CHAPTER XI.
"Our life was changed. Another love In its lone woof began to twine; But oh! the golden thread was wove Between my sister's heart and mine."
WILLIS.
Half an hour later, uncle Ro and myself were seated at table, eating ourdinners as quietly as if we were in an inn. The footman who had set thetable was an old family servant, one who had performed the same sort ofduty in that very house for a quarter of a century. Of course he was notan American, no _man_ of American birth ever remaining so long a time inan inferior station, or in any station so low as that of ahouse-servant. If he has good qualities enough to render it desirable tokeep him, he is almost certain to go up in the world; if not, one doesnot care particularly about having him. But Europeans are less elasticand less ambitious, and it is no uncommon thing to find one of such anorigin remaining a long time in the same service. Such had been the factwith this man, who had followed my own parents from Europe, when theyreturned from their marriage tour, and had been in the house on theoccasion of my birth. From that time he had continued at the Nest, nevermarrying, nor ever manifesting the smallest wish for any change. He wasan Englishman by birth; and what is very unusual in a servant of thatcountry, when transferred to America, the "letting-up," which is certainto attend such a change from the depression of the original condition tothat in which he is so suddenly placed, had not made him saucy. AnAmerican is seldom what is called impudent, under any circumstances; heis careless, nay ignorant of forms; pays little or no purelyconventional respect; does not understand half the social distinctionswhich exist among the higher classes of even his own countrymen, andfancies there are equalities in things about which, in truth, there isgreat inequality between himself and others, merely because he has beentaught that all men are equal in rights; but he is so unconscious of anypressure as seldom to feel a disposition to revenge himself byimpudence.
But, while John was not impudent either, he had a footman's feelingtowards those whom he fancied no better than himself. He had set thetable with his customary neatness and method, and he served the soupwith as much regularity as he would have done had we sat there in ourproper characters, but then he withdrew. He probably remembered that thelandlord, or upper servant of an English hotel, is apt to make hisappearance with the soup, and to disappear as that disappears. So it waswith John; after removing the soup, he put a dumb-waiter near my uncle,touched a carving-knife or two, as much as to say "help yourselves," andquitted the room. As a matter of course, our dinner was not a veryelaborate one, it wanting two or three hours to the regular time ofdining, though my grandmother had ordered, in my hearing, one or twodelicacies to be placed on the table, that had surprised Patt. Among theextraordinary things for such guests was wine. The singularity, however,was a little explained by the quality commanded, which was Rhenish.
My uncle Ro was a little surprised at the disappearance of John; for,seated in that room, he was so accustomed to his face, that it appearedas if he were not half at home without him.
"Let the fellow go," he said, withdrawing his hand from the bell-cord,which he had already touched to order him back again; "we can talk morefreely without him. Well, Hugh, here you are, under your own roof,eating a charitable dinner, and treated as hospitably as if you did notown all you can see for a circle of five miles around you. It was alucky idea of the old lady's, by the way, to think of ordering thisRudesheimer, in our character of Dutchmen! How amazingly well she islooking, boy!"
"Indeed she is; and I am delighted to see it. I do not know why mygrandmother may not live these twenty years; for even that would notmake her near as old as Sus, who, I have often heard her say, was amiddle-aged man when she was born."
"True; she seems like an elder sister to me, rather than as a mother,and is altogether a most delightful old woman. But, if we had socharming an old woman to receive us, so are there also some verycharming _young_ women--hey, Hugh?"
"I am quite of your way of thinking, sir; and must say I have not, inmany a day, seen two as charming creatures as I have met with here."
"_Two_!--umph; a body would think _one_ might suffice. Pray, which maybe the two, Master Padishah?"
"Patt and Mary Warren, of course. The other two are well enough, butthese two are excellent."
My uncle Ro looked grum, but he said nothing for some time. Eating isalways an excuse for a broken conversation, and he ate away as ifresolute not to betray his disappointment. But it is a hard matter for agentleman to do nothing but eat at table, and so was obliged to talk.
"Everything looks well here, after all, Hugh," observed my uncle. "Theseanti-renters may have done an infinite deal of harm in the way ofabusing principles, but they do not seem to have yet destroyed anymaterial things."
"It is not their cue, sir. The crops are their own; and as they hope toown the farms, it would be scarcely wise to injure what, no doubt, theybegin to look on as their own property, too. As for the Nest House,grounds, farm, &c., I dare say they will be very willing to leave methem for a while longer, provided they can get everything else away fromme."
"For a time longer, at least; though that is the folly of those whoexpect to get along by concessions; as if men were ever satisfied withthe yielding of a part, when they ask that which is wrong in itself,without sooner or later expecting to get the whole. As well might oneexpect the pickpocket who had abstracted a dollar, to put backtwo-and-sixpence change. But things really look well, around the place."
"So much the better for us. Though, to my judgment and taste, Miss MaryWarren looks better than anything else I have yet seen in America."
Another "umph" expressed my uncle's dissatisfaction--displeasure wouldbe too strong a word--and he continued eating.
"You have really some good Rhenish in your cellar, Hugh," resumed uncleRo, after tossing off one of the knowing green glasses full--though Inever could understand why any man should wish to drink his wine out ofgreen, when he might do it out of crystal. "It must have been a purchaseof mine, made when we were last in Germany, and for the use of mymother."
"As you please, sir; it neither adds nor subtracts from the beauty ofMartha and her friend."
"Since you are disposed to make these boyish allusions, be frank withme, and say, at once, how you like my wards."
"Meaning, of course, sir, my own sister exclusively. I will be assincere as possible, and say that, as to Miss Marston, I have no opinionat all; and as to Miss Coldbrook, she is what, in Europe, would becalled a 'fine' woman."
"You can say nothing as to her mind, Hugh, for you have had noopportunity for forming an opinion."
"Not much of a one, I will own. Nevertheless, I should have liked herbetter had she spared the allusion to the 'proper person' who is one dayto forge a chain for my sister, to begin with."
"Poh, poh; that is the mere squeamishness of a boy. I do not think herin the least pert or forward, and your construction would be _tant soitpeu_ vulgar."
"Put your own construction on it, _mon oncle_; _I_ do not like it."
"I do not wonder young men remain unmarried; they are getting to be soultra in their tastes and notions."
A stranger might have retorted on an old bachelor, for such a speech, bysome allusion to his own example; but I well knew that my uncle Ro hadonce been engaged, and that he lost the object of his passion by death,and too much respected his constancy and true sentiments ever to joke onsuch subjects. I believe he felt the delicacy of my forbearance rathermore than common, for he immediately manifested a disposition to relent,and to prove it by changing the subject.
"We can never stay here to-night," he said. "It would be at once toproclaim our names--our name, I might say--a name that was once sohonoured and beloved in this town, and which is now so hated!"
"No, no; not as bad as that. We have done nothing to merit hatred."
"_Raison de plus_ for hating us so much the more heartily. When men arewronged, who have done nothing to deserve it, the evil-doer seeks tojustify his wickedness to
himself by striving all he can to calumniatethe injured party; and the more difficulty he finds in doing that to hismind, the more profound is his hatred. Rely on it, we are most sincerelydisliked here, on the spot where we were once both much beloved. Such ishuman nature."
At that moment John returned to the room, to see how we were getting on,and to count his forks and spoons, for I saw the fellow actually doingit. My uncle, somewhat indiscreetly, I fancied, but by merely followingthe chain of thought then uppermost in his mind, detained him inconversation.
"Dis broperty," he said, inquiringly, "is de broperty of one YeneralLittlepage, I hears say?"
"Not of the General, who was Madam Littlepage's husband, and who haslong been dead, but of his grandson, Mr. Hugh."
"Und vhere might he be, dis Mr. Hugh?--might he be at hand, or might henot?"
"No; he's in Europe; that is to say, in Hengland." John thought Englandcovered most of Europe, though he had long gotten over his wish toreturn. "Mr. Hugh and Mr. Roger be both habsent from the country, justnow."
"Dat ist unfortunate, for dey dells me dere might be moch troobles hereabouts, and Injin-acting."
"There is, indeed; and a wicked thing it is, that there should beanything of the sort."
"Und vhat might be der reason of so moch troobles?--and vhere ist derblame?"
"Well, that is pretty plain, I fancy," returned John, who, inconsequence of being a favoured servant at head-quarters, fanciedhimself a sort of cabinet minister, and had much pleasure in letting hisknowledge be seen. "The tenants on this estate wants to be landlords;and as they can't be so, so long as Mr. Hugh lives and won't let 'em,why they just tries all sorts of schemes and plans to frighten peopleout of their property. I never go down to the village but I has a talkwith some of them, and that in a way that might do them some good, ifanything can."
"Und vhat dost you say?--und vid whom dost you talk, as might do demmoch goot?"
"Why, you see, I talks more with one 'Squire Newcome, as they calls him,though he's no more of a real 'squire than you be--only a sort of anattorney, like, such as they has in this country. You come from the oldcountries, I believe?"
"Ja, ja--dat ist, yes--we comes from Charmany; so you can say vhat youbleases."
"They has queer 'squires in this part of the world, if truth must besaid. But that's neither here nor there, though I give this Mr. SenecaNewcome as good as he sends. What is it you wants, I says to him?--youcan't all be landlords--somebody must be tenants; and if you didn't wantto be tenants, how come you to be so? Land is plenty in this country,and cheap too; and why didn't you buy your land at first, instead ofcoming to rent of Mr. Hugh; and now when you _have_ rented, to bequarrelling about the very thing you did of your own accord?"
"Dere you didst dell 'em a goot t'ing; and vhat might der 'Squire say todat?"
"Oh! he was quite dumb-founded, at first; then he said that in oldtimes, when people first rented these lands, they didn't _know_ as muchas they do now, or they never would have done it."
"Und you could answer dat; or vast it your durn to be dum-founded?"
"I pitched it into him, as they says; I did. Says I, how's this, saysI--you are for ever boasting how much you Americans know--and how thepeople knows everything that ought to be done, about politics andreligion--and you proclaim far and near that your yeomen are the salt ofthe earth--and yet you don't know how to bargain for your leases! Apretty sort of wisdom is this, says I! I had him there; for the peopleround about here is only too sharp at a trade."
"Did he own dat you vast right, and dat he vast wrong, dis Herr 'SquireNewcome?"
"Not he; he will never own anything that makes against his own doctrine,unless he does it ignorantly. But I haven't told you half of it. I toldhim, says I, how is it you talk of one of the Littlepage family cheatingyou, when, as you knows yourselves, you had rather have the word of oneof that family than have each other's bonds, says I. You know, sir, itmust be a poor landlord that a tenant can't and won't take his word: andthis they all know to be true; for a gentleman as has a fine estate israised above temptation, like, and has a pride in him to do what ishonourable and fair; and, in my opinion, it is good to have a few suchpeople in a country, if it be only to keep the wicked one from gettingit altogether in his own keeping."
"Und did you say dat moch to der 'Squire?"
"No; that I just says to you two, seeing that we are here, talkingtogether in a friendly way; but a man needn't be ashamed to say itanywhere, for it's a religious truth. But I says to him, Newcome, saysI, you, who has been living so long on the property of the Littlepages,ought to be ashamed to wish to strip them of it; but you're notsatisfied with keeping gentlemen down quite as much out of sight as youcan, by holding all the offices yourselves, and taking all the money ofthe public you can lay your hands on for your own use, but you wants totrample them under your feet, I says, and so take your revenge for beingwhat you be, says I."
"Vell, my friend," said my uncle, "you vast a bolt man to dell all disto der beoples of dis coontry, vhere, I have heard, a man may say justvhat he hast a mind to say, so dat he dost not sbeak too moch trut!"
"That's it--that's it; you have been a quick scholar, I find. I toldthis Mr. Newcome, says I, you're bold enough in railing at kings andnobles, for you very well know, says I, that they are three thousandmiles away from you, and can do you no harm; but you would no more dareget up before your masters, the people, here, and say what you reallythink about 'em, and what I have heard you say of them in private, thanyou would dare put your head before a cannon, as the gunner touched itoff. Oh! I gave him a lesson, you may be sure!"
Although there was a good deal of the English footman in John's logicand feeling, there was also a good deal of truth in what he said. Thepart where he accused Newcome of holding one set of opinions in private,concerning _his_ masters, and another in public, is true to the life.There is not, at this moment, within the wide reach of the Americanborders, one demagogue to be found who might not, with justice, beaccused of precisely the same deception. There is not one demagogue inthe whole country, who, if he lived in a monarchy, would not be thehumblest advocate of men in power, ready to kneel at the feet of thosewho stood in the sovereign's presence. There is not, at this instant, aman in power among us a senator or a legislator, who is now the seemingadvocate of what he wishes to call the rights of the tenants, and who isfor overlooking principles and destroying law and right, in order topacify the anti-renters by extraordinary concessions, that would not beamong the foremost, under a monarchial system, to recommend and supportthe freest application of the sword and the bayonet to suppress whatwould then be viewed, ay, and be termed, "the rapacious longings of thedisaffected to enjoy the property of others without paying for it." Allthis is certain; for it depends on a law of morals that is infallible.Any one who wishes to obtain a clear index to the true characters of thepublic men he is required to support, or oppose, has now theopportunity; for each stands before a mirror that reflects him in hisjust proportions, and in which the dullest eye has only to cast aglance, in order to view him from head to foot.
The entrance of my grandmother put a stop to John's discourse. He wassent out of the room on a message, and then I learned the object of thisvisit. My sister had been let into the secret of our true characters,and was dying to embrace me. My dear grandmother, rightly enough, haddecided it would be to the last degree unkind to keep her in ignoranceof our presence; and, the fact known, nature had longings which must beappeased. I had myself been tempted twenty times, that morning, tosnatch Patt to my heart and kiss her, as I used to do just after mybeard began to grow, and she was so much of a child as to complain. Theprincipal thing to be arranged, then, was to obtain an interview for mewithout awakening suspicion in the observers. My grandmother's plan wasarranged, however, and she now communicated it to us.
There was a neat little dressing-room annexed to Martha's bed-room; inthat the meeting was to take place.
"She and Mary Warren are now there, waiting for your ap
pearance,Hugh----"
"Mary Warren!--Does she, then, know who I am?"
"Not in the least; she has no other idea than that you are a youngGerman, of good connections and well educated, who has been driven fromhis own country by political troubles, and who is reduced to turn hismusical taste and acquisitions to account, in the way you seem to do,until he can find some better employment. All this she had told usbefore we met you, and you are not to be vain, Hugh, if I add, that yoursupposed misfortunes, and great skill with the flute, and goodbehaviour, have made a friend of one of the best and most true-heartedgirls I ever had the good fortune to know. I say good _behaviour_, forlittle, just now, can be ascribed to good _looks_."
"I hope I am not in the least revolting in appearance, in this disguise.For my sister's sake----"
The hearty laugh of my dear old grandmother brought me up, and I said nomore; colouring, I believe, a little, at my own folly. Even uncle Rojoined in the mirth, though I could see he wished Mary Warren evensafely translated along with her father, and that the latter wasArchbishop of Canterbury. I must acknowledge that I felt a good dealashamed of the weakness I had betrayed.
"You are very well, Hugh, darling," continued my grandmother; "though Imust think you would be more interesting in your own hair, which iscurling, than in that lank wig. Still, one can see enough of your faceto recognise it, if one has the clue; and I told Martha, at the first,that I was struck with a certain expression of the eyes and smile thatreminded me of her brother. But, there they are, Mary and Martha, in thedrawing-room, waiting for your appearance. The first is so fond ofmusic, and, indeed, is so practised in it, as to have been delightedwith your flute; and she has talked so much of your skill as to justifyus in seeming to wish for a further exhibition of your skill. Henriettaand Ann, having less taste that way, have gone together to selectbouquets, in the green-house, and there is now an excellent opportunityto gratify your sister. I am to draw Mary out of the room, after alittle while, when you and Martha may say a word to each other in yourproper characters. As for you, Roger, you are to open your box again,and I will answer for it _that_ will serve to amuse your other wards,should they return too soon from their visit to the gardener."
Everything being thus explained, and our dinner ended, all partiesproceeded to the execution of the plan, each in his or her designatedmode. When my grandmother and I reached the dressing-room, however,Martha was not there, though Mary Warren was, her bright but serene eyesfull of happiness and expectation. Martha had retired to the inner roomfor a moment, whither my grandmother, suspecting the truth, followedher. As I afterwards ascertained, my sister, fearful of not being ableto suppress her tears on my entrance, had withdrawn, in order tostruggle for self-command without betraying our secret. I was told tocommence an air, without waiting for the absent young lady, as thestrain could easily be heard through the open door.
I might have played ten minutes before my sister and grandmother cameout again. Both had been in tears, though the intense manner in whichMary Warren was occupied with the harmony of my flute, probablyprevented her from observing it. To me, however, it was plain enough;and glad was I to find that my sister had succeeded in commanding herfeelings. In a minute or two my grandmother profited by a pause to riseand carry away with her Mary Warren, though the last left the room witha reluctance that was very manifest. The pretence was a promise to meetthe divine in the library, on some business connected with theSunday-schools.
"You can keep the young man for another air, Martha," observed mygrandmother, "and I will send Jane to you, as I pass her room."
Jane was my sister's own maid, and her room was close at hand, and Idare say dear grandmother gave her the order, in Mary Warren's presence,as soon as she quitted the room, else might Mary Warren well besurprised at the singularity of the whole procedure; but Jane did notmake her appearance, nevertheless. As for myself, I continued to play aslong as I thought any ear was near enough to hear me; then I laid asidemy flute. In the next instant Patt was in my arms, where she lay sometime weeping, but looking inexpressibly happy.
"Oh! Hugh, what a disguise was this to visit your own house in!" shesaid, as soon as composed enough to speak.
"Would it have done to come here otherwise? You know the state of thecountry, and the precious fruits our boasted tree of liberty is bringingforth. The owner of the land can only visit his property at the risk ofhis life!"
Martha pressed me in her arms in a way to show how conscious she was ofthe danger I incurred in even thus visiting her; after which we seatedourselves, side by side, on a little divan, and began to speak of thosethings that were most natural to a brother and sister who so much lovedeach other, and who had not met for five years. My grandmother hadmanaged so well as to prevent all interruption for an hour, if we sawfit to remain together, while to others it should seem as if Patt haddismissed me in a few minutes.
"Not one of the other girls suspect, in the least, who you are," saidMartha, smiling, when we had got through with the questions and answersso natural to our situation. "I am surprised that Henrietta has not, for_she_ prides herself on her penetration. She is as much in the dark asthe others, however."
"And Miss Mary Warren--the young lady who has just left the room--hasshe not some _small_ notion that I am not a common Dutch music-grinder?"
Patt laughed, and that so merrily as to cause the tones of her sweetvoice to fill me with delight, as I remembered what she had been inchildhood and girlhood five years before, and she shook her brighttresses off her cheeks ere she would answer.
"No, Hugh," she replied, "she fancies you an _uncommon_ Dutchmusic-grinder; an _artiste_ that not only grinds, but who dresses up hisharmonies in such a way as to be palatable to the most refined taste.How came Mary to think you and my uncle two reduced German gentlemen?"
"And does the dear girl believe--that is, does Miss Mary Warren do us somuch honour, as to imagine that?"
"Indeed she does, for she told us as much as soon as she got home; andHenrietta and Ann have made themselves very merry with theirspeculations on the subject of Miss Warren's great incognito. They callyou Herzog von Geige."
"Thank them for that." I am afraid I answered a little too pointedly,for I saw that Patt seemed surprised. "But your American towns are justsuch half-way things as to spoil young women; making them neitherrefined and polished as they might be in real capitals, while they arenot left the simplicity and nature of the country."
"Well, Master Hugh, this is being very cross about a very little, andnot particularly complimentary to your own sister. And why not _your_American towns, as well as _ours_?--are you no longer one of us?"
"Certainly; one of _yours_, always, my dearest Patt, though not one ofevery chattering girl who may set up for a _belle_, with her Dukes ofFiddle! But, enough of this;--you like the Warrens?"
"Very much so; father and daughter. The first is just what a clergymanshould be; of a cultivation and intelligence to fit him to be any man'scompanion, and a simplicity like that of a child. You remember hispredecessor--so dissatisfied, so selfish, so lazy, so censorious, sounjust to every person and thing around him, and yet so exacting; and,at the same time, so----"
"What? Thus far you have drawn his character well; I should like to hearthe remainder."
"I have said more than I ought already; for one has an idea that, bybringing a clergyman into disrepute, it brings religion and the churchinto discredit, too. A priest must be a _very_ bad man to have injuriousthings said of him, in this country, Hugh."
"That is, perhaps, true. But you like Mr. Warren better than him who hasleft you?"
"A thousand times, and in all things. In addition to having a most piousand sincere pastor, _we_ have an agreeable and well-bred neighbour, fromwhose mouth, in the five years that he has dwelt here, I have not hearda syllable at the expense of a single fellow-creature. You know how itis apt to be with the other clergy and ours, in the country--for ever atswords' points; and if not actually quarrelling, keeping up a hollowpeace."
"That is only too true--or used to be true, before I went abroad."
"And it is so now, elsewhere, I'll answer for it, though it be so nolonger here. Mr. Warren and Mr. Peck seem to live on perfectly amicableterms, though as little alike at bottom as fire and water."
"By the way, how do the clergy of the different sects, up and down thecountry, behave on the subject of anti-rent?"
"I can answer only from what I hear, with the exception of Mr. Warren'scourse. _He_ has preached two or three plain and severe sermons on theduty of honesty in our worldly transactions, one of which was from thetenth commandment. Of course he said nothing of the particular trouble,but everybody must have made the necessary application of thehome-truths he uttered. I question if another voice has been raised, farand near, on the subject, although I have heard Mr. Warren say themovement threatens more to demoralize New York than anything that hashappened in his time."
"And the man down at the village?"
"Oh, he goes, of course, with the majority. When was one of that setever known to oppose his parish, in anything?"
"And Mary is as sound and as high-principled as her father?"
"Quite so; though there has been a good deal said about the necessity ofMr. Warren's removing, and giving up St. Andrew's, since he preachedagainst covetousness. All the anti-renters say, I hear, that they knowhe meant _them_; and that they won't put up with it."
"I dare say; each one fancying he was almost called out by name: that isthe way, when conscience works."
"I should be very, very sorry to part with Mary; and almost as much soto part with her father. There is one thing, however, that Mr. Warrenhimself thinks we had better have done, Hugh; and that is to take downthe canopy from over our pew. You can have no notion of the noise thatfoolish canopy is making up and down the country."
"I shall _not_ take it down. It is my property, and there it shallremain. As for the canopy, it was a wrong distinction to place in achurch, I am willing to allow; but it never gave offence until it hasbeen thought that a cry against it would help to rob me of my lands athalf price, or at no price at all, as it may happen."
"All that may be true; but if improper for a church, why keep it?"
"Because I do not choose to be bullied out of what is my own, eventhough I care nothing about it. There might have been a time when thecanopy was unsuited to the house of God, and that was when those who sawit might fancy it canopied the head of a fellow-creature who had higherclaims than themselves to divine favour; but, in times like these, whenmen estimate merit by beginning at the other end of the social scale,there is little danger of any one's falling into the mistake. The canopyshall stand, little as I care about it: now, I would actually prefer itshould come down, as I can fully see the impropriety of making anydistinctions in the temple; but it shall stand until concessions ceaseto be dangerous. It is a right of property, and as such I will maintainit. If others dislike it, let them put canopies over their pews, too.The best test, in such a matter, is to see who could bear it. A prettyfigure Seneca Newcome would cut, for instance, seated in a canopied pew!Even his own set would laugh at him; which, I fancy, is more than theyyet do at me."
Martha was disappointed; but she changed the subject. We next talked ofour own little private affairs, as they were connected with smallermatters.
"For whom is that beautiful chain intended, Hugh?" asked Patt,laughingly. "I can now believe the pedlar when he says it is reservedfor your future wife. But who is that wife to be? Will her name beHenrietta or Ann?"
"Why not ask, also, if it will be Mary?--why exclude one of yourcompanions, while you include the other two?"
Patt started--seemed surprised; her cheeks flushed, and then I saw thatpleasure was the feeling predominant.
"Am I too late to secure that jewel, as a pendant to my chain?" I asked,half in jest, half seriously.
"Too soon, at least, to attract it by the richness and beauty of thebauble. A more natural and disinterested girl than Mary Warren does notexist in the country."
"Be frank with me, Martha, and say at once; has she a favoured suitor?"
"Why, this seems really serious!" exclaimed my sister, laughing. "But,to put you out of your pain, I will answer, I know of but one. One shehas certainly, or female sagacity is at fault."
"But is he one that is favoured? You can never know how much depends onyour answer."
"Of that you can judge for yourself. It is 'Squire Seneky Newcome, as heis called hereabouts--the brother of the charming Opportunity, who stillreserves herself for you."
"And they are as rank anti-renters as any male and female in thecountry."
"They are rank Newcomites; and that means that each is for himself.Would you believe it, but Opportunity really gives herself airs withMary Warren!"
"And how does Mary Warren take such an assumption?"
"As a young person should--quietly and without manifesting any feeling.But there is something quite intolerable in one like OpportunityNewcome's assuming a superiority over any true lady! Mary is as welleducated and as well connected as any of us, and is quite as muchaccustomed to good company; while Opportunity--" here Patt laughed, andthen added, hurriedly, "but you know Opportunity as well as I do."
"Oh! yes; she is _la_ vertue, or _the_ virtue, and _je suis venue,pour_."
The latter allusion Patt understood well enough, having laughed over thestory a dozen times; and she laughed again when I explained the affairof "_the_ solitude."
Then came a fit of sisterly feeling. Patt insisted on taking off my wig,and seeing my face in its natural dress. I consented to gratify her,when the girl really behaved like a simpleton. First she pushed about mycurls until they were arranged to suit the silly creature, when she ranback several steps, clapped her hands in delight, then rushed into myarms and kissed my forehead and eyes, and called me "her brother"--her"only brother"--her "dear, _dear_ Hugh," and by a number of other suchepithets, until she worked herself, and me too, into such an excess offeeling that we sat down, side by side, and each had a hearty fit ofcrying. Perhaps some such burst as this was necessary to relieve ourminds, and we submitted to it wisely.
My sister wept the longest, as a matter of course; but, as soon as shehad dried her eyes, she replaced the wig, and completely restored mydisguise, trembling the whole time lest some one might enter and detectme.
"You have been very imprudent, Hugh, in coming here at all," she said,while thus busy. "You can form no notion of the miserable state of thecountry, or how far the anti-rent poison has extended, or the malignantnature of its feeling. The annoyances they have attempted with deargrandmother are odious; _you_ they would scarcely leave alive."
"The country and the people must have strangely altered, then, in fiveyears. Our New York population has hitherto had very little of theassassin-like character. Tar and feathers are the blackguards', and havebeen the petty tyrants' weapons, from time immemorial, in this country;but not the knife."
"And can anything sooner or more effectually alter a people thanlongings for the property of others? Is not the 'love of money the rootof all evil?'--and what right have we to suppose our Ravensnestpopulation is better than another, when that sordid feeling isthoroughly aroused? You know you have written me yourself, that all theAmerican can or does live for is money."
"I have written you, dear, that the country, in its present condition,leaves no other incentive to exertion, and therein it is cursed.Military fame, military rank, even, are unattainable, under our system:the arts, letters and science, bring little or no reward; and therebeing no political rank that a man of refinement would care for, menmust live for money, or live altogether for another state of being. ButI have told you, at the same time, Martha, that, notwithstanding allthis, I believe the American a less mercenary being, in the ordinarysense of the word, than the European; that two men might be bought, forinstance, in any European country, for one here. This last I suppose tobe the result of the facility of making a living, and the habits itproduces."
/> "Never mind causes; Mr. Warren says there is a desperate intention torob existing among these people, and that they are dangerous. As yetthey do a little respect women, but how long they will do that onecannot know."
"It may all be so. It _must_ be so, respecting what I have heard andread; yet this vale looks as smiling and as sweet, at this very moment,as if an evil passion never sullied it! But, depend on my prudence,which tells me that we ought now to part. I shall see you again andagain before I quit the estate, and you will, of course, join ussomewhere--at the Springs, perhaps--as soon as we find it necessary orexpedient to decamp."
Martha promised this, of course, and I kissed her, previously toseparating. No one crossed my way as I descended to the piazza, whichwas easily done, since I was literally at home. I lounged about on thelawn a few minutes, and then, showing myself in front of the librarywindows, I was summoned to the room, as I had expected.
Uncle Ro had disposed of every article of the fine jewelry that he hadbrought home as presents for his wards. The pay was a matter to bearranged with Mrs. Littlepage, which meant no pay at all; and, as thedonor afterwards told me, he liked this mode of distributing the variousornaments better than presenting them himself, as he was now certaineach girl had consulted her own fancy.
As the hour of the regular dinner was approaching, we took our leavesoon after, not without receiving kind and pressing invitations tovisit the Nest again ere we left the township. Of course we promised allthat was required, intending most faithfully to comply. On quitting thehouse we returned towards the farm, though not without pausing on thelawn to gaze around us on a scene so dear to both, from recollection,association, and interest. But I forget, this is aristocratical; thelandlord has no right to sentiments of this nature, which are feelingsthat the sublimated liberty of the law is beginning to hold in reservesolely for the benefit of the tenant!
The Redskins; or, Indian and Injin, Volume 1. Page 12
