Martha Finley

“ She had at last fallen into a doze when a hand touched her, and Phelim’s voice whispered in her ear, “Go! lave the ould divil to us; we’ll take care o’ ’im. Run an’ give the alarum, but don’t ye be in too big a hurry.”
She was on her feet before he had finished his sentence. Himes, too, had roused and started up. She heard the two grapple with oaths and curses as she dashed out of the cabin through the midst of a group of dark forms that stepped aside to let her pass, and sprang ashore. ”

“ Miriam had scarcely risen from her knees, and her heart was still going up in earnest pleadings for help from on high, when the report of the pistol struck her ear.
“What was that?” she asked herself. “Some one shooting at a mark, perhaps; it is not the time of year for hunting game.”
She remained a few moments longer in her room, then, at the call to tea, descended the stairs to the lower hall. Just as she reached it the more startling and alarming sounds made by the mob began to be heard.
“Oh, what is it? what is happening in Prairieville?” ”

“ Miriam said, blushing more vividly than before, “so of course there has been no lover’s quarrel between us; but surely the horrors of the last week are enough to account for a feeling of depression, especially in one who—Oh, Serena, I think you do not know that it was I who had put Bangs into such a rage that he shot poor Barney Nolan, and was lynched in consequence! Oh, I cannot yet get over the feeling that I—I am partly to blame—partly responsible for it all!” she added, averting her face, while the big tears rolled down her cheeks. ”

“ At length, turning aside from the main road and making his way through a bit of woods, he paused in front of a rude cabin standing in a 2 potato patch, enclosed by a rough, zigzag rail-fence. An old man in patched, worn, and by no means clean garments sat on the door-step smoking a dirty pipe.
His wife stood just behind him with her knitting, a coarse woollen stocking, in her hands. She threw it from her as the traveller opened the gate, and with a wild cry, “It’s me son! me bye Phalim come home till his mither at last!” rushed out and threw herself upon his breast, weeping for very joy. ”

“ At the first sound of the whistle, instantly followed by the rush and roar of the train, the animal started aside, snorting, and rolling his eyes wildly.
“Shall I take his head, miss?” asked a voice in a rich Irish brogue, and Phelim O’Rourke, hurrying from Bangs’s stable to join the waiting throng, sprang hastily forward and seized the bridle-rein.
“No; I can hold him; he will be quiet enough as soon as he sees what it is,” Miriam answered shortly, not overpleased at the officiousness of the man. ”

“ A middle-aged man, with a sober, honest Scotch face, in decent farmer dress, and carrying a satchel in his hand, was among the first to alight.
“You’re a gude leddy, as weel’s a bonny ane, Miss Miriam,” he said, hurrying toward her. “I’m no ill pleased to forego the pleasure o’ a tramp through the cauld and ower the frozen, rough roads.”
“I thought you would come back tired, Sandy,” she returned, resigning the reins to him as he took the seat by her side, having already bestowed his satchel in the bottom of the buggy. ”

“ Heath.
“Yes, madam, I do,” he said, emphatically; “first, because God commands it—‘Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed’—and, secondly, because its abolition gives encouragement to those inclined to commit murder—from enmity or for gain—and leads to lynching in cases where the indignation of the community is so aroused by the enormity of a crime, or a series of crimes, that they feel that the criminal must be sent where he can no longer harm his fellows, and that nothing short of the death penalty is an adequate reward for his misdeeds.” ”

“ Miriam drew a long breath. “Oh, if that should happen!” she cried, “I—I think it would help me to get out of Bangs’s power.”
“I do believe it would!” exclaimed Serena, her eyes sparkling at the thought. “But whether that happens or not, Alonzo is sure to find a way of escape for you. Miriam, he’s the best and kindest-hearted man that ever was made. I used to think I was fond of Perry’s father—Perry Golding, Sr.—but it was nothing to compare to my love for his successor.” ”

“ Their sister noticed their efforts with smiles and words of commendation, talked cheerfully, even gayly, to her grandmother and Ronald, and went about attending to her many duties and responsibilities in her usual prompt and energetic fashion; yet her heart was heavy and her cheek pale.
“Miriam, dear child,” Mrs. Heath said at length, “you are not well.”
122 “I’m not sick, granny dear,” was the smiling rejoinder; “a slight headache is all that ails me, and a walk will relieve it, I think; so, as a few things are wanted from the stores, and I can be spared from the field, I’m going into town.” ”

“ A shudder ran through the little group, and a low exclamation of horror burst from the lips 113 of the young Connors; but the doctor and the captain, inured to scenes of blood and carnage by their experiences in the late war, viewed this one in awed silence. Yet only for an instant.
“Life may not be extinct!” exclaimed the doctor, hastily setting down the light and stooping over the prostrate, bleeding, and apparently lifeless form of the old man.
Belinda, lingering on the outside of the group, overheard the words with strangely mingled relief and terror. ”

“ The faces about him grew brighter at his words.
“I wonder I had not thought of that before,” exclaimed Ronald.
“You are kind, very kind, doctor,” said Mrs. Heath. “‘A friend in need is a friend indeed.’”
“Ah, my dear madam, advice is cheap,” he said; “when not professional,” he added, laughingly. “I shall speak to Charlton, and we will see what can be done.” Then, as he rose to go, “Ah, I had nearly forgotten! Miss Miriam, Serena bade me give you this,” drawing from his pocket a note written on tinted paper, and directed in a delicate female hand. ”

“ Wiley’s face grew darker as he proceeded. “Why do you seek her, then?” she asked in impatience. “She is no such prize that—”
“Pardon me, madam, if I venture to differ from you there,” he interrupted, drawing himself up with a haughty air. “Miriam Heath is an uncommonly fine girl in both looks and character. Where, let me ask, could you find another who could and would do what she has done—carry on a farm and support a family in comfort?”
“I don’t see what you want to marry for; you are much better off as you are,” remarked his sister, ignoring his query. ”

“ She and Phelim O’Rourke were reaping in another world what they had sown in this.
Deprived of their leader, and fearing to share his fate at the hands of those who had dealt out stern justice to him, the rest of the band had fled the vicinity, and peace, quietness, and security reigned all up and down Wild River Valley; but the story of its tragedy will linger for years, if not forever, in the minds of its inhabitants—a tragedy that was largely the result of a disregard on the part of the law-makers of the State of that law of God—“Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” ”

“ Still no reply.
“I fear I have not won your heart,” he sighed, “but, dear girl, can you not give me a little hope that I may be able to do so in time?”
“I thank you sincerely for your generous offer, Captain Charlton,” she responded at last, speaking in low, tremulous tones, and with half-averted face, “but—but—I think I cannot be spared from home; I think grandmother, the children, Ronald, all need me. Grandmother is too old to bear alone the burden of household cares and responsibilities, and Ronald is not yet strong enough to take charge of the farm.” ”

“ Jasper asked, in a tone of friendly sympathy and concern.
“Yes, sir; we fear there is danger of foreclosure, should the holder be so inclined; for we lack the means to pay off even the interest that is due.”
“Don’t be uneasy; I trust that danger may be readily averted,” returned the doctor, cheerily; “doubtless the money to pay off the whole indebtedness can be borrowed, the lender being 180 secured by a new mortgage; and I dare say Captain Charlton will be able to arrange the business for you in a satisfactory manner, finding a mortgagee who will not care to hurry you unduly for payment.” ”

“ Consigning his Fairfield patients to the care of another physician, he drove back to Prairieville with Charlton, and about the middle of the afternoon alighted at his own door.
Little Perry greeted him with a welcoming shout. “Oh, papa, I’m so glad you’ve comed! A naughty man comed here and made mamma cry, and she doesn’t stop. But oo won’t let him come any more; will oo, papa?”
“I shall certainly not allow anybody to trouble mamma if I can help it, my boy,” returned the doctor, hurrying into the house.
Serena met him, all bathed in tears, and threw herself sobbing into his arms. ”

“ The others, occupied with what he was saying, did not notice Miriam’s emotion.
“Lynched! what does that mean?” asked Bertie, in wide-eyed wonder.
“Never mind, dear,” said his grandmother, rising in some haste and leading him and Olive away; “children can’t understand these things. It’s all over now, and we’ll think and talk of something else.”
“Yes; Mrs. Heath is right,” Charlton observed, in a low voice; “and the details are sickening; hardly fit for any but men’s ears.” ”

“ It was nearly dark when they reached Lakeside, 40 but there was light and warmth in its cosey sitting-room, whither Miriam carried the satchel, while Sandy drove around to the stable and put up the horse.
The grandmother was dishing up the supper, Ronald keeping the little ones quiet with a story; but on Miriam’s entrance they left him, and ran to meet her with a shout of joy. ”

“ Go ’way dis minute!” cried Perry, with a stamp of his baby foot, while Serena rose hurriedly, ran into the sitting-room, snatched her babe from its crib, and, straining it to her breast, turned and faced Golding, who had followed her in.
“Yours?” he queried, with an angry flush on his cheek.
“Yes, mine,” she said, firmly, soothing it with tenderest caresses; “my own precious darling.”
“Jasper’s brat, eh? She’ll have to be left behind when you go with me.”
“Then I’ll never go with you! Leave my baby, indeed! never, never while I draw the breath of life!” ”

“ Red-handed murderers seem to be their especial favorites, to be visited, feasted upon dainties, loaded with choice flowers, pitied and pleaded for, that they may be spared the due reward of their deeds; perhaps set free to repeat them.”
191 “I blush for my sex when I hear how some of them pet and pamper the vilest criminals, the most heartless, ruffianly murderers, simply because justice has overtaken them and they are in prison,” remarked Miriam. ”

“ He accordingly spent several weeks in the employ of Farmer Himes, felling trees and cutting wood all day in company with the old man, and often, in the long evenings, enjoying a stolen interview with Belinda when a call upon some neighbor or a visit to the nearest town had taken her husband out of the way.
The woman’s conscience troubled her sorely at times; she knew she was doing very wrong, now that she was the wife of another man, to let this one talk to her in the old lover-like way ”

“ Am I right in my conjecture that the course of true love does not run smooth? Pray believe, dear, that I do not ask from any vulgar curiosity, but from a sincere desire and hope to be able to give both sympathy and help,” she added, taking Miriam’s hand and pressing it affectionately in both of hers. “That Warren Charlton is 218 deeply enamored of you I am positively certain, and as he, too, is looking woebegone without apparent reason, to what other conclusion can I come than that the roughness of true love’s course is making misery for you both?” ”

“ They retired early, as was their custom. Mrs. Heath, Miriam, and the two children slept upstairs; but Ronald’s bedroom was on the ground floor, opening into the sitting-room where they had passed the evening.
In this last Sandy and Barney took up their quarters for the night, each armed with a loaded revolver. It had been agreed that each should take his turn in watching while the other slept, and that upon any sound of approaching footsteps, or an attempt of any one outside to open window or door, the sleeper should be instantly roused by his companion. ”

“ Both turned an anxious look upon Bertie as he came in. They had thought, on hearing the ring, that the caller was probably Mr. Himes, the holder of the mortgage, coming for his interest. It was due that day; he had always been very punctual in calling for it, and hitherto had never failed to find it ready for him.
Bertie did not wait to be questioned. “It’s that lady that always smiles and calls everybody ‘dear,’” he said, “and she came to see you both—grandmother and Mirry.”
“Mrs. Wiley!” ejaculated Miriam, her cheeks flushing hotly. ”

“ Feeling entitled to an hour of recreation, after many spent in overseeing the men in the field, and attending to domestic duties about the house, she had gone to the grove with a book, and while pleasingly absorbed in its contents had been surprised by a visit from Bangs, who, in spite of a reception of studied coldness, had forced his society upon her and made her an offer of his hand, professing to have already bestowed his heart upon her.
“Heart, indeed!” exclaimed Serena, in hot indignation; “he doesn’t own anything worthy of the name. ”

“ Charlton made a movement to go; but an entreating look and word from Ronald led him to resume his seat, and he outstayed the colonel.
When the latter had gone, “What has he against Barney Nolan?” asked the old lady.
“Barney belonged to his regiment,” replied Ronald, “and had to submit to many an act of outrageous tyranny from him.”
“That would account for Barney’s disliking him,” she said, doubtfully.
“And for his dislike to Barney,” added Charlton. “A man hates those he oppresses. ”