"It will have blood; they say, blood
Will have blood!"
Macbeth.
The visiters were Dr. Ergot, the Reverend Meek Wolfe, Ensign Dudley, and
Reuben Ring. Content found these four individuals seated in an outer room,
in a grave and restrained manner, that would have done no discredit to the
self-command of an Indian council. He was saluted with those staid and
composed greetings which are still much used in the intercourse of the
people of the Eastern States of this Republic, and which have obtained for
them a reputation, where they are little known, of a want of the more
active charities of our nature. But that was peculiarly the age of
sublimated doctrines, of self-mortification, and of severe moral
government, and most men believed it a merit to exhibit, on all
occasions, the dominion of the mind over the mere animal impulses. The
usage, which took its rise in exalted ideas of spiritual perfection, has
since grown into a habit, which, though weakened by the influence of the
age, still exists to a degree that often leads to an erroneous estimate of
character.
At the entrance of the master of the house, there was some such decorous
silence as that which is known to precede the communications of the
aborigines. At length Ensign Dudley, in whom matter, most probably in
consequence of its bulk, bore more than an usual proportion to his less
material part, manifested some evidences of impatience that the divine
should proceed to business. Thus admonished, or possibly conceiving that a
sufficient concession had been made to the dignity of man's nature, Meek
opened his mouth to speak.
"Captain Content Heathcote," he commenced, with that mystical involution
of his subject which practice had rendered nearly inseparable from all his
communications; "Captain Content Heathcote, this hath been a day of awful
visitations, and of gracious temporal gifts. The heathen hath been smitten
severely by the hand of the believer, and the believer hath been made to
pay the penalty of his want of faith, by the infliction of a savage
agency. Azazel hath been loosened in our village, the legions of
wickedness have been suffered to go at large in our fields, and yet the
Lord hath remembered his people, and hath borne them through a trial of
blood as perilous as was the passage of his chosen nation through the
billows of the Red Sea. There is cause of mourning, and cause of joy, in
this manifestation of his will; of sorrow that we have merited his anger,
and of rejoicing that enough of redeeming grace hath been found to save
the Gomorrah of our hearts. But I speak to one trained in spiritual
discipline, and schooled in the vicissitudes of the world, and further
discourse is not necessary to quicken his apprehension. We will therefore
turn to more instant and temporal exercises. Have all of thy household
escaped unharmed throughout the strivings of this bloody day?"
"We praise the Lord that such hath been his pleasure," returned Content.
"Other than as sorrow hath assailed us through the mourning of friends the
blow hath fallen lightly on me and mine."
"Thou hast had thy season; the parent ceaseth to chastise, while
former punishments are remembered. But here is Sergeant Ring, with
matter to communicate, that may still leave business for thy courage
and thy wisdom."
Content turned his quiet look upon the yeoman, and seemed to await his
speech. Reuben Ring, who was a man of many solid and valuable qualities,
would most probably have been exercising the military functions of his
brother-in-law, at that very moment, had he been equally gifted with a
fluent discourse. But his feats lay rather in doing than in speaking, and
the tide of popularity had in consequence set less strongly in his favor
than might have happened had the reverse been the case. The present,
however, was a moment when it was necessary to overcome his natural
reluctance to speak, and it was not long before he replied to the
inquiring glance of his commander's eye.
"The Captain knows the manner in which we scourged the savages at the
southern end of the valley," the sturdy yeoman began, "and it is not
necessary to deal with the particulars at length. There were
six-and-twenty red-skins slain in the meadows, besides as many more that
left the ground in the arms of their friends. As for the people, we got a
few hurts, but each man came back on his own limbs."
"This is much as the matter hath been reported."
"Then there was a party sent to brush the woods on the trail of the
Indians," resumed Reuben, without appearing to regard the interruption.
"The scouts broke off in pairs in the duty, and finally men got to
searching singly, of which number I was one. The two men of whom there is
question--"
"Of what men dost speak?" demanded Content.
"The two men of whom there is question," returned the other, continuing
the direct course of his own manner of relating events, without appealing
to see the necessity of connecting the threads of his communication; "the
men of whom I have spoken to the Minister and the Ensign--"
"Proceed," said Content, who understood his man.
"After one of these men was brought to his end I saw no reason for making
the day bloodier than it already was, the more especially as the Lord had
caused it to begin with a merciful hand which shed its bounties on my own
dwelling. Under such an opinion of right-doing, the other was bound and
led into the clearings."
"Thou hast made a captive?"
The lips of Reuben scarce severed as he muttered a low assent; but the
Ensign Dudley took upon himself the duty of entering into further
explanations, which the point where his kinsman left the narrative enabled
him to do with sufficient intelligence.
"As the Sergeant hath related," he said, "one of the heathen fell, and the
other is now without, waiting a judgment in the matter of his fortune."
"I trust there is no wish to harm him," said Content, glancing an eye
uneasily around at his companions. "Strife hath done enough in our
settlement this day. The Sergeant hath a right to claim the scalp-bounty,
for the man that is slain; but for him that liveth, let there be mercy!"
"Mercy is a quality of heavenly origin," replied Meek Wolfe, "and it
should not be perverted to defeat the purposes of heavenly wisdom. Azazel
must not triumph, though the tribe of the Narragansetts should be swept
with the besom of destruction. Truly, we are an erring and a fallible
race, Captain Heathcote; and the greater, therefore, the necessity that we
submit, without rebellion, to the inward monitors that are implanted, by
grace, to teach us the road of our duty----"
"I cannot consent to shed blood, now that the strife hath ceased," hastily
interrupted Content. "Praised be Providence! we are victors; and it is
time to lean to councils of charity."
"Such are the deceptions of a short-sighted wisdom!" returned the divine,
his dim, sunken eye shining with the promptings of an exaggerated and
subtle spirit. "The end of all is good, and we may not, without mortal
danger, presume to doubt the suggestions of heavenly gifts. But there is
not question here concerning the execution of the captive, since he
proffereth to be of service in far greater things than any that can depend
on his life or death. The heathen rendered up his liberty with little
struggle, and hath propositions that may lead us to a profitable
conclusion of this day's trials."
"If he can aid in aught that shall shorten the perils and wantonness of
this ruthless war, he shall find none better disposed to listen than I."
"He professeth ability to do that service."
"Then, of Heaven's mercy! let him be brought forth, that we counsel on his
proposals."
Meek made a gesture to Sergeant Ring, who quitted the apartment for a
moment, and shortly after returned followed by his captive. The Indian was
one of those dark and malignant-looking savages that possess most of the
sinister properties of their condition, with few or none of the redeeming
qualities. His eye was lowering and distrustful, bespeaking equally
apprehension and revenge; his form of that middling degree of perfection
which leaves as little to admire as to condemn, and his attire such is
denoted him one who might be ranked among the warriors of a secondary
class. Still, in the composure of his mien, the tranquillity of his step,
and the self-possession of all his movements, he displayed that high
bearing, his people rarely fail to exhibit, ere too much intercourse with
the whites begins to destroy their distinctive traits.
"Here is the Narragansett," said Reuben Ring, causing his prisoner to
appear in the centre of the room; "he is no chief, as may be gathered from
his uncertain look."
"If he effect that of which there hath been question, his rank mattereth
little. We seek to stop the currents of blood that flow like running
water, in these devoted Colonies."
"This will he do," rejoined the divine, "or we shall hold him answerable
for breach of promise."
"And in what doth he profess to aid in stopping the work of death?"
"By yielding the fierce Philip, and his savage ally,' the roving
Conanchet, to the judgment. Those chiefs destroyed, our temple may be
entered in peace, and the voice of thanksgiving shall again rise in our
Bethel, without the profane interruption of savage shrieks."
Content started, and even recoiled a step, as he listened to the nature of
the proposed peace-offering.
"And have we warranty for such a proceeding, should this man prove true?"
he asked, in a voice that sufficiently denoted his own doubts of the
propriety of such a measure.
"There is the law, the necessities of a suffering nature, and God's
glory, for our justification," drily returned the divine.
"This outsteppeth the discreet exercise of a delegated authority. I like
not to assume so great power, without written mandates for its execution."
"The objection hath raised a little difficulty in my own mind," observed
Ensign Dudley; "and as it hath set thoughts at work, it is possible that
what I have to offer will meet the Captain's good approbation."
Content knew that his ancient servitor was, though often uncouth in its
exhibition, at the bottom a man of humane heart. On the other hand, while
he scarce admitted the truth to himself, he had a secret dread of the
exaggerated sentiments of his spiritual guide; and he consequently
listened to the interruption of Eben, with a gratification he scarcely
wished to conceal.
"Speak openly," he said; "when men counsel in a matter of this weight,
each standeth on the surety of his proper gifts."
"Then may this business be dispatched without the embarrassment the
Captain seems to dread. We have an Indian, who offers to lead a party
through the forests to the haunts of the bloody chiefs, therein bringing
affairs to the issue of manhood and discretion."
"And wherein do you propose any departure from the suggestions that have
already been made?"
Ensign Dudley had not risen to his present rank, without acquiring a
suitable portion of the reserve which is so often found to dignify
official sentiments. Having ventured the opinion already placed, however
vaguely, before his hearers, he was patiently awaiting its effects on the
mind of his superior, when the latter, by his earnest and unsuspecting
countenance, no less than by the question just given, showed that he was
still in the dark as to the expedient the subaltern wished to suggest.
"I think there will be no necessity for making more captives," resumed
Eben, "since the one we have appears to create difficulties in our
councils. If there be any law in the Colony, which says that men must
strike with a gentle hand in open battle, it is a law but little spoken of
in common discourse, and though no pretender to the wisdom of legislators,
I will make bold to add, it is a law that may as well be forgotten until
this outbreaking of the savages shall be quelled."
"We deal with an enemy that never stays his hand at the cry of mercy,"
observed Meek Wolfe, "and though charity be the fruit of Christian
qualities, there is a duty greater than any which belongeth to earth. We
are no more than weak and feeble instruments in the hands of Providence,
and as such our minds should not be hardened to our inward promptings. If
evidence of better feeling could be found in the deeds of the heathen, we
might raise our hopes to the completion of things; but the Powers of
Darkness still rage in their hearts, and we are taught to believe that the
tree is known by its fruits."
Content signed to all to await his return, and left the room. In another
minute, he was seen leading his daughter into the centre of the circle.
The half-alarmed young woman clasped her swaddled boy to her bosom, as she
gazed timidly at the grave faces of the borderers; and her eye recoiled in
fear, when its hurried glance met the sunken, glazed, excited, and yet
equivocal-looking organ of the Reverend Mr. Wolfe.
"Thou hast said that the savage never hearkens to the cry of mercy,"
resumed Content; "here is living evidence that thou hast spoken in error.
The misfortune that early befell my family, is not unknown to any in this
settlement; thou seest in this trembling creature the daughter of our
love--her we have so long mourned. The wept of my household is again with
us; our hearts have been oppressed, they are now gladdened. God hath
returned our child!"
There was a deep, rich pathos in the tones of the father, that affected
most of his auditors, though each manifested his sensibilities in a manner
suited to his particular habits of mind. The nature of the divine was
touched, and all the energies of his severe principles were wanting to
sustain him above the manifestation of a weakness that he might have
believed derogatory to his spiritual exaltation of character. He therefore
sat mute, with hands folded on his knee, betraying the struggles of an
awakened sympathy only by a firmer compression of the interlocked fingers,
and an occasional and involuntary movement of the stronger muscles of the
face. Dudley suffered a smile of pleasure to lighten his broad, open
countenance; and the physician, who had hitherto been merely a listener,
uttered a few low syllables of admiration of the physical perfection of
the being before him, with which there was mingled some evidence of
natural good feeling.
Reuben Ring was the only individual who openly betrayed the whole degree
of the interest he took in the restoration of the lost female. The stout
yeoman arose, and, moving to the entranced Narra-mattah, he took the
infant into his large hands, and for a moment the honest borderer gazed
at the boy with a wistful and softened eye. Then raising the diminutive
face of the infant to his own expanded and bold features, he touched its
cheek with his lips, and returned the babe to its mother, who witnessed
the whole proceeding in some such tribulation as the startled wren
exhibits when the foot of the urchin is seen to draw too near the nest
of its young.
"Thou seest that the hand of the Narragansett hath been stayed," said
Content, when a deep silence had succeeded this little movement, and
speaking in a tone which betrayed hopes of victory.
"The ways of Providence are mysterious!" returned Meek; "wherein they
bring comfort to the heart, it is right that we exhibit gratitude; and
wherein they are charged with present affliction, it is meet to bow
with humbled spirits to their orderings. But the visitations on
families are merely--"
He paused, for at that moment a door opened, and a party entered bearing a
burthen, which they deposited, with decent and grave respect, on the
floor, in the very centre of the room. The unceremonious manner of the
entrance, the assured and the common gravity of their air, proclaimed that
the villagers felt their errand to be a sufficient apology for this
intrusion. Had not the business of the past day naturally led to such a
belief, the manner and aspects of those who had borne the burthen would
have announced it to be a human body.
"I had believed that none fell in this day's strife, but those who met
their end near my own door," said Content, after a long, respectful, and
sorrowing pause. "Remove the face-cloth, that we may know on whom the blow
hath fallen."
One of the young men obeyed. It was not easy to recognise, through the
mutilations of savage barbarity, the features of the sufferer. But a
second and steadier look showed the gory and still agonized countenance of
the individual who had, that morning, left the Wish-Ton-Wish on the
message of the colonial authorities. Even men as practised as those
present, in the horrible inventions of Indian cruelty, turned sickening
away from a spectacle that war calculated to chill the blood of all who
had not become callous to human affliction. Content made a sign to cover
the miserable remnants of mortality, and hid his face, with a shudder.
It is not necessary to dwell on the scene that followed. Meek Wolfe
availed himself of this unexpected event, to press his plan on the
attention of the commanding officer of the settlement, who was certainly
far better disposed to listen to his proposals, than before this palpable
evidence of the ruthless character of their enemies was presented to his
view. Still Content listened with reluctance, nor was it without the
intention of exercising an ulterior discretion in the case, that he
finally consented to give orders for the departure of a body of men, with
the approach of the morning light. As much of the discourse was managed
with those half-intelligible allusions that distinguished men of their
habits, it is probable that every individual present had his own
particular views of the subject: though it is certain, one and all
faithfully believed that he was solely influenced by a justifiable regard
to his temporal interest, which was in some degree rendered still more
praiseworthy by a reference to the service of his Divine Master.
As the party returned, Dudley lingered a moment, alone, with his former
master. The face of the honest-meaning Ensign was charged with more than
its usual significance; and he even paused a little, after all were beyond
hearing, ere he could muster resolution to propose the subject that was so
evidently uppermost in his mind.
"Captain Content Heathcote," he at length commenced, "evil or good comes
not alone in this life. Thou hast found her that we sought with so much
pain and danger, but thou hast found with her more than a Christian
gentleman can desire. I am a man of humble station, but I may make bold to
know what should be the feelings of a father, whose child is restored,
replenished by such an over-bountiful gift."
"Speak plainer," said Content, firmly.
"Then I would say, that it may not be grateful to one who taketh his place
among the best in this Colony, to have an offspring with an Indian cross
of blood, and over whose birth no rite of Christian marriage hath been
said. Here is Abundance, a woman of exceeding usefulness in a
newly-settled region, hath made Reuben a gift of three noble boys this
very morning. The accession is little known, and less discoursed of, in
that the good wife is accustomed to such liberality, and that the day hath
brought forth still greater events. Now a child, more or less, to such a
woman, can neither raise question among the neighbors, nor make any
extraordinary difference to the household. My brother Ring would be happy
to add the boy to his stock; and should there be any remarks concerning
the color of the younker, at a future day, it should give no reason of
surprise, had the whole four been born, on the day of such an inroad, red
as Metacom himself!".
Content heard his companion to the end, without interruption. His
countenance, for a single instant, as the meaning of the Ensign became
unequivocal, reddened with a worldly feeling to which he had long been a
stranger; but the painful expression as quickly disappeared, and in its
place reigned the meek submission to Providence that habitually
characterized his mien.
"That I have been troubled with this vain thought, I shall not deny," he
answered; "but the Lord hath given me strength to resist. It is his will
that one sprung of heathen lineage shall come beneath my roof, and let his
will be done! My child, and all that are hers, are welcome."
Ensign Dudley pressed the point no further, and they separated.