CHAPTER VII
THE BLACK-BEARDED MAN
Anne and Rose Freeman stood at the gate all ready to enter thecomfortable chaise with its broad seat and big wheels. The big brownhorse was apparently eager to start, but black Josephus held him firmlyuntil the girls and Mr. Freeman were seated, and then handed the reinsto Mr. Freeman.
"Good-bye, good-bye," called the girls, leaning out beyond the hood ofthe chaise to wave to Aunt Hetty and Captain Freeman and Uncle Enos, whohad stayed to see the travelers start on the ride to Boston.
"A horse is useful," remarked Uncle Enos, thoughtfully, as he watchedthem drive away, "but there's not one in Province Town settlement asyet. We have little need of one, with so many good boats."
The summer morning was clear and bright, and not too warm. They had madean early start, and the heavy dew still lingered on the trees andflowers.
"How far shall we go to-day, father?" asked Rose.
"We will pass the night in Sandwich, if all goes well," replied Mr.Freeman. "Your aunt has put us up a fine luncheon, and we will give Ladya rest toward noon and enjoy it."
The sandy roads made it rather slow traveling, but Anne was as happy asa bird. They got many glimpses of the sea, and now and then some wildcreature would run across the road, or peer at them from the shelter ofthe woods. Once or twice a partridge, with her brood of little ones,fled before them, and there was a great deal for them to see and enjoy.Anne felt very happy to know that Aunt Martha and Uncle Enos hadforgiven her for running away, and that they were glad for her to go toBoston. She did not cherish any ill-will against Amanda, and thoughtherself a very fortunate little girl to be sitting beside Rose Freemanand riding along the pleasant road in such a grand chaise.
Mr. Freeman told them that there was something very wonderful to be seenin Suet, a little village that they would pass through on their way toSandwich. "Captain Sears is an old friend of mine," said Mr. Freeman,"and we will make him a call and he will be glad to show us how salt ismade."
"Can he make salt?" questioned Anne.
"Yes, and a good thing for the colony it is; for salt is hard to get,with English frigates taking all the cargoes afloat," answered Mr.Freeman; "and Cape Cod is the very place to make it, for there is plentyof salt water." Then he told them how Captain Sears had first made longshallow troughs and filled them with the sea-water, and the sun dried upthe water, leaving the salt in the bottom of the vats. "And now,"continued Mr. Freeman, "I hear he has had big kettles made, and withhuge fires under them boils the water away and gets good salt in thatfashion. We'll stop and have a look, if time allows."
Just before noon the sky began to grow dark, and there was a distantrumble of thunder. They were driving through a lonely stretch ofcountry; there was no house in sight, and Mr. Freeman began to watch thesky with anxious eyes. He knew that, on the bare sandy plain over whichthey were now traveling, the wind would sweep with great force,sufficient perhaps to overturn the chaise. Rose and Anne grew very quietas they heard the thunder and watched the threatening sky.
"We'll soon reach the Yarmouth woods," said Mr. Freeman encouragingly,"and if the storm comes may be able to find some sort of shelter, but Ifear it will prevent our reaching the salt works."
Rose and Anne both thought to themselves that troughs and kettles filledwith salt water would not be very much of a sight, and were very gladwhen the sandy plain was behind them and they were once more in theshelter of the woods, which broke the force of the wind. It was nowraining in torrents.
"One good thing about this is that the rain will beat the sand down andmake the traveling better," said Mr. Freeman.
The road was a mere lane, and they all began to feel a littleuncomfortable and discouraged as the thunder deepened and came pealafter peal, followed by shooting darts of lightning. The big horse wasgoing at a good pace, but, all at once, Lady made a quick turn, andbefore Mr. Freeman could stop her had swung into an even more narrowtrack, half hidden by underbrush from the main road. In a few momentsthey saw a long low shingled house nearly hidden by closely growingtrees.
"Well done, Lady!" exclaimed Mr. Freeman laughingly, as Lady stoppeddirectly in front of the door.
Mr. Freeman handed the reins to Rose and sprang out, and rapped on thedoor, but no answer came.
"I don't believe there is any one here," he declared. "Stay in thechaise a moment, and I'll find out." As he spoke he gave the door alittle push when, much to his surprise, it swung open and Mr. Freemanfound himself face to face with a tall, black-bearded man who regardedhim with a scowling countenance.
"What do you want?" he asked gruffly.
At that moment a peal of thunder heavier than any preceding it made Roseand Anne shrink more closely together in the corner of the chaise. "Helooks like a pirate," whispered Rose fearfully.
"We want shelter until this storm is over," Mr. Freeman replied. "May Idrive my horse into that shed?"
The man grunted an unwilling assent, and Mr. Freeman sprang back intothe chaise and drove Lady under a rough shelter in the rear of thehouse.
"Don't go in the house, will you, father?" whispered Rose; for the manhad opened a back door leading into the shed and was regarding hisundesired guests with suspicious eyes.
"How did you happen to come here?" he asked gruffly. "This road don'tlead nowheres."
"My horse turned in from the main road very suddenly," explained Mr.Freeman. "We had no plan except to get on to Sandwich as fast aspossible."
"Going far?" questioned the man.
"We are on our way to Boston," answered Mr. Freeman.
"Guess the English are going to give the Yankees a lesson even if theycouldn't hold Boston!" said the man with a smile, as if he would be gladto know his words would come true.
"I think not, sir," answered Mr. Freeman sharply; "and a Cape Cod manought to be the last to say such a thing."
"You're not a Tory, then?" exclaimed the man eagerly. "Get right out ofthat chaise and come in. These your girls? Let me help you out, missy,"and he came toward the carriage.
"Get out, Anne," said Mr. Freeman in a low tone, and in a moment the twogirls were following the black-bearded man into a low dark kitchen.
"You folks looked so dressed up I thought like as not you were Tories,"declared the man, as if wishing to explain his rude reception. "Now takeseats, and I'll put your horse where it can have a bit of fodder."
Mr. Freeman followed the man back to the shed, and Anne and Rose lookedat each other, and then glanced about the low dark room.
"I don't believe he's a pirate," whispered Anne; "anyway I'm glad to bein out of this dreadful storm."
"So am I," answered Rose, "but it is a funny house. What do you supposemade Lady turn in at that place? This man may not be a pirate, but thereis something odd about him. This whole place is queer. I almost wish wehad stayed in the chaise."
Under the two windows that faced toward the woods ran a long box-likeseat, and in one corner of the room stood a shoemaker's bench, with itsrows of awls, needles threaded with waxed thread, hammers, sharp knives,tiny wooden pegs, and bits of leather; a worn boot lay on the floor asif the man had started up from his work at Mr. Freeman's rap.
"What's that, Rose?" questioned Anne, pointing to a piece of iron thatcould be seen extending from beneath an old blanket which lay under thebench.
"It's a rifle!" answered Rose. "Look, Anne! Quick, before he comes back.I believe there are a lot of guns there."
Anne knelt down to lift the blanket. Rose was close beside her, leaningover to see what the blanket might conceal, when the kitchen door swungopen and the man entered. As he looked at the two girls his facedarkened again, and he came quickly forward.
"Aha!" he muttered. "It's just as I thought. Pretty clever of the oldTory to bring these girls along to peek about and find out all theycan," but the girls did not hear him until he stood beside them, andthen his scowl was gone and he spoke pleasantly: "A good many riflesfor one man, but they are not all mine. I'm storing them for friends."<
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"Where's father?" asked Rose, a little anxiously.
"He's giving the pretty horse a rub down," answered the man; "nowthere's a better room for young ladies than this old kitchen," hecontinued. "Just come this way," and he opened a door into a long darkpassage, into which the girls followed him.
"Right in here," said the man, opening a door at the further end of thehall, and holding it ajar for the girls to pass in.
"It's all dark!" exclaimed Anne, who had been the first to enter. Rosewas close behind her and as Rose crossed the threshold the heavy doorswung to behind them. They heard bolts shot and then all was quiet.
Rose sprang against the door with all her strength, but instantlyrealized that it was useless to try to open it. "Father! Father!" shescreamed, and Anne, hardly knowing what she said, called also "Father!"
"It's dark as pitch," whispered Anne, clutching at Rose's dress; "therecan't be a window in this room, or we'd see light somewhere."
The two girls clung together, not knowing what next might befall them.
"There may be some other door," said Rose after they had screamedthemselves hoarse. "We must not be frightened, Anne, for father is sureto look for us. Let's go round the room and try and find a door. We canfeel along the wall," so the two girls began to grope their way from thedoor.
"These inside walls are brick!" exclaimed Rose, as her hands left thewooden framework of the door. "Oh, Anne, I do believe it is a sort ofprison all walled inside." Just then their feet struck against somethinghard and round which rolled before them with a little rumble of sound.Rose leaned down. "They're cannon-balls," she whispered. "Oh, Anne!There's a whole pile of them. Don't go another step; we'll fall overthem. I do believe the man is a pirate, or else a Tory." For in thosetroublous times the Americans felt that a Tory was a dangerous enemy totheir country.
As the girls groped about the room they came to a heavy iron chest, andsat down, realizing that all they could do was to wait until Mr. Freemanshould discover them.
"Don't be afraid, Anne," said Rose, putting her arm about her littlecompanion, and felt surprised when Anne answered in a hopeful voice:
"Rose, look! Right up on that wall there's a window. I can see littleedges of light."
"So there is, but it's too high to do us any good; we can't reach it,"answered Rose.
"Well, I'm glad it's there," said Anne.
Now and then they heard the far-off roar of the thunder, but at last itseemed to die away, and little edges of light showed clearly around theshuttered window on the further wall. The girls watched it, and, theireyes becoming used to the shadowy room, they could now distinguish thepile of cannon-balls in the opposite corner, and behind them a smallcannon and a keg. They could see, too, the outlines of the doorway.
"How long do you think we shall have to stay here?" whispered Anne, asthe dreary fearful moments dragged by.
"I don't know, dear," answered the elder girl, "but we mustn't beafraid."
The hours went by and the little edge of light around the high shutteredwindow began to fade a little, and the girls knew that the long summerday was fading to twilight, and that it had been about noon when theycame to the house. A great fear now took possession of Rose's thoughts,the fear for her father's safety. She was sure that unless some harm hadbefallen him he would have found them before this time.
"Rose!" Anne's sharp whisper interrupted her thoughts. "If I could getup to that window I could get out and go after help. The window isn't sovery high; it isn't as if we were up-stairs."
At that very moment the big door swung open, and the man entered. He hada candle in one hand and carried an armful of rough gray blankets whichhe dropped on the floor beside the girls, and instantly, without a word,departed, and the girls heard the bolts shot on the outside.
"Those blankets are for us to sleep on. Oh, Anne, what has he done to mydear father?" and Rose began to cry bitterly.
"Rose, he's coming back!" warned Anne, but the girl could no longerrestrain her sobs and their jailer entered, this time carrying the biglunch basket which Aunt Hetty had put under the seat when they drove offso happily from Brewster.
"Here's your own grub," said the man roughly. "Your father'll have toput up with what I give him."
"You--you--won't kill my father, will you?" sobbed Rose.
"Oh, no, no!" answered the man, and then apparently regretting his morefriendly tone added, "But I reckon I ought to, coming here a-peekin' an'a-pryin' into what don't concern him," and he set the basket down on theiron chest with such a thud that it fairly bounced.
"Oh, he wasn't; I was the one who peeked at the guns," said Anne.
"Oho! Peekin' at the guns! Well, I've got you now where you can't peekmuch," came the gruff answer.
"Won't you leave the candle?" asked Rose.
"I guess not," he answered with a little laugh, and pointed toward thekeg. "Look at that keg! Well, it's full of powder, and powder's toosca'se an article these days to leave a candle in the same room withit."
"But we can't see to eat," pleaded Anne. "We'll be real careful; wewon't go near the corner."
For a moment the man hesitated; then he set the candle down on the chestbeside the basket.
"All right," he said. "I'll leave it; 'twon't burn more than an hour."He looked down at Rose's tear-stained face, and added, "Ain't no causeto cry about your father; he's had a good supper, and I ain't goin' tohurt him."
"Oh, thank you!" and Rose looked up at him gratefully.
The door had hardly swung to before Anne whispered, "Rose, Rose, I mustget out of that window some way. You know I must. It's too small foryou, but I'm sure I could get through."
"Let's eat something before you think about that," suggested Rose, whobegan to feel more hopeful now that she knew her father was safe, andopened the big basket. The man had brought them a pitcher of cool water,and the girls ate and drank heartily.
"Aunt Hetty would be surprised if she knew where we were eating theselovely doughnuts," said Anne, holding up the delicately browned twistedcruller.
"Anne, if we could push this chest under the window I could stand on itand try to open the window and if I can open it, then I will lift you upand you can crawl through," said Rose, biting into a chicken sandwich.
Anne nodded, watching the candle with anxious eyes, remembering thattheir jailer had said that it would burn but an hour.
"Now, Anne," said Rose, after they had satisfied their hunger, andclosed the basket, "we must try to push the chest."
To their surprise it moved very easily, and they soon had it directlyunder the window. Rose was on top of it in an instant, and Anne held thecandle as high as she could reach so that Rose could examine thefastening.
"Why, Anne, it pushes right out," said Rose. "It's only hooked down.Look!" and she pushed the heavy square outward. "But it doesn't go veryfar out," she added. "I wonder if you can crawl through. I do believethis shutter is shingled on the outside, so that nobody could tell therewas a window. Oh, Anne! Isn't this a dreadful place!" Rose peeredcautiously out of the open space. "Blow out the candle," she saidquickly, drawing back into the room. "He might be outside and see thelight."
Anne instantly obeyed.
"Now, Anne, dear," said Rose, "if you can get out what are you going todo?"
"I'll run back to the road as fast as I can go and get some people tocome back here and rescue you," said Anne.
"Yes, but you had best go on; you know there are no houses for a longway on the road we came, and we must be nearer the Suet settlement thanany other. You won't be afraid, Anne!"
"No, Rose," declared the little girl, "and if I think of you shut uphere, even if I am afraid, I shall keep on until I find somebody andbring him to help you."
"That's splendid, Anne!" answered Rose. "Now step here beside me, andI'll lift you up."
A Little Maid of Massachusetts Colony Page 7