Mary Standish

“ Supper did not last so long as tea, and when it was over, some one said Cousin Mary and George Standish were going home, and when most of us returned to the kitchen and parlour, they disappeared; Mary going upstairs with her mother, sister, and cousins to make ready. But we watched the start from one of the windows, where we had drawn the curtains back. The moon was up, and the wind had broken and scattered the clouds, so we saw them mount their horses, for they had three miles to ride, and David and Joseph were to set them part of the way. ”

“ MY son,” said The Macnamara, “you ought to be ashamed of your threatment of your father. The like of your threatment was never known in the family of the Macnamaras, or, for that matter, of the O'Dermots. A stain has been thrown upon the family that centuries can't wash out.”
“It is no stain either upon myself or our family for me to have set out to do some work in the world,” said Standish proudly, for he felt capable of maintaining the dignity of labour. “I told you that I would not pass my life in the idleness of Innishdermot. ”

“ He had attended the sick, with a hand as gentle as woman’s;
Somewhat hasty and hot, he could not deny it, and headstrong,
Stern as a soldier might be, but hearty, and placable always,
Not to be laughed at and scorned, because he was little of stature;
For he was great of heart, magnanimous, courtly, courageous;
Any woman in Plymouth, nay, any woman in England,
Might be happy and proud to be called the wife of Miles Standish! ”

“ Beside it lay a little bow and arrows ornamented with all the loving elaboration of Indian art.
"A boy, and his mother's darling, be she red or white, savage or Christian," said Bradford softly, as his thoughts flew to the baby boy left in Holland under charge of his wife Dorothy's parents.
"Yes," replied Standish gently. "Cover them rev [Pg 53] erently, and lay them in their grave again. God send comfort to that poor woman's heart."
"Certes they are no salvages," said Hopkins positively. "Never saw I yellow hair on any but a white man's head, nor do red men wear breeches." ”

“ Rose, the first wife of Myles Standish, died at Plymouth, January 29, 1621, about a month after the landing. She was among the first to succumb to the privations of that terrible first winter. He married a second wife (Barbara) , who survived him.
“To his house on Captain’s Hill, Standish removed after his second marriage, and here he drew around him a devoted class of friends, among whom were the elder Brewster, George Partridge, John Alden, Mr. Howland, Francis Eaton, Peter Brown, George Soule, Nicholas Byrom, Moses Simmons, and other settlers of Duxbury. ”

“ What's four hundred years in the existence of a family?” He felt that this was the exact instant for him to rise grandly to his feet, so once more he made the essay, but without a satisfactory result. As a matter of fact, it is almost impossible to release oneself from the embrace of a heavy oak chair when the seat has been formed of light cane, and this cane has become tattered.
“I don't care about the kings of Munster—no, not a bit,” said Standish, taking a mean advantage of the involuntary captivity of his father to insult him. ”

“ Because you don't belong in this crowd, that's all. No stable boy does.” He paused to let this sink in.
Gerrity strove hard to keep his temper, and for the moment succeeded. “The Marlinghues said I was a horse-man, and that's what I am. Don't let nobody tell you different. And as far as——”
“Talk, Gerrity, talk!” snapped Clavering. “You were employed in the Marlinghue stables—I know that. An equerry, I believe they call you. Well, call it anything you like. You're a stable boy all the same. I guess the Brook Club board of governors'll have something to say about it when I tell them.” ”

“ Dame Alice loves her passing well."
"'T is a good wench and a comfortable one," replied Standish well pleased. "Had Rose lived, or had Priscilla said me yea, I had taken Barbara under mine own roof; but now I must wait until she makes her choice of the swains that soon will come a-wooing, and then she and her husband shall come to me."
"Ay," returned Bradford musingly, and checking [Pg 387] upon his lips the smile that danced in his eyes. "Thy plans are ever wisely laid, Myles." ”

“ The car jerked on in silence after The Macnamara had spoken his impressive sentence. Standish's hands soon relaxed their passionate hold upon the rail of the car, and, in spite of his consciousness of being twenty-three years of age, he found it almost impossible to restrain his tears of mortification from bursting their bonds. He knew how pure—how fervent—how exhaustless was the love that filled all his heart. ”

“ Kind are the people I live with, and dear to me, my religion;
Still my heart is so sad, that I wish myself back in Old England.
You will say it is wrong, but I cannot help it: I almost
Wish myself back in Old England, I feel so lonely and wretched.”
Thereupon answered the youth:—“Indeed I do not condemn you,
Stouter hearts than a woman’s have quailed in this terrible winter.
Yours is tender and trusting, and needs a stronger to lean on;
So I have come to you now, with an offer and proffer of marriage
Made by a good man and true, Miles Standish the Captain of Plymouth!” ”

“ Love immortal and young in the endless succession of lovers.
So through the Plymouth woods passed onward the bridal procession.
—Longfellow.
[1] Miles Standish was born about 1580, the son of a Lancashire gentleman of a large estate. He entered the army of Queen Elizabeth and served for some time in the Netherlands. There he met the congregation of English Puritans with their pastor, Robinson, and although he did not become a member of their Church, he sailed with them in the Mayflower in 1620. ”

“ A stout, red-faced, jolly-looking man in a somewhat soiled snuff-colored suit had paused beside the carriage to lift his hat and speak to the girl, who greeted him with a charming smile and a show of fetching dimples.
“Howdy-do, Janet,” said the man on the ground. “I’m s’prised to see you here, though I b’lieve you did tell me you was crazy over baseball. Your father’s so set agin’ it that I didn’t s’pose he’d let you come. Howdy-do, Benton. Fine day for the opening.”
“Oh, father is as bad as ever,” laughed the girl ”

“ Which is too true and too sacred to be so easily broken!”
{99}
Thus, as a pilgrim devout, who toward Jerusalem journeys,
Journeyed this Puritan youth to the Holy Land of his longings,
THE “MAYFLOWER,” IN PLYMOUTH HARBOR. FROM A PAINTING IN PILGRIM HALL.
Thereupon answered John Alden, the scholar, the friend of Miles Standish:
“I was not angry with you, with myself alone I was angry,25
Seeing how badly I managed the matter I had in my keeping.”
“No!” interrupted the maiden, with answer prompt and decisive;
“No; you were angry with me, for speaking so frankly and freely. ”

“ Got avay!”
“And Hans Dunnerwurst!” exclaimed Merriwell, as he grasped the outstretched, pudgy hand of the fat young Dutchman.
“Dot vos me,” nodded Hans, in delight. “How you peen, Vrankie, ain’t id? You vos glatness to seen me. Yaw!”
“You fellows give me that fired teeling—I mean that tired feeling!” declared a handsome, curly-haired youth, as he thrust Mulloy, Gallup, and Dunnerwurst aside. “Why don’t you let somebody else have a show? I want to fake his shin—I mean shake his fin!”
“It’s Harry Rattleton!” Frank ejaculated, as he returned the hearty hand-grip of the curly-haired youth. ”

“ Inza is safe, Rolf Raymond is dead, and——"
A cry broke from the lips of the girl.
"Rolf Raymond dead?" she exclaimed, wildly. "Are you sure?"
"Sure," replied Frank, coldly. "You will not marry him now."
"I should not have married him anyway."
"But you were affianced to him?"
"By my father—yes. My father and Roderick Raymond, who is a cripple and has not many more years to live, were schoolmates and friends in their younger days. Roderick Raymond has made a vast fortune, and in his old age he set his heart upon having his son marry the daughter of his former friend and partner. ”

“ The father was bound securely with a lariat.
“He is far from dead!” exclaimed Merry, in satisfaction. “Here, Dick, cut this rope and set him free. 109 Get that gag out of his mouth, while I hold matches for you to do so.”
Soon the rope was cut, the gag removed, and together they lifted the old man to his feet. Frank then picked him up and carried him out into the open air.
“You seem to have met with misfortune, father,” he said. “I sincerely hope you are not harmed much.”
“My son,” quavered the agitated monk, “it is not my body that is harmed; it is my spirit. ”

“ We are brethren, and if I said aught that mispleased thee I am right sorry"—
"Nay, then, 't is I was hasty," interrupted Standish. "Surely thy marriage is thine own affair, not mine, and I wish you godspeed with all my heart."
"And yet, brother, I am not all content lacking thine approval, for there is neither head nor heart in the colony more honorable than thine."
"'He who praises thee to the face is a false friend; the true one reproveth thee,'" quoted Standish with his peculiar grim smile.
"And am not I reproving thee for thy selfish disregard of the common weal?" ”

“ As he flung aside the match, and chanced to glance past the far end of the bleachers, his black eyes glinted on beholding a girl in a light dress, shading herself with a pale-blue parasol, and seated in a carriage that had just drawn up in line with others out there. A span of spirited and extremely restless bays were attached to the carriage. At the girl’s side, wearing a light suit, straw hat, and tan driving gloves, sat a square-shouldered young man.
“Hel-lo!” breathed Fancy. “There’s old man King’s cub, with the parson’s daughter. I don’t blame him, for she certainly is some peach. ”

“ Diamond spoke up for the first time:
"I'll tell you what I'll do, Merriwell—I'll go on this bicycle trip across the continent, if I can secure my mother's consent?"
"Will you?" cried Frank, eagerly. "Then see her as soon as possible. I couldn't ask for a better fellow [Pg 332] than you. Harry thinks he can go, and that makes three of us. We'll do the trick, even if we can't get another fellow. Is it agreed?"
"It is agreed if I can get my mother to agree to it," assured Jack.
"Well, let's talk about another matter," said Bruce. "The tournament at Madison Square Garden is right upon us. ”

“ Standish knew him to be one Murrough O'Brian, a descendant of the bards of the country, and an old retainer of the Gerald family. A man learned in Irish, but not speaking an intelligible sentence in English.
“Why do you sing the Dirge of Tuathal on this evening, Murrough?” he asked in his native tongue, as he came beside the old man.
“What else is there left for me to sing at this time, Standish O'Dermot Macnamara, son of the Prince of Islands and all Munster?” said the bard. “There is nothing of joy left us now. We cannot sing except in sorrow. ”

“ Oi went ter school with thot lad, an' a whoiter b'y nivver drew a breath. He'd foight fer ye till he died, av he didn't git killed, an' it's nivver would he shoot anybody at all, at all, onless it wur in silf-definse. Oi give ye me wurrud thot is th' truth, th' whole truth, an' nothing but th' truth." [Pg 34]
The girl was unmoved.
"I have sworn to avenge my poor father!" she declared. "He shall not escape!"
"It is useless to talk here," said Frank. "She believes she is right, and her mind will not be changed till she sees the real Black Harry at my side. ”

“ Yes; he will be himself again—himself as I saw him five years ago in our bungalow—how well I remember it and its single plantain-tree in the garden where the officers used to hunt me for kisses.”
Standish frowned. It was, to him, a hideous recollection for the girl to have. He would cheerfully have undertaken the strangulation of each of those sportive officers. “I should have learned a great deal during these five years that have passed since I was sent to England to school, but I'm afraid I didn't. Never mind, papa won't cross-examine me to see if his money has been wasted. ”

“ She turned to her brother excitedly.
“I know, Larry!” she exclaimed. "I have it! Your new man, Gerrity! He can do it!”
Her brother looked mystified. “Gerrity! The man in charge of my horses! Why, he can't belong to the Brook Club—and you must be a member to compete for this title.”
“Of course he can belong to the Brook Club, if you say so!” she flung back at him. “Anybody can belong who has your O.K. Don't you see the point? Nobody knows him here yet—he has been here only a day or two, and he has met his assistants only at the stables. ”

“ Your mother and me was schoolmates, but I won't stay in this house to hear Frank Merriwell traduced! I know him, and he's a fine young man."
"He may be," reluctantly admitted Paula, seeing Miss Gale was thoroughly aroused; "but it seems to me that a fine young man should keep a pledge."
"You don't know his circumstances. There must have been a good reason why he broke his pledge."
"I presume he was called on to play when Mr. Marline injured his ankle."
Inza looked at Paula quickly.
"Mr. Marline?" she said. "I think Frank spoke of him. Who is he?" ”

“ He rode jes' like me."
"Begorra! he did thot!" nodded Barney. "It's mesilf thot wur chated, an' thot's not aisy."
"You are a shrewd little girl," declared Frank; "and you are dead lucky to escape with your life after getting Miller's bullet. But Miller won't trouble you more."
Mrs. Kenyon rose and went into the hut, while Barney lazily strolled down to the creek, leaving Frank and Kate alone.
Half an hour later, as he was coming back, the Irish lad heard Kate saying:
"I know I'm igerent, an' I'm not fitten fer any educated man. Still, you an' I is friends, Frank, an' friends we'll allus be." ”