CHAPTER II
In which I meet Master Jeremy Sparrow
Mine are not dicers' oaths. The stars were yet shining when I left thehouse, and, after a word with my man Diccon, at the servants' huts,strode down the bank and through the gate of the palisade to the wharf,where I loosed my boat, put up her sail, and turned her head down thebroad stream. The wind was fresh and favourable, and we went swiftlydown the river through the silver mist toward the sunrise. The sky grewpale pink to the zenith; then the sun rose and drank up the mist. Theriver sparkled and shone; from the fresh green banks came the smell ofthe woods and the song of birds; above rose the sky, bright blue, with afew fleecy clouds drifting across it. I thought of the day, thirteenyears before, when for the first time white men sailed up this sameriver, and of how noble its width, how enchanting its shores, how gayand sweet their blooms and odours, how vast their trees, how strange thepainted savages, had seemed to us, storm-tossed adventurers, who thoughtwe had found a very paradise, the Fortunate Isles at least. How quicklywere we undeceived! As I lay back in the stern with half-shut eyes andtiller idle in my hand, our many tribulations and our few joys passed inreview before me. Indian attacks; dissension and strife amongst ourrulers; true men persecuted, false knaves elevated; the weary search forgold and the South Sea; the horror of the pestilence and the blackerhorror of the Starving Time; the arrival of the _Patience_ and_Deliverance_, whereat we wept like children; that most joyful Sundaymorning when we followed my Lord de la Warre to church; the coming ofDale with that stern but wholesome martial code which was no stranger tome who had fought under Maurice of Nassau; the good times that followed,when bowl-playing gallants were put down, cities founded, forts built,and the gospel preached; the marriage of Rolfe and his dusky princess;Argall's expedition, in which I played a part, and Argall's iniquitousrule; the return of Yeardley as Sir George, and the priceless gift hebrought us,--all this and much else, old friends, old enemies, old toilsand strifes and pleasures, ran, bitter-sweet, through my memory, as thewind and flood bore me on. Of what was before me I did not choose tothink, sufficient unto the hour being the evil thereof.
The river seemed deserted: no horsemen spurred along the bridle path onthe shore; the boats were few and far between, and held only servants orIndians, or very old men. It was as Rolfe had said, and the free andable-bodied of the plantations had put out, posthaste, for matrimony.Chaplain's Choice appeared unpeopled; Piersey's Hundred slept in thesunshine, its wharf deserted, and but few, slow-moving figures in thetobacco fields; even the Indian villages looked scant of all but squawsand children, for the braves were gone to see the palefaces buy theirwives. Below Paspahegh a cockleshell of a boat carrying a great whitesail overtook me, and I was hailed by young Hamor.
"The maids are come!" he cried. "Hurrah!" and stood up to wave his hat.
"Humph!" I said. "I guess thy destination by thy hose. Are they not'those that were thy peach-coloured ones'?"
"Oons! yes!" he answered, looking down with complacency upon histarnished finery. "Wedding garments, Captain Percy, wedding garments!"
I laughed. "Thou art a tardy bridegroom. I thought that the bachelors ofthis quarter of the globe slept last night in Jamestown."
His face fell. "I know it," he said ruefully; "but my doublet had morerents than slashes in it, and Martin Tailor kept it until cockcrow. Thatfellow rolls in tobacco; he hath grown rich off our impoverishedwardrobes since the ship down yonder passed the capes. After all," hebrightened, "the bargaining takes not place until toward midday, aftersolemn service and thanksgiving. There's time enough!" He waved me afarewell, as his great sail and narrow craft carried him past me.
I looked at the sun, which truly was not very high, with a secretdisquietude; for I had had a scurvy hope that after all I should be toolate, and so the noose which I felt tightening about my neck mightunknot itself. Wind and tide were against me, and an hour later saw menearing the peninsula and marvelling at the shipping which crowded itswaters. It was as if every sloop, barge, canoe, and dugout betweenPoint Comfort and Henricus were anchored off its shores, while abovethem towered the masts of the _Marmaduke_ and _Furtherance_, then inport, and of the tall ship which had brought in those doves for sale.The river with its dancing freight, the blue heavens and brightsunshine, the green trees waving in the wind, the stir and bustle in thestreet and market-place thronged with gaily dressed gallants, made afair and pleasant scene. As I drove my boat in between the sloop of thecommander of Shirley Hundred and the canoe of the Nansemond werowance,the two bells then newly hung in the church began to peal and the drumto beat. Stepping ashore, I had a rear view only of the folk who hadclustered along the banks and in the street, their faces and footstepsbeing with one accord directed towards the market-place. I went with thethrong, jostled alike by velvet and dowlas, by youths with their estatesupon their backs and naked fantastically painted savages, and tramplingthe tobacco with which the greedy citizens had planted the very street.In the square I brought up before the Governor's house, and found myselfcheek by jowl with Master Pory, our Secretary, and Speaker of theAssembly.
"Ha, Ralph Percy!" he cried, wagging his grey head, "we two be the onlysane younkers in the plantations! All the others are horn-mad!"
"I have caught the infection," I said, "and am one of the bedlamites."
He stared, then broke into a roar of laughter. "Art in earnest?" heasked, holding his fat sides. "Is Saul among the prophets?"
"Yes," I answered. "I diced last night,--yea or no; and the'yea'--plague on't--had it."
He broke into another roar. "And thou callest that bridal attire, man!Why, our cow-keeper goes in flaming silk to-day!"
I looked down upon my suit of buff, which had in truth seen someservice, and at my great boots, which I had not thought to clean since Imired in a swamp, coming from Henricus the week before, then shrugged myshoulders.
"You will go begging," he continued, wiping his eyes. "Not a one of themwill so much as look at you."
"Then will they miss seeing a man, and not a popinjay," I retorted. "Ishall not break my heart."
A cheer arose from the crowd, followed by a crashing peal of the bellsand a louder roll of the drum. The doors of the houses around and toright and left of the square swung open, and the company which had beenquartered overnight upon the citizens began to emerge. By twos andthrees, some with hurried steps and downcast eyes, others more slowlyand with free glances at the staring men, they gathered to the centre ofthe square, where, in surplice and band, there awaited them godly MasterBucke and Master Wickham of Henricus. I stared with the rest, though Idid not add my voice to theirs.
Before the arrival of yesterday's ship there had been in this naturalEden (leaving the savages out of the reckoning) several thousand Adams,and but some threescore Eves. And for the most part, the Eves wereeither portly and bustling or withered and shrewish housewives, of ageand experience to defy the serpent. These were different. Ninety slenderfigures decked in all the bravery they could assume; ninety comelyfaces, pink and white, or clear brown with the rich blood showingthrough; ninety pair of eyes, laughing and alluring, or downcast withlong fringes sweeping rounded cheeks; ninety pair of ripe red lips,--thecrowd shouted itself hoarse and would not be restrained, brushing asidelike straws the staves of the marshal and his men, and surging in uponthe line of adventurous damsels. I saw young men, panting, seize hand orarm and strive to pull toward them some reluctant fair; others snatchedkisses, or fell on their knees and began speeches out of Euphues; otherscommenced an inventory of their possessions,--acres, tobacco, servants,household plenishing. All was hubbub, protestation, frightened cries,and hysterical laughter. The officers ran to and fro, threatening andcommanding; Master Pory alternately cried "Shame!" and laughed hisloudest; and I plucked away a jackanapes of sixteen who had his handupon a girl's ruff, and shook him until the breath was well-nigh out ofhim. The clamour did but increase.
"Way for the Governor!" cried the marshal. "Shame on you, my masters!Way for his Honour an
d the worshipful Council!"
The three wooden steps leading down from the door of the Governor'shouse suddenly blossomed into crimson and gold, as his Honour with theattendant Councillors emerged from the hall and stood staring at the mobbelow.
The Governor's honest moon face was quite pale with passion. "What adevil is this?" he cried wrathfully. "Did you never see a woman before?Where's the marshal? I'll imprison the last one of you for rioters!"
Upon the platform of the pillory, which stood in the centre of themarket place, suddenly appeared a man of a gigantic frame, with a strongface deeply lined and a great shock of grizzled hair,--a strange thing,for he was not old. I knew him to be one Master Jeremy Sparrow, aminister brought by the _Southampton_ a month before, and as yet withouta charge, but at that time I had not spoken with him. Without word ofwarning he thundered into a psalm of thanksgiving, singing it at the topof a powerful and yet sweet and tender voice, and with a fervour andexaltation that caught the heart of the riotous crowd. The two ministersin the throng beneath took up the strain; Master Pory added a huskytenor, eloquent of much sack; presently we were all singing. Theaudacious suitors, charmed into rationality, fell back, and the brokenline reformed. The Governor and the Council descended, and with pomp andsolemnity took their places between the maids and the two ministers whowere to head the column. The psalm ended, the drum beat a thunderingroll, and the procession moved forward in the direction of the church.
Master Pory having left me, to take his place among his brethren of theCouncil, and the mob of those who had come to purchase and of thecurious idle having streamed away at the heels of the marshal and hisofficers, I found myself alone in the square, save for the singer, whonow descended from the pillory and came up to me.
"Captain Ralph Percy, if I mistake not?" he said, in a voice as deep andrich as the bass of an organ.
"The same," I answered. "And you are Master Jeremy Sparrow?"
"Yea, a silly preacher,--the poorest, meekest, and lowliest of theLord's servitors."
His deep voice, magnificent frame, and bold and free address so gave thelie to the humility of his words that I had much ado to keep fromlaughing. He saw, and his face, which was of a cast most martial,flashed into a smile, like sunshine on a scarred cliff.
"You laugh in your sleeve," he said good-humouredly, "and yet I am butwhat I profess to be. In spirit I am a very Job, though nature hath seenfit to dress me as a Samson. I assure you, I am worse misfitted than isMaster Yardstick yonder in those Falstaffian hose. But, good sir, willyou not go to church?"
"If the church were Paul's, I might," I answered. "As it is, we couldnot get within fifty feet of the door."
"Of the great door, ay, but the ministers may pass through the sidedoor. If you please, I will take you in with me. The pretty fools yondermarch slowly; if we turn down this lane, we will outstrip them quite."
"Agreed," I said, and we turned into a lane thick planted with tobacco,made a detour of the Governor's house, and outflanked the procession,arriving at the small door before it had entered the churchyard. Here wefound the sexton mounting guard.
"I am Master Sparrow, the minister that came in the _Southampton_," mynew acquaintance explained. "I am to sit in the choir. Let us pass, goodfellow."
The sexton squared himself before the narrow opening, and swelled withimportance.
"You, reverend sir, I will admit, such being my duty. But this gentlemanis no preacher; I may not allow him to pass."
"You mistake, friend," said my companion gravely. "This gentleman, myworthy colleague, has but just come from the island of St. Brandon,where he preaches on the witches' Sabbath: hence the disorder of hisapparel. His admittance be on my head; wherefore let us by."
"None to enter at the west door save Councillors, commander, andministers. Any attempting to force an entrance to be arrested and laidby the heels if they be of the generality, or, if they be of quality, tobe duly fined and debarred from the purchase of any maid whatsoever,"chanted the sexton.
"Then, in God's name, let's on!" I exclaimed. "Here, try this!" and Idrew from my purse, which was something of the leanest, a shilling.
"Try this," quoth Master Jeremy Sparrow, and knocked the sexton down.
We left the fellow sprawling in the doorway, sputtering threats to theair without, but with one covetous hand clutching at the shilling whichI threw behind me, and entered the church, which we found yet empty,though through the open great door we heard the drum beat loudly and adeepening sound of footsteps.
"I have choice of position," I said. "Yonder window seems a goodstation. You remain here in the choir?"
"Ay," he answered, with a sigh; "the dignity of my calling must beupheld: wherefore I sit in high places, rubbing elbows with gold lace,when of the very truth the humility of my spirit is such that I wouldfeel more at home in the servants' seats or among the negars that webought last year."
Had we not been in church I would have laughed, though indeed I saw thathe devoutly believed his own words. He took his seat in the largest andfinest of the chairs behind the great velvet one reserved for theGovernor, while I went and leaned against my window, and we stared ateach other across the flower-decked building in profound silence, until,with one great final crash, the bells ceased, the drum stopped beating,and the procession entered.