Daniel Heyward

“ Notwithstanding his rising resentment, his natural firmness, and his anxiety in behalf of Uncas, Heyward felt sensibly relieved by the absence of so dangerous and so subtle a foe. The excitement produced by the speech gradually subsided. The warriors resumed their seats, and clouds of smoke once more filled the lodge. For near half an hour, not a syllable was uttered, or scarcely a look cast aside; a grave and meditative silence being the ordinary succession to every scene of violence and commotion among those beings, who were alike so impetuous and yet so self-restrained. ”

“ He was without his favorite weapon, and his arms were even bound behind him with thongs, made of the skin of a deer. [Pg 152] The arrival of flags, to cover the messengers of summons, had occurred so often of late, that when Heyward first threw his careless glance on this group, he expected to see another of the officers of the enemy, charged with a similar office; but the instant he recognized the tall person, and still sturdy, though downcast features of his friend the woodsman, he started with surprise, and turned to descend from the bastion into the bosom of the work. ”

“ Heyward felt the grasp of the other at his throat, and saw the grim smile the savage gave, under the revengeful hope that he hurried his enemy to a fate similar to his own, as he felt his body slowly yielding to a resistless power, and the young man experienced the passing agony of such a moment in all its horrors. ”

“ He was attired in sky-blue, peg-top trousers, yellow spats, and in the center of a scarlet bow-tie gleamed an immense paste horseshoe.
"Do listen tuh Sportin' Life!" said a black, loutish buck admiringly. "Ef he ain't lookin' at de rollin' bones, he always gots he eye on de women."
Maria's heavy tread shook the room as she crossed and stood, with arms akimbo, scowling down at her iridescent guest. The man looked up, lowered his eyes quickly, and shifted uneasily in his chair.
"Nigger!" she finally shot at him, and the impact almost jarred him from his chair. ”

“ Maria got heavily to her feet. The other visitors were leaving, and she longed to be free of the high, brick walls. She dropped a hand on Bess’s shoulder.
“Yuh do right, Sister. But ef dat yalluh nigger come tuh Catfish Row agin—leabe him fuh me—dat’s all!” Then the big negress joined the departing group, and passed out through the small steel doorway that pierced the massive gate.
Bess sat for a long while without moving. The sun lifted over the high wall, and drove its white-hot tide into her lap, and upon her folded hands.
“Wut mek yuh ain’t mobe intuh de shade?” a neighbor asked curiously. ”

“ His words were received with a surprise amounting to incredulity.
“Fuh Gawd sake, Daddy Peter!” an awed voice said at last. “Ain’t yuh knows dey lets nigger die dey, so dey kin gib um tuh de student?”
But the old negro stood his ground.
“De student ain’t gits um ’til he done dead. Ain’t dat so? Den he can’t hurt um none. Ain’t dat so, too? An’ I gots dis tuh say. One ob my w’ite folks is er nuss tuh de hospital; and dat lady is er pure angel wid de sick nigger. Ef I sick tuhmorruh I goin’ tuh she; an’ wut she say is good wid me. I wants dis carcase tek care ob w’ile he is alibe. ”

“ At length, the toughened sinews of the white man prevailed over the less practiced limbs of the native. The arm of the latter slowly gave way before the increasing force of the scout, who, suddenly wresting his armed hand from the grasp of the foe, drove the sharp weapon through his naked bosom to the heart. In the meantime, Heyward had been pressed in a more deadly struggle. His slight sword was snapped in the first encounter. As he was destitute of any other means of defense, his safety now depended entirely on bodily strength and resolution. ”

“ On Pharaoh and his servants too!"
"The death of the colt sits heavy on the heart of its owner," said the scout; "but it's a good sign to see a man account upon his dumb friends. He has the religion of the matter, in believing what is to happen will happen; and with such a consolation, it won't be long afore he submits to the rationality of killing a four-footed beast, to save the lives of human men. It may be as you say," he continued, reverting to the purport of Heyward's last remark ”

“ Major Heyward was mistaken only in suffering his youthful and generous pride to suppress for a single moment his active watchfulness. The cavalcade had not long passed, before the branches of the bushes that formed the thicket were cautiously moved asunder, and a human visage, as fiercely wild as savage art and unbridled passions could make it, peered out on the retiring footsteps of the travellers. A gleam of exultation shot across the darkly painted lineaments of the inhabitant of the forest, as he traced the route of his intended victims, who rode unconsciously onward ”

“ The simple but meaning assurance was lost on the agitated father, who seized the piece of the veil, and crushed it in his hand, while his eyes roamed fearfully among the adjacent bushes, as if he equally dreaded and hoped for the secrets they might reveal.
"Here are no dead!" said Heyward, in a voice that was hollow and nearly stifled by apprehension; "the storm seems not to have passed this way."
"That's manifest, and clearer than the heavens above our heads," returned the cool and undisturbed scout; "but either she or they that have robbed her have passed the bush ”

“ Extinguished brands were lying around a spring, the offals of a deer were scattered about the place, and the trees bore evident marks of having been browsed long and closely by the horses. At a little distance, Heyward discovered, and contemplated with tender emotion the small bower under which, he was fain to believe, that Cora and Alice had reposed. ”

“ Well, let them," he added, examining his flint; "the leading man certainly comes on to his death, though it should be Montcalm himself!"
At that moment the woods were filled with another burst of cries, and at the signal four savages sprang from the cover of the drift-wood. Heyward felt a burning desire to rush forward to meet them, so intense was the delirious anxiety of the moment; but he was restrained by the deliberate examples of the scout and Uncas. ”

“ Surprised at the immovable attitude of the young warrior, and curious to observe the manner in which he employed his faculties to obtain the desired information, Heyward advanced a few steps, and bent over the dark object on which he had kept his eye riveted. ”

“ Imbibing renewed confidence from the security of these experienced foresters, Heyward soon imitated their example; and long before the night had turned, they who lay in the bosom of the ruined work, seemed to slumber as heavily as the unconscious multitude whose bones were already beginning to bleach on the surrounding plain. ”

“ Several persons were arraigned before him, charged with a treasonable correspondence with the enemy—they were found guilty, and condemned to be hung in sight of the British lines at Charleston. With feelings of humanity, but with the firmness of a Roman, he performed his duty, and pronounced upon them the penalty of the law.
Judge Heyward also participated in the military perils of “the times that tried men’s souls.” He commanded a company of artillery at the battle of Beaufort, and was severely wounded. At the attack upon Savannah he was also actively engaged. ”

“ Whether wheeling in the giddy dance, or gliding with light words and lighter laugh amid the groups of pleasure-seeking guests, still the deep voice of Louis Heyward rung in my ears; and the words ‘you were born for better things,’ seemed written upon everything that I beheld.
“ ‘You are triste to-night, ma belle,’ said Frank Harcourt, as he placed me in the carriage to return home: ‘I shall be quite jealous of my crooked cousin, if a tête-à-tête with him has such power to dim your radiance.’
“Many a truth is uttered in the language of mockery. ”

“ Ain’t yuh ’shame’ tuh set dey befo’ me, an’ talk sweet-mout’ ’bout dat murderin’ Crown’s Bess? Ef I wuz yo’ age, an’ er man, I’d sabe my sof’ wo’d fer de Gawd-farin’ ladies.”
“Ef yuh wuz my age, an’ a man—” com{65}menced Peter. He hesitated, and looked long at her with his dim, kindly eyes; then he shook his head. “No; it ain’t no use. Yuh wouldn’t onderstan’. Dat somet’ing shemale sense ain’t goin’ tuh help yuh none wid.” And, still shaking his head, he knocked out his pipe, and departed in the direction of the stable, where he was presently greeted by a soft, comprehending whinny. ”

“ Nothing loath, Charles Heyward brought forward so many particulars, so many facts, concerning the lady in question, which, from his near relationship to the family with whom she lived, he had been enabled easily to collect, that Granville, unable to disapprove or even contradict one of them, sank back on his chair, almost with a groan.
“Why, my dear sober-minded, philosophic friend, you cannot surely have permitted your heart to escape your wise keeping so effectually in so short a space of time, that you cannot call it back again with a word? Cheer up, and be a man. ”

“ With a low snarl, straight from his crouching position, Crown hurled his tremendous weight forward, shattering the lamp, and bowling Robbins over against the wall. Then they were up and facing each other. The oil from the broken lamp settled between two flags and blazed up ruddily. Crown was crouched for a second spring, with lips drawn from gleaming teeth. The light fell strong upon thrusting jaw, and threw the sloping brow into shadow. One hand touched the ground lightly, balancing the massive torso. The other arm held the cotton-hook forward, ready, like a prehensile claw. ”

“ As soon as this change was made, the leader made signs to the prisoners to descend and enter.
As resistance was impossible, and remonstrance useless, Heyward set the example of submission by leading the way into the canoe, where he was soon seated with the sisters, and the still wondering David. Notwithstanding the Hurons were necessarily ignorant of the little channels among the eddies and rapids of the stream, they knew the common signs of such a navigation too well, to commit any material blunder. ”

“ Maria was at her door instantly. Across the court, a man could be seen for one moment, seated on Serena's wash-bench; then behind him the door closed with a bang, shutting off the shaft of firelight.
Maria crossed the court, and when she had reached the man's side he looked up. The moonlight fell upon his face. It was Crown.
"What yuh doin' hyuh?" she asked him. ”

“ After a moment of silence he asked abruptly:
"Bess still libbin' wid de cripple?"
"Yes; an' she a happy, decent 'oman. Yuh bes' leabe she alone."
"Fer Gawd' sake! Wut yuh t'ink I come tuh dis damn town fuh? I ain't jus' huntin fuh deat'! I atter my 'oman."
Maria placed her hands on the table opposite the man and bent over to look into his face.
"'Oman is all berry much de same," she said in a low, persuasive voice. "Dey comes an' dey goes. One sattify a man quick as annuduh. Dey is lots ob bettuh lookin' gal dan Bess. She fix fuh life now wid dat boy. I ax yuh go an' lef she. ”

“ Cora bestowed an approving smile on the pious efforts of the namesake of the Jewish prince, and Heyward soon turned his steady, stern look from the outlet of the cavern, to fasten it, with a milder character, on the face of David, or to meet the wandering beams which at moments strayed from the humid eyes of Alice. The open sympathy of the listeners stirred the spirit of the votary of music, whose voice regained its richness and volume, without losing that touching softness which proved its secret charm. ”

“ Eberybody say I is er berry t’orough nigger, an’ ef yuh ebber comes roun’ hyuh agin, drunk or sobuh, I ain’t goin’ to be t’rough wid yuh carcase{129} ontil I t’row yuh bones out tuh de buzza’d one by one.”
Abruptly she reversed the luckless man and placed a foot in the small of his back. Then with a heave that seemed to bring into play every muscle of her huge bulk, she catapulted him once and for all out of Catfish Row and the lives of its inhabitants. ”

“ They then approached, though with slow and cautious steps, pausing every instant to look at the building, like startled deer whose curiosity struggled powerfully with their awakened apprehensions for the mastery. The foot of one of them suddenly rested on the mound, and he stopped to examine its nature. At this moment, Heyward observed that the scout loosened his knife in its sheath, and lowered the muzzle of his rifle. Imitating these movements, the young man prepared himself for the struggle which now seemed inevitable. ”

“ The sun was so low that its level rays shot through the tunnels of the forest and bronzed its ceiling of woven leaves when Bess returned to the clearing. She paused for a moment. Behind her, screened by the underbrush, stood Crown.
"Now 'member wut I tells yuh," he said. "Yuh kin stay wid de cripple 'til de cotton come. Den I comin'. Davy will hide we on de ribber boat fur as Sawannah. Den soon de cotton will be comin' in fas', an' libbin will be easy. Yuh gits dat?" ”

“ Yet, when he looked up at the sky, a vague prescience of disaster darkened his spirit. He sat beside Bess in the doorway, with his eyes upon the{164} child in her lap. After a while he took the baby into his arms, and then the foreboding suddenly became pain.
He looked up and met the gaze of the woman. It was there in her eyes also, plain for him to see.
Out in the silence of the street a sound commenced to grow. Only a faint, far murmur at first, it gathered weight until it became a steady rumble, with a staccato clip, clip, clip running through it. ”