HEART?/ 
 
 WOMAN 
 
 HARRY W. DESMOND
 
 i 
 
 o
 
 HEART o/ WOMAN 
 
 The LoVe Story of 
 CATRINA RUTHERFORD 
 
 Contained in Writings of 
 ALE,XANDE,R ADAMS 
 
 Transmitted to 
 
 HARRY W. DESMOND 
 
 N E, W Y O Be K 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR & COMPANY 
 M C M I I
 
 COPYRIGHT 1902, BY 
 J. F. TAYLOR & CO. 
 
 Published June, zqoz
 
 To My Friend 
 FRANCIS AMES
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 HAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. ALEX ADAMS'S MEMENTOES i 
 
 II. THE ORCHARD AT HEATHCOTE HOUSE . 5 
 
 III. ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE . 13 
 
 IV. THE DAWN OF SUSPICION 24 
 
 V. A TORY IN RETREAT 31 
 
 VI. THE FIRST INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA" . 39 
 
 VII. THE SECOND INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA" 51 
 
 VIII. THE JOURNEY TO THE MANSE .... 56 
 
 IX. THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES .... 74 
 
 X. THE PRELUDE IN THE WOODS .... 92 
 XI. THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER . . . . 101 
 
 XII. THE FIRST STAGE OF THE FLIGHT . . . 112 
 
 XIII. HELEN "JOINS THE PARTY 127 
 
 XIV. SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE . 134 
 XV. THE CROWN POINT FORT 157 
 
 XVI. RALPH FORSWEARS THE PAST .... 163 
 
 XVII. THE BEGINNING OF DOUBT 173 
 
 XVIII. THE POWER OF AN AFFINITY ..,..180 
 
 XIX. THE MEETING OF THE CROSS CURRENTS 193
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XX. COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS .... 201 
 
 XXI. Miss RUTHERFORD'S MESSENGER ... 221 
 
 XXII. CATRINA'S COMMAND 231 
 
 XXIII. BURNING THE BRIDGES 237 
 
 XXIV. THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FATE .... 249 
 XXV. CATRINA'S MESSENGER PAID 264 
 
 XXVI. IN THE ENEMY'S HANDS 276 
 
 XXVII. CATRINA PAYS THE RANSOM ..... 293 
 
 XXVIII. WHERE THE HEART Is THERE WILL OUR 
 
 THOUGHTS BE ALSO 309
 
 THE HEART OF WOMAN
 
 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 ALEX. ADAMS'S MEMENTOES. 
 
 YESTERDAY, Sunday, the rain fell steadily, veiling the 
 harbor beyond my windows in gray mist that obscured 
 the distant Staten Island hills. 
 
 It was a soft, wet day, when the air strangely carries 
 any sound given to it, and in like manner, perhaps in 
 sympathy, the mind prolongs its slightest reminiscence. 
 
 I had little inclination to church, so stayed at home 
 overhauling my papers. They wece of divers sort 
 old accounts, letters, memoranda indifferent docu- 
 ments of even no private value that a man of small 
 affairs preserved for forgotten reasons. 
 
 These neglected papers were of the very mood of 
 the moment. As I went over them, one by one, I 
 could not escape the thought how much our recent 
 success in arms has cost us at the hearth and how 
 complete is the severance the war has made between 
 the days my papers recall and these new triumphant 
 times of ours. Verily, the old play is off the stage, the 
 old sentiments out of place, many of the old actors 
 gone, many of the old haunts destroyed.
 
 2 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Why these regrets? I do not yet confess to old age, 
 but I acknowledge that period of life when losses can- 
 not always be consoled with the promise of future ex- 
 periences. The recollections of twenty are like the 
 fallen leaves of a sapling, but what consolation for what 
 we have lost is there at fifty, shall I say? 
 
 Miss Tenny Wendell where is she now? That in- 
 vitation to dine with the family is eighteen years old. 
 As I read it her girlish face flashed for a moment out 
 of the paper like a picture in invisible ink. 
 
 I scarce needed that other note, nearly as old, pinned 
 to it, to recall that ride out to Greenwich with the 
 Lieutenant-Governor's company, some twenty of us, 
 gentlemen and ladies of the best fashion in New York, 
 the halt at Mr. Richardson's country house, the fine 
 parcel of silver eels we caught and had dressed for sup- 
 per, the minuets we danced later and how merry we 
 were riding home in the summer dusk. I rode with 
 Miss Phipps, I remember, whom I kissed, as etiquette, 
 and, in this case, inclination also required, when we 
 passed the Kissing Bridge. 
 
 The recollection of her brought again before me the 
 Captain, her father, deaf of ear, but triumphant of voice, 
 and the punch-wine and choice corned mackerel I 
 regaled him and his friends with that distant October 
 night at the King's Head, the best punch house at that 
 time and most to my liking of all on the Boston Post 
 Road. 
 
 And speaking of punch, where did Col. Debuke learn 
 the secret of his? How instable are the excellencies of
 
 ALEX. ADAMS'S MEMENTOES 3 
 
 life ! Surely not again shall I taste the equal of that he 
 used to provide at his lodgings for his large acquaint- 
 ance, where so often we spent the night singing and 
 toasting the King and the Ladies plentifully, very 
 merry all of us, until we broke up in the doubtful morn- 
 ing hours. 
 
 How distant those pictures appeared as my memen- 
 toes evoked them ! Whither was that ancient company 
 dispersed? 
 
 "Dear! Dear!" the mute voice within exclaimed, 
 "the saddest part of this growing old is the departures 
 it has to reckon." 
 
 And then, as though to prove my philosophy, my eye 
 alighted on a memorandum I had made of that turtle 
 frolic I gave at Williams's I fear to count the years 
 ago. 
 
 Indeed, had I not sat myself down this damp, gray 
 Sunday, to a belated feast of memory, with empty 
 dishes and vacant chairs ! But vacant for a moment 
 only! 
 
 "At Williams's," my spirit cried, "I culminated 
 my friends around me ! If Memory is to play comforter 
 to me, by heaven it shall be only on condition that 
 those chairs are kept filled and my glass, that I may 
 drink to the shades I gathered there !" 
 
 I arose as though the faces were around me. My 
 hand held the bumper filled to the overflowing as my 
 heart was. 
 
 "Your health, Madam Grace," I cried. "Yours, 
 Madam Quincy. Yours, too, Capt. Phillips. Doctor
 
 4 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Bridges, dear old friend, to you. Sir Thomas, 
 sir, your servant. Miss Betsy, your devoted. Miss Ca- 
 
 trina " 
 
 My hand fell suddenly, all my company vanished 
 all but two whom I saw before me in the light of a 
 sweet May day amid an orchard in blossom the blos- 
 som of fifteen years ago.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE ORCHARD AT HEATH COTE HOUSE. 
 
 THIS orchard was a part of the country house Mr. 
 Oliver Heathcote built near Greenwich Village, north 
 of my Lady Warren's, a few years before he was 
 stricken with the small-pox in 1772 and died. He had 
 devised the grounds quite in the English fashion, sur- 
 rounding the house with a hedge of box. A fine ave- 
 nue of locust trees made a delightful approach to the 
 porch in front. Behind the mansion was arranged a 
 beautiful pleasure garden with three terraced walks 
 and a marble fountain. Beyond all was a large orchard 
 that sloped down to the pebbly shore of Hudson's 
 River. 
 
 His widow migrated hither from the city annually 
 during the torrid months. The house was finely ac- 
 commodated for company, and as the inclination of the 
 lady of the manor was decidedly hospitable, she was 
 never without a number of relatives and friends around 
 her. 
 
 Among the former was Catrina Rutherford. 
 
 It must have been in the latter part of May. I re- 
 member the air had in it the first soft hazy sultriness 
 of summer when I rode with my friend, Ralph Ten- 
 nant, out of New York, along the country lanes, 
 through the sleepy little village of Greenwich and right 
 up to Mrs. Heathcote's gate. He had forced me to
 
 6 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 the journey with so little explanation, had been so 
 strangely uncommunicative on the way, that I suppose 
 I hesitated for a moment when we had dismounted. 
 
 "You don't fear to make new friends, Alex?" he 
 asked, knocking the dust from his boots. 
 
 "No, indeed," I replied, as we passed up the ave- 
 nue. "But I confess to a liking for some trifling prep- 
 aration." 
 
 "You don't need it," he said, smiling. "You must 
 remember Miss Rutherford, my companion of your 
 company at Williams's last year. This is my Aunt's." 
 
 "Oh," I said, "I might have guessed as much." 
 
 The front entrance stood open to admit the air. Be- 
 yond the further end of the cool dark hallway, through 
 the other door, likewise open, we caught a glimpse of 
 the garden and the river. 
 
 Ralph entered without ceremony. He conducted 
 me straight into the parlor, a large room elegantly set 
 off with pier glasses. It was darkened to exclude the 
 sunlight. 
 
 Coming so directly from the glare without I scarce 
 perceived that any one was present before I heard: 
 
 "Ralph; my dear boy! This time you have caught 
 me napping! The last two days have quite worn me 
 out. I see we did not tire you so much last night that 
 you could not make the journey again this morning. 
 Ah! Unconquerable" youth!" 
 
 There was a tone of pleasantry and affection in the 
 high, sharp, clear voice. 
 
 "I promised this return," said Ralph lowly as he
 
 THE ORCHARD AT HEATH COTE HOUSE. ^ 
 
 kissed the speaker on the forehead, "and," he added, "I 
 have ventured to bring my dearest friend, of whom I 
 have often spoken, Mr. Adams." 
 
 "Your dearest friend," she repeated slowly and with 
 an accent of curiosity as she rose to my presentation. 
 "I am delighted to meet a gentleman so highly ap- 
 proved." 
 
 As I bowed to this courtly welcome I saw Mrs. 
 Heathcote was a lady of stout proportions and walked 
 with the aid of a heavy gold-headed cane. Her feat- 
 ures were singularly aquiline, her complexion of a 
 sallow tint that rather emphasized her penetrating dark 
 eyes. She was attired in black, with a scrupulous neat- 
 ness. There was, indeed, in her appearance and man- 
 ner an unmistakable air of high distinction. 
 
 "The moments that remain are few, Ralph," she said. 
 "It is arranged finally that Catrina goes down in Mr. 
 De Lancy's sloop. That is the easiest way. Mr. Hicks 
 has been very kind in arranging this matter for us. 
 Without his aid I don't know what we could have 
 done. The adieux are all said." 
 
 "Where is Catrina?" Ralph asked. 
 
 "In the garden, I believe. Poor, motherless child," 
 she continued, speaking rather to me than to Ralph. 
 "She is loath to make this journey. Naturally enough, 
 she barely remembers her aunt. Ralph, you may leave 
 me to entertain Mr. Adams." 
 
 Miss Rutherford did not perceive Ralph until he had 
 lifted the low branches of the apple tree under which 
 she was resting and was almost by her side.
 
 8 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Dreaming, Catrina?" 
 
 Her reverie was still half with her as she asked : 
 
 "Was I?" 
 
 "Were you !" he exclaimed. "The last minute is sad- 
 der than you expected, eh? What are you doing here?" 
 
 She smiled. 
 
 "You will think me foolishly sentimental, but I 
 couldn't go without bidding my old trees goodby. 
 Ralph, do you remember the day we named them?" 
 
 Catrina's voice was close to tears. With intent to 
 support her Ralph answered briskly: 
 
 "My memory isn't short. Shall I ever forget it? 
 Then I was to sail. I don't forget, either, I had as little 
 inclination for Oxford as you have for Virginia." 
 
 "You are scarce home Ralph when this wind 
 blows me away. It is too bad!" she complained. "Do 
 you know, I don't think I should be going, but for Mr. 
 Hicks. He advises it so strongly." 
 
 "I wish any protest of mine could keep you. Aunt 
 won't listen. We have scarce had time to renew the 
 old friendship." 
 
 "Was it ever broken?" she asked quietly. 
 
 "No, indeed; no," he said. "But it isn't quite what 
 it was, is it, Catrina? There is a difference. I don't 
 know what. A dozen times I have meant to speak to 
 you, but you say I always take the easy road, and 
 somehow it has been easier to say nothing. I thought 
 when I returned we would drop into the old ways, but 
 I suppose they belonged to childhood. Alex says 
 there is always a break or change when "
 
 THE ORCHARD AT HEATHCOTE HOUSE g 
 
 Ralph's feelings were carrying him along. 
 
 "When?" asked Catrina, as he hesitated. 
 
 Ralph was gazing at the river flowing before him. 
 
 " when the current reaches the deeper waters 
 
 and feels the tides." 
 
 Catrina remained silent. 
 
 She knew Ralph was scanning her face. She also 
 felt that in his words the reserve, the vague sense of 
 some novel element in their old frank association 
 which she had noticed since his return from Europe 
 was striving for a voice. For the first time in their 
 long companionship his tone stirred her. Ralph had 
 been extravagantly gay recently. Catrina was half- 
 consciously happy that now at the hour of her de- 
 parture his spirits should terminate in a mood so 
 similar to that brooding within herself. 
 
 "Feels the tides," she repeated slowly. "The tide is 
 carrying me away in earnest. Still " 
 
 She turned sharply. Clapping her hands together, 
 she caught a falling blossom, as though it were a but- 
 terfly. 
 
 "Do you know I have been watching these fall for 
 the last hour. Oh, Ralph, how I hate to leave ! What 
 are you thinking of?" she asked, looking at him in- 
 tently. 
 
 "Oh," he answered, shaking off his meditation, "I 
 WHS wondering I suppose it's impossible to say how 
 long you will be away?" 
 
 U I don't know. How long will these troubles last, 
 Ralph?"
 
 IO THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Goodness knows! I hope not so long that you'll 
 forget old friends." 
 
 "Forget !" she echoed quickly. "Why should I for- 
 get? As you said a moment ago, my memory isn't 
 short.' 
 
 "It is my memory against yours?" 
 
 "The challenge doesn't daunt me." 
 
 "Remember you'll find little in Virginia to keep us 
 here in mind. I know how it is." 
 
 "Still you didn't forget. Neither shall I. But, 
 Ralph " 
 
 Catrina hesitated. 
 
 "I I wish let me beg a keepsake, any trifle as as 
 a token of the challenge between us. Do you mind?" 
 
 "What have I?" 
 
 "Any trifle," she said. 
 
 "I have nothing else for you," he said like one for- 
 getting himself. Then he added quickly : "Catrina, take 
 this old ring. Keep it until you return. I can't give it 
 to you. Mother gave it to me." 
 
 He offered her the jewel from his finger. 
 
 "Oh ! No, Ralph," she cried, much confused. 
 
 At that moment they heard the stumping of Mrs. 
 Heathcote's cane on the walk and my own footsteps 
 approaching. 
 
 "It is too large. I may lose it," she added as he 
 quickly slipped it on her finger. 
 
 "Catrina," he whispered hurriedly, "it may fit better 
 by-and-by. When you return " 
 
 "Catrina! Catrina!" commanded Mrs. Heathcote.
 
 THE ORCHARD AT HEATHCOTE HOUSE II 
 
 "You must hurry, child, Mr. De Lancy is now due. 
 Here, dear, this is Mr. Adams, Ralph's friend." 
 
 "I have met Mr. Adams before," she said, striving to 
 cover her excitement. "I had the pleasure of meeting 
 him when Ralph and I were indebted to him for a very 
 pleasant entertainment. I fear I was almost unbidden." 
 
 "Not unbidden," I said earnestly, much struck on 
 this second encounter by the sweetness of her features, 
 "certainly twice welcome." 
 
 "You are very kind," she murmured, and hurried 
 from us into the house. 
 
 Four hours later Ralph and I stood on the waterfront 
 in New York near the Whitehall slip to watch the sloop 
 go by. When Miss Catrina passed the point of the 
 island she signalled to us as prearranged. Ralph and 
 I waved back to her our good-by. We waited, gazing 
 at the movements of the craft until she passed almost 
 beyond the Narrows, where the brig Mercury was wait- 
 ing to go out with the tide, taking Miss Catrina and 
 two members of Mr. De Lancy's family. 
 
 Ralph at last turned to me. 
 
 "Well, Alex, let us go," he said. "I fear I have tired 
 you to-day. Truth is, this parting is, somehow, dole- 
 ful." 
 
 As he offered no explanation to me so far of my part 
 in the day's proceedings, I asked: 
 
 "What does it mean, my boy?" 
 
 I was so much his elder that at times I confessed my 
 years.
 
 12 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Alex, "I swear I don't know !" he exclaimed with 
 vehemence. 'There are people doomed to resolve ever 
 too late. Oh, come, let's drink to the travelers." 
 
 Beyond this I got nothing out of him. 
 
 I knew he and Miss Catrina had been companions 
 since childhood. So much he had told me when he 
 requested permission to make her one of my party with 
 himself at Williams's. Five years before, at the time he 
 departed for England to complete his education, he was 
 little more than a lad. I don't think there was a differ- 
 ence of a year in their ages. It is true during the few 
 months since Ralph's return he had been a constant 
 visitor at his Aunt's, but I who knew him so well and 
 saw so much of him, observed nothing that indicated 
 anything beyond a renewal of the old associations. 
 But, even of this he said nothing to me. 
 
 Long afterward in talking of the matter with Mrs. 
 Heathcote, she said, speaking perhaps rather to justify 
 an old woman's pride in her intuition than with any 
 clear memory of actual perceptions at the time : 
 
 "Oh, I was not blind, Mr. Adams, I assure you. I 
 knew Catrina and I knew Ralph, and I recognized in 
 them that there are some natures that are naturally al- 
 lied." 
 
 "Vanity," I thought. 
 
 Yet here am I writing about it. As events happened 
 and afterward I learned from many sources the full 
 history of the matter, and now I am setting it down in 
 order only to see it as a whole and understand it if I 
 can.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE. 
 
 UPON leaving our station on the water front near the 
 fort we strolled slowly to my lodgings on Queen 
 street, whither I asked Ralph to repair with me long 
 enough to permit me to despatch a short note to my 
 friend, Gen. Putnam, in answer to one of his. As a re- 
 sult it was dusk before we entered the Provincial Arms. 
 The Mall was deserted. When we passed Trinity the 
 lights in the houses on Broadway were beginning to 
 appear feebly. 
 
 That was an utterly careless visit of ours, begotten of 
 merely a momentary mood; yet how exactly, as now I 
 look back I see it fitted into the plot Destiny had de- 
 vised. 
 
 We found the taproom filled with a more numerous 
 company than ordinary. Entering, I saluted a few of 
 my acquaintance present. There happened to be va- 
 cant a small table in a remote corner, and Ralph and I 
 sat down to it and ordered our wine. 
 
 At first the conversation around, though loud, was 
 so general that we were little disturbed by it. I en- 
 deavored to bring Ralph to a more cheerful mood. The 
 talk of the room was all of a political cast. The country 
 was in open revolt against the home government.
 
 14 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Every day brought forth some event to inflame or im- 
 passion men. The Virginia convention at Williams- 
 burg a few days before had instructed its delegates in 
 the Continental Congress to move for a declaration of 
 independence, and this action of the southern patriots 
 had given at last public voice to the extreme sentiments 
 of a large body of the people. Independence had yet a 
 bold sound to many, but like the blast of a trumpet, the 
 tone stirred even the timid. 
 
 Perhaps in unconscious sympathy with 'the topic of 
 the general company I dropped into politics with 
 Ralph. 
 
 "I know which way you lean, Alex," he said at last, 
 smiling. "I'm so cold I fear I shall not please you with 
 either extreme. I have been out of these simmering 
 years that others have passed through." 
 
 "I'm no extremist," I broke in. "But in a serious 
 moment like this there is a station which every man is 
 bound to take." 
 
 "Well," said he, "I have no foothold yet. My predi- 
 lections, if I have any, run in my father's footsteps. You 
 know, with him loyalty was the first duty of a gentle- 
 man." 
 
 A voice shrill as a pipe penetrated the buzz of con- 
 versation. 
 
 "It's damned insolence, I say, for Freddy North 
 and that immaculate Johnny Bute to talk of clemency 
 and pardon to this free people. For what, in the name 
 of heaven? For protecting our homes? Asserting our 
 rights? Let them send over their boasted 'regulars'
 
 ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE 1 5 
 
 Hessians, Brunswickers, Hanoverians, Waldeckers 
 the free and independent states of America are not to 
 be terrified by all the slaves of king-ridden Europe." 
 
 Instantly the room was in silence. 
 
 The man who had attracted the company's attention 
 was a small, slim, wiry individual, with a bristling, ex- 
 citable manner. His dress declared him a person of 
 some importance. He was surrounded by a numerous 
 following. Many, quite evidently, had been drinking 
 freely. Of these was a gentleman the very opposite in 
 stature of the speaker a portly man, with an immense 
 head, who, despite his pea-green coat, white satin vest 
 and nankeen small clothes, discovered in his attire a 
 certain personal negligence. He was lounging back in 
 his chair, with his legs stretched out under the table. 
 
 "Scott !" he exclaimed, drowsily, "I like your invec- 
 tive. There are teeth in it always." 
 
 The little man smiled vainly. 
 
 "I wish I had your thunder, Reilly," he said by way 
 of a return of the compliment. 
 
 "Gad, I don't doubt it," said the big man, calmly, 
 "but," he added, striking his chest with a ponderous 
 hairy fist, "your body would first have to suffer a 
 trifling inflation. 
 
 "We cannot all be Jove," said the other, uneasily. 
 
 "By Jove, we can't !" exclaimed Reilly, with a loud 
 laugh. "But come, Scott, speaking of 'regulars,' oblige 
 this patriotic company with that song of yours, 'The 
 King's Own Regulars.' I assure you, gentlemen, as 
 Mr. Scott sings it, his voice is the very fife of satire."
 
 1 6 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 The littlej : man peevishly demurred, but the spirit of 
 the company would entertain no refusal. Glasses were 
 refilled and Mr. Scott, after further pressing, in a kind 
 of piping recitative and with very evident nervousness 
 began : 
 
 Since you all will have singing and won't be said nay, 
 
 I cannot refuse, when you so beg and pray; 
 
 So I'll sing you a song as a body may say, 
 
 'Tis of the King's Regulars, who ne'er ran away. 
 
 In a deep bass voice Mr. Reilly echoed, thumping 
 the table as though it were a drum: 
 
 " 'Tis of the King's Regulars, who ne'er ran away." 
 
 Grown proud at reviews tyrant George had no rest; 
 Each grandsire of his had rebellion suppressed, 
 He wished a rebellion, looked round and saw none, 
 So resolved a rebellion to make of his own. 
 
 He pitched on the Yankees. Said he, they won't fight. 
 
 So he sent us away to take over their right. 
 
 And to spare our review clothes he begged, and 
 
 begged louder: 
 "Brother Kings for God's sake sell the Yankees no 
 
 powder." 
 
 Our General mighty did bravely devise 
 How at Lexington we might the Yankees surprise. 
 We marched, and remarched, and at last, being beat, 
 Our General's plan of surprise was complete. 
 
 Near Boston we met with some rebels one day, 
 We marshalled ourselves all in
 
 ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE \J 
 
 The company in the room, with the exce Hion of our- 
 selves and another couple of gentlemen sitting at a 
 table near to ours, had either gathered around the 
 singer or had drawn up their chairs closer to him. All 
 were mightily amused. Every stanza was greeted with 
 noisy hilarity. 
 
 I must say even to myself there was something 
 piquant in the misty picture of that little man in the 
 yellow candle light befogged with tobacco smoke de- 
 livering that doggerel in his peculiarly monotonous and 
 strident voice, which piped higher and higher as his 
 excitement mastered him under the stimulus of the 
 general applause. 
 
 Early in the performance it was evident our two near 
 neighbors did not relish the entertainment. One was 
 a red-haired, robust, beefy-faced man of great breadth 
 of shoulder. His finery did not hide a pronounced 
 coarseness of nature. His companion was younger, 
 tall, agile of frame, with noticeable quick, frank and 
 sympathetic eyes. While Mr. Scott was repeating his 
 ode I saw the elder of these two, more than once, 
 place his hand on the shoulder of his friend, in a re- 
 straining manner, but at the beginning of the last verse 
 the younger man jumped to his feet impetuously, 
 kicked over his chair and broke out in a voice clearly 
 habituated to command : 
 
 "Enough of that ribald treason ! Cunningham, I can 
 stand this no longer ! Damn me if my protest shan't go 
 for what it's worth." 
 
 He strode past me to Mr. Scott.
 
 1 8 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 A tense silence fell upon the room. 
 
 "Am I to understand you desire to interrupt me, 
 sir?" cried Mr. Scott excitedly, before the other had 
 time to address him. 
 
 "I care little, sir, how you understand it. You shall 
 not proceed with your disreputable song if it lies in my 
 power to choke it in your throat. I have yet to learn 
 that rebellion absolves the subject of his duties or the 
 gentleman of his manners." 
 
 "Who, pray, is this doughty minion of King 
 George?" sneered Mr. Scott. 
 
 "You're welcome to my name, sir. I am Percy. 
 
 "Lord Percy! You are braver in the tavern, my 
 lord, than we found you in the field. Your run from 
 Lexington didn't wind you, I see. 
 
 "Insolent rebel!" 
 
 The next moment Percy had seized his opponent by 
 the throat. 
 
 Immediately the room was in an uproar. Cunning- 
 ham, Lord Percy's companion, made a dash to aid his 
 friend and felled two of the crowd who endeavored to 
 impede him. Ralph was close to Percy. Without a 
 moment's thought he was up, seized him from behind, 
 and flung him aside against the table at which we had 
 been sitting. 
 
 Percy would have fallen but for the momentary sup- 
 port this obstacle afforded him. Leaning against it to 
 steady himself, he eyed Ralph. 
 
 "This is hardly the way to re-establish your reputa- 
 tion, laying hands on an old man," cried Ralph.
 
 ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE 1 9 
 
 Perhaps Lord Percy was stung. Certainly it arrest- 
 ed prompt attack upon Ralph, for he cried : 
 
 "Who the devil are you ?" 
 
 "You are as welcome to my name, as we were to 
 yours. My name is Tennant." 
 
 The commotion that followed drowned Percy's reply. 
 
 "Down with the Tories !" roared some one. 
 
 'Tar "and feather them !" 
 
 "The Liberty Pole !" 
 
 What might have happened I cannot say. The com- 
 pany was closing around the two Tories. At this junc- 
 ture both realized the precariousness of their position. 
 Fighting, they made toward the fireplace for a door- 
 way that led to the garden in the rear of the tavern. 
 
 It was a sharp shuffle. Blows were struck at ran- 
 dom. But the two succeeded in reaching the door, and 
 covered by the darkness, fled to the river's edge, fol- 
 lowed by the irate crowd. 
 
 It appeared Percy and his friend had made their en- 
 try a most risky adventure for them by water, for 
 their boat was on the shore. I among the first reached 
 the bank. The fugitives had made good their escape, 
 and we could hear the retreating sound of oars rapidly 
 plied. 
 
 Somebody discharged a pistol at random into the 
 darkness. Almost with the echoes of the report re- 
 turned the cry: 
 
 "There will be a day of reckoning, you rebels !" 
 
 In a tavern almost everything that happens fur- 
 nishes an occasion for drinking. It was not surprising
 
 2O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 that when the excited crowd re-entered the taproom 
 conviviality was renewed on a liberal scale. The un- 
 expected episode was, of course, the topic of all conver- 
 sation, and denunciation of all Tories was washed down 
 with an abundance of good Whig liquor. Shortly patri- 
 otism reached a highly spirituous and turbulent mood. 
 
 Ralph and I lingered, at first, listening, but our in- 
 terest fagged and we were about to depart, when Mr. 
 Scott, as though aware of our intention, came over to 
 where we were sitting. His face confessed liberal pota- 
 tions. His manner was a bit unsteady, but betrayed a 
 certain suavity and good nature quite invisible when I 
 first cast eyes on him. His wine had mellowed him. 
 Addressing Ralph, he said : 
 
 "I hope, sir I sincerely trust you don't think I'm 
 tardy in thanking you for your service recently?" 
 
 "My service, sir?" inquired Ralph. 
 
 "Your really eminent service, sir. Gad, restoring my 
 windpipe to the performance of its its function, isn't 
 that a service? I came near to finishing more than my 
 ditty." 
 
 "Oh, that was altogether too lively for a swan song," 
 said Ralph, smiling. 
 
 "Swan song! Ha! Ha! I fear you consider me 
 something of an old cackling goose sporting my voice 
 in public. But as you are from Oxford, sir, I may say, 
 deeming myself inter flwnina nota ct fontes sacros, I hoped 
 my indiscretion had an air of merely homely levity. 
 When we encounter the crowd it must be nugis armatus. 
 Am I not right?"
 
 ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE 21 
 
 The little man delivered himself in a rhetorical, jerky, 
 comical manner, blinking his eyes rapidly in an endeav- 
 or to hide his unsteadiness. 
 
 "Of course, Mr. Tennant, I'm aware my perform- 
 ance may have been off offensive to you and," he 
 added, leaning over the table to whisper, "if it was I 
 apologize. I am doubly grateful for your service if 
 you'll allow it, also a little sur surprised " 
 
 One could not help detecting a slightly obsequious 
 note it was pitched a tone or two above familiarity 
 in this rambling utterance, quite at variance with the 
 speaker's previous acrid coldness. Ralph looked at me 
 inquiringly, then at the stranger, who, seeing my 
 friend's hesitation, asked : 
 
 "Can it be you haven't heard of Isaac Scott !" 
 
 "I have been absent from home so long, sir, you 
 must forgive me ignorance of much I ought to know. 
 Certainly until to-night you have been a stranger to 
 me, even in name." 
 
 "Five years in England yes, five 1772, 1773, 1774, 
 1775 and 1776 (he checked the count off on his fin- 
 gers). It was, egad, a long break." 
 
 He said this to himself in a tone of fine concession. 
 Then bending toward Ralph he hastened to add : 
 
 "Don't think I'm arguing myself a public character. 
 You and I, sir, come closer to one another than that. 
 It wouldn't have been strange not at all had you 
 heard of me privately and preposterously eh? Stick- 
 ing pins into you? Let me order those glasses refilled. 
 Do. Eh?"
 
 22 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 He ordered wine. When it had been set before us 
 he said with a lush confidence : 
 
 "I don't often feel like this, really I don't. It's ex- 
 hilarating, isn't it?" 
 
 "It's an honor I appreciate," said Ralph quizzically. 
 
 "Honor? No. No. It's a service, sir, I intend to 
 
 return for yours. No, that isn't it, I mean " he 
 
 paused slowly struggling to think lucidly. "But drink. 
 And let me propose a toast one day I assure 
 you, you will drink as I do to the damnation of 
 Whitehead Hicks." 
 
 Flushed, his little eyes flashing with a serpent-like 
 brilliancy, he rose and extended his glass to Ralph's. 
 
 Instantly Ralph, too, was on his feet. 
 
 "This is a queer insult, sir. I like it none the less be- 
 cause you are making use of the name of my friend," 
 he said warmly. 
 
 "Your guardian, eh? Ha! Ha!" the little man 
 rattled as he dropped back into his chair. "But I beg 
 you to be seated do while I exs explain. Thank 
 you." 
 
 "Only for that purpose," said Ralph as he complied. 
 "How comes it you know my affairs so intimately?" 
 
 "An accident, sir a misfortune. Let me 'splain. 
 For four four four years I was Hicks's partner. 
 Damn him! Surprised? 
 
 "You?" cried Ralph. 
 
 "I sir I, to my everlasting regret. Four years to 
 discover ugh the blindness of one's eyes! Poor 
 optics ! Nature joined in the deceit. She has masked
 
 ISAAC SCOTT MAKES HIS APPEARANCE. 2$ 
 
 that hypocrite most perfect disguise. King's com- 
 missioner ! Thief ! Renegade ! Damn him !" 
 
 The heat of the room and the operation of the liquor 
 were increasing his tendency to incoherence. His 
 moods, pompous, familiar, querulous, bitter, succeeded 
 one another with rapidity. 
 
 "This is no explanation," cried Ralph hotly. 
 
 His glass to his lips, Scott replied nodding, "True! 
 It's descriptive. But really really, it isn't from me. 
 If you only understood you ought to demand a bill of 
 particulars. (He said "billerticklers.") You are swin 
 died, sir as I was. Demand a reckoning. Damn 
 thief! Years of absence, eh? Golden 'tunity gambling 
 scoundrel. Be careful distrust boyish confidence 
 old fox King's commissioner ! Ha ! Ha ! Ha !" 
 
 The wine had completely conquered him. 
 
 He sat in front of us nodding sleepily. 
 
 "This is outrageous," cried Ralph to me. 
 
 "Eh?" murmured the little man struggling to awake. 
 "Out-rageous ! 'Tis! eminently! Order'm in. They 
 all drink. The King's own regulars! Ha!" 
 
 He arose, looked at us stupidly. 
 
 "Red coats ! Red hands ! Red wine !" he cried, wav 
 ing his arms. 
 
 He collapsed and fell to the floor.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE DAWN OF SUSPICION. 
 
 THE affair in the tavern did not improve Ralph's spir- 
 its. Outwardly he affected little heed to the befuddled 
 statements of Mr. Scott, but there is something sticky 
 about defamation, and I could see Ralph was busy with 
 the aspersions cast upon his father's friend. 
 
 "That man's statements are inconceivable," he said 
 to me in a musing way as we turned into Wall street, 
 on the way home. 
 
 "He was Mr. Hicks's partner," I suggested. 
 
 "He says he was!" he exclaimed with force. 
 
 "He was," said I. 
 
 "How do you know?" he asked, turning on me. 
 
 "My dear boy, remember I haven't been away from 
 New York for the past five years. This town isn't so 
 large that one of some prominence can be lost in it. 
 Mr. Scott is well known a man of temper and irasci- 
 bility, as you may judge, but he's honest. He stands 
 well." 
 
 "He does?" he asked, softly. 
 
 "He does," I repeated. "Unless his liquor to-night 
 made him quite irresponsible, I would not take any- 
 thing he said too lightly. I recollect, at the time he
 
 THE DAWN OF SUSPICION 2$ 
 
 parted from Mr. Hicks, there was talk of a fierce dis- 
 agreement between them. Nothing but the discord of 
 the times silenced it." 
 
 "Ugh," he grunted. "This is the first I hear of it." 
 
 "It may not be too late," I said. 
 
 "Too late, Alex! For what, pray?" 
 
 "Why," said I, "to protect yourself." 
 
 "The*n you take stock in that drunkard's ravings?" 
 he demanded. 
 
 "Perhaps we had better drop the subject," I sug- 
 gested. 
 
 "No," said he, testily, "I don't wish it, having gone 
 so far." 
 
 "Well," said I, stung a little by his spirit, "I would 
 prefer to drop it. I have no wish to offend you, Ralph, 
 by unwelcome frankness." 
 
 "Oh, come," he cried, with a laugh that was still a 
 bit uneasy, "it would be queer if I couldn't hear any- 
 thing you had to tell me." 
 
 "If that be so," said I, resolutely, "I will confess I 
 have little confidence in Whitehead Hicks. There's a 
 polish there, like steel, that indicates sharpness." 
 
 "He is a Tory, eh? Admit your prejudice, Alex." 
 
 "Not at all," I protested. "I distrusted the man long 
 before his political opinions were of any positive ac- 
 count." 
 
 "You distrust him the more, no doubt, now that he 
 prefers the safety of His Majesty's flag to the freedom 
 of this city. Eh?" 
 
 "Ralph, there was no need of his speedy absconding
 
 26 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 to that man-of-war out yonder. He replied before he 
 was challenged. Such prudence has a meaning." 
 
 "Much good his reply would have done after chal- 
 lenge ! Did not Governor Tryon and others withdraw 
 as early?" 
 
 "Yes, but for known reasons. Remember, Hicks 
 played the friend, even wore a Whiggish phiz for a 
 time, then sneaked away. Strange, too, shortly after 
 that visit of his to London." 
 
 "To London !" he echoed. 
 
 "Are you ignorant there, too?" I asked. "You in 
 England at the time!" 
 
 "I saw him not," said Ralph, dolefully. "That is 
 strange. Very." 
 
 "Yet you remember his appointments Scott hinted 
 <af," I suggested, my own mind receiving a gleam of 
 new light as I spoke. "But," I added, "why bother? 
 Your property is of more importance to you than these 
 political matters, which will clear themselves in time. 
 Have you ever had an accounting?" 
 
 "I have demanded none," he said. 
 
 "And none was offered?" I vouchsafed. 
 
 "None; but you see, Alex," he pleaded, " I came 
 of age when abroad, and since I returned well, you 
 know, at first I was all for pleasure, finding old friends, 
 and lately everything has been too disturbed for busi- 
 ness." 
 
 "Too bad !" I cried. "There is more trouble ahead, 
 and who can foretell the outcome?" 
 
 We were by this time before the door of my lodg-
 
 THE DAWN OF SUSPICION 2"J 
 
 ings. Although I pressed Ralph to enter for a while, 
 he refused. 
 
 "I wish," said he, as he gave me "good-night," 
 "there was some way of my getting out to the "Asia" 
 to-morrow. Jerry Alner, I hear, keeps a strict watch 
 over all arrivals and departures since old Putnam's 
 order forbidding communication between the fleet and 
 the shore, and faith ! while I have a most real desire now 
 to speak with the King's commissioner, I would not 
 like it at the risk of being taken as a public enemy." 
 
 "No doubt we can find a way," said I, "if you have 
 a mind for it." 
 
 "I think I have," said he. 
 
 The next morning I was scarce seated at breakfast 
 when Ralph arrived. He was in a much pleasanter 
 mood than the evening before. Indeed, he was in quite 
 boyish spirits, as was often the case with him, for he 
 fluctuated from one extreme of humor to another with- 
 out apparent cause. 
 
 "If you were to ask me to breakfast, Alex, I might 
 not refuse," he suggested gayly. "Not a bite have I 
 had yet, though I have been up three hours." 
 
 "What have you been doing?" I asked, preparing a 
 place for him at the table. 
 
 "Receiving apologies, Alex, from our friend of last 
 night." 
 
 "Who? Scott? Where the deuce did you meet him 
 so early?" 
 
 "I did not meet him; he came to me, as though he 
 were an old visitor; polished with politeness, verbal with
 
 28 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 regrets. He is a queer little old fellow. I don't alto- 
 gether dislike him. Looked like a sick terrier. So- 
 briety returns like a dyspeptic Puritan." 
 
 "What did he say?" I asked. 
 
 "What didn't he say? Talked for two hours. Filled 
 in his incoherences of last night with a most circum- 
 stantial tale of his late partner's villainies. The moral 
 but there wasn't anything moral in his story the con- 
 clusion is: some part, perhaps a large part, of all my 
 floating property may be dissipated gone, apparently, 
 to pay a gambler's debts of honor. If all I hear is true 
 the outbreak of trouble must have been a happy refuge 
 for a certain eminent person." 
 
 "You take it easy," I said. 
 
 "Why not?" Taking it hard won't recall a penny." 
 
 "Then you believe Scott's story?" I asked. 
 
 "I can't doubt it," said he. After a moment he con- 
 tinued : "My affairs were the first cause of their separ- 
 ation and enmity. It would all have been out, I sup- 
 pose, had I been home earlier, and had not these 
 violent times come upon us. Scott has other griev- 
 ances, too, more personal. Fill up my cup, Alex. 
 Don't be so absorbed. You are spilling it, man." 
 
 "What steps do you intend taking?" I persisted. 
 
 "Steps? I don't know. I am going for a sail to- 
 night. Read that. We were wondering last evening 
 how I could get a passport. See, one arrives this morn- 
 ing, "On His Majesty's Service." I tell you, Alex, to 
 think of an event is to make it happen. Remember 
 that, as you go along."
 
 THE DAWN OF SUSPICION 2Q 
 
 The letter Ralph handed me to read ran as follows : 
 
 My Dear Ralph I have neither wrote to you nor 
 seen you as much as I would like of late, solely on ac- 
 count of our public disturbances, and the serious duties 
 that have devolved on me in consequence. When I 
 was forced to quit the city my departure was necessarily 
 hasty, and I could do no more than barely acquaint you 
 of my destination, which I did through our good friend 
 Glover, and leave further news until I was conveniently 
 placed for correspondence. My condition is still some- 
 what constrained, and in the general interests I serve I 
 have to observe more than ordinary strictness. There 
 are matters, nevertheless, that we ought to talk over, 
 and as the only way open is for you to come to me, 
 won't you make the attempt, which I am sure you may 
 with perfect safety? Signify to the bearer of this that 
 you will be ready, and at 8 o'clock to-night a boat will 
 be waiting you within hail from the shore at the foun- 
 dry, close by Harrison's brewery. Four sharp whistles 
 and one a trifle longer will be an understood signal. I 
 have many messages to send to our friends, but will re- 
 tain these until I see you; unless, indeed, I ask you now 
 to convey my compliments to your aunt, Mrs. Heath- 
 cote, whom, perhaps, you may see in the meantime. 
 By the way, I had a few minutes' talk with Miss Ruth- 
 erford as she passed down the bay. She is a charming 
 young lady, and left with me a message for you you 
 rascal. The warmest wishes and prayers ever attend 
 you of 
 
 Your affectionate Whitehead Hicks. 
 
 "Are you going?" I asked dubiously, as I rehanded 
 him the letter. 
 
 "Why not?" he asked. "Burdened with new infor- 
 mation I feel like making a voyage of discovery."
 
 3O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "You need much care, Ralph," I cautioned. "You 
 are standing partly on quicksand. A false friend may 
 be better than an active enemy in days like these. The 
 old securities are themselves uncertain. Besides, though 
 I take -Scott to be truthful in the main, his avowed hos- 
 tility may have led him to exaggerate." 
 
 "My dear Alex, don't fear. I'm not going to make 
 hot charges. I think I can be a bit of a diplomat, if 
 needs be. At least I shall try. By the way, Mr. Scott 
 has invited me to go back home to Albany in his com- 
 pany and pay a visit to his family. I feel so much like 
 roaming just now that I have accepted. What do you 
 think of it?" 
 
 "Great heavens, Ralph ! What restlessness is in you 
 these days?" 
 
 "Don't ask me," says he, with a sudden depression. 
 
 "Ralph, confess it you're in love," I said, rising and 
 putting my hand on his shoulder. 
 
 "Catrina?" I whispered. 
 
 "Tush !" he said. Yet I knew there was something 
 pleasant to him in the sound of that name.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 A TORT IN RETREAT. 
 
 THOSE certainly were doleful days for good Tories. 
 New York and the country around contained, per- 
 haps, a larger number of persons than elsewhere, many 
 of high eminence, whose sympathy or interests went 
 with the British. But they were forced to pay dearly, 
 in indignities and hardships, for allegiance to an un- 
 popular cause. Tory hunting was a favorite pastime 
 of an exuberant patriotism. Forced oaths of neutrality 
 as the price of peace were exacted from the inoffensive. 
 For the obnoxious or the hostile a coat of tar and 
 feathers and a journey on a rail were regarded rather in 
 the light of a patriotic levity than as punishment. 
 
 I confess I never did take my politics so hard as not 
 to deplore these outrages. A cause so righteous as ours 
 could, I judge, have got along well enough without 
 violence to individuals. No doubt this mob ven- 
 geance quieted a good deal of active opposition on be- 
 half of the king. Indeed, the position of a Tory in these 
 parts, even before the immediate days I speak of, was 
 become almost an untenable one for any but the ob- 
 scure. Many had retired to quieter places where the 
 political challenge was not quite so insistent, others
 
 32 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 had fled across the sea, some sought such protection as 
 the arm of England then afforded within this country 
 itself. But since the evacuation of Boston this latter 
 asylum was confined almost, if not entirely, to the 
 decks of war vessels lying in the harbors. The "Asia," 
 the "Duchess of Gordon" and other men-of-war re- 
 ceived, I understand, numerous refugees from New 
 York, who subsequently were conveyed to England on 
 transports returning to the mother country. Others 
 holding high official positions remained aboard "tak- 
 ing a little salt water with their dignity," Reilly said 
 until such time as the puissance of Britain could assert 
 itself and restore them to their forsaken authority. 
 Your Tory of no matter what cause is a cocksure crea- 
 ture, and surely no Tory ever was more supremely con- 
 fident of his alliance with Heaven and the inevitable 
 order of things on earth than the American Tory of 
 these first years of conflict. For him the success of the 
 British arms was calculable by arithmetic. The failure 
 so far of the British force to make headway against the 
 Continental cause did not shake in the least his con- 
 fidence. The legions had not yet arrived. Therein was 
 his comfort. 
 
 In 'retreat on board His Majesty's Ship "Asia," 
 Whitehead Hicks was making these comforting cal- 
 culations, as were other Tories. But in his sum there 
 were many purely personal factors which he added up 
 over and over again to be sure of no error, as he walked 
 the deck, his white jewelled hands clasped behind his 
 back, gazing now over to the picturesque roofs of
 
 A TORT IN RETREAT 33 
 
 Manhattan, now out through the Narrows to the sea 
 horizon. 
 
 I must acknowledge he was a remarkably striking 
 figure. He impressed me greatly (as, I believe, he did 
 everyone who came within the circle of his influence) 
 with a sensation of immense personal force. His stat- 
 ure, his voice, his manners were alike large and com-, 
 manding By virtue of some most positive quality per- 
 haps his superlative egotism. He dressed most hand- 
 somely, which added an appropriate setting for his mas- 
 sive regular features, the striking character of which 
 was strangely enhanced by an almost babylike fineness 
 of skin. His hands were as shapely and soft as a 
 woman's, and always, as many had noticed, of a deci- 
 ded warmness. He was extravagantly fond of jewelry, 
 lace and fine linen. I never saw him but these parts of 
 his attire seemed, as it were, to speak out to me of an 
 immaculate whiteness permeating even to the man's 
 fibre. Withal, he was never loud, but carried himself, 
 his clothes, his manners, his jewelry, with an ease and 
 naturalness that I may justly characterize as superb. 
 
 About him, however, there was, despite a frankness 
 that frequently appeared complete, a certain element 
 which I think most people at all sensitive to such mat- 
 ters felt in his presence, which I cannot better desig- 
 nate than by naming it something unknown. Was 
 the surface too highly polished to permit any revela- 
 tion of what was going on within? Yet he could be 
 communicative. His knowledge was abundant. His 
 opinions always carried a large judicial tone.
 
 34 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Such was the man as he appeared. We who now 
 know him to the core are aware of the ambition that 
 stirred him, the active side of his intense egotism the 
 tireless effort to put a sharper edge to his endeavor to 
 cut his way through the hard obstacles that stood be- 
 tween him and the power and affluence he so ardently 
 desired. 
 
 He started life with neither, the son of an English 
 clergyman, Dr. Egerton Hicks, of aristocratic descent, 
 who is well remembered, even to this day in Virginia, 
 as the "Bishop of Jamestown," a nickname given to 
 him on account both of his authoritative manner in so- 
 ciety and his arrogance in ecclesiastic affairs. The son 
 was sent to college in England, to Cambridge, I think, 
 embraced the law, and years later, after failure to es- 
 tablish himself successfully in London, came to New 
 York. It is said he failed in the great capital, being too 
 addicted to good company and the courtly life, and be- 
 cause of over-confidence in the favor of high friends. 
 Disappointed, but not disheartened, deeply in debt, he 
 fled to New York as a last resort. In so provincial sur- 
 roundings his "personal size" was immediately re- 
 vealed. He had a natural instinct for "position" pub- 
 lic visibility and soon cut a figure in the highest life 
 of the colony. Esteemed for his elegance by his equals, 
 courted by his inferiors for his supposed reputation 
 with the lordly in England, he imposed himself wher- 
 ever he would yet, if I may say so, by all he was un- 
 consciously mistrusted. Why? Probably no one ex- 
 actly knew.
 
 A TORY IN RETREAT 35 
 
 By and by his father died leaving him some prop- 
 erty. He promptly paid off at least part, some persons 
 said all of the debts he had left behind in England. This 
 act of honesty undoubtedly was managed with some 
 publicity, yet not everybody was convinced by it. He 
 conformed strictly to all religious usages without ever 
 being esteemed devout. He drank with the best, and 
 yet was never in their eyes a good fellow. He talked 
 learnedly, but men like Mr. Alexander and Judge 
 Smith declared him shallow. He courted the power- 
 ful and wealthy with splendid indifference and with 
 crafty persistence, yet he never won their favor to the 
 point of benefits. Lieutenant-Governor Golden un- 
 doubtedly used Hicks's abilities to build up his own for- 
 tunes, and dodged payment in kind. Sir Henry Moore, 
 when governor, as well as the Earl of Dunmore, his 
 successor, shared Mr. Hicks's company freely, and then 
 preferred men with whom they had been very much less 
 familiar. Indeed, the only close friend he ever had, as 
 far as I know, was Ralph's father, Livingston Tennant, 
 and in this case surely the friendship was entirely one- 
 sided. Livingston Tennant believed in the man, and 
 proved it, when dying, by entrusting to him, as guar- 
 dian and trustee for his only son, the management of 
 his large sugar houses, his shipping business and his 
 considerable possessions in land. 
 
 William Tryon was then Governor, being newly ar- 
 rived, July 9, 1771. Whitehead Hicks, by this time 
 facing the downward years of life, made an effort that 
 no doubt had something of the desperate in it, to reach
 
 36 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 the success for which he so long had striven. At this 
 particular moment he was better prepared for the strug- 
 gle than he had ever been. Due to the elder Tennant's 
 confidence he now occupied, for the first time, a sub- 
 stantial position in the life of the colony. For the time 
 being he had power over if he did not actually possess 
 wealth. He formed a partnership with Judge Scott, 
 partly, no doubt, for the sake of additional prestige, 
 Scott being one of the most distinguished men then at 
 the bar, and partly, some said afterward, to cover his 
 future operations. He took for himself and Ralph an 
 imposing house on Broad street. He dressed, it was 
 noticed, even more luxurious than 'ever. He enter- 
 tained sumptuously. The Governor and his suite as 
 well as the officers of the garrison, were constantly 
 with him. 'Tis said he gambled freely with the best 
 born among the latter. He opened communication 
 with his old friends in England, particularly Lord 
 Mansfield, and while Ralph was there visited that coun- 
 try. Then, finally for Fortune will reward the hard 
 suitor for her favors he was appointed member of His 
 Majesty's council and judge. But there is some pity 
 in it to the last the goddess was fickle with him. The 
 offices were obtained at the very outbreak of hostilities 
 between the mother country and the colonies, and the 
 positions were, therefore, empty ones. 'Tis said he got 
 them because, under the circumstances, they were nom- 
 inal. Certainly before he had possessed himself of them 
 he and his patron, Tryon, were forced to flee to the 
 king's warships.
 
 A TORT IN RETREAT 37 
 
 Aboard the "Asia" he was necessarily an idler. This 
 enforced leisure gave him time to plan splendidly. Had 
 he been less keen, less fearful of being his own dupe, he 
 would have allowed himself the luxury of feeling 
 sure of success. Could he not indeed feel it at 
 his finger tips? His appointments snatched, 'tis true, 
 from the debris of British rule were for the moment of 
 little more value than drafts upon an extinct banking 
 house; but might he not be certain that the might of 
 England would triumph by and by, and make them 
 good? What could defeat him this time? 
 
 Repeatedly he analyzed the situation, aching to dis- 
 cover its weakness, desiring rather to face it now, when 
 preparation was possible, than hereafter, when dis- 
 appointment would be crushing. 
 
 "Damn it, the ground seems firm," he would say to 
 himself. "Yet, if not? Ugh! I am too deep in it with 
 Ralph, and worse luck, must go further. Why does a 
 brat like that possess" he paused in his thoughts and 
 smiled as he added "possess what I have to spend? 
 Certainly there might easily be nasty trouble there. 
 Still, he knows nothing. This forced flight of mine, 
 by gad ! came in the nick of time. They say the devil's 
 children have their father's luck. One year that's all 
 I need. Catrina's safe for a time. I was lucky nip- 
 ping that in the bud. Her fancy for Ralph might easily 
 become something closer to the heart. Youth is a 
 quick soil. Still- 
 He smiled again, extended his white right hand, 
 making the rings sparkle in the sunlight.
 
 38 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "They say," he continued, "a young girl prefers ma- 
 turity, and" gazing at his shapely silk hose "egad, 
 this is maturity." 
 
 He arose, stretched back his shoulders and inhaled 
 deeply. 
 
 "I never felt younger. Pshaw, I shall win there, too !" 
 
 Despite this mental manoeuvring it was something 
 of a shock to Whitehead Hicks to hear from Lord Per- 
 cy of Ralph's part in the episode in the city tavern. 
 
 "Who did you say seized you?" he asked, rousing 
 himself. 
 
 "A fellow named Tennant," replied Percy, "a good- 
 looking chap. Do you know him?" 
 
 "There are few persons over there not known to me," 
 was the cautious answer. The speaker was inwardly 
 saying : 
 
 "Can Ralph be such a hot-headed fool? At least 
 why not remain neutral; that is the safe course for him. 
 Besides, a hostile alliance with rebels, going so far as to 
 do public violence to friends of mine whose good will 
 I need, compromises me! The fool should know bet- 
 ter." 
 
 Moreover, the possibility that Ralph was intimate 
 with Isaac Scott alarmed him. How far was the ac- 
 quaintance gone? Was he, Hicks, after all living in a 
 fool's paradise? He must find out.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 THE FIRST INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA." 
 
 TOWARD 8 o'clock that evening Ralph slipped away 
 from my lodgings and made for his rendezvous on the 
 river shore, near the foundry. The night was not en- 
 tirely propitious for an expedition of the sort he was 
 undertaking, being clear and starlit. After a brisk 
 walk along Broadway, thence past Vauxhall and along 
 the road to Greenwich, he arrived at his destination. In 
 the neighborhood of his trysting place a little boy 
 wished him good-night and went away humming along 
 the country lane, but no one else met him. The moon 
 was in the first quarter. Its faint cold light shim- 
 mered like sparkling iridescence on the water rippled 
 by a fresh northwest wind. When sure of being unno- 
 ticed Ralph crept down to the beach. For some mo- 
 ments he scanned the river. Not a living thing was vis- 
 ible, nothing but the flowing tide and a few lights 
 twinkling at Paulus Hook and Habuck on the far shore. 
 He listened. There was no sound save water lapping 
 the pebbles and the hum in his ears of the whistling 
 breeze. The scene was lonely, and exhilarating. 
 
 Had the appointment miscarried? Ralph turned and 
 looked down the stream. In the bay the faint silver 
 reflection of the moon stretched out through the Nar-
 
 4O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 rows to the dark horizon. Not a speck on the water in- 
 dicated a boat. As he watched, the soft irresistible far 
 away spell of the sea rilled him. He put his hands to 
 his lips trumpetwise and whistled. The signal startled 
 him; made his blood tingle. He fancied some one was 
 creeping up behind him. He even turned around 
 sharply. Nothing. He patched the river again, and 
 after a moment discerned a boat approaching from the 
 north, out of the deeper purple of the centre of the 
 stream. It was manned by four sailors and a young 
 petty officer. It moved rapidly, dancing on the waves. 
 
 "Your name?" asked the officer as the keel grounded 
 at Ralph's feet. 
 
 "Tennant," replied Ralph quickly. 
 
 "Jump in, sir." 
 
 Not a word was spoken as they slipped down with 
 the tide past the quiet city. Ralph noted each familiar 
 landmark as it glided by, and off the point of the island 
 wondered where that other voyager was now who so 
 recently had hailed it in passing. 
 
 Evidently he was desired not to speak. He had no 
 inclination. His thoughts were weaving themselves 
 with rare subtlety into the moving scene, and the jour- 
 ney every minute became more and more like a pas- 
 sage in a dream. All the more like a dream was it when 
 by and by, after a long pull, the dark hull of the "Asia" 
 towered before him with its huge black spars and in- 
 tricate web of rigging against the faint moonlit sky. 
 
 A perfect silence reigned on shipboard. Lights in 
 one or two of the portholes were the only signs of life
 
 THE FIRST INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA" 4! 
 
 visible to one on the water. The challenge of a sentry 
 as the boat neared the vessel and the young officer's 
 cheery answer died away in pleasant echoes. 
 
 Ralph clambered up the mountainous side of the 
 "Asia" in a lubberly way and found himself for the first 
 time in his life on the deck of a man-of-war. But for 
 the sentry who received him it might have been a long 
 abandoned derelict. THat was his first impression. As 
 he looked about him rapidly he saw light from a cabin 
 in the quarter-deck streaming through an open door. 
 Within at a table covered with a red cloth under a lamp 
 sat Mr. Hicks and Lord Percy. They were playing 
 cards. 
 
 "This last trick decides' it," Percy broke out, "I get 
 it!" 
 
 The silence was complete. Ralph could hear dis- 
 tinctly. 
 
 "No, no," protested Hicks. "You are too sure." 
 
 "Come," said the other, turning down the face of his 
 cards. "How do we stand so far?" 
 
 "Too far apart to quite please me," said Hicks, 
 laughing. "A matter of some 900, 1 believe." 
 
 "Double or quits I take this trick. Can I tempt your 
 courage?" 
 
 "You can tempt it, but not taunt it," said Hicks, 
 calmly scrutinizing his cards. "I accept." 
 
 Percy turned his cards face upward. 
 
 "Can you beat that?" he cried triumphantly. 
 
 "Egad, no !" exclaimed Hicks. "It makes me think 
 more of your luck, Percy, than your pluck."
 
 42 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 An officer who had accosted Ralph the moment of 
 the latter' s presence on deck now entered the stream of 
 lamplight and stood in the cabin doorway to announce 
 Ralph's arrival. 
 
 "Oh, is that so?" said Hicks nonchalantly. 
 
 "Tennant!" exclaimed Percy upon hearing Ralph's 
 name. "My violent young friend of last night?" 
 
 "The same, I believe," said Hicks, putting away the 
 cards in a drawer. "I have a little authority with him. 
 In future he shall show more courtesy to my friends 
 when on shore." 
 
 "Hicks, you astonish me, I swear; your lines of com- 
 munication are everywhere." 
 
 "I have lived in these parts, you see," said Hicks non- 
 chalantly. 
 
 "Gad ! If we were all like you there'd be less of our 
 damned blundering." 
 
 "You flatter outrageously,'"' Hicks was saying as the 
 officer arrived with the visitor. 
 
 "Ah, Mr. Tennant!" exclaimed Hicks, turning 
 around and facing Ralph. "I'm pleased you were able 
 to keep my appointment." 
 
 He extended his hand, but his manner was markedly 
 distant. 
 
 "I understand you have already met Lord Percy," 
 he said; watching Ralph. 
 
 "The introduction was in a measure forced," said 
 Ralph, nettled a little by his cold reception. "Possibly 
 Lord Percy would prefer we remain strangers." 
 
 "Not at all," said Percy quickly, with something of
 
 THE FIRST INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA" 43 
 
 geniality, "now that I have time to do full justice to the 
 acquaintance." 
 
 "You were certainly pressed a little last evening," 
 said Ralph smiling, "I am glad you managed so well. 
 Faith, that was a nasty crew at your heels." 
 
 "His lordship undoubtedly feels very grateful for the 
 assistance you rendered him," said Hicks, slowly. 
 
 "I can hardly imagine so," said Ralph sharply, an- 
 noyed by his guardian's manner. "Nevertheless there 
 are reasons why he should." 
 
 "Oh, well," said Percy, "I was the prime offend- 
 er. That was a silly affair, Mr. Tennant. A man who 
 can't hold his tongue at the right moment oughn't to 
 talk afterward." 
 
 "Your silence now," said Ralph, "has something 
 more than philosophy in it." 
 
 "I am glad you take it so," Percy said, lightly. 
 "Good-night. I'll leave you and Mr. Hicks to finish 
 your business together." 
 
 With a pleasant bow to both he departed. 
 
 Instantly Hicks's manner changed. 
 
 "Sit down, my boy," he said, pointing to a chair. 
 "How are you? It's some time since we met." 
 
 "But once or twice," said Ralph, dryly, "since my 
 return from England." 
 
 "Gad! that is so. Well, I've been most terribly 
 pressed, as you can understand." 
 
 "I'm sorry I just missed you so often at my aunt's," 
 said Ralph, regarding him intently, "and also in Eng- 
 land."
 
 44 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 It was the first note of challenge. A quick, scarcely 
 perceptible frown passed over Hicks's face. 
 
 "Yes," he said, lazily crossing his legs. "It was un- 
 fortunate, though, of course, I can't tell how often I 
 lost my opportunity at Mrs. Heathcote's. In England 
 is was absolutely necessary that I should be quite in- 
 cognito." 
 
 "Perhaps," said Ralph, "I ought still to be ignorant." 
 
 "Oh, no," he replied quickly, "the knowledge is 
 harmless." 
 
 "I'm glad you say that," said Ralph, "because I find 
 so many possess it." 
 
 "You don't say so? You surprise me, indeed. Still 
 so many things are happening that an unfortunate ex- 
 ile like myself must be ignorant of. For instance," he 
 continued, crossing his arms on the table and leaning 
 forward, "it was by the merest accident that I learned 
 my young friend had joined His Majesty's enemies. 
 I must say had I been consulted I would not have ad- 
 vised that step. It surprises me. It even injures me 
 if that is to be considered." He raised his voice as he 
 uttered the last words. 
 
 Hicks's cool, superior tone irritated Ralph. 
 
 "Admitting," says Ralph, a trifle hotly, "the full ex- 
 actness of your information, I can't exactly see how 
 any act of mine reflects on you." 
 
 "Come, come," said Hicks, familiarly, throwing him- 
 self back in his chair and running his thumbs into 
 the armholes of his finely embroidered vest, "these 
 are jealous days. One in my position is easily af-
 
 THE FIRST INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA" 45 
 
 fected by his known alliances. They must be above 
 suspicion." 
 
 "If the duties you were good enough to undertake 
 for my father expose you to any suspicion now it is be- 
 cause you have preferred not to terminate them," said 
 Ralph. 
 
 "Eh?" said Hicks, frowning, "I- 
 
 He paused, arose and closed the open door of the 
 cabin. 
 
 "Then I take it you are no rebel, Ralph? I was but 
 half joking," he said cheerily, as he reseated himself. 
 
 "No, indeed," said Ralph, watching him curiously. 
 "Yet I'm a poor Tory." 
 
 "Well," he said, in the easiest possible tone, "what 
 does it matter? After all, your situation differs vastly 
 from mine. To be frank, I am far from saying caution 
 is not the better part for you. You see, your property 
 and interests are all local, and between ourselves, 
 Ralph," he added, pursing his lips and looking serious, 
 "the Continentals have greater strength, in many ways, 
 than it does for us to admit." 
 
 "It isn't a matter of policy with me," interposed 
 Ralph. 
 
 "No ! No, to be sure, I understand partly inclina- 
 tion. Gad ! I don't know if I were a younger man but 
 I would stand elsewhere." 
 
 "You don't understand me," persisted Ralph. "I am 
 really of neither side." 
 
 "Pre-cisely. I think it wise. There is no saying how 
 things will run. But there, I know you don't need my
 
 46 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 advice for I hear," he added, quickly, "you stand re- 
 markably well with the Whigs yonder. And you have 
 given no pledges? Tis clever, Ralph, immensely clever, 
 egad!" 
 
 He laid back in his chair and chuckled. 
 
 "Really, you have more news than I have," said 
 Ralph, wondering at the man. 
 
 "Come, don't disappoint me. Am I not right? You 
 are friendly with old Putnam, Washington, Reilly and 
 er Scott?" 
 
 As he said this Ralph observed how intently he was 
 watched. 
 
 "I know only the latter," said Ralph, throwing back 
 the ball. Not a muscle betrayed the man. 
 
 "Intimately?" he asked, nonchalantly. 
 
 "There are degrees. I should say not intimately 
 yet." 
 
 Ralph maliciously added : 
 
 "But he has been good enough to invite me to his 
 home at Albany." 
 
 "Really? They say we never know a man till we 
 have met him amidst his own surroundings. When 
 do you go?" 
 
 "At the end of this week," said Ralph. 
 
 "So soon !" he exclaimed, like one calculating. "Well, 
 well. I wish you a pleasant trip. Will you be long 
 away?" 
 
 "The visit is unconditional," said Ralph. 
 
 "Exactly so," he said in a musing way. "Then I 
 shan't see you for a little time?"
 
 THE FIRST INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA" 47 
 
 "Possibly not," replied Ralph. "Partly for that rea- 
 son, and partly because our roads must necessarily run 
 somewhat apart for a time, it occurs to me I ought not 
 to trespass on your indulgence longer, but propose to 
 relieve you of duties I ought to have assumed myself 
 long ago, and which must be particularly hard on you 
 now. Besides, what you said a moment ago warns me 
 I oughtn't to put your kindness to further risk." 
 
 "What did I say a moment ago?" he asked sharply. 
 
 "Political misconduct of mine reflected on you." 
 
 "Yes, to be sure." 
 
 He arose and walked to the cabin window. Turn- 
 ing around, he added : 
 
 "Well, my boy, I needn't tell you I'm not a bit sorry 
 if you are ready to take over your estate. I confess I 
 expected it sooner. It has been, you can understand, 
 something of a burden and anxiety to me, though the 
 service, such as it has been, was a willing one, for my 
 old friend's sake and for yours, too." 
 
 Ralph hesitated, struggling to reply to this speech 
 in kind, but the effort was beyond him. The play was 
 of too high an order; so high, indeed, that for a mo- 
 ment he found himself questioning his own suspicions. 
 All he could bring himself to say was : 
 
 "When can we settle the matter?" 
 
 "Oh ! at any time," said Hicks, with unbounded 
 readiness. "There are, of course, necessary prelimin- 
 aries to be gone through with, you know. I fear they 
 can't be done quite so quickly, me aboard ship, as were 
 I on shore. But, even as it is, they needn't take long,"
 
 48 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 he added. "I will see Tyndall and get matters in proper' 
 shape as soon as possible perhaps by the time you re- 
 turn. Eh?" 
 
 "That will be soon enough," said Ralph, utterly sur- 
 prised at the turn matters had taken. 
 
 "Can't be done too soon, my boy now you are 
 ready," he said cheerfully. "I suppose you will con- 
 tinue where your father and may I say? myself left 
 off?" 
 
 "I intend to," replied Ralph slowly. 
 
 "Good !" he cried enthusiastically, "How that would 
 delight the old gentleman ! Dear me, I always advised 
 him not to force your hand when he was all for pres- 
 sing you, and here you are of your own election doing 
 as he would have dictated. Well, you see, Ralph, there 
 is something besides force governing the world. When 
 do you say you leave?" he asked. He was pacing the 
 cabin, his hands tucked under his scarlet coat. 
 
 "Friday or Saturday, I believe," said Ralph, watch- 
 ing him as he walked to and fro. 
 
 "Saturday," he said, more to himself than to Ralph. 
 Then he added, quickly: 
 
 "Don't you find the cabin close? Stuffy cupboards 
 these ! Let us walk outside." 
 
 Ralph followed him to the deck. 
 
 "Beautiful night, isn't it?" he exclaimed, scanning 
 the heavens. "I hope Miss Rutherford is finding 
 weather like this." 
 
 "I hope so," said Ralph, feeling his heart take a sud- 
 den jump.
 
 THE FIRST INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA" 49 
 
 "I fancy she has a warm spot in her heart for you," 
 he said, linking his arm in Ralph's. 
 
 "As an old friend of hers, I hope so." 
 
 "Oh, quite so. I meant in that way," he said sober- 
 ly. "Really I think her affection leans But there, 
 
 I must be discreet. That's a secret, sir." As he said 
 this he fell to whistling. 
 
 "You said she left a message for me?" 
 
 "Did I? Oh, yes. Another good-by; that was all. 
 She seems to see little prospect of returning. I'm sorry 
 to think we have seen perhaps the last of her for years. 
 Pleasant girl." 
 
 "What makes you think that?" asked Ralph quick- 
 ly, perplexed alike by Hicks's manner and utterances. 
 
 "Ah, did you see that star fall?" he cried, pointing to 
 the west. "Why do I think so? Because I judge some 
 Virginian cavalier will plant so fair a tulip in his own 
 garden, and it will take root there, notwithstanding 
 well, the little affair I hinted of. Women are fickle, 
 Ralph; none more so than the young." 
 
 Despite himself Ralph felt he had received a heavy 
 dose of cold water. 
 
 An officer approached Mr. Hicks and suggested it 
 was time for the visitor to be making his way back to 
 the city if he desired to reach shore that night. 
 
 "To be sure," said Hicks. "I mustn't keep you, 
 Ralph; I am responsible for your safe return. I hope 
 you'll have a pleasant trip to Albany, my boy, and when 
 you get back I'll be ready for you." 
 
 When Ralph was safely in the rowboat again he
 
 5<D THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 looked up. He saw Hicks leaning over the black bul- 
 warks gazing down upon him. As the sailors pushed 
 off he heard his voice above calling: 
 
 "Ralph, I may ask you to take a note or two for me 
 to friends in Albany. Will you?" 
 
 "Gladly," Ralph cried back. 
 
 The picture of that moment was never forgotten.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 THE SECOND INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA." 
 
 * 
 
 RALPH was scarcely beyond hail when Hicks turned 
 away from the bulwarks and walked quickly to the 
 cabin. At the threshold he arrested his steps as sharp- 
 ly as he had started. Then he paced the deck slowly 
 for a time in deep contemplation. At last he exclaimed, 
 striking his thigh loudly : 
 
 "By Jove!" 
 
 Calling a sailor he said : 
 
 "Tom ! Ask Mr. Brant please to come to me for a 
 few minutes." 
 
 He re-entered the cabin, seated himself, and with 
 one of his fine white fingers as a pointer began to trace 
 over the intricate pattern in the tablecloth. 
 
 "Damn me!" he mused, "I swear, too much thinking 
 is like that design. You can go on tracing it forever. 
 It starts and ends nowhere. You must break it to have 
 a beginning," he cried, throwing himself back in his 
 chair. "Hallo, Brant! Take a chair. Close the door 
 first, will you? Thanks." 
 
 A tall, bronzed-skinned, dark-haired man entered. 
 He was lithe and boney. His manner had a marked air 
 of repression. He was dressed in fashion and with
 
 52 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 some elegance. Yet despite his appearance and man- 
 ner, his pleasant and smiling dark eyes and genial coun- 
 tenance, he was unmistakably Indian. He spoke ex- 
 cellently well in a voice of most agreeable tone. 
 
 He seated himself in the chair Ralph had occupied 
 and waited for Hicks to speak. 
 
 "I find our affairs," began the latter with great delib- 
 eration, "are moving more rapidly than I anticipated." 
 
 The Indian arched his eyebrows interrogatively, but 
 said nothing. 
 
 "I learn," continued Hicks, "that our good friends 
 in Tryon County, Sir John Johnson, Col. Guy Johnson, 
 
 Mr. Butler and your sister Miss Molly are in some 
 
 danger." 
 
 "Ah!" exclaimed Brant quickly. "What have you 
 heard?" 
 
 "That fellow Schuyler has concluded to secure John- 
 son. He's arranging to send a Col. Dayton do you 
 know him? with a force to Johnson Hall to arrest Sir 
 Johnson, and, of course, whoever else they can lay 
 hands on. We must get word to Johnson as soon as 
 possible." 
 
 "Undoubtedly. Have we time?" asked Brant. 
 
 "Plenty. We are forewarned. The talk is to move 
 a fortnight hence." 
 
 "It would be prudent to count on a shorter time," 
 said Brant thoughtfully. 
 
 "Good; yet we can meet them." 
 
 "Yes," assented the Indian, "we can move quickly." 
 
 "My friend can, I know," said Hicks, patronizingly.
 
 THE SECOND INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA" 53 
 
 Brant smiled. "Still," he said, "the enemy may move 
 as quickly." 
 
 "I doubt it," said Hicks, positively. "My informa- 
 tion is from the highest authority." 
 
 "Gen. Schuyler himself?" asked the Indian. 
 
 "Oh, we are not friends. I'm not in the General's 
 confidence," replied Hicks, laughing. 
 
 "Nof directly," said Brant shortly. "But the ground 
 has ears." 
 
 "His Majesty's arm is far-reaching. Those blather- 
 ing shirt men up there will find it to their cost." 
 
 Hicks's bravado did not stir the Indian. He closed 
 his eyes momentarily, as though it annoyed him. 
 
 "Johnson, of course, is armed and ready?" asked 
 Hicks. 
 
 "After his parole?" Brant asked, affecting his aston- 
 ishment. 
 
 "Damn paroles in days like these! No one is 
 obliged even in honor, to abide by a forced oath." 
 
 "I don't think," said the Indian slyly, "Sir Johnson's 
 conscience requires that excuse." 
 
 "A gentleman, Brant, never needs excuses," said 
 Hicks, grandiloquently. 
 
 "True," said the Indian softly, "he assumes them." 
 
 "Damn me, Brant, but I never know exactly whether 
 you are smiling." 
 
 "You always find me at your side," said the Indian. 
 
 "True, true, Brant," said Hicks. "When these 
 troubles are over the King will make good my promises 
 to you."
 
 54 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 This speech pleased the Indian. He smiled. 
 
 "Well," he said, after a moment, "I must be prepar- 
 ing to start. To-morrow is not too soon." 
 
 "No," said Hicks, decisively. "There are reasons for 
 delay. 
 
 "Delay?" exclaimed the Indian in amazement, "and 
 two hundred miles to travel !" 
 
 "I know. You must wait until well, perhaps un- 
 til Saturday." 
 
 "Two days !" cried Brant, jumping up. 
 
 "Two weeks if it must be," said Hicks loudly rising 
 as he spoke. 
 
 "May I inquire the reason?" asked the Indian quietly. 
 
 "I will tell you. Sit down. Good ! Now listen. I 
 have more important duty for you to perform for His 
 Majesty than even the protection of my friend, John- 
 son." 
 
 "And my sister?" added the Indian, laconically. 
 
 "And your sister," repeated Hicks. 
 
 "Proceed, pray," said the Indian; "you interest me." 
 
 "I expect to," said Hicks, calmly. "In the morning 
 I will give you a letter addressed to Sir Johnson. I will 
 ask you to do me the kindness to cause it to be deliv- 
 ered, but not on any account to deliver it yourself, to 
 a person named Ralph Tennant now in New York. I 
 want you, unobserved, to acquaint yourself with that 
 individual. My information is that either on Friday or 
 Saturday he will set out for Albany with an elderly 
 gentleman named Isaac Scott. Discover the route they 
 travel. Meet them, by accident naturally, on the road.
 
 THE SECOND INTERVIEW ON THE "ASIA" 55 
 
 Accompany them if you can. Never lose sight of them, 
 cost what it may, until the bearer of that letter deposits 
 it in Sir Johnson's hands. These two persons, I may 
 tell you, are most dangerous most dangerous to His 
 Majesty's cause in these parts. In my letter I will ex- 
 plain the matter to Sir Johnson and will request him to 
 see that the young man certainly, the old man if possi- 
 ble, are detained for a time in the North. Perhaps 
 you can aid Sir Johnson. If you can, you will do me 
 that is, the government a great service. I would like 
 you in secret to feel this is a commission for you as 
 much as for Sir Johnson. Can I count on you?" 
 
 "Until when are they to be detained?" asked the In- 
 dian. 
 
 "Until His Majesty's power is re-established in New 
 York. I will let you know. Again, can I count on 
 you?" 
 
 "Have. I ever failed you?" asked Brant.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE JOURNET TO THE M4NSE. 
 
 ISAAC SCOTT'S interest in the fierce politics of the hour 
 was intense. Undoubtedly he was an ardent patriot. 
 He had been bred in the good New England school 
 where opinions naturally take the form of prejudices, 
 and thought requires its enemy somewhere. I have 
 always fancied the mental process of the people of 
 those eastern colonies was never quite a satisfactory 
 one to them until it hit something. In this New Eng- 
 land spirit, Isaac Scott espoused the patriot cause. Pos- 
 sessing the vanity of speech he loved to occupy as much 
 as possible the public stage provided for him by the 
 struggle. He fondly believed he was one of the great 
 actors on it. He deluded himself that he was making 
 great sacrifices for his country. He liked the idea that 
 he was running the most heroic risks. He recounted 
 to his family every indignity perpetrated by the Tories 
 upon patriots, as a sly vicarious proof of the sympathy 
 he himself merited. I am sure there were moments 
 when he was the object of his own profound pity. His 
 enthusiasm convinced him he would welcome, if needs 
 be, any British stake that was entirely free from the 
 danger of fire. With it all I doubt not he was enor- 
 mously happy talkative, excited, officious. He
 
 THE JOURNEY TO THE MANSE. 57 
 
 worked and bubbled, was indeed one of the light por- 
 tions of the bloody fermentation of the times. Wisdom 
 and humanity usually obtain only a limited scope in all 
 great popular uprisings. I thank Heaven my coun- 
 trymen exhibited so much of these higher qualities in 
 their bitter conflict for their rights. But I who passed 
 throughjt all cannot be blind to the fact that our think- 
 ing was not always as large as our aspirations, nor our 
 hands as clean as our initial motives. 
 
 These remarks are intended to explain why Isaac 
 Scott was not ready to set out for home until the last 
 moment. He lingered, visited and talked. On Satur- 
 day, when perforce he must start on horseback with 
 Ralph, he was well-nigh surfeited with his own conse- 
 quence. His black satin seemed to shine with a high 
 personal gloss. He was returning like a hunter with 
 his bag stuffed with game his head full of tales of his 
 own importance. It was always at these moments that 
 he regretted keenly the poor hearing of Madame Eliza, 
 his wife, and Helen, his daughter's imperturbable deaf- 
 ness for the heroic. Still, he knew his aged partner's 
 ready curiosity and her power of assimulating the ac- 
 cented words she caught (if only she had not that fatal 
 propensity of deflecting an idea wrong side up !) and 
 his daughter's filial readiness to please him (if only she 
 could suppress that annoying smile in her eyes!), and 
 so he was tolerably pleased with the prospect before 
 him. 
 
 I bade the travelers good-by, and made a promise 
 to despatch any news I could of events as they hap-
 
 58 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 pened in New York. The day was exceedingly fine. 
 Ralph was in good spirits over the journey he was be- 
 ginning and was amused, I could see, by the self-im- 
 portant air of his companion, who, jerking his head 
 around repeatedly, a trick he had when excited, sat 
 stiff as a ramrod on his horse as they proceeded along 
 the Bowery lane and Kingsbridge road to Kingsbridge, 
 and thence to the Hudson River. 
 
 How little I knew of what they were setting out to 
 meet! 
 
 "I shall not be away very long !" cried Ralph to me, 
 little dreaming that before I should see him again the 
 footing of his life would be entirely changed. 
 
 The two travelers proceeded leisurely under the May 
 foliage, through little villages where the inhabitants, 
 aroused by the clattering hoofs, watched them with an 
 amazed curiosity, past rich fields where the spring life 
 seemed almost to be oozing in the warm sunshine, now 
 skirting patches of forest filled with verdant light and 
 redolent with cool wood scents, now wandering almost 
 on the very shore of the great blue river with its vistas 
 of broad water, rocky cliffs and tree-covered hills. 
 
 They halted at Tarrytown for the night. Early the 
 next morning they were up and on the road again. 
 
 Everybody who has undertaken a trip of the nature 
 of Ralph's and Mr. Scott's must have found one dis- 
 covers one's companion quite as much as the country 
 traveled through. My young friend was all for the 
 beauty of the scenery. Mr. Scott, who had a short 
 sight for Nature, was forever bringing the conversation
 
 59 
 
 back to a personal turn, in which he himself figured 
 largely. Ralph relapsed into good-natured silence, 
 with only an occasional monosyllable, leaving the old 
 man to rattle on about his life, his family, his ancestry, 
 his estate, his friends, the coach Ross had built for him, 
 what Gen. Schuyler or some other notable had said 
 to him on such and such an occasion, how he had ad- 
 vised this or that course at this or that juncture, and 
 how much more satisfactorily events would have gone 
 had his advice been taken. Ralph's quiescent mood, 
 given more to the scene than to the sense of his com- 
 panion's gossip, greatly pleased the elder man, who 
 found in his fellow-traveler's mild receptiveness what 
 he accounted as sympathy and intelligence. He was 
 greatly in love with Ralph long before they crossed the 
 Croton and reached Verplank, where they were forced 
 to stop awhile on account of a lameness that had de- 
 veloped in one of the forefeet of Mr. Scott's horse. 
 
 "I can get another beast here," he said to Ralph. 
 "The Red Lion has a good stable and the landlord is 
 well known to me." 
 
 When the travelers entered the main street of the 
 village they were surprised to find a large concourse 
 of people, evidently gathered together hastily. Men 
 without hats or coats, women in house attire, laughing, 
 roaring and screaming, were gathered around a centre 
 of interest at the base of a huge Liberty pole that stood 
 before the inn. 
 
 "What's the matter?" asked Scott, reining up, for 
 no one made way for his passage.
 
 60 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Oh, nothing," replied a tall, bronze-faced man bet- 
 ter dressed than the rest. " Tis a little patriotic amuse- 
 ment, that's all. A party of girls led by the parson's 
 daughter are tarring and feathering a young fellow 
 who has the bad taste to admire King George. Jump 
 off; I'll hold your horse. The play is really worth the 
 seeing. I've watched it till I'm sick of laughing." He 
 laughed loudly. 
 
 It was in this way that Brant encountered the trav- 
 elers. 
 
 "Gracious !" exclaimed Scott, excitedly. "I must see 
 this. Dismount, Ralph. Perhaps this gentleman " 
 
 "Certainly, with pleasure," said Brant. "I can man- 
 age the two, I judge, for a few minutes." 
 
 Ralph dismounted. Scott pushed a way through 
 the crowd to the inner line, whence they gained a full 
 view of the proceedings. 
 
 In a clear space around the Liberty pole were gath- 
 ered possibly a score of resolute looking Amazons, 
 mostly young women in the bloom of life. Co-oper- 
 ating with them was a tall farmer who stood a little 
 aloof with a long leather whip in his hand. At the foot 
 of the pole sat a young man, pale and terror-stricken 
 almost to death, a picture of utter dejection. His hair 
 was dishevelled, his face scratched and bleeding, his 
 clothes torn from him to the waist by his oppressors. 
 On his lap lay the body of a big goose that his trem- 
 bling fingers were plucking with nervous difficulty. 
 
 "He ain't very brisk at his work !" exclaimed one of 
 the women.
 
 THE JOURNET TO THE MANSE 6 1 
 
 "No, that's a fact. Hurry up, Mr. Tory. I should 
 think you'd want to get your coat on before ladies." 
 
 "It's an outrage to any respectable goose to have to 
 clothe such a thing as that," said a vinegary maiden 
 contemptuously. "Ain't he white and soft. Pinch 
 him," she added, as she nipped the victim. 
 
 Others followed her example, making the young 
 man bellow like a calf. 
 
 "Be nimble, then," commanded the parson's daugh- 
 ter. 
 
 "I can't," whined the fellow. "These feathers stick 
 so." 
 
 "They'll stick faster by and by, I warrant you," was 
 the reply. 
 
 "It's a good Whig bird," roared a voice from the 
 crowd, "and hates to feather a Tory scamp. Three 
 cheers for the goose !" 
 
 The crowd were in a jolly humor. They cheered, 
 laughed and joked while the sorry object of their mer- 
 riment worked on dejectedly until the bird was as de- 
 nuded as his own back. 
 
 "There! That'll do," said the parson's daughter. 
 "We'll singe the pin feathers for you. Stand up, Mr. 
 Tory!" 
 
 The wretch obeyed the command and leaned against 
 the Liberty pole to steady his trembling legs. 
 
 "Come, girls, are you ready? Let's sweeten him, 
 then." 
 
 Upon this the tormenters poured over the young 
 man's head and body a bucketful of molasses which
 
 62 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 had been obtained in place of the traditional tar, which 
 the neighborhood was unable to supply. 
 
 The crowd roared, the girls screamed as the brown 
 liquid crawled down the victim's face and body. 
 
 "That's only the lining," cried the parson's daugh- 
 ter. "Now for the good old Tory coat !" 
 
 The women covered the young man with the feath- 
 ers he had been forced to pluck. 
 
 A most deplorable looking object, a strange hybrid 
 creature, stood shaking before them. 
 
 "I wonder whether King George would know his 
 friend?" asked one. 
 
 "It ain't a rare bird these days," replied another. 
 
 "They say they have a recipe for cooking them at 
 Windsor," said the parson's daughter. "But before 
 we 'shoo' this specimen let's make him cackle. Look 
 up, you Tory Goose! Raise your long neck! You 
 look so fine you ought to have been born with those 
 feathers. Give us a little speech. We'll teach you for 
 once to speak the truth. Repeat what I tell you: 
 'Ladies and Gentlemen I regret I have given you so 
 much trouble. I promise always to remember you 
 kindly for having taught me that King George is a 
 tyrant who deserves the gibbet. Long live trie Con- 
 tinental Congress ! Down with the King !' ' 
 
 The poor wretch mumbled these words as com- 
 manded, his mouth half filled with molas'ses and 
 feathers. 
 
 "Down with the King!" roared the mob.
 
 THE JOURNEY TO THE MANSE 63 
 
 "Now chase him !" cried the parson's daughter. 
 
 In a moment the fellow was fleeing before a hooting 
 mob of men, women, children and barking dogs. The 
 village was almost emptied. Neither Ralph nor Mr. 
 Scott joined in the chase. As they looked around to 
 find the stranger who had taken charge of their horses 
 they saw that he and themselves were almost the only 
 persons left in the street. 
 
 "Great fun, isn't it?" asked Brant as they approached 
 him. 
 
 "That's the way all such vermin should be treated," 
 said Scott. "Those are the girls to bear patriots. My 
 friend here won't quite agree with me, I'm afraid," he 
 added, smiling at Ralph. 
 
 "It isn't that I won't," said Ralph, "I can't. By God, 
 we're a set of savages yet !" 
 
 "You might take my young friend for a Tory," said 
 Scott, jocularly. "He isn't. He's moulting. But, sir," 
 he added to Brant, "we owe you many thanks for your 
 courtesy. May I ask to whom we are indebted?" 
 
 "Schuyler Monroe is my name," replied Brant. 
 
 "Oh!" said Mr. Scott, who now for the first time 
 had a moment to look closely at the stranger. "Am I 
 wrong in guessing that you are not entirely of our 
 blood?" 
 
 "Your guess is quite correct, sir," replied Brant, 
 coolly. "I am of the original inhabitants of this land. 
 I am named after Gen. Schuyler, a friend of mine." 
 
 "An old friend of mine, too. Estimable man. I am 
 Isaac Scott. Perhaps you have heard of me?"
 
 64 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Indeed, yes," said the Indian, smiling. "Gen. 
 Schuyler often speaks of you." 
 
 "This is Mr. Tennant," continued Scott. 
 
 The Indian bowed to Ralph's salutation and said : 
 
 "Well, as I can be of no further service to you I wish 
 you good-by, for I have a journey ahead of me." 
 
 "Perhaps we have detained you. Have you far to 
 go?" asked Ralph, who found himself interested in the 
 stranger. 
 
 "Oh, to Albany," said Brant, carelessly. 
 
 "That's our destination," exclaimed Scott, "and, 
 devil take it, my horse has gone lame. I must ex- 
 change him at the Red Lion here." 
 
 "Any exchange you can make now will be a poor 
 one," said Brant. 
 
 "How so?" asked Scott. 
 
 "Capt. McDonald was through these parts yester- 
 day and took away with him every beast worth oats." 
 
 "Gracious! What are we to do, Ralph?" asked 
 Scott. 
 
 "Wait or walk," said Ralph, laughing. 
 
 "There's an alternative," suggested Brant, quietly. 
 
 "There is?" asked Scott. 
 
 "I proceed by boat to Poughkeepsie. Tide and wind 
 favor this afternoon," replied Brant. "You are wel- 
 come to such accommodation as the sloop affords. At 
 Poughkeepsie you can, no doubt, find mounts." 
 
 Mr. Scott looked at Ralph inquiringly. 
 
 "I fear it's intruding, but the idea strikes me very 
 happily," said Ralph.
 
 THE JOURNEY TO THE MANSE 65 
 
 "Don't take it as an intrusion," said Brant, quietly. 
 "You are really welcome." 
 
 The matter ended by a full acceptance of the prof- 
 fered service. As a preliminary to the voyage Scott 
 invited Brant to dine with them at the inn. 
 
 A few hours later the three were moving briskly up 
 the Hudson with a strong tide and a fresh southerly 
 breeze. ' They glided swiftly by little river villages and 
 smaller settlements, the white houses of which glis- 
 tened in the mellow afternoon sun. Brant knew every 
 one of them. His mind had a marvellous affinity for the 
 curious, the supernatural and the tragic. Sitting aft in 
 the sloop upon improvised cushions of blankets, now 
 pointing to the shore, now with eyes uplifted to the 
 huge bellying sail, he took great delight apparently in 
 recounting weird tales to his guests, often weaving 
 them into the moving landscape. He took infinite 
 pains to make his companions comfortable. His care 
 had, apparently, so little effort in it, was done so in- 
 differently, that in a short time Ralph and Mr. Scott 
 were completely at their ease, congratulating them- 
 selves on the outcome of their mishap. They were 
 soon past Peekskill and then with a shift of sail entered 
 the Highlands. 
 
 "I swear I'm not sorry that horse went lame," said 
 Scott. "I'm not much given to water in any form, 
 but this excels jogging along hard roads." 
 
 "That beast and I are friends hereafter," said Ralph, 
 sleepily. He was stretched out full length on the deck 
 basking in the sun.
 
 66 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I believe you are half asleep, Ralph," said Scott in 
 a tone of indolent admonition, yawning himself as he 
 spoke. 
 
 "No," protested Ralph. "I'm merely dozing to let 
 Mr. Monroe's weird tales have their full effect. Our 
 friend is a born story-teller, isn't he? I wish I could 
 remember half his narratives." 
 
 The Indian smiled. 
 
 "If you'd like a nap there's a softer couch in the 
 cabin," Brant suggested. 
 
 Ralph declared he was comfortable enough. He 
 had no idea of sleeping. Mr. Scott, however, was 
 habituated to an afternoon doze, and seized the propo- 
 sition for himself. 
 
 "That couch has an attraction for me, Ralph, that 
 it may not have for you, if Mr. Monroe will excuse my 
 perverting his suggestion to my own use." 
 
 "It's at your service," said Brant. 
 
 "Then I'll take it," he continued, his sleepy eyes 
 blinking heavily as he stood for a moment at the cabin 
 hatchway. "I remember one day at my friend, Mr. 
 Livingston's, up the river here, the ladies left the host 
 and myself together after dinner, expecting us to join 
 them shortly. I don't know how long they waited. 
 By and by Mrs. Livingston admirable woman re- 
 turned to find us. There we were, sunk in our frills, 
 snoring at one another across the table. Ha! Ha! 
 How they joked us when we entered the drawing 
 room ! If I'm away too long, Ralph, wake me."
 
 THE JOURNET TO THE MANSE 6/ 
 
 Left in the company of Brant (for I take no account 
 of the bewhiskered, farmer-like sailor who owned the 
 sloop and navigated it with the precision and muteness 
 of an automaton) Ralph kept silence, listening in the 
 rich satisfaction of perfect idleness to the musical splash 
 of the water at the bow of the boat. He recognized 
 that the situation demanded some effort on his part to 
 be sociable. He sought for something to say, but the 
 mood of the moment was too entirely indolent and dif- 
 fusive for speech. With half apologetic intent he 
 turned to his host. Finding him in a brown study he 
 regarded the situation as tolerated. "Queer fellow," 
 he thought, as his vision reverted to the forest-clad 
 hills. "Yet naturally amiable." 
 
 Brant was studying Ralph. My young friend al- 
 most from the first moment of their encounter had in- 
 terested this educated savage. I quite understand the 
 attraction myself, for it was one of my delights in our 
 friendship. Nature is no democrat. Her gifts pos- 
 sess an aristocratic force. The prerogatives she had 
 conferred upon Ralph were those of a peculiarly win- 
 ning nature. His carelessly distinguished manner, 
 open, persuasive, even boyish, was of a sort that rarely 
 failed of notice with any one, but for Brant it was well- 
 nigh irresistible. He held to the white man's civiliza- 
 tion partly by imitation perpetually renewed and, per- 
 haps, the element of all others that attracted him most 
 was one that Ralph possessed in a high degree the 
 air of "quality." 
 
 The sloop passed suddenly out of sunshine into the
 
 68 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 shadow of one of the towering crests of the Highlands. 
 Ralph raised himself on his arm and exclaimed how 
 beautiful the view was the May forest, the silent hills, 
 the darker valleys, the intense white sunlit clouds. 
 
 "Yes," said the Indian, "I love this spot just here 
 where hills, forest, sky and river are huddled together. 
 Some years aeo," he continued, and his voice had a pe- 
 culiar soft tone for the reminiscent, as though the nar- 
 rator was listening to an invisible speaker and was re- 
 producing what he heard, "I had a strange experience 
 in the furthermost point of that valley yonder, down 
 there, you see, between those two tallest hills, but 
 rather closer to the further one. That's it. Just there. 
 I and two young men set out early in January to hunt. 
 We had no plan, could make any tree on our way the 
 turning point. We wandered along the river, jour- 
 neyed inland, visited the villages, made calls on friends 
 I knew, such as Mr. Livingston whom your friend 
 spoke of a little time ago, and at last found ourselves 
 entering the Highlands close to where we are now. It 
 was dusk. It began to snow. The night, silent as a 
 hunter in mocassins, came on swiftly and we were 
 caught. What to do? Find a hole somewhere. Try 
 to make a fire and wait. There was nothing else. 
 
 "We were looking around for shelter when suddenly 
 I caught sight of a light in the distance. It was from 
 a big fire. It blazed cheerfully through the tall black 
 trees, which, in the wind, cast moving shadows on the 
 snow as of warriors dancing. We crept up to it. To 
 our surprise it was an encampment of Indians. The
 
 THE JOURNEY TO THE MANSE 69 
 
 evening meal was ready. We saluted the chief, who 
 hailed us as we approached. We told him our distress. 
 We were received with the hospitality and courtesy 
 which are of the heart of the Indian. We ate and 
 smoked. In due time we wrapped around us the furs 
 provided and fell asleep, the warm blaze of that huge 
 fire flickering before our tired eyes. The next morn- 
 ing " 
 
 Brant suddenly paused. No actor could have marked 
 a transition here better than he did, as he instantly and 
 with quicker speech resumed. 
 
 "The sun was shining brightly; the air clear, cold and 
 blue. Not a sound save the occasional snapping of a 
 forest twig. The snow had muffled the earth. The air 
 was chilled to stillness by the frost. I was the first to 
 awake. I looked around. My two companions were 
 asleep beside me, but the camp it was gone, gone as 
 a dream vanishes. Not a trace of our hosts, not a ves- 
 tige of fire, not a fragment of food, not a footprint on 
 the snow, not even the furs we had wrapped around us. 
 Guess our surprise! 
 
 "When at home again we related our experience. 
 Then we learned that our hosts that snowy night were 
 a small band of Algonquins who had all been treacher- 
 ously murdered by my own people years before the 
 white man first trod the shores of the Hudson." 
 
 Ralph listened to the tale intently interested by 
 Brant's dramatic manner. 
 
 When the narrator finished he turned to his compan- 
 ion as expecting comment.
 
 7O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Ralph rose from his position on the deck and drows- 
 ily stretched himself. 
 
 "Treachery ! Bloodshed !" he exclaimed, "Isn't it a 
 pity that's the history of the Indian everywhere?" 
 
 In an instant Brant was on his feet. 
 
 The two men faced one another scarce an arm's 
 length apart. The Indian's dark eyes flashed into 
 Ralph's. 
 
 "Bah !" cried Ralph instantly. ''How stupid of me ! 
 Pardon me," he added, extending his hand. "Really, 
 it never occurred to me that er " 
 
 "Never mind me ! I don't speak because I, too, am 
 Indian and proud of it," cried Brant passionately. "You 
 accuse the Indian! My people! My race! Are they 
 more treacherous than yours? Yours?" 
 
 His voice was raised to its highest key. The cry 
 "Yours, yours," rang among the surrounding hills. 
 
 "Now! now!" urged Ralph, smiling, "I have asked 
 your pardon, why " 
 
 "No!" cried Brant, impetuously. "There's nothing 
 to pardon. Be frank ! You are white ! Speak ! You ! 
 I have learned the white man's ways. They are more 
 treacherous than any Indian's, and, by God, I know!" 
 
 "Very well," said Ralph. "Let it be so ! We won't 
 dispute about it. I'd agree with you at once if I didn't 
 think you are mistaken greatly." 
 
 "Ha! Ha! Greatly!" laughed Brant ironically. 
 "Ha " 
 
 He stopped suddenly, looked Ralph in the face stead- 
 ily, then said in a suppressed voice :
 
 THE JOURNEY TO THE MANSE 71 
 
 "You have a letter in your pocket from Mr. White- 
 head Hicks?" 
 
 Instinctively Ralph placed his hand over his breast 
 pocket. 
 
 "And Mr. Hicks is your friend?" sneered Brant. 
 
 "My friend, yes!" Ralph asserted. 
 
 "He has asked you to deliver that letter yourself to 
 Sir John Johnson?" 
 
 "How do know all this?" 
 
 "Never mind !" replied Brant, authoritatively. "May 
 I see that letter?" 
 
 Ralph drew back a step. 
 
 "I forget," said Brant, sarcastically. "I'm an Indian. 
 
 Something in Brant's voice touched Ralph. 
 
 "You are not quite fair," Ralph pleaded. "I don't 
 distrust you. I am dumfounded by your knowledge 
 of my affairs." 
 
 As Ralph spoke he extracted the sealed package 
 from his pocket and scanned the superscription en- 
 grossed in a heavy hand, as though it had acquired a 
 new interest for him. 
 
 "That's it!" cried Brant, exultantly. "That letter 
 from your friend denounces you as an enemy of the 
 King, a dangerous person. It requests Sir Johnson to 
 lock you up you understand? Eh! Whiteman's 
 honor! Bah!" 
 
 Ralph was staggered far beyond the Indian's sur- 
 mise, for suspicion worked with amazing rapidity 
 among a number of facts, of course, unknown to Brant. 
 
 The Indian watched him intently and gleefully.
 
 72 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "No!" cried Ralph. "I don't believe it. You are 
 trying to deceive me. What's your purpose? Out 
 with it." 
 
 "Deceive you!" exclaimed Brant. 
 
 He seized the letter from Ralph's hand. Before it was 
 possible to interpose he angrily tore it open. 
 
 "Deceive you !" he cried. "Whiteman or Indian, who 
 deceives? Read! There is your friend's warrant. Read! 
 Read!" 
 
 He forced the letter roughly into Ralph's hand. 
 
 The suddenness, the boldness of the act overwhelmed 
 Ralph. 
 
 "I would befriend you," cried Brant in a changed 
 tone. "You believe me?" 
 
 Ralph was silent. 
 
 "Read, then!" persisted Brant. 
 
 Ralph refolded the letter and placed it in his pocket. 
 
 "I shall have some difficulty to explain your inciv- 
 ility," he said. 
 
 "You won't read?" repeated Brant. 
 
 "Read? No!" 
 
 "You'll deliver that?" cried Brant in amazement. 
 
 "I'll deliver it!" 
 
 For a moment Brant was silent. 
 
 "You have shown me the other side," he said. 
 
 At Poughkeepsie the two travelers parted from 
 Brant. The latter excused himself from proceeding 
 further in their company on account of some business 
 he had to attend to in the village that might delay him 
 even a day or two. However, he played the host to the
 
 THE JOURNET TO THE MANSE 73 
 
 end, aiding Mr. Scott to procure horses from a farmer 
 whom he knew. 
 
 When the final preparations for the start were in 
 hand, he drew Raloh aside and asked : 
 
 "Are you offended with me?" 
 
 There was a touch of appeal in the question. 
 
 "No," said Ralph frankly, "though I don't under- 
 stand you. I am sorry you refuse to explain. You are 
 a queer fellow, but rightly or w r rongly somehow you 
 appeal to me." 
 
 "Then don't deliver that letter," urged Brant. "Trust 
 me so much !" 
 
 Ralph smiling, shook his head. 
 
 "Then read it;" persisted Brant. 
 
 "Haven't you told me its contents?" cried Ralph as 
 he mounted his horse. "Why need I? But I wish you 
 would dispel the mystery for me." 
 
 "No! No!" said Brant, shaking his head solemnly. 
 "Impulse has carried me too far already. Don't mis- 
 trust me, however." 
 
 "I don't," said Ralph. "I feel there is something gen- 
 erous in what you have done. If I ever know I will 
 repay you if I can. As it is I thank you. Don't for- 
 get you have promised to see me in Albany. If you 
 fail I shall doubt you." 
 
 "I shall see you," said Brant.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES. 
 
 WITHOUT further incident of note the travelers reached 
 the Scott homestead, which stands half a day's leisure- 
 ly journey north of Albany, and close to the east bank 
 of the river. Mr. Scott was proud of being so large a 
 landholder. He named his home "The Manse," no 
 doubt from some precedent he had come across in his 
 reading, for he was much given to enact his literature. 
 Tradition, however, was obstinate. Neighbors around 
 clung to the ancient title of the place, and spoke of it 
 unpoetically as the "Loper House," the original domi- 
 cile having been built by one Paulus de Loper, an early 
 settler in those parts and a sturdy ancestor of Mrs. 
 Scott. Indeed, it was from the wife that the husband 
 possessed the estate. It was of very vast extent, of I 
 cannot tell how many hundred perhaps I ought to say 
 how many thousand acres. The confines north and 
 east were indeterminate, being affected by several coun- 
 terclaims involving questions of grant and patent. Un- 
 doubtedly there were disputes, for there were lawsuits, 
 but they were as distant as the land concerned, and ap- 
 parently troubled nobody. Scott declared gravely that 
 the questions involved went to the very foundation of
 
 THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES 75 
 
 British dominion in the western world. I opine he 
 would very much rather have parted with the land than 
 the litigations. The former was of little value to any 
 one; the latter brought him into contact with judges, 
 governors and other high officials, and furnished per- 
 petual activity for his busy vanity. 
 
 The house itself was not a pretentious structure. It 
 was a square, comfortable, two-story brick dwelling, 
 covered with strong lime mortar, with a pleasant 
 hooded porch before the front -door. Several noble 
 elms overtopped the roof, survivors of the primitive for- 
 est. Pasture and cultivated land stretched away east- 
 ward with every evidence of high fertility, almost to the 
 foot of the pine-clad hills. To the south was an exten- 
 sive orchard, flanked with gardens, a big gabled barn, 
 other smaller farm buildings and a fence, on many 
 stakes of which were affixed the skeleton heads of cat- 
 tle. In the cavities of the skulls little winter birds con- 
 structed their nests. Beyond the orchard fence ran 
 the highway, and there, under a clump of sycamores, a 
 few Indian families had built their wigwams. These 
 Mohawks depended for their subsistence in part upon 
 hunting and fishing and the benevolence of the family 
 in the Manse, and in part upon the livelihood they de- 
 rived from their small native handicrafts. Some negro 
 slaves also lived in this quarter, and cultivated little 
 patches of ground around their hut-like homes. In the 
 rear of the great house was a small flower garden, bor- 
 dered by the river bank, lined with willows. Here was 
 the recreation ground of the inmates of the Manse
 
 76 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 where, dinner over, they gathered to enjoy the sum- 
 mer afternoons and the cool of the long evenings. 
 
 It was a perfectly rural home, much more farm-like 
 than Scott pictured it for himself, his head full of de- 
 scriptions of English estates. However, to justify his 
 imagination he spent more than was judicious in pur- 
 chasing fine furniture and silver pieces to make a show 
 within doors until his wife demurred, declaring he had 
 well-nigh driven his family into the kitchen with his 
 elegance an accusation which he regarded as evidence 
 of the obstinate heredity of Dutch frugality and what 
 he termed "a vile, impecunious view of life." However, 
 as Mr. Scott had fairly completed his importations be- 
 fore madam's objections attained to the vigor of a pro- 
 test, he allowed her opinions the semblance of law. He 
 viewed with intense satisfaction the elegant and spa- 
 cious parlor he had fitted up a room which, in its ap- 
 pointments, might well challenge comparison with any 
 apartment in the region, even anything in the Schuyler 
 house further down the river the dining room wherein 
 the mahogany and silver whispered confidentially to a 
 visitor of good living, and the library filled chiefly with 
 books on law and music. 
 
 I have always held these studies to be naturally in- 
 compatible. Mr. Scott's case was not really an excep- 
 tion. He harmonized these conflicting studies through 
 the possession of an execrable ear. He owned a harp- 
 sichord and spent a deal of time when at home indefa- 
 tigably attempting to tune it. No one could discover 
 upon what system of harmonics he worked, but the re-
 
 THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES 77 
 
 suit was always weirdly discordant. After hours of la- 
 bor he would permit himself the satisfaction of a little 
 practice with some simple melody, only to be com- 
 pletely upset by his wife's invariable formula: 
 
 "Isaac, are you still tuning or playing?" 
 
 Mrs. Scott possessed some untutored musical talent, 
 and this question always produced in Scott a hopeless 
 and envious frame of mind. 
 
 But these were matters of many years ago. When 
 Ralph made his visit to the Manse the master's extrav- 
 agance had long been incorporated into the household 
 economy. The harpsichord had added certain infirmi- 
 ties to its original defects, but the ear of the mistress of 
 the house was unable to detect them. 
 
 Mrs. Scott was older than her husband. The last ten 
 years had curiously blanched her. Every bit of color, 
 even the shadows and stains that time makes, had so 
 faded from her appearance that one scarcely could es- 
 cape remarking a pallor that seemed deeper than the 
 skin. The mistress of the Manse was still a shapely 
 woman, retaining something of the powerful frame 
 and masculine figure which marked her youth, and con- 
 sorted then, in no ill-fitting way, with her robust health 
 and vigorous activity. Of late, however, age had, per- 
 haps I should say, stilled this force rather than dissi- 
 pated it. Her abundant hair was as white as paper. 
 It differed scarcely by a shade from her complexion. 
 Her blue eyes were not so much dimmed as diluted, 
 and the affliction of partial deafness imparted at times 
 a muffled, forgotten tone to her voice. Locomotion
 
 78 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 was difficult for her, so she spent much of her time 
 either reading religious books or gazing mutely and 
 fixedly before her no doubt through one of those nar- 
 row windows of memory at which the prisoners of age 
 forever station themselves. 
 
 Her rule at the Manse and it always had been rule, 
 a government of duties inflexibly performed and ex- 
 acted had devolved upon her daughter Helen, the 
 only surviving child of a union of incompatibilities. 
 
 In the daughter the mother reappeared, but now 
 poetized by youth, with something added of delicacy 
 and softness always lacking in the original. The moth- 
 er's virtues were hard-working, scolding drudges. The 
 daughter possessed to the full all the maternal good 
 qualities, but they lacked everything of the deliberate 
 or arbitrary. They were unconscious and poised. Scott 
 was known to have spoken of "something metallic in 
 some women," and his utterance was pretty generally 
 regarded as a breach of martial reticence. 
 
 Be that as it may, Helen was not of the obnoxious 
 class. She was a fair-haired, blue-eyed, comely girl, of 
 a thoroughly healthy nature, without humors, indirec- 
 tions or fancies of any kind. She lacked the last finish 
 of high breeding, but the deficiency seemed to be on 
 purpose to reveal the unsophisticated excellence of the 
 material. Her view of life did not reach in any direc- 
 tion beyond the undoubted boundaries of common- 
 sense, admitting no horizons or anything that indicated 
 a world far off. Her world, indeed, was the flat, every- 
 day world a world wherein the virtues and decencies
 
 THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES 79 
 
 figured prominently, but at the same time necessarily, 
 merely like so many chairs and tables and other utilities 
 of a well-ordered existence. 
 
 What shall \ve say of the poet without rhapsody, the 
 lover of truth without fervor, the martyr who regards 
 his suffering as a matter of interest to the physician 
 only, the philanthropist who makes charity a kitchen 
 virtue, the enthusiast who promptly puts the heroics of 
 life to work as common servants? We may complain 
 that such miss the spirit in the exercise of the office, 
 but we are compelled to acknowledge they give us the 
 fact while they seem to ignore the principle. Helen 
 Scott perpetually disappointed me by her blind adher- 
 ence to commonplace motives, and then confounded 
 me by the incalculable heights to which they carried 
 her. 
 
 When Mr. Scott and Ralph rode up to the front door 
 of the Manse, accompanied by half a score of romping 
 negro children, Helen was the first of the household 
 to greet them. She came from the flower garden, wear- 
 ing a great calash. She carried a rake over her shoul- 
 der and a small painted basket in her hand. Her face 
 was flushed by labor. Perhaps its color deepened a little 
 when she perceived the stranger. After assisting her 
 father to dismount she greeted him affectionately, but 
 without effusion. She curtsied politely to Ralph when 
 Scott introduced him, but paid no attention to the pa- 
 ternal remark that here was a gentleman full of stories 
 for her of the gayeties of London and New York. 
 
 "We were not expecting you," she said to her father.
 
 8O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Brushing the dust from his shoulders she said affec- 
 tionately "I hope you are going to settle down with us 
 for a long time, eh?" 
 
 "My dear girl," said Scott, as he stamped his cramped 
 feet, "it wouldn't be wise to make treaties quite so 
 quickly as this, even with you. Wait till I see how you 
 are going to treat me and Mr. Ralph here. I will tell 
 you this, however, I have a great deal to do around 
 here." 
 
 "I hope that doesn't mean we are not to see much 
 of you?" 
 
 "In times like these " began Scott, gravely. 
 
 "When everyone is beating the big drum," she said, 
 smiling, "you are better off at home. Besides, you 
 must be careful to avoid falling into the crow's habit 
 of life." 
 
 "The crow's, Helen?" 
 
 "Yes; the crow is the only bird that doesn't feed 
 where it sleeps. But let us go in. Dinner must be 
 ready. 'Chalk,' take care of the horses." 
 
 Chalk was an off-colored negro. 
 
 Ralph soon felt himself quite atjiome in the Scott 
 household. At first his reception struck him as some- 
 what cold. This impression, however, quickly disap- 
 peared as he recognized that it was occasioned by the 
 unceremonious manner of people thoroughly accus- 
 tomed to themselves. He was familiar with a more 
 sophisticated society, where certain sentiments were 
 often exaggerated by expression. His appearance at 
 the Manse made not the slightest change in the house-
 
 THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES 8 1 
 
 hold life. He was promptly accepted as a member of 
 it. Though the kindness he received came slowly, it 
 came in so ordinary a guise as scarcely to invite his 
 recognition. 
 
 When greeting Ralph Mrs. Scott limited her wel- 
 come to a stiff "How do yer do?" She spoke with 
 some country accent, and always with the decision of 
 a mind irrevocably made up. 
 
 Ralph ventured to remark that they would have ar- 
 rived a day or two sooner had not his host been de- 
 tained by affairs almost to the moment of starting. 
 
 "How's that?" she asked shrilly, bending forward 
 and putting her hand trumpet-wise to her ear. 
 
 When Ralph repeated his remark she leaned back 
 in her chair and said : 
 
 "Umph ! I know Isaac." 
 
 Comment was a habit of speech with her. From her 
 laconic manner Ralph concluded a deal of her conver- 
 sation was mutely with herself. At times she indulged 
 in sudden unexpected outbursts of speech as though 
 her pent-up cogitations had passed control. 
 
 At dinner when the master of the Manse was re- 
 counting his experiences in New York and describing 
 the political condition of the country she interrupted 
 with: 
 
 "Of course I know nothing of the matter" (this was a 
 favorite preface of her's to all dogmatic utterances) 
 "but you can't convince me that all this rumpus and 
 fightin' doesn't come from the laziness of men these 
 days. They'd rayther gad around and break one an-
 
 82 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 other's heads than stick to their business as God in- 
 tended them. Look at Will Breed and the gang of idle 
 loafers he has gathered around him. They haven't paid 
 rent nor done a stroke of work for nigh on a year, yet 
 they think they've got excuse enough going around 
 the country telling other people how they ought to be 
 discontented and arguing them into a state of disorder. 
 In my days it was the duty of a man to look after his 
 family and meet his obligations. Now it doesn't mat- 
 ter if only he stands around enough and curses the 
 King. No wonder the country's in a bad way. Mark 
 my words it will be worse yet, and I know who'll be to 
 blame." 
 
 It was customary not to pay any verbal attention to 
 these outbursts. The old lady seemed to be rather grat- 
 ified than otherwise by the absence of reply. 
 
 She didn't hear the remark made by Jacob Lorn, who 
 sat at the other side of the table. 
 
 "Women are naturally slaves." 
 
 He uttered this indolently as though weary himself 
 of the conclusion. 
 
 "Uncle Jacob," said Helen calmly, "I'm surprised 
 even that melon doesn't sweeten your remarks." 
 
 "It is excellent, Helen," conceded the gentleman 
 slowly, filling his mouth as he spoke, "but a melon is a 
 type of woman. You cannot tell by any known out- 
 ward sign the sweet from the insipid, the fruit from the 
 turnip or how the one or the other will in the end af- 
 fect your system." 
 
 "You may well guess, Ralph," said Scott, laughing,
 
 THE MANSE AND ITS ITS INMATES 83 
 
 "that Uncle Jacob is not exactly an admirer of the fair 
 sex as you and I are, my boy, Eh?" 
 
 "Only the young man and the middle-age gallant," 
 continued Uncle Lorn in his imperturbed manner, turn- 
 ing to Ralph, "fool themselves with illusions about 
 women. I said a moment ago Woman was naturally a 
 slave. I don't contradict myself now when I add 
 Woman" is a tyranny. A man can work through every 
 other delusion of life and come out somewhere on the 
 other side in fair possession of himself, but there is no 
 escape, sir, none, for the man who once falls under the 
 domination of that absolutism of whim and feeling 
 called Woman." 
 
 "You speak very positively, sir," said Ralph, to 
 whom these utterances had a fresher sound than to 
 others at the table. 
 
 "The study of Woman has been the labor of my life," 
 Lorn replied in his tone of assurance. "I am busy now 
 with a book on the subject." 
 
 "The misogynist with his counterblast down the old 
 home chimney is not a new character," said Ralph, who 
 was inwardly irritated as the young ever are when the 
 natural aspirations of youth are cut across the grain. 
 
 "My work rests upon a new basis," said Lorn simply. 
 
 "I thought all such doctrine rested upon an old 
 basis," said Ralph, "a basis of say fifty years of life." 
 
 "Ha ! Ha !" roared Scott, "that strikes you, Jacob, 
 within three years." 
 
 Ralph hastened to disclaim any personal direction 
 to his remark.
 
 #4 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 ""No, 'no," he continued. "I had in mind merely the 
 idea that any misogynist's views are in general a dys- 
 pepsia of middle age." 
 
 "Or the acidity of early mistakes," suggested Lorn, 
 sarcastically. "You are not married?" he continued, 
 rising. 
 
 "No," replied Ralph. 
 
 Despite himself, Ralph's face flushed. 
 
 "Ah !" cried Lom, sardonically, his small white teeth 
 glistening in his dirty-colored round face. "The red 
 flag of love! Eh? My lady's emissary is already ar- 
 rived. The peasant of our dull days is promised a new 
 heaven and a new earth in exchange for his clayey 
 acres. Dear, dear, how easily we are intoxicated upon 
 the ferment of the old ditch-water ! The idea that hap- 
 piness is centred in a vertigo ! That the lost voices of 
 life speak at last in a month's delirium! Eh? Better 
 get drunk on Jamaica toddy, The after effect is less dis- 
 tressing. 
 
 After this outburst Lom taciturnly shuffled out of the 
 room. 
 
 Scott bade Helen fill Ralph's glass. 
 
 "You'll find Burgundy the best antidote for that sour 
 stuff, Ralph," he cried. "You mustn't mind Jacob. 
 Here we all are used to him. He doesn't sound so of- 
 fensive when you know him. He represents the imbe- 
 cility of an idea." 
 
 "Father, Uncle Jacob is intolerable at times." 
 
 "Oh!" said Ralph. "An opinion is not necessarily 
 anything more."
 
 THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES 8$ 
 
 "Good !" cried Scott, who was growing jovial. "And 
 as Socrates thought a purgation necessary after speak- 
 ing impiously of love, let us, Ralph, offer a recantation 
 for our friend's heresy by drinking to Woman." 
 
 "The ideal of love !" exclaimed Ralph, laughing. 
 
 "The divine !" cried Scott, lifting his glass. 
 
 "You are two very foolish men," said Helen, good- 
 naturedly. "Come, mother, let me help you upstairs." 
 
 "Isaac, what are you talking of?" asked Mrs. Scott, 
 aroused by the hilarity. 
 
 "Of Woman, my dear," answered Scott. 
 
 "You ought to know better, your daughter present 
 and this young man." 
 
 "We were treating her from the purely poetical 
 standpoint, my dear, as women should ever be treated. 
 Eh, Helen?" exclaimed Scott, winking his little black 
 eyes first at Helen and then at Ralph, as he drained 
 his glass. 
 
 Ralph surprised himself by the rapidity with which 
 he acquired a sense of domestic settlement at the 
 Manse. He was compelled more than once to remind 
 himself that he was only a visitor and that his relation- 
 ship to the family was of an exceedingly short and cas- 
 ual character. Yet the master of the house treated him 
 with almost the confidence and familiarity of a parent. 
 The mistress with few preliminaries involved him in her 
 ceaseless petty reminiscences then pleased to the ex- 
 treme by his deference, pronounced him "an uncommon 
 young man." Helen, tirelessly occupied supervising 
 house and farm, gave him a frank welcome whenever
 
 86 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 he joined her in the gardens, at the barns or on the 
 lawn at the rear of the house, overlooking the river, 
 where she frequently sat in the afternoons sewing. Per- 
 haps it was a certain looseness in the household life that 
 made it so easy and seemingly so natural for him to find 
 a place. Even Uncle Jacob accepted him in his indif- 
 ferent style. 
 
 "The only difficulty with you at present, Mr. Ten- 
 nant," he said, "is you are so hopelessly young." 
 
 When Ralph replied, "That is a defect which soon 
 remedies itself," the older man sighed. 
 
 Ralph frequently visited Lorn, who was not a resi- 
 dent of the Manse. He lived in a dilapidated, ancient 
 farmhouse not far from the negro settlement. He was 
 a distant relative of Mrs. Scott's and was "uncled" in 
 the family by courtesy, not by right. He was an intel- 
 lectual outcast professed himself an atheist, a pessi- 
 mist, a contemner of many established facts. He was 
 a solitary by choice. A half-breed squaw managed his 
 household, mutely served him and struggled, against 
 his wishes, to keep his effects in some degree of order 
 and the decayed house and grounds in some sort of 
 habited appearance. 
 
 At times, for days and even weeks, no one but she 
 would see him or know where he was. Then for a pe- 
 riod he would visit the Manse frequently, and after- 
 ward without a word disappear. 
 
 He was a tireless reader. He sat all day with his 
 books. In the twilight he was accustomed to stroll up 
 and down in front of his house, always keeping to the
 
 THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES 87 
 
 middle of the highway. The Indians, negroes and whites 
 made him the subject of legends and stories, many of a 
 discreditable order. 
 
 Lom's true history Ralph never learned. A certain 
 reticence on the part of those who presumably were ac- 
 quainted with his life seemed to hint at some capital er- 
 ror in the background. He never spoke of the past 
 himself. *No recollections or experiences betrayed him. 
 Only by rare momentary preoccupations, by an occa- 
 sional tone or glance could the most careful scrutinizer 
 divine that at times the shadows were before him and 
 their distant voices in his ears. 
 
 With Helen only was he invariably complaisant. He 
 never denied himself to her visits. He submitted with 
 a strange docility to her wishes. One day when she 
 made him a call with Ralph, in the course of which she 
 admonished him for some personal untidiness, he stood 
 for a moment before her like a child, and when she ex- 
 claimed, 'There! Isn't that better?" when she had fin- 
 ished sewing on a button he said softly : 
 
 "God made you, Helen, you busy bee, to atone for a 
 million other errors." 
 
 For days Ralph drifted riding, visiting, making 
 himself useful to Helen whenever she would permit 
 him. In the middle of the week Scott wandered off to 
 make a visit to the Schuylers. 
 
 Gen. Schuyler was the head of the patriot movement 
 in the region and at that moment was about to begin 
 military operations against Sir John Johnson at John- 
 son Hall, who, despite his pledge previously given, had
 
 88 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 been actively organizing armed resistance in the Mo- 
 hawk valley on the behalf of the British King. 
 
 After parting from Brant at Poughkeepsie Ralph 
 had recounted to Scott the episode with the letter on 
 board the sloop. Scott in his fiery way declared it was 
 .perfectly clear Brant was a British spy and an emissary 
 of that scoundrel Whitehead. Ralph objected to that 
 view. 
 
 "I can't see it," he said. "If so, why should this Mon- 
 roe warn me against supposed danger?" 
 
 "You Tory bat!" exclaimed Scott, "why why well 
 I'll tell you why. Because, sir, their game is always 
 underhand. That fellow is part of the trap. They don't 
 want you, of course. It's me they're after. Well, good 
 luck to them if they can catch me. I can imagine I'm 
 a thorn in their side. Let's read the letter." 
 
 "On suspicion merely?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "Oh, I've no scruples in dealing with those con- 
 founded rascals. If you have why destroy it." 
 
 "Do you know," said Ralph, "I have a strong inclin- 
 ation to deliver it." 
 
 Scott looked steadily at Ralph. 
 
 "I wouldn't make a fool of myself and think it was 
 something grand." 
 
 "Do you believe anything of what Monroe told me?" 
 asked Ralph. 
 
 "Not a word," was the reply. 
 
 "Well, then," concluded Ralph, "I'll keep the letter 
 until we arrive at the Manse. Is it far from Johnson 
 Hall?"
 
 THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES 89 
 
 "No," Scott replied. "Helen, my daughter, often 
 made the trip when Sir William Johnson was alive." 
 
 At the Manse Ralph's first inquiry was regarding 
 Johnson. Mr. Scott learned that the baronet was not 
 at the Hall. He couldn't discover Sir Johnson's exact 
 whereabouts at the moment. 
 
 "In a day or two I shall know," he said, "when I have 
 seen my friend, Gen. Schuyler. You are not thinking 
 of that confounded letter, are you, Ralph?" 
 
 "Well," replied Ralph, "I am not exactly thinking 
 about it. I have decided to deliver it." 
 
 That "decision" has a little history. 
 
 When questioning Helen regarding the Johnsons 
 one afternoon, sitting on the lawn, Ralph told her the 
 story of the letter and her father's notion of the exist- 
 ence of a plot. 
 
 "A plot! Another plot!" she said as she paused in 
 her sewing. "I am really tired of hearing of plots. 
 Every farmer who happens to return home by an un- 
 accustomed road is at once suspected of something. 
 It is all very foolish. People who have been living to- 
 gether in this part of the country, knowing and respect- 
 ing one another for a generation, have suddenly taken 
 it into their heads that half of the community are vil- 
 lains. Everybody is acquainted with the Johnsons. Sir 
 William Johnson for years was one of our most impor- 
 tant public men and officially he was certainly highly 
 considered. His son, Sir John Johnson, hasn't the old- 
 er man's astuteness, but he impresses me as a gentle- 
 man much above any dirty work. My cousin lives at
 
 9O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Johnstown. She and her husband say Sir Johnson is 
 a man of great kindness. It is so easy to suspect peo- 
 ple, Mr. Tennant, and give them bad names." 
 
 "Then you would advise the delivery of that letter?" 
 
 "I see no reason for any other course. You can send 
 the letter by messenger. My cousin and her husband 
 are visiting in Albany now. When they return in a day 
 or two, I am sure they will take the letter for you. 
 Father has got you into a fog. What do you suppose 
 could happen from so simple a matter?" 
 
 Ralph was a little nettled by the young lady's plain 
 ideas. 
 
 "No! no!" he said. "Your father is not to be 
 charged with obscuring my views. Your suggestion 
 of a messenger would work admirably were I not 
 bound to deliver the letter personally." 
 
 "Well, if you promised to deliver it yourself, do so, 
 although Johnson Hall is, perhaps, fifty miles from here 
 some say less, some more. But the journey is pleas- 
 ant at this time of the year. I wouldn't mind it myself 
 if Susanna and Chris were ready. At any rate, if you'll 
 wait a few days no doubt you can have their company. 
 Christopher Gist you'll find a fine fellow and Susanna 
 a pleasant girl, if you'll take ordinary country people 
 like ourselves at their country value." 
 
 "Miss Helen, you're most disrespectful to yourself 
 and your family," said Ralph. 
 
 "Mr. Tennant, remember you promised to drop mere 
 language." 
 
 "I'll stick to it," replied Ralph gayly, "and promise
 
 THE MANSE AND ITS INMATES 9 1 
 
 anything else you ask for if you will introduce me to 
 your cousins and join the party yourself. Will you?" 
 
 "I'll see," said Helen, cautiously. "When Chris was 
 here last week he begged me to make a visit. They 
 have just finished their new home, and I have a wo- 
 man's curiosity to see it."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 THE PRELUDE IN THE WOODS. 
 
 WHEN Scott was told that Helen contemplated a trip 
 to Johnstown with her cousins and Ralph he forbade 
 the project excitedly and denounced it as imprudent 
 and even dangerous in the highest degree. 
 
 "Gen. Schuyler," he said, "has given me the latest 
 particulars of Sir Johnson's 'doings.' ' 
 
 Clearly these stories had greatly incensed the little 
 man against the baronet. He assumed the air of one 
 in authority. Even with Schuyler himself, he demand- 
 ed loudly the arrest of the "titled Judas." He pictured 
 Johnson Hall as a "Sodom of Toryism," and declared 
 the military would be held responsible if forthwith the 
 place was not wiped out. He greatly excited himself 
 but he stirred nobody. The Johnsons had many friends, 
 and Schuyler was loath to take any step that might 
 provoke bloodshed. He had written a letter of expos- 
 tulation to the baronet, which he believed would re- 
 move the necessity of despatching troops to Johnstown. 
 The "moderates" were satisfied with the situation. Few 
 believed that Johnson would provoke armed hostilities. 
 
 "I know Sir Johnson," drawled Christopher Gist, a 
 tall, bony, fair-haired countryman, who had imbibed 
 from his fields the spirit of the slow processes of na- 
 ture; "he won't do nawthin' beyond saving his dignity. 
 He wants to stand well with government and keep
 
 THE PRELUDE IN THE WOODS, 93 
 
 up the family traditions, that's all. He ain't his father 
 by more than his years, and he knows he would have 
 no chance if the people around here tells him to quit. 
 Of course, he's parleying with the Indians, but there's 
 nawthin' to that but talk." 
 
 Chris's slow ways acted like pepper on Scott's nerves. 
 While Chris was talking Scott's fingers were busy 
 bristling what little hair remained on his head. 
 
 "Phew !" cried Scott, unable to contain himself, "you 
 haven't the slightest, the remotest idea of what you're, 
 talking about. Egad, Chris, I hope your judgment on 
 farming is sounder than on politics. Let me tell you 
 I shall have something to say in this matter. Johnson 
 is a dangerous man. His instincts are criminal. We 
 clipped his wings once and now, by gad, it's time to 
 shoot him. Mark my words, Dayton will be after him 
 before the end of the week." 
 
 "I guess you've been mistaken before," said Chris. 
 
 "Come ! come !" said Helen. "Isn't all this unneces- 
 sary? We have nothing to do with Sir Johnson, and, 
 as to Mr. Tennant, he has only to deliver a letter the 
 duty of a few minutes. I am sure people are not going 
 to let passion guide them. Gen. Schuyler and Sir John- 
 son are too sensible to settle differences by blows." 
 
 "But what the d what, in Heaven's name, Helen, is 
 the sense of marching right into trouble?" 
 
 "None at all, father; on the other hand, why should 
 we suppose that our peaceful people are about to go on 
 the warpath like a tribe of drunken Mohawks? Don't 
 you think it's a mistake to be thinking and talking of
 
 94 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 fighting? It seems to me that is the surest way of 
 bringing on trouble. The sanest course is to go about 
 our business quietly and take it for granted that other 
 people are doing the same." 
 
 Everyone at the Manse agreed that Scott greatly 
 exaggerated the situation; even outside among his 
 friends Scott found it difficult to meet anybody who 
 shared his sanguinary fervor. 
 
 Preparations were made, and early one glorious 
 morning near the end of May the little cavalcade 
 Chris and his wife, Helen and Ralph set out joyfully 
 from the Manse. 
 
 Whenever Ralph spoke to me of this trip he termed 
 it "the prelude in the woods," The wild, unknown 
 country, the beauty of forest land and stream, the still- 
 ness of unfrequented paths, the scents and colors of 
 May, intoxicated him. He said the past seemed as 
 by magic to fall behind him into a remoter period. Long 
 before the party reached the little village of Schenec- 
 tady he found it impossible to believe that but a short 
 time ago he was walking the streets of New York. The 
 events of the month past were more like a story told 
 him than his own experience, and far off, at an incalcu- 
 lable distance, he surveyed the picture of it all. 
 
 "This trip," said Ralph gayly, as the road entered the 
 forest, "reminds me of those journeys undertaken in 
 old times by knights and ladies in search of adventure. 
 Doesn't this recall to you some of Spenser's stories?" 
 
 "No," said Helen prosaically; "I haven't read Spen-
 
 THE PRELUDE IN THE WOODS 9$ 
 
 ser. I am so ignorant as not to have heard of him be- 
 fore." 
 
 Ralph's learning was still in the callow stage and 
 given to essay its wings. 
 
 "Still, you like poetry?" he urged. 
 
 "No," she said promptly, "at least only in a certain 
 way. My chief objection is it substitutes imaginary 
 feelings and interests for real ones. I can't applaud 
 people who spend their time indulging in mock senti- 
 ments. I suppose I am deficient. There is so much 
 beauty in the world that nobody pays the least atten- 
 tion to. As to heroism and adventure, there's more in 
 merely paying one's debt than the average person is 
 capable of?" 
 
 "You are a great girl for wanting to get things on the 
 paying basis!" exclaimed Ralph. "I believe if you 
 could you'd turn all our fine feelings into good work- 
 ing horses." 
 
 "Yes, I would," said Helen stoutly. "The most self- 
 ish person going is your man or woman of fine feeling. 
 They are always running into sunsets and moonlights 
 and after somebody else's poor dog. They have a fine 
 sense for everything except their own day's work. Real- 
 ly, isn't there something finer in a dirty. duty stuck to 
 than in knights and ladies and adventures that have 
 nothing to do with real life?" 
 
 "Why, of course," answered Ralph, laughing, "there 
 is something fine in all other forms of personal morti- 
 fication." 
 
 "You are making fun of me," said Helen, abashed.
 
 90 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Like all persons who rarely exhibit their feelings, sHe 
 was sensitive. 
 
 They were proceeding side by side. Chris and Su- 
 sanna were jogging on silently in front. Ralph im- 
 pulsively took Helen's hand in his. 
 
 "Believe me," he said, "I am laughing, but not at 
 you. You you know it's so queer to see you bowling 
 over my old ideas like so many pins. You always do. 
 Yet it all seems right, and I feel too lazily happy to-day 
 to set them up again." 
 
 Helen withdrew her hand quietly from Ralph's pos- 
 session. She was blushing, and struggled with an ef- 
 fort to hide her confusion. 
 
 That afternoon the travelers rested at a rough farm- 
 house belonging to one of Chris's friends, and remained 
 there until morning. It had the sad, forgotten look of 
 an outpost. There was an air of painful human strug- 
 gle in the contrast between the lean cultivation of the 
 half-cleared fields and the strong luxuriance of wild 
 nature. Here Ralph caught his first glimpse of the 
 world that had tutored Helen. In the hard work of the 
 household, in the hardships of a pioneer's life cheerfully 
 accepted, in unconscious kindness, in wealth created 
 of pitifully small means, in the unmeditated poetry of 
 dull lives, Ralph saw something of the fine meaning un- 
 derlying Helen's prosaic philosophy. He thought he 
 understood and the black and white of the drab pic- 
 ture glowed with color. For Helen there was no color 
 in it, nor did her appreciation of the facts need any. 
 Therein lay the difference of temperaments.
 
 THE PRELUDE IN THE WOODS 97 
 
 In the evening as they were strolling about the farm 
 Ralph said: 
 
 "I understand now what you were saying this morn- 
 ing." Then he tried to explain. 
 
 "How you do heighten things!" she said, smiling. 
 "I had no intention of throwing such a grand air about 
 such little matters. How else would you have people 
 act?" 
 
 "Then I am all wrong again," he said, "and my pion- 
 eer farmer is as false as my mediaeval knight." 
 
 "I didn't say either was wrong," she replied. "I sup- 
 pose it is your way of looking at things. That is the 
 right way for you." 
 
 The next night they slept in the newly built Gist 
 homestead. It stood a little outside the village of 
 Johnstown, and spoke indubitably of Chris's frugality 
 and skill. Chris was a born pioneer, hardened in mind 
 and body to the last degree. It was said that wherever 
 he trod the weeds died. His mellow acres and trim 
 home bore witness to the truth of the saying. His wife, 
 Susanna, was a blank round-faced woman in whom na- 
 ture had reduced all the issues of life to one term toil. 
 She had, apparently, no ideas, no desires she worked. 
 She accepted the days as they came without the slight- 
 est question and grew a little stouter and a little less 
 shapely every year. 
 
 I am setting down these dull facts because there was 
 a new principle in them for Ralph. By some alchemy 
 of contrast it worked upon him. 
 
 Life hitherto had been too suave and easy with
 
 98 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Ralph to raise any vital appeal to his sense of duty. 
 Duty had been as yet only an idle idea with him. 
 He felt something invigorating now in the new 
 scenes he had entered. Helen seemed to be the incar- 
 nated spirit of this life of plain purpose and dull strain 
 that produced a fine human dignity in homespun and 
 endowed the daily commonplaces with a voice of song. 
 It was reaction, undoubtedly; delusion in some meas- 
 ure perhaps; nevertheless the fact remained that 
 Ralph's new surroundings affected him powerfully and 
 in the end Helen in the midst of them played the part 
 of a Calypso enchanting him with the humble joys of 
 life. He never for a moment recognized that only the 
 facts that were appealing to him were Helen's; the 
 spirit of his admiration was a part of his nature over 
 which Catrina silently ruled. Often the image of Ca- 
 trina flashed before him, a soft, wistful, appealing im- 
 age, always very close to him indeed, but still, now 
 something of a picture, a vague ideal, a dream, the hail 
 of a far-off desire compared with Helen's vigorous real- 
 ity. Attraction, sentiment, the habit of old things led 
 his thoughts again and again back to Catrina, but his 
 admiration was Helen's, and she became associated 
 with ever so many new busy possibilities for his life. 
 The truth is, speaking personally of Ralph, he was 
 walking during those days in a delusion, heedless of his 
 own nature, ignoring the past, even with a certain 
 careless wilfulness offending but never silencing the 
 half-conscious sentiment which had struggled for a 
 voice in the orchard. It was the confusion of youth,
 
 THE PRELUDE IN THE WOODS 99 
 
 youth's blindness, its wayward treatment of the logic 
 of life. 
 
 Ralph watched with delight Helen's enthusiasm over 
 the new home and Chris's silent pride as he showed his 
 visitors about the place. 
 
 The new farmhouse was a two-story structure, built 
 partly of recently felled logs. Three little dormer win- 
 dows peeped out of the roof, close up to the edge of 
 the eaves. The big red brick chimney climbed up the 
 outside of one of the end walls. The entrance, with its 
 Dutch door swinging in halves, was hooded with rough 
 shingles and flanked by a pair of rough columns and 
 two fixed wooden benches. This embellishment had 
 cost Chris a deal of labor. The well stood in front of 
 the house with its bucket swinging high on a long 
 pole. The base of the building was heavily banked 
 with earth to exclude the winter cold. 
 
 "Now," said Helen to her cousin, "when I am away 
 I can picture you sitting evenings in this cozy porch as 
 though I was with you. It is just right for the shade of 
 those trees. Isn't it? And this kitchen, Susanna, isn't 
 it exactly what you wanted? You won't have to go out 
 of doors any more to the wood pile. Isn't it all beau- 
 tiful, Mr. Tennant?" 
 
 It was the triumph of the Hand. Ralph joined heart- 
 ily in the paean, for there was something infinitely 
 touching in this humble work of the homely instincts. 
 He felt how sweet and wholesome the common parts of 
 humanity may be. 
 
 To his hosts, and to Helen also, he was the guest of
 
 IOO THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 honor. They treated him as though aware of the fact 
 he was condescending to rough ways. Chris provided 
 extraordinary provender. Susanna put forth all her 
 skill at the big kitchen fire. Ralph insisted upon help- 
 ing Helen set the table in the rude, unptastered kitchen 
 with its small square windows. 
 
 They lingered over the meal in the still twilight. 
 Accompanying the liquid evening song of the wood- 
 birds there was something like music in the air which 
 was well attuned to Ralph's voice as he told his hushed 
 auditors of the far-off world he had seen and in truth 
 belonged to. Chris and Susanna were awed. 
 
 "Are people happier there?" asked Helen finally. 
 She on her part felt a stranger moving among her old 
 thoughts. 
 
 "Nothing can be happier than this," said Ralph.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER. 
 
 THE following afternoon Ralph started for Johnson 
 Hall. He had questioned Chris about the baronet and 
 was no'w firmly of the opinion that there was not the 
 slightest reason for distrust. Helen decided to accom- 
 pany him on his visit. She was on terms of intimacy 
 with Johnson and his wife, and always made them a 
 call when in Johnstown. 
 
 The Hall stood about half a mile north of the village, 
 on a slight eminence. As Ralph approached the man- 
 sion he noted with surprise its stateliness and extent, 
 and the unexpected beauty of its surroundings. The 
 buildings at first sight appeared to be of stone, but that 
 was only a semblance. The main edifice was con- 
 structed of clapboards, though the two detached 
 wings, one on each side, were really built of stone, and 
 being pierced at the top for musketry, possessed a de- 
 cidedly martial appearance. The gardens were finely 
 kept and the nursery on the southern side gave addi- 
 tional testimony of the owner's refined taste. 
 
 At first Ralph's attention was given wholly to these 
 matters. Presently he observed in the rear of the house 
 signs of commotion. A number of men were hurrying 
 to and fro. As Ralph and Helen neared the front door 
 one of them ran around and excitedly in a Scotch ac- 
 cent demanded their mission.
 
 IO2 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 The man's peremptory manner annoyed Ralph. 
 
 "Suppose you allow me to state that myself when 
 the door is opened," said Ralph. 
 
 "No door'll be opened to you this day," said the fel- 
 low. "You had better be away with your lady." 
 
 "Do you bring this from Sir Johnson," asked Ralph, 
 "or is it your own impudence?" 
 
 "Ain't I telling you the master's too busy to be 
 sending messages to anybody? Go home! That's the 
 proper place for you." 
 
 "Get out of the way or I'll lay this whip across you !" 
 cried Ralph, angered by the man's persistency. 
 
 The next moment he had dismounted, assisted 
 Helen to the ground and knocked at the door loudly. 
 
 No one answered. 
 
 "Didn't I tell you to be going away? Little heed 
 they'll give to your clanging. You're an obstinate cal- 
 lant." 
 
 With this denial at the doorway the situation sud- 
 denly took on a new phase. 
 
 "Is any one sick? What is the matter?" asked Ralph. 
 "I have an important letter for Sir Johnson, and this 
 young lady is a friend of Lady Johnson." 
 
 The Scotchman eyed Ralph cautiously. 
 
 "An important letter! It's just possible," he said 
 slowly, "but with the sight of it I'd know." 
 
 "Well," said Ralph, laughing, "I am afraid, my good 
 fellow, your doubts must remain unsatisfied. When I 
 see Sir Johnson I will be able to judge how far you are 
 exceeding your instructions. I suppose, Miss Helen,
 
 THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER 1 03 
 
 there is nothing to be done but make our way home 
 again." 
 
 He was about to help Helen to remount when the 
 Scotchman who had been pondering the situation said : 
 
 "Hold on! I may be wrong; there is no telling. If 
 you'll bide a wee and give me your message I'll see 
 what I can do with it. But, mind, I dare promise you 
 nothing." 
 
 "Well," said Ralph, beginning to take the strange 
 position good humoredly, "I won't hold your con- 
 science to account. Tell Sir Johnson a gentleman is 
 waiting his pleasure with a letter from Mr. Whitehead 
 Hicks. Can you remember that name?" 
 
 "I've a unique memory for names and dates," said the 
 fellow seriously. 
 
 "Here, here; hold; you have only part of the mes- 
 sage. Tell Lady Johnson Miss Scott has given herself 
 the pleasure of a call." 
 
 The last word was scarcely uttered before the man 
 bolted around the corner of the house. 
 
 "What's up, I wonder?" asked Ralph turning to 
 Helen. 
 
 "It's all most extraordinary," said Helen. "Quite in- 
 comprehensible. There isn't a sign of life in the front 
 of the house. Did you notice, the shutters are all 
 closed?" 
 
 Ralph stepped out of the porch and was surveying 
 the building when the door was quickly opened by the 
 Scotchman who first accosted them. 
 
 "You may walk in," he said, slowly, and with a man-
 
 IO4 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 ner much subdued. "If you'll be pleased to step into 
 this room Sir Johnson and my lady will shortly see 
 you." 
 
 The two visitors were conducted to the end of a 
 great wainscoted hall, with broad staircase and mas- 
 sive mahogany balustrade, to a little room which 
 opened on to the side of the house. The shutters of 
 this room were closed and the light so completely ex- 
 cluded that the furniture was scarcely discernible. 
 
 "I suppose I ought to leave the door open," said the 
 Scotchman, doubtfully, "but perhaps " 
 
 Fearing a change of mind Ralph broke in: 
 
 "Yes, I'd leave the door open, I'm sure that is right." 
 
 "It is hard to be sure of anything these days," said 
 the man, departing. 
 
 Helen was striving to control her laughter. 
 
 "Oh !" she cried, "this is a most ludicrous situation, 
 but whether I ought to laugh at it I don't know. What 
 does it mean?" 
 
 Without, in the big hall, there was not a sound save 
 the slow beat of a clock somewhere. The house might 
 have been deserted. After a while Ralph heard men's 
 voices in a distant room. By and by an elderly woman 
 came quietly down the stairs. With a crippled 
 curtsey she announced that her ladyship would be 
 pleased to receive Miss Scott if she'd be so kind as to 
 ascend to her room. 
 
 Left alone, Ralph seated himself to await his own 
 reception. He was detained perhaps another ten min- 
 utes before he heard the opening of a door on the other
 
 THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER 1O5 
 
 side of the hallway. The Scotchman returned. He 
 was bidden to conduct Ralph to Sir Johnson. He led 
 Ralph solemnly through the hall and into a spacious 
 parlor, darkened precisely as was the room they had 
 just left. At the furthermost end of the apartment was 
 an open door, partly screened by heavy curtains. The 
 only light the room received strayed through this door- 
 way. 
 
 The Scotchman drew the curtain aside. Ralph 
 passed through the entrance and found himself in a 
 lofty library. The walls were wainscoted with mahog- 
 any and covered with books in rich bindings. A table 
 in the centre was* well filled with bottles and glasses. 
 Around it, in various attitudes of expectancy, sat three 
 gentlemen. 
 
 One was a short, stout, pig-faced man. His staring, 
 small black eyes, under almost invisible brows, scrutin- 
 ized Ralph boldly as he entered. He wore an officer's 
 uniform, the upper buttons of which were undone to 
 facilitate respiration. Opposite him lolled a taller man 
 of middle age, in civilian garb. His strong, resolute 
 melancholy features were sadly marred by a purplish 
 birthmark and a large, red nose. The head of the table 
 was possessed by a man younger than either of his com- 
 panions. The aristocratic effect of his clean-cut face, 
 thin lips and sharp, intelligent eyes was enhanced by 
 his trim, well-fitting, powdered wig. Perhaps he gained 
 something by contrast with the less refined physiog- 
 nomies of his associates. He rose slowly as Ralph en- 
 tered, and at his height showed a tall, shapely figure.
 
 IO6 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I am told you bring a letter from my friend, Mr. 
 Hicks?" he said. 
 
 "Then I have the honor of speaking to Sir John 
 Johnson?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "I would return the compliment, sir," said Sir John- 
 son quietly, "had not certain extraordinary circum- 
 stances, which I trust you'll overlook, deprived me of 
 the usual formality of your name?" 
 
 Ralph announced himself. 
 
 "Pray be seated, Mr. Tennant. Allow me to intro- 
 duce my two friends Col. Claus, Dr. Bruce. I hope 
 you'll join us. There's a glass. Bruce please pass the 
 bottle." 
 
 The two gentlemen returned Ralph's salutation; 
 then, without another word, the glasses of all were 
 rilled. There was an air of precision in the reception. 
 Ralph perceived that Sir Johnson and his friends alike 
 were in stifled excitement. 
 
 "Coming from so staunch a Tory as my friend Mr. 
 Hicks, I suppose I needn't hesitate to ask you to join 
 us in a toast to the King?" said Sir Johnson. 
 
 As he spoke Johnson elevated his heavy eyebrows. 
 
 "I'll gladly join you," answered Ralph promptly. 
 
 Johnson's face relaxed. His example in rising to 
 the toast was followed by his guests. 
 
 "Now, Mr. Tennant," said Johnson, in a prompt 
 tone, as the party reseated themselves, "our time here 
 is very short. I must press you for your business, even 
 at the expense of hospitality. The truth is we have 
 received word that Col. Dayton and a large force is on
 
 THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER IO7 
 
 the way to Johnson Hall to commit a most treasonable 
 outrage. Gen. Schuyler has ordered my arrest. As 
 two hundred men are no match for a thousand we are 
 compelled for the time being to flee before the storm. 
 If you had delayed your visit by a few minutes Mr. 
 Hicks's letter would not have reached me." 
 
 "In dflivering this," said Ralph, as he handed the 
 letter to Johnson, "I hoped to have full time to explain 
 the peculiar circumstances under which, as you see, it 
 was opened. Perhaps it will suffice now if I assure you 
 the outrage was committed by another, and that nev- 
 ertheless its contents remain inviolate." 
 
 A noticeable air of suppression fell upon the party 
 when Ralph said this. 
 
 "Umph !" ejaculated Col. Bruce. 
 
 Sir Johnson frowned as he received the letter. For 
 a moment he held it in his hand scrutinizing it. Ralph 
 resented, particularly, the doubtful gaze which the pig- 
 eyed colonel turned upon him. 
 
 It was an awkward minute. Perhaps nothing could 
 have added more to Ralph's discomfiture than the in- 
 trusion that then occurred. 
 
 A big window filled a large part of the further end of 
 the room. At one side of it opposite Ralph was a low 
 door, which suddenly opened and a tall man in Indian 
 costume entered. 
 
 Ralph instantly recognized his companion of the 
 sloop. His wild attire added to his mien a fierceness 
 of aspect which for a moment greatly startled Ralph. 
 He wore moccasins elegantly trimmed with beads, leg-
 
 Id6 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I am told you bring a letter from my friend, Mr. 
 Hicks?" he said. 
 
 "Then I have the honor of speaking to Sir John 
 Johnson?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "I would return the compliment, sir," said Sir John- 
 son quietly, "had not certain extraordinary circum- 
 stances, which I trust you'll overlook, deprived me of 
 the usual formality of your name?" 
 
 Ralph announced himself. 
 
 "Pray be seated, Mr. Tennant. Allow me to intro- 
 duce my two friends Col. Claus, Dr. Bruce. I hope 
 you'll join us. There's a glass. Bruce please pass the 
 bottle." 
 
 The two gentlemen returned Ralph's salutation; 
 then, without another word, the glasses of all were 
 filled. There was an air of precision in the reception. 
 Ralph perceived that Sir Johnson and his friends alike 
 were in stifled excitement. 
 
 "Coming from so staunch a Tory as my friend Mr. 
 Hicks, I suppose I needn't hesitate to ask you to join 
 us in a toast to the King?" said Sir Johnson. 
 
 As he spoke Johnson elevated his heavy eyebrows. 
 
 "I'll gladly join you," answered Ralph promptly. 
 
 Johnson's face relaxed. His example in rising to 
 the toast was followed by his guests. 
 
 "Now, Mr. Tennant," said Johnson, in a prompt 
 tone, as the party reseated themselves, "our time here 
 is very short. I must press you for your business, even 
 at the expense of hospitality. The truth is we have 
 received word that Col. Dayton and a large force is on
 
 THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER IO/ 
 
 the way to Johnson Hall to commit a most treasonable 
 outrage. Gen. Schuyler has ordered my arrest. As 
 two hundred men are no match for a thousand we are 
 compelled for the time being to flee before the storm. 
 If you had delayed your visit by a few minutes Mr. 
 Hicks's letter would not have reached me." 
 
 "In delivering this," said Ralph, as he handed the 
 letter to Johnson, "I hoped to have full time to explain 
 the peculiar circumstances under which, as you see, it 
 was opened. Perhaps it will suffice now if I assure you 
 the outrage was committed by another, and that nev- 
 ertheless its contents remain inviolate." 
 
 A noticeable air of suppression fell upon the party 
 when Ralph said this. 
 
 "Umph !" ejaculated Col. Bruce. 
 
 Sir Johnson frowned as he received the letter. For 
 a moment he held it in his hand scrutinizing it. Ralph 
 resented, particularly, the doubtful gaze which the pig- 
 eyed colonel turned upon him. 
 
 It was an awkward minute. Perhaps nothing could 
 have added more to Ralph's discomfiture than the in- 
 trusion that then occurred. 
 
 A big window filled a large part of the further end of 
 the room. At one side of it opposite Ralph was a low 
 door, which suddenly opened and a tall man in Indian 
 costume entered. 
 
 Ralph instantly recognized his companion of the 
 sloop. His wild attire added to his mien a fierceness 
 of aspect which for a moment greatly startled Ralph. 
 He wore moccasins elegantly trimmed with beads, leg-
 
 IIO THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Ralph was dumfounded. Brant's tale on the sloop 
 flashed upon his mind. 
 
 "You must see, Sir Johnson," he said, "I am hope- 
 lessly in the dark as to what you mean. I can do noth- 
 ing but ask you to enlighten me." 
 
 The candor of Ralph's appeal evidently impressed 
 the baronet. Johnson looked at Ralph steadily for a 
 moment, and finally said: 
 
 "There's nothing in that letter which need necessar- 
 ily be private from you; read it." 
 
 The waters seemed to flow over Ralph as line by line 
 the treachery of Hicks was disclosed to him. 
 
 "Infernal villain!" he exclaimed, crumpling the let- 
 ter in his hand. 
 
 "Please don't destroy my letter," said Johnson, "and, 
 Mr. Tennant, please, now let us get down to business." 
 
 "You don't believe what that, that Sir Johnson, 
 
 I have no words for this. You cannot believe it !" 
 
 "You see, sir, as I explained a moment ago, unfor- 
 tunately I don't know you and I do know Mr. Hicks. 
 He is a crown official and one of my oldest friends. 
 Your credentials are against you, you must admit. This 
 occurs at a most awkward moment for all of us. I am 
 compelled to leave my home " 
 
 He paused, and turning to Claus, said : 
 
 "I don't know what to do except make Mr. Tennant 
 accompany us." 
 
 "Make," cried Ralph. 
 
 "Request, if you like it better." 
 
 "By what right, sir?"
 
 THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER III 
 
 "Force majeur, my friend," said Johnson, incisively. 
 "I have to bow to it myself," he added, smiling, "and 
 I hope what my dignity submits to yours will accept." 
 
 "Then you mean to use force?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "Mr. Tennant, you must see that if any one is to 
 blame for your predicament it is not I. But in this mat- 
 ter I intend to obey what is practically an order from 
 the crown. I prefer to be pleasant. If you will permit 
 me we will not speak of force. I shall be glad to have 
 you as a guest with us on our expedition which starts 
 immediately. Do you accept?" 
 
 Ralph hesitated. 
 
 "My courtesy cannot wait," urged Johnson. 
 
 "Miss Scott is " commenced Ralph. 
 
 "I will see to that. The young lady shall be con- 
 ducted safely to where she is staying." 
 
 "But all this is an outrageous proceeding," cried 
 Ralph. 
 
 "Mr. Tennant, there are one hundred men outside 
 there, moving at my orders, and they will not consider 
 any of my commands outrageous. Do you understand?" 
 
 "I suppose," said Ralph hopelessly, "I am in your 
 power. I can't see now what to do but submit and bide 
 my time for satisfaction." 
 
 "Good !" exclaimed Johnson. "Brant, Mr. Tennant 
 will take a place in our company.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 THE FIRST STAGE OF THE FLIGHT. 
 
 AT the rear of the Hall around the stables and barns 
 was assembled a loosely dispersed company of about 
 one hundred and fifty men. Perhaps one hundred were 
 provided with some form of baggage. The others were 
 not of the expedition. Evidently the strain of prepara- 
 tion was over and silence prevailed. When the master 
 and his company stepped out of the rear door burdens 
 were instinctively grasped, good-byes were said hastily 
 for the last time and without a word of command audi- 
 ble to Ralph the little troop set forth. No regular for- 
 mation was adopted. The men moved in twos and 
 threes as accident ordered. 
 
 The first part of the march passed over the Johnson 
 estate, through field and ploughed land, afterward 
 through partly cleared woods beyond which ran a forest 
 road. 
 
 This pathway was almost unknown. It had indeed a 
 traditional existence among the inhabitants of Johns- 
 town, but scarcely more. It had been constructed a 
 long time ago, according to the pioneer's time-piece, 
 for military reasons and at the expense of Sir William 
 Johnson, the present baronet's father, at a period when 
 the Mohawk's faith in the English agent was raw and 
 untested. The purpose of the road was attack. With 
 the prolongation of peace it fell into neglect. The sum-
 
 THE FIRST STAGE OF THE FLIGHT 11$ 
 
 mer hid it with tangled vegetation, the winter buried it 
 with timber and leaves. Yet there is a magic in man's 
 ringers which creates a certain tenacious residuum in 
 his handicraft exceeding hard to quite obliterate. Hunt- 
 ers and woodsmen occasionally came upon the aban- 
 doned road like a forgotten thing, but they soon wan- 
 dered from it and lost the exact bearings of their dis- 
 covery. In the early summer this path afforded a tol- 
 erably passable trail to the north. It was completely 
 overarched with foilage and might be likened to a nar- 
 row tree-flanked aisle winding with an apparently in- 
 terminable indefiniteness of aim up and down hill-sides, 
 skirting brooks and mountain streams, dodging as it 
 proceeds all the harder obstacles of the route. 
 
 To Ralph, a stranger to the untrod wilderness, there 
 was something occult in the instinct that seemed to 
 guide Johnson's marching column. As soon as the 
 forest was entered the company fell into a long file. 
 Johnson with his companions and Ralph brought up 
 the rear. For hours scarcely a word was spoken. The 
 spirit or retreat chilled every one. The hard, set pur- 
 pose of the flight, the weary anticipation of distance and 
 difficulties ahead silenced the party. 
 
 On the march Ralph's indignation over his own ab- 
 duction slowly parted with its fervor. The novelty of 
 the situation, his unprepared share in it, his ignorance 
 of the exact meaning of the circumstances with which 
 he was strangely keeping company, in the end intense- 
 ly interested him. The only obligation upset by his ab- 
 sence was his duty to Miss Scott. That she was per-
 
 114 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 fectly safe he was sure, and he half suspected some ex- 
 planation to quiet any anxiety for his absence would be 
 given to her by the remaining members of the Johnson 
 household. His attention slowly deviated from himself 
 to a sense of the forest itself. He began to feel some- 
 thing of its remoteness, vastness, silence and inhospi- 
 tality. Thence he turned to his mute trudging com- 
 panions whose passage into the wilderness now wore 
 the air of an impertinent intrusion. Partly fascinated, 
 he fell into step with the party. He found himself 
 watching with interest the long, vacillating line of hu- 
 manity ahead of him that crunched a way over rotting 
 timber, fallen branches and obstinate low underbrush, 
 while the afternoon sun transfused the forest with a 
 lucent atmosphere of emerald. Here and there bright 
 light struck in, but for the most part the woods were 
 shadowless as the bottom of a green ethereal sea. 
 
 The flight was maintained with the utmost expedi- 
 tion. The tramp continued unslackened throughout 
 the afternoon. The melancholy lights of the evening 
 faded. One by one the woodland sounds of the day 
 were stilled, and as the night stole in they were suc- 
 ceeded by the weird nocturnal cries of marauding ani- 
 mals. About nine o'clock the moon, then near full, be- 
 gan shining brightly through the heavy lattice-work of 
 foliage, and as the dark outlines of the trees stood forth 
 in the silver light they pictured themselves to Ralph as 
 stationary files of black phantoms watching the strange 
 flight through their remote domain. 
 
 During all these hours Ralph trudged in file between
 
 THE FIRST STAGE OF THE FLIGHT 1 1 5 
 
 Sir Johnson and Col. Claus. The former stalked along 
 in as deep contemplation as Ralph. Claus occasionally 
 broke silence by an oath when his foot struck some stub 
 or he stumbled. 
 
 "You can't swear a way through these damned 
 woods. Lift your feet !" cried Dr. Bruce. The tone of 
 his vorce indicated that he, too, was relieving his feel- 
 ings. 
 
 "I'm not a giraffe like you and Johnson," cried Claus 
 
 Ralph was pleased to hear the Colonel puff over his 
 labor. 
 
 Brant was marching further to the rear, with Col. 
 Butler and Sam Burton, an Englishman and head over- 
 seer of Johnson's estate. 
 
 Only once Johnson dropped back abreast with 
 Ralph. The movement was undeliberate. Observing 
 his position Sir Johnson glanced hastily at his captive 
 and ejaculated in a sad and uneasy tone : 
 
 "After all we move slowly." 
 
 "Neither pace nor spirit is lively," said Ralph, ma- 
 liciously. "The tail of the party seems to have been 
 scotched after all." 
 
 Johnson frowned. His mood was too heavy for an- 
 ger. He stepped ahead to his previous position, leav- 
 ing something of pity behind with Ralph. 
 
 Near midnight a cry to halt echoed along the mov- 
 ing line. A stop had been ordered on the side of a 
 wide, shallow stream. Ralph followed Johnson to a 
 spot where the forest verged on a high natural embank- 
 ment. But a step beyond was fairyland created by the
 
 Il6 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 magic of the moon. Twenty feet below the water 
 sparkled gloriously as it rippled over its stony bed and 
 wound out of sight in both directions amid low pine- 
 clad hills. The men commenced wading across the 
 stream. Voices were raised. In a moment the tension 
 of the fugitives was relieved and the air was filled with 
 sound. 
 
 "This won't do!" cried Johnson angrily, turning to 
 Brant. "Don't the fools know anything?" 
 
 "Silence!" shouted Brant. 
 
 His voice reverberated in the hills. The echoes died 
 in silence that seemed limitless. 
 
 "How far have we gone?" asked Johnson. 
 
 "About eighteen miles," Brant replied. 
 
 "Enough? Dare we rest?" 
 
 "No. Nothing is safe until we are on the further side 
 of Beaver Lake." 
 
 Johnson relied implicity on the Indian's judgment. 
 After a few minutes the entire party crossed the stream 
 and resumed the march. 
 
 Ralph found him unexpectedly by the side of Brant. 
 The Indian's barbaric attire and furtive stride amid the 
 night shadows of the wilderness gave the young man, 
 despite himself, a disagreeable chill. He regarded 
 askance the bent projection of the body, the rolling 
 glide of his companion and began wondering whether 
 those forest-taught motions were also accompanied by 
 the stealthy mind of the savage. Suspicions protruded 
 themselves out of every corner of their strange encoun- 
 ter until at last Ralph was speculating how far old Isaac
 
 THE FIRST STAGE OF THE FLIGHT 
 
 Scott was right when he said that Brant was actor in a 
 conspiracy. He ended by feeling that somehow he was 
 that man's prisoner. The thought irritated him. 
 
 After a while Brant said in a whisper, intended to be 
 solicitous : 
 
 "This must be an unexpected tramp for you?" 
 
 "It oughtn't to be after that meeting with you." 
 
 Ralph intended to probe rather than insult, but the 
 sting of the words once uttered strangely roused in 
 himself a latent resentment. 
 
 "Unfair again!" said the Indian softly. "When we 
 won't learn we blame others." 
 
 "Civilized maxim: Indian practices, eh?" said Ralph 
 perilously close to a sneer. 
 
 The Indian seized Ralph's arm with a grip that 
 pained. 
 
 Without a word Ralph turned and struck his com- 
 panion a blow in the chest that set him coughing vio- 
 lently. Neither paused in the march. Those following 
 some paces behind did not see the incident perhaps be- 
 cause of the darkness of the woods. 
 
 Expecting some reply to the attack Ralph stepped 
 aside and put himself on guard. 
 
 "You fool!" hissed Brant. "I should have replied 
 quicker than your thought if reply had been in me. 
 Heavens, why don't I?" 
 
 "Why don't you? I'm weaponless," sneered Ralph. 
 
 "I'm the fool, Mr. Tennant. That's why. In my 
 own way I have been stupidly pleading for friendship. 
 Something appealed to me. I don't know what it was
 
 Il8 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 now. I was asked by Whitehead Hicks to see you 
 secured up here. Instead, I warned you of your dan- 
 ger. I followed you to that Scott house and wherever 
 you went afterward. I can tell you every step you have 
 taken. I hoped to prevent your going to Johnstown. 
 I missed you finally only because of Sir Johnson's 
 urgent call. I even sent some one to warn you again 
 at Gist's farm-house. When I learned you had slipped 
 away with Miss Scott to the Hall, I hurried in, as you 
 saw, to aid you. I couldn't prevent them bringing you 
 along. Before I left I sent word to Miss Scott that you 
 were safe and would be back soon. Only your per- 
 sistent folly has tripped me. And now you " 
 
 Brant paused. Presently he drew himself up and 
 said: 
 
 "Mr. Tennant, among my people I am nobly born." 
 
 "I am ashamed of myself," said Ralph, humiliated 
 deeply by this confession. "It is belittling the offense 
 to ask your pardon. The only excuse I can find is you 
 did not explain yourself. Since Johnson showed me 
 Hicks's villainous letter I have associated you some- 
 how with the treachery." 
 
 "I am sorry for you," said Brant. "I thought my 
 hints would be sufficient. Besides can you under- 
 stand? I shrank from entirely betraying Hicks." 
 
 "Well, well," said Ralph. "I am a fool. I had no 
 idea of the debt I owe you." 
 
 "Never mind, it is just as well to continue to over- 
 look it." 
 
 With this the Indian hurried forward. Ralph did
 
 THE FIRST STAGE OF THE FLIGHT IIQ 
 
 not see him again until after sunrise, when the weary 
 band encamped on the shores of Beaver Lake. 
 
 Beaver Lake as Ralph viewed it in the clear, still 
 morning air did not appear to measure more than a 
 mile by perhaps half that distance in width. The 
 water was extremely deep and blue and it reflected 
 with a serene fidelity the surrounding forest and the 
 high, tree-clad hills. The sun was not quite risen. 
 The day breezes were not stirring and little dissolving 
 cloudlets of thin mist floated over the surface like bits 
 of white veiling. The timber crept down almost to the 
 last foot of the shore, which was lumbered with 
 blanched trunks of fallen cedars whitened by the action 
 of water and sunshine. 
 
 Johnson decided to push around to the opposite side 
 of the lake and encamp there. A suitable spot was 
 soon found. Baggage was dropped and in a few 
 minutes several fires were crackling and the incense 
 perhaps of the first white man's breakfast in the locality 
 rose to heaven. The party were scantily provided with 
 food, the staple articles carried being dried beef and 
 corn meal. But there was plenty of fish in the lake and 
 Burton and Brant were not long in providing a toler- 
 able repast for Johnson and his friends. The meal was 
 spread under a group of pines near an opening in the 
 woods that permitted a full view of the lake. 
 
 "You'll join us, Mr. Tennant?" said Johnson, cour- 
 teously. 
 
 "You're kind," replied Ralph, "but oughtn't the 
 prisoner to get prison fare?"
 
 I2O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "He may deserve it," said Johnson, laughing, "but 
 I could not condemn him to anything that will lie 
 heavier on his stomach than this. Eh, Claus? How's 
 your appetite?" 
 
 It was plain the gentleman in Johnson would not be 
 denied in the host. His pleasantry was an attempt to 
 put the company in good humor. 
 
 "Don't talk of appetite," growled the Colonel. "I 
 lost my belly somewhere in those dammed woods. The 
 rebels could have me, I tell you, if I had to begin this 
 over again." 
 
 "There's loyalty for you, Mr. Tennant !" cried John- 
 son. 
 
 "Mine's short in the legs, that's all," said the Colonel, 
 stretching himself with difficulty on the ground beside 
 the meal. 
 
 "It's too lonely a virtue in these woods to please 
 me," said Bruce. "It seems just at present it's receiv- 
 ing the usual rewards of vice. Doesn't it strike you 
 that way?" 
 
 "Treason, gentlemen !" cried Johnson, jocularly. 
 "What an example for our young Whig friend here! 
 He may think he has fallen into good company." 
 
 "You put me in the wrong class," protested Ralph. 
 
 "The wrong devil !" cried Claus. 
 
 Johnson regarded Ralph dubiously. 
 
 "I mean it," reasserted Ralph; "I wouldn't shun the 
 name, even here, if I loved it." 
 
 "Hicks didn't give you much of a character as a 
 Tory," ejaculated Claus.
 
 THE FIRST STAGE OF THE FLIGHT 121 
 
 "My character, one way or the other, wasn't in Mr. 
 Hicks's hands," cried Ralph. 
 
 "But your letter " began Bruce. 
 
 "We had better not open that letter again," inter- 
 rupted Johnson. 
 
 "Thank you," said Ralph. "That is really the best 
 way to .deal with a very gross injustice." 
 
 "Egad!" spluttered the Colonel, who evidently ob- 
 jected to an evaporation of the subject. "That's your 
 way, always, Johnson. I can see you have quite won 
 over the enemy, dazzled him by a dull neutral tint. 
 Hasn't he?" 
 
 To this appeal Ralph replied : 
 
 "Truth is often a matter of silence." 
 
 "Bravo !" cried Johnson. 
 
 "They make a good pair, Bruce, don't they?" 
 grumbled the Colonel, whose bad temper, after all, was 
 more noisy than real. The little man was puffed with 
 a petty vanity that always reacted against strangers 
 until it had been placated, and Ralph was experiencing 
 the sour side of it. 
 
 Johnson's determined suavity and the satisfaction of 
 the meal were, however, a powerful embassy for peace. 
 Bruce, whose nature was neutral and indolent, sided by 
 mere passiveness with Johnson, so that in a short time 
 the Colonel was forced to either stand out as an excep- 
 tion or join the general amity. The conversation by 
 devious turns migrated to London and the question of 
 the steps the government would take to suppress the 
 rebellion. Finding Ralph was acquainted with the
 
 122 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 capital, the Colonel capitulated by asking whether Mr. 
 Tennant had happened to meet the Earl of Chichester. 
 Ralph replied he had not an admission which imme- 
 diately called forth an account of a visit Claus had made 
 to London many years ago, of the fine rooms he had 
 lodged in near Bloomsbury Square, how he had met 
 the noble earl at a reception given by the celebrated 
 Lady Beaumarch, and how he had scored a great suc- 
 cess with the august company gathered there by an ac- 
 count of the history and manners of the Mohawks. It 
 soon became apparent that the Colonel possessed a 
 fixed repertoire of events. He had not the slightest 
 sense of repetition. Whenever a cue was given it 
 called forth a specific story. His experiences, too, 
 seem to have been suddenly arrested somewhere in the 
 past at a time when he was rich, great, funny and 
 clever. In his egotistical middle age these ancient vir- 
 tues and splendors had been extinguished, and he 
 struggled, as with Ralph, to shine by the reflected light 
 of tediously renewed reminiscences. His foible was a 
 standing butt for the satire of his friends. 
 
 "Claus ought to warn you in case you ever are 
 tempted to repeat that story that Chichester died when, 
 no doubt, you were in the cradle," said Johnson, laugh- 
 ing. 
 
 "Don't be envious, Johnson, because Claus's mem- 
 ory is both youthful and aristocratic," cried Dr. Bruce. 
 
 "I'll swear I'm younger than either of you," cried 
 the Colonel, who hated any reference to his age, "and 
 as to "
 
 THE FIRST STAGE OF THE FLIGHT 12$ 
 
 A voice suddenly sounded across the lake. 
 
 "Hallo! Hallo!" 
 
 The echoes reverberated through the forest. 
 
 Instantly all except Brant jumped to their feet. 
 
 "Down!" hissed Brant. "Down! Crawl behind 
 here !" 
 
 All dropped to the ground, and from behind some 
 undergrowth listened. 
 
 "Hallo! Hallo!" 
 
 "Who can it be?" whispered Johnson. 
 
 "We are followed," said Brant. "Not a sound. Dr. 
 Bruce, will you go around those trees and tell the men 
 to be silent and ready?" 
 
 The cry had stilled every sound in the encampment. 
 
 "Damn it!" said Johnson. "We will fight them 
 here." 
 
 "Egad, I'm ready!" said the Colonel, producing a 
 brace of pistols. 
 
 "Be still!" whispered Brant. "Watch!" 
 
 Ralph had an excellent view of the opposite shore 
 through the foliage of a high bush. 
 
 The cry was repeated. It was followed by the sound 
 of snapping timber. Presently, to his astonishment, 
 Ralph saw Chris Gist emerge, balancing himself on the 
 trunk of a fallen tree. 
 
 "Great heavens !" exclaimed Ralph. 
 
 "Hist!" commanded Brant. 
 
 "Why not call to him?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "Don't dare to !" Johnson commanded. 
 
 Ralph turned around quickly.
 
 124 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I know him; he is a friend of mine " 
 
 "Hush!" cried Claus angrily. "There is some one 
 else there. If you open your mouth again, Tennant, 
 I'll put a bullet in you." 
 
 "Indeed?" said Ralph derisively. "Can you shoot 
 so straight?" 
 
 "Gentlemen, silence, I command you," said John- 
 son. 
 
 Brant put his hand on Ralph's arm. 
 
 "Be still," he pleaded. 
 
 The underbrush on the opposite shore opened again, 
 and, to Ralph's intense surprise, he saw Helen step 
 down to a little stretch of pebbly beach. 
 
 Without a moment's hesitation Ralph put his hands 
 to his mouth and cried : 
 
 "Hey! Ho! Helen!" 
 
 Instantly something stung his ear, accompanied by 
 a deafening report. 
 
 The Colonel had discharged his pistol at him not ten 
 feet away. Quickly as this murderous act had been 
 performed, Brant had been quicker. With a blow he 
 had diverted the Colonel's aim and well nigh broken 
 his arm. 
 
 Despite the pain he was suffering the Colonel 
 struggled to his feet, intending to use the second wea- 
 pon upon the Indian. Brant threw him to the ground. 
 The puffy little man was no match for his agile antag- 
 onist. His arms were quickly pinned to the earth, and 
 then, Brant, springing away with the loaded weapon, 
 released him. The entire episode occurred in so little
 
 THE FIRST STAGE OF THE FLIGHT 12$ 
 
 time that Ralph scarcely had realized all that had hap- 
 pened when he found Johnson and the Doctor at his 
 side, stanching the blood trickling from his ear. The 
 Colonel, too angry to rise, was passionately hurling 
 oaths at Brant. The roar of profanity must have been 
 audible across the lake. 
 
 "This is a nice situation!" cried Johnson, in vexa- 
 tion. 
 
 "You have to thank that traitor for it !" yelled Claus, 
 shaking his fist at Ralph. 
 
 "I think," said Brant, addressing Johnson, "I know 
 who hailed us. It is Chris Gist." 
 
 "Gist? What the devil can he be doing here? And 
 with Miss Scott! It's extraordinary!" 
 
 Brant smiled and winked at Ralph. 
 
 "I think I understand that, too," he said. 
 
 "The deuce you do !" exclaimed the Colonel. 
 
 "I will hail them," said Brant. "Good or bad, we 
 had better learn what's over there." 
 
 Johnson assented. Brant went down to the water's 
 edge. 
 
 At first the Indian uttered a low, guttural cry that 
 was immediately answered by a sound similar to his 
 own as an echo. Then he called : 
 
 "Gist." 
 
 In replying, the tall farmer very nearly lost his bal- 
 ance and fell into the water. He recognized Brant, 
 hailed him by name and asked if Mr. Tennant was 
 "over there." 
 
 "Who's with you?" asked Brant.
 
 126 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Only Miss Scott and Canas " 
 
 "All right, all right," sang Brant, interrupting the 
 reply. Sir Johnson, I had better get over there and 
 learn what's wanted." 
 
 "Be careful, Brant. Look out for tricks." 
 
 "I'm sure we needn't distrust; still, call out to Gist 
 you are sending some one over by the head of the 
 lake. I'll work my way around the other way." 
 
 Whispering to Ralph, "Keep your temper," he hur- 
 ried off. 
 
 "Mr. Tennant, I sincerely trust you are not responsi- 
 ble for this intrusion," said Johnson seriously. 
 
 "Rest assured I'm not," said Ralph, "that is, in any 
 direct way." 
 
 "Direct or indirect," cried Claus. "What does it 
 matter? That fellow has had us tracked!" 
 
 "Silence!" commanded Johnson. "Not another 
 word between you gentlemen. There's no danger 
 from that wound, Doctor, is there?" 
 
 "It's merely a scratch," said Bruce. "I think our 
 friend can afford to lose a little blood."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 HELEN JOINS THE PARTT. 
 
 BRANT was away longer than was expected. Ralph 
 and his companions stood in silence watching the ap- 
 proaches to the camp. Johnson, by posting a number 
 of his men armed with flintlocks in spots that com- 
 manded the openings, showed he was not quite assured 
 his enemies were not upon him. Plainly with great 
 relief he hailed Brant returning with Helen and Gist. 
 
 "This is a terrible road for a lady !" Brant cried from 
 a distance. 
 
 He and Gist were visibly fatigued by their efforts to 
 clear a path, almost step by step, for Helen. 
 
 Ralph and Johnson went forward to meet the new- 
 comers. 
 
 "Miss Scott, what does this mean?" asked Johnson, 
 half severely, half pleasantly. 
 
 Helen blushed and looked toward Ralph. She saw 
 the blood on Ralph's face. With a cry of alarm she 
 hastened to him. 
 
 "What has happened, Mr. Tennant?" she asked. 
 
 "Nothing at all," said Ralph; "a mere accident the 
 inability of some one to handle firearms as a gentle- 
 man." 
 
 Helen turned to Sir Johnson a look of searching in- 
 quiry.
 
 128 THE HEART OF 
 
 "He is perfectly sound," said Johnson, smiling. 
 "Don't be alarmed." 
 
 "I feared something dreadful had happened when 
 Mr. Tennant didn't return to meet me at the Hall. 
 Lady Johnson could give me no information." 
 
 "You thought your friend had been murdered or 
 something equally terrible had befallen him, eh?" asked 
 the baronet. 
 
 "I didn't know what to think," said Helen, candidly. 
 "I blamed myself for having influenced him to deliver 
 that letter." 
 
 "Oh, ho, Miss Scott ! So you, too, know of that let- 
 ter? But do sit down; I am sorry I have no better 
 seat for you than these pine needles. I'll have some- 
 thing prepared for you to eat I daren't say cooked." 
 
 They made Helen as comfortable as possible with the 
 trunk of a tree as a rest for her back. Then Johnson 
 resumed : 
 
 "So you know of that letter?" he asked. 
 
 "Certainly," she replied, looking at Ralph. 
 
 "You know its contents?" asked the baronet slyly. 
 
 "Of course not, Sir Johnson." 
 
 "Ah ! of course not; excuse me." 
 
 "Then why did you ask me?" asked Helen promptly. 
 
 Johnson looked at his inquisitor good naturedly for 
 a moment, then continued as though he had not heard 
 the question. 
 
 "So you decided to follow Mr. Tennant when you 
 found him missing?" 
 
 "I decided to catch up with him with you. I felt
 
 HELEN JOINS THE PARTY 12g 
 
 sure there had been some mistake, and as I knew you 
 so well, Sir John " 
 
 Johnson bowed. 
 
 "You thought you could induce me to liberate my 
 captive?" he asked. 
 
 "Exactly so," replied Helen. 
 
 "How did you discover the road we had taken?" 
 
 For a moment Helen was confused. 
 
 "Lady Johnson said told me you were all going 
 away and Mr. Gist " 
 
 "Mr. Gist discovered the path, eh? Is that so, Mr. 
 Gist?" 
 
 "That's about right," said the farmer, slowly. 
 
 "I am sure you will understand why I am inquisitive. 
 Will you tell me how you knew exactly which route we 
 had taken?" 
 
 "Well," drawled Gist, "when we hunt a deer we 
 know pretty well the path it will take, and when we are 
 looking for a fox we govern ourselves likewise." 
 
 Everybody laughed at this, including Sir Johnson. 
 
 "Do you think Dayton knows as much about 
 foxes?" asked Johnson. 
 
 "I think he's content with having smoked you out." 
 
 "Oh, he is, is he? Thank you." 
 
 "That's my opinion," said Gist. "He's got the Hall, 
 and I'm inclined to think he's enjoying himself there." 
 
 "Umph !" ejaculated the baronet. "Well," he con- 
 tinued sadly, "it's the fortune of war ! However, Miss 
 Helen, I wish you could assure me that no one knows 
 of your trip or the road you took except yourselves." 
 
 5
 
 I3O THE HEART OF WOMAtf 
 
 "No," Gist replied; "no one. I wouldn't have 
 brought Helen along, in spite of her pleadings, had I 
 known you were 'moving so fast. We calculated we 
 could catch you before nightfall. You see I helped 
 your father build that road. Though it's in fair condi- 
 tion yet, I must say you moved pretty lively. More 
 than once I told Helen to stop, but she kept saying 
 another mile would bring us up to you." 
 
 "Miss Scott, how am I to thank you?" said Ralph, 
 deeply stirred. 
 
 "Walking doesn't tire me as it does some girls," said 
 Helen. 
 
 "Miss Scott," said Johnson enthusiastically, "had I 
 known you were coming in this way damn me if I 
 wouldn't have received you with military honors." 
 
 This exclamation thoroughly disconcerted Helen. 
 
 "But here," said Sir Johnson, "you must eat some- 
 thing and rest " 
 
 "No, no," interrupted Helen. "I will take some- 
 thing to eat, if you please, and I am sure my cousin 
 will; but we must be hurrying home. No one knows 
 where we are. Think of their anxiety! And, Sir 
 Johnson, now that you know now that everything is 
 all right of course, you will let Mr. Tennant accom- 
 pany us?" 
 
 "Not so fast, Miss Scott. You must remember you 
 are using the terms of peace at a time, when, unfor- 
 tunately, we are in a state of war." 
 
 "Peace or war, I don't expect to find you commit- 
 ting an outrage."
 
 HELEN JOINS THE PARTY \^\ 
 
 "Neither am I," replied the baronet, positively. "Mr. 
 Tennant is detained by authority." 
 
 "What authority?" asked Helen. 
 
 "The highest the King's." 
 
 "Is that so, Ralph?" 
 
 "Sir Johnson hardly means exactly what he says," 
 said Ralph. 
 
 "Don't I? Indeed!" said Johnson. "I assure you 
 I do." 
 
 "Mr. Whitehead Hicks is not exactly the King," 
 said Ralph. "But, there, I have no intention to de- 
 bate that matter again." 
 
 "I am afraid we wouldn't agree," said Johnson. 
 
 "Then am I to understand that you insist upon forc- 
 ing Mr. Tennant to accompany you?" demanded 
 Helen. 
 
 "My dear young lady, do you hold a brief for your 
 friend?" asked Johnson. 
 
 "The matter is simply this," said Helen boldly. "Mr. 
 Tenant was warned by many not to deliver that letter 
 to you. His intention, I believe, was to deliver it at 
 all hazards, but, perhaps, if I had not assured him you 
 were an honorable man, the counsel of others might 
 have prevailed." 
 
 "For his sake and for yours I'm sorry they didn't," 
 said Johnson, "though I thank you for expressing a 
 good opinion of me." 
 
 "Then you intend to persist in your present course?" 
 
 "Most decidedly," said Johnson, showing a trace of 
 anger.
 
 132 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "You greatly disappoint me," said the girl, flushing. 
 "I'm sure, when I return home, some steps to convince 
 you of your wrong-doing will be taken by others as 
 surprised at your conduct as I am." 
 
 "I am sorry you put the matter in that way," said 
 Johnson, thoughtfully, "for you have crystallized in my 
 mind a disagreeable necessity which I hoped I 
 could see some way of disregarding. Miss Scott, this 
 is a very serious business we are all engaged in. The 
 liberty and perhaps the lives of my men and myself are 
 at stake. Only for desperate reasons, you know, do 
 people leave their homes, and desperate reasons often 
 require desperate acts. I don't see how I can allow 
 you or Mr. Gist to return home. Our safety demands 
 it." 
 
 This announcement stupefied Helen. 
 
 "You can't contemplate such an outrage!" cried 
 Ralph. 
 
 "I contemplate anything necessary to the success of 
 the steps I have been forced to take," said Johnson. 
 
 "But you are not fighting women !" exclaimed 
 Ralph. To drag a young girl through the hardships 
 of Oh ! it's monstrous !" 
 
 "She came not at my invitation," said Johnson 
 calmly. 
 
 "And she won't stay at it, either," said Gist shaking 
 his head. 
 
 "What do you say, Claus?" asked Johnson. 
 
 "Say !" exclaimed the Colonel. "Why, five minutes 
 after they are back in Johnstown our route will be
 
 HELEN JOINS THE PARTY 133 
 
 known. Perhaps, on the way home they'll meet a 
 party sent this way and then?" 
 
 The Colonel shrugged his shoulders and turned his 
 little black eyes upward. 
 
 "To my thinking we have dangers enough," said 
 Bruce, "without adding anything to them." 
 
 "What do you think, Brant?" asked Johnson. 
 
 "Perhaps," suggested the Indian, "Miss Scott and 
 Mr. Gist would promise " 
 
 "Sir Johnson in an outrage of this sort, I will prom- 
 ise nothing," said Helen resolutely, "neither shall my 
 cousin." 
 
 "That decides it," said Johnson shortly.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE. 
 
 DESPITE Ralph's vehement protests and Gist's angry 
 defiance, Johnson held to his determination. 
 
 "It's an act of war," he said. "I cannot afford to run 
 any risk. No doubt to-morrow we can place Miss 
 Scott near to some habitation whence she can be re- 
 turned home safely." 
 
 From Beaver Lake the fugitive expedition proceed- 
 ed still almost due north. A few miles of the renewed 
 and painful journey were through the unbroken forest. 
 It was toilsome traveling. Johnson did all in his power 
 to make the way easier for Helen. She was placed at 
 the end of the column, so that the path might be as 
 much beaten as possible, and Ralph, Gist and Brant 
 assisted her over all obstacles. 
 
 Repeatedly Ralph declared his sorrow at having 
 been the cause of bringing her into so hard a situation. 
 The girl refused to hold him at all responsible. Her 
 chief concern was for Gist's wife and for her own fam- 
 ily in case word should reach them of her disappear- 
 ance. 
 
 "Apart from that," she declared, "this isn't so terri- 
 ble, and it ought to satisfy your love of romance. Or 
 must you have the dragons and giants?" 
 
 Ralph was glad she could be gay.
 
 SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE 135 
 
 As Dr. Bruce said, Helen civilized the expedition. 
 Not only Ralph and Gist were her cavaliers, but after 
 a while Johnson and his friends were constantly of her 
 bodyguard. Her position might easily have been ex- 
 tremely awkward. Helen's straightforward nature freed 
 it at once from perplexity. Her wholesome simplicity 
 and imperturbable common-sense banished without a 
 word every fictitious element and reduced the situation 
 to a thorough working order. On the march Johnson 
 endeavored to explain to her fully his position. 
 
 "I quite understand your position," she said, "I 
 blame you only because you don't consider mine." 
 
 "Believe me, I do, but I am powerless. The circum- 
 stances are against you, Miss Scott." 
 
 "No; you mean you want them all on your side, and 
 unlike the gentleman you ought to be, you prefer to 
 consider your own safety at the expense of " 
 
 " keeping you a day in our company," interrupt- 
 ed Johnson. "You have given us that honor before 
 when there was nothing at stake. If I may not claim 
 it now on behalf of myself and those with me, let me 
 beg it on account of my wife. The failure of my plans 
 would be a serious matter for her." 
 
 "No, no," said Helen. "I go with you solely because 
 I must. If I had my way I would return immediately. 
 You mustn't seek pardon for a tyranny, Sir Johnson, 
 on account of our friendship." 
 
 "Should I allow you to return, would you ?" be- 
 gan Johnson. 
 
 "You mean alone?" asked Helen.
 
 136 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Oh, no! With Mr. Gist, of course." 
 
 "And"' Helen hesitated "Mr. Tennant?" 
 
 "He remains," said Johnson resolutely. "In that 
 case would you promise ?" 
 
 "In that case," broke in Helen impetuously, "if I 
 could find a dozen men in Johnstown who can feel a 
 wrong I would see that you did not escape unpun- 
 ished." 
 
 "Then it is war between us, Miss Scott?" exclaimed 
 Johnson good naturedly. 
 
 "Yes," said Helen firmly. 
 
 "Well, I'm sorry; but let it be only in opinion until 
 we part. Belligerents agree to truces." 
 
 "This is a poor place to quarrel," said Helen, smil- 
 ing despite herself. "You have the advantage now." 
 
 "Damn me," exclaimed the baronet, "if I was alone 
 in this, Miss Helen, I swear it should not rest with me !" 
 
 Helen blushed and turned to Gist for retreat. 
 
 Sir Johnson undoubtedly felt acutely his position re- 
 garding Helen. He was cast in a gentle mould, and in 
 the game he was playing he was working against the 
 grain. He had no taste for rough circumstances and 
 cared little for the driving tyrannies of the will. But, 
 like all men forced despite themselves, his determina- 
 tion was hard in proportion to its factitiousness. He 
 ceased parleying with Helen regarding her situation 
 and joined her like the rest of the party on a general 
 footing. 
 
 It was after noon when the camp on Beaver Lake 
 was broken up. The day was sultry for the season and
 
 SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE 137 
 
 the renewed march through the woods heavy and wear- 
 isome. However, every hour that passed without chal- 
 lenge insured the safety of the expedition, and, with 
 the return of confidence, the haste of the start and the 
 heavy sense of restriction on the men were relaxed. 
 Claus, whose middle-aged gallantry was irrepressible 
 by any circumstances, paid Helen the most deferential 
 attention. As he aided her over obstacles he recounted 
 many of his "episodes," while Dr. Bruce, in a boyish 
 spirit, secretly decorated the back of his attire with 
 twigs and leaves, many of which Brant's ingenuity had 
 contrived into strange figures and devices. 
 
 "Egad ! What are you all tittering at?" cried the Col- 
 onel, interrupting himself. As he turned around Helen 
 perceived his adornments and joined heartily in the 
 laughter. 
 
 "Why, Miss Scott, what is the matter?" 
 
 "Go on, Colonel; go on," cried the Doctor. "You've 
 told that story so often it is getting to be funny again. 
 Isn't it so, Miss Scott?" 
 
 "It is all new to me," said Helen, repressing her 
 laughter, "and very interesting. Please don't let them 
 interrupt you, Col. Claus." 
 
 "They are a blackguard lot, Miss Scott," said the 
 Colonel. 
 
 "The fun is all in front of us," continued the Doc- 
 tor. "Why should not we laugh?" 
 
 "Certainly, we have left mighty little behind us," said 
 Johnson, with a trace of sadness. 
 
 Near sunset the party passed out of the forest into a
 
 138 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 piece of broad, sandy country skirted by noble hills, 
 behind which the sun was setting. The distant sky was 
 brilliantly colored. The nearer landscape, dimmed in 
 the twilight, was filled with patches of purplish shadow. 
 Here traveling was comparatively easy. As the men 
 trudged along some one started a familiar hymn, which 
 was quickly taken up by the long line of fugitives. It 
 added a touch of human solemnity to the melancholy 
 evening stillness in that untrodden solitude. 
 
 Ralph drew nearer to Helen. 
 
 "At nightfall," he said, "the earth seems to call all 
 its troubles home, as it does the birds." 
 
 "Does it seem so?" she asked. "Are there any trou- 
 bles not made by man himself?" 
 
 Proceeding a few miles further, the expedition en- 
 tered the hill country. Here a rough road, scarcely 
 more than the furrows of infrequent cartwheels, indi- 
 cated that Johnson and his men were come within the 
 radius of civilization. Remote as the signs were, they 
 had a delightfully homely significance for the wander- 
 ers, and, despite some fear, it was finally decided to fol- 
 low the road which ran in the general direction of 
 Johnson's route. It wound about in a ravine at the 
 base of two steep hills covered to the tops with forest. 
 Darkness had settled in the hollow. What light there 
 was shone above in the twilighted heavens. Even this 
 faint reflection had well-nigh faded entirely before the 
 party reached a point where the road suddenly dipped 
 and the ravine opened upon a wide amphitheatre of 
 hills. Below, the flat'ands were crossed by a stream.
 
 SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE 139 
 
 The still evening air was filled with the limpid sound of 
 falling water and with the warm balsamic odors of 
 pines. The column halted as by common consent. 
 
 "By heavens, isn't that lovely!" cried the Doctor, 
 surveying the scene. "Nature and peace wedded." 
 
 "Oh, be d d," ejaculated the Colonel derisively. 
 
 "But, what's that? A light?" 
 
 "It is," cried Johnson. "Hold on. It moves !" 
 
 In her excitement Helen seized Ralph's hand. 
 
 "There's a house there," cried Brant. "The light is 
 within doors." 
 
 Every eye was strained watching the solitary beacon 
 belo\v in the hollow. It had become stationary and 
 only a faint illumination penetrated to the world with- 
 out. 
 
 "This is unexpected," said Johnson. "Who can live 
 in a spot like this?" 
 
 "Some trapper," replied Brant. 
 
 "Egad, we were nearly trapped !" exclaimed the Col- 
 onel, with whom fear was always an exaggeration. 
 
 "Bah !" said Bruce. "Do you think he could take 
 us all in? We're a valiant lot !" 
 
 "It is not that Bruce," interposed Johnson. "Our 
 danger is always in the rear. We want to take our trail 
 with us, if we can." 
 
 "You can't put it in your pocket here," continued 
 the Doctor. "We've struck the straight and narrow 
 path with a vengeance. Forward or backward we must 
 stick to it or quit it." 
 
 "For God's sake, do not talk of going back !" cried
 
 I4O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 the Colonel. "I'm sinking into my boots already. Be- 
 sides, think of Miss Scott here." 
 
 The Colonel certainly was thinking little of the girl. 
 But the courage of every one was footsore. Satisfaction 
 was general when Johnson, half against his judgment, 
 decided to proceed to the habitation. 
 
 "We may find a home for you to-night, Miss Scott," 
 said Johnson, cheerily, as the descent was undertaken. 
 
 "I shan't be sorry, but don't go into danger on my 
 account," said Helen. 
 
 "Well, I must say you are a whole-souled enemy," 
 said Johnson pleasantly. 
 
 "Oh, I'm not vindictive !" cried Helen. 
 
 "I see you are not. I shall^ follow so good an exam- 
 ple to the end," said Johnson, "and you shall have a 
 bed to-night if we have to force it." 
 
 The privates of the company were left stationed on 
 the hillside. As the principals approached the house 
 they were greeted by the sonorous bay of a hound, fol- 
 lowed by the sharp barking of a number of dogs. The 
 habitation was a low building standing almost on the 
 edge of the stream. In front of it was a big stack of 
 firewood. So much could be distinguished in the dark- 
 ness. When Johnson was about to rap, the front door 
 was thrown open, and by the light within an elderly 
 woman could be seen peering into the darkness. 
 
 "Don't be alarmed," said Johnson, stepping into the 
 faint yellow haze. "We're only belated travelers." 
 
 "Bless my soul, bless my soul!" cried the little wo- 
 man in a series of rapid ejaculations without a pause.
 
 SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAFE l^l 
 
 She was not in the least perturbed, but continued : 
 
 "I'm not a bit surprised. I knew it when the old 
 rooster came to the door this morning and crowed and 
 crowed and crowed. 'All right/ I said, 'get along with 
 you. If God had given you a tongue you'd tell me who 
 it is, but you've done yer best and the best of us can 
 do no "more.' ' 
 
 "I'll help the rooster out," said Johnson, laughing. 
 "My name is Carter. This is my daughter, and these 
 gentlemen some friends of mine." 
 
 "I'll give you as good as yer send; my name is 
 Phoebe Moon come in it's a poor home, but the 
 door opens inward. I thought at fust you was Eph." 
 
 "Your husband?" inquired Johnson as the party 
 stepped into the low-ceiled, kitchen-like room. 
 
 "Why, bless yer soul, no, Eph's my boy," said the 
 wiry little old woman bustling around to find seats for 
 the company. "My old man's in the next room clean 
 daft. Dear, oh, dear! Dear, oh, dear!" she sighed. 
 
 "How sad!" said Johnson. 
 
 "Isn't it?" she asked, with a frankness that was com- 
 plete. "One of yer will have to take this two-legged 
 stool. You sit here, my dear," she rattled on to Helen. 
 "Where may you be from?" 
 
 "Perhaps we intrude?" said Johnson speaking up. 
 
 "Intrude? Don't think of it. Lord, what is there 
 here to intrude on?" exclaimed Mrs. Moon in un- 
 feigned astonishment. 
 
 Hard living had made truth with her an invariable 
 and irreducible quality.
 
 142 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I was thinking of your husband," suggested John- 
 son. 
 
 "Heavens and earth, why if he knew you were here 
 the powers that be couldn't keep him from taking a 
 hand in this." 
 
 Addressing Helen as the feminine head of the party 
 Mrs. Moon continued: 
 
 "He's daft on quality; spends his time talking to jus- 
 tices and generals and ladies. Lord, he has barely set 
 his eyes on any of 'em, although he was a parson once, 
 my dear. Introduces them to one another, dines with 
 'em, bows them out and God knows what other spook- 
 ish business. We daren't cross him. He is married 
 just at present to Mrs. Van Rensselaer and hasn't a 
 word to say to a poor thing like me. Oh, Lord! Oh, 
 Lord ! It's a fearful maggot as has got into his head, 
 but we don't complain, for he's just as happy as if it 
 were all gospel; but here I am talking and talking 
 when, of course, all of you have not had a bite to eat, 
 and there's little in the house except a bit of salt pork 
 unless I can squeeze the hens and get an egg or two for 
 you." 
 
 "We don't mean to eat you out of house and home," 
 said Johnson. "We have food with us and we shall be 
 very grateful if you will permit us to cook it and beg of 
 you a bed for to-night for Miss my daughter." 
 
 "Let me do the cooking," cried Helen, jumping to 
 her feet. 
 
 "Did you ever hear the like? Why 
 
 Before Mrs. Moon had completed her protest a low,
 
 SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE 143 
 
 uneven, leather-hinged door on the left opened and a 
 big, flabby man entered from the adjoining room. He 
 stood irresolutely for a moment on the threshold. His 
 meek, blue eyes, surrounded by watery red lids, gazed 
 vacantly at the unexpected company. 
 
 "Here are some friends called to see us, Caleb," said 
 his wife. "I told you this morning when the rooster 
 came and crowed and crowed and crowed to look out." 
 
 "Friends of your?" he muttered enviously, at the 
 same time squeezing his eyes like one struggling to 
 awake. 
 
 "Close the door, do, Caleb, and sit down," command- 
 ed the wife, who was busy starting a fire in the big, 
 rough stone fireplace. "You see," she whispered to 
 Helen, "he can't understand how I should know any 
 one not that I do, you know. Dear! Dear! the fire 
 won't hurry. Something evil's whistling close by, and 
 that always calls the draught away, always affects Ca- 
 leb, too. You see his spirit's out." 
 
 Helen smiled and turning to Mr. Moon heard him 
 mutter in a disappointed tone : 
 
 "I was looking for Captain Gallup." 
 
 "He'll be here by and by, said Dr. Bruce. "We met 
 him on the way. He was detained, that's all." 
 
 "Oh !" exclaimed the old man vacantly. 
 
 He withdrew to a corner and stood in the gloom with 
 folded arms, leaning against the wall. 
 
 Despite the evil whistling, the sticks finally burned 
 briskly and then more brightly illuminated the room 
 the uneven floor, the rough board walls with stretched
 
 144 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 pelts nailed upon them, the smoke-stained beams above 
 from which many skins were suspended, looking as 
 though the original possessors had been evaporated. 
 The furniture was of the roughest. The primitive ori- 
 gin of all of it was indubitably attested by makeshift ex- 
 pedients. 
 
 While the meal was cooking Johnson and the men 
 returned to the hillside to arrange the encampment for 
 the night. During the preparation Mrs. Moon rattled 
 on to Helen without cessation. Her volubility was as 
 inconsequential as a child's. Evidently the visit was 
 not an incident in a remote existence, but an event of 
 incalculable proportions. The old woman was testify- 
 ing the fact by a frantic excitement of speech. Helen 
 found it difficult to keep pace with her so rapidly did 
 her chatter flit about among household details, small 
 episodes and strange notions incredibly tangled with 
 the commonplace. While her tongue wagged her fin- 
 gers were busy at the fire and the table, and in rum- 
 maging into out-of-the-way places for utensils evi- 
 dently seldom used by the household. 
 
 "I wish this was a decent meal you were going to sit 
 down to," she said, "but a poor woman's larder is filled 
 with pork and wishes, and one's too heavy and the oth- 
 er's too light for genteel eating, but what the Lord 
 hasn't provided you'll have to excuse." 
 
 "What you have is delicious, I'm sure," said Helen. 
 "It smells very appetizing." 
 
 "It will do if your taste don't quarrel with your ap- 
 petite, my dear. Shall I make you raspberry tea? 1
 
 SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE 145 
 
 gathered the leaves myself when the moon was on 
 them. I like it better than dittany or sage." 
 
 "I don't think I ever tasted raspberry tea," said 
 Helen. 
 
 "No? Or dried pumpkin sweetnin', eh ! Well, that's 
 the best we get out here. Eph's real fond of it. I can't 
 help being curious, but I suppose you're engaged to 
 that stoutest man with your father?" 
 
 Helen blushed as she tried to ask indifferently: 
 
 "Whom do you mean?" 
 
 "The little squat fellow with the small black eyes. I 
 tell Eph, my dear, the first sign a man gives is when he 
 stares at a girl as a toad does at a light." 
 
 Helen laughed heartily at this recognition of Col. 
 Claus's hitherto unsuspected admiration. She felt 
 somehow more at ease with herself on account of the 
 direction in which Mrs. Moon's inquiry had been shot. 
 
 "Oh, no," she said frankly. "He's almost a stranger 
 to me." 
 
 The men returned, and in a spirit of generous amia- 
 bility the party sat down to the meal. Johnson brought 
 brandy from the camp and made a punch which every 
 one shared out of a big leather mug which Mrs. Moon 
 produced as a particular mark of honor to her guests. 
 Johnson insisted upon Mr. Moon joining the com- 
 pany. 
 
 "We would like our host to greet us," said Johnson, 
 "and receive from us our toast and compliments to him- 
 self and his wife, to both of whom we are deeply in- 
 debted this evening.
 
 146 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 The sentiment was noisily supported by Claus, who 
 thawed quickly under the feeblest radiation of comfort. 
 
 "Bravo!" cried Bruce. "Hear! Hear!" 
 
 At the invitation the old man stepped silently like a 
 ghost out of his corner and took the seat which Ralph 
 had risen to proffer him. 
 
 He regarded the company sleepily, and in dull obe- 
 dience drank heavily of the liquor. Apparently he was 
 still only half conscious of the situation. But the 
 brandy touched some dormant spring of intelligence. 
 While Claus was struggling with a florid toast to Helen 
 he arose and, leaning across the table, cried : 
 
 "You're Capt. Gallup; that's who you are." 
 
 "The name ill fits his marching," cried Bruce, laugh- 
 ing, "however close it goes to his identity." 
 
 "Don't mind that gentleman," waved the Colonel. 
 "You have touched me, sir, in a tender spot, I assure 
 you. I am proud to acknowledge the name, sir; mine, 
 if not by long descent, at least by an interminable rec- 
 ollection." 
 
 "I know you've held it long enough to make it a very 
 decent name," said the old man, amid the laughter of 
 the company, "and your father, too, the justice, was a 
 high-minded man. He thought a great deal of my pres- 
 ent wife, formerly Mrs. Van Rensselaer." 
 
 "Just listen to that daft creature !" cried Mrs. Moon, 
 who was replenishing the fire. 
 
 "Hold your tongue," commanded Mr. Moon. 
 
 Turning to the company he continued: "People 
 won't keep their places these days."
 
 SOME OF THE PARTT TAKE THEIR LEAVE 147 
 
 "Lord, but the poor thing has lost his!" sighed Mrs. 
 Moon. Her remark was no bolder than comment ad- 
 dressed to herself. 
 
 The awakening of Mr. Moon at this moment was a 
 surprise for which no one was prepared in the slightest 
 degree. " The sad vacuity of the old man was suddenly 
 peopled by a brilliant phantasmagoria in the midst of 
 which his own transformed person played a command- 
 ing part. Some curtain had been withdrawn from be- 
 fore the mind permitting a distorted imagination to 
 play either among old recollections or with the stored 
 results of reading. He insisted upon introducing "My 
 wife, Mrs. Van Rensselaer that was," to each member 
 of the party, whom he named with the fluency of long 
 familiarity. 
 
 Bruce was Justice Chew, Johnson was Dominie Stu- 
 art, Ralph was Capt. Winn, Helen, Miss Laura Ames. 
 He added to the company, with touches of reality that 
 were corporeal, Mrs. Evertson, Dr. Smith, Gen. Schuy- 
 ler, Lord Howe and Mr. Binn, "a pestiferous little red- 
 haired rat," who greatly troubled him. He ordered in 
 musicians with bass-viols, clarionets and flutes. He en- 
 tirely reset the table with drinking cups and chargers, 
 and insisted that Johnson as the dominie should take 
 his seat "above the salt." He commanded, and appar- 
 ently the order was served, ducks, neck of mutton, 
 whipped sillabubs, parmesan cheese and porter. 
 
 Bruce and Claus were immensely entertained by his 
 humors. They played second fiddle to his fantasies and 
 occasionally led the dance.
 
 148 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I must confess, Mr. Moon, you show a neat talent 
 at ordering a dinner," cried Claus. 
 
 "You honor me, Captain," said the old man. 
 
 "Let me warn you, sir," cried Bruce, "the Captain's 
 taste is really very menial, I doubt greatly whether he'd 
 be content above a week with refined fare like this. He'd 
 change it all for Indian pudding and molasses." 
 
 "The Justice is given to pleasantry, eh?" said the old 
 man, knowingly, to Claus. "I know him." 
 
 "I'm glad," cried Claus, "for in this case that's my 
 only protection." 
 
 "Though I guess Capt. Gallup, at a pinch, can take 
 care of himself. What do you say, dear Mrs. Evertson?" 
 
 The lady was somewhere in mid-air close to Mr. 
 Moon, for the old man in a low tone of gallantry asked 
 the question of vacancy. 
 
 "I fear you are in danger yourself, sir," said Bruce, 
 "if manners didn't prevent Mrs. Van Rensselaer speak- 
 ing her mind." 
 
 The idea tickled the old man. 
 
 "Ha! ha!" he laughed. "You side with authority, 
 Captain." 
 
 "Always, particularly when it's feminine." 
 
 "Authority never can be feminine. Eh, Miss Helen?" 
 asked Johnson. 
 
 "Do you deny force to woman?" asked Helen. 
 
 "No, no! Heaven forbid!" said Johnson, "but the 
 feminine side of it is persuasion." 
 
 "What have you done with Mrs. Van Rensselaer 
 my wife?" asked the old man, suddenly.
 
 SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE 149 
 
 "Me, sir?" asked Bruce. 
 
 "She was between you two," cried the old man. 
 
 "Here?" demanded Claus. "In that case the lady 
 must have been sorely tasked for breath. I don't won- 
 der she disappeared." 
 
 "I will have no fooling with my wife, sir !" cried the 
 old man, rising. 
 
 "You wrong the lady, sir; she is entirely too spiritual 
 to suffer at my hands," said Claus. 
 
 "Here, here, Claus; careful!" said Johnson, in warn- 
 ing. 
 
 "In this matter I'm like the fellow who said he had 
 removed his hose without taking off his shoes," said 
 Claus. 
 
 "Cut them off," suggested Ralph. 
 
 "'No, no. His shoes were not on," cried the Colonel, 
 laughing. 
 
 Mr. Moon started angrily for the other side of the 
 table, but was arrested by the sudden appearance of a 
 tall man, who without a premonitory sound stepped 
 across the threshold out of the night. 
 
 "Hallo, Eph !" was Mrs. Moon's greeting. 
 
 "Well, mother," was the reply. 
 
 Without bestowing the slightest apparent attention 
 upon the company the gaunt trapper threw his hat in- 
 to a corner and sat himself on a stout wooden box near 
 the fireplace. 
 
 "Tired, Eph?" Now, don't tell me yer not; don't I 
 see you are tired as yer can be." 
 
 "No, I'm not," was the reply.
 
 I5O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 The tone was surely, but (as with the rough, indif- 
 ferent manner) it was only an external refuge of a shy, 
 unpractised habit. 
 
 "This is your son?" suggested Johnson. 
 
 "This is my boy, Eph," replied Mrs. Moon. Eph, 
 these gentlemen " 
 
 "Found your home on their way to-night and ven- 
 tured to intrude for the sake of this young lady," said 
 Johnson. 
 
 "The trapper's eyes passed slowly from Johnson to 
 Helen. Then the gleam of curiosity was extinguished. 
 
 "Your father has given us a royal entertainment," 
 said Bruce. 
 
 "Mrs. Moon certainly has been more than civil," 
 said Ralph. 
 
 Johnson and Helen joined the chorus of gratitude. 
 Each remark was received by the trapper like a stone 
 thrown into a mud bank. It made a momentary im- 
 pression and was effaced as it visibly sank beneath the 
 surface. 
 
 An awkward silence ensued, broken at last by the 
 question: 
 
 "Who are those men out yonder?" asked Ephraim. 
 
 "They are my party," said Johnson. 
 
 "I thought they might be Dayton's folks," said the 
 trapper. 
 
 "Dayton !" cried Johnson in alarm. 
 
 "What have you heard of him?" demanded Claus. 
 
 "Yesterday at Barker's they said he was on his way 
 out here."
 
 SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE !$! 
 
 ''Barker's!" repeated Brant; "near the Signal Post?" 
 
 Ephraim assented by a nod of the head. 
 
 "Had they passed there yet?" asked Brant. 
 
 "Don't know," replied Ephraim with exasperating 
 indifference, "I was making for Gus Smith's." 
 
 "By God ! They'll trap us yet," cried Claus in alarm. 
 
 "Hold on," said Johnson. "Mr. Moon, if they had 
 already passed Barker's surely you would have heard it, 
 wouldn't you?" 
 
 "Maybe. Maybe not." 
 
 Johnson's foot tapped the floor petulantly. 
 
 "If Dayton should come here after we are gone can 
 I count on your knowing as little about our move- 
 ments?" asked Johnson. There was annoyance and a 
 touch of spirit in the question. 
 
 "Are you Sir Johnson?" demanded Ephraim, rising, 
 his gaunt figure illuminated by the glow of the embers. 
 The question had the force of a challenge. 
 
 "I am," said Johnson. 
 
 "Then save yourself; there's none here you can trust 
 to," 
 
 "That has the ring of rebellion," cried Bruce. 
 
 "Yes," said Johnson; "and, to be fair, the frankness 
 of honesty. Well, gentlemen, this is a serious turn. 
 Miss Helen, what are we to do with you? Leave you 
 here?" 
 
 Helen glanced quickly at old Mr. Moon standing 
 before her, his mad flash burned again to the socket; 
 at Mrs. Moon, trembling under a sense of unknown 
 clanger; at Ephraim, the gaunt, hairy and implacable,
 
 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 facing Johnson. The situation was not an inviting one. 
 Finally her eye caught Ralph's. 
 
 "You know my conditions, Sir Johnson," she said. 
 
 "And you mine." 
 
 "I have nothing to say, then," said Helen, firmly. 
 
 "Well, I'm sorry you continue to force my hand," 
 said Johnson, with a shrug. Then turning to Ephraim, 
 he said: 
 
 "Before we go we would like to discharge our in- 
 debtedness to you and your family, sir." 
 
 "You don't owe nothing here that ain't paid when 
 you leave. You're welcome to the little we have. If 
 it had been more you'd be welcome to it as strangers." 
 
 The fellow evidently did not mean to be uncivil, but 
 there is an honesty that repulses more than rudeness. 
 
 Within half an hour the expedition was plunged 
 again in the woods, moving as rapidly as possible by a 
 circuitous route which Brant hoped might baffle any 
 pursuers. 
 
 During the next five days the tramp continued a 
 weary struggle through forest underbrush. The coun- 
 try became wilder and more mountainous. The only 
 relief obtained was when a trail was struck. Not a 
 habitation was seen. The party was moving by com- 
 pass. At nightfall encampments were pitched on the 
 banks of streams and on hillsides, wherever a suitable 
 spot could be found. Fatigue was slackening the pace 
 of the men. Halts were frequently called, after which 
 the road was resumed with a sullen determination,
 
 SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE I 53 
 
 gradually giving place to despair. Helen suffered 
 greatly, but struggled resolutely to meet the efforts of 
 the men to help her along. Johnson ordered many 
 rests on her account, and improvised a litter upon 
 which she was carried wherever possible. 
 
 "I didn't calculate on this task, even for myself," 
 said Johnson. "I'm sorry I dragged you into it." 
 
 The master was so thoroughly crushed that Helen 
 had no heart to upbraid him. 
 
 Ralph was in a state of desperation regarding Helen. 
 The knowledge that the girl had sacrificed herself for 
 him was appalling. He could see nothing but disas- 
 ter ahead. He consulted Brant frequently, and ap- 
 pealed to him with fervor that visibly affected the In- 
 dian. 
 
 "Johnson's commands are not law in a case like this. 
 The girl must be saved. Do you understand me?" 
 
 "Yes, my friend; but "' 
 
 "Damn all other considerations!" 
 
 "Ah; but it is not so easy." 
 
 "You must find a way for me. Mind, if anything 
 happens I'll shoot Johnson like a dog. There are two, 
 perhaps three, to save." 
 
 "You love her?" asked Brant, slowly. 
 
 Ralph did not reply. 
 
 "Do you?" the Indian asked. 
 
 "Why do you ask?" 
 
 "Because, my friend, you ought to." 
 
 "Why do you say that?" 
 
 "You have eyes as I have, and I have seen,"
 
 154 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 For a moment Ralph was silent. Then he broke out 
 again : 
 
 "What are we to do, Brant? Help me, and I swear 
 I will add a thousandfold to all I owe you." 
 
 Then the Indian was silent. Taking Ralph's hand, 
 he said : 
 
 "You must wait a little. To-morrow I think we 
 shall reach the Elk River. You will be about thirty 
 miles from the big lake, where you can find your way 
 to the fort at Crown Point. You will risk the journey 
 with her and Mr. Gist?" 
 
 "Risk it ! I'll risk anything. But can she do it, my 
 friend?" 
 
 "Perhaps. Love will help her, and Gist is a strong 
 man." 
 
 "You leave me out of the calculation," said Ralph 
 smiling. 
 
 "No; but you haven't told me you love her." 
 
 "Only because I can't. I " 
 
 "You don't know, eh?" 
 
 "I don't know," repeated Ralph. 
 
 "Well, tell Gist to be ready. But I would say noth- 
 ing to Miss Scott yet." 
 
 The following night a resting place was chosen on a 
 deep, wooded hillside under a clump of very tall trees 
 within the forest. The trees formed almost a circle and 
 their united branches formed a species of foliated dome 
 high in the air above. At their base there was no 
 small growth of struggling sapplings; nothing but 
 some small plants and a few wild raspberry bushes.
 
 SOME OF THE PARTY TAKE THEIR LEAVE 155 
 
 Within the circle the station for the night was fixed. 
 In the centre a big fire was lighted, the red glow of 
 which illuminated the forest amphitheatre and created 
 strange shadows beyond in the dark wood pathways. 
 
 While the evening meal was preparing the men gath- 
 ered around the huge fire. Johnson and Claus sat 
 watching the stream of ascending sparks that were 
 mounting incessantly into the gloom above. Ralph 
 was half lost in reverie, when he felt some one touch 
 him lightly on the shoulder. At a sign he rose and fol- 
 lowed Brant. 
 
 The two withdrew into the darkness. 
 
 "Where is Miss Helen?" whispered Brant. 
 
 "There she is," answered Ralph, pointing across the 
 fire. 
 
 "Do you hear the murmur of the river down there?" 
 
 Ralph could distinctly hear the fretting of water 
 over stones. 
 
 "That," continued Brant "that is the Elk River. It 
 flows in the valley below between these hills. Go to 
 Miss Scott and Gist. Whisper to them to withdraw, 
 one after the other, to this tree. Meet them here your- 
 self. Then, as silently as possible, steal down the hill- 
 side. Wade across the stream. The night is clear and 
 if the waters are not high and they ought not to be, 
 for we have had little rain you will find something 
 like a pathway over the stones on the other side. Go 
 down stream and then hide in the woods. Some 
 search may be made for you. I'll attend to that. Our 
 direction is the other way, and they'll give you up
 
 156 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 soon. Go down always down stream until you 
 reach civilization. Keep to the stream as your guide. 
 When you reach Lake Champlain you will be within 
 sight of the Crown Point forts. There you will be 
 safe. At the bottom of this little lane I have placed a 
 bag of food for you and a couple of pistols. I am sorry 
 I can't go with you, but " Brant faltered. 
 
 "What can I say to you? How can I repay you?" 
 Ralph asked, taking the Indian's hand in his. 
 
 "By keeping me in your heart until I see you again."
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 THE CROWN POINT FORT. 
 
 RALPH tried vainly to give me some account of the 
 journey down the Elk. His recollections consisted of 
 nothing but confused impressions of a long chasm 
 topped with trees, swirling water boiling and eddying 
 among the sun-burned boulders, and a forlorn strug- 
 gle along weary mile after mile to support Helen and 
 carry her to some habitation. The probabilities are 
 that the final burden of the journey fell upon Gist, but 
 the farmer had nothing to tell of it, except : 
 
 "Well, we got into the fort all right a trifle late one 
 evening." 
 
 The fort was built, it will be remembered by Am- 
 herst at Crown Point in the middle of the century. It 
 was intended to check the inroads from Canada of the 
 French and their Indian allies. Indeed, a French fort 
 already occupied the site, but was demolished by the 
 English. Unquestionably real military instinct select- 
 ed the spot, as it effectively commanded the passage of 
 the lake southward. At this point the land sweeps 
 around a bay like the lower part of a big letter G, and 
 it is on the small projection, where the waters narrow 
 to the width of a broad river, that the fort stands. The 
 wide curvature of land on the west bordered by high 
 hills, rising one behind another, is extremely pictur- 
 esque in outline. To the east, in Vermont, on the other
 
 158 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 side of the lake (which here, to the north, is very broad 
 and blue), stretch alluvial flat lands, climbing for miles 
 in many undulations to the foot of the Green Moun- 
 tains. The fort so Ralph told me is a big affair, 
 comprising many two-storied massive stone and brick 
 buildings, all encircled by high earthworks, which rise 
 above the buildings so that from them one can look 
 down onto the multitude of chimneys and the great 
 parade ground. I believe the fort was never fully oc- 
 cupied. When Ralph, Helen and Gist sought its shel- 
 ter it was almost deserted. The patriots had seized it a 
 short time previous as a consequence of Ethan Allen's 
 heroic enterprise at the forts lower down the lake at 
 Ticonderoga. The authorities did not deem it neces- 
 sary to hold it in force, and it was in charge of a small 
 body of men, commanded by a Capt. Murray, when 
 the party arrived. 
 
 The fugitives were received with kindness, and quar- 
 ters were assigned them in the officers' building. 
 
 For three days Helen was confined to her room in 
 the care of a Mrs. Stoddard, the wife of a broken-down 
 Methodist parson. Mrs. Stoddard was a mild, tall, 
 middle-aged woman. She was a muffled being, who 
 mutely glided and cringed, and was forever perform- 
 ing a sort of dry wash on her thin, boney hands with 
 imaginary soap and water. Ralph likened her to "this- 
 tledown." Certainly she was as light and noiseless as 
 those floating summer spheres. Her presence within 
 the grim, heavy walls of the barracks seemed as con- 
 tradictory. Her husband was a coarse, selfish black-
 
 THE CROWN POINT FORT I5Q 
 
 guard, who had been driven from place to place, earn- 
 ing a living as he moved by subterfuge and sponging. 
 He was an intruder in the fort. It was apparently his 
 last refuge. Even upon these terms he took life with a 
 splendid opulence. He was one of those superb mill- 
 ionaires of poverty, rich in boundless egotism and as- 
 surance, who regard each to-morrow as their honest 
 debtor. The hard selfishness of the man's fifty years 
 was written in the sensual lines of his raw-red face and 
 in his shifting eye; the pity of them was to be read in 
 that mild protest, the pale, crushed woman who clung 
 to him even when sorrow had forsaken her. Poor, ten- 
 antless life! A little candle was lighted somewhere 
 in its vacancies when she, the only woman then in the 
 fort, began to nurse Helen. When Helen recovered 
 and extended to her a frank, unquestioning sympathy 
 and gratitude, she sobbed: 
 
 "Please, please, don't thank me. You are so lovely; 
 this is so pleasant ! I am so happy. Don't you see?" 
 
 Murray, the commander, a rough country fellow, 
 full of an adventurous and fighting spirit, spent a deal 
 of his time grumbling at inaction and gambling with 
 Stoddard. They settled their accounts in I. O. U.'s a 
 form of easy payment \vhich affected the good temper 
 of neither, no matter how large the amounts were. They 
 were a splendidly matched pair of irresponsibles. No 
 doubt each had taken the measure of the other, yet 
 neither questioned in the slightest the pretensions of 
 his fellow. They drank freely, slapped one another on 
 the back and shared sympathetically their mutual dis-
 
 l6o THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 gust of present conditions and their splendid anticipa- 
 tions of the future. They were poor company for Ralph 
 or Gist, both of whom were naturally impatient to be 
 off south. Murray told Ralph he didn't know when it 
 would be possible to go down to Albany, the journey 
 at the moment being dangerous on account of the hos- 
 tile attitude of the Indians. 
 
 "Take it easy for a while," he advised, "We'll get 
 you and your gal on as soon as we can. I'm expectin' 
 to hear from our people down there any day." 
 
 Thus the three visitors were constrained to spend 
 their time mostly in their own company. They wan- 
 dered about the big parade ground until they came to 
 know every stone in the long blocks of buildings that 
 flanked it. Their favorite recreation was lounging on 
 the ramparts of the earthworks where they could look 
 out over the blue waters of the lake to the magnificent 
 stretch of mountains that swept around them on al) 
 sides. 
 
 Gist passed many hours fishing for pike and pickerel 
 off the ruins of the old French Fort Frederick. Some- 
 times Mrs. Stoddard would join Helen, always with a 
 solicitous : 
 
 "Now you are sure I am not intruding?" 
 
 The greater part of the time Ralph and Helen were 
 alone. Their companionship had reached a stage so 
 hard to analyze that Ralph deliberately gave it up. 
 Helen had in a most unobtrusive manner become his 
 confidant regarding himself. She inspired him by be- 
 lieving in him. Her healthy nature profoundly influ-
 
 THE CROWN POINT FORT l6l 
 
 enced his flexible and wandering spirit. More than 
 once, as he recognized this, Brant's last question in the 
 woods flashed upon him. Was it love? What was it 
 Brant had seen in Helen? 
 
 Ralph had watched her intently. If love were there, 
 the light was so steady and devoid of shadow that the 
 watching only confused him the more. The puzzle. 
 provoked him perhaps all the more because others 
 apparently saw so easily what he after much difficulty 
 missed. 
 
 He nearly knocked Stoddard down one day when 
 that individual reminded him with a knowing leer that 
 he was a clergyman and "quite competent to officiate, 
 my boy." 
 
 Even Gist seemed to draw himself closer to him, as 
 though anticipating relationship. 
 
 Ralph perpetually returned to the subject those 
 dronish summer days when the world seemed so far 
 off. One sunny afternoon, sitting on the high ram- 
 parts under the shadow of a cannon, he suddenly 
 stopped pulling up the grass to ask: 
 
 "Helen, why do you think romance is humbug?" 
 
 He put the question without the slightest idea of 
 any thing further. 
 
 "That old subject again?" she said smiling. "It is 
 what you call a 'horizon.' You know," she continued 
 laughing, "the business of a 'horizon' is to move away 
 from you as you approach it. What is the use of the 
 'unattainable'?" 
 
 "Then what is love, Helen?"
 
 1 62 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Helen turned away. Ralph could see her heart was 
 throbbing as she said in a broken voice: 
 
 "A holy duty, the obligation of life." 
 
 The words stirred Ralph as the summer air ruffled 
 the surface of the lake. They seemed to plead. 
 
 "A holy duty," he repeated, "the obligation of life! 
 Would you give that to me, Helen?" 
 
 Turning to him, Helen answered simply: 
 
 "Yes, gladly, in exchange for yours." 
 
 He drew her to himself and kissed her.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 RALPH FORSWEARS THE PAST. 
 
 I HAVE depicted this moment in the career of my two 
 friends so briefly because naturally even the most in- 
 timate can know little of the details of events so in- 
 tensely personal. There is much, however, that I 
 have tried to clear up for my own understanding. I 
 must confess I haven't been able to arrive at any very 
 distinct conclusions. Catrina, no doubt, was a much 
 nearer complement of Ralph's nature than was Helen. 
 She was of his world not only of his locality and peo- 
 ple, but of his temperament and ideals. I can under- 
 stand how powerful Helen's unsophisticated appeal 
 must have been to Ralph, particularly as he was of a 
 make especially prone at that time to exaggerate per- 
 sonal issues. Helen's stubborn adherence to what she 
 regarded at first as an obligation easily passed over to a 
 heroic act of friendship. Gaining in proportions, as it 
 did by mere continuance, it gained also for Ralph in 
 significance. I can also see how Helen's common- 
 sense, rising at times to so high a pitch, appealed to 
 him as a more substantial form of his own vagrant 
 emotions. Her wholesome acceptance of the com- 
 monplace side of rough existence must have had an in- 
 vigorating touch upon one who was a good deal of a 
 dreaming idler. Ralph's attachment was the result of
 
 164 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 admiration, respect, gratitude, high hope, all appearing 
 in the guise of endearment. What it lacked was pas- 
 sion and the inconquerable compulsion of the heart. 
 
 It might have been necessary to idle away a deal 
 of time in the fort had not Helen been able, soon after 
 her arrival, to despach a letter to her father. When 
 Scott received it, his rejoicing was pitiful to see. For 
 a time it almost crazed him. He thought the note 
 might be a Tory joke. Fear and hope, sorrow and 
 joy alternated so quickly that the old gentleman went 
 among his neighbors with his letter, crying, denounc- 
 ing and laughing in turns. The outcome was a num- 
 ber of men set out for Crown Point the risk of the 
 journey not being very great, for the country was 
 thicker with rumors than dangers and some days later 
 the three lost ones returned amid great rejoicing, for 
 the story abroad was that Ralph, Gist and Helen had 
 been murdered by Johnson's Mohawks. Scott was half 
 drunk with self-importance and wine. When Ralph 
 told him his tale of what had happened in the fort, he 
 threw his arm around him and cried: 
 
 "That completes it all. Helen could not do better, 
 my dear boy. Neither could you." 
 
 Mrs. Scott would have the wedding as soon as pos- 
 sible, and her wishes ultimately ruled, although Helen 
 was set the other way. 
 
 Indeed there was very little of the eager or impa- 
 tient in Helen's nature. It was her manner quickly 
 to bring everything to a level. Within a week of her 
 return home she was in her old place, busy to the last
 
 RALPH FORSWEARS THE PAST 165 
 
 hour of the day with her old occupations. Ralph knew 
 of her presence more by a sort of perpetual sisterly 
 touch that met him at a score of points and in a score 
 of ways than by any demonstration of a lover's affec- 
 tion. In the evenings the two strolled around the 
 Manse or sat on the lawn under the trees, talking of 
 everything but their love, while within the house a 
 gathering of relatives, attracted to the Manse like 
 birds, one after the other, by some feminine instinct 
 were busy with delighted industry in preparing for the 
 event, about which the two chief participants were ap- 
 parently so indifferent. 
 
 Helen at no time in her life had the slightest desire 
 to speak of any of her feelings; it never occurred to her 
 to give them utterance and thus parade them and in 
 a sense set them up for inspection. Perpetual con- 
 fession was no part of her idea of love-making, neither 
 had she any notion of the lovers' ecstatic communion 
 of silence. She was delighted to find Ralph was not 
 "foolish," and she accounted it another warrant for 
 her affection. 
 
 At this time Ralph wrote to me regarding the step 
 he had taken. It was a dry epistle, mostly given up to 
 the affair with Johnson and the journey through the 
 woods. He invited me to the wedding, and concluded 
 with a sentence or two which perhaps I dare quote: 
 
 Helen is most anxious to see you, for I have told 
 her so much of you. I am sure you will like her, Alex, 
 not for my sake alone, but because you will recog- 
 nize at once the unmistakable beauty of her character!
 
 1 66 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 You will see she is just the girl for me clear-headed, 
 domestic, direct the very opposite, in short, of your 
 moody and wayward friend. 
 
 "An affair of contraries, eh?" I muttered as I sat 
 down to write my congratulations and promise my 
 presence in Albany later. 
 
 Ralph wrote also to his aunt, Mrs. Heathcote. 
 Upon receiving the news she sent asking me to call on 
 her at once. Since my friend's departure, I had paid 
 her several visits, and we were on most cordial 
 terms. 
 
 "I suppose the dreadful news has reached you?" she 
 began. 
 
 "Why dreadful, madame?" I inquired. 
 
 "Oh, you are his friend, I know, and sympathize 
 with him. Relatives, I suppose, go further in matters 
 like these. It is Isaac Scott's daughter, isn't it? Dear, 
 dear; quite unobjectionable, I presume. Ralph writes 
 as though I was thoroughly informed, and carried 
 their pedigrees in my head." 
 
 "Surely you don't disapprove," I said, noticing her 
 peevish manner. 
 
 "Mr. Adams, unfortunately I can't. It is worse: 
 I am disappointed, stricken, if I may say so, to the 
 heart." 
 
 Not quite understanding her mood, I inquired 
 whether she intended making the journey to share in 
 the festivities. 
 
 "I should go if I had to walk every step of the way. 
 He is my only boy, Mr. Adams."
 
 RALPH FORSWEARS THE PAST 167 
 
 She always referred to Ralph in that motherly way. 
 
 Early in October, on a glorious Indian summer day, 
 the marriage bells were set ringing. As I write their 
 ghostly echoes are flung again to the wind, but some- 
 thing now is added to their tone quite inaudible that 
 distant autumn day. How impersonal bells are! They 
 have the same note for every one for rich and poor, 
 young and old, the well mated and the badly matched. 
 To all alike they sing in cheery cadence, "Godspeed I 
 wish you." It is only the echoes that reverberate 
 through the days and years afterward that catch from 
 life the spirit of joy or sorrow. 
 
 At Mrs. Heathcote's request for traveling at that 
 moment was beset with great difficulties, on account 
 of the military operations I accompanied her to the 
 Manse. 
 
 We arrived the evening before the wedding. So 
 great a crowd attended the ceremony and the feast 
 afterward that at first I judged Mr. Scott must have 
 sent a bellman through the country with a general sum- 
 mons. But in those rural parts, unlike our towns, every- 
 body knows everybody, and all decent people are inti- 
 mate in some degree with one another. Besides, Mrs. 
 Scott's family must have been numbered by the hun- 
 dred. So many aunts, uncles, cousins, half-cousins 
 and fractional relatives never, I thought, could be 
 gathered within the circle of a living generation. 
 
 For a w 7 eek previous to the wedding they all turned 
 to, and there was a mighty baking of pies and cakes. 
 The big oven at the Manse was fired and filled twice a
 
 1 68 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 day regularly. The great barn was cleared out and 
 long tables were set in it for the "commonalty," the 
 Indians and the negroes. The dining-room in the 
 house was reserved for the "quality," and as we all sat 
 down in it on the wedding day, led by Ralph and his 
 bride, the abundance appeared sufficient to provide for 
 the couple during the remainder of their lives. The 
 long room, a trifle dark in tone ordinarily, was made 
 gay with golden rod and the rich red leaves of the 
 sumac; but indeed the brightness of the mahogany and 
 the faces present were, to my thinking, enough of 
 decoration. 
 
 When we were all seated there was scarce enough 
 room for the service of the venison, turkeys and 
 pigeon-pasties, pumpkin pies, apple tarts, Indian pud- 
 dings and other viands, though I must not forget to 
 mention a new vegetable that was given us, called 
 "sellery," of which Scott was almost as proud as of his 
 wine. 
 
 As we feasted, shouting and laughter came from the 
 barn without. I thought it harmonized pleasantly 
 with our own quieter jollity. It was an interesting 
 domestic spectacle. On both sides of Ralph and 
 Helen were seated several grandmotherly old ladies, 
 including Mrs. Scott, who insisted on remaining with 
 Helen. 
 
 Ralph received his dignities with quiet enjoyment. 
 Helen evidently regarded the entertainment more as a 
 family gathering than as a feast to herself. Scott was 
 in his best mood and kept the tables laughing and
 
 RALPH FORSWEARS THE PAST 169 
 
 drinking. He called for toasts for every one and with 
 every one; an exercise in which he was nobly sup- 
 ported by Parson Cowles and another timid cleric, 
 whose, name, I think, was Payne. Gen. Schuyler, too, 
 was in excellent, boisterous spirits. He swore that 
 the marriage was entirely of his making, for had he 
 not ordered Johnson's arrest fhings might have been 
 very different. 
 
 "And now," he concluded, "as I was father of this 
 event damn me ! I think I am entitled to appoint my- 
 self godfather at the next celebration." 
 
 The old ladies tittered and Helen blushed as the 
 laughter circled around her. 
 
 Amid the stir Scott arose, crying: 
 
 "We have not heard from Uncle Lom ! Where are 
 you, Lom? Is his glass full over there? Well, then, 
 I call on Uncle Lom for a toast to the bride and 
 groom. Egad, we can't leave him out. I call for 
 Uncle Lom." 
 
 Lom's reputation silenced every one. Hitherto he 
 had been almost unobserved. He had placed himself 
 near the end of the long table in a corner of the room. 
 Despite the expectancy he kept his seat for a minute. 
 When he arose he was so much in the shadow that his 
 features were scarcely visible to me, but I knew by the 
 tone of his voice that he was deeply moved. 
 
 "Helen, my dear," he began slowly, "I of all others 
 don't want to be the guest without the wedding gar- 
 ment. Sitting here, I have been trying to sum up 
 what I am about to lose, and I find I can't calculate
 
 I/O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 it. But it isn't for that reason I haven't joined with the 
 others in hailing- you a happy woman and congratulat- 
 ing the young man to whom you have joined your life. 
 I wish I could know for certain whether I should con- 
 gratulate either of you. The marriage day always 
 sings for itself. The joy of later days depends greatly 
 upon whether your natures and the inward and out- 
 ward changes that the years must bring to you both 
 ratify the act you have just performed. No doubt I 
 am open to the charge of being a pessimist because I 
 can't delight in that dull affection which in nine cases 
 out of ten succeeds the brief ecstasy of this moment. 
 I believe, as the parson has just said, 'marriages are 
 arranged in heaven,' but in a sense vastly different 
 from his. In the case of most couples heaven has had 
 less to do with the mating than mere proximity and 
 chance. The real marriage which all marriages sim- 
 ulate at the outset is rare, as all other precious things 
 are rare, because it requires a very fortunate combina- 
 tion to produce it. To play the fiddle well is not given 
 to everybody. It needs qualities, if it is to be done at 
 all. Yet we think it easy for any one to make perfect 
 music from the most delicate and sensitive of all the 
 chords of life. Mere effort of will or force of struggle, 
 I know, won't do it in one case any more than in the 
 other. There are scores of fiddlers for the one master 
 player, and in thousands of homes burn two dull 
 candles for the one sanctuary illuminated by the divine 
 inextinguishable light of love. Still, Helen, I wish 
 my soul could go with you as your servant. If I could
 
 RALPH FORSWEARS THE PAST 17 1 
 
 pray I would beg that any blessing I am entitled to 
 may descend upon your head." 
 
 It was an unhappy speech. 
 
 "Just like Lorn !" every one muttered, in displeasure. 
 "How dare he !" 
 
 The tears were in Helen's eyes. For Ralph the air 
 was suddenly filled with reverberations of a minor key. 
 
 The company were right glad when Scott proposed 
 a change of scene to the barn outside for dancing. 
 Reels and contra-dances were started to the vigorous 
 scraping of old Phineas Elmer's fiddle, and as though 
 to confound Lom everybody found it answered as well 
 as the finest playing of the great master Lom had 
 hinted of. 
 
 In this manner the day declined. The twilight con- 
 verted the merry dancers in the barn into moving 
 shadows. Ralph stole into the house for a few min- 
 utes' respite from the gayety. As he entered the dark 
 hall he met some one coming down the stairs. 
 
 "Why, my dear aunt, is that you?" he asked, as the 
 person touched him. 
 
 "Ralph, my boy, I have been thinking of you. I 
 am glad to have you alone for a minute. Come in here 
 with me." 
 
 She led the way into the deserted dining-room and 
 there dropped into a chair. 
 
 She took both Ralph's hands in hers as he stood 
 before her. 
 
 "You are so tall, Ralph. Do you mind kneeling so 
 that an old woman who loves you can speak to you?"
 
 1/2 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 She drew her nephew down gently. This simple 
 action and the position in which Ralph found himself 
 recalled the far-off first love of every human soul. 
 
 "Ah, my boy!" said the old lady, "I am glad my 
 thoughts have spoken to you. I daren't kiss you for 
 her, for that is too sacred. But I can kiss you for my- 
 self. There! May you be happy! And now, Ralph, 
 I am going to give you another kiss, one full of love 
 on behalf of somebody who in deeper sadness than 
 fills my heart to-day, would, I know, if she were only 
 here, wish you well and ask God to bless you my 
 other child, Catrina." 
 
 As she placed the kiss on Ralph's brow it seemed to 
 burn there and her words whispered to him something 
 of a sad reproach. 
 
 Without a word he hurried into the gloaming.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 THE BEGINNING OF DOUBT. 
 
 AMONG the letters that came to Ralph after his mar- 
 riage was one from Mr. Whitehead Hicks. This is 
 how it ran : 
 
 My Dear Ralph Your long silence makes me 
 deeply anxious about you. I fear you must be suffer- 
 ing in health, otherwise I know I should have had at 
 least a word from you ere this. When you receive this 
 pray remember I will cheerfully forgive you your long 
 silence in exchange for the glad news 'that you are 
 well. I hope I am troubling about nothing, but if you 
 recollect you didn't even hint to me of so long a stay 
 with your new friends. Indeed, didn't you make a 
 near but indefinite appointment in relation to your 
 affairs? As I promised you, I set about preparing a 
 final settlement at once and soon had everything in 
 tolerable shape, though really there wasn't much to 
 do. Of course, as you can imagine, the big fire that 
 swept away almost the entire eastern half of New York 
 (started by some villainous rebel when His Majesty's 
 troops entered the town) destroyed, I deplore to tell 
 you, the two sugar houses which your father took so 
 much pride in building. The contents also were en- 
 tirely consumed. Though the military worked very 
 hard, very little was saved for any one. Certain of 
 our accounts kept in the little counting house by Tyn- 
 dall are burned, so that much of my careful figuring 
 goes for nothing, but that is a small matter compared 
 to the loss of so much valuable property. However,
 
 174 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 praise be to the Lord of Hosts ! His Majesty is now 
 firmly possessed of this rebellious city. We are scotch- 
 ing the traitors whenever they dare show themselves. 
 We shall not spare the impudent rogues, and I am 
 thankful that at last I am in authority to assist in the 
 retribution. If you have any pressing needs don't 
 hesitate to draw for any moderate sum you may re- 
 quire on yours, etc., etc. 
 
 P. S. By the way, have you heard the rumor that 
 Miss Catrina is engaged. I hope you remember what 
 I told you on the "Asia" and will credit rne a little as a 
 good prophet. 
 
 "Isn't he an unmitigated scoundrel !" cried Ralph 
 angrily, as he handed me the letter. "He must have 
 written that lying epistle purely on chance; dropped it 
 as it were, by the wayside, to serve as a bit of stray 
 evidence in case of eventualities." 
 
 We, I mean Ralph and myself, were sitting on the 
 edge of the river bank behind the Manse, dangling our 
 feet in the air like two idle schoolboys. At my request 
 Ralph had been recounting to me with all the detail 
 he could recall, the adventures that had befallen him 
 since we parted in New York. In the course of his 
 story when he came to the receipt of this letter he took 
 it from his pocket and handed it to me to read. 
 
 "Yes," said I, returning it, "Hicks is a few shades 
 blacker than I ever thought." 
 
 "Is he really in power?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "Oh, dear, yes," I said. "There are few in New 
 York bigger than he. Hicks is naturally fitted for a 
 situation of the sort when people cease to be curious
 
 THE BEGINNING OF DOUBT 175 
 
 about the civil virtues. His is a predatory genius, just 
 suited to these times. Clear of sight, strong of will, 
 given to unmitigated action. Howe and all the au- 
 thorities rely greatly on him. Besides, he is one of 
 those men who always keep a strain on the rope of op- 
 portunity and take in every inch payed out to them." 
 
 "Umph!" said Ralph. "How am I to deal with 
 him?" 
 
 "He will not be an easy man to handle roughly now. 
 You see there are no civil authorities to support you. 
 I judge it impossible to force him." 
 
 "No doubt," said Ralph. "What remains?" 
 
 "I would advise you to meet him for the time being 
 with his own weapons. Play his game with him. Ac- 
 cept his pretenses as though you believed them. Be 
 quiet. Say little. You see his weak point; don't 
 press against it." 
 
 "Would you answer that letter?" 
 
 "Surely. Tell him of Johnson's violent act in terms 
 that will make it appear you haven't the slightest idea 
 he was concerned in it." 
 
 "And my marriage? Evidently he knows nothing 
 of it." 
 
 "Oh, let him suppose some letter of yours has mis- 
 carried." 
 
 "Alex! Alex!" cried Ralph, laughing, "I had little 
 idea my old friend had so much of the Michiavelli in 
 him." 
 
 "My dear boy, I don't believe in a sword any more 
 than I believe in deceit; but if I could use nothing but a
 
 1/6 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 sword in my own rightful defense I would sharpen it to 
 the last degree." 
 
 "I am not disputing the temporal wisdom of your 
 philosophy, Alex, I am only marvelling how left- 
 handed we all can be. Tell me what can Hicks mean 
 by his repeated references to " 
 
 He hesitated. 
 
 "Catrina?" I asked. 
 
 "Yes. Of course there isn't the slightest truth in 
 what he says?" 
 
 "Do you think he has any aspirations himself?" I 
 asked at random. 
 
 "Great heavens !" he cried, as though I had struck 
 him. 
 
 He rose and paced the river bank, repeating fiercely : 
 
 "No! no! no!" 
 
 "Why not?" I asked, pushing my thought home. 
 "If the beautiful girl is not an attraction, surely her 
 comfortable fortune might be to a struggling adven- 
 turer." 
 
 "Good God, Alex, hush !" 
 
 I was surprised to see I had pained him. He aston- 
 ished me all the more when he dropped down beside 
 me and after gazing sullenly at the river for a minute, 
 cried : 
 
 "I would kill him for that." 
 
 "Tut ! tut !" I said. "What interest have you there?" 
 
 "Don't I know the man?" he asked angrily. 
 
 "To be sure," I answered simply. "But the young 
 lady? She may prefer to manage her own affairs."
 
 THE BEGINNING OF DOUBT 
 
 "That's so," he said. Then he laughed and cried: 
 "Oh, come! Let's get the canoe out and work up 
 stream a mile or two. It's good for the appetite- 
 healthier than floating easily with the tide. Tra-la-la! 
 tra-la-la ! Come on, Alex ! We have lots of time be- 
 fore dinner." 
 
 There had been no wedding journey. The country 
 was too disturbed for it. Ralph and Helen decided to . 
 remain quietly at the Manse for a time a resolution 
 that greatly pleased the parents. Mrs. Heathcote and 
 myself were pressed very kindly to make a long visit, 
 and the Aunt agreed, on condition that the couple re- 
 turned to New York when she went. 
 
 "I haven't seen Albany since I was a young girl," 
 she said. "I would like to renew old impressions, if 
 that is possible. Mr. Heathcote and I made the jour- 
 ney shortly after our marriage, and, Helen, dear, it 
 would please me greatly to reverse the trip for you and 
 my boy." 
 
 When Helen demurred, alleging the inconvenience 
 her absence would cause her family at that moment, 
 the old lady replied: 
 
 "Your duties are elsewhere, my dear. Your busi- 
 ness is to keep pace with your husband. Don't forget, 
 child, how closely you have been shut up in this farm 
 world of yours. You need to broaden your views and 
 interests. Remember how much Ralph has seen. Even 
 with you, Helen, clay will still be clay for him." 
 
 Helen repeated to* Ralph what Mrs. Heathcote had 
 said.
 
 1/8 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Dear old Aunt," Ralph said. "She has a very fool- 
 ish notion, Helen, about me, and she won't forsake it, 
 argue as I may." 
 
 "I wouldn't wish her to do so," said Helen proudly. 
 "I like her all the more because she sees in you " 
 
 "Helen, what?" 
 
 "What I know." 
 
 "You dear, good girl! But don't join with her in 
 what she says about 'clay' and broader 'interests.' We 
 have both agreed, haven't we that the world is what 
 one makes it, and that things are little or great accord- 
 ing to the spirit in which we touch them?" 
 
 When Ralph talked in this way Helen was delighted. 
 She was immensely happy in these days in her tranquil 
 way. As she had said, her idea of marriage was duty 
 a quiet, pleasant companionship, full of mutual in- 
 terest centred entirely within the home. In fact, the 
 creation of the home, the domiciling somewhere of the 
 domestic virtues, labors and peace was, with her, the 
 chief purpose of marriage. The personal element 
 figured somewhere in the plan as a necessary but not 
 a dominant feature. Certainly she never counted upon 
 any irresponsible moments or upon moods existing for 
 themselves only. 
 
 It had been arranged before the marriage that as 
 soon as Ralph had straightened out his affairs with 
 Hicks a new house should be built on the Manse 
 estate. 
 
 "The property will be yours, Helen, some day," said 
 Scott, "and you and Ralph might just as well enter
 
 THE BEGINNING OF DOUBT 179 
 
 into possession of it at once. Mother and I have 
 enough for our wants. Let me tell you this, Helen, 
 regarding Ralph's future land is the only thing that 
 keeps a man a gentleman." 
 
 Helen, of course, wouldn't agree to the latter bit of 
 aristocratic philosophy, but she had argued it out too 
 often with her father to care to repeat the conflict. 
 She w r as delighted to know that she would not suffer 
 any change of scene, and that her new life with Ralph 
 would be in the main a continuation of the old. Ralph 
 was to settle down by her side as a helpmate. He was 
 to have his books, guns and friends, of course, and 
 occasionally their lives would be varied by journeys to 
 his relations and to hers. 
 
 The journey to New York with Mrs. Heathcote 
 struck her as perhaps a too early concession to the least 
 essential part of the programme, but she was not arbi- 
 trary where her own wishes were concerned. 
 
 Moreover, it so happened that, though it was origin- 
 ally arranged that the start should be made for New 
 York at the beginning of November, the serious news 
 that came of fighting around the city, particularly at 
 White Plains, caused several delays, so that it was not 
 until the middle of December, when the first snow was 
 whitening the ground, that the journey to the Heath- 
 cote House in King street was begun.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 THE POWER OF AN AFFINITY. 
 
 EVERY one knew the Heathcote residence on King 
 street. It was built, I think, in 1741, at the time of the 
 negro troubles, when New York was little more than a 
 village in size. North of Wall street there were then 
 very few buildings except country houses in the fields. 
 When Josiah Benson announced his intention of erect- 
 ing for himself the home that subsequently came into 
 the possession of Mr. Heathcote, his enterprise was 
 regarded as a trifle distant and decidedly eccentric. 
 The truth was, Benson was a great lover of flowers. 
 As he had made money out of government contracts 
 he decided to indulge himself with a sort of semi-coun- 
 try place for his beloved tulips and other rarities, where 
 he could have more space for them than was procur- 
 able on Broad street. He built his new house with the 
 long side facing the road. Columns supported the 
 porch, the ceiling of which was made by the jutting 
 roof of the main building. The edifice was very mas- 
 sively constructed, all of stone except the shingled, 
 double-angled roof, with its row of gabled windows. 
 The chimneys were particularly heavy, one in the cen- 
 tre and one at each of the ends. The gardens around 
 were elaborately and beautifully planted, and every- 
 body was pleased that Mrs. Heatheote did not allow 
 these to fall into the slightest neglect. In the summer
 
 THE POWER OF AN AFFINITY l8l 
 
 time the grounds were ablaze with color. Little won- 
 der the place was known to everybody. There was 
 nothing more beautiful in the town than that large 
 house, embowered in foliage and blossom. 
 
 Fortunately the conflagration of September follow- 
 ing the British occupation spared this happy retreat of 
 so much loving toil. Nevertheless it was upon a sad 
 sight of destruction and desolation that Helen gazed 
 from her window the morning after her arrival in town, 
 A broad swath of black ashes ran across the city diag- 
 onally. Trinity Church had fallen and many other 
 notable buildings. Looking across Broadway the vista 
 was now entirely open. Helen could see the river, 
 covered then with floating ice, the long line of war- 
 ships and transports riding at anchor in the harbor, 
 and behind them as a background the snowclad hills 
 of Staten Island. The streets of the city were full of 
 military, and their brilliant uniforms contrasted with 
 the wintry whiteness of the highways. But for the sol- 
 diers the city would have appeared half deserted. 
 
 "Dear me! Dear me!" exclaimed Aunt Heathcote, 
 as she took Helen for a walk to show her the city. 
 "What a change since I left a month or two ago ! How 
 hideous, stupid and criminal these troubles are ! Don't 
 you think so, dear? Or are you of your father's fierce 
 opinion?" 
 
 "I don't believe in bloodshed, and I can't entirely 
 agree with father's extreme position. I must confess, 
 though, that more than once it has stirred my blood 
 to see those Hessians march past. Doesn't it yours?"
 
 1 82 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Not a bit," the old Tory replied, quickly. "Fight- 
 ing is fighting, and some men are better employed at 
 that than at anything else." 
 
 The early days of that visit passed calmly and pleas- 
 antly. There was so much to show Helen, and Ralph 
 delighted in taking her around. 
 
 Mrs. Heathcote accepted Helen, but she did not wel- 
 come her with the heart. The old lady's feelings were 
 obstinate in all matters, and I regarded the result that 
 Helen obtained any foothold, in the face of the fact 
 that she was esteemed an intruder and usurper, as a 
 very high proof of the strength of her good qualities. 
 Here, too, she conquered by a serenity which made her 
 oblivious to petty feelings and by a working kindness 
 and persistent amiability that nothing disturbed. Old 
 age, I fancy, is a trifle vainer and sillier than youth. 
 Certainly it is more selfish, perhaps because it can less 
 afford to be prodigal. However that may be, it is very 
 approachable through its egotisms and its comforts. 
 Helen's natural deference to age and her ready ser- 
 viceableness quickly appealed to Mrs. Heathcote, who 
 admitted the enemy into her camp by confessing to 
 herself, "that the girl has really some very nice quali- 
 ties," and surrendered so far as surrender was possible, 
 when a few weeks later she found herself one after- 
 noon in the parlor unpremeditately comparing Helen 
 with Catrina, with a result not as conclusive as she 
 desired. 
 
 "Dear, dear," she sighed, dropping her sewing. 
 "This world is terribly mixed!"
 
 THE POWER OF AN AFFINITY 183 
 
 "What makes you say that, Mrs. Heathcote?" asked 
 Helen. 
 
 "Do stop calling me Mrs. Heathcote," commanded 
 the old 4ady petulantly. "I'm Ralph's aunt and I sup- 
 pose I'm yours, my dear." 
 
 The softened cadence of the speech conveyed the 
 real meaning of the speaker. 
 
 Helen rose and kissed the old lady. 
 
 "There, there, dear. You really are a very lovable 
 girl, if only " 
 
 "If only what?" asked Helen. 
 
 "Oh, if only an old woman was not an old fool. Well, 
 well, I have two nieces by adoption and I ought to be 
 very content." 
 
 "Two of us!" cried Helen. "I never heard of the 
 other one, Auntie." 
 
 "I suppose not, I suppose not," she sighed. Then to 
 Helen's astonishment she burst forth: "Oh, how my 
 soul yearns for her to comfort her! I know it! I 
 know it ! It is she that will suffer my darling." 
 
 Helen was trying to comfort the sobbing old lady 
 (to whose emotion, of course, Helen had no clue), 
 when there came a knock on the outer door, followed 
 by the sound of Hicks's voice in the hallway. 
 
 Helen hastened upstairs to warn Ralph. 
 
 "Hicks, eh? Give me my coat." 
 
 "Ralph, do be prudent. Probably he is only mak- 
 ing a ceremonial call on your aunt. Hadn't you better 
 let him alone?" 
 
 "Let him alone! Helen, dear, my mind has long
 
 1 84 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 been made up to this. I must see that man sometime 
 soon, and I desire to meet him in the most natural way 
 possible. You needn't fear a scene. Whatever goes 
 on shall go on behind the curtain. Aunt knows noth- 
 ing of his infamy, and he shall think that I know as 
 little." 
 
 "Shall I come down, too, dear, when I get this ob- 
 stinate hair of mine fixed?" 
 
 "To meet him that villain!" 
 
 "He won't poison me. I would like to see him." 
 
 "Oh, well, do as you please. As you say, he won't 
 poison you." 
 
 Entering the low-ceiled parlor, where a great wood 
 fire was burning, Ralph heard Hicks's rich, insinuating 
 voice : 
 
 "I had no idea you were out of town until lately 
 and on such a mission, too. Ah! I am surrounded 
 with surprises. Why, here is the rascal himself!" 
 
 Hicks rose suddenly. His face visibly lost 'some- 
 thing of its color, but his sharp eyes nothing of their 
 steady directness. 
 
 In a second he recognized Ralph was peaceful, and 
 then both his lace-berufHed hands were extended in 
 welcome. Ralph gave him his two hands, and thus 
 for a moment, clasped in that friendly way, the two 
 men searched one another. 
 
 "My dear Ralph," said Hicks, softly, "I can't tell 
 you how glad I am to see you under such circum- 
 stances." 
 
 "I am sure of it," said Ralph. "I knew you, of all
 
 THE POWER OF AN AFFINITY 185 
 
 my friends, would be the most concerned in my wel- 
 fare." 
 
 "But why, why, my dear boy, did you not let me 
 know?- Mated and married, and not a word to me! 
 Me!" 
 
 Hicks extended his arms as though his heart were 
 visible. 
 
 "Then really did my first letter to you go astray?" 
 asked Ralph innocently." 
 
 "I assure you," said Hicks. "Candidly, I received 
 not even so much as a whisper. What must you have 
 thought of me?" 
 
 "Don't fear. I never for a moment doubted your 
 interest in me." 
 
 "Ah! That was generous, I confess, under such 
 circumstances." 
 
 "Haven't I too many proofs of your friendship!" 
 said Ralph, enthusiastically. "As I didn't hear from 
 you, I concluded something there is so easily some- 
 thing had obstructed your plans. Something official 
 or imperative," he added. 
 
 "Yes ! Yes !" said Hicks. "No doubt I missed your 
 letter somehow, due to the commotion of the last few 
 months, and my own movements not necessarily too 
 open, Ralph. You understand?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, indeed!" said Ralph laughing. "In 
 dealing with an enemy we have to use subterfuge 
 (what do you lawyers call it? 'trick and device/ eh?) to 
 snick him in the back! The Indians are pretty good 
 at that."
 
 1 86 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 The thrust went home. Hicks tried to dodge it. 
 For the first time he showed a faint nervousness. 
 
 "Yes, Indians yes yes," he said, laughing un- 
 easily. Then he caught himself, and went on very 
 seriously. "That reminds me, Ralph, of your letter 
 the one I did receive. Do you know that nearly 
 knocked me down?" 
 
 "I expected it would," said Ralph, humorously. 
 "Didn't it surprise you?" 
 
 "That isn't the word for it, said Hicks tittering. 
 
 "I am sure it isn't," smiled Ralph. 
 
 For a moment the two men sat laughing together. 
 Then Hicks demanded in a most earnest manner as 
 though the speculation puzzled him deeply: 
 
 "But what did Johnson mean by his outrage?" 
 
 "Never could find out," answered Ralph nonchal- 
 antly. "Except one day he dropped a hint." 
 
 "A hint, eh? Umph! Did it clear the matter?" 
 
 "On the contrary, if I may say so, it darkened it. 
 He said he had been ordered to restrain me by an 
 enemy I had one in authority." 
 
 The lids of Hicks's eyes half closed. Ralph fancied 
 he could hear the older man's heart beat. For a mo- 
 ment Ralph wondered how Hicks would emerge. 
 
 Slowly his eyes opened. Unflinchingly he met 
 Ralph's gaze. 
 
 "An en emy, Ralph of yours? Some one in au- 
 thority? Was it a riddle?" 
 
 "It was to me," said Ralph promptly, "but I am sure 
 Johnson had the key to it."
 
 THE POWER OF AN AFFINITY 187 
 
 "Come, come," said Hicks in a sprightly tone. 
 "Johnson was fooling you." 
 
 "Oh, no! No! no! There was no joking in those 
 woods. If it was, it is a joke the perpetrator is abso- 
 lutely certain to pay the price for some day. It's a 
 queer account that never comes to a settlement. 
 
 "Indeed, my boy, yes. I am mystified beyond words. 
 I wish I could help you to clear up the matter." 
 
 "Do you know my thoughts went immediately to 
 you?" 
 
 "Me!" cried Hicks in alarm. 
 
 "Yes," said Ralph, "I knew I could count on your 
 assistance." 
 
 Hicks laughed. 
 
 "Oh, yes, I see. Why, of course." 
 
 "Why," exclaimed Ralph laughing, "my dear friend, 
 you did not think I meant " 
 
 Again the two men laughed together. 
 
 "My idea was," continued Ralph, "you might in- 
 duce Sir Johnson to reveal his motive to you. You 
 know him so well. 
 
 "Slightly, slightly, Ralph. I shall surely write to 
 him the first opportunity I have." 
 
 "You are very good," said Ralph. 
 
 "No thanks for so small a matter, my boy." 
 
 "I shan't take it as a small matter if you will do it for 
 me. You can appreciate how deeply I feel on the sub- 
 ject." 
 
 "Not another word, Ralph. You know you may 
 count on me."
 
 1 88 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I know I can," said Ralph. "For the present, then, 
 we will drop the matter; but do tell me this : What were 
 the rumors you heard about Catrina?" 
 
 Mrs. Heathcote had listened to the dialogue hith- 
 erto without a word. At the mention of Catrina's 
 name she roused herself in her armchair. 
 
 "Rumors concerning Catrina!" she exclaimed in 
 amazement. 
 
 "You mustn't think, dear Aunt, that Virginia is as 
 distant as the New York forests. Mr. Hicks has heard 
 some startling whispers. Surely you received the 
 news. Catrina is to be married." 
 
 "Catrina to be married !" cried the old lady. "Ralph 
 Tennant, what delusion is this! All this time have 
 you . Oh, speak! Who has said this?" 
 
 It gave Ralph the utmost pleasure to witness how 
 disconcerted the imperturbable Hicks was by this sud- 
 den change of the attack. 
 
 "Mr. Hicks kindly sent me the news, probably to 
 surprise me, but I had no idea it would surprise you, 
 dear Aunt." 
 
 "Where did you hear this nonsense, Mr. Hicks?" 
 demanded the old lady imperiously. 
 
 Hicks had partly recovered his self-possession, but 
 he failed painfully as he exclaimed : 
 
 "Some of our young officers I forget now who 
 mentioned it casually and with many doubts and 
 qualifications. He thought he had met Miss Ruther- 
 ford, and a gentleman had been pointed out to him as 
 her fiance. It may not be so. A mere mistake."
 
 THE POWER OF AN AFFINITY 189 
 
 "A mistake!" echoed Mrs. Heathcote, nearly beside 
 herself with anger. "A crime ! I am surprised, Mr. 
 Hicks, that you should allow such stories to go un- 
 punished, much less to spread them yourself." 
 
 "I did but write it to Ralph," he pleaded. 
 
 "It has done no harm, my dear Aunt," said Ralph 
 "Ah! Helen my wife has been very anxious to meet 
 my father's friend." 
 
 Hicks no doubt was very thankful for the interrup- 
 tion. He greeted Helen with great warmth. Though 
 she was awkward and silent in his presence, he main- 
 tained a steady fire of courtly nonsense. She had 
 stolen his ward from him. Such conspiracies were 
 possible in those distant backwoods. He was delighted 
 to see, too, that Ralph's eye was as true as his heart. 
 Then he abruptly terminated his visit by rising and 
 inviting Mrs. Heathcote, Helen and Ralph to a ball 
 which \vas to be given shortly by Lord Howe and some 
 others of the chief commanding officers. 
 
 Ralph persisted in playing his game with Hicks until 
 at last I believe he came to enjoy it. He was a con- 
 stant visitor at the Fort just as Hicks was a regular 
 visitor at Mrs. Heathcote's. My plan, for so I dare 
 speak of the method of dealing with Hicks, succeeded 
 so well that Ralph received a goodly sum of money 
 which I am sure he would never have touched had he 
 essayed the violent. He was no doubt favored by the 
 fact that Hicks had won largely at cards, and I am sure 
 made heavy profits out of a connection he had formed 
 with Cunningham, the provost marshal. I had no
 
 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 idea Ralph could be so astute. Really, I think he 
 pulled the wool completely over the old fox's eyes. 
 Perhaps this was due to the fact that he dropped en- 
 tirely the subject of Johnson and those northern 
 events. 
 
 Ralph visited me often, and I rejoiced again in our 
 companionship which now became very steady; but 
 the more I saw of my friend, the more I detected or 
 thought I detected a certain I won't say a false note, 
 but a certain falseness of pitch. There was a strain 
 somewhere, which resulted in frequent forced gayety, 
 succeeded by hours of black dejection. 
 
 With Helen, and of course I saw much of her, he was 
 invariably thoughtful and kind, but it struck me dare 
 I say it? there was a very little bit of earnest acting 
 in it. 
 
 The change of scene, the new life, the impressive 
 company with which Mrs. Heathcote filled her house, 
 were all very agreeable to Helen. She told me it 
 pleased her more than she anticipated. 
 
 "But it is such a useless life," she complained, as 
 though the complaint justified her in sharing it. 
 
 To Ralph the life was intolerable. 
 
 "But what to do, Alex!" he exclaimed hopelessly. 
 "Helen is becoming more Whiggish every day, until 
 now she is an inveterate enemy of the government. 
 And I, well, I am more indifferent than ever. Do you 
 know, if it wasn't for Helen I believe I'd clear out of 
 the country somehow. I wish one of those vessels 
 that arrived in the bay this morning would take me off.
 
 THE POWER OF AN AFFINITY IQI 
 
 As I watched them come to anchor and furl their sails 
 they seemed positively to call me. The best step I 
 suppose is to go back to the Manse." 
 
 "You couldn't do better, Ralph," I hinted. 
 
 "I know," he sighed; "Alex, the devil of unrest is in 
 me." 
 
 "Exorcise him !" I said. 
 
 "With what charm, oh! magician?" 
 
 "Hard work is a good medicine." 
 
 "Aching sinews, eh? Well, that would be better." 
 
 When he was in these moods he would sit sometimes 
 for hours with an open book on his knees in a deep 
 chair in a corner of the Heathcote parlor. There he 
 esconced himself after he left me that afternoon. 
 
 The ladies were busy upstairs. The fire crackled 
 and as the winter day died its early death, the glow of 
 the embers crept further and further out into the dark- 
 ening room. The house was very still. The snow 
 deadened the sounds outside in the street. The low 
 croning of old Dinah, the negress, in the kitchen, 
 exactly harmonized with the vague, half-formulated 
 thoughts that were floating in Ralph's head. 
 
 No doubt he heard the knocking on the outer door, 
 but he paid no heed to it. He was half lost until 
 the servant opened the parlor door and he was aroused 
 by hearing : 
 
 "Step in, if you please. I will tell Mrs. Heathcote." 
 
 That moment was the last of the twilight. But for 
 the pine logs the furniture would have been merely 
 so many shadowy outlines.
 
 1 92 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Ralph pulled himself together and advanced from 
 the darkness of his corner, intending to pass upstairs. 
 When he reached the centre table the stranger, too, 
 advanced and stood within the halo of the hearth. 
 
 His own name was uttered with a cry that thrilled 
 him. No other voice in all the world could have so 
 thrilled him. Never before had he recognized its 
 power. Now there was something exultant in its sum- 
 mons. 
 
 "Ralph!" 
 
 "Catrina!" 
 
 Fear and joy throbbed within him. 
 
 He seized her hand. 
 
 "You! You! he said. "Catrina!" 
 
 The semi-darkness was kind to the girl. She stood 
 struggling wildly for words. Half choking with hap- 
 piness, half in tears, she faltered : 
 
 "I could stand it no longer Ralph. I had to come 
 and and I brought you back your mother's ring." 
 
 Saying this she tore her glove from her hand and be- 
 seechingly held out the jewel to him. 
 
 While Catrina and Ralph were standing thus the ser- 
 vant came in with the candles. At precisely the same 
 moment, at the other door behind Ralph, Helen en- 
 tered. 
 
 The visitor had not given her name and Helen had 
 come down in the place of the lady of the house. 
 
 Helen looked at the stranger, then at her husband. 
 Then she heard Ralph struggle to say: 
 
 "Catrina allow me my wife."
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 THE MEETING OF THE CROSS CURRENTS. 
 
 I HESITATE to set down anything further regarding 
 that unexpected scene in the Heathcote parlor. In 
 that episode the waters of many cross-currents met. 
 
 Deeply as I am interested in all the persons con- 
 cerned, I must confess to a feeling particularly acute 
 for the hard thrust of circumstances against Catrina. 
 That moment, with its few sudden words, was to her 
 like a revelation flashed in a thunderstorm. Were I 
 to say that until then she was unconscious of her love 
 for Ralph I would quite misstate the case. Certainly 
 I am entitled to believe that her affection so far had 
 had curiously little in it of the self-conscious. It was 
 indeed almost something instinctive. The long famil- 
 iar association assisted in obscuring a sentiment that 
 had developed with the unobtrusiveness of a natural 
 process. Catrina's love for Ralph was the blossom- 
 ing of her own life. The sympathy of those earlier days 
 was but the first stage of that love which declared it- 
 self in a cry at the moment of which I am now writing. 
 The poor girl had been driven to return to New York 
 by an unbearable loneliness and sense of want. The 
 unexpected meeting with Ralph in the parlor forced 
 from her that excuse of an overladen heart the fal- 
 tering reference to the parting in the orchard. She had 
 recalled that scene frequently when away, and the more 
 she studied it its outlines gained in vividness as its sig-
 
 194 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 nificance became more tantalizingly dubious. Did 
 Ralph love her? 
 
 Something blacker than the evening darkness was 
 before her eyes as she said to Helen : 
 
 "Thank you; let me go up alone, please. I can find 
 my way." 
 
 Mrs. Heathcote's door was open. With a cry she 
 threw her arms around the astonished old lady, who 
 could say nothing but mutter: 
 
 "My darling girl! Catrina! Catrina!" 
 
 Pressed closely to her, the girl sobbed mutely. 
 
 "Darling, what does this mean?" Mrs. Heathcote 
 whispered in her ear. 
 
 "I was so lonely. I want wanted to see you?" 
 
 The light of the candle fell upon Catrina's blanched 
 face. The look in her eyes alarmed Mrs. Heathcote. 
 
 "Catrina, you are in pain. What is the matter?" 
 
 "Nothing nothing now. I am only a little tired." 
 
 The girl pressed closer to the old lady, and for a hid- 
 ing place rested her head on Mrs. Heathcote's bosom. 
 
 "My darling, why didn't you write? Why didn't you 
 let us know you were coming? Why didn't you " 
 
 "I did write," murmured Catrina. 
 
 "You did? When? After you received my letter 
 about Ralph?" 
 
 "I have received no letter." 
 
 "No letter, Catrina? Yet you know!" 
 
 "Yes. Now!" 
 
 The sadness of this affirmative caused the old lady 
 to silently stroke the girl's hair.
 
 THE MEETING OF THE CROSS CURRENTS IQ5 
 
 "Yes," she repeated, "my poor child." 
 
 The tone of pity irritated Catrina. 
 
 "Don't Auntie, dear; don't, please don't. I am only 
 tired a little." 
 
 Catrina suddenly made herself busy taking off her 
 wraps. Mrs. Heathcote watched her. 
 
 "Wouldn't you like to go to bed, dear, and rest?" 
 asked Mrs. Heathcote, tenderly. She was seeking 
 some action to relieve the situation. 
 
 "No," answered Catrina promptly. "I shall be all 
 right in a little while really. Why ! I haven't asked 
 how you are, Auntie." 
 
 Mrs. Heathcote paid no attention to this inquiry. 
 She remained silent, deeply occupied with her 
 thoughts. 
 
 "You met Ralph down stairs?" she asked presently. 
 
 Catrina turned away as she replied. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "And Helen?" 
 
 "Yes! Yes! Auntie, dear, please don't trouble 
 ^bout me." 
 
 "Come to me, Catrina. There! You knew, my 
 child, you can't fool your old Auntie." 
 
 "Don't! Don't! Everything is all right. I am so 
 happy, now I am with you." 
 
 Mrs. Heathcote kissed the pleading, uplifted face. 
 
 "Others can't have loved you as I do," she said. 
 
 "No one loves me, Auntie, but you." 
 
 The tears nearly forced their way to Catrina's eyes 
 as she said this.
 
 196 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I am afraid that is so," said the old lady dolefully. 
 "We must fight it out together, Catrina." 
 "Oh, Auntie ! That's just it," cried the girl, eagerly. 
 
 "I understand," said Mrs. Heathcote, significantly. 
 "You think you won't falter?" 
 
 "Oh, dear, no. Why should I?" asked Catrina, smil- 
 ing sadly. 
 
 "Because the heart is a great tyrant, child. Ah! 
 Catrina," continued Mrs. Heathcote, shaking her head, 
 "this is but, there is the supper. You had better not 
 
 "No, no. Let us go down," said Catrina, rising. 
 "With your house so full will I be in the way?" 
 
 "Catrina, dear," interrupted Mrs. Heathcote, "re- 
 member this is your home, just as it was Ralph's until 
 
 "And still is his, now more than ever," Catrina whis- 
 pered affectionately, as the two descended the stairs, 
 with their arms around one another. 
 
 The meeting in the parlor had thrown Ralph into a 
 sad state of perplexity. Contradictory thoughts and 
 feelings surged and clashed within him. He felt he 
 was not master of himself. He struggled to speak 
 naturally to Helen after Catrina had gone upstairs to 
 his aunt, but he made such a hopeless failure of the in- 
 different that he was forced to take refuge in the ex- 
 cuse that he had not been feeling well that afternoon. 
 
 "This surprise nearly upsets me altogether," he said. 
 "It is like being suddenly confronted by someone from 
 the grave. You know, Helen, Catrina and I have been
 
 THE MEETING OF THE CROSS CURRENTS 197 
 
 friends since we were four years old. Quite lost sight 
 of her lately. Last thing I heard she was engaged to 
 some one in Virginia. I suppose that was only a ru- 
 mor. She is a very pleasant girl. You'll get on splen- 
 didly with her." 
 
 Helen did not quite understand. Possessing no clue 
 to the actual condition of affairs, she turned to the ob- 
 vious and concluded that Ralph was not very well, as 
 he had said. 
 
 At the supper table Helen was greatly impressed by 
 Catrina's quiet beauty and winsomeness. She did not 
 fail to perceive that the girl was deeply disturbed by 
 something, but of this Mrs. Heathcote's explanation 
 seemed sufficient: 
 
 "Catrina is almost exhausted by her voyage, but she 
 insisted on joining us to-night." 
 
 "There's plenty of time for rest, Auntie. I want to 
 see you all. Dear me, isn't this homelike after Vir- 
 ginia!" 
 
 "You didn't enjoy yourself?" asked Ralph, trying to 
 appear indifferent. 
 
 "Everybody was very kind," said Catrina, meeting 
 Ralph's gaze with self-possession that outwardly was 
 perfect, "but it was all so strange. Strange faces, 
 strange scenes, strange voices 
 
 "By heaven's that's it," cried Ralph. "There's 
 something a trifle strange in your tone, Catrina. Don't 
 you think so, Auntie?" 
 
 "Yes," replied the old lady, dryly. "I would not be 
 surprised."
 
 198 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Do you know, Catrina, we heard you were going to 
 settle down there," said Ralph. 
 
 Catrina turned to her aunt. 
 
 "My dear, Ralph is only repeating a foolish tale 
 Mr. Hicks invented that you were well about to be 
 married. Absurd !" 
 
 "Oh!" said Catrina, thoughtfully. Then she added 
 quickly: "I had a good example, Ralph, didn't I?" 
 
 Catrina said this with a sense of triumph in herself. 
 It struck Ralph like something cold. It seemed to half 
 empty his heart. He looked blankly across the table 
 i s he said : 
 
 "The very best, Catrina. Usually I'm a poor light 
 for any to follow." 
 
 Helen was sitting beside him. He placed his hand on 
 her lap under the table. It was an act close upon de- 
 spair. Catrina noticed it. She felt it like the prick of 
 cold steel. It pained her, at the same time it touched 
 the very quick of a hopeless pride. 
 
 "How utterly foolish I am !" thought Catrina. 
 
 "Exactly as I half expected," were the words that 
 shaped themselves in Ralph's brain. 
 
 Both settled down resolutely to the commonplace, 
 and the rest of the meal was passed in talk about Ca- 
 trina's journey and the events that had happened in 
 New York since her departure. 
 
 After supper, as the four passed into the parlor, Ca- 
 trina put her arm around Helen. Detaining her for a 
 moment she whispered: 
 
 "I am a late comer, but may I wish you happiness.
 
 THE MEETING OF THE CROSS CURRENTS 199 
 
 Helen? May I kiss you? Ralph and I are such old 
 friends." 
 
 Helen was delighted. 
 
 "Let .me join the old friendship," she said. "Don't 
 count me as anything new." 
 
 "How can you be 'new,' " asked Catrina, smiling; 
 "when Ralph was waiting for you all those years." 
 
 Ralph overheard a part of this conversation and he 
 resented it, he knew not why. 
 
 After a while he excused himself and later strolled 
 into my room. I could see something was amiss, but 
 I asked no questions. At last he said suddenly : 
 
 "I told you about those ships this afternoon?" 
 
 "What ships?" I asked, clean forgetting what he had 
 said. 
 
 "Oh!" he replied hastily, "the ships I saw come to 
 anchor this morning. Didn't I tell you they seemed to 
 do more than catch my eye?" 
 
 "Yes, yes," I said; "I remember. They appealed to 
 your sense for the blue." 
 
 "Don't joke," he said, studying the floor. "Catrina 
 was aboard." 
 
 "Catrina!" I exclaimed, verily surprised. 
 
 "She arrived at Aunt's this evening." 
 
 "Gracious ! what a surprise !" 
 
 "It was," said he slowly. 
 
 "Is she well?" I asked. 
 
 "Oh, very," he replied laconically. 
 
 "You say it as though you were disappointed," I 
 said laughing.
 
 2OO THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Disappointed," he replied. "Why! No! Why 
 should I be? What nonsense !" 
 
 Then to rally him, I went on : 
 
 "Still nonsense and the best of women go well to- 
 gether at times." 
 
 "Don't talk to me of women," he exclaimed bitterly. 
 "I believe I hate them all." 
 
 "Lord, every man says that at some time, Ralph, but 
 nobody means it," I said. "No man ever really hated a 
 woman unless," I added, "that hate was born of an- 
 other woman." 
 
 "Nonsense !" he cried. 
 
 He was evidently in so poor a mood I thought it 
 best to say: 
 
 "Nonsense! Of course, it is all nonsense. That's 
 what I told you at the beginning." 
 
 "I am going back to the Manse, Alex." 
 
 "Good," I cried. "When?" 
 
 "Don't know yet," he said. "Soon. Perhaps 
 
 "Ralph, leave the calendar alone for the present. It 
 will be a good thing to discuss by and by. Come with 
 me now for a stroll. I am stuffy for a little exercise." 
 
 We made a call at the Fort and spent an hour or 
 more with Lord Percy and my friend Sir Frederick 
 Chalmers. I enjoyed the evening hugely, but I fear it 
 was spoiled for Ralph when he learned on returning 
 home that Whitehead Hicks had made a long visit to 
 welcome Catrina.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS. 
 
 AFTER this Ralph spent more of his time with me than 
 ever. He rarely spoke to me of Catrina or of anything 
 that happened in the Heathcote household. Indeed, he 
 showed a strange apathy regarding all events, public 
 or private. His only desire was to settle his affairs 
 with Hicks, but obviously he avoided the man. He 
 harped repeatedly on his determination to get back to 
 the Manse, but he took no steps to this end as the 
 weeks slipped by and winter gave place to spring. 
 
 I never could get any account of these weeks. All 
 I know is Hicks was a constant visitor at Mrs. Heath- 
 cote's, and Ralph absented himself from the house, as 
 though it had become distasteful to him. He was most 
 willing to go anywhere with me, and, seeing he found 
 greater pleasure than ever in our companionship, I 
 took every occasion to distract him. 
 
 One night, I remember, I took him with me to Mr. 
 Liddle's. It was the end of March. Mr. Liddle's, it 
 will be remembered, was perhaps the gayest house in 
 New York during the British occupation of the city. 
 He was wealthy and he was English. He was a man 
 with nothing beyond the barest scholastic education, 
 but, as though this deficiency left room for other mat- 
 ters, he was filled to overflowing with the trader's wis- 
 dom. He seemed to exude it in his manners, his clothes, 
 the knowing brightness of his eyes, his coarse assur-
 
 2O2 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 ance. His nationality was intolerably loud, and when 
 the British troops were again masters of Manhattan 
 his inbilation was boisterous. He pushed himself upon 
 the English officers and officials, and I doubt not they 
 must have been greatly amused by the sycophancy of 
 his forced familiarity. He invited them to his house, 
 threw it wide open to them, and the superfluity at his 
 entertainments appeared like an offset offered for his 
 personal defects. 
 
 Away from home, engaged in an arduous campaign, 
 his guests accepted him as an amusing incident of the 
 war. They shared his hospitality with the manners of 
 gentlemen and the humor of blackguards. They per- 
 mitted him to squander his money on them; at the 
 same time they treated him with a contemptuous 
 good humor which he was too blind to perceive. I had 
 had many business transactions with the man, and 
 found his honesty was solid, if coarse. Sir Frederick 
 Chalmers was an old friend of my uncle's and, learning 
 of that, I suppose, Liddle insisted that I should be one 
 of the company that night. 
 
 "Bring any of your friends along; the more the mer- 
 rier," he said as he left me a raw hospitality to which 
 I paid no attention at the time, but which I accepted 
 later, on Ralph's account. 
 
 His house was brilliantly lighted when we reached it. 
 Within we found it uncomfortably crowded with a big 
 company, mostly military. As usual, everything was 
 provided lavishly. The host, in a loud, jubilant mood, 
 moved among his guests, and appeared to enjoy the
 
 COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS 2O3 
 
 boisterous joking and horseplay carried on much of 
 it at his expense. 
 
 "I'm a gentleman," I heard him say, "and know 
 what gentlemen like. You'll get no such madiery as 
 this, General, from the rebels. Nothing but 'ard cider. 
 There are times when I don't count the cost of any- 
 thing." 
 
 The company amused me. I think it did Ralph, 
 though, no doubt, very differently. I was interested 
 studying the men on whom the government relied to 
 crush the American cause. Some of them undoubted- 
 ly were men of intelligence and seriousness, but for the 
 most part they struck me as hopelessly befuddled by, 
 the trivialities of an aristocratic atmosphere. They 
 seemed absolutely incapable of grasping a naked fact 
 or of making a working scheme of new conditions. 
 Their conceit was stupendous, but it matched their con- 
 tempt for the rebel. I talked with many of them and 
 was wearied of the reiteration when I ran across Ralph. 
 
 I saw he had drunk a little too much; was becoming 
 loud and unsteady. I asked him to go home with me 
 but he stoutly refused. I suggested we get our hats, 
 and take a little fresh air for a moment on the balcony. 
 
 As I lifted the window he whispered : 
 
 "Hicks's here somewhere. Saw him for a moment. 
 Smiled lovingly and isn't it cold?" 
 
 The garden below was pitch dark, save where the 
 lights of the house fell upon the paths and flower beds. 
 
 Fortunately, or unfortunately, I don't know which, 
 Ralph had spoken before we stepped without. The in-
 
 2O4 'HE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 stant we were in the night air we heard Hicks's voice 
 somewhere beneath us: 
 
 "The truth is I need that money, Cunningham, and 
 I must depend on you for it. That beggar of mine, 
 Tennant, has drained me lately. It is a big stake, but 
 I shall win." 
 
 "So you say," growled Cunningham. 
 
 "Have I been mistaken with you yet? Besides, J 
 don't want to remind you how I have assisted " 
 
 "No. You merely remind me that you don't re- 
 mind me," broke in Cunningham uneasily. 
 
 "Come, Cunningham, you know I have reasons " 
 
 "Don't care for any man's reasons only his mo- 
 tives." 
 
 "And I don't ask anything to-night," said Hicks, 
 raising his voice, "but vour 'yes' or 'no.' ' 
 
 "I suppose I daren't say 'no,' " mused Cunningham. 
 
 "You are usually a good judge of what is prudent," 
 said Hicks, dryly. 
 
 "Who is this girl?" asked Cunningham. 
 
 "Ah!" cried Hicks. "Curious?" 
 
 "No," snarled Cunningham, "but if I am to help 
 you, why not tell me? You want confidence as well 
 as money? She's wealthy, you say?" 
 
 "Very," replied Hicks, in a tone of good-natured 
 superiority. 
 
 "Sure?" 
 
 "I usually am sure." 
 
 "Umph! Young, I suppose?" 
 
 "You may suppose as much," replied Hicks, lightly.
 
 COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS 2O$ 
 
 "Good looking?" 
 
 ''Have I no reputation with you for taste?" Hicks 
 was humoring his questioner. 
 
 "Tell me who she is, and, damn it, I'll have to give 
 you the money." 
 
 "I object to conditions, Cunningham," said Hicks, 
 tartly. "But there, after all, if you will aid me you shall 
 know her name. Mind ! keep your mouth closed here- 
 after. It's Miss Rutherford." 
 
 Ralph's intense interest in the conversation had re- 
 strained him up to this point from outbreak. At the 
 mention of that name, and before I could withhold 
 him, he lunged forward and threw his hat in the direc- 
 tion of the speakers. 
 
 It must have fallen close to them. Hicks cried : 
 
 "Hello! what's this?" 
 
 I tried to pull Ralph back. He wrested himself from 
 my grasp and called: 
 
 " 'Scuse me. There's a fearful draught up here." 
 
 "Who the devil are you?" cried Hicks. 
 
 "Ten nant," cried Ralph; "at your service." 
 
 "Oh, you, my boy?" asked Hicks, in a disconcerted 
 tone. 
 
 "B'lieve it is," replied Ralph; "ask Alex, here. He 
 knows." 
 
 "I won't bother the gentleman to identify you," 
 said Hicks, with a short laugh, "but it is a pity, Ralph, 
 you have given yourself the trouble to descend for this 
 part of your apparel." 
 
 "No," said Ralph. "Can't be troubled t'night. Put
 
 2O6 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 it on the bushes ! If I forget it will remind me of some- 
 thing important in the morning. Good-night, Hicks. 
 Come, Alex. This place's too cold. 
 
 I had no end of difficulty in getting Ralph to his 
 home. He was all for returning to defy or threaten 
 Hicks. 
 
 "You needn't fear," I said. "Hicks is not a man who 
 needs a blow." 
 
 "I did but throw him a hint, Alex." 
 
 "He picked it up," I said, significantly. "Ralph, 
 you have absolutely nothing to gain by this outspeak- 
 ing. And," I added, "in this matter of Catrina you 
 had better trust the girl rather than anything you can 
 do." 
 
 "I trust nobody any more," he said, with a maud- 
 lin accent. "Catrina is " 
 
 "You are in no condition to discuss Catrina," I in- 
 terrupted. 
 
 "You're right, Alex. I'll talk to'r in the morning." 
 
 This midnight project, however, was not carried 
 out, partly, no doubt, for lack of opportunity. 
 
 Catrina, during these months, was fighting so hard 
 a battle with herself that she required every entrench- 
 ment possible. I say "with herself," for she was so 
 certain of the distance of Ralph's position that she did 
 not account him at all concerned in the conflict. Her 
 greatest anxiety was to hide from him even the slight- 
 est evidence of her inward struggle. The only com- 
 fort she allowed herself, and no doubt it was what main- 
 tained her from a breakdown, was the cold familiarity
 
 COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS 2O7 
 
 of a routine intercourse. She met Ralph at the table 
 and when the family drew together in the evening, but 
 she never permitted herself to be with him a moment 
 alone. This was one of her refuges. The other was 
 Helen. She pressed close to Ralph's wife with all the 
 strength of her nature, and the friendship that resulted 
 afforded her an additional sense of security. 
 
 Helen had not known before so warm a companion- 
 ship. It was a new experience for her to be the object 
 of so constant an affection. Catrina both puzzled and 
 attracted her. Helen had no previous idea of so exotic 
 a nature. At times Catrina appeared to her like a su- 
 perior creature exiled from her own world. At other 
 times she appeared to be a loving child relying upon 
 her for comfort and direction. Repeatedly, as though 
 it gave her exquisite pleasure, Catrina confessed her 
 new love for Helen. 
 
 "You are so serene, dear," she would say; "so free 
 from the weakness and confusion that always trouble 
 me." 
 
 "Catrina, that is really all in your imagination," 
 Helen would assure her. 
 
 Catrina would not permit that notion. 
 
 "No," she said, "you see and do. I merely wish and 
 would do. Oh, dear ! How I would like to have a lit- 
 tle of your strength and directness!" 
 
 "For what, Catrina?" 
 
 "To be myself!" answered Catrina quickly. "Don't 
 look at me like that. When you do I know you don't 
 understand."
 
 208 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I wish I did understand, then I could try to help 
 you." 
 
 "You do, Helen, you do and that's why I love you. 
 No wonder Ralph loves you and you are so happy." 
 
 Catrina often talked to Helen of Ralph. She al- 
 lowed herself this secret luxury with a vague idea there 
 was something curative in asserting indirectly Helen's 
 possession of her own heart's loss. The process was 
 painful, but it was analogous to the homely remedy of 
 curing a burn by the application of heat. She had 
 many opportunities for this sort of medication. The 
 two girls were constantly together and Helen was a 
 ready listener to stories of Ralph's earlier days. More- 
 over, Catrina stimulated their companionship by seizing 
 with a feverish delight every opportunity offered for 
 entertainment. I don't think she missed a single ball 
 or party or theatrical performance given at this time. 
 She and Helen were to be seen everywhere, and their 
 acquaintance and company, I know, were eagerly 
 sought after by a host of admiring officers. Catrina 
 became the belle of the town. Her health was drunk 
 enthusiastically by stricken subalterns and gouty gen- 
 erals alike, who hovered around her in public and 
 crowded to Mrs. Heathcote's parlor whenever the old 
 lady threw her doors open, which, indeed, was frequent 
 enough to make me believe she sympathized with Ca- 
 trina's hunger for the eventful. 
 
 No wonder Ralph was dumfounded at Catrina's 
 gayety, but he was more annoyed at Whitehead Hicks's 
 persistent attentions to the girl than at anything else.
 
 COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS 20Q 
 
 Perhaps it was open defiance, due to that unfortunate 
 episode at Mr. Liddle's, perhaps it was to serve as a 
 public declaration to Catrina's other admirers, but, 
 whatever the cause, it was plain the old fox had aban- 
 doned caution and was playing his game openly. He 
 called daily at Mrs. Heathcote's. By an unequivocal 
 assumption of authority he forced himself into a fam- 
 ily position in the household. He courted Mrs. Heath- 
 cote and dominated her; he flattered Helen and even 
 pleased her despite herself by his frank cordiality; he 
 lavished kindness upon Catrina, playing to her mood 
 with an adroitness of which he was probably not aware. 
 Ralph he ignored with a sporty familiarity. He enact- 
 ed the prince to perfection, and as step by step he felt 
 he was winning, he became in dress, spirits and manner 
 triumphantly young. 
 
 Ralph was hopeless. At this point, I am sure he 
 was ready to relinquish the fight. Even Helen went 
 against him when she said, in response to some objec- 
 tion of his : 
 
 "Mr. Hicks isn't the best of men, perhaps, but then 
 I know of only one such. He can be very kind and 
 considerate. By the way, he has invited Catrina and 
 all of us to witness a play to-morrow." 
 
 At first Ralph decided not to be of the party, but 
 fear and attraction were in fhe end too strong for him. 
 
 The performance, I remember well, was given in the 
 little theatre in John street. The piece, a burlesque of 
 the late Mr. Fielding's entitled "Tom Thumb," was 
 played with spirit and humor by gentlemen of the
 
 2IO THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 army and navy. Capt. Stanley spoke a prologue of his 
 own composition, and the scenes were painted by Capt. 
 De Lancy. The house was crowded with a very brill- 
 iant company, but Hicks's party w r as the centre of all 
 eyes. I had my seat at some distance from my friends 
 and could notice how universal the attraction was. 
 Helen never appeared to me more beautiful. She had 
 put on a new gown which particularly suited her fair 
 complexion. Catrina, rich as a dark-red rose, was a 
 bewitching contrast. 
 
 Catrina's gayety was infectious. The party laughed 
 so heartily at the nonsense on the stage that Mrs. 
 Heathcote felt called upon to reprimand them more 
 than once. Even Ralph caught the spirit of the hour. 
 With this renewed elasticity of mkid returned some- 
 thing of the old pugnacity toward Hicks. He dis- 
 puted with him Catrina's attentions at every point. 
 When, between the scenes, I made my way to pay my 
 respects to Mrs. Heathcote, I found him in a rare state 
 of boyish volubility. An old gentleman having quitted 
 his seat gave me a place beside Catrina during the re- 
 mainder of the performance. 
 
 I ought not to have been deceived by her mood or 
 by Ralph's, but I was. I found myself rejoicing in the 
 general happiness. Even Hicks showed buoyancy as 
 airy as the rest, when, alas ! a few words hsard on leav- 
 ing the theatre recalled me to a sense of the conflict 
 that was being fought with the weapons of hilarity. 
 
 Hicks had proposed a supper at his home, which, Ca- 
 trina, by promptly accepting, forced the others to ac-
 
 COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS 211 
 
 cept also, though Mrs. Heathcote made a weak demur 
 un the score of too late hours. 
 
 On leaving the theatre Ralph boldly forced Hicks 
 aside by offering his arm to Catrina. The act was ob- 
 viously rude. Hicks had established himself as her 
 escort. Indeed, he was already at her side. I saw Ca- 
 trina hesitate and flush scarlet. Hicks stood motionless, 
 watching her intently. It was plainly a conflict. Fin- 
 ally, she placed her arm in Ralph's and he deliberately 
 quickening his pace walked off with her. 
 
 "Behold a clear case of abandonment, Mrs. Ten- 
 nant !" said Hicks angrily and loud enough to be heard 
 ahead by Catrina. 
 
 "Oh! He mustn't say that," stammered Catrina. 
 The words made her shiver. 
 
 "Never mind what he says," whispered Ralph reck- 
 lessly. "I wanted to ask you not not to accept his in- 
 vitation." 
 
 "Why, Ralph?" asked Catrina. She tried to speak 
 proudly. 
 
 "Well, Catrina, doesn't it suffice because I ask you?" 
 
 "That is no reason," she said, shortly. 
 
 "I supposed as much! Well, then, I have a better 
 reason." 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "Promise me to decline and I will tell you. It is real- 
 ly serious." 
 
 "I have accepted. You wouldn't have me be impo- 
 lite?" 
 
 "We mustn't forget etiquette, must we? Well Ca-
 
 212 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 trina, I wouldn't ask unless I could give you a good 
 reason for declining." 
 
 There was a tone of beseeching in his voice. 
 
 It moved Catrina. She was silent for a moment. 
 Willingly her heart would have accorded him any re- 
 quest, but she answered : 
 
 "Ralph, I would rather go." 
 
 "I will not interpose, then," said Ralph, dropping 
 her arm. "But go or not, as you will, I think you 
 ought to know that Mr. Hicks has declared to his 
 friends he will marry you." 
 
 "Indeed!" said Catrina, annoyed by Ralph's petu- 
 lance. Mr. Hicks honors me, I am sure." 
 
 "You aspire, then?" said Ralph, bitterly. 
 
 "What else is left to a woman?" she asked. 
 
 "A smaller matter, no doubt to love." 
 
 "Might not the larger affair carry the lesser?" she 
 inquired jauntily. 
 
 "It might; I hope it will," said Ralph sadly, "but for 
 your sake, Catrina, I wish it were the other way." 
 
 "What secrets have you two?" cried Hicks, who had 
 crept up with Helen almost to their heels. 
 
 "Oh," said Catrina, defiantly, "Ralph was lecturing 
 me on love." 
 
 "Goodness !" said Hicks. "Worse and worse ! Hear 
 that, Mrs. Tennant ! Are not the young man's hands 
 full enough?" 
 
 The tide upon which Catrina had cast herself moved 
 rapidly. Her hope, begotten of her despair, was that 
 it would finally carry her to some tranquil resting place;
 
 COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS 
 
 or should that blessing be denied her she could with- 
 draw to shore again for a new resolve. In both she en- 
 tirely miscalculated. The first error she recognized 
 when she perceived that the events of the last few 
 months were not setting her free from the bondage 
 of her feelings. The struggle had cost her much. She 
 had won nothing but a number of petty, empty tri- 
 umphs and hollow truces. The strain was breaking 
 her pride, and more than once the words trembled on 
 her lips : 
 
 "Ralph, can't we be friends again somehow as in the 
 dear old days?" 
 
 She knew the phrase was false and the idea behind 
 it deceptive. The "old days" were past. She hesitated 
 Ralph was so cold and drifted. 
 
 "What can I do? What shall I do?" wailed in her 
 heart. 
 
 She would welcome now any escape. As she thought 
 over what Ralph had told her of Hicks's declaration, 
 she concluded there at least was a door behind which 
 she could lock herself. Hicks's movements were hence- 
 forth intelligible to her. She commenced to accept 
 them as significant in the sense her suitor intended. 
 The more she surrendered herself to this last refuge 
 the more she came to loath the man who tacitly offered 
 it to her. Though she never refused Hicks's atten- 
 tion, she became frigidly cold to him, and he attrib- 
 uted this to Ralph's interference. 
 
 Like all gamblers, Hicks knew the value of bold- 
 ness. Fox as he was, he could play the lion. At this
 
 214 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 point, when he felt success might easily be his at the 
 cost of a hard stroke, he did not hesitate to deliver it. 
 He waited his opportunity and one afternoon at the 
 beginning of April he seized it when alone with Ralph 
 in his own rooms. At his request Ralph was visiting 
 him regarding their financial affairs. 
 
 Seated at a table by a window overlooking Bowling 
 Green, Hicks, with a bundle of papers before him, gave 
 the young man a long account of his stewardship. He 
 spoke tersely and resolutely. As Ralph listened and 
 watched him he remarked that every trace of the old 
 familiarity had been dropped. 
 
 "It is a long story," concluded Hicks leaning for- 
 ward and putting a hand on the papers between them, 
 "but it is necessary because I know these papers, due 
 to accidents and disasters, are not quite complete in 
 themselves. I am sorry I have to ask you to take any- 
 thing on trust, but if you wish to be as scrupulous as 
 I would like you to be, perhaps Tyndall, and certainly 
 myself, will aid you in filling in anything you may think 
 missing. Take the papers and examine them carefully. 
 Perhaps you ought to consult a lawyer. Judge for 
 yourself. Mr. De Kay is a good man, if you care for 
 a recommendation from me." 
 
 He pushed the papers toward Ralph and continued : 
 
 "As I calculate, or, rather, as the accounts show, 
 there is still due you in money 3,015. I am ready to 
 pay that sum to you at any time. 
 
 He rose and paced to the other end of the room. 
 
 Ralph rose also as he said :
 
 COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS 21$ 
 
 "Well, that closes matters between us!" 
 
 "It closes that particular matter between us," said 
 Hicks, sharply, spinning around on his heel. 
 
 The innuendo was so clear that Ralph did not hesi- 
 tate to take it up. 
 
 "You have corrected me exactly," he said. "There 
 are other accounts, I know." 
 
 "Undoubtedly," said Hicks sternly, "and I would 
 like to settle those also now, with your permission." 
 
 "The only difficulty in the way is I have hardly made 
 up my mind yet what form of payment I ought to ex- 
 act from you," said Ralph. 
 
 The sarcasm struck Hicks like a whip. He brought 
 his fist down angrily on the table as he sneered : 
 
 "Suppose we come out of the bush like men?" 
 
 "I have not yet come, out of the woods," said Ralph 
 deliberately. 
 
 "Indeed," said Hicks, "you enjoyed the trip so 
 much!" 
 
 "Thanks to you. That was a kindness, sir, which I 
 would be ungrateful not to pay to the full." 
 
 "If you do it will be the first debt to me you have had 
 the willingness to discharge." 
 
 "I am glad you take it so," said Ralph. "Believe 
 me, I shall win your good opinion in that matter." 
 
 "I am ready at any time," cried Hicks, "to find you 
 a man and not a sneak." 
 
 "That insult becomes you," said Ralph. 
 
 "I doubt whether quite as much as it does you," re- 
 plied Hicks, bowing.
 
 2l6 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "You infernal blackguard !" roared Ralph. 
 
 "I leave it to your fine sense of propriety whether a 
 man recently married who endeavors to tamper with 
 a young girl's affections should talk of honor," said 
 Hicks, calmly. 
 
 "You know you lie," said Ralph confidently. 
 
 "My knowledge may not be as searching as yours," 
 said Hicks deliberately, "but before I terminate this in- 
 terview I desire for the good of you and yours please 
 remark I say 'yours/ sir to warn you that I will tol- 
 erate no longer your rascally cross-purposes with a cer- 
 tain young lady. 
 
 "Your friendliness is overpowering, as usual," said 
 Ralph, "and as one warning merits another, let me ad- 
 vise you to withdraw your aspirations, or " 
 
 "Or?" interrupted Hicks. 
 
 "Or," continued Ralph, "I shall present that unset- 
 tled account of mine for payment. You understand?" 
 
 "So fully, Mr. Tennant, that I think there is nothing 
 further to be said." 
 
 Hicks opened the door. As Ralph went out the two 
 men bowed to each other. 
 
 Ralph came over to me and told me of his encounter 
 with Hicks. 
 
 "Well, Ralph," I said, as he finished his story, "cer- 
 tainly you have cleared the decks for action." 
 
 "I am glad I have," he said firmly. "The policy of 
 repression suits me little." 
 
 "I don't know what you have to gain," I said cau- 
 tiously.
 
 COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS 
 
 "I do," he said. "Room for my feelings to work in. 
 I am positively happy, Alex. Damn temporizing, I 
 say." 
 
 "But, Ralph," I persisted, "this is not your affair." 
 
 "I shall make it mine," he said resolutely. 
 
 "Have you any idea of Catrina's feelings? Per- 
 haps 
 
 "There shall no longer be any doubt," he said loud- 
 ly. "I am resolved that she shall not wed Whitehead 
 Hicks, not if I have " 
 
 "Go on," I urged. 
 
 "Oh! I have a choice of several courses, he said 
 slowly. 
 
 "You will go so far?" I asked. 
 
 "Alex, I will go to hell if that is necessary." 
 
 "Ralph, think, there is great danger in this mood." 
 
 "Nothing can change it, Alex." 
 
 "And Helen," I suggested, "are you thinking at all 
 of her?" 
 
 He became silent at this. "Then he cried: 
 
 "She must share my fate, Alex." 
 
 "Fate!" I exclaimed, disgusted, "you are not going 
 to justify an unkindness by that sorry fiction of every 
 hothead and rascal who kicks his duty out of doors or 
 defies his conscience?" 
 
 "Alex, don't say that," he pleaded. "Don't you 
 know me?" 
 
 "Know you, my boy who better?" 
 
 He grasped my hand as I, carried beyond myself, 
 continued:
 
 2l8 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I love you, Ralph, because despite your ever-wav- 
 ering nature I have seen that God has placed within 
 you so much of that pure white light that is the only 
 guide of poor humanity. It has burned dimly, my boy, 
 of late. I have watched it. You mustn't extinguish it. 
 Be careful ! 
 
 The dim thoughts of many months found voice at 
 that moment. Ralph shrank back from me. Falling 
 into a chair he buried his face in his hands. 
 
 "Oh, Alex, I love her, I love her," he moaned. 
 
 The unspeakable pity of the thing overpowered me. 
 I knew I was not face to face with a momentary senti- 
 ment, or with selfish wilfulness. Facts of a different 
 kind, the cruel misplaced results of two lives, were be- 
 fore me." 
 
 "I have guessed that, Ralph," I said. 
 
 "I have fooled myself, fooled everybody, mistaken 
 everything," he cried hopelessly. 
 
 "Yes, yes," was all I could say. 
 
 "I had dim premonitions," he went on, as though 
 the confession eased him; "I put them aside because 
 they were so vague. Duty seemed elsewhere. The in- 
 clinations of a month had all the promise of a lifetime." 
 
 "Exactly so," I muttered. "I understand." 
 
 "Alex! Will anybody else understand? Sometimes 
 I don't think I do myself. I was sure I would be hap- 
 py in Helen's strength and loveliness. I had no other 
 thoughts. I would have been happy if " 
 
 "Ah, the 'ifs/ Ralph," I said with pity. 
 
 "I have not changed, Alex," he went on, "not a bit,
 
 COMING TO CLOSE QUARTERS 2 19 
 
 believe me. I love her still that's what puzzles me 
 that is I love her just as I have loved her from the first. 
 I love her in that way so well that I would kill this 
 other love," he continued fiercely, "but I can't. I have 
 tried. It is my life, Alex! Am I a knave? What am 
 I? Tell me, if you can." 
 
 "You are no knave, Ralph," I said, "but you must be 
 more than that. Our virtues must be positive." 
 
 "Good God! I don't shirk the hard path," he ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 "Prove it!" I cried. "There is only one way by 
 taking it." 
 
 "Where will it lead to?" he asked hopelessly. "What 
 comfort can I be to any one? Of what use as I am? 
 The facts will remain, Alex, though I deny them in my 
 prayers every day." 
 
 "I am no preacher, Ralph; last of all would I make 
 a sermon of your agony, but my whole belief speaks 
 to you when I say, that no matter what the cost of 
 life may be, there is only one way to pay the lesser 
 price for it." 
 
 "Martyrdom!" he exclaimed. 
 
 "Be it so!" I said; "you cannot avert the revenge of 
 facts. Your only choice is between meeting it nobly or 
 basely. The sum must be worked out. Two and two 
 will make four no matter from which end you count. 
 The dirty end, the dirty result there will be no less 
 suffering in that without the offset of a single valid 
 recompense. The question is this : Wil-l you lift your 
 head in face of your troubles, or will you bend it?"
 
 22O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 My words touched him. Pale to the very heart, I 
 knew, he stood before me as he cried: 
 
 "By God, I will not bend !" 
 
 "Be that your oath !" I said, my eyes full of tears. 
 "There shall be knights of Heaven's nobility and the 
 chivalry of a quiet purpose in these dull days of ours !" 
 
 "How you ennoble me, Alex!" he cried, taking my 
 hand. 
 
 "That is not given to me, Ralph," I said, verily 
 humbled by this high result.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 MISS RUTHERFORD'S MESSENGER. 
 
 HICKS was no laggard. He assumed the offensive at 
 once, by driving early the next morning to the house 
 on King street. Usually his visits were addressed nom- 
 inally to Mrs. Heathcote. On this occasion he asked 
 directly for Miss Rutherford. Ralph had already left 
 the house on some business connected with the papers 
 turned over to him the day before, and it was not until 
 Mrs. Heathcote told him on his return that he knew 
 Catrina had gone driving with Hicks. 
 
 "I am surprised you allow it, Aunt," he said, angrily. 
 
 "I see no reason to prohibit anything so harmless," 
 said the old lady; "Mr. Hicks is one of our oldest 
 friends." 
 
 "As though I don't know that, Aunt! But do you 
 know Mr. Hicks is boasting that he will marry Ca- 
 trina?" 
 
 "There is nothing so very dishonorable in that," said 
 Mrs. Heathcote, sniffing; "if I was a man I would say 
 the same thing and mean it." 
 
 The old lady had never quite forgiven Ralph the dis- 
 appointment of her hopes. 
 
 Ralph saw it was useless to carry his objections fur- 
 ther in that quarter at that moment. There was noth- 
 ing to do but to wait until Catrina returned. He made
 
 222 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 up his mind that he would then talk plainly to her 
 about Hicks. He couldn't believe that Catrina would 
 take another step along the road she was traveling, af- 
 ter she had heard his disclosure. 
 
 "She doesn't know what a villain the man is," he 
 thought. "It is strange that she tolerates him at all 
 in that role. Yet women are subject to queer caprices. 
 Has not Catrina already half confessed that her vanity, 
 ambition (Heavens, what is it?) is flattered by that 
 scoundrel's attentions? Should she persist " 
 
 While musing thus Ralph was standing by the win- 
 dow looking vacantly into the street. As though this 
 dreadful possibility had suddenly shaped itself before 
 him he turned around so quickly that he nearly 
 knocked out one of the panes. 
 
 He returned several times to the house to find 
 whether Catrina had come home. After dinner he was 
 bound to escort Helen and Mrs. Heathcote to Mrs. 
 Wade's, and as that lady's house was situated near St. 
 George's Square, indeed close to the mansion afterward 
 occupied by His Excellency, George Washington, he 
 was absent on this duty a longer time than on any of 
 the other rounds. 
 
 He had barely left the house on this mission when 
 Catrina entered. Old Dinah noticed as she admitted 
 her young mistress that she was flushed and excited. 
 Catrina asked at once for her Aunt. When the negress 
 said Mrs. Heathcote had gone out the girl hurried 
 breathlessly upstairs, where Dinah found her later, 
 sobbing bitterly on her bed.
 
 MISS RUTHERFORD'S AIEZSEXGLR 223 
 
 "Then a great big soldier who- could only say, 'yah, 
 yah,' brought a letter for Mis' Catriney," was Dinah's 
 story, "and when I gave it to missey she looked at it 
 ever so long and then she tore it open and read it and 
 brushed her hair back and went down stairs as stately 
 as a queen and began writin' in the parlor." 
 
 It was there Ralph found Catrina, when, after leav- 
 ing his wife and his aunt at their friends,' he returned 
 home. 
 
 As he entered the room Catrina looked up from her 
 writing just to give him a glance. She bent her head 
 over her paper, and continued writing without saying 
 a word. 
 
 Ralph sat down and waited. He began to count the 
 panes of glass in the windows, and to draw imaginary 
 lines from picture frame to picture frame to check his 
 impatience. He listened to the scratching of Catrina's 
 quill as it dashed along, hesitated, resumed, then finally 
 stopped. Its sputtering at times seemed almost vocal. 
 Ralph found himself striving to find words for the 
 sounds. Twice Catrina tore up the sheet she had filled, 
 and each sundering sounded like a screech to Ralph. 
 He smiled at his fancies. Finally Catrina ceased writ- 
 ing. She reread her letter and then placing it before 
 her on the table with a sigh, gazed at it, her face resting 
 on both her hands. 
 
 "Is it hard to find words, Catrina?" asked Ralph, 
 unable to contain himself longer. 
 
 "Yes," she said with a sudden start, "but I have 
 found them."
 
 224 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I have been watching you," said Ralph. 
 
 "Have you?" she asked softly. 
 
 "That pen of yours," continued Ralph, "seems to 
 have been speaking a language I couldn't understand." 
 
 He was speaking merely of the fancies of a moment 
 before. He had no intent to question, but his words 
 were curiously significant to Catrina. 
 
 "Speaking to you?" she asked in surprise. 
 
 She paused, considered for a long time and then con- 
 tinued like one resolved. 
 
 "Speaking to you, Ralph? No, you have little love 
 for my correspondent." 
 
 These words brought Ralph quickly to his purpose. 
 Walking to the table he said : 
 
 "I don't intend to be rude, Catrina, but may I ask are 
 you writing to Mr. Hicks?" 
 
 She felt glad in answering: 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Ralph's fingers tightened. In Catrina's manner 
 there was something of defiance, and he felt he was 
 about to plead a lost cause. 
 
 "Catrina," Ralph began, "I have long wanted to 
 have a serious talk with you." 
 
 Here he found it difficult to proceed. 
 
 "Have you?" she asked smiling nervously. "What 
 it is about?" 
 
 "About Mr. Hicks," said Ralph quietly. "Catrina, 
 I beg you to renounce all acquaintance with that man." 
 
 Seized with a daring that astonished herself, Ca- 
 trina said:
 
 MISS RUTHERFORD'S MESSENGER 22$ 
 
 "He told me you would, Ralph." 
 
 "Did he dare to tell you why?" cried Ralph. 
 
 "He told me you had quarrelled with him over some 
 money matters and were his enemy." 
 
 "He lies!" cried Ralph. 
 
 Ralph's anger was pleasant to Catrina. She regard- 
 ed him half fascinated as now, standing before her, he 
 poured out his long tale of Hicks's dishonesty and 
 treachery. 
 
 "Now you can understand," he concluded, "why I 
 am interested in knowing what your relationship with 
 that man is. Is it serious, Catrina?" 
 
 For lack of words, and dominated by a purpose that 
 set every nerve quivering, she pushed over toward 
 Ralph a letter from among the papers in front of her. 
 It was from Hicks. 
 
 While Ralph was reading it Catrina was free to scan 
 another document of infinitely greater interest at that 
 moment Ralph's face. 
 
 Twice Ralph tried to read the letter. The words 
 slipped from his eyes and blurred. Only the purport 
 of the lines stood forth Hicks's fervid pleading that 
 Catrina would answer in the affirmative his request of 
 the morning that she would consent to be his wife. 
 
 Again a sense of triumph flashed through Catrina 
 as she witnessed the pain reflected in every line of 
 Ralph's face. 
 
 "You promised to consider that question?" he 
 gasped. 
 
 "I asked for a little time and promised "
 
 226 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "And your answer?" he asked, sternly. 
 
 "I have I would " she faltered. 
 
 "Catrina, you be his wife his wife !" cried Ralph. 
 
 "Yes," she muttered. 
 
 "No, it shall never be !" 
 
 Ralph's violent prohibition alarmed her. There was 
 a ring in the voice that made her gasp for breath. 
 
 When Catrina welcomed Ralph's first approach to 
 this subject she had not the slightest idea of the passion 
 she was about to stir, or that she would madden one 
 whom she hoped at most to sting. As she answered 
 Ralph's questions one by one her heart beat faster, and 
 the desire for the revenge of love forced her on. She 
 had been mute so long. She rejoiced in this last op- 
 portunity to make a confession by denial and speak her 
 heart's meaning, even in an inverse sense. 
 
 "You have no right to forbid me," she said, striving 
 to assert herself. 
 
 "No right!" exclaimed Ralph, hopelessly. "My 
 God, don't I know it !" 
 
 Catrina felt her heart pulse in her throat. Thought 
 was impossible. Wild joy, the cry of many days, filled 
 her. 
 
 "I must marry him," she said, exultantly. 
 
 "Sooner I would kill him, or even you," cried Ralph. 
 
 "I must marry him," she repeated. 
 
 "You love him?" asked Ralph, fiercely. 
 
 Catrina bent her head. 
 
 "Ah !" cried Ralph, triumphantly, "it is so ! You will 
 not marry him, Catrina. Thank God !"
 
 MISS RUTHERFORD'S MESSENGER 227 
 
 "Oh, Ralph, Ralph," she pleaded, "I must. Don't 
 you know, I must." 
 
 "No, Catrina," said Ralph, softly, bending toward 
 her, "you shall marry no one until you can give him 
 your love." 
 
 "My love?" asked Catrina, wildly. 
 
 Fear and joy shone in her eyes as they met Ralph's. 
 As to Ralph, a joy akin to madness filled him as he 
 said: 
 
 "My love, then, Catrina the love of yours that is 
 mine mine !" 
 
 She covered her face with her hands as she cried : 
 
 "Hush; hush, Ralph!" 
 
 "The words at least are honest, Catrina," said Ralph. 
 "Still, they are only words. You have nothing to fear." 
 
 "Nothing to fear," she said blankly. "It is not fear, 
 Ralph." 
 
 The hopelessness of the situation appalled Ralph. 
 
 "Catrina, I'm a scoundrel to make you suffer. I de- 
 serve to be shot. 
 
 "Ralph," she said rising. "Don't you know if I 
 could, I would wrap my life around you to shield you? 
 Suffer!" she continued almost delirious. "Suffer! I 
 will suffer for you gladly always. Oh! I am happy 
 now." 
 
 Bursting into tears, she placed her head on the table 
 and sobbed. 
 
 Events had so far transcended Ralph's calculations 
 that he was dumfounded. He ached to comfort Ca- 
 trina. He had passed the limit of words. Mrs. Heath-
 
 228 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 cote and Helen would be home again shortly. He had 
 not yet settled with Hicks. 
 
 "Catrina," he asked "where is your reply to Mr. 
 Hicks?" 
 
 "There," sobbed the girl, pointing to her letter. 
 
 "I may tear it up?" he asked. 
 
 "I don't care what you do with it," she said sadly. 
 
 Ralph tore it into a hundred pieces and threw them 
 on the fire. 
 
 "Now, Catrina," he said, returning to the table, "an- 
 swer that letter again." 
 
 "What do you want me to say, Ralph?" she asked 
 helplessly. 
 
 "Whatever your heart dictates. I will not tear it up 
 a second time." 
 
 "What my heart dictates," she murmured as she 
 seized the pen and wrote: 
 
 "I cannot be your wife. I don't love you. This is 
 final. I can only beg you to forgive me if it hurts you." 
 
 She handed the note to Ralph. 
 
 "Seal it and address it," he commanded. 
 
 She complied. As he rose she asked alarmed : 
 
 "Where are you going, Ralph?" 
 
 "To deliver this," he answered holding forth the let- 
 ter. 
 
 "You?" she exclaimed. 
 
 "Do you object?" he asked. 
 
 "I object to nothing, Ralph, any more." 
 
 He went to the door. Turning around he advanced 
 to Catrina and took her hand.
 
 MISS RUTHERFORD'S MESSENGER 22Q 
 
 "Catrina," he said, "I am partly mad I believe. I 
 must think if I can. I don't know what to say to you. 
 I have said too much much more than I intended. 
 Forgive me. Can you?" 
 
 "Forgive you! For what, Ralph?" 
 
 "For being fool, coward and knave," he replied bit- 
 terly. 
 
 "If love came at our bidding, Ralph," she said with 
 delicious softness, "we could send it away at our will. 
 Its reality consists in its being beyond our control. 
 For a thousand reasons I wish I didn't care a little 
 for you. But," she added, her voice vibrating, "for one 
 one one reason, I rejoice, and if that brings me 
 suffering, don't fear that I would put it away from me 
 if I could." 
 
 Catrina said this with a sweetness that went far be- 
 yond the words. It was the benediction of love ac- 
 ceptation of its martyrdom. Ralph bowed his head 
 and, not daring to trust himself, hurried out with the 
 letter. 
 
 He went directly to Hicks's house. The noise of the 
 streets stunned him. The promanaders floated before 
 him like moving specks in the clear blue afternoon air. 
 The red brick houses, the patches of green budding 
 foliage, the drab of the streets everything seemed 
 unfamiliar, with a far-off strangeness, as though after 
 a long absence he had returned to old haunts. 
 
 He was surprised to meet Hicks, elegantly attired in 
 scarlet and lace, leaving his own door. Ralph was so 
 deeply preoccupied he almost ran into his enemy. To
 
 23O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 cover his surprise he saluted courteously. Hicks drew 
 himself up haughtily. 
 
 "I have a letter for you," said Ralph. 
 
 Hicks instantly recognized the superscription. Yield- 
 ing to his anxiety he tore open the letter. His face 
 changed color to an ashy gray as he read it. With a 
 look full of hate he turned upon Ralph contemptuous- 
 ly: 
 
 "I am sorry," he said, "I haven't the coin with me or 
 I'd pay Miss Rutherford's messenger at once for his 
 service."
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 CATRINJS COMMAND. 
 
 DURING the remainder of the week Catrina was con- 
 fined to her room. Her nerves, after the long tension 
 they had suffered, completely gave way. Yet during 
 these days of exhaustion there were moments of de- 
 licious calm for her, when she lost herself in some vague 
 distant spring land, lying deep in the blue May sky, 
 into which she gazed with half-closed eyes through the 
 window near her bedside. 
 
 Ralph during these days walked the earth sadly, 
 striving to find some process for himself that would 
 restore its ancient beauty and give to his existence 
 again its lost healthy tone. 
 
 He told me the whole story one pleasant afternoon 
 as we sat on the rocks near Whitehall. The rising tide 
 was filled with sea odors and the water gurgled among 
 the stones as the summer waves rolled in. 
 
 "What would you advise me to do, Alex?" he asked, 
 as he finished his sad recital. 
 
 "I can think of no other medicine, Ralph, but ac- 
 tivity." 
 
 "That's the remedy to which my mind also perpet-
 
 232 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 ually turns," he said. "If I could only feel the spur of 
 some interest !" 
 
 "There are surely spurs enough," I said, "for a young 
 man." 
 
 "True, there ought to be. Somehow they have lost 
 their prick." 
 
 "That's only a momentary insensibility," I said 
 hopefully. 
 
 "I trust it is," he said. "To-day anything I turn to 
 must have in it some element of the extreme." 
 
 "Not despair," I said. 
 
 "No, I am righting hard against that. I hope I am 
 still a bit of a man." 
 
 "You hinted you were about to return to the Manse," 
 I reminded him. 
 
 "You must see," said he, "that's out of the question 
 for me just yet a while. It's too quiet. No place 
 would be so haunted with voices as a prison. The still- 
 ness would be forever speaking; the walls would re- 
 flect back the pictures in one's eyes. Isn't it so?" 
 
 "I see your point," I answered. "If not the Manse, 
 where else? You can't stay here." 
 
 "I have no such idea," he said. 
 
 "Where, then?" I asked. 
 
 He hesitated before replying. 
 
 "Now, don't jump at me when you hear what I have 
 to say," he began. "Consider fully the situation I am 
 in." 
 
 "I will," I promised. 
 
 "Well," said he, "I am determined to enlist."
 
 CATRINrfS COMMAND 233 
 
 ''Enlist?" I cried, my promise going to the winds. 
 "You'd make a fine Hessian !" 
 
 "You mistake," he said. "I go with the flag of my 
 country; not its government." 
 
 "Why, your very bones are Tory !" I cried. "Your 
 father's instinct is only accidentally suppressed in you.' 
 
 "Helen's are not," he said. 
 
 I saw at once the road his determination was taking. 
 
 "Does Helen know?" I asked. 
 
 "Know what?" 
 
 "Anything." 
 
 "She may guess a little," he said, "but know she can- 
 not." 
 
 "If she knew all, Ralph, would she ask you for this " 
 
 "Atonement?" he repeated. 
 
 "Atonement, then," I said. "Don't you see the real 
 purpose of your own plan?" 
 
 "I am not looking very curiously," he said, as he 
 tossed a piece of driftwood into the water and watched 
 it bob up and down on the waves. 
 
 "She will never permit it," I said. 
 
 "She must," he asserted positively. "My mind, 
 Alex, is made up." 
 
 "The American cause looks like a lost cause now," 
 I suggested. 
 
 "What of that?" he said, laughing. "I am destined 
 to take to lost causes. What do you think?" 
 
 He was in a headstrong state these days. I noticed 
 he went with great determination upon his course. 
 Catrina soon* moved about the house again. Ralph
 
 234 TH E HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 avoided her in the most set manner. Catrina sup- 
 ported him in this. No doubt she understood and 
 sympathized with his action, but I judge there was 
 torture in it. Only once did he depart from his plan, 
 and that exception, no doubt, he had determined upon. 
 He induced her to visit the old house at Greenwich 
 with him. 
 
 "It is my last request, Catrina," he urged, and I can 
 understand how this compulsion overcame the girl's 
 scruples. 
 
 They went, without a word, along the road he and 
 I had taken a year ago. The house was in charge of 
 a caretaker, but he led the way around the terraces 
 down into the orchard. 
 
 Dear me ! The strongest of us have a sense of some 
 sort for sentiment. Our feelings curiously tend to seek 
 their intimate situations. When we know the cup is 
 poisoned we find some desperate satisfaction in drink- 
 ing the lees. It is senseless to charge the dying with 
 being morbid or to ask them to view things with our 
 healthy eyes. There was none too much of health in 
 Ralph at that time, and his thoughts were for the most 
 part merely so many reflections of his feelings. 
 
 The old caretaker saw the two and came out to give 
 them welcome. Ralph, after listening to her chatter 
 for a time, excused her with the statement that he and 
 Catrina had made the trip merely to see how the or- 
 chard was promising. As the woman hobbled away, 
 Ralph said: 
 
 'The orchard hasn't changed, has it, Catrina?"
 
 CATRINA'S COMMAND 2$ 5 
 
 "No and yes," she answered. 
 
 "I didn't mean to bother you again," he said. "I 
 simply couldn't do without a moment with you to finish 
 some half-said things. No other place I could think 
 of offered an opportunity but here." 
 
 "I have come with you, Ralph, because you com- 
 manded, but isn't it better for both of us to leave those 
 half-said things unsaid?" 
 
 "If you wish it so," he said. 
 
 "I have no wishes that clash with yours," she 
 pleaded. 
 
 "I will say nothing you would not wish me to say. 
 I am going away," he continued, "which is the only 
 proper course if anything is proper now." 
 
 "That is best, I suppose," said the girl, bending her 
 head. 
 
 "You don't 'suppose,' Catrina you are sure." 
 
 "Yes, I am sure." 
 
 "In a few days I shall join the American army." 
 
 "Ralph!" cried Catrina. 
 
 "Why not?" he asked. "But that isn't the question. 
 Some step has to be taken. I see no other quite so 
 satisfactory. Do you?" 
 
 "No," said the girl, hopelessly. 
 
 "Before I go, is there anything I can do for you, 
 Catrina?" 
 
 "Me?" she asked. "No, Ralph, nothing." 
 
 "I have confessed to you," he went on, "what I 
 ought to have kept secret " 
 
 "I I read it," she said, softly.
 
 236 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "You cannot belittle my fault by accusing yourself." 
 
 "It would have made no difference, Ralph, the other 
 way." 
 
 "Sometimes I see it all that way," he said, "but now 
 I am anxious to guard you against any extreme while 
 I am away." 
 
 "That matter is ended," she said, referring to Hicks. 
 
 "Nothing else of that desperate kind is possible?" he 
 asked. 
 
 "Nothing now," she replied, solemnly. 
 
 "Remember, I am speaking only of forced steps, 
 Catrina. I am not covertly asking a pledge." 
 
 "Pledge !" she cried. "I understand, Ralph. Neither 
 in that sense do I make any promise that might 
 trouble you, but but " 
 
 Rebelling tears choked the girl. 
 
 "Never mind, Catrina," he said, tenderly. "I think 
 I understand." 
 
 "Do you?" she supplicated. Then she burst forth: 
 "I I at the end of my life, Ralph, I will be waiting 
 here to to bless you." 
 
 "Catrina, I am a pauper before you with nothing to 
 offer." 
 
 "Yes, you have, Ralph," she cried. "Return to me 
 some day, Helen and yourself hand in hand." 
 
 "Is that" he faltered. 
 
 "My command," she cried, hysterically.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 BURNING THE BRIDGES. 
 
 RALPH decided not to hesitate to burn his bridges be- 
 hind him. He appealed to me to aid him through 
 my personal acquaintance with some of the leaders of 
 the American cause. I was glad enough to do this. 
 Of course, I recognized the step he contemplated was 
 a desperate one. I knew also there was something 
 better than desperation in it. I hoped the new life he 
 intended to plunge into would in the end completely 
 restore his peace of mind. There were undoubtedjy 
 great hardships ahead, but if he joined the Continental 
 army they would be endured in a cause that even in his 
 eyes could be by no means ignoble, and with men a 
 majority of whom had cast upon the issue more than 
 the mere adventurer's stake. 
 
 When Ralph returned with Catrina from Greenwich 
 he sought Helen at once. She was in the rear garden, 
 assisting Mrs. Heathcote, who at that time of the year 
 was always deeply interested in her flower beds. The 
 scent of lilac filled the air and the spring beauty and 
 promise formed a melancholy contrast to Ralph's bitter 
 hopelessness. He shrank from the cruelty of disturb- 
 ing Helen's apparently happy content.
 
 238 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Look at the buds already on this rose-bush," she 
 said to Ralph. "Won't it be beautiful in a few weeks? 
 Don't you think the spring has come very quickly this 
 year?" 
 
 "Yes," he assented, his mind faltering with its pur- 
 pose. "It seems only the other day the frost left us. 
 Dear me! that is full of buds, Helen, isn't it?" 
 
 "Isn't it?" repeated Helen, joyfully. "This ought to 
 be a great year for roses." 
 
 He was glad to linger thus with Helen, stretching to 
 the last moment even the semblance of the old rela- 
 tionship. He followed her around from plant to plant, 
 helping her in her labors. 
 
 "Where have you been all the morning, Ralph?" 
 Helen asked carelessly, as she stooped to disentangle 
 the leaves of a large geranium. 
 
 "Oh !" exclaimed Ralph in a low, uneasy voice, "Cat- 
 rina and I made a trip out to Greenwich." 
 
 "To Greenwich! You and Catrina! Why didn't 
 you tell me?" 
 
 Helen lifted her head as she put this question. 
 
 "No particular reason," answered Ralph, slowly, 
 "unless just at that moment I didn't want to say any- 
 thing about it." 
 
 "Oh!" said Helen, thoughtfully, as she bent down 
 again over the flowers. 
 
 For a space neither spoke. Helen's thoughts were 
 busy. Ralph hesitated to begin with his subject, partly 
 from a sense of cowardice, and partly from abhorrence 
 of inflicting a wound the depth of which he was unable
 
 BURNING THE BRIDGES 239 
 
 to foresee. Looking around he saw that his Aunt had 
 stepped within doors. He took Helen's hand and said : 
 
 "Helen, let us sit down for a few minutes in the sum- 
 mer-house. I have something to tell you." 
 
 "What is it, Ralph? Has anything gone amiss, 
 dear?" 
 
 Helen instinctively feared and she tried to read some- 
 thing in advance in Ralph's face. 
 
 "You are not well?" she asked tenderly, as she seated 
 herself beside him in the little arbor. 
 
 "I am well enough in one sense," he replied, study- 
 ing the ground. 
 
 "But, darling, you have been troubled about some- 
 thing for some time. I have seen it." 
 
 "Have you?" he asked, watching her closely. "Have 
 you guessed the cause?" 
 
 "I have tried to, Ralph, and and at times I have 
 fancied perhaps it is because I don't make you happy." 
 
 "And at other times?" 
 
 "I have thought I might be mistaken," she said, 
 slowly. 
 
 Silence fell upon both of them again. Each alike 
 felt it was something to have said so much. 
 
 Ralph sat staring before him. Tears were master- 
 ing Helen when she threw her arms around her hus- 
 band and begged : 
 
 "Tell me, Ralph. What is it? Don't I deserve to 
 know?" 
 
 "It is all the other way," said Ralph, kissing her. 
 "You are so good I ought not to have to tell."
 
 240 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Ralph, I can endure anything but doubt and fear." 
 
 "Fear of what?" 
 
 "That we are apart ever so little." 
 
 At these words he shrank back, dismayed, from his 
 resolve. 
 
 "Tell me, Ralph," pleaded Helen softly, stroking one 
 of his hands. 
 
 "I wish I knew how to, so that you wouldn't mis- 
 understand." 
 
 "I have never misunderstood you. Why now?" 
 
 "Because in one sense, Helen, love is intensely sel- 
 fish." 
 
 "Selfish!" she exclaimed. 
 
 "Selfish Helen, I mean where its own interests are 
 concerned." 
 
 "Don't say that, darling," said Helen. "Love would 
 sacrifice everything, renounce everything " 
 
 "Everything but love," interrupted Ralph. 
 
 "Everything but love !" Helen repeated in a dazed 
 way. "Oh, Ralph, what do you mean?" 
 
 "I mean love is intolerant of anything that even for 
 a moment, no matter how caused, interferes with 
 
 "Ralph, go on, go on," she beseeched. "What is it 
 you are trying to tell me?" 
 
 "Helen, I hardly know myself. You won't under- 
 stand. I shan't be able to make you understand." 
 
 "You are not trying," she said in a tone kindly but 
 direct. "It is not so hard to be direct if we mean the 
 facts to be understood." 
 
 "That is all well enough," he said bitterly, "when the
 
 BURNING THE BRIDGES 2^1 
 
 truth is a simple matter. It is easy for me to say I 
 was in Greenwich this morning, but perhaps I might 
 talk to you forever, before you would understand pre- 
 cisely why I was there as I understand it." 
 
 "Perhaps you fear I would understand too well," she 
 said with spirit. 
 
 "Perhaps," he replied sorrowfully. " Too well' is 
 exactly what I fear." 
 
 Ralph's vagueness struck Helen as a purposeful in- 
 directness. She instantly guessed what he was hover- 
 ing around. A score -of little suspicions and trivial de- 
 tails of the past winter returned to her now with start- 
 ling vividness. 
 
 "Ralph, are you speaking at all of Catrina?" 
 
 "I am, Helen," he said solemnly, "but I implore 
 you, for your sake and mine, to pause in your con- 
 clusions." 
 
 Helen paled. The garden she was staring into was 
 blotted from her sight. Ralph placed his head on her 
 shoulder and this act recalled her. With a shudder 
 she threw her arms around him. 
 
 "I have feared something, Ralph. I have seen and I 
 have been blind. What is it?" 
 
 "It is so weak to say it, Helen, but it has been be- 
 yond me. Do you understand?" 
 
 "No, Ralph, I don't. It is so strange after after 
 all." 
 
 "Yes," he repeated, "after all. I didn't know, Helen, 
 or rather I didn't realize, but she has been in it all 
 from the first."
 
 242 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "From the first!" cried Helen. 
 
 "From the very first, from the old days when we were 
 almost children together." 
 
 With a cry of pain she said: 
 
 "And now I am in the way!" 
 
 Ralph attempted to put his arm around her, but she 
 withdrew. 
 
 "No! no!" she cried. 
 
 "I don't know what excuse to make to you " he 
 began. 
 
 "Oh, don't try," interrupted Helen bitterly. 
 
 He continued. 
 
 "If indeed any excuse is really valid. I shall not be 
 surprised if you spurn me instead of helping me to 
 fight-" 
 
 "Fight for what?" she asked. 
 
 "For you," he replied. 
 
 "Isn't it rather late?" she replied. 
 
 "To fight for you," he repeated angrily; "to continue 
 to fight for you to the end. Don't be sarcastic, Helen, 
 or superior. Are you so strong that you never can 
 falter in anything ever, or am I so base that I am un- 
 worthy of forgiveness or help? Do you want to teach 
 me that the only unpitying judge in the world is the 
 woman who once said she loved me?" 
 
 "You are cruel," she cried. 
 
 "You may well say that, Helen, if you desire merely 
 to close my lips. If I had stolen, you might still par- 
 don me, if I had murdered, you might still help me; but 
 because I tell you of that which which I have fought
 
 BURNING THE BRIDGES 243 
 
 against, weakly if you like, but with some suffering, you 
 have neither forgiveness for me nor the pity of the 
 stranger." 
 
 With a cry she turned to him. 
 
 "Don't say that, Ralph. I can pity you, and " 
 
 she faltered "I can forgive you if " 
 
 "If what, Helen?" 
 
 "Oh, Ralph, don't you love me?" 
 
 "I do, Helen, though probably you won't believe me, 
 because in some respects I have to qualify it." 
 
 "Ralph, there is only one love possible. Either I 
 possess it or I don't." 
 
 "As I live, Helen," cried Ralph vehemently, "you 
 are mistaken. As I loved you at first I love you to- 
 day. You were satisfied; you would have continued 
 so to the end." 
 
 "You are trying to fool me," said Helen. "Will you 
 tell me one thing?" 
 
 "I will tell you anything, but the risk of misunder- 
 standing must be yours." 
 
 "Could you tell any other woman you love her?" 
 
 "I could not deny it were I asked," Ralph replied. 
 
 Helen rose. Her pride was stricken. 
 
 ,"I am in the way, then; I knew it," she said bitterly. 
 "Go to her." 
 
 "Yes," said Ralph, "that is the inevitable attitude. 
 Love usually is no more freely given than the shop- 
 keepers' wares. In both cases we may obtain only on 
 condition we pay the price. The force of the argu- 
 ment is on your side now, but you are not right. I
 
 244 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 shall say nothing more, for it's useless. My course was 
 determined some days ago, though I did hope it would 
 be in another spirit your bidding would go with my 
 departure." 
 
 "You are going!" cried Helen in alarm. 
 
 "Oh, don't fear; not to her. Were I as free as the 
 winds I would flee her." 
 
 "Where are you going?" Helen asked blankly. 
 
 "To join the Continental army." 
 
 "No, no, Ralph !" she implored. 
 
 "Your own cause, Helen is that nothing to you?" 
 
 "I didn't mean, Ralph " she faltered. 
 
 "I don't know what you meant, Helen. Now, I 
 don't know what you think of me," said Ralph, "but 
 there are some things you shan't misunderstand. I 
 won't let you believe I am seeking any selfish ends or 
 taking the easiest path. There is nothing that I would 
 do but fight this out under your standard, whether you 
 have me or not." 
 
 "You mustn't go, Ralph. Stay with me." 
 
 "And be doubted and silently suffered." 
 
 "It will not be so, Ralph." 
 
 "It will be so," he insisted. 
 
 "I promise you." 
 
 "You can't promise that, Helen. Belief is like love 
 not to be controlled. A minute ago I told you I 
 loved you, despite well, let me say it boldly my love 
 for Catrina. Now, answer me as I answered you. Do 
 you believe me?" 
 
 "Ralph, don't ask me. Kiss me."
 
 BURNING THE BRIDGES 245 
 
 Ralph kissed her as he said: 
 
 "You can't answer me? You don't know whether 
 you can believe me, do you?" 
 
 "I can't understand it," she said. 
 
 "Time will show, Helen. If you have no faith to- 
 day, is the future, the clear truth of what I tell you, 
 worth hoping for?" 
 
 "Need you ask?" 
 
 "No," he said. "I think not, and that's enough." 
 
 Mrs. Heathcote was coming down the garden. 
 
 "Come, Helen," said Ralph, "I have much to ar- 
 range with you. Let us say no more about this." 
 
 "But you won't go?" 
 
 "Help me to be true to my own ideals, Helen, and 
 don't protest." 
 
 After the evening meal Ralph told his Aunt of his 
 determination to join Gen. Washington's forces. Helen 
 and Catrina were seated at the table within the light of 
 the candles. Ralph expressed himself in a jocular 
 fashion. He said his sympathies were always with the 
 under dog, and as in this case the nether animal was 
 hard pressed, he felt like giving him what help he could. 
 Alex had promised to assist him in the initial steps. 
 
 "I never knew there was a martial streak in our fam- 
 ily, Auntie. Did you? Isn't it queer it should break 
 out now?" 
 
 Mrs. Heathcote turned to the two girls. Both were 
 occupied with their thoughts. The work they were 
 doing served as an excuse for not lifting their eyes. 
 The old lady understood the meaning of the silence.
 
 246 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 She had received hints enough lately of the situation to 
 prepare her for this plan of Ralph's. In telling of the 
 refusal sent to Hicks, Catrina had half confessed the 
 meaning of the interview she had had with Ralph re- 
 garding her letter. Now, as she viewed her silently 
 disunited family, Mrs. Heathcote sighed. 
 
 "Is this irrevocable, Ralph?" she asked. 
 
 "It is the very best step possible," answered Ralph. 
 
 "Dear! dear!" said the old lady. "How impossible 
 happiness is! I counted so much on you, Ralph." 
 
 "You can still, after a little while." 
 
 "A little while," she repeated; "that is all that is left 
 to me." 
 
 "I am sorry, my dear Aunt. For your sake and 
 that of others I wish there were another course. What 
 else do you see?" 
 
 "Oh!" exclaimed the old lady, petulantly, "all I see 
 is a huge mistake." 
 
 The tears were in Catrina's eyes. She hurriedly left 
 the room. Mrs. Heathcote immediately followed her. 
 Ralph went over to Helen and put his arms around her. 
 She lifted her pale face to him as she said, wistfully; 
 
 "A huge mistake, Ralph." 
 
 "My darling wife, my Helen, that's what the world 
 says. It is for you and me to prove it wrong. Help 
 me, Helen; I will pay you back." 
 
 "Oh, Ralph, I wouldn't be worthy of the love I want 
 from you if if I wouldn't share the struggle with you 
 to the end." 
 
 "And forgive me?" he pleaded.
 
 BURNING THE BRIDGES 247 
 
 "I think if I could understand it I would find there is 
 nothing to forgive." 
 
 "Not quite that, Helen," he protested, as he bent 
 down and kissed her. 
 
 Before the end of the week Ralph departed with 
 Helen for the Manse. 
 
 The farewells were hastily made, as though every 
 one shunned the ordeal. The parting was almost as 
 between strangers. When Catrina said good-by to 
 Helen she longed to kiss her in the old affectionate 
 way, and a prayer for forgiveness fluttered to her lips. 
 But Helen contented herself with saying "Good-by, 
 Catrina," and the impulse froze, and all that remained 
 of it was : 
 
 "God bless you, Helen." 
 
 Scott was delighted to welcome the couple home. 
 He had no idea how flat his sly jokes about bride and 
 groom fell upon sad ears, or how pathetic were his re- 
 marks about the honeymoon journey and the necessity 
 for settling down at home at last. 
 
 Ralph and Helen agreed not to say a word to any 
 one regarding their unfortunate position. Later they 
 might be happy enough to retrace their steps over the 
 road they had traveled in the last few months, and 
 they judged it prudent not to leave behind any witness 
 of their old discomfiture. When Ralph told Scott of 
 his purpose to join the Continental army the old man 
 stood for a moment swallowing his surprise; then he 
 exclaimed : 
 
 "Egad ! What is there a woman can't do with a man !
 
 248 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 She makes him and then remakes him! I wouldn't 
 have believed it possible, Helen. I swear I wouldn't. 
 Well, you've got the bit in his mouth, and no mistake. 
 Just like you, my girl! It's a good cause, Ralph a 
 noble cause one I have sacrificed something for, as 
 you know. Give me your hand. I'm prouder than 
 ever of you."
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FATE. 
 
 AT this time, it will be remembered, Gen. Washington 
 had withdrawn his army into the New Jersey moun- 
 tains above Quibbletown. 
 
 The British headquarters in the field were at Bruns- 
 wick. Thence by way of Amboy communication was 
 held open with New York. These were the only points 
 in the Jerseys left in possession of the British. Gen. 
 Howe was in command, with Lord Cornwallis, Lieut. 
 Gen. De Heister and others. Since the battle at 
 Princeton early in the year the army seemingly had 
 been committed to a policy of complete inactivity. 
 Never surely was generalship more impotent, or utterly 
 lazy. 
 
 In New York, I remember, we heard almost daily 
 of little outpost affrays which were invariably dignified 
 by rhetorical military language in the reports as though 
 they were affairs of importance. Presently the humor 
 of the thing penetrated even the Tory intelligence. 
 People began to ask when the serious business of 
 stamping out the rebellion would be taken in hand.
 
 25O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 So far something of the air of a picnic had attached 
 itself to the British operations. Certainly, many of the 
 officers were acting as though they were engaged in 
 holding a series of reviews instead of successfully 
 prosecuting a war. New York was very gay. Diver- 
 sions of every sort were kept going with indefatigable 
 energy, and whenever the movements were not car- 
 ried too far afield from the city pleasure followed the 
 army like a lot of aristocratic baggage. 
 
 Hicks figured among the gayest. The rebuff he had 
 received from Catrina didn't upset his high spirits in 
 the least. He was evidently making money. His 
 rooms became notorious as the scene of the most reck- 
 less gambling of the time. With imperturbable good 
 humor he continued to visit Mrs. Heathcote, and when 
 the old lady attempted to hint that his presence might 
 be distressing to Catrina, he replied: 
 
 "I trust I may still be permitted to occupy my old 
 position, though I am denied the higher one I aspired 
 to. I am too old, Mrs. Heathcote, to carry around 
 a broken heart, too seriously attached to you and the 
 young lady to refer again to an incident that for me is 
 closed. I have too few friends to allow you to cut me 
 off unless, indeed, you think I merit it." 
 
 "Like yourself, Mr. Hicks," said the old lady, "I have 
 too few friends left to wilfully dismiss one." 
 
 Hicks sighed. 
 
 "Time dismisses us fast enough," he said. Then he 
 added, "Pray, what has become of my young friend 
 Ralph and his fair bride?"
 
 THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FATE 2$ I 
 
 "You don't know?" asked Mrs. Heathcote, inno- 
 cently. "I thought all his friends knew." 
 
 "Unfortunately Ralph and I had a little falling out. 
 I regret it deely. Youth is hotheaded, Mrs. Heath- 
 cote, and well, to be fair, I must add old age is often 
 tender of its dignity. But it won't do to tell tales be- 
 hind any one's back. It will all blow over, I hope. 
 Where did you say he was?" 
 
 Mrs. Heathcote hesitated. 
 
 "It is no secret, I suppose," urged Hicks. 
 
 "No, no," said the old lady, "I'm sure you are still 
 his friend." 
 
 "A few rash words cannot efface the memories 
 of years," said Hicks, assuringly. "Perhaps I can still 
 be of service to him." 
 
 "I am afraid not, Mr. Hicks, you are on the wrong 
 side. Ralph has joined the Continental army." 
 
 "The rebels!" exclaimed Hicks in triumph difficult 
 for him to hide. 
 
 "Don't judge him too hard. His wife's influence is 
 accountable for it." 
 
 "To be sure ! Dear me ! Dear me ! Perfectly clear ! 
 I must say it does honor to his heart if not to his judg- 
 ment. Where is he serving?" 
 
 "With a Col. Clarkin's regiment of dragoons some- 
 where near Morristown, according to the last word we 
 received from him." 
 
 "Umph ! Dangerous position !" said Hicks, thought- 
 fully. "I am going out to New Brunswick myself in a 
 day or two with Gen. Howe. I believe there are some
 
 252 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 important operations afoot. It would be curious if I 
 should catch sight of the young fellow, wouldn't it?" 
 
 As near as I could find out Ralph at that moment 
 was stationed in the hills just above Scotch Plains with 
 a corps of about one thousand men under the command 
 of Lord Stirling. There is a pass at that point through 
 the mountains, and this force was acting as an advance 
 guard. 
 
 Some of the men were quartered in the village at the 
 foot of the gap. There were only a few scattered 
 houses there, the largest of which, owned by a farmer 
 named Meeker, stood at one corner of the crossroads. 
 Ralph had the good fortune to be quartered here with 
 Col. Clarkin himself, and fifteen others, including a Dr. 
 Rowley. Ralph had struck up a close acquaintance 
 with this man, and, as with all friendships he made, this 
 one was destined to greatly affect his career. 
 
 Rowley was a Jerseyman born in those parts. I 
 judge there was somewhere a streak of Irish in his fam- 
 ily. He possessed the happy, irresponsible, good-na- 
 tured spirit of the Celt a most companionable man, 
 daring, resourceful and sympathetic. He was of fine 
 stature, had a deep bass voice and his pleasant eyes 
 twinkled out of a mass of dark hair that almost entirely 
 covered his face. He was originally a blacksmith. 
 
 Ralph met him first at Morristown, shortly after he 
 presented himself to Col. Clarkin with my letter. It 
 was some little ailment incident to change of living 
 that threw him into Rowley's acquaintance. 
 
 "Pulse normal," he said in his jolly way, holding
 
 THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FATE 2$$ 
 
 Ralph's wrist and scanning his face. "Grog is what 
 you need, my young friend no piddling pills. Medi- 
 cine's a farce, with a grim epilogue, once in a while. 
 Doctors' reputation is based on the fact that sick men 
 only die once. Look at me ! Would you believe it, I 
 am sick, my constitution broken and what's left of me 
 covered with a tormenting itch? Ah, listen to that 
 violin! Isn't there in that gut something soft and 
 tender, stirring to the passions? It's the most endear- 
 ing sound in the world, always excepting the whisper 
 of a woman's voice close to your ear." 
 
 He rattled on in this style, to Ralph's great amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 'Then you don't think there's anything the matter 
 with me?" 
 
 "With you? Nothing that the worst to come won't 
 cure." 
 
 "You offer a cheerful remedy," said Ralph, laugh- 
 ing. 
 
 "One you needn't thank the apothecary for!" cried 
 Rowley. "You're a bit homesick, my boy, for the 
 sweet felicities you've left behind you. I know the 
 symptoms melancholic gloom. But when you've 
 vomited sickish food half the time, as I have, you'll find 
 you've emptied the contents of a surfeited heart. Come 
 to my tent; I've a little grog there. If you've an ear 
 for music you shall hear a song of mine extolling war 
 and Washington. This is a great place of penance for 
 a glutton." 
 
 Rowley was well nigh a specific for Ralph's malady.
 
 254 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 He added almost a touch of the homely to the raw, in- 
 hospitable novelty of the camp and its rude, hard life. 
 Wherever he went the man radiated his abundant vi- 
 tality and good humor. It was impossible to be gloomy 
 in his company. He was forever saying or doing the 
 unexpected. Even his perpetual longing for food and 
 his complaints about his own physical ailments had an 
 air of something very close to purposeful geniality 
 about them. He had a great liking for music, though 
 without a bit of a voice himself. As soon as he dis- 
 covered Ralph could sing tolerably he commenced to 
 prize his fellowship with a warmth that pleased Ralph 
 as much as it astonished him. Night after night he 
 sought the young man and carried him off to sing 
 homely melodies to himself and his company. 
 
 "None of your confused music for me," he would 
 say. "And only occasionally the rollicking. I like 
 the melancholy air something with just a touch of 
 wretchedness and despair in it. You have the thing, 
 Mr. Tennant, down to the perfection of a disease." 
 
 "That's a fearful compliment," said Ralph, joining 
 in the laughter of Col. Clarkin, Major Wells and others 
 who were cronies of Rowley. 
 
 "I don't mean it to be such, my boy. A man ex- 
 tracts his superlatives easiest from his own profession, 
 and I gave you one out of mine. And faith, when you 
 think of it now, do you believe a robust, well-fed, porky 
 nature was ever attuned to music?" 
 
 "Egad, doctor, you've got to explain away your own 
 case !" cried Adjt. Moore.
 
 THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FATE 2$$ 
 
 "Myself!" exclaimed Rowley. "Wasn't I hinting 
 at myself, with my broken constitution? How could 
 you miss the point when it was so near you? Clear 
 your throat from the bottle beside you, Mr. Tennant, 
 and if you please we'll start where we ended last night 
 with 'The Sentinel's Grave.' ' 
 
 Whether we indorse Rowley's opinions upon the 
 nature of music or not, certainly it is a quick and strong 
 source of attraction between individuals. If Rowley 
 was a happy discovery for Ralph the benefit was re- 
 turned in full. 
 
 "You're just the antidote I've needed, Mr. Tennant" 
 said Rowley. "If I liken you to a medicine, don't think 
 you mayn't regard me as a friend." 
 
 "After all the ill you've told me about pills and bo- 
 luses!" said Ralph laughing. 
 
 "Don't mind my similitudes if you can get at my 
 meaning," said Rowley. 
 
 In this way a treaty was concluded between the two 
 men that was soon in full effect. 
 
 By and by intelligence reached headquarters that the 
 British below were in motion. Their movements were 
 at first taken to indicate an attack. Gen. Stirling, with 
 a detachment including Ralph's regiment, was ordered 
 to Scotch Plains. The weather was extraordinarily 
 warm, the roads so dry and dusty that the long march 
 over the hills from Morristown severely tired the men. 
 Scouting parties were immediately thrown out to cover 
 all the roads from New Brunswick by way of Metuchen 
 and Woodbridge. The activity of the British, how-
 
 256 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 ever, was confined to their own camp. Small parties 
 were detached on petty marauding expeditions result- 
 ing in the capture of a few prisoners and the plunder of 
 the homes of a number of inhabitants in the country 
 around. Elizabethtown was surprised at night by a 
 party of Highlanders and Hessians, who succeeded in 
 burning some stores collected for the Continental army 
 before they were driven off by the militia. But these 
 operations were so desultory and purposeless that it 
 was difficult to divine their object until word was re- 
 ceived from Staten Island that the British were prepar- 
 ing to embark at Amboy for New York. This news 
 was hailed with delight by Gen. Stirling's little army, 
 particularly when word came down later from Wash- 
 ington's headquarters that reinforcements were coming 
 and operations were to be commenced to harrass the 
 enemy's retreat. 
 
 On the day this news was received, Rowley burst 
 into the little back room of the Meeker house, where 
 Ralph was sitting struggling to darn some stockings in 
 the fading light of the gloaming. The windows were 
 opened wide upon the garden to admit the faint even- 
 ing air. Some robins were singing their liquid "Hurry 
 up. Hurry up," in an old apple tree, and from the 
 woods beyond came the many sounds of the camp. 
 
 "Hurrah ! Hoorooh !" cried Rowley, throwing his 
 cap on the table. "What are you up to, my boy. That 
 isn't the way. Give it to me. Let me show you. 
 First you must run a lot of parallel threads. So. Then 
 let me see. Oh, yes. You go in and out, up and
 
 THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FATE 2 57 
 
 down, this way. Try it yourself. Hold ! You mustn't 
 pull on the string; that only puckers it." 
 
 "What were you hurrahing about?" asked Ralph, 
 stopping his work to wipe the perspiration from his 
 face. 
 
 "You said you wanted something to do." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "You've got it. Lieut. Fryer and a dozen more are 
 ordered to Westfield to-night. You're one of them." 
 
 "What's it all about?" 
 
 "Don't know exactly. Something's on foot." 
 
 "I am sorry you are not included. 
 
 "That's the fun of it, my boy. I am going. I begged 
 in as guide. Gosh ! I know every tree around here !" 
 
 "Where is this Westfield?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "A little place about three miles away. There's a 
 road there leads right on to Rahway. Rahway is on 
 the road to Woodbridge, and from Woodbridge you 
 can follow your nose to Brunswick. See! Hurrah! 
 Sing up !" 
 
 "Hurrah!" said Ralph. "When do we start?" 
 
 "At eight. Say, Ralph, there's an old flame of mine 
 near Westfield, and I swear if Mary Hadsell doesn't 
 decapitate half a dozen chickens for us to-night she'll 
 have no more charm for Rube Rowley." 
 
 Shortly before 8 o'clock Lieut. Fryer mustered his 
 little company and explained that the first objective of 
 their nocturnal march was Farr's farmhouse. 
 
 "Don't I know it!" exclaimed Rowley. "Shoulder- 
 ing one of its stone flanks almost on the highway. It's
 
 258 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 a disreputable, dilapidated place you're taking us to, 
 Lieutenant." 
 
 "No doubt," said Fryer. "We are after disreputable 
 characters. Did you ever hear of the Farrs, Rowley?" 
 
 "Did I ever? Who hasn't around here! The en- 
 tire family are only one remove from bandits." 
 
 "Well," said the Lieutenant, "last night they broke 
 into Mr. Marchand's house, killed his son " 
 
 "Charley Marchand?" exclaimed Rowley. 
 
 "I believe so; plundered the house, insulted the 
 women and whipped the old man, half naked, almost 
 into the camp here. The orders are to arrest them." 
 
 The march at first was along the road that ran east- 
 ward, skirting the base of the hills. Before the out- 
 break of troubles it was a route much traveled by those 
 who preferred to make their way to New York by land 
 instead of by sloop from Perth Amboy. It was in ex- 
 cellent condition and overarched by trees that excluded 
 the light of the clear, moonless night. The men moved 
 rapidly through the cool evening air in which there 
 was not a sound except the shrill trill of innumerable 
 frogs. Instead of branching off at the road leading 
 directly into Westfield, upon Rowley's advice it was de- 
 cided to continue on further and take a cross road that 
 passed directly in the rear of the Farr farmhouse. This 
 lengthened the journey by perhaps a mile, but the ad- 
 vantage was apparent when the men were halted be- 
 hind the clump of big trees through which twinkled 
 the lonely ray of a solitary lighted window. 
 
 "There are three doors," whispered Rowley, "one on
 
 THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FATE 259 
 
 this side and one in the basement in front, and one on 
 the veranda just above it." 
 
 In a few minutes the house was surrounded. Men 
 were stationed behind the trees with orders to stop any 
 one attempting to escape. Fryer with Rowley, two 
 troopers and Ralph marched up the flight of rickety 
 steps and knocked loudly on the upper door. 
 
 The knocking was repeated several times before any 
 sound was audible within. Then slow, shuffling foot- 
 steps were heard, and the door was timidly opened by 
 a gray-haired hag. 
 
 She held a light, which illuminated her wrinkled face. 
 Her eyes were struggling with sleep. She gazed in a 
 dazed way at the soldiers as they brushed past her and 
 entered the stuffy, scantily furnished room she had 
 just quitted. It contained only a few chairs, a rickety 
 tossed bed and a table, on which were the remnants of 
 a meal. In one corner sat a young man, who rose in 
 a crippled manner when the soldiers entered. He re- 
 garded them with staring eyes as though speechless. 
 His excitement was evinced by a rapid twitching of his 
 long, distorted fingers and a nervous jerking of the 
 head. 
 
 "What do you want?" drawled the old woman stand- 
 ing at the doorway. 
 
 "Where's Eb Farr and John Farr?" demanded Fryer. 
 
 "Oh, for the Lord's sake !" wailed the old woman. 
 
 "None of that!" commanded Fryer. "Out with it! 
 Where are they?" 
 
 "Mister, they ain't here. I swar' to you."
 
 26O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Search the rooms, boys. Who are you?" asked 
 Fryer. 
 
 "I'm their blessed mother," snivelled the old woman. 
 
 "Oh, you are? Well, we'll take you along. Who's 
 this dumb-head?" 
 
 "He's my poor son, that had the top of his head 
 blowed off and is paralyzed. Don't be hard on us, mis- 
 ter. We've done nothing." 
 
 "Where are the other two? If you don't tell me I'll 
 hang both of you before morning." 
 
 The old woman dropped on her knees and clung to 
 Fryer's legs and wailed: 
 
 "Spare us, mister! We haven't done nothing. 
 Don't be hard on a poor old woman. It's only this 
 morning we helped one of your ladies and the gentle- 
 men with her." 
 
 "Who were they? Where were they going?" asked 
 Fryer. 
 
 "I don't know who they were, but they were fine 
 folks." 
 
 "Where were they going?" 
 
 "I I swar I don't know, mister. Don't be hard on 
 us." 
 
 "They were go go going to er er Collins's," 
 stammered the young man, struggling hard to speak. 
 
 "They wer'n't," shouted the old woman. "You 
 idiot blast you !" 
 
 Rowley entered. 
 
 "There's not a soul in the house but those two," he 
 said.
 
 THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FATE 26 1 
 
 "Do you know where Collins's is?" asked Fryer. 
 
 "Collins? Yes? He's a forsworn Tory. Lives on the 
 hill beyond Westfi eld. What of him ?" 
 
 "I believe our game is there to-night." 
 
 "No, no," cried the old woman; "you're wrong. You 
 wouldn't believe a poor idiot like him?" pointing to 
 her son. 
 
 "Well," said Fryer, decisively, "we're goin' to see. 
 If you tell us the truth it will go easy with you two. If 
 you don't you'll hang sure. This is your last chance' 
 if you want it." 
 
 "T tell them, mother," sputtered the young man, 
 upon whom the proceedings were having a demoraliz- 
 ing effect. 
 
 "Tell nothing!" cried the old woman. "I'd sooner 
 hang." 
 
 "Wi will you sp spare us if I I I tell you?" 
 asked the young man, approaching Fryer. 
 
 "Don't you dare, or I'll curse you," cried the frantic 
 woman. 
 
 "Take her out, Connor," commanded Fryer. 
 
 The trooper was compelled to drag Mrs. Farr, curs- 
 ing and struggling, into the hallway. Fryer shut the 
 door to drown her cries. 
 
 "Now," he said, addressing the paralytic, "tell us." 
 
 "Wi will you spare us? Her, too?" 
 
 "Yes. Go on." 
 
 "They h have have go gone to Co Col 
 ins's." 
 
 "After that lady and her friends?"
 
 262 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 The young man nodded his head. 
 
 "Plunder, eh?" 
 
 "Sh she's rich," said the fellow, with evident ad- 
 miration. 
 
 "No doubt," ejaculated Fryer. "Come on, boys. 
 Bring that chap along." 
 
 "What shall we do with that old hag outside and 
 this cripple?" asked Rowley. 
 
 "Lock them up somewhere in Westfield for a time. 
 The constable will care for them." 
 
 The village was about a mile away. The distance 
 was quickly covered, although part of the road climbed 
 a steep, rolling hill. Ralph enjoyed the excitement of 
 the midnight march, and told Rowley it was the first 
 bit of fun that had fallen to him for months. At West- 
 field the two prisoners were committed to the charge 
 of the constable. 
 
 "Have you heard any thing of the British moving 
 along the Metuchen road to Scotch Plains?" he asked. 
 
 "No. Who told you they were?" asked Fryer. 
 
 "A couple of boys who passed through here this 
 evening said as they were." 
 
 "Don't believe it," said Fryer. "They were hoax- 
 ing you. Howe's got tired of camping in Jersey, and 
 started for New York this morning." 
 
 "That sounds more like it," said the constable slowly. 
 "You say you will be back for these two?" 
 
 "Yes, in a few hours. You know Collins? How is 
 he acting now?" 
 
 "All right now. Tame as a lamb."
 
 THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FATE 263 
 
 "Have you heard anything of the company he has 
 to-night? A girl with a couple of fellows?" 
 
 "Oh, yes ! They hired a rig of me to drive over to 
 Morristown." 
 
 "Who are they?" asked Fryer. 
 
 "You tell! Blessed if I can. A spry lot. They 
 paid all right." 
 
 "Aha !" cried Rowley, "the plot deepens now. We've 
 got a wench in it."
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 C4TRINJS MESSENGER PAID. 
 
 COLLINS'S house stood on a knoll amid a plantation of 
 firs, somewhat nearer to Rahway than to Westfield. 
 
 Henry Collins was a loyalist of means. He had been 
 a member of the Council, but retired a few years before 
 the outbreak of war, partly on account of age, partly 
 perhaps in order to take his leisure, for he was still in 
 vigorous health, despite his years. He was a widower 
 with two daughters, elderly old maids, for the mar- 
 riage of whom it was said the parent offered a tempt- 
 ing reward. Every year rumor increased the sum, 
 until finally many of the married men around wondered 
 why it was ineffectual. Collins himself was a tall, si- 
 lent, hard-fisted man. Though his neighbors joked 
 about him and his daughters behind his back he said 
 nothing, but superintended the tilling of his fields, 
 which were by far the finest in the county. He was an 
 indefatigable worker, a taskmaster who spared neither 
 man nor beast. At eight o'clock every evening his 
 house was closed and the inmates retired. The only 
 suspicion he allowed any one of moments of relaxation 
 was derived from the occasional sight of him driving 
 home, his head sunk on his breast, taciturnly drunk,
 
 CATRINA'S MESSENGER PAID 26$ 
 
 with the reins loose on the horse's back. No one dis- 
 covered where he went for his liquor, but the old gray 
 horse, who knew the roads like a dog, was always a 
 sign to people that the master was bound on a spirit- 
 ous expedition. 
 
 When Fryer and his men reached the house, con- 
 trary to all experience it was ablaze with light. In 
 approaching it a careful search had been made of every 
 possible hiding place where the Farrs or any com- 
 panions who might be with them could have secreted 
 themselves. It was a fruitless effort, the purpose of 
 which no doubt had been frustrated by the unwonted 
 gayety within the house. But the light and the evi- 
 dence of life at that late hour had a very different effect 
 upon the disappointed troops. 
 
 "Shall we make them a call or return to Westfield?" 
 debated Fryer. 
 
 "Their welcome can't be less hospitable than this 
 empty midnight," said Rowley. "There's an air of 
 food about the place. I've no prejudice against Tory 
 mutton. Have you, Ralph?" 
 
 "No, indeed," said Ralph. 
 
 "Well, let's try it," concluded Fryer. 
 
 When Fryer knocked at the door it was opened by an 
 elderly woman, who regained her tongue only when 
 her master from within an adjacent room demanded : 
 
 "Who is it, Kate?" 
 
 "Soldiers !" repeated the servant, looking at the 
 three men before her. 
 
 "Soldiers!" exclaimed Collins.
 
 266 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Ralph heard a woman's voice, followed immediately 
 by the appearance in the hall of the master of the 
 house, accompanied by a lady. The next moment two 
 other ladies and two gentlemen stepped forth. 
 
 "Continental troops!" exclaimed Collins. "What 
 does this mean?" 
 
 The lady who first appeared placed her hand on Col- 
 lins's arm and gently drew him back. 
 
 "Why, my dear Mr. Collins," she said, with the pleas- 
 antest surprise possible, "are you so astonished these 
 days at the sight of a soldier? This officer will explain 
 his mission if you won't keep him standing with his 
 back to an open door." 
 
 "Yes ! To be sure ! Come in, gentlemen," said Col- 
 lins awkwardly. 
 
 The party reentered the parlor with Fryer, Rowley 
 and Ralph. 
 
 The room was brightly illuminated. Its prim, 
 cold furnishing contrasted strangely with the laden 
 supper table, from which, evidently, the unexpected 
 knock at the door had summoned the eaters. 
 
 Rowley was immediately attracted to the young 
 woman who had so far taken the most prominent part 
 in the reception. As their eyes met she encountered 
 his regard without the slightest appreciable recogni- 
 tion. Nevertheless, there was in her glance an inde- 
 finable suggestion of easy familiarity. 
 
 Her name was Margaret Curzon. She was perhaps 
 thirty years of age, tall and well shaped. Her abun- 
 dant dark hair was rather stiffly drawn over a narrow
 
 CATRINA'S MESSENGER PAID 267 
 
 forehead and thence down behind a pair of exquisitely 
 delicate shell-like ears. Her complexion was fresh as 
 a cherry blossom and her small red lips covered a fine 
 set of teeth, which she displayed frequently with a dry 
 titter that often served her in place of words and in 
 moments of nervousness. Her general air was that of 
 a grand lady, but this was denied perpetually by a 
 subtle contradiction of manner and tone. 
 
 The other two girls Dorothy and Mary, Mr. Col- 
 lins's daughters were dried, old-fashioned specimens 
 of spinsterhood, awkwardly out of place in the strange 
 company around them. 
 
 The two men, a Mr. Spiers and a Mr. Roebuck, were 
 both young gentlemen of pretentious manners and in- 
 clined to a flashy garrulousness. There seemed to be 
 a good-natured understanding between them that the 
 entertainment their host had provided was of an excep- 
 tionally fine sort and merited their constant attention. 
 
 Fryer introduced himself and his two companions by 
 name, and then briefly explained to Mr. Collins how 
 their intrusion had come about. Mrs. Curzon evinced 
 the highest interest in the narrative. 
 
 "Damn rogues, those Farrs!" said Collins venom- 
 ously. "They ought to have been exterminated long 
 ago. They wouldn't be troubling any one now if the 
 numbskulls around here had listened to me." 
 
 "What a dreadful position !" cried Mrs. Curzon, put- 
 ting her hands before her face with affected alarm. 
 "Perhaps they're staring in at us now through one of 
 these open windows. I suppose even a murderer has
 
 268 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 a choice about victims. Dear me ! which of us is the 
 tid-bit?" 
 
 "There's no doubt about the tid-bit," said Rowley, 
 laughing in his loud way, "though I'm not so sure of 
 the victim." 
 
 "And you're a doctor!" said the woman, glancing 
 archly at Rowley. At the same time she was studying 
 Ralph, who stood beside the doctor. 
 
 "You mustn't ask me to confess my misfortune in 
 public," said Rowley. 
 
 "And you've cut people up?" 
 
 "Both living and dead." 
 
 "What a wretched feeling you must carry around 
 with you. I hope Mr. Collins will give you a seat at 
 the other side of the table. You see, Mr. Tennant," 
 she whispered loudly, "I'm gently reminding our host 
 of his duties." 
 
 "How's that?" asked Collins, who had lost himself 
 for a moment in thought. 
 
 "I was suggesting that we all resume supper," said 
 Mrs. Curzon in a delicate tone of command. 
 
 "You think that's best?" asked Collins. 
 
 "Why, my dear man, what could be better?" Then 
 she added, gayly: "The balance wasn't quite right be- 
 fore. Do you know what I mean by 'balance,' Doctor? 
 A companionable meal is like a good see-saw, isn't it? 
 goes best when the weights are even. You've played 
 the old game, haven't you?" 
 
 "Haven't I?" replied Rowley, boldly; "and if you 
 were on one end, madam, and I on the other, you might
 
 CATRINrfS MESSENGER PAID 269 
 
 remedy any little deficiency in weight by creeping a 
 little closer." 
 
 "Doctor!' she exclaimed, in reproof. 
 
 "Madam !" 
 
 'Take your seat, sir, on that side of the table, where 
 Mr. Collins can reprove you if you transgress again. 
 I'll give Mr. Tennant a place at my side." 
 
 Rowley was eager to get to the table, but Fryer de- 
 murred. 
 
 "My men are outside," he said, addressing Mr. Col- 
 lins, "and I hardly- 
 
 "Soldiers outside !" exclaimed Mrs. Curzon, in a tone 
 of alarm. "How foolish ! To be sure ! Didn't you 
 tell us? No wonder I saw eyes through those win- 
 dows. Poor fellows! How many are there?" 
 
 "We are not an army, only a dozen," said Fryer, a 
 man who was extremely diffident in the society of 
 women. 
 
 "Bring them all in! Eh, Mr. Collins?" asked Mrs. 
 Curzon. 
 
 "As you say," muttered Collins, "but are you think- 
 ing" 
 
 "Bring them in!" commanded Mrs. Curzon. Then 
 changing to her playful tone she continued : "If there 
 isn't enough to go around some good fellow shall have 
 my share rations, you call it, don't you?" 
 
 Fryer protested against intruding too far, and in this 
 he was joined by Rowley. The matter was settled by 
 the men being summoned to the barn, where Collins, 
 at the dictation of Mrs. Curzon, ordered a meal served.
 
 2/O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Then the host and his guests sat down to the un- 
 finished supper. 
 
 There was not only abundance to eat, but plenty to 
 drink, and in a short time Rowley and Mrs. Curzon 
 had the table in a very jolly mood. Even old Collins 
 became talkative. The two old maids tittered and 
 giggled at the rather coarse fun of the two young men, 
 who pretended to make love to them. 
 
 Rowley strove to understand Mrs. Curzon. She was 
 evidently the centre of the situation. Plainly she 
 was playing a part with him. Was she merely 
 a flirt, a woman openly in search of admiration at any 
 risk? The Doctor had a full share of vanity and was 
 ready enough for an adventure, out there was some- 
 thing public in this invitation quite inexplicable in the 
 light of his past experiences. However, lie was not a 
 man to allow the ball, whatever it meant, to be tossed 
 to his side without endeavoring to return it. 
 
 "Doctor, please uncross those knives," she said with 
 a shudder. "Do you know I'm terribly superstitious? 
 Tell me a cure for it." 
 
 Marriage or any other commonsense thing." 
 
 "Oh, I've tried that old remedy," she said, tossing 
 back her head. "That's commonplace, not common 
 sense. I thought you'd suggest something new. 
 Really, Doctor, my life is made miserable by supersti- 
 tion. I can't see a pin without picking it up, nor spill 
 salt without throwing some over my shoulder, nor go 
 under a ladder, nor put on my stockings in the morn- 
 ing "
 
 CATKIN 'A 1 S MESSENGER PAID 
 
 "What fatality is attached to that innocent and in- 
 teresting proceeding?" asked Rowley, laughing. 
 
 "Don't you know?" she asked, innocently. 
 
 "No, indeed!" 
 
 "I thought everybody knew. You know you 
 mustn't dress one foot completely before you've put 
 something on the other." 
 
 "As you have made this a professional consultation, 
 pray tell me how you get over the difficulty?" 
 
 Rowley's eyes were twinkling at his own audacity, 
 but Mrs. Curzon was a match for him. 
 
 "Oh!" she said, in the most innocent way. "First 
 I put on my left stocking, then my right stocking, then 
 my left shoe, then my right." 
 
 "Excellent!" exclaimed Rowley. "And I'm safe, 
 despite my ignorance! My practice, though, is quite 
 the reverse of yours, but it goes a little further, to in- 
 sure greater safety." 
 
 "How is that?" she asked with an arch challenge. 
 
 "Well," replied the Doctor, soberly. "I first put on 
 my right, mark you, my right, stocking, then my left, 
 then my right boot, then my left; then my right gar- 
 ter " 
 
 Here Rowley broke down and burst into uproarious 
 laughter. 
 
 "You see," he cried, "my plan is more extensive than 
 yours." 
 
 "You mean, sir, your capacity for description carries 
 you to greater lengths." 
 
 "No," said the Doctor, scratching his head. "I'm
 
 272 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 a plain man, and don't believe in leaving anything to 
 the imagination." 
 
 "He's outrageous! Isn't he, Mr. Tennant? By the 
 way, you are of Col. Clarkin's regiment?" 
 
 "Yes," answered Ralph, surprised that this woman, 
 who had paid him so little attention, should ask that 
 question. "What makes you ask?" 
 
 "Nothing," she replied, indifferently. "I wasn't 
 quite certain I heard Lieut. Fryer correctly. Besides, 
 when the Doctor leaves us in the morning I want to 
 be sure of his address, in case my case should grow 
 worse." 
 
 "I'm afraid it's a prescription you need more than a 
 doctor's address," said Rowley, boldly. 
 
 "You shall write one for me in the morning?" 
 
 "In the morning!" said Rowley. "I am afraid I'll 
 be over the hills and far away then, as the song runs." 
 
 "Do you tire so soon of our entertainment? I took 
 you for a more gallant man, Doctor. To leave me in 
 . What do you call it?" 
 
 "In the lurch?" he suggested. 
 
 "Indeed!" she went on. "We are only beginning 
 the night. Mr. Collins, I am afraid our guests are 
 getting dry, and Miss Dorothy might give us some 
 music. Who sings? Do you, Doctor? Ah, I know 
 you do. There's music in your voice. He sings, 
 doesn't he, Mr. Tennant? I am sure I can get the 
 truth from you." 
 
 It was plain the lady was set upon making a night of 
 it. She would accept no refusal. She spurred Mr.
 
 CATRINA"S MESSENGER PAID 273 
 
 Collins to press his guests to remain, and not count 
 the hours. Mr. Spiers, a red-haired little man, said in 
 a lame way: 
 
 "It is all so jolly it would be a shame to break up." 
 Mrs. Curzon cajoled the Doctor, declared she must 
 have a dance with him. All doctors danced elegantly. 
 She wanted to hear Ralph sing. Their unexpected 
 visit was a perfect god-send to lonely company shut up 
 in a country house. She appealed to Mr. Collins 
 whether that wasn't so, and the host replied he sup- 
 posed so. What was another hour or two, she asked 
 gayly; no one could miss it. Then she trilled in a high 
 falsetto voice : 
 
 The hour that we steal from the night, my love, 
 Is an hour that we give to the day. 
 
 She suggested more grog. Lieut. Fryer should mix 
 it this time. She was sure there was some military 
 recipe for the drink, a species of tradition which never 
 deserted the ranks. 
 
 Rowley supported her high spirits to the utmost. 
 He had drunk enough to be reckless, and the air of 
 abandon that had fallen upon the party conquered him 
 completely. Fryer and Ralph succumbed to it in turn, 
 and soon everybody, including even the two old maids, 
 were given over to a feverish hilarity. Rowley sang, 
 Ralph sang, old Collins resurrected the remnant of a 
 voice and croaked with a great deal of pride a number 
 of ancient glees. The two young men rendered some 
 comic songs, and Miss Dorothy played the harpsichord 
 indefatigably. Every one was in an exhausted and
 
 274 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 half-befuddled condition when the first light of day- 
 break dawned in the east. The fresh morning air, filled 
 with the twittering of the awakening birds, came in 
 through the windows and dispelled the spirit of the 
 revelry. 
 
 "We really mus' be going," said Fryer unsteadily 
 for the twentieth time. He was sitting on the sofa 
 half asleep. 
 
 "No, no," cried Mrs. Curzon eagerly. "At any rate 
 not until the daytime. We'll breakfast and then part. 
 Eh, Doctor?" 
 
 "Fair enchantress!" exclaimed Rowley, rolling to- 
 ward Mrs. Curzon, with his hand placed over his heart. 
 "Who who shall deny you? Breakfast! Command 
 us ! Lead on ! I'll follow you to the la st dish ditch." 
 
 "Did your lips stumble onto the truth then, Doctor? 
 Dish or ditch, which is it?" 
 
 "Both, my fair, so long as you " 
 
 The sentence was interrupted by a shot, followed by 
 a discharge of musketry. The firing was so close to 
 the windows that the smell of gunpowder quickly filled 
 the room. Fryer, Rowley and Ralph fled to the door 
 and were met by a number of inrushing British troops. 
 
 "Treachery!" cried Fryer, as he and his two com- 
 panions were roughly seized. 
 
 "At last !" cried Mrs. Curzon, as she dropped into a 
 chair. "I thought they would never come." 
 
 A few minutes later Lord Cornwallis and a brilliant 
 company of officers entered. With them was White- 
 head Hicks. Ralph was standing against the wall in
 
 CATKIN A 1 S MESSENGER PAID 
 
 the hall between two grenadiers. As Hicks brushed 
 past him, with a superb air of triumph, he said : 
 
 "I hope Miss Rutherford's messenger is satisfied 
 with his payment." 
 
 It was a clear confession of a plot, but victim as he 
 was of it Ralph could not see the machinery of the trap 
 that had caught him. Had he been within the parlor 
 and overheard the hurried words between his enemy 
 and Mrs. Curzon he would have understood. 
 
 "I thought you would never come," said the woman 
 as Hicks bent over her. 
 
 "You managed well. You're a great girl. He 
 swallowed the letter?" 
 
 "No," she said in a tired way. "The letter never 
 reached him. It was all accident. The devil worked 
 for you." 
 
 "Don't call yourself names," said Hicks laughing. 
 "No matter how gained, I'm your debtor."
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 IN THE ENEMT'S HANDS. 
 
 CHANCE certainly had played cruelly against Ralph. 
 In every detail Hicks's plan to ensnare him had failed 
 except in the result. The letter purporting to be from 
 Catrina, which he had concocted for Mrs. Curzon to 
 carry to Morristown, had failed of delivery. Although 
 Ralph did visit the appointed trysting place he was not 
 unaccompanied as directed. The British troops en 
 route to attack Lord Stirling were hours late in setting 
 out, and even later in passing the Collins House, never- 
 theless Hicks's triumph was complete. Save for that 
 momentary passage in the hallway, Ralph saw nothing 
 of his enemy, but he felt constantly the vicious pressure 
 of his hand. 
 
 Ralph and his fellow prisoners of war were sent to 
 Amboy. A few days later they were transported with 
 the entire British army to New York. On arriving in 
 the city they were marched up Broadway, passing 
 within sight of Mrs. Heathcote's home, to the new jail 
 where Cunningham was provost marshal. Hicks's 
 hope, no doubt, was that Ralph would be incarcerated 
 in that pitiless prison, but when Fryer's little troop, in-
 
 IN THE ENEMTS HANDS 277 
 
 creased greatly by other captures, arrived before its 
 ominous doors it was so full, even in the inhuman cal- 
 culations of the authorities, that only twenty men of 
 the batch were taken in. The remainder were faced 
 about and distributed among the other prisons in the 
 city. Fryer and most of Clarkin's men were locked up 
 in the New Dutch Church. Ralph and Rowley and 
 three others were lodged for one night in the Rhine- 
 lander sugar house, and then transferred to the prison 
 ship Jersey. The jail was probably more comfortable 
 than the ship, if I dare speak of degrees at all in con- 
 nection with these pest holes, but certainly in the latter 
 Ralph was spared the effect of Hicks's direct influence, 
 which, no doubt, would have been exerted through 
 Cunningham. 
 
 The Jersey was an old dilapidated hulk that had been 
 battered in battle with the French fleet. She was 
 originally a sixty-four gun ship. She had been stripped 
 of figurehead, masts and rigging, and lay anchored like 
 a rotting derelict near the tide-race, a short distance 
 above the Brooklyn ferry. She had already acquired 
 a ghastly reputation. Filth and Pestilence, Despair 
 and Death were the most tireless members of the guard 
 that day and night watched over crowded decks. Other 
 sentinels came and went, but these ghostly sentries re- 
 mained at their posts. 
 
 Ralph and Rowley were put aboard early in the fore- 
 noon. They found they were numbered with about a 
 thousand other unfortunates, who packed the deck so 
 densely that it was well-nigh impossible to take a step
 
 2/8 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 without jostling some one. Hot as the noonday sun 
 was, the fierce striking heat was preferable, as the new 
 comers soon learned, to the stench and suffocating at- 
 mosphere below. Rowley squeezed a way through the, 
 crowd, and Ralph followed him to the old quarterdeck. 
 Then they turned and surveyed their situation. 
 
 The heat quivered in the air. It burned the eyes. 
 It fell like the breath of something molten on the backs 
 of the crowded mass of men. It was reflected from 
 every surface, from threadbare coats and from the pale 
 skins of disease-stricken faces. 
 
 On the quarterdeck were a few persons, evidently 
 visitors. They gazed at the sight below with the in- 
 terest of spectators watching wild beasts in captivity. 
 Some one, perhaps $lit of pity^ ordered a bag of apples 
 thrown to the prisoners, and, then ensued a scramble 
 so hideous in its ravenous intensity that Ralph and 
 Rowley, in dismay, pressed back hard against the deck- 
 house, fearful of being trampled under foot. When the 
 surging had subsided, Rowley turned to Ralph: 
 
 "Well?" he said, tightening his lips. 
 
 "Well?" repeated Ralph. 
 
 Neither could say more. 
 
 A lank individual standing beside them munching 
 an apple asked : 
 
 "You're new fellows here, I reckon?" 
 
 "New!" exclaimed Rowley. "It's more like forty 
 years already!" 
 
 "Wait till you've been here five months, as I have, 
 and had dysentery twice and smallpox."
 
 IN THE ENEMTS HANDS 
 
 There was a sardonic note of superiority in the 
 speech. 
 
 "I'm glad you feel like bragging," said Rowley, an- 
 grily. "I don't covet the honor." 
 
 "It is something, though," said the fellow, indiffer- 
 ently, spitting out the core of his apple. "Wait till you 
 see the corpses go over in the morning. Somehow it 
 isn't the healthiest that stand it." 
 
 "Gosh!" cried Rowley, speaking to Ralph. "I un- 
 derstand now what Job got out of his comforters !" 
 
 But if the day was painful the night was hideous. At 
 eveningfall the prisoners were sent between decks and 
 battened down with iron gratings. There were no 
 lights and the square-barred portholes admitted only a 
 faint phosphorescence. Ralph and Rowley found them- 
 selves wedged in an unseen crowd of beings that 
 jostled, yelled and cursed like demons in the darkness. 
 It was useless to struggle. Indeed, at the moment, 
 neither had much feeling for a fight. Dejection was 
 the first symptom of the prison disease, and its last 
 stage hardened indifference. Between the two was the 
 relief of death. 
 
 When the struggle subsided sufficiently our two 
 friends sank down to a place for themselves on the floor 
 of the deck. Pressed against them were unknown 
 forms. The air was too suffocating for sleep. The 
 lungs panted, the blood throbbed in the brain. The 
 heat was insufferable. The stench was like some solid 
 infiltration. Yelling of various kinds was kept up pur- 
 posely for hours. Slowly as the hours wore along a
 
 28O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 tragic peace settled down upon the prison crew like the 
 waters closing over drowning men. But even the final 
 quiet was occasionally broken. 
 
 "Thief ! Look out ! I've lost something !" cried some- 
 body. 
 
 Instantly there was commotion amid the mass of in- 
 cumbent forms. Every one was feeling for his few 
 possessions. 
 
 Presently the man who had raised the alarm cried : 
 
 "All right, I've found it." 
 
 "What was it?" yelled a voice. 
 
 "Only my pillow. It got into my ear !" 
 
 Laughter and hooting rose again. 
 
 Several times Ralph thought the stillness at last was 
 permanent, and tried to keep his eyes closed, but re- 
 peatedly someone disturbed it. 
 
 "Cobb's gone mad ! Look out ! He's got a knife !" 
 was the final cry. 
 
 Delirium was no uncommon visitor to distracted 
 minds. Half the sleepers jumped to their feet in terror. 
 What was written on their faces the darkness hid, but 
 their horror-stricken feelings of expectancy seemed for 
 a moment to electrify the air. But this time the alarm 
 was false, and as midnight settled without over the 
 quiet city the silence of exhaustion and disease reigned 
 on the Jersey. 
 
 It required three days to dull the acute sense of hor- 
 ror that these scenes created in Ralph and Rowley. The 
 two were so overpowered by the situation in which they 
 found themselves that they passed the days almost
 
 IN THE ENEMY'S HANDS 28 1 
 
 mutely with one another. Both felt it utterly useless 
 to discuss their position or denounce the cruelty of it. 
 The indefinite prospect before them seemed intolerable 
 and morning after morning, as they saw the sick or the 
 dead carried away they wondered in what manner they 
 themselves would finally disembark. 
 
 Rowley did one afternoon set out on what he called 
 a tour of inspection. Thinking had become oppressive 
 and he was seeking relief in activity. 
 
 "I want to study where we are, and find out who's 
 aboard. Do you want to come?" 
 
 "No," Ralph replied. "Are you getting desperate?" 
 
 "For the last half-hour I've been looking at that 
 baby-faced sentry there. He's got so used to this 
 thing that he doesn't notice it. My fingers are itching 
 to wring his neck; I mean actually wring it." 
 
 Rowley went through the motion with his hand. 
 
 "There's a strength in my blood now that could 
 break iron. Is it a sense for murder? You don't have 
 that sort of feeling, do you? I can't lay down. I'm 
 like an old rat; I must gnaw something." 
 
 When Rowley returned he was in better mood. 
 
 "Did you meet any one you knew?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "No, but some one I was glad to know. I tell you, 
 Ralph, the poorest man is carrying around merchandise 
 he doesn't know how to use. That's why moping 
 doesn't pay." 
 
 "What did you find?" 
 
 "An idea, Ralph, an idea with a twinkle, the merest 
 twinkle, of daylight in it."
 
 282 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Tell me," suggested Ralph. 
 
 "No, not yet. I must think it over. It's useless in 
 its present condition. I got it from the queerest little 
 pardieuing Frenchman. He has just got over the 
 yellow fever. When he found I was a doctor he poured 
 out his tale of how they maltreated him yonder on one 
 of those hospital ships. Before I got through with him 
 I had caught his disease " 
 
 "Yellow fever?" cried Ralph. 
 
 "No, the shrug of the shoulders. I swear I don't 
 think my eyebrows are straight yet. When he finished 
 I couldn't help saying, 'Eet is ter reeble !' That 
 started him afresh. He threw his arms around me and 
 told me of an 'ange,' or something of that kind but I 
 guess it's a woman left behind at Aix-le-Bains, in 
 Savoy." 
 
 After this Ralph noticed that Rowley spent much of 
 his time pondering something and in scrutinizing every 
 one who visited the Jersey. 
 
 On the fourth morning a deputy purser named Willis 
 came aboard. He was a frequent visitor a fat little 
 man with goggle eyes, who strutted around with an air 
 of great importance. Rowley had spoken to him once 
 with ill success at first, but he stuck to him and hu- 
 mored him until the fellow had said as he departed : 
 
 "If there is ever anything I can do for you, Doctor, 
 of course I'll be glad to." 
 
 This morning he was standing close to the quarter- 
 deck, not far from the post where Ralph and Rowley 
 usually stationed themselves.
 
 IN THE ENEMY'S HANDS 283 
 
 Ralph was gazing wistfully over the bulwarks to- 
 ward the Manhattan shore when Rowley leaned over 
 his shoulder and whispered: 
 
 "Don't move and don't look around. I think that 
 amiable friend you've told me of is on the deck above 
 scanning the crowd. If I'm right, he's looking for 
 you. He's with Admiral Arbuthnot, and I'm pretty 
 sure some one addressed him as Mr. Hicks." 
 
 Ralph started. 
 
 "Keep still ! He's a tall, big fellow, clean-cut face, 
 dark eyes, quite dressy." 
 
 "Yes, yes," said Ralph, eagerly. 
 
 "He hasn't spotted you yet. Keep your head down. 
 I want you to turn around suddenly. If it's he hail 
 him at once pleasantly." 
 
 "For Heavens- 
 
 "Shutup! Do as I tell you ! Do it friendly!" 
 
 "I can't, Rowley!" 
 
 "Go on, man; play the part. I have a plan." 
 
 "Plan!" exclaimed Ralph, bitterly. "Mighty little 
 good any plan is here." 
 
 "Never mind ! Do as I tell you, quick ! Wave your 
 hand to him; say, 'How do you do, Mr. Hicks. Hope 
 you're well.' Hurry up now. Much may depend on 
 it." 
 
 With this he gave Ralph a pull that almost turned 
 him around facing his enemy above. The suddenness 
 of the move deprived Ralph for a moment of possession 
 of himself. His eyes met Hicks's. Instinctively obey- 
 ing Rowley's orders, he hailed him.
 
 284 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "How do you do, Mr. Hicks? Are you well?" 
 If Ralph was surprised at his own act Hicks was 
 fairly dumfounded. Involuntarily the old habit of 
 speech sprang to his lips. 
 
 "Ah, my boy," he cried. Then he added, "I'm glad 
 you take things so easy." 
 
 "How are you?" asked Ralph, gaining control of 
 himself. 
 
 "Delightfully well, as you can believe." 
 "That's good news," said Ralph, now enjoying the 
 audacity of the play. "How's every one?" 
 "Splendid!" said Hicks, enthusiastically. 
 "I hope I shall see you again?" 
 "I shall not lose sight of you, don't fear." 
 The sarcastic ring was rising in Hicks's voice. 
 Rowley pulled Ralph around. 
 
 "Don't stand there jabbering with those " 
 
 Rowley said this loudly and roughly, as he jerked 
 Ralph away to the centre of the boat. He didn't finish 
 his sentence, but when he was out of earshot he whis- 
 pered : 
 
 "Immense! I had to stop you, Ralph, for fear 
 another word would spoil it. Stay out of range until 
 he's gone. Remain here. I must leave you now for 
 the second act. I'll be back soon." 
 
 For the first time since they came aboard Rowley's 
 spirits were jubilant. Ralph hadn't the faintest idea 
 of his plan. Whatever it was this last phase of it must 
 have been a momentary inspiration, for it was impos- 
 sible that Rowley's moody cogitations of the past few
 
 IN THE ENEMY'S HANDS 285 
 
 days or his scrappy chats with his fellow prisoners had 
 led him to contemplate any action with Hicks. Ralph 
 watched him press through the crowd till he reached 
 Wills. He saw him lead the deputy purser aside, and 
 then he lost sight of him. It was useless to speculate 
 upon his companion's scheme, which Ralph felt must 
 be utterly vain, and he turned his eyes to Hicks. The 
 sleek, jaunty and superior air of his enemy worked 
 upon him like acid, and he felt rising that sense of mur- 
 der Rowley had spoken of. 
 
 "You devil !" he thought, "shall I ever be quits with 
 you? By G d, if I get a chance at you it shall be for 
 a bigger stake than you ever gambled for before." 
 
 He watched Hicks as he was rowed ashore, and 
 traces of the hate must have lingered in Ralph's eyes, 
 for Rowley, returning at that moment, asked: 
 
 "What's the matter, Ralph?" 
 
 "I feel as you did about that sentry." 
 
 "Towards his Highness, eh?" 
 
 "Yes. It's terrible, Rowley, when another human 
 being affects you like a burning iron." 
 
 "Good ! Let the iron work ! Press against it ! I 
 want you to keep there for a time. Tell me, would you 
 kill him?" 
 
 "Fairly? Yes." 
 
 "Bah! Fairly! Has he been fair? Are we here 
 fairly? Damn your soft ringers ! I owe him much less 
 than you do, and yet if he was within striking distance 
 of me now I'd die if I couldn't grind my heel in his face. 
 Be a man!
 
 286 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "I shan't be less if I ever meet him." 
 
 "That sounds better. Let's get into that corner 
 where I can whisper to you. Now listen. You under- 
 stand there's little chance for us if we stay in this hell- 
 hole." 
 
 "Mighty little," Ralph assented. 
 
 "There are thousands of corpses on that shore yon- 
 der under four inches of sand. That's the risk we run 
 if we stay." 
 
 "If we stay!" exclaimed Ralph. "I didn't know 
 they'd given us much choice." 
 
 "It isn't what they give us; it's what we can take." 
 
 "Oh! this is your plan?" 
 
 "I'm coming to it, and it's a good one, with just this 
 little danger attached to it we may get a bullet 
 through our heads." 
 
 "That's a small matter," laughed Ralph. 
 
 "But when you play for a win on chance, my boy, 
 you must take your chances. Ninety-nine points in 
 your favor and still you may be defeated by the hun- 
 dredth, ninety-nine against you, and the one may let 
 you through." 
 
 "Is it so desperate as that?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "Not quite," said Rowley; "but there's a fine touch 
 of the desperate in it. It began with that Frenchman 
 I told you of. He was telling me what a scurvy lot 
 these Englishmen are and how they bled the little 
 money he had from him on the hospital ship. 'Are 
 they that bad?' says I. 'Are they! They sell every- 
 thing, even la mort,' says he in his broken lingo. 'Ex-
 
 IN THE ENEMTS H4NDS 287 
 
 cept freedom/ I said, correcting him. 'There's a price 
 for that, too,' he sighed. 'Expensive, I suppose?' I 
 said. 'A hundred pounds,' he said, 'is what the little 
 lobster-eyed man asked.' ' 
 
 "The deputy purser?" exclaimed Ralph. 
 
 "The same," said Rowley. "It appears when he 
 found the Frenchman had money he dropped him the 
 hint." 
 
 "Why didn't he accept?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "The other fellows hadn't left him enough. And be- 
 tween us, Ralph, neither have we, for two. That is the 
 point that's been worrying me. Do you see now why 
 I asked you to do the friendly to Hicks this morning in 
 the presence of Wills. I wanted to make an effect on 
 Mr. Deputy-Purser." 
 
 "And?" " 
 
 "So far everything is fine. I took him on one side 
 and hinted to him in the pleasantest way that he was 
 about to lose one of his guests. I asked him if he had 
 seen the gentleman who had hailed you. I told him he 
 was trustee of your estate wealthy, friend of the Ad- 
 miral's, friend of everybody. You had merely gone 
 off on an adventure after a girl. You understand? 
 Then I suggested there \vas money laying around for 
 some one, and it was a pity it should not go to the right 
 party. He was shy at first, but by and by he asked 
 how much. 'Perhaps 500,' I said. 
 
 "Five hundred pounds !" cried Ralph. 
 
 "It was as easy to be rich, Ralph, as poor. The 
 amount dazzled him."
 
 288 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "It does me. We haven't got it." 
 
 "We've more than a hundred, though, and damn 
 it, think of it, Ralph you can give him a draft on 
 Hicks for the rest." 
 
 Ralph laughed outright. 
 
 "Lord, I'd give anything to be there when that 
 draft's presented," said Rowley, joining in the laugh. 
 "But look here, this afternoon he is coming to you for 
 the money. Mind, I've spoken only of your escape." 
 
 "Without you !" 
 
 "That's it exactly. I knew you'd take it that way. 
 Show him the money and the draft and I'll leave it to 
 you to bargain me in." 
 
 "I wouldn't go alone, Rowley." 
 
 "Good! tell him so. It's as easy for him to man- 
 age two as one, and he'll see it, particularly as I have 
 hinted to him that others are after your cash." 
 
 "But suppose he goes to Hicks?" 
 
 "He hasn't got the draft yet, has he? I haven't even 
 told him of it. He doesn't know Hicks's name, and 
 he won't until you tell him. He'll be on duty then." 
 
 "In the meantime he may find out." 
 
 "That's our risk. We won't be any worse off. 
 When you see him, mind, be independent. Treat my 
 plan as though it were an intrusion. Indeed, perhaps 
 you've half made other arrangements. Who knows? 
 I don't." Rowley winked and began to whistle. 
 
 Late in the afternoon Rowley brought Wills over to 
 Ralph. 
 
 "Mr. Tennant," said Rowley, "this gentleman has
 
 IN THE ENEMTS HANDS 289 
 
 been more courteous to me than others, and you'll do 
 me a great favor if you can in any way thank him for 
 it." 
 
 With this Rowley walked away. Wills was eager 
 enough for a. bargain, but he strongly demurred to the 
 suggestion of the benefits being shared by another. 
 
 "Never mind, then," said Ralph, indifferently. "If 
 you can't see your way I'd rather leave matters as they 
 are. One or two, the risk is the same. Besides, my 
 friend was somewhat extravagant with my 500." 
 
 The mention of the amount stirred the fellow's cu- 
 pidity. 
 
 "As you say," he said, dubiously, "whether it's one 
 or two perhaps makes little difference." 
 
 When Ralph was proceeding to produce the money 
 Rowley joined them. 
 
 The draft proved to be a serious objection. For a 
 moment it seemed as though the negotiations had 
 failed. 
 
 "Do you expect any man to carry around 500?" 
 asked Rowley. "Don't lose a good chance. The other 
 fellow is willing enough and the money's sure. I have 
 no doubt Mr. Hicks is arranging the matter without a 
 penny, and Mr. Tennant is partly for waiting. You 
 can come with us if you like, and get the money. 
 There's no harm in telling you it's straight to Mr. 
 Hicks we are going." 
 
 Rowley's persuasions succeeded in the end, due, no 
 doubt, to the fellow's fear that if he refused he might 
 be putting away an unusual gain. He had witnessed
 
 I9O THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 idea Ralph could be so astute. Really, I think he 
 pulled the wool completely over the old fox's eyes. 
 Perhaps this was due to the fact that he dropped en- 
 tirely the subject of Johnson and those northern 
 events. 
 
 Ralph visited me often, and I rejoiced again in our 
 companionship which now became very steady; but 
 the more I saw of my friend, the more I detected or 
 thought I detected a certain I won't say a false note, 
 but a certain falseness of pitch. There was a strain 
 somewhere, which resulted in frequent forced gayety, 
 succeeded by hours of black dejection. 
 
 With Helen, and of course I saw much of her, he was 
 invariably thoughtful and kind, but it struck me dare 
 I say it? there was a very little bit of earnest acting 
 in it. 
 
 The change of scene, the new life, the impressive 
 company with which Mrs. Heathcote filled her house, 
 were all very agreeable to Helen. She told me it 
 pleased her more than she anticipated. 
 
 "But it is such a useless life," she complained, as 
 though the complaint justified her in sharing it. 
 
 To Ralph the life was intolerable. 
 
 "But what to do, Alex!" he exclaimed hopelessly. 
 "Helen is becoming more Whiggish every day, until 
 now she is an inveterate enemy of the government. 
 And I, well, I am more indifferent than ever. Do you 
 know, if it wasn't for Helen I believe I'd clear out of 
 the country somehow. I wish one of those vessels 
 that arrived in the bay this morning would take me off.
 
 THE POWER OF AN AFFINITY IQI 
 
 As I watched them come to anchor and furl their sails 
 they seemed positively to call me. The best step I 
 suppose is to go back to the Manse." 
 
 "You couldn't do better, Ralph," I hinted. 
 
 "I know," he sighed; "Alex, the devil of unrest is in 
 me." 
 
 "Exorcise him !" I said. 
 
 "With what charm, oh! magician?" 
 
 "Hard work is a good medicine." 
 
 "Aching sinews, eh? Well, that would be better." 
 
 When he was in these moods he would sit sometimes 
 for hours with an open book on his knees in a deep 
 chair in a corner of the Heathcote parlor. There he 
 esconced himself after he left me that afternoon. 
 
 The ladies were busy upstairs. The fire crackled 
 and as the winter day died its early death, the glow of 
 the embers crept further and further out into the dark- 
 ening room. The house was very still. The snow 
 deadened the sounds outside in the street. The low 
 croning of old Dinah, the negress, in the kitchen, 
 exactly harmonized with the vague, half-formulated 
 thoughts that were floating in Ralph's head. 
 
 No doubt he heard the knocking on the outer door, 
 but he paid no heed to it. He was half lost until 
 the servant opened the parlor door and he was aroused 
 by hearing : 
 
 "Step in, if you please. I will tell Mrs. Heathcote." 
 
 That moment was the last of the twilight. But for 
 the pine logs the furniture would have been merely 
 so many shadowy outlines.
 
 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 In another minute a light could be seen bobbing 
 close to the water. 
 
 'They're after us," said Rowley. "Where are we? 
 Never mind. Pull inshore." 
 
 Before the two reached the New York shore their 
 pursuers were in mid-stream almost opposite the land- 
 ing where Rowley was setting his boat adrift. 
 
 "They're going up-stream a bit yet. Good !" he 
 whispered. "Let's run. Put this pistol in your pocket. 
 There were a couple on the seat, and I took them." 
 
 As fast as their feet could carry them Ralph and 
 Rowley hastened at random through the lanes. They 
 passed few houses and still fewer people, and in a short 
 time found themselves on the Bowery. 
 
 Here they halted. 
 
 "It's fatal to go north," said Rowley. "There are 
 outposts there. If we are seen these rebel rags will 
 undo us. We must get rid of them somehow. How?" 
 
 "There's my Aunt," suggested Ralph. "She could 
 help us. But if they search anywhere it's likely to be 
 there." 
 
 "Still no one would think of that but Hicks. He 
 won't know till morning. All we need is an hour or 
 two and a change. The rest we can manage." 
 
 Nothing better could be though of. In truth Ralph 
 felt right glad when they slipped through the familiar 
 wicket-gate at the end of the back garden and knocked 
 at the kitchen door of Mrs. Heathcote's.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 CATRINA PATS THE RANSOM. 
 
 DINAH answered the summons. 
 
 "For the Lord's sake, Mr. Ralph!" was her greet- 
 ing. 
 
 "Not a word, Dinah," said Ralph, as he squeezed her 
 rough, black hand. "Keep your eyes and your lips 
 shut. You haven't seen me, mind. This gentleman 
 and I have escaped from the prison ship. We must 
 make haste away. Where's Aunt?" 
 
 The old woman was shaking with excitement. 
 
 "Missus is in the parlor, I guess, with Miss Catrina." 
 
 "Come along, Rowley." 
 
 Ralph led the way and burst into the parlor. Catrina 
 was reading to Mrs. Heathcote. The old lady's short 
 sight prevented her recognizing her sudden visitors 
 until she heard Catrina's delighted cry. 
 
 "Ralph!" 
 
 "My dear boy, what does this mean?" asked Mrs. 
 Heathcote. 
 
 With few words Ralph explained the situation. 
 
 "I won't think of your going away," said the old 
 lady imperiously. "They can't molest you here. Be- 
 sides, Mr. Hicks will arrange this matter."
 
 294 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "He !" exclaimed Ralph. "He's at the bottom of it 
 all. He's a villain, Auntie." 
 
 "Ralph, you do him wrong." 
 
 "The story is too long, but trust me, I'm not mis- 
 taken. He visited the ship this morning to be sure I 
 was safe; yes, to taunt me." 
 
 "Oh, Auntie!" cried Catrina, wringing her hands. 
 The dreadful prison ship! Think of it! And he was 
 here this afternoon and said nothing!" 
 
 This confounded Mrs. Heathcote. 
 
 "It is too terrible to believe," she said. 
 
 "I give you my word he merits hanging, madam, if 
 ever a man did," said Rowley. 
 
 "Never mind, Auntie. Don't bother about him now," 
 said Ralph. "He and I will have many things to settle 
 when we meet next. What we need now is a change 
 of clothes, something to eat and a little money." 
 
 "Why, my dear boy, if you think that's best you shall 
 soon be fitted out," said the old lady, beginning to 
 bustle around. 
 
 "How is Helen?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "We've not heard a word from her, Ralph," said Mrs. 
 Heathcote, regretfully. 
 
 "We would have heard if anything was amiss," said 
 Catrina, cheerfully. "Come, Auntie, if you will see 
 about the clothes I will help Dinah with the meal." 
 
 "Poor, dear fellow," Ralph could hear her say, as she 
 passed into the hall with Mrs. Heathcote. 
 
 "We are all right, my boy; in an hour we'll be safe," 
 said Rowley, gayly, when the two were alone. "I don't
 
 CATRINA PATS THE RANSOM 295 
 
 know which is the most delightful, the old lady or the 
 young." 
 
 Ralph's thoughts were too busy to allow him an idle 
 word. The room was full of memories for him. One 
 by one they carried him back like so many stepping 
 stones to his boyhood days. 
 
 By and by Mrs. Heathcote returned with some of her 
 husband's clothing, which she had retained in a pious 
 wardrobe of old mementos. A selection was soon 
 made and the two men were taken upstairs to divest 
 themselves of their tell-tale regimentals. They made 
 a laughable appearance as they reentered the parlor, 
 for Mr. Heathcote's suits were too large for Ralph and 
 too small for Rowley. 
 
 Catrina set to work with a needle to remedy the 
 worst defects. As she was kneeling before Ralph to 
 tighten a too ample vest he placed his hand gently on 
 her hair. She permitted it to remain there for a mo- 
 ment and then as she removed it gently she raised her 
 eyes to his sadly and shook her head. 
 
 "Egad !" said Rowley, surveying himself. 'This suit 
 has all the effect of a year's high living. I feel as if I 
 had the gouty habit and an enlarged liver." 
 
 In a state of tense excitement the little party sat 
 down to the meal Dinah had prepared. 
 
 Every one struggled for composure, but speech 
 came in a disjointed,, spasmodic form. 
 
 "You'll write at once to Helen, won't you, Auntie? 
 Tell her I'm all right. Say nothing about the prison 
 ship."
 
 296 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "Where are you going?" asked Catrina. 
 
 For answer Ralph turned to Rowley. 
 
 "Our best plan," said the doctor, "is to get up to the 
 north of the island to-night and push farther along to- 
 morrow if we can. I don't think we shall meet any 
 troubles we can't get over. The only thing I regret is 
 I can't see Hicks when that draft is presented." 
 
 "What draft is that?" asked Mrs. Heathcote. 
 
 With great gusto Rowley told the tale of his dealing 
 with Wills. 
 
 The old lady failed to appreciate the humor of the 
 financial part of the transaction, for she said seriously : 
 
 "If Mr. Hicks doesn't pay it I will." 
 
 "Let me pay it, Auntie," begged Catrina. 
 
 "My dear young lady, in that way you'll buy two 
 good men at a ridiculously low figure," said Rowley. 
 
 "I can't estimate Rowley's worth," said Ralph laugh- 
 ing, "but I swear it's too high for me." 
 
 "Tell Auntie I may," pleaded Catrina. 
 
 "You'll never see that draft, Catrina," said Ralph, 
 "but if you do you may pay it on condition you allow 
 me to return" it." 
 
 "No," she cried, "no conditions." 
 
 "You want to buy me body and soul?" asked Ralph. 
 
 "No," said Catrina, dropping her voice, "but I would 
 like to know you owed your ransom to me." 
 
 A knock at the outside door startled the company. 
 
 "Who can it be this time of night?" asked Mrs. 
 Heathcote alarmed. "Go back to the kitchen, Dinah, 
 I will answer it."
 
 CATRINA PAYS THE RANSOM 297 
 
 All were standing. Rowley felt for his pistol. 
 
 "We'll fight it out, Ralph," he said. 
 
 "It can't be any one after us," said Ralph. "Prob- 
 ably some messenger." 
 
 "But, Ralph, supposing ' began Catrina, her 
 face white as a sheet. "If it is, Ralph, here's the old 
 passage." 
 
 Saying this she opened a part of the partition at the 
 side of the fireplace and revealed a low passage that 
 went straight through the big chimney. Ralph and 
 she had often played in it. It was not unlike a long 
 flue open at the top to the air. 
 
 The knocking at the door was urgently repeated. 
 
 "Go along, Auntie," said Ralph. "Whatever it is, 
 it is best to answer it. Be careful, that's all." 
 
 "They shall not touch you, said the old lady reso- 
 lutely as she went out into the hall. 
 
 "Go in there! do," pleaded Catrina. "Hurry! 
 Hurry!" 
 
 "The young lady's suggestion is best," said Rowley. 
 
 The two men stooped and entered the passage. As 
 Catrina closed the partition behind them she heard 
 Hicks's voice in the hall. 
 
 Catrina's heart was beating wildly. More than once 
 she was forced to gasp for breath as she leaned against 
 the door and listened to the words uttered without, but 
 the very intensity of her excitement came to her as a 
 positive relief after the apathy, despair and loneliness 
 she had experienced during the last few weeks. It was 
 a moment of danger, she knew. Some crisis was at
 
 298 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 hand exactly of what nature she could not guess. Her 
 only clear thought was that Ralph was in her keeping, 
 and there was something akin to joy for her in the 
 sense of peril. The exhilaration of a vague resolve 
 filled her as though in response to the beat of her emo- 
 tions. She could hear Hicks alternately pleading with 
 Mrs. Heathcote and commanding her. 
 
 "I shall not remind you again that you are running 
 a great risk in delaying me," he said finally. "If you 
 will not allow me to see Miss Rutherford alone for a few 
 minutes, well and good; you must take the conse- 
 quences." 
 
 "You shall not," said the old lady positively. "Mr. 
 Hicks, I command you to leave my house." 
 
 Catrina threw open the door. 
 
 "With your permission, Auntie, I will see Mr. Hicks. 
 I have something to say to him." 
 
 "Mr. Hicks has/ no business here at this late hour 
 that I will countenance," said Mrs. Heathcote sternly. 
 
 "Miss Rutherford, if my business could be transacted 
 at any other time needless to say I would defer it. In 
 a very few minutes there will be nothing for any of us 
 but regrets. However, rather than insist further 
 
 Hicks moved toward the street door. 
 
 "How long do you want with me, sir?" asked Ca- 
 trina. 
 
 "A mere matter of two or three minutes." 
 
 "Can't you deliver your your business to my aunt, 
 also?" 
 
 "I can't. Absolutely," replied Hicks, resolutely.
 
 CATRINA PAYS THE RANSOM 
 
 Laying a hand on Mrs. Heathcote's shoulder, Ca- 
 trina said : 
 
 "I think it is best, Auntie, dear, that I should see Mr. 
 Hicks. Leave us for a minute; I will call you." 
 
 "I don't like this intrusion," persisted the old lady, 
 "but if you think " 
 
 "I do," interrupted Catrina, who, turning to Hicks, 
 said as she stepped away from the threshold: 
 
 "You may enter, sir." 
 
 After whispering hurriedly to her aunt, she followed 
 her unwelcome visitor. 
 
 "Will you permit me to close the door for a mo- 
 ment?" were Hicks's first words after casting a rapid 
 glance around the room. 
 
 "You may," said Catrina. 
 
 "Thank you. Miss Rutherford certainly is treating 
 me with discretion if not with welcome." 
 
 Catrina watched him as he deliberately closed the 
 door and even more deliberately walked to the supper 
 table, which he scanned with an insolent air of triumph. 
 
 "I am sorry," he said, "I was not one of your com- 
 pany to-night. I didn't know you supped so late." 
 
 "What is it you want?" asked Catrina angrily. "You 
 said your time was very limited." 
 
 "True. Will Miss Rutherford be seated? Thank 
 you. Now r will you listen to me to the end I shall 
 be brief without exclamation of any kind? I shall 
 place my subject before you in such shape that when 
 you have heard me it will be necessary for you to an- 
 swer only 'yes' or 'no.' '
 
 3<X> THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 Hicks raised his voice in uttering the last three 
 words. Catrina felt there was something pitiless in the 
 alternative. To avert his steady gaze she said ner- 
 vously : 
 
 "Please proceed." 
 
 "I am glad you are interested. My fate and that of 
 others, who I believe have Miss Rutherford's warm 
 shall I say, sympathy? depends upon her answer." 
 
 Seating himself in a chair facing Catrina, he bent for- 
 ward and commenced to twirl his thumbs slowly in ac- 
 companiment to his words. Despite his outer assur- 
 ance a slight tremble in his voice occasionally betrayed 
 the struggle he was making to completely master his 
 feelings. Compelled by the force of the man and the 
 sense of danger attached to him, Catrina sat watching 
 him like one fascinated. 
 
 "A short time ago," Hicks began, with the utmost 
 deliberation, "I was presumptuous enough to place at 
 Miss Rutherford's feet what remains of my life, honor 
 and fortune. Up to a certain point, I must confess, 
 she was admirably candid with me. She closed every 
 door of hope to me except one she permitted me to 
 press my suit. Finally, though still disdaining any- 
 thing higher than friendship for me, she condescended 
 to seriously entertain my proposition. She left one 
 afternoon, having more than half promised that if I 
 would be satisfied with a greatly qualified acceptance 
 she would consent to be my wife. I told her that if she 
 would grant me so much so little from the lover's 
 standpoint I would wait contentedly until, by service
 
 CATRINA PATS THE RANSOM 3<DI 
 
 and proof of my devotion, I had won the rest. Was 
 Miss Rutherford playing with me then, or merely using 
 me for some purpose? I would fain believe neither, 
 and yet within a few hours of encouraging me she dis- 
 missed me by an incredibly short note, delivered to me 
 by a man who more than once has avowed himself my 
 enemy. Do you wonder if I ask myself what part he 
 played in my dismissal? Of one thing I am certain, 
 Catrina but for his influence you would never have 
 written that letter. Dear me! What is that? Are 
 you really troubled with rats here?" 
 
 "Oh, no. Go on," begged Catrina, nervously. 
 
 "Ah ! Well, then. I am not a man to lose easily or 
 to give up without a struggle the dearest prize of my 
 life. Catrina, I will win you yet if I can win you by any 
 means. Foul or fair I care not, but dp me the justice 
 to acknowledge that hitherto I have played fair. I 
 should have won you ere this but for unwarranted op- 
 position. You know that. I am not guessing at my 
 facts. You rejected me as a sort of price you were 
 forced to pay to an unholy tyranny. Good! I am 
 now gcing to propose that you accept me for the same 
 reason." 
 
 Hicks rose to his feet. His voice was defiant. He 
 could no longer hide his sense of triumph in the situa- 
 tion. With one fist clenched, and leaning upon the 
 table, he continued : 
 
 "A couple of men escaped this evening from His 
 Majesty's prison ship. I have guessed where they are. 
 Perhaps Miss Rutherford knows. Unless you speak
 
 3O2 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 they are probably safe. Your silence, I take it, is as- 
 sured; therefore their fate lies in my hands. One of 
 those men is my enemy. At last, thank Heaven, he is 
 absolutely in my power. I can kill him as easily as a 
 terrier could that rat we heard a moment ago in yon- 
 der partition. Do you blame me if I rejoice? Do you 
 wonder if I demand the highest ransom I can think 
 of to forego my revenge and permit him to escape un- 
 hurt? Not all the riches in the world could tempt me; 
 but I love you, Catrina, beyond riches, and on one 
 condition will place that man's life and liberty in your 
 hands. I left the fort with the understanding that a 
 squad of soldiers was to follow me here exactly thirty 
 minutes after I departed. There are now," continued 
 Hicks, placing his watch on the table, "fifteen minutes 
 remaining. If the military arrive I may be powerless. 
 If you will give me your solemn promise and I'll trust 
 you not to default that you will marry me within six 
 months I will leave here instantly and no one shall be 
 disturbed." 
 
 Breathlessly, Catrina arose, her hand pressed hard 
 against her heart. 
 
 "Is is that the only way?" she asked, blankly. 
 
 "Absolutely," replied Hicks, "if you want to save 
 him." 
 
 "To save him!" murmured Catrina, hysterically. 
 "Yes, yes, if that is the only way yes." 
 
 "You promise to marry me within six months?" he 
 persisted. 
 
 "Yes, I do," she replied, solemnly.
 
 CATRINA PAYS THE RANSOM 303 
 
 "My God, but you love him !" exclaimed Hicks. 
 
 His bitter expression of admiration had been barely 
 uttered when the partition was thrown open and Ralph, 
 livid with anger, stepped into the room. 
 
 Rowley followed him. 
 
 "Blackguard and scoundrel!" cried Ralph, striding 
 toward Hicks. "Miss Rutherford shall make no bar- 
 gain with you. I shall buy my own safety at my own 
 price." 
 
 Hicks, white as his lace frills, stumbled back a step 
 or two at Ralph's sudden onslaught. 
 
 "Oh, Ralph!" cried Catrina in fear. But there was 
 a ring of joy in her voice that maddened Hicks. 
 
 "You can hope for nothing from me," cried Hicks, 
 addressing Ralph. 
 
 "Nothing from you, you villain ! No, nothing but 
 what I can take. Don't you think you owe me some- 
 thing?" 
 
 "Nothing but what I would pay you," sneered Hicks. 
 
 "Don't fear, then, you shall have your opportunity 
 now. You have shown what you want of me, and you 
 have tried by every trick of dirty treachery to get it. 
 Let me tell you what I want of you your life." 
 
 A cry escaped Catrina. She placed her hand on 
 Ralph's arm. 
 
 "We are not settling accounts that way to-night," 
 said Hicks, struggling to be cool. 
 
 "We are, Mr. Hicks, I assure you. Thanks to you we 
 have a few minutes left. How many?" Ralph asked 
 as he handed Hicks his watch.
 
 304 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 "If you are interested," said Hicks. "Capt. De 
 Lancy and his men will be here in about ten minutes. 
 Don't you think you had better rely upon Miss Ruther- 
 ford's arrangement with me?" 
 
 "Yes, do, Ralph," pleaded Catrina. 
 
 "When I can kill this wretch?" demanded Ralph. 
 
 "No, Ralph, dear; don't." 
 
 "Catrina, there's only one word that can save him. 
 Do you love him?" 
 
 "Ralph I think I 
 
 "Forswear yourself to me, Catrina. Look up ! Do 
 you wish to spare him or me?" 
 
 "Can you ask?" Catrina pleaded. 
 
 "Good ! Rowley, Mr. Hicks and I will have to count 
 on you. Offer him his choice of the pistols." 
 
 "Ralph, you are not going to " cried Catrina. 
 
 "My dear, you must leave the room. Let me lock 
 the door. For my sake be silent for a few minutes. 
 My safety depends on it. Can't I trust you?" 
 
 Saying this, Ralph led her to the door. 
 
 "Is there no other way? I will marry him, Ralph." 
 
 "And kill me?" 
 
 Catrina bowed her head. Then suddenly she turned 
 the key in the door and quickly withdrawing it put it 
 in her bosom. Throwing her arms around Ralph's neck 
 she cried excitedly: 
 
 "You shan't send me away. I have courage. God 
 guard you, Ralph. I hate that man." 
 
 The vehemence of this utterance appalled Hicks. 
 He was standing against the wall like a dog at bay.
 
 CATRINA PATS THE RANSOM 305 
 
 "Is this murder?" he cried. "Let me out. Give 
 me the key, Miss Rutherford." 
 
 "Don't put a finger on her," cried Ralph. "Stand 
 back, or I'll shoot you without pity. Take your place 
 at the other end of that table. Mr. Rowley shall count 
 three and our account with one another will be settled." 
 
 While Rowley was struggling to induce Hicks to 
 take a choice of the weapons Ralph pleaded with Ca- 
 trina to leave the room. 
 
 "I will not," she cried passionately. "If you force 
 me out I will raise an alarm. I am safe here. I won't 
 move. Fight if you will and kill him." 
 
 "You splendid girl !" cried Ralph, as he kissed her. 
 
 He went to the end of the table and took his station 
 there. One pistol remained on the table before Hicks. 
 Rowley handed Ralph the other pistol. 
 
 "We are in your hands, Rowley. See that the play 
 is fair. Proceed !" 
 
 Hicks, now deadly pale, was standing where Rowley 
 had placed him. He was nervously fingering the wea- 
 pon before him. Hate and fear were struggling within 
 him for control. He was no coward, but he lacked the 
 desperation that ruled Ralph. Moreover, the revul- 
 sion of feeling from the sense of triumph a few minutes 
 before tended to unnerve him. He felt he was caught 
 in the trap he had made for his enemy. A moment or 
 two more and he would be safe ! He looked around the 
 room. He saw Catrina standing trembling against the 
 door supremely beautiful he thought in her devotion 
 to the man she loved. Rowley, massive and cool, like
 
 3O6 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 a judge, stood at his side, midway between himself and 
 his antagonist. The little world that counted for every- 
 thing at that moment was against him. Gripping his 
 pistol tight he looked at Ralph's face, hard set with one 
 purpose to kill him. Only a few feet separated his 
 antagonist from him, and his heart quailed when he 
 heard Rowley say, deliberately: 
 
 "Keep your pistols at your side, gentlemen, until I 
 have asked you whether you are ready and then 
 counted one, two, three. At the command 'Fire !' raise 
 your weapons and shoot. If either of you deviate from 
 this I swear I will put a bullet through him on the 
 spot." 
 
 "I will have none of this," cried Hicks. I refuse to 
 give color of self-defense to any murder you may in- 
 tend." 
 
 "Coward as well as scoundrel, eh?" sneered Ralph. 
 "To the last then I have given you more credit than 
 you deserve. Look at him !" 
 
 "The gentleman is careful of his fine carcass," cried 
 Rowley. 
 
 "Go on," cried Hicks, wincing under the lash of in- 
 sults that made his face livid. "I will settle with you, 
 too." 
 
 "You settle !" cried Ralph. "Renegade, false to your 
 only friend's trust; thief, who stole and gambled the 
 money committed to your charge; sneak, who, under 
 the cloak of friendship, plotted " 
 
 "Liar!" roared Hicks. 
 
 "So ho! You can feel!" cried Ralph, insolently.
 
 CATRINA PAYS THE RANSOM 307 
 
 "Yet you could play the part of spy to entrap me and 
 then come here, you scoundrel, to force this girl by 
 threat to marry you. Gentleman, that you claim to be; 
 coward, that you are; daring to prate of revenge ' 
 
 "Stop !" cried Hicks, threateningly. 
 
 " when you haven't the courage to take it. I 
 
 would spit on you if it wasn't that it would wash some 
 of the filth from the King's commissioner." 
 
 Provoked, maddened to the last extreme, Hicks, 
 with .a yell of rage, lifted his pistol and fired at Ralph 
 across the table. The bullet entered Ralph's shoulder 
 and his weapon dropped from his hand. Catrina 
 rushed to Ralph. 
 
 "Murderer!" cried Rowley. Snatching up Ralph's 
 pistol, he discharged it at Hicks. 
 
 "Murder! Murder! My God, to die thus!" cried 
 Hicks, as he sank to the floor. 
 
 His cry rang through the house. . The moment's 
 silence that followed was broken by Mrs. Heathcote's 
 voice and the sound of hurrying feet in the garden 
 without. 
 
 "The soldiers!" cried Catrina. "Run, Ralph, run! 
 Here's the key, Mr. Rowley." 
 
 In an instant the door was opened and the three were 
 fleeing through the kitchen. 
 
 The hammering of the soldiers on the front door 
 aroused Hicks. 
 
 "The rear garden, De Lancy," Hicks gasped. "Mur- 
 derers ! Shoot them !" 
 
 He had made himself heard. He could hear the
 
 3O8 THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 sound of footsteps hurrying around the house, and as 
 he fell back exhausted he panted with satisfaction. 
 
 Once out in the garden, Ralph and Rowley made 
 straight for the wicket gate. The next instant they were 
 past it. Turning quickly, Ralph put his arms around 
 Catrina and kissed her. 
 
 "Hurry, hurry!" she cried. 
 
 "Halt!" roared a voice, followed immediately by a 
 shot. 
 
 The bullet struck Catrina in the back. With a cry 
 she grasped the palings to steady herself. 
 
 Hearing the cry, Ralph returned. 
 
 "What's the matter? Are you hurt?" cried Ralph. 
 
 "No, no!" she cried. "Only frightened; hurry. God 
 bless you." 
 
 Peering through the darkness, striving still to watch 
 Ralph's retreat, the night grew blacker before her eyes, 
 and she sank to the ground.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 WHERE THE HEART IS THERE WILL OUR 
 THOUGHTS BE ALSO. 
 
 THE first news that I received of either Ralph's cap- 
 ture or escape reached me amid the excitement that 
 attended the reported murder of Mr. Hicks. The story 
 ran that Hicks had been foully slain at Mrs. Heath- 
 cote's by two desperadoes who had escaped from the 
 prison ship. 
 
 I made my way at once to King street and there in a 
 few moments I learned the sad reality. 
 
 Hicks had expired during the night. 
 
 The soldiers had found Catrina and carried her into 
 the house. 
 
 No one but Mrs. Heathcote and the doctor was per- 
 mitted to see Catrina until the end. She lingered only 
 a few days, dreaming of Ralph, as her Aunt told me 
 afterward. 
 
 "Auntie, I love him," she repeated frequently. 
 
 None of us heard of Ralph for many weeks. With 
 great effort Rowley managed to get him as far as New 
 Rochelle. His wound became seriously painful and 
 perhaps his life was saved only by the hospitality of a 
 Huguenot family, who received and sheltered the 
 wanderers.
 
 3IO THE HEART OF WOMAN 
 
 A month elapsed before the patient dared undertake 
 the journey northward, even by short stages. He ar- 
 rived at the Manse pitiably weak and there learned of 
 the dark sequel to the escape from the Jersey. 
 
 With a silence that was the very soul of tenderness 
 Helen nursed him back to health. She knew that the 
 sadness upon him was the shadow of another love, a 
 haunting spirit that rendered her affection, as she 
 thought, a common-place thing of clay, yet pitying 
 Ralph without measure, serving him without thought 
 of sacrifice, she offered him, in the guise of duty, a 
 love that was as priceless in its own way as the one he 
 had lost. As I think of it I bow my head in wonder 
 at the thought of how much the silences of life contain. 
 
 When Ralph was physically recovered he went back 
 to the army. I didn't see him or hear from him until 
 the war was ended. He bore an active part in the 
 operations that closed with the surrender of Corn- 
 wallis and was promoted rapidly. He was colonel when 
 he entered New York with Gen. Washington on the 
 day the British evacuated the city. Helen, jubilant 
 over the happy termination of the long civil struggle, 
 had come down to Mrs. Heathcote's with Isaac Scott 
 to meet her husband. 
 
 Ralph paid me an early visit. The campaigning 
 has given him rugged health, but I soon perceived the 
 old boyishness and elasticity of spirit were quite de- 
 parted from him. 
 
 "Put your hat on, Alex," he said after our greetings 
 were ended.
 
 WHERE THE HEART IS 311 
 
 On the street he linked his arm with mine and led 
 me up Broadway to St. Paul's chapel. 
 
 "It is here?" he said, half in question, as we turned 
 into the churchyard. 
 
 I knew what he was seeking. Without a word I 
 conducted him to Catrina's grave. 
 
 Without a word, his hand on my shoulder, he stood 
 gazing at the little mound of earth for some minutes. 
 The tears were in his eyes when he turned away and 
 still clinging to me walked homeward. 
 
 THE END.
 
 "Too good a novel to remain unclaimed." 
 
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 Chicago Inter-Ocean 
 
 "A book full of good laughs, and will be found a sure specifk for the 
 
 bines." 
 
 Omaha World Herald 
 Neb. "The reader will love him." 
 
 North American, Philadelphia 
 
 "Great natural humor and charm. In this story alone Mr. Lloyd 
 *" is descrying of rank up-front among the American humorists." 
 
 Portland Transcript 
 
 -- "A cheerful companion. The reviewer has enjoyed it in a month 
 
 when books to be read have been many and the time precious." 
 
 Denver Republican 
 
 "Nelson Lloyd is to be hailed as a Columbus. There isn't a story in 
 the book that isn't first-class fun, and there's no reason why The Chrtnic 
 Loafer should not be placed in the gallery of American celebrities beside the 
 popular and philosophical Mr. Z>oe/v." 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR C8L COMPANY 
 
 5*7 EAST SIXTEEMTH ST., NEW YORK
 
 By NELSON LLOYD 
 
 Author of "The Chronic Loafer" 
 
 AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY 
 
 Illustrated. ClotK, 8vo, $1.30 
 
 " ' A Drone and A Dreamer ' recalls the maxim of La 
 Bruyere : ' When the reading of a book elevates the mind and 
 inspires noble sentiments, do not seek for another rule bj which 
 to judge the work. It is good and made by the band of a 
 workman. ' One of the cleverest and most fascinating stories, 
 all too brief, that it has ever been my pleasure to read." 
 
 WALT. McDoucALL, in North American. 
 
 " Capitally told. The whole story is rich in humor." 
 
 Outlook. 
 
 "The most delightfully original offering of the year." 
 
 New Tork World. 
 
 " A story that everyone can enjoy." New Tork Press. 
 
 "At once and unreservedly we acknowledge the singu- 
 lar merits of this clever romance. ' ' 
 
 New Tork Times Saturday Review. 
 
 " Occasionally across the weary wastes of contemporary 
 fiction erotic, neurotic, tommyrotic or would-be historical, 
 comes a breath from some far, sweet land of cleanness and 
 beauty. Such a story is 'A Drone and A Dreamer.' It is 
 difficult to conceive of anything more charming and delight- 
 ful than this book." Chicago Evening Post. 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR (EL COMPANY 
 
 5*7 EAST SIXTEENTH ST., NEW YORK
 
 THE SCREEW 
 
 BY 
 
 PAUL BOURGET 
 
 Copiously Illustrated. 
 Ornamental cover, gilt top. $1.25 
 
 A. Novel of Society in Paria and London 
 
 A fascinating love story. The character studies contained 
 in this society novel of to-day are in Bourget's most finished 
 style. His power of analysis and ability to depict character 
 are marvelous, and nowhere are they better illustrated than 
 in The Screen. 
 
 STEPPING 
 
 BY 
 
 ELIZABETH PRENTISS 
 
 New Illustrated Edition. 
 Ornamental cloth cover, green and silver. $1.50 
 
 A special holiday edition of Mrs. Prentiss* famous story, 
 bound uniformly with Amelia E. Barr's " Trinity Bells." 
 Boxed in artistic form. The two books, making a charming 
 gift, $3.00 per set. Sold separately at $1.50 a copy. 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR (EL COMPANY 
 
 5*7 EAST SIXTEENTH ST., NEW YORft
 
 LORDS T F HE NORTH 
 
 By A. C. LAUT 
 A STRONG HISTORICAL NOVEL 
 
 J ORDS OF THE NORTH is a thrilling romance 
 J ^ dealing with the rivalries and intrigues of Tbe Ancient 
 and Honorable Hudson's Bay and the North-West 
 Companies for the supremacy of the fur trade in the 
 Great North. It is a story of life in the open ; of 
 pioneers and trappers. The life of the fur traders in 
 Canada is graphically depicted. The struggles of the Selkirk 
 settlers and the intrigues which made the life of the two great 
 fur trading companies so full of romantic interest, are here 
 laid bare. Francis Parkman and other historians havis 
 written of the discovery and colonization of this part of our 
 great North American continent, but no novel has appeared 
 so full of life and vivid interest as Lords of the North. 
 Much valuable information has been obtained from old docu- 
 ments and the records of the rival companies which wielded 
 unlimited power over a vast extent of our country. The 
 style is admirable, and the descriptions of an untamed conti- 
 nent, of vast forest wastes, rivers, lakes and prairies, will 
 place this book among the foremost historical novels of the 
 present day. The struggles of the English for supremacy, 
 the capturing of frontier posts and forts, and the life of trader 
 and trapper are pictured with a master's hand. Besides 
 being vastly interesting, Lords of the North is a book of his- 
 torical value. cloth, 8vo, $,.5O 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR (EL COMPANY 
 
 5*7 EAST SIXTEENTH ST., NEW YORK
 
 WHITE BUTTERFLIES 
 
 By HATE UPSON CLARK 
 
 Cloth, 8vo, $1.25 
 
 MARY E. WILK.INS 
 
 "The stories are marvellous. I feel at though I -were constantly find- 
 ing another vein of gold. The dramatic power in some of them has never 
 been excelled in any American short stories. 'Solly' is a masterpiece." 
 
 ANSON JUDD UPSON, D.D.. L.L.D.. 
 
 Chancellor of The Univ. of New YorK 
 
 "Your stories are just what I like. Your characters are exceedingly 
 vivid. I cannot too warmly commend the simplicity and purity of your 
 style, the vividness of your characters and the general construction of the 
 stories." 
 
 MARGARET E. SANGSTER 
 
 "It seems to me that no stories, long or short, have appeared, which 
 illustrate more perfectly than these what we have in mind when we use, in 
 a literary sense, the term 'Americanism. ' The atmosphere of these beau- 
 tiful tales is truthfully varied to suit every locality described, but everywhere 
 the standards and ideals are set alike. A sound, healthful Americanism, 
 just what we wish the word to mean, pervades them all." 
 
 St. Louis Globe-Democrat 
 
 "It is not art ; it is genius." 
 
 The Nation 
 
 "It is unusual to find so wide a range of scene and person in one col- 
 lection of short stories. In each of these a strongly dramatic incident is in- 
 troduced, ringing both true and real." 
 
 Mail and Express 
 
 "Many a nugget of wisdom, many a bit of homely philosophy, and 
 enough humor to leaven the whole." 
 
 "Western Club Woman 
 
 "Full of exquisite pathos, a tenderness, a delicacy of touch not often 
 equalled. The art is perfect. " 
 
 Chicago Evening Post 
 
 "Mrs. Clark is entitled to the thanks of a reading public." 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR (8L COMPANY 
 
 5*7 EAST SIXTEEMTH ST.. NEW YORK
 
 TWXITY BELLS 
 
 By AMELIA E. BARR 
 
 Cloth, Svo, $e.so 
 Sixtn full-page Illustrations by F^ly 
 
 "Orx of tKe best stories over -written bar 
 Amelia E.. Barr." 
 
 ST. LOUIS GLOBE DEMOCRAT. 
 
 CHRISTIAN NATION 
 
 "Without question the best book for young girls which has appeared 
 for years. Besides being interesting it has an educational value, as it is good 
 supplementary reading to a school course in history. Mrs. Barr is at her 
 kest in Trinity Stilt. We trust that erery library will soon hare a copy oa 
 its shelves." 
 
 LITERARY -WORLD. Boston. 
 
 "In idea and execution this is one of the author's best works, and 
 well wsrthy of its superb dress of silver and green." 
 
 THE BOOn-BTJYER t 
 
 "The name is happily chosen for this romantic story of life in New 
 York during the period preceding the war with the Mediterranean corsairs, 
 for the bells of Old Trinity ring out an accompaniment to the changing for- 
 tunes of the lovable little Dutch heroine. There is a charm in Mrs. Barr's 
 work that goes directly to the reader's heart, while her skill in the delinea- 
 tion of character is no less effective in its appeal to the mind. Trinity Belli 
 is an excellent minor historical romance, worthy of a permanent place in a 
 young girl's library." 
 
 BOSTON TIMES 
 
 "No mere agreeable story of life in the early days of our country hat 
 ever been written. Trinity Bcllt shows Mrs. Barr's charm and power in 
 all its force and beauty. Besides its historical value, it is vastly entertaining.** 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR OL COMPANY 
 
 5*7 EAST SIXTEENTH ST., NEW YORK
 
 Two SIDES 
 
 OF A QUESTION 
 
 Life from a Woman's Point of View 
 
 BY 
 
 MAY SINCLAIR 
 
 Cloth $1.5O 
 
 A DOOR TO READ. THINK 
 OVER AND DISCUSS 
 
 "A masterpiece. The vigor of the work and the knowl- 
 edge of human interest it displays are altogether exceptional. 
 
 The Bookman. 
 
 "The characters are irresistible. The book should be 
 read." St. James Gazette. 
 
 "This book belongs to a high order of imaginative fiction, 
 based on the essential realities of life." Athenaeum. 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR (SL COMPANY 
 
 5 4- 7 EAST SIXTEENTH ST., NEW YORK
 
 The Colburn Prize 
 
 By GABRIELLE E. JACttSON 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY MABEL HUMPHREY 
 Ornamental ClotH Cover, $1.OO 
 
 Mrs. Jackson needs no introduction. Her stories in 
 the St. Nicholas magazine have won for her a warm place 
 in the hearts of the girls throughout the country. The 
 Colburn Prize is a charming story of mutual sacrifice by two 
 school friends, and is the last and best work of the gifted 
 author of Denise and Ned Toddles and Pretty Polly Perkins. 
 Nine full-page illustrations add to the charm of this ex- 
 quisite gift book which Mrs. Jackson has dedicated to THE 
 SCHOOL GIRLS THROUGHOUT THE LAND. 
 
 THE BILLY STORIES 
 
 By EVA LOVE/TT 
 
 Ornamental ClotH Cover, J&l.OO 
 
 Charmingly Illustrated with Ha If -Tones and Line Cuts 
 
 * # * 
 
 Billy in the role of Pirate, Author, Rough Rider, etc., 
 will be keenly enjoyed by every boy and girl, and also by 
 the older people who read this book. 
 
 j\ Humorous and most amusing set of stories 
 told from tHe boy's point of view 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR CD. COMPANY 
 
 5*7 EAST SIXTEENTH ST., NEW YORK
 
 PARLOUS TIMES 
 
 DAVID DWIGHT WELLS 
 
 A Novel of Modern. Diplomacy 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 "Her Ladyship's Elephant." 
 
 * * 
 
 Parlous Times is a society novel of to-day. 
 The scene is laid in London in diplomatic 
 circles. The romance was suggested by experi- 
 ences of the author while Second Secretary of 
 the United States Embassy at the Court of St. 
 James. It is a charming love story, with a 
 theme both fresh and attractive. The plot is 
 strong, and the action of the book goes with a 
 rush. Political conspiracy and the secrets of 
 an old tower of a castle in Sussex play an im- 
 portant part in the novel. The story is a 
 bright comedy, full of humor, flashes of keen 
 wit and clever epigram. It will hold the 
 reader's attention from beginning to end. 
 Altogether it is a good story exceedingly well 
 told, and promises to be Mr. Wells' most suc- 
 cessful novel. 
 
 Cloth, 8vo, $1.50 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR (L COMPANY 
 
 5 * 7 EAST SIXTEENTH ST., NEW YORft
 
 THE GIFT BOOK OF THE SEASON 
 
 The Book of Sport 
 
 Written by the following Experts : 
 
 Col. John Jacob Astor H. H. Hunnewell, Jr. 
 
 Oliver H. P. Belmont Eustace H. Miles 
 
 Foxhall Keene T. Suffren Tailer 
 
 John E. Cowdin Edward La Montagne, Sr. 
 
 Miss Ruth Underbill Malcolm D. Whitman 
 
 Miss Beatrix Hoyt Holcombe Ward 
 
 Herbert M. Harriman J. Parmly Paret 
 
 Findlay S. Douglas Ralph N. Elli 
 
 H. L. Herbert Albert C. Bostwick 
 
 Lawrence M. Stockton Herman B. Duryea 
 
 George Richmond Fearing, Jr. W. P. Stephens 
 Irving Cox 
 
 "Unique and badly needed." CASPAR WHITNEY. 
 
 "An American Badminton. Superbly done. Author- 
 itative." Boston Herald, 
 
 tf There has never been anything like this galaxy of stars 
 in the realms of amateur sporting literature." 
 
 New Tork Herald. 
 
 "A noble book of sports. Written for lovers of sport by 
 lovers of sport. Only the best of the best has been given. 
 This applies alike to articles, illustrations and book-making. 
 The best possible book on amateur sport." 
 
 Evening Telegraph, Philadelphia. 
 
 Fr descriptive circulars, sample pages, etc., address 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR CO. COMPANY 
 
 5*7 EAST SIXTEENTH ST., NEW YORK
 
 A 000125483