"Good-night. I love you. D."
Blindly I groped for the remaining letter and tore the seal.
"Sir George has just had news of you from an Oneida who says you may be here at any moment! And I, O G.o.d I terrified at my own mad happiness, fearing myself in that meeting, begged him to wed me on the morrow. I was insane, I think, crazed with fear, knowing that, were I not forever beyond you, I must give myself to you and abide in h.e.l.l for all eternity!
"And he was astonished, I think, but kind, as he always is; and now the dreadful knowledge has come to me that for me there is no refuge, no safety in marriage which I, poor fool, fled to for sanctuary lest I do murder on my own soul!
"What shall I do? What can I do? I have given my word to wed him on the morrow. If it be mortal sin to show ingrat.i.tude to a father and deceive a lover, what would it be to deceive a husband and disgrace a father?
"And I, silly innocent, never dreamed but that temptation ceased within the holy bonds of wedlock--though sadness might endure forever.
"And now I know! In the imminent and instant presence of my marriage I know that I shall love you none the less, shall tempt and be tempted none the less. And, in this resistless, eternal love, I may fall, dragging you down with me to our endless punishment.
"It was not the fear of punishment that kept me true to my vows before; it was something within me, I don"t know what.
"But, if I were wedded with him, it would be fear of punishment alone that could save me--not terror of flames; I could endure them with you, but the new knowledge that has come to me that my punishment would be the one thing I could not endure--eternity without you!
"Neither in heaven nor in h.e.l.l may I have you. Is there no way, my beloved? Is there no place for us?
"I have been to the porch to tell Sir George that I must postpone the wedding. I did not tell him. He was standing with Magdalen Brant, and she was crying. I did not know she had received bad news. She said the news was bad. Perhaps Sir George can help her.
"I will tell him later that the wedding must be postponed....
I don"t know why, either. I cannot think. I can scarcely see to write. Oh, help me once more, my darling! Do not come to Varicks"! That is all I desire on earth! For we must never, never, see each other again!"
Stunned, I reeled to my feet and stumbled out into the moonlight, staring across the misty wilderness into the east, where, beyond the forests, somewhere, she lay, perhaps a bride.
A deathly chill struck through and through me. To a free man, with one shred of pity, honor, unselfish love, that appeal must be answered. And he were the basest man in all the world who should ignore it and show his face at Varick Manor--were he free to choose.
But I was not free; I was a military servant, pledged under solemn oath and before G.o.d to obedience--instant, unquestioning, unfaltering obedience.
And in my trembling hand I held my written orders to report at Varick Manor.
XX
c.o.c.k-CROW
At dawn we left the road and struck the Oneida trail north of the river, following it swiftly, bearing a little north of east until, towards noon, we came into the wagon-road which runs over the Mayfield hills and down through the outlying bush farms of Mayfield and Kingsborough.
Many of the houses were deserted, but not all; here and there smoke curled from the chimney of some lonely farm; and across the stump pasture we could see a woman laboring in the sun-scorched fields and a man, rifle in hand, standing guard on a vantage-point which overlooked his land.
Fences and gates became more frequent, crossing the rough road every mile or two, so that we were constantly letting down and replacing cattle-bars, unpinning rude gates, or climbing over snake fences of split rails.
Once we came to a cross-roads where the fence had been demolished and a warning painted on a rough pine board above a wayside watering-trough.
"WARNING!
All farmers and townsfolk are hereby requested and ordered to remove gates, stiles, cow-bars, and fences, which includes all obstructions to the public highway, in order that the cavalry may pa.s.s without difficulty. Any person found felling trees across this road, or otherwise impeding the operations of cavalry by building brush, stump, rail, or stone fences across this road, will be arrested and tried before a court on charge of aiding and giving comfort to the enemy.
G. COVERT,
"Captain Commanding Legion."
Either this order did not apply to the cross-road which we now filed into, or the owners of adjacent lands paid no heed to it; for presently, a few rods ahead of us, we saw a snake fence barring the road and a man with a pack on his back in the act of climbing over it.
He was going in the same direction that we were, and seemed to be a fur-trader laden with packets of peltry.
I said this to Murphy, who laughed and looked at Mount.
"Who carries pelts to Quebec in August?" asked Elerson, grinning.
"There"s the skin of a wolverine dangling from his pack," I said, in a low voice.
Murphy touched Mount"s arm, and they halted until the man ahead had rounded a turn in the road; then they sprang forward, creeping swiftly to the shelter of the undergrowth at the bend of the road, while Elerson and I followed at an easy pace.
"What is it?" I asked, as we rejoined them where they were kneeling, looking after the figure ahead.
"Nothing, sir; we only want to see them pelts, Tim and me."
"Do you know the man?" I demanded.
Murphy gazed musingly at Mount through narrowed eyes. Mount, in a brown study, stared back.
"Phwere th" divil have I seen him, I dunnoa!" muttered Murphy. "Jack, "tis wan mush-rat looks like th" next, an" all thrappers has the same cut to them! Yonder"s no thrapper!"
"Nor peddler," added Mount; "the strap of the Delaware baskets never bowed his legs."
"Thrue, avick! Wisha, lad, "tis horses he knows better than snow-shoes, bed-plates, an" thrip-sticks! An" I"ve seen him, I think!"
"Where?" I asked.
He shook his head, vacantly staring. Moved by the same impulse, we all started forward; the man was not far ahead, but our moccasins made no noise in the dust and we closed up swiftly on him and were at his elbow before he heard us.
Under the heavy sunburn the color faded in his cheeks when he saw us. I noted it, but that was nothing strange considering the perilous conditions of the country and the sudden shock of our appearance.
"Good-day, friend," cried Mount, cheerily.
"Good-day, friends," he replied, stammering as though for lack of breath.
"G.o.d save our country, friend," added Elerson, gravely.
"G.o.d save our country, friends," repeated the man.
So far, so good. The man, a thick, stocky, heavy-eyed fellow, moistened his broad lips with his tongue, peered furtively at me, and instantly dropped his eyes. At the same instant memory stirred within me; a vague recollection of those heavy, black eyes, of that broad, bow-legged figure set me pondering.