CHAPTER III
TELLS HOW EZRA ENTERED THE HOUSE OF ABDALLAH
"Rather an odd character, I should think," mused the young New Englanderas he rode along. "A soldier of fortune from his own account; and frommy own observations, one ready enough to provide himself with anythingthat he lacked. But he seemed rather a good sort, for all," with alaugh, "even if he did draw his blade on me and afterward castreflections upon my wit. I'm sure if I saw more of him I'd come to likehim."
The pace was slow on account of the bad condition of the road; andgradually the sun slipped downward in the west. At length, in a gloomy,sunken place, Ezra came upon a forbidding-looking stream flowing into ashattered dam.
A treacherous-looking bridge of unstripped timber crossed it; and alittle to the left was an abandoned mill with staring, empty windows;its broken roof was covered with green moss, a wheel hanging rotten andsilent at its side.
"And some little way along I am to find a house by the roadside, am I?"said the lad as he looked about upon this sullen picture. "Well, ittakes different tastes to make a world, of course; but I'd never havethought that any one would select a spot like this for adwelling-place."
Gingerly the bay picked its way across the bridge; the aged timbersswayed and groaned; through the open seams between the planks, the darkwater could be seen flowing sluggishly along.
Just beyond the bridge the road took an abrupt bend; and as Ezra roundedthis he found himself in sight of the house.
He had only time to note that it was two stories in height and thatheavy shutters guarded all the windows, when there came a mosttremendous barking of dogs. Lion-like, three enormous mastiffs leapedthe low fence that ran about the house and rushed at horse and rider.
The bay reared, his nostrils widening and his eyes shining with fright.Ezra tightened the rein, spoke soothingly to him and at the same timereached for his holster pistol. With wide jaws the great beasts boundedforward; then came a sharp whistle and instantly they paused, growling,indeed, and with savage eyes, but advancing no farther.
From around one corner of the house came a man of commanding stature andremarkable appearance. He was attired in a long, loose, robe-likegarment such as Ezra had seen in pictures of Eastern peoples. His headwas entirely bald, though the face was smooth, unlined and gave fewsigns of age. His complexion was swarthy and his eyes singularly large,dark and gentle-looking.
"I ask your pardon, young sir," said this strange-looking personagesmoothly. "My poor beasts are a trifle unruly at times. But,"reassuringly, "believe me, there is no harm in them."
Ezra looked down into the bloodshot eyes and formidable jaws of thebrutes. He said nothing in answer to the man's statement; but he held tohis own opinion, nevertheless.
The man advanced to the fence, and Ezra noted that he wore no shoes. Hisfeet were bound in sandals; also he was belted with a thick cord intowhich was stuck an ancient-looking, leather-covered book.
But the stranger's most striking and noticeable feature was his softgentleness of manner. Ezra felt this the moment his eyes rested upon theswarthy face; it were as though nothing could excite its owner to angeror intolerance. And yet, for all that, as the boy gazed at thestrangely-clad one, that distinct feeling of repulsion came upon himwhich we feel in the presence of those whom we naturally distrust.
Here the man spoke to the dogs which still stood near at hand, growlingand casting savage looks at Ezra.
"Blood," said he, gently, "go in, brave dog. Death, away with you.Bones, be gone."
The voice was soft, even purring; but the grisly names of the brutescaused Ezra to shudder.
Obediently the animals turned and leaped into the enclosure once more.And as they passed their master, Ezra noted that they crouched andfawned.
"Only beaten dogs do that," thought the boy. Then, as he surveyed theman carefully, "I wonder just how much of this gentleness is real andhow much assumed?"
As the mastiffs vanished behind the house, the man turned to Ezra oncemore.
"The road is seldom frequented," said he, apologetically; "and so, poorbeasts, they are not accustomed to travelers." The soft, dark eyesexamined Ezra with much attention; then the speaker went on, "Isincerely trust that you have taken neither harm nor offense."
"Not in the least," replied Ezra readily. "My horse was a bit startled;but that is all."
Instantly the dark eyes went to the horse; its weary condition seemed toexcite the stranger's sympathy.
"You have ridden far?" said he, gently.
"From Cambridge," replied Ezra. "But it has taken several days."
"And you are going----?" Here the other paused with undoubted expectancy.
"Toward Chelmsford," replied Ezra.
The man seemed baffled; he passed one hand over his shining bald head asthough in meditation. But the singular dark eyes never left the boy'sface.
"This is rather an unusual way to select," he said at last. "Rough andindirect."
"Perhaps so," said Ezra. "But I had some small matters of businesshereabouts."
An eager look came into the man's face; he held up one hand with aninquiring gesture.
"You were to ask for some one?" said he.
"Yes. For a gentleman of the name of Abdallah."
"I am he," said the other humbly. "Abdallah--son of Hamid--a poor scholar,and a friend to all the world."
Ezra took out the packet from the breast of his coat; riding close tothe fence he gave it into Abdallah's hands.
"I thank you," said the man. "I had been expecting you for some days."
His fingers pattered nervously upon the papers; it was plain to see thathe was all eagerness to tear them open that he might come at theircontents.
But he restrained himself; with calm eyes he looked at Ezra and said:
"Perhaps it was part of your instructions that you bear back any answerto these that might be necessary."
Ezra hesitated for a moment. His first impulse was to make a plainstatement of the facts, to tell him how he met Scarlett by the wayside,relate how the papers had been handed over to him, and why. But secondthought prompted him to take advantage of the other's mistake. What thelad had heard of Abdallah had interested him exceedingly. If there wereanything unusual in his transactions, or anything against the publicgood, here was a most excellent opportunity of throwing a light upon thematter.
So, like a flash, he made up his mind.
"I was given no instructions by the gentleman who entrusted me with thiserrand," said he, "save only that I was to hand the packet to you."
Abdallah nodded his head.
"It is well to be careful. I have always approved of such a method,"spoke he.
The great dark eyes were fixed upon Ezra's face; for all theirgentleness, the boy fancied that he caught an element of speculation inthem. But before he had time to note more, the man proceeded:
"I am a reader of faces and you have a faithful look. You are of thetype that would be apt to do anything that he engaged to do." He tappedthe papers upon the palm of one hand for a moment, as thoughconsidering; then proceeded: "Will you carry the answer to the personwho gave these?" And the eyes narrowed.
"He was an utter stranger to me," said Ezra. "I would not know where tolook for him."
The man laughed softly and seemed satisfied.
"In matters like this," said he, "it is not always wise to give names oraddresses. It might prove inconvenient. However, it does not matter. Iwill so advise you as to the answer that you cannot well go astray."
With that Ezra dismounted without more ado. Tying his horse to thegate-post, he followed the man through a low, wide doorway into thehouse.
The boy was open-eyed for something unusual. What he had heard ofAbdallah, and, indeed, the man's personal appearance, led him to be so;and he was not disappointed.
Without, the house was clumsy and ill-shaped, the product perhaps of anuncouth workman of past generations. It was also neglected, unpaintedand weather-stained. The enclosure about it was yellow with
the weeds ofa summer before.
But within all was different. The shutters did not admit a ray of light;candles, set in queer twisted sconces of copper, burned behindrose-colored shades of glass. Large mirrors glittered upon the walls;the doorways were hung with rich draperies; a soft Turkey carpet andrich rugs were upon the floor. Several broad couches covered withcrimson leather stood about.
And books were everywhere--upon shelves, upon tables and chairs; fadedscrolls covered with strange Oriental characters were scattered about;queer manuscripts, musty and tattered, lay open to view where some onehad been lately consulting them.
On a broad, brick hearth stood a small furnace with a leather bellowsattached. Beside this were queer instruments and vessels of metal andglass at whose uses the boy could only guess.
"Be seated, I beg of you," spoke Abdallah, with grave courtesy. "It isbut a poor place to ask a guest; but to what there is, you are welcomeindeed."
Ezra sat down upon one of the couches. It was soft and extremelycomforting to one who had been in the saddle since early morning. And ashe sat, his eyes went about the apartment wonderingly.
The man noted this and smiled. Ezra hastened to say:
"I ask your pardon. But there is not, I will venture to say, suchanother place as this in all Massachusetts."
Abdallah inclined his stately head gravely.
"No doubt you are right," said he. "In this Western world the lore ofthe East is all but unknown." He sighed and shook his head. "All is sonew. The men, the customs, the very country. They have no leisure foremployment of a deeper sort."
Ezra looked at the speaker curiously.
"I have heard but little of the unusual sciences of the East," said he,"and have read very little more. I have no doubt but that they arewonderful and interesting; and I am pleased to meet with a gentleman solearned in them."
Abdallah made a gesture of protest.
"You give me too much credit," said he, gravely. "I am but a poorscholar. 'Tis true that some of the mysteries of life have been madeknown to me. But that is all. I am a struggling student as yet, andcannot hope to be more until years of labor have been gone through."
Glass vessels containing liquids stood upon a shelf. They were longnecked and yet with squat, round bodies; their contents were of amber,purple, jade and other rich colors and they twinkled and flashed in thesubdued light of the candles.
"You practice the art of healing, sir, I perceive," suggested Ezra,looking at these.
But Abdallah shook his head.
"I am fairly well versed in the business of a leech," he replied. "But Igive but little time to it."
Illustration: "YOU PRACTICE THE ART OF HEALING, SIR"]
Here Ezra caught an odd, muffled, lingering sound. It was low andindistinct. Thinking it was something outside--a bird, a small animal orsuch--he paid no attention to it. But at the same time he noticed apeculiar expression upon the face of Abdallah, and he also saw the lookwhich the man flashed at him.
"To be a surgeon, or even an apothecary in such a lonely place, wouldprofit mankind or myself very little," proceeded the man in his usualtone of grave gentleness.
He smiled at the boy, who nodded a reply. Again the odd sound wasrepeated. It was murmurous and lingering, rising and falling in ameasured sort of way.
"It is within the house," Ezra told himself. "And it is the voice ofsome one in conversation."
But he felt the dark eyes of the Oriental fixed upon him and his facenever changed. The sound, apparently, was one that Abdallah would preferto have unheard; so Ezra's face held nothing but polite interest in theother's remarks.
"I suppose you are quite right," said the boy. "And so," with thesuspicions of the farmers well in mind, "you devote your time solely tothe study of your philosophy?"
"Entirely so," replied Abdallah, suavely. "It is a great science, and toget even the rudiments of it, one must spare neither one's self nortime."
Again came the murmurous sound. Whoever the talkers were, they seemed tobe deep in some discussion. As Ezra watched he saw the habitually gentlelook leave the eyes of the Oriental; the pleasant mouth tightened andgrew hard, the long-fingered brown hands clenched.
"I will ask your pardon," said Abdallah in his smooth voice. That he wasfilled with a bitter anger was plain; but he held himself wonderfully incontrol. He bent his head in a salaam of much dignity; then drawingaside some hangings that concealed a doorway, he disappeared.
Ezra settled back more comfortably into his easy seat.
"Master Abdallah evidently does not lead the lonely life that my friendsof a short time ago supposed," said he. "If these are not regularinmates of his house, they are persons over whom he professes somecontrol; at least his manner said as much."
There was a huge clock in the room that ticked with steady, solemnregularity. Now and then a candle sputtered or leaped behind itsrose-colored shade. But these were the only sounds that Ezra heard.
"Whoever it was, he has silenced them," smiled the boy. "Behind thatsoft manner, our friend has a temper of his own. I saw that from thefirst."
But another moment proved that Abdallah's was not the only temper in thehouse. Suddenly the silence was split by a heavy voice, thundering:
"What do you mean, sir? What do you mean by addressing me in thatmanner?"
A quick, excited murmur followed. Then the heavy voice was heard oncemore.
"I know we are in his house. I am perfectly aware of it. But that doesnot deprive me of the right to protect myself from impudence."
Abdallah's voice was then heard; but it was pitched so low that Ezracould not catch the words. After a moment the heavy voice came again.
"Of course, sir, that puts a different face upon the matter. But youshould have warned us to moderate our tones. Remember, I am MajorBuckstone of His Majesty's Artillery, and I permit no man to hector me."
"Hush-h-h-h!" came another voice. And then there was a silence.
"It seems that Major Buckstone is a person quite ready and competent toregulate his own affairs," smiled the boy. Then his brows puckeredthoughtfully as he continued: "And the fact that he is of His Majesty'sArtillery makes him a gentleman of whom I should take more than ordinarynotice."
On the whole, as he thought the situation over, all the personsconcerned were of great interest to him and to the cause of thecolonies. Here was a stranger, an Oriental, who received mysteriouscommunications from equally mysterious horsemen. And here, also, wereBritish officers making his house a place of resort and carrying onconversations which would not allow of being overheard.
"Decidedly," said Ezra, "it has an interesting look. And I am quitepleased that I chanced to come this way and overtake Master Scarlett asI did."
His thoughts had run this far when once again the mighty voice of MajorBuckstone was heard.
"But, sir," it cried, "I disagree with you. I utterly disagree with you.You may have your own ways of doing these things. If so, you areperfectly welcome to them. But I am a soldier, sir; an officer in HisMajesty's Artillery, and I am accustomed to do things in my own way."
A soft protest followed, but the thunderous major cut it short.
"If this gentleman has been trusted thus far, he can be trustedfurther," he declared. "Why should we remain concealed in the houses ofour friends? It is preposterous!"
A sharp moving about of furniture followed as though some one had pushedback a heavy chair; then footsteps were heard, the hangings parted and aburly, red-faced man entered the room.