in spite of master macrae’s ominous words, all was for a time quiet and at peace in master simon’s pleasant, sunny garden. peace prevailed also among the colonists and their indian allies, the rumours of warfare slowly died away and, while spring grew into summer, and summer glowed and bloomed and faded into autumn, everywhere in the little colony were happiness and contentment. the fields were yellow with abundant grain, the apple-trees bent with a generous load, the sacks of dried peas and the great golden pumpkins were piled high upon the floor of the public granary. there would be no want and famine this winter!
margeret walked beside her father down through the field where he had been piling the rustling cornstalks into tall heaps like indian wigwams. she stopped often to hearken to the cawing of the crows, who were gathering their band and making ready to go south, and to watch a busy chipmunk carrying grain and nuts to his store-house under the wall.
“i would that all the world were as bright and happy as this corner of it,” said master simon, as he paused in his work to look down over the sloping meadows to the shining waters of the harbour and the rude little fishing-boats coming to anchor. “but look,” he added, “who is that yonder in our garden beckoning us to come quickly? it is the pastor, master hapgood, and two indians with him, while the other—why, it is the governor himself! what can be amiss now? since our peacock has been banished to england, i can think of naught else for which we may be brought to justice.”
it was indeed the governor, anxious-faced and troubled in mien, who came forward to meet them.
“one of the same nascomi ambassadors has come hither again,” he said, “to ask some favour of us. that much i can make out from the interpreter, but for the rest, his message is so strange and his english words so few that we have come to you, who understand the wampanoag tongue better than does any other, to learn what he would say. further, i think that his errand has somewhat to do with you.”
master simon turned his quick, bright eyes upon the indian interpreter.
“speak on,” he said, and listened with a face growing graver and more disturbed with every word the wampanoag and the nascomi uttered. he turned at last to the governor.
“they speak of a terrible pestilence,” he explained, “a scourge that has visited the nascomis and has already slain a goodly number. i have heard often from the indians hereabout of these plagues, by which many times whole tribes, even entire nations have been swept away.”
“but what wants the fellow with us?” inquired the governor.
“he has come to beg that we pray to our god for their deliverance,” said master simon at last.
“what?” cried the pastor. “to our god? is it possible that these nascomis are christians?”
“no,” returned master simon slowly, “he speaks not of the god we know. he begs us to pray for him to that shining god with the terrible voice and a hundred glittering eyes, that walked in this garden six months since and struck such terror to the hearts of himself and his companions. he says that they have asked in vain for help from their own gods and he has come all this long and perilous way to make his prayer, poor savage, to my banished peacock.”
the governor’s face grew dark with trouble, but the minister’s became suddenly transformed with a fury of righteous anger. it was not for nothing that he had listened to the now famous jeremiah macrae and his fierce threatenings of heaven’s vengeance.
“simon radpath,” he cried, striving to thunder forth his words as did the great minister, but succeeding only a scant half as well; “simon radpath, you have committed the most grievous sin known to the human race. you have led a man, nay, a whole nation into idolatry, into worshipping as a god that vain iniquitous creature you so wickedly harboured here.”
“but please, sir, they were heathen already,” faltered little margeret, stirred to fearful boldness by all this wrath against her father.
“that matters not,” was the stern reply. “he has aided and increased their heathenism, so that their last state is worse than their first. heaven alone can tell what punishment he should suffer for so unspeakable a wrong.”
“heaven, sir,” said master simon, speaking slowly and quietly; “heaven has also given me the opportunity to make reparation. margeret, go tell your mother to fetch my great cloak and to gather such things as i need for a journey, and to put into a basket all the herbs that are drying up among the rafters. many times have i talked with the indians about these pestilences and pondered upon what might have power to check them: now i will put my knowledge to the test. i will go back with the nascomi messenger to see how i can help his afflicted people.”
hurriedly obedient, but with her whole heart crying out in protest, margeret ran to the house to do her errand. her mother, rising from her spinning wheel, quickly made the necessary preparations, although scarcely understanding their purpose. puritan women in those troubled times had learned to act promptly and without asking for explanations. when they came forth from the house, bearing bundles and the big basket, the same little group still stood, unmoving by the gate, while the pastor, holding up his hand, was speaking loudly, as though in the pulpit.
“and if you die far away amid that godless nation,” he was saying, “it will be only heaven’s judgment upon you and the vanities of this wicked garden.”
then it was that of a sudden, master simon’s quiet manner dropped from him.
“cease your preaching of death and destruction, master hapgood,” he cried, “and go, rather, up into your meeting-house yonder and pray. pray with all your might to that god who once walked in a garden, that he will spare me for this people’s need, so that they may learn that when they come hither to ask for help from him and us, they do not ask in vain.”
thus he spoke and then, in a moment, was gone. a hurried kiss to margeret and to her mother, a sign to the indians, and the little party set off, up the steep lane, across the boulder-strewn clearing and into the forest. margeret ran panting behind them for a little way, then, blinded with weeping, stumbled over a stone and lay sobbing in the grass. a strong arm came about her and lifted her up.
“do not fear, little maid,” said the governor’s great voice, grown strangely gentle now. “god will not suffer so brave and good a man as your father to perish. he will come safe back to you again.”
it was thus that master simon went into the wilderness, leaving behind him, in the little house on the hillside, two very heavy, loving hearts.
“will he come back? will he come back?” seemed to margeret to be the refrain that sang through every one of the autumn sounds, the creaking of the grain-carts, the blows of the threshing-flails, the thumping of the batten in the busy loom.
many friendly neighbours, remembering past kindnesses, brought in what was left of master simon’s harvest, gathered a store of fire wood, banked the house with earth and leaves and made all ready against the cold. more than once the governor came to offer his respects to mistress radpath and to bid her and her little daughter be of good cheer—events that made the villagers stare, for a visit from the governor was an awesome thing. master hapgood, the pastor, came also many times to ask for news, although he seemed not yet to know whether he should praise master simon’s courage or continue to condemn his wickedness.
the scottish minister, master jeremiah macrae, was still in the colony, preaching vehemently up and down the land, crying to the people to repent of their grievous sins before it was too late. many a time, so it came to the ears of hopewell, had he denounced master simon, his garden and all that grew therein. from town to town he went, until all of new england began to stir uneasily under the lash of his bitter tongue.
“he may do good and he may do ill,” said their neighbour, goodman allen, to mistress radpath. “we are used to being called to account for our sins and there is no one among us, heaven knows, that can be called perfect. but this man, when i listen to his preaching, tempts me to be more of a sinner than less of one, so sure is he that we are all condemned to eternal punishment together. his words are more than even a good puritan can bear, he threatens us with heaven’s wrath until we grow weary and indifferent, while with his tales of hellfire he frightens the children so that they are afraid to go to bed alone.”
margeret shivered as she stood listening to their honest neighbour’s words. it was quite true that the strange minister had haunted her own dreams for many a night.
“some folk,” the man went on, “say that he speaks like one of the prophets of old, come back to earth again. but i say,” here he dropped his voice and glanced anxiously about the shadowy kitchen; “i say that he may not be a prophet, but the devil himself that we have in our midst. we will mark well his words concerning master simon’s garden, and if they come true, then will we know what to think.”
it appeared to margeret, through all that autumn, that the world went very much awry. it was only a part of the general sadness of all things that, when she went one day to carry a basket of apples to goody parsons, she found the old woman sitting on the bench before her door in the pale autumn sunshine, weeping bitterly. the climbing rose that she had brought with her from england and that had grown to the very top of her cottage door, had drooped all summer and now trailed forlornly across the grey logs, dead beyond any doubt.
“great, fragrant white roses it bore,” said the old woman, choking over her words, “roses that i carried in my hand the day i was married, and that my three daughters carried too, on their wedding days, each in her turn. the dearest memory that i have is of our little cottage in hertfordshire, where the beehives stood in a long, sun-warmed row beside the hedge and the rose vine climbed to the very eaves, covering the whole wall with leaf and blossom. and now my rose is dead, a punishment, i can well see, for the harm i did your good father by means of my idle, gossiping tongue.”
“but listen,” margeret said, “do you not remember that my father once told you that this rose was finer than any in our garden and you gave him some of the shoots to plant among our own? we have one now, climbing high on our house wall and the others i know are still growing down by the hedge. so to-morrow you shall have a new plant of the very same rose, to grow as tall and bloom as gaily as the last.”
“bless me now,” cried goody parsons, a smile breaking through her tears. “you are your father’s own good daughter, little mistress, and have almost made me happy again. but i never can be quite so until i can forget the harm my chattering has done or until i see master simon come safe home out of that terrible wilderness.”
the new little rose took most kindly to the transplanting that margeret so skilfully accomplished, and stood strong and sturdy beside the door, its twigs still green long after the leaves had fallen from the trees and the misty indian summer had taken possession of the land.
“i believe that when spring comes it will grow as fast as that stocking you are knitting,” laughed margeret one day, when she came to inspect its progress.
the old woman nodded and smiled.
“i hope to see it climb to the top of my door again before i die,” she answered. “heaven grant me time for that and to end my evil gossiping ways. do you know that neighbour allen—” she checked herself suddenly and added, with a sigh, “there i go again! take heed, my lass, and see how hard it is to mend a fault when you have grown old.” and she closed her lips with firmness and fell to knitting furiously.
margeret could not forbear laughing again and was still smiling to herself as she took her way across the hill. the leafless woods stood black and bare against a pale yellow sky, and a little thin new moon hung low behind the treetops. she was surprised to find herself so happy to-night, as though in such a fair world there could not be so much of trouble and sadness as she had thought. just where her path skirted the forest’s edge she caught sight of a dark figure moving among the black shadows of the tree-trunks, and presently she saw it come out of the wood and go down the lane before her.
“is it samuel skerry?” she wondered, as the form, vague in the twilight, turned into the path that led to the shoemaker’s cottage. “but no, it is too tall for the cobbler, it must be that boy who lives with him. what has he been seeking in the wood? the fruits and berries are all gone and he had no gun. i wonder!”
her idle speculations did not, however, last long, for as soon as she reached home and fell to telling her mother of goody parsons and the rose, her thoughts of the shoemaker’s apprentice were swept away.
she had a visit from him, nevertheless, some weeks later, a visit that surprised her more than the coming of the governor himself. early one bitter windy morning, as she knelt shivering on the hearth trying to blow the reluctant fire into flame, there came a knock at the outer door. upon the threshold, that was banked deep with the first heavy snow, stood the ragged boy who dwelt at samuel skerry’s. his teeth were chattering and his fingers trembling with the cold, but his dark blue eyes were shining with excitement.
“there has been a fox in your hen house these three nights past,” he said, “and so i arose early this morning and see, here he is.”
the body of the red marauder trailed over his arm, its great brush dragging limply in the snow. it had been with helpless dismay that margeret and her mother had noticed the loss of their fowls, so that this news brought relief indeed.
“oh, thank you, thank you!” she cried. “but i fear your watch has been a bitter cold one. come in and warm yourself, you must be well-nigh frozen.”
the boy hesitated.
“my master, the shoemaker—” he began, but margeret interrupted him, borrowing the stern manner she had seen her mother use on similar occasions.
“come in at once,” she commanded, and when he shyly obeyed she shut the door behind him lest he escape.
he sat down upon the stool in the chimney corner and, when she once more attempted to blow the fire, took the bellows gravely from her and in a moment had the flames leaping high, flooding the kitchen with ruddy light. margeret filled her pewter bowl brimful with steaming porridge and watched with pleasure as her guest ate with unconcealed hunger. she brought bread and cheese and a cup of milk which she set upon the bench beside him, and then busied herself about the kitchen lest she should seem to be staring at her unwonted visitor. each eyed the other shyly when occasion offered, but looked away quickly when their glances happened to meet. he seemed to be watching her golden hair shining in the firelight, while she, by peeping into the old round mirror that hung upon the wall, could see how black were his hair and eyelashes and how dark blue were the eyes with which he stared at her when her back was turned. she felt friendly enough and anxious to put her companion at his case, and so, apparently, did he, but neither knew what to say and so the meal was finished in silence. it was mistress radpath’s footstep on the stair that roused him suddenly to speech.
“oh, i must go,” he cried, springing up. “samuel skerry will be awake and waiting for me this long time. he will want to strike me for my delaying.”
and out of the door he sped, in greater terror, it seemed however, of margeret’s mother than of his master, the shoemaker. the little girl, watching him through the window as he crossed the white field, realised suddenly that she had not even thought to ask his name. often after that day she wondered who he could be, and many times looked wistfully across the waste of snow toward the neighbouring cottage. although she saw him now and then, passing in and out of the distant doorway, he did not come near their house again. goodman allen’s wife, who came to sew with mistress radpath, dropped a bit of gossip concerning him.
“we are all wondering who that shoemaker’s apprentice can be,” she said. “he is no kin of samuel skerry’s, of that you may be sure, for he is far too pleasant-faced and gentle-mannered. the town officer went to ask, as was his duty, but could get no information from the boy’s master. skerry said the lad was named roger bardwell, that he would answer for him and that was all. we all wonder where the boy can have come from; there is not one of us who does not like him.”
that, it seemed, was the sum of hopewell’s knowledge of the shy, ragged, handsome lad.
early in december there came, suddenly, a furious storm of wind and snow, that covered the fields, blocked the roads and drifted so deep about the houses that many of them were buried to the very eaves. it was the worst that the colonies had ever known in all of their short history. for three days the gale shrieked about the staunch little cottages and roared down the chimneys, while those who dwelt within toiled unceasingly to build the fires up and keep the bitter cold at bay. when finally the storm had died away, when paths had been dug and people were able to go to and fro again, the strangest news suddenly went racing through the village. the scotch minister, who had been upsetting the peace of all new england, had disappeared. he had set forth, people said, on a journey from boston to salem, travelling alone as was his custom, and, save for one man who had met him at the edge of the forest, struggling along in the face of the rising gale, no mortal eye had ever seen him again. that he had lost his way and perished among the drifts, was easy enough to believe, but the good people of hopewell had another thing to say.
“the devil came to take his own again,” many of them declared openly, for in those rough times the devil was a more familiar figure than in later days and more than one of the pilgrim fathers laid claim to having seen him, horns and hoofs and tail and all. and while some folk were not quite so free-spoken as to agree with the opinion of their bolder neighbours, yet they too shook their heads and said:
“watch master simon’s garden, there will his burning words be proven, whether true or false.”
for the thought that, unspoken, filled to the brim every good heart in hopewell was:
“where was master simon through all that bitter storm and will he ever come back to tend his garden again? we can spare a dozen scotch ministers, but never one simon radpath.”
december, january and february went by, each one, it seemed to margeret, covering the span of a year. march slipped past with roaring winds and melting snows, then came april and spring again. listlessly she watched the apple trees grow green, saw the warm pink of the mayflowers showing under the brown leaves and heard the returning birds calling to one another in the meadow. once she had loved all these things, but what did they matter now if master simon was never to see them again?
then, one night, she was awakened suddenly by—she knew not what. was it the moonlight, dropping in shining white squares upon the rough floor of her room? was it a far-off dog barking in the village? no, it was something different, the sound of footsteps, hushed, but so many in number that even above the slight noises of the night they must still be heard. she sprang from her bed and ran to the window. down the lane came a strange procession, slim dark figures moving almost without a sound, indian after indian, in numbers that seemed to have no end, while, in the midst, came her own dear father, leaning on the arm of the tall warrior at his side. at the very last came an indian boy, carrying a ragged bundle and the very basket into which she had put the herbs so many months ago. there was something so absurd in seeing even her basket come home safe from that far journey that she laughed out loud in the midst of the moonlit silence.
it was a quiet that, however, did not last long. dogs barked, doors flew open, voices cried out, “welcome home, master radpath,” and eager stumbling feet, hastily shod in heavy boots, came running down the stony paths. the weary traveller was brought in to be warmed, fed and embraced; a messenger was sent in haste to the house where the governor lodged that night. through all the village spread the news that simon radpath had come home and that with him had journeyed a great chief of the nascomis, to smoke the pipe of everlasting peace with the white settlers. early in the morning the town-crier was despatched to spread the tidings through the whole district.
what a proud moment it was for margeret when she heard this great official’s huge, deep voice crying from the crossroads:
“hear ye, good people all! master simon radpath is come safe and sound to his home again.”
it was a prouder moment still when she went, on the next sabbath, up to the meeting-house and, sitting among the women, could see her father opposite in his place of honour, with many glances turning sidewise to gaze at him as the hero of the day. samuel skerry, from his bench near the door, was regarding him from under scowling brows, but the boy beside him followed master simon’s every movement with eager, worshipping eyes. proudest of all was margeret when the pastor ascended into the pulpit and gave public thanks to god that “their good comrade, who had made a far journey into the wilderness, who had ministered successfully to a stricken people and who had brought about a momentous treaty of peace, had come safe home again to his puritan companions, to his wife and daughter and to his little garden on the hill.
“there be some of us,” he ended, “who thought that garden was blessed and some who thought it was accursed, and i, as heaven is my witness, am not yet certain whether it is or no. but of one thing we can be sure, since it is plain to all eyes to-day, that simon radpath is the truest and bravest pilgrim of us all.”
