Show A C d IV ap the wilderness Wildern ss A tale of the beginning of new england by IRVIN service copyright by irving bacheller THE STORY giobert robert heathers heather and william T heydon to escape secular and r religious a tyranny leave leav nin england gland in 1631 1634 lor for the new world they are welco welcomed at boston by rev doctor cotton landmake and make acau acquaintance in with amos vete veteran r an a odier I 1 and woodsman heydon f nihls a Is in n love ive 0 with eliza elizabeth beth brads brade the young men settle down to the life of the colonists adverse comment forces them to d with their pretty cook mabel hartley robert la in smitten with poesy peggy weld who Is engaged to james rosewell CHAPTER ill III continued they rode on in silence she broke it saying dont take it seriously Y you u are one of the dearest of men and the there re are better fish in the sea than were ever caught im a common alewife that they use in growing corn I 1 feel sorry for rosewell when I 1 think of myself mi self im unregenerate A lady asked me the other day if I 1 was bound for heaven I 1 told her that I 1 just kept going and really know where id fetch up she grew stern and said its a pity have you no sense of sanctification I 1 had to say t that hat no one had ever suspected me of having any kind of sense that one might as well try to pick strawberries on the sea beach im all right in E england ng but here im a lost soul well I 1 ask one favor he said it may be the last one I 1 shall ever request what Is it she asked 1 I want a memory that will last as long as I 1 live A k me memory moryl 1 she exclaimed A blessed memory I 1 I 1 want to kiss those lips of yours just once she looked down and did not answer the horses stopped lie ire dl dismounted S they were in the deep greenwood she leaned toward him and their lips met looking into her eyes he asked do you think that I 1 could ever forget that lord lora 0 mercy I 1 its a mean thing to do to one she answered with a sigh why mean because you put me in mind of the devil dell I 1 shall have hae nothing more to do with you your lips have filled me with a strange Ar trembling embling get on your horse and look to your behavior let us go home and pull this burr out of our minds I 1 am engaged to ta marry one of the best men in the world keep that among your memories robert hubert returned to his home in a rather unhappy mood ile he said to william 1 I am now a lack brained sorry varlet my virgin heart la I 1 broken I 1 called her a ray of sunlight piercing cing the gloom but she has only pierced me been a kind of lightning flash and now its darker than ever and im like a splintered tree with its top on the ground cheer up old man william answered girls are coming on every ship TI theres aeres time enough meanwhile my home shall be yours 0 0 0 early october of the memorable year of 1035 1635 brought a welcome arrival to the colony lie ile was wag young sir harry vane of the best blood in england E ing a descendant of the sir harry who fought heroically with the black ack prince at poitiers the newcomer had bad been a friend of heydon in the school at westminster the young baronet had been a commoner in spirit and a noted rebel at magdalen college ile he wins still a rebel young handsome and picturesque A courtly figure he had the puritan leaning ond and a genius for statecraft ills one fine manners and brilliant talk captured the leading me men of the colony ire he they agreed should be the next governor heraldry had bad its power even in new england when backed by a clean personality and hatred of oppression ire he took wllliam william to his heart with all friendly good feeling for the make bake of well re days vanes friendship had strengthened william with the brades one evening the toy boy sat with bess ills his way was now how open after all these agea age of waiting when are we to be married he asked suppose I 1 say tomorrow iless bess answered theres a test for your 1 courage next to tonight I 1 favor tomorrow he be answered I 1 there Is a matter of family courtesy to be considered mr air brade remarked mv alv M v father will arrive early in Novem november Kov embe bet it Is only a little time to wait for ills his blessing a deference itch would I 1 am sure please him deeply tile marriage may taku take place after his arrival in tho the lays dayn that followed the th lovers sailed the smooth translucent vear bottomed bot tomeil sea whose water Is a nectar and whose ro rocks s pure bold it was a day in the time of the radian indian summer when of a sudden every face in the quiet town was changed the colony was rent with tumult and groping in a black cloud of 0 mystery in the evening of that day robert announced hla his intention of going to see peggy weld tile the housekeeper he went out at seven thirty william was not at home when robert left As to williams movements that night the historian must be content with the court record it had been a warm quiet evening under a clear sky with a great golden moon rising As to robert his hl doing up to the hour of nine there was wai much unquestionable evidence leaving home he wore his belt and pistol as a both young men were wont to do when they went out after dark he was talking with the welds and james rosewell lioi ewell and the batters lat bosom friend roderick leighton from wiltshire and sir harry vane at the house of tho governor ire he left there at nine saying tills this Is the land ot of early hours one wandering in the night at ten has to give a good account of himself the young lady went out of tile the door with him tills this entry in roberts diary made some days later relates an incident of tills thin last meeting as follows she went out with me into the moonlit space in front of tile the door she cried out dont strike run before he sees you she put in my hands a little golden case shaped like a locket 11 this toils is a curious plaything said she it was called le medallion abec la in a secret it came to me from my grandmother it was made by an ingenious french jeweler for one of the naughty ladles ladies of the court of king iong henry VIII the little thing Is made to hold and carry secrets you see it lius has a gold beading around its rim it Is a trick to open it a test of ones patience and curiosity I 1 lend it to you when you have opened it bring or send it back to me dut but be warned years may pass before you find the combination that opens it or you may be lucky with that I 1 came away I 1 have spent ninny many hours pushing nt fit members in the circlet around its look like small golden beads I 1 suppose that certain of them communicate with springs and that these must be pushed in the right order of the events of that evening he has nothing further to say ile he went away in the darkness and whither A goodman of the parish one Ha grout a constable lay concealed that night beside a mossy glade in a pine thicket remote from the house of the governor ills lantern hidden under ills cloak lie he had learned that tile the glade was a trysting place the thicket was not in the path which robert would naturally have taken about nine fifteen of the clock a women came down the path to the glade dimly lighted from above Is As she came the officer detected the odor of musk the woman concealed herself in the bushes soon after that a young man entered the glade walking hurriedly his sword tapping his leg the woman stopped him and kissed his hand dont you know me she whispered 1 I am your slave mab blab you wanton 1 again you put t my 7 neck in danger he had answered the pair retired in the shadows shadow not two fathoms from the edge of the tb glade A little later the constable con const lible sprang upon them his lantern in hla his hand they arose terror stricken the officer seized tile the woman ile he saw BOW the young man not too clearly in the lantern light the latter drew hla his sword the woman had bad the better head she cried out dont strike run before he sees you there was no time for thinking it was a moment when action yields to impulse the young man leaped away and ran lie ile tore through the thicket and was soon in the open As he ran it a dog pursued him it was thought for a 9 dog was found lying dead from a sword thrust the court convened at eight thirty next morning the young woman mabel hartley sometime the kitchen maid of william and robert was wa brought from the prison the watchman related the circumstances under which she elie had been arrested the grave stern faced dudley examined tile the prisoner having heard the constables account of her taking substantially ly as given above he asked have you a husband who la Is living yes sir it Is the foul sin of adultery do you know that the punishment la Is death all eyes e tes were on the unfortunate woman who was weeping she gave her head a pathetic affirmative nod As you value the mercy of god and this court I 1 enjoin you to tell the whole truth with whom were you when the constable discovered you she wiped her eyes lifted her head bond and in a trembling tone spoke a name heard in every part of the courtroom william heydon winthrop dropped the quill with which he had been writing and sank back in his chair A pallor fell upon ills face almost as much in contrast with ills his black robe as the ample breadth of white linen in his collar endicott Endl cott and dudley with wrinkled brows turned to each other and whispered a winthrop broke the silence lence s I 1 ile he asked the constable did you see the man yes res sir air ne ire was william heydon sir I 1 have seen him often this la Is the cont coat lie he wore it was torn from ills back in the thicket we found it alyin among thorny briars in one ol 01 0 the pockets to Is a letter to william heydon Is lie he under arrest no sir lie ile threatened me with his sword and took to ills his legs he la in not to be found either at his home or the plantation he Is clear cl earin ln both he and his friend made off for parts unknown whilst I 1 was busy with the prisoner winthrop conferred a moment with endicott Endl cott and dudley then with sorrow in his face lie said in a low toni tone it if william heydon has not returned return returned ei by high noon you may proclaim the tha hue and cry 11 in aiu due time the constables went through the town with raised crying out william heydon wanted for the foul sin of adultery has fled fied let nil all who hear me assemble at the courthouse for a hue and cry 1 there were many who enjoyed the excitement of a roan man chase it was one of the frightful customs of medieval men giving free rein to pr primitive m passion still used in england but not before in the colony the vulgar crowd gave themselves to its plan with the eager avidity of hounds in the chase and especially it if a man of ra rank were the fugitive in the rage of it i the lie captive was likely to lose his life soon men and boys and fish wives wid and dogs were in full cry seeking william heydon the running shouting screaming bark barking illig and blowing of horns filled the pursuers with excitement many joined them streaming westward in the main path spreading into the bush on either side and beating the thickets with clubs club S in h hand a nd some had guns or pistols they were more mora like furles furies than like those who have the brain and heart of man in them the tumult awoke strange echoes in the silent wilderness it reached the ears of young heydon who lay jay asleep in a mossy glade a mile or so west of the path from which lie he had wandered inthe inalie darkness dar liness trying to walls walk to his plantation it pained the ears eara lof I 1 of the brades ot of margaret hooper of john cotton and of all the good people of the parish what a striving of thoughts what a beating of hearts what a shuddering of souls was under all this hellish uproar I 1 TO BM BE CONTINUED |