CHAPTER XI
O wo! O woful, woful, woful day! Most lamentable day; most woful day, That ever, ever, I did yet behold! O day! O day! O day! O hateful day! Never was seen so black a day as this; O woful day! O woful day! --SHAKESPEARE.
The family at the Locusts had slept, or watched, through all thedisturbances at the cottage of Birch, in perfect ignorance of theiroccurrence. The attacks of the Skinners were always made with so muchprivacy as to exclude the sufferers, not only from succor, butfrequently, through a dread of future depredations, from thecommiseration of their neighbors also. Additional duties had drawn theladies from their pillows at an hour somewhat earlier than usual; andCaptain Lawton, notwithstanding the sufferings of his body, had risen incompliance with a rule from which he never departed, of sleeping but sixhours at a time. This was one of the few points, in which the care ofthe human frame was involved, on which the trooper and the surgeon ofhorse were ever known to agree. The doctor had watched, during thenight, by the side of the bed of Captain Singleton, without once closinghis eyes. Occasionally he would pay a visit to the wounded Englishman,who, being more hurt in the spirit than in the flesh, tolerated theinterruptions with a very ill grace; and once, for an instant, heventured to steal softly to the bed of his obstinate comrade, and wasnear succeeding in obtaining a touch of his pulse, when a terrible oath,sworn by the trooper in a dream, startled the prudent surgeon, andwarned him of a trite saying in the corps, "that Captain Lawton alwaysslept with one eye open." This group had assembled in one of the parlorsas the sun made its appearance over the eastern hill, dispersing thecolumns of fog which had enveloped the lowland.
Miss Peyton was looking from a window in the direction of the tenementof the peddler, and was expressing a kind anxiety after the welfare ofthe sick man, when the person of Katy suddenly emerged from the densecovering of an earthly cloud, whose mists were scattering before thecheering rays of the sun, and was seen making hasty steps towards theLocusts. There was that in the air of the housekeeper which bespokedistress of an unusual nature, and the kind-hearted mistress of theLocusts opened the door of the room, with the benevolent intention ofsoothing a grief that seemed so overwhelming. A nearer view of thedisturbed features of the visitor confirmed Miss Peyton in her belief;and, with the shock that gentle feelings ever experience at a sudden andendless separation from even the meanest of their associates, she saidhastily,--
"Katy, is he gone?"
"No, ma'am," replied the disturbed damsel, with great bitterness, "he isnot yet gone, but he may go as soon as he pleases now, for the worst isdone. I do verily believe, Miss Peyton, they haven't so much as left himmoney enough to buy him another suit of clothes to cover his nakedness,and those he has on are none of the best, I can tell you."
"How!" exclaimed the other, astonished, "could anyone have the heart toplunder a man in such distress?"
"Hearts," repeated Katy, catching her breath. "Men like them have nobowels" at all. Plunder and distress, indeed! Why, ma'am, there were inthe iron pot, in plain sight, fifty-four guineas of gold, besides whatlay underneath, which I couldn't count without handling; and I didn'tlike to touch it, for they say that another's gold is apt to stick--so,judging from that in sight, there wasn't less than two hundred guineas,besides what might have been in the deerskin purse. But Harvey is littlebetter now than a beggar; and a beggar, Miss Jeanette, is the mostawfully despisable of all earthly creatures."
"Poverty is to be pitied, and not despised," said the lady, still unableto comprehend the extent of the misfortune that had befallen herneighbor during the night. "But how is the old man? And does this lossaffect him much?"
The countenance of Katy changed, from the natural expression of concern,to the set form of melancholy, as she answered,--
"He is happily removed from the cares of the world; the chinking of themoney made him get out of his bed, and the poor soul found the shock toogreat for him. He died about two hours and ten minutes before the cockcrowed, as near as we can say." She was interrupted by the physician,who, approaching, inquired, with much interest, the nature of thedisorder. Glancing her eye over the figure of this new acquaintance,Katy instinctively adjusting her dress, replied,--
"'Twas the troubles of the times, and the loss of property, that broughthim down; he wasted from day to day, and all my care and anxiety werelost; for now Harvey is no better than a beggar, and who is there to payme for what I have done?"
"God will reward you for all the good you have done," said Miss Peyton,mildly.
"Yes," interrupted the spinster hastily, and with an air of reverencethat was instantly succeeded by an expression that denoted more ofworldly care; "but then I have left my wages for three years past in thehands of Harvey, and how am I to get them? My brothers told me, againand again, to ask for my money; but I always thought accounts betweenrelations were easily settled."
"Were you related, then, to Birch?" asked Miss Peyton, observing her topause.
"Why," returned the housekeeper, hesitating a little, "I thought we wereas good as so. I wonder if I have no claim on the house and garden;though they say, now it is Harvey's, it will surely be confiscated."Turning to Lawton, who had been sitting in one posture, with hispiercing eyes lowering at her through his thick brows, in silence,"Perhaps this gentleman knows--he seems to take an interest inmy story."
"Madam," said the trooper, bowing very low, "both you and the tale areextremely interesting"--Katy smiled involuntarily--"but my humbleknowledge is limited to the setting of a squadron in the field, andusing it when there. I beg leave to refer you to Dr. ArchibaldSitgreaves, a gentleman of universal attainments and unboundedphilanthropy; the very milk of human sympathies, and a mortal foe to allindiscriminate cutting."
The surgeon drew up, and employed himself in whistling a low air, as helooked over some phials on a table; but the housekeeper, turning to himwith an inclination of the head, continued,--
"I suppose, sir, a woman has no dower in her husband's property, unlessthey be actually married."
It was a maxim with Dr. Sitgreaves, that no species of knowledge was tobe despised; and, consequently, he was an empiric in everything but hisprofession. At first, indignation at the irony of his comrade kept himsilent; but, suddenly changing his purpose, he answered the applicantwith a good-natured smile,--
"I judge not. If death has anticipated your nuptials, I am fearful youhave no remedy against his stern decrees."
To Katy this sounded well, although she understood nothing of itsmeaning, but "death" and "nuptials." To this part of his speech, then,she directed her reply.
"I did think he only waited the death of the old gentleman before hemarried," said the housekeeper, looking on the carpet. "But now he isnothing more than despisable, or, what's the same thing, a peddlerwithout house, pack, or money. It might be hard for a man to get a wifeat all in such a predicary--don't you think it would, Miss Peyton?"
"I seldom trouble myself with such things," said the lady gravely.
During this dialogue Captain Lawton had been studying the countenanceand manner of the housekeeper, with a most ludicrous gravity; and,fearful the conversation would cease, he inquired, with an appearance ofgreat interest,--
"You think it was age and debility that removed the old gentleman atlast?"
"And the troublesome times. Trouble is a heavy pull down to a sick bed;but I suppose his time had come, and when that happens, it matters butlittle what doctor's stuff we take."
"Let me set you right in that particular," interrupted the surgeon. "Wemust all die, it is true, but it is permitted us to use the lights ofscience, in arresting dangers as they occur, until--"
"We can die _secundem artem_," cried the trooper.
To this observation the physician did not deign to reply; but, deemingit necessary to his professional dignity that the conversation shouldcontinue, he added,--
"Perhaps, in this instance, judicious treatment might have prolonged thelife
of the patient. Who administered to the case?"
"No one yet," said the housekeeper, with quickness. "I expect he hasmade his last will and testament."
The surgeon disregarded the smile of the ladies, and pursued hisinquiries.
"It is doubtless wise to be prepared for death. But under whose care wasthe sick man during his indisposition?"
"Under mine," answered Katy, with an air of a little importance. "Andcare thrown away I may well call it; for Harvey is quite too despisableto be any sort of compensation at present."
The mutual ignorance of each other's meaning made very littleinterruption to the dialogue, for both took a good deal for granted, andSitgreaves pursued the subject.
"And how did you treat him?"
"Kindly, you may be certain," said Katy, rather tartly.
"The doctor means medically, madam," observed Captain Lawton, with aface that would have honored the funeral of the deceased.
"I doctored him mostly with yarbs," said the housekeeper, smiling, as ifconscious of error.
"With simples," returned the surgeon. "They are safer in the hands ofthe unlettered than more powerful remedies; but why had you no regularattendant?"
"I'm sure Harvey has suffered enough already from having so muchconcerns with the rig'lars," replied the housekeeper. "He has lost hisall, and made himself a vagabond through the land; and I have reason torue the day I ever crossed the threshold of his house."
"Dr. Sitgreaves does not mean a rig'lar soldier, but a regularphysician, madam," said the trooper.
"Oh!" cried the maiden, again correcting herself, "for the best of allreasons; there was none to be had, so I took care of him myself. Ifthere had been a doctor at hand, I am sure we would gladly have had him;for my part, I am clear for doctoring, though Harvey says I am killingmyself with medicines; but I am sure it will make but little differenceto him, whether I live or die."
"Therein you show your sense," said the surgeon, approaching thespinster, who sat holding the palms of her hands and the soles of herfeet to the genial heat of a fine fire, making the most of comfort amidall her troubles. "You appear to be a sensible, discreet woman, and somewho have had opportunities of acquiring more correct views might envyyou your respect for knowledge and the lights of science."
Although the housekeeper did not altogether comprehend the other'smeaning, she knew he used a compliment, and as such was highly pleasedwith what he said. With increased animation, therefore, she cried, "Itwas always said of me, that I wanted nothing but opportunity to makequite a physician myself; so long as before I came to live with Harvey'sfather, they called me the petticoat doctor."
"More true than civil, I dare say," returned the surgeon, losing sightof the woman's character in his admiration of her respect for thehealing art. "In the absence of more enlightened counselors, theexperience of a discreet matron is frequently of great efficacy inchecking the progress of disease; under such circumstances, madam, it isdreadful to have to contend with ignorance and obstinacy."
"Bad enough, as I well know from experience," cried Katy, in triumph."Harvey is as obstinate about such things as a dumb beast; one wouldthink the care I took of his bedridden father might learn him betterthan to despise good nursing. But some day he may know what it is towant a careful woman in his house, though now I am sure he is toodespisable himself to have a house."
"Indeed, I can easily comprehend the mortification you must have felt inhaving one so self-willed to deal with," returned the surgeon, glancinghis eyes reproachfully at his comrade. "But you should rise superior tosuch opinions, and pity the ignorance by which they are engendered."
The housekeeper hesitated a moment, at a loss to comprehend all that thesurgeon expressed, yet she felt it was both complimentary and kind;therefore, suppressing her natural flow of language a little, shereplied,--
"I tell Harvey his conduct is often condemnable, and last night he mademy words good; but the opinions of such unbelievers is not veryconsequential; yet it is dreadful to think how he behaves at times: now,when he threw away the needle--"
"What!" said the surgeon, interrupting her, "does he affect to despisethe needle? But it is my lot to meet with men, daily, who are equallyperverse, and who show a still more culpable disrespect for theinformation that flows from the lights of science."
The doctor turned his face towards Captain Lawton while speaking, butthe elevation of the head prevented his eyes from resting on the gravecountenance maintained by the trooper. Katy listened with admiringattention, and when the other had done, she added,--
"Then Harvey is a disbeliever in the tides."
"Not believe in the tides!" repeated the healer of bodies inastonishment. "Does the man distrust his senses? But perhaps it is theinfluence of the moon that he doubts."
"That he does!" exclaimed Katy, shaking with delight at meeting with aman of learning, who could support her opinions. "If you was to hear himtalk, you would think he didn't believe there was such a thing as amoon at all."
"It is the misfortune of ignorance and incredulity, madam, that theyfeed themselves. The mind, once rejecting useful information, insensiblyleans to superstition and conclusions on the order of nature, that arenot less prejudicial to the cause of truth, than they are at variancewith the first principles of human knowledge."
The spinster was too much awe-struck to venture an undigested reply tothis speech; and the surgeon, after pausing a moment in a kind ofphilosophical disdain, continued,--
"That any man in his senses can doubt of the flux of the tides is morethan I could have thought possible; yet obstinacy is a dangerous inmateto harbor, and may lead us into any error, however gross."
"You think, then, they have an effect on the flux?" said thehousekeeper, inquiringly.
Miss Peyton rose and beckoned her nieces to give her their assistance inthe adjoining pantry, while for a moment the dark visage of theattentive Lawton was lighted by an animation that vanished by an effort,as powerful and as sudden, as the one that drew it into being.
After reflecting whether he rightly understood the meaning of the other,the surgeon, making due allowance for the love of learning, acting upona want of education, replied,--
"The moon, you mean; many philosophers have doubted how far it affectsthe tides; but I think it is willfully rejecting the lights of sciencenot to believe it causes both the flux and reflux."
As reflux was a disorder with which Katy was not acquainted, she thoughtit prudent to be silent; yet burning with curiosity to know the meaningof certain portentous lights to which the other so often alluded, sheventured to ask,--
"If them lights he spoke of were what was called northern lights inthese parts?"
In charity to her ignorance, the surgeon would have entered into anelaborate explanation of his meaning, had he not been interrupted by themirth of Lawton. The trooper had listened so far with great composure;but now he laughed until his aching bones reminded him of his fall, andthe tears rolled over his cheeks in larger drops than had ever been seenthere before. At length the offended physician seized an opportunity ofa pause to say,--
"To you, Captain Lawton, it may be a source of triumph, that anuneducated woman should make a mistake in a subject on which men ofscience have long been at variance; but yet you find this respectablematron does not reject the lights--does not reject the use of properinstruments in repairing injuries sustained by the human frame. You maypossibly remember, sir, her allusion to the use of the needle."
"Aye," cried the delighted trooper, "to mend the peddler's breeches."
Katy drew up in evident displeasure, and prompt to vindicate hercharacter for more lofty acquirements, she said,--
"'Twas not a common use that I put that needle to--but one of muchgreater virtue."
"Explain yourself, madam," said the surgeon impatiently, "that thisgentleman may see how little reason he has for exultation."
Thus solicited, Katy paused to collect sufficient eloquence to garnishher narrative. The substance of her tale was,
that a child who had beenplaced by the guardians of the poor in the keeping of Harvey, had, inthe absence of its master, injured itself badly in the foot by a largeneedle. The offending instrument had been carefully greased, wrapped inwoolen, and placed in a certain charmed nook of the chimney; while thefoot, from a fear of weakening the incantation, was left in a state ofnature. The arrival of the peddler had altered the whole of thisadmirable treatment; and the consequences were expressed by Katy, as sheconcluded her narrative, by saying,--
"'Twas no wonder the boy died of a lockjaw!"
Doctor Sitgreaves looked out of the window in admiration of thebrilliant morning, striving all he could to avoid the basilisk's eyes ofhis comrade. He was impelled, by a feeling that he could not conquer,however, to look Captain Lawton in the face. The trooper had arrangedevery muscle of his countenance to express sympathy for the fate of thepoor child; but the exultation of his eyes cut the astounded man ofscience to the quick; he muttered something concerning the condition ofhis patients, and retreated with precipitation.
Miss Peyton entered into the situation of things at the house of thepeddler, with all the interest of her excellent feelings; she listenedpatiently while Katy recounted, more particularly, the circumstances ofthe past night as they had occurred. The spinster did not forget todwell on the magnitude of the pecuniary loss sustained by Harvey, and inno manner spared her invectives, at his betraying a secret which mightso easily have been kept.
"For, Miss Peyton," continued the housekeeper, after a pause to takebreath, "I would have given up life before I would have given up thatsecret. At the most, they could only have killed him, and now a body maysay that they have slain both soul and body; or, what's the same thing,they have made him a despisable vagabond. I wonder who he thinks wouldbe his wife, or who would keep his house, For my part, my good name istoo precious to be living with a lone man; though, for the matter ofthat, he is never there. I am resolved to tell him this day, that staythere a single woman, I will not an hour after the funeral; and marryhim I don't think I will, unless he becomes steadier and more of ahome body."
The mild mistress of the Locusts suffered the exuberance of thehousekeeper's feelings to expend itself, and then, by one or twojudicious questions, that denoted a more intimate knowledge of thewindings of the human heart in matters of Cupid than might fairly besupposed to belong to a spinster, she extracted enough from Katy todiscover the improbability of Harvey's ever presuming to offer himself,with his broken fortunes, to the acceptance of Katharine Haynes. Shetherefore mentioned her own want of assistance in the present state ofher household, and expressed a wish that Katy would change her residenceto the Locusts, in case the peddler had no further use for her services.After a few preliminary conditions on the part of the wary housekeeper,the arrangement was concluded; and making a few more piteouslamentations on the weight of her own losses and the stupidity ofHarvey, united with some curiosity to know the future fate of thepeddler, Katy withdrew to make the necessary preparations for theapproaching funeral, which was to take place that day.
During the interview between the two females, Lawton, through delicacy,had withdrawn. Anxiety took him to the room of Captain Singleton. Thecharacter of this youth, it has already been shown, endeared him in apeculiar manner to every officer in the corps. The singularly milddeportment of the young dragoon had on so many occasions been proved notto proceed from want of resolution that his almost feminine softness ofmanner and appearance had failed to bring him into disrepute, even inthat band of partisan warriors.
To the major he was as dear as a brother, and his easy submission tothe directions of his surgeon had made him a marked favorite with Dr.Sitgreaves. The rough usage the corps often received in its daringattacks had brought each of its officers, in succession, under thetemporary keeping of the surgeon. To Captain Singleton the man ofscience had decreed the palm of docility, on such occasions, and CaptainLawton he had fairly blackballed. He frequently declared, withunconquerable simplicity and earnestness of manner, that it gave himmore pleasure to see the former brought in wounded than any officer inthe squadron, and that the latter afforded him the least; a complimentand condemnation that were usually received by the first of the partieswith a quiet smile of good nature, and by the last with a grave bow ofthanks. On the present occasion, the mortified surgeon and exultingtrooper met in the room of Captain Singleton, as a place where theycould act on common ground. Some time was occupied in joint attentionsto the comfort of the wounded officer, and the doctor retired to anapartment prepared for his own accommodation; here, within a fewminutes, he was surprised by the entrance of Lawton. The triumph of thetrooper had been so complete, that he felt he could afford to begenerous, and commencing by voluntarily throwing aside his coat, hecried carelessly,--
"Sitgreaves, administer a little of the aid of the lights of science tomy body, if you please."
The surgeon was beginning to feel this was a subject that wasintolerable, but venturing a glance towards his comrade, he saw withsurprise the preparations he had made, and an air of sincerity abouthim, that was unusual to his manner when making such a request. Changinghis intended burst of resentment to a tone of civil inquiry, he said,--
"Does Captain Lawton want anything at my hands?"
"Look for yourself, my dear sir," said the trooper mildly. "Here seem tobe most of the colors of the rainbow, on this shoulder."
"You have reason for saying so," said the other, handling the part withgreat tenderness and consummate skill. "But happily nothing is broken.It is wonderful how well you escaped!"
"I have been a tumbler from my youth, and I am past minding a few fallsfrom a horse; but, Sitgreaves," he added with affection, and pointing toa scar on his body, "do you remember this bit of work?"
"Perfectly well, Jack; it was bravely obtained, and neatly extracted;but don't you think I had better apply an oil to these bruises?"
"Certainly," said Lawton, with unexpected condescension.
"Now, my dear boy," cried the doctor, exultantly, as he busied himselfin applying the remedy to the hurts, "do you not think it would havebeen better to have done all this last night?"
"Quite probable."
"Yes, Jack, but if you had let me perform the operation of phlebotomy nwhen I first saw you, it would have been of infinite service."
"No phlebotomy," said the other, positively.
"It is now too late; but a dose of oil would carry off the humorsfamously."
To this the captain made no reply, but grated his teeth, in a way thatshowed the fortress of his mouth was not to be assailed without aresolute resistance; and the experienced physician changed the subjectby saying,--
"It is a pity, John, that you did not catch the rascal, after the dangerand trouble you incurred."
The captain of dragoons made no reply; and, while placing some bandageson the wounded shoulder, the surgeon continued,--
"If I have any wish at all to destroy human life, it is to have thepleasure of seeing that traitor hanged."
"I thought your business was to cure, and not to slay," said thetrooper, dryly.
"Aye! but he has caused us such heavy losses by his information, that Isometimes feel a very unsophistical temper towards that spy."
"You should not encourage such feelings of animosity to any of yourfellow creatures," returned Lawton, in a tone that caused the operatorto drop a pin he was arranging in the bandages from his hand. He lookedthe patient in the face to remove all doubts of his identity; finding,however, it was his old comrade, Captain John Lawton, who had spoken, herallied his astonished faculties, and proceeded by saying,--
"Your doctrine is just, and in general I subscribe to it. But, John, mydear fellow, is the bandage easy?"
"Quite."
"I agree with you as a whole; but as matter is infinitely divisible, sono case exists without an exception. Lawton, do you feel easy?"
"Very."
"It is not only cruel to the sufferer, but sometimes unjust to others,to take human life whe
re a less punishment would answer the purpose.Now, Jack, if you were only--move your arm a little--if you were only--Ihope you feel easier, my dear friend?"
"Much."
"If, my dear John, you would teach your men to cut with more discretion,it would answer you the same purpose--and give me great pleasure."
The doctor drew a heavy sigh, as he was enabled to get rid of what wasnearest to the heart; and the dragoon coolly replaced his coat, sayingwith great deliberation as he retired,--
"I know no troop that cut more judiciously; they generally shave fromthe crown to the jaw."
The disappointed operator collected his instruments, and with a heavyheart proceeded to pay a visit to the room of Colonel Wellmere.