Show k candle in Wilderness the the wil a e r n e s s A tale of the Begin beginning fling of new england ly ily IRVING BACHELLER service by irving bachellor Bachell cir THE STORY stony I 1 robert heathers and will william fain heydon I 1 leave ellve england in 1634 for the new world they are welcomed tit at boston by rev D doctor cotton and make acquaintance t a n e e with it h arnon amos veteran soldier so 1 d few r and a nd woodsman haydon cleydon 1 falls in love lova with elizabeth brade the young men settle down to the life of 0 the colonists 0 n t a adverse comment forces forced thorn them h to t 0 dispense with their pretty c cook 0 k mabel hartley robert ix is smitten 0 t to n with Peggy weld who Is en n lagoa to james jame rosewell KoE ewell mabel a b hartley and 11 youth whom in she ahe h says ay was waa heydon are r accused a d of adul adultery t ery heydon and heathers a r disappear heydon Is in apprehended orid and refusing to talk to li found u d guilty feathera He athera and r dk II 11 head for now naw amsterdam Amiter dam ra and suspicion ton begins to point to the former belief grows grown that t heydon la in shielding his friend ellabeth elizaboth and her parents sail mail sit for eairl england e nd now new evidence seems seema m to point to heathers ax ar the guilty ty man 6 I 1 CHAPTER VI continued 13 1 I agree with sir harry that the lord la Is kind and not at all like the aings gings of this world said peggy and I 1 agree with him that robert hubert ind not william Is the guilty man laid margaret winthrop then peggy beggy weld with much feel ng mg made a plea tor for her lover it was KOS of no avail they were not to is e turned they answered her with carriage lie ile had run away moreover robert had a look in his i ya iye and a way with women that gave me dark thoughts william was different ue ile might have a measure of he grace of god in him lie he was a inore core netious ae man this was the beginning ot of a remarkable resolution in the stron g girl peggy weld robert lobert I heathers has been a kind hind of f hitching rest post for horses she said every nag tn in the colony has been gnawing it I 1 shall make you all I 1 am going to find robert leathers heathers if possible impossible I 1 shall go with henry who Is eager to explore the wilderness with gods help we shall ind robert and bring him back and think that we shall put you all to ha me 11 af after ter that daiy the women of influence in boston began to advocate the theories of sir harry vane in relation to this remarkable case the so called goodmen of tile the town were those who had saved a little money and were just beyond the need of df anxious toll they worshiped the upper classes and humbly followed their leadership most alost of them thein were ible to write their names to add subtract and divide rand to read the bible in a stumbling fashion their wives were ivere not so well furnished with accomplishments they were more pr or less lesa in inace awe of their great goodmen but there were moments when the kwe was hung flung off a and na forgotten john samp was an example of juhls type of citizen returning from their fruitless errand up the coast to the tavern ship john samp and tile the sailor with him were nearly spent and drowned in th the e tea sea storm lashed their shallop broke CD a shoal turned on her beam en end and lay with tier her must mast top under water clinging to tits his chair mr air samp get to an island where after three days of intense hunger and discomfort he had been rescued by fisher men alen ile he was a sagging and dejected figure of a man when lie returned to boston live five weeks after he had left M it ills ats flesh hung its as timp limp as hose lie ile entered his humble domicile with a look which betrayed the feeling that he was weary of 0 life but willing to put up with it for the sake cake of his wife and the colony ills his wife was sweeping she scarcely noticed him she swept with nith renewed energy on ills his us its it if he were a part of the lust dust and litter she gave him a withering look and began to scold in a voice olce heard by the neighbors dont lie ile to me john samp dont lie to me she demanded before lie had spoken youve youse took and herself with drink and women its writ all over ye dont tall talk t to 0 me now mrs samp really desired that he should talk to her with no unnecessary delay she was burning for information her words had been intended only as a mild warning that she was not to bo be easily deceived on such occasions mr samp maintained a profound gravity of deportment with a look of injured innocence on his big red face lie he sank in a chair a and n d said nothing ills wife paused and looked at him and called out well have ye nothing to say la in a loud voice he began ive been swall swa Hered ered and puked up by the sen sea im ive been shipwrecked and cast on a lonely island I 1 ive purl puri shed 0 cold and hunger ive fetched the rheu matlz mattz go and get the ex ax and put ms me out a 0 ray my misery mrs sump samp mr sump samp did not tell her ns as he later told others that lie he had seen a acreman meretia an of great size rise out of the sen sea and tip the shallop with his hands she was already alread too sheered 0 amter to be hla his executioner mrs samps heart and countenance under went a sudden changa what to la a house for I 1 would like he to know knew mrs airs samp and what Is it a mans wife for ile he turned to tier her with a severe took look aint A in t they t li ey to t 0 be live ll 11 v e in and to be alv lived e d with w i and A n d what wb a t ls Is a man for Is ho he intended to be fish or a human sirs mrs samp ile he aint got no gills in his bis throat has he het the steps in mr air samps philosophy were never interrupted by ills his wife ile he din did not expect an answer at any of these interrogation points leading up to a resounding period 1 I say the place for a mans feet la Is on the ground mrs samp and the thing to be sucked a into his lungs la is air not water lie ile looked at the woman with a severe expression which seemed to say its hard to put up with you but for the lords sake ill do it IL convinced purity by his loud words and innocent look mrs samp brought a wooden trencher and uncovered iron spoons and bread and beer and meat to the table such was life on oil me lie basest level of the parish the constable and ills his wife gave to their neighbors and to their friends in the church confirmation of the pub IP f she took his arm and walked beside him with friendly words lie feeling about robert heathers that there could be no question of ill his 8 guilt moreover mr samp declared that certain fishermen had heard him confess it samp reported to the court that day the governor questioned him 1 I reckon lie he see me first samp answered 1 I chased him and amos T into the bush they could run faster and had a mile the start ol 01 0 me I 1 reckoned it if I 1 met tiny any savages kill and dress me for a good dinner soi turned around this confirmed the opinion of the magistrates that william was unjustly confined mabel hartley had died of a fever of the lungs and before dying had emphasized her statement to sir harry vane when the young man was elected to the governorship of the colony he moved for the release of william heydon the th e iron men who sat with him on the bench demurred A compromise was effected william was to bo be released and kept in the limits of the town lie he was to wear a hempen noose around his neck with a tall tal two feet long until he was ready to help the cause of justice by telling the whole truth as lie knew it in dismissing hire him governor vane made it clear that the puni punishment he be had suffered and was still to suffer was not for the crime of adultery but for or tits lila refusal to plead these were the best terms that could be secured or the young man the confinement had impaired his health urged by his friends to do so he took tooh the burden of the rope and bore it bravely and the ensler because brade and his family had returned to england CHAPTER VII in the hempen noose men differ from all other creatures in their capacity for change sometimes tile the change Is swift and impressive there was a story in old boston of a rough taw law defying sailorman sal lorman who he after ten minutes with doctor cotton was quickly changed into un an other type ot of human being the wed of magic thoughts fell into fruitful soil and wrought its ita wonders in the spirit ol of the man so that he became a most useful and respected citizen the lonely confinement of 0 william heydon had wrought a great change in I 1 him ills hla pallor tits wasted term form ills his face worn by fevered anxieties were the least of it the change in tile the inner man was even greater ills 1119 pride his resignation to condit conditions loas in tile tha colony his sympathy with the churchmen who had so wrecked tits his life were gone uta ulm anger had passed it had a 1 l settled tt ln into t 0 a quiet u le t ansen leaf aaro profound rese resentment n t of t the h e wrongs n g a coin committed bitted in the n name a m e 0 of f G god 0 odi 1 iio 1 0 was perhaps more d deeply e e pl y re religious aig 1 m fl and n d also a more determined rebel than ever h lie e had been what he should do about it he dix did not know but his doing would have no defiant talk in it like that of anne like that which had conle come from his own mouth when he was a boy in england the departure of the brades had sorely distressed him ile he knew that it was their pride which had bad sent them away pride was tho the master of wellborn well born men and women we ment alv yet e t he could not think it tho the way 0 ot love e to fall when 1 it Is s most needed long letters etters 1 had come to him from the banished roger hoger williams radical opponent of what he called the magisterial erial aristocracy of the bay colony williams had addressed him as a brother and a child of god ills letter had been full of friendly counsel and advice 1 I bend send this letter because you have come to a time when friendly words way may comfort and help you yon and because I 1 linew knew your father in england Vie he wrote pride will cause many to turn against you pride Is a foolish and a cruel thing it Is one of the meanest and the worst of sing bins when you are free and a letter from vane assures we me that you are arc likely soon to be out of prison you will have bave a chance to practice the virtue of forgiveness gi veness I 1 would have you remember that the poor and the ignorant are your brothers no less than the rich and the learned bear with them and help them to think and to think rightly if you have a great spirit when you go forth it will appear an opportunity the like of which comes to few men shall be yours rule your own spirit and find your work and take upon yourself the grandeur of a noble humility that I 1 assure you la is the beginning of great things william pondered over these words in the loneliness of his gloomy prison room they fell into fruitful soil some of them tham put him in mind of things quite new to him william thought much in tits hla lonely hours of the sheer cruelty of pride and of its tolly folly what a masterful motive it was greater even than lovel love I 1 he knew many men who were proud of their ancestors of their piety of their riches of their learning how it belittled them and diminished their power lie ile said to himself that he liked better certain poor and humble folk he knew who were hon estand who had nothing to be berroud proud of always he be sighed when he thought of the unfortunate mabel ir hartley artley the young man had so changed that he ha had no serious dread of the noose to be put on his neck why should he h care now still when the rope was on it seemed to choko choke him film for days it was a burden like the millstone of holy writ it burned tits his neck II 11 ho could think of nothing else H stayed at home yielding to his own pride Al margaret argaret hooper his housekeeper said to him sty aly boy which la is the r stronger tr you or this rope it Is it a test of your soul it if your soul la Is the it stronger ronger I 1 am sure that the lord wilt will use it to lead you unto great things if not the devil will use it to pull Y you oil down you are right margaret he answered after all what Is ig this ropa but my pride I 1 thought that I 1 was done with it but I 1 still have enough to keep you in mind of tho the value of charity said margaret go forth and learn to be humble it la Is your great need these are dark days but a great soul la Is like ilka the tall of a firefly it ls is made to shine in the dark the first time he went abroad with the rope many were staring at him no one g a behim a kindly word again pride was having its way some laborers raising a house jeered and called him a trundle tall this was ivas what he expected lie ile came upon peggy weld she took tits alg arm and walked beside him with friendly words TO CONTINUED |