CHAPTER XXXI.
In the spring, a little before the fall of Boston, Doctor John camehome. Second Westings learned then for the first time what he had sostudiously and considerately kept concealed,--the fact that he had beenwounded in a skirmish two months before. As soon as he was well enoughfor the journey, he had been ordered home. He looked gaunt, and walkedwith some difficulty, but otherwise seemed fairly well; and he madehaste to take back his old patients, with many expressions of amazementthat they had not died off under Jim Pigeon's treatment.
His coming brought new cheer to Westings House; and to Barbara,reassured by his explicit accounts of her uncle's abounding health, itmeant such stimulus and diversion as was to be had of endless,sympathetic talks. The little group of four were as close to oneanother as of old,--yet with a difference. The love and trust were asof old, but the dividing of hopes and aims threw Barbara more and morewith Doctor John, Mistress Mehitable more and more with Doctor Jim.This seemed perfectly natural,--yet it soon began to cause a certainheaviness on Doctor John's part, which made his whimsical sallies growinfrequent. It caused, at the same time, a certain uneasiness on thepart of Doctor Jim; and Mistress Mehitable was seen more than once withtears in her eyes, when, as it seemed to Barbara, there was no verydefinite reason for the phenomenon. And all these symptoms troubledBarbara. She grew more than commonly tender of Doctor John.
One day when she and Doctor John and Doctor Jim had strolled down tothe tavern to see the Hartford coach come in, they found a knot ofeager listeners gathered about two horsemen who were drinking a pot ofale. As the little party approached, its members were pointed out, andthe horsemen turned to look at them with sharp interest. The two camefrom up the river, in the next county, and were on their way to jointhe Connecticut battalions under Putnam. They were bitter partisans,and one of them had lost a brother in the fighting at Quebec. To themit was of little account that Doctor John was a good rebel,--such, intheir eyes, all good men were bound to be. And they did not appreciatethe fact that he was an officer in the army they were about to join.What they saw was simply Doctor Jim, the declared Tory, shameless andunafraid. They eyed him with growing menace, uncertain, by reason ofthe fact that he was walking between Barbara and Doctor John, just whatthey wanted to do.
Presently Doctor Jim swung away by himself to speak to a lad whosemother he was treating. He was giving some little order, when the twohorsemen, riding up to him, thrust him against the icy watering-troughso unexpectedly that he fell over it. Bewildered, and notunderstanding that he had been deliberately attacked, he was pickinghimself up in a sputter of vexation, when one of the riders, afierce-eyed, burly fanatic, reached over the trough and cut at himviciously with his riding-whip, exclaiming, "Take that, you damned Torydog!"
The blow missed Doctor Jim's head, but fell smartly across hisshoulders. The next moment a great hand seized the rider, tore himfrom his seat, jammed him furiously against his horse's rump, anddashed him down upon the dirty snow. Then Doctor John turned to deallikewise with the second culprit. But he had forgotten his wound. Hegrew white, reeled, and would have fallen, but that two of the SecondWestings men sprang to his aid and held him up.
When the stroke of the whip fell on his shoulders, Doctor Jim hadunderstood. With one of his wordless explosive roars he had sprungright over the trough to take Homeric vengeance. But when he sawDoctor John he forgot all about vengeance, he forgot all about theattack.
"What is it, John?" he cried, picking him up as if the huge frame werea feather, and carrying him to the settee outside the inn door.
"Nothing, Jim, nothing! The old wound, you know, and the heart not yetjust right," muttered Doctor John, recovering quickly, but leaning onhis brother's shoulder. Barbara, meanwhile, had run to fetch brandy,which she now brought, along with the landlord.
The two horsemen had had their wrath for the moment diverted by thesudden turn of events. But now--the fellow who had been so mauled inDoctor John's grip having remounted, bursting with rage--they thoughtit time to return to the attack, and made an effort to push through thelittle crowd. Failing in this, they cursed Doctor Jim with variedvigour, and told him what they intended to do when they could get athim. In their righteous wrath they failed to notice that they were notmaking themselves popular with the crowd. Neither Doctor Jim norBarbara paid the slightest attention to their curses, not seeming tohear them; but Doctor John attended.
"Lads!" he said, lifting his head with difficulty. "Lads of SecondWestings! Shall we let these insolent scoundrels talk to us that way?"
"No, sir! No, sir! No, sir!" shouted a dozen voices,--whereuponBarbara turned and beamed upon them unutterable favour. The landlord,with several other stout fellows, seized the strangers' bridles andforced the horses back toward the road.
"Ye'd better be gettin' on!" admonished mine host, grinning butdecisive. "Ye don't rightly understand us here, I calculate! Betterget on now, for convenience!"
The horsemen seemed to have forgotten their wrath in their astonishment.
"Are you all Tories, too?" they found voice to demand.
"We're as good patriots as ever you be!" rejoined mine host, crisply."But if we've got any Tories among us they're our own, and we'll seeabout 'em ourselves, our own way. Now clear out!" And he hit the nighhorse a smart slap on the rump, making him bound forward.
By this time the leader and spokesman of the twain had recovered hisfull head of anger. He had no quixotic notion of undertaking todiscipline Second Westings village. But he conceived a very clearpurpose. Reining his excited horse down violently, he shook his fistat the crowd, and shouted:
"If you choose to harbour a dirty Tory, there be men and patriots inthe other townships who'll come right soon an' teach you yer duty!"
"Oh, you clear out!" jeered the Second Westings men.
That evening, at Westings House, while the beginnings of a bleak Marchwind storm blustered and whimpered outside, Mistress Mehitable brewed ahot posset of uncommonly cheering quality. The cheer was needed; forall felt that a crisis of some sort, or some grave change, was at hand.Doctor John, who had quite recovered, tried in vain to make his foolingsound spontaneous. The grave eyes of Destiny would persist in lookingout through the jester's-mask. At length Doctor Jim exclaimed,abruptly:
"I must go, now! I must take Amos and slip away in the night, and gowherever men are gathering to fight for the king. I'm not needed herenow, John, since you are back to take care of Mehitable and Barbara!"
It was what all had been waiting for, but it came with a shock--theshock of conviction, not of surprise--to all. Mistress Mehitableturned ghost pale, and unconsciously her hand went to her heart.Doctor John noticed the action, with sad eyes that belied the humour ofhis mouth. Barbara sprang up, rushed over to Doctor Jim, and flung herarms around his neck.
"_Please_ don't go, Doctor Jim!" she pleaded. "This is the place foryou. And here we all love you so we don't care _what_ side you're on.And as for going to fight for your side,--of course, you want to, weall know that,--but you _never_ can get through to the coast. You cannever get through our people. No, you can't, Doctor Jim! You muststay here with us. Help me hold him, Aunt Hitty!"
"Jim," said Doctor John, his voice trembling with earnestness, "Iappeal to you to stay. Don't break our hearts by going. Stay for oursakes. I know, brother, how you feel,--and believing as you do, Idon't blame you,--I'll never blame you. But _Barbara is right_. _Youcan't get through_. You can stay with a clear conscience!"
Mistress Mehitable, since becoming assured of the attitude of theSecond Westings men, had lost all her dread of having him stay, andgained a quivering fear of having him go. Forgetful of all else, shenow laid her slim hand on his, looked at him with her whole soul in hereyes, and said:
"_Must_ you? Oh, Jim, are you so sure you ought to go?"
A faint spasm passed over Doctor John's face--Barbara alone observingit--and seemed to leave it older and sterner. He opened his mouth tospeak,
but Doctor Jim was ahead of him.
"Yes, I know my duty. If a man sees it, he's got to do it,--eh, what,dearest lady in the world? I wish I didn't see it so plain. Then Imight stay here with you all, you whom I love. But I see my duty, tofight for the king, just as plain as you saw yours, John, to fight foryour damned old Congress!"
"I'm not going to fight any more!" interrupted Doctor John, speciously.
Doctor Jim laughed, tenderly derisive.
"No, but you're sending, and equipping, and supporting two able-bodiedsubstitutes, aren't you? But another point is, my Barbara,--by stayingI should bring disaster on you all. The good folk of SecondWestings--and they _are_ good folk, though rebels, alas!--will neverstand by and see the Ladds and Pigeons, whatever their views, molestedby an outside world. When your fiery patriots from up the river cometo ride me on a rail, Second Westings will stand in the way and get itshonest head broken. _You_ wouldn't do it, John Pigeon! You'd cut offyour head, before you'd let the poor souls get their heads broken foryou in a cause that they believe all wrong. I'd be a coward to letthem, John. Would you ask me to be a coward?"
"Wouldn't be much use asking," growled Doctor John. "But you're allwrong, as usual, Jim!" Then he turned suddenly to Mistress Mehitable,with a meaning look.
"You speak, Mehitable! You _make_ him stay. Demand it of him--as yourright! Keep him!"
Doctor Jim searched his brother's face, first with terrible question,then with the growing light of a great joy. Barbara watchedbreathless, forgetful of the fate of dynasties. Here, she felt, wereproblems that had held long lives in doubt, now working to instantsolution. Mistress Mehitable turned scarlet, and she, too, questionedthe sombre, tender eyes of Doctor John. But she said, quite simply:
"I'm afraid, John, if he thinks he ought to go he'll go. But I do askyou to stay, Jim."
"_Don't_, Mehitable!" groaned Doctor Jim.
"There, what did I tell you, John?" she said.
But now certain things, uncertain all his life till now, were quiteclear to Doctor John. Slowly, as if it hurt him, he got up. He wentover to where Mehitable was sitting, quite close to Doctor Jim. Helaid a hand on each, caressingly,--and to Mehitable that touch,suddenly grown bold and firm, was a renunciation. He had never touchedher that way before.
"It is all right, Jim! It is all right, Mehitable!" said he, in a verylow but quite steady voice. "I never was sure till now,--but I oughtto have understood,--for I see now it was always _yours_, Jim. Forgiveme, brother. I ought not to have stood in the way."
"John!" cried Doctor Jim, catching the caressing hand in a ferventclasp. "God bless you! But--on my honour I have never said a word!"
"I know, Jim, I know. We've always played fair to each other. But nowyou can speak. And now,--you don't need to speak, either of you. Yourfaces speak plain enough, to the eyes of one who loves you both!"
"Is it true, Mehitable? After all these years that I've keptsilence,--oh, is it true?" asked Doctor Jim, scarcely above a whisper,reaching out his hands to her longingly.
For one instant she laid hers in his. Then she withdrew them quickly,seized Doctor John's hand in both of hers, laid her cheek against it,and burst into tears.
"Oh, John, dear John," she sobbed. "How can I bear that you should beunhappy?"
Doctor John blinked, and made a little noise in his throat. Then, witha brave levity, he exclaimed:
"Tut! Tut! Don't you worry about me, either of you, now. As for you,Jim Pigeon, you Tory scoundrel, I'm getting the best of you, after all.For I stay right here and take care of her, Lord knows how long, whileyou go off, Lord knows where, and get yourself poked full of holes foryour old King George-- Eh, what, baggage? as Jim would say!" And heturned unexpectedly toward Barbara, who had been standing by thewindow, and peering diligently out into the blackness for the past tenminutes,--and surreptitiously wiping her eyes as well as her nose.
"Yes, indeed you _do_ get the best of the bargain," she cheerfully andmendaciously agreed.
Two days later, in the dark before moonrise, Doctor Jim and Amosslipped away on horseback by the road to Westings Landing. And DoctorJohn went with them as far as the Landing, to put them into trustyhands for their night voyage down the river.
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