Tobias Aconite

“ The ball whizzed by the side of the foremost officer, and struck the agent in the leg—he fell. Curly Tom possessed more strength than his lank figure promised,—but Hunter, thoroughly sobered by his danger; tore his hold away, and striking the ruffian a tremendous blow with the butt end of the discharged pistol, felled him to the ground,—and snatching a knife from the rock close at hand, stabbed the foremost officer to the heart,—he fell with a heavy groan, and the next moment the remaining officer, a man of herculean strength had closed upon him. ”

“ Hunter made desperate efforts to rise, but getting within reach of the agent in the struggle, Lambert seized his hair, and held his head firmly down; to master his hands now, and slip a pair of handcuffs over his wrists, was, to the powerful and practised officer, the work of a moment,—and furious with passion, but exhausted by the struggle, Hunter lay upon the earth, a captive. ”

“ Walter recoiled, and rising from his seat grasped the back of the chair he had been seated on with such a nervous gripe that the strong oak rail broke in two with the pressure, and his heaving chest and quivering lip told the fierce emotions that were struggling for utterance.—The landlady understood his look.
'Do not fear, Walter—your child is as pure as an angel. It is the desolation of her heart I speak of—not the pollution. It is the blight that has fallen upon her young love—upon a woman's first and holiest impressions—a virtuous love for a deserving object. ”

“ Man of the marble heart, your career is near its close! This is not the only one of your crimes that has resulted in death. There arises from the earth in South Carolina a voice that calls for vengeance on her murderer. The child you thought without a friend, whom you hoped would perish unknown, is even now preparing to assert his rights, and drive you, titled bastard as you know yourself to be, from your usurped position. ”

“ The agent stared in speechless astonishment—the low musical laugh again rang through the room.
'Listen!' said the mariner. 'The creatures of the air, the beings of another world denounce you; the victims of your lust for gold, though buried fathoms deep in the grave, still find a voice to chill the marrow in your bones: the dead shall rise from their graves and confront you—the hidden perfidy of years shall be disclosed, base tool of a baser master—all your machinations against the wronged and the humble shall fail, and recoil upon yourselves. ”

“ The tap-room presented its usual evening appearance when the agent entered. The curate and lawyer were deep in a discussion on the beauties of the new poor-law; the farmers grumbling at the weather; the landlady quietly seated behind the bar, while the bar-maid, a smart, coquettish girl of nineteen, carried the ale and brandy around to the thirsty customers, and all the usual concomitants of a scene then common, but, what we must now call of the olden time, though half a century has scarce passed away since it occurred. ”

“ Four or five squalid, ragged children, with pinched features and thin limbs, sat huddled in a heap on the muddy ground, watching the road with anxious eyes—eyes so bright with hunger that they seemed like those of so many rats. The youngest—it was not two years old, cried—the elder beat it. Start not, reader, it is human nature. The little creature hid her wizen face in her withered little hands and sobbed. A man rode by just then. It was the agent on his way to the castle, for this was the morning of Curly Tom's escape. ”

“ The earth is covered with food for sustaining life, and hundreds, aye, thousands, like myself, are perishing at home. Oh, where is Christian charity?'
'Charity begins at home,' said the seaman, 'and seldom casts anchor in any other port. If you'll take my advice, you will stow your cargo and make sail, and hark ye—' He whispered a word in the man's ear; the other clasped his hands together, and with a tear in his eye, left the apartment.
'Woe! woe! doomed!' cried the mysterious voice.
Lambert shook like a leaf—the seaman seemed to enjoy his terror. ”

“ Within a year the mother died, and Ellen was left alone. Beautiful, helpless, with no one to protect her, was it a wonder she fell a victim to the vile plot laid for her? Her seducer wearied of her after two years, and offered to settle a pension upon her and wed her to his base instrument Lambert. She spurned the offer, and left the cottage where he had established her in splendid infamy. None knew whither she went, and no tidings have since been heard of her.'
The seaman was pacing the floor in stern and gloomy silence. He paused. ”

“ I have heard of such things at sea.'
'And what might your wisdom suppose them to be?' said the Earl, with a sneer.
'It is hard for man to tell,' said the seaman, who had not been the slightest discomposed by the voice. 'He who made the ocean and the dry land alone knows; but a conscience void of offence is the sheet anchor for man to rely upon in the voyage of life. I never knew such a thing to happen save to a wicked man.'
'Ha,' said the Earl sarcastically, 'a moralizing tar-bucket. ”

“ The steward moved not one inch, but confronted him in the majesty of venerable age.
The agent paused not for one moment in his task, but quietly labelling and tying up a pile of documents, placed it in its proper pigeon hole, and went on with methodical exactness to the next. They were a strange group. The man of business in his chair, pursuing his work as if no other were present, but observing all that took place nevertheless; the nobleman in the prime of glorious manhood, noble, as far as physical beauty could go ”

“ The company at the ale house also broke up, and each wended his way home, where, no doubt, each in his own way, regaled his family with the marvels of the evening, and the seaman alone remained, eating his supper as coolly as though nothing had happened, a combat of life and death seeming to him a thing too common to excite any emotion in his breast. Had it been daylight it is not likely he would have been attacked by one man ”

“ Great were the encomiums bestowed upon the officer by his brother official, for his conduct and bravery, and the agent also came in for his share of praise—and the whole party were in high glee at the result, which brought one poor hunted human being under the dread ban of the law, while he whose lust had driven him to crime revelled in luxury, and mingled with the fair and good, courted and caressed by those who would have shrunk from expressing any sympathy for the poor victims of his pride. ”

“ Do you likewise here, remembering that you are but the steward of your wealth. Let the former oppressions of your house be forgotten in your good deeds. Let your voice be heard in the high court of which you will be a member, whenever the artizan and the laborer need a defender from the foul enactments that are there consummated. Let your passions be subjected to the control of religion and morality—let no avaricious knave oppress the hard-toiling farmer in your name, but see to these things yourself. ”

“ You have a sacred duty to perform, more binding far than vengeance, which is the Lord's alone. You have to heal the sorrows of those who will be in a great measure dependent upon you to redress the wrongs of years of oppression, to be a father to the tenants of your wide domain, and your life must not be idly risked.'
'I have it!' said Edward, eagerly. 'You say my father was fair-haired, and I am like my mother.'
The seaman took a miniature from his vest, and handed it to him. ”

“ I should have been here sooner, but I went round to the village shop to buy food for the little ones.'
'You must allow me to have my way, Johnson,' said Mary. 'Sit down now and eat; then rest. You will need the little money you have, and more too, to recruit your health, for you must not dream of working again until you are strong. I will send what is necessary, and some one to mind the children; Edward, will you walk home with me?' and before the man could reply, not giving him time to utter a word of thanks, she took the arm of the youth and quitted the cottage. ”

“ Truly, this age is prolific in wonders. The march of intellect is abroad with a vengeance. But since these good people have been disappointed of their expected morning's amusement, perhaps you will favor them and myself with this yarn, I think they call it; and Lambert, order some ale to be served round, and let them bring a cup of brandy for our maritime friend here; he must wet his whistle, I suppose, or he will never be able to spin a yarn in true, orthodox, sailor fashion. ”

“ At this moment Johnson entered the room. His step was feeble and slow, but his countenance no longer bore the look of deep dejection that had in the morning characterized it. His eye brightened still more when he saw Mary.
'Now God bless you, Miss Waters, for thinking of my poor lambs,' said he. 'I scarcely dared to hope for them. I have brought food for them—see!' he added. 'I little dreamed anyone would have been here before me.'
'Sit down,' said Mary, rising; 'you are fatigued and weak. ”

“ There was a vivid flash—it seemed to wrap the mast in one blue sheet of flame, while all around was dark, we saw it then, a female with a child in her arms, floating, as it seemed, upon the wind, now drifting towards him, now whirled upon the blast to a distance. ”

“ He was absent from her more frequently—spoke of the necessity of attending to his duty—his duty! oh, the ready excuse man finds to do evil. Better far for that poor girl would it have been to have been buried in the deepest recesses of the cloister, than to have attracted the notice of that vile unprincipled nobleman. It was about this time the old Earl died, and he quitted the service. There was no bar now for his acknowledging her as his wife—but he was satiated—his fleeting passion had evaporated. ”

“ Ally waited with becoming patience while her guest ate his fill and then approaching him with a brimming tumbler of punch said, 'Drink to the memory of old times, Walter.'
'You know me then!' said he, 'strange that but one eye alone of those who knew me in my boyhood should recognize me, but sea and storm do much to alter a man, human passion does more.' (He spoke now without any of the sea jargon that had made his account of the encounter with Curly Tom almost unintelligible to the farmers) ”

“ It was some moments ere she could proceed. 'Horace grew up a fine young-man. As a boy he was a playmate of our proud master; and when Ellen returned from Canterbury, where she had been educated by an aunt, she was the pride of the village, the joy of her widowed mother's heart, and the apple of her brother's eye. It was a beautiful thing to see, Walter, the strong love of those two—the exultant pride of the brother in his sister's loveliness—in her accomplishments, for she knew many things our country folks were unacquainted with. ”

“ A tremendous sea struck us upon the beam at this moment, and every mast went by the board. The gale abated soon, and we got jury-masts up, and put back to Lima, but of all that ship's crew, no man was hurt by the storm or the spirit, save he whose deeds had been evil;—and that is why, my lord, I say I fear not these sounds, for a good conscience is the best sheet-anchor.'
'A truly edifying tale,' said the Earl sneering, 'you must be Chaplain to the fleet, doubtless. The bad boy got whipped and the good boys went scot free, just as it should be. ”

“ Your agents have confessed, and nothing can save you from the merited punishment of your crimes. Repent, weep tears of penitence over this poor form, and make your peace with God. You have but little time left ere man's justice will claim you as its due.' He replaced his daughter in the carriage, and lifting the body of poor Ellen as tenderly as if it had been a child, placed it inside, and thus the dying and the dead departed.
At headlong speed the Earl reached his mansion, galled to madness. ”

“ Locked in each other's grasp they wrestled together for life: each one well knew that death would be the lot of the vanquished,—the officer burning to revenge his comrade's death:—Hunter struggling for life and his cherished vengeance. Gradually they approached the spot where the agent sat watching the conflict with terrible anxiety, so absorbing as to make him forgetful of the pain of his wound ”

“ Horace Hunter was pacing the cave with unsteady step, and with delight the officers saw that he was more than half intoxicated. No one could have recognized in the bloated countenance and reckless air of the hunted man, the gay and handsome young farmer of seven years before. ”

“ Even in that short time a marked change had come upon him, and it was with the resolved air of a man prepared to hear, determine, and to act, if need be, with firmness and deliberation, that he pushed his chair from the table, and folding his arms upon his chest, sat waiting for the mariner to proceed in his tale. That burst of tears which followed the announcement of his rank was a last farewell to boyhood, and his firm attitude and handsome features looked worthy to uphold the proud motto of his house, "Nulli Secundi." ”

“ Alice Goodfellow, and as their Lord's reputed aunt for so many years, she is a person of no small importance:—still single, but beginning to think of settling now, as her glass gives awkward reflections,—but still balancing the claims of her admirers, though she does give color to the report of shewing a preference for the sturdy blacksmith;—by her side, smartly dressed, are gamboling about the young Johnsons, while their father, in a respectable suit of black, marshals the somewhat unruly procession of maidens and youths chosen to receive the young Earl. ”

“ Lambert sedulously cultivated an intimacy with the Hunters—condoled with the mother, ingratiated himself with the young man, and affected unbounded friendship. Ellen, however, with the true instinct of a pure and innocent girl, shrank from his companionship; innocence will ever shrink with innate consciousness from baseness. He persuaded Hunter to rent a farm in addition to his own, and lent him money to speculate largely in breeding fancy sheep. The speculation failed—the agent pressed for payment. ”