CHAPTER XXI.
She was an only child--her name Ginevra, The joy, the pride of an indulgent father; And in her fifteenth year became a bride, Marrying an only son, Francesco Dona, Her playmate from her birth, and her first love. --ROGERS.
During the hunt there was little leisure for reflection on theseemingly extraordinary manner in which the bee-hunter had pointed outthe spot where the bears were to be found. No one of the Indians hadseen him apply the glass to his eye, for, leading the party, he had beenable to do this unobserved; but, had they witnessed such a procedure,it would have been as inexplicable as all the rest. It is true,Crowsfeather and one or two of his companions had taken a lookthrough that medicine-glass, but it rather contributed to increasethe conjuror's renown, than served to explain any of the marvels heperformed.
Peter was most struck with all that had just occurred. He had oftenheard of the skill of those who hunted bees, and had several times metwith individuals who practised the art, but this was the first occasionon which he had ever been a witness, in his own person, of the exerciseof a craft so wonderful! Had the process been simply that of catching abee, filling it with honey, letting it go, and then following it to itshive, it would have been so simple as to require no explanation. ButPeter was too intelligent, as well as too observant, not to have seenthat a great deal more than this was necessary. On the supposition thatthe bee flew TOWARD the forest, as had been the fact with two of thebees taken that morning, in what part of that forest was the hunter tolook for the bee-tree? It was the angle that perplexed Peter, as it didall the Indians; for that angle, to be understood, required a degreeof knowledge and calculation that entirely exceeded all he had everacquired. Thus is it with us ever. The powers, and faculties, andprinciples that are necessary fully to comprehend all that we seeand all that surrounds us, exist and have been bestowed on man by hisbeneficent Creator. Still, it is only by slow degrees that he is tobecome their master, acquiring knowledge, step by step, as he has needof its services, and learns how to use it. Such seems to be the designof Providence, which is gradually opening to our inquiries the arcana ofnature, in order that we may convert their possession into such uses aswill advance its own wise intentions. Happy are they who feel this truthin their character of individuals! Thrice happy the nations which canbe made to understand, that the surest progress is that which is madeon the clearest principles, and with the greatest caution! The notion ofsetting up anything new in morals, is as fallacious in theory as it willbe found to be dangerous in practice.
It has been said that a sudden change had come over the fierce purposesof Peter. For some time, the nature, artlessness, truth, feminineplayfulness and kindness, not to say personal beauty of Margery, hadbeen gradually softening the heart of this stern savage, as it respectedthe girl herself. Nothing of a weak nature was blended with thisfeeling, which was purely the growth of that divine principle that isimplanted in us all. The quiet, earnest manner in which the girlhad, that day, protested her desire to see the rights of the red manrespected, completed her conquest; and, so far as the great chief wasconcerned, secured her safety. It may seem singular, however, thatPeter, with all his influence, was unable to say that even one that hewas so much disposed to favor, should be spared. By means of his owneloquence, and perseverance, and deep desire for vengeance, however, hehad aroused a spirit among his followers that was not so easily quelled.On several occasions, he had found it difficult to prevent the youngerand more impetuous of the chiefs from proceeding at once to secure thescalps of those who were in their power; and this he had done, onlyby promising to increase the number of the victims. How was he thento lessen that number? and that, too, when circumstances did not seemlikely to throw any more immediately into his power, as he had oncehoped. This council must soon be over, and it would not be in his powerto send the chiefs away without enumerating the scalps of the pale-facespresent among those which were to make up the sum of their race.
Taking the perplexity produced by the bee-hunter's necromancy, andadding it to his concern for Margery, Peter found ample subject forall his reflections. While the young men were dressing their bears, andmaking the preparations for a feast, he walked apart, like a man whosethoughts had little in common with the surrounding scene. Even thefurther proceedings of le Bourdon, who had discovered his bee-tree, hadfelled it, and was then distributing the honey among the Indians, couldnot draw him from his meditations. The great council of all was to beheld that very day--there, on Prairie Round--and it was imperative onPeter to settle the policy he intended to pursue, previously to thehour when the fire was to be lighted, and the chiefs met in finalconsultation.
In the mean time, le Bourdon, by his distribution of the honey, no lessthan by the manner in which he had found it, was winning golden opinionsof those who shared in his bounty. One would think that the idea ofproperty is implanted in us by nature, since men in all conditionsappear to entertain strong and distinct notions of this right. Naturalit may not be, in the true signification of the term; but it is aright so interwoven with those that are derived from nature, andmore particularly with our wants, as almost to identify it with theindividual being. It is certain that all we have of civilization isdependent on a just protection of this right; for, without the assuranceof enjoying his earnings, who would produce beyond the supply necessaryfor his own immediate wants? Among the American savages the rights ofproperty are distinctly recognized, so far as their habits and resourcesextend. The hunting-ground belongs to the tribe, and occasionally thefield; but the wigwam, and the arms, and the skins, both for use andfor market, and often the horses, and all other movables, belong to theindividual. So sacred is this right held to be, that not one of thosewho stood by, and saw le Bourdon fell his tree, and who witnessed theoperation of bringing to light its stores of honey, appeared to dream ofmeddling with the delicious store, until invited so to do by its lawfulowner. It was this reserve, and this respect for a recognized principle,that enabled the bee-hunter to purchase a great deal of popularity,by giving away liberally an article so much prized. None, indeed, wasreserved; Boden seeing the impossibility of carrying it away. Happywould he have been, most happy, could he have felt the assurance ofbeing able to get Margery off, without giving a second thought to any ofhis effects, whether present or absent.
As has been intimated, the bee-hunter was fast rising in the favor ofthe warriors; particularly of those who had a weakness on the score ofthe stomach. This is the first great avenue to the favor of man--thebelly ruling all the other members, the brains included. All this Peternoted, and was now glad to perceive; for, in addition to the favor thatMargery had found in his eyes, that wary chief had certain very seriousmisgivings on the subject of the prudence of attempting to deal harshlywith a medicine man of Boden's calibre. Touching the whiskey-spring hehad been doubtful, from the first; even Crowsfeather's account ofthe wonderful glass through which that chief had looked, and seenmen reduced to children and then converted into giants, had failed toconquer his scepticism; but he was not altogether proof against what hehad that day beheld with his own eyes. These marvels shook his previousopinion touching the other matters; and, altogether, the effect was toelevate the bee-hunter to a height, that it really appeared dangerous toassail.
While Peter was thus shaken with doubts--and that, too, on a point onwhich he had hitherto stood as firm as a rock--there was another in thecrowd, who noted the growing favor of le Bourdon with deep disgust.This man could hardly be termed a chief, though he possessed a malignantpower that was often wielded to the discomfiture of those who were. Hewent by the significant appellation of "The Weasel," a sobriquet thathad been bestowed on him for some supposed resemblance to the littlepilfering, prowling quadruped after which he was thus named. In person,and in physical qualities generally, this individual was mean andill-favored; and squalid habits contributed to render him even lessattractive than he might otherwise have been. He was, moreover,particularly
addicted to intemperance; lying, wallowing like a hog,for days at a time, whenever his tribe received any of the amplecontribution of fire-water, which it was then more the custom than it isto-day, to send among the aborigines. A warrior of no renown, a hunterso indifferent as to compel his squaw and pappooses often to beg forfood in strange lodges, of mean presence, and a drunkard, it may seemextraordinary that the Weasel should possess any influence amid so manychiefs renowned for courage, wisdom, deeds in arms, on the hunt, and forservices around the council-fire. It was all due to his tongue. Ungque,or the Weasel, was eloquent in a high degree--possessing that variety ofhis art which most addresses itself to the passions; and, strange asit may seem, men are oftener and more easily led by those who do littleelse than promise, than by those who actually perform. A lying andfluent tongue becomes a power of itself, with the masses; subvertingreason, looking down justice, brow-beating truth, and otherwise placingthe wrong before the right. This quality the Weasel possessed in ahigh degree, and was ever willing to use, on occasions that seemed mostlikely to defeat the wishes of those he hated. Among the last was Peter,whose known ascendancy in his own particular tribe had been a sourceof great envy and uneasiness to this Indian. He had struggled hard toresist it, and had even dared to speak in favor of the pale-faces,and in opposition to the plan of cutting them all off, purely with adisposition to oppose this mysterious stranger. It had been in vain,however; the current running the other way, and the fiery eloquence ofPeter proving too strong even for him. Now, to his surprise, from a fewwords dropped casually, this man ascertained that their greatest leaderwas disposed so far to relent, as not to destroy ALL the pale-faces inhis power. Whom, and how many he meant to spare, Ungque could not tell;but his quick, practised discernment detected the general disposition,and his ruthless tendency to oppose, caused him to cast about for themeans of resisting this sudden inclination to show mercy. With theWeasel, the moving principle was ever that of the demagogue; it was toflatter the mass that he might lead it; and he had an innate hostilityto whatever was frank, manly, and noble.
The time had now come when the Indians wished to be alone. At thiscouncil it was their intention to come to an important decision;and even the "young men," unless chiefs, were to be merely distantspectators. Peter sent for le Bourdon, accordingly, and communicated hiswish that all the whites would return to the castle, whither he promisedto join them about the setting of the sun, or early the succeeding day.
"One of you, you know--dat my wigwam," said the grim chief, smiling onMargery with a friendly eye, and shaking hands with the bee-hunter, whothought his manner less constrained than on former similar occasions."Get good supper for ole Injin, young squaw; dat juss what squaw goodfor."
Margery laughingly promised to remember his injunction, and went herway, closely attended by her lover. The corporal followed, armed to theteeth, and keeping at just such a distance from the young people,as might enable them to converse without being overheard. As for themissionary, he was detained a moment by Peter, the others moving slowly,in order to permit him to come up, ere they had gone their first mile.Of course, the mysterious chief had not detained Parson Amen without amotive.
"My brother has told me many curious things," said Peter, whenalone with the missionary, and speaking now in the language of theOjebways--"many very curious things. I like to listen to them. Once hetold me how the pale-face young men take their squaws."
"I remember to have told you this. We ask the Great Spirit to bless ourmarriages, and the ceremony is commonly performed by a priest. This isour practice, Peter; though not necessary, I think it good."
"Yes; good alway for pale-face to do pale-face fashion, and for Injinto do Injin fashion. Don't want medicine-man to get red-skin squaw. Openwigwam door, and she come in. Dat 'nough. If she don't wish to comein, can't make her. Squaw go to warrior she likes; warrior ask squawhe likes. But it is best for pale-face to take his wife in pale-facefashion. Does not my brother see a young man of his people, and a youngmaiden, that he had better bring together and bless?"
"You must mean Bourdon and Margery," answered the missionary, inEnglish, after a moment's reflection. "The idea is a new one to me;for my mind has been much occuoccupied of late, with other and moreimportant matters; though I now plainly see what you mean!"
"That flower of the Openings would soon fade, if the young bee-huntershould leave it alone on the prairies. This is the will of the GreatSpirit. He puts it into the minds of the young squaws to see all thingswell that the hunters of their fancy do. Why he has made the young withthis kindness for each other, perhaps my brother knows. He is wise, andhas books. The poor Injins have none. They can see only with the eyesthey got from Injins, like themselves. But one thing they know. What theGreat Spirit has commanded, is good. Injins can't make it any better.They can do it harm, but they can do it no good. Let my brother blessthe couple that the Manitou has brought together."
"I believe I understand you. Peter, and will think of this. And now thatI must leave you for a little while, let me beg you to think of thismatter of the origin of your tribes, candidly, and with care. Everythingdepends on your people's not mistaking the truth, in this great matter.It is as necessary for a nation to know its duties, as for a single man.Promise me to think of this, Peter."
"My brother's words have come into my ears--they are good," returnedthe Indian, courteously. "We will think of them at the council, if mybrother will bless his young man and young maiden, according to the lawof his people."
"I will promise to do this, Peter; or to urge Bourdon and Margery to doit, if you will promise to speak to-day, in council, of the history ofyour forefathers, and to take into consideration, once more, the greatquestion of your being Hebrews."
"I will speak as my brother wishes--let him do as I wish. Let him tellme that I can say to the chiefs before the sun has fallen the lengthof my arm, that the young pale-face bee-hunter has taken the youngpale-face squaw into his wigwam."
"I do not understand your motive, Peter; but that which you ask is wise,and according to God's laws, and it shall be done. Fare you well, then,for a season. When we again meet, Bourdon and Margery shall be one, ifmy persuasions can prevail, and you will have pressed this matter of thelost tribes, again, home to your people. Fare you well, Peter; fare youwell."
They separated; the Indian with a cold smile of courtesy, but with hisruthless intentions as respected the missionary in no degree changed.Boden and Margery alone were exempt from vengeance, according to hispresent designs. An unaccountable gentleness of feeling governed him, asconnected with the girl; while superstition, and the dread of an unknownpower, had its full influence on his determination to spare her lover.There might be some faint ray of human feeling glimmering among thefierce fires that so steadily burned in the breast of this savage; butthey were so much eclipsed by the brighter light that gleamed aroundthem, as to be barely perceptible, even to himself. The result of allthese passions was, a determination in Peter to spare those whom he hadadvised the missionary to unite--making that union a mysterious argumentin favor of Margery--and to sacrifice all the rest. The red Americanis so much accustomed to this species of ruthless proceeding, that theanguish he might occasion the very beings to whom he now wished to bemerciful, gave the stern chief very little concern. Leaving the Indiansin the exclusive possession of Prairie Round, we will return to the restof the party.
The missionary hastened after his friends as fast as he could go. Bodenand Margery had much to say to each other in that walk, which had agreat deal about it to bring their thoughts within the circle of theirown existence. As has been said, the fire had run through that regionlate, and the grasses were still young, offering but little impedimentto their movements. As the day was now near its heat, le Bourdon led hisspirited, but gentle companion, through the groves, where they had thebenefit of a most delicious shade, a relief that was now getting to bevery grateful. Twice had they stopped to drink at cool, clear springs,in which the water seemed to vie with the air in transpar
ency. As thisis not the general character of the water of that region, though markedexceptions exist, Margery insisted that the water was eastern and notwestern water.
"Why do we always think the things we had in childhood better thanthose we enjoy afterward?" asked Margery, after making one of thesecomparisons, somewhat to the disadvantage of the part of the country inwhich she then was. "I can scarce ever think of home--what I call home,and which was so long a home to me--without shedding tears. Nothing hereseems as good of its kind as what I have left behind me. Do you have thesame longings for Pennsylvania that I feel for the sea-coast and for therocks about Quincy?"
"Sometimes. When I have been quite alone for two or three months, I havefancied that an apple, or a potato, or even a glass of cider that camefrom the spot where I was born, would be sweeter than all the honey beesever gathered in Michigan."
"To me it has always seemed strange, Bourdon, that one of your kindfeelings should ever wish to live alone, at all; yet I have heard yousay that a love of solitude first drew you to your trade."
"It is these strong cases which get a man under, as it might be, andalmost alter his nature. One man will pass his days in hunting deer;another in catching fish; my taste has been for the bees, and for suchchances with other creatures as may offer. What between hunting, andhiving, and getting the honey to market, I have very little time to longfor company. But my taste is altering, Margery; HAS altered."
The girl blushed, but she also smiled, and, moreover, she lookedpleased.
"I am afraid that you are not as much altered as you think," sheanswered, laughingly, however. "It may seem so now; but when you come toLIVE in the settlements again, you will get tired of crowds."
"Then I will come with you, Margery, into these Openings, and we canlive TOGETHER here, surely, as well, or far better than I can live hereALONE. You and Gershom's wife have spoiled my housekeeping. I really didnot know, until you came up here, how much a woman can do in a chiente.
"Why, Bourdon, you have lived long enough in the settlements to knowTHAT!"
"That is true; but I look upon the settlements as one thing, and on theOpenings as another. What will do there isn't needed here; and whatwill do here won't answer there. But these last few days have so changedCastle Meal, that I hardly know it myself."
"Perhaps the change is for the worse, and you wish it undone, Bourdon,"observed the girl, in the longing she had to hear an assurance to thecontrary, at the very moment she felt certain that assurance would begiven.
"No, no, Margery. Woman has taken possession of my cabin, and womanshall now always command there, unless you alter your mind, and refuseto have me. I shall speak to the missionary to marry us, as soon as Ican get him alone. His mind is running so much on the Jews, that he hashardly a moment left for us Christians."
The color on Margery's cheek was not lessened by this declaration;though, to admit the truth, she looked none the less pleased. She was awarm-hearted and generous girl, and sometimes hesitated about separatingherself and her fortunes from those of Gershom and Dorothy; but thebee-hunter had persuaded her this would be unnecessary, though she didaccept him for a husband. The point had been settled between them onprevious occasions, and much conversation had already passed, in thatvery walk, which was confined to that interesting subject. But Margerywas not now disposed to say more, and she adroitly improved the hintthrown out by Boden, to change the discourse.
"It is the strangest notion I ever heard of," she cried, laughing, "tobelieve Injins to be Jews!"
"He tells me he is by no means the first who has fancied it. Manywriters have said as much before him, and all he claims is, to have beenamong them, and to have seen these Hebrews with his own eyes. But herehe comes, and can answer for himself."
Just as this was said, Parson Amen joined the party, Corporal Flintclosing to the front, as delicacy no longer required him to act as arear-guard. The good missionary came up a little heated; and, in orderthat he might have time to cool himself, the rate of movement wasslightly reduced. In the mean time the conversation did not the lessproceed.
"We were talking of the lost tribes," said Margery, half smiling as shespoke, "and of your idea, Mr. Amen, that these Injins are Jews. It seemsstrange to me that they should have lost so much of their ancient ways,and notions, and appearances, if they are really the people you think."
"Lost! It is rather wonderful that, after the lapse of two thousandyears and more, so much should remain. Whichever way I look, signs ofthese people's origin beset me. You have read your Bible, Margery--whichI am sorry to say all on this frontier have not--but you have read yourBible, and one can make an allusion to you with some satisfaction. Now,let me ask you if you remember such a thing as the scape-goat of theancient Jews. It is to be found in Leviticus, and is one of thosemysterious customs with which that extraordinary book is full."
"Leviticus is a book I never read but once, for we do not read it in ourNew England schools. But I do remember that the Jews were commanded tolet one of two goats go, from which practice it has, I believe, beencalled a scape-goat."
"Well," said le Bourdon, simply, "what a thing is 'l'arnin'!' Now, thisis all news to me, though I have heard of 'scape-goats,' and TALKED of'scape-goats' a thousand times! There's a meanin' to everything, I find;and I do not look upon this idea of the lost tribes as half as strangeas I did before I l'arnt this!"
Margery had not fallen in love with the bee-hunter for his biblicalknowledge, else might her greater information have received a rude shockby this mark of simplicity; but instead of dwelling on this proof of leBourdon's want of "schooling," her active mind was more disposed to pushthe allusion to scape-goats to some useful conclusion.
"And what of the goat, Mr. Amen?" she asked; "and how can it belong toanything here?"
"Why were all those goats turned into the woods and deserts, in theolden time, Margery? Doubtless to provide food for the ten tribes, whenthese should be driven forth by conquerors and hard task-masters. Time,and climate, and a difference of food, has altered them, as they havechanged the Jews themselves, though they still retain the cleft hoof,the horns, the habits, and the general characteristics of the goats ofArabia. Yes; naturalists will find in the end, that the varieties of thedeer of this continent, particularly the antelope, are nothing butthe scape-goats of the ancient world, altered and perhaps improved bycircumstances."
As this was much the highest flight the good missionary had ever yettaken, not trifling was the astonishment of his young friends thereat.Touching the Jews, le Bourdon did not pretend to, or in fact did notpossess much knowledge; but when the question was reduced down to oneof venison, or bears' meat, or bisons' humps, with the exception of theprofessed hunters and trappers, few knew more about them all than he didhimself. That the deer, or even the antelopes of America ever had beengoats, he did not believe; nor was he at all backward in letting hisdissent to such a theory be known.
"I'm sorry, Parson Amen, you've brought in the deer," he cried. "Hadyou stuck to the Jews, I might have believed all that you fancy, inthis business; but the deer have spoiled all. As for scape-goats, sinceMargery seems to agree with you, I suppose you are right about THEMthough my notion of such creatures has been to keep clear of them,instead of following them up, as you seem to think these Hebrews havedone. But if you are no nearer right in your doctrine about the Injinsthan you are about their game, you'll have to change your religion."
"Do not think that my religion depends on any thread so slight, Bourdon.A man may be mistaken in interpreting prophecy, and still be a devoutChristian. There are more reasons than you may at first suppose, forbelieving in this theory of the gradual change of the goat into thedeer, and especially into the antelope. We do not any of us believe thatNoah had with him, in the ark, all the animals that are now to be found,but merely the parent-stems, in each particular case, which would bereducing the number many fold. If all men came from Adam, Bourdon, whycould not all deer come from goats?"
"Why this matter about men has
a good deal puzzled me, Parson, and Ihardly know what answer to give. Still, men are men, wherever you findthem. They may be lighter or darker, taller or shorter, with hair orwool, and yet you can see they are MEN. Perhaps food, and climate, andmanner of living, may have made all the changes we see in them; butLord, Parson, a goat has a beard!"
"What has become of the thousands of scape-goats that the ancientHebrews must have turned loose in the wilderness? Answer me that,Bourdon?"
"You might as well ask me, sir, what has become of the thousands ofHebrews who turned them loose. I suppose all must be dead a thousandyears ago. Scape-goats are creatures that even Injins would not like."
"All this is a great mystery, Bourdon--a much greater mystery than ourfriend Peter, whom you have so often said was a man so unaccountable. Bythe way, he has given me a charge to perform an office between you andMargery, that I had almost forgotten. From what he said to me, I ratherthink it may have some connection with our safety. We have enemies amongthese savages, I feel very certain; though I believe we have also warmfriends."
"But what have you in charge that has anything to do with Bourdonand me?" asked the wondering Margery, who was quick to observe theconnection, though utterly at a loss to comprehend it.
The missionary now called a halt, and finding convenient seats, hegradually opened the subject with which he had been charged by Peter tohis companions. The reader is probably prepared to learn that there wasno longer any reserve between le Bourdon and Margery on the subject oftheir future marriage. The young man had already pressed an immediateunion, as the wisest and safest course to be pursued. Although thesavage American is little addicted to abusing his power over femalecaptives, and seldom takes into his lodge an unwilling squaw, thebee-hunter had experienced a good deal of uneasiness on the score ofwhat might befall his betrothed. Margery was sufficiently beautifulto attract attention, even in a town; and more than one fierce-lookingwarrior had betrayed his admiration that very day, though it was in avery Indian-like fashion. Rhapsody, and gallant speeches, and sonnets,form no part of Indian courtship; but the language of admiration isso very universal, through the eyes, that it is sufficiently easy ofcomprehension. It was possible that some chief, whose band was tooformidable to be opposed, might take it into his head to wish to see apale-face squaw in his wigwam; and, while it was not usual to do muchviolence to a female's inclinations on such occasions, it was not commonto offer much opposition to those of a powerful warrior. The marriedtie, if it could be said to exist at all, however, was much respected;and it was far less likely that Margery, a wife, would thus beappropriated, than Margery, unmarried. It is true, cases of unscrupulousexercise of power are to be found among Indians, as well as amongcivilized men, but they are rare, and usually are much condemned.
The bee-hunter, consequently, was well disposed to second Peter'sproject. As for Margery herself, she had half yielded all her objectionsto her lover's unaided arguments, and was partly conquered before thisreinforcement was brought into the field against her. Peter's motive wasmuch canvassed, no one of them all being able to penetrate it. Boden,however, had his private opinion on the subject, nor was it so very muchout of the way. He fancied that the mysterious chief was well disposedto Margery, and wished to put her as far as possible beyond the chancesof an Indian wigwam; marriage being the step of all others most likelyto afford her this protection. Now this was not exactly true, but it wasright enough in the main. Peter's aim was to save the life of the girl;her gentle attractions, and kind attentions to himself having wroughtthis much in her favor; and he believed no means of doing so ascertain as forming a close connection for her with the greatmedicine-bee-hunter. Judging of them by himself, he did not think theIndians would dare to include so great a conjurer in their schemesof vengeance, and was willing himself that le Bourdon should escape,provided Margery could go free and unharmed with him. As for thebee-hunter's powers, he had many misgivings; they might be dangerous tothe red men, and they might not. On this subject, he was in the painfuldoubts of ignorance, and had the wide area of conjecture open before hismind. He saw; but it was "as in a glass, darkly."
Margery was disposed to delay the ceremony, at least until her brotherand sister might be present. But to this le Bourdon himself was notmuch inclined. It had struck him that Gershom was opposed to an earlymarriage, most probably because he fancied himself more secure ofthe bee-hunter's ingenious and important aid in getting back to thesettlements, so long as this strong inducement existed to cling tohimself, than if he should release his own hold of Margery, by givingher at once to her lover. Right or wrong, such was the impression takenup by le Bourdon, and he was glad when the missionary urged his requestto be permitted to pronounce the nuptial benediction on the spot.
Little ceremony is generally used in an American marriage. In a vastmany cases no clergyman is employed at all; and where there is, mostof the sects have no ring, no giving away, nor any of those observanceswhich were practised in the churches of old. There existed noimpediment, therefore; and after a decent interval spent in persuasions,Margery consented to plight her vows to the man of her heart before theyleft the spot. She would fain have had Dorothy present, for woman lovesto lean on her own sex on such occasions, but submitted to the necessityof proceeding at once, as the bee-hunter and the missionary chose toterm it.
A better altar could not have been selected in all that vast region. Itwas one of nature's own erecting; and le Bourdon and his pretty brideplaced themselves before it, with feelings suited to the solemnity ofthe occasion. The good missionary stood within the shade of a burr oakin the centre of those park-like Openings, every object looking fresh,and smiling, and beautiful. The sward was gieen, and short as that ofa well-tended lawn; the flowers were, like the bride herself, soft,modest, and sweet; while charming rural vistas stretched through thetrees, much as if art had been summoned in aid of the great mistress whohad designed the landscape. When the parties knelt in prayer--which allpresent did, not excepting the worthy corporal--it was on the verdantground, with first the branches of the trees, and then the deep,fathomless vault of heaven for a canopy. In this manner was the marriagebenediction pronounced on the bee-hunter and Margery Waring, in thevenerable Oak Openings. No gothic structure, with its fretted aisles andclustered columns, could have been onehalf as appropriate for the unionof such a couple.
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