"It shall come with no risk, Kate, believe me, none. Heaven forbid that I should bring a solitary grief to your bosom; yet it may adventure in some respects both mind and person, if you be not wary. Knowing your father, as you know him too, I would have from you a pledge--a promise, here, solemnly uttered in the eye of Heaven, and in the holy stillness of this place, which has witnessed other of our vows no less sacred and solemn, that, should he sanction the prayer of another who seeks your love, and command your obedience, that you will not obey--that you will not go quietly a victim to the altar--that you will not pledge to another the same vow which has been long since pledged to me."
He paused a moment for a reply, but she spoke not; and with something like impetuosity he proceeded:--
"You make no reply, Katharine? You hear my entreaty--my prayer. It involves no impropriety; it stands in the way of no other duty, since, I trust, the relationship between us is as binding as any other which may call for your regard. All that I ask is, that you will not dispose of yourself to another, your heart not going with your hand, whatever may be the authority which may require it; at least, not until you are fully a.s.sured that it is beyond my power to claim you, or I become unworthy to press the claim."
"It is strange, Mark, that you should speak in a manner of which there is so little need. The pledge long since uttered as solemnly as you now require, under these very boughs, should satisfy you."
"So it should, Kate--and so it would, perhaps, could I now reason on any subject. But my doubts are not now of your love, but of your firmness in resisting a control at variance with your duty to yourself. Your words rea.s.sure me, however; and now, though with no glad heart, I shall pa.s.s over the border, and hope for the better days which are to make us happy."
"Not so fast, Master Forrester," exclaimed the voice of old Allen, emerging from the cover of the sycamore, to the shelter of which he had advanced un.o.bserved, and had been the unsuspected auditor of the dialogue from first to last. The couple, with an awkward consciousness, started up at the speech, taken by surprise, and neither uttering a word in reply to this sudden address.
"You must first answer, young man, to the charge of advising my daughter to disobedience, as I have heard you for the last half hour; and to elopement, which she had the good sense to refuse. I thought, Master Forrester, that you were better bred than to be guilty of such offences."
"I know them not as such, Mr. Allen. I had your own sanction to my engagement with Katharine, and do not see that after that you had any right to break it off."
"You do not--eh? Well, perhaps, you are right, and I have thought better of the matter myself; and, between us, Kate has behaved so well, and spoken so prettily to you, and obeyed my orders, as she should have done, that I"m thinking to look more kindly on the whole affair."
"Are you, dear father?--Oh, I am so happy!"
"Hush, minx! the business is mine, and none of yours.--Hark you, Mark.
You must fly--there"s no two ways about that; and, between us, there will be a devil of a stir in this matter. I have it from good authority that the governor will riddle the whole nation but he"ll have every man, woman, and child, concerned in this difficulty: so that"ll be no place for you. You must go right on to the _Ma.s.sa.s.sippi_, and enter lands enough for us all. Enter them in Kate"s name, and they"ll be secure. As soon as you"ve fixed that business, write on, say where you are, and we"ll be down upon you, bag and baggage, in no time and less."
"Oh, dear father--this is so good of you!"
"Pshaw, get away, minx! I don"t like kisses _jest_ after supper; it takes the taste all out of my mouth of what I"ve been eating."
Forrester was loud in his acknowledgments, and sought by eulogistic professions to do away the ill effect of all that he might have uttered in the previous conversation; but the old man cut him short with his wonted querulousness:--
"Oh, done with your blarney, boy! "It"s all my eye and Betty Martin!"
Won"t you go in and take supper? There"s something left, I reckon."
But Forrester had now no idea of eating, and declined accordingly, alleging his determination to set off immediately upon his route--a determination which the old man highly approved of.
"You are right, Mark--move"s the word, and the sooner you go about it the better. Here"s my hand on your bargain, and good-by--I reckon you"ll have something more to say to Kate, and I suppose you don"t want me to help you in saying it--so I leave you. She"s used to the way; and, if she"s at all afraid, you can easily see her home."
With a few more words the old man took his departure, leaving the young people as happy now as he had before found them sad and sorrowful. They did not doubt that the reason of this change was as he alleged it, and gave themselves no thought as to causes, satisfied as they were with effects. But old Allen had not proceeded without his host: he had been advised of the contemplated turn-out of all the squatters from the gold-region; and, having no better tenure than any of his neighbors, he very prudently made a merit of necessity, and took his measures as we have seen. The lovers were satisfied, and their interview now wore, though at parting, a more sunshiny complexion.
But why prolong a scene admitting of so little variety as that which describes the sweets, and the strifes, and the sorrows, of mortal love?
We take it there is no reader of novels so little conversant with matters of this nature as not to know how they begin and how they end; and, contenting ourselves with separating the parties--an act hardhearted enough, in all conscience--we shall not with idle and questionable sympathy dwell upon the sorrows of their separation. We may utter a remark, however, which the particular instance before us occasions, in relation to the singular influence of love upon the mental and moral character of the man. There is no influence in the world"s circ.u.mstance so truly purifying, elevating, and refining. It instils high and generous sentiments; it enn.o.bles human endeavor; it sanctifies defeat and denial; it polishes manners; it gives to morals a tincture of devotion; and, as with the spell of magic, such as Milton describes in "Comus," it dissipates with a glance the wild rout of low desires and insane follies which so much blur and blot up the otherwise fair face of human society. It permits of no meanness in its train; it expels vulgarity, and, with a high stretch toward perfected humanity, it unearths the grovelling nature, and gives it aspirations of sand and sunshine.
Its effect upon Forrester had been of this description. It had been his only tutor, and had taught him n.o.bly in numberless respects. In every a.s.sociation with the maiden of his affections, his tone, his language, his temper, and his thoughts, seemed to undergo improvement and purification. He seemed quite another man whenever he came into her presence, and whenever the thought of her was in his heart. Indeed, such was the effect of this pa.s.sion upon both of them; though this may have been partially the result of other circ.u.mstances, arising from their particular situation. For a long time they had known few enjoyments that were not intimately connected with the image of one another; and thus, from having few objects besides of contemplation or concern, they refined upon each other. As the minute survey in the forest of the single leaf, which, for years, may not have attracted the eye, unfolds the fine veins, the fanciful outline, the clear, green, and transparent texture, and the delicate shadowings of innumerable hues won from the skies and the sunshine--so, day by day, surveying the single object, they had become familiar with attractions in one another which the pa.s.sing world would never have supposed either of them to possess. In such a region, where there are few compet.i.tors for human love and regard, the heart clings with hungering tenacity to the few stray affections that spring up, here and there, like flowers dropped by some kindly, careless hand, making a bloom and a blessing for the untrodden wilderness. Nor do they blossom there in vain, since, as the sage has told us, there is no breeze that wafts not life, no sun that brings not smiles, no water that bears not refreshment, no flower that has not charms and a solace, for some heart that could not well hope to be happy without them.
They separated on the verge of the copse to which he had attended her, their hands having all the way been pa.s.sionately linked, and a seal having been set upon their mutual vows by the long, loving embrace which concluded their interview. The cottage was in sight, and, from the deep shade which surrounded him, he beheld her enter its precincts in safety; then, returning to the place of tryst, he led forth his steed, and, with a single bound, was once more in his saddle, and once more a wanderer.
The cheerlessness of such a fate as that before him, even under the changed aspect of his affairs, to those unaccustomed to the rather too migratory habits of our southern and western people, would seem somewhat severe; but the only hardship in his present fortune, to the mind of Forrester, was the privation and protraction of his love-arrangements.
The wild, woodland adventure common to the habits of the people of this cla.s.s, had a stimulating effect upon his spirit at all other times; and, even now--though perfectly legitimate for a lover to move slowly from his mistress--the moon just rising above the trees, and his horse in full gallop through their winding intricacies, a warm and bracing energy came to his aid, and his heart grew cheery under its inspiriting influences. He was full of the future, rich in antic.i.p.ation, and happy in the contemplation of a thousand projects. With a free rein he plunged forward into the recesses of the forest, dreaming of a cottage in the Mississippi, a heart at ease, and Katharine Allen, with all her beauties, for ever at hand to keep it so.
CHAPTER XIX.
MIDNIGHT SURPRISE.
The night began to wane, and still did Lucy Munro keep lonely vigil in her chamber. How could she sleep? Threatened with a connection so dreadful as to her mind was that proposed with Guy Rivers--deeply interested as she now felt herself in the fortunes of the young stranger, for whose fate and safety, knowing the unfavorable position in which he stood with the outlaws, she had everything to apprehend--it can cause no wonder when we say sleep grew a stranger to her eyes, and without retiring to her couch, though extinguishing her light, she sat musing by the window of her chamber upon the thousand conflicting and sad thoughts that were at strife in her spirit. She had not been long in this position when the sound of approaching hors.e.m.e.n reached her ears, and after a brief interval, during which she could perceive that they had alighted, she heard the door of the hall gently unclosed, and footsteps, set down with nice caution, moving through the pa.s.sage. A light danced for a moment fitfully along the chamber, as if borne from the sleeping apartment of Munro to that adjoining the hall in which the family were accustomed to pursue their domestic avocations. Then came an occasional murmur of speech to her ears, and then silence.
Perplexed with these circ.u.mstances, and wondering at the return of Munro at an hour something unusual--prompted too by a presentiment of something wrong, and apprehensive on the score of Ralph"s safety--a curiosity not, surely, under these circ.u.mstances, discreditable, to know what was going on, determined her to ascertain something more of the character of the nocturnal visitation. She felt secured from the strangeness of the occurrence, that evil was afoot, and solicitous for its prevention, she was persuaded to the measure solely with the view to good.
Hastily, but with trembling hands, undoing the door of her apartment, she made her way into the long, dark gallery, with which she was perfectly familiar, and soon gained the apartment already referred to.
The door fortunately stood nearly closed, and she successfully pa.s.sed it by and gained the hall, which immediately adjoined, and lay in perfect darkness. Without herself being seen, she was enabled, through a crevice in the part.i.tion dividing the two rooms, to survey its inmates, and to hear distinctly everything that was uttered.
As she expected, there were the two conspirators, Rivers and Munro, earnestly engaged in discourse; to which, as it concerns materially our progress, we may well be permitted to lend our attention. They spoke on a variety of topics entirely foreign to the understanding of the half-affrighted and nervously-susceptible, but still resolute young girl who heard them; and nothing but her deep anxieties for one, whose own importance in her eyes at that moment she did not conjecture, could have sustained her while listening to a dialogue full of atrocious intention, and larded throughout with a familiar and sometimes foul phraseology that certainly was not altogether unseemly in such a.s.sociation.
"Well, Blundell"s gone too, they say. He"s heartily frightened. A few more will follow, and we must both be out of the way. The rest could not well be identified, and whether they are or not does not concern us, except that they may blab of their confederates. Such as seem likely to suffer detection must be frightened off; and this, by the way, is not so difficult a matter. Pippin knows nothing of himself. Forrester is too much involved to be forward. It was for this that I aroused and set him on. His hot blood took fire at some little hints that I threw out, and the fool became a leader in the mischief. There"s no danger from him; besides, they say, he"s off too. Old Allen has broken off the match between him and his daughter, and the fellow"s almost mad on the strength of it. There"s but one left who might trouble us, and it is now understood that but one mode offers for his silence. We are perfectly agreed as to this, and no more scruples."
The quick sense of the maiden readily taught her who was meant; and her heart trembled convulsively within her, as, with a word, Munro, replying to Rivers, gave his a.s.sent.
"Why, yes--it must be done, I suppose, though somehow or other I would it could be got rid of in any other way."
"You see for yourself, Wat, there can be no other way; for as long as he lives, there is no security. The few surviving guard will be seen to, and they saw too little to be dangerous. They were like stunned and stupified men. This boy alone was cool and collected, and is so obstinate in what he knows and thinks, that he troubles neither himself nor his neighbors with doubt or difficulty. I knew him a few years ago, when something more of a boy than now; and even then he was the same character."
"But why not let him start, and take the woods for it? How easy to settle the matter on the roadside, in a thousand different ways. The acc.u.mulation of these occurrences in the village, as much as anything else, will break us up. I don"t care for myself, for I expect to be off for a time; but I want to see the old woman and Lucy keep quiet possession here--"
"You are becoming an old woman yourself, Wat, and should be under guardianship. All these scruples are late; and, indeed, even were they not, they would be still useless. We have determined on the thing, and the sooner we set about it the better. The night wanes, and I have much to see to before daylight. To-morrow I must sleep--sleep--" and for a moment Rivers seemed to muse upon the word sleep, which he thrice repeated; then suddenly proceeding, as if no pause had taken place, he abruptly placed his hand upon the shoulder of Munro, and asked--
"You will bear the lantern; this is all you need perform. I am resolute for the rest."
"What will you use--dirk?"
"Yes--it is silent in its office, and not less sure. Are all asleep, think you--your wife?"
"Quite so--sound when I entered the chamber."
"Well, the sooner to business the better. Is there water in that pitcher? I am strangely thirsty to-night; brandy were not amiss at such a time."
And speaking this to himself, as it were, Rivers approached the side-table, where stood the commodities he sought. In this approach the maiden had a more perfect view of the malignities of his savage face; and as he left the table, and again commenced a brief conversation in an under-tone with Munro, no longer doubting the dreadful object which they had in view, she seized the opportunity with as much speed as was consistent with caution and her trembling nerves, to leave the place of espionage, and seek her chamber.
But to what purpose had she heard all this, if she suffered the fearful deed to proceed to execution? The thought was momentary, but carried to her heart, in that moment, the fullest conviction of her duty.
She rushed hurriedly again into the pa.s.sage--and, though apprehending momentarily that her knees would sink from under her, took her way up the narrow flight of steps leading into the second story, and to the youth"s chamber. As she reached the door, a feminine scruple came over her. A young girl seeking the apartment of a man at midnight--she shrunk back with a new feeling. But the dread necessity drove her on, and with cautious hand undoing the latch securing the door by thrusting her hand through an interstice between the logs--wondering at the same time at the incautious manner in which, at such a period and place, the youth had provided for his sleeping hours--she stood tremblingly within the chamber.
Wrapped in unconscious slumbers, Ralph Colleton lay dreaming upon his rude couch of a thousand strange influences and a.s.sociations. His roving fancies had gone to and fro, between his uncle and his bewitching cousin, until his heart grew softened and satisfied, not less with the native pleasures which they revived in his memory, than of the sweet oblivion which they brought of the many painful and perilous prospects with which he had more recently become familiar. He had no thought of the present, and the pictures of the past were all rich and ravishing.
To his wandering sense at that moment there came a sweet vision of beauty and love--of an affection warmly cherished--green as the summer leaves--fresh as its flowers--flinging odors about his spirit, and re-awakening in its fullest extent the partially slumbering pa.s.sion--reviving many a hope, and provoking with many a delicious antic.i.p.ation. The form of the one, lovely beyond comparison, flitted before him, while her name, murmured with words of pa.s.sion by his parted lips, carried with its utterance a sweet promise of a pure faith, and an unforgetting affection. Never once, since the hour of his departure from home, had he, in his waking moments, permitted that name to find a place upon his lips, and now syllabled into sound by them in his unconscious dreams, it fell with a stunning influence upon an auditor, whose heart grew colder in due proportion with the unconscious but warm tenderness of epithet with which his tongue coupled its utterance.
The now completely unhappy Lucy stood sad and statue-like. She heard enough to teach her the true character of her own feelings for one, whose articulated dreams had revealed the secret of his pa.s.sion for another; and almost forgetting for a while the office upon which she had come, she continued to give ear to those sounds which brought to her heart only additional misery.
How long Ralph, in his mental wanderings, would have gone on, as we have seen, incoherently developing his heart"s history, may not be said.
Gathering courage at last, with a n.o.ble energy, the maiden proceeded to her proposed duty, and his slumbers were broken. With a half-awakened consciousness he raised himself partially up in his couch, and sought to listen. He was not deceived; a whispered sentence came to his ears, addressed to himself, and succeeded by a pause of several moments"