Crumville

“ As they neared Crumville, the heart of the country boy beat quicker. How many things had happened since he had left that town to go to Oak Hall!
"I see the old white church steeple!" cried Ben, as they came out of a patch of timber. "Looks natural, doesn't it?"
"I feel as if I had been away a year, instead of a few months," answered Dave. He was peering anxiously out of the window. "Here we come to the station, and, yes, there is Mr. Wadsworth's automobile, and Mr. Wadsworth himself and Jessie!" ”

“ It was certainly a remarkable trip!"
"And the trip brought remarkable results," said Dunston Porter, with a quiet smile.
When Dave arrived at Crumville there was quite a gathering to receive him and the others. All the Wadsworths were there, including Jessie, who rushed straight into his arms, and Caspar Potts and Ben Basswood.
"Oh, I am so glad you are back!" cried Jessie.
"We are all glad," added Ben.
"We cannot bear to think of losing you, Dave," said Mrs. Wadsworth, anxiously. "You have become very dear to us all." ”

“ The only lad at Oak Hall who did not seem to enjoy Dave's reappearance was Nat Poole. The dudish youth from Crumville, whose father had, in times past, caused old Caspar Potts so much trouble, kept himself aloof, and when he met Dave in a hallway he turned his head the other way and pretended not to notice.
"Nat Poole certainly feels sore," said Dave to Ben Basswood, his old friend from home, when Ben came to meet him, having been kept in a classroom by Job Haskers.
"Yes, he is sore on everybody," answered Ben. "Well, he is having a hard time of it, seems to me. ”

“ Wadsworth had said that it might disturb Mr. Basswood too much to have the miniatures examined in our house. The art critic did not want to become snowbound in Crumville, so he was only going to stay until the four o’clock afternoon train. The young man said Mr. Wadsworth wanted to know if we would allow him to take the miniatures over to the Wadsworth house, and that he would bring them back safely, either that evening or the next morning.”
“Oh, Mother! didn’t you suspect it might be a trick?” questioned Ben, anxiously. “You knew how this Ward Porton has been impersonating Dave.” ”

“ A day later my father heard of another letter being found, in which Laura and Jessie promised to go off on a joy-ride in an auto with Merwell and Jasniff. Then Merwell and Jasniff appeared in Crumville with a stunning touring car, and they had two girls with them, loudly dressed and heavily veiled, and the whole four tooted horns, and sang, and behaved in anything but a becoming fashion. A good many folks thought the veiled girls must be Laura and Jessie, and you can imagine how my sister and her friend felt when they heard of it."
"Those chaps ought to be arrested," murmured Phil. ”

“ Dave had not forgotten those days, now long gone by, when he had been a boy just out of the poorhouse living with Caspar Potts, and how Ben Basswood had been his one young friend during those trying times.
As luck would have it, all the young visitors bound for the Wadsworth mansion reached Crumville on the same train. Of course, the others went down to the depot to meet them, and there was a grand jollification lasting several minutes.
“My, Belle, how you have grown!” declared Laura, after the numerous kisses and handshakes 90 had come to an end. “Isn’t she growing tall, Dave?” ”

“ Poole is managing affairs, and they talk of putting him out."
"I hope they do put him out!" cried Dave. "He tries to carry things with too high a hand altogether."
"I am glad people are finding out what sort of folks the Pooles are," said Caspar Potts. He had not forgotten how in the past Aaron Poole had driven him to the wall, and tried to get his little farm away from him.
After the automobile outing, Phil, Roger, and Sam left Crumville to pay their folks a brief visit before departing for Oak Hall. ”

“ DAVE AT HOME
"I'm glad you washed your hands of Merwell, Nat," replied Dave, with warmth. "He is not the sort for any respectable fellow to associate with. But about that letter. Have you any idea what he was going to do?"
"No. All he said was, 'If you will join with me we can pay Dave Porter off good and get him in the biggest kind of a hole.' I guess you had better keep your eyes open, Dave."
"I am doing that already."
"I—I made up my mind I'd tell you—when I got to Crumville," faltered the money-lender's son. "I didn't want you to suffer at his hands." ”

“ You know we don’t use the horses nearly as much as we used to, before we got the automobile.”
“I’ll watch them.” Dave looked behind him. “All right back there?”
“Yes,” answered his sister. “But please don’t drive too fast.”
“I don’t believe sleighing will seem too fast after the riding we have been doing in the auto,” answered the brother. He took up the reins again, and once more the turnout sped along the highway.
They made a turn, passed along the main street of Crumville, and also passed the large Wadsworth jewelry works, and then took to a road leading to Coburntown, some miles distant. ”

“ Ben Basswood, the son of a Crumville real estate dealer and a lad who had been friendly with Dave for several years, also went to Oak Hall, and thus he and Dave became closer chums than ever.
The great thing that troubled Dave in those days was the question of his parentage. Some of the mean boys in the school occasionally referred to him as “that poorhouse nobody,” and this brought on several severe quarrels and even a fist fight or two.
“I’m not going to be a nobody,” said the youth to himself ”

“ The racing car had long since disappeared in the distance, and now the other automobiles proceeded on their way. The girls were very nervous, and the boys did all in their power to remove the strain. But the girls declared that they had had a narrow escape from a serious accident, and it put much of a damper on the trip.
"If ever I meet the driver of that car I'll give him a piece of my mind," said Dave. "It's against the law to run at such high speed."
The distance to Shady Glen Falls from Crumville was thirty-five miles. ”

“ He had taken Perth on the second of August; he left it with ten thousand men on the third; he was on the border by the eighth; he was at Warwick on the twenty-fourth, where he was immediately joined by Harrison, Fleetwood and Lambert. Such swiftness and precision must have been prearranged, either by Cromwell or by Destiny. It was to be the last battle of the Civil War, and Cromwell knew it, for he had beyond the lot of mortals that wondrous insight, that prescience, which, like the scabbard of the sword Excalibur, was more than the blade itself—the hilt armed with eyes. ”

“ In the mean time, the very appearance of the Crumwellians in the neighbourhood struck such terror into the people, that the country, which was then only very thinly inhabited, became quite desarted, an’ for miles about the face of a human bein’ could not be seen, barrin’ their own, sich as they were. Crummle’s track was always a bloody one, an’ the people knew that they were wise in puttin’ the hills an’ mountain passes between him an’ them. The miller an’ his daughter bein’ encouraged by Sandy, staid principally for the sake of Miss Graham ”

“ Of course in Ireland there was only one “curse of Cromwell”; but in England I soon found that there were two, and so the progress of confusion began, until at the present time, when you are visiting any old church and see in a niche an adult saint with a broken nose, or a carved rood screen deficient about the rood, the verger—sometimes the rector himself—is quite fluent in explaining that the heavy hand of Cromwell must be held accountable for the spoliation. If you ask which of the two, the answer will most certainly be, “Why, Cromwell to be sure—Cromwell—Oliver Cromwell.” ”

“ Cromwell’s new notion of parish registers is working for us among the vulgar; they believe it but a design to find the means of taxing them, and that they shall no longer eat white meat or fowls without paying dues to the king’s grace. More than half this realm is with us; and of the peers, from his grace of Norfolk down, I think they love not the new order of things, nor do they like the rule of the cloth-shearer’s son. ”

“ The Cavaliers halt in front of Cromwell's throne, Ormond and Rochester in the first rank. Their attitude is calm and unflinching; Murray and Manasseh alone seem paralyzed with fear.—Cromwell gazes for some time with an expression of satisfaction, at the prisoners and the assemblage, and seems to enjoy the curiosity and anxiety which encompass him.—Throughout the scene Rochester makes eyes at Frances, whom he has espied in the gallery immediately on entering. ”

“ God knows I need it, but my heart wakes, and I do fear it will wake this night—if so, there is no sleep for me. You see, dearest, how God mingles our cup. When I was Mr. Cromwell, I could sleep from night till morning. When I was General Cromwell, my labours gave me rest. Now that I am Lord Protector of three Kingdoms, sleep, alas! is gone far from me! In my mind I run to and fro through all the land. I have a thousand plans and anxieties, Elizabeth, my dearest; great place is not worth looking after. It is not."
"But if beyond our will we be led into great place and great honour, Oliver?" ”

“ Cromwell is one of the very noblest and bravest who have graced these gates; and even to-day, dwelling on those stormy times, his presence is half realized. Fresh from the signal victory, or rather victories, at Preston, his heart, as he passed these portals, which he undoubtedly did, would perhaps be revolving his favourite Scripture, "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, 'Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. ”

“ A NEW ESTIMATE OF CROMWELL
The most notable contributions to the historical literature of England during the year 1897 are two volumes by Samuel R. Gardiner: the Oxford lectures, “Cromwell’s Place in History,” published in the spring; and the second volume of “History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate,” which appeared in the autumn. These present what is probably a new view of Cromwell.
If one loves a country or an historic epoch, it is natural for the mind to seek a hero to represent it. ”

“ The responsible rule of Cromwell, from the expulsion of the Rump and his assumption of the dignity of Lord Protector, covered only the period of five years. But in that brief time he made the world respect the power of England as it had never been respected before. His government at home was as absolute and arbitrary as the government of the Stuarts, but it was infinitely wiser and more just. Cromwell was a statesman of the higher order; a man of vast power, in intellect and will. ”

“ Cromwell, surrounded by his court, appears on the threshold of the great door.—A quiver of excitement runs through the crowd. The whole assemblage rises and stands uncovered, in a respectful attitude.—The Protector is in black velvet, without cloak or sword. His retinue forms a gleaming half-circle of gold and steel a short distance behind him. Nearest the Protector, in front, is the Lord Mayor, with uplifted sword; behind him is Lord Carlisle, also with uplifted sword. ”

“ Sending his cavalry before to impede the king’s march, Cromwell hurried after him with the foot through central England, summoning all the militia of the southern and midland counties to meet him. With their aid he was able to surround Worcester with an army of thirty thousand men and attack the royalists with an overpowering force on both sides of the Severn. As usual Cromwell freely exposed himself in the battle. He was the first man to cross the Teme and bring support to Fleetwood’s hard-pressed troops. ”

“ Here are the Dukes of Suffolk and of Norfolk,
Winchester, Bedford, and sir Richard Ratcliffe,
With others, but why they come I know not.
CROMWELL.
No matter wherefore, Cromwell is prepared;
For Gardiner has my state and life ensnared.
Bid them come in, or you shall do them wrong,
For here stands he, whom some thinks lives too long.
Learning kills learning, and instead of Ink
To dip his Pen, Cromwell’s heart blood doth drink. ”

“ When a man walks with God as closely as Cromwell does, he knows many things beyond ordinary knowledge. I saw him about ten o'clock. He had written then a few lines to his wife and family, and was writing to the Parliament. And what did he say in that letter? Did he praise himself? No! He was bold humbly to beg that all the glory might be given to God, who had wrought so great a salvation. When he had sealed and sent off these letters—by Lord Cluny Neville, Mistress Jane—he lifted his sword, red from the hilt to the point, and wiped it upon a Royalist flag lying near him. ”

“ How many gentlemen will join our ranks,
And if in Lambert we've a sure ally,—
Than to sing madrigals to Cromwell's daughters!
Rochester.⁠Your lordship is o'er-rude. I may, methinks,
Untraitorously love a beauteous maid.
Ormond.⁠Her father, too?
Rochester. Her father, too? You take offence, it seems. ”

“ Then the Protector and Mrs. Cromwell kissed the girls, and the clergymen blessed them, and they went to their rooms as from the very presence of God.
But Mrs. Cromwell lingered a long time. She could not rest until she had seen the silver and crystal and fine damask put away in safety; and she thought it no shame to look—as her Lord did—after the fragments of the abundant dinner.
"I will not have them wasted," she said to the steward, "nor given to those who need them not. The Lady Elizabeth hath a list of poor families, and it is my will that they, and they only, are served." ”