Show ica A story of cromwell s time BY AMELIA E BARR author 0 the bow 0 cranfi ribbon I 1 thou and the other one the maid of baldon lane etc copy 1901 by dodd mead company all ts reserved CHAPTER XVI cont nihed my dear martha I 1 did not think of telling you this just yet and espee al ly to day but the v were at my lips and then they were out without my leave or license now there is nothing tor it but letting you 1 now plump and plain that ou and I 1 in our gathering years must up and out ot england olaver cromwell Is dy ing when he is in the grave either stuart or civil war if it is the stuart mv head will be wanted and as for fighting for lambert or even fairfax or S r harry vane I 1 will not do it verily I 1 will not I 1 have fought under cromwell I 1 will fight under no less a general and in no less a quarrel than he led in that Is settled you said martha for bet ter or for worse she did not answer and he dropped her hand and continued I 1 will never force thee martha not one step if thou lovest england better than me I 1 dont I 1 dont israel I 1 love nothing I 1 love nobody better than swaffham ham I 1 was thinking of I 1 ahall sign the sale of it to alln as soon as cromwell dies I 1 and thou can build another swaffham ham thou art but fifty and my years are some short of sixty we are in the prime of life yet I 1 am forty eight not quite that israel and was very up and down and scarce a cupboard in it wherever 5 ou go israel I 1 will go ji our god is my god and your country shall be mine f I 1 was sure of that martha god hove you dearest and any country where your home is built and our children dwell Is a good country besides which this new world is really a land of milk and honey and sun shine donbert and will could not be bought bach here with an earldom there is another thing martha both ot them are going to be married married I 1 never heard of such a thing I 1 thought I 1 tell thee till needs be but Us so sure enough and to what kind ot women Is rad good fair women they tell me sisters orphan daughters of the rev john wilmot thou seest then mar tha there may soon be three families coming up and not a grandmother euhong them to look after the children or give advice td the young mothers dont see what Ton berts wife or will s wife or thy awn daughter jane can do without thee she shook her head slightly but booked pleased and important th wife and mother was now completely satisfied so the summer days went on and england had never been so serene and so secure in her strength and pros cromwell was working fever shiy and suffering acutely his favor te child the lady elizabeth claypole was still very ill he had ions and visions of calamity that llred his heart with apprehension and capt his soul always on the alert batching vat ching watching for its coming it is certain also that he knew the alme tor his own departure was at land he said to doctor verity I 1 bave one more fight john dunbar vas a great victory worcester was a teater one but my next fight will rive me the greatest victory of all the last enemy that shall be de troyed Is death do you under tand and the doctor made a move hent of he could not after the death ot his beloved laughter elizabeth the life of crom yell was like the ending of one of chose terrible norse sagas with the additional element of a great spiritual conflict israel swaffham ham was con with him the two men were friends closer than brothers they led loved each other when boys and beir love had never known a sha ow but I 1 am in great trouble about im said israel to his wife it can ot last since lady claypole s death e eats not drinks not sleeps not his trong masculine handwriting the ery mirror of his courageous spirit as become weak and trembling I 1 an tell you one thing martha a linking soul is always sorrowful bough nough but when it is a great soul ke olivers and it is wretched for ay cause then every thought draw lood cromwell had hoped that his great dictions would bring his friends ack to his side but envy hatred and reedy ambition are not to be concill ted even at this time ludlow lam ert vane harrison marten the men alom ie had trusted and who had trusted him stood aloof from his sorrow and their sullen indifference wounded him to the quick his un finished work drove at him like a taskmaster he must mal e great haste for he 1 new that the night was coming I 1 am glad he Is back in whitehall said martha to her husband when she heard of the change I 1 remember something that jane said about that old gloomy court he will get better in london I 1 know not martha answered Is rael sadly faira x was with him today and he as well have drawn his sword on h s old friend better and 1 inder had he done so fairfax is phoud as lucifer what did he wanta the duke of buckingham has been sent to the tower where he 01 to have been sent long ago b it he is married to the daughter of fairfax and the haughty lord general went to see cromwell about the matter he met him in the gallery at whitehall and asked that the order for bucking ham s arrest should be retraced and cromwell told him that if the offense were only against his own life the duke could go free that hour but that he could not pardon plotters against the commonwealth it grieved him to the heart to say these words and fairfax saw how ill and how troubled he looked but he had not one word of courtesy he turned abruptly and cocked his hat and threw his chloal under his arm in that insolent way he was ever used to when in his tern pers and oliver looked at me 1 ke a man that has been struck in the face by a friend then he went to his desk and worked faithfully inetor ably all day bit but but what israela it is near the end indeed this interview with fairfax seemed to be the last heart v e he could carry the next day he went to his desi and began to write but speedily and urgently called for israel swaffham ham when be answered the call oliver was in great ph agony but 1 e took some papers from a draver and said when I 1 am no longer here israel give these to my wife th r loe has the 1 ey to all state ques eions he knows mv intents and my judgments on them and there Is one more charge for you when all is over speak to the army for me lell the men to re me while they live truly I 1 think they will now let me lean on you israel I 1 am going to my last hard fight when he reached his room he stood a moment and looked wistfully round it it was but a narrow cham her but large enough for the awfully close near conflict that he had to fight in it for ten terrible days and nights the anguish of the struggle went on unceasingly sometimes the great combatant being all here and full 0 faith and courage sometimes far down the shoal of life and reason and wandering uneasily through by gone days of battle and distress and darkness he had turned to face his last en emy on the 0 august and on the there was s ich a tempest as had never before been seen in eng land whole forests were laid on the ground traffic was swept from the roads and the streets and the ships from the stormy seas the chambers of whitehall were filled with the roar of the great winds the guards leaned on their arras prating or talking solemnly together on the prodigy of the storm israel sat near the men and heard something of what they said pres antly dr verity joined him they said a few words about the storm their words were emphasized by the falling and crashing of trees outside the windows and by thunder and lightning and driven torrents of rain and then dr venti said in a low voice he 1 nothing of this he is still as death he barely breathes he is unconscious where is he israela not quite gone not q lite here Is he watching the battle of elements in the middle darkness 7 then for some minutes only the pealing thun der and the bowling winds made an awer but john verity was thinking and as soon as there was a moment a lull in the uproar he said oliver Is no stranger to the immortals israel they have heard of his fame in their way they have seen and helped him already while his body lies yonder without sense or motion where Is his spirita Is it now having its last fight with its great israel I 1 was thinking of what isaiah f i I 1 sas about hell being to meet lucifer at his coming but oh john john verity all this great life is to be a failure all our ti avail and toil and suffering ta be a failure 1 no indeed there Is DO failure no no nothing of the kind we have ushered in a new era of free dom we have made a against tyranny kings will I 1 br forevermore hat they have a joint in the r necks oliver has done to the last tittle the work he was sent to do it is oliver the conqueror not oliver the failure remember israel it is not incumbent on us to finish the work we can leave it in cod s hands and though we have to leave it behind us incomplete god will use it some way and somewhere and the news will find us even in heaven and sweeten our happy labors there I 1 belaev e this I 1 do with all my soul on thursday night the ad of sep being the ninth day of his harj fight he bade his wife and chil dren a good bye but into this sacred scene not even the kenderest ten derest imagination may intrude afterward he appeared to withdraw himself en within the shadow of the al mighty waiting the signal for hla release in a peaceful even a happy mood and saying in a more and more labored voice truly god is good in deed he is he will not leave my work is done I 1 ut god will his people some one offered him a drink to ease bla restlessness and give him sleep but he refused it it is not my design to drink or to sleep he said my design Is to make what haste I 1 can to be gone the last extremity indeed but one full of that longing desire of the great apostle to depart and be with christ which is far better the next morning the ad of sep h s fortunate day the day of dunbar field and worcester a laureate wreath he became speech less as the sun rose and so he lay qu et until between three and tour in the afternoon when he was heard to gi e a deep sigh the physician in attendance said ottly he Is gone and some knelt to pray and all wept but unmindful of his tears israel am cried in a tone of triumph thou good soldier of god farewell thou hast fought a good fight thou hast kept the faith and there is laid up for thee a crown greater than england s crown a crown of right which the lord the right acus judge shall give thee but dr verity went slowly to the beloved dead be put tenderly back his long gray hair damp with the dew of death and closed the eyelids over his darkened eyes and kissed him on his brow and on his lips and as be turned sorrowfully away for ever whispered only two words vale cromwell the end |