Haward

“ The white man and the negro, each leading his horse, picked their way with caution among the pitfalls of the rocky and uneven road. With the passing of the Governor and his train a sudden cure had been wrought, for now Haward's step was as firm and light as it had been before his fall. ”

“ Haward laughed. "No, it was not Audrey. And so, Monacan, you have yourself fallen into the pit which you digged."
From the fireplace came the schoolmaster's slow voice: "Dear sir, can you show the pit? Why should this youth desire to harm you? Where is the storm bird? Can you whistle it before a justice of the peace or into a court room?"
If Haward heard, it did not appear. He was leaning back in his chair, his eyes fixed upon the trader's twitching face in a cold and smiling regard. "Well, Monacan?" he demanded. ”

“ For myself, I only give you credit for some knowledge of men. You are right. It is not my way to strike in the back an unarmed man. When you are gone, I will wipe off the mirror and pick up the brocade."
He followed Haward outside. "It's a brave evening for riding," he remarked, "and you have a bonny bit of horseflesh there. You'll get to the house before candlelight."
Beside one of the benches Haward made another pause. "You are a Highlander and a Jacobite," he said. "From your reference to Forster, I gather that you were among the prisoners taken at Preston and transported to Virginia." ”

“ At the close of the fourth act of the play, Haward left his station in the pit, and quietly made his way to the regions behind the curtain, where in the very circumscribed space that served as greenroom to the Williamsburgh theatre he found Tamerlane, Bajazet, and their satellites, together with a number of gentlemen invaders from the front of the house. Mistress Stagg was there, and Selima, perched upon a table, was laughing with the aforesaid gentlemen, but no Arpasia. Haward drew the elder woman aside. ”

“ Haward left the window, and came and sat beside her. "Yes, I helped him. I am not sure, but I think I did it because, when first we met, he told me that he hated me, and meant the thing he said. It is my humor to fix my own position in men's minds; to lose the thing I have that I may gain the thing I have not; to overcome, and never prize the victory; to hunt down a quarry, and feel no ardor in the chase; to strain after a goal, and yet care not if I never reach it."
He took her fan in his hand, and fell to counting the slender ivory sticks. ”

“ The man glanced over his shoulder, saw that he was not alone, and with one sweep of his hand blotting loch and island and mountain out of existence, rose to his feet, and opposed to Haward's gaze a tall, muscular frame, high features slightly pockmarked, and keen dark blue eyes.
"I was dreaming, and did not hear you," he said, civilly enough. "It's not often that any one comes to the store at this time of day. ”

“ Will you ride with us?"
"Ay," said Haward briefly. "But you must send yonder fellow with the scarred hands packing. I travel not with thieves."
He had not troubled to lower his voice, and as he and Darden were now themselves within the shadow of the oak, the schoolmaster overheard him and answered for himself. "Your honor need not fear my company," he said, in his slow and lifeless tones. "I am walking, and I take the short cut through the woods. ”

“ Haward laughed, and abstracting another bottle from the shelf broke its neck. "Hand me yonder cup," he said easily, "and we'll drink to his home-coming. Good fellow, I am Mr. Marmaduke Haward, and I am glad to find so honest a man in a place of no small trust. Long absence and somewhat too complaisant a reference of all my Virginian affairs to my agent have kept me much in ignorance of the economy of my plantation. How long have you been my storekeeper?"
Neither cup for the wine nor answer to the question being forthcoming, Haward looked up from his broken bottle. ”

“ The gilded streak upon the earth beneath the beech had crept away, but over the ferns and weeds and flowering bushes between the slight trees without the ring the sunshine gloated. The blue of the sky was wonderful, and in the silence Haward and Audrey heard the wind whisper in the treetops. A dove moaned, and a hare ran past. ”

“ His face was perfectly unmoved, his eyes unchanged in their expression of hatred. "Can he do this?" he asked.
"Perhaps not," said Haward lightly. "It is a very foolish thing to do."
The flame died out, and the trader tossed aside the charred bit of bark. "There was old Pierre at Monacan-Town who taught me to pray to le bon Dieu. He told me how grand and fine is a French gentleman, and that I was the son of many such. He called the English great pigs, with brains as dull and muddy as the river after many rains. My mother was the daughter of a chief. ”

“ Oh, death had been easy pain, for it had left memory, hope! But you never were! you never were!"
"I am!" cried Haward ardently. "I am your lover! I am he who says to you, Forget the past, forget and forgive, and come with me out of your dreaming. Come, Audrey, come, come, from the dim woods into the sunshine,—into the sunshine of the garden! The night you went away I was there, Audrey, under the stars. The paths were deep in leaves, the flowers dead and blackening; but the trees will be green again, and the flowers bloom! ”

“ Haward smiled, and drawing two glasses toward him slowly filled them with wine. "It is true," he said, "that it is not my intention to become a petitioner for the pardon of a rebel to his serene and German Majesty the King; true also that I like the fragrance of the lily. I have my fancies. Say that I am a man of whim, and that, living in a lonely house set in a Sahara of tobacco fields, it is my whim to desire the acquaintance of the only gentleman within some miles of me. Say that my fancy hath been caught by a picture drawn for me a week agone ”

“ His face was stern in repose: a handsome, even a fine face, with a look of power and reflection, but to-day somewhat worn and haggard of aspect. When presently he roused himself and took up the letter that lay before him, the paper shook in his hand. "Wine, Juba," he said to the slave, who now reëntered the room. "And close the window; it is growing cold."
There were but three lines between the "Mr. Haward" and "Audrey;" the writing was stiff and clerkly, the words very simple,—a child's asking of a favor. ”

“ Haward passed the gleaming steel; then, a foot beyond it, stood still, his face to the open door, and his back to the storekeeper and the table with its sinister lading.
"You do wrong to allow so much dust and disorder," he said sharply. "I could write my name in that mirror, and there is a piece of brocade fallen to the floor. Look to it that you keep the place more neat."
There was dead silence for a moment; then MacLean spoke in an even voice: "Now a fool might call you as brave as Hector. ”

“ They used to be admitted in crowds to Hawarden to watch the heroic old gentleman in his shirt-sleeves and with his braces hanging down, butchering a venerable elm in his park, and when the trunk crashed to the ground they cheered vociferously, and when he wiped the perspiration from his brow, they rushed forward to dip their handkerchiefs in the drops just as men and women tried to damp their handkerchiefs in the drippings of the axe of the headsman, who, in a stroke, slew a monarch and made a martyr, outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall. ”

“ And remember that one touch of ill-nature makes the whole world kin. If you are really going to be left at Hawarden, you ought to shut your door, shut your eyes, recall all that you have seen and heard during the last six months, and write it carefully down. You have such an opportunity and such a power. ”

“ Hawarden, in Flintshire, lies 6 miles West of Chester, at a height of 250 feet, overlooking a large tract of Cheshire and the Estuary of the Dee. It is now in direct communication with the Railway world by the opening of the Hawarden and Wirral lines. ”

“ We read
That Hagar cast him 'neath a shrub, and then,
Withdrawing quite a space, she prayed, "O God,
Let me not see his death!" and so sank down
Upon the ground to watch him where he lay,
And wept such tears as touched the world on high
With sympathy divine. God heard the lad,
And from his radiant home an angel spake:
"What aileth thee, O Hagar? Rise and take
The lad, and stand him on his feet. I'll make
Of him a nation great." Her eyes were opened ”

“ For some hours, Hayward and his sister were permitted to remain alone. Night was fast approaching. Nothing was heard without, but the coarse laugh and jests of the soldiers. As Hayward held his sister in his arms, he murmured:
"Would to God she could ever remain unconscious, or die to-night. I feel that a fate far worse than death awaits her, when I am gone, and to-morrow will surely be the fatal day. Oh, may God in his mercy protect this darling one!" ”

“ When Captain Hayward left the tent, he proceeded to the stream which skirted the woods. Bending over it, he bathed his fevered brow. Then he seated himself upon the bank of the river, and, resting his head upon his hands, was, for a long time, absorbed in his thoughts. A human form flitted lightly past. Hayward raised his head and listened, but all was quiet again, and, in the darkness of the night he could distinguish nothing.
“I was mistaken!” he said to himself. “If I was not, and a human being is around, I will wager it was Nettleton, who, anxious for my safety, has followed me.” ”

“ At last Captain Hayward ordered a halt, and the party dismounted. The horses were secured to the surrounding trees, and Nettleton and the negro left to guard them.
"Come with me, comrades," said Hayward, as he took his course toward the river's bank.
In a moment they were seated by the side of the rapid Osage, entirely concealed by the thick growth of underbrush by which they were surrounded.
"It is better that our servants should not hear our conversation," remarked Hayward. "And now, gentlemen, we must lay our plans. I wish every one to speak freely. You know our object, of course." ”

“ But in an instant he recovered his self-possession, and said:
"I was conversing with General Price—not you, sir."
Branch bit his lips, but did not speak.
"Well, Captain Hayward, I must speak plainly, and I know you prefer I should do so. It is a pity such a man as you should die, and by the rope. I would much prefer to have met you on the battle-field, but it is too late now. The sentence of your crime is death, and but one thing can save you." ”

“ His sister crept close to his breast.
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"Do you know the federal army are within two days march of this place?" continued Branch.
"I did not know it!" answered Hayward.
"Don't you wish they would come upon us to-night? We have only twenty-two hundred men here, and they with forty thousand might defeat us, and rescue you and your lovely sister."
Hayward made no reply.
"Oh! I will open your mouth presently. You saw the Fair-Ground as we passed? You won't speak? Well, I will. If you could only look inside the high board enclosure, you might discover a platform, surrounding a large tree. ”

“ As Branch saw the prostrate form of Hayward upon the ground, he cried:
"By heavens, it is the very man we want—it is Captain Hayward!"
"Ride over his body—trample him into the earth!" shouted one of the infuriated soldiers.
"No! no!" shrieked Branch. "If he yet lives he must be reserved for torture! It is our general's command. Let no one dare to disobey it. Ah! the fiends befriend me! There is Alibamo, and her horse has fallen!" ”

“ She saw again the Gilead Balm library, and the pool of sunlight on the floor and the "Descent of Man," and heard again Mrs. LeGrand telling the Bishop that she—Hagar—was reading an improper book. Time between then and now simply took itself away like a painted drop-scene. Six years rolled themselves up as with a spring, and that hour seamlessly adjoined this hour.
"I'm afraid," said Mrs. LeGrand, "that you'll be a little lonely, dear child, but it won't be for long. Time flies so!"
"I don't exactly get lonely," said Hagar gravely. "You are going down the river, aren't you?" ”

“ With the greyish-amber of his yet plentiful hair, his mustache and imperial, the racer set of his head, his well-shaped jaw and long nervous hands, his fine, long, spare figure and his eye in which a certain bladelike keenness and cynicism warred with native sensuousness, he stayed in the memory like such a canvas. His mood always showed through him, though somewhat cloudily like light through a Venetian glass. That it was a mixed and curious mood to-night, Hagar felt the moment she was in the room. She did not always like her grandfather, but she usually understood him. ”

“ Hagar who loved the man’s unique and spontaneous character, as only an artist can love a subject in which he sees royal possibilities, consented gladly, and dropped a cordial hand on the other’s shoulder. The hand was dragged down and wrenched back and forth with a sturdy clasp, in time to a roll of round unctuous laughter. Then Baron took him up hurriedly, and introduced him to Telford, with the words: “You two ought to know each other. Telford, traveller, officer of the Hudson’s Bay Company, et cetera; Hagar, artist, good fellow, et cetera.” ”

“ Oriental in its contour and hue, with arched eye-brows over large dark eyes, and a thin-lipped mouth beautifully shaped, under a delicately-curved nose. Face and figure were those of a woman who needed palms and desert sands and golden sunshine, hot and sultry, for an appropriate background; yet this Eastern beauty appeared out of the fog like some dead Syrian princess, and presented herself in all her rich loveliness to the astonished eyes of the old pawnbroker.
"So you are the niece of my dead Hagar?" he said, staring earnestly at her in the thin yellow light of the candle. "Yes, it's true. ”