O wo! O woful, woful, woful day!
Most lamentable day; most woful day,
That ever, ever, I did yet behold!
O day! O day! O day! O hateful day!
Never was seen so black a day as this;
O woful day! O woful day!
--SHAKESPEARE.
The family at the Locusts had slept, or watched, through all the
disturbances at the cottage of Birch, in perfect ignorance of their
occurrence. The attacks of the Skinners were always made with so much
privacy as to exclude the sufferers, not only from succor, but
frequently, through a dread of future depredations, from the
commiseration of their neighbors also. Additional duties had drawn the
ladies from their pillows at an hour somewhat earlier than usual; and
Captain Lawton, notwithstanding the sufferings of his body, had risen in
compliance with a rule from which he never departed, of sleeping but six
hours at a time. This was one of the few points, in which the care of
the human frame was involved, on which the trooper and the surgeon of
horse were ever known to agree. The doctor had watched, during the
night, by the side of the bed of Captain Singleton, without once closing
his eyes. Occasionally he would pay a visit to the wounded Englishman,
who, being more hurt in the spirit than in the flesh, tolerated the
interruptions with a very ill grace; and once, for an instant, he
ventured to steal softly to the bed of his obstinate comrade, and was
near succeeding in obtaining a touch of his pulse, when a terrible oath,
sworn by the trooper in a dream, startled the prudent surgeon, and
warned him of a trite saying in the corps, "that Captain Lawton always
slept with one eye open." This group had assembled in one of the parlors
as the sun made its appearance over the eastern hill, dispersing the
columns of fog which had enveloped the lowland.
Miss Peyton was looking from a window in the direction of the tenement
of the peddler, and was expressing a kind anxiety after the welfare of
the sick man, when the person of Katy suddenly emerged from the dense
covering of an earthly cloud, whose mists were scattering before the
cheering rays of the sun, and was seen making hasty steps towards the
Locusts. There was that in the air of the housekeeper which bespoke
distress of an unusual nature, and the kind-hearted mistress of the
Locusts opened the door of the room, with the benevolent intention of
soothing a grief that seemed so overwhelming. A nearer view of the
disturbed features of the visitor confirmed Miss Peyton in her belief;
and, with the shock that gentle feelings ever experience at a sudden and
endless separation from even the meanest of their associates, she said
hastily,--
"Katy, is he gone?"
"No, ma'am," replied the disturbed damsel, with great bitterness, "he is
not yet gone, but he may go as soon as he pleases now, for the worst is
done. I do verily believe, Miss Peyton, they haven't so much as left him
money enough to buy him another suit of clothes to cover his nakedness,
and those he has on are none of the best, I can tell you."
"How!" exclaimed the other, astonished, "could anyone have the heart to
plunder a man in such distress?"
"Hearts," repeated Katy, catching her breath. "Men like them have no
bowels" at all. Plunder and distress, indeed! Why, ma'am, there were in
the iron pot, in plain sight, fifty-four guineas of gold, besides what
lay underneath, which I couldn't count without handling; and I didn't
like to touch it, for they say that another's gold is apt to stick--so,
judging from that in sight, there wasn't less than two hundred guineas,
besides what might have been in the deerskin purse. But Harvey is little
better now than a beggar; and a beggar, Miss Jeanette, is the most
awfully despisable of all earthly creatures."
"Poverty is to be pitied, and not despised," said the lady, still unable
to comprehend the extent of the misfortune that had befallen her
neighbor during the night. "But how is the old man? And does this loss
affect him much?"
The countenance of Katy changed, from the natural expression of concern,
to the set form of melancholy, as she answered,--
"He is happily removed from the cares of the world; the chinking of the
money made him get out of his bed, and the poor soul found the shock too
great for him. He died about two hours and ten minutes before the cock
crowed, as near as we can say." She was interrupted by the physician,
who, approaching, inquired, with much interest, the nature of the
disorder. Glancing her eye over the figure of this new acquaintance,
Katy instinctively adjusting her dress, replied,--
"'Twas the troubles of the times, and the loss of property, that brought
him down; he wasted from day to day, and all my care and anxiety were
lost; for now Harvey is no better than a beggar, and who is there to pay
me for what I have done?"
"God will reward you for all the good you have done," said Miss Peyton,
mildly.
"Yes," interrupted the spinster hastily, and with an air of reverence
that was instantly succeeded by an expression that denoted more of
worldly care; "but then I have left my wages for three years past in the
hands of Harvey, and how am I to get them? My brothers told me, again
and again, to ask for my money; but I always thought accounts between
relations were easily settled."
"Were you related, then, to Birch?" asked Miss Peyton, observing her to
pause.
"Why," returned the housekeeper, hesitating a little, "I thought we were
as good as so. I wonder if I have no claim on the house and garden;
though they say, now it is Harvey's, it will surely be confiscated."
Turning to Lawton, who had been sitting in one posture, with his
piercing eyes lowering at her through his thick brows, in silence,
"Perhaps this gentleman knows--he seems to take an interest in
my story."
"Madam," said the trooper, bowing very low, "both you and the tale are
extremely interesting"--Katy smiled involuntarily--"but my humble
knowledge is limited to the setting of a squadron in the field, and
using it when there. I beg leave to refer you to Dr. Archibald
Sitgreaves, a gentleman of universal attainments and unbounded
philanthropy; the very milk of human sympathies, and a mortal foe to all
indiscriminate cutting."
The surgeon drew up, and employed himself in whistling a low air, as he
looked over some phials on a table; but the housekeeper, turning to him
with an inclination of the head, continued,--
"I suppose, sir, a woman has no dower in her husband's property, unless
they be actually married."
It was a maxim with Dr. Sitgreaves, that no species of knowledge was to
be despised; and, consequently, he was an empiric in everything but his
profession. At first, indignation at the irony of his comrade kept him
silent; but, suddenly changing his purpose, he answered the applicant
with a good-natured smile,--
"I judge not. If death has anticipated your nuptials, I am fearful you
have no remedy against his stern decrees."
To Katy this sounded well, although she understood nothing of its
meaning, but "death" and "nuptials." To this part of his speech, then,
she directed her reply.
"I did think he only waited the death of the old gentleman before he
married," said the housekeeper, looking on the carpet. "But now he is
nothing more than despisable, or, what's the same thing, a peddler
without house, pack, or money. It might be hard for a man to get a wife
at all in such a predicary--don't you think it would, Miss Peyton?"
"I seldom trouble myself with such things," said the lady gravely.
During this dialogue Captain Lawton had been studying the countenance
and manner of the housekeeper, with a most ludicrous gravity; and,
fearful the conversation would cease, he inquired, with an appearance of
great interest,--
"You think it was age and debility that removed the old gentleman at
last?"
"And the troublesome times. Trouble is a heavy pull down to a sick bed;
but I suppose his time had come, and when that happens, it matters but
little what doctor's stuff we take."
"Let me set you right in that particular," interrupted the surgeon. "We
must all die, it is true, but it is permitted us to use the lights of
science, in arresting dangers as they occur, until--"
"We can die _secundem artem_," cried the trooper.
To this observation the physician did not deign to reply; but, deeming
it necessary to his professional dignity that the conversation should
continue, he added,--
"Perhaps, in this instance, judicious treatment might have prolonged the
life of the patient. Who administered to the case?"
"No one yet," said the housekeeper, with quickness. "I expect he has
made his last will and testament."
The surgeon disregarded the smile of the ladies, and pursued his
inquiries.
"It is doubtless wise to be prepared for death. But under whose care was
the sick man during his indisposition?"
"Under mine," answered Katy, with an air of a little importance. "And
care thrown away I may well call it; for Harvey is quite too despisable
to be any sort of compensation at present."
The mutual ignorance of each other's meaning made very little
interruption to the dialogue, for both took a good deal for granted, and
Sitgreaves pursued the subject.
"And how did you treat him?"
"Kindly, you may be certain," said Katy, rather tartly.
"The doctor means medically, madam," observed Captain Lawton, with a
face that would have honored the funeral of the deceased.
"I doctored him mostly with yarbs," said the housekeeper, smiling, as if
conscious of error.
"With simples," returned the surgeon. "They are safer in the hands of
the unlettered than more powerful remedies; but why had you no regular
attendant?"
"I'm sure Harvey has suffered enough already from having so much
concerns with the rig'lars," replied the housekeeper. "He has lost his
all, and made himself a vagabond through the land; and I have reason to
rue the day I ever crossed the threshold of his house."
"Dr. Sitgreaves does not mean a rig'lar soldier, but a regular
physician, madam," said the trooper.
"Oh!" cried the maiden, again correcting herself, "for the best of all
reasons; there was none to be had, so I took care of him myself. If
there had been a doctor at hand, I am sure we would gladly have had him;
for my part, I am clear for doctoring, though Harvey says I am killing
myself with medicines; but I am sure it will make but little difference
to him, whether I live or die."
"Therein you show your sense," said the surgeon, approaching the
spinster, who sat holding the palms of her hands and the soles of her
feet to the genial heat of a fine fire, making the most of comfort amid
all her troubles. "You appear to be a sensible, discreet woman, and some
who have had opportunities of acquiring more correct views might envy
you your respect for knowledge and the lights of science."
Although the housekeeper did not altogether comprehend the other's
meaning, she knew he used a compliment, and as such was highly pleased
with what he said. With increased animation, therefore, she cried, "It
was always said of me, that I wanted nothing but opportunity to make
quite a physician myself; so long as before I came to live with Harvey's
father, they called me the petticoat doctor."
"More true than civil, I dare say," returned the surgeon, losing sight
of the woman's character in his admiration of her respect for the
healing art. "In the absence of more enlightened counselors, the
experience of a discreet matron is frequently of great efficacy in
checking the progress of disease; under such circumstances, madam, it is
dreadful to have to contend with ignorance and obstinacy."
"Bad enough, as I well know from experience," cried Katy, in triumph.
"Harvey is as obstinate about such things as a dumb beast; one would
think the care I took of his bedridden father might learn him better
than to despise good nursing. But some day he may know what it is to
want a careful woman in his house, though now I am sure he is too
despisable himself to have a house."
"Indeed, I can easily comprehend the mortification you must have felt in
having one so self-willed to deal with," returned the surgeon, glancing
his eyes reproachfully at his comrade. "But you should rise superior to
such opinions, and pity the ignorance by which they are engendered."
The housekeeper hesitated a moment, at a loss to comprehend all that the
surgeon expressed, yet she felt it was both complimentary and kind;
therefore, suppressing her natural flow of language a little, she
replied,--
"I tell Harvey his conduct is often condemnable, and last night he made
my words good; but the opinions of such unbelievers is not very
consequential; yet it is dreadful to think how he behaves at times: now,
when he threw away the needle--"
"What!" said the surgeon, interrupting her, "does he affect to despise
the needle? But it is my lot to meet with men, daily, who are equally
perverse, and who show a still more culpable disrespect for the
information that flows from the lights of science."
The doctor turned his face towards Captain Lawton while speaking, but
the elevation of the head prevented his eyes from resting on the grave
countenance maintained by the trooper. Katy listened with admiring
attention, and when the other had done, she added,--
"Then Harvey is a disbeliever in the tides."
"Not believe in the tides!" repeated the healer of bodies in
astonishment. "Does the man distrust his senses? But perhaps it is the
influence of the moon that he doubts."
"That he does!" exclaimed Katy, shaking with delight at meeting with a
man of learning, who could support her opinions. "If you was to hear him
talk, you would think he didn't believe there was such a thing as a
moon at all."
"It is the misfortune of ignorance and incredulity, madam, that they
feed themselves. The mind, once rejecting useful information, insensibly
leans to superstition and conclusions on the order of nature, that are
not less prejudicial to the cause of truth, than they are at variance
with the first principles of human knowledge."
The spinster was too much awe-struck to venture an undigested reply to
this speech; and the surgeon, after pausing a moment in a kind of
philosophical disdain, continued,--
"That any man in his senses can doubt of the flux of the tides is more
than I could have thought possible; yet obstinacy is a dangerous inmate
to harbor, and may lead us into any error, however gross."
"You think, then, they have an effect on the flux?" said the
housekeeper, inquiringly.
Miss Peyton rose and beckoned her nieces to give her their assistance in
the adjoining pantry, while for a moment the dark visage of the
attentive Lawton was lighted by an animation that vanished by an effort,
as powerful and as sudden, as the one that drew it into being.
After reflecting whether he rightly understood the meaning of the other,
the surgeon, making due allowance for the love of learning, acting upon
a want of education, replied,--
"The moon, you mean; many philosophers have doubted how far it affects
the tides; but I think it is willfully rejecting the lights of science
not to believe it causes both the flux and reflux."
As reflux was a disorder with which Katy was not acquainted, she thought
it prudent to be silent; yet burning with curiosity to know the meaning
of certain portentous lights to which the other so often alluded, she
ventured to ask,--
"If them lights he spoke of were what was called northern lights in
these parts?"
In charity to her ignorance, the surgeon would have entered into an
elaborate explanation of his meaning, had he not been interrupted by the
mirth of Lawton. The trooper had listened so far with great composure;
but now he laughed until his aching bones reminded him of his fall, and
the tears rolled over his cheeks in larger drops than had ever been seen
there before. At length the offended physician seized an opportunity of
a pause to say,--
"To you, Captain Lawton, it may be a source of triumph, that an
uneducated woman should make a mistake in a subject on which men of
science have long been at variance; but yet you find this respectable
matron does not reject the lights--does not reject the use of proper
instruments in repairing injuries sustained by the human frame. You may
possibly remember, sir, her allusion to the use of the needle."
"Aye," cried the delighted trooper, "to mend the peddler's breeches."
Katy drew up in evident displeasure, and prompt to vindicate her
character for more lofty acquirements, she said,--
"'Twas not a common use that I put that needle to--but one of much
greater virtue."
"Explain yourself, madam," said the surgeon impatiently, "that this
gentleman may see how little reason he has for exultation."
Thus solicited, Katy paused to collect sufficient eloquence to garnish
her narrative. The substance of her tale was, that a child who had been
placed by the guardians of the poor in the keeping of Harvey, had, in
the absence of its master, injured itself badly in the foot by a large
needle. The offending instrument had been carefully greased, wrapped in
woolen, and placed in a certain charmed nook of the chimney; while the
foot, from a fear of weakening the incantation, was left in a state of
nature. The arrival of the peddler had altered the whole of this
admirable treatment; and the consequences were expressed by Katy, as she
concluded her narrative, by saying,--
"'Twas no wonder the boy died of a lockjaw!"
Doctor Sitgreaves looked out of the window in admiration of the
brilliant morning, striving all he could to avoid the basilisk's eyes of
his comrade. He was impelled, by a feeling that he could not conquer,
however, to look Captain Lawton in the face. The trooper had arranged
every muscle of his countenance to express sympathy for the fate of the
poor child; but the exultation of his eyes cut the astounded man of
science to the quick; he muttered something concerning the condition of
his patients, and retreated with precipitation.
Miss Peyton entered into the situation of things at the house of the
peddler, with all the interest of her excellent feelings; she listened
patiently while Katy recounted, more particularly, the circumstances of
the past night as they had occurred. The spinster did not forget to
dwell on the magnitude of the pecuniary loss sustained by Harvey, and in
no manner spared her invectives, at his betraying a secret which might
so easily have been kept.
"For, Miss Peyton," continued the housekeeper, after a pause to take
breath, "I would have given up life before I would have given up that
secret. At the most, they could only have killed him, and now a body may
say that they have slain both soul and body; or, what's the same thing,
they have made him a despisable vagabond. I wonder who he thinks would
be his wife, or who would keep his house, For my part, my good name is
too precious to be living with a lone man; though, for the matter of
that, he is never there. I am resolved to tell him this day, that stay
there a single woman, I will not an hour after the funeral; and marry
him I don't think I will, unless he becomes steadier and more of a
home body."
The mild mistress of the Locusts suffered the exuberance of the
housekeeper's feelings to expend itself, and then, by one or two
judicious questions, that denoted a more intimate knowledge of the
windings of the human heart in matters of Cupid than might fairly be
supposed to belong to a spinster, she extracted enough from Katy to
discover the improbability of Harvey's ever presuming to offer himself,
with his broken fortunes, to the acceptance of Katharine Haynes. She
therefore mentioned her own want of assistance in the present state of
her household, and expressed a wish that Katy would change her residence
to the Locusts, in case the peddler had no further use for her services.
After a few preliminary conditions on the part of the wary housekeeper,
the arrangement was concluded; and making a few more piteous
lamentations on the weight of her own losses and the stupidity of
Harvey, united with some curiosity to know the future fate of the
peddler, Katy withdrew to make the necessary preparations for the
approaching funeral, which was to take place that day.
During the interview between the two females, Lawton, through delicacy,
had withdrawn. Anxiety took him to the room of Captain Singleton. The
character of this youth, it has already been shown, endeared him in a
peculiar manner to every officer in the corps. The singularly mild
deportment of the young dragoon had on so many occasions been proved not
to proceed from want of resolution that his almost feminine softness of
manner and appearance had failed to bring him into disrepute, even in
that band of partisan warriors.
To the major he was as dear as a brother, and his easy submission to
the directions of his surgeon had made him a marked favorite with Dr.
Sitgreaves. The rough usage the corps often received in its daring
attacks had brought each of its officers, in succession, under the
temporary keeping of the surgeon. To Captain Singleton the man of
science had decreed the palm of docility, on such occasions, and Captain
Lawton he had fairly blackballed. He frequently declared, with
unconquerable simplicity and earnestness of manner, that it gave him
more pleasure to see the former brought in wounded than any officer in
the squadron, and that the latter afforded him the least; a compliment
and condemnation that were usually received by the first of the parties
with a quiet smile of good nature, and by the last with a grave bow of
thanks. On the present occasion, the mortified surgeon and exulting
trooper met in the room of Captain Singleton, as a place where they
could act on common ground. Some time was occupied in joint attentions
to the comfort of the wounded officer, and the doctor retired to an
apartment prepared for his own accommodation; here, within a few
minutes, he was surprised by the entrance of Lawton. The triumph of the
trooper had been so complete, that he felt he could afford to be
generous, and commencing by voluntarily throwing aside his coat, he
cried carelessly,--
"Sitgreaves, administer a little of the aid of the lights of science to
my body, if you please."
The surgeon was beginning to feel this was a subject that was
intolerable, but venturing a glance towards his comrade, he saw with
surprise the preparations he had made, and an air of sincerity about
him, that was unusual to his manner when making such a request. Changing
his intended burst of resentment to a tone of civil inquiry, he said,--
"Does Captain Lawton want anything at my hands?"
"Look for yourself, my dear sir," said the trooper mildly. "Here seem to
be most of the colors of the rainbow, on this shoulder."
"You have reason for saying so," said the other, handling the part with
great tenderness and consummate skill. "But happily nothing is broken.
It is wonderful how well you escaped!"
"I have been a tumbler from my youth, and I am past minding a few falls
from a horse; but, Sitgreaves," he added with affection, and pointing to
a scar on his body, "do you remember this bit of work?"
"Perfectly well, Jack; it was bravely obtained, and neatly extracted;
but don't you think I had better apply an oil to these bruises?"
"Certainly," said Lawton, with unexpected condescension.
"Now, my dear boy," cried the doctor, exultantly, as he busied himself
in applying the remedy to the hurts, "do you not think it would have
been better to have done all this last night?"
"Quite probable."
"Yes, Jack, but if you had let me perform the operation of phlebotomy n
when I first saw you, it would have been of infinite service."
"No phlebotomy," said the other, positively.
"It is now too late; but a dose of oil would carry off the humors
famously."
To this the captain made no reply, but grated his teeth, in a way that
showed the fortress of his mouth was not to be assailed without a
resolute resistance; and the experienced physician changed the subject
by saying,--
"It is a pity, John, that you did not catch the rascal, after the danger
and trouble you incurred."
The captain of dragoons made no reply; and, while placing some bandages
on the wounded shoulder, the surgeon continued,--
"If I have any wish at all to destroy human life, it is to have the
pleasure of seeing that traitor hanged."
"I thought your business was to cure, and not to slay," said the
trooper, dryly.
"Aye! but he has caused us such heavy losses by his information, that I
sometimes feel a very unsophistical temper towards that spy."
"You should not encourage such feelings of animosity to any of your
fellow creatures," returned Lawton, in a tone that caused the operator
to drop a pin he was arranging in the bandages from his hand. He looked
the patient in the face to remove all doubts of his identity; finding,
however, it was his old comrade, Captain John Lawton, who had spoken, he
rallied his astonished faculties, and proceeded by saying,--
"Your doctrine is just, and in general I subscribe to it. But, John, my
dear fellow, is the bandage easy?"
"Quite."
"I agree with you as a whole; but as matter is infinitely divisible, so
no case exists without an exception. Lawton, do you feel easy?"
"Very."
"It is not only cruel to the sufferer, but sometimes unjust to others,
to take human life where a less punishment would answer the purpose.
Now, Jack, if you were only--move your arm a little--if you were only--I
hope you feel easier, my dear friend?"
"Much."
"If, my dear John, you would teach your men to cut with more discretion,
it would answer you the same purpose--and give me great pleasure."
The doctor drew a heavy sigh, as he was enabled to get rid of what was
nearest to the heart; and the dragoon coolly replaced his coat, saying
with great deliberation as he retired,--
"I know no troop that cut more judiciously; they generally shave from
the crown to the jaw."
The disappointed operator collected his instruments, and with a heavy
heart proceeded to pay a visit to the room of Colonel Wellmere.