by John Buchan
CHAPTER XIII.
I STUMBLE INTO A GREAT FOLLY.
I never breathed a word about the night's doings, nor for diversreasons did Ringan; but the story got about, and the young fools werethe laughing-stock of the place. But there was a good deal of wrath,too, that a trader should have presumed so far, and I felt that thingswere gathering to a crisis with me. Unless I was to suffer endlesslythese petty vexations, I must find a bold stroke to end them. Itannoyed me that when so many grave issues were in the balance I shouldhave these troubles, as if a man should be devoured by midges whenwaiting on a desperate combat.
The crisis came sooner than I looked for. There was to be a greathorse-racing at Middle Plantation the next Monday, which I had half amind to attend, for, though I cared nothing for the sport, it wouldgive me a chance of seeing some of our fellows from the York River. Onemorning I met Elspeth in the street of James Town, and she criedlaughingly that she looked to see me at the races. After that I had nochoice but go; so on the Monday morning I dressed myself with care,mounted my best horse, and rode to the gathering.
'Twas a pretty sight to see the spacious green meadow, now a littleyellowing with the summer heat, set in the girdle of dark and leafyforest. I counted over forty chariots which had brought the rank of thecountryside, each with its liveried servant and its complement ofoutriders. The fringe of the course blazed with ladies' finery, and atent had been set up with a wide awning from which the fashionablescould watch the sport. On the edge of the woods a multitude of horseswere picketed, and there were booths that sold food and drink,merry-go-rounds and fiddlers, and an immense concourse of everycondition of folk, black slaves and water-side Indians, squatters fromthe woods, farmers from all the valleys, and the scum and ruck of theplantations. I found some of my friends, and settled my business withthem, but my eyes were always straying to the green awning where I knewthat Elspeth sat.
I am no judge of racing, but I love the aspect of sleek, slim horses,and I could applaud a skill in which I had no share. I can keep myseat on most four-legged beasts, but my horsemanship is a clumsy,rough-and-ready affair, very different from the effortless grace of yourtrue cavalier. Mr. Grey's prowess, especially, filled me with awe. Hewould leap an ugly fence without moving an inch in his saddle, and bothin skill and the quality of his mounts he was an easy victor. The sightof such accomplishments depressed my pride, and I do not think I wouldhave ventured near the tent had it not been for the Governor.
He saw me on the fringe of the crowd, and called me to him. "Whatbashfulness has taken you to-day, sir?" he cried, "That is not likeyour usual. There are twenty pretty dames here who pine for a word fromyou."
I saw his purpose well enough. He loved to make mischief, and knew thatthe sight of me among the Virginian gentry would infuriate myunfriends. But I took him at his word and elbowed my way into theenclosure.
Then I wished to Heaven I had stayed at home. I got insolent glancesfrom the youths, and the cold shoulder from the ladies. Elspeth smiledwhen she saw me, but turned the next second to gossip with her littlecourt. She was a devout lover of horses, and had eyes for nothing butthe racing. Her cheeks were flushed, and it was pretty to watch herexcitement; how she hung breathless on the movements of the field, andclapped her hands at a brave finish. Pretty, indeed, but exasperatingto one who had no part in that pleasant company.
I stood gloomily by the rail at the edge of the ladies' awning, acutelyconscious of my loneliness. Presently Mr. Grey, whose racing was over,came to us, and had a favour pinned in his coat by Elspeth's fingers.He was evidently high in her good graces, for he sat down by her andtalked gleefully. I could not but admire his handsome eager face, andadmit with a bitter grudge that you would look long to find a comelierpair.
All this did not soothe my temper, and after an hour of it I was indesperate ill-humour with the world. I had just reached the conclusionthat I had had as much as I wanted, when I heard Elspeth's voicecalling me.
"Come hither, Mr. Garvald," she said. "We have a dispute which a thirdmust settle. I favour the cherry, and Mr. Grey fancies the blue; but Imaintain that blue crowds cherry unfairly at the corners. Use youreyes, sir, at the next turning."
I used my eyes, which are very sharp, and had no doubt of it.
"That is a matter for the Master of the Course," said Mr. Grey. "Willyou uphold your view before him, sir?"
I said that I knew too little of the sport to be of much weight as awitness. To this he said nothing, but offered to wager with me on theresult of the race, which was now all but ending. "Or no," said he, "Ishould not ask you that. A trader is careful of his guineas."
Elspeth did not hear, being intent on other things, and I merelyshrugged my shoulders, though my fingers itched for the gentleman'sears.
In a little the racing ceased, and the ladies made ready to leave.Doctor Blair appeared, protesting that the place was not for his cloth,and gave Elspeth his arm to escort her to his coach. She cried a merrygood-day to us, and reminded Mr. Grey that he had promised to sup withthem on the morrow. When she had gone I spied a lace scarf which shehad forgotten, and picked it up to restore it.
This did not please the other. He snatched it from me, and when Iproposed to follow, tripped me deftly, and sent me sprawling among thestools. As I picked myself up, I saw him running to overtake theBlairs.
This time there was no discreet girl to turn the edge of my fury. Allthe gibes and annoyances of the past months rushed into my mind, andset my head throbbing. I was angry, but very cool with it all, for Isaw that the matter had now gone too far for tolerance. Unless I wereto be the butt of Virginia, I must assert my manhood.
I nicked the dust from my coat, and walked quietly to where Mr. Greywas standing amid a knot of his friends, who talked of the races andtheir losses and gains. He saw me coming, and said something which madethem form a staring alley, down which I strolled. He kept regarding mewith bright, watchful eyes.
"I have been very patient, sir," I said, "but there is a limit to whata man may endure from a mannerless fool." And I gave him a hearty slapon the face.
Instantly there was a dead silence, in which the sound seemed to lingerintolerably. He had grown very white, and his eyes were wicked.
"I am obliged to you, sir," he said. "You are some kind of raggedgentleman, so no doubt you will give me satisfaction."
"When and where you please," I said sedately.
"Will you name your friend now?" he asked. "These matters demand quicksettlement."
To whom was I to turn? I knew nobody of the better class who would actfor me. For a moment I thought of Colonel Beverley, but his age anddignity were too great to bring him into this squabble of youth. Then anotion struck me.
"If you will send your friend to my man, John Faulkner, he will makeall arrangements. He is to be found any day in my shop."
With this defiance, I walked nonchalantly out of the dumbfounderedgroup, found my horse, and rode homewards.
My coolness did not last many minutes, and long ere I had reached JamesTown I was a prey to dark forebodings. Here was I, a peaceful trader,who desired nothing more than to live in amity with all men, involvedin a bloody strife. I had sought it, and yet it had been none of myseeking. I had graver thoughts to occupy my mind than the punctilios ofidle youth, and yet I did not see how the thing could have beenshunned. It was my hard fate to come athwart an obstacle which couldnot be circumvented, but must be broken. No friend could help me in thebusiness, not Ringan, nor the Governor, nor Colonel Beverley. It was myown affair, which I must go through with alone. I felt as solitary as apelican.
Remember, I was not fighting for any whimsy about honour, nor even forthe love of Elspeth. I had openly provoked Grey because the hostilityof the young gentry had become an intolerable nuisance in my dailylife. So, with such pedestrian reasons in my mind, I could have none ofthe heady enthusiasm of passion. I wanted him and his kind cleared outof my way, like a noisome insect, but I had no flaming hatred of him togive me heart.
T
he consequence was that I became a prey to dismal fear. That braverywhich knows no ebb was never mine. Indeed, I am by nature timorous, formy fancy is quick, and I see with horrid clearness the incidents of aperil. Only a shamefaced conscience holds me true, so that, though Ihave often done temerarious deeds, it has always been because I fearedshame more than the risk, and my knees have ever been knocking togetherand my lips dry with fright. I tried to think soberly over the future,but could get no conclusion save that I would not do murder. Myconscience was pretty bad about the whole business. I was engaged inthe kind of silly conflict which I had been bred to abhor; I had noneof the common gentleman's notions about honour; and I knew that if byany miracle I slew Grey I should be guilty in my own eyes of murder. Iwould not risk the guilt. If God had determined that I should perishbefore my time, then perish I must.
This despair brought me a miserable kind of comfort. When I reachedhome I went straight to Faulkner.
"I have quarrelled to-day with a gentleman, John, and have promised himsatisfaction. You must act for me in the affair. Some one will come tosee you this evening, and the meeting had better be at dawn to-morrow."
He opened his eyes very wide. "Who is it, then?" he asked.
"Mr. Charles Grey of Grey's Hundred," I replied.
This made him whistle low, "He's a fine swordsman," he said. "I neverheard there was any better in the dominion. You'll be to fight withswords?"
I thought hard for a minute. I was the challenged, and so had thechoice of weapons. "No," said I, "you are to appoint pistols, for it ismy right."
At this Faulkner slowly grinned. "It's a new weapon for these affairs.What if they'll not accept? But it's no business of mine, and I'llremember your wishes." And the strange fellow turned again to hisaccounts.
I spent the evening looking over my papers and making variousappointments in case I did not survive the morrow. Happily the work Ihad undertaken for Lawrence was all but finished, and of my ordinarybusiness Faulkner knew as much as myself. I wrote a letter to UncleAndrew, telling him frankly the situation, that he might know howlittle choice I had. It was a cold-blooded job making thesedispositions, and I hope never to have the like to do again. PresentlyI heard voices outside, and Faulkner came to the door with Mr. GeorgeMason, the younger, of Thornby, who passed for the chief buck inVirginia. He gave me a cold bow.
"I have settled everything with this gentleman, but I would beg of you,sir, to reconsider your choice of arms. My friend will doubtless beready enough to humour you, but you have picked a barbarous weapon forChristian use."
"It's my only means of defence," I said.
"Then you stick to your decision?"
"Assuredly," said I, and, with a shrug of the shoulders, he departed.
I did not attempt to sleep. Faulkner told me that we were to meet thenext morning half an hour after sunrise at a place in the forest a miledistant. Each man was to fire one shot, but two pistols were allowed incase of a misfire. All that night by the light of a lamp I got myweapons ready. I summoned to my recollection all the knowledge I hadacquired, and made sure that nothing should be lacking so far as humanskill would go. I had another pistol besides the one I called"Elspeth," also made in Glasgow, but a thought longer in the barrel.For this occasion I neglected cartouches, and loaded in the old way. Itested my bullets time and again, and weighed out the powder as if ithad been gold dust. It was short range, so I made my charges small. Itried my old device of wrapping each bullet in soft wool smeared withbeeswax. All this passed the midnight hours, and then I lay down for alittle rest, but not for sleep.
I was glad when Faulkner summoned me half an hour before sunrise. Iremember that I bathed head and shoulders in cold water, and verycarefully dressed myself in my best clothes. My pistols lay in the boxwhich Faulkner carried. I drank a glass of wine, and as we left I tooka long look at the place I had created, and the river now lit with thefirst shafts of morning. I wondered incuriously if I should ever see itagain.
My tremors had all gone by now, and I was in a mood of cold,thoughtless despair. The earth had never looked so bright as we rodethrough the green aisles all filled with the happy song of birds. Oftenon such a morning I had started on a journey, with my heart gratefulfor the goodness of the world. Could I but keep the road, I should comein time to the swampy bank of the York; and then would follow thechestnut forest: and the wide marshes towards the Rappahannock; andeverywhere I should meet friendly human faces, and then at night Ishould eat a hunter's meal below the stars. But that was all past, andI was moving towards death in a foolish strife in which I had no heart,and where I could find no honour, I think I laughed aloud at myexceeding folly.
We turned from the path into an alley which led to an open space on theedge of a derelict clearing. There, to my surprise, I found aconsiderable company assembled. Grey was there with his second, and adozen or more of his companions stood back in the shadow of the trees.The young blood of Virginia had come out to see the trader punished.
During the few minutes while the seconds were busy pacing the courseand arranging for the signal, I had no cognizance of the world aroundme. I stood with abstracted eyes watching a grey squirrel in one of thebranches, and trying to recall a line I had forgotten in a song. Thereseemed to be two Andrew Garvalds that morning, one filled with animmense careless peace, and the other a weak creature who had lived solong ago as to be forgotten. I started when Faulkner came to place me,and followed him without a word. But as I stood up and saw Grey twentypaces off, turning up his wristbands and tossing his coat to a friend,I realized the business I had come on. A great flood of light wasrolling down the forest aisles, but it was so clear and pure that itdid not dazzle. I remember thinking in that moment how intolerable hadbecome the singing of birds.
I deadened my heart to memories, took my courage in both hands, andforced myself to the ordeal. For it is an ordeal to face powder if youhave not a dreg of passion in you, and are resolved to make no return.I am left-handed, and so, in fronting my opponent, I exposed my heart.If Grey were the marksman I thought him, now was his chance forrevenge.
My wits were calm now, and my senses very clear. I heard a man sayslowly that he would count three and then drop his kerchief, and at thedropping we should fire. Our eyes were on him as he lifted his hand andslowly began,--"One--two--"
Then I looked away, for the signal mattered nothing to me. I suddenlycaught Grey's eyes, and something whistled past my ear, cutting thelobe and shearing off a lock of hair. I did not heed it. What filled mymind was the sight of my enemy, very white and drawn in the face,holding a smoking pistol and staring at me.
I emptied my pistol among the tree-tops.
No one moved. Grey continued to stare, leaning a little forward, withhis lips working.
Then I took from Faulkner my second pistol. My voice came out of mythroat, funnily cracked as if from long disuse.
"Mr. Grey," I cried, "I would not have you think that I cannot shoot."
Forty yards from me on the edge of the covert a turkey stood, with itsfoolish, inquisitive head. The sound of the shots had brought the birdout to see what was going on. It stood motionless, blinking its eyes,the very mark I desired.
I pointed to it with my right hand, flung forward my pistol, and fired.It rolled over as dead as stone, and Faulkner walked to pick it up. Heput back my pistols in the box, and we turned to seek the horses....
Then Grey came up to me. His mouth was hard-set, but the lines were notof pride. I saw that he too had been desperately afraid, and I rejoicedthat others beside me had been at breaking-point.
"Our quarrel is at an end, sir?" he said, and his voice was hesitating.
"Why, yes," I said. "It was never my seeking, though I gave theoffence."
"I have behaved like a cub, sir," and he spoke loud, so that all couldhear. "You have taught me a lesson in gentility. Will you give me yourhand?"
I could find no words, and dumbly held out my right hand.
"Nay, sir," he said, "the other, the one that h
eld the trigger. I countit a privilege to hold the hand of a brave man."
I had been tried too hard, and was all but proving my bravery byweeping like a bairn.
