CHAPTER XXII.
THE CAPTAIN'S PIPE.
It was a lovely evening in June, and, the labors of the day being ended,while the hour for nightly devotion had not yet come, Plymouth enjoyedan hour of rest.
Seven houses now lined The Street, leading from the Rock to the Fort,and of these the highest on the northerly side was that of CaptainStandish, built so near to the Fort indeed, that John Alden, if so idlyminded to amuse himself, could easily salute each gun of the littlebattery with a pebble upon its nose. He was in fact thus occupied onthis especial evening, while the captain sitting upon a bench beside thecottage door smoked a pipe wondrously carved from a block of chalcedonyby some "Ancient Arrowmaker" of forgotten fame, and presented toStandish by his admiring friend Hobomok, who, having silently studied athis leisure the half dozen principal men among the Pilgrims, had settledupon Standish as most nearly representing his ideal of combined courage,wisdom, and endurance, so that he already was beginning to be known as"the Captain's Indian," just as Squanto was especially Bradford'shenchman.
"'T is a goodly sight--a sweet and fair country," said the Captain halfaloud, and Alden just pausing to note that his last pebble had gone downthe throat of the saker, turned to inquire,--
"What is it, master?"
For reply the captain took the pipe from his mouth, and with the stempointed to Manomet, where mile after mile of fresh young verdure rosesteeply against the rosy eastern sky, while the sun sinking behind whatwas to be the Captain's Hill shot a flood of golden glory across theplacid bay cresting each little wave with radiance, and burying itselfat last among the whispering foliage of the mount.
"Saw you ever a fairer sight, lad?"
"Nay, 't is fair as the Hills of Beulah whereof the elder spake lastnight," softly replied John.
"And fairer, for we can see it with our eyes of to-day," replied thecaptain dryly. The younger man glanced briefly at his master's face, andfailing to read its complex expression, contented himself with asomewhat uneasy smile as he turned to gaze upon the scene in thoughtfulsilence.
Standish noting with one of his quick glances his follower'sembarrassment, took counsel with himself, and as he quietly refilled hispipe said,--
"Mark me well, lad, I mean not to cast aught of discredit on the elder'steaching, nor to shake any man's faith in Beulahs, or Canaans, or hillsof Paradise, for doubtless Holy Writ gives warrant for such forecasting;and surely approved masters of strategy, and warfare both offensive anddefensive, like Moses, and David, and Joshua, did not fight for theguerdon of a fool's bauble, or a May-queen's garland. But yet, mindthee, John, there are other great soldiers given us as ensamples in thatsame Holy Writ who seemed to set no store upon the Beulahs, and carednaught for milk or honey; men like Gideon, and Samson, and Saul, andJoab; and still the Lord of Hosts led these men forth, and fought forthem and fended them, so long as they fought for themselves and werecareful to catch the order and obey it. I know not, Jack, these mattersare too mighty for a poor soldier like me to handle understandingly; andstill somehow it seemeth me that this same Lord of Hosts will know howto deal mercifully even with a rough, war-worn fellow like me, whorepenteth him of his sins and hath freely given himself to do battle inChrist's name against all Heathenesse, and to stand forth with thishandful of saints against His foes and theirs, and that, although hecannot clearly see the Hills of Beulah, nor cares for such lusciouscates as suit some stomachs. Dost catch my meaning, boy?"
"Ay, master, and well do I wish my hope of God's favor were as fairlyfounded"--
"Nay now, nay now, did not I this minute tell thee that I care naughtfor sweets? Save thy honey for some maiden's lips. Ah, and now I thinkon 't, here is a quiet and leisure time wherein to study out thestrategy of that wooing emprise I was telling thee of--nay, did I tellthee?"
"Wooing--what--I--I know not fairly," stammered John Alden, but thecaptain still gazing upon Hither Manomet, where now the purple bloom oftwilight was replacing the glory of the sunset, marked not the pallorstealing the red from beneath the brown of the young fellow's cheek, norheard the discordant falter of his voice.
"Ay," replied he thoughtfully,--"my wooing of Priscilla Molines, thouknowest. I thought I spoke to thee of it, but at all odds the time hasnow well come when I should address the maid. I ought indeed to havedone it long ago, and mayhap she will be a bit peevish at the delay, fordoubtless her father told her ere he died of our compact, but there hasbeen no convenient season, and truth to tell, Jack, I have no greatheart toward the matter--yon green plateau lies betwixt me and"--
And in the sudden silence John Alden's gaze went out over the steel graywaters, out and out to the far horizon line where the rose tint hadfaded from the sky and a low line of fog gathered slowly and sadly.
"I'll tell thee, boy," suddenly resumed the captain rising from thebench and confronting his companion, while lightly touching his breastwith the mouthpiece of the pipe upon whose cold ashes John mechanicallyfixed his eyes,--"thou shalt woo her for me."
"I--I woo her--nay, master, nay"--
"And why nay, thou foolish boy? 'T will be rare practice for theeagainst some of these lasses grow up, and thou wouldst fain go a-wooingon thine own account. Nay, then, can it be that a young fellow who wouldgayly go forth against Goliath of Gath were he in these parts is cravenbefore the bright eyes and nimble tongue of a little maid? Dost thinkPriscilla will box thine ears?"
"Nay, but"--
"Nay me no buts and but me no nays, for the scheme tickles my fancyhugely, and so it shall be. Thou seest, Jack, it were more than a littleawkward for me to show reason why I have not spoken sooner, and the fairlady's angry dignity will be appeased by seeing that I stand in awe ofher, and woo her as princesses are wooed, by proxy. Thou shalt be myproxy, Jack, and see thou serve me not so scurvy a trick as--ha, herecometh the governor."
And, in effect, Bradford striding up the hill with all the vigor of hisone-and-thirty years was already so close at hand as to save John Aldenthe pain of a reply.
"Good e'en, Governor," cried Standish going a step or two to meet hisguest.
"Good e'en, Captain,--Alden. There's more trouble toward about theBillingtons."
"What now?" demanded the captain with a stern brevity auguring ill forthe frequent offender.
"Nay, 't is no willful offense this time, nor is the father to blameexcept for not training his boys better; but the son John hath run awayto go to the salvages his brother says, and the mother saith he isstolen, and whichever way it may be, he has been missing since yestereven at bedtime, and now we have to go and look him up."
"'Ill bird of an ill egg,'" growled Standish. "Mayhap 't were better notto find him."
"And yet we must," replied Bradford gently. "And as Squanto reports thatthe boy shaped his course for Manomet, my idea is that it were well forus to take our boat and coast along the headland and so on in the coursewe came at first, observing the shore, and noting such points as may beof use in the future. Mayhap we shall come as far as the FirstEncounter, and make out whether those salvages whom Squanto calls theNausets are still so dangerously disposed toward us. At any rate we willtry to discover our creditors for the seed-corn springing so greenlyover yonder."
"Pity that Winslow hath gone to Sowams to visit Massasoit," remarked thecaptain dryly. "We shall miss his subtle wit in these delicate affairsof state."
"Yes, and if it comes to blows we shall miss no less Stephen Hopkins'sdoughty arm," replied Bradford. "But sith both are gone, we had betterleave the Elder in charge of the settlement along with Master Allerton,John Howland, who is a stout man-at-arms, John Alden, Gilbert Winslow,Dotey, and Cooke."
"Seven men in all."
"Yes, and with Winslow and Hopkins away, that leaves ten of us to go onthis expedition, and I shall take Lister lest he brawl with Dotey, andBillington not only that he is the boy's father, but lest he raise asedition in the camp."
"Well thought on. I tell thee thou hast a head-piece of thine own, Will,though thou art so mild spoken."
Bradford laughed with a glance of affectionate recognition of thesoldier's compliment, and then the two arranged the details of theproposed expedition, while Alden standing straight and still as a statuewatched the gloom of night blotting all the color from sky, and sea, andshore, even as the fog crept stealthily in swallowing all before it, anda great dumb wave of sorrow and dismay surged up from his own heart, andswallowed all the brightness of his life.
Suddenly from the Town Square at the foot of the hill rose the sound ofa drum not inartistically touched, and both the governor and the captainrose to their feet.
"Bart Allerton hath learned to use the drumsticks as if he had servedwith us in Flanders," said the soldier complacently, as they turned downthe little sinuous footpath.
"Yes," replied the governor gravely. "He does credit to thy teaching,Captain, and yet methinks there may be danger that a vain delight inhis own performance may cause the lad, and haply others, to forget thatthis, for lack of a bell, is our call to prayer. Couldst thou find it inthy heart, Myles, to direct that in future the drum shall sound butthree heavy and unmodulated beats?"
"Oh ay, if it will please thee better, Will. Didst ever read of thetyrant Procrustes?"
"What of him?"
"Only that he would force all men to fit to one measure, though hedragged the life out of them. Dost fancy the God to whom we shallpresently pray is better pleased with a dreary noise than with some hintat melody? Alden, come on, lad, 't is time for prayers, and thy woesomeface suits the occasion. What's amiss, lad?"
"Naught's amiss, master," replied the youth more briefly than his wont,and with a sudden spring from a projecting bowlder he passed the twoelder men and arrived first at the Common house.
"That younker's face and voice are not so blithe as might be. Hast beenchiding him, Myles?" asked Bradford as they followed down the hill.
"Nay," replied the captain. "But like enough he's thwarted at missingthe chance of a brush with the redskins to-morrow, and 't is a pity."
"Nay, Myles, look not so pensive on 't," responded the governorlaughing. "There are men, believe it if you can, who love the smell ofroses better than of blood. To my fancy John Alden--but there, lightjesting is surely ill befitting the hour of prayer."
Standish of Standish: A Story of the Pilgrims Page 23