Delusion; or, The Witch of New England
Page 19
CHAPTER XIX.
"See, they are gone!-- The earth has bubbles, as the waters have, And these are some of them. They vanished Into the air, and what seemed corporal, Melted as breath into the wind."
SHAKSPEARE.
When Edith was alone, she felt that weakness and exhaustion of the bodythat all the painful excitements of the day had produced. She threwherself on the bed, and Dinah was soon at her side.
"Sing me one of the hymns you used to sing in my happy childhood;perhaps I may sleep."
Dinah sat by the side of the bed, and Edith laid her head on the breastof her faithful friend, while she began in a tremulous, low tone, thatbecame stronger and clearer as the holy fervor of the hymn inspired her.
Edith lay motionless, but between her closed eyelids the large tearsforced themselves, and fell slowly down her cheeks. At length, like atired infant, she slept.
Dinah laid her head gently on the pillow; with the tenderest hand, wipedaway the tears; drew the covering over her; with noiseless step excludedthe light, and then sat down to watch by her.
It was the bitterest hour poor Dinah had ever passed. She tried to pray,but she found submission impossible. She had had many trials. She hadbeen torn from her native land, chained in a slave ship, exposed forsale in the slave market; but since she had been a Christian, she hadblessed her various trials. Now her faith in God seemed entirely tofail.
She took, as she had often done to comfort her, the cool, soft hand ofher mistress in hers. It was now burning hot, and her own tears, as theyfell, seemed to scald her.
But just at that moment a thought darted into her mind, and she hasoften said that it was a direct inspiration from God. "I will save her!"was the thought. The blood rushed to her head and face, and thenretreated again to the heart; she trembled, and, for the first time inher life, the poor African was near fainting. She fell on her knees:"Yes, God help me, I will save her." The operations of the mind at suchmoments are rapid as lightning; and, in a few moments, her plan wasarranged.
When Edith awoke and saw the change a few moments had wrought in Dinah'sappearance, the light that shone in her eye, and her cheek "flushedthrough its olive hue," she feared, for an instant, that great anxietyand grief had shaken her reason.
"My poor Dinah," she said, taking her hand in hers, "you are ill; youare feverish; you have been too long shut up in this dismal room withme. Go out, I pray you, and take the cool evening air, and I will try tosleep again."
It was what Dinah wished, for she desired to consult Paul; but shebusied herself with all those little nameless attentions that love alonecan devise. As she was folding her mistress's hair for the night, Edithsaid, "Dinah, I can escape this dreadful death that awaits me."
"O, my dear mistress, how?" said Dinah, her whole face quivering withemotion.
"With a lie! by confessing that I have tormented that poor child, andthat I am myself possessed by evil spirits."
Dinah drooped again. "You could not do that," she said; "no, you couldnot dishonor yourself with a falsehood: but if you could escape withoutviolating your conscience, would you not?"
"Certainly," answered Edith: "if God were to place the means of escapewithin my reach, I would make use of them, as I would use the means torecover from a fever. I should violate no law, for the proceedingsagainst me were unjust, and the testimony false. I could not yield toSeymore's desire that I should escape, because his was one of the voicesthat condemned me, and he could open my prison door, if at all, only byan open and honorable confession of his error."
Dinah trembled with joy at hearing Edith speak thus of her willingnessto escape, could it be effected with truth; but she would not hint ather hopes till she had arranged her plan with the assistance of Paul.
After a pause, Edith said, "Alas, there is no hope of escape: and why doyou fold my hair so carefully? it will never delight your eyes more."
Dinah answered, "Never despair: I see a light behind the cloud: themorning is breaking."
Dinah consulted Paul, and the plan they concerted together was notdifficult to execute. Edith, after long entreaty, yielded to theaffectionate creature, and the more readily, as she knew Dinah was sogreat and universal a favorite in the village that no evil could befallher.
After having her complexion darkened with an herb which Dinah hadprepared, Edith exchanged clothes with her humble friend; and at nightDinah remained in the prison, while, with infinite precaution, sheeluded the observation of the one person who had been placed at the doorto guard her. Paul was secreted without, and the trembling Edith,without being observed, found shelter and concealment in the ruined hutof Phoebe's grandmother.
Paul, as I have said before, was an excellent boatman. Soon as the firststreak of dawning light appeared, secretly and in silence, he dipped hisoar into the water.
The beautiful morning star shone alone in the sky, and as the shoremelted away, Edith strained her eyes to catch the outline of her happyhome, and the little mound where her parents reposed.
They reached a place of safety, and Edith was soon made happy by hearingof the safety of her affectionate and humble friend.
It is well known that this fearful delusion of our country ceased assuddenly as it had risen. Edith was one of the last of the accused. Whenit was discovered that she had escaped, no inquiries were made, and noregret expressed. "The curtain had fallen, and a close was put to one ofthe most tremendous tragedies of real life. The wildest storm, perhaps,that ever raged in the moral world, instantly became a calm. The tidethat had threatened to overwhelm every thing in its fury sank back, in amoment, to its peaceful bed."
What could have been Seymore's emotions when the cloud had vanished, andhe stood in the clear sunshine of reason? Happy he was indeed,inexpressibly happy, that his beloved Edith had escaped the mostdreadful consequences of this mad delusion.
Whether their union ever took place, I must leave to the imagination ofmy readers. The young who have never had their hearts stirred with adeeper love than that for a pet lamb, or a canary bird, will reject thethought as impossible. The old, if any who have passed the age ofthoughtless amusement should condescend to read these pages, perhapswill judge otherwise. Having learned from that severe teacher,experience, how prone we are to err, and how often we need forgivenessfrom each other, as well as from Heaven; having found, also, that thejewel of true love, though sullied by error, and sometimes mixed withbaser stones, yet, like the diamond, can never lose its value,--theywill cherish the belief that Seymore found, in the devoted affection ofEdith, a balm for his wounded spirit, and an unfailing strength for theduties and trials of life.
THE END.