Barringford

“ One voice sounded strangely familiar, and peering through the bushes Henry was overjoyed to recognize Sam Barringford, who was sitting in the bow of the boat, rifle in hand, while his companion was rowing.
"Sam! Sam!" he cried, as he rushed forward. "Oh, Sam, how glad I am to see you!"
"Well, by the eternal, ef it ain't Henry!" shouted the frontiersman, in almost equal joy. "This is dumb luck an' no mistake. Why, me and Gangley came out on purpose to see ef we couldn't find out what had become of ye! Are ye alone?" ”

“ The fall of stones and dirt was as dismaying as it was perilous. Looking into the passageway, torch in hand, Dave saw that it was now completely choked. To get out by the way he had come was impossible. He was virtually entombed alive!
A shiver went over him and he called to Sam Barringford with all the power of his youthful lungs. To his intense dismay, no answer came back, showing that the fall of dirt and stones had been greater than anticipated. ”

“ Barringford took the man's gun and his ammunition box and handed them to the youth. "Now you're armed as good as any o' us," he whispered. "It's lucky I cotched him jest right, otherwise we might have had to do some powerful rasselin', eh? Come."
Once again they moved forward, until they felt the barricade of pork barrels could not be more than a hundred yards distant. Then a fresh firing broke out on their left, and soon fifty or more French soldiers hove into sight as they were making a detour from one side of Haldimand's defense to the other. ”

“ Soon the smoke became so thick that but little could be seen on either side.
"Tell ye wot, them Frenchers mean business!" ejaculated Barringford, while re-loading his firearm, which was so hot he could scarcely hold it. "We've lost a sight o' men already."
What he said was true. The loss had been frightful, and the dead and dying lay on every side. Moans and shrieks rent the air, in a fashion to turn the stoutest heart sick. Major Grant rushed around heedless of danger, giving directions and doing all he could to encourage those under him. ”

“ Barringford counseled moderation, but secretly he was as much put out as the boys even though some of the English were his warm friends. He had come near to having a quarrel with an English lieutenant named Naster and he was still much disturbed over this.
That very night Dave, while on picket duty, heard Lieutenant Naster finding fault with an old ranger named Campwell. Campwell was a pioneer over sixty-five years of age, and while a good shot and a good fighter was at times not just right in his mind, although he could by no means be called crazy. ”

“ They had reached a stony brook, and along this watercourse they walked, to conceal their trail again. Then, coming to a cliff of overhanging rocks, they found a fine shelter, and here stopped to rest.
"Poor Flabig," murmured Dave. "He certainly didn't deserve that fate."
"He's better off than if he was captured an' tortured," returned Barringford. "Kinder winded, eh, Dave?" ”

“ If the cooking was not of the best, neither of the travelers grumbled, for fresh air and hunger, real hunger, are the best sauces in the world.
In such a lonely spot it was not considered necessary to remain on guard, and after fixing the fire so it would burn for a long while, they turned in, and slept “like rocks” until daybreak.
A loud whistle from Barringford made Dave leap from his couch of pine boughs. The old frontiersman had breakfast ready, and this was quickly eaten, and soon they were on the way once more. Dave was a bit stiff, but did not complain. ”

“ He dressed his deer and said he would take the skin to the trading-post, and also such a part of the meat as he could readily carry.
"He probably means to turn over a new leaf," said Henry, after Bergerac had departed. "I hope he does."
"He seemed to be mighty anxious to see your uncle," put in Barringford.
"Well, if he can save Uncle James from serious trouble, I hope he does it."
"What a scoundrel Jean Bevoir is!" put in Dave. "Wouldn't you think that, after all his upsettings, he would be content to rest and do what was right?"
"Some men are born that way, lad," said the old frontiersman. ”

“ Morris' parting words.
"We've had trouble enough to last us a lifetime."
"We'll do our best to steer clear of it," answered his son.
The evening of the first day found them in a territory that was entirely new to both Dave and Henry, although Barringford had been over the ground several times. Only some small game had been seen, not worth powder and shot, as the old frontiersman put it, and they made their evening meal from some fish which Henry managed to catch. ”

“ The two that had at first appeared were followed by eight or ten others, who kept in a bunch several rods behind the leaders.
"Oh, what a chance for big game!" whispered Dave. "If only we had two or three guns apiece!"
"Never mind, we have our pistols," came from Henry. "They'll count for something at close quarters."
"Whatever you do, don't all fire at once," cautioned Barringford. "One bullet may not be enough for one of the buffaloes. I'll fire first, and if he don't fall then Henry can fire, and then Dave."
Anxiously they waited for the big game to come within gun shot. ”

“ Again he passed through the waterfall, and now Dave and White Buffalo lost no time in following. The opening beyond was two feet wide and high enough for a man to stand upright. The flooring led downward several steps, and then turned to the left, where the passageway spread out into an irregular cave of uncertain dimensions and various heights.
"That was certainly easy enough," remarked Dave, while Barringford was busy lighting the tinder in his box. "I declare I only got the water on my head and shoulders. With a good big hood a fellow could keep as dry as a bone." ”

“ Amongst the many candidates for an employment so certain to insure the fortune of its possessor, Major Barrington, then a brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, was chosen.
It is not improbable that, in mere technical details of his art, he might have had many equal and some superior to him; it was well known that his personal requisites were above all rivalry. He was a man of great size and strength, of a most commanding presence, an accomplished linguist in the various dialects of Central India and a great master of all manly exercises. ”

“ Among those of our adopted citizens of foreign birth, who have contributed to the growth of the town and by their industry, prudence, and other distinguishing individual qualities, have made a good record for themselves and families, may be named, John Burke, James Doran. Patrick Martin, James Kirby, Robert Tobin. Barrington has always been a hospitable home for honest men of whatever race, color, religion, and the fact that
⁠ Honor and shame from no conditions rise ”

“ Little wonder need there be if in feeding such extravagance a vast estate melted away, and acre followed acre, till all that remained of a property that ranked next to the Ormonds' was the little cottage over whose door the tin-trout dangled, and the few roods of land around it: sorry remnant of a princely fortune!
But Barrington himself had a passion, which, inordinately indulged, has brought many to their ruin. He was intensely fond of law. It was to him all that gambling is to other men. ”

“ BARRINGTON is a bi-peninsular town, extending southward into Narragansett Bay. It has the towns of East Providence, Seekonk, and Swansea on the north. The waters of Palmer's and Warren Rivers wash its eastern shores and separate the territory from Swansea and Warren. Narragansett Bay lies to the south and the bay and the town of East Providence form its western boundary. The eastern peninsula occupies one-third of the acreage of the town and the western two-thirds. Its area is nine and three-tenths square miles. Its salt water tidal line is about twelve miles long. ”

“ Miss Barrington with half a province for her dower, would be no more in my eyes than Miss Barrington as she sat at breakfast this morning. Nor is there anything of high-flown sentiment in this declaration, as my means are sufficiently ample for all that I want or care.”
“There, at least, is one difficulty disposed of. You are an eldest son?” said he; and he blushed at his own boldness in making the inquiry. ”

“ It had always been his habit to live in a style of costly extravagance, with the retinue of a petty prince, and when he travelled it was with the following of a native chief.
Though, naturally enough, such a station as a separate command gave might be regarded as a great object of ambition by many, there was a good deal of surprise felt at the time that Barrington, reputedly a man of large fortune, should have accepted it; the more so since, by his contract, he bound himself for ten years to the Rajah, and thus forever extinguished all prospect of advancement in his own service. ”

“ To see his guest, the man who had sat at his board and eaten his salt, going out into the dreary night without one hospitable effort to detain him, without a pledge to his health, without a warm shake of his hand, or one hearty wish for his return.
“Dear, dear!” muttered he, to himself, “what is the world come to! I thought I had no more experiences to learn of suffering; but here is a new one. Who would have thought to see the day that Peter Barrington would treat his guest this fashion?”
“Are you coming in to tea, grandpapa?” cried Josephine, from the garden. ”

“ Miss Barrington, having apparently satisfied the curiosity she felt about the details of the doctor's housekeeping, now took her leave, not, however, without Dr. Dill offering his arm on one side, while Polly, with polite observance, walked on the other.
“Look at that now,” whispered the Major. “They 're as much afraid of that old woman as if she were the Queen of Sheba! And all because she was once a fine lady living at Barrington Hall.” ”

“ Are you aware, Mr. Barrington, that you are speaking of one of the greatest rascals of a country not famed for its integrity?”
“He lays no claim to such for the past; but he would seem desirous to make some reparation for a long course of iniquity.”
“Charmed for his sake, and that of his well-wishers, if he have any. But, once again, sir, and at all the risk of appearing very impatient, what concern has all this for me?” ”

“ On the parish, Peter Barrington,—on the parish; for it 's neither your head nor your hands would have saved us from it.”
“You're right, Dinah; you're right there. You never spoke a truer word.” And his voice trembled as he said it.
“I did n't mean that, Peter,” said she, eagerly; “but you are too confiding, too trustful. Perhaps it takes a woman to detect all the little wiles and snares that entangle us in our daily life?” ”

“ Barrington scarcely closed his eyes that night after he had parted with Withering, so full was he of thinking over all he had heard. “It was,” as he repeated to himself over and over again, “'such glorious news' to hear that it was no long-laid plot, no dark treachery, had brought poor George to his grave, and that the trusted friend had not turned out a secret enemy. How prone we are,” thought he, “to suffer our suspicions to grow into convictions, just by the mere force of time. ”

“ It was very beautiful; but, better still, it was very lovable. “It was so rare”—so, at least, he told Barrington—“to find a cottage wherein internal comfort had not been sacrificed to some requirement of outward show. There was only one way of doing this,” said he, as Barrington led him through the little flower-garden, giving glimpses of the rooms within as they passed,—“only one way, Mr. Barrington; a man must have consummate taste, and strong credit at his banker's.” ”

“ Save in years and experience, this was the same Richard Barrington who had dreamed as he watched sunlit sails disappear in the haze over Chesapeake Bay.
"I was thinking of the horses," said Seth. "I reckon that we have a long way to travel yet."
"We may get others presently," Barrington answered, and then, after a moment's pause, he went on: "We have seen some strange sights since we landed—ruined homes, small and great, burned and desolated by the peasants; and in the last few hours we have heard queer tales. I do not know how matters stand, but it looks as if we might be useful in Paris. ”

“ But a few years back and his ambition would as soon have aspired to an archduchess as to the sister of Barrington, of Barrington Hall, whose realms of social distinction separated them; but now, fallen from their high estate, forgotten by the world, and poor, they had come down—at least, he thought so—to a level in which there would be no presumption in his pretensions. ”

“ Barrington, I have felt it my duty to put you in possession of all that has passed between us.'”
“How can you laugh, Peter Barrington?—how is it possible you can laugh at such an insult,—such an outrage as this? Go on, sir,” said she, turning to Withering; “let us hear it to the end, for nothing worse can remain behind.”
“There is no more; at least, there is not anything worth hearing. Kinshela winds up with many apologies, and hopes that I will only use his communication for my own guidance, and not permit it in any case to prejudice him in your estimation.” ”

“ In return for a cordial invitation to Hunter to stay and fish the river for some days, Barrington pledged himself to visit the Colonel the first time he should go up to Kilkenny.
“And I 'll mount you. You shall have a horse I never lent in my life. I 'll put you on Trumpeter,—sire Sir Hercules,—no mistake there; would carry sixteen stone with the fastest hounds in England.” ”

“ We thank you heartily for the offer,” cried Barrington, rising hastily.
With another smile, still more meaningly a reproof, Sister Lydia reminded him that the profane foot of a man had never transgressed the sacred precincts of the convent garden, and that he must remain where he was.
“For Heaven's sake! Dinah, don't keep me a prisoner here a moment longer than you can help it,” cried he, “or I'll not answer for my good behavior.” ”