CHAPTER III.
FRESH ALARM IN THE VILLAGE.--LESTER'S VISIT TO ARAM.--A TRAIT
OF DELICATE KINDNESS IN THE STUDENT.--MADELINE.--HER PRONENESS
TO CONFIDE.--THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN LESTER AND ARAM.
--THE PERSONS BY WHOM IT IS INTERRUPTED.
Not my own fears, nor the prophetic soul
Of the wide world, dreaming on things to come,
Can yet the lease of my true love controul.
--Shakspeare: Sonnets.
Commend me to their love, and I am proud, say,
That my occasions have found time to use them
Toward a supply of money; let the request
Be fifty talents.
--Timon Of Athens.
The next morning the whole village was alive and bustling with terror and
consternation. Another, and a yet more daring robbery, had been committed
in the neighbourhood, and the police of the county town had been
summoned, and were now busy in search of the offenders. Aram had been
early disturbed by the officious anxiety of some of his neighbours; and
it wanted yet some hours of noon, when Lester himself came to seek and
consult with the Student.
Aram was alone in his large and gloomy chamber, surrounded, as usual,
by his books, but not as usual engaged in their contents. With his face
leaning on his hand, and his eyes gazing on a dull fire, that crept
heavily upward through the damp fuel, he sate by his hearth, listless,
but wrapt in thought.
"Well, my friend," said Lester, displacing the books from one of the
chairs, and drawing the seat near the Student's--"you have ere this heard
the news, and indeed in a county so quiet as ours, these outrages appear
the more fearful, from their being so unlooked for. We must set a guard
in the village, Aram, and you must leave this defenceless hermitage and
come down to us; not for your own sake,--but consider you will be an
additional safeguard to Madeline. You will lock up the house, dismiss
your poor old governante to her friends in the village, and walk back
with me at once to the hall."
Aram turned uneasily in his chair.
"I feel your kindness," said he after a pause, "but I cannot accept it--
Madeline," he stopped short at that name, and added in an altered voice;
"no, I will be one of the watch, Lester; I will look to her--to your--
safety; but I cannot sleep under another roof. I am superstitious, Lester
--superstitious. I have made a vow, a foolish one perhaps, but I dare not
break it. And my vow binds me, save on indispensable and urgent
necessity, not to pass a night any where but in my own home."
"But there is necessity."
"My conscience says not," said Aram smiling: "peace, my good friend, we
cannot conquer men's foibles, or wrestle with men's scruples."
Lester in vain attempted to shake Aram's resolution on this head; he
found him immoveable, and gave up the effort in despair.
"Well," said he, "at all events we have set up a watch, and can spare you
a couple of defenders. They shall reconnoitre in the neighbourhood of
your house, if you persevere in your determination, and this will serve
in some slight measure to satisfy poor Madeline."
"Be it so," replied Aram; "and dear Madeline herself, is she so alarmed?"
And now in spite of all the more wearing and haggard thoughts that preyed
upon his breast, and the dangers by which he conceived himself beset, the
Student's face, as he listened with eager attention to every word that
Lester uttered concerning his niece, testified how alive he yet was to
the least incident that related to Madeline, and how easily her innocent
and peaceful remembrance could allure him from himself.
"This room," said Lester, looking round, "will be, I conclude, after
Madeline's own heart; but will you always suffer her here? students do
not sometimes like even the gentlest interruption."
"I have not forgotten that Madeline's comfort requires some more cheerful
retreat than this," said Aram, with a melancholy expression of
countenance. "Follow me, Lester; I meant this for a little surprise to
her. But Heaven only knows if I shall ever show it to herself?"
"Why? what doubt of that can even your boding temper discover?"
"We are as the wanderers in the desert," answered Aram, "who are taught
wisely to distrust their own senses: that which they gaze upon as the
waters of existence, is often but a faithless vapour that would lure them
to destruction."
In thus speaking he had traversed the room, and, opening a door, showed a
small chamber with which it communicated, and which Aram had fitted up
with evident, and not ungraceful care. Every article of furniture that
Madeline might most fancy, he had sent for from the neighbouring town.
And some of the lighter and more attractive books that he possessed, were
ranged around on shelves, above which were vases, intended for flowers;
the window opened upon a little plot that had been lately broken up into
a small garden, and was already intersected with walks, and rich with
shrubs.
There was something in this chamber that so entirely contrasted the one
it adjoined, something so light, and cheerful, and even gay in its
decoration and its tout ensemble, that Lester uttered an exclamation of
delight and surprise. And indeed it did appear to him touching, that this
austere scholar, so wrapt in thought, and so inattentive to the common
forms of life, should have manifested this tender and delicate
consideration. In another it would have been nothing, but in Aram, it was
a trait, that brought involuntary tears to the eyes of the good Lester.
Aram observed them: he walked hastily away to the window, and sighed
heavily; this did not escape his friend's notice, and after commenting on
the attractions of the little room--Lester said: "You seem oppressed in
spirits, Eugene: can any thing have chanced to disturb you, beyond, at
least, these alarms which are enough to agitate the nerves of the
hardiest of us?"
"No," said Aram; "I had no sleep last night, and my health is easily
affected, and with my health my mind; but let us go to Madeline; the
sight of her will revive me."
They then strolled down to the Manor-house, and met by the way a band of
the younger heroes of the village, who had volunteered to act as a
patrole, and who were now marshalled by Peter Dealtry, in a fit of heroic
enthusiasm.
Although it was broad daylight, and, consequently, there was little cause
of immediate alarm, the worthy publican carried on his shoulder a musket
on full cock; and each moment he kept peeping about, as if not only every
bush, but every blade of grass contained an ambuscade, ready to spring up
the instant he was off his guard. By his side the redoubted Jacobina, who
had transferred to her new master, the attachment she had originally
possessed for the Corporal, trotted peeringly along, her tail
perpendicularly cocked, and her ears moving to and fro, with a most
incomparable air of vigilant sagacity. The cautious Peter every now and
then checked her ardour, as she was about to quicken her step, and
enliven the march by the gambols better adapted to serener times.
"Soho, Jacobina, soho! gently, girl, gently; thou little knowest the
dangers that may beset thee. Come up, my good fellows, come to the
Spotted Dog; I will tap a barrel on purpose for you; and we will settle
the plan of defence for the night. Jacobina, come in, I say, come in,--
"'Lest, like a lion, they thee tear,
And rend in pieces small;
While there is none to succour thee,
And rid thee out of thrall.'
What ho, there! Oh! I beg your honour's pardon! Your servant, Mr. Aram."
"What, patroling already?" said the squire; "your men will be tired
before they are wanted; reserve their ardour for the night."
"Oh, your Honour, I have only been beating up for recruits; and we are
going to consult a bit at home. Ah! what a pity the Corporal isn't here:
he would have been a tower of strength unto the righteous. But
howsomever, I do my best to supply his place--Jacobina, child, be still:
I can't say as I knows the musket-sarvice, your honour; but I fancy's as
how, like Joe Roarjug, the Methodist, we can do it extemporaneous-like at
a pinch."
"A bold heart, Peter, is the best preparation," said the squire.
"And," quoth Peter quickly, "what saith the worshipful Mister Sternhold,
in the 45th psalm, 5th verse,--
'Go forth with godly speed, in meekness, truth, and might,
And thy right hand shall thee instruct in works of dreadful might.'"
Peter quoted these verses, especially the last, with a truculent frown,
and a brandishing of the musket, that surprisingly encouraged the hearts
of his little armament; and with a general murmur of enthusiasm, the
warlike band marched off to The Spotted Dog.
Lester and his companion found Madeline and Ellinor standing at the
window of the hall; and Madeline's light step was the first that sprang
forward to welcome their return: even the face of the Student brightened,
when he saw the kindling eye, the parted lip, the buoyant form, from
which the pure and innocent gladness she felt on seeing him broke forth.
There was a remarkable trustingness, if I may so speak, in Madeline's
disposition. Thoughtful and grave as she was, by nature, she was yet ever
inclined to the more sanguine colourings of life; she never turned to the
future with fear--a placid sentiment of Hope slept at her heart--she was
one who surrendered herself with a fond and implicit faith to the
guidance of all she loved; and to the chances of life. It was a sweet
indolence of the mind, which made one of her most beautiful traits of
character; there is something so unselfish in tempers reluctant to
despond. You see that such persons are not occupied with their own
existence; they are not fretting the calm of the present life, with the
egotisms of care, and conjecture, and calculation: if they learn anxiety,
it is for another; but in the heart of that other, how entire is their
trust!
It was this disposition in Madeline which perpetually charmed, and yet
perpetually wrung, the soul of her wild lover; and as she now delightedly
hung upon his arm, uttering her joy at seeing him safe, and presently
forgetting that there ever had been cause for alarm, his heart was filled
with the most gloomy sense of horror and desolation. "What," thought he,
"if this poor, unconscious girl could dream that at this moment I am
girded with peril, from which I see no ultimate escape? Delay it as I
will, it seems as if the blow must come at last. What, if she could think
how fearful is my interest in these outrages, that in all probability, if
their authors are detected, there is one who will drag me into their
ruin; that I am given over, bound and blinded, into the hands of another;
and that other, a man steeled to mercy, and withheld from my destruction
by a thread--a thread that a blow on himself would snap. Great God!
wherever I turn, I see despair! And she--she clings to me; and beholding
me, thinks the whole earth is filled with hope!"
While these thoughts darkened his mind, Madeline drew him onward into the
more sequestered walks of the garden, to show him some flowers she had
transplanted. And when an hour afterwards he returned to the hall, so
soothing had been the influence of her looks and words upon Aram, that if
he had not forgotten the situation in which he stood, he had at least
calmed himself to regard with a steady eye the chances of escape.
The meal of the day passed as cheerfully as usual, and when Aram and his
host were left over their abstemious potations, the former proposed a
walk before the evening deepened. Lester readily consented, and they
sauntered into the fields. The Squire soon perceived that something was
on Aram's mind, of which he felt evident embarrassment in ridding
himself: at length the Student said rather abruptly: "My dear friend, I
am but a bad beggar, and therefore let me get over my request as
expeditiously as possible. You said to me once that you intended
bestowing some dowry upon Madeline; a dowry I would and could willingly
dispense with; but should you of that sum be now able to spare me some
portion as a loan,--should you have some three hundred pounds with which
you could accommodate me.--" "Say no more, Eugene, say no more,"
interrupted the Squire,--"you can have double that amount. Your
preparations for your approaching marriage, I ought to have foreseen,
must have occasioned you some inconvenience; you can have six hundred
pounds from me to-morrow."
Aram's eyes brightened. "It is too much, too much, my generous friend,"
said he; "the half suffices--but, but, a debt of old standing presses me
urgently, and to-morrow, or rather Monday morning, is the time fixed for
payment."
"Consider it arranged," said Lester, putting his hand on Aram's arm, and
then leaning on it gently, he added, "And now that we are on this
subject, let me tell you what I intended as a gift to you, and my dear
Madeline; it is but small, but my estates are rigidly entailed on Walter,
and of poor value in themselves, and it is half the savings of many
years."
The Squire then named a sum, which, however small it may seem to our
reader, was not considered a despicable portion for the daughter of a
small country squire at that day, and was in reality, a generous
sacrifice for one whose whole income was scarcely, at the most, seven
hundred a year. The sum mentioned doubled that now to be lent, and which
was of course a part of it; an equal portion was reserved for Ellinor.
"And to tell you the truth," said the Squire, "you must give me some
little time for the remainder--for not thinking some months ago it would
be so soon wanted, I laid out eighteen hundred pounds, in the purchase of
Winclose Farm, six of which, (the remainder of your share,) I can pay off
at the end of the year; the other twelve, Ellinor's portion, will remain
a mortgage on the farm itself. And between us," added the Squire, "I do
hope that I need be in no hurry respecting her, dear girl. When Walter
returns, I trust matters may be arranged, in a manner, and through a
channel, that would gratify the most cherished wish of my heart. I am
convinced that Ellinor is exactly suited to him; and, unless he should
lose his senses for some one else in the course of his travels, I trust
that he will not be long returned before he will make the same discovery.
I think of writing to him very shortly after your marriage, and making
him promise, at all events, to revisit us at Christmas. Ah! Eugene, we
shall be a happy party, then, I trust. And be assured, that we shall beat
up your quarters, and put your hospitality, and Madeline's housewifery to
the test."
Therewith the good Squire ran on for some minutes in the warmth of his
heart, dilating on the fireside prospects before them, and rallying the
Student on those secluded habits, which he promised him he should no
longer indulge with impunity.
"But it is growing dark," said he, awakening from the theme which had
carried him away, "and by this time Peter and our patrole will be at the
hall. I told them to look up in the evening, in order to appoint their
several duties and stations--let us turn back. Indeed, Aram, I can assure
you, that I, for my own part, have some strong reasons to take
precautions against any attack; for besides the old family plate, (though
that's not much,) I have,--you know the bureau in the parlour to the left
of the hall--well, I have in that bureau three hundred guineas, which I
have not as yet been able to take to safe hands at--, and which, by the
way, will be your's to-morrow. So, you see, it would be no light
misfortune to me to be robbed."
"Hist!" said Aram, stopping short, "I think I heard steps on the other
side of the hedge."
The Squire listened, but heard nothing; the senses of his companion were,
however, remarkably acute, more especially that of hearing.
"There is certainly some one; nay, I catch the steps of two persons,"
whispered he to Lester. "Let us come round the hedge by the gap below."
They both quickened their pace, and gaining the other side of the hedge,
did indeed perceive two men in carters' frocks, strolling on towards the
village.
"They are strangers too," said the Squire suspiciously, "not Grassdale
men. Humph! could they have overheard us, think you?"
"If men whose business it is to overhear their neighbours--yes; but not
if they be honest men," answered Aram, in one of those shrewd remarks
which he often uttered, and which seemed almost incompatible with the
tenor of the quiet and abstruse pursuits that he had adopted, and that
generally deaden the mind to worldly wisdom.
They had now approached the strangers, who, however, appeared mere rustic
clowns, and who pulled off their hats with the wonted obeisance of their
tribe.
"Hollo, my men," said the Squire, assuming his magisterial air, for the
mildest Squire in Christendom can play the Bashaw, when he remembers he
is a Justice of the Peace. "Hollo! what are you doing here this time of
day? you are not after any good, I fear."
"We ax pardon, your honour," said the elder clown, in the peculiar accent
of the country, "but we be come from Gladsmuir; and be going to work at
Squire Nixon's at Mow-hall, on Monday; so as I has a brother living on
the green afore the Squire's, we be a-going to sleep there to-night and
spend the Sunday, your honour."
"Humph! humph! What's your name?"
"Joe Wood, your honour, and this here chap is, Will Hutchings."
"Well, well, go along with you," said the Squire: "And mind what you are
about. I should not be surprised if you snare one of Squire Nixon's hares
by the way."
"Oh, well and indeed, your honour."--"Go along, go along," said the
Squire, and away went the men.
"They seem honest bumpkins enough," observed Lester.
"It would have pleased me better," said Aram, "had the speaker of the two
particularized less; and you observed that he seemed eager not to let his
companion speak; that is a little suspicious."
"Shall I call them back?" asked the Squire.
"Why it is scarcely worth while," said Aram; "perhaps I over refine. And
now I look again at them, they seem really what they affect to be. No, it
is useless to molest the poor wretches any more. There is something,
Lester, humbling to human pride in a rustic's life. It grates against the
heart to think of the tone in which we unconsciously permit ourselves to
address him. We see in him humanity in its simple state; it is a sad
thought to feel that we despise it; that all we respect in our species is
what has been created by art; the gaudy dress, the glittering equipage,
or even the cultivated intellect; the mere and naked material of Nature,
we eye with indifference or trample on with disdain. Poor child of toil,
from the grey dawn to the setting sun, one long task!--no idea elicited--
no thought awakened beyond those that suffice to make him the machine of
others--the serf of the hard soil! And then too, mark how we scowl upon
his scanty holidays, how we hedge in his mirth with laws, and turn his
hilarity into crime! We make the whole of the gay world, wherein we walk
and take our pleasure, to him a place of snares and perils. If he leave
his labour for an instant, in that instant how many temptations spring up
to him! And yet we have no mercy for his errors; the gaol--the transport-
ship--the gallows; those are our sole lecture-books, and our only
methods of expostulation--ah, fie on the disparities of the world! They
cripple the heart, they blind the sense, they concentrate the thousand
links between man and man, into the two basest of earthly ties--
servility, and pride. Methinks the devils laugh out when they hear us
tell the boor that his soul is as glorious and eternal as our own; and
yet when in the grinding drudgery of his life, not a spark of that soul
can be called forth; when it sleeps, walled around in its lumpish clay,
from the cradle to the grave, without a dream to stir the deadness of its
torpor."
"And yet, Aram," said Lester, "the Lords of science have their ills.
Exalt the soul as you will, you cannot raise it above pain. Better,
perhaps, to let it sleep, when in waking it looks only upon a world of
trial."
"You say well, you say well," said Aram smiting his heart, "and I
suffered a foolish sentiment to carry me beyond the sober boundaries of
our daily sense."
