The American Union Speaker Part 76

Sentinel. You entreat in vain, my orders are most strict.

Rolla. Look on this ma.s.sive wedge of gold! look on these precious gems! In thy land they will be wealth for thee and thine, beyond thy hope or wish. Take them; they are thine; let me but pa.s.s one moment with Alonzo.

Sentinel. Away! Wouldest thou corrupt me?--me, an old Castilian! I know my duty better.

Rolla. Soldier, hast thou a wife?

Sentinel. I have.

Rolla. Hast thou children?

Sentinel. Four honest, lovely boys.

Rolla. Where didst thou leave them?

Sentinel. In my native village, in the very cot where I was born.

Rolla. Dost thou love thy wife and children?

Rolla. Do I love them? G.o.d knows my heart,--I do.

Rolla. Soldier, imagine thou wert doomed to die a cruel death, in a strange land,--what would be thy last request?

Sentinel. That some of my comrades should carry my dying blessing to my wife and children.

Rolla. What if that comrade was at thy prison door, and should there be told, "Thy fellow-soldier dies at sunrise, yet thou shalt not for a moment see him, nor shalt thou bear his dying blessing to his poor children, or his wretched wife!"-- What would'st thou think of him who thus could drive thy comrade from the door?

Sentinel. How!

Rolla. Alonzo has a wife and child; and I am come but to receive for her, and for her poor babes the last blessing of my friend.

Sentinel. Go in. [Exit sentinel.]

Rolla. [ Calls] Alonzo! Alonzo!

[Enter Alonzo, speaking as he comes in.]

Alonzo. How! is my hour elapsed? Well, I am ready.

Rolla Alonzo--Know me!

Alonzo. Rolla! Heavens! how didst thou pa.s.s the guard?

Rolla. There is not a moment to be lost in words. This disguise I tore from the dead body of a friar, as I pa.s.sed our field of battle. It has gained me entrance to thy dungeon; now take it thou, and fly.

Alonzo And Rolla,-- Rolla. Will remain here in thy place.

Alonzo. And die for me! No! Rather eternal torture rack me.

Rolla. I shall not die, Alonzo. It is thy life Pizarro seeks, not Rolla's; and thy arm may soon deliver me from prison. Or, should it be otherwise, I am as a blighted tree in the desert; nothing lives beneath my shelter. Thou art a husband and a father; the being of a lovely wife and helpless infant depend upon thy life. Go, go, along, not to save thyself but Cora and thy child.

Alonzo. Urge me not thus, my friend. I am prepared to die in peace.

Rolla. To die in peace! devoting her you have sworn to live for to madness, misery, and death!

Alonzo. Merciful Heavens!

Rolla. If thou art yet irresolute, Alonzo,--now mark me well. Thou knowest that Rolla never pledged his word, and shrank from its fulfilment. And here I swear, if thou art proudly obstinate, thou shalt have the desperate triumph of seeing Rolla perish by thy side.

Alonzo. O, Rolla! you distract me! Wear you the robe and though dreadful the necessity we will strike down the guard and force our pa.s.sage.

Rolla. What, the soldier on duty here?

Alonzo Yes,--else, seeing two, the alarm will be instant death.

Rolla. For my nation's safety, I would not harm him. That soldier, mark me, is a man! All are not men that wear the human form. He refused my prayers, refused my gold, refused to admit, till his own feelings bribed him. I will not risk a hair of that man's head, to save my heartstrings from consuming fire But haste! A moment's further pause, and all is lost.

Alonzo Rolla, I fear thy friendship drives me from honor and from right..

Rolla. Did Rolla ever counsel dishonor to his friend?

[ Throwing the friar's garment over his shoulder.] There! conceal thy face. Now, G.o.d be with thee!

Kotzebue.

CCCLx.x.xIII.

THE ENGLISH TRAVELLER.

Traveller. Do you belong to this house, friend?

Landlord. No, it belongs to me, I guess. [ The Traveller takes out his memorandum-book, and in a low voice reads what he writes.]

Trav. "Mem. Yankee landlords do not belong to their house's [Aloud] You seem young for a landlord: may I ask how old you are?

Land. Yes, if you'd like to know.

Trav. Hem! [Disconcerted.] Are you a native, sir?

Land. No, sir; there are no natives hereabouts.

Trav. "Mem. None of the inhabitants natives; ergo, all foreigners." [Aloud] Where were you born, sir?

Land. Do you know where Marblehead is?

Trav. Yes.

Land. Well, I was not born there.

Trav. Why did you ask the question, then?

Land. Because my daddy was.

Trav. But you were born somewhere.

Land. That 's true; but as father moved up country afore the townships were marked out, my case is somewhat like the Indian's who was born at Nantucket, Cape Cod, and all along sh.o.r.e.

Trav. Were you brought up in this place, sir?

Land. No; I was raised in Varmount till mother died, and then, as father was good for nothing after that I pulled up stakes and went to sea a bit.

Trav. "Mem. Yankees, instead of putting up gravestones, pull up stakes, and go to sea, when a parent dies" [Aloud]

You did not follow the sea long, for you have not the air of a mariner.

Land. why, you see, I had a leetle knack at the coopering business; and larning that them folks that carry it on in the West Indies die off fast, I calculated I should stand a chance to get a handsome living there.

Trav. And so you turned sailor to get there?

Land. Not exactly; for I agreed to work my pa.s.sage by cooking for the crew, and tending the dumb critters.

Trav. Dumb critters! Of what was your lading composed?

Land. A leetle of everything;--horses, hogs, hoop-poles, and Hingham boxes; boards, ingyons, soap, candles, and ile.

Trav. "Mem. Soap, candles, and ile, called dumb critters by the Yankees." [Aloud.] Did you arrive there safely?

Land. No, I guess we did n't.

Trav. Why not?

Land. We had a fair wind, and sailed a pretty piece, I tell you; but jest afore we reached the eend of our vige, some pirates overhauled us, and stole all our mola.s.ses, rum, and gingerbread.

Trav. Is that all they did to you?

Land. No, they ordered us on board their vessel, and promised us some black-strap.

Trav. "Mem. Pirates catch Yankees with a black-strap."

[Aloud] Did you accept the invitation?

Land. No, I guess we did n't. And so they threatened to fire into us.

Trav. What did your captain do?

Land. "Fire, and be dammed!" says he, "but you'd better not spill the deacon's ile, I tell you."

Trav. And so you ran off, did you?

Land. No; we sailed off a small piece. But the captain said it was a tarnal shame to let them steal our necessaries; and so he right about, and peppered them, I tell you.

Trav. "Mem. Yankees pepper pirates when they meet them." [Aloud.] Did you take them?

Land. Yes, and my shear built this house.

Trav. "Mem. Yankees build houses with shears."

Land. It 's an ill wind that blows nowhere, as the saying is.

And now, may I make so bold as to ask whose name I shall enter in my books?

Trav. Mine!

Land. Hem!--if it 's not an impertinent question, may I ask which way you are travelling?

Trav. Home.

Land. Faith! have I not as good a right to catechize you, as you had to catechize me?

Trav. Yes. "Mem. Yankees the most inquisitive people in the world,--impertinent, and unwilling to communicate information to travellers." [Aloud] Well, sir, if you have accommodations fit for a gentleman, I will put up with you.

Land. They have always suited gentlemen, but I can't say how you'll like 'em.

Trav. There is a tolerable prospect from this window. What hill is that, yonder?

Land. Bunker Hill, sir.

Trav. Pretty hill! If I had my instruments here, I should like to take it.

Land. You had better not try. It required three thousand instruments to take it in '75.

Tram "Mem. A common Yankee hill cannot be drawn without three thousand instruments." [Aloud] Faith, Landlord, your Yankee draughtsmen must be great bunglers. But come, sir, give me breakfast, for I must be going; There is nothing else in the vicinity worthy the notice of a traveller.

Anon.

CCCLx.x.xIV.