“Well, have you slept enough?” he asked.
“I could rest longer,” I said, “but it is not my habit to sleep much after the sun is first up in the morning.”
“Morning,” he laughed. “Why, man, ’tis long past noon now. I would not let them disturb you, though many were clamoring for a look at the hero of the occasion.”
“Enough,” I said. “I had much rather have a breakfast than pose as a hero, which I am not.”
“Breakfast in the afternoon?”
“Are you jesting?”
“Look at the sun,” was his reply.
I glanced from a window. It was half way down in the west. I had slept nearly eighteen hours.
“We will soon have supper,” went on the Captain. “Meanwhile I’ll let you know how matters stand.”
Scouts2 had been sent out, he said, and, for miles around had found no trace of Indians, save the dead ones. One wounded savage3 had been brought in. With what little 307English he had, he told how the war party had fled to the four winds. They had been given a severe lesson, he said, and one that would put an end to Indian uprisings in New Jersey4 for many years.
Men had been set at work burying the bodies. Others were rebuilding the stockade5, and some were detailed6 to lay to rest our dead.
Many families, who lived near by, had gone back to their homes, to begin life where they had left off when the Indians came. Wagons7 laden8 with household goods were leaving the fort. Only a few farmhouses9 had been burned by the savages10.
“I am writing to Governor Phips,” said Carteret, “to tell him you are here, and send him back the warrant for witchcraft11, which is of no use, since he has pardoned you. That was a marvelous tale you told, of the days in Salem.”
“Do not recall them,” I begged. “They were days of sorrow and peril13.”
“Lieutenant Jenkins is about to sail for Boston in a few days,” went on the Captain, “and he will take this missive to Sir William Phips. So that matter is ended.”
“What of Simon?”
“I have not seen him since that time we were all in the room together,” said Carteret, “but he is doubtless about somewhere. He will probably want to leave this place now. If you wish I will offer him passage to Boston with Master Jenkins. He can join his friends there.”
308“I think I should like that,” I replied. “For, somehow, I am not at ease while he is about, particularly as Mistress Lucille is here.”
“Then he goes to Boston, friend Amherst.”
The Captain and I fell to talking of the future. Supper was served ere we had finished, and we continued over the meal. He asked me if I would not like to settle in Elizabeth.
“Or there is a little town, called Newark, on the Passaic River,” he added, “not far from here. That is a pleasant place, I am told. The Indians, I hear, are most kind and trustworthy, as they were here before this uprising, trading with the settlers in land and furs, greatly to the advantage of the town folk. You might like it there.”
“I will make no plans until I have talked with Mistress Lucille,” I replied.
“That reminds me,” exclaimed Carteret. “She sent in three times, while you were asleep, to have me let her know the instant you were awake. I forgot all about it.”
I did not stay to eat more, when I heard that. I found Lucille sitting alone in the doorway14 of the women’s room, looking at the men repairing the stockade.
“It seemed as if you were never coming,” she said, when I had greeted her. “Captain Carteret would not let me see you. But never mind, you are with me now,” and she blushed at her boldness.
“I wanted to talk to you, Edward, and see if you had 309made any plans for the future,” went on Lucille, after a pause. “Have you thought that our coming here was an accident, and that I can scarce go traveling about with you as if--as if----”
Her face crimsoned15 again.
“Aye, we are like strangers in a strange land,” I said bitterly, for now that the strain of battle was over, I saw the plight16 in which we were; myself penniless.
“I have the clothes I stand in,” I added.
“Nothing more?” asked Lucille, softly.
“My sword,” I answered, not looking up, for my mind was busy.
“No more?”
“My horse.”
“No more?”
Her voice went so strange that I looked at her. Her eyes were dim with tears.
“Forgive, me, sweetheart,” I cried, clasping her close to me. “I have you, and, with you, more than all the world.”
“You were near to forgetting your great wealth,” she said, mockingly, while she struggled to free herself. “Perchance ’tis of little value, after all.”
“Nay17, sweet,” I replied. “’Tis so great that I wonder at myself for possessing it.”
“Yet you thought of your sword first.”
“Forgive me.”
“And then your horse.”
310“Will you not forgive?”
“And of me last,” she persisted, trying to escape from my arms.
“It was because with them I won you,” I whispered.
“I shall be jealous of your sword.”
“No more,” I cried, drawing it from the scabbard. “’Tis a pretty piece of steel, but, if it should come between us, see----”
I raised it high in the air, my hands on either end.
“I’ll snap it in twain.”
I brought the weapon half way down, as though I would break it across my knee.
“Nay! Nay! Edward!” she exclaimed, catching18 my arm. “I did but jest. Put it up. There is need of a sword in this land.”
I sheathed19 my blade, sitting down beside Lucille.
“Seriously, now, what is to become of me?” she asked.
“Why,” I answered, as gaily20 as I could, “since you are mine, you must follow my poor fortunes, it would seem; that is, if you are willing to follow one who has but----”
“But his sword,” she broke in, smiling at me.
“Nay, I had not finished. But his love, his sword, his horse, and the clothes on his back.”
“Except for my love, I am even poorer than that,” confessed Lucille, “unless I could go back to Salem, and that I will not. There was some little money that my father left, but it was nearly spent. I have no sword, no horse, and only this poor sea-stained dress.”
311“Yet in it I would rather have you than the most richly robed lady in all the world,” I cried.
“Come,” I went on, “we are betrothed21,” and I took her by the hand. “Let us go to the good dominie here, ask him to join us in wedlock22, then we may seek our fortune as man and wife.”
“What? Wed23 in this frock?” Lucille looked at it as if it was all rags, but indeed it was a pretty dress.
“What matters the gown?” I asked.
“Why, I would be the laughing stock of the Colony if I plighted24 my troth in this,” responded Lucille. “We must wait until I can get some new garments.”
“From where?”
Then we both laughed, for, between us we had not so much as a shilling, I having spent my last on my journey. The laugh did us good, and we felt brighter after it.
While we were talking Captain Carteret passed. He was not going to stop, but I called to him.
“What now?” he asked.
“We were talking of the future, Lucille and I. We are betrothed, as you know, Carteret, and I have just urged her to come with me to the dominie’s.”
“Surely,” he exclaimed. “That would be fine. We could trim up the block house, and have a regular wedding feast. Mistress Carteret would be glad to help, for there has been very little merrymaking, of late, and a wedding would be the very thing to take the gloom away. When can it be? Next week, or the week after.”
312“Next week!” cried Lucille, with such an accent of horror in her voice that Carteret and I had to laugh.
“Why, you see, Captain,” I went on, never heeding25 Lucille’s sly punches in my ribs26, “she says she has no clothes; a woman’s ever ready excuse. Her gowns were left behind in Salem town. She will not be wed in the garments which were drenched27 by the sea. So, I fear, we must wait until I can raise a few pounds, and then----”
But Lucille, with a reproachful glance at me, ran away, leaving the Captain and I alone.
“I marvel12 at you,” said Carteret.
“Why?”
“Talking of raising a few pounds. There is not a man in the Colony, myself included, who would not be glad to give you----”
I stopped him with a look.
“Tut, tut, man, do not go off half-cocked, I was not going to offer you charity. But if I can put you in the way to get a position that pays----”
“My everlasting28 thanks are yours,” I interrupted.
“I am about to resign the command of the forces here,” Carteret went on, “for my brother, the Governor, has some plans afoot, and needs my aid elsewhere. I have talked with the men, and they all agree that, after I left, they would have no other captain than yourself. The pay is not large, for the Colony is young yet, but you and Mistress Lucille could live in such comfort as there is here, on it. What say you? Will you take it?”
313I could not answer at first. It seemed almost too good to be true. After all our troubles to find a haven29 at last, and one that promised so much.
“Carteret,” I began, brokenly, “I cannot thank you enough. I----” but there was something in my voice that would not let me go on.
“Then do not try,” he said, cheerfully. “I know how you feel. I will carry your answer to the men. They are waiting for it. The sooner I turn the command of the Colony over to you, the quicker I can get away. Is it yes or no?”
“Yes, with all my heart,” I said, giving him my hand, and there was a lump as big as an egg in my throat.
Carteret turned away, while I hastened to find Lucille and tell her the good news. She could have her wedding gown now, I told myself.
She was not in the room with the other women. It was getting dusk, and I hastened through many apartments in search of her. Once or twice I called her name, but there was no answer. I went out of the block. Near the door I confronted Simon. His face was so pale that I was startled.
“What is the matter, man? Are you ill?” I asked.
“No,” he answered, huskily. “I am not sick. I was thinking of Sir George. I am without a master now.”
“I hear you are to leave us, Simon,” I said.
“Yes,” he replied, “Captain Carteret has been kind 314enough to get me passage to Boston. Thence I can sail for England, to Sir George’s kinfolk.”
“Well, a pleasant voyage,” I called, as I was about to pass on.
“Wait,” he said, thickly.
I turned around.
“Captain Amherst,” he began, “you have much reason to hate me.”
“Oh, that is past and gone,” I responded, as heartily30 as I could, for I did not like the man, and indeed, though he only acted for another, he was a bitter foe31.
“Perhaps I should not have done what I did,” he went on, “but Sir George swore me to an oath.”
“’Tis past,” I said. “You only served your master.”
“Then you forgive me?”
“Aye, surely,” I murmured, impatient to be away and find Lucille.
Simon came toward me, holding out his hand. I marked that it was his left, but I was too hurried to give it a thought, so I clasped it firmly.
His fingers closed over mine with the grip of a vise. He pulled me near him. His right hand shot out from his jacket, beneath which it was hidden. In it I caught the glitter of a knife. I saw him raise it above my head.
There was no time for me to draw my sword. I threw up my left arm to protect my head. Simon’s hand came down.
There was a pain in my arm, as if a hot iron had seared 315me. Then I felt it, ten times as hot, in my side. My ears rang with the roar of waters; my eyes saw only blackness.
I felt a warm gush33 of blood; I heard a confused murmur32, a woman’s shrill34 scream--Lucille’s voice. Then Simon leaned over me, as I was falling--falling--falling--down into some bottomless pit.
“Traitor and murderer!” he cried. “I have kept my oath!”
It was night.
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1
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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2
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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3
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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4
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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5
stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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6
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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7
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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8
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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9
farmhouses
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| n.农舍，农场的主要住房( farmhouse的名词复数 ) | |
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10
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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11
witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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12
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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13
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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14
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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15
crimsoned
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| 变为深红色（crimson的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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16
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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17
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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18
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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19
sheathed
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| adj.雕塑像下半身包在鞘中的；覆盖的；铠装的；装鞘了的v.将（刀、剑等）插入鞘( sheathe的过去式和过去分词 )；包，覆盖 | |
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20
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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21
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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22
wedlock
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| n.婚姻，已婚状态 | |
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23
wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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24
plighted
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| vt.保证，约定（plight的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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25
heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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26
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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27
drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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28
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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29
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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30
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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31
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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32
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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33
gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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34
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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