Show A andl in the wild g ran guts s A tale of the beginning of new england by IRVING BACHELLER service copyright by irving bacheller trie STORY rtobert robert heathers and william heydon leave england in 1634 16 34 for the now new world they are welcomed at boston by rev doctor cotton and make acquaintance with amos veteran soldier and woodsman heydon falls in love with elizabeth brads brad the young men settle down to the life of the co colonists adverse comment forces them to dispense with their pretty cook mabel hartley robert nobert la is smitten with peggy weld who ts Is enraged engaged to james jamea no bosewell Iloa ewell sewell mabel hartley and a youth whom she says was heydon are accused of adultery heydon and heathers disappear heydon Is apprehended and refus refusing ingAo to talk Is in found heathers and head for now new amsterdam and suspicion ton begins to point to the former belief grows that heydon Is shielding his friend CHAPTER V continued 11 they lay jay motionless with strained ears soon they could hear plainly the stroking of at least a dozen paddles then deep raucous voices that reminded the young gentleman ot of the grunting of swine in a moment the fleet of canoes could not have been m more 0 re than a bowshot away their lck lack was now getting its severest test they could only lie still and awalt the issue robert felt a pain in the hand that held his paddle ills his muscles were tense and the pressure of his hand had bad increased with his peril the sounds came nearer and suddenly began to recede in the distance behind them the fleet had passed bound for the east shore fortunately they had bad not come near enough to be visible the sounds grew fainter and were soon out of hearing amos laughed under his aly breath and then whispered the devil and his bis dogs was ye robert answered 1 I shook like a ebirt in the wind were you boy I 1 wont lie to ye I 1 was to spit for a minute I 1 were a bit cold and I 1 sweat like a pitcher full 0 ice they put their strength to the paddles and in half an hour or so they saw raw a thickly wooded shore looming out of the fog they made their way through dry dead timber to a landing there they left the raft put on their packs and pushed through d a thicket and up a long slant to the top of a high ridge above the mist where a grateful breeze came out of the west near them a landslide had gone down the steep rock slope with an acre of timber in its arms there they could look out upon a great spread of country covered with varl tinted verdure it Is likely that no white mans eye save eave theirs had seen its wild beauty look therel there 1 amos whispered no end to it I 1 I 1 reckon its like it were when god divided the light from the darkness and sot set the stars in heaven and think of the strange wild beauty of this scene and for ages untold no eye to see it but gods amos took his two books from his wallet ope one was filled with notes and maps he passed it to robert s saying 51 ing sit down here and read my diary whiles I 1 go on with the map in this other book boob so it befell that robert read the full particulars of Tod kills meeting with john samp amos had been thoughtless in the matter for the young man now reading them those pages were full of soul fire A thing had bad happened which he could not have foreseen he had never dreamed that his going would put his friend in peril he had sup supposed poled that his disappearance would be accepted as a confession the coat the unexpected testimony of the woman and williams unaccountable wandering in the woods bad defeated his purpose he had felt sure aure that the woman would have sense cense enough to hold her tongue he sprawled on the ground writhing la in distress of mind amos saw it and came to his side the trouble boy he be asked my friend my best friend Is in danger of the gallows he may be dead now robert answered dont worry to begin with the word of a tipsy constable Is not worth R cracked farthing tarth fart hint ln I 1 give a pennys dennys worth ol 01 0 the day for all his talk it if william Is convicted why does he come after you but suppose that samp told the truth they will not bang william why they dont believe he did it why the court has sent for you yau they say you must be the guilty man ciao or ye have run away on the tavern ship youve got the reputation ol 01 0 abeln a devil with the gals 1 I dont know how ye got it probably from the busy tongues 0 the women you like a joke better than mutton william to Is faced lie ile can laugh but he looks and talks more like a godly man every one likes him IMs us friendly as a house cat iles hes round and youre four cornered folks may like ye or not the tha whole town la Is sure that he Is not guilty and t that t you be why the old tub samp come up the shore to nall nail us you worry bout william never hang bang him too many fr friends lends amongst the great men theres some harm proof hes one of em these words were a comfort to the young oung man 1 I dont know what to do lie he said we cannot go back bacal amos exclaimed hells friddles griddles gr iddles est I 1 not nol id rather try r y to dodge the mohawks thick as flies in savage as a bear with cubs had and get to some dutch town tonn weve welve had luck in gettin liate avre wed never get back I 1 reckon well make the big lake in two lays days and a sleep in this moon I 1 feel the suck 0 the south on me well try our luck in the mohawk country theres water most 0 the way down to the big dutch island if ye take my advice yell keep away from the colony leastways till winter weather has cooled em off I 1 reckon we better take a ship for 11 holland olland it if we can sneak through well go south if you think theres a chance to get through sal said d robert 1 I wish we had tried the sea ye might as well sing a psalm over a dead horse amos answered well I 1 1 I am myself convinced that he la Is guilty get out 0 this puppy snatch dont worry the old pioneer had a different sort of comrade to deal with now one who had suddenly changed from a confiding youth filled with a boys relish for adventure to a stern faced man I 1 come on lie he said well take another other r shoe shoemakers mahers holiday CHAPTER VI A seething broth and the pot that held it robert heathers concern for the safety of his friend william was well founded nearly fie weeks passed the constable had not returned word came that his oyer overturned turned shallop had been discovered and that samp was drowned heathers had bad got away the riffraff was laughing at the court declaring that the law was only for the poor everywhere except with sir harry vane and the lady bess feeling ran high against william heydon he felt it in his prison william wrote to roswell brade offering the lady bess her freedom and even urging that she take it 1 I can never love another woman he be wrote but it may be that she can love another man she was born for happiness and it Is her duty to find it brade came to see him and asked him point pointblank blank for the truth william did not answer the question Ile returning turnIng from the prison mr brade called his wife and daughter into council he said the more I 1 study the matter the darker it becomes william will give me no light why it if he Is innocent and Is trying to shield his friend robert heathers why can he not confide his secret to me lie he should know that I 1 would not betray it the ine posture of the case Is critical if lie he confessed now lie he would go to the gallows gallowa ile he may go eo to the gallows callows without confession these magistrates are stern men I 1 have conferred with one of them today lie he feels that their evidence warrants the pain of death 1 I say again steadfastly that I 1 believe him innocent Ui said bess but you are almost alone in that I 1 nm am myself convinced that he Is guilty we are humiliated by our association so with this man who if lie la Is not guilty does not trust us with the truth guilty or innocent as I 1 have said before lie he Is disgraced there la Is hut but one thing for us to do we must get awny away from these troubles and go back to E england for a time you and your mother are in such a nervous condition that living with you lias has become a burden we must get away from these aliese deplorable excitements excite ments or we shall all be dead for a time the girl stood against these convictions renewed and amplified fied day by day for a week she called sir harry vane to tier her aid but to no avail her father would not be persuaded by his arguments Il koswell oswell brado was an able and a stubborn gentleman ile he appealed to tier her pride and her sense of gratitude ile he wa was 9 slow to use his authority as the head of the house and it must be remembered that in the seventeenth century it was a power to which women were wont to yield without question they might think of independent action but it so they did it secretly bess had to yield at last and so 80 it came about that this letter was written my dearest I 1 love you As long as I 1 live I 1 will love you yet our ship Is wrecked its freight of happiness Is lost if I 1 could have my way I 1 would stay here and do what I 1 can for you but you give me no rock to stand upon and 1 I am nearly drowned in these chilling waves of opposition we get no assurance from you that the disgrace you suffer Is undeserved mine are a proud and stern people what have I 1 to sustain me in opposing them save my faith in you your words to me how are they to be interpreted what can I 1 do but bend bead to the will of my parents and return to my home in england and cherish a memory of days and of a face dearer than all others I 1 cannot blame my father for when I 1 search by own heart I 1 find in it a degree of pride it Is a thing born in me I 1 cannot help it if it he be wrong I 1 ask my god to forgive me I 1 ask also that ile he will give you strength and comfort according to your need sincerely your friend elizabeth brade thus gently and truthfully the lady bess broke with william heydon and surrendered when the battle was by no means lost however it must be said that she could not foresee what was coming william laid no blame upon her ile he knew too well the pride of the born aristocrat she had bad resisted it for a time but it was bound to have its way soon after the brades took a ship tor for england meanwhile the clamor of the people for justice grew something had to be done again william faced the stern magistrates he only asked for mercy and refused to plead ho he would neither deny nor affirm his guilt the magistrates were confronted by a new and a highly serious problem in england the penalty tor for refusing to plead had been the pressing machine designed to convince the felon of his error or falling failing in that after a severe pinching it proceeded to destroy him no enlightened person in the colony could countenance that kind of practice was not the presser a tool of the spirit from which they had bad fled indeed certain of their kin had suffered death in its embrace the magistrates retired for deliberation the evidence was in their view conclusive A sufficient majority agreed that the prisoner should die on the gallows they returned to deliver their verdict sir harry vane was in court he saw to in their faces the doom of the prisoner he consulted a moment with winthrop and dudley who entertained a high regard for the baronet his handsome face and figure his magnetic personality his brilliancy and good sense together with the prestige of his family and the eminence of his father had made him a power to be reckoned with in spite of his liberal puritanism too advanced for the taste of certain churchmen even the fishermen took off their hats in his presence while goodmen and gentlemen agreed that he should be the next governor TO BE CONTINUED |