to move her household goods from the hut by siward's cross was no great matter for lovey lee. a donkey carried all and found the burden light. the things about which her life's interest centred were buried deep in hangman's hollow, and her only hesitation, when the great enterprise at the war prison was broken to her, arose out of the knowledge that she must now abide three miles further from her treasure-house. to this fact, however, the old woman grew reconciled, when she considered the nature of the promised reward. she settled down beneath the prison walls; and now not the least of her grievances was the enormous appetite of mr. james knapps. he worked exceedingly hard and insisted upon having wholesome food and plenty of it.
"we're not all built like you, ma'am, ter do our stint of work on ditch-water and shell-snails," he explained. "victuals and drink i'll have; else i must grumble ter them over the wall. i can't dig my best on offal."
there fell a morning when john lee visited his grandmother, and she saw by his face that a climax had come in his fortunes. he was gloomy and sad, yet of his own affairs he said nothing until lovey mentioned them.
"i'm on a private errand," he said, "and since 'tis too early yet to see the prisoners, i thought i'd drop in and learn how you're faring."
she suspected that he was sent to spy by his master.
"i keep body and soul together, an' that's all i ever shall do," she answered, little thinking that john lee had counted her guineas but a few weeks before. "even so i have to thank they yankees to the prison."
he marvelled at her cunning.
"do you hear anything of that fine gentleman, master cecil stark?" he inquired.
"ah, you was all in love with him to fox farm, i hear. i wish there was more like him."
john did not answer, and his grandmother jeered.
"i see how 'tis! your nose be out of joint. what did i tell you, jack? broken hearts—broken fiddlesticks! ban't the wench's heart as have broke, anyhow. so her throwed you over for a properer man?"
"no, by god! but——"
"you'm minded to let her off her bargain? then the bigger fool you!"
she hit the truth in her brutal fashion. lee had not trusted himself to pursue the matter of his attachment; yet, as time progressed, he saw more clearly what grace strove with might and main to conceal. the accesses of her affection, the thousand little kindly thoughts for him—all wrote truth in letters of fire upon his aching heart. true love had acted differently—had claimed as well as given; and he knew, despite her assurance oftentimes repeated, that her attitude was founded on another impulse. now, after grief and pain, his thoughts moved slowly to cecil stark. in turn he was attracted by and repulsed from the prospect of speech with the young prisoner. finally he braced himself to the ordeal; yet he knew not what he would say when they stood face to face. he felt as a man in a dream at this period. a most unreal and monstrous task lay before him. deliberately he was turning his back upon all that made life precious; consciously he was hastening out of day into eternal night. he chafed against the noble impulse that drove him onward; for a season he resisted it; then grace malherb's own steadfast purposes warmed his inspiration. her delicacy, her gentleness, her courage cried to him. must he prove less brave and more selfish than she?
it was indeed sheer suffering that supported the girl now; but her strength rose superior to it, and only one who knew and loved her as this man knew and loved, had guessed at the things hidden in her heart. the torture simulated grace to a surface brilliance, as a bird will sing out of pure misery in sight of his robbed nest. her eyes were ever bright, but unshed tears made them so; her plots and plans were ceaseless and sanguine; but he knew that she rushed into them to escape from her heart. love, indeed, had found her at last, but she struggled fiercely to shut him out since he had come too late. she never wearied of plans concerning the malherb amphora, and of the future for john lee when he should discover it. and he humoured her and himself a little longer, so that she scarcely realised that he had grasped the truth, despite his first sure guess thereat.
now the story was told. he had wandered through the last autumnal glade of his fool's paradise; he had witnessed the red sunset of his dying romance; and he stood patient and strong under the cold starlight at the end.
john lee was come to speak with stark, for at certain times in the war prison visitors were permitted to enter and have conversation or transact business with the captives. a tall grille of iron alone separated them, but to this grating all men might approach on certain days and traffic with the imprisoned for those trifles which they wrought and sold to any purchaser. work-boxes, dinner mats, hand-screens, bone toys and ornaments they manufactured; and many persons came from plymouth and other towns to see the spectacle of the great moorland limbo and carry from it some memento of the sufferers there. nefarious and doubtful trades were also practised in the secret fastnesses of this gaol. exceeding good imitations of the eighteenpenny and three-shilling pieces then current passed into the world from prince town, and forged bank notes also circulated. venal soldiery helped the prisoners in the business of uttering base money; but such simple and honest trash as passed to the visitors between the bars of the grille, was openly sold.
hither from his grandmother's cottage came lee, and soon he noted the tall form of stark standing with burnham and ira anson. they had nothing to sell, but watched the visitors with interest. then cecil caught sight of john lee, hastened to the barrier and shook hands heartily through the bars.
"well met, well met," he said. "i'm right glad to see you, jack. would that i could give you such a welcome as your master gave to me!"
"i hope you are well and strong again, mr. stark."
"well enough——"
the american looked at lee with intense scrutiny and wondered how much or little he might know concerning the affairs of his mistress.
"all are happy at fox tor farm, i trust?"
"well enough," answered the other, as stark had answered him.
"that means not absolutely well," replied cecil quickly. "miss malherb—all at least is well with her? yet—mr. norcot. 'tis intolerable, you know, jack lee, that i should speak of that man except to bless him for his goodness. nevertheless—miss malherb—but this is none of your business i doubt?"
"it won't be much longer; for the present it is," said john. "i know she hates mr. peter norcot. she's bound to hate him in self-defence. but, nevertheless, 'tis intended she shall marry him within six months."
"yet there's a man she—she loves. it's too terrible! she suffers—she must suffer horribly. and this other—why doesn't he come forward and sweep norcot out of her path? what clay is this creature made of that he holds back?"
"the man?"
"do you know him?"
"i do."
"then tell him from me—but what's the use of bellowing like a pent-up bull? can't you, at least, assure him from yourself that he must be up and doing? you're in your lady's good graces—therefore justify her trust. seek this laggard and explain how the land lies. maybe 'tis her tyrant father he fears."
"the man knows everything. he can't help her."
"cannot! what's the matter with him? has he no arms, nor legs, nor courage? is he made of gingerbread? oh, if i—— but perhaps i speak ignorant of facts. maybe he's chained fast, too."
"yes, he's fast enough."
"then 'tis your duty to do what a man may, jack. you, at least, are free as well as faithful; and in love with miss malherb also, i'll wager. you must love her if you're a man."
"i do love her."
"and can see her and speak to her every day of your blessed life! oh, if i might but help you; if i might come between her and trouble——"
he broke off and ended his aspirations to himself. then lee spoke.
"could you escape from this place again?"
stark started and looked round about him.
"for that cause—yes."
"there may be good reason why you should presently—not yet. the first thing——"
here cecil interrupted.
"'good reason—good reason'? you know so much that you must know more. and you must tell me more."
"i'll tell you this. we are at cross purposes. i let you talk because—because it amused me in a strange sort of painful way. but the truth——"
he hesitated, and the full, fatal significance of the next few words impressed itself vividly upon his soul. there was no blinking it. the fact stared pitiless. he stood at the cross roads of fortune, and with his next word to cecil stark, his own path would be chosen, his own desire renounced, for ever.
the american saw that great emotions fought in this man's mind, and waited for him to speak.
"the truth is that miss malherb is a free woman—so far as love is concerned."
"she told me when i——" began stark; then he looked guilty and held his peace.
but lee understood.
"when you asked her to marry you? i know. she could not say otherwise then. bide bold and patient; the time will come when she may answer differently."
the other was terribly moved. a great expiration burst from him, half an oath of astonishment, half a hallelujah.
"in god's name what are you that dare to speak these great things?" he asked under his breath, as though he apostrophised a sexless spirit.
"her servant—her slave. at least i tell truth. thus it stands—that other—he will not marry her."
"and she still loves him? this is damnable! let me but meet that man!"
"no need to rage against him. he's a harmless fool enough and would be your friend—anybody's friend but his own. 'twill be no grief to her, a joy rather to find that she's mistaken in him."
"she never really loved him then?"
"she didn't know—she didn't know. you forget how young she is. i think she loved him with an innocent, baby love; i think she'll always love him a little for the sake of—but let that go—she's free—free to listen to a lover. now you know what i came to tell you."
stark stared silently up into the sky and john lee saw a light dawn upon his face, as though some angel passed in the air and shone upon him. then the prisoner turned to lee and spoke slowly and solemnly, for he was awestruck at the magnitude of this great revealment.
"if i owned a kingdom it should be yours this day. please god i can do something, though nothing worthy such news. if you will, you shall have an acre of good vermont earth presently for every word you've spoken to me. yet earth's a pitiful payment for the hope of heaven on earth you've given to me."
he knew not the sufferings he wakened or the wounds he tore open. voices laughed in john lee's ears and told him that he had sold his heart.
"leave that," he said roughly. "you mistake me. i'm here for love of her—not you. listen, then i'll be gone. you must get in touch with her very gradual and delicate. i can go between you."
"i see; i see. what a learned man you are in these matters, jack! with your apollo's face you've had your experiences, i'll wager! but wait; i'll be gone and write a letter—just a reminder that i live. i'll sell you a little bone windmill i made for a turnkey's child; and in it i'll place a note. you must give me a coin for it, but you shall find a larger one inside for yourself."
he was gone, and lee waited, seeing but not perceiving the throng around him, hearing but not heeding the medley of voices and the tramp of many feet. aloft in the blue a hawk hung poised upon trembling wings. it surveyed the bustling scene, then glided away to the moor. the american, david leverett, approached lee and invited him to purchase a little mat of woven grass.
"here, young feller," he said. "i reckon now your gal's just fretting herself silly for a keepsake, whoever she is; and you'd best not displeasure her by refusing. this was woven by a one-armed man, you see, and that makes it worth twice as much as any other mat. so 'tain't no manner o' use ter offer less than ten cents for it. hev a squint at the workmanship—not bad for a crab with one claw—eh?"
lee shook his head and the sailor gibed:—
"not ten cents! then by god! you don't love her, and she shall hear of it. come now—fourpence, then—only four dirty pennies. think o' the kisses she'll give for it."
still lee declined, his thoughts elsewhere, and leverett cursed him for a fool, shook his stump in john's face, and turned to find a customer.
a few minutes later, as bugles were sounding for the visitors to depart, cecil stark came back with a little toy made of mutton bones.
"hand me any small coin you have about you," he said. "you'll find a billet for miss malherb and two guineas for yourself in the drawer at the bottom."
these simple words hurt poor john cruelly, for their business-like and even sordid tenour jarred upon his own great renunciation in a way that stark little guessed. lee's heart was numb; his mind had grown dreamy and incoherent now. mechanically he took the windmill and handed cecil a shilling. then, without any word of farewell, he turned away and followed the departing crowds. he heard cecil stark say "god bless you!" as he went; but only a strange loathing of the money he carried rose in his mind. this mean detail of two guineas fretted him to madness. he could not see the matter as cecil saw it; he jealously muffled his reason, and refused to behold in himself henceforth no more than that necessary thing—a lover's messenger.
slowly he returned over the moor towards fox tor farm, and the thought of all that he had lost swept down upon him like a storm in the wilderness. temptations shook him then. he turned the toy of bone about in his hand. he might have crushed it and stamped it down under the bog in a moment. but nothing could crush the deed done. he relapsed into a sullen and ferocious sorrow. his feet dragged under him. a sense of age swept over him, and along with it came bitter remorse that he had flung his fate away to another man and set no store upon fortune's priceless gifts. a savage loathing of himself awoke in his spirit. he hated the flesh that he was clad in, poured contumely upon his own head and cried out aloud in the loneliness that his repulsive weakness proclaimed him what he was: a bastard and a creature fit only for the scorn of men. he cumbered the earth. none was the better for him. the cur that fled from a badger had greater courage; the baying foxhound more pluck, than had he. his grandmother's words in the past returned to his memory and clashed in his head like bells rung by demons. this was how he had employed her wisdom; this was how he had cast away his grand opportunity to win fortune and love.
siward's cross rose before him and he stood near the home of his childhood. he sat awhile beside the hoary monument and leant his back against it. then he turned and examined it with listless eyes, and watched the shadow cast by its squat arms darken the heather. long he delayed; and, at last, as the sun, turning westward, warmed the moor and touched the cross with a gentle and roseate glory, the benignant, evening hour found out john lee, soothed his giant sorrow and set its seal upon him. this venerable stone had power to comfort the lad's grief. he began to think less of himself and more of grace malherb. her joy grew out of the sunset light; her young life's story opened before him; he saw a ribbon of pure gold stretching down into the west, where the sun was setting beyond a distant sea; and he knew that it was her road home.
great words came to his recollection: "he that loseth his life shall save it," was written for him in the soft and mellow earth-shadows of sunset.
"my life shall be lost in her life," he said; "and if she's saved, i'm blessed above all deserving."
