CHAPTER XVIII.
"The lawless herd, with fury blind, Have done him cruel wrong; The flowers are gone, but still we find, The honey on his tongue."--COWPER.
There I stood alone and unarmed, in the centre of six athletic men--forLowiny had been sent to assemble her brothers, a business in which shewas aided by Prudence's blowing a peculiar sort of blast on herconch--and as unable to resist as a child would have been in the handsof its parent. As a fruitless scuffle would have been degrading, as wellas useless, I at once determined to submit, temporarily at least, or solong as submission did not infer disgrace, and was better thanresistance. There did not seem to be any immediate disposition to layviolent hands on me, however, and there I stood, a minute or two, afterI had missed Sureflint, surrounded by the whole brood of the squatter,young and old, male and female; some looking defiance, others troubled,and all anxious. As for myself, I will frankly own my sensations werefar from pleasant; for I knew I was in the hands of the Philistines, inthe depths of a forest, fully twenty miles from any settlement, and withno friends nearer than the party of the Chainbearer, who was at leasttwo leagues distant, and altogether ignorant of my position as well asof my necessities. A ray of hope, however, gleamed in upon me throughthe probable agency of the Onondago.
Not for an instant did I imagine that long-known and well-tried friendof my father and the Chainbearer false. His character was too wellestablished for that; and it soon occurred to me, that, foreseeing hisown probable detention should he remain, he had vanished with a designto let the strait in which I was placed be known, and to lead a party tomy rescue. A similar idea probably struck Thousandacres almost at thesame instant; for, glancing his eye around him, he suddenly demanded--
"What has become of the redskin? The varmint has dodged away, as I'm anhonest man! Nathaniel, Moses, and Daniel, to your rifles and on thetrail. Bring the fellow in, if you can, with a whull skin; but if youcan't, an Injin more or less will never be heeded in the woods."
I soon had occasion to note that the patriarchal government ofThousandacres was of a somewhat decided and prompt character. A fewwords went a great way in it, as was now apparent; for in less than twominutes after Aaron had issued his decree, those namesakes of theprophets and law-givers of old, Nathaniel, and Moses, and Daniel, werequitting the clearing on diverging lines, each carrying a formidable,long, American hunting-rifle in his hand. This weapon, so different inthe degree of its power from the short military piece that has becomeknown to modern warfare, was certainly in dangerous hands; for each ofthose young men had been familiar with his rifle from boyhood; gunpowderand liquor, with a little lead, composing nearly all the articles onwhich they lavished money for their amusement. I trembled for Susquesus;though I knew he must anticipate a pursuit, and was so well skilled inthrowing off a chase as to have obtained the name of the Trackless.Still, the odds were against him; and experience has shown that thewhite man usually surpasses the Indian even in his own peculiarpractices, when there have been opportunities to be taught. I could dono more, however, than utter a mental prayer for the escape of myfriend.
"Bring that chap in here," added old Thousandacres, sternly, the momenthe saw that his three sons were off; enough remaining to enforce that orany other order he might choose to issue. "Bring him into this room, andlet us hold a court on him, sin' he is sich a lover of the law. If lawhe likes, law let him have. An attorney, is he? I warnt to know! Whathas an attorney to do with me and mine, out here in the woods?"
While this was in the course of being said, the squatter, and father ofsquatters, led the way into his own cabin, where he seated himself withan air of authority, causing the females and younger males of his broodto range themselves in a circle behind his chair. Seeing the folly ofresistance, at a hint from Zephaniah I followed, the three young menoccupying the place near the door, as a species of guard. In this mannerwe formed a sort of court, in which the old fellow figured as theinvestigating magistrate, and I figured as the criminal.
"An attorney, be you!" muttered Thousandacres, whose ire against me inmy supposed, would seem to be more excited than it was against me in myreal character, "B'ys, silence in the court; we'll give this chap asmuch law as he can stagger under, sin' he's of a law natur'. Everythingshall be done accordin' to rule. Tobit," addressing his oldest son, acolossal figure of about six-and-twenty, "you've been in the law morethan any on us, and can give us the word. What was't they did with you,first, when they had you up in Hampshire colony; the time when you andthat other young man went across from the Varmount settlements to lookfor sheep? A raft of the critturs you did get atween you, though you_was_ waylaid and robbed of all your hard 'arnin's afore you got backag'in in the mountains. They dealt with you accordin' to law, 'twassaid; now, what was the first thing done?"
"I was tuck [taken] afore the 'squire," answered Tobit Thousandacres, ashe was often called, "who heerd the case, asked me what I had to say formyself, and then permitted me, as it was tarmed; so I went to jail untilthe trial came on, and I s'pose you know what come next, as well as Ido."
I took it for granted that what "come next" was anything but pleasant inremembrance, the reason Tobit did not relish it even in description,inasmuch as sheep-stealers were very apt to get "forty save one" at thewhipping-post, in that day, a species of punishment that was admirablyadapted to the particular offence. We are getting among us a set of_soi-disant_ philanthropists, who, in their great desire to coddle andreform rogues, are fast placing the punishment of offences on the honestportion of the community, for the especial benefit of their _eleves_.Some of these persons have already succeeded in cutting down all ourwhipping-posts, thereby destroying the cheapest and best mode ofpunishing a particular class of crimes that was ever intended orpractised. A generation hence our children will feel the consequences ofthis mistaken philanthropy. In that day, let those who own fowl-houses,pig-pens, orchards, smoke-houses, and other similar temptations to smalldepredations, look to it, for I am greatly mistaken if the insecurity oftheir movables does not give the most unanswerable of all commentarieson this capital misstep. One whipping-post, discreetly used, will domore toward reforming a neighborhood than a hundred jails, with theirtwenty and thirty days' imprisonment.[15] I have as much disposition tocare for the reformation of criminals as is healthful, if I know myself;but the great object of all the punishments of society, viz., its ownsecurity, ought never to be sacrificed to this, which is but a secondaryconsideration. Render character, person and property as secure aspossible, in the first place, after which, try as many experiments inphilanthropy as you please.
[Footnote 15: Mr. Mordaunt Littlepage writes here with propheticaccuracy. Small depredations of this nature _have_ got to be so verycommon that few now think of resorting to the law for redress. Insteadof furnishing the prompt and useful punishment that was administered byour fathers, the law is as much adorned with its cavillings and delaysin the minor as in the more important cases; and it often takes years tobring a small depredator even to trial, if he can find money to fee asagacious lawyer.--EDITOR.]
I am sorry to see how far the disposition to economize is extendingitself in the administration of American justice generally. Under agovernment like that of this country, it is worse than idle, for it isperfectly futile to attempt to gratify the imagination by a display ofits power through the agency of pomp and representation. Such things,doubtless, have their uses, and are not to be senselessly condemneduntil one has had an opportunity of taking near views of their effects;though useful, or the reverse, they can never succeed here. But thesecommunities of ours have it in their power to furnish to the world a farmore illustrious example of human prescience, and benevolent care, bytheir prompt, exact, and well-considered administration ofjustice--including the cases both in the civil and the criminal courts.With what pride might not the American retort, when derided for thesimplicity of his executive, and the smallness of the nationalexpenditure in matters of mere representation, could he only say--"True,we waste noth
ing on mere parade; but, turn to the courts, and to thejustice of the country; which, after all, are the great aim of everygood government. Look at the liberality of our expenditures for thecommand of the highest talent, in the first place; see with whatgenerous care we furnish judges in abundance, to prevent them from beingoverworked, and to avoid ruinous delays to suitors; then turn to thecriminal courts, and into, first, the entire justice of the laws; next,the care had in the selection of jurors; the thorough impartiality ofall the proceedings; and, finally, when the right demands it, theprompt, unerring, and almost terrific majesty of punishment." But toreturn to something that is a good deal more like truth:--
"Yes, yes," rejoined Thousandacres, "there is no use in riling thefeelin's, by talking of _that_" (meaning Tobit's sufferings, not at the_stake_, but at the _post_)--"a hint's as good as a description. You wastaken afore a magistrate, was you--and he permitted you to prison--buthe asked what you had to say for yourself, first? That was only fair,and I mean to act it all out here, accordin' to law. Come, youngattorney, what have _you_ got to say for yourself?"
It struck me that, alone as I was, in the hands of men who were aspecies of outlaws, it might be well to clear myself from everyimputation that, at least, was not merited.
"In the first place," I answered, "I will explain a mistake into whichyou have fallen, Thousandacres; for, let us live as friends or foes, itis always best to understand facts. I am not an attorney, in the senseyou imagine--I am not a lawyer."
I could see that the whole brood of squatters, Prudence included, was agood deal mollified by this declaration. As for Lowiny, her handsome,ruddy face actually expressed exultation and delight! I thought I heardthat girl half suppress some such exclamation as--"I know'd hewasn't no lawyer!" As for Tobit, the scowling look, replete withcat-o'-nine-tails, actually departed, temporarily at least. In short,this announcement produced a manifest change for the better.
"No lawyer a'ter all!" exclaimed Thousandacres--"Didn't you say you wasan attorney?"
"That much is true. I told you that I was the son of General Littlepage,and that I was _his_ attorney, and that of Colonel Follock, the othertenant in common of this estate; meaning that I held their _power ofattorney_ to convey lands, and to transact certain other business intheir names."
This caused me to lose almost as much ground as I had just gained,though, being the literal truth, I was resolved neither to conceal, norto attempt to evade it.
"Good land!" murmured Lowiny. "Why couldn't the man say nothin' aboutall that?"
A reproving look from Prudence, rebuked the girl, and she remainedsilent afterward, for sometime.
"A _power_ of attorney, is it!" rejoined the squatter. "Wa-a-l, that'snot much better than being a downright lawyer. It's having the power ofan attorney, I s'pose, and without their accursed power it's little Ishould kear for any of the breed. Then you're the son of that Gin'ralLittlepage, which is next thing to being the man himself. I shouldexpect if Tobit, my oldest b'y, was to fall into the hands of some thatmight be named, it would go hard with him, all the same as if t'wasmyself. I know that some make a difference atween parents and children,but other some doesn't. What's that you said about this gin'ral's onlybeing a common tenant of this land? How dares he to call himself it'sowner, if he's only a common tenant?"
The reader is not to be surprised at Thousandacre's trifling blunders ofthis sort; for, those whose rule of right is present interest,frequently, in the eagerness of rapacity, fall into this very kind oferror; holding that cheap at one moment, which they affect to deemsacred at the next. I dare say, if the old squatter had held a lease ofthe spot he occupied, he would at once have viewed the character andrights of a "common tenant," as connected with two of the most importantinterests of the country. It happened now, however, that it was "hisbull that was goring our ox."
"How dares he to call himself the owner of the sile, when he's only acommon tenant, I say?" repeated Thousandacres, with increasing energy,when he found I did not answer immediately.
"You have misunderstood my meaning. I did not say that my father wasonly a 'common tenant' of this property, but that he and Colonel Follockown it absolutely in common, each having his right in every acre, andnot one owning one half while the other owns the other; which is whatthe law terms being 'tenants in common,' though strictly owners in fee."
"I shouldn't wonder, Tobit, if he turns out to be an attorney, in ourmeaning, a'ter all!"
"It looks desp'rately like it, father," answered the eldest born, whomight have been well termed the heir at law of all his progenitor'ssquatting and fierce propensities. "If he isn't a downright lawyer, he_looks_ more like one than any man I ever seed out of court, in my whulllife."
"He'll find his match! Law and I have been at loggerheads ever sin' theday I first went into Varmount, or them plaguy Hampshire Grants. Whenlaw gets me in its clutches, it's no wonder if it gets the best on't;but, when I get law in mine, or one of its sarvants, it shall be myfault if law doesn't come out second best. Wa-a-l, we've heerd the youngman's story, Tobit. I've asked him what he had to say for himself, andhe has g'in us his tell--tell'd us how he's his own father's son, andthat the gin'ral is some sort of a big tenant, instead of being alandlord, and isn't much better than we are ourselves; and it's hightime I permitted him to custody. _You_ had writin's for what they did toyou, I dares to say, Tobit?"
"Sartain. The magistrate give the sheriff's deputy a permittimus, and onthe strength of that, they permitted me to jail."
"Ye-e-es--I know all about their niceties and appearances! I have haddealin's afore many a magistrate, in my day, and have onsuited many achap that thought to get the best on't afore we begun! Onsuiting the manthat brings the suit, is the cleanest way of getting out of the law, asI knows on; but it takes a desp'rate long head sometimes to do it! AforeI permit this young man, I'll show writin's, too. Prudence, just onlockthe drawer----"
"I wish to correct one mistake before you proceed further," interruptedI. "For the second time, I tell you I am no lawyer, in any sense of theword. I am a soldier--have commanded a company in General Littlepage'sown regiment, and served with the army when only a boy in years. I sawboth Burgoyne and Cornwallis surrender, and their troops lay down theirarms."
"Good now! Who'd ha' thought it!" exclaimed the compassionate Lowiny."And he so young, that you'd hardly think the wind had ever blown onhim!"
My announcement of this new character was not without a marked effect.Fighting was a thing to the whole family's taste, and what they couldappreciate better, perhaps, than any other act or deed. There wassomething warlike in Thousandacres' very countenance and air, and I wasnot mistaken in supposing he might feel some little sympathy for asoldier. He eyed me keenly; and whether or not he discovered signs ofthe truth of my assertion in my mien, I saw that he once more relentedin purpose.
"You out ag'in Burg'yne!" the old fellow exclaimed. "Can I believe whatyou say? Why, I was out ag'in Burg'yne myself, with Tobit and Moses, andNathaniel and Jedediah--with every male crittur' of the family, inshort, that was big enough to load and fire. I count them days as amongmy very best, though they did come late, and a'ter old age had made somehead ag'in me. How can you prove you was out ag'in Burg'yne andCornwallis?"
I knew that there was often a strange medley of _soi-disant_ patrioticfeeling mixed up with the most confirmed knavery in ordinary matters,and saw I had touched a chord that might thrill on the sympathies ofeven these rude and supremely selfish beings. The patriotism of suchmen, indeed, is nothing but an enlargement of selfishness, since theyprize things because they belong to themselves, or they, in one sense,belong to the things. They take sides with themselves, but never withprinciples. That patriotism alone is pure, which would keep the countryin the paths of truth, honor, and justice; and no man is empowered, inhis zeal for his particular nation, any more than in his zeal, forhimself, to forget the law of right.
"I cannot prove I was out against Burgoyne, standing here where I am,certainly," I answered; "but give me
an opportunity, and I will show itto your entire satisfaction."
"Which rijiment was on the right, Hazen's or Brookes's, in storming theJarmans? Tell me _that_, and I will soon let you know whether I believeyou or not."
"I cannot tell you that fact, for I was with my own battalion, and thesmoke would not permit such a thing to be seen. I do not know thateither of the corps you mention was in that particular part of the fieldthat day, though I believe both to have been warmly engaged."
"He warnt there," drawled out Tobit, in his most dissatisfied manner,almost showing his teeth, like a dog, under the impulse of the hatred hefelt.
"He _was_ there!" cried Lowiny, positively; "I _know_ he was there!"
A slap from Prudence taught the girl the merit of silence; but the menwere too much interested to heed an interruption as characteristic andas bootless as this.
"I see how it is," added Thousandacres; "I must permit the chap a'terall. Seein', however, that there _is_ a chance of his having been outag'in Burg'yne, I'll permit him _without_ writin's, and he shan't bebound. Tobit, take your prisoner away, and shut him up in the store'us'.When your brothers get back from their hunt a'ter the Injin, we'lldetarmine among us what is to be done with him."
Thousandacres delivered his orders with dignity, and they were obeyed tothe letter. I made no resistance, since it would only have led to ascuffle, in which I should have sustained the indignity of defeat, tosay nothing of personal injuries. Tobit, however, did not offer personalviolence, contenting himself with making a sign for me to follow him,which I did, followed in turn by his two double-jointed brothers. I willacknowledge that, as we proceeded toward my prison, the thought offlight crossed my mind; and I might have attempted it, but for theperfect certainty that, with so many on my heels, I must have beenovertaken, when severe punishment would probably have been my lot. Onthe whole, I thought it best to submit for a time, and trust the futureto Providence. As to remonstrance or deprecation, pride forbade myhaving recourse to either. I was not yet reduced so low as to solicitfavors from a squatter.
The jail to which I was "permitted" by Thousandacres was a storehouse,or, as he pronounced the word, a "store'us," of logs, which had beenmade of sufficient strength to resist depredations, let them come fromwhom they might, and they were quite as likely to come from some withinas from any without. In consequence of its destination, the building wasnot ill-suited to become a jail. The logs, of course, gave a sufficientsecurity against the attempts of a prisoner without tools or implementsof any sort, the roof being made of the same materials as the sides.There was no window, abundance of air and light entering through thefissures of the rough logs, which had open intervals between them; andthe only artificial aperture was the door. This last was made of stoutplanks, and was well secured by heavy hinges, and strong bolts andlocks. The building was of some size, too--twenty feet in length atleast--one end of it, though then quite empty, having been intended andused as a crib for the grain that we Americans call, _par excellence_,corn. Into this building I entered, after having the large knife thatmost woodsmen carry taken from my pocket; and a search was made on myperson for any similar implement that might aid me in an attempt toescape.
In that day America had no paper money, from the bay of Hudson to CapeHorn. Gold and silver formed the currency, and my pockets had a liberalsupply of both, in the shape of joes and half-joes, dollars, halves, andquarters. Not a piece of coin, of any sort, was molested, however, thesesquatters not being robbers, in the ordinary signification of the term,but merely deluded citizens who appropriated the property of others totheir own use, agreeably to certain great principles of morals that hadgrown up under their own peculiar relations to the rest of mankind,their immediate necessities and their convenience. I make no doubt thatevery member of the family of Thousandacres would spurn the idea of hisor her being a vulgar thief, drawing some such distinctions in thepremises as the Drakes, Morgans, Woodes, Rogers, and others of thatschool drew between themselves and the vulgar every day sea-robbers ofthe seventeenth century, though with far less reason. But robbers thesesquatters were not, except in one mode and that mode they almost raisedto the dignity of respectable hostilities, by the scale on which theytransacted business.
I was no sooner "locked-up" than I began a survey of my prison and thesurrounding objects. There was no difficulty in doing either, theopening between the logs allowing of a clear reconnoissance on everyside. With a view to keeping its contents in open sight, I fancy, the"store'us" was placed in the very centre of the settlement, having themills, cabins, barns, sheds, and other houses, encircling it in a sortof hamlet. This circumstance, which would render escape doublydifficult, was, notwithstanding, greatly in favor of reconnoitring. Iwill now describe the results of my observations. As a matter of course,my appearance, the announcement of my character, and my subsequentarrest, were circumstances likely to produce a sensation in the familyof the squatter. All the women had gathered around Prudence, near thedoor of her cabin, and the younger girls were attracted to that spot, asthe particles of matter are known to obey the laws of affinity. Themales, one boy of eight or ten years excepted, were collected near themill, where Thousandacres, apparently, was holding a consultation withTobit and the rest of the brotherhood, among whom, I fancy, was no oneentitled to be termed an angel. Everybody seemed to be intentlylistening to the different speakers, the females often turning theireyes toward their male protectors, anxiously and with long protractedgazes. Indeed, many of them looked in that direction, even while theygave ear to the wisdom of Prudence herself.
The excepted boy had laid himself, in a lounging, American sort of anattitude, on a saw-log near my prison, and in a position that enabledhim to see both sides of it, without changing his ground. By the mannerin which his eyes were fastened on the "store'us" I was soon satisfiedthat he was acting in the character of a sentinel. Thus, my jail wascertainly sufficiently secure, as the force of no man, unaided andwithout implements, could have broken a passage through the logs.
Having thus taken a look at the general aspect of things, I had leisureto reflect on my situation, and the probable consequences of my arrest.For my life I had no great apprehensions, not as much as I ought to havehad under the circumstances; but it did not strike me that I was in anygreat danger on that score. The American character, in general, is notblood-thirsty, and that of New England less so, perhaps, than that ofthe rest of the country. Nevertheless, in a case of property thetenacity of the men of that quarter of the country was proverbial, and Icame to the conclusion that I should be detained, if possible, until allthe lumber could be got to market and disposed of, as the only means ofreaping the fruit of past labor. The possibility depended on the escapeor the arrest of Sureflint. Should that Indian be taken, Thousandacresand his family would be as secure as ever in their wilderness; but onthe other hand, should he escape, I might expect to hear from my friendsin the course of the day. By resorting to a requisition on 'SquireNewcome, who was a magistrate, my tenants might be expected to make aneffort in my behalf, when the only grounds of apprehension would be theconsequences of the struggle. The squatters were sometimes dangerousunder excitement, and when sustaining each other, with arms in theirhands, in what they fancy to be their hard-earned privileges. There isno end to the delusions of men on such subjects, self-interest seemingcompletely to blind their sense of right; and I have often met withcases in which parties who were trespassers, and in a moral view,robbers, _ab origine_, have got really to fancy that their subsequentlabors (every new blow of the axe being an additional wrong) gave a sortof sanctity to possessions, in the defence of which they were willing todie. It is scarcely necessary to say that such persons look only atthemselves, entirely disregarding the rights of others; but one wonderswhere the fruits of all the religious instruction of the country are tobe found, when opinions so loose and acts so flagrant are constantlyoccurring among us. The fact is, land is so abundant, and such vastbodies lie neglected and seemingly forgotten by their owners, that theneedy are
apt to think indifference authorizes invasions on suchunoccupied property; and their own labor once applied, they are quick toimagine that it gives them a moral and legal interest in the soil;though in the eye of the law, and of unbiased reason, each new steptaken in what is called the improvement of a "betterment" is but afarther advance in the direction of wrong-doing.
I was reflecting on things of this sort, when, looking through thecracks of my prison, to ascertain the state of matters without, I wassurprised by the appearance of a man on horseback, who was entering theclearing on its eastern side, seemingly quite at home in his course,though he was travelling without a foot-path to aid him. As this man hada pair of the common saddle-bags of the day on his horse, I at firsttook him for one of those practitioners of the healing art who areconstantly met with in the new settlements, winding their way throughstumps, logs, morasses and forests, the ministers of good or evil, Ishall not pretend to say which. Ordinarily, families like that ofThousandacres do their own "doctoring"; but a case might occur thatdemanded the wisdom of the licensed leech; and I had just decided in myown mind that this must be one, when, as the stranger drew nearer, to mysurprise I saw that it was no other than my late agent, Mr. JasonNewcome, and the moral and physical factotum of Ravensnest!
As the distance between the mill that 'Squire Newcome leased of me, andthat which Thousandacres had set up on the property of Mooseridge, couldnot be less than five-and-twenty miles, the arrival of this visitor atan hour so early was a certain proof that he had left his own house longbefore the dawn. It was probably convenient to pass through the farmsand dwellings of Ravensnest on the errand on which he was now bent, atan hour of the night or morning when darkness would conceal themovement. By timing his departure with the same judgment, it was obvioushe could reach home under the concealment of the other end of the samemantle. In a word, this visit was evidently one, in the objects andincidents of which it was intended that the world at large should haveno share.
The dialogues between the members of the family of Thousandacres ceased,the moment 'Squire Newcome came in view; though, as was apparent by theunmoved manner in which his approach was witnessed, the suddenappearance of this particular visitor produced neither surprise noruneasiness. Although it must have been a thing to be desired by thesquatters, to keep their "location" a secret, more especially since thepeace left landlords at leisure to look after their lands, no onemanifested any concern at discovering this arrival in their clearing ofthe nearest magistrate. Any one might see, by the manner of men, women,and children, that 'Squire Newcome was no stranger, and that hispresence gave them no alarm. Even the early hour of his visit was mostprobably that to which they were accustomed, the quick-witted intellectsof the young fry causing them to understand the reason quite as readilyas was the case with their seniors. In a word, the guest was regarded asa friend rather than as an enemy.
Newcome was some little time, after he came into view, in reaching thehamlet, if the cluster of buildings can be so termed; and when he didalight, it was before the door of a stable, toward which one of the boysnow scampered, to be in readiness to receive his horse. The beastdisposed of, the 'squire advanced to the spot where Thousandacres andhis elder sons still remained to receive him, or that near the mill. Themanner in which all parties shook hands, and the cordiality of thesalutations generally, in which Prudence and her daughters soon shared,betokened something more than amity, I fancied, for it looked very muchlike intimacy.
Jason Newcome remained in the family group some eight or ten minutes,and I could almost fancy the prescribed inquiries about the "folks"(_anglice_, folk), the "general state of health," and the character ofthe "times," ere the magistrate and the squatter separated themselvesfrom the rest of the party, walking aside like men who had matters ofmoment to discuss, and that under circumstances which could dispensewith the presence of any listeners.