--"Front to front,
Bring thou this fiend----
Within my sword's length set him; if he 'scape,
Heaven forgive him too!"--_Macbeth._
"You have brought the grateful submission of the pirate to my offers!"
exclaimed the sanguine Commander of the "Dart" to his messenger, as the
foot of the latter once more touched his deck.
"I bring nothing but defiance!" was the unexpected reply.
"Did you exhibit my statement? Surely, Mr Ark so material a document was
not forgotten!"
"Nothing was forgotten that the warmest interest in his safety could
suggest, Captain Bignall. Still the chief of yonder lawless ship refuses
to hearken to your conditions."
"Perhaps, sir, he imagines that the 'Dart' is defective in some of her
spars," returned the hasty old seaman, compressing his lips, with a look
of wounded pride; "he may hope to escape by pressing the canvas on his own
light-heeled ship."
"Does that look like flight?" demanded Wilder, extending an arm towards
the nearly naked spars and motionless hull of their neighbour. "The utmost
I can obtain is an assurance that he will not be the assailant."
"'Fore George, he is a merciful youth! and one that should be commended
for his moderation! He will not run his disorderly, picarooning company
under the guns of a British man-of-war, because he owes a little reverence
to the flag of his master! Hark ye, Mr Ark, we will remember the
circumstance when questioned at the Old Bailey. Send the people to their
guns, sir, and ware the ship round, to put an end at once to this
foolery, or we shall have him sending a boat aboard to examine our
commissions."
"Captain Bignall," said Wilder, leading his Commander still further from
the ears of their inferiors, "I may lay some little claim to merit for
services done under your own eyes, and in obedience to your orders. If my
former conduct may give me a title to presume to counsel one of your great
experience, suffer me to urge a short delay."
"Delay! Does Henry Ark hesitate, when the enemies of his King, nay more,
the enemies of man, are daring him to his duty!"
"Sir, you mistake me. I hesitate, in order that the flag under which we
sail may be free from stain, and not with any intent of avoiding the
combat. Our enemy, _my_ enemy knows that he has nothing now to expect, for
his past generosity, but kindness, should he become our captive. Still,
Captain Bignall, I ask for time, to prepare the 'Dart' for a conflict that
will try all her boasted powers, and to insure a victory that will not be
bought without a price."
"But should he escape"--
"On my life he will not attempt it. I not only know the man, but how
formidable are his means of resistance. A short half hour will put us in
the necessary condition, and do no discredit either to our spirit or to
our prudence."
The veteran yielded a reluctant consent, which was not, however, accorded
without much muttering concerning the disgrace a British man-of-war
incurred in not running alongside the boldest pirate that floated, and
blowing him out of water, with a single match. Wilder, who was accustomed
to the honest professional bravados that often formed a peculiar
embellishment to the really firm and manly resolution of the seamen of
that age, permitted him to make his plaints at will, while he busied
himself in a manner that he knew was now of the last importance and in a
duty that properly came under his more immediate inspection, in
consequence of the station he occupied.
The "order for all hands to clear ship for action" was again given, and
received in the cheerful temper with which mariners are wont to welcome
any of the more important changes of their exciting profession. Little
remained, however, to be done; for most of the previous preparations had
still been left, as at the original meeting of the two vessels. Then came
the beat to quarters, and the more serious and fearful-looking
preparations for certain combat. After these several arrangements had been
completed, the crew at their guns, the sail-trimmers at the braces, and
the officers in their several batteries, the after-yards were swung, and
the ship once more put in motion.
During this brief interval, the vessel of the Rover lay, at the distance
of half a mile, in a state of entire rest, without betraying the smallest
interest in the obvious movements of her hostile neighbour. When, however,
the "Dart" was seen yielding to the breeze, and gradually increasing her
velocity, until the water was gathering under her fore-foot in a little
rolling wave of foam, the bows of the other fell off from the direction of
the wind, the topsail was filled, and, in her turn, the hull was held in
command, by giving to it the impetus of motion. The "Dart" now set again
at her gaff that broad field which had been lowered during the conference,
and which had floated in triumph through the hazards and struggles of a
thousand combats. No answering emblem, however was exhibited from the peak
of her adversary.
In this manner the two ships "gathered way," as it is expressed in
nautical language, watching each other with eyes as jealous as though they
had been two rival monsters of the great deep, each endeavouring to
conceal from his antagonist the evolution contemplated next. The earnest,
serious manner of Wilder had not failed to produce its influence on the
straight-minded seaman who commanded the 'Dart;' and, by this time, he was
as much disposed as his lieutenant to approach the conflict leisurely, and
with proper caution.
The day had hitherto been cloudless, and a vault of purer blue never
canopied a waste of water, than the arch which had swept for hours above
the heads of our marine adventurers. But, as if nature frowned on their
present bloody designs, a dark, threatening mass of vapour was blending
the ocean with the sky, in a direction opposed to the steady currents of
the air, These well-known and ominous signs did not escape the vigilance
of those who manned the hostile vessels, but the danger was still deemed
too remote to interrupt the higher interests of the approaching combat.
"We have a squall brewing in the west," said the experienced and wary
Bignall, pointing to the frowning symptoms as he spoke; "but we can handle
the pirate, and get all snug again, before it works its way up against
this breeze."
Wilder assented; for, by this time, high professional pride was swelling
in his bosom also, and a generous rivalry was getting the mastery of
feelings that were possibly foreign to his duty, however natural they
might have been in one as open to kindness as himself.
"The Rover is sending down even his lighter masts!" exclaimed the youth;
"it would seem that he greatly distrusts the weather."
"We will not follow his example; for he will wish they were aloft again,
the moment we get him fairly under the play of our batteries. By George
our King, but he has a pretty moving boat under him. Let fall the
main-course, sir; down with it, or we shall have it night before we get
the rogue a-beam."
The order was obeyed; and then the "Dart," feeling the powerful impulse,
quickened her speed like an animated being, that is freshly urged by its
apprehensions or its wishes. By this time, she had gained a position on
the weather-quarter of her adversary who had not manifested the smallest
desire to prevent her attaining so material an advantage. On the contrary,
while the "Dolphin" kept the same canvas spread, she continued to lighten
her top-hamper bringing as much of the weight as possible, from the
towering height of her tall masts, to the greater security of the hull.
Still, the distance between them was too great, in the opinion of Bignall,
to commence the contest, while the facility with which his adversary moved
a-head threatened to protract the important moment to an unreasonable
extent, or to reduce him to a crowd of sail that might prove embarrassing
while enveloped in the smoke, and pressed by the urgencies of the combat.
"We will touch his pride, sir, since you think him a man of spirit," said
the veteran, to his faithful coadjutor: "Give him a weather-gun, and show
him another of his Master's ensigns."
The roar of the piece, and the display of three more of the fields of
England, in quick succession, from different parts of the "Dart," failed
to produce the slightest evidence, even of observation, aboard their
seemingly insensible neighbour. The "Dolphin" still kept on her way,
occasionally swooping up gracefully to touch the wind, and then deviating
from her course again to leeward, as the porpoise is seen to turn aside
from his direction to snuff the breeze, while he lazily sports along his
briny path.
"He will not be moved by any of the devices of lawful and ordinary
warfare," said Wilder, when he witnessed the indifference with which
their challenge had been received.
"Then try him with a shot."
A gun was now discharged from the side next the still receding "Dolphin."
The iron messenger was seen bounding along the surface of the sea,
skipping lightly from wave to wave, until it cast a little cloud of spray
upon the very deck of their enemy, as it boomed harmlessly past her hull.
Another, and yet another, followed, without in any manner extracting
signal or notice from the Rover.
"How's this!" exclaimed the disappointed Bignall. "Has he a charm for his
ship, that all our shot sweep by him in rain! Master Fid, can you do
nothing for the credit of honest people, and the honour of a pennant? Let
us hear from your old favourite; in times past she used to speak to better
purpose."
"Ay, ay, sir," returned the accommodating Richard who, in the sudden turns
of his fortune, found himself in authority over a much-loved and
long-cherished piece. "I christened the gun after Mistress Whiffle, your
Honour, for the same reason, that they both can do their own talking. Now,
stand aside, my lads, and let clattering Kate have a whisper in the
discourse."
Richard, who had coolly taken his sight, while speaking, now deliberately
applied the match with his own hand, and, with a philosophy that was
sufficiently to be commended in a mercenary, sent what he boldly
pronounced to be "a thorough straight-goer" across the water, in the
direction of his recent associates. The usual moments of suspense
succeeded and then the torn fragments, which were seen scattered in the
air, announced that the shot had passed through the nettings of the
"Dolphin." The effect on the vessel of the Rover was instantaneous, and
nearly magical. A long stripe of cream-coloured canvas, which had been
artfully extended, from her stem to her stern, in a line with her guns,
disappeared as suddenly as a bird would shut its wings, leaving in its
place a broad blood-red belt, which was bristled with the armament of the
ship. At the same time, an ensign of a similar ominous colour, rose from
her poop, and, fluttering darkly and fiercely for a moment, it became
fixed at the end of the gaff.
"Now I know him for the knave that he is!" cried the excited Bignall;
"and, see! he has thrown away his false paint, and shows the well-known
bloody side, from which he gets his name. Stand to your guns, my men! the
pirate is getting earnest."
He was still speaking, when a sheet of bright flame glanced from out that
streak of red which was so well adapted to work upon the superstitious awe
of the common mariners, and was followed by the simultaneous explosion of
nearly a dozen wide-mouthed pieces of artillery. The startling change,
from inattention and indifference, to this act of bold and decided
hostility, produced a strong effect on the boldest heart on board the
King's cruiser. The momentary interval of suspense was passed in unchanged
attitudes and looks of deep attention; and then the rushing of the iron
storm was heard hurtling through the air, as it came fearfully on. The
crash that followed, mingled, as it was, with human groans, and succeeded
by the tearing of riven plank, and the scattering high of splinters,
ropes, blocks, and the implements of war, proclaimed the fatal accuracy of
the broadside. But the surprise, and, with it, the brief confusion,
endured but for an instant. The English shouted, and sent back a return to
the deadly assault they had just received, recovering manfully and
promptly from the shock which it had assuredly given.
The ordinary and more regular cannonading of a naval combat succeeded.
Anxious to precipitate the issue, both ships pressed nigher to each other
the while, until, in a few moments, the two white canopies of smoke, that
were wreathing about their respective masts, were blended in one, marking
a solitary spot of strife, in the midst of a scene of broad and bright
tranquillity. The discharges of the cannon were hot, close, and incessant.
While the hostile parties, how ever, closely mutated each other in their
zeal in dealing out destruction, a peculiar difference marked the
distinction in character of the two crews. Loud, cheering shouts
accompanied each discharge from the lawful cruiser, while the people of
the rover did their murderous work amid the deep silence of desperation.
The spirit and uproar of the scene soon quickened that blood, in the veins
of the veteran Bignall, which had begun to circulate a little slowly by
time.
"The fellow has not forgotten his art!" he exclaimed as the effects of his
enemy's skill were getting but too manifest, in the rent sails, shivered
spars, and tottering masts of his own ship. "Had he but the commission of
the King in his pocket, one might call him a hero!"
The emergency was too urgent to throw away the time in words. Wilder
answered only by cheering his own people to their fierce and laborious
task. The ships had now fallen off before the wind, and were running
parallel to each other, emitting sheets of flame, that were incessantly
glancing through immense volumes of smoke. The spars of the respective
vessels were alone visible, at brief and uncertain intervals. Many minutes
had thus passed, seeming to those engaged but a moment of time, when the
mariners of the "Dart" found that they no longer held their vessel in the
quick command, so necessary to their situation. The important circumstance
was instantly conveyed from the master to Wilder, and from Wilder to his
superior. A hasty consultation on the cause and consequences of this
unexpected event was the immediate and natural result.
"See!" cried Wilder, "the sails are already banging against the masts
like rags; the explosions of the artillery have stilled the wind."
"Hark!" answered the more experienced Bignall: "There goes the artillery
of heaven among our own guns.--The squall is already upon us--port the
helm, sir, and sheer the ship out of the smoke! Hard a-port with the helm,
sir, at once!--hard with it a-port I say."
But the lazy motion of the vessel did not answer to the impatience of
those who directed her movements nor did it meet the pressing exigencies
of the moment. In the mean time, while Bignall, and the officers whose
duties kept them near his person, assisted by the sail-trimmers, were thus
occupied, the people in the batteries continued their murderous
employment. The roar of cannon was still constant, and nearly
overwhelming, though there were instants when the deep ominous mutterings
of the atmosphere were too distinctly audible to be mistaken. Still the
eye could lend no assistance to the hearing, in determining the judgment
of the mariners. Hulls, spars, and sails were alike enveloped in the
curling wreaths which wrapped heaven, air, vessels, and ocean, alike, in
one white, obscure, foggy mantle. Even the persons of the crew were merely
seen at instants, labouring at the guns, through brief and varying
openings.
"I never knew the smoke pack so heavy on the clerk of a ship before," said
Bignall, with a concern that even his caution could not entirely repress.
"Keep the helm a-port--jam it hard, sir! By Heaven Mr Wilder, those knaves
well know they are struggling for their lives!"
"The fight is all our own!" shouted the second lieutenant, from among the
guns, stanching, as he spoke, the blood of a severe splinter-wound in the
face, and far too intent on his own immediate occupation to have noticed
the signs of the weather. "He has not answered with a single gun, for near
a minute."
"'Fore George, the rogues have enough!" exclaimed the delighted Bignall.
"Three cheers for vic----"
"Hold, sir!" interrupted Wilder, with sufficient decision to check his
Commander's premature exultation; "on my life, our work is not so soon
ended. I think, indeed, his guns are silent;--but, see! the smoke is
beginning to lift. In a few more minutes, if our own fire should cease,
the view will be clear."
A shout from the men in the batteries interrupted his words; and then came
a general cry that the pirates were sheering off. The exultation at this
fancied evidence of their superiority was, however, soon and fearfully
interrupted. A bright, vivid flash penetrated through the dense vapour
which still hung about them in a most extraordinary manner, and was
followed by a crash from the heavens, to which the Simultaneous explosion
of fifty pieces of artillery would have sounded feeble.
"Call the people from their guns!" said Bignall, in those suppressed tones
that are only more portentous from their forced and unnatural calmness:
"Call them away at once, sir, and get the canvas in!"
Wilder, startled more at the proximity and apparent weight of the squall
than at words to which he had been long accustomed, delayed not to give an
order that was seemingly so urgent. The men left their batteries, like
athletæ retiring from the arena, some bleeding and faint, some still
fierce and angry, and all more or less excited by the furious scene in
which they had just been actors. Many sprung to the well-known ropes,
while others, as they ascended into the cloud which still hung on the
vessel became lost to the eye in her rigging.
"Shall I reef, or furl?" demanded Wilder, standing with the trumpet at his
lips, ready to issue the necessary order.
"Hold, sir; another minute will give us an opening."
The lieutenant paused; for he was not slow to see that now, indeed, the
veil was about to be drawn from their real situation. The smoke, which had
lain upon their very decks, as though pressed down by the superincumbent
weight of the atmosphere first began to stir; was then seen eddying among
the masts; and, finally, whirled wildly away before a powerful current of
air. The view was, indeed, now all before them.
In place of the glorious sun, and that bright, blue canopy which had lain
above them a short half-hour before, the heavens were clothed in one
immense black veil. The sea reflected the portentous colour, looking dark
and angrily. The waves had already lost their regular rise and fall, and
were tossing to and fro, as if awaiting the power that was to give them
direction and greater force. The flashes from the heavens were not in
quick succession; but the few that did break upon the gloominess of the
scene came in majesty, and with dazzling brightness. They were accompanied
by the terrific thunder of the tropics in which it is scarcely profanation
to fancy that the voice of One who made the universe is actually speaking
to the creatures of his hand. On every side, was the appearance of a
fierce and dangerous struggle in the elements. The vessel of the Rover was
running lightly before a breeze, which had already come fresh and fitful
from the cloud, with her sails reduced, and her people coolly, but
actively, employed in repairing the damages of the fight.
Not a moment was to be lost in imitating the example of the wary
freebooters. The head of the "Dart" was hastily, and happily, got in a
direction contrary to the breeze; and, as she began to follow the course
taken by the "Dolphin," an attempt was made to gather her torn and nearly
useless causes to the yards. But precious minutes had been lost in the
smoky canopy, that might never be regained. The sea changed its colour
from a dark green to a glittering white; and then the fury of the gust was
heard rushing along the water with fearful rapidity, and with a violence
that could not he resisted.
"Be lively, men!" shouted Bignall himself, in the exigency in which his
vessel was placed; "Roll up the cloth; in with it all--leave not a rag to
the squall! 'Fore George, Mr Wilder, but this wind is not playing with us;
cheer up the men to their work; speak to them cheerily, sir!"
"Furl away!" shouted Wilder. "Cut, if too late, work away with knives and
teeth--down, every man of you, down--down for your lives, all!"
There was that in the voice of the lieutenant which sounded in the ears of
his people like a supernatural cry. He had so recently witnessed a
calamity similar to that which again threatened him, that perhaps his
feelings lent a secret horror to the tones. A score of forms was seen
descending swiftly, through an atmosphere that appeared sensible to the
touch. Nor was their escape, which might be likened to the stooping of
birds that dart into their nest, too earnestly pressed. Stripped of all
its rigging, and already tottering under numerous wounds, the lofty and
overloaded spars yielded to the mighty force of the squall, tumbling in
succession towards the hull, until nothing stood but the three firmer, but
shorn and nearly useless, lower masts. By far the greater number of those
aloft reached the deck in time to insure their safety, though some there
were too stubborn, and still too much under the sullen influence of the
combat, to hearken to the words of warning. These victims of their own
obstinacy were seen clinging to the broken fragments of the spars, as the
"Dart," in a cloud of foam, drove away from the spot where they floated,
until their persons and their misery were alike swallowed in the distance.
"It is the hand of God!" hoarsely exclaimed the veteran Bignall, while his
contracting eye drunk in the destruction of the wreck. "Mark me, Henry
Ark; I will forever testify that the guns of the pirate have not brought
us to this condition."
Little disposed to seek the same miserable consolation as his Commander,
Wilder exerted himself in counteracting, so far as circumstances would
allow, an injury that he felt, however, at that moment to be irreparable.
Amid the howling of the gust, and the fearful crashing of the thunder,
with an atmosphere now lurid with the glare of lightning, and now nearly
obscured by the dark canopy of vapour, and with all the frightful
evidences of the fight still reeking and ghastly before their eyes, did
the crew of the British cruiser prove true to themselves and to their
ancient reputation. The voices of Bignall and his subordinates were heard
in the tempest, uttering those mandates which long, experience had
rendered familiar, or encouraging the people to their duty. But the strife
of the elements was happily of short continuance The squall soon swept
over the spot, leaving the currents of the trade rushing into their former
channels, and a sea that was rather stilled, than agitated by the
counteracting influence of the winds.
But, as one danger passed away from before the eyes of the mariners of the
"Dart," another, scarcely less to be apprehended, forced itself upon their
attention, All recollection of the favours of the past, and every feeling
of gratitude, was banished from the mind of Wilder, by the mountings of
powerful professional pride, and that love of glory which becomes inherent
in the warrior, as he gazed on the untouched and beautiful symmetry of the
"Dolphin's" spars, and all the perfect, and still underanged, order of
her tackle. It seemed as if she bore a charmed fate, or that some
supernatural agency had been instrumental in preserving her unharmed, amid
the violence of a second hurricane. But cooler thought, and more impartial
reflection, compelled the internal acknowledgment, that the vigilance and
wise precautions of the remarkable individual who appeared not only to
govern her movements, but to control her fortunes, had their proper
influence in producing the result.
Little leisure, however, was allowed to ruminate on these changes, or to
deprecate the advantage of their enemy. The vessel of the Rover had
already opened many broad sheets of canvas; and, as the return of the
regular breeze gave her the wind, her approach was rapid and unavoidable.
"'Fore George, Mr Ark, luck is all on the dishonest side to-day," said the
veteran, so soon as he perceived by the direction which the "Dolphin"
took, that the encounter was likely to be renewed. "Send the people to
quarters again, and clear away the guns; for we are likely to have another
bout with the rogues."
"I would advise a moment's delay," Wilder earnestly observed, when he
heard his Commander issuing an order to his people to prepare to deliver
their fire, the instant their enemy should come within a favourable
position. "Let me entreat you to delay; we know not what may be his
present intentions."
"None shall put foot on the deck of the 'Dart,' without submitting to the
authority of her royal master," returned the stern old tar. "Give it to
him, my men! Scatter the rogues from their guns! and let them know the
danger of approaching a lion, though he should be crippled!"
Wilder saw that remonstrance was now too late for a fresh broadside was
hurled from the "Dart," to defeat any generous intentions that the Rover
might entertain. The ship of the latter received the iron storm, while
advancing, and immediately deviated gracefully from her course, in such a
way as to prevent its repetition. Then she was seen sweeping towards the
bows of the nearly helpless cruiser of the King, and a hoarse summons was
heard ordering her ensign to be lowered.
"Come on, ye villains!" shouted the excited Bignall "Come, and perform the
office with your own hands!"
The graceful ship, as if sensible herself to the taunts of her enemy,
sprung nigher to the wind, and shot across the fore-foot of the "Dart,"
delivering her fire, gun after gun, with deliberate and deadly accuracy,
full into that defenceless portion of her Antagonist. A crush like that of
meeting bodies followed and then fifty grim visages were seen entering the
scene of carnage, armed with the deadly weapons of personal conflict. The
shock of so close and so fatal a discharge had, for the moment, paralyzed
the efforts of the assailed; but no sooner did Bignall, and his
lieutenant, see the dark forms that issued from the smoke on their own
decks, than, with voices that had not even then lost their authority each
summoned a band of followers, backed by whom, they bravely dashed into the
opposite gang-ways of their ship, to stay the torrent. The first encounter
was fierce and fatal, both parties receding a little, to wait for succour
and recover breath."
"Come on, ye murderous thieves!" cried the dauntless veteran, who stood
foremost in his own band, conspicuous by the locks of gray that floated
around his naked head, "well do ye know that heaven is with the right!"
The grim freebooters in his front recoiled and opened; then came a sheet
of flame, from the side of the "Dolphin," through an empty port of her
adversary bearing in its centre a hundred deadly missiles. The sword of
Bignall was flourished furiously and wildly above his head, and his voice
was still heard crying, till the sounds rattled in his throat,--
"Come on, ye knaves! come on!--Harry--Harry Ark! O God!--Hurrah!"
He fell like a log, and died the unwitting possessor of that very
commission for which he had toiled throughout a life of hardship and
danger. Until now Wilder had made good his quarter of the deck though
pressed by a band as fierce and daring as his own; but, at this fearful
crisis in the combat, a voice was heard in the melee, that thrilled on all
his nerves, and seemed even to carry its fearful influence over the minds
of his men.
"Make way there, make way!" it said, in tones clear, deep, and breathing
with authority, "make way, and follow; no hand but mine shall lower that
vaunting flag!"
"Stand to your faith, my men!" shouted Wilder in reply. Shouts, oaths,
imprecations, and groans formed a fearful accompaniment of the rude
encounter, which was, however, far too violent to continue long. Wilder
saw, with agony, that numbers and impetuosity were sweeping his supporters
from around him. Again and again he called them to the succour with his
voice, or stimulated them to daring by his example.
Friend after friend fell at his feet, until he was driven to the utmost
extremity of the deck. Here he again rallied a little band, against which
several furious charges were made, in vain.
"Ha!" exclaimed a voice he well knew; "death to all traitors! Spit the
spy, as you would a dog! Charge through them, my bullies; a halbert to the
hero who shall reach his heart!"
"Avast, ye lubber!" returned the stern tones of the staunch Richard. "Here
are a white man and a nigger at your service, if you've need of a spit."
"Two more of the gang!" continued the General aiming a blow that
threatened to immolate the topman as he spoke.
A dark half-naked form was interposed to receive the descending blade,
which fell on the staff of a half-pike and severed it as though it had
been a reed. Nothing daunted by the defenceless state in which he found
himself, Scipio made his way to the front of Wilder, where, with a body
divested to the waist of every garment, and empty handed, he fought with
his brawny arms, like one who despised the cuts, thrusts and assaults, of
which his athletic frame immediately became the helpless subject.
"Give it to 'em, right and left, Guinea," cried Fid: "here is one who will
come in as a backer, so soon as he has stopped the grog of the marine."
The parries and science of the unfortunate General were at this moment set
at nought, by a blow from Richard, which broke down all his defences,
descending through cap and skull to the jaw.
"Hold, murderers!" cried Wilder, who saw the numberless blows that were
falling on the defenceless body of the still undaunted black. "Strike
here! and spare an unarmed man!"
The sight of our adventurer became confused, for he saw the negro fall,
dragging with him to the deck two of his assailants; and then a voice,
deep as the emotion which such a scene might create, appeared to utter in
the very portals of his ear,--"Our work is done! He that strikes another
blow makes an enemy of me."