Charlemont; Or, The Pride of the Village Part 40

"I do!"

"Swear by Beelzebub and Mohammed; by Jupiter Ammon and Johannes Secundus; by the ghost of Cardinal Bembo, and the gridiron of the fraternity!"

"Ay, and by the virginity of Queen Elizabeth!"

"Simulacrum! no! no! no such oath for me! That's swearing by the thing that is not, was not--could not be! You shall swear by the oaths of the club--you must be bound on the gridiron of the fraternity, before I believe you. Swear!"

"You are as tenacious as the ghost of buried Denmark But you shall be satisfied. I swear by the mystic gridiron of the fraternity, and by the legs thereof, of which the images are Beelzebub, Mohammed, Johannes Secundus, and so forth--nay, by that memorable volume, so revered in the eyes of the club, the new edition of 'The Basiad,' of which who among us has been the true exponent?--that profound mystery of sweets, fathomed hourly, yet unfathomable still--for which the commentators, already legions, are hourly becoming legions more;--by these, and by the mysteries of the mirror that reflects not our own, but the image we desire;--by these things--by all things that among the brotherhood are held potent--I swear to--"

"Give me the preference in the favor of this princess; the clue to find her when you have left her; and the a.s.surance that you will get a surfeit as soon as possible: swear!"

"Nay, nay! I swear not to that last! I shall hold on while appet.i.te holds, and make all efforts not to grow dyspeptic in a hurry. I'll keep my stomach for a dainty, be sure, as long as I can. I were no brother, worthy of our order, if I did not."

"Well, well--to the rest! Swear to the rest, and I am satisfied."

"You go back, then, instanter?"

"What! this very day?"

"This hour!"

"The d---l! you don't mean THAT, Warham?" returned the other in some consternation.

"Ay, this very hour! You must swear to that. Your oath must precede mine."

"Ah! man, remember I only got here last night--long ride--hard-trotting horse. We have not seen each other for months. I have a cursed sight to tell you about the boys--girls too--love, law, logic, politics. Do you know they talk of running you for the house?"

"All in good season, Ben; not now. No, no! you shall see me when you least look for me, and there will be time enough for all these matters then. They'll keep. For the present, let me say to you that we must part now within the hour. You must swear not to dog my steps, and I will swear to give you carte blanche, and the first privileges at my princess, when I leave her. This is my bargain. I make no other."

"I've a great mind not to leave you," said the other doggedly.

"And what will that resolution bring you, do you fancy? Do you suppose I am to be tracked in such a manner? No, Ben! The effect will be to make me set off for the east instantly, whether you go with me or not; and an equally certain effect will be to make us cut loose for ever."

"You're a d---d hard colt to manage," said the other moodily.

"I sha'n't let myself be straddled by every horse-boy, I a.s.sure you."

"Come, come, old fellow, that's too much like horse-play. Don't be angry with me. I'll accept your conditions."

"Very good," said Stevens; "if you did not, Ben, it would be no better for you; for, otherwise, you should never even see my beauty!"

"Is she so very beautiful, old boy?"

"A queen, I tell you! a proud, high-spirited, wild beauty of the mountains--a thing of fire and majesty--a glorious woman, full of song and sentiment and ambition--a genius, I tell you--who can improvise like Corinne, and, by the way, continually reminds one of that glorious creature. In Italy, she would have been greater than Corinne."

"And you've won her--and she loves you?"

"Ay--to doting! I found her a sort of eagle--soaring, striving--always with an eye upon the hills, and fighting with the sunbeams. I have subdued her. She is now like a timid fawn that trembles at the very falling of a leaf in the forests. She pants with hope to see me, and pants with tremulous delight when I come. Still, she shows every now and then, a glimmering of that eagle spirit which she had at first. She flashes up suddenly, but soon sinks again. Fancy a creature, an idolater of fame before, suddenly made captive by love, and you have a vain, partial image of my forest-princess."

"What a lucky dog! You'll marry her yet, old boy, in spite of all!"

"Pshaw! You are green to talk so."

"You'll be devilish loath to give her up; I'm afraid I'll have to wait a cursed long time."

"No, not long! Do not despair. Easy won, easy valued."

"And was she easily won?"

"Very! the game was a short one. She is a mere country-girl, you know, but eighteen or thereabouts--suspecting n.o.body, and never dreaming that she had a heart or pa.s.sions at all. She thought only of her poetry and her books. It was only necessary to work upon heart and pa.s.sions while talking of poetry and books, and they carried her out of her depth before she could recover. She's wiser now, Ben, I can a.s.sure you, and will require more dexterity to keep than to conquer."

"And she has no brother to worry a body--no d---d ugly Hobnail, who has a fancy for her, and may make a window between the ribs of a gallant, such as nature never intended, with the ounce-bullet of some d---d old-fashioned seven-foot rifle--eh?"

"There was a silly chap, one Hinkley, who tried it on me--actually challenged me, though I was playing parson, and there might have been work for me but for his own bull-headed father, who came to my rescue, beat the boy and drove him from the place. There is n.o.body else to give me any annoyance, unless it be a sort of half-witted chap, a cousin of the former--a sleepy dog that is never, I believe, entirely awake unless when he's trout-fishing. He has squinted at me, as if he could quarrel if he dared, but the lad is dull--too dull to be very troublesome. You might kiss his grandmother under his nose, and he would probably regard it only as a compliment to her superior virtues, and would thank you accordingly--"

A voice a little to the left interrupted the speaker.

"So he does, my brave parson, for his grandmother's sake and his own,"

were the words of the speaker. They turned in sudden amaze to the spot whence the sounds issued. The bushes opening in this quarter, presented to the astonished eyes of Brother Stevens, the perfect image of the dull lad of whom he had been speaking. There was Ned Hinkley in proper person--perfectly awake, yet not trout-fishing! A sarcastic grin was upon his visage, and rolling his eyes with a malicious leer, he repeated the words which had first interrupted the progress of the dialogue between the friends.

"I thank you, Brother Stevens, for the compliment to my grandmother's virtues. I thank you, on her account as well as my own. I'm very grateful, I a.s.sure you, very grateful, very!"

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

"ABSQUATULATING."

Had a bolt suddenly flashed and thundered at the feet of the two friends, falling from a clear sky in April, they could not have been more astounded. They started, as with one impulse, in the same moment to their feet.

"Keep quiet," said the intruder; "don't let me interrupt you in so pleasant a conversation. I'd like to hear you out. I'm refreshed by it.

What you say is so very holy and sermon-like, that I'm like a new man when I hear it. Sit down, Brother Stevens, and begin again; sit down, Ben, my good fellow, and don't look so scary! You look as if you had a window in your ribs already!"

The intruder had not moved, though he had startled the conspirators. He did not seem to share in their excitement. He was very coolly seated, with his legs deliberately crossed, while his two hands parted the bushes before him in order to display his visage--perhaps with the modest design of showing to the stranger that his friend had grievously misrepresented its expression. Certainly, no one could say that, at this moment, it lacked anything of spirit or intelligence. Never were eyes more keen--never were lips more emphatically made to denote sarcasm and hostility. The whole face was alive with scorn, and hate, and bitterness; and there was defiance enough in the glance to have put wings to fifty bullets.

His coolness, the composure which his position and words manifested, awakened the anger of Brother Stevens as soon as the first feeling of surprise had pa.s.sed away. He felt, in a moment, that the game was up with him--that he could no longer play the hypocrite in Charlemont.

He must either keep his pledges to Margaret Cooper, without delay or excuse, or he must abandon all other designs which his profligate heart may have suggested in its cruel purposes against her peace.

"Scoundrel!" he exclaimed; "how came you here? What have you heard?"

"Good words, Brother Stevens. You forget, you are a parson."