalm's curiosity was excited by a barrel, an end of which a few +feet from the milk-shelves protruded some inches above the surface of +the ground. On examination it was found to be the curbing of a well. +When Green was poor, his ideas of economy told him that he could dig +a well with less labor from the bottom of the pit under his house +than from the surface of the ground; and, as he prospered, he +provided water for his horses and cattle at the barn, but that +necessity of his family was still carried from the cellar. + +Montcalm donned his mask and padded jacket, and again his exterior +coincided with the nature of his errand. A second flight of stairs +led to the upper rooms, and up these Montcalm passed, bearing his +lantern. He stopped in front of a door, which he pushed gently back +and forth. He knew it was possible that this door, too, was connected +with a burglar-alarm, but he did not think it probable, as an +intruder could reach it only by passing through another, for security +of which greater than ordinary precautions had been used. + +Gradually the door-bolt was worked from its socket, and Montcalm +stepped into a small closet, from which he emerged into a larger +room. Noiselessly going into the kitchen, he heard the light +breathing of Green and his wife in their bedroom which was, he +concluded, fastened against intrusion. Retreating to and through the +closet, he traversed the room above the cellar and came to a flight +of stairs, up which he climbed. One of the boards, as he stepped on +it, gave a warning creak, and he lifted from it his foot and set it +on the next stair. + +Two bedrooms were partitioned from the main part of the chamber. In +one of these on the floor was a spring-bed on which was a lying a +man. As the man was long and the tick was short, about twenty inches +of uncovered feet and legs were hanging over the bare springs. Beyond +the legs were the lean body, the flaxen hair and weak, expressionless +face of William Henry Harrison. + +As Montcalm by one of his long legs pulled him crosswise of the bed, +the half-wit exclaimed, "Oh, Misser Green, 'tain't mornin' yet!" + +"'Tain't Misser Green," said Montcalm, "but it's some one that wants +to see Misser Green. Tell him to come up here." + +Such was William Henry Harrison's terror at the rude awakening that +he could only stare at the figure, whose broad shoulders and +straggling sandy beard looked particularly savage in the light of the +lantern. + +"Call Green up here," said Montcalm. + +"Oh, no," answered William Henry Harrison, "I no call, I feel sick." + +"You must do as I tell you. Have him come up here." + +"No. He want to sleep. He git mad." + +"And I'll get mad if you don't call him," said Montcalm. "Tell him to +come quick." + +"He whip me," objected William Henry Harrison. "Take a big strap. +Maybe he kick." + +"Are you going to do as I want you to?" asked Montcalm, shaking him +violently. + +"Misser Green," called William Henry Harrison. "Misser Green, come up +here!" + +"Call him again," ordered Montcalm, after he had waited to no purpose +for a response. + +"Oh, Misser Green, Misser Green, come up here quick!" + +"Keep still there, William Henry Harrison," shouted Green. + +"Tell him you are sick," commanded Montcalm. + +"Come up here," William Henry Harrison called. "I sick." + +"Get well then," was Green's answer. "I guess you ain't in much +danger. I want to go to sleep." + +"Tell him you are awful sick," said Montcalm. + +"Oh, Misser Green," wailed the fearful half-wit, "I awful sick, I +goin' to die." + +"You'll die if you don't shut up," replied Green. "I'll come up there +and drive you through the floor. Now you keep still, I don't want to +be awake all night." + +"Tell him you are going to have a fit," was Montcalm's next order, +"Tell him you know it." + +"Oh, Misser Green, I goin' to have a fit. I tell. I feel it. Oh, come +up now!" + +"I'll give you a fit if I come up there," yelled Green, thoroughly +exasperated, "Now don't let me hear another word out of you +to-night." + +"Tell him you are going to have a hard fit," said Montcalm. + +"Oh, no. He come up. He whip." + +"Say it quick," ordered Montcalm. + +"He say he kill me." + +"And I'll kill you if you don't." + +"Oh, don't kill. Hurt. Make blood. Awful." + +"Then," said Montcalm, "tell him you are going to have a fit, and you +know you are going to break things." + +"Oh, Misser Green," cried the half-wit in desperation, "I goin' to +have awful fit. I break window. I break bed. I break house." + +Montcalm emphasized the appeal by knocking out some pane of glass, +which went ringing below to the cellar wall and stairs. He also +jerked the bed, breaking a crosspiece, and struck the wall so +violently that a yard of loose plaster fell from the ceiling to the +floor. Then he closed his dark lantern. + +"What's that full up to?" exclaimed Green, jumping out of bed and +hastily putting on his trousers. "I'd rather have a man of sense +around and pay him wages that to bother with an idiot. I'll be right +after you, young man!" he threatened as he proceeded toward the +chamber. "I'll thrash you with an inch of your life! You won't be +having any more fits or fussing for one while. What is this?" he +demanded, as his bare foot struck the plaster which had fallen in the +main part of the chamber. "What fool's caper is this?" + +He started suddenly backward as Montcalm, stepping from the door of +the bedroom, presented a pistol at his head. + +"Tell me where your money is," said the unwelcome visitor. "I can't +stay here long because my wife expects me home." + +"What money?" asked Green. + +"The money you got to-day," replied Montcalm, assuming a tone which +corresponded with his rough garb. "You can't fool me. I know you've +got it." + +"It's gone," said Green. + +"You lie," said Montcalm, clutching him by the throat. "Let me know +where it is, or I'll blow your brains out." + +"It is gone," Green affirmed, "that is, the most of it. I took it +over to Sharptown, and I got back just at dark. I've got two thousand +dollars that I saved out for Osborne. You can ask Jane and she'll +tell you the same." + +"Show me the two thousand then," said Montcalm, as he pushed the +slide to his lantern, "and don't you dare hang back, or play me any +tricks. Here, you fellow on the bed, you lie where you are till I +come back. And don't you stir. I'll lay this quilt over your legs, +just in this way, and I can tell if it is moved. If I find a wrinkle +of it changed, I'll shoot you when I come back." + +So saying, Montcalm adjusted the quilt and followed Green, who in +silence led the way to the cellar. As they were leaving the small +closet, Montcalm's foot accidentally hit a pair of rubber boots, +which went tumbling down the stairs. + +"There it is," said Green, as he pointed to the cellar wall. "It's +behind that stone. You couldn't tell it's loose, but it is. You'll +find it all in a long pocket-book." + +"I rather you'd get it," replied Montcalm, following him to see that +nothing of value was left In the hiding-place. + +The loose stone was near the unfinished milk-shelves and to reach it +the men were obliged to step over a long board which lay across some +saw-horses. Montcalm deposited his lantern on the board and +vigilantly watched the execution of his order. Reluctantly stepping +over another saw-horse and removing the stone from the mortar, which +at first sight appeared to be solid. Green drew out a long +pocket-book and handed it to Montcalm. They again stepped over the +saw-horse, and Montcalm, opening the pocket-book, examined its +contents. Green saw passing from him part of the riches the slave of +which he had been and still was. For it he had plowed, sown and +reaped, had taken the poor man's dollar and the widow's mite, had +repeatedly outraged his conscience. + +Catching a loose slab, he dealt a sudden blow on the head to +Montcalm, who, staggering back, caught his legs on the saw-horse and +fell. Green followed his advantage. He struck again with the slab, +barely missing his aim; but as his weapon was clutched by the unknown +burglar, he precipitated himself upon him. Montcalm whose movements +were impeded by his thick jacket, succeeded in twisting from +underneath his antagonist and regaining his feet. His mask, which had +become unfastened, hung loose about his neck; and Green partly +unnerved him by giving a yell of recognition and pressing with +renewed vigor to the attack. Having a poor hold of his opponent, and +being in every way at a disadvantage, he felt his strength begin to +fail. As he was crowded close to the wall, his hand accidentally came +in contact with the broad-ax. In despair he seized it and struck. The +weapon seemed hardly to touch the man on whom it was turned, yet that +touch was sufficient to send him toppling over, extinguishing the +lantern in his fall. + +The cellar was in almost total darkness. The scanty light which came +through the small windows, of which one was on the north side and one +on the west, was lessened by screens and thick masses of overhanging +vines, Montcalm threw aside the ax, groped hurriedly and found the +pocket-book, with the intention of escaping before Green arose. But, +as the seconds passed and there was no perceptible movement on the +part of his late adversary, he felt that he need not anticipate +immediate pursuit. He wondered that the stroke, which had but grazed +the head of his opponent, should produce unconsciousness. An +unconquerable desire seized him to learn what had been the result of +the blow which he had delivered. The knowledge, however, could be at +once gained only by an investigation, and from that investigation he +shrank. While he was groping for his lantern, he heard a sound which +filled him with an indescribable dread. It was the steady trickling +of some liquid into the well. Never before had he been so nervous. He +drew from his pocket a match, struck it against the wall, and dropped +it ere his purpose had been served. With trembling fingers he took a +second match and succeeded in igniting the wick of the lantern. + +The sudden transition from darkness to light at first dazzled his +eyes. He saw barrels, the unhewn wall, the milk-shelves, and lastly a +object which he had previously overlooked. Green was lying nearly +lengthwise of a plank, which descended toward the well, and which had +one end resting on the curb and the other on an elevated and hardened +bed of water-lime. His head was on the edge of the plank and nearest +the well. A portion of the trunk and one arm also was on this +support, and the other upper limb was beyond it, while the remaining +parts of the body rested on the ground. No wound was visible, but +from some source a small stream of blood was passing down a +depression in the center of the plank to the well, where it caused +that trickling which had so wrought upon the nerves of Montcalm. The +depredator, as he turned over the prostrate form, dreaded what his +action might reveal, yet he was not prepared for such a spectacle as +met his gaze. The upper portion of the right side of the forehead, +including the skull and a thin section of brain, had been cleft and +now hung suspended by a piece of skin. Laid bare by that destructive +blow, the cerebrum showed its peculiar formation, though the +convolutions of its exterior were partly disorganized by the leveling +of the ridges. Much of the gray matter had been shaved from the +surface of the cut, or crowded into the irregular furrows; so that, +mingled with it, was the white from which the power of transmitting +nervous force had been suddenly and unexpectedly wrested. + +A chill passed over Montcalm, which was not wholly a reaction from +excessive heat generated by his physical struggle. But a few minutes +before, and that cloven skull on which he was gazing had been the +habitation of a living intellect, that amorphous mass of brain had +been performing its normal functions; along those disfigured ridges +had been passing thoughts, which, perhaps, related to self and +self-aggrandizement, but which were those of a fellow-being. What +though the reflections had been of a mean and penurious character? +What though they had been on money and usury, on the oppression of +the poor? The interruption of their existence was no human right, and +woe to him by whom they were destroyed. Montcalm could scarcely +believe that the pasty substance which riveted his attention was not +even then the nursery of plans for revenge upon him, that sight had +fled from the eyes, that the open mouth was not about to denounce him +for his crime. The monotonous trickling into the well prolonged the +spell which bound him, as a sameness of sound, by holding the +external perceptives, sometimes prevents warning of the approach of +deceit and prepares the way for the capture of the reflective +faculties. + +With an effort he turned from the senseless body and started toward +the outside door. As he did so, he stumbled over one of the rubber +boots which he had knocked down in his descent to the cellar, and +which had probably been long thrown aside by William Henry Harrison, +for they were large and full of holes. It was instinct, instead of +deliberative caution, which prompted him to draw on the boots and +walk several times across a strip of sand, thus making it apparent +that the murderer was a large man, or at least had large feet. The +skilled depredator, who had mastered the details of his profession, +and who habitually had them in readiness for his use, was actually +passing from the scene of the murder, leaving behind him the lantern +and the burglar tools, when he heard Mrs. Green call anxiously to her +husband. That cry in a measure loosed him from his lethargy of mind. +Gathering up his shoes, the tools and the lantern, he emerged from +the cellar, and walking around to the front of the house, proceeded +an eighth of a mile up the soft road to the southward, after which he +continued his way on the grass. Then he climbed into a meadow lying +between him and the wood which he had traversed in his approach to +the house. A large, low stump was in his path, and on it he seated +himself with no concern as to the advisability of his action. + +This was, indeed, strange conduct for one whose interest it +unmistakably was to flee from a neighborhood which might at any +moment become dangerous. Possibly the sound of pursuit might have +roused him, might have led him to take measures for his safety; but +it did not come, and listless and dejected, he kept his seat. + +The intervention of the barns kept him from seeing the house, in +which and in whose occupants alone he was interested. Crossing the +lane and reaching the spot where he had made his exit from the wood, +he was able to view Green's dwelling. A light was in the bedroom in +which had slept the late master of the house. + +It soon passed from Montcalm's sight and reappeared from a window of +the upright. Again it was lost to his view, and again it was visible +as it entered the chamber and shone from the room of William Henry +Harrison. It was plain that Mrs. Green was making a search for her +husband, and probable that she would not abandon it until she found +him in the cellar. Montcalm had no curiosity or inclination longer to +stay so near the place where he had committed his felonious deed. So, +picking up his bundle, which, as may be supposed, was indifferently +arranged, he trudged slowly through the forest. And now, for the +first time, he experienced a fear, which approached certainty, that +his guilt would be detected. It was not the abject terror of the +coward. It was the conviction of a brave man who was willing to +struggle when there was hope, but who believed that he was menaced by +odds which it was useless to resist. + +By the edge of the pond he halted. His mind, in that condition of +vacillation which follows a severe shock to conscience, had veered +from indifference, or rather stupor, to despairing expectation. In an +indecisive conflict reason and imagination contended as to whether +the monotonous night sounds were common and natural occurrences, or +the ominous portents of coming evil. To him the croaking of the +frogs, the low groaning and high wailing utterances of which came +incessantly from the pond, seemed to be an arraignment against which +he could made no defense. + +He removed his outer garments and put on in their places those which +he had stored in the oak. There was no concealment which he +considered safe for the appliances of burglary and the evidences of +murder. Every location which he thought of had its disadvantages. The +open fields were being plowed and cultivated, the woods were rambled +through by hunters from Sharptown and Oakville, the swamp was nearly +dry and was daily visited by berrying parties. Bringing his +irresolution to an end, he put them all, the tools, disguise and +clothing, including the lubber boots and his shoes, inside the tree. +He placed his hand to his forehead. The touch was disagreeably harsh, +for his palm was coated with dried and stiffened blood. + +Passing over the verdureless circle to the deep hole where the +remnant of the pond remained, Montcalm thrust his hand into the +water, that the congealed life fluid might be soaked and detached. He +applied also some of the roiled liquid to his forehead, forgetting +that little more than a stone's-throw from him was a clear spring. + +As he left the pond, he reflected on the change which the night's +events had wrought in is prospects. He had meant to abandon evil. +While he was in his career of thieving and swindling, he had marked +out his intended course. He would first accumulate a competence. Then +he would marry some virtuous girl, between whom and himself existed a +strong affection, and he would live a life of morality, even +religion. Vanished was that dream of happiness. Judicious and good +courtship requires serenity. How could he talk the language of love +with such a secret weighing upon him, when every instant there posed +before him a vision with cloven forehead and protruding brain? He had +been engaged in wholesale trickery and theft, but blood he had +avoided. And now it had smeared his clothing, his hands and, worst of +all, his memory. An itching sensation was between the fingers of his +right hand. Mechanically feeling with his left, he found a snake-like +body, an extremity of which was imbedded in the skin. With a jump he +threw from him a leech which must have become attached as he bathed +in the pond. It was fully a minute before he realized by how trivial +an object he had been frightened. Again he encountered the sheep, and +again they fled before him. The act to which he had previously given +no significance he now interpreted as an indication that the very +brutes avoided his presence. + + +CHAPTER XIII. +"A DANIEL COME TO JUDGMENT." + +Ratke and Montcalm attended the inquest over the body of Josiah +Green. Men were standing on the shady side of the house, on the two +porches, and strolling about the yard. Justice Sparks had ordered the +outside cellar door to be closed, that the body might not be tampered +with before the official examination. The cellar would still have +been easy of access had not Sparks nailed a board over the hole which +had been cut by Montcalm, and which might have admitted a hand to +lift the fastening hook. + +"How do you do, Major?" said a large, slightly corpulent man, with +long chin whiskers, a rumbling voice and a breath which was tainted +with whiskey. + +"How do you do, Dr. Rorus?" responded Ratke. + +"This is a sad affair," observed the doctor, "a lamentable happening, +a bad job. Terrible, terrible terrible," and Dr. Rorus raised his +eyes aloft. "A man, a fellow-being, struck down, cut off in the very +noontide, or, as you might say, meridian of vigor." At this point the +physician took an uncertain step and waved his fist in the air. + +The major, whose own pomposity of language was unconsciously +caricatured by Dr. Rorus, did not fancy listening to the drunken +harangue, but he was obliged either to tolerate it or to beat a +retreat. His friends had noticed that immediately after he had met +the doctor he was less pedantic in his conversation, and his +philosophical and historical allusions were less frequent. + +"Have they found any trace of the assassin?" asked the major. + +"Strong evidence," responded the doctor, "very strong. There was a +conspiracy. The victim was called up in the middle of the night and +was never seen alive again. He was called by a certain individual +that I won't name now." + +"They will not convict William Henry Harrison on such proof," said +Ratke. "I hope they have stronger evidence than that." + +"The murderer," said Rorus with his customary redundancy, "the +homicide, the execrable monster, the villain will be punished and put +in prison and made to suffer. With whom is he dealing? With you? No. +With me? No. With a weak man? No. With that mighty aggregation, that +great mass of power, the commonwealth and the State of Michigan. Oh, +the people of Michigan are a wonderful people. They have developed +and grown up to greatness. Plenty of hardship, plenty of enemies to +fight. There is, or was when they grew up, the Indian, the bear, the +wolf, the panther and the hard winters and--poverty and--hard labor, +terrible hard and--the fever and--ague, the rattlesnake +and--hardship. The Michigan boy has the enterprise. You can't beat +him. Best in the world." + +"Where is Sparks?" asked Ratke. "I would like to see him." + +"Can't say," said the doctor. "Where there's a slight breeze, there's +a cause for it. Where there's a big wind, there's a good deal more. +Evidence must have, has got to have, facts behind it." + +"I understand," said the major. "We will talk this over some other +time." + +"There is no denying the fact. Major," declared Rorus, detaining +Ratke by clutching his sleeve. "Brace against it and it will push you +back. Try to shove it along and it will kick. I will give my +drug-store, and my practice, and my diploma to any scholar, or set of +scholars, who will disprove what I say, or demonstrate that it isn't +so, either one, mind you, either one. There is a chance for somebody, +a big chance." + +"Precisely," acknowledged the major, glancing uneasily about, but +disliking rudely to leave his tiresome companion. + +"I claim," said Rorus, "I assert positively, without a tinge of +doubt, there was no profit in that deed, that atrocity, as you might +term it if you was disposed to give it a hard name. Oh, I don't +believe in being mealy-mouthed with these rascals. In the first place +there was no profit to the killer, the murderer I mean, to be more +explicit. He will go to some saloon, and he'll drink. Then he'll +gamble, and he'll lose what he's got, and he'll fight. And of course, +as he's drunk, he'll get whipped and get a black eye. So you will +admit. Major, there is no profit in a black eye. I claim, and I defy +any man to prove to the contrary, aye, I challenge the world, there +was no profit in it to Green. If there was, where was it? There was +the house broken into. There was the $2,000 gone." + +"Exactly," remarked the major with a sigh. + +"Morality pays," pursued the doctor. "That is the teaching of the +greatest philosophers, and thinkers, and orators, and smart men of +the present day, and of the past, and that ever lived, of Aristotle, +and Epictetus, and Bacon, and Socrates, and Pluto. Oh, that Pluto was +a wonderful man. His philosophy is mild--and gentle--and beneficent +and pleasant." + +"If ever you fall into his dominion," observed Ratke, "you will find +it not a pleasant one." + +At this juncture, to the major's joy, he was approached by Sparks and +informed that his testimony would be required, and that the jury, the +witnesses and the officers of the inquest were to go through the +house and view the cellar before the outside door was opened for the +admission of the crowd. Sparks carried a lighted lamp in order to +help their observations. + +"Here are his tracks plain enough," said Holmes. "He wore rubber +boots." + +"I tracked him down south in the sand as much as forty rods," said +the sheriff, whose unpretentious manner up to this time had concealed +his interest in the tragedy. "Then he went to one side. There was a +ways where the grass looked as if it had been disturbed. After that I +couldn't follow him at all." + +"It's queer he should go in the sand," commented the prosecuting +attorney, a sleek young man who had red cheeks which were evidently +made so by dissipation. "He ought to know he could be followed +there." + +"Murderers don't think of such things," said the sheriff. "They're +generally in a hurry. It's some little thing that they forget that +gets them caught. I wonder what size those rubber boots were. We can +measure the tracks. Who's got a rule?" + +The cellar door was now opened, and those who were waiting entered. +The jury with Rorus surrounded the body and drew from it the sheet by +which it had been covered. + +With a copy of the statutes in his hand Sparks administered the oath +to the six jurors. + +"Here is what done it," said the justice, picking up the broad-ax +after he had performed the official duty just mentioned. + +"Terrible blow," ejaculated Dr. Rorus, "terrible. Crashed through the +cuticle, the cutis, the frontal bone, the parietal bone, the +arachnoid, the dura mater, the pia mater and the cerebrum. +Intelligence, in a moment, in a second, in a half of a second, or +less, for it was done instantly, destroyed, stopped, or, more +properly, used up. Did you ever think what a slippery thing mind is. +Major? Intangible, incomprehensible. You can't get at it. You want to +put it under a microscope, but it isn't there. You grab for it, but +it gets away. Whenever you put your hand on it, it slips out just +like a greased pig." + +So eager were the spectators to view the proceedings of the inquest +that they seriously embarrassed the jurors in their deliberations and +crowded them almost upon the body of Green. The annoyance at last +aroused the displeasure of Sparks, who ordered two constables to +clear a larger place for the accommodation of the court. The retreat +was slow, like all forced backward movements of a crowd. Those who +were behind had no inclination to move farther away from the object +of interest, and those who were in front were by them prevented from +doing so. Finally motion was imparted to the sluggish mass, which, +reaching beyond the door, settled back with the rearward part +resisting the retrogression. One of the lookers-on, who struggled +most obstinately against yielding his position, was crowded toward +the door; his heels struck the barrel which served as a curb, and he +was precipitated to a sitting posture. Unfortunately for him he was a +lean man, so very lean, that, doubled up as he was, he shot inside of +the barrel, where, helpless and clamorous, he remained with his chin +barely above water and the soles of his feet and the top of his head +forming equally elevated slopes. The excited throng pressed about him +and drove him farther into the well, but he was finally rescued, and +the investigation proceeded. + +When the dead body had been critically examined, it was wrapped in +the sheet and removed to the ground floor. Sparks led the way to the +room directly above the cellar, where the testimony was to be taken. + +"Gentlemen," said Sparks, "we've met to-day to do our duty, and +that's what everybody orto be willin' to do. One of our neighbors has +been slayed almost before our eyes. Now we want to find out who done +it, and what he done it for. Folks'll expect it of us, consequently +that's what we orto do." + +Sparks now proceeded to the examination of witnesses. Dr. Rorus gave +straggling testimony relating to the organs affected by the wound, to +the time and to the immediate cause of death. It was to no purpose +that the sheriff and the prosecuting attorney bade him confine his +attention to necessary facts. + +Ratke was the next witness to be called. The preceding day he had +paid Green fourteen thousand five hundred forty-two dollars and +forty-two cents. All except the forty-two cents was in paper. He had +given paper because it was the cheaper currency and it was what he +had borrowed. After he had paid him, Green drove toward home, and +that was the last time he had seen him alive. When asked by the +prosecuting attorney whether there had been any ill-feeling between +him and the deceased, he admitted that there had been. When +questioned as to its nature, he said substantially that, as his +neighbor was dead, he could not with propriety explain their trouble. +He was liable to prejudice. The account which he would furnish might +be biased. A counter-statement from the other party, therefore, would +be necessary to give the jury a correct idea of the circumstances. +That statement it was impossible to obtain. He, consequently, must be +silent respecting their relations. He could only inform them that, +however intense or unjust his animosity, it never would have prompted +him to injure in person, reputation or finance the victim of the +recent tragedy. + +Mrs. Green was nearly overcome by grief, and the jury allowed her to +tell her story without being subjected to many questions. She was +quite deaf. She had been awakened by her husband in the night. Green +said William Henry Harrison wanted him to come upstairs, and she, +herself, could hear the calls, though she could not understand them. +From her husband she learned their import. William Henry Harrison +said that he was sick. Then he said that he was very sick and that he +was going to die. Next he said that he was going to have a fit and +that he would break the house. He broke the bed, knocked out some +window lights and jarred loose a lot of plaster. Green at last went +up to see what was the matter. She waited for him a long time, but he +did not come. After a while she became alarmed and ascended to the +chamber. William Henry Harrison acted strangely. She asked him where +her husband was, but he returned an answer so low that she could not +hear him. She thought it was a whisper. She insisted that he should +speak, and he was still obstinate. She tried to pull him from bed, +but she was not strong enough. Then she endeavored to haul the +clothes from him. At that he resisted and even acted mad. She never +saw him so violent before. Whenever she moved the quilt which was +over him, he carefully replaced it again. He would fold it and put it +over his legs, and she saw him arrange it so that a wrinkle would run +across the center. As she continued her attempts to arouse him, he +grew frantic, and she was afraid longer to stay by him. After hunting +through the house she went down cellar and found her husband. She +could not tell what she did during the next few minutes, but she was +sure she did not touch the body. When she recovered from the shock +sufficiently to think and act, she proceeded to Mr. Holmes's house +and awakened him. He, with another neighbor whom he aroused, came +home with her, and watched in the cellar until morning. + +"The next witness I shall perceed to call," said the justice, "is +William Henry Harrison Hibbard." + +Gently pushed forward by several men, William Henry Harrison took the +chair. + +Sparks gravely looked down at the law-book and repeated these words: +"William Henry Harrison Hibbard, you do solemnly swear that the +evidence you shall give to this inquest concernin' the death of the +person here lyin' dead shall be the truth, the whole truth and +nothin' but the truth." + +The half-wit stared stupidly at the justice, but made no reply. + +"The court is waitin'," observed Sparks. "We want you to speak up." + +Still the witness did not answer. + +"We're in a hurry," said Sparks. "Do you swear it, I say?" + +"No," replied William Henry Harrison. + +"What!" ejaculated Sparks, "you won't tell us? Now I ask you again. +Do you swear to tell the truth?" + +"No," said William Henry Harrison, "I no swear. Wicked, awful." + +"We do not want you to swear or say anything bad," said the major. +"We want to know if you will tell the truth." + +"Yes," was the response. "I no lie." + +"Now, William Henry Harrison Hibbard," Sparks began, "we want you to +tell us somethin' about the murder. Some think you know more about it +than you care to tell. They kind o' think you know who it was that +hit 'im." + +William Henry Harrison's terror of the preceding night was revived. +He remembered the dark-lantern, the hideous face which had peered +into his, the great shadow which had been thrown on the ceiling and +the threats which the ferocious intruder had uttered. He drew down +his head and shoulders and cast an uneasy glance toward the door +which led to the cellar. + +"I want to ask you, William Henry Harrison," said Sparks, "what did +you do as you did for? What did you want to call Mr. Green up there +for when you knowed somebody was a-waitin' to kill 'im? There was +nothin' fair about that. It wa'n't as you'd like to be done by. +Answer me now. What did you want to do it for?" + +Poor William Henry Harrison, incapable of defense, could only stare +in mute appeal. + +"If you don't answer me," threatened Sparks, "I shall take legal +perceedin's agin you. What did you want to do it for?" + +"I dono," responded the half-wit. + +"Yes, you do know, too," persisted Sparks. "If you called him up +there, you know what you called him for, You orto be ashamed o' +yourself, a-doin' like that. There he'd fed you an' kept you an' give +you your clothes, an' you had to up an' play that mean trick on 'im," + +"Young man," said Dr. Rorus, in his most resonant bass, "do you +realize the position you are taking?" + +The prosecuting attorney here objected to Rorus's questioning the +witness. + +"Do you know," persisted the drunken doctor, ignoring the objection, +"that you are in insurrection against, aye, assaulting the statutes +of the Peninsular State? For, when you stand in the way of justice, +you are assailing the whole. Do you think the people will stand that? +Why, my dear sir, you never heard the motto of Michigan, did you? It +is 'Tuebor'--I will defend her. And, when the young men of Michigan +say, 'I will defend her,' they mean it. They are ready to fight for +her liberty and her rights and her civilization. At the first menace +they would crowd up by the dozens and the hundreds and the thousands +and the millions. Now answer instantly." + +The frightened witness slid to the side of his chair as far from his +interlocutor as he could get without leaving or moving his seat. The +prosecuting attorney again protested that Rorus had no right to +question the witness. + +"Rules are for use, sir," said the doctor--"for use when they're +needed. We don't need that rule now. Young man," he continued, +addressing William Henry Harrison, "you are liable to be arrested for +conspiracy, to be put in Jackson inside of stone walls, and have men +ready to shoot you if you try to run away. I will have a man come for +you now. Your honor, send a constable for him." + +"Rorus," interrupted the major, "you are drunk or you are a fool. +Your honor, if you will allow me to question the witness, I think I +can extract the information you want. Now, William Henry Harrison," +he said, turning to the half-wit, "I will let none of them hurt you. +I will keep them off. You like tobacco, don't you?" + +"No like now. No like nothin' now." + +"But you will like it when we go away," said Ratke kindly, "Jim, let +me lake your tobacco box." + +The young fellow who at the hunt after the horse thieves had been +conspicuous in the white hat handed Ratke his tobacco box. William +Henry Harrison, whose scanty supply of tobacco had been partly stolen +from Green and partly bought by pennies which he had accumulated, +took the box and hesitated. + +"You had better take it," said Ratke. "You may not have another +chance to get tobacco." + +Thus urged, the half-wit transferred the tobacco to his pocket. + +"If you will answer a few questions," said the major, "you can leave +us and be away from these men. Then, when I go to Break o'Day, I will +buy you a pound of tobacco. Now, I would like to, know if any one +came to your room last night." + +The allusion to the circumstances by which the half-wit had been so +frightened again made him incapable of utterance. His terrified looks +and shrinking posture indicated that he would give no evidence. + +"Oh, you aught not to be afraid," said Ratke, "I won't let anybody +touch you. What kind of looking man was he?" + +"He big. He awful." + +"There," exclaimed Sparks, "now we've got a clue. If you can git him +to tell who he looks like. Major, it'll be a big point." + +"Holmes," said the major, "hand me your tobacco box. Have a chew, +William Henry Harrison. Did the man have whiskers?" + +"Yes," responded William Henry Harrison. "He have whissers, just like +Misser Sparks." + +This unexpected reply drew the general attention to the justice and +brought a flush to the judicial countenance. + +"Tell me what he did," said Ratke. + +"No," said William Harrison. "He say he kill when I tell." + +"Let him come," said Ratke assuringly. "I will give him the hardest +thrashing he ever got. You don't think he will hurt you when I am +here, do you?" + +"No, I 'fraid of no one when you here. He come when you go 'way. Come +when nobody here. Night. He shoot, kill, hurt, make blood." + +"How do you know he will hurt you?" asked the major. + +"He say so. He come las' night. He pull my legs. He say I call Misser +Green. I say I no like call Misser Green. He git mad. Then he say he +hurt I no call Misser Green. He shake me. I call Misser Green. Misser +Green git mad. Man he make me say I sick, I have fit. I break things. +Misser Green he git mad. He come up. Man he lay quilt on my legs. He +say I move quilt he kill me. Man he scare Misser Green. Misser Green +he go with man. Miss Green she come up. She pull quilt. I 'fraid man +come. I pull. I 'fraid now." + +"That will do, William Henry Harrison," said the major. "You have +been a good witness. You must admit, Rorus, that he has told a not +improbable story. It is not strange that he should be compelled to do +as he did by the assassin, who was certain that the course Which he +adopted would bring Mr. Green to the chamber. Besides, William Henry +Harrison is not capable of inventing the account which he gave." + +"We've heerd all the testimony we can git at," said Sparks, "that is, +so far as we know. Now, honorable jury, I want you to decide this +question. An', while you're about it, git it right if you can. This +lookin' a thing over an' then gittin' it wrong after you've had the +fussin', I don't think much of." + +The clerk, with the help of Dr. Rorus, prepared the inquisition, to +which the jury subscribed. The document stated that "The said Josiah +Green came to his death between the hours of one and two o'clock, on +the second day of July, 187--, in the cellar of his own house, by +means of a broad-ax, in the hands of a person or of persons unknown, +and that the immediate cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage +inducing paralysis of the nerve centers, asphyxia, cerevuesisms and +coma." + +Mrs. Green's neighbors eradicated the traces of the murder from the +cellar. The broad-ax they gave to Sparks. Back of the barn they +carried the plank, with its discoloring stripe of dark red. They +dipped dry the well, the water of which was bloody and loathsome as +that of the Egyptian streams over which Aaron's rod was stretched. It +could never again be used, for though it would once more be clear, +the sickening thought of the tragedy which had given it that crimson +tinge would appall him who should presume to drink from it. William +Henry Harrison was obliged to carry the family supply of water from +the barn until another well could be dug. + +"Trace," observed the major, after they had passed the church on +their return to the farm, "you remind me more and more of your +father. When there was a general struggle to obtain a petty object, +he never joined the rabble. He was willing that others should go +before him. At Green's you sacrificed your curiosity to the curiosity +of others. You might have crowded up and viewed the body, but you did +not. I do not believe you went into the cellar to-day." + + +CHAPTER XIV. +MONTCALM FINDS DANTE INACCURATE. + +On the second night after the inquest Montcalm fell into his first +slumber since the nocturnal expedition which had robbed him of +Nature's restorative and had deprived Green of mortal existence. In +that state in which the reasoning faculties are yielding to the need +of rest, the gradual transition from balanced consciousness to +uncertain fancy, he thought he saw a broad, smoothly flowing river. +The green meadow beside it, the adjacent woods, where huge trees +seemed ineffectually striving to form bridges, were familiar to him. +The house in which he was born he saw for an instant before its place +was occupied by other objects. A cool breeze came from the water, +bringing to him vigor and placidity. He had a strange sensation, yet +it was one of peace. He was that river. In his way were no greater +trials than the fallen trees which he swept around without +inconvenience from their presence or animosity for their +interference. + +His being was now divided, but the division was unequal. A certain +amount of perception alone, stripped of the power of action, +separated from the river. Through this perception the dreamer +continued his fancies. He could no longer see the river, which +retained his capacity for good or evil, his moral responsibility. +Gradually the stream narrowed and became more turbulent. This was +indicated by the roar of its waters, which, continually rising in +pitch, betokened the decline of power and the increase of violence. +The cataract, for such it had grown to be, was now as small as that +which falls over a schoolboy's dam. Still it decreased in size until +it was no larger than an ordinary hand, and soon its water could have +been drained as fast as it fell by a thirsty man. Montcalm started as +the stream underwent its last diminution. Once before he had heard +that measured trickling. Some time elapsed ere he could turn his head +and view the remains of that river, which had parted with strength, +beauty and serenity. At last he saw the dropping liquid, but it was +not water. It was falling from the end of a plank into a well with a +barrel curb. On the plank was the source of the stream, the form of a +man with skull cloven and with brain exposed. The frightful wound, +which was presented toward Montcalm, showed him that the victim was +still cognizant of current events, for shadows of thought were +passing along the convolutions of the cerebrum. The shadows, or +waves, had no regularity of form or of appearance. At times they +moved slowly, at others they passed with great rapidity, like the +spokes of a swiftly revolving wheel. The eyes were fixed and lurid, +but they were frequently darkened by clouds of meaning, the shades +which were sweeping along the brain. The face, undergoing the not +unusual exaggeration of dreams, alternately lengthened and broadened, +one dimension reaching its maximum development as the other attained +its minimum. The sleeper believed its hue was ghastlier than that of +death. He reached the climax of his fright when the dead man, by a +convulsive effort, changed his features to the aspect of life and +fastened on him a look such as he might have given a poor neighbor on +whose meager possessions he had a mortgage which he meant +relentlessly to foreclose. He knew that Green never gave that wink +and leer except when some cherished project of vengeance or finance +was materializing to a certainty. + +The repulsive object on the plank was once more hideously distorted. +As the chin dropped in an abnormal distension, the mouth opened and +seemed about to close on Montcalm, who inert and helpless, dreaded +the first touch of the jagged lips. From the cavernous throat +deformed beings beckoned to him to join them. What heightened his +fear was a mad impulse to precipitate himself into the yawning chasm, +an act which he knew would be followed by the most appalling +consequences. Strenuously he tried to escape. Not a muscle would +contract to help him in his emergency. Finally his will-power +prevailed and he was able to flee. Leaving the cellar, he entered the +apartment on the ground floor. Instantly from the vicinity of the +well came the clamor of pursuit, and after him sprang a dozen men. He +was in a very large house which he was determined to quit, but every +door which he opened disclosed to him a division of the infinitely +vast building. He raced from room to room, from each of which, +sustaining a sharp conflict, he emerged, invariably frightened and +invariably unhurt. His desperate defense was not prompted by courage, +for he had but one desire, that of finding safety at whatever cost. +His adversaries, on the contrary, though often driven back had +stricken down, returned each time to the attack, not in the least +dismayed by the blows which they had received. Presently they forced +him to a corner from which he could not retreat. His guard was beaten +down, and he was at the mercy of his pitiless enemies. They +surrounded him, raising high their bludgeons, which poised an instant +before descending. + +With a gigantic leap he crashed through the wall and trod the solid +earth. Given on this footing an unnatural speed, he swept over +fields, fences and woods, barely treading the ground and propelling +himself far at every light touch of his foot. No longer were his +pursuers in sight or hearing, but fearful of the approach, he would +not abate his exertions. + +Before him was the great swamp, and his route was the causeway east +of Ratke's. He was almost flying along the road, by the side of which +the tamaracks grew large and tall, when to his inexpressible horror +Archer arose from the bushes, pointed a revolver at him and fired. +The shot at once robbed him of his great speed, and in his face blew +a strong wind against which he could make little headway. His +pursuers again drew new. With savage gesticulations and yells of +triumph the pressed about him. In the intensity of despair he felt +that he could neither flee nor fight. Helplessly he looked aloft and +prayed for relief. As with limbs paralyzed, but with senses painfully +acute, he lay momentarily expecting destruction, an angelic form +flitted to his rescue, and interposing its bright wings, parried the +threatening clubs. + +The mien of the angel was benign and serene. Merciful in his +strength, he did not injure those who were endeavoring to kill the +wretch who had secured his intervention. Montcalm, confident in the +will and ability of this being to protect him, imploringly clutched +the hem of his garment. The angel stooped and lifted him; and +together, propelled by those bright wings, hand in hand, they sped +away at a rate which defied pursuit. Their course was midway between +the horizontal and the vertical. Terrestrial objects, trees, rivers, +hills and plains, blended indistinguishably together on the surface +of the disappearing planet, which, a non-luminous ball, was drawing +its dusky outlines into smaller compass. + +Measureless was the space through which they flew. Montcalm became +aware that his feet now and then met a substance which, though not +solid, was more tangible than air. His footing grew firmer. He was +entering a land where the common objects of inhabited earth were +wanting, where irregularly formed bodies cast shadows along the +uneven surface. A dull red glare, hovering over a strip of the +horizon, gave a quantity of light insufficient to make vision plain. +He drew closer to his protector, for he was intimidated by the +unfamiliar sight. Journeying on, they came to a locality which was +entirely occupied by somber rocks piled in mountain-like masses by +convulsions of the sub-strata. In the distance a lurid flame shot up +high in the heavens, as if the forces which had wrought that +devastation, instead of dying out, had shifted in position and +increased in intensity. Awe-stricken, Montcalm paused. Gladly would +he have returned to the world from which he had fled; but, as he +attempted to escape from his companion, his hand was tightly held, +and he was unable to withdraw it. At the same moment the strange +being underwent a transformation. His golden wings lost their +brilliancy, from the top of his head sprang great horns, his face +changed from benignity to diabolical ugliness and was dark and stern +as the fire-blackened rocks around him. Agonized beyond measure, +Montcalm gazed on him who destroys men's souls, and he remembered +that he had voluntarily placed himself in his power. While he was +shrinking from his repulsive master and fearfully awaiting the awful +flame which had now neared him, he heard, repeated, a long shrill +blast, the annunciation that "there should be time no longer." + +He opened his eyes as the notes of one of the major's chanticleers +was dying away. It was some minutes before he comprehended the +unreality of his dream, and even after it was apparent to him, he +frequently wondered if it were really a delusion. Day had not yet +arrived. The light which came through the evergreens in front of his +window was furnished chiefly by the moon, which had more than an hour +ere its supersedure by the sun. + +The plaster on the walls had cracked, leaving many seams which an +unemployed imagination might construe to represent definite shapes. +Montcalm's gaze followed one of these lines as, making a number of +curves, it formed a grotesque resemblance to a man's head. Uneasily +he turned toward the opposite wall, fancying that the picture was +shaped like the exaggerated countenance of Green as it had appeared +in his dream. + +No sooner had he sought relief by changing his posture than his eyes +fell on another set of seams which united in the shape of a broad-ax. +He sprang from bed resolved that he would not longer stay where the +most commonplace things united to make his sojourn hideous. + +Weakened by the horrors of the night, he walked slowly from the +house. The cattle were lying down in the barnyard. With the exception +of himself and Mrs. Grippin's ducks neither animals nor men were +astir about the place. Wearily he opened a barn door and climbing a +stationary ladder, flung himself on the haymow. Sleep was for him +impossible, but he might be able to rest. He did, indeed, find a +partial refuge from his harrowing thoughts. But, as the day dawned, +he was beset by a swarm of flies, which would give him no peace. When +he had covered his face with his hat, they lighted on his hands, and +when he had plunged his bands into the hay, they crowded under the +hat and still tormented him. He believed that henceforth for him +there was no quiet; that all nature had conspired to make him +miserable. He heard the me chatting in the stable and about the +barnyard. Not wishing to be discovered in the loft, he climbed down +and was passing out, when he met Archer, whose inexpressive face +reminded him of the shot which had stopped his flight in the swamp. + +Breakfast was to him a severe trial. By dint of great exertion he +managed to invent a few gay remarks and to deliver them in a +sprightly manner; but the effort was so severe that it could not be +prolonged, and he relapsed again into silence. + +It was a fine Sabbath morning, and after his few chores were done, he +sauntered back of the house, where he was joined by Ratke. + +"The murder, has drawn my attention from my own affairs," said the +major. "I am again financially embarrassed. Did I tell you about it, +Trace?" + +"No, you did not," answered Montcalm. + +"I do not want to profane the Sabbath, but this is not a business +matter," said Ratke, feeling in spite of his explanation that he was +doing what he pretended to avoid, "that is, it is not a transaction +in business to-day. Durgenson has written me that he must have $4,000 +the 23d of this month. I have nothing for him unless I sell the +Barton hundred and sixty. What would you do?" + +"Do not pay him one cent," replied Montcalm, with an energy which he +had not exhibited for days. "He wants to get your entire property. +Let him have this farm, but keep---- + +"What!" exclaimed the major, "let the place go without an attempt to +save it? Do you know how I have become attached to my home? To save +it, I will sacrifice, if need be, all my possessions." + +"That is what you will do," rejoined Montcalm, "and it will avail you +nothing. If you do not pay your indebtedness on the day it is due, +the farm belongs to Durgenson. Pay all you owe him, if you pay +anything. He does not want it paid. He is longing to get every dollar +you have. He would be disappointed to hear that you were prepared to +discharge the debt. The shark in whose clutches you have fallen will +show you no mercy until the shark of the sea returns a man unharmed +to the deck of the vessel from which he has fallen." + +"You have a new opinion of Durgenson," said the major. "You were the +first one to advise me to take the step which I did." + +"God forgive me, I did!" exclaimed Montcalm bitterly. "But all is not +ruined now. You have a hundred and sixty acres of good land. That +will keep you well, and you need not do a stroke of work. Suppose you +let that go and are penniless, what will you do? You ought not to be +obliged to labor at your age. I would keep it by all means." + +Montcalm purposely strolled near a group of the hired men, and Ratke, +unable to impart confidences, returned to the house. Had the gloomy +young man been questioned by one who had authority to demand an +answer, he could not have explained why he went down the road toward +the church and plunged into the wood at the left. + +It was with dread that he approached the pond. Its edge had retreated +farther from its usual border than it was on the night when he had +last visited it. Some turtles which were on a log fell with splashes +into the water. A snake swam a rod or two from shore and dived for +safety. Montcalm's hair arose as he saw a leech on the muddy bottom +worming its way to shore. Sick with aversion, he turned away, +believing that the pond and its vicinity was fit only for the +habitation of devils. He put his hand inside the hollow tree and drew +out the articles which he had there hidden. They were as he had left +them, the plunder, the auger, the mask and the rough clothes with +their blood-stains. He was not actuated by a love of his ill-acquired +money, and he had little curiosity. Indeed, he did not open the +pocket-book, and he barely glanced at the clothes. + +Restoring to the tree what he had removed, he walked toward the +swamp. In the gradual descent he found a spring, and stooping, he +took a cool draught and from it bathed his face and head. After being +thus invigorated, he resumed his walk in better spirits. From the +side of the declivity bubbled other springs, the water of which met +in a rivulet, which joined the creek in the tamaracks. + +Montcalm sat down near a fallen tree-top which partly obstructed the +brook. The limbs reached nearly across the channel; so that the +water, sweeping by at one side, made its escape through a narrow +passage. The current below was rapid. Above it moved slowly, halting +at the tree-top where a partial dam of leaves, sticks and scum was +collected. Long strings of green slime swayed to and fro, attached to +the bottom and the sides of the channel. Whirled above by the eddies, +small objects were passed into a peaceful bay formed by the tree-top +and the bank or swept into the turbulent rapids beyond. Montcalm +became impressed with the idea that the placid bay held safety and +that in the rapid current beyond was destruction. Every piece of bark +which was brought by the rivulet he watched to ascertain its fate. He +was glad when one reached the smooth haven, disappointed when another +swept around the obstruction and was hurried to its doom. By degrees +he came to regard each floating substance as a representation of +himself, his deeds, his chance of preservation. + +An ant crawled down an overhanging bush which almost touched the +surface of the brook. Ordinarily it would have maintained its +balance, but as it whirled to ascend, struck by a puff of wind, it +fell. Montcalm viewed its struggles with interest, for it reminded +him of the manner in which he, tossed hither and thither, had been +borne down the stream of fatality. He reflected that he could no more +have resisted the temptations and circumstances by which he was +surrounded than the poor insect could rise above the whirlpools and +fly to land. And yet, the ant was in a measure responsible for its +misfortune. It had realized the danger and hovered over it, believing +that its vigilance was sufficient protection. He had known where +flowed the river into which he had leaped, but he had thought that he +could leave it before arriving at the fatal rapids, from which there +could be no extrication. Not far from him was the cataract which +descended to the abyss of eternal woe, its sheet of falling water, +its projecting rocks, its appalling roar. If the ant passed into the +still haven, he would believe that he might likewise escape. If, +swept on by the angry waves, it perished, he would have no prospect +of avoiding a similar fate. Anxiously he awaited the result on which +in a spirit of fatalism he had based his hopes. + +The ant, struggling, floated toward the rapids. The movement, +however, was not decisive, and it swam nearer to the shelter of the +right bank, where it lay hesitating between the shore and the stream. +It again circled, and entering the current, was carried toward the +point of a limb which separated the still and the agitated waters. +Poised an instant in mock deliberation, it was hurled into the +rushing waves. Montcalm was seized with a resolve to rescue the +creature. He ran to a stick, which he clutched. When he turned to the +brook, the ant had disappeared. He bent over the spot where he had +last seen it, he rushed down the stream, he splashed the water with +the stick. Not a trace could he find of the insect whose fate he had +identified with his own. + +"Why, what are you trying to do?" said a voice, at the sound of which +he started in alarm, "dragging the river for a dead body?" + +The speaker was Durgenson, who was spending Sunday with Sparks and +who had approached, unobserved, during Montcalm's preoccupation. He +wore a wide-brimmed straw hat and a suit of plaid clothes, with a +sack coat which fitted tightly his full muscular figure. "You don't +look well," he continued, without waiting for a reply to his +question. "Ratke isn't in the habit of working his hands hard enough +to hurt them." + +"No," said Montcalm, "I am not overworked. I have been awake a great +deal nights. I think I will leave the locality soon. I want sleep and +a change of scene." + +"That is what you ought to have," remarked Durgenson. "You have +worked harder than people have any idea of. Now, I'll bet something +handsome you can tell who hit old Green." + +"Are you any better than I, you swindler?" retorted Montcalm. "You +have tricked honest men of small means, from whom I would have been +ashamed to take a dollar. I once owned a conscience, but you never +had one." + +"Oh, there's no use getting in a pet, Trace," responded Durgenson +good-naturedly. "I didn't mean anything. I've come to bring you some +money. That ought to put you in better humor. Suppose we settle +to-day." + +"I have long been wanting a settlement," replied Montcalm. "How much +did the last horses bring?" + +"The last I sold were the ones they had such a hunt for," said +Durgenson. "They brought four hundred dollars." + +"Four hundred dollars!" ejaculated Montcalm in surprise. "Madge T. +alone ought to have sold for more than that!" + +"I can't help that," returned Durgenson. "You can't take advantage of +the market where you are dealing in such property. You have to +dispose of it the best way you can. Here is two hundred dollars. That +makes us square, don't it?" + +"No," responded Montcalm, "you owe me a great deal more. I have done +the planning for your enterprises and you have reaped the benefits. +When I told you of the oat scheme, you agreed to pay me well for the +time I spent. I worked at it until I had it perfected. You made +thousands of dollars from it. Where is my share? I laid the plan of +the Guerrero Mining Company and studied weeks to perfect it. +Excepting the one share which I sold, what has it availed me?" + +"Well, now, that hasn't panned out much yet," said Durgenson. "I +expect it will pay." + +"There is one matter I would like to speak about," said Montcalm. "I +have made but few requests to you, and you ought to be willing to +grant this one. You have Major Ratke's farm in your possession. You +are now trying to get the proceeds from the Barton hundred and sixty. +Take the old farm if you will, but let him have that fragment of his +estate. I ask it as a personal favor, Durgenson." + +"Now, that is asking a great deal," remarked Durgenson. "You want me +to let him go after he is once in my hand. You helped to catch him +yourself." + +"So I did," replied Montcalm, "and I have a right to insist that part +of my wishes concerning him shall be carried out. I have hated myself +ever since I entrapped him." + +"I'll see about it," said Durgenson. "Say how much you want a day for +your work." + +"Fifteen dollars," answered Montcalm, "and I put in, call it ten +days." + +"All right," said Durgenson, "That is satisfactory, I'll make it two +hundred, and then you'll be satisfied. The oat business, though, was +profitable. It was well got up, too. The name was worth a fortune. If +it had been Chinese or Russian, the farmers might not have bit, but +Nijni Novgorod, they couldn't stand that. I suppose you've no +objection to getting a thousand more?" + +"What do you want done?" inquired Montcalm. + +"You see," answered Durgenson, "there's a fellow I don't like the +looks of, not that he's homelier than other folks, but he don't look +good to me. Now, I want that fellow got out of my sight, out of +everybody's sight." + +"What do you take me for, you scoundrel?" exclaimed Montcalm, "a +cutthroat? I am bad enough, but I will not kill a man for hire." + +"Why, you are getting conscientious," sneered Durgenson. "You never +used to have any such compunctions. There's a man in the graveyard +that would have been walking around if it hadn't been for you. When +did you get virtuous?" + +"Are you the one to twit me of vice?" angrily cried Montcalm. "You +have encouraged me in it and fattened on my misdeeds. When I first +knew you, I was an innocent boy, determined to make an honest man, I +had no more thought of becoming what I am than you have of giving +your property to a benevolent institution. + +"My father died, my mother was in poor circumstances, and I was +obliged to work in order that I might finish my college course. You +hired me at first to bring cattle to the east. You made great +professions of honesty and of concern for the welfare of others. In +this way you won my confidence. Then you convinced me it was right to +run a saloon, that if we did not some one else would and the liquor +would still be drunk. From selling whisky, you lured me to swindling. +You told me that every man must look out for himself, that honesty is +the cant of hypocrites or the practice of fools, that the only wisdom +is in looking to self-gain regardless of right or wrong. When you had +schooled me well in swindling, you drilled me in horse-stealing, +awarding me the danger and you the profit. I tell you, Durgenson, I +am going straight to hell and it is you who have sent me. I said I +was going to hell. I have been there. I am there now, and I can +hardly restrain myself from pulling you in after me." + +Durgenson started back, appalled by the terrific aspect of Montcalm, +whose hand was raised aloft, whose face was deadly pale, and whose +eyes were blazing almost with the fire of lunacy. + +"Hold on!" expostulated the cattle-buyer. "Don't talk so loud! +Somebody will hear you." + +"What do I care if they do?" returned Montcalm, raising his voice +still higher. "You have ruined me and are laughing at me for it. Why +should I not ruin you? If killing myself would atone for half the +evil I have done, I would blow out my brains! If shooting you would +restore that old man his farm, you would not live an instant!" + +"For God's sake. Trace," Durgenson said, "don't act so! You are +crazy. What do you mean by saying you have been to hell?" + +"Do you intimate that I lie?" asked Montcalm fiercely. + +"No, no," said Durgenson, his astonishment and alarm increasing. "Of +course you know where you've been." + +"Yes," said Montcalm, with perfect composure, "I was in hell all +night. I shall soon go back to stay forever. I am a devil and I know +well the final home of devils. You had better leave me. There is no +telling what violence you may tempt me to do." + +"That is about what I was thinking," replied Durgenson, jumping +across the brook. "You don't know who I can get to do the job I spoke +of, do you?" + +"The fellow who keeps so many dogs," said Montcalm. + +Durgenson walked in the direction of Sparks', wondering at the sudden +change in his hitherto devoted helper. Montcalm, exhausted in his +weakened state by the violence of his passion, sat down at the foot +of a tree. When he had been seated a few minutes, he separated a +letter from a bundle of papers in his pocket. It was written in a +quaint, round hand, which would have been taken at once for that of +an old lady. + + Cortland, N. V., June 30th, 187--. + + My Son Traceworth: + + It has been a long time since I have heard from you. The last + letter you sent was when you gave me that fifty dollars. Now + that I am alone, I don't know what I should do if Cod hadn't + given me a good boy. You must have changed some since I saw + you. That was five years ago. You used to write once a week + regularly. Now you don't let me hear from you oftener than + once a month. It seems so different now from what it did + when we were rich. But it was all for the best. I have + provisions enough. All I need now is to + hear from my boy. I pray for you every day, Traceworth, + two or three times a day. You know there was a spell when + you didn't keep good company. Remember what I have told you + and keep away from bad men. + + Mother. + +Montcalm put the letter with the papers into his pocket. Gloomily he +left the woods to mingle in society which he hated, to listen to +words the import of which he did not comprehend, to profess gayety +while body and mind were being eaten away by the canker of remorse. + + +CHAPTER XV. +IVANHOE CRITICISED BY A MASTER. + +To the delight of the farmers there were indications of rain. Across +the sky was drawn a curtain of cloud, which was uniform in +appearance, except where it was slightly varied in shade by different +degrees of density. From it fell a fine mist, which was welcomed as +the harbinger of plentiful showers. Ratke's hands were gathered in +the club-house, for the major would allow neither man nor beast to +work in the storm on his premises. + +Wingscheut, who that day was out of employment, joined his former +fellow laborers for a visit. + +"Helloa!" exclaimed Thompson, approaching John, who was seated in the +chamber. "What book you got?" + +"Ivanhoe," replied John. "Did you ever read it?" + +"Yes," returned Thompson, "that is, part of it, but I didn't go much +on it. I couldn't make no sense out o'the thing." + +"Tell me about it," said John. + +"Oh, there ain't much to tell," said Thompson. "It don't amount to +nothin'. There was this Iverhoe, he was a slow ole genius, took him +all day to do a little bit, then there was a templar. He was black, a +Nigger or an Injun, I don't know which. Then there was a maiden, an' +the'd rip an' tear around after her to beat all. They had the +funniest way o' fightin' you ever heerd of. They had spears, just +like fish spears, only they didn't have but one tine. They couldn't +do nothin' till they took them spears and got their horses to goin' +lickety-larrup. But I've got the dandy book. + +"What is the name of it?" asked John. + +"'One-eyed Zeke,'" replied Thompson. "This Zeke, he was death on the +Injuns. He'd make game of all of 'em he got in sight of. He'd shoot +off his rifle, an' then he'd take a revolver in each hand. There +wa'n't nothin' he couldn't do. One time they got 'im, but he let 'em. +They'd been a-wantin' to git a steamboat on the river; so Zeke he run +her to shore and pertended to be a-snoozin'. The Injuns, They come +an' catched 'im and tied 'im, but they couldn't run the boat; so they +had to let Zeke loose. Zeke, he told 'em to keep stuffin' in the wood +an' a-stuffin' it in. Byme by he thought 'twas time to skip, an' so +he dropped in the water. Then the biler busted an'blowed 'em all up, +all but Zeke. Oh, that Zeke, he was a tearer! He'd killed more'n +forty while this 'ere Iverhoe was a-gittin' his spear ready." + +Unable to pursue his reading in quiet, John descended to the ground +floor. The outside door opened and in walked Panicky. + +"Here you are again," said Daggett, "You're just the man I want to +see." + +"I like to come where I'm wanted," replied Panicky, taking from his +shoulder the strap to which his satchels were slung. "There's once in +a while a place where they don't appreciate me. But that's what a +benefactor of his race must expect. They're persecuted and cursed by +the ones they help the most. I'm nothing but a martyr. I'm out in all +kinds of weather to give people the benefit of my medicine. It's my +mission. You see the hump on my shoulders. I made that carrying my +satchels, trying to benefit humanity. When I'm dead and gone, folks +will know what they've lost." + +"We're partial to the martyrs," said Daggett. "It ain't often we see +a real one. Sometimes they come snides on us, fix 'em up bogus, Like +Barnum's mermaid. You come just when you're needed, Panicky. We're +all sick, and we want some martyr to tone us up. Wingscheut here +wants a bottle of your panicky on his leg." + +"No," objected Wingscheut, "it's a crowin'-out." + +"What are you using on it?" inquired Panicky. + +"Vell," answered Wingscheut, "tat's for you to fint out if you can, +I'll tell for fife tollars, unt you can sell it to chust as many +folks as you vant to." + +"Got a touch of summer complaint, have you?" asked Panicky, +addressing Sheppard. + +"Got nothin'," returned Jake. "I'm tough as a biled owl." + +"Bad spell for general debility," said Panicky to Montcalm. "I see +it's hit you bad." + +"I am quite well," replied Montcalm. "If you think you can beat me +pitching hay we will try it when the sun comes out." + +"John," said Daggett, "get your fiddle and play us a tune. I want to +shake my feet." + +John brought down a recently purchased violin and played a lively +air, to which Daggett beat an accompanying tattoo with his feet. + +"Now, I'll tell you what we'll do, Panicky," said Daggett, "and +that's the best offer we'll make, that is, I'll go in for it if the +rest of the boys will. If you'll step in there and dance a jig, we'll +buy a partnership bottle of your panicky. What do you say, boys?" + +Panicky objected, but Daggett assured him that he could sell his +medicine to them in no other way. Accordingly the two stepped into +the middle of the room and began to dance a quickstep while John +played. The music was quickened. Daggett was the first who failed to +keep pace with the rapid notes. Panicky's superiority over his rival +was now unquestioned. His body was nearly stationary, but his feet +and legs twisted and turned like those of a jumping-jack; and from +underneath them came a clatter which was almost like the rattle of a +snare drum. He would not have lagged behind the music had its rate +not been still further increased by John. As it was, he missed a few +steps, recommenced further on, and at last, becoming hopelessly +entangled, passed to the outside of the circle. + +"He's the best player I ever heard but one, and he was a foreigner," +said Panicky, after John had gone. "Do you know where he come from?" + +"He won't tell any one that," replied Daggett. "It's queer, too. I +never heard him speak of his folks or where he's been before he come +here." + +That night John did his chores early. He was in the parlor before +dark, for there was a matter which he wished to talk over with Manie. +How strong were his hopes, what an unwonted confidence he had in the +future as he entered the room and she greeted him with a smile. +Despite her kind welcome he dreaded to broach the subject for which +he had come. That which he had deemed assured now appeared very +doubtful, and his voice grew so unsteady that he dared not ask his +intended question. Just as his timidity was getting under subjection, +Ratke opened the door and taking a seat beside him, began to discuss +moral theories, for which, in the absence of Montcalm, he was anxious +to find a listener. To the major and his niece John threw his +glances, hesitating between a desire to please and to get rid of the +troublesome philosopher. Ratke, exhausting the first subject, +commenced another. + +To one of the philosopher's questions which he had imperfectly +understood, John ventured an affirmative answer. + +"The same, then, you say," replied Ratke. "It is called the identical +wave, but I cannot understand its right to claim identity, when it +bears to it hardly a resemblance. It has undergone each of the two +changes to which matter is subject. It is increased in size, and +altered in composition. A political movement begins. Its authors die +and are succeeded by leaders whose creeds and practices are +antagonistic to theirs. The founders advocated thrift, economy, +simplicity and progress; the followers advocate useless offices, vast +expenditures, pomp and an adherence to methods the only +recommendation of which is that they were necessary in an emergency. +Patriotism and virtue have turned to self-interest and corruption. +Why should we call this miserable relic the old party, when it has +preserved its being neither in men nor in principles, only in name? +Answer me that, John." + +"I see," said Ratke, "my words, sent to your +brain without making an impression, form a case of total reflection. +In the physical world this is possible only from a highly burnished +surface but it is not so in the mental. The liability to total +reflection increases as the square root of the intellectual vigor +decreases. No offense is intended, John. Your age and the +circumstances in which you are placed make the rule not applicable to +you. No doubt you have heard enough about the wave and you want now +to see its posterior as it recedes." + +With this good-natured conclusion the major rose and, taking a book +from the library, went to the dining-room, where he was obliged to +hear a harangue by Mrs. Grippin on the scarcity of wood. + +John had fancied that when his employer left, he would have no +difficulty in stating the nature of his errand; but when he was alone +with Miss Ratke, his old timidity returned. He would have been able +to perform his mission at once had it not been for another request in +reserve, which he wished her not to suspect. + +On this account he broached topics which were foreign to the theme +uppermost in his thoughts. Finally he delivered this unscientific +preliminary, "I am going to the concert at Oakville to morrow night." + +"I hope you will have a good time," said his companion. "It is a +local affair, I believe. Still, it will be quite interesting. They, +have some good singers there." + +"I would like to have you go," said John, trying to assume a careless +manner. "Will you be at home to-morrow night?" + +"Certainly not all the time if I go with you," responded Miss Ratke, +"and I believe I shall accept your invitation." + +"Thank you," answered John, "I will call at about six." + +"Very well," said Manie, "I promised Jennie Holmes to come to her +house to-night and I must be going." + +John had performed his errand, yet he lingered at the door feeling +that he had something still to tell. At last he said, "Good-bye." + +"Good-bye," said Manie in surprise, "for how long? Not quite a day." + +"I hope not more than that," replied John. "But I have found that my +expectations are not to be depended upon. That prospect on which I +calculate most is apt to be most completely dissipated." + +He tried to keep warmth from his words and tones that they might not +betray his longing to indulge in passionate utterance, utterance +which, he thought, would warn Manie of the depth of his feeling and +banish him from her beyond the possibility of a return. His whole +being fought against the restraint. He threw back at her another look +and saw a glance which appeared to contain encouragement, but which +he could not analyze with certainty. An apprehension seized him that +a golden opportunity was passing away, but its place was taken by +another that speech would destroy a growing prospect. Their +separation promised to be short; and yet, as if he were about to +start on a long journey, he felt a desire to bid her a second and +different farewell. + +Checking himself with the fear that he had already said too much, he +left her presence. The next night he would stake his hopes on a +revelation to Manie, which, if all circumstances were considered, did +not promise a satisfactory result. He was not confident. He shut his +eyes to the consequences, while a dread of failure was using its +influence to dissuade him from his design. + +In the backyard he met Montcalm, who thus addressed him: + +"There is a little matter I meant to have spoken to you about before. +Suppose we take a walk." + +"I cannot now," responded John, "I have an engagement." + +"Accommodate me as soon as you can, then," said Montcalm. + +"Any time to-morrow," replied John, hastening to the club-house. + +He stayed a few minutes in the chamber and, bringing down his violin, +was about to leave the building when Daggett stopped him. + +"What, John, you ain't going away?" + +"I must," Wrengell replied. + +"Oh, pshaw!" ejaculated Daggett, "that's just the way when we need +you. Well, go it. I don't blame you." + +After Wrengell's departure, Montcalm entered the clubhouse and asked +concerning his whereabouts. + +"He's gone," answered Archer, "took his fiddle and gone." + + +CHAPTER XVI. +MRS. BOYLE'S HOUSE. + +From Ratke's Wrengell proceeded eastward. As he passed Takum's, he +was loudly greeted by the dogs. They were, however, recalled by +Philetus, for an infuriated Irishman had lately hurled a club with +such force and precision that the larger pup had been permanently +lamed and subsequently sold at a sacrifice. In the increasing +darkness the great tamaracks, which were near the center of the +causeway, could not be separately distinguished, but their masses +cast a gloomy shade over the road and were easily discerned even +against the clouded sky. + +John stopped at Wallace's house, the door of which was opened by +Julia. + +"Come in," said the maiden. "You live to the major's, don't you? Take +off your hat and stay awhile." + +"That is where I live," answered John. "Thank you, I cannot stop." + +"Oh, now you better come in," insisted Julia, "It's just as cheap to +set in the house as it is to poke around outdoors. Pa and Ab are gone +away to-night, plague take 'em. I'm all alone and so lonesome I don't +know what to do. We could git acquainted in no time." + +"Can you tell me the way to Mrs. Boyle's?" asked John. + +"Why, it's too dark to git to Mrs. Boyle's," said Julia. "Of course +I'll tell you the way, though. You go right up here to the first +corner. Then you want to turn to your right. Then you take the first +turn to your left. Then you take the first turn to your right. Then +you go past two houses and you'll come to a gate. It's a funny gate, +and I'll bet a cooky you never see one like it before. It's got a +great monstrous beam on the top, and way on the end of that beam +there's a box, and the box has got some big stones in it. You'd think +it would be all you could do to lift it, but it swings around just +like nothin'. Ole McDuff always makes his gates in that way. Well, +you go in there and bear to your right till you come to a stake and +rider fence. You foller that fence to the woods, and there you'll +strike a path. That'll take you to Mrs. Boyle's. But you'll git sick +of it. It's awful dark. You better come in and stay with me. We'll +have a high ole time." + +"It is impossible," replied John. "I promised to go to Mrs. Boyle's. +Thank you for your information." + +"Say," exclaimed Julia suddenly. "I know the way and you don't. I +better go along with you and show you." + +"I am much obliged," returned John, "but I can find the way from the +description you gave. I do not want you to take any such trouble." + +"No trouble at all," replied Julia. "I'll be right out." + +"No," said John firmly, "I would rather go alone." + +"Go it, devil," cried Julia angrily. "Start your stumps. Don't you +never come here again." + +A little more than half a mile from Wallace's John came to four +corners and turning south, recrossed the swamp, which near this point +curved to the eastward. He reached the end of the road, which bent to +the left, proceeded a short distance, circled to the right and +presently arrived at the gate which had been described by Julia. He +found it, as she had said, easy to open. There was comparatively +little friction at the hinges, and the ponderous beam was so balanced +by the end and box of heavy stones that it did not require lifting. +The path went with many variations to the stake and rider fence, +where it was straight until it reached the woods. The fence, higher +at this place than at others, was securely staked and wired. +Evidently it had been knocked down by careless pedestrians and +rebuilt by the owner of the land in such a manner as to prevent all +depredations except those of a wanton character. + +He was rejoiced when he stood at the edge of a clearing, from the +farther side of which glimmered a light. His troubles were not yet +over. Between him and the house were thickets of blackberry bushes, +which caught in his clothes and scratched his face and hands. As he +descended the rise of ground at the border of the woods, the light +disappeared, and he groped without guidance to gain his destination. +When he emerged from the thicket, he found that he had gone some rods +out of his way. Congratulating himself that he had escaped with so +few inconveniences on so dark a night, he advanced to the house and +was admitted by the cattle-buyer, Durgenson. + +The cottage into which John stepped was small and humble, but +comfortably furnished. In a corner of the principal room, which was +at once kitchen and parlor, was a safe with scalloped newspapers +placed over the top and hung on the doors. Near the safe was a table +on which rested some curious stones and a few books. The walls were +covered with paper, and from them were suspended pictures of little +art, too long drawn to be called new, and too modern to be ranked as +antiquities. That a person of Christian principles had assisted in +furnishing the house was indicated by two Bibles, some Sabbath school +papers, some religious works, including the life of Whitefield and +Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, and a cardboard motto worked in zephyr +which read, "Nearer, my God, to Thee." The only occupant of the +cottage besides Durgenson was a dark-complexioned young man who had a +short, bristling mustache, a sullen, resolute face, and eyes which +were ever eluding the scrutiny of those whom he met. This evasion of +the gaze of others resulted not from timidity, but from a desire to +keep his thoughts to himself. Indeed, no sagacious observer would +have ascribed cowardice to him, for such an imputation would have +been contradicted by his every appearance. The lamp on the table was +surrounded by millers, which darted against it, but were prevented by +the chimney from reaching the flame. The young man busied himself by +catching them, thrusting them into the lamp, and watching their death +struggles with the keenest interest. When Durgenson introduced him, +he shook Wrengells hand, still averting his eyes, and immediately +resumed his occupation of catching millers. + +"I was afraid it would be so dark you wouldn't come," said the +cattle-buyer. "You must have had a bad time getting through the +woods. You kept the business secret, as I told you?" + +"As nearly as I could," replied John. "I could never have found the +way from the description you gave me. I inquired at a house after I +started." + +"Is that so?" asked Durgenson. "Where did you inquire?" + +"At Wallace's," answered John. "I said nothing about you. I merely +asked the way to Mrs. Boyle's. I hope it did no damage." + +"Oh, no," said Durgenson. "Of course, when I go into anything, I +don't advertise it. But probably no one will mistrust what you came +for. I believe I didn't tell you what I wanted of you." + +"What business do you wish to hire me to do?" asked John. + +"The stock business," answered Durgenson. "I want you to drive and to +buy cattle and horses, perhaps sheep." + +"But I have had no experience," objected John. "You would certainly +lose if you had me use my poor judgment in buying." + +"Don't be too sure about that," returned Durgenson. "It's in you, and +I know it. I've had my eye on you for quite a while. I can tell +whether I want a man or not the first time I see him. I care more +about honesty than experience. I had a cowboy to work for me once. He +would guess the weight of a steer almost to a pound notch. But I +wouldn't board that fellow for all he'd do. He'd get drunk, and then +he'd either pay so much that I lost, or offer so little that the +stockmen would get mad and wouldn't have anything to do with us. Then +I had another hand that was steady and a good buyer, but he was +always smousing me. It's hard to find one that's just right, mighty +hard." + +"I have a course of study which I am very anxious to finish," said +John. "I really ought not to give my attention to new subjects now. +But if you hire me, it will be necessary. What wages do you propose +to give?" + +"Oh, as to that," Durgenson returned, "I can't give you as much at +first as I give an experienced hand. I wouldn't venture over fifty +dollars a month and expenses for the first three months. After that, +if I kept you at all, I could bid up to seventy-five or a hundred. +I'd want you to commence right off." + +"I cannot do that," replied John. "I have hired to Major Ratke for +all summer." + +"You are sure you told no one about coming here?" + +"No one except Miss Wallace," John replied, "and the boys at Ratke's +did not know which way I came." + +"Why I'm so careful," explained Durgenson, "Pease and I have quite a +rivalry. I get the start of him once in a while, and he beats me when +he can. Sometimes, after I've got a plan ready, he drops on to it and +gets ahead of me. When I begin to hire men, he knows something is up, +and he gets wind of it some way. Now, I'm satisfied there's money in +a car-load of horses to put in here, and I mean to get them before he +does." + +Glancing past the cattle-buyer, John saw an ugly shadow on the wall. +It was the head of a man with an abnormally large nose and a savage, +repulsive countenance. The exaggerated shape was made by the rays of +the lamp falling on the face of young Boyle, who had finished his +insect butchery and was sitting still and silent by the table. From +each of his eyes was reflected a ball of light something like that +which shines from the orb of an excited cat. John was momentarily +impressed by the figure on the wall and the sullen behavior of the +young man, who, he observed, looked at him often, but avoided meeting +his direct gaze. + +"I want you to begin your training to-night, Wrengell," said +Durgenson; "I've got my horse out here tied to a tree, and I want you +to guess what he's worth." + +"What," asked John, "practice an art before learning the theory? You +said that you would give me a book, so that I could get posted." + +"So I will," assured the stockman. "But you ought to take every +opportunity to improve. If you can't afford to spend the time, I'll +give you ten dollars rather than to have you unprepared when I'm +ready to use you. You will acquire judgment. You'll guess with him, +won't you Alf?" + +"Yes," answered young Boyle. + +"He's out there in the woods tied to a tree," explained Durgenson. +"The stable door is so narrow I couldn't make him go through it. You +must tell me what he is best adapted for, running, trotting or +pulling." + +A bat flew in at a window and displeased with its new quarters, +circled about the room in desperate but unavailing efforts to escape. +Young Boyle rushed at it, struck it down with a narrow piece of thin +board and picking it up, made sure of its death by crushing it +between his fingers. + +As he was tossing the lifeless creature through the window, a woman +entered the door which had admitted John, She was about fifty years +of age, was plainly dressed, and, John thought, had the most +benevolent face he had ever seen. She appeared astonished at finding +so many occupants in the house, and looked from John to Durgenson as +if to ascertain the object or objects of their visit. + +"What are you here for?" growled young Boyle, with an oath. "I +thought you was goin' to stay to Blake's all night." + +"Mrs. Blake is better," responded the woman meekly, "Mrs. Sparks and +Mrs. Holmes are both there, and they said I might as well come home, +I have been up two nights in succession, and I can rest better here +than there." + +"I'd have stayed till mornin' an' got my breakfast," said Boyle. +"You've earned your board there, I guess." + +"This is Mr. Durgenson, I think," remarked the woman, after a long +survey of the cattle-buyer. + +"That is my name," replied Durgenson, "but I don't remember where we +ever got acquainted." + +"I am Mrs. Boyle," said the woman, "We met at Chicago after the death +of Mr. and Mrs. Lehmann. Perhaps you will remember that Mr. Boyle and +I were their nearest neighbors." + +"Oh, yes," answered Durgenson, with a show of uneasiness, "It was so +long ago I wouldn't have recognized you if you hadn't spoken about +our being acquainted." + +"And this young man," said Mrs. Boyle, "I have never met him." + +"Excuse me," Durgenson apologized, "I'll introduce you." + +John wondered that so refined a lady should have so brutal a son. It +struck him that he was having a generous share of her attention and +that, courteous as she had seemed, she was allowing her curiosity to +master her civility. + +"That looks like a violin case," said Mrs. Boyle. "Do you play, Mr. +Wrengell?" + +"I have had some practice on that instrument," replied John. + +"I wish you would play for us," said Mrs. Boyle, "I like to hear +music." + +The lady's interest in John apparently increased as she listened to +the strains of the violin. Her eyes brightened; the kindly expression +on her face was intensified to a degree which reached regard and +love. + +"That is beautiful," she said, when John had finished the air. "I +have thought that the violin ought to be used in church. There is +truth in saying that the Devil ought not to be allowed all the best +music. I hope you don't play for dances." + +"No, ma'am," he replied. "That is, not for public dances," he added, +recollecting his performance in the club-house. + +"I am glad to hear that," said the lady. "You could do so much good +if you wished. Think how many you could draw to the house of God, +some that would not come for anything only to hear good music. There +is a great responsibility resting on you, Mr. Wrengell. You must use +your talents rightly or they may be taken away." + +John felt at this gentle rebuke a sense of shame which would not have +been imparted by harsher censure. + +"I presume you play on other instruments," continued Mrs. Boyle. "A +good organ player can make himself very useful. The organ is used so +much for sacred music." + +A loud squalling, as of some cats about to engage in desperate +battle, arose outside the cottage. On hearing the sound Boyle sprang +up and went hurriedly to a bedroom where he rummaged noisily about, +but he soon reappeared, bearing a double-barreled shotgun. + +"What are you going to shoot, Alfred?" inquired Mrs. Boyle. + +"I'm a-goin' to shoot them cats," returned the young fellow, whom we, +like Durgenson, will call Alf. + +"Oh, don't do that," protested Mrs. Boyle. "It may be Mr. Lowry's +Bob. You know how much they think of him." + +"Let 'em keep him to home, then," gruffly returned Alf, passing out +of the house. "There'll be a howlin' out here all night. I won't lose +my rest for no cat." + +In a few minutes he returned, disappointed, from his hunt. Resuming +his chair by the table, he sat with his forehead so traversed by +wrinkles that its primarily narrow surface was much diminished and +his eyebrows almost met his hair. After a short occupation of this +seat, he arose and again went to the bedroom. When he emerged, he +walked straight to the outside door, looking neither to the right nor +to the left. + +"Are you going away, Alfred?" asked Mrs. Boyle, with an anxiety which +she could not suppress. + +"It's none o' your bisness where I'm goin'," he replied, turning +furiously about, the wrinkles on his brow changed in direction from +horizontal to perpendicular, "I'm of age, I thank you." + +"Now, Wrengell," said Durgenson when Alf's footsteps were no longer +audible to them, "we'd like to hear another tune. At least, I would." + +John complied with Durgenson's request and putting his violin in its +case, announced his intention to leave. + +"Oh, what's the use of being in a hurry?" said the cattle-buyer. +"You've got all night to go home in. I'll light you through the woods +with a lantern." + +"Will you do an errand for me?" asked Mrs. Boyle. + +"Certainly," answered John. "What do you wish?" + +"Take a letter to Mrs. Grippin if you will. I will see if I can find +it." + +Mrs. Boyle lighted a lamp, proceeded to the bedroom and closed the +door. Presently she came out with two envelopes in her hand. + +"I am sorry to keep you waiting," she said, handing John an envelope. +"I haven't my glasses on. Perhaps you can tell which one of these is +directed to Mrs. Grippin." + +When she had finished speaking, Mrs. Boyle stood between John and +Durgenson, close to the latter, so that the view between the two men +was almost wholly obstructed. The first envelope which John scanned +was addressed to Mrs. Cyrus Boyle, Detroit, Mich. The second bore the +following inscription: "Do not go back the way you came. Go back of +the house and you will find a road that you must follow. Look out for +Durgenson and my son. Remember." + +John could hardly repress a start of surprise as he read this +warning, which made a strong and instantaneous impression. Neither in +the appearance of Mrs. Boyle nor in that of Durgenson was there any +confirmation of the message. Her countenance was still untroubled, +and he was as smiling and good-natured as ever. + +"I'll go with you," said Durgenson. "We'll want a lantern. We can't +get through without." + +"Thank you," returned John, "I shall not need your help." + +"Now don't forget my errand," said Mrs. Boyle. "My son is careless +once in a while. You must remember." + +"If you'll get a lantern, Mrs. Boyle," said Durgenson, "I'll go to +the fields with him. He'll never find the way out alone." + +"No," said John, in a positive tone, "I do not need any company, nor +am I anxious to have a lantern." + +"I'd. like to speak to you a minute," remarked Durgenson, "just a +minute." + +"Come to Major Ratke's, then," John returned, as he quickly left the +room. + + +CHAPTER XVII. +WHAT HAPPENED IN THE SWAMP. + +The night was lighter than it had been when John arrived at Mrs. +Boyle's. The curtain which shrouded the sky was torn in a few places, +and through the rents here and there was gleaming a star. + +John ran across the cleared space back of the house, meeting but one +obstacle, a stump, which threw him and slightly bruised his leg. The +interval between the house and the woods, or more properly the brush, +was short; and it was not long before he was in the woods to which +Mrs. Boyle had alluded. It had formerly been a wagon track, but of +late it had been so seldom used by teams that one side of it was +grown over with weeds, although the other was beaten down by foot +passengers. Its width aided him in keeping it, and, moreover, the +near bushes by their sharp briars notified him whenever he encroached +on their territory. + +He began to feel that his alarm in the house was unnecessary and that +he had acted rudely toward Durgenson, who certainly had given him no +cause for such treatment. His refusal of guidance through the woods +seemed to him every moment more rude and uncalled for. And yet he +could account for Mrs. Boyle's warning only by one of two +suppositions, that she had some reason for her extraordinary caution +or that she was insane. After she had handed him the envelope, she +had disarmed the suspicion of the cattle-buyer by calmness and +feigned indifference, such as might be used by a sly lunatic who was +planning to deceive his keeper. He resolved that at the next +opportunity he would amply apologize to Durgenson, though he could +not imagine a way in which he might explain his uncivil departure. + +The road ended at the edge a field, beyond which was some large +timber, which was faintly visible. The intervening ground had been +recently plowed by some unenterprising farmer who was late in the +preparation of his summer fallow. Much of it lay up in large masses, +which fell in pieces when it was trodden upon, for the dry weather +had not baked it as it had the more easily influenced clay. John +debated whether he would follow the edge of the improvement or enter +the woods, but he soon adopted the latter course. + +A short, distance from the field was a steep descent leading to the +swamp, which here, at the end of a considerable stretch to the east, +turned abruptly southward. He was at the bottom of the hill, +preparing to return to the higher ground, when he heard in the bushes +at his right a crashing, which, had he been in an eastern tropical +jungle, he might have imagined to be made by a hippopotamus or an +elephant. The crashing, together with its supplement, the sound of +heavy and frequent blows from a cudgel, receded farther to the +interior of the swamp. The day and the night of unusual circumstances +had fortified John against surprises, yet they had not so far +stripped him of curiosity as to keep him from wishing to unravel the +mystery. Leaving his violin by a tree which he thought he could +readily find, he followed the retreating noise, which, though varying +in volume, was continuous and was an excellent safeguard against his +being discovered by those who made it. It occurred to him that in +thus dogging the footsteps of others, when he could assign no good +reason for so doing, he was playing an unworthy part; but, as many a +comparatively upright man had done before him, he subordinated his +strictest sense of honor to the fulfillment of his desire. He soon +came near enough to the disturbance to ascertain that two men were +conducting a horse through the swamp, one leading him by a halter, +the other occasionally belaboring him with a tamarack pole. + +"Touch him up," said Wallace, who held the halter-strap and a +lantern. "We won't get out of here till morning unless we're +careful." + +"I'll warm his ole sides," responded Ab. "Git along here with you." + +"You want to look out, Ab," warned the father, "You don't know who's +prowling around." + +"Oh, you're always a worryin', dad," returned Ab, "I'm a-talkin' low. +There ain't anybody goin' to poke around here at one o'clock for +fun." + +"Yes, the first thing we know we'll get gobbled," complained Wallace. +"There'll be a pile of profit in that, I've a good notion to say I'll +quit this kind of work. You can't make much of a living at it. There, +I've got my foot in one of them devilish holes again! I'm wet clear +up to my hips. I don't expect anything but what I'll be sick +to-morrow with the rheumatism." + +"Oh, this'll only just limber you up, dad," consoled Ab. "You ain't +dead yet. You can grunt." + +"I wish you wouldn't be so cunning," returned Wallace, with a whine. +"It don't feel funny to be all crippled up. You know how I was last +winter and you hadn't ought to laugh." + +"Why don't you laugh, too? That's what 'ud do you good. Come, chirk +up, dad. Less hear how 'twould sound for you to talk without that +whine." + +"If you felt like I do, you wouldn't be so chipper," said Wallace. + +They had now reached a lower and thinner growth of bushes, where John +could not follow them so closely as he had done without incurring a +strong risk of detection. For a time, therefore, their conversation +was unintelligible to him. As they entered the tamaracks, he +quickened his pace and was presently at no great distance from them. + +This was several miles below the retreat which had been fitted by +Montcalm, and the use of which had been abandoned on account of the +possibility that it had been discovered during the great hunt and +that it would be secretly watched. + +"I wish we had a market for these horses, dad," said Ab, "We'd make +something then." + +"I'm a-going to have a bigger share of 'em than I git now," said +Wallace, "or I won't work." + +"That's what you've said before," replied Ab, "but you keep right +on." + +"Well, there's no use of it," said Wallace. "I can do such business +just as well as Montcalm can. He won't fool me much longer. I'll make +him an offer; and then, if he don't come to my terms, we'll go it on +our own hook." + +"Now you're showin' some spunk," returned Ab. "We can sell horses as +well as he can. He's one of the middlemen you tell about. Takes all +of the profits and don't labor himself." + +"There wouldn't be any trouble about selling 'em," declared Wallace. +"When you get the start of me on a horse dicker, you've got to be up +in the morning, I ain't a bit afraid but what I could show Trace +Montcalm a trick or two." + +"Who do you suppose the boss is that he's tellin' so much about?" +asked Ab. + +"I don't believe there is any," said Wallace. "That's one of his +lies. He thought if he said that, he could grind our faces under a +kind of a monopoly. I'll let him know what I think about it, too. I +ain't dependent on him." + +"Less have the whole benefit of this one ourselves," proposed Ab. +"We're sharp enough for that. We can sell him and not be caught. We +can do anything Montcalm can." + +"We'll see," said Wallace. "Hold the horse while I pull up these few +trees in front. I wish Whipple knew how to break a colt. This one +won't half lead." + +Ab had started for the purpose of taking the halter-strap, when the +animal, jerking away from the elder Wallace, plunged among the trees, +which at this place were not unusually thick, and circling about a +large fallen tamarack, went toward the hard land in a course parallel +with the road. Ab raced hurriedly back along the cleared strip, +turning his head to one side, although his attempts to see the beast +which he wished to intercept were necessarily unavailing. So intent +was he on securing his lost plunder and so little light came through +the tops of the trees, that without warning he came full against +John, who was in the act of rising from his crouching position. +Quickly gathering himself, he rushed among the tamaracks exclaiming, +"Run, dad, run!" + +The lantern which Wallace carried was immediately extinguished. The +sounds of three bodies, one at the left and two at the right, were +heard moving through the swamp. John endeavored to follow one of the +objects at the right. He had no hope or intention of capturing the +Wallaces, who at such a place and at such an hour would prove +inconvenient prisoners to one man unsupported. It was, he thought, +advisable for him to secure the colt, restore him to his owner, and +testify to what he had seen and heard. Groping carefully and keeping +his hands before his face were necessary precautions for protection +against the limbs, some of which were dry, pointed, and hard. The +horse was moving from him, but its retreat was slower than his +advance. It was proceeding toward an opening in the tamaracks, +through which could be seen patches of nearly cloudless sky. + +This opening was on each side of the creek which ran lengthwise of +the swamp. On the bank of the stream the colt stood, undecided as to +which direction he should pursue. When John went toward him, he did +not run away, but turning, remained with his heels suggestively +presented. The man again made a circuit, and again the horse +anticipated his design and gave a quiet but significant challenge, +John persevered long in his endeavors, but at last, seeing their +uselessness, he decided to retrace his way, giving no further notice +to the colt. Accordingly, he set out to regain the road which he had +quitted; but he had no sooner undertaken this task than he was +followed by the colt, which seemed bent on keeping neither afar off +nor in close proximity. Near a tall stub which loomed above the +smaller trees, he stopped to ascertain his location and the course +which it was best for him to follow. He was in a stunted, rather thin +growth of the tamaracks. About him were trunks, the diameters of +which were out of proportion to their heights, and limbs which +reached far outward as if vainly trying to extend themselves over the +entire surface of the ground. Farther on were the tops of the smaller +trees which were too dense for penetration by the vision of one who +was not in their midst. After he had calculated upon his probable +distance from the place which he wished to reach, he selected a +conspicuous broken tree-top as a landmark and advanced toward it. +From this he was obliged to proceed unaided by a visible goal, for +the trees were so nearly of a height and so close together that a +distance of a few feet sufficed to make them indistinguishable. He +thought the way to the road very long and very tedious. Now and then +he halted to make observations, but as they were invariably limited +to thirty square rods of swamp and an indefinite expanse of sky, they +were productive of no good. It was with a feeling of relief that he +saw the perceptible stretch of the now well-lighted heavens move +downward and expand as the tamaracks diminished in stature. But his +joy was dissipated when he found that he had traversed a circle and +returned to the broken tree which he had left a few minutes before. +Once more he set out, and once more, making the circuit, came back to +the familiar stub. He now concluded that by another direction he +would try to reach the upland. His next attempt was to return to the +creek, and this he accomplished. It was now morning. He wandered up +and down the creek, but he was unable to find a ford. In desperation +he retreated a few paces from the stream and running up to the edge, +jumped with all his might. + +The creek was so wide that a trained athlete might not easily have +cleared it at a leap; and he landed, therefore, in the muddy bottom, +where he sank above his waist. Luckily for him, he struck within +reach of some bushes, which afforded so good a hold that by hard +pulling he was able to extricate himself. Striking out from this +point, he met with the same success which had attended his efforts on +the opposite side. + +But by following the creek, he reasoned, in the course of a mile or +two he would arrive at a public highway. With this end in view he +proceeded down the left bank. A walk of thirty rods brought him to a +bridge which was curiously constructed of poles. Across it teams and +wagons had been driven, and from the right bank branched two roads. +Passing over the creek, he took the left track, which turned and led +him back to the bridge. He recrossed it, satisfied that he was in a +fair way to reach the improvements. The colt, which had awaited him +on the right bank, and had followed him along the circuitous road +approached the edge, snorted, stepped on the poles carefully at +first, and then finished the risky passage with a sudden rush. The +road wound among the trees, its undulations indicating the way which +had been most easy to clear, it brought John to some scattered bushes +bordering a sandy slope where blossomed buckwheat was growing. He +gained the eminence and beheld the welcome signs of +civilization--houses, farms, orchards and cultivated fields. The sun +was well up, and the hour for beginning farm labor had arrived. +Between him and the nearest house young cattle and milk cows were +grazing. Near the road and far to the right a boy was riding a wheel +cultivator. The creak of a plow wheel came from the opposite side of +an untrimmed hedge at the left. The hedge gave place to a board fence +about midway in the line of division which separated the two fields. +As John climbed the fence, the plow approached, drawn by two bay +horses, one of which was wind-broken. The plowman had a sunburned, +rather disagreeable countenance. He wore an old felt hat which was +tucked under at the sides, so that it stuck out in peaks before and +behind. + +"Good-morning," said John. + +"Good-morning, sir," responded the plowman. + +"Can you tell me where I am?" asked John. + +"I guess I can," answered the plowman. "Looks to me as if you was in +my field." + +"I got lost in the swamp," said John, "and I have no idea where I am. +Am I still in Jefferson Township?" + +"No," replied the man, "you ain't in that county. You're in +Washtenaw, now, township of Warren." + +"I wish to go to Break o'Day," said John. "Will you please direct me +so that I can find the way?" + +"Go to the road and make north. By and by you'll come to the forks. +One comes here and one goes to Sharptown. You want to take the handle +and that leads to Break o'Day. Helloa, is that your horse?" + +The exclamation was caused by the colt, which had trotted to the +fence and was whinnying to the team. + +"No," answered John, "he followed me from the swamp." + +"Followed you from the swamp!" echoed the plowman. "That's funny that +he should be in there." + +"Yes," said John, thinking it best to impart his newly gained +information first to the authorities and afterward to the owner of +the horse, "I found him there, and he seemed as anxious to get out as +I." + +"Did you catch him?" + +"No, I did not." + +"I'm going to try it now," said the man, climbing the fence. "Oh, you +bloody brute!" he ejaculated, quickly retreating, as the colt whirled +and stood with his heels toward him. + +"Can I get something to eat at your house?" inquired John. + +"Well, now, I don't know. It's just as the woman says about that. You +can go up and ask her." + +In twenty minutes John was leaving the house with his hunger +appeased. It was with self-congratulations on his escape from the +swamp, that, avoiding the graveled walk which lay between circular +beds of flowers, he passed through the large gate and took long, +steady strides toward Break o'Day. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. +BREAK o'Day. + +Break o'Day is one of the oldest villages in Jackson County. It had +its store and its school-house before the first building was erected +in Sharptown or Oakville. The derivation of its name has been the +subject of many inquiries, which have been answered by local +antiquarians. The founders of the hamlet, like the majority of +Michigan pioneers, came from New York. Four families built their +houses neat together, that they might enjoy the society of neighbors. +Others followed from the Empire State, and the neighborhood became +thinly settled. They had dwelt on the eastern hills, where, +unobstructed, a view extended for miles. They were now in the midst +of woods, where they could view no distant object unless it were +above the timber. Month after month they lived in this manner, and +daily the complaints grew louder. The women, who had been accustomed +to habits of thrift, longed to see the sun rise once more. They +declared it was nothing but laziness which allowed them to be penned +up in that fashion, that if they were men, they would chop out at +least one place wide enough to give them a sight through the forest. +Urged on by their wives, the men made a bee and hewed to the eastward +a road through which the earliest beams of the daily luminary might +shine. The next morning the entire population of the locality +gathered to witness the blaze of light which slowly appeared above +the long stretch of stumps. Shouts resounded, guns were fired, a +feast was spread, and the place was promptly named Break o'Day. + +The village never grew to the dimensions which were anticipated for +it by its first builders. Twenty years ago its appearance was +substantially as it is to-day. It was built on five corners from +which ran roads, one to each cardinal point of the compass and one +southeast to Sharptown. The greater part of the buildings were on the +triangle formed by the eastern and south-eastern streets and the +cross street which connected them. These streets were named in order, +Warren, Jackson and Washington. On Warren were the church and the +school-house; on Jackson, Birch and Bigney's store and the hotel; on +Washington, the hardware store and the blacksmith-shop. Marion, +running northward, could boast only of dwelling-houses. The drugstore +of Dr. Rorus was the one building of importance on the west road, +which, on account of its shade trees, the villagers named Maple +Street, but which the farmers in derision called Scrub Avenue. This +edifice was painted yellow, had a high square front, a shed roof, and +bore the following inscription, "I. J. H. Rorus, M. D., Physician and +Surgeon." + +On the morning which succeeded the night of John Wrengell's sojourn +in the swamp, Dr. Rorus opened his drugstore in good season for the +purpose of taking his indispensable dram. The doctor had won the +reputation of being always drunk, and, intentionally or +unintentionally, he preserved his notoriety. + +The streets were, as yet, traversed by few people. Most of the +inhabitants were eating breakfast. The stores, however, were open, +and from the blacksmith-shop came the energetic clinking of a hammer. + +Rorus went behind his counter and poured out a glass of spirits, +which he swallowed with relish. Repeating the potations at frequent +intervals, he managed to get himself well under the influence of +liquor. + +His first caller was an agent who had lodged at the hotel and who was +canvassing for a paper which had recently started in Oakville. + +"Subscribe for a paper in Oakville?" said the doctor. "No, sir, not +if every bottle of ink and every sheet of paper and every letter of +type and every press were concentrated in that nest of infamy, +Oakville." + +"I didn't know there was such a feeling here toward Oakville," said +the agent. + +"Ah, sir," replied Rorus, "you talk of prejudice. Let me recite facts +to you and history, history that shall dispel doubt 'like mists that +rise before the sun.' Like the fogs that roll upward from our noble +swamp, or mosquitoes that fly before--when there's a smudge. We +helped Oakville with her fair, and that was all right. This year we +wanted a celebration, and she said, 'We won't have any.' We got up +one, and what did Oakville do? She turned right square around and got +up too, and we couldn't get any crowd. What did she do it for? For +the money. For the trade. Think of it, speculating on the Fourth of +July. On what day? Remember, no common day, but on that glorious, +that immortal, that never-to-be-forgotten day, when American liberty +reached its culmination, its pinnacle, its apex, its--high as it +could get. What do you think of that recreant, that rascal who can on +that day even think of, or reach out his hand to clutch ten cents, or +one dollar, or ten dollars. And yet, I grieve to say that in this +land, consecrated to the rights of humanity, such men exist. They are +in Oakville. They live, they breathe, they taint the pure air of +freedom." + +The drizzling rain of the preceding day had forced a temporary +suspension of haying, so that the store began to be populated by +loungers from the near farms as well as from the village. + +"Doctor," said a man, who carried a large black bottle, "my wife is +sick and I'd like to get some medicine." + +"Very well," replied the doctor. "These men forget who their fathers +were. They are not like the citizens of Break o'Day. Break o'Day +remembers. Do you see that street yonder? That is Warren, and Warren +sleeps on Bunker Hill." + +"But, Doctor," urged the man with the bottle, "my wife is bad off, +and she's got to have some spirits." + +"Yes, yes, just so," Rorus responded. "Do you see the church? That is +on Jackson Street. Break o'Day remembers Old Hickory. Oh, he was the +man for you! Well, he was. Firm, immovable, rigid, had a backbone. +Right up yonder is Washington Street. Break o'Day remembers the +Father of his Country. Oh, that George Washington, greatest man in +all history, very greatest. The French shot at him. The Indians shot +at him. The cold December and January and February (yes, at that's +the coldest of the whole), they nipped at his feet. But did they hurt +him? No, sir." + +"Doctor," protested the waiting customer, "my wife is awful sick." + +"I'll wait on you in just a minute," said the physician. + +"Who would make a good correspondent for this place?" inquired the +Oakville agent, wishing to gain information before Rorus recommenced +his harangue. + +"Well," answered the doctor, "there's Ned Sturgis over in the +post-office. He's a mighty smart fellow. Posted right up to the +handle. You couldn't do any better than to get him. Then, there's my +clerk, Fred Loomis, he's a bright one. Smart as steel. You never +noticed him, did you? He'd pick up everything there was going. +Quick-witted, you know. Catches on to anything before other folks +have a glimpse of it. I wouldn't wonder if he's the best one you'll +run across, Ned Sturgis is good. I sha'n't say which is the best. My +clerk, though, he is A number one. You don't know what the boy is +till you are acquainted with him. Now, I sha'n't say which is the +best. But, of the two, of the two, my clerk's a le-etle--le-etle--I +sha'n't draw any distinction." + +"Doctor," said the impatient man, "If you can't wait on me, I'm going +over to Sullivan's. I know I can get it there." + +"Yes, immediately," replied the doctor. "You are sure your wife is +sick?" + +"I should think so. She like to have died this morning," + +"I have to be particular," said Rorus; "I can't sell only for +medicinal purposes." + +"Sullivan ain't so particular," said the customer. "I can go there +any time an' get all the whisky I want." + +"That is a disgrace to Break o'Day," commented the doctor. "That +reproach to society, that den of iniquity, that abominable hole, +should be closed up. To whom are they selling? To the merchant, to +the farmer, to the clerk, to the business man, to the mechanic, to +the laborer, to the agriculturist, to--lots of 'em. And yet, +Michigan, mind you, no common State, but the Wolverine State, has +enacted a law that no intoxicating beverage shall be sold except for +medicinal purposes." + +"Say, I'd like to see you a minute," remarked a man, coming close to +the physician. + +"That you can," replied the doctor. "Right this way." + +"I've got the ague," said the man in a low tone, when they had gone +to the back of the store, "and I want something to break it up. I'd +like to get some quinine and whisky." + +"Good idea," assented Rorus. "Grand thing for ague, this quinquina. I +have it pure, too. I'll put them up separately and let you mix them, +eh?" + +The next event was the arrival of Wingscheut with his shambling limp. + +"Helloa, Wingscheut," was the salutation of Jimmy Martin. "Have you +been hunting horse-thieves or bears lately? Set down and give us a +story." + +"No," sturdily replied the German, "I'fe cot to see te toctor." + +"Why," inquired Martin, "be you sick?" + +"No," answered Wingscheut, "unt I ton't vant to pe sick. Tat's te +reason I see te toctor. I vass pit vith a massauker 'unt I must have +some visky." + +"I want to speak a word with you," said a youth of not more than +twenty, after Wingscheut had obtained his liquor. + +"Come this way," said the doctor, going immediately to his +consultation room. + +"I'm at work on a marsh where there's lots of rattlesnakes," said the +youth. "I'm afraid I'll be bit and maybe not get help till it's too +late. I wish you'd let me have a pint of whisky." + +"Can't do that," returned Rorus. "Can't do it possibly. It's against +the law." + +"I know it," pleaded the youth, "but maybe I'll die if you don't. You +let the rest have it. I do my trading here, that is, everything you +keep. I'll have to go somewhere else if you can't accommodate me a +little." + +"Human life," said the doctor, "must be preserved. Laws are for +humanity. Humanity first and laws afterward. You can have it. But +mind you don't lisp it outside the store." + +Wingscheut, wishing a change of society, wandered to another part of +the village. + +Two men in an open buggy came driving rapidly from the west. One of +them tied the horse quickly, and they entered the drugstore. The +half-drunken crowd saw nothing unusual in their haste, but Rorus, +intoxicated as he was, perceived that they had not the serenity of +the Break o'Day loungers. + +"Well, Whipple," said the physician, "what's the news up your way? +Everything quiet, s'rene, like a great ship sailing peacefully along +with her sails outspread to the breeze of heaven?" + +"It ain't been very quiet," responded Whipple. "My bay colt was stole +last night, that I wouldn't have took two hundred dollars for." + +The loungers arose. Rorus advanced from behind the counter. The +stupor on the sottish faces gave place to excitement as Whipple +related how he had become apprised of the theft. + +"I've had him locked up in the barn nights ever since last winter for +fear he would be stole. Along the fore part of the summer I slept in +the barn. But lately I hadn't heard so much about such business, so I +got of my guard. This morning I says to my hired man, 'Ben, if your +hand's sore, maybe I'd better milk and let you tend to the horses.' +'All right,' says Ben, 'my hand is purty sore to milk.' I went to the +house and s'posed everything was all right. After breakfast I says to +Ben, 'Did you turn Jack out' 'No,' says Ben, 'didn't you?' 'No,' says +I, 'I ain't been in the stable.' 'That's funny,' says Ben. 'It was +unlocked.' We went out there, and sure enough he was gone. And it's +just the same as the rest of 'em. We can't find his tracks. Something +ought to be done. We've stood this stealing as long as we can. +There's a whole gang of the thieves around, and they ought to be +broke up." + +"I'd like to see one of 'em git caught," said the flaxen-whiskered +man, the same who the night of the hunt had quarreled with Ratke over +the proposed punishment of the horse-thieves. "He'd be made short +work of. The hull country's worked up, and they'd string a man, too, +quick. What are you goin' to do about catchin' your colt?" + +"I don't know what to do," replied Whipple. "I thought, though, that +I'd go around and inquire and have my neighbors do the same. They've +gone now from around my way. I'll go over to my brother-in-law's Bill +Briggses, and he'll turn out. Maybe by going far enough some of us +can hear where he's gone to." + +The general attention was directed to a quarrel between Jimmy Martin +and the youth who had used so much persuasion to obtain the bottle of +whisky. Martin had stepped on the toes of the youth, whose name was +Blake. Blake complained of the act and was told that he was a liar. +He demanded an apology, which Martin refused to give. Thereupon he +threw off hia coat and vest, rolled up his shirt-sleeves, unbuttoned +and turned down his shirt-collar and advanced in fighting attitude +toward Martin, who made no preparation for the attack. + +Dr. Rorus passed around the large round stove to separate the +disputants. Grabbing each by the collar, he exclaimed, "What! +Gen'lemen! Quarreling in a time of public danger, when the welfare +and the safety of the community is at stake! Quarreling when our +property and our rights and our sacred honor are at stake! For it's a +question of honor, gen'lemen. You'll all say it's dishonorable to +steal horses, won't you? Then it's dishonorable to let 'em be stole. +Do you know what town you're in? Break o'Day, and Break o'Day has the +fires of patriotism. You should be ready to leave off and lay aside +and forget, you know, your little feuds and animosities. Would George +Washington have stopped for a little fuss at Yorktown? Would Joseph +Warren have paused for a racket, just a common blow up, I mean, on +the sacred soil of Bunker Hill? Do you suppose, my dear sir, that Mad +Anthony Wayne would have stopped charging up Stony Point because some +one stepped on his toe? Others may wrangle in a time of public +calamity, but," he concluded with a leonine roar, "I. J. H. Rorus, +never, no, never." + +"You won't have to go to Bill's, Whipple," said the flaxen-whiskered +man. "There he comes now." + +"Well, Bill," said Whipple, as soon as the new-comer was in their +midst, "I've lost my bay colt." + +"I guess not," replied Briggs, at whose house Wrengell had stopped +for breakfast. "He's in my barn now." + +"No," cried Whipple. "Where did you find him?" + +"In my field tagging after a fellow that come from the swamp. He said +he got lost, and your colt followed him." + +"I don't believe no such yarn," exclaimed Whipple. "He stole him, and +the cold got away. What did he say about it, any way?" + +Briggs, with considerable exaggeration, gave an account of his +interview with John, dwelling particularly on the way in which the +latter had withheld his name and place of residence. "He was covered +with mud from head to foot," said Briggs, "and he had scratches on +his face and hands. I'm inclined to think he and his pards had a +disagreement. It wouldn't be strange if that's how he come to roll in +the mud and get the scratches. While he was eating, I skipped around +through the fields and come here." + +The drugstore was in a state of tumult. The chairs were deserted, and +the men stood, some lethargic with drink, some talking boisterously +and urging immediate action. + +"We'll go right down there and get him," said Whipple, "and we'll +hear what he has to say for himself. If he can't tell a straight +story, he may as say his prayers." + +"That's the talk," exclaimed the flaxen-whiskered man. "We may just +as well make an example of him. That's what we swore to do with the +first one we caught." + +"We ain't sure that he stole him," said Briggs, who was alarmed at +the effect his words were producing, and who that day learned to his +regret that it is easier to incite than to appease the fury of a +drunken mob. "I don't know but most any one would look suspicious if +he was mudded up and scratched up that way." + +"Trot out your rope," yelled young Blake. "Less be a-going." + +"Now, doctor," said Whipple, "it's my treat. I want you to set out +the best you've got for the boys, a glass around. This kind of a +thing don't happen very often, you know." + +"Exceptions to all rules," commented Rorus. "Yes, I'll do it once, +Whipple. It's like violating the constitution, that grand instrument, +that bundle of wisdom, a heap in it, too. You can do that when it's a +military necessity. This is a civil necessity." + +"There he is coming now," said Briggs, when the glasses which had +been set out by Rorus had been drained. "But I wouldn't be too rough +on him boys. I'd turn him over to the law." + +"No law to-day," replied the flaxen-whiskered man. + + +CHAPTER XIX. +THE VILLAGE HAS A SENSATION. + +The rain had quite dried from the withered grass in the road when +Wrengell left the residence of Briggs. Some men in a meadow at the +right were stirring hay, which would soon be fit to haul. In a field +belonging to a farm adjoining, a reaper was doing the first work in +harvest which John had seen that year. + +It was not until Wrengell entered Break o'Day that he bethought +himself of his rough exterior. Had he considered in time, he would +have gone through the fields, thus avoiding the village, but it was +now too late to do so. Several loungers on the veranda of the hotel +stared at him, and one of them put down his paper and spoke to the +landlord about the mud-besmeared passer-by. John met Manie's friend, +Miss Holmes, as she was coming from Birch & Bigney's store. She bowed +pleasantly, but she was, he fancied, ashamed of their acquaintance. + +Wrengell was annoyed by the scrutiny of some men who were peering +from a yellow building which bore the sign, I. J. H. Rorus. Their +curiosity, which bordered on impertinence, was indicated by earnest +gestures and one or two outstretched fingers which pointed directly +toward him. Used, as he had been, to snubs, he was not accustomed to +such insolent demonstrations; and he returned glances of defiance to +the group at the door of the drug-store. His fearless demeanor +prevented for a brief season the aggressive movement which was +intended. The men stood parleying on the steps, some rhetorical, some +argumentative, others fiercely denunciatory, each heedless of all +opinions save his own, none succeeding in making himself well +understood. + +"Helloa, there," called Whipple, just as John had passed them. +"What's your name?" + +The salutation was not the one most likely to propitiate an +individual who considered that he had already been the subject of +interest far too intense to be polite. + +"When I am satisfied that you have a right to demand an answer, I +will give it," replied John. + +"We'll see whether we have a right to question you," said the +flaxen-whiskered man, jumping from the steps. "Come on, boys. Now +will you tell us what your name is?" + +"No," returned John. "Get out of my way, or I'll break some of your +heads." + +"If I was in your place, I wouldn't be so cranky," said Briggs. "That +colt that followed you out of the swamp last night was stole, and +some of 'em think you took him." + +"If that is the case," said John, "I recognize your right to ask the +question. Mr. Boyle knows me, do you not, Mr. Boyle?" + +"I never saw you before," answered the sullen Alf, who had joined the +throng. + +"Why, I was at your house last night," protested John. "Mr. Durgenson +introduced us." + +"You wasn't there last night, nor never," affirmed Alf; "anyway you +never was when I was there." + +The crowd hooted and jostling against one another, endeavored to +press closer to Wrengell. + +"Grab him," yelled the flaxen-whiskered man. + +It was advantageous to John that his enemies were packed closely +about him. Had they been excited by a rush, it is impossible to say +what violence they would have done. The seizure was merely an +extension of the captors' arms, to which John very quietly and +sensibly submitted. Many who were unable to get near him picked up +stones and clubs, staggered about and uttered loud threats. + +"That is Dr. Rorus' drug-store," said John. "There is a man in there +whom I know." + +"What did you say?" inquired Briggs. "They make so much noise. Keep +still a minute, boys, can't you?" + +"Tell Loomis to come out," said John. "He knows me." + +"Doctor," shouted Briggs, "where's Fred? This fellow says he knows +him." + +"Gone to Sharp town," said the doctor. "Won't be back till to-night. +You had better confess this business, young man. The American people +are a magnanimous people. They are a great people. Confess it, young +man. If you do, Dr. Rorus is on your side. I tell you, when you've +got him, you've got a host." + +"I am one of Major Ratke's hired men," said John. "I have worked for +him all summer and have formed some acquaintance, but none of them, +except your clerk, live here." + +The crowd, gathered from the scum of Break o'Day and the surrounding +country, was gesticulating, contending, threatening. There were, +indeed, several who tried to protect the unfortunate Wrengell from +the general wrath. Inoffensive Jimmy Martin mildly protested that +they ought to give him "a show for his life." Keen contrition was +felt by Briggs for the account which he had given of John's exit from +the swamp. He had much exaggerated the facts, and the exaggeration +was likely to result in the murder of a man whom he believed he had +grossly wronged. + +"Boys," he called, "less see what he's got to say for himself. We +don't want to hurt him till we find out whether he deserves it or +not." + +"Take him down to the tree," said the flaxen-whiskered man. + +The party moved down the street to an oak, the spreading branches of +which often afforded a shade to the villagers. Stakes had been +driven, one under the tree, another a few paces from it, and around +each had been worn depressions where the boys and men had pitched +quoits. + +"Where's a rope?" called Boyle. "Somebody git a rope." + +Half the mob started up the village, leaving the rest to guard +Wrengell. John saw no hope of rescue. + +In the besotted, reddened faces around him was neither judgment nor +mercy. Those who were least intoxicated were almost invariably +hardest of heart by nature, and seemed to rejoice over the +circumstances which had delivered the prisoner into their hands. +Those who were naturally best disposed were, as a rule, too much +overcome by drink to have an exact perception of justice. He resolved +that, whatever pleasure they derived from his execution, they should +not have the satisfaction of seeing him weaken at the last moment. He +would die unflinchingly, without a word of entreaty. If the ruffians +expected to witness his dejection or terror, they should be +disappointed. If in the death-struggle his body yielded to the +convulsions of expiring nature, it should be when it was no longer +presided over by his will. To the south of him lay the swamp which he +had been so anxious to leave. Its aspect, as he stood in the power of +the brutal loungers, was far from forbidding to him. The tamaracks +were in two phalanxes. In the first were the short trees with their +conical figures, standing the advance guard of a mighty host. The +next were of high stature, but irregular in form, their tops lacking +the gradual taper which beautified those in the first body. Beyond +these, like giants in the rear of a throng, were the upland woods, +looking down on the outskirts of the hamlet, where savage men were +arranging a spectacle both fascinating and revolting. + +Washington Street was in a tumult. A long inch rope had been obtained +and grasped by many hands, was being carried to the intended gallows. +Several business men of the town were accompanying the roughs and +vainly expostulating on the precipitancy of their action. Wingscheut +was with them, delivering a narrative only part of which could be +distinguished above the uproar. John was about to reckon on a +certificate of good character from his fellow-laborer, when he +reflected that the German had mistrusted him of having secured his +discharge from Ratke's. The vigilance of those about him had +lessened. They had scattered and were intent on inspecting the body +advancing with the rope. His left arm was clutched fiercely by Boyle; +his right was held in an indifferent grasp by young Blake, who was +between him and the tamaracks. + +Suddenly he jerked loose his right hand and planted it on the jaw of +Boyle, who fell, momentarily stunned. As he whirled about, Blake +quickly moved aside. The only one now in his way was Briggs; and his +interviewer of the early morning, glad that he could partly nullify +the effect of his misrepresentation, purposely stumbled over a Stone +and allowed him to pass unmolested. Wrengell barely touched the fence +in leaping it. With light feet and swift steps he ran toward the +swamp, in the brush and quagmires of which he might find protection. +The disappointed mob, uttering yell after yell of rage, started in +pursuit. Among other cries John could plainly discern those of +Wingscheut, who did not recognize the fugitive, "Cetch te tam +horse-tief. Cetch te tam horse-tief." + +The distance between him and the rabble was increasing. He could not +understand why they spread far to the left and right, unless it were +to prevent him from escaping in either direction lengthwise of the +swamp. The course which he took was undeviating. Some lazy cattle +directly ahead of him dashed out of his way as he ran almost against +them. Two men, one cradling and one binding, were at work in a small +field of wheat on a southern slope. John raced straight through a few +rods from them, leaving a path of lodged grain behind him. The owner +of the field, who was cradling, called to know "why in the name of +all possessed he was trampin' down his wheat." Undaunted by this +inquiry, Wrengell descended the hill and passed into the shelter of +some willow bushes, where he moderated his pace to a walk. Although +this was the asylum which he had sought, he was impatient at the +impediments to his progress and more uneasy that when he could watch +the movements of his enemies. He felt relieved as he entered the body +of low tamaracks which he had viewed from Break o'Day. But he could +not stop there. Every jungle, every fallen tree-top, in fact every +foot of ground was liable carefully to be searched. In the large +tamaracks, where there was less underbrush, he went with more +rapidity. + +A gleam of water was before him. He was nearing a lake, which with an +area of half a section effectually barred his advance. The sound of +voices at his right prevented him from wheeling and skirting along +the bank. He, without practice as a swimmer, was on a point of land +surrounded by the water and his foes. In his pocket was a revolver +which he had obtained in a trade with Daggett, a cheap, rusted +weapon, the cylinder of which had to be turned by hand each time it +was fired. His pursuers, almost in sight, were crashing through the +swamp. He had decided to turn, draw his revolver and stake his chance +of escape on one determined charge, when across the point of land, +through the thin growth of trees, he discovered a boat. Not a minute +did he occupy in crossing the cape, but rapid as was his progress, it +did not bring him first on the spot which he wished to reach. Young +Blake and a companion gained the dock, barely in advance of him, and +stood, panting, to intercept his flight. With a flourish of his +revolver he dashed at the young men, who scrambled precipitately to +land, unheeding water, mud and reputation for courage. John's haste +was nearly as great as that of the foes whom he had frightened. +Slipping on the narrow dock, which was composed of a few poles, he +fell into the water, regaining his footing as Alf Boyle emerged from +the tamaracks. To his discomfiture he found the boat locked. He must +act with decision, for a reinforcement of roughs was but a few rods +distant. He seized the chain and pulled with his entire strength, but +the fastening remained secure. In desperation he clutched a paddle +and pushed. The chain straightened, the lock gave way; the momentum +had accomplished what the steady force could not. + +Alf in the mean time had traversed the dock. His eye, which the night +before had avoided John, was now fixed upon him with a brute +ferocity. Seeing the boat sheering away from him, he sprang into the +lake and grasped its gunwale, nearly overturning it. At the instant +he was raising himself to clamber on board, he received from John's +paddle a blow on the head, which loosened his hold and obliged him to +seize the dock to keep from sinking. Several young men leaped into +the lake, but they were kept from a near approach to John by the +splashing of water into their faces and the sight of the paddle, +which was menacingly uplifted. The gathering mob cast curses and +sticks at the fugitive, but the demonstrations only showed their +present impotence to do him harm. It was fortunate for John that +there were no fire-arms among them; for, had they possessed them, +they certainly would not have hesitated to use them. + +Wrengell, perspiring and fatigued from his long run, did not feel at +liberty to pause. He did, however, wait long enough to remove his +coat and vest, which had much impeded his flight. Near the opposite +shore and a considerable distance apart were two boats laden with +fishermen. After repealed signaling and shouting they understood that +they were expected to stop an escaping horse thief. They unfastened +the chains from the anchoring poles and guided their vessels so as to +bring them across Wrengell's route. In an emergency rashness is +sometimes safer than caution. John altered his course, steering +directly for the nearer craft. Amazed at his audacity, the fishermen +slackened their speed. Wrengell was within what he considered good +rifle range when, turning the rusted cylinder of his revolver and +elevating the muzzle, he fired. He was little practiced and had no +dexterity in pistol-shooting, but to his astonishment and their +dismay, the bullet struck close to the prow of the foremost boat. +Careful to turn the weapon slightly to one side, he fired a second +time; and the missile, whizzing past them, struck the water with a +cutting plunge. The paddles which propelled the craft stopped moving, +and the occupants looked from one to another in mute inquiry. While +they were deliberating, Wrengell pulled toward them as if he were +anxious for an encounter. Convinced that they were dealing with one +of the most bloodthirsty of horse-thieves, who was bent on +slaughtering the entire party, they paddled manfully to the eastern +end of the lake. Those in the second boat, finding themselves +unsupported, made off in the direction of the western extremity. The +crafts skirted the opposite ends of the lake, so as to be well out of +reach of the dreaded outlaw, and in response to the frantic shouting +and waving of hats crossed over to transport the crowd at the dock. + +John strengthened the impression which he had made by sending after +them two more shots. He then struck out for the southern shore, where +he halted a moment to rest. The fishermen were making their best time +to relieve the impatience of the waiting party. Messages were yelled +back and forth, but most of them came from the shore, for the men on +the water were putting forth too much other exertion to indulge +freely in vocalization. + +Wrengell threw his coat and vest into the tall grass, and after a +short pause continued his way. The swamp at this place offered no +security. Above or below him he believed it to be denser and he +determined to go to the eastward, away from the rabble of Break +o'Day, away from the only community which had ever really respected +him, away from the woman whom he loved, whose love he had hoped to +secure. His appearance with the colt at Briggs' at such an hour and +in such a condition, his refusal to tell his identity at the village, +the absence of the slightest evidence to explain his whereabouts +during the latter portion of the night must tell heavily against him +should an accusation be preferred. He had shown the bearing of a +hardened desperado. He had turned savagely on those who sought to +retake him, as if he had become accustomed to conflicts in following +unlawful occupations. He had fired upon and barely missed inoffensive +fishermen, whose only aggressiveness to him had been that with no +hostile demonstration they had presumed to come within range of his +revolver. His dreams of respectability were dissipated. The public +would inquire about his antecedents, and his miserable parentage +would be made known. With his deformed foot, with the criminal record +of his father and his mother, with his own perpetuity of the family +reputation for felony how could he win esteem? He decided to go to +the higher ground, which, because of its superior footing, he would +follow for several miles, returning to the swamp when he had +traversed that space. + +A short walk brought him to the elevated forest which he had viewed +from the village. He was on the watershed of the lower Michigan +peninsula. The lake which he had crossed was one of a series emptying +through Huron River into Erie. The streams on the opposite side of +the table-land went westward and, passing around Mackinac through the +upper part of the great lake-chain, arrived at the same destination. + +The wide spaces between the high tamaracks below John allowed him to +see the surface of the water, which was hardly disturbed by a ripple. +The boats had started to recross. Filled with excited men and +impelled by clumsy substitutes for oars, including poles and boards, +they veered from side to side as the misdirected efforts of the rival +paddlers alternately prevailed. + +John started through the woods on a trot, which he intended to +maintain for an hour. He had no apprehension that they would +immediately overtake him, for he had fairly outrun them at the +beginning of the race. His greatest fear was that some of them would +procure horses and, proceeding along the road, head him off, after +which they would make a diligent search. He arrived presently at a +field, which he deemed it injudicious to cross. In order to avoid +exposing himself to view he was obliged to sheer farther from the +swamp, passing along the edge of the timber. The field at his left +gave place to a growth of bushes and small trees. Not exactly liking +the route which he had chosen, he climbed a fence for the purpose of +entering the thicket. He stood a moment on the top rail, listening +for the sounds of pursuit. As he was about to descend, the rotten +rail broke and he was precipitated heavily to the ground. He strove +to rise, but a sharp pain shot through his ankle, which refused to +bear his weight. He was crippled and defenseless, and near him were +enemies who, if they were before relentless, were now exasperated. He +had fallen at the edge of a blackberry thicket, the paths of which at +frequent intervals indicated that the place was much visited. In the +hope of finding a jungle which might screen him, he crawled for a few +feet, but the briars which pierced his hands soon induced him to try +another mode of travel. His next experiment was hopping, which had +also its disadvantages. The bushes caught in his clothes, threw him +off his balance, and aggravated the pain in his injured limb. He +again went on his hands and knees, regardless of the injury to his +flesh. As he was thus advancing, he came without warning near a +woman, who with her back toward him was picking berries. + +With the intention of silently stealing away he partly arose and was +about to execute his purpose, when the berry-picker, hearing a slight +noise, turned around and faced him. An exclamation of surprise, which +bordered on alarm, burst from the woman, who was Mrs. Boyle. + +But she quickly recovered her composure as she perceived that her +rough-looking visitor was the young man in whom she had been so +interested the preceding night. Her countenance expressed some +displeasure, which undoubtedly arose from her inability to understand +why Wrengell should use such secrecy in his approach. + +"They are after me!" exclaimed John, "a crowd of drunken men! They +think I am a horse-thief! You can hear them in the woods yonder." + +"They are coming," said Mrs. Boyle, in a frenzied manner. "I don't +know where you can hide. What shall we do? Oh, dear! What shall we +do?" + + +CHAPTER XX. +A GOOD SAMARITAN. + +"Quick!", said Mrs. Boyle. "They'll be here in a few minutes. I know +where you can hide. Come on. Oh, dear! You can't come. Lean on my +shoulder." + +With the help of Mrs. Boyle John made his way through the bushes. His +lame ankle was frequently twisted in his haste. The briars scratched +the hands and faces both of him and of his companion. She conducted +him to a brush pile which was nearly grown over with running +blackberry vines; and letting go his arm, she threw back the trailing +cover from the dry sticks and leaves, among which she hastily +prepared a place for his reception. John lay down on the heap, where +he was covered by the brush which Mrs. Boyle had removed and lastly +by the long vines, the meshes of which made the signs of the +disturbance less conspicuous. + +"They're right here," said the lady hurriedly. "I'll run to the house +and stay till they've gone, and then I'll come back." + +Mrs. Boyle hastened to the house, which she began to sweep. While she +was thus engaged, Alf, with several companions, came to the door. +Their faces were red, their coats and vests had been taken off, their +shirts were drenched with perspiration. + +"Have you seen a feller go by here?" inquired Boyle. + +"What kind of looking man?" asked Mrs. Boyle. + +"I don't care a--what kind of a lookin' feller," returned Alf. "Have +you seen anybody go by?" + +"No, I haven't," said Mrs. Boyle. + +"Some folks never see nothin'," said Alf, as he started away. "Come +on, boys. He's gone on, I guess." + +"Will you be back to dinner, Alfred?" inquired Mrs. Boyle. + +"'Tain't none o' your bisness when I'll be back," answered Alf. "I +ain't no little boy that's bound to give an account for every step I +take." + +Other men shortly followed, scattering along as they varied in the +respective qualities of speed, endurance and determination. It was +more than an hour before all the stragglers had passed the house. +Those who were last had waited for the third trips of the +fishing-boats, or had been delayed by going around the lake. As soon +as Mrs. Boyle considered it safe to do so, she went to the +hiding-place where she had left Wrengell. She wondered, when she +reached the spot, that it had not been marked by the pursuing +parties. The vines had been drawn over the brush with such haste that +some of them were turned with the berries and upper sides of the +leaves down. She removed the covering and assisted John to rise. + +"You must have thought I would never come," she said. "They were so +long in going by I didn't dare try it before. You see I've brought +you some crutches. They may be too short for you, but I think you can +use them. Alfred had them when he cut his foot. We will go to the +house now." + +"It will not do for me to go there," said John. "They will certainly +find me if I do. How could I stay in the house with your son without +being discovered?" + +"You can't stay here," returned Mrs. Boyle. "They'll be back, and +they'll hunt these brush all through. They won't think of looking for +you in the house. Alfred doesn't stay there much. Sometimes he's away +a week at a time. You can go up into the loft. There are no stairs +and we never go up there; that is, we haven't been up for six months. +Alfred got mad one time and he left the ladder up there. You see, +there's nothing else you can do. You can't lie on the ground with +that lame ankle, and besides, you'd be caught." + +These arguments were convincing to John. In a few minutes he was in +the loft. After his ascent, Mrs. Boyle thrust a chair through the +opening, bidding him, as he valued his safety to maintain perfect +silence. She then directed John to draw up the ladder, and prepared +to build a fire. The roof of the chamber was unsealed. Its inner +portion was covered with rough boards, some of which were slabs. +Built along them at frequent intervals, were wasp-nests whose +dwellers were buzzing about the room. + +In a few minutes Mrs. Boyle appeared, "We must have your boot off," +she said. + +"I have tried that," replied John, "but it will not come." + +"We will have to cut it loose," said Mrs. Boyle. "Let me take your +knife now, please." + +With the knife she cut stitches and leather, and in a short time she +gently removed the boot. She thought it advisable also to strip loose +the stocking in the same way. The deformed foot was badly swollen. +The sixth toe, the sole constituent of the deformity, was a squat, +dwarfish body, sticking from an extensive puff. John, wearied by his +long run and racked by suffering, was yet morbidly sensitive to an +exposure of the misshapen part. Mrs. Boyle applied hot cloths to the +injured ankle and handed him a bottle of camphor for application. She +did not wound his feelings by an allusion to the malformation, nor +did she appear to notice it. John could not explain her indifference +to so unusual a sight. It argued either that she had perfect control +over her actions, or that she had previously known of his misfortune. + +"I see you haven't any coat or vest," said Mrs. Boyle. "Where did you +leave them?" + +"In the grass on this side of the lake," answered John. "I was very +warm and I could run better with them off." + +"Up by the dock where you can find them when you get well?" + +"About two or three rods from it, I threw them near a large tree, and +I will have no trouble in finding them." + +"I am afraid it will be a long time before you can walk," said Mrs. +Boyle. "You will have a tedious time of it. Be careful and don't +wrench your ankle in the least. It will get well a great deal sooner +provided you keep it perfectly still. I'll bring up your dinner now +and mine, too, I didn't eat much when Alfred was here." + +"Are you not afraid of eating with a horse-thief?" asked John. + +"No," returned Mrs. Boyle, "you never stole horses. As soon as you +feel strong enough, you must tell me how they came to accuse you of +any such thing. They are almost all miserable men that I saw go +by,--I mean the ones that I am acquainted with. I knew five or six of +them, and only two are what people call good citizens." + +John was cautioned by Mrs. Boyle not to get so close to a window as +to be visible to a person outside. While they were eating, and while +she kept watch on the several avenues by which the house was likely +to be approached, he related a part of the adventures which he had +experienced since they parted after their first meeting. He did not +reveal the identity of the Wallaces, or allude to their conversation +respecting Montcalm. + +"It is a disgrace," said Mrs. Boyle, "that Dr. Rorus will drink and +sell liquor so. He used to be called a smart man when he kept sober, +but drink has nearly ruined his mind and his practice. No one ever +sees him now, except when he has been drinking. Break o' Day used to +be a peaceful place. Now they have awful fights there, and drunken +men are around all the time. There is a law against selling liquor, +but nobody tries to put it in force, although every one but the +drunkards complain. Once in a while I think it's my duty to make +legal complaint, but I do dread it so, and then Alfred, you know, he +is, well, quick-tempered, he would be mad. I am afraid I don't always +do as I ought to, just because it isn't pleasant." + +John doubted that there was a just occasion for Mrs. Boyle's fear. He +believed that she was incapable of committing a wrong act. He had +never seen another countenance which had so much benignity, such an +expression of self-forgetfulness and concern for the comfort of +others. She kept a fire in the stove, and at intervals brought up hot +water in which to dip the cloths for the swollen limb. Mrs. Boyle did +not venture to eat supper with John in the loft. She was apprehensive +lest Alf might change his mind and return when he was least expected. +At sunset she carried a feather tick and some clothes to the chamber +and arranged for John a comfortable bed, When this was done, she +descended; and a few seconds later John heard her leave the house. +Her absence was continued for an hour, but finally she reappeared in +the loft with a bundle under her arm. + +"I am mad," said John. "You have been to the lake after my coat and +vest. You have worked so hard that you ought not to have gone down +there, tramping through the grass." + +"It did not hurt me in the least," said Mrs. Boyle. "I found them in +five minutes." + +Wrengell had reason to be thankful. He had escaped a vindictive mob, +and if he had sustained injury, he had fallen into the hands of a +good Samaritan who had dressed his wounds and paid his reckoning at +an inn. Unused to sleeping among the strange noises which pervaded +the forest, he lay awake the greater portion of the night. He heard, +oft repeated, the hooting of an owl, Sometimes distant, sometimes +near, always monotonous, more interesting to him, because he did not +know their origin, were the cries of two raccoons which were calling +to each other from different parts of the wood. + +It was after daylight when he awoke from one brief nap which he had +obtained. The wasps were humming about the apartment. Below, Mrs +Boyle was stepping about briskly preparing breakfast. John was in no +hurry to rise, for he lacked a profitable occupation. He lay long +looking up at the rough roof boards, on the surface of which were +dark weather-stains and those rings which record the years of the +oak. His left leg was useless for purposes of travel. He dressed, +took his crutches and, heedless of the injunctions which Mrs. Boyle +had given him, opened a window and leaned half his body outside. The +clearing was bounded on two sides by brush. These surroundings might +have been forbidding had they not been before a background of fine +timber. Some industrious man had chopped off a considerable amount of +ground. John reached the conclusion that her son was adverse to using +the ax and the brush-hook. + +The window where Wrengell was seated looked out on a fine stretch of +wood. The trees, which were mostly of oak, were clad in the full +magnificence of summer. An unusual number of them had large, straight +trunks, running many feet high without a limb and surmounted by +well-formed, wide-spreading tops. + +Near the edge of the timber a monster grape-vine was coiled about a +sapling, nearly enveloping it and completely overspreading its +branches at the top. + +The tree was bent, as if its heavy burden had brought in youth the +decrepitude of age. It was like some patient boy, who, deprived of +recreation, sinks without a complaint under the weight of tasks, the +endurance of which requires the strength of manhood. + +A black squirrel, apparently attracted by the infrequent spectacle, +hopped leisurely to the sapling, which he proceeded to climb. He +worked his way through, and seated on the top mat of vines, began +earnestly to chatter. When he tired of this situation, he leaped to +the limb of a large white oak and again sounded his calls. He was +joined by another squirrel, which chased him round and round the body +of the tree. The second arrival made only a short stay, but the first +lingered after the departure of his companion. Going to the extreme +end of a long limb which reached within a few feet of the house, he +looked mischievously in at the window. John was pleased with the +innocent gambols of the animal. He was about to push his head through +the window, from which he had withdrawn, when the report of a gun +rang out and the squirrel tumbled to the ground. As helplessly +floundering, the little creature strove to escape, Alf rushed up and +catching him by the tail struck his head several times against the +tree. He continued the blows until the last shudder had passed +through the inanimate frame. + +John, looking through a knot-hole in the side of the house, feared +that Alf might see the open window and mistrust the presence of a +stranger. He knew by the brutality which he had so often witnessed +that the ruffian, if he could avoid the penalties of the law, would +delight in taking his life. After Alf had disappeared from his view, +he crawled forward to let down the sash, but at that moment he heard +his step below. + +"Here's a squirrel, ma," said Boyle. "Can you cook him for +breakfast?" + +"I won't have time to dress him," replied Mrs. Boyle. "I'll cook him +for dinner." + +"No, you don't have time for nothin'," rejoined Alf. "It can't keep +you very busy to cook for two. I won't be here to dinner. I s'pose, +though, you can eat him ail yourself if you want to." + +"Why can't you be here at dinner?" asked Mrs. Boyle. "Don't you think +I ever get lonesome?" + +The conversation between Alf and Mrs. Boyle was limited. As the young +man was about to leave, he said: "I want a dollar." + +"I can't very well spare it," replied Mrs. Boyle. + +"I've got to have it," returned Alf. "They ain't no use o' talkin', I +must have it." + +"I have use for it. It was only last Monday that I let you have two +dollars." + +"That ain't got nothin' to do with to-day. If I didn't need it, I +wouldn't ask you. You might just as well git it as to fool around, +for I won't be monkeyed with." + +Mrs. Boyle reluctantly procured the desired sum for Alf, who departed +on receiving it. She looked troubled when she brought John his +breakfast. + +Wrengell's quarters were tolerably comfortable. He had not, indeed, +many luxuries. Mrs. Boyle furnished him a few books, but they were of +a character such as, it must be confessed, is interesting to few +young persons. They were religious works, treatises on piety, and +biographies of religious people. A strong recommendation for perusing +them, however, was the daily life of the woman by whom they were +read. She was never idle, and rarely working for her own benefit. She +daily visited the sick woman, Mrs. Blake, and John guessed that she +carried her medicine, delicacies and staple provisions. There were, +besides, others to who she ministered. She did not tell John of her +charity, but he saw direct and circumstantial evidence to convince +him that his surmises were correct. One afternoon a small boy came to +her house and alluded to a coat which she had given him. + +John was awakened the fourth night after his arrival by the gruff +voice of Alf in the lower room. The worthless fellow was repeating +his demand for money, which Mrs. Boyle was resisting. + +"You want to know about every cent I spend," he said, "just as though +I was a two-year-old young one. I thank you, I ain't tied to your +apron-strings now." + +"I can't give it to you to-night, Alfred," said Mrs. Boyle. + +"Can't is a big word with you," said Alf. "That's what you say every +time, but you manage to find money when you want to. I've got to have +it to-night because I'm goin' away, I won't be back in a week, maybe +never." + +"Why, what have you been doing?" cried Mrs. Boyle, "You have got into +trouble." + +"S'posin' I have," said Alf. "I can git out of it without consultin' +you. You git what I want, and I'll manage the rest." + +"I have let you have all I can," replied Mrs. Boyle. "I'm afraid you +don't make good use of it." + +"It don't make no difference what use I make of it," returned Alf, +"If you don't git it, I'll burn your ole shanty down. Now you can bet +your boots on that." + +"It is the Lord's," returned Mrs. Boyle firmly, "and I must keep it." + +"Then, if it's His, he hadn't ought to have it layin' round here," +said the profane Alf. + +"Oh, Alfred," cried the distressed woman, "how can you be so wicked? +I have tried to bring you up right and cried about you and give you +more than I keep myself. But this I have promised to apply to the +Lord's purpose. Don't talk so, and don't try to make me sin by +breaking my promises!" + +"Be you a-goin' to git me that money?" asked Alf. + +"No," said Mrs. Boyle, "it is God's and I must keep it." + +Alf was furious with rage. He uttered a savage oath, raised his fist, +struck her a blow which sent her reeling against the wall and ran +from the room. As soon as the dispute threatened a serous +termination, John arose and began to dress. The blow from Alf's fist +was struck just before Jig reach the opening which led below. Without +waiting to use the ladder he lowered himself by his hands, falling in +a heap on the floor. + +"Where has he gone?" cried John. "I will teach him better than that!" + +"Oh, stop John!" Mrs. Boyle pleaded, sobbing in spite of her efforts +to be calm. "You mustn't say anything! You must keep still or he will +kill you!" + +"But I will not keep still," replied John. "He struck you, and I will +punish him. I will shoot him!" + +"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Boyle, "you wouldn't shoot my son?" + +"He is not your son," answered John. "No such mother ever had such a +son." + + +CHAPTER XXI. +CONTROVERSY AND REMINISCENCE. + +The affair at Break o'Day caused more excitement than the murder of +Green, and was the most notable event which had happened in the +vicinity that season. Representatives of the Jackson and Ann Arbor +Press visited the hamlet, which in a few weeks acquired more +reputation than it had hitherto gained in half a century. From +Wingscheut a reporter obtained a sensational and valuable budget of +news. His paper stated that the valiant German had been fated +singularly often to meet the horse-thieves, that in the spring he had +an encounter with them when they were escaping with a horse at the +barn of a farmer named Spartus, that in the swamp near Break o'Day he +maintained, unarmed and unaided, a combat with four of them, and +that, had he been properly supported, the entire gang might have been +captured. + +The Jackson "Goad," a sheet published with the avowed purpose of +prodding beyond endurance the party then in power, was especially +active in making inquiries about Wrengell. It gave a highly colored +account of the young man's sojourn at Ratke's. It dwelt minutely on +his reticence respecting his former residence and occupation. It +declared that a man unused to deeds of violence could never show such +nerve and determination as he had manifested. It related how he had +been detained by the order-loving citizens of Break o'Day, how he had +broken loose from their restraint, knocking them right and left, how +he had fearlessly charged upon and driven back a group of men at the +dock, how he had sought an encounter with the boats and had done some +phenomenally close shooting at Long range. + +The major was wroth at the wrong done his hired man. He visited Rorus +and talked to him with such sternness that the doctor did not as +usual reply in a long series of co-ordinate terms capped by an +anti-climax. He told him that he should hold him responsible for the +injury which Wrengell received, and that if one of his men ever again +was subjected to so much as an affront at the drug-store, he would +administer a personal castigation to its proprietor. Directly after +the appearance of the exaggerated article in the "Goad" Ratke called +on the editor and demanded that retraction be made at once. The next +week the story was modified; but after it was shorn of its absolute +untruths, it still bore strong testimony against Wrengell. + +The startling occurrences which agitated Ratke's neighbors did not +keep him from the contemplation of his inventions. He had engaged an +Oakville blacksmith to iron his Jerusalem wagon, which he decided to +take in pieces and put on another vehicle for transportation. As the +several parts were too heavy to be lifted easily by one man, he +ordered Jake to assist him. + +"I expect to create a sensation with my wagon in a few weeks, Jake," +said the philosopher. "If it becomes famous, you can boast that you +had a hand in preparing the first perfect model." + +"Put this 'ere rattletrap in the hind end?" asked Jake, as he picked +up a pair of wheel-posts, seemingly unconscious of his honorable +function. + +"Now, Jake," said the major, when he was ready to start to Oakville, +"you may haul the wood which you and John sawed. I would like to be +able to say that my inventions are used to a great extent on my farm. +You may draw the wood with the Old Jerusalem. I intend to go to +Jackson, and shall no doubt be gone until five o'clock." + +Jake had a special aversion to the products of his employer's genius. +With rebellion in his heart he hitched a team to the Old Jerusalem. +He had driven but a few rods when the reach came unfastened and +letting one end of the box fall to the ground, slid him speedily down +the smooth bottom boards. Many minutes were occupied in readjusting +the detached parts. Impatient of delay, he climbed on the wagon and +spoke sharply to the team, but the tongue with the whiffletrees was +jerked loose, and he was nearly pulled from his position by the +lines. The last accident intensified his disgust, which he had before +restrained with difficulty. He hitched the horses to a pair of +trucks, and with this equipment hauled the wood in the forenoon some +hours sooner than the major thought the work would be completed. + +Ratke, who drove no farther than Oakville, returned to the farm at +eleven o'clock. After caring for his team, he went to the field where +Montcalm was at work. + +"Trace," said the major, "that article which you sent to the +Indianapolis "Standard" will greatly benefit me. You described my +wagon in fine terms. You could never I have obtained its insertion if +you had not once been a reporter for the paper. Such an account +coming from a distance will make me and my inventions respected more +at home. A great name, to be acquired in one's own neighborhood, must +be imported. We may call this the endosmose of reputation." + +In passing the barns Ratke noticed that the trucks were not in their +accustomed place under a shed. His anger was kindled at sight of +Jake, who was throwing off his last load of wood from another vehicle +than the Old Jerusalem. + +"Jake," said the displeased inventor, hurrying to the wood-pile, "I +told you expressly to use the Old Jerusalem. Why did you take the +trucks?" + +"'Cause," replied Sheppard, "I wanted to git done some time to-day. I +didn't like to fuss." + +"I pay you for your time," returned Ratke. "When you do as I tell +you, it is my lookout if your service is unprofitable. After this you +use the tool I give you to work with." + +"I don't like no such 'rangement as the Jerus'lem," rejoined Jake. +"The ole thingumbob ain't good for nothin', an' never was." + +"Jake," said the major, "it is not your place to question the wisdom +of my plans. I am quite capable of directing my own affairs. Whenever +you are unwilling to obey my instructions you may quit my employ." + +"I guess I better quit now," said Jake. "We never had no words till +to-day, an' we never want none." + +"How much do I owe you?" inquired the major. + +"You ain't paid me nothin' for two years," answered Sheppard, "an' +there's some back that I earnt afore that." + +"Is that so?" ejaculated the major, ashamed that he was unable to pay +his discharged hired man. "I will get it for you as soon as I can, +Jake." + +"They gener'ly make reckonin' on payin' a man when they ship him," +said Jake, "but you needn't be in no hurry about it. I'll let you +know when I want it." + +"Never mind throwing off the wood," said the major. "Come in to +dinner. I will have Mark take care of the team." + +"I'm much obliged," returned Jake. "I'll take care of 'em myself and +finish up my job at the wood. I don't care for no dinner. I've et in +that house for nine years, but 'tain't likely I'll ever eat there +agin." + +The major found visitors awaiting him in the house, Senator Mallard +and Mrs. Baldwin, a sister of the statesman's deceased wife. +Mallard's whole aspect was one of strength, both physical and mental. +He was heavily built, though not corpulent. His face was +smooth-shaven. His mouth was peculiarly expressive, indicating +according to his mood, pleasure, approbation, sarcasm, disdain or +wrath. His eyes were large and dark, and over them rose a brow which +was broad and steep. While he was yet a young man, he had been +prominent in state politics. Very soon after he had entered the +United States Senate, he was ranked as a power in debate; and in a +few years he was a recognized party leader. The idol of his friends, +he was hated by many of his opponents whose opinions had been roughly +handled by his aggressive speeches. + +The greeting between the old men was cordial. They had many questions +to ask, answers to return and experiences to relate. Since their last +meeting one had increased in wealth and influence, one had virtually +lost his property, each had been bereft of a wife, and each had grown +gray, though he had retained his bodily vigor. Mrs. Grippin had to +repeat her summons to dinner several times before it was responded to +by the major and his guest. Ratke quite forgot everything except his +friend and the scenes through which they had mutually passed. He +talked with such abstraction, as he waited on the visitors, that he +was unfitted for his duty. He placed potatoes on the plate intended +for Mrs. Baldwin, one at about every four words. He had the dish well +rounded when he was stopped by Mrs. Grippin, and the second +interference of his sister alone saved the vegetables from being +deluged with a profuse quantity of gravy. After dinner he and Mallard +went back of the house, where they seated themselves on the wood-pile +and talked for half the afternoon. + +"Well, George," said the major, "I suppose you are confident of being +re-elected in January." + +"I am confident that I shall not again be re-elected," replied +Mallard. "For nearly forty years, with scarcely an intermission I +have been a public servant. Now I have a right to demand that my +condition shall be changed from serfdom to independence." + +"There are many who aspire to be tied with the bonds of national +servitude," said the major. "The official has too much authority +properly to be called a slave. He dictates to those whom you term his +masters." + +"Neither all nor the greater part of political power," returned +Mallard, "is wielded by officials acting in an official capacity. +Behind the officer is the will of the public, and behind that is the +moulding influence of the Press and of those thinkers who study and +expound matters of government. When the honest legislator finds that +his conscience and popular sentiment are antagonistic, it is his duty +to yield to the former; but he who habitually disregards the wishes +of his constituents will soon destroy his political career." + +"The responsibility to constituents," said Ratke, "is our great +safeguard against usurpation. Were it not for that, the Republican +party would be wholly unscrupulous in its disregard of precedent. The +organization of which you are a leader has repeatedly violated the +constitution and is advocating principles which, if carried out, will +eventually lead to monarchy." + +This provoked a spirited reply from Mallard, which in turn elicited a +long answer from Ratke. + +"James," called Mrs Grippin, "I'll have to have some wood now." + +"All right, Maria," said the major. "There is no warrant in the +constitution for such dictatorial laws as have been enacted. Quote, +if you can, a single passage which justifies them." + +"Very well," answered Mallard, "'Congress shall have power to make +all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into +execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this +constitution in the government of the United States, or in any +department or officer thereof.' The specification in an instrument +like the constitution of every power of a legislative body is quite +impracticable, on account of the limited space in the instrument and +the inability of its framers to tell with any certainty what +exigencies may arise. This provision, had it not been inserted, would +have to be assumed, for no government could long prosper without the +ability to enact special laws." + +"James," said Mrs. Grippin, who was kept by the presence of her +visitors from an outburst of passion, "I'm waiting for that wood." + +"You shall have it," answered Ratke, methodically picking up two +sticks and advancing to the kitchen, "'To make all laws which shall +be necessary and proper.' The Republican party ignores that word +proper. It interprets the clause thus! 'To make such laws as best +serve our partisan purposes,' An undue concentration of national +authority," he continued, elevating his voice as he entered the +kitchen, "is incompatible with good government. There should be a +diffusion of power." + +"Oh, dear! What a man!" exclaimed Mrs. Grippin. "Two sticks of wood +to do a baking. Now you go right back and get me some wood." + +"I can carry the larger load," said Mallard, laughing, as Ratke +descended the back steps. "In our younger days we tried feats of +strength, but I am not used to them now." + +Each man took in a huge armful of wood, and Mrs. Grippin was +satisfied both with the quality and quantity of the supply. The +housekeeper took pains to find several tasks for her brother, that +the discussion might be, broken off and he might not be worsted by +Mallard, for, though she professed great dislike of his argumentative +habits, she was secretly proud of his proficiency. + +"George," said the major, when they had left the house, "a great +career is sometimes late in its commencement, is it not?" + +"Certainly," responded Mallard, "history furnishes many such +instances." + +"I believe," said Ratke, "that mine is about to begin. Did I tell you +that I have turned a part of my attention to literature?" + +"No, indeed," answered the senator with some surprise. "Which one of +the muses has captivated you? Are you pondering over the massive +tomes of Themis, are you under the spell of Polyhymnia's rhetoric, or +are you following the voice of Calliope as she leads you over fields, +through forests and across lakes, by ancient earth works and mounds, +in which are the relics of extinct races. This locality, I think, +would furnish to a string imagination material for a grand epic." + +"Your guess is incorrect," said Ratke. "The title of the work which I +am writing is 'Nature Concordia Philosophiae Animi.' In two volumes I +am undertaking to prove that every phenomenon of nature has a +corresponding one in the human mind or soul. Volume one treats of the +relativity of physics and metaphysics, volume two, of the relation of +physical laws to the will and higher emotions. The moral treatise I +finished first, more than a year ago, in fact. + +"In its preparation I was obliged to refer to no modern language +except our own. English is rich in dissertations of the soul, but it +furnishes little to the science of mental phenomena. In order to +master the metaphysical part I was obliged to read a great deal in +German. You know I am deficient in that language. I was helped in my +reading by Manie and by Wrengell, the young fellow who made such a +stir at Break o' Day." + +That night the old men sat up until after twelve o' clock talking of +experiences which stretched through fifty years, of college days, of +books which were but half remembered, of sports long unpracticed, but +still unforgotten, of acquaintances, some of whom were living, some +dead, some honored, some disgraced. Their faces kindled with fervor +of youth, their tones and gestures were animated; they were no longer +old. They laughed at ludicrous circumstances with greater zest than +when they witnessed the incidents. Unrealized ambitions, triumphs in +the lyceum and in class-room, petty dissensions with their fellows, +they reviewed with minuteness which they could not have used in +describing later events. At every visit since their graduation, they +had gone over these same experiences. Each recital had exceeded its +predecessor in the pleasure which it had imparted and the earnestness +with which it had been delivered. Only three days before, Mallard had +made in Chicago a great speech, which was destined to be published in +the papers throughout the entire country and to be repeated in +substance on the platform by the minor satellites of his party. Now +his dignity was laid aside, he was mirthful, even boyish, in his +actions. + +"George," said Ratke, "you remember that we confided our aspirations +to each other. Mine have promised much, but yielded nothing. You have +accomplished what you set out to accomplish. You must be a happy +man." + +"You judge too hastily," returned Mallard. "I have money, I have a +fair reputation, but I have been unfortunate in my family affairs. I +had a wife, a perfect companion, one of the best helpmeets whom God +ever gave to man. She is dead. I had a son, gifted and promising. I +kept him at school and gave him every advantage. He excelled in his +studies. He had a special liking for rhetoric and argument. I meant +to train him to be a statesman. I believed that he would exceed me in +fame and power as Alexander exceeded Philip. But he took to drink. He +died a disgraceful death, and the world knows my shame. I had a +daughter who was as amiable as she was beautiful and accomplished. +After the death of my wife and son, she was my idol. For a year she +took music lessons at Detroit. When she came home, she told me about +some attentions which had been paid her by a young foreigner, a +German. I cautioned her to accept no more of his addresses until I +had seen him. One day I was discussing the slavery question with some +gentlemen in a hotel. You know before the war I was not in favor of +immediate abolition, I was advocating the principles of the +Republican party, when a young abolitionist commenced to talk in the +most fanatical manner. I answered him, and he returned a torrent of +abuse. Saying that I had no wish to discuss a question with one who +substituted invective for argument, I left him. A few days after this +occurrence I opened the door of my house and found in the parlor the +young man who had treated me so rudely in the hotel. I bade him go +and never enter my dwelling again. I asked Eliza if this impudent +German was her suitor. She said he was. I told her to hold no +communication with him, that if she did, she could no longer stay +under the protection of my roof. A week after that they eloped. I +made no attempt to follow them, but Eliza wrote me that they had gone +to Detroit, and the newspapers, of course, tracked them up and put in +every mouth the story of my new disgrace. I would have welcomed them +back had it not been for my positive declaration that I would not do +so. I heard nothing more of them until my sister-in-law found an item +in a paper which stated that they had been killed two months +previously in a railroad accident at Chicago. An enterprising +reporter had had his attention riveted by the names of the victims, +as they appeared in an old paper and had discovered that they were +the same which had been borne by my son-in-law and daughter. The +surmise of the reporter was correct. I took up the bodies, which are +now in the Lansing cemetery. Never measure happiness by fame or +apparent success." + +The next morning the major to no avail urged his guests to prolong +their visit. He did, however, extract a promise that Mallard would +make a more extended stay the succeeding summer. As the senator and +Mrs. Baldwin were at the gate taking leave of the Ratkes, Panicky +came trudging up with his satchels. + +"Good morning, Senator," was the peddler's familiar salutation. "How +do you come on?" + +"Very well," answered Mallard. "How is your health, Mr. Dabney?" + +"Extra," said Panicky. "I am exposed enough to kill three common men, +but I know what to take to keep me healthy. What's the reason I can't +ride with you?" + +"You can as well as not," replied Mallard, "if you can sit in the +back of the buggy and let your feet hang behind. It is an +uncomfortable way of riding, but it is the best I can provide for +you, Mr. Dabney." + +"James," said the senator, "we are old men. We can not tell when we +shall next meet. It may be in another world." + +"I hope you will come back again soon," said Ratke as they shook +hands at parting. "If you do not of your own accord, I hope +circumstances will bring you back." + +"I wish I had such a team as that," remarked Panicky, when they were +on their way. "I wouldn't be ramping through the country as I am now. +I know what to give 'em to keep 'em in good trim." + +"You sold me some panacea for them, Dabney," said Mallard with a +smile. "I have at home all the medicine I can possibly use." + +"You hauled 'em over the coals good at Chicago," said Panicky. "That +speech ought to be in the house of every Republican, and every +Democrat, for that matter. If If could hear you get off the same +thing at Lansing, I'd give all there is in my satchels to some +hospital. The Democratic papers make as big a fuss about that as the +doctors do about the Great American Panacea." + +"Why did you not stop at Ratke's?" inquired the senator. "I should +think you would try to make a sale at every house." + +"Oh, yes, I do," said Panicky, "but I was over this road just a +little while ago. I'm going to turn off up hovered past Takum's. I +don't have to peddle the panacea much. It sells itself." + +Mallard's team was young and spirited. Constantly on the alert for +objects by which they might be frightened, the horses lifted their +heads high and drew the buggy along at a sharp pace. In the road near +Takum's house were playing some children, some of whom were so nearly +of a size that there was no perceptible difference in their ages. +They were seated, or squatted, exactly in the track, and they moved +aside reluctantly to make way for the travelers. One little girl, who +used her apron as a receptacle of sand, pulled the garment over her +face and suddenly rising, jerked it down, throwing a cloud of dust +almost against the fractious team. The horses jumped forward, +determined to flee from the unwonted spectacle. They were in a fair +way to be quieted when the whole troop of Takum's dogs, large and +small, came bounding toward them with yelps and barks. They still +would have been manageable by Mallard's strong arm had not accident +aided them in their insubordination. The left-line snapped in twain, +the unbalanced right pulled them to one side, a front wheel struck a +large stone, and the buggy was overturned. + +Panicky was whirled over in a summersault, his satchels, bumping and +jingling, rolled down an incline, where one of them flew open; his +knee struck a small stump which was inconveniently near. He groaned +dismally for a moment; then, raising himself, began to wail: "Oh, +dear! Oh, gosh! Oh, Jerusha! Oh, I'm dying! I'm dying! I'm dying!" + +Mrs. Baldwin was unhurt. She turned at once to the assistance of her +brother-in-law, whose form was stretched at full length, motionless +and apparently lifeless. She lifted his head, she rubbed his hands, +she called his name. His closed eyes did not open, he gave no sign of +realizing her attentions. The Ratke family and Brown ran as soon as +possible to the scene of the accident, Nora in advance of them all. +They carried the senseless statesman back to the house which he had +thought he might not again visit. + +Bitterly did Ratke regret his expressed wish that, with or against +his will. Mallard would soon return. The stalwart frame, the hands he +had pressed in farewell, the features, the changes of which he had +watched in controversy and shared in the revival of memories had, +indeed, come back; but tied in the bonds of inertness, they could not +return his words or feelings. He found, however, that his friend was +not dead. In the course of an hour he had the satisfaction of seeing +him sit up and of hearing him announce that he felt better. + +Daggett was in the tamaracks by the road cutting poles when his +attention was drawn by the sound of rapidly approaching hoofs. +Dropping his ax, he rushed to the highway just in time to catch the +runaway team. With some trouble he allayed their excitement and drove +them back toward Ratke's. The overturned buggy and the groaning +peddler were sufficient to explain the catastrophe. + +"Helloa! What's up?" he exclaimed, as he neared Panicky, who was +seated on the ground, holding his knee and rocking back and forth. + +"Oh, I'm about dead!" moaned Panicky. "I'm fixed! My leg's broke! I +know it is! Oh, that's awful! You don't know how I suffer! Oh, I'm +laid up for life! Oh, I won't do another tap of work for six months!" + +"I am agent for the Great American Panacea," said Daggett, advancing +with a broken bottle, which had been left with the fractured part +upward, so that it still retained a portion of its contents. "This +medicine is compounded of pine, hemlock, tamarack, cedar and spruce, +besides sovereign roots and herbs known to the medical fraternity. It +cures cuts, bruises, sprains, wounds, incisions and all injuries to +the flesh. It is also a sovereign remedy for asthma, bronchitis, +tonsilitis, laryngitis and all throat diseases, besides being an +excellent tonic for consumption, dyspepsia, liver-complaint, +rheumatism, malaria, fever and ague." + +"If your knee was like mine, you wouldn't make fun of it," returned +Panicky. "Oh, the whole top of my knee's smashed! Oh, I won't do +another tap of work for two months!" + +"Oh, yes, you will," assured Daggett, "I'll have you on your feet in +no time, I know a fellow over in Ingham, a log rolled over his leg, +smashed the whole business fine, bones, skin, flesh and all. The +doctor, he come to amputate it, but I got him to try a bottle of the +panacea. Well, the next week was the Fourth of July, and he took the +first prize for running at Lansing, and just a little while afterward +he beat the best mile record by three seconds. Have a bottle, Mister. +It isn't panicky. Panacea, sir, panacea. Panicky is where they get in +a battle, you know." + +"I guess I will rub some of the panacea on my knee," said the +peddler, taking the broken bottle with a grin. "That feels a good +deal better," he acknowledged, as he arose after applying his +medicine. "It beats all how quickly it helps it," he said, limping to +his satchels and beginning to gather up the uninjured portion of his +wares. "You'll know just what to do for lameness," he concluded, when +with the strap over his shoulder connecting the two burdens, he was +limping around the corner. + +Before the arrival of doctor Rorus, for whom the major had sent. +Mallard declared that he was able to recommence his journey. Ratke +protested, but to no avail. He did, however, induce the senator to +take the cars at Barton Junction and allow Daggett, whom he +considered a fair horseman, to drive the team to Lansing. + + +CHAPTER XXII. +ACTION IS EQUAL TO REACTION. + +The dry weather continued. In the memory of the oldest inhabitant +there had not been so long an interval without rain. Cattle and sheep +sought the protection of shade. Stunted and withered, the corn leaves +rolled upward to hold the scanty supply of dew which fell, but it was +sucked away by the sun; and their need of drink was still +unfurnished. In the road timothy and June grass were dried and lopped +over. Other grass, withered before maturity, was laid flat and +thickly powdered with sand, yellow along its blades, showing green +near its roots, even through its veil of dirt. Clouds of dust were +almost continually in motion, coming from the wheels of passing +vehicles and from drags and cultivators at work on the moistureless +summer fallows. The smell of burning marshes was in the air. Fire, +started accidentally or thoughtlessly, was running here and there +through the country, uniting with the drought to render unavailing +their farmer's toil. + +The effect of the fire and dust was to level distinctions of color in +nature. Vegetation was draped in dirt; so that grass and tree, plowed +field and meadow, all approached the same faded hue. The atmosphere +seemed to share the general taint, as if the eye were constantly +looking through a dust-smeared glass. Over and among the woods hung a +haze of smoke, a connecting shade between cerulean and green, which +made less marked their division where the tree-tops cut an irregular +border in the sky. + +Northern Michigan had been blazing. Thousands of families were +homeless. For these sufferers subscriptions had been raised to which +the people had liberally contributed. Then a great smoke arose from +Oakville; and when it cleared, half the village had been consumed. +Again the subscription was passed around, but this time it met with +poorer success. A fortunate merchant who had escaped without loss +visited Ratke as a solicitor for his fellow-townsmen. The major had +just threshed a part of his wheat and had in his pocket forty dollars +which he was to pay to the Enterprise Machine Company of Chicago, The +note was due, and his impatient creditors had threatened him. "They +can wait," he said. "Our neighbors cannot wait. Take it, Marsh, I +wish I had more for you." + +Montcalm had announced his intention to quit farm labor. It was with +reluctance that his employer saw him take the train at Barton +Junction. + +July twenty-third was long a day of anticipation to Ratke, On that +day he must deed away in Sharptown the Barton hundred and sixty in +order to satisfy Durgenson, who, he feared, would drive him from his +old farm. On that day he was to meet in the same town a man who with +a view to purchasing would examine the New Jerusalem. As was related +in the preceding chapter, an account of the invention had been +published in the Indianapolis Standard, and shortly after a letter +had come to the major from Madgeburg, Indiana, stating that a +representative of the wagon-works in that city would be in Sharptown +the twenty-third, and that, if Major Ratke would meet him at the Cass +House, they might negotiate a sale. The letter was signed J. +Boutwell, president. On the note-head was printed J. Boutwell, +President; T. C. Parker, Treasurer. + +"Fortune is with me, Maria," said the philosopher. "The Madgeburg +wagon works are among the largest in the country. If they believe the +New Jerusalem is a success, fifty thousand dollars is no price for +it. Its value once proven, it will take everything by storm. I would +rather have a percentage on the sales than to sell for cash." + +"Well, that man is a fool," remarked Mrs. Grippin. "That's all I've +got to say about him. He isn't fit to be president of any wagon +company." + +The major order Daggett to harness Taylor and Bill to the New +Jerusalem. With approbation he looked over its low boxes and its high +posts and wheels. He had taken it from the shop still unpainted +because it would not have time to dry before it went to Sharptown for +examination. + +Seated in the bottom of the front box, he drove out of his yard with +his head not five feel from the ground. Behind him was the second +box, which was empty. On either side of each six-foot wheel and +towering still afoot higher, was a post connected by a board with its +mate at the top. The wheels had been favored with limited provisions +for greasing; and one of them emitted at every revolution three +squeaks, the first two short and spirited, the last dolorous and +prolonged. + +The major's neighbors did not gratify him by manifesting surprise. +But, as he drove into Break o'Day, he and his conveyance created +something of a sensation. Some of the citizens came out and delighted +him by making minute inquiries. The boys were especially pleased with +the novel exhibition. As the wagon started, several of them imitated +the three squeaks of the noisy hind wheel with tolerable accuracy. +But their companions remembering the peanuts and candy which the +kind-hearted philosopher had given them, obliged them to desist from +the annoyance. + +The ride from Break o' Day to Sharptown was one of victorious pomp, +and the New Jerusalem a triumphal car. All along the route the +squeaking hind wheel summoned hosts of spectators. There was no boy +who did not suspend his play, no woman whose face was not pressed +close to a window or thrust through a door, no man who did not pause +in his work and follow the wonderful sight with his eye until it had +receded far up the road, taking with it, after it had passed from +view, its wailing squeak. Through the windows of one school-house +appeared the upstretched heads of the pupils, and the teacher, +although disapproving of their conduct, was careful to stand where +she could hear her class without taking her gaze from the old man who +was huddled in a low box half-hidden by posts and wheels. At the next +school-housel the pupils were having recess. He invited them to ride; +and two of the boys, unheeding the bell, went with him for a mile. +The driver on the power of a threshing-machine near the road yelled +vociferously at his horses until they stopped. The gang of hands left +their places to examine the new wonder. The major obtained an oil can +from the driver and endeavored to grease the wheels of his wagon, but +the closely fitting posts would not allow him properly to apply the +oil. + +No interest which he had aroused was worthy of comparison with that +which he awakened in Sharptown. The central portion of the town, +which contained two thousand inhabitants, was situated on the crest +of a gradual slope. When Ratke entered the outskirts, several +pedestrians were walking along the one side of the street which had a +sidewalk. This number received additions from the houses and from the +cross-streets. Farther on there was a walk on either side, and the +throng divided and increased. Numbers from upper town observing the +slow-moving procession, met and turning, joined the tide which, made +up of footmen, horses and vehicles, filled the sidewalks and the +street and confined travel to one direction. + +A philosophic Scipio, the major leaned back in his car and viewed the +homage which the gaping multitude unwittingly tendered him. He +remembered that Scipio had fallen from appreciation, and he +preferred, therefore, to compare himself to Caesar. Before him was a +common wagon loaded with wheat. Anciently the conquered foe walked +before the conqueror, "Likewise," thought Ratke, "the common wagon +goes before the New Jerusalem, which is destined soon to sweep it +completely out of use." + +The greatest incongruity in his position was that he was very low for +a conquering hero. The horses obscured his vision, and he was obliged +to twist his head to one side in order to see his wagon's vanquished +rival jolting along through the dust, unconscious of its doom. + +When the proud inventor stopped on Main Street, the most prominent +merchants came out to meet him. There, surrounded by the wondering +population, he explained the principles of his invention, its +lightness of draught, its adaptation to the farm and to the city. +Many of the best men of Sharptown, carried away by his eloquence, +became admirers of the singular vehicle. Before the spectators had +asked half the questions which they wished to propound, he drove to +the Cass House, thinking it advisable to leave their curiosity but +partly appeased. + +The hotel which had been appointed as the place of meeting, was the +most pretentious in the town. The major was conducted to a room where +he found the president of the Madgeburg wagon works. Mr. Boutwell was +a very good-looking man with a business-like air, which was sustained +by his manner, words and clothes. Ratke would have liked him better +had he shown more of the agent's flattery and less of the buyer's +independence. Still, he was equally independent in the negotiation, +and he was willing to take the manufacturer's money, even though it +was brusquely tendered. + +"I'm glad you've come," said Br. Boutwell. "My nephew got hold of an +Indianapolis 'Standard' and read the account of your wagon. We may +not make a deal, probably sha'n't, but I'm willing to look at it. +Where is it?" + +"Out by the barn," answered the major. "You can see it from that +window." + +"I wish there wasn't such a crowd around it," remarked Mr. Boutwell. +"We can't do anything looking at it now. We shall have to wait till +they go away." + +"I was anxious to finish the negotiation at once," said the major. "I +must raise some money, and unless I sell the wagon, I must dispose of +a piece of land. That is why I am anxious to come to a conclusion +immediately." + +"Oh, we can't make a deal to-day," said Mr. Boutwell. "Not under two +weeks anyway. I must go to the company and report. If I think it is +worth while, we'll take the wagon down to Madgeburg to look at it. +Then if we all think it's an improvement, we'll give you a fair price +for it." + +"Then," said the major sadly, "I must sell the farm. My business is +such that I cannot wait." + +The Barton hundred and sixty was a fertile piece of land and had +excellent buildings. A grasping farmer was ready to buy it for his +son who was soon to be married, but knowing Ratke's circumstances, he +would offer but thirty dollars an acre, little more than half its +value. The cashier of the Second National Bank handed out a number of +bills, which Ratke put into a bag. The bag was light, but the heart +of the major was heavy. + +The afternoon was well spent when Ratke returned to the Cass House. +The New Jerusalem, waxing old as an object of wonder, was nearly +deserted by the crowd. + +As their acquaintance was prolonged, Mr. Boutwell became more +talkative, or rather more agreeable, for he had been at first not +unwilling to talk. + +"How do you like philosophy?" inquired the major. + +"Very well," answered Mr. Boutwell. "I used to have a special liking +for it." + +"What author is your favorite?" asked Ratke. + +"Oh, I like Comstock," said Mr. Boutwell. "I think he's about as good +as any of them." + +"Comstock," said the major in disgust, "he is the author of an +elementary physics." + +"There are different tastes about authorities," observed Mr. +Boutwell. "Some may not like Comstock. I think he does pretty well." + +"How do you like Hobbes?" + +"First-rate," ventured Mr. Boutwell, thinking that he now heard the +name of the major's favorite, "I like him very much." + +"I do not. His theories are the most selfish ever put forth by a +philosopher. What do you think of his work, the Leviathan?" + +"If I remember rightly," said Boutwell, "it has a fine description of +the whale." + +The major concluded that Mr. Boutwell had given his entire energies +to business. "I hope you are not a disciple of Hobbes," he remarked. +"If you are, you will beat me down as much as you can on the price of +my wagon. In that case, I can expect an offer from you of not more +than five hundred." + +"Oh, no," said Boutwell, "not by any means. What I meant was that he +could write pretty well. Now, am I right? Isn't his work in good +style?" + +"A good style of its class," answered Ratke. "He attempts no +excellence except in ratiocination." + +"It's a good while since I've looked up these matters," said Mr. +Boutwell, "and as for rationation, that's away beyond my depth. I can +over see the making on wagons and find sales for them, but I'm a poor +hand to ratiocinate. It's six o'clock. We'll take some supper now. +I'll have it brought up here, and then we can talk by ourselves." + +Ratke did not decline the manufacturer's invitation. They ate slowly, +and lingered about the table after their appetites were satisfied. + +"Come up to my place," said the major. "We can have a good chance +there. We can test it in every way you wish." + +"I don't know but I'll have to," acquiesced Mr. Boutwell. "They're +not as thick as they were down there. New ones seem to be coming up +all the time, though. I'll write a letter to Madgeburg before I go." + +Ratke waited for the president of the wagon works to write his +letter. He had not purchased one of the articles for which Mrs. +Grippin had sent. The sun was down when he had performed his many +errands. At twilight he and Mr. Boutwell descended to the wagon, to +which the hostler had hitched his team. + +"You will admin," said the major, "that the invention is original." + +"Yes," responded Mr. Boutwell, "nobody will dispute that. But what is +the matter with the boxes?" + +On the front box had been chalked a death's-head, A mule and various +other designs. On the rear one had been pasted some enormous +show-posters and some small bills. + +"The man that done that ought to be prosecuted," remarked the +manufacturer. + +"Oh, no," said the major, apparently not in the least out of humor. +"It was quite likely, done by boys. They meant no harm and did +little. The posters can be washed off, and as for the chalk marks, +they will not show when they are covered with paint." + +"I am afraid," said Mr. Boutwell, when they had started on the +angling road leading from Main Street to Break o'Day, "that the wagon +will bother about hauling poles." + +"There is not the least trouble about that," assured the inventor. +"You can take out all the end boards and put the poles, the forward +parts in the forward box, the rear parts in the rear box. Of course, +there is a small portion of the weight which has no support +underneath, but not enough to cause a dangerous transverse strain. +The intensity of stress on the wagon, too, is inconsiderable. It is, +in terms of acceleration, force divided by area, M L divided by L T +square. Land T, you observe, in this case are very large in +proportion to M. And the poles can be so conveniently loaded. You +have to raise them no higher than you do when you are carrying them. +How many ruptures and strains would be saved if men could load wheat +into this wagon. After we get home, we will haul poles until you are +satisfied." + +"The high posts are one objection," said Mr. Boutwell. "They look +bad, and I can't think of anything they're good for." + +"I can think of several uses which they have," said Ratke. "They make +good standards for a hay-rack. This morning Dr. Rorus observed that +this would be the best wagon in the world for public occasions, such +as the Fourth of July. Flags and banners could be attached to the +posts, and they could be seen for a great distance." + +"How about its draught?" asked Mr. Boutwell. + +"That is its strong point," said Ratke. "The propelling force has a +good chance to act. Its point of application is low. And it lessens +the pressure on the wheels. The six-foot wheel and the two-inch +pivot, too, form another great advantage, as they materially lessen +the friction. Every time a wheel revolves, one fourth the weight of +the load scrapes over the circumference of its axel or pivot. In the +New Jerusalem the wheel is six feet in diameter, and the pivot two +inches. In the common wagon the wheel is, say five feet, and the axle +three inches. In the New Jerusalem the load is propelled seventy-two +inches while the movement at the point of friction is two inches. In +the common wagon the load is propelled sixty-inches, while the +movement at the point of friction is three inches. In the New +Jerusalem the ratio of frictional movement to the distance of +transportation is thirty-six. In the common wagon it is twenty." + +"Wouldn't it be a good plan to have a spindle turn on rollers?" asked +Mr. Boutwell. + +"I have thought of that," said the major. "That changes the loss of +power at the spindle or pivot from sliding to rolling friction. But +these small wheels must turn on spindles or pivots and engender the +sliding friction they are calculated to prevent. Thus we exchange the +sliding friction for both sliding and rolling friction." + +"What will you take for that nigh horse?" asked Mr. Boutwell. + +"Four thousand dollars," replied the major. + +"He must be a good one," commented Mr. Boutwell. + +"Fair," said Ratke, in a way which intimated that he was stating +Taylor's merits with moderation. + +"I have been talking some of getting me a horse," said Mr. Boutwell, +"but that is more than I want to invest. Can't you start him up? I'd +like to see him move off a little faster." + +"Charge," said the major in a quiet tone. + +The wagon started with such suddenness that the sleek manufacturer +was jerked violently backward. His beaver fell and was run over by +the hind wheel. The president of the wagon works clutched the side of +the box and remonstrated with Ratke on his fast driving. "Oh, I +wouldn't drive too fast. Major! It's a warm night." + +"My team is good for it," responded Ratke. + +"It ain't safe," said Mr. Boutwell, after a heavy jolt had thrown him +to the opposite side of the box. "Something might break. Hold on. +Major, I've lost my hat!" + +"Halt," commanded the major. Instantly the team topped, and Mr. +Boutwell was pitched headlong against the dashboard. + +"That's useless fast driving," he said. "It's unreasonable in hot +weather." His face was sad as he returned with his once magnificent +hat which, with its crown crushed in, was quite ruined. + +The major, stopping at Birch & Bigney's store, purchased a hat for +Mr. Boutwell, not, indeed, one so impressive as the demolished beaver +had been, but the best which Break o' Day afforded. He was not sorry +for the misfortune of his companion, who, intent on the transaction +of their business, had taken no pains to make himself agreeable. He +wished that the company had sent another man, whose criticism was +less free. + +"I don't like that squeaking," said Mr. Boutwell. "It looks to me as +if there wasn't much of a chance to grease the wheels. Your machinist +must be a poor workman." + +"I can soon fix the wheels so we can grease them," said the major. +"Now, as to the pivot, you think that it is very rough. You notice +that the pitch of the squeak is high, on the key of C, I think. There +must be, then, one thousand and fifty-six vibrations per second. The +motion at the pivot, as I said, is slight. In order to have one +thousand and fifty-six vibrations of sound result from a slight +motion the protuberances must be very small. What do you think you +can pay me for my wagon?" + +"I can't say now," answered Mr. Boutwell. "I don't know as we can buy +it at all. If we take it, we'll give you a good price. But before we +negotiate, we would want you to agree not to go to any other company +till you've got through with us. If I think it worth while, I'll have +you drive out to Madgeburg." + +"You can ride with me," said Ratke. + +"No," said Mr. Boutwell, "you go too fast and stop too quick for me. +I must get back to attend to business. I'll take the cars." + +"When you understand one principle you will be all right to ride with +me," said Ratke. 'Action is equal to reaction, and in a contrary +direction.' What you must guard against is reaction. It was reaction +which pitched you against the dashboard. This law has application +elsewhere than in the physical world. A man is persecuted by society. +In time it is discovered that he has been a martyr, and he is lauded +as much as he has been abused. My New Jerusalem is now rediculed. In +a few years its praises will be in every man's mouth. 'Action is +equal to reaction and in a contrary direction.'" + +"Can you always make your horses stop as quick as you did back +yonder?" asked Mr. Boutwell. + +The major showed his ability to govern his team by again giving the +order to stop. The president of the wagon works placed his hands on +Ratke's shoulders and pulled him backward. Then he quickly put his +knee astride his body and grasped his arms. + +"I don't hardly believe I'll go home with you," said Mr. Boutwell +with a grin. "I've got to get back to Madgeburg to oversee the wagon +works. Now I'd like a little money to pay my fare with." + +They were in the center of the swamp, the lights in the farm-houses +had gone out, and interference was not likely to come. Ratke was not +terrified by the unlooked-for assault. He did not struggle. Calmly +and reproachfully he looked up in the face of the robber who had so +basely betrayed his confidence. + +"I want you to fork over that money," said Mr. Boutwell, "and don't +be a great while about it. I'm not going to be fooled with." + +Still the major did not answer. + +"Are you going to give me that money?" demanded Boutwell. + +"No," said Ratke. + +"Then I'll make it uncomfortable for you!" exclaimed Boutwell. + +"You can have my life," said the major, "and you will have to take it +if you get my money." + +"We won't ratiocinate now," said Mr. Boutwell. "You're great on +sliding friction and rolling friction. Now slide or roll out that +money, or there'll be a friction you don't like!" + +Boutwell's hand reached quickly towards a side pocket, but it was +grasped by Ratke, when, with his left, he struck the old man a heavy +blow under the eye. With the blood trickling down his cheek Ratke +strove to rise. + +"Now," said Boutwell, "you stop kicking around and do as I tell you +or I'll shoot you through the heart! Be in a hurry, too. We ain't +talking wagon now. Come now, no Hobbes nor transverse strain." + +"Charge!" shouted the major. At that magic word the wheels of the New +Jerusalem raised clear from the ground, and the three squeaks blended +in one, which was shrill, continuous and ear-splitting. Mr. Boutwell +was pitched against the rear end-board, but he regained his +equilibrium and again struck Ratke. He was in a fair way to +administer a terrible punishment to the philosopher when a great jolt +threw him off his balance; and before he recovered himself, the old +man, whose strength he had under-estimated, rolled him and began to +rain blows upon his face. Ratke's fighting blood was up, and he plied +his fists with such vigor that Mr. Boutwell soon cried, "Hold up! +Hold up! I'll quit. I've got enough." + +"I am sorry," said the major, "that I have been obliged to strike a +man who was down. I trust you will pardon me. And now you have seen a +demonstration of the theorem which I stated. 'Action is equal to +reaction and in a contrary direction.' Halt." + +The team stopped at the edge of the tamaracks. The New Jerusalem was +now a veritable chariot, for it had been uncoupled by the jolt which +had demoralized Boutwell, and the hind wheels were far back on the +causeway. A thick cloud of dust hovered over the road along which +they had sped. + +"I will send one of my men down after it to-morrow," said Ratke. "We +will go on without it now. You can get up, Mr. Boutwell. Allow me to +search your pockets." + +Ratke, after taking two revolvers from the pockets of his new +acquaintance, drove on in silence. At the large gate by the house he +stopped and called, "Mark, Mark, come and take care of the team." + + +CHAPTER XXIII. +ONE HOUR OF BLISS. + +By Mrs. Boyle's clock it lacked twenty-two minutes of midnight. It +was the hour for sleep and repose, yet it was an hour of activity. +The hornets were buzzing in their hidden nests, the millers were +flitting about the lamp. The two human occupants of the house were +excited. One had been brutally attacked; and the other had come to +her assistance too late, or, perhaps, providentially late. + +"You say he is not my son," said Mrs. Boyle. "You talk as if you +knew, John." + +He noticed with pleasure that she called him John. "So I do know," he +replied. "A dull man ought to be able to tell that. When I am +convinced that the loftiest virtue begets the grossest vice, I will +believe that you are his mother." + +"No," she said, "he is not my son. None of the neighbors know it, and +he don't know it. I'm sure you won't tell anything I don't want you +to." + +"No," said John earnestly, "I never will." + +"Then, if you're not sleepy," said Mrs. Boyle, "I will tell you the +whole story. When Mr. Boyle was alive, we stayed several years in +Chicago. We lived just a little ways from Alfred's folks. I guess I +won't tell even you his real name. His father and mother were bad +characters. They both drank and stole. They would quarrel and +sometimes fight. Once in a while he pounded her terribly. Little +Alfred would scream as loud as he could. He wasn't big enough to talk +much. Then, if Mr. Boyle was at home, he would go over to see about +it. The last time he went Alfred's father and mother both told him to +go home and never come there again. They could manage their own +affairs. Finally he pounded her so that he was arrested and sent to +jail. It wasn't long after that she stole some valuable jewelry out +of a store. + +"I was in court when they sentenced her. She might I have got off +easier but she was sullen, just like Alfred, and she prejudiced them +against her. She was sent to the penitentiary for a year. It was +hard to see that little fellow hanging to her hand, and to think what +a training he would get. I told her if she would give him to me, I +would take him. She seemed to be glad to get him off her hands, and +she said she hadn't any objections." + +Mrs. Boyle gave John an account of her and her protege since Mr. +Boyle's death, of their removal to Michigan, of Alf's growing +depravity, which he manifested even in his early childhood. + +"He is naturally bad," said John. "You might as well try to turn a +bramble to a peach tree as to attempt to make a respectable man of +him." + +"I know he has got into some awful trouble," said Mrs. Boyle. "I +don't expect him back very soon. But if he comes, you must stay +above, no matter how he acts." + +"You want me to be less than a man," replied John. "You think I would +stay up there and let him strike you. If he attempts any such thing +again, I will come sooner than I did before." + +"Then he certainly will kill you," said Mrs. Boyle. "You don't know +him. He has a passion for killing things. Whenever he can, he takes +the life of a chipmunk, or a toad, or a fly, or anything, no matter +what it is." + +John remembered the millers, the bat and the squirrel; and he knew +that Mrs. Boyle's estimate of the ruffian's character was correct. + +"Now, do as I tell you, John," she continued. "You seem almost like +my own boy. You won't get mad if I call you John, will you?" + +"No," said John, "I wish I were your son." + +He thought long of her words. Until then, motherless, not quite +friendless, he had yearned for that sympathy which, coming only from +the maternal heart, cures wounds of the spirit and body and makes +suffering almost desirable, that the joy of healing may be +experienced. Instinct had told him that he needed it. Other boys had +been petted and caressed while he had been kicked and cursed. Now, +when boyhood was passed, he had found a foster-mother who was kinder +than his natural parent, whose touch was balm for bodily pain, whose +presence banished despondency, whose words were gentle in consolation +and in reproof. He would have laid down his life for her and rejoiced +in the sacrifice. Could he have been her son, even if disgrace had +still clung to him, how much of misery would he have escaped. + +The sun was again peeping over the tall trees when two men walked +across the clearing and inquired for Alfred Boyle. After satisfying +themselves by inquiries that he was not in the house, and informing +Mrs. Boyle that he was wanted for robbery at Birch & Bigney's store, +they passed on. + +"You can come down, John," said Mrs. Boyle, stopping under the +entrance to the loft. "Alfred won't be back in a good while." + +John's leg made rapid progress toward recovery. With Mrs. Boyle's +permission, for he was generally scrupulous in yielding to her +wishes, he walked about the small clearing on his crutches. + +The excitement over his adventure had materially subsided, or had +given place tot hat over the recent robbery. It was whispered here +and there that possibly the real thief had not accused, and it was +universally admitted that the mob had acted with more haste than +justice. Still, John did not care to have his whereabouts known. Such +a knowledge would lead to his arrest, when he would be asked to +furnish some explanations which he could not satisfactorily give. And +yet, menaced by those consequences, he took risks. Without the +knowledge of Mrs. Boyle he wandered to the narrow strip of improved +land which lay between the woods and the swamp. He must get where he +could see beyond the small pen in which he was imprisoned by the +forest, and he must not show contempt of her orders. Each day he sat +for an hour at the foot of a large tree, scanning the continuous +strip of timber. The long field was the one which with its great +brittle lumps of sand he had passed a short time previous to his +accidental meeting with the Wallaces. The high oaks on the opposite +side hid the waters of Coon Lake and the village of Break o'Day. + +Beyond the high belt of wood was one for a sight of whom he would +have ventured much. That misgiving which he had felt at their +parting, that impulse which in the face of resistance had urged him +to bid a second adieu were not vain follies, but the warnings of, +and, had he heeded them, the preparation for an occurrence the end of +which he could not foretell. He speculated as to the probable +location of Ratke's house. He believed that with the aid of his +mathematics he could determine it with a fair degree of accuracy. +After some deliberation he fixed upon a depression in the upper edge +of the woods, as the place which had been hollowed out by nature that +his gaze might more nearly approach the Gothic house with its shroud +of evergreens and its greater attraction within. His hand impulsively +went to his lips and threw a greeting toward the imaginary gateway. +To verify his mathematical observations he obtained Mrs. Boyle's +compass. What was the reaction when he discovered that he had +mistaken north for northwest and that he had thrown his kiss in the +direction of Julia Wallace! Rectifying his mistake, he decided that +the dry top of a lofty tamarack which stood where the skirt of the +hard-wood timber ended was between him and Manie. His breast heaved, +but it soon harbored that discontent which had been engendered by his +early training. Chances for which some vainly long are given, to +others who have for them not the slightest appreciation. The dry old +tree-top cared not for youth and beauty. Stripped of its foliage to +mitigate the force of the wind and groaning whenever an unusual gust +strained its rheumatic seams, it might look down on Ratke's, might +see a graceful form and composed, dignified face emerging from the +evergreens, yet it ignored its privileges, while they were yearned +for by another. + +One night John announced to Mrs. Boyle his intention to take his +departure from her house. + +"I hate to have you go," she said, "you step as if your ankle was +nearly well, but you know it is weak yet. You are welcome to stay, +and I'd like to have you. It will be lonesome when you are gone. +Aren't you afraid they'll try to arrest you? + +"I shall go to Barton Junction," said John, "and I have no +acquaintances there. So many crimes have been committed in this +section lately that strangers will not be on the lookout to apprehend +me." + +"You are not going to-night?" asked Mrs. Boyle, as John took his hat. + +"Not to the Junction," said John, as he arose. "But I may not be back +until late." + +"Now, John," said Mrs. Boyle, laying her hand on his arm, "be +careful. Don't expose yourself too much. Don't go to Break o' Day, or +any place where there are drunken men. You don't know what they would +do." + +"I will do as you say," answered John, as he stepped outside. + +He crossed the clearing, on the poorly-cultivated surface of which +fire-weeds had grown rank and thick. As emitted an acrid odor which +suggested the appropriateness of their name. Wrengell took the road +which he had lost in his first approach to the lonely house in the +clearing. The plentiful light streaming from the heavens showed the +nightly magnificence of the wood. A furlong from the edge the +underbrush was scant, so that the large trunks were visible for rods. +Slender plats of fresh green grass were scattered at intervals, their +loveliness more apparent because contrasted with the brown spread of +dry leaves. Their verdancy had been preserved in the cool shade +furnished by the great white oaks, whose strong arms were +outstretched to the shelter them from the heat of midday. + +McDuff's heavy gate with the stone balance swung open as easily as it +had done two weeks before. Not wishing to follow the road, John +crossed it and clambered over the opposite fence. He deemed it +advisable to proceed along the edge of the swamp, where, should he be +observed, he could find a refuge at once. A bright fire, evidently +from a high brush heap, was burning at the border of the woods beyond +the wide stretch of fields. That he was nearing familiar territory he +was apprised by a sound which he had once detested, but which was now +far from unwelcome, the yelping of Takum's dogs. He crossed a second +road and was shortly in the major's field, for the leveling of which +the hands had worked so long in the spring. + +He stood a minute by the front gate. The loud talking of the men had +ceased in the club-house. It was past the hour when the major's +family was in the habit of retiring, yet a light was burning in the +parlor. John stole to a window and looked inside. Not a person was in +sight. This was inexplicable to him, as it was Ratke's custom to put +out the lights before going to bed. He was astonished when, taking a +closer view, he saw Archer yawning over a thick octavo volume, the +pages of which he occasionally turned. His fellow hired man had not +been famed for his love of books, and he wondered that he should +suddenly become so devoted a student as to read until midnight. He +could account for his presence there at that hour, only on the +supposition that one of the household was sick and that he was +serving as watcher. While he was endeavoring to solve the riddle, +Mrs. Grippin appeared, blew out the light, gave some injunctions +which he could not distinguish, and retired. Making a reconnoissance +of the house, John discovered that lights were burning in two of the +back bedrooms, which were separated by a distance of a few feet. +Curtains were before the windows, and on one of them was impressed +the shadow of a human form. For some minutes he watched it, undecided +whether it were made by Nora or by Manie. At last the figure quickly +jerked its head, disappeared for an instant and returned. It did not +belong to Manie, it was that of her impulsive cousin. + +With a throbbing heart he went cautiously to another window. Drawing +a long breath, he raised his finger hesitatingly. It trembled an +instant in the air and fell several times faintly on the pane. There +was a rustling of paper within, a sound as of some one closing a book +and moving about in a chair. He was tempted to draw back from his +adventure. Admitting that he had rightly guessed the location Manie's +room, how was he assured that she would welcome a communication at +midnight, or that she might not be affrighted and raise an alarm. She +had quitted the chair. She was about to take some action, either to +respond to his signal, or to tell the household that some one was +prowling near the room. If he would prevent her from raising an +outcry, he must speak without delay. He must see her. He must say the +farewell which he had once repressed. He placed his lips almost to +the glass and whispered, "Manie. Manie. Miss Ratke," he corrected, +alarmed at his familiarity. The curtains parted, and the face of +Manie appeared, not affrighted, but lacking its usual serenity. She +started as she saw a man close enough to touch her had he broken that +barrier of glass. + +"Do not be alarmed," said John. "It is I, John, John Wrengell." + +"Is it you?" asked Manie. John thought that there was something of +joy in her manner. "We were afraid you were dead," she continued. "We +had not heard from you in so long." + +"Can you not get on your bonnet and come out?" said John. "I am +afraid we shall be overheard." + +"Come to-morrow," said Manie, "and we will all be glad to see you." + +"I cannot," responded John sadly. "I am afraid I never can come +again. I am going away to-morrow morning, and I would like to talk +with you a few minutes." + +His hope of having his request granted was so slight that he was +surprised when she put on a straw hat and began to raise the window. +He assisted her to the ground, and they stood together outside. + +"Let us go to the orchard," he said. + +It was there that she had accepted the first offer of his company. He +wished, but he doubted, that his words would be as well received as +they were on that Sabbath morning when the blossoms were fluttering +from the agitated boughs. At the foot of a harvest tree Manie stooped +to pick up an apple. She was not hungry, and she had no definite +purpose in so doing; but John, supposing that she wished to satisfy +her appetite, sprang up the tree in search of its best products. Like +a red squirrel he raced from limb to limb and soon descended, +bringing a pocketful of mellow apples, which he insisted that she +should take. + +Now that he was in her presence, he was at a loss what to do or what +to say. He could not bear to go away without taking her hand and +bidding her an informal farewell which, if they were destined to meet +no more, would ever be a delightful memory. He dreaded to follow his +inclinations, lest he should be repulsed and their parting be an +event which would bring the most miserable recollections. He began to +feel that their meeting was a disappointment, that in social position +and in mutual regard they were and must of necessity be far apart. + +"I must go in," said Manie. + +"Oh, not yet! Please do not go yet!" John remonstrated. "We have just +begun to talk.'' + +"I have stayed a great while now," said Manie. "If people knew it, +what would they say of my climbing from a window to meet you at +night?" + +"They will not know it," said John, "and there is no hurt in it, I am +sure. I own it does not reflect credit on you to be seen with me. I +am poor and disgraced. I do not wish to drag you down to my level. +To-morrow morning I go away, and I shall not come back. Keep from me +in the future, but to-night bid me good-bye as you would an equal." + +"And where will you go?" asked Manie. + +"Of that I am uncertain," said John. "I mean to escape from my evil +destiny. It has followed me like a hound all my life. But I will +struggle with it to the end. If I am overcome, it will be when I have +strength to fight no longer. I mean yet to make a man whom the world +will and must respect. I will take no rest, I will work in season and +out of season; and if I fail, it will not be my fault." + +"I believe you will succeed," said Manie. "You certainly deserve to." + +"Do you think so?" said John, excited so much that his articulation +was indistinct. "By God's help I will succeed! Manie, Miss Ratke, I +will go and try. If I fail, I will stay away as long as I live. But +if I succeed, if the world by its recognition acknowledges the wrong +it has done me, may I come back, come back with hope in my heart, and +ask you to be my wife?" + +"I can consent to no such proposal," said Manie. + +"I do not blame you," said John dejectedly. "I make an unreasonable +request." + +"You wrong me," said Manie. + +"Yes," assented John, "I was foolish to speak as I did. You have a +right to resent such an offer from one in my position." + +"I care nothing for your position," said Manie, "But your offer +implies that I am selfish. It accuses me of wishing to share your +fortune, but escape your misfortune. If I would have you at all, I +would have you whether you were rich or poor, successful or +unsuccessful, esteemed or despised." + +Again John felt the buoyancy of hope. She was near him, she, who, +when he was menaced by danger and tortured with pain, had with hardly +an interruption occupied his thoughts for a fortnight. His arm stole +about her. + +"Do not drive me away just yet," he pleaded. "Repulse me if you will, +but after I have done speaking. Manie, I must call you that name +once, I did wrong you. But now I ask you, shall we not go together in +joy and in sorrow, in prosperity and in adversity, in riches and in +poverty, in fame and in disgrace, as long as we live? It is a great +sacrifice which I ask of you. Do not answer me yet. Let me be in +suspense. Let me think for a moment that I have won you, that we need +not again be separated." + +She did not reply, and his grasp involuntarily tightened. There was +inspiration to John in every sight and sound, in every message +communicated by the senses. The wind gently touched his brow. + +Every orb in the sky was sending down its quota of light. The house +showed its roof and eaves above the trees, as if it had been dropped +and had sunk in its soft cushion of green. The branches of the apple +tree, swaying slightly, cast at their feet silver bars and meshes of +bright net-work. The steady signing of the cricket, blending with the +sharp jerking chirrup of the katydid, closed his eyes and plunged him +into a reverie, which was brief, delightful, and ever after +unforgotten. + +"I am ready for your answer," said John. "Sentence me as you will." + +"Yes," said Manie. + +Her reply destroyed the last vestige of his composure. He threw his +other arm frantically about her and kissed her again and again. + +"Stop, stop!" said Manie. "One arm in that posture is enough. I shall +have to go in now." + +They said nothing as they walked to the house. John opened the window +and lifted her carefully through. + +"Give me a good-night kiss," he said. "I do not like to take leave of +you as formally as I did the last time I was in the house." + +"I hope you are satisfied now," she said, after his demand had been +granted. + +He was about to take another salute without permission, when Manie, +anticipating his design, quickly withdrew her head and closed the +window. + + +CHAPTER XXIV. A BEETHOVEN AND A GIBBON IN ONE. + +"HELLOA!" exclaimed Daggett, as he approached the gate, "where's the +hind wheels?" + +"The road was rough, and the wagon uncoupled," said the major. "They +are on the causeway, but you need not mind them till morning. Perhaps +you had better have Will take care of the team. I shall want you to +do an errand for me in the course of an hour." + +Daggett case some curious looks at Mr. Boutwell as he opened the gate +and led the team through it. + +"Whatever is the matter with you, James Ratke?" ejaculated Mrs. +Grippin, when her brother and his unwilling vistor stood before her. +"You've been fighting. That's just the way you used to look when you +was a boy and got into rows. I'd be ashamed, an old man like you." + +"Mr. Boutwell, my sister," said the major, ignoring Mrs. Grippin's +tirade. "Come this way, Mr. Boutwell, and we will wash." + +Ratke treated the spurious wagon manufacturer with the utmost +deference. He kept an eye on his movements, however, and Mr. Boutwell +understood that though he might expect the treatment of a king, it +would be that of a captive king. He got him water wash and insisted +that his would be dressed before his own. Mr. Boutwell, whose +experience with the philosopher had taught him better than to refuse +his courtesies, was the picture of humiliation, as Ratke clumsily +adjusted plasters over his split upper lip and a contusion on his +cheek. Mrs. Grippin, unable to longer absent herself, entered the +kitchen, where she was followed by the girls, who had arisen to +ascertain what had befallen their uncle. The major in his most polite +manner introduced Mr. Boutwell to the young ladies. + +"So you've been fighting, Uncle James," said Nora. "Who did you have +a fight with?" + +"I cannot explain it to you now, little girl," said the major. + +"You will, won't you, Mr. Boutwell?" said Nora. "Oh, you got into it, +too, did you? You and Uncle James must have been together against a +lot of 'em. Uncle James always sticks by his friends. Didn't he stick +by you?" + +"Close enough," answered Mr. Boutwell with a grin. + +"You are badly hurt. Uncle James," said Manie. "Your eye is swollen, +almost shut, and the cut under it does not stop bleeding yet." + +"It is nothing," said Ratke, "a little scratch. It takes a worse +wound than that to affect me." + +Manie put a plaster over the bruised part. One of the major's eyes +looked sleepy, and Mr. Boutwell's face was spotted with contusions +and plasters. + +"This way now, Mr. Boutwell," said the major, leading the way to the +parlor, "make yourself comfortable while I do some writing." + +"Manie," he called, when he had finished a short note, "tell Mark to +take this to Jim Turner. And now, Mr. Boutwell," he said, "we will +go." + +"I wonder where in the world they've gone to at this time of the +night," said Mrs. Grippin, as the sound of their footsteps was dying +away. "Some notion James has got, I suppose." + +"Who do you think they had a fight with?" asked Nora. + +"How do you suppose I know any more than you do?" sharply returned +Mrs. Grippin. "James ought to have more care for his reputation than +to get into such a scrape. And the president of a big wagon company +surely could find better business than fighting." + +"Maybe they stopped to Break o'Day, and somebody pitched into 'em," +suggested Nora. + +"More likely somebody made fun of James' wagon, and he got mad," said +Mrs. Grippin. "That'll touch him up the quickest of anything." + +The major returned late, and Mr. Boutwell was not with him. He +refused to give any information concerning his visitor, except that +he had gone and would not again come back. The next morning, waxing +more communicative, he yielded to Mrs. Grippin's influence, and +admitted that Mr. Boutwell had attempted to rob him. + +"That's the way your speculation turned out," commented Mrs. Grippin. +"You might know he didn't mean it when he said he was coming to buy +your wagon. He ain't such a fool as I thought he was." + +"He is no fool," said Ratke. "He wished to obtain my money. He +estimated properly the force at his disposal, but fell into the +common error of miscalculating the amount of resistance. I must have +Mark hitch up Taylor. I shall have to go to Jackson to-day." + +"Why, to-day, is the day Durgenson is coming," said Mrs. Grippin. + +"He wrote me that he cannot be here until to-morrow," said Ratke. + +"Now," cautioned the housekeeper, "don't you take that money with +you, James. It's the safest here." + +"I had rather risk it with me," said the major. "I am able to defend +it." + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Grippin. "Such a careless man! You'll fall +in with a sleek fellow that wants to buy your wagon, or some other +knave; and the first thing you know, it will be gone. Now, James," +she said with more moderation, "where did you get that money?" + +"Maria," answered the major, "I got it from the Barton hundred and +sixty. I have sold it." + +Without a word Mrs. Grippin turned and went to the parlor. Their last +foot of land had been sold. She knew not when the order would come to +leave the homestead and go into the street. They might find a home, +but what kind of home? Nora would go to her aristocratic relatives. +Manie might die or get married. She pictured mentally the two who +formed the relic of the family, Ratke grubbing by the day, herself +doing washing for Sparks and Mrs. Green. She was not ashamed to work; +but she was ashamed to know and to have the world know that their +property had been recklessly parted with, to slave for others in +their old age, and finally to be dependent on local charity or go to +the poor-house. + +The major came home at dusk. "Well, Maria," he said, "I have escaped +without meeting any bad fortune." + +"You want to look out for to-night," cautioned his sister. "Everybody +knows that money is here. You must watch it to-night." + +"I am too tired to sit up," Ratke objected. "I was up all last night. +It will be all right under my head." + +"No, it won't," said Mrs. Grippin. "You've got to get some one to +watch it, then." + +"I hardly know whom to get," said the major. "All the men up west +have been to Oakville, looking after the fire. Perhaps Philetus would +come." + +"Phleet," cried Mrs. Grippin wrathfully, "Phleet Takum! Haven't you +got any more judgment than that? You know he takes whatever he can +lay his hands on!" + +"I suppose I might hire Abner Wallace," suggested Ratke. + +"I declare!" ejaculated Mrs. Grippin, after a moment of +speechlessness. "Pick out a thief to watch money! James, you are a +bright one! Get one of your men." + +"I hate to ask them to do such things when they work hard," said the +major. "Mark is always willing to do odd chores, but he did not go to +bed till late last night. I will see what I can do with them." + +As the major went up the club-house steps, there was a scrambling +among the inmates. He opened the door too late to see what had +occasioned the confusion. The table was covered with a newspaper, +which was raised at one corner enough to show several cards. But he +did not notice the evidence of immorality. + +"Will," he said, "Maria will give me no peace until I get a man to +stay in the house to-night. She thinks we are liable to be robbed. I +have not the slightest fear of such a danger, but to keep peace in +the family I must do as she wishes. Can you come?" + +"I've been to work awful hard to-day," said Archer. "That's tough +ploughing, you know. It's all I can do to keep the plough in the +ground. I could get along with it, but I'm all drilled out." + +"I know it is hard work," said Ratke, "But Mark was up last night, +and I cannot ask him to go." + +"I'll go, Major," said Daggett, + +"No," said the major, "I will not let you. You have lost sleep +enough." + +"I wouldn't care so much about it," said Archer, "if it wasn't for +to-morrow. But this working as tight as you can jump and then being +up all night, and then keeping right on the next day, it's too much." + +"Oh, as to that," said Ratke, "you can sleep twenty-four hours, +commencing at six o'clock, if you wish." + +"Seeing it's an emergency, I'll go," said Archer. "Of course, I'm +willing to make some sacrifice, Major." + +"You need not come until ten o'clock unless you wish," said the +major, opening the door to depart, "We will sit up as late as that." + +"He wanted you," said Daggett, "and he didn't seem to want anybody +else, I wonder why that was." + +"Well," said Archer, "he knows what I am. I've worked for him a good +while." + +"Say," said Daggett, "if you get into a snooze, and a horse-thief +goes to jabbing you with a fish-pole, you want to holler." + +Archer, not relishing the reminiscences of his watch in the swamp, +went at once to the house. + +Mrs. Grippin was in a passion over the major's choice of watchman. +"Now, Will," she said, "I want you to have some gumption about you. +Wake up once in your life." + +"Yes," said Archer, "I'll tend right to it, Mrs. Grippin, The major +knows he can trust me for that." + +"I hope he is right," said Mrs. Grippin, "He and the girls are in the +parlor." + +The major explained his plan of guarding the money. There was no +danger, he said, but seeing Archer was to watch, he should take every +precaution against a robbery. He should extinguish the light, he +should barricade every door leading to the room. Then with the money +and a revolver he should get into a dark corner. The north-east was +the best one. + +"This reminds me of an incident which happened in Wisconsin +Territory," said Ratke, "when we were chasing Black Hawk. We had been +marching all day, constantly expecting to come up with the Indians. +At night we camped in the edge of a strip of woods, I was just +thinking of what a fine sleep I should have when the sergeant told me +I was on for picket duty. My watch commenced at one o'clock. They +posted me at least seventy rods from the camp, a short distance from +a creek. It was rather a dark night and as we looked for an assault, +I did not fancy the position. Standing where the enemy can see you, +but you cannot see him, is quite different from advancing toward a +perceptible danger. I knew that if the Sacs and Foxes were prowling +about, they had an excellent chance to get my scalp. Sounds as of +something going cautiously over the leaves kept coming from some +woods on the other side of the creek. Presently there was a +disturbance in the water, a subdued splashing which I knew to be +occasioned by the crossing of a man or of some animal. The grass, +which was tall and thick, began to wave suspiciously, and to add to +my uneasiness the waves were coming toward me. I was at a loss what +to do. Staying there for a target with the certainty of being hit the +first fire was not in the least agreeable. Abandoning the post and +giving an unnecessary alarm was to be avoided if possible. I got +under cover of a tree, held my rifle ready to use, and waited. I +could see a distinct advancing motion of the grass. I own I was +nervous as I fired. I was still more so, when the steady motion +changed to a spasmodic struggling and some objects which I could not +see retreated: I had now no doubt as to the proximity of the Indians, +but I did not think it my duty to go to the spot where I had heard +the struggling. I waited a few minutes and could plainly distinguish +more splashing as if others were crossing the creek. In a few minutes +I was certain that some figures were skulking along between me and +the camp. The disturbance in the grass near the creek continued. The +camp had been warned and I felt justifiable in abandoning my post. As +I bore to the right, three or four shots from the direction of the +skulkers made me give one mighty jump. I brought my rifle to my +shoulder, fired and ran. When I got to camp, everybody was up ready +for an attack. The first man I met was the orderly sergeant. + +"'Why, Ratke,' said the sergeant when I came up, 'we thought they'd +killed you. Did you shoot at them or did they shoot at you?' + +"'Both,' I answered. + +"'Well, that's queer,' said the sergeant. 'We heard only one shot.' + +"'I should think it is queer,' I answered. 'I fired at them. Then +they got between me and the camp and fired three or four shots at me +and I fired back.' + +"'Now I don't see how that is,' said the sergeant. 'We saw one of +them moving off. We fired at him, and he fired back, and the ball +just scraped Montcalm's side.' + +"'What!' I said, 'was it you who came out there?' I understood it +then. They had heard the shot I fired and had crept out, when we +mutually mistook each other for Indians, In the morning I found near +my post the body of the largest raccoon I ever saw. New guards are +always fearful of an attack from the enemy. They forget that the same +prudence which they have will keep the foe from hazarding a rash +assault." + +"Can't you sing something for us, Mr. Archer?" asked Nora, beginning +to yawn. + +"Oh, I guess not, Mrs. Warfle," answered Archer, in the manner which +indifferent artists employ to induce more urging. "I guess I hadn't +better." + +"Oh, yes, now, Mr. Archer," pleaded Nora. "If you only knew how we +like to hear you. Why, if I could sing like you can, I'd give almost +anything." + +"That's what a good many folks have said, but still I don't claim to +be anything great," observed Archer modestly. + +"How did you learn to sing so nice?" inquired Nora. + +"Well," said Archer, "it's Nature does the most of it." + +At this juncture the vain major, whose greatest intolerance was for +the weakness which he shared, left the room, unwilling to see his own +folly in so exaggerated a form. + +"You can sing so strong," said Nora. "I've heard Aunt Maria say she +never knew any one with such a voice." + +"Now, Nora," said Mrs. Grippin, suddenly making her appearance, +"you've got to quit such nonsense for I won't have it! You shan't be +mixing my name in." + +Archer supposed that the housekeeper was displeased because she +rightly suspected that he was making a deep impression on Nora. Loath +to give up the exercise of his fascination, he exchanged sly glances +with the young lady, to the great wrath of Mrs. Grippin, who +determined to wait until the proper moment, and then, rising in her +just indignation, to send Nora to bed. But as Nora caught the gleam +of her eye, and Archer abandoned his winking and leering on finding +that they were not returned, the Trebian ambush was never sprung. +Mrs. Grippin finally returned to her room, saying, as she did so, +"Now, Nora, if I hear any more nonsense, you'll start to bed." + +"Mr. Archer," said Nora, a few minutes after the departure of her +stern relative, "did you ever read history much?" + +"Yes," said Archer, "I've read it a good deal." + +"Who do you think was the greatest man that ever lived?" + +"Well, now, I can't say positive," said Archer with a wise nod, "but +I kind o' think George Washington was, don't you?" + +"No," said Nora, "I think Tammany Hall was. But they didn't treat him +very well, though." + +"That's a fact," said Archer, "they used him miserable." + +"Who do you think was to blame?" + +"Well, now, it's been a good while since I've read it and a fellow +will forget, you know. What do you think?" + +"I think Queen Elizabeth was. Let's see. What was it he said when he +got on board the steamer that was to take him to Cape Colony? +Farewell, O England, thou land of my birth.'" + +"Yes, that was it," assented Archer. + +"Oh, no. It wasn't either, come to think of it," said +Nora. "Don't you remember? + "'Long have I served thee O, Queen,' + Long hath my love to thee been. +He was a poet, you know." + +"That's so," said Archer. "I do remember now." + +"What do you think of Moses the Great?" + +"I think he was quite a man." + +"I guess he was quite a man. He conquered the whole world, you know." + +"Yes, I know it," said Archer, bobbing his head. + +"Oh, no," exclaimed Nora, "not quite all when we think about it. +There was Elisha the Seventh, of Russia, beat him at Waterloo." + +"So he did," admitted Archer. + +"How Moses the Great did run his horses to get away," pursued Nora, +"full-blooded Hambletonians, too. They said they run awful." + +"They claim they scratched gravel to beat all," said Archer. + +"You can find pictures of all the great men in this history of the +world," said Nora, bringing from one of the bookcases a large volume +with morocco back and corners. + +"I like to look at pictures. Mrs. Warfle," said Archer, taking the +history. + +"Let's see," said Nora, "they called Elisha the Seventh Giant Lishe, +because he was such a great man to fight." + +"I know they did," said Archer, "He was a tearer let loose." + +"Isn't it time to go to bed?" asked Manie. + +"No," answered Nora, "I'm not going to bed yet. Go on if you want to. +I believe he was born in the year eight hundred and two. I think his +greatest exploit was at the battle of Lundy's Lane, where he slew +Olyppus the Tiger with his own hand. Let's see, was it one of his own +officers that killed him?" + +"I don't remember," said Archer. "I've had to work so hard lately +that I ain't read much. But I was posted once." + +"Oh, no," said Nora, "don't you remember? He was blown up by +nitro-glycerine, blown to pieces so they couldn't find any of his +body to burry?" + +"That's so, Mrs. Warfle," assented Archer. "He was teetotally +smashed." + +The door suddenly opened and the staring visage of Mrs. Grippin was +thrust inside. + +"Nora," she exclaimed, "we've had enough Giant Lishe for to-night. +Now you can poke straight to bed." + +Manie immediately rose to leave, and Nora, knowing that it was +useless for her to argue, prepared to obey her aunt's orders. She +went to the bookcase and slipped under her apron a novel, which she +intended to read in her room. Archer, left to himself, turned over +the pages of the history to see if he could find the portraits of the +heroes whose merits he had been reviewing. He found many military +scenes and many pictures of warriors whose heads were adorned with +smooth helmets or jagged crowns. But in his search he was not +confronted by the battle-scarred face of Moses the Great or Giant +Lishe. + +Mrs. Grippin soon came back and ordered him to prepare for the +night's vigil. She blew out the light, told him to get in the corner +designated by the major and bade him a final good-night. + +It chanced that the sofa was in that corner. Archer was tired. It +occurred to him that he could watch as well reclining as erect. He +laid the money on one end of the lounge, placed his coat on it and +his head on the coat. The ticking of a small clock increased his +drowsiness, and in five minutes he was asleep. + +An hour later an intruder was in the room, carefully lifting Archer's +head and removing the bag in his possession, when the eyes of the +sleeper unclosed and Archer raised himself on his elbow. The robber +dashed through the hall, running close to Nora, who was returning to +the library with the book which she had taken. He entered the front +bedroom and sprang through the open window, disappearing among the +evergreens, just as Archer, who was now thoroughly awake, fired two +shots after his retreating figure. + + +CHAPTER XXV. +DURGENSON DEMANDS HIS MONEY. + +"OH, dear! Oh, dear!" wailed Nora, throwing herself on the floor. +"What made you shoot? Oh, Mr. Archer! What made you shoot?" + +"I hit him!" cried Archer. "I know I did! I'll bet a dollar I did!" + +An instant later Ratke rushed to the scene of the disturbance with +his trousers in his hand. + +"What is it?" he exclaimed. "Is the money safe?" + +"It's gone!" said Archer. "He went out of that window, and I shot at +him." + +Like a school-boy the major jumped through the window and ran down +the walk. When he came to the gate, he fancied he saw a man entering +the shadow of the horse-barn. He proceeded to the spot, but save +himself, no man was in sight. Near the straw-stack he drew on his +trousers, which he had till then unthinkingly retained in his hand. + +"Get up from that floor, Nora," commanded Mrs. Grippin. + +"Oh, I can't," wailed Nora. "I never can get up. Oh, dear!" + +"Come," said Mrs. Grippin dragging her to her feet, "I won't have you +act so. Nobody is hurt." + +"I wouldn't be in that fellow's boots for money, any way," said +Archer, tipping his head with an expression of superior wisdom. "If +he ain't got some cold lead in him, he's a good one." + +The men searched the barns and spread out over the adjacent fields. +Realizing that a crisis in their employer's business affairs had +come, they entered into the hunt with a zeal which they had never +manifested for farm labor. + +"It is of no use," said Ratke, as the morning drew near. "The robber +and the money are beyond our reach. Go to the club-house and finish +your sleep. I cannot give it up yet, even though there is no hope." + +Not one of the men would accept his offer. Unanimously they agreed to +stand by their employer in his extremity, and to continue their +efforts as long as there was hope. Daggett went to Break o'Day, +roused a few of the inhabitants, and made such arrangements as he +thought were likely to lead to the recovery of the major's stolen +property. The remainder of the hands and Ratke were ranging about in +the swamp when the ringing of the upright saw in the apple-tree +summoned them to breakfast. While they were in the kitchen washing, +Daggett returned. + +The late misfortune filled the major with a dejection which nothing +but the precipitation of his trouble and the destruction of his hopes +could create. The Barton hundred and sixty had gone; the homestead +must go. The study, the tool-house, the improvements which he had +made, were to be his but a day. He told the men that they need not +begin work that morning, as he would like to see them in the +club-house. When they had gathered with many speculations as to the +nature of his announcement, he addressed them in a brief speech. + +"My faithful men, it grieves me to communicate to you what it is now +necessary that you should know. For years you have been in my service +and have performed well the tasks which I have given you. In every +exigency you have been my efficient helpers; to all my enterprises +you have lent cheerful aid. Distasteful as is the duty, I must tell +you that we can no longer maintain the relations of employer and +workmen. Another man holds the deed of my farm of which he can take +possession whenever he desires. The money with which I could have +temporarily satisfied him and paid you has been stolen. I would be +doing you injustice if I allowed you to stay, when I am uncertain +that I can requite your honest labor. My greatest trouble is that I +am already owing you debts which must for the present remain unpaid. +I might have avoided this. By leaving unfinished some of my projects +I could have given you your wages when they were due. To think that I +have wasted the substance which was placed in my hands, to feel that +it was not mine, but yours, for you had earned it, is, indeed, the +consummation of my misery. But you shall not be defrauded. If I am +old, I am yet strong. I will work like a slave until you are paid. My +hands shall yet remunerate the honest workmen whom my poor head has +unintentionally cheated. I will sell my stock, my farming implements, +my breakfast furniture. My creditors shall have their just dues, and +you shall be first remembered." + +At the close of his speech the men crowded around him with +expressions of sympathy. They assured him that they did not care for +their pay. It was nothing compared to his loss. If he needed help, +they would work for him all the summer and fall, and they would not +charge a cent. + +"No," said the major, "I can take no such sacrifice. You have lost +enough through me." + +"This is a sorry day, boys," said Daggett, as they were packing their +trunks and valises. "The major's unfinished up. I believe it'll kill +him. Did you notice how down in the mouth he looked? If I had it to +do over again, I'd put in some rattling days' work for that old man." + +Daggett, wishing a home until he could find work, went to live with +Osborne, to whose wife he was related. The other men Ratke persuaded +to stay to dinner, but at one o'clock none of them were on the farm. +Ratke sat in a rocking-chair with his chin resting on his hand and +his left leg thrown over the chair-arm. In this position he had +studied out most of his inventions. + +"Now, I wouldn't mope, James," said Mrs. Grippin. "There's no use of +your giving up." + +"Give up?" answered the major, jerking his head from his hand, "not +while I live. Misfortune may beat me down, may trample on me, may +break my bones, but it shall not conquer me. I am not discouraged; I +am thinking." + +Ratke's despondency was greater than he would admit. + +As he rocked back and forth, no reflections would come, except those +of the most gloomy character. + +"Uncle James," said Manie, thinking to divert his mind from his +trouble, "we have a great deal of difficulty with the churning. I +wish you would invent a churn for me." + +"That I will, my little girl," said the major, again taking his hand +from his chin. "Leave me alone awhile. I want to think." + +"I have it, Manie!" he exclaimed at the expiration of half an hour. +"I have the plan of an invention which will preserve the grain of the +butter as well as the swing churn and do the quickest work which is +done except by steam or water power. It is a dasher which gives the +cream the rotary motion of the swing churn." + +"James," interrupted Mrs. Grippin, "you don't know when we'll have to +leave here. You better fill up all our ticks with new straw." + +"Very well," said the major, rising at once. + +He was nearly to the tool-house when Mrs. Grippin called after him, +"Why, James Ratke, what do you want that coat on for this hot day? I +should think you'd roast." + +"I should be more comfortable with it off," said Ratke, who was too +miserable to think of petty physical comforts. He went to the stack +and pulled out some straw I before he reflected that he had forgotten +the ticks. He returned to the house and brought them out, one by one. +Then he thoughtlessly emptied them near the path. Mrs. Grippin came +to the door, expressed her displeasure at his act and advised him to +take a wheel-barrow to carry back the filled ticks. Partly +understanding her injunction, he took the wheel-barrow and brought +several loads of straw near the pile of ticks. + +"Take the ticks out to the straw-stack," called the housekeeper. +"You're scattering the straw all over the yard." + +Ratke meekly obeyed. He pulled the straw with no thought of what he +was doing. He had tried to rivet his attention on the projected +churn, but that was for any considerable length of time impossible. +He was continually reminded of the farm whose ownership he had +allowed to be wrested from him. He missed the clumsy jokes of the +men. Archer's monotonous song was not echoing from a distant field. +No teams were at work on his fallow. Stagnation had come to his +enterprises, his energies, his hopes; and ambition, its clamor for +food disregarded, had suddenly died. + +"Right at it, Major," said the hearty voice of Durgenson. "I suppose +the women got you into that." + +"Yes," said Ratke, straightening from his stooping posture over a +tick. "You are rather late, Durgenson." + +"Yes," said the cattle-buyer, "but you see, I had business so I +couldn't come. I hope I haven't made you any trouble by it. Has it +made any difference to you?" + +"A great difference to both of us," answered Ratke. "The money I had +for you was stolen last night." + +"What!" ejaculated Durgenson with genuine disappointment. "Stole! I +wouldn't think you'd have let it got stole." + +"I was up until nearly morning night before last," explained the +major, "and last night I had one of my men act as guard. He slept at +his post, and the thief came through a window, took the money and got +away, I wish you had come yesterday." + +"Well, I didn't," said Durgenson testily, "and I couldn't. What are +you going to do about it? I've got to have something right away." + +"There is nothing I can do," replied Ratke. "I am at your mercy." + +"Oh, I won't be hard," said Durgenson. "All I want is what is fair. +You can scrape me up a little, maybe, and I can wait on you for the +rest." + +"There is no more scraping to be done," said the major, "I have paid +you all I can." + +"You have a fair horse there," said Durgenson. "I'll take him and +allow you a thousand dollars for him." + +"I cannot possibly do that," said Ratke. + +"And why not?" asked Durgenson. "I've got to have something if I +wait, you know." + +"I owe some debts for farm machinery," said Ratke. + +"I owe four hundred dollars to the man of whom I bought Taylor, and I +owe my men some hundreds of dollars." + +"You can stave them off," said Durgenson, "Of course, they haven't +any security, I wouldn't pay them a cent when I was so hard up. I'd +wait till I was in better circumstances." + +"They must be paid," said the major emphatically, "I promised it to +them, and they must have it if I fast." + +"But your men," said Durgenson, "they'd wait on you a spell." + +"The laborer is worthy of his hire," said Ratke. "My men shall be +paid before another creditor has the first dollar." + +"You want me to wait until you pay everybody else," cried Durgenson +angrily. "You can understand now that I won't do it. You promised me +four thousand dollars, and I'm going to have something, or I'll shove +you off the place." + +"I am not to blame because you failed to come yesterday," said Ratke. +"Neither am I to blame because of the theft. Neither am I to blame +for wishing to pay my honest hired men first of all." + +"Just as you like," returned Durgenson in a fury. "I'll send a man in +the morning to shove you out into the street! Your promises are a +waste of wind. You've fooled me all you are going to. I did think you +was honest." + +"Do you mean to say, you liar," cried the major, "that I +misrepresented to you?" + +"What!" exclaimed Durgenson. "Don't you call me a liar! I won't take +that from any man!" + +"You are a liar!" said Ratke, advancing and peering into the face of +the cattle-buyer. "This is my place for to-day. Now go, or I will +kick you off the premises! And do not say one word in leaving! Not +one word," he continued, as Durgenson's lips moved. + +Durgenson turned and moved slowly toward the road. + +"Faster!" commanded Ratke, following close at his heels. + +Durgenson quickened his pace, climbed hastily over the fence and +stopped in the highway. + +"Come over here if you want to fight!" he said. "Come right over here +if you dare!" + +Durgenson, in the prime of manhood, large and athletic, contrasted +strongly with the haggard, white-haired old man who promptly climbed +the fence to accept his challenge. Unfastening the top button of his +coat and drawing from the garment his right arm, he stood undecided +whether to give or to decline battle. As Ratke advanced with an +expression of determination, he slipped his arm inside the coat and +fastened the button, at the same time saying, "I won't be guilty of +fighting with an old man." + +"Never mind the guilt," said the wrathful major. "You must either +fight or leave, and that immediately." + +"I don't like trouble," said Durgenson, making for his buggy. "I'll +have you out of here to-morrow," he called, when he had got his horse +under a round trot. "You've lied to me all I'm going to stand." + +"You ought to have licked him," said Mrs. Grippin, who with the girls +had come to the gate, afraid that the major might be harmed by the +stalwart cattle-buyer. + +"I will not chase a man to fight," said Ratke. "Maria, do you know +where the cradle is? The reaper is broken, and the oats must be cut." + +"No, I don't," said Mrs. Grippin. "You can't cradle. You never +learned how. You had better get some one to cradle them, and you bind +them up." + +"I have no money to hire," said the major. "I must do the work +myself. Manie, have you seen the cradle?" + +"Yes," said Manie, "I saw it under the wagon shed. Let me go to Mr. +Osborne's and get Mark to cut it, Uncle James. He will wait for his +pay till you thresh the oats." + +"I am afraid to run in debt any more," said Ratke. "I will do the +work alone." + +Resolutely he went out to the shed and took down the old turkey-wing +cradle, which cut a very wide swath, and was intended to be used by a +strong man. He was unused to the work, but he had cared for his +health; and his strokes, though poorly directed, were vigorous. He +could not keep from hitting the ground with the scythe. + +The old turkey-wing struck in high and, like a hawk, swooped down on +the outer edge of the swath. Undiscouraged by his awkwardness, he +whipped the cradle back and forth, making good time in spite of all +difficulties. His face was covered with sweat, he was much fatigued +and the upper part of his right fore-arm pained him excessively, yet +he did not stop till near sundown. Weary, lame and disconsolate, he +went to the house, where he found waiting the supper which he had no +desire to eat. + +"I must go at the chores," he said. "I had forgotten them." + +"No, you don't want to go at any chores," said Mrs. Grippin, "You +ought to know when you've done enough. You stay here, and Manie and I +will do the chores. Act as though you had some sense. You don't want +to be sick. I'll milk the cows, and Manie can look to the horses." + +"I'll help," volunteered Nora, who was strangely sober. "I'll milk +part of the cows. Aunt Maria." + +"We'll go right out," said Mrs. Grippin stepping to the kitchen. +"Nora, where did you put those pails?" + +"I left them on the shelves," said Nora. + +"No, you didn't," said Mrs. Grippin. "They're not here. We'll have to +take the water pails. That's all." + +Near the barnyard they heard the sound of milk going into a tin pail, +and, opening the gate, they saw that Daggett was stripping the last +cow. + +"Why!" exclaimed Mrs. Grippin, "It was you that got the pails, Mark." + +"Yes," said Daggett, "I looked over this way, and I got homesick. I +wanted to come and chore around the old barn once more." + +"I'm ever so much obliged to you," said Mrs. Grippin. "I hope I can +make this up to you, Mark." + +"I don't want it made up," said Daggett. "How's the major?" + +"He's about sick, and I'm afraid he's going to be. Durgenson was here +to-day and talked hard to him. He's going to put us off to-morrow." + +"We'll be right on hand if he tries that," said Daggett impetuously, +"every man of us. We'll make him and his crowd wish they was +somewhere else." + +That night the major was restless. Harassed, overworked and +overheated, he tossed from side to side in his efforts to find an +easy posture. His head throbbed and became the seat of a dull pain. A +strange roaring sound was in his ears, but, when he sat up in bed, it +ceased. After it had several times recurred, and been dispelled by +his assuming an erect position he gave up his attempts to discover +its cause. The roaring grew so loud that he again rose to see if it +were really an illusion. This time he was astonished to hear the +unmistakable crackling of flames and to see sparks of fire flying +past his window. + + +CHAPTER XXVI. +RAMOTH GILEAD. + +Centuries of investigation have not revealed definitely the laws of +mind and motive. It is true that their interpretation is attempted, +that conduct is often prognosticated; but how often is the judgment +set aside by that superior court, the actual occurrence. Montcalm's +condition was complicated by the terrible excitement which he had +undergone. He may have been sane or insane. It is my task not to +explain but to narrate. + +After his confederate, Boutwell, had failed in his attempt at +robbery, Montcalm formed his second plan to thwart the cupidity of +Durgenson. As he stood over Archer in Ratke's house, a strange +fragment of memory came to him, a fragment which, even then, he +strove to connect and locate. He had seen that dull countenance when +it was impressive, when it had terrified him. Something of that +terror returned. Suddenly he remembered his dream. He saw himself +again flying through the swamp, he saw Archer arise, he heard the +shot which stopped his progress. + +His hand trembled as he removed the money-bag from Archer's head. It +was then that he was seized with an unbalancing of self-possession, +which sometimes consigns to an adverse fate even the bravest of men. + +He was struck in the back by one of the shots which Archer fired. He +ran nearly to the barnyard without becoming aware of the seriousness +of his wound, but, when he reached the straw-stack, he comprehended +that he was badly hurt. The swamp was toward half a mile distant and +the intervening fields offered little protection. Too weak to go much +farther, he crawled into a hole which the cattle had made in the +stack, and at the entrance of which Daggett had placed some short +rails to prevent its being enlarged. He burrowed as far as he could +in the end of this cave, covering himself with the littering which +lay thick on the bottom. Before he had completed the work of +secretion, Ratke dashed past the opening. In the course of a minute +he came back and but a few feet from Montcalm commenced to don his +trousers. + +Of the bodily and mental suffering endured by Montcalm that night and +the succeeding day who but the One all-wise can ever know. + +The day of anguish, the longest which Montcalm had ever known, drew +near its close. The shadows deepened in the miserable dwelling where +lay the miserable man. + +Some one was again pulling straw from the stack. He raised his head +to see who was disturbing his painful reflections. For a moment, as +his gaze fell on Manie, he was glad, but his joy soon changed to +longing and regret. He wished that the burden of his sin were lifted +from him, that he were even then dying, and she his nurse. Peacefully +he would pass into that world from which he now shrank, with her +soothing hand upon his brow, with her sympathetic words sounding in +his ears. While he was watching her, she hastily gathered the straw +in her arms and ran toward the barn. Montcalm heard the conversation +between Mrs. Grippin and Daggett. He envied this fellow with his +never-failing fund of good spirits, his perfect adaptation to +circumstances. He would have traded his identity for that of the most +unlettered of the hired men, even for that of Archer with his +ignorance and egotism and his sleepy, inexpressive face. His +recollection during the night was singularly fruitful. Before him was +spread out his whole life, a long manuscript, on which he read the +beginning and the end of error. Of all events the most persistent in +recurring was the murder of Green. The frightful gash, the staring +eyes, the dripping of blood into the well, were presented as vividly +to him as when, gloomy and inert, he stood by the body of his victim +in the cellar. He recalled the minute particulars of the dream which +succeeded his crime. How smooth was that river, and how typical was +it of his boyhood. What would he not give to be as he was and sport +in the meadows beside it, to plunge into its waters and cool the +fever which was consuming his body and his soul. He believed he +understood why Green had leered at him. That confident expression of +triumph had been prophetic. The murderer had met and was meeting his +reward. His encounter with Archer in the swamp was not meaningless. +Its second enactment in Ratke's house had, indeed, stopped his flight +and now promised to deliver him into the hands of that being who had +taught him his bland deceit, whose recompense for service had been +disappointment, remorse and ruin. + +Once more Montcalm crawled from the stack for water. He had greatly +weakened during the day. With faltering steps he went to the tank. He +took a generous draught and wet his head and face. The cool water +revived him, and his tottering legs grew stronger. He believed that +his damnation was assured, and that he could add nothing to the +punishment which was to be meted out to him. His one desire was to +gratify his hatred of Durgenson. Very soon the estate would be in the +hands of the dishonest stock-buyer. He surveyed the barns and the +house. What a fine appearance they gave to the place, and at how +little cost had Durgenson secured them. He tossed the bottle by the +tank. He would need it no more. His lips closed tightly, his hands +were clenched. He threw the bag of stolen money into the hollow which +he had quitted, and walked to the small barnyard gate, where, hardly +able to stand, he sat down. But his rest did not help him. He must go +on before he was overtaken by exhaustion. He walked a few steps +farther, and, sinking on the earth, commenced to crawl toward the +house. The straw was scattered thickly along his route. He was +obliged frequently to suspend his exertions, but he did not dare stop +long, fearful that his little remaining energy would forsake him. +From the place where one of the ticks had been emptied, he gathered +some straw, which he carried in his arms. Rising once more, he +traversed the small space which was between him and the house. He +wished to get to the southwest corner of the building, but it seemed +to him that he could go no farther. He raised himself on his elbow. +Hugging the straw, he edged along on one arm and a leg. With +deliberate desperation he measured his strength, knowing that if he +were prodigal of it he must fail in his design. + +At the corner he lay down for several minutes. A light wind was +blowing from the southwest. He raised himself, placed the straw +against the house and ignited it. The blaze caught in the dry +clapboards and rose slowly, then rapidly toward the eaves. + +Montcalm endeavored to escape to a cooler atmosphere. He crawled +feebly to the edge of the spruce, and by a last pitiable effort +succeeded in getting among them. A column of flame had mounted high +in the house. The bright light and the dark rolling smoke reminded +him of the awful glare he had seen in the mystic land of which he had +dreamed, and he knew that his Ramoth Gilead had come. + + +CHAPTER XXVII. +RUIN. + +The major gave a shout which awakened the inmates of the house. Manie +called to Nora not to attempt to escape by means of her bedroom door, +but to make her way out through the window. In this way the two girls +safely passed from the building, though barely in time, as the fire +was sweeping along the gables. + +The major's first thought was of the manuscript of his unfinished +work, "Naturae Concordia Philosophiae Animi." He rushed to the parlor +to save his prized papers, but as he opened the door, there poured +out a volume of smoke and heat which drove him staggering back. He +gathered for another rush, intending to force his way through to the +secretary which held his precious manuscript. Just then he was seized +by Mrs. Grippin, Manie and Nora, who pushed him through the passage +to the sitting-room. + +"Don't be a fool, James," said Mrs. Grippin. "You can't get in +there." + +Brought back to reason by the familiar voice and address, Ratke +instantly set to work to save his property. He pitched a bureau +through a window. He sent after it chairs, a table, the +sewing-machine, a lounge and a large clock. The heat and smoke had by +this time grown so intolerable that he was obliged to retreat to the +dining room. There he threw furniture through the windows, and began +to carry out crockery and kitchen utensils. Then he thought of saving +the things which he had thrown through the windows, but it was too +late. They were already enveloped in flame. + +"Oh! look at the barns," cried Nora, when they had gone with their +last load from the kitchen. + +The trail of straw which the major had scattered had major ran out +and turned loose the horses, which went racing around the barnyard, +where the cattle were bellowing in affright. He opened a gate leading +to the lane, when the mixed drove of animals hurried away to a place +of safety. They had barely escaped when the straw-stack was lighted, +every part of its surface almost instantly contributing to the blaze. +On his return he was obliged to go around the barnyard, which had +become too much heated to allow him to pass through it. + +Humanity alone had sent him to the barns. His choicest inventions, +which he was determined to rescue, were in the tool-house. When he +arrived there, that building, too, was on fire. With a frantic plunge +he went in at the fire-wreathed door and emerged, bearing his one-man +saw. His New Jerusalem, the most precious of his mental creations, +was still inside. His charred bones would have been mingled with the +ashes and blackened irons had not Mrs. Grippin and Manie detained +him. + +"Let me go, Maria!" he said. "Let me go! I must save my wagon!" + +"No, no," said Mrs. Grippin, with unusual tenderness. "You can't get +it. No one can go in there now." + +"Let go of me," he insisted, still struggling in the grasp of the +three, for Nora had joined them. "I tell you I must save it. It is my +only hope, and I can never have the heart to build it again." + +They held him until the roof fell in and they knew by his quiet +demeanor that his spasm of excitement had passed. Indifferent as to +what next occurred, he seated himself on a stick of hewn timber near +the road, and looked alternatively from one blazing building to +another. The club-house was out of range of most of the Sparks which +flew from Ratke's dwelling, but now and then shingles and other +debris were dropped on the roof. By some of these it was lighted, +and, before the destruction of any of the buildings was complete, it +was crackling under a sheet of fire. + +The oat-field joined the barnyard. The grain, thick, lodged and dead +ripe, caught like tinder and sent a swift wave of flame across the +field which ran to the marsh. Combustion was easy in the grass, which +was there wide-leafed and dry. It spread to the small bushes, where +it grew in height and intensity. It swept with increasing speed over +the outlying small trees, and up and above the loftiest tamaracks. +For miles could be heard the steady roar and seen the long streams of +fire which grandly illumined the night. + +The women carried pail after pail of water to the clubhouse, but +Ratke mechanically watched the swamp. Its high volume of flame, the +grandest spectacle which he had ever seen, had a singular fascination +for him. Benumbed, as he was, by the succession of misfortunes, he +did not realize that he must leave the farm, that the Barton hundred +and sixty had left his possession, or that his unpublished book and +his Jerusalem wagon were burned. He did not speculate as to where his +refuge would be on the morrow. He gave no concern to the fact that he +was barefooted, homeless, hatless and coatless. He sat listlessly, +occasionally turning to look at the women, the tool-house, the +club-house, or his dwelling, which was now nearly consumed. + +"Well, major, this is a bad business," said Sparks, who had +approached. "Did you save anything!" + +"Yes," answered Ratke, "we saved some dishes." + +"That's a good deal better than nothin'," said Sparks. "You don't +want to be gittin' down in the mouth now." + +"No," said the major. + +"Have you made any pervision for the needcessties o' the 'casion?" + +"What provision?" + +"Why, insurin'. Was you insured?" + +"No." + +"That's too bad. They don't any man know when such a needcessty is +comin'. If he's prepared for it, he's all right. But if he ain't +he's, as you might say, in a bad fix." + +The major had no pugnacity left to resent the reproof of Sparks. He +kept his seat on the stick of timber, while his unwelcome visitor +went to interview and, perchance, to assist the women, who were +still, though ineffectually, throwing water on the club-house. + +"Ain't you got a hose for the pump?" asked Sparks. + +"No," replied Mrs. Grippin. + +"It would be a nice thing if you had one. You orto a been lookin' out +for that." + +Other neighbors arrived on the scene. Among them was the family of +Holmes who lived near the church. Holmes said that the fire had done +all the damage it could, as nothing was left about the premises for +it to destroy. The major's folks might as well go home with him. He +would think it a privilege to keep them as long as they chose to +stay. Offers of hospitality were made by every one present. + +"You can go home with me if you want to," said Sparks. "I ain't a +goin' to say I won't give no help because the major was careless, +forgitful like. Some folks is always careless, and other folks have +to make it up to 'em. + +"They're going home with me," said Holmes. "I spoke first, and they +hadn't ought to disappoint me." + +Jennie Holmes locked arms with Manie and Nora, and the three walked +away. + +"I must see to Uncle James," said Manie. "He feels so bad. Some one +ought to comfort him." + +"We will go back and get him," said Miss Holmes. + +"Perhaps I had better go alone," said Manie. "He is used to me." + +"Uncle James," said Manie, "we are going to Mr. Holmes's now." + +"Very well," said Ratke. "No doubt it is best for you to go." + +"But you must come too." + +"Manie," said the major, looking up for the first time since her +approach, "I want to stay here. I want to watch the machinery which I +have constructed, perishing, as have my hopes for its success, eaten +out piece by piece, always with a circle of ashes around the +unconsumed part. Do you see the New Jerusalem? The high posts and the +boxes are about gone. The spokes are burned well to the center of the +wheels. I cannot go until those burn out." + +"You had better come," argued Manie. "It will do you no good to stay +here." + +"Yes, it will," said Ratke. "All my dearest earthly possessions are +in those embers. They are dying, and I must be with them to the last. +The fire is burning out of them all except the hard iron. It is +burning out of me everything except the harder and sterner feelings." + +"I did not think you were the one to give up, Uncle James," said +Manie. + +"Give up?" said the major, "No, I never gave up to man or misfortune, +and I never will. I am not begging, or cringing, but I am crushed, +and I have ceased to struggle. I care not what happens, I am ready to +meet it. Despair has no further depth to open for me. My senses are +blunted. I am in no great mental pain. I have suffered so much that +my capacity for suffering is exhausted. Leave me now, Manie. I want +to be alone." + +"I will not leave you," said Manie. "You shall not stay here alone in +this barbarous fashion." + +"You have always obeyed me," said the major sorrowfully. "I thought +you would not choose this as the time to break my command." + +Much as she disliked to go, Manie could not violate the gentle +command of her uncle. She walked slowly, that she might not join Miss +Holmes and Nora, for she was crying bitterly, not for herself, not +for their property, but for the noble-hearted old major, whose +reason, she believed, was certainly giving way. + +Now and then the group in advance cast back glances at the +conflagration. The brilliant display in the swamp exceeded that of +the buildings, as much as their light had exceeded that of the match +by which they were kindled. + +The inhabitants of Break o'Day were awakened by clouds of smoke +rolling in at their open windows. Rising, they perceived here and +there waving pillars of fire standing out against the western sky, +the torches which the dead tamaracks swayed while their green +companions were being slowly undermined. They could not see that +unbroken sheet which curtained the opposite side of the swamp, but +they saw and heard enough to fill them with consternation. They +harnessed teams, they loaded wagons with furniture and prepared to +leave their village the instant its destruction seemed imminent. But, +in the interior of the swamp, where there was no grass, and where the +only inflammable material was the muck and the few dry trees, the +fire traveled with less rapidity than at the edge. The people +perceived that, though they had cause for apprehension, there was no +immediate danger; and the exodus was postponed. A few of the business +men, including Dr. Rorus, wished to have a better view of the +conflagration. The road westward, however, was in all likelihood too +hot to be traversed by observers in comfort. They went, therefore, +for a distance along the Sharptown road, turning south past Briggs's, +proceeding west at Barton Junction, and finally bringing up at the +corner by Takum's. + +At Holmes's the two families made a pretense of retiring to sleep. +They rose early, and after breakfast went back to Ratke. Before them +had arrived the party from Break o'Day, the major's hired men and a +number of farmers. Ratke was still sitting by the tool-house, looking +at the few points of flame which clung about his Jerusalem wagon. He +hardly spoke to his friends and ignored, or answered briefly, their +questions. Manie went close to their ruined dwelling. Some blackened +sheets of paper, well-preserved in shape, were where the bookcases +had been, and among them she saw a page of "Naturae Concordia +Philosophiae Animi," which could be easily read, but which fell in +pieces as soon as it was touched. + +"Something ought to be done for him," said Holmes. "He's lost +everything he had. We can all give a little, and it won't hurt us." + +"I s'pose we can," said Sparks, "there's been the north fire +sufferers an' the Oakville sufferers, an' now there's sufferin' to be +helped here. I'm willin' to help, but of course it pulls on the +pocket-book." + +"Some one better pass around a hat and a paper," suggested Holmes. +"The ones that have it by them give money, and the ones that haven't +put down what they will give." + +"I'll pass 'em," said Sparks. "Now, gentlemen, who's a goin' to give +somethin' to Major Ratke, He's been a havin' kind o' bad luck. Of +course he orto a made pervision for it. There ain't no question about +that. But he didn't, an' he can't help it. Nor there can't nobody +help it;" and he held a silver dollar high above his head that his +generosity might be observed. + +The offers of charity roused Ratke, who had been deaf to all other +sounds. "Gentlemen," he said, "I can accept no charity. I am able to +work." Then he went back to his seat on the stick of timber, +forgetful of the kindness which was ready to succor him. + +"That knocks the bisness on the head," said Sparks. "We can't do a +thing if he won't take it." + +"No, it don't," said Daggett. "Just come along this way a little +where he can't hear us. They ain't got a place to stay, and we ought +to do what we can to help 'em. Miss Grippin will take that and buy +what they need, and the major won't think to inquire where she got +it." + +"I don't feel like givin' in no such way," said Sparks. + +"Then we don't want you to," said Daggett. "If a man is too stingy to +give anything, let him keep his money to himself." + +"Oh, I'll hand it over to Miss Grippin," said Sparks quickly, "I was +only a sayin' I didn't like such a roundabout way o' helpin' him." + +"Miss Grippin," said Jake Sheppard, "mebbe you knew I bought that +house an' lot this side o' the church, where Halleck used to live." + +"No, I didn't," answered Mrs. Grippin. + +"Yes, I bought it, and I ain't no use for it, I'd like to have +somebody in the house, an' I rather, have you than any one else." + +"You can speak to James about it," said Mrs. Grippin. + +"You see we don't hitch very well," said Jake, "that is, he don't +like me. I ain't got nothin' agin him, I don't want any rent. We'll +have you some furniture there in no time. You can go right in from +here. The major wouldn't never think o' askin' who owned it." + +"Thank you, I'll do that," said Mrs. Grippin. + +A shriek rang out among the evergreens. Hastening to the spot, the +curious spectators found Nora lying in a faint. Beside her was the +body of Montcalm, with the face turned upward in an expression of +anguish which the great heat, though it had roasted his flesh, had +not obliterated. The hair was burned from his head, and the clothing +hung on his body in ashes. The discovery produced that silence which +awe enjoins on curiosity. Nora was carried away, and measures were +taken for her restoration to consciousness. For a moment the +lookers-on did not crowd about the body of Montcalm. But, presently +overcoming their timidity, they pressed closer and soon became +convinced of his identity. + +"Ah! what have we here?" exclaimed Rorus. "Another murder! Another +case under your jurisdiction, Sparks." + +"I wonder if I hadn't better call the jury right together?" asked +Sparks. + +"Certainly, certainly," said Dr. Rorus, breathing fumes of whiskey in +the justice's face. "Every man, every good citizen, every poor +citizen for that matter, the rich and the poor, the high and the low, +all of 'em ought to be be ready to put down crime. Crime, which +kills, crime, which steals, crime, which robs, crime, which forges, +crime, which slanders, crime, which--does mean acts, crime is the +worst curse this country ever had and the most destructive to its +morality." + +Sparks chose the jury and began to make inquiries about witnesses. +"We'll have to have the major first," he said. "He seen him about the +last of anybody around here." + +"Don't go to bringin' him," said Jake. "He thought his eyes o' this +feller. It would nigh about kill 'im." + +"I don't see how we're a goin' to help it," said Sparks. "We've got +to investigate an' we've got to have testimony." + +"Can't be helped," said Rorus. "Can't be helped. Millions of men have +died for law. If we have to sacrifice one, we'll stand to it like +heroes." + +"You know it'll clean use 'im up," said Jake. "If you make 'im come +here, you orto be licked." + +The major at last arose from the timber. Hearing the dispute in the +evergreens, he listlessly walked in that direction. Near the trees he +went around Daggett, who purposely stood in his way. Jake, as a last +resort, put both his hands on the shoulders of some spectators and, +gripping tightly without appearing to notice him, endeavored to +prevent him from passing. + +"Let me through, Jake," said Ratke. + +Jake reluctantly yielded. The major pushed his way through and came +unexpectedly upon the dead man. He said nothing, but, looking long +and searchingly, he read the story of the robber and the incendiary. +The son of his old comrade, his friend whom he had almost worshiped +had perished in the act of destroying his home. His golden idol was +but shattered clay. Slowly he turned from the body with an expression +of unutterable despair and went back to the hewn timber. Neither +Sparks nor Rorus had the heart to insist on his revisiting the spot. + +"If they hadn't a made such a fuss, he wouldn't a went up," said Jake +to Mrs. Grippin. "Now they've done it, I s'pose they're satisfied. +You better git him home as quick as you can. Miss Grippin." + +"He don't act right," said Mrs. Grippin. "I'll have Manie take him +away." + +"Come, Uncle James," said Manie, slipping her arm through his, "we +have a home now in that little house by the church. Let us go there, +you and I." + +The major did not seem to hear her. He still gazed abstractedly at +the ashes of the tool-house but at last yielded more to the gentle +tugging at his arm than to her words. Casting a last look at the +irons of the New Jerusalem, he rubbed his knuckles twice across his +forehead and went silently with his niece. + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. +JOHN HEARS AN ACCOUNT OF HIS ADVENTURE. + +The morning after his visit to Ratke's John left Mrs. Boyle's house. +To the very last she opposed his departure. + +"I have special reasons for wanting you to stay, John," she said. "I +can't tell you what they are, but I wish you wouldn't go." + +"It is impossible for me to stay longer," said John. + +"Then," said Mrs. Boyle, "you'll tell me where you are going." + +"I will write after I get settled," answered John. "But you will keep +the knowledge of my whereabouts to yourself. I wonder if a mother +were ever as kind as you have been to me. Good-bye." + +John found Barton Junction to consist of a store and a depot. He had +been in the depot but a short time when two young men entered the +waiting-room and stood near an old lady whose baggage was strewn +about the seats. The young men had the appearance of rowdies, +although they were quite well dressed. Both wore dark suits and felt +hats. One hat was girt with a flat and one with a round braid. The +younger, who wore the flat-braided hat, seemed to be an ardent +admirer of the other, for he simulated many of his actions. He was +most anxious to acquire the dexterity which his companion exhibited +in ejecting tobacco-spittle through his teeth in a fine stream. He +attempted this feat so frequently, and his teacher gave him so +plentiful instruction that the floor was soon spotted with yellow +stains, and the old lady hastily began picking up the articles on the +seats to keep them from pollution. + +"Where did you get that hat, Tom?" asked the younger man, trying to +train his mustache to curl upward and then lop down at the ends as +did that of his comrade. + +"Oh, I got that to Port Huron," said the one addressed with the air +of an instructor. "They're all the rage now." + +"It's nobby, sure enough. Guess I'll have to git one," said the +imitator, sending a small stream of tobacco-juice almost into the +satchel with a skill which until then he had not attained. + +The good old lady was not fretful, but she was averse to having her +queer mixture of luggage subjected to such treatment. Without the +haste and nervousness with which most women would have performed the +task, she arranged the several parts of her baggage and prepared for +departure. + +"Did you ever hear anything of that feller that stole Whipple's +colt?" said the young man, who was called Tom. "I ain't been around +here much this summer, you know, and I didn't learn much about it." + +"No, they never heard anything of him. He was sharp, that feller was, +and they wanted to keep right out of his way." + +"How do you know, Al? Did you see him?" + +"See him?" repeated Al. "I guess I did! I was in a boat trying to +head him off, and he shot within four inches of my hand, and the next +time the ball just skipped over my head. I tell you that was a close +call, Tom." + +"Why didn't you head him off?" inquired Tom. + +"Oh, he slipped by some way and got away from us. He dove into them +tamaracks, and then all Michigan couldn't have caught him." + +"Didn't you all feel kind o' timid?" asked Tom. "Wasn't you a little +afraid when he come close to you?" + +"Timid? No, sir! I told him just what I thought of him, called him +every name I could lay my tongue to." + +"The train's a comin'," said a rustic looking man who had been +watching from the outside. + +Wrengell, who had been for some minutes uneasy in his quarters, yet +afraid to show any sign of impatience, made for the door as soon as +he heard the first rumble of the approaching wheels. He was aboard +while the cars were still butting each other back and forth in the +last few jerks before the total suspension of motion. A blue cloud +and an odor of tobacco announced to him that in his haste he had +taken the smoking-car. With the consolation that there were worse +odors than that of tobacco and that he was in the presence of +strangers, he seated himself, but his brief season of congratulation +was cut short by the entrance of the young men who had been +discussing his adventure. + +After a few preliminary puffs and jerks the engine started with its +load from Barton Junction. As the little depot and the diminutive +store with its proprietor on the steps moved backward into the +separating distance, neither the voices about him nor the danger of +recognition by his former pursuer could keep him from sending a +protracted farewell look in the direction of Ratke's. It would be +long before he could retrace his steps. During the period of waiting, +whose extent was painfully uncertain, he would often in his boundless +fancy send the reverberations of his music through the major's +parlor, would wander through an orchard with springing leaves and +opening blossoms, would pass his arm about an object beside whose +attraction that of the richly-clad trees was insipid, if not +forgotten. And how, when he had fed on the husks of dreams and found +in them no nutriment, would he grow restless, waiting for the reality +which did not come, how his heart would sink if year after year the +struggle for respectability was continuous and unavailing. He was +aroused from his reverie by some negroes in front of him noisily +playing High, Low, Jack and the Game. Soon after, he became conscious +that the young men whom he had seen in the depot were engaged in a +talk, which was likely to prove interesting to him. + +"They nabbed Wallace and Ab, nice," remarked the one who was called +Al. + +"So I heard," answered his companion, "but I didn't learn how they +done it." + +"Oh, that was Jerusalem Ratke's work," said Alf. "You know in the +spring they had what they called a 'committee of five,' to hunt out +the thieves. After they had the big hunt, everybody got disgusted and +didn't go a cent's worth on the committee. All of 'em laid the whole +blame off on Ole Jerus'lem, But, when they had such a time with that +feller, what was his name?--Wrengell--they found a road that had been +cut out in the swamp, yes, sir, a regular road, and a place where +horses had been kept. Then Ole Jerus'lem, he was hot, you know, he +raised a big rumpus. He said if anybody hurt his man, Wrengell, +they'd be sorry for it. Somebody noticed that Ab and the ole man +wasn't to home the next day, so what did Ole Jerus'lem do but hatch +up a plan with the committee (Green was dead, and this here Montcalm +had gone away), hatch up a plan with the committee, you know, to +watch the house nights. They didn't stay away only one day. They come +back, and one night Jim Turner was a watching--he thinks there never +was a man like Jerus'lem--he saw 'em go out of the house. He followed +'em down beyond Oakville, and there they got a horse from a barn that +belonged to a man by the name of Matthews. Jim saw 'em go to their +own barn with the horse, and then he went home. In the morning he got +out a warrant for 'em and took 'em to Jackson." + +At the next station a young fellow walked into the smoking-car. + +"Helloa, Jim," said Tom, "we was just a-talking about you." + +"I hope it wasn't anything bad," said the new-comer. + +John gave a start as he listened to the words. For a moment he vainly +tried to recollect where he had heard that voice, as he was certain +that he had met its owner, but he soon became assured of the young +fellow's identity. He was in the presence of Jim Turner, who has been +given in two preceding chapters the distinction only of being a +friend to Ratke and of wearing a peculiar white hat. He was alarmed +at the new arrival. A boy came into the car selling books, pamphlets +and papers. John bought a large pamphlet and held it so as to shield +him from the observation of Turner, who was seated with his back +toward him, but who would, according to all likelihood, occasionally +glance backward as he conversed with his companions. "Oh, yes. We was +giving you Jesse," said Tom. "We was talking about your getting that +horse away from Wallace. + +"I didn't get him away," said Turner. + +"I thought you followed 'em to the barn." + +"Yes, I did," assented Turner, "That is, purty near there. I come +back, me and the sheriff, and we couldn't find a horse nor a track, +nothing but Wallace's old plugs." + +"Well, now, that's funny," said Tom. "I don't see where they could +have gone to." + +"Nor I neither," answered Turner. "Funniest thing I ever heard of. I +didn't know but maybe the major could help me out of that. He's got a +head on him, Mister Man, if he is cracked about his Jerusalem wagon. +Didn't he come it slick on that Boutwell, boys?" + +"I guess so," said Tom. "The old man pummeled him, didn't he?" + +"Larrupped him like all possessed," said Turner. "He turned him over +to me, and the fellow had some bad marks on him." + +At this point Turner's companions got into a trivial discussion over +which they staked a quantity of beer. John ventured to look out of a +window. Fence posts and telegraph-poles were rushing swiftly by, +while far-away hills and woods seemed to move more slowly, the +apparent speed varying according to the proximity of the spectator to +the place of observation, the nearer objects seemed to pass between +him and the more distant ones. The country was comparatively level, +the hills, therefore, sloping, and the cuts through which the track +ran long and shallow. The land was well wooded and diversified, here +and there, by low and uncultivated strips. Traces of the terrible +drought were everywhere apparent. One marsh was blackened by fire and +still smoking. Next on the route was a small stream which was +overhung by stubby willows. + +At Sharptown Jim Turner and the young men who had rode from Barton +Junction left the train. Sharptown was built on the first of a series +of hills which was spread over the greater part of Washtenaw County. +From this village eastward the track ran alternatively through deep +cuts and along elevated grades. The great bumps which roughened the +face of the country were scattered thickly about, hiding the smaller +ones, which in other places would have been called large. While they +were halting at a small station, John saw, even through the +smoke-dimmed atmosphere, five elevations, rising one behind the other +according to the order of size, the largest in the background. + + +Wrengell terminated his ride at Ann Arbor. He ascended a rise of +ground and came to the main part of the city. + +"Can you tell me where the hospital is?" he inquired of a young +fellow who had the air of a student. + +"Which one?" asked the fellow, + +"I hardly know," answered John. "I thought there was only one." + +"Well," said the young fellow, "there is but one that amounts to +anything. You don't want anything to do with those homeopathic +quacks. Go around the corner, and you will see a large square +building with parts built on it. Just beyond it you will see another +like it, and on that one you will see University Hospital in large +letters. You are sure you can find it?" + +"I think so," said John. + +"I think I had better go with you," said the fellow, turning about +and accompanying Wrengell. "If you should get in with those +Homeopathists, you wouldn't get a bit of help. What is the trouble +with you?" + +"A trouble which I have had a long time," answered John. + +"Excuse me," said the guide. "Patients don't always like to tell +their ailments. That is the building there, where that man is +standing." + +"I am obliged to you for your trouble," said John as the young man +hurried away. + + +CHAPTER XXIX. +AMONG THE INVALIDS. + +John stood in front of a square building which was a few paces from +the street. From the rear of the square part, at either side, +branched wings, which turned and joined in a large structure after +proceeding back for some distance. Wrengell subsequently learned that +the wing at the left was the men's ward, that at the right was the +women's, and the part where they joined in the rear was the clinical +amphitheater, in which surgical operations were performed. + +The man to whom the student had alluded had gone inside the yard, and +was about to enter the men's ward. He was a sandy-haired man of about +fifty, with very thin, sandy whiskers. A defective mustache and a +beardless strip on either side of his under-lip exposed in its full +ugliness his mouth, which was repulsive in the extreme. His face was +red and unprepossessing, as if liquor had swollen its veins and +thoughts of crime had governed its expression. + +"How do you do?" he said with a smile, which he meant to be affable, +but which lifted the few hairs on his upper lip and uncovered his +mouth in a way which seemed hideous to John. "Come here for +treatment, have you?" + +"Yes," answered John shortly. + +The man opened the door. + +"Come right in," he said, as if he were inviting a guest to enter his +mansion. "You must make yourself at home here." + +A long hall separated the two divisions which were allotted to the +respective sexes. The men's ward was a large room with a row of +narrow beds on each side, which were capable of holding comfortably +but one occupant. By the head of every bed was a stand on which was a +wash-bowl and a pitcher. The white face of one invalid rested on a +pillow near the door. The rest of the patients were able to sit up; +most of them, indeed, were apparently healthy. The diseases treated +were, as a rule, of a chronic nature and, with the exception of +deformed limbs and abnormal growths, few of them gave to an +unpracticed observer any indication of their existence. Several men +were reading. A number were sitting down, engaged in no visible +occupation. Some were conversing in pairs. One man was entertaining +several listeners with an anecdote of the civil war. + +"They come from all over," said John's new acquaintance, "from New +York and Massachusetts and from California, and one from Texas. This +is a great university, and we ought to be proud of it. Let me see, +where do you hail from?" + +"I have no permanent home," replied John, "I stay where I happen to +be called by business." + +"Very good plan," said his new acquaintance. "Make the best of your +lot, wherever you be. Let me see, what is your name?" + +"Wrengell," answered John. + +"Is that so," said his companion. "Was you ever in Branch County?" + +"I have traveled around the state some, and I may have been there," +replied John, his countenance reddening. + +"Is your name John?" the man inquired. + +"What if it is?" said Wrengell in desperation. "What do you know of +me?" + +"I guess we're pretty near relatives," said the man, again lifting +his thin mustache. "I'm sure of it. Wasn't your father's name +Archibald?" + +"What do you know of him?" asked John, growing sick at heart. + +"Quite a bit," said the disagreeable stranger, "as much as any man +knows about his brother. We was twins. You don't say he wasn't your +father. Now, tell me honest, isn't your name John?" + +"It is," admitted John. + +"I was sure of it," said the elder Wrengell, grasping John's hand. +"I've found my nephew that I haven't heard anything of for eight +years. You're just the picture of Archie when he was of your age. +Your mother was dark. Here comes a doctor. He'll take down your name, +and you'll have to give an account of your disease. Doctor Webb, this +is my nephew, Mr. Wrengell." + +"May I see you alone?" asked John. + +"Certainly," replied the doctor. + +John, in an embarrassed way, explained to the medical man that he +wished a deformity removed. He was assured that on the morrow the +sixth toe would be amputated. He was returning from the consultation +when he saw approaching him a middle-aged lady who carried a +lead-pencil and a note-book. The officious uncle, also espying her, +came toward John. + +"Mrs. May," he said, "I'll introduce my nephew, Mr. Wrengell, John +Wrengell." + +"I suppose you know the rules of this establishment, Mr. Wrengell?" +said the lady. + +"No, I do not," said John, afraid that in his ignorance he had broken +some rule of the hospital. + +"Oh, he isn't used to this place, you know," said the elder Wrengell +apologetically. "He means all right. Johnny's a good boy." + +"The rule is to pay a week's board in advance," said Mrs. May, "three +dollars and a half. I suppose that you will be willing to be governed +by it." + +"Perfectly," answered John, "I will pay you now." + +Hereafter in speaking of John we will omit his surname, applying it +in distinction only to the elder Wrengell. John's spirits sank to a +low ebb after his entrance to the hospital. He, of all men, proud, +sensitive and aspiring, could least afford to be hampered by so +objectionable a clog as Wrengell. The very clothes which the man wore +looked to John to be the fitting garb of the sot and convict. The +sand-colored coat was of the same hue as one which John had warn when +he attended district school. He well remembered that garment, which +had awakened so much ridicule. The boys had jerked him down by it. +Once they had stripped it from him, torn it and almost buried it in +the dirt, in which it had been hardly distinguishable. Some of them +had held him so that he could not see where they put it and it had +taken him a long lime to find it. Ever since then he had hated +sand-colored coats. + +His history was being repeated. He was leaving behind him shameful +associations, ignorance was loosing its grip, poverty had already +parted with much of its evil power, they were all about to slacken +their influence and allow him the esteem of men, when another +disgrace bound him to them anew. What would Manie say when she saw +his uncle and heard him give his affectionate regards to his nephew +"Johnny"? Had he known, as he stood before the hospital, the +vexatious surprise which awaited him, he could have turned from it +and gone his way. He thought now of leaving the city, but he +concluded to wait until the operation had been performed. + +"Johnny," said Wrengell, "you didn't tell me whether you'd ever lived +in Branch or not." + +"Let us take a walk," said John, not wishing his companion's +speculations to be overheard. + +"All right," responded Wrengell, "that'll please me. Where had we +better go now, to the museum?" + +"No, I do not care to go there," answered John. + +"We can just walk then," said Wrengell. "I ain't particular. I've +seen everything they have there anyway. I didn't know but you might +have some curiosity. I see you don't think we're any relation." + +"I suppose every member of the human family is related to every other +member," replied John. "If we could trace it to Adam, we might prove +our relationship." + +"I can do it without," said Wrengell, with a pleased look which made +him appear particularly villainous, "I know all about you, as much as +a man ought to know about his nephew. You lived with a man by the +name of Norris. He was in the township of Terry. I don't remember the +section, but there's a swamp in the northeast corner of his farm, a +little swamp. Now, you won't say you never picked huckleberries in +that swamp." + +John was silent. + +"I thought you wouldn't," said Wrengell. "You must have heard Norris +speak about your Uncle Arthur, Art, sometimes they call me. We was +twins, but Archie didn't look so much like me as Reuben. Your father +was tall, like you. Now, I can tell you how old you are. You was born +twenty-two years ago last February. You are a month younger than my +boy, Dan. Dan looks some like you, too. You're both regular +Wrengells." + +"Where does he live?" asked John, too miserable to resent Wrengell's +persistence in enforcing his society. + +"He's in trouble now," replied Wrengell. "He's in the House of +Correction at Ionia. The way of it was, a fellow Dan was intimate +with stole a box of cigars. Then he bet a box of cigars with Dan. Dan +he's sharp if he is my boy, he won 'em. They found the cigars with +him. Now, Johnny, are you going to disown me, your uncle, the only +uncle you've got? You don't seem so glad to see me as I expected you +to. If you don't want me to, I won't say anything more to you." + +"Let me think it over," said John. "I want to do right. But let us +say nothing of our family affairs before listeners." + +"That's a good plan," assented Wrengell. "We've been unlucky, the +Wrengells have." + +The following day surgical operations were performed in the clinical +amphitheater, and John parted with his sixth toe. He felt no +reluctance at the separation. The member had rendered him no service, +had given him no comfort. He could not help reflecting, however that +he had exchanged a concealed for an open disgrace. + +Wrengell was disagreeably kind during John's recovery from the +amputation. He brought him water and tried to smile encouragingly on +him. It seemed to John that he kept the coat which awakened such +detested recollections constantly before his eyes. Several days after +the operation was performed, he waked into the ward with a pair of +crutches. "I thought you'd need these, Johnny," he said. "You see +your uncle don't forget you." + +"What did they cost?" asked John. + +"We don't care anything about the cost," answered Wrengell. "They're +a present." + +"But I care," said John. "I do not want you to pay out your money for +me." + +"Now, Johnny, I feel as though I'd like to," said Wrengell. "You will +let your uncle do this for you, won't you?" + +John, disliking to wound Wrengell's feelings, accepted the gift. His +maimed foot made rapid progress toward recovery. It was, no doubt, +fortunate on account of his sprained ankle, which was not entirely +well, that he was for a season kept from stepping on his left foot. +At times the thought occurred to him that he might be followed and +identified as the suspected horse-thief who had fled from Break +o'Day. He had hesitated to give his real name at the hospital, but +the reported change of popular sentiment in his favor and his +aversion to adopting a subterfuge which was worthy of his ignoble +parentage induced him to pursue the more open course. + +One day in the hospital he was sitting in an arm-chair by his bed. +Near him was a man who had a hard bunch, about as large as a walnut, +on one side of his neck. + +"This is the dullest place I ever got into," was the observation of +this latter individual, as he laid down a newspaper with a yawn. +"Read, mope, talk, walk around, sleep, that's all there is to it. I +don't see as I'm any better than I was when I come. I come far enough +so I ought to get help, from old Genesee County, New York, They had +good doctors there, first-rate. I wanted to try them. But I'd heard a +good deal about Ann Arbor. My friends they kept harping, 'Ann Arbor, +Ann Arbor. Go to Ann Arbor. They can do big things to Ann Arbor.' And +now I've got here, I wish I was back. They had a better doctor right +there in Batavia; he's dead now, but he was a better doctor than +they've got in this whole institution. He could tell what was the +matter with you as quick as he saw you. These fellows don't know +anything about it. They only guess. They're just as apt to get it +wrong as right." + +The dissatisfied New Yorker picked up his paper and scanned a column +which he had previously overlooked. + +"Well, now," he exclaimed, "if these Michigan folks don't beat all. +Roughest set I ever see. Here's a man stole some money, got shot and +then went back and set a big house afire.' + +"Where did that happen?" asked John. + +"Maybe you'd like to read it," said the New Yorker, handing John the +paper. + +John could hardly repress his excitement as he learned the tragic +story of Montcalm's death and the burning of Ratke's house. He +sincerely mourned Montcalm, and his sympathy for the unfortunate +family of the major was unbounded. He tried, to smother the thought +that the event, so disastrous to his friends, had raised his prospect +of success merely by lowering the standard to which he was aspiring. +For this selfish consolation he detested himself, and the remorse +which he felt for harboring it more than equaled the satisfaction +which it afforded. + +He immediately wrote a letter to Manie, expressing his sorrow for +their loss. Ignorant of the extent of the major's misfortunes, he +supposed that he would remain on his farm where he would erect a new +house. He was now able to wear slippers and to walk about with the +aid of his crutches. Putting the letter, which was not yet stamped, +on the stand by his bed, he prepared to go to the street. + +"Going up town?" queried Wrengell. + +"Yes," said John. + +"Guess I'll go too," said Wrengell, "if you've no objections. Maybe +you think rather hard of me, Johnny," he began when they were on the +sidewalk. "Of course you've heard Norris tell something about me." + +"I have heard something of you," said John. + +"I reckoned likely," pursued Wrengell. "I've been slandered. I was +unfortunate, as he told you, of course, and got behind the bars in +Jackson. But, Johnny, I wasn't guilty. I swear to you on my word of +honor, the word of honor of your uncle, I wasn't guilty. I don't +blame the jury nor the judge. My freedom was swore away, and it was +done by a fellow I'd helped a good deal. Some things was took from a +jewelry store in Detroit, that wasn't a great ways from where I +lived, just about four blocks. It didn't worry me much when an +officer arrested me for it, for I knew I could prove my good +character. I said, 'All right, sir, you won't keep me long.' I was a +little worried when they brought in the jewelry and said they found +it tucked away in my house. My lawyer said to me, 'That looks bad, +Wrengell. If you hadn't bore an awful good character, you wouldn't +never get out of this.' + +'Let 'em work,' I said. 'My reputation is too good for me to be hurt +much. Anybody that knows Arthur Wrengell knows he won't steal.' Why, +I've had rich men, the best men there was in Detroit and the most +influential there was Zack Chandler, said to me, 'Wrengell, if I had +warning that I was going to die to-morrow, I'd will my property to +you and write you a note telling you how I wanted it divided. I'd be +sure you wouldn't keep a cent.' But I was beat when Bill Weeks swore +he met me on the stairs in my house the night the things was stole. I +knew that settled it, and I might as well throw up the sponge. I'd +helped Bill to get the position he had as clerk, and pushed him along +every way I could. He was intimate with my folks. The day I was +arrested, it was raining. He spent his money as fast as he earned it +and was hard up. He come and wanted to borrow my rubber coat. I +didn't think but what he was all right, and I said, 'Go right +upstairs and get it yourself, Bill.' He must have left the things up +there then. + +The jury brought in a verdict of guilty. The judge didn't believe I +took the things, but he had to sentence me, according to the +evidence. He was in tears when he done it. Chandler, he was mad. He +said it was the biggest outrage he ever heard of. He worked a long +time, trying to get a pardon from the governor. When he couldn't make +it out, he told him it would be his last term and so it was. Lots of +folks wonder how the governor come to be defeated in the convention. +Old Zack can tell 'em, and so can I." + +"I have forgotten my letter," said John. "I must go back." + +"That's bad, to have to make two trips," said Wrengell. "You haven't +heard from your father lately, Johnny?" + +"No," was John's brief answer. + +"Neither have I," said Wrengell, "not for some years. Between you and +me, I'm afraid Archie got into a bad scrape in Minnesota. I'm afraid +he did. They proved it right up. I wouldn't tell anybody else so, but +this is in the family. Your mother never comes to see you?" + +"No," said John. + +"She was peculiar," remarked Wrengell, after they had walked two +blocks in silence. "I don't say as there was anything bad about her, +only she was peculiar. She would drink hard. I think maybe that was +what got her into trouble. When she was under the influence of +liquor, she didn't think how wrong it was to take what didn't belong +to her." + +Imagine the sensations of John while he was listening to the +protracted account of his family from one of its members. How long +must he be tied to this man, whose tongue was an incessant torture. + + +CHAPTER XXX. +THE BEGINNING OF MYSTERY. + +An unusual number of patients were gathered around some object of +interest in the men's ward, which ordinarily was well-nigh deserted +in the middle of the day. As John drew near the group, but one voice +was distinguishable and that was speaking as follows: + +"There was a man out in Lenawee had a bunch on his neck like that, +only it was on the left side instead of the right. He'd been here, +and he'd been to one of these traveling doctors that tucks his +advertisements and his pictures in the papers. Get help? Of course he +didn't get any help. Then, after he'd tried everything else, I sold +him a bottle of panacea. I told him to put it on three days and then +leave it off three days. The first three days the bunch got soft. The +next three days it commenced to go away. When he put on the medicine, +it softened it up, but it wouldn't start to go away until he quit +putting it on. Just as soon as he quit, it would go down a little, +and after three days it would get hard again. There was something +strange about that. He kept on that way a month, and his neck was +cured, and it never bothered him again. The next time I saw him he +was practicing lifting things with his teeth. He had a leather +fastened to a barrel of cider, and he'd churn the barrel up and down. +He talked of practicing up to go with a show. I didn't hear, though, +whether he did or not." + +"I don't give a continental for the strengthening part," said the New +Yorker. "All I care about is to take the bunch off." + +"That's what this will do," said Panicky, for it was indeed he. +"Helloa!" he exclaimed, as he espied John moving away on his +crutches. "I'd like to see you a minute. Will you wait till I get +through talking with this man?" + +"Yes," responded John, who had intended to slip from the hospital +unobserved. + +"I'll be through here directly," said Panicky, "now, if this don't +give perfect satisfaction, you can bring it back." + +"You seem to be in very bad shape," observed Panicky, to a man who +was blowing his nose. + +"Yes," answered the patient, "I'm in bad shape. I've got the catarrh, +and I guess I always will have it." + +"Oh no, you won't," answered Panicky, "not if you doctor it right. +Three weeks is all I ask to cure that in." + +"Three weeks," echoed the sufferer, "you're wild. You're just talking +to sell." + +"I'll tell you why I think so," said Panicky, "and after I've +explained it, you'll think as I do. The panacea reduces unnatural +growths. That is what it is designed expressly for. Now, I wouldn't +advise that man with the scrofula to use it, for it wouldn't help him +a bit. This is on the same principle as taking off a swelling, you +see, bringing the blood-vessels down to their normal size and +destroying inflammation and clearing the nasal passages." + +"Oh, I don't hardly think it would help me," said the man with the +catarrh. + +"I've cured eleven cases of catarrh this summer," assured Panicky. +"Now, I'll tell you what I'll do. If you get sick of your bargain, +I'll take the medicine back any time." + +"That's fair enough," said the patient after a sneeze. "I'll take a +bottle, but I don't have much hope that it will help me." + +"Come along this way," said Panicky, grabbing his satchels and +hurrying to John. "I see a doctor coming," he explained as they left +the hospital. "If he should see me in there and know what I was +doing, he wouldn't like it. These doctors act as though nobody knew +any medicine but themselves. They caught me in there once, and they +made an awful fuss. Now, I come down here on purpose after you, I +thought I might as well sell a little medicine while I was here." + +"What do you want of me?" asked John, instantly thinking of his +experience at Break o' Day. + +"I can't explain it," said Panicky. "I was sent by a certain person +to bring you if you'd come, and to pay all your expenses." + +"Who is the person?" asked John. + +"That I can't tell you," said the peddler. "All I can say is, that it +is something of great importance to you, and that, if I was in your +place, I wouldn't miss it for money." + +"I will go," said John, as his mind reverted to the elder Wrengell. + +"Then get what you've got to get, and let's be out of this," said +Panicky. + +John went back into the hospital and packed a few articles of +clothing in a bundle, which he put inside the stand by his bed. The +letter to Manie he placed in his pocket. + +"You ain't going away are you. Johnny?" asked Wrengell. + +"Yes," answered John, "I think I shall." + +"Where are you thinking of going?" + +"I do not know," answered John. + +"I don't believe I'd go," advised Wrengell with the solemnity of a +prophet. + +John, unheeding the remonstrance, hobbled toward the door. + +"Johnny," said Wrengell, following after him, "there's something I +want to tell you. There's a fortune in England for the Wrengells. +Now, you've got the education, and you can look it up. You're the +hope of the family. I'll see you again and tell you all I know about +it. You'll look it up, won't you?" + +"Perhaps," said John. + +"If you get a chance, go and see Dan," said Wrengell as they were +passing through the long hall. "Poor fellow, his freedom was swore +away. As likely a boy as ever lived." + +"Don't waste much time," said Panicky, when the twain had slowly +emerged from the hospital. "Time is precious." + +"Johnny!" exclaimed Wrengell, as if a valuable idea had suddenly +seized him. "I'll go with you. I've become attached to you, and I'm +certain you have to me. My eyes are about well, any way." + +"I do not think it advisable for you to go," said John. + +"I can't see any hurt in it," said Wrengell. "It's been years since +I've seen you." + +"We don't want you," said Panicky bluntly. "A man of any sense won't +urge his company after it's declined." + +"Good-bye, Johnny," said Wrengell, with an evil look at the peddler, +which intensified John's dislike of him. "Don't forget your uncle." + +John and Panicky had gone but a short distance when they were stopped +by a call from behind; and turning, they beheld the man from New York +and the victim of catarrh walking hurriedly toward them. + +"They won't let us keep these bottles," said the catarrhal sufferer, +who always spoke with a mournful intonation. + +"How can they help themselves?" said Panicky. "This is a free +country. Buy what you want and tell other folks it's none of their +business." + +"But," explained the patient, "they won't give me any medicine if I +take this." + +"You don't want any of their medicine," said Panicky vehemently. +"They can't help you." + +"You'll have to take this back as you said you would," firmly +declared the New Yorker. "You can't dodge that." + +"I don't want to dodge it," replied Panicky. "I always keep my +agreement about everything." + +"And I'll return mine, too," said the man with the catarrh. + +"I hope you'll recover speedily, gentlemen," remarked the peddler, +putting the bottles into his pocket and starting off with his +satchels. + +"Hold on there, you low-lived smouse," cried the indignant New +Yorker, "where's my money?" + +"I don't keep any account of your finances," said Panicky, again +halting. "What money do you mean?" + +"Now, this isn't according to the agreement," said the catarrhal +victim in the manner when he might have employed to pronounce a +funeral oration. "You said we could return the medicine when we +wanted to." + +"And I kept my agreement," responded the vendor of medicine. "You +returned them, and I took them back like a man." + +"It don't seem to me as though that's hardly right," said the man +with the catarrh in an aggrieved tone. + +For a moment the New Yorker was speechless. Then the veins stood out +alongside the bunch on his neck and he cried, "Oh, you whelp. If you +wasn't right here in the city, I'd smash you fine." + +"We expected you would refund the money," said the catarrhal +sufferer. + +"Now, that would be unreasonable," returned Panicky, "unless there +was such an understanding. I said I would take them back, and that's +what I've done. I wouldn't wonder if you'd better keep your medicine. +It may save your lives," he added, placing the bottles on the +side-walk and leaving his dissatisfied customers. + +There was a clink of broken glass. The New Yorker had dyed the +paving-stones with Great American Panacea. + +"What a waste," remarked Panicky to John. "That might have preserved +a human life that just as like as not will be lost now. How lame that +horse is. I wonder what is the matter with him?" + +Panicky joined John immediately after his repulse by the teamster. +His strides were so rapid that his crippled companion was soon left +in the rear. "Can't you let out a notch or two?" he said. "We ought +to be getting around." + +"We could get along faster if we took a more even pace," returned +John. "We walk five minutes and stop fifty." + +"That can't be helped," said Panicky. "I have got my work to do for +the good of my race, and it must be done. Sun, calm, wind, rain, snow +or hail, I must travel and give help to the afflicted. When we stop +I'll let you have a bottle of the panacea for your foot. I don't like +to see a man limp that way." + +"Where are you going to take me?" asked John. "How can you expect me +to follow you around when you will not give me the least satisfaction +as to what you want of me?" + +"Do just as you like about coming," said Panicky. "All I've got to +say to you is, if I was in your place, I wouldn't stay away for all +the money there is in Ann Arbor. You'll know when you get there. +Don't ask me any more questions unless it's fun for you, because I +won't answer them." + +"It is a very hard thing which you ask," said John, "but I will do as +you say. I have a letter to mail at the post-office." + +"Come down to the Central depot," said Panicky, handing John a +dollar. "Here's something to pay for your ride. I'll go down there +now, for I've got business." + +After mailing the letter to Manie, John rode to the depot in a hack. +The untiring peddler was talking earnestly to a laboring man, who +wore a woolen shirt traversed horizontally by alternate stripes of +red and squares of red and gray. He sought his customers, John +noticed, among the farming and laboring classes, rather than among +the rich and aristocratic. He lingered a moment after the arrival of +the train, trying to sell a bottle of the panacea to a man who had a +cow which had the garget. When he and John were on their way to the +westward, he seized every chance to prosecute his business. His +attempts to dispose of his wares were made in the absence of the +conductor. There was no disease for which he had not a specific, and +of which he had not seen and cured a counterpart, differing from it +only in location or in being more serious. + +John's interest in the route was less intense than when he was going +to Ann Arbor. At Barton Junction Manie's friend, Miss Holmes, entered +the car in which John was seated. She looked curiously at him, but +probably out of consideration for him, did not speak. + +Panicky was provokingly reticent to John and voluble to others while +they were waiting at Jackson. He would answer no questions, but +finally ordered that his charge, who he evidently thought was a +necessary encumbrance, should accompany him to the Jackson, Lansing +and Saginaw depot. + +From this place to the journey's end John hardly looked out of his +car window. + +"Come on, young man," said Panicky, as they stopped at Lansing. + +The surroundings of the depot were far from pleasing. Before it was a +willow swamp, which long lumber piles and a manufactory made of +brick, which a high, smoke-blackened chimney, did not hide. The +richest part of the city, whose roofs and steeples alone were +visible, lay to the westward. + +Small groups of citizens stood in front of the passenger-house. A +pair of trucks with "Phoenix Mills" labeled on the box was passing +alongside the railroad track through a cut. From a car on a +side-track a good-natured looking man was loading stove-wood into a +wagon with a high box, on which was inscribed the name of the +commodity which it was designed to carry. A wheeze from the old horse +by which the wagon was drawn instantly brought Panicky to the spot. + +"How do you do," said the peddler. "Bad cough that horse has." + +"Yes," answered the teamster, without stopping his work an instant. +"He's got the heaves." + +"I know what will fix that in a hurry," said Panicky. "Cobb's +Concentrated Carbolic Cough Killer will kill any cough that a horse +ever had." + +"I don't hardly think I'll buy to-day," said the teamster, as if he +disliked to wound the feelings of the patent medicine man. + +"If you use it once, you'll never be without it," said the peddler. +"Coughs, wheezing, running at the nose, colds, animal influenza, +distemper, heaves, none of them can stand before the cough killer." + +"It seems to me my brother got some of that for his boss," said the +teamster, still throwing the wood into the wagon. + +"Then you've found out it's a grand thing," said Panicky. "Didn't it +kill the cough?" + +"Well, no, not exactly," returned the teamster, straightening up. +"Killed the boss, though." + +"Very lamentable, very," remarked Panicky, as he grabbed his satchels +and started southward along the railroad track, followed by John. He +had gone but a few rods when he riveted his gaze on a robust +appearing fellow who was going toward the main part of the city. + +"Must we stop again?" asked John. "Take me to my destination and then +sell as much medicine as you like." + +"Young man," replied the peddler severely, "you are too +narrow-minded. You think the world was made for you and your petty +concerns. You must broaden out and get sympathy for humanity." + +The track ran through a piece of high ground which descended to the +west. The hillside at the east, covered with scraggy brush, stood out +in bold relief; but the view at the right was limited, because of its +swift descent to the hidden river and the low elevation of the track. +Scattered along on the small rises of ground which overlooked the +stream, were diminutive cottages, of which a few were painted. Before +one of these little buildings a smooth-faced old man wearing a Scotch +cap was bent low, cutting stove-wood with a dull buck-saw. + +"That's hard business," remarked Panicky. + +"There ain't nothin' easy about it," said the wood-sawyer, suspending +his work. + +"Don't you sometimes get tired?" + +"Yes, real. Sometimes I'm purty near played. I used to be so I could +stand it tol'able well, but late years I ain't so full o' besum." + +"I noticed that before I got anywhere near you." + +"You talk as if you knowed!" exclaimed the old man in astonishment. + +"I do. You can't fool me much about a man. Don't your back ache +some?" + +"Yes, yes," said the wood-sawyer, his wonder increasing. + +"And when you stoop over, it's a good deal worse; and if you stoop +over long, you can't stand it and have to straighten up, and then +it'll get better for a while. But in the morning, the day after +you've worked hard, it's worse than it is any other time." + +"No," answered the peddler, "I know more about it than a doctor." + +"Do you think it's anything particular?" + +"Yes, it's deficient vigor in the back. Muscles lax, spinal column +imperfectly sustained.' It will keep getting worse and worse until it +finally downs you." + +"Danged if I ain't a gittin' worried," said the old man, letting go +of his buck-saw. "Don't you s'pose I'll ever cure it?" + +"It ain't at all likely," returned Panicky. "You'll probably be a +cripple and linger along for some years. But you mustn't be +discouraged. You ought to be ready to die when your time comes." + +"I know I orto be ready. But the lingerin', I don't like that 'ere. +What 'ud you do for this back bizness if it was on you?" + +"I should cure it, if it was on me." + +"I thought you said there wa'n't no cure for it." + +"Oh, no, I thought you'd be apt to let it run until there wasn't any +hope for you." + +"What 'ud you take for it, anyhow?" + +"I should take Great American Panacea and cure it in three weeks." + +"Where could a feller git a bottle o' that 'ere stuff?" + +"I've got a bottle I'll sell you for a dollar if you want it." + +"Oh, you're a sellin' of it," exclaimed the old man, a light suddenly +breaking in on his dull understanding, "I don't believe I want none. +Times is hard with me." + +"You better take a bottle. Mister," urged Panicky. + +"You'll never regret it. I knew a man out in Oakland County----" + +"I don't want none," said the old man with decision. + +"I've been thinking," said Panicky, "if Professor Domnoroff's Elixir +of Mercy wouldn't be the thing for you." + +"What kind o' stuff is that?" inquired the old man. + +"Grand." answered Panicky, opening a satchel and drawing out a thin +bottle of colorless liquid. "It's Spanish medicine, got up by the +smartest man there is in all Spain. There you see the directions are +in Spanish and English, too." + +"I don't want none on it," said the old man. + +"Just as like as not, the trouble is in your kidneys," remarked +Panicky. "Your complexion looks like it. For kidney disorders there +never was anything could hold a candle to Wakefield's Honey of +Mullein and Sage." + +"I ain't a-hankerin' to take no mullein nor sage," said the old man. +"My mother she give me sage tea when I was a little chap, till I got +clean degusted with it. I smoked mullein, tryin' to give up tobaccer, +an' I ain't crazy for mullein no more. I won't buy no medicine +to-day." + +"I know what will cure you," exclaimed the peddler. "You need a +bottle of Great Wangamyika Discovery." + +"Now, I wouldn't wonder an there was suthin' in that," said the old +man, impressed by the peculiar orthography of the name. + +"It's a great thing," said Panicky, "and no mistake. There was an +African chief, he was a great fellow to fight, and he'd always fight +with a club. Once, when he was having a battle with another tribe, he +got a lick in the back that about used him up. He couldn't run and he +couldn't swing his war-club. That was what bothered him the worst. +Every morning he'd get up and see if he couldn't fetch the war-club +around, but it wasn't any use. His enemies commenced to press him on +every side, and as he couldn't fight, of course his men got whipped. +This kept up quite a while, and at last he didn't have much of any +territory left. He said if he could only get out himself and fight he +could drive them back in short order. He got all the big medicine men +in his kingdom to prescribe for him, but his back grew worse, instead +of better. By and by he lost his patience entirely, and he said if +they didn't relieve him inside of six months, off would go their +heads. + +"That set 'em to thinking. They come together and consulted. The +first thing they done was to take some slaves and lame 'em, as near +as they could like the chief. One of 'em practiced up till he could +hit the right kind of a wallop every time. The slaves they'd squirm +around and yell, but nobody would pay any attention to 'em. The +medicine men they fussed and fussed till they got discouraged. They'd +think a patient was on the gain, when he'd up and die. They'd try +five kinds of medicine, and six, and eight, and twelve. They'd try +half of one kind and a twentieth of the rest, and a tenth of three or +four and different parts of a lot of others. + +"About two weeks before the time was up, one of the slaves got well. +They fixed the chief up a few doses of the same stuff, and he was +swinging his war-club as well as he ever did. He got so he could +throw it in a curve around one of his men and hit an enemy. His back +grew so stout that he didn't like a light club any more. He had a +heavy one made that nobody else could fetch around in any kind of +shape. There never was another such a fellow to shake a war-club in +Africa. A week after he was cured he went out against the +Maleovajaws, beat 'em and took their king prisoner. He let the +medicine men practice up on the prisoners, hitting 'em in the back +and curing 'em. He give 'em directions that they should never let +anybody know the secret of the medicine. One of 'em did, though, told +a missionary when he was dying. The missionary thought folks in this +country ought to have it. He went all over Africa to gather the +herbs, and sent 'em here. He named it Great Wangamyika discovery." + +"This 'ere Great Wanagam cured the chief purty quick, did it?" +inquired the old man. + +"Yes," answered Panicky, "very quick. There seems to be something +about it that's specially good for the back. Affinity they call it +for the spinal cord and the vertebrae." + +"I'll have a bottle if it busts me," said the old man. "Hand it +over." + +Panicky instructed his customer how to use the medicine. He must rub +it in thoroughly, half of the time stroking downward and half +crosswise. + +John and his companion soon came in sight of the river; and after +crossing the railroad bridge, turned to the right and followed the +stream, leaving it, however, when they had reached the next street +which led to the left. The houses were here better, and the view in +general was correspondingly improved. + +"How much farther have we to go?" asked John. + +"We're about there now," said Panicky, "that house right ahead." + +It was a noble-looking structure which had been indicated by the +peddler. Whether the walls were of stone or of brick, John, who knew +little of architecture, could not determine. An upright and a wing, +on a rise of ground too gradual and low to be called a hill, it was, +saving its preponderance of length, + + "A tower of strength that stood four square. + To all the winds that blew." + +One of the most efficient aids in giving it an aspect of majesty was +its simplicity. The ornaments which decorate most costly buildings +were poorly represented in this edifice. In front of it were +evergreens, small and far apart. A path and a drive ran from the +street through the yard, the drive-winding carelessly up, as if its +course had been fixed by unassisted and unrestrained circumstance. As +they opened the gate before the path, a man came out into the porch, +stood a brief space of time, and answered some questions which were +addressed to him from within. In the twilight, which was fast +settling, John could see nothing of him but the outline of his form. + +"I'm going back," said Panicky hurriedly. "You can find your way. Go +up there and knock." + +The man in the porch walked swiftly out to meet John. When he left +the shadow of the house, his identity was no longer doubtful; he was +Durgenson. + +"Helloa, Wrengell," he said. "So you've come here, have you?" + +"Did you not send for me?" asked John. + +"Certainly." responded Durgenson. "But I'm awful busy just now. You +go to number one hundred and nine ---- Street. Tell the man you want +to stay all night. I'll be up there in from one to three hours. Don't +go out in the street, because I'm in a hurry and want to find you +there when I come. I mean business. I'll make your fortune." + +"Is that all you want of me," asked John in disappointment, "to buy +cattle and horses? I thought you had found something which would give +me respectability." + +"So I have," said Durgenson. "So I have. I'll satisfy you on that +point to-night. I can't explain now. I'm in a great hurry." + +A woman rushed from the porch and interrupted John in his departure. + +"Stop," she cried. "I want to see you." "Maybe you'd better go in," +said Durgenson. + +The woman led John through a hall, through another room and into a +smaller apartment, in which she left him. + +"Stay here a moment," she said, locking the door as she went. + +On ordinary occasions John would have been quick to rebel against a +curtailment of his liberty, but he was now so anxious to hear the +expected revelation that he submitted with good grace. + +"This way," said the woman, again peering into the room. + +John, with his expectations aroused to the highest pitch, went up a +flight of stairs and into a small room as his guide indicated. + +"Wait here until I call for you," said the woman, turning the key in +the lock. + +The house was still, and the room, lighted only by one window, was +comparatively dark. As time passed curiosity gave place to +loneliness, and loneliness to unrest. + +John's dissatisfaction with his quarters increased. Mrs. Boyle's +neglected warning to avoid Durgenson, coupled with the suspicious +conduct of the woman who had conducted him to the chamber, +intensified his sense of insecurity. + +While he was deliberating whether to cry out and demand release, or +to attempt an escape from the window, there came from below a voice, +which, low but resonant, filled him with a singular awe. + +"Has the Suebian come?" + + +CHAPTER XXXI. +AWAKENING. + +Ratke was in no great pain, physical or mental, as Manie led him from +the scene of the fire. The repeated blows which he had received had +deadened sensation, and he had neither concern for the present nor +anxiety for the future. At intervals he passed his palm across his +brow, generally repeating the act before he dropped his hand. + +His face and hands were blistered in places, and his hair adhered to +his head in singed clusters, his eyes were inflamed, and the lashes +burned nearly off. + +"You are badly burned. Uncle James," said Manie, who was crying. "How +it must hurt you." + +"No," answered the major, "I am past suffering. All that can hurt me +is thinking. Sluggishness has come to my relieve. Do not make me talk +or think." + +Jake Sheppard's house was a small, one story building, which lay +between the church and the Ratke farm. Back of it was a log stable, +and east of it a diminutive shop in which its previous owner, a +blacksmith, had worked. When it was reached by the Ratkes, some +chairs were already in it, and dishes and furniture were approaching +near by in a wagon. + +Manie went to the residence of Holmes for remedies to apply to her +uncle's burned face and hands. She bathed them in oil and arranged a +shade for his eyes. He did not seem to appreciate her kindness, +although he submited to it without a word of opposition or comment. + +"Miss Grippin," said Daggett, coming to the back door of their new +residence, "the men all want to do something for you. We're going to +get up a pile of wood. If anybody else offers you any wood, you tell +'em you've got enough already spoke for, will you?" + +"I will," returned Mrs. Grippin. "Thank you, Mark." + +Daggett retreated a few steps, and motioned Mrs. Grippin to follow +him. "How is he?" he asked, pointing toward the room where the major +was. + +"I'm afraid he will never be any better," said Mrs. Grippin. "He is +losing his mind. He don't realize much of anything that is going on. +He can understand when we talk right to him, but if we don't, he wont +pay any attention." + +"Boys," said Daggett, as he joined his fellow-workmen, who were in +front of the house, "you go over to the woods. I'll skip up and see +Miss Green. I know she'll sell me a tree or two." + +Daggett purchased three fallen trees of Mrs. Green and proceeded +across to the woods, which were in sight of the smouldering farmhouse +which was now deserted by spectators. + +"This won't be a quarter enough," he said to Sheppard. "We can buy +the rest of some one else cheaper that we can of her, though." + +The men worked with a will, as though to atone for their neglect of +duty while in the major's service. Strange to say, the most active +and efficient of them all was Archer. He pulled an end of a cross-cut +saw with such energy that Daggett, Sheppard and Brown were +successively obliged to desist from working with him. + +"You chop, Will," said Daggett, "there can't no man saw with you." + +Archer snatched an ax and hurried to the top of the tree, where he +struck off limb after limb, trimmed them and chopped them into +stove-wood with astonishing rapidity. + +"What's Phleet Takum a pokin' round that fire for?" said Jake. + +"Philetus stood by the edge of the ruins which marked the site of +Ratke's dwelling. He had a rake with which he reached as far as +possible, systematically dragging the ashes and bringing to him +whatever he could conveniently pull. A pack of dogs was scouring +about the yard. + +"Git out o' that, you thief," yelled Jake. Immediately after, the men +in chorus set up a prolonged yell. The startled Takum, followed by +his dogs, made swiftly for the woods, and he was not seen again by +his neighbors for two days. + +"My faithful men," said the major after the wood was hauled, "my +faithful men, and I did not even thank them." For a week he mourned +that he had not expressed to them his gratitude. + +Let us pause in our account of Ratke's experience to note some events +in the history of the neighborhood which is connected with our +narrative. + +Sparks, who had offered a considerable reward for the recovery of +Madge T. was rejoiced when a detective found his property in New +York. He was soon in possession of the valuable beast, the speed of +which he took special pains to improve. + +Nora, whose singular demeanor at any other time would have been +commented upon, declared that she could not longer stay in Jefferson. +A few days after the family was settled in Sheppard's house, she went +to live with her aunt in Ohio. + +The day after the fire a telegram for Montcalm came to Break o' Day, +stating that his mother was dead and naming the date of her funeral. +In the burying-ground by Green's orchard they placed the son in whom +she had trusted. + +Could he have arisen from his resting-place and stood upright, he +might have viewed the house in which he had lost his peace of mind +and his hope of eternity. Had he taken two steps, he would have been +above the body of his victim. If withdrawing his gaze from the spot +beneath which lay the disfigured forehead and cloven brain, he had +turned it to the right would have rested on the cottage which +sheltered Ratke, whose lethargic, nearly-demented condition of mind +he had helped to produce. + +One night Jake Sheppard, who was something of a hunter, was cooning +in Mrs. Green's woods when he was guided by his dog to a tree which +had a large hollow. Ordinarily Jake was not a rigid respecter of the +law. He procured an ax and chopped down the tree as speedily as +possible, that he might secure the game before his unwarranted +cutting of the timber was discovered. As the fall of the tree did not +frighten the coon from his refuge, Jake cut into the body, which in +that place was but a shell. He was both surprised and chagrined when +the ax struck a metallic substance which took from it a deep nick. + +"What blamed fool has been a-stuffin' an auger in here?" he +exclaimed, pulling the designated tool from its place of secretion. +His astonishment increased as he drew out some clothes and, lastly, a +long pocket-book, which, upon examination, he saw contained a large +roll of bills. He thought at once of the robbery in July, and, +forgetting the coon, started for Mrs. Green's house. Owing to the +deafness of Mrs. Green and the timidity of William Henry Harrison, +who never quite recovered from his terror of the midnight visitor by +whom his master had been slain, Sheppard was some time in securing an +answer to his knocks and calls. Mrs. Green, however, was at last +aroused by the half-wit, who broke the fastening to her bedroom door +and entered her room for protection, Jake went to her window, made +known his errand, and was admitted to the house. The only reward +which he received from the widow was forgiveness for his depredation +in her timber. Shortly after this event he called at the cottage by +the church and left an envelope directed to the major. The envelope +contained fifty dollars in currency and a badly spelled note which +stated that Sheppard was going away from the neighborhood and begged +that Ratke would accept the money as a token of regard. + +The major rallied in part from the stupor which chained him in the +few days succeeding the fire. He made an auction, and sold his +personal property. When Taylor was taken away by a Jackson horseman, +who bought him for four hundred dollars, Ratke with sadness watched +the handsome animal, trotting behind the owner's sulky as he was led +up the road. He paid first his hired men, with the exception of +Sheppard, who could not be found. The remainder of his money he +distributed among his creditors, who were numerous. Most of them were +content to allow him time for his fortunes to mend, but a few gave +warning that, unless payment was speedily made, they would cause him +trouble. This insulting language revived a portion of his old-time +spirit. He wrote them letters, stating his intention to liquidate +every dollar of his indebtedness, but affirming his resolution not to +pay a cent of costs for legal proceedings. "Those who would be +first," he said, "should be last." + +Ratke sought work and found it. + +His former hired men saw him coming home night after tight, +stoop-shouldered and listless. They took a job of grubbing from +Holmes for twelve dollars and told him to let it to Ratke for twenty, +and they would make up the difference to him. They instructed him +also to say nothing of their connection with the affair to Ratke, +who, should he be made aware of it, would be certain to refuse the +charity. The major accepted Holmes's offer and labored with all his +strength at the grubbing. + +Manie, on applying in several districts for a position as teacher, +found that the fall terms of country schools were almost invariably +conducted by those who had been engaged in the spring. She then +obtained a place to work in the family of Osborne. + +The habits of Ratke had changed with the circumstances which +surrounded him. He was silent, but apparently not thoughtful. No +longer in his moments of leisure did he sit with his left leg thrown +over the arm of his rocking-chair, his chin resting on his hand, and +his elbow on his knee. No longer did he speculate or philosophize. He +seemed to be again sinking, with his grief forgotten, into a gradual +and peaceful decline. When he talked, which was seldom, it was +concerning business matters; and his former force of delivery was +entirely wanting. All that seemed to attract his special notice was +the absence of Manie, who came home every Saturday night and remained +until Monday morning. He would sometimes ask what day of the week it +was, and on receiving an answer would sit silent some minutes and +then repeat his question. Mrs. Grippin, who feared that he was going +into insanity or idiotcy, longed to hear again the tiresome theories +which she had once detested. With the hope of seeing him once more at +his studies, she borrowed a work on physics and some scientific +journals, which she placed where she imagined they would come under +his observation, but her ruse was unavailing. He did not notice them +until they were alluded to by his sister, when he picked them up, +apparently without interest, and threw them down with a sigh. + +Manie, although she was obliged to do all the work in the family of +Osborne, who had seven children and one hired man, on being informed +of her uncle's dangerous apathy came home every night and returned in +the morning. Ratke showed the first pleasure which he had exhibited +for weeks. No matter how tired he was, when he had finished his toil +for the day, he walked up the road to meet her. His object was not to +talk, nor did it seem to be to hear her, for he was an indifferent +listener. Satisfied with her presence, he desired no exchange of +words. His instinct to be near her was like that of the dog which +silently follows his master, or that of the dying horse which, when +turned loose that he may have room to struggle, totters back to +breathe his last in his familiar stall. Years before, he had told her +stories while she had sat on his knee and combed his hair. Now he had +childishly asked her to do again as she had done then. She humored +his whim, and it was seldom that he had to remind her of his wish. + +Mrs. Green, who wailed until after seeding to thresh her grain, one +day dispatched William Henry Harrison to secure Ratke's assistance. +The next morning the major with his pitchfork appeared early at the +house of his old enemy. He was given a place on the bundle stack, but +through the intervention of his friend, Jim Turner, he was allowed +the easy duty of holding bags. At noon Jim was obliged to leave on +account of a previous promise which he had made to Osborne. + +William Henry Harrison, Sparks and Wingscheut were on the +straw-stack. Throughout the forenoon the halfwit had worked by the +carrier, in the language of Wingscheut, "vith his mouth vite open +ketchin, all te chaff." After dinner the major noticed the poor +fellow toiling away in the same uncomfortable place. "Sparks," he +shouted, "why don't you go up and change with him?" + +"I don't have to," replied Sparks. + +"Come down here, William Henry Harrison," called Ratke, "I will +change with you. You can hold bags." + +The major took the position which had been occupied by the half-wit, +who slid down the stack and was buried in the litterings at the +bottom, from which he soon emerged. Sparks motioned to the feeder, +with whom, on the night of the expedition to Wallace's, the major had +quarreled over the disposition of the horse-thieves in case they were +captured. The driver, in turn, received the signal from the feeder, +the horses bent their heads and tugged, the machine sang more loudly, +and every man about it bestirred himself anew. The straw rolled in +great masses up the carrier, to the head of which a suffocating cloud +of dust was borne by the wind. + +The major, whose temper and dignity were aroused, stood at his post, +too proud to ask for relief. The straw gathered in a wall behind him, +and Wingscheut lazily or purposely let it fall back, so that he was +obliged to pitch back large quantities of it the second time. At each +one of the huge forkfuls which he had to take his body trembled, and +he wondered how much longer he could endure the strain. Most of the +hands were busily occupied, and those who were not bestowed little +sympathy on the old man in his weakness so heroically and pitifully +trying to keep up an appearance of strength. He was at the point of +exhaustion, when the threshing was finished and the machine suspended +motion. Without waiting for his supper or his coat and vest, which, +of course, he had stripped off, he went away from the barn-yard, his +breathing difficult, his eyes blinded and his face blackened with +dirt. + +"Guess Jerusalem got about enough," said the Oakville man, loud +enough for Ratke to hear, "I ain't sorry neither. It ain't any worse +for him to work than it is for me." + +"This ain't makin' wagons," remarked Sparks. + +The words rankled deep in the majors breast, as with his pitchfork on +his shoulder he went slowly home. He was hurt most by the grim +satisfaction with which Sparks spoke of his downfall. On his farm, +surrounded by his books and his inventions, he could smile at +riddles; but now, removed from his defenses, he could not endure it. + +Mrs. Gnppin had gone to visit Mrs. Boyle, with whom she expected to +stay that night. Manie, who had finished her work for Osborne, +received her uncle with expressions of pity. She brought some water +and washed the dirt from his face and neck. While she was combing the +chaff from his hair, a constable came to serve a summons on him in +behalf of the Empire Machine Company. + +"The completion of disgrace," said Ratke, after the man had gone. "I +cannot pay them. Judgment will be rendered against me, and I must +have it thrown in my teeth that my promises are lies. How much more! +Oh, God, how much more can I endure!" + +"Let me comb the chaff from your hair," said Manie. + +"No," answered the major, taking his hat and going out of the house. +He went straight to the little blacksmith shop and stood before it. +The sun, now a reddish ball, stripped of its fiery spikes, seemed +lying in a slight depression of the landscape, as if it had rolled +thither from one of the declivities between which it rested. Its +latest rays were permitted to fall on Ratke by the parting of a strip +of cloud, which was drawn asunder like curtains on a stage. The +major's gaze rested longest on the buildings which had been erected +on his former farm. The windows of the house threw back among the +apple trees, by which it was partly hidden, the rays of the sun, +whose splendid reflections glimmered like wondrous lanterns among the +branches. From Green's woods, which were red and yellow in the cloak +of fall, came the voice of William Henry Harrison, who was calling +the cows. A night-hawk swept high over the major's head, carrying its +mournful cry over his desolated and rebuilded homestead. + +He opened the door of the shop and entered. Inside were a few tools +which had been left by the blacksmith who had previously owned the +lot. These were a workbench, an anvil, two saw-horses and two +hammers. The blacksmith evidently had worked some in wood; and, in +fact, such was the case, for he had been exorbitant in his charges, +and his trade afforded him but a meager subsistence. On the workbench +was Ratke's one-man saw, which was badly rusted. Taking a hammer, the +major loosened the saw-blade from the frame and fastened it with a +strap to a strong hickory pole, the upper part of which he nailed +firmly to the wall. He tied a small rope to the other end of the saw +and pulling it until the stiff pole bent far back, he made it fast to +a ring in the opposite wall, leaving the saw stretched horizontally +within about two feet of the floor. His next movement was to place +nearly under the saw a saw-horse on which he rested his head so that +his throat was within a few inches of the sharp saw-teeth. Satisfied +that the arrangements for suicide were complete, he arose to take his +farewell of terrestrial things. + +Once more he stepped out into the cool evening air. The sun had +disappeared, and its light had ceased to tint the clouds along the +western horizon, but it was reflected from the stray patches which +were moving slowly near the zenith. + +"Ah," he said, "the cloud at the horizon is as red as the one at the +zenith. It does not appear so to me, because I am not in a proper +position to see its brilliancy. If the light of merit has fallen on +me and my inventions, the world has not been in a situation to +recognize it." + +To no purpose had his philosophy been neglected; at the last hour it +persistently returned, demanding that he should harbor it for a brief +space before he and it took their final separation. It mingled with +his every observation; it asserted itself in the arrangement of the +machine for his destruction. + +He prepared for a last look at earth, which twilight was plunging in +partial obscurity. + +"Oh, Trace, Trace!" he exclaimed, as his eyes fell on the graveyard, +"why did you shatter my faith in you? It was you that first broke my +old heart, and it has been cracking and crumbling ever since. I would +I were with you, and Nature, not my hand, had sent me there." + +Resolutely he went inside the shop. He would see no more the fair +landscape in its autumnal beauty; he was hearing for the last time +the night-hawk, the solemn notes of which were a fitting preliminary +to the approaching tragedy. In the morning, or, perhaps, that night, +they would find him with his throat hacked and, it might be, entirely +cut in twain. He crawled under the saw and rested his head on the +saw-horse. He raised a scythe to strike a blow which would allow the +hickory spring to pull the saw across his throat. + +Some one jerked him back, tipping over the saw-horse. Manie's arms +were about his neck, her face close to his, her soothing voice in his +ear. After pulling him gently away she struck the rope with the +scythe. The vicious force with which the spring propelled the saw +showed how deadly an implement of destruction the major had planned. + +"What made you interrupt me?" cried the major. "The world has no use +for James Ratke! Wherever I am, I am in the way. I am refuse in the +economy of Nature, refuse which her creatures abhor, but which she +will not remove. I will remove myself! Go away, Manie! Go away, I +tell you!" + +"Uncle James, Uncle James," pleaded Manie, "do not act so! Come into +the house." + +"You, too, have become my enemy," said Ratke. "No friend of mine +would like to prolong my wretched existence. I thought that I had +suffered until I had no further capacity for suffering, but sensation +only slept. It racks me now as it racked me before my mind fell into +torpidity, when I sat on the log watching my burning wagon. Oh, Manie +I Must I, must I fall into that stupor again? Must I, my God! Must I +see my mind, like my fortunes, waste away, leaving me a wreck and a +wretch indeed?" + +"Trust in God," said Manie. "He can rescue you from any trouble." + +"God!" echoed the major, "God has deserted me utterly; utterly, +utterly," he added with an accent of incescribable despair. "Where is +my farm on which I prided myself? Where are my horses and cattle? +Where are my books, which were my study and my comfort? Where are my +inventions, which I would have given my life to save? Where is Trace, +the trusted son of my comrade, whom I loved better than myself? His +mutilated body is in that graveyard! He died in destroying my all! If +I could forget! If I only could! 'The waters are come in unto my +soul.'" + +"Come in," said Manie, pulling him toward the door. + +The major went passively to the house, where Manie induced him to be +seated. "'The Lord will not cast off forever,'" she said, "'but, +though he cause grief yet will he have compassion, according to the +multitude of his mercies.'" + +"You talk of consolation," replied Ratke, rising from his chair and +striding restlessly about the room. "There is no consolation for me. +'The sorrows of death compass me.' I will not take my wretched life +to-night, because I could take only the bodily part. I would I could +place those saw teeth against my soul! I would annihilate myself, for +I could meet annihilation firmly. This old body I can bring to the +grave, but I cannot touch the after life. No. I must keep this +sensation, sensation which gives me no pleasure, only pain, eternal +pain, I am like an old harp which was once an instrument of melody, +but which now yields the harshest of sounds. Mirth, pleasure, rest, +they are for me neither now nor in eternity!" + +"You have no reason to be so hopeless," said Manie. "God has promised +to help those who trust in Him. 'Whoso hearkeneth unto Me shall dwell +safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil.' + +"'He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, +neither hath He hid his face from him. But when he cried unto Him, He +heard.'" + +"What have I rendered unto Him in my prosperity," said Ratke, "that +He should help me now? I never openly acknowledged Him. When wealth +and friends were mine, I depended on my own resources with little +solicitude for God's assistance. I said, 'I will get wisdom;' and +that wisdom I worshipped. Now, when all my persecutors have overtaken +me between the straights, he has left me to be extricated by my +wisdom." + +"You have fulfilled part of the Lord's requirements," said Manie. +"'Is not this the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bands of +wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go +free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to +the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy +house, when thou seest the naked that thou cover him?'" + +"It was not enough," answered the major, "or I should have support in +this hour. He laughs at my calamity. 'He hath thrown down and hath +not pitied.' 'He hath made me desolate and faint all the day.' I +might call, but he would not answer. Oh, Manie, how can I live? 'My +heart is like wax!'" + +"You will feel better to-morrow," said Manie. "When I am teaching +school, we shall have more money. We will pay up these little debts, +and how much comfort we will take, reading our books and studying +together. We will get some tools in the shop for you. Uncle James, +and you can work at your inventions as you used to do." + +"I shall never know comfort again," said Ratke. "Is it nothing to +lose one's entire possessions, to see perishing what one prizes more +than property, to see wealth, position, friendships, aspirations, all +shivered in succession, and the ruins heaped in ashes on one's head? +My neighbors who have given me financial help laugh at me. They sneer +at my Jerusalem wagon and crack jokes about my one-man saw. I cannot +endure it. I shall die or go insane. 'The pains of hell have got hold +upon me.'" + +"'The sorrows of hell compassed me about,'" said Manie. "'The snares +of death prevented me. In my distress I called on the Lord and my cry +came before him, even unto his ears.'" + +"My sighs are many, and my heart is faint," said the major. "There is +anguish in reflection. Lure me into forgetfulness by song, Manie." + +"Shall I sing one which John composed?" asked Manie. + +"Anything," answered Ratke. "Sit close by me." + +The room was quite dark, for Manie had not yet lighted a lamp. She +seated herself by Ratke, who had ceased his violent pacing of the +floor. The scene through which she had passed put a tremulous pathos +into her voice. + +"A minstrel sang often Euterpa's gay song + Where the board of the feast was outspread, +Where the floor of the hall 'neath a great courtly throng + Bent and swayed to the dancers' light tread. +Sweet notes which were welcomed, applauded and famed + Came from the musicians' skilled art. +Their melody all except pleasure disclaimed; +It mixed with the revel where mirth was untamed, + But it touched not a comfortless heart. + +'Hits fame and his fortune all perished away. + Those who in his prosperous days +Were loudest in flattery scoffed at his lay. + And hushed was their liberal praise. +He thought of his laurels, whose life was so brief, + In his gloomy and utter despair +No hand was extended to give him relief. +'My burden,' he faltered, in accents of grief, + 'Is greater than I can bear.' + +"He bowed low his head and he threw down his lyre + In a hall where its music had rung. +He felt that forever had left him that fire + With which in his youth he had sung. +Oh, deep was the anguish that swept o'er him then + When no solace his broken heart propped; +He mused on his trouble, remote from all men; +But mournfully from its mute corner again + He picked up the lyre he had dropped. + +"Out on the wide world the sad measure was borne, + And the healing of pain was its goal. +It came from a bosom by misery torn; + It raised many a low-smitten soul. +Then woe left its sack-cloth forgotten and smiled; + The transgressor bent on his knee; +And men from the shades of their crimes were beguiled; +'Lord, now it is plain,' said the minstrel, a child; + 'I know why Thou chastenest me.'" + +"Comb my hair, Manie," said the major. "Sit on my +knee and comb my hair. Let me think that these are the +olden days, that you are a little girl, that I have not lost +my place, that I still have hope for my inventions. Oh, +this is luxury! What a soothing power there is in the +comb." + +Manie, who was crying under cover of the darkness, tenderly combed +and brushed his hair. + + +CHAPTER XXXII. +LIBER SEXTUS. + +The voice which John heard was silent after its one outburst. He +could find for the words no logical connection with any present +event. An inquiry in the nine-teeth century concerning an individual +of an ancient German nation was a circumstance which he could not +understand. It might be a quotation which some one was reciting in a +tragical manner or the exclamation of a lunatic whose bewildered +faculties were roaming through European barbaric history. The latter +supposition seemed the more likely, for a practicing declaimer would +not content himself with the repetition of a single sentence. + +John presently heard the tones of a female in the lower part of the +house who was complaining bitterly of some grievance. "I tell you I +won't," she cried. "I won't have them here, so many of them, without +letting them know they ain't welcome. This is my house, or as good as +my house, and you needn't say a word more about it." + +John began to feel positive alarm. He mistrusted that Durgenson had +entrapped him into a mad-house, for what purpose he could not decide. +He knew, however, on reflection that if it were a public institution, +he could demonstrate his sanity, when he would at once be set free. +But if it were not a refuge for the insane, what meant the strange +language, especially that sonorous voice which had so startled him. + +To satisfy himself that he was not a prisoner he went to the one +window of the room, which he endeavored to open, but which resisted +his efforts. The blinds were closed and fastened, he did not doubt, +in such a manner as to defy anything less than a great expenditure of +force. + +He did not yet desire an escape ardently enough to shatter the window +and the blinds. There was probably no way of descent to the ground, +except by leaping; and in case he failed to find a reasonably safe +method of exit, the violence he contemplated would bring him +disagreeable consequences, whether he were in the hands of friends or +of enemies. Notwithstanding its disadvantages he would in all +likelihood have attempted a flight from the window, had he not still +clung to the hope of realizing some benefit from his visit. Panicky +had told him he could not afford to stay away from this place for all +the wealth in Ann Arbor. + +He seated himself in a chair and waited. Footsteps, evidently those +of a woman, were ascending the stairs. A key turned in the lock of +the door, which opened, and a light shone into the room. + +"Come this way," authoritatively said the woman who had conducted him +to the chamber. + +"Very well," answered John, "but before you lock me up again as if I +were a convict, I wish to know what I have done to merit such +treatment, I am used to being my own master." + +"Excuse me if I have appeared rude," said the woman, "What I have +done, I have done for your good. You will acknowledge it to-morrow. +Do as I tell you, and I will soon explain everything to your +satisfaction." + +This speech, though it silenced John and partly quieted his +displeasure, was said in a manner not in the least apologetic. + +Not far from the bottom of the stairs she opened a door at the left, +which she requested John to enter. After placing the lamp on the desk +she said, much as she would address a child, "Be patient a few +minutes more. You will find it to your advantage to do as you are +directed." + +John expected that when she left him this time she would omit her +precaution of locking the door, but in this he was mistaken. He was +in a library which faced the street, and had closely-packed shelves +on three of its walls. The room was plainly, almost shabbily +furnished, but the books were arranged with method. One set of +shelves was devoted to history and biography, another to theoretical +and miscellaneous works, and the third contained, besides such as +were included in the second, poetry and light literature. In the +historical department the works of ancient nations were at the bottom +and the chronology of the subject matter in each volume was more +modern than that in the book underneath it. The bottom shelves of the +theoretical and miscellaneous department were occupied by books of +reference, such as dictionaries, cyclopedias, etc. Above them, in +order, were religious, philosophical and political treatises and +various odd and antiquated dissertations. The legal and political +works occupied the greater number of the shelves in the theoretical +division, and usurped more than half the space in the third +department. The imaginative literature, alone, of all the library, +showed signs of disarrangement. Poems and novels were mingled in +confusion. Scott's Waverlies were scattered about on every shelf. It +was as if the library had been once arranged by a careful student, +and afterward abandoned to some slovenly, trivial-minded person, who +had left the solid part undisturbed. The one wall which did not +support book-shelves was pasted over with newspaper clippings, which +were mostly political articles or items concerning distinguished men. +On this side of the apartment was a secretary divided into small +drawers, some of whose labels are here quoted: "War Measures," +"Reconstruction," "Currency." + +A step close to the door and a suspension of the sound notified John +that some person was near him. + +"Say," began John, "how much longer am I to stay in here?" + +"How do I know?" said Durgenson. "I didn't put you in there." + +"But you sent for me to come here," returned John. + +"I have been abused. That woman has a fashion of locking the door +every time she leaves me. I will not endure it much longer. You must +inform me soon what you wish of me, or I will kick out the window and +go." + +"I don't blame you a bit," said Durgenson. "That's just what I'd do +if I was in your place. That woman is a little out of her head. +That's what makes her act so. She's making game of you. I didn't want +you to stop here, you remember. If you'd gone up town as I asked you +to, I'd have been telling you what you wanted to know by this time. +I'd slam through the window and light out. I wouldn't let anybody +interfere with my liberty. You go up there where I said, and I'll be +up directly." + +As footsteps in an adjoining room drew near, Durgenson quickly +retreated. The key turned, the door opened and the woman entered, +followed by another lady, at sight of whom John sprang to his feet +with an exclamation of joy. + +"Why, Mrs Boyle!" cried John, shaking the hand of the newcomer. "You +do not know how glad I am to see you!" + +"He has been very suspicious of me ever since he came here," said +Mrs. Boyle's companion. "He thought I meant to do him some harm." + +"Afraid of Mrs. Baldwin?" said Mrs. Boyle. "You needn't be, John. Do +whatever she tells you to don't be afraid of the consequences." + +"I will trust any one whom you recommend," said John. "Pardon my +impatience, but I am very anxious to know why Mr. Durgenson sent for +me." + +"Mr. Durgenson did not send for you," replied Mrs. Baldwin. + +"He said he did," returned John. "He said he knew something to my +advantage with he wished to tell me. He instructed me to go to No. +109---- Street, where we would hold a consultation." + +"He wanted to get you away," said Mrs. Baldwin. "I know his tricks. +That is why I locked the door when I left you." + +"Will you tell me one thing," asked John, "what is the meaning of +those strange cries which I heard?" + +"In good time," answered Mrs. Baldwin. "Before I explain much to you, +you must answer some questions. Where were you brought up?" + +"The first that I can remember," replied John, "I lived with a man +named Norris in the township of Terry, Branch County. He took me from +the poor-house. I cannot remember my father or my mother." + +"We have made careful inquiries about you," said Mrs. Baldwin, "and +we are satisfied that we know your family history. Will you please +bare your foot? Which one, Mrs. Boyle?" + +"That one," said Mrs. Boyle, pointing to the left one. + +"It is very sore," returned John. "I have had a surgical operation +performed on it. Still, I will do as you say." + +"What kind of operation?" asked Mrs. Baldwin. + +"There were six toes," replied John, "and I had one of them +amputated." + +"What," cried Mrs. Baldwin, "amputated? You foolish boy! Do you know +you have lost the most honorable birth-mark there is in Michigan? +What are we to do, now that the proof of your descent is gone? You +saw it, though, Mrs. Boyle?" + +"Yes," said Mrs. Boyle. "I will swear to that." + +"The doctors at Ann Arbor will testify to the same thing," said John, +"and the scar where the toe was will always stay on my foot." + +"I will tell you some things which, perhaps, you would like to know," +said Mrs. Baldwin, as John was replacing the bandages on his foot. +"Your grandfather was a man of wealth and influence." + +"Is he dead?" asked John excitedly. + +"You must not interrupt me," said Mrs. Baldwin. "Your mother went to +Detroit to school, and while there became acquainted with a young +German named Lehmann. Mr. Lehmann and your grandfather, meeting +accidentally, quarreled over politics. Your grandfather, on finding +out that the young gentleman who wished to marry his daughter, was +the one with whom he had disagreed, told him never to enter his +house. A while after that your mother, in spite of the quarrel, +married Mr. Lehmann. Your grandfather was, of course, very indignant, +and they were never reconciled. Your parents went to Chicago to live. +Your father, who was talented and highly educated gave music lessons. +They claim he had real musical genius. A concert which he gave won +high praise from the Chicago papers. Shortly after this your father +and mother started to go to Milwaukee, where he was advertised to +play. Both of them were killed in the accident which happened to the +train. Not much notice was taken of your father's death at the time, +but six months afterward some of his compositions became famous. +People from all parts of the country visit his grave to pay tribute +to his memory. If you are familiar with the history of music, you +have heard part of my story before." + +"Yes," said John, "I have played my father's marches and felt my soul +quiver to the emotions they produced, but I never suspected my +relationship to their author." + +"You," continued Mrs. Baldwin, "or we think it was you, their child, +was left during their absence with Mrs. Boyle, who kept with her +another boy name Wrengell. After the accident Mr. Durgenson, who +married your mother's cousin, came to Mrs. Boyle and saying that he +and Mr. Lehmann had been friends, offered to care for you, but he did +not state that you were relatives. Mrs. Boyle had become attached to +you, and she declined to let you go. She said Mr Lehmann had left you +with her, and she felt justified in keeping you. You were not quite +two years old then. One night, when you and the other little boy, who +was older than you, had been playing in the kitchen and running out +doors, Mr. Boyle missed you. She asked the boy where you were, and he +told her that you had gone out doors. Thinking it queer that you, a +child, who would naturally be afraid in the dark, should stay so long +she went out and called you. She was worried when you did not answer. +She called the neighbors and roused the police, but she could not +find you. A man named Dabney had been sawing wood in a yard close +by." + +"What," exclaimed John, "not Panicky!" + +"Yes," said Mrs. Baldwin. "He goes by the name of Panicky. He had +coaxed you to him and given you some candy. Mrs Boyle visited his +house the next morning and did not find him at home. Late in the day +she saw him, when she asked him if he had seen you. He answered that +he had not seen you for two days. Mrs. Bole always believed that he +had a hand in kidnapping you. + +"She moved to Michigan. A few weeks ago you came to her house, and +she was struck by your strong resemblance to your father. When you +played on your violin, she was almost certain of your identity. +Remembering how Mr. Durgenson had tried to get possession of you +twenty years before, she warned you to have nothing to do with him. +After you sprained your ankle and she saw your foot, she was certain +who you were. + +"Your grandfather met with an accident in Jackson County, when the +story of your mother's elopement was again told through the country. +Mrs. Boyle, hearing it, wrote to us what she knew about the affair. I +got a lawyer to interview Dabney. The lawyer frightened him into +telling that it was he who took you from Mrs. Boyle. He says Mr. +Durgenson hired him to kill you. He did not want to do that, but he +was in sore need of money, and he did take you to his brother's house +out in the country, where you were kept for several weeks, Durgenson +all the while believing you dead. If you had been a rich man's son, +you would have been found. As it was, the police took little pains to +hunt you up. In a little while Dabney, who was careful that you +should not be hurt, took you to Michigan and left you with a relative +of the boy who was living with Mrs. Boyle. That is the way you came +by your name of Wrengell." + +"Then," remarked John, "the history of which I have been so much +ashamed is the history of Alf, the fellow who was with Mrs. Boyle. I +have hung my head for the depravity of his parents." He felt a great +thrill of thankfulness as he reflected that Wrengell, his tormentor +at Ann Arbor, with his sand-colored coat, his wicked mouth and his +criminal face was not his relative. + +"We told Dabney," said Mrs. Baldwin, "that if he would find you and +identify you, we would pardon him for what he had done and reward him +besides. He was glad to repair the mischief he had accomplished. He +said he had seen you but a short time before, and he could soon find +you. You know how he kept his word." + +"Who was my grandfather?" asked John. + +"I will show you his picture," replied Mrs. Baldwin. "Come into this +room." + +They passed into an apartment which was well, though not luxuriously, +furnished. Mrs. Baldwin pointed to a frame, which enclosed the stern, +intellectual face of Senator Mallard. John felt his legs tremble and +his heart throb. Sinking info a chair, incapable of speech, he +covered his face with his hands, while the tears trickled through his +fingers and ran down his coat-sleeves. Poverty and disgrace, where +were they now? Of his wealth he knew nothing and cared little, but +his lineage was proud enough to satisfy even his ambition. + +"Let me see him," he said in a broken voice. "I want to see my +grandfather." + +"We will go to him now," said Mrs. Baldwin. "He was thrown from a +buggy in Jackson County, and he cannot recover. His reason is gone." + +They crossed to the opposite side of the house and entered a bedroom. +The old statesman, with his face turned toward the door, his head +toward the window, was lying on the bed at the right. He was weakened +by sickness, but there was a vigor in the expression of his +countenance which seemed an unnatural accompaniment of its pallor and +emaciation. + +"Thou art a Suebian," he said, looking fixedly at John. "I know thee +by thy lofty stature, thy blue eyes and light hair." + +Durgenson came in quietly and stood by the bed. + +The old man, suddenly raising himself, pointed his finger at the +cattle-buyer. "Quosque tandem abutere Durgenson patientia nostra!" he +exclaimed, in a tone which made Durgenson draw back. "And didst thou, +Roman, think thyself able to drive the Suebian from his home? +Sueborun gens est longe maxima et bellicosissima Germanorum omnium. +No, Roman, thou canst not do it. The days of Varus are come, but +Varus cannot restore to thee thy legions." + +"He's awful crazy," whispered Durgenson to John. + +"Roman," cried Mallard, with astonishing force for one in his +weakened condition, "leave the country of the Suebi." + +"I don't believe he wants me here," said Durgenson, quitting the +bedroom, "I guess I'd better go." + +Mrs. Baldwin followed Durgenson. + +"Suebian," said Mallard, "I have the key to the past For years I +tried in vain to master its secrets. Now they come to me without any +effort on my part. Time, you know, circles around us and every year +draws a coil. My head has whirled and unwound the coil, unwound two +thousand years. I have learned every incident in the history of the +Suebi, incidents to which historians have never referred." + +"Here is a violin," said Mrs. Baldwin, as she approached with the +instrument which she named. "Play for your grandfather." + +When John's music had ceased, Mallard said, "I hear Orpheus playing +on his golden harp to win Eurydice from the king of the dead. +Cerberus has sunk to sleep, and the fiery wheel on which Ixion is +bound stands still. No, my head has whirled and carried me back too +far. That strain never floated in the land of the dead or over the +Thessalian hills. Thou art a Suebian." + +"The rigor of thy clime hath saddened thee," said the old man at the +conclusion of another air by John. "This is the wail of the terrible +north wind, lying flat on his face and piling mountains of ice on thy +desolate islands and across the mouths of thy slow rivers. Thou +couldst not translate his language until he drove mirth from thee." + +By Mrs. Baldwin's direction John again took his bow and played. + +"Strange things are in thy forest of Bacinis," said Mallard. "In thy +wanderings through the wood thou hast seen visions of the +unattainable and hast overtaken the sublime. I, too, have seen +sublimity, but I could not catch it. I thought to grapple it and hold +it up to the gaze of men, and, when I reached out my hand for it, it +was gone. Give it to me, that I may unfold it before the senate." + +"You have already unfolded it before the senate a hundred times," +replied John. + +"No," said Mallard sadly. "I fear I may not get it. It is not of +earth and is vaster than earth. Words narrow it and imprison it, and +I have no expression but words. Martha, there are feathers in this +bed, for I smell them." + +"No," answered Mrs. Baldwin, "of course there are not. You are lying +on a mattress." + +"That is not what I meant," said the Senator, "there are chickens, +live chickens in this bed. There! See that one running to the foot." + +"I will drive them out," said Mrs. Baldwin, who disappeared through +the door and speedily returned with a broom. "Shoo, shoo," she cried, +striking the bed vigorously with the household utensil. + +"Stop," commanded Mallard, "Do not hurt them. They have all gone. +Suebian, come nearer. I will tell thy fortune." + +John advanced and held out his hand. + +"No," said Mallard. "Bunglers tell fortunes by the hand. I tell them +by the foot. Strip off these bandages." + +The Senator stirred around uneasily, getting the quilt which was over +him partly displaced, when it became apparent that he had twelve +toes, six on each foot. John, while he was undoing the bandages, +looked with regret at the mutilation which he had caused, and +reflected that he would give much to replace the lost member in its +normal state. He turned his chair toward the bed, presenting the limb +with its scabbed extremity as his grandfather had desired. + +"Here are the archives of the past and the indices of the future," +said the statesman. "Six toes, and every toe a book. Here are Liber +Primus, Liber Secundus, Liber Tertius, Liber Quartus, Liber Quintus, +and, what is this? Liber Sextos is gone; dids't thou willingly part +with it?" + +"I would I had it back," said John earnestly. + +"Liber Sextus is a grand book," said Mallard, "it tells the story of +the Suebi and the Roman Usurpation. Still, I can read it when it is +absent as well as when it is present. The Roman will contend against +thee. Entangle him in the marshes, and remain thyself on the hills. +If my head would only keep stationary, I could decipher all; but just +as I am introduced to an epoch, it whirls again, and events fly out +of my sight." + +"He is getting tired," said Mrs. Baldwin. "We had better go and let +him rest." + +"Farewell, Suebian," said Mallard, when he saw them leaving his +presence. "Be firm in resisting the Roman." + +"Do you have watchers for him nights?" asked John as he, Mrs. Baldwin +and Mrs. Boyle were in the room which contained the large picture of +his grandfather. + +"No," replied Mrs. Baldwin, "we did for a while, until he said so +much against it. He could not bear to have any one in his room when +he wanted to go lo sleep. When you wish to go to bed, I will show you +your room." + +"I will retire now," said John. + +Mrs. Baldwin led the way up the stairs to a bedroom in the north +extremity of the house. Through the window John could see the +glimmering lights of the wakeful city, which at the horizon appeared +to join the star-dotted spread of the heavens. His happiness had come +in a deluge, which he was ill-fitted quietly to withstand. There was +no obstacle to his union with Manie. None could sneer at the +parentage of Martin Lehmann's son and Senator Mallard's grandson. He +undressed and went to bed, but the exuberance of his spirits forbade +him to be still. For an hour or two he resisted the inclination to +rise. Finally, however, it grew too strong to be suppressed, when he +sprang up and put on his clothes. Few lights were now visible in the +city. John sat in a chair, or paced back and forth until the sunbeams +fell on the clustered roofs at the north. + +He softly descended the stairs to take a look at his grandfather, +who, he thought, might not be awake. Cautiously pushing open the +bedroom door, which was ajar, he peered inside. Mallard's white face +was turned toward him, the eyes were closed, the lips were parted as +if in sleep, but never more would they charm a wondering senate or +move to the accents of popular eloquence. + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. +THE HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF. + +Of the obsequies of Senator Mallard it is necessary to say little. +They were conducted with imposing ceremonies and attended by many of +his associates in the Senate. + +After the funeral Mrs. Boyle returned to her home. The question of +heirship was some time in being satisfactorily settled. Durgenson's +wife, who, as has been stated, was Mallard's niece, would not +recognize John's right to the property. She and her husband lived in +one part of the house, and John and Mrs. Baldwin in another. + +"I tell you," said Mrs. Baldwin to John one day, "we want to look out +for Durgenson. He is anxious to get you out of his way and has been +ever since you were born. That night when you were at Mrs. Boyle's, I +believe, just as much as I believe anything, that he meant to kill +you when you went to look at the horse." + +"How could he harm us?" asked John. + +"By putting poison in the water we drink, or in our food," replied +Mrs. Baldwin. "I tell you, John, we had better not stay in the same +house with them. You don't know anything about him. He is so +treacherous. You remember how he tried to get you away from us. I +haven't the least doubt that he meant to lure you to some +out-of-the-way place and kill you. One house is not large enough for +that family and us." + +"What are we to do until the estate is settled?" asked John. + +"Get them out of the house, or go ourselves," answered Mrs. Baldwin. + +"How can we do that?" inquired John. + +"If we cannot eject them by legal process, let us leave," said Mrs. +Baldwin. + +"Ma'am," said the servant-girl, appearing in some excitement, "Mrs. +Durgenson told me not to dust the parlor, but to keep right out, +because her girl would attend to that." + +"Which parlor?" asked Mrs. Baldwin. + +"The south one," answered the servant. "I ain't been in the north +one." + +"You see," said Mrs. Baldwin, "she is getting very bold. She +commenced it the day of the funeral." + +"I will go in with you," said John, "and we will dust that room." + +While John was dusting the furniture, he heard the querulous voice of +Mrs. Durgenson, saying, "I don't mean to have them much longer in my +house. Durgenson, if you had the proper spirit, you'd tell them to +go. You wonder they like to stay. You're as good as pie to them all +the time." + +"There isn't any use in being cranky," said Durgenson. "You'll never +make anything by that. I can't get them out without the law and we'd +better wait a little." + +"Now, Durgenson, you do take things so easy," continued the whining +voice. "It ain't pleasant to have folks you don't like in your own +house. You could tell 'em to go, and, if they don't go, put 'em out. +You could throw that Wrengell out, couldn't you?" + +"Why, yes," replied Durgenson. "As to that, I could throw him out. +I'd risk that, but there'd be an after-clap. He'd have be arrested +for assault and battery right straight. I'll manage it by and by in a +better way." + +"How do you mean?" + +"Never you mind, Maggie. I'll attend to that. It isn't policy to use +violence." + +John had been with Mrs Baldwin in the sitting-room but a short time +when the servant reappeared. + +"Ma'am, the clothes is gone from the north bedroom." + +"Why, that is Mr. Durgenson's part of the house," said Mrs. Baldwin. + +"No," said the servant, "your north bedroom where you sleep." + +"Can you not find them?" asked Mrs. Baldwin. + +"No," replied the servant, "they ain't nowhere as I can see." + +"I will get some clothes of my own uptown," said John. "It is as you +say. Aunt Martha. We cannot live long in the same house with the +Durgenson family. They will be robbing us of our cook-stove and our +flour. How did they happen to live here with you?" + +"They came soon after your grandfather was hurt," said Mrs. Baldwin. +"They said they wanted to help take care of him. I knew they were +looking after the property they expected to get. George was not in +his right mind, and I could not turn them out, for Mrs. Durgenson was +more nearly related to him than I. So, you see, nothing could be +done. George did not fancy them, but, if he expressed an opinion, who +could prove that it was anything but the raving of an insane man? +They were not offensive at first, and, indeed Mr. Durgenson has not +been so any of the time. But, as soon as George died, Mrs. Durgenson +began to show her disposition. None of George's nephews are living, +and she, being his only niece, has always considered herself his +heir. You can hardly imagine how much your appearance has +disappointed her and pleased me. If my niece did die away from her +kindred and in poverty, my grand-nephew is restored to me, and, I +trust, will be to his rights." + +"Ma'am," said the servant-girl as she again opened the door, "all the +carpet upstairs is gone, and somebody's took every wash-bowl and +pitcher and the looking-glasses and one of the mattresses and all the +clothes on the beds. + +"I will tell Durgenson to put a stop to that," said John. "I will +stand it no longer." + +When he inquired for Durgenson, the wife of that gentleman informed +him that her husband had gone uptown. + +"When will he be back?" asked John. + +"I can't tell anything about it," replied Mrs. Durgenson, rolling her +head to one side in a wearied manner. "I don't always ask him how +long he's going to stay." + +The red-headed servant-girl, who was sweeping, rolled a cloud of dust +into John's face and looked cunningly at her mistress, whose +countenance expressed approval of the act. John shifted his position +and said, "I would like to see him as soon as he comes. In the mean +time you will please leave the household articles in their present +places until the settlement of the estate." + +Mrs. Durgenson again tipped her head to one side, this time in +defiance. The servant once more turned her broom toward John, and, +suppressing a giggle, sent the dirt flying about him in profusion. + +"Oh," thought John, "we have met before." + +"Oblige me by telling Mr. Durgenson of my visit," he said, "and +inform him that I would like to see him at the earliest opportunity." + +"I ain't used to being a servant," said Mrs. Durgenson. "You'll have +to see him yourself. Jule, there's some dirt in that corner." + +"Yes," said Julia Wallace, filling the air with floating particles, +which she energetically directed for John's inhalation. + +"Good-morning," said John, passing through the door. + +Mrs. Durgenson and her servant exchanged glances and tittered, and, +when John had gone a few steps, burst into loud laughter. + +"The idea," said Mrs. Durgenson, purposely elevating her tone so that +it could be heard by her late visitor, "of a man of his birth telling +me what to do with my property that my uncle left me." + +The ill-feeling between the two households was shared by the +servant-girls, and by them less repressed than by their employers. +Usually servants have the human aversion to doing unnecessary work, +but in this case the general rule was inapplicable. Both Julia and +Mrs. Baldwin's Ellen were anxious to have the care of as large a +share of the house as possible. The south parlor, the hall and the +library were the most frequent occasions of rivalry. At the beginning +of the war the girl who entered the room first was allowed undisputed +possession until the renovation was completed. This tacit agreement +stimulated each hurriedly to wash the morning dishes in order first +to reach the contested field. Gradually they rose earlier. By Mrs. +Durgenson's permission Julia, leaving her breakfast dishes unwashed, +"stole a march" on the hated Ellen. Next morning the enterprising +Ellen, resolved not to be beaten, swept the room before another +individual in the house was astir. Slurs, innuendoes and directly +personal remarks began to be used frequently by both parties. + +Although Ellen had a considerable amount of fighting Irish blood, she +was not as aggressive as Julia, who seemed bent on precipitating a +quarrel. The encroachments on the rights of John and Mrs. Baldwin by +Wallace's promising daughter, who, in truth, had more spirit than her +father or her brother, were annoying in the extreme. She came to +Ellen's kitchen and helped herself to a panful of flour, saying that +the Durgenson supply was exhausted and she had as much right to this +as Ellen, because Mrs. Durgenson's uncle had bought it. She carried +away the entire stock of pear preserves, for Mrs. Durgenson liked +pear preserves, and not a single can had been provided her. She took +Ellen's good broom and left an old one in its place. The kitchen +where she worked had bad cracks in the floor, and no old stub could +dig them out. The chamber in the wing which Mrs. Baldwin had reserved +for the use of herself and John was steadily stripped of its +belongings. Fruit cans, dishes, bedding and pictures disappeared, +some secretly, some openly, into the rooms allotted to the +Durgensons. The crisis came when Julia called after a kettle which +Ellen had used since the beginning of her service. "I can't spare +that," said Ellen. "It's all the one I've got like it." "You can if +you have to, I guess," remarked Julia. "I've got to have it, because +the big kettle I use don't fit on the stove good." "You're a-getting +everything," said Ellen. "Don't you want the stove and my table?" +"Yes," replied Julia, "I'm a-going to have 'em before long, too, but +I shan't use the stove, because mine is better. You'll have to be +getting out of here before long. Mrs. Durgenson says so." "I guess I +shan't," screamed Ellen, grasping the kettle and putting it behind +her. "I'm a-going to stay right here. When you get Mr. Lehmann out of +this house, you'll know it." + +"I'll know it about next week," retorted Julia, bobbing her head +furiously and approaching Ellen, who backed away with the kettle. +"There ain't any Mr. Lehmann here. That's John Wrengell, and he's a +nobody. He stole a horse and got chased out of Break o'Day. He come +to see me once. I told him to keep right away, for I wouldn't have +anything to do with him,--the scurf o' the earth. I'd like to claw +him." "I don't believe it," returned Ellen. "He wouldn't look at you, +nor the likes of you, you great freckled thing. You've stole +everything you could get your hands on, and I know you'd lie, too." + +"You miserable Irish amount-to-nothing," cried Julia, advancing +toward her, "you want to shut right up. Hand me that kettle in a +hurry." + +"What is all this about?" asked Mrs. Baldwin, coming to the relief of +the frightened Ellen. + +"She won't let me have that kettle," said Julia, "and I'm a-going to +have it. I ain't got a big kettle that fits my cook-stove." + +"We cannot spare that kettle," said Mrs. Baldwin. "You must get along +the best way you can." + +"I ain't afraid of you both," said Julia. "Hand that kettle here." + +"Get out of this kitchen, or I will have you arrested," said John, +suddenly appearing. "You have taken things enough. I warn you not to +molest this part of the house." + +"Oh, you low-lived galoot," said Julia, as she took her departure, "I +guess I'm as respectable as the Wrengells. There never was a decent +one amongst you. I've heard all about your tribe, you son of a thief. +Mrs. Durgenson'll have you out of here in a week." "Durgenson has +avoided me for several days," said John to Mrs. Baldwin. "I must see +him and put a stop to these annoyances. I would rather talk to him +than to the women. They always get the advantage of me." As he was +passing the library in pursuance of his intention, he heard steps +inside. Peering in, he saw Mrs. Durgenson standing on a chair in the +act of tearing off the scraps which Mallard had pasted on the walls. +These clippings, which were very valuable to political and +biographical students, he prized especially because they had been +arranged by his grandfather's hand. Such a desecration of his +venerated ancestors memory filled John with indignation, and he was +quick to show his displeasure. + +"Mrs. Durgenson," he said, "I cannot allow that paper to be torn off. +It was pasted there by my grandfather, and there it must stay, at +least until the court decides against my claim." + +"Why, this is my house," said Mrs. Durgenson, beginning to cry. "It's +a pity if I can't do what I want to in my own house." As she spoke +she tore from the wall a strip of paper, which fell to the floor. + +"You must leave this room immediately," said John. + +"You'll get yourself into trouble," said the angry woman, sobbing +violently. "There'll be somebody after you. I'll tell Durgenson of +this, and he'll fight you. He can do it." + +"Tell him to come now," said John. "I will wait here in the library +for him." + +"Oh, Durgenson," wailed the wife, as she came into the presence of +her husband, "I've been insulted in my own house." + +"Who's been insulting you?" asked Durgenson. + +"It's that low-bred Wrengell," replied Mrs. Durgenson between her +sobs. "The library looks awful with those dirty papers on. I wanted +to tear 'em off and fix it decent. He--he wouldn't let me. Oh, +Durgenson will you let the wife of your bosom be insulted in her own +house?" + +"Now, wife of my bosom," said Durgenson, with a smile, "you get +insulted very easy. In the first place, you hadn't ought to have been +in there tearing off the paper, and in the next place, when he told +you to go, you ought to have gone without a word." + +"I never thought that of you, Durgenson," whimpered the wife. "You +take up sides with him." + +"Pshaw, now," said Durgenson, "if he had really insulted you, I would +whip that paper off the wall with him. But, if I should pound him +without any cause, it would hurt our claim to the estate. Just let me +tell you, Maggie. Let him work and have it his own way for a while. +What do we care if the paper stays on a week or two? And I wouldn't +have the girl snake away any more quilts or truck from their part of +the house." + +"I can't be so spiritless," said Mrs. Durgenson. "It ain't natural +for me. I can't bear to have that jail-bird around. Only think of it, +what a low descent! We know the pedigree of the Wrengells." + +"I'll admit all that," said Durgenson, lowering his voice, "but come +here, Maggie. This is confidential, you know. It mustn't be lisped, +even to the girl. We can get the start of him better to have him +think we're friendly. Between you and me, he's got strong testimony +to back his claim. No matter if it's false, it will count all the +same in law. There isn't any doubt in my mind but what he'll get it." + +"And we can't have Uncle George's property?" asked Mrs. Durgenson, +again beginning to cry. + +"Not unless we're lucky or mighty sharp," said Durgenson. "Don't cry +your eyes out, Maggie. Something may turn up for us yet. He may go +out in a rain-storm and catch his death of cold, or the cars may run +over him, or he may eat too many vegetables and get downed by the +colic." + +"I don't just want him to die," said Mrs. Durgenson. + +"No, nor I," said Durgenson, "but, if he does, we can't help it. We +didn't want your Uncle George to die. He did, though, and we wouldn't +have any objection to taking the property. Our chances are a good +deal better if we can stay right here. So, you see, we better not +quarrel with him, not stir him up to push his claim very fast." + +"He said he wanted to see you in the library," said Mrs. Durgenson. + +"I'd better go, too," said Durgenson. "I'll smooth matters over. And, +Maggie, tell Jule not to quarrel any more with that girl in the south +part. She'll be scratching her eyes out the next thing we hear." + +"Durgenson, I have been wishing to see you for a week," was John's +greeting, "For some reason you have avoided me." + +"Oh, no, not a bit of it," said the cattle-buyer, stroking his +well-trimmed beard with what seemed the essence of good-nature, "What +can I do for you?" + +"Keep your wife and your servant in your own part of the house," said +John, "They come to this part and take everything they can find. I +have endured it for a long time, because I disliked to speak to them +about the matter and you have kept out of my way. I have stood it as +long as I will." + +"I'm sorry about that," said Durgenson. "It must be the girl. The +women, you know, have got to sputter around and quarrel anyway. We +hadn't ought to mind them. You and I can't afford to have a falling +out just because the women don't agree." + +"That talk sounds very well," replied John, "It does not, however, +make up for the loss of household articles which are necessities." + +"What have you missed?" inquired Durgenson. + +"Too many things for enumeration," replied John. "Never mind what has +been taken. If the evil is stopped now, I shall be satisfied." + +"But I shan't be satisfied," said Durgenson. "Make out a list of what +is missing, and I will bring them back, or pay you for them." + +"I will take no pay for them," said John, ashamed that he had spoken +harshly to a man who was so willing to rectify a wrong which he did +not perpetrate. + +"Yes," said Durgenson, "that is no more than square. Now, Wrengell, +or Lehmann (excuse me, I didn't think), why don't you lock up these +rooms? You know what women folks are. It may bother me to keep them +within bounds." + +"The keys are missing," replied John. "We have not seen them since +last Tuesday." + +"I wonder if that Jule has got them," remarked Durgenson. "I saw some +keys hanging up in the sitting-room. Stay here a minute till I look." +He very shortly returned with a bunch of keys. + +"Those are the ones," said John. "Keep those which belong to your +part of the house." + +"I don't care anything about them," said Durgenson. + +"I was thinking about your claim to-day. It looks plausible enough, +so that it may make us a good deal of trouble. That Dabney would +swear to a lie as quick as he'd yarn it about his salves and dopes. +What will you take for your interest here, Lehmann?" + +"I do not care to dispose of it," replied John. "I had rather have my +honorable lineage acknowledged than to possess all the real estate in +Lansing without the respectable lineage. If I sell out, it will look +like a confession that I am an impostor." + +"What will you give us for our interest?" asked Durgenson. "A lawsuit +would be apt to eat a hole in what Uncle George earned." + +"I will not give very much," answered John, "not more than five +thousand dollars." + +"That is pretty small," said Durgenson, "considering the amount of +the property. Give me a little time to think it over, Lehmann." + +Durgenson, seemingly in the best of humor, went to his sitting-room. +Half an hour after their conversation John was passing through the +hall when he heard a strange voice saying in the adjacent parlor, +"There's no use of being worried about this matter, Mrs. Durgenson. +It's my duty to take him with me and I shall have to. If I could help +it, I would." + +"Oh, Durgenson," wailed the wife, "you're going to leave your Maggie! +Oh, Durgenson, dear, when will you be back?" + +"Before a great while," responded Durgenson cheeringly. "I haven't +hired anybody to steal horses. Some thieves killed a man in Illinois +when he tried to stop them from taking his horse. I'm not responsible +for it, and I can prove it. Can I speak a minute with my wife?" + +"Talk away," said the officer, for the man was, indeed, a minion of +the law. "Go to that side of the room if you want to, but I can't let +you go out of my sight." + +The reader, if he chooses, may peruse the whispered consultation, +which was unintelligible to the officer and to John. + +"Maggie," said Durgenson, "Lehmann has got us foul. He'll have this +estate as sure as we're standing here. He has offered us five +thousand to give up our claim. It isn't much, but you had better take +it." + +"We ought to see if we can't get something more," said Mrs. +Durgenson. + +"No," said Durgenson; "if we do, some disagreeable things will be +brought up in court. We will lose the five thousand dollars and pay +out besides. I did play sharp with him when he was a kid, Maggie, and +we don't want it talked about much. Sign off your interest for what +he offers." + +"I'll have to interrupt you," said the officer. "Come on." + +"Hadn't you better stay to dinner?" asked Durgenson. "We'll have it +ready in a little while." + +"No," said the officer, "I can't wait at all. It's nearly time for +the train. Get on your hat now." + +"Oh, don't take him! Don't take my Hiram!" pleaded Mrs. Durgenson, +throwing her arms about her husband. "I can't live without him." + +"Oh, yes, you can," said the officer, motioning Durgenson to go with +him. "You'll flourish all right." + +With many tears and apostrophic declarations of love Mrs. Durgenson +bade farewell to her husband, who, in apparently good spirits, set +out for Chicago to face the charge which had been brought against +him. + +Mrs. Baldwin was rejoiced at the removal of the great danger which, +she said, had threatened them. She was not afraid of poison when +Durgenson was in jail. Mrs. Durgenson, accepting her husband's +advice, signed away her interest in the property for the five +thousand dollars which was offered her. At her departure she took +away large quantities of household goods as souvenirs of her Uncle +George. + +In a short time John was in undisputed possession of the Mallard +estate. He longed to hear specific news from the Ratke neighborhood. +The several letters which he addressed to Manie were signed John and +brought him no answer. He did not reflect that his correspondent +might be ignorant or forgetful of the recent change in his name. + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. +VERDURE RISING FROM THE ASHES. + +The day following the frustrated attempt at suicide in the blacksmith +shop Ratke relapsed into his accustomed reticence. He was too weak +and lame for bodily labor and too much dejected to talk. "The +senility of age is upon me," he said, when Manie had asked him to +perfect the churn, the invention of which he had contemplated before +the loss of his property. + +It was not until the next morning that he regained anything like the +cheerfulness which had been once his habitual mood. As he walked +through the small enclosure which had served the blacksmith as a +garden, he saw a maple tree, some of whose leaves the frosts of fall +had dyed with red, "In the midst of certain evils," he mused, "the +human family is like the leaves of that tree; the more prominent ones +are first touched by the frost of misfortune. Phleet Takum, the +Wallaces and my hired men are all proof against what I have +suffered." The reflection, mournful as it was, consoled him greatly, +for it proved that his habit of philosophical thought, which he had +believed dead, had only slept. He remembered the prospect of which +Manie had spoken, that he and she together could pursue the studies +which he loved. He felt that his powers were returning to him, and +that it would be a delight once more to apply them where Nature had +amplified their scope. + +He went slowly back to the house. The open door revealed the figure +of a man who was sitting in a rocking-chair. + +"John," said the major, cordially greeting his former hired man, "how +did you come?" "I drove out with my team," replied John. + +"I thought you had forgotten us since you met with your good +fortune," said the major. + +"No," replied John, "I have thought of you every day, Major. I have +had a great deal of business to attend to, or I should have been here +sooner. Would you like to take a ride with me? I mean all of you." + +"I do not care for pleasure now," said the major sadly. "I shall +never be myself again, John. Bitterness is my portion the remainder +of my days. Still, I will go with you." + +"I'd like a ride," said Mrs. Grippin. "I've had to foot it ever since +we lived here. Where is your team?" + +"Behind the blacksmith shop," replied John. + +"What in the world!" exclaimed Mrs. Grippin, as they came around the +corner of the shop. + +Her exclamation was caused by a perfect model of the New Jerusalem, +before which stood the major's favorite team, Taylor and Bill. The +major said not a word. He eyed with admiration the New Jerusalem, its +spotless paint, the make of its wheels and its superior ironing. One +after another, he picked up the wheels and revolved them. A single +noticeable attribute of the old vehicle was missing, the wailing +squeak of the left hind wheel. The major went to the horses' heads. +He patted alternately the noses of Taylor and Bill. He went back to +the wagon, lifted the wheels, examined the irons and returned to the +noses of the team. His actions were like those of a small boy who +hardly knows on which of several attractions to bestow his notice. + +"I beg of you to accept the team and wagon," said John. "I wish to +make a slight present to the old friend who gave me the first social +recognition I ever knew." + +The major turned his back to the group and stood silent for a moment. + +"Come, James," said Mrs. Grippin sharply, "we're waiting for a ride." + +Ratke, clambering into the front box, at John's request took the +lines. + +"Where did you get this wagon?" asked Mrs. Grippin. + +"I got the model of Phelps," replied John, "and had it made in +Jackson." + +"There's that patent-medicine man," said Mrs. Grippin, who had been +prevented by her low position from sooner observing the pedestrian. + +"You are just the man I want to see, Major," said Panicky as Ratke +stopped. "No, drive right along, I'll climb in behind. Why, Lehmann," +he exclaimed, seating himself on the end-board, "you're out here, are +you? You can't tell who's who when you're ahead of this kind of a +wagon. I never saw one like it before. What kind of a thing is it?" + +"It is a wagon," said John, "a new kind." + +"Gosh!" remarked Panicky, "I should think it was a new kind. Where +did you get the concern?" + +"Sir," said the major, turning suddenly around, "I am the inventor of +this wagon." + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," stammered Panicky. "It's a blamed nice thing +and I know it. Anybody with half an eye can see that. Is your health +pretty good, Mrs. Grippin?" he inquired at the end of an embarrassing +lull in the conversation. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Grippin, "I don't want to buy any medicine." + +"Oh, I wasn't thinking about that," Panicky protested. "It has been a +very sickly time and my stock of medicine is almost out. I can't +spare any except in extreme cases. There's fever and ague and +summer-complaint and hay-fever, all running at once. It's, 'Dabney, I +want some panacea,' 'Dabney, give me another bottle of that,' +'Dabney, my family's lost without the panacea.' Yesterday a man that +had cut his thumb threatened to prosecute me. I told him there was +others that needed it worse than he did." + +"What's the use of lying so?" said Mrs. Grippin in disgust. + +There was a sound of rapid steps over the hard road which stretched +toward the church, and Sparks, with his recovered Madge T., drove +alongside the New Jerusalem. Without slackening his speed he looked +at Ratke, wondering how in his poverty he could again drive his queer +equipage. + +"Bought 'em back, have you, Major?" he called, as he whisked +triumphantly by. + +"Charge!" cried the major. + +The horses, remembering their education, instantly sprang forward. +Ratke maintained his balance, Mrs. Grippin, Manie and John were +thrown to the bottom of the respective boxes which they occupied, +while Panicky was precipitated on his head in a puddle of water, with +his heels pointing upward and his satchels following him in his +descent. The gray Bill ran as usual, but Taylor after the first jump +surprised Ratke by settling down to a trot which brought him steadily +nearer the wheel of Sparks's sulky. + +"By George!" cried the major, in great excitement, rising to his feet +and with his whip extended, standing like a picture of an ancient +warrior on a chariot brandishing a spear, "Look at him throw out his +forefeet! Here's the race you wanted, Sparks. Look out, I'm going +by!" he yelled as Madge T., seeing that she was losing ground, raised +both her forefeet in the air at once. "Where's your fine-blooded +Madge? What do you think of Wellington stock now, Sparks?" + +Ratke was still erect and still swinging his whip. His hat had blown +off, and his hair, which was several inches long, stood out +horizontally in the rush of air occasioned by their speed. Madge's +break hastened her defeat, which, had she maintained her practiced +gait, she could not have avoided; and her nose was in a short time +behind the rear box of Ratke's wagon. + +"James," screamed Mrs. Grippin, clutching the box, "you act crazy. +Quit your driving so fast!" + +"All right, Maria. Shall I let him go by?" said Ratke, who knew that +Mrs. Grippin would be as averse as he to the triumph of Sparks. + +"Oh, do just as you want to," replied Mrs. Grippin in a resigned +manner, "You will any way." + +"Step along there, Taylor!" sang the major with another flourish of +his whip. "Get down to it, boy! Steady now." + +"Let us stop here," said John, as they neared Ratke's old homestead. + +Sparks was walking his horse that he might not seem to be an +unsuccessful contestant of the race. Panicky mudded and disconsolate, +was with his satchels trudging along in the rear. + +The owner of the farm evidently had a desire, to bring it as near as +possible to its former aspect, for the buildings were constructed +after the model of those which were burned. The three barns partly +enclosed the same rectangle, which was completed by the connecting +fence, but the cock on the central one was smaller, and his comb less +prominent. No change was visible in the tool-house. Aside from the +newness of its green paint, the club-house, which, surmounted by a +cupola, was particularly neat, had sustained but one noticeable +alteration, the ornamentation and protection by a triple-pointed, +instead of a single-pointed, lightning-rod. The Gothic house with its +three sharp gables was as of old, except that it looked as if it had +been immersed in the fountain of youth, which had given it new +shingles, new chimneys and door-knobs, had brightened the exterior of +its walls and covered its paintless spots. The saddest and only +irremediable injury which had been wrought was among the spruce +trees, the shriveled and blackened branches of which were mournful +reminders of the once thrifty grove. Those nearest the house were +limbless. Those farther on had dusky, bare arms. Still nearer the +road were the leaves which had been left and which varied in color +from reddish-brown to green, according to their distance from the +flames by which they had been scorched. Through the desolation the +house showed with a distinctness, which brought vividly to the minds +of those who had frequented the place the catastrophe so destructive +to its luxuriant screen. + +"Are you going into the yard?" asked Ratke. + +"Yes," answered John, "we may as well look around." + +In advance of the Ratkes, he went up the steps, unlocked the +sitting-room door and opened it. + +"I would not do that," protested the major. "Gower would not like it, +if he knew it, I heard Durgenson had sold it to him." + +"I have his permission to go through the house," said John. + +The major hesitated no longer. "He has been in Jackson these dozen +years. I hardly thought he would want to live here. Let us go into +the parlor." + +In the parlor were four bookcases closely resembling those the loss +of which the major had sustained, and they, held many of the works +which it had been his wont to study. He could not resist opening them +and examining their contents. + +"Here is a Tractacus de Veritate," he cried. "I never saw but two +copies of it before. One of them your grandfather had," He busied +himself with the book, while Mrs. Grippin was in another part of the +house and John and Manie, sitting on the sofa, conversed in low +tones. + +"I can disprove that line of argument," he said, putting down the +open volume, "Lord Herbert has made it very easy for his guard to be +beaten, down in that passage." + +"I have a paper for you to examine," said John, extending a document, +which the major seized. The paper was the deed which Ratke had given +Durgenson of his farm. The major read it, put it into his pocket and +walked out of doors. + +"How is that?" asked Mrs. Grippin, who had looked over her brother's +shoulder. "How did you get that deed?" + +"The major has not yet lost his place," replied John. + +"The bond and deed were only a continuation of the mortgage. I paid +Durgenson the indebtedness and he gave me the deed. He had made a +verbal agreement with Mr. Gower to sell the place at the expiration +of the year allowed by the law for redemption. But he could not give +a deed until after the sheriff's sale of the property. I acquainted +Mr. Gower with the circumstances, and I induced him to have these +buildings erected at my expense. I was confident that the major would +not prosecute me for trespass. The bond and deed are not commonly +well understood. I consulted Fellows, the best lawyer in Lansing, and +he told me that many a man who had given a deed and taken a bond had +lost his property, because he did not understand that those legal +instruments are but extensions of mortgages." + +When the major returned, he was whittling some pieces of pine. + +"I have the plan of it, Manie," he said, "a plan which must be +successful." + +"A plan of what?" asked Manie. + +"Why, of the churn, to be sure," said Ratke, "What did you think I +meant? You see the dasher is fixed so as to revolve. Loose as it is, +it will turn, of course, in the direction which offers the least +resistance; and the twisting shape of the paddles makes it incline +downward and to one side when a downward stroke is given, and upward +and to one side when an upward stroke is given. As it goes downward, +the cream is whirled one way; as it goes upward, it is whirled the +other way. This gives an alternate rotary motion, all the benefits of +the swing churn without the tedious labor of working it. The quick +change in the circular motion is of special advantage. The +preservation of the butter grain and its speedy gathering is a +combination of results which will make my chum ahead of anything yet +invented." + +After the delivery of this speech the major went into the front yard, +proceeded to the rear of the house and directed his steps toward the +grubs. At the left Daggett and Brown were husking corn with the +utmost speed. Archer, apparently forsaken by his habit of laziness, +was maintaining a still swifter gait. Steady Jack Sheppard, who never +hurried, who never failed to do a good day's work, was throwing out +the ears at a uniform rate without looking up, to the right, or to +the left. + +The major sought the seclusion of the grubs, where he sat on a +decayed log, meditating on the recent change in his mood from +suicidal despair to joyous serenity. In his possession were the +two-and-one-half sections, the fields, woods and swamp which had been +dear to him in the prime of manhood and were dearer yet in his old +age. As he stepped from the grubs, how complete seemed the +restoration of his fortunes. The view, save the min of the trees, was +as it had been. In the swamp, much of which had been protected by +standing water or the dampness of the ground, the course of the fire +was plainly marked. Ratke looked with such satisfaction as he never +had previously felt in the contemplation of his estate, on the brown +woods, the shocked corn, and the new wheat, which was thick and +promising. Jake was husking corn exactly as he had been when Ratke +entered the grubs. Daggett and Brown were still energetically +working. Archer's hands, however, were moving very slowly, and he was +beginning a monotonous chant: + +"Oh, horrible it is to relate, +The tale I have to tell, +About the cruel and hard fate. +That a young maid befell." + +A noisy barking and yelping fell on Ratke's ear. Philetus was dogging +away from the vicinity of his house a herd of cattle, among which +were surely several former tenants of the place. + +"How natural that seems," thought the major. "He must stay, for it +would not seem like the old farm without him." + +The clanging of the upright saw, elicited by the vigorous hammering +of Mrs. Grippin, announced that dinner was ready. Archer, Brown and +Daggett came to the house together, Daggett joking in his usual way, +while Jake followed them. At dinner it was plain to the major that +two things to complete the restoration of the ancient state of +affairs were lacking, the coarse repartee of the hands, who, as they +entered the house, ceased their boisterous remarks, and the sharp +criticism of Mrs. Grippin, who would not gratify him by a caustic +speech. He wished that Daggett would anger her by a joke, or that +Archer would fire her wrath by digging an ugly hollow in the butter, +but neither hope was realized. + +After dinner Ratke sauntered to the tool-house, where he found the +New Jerusalem, his one-man saw and a large quantity of irons. He +wondered where such a variety of old wheels, bars, pinions and cranks +had been collected. + +When he returned to the house and entered the parlor, John, who had +been sitting on the sofa with Manie, moved suddenly away from her. + +"It has been my misfortune," said the major, "to destroy one of +Nature's forces." + +"Is that so?" asked John, "How can you destroy a force in Nature?" + +"I misspoke myself," said Ratke. "I merely changed its application." + +"How did you change its application?" inquired John. + +"Gravity decreases," said the major, "as the square of the distance +increases. The absolute force of a center of attraction is the +intensity of force of attraction at a point multiplied by the square +of the distance, which equals L cube divided by T square. When I came +into this room, you were so close to Manie that the distance between +you was incalculable. Now you are at least a yard away from her." + + +CHAPTER XXXV. +STRAY LOCALS. + +Of the six correspondents who contribute to the "Sharptown Sun," an +influential paper with a circulation of more than 500 copies, I am by +the editor considered second in merit. He told me confidentially +that, although perhaps two of my brother scribes excel me in style, +not one of them has as keen an instinct for news as I. This +indisputable excellence in newspaper work, an excellence which is +shown by my connection with the Sun for three years, induces me to +arrange some of the latter part of this history in the form of a +correspondence. + +Alf Boyle was killed while resisting the officers who were sent to +arrest him. + +Mrs. Boyle, refusing to change her place of abode, continued her +ministrations from her home in the wood. Sick people, needy children +and her sabbath-school class received her special attention. + +Hiram B. Durgenson will not again defraud the farmers. He was +convicted of being accessory to the murder of William Boyce, an +Illinois farmer, and sentenced to the Joliet prison, where, two years +later, he died. + +A watch was placed on Julia Wallace's movements. She was observed to +take water to the barn at night. Her watchers, concealing themselves +in the mow, saw her open a trap-door covered with hay and descend to +the excavation which had been made in the spring. With a lantern, +which they procured after her departure, they explored the +underground stable. At first they thought they had discovered the +recently-stolen horse, but a nearer approach showed them that this +one was light, and the one for which they were looking had been dark. +The next day, summoning a crowd, they returned to the barn. The +victim of the late theft said that in size and form this animal was +exactly like his Prince, but Prince was not of a dirty mouse color. A +peculiar whinny and a pawing of the beast for grain settled his doubt +at once. He was quite certain that the lost was found. In the stable +where a huge rubber blanket, some bottles and papers containing +chemicals, and a kettle in which some substance had been burned. The +riddle was laid before some doctors and druggists, who declared it to +be their belief that the horse had been covered with the rubber +blanket, the chemicals burned under him and his color changed by the +imprisoned smoke. A jury decided that Wallace and Ab were guilty of +horse-stealing, but Julia was allowed to go unmolested. + +Nora's grief over the fate of Montcalm, though sincere, was not of +very great duration. In one of her visits to her Michigan relatives +she met Fred Loomis, whose attentions she received and whom she +subsequently wedded. + +Ratke's men, who believed they had contributed to his great disaster, +which was now repaired, worked with tolerable faithfulness, but Brown +and Archer would occasionally shirk duty. The major's churn, to the +astonishment of every one except the philosopher, proved a success. +Its proceeds enabled him to repay John for the liquidation of the +mortgage, an act which, in the face of the most vehement protests, he +insisted on performing. + +An evangelist came to Break o'Day, and Philetus Takum was converted. +Philetus remained a devotee of his faith, until Lyman Sparks procured +a superior breed of cochins with immense thighs and full breasts, +when he yielded to the tempter. He was one of those who received the +word on stony ground. + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. +IN THE ORCHARD AGAIN. + +Among the many advantages which fiction, history and recollection +have over present reality one is that they make time their servant, I +have in a few paragraphs sketched events which were several years in +occurring; and I have purposely omitted many details, the narration +of which would have been laborious to me and the perusal of which +would have been tedious to the reader. It was in October that Ratke +regained possession of his farm. It was in the following May that the +closing scenes of my story occurred. + +The warm spring night was a continuation of twilight. There was mirth +in the club-house, from which at intervals came the sound of dancing +and of a violin. All the hired men of the previous year were there, +for they were fond of frequent reunions. Daggett, whose zest for +practical jokes seemed unbounded, had inherited from his grandfather +a silk tile, which was very tall and very old. This worn-out hat he +had by using much flattery sold to Archer and had induced him to wear +it to Break o'Day, where it and its owner were greeted with yells of +derision. The defrauded purchaser on his return discovered that ink +had been secreted in the lining in such a manner that it had dripped +down and streaked his face with red. Daggett was saved from a +chastisement by the interference of the men, who had much trouble in +holding the infuriated Archer. + +The major was in the tool-house whittling, tinkering and +philosophizing to his heart's content. He had removed his coat and +vest and his face was animated with interest. On the floor were many +pieces of newly whittled wood and many cast irons. He was holding in +an upright position an S-shaped bar about his own height, which he +was giving the last few touches with his jack-knife "This will +greatly increase the modulus of the machine," remarked the old man to +himself, as he surveyed his work. "This saves the use of one wheel +and cog. Unless I am mistaken, it will strike the bar exactly on the +center of percussion." + +John and Manie, who had been married the preceding winter, and who +lived at Lansing, were sitting in the parlor of the new dwelling, +with their chairs touching each other and Manie's hand resting on his +shoulder. The door leading to the sitting-room was opened by Mrs. +Grippin, who thrust her head inside the parlor. + +"Why don't you folks have a light?" she said sharply. "Sitting there +in the dark when there ain't any need of it, just as though we didn't +have money enough to buy kerosene." + +"We have thought nothing about the light," replied John. + +"Just as you like," said Mrs. Grippin, as she closed the door. "Set +in the dark like heathens if you want to. Some folks are so funny +about such things." + +"How little we are talking," remarked John. "Do you not feel lonely +in so dull society?" + +"No, not in the least," answered Manie. "I am never lonely except +when I am with one whom I wish to entertain, but who has no concern +for things in which I am interested. Left without interruption to my +own reflections, I am quite capable of self-entertainment." + +"My tongue has been inactive to-night," said John, "but my thoughts +have been busy. I have been thinking of last summer when I sat in +this room, or its counterpart, and conducted a suit which, to tell +the truth, I had no reasonable chance to win." + +"So you call those visits a courtship, do you?" asked Manie, with a +smile which the darkness concealed, though it could not hide the +raillery expressed in her voice and words. "Your main care seemed to +be to keep me from knowing your real sentiments, but I readily +guessed them from the first in spite of all your precautions." + +"Yes," admitted John, "I was afraid to make known my longing. While I +was in uncertainty, I had hope; but I did not know how unhappy I +might be when doubt was dispelled. My sex frequently offends by an +excess of presumption." + +"The most frequent offenses," replied Manie, "are caused by a lack of +presumption, although the grossest are caused by its excess." + +"That is a strange and questionable theory," replied John. + +"Do you think so?" said Manie. "I know a dozen young men who are kept +by timidity from enjoying the society of ladies whom they admire. +Their addresses, which would be welcomed, are long deferred. They +worship at a distance; and by and by, when they summon up their +laggard courage and are repulsed, they do not mistrust that their +offers are declined only because they are proffered too late. The +ladies, whose attractions are appreciated by other admirers, look +with scorn on the tardy advances." + +"Now, my little philosopher," said John, "you are, as ever, +argumentative. To-night I am too happy for controversy. I feel like +dreaming rather than arguing. Come into the orchard with me, Manie." + +Silently they passed to the orchard. The sky was almost cloudless and +was brilliantly lighted by its thousand lamps. They seated themselves +at the foot of a tree and reclined against its trunk. It was with a +feeling of security that Manie let her head drop on his shoulder. As +far as man could love, as far as man could cherish, as far as man +could protect, he would "love, cherish and protect." She had given +him her heart when he was poor in money and in position. Now the poor +had become rich, the despised had become honored, the weak had become +strong. + +They looked long at the fragments of apple-blossoms which were +dropping in the moonlight. One other May they had been in that +orchard, aye, under that very tree, and had marked the beauty of the +sight, a beauty enhanced by the manifold augmentation of fancy. How +vividly they remembered that Sabbath morning. Nor could they forget +that night when, almost in the same place, in the net-work of +moonbeams which came between the apple limbs, they had uttered their +first words of love. + +"At one time," said John, "I was nearly convinced of the vanity of +all aspirations. I thought that happiness, if it comes, must be a +surprise, that whatever felicity is anticipated is sure to be kept +from us. Now I know that I was wrong. I dreamed of the bliss which I +should enjoy when I had won you, and I have realized it a +thousand-fold. Now, Manie, you must not dispute me this time. I do +not wish you to prove that I have had no enjoyment." + +THE END. + + +[Transcriber's Notes] + +This work was scanned and processed with optical character +recognition (OCR) by Google. However, there was much to fix before it +could be a proper e-book. For instance, stray characters, incorrect +characters, hyphens to be removed, entire pages missing or gibberish. +This repair work was completed and the book released through the +Gutenberg Project by Nathan Hartley. Nathan performed this work in +honor of his Great-Great-Great-Grandfather George Washington Holland +Jr., from whom these stories are believed to have originated. + +From "An Account of Ingham County From Its Organization" by Frank +Turner, George Fuller and Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society. +http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/ARH7656.0001.001/292 "G. W. +Holland was historian and poet laureate of Bunkerhill and other +townships where he resided for forty years. After 1876 he became the +regular correspondent of the Ingham County Democrat and News, the +Leslie Local, Stockbridge Sun and Lansing Sentinel. He was justice of +the peace for twenty-two years, so could write from his court docket +all kinds of stories. His pen name was "Rough and Ready," and he +edited a set of stories about White Oak and Leroy townships, +"Chronicles of Break o'Day." These were revised and made into a book +by E. Everett Howe that had quite a sale. Four editions were +published by Robert Smith Printing company." + +[End Transcriber's Notes] + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79241 *** |