The Knight Of The Golden Melice - John Turvill Adams (little red riding hood read aloud txt) 📗
- Author: John Turvill Adams
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The Assistant Had Attained His Object. Philip Was In The First Place
To Be Imprisoned And Fined, And Afterwards Banished, And The Field Was
Henceforth To Be Left Free To Himself. With His Rival Out Of The Way,
He Did Not Doubt Of Succeeding With The Girl By Means Of Such
Arguments And Temptations As It Would Be In His Power To Employ. How
He Had Begun By Endeavoring To Use The Very Affection Of Prudence For
Her Lover To Make Her Betray Herself, Has Been Told; But Thus Far Her
Simplicity And Good Fortune Had Been Quite A Match For His Craft. In
The Hope To Obtain Some Advantage For Philip, She Had Granted The
Assistant The Interview Which We Have Just Witnessed, And Wherein He
Disclosed His Character In A Manner He Had Never Done To Her Before.
She Now Understood His Designs Thoroughly, But The Knowledge Was A
Secret Which Her Fears Suggested That She Had Better Lock Up In Her
Own Heart. What Chance Would A Poor Unprotected Girl Have In A Contest
With The Rich And Powerful Assistant? Who Would Take Her Word In
Opposition To His? Spikeman Well Appreciated His Advantage, And
Calculating With Absolute Certainty Upon Her Silence, Was, In
Consequence, The More Audacious.
When The Spy Of The Assistant Found Him At His Store-House, He Was
Meditating Upon The Approaching Interview With Prudence, The
Contemplation Of Which It Unpleasantly Interrupted. The Prospect Of
The Soldier's Liberation Was Exceeding Disagreeable. It Would
Interfere With, And Perhaps Defeat Plans, Which In Blind Passion He
Hugged To His Heart. But Engrossed By His Unworthy Madness, He Could
Not Then Mature Any Scheme Not Connected With Its Immediate
Gratification. Machinations For The Further Accomplishment Of His
Designs Must Be Postponed For A Calmer Moment. It Came After The
Interruption Occasioned By The Arrival Of His Wife, And Soon His
Active Brain Had Shaped His Ideas Into Definiteness.
Accordingly In The Evening, As Soon As It Became So Dark That Features
Were Not Readily Distinguishable In The Streets, The Assistant Took
His Way To The Prison In Which The Soldier Was Confined. It Stood On
The Edge Of The Settlement, And Was A Low, One-Story Building,
Strongly Made Of Unhewn Logs, Within A Few Feet Of Which Was The
Dwelling Of The Jailer, But Little Differing From It In Exterior. In
Those Days A Very Strong Jail Was Not So Important As At Present. If
One Had Committed A Crime So Heinous That He Was Unfit To Live, He Was
Forthwith Put Beyond The Power Of Doing Mischief; But If The Offence
Were Of A Less Atrocious Character, Modes Of Punishment Were Usually
Resorted To Which Did Not Involve The Necessity Of Supporting Him At
Public Charge--Such, For Instance, As Whipping, Cutting Off The Ears,
Slitting The Nose, And Like Improvements Of The Human Form Divine. If
Through Defect Of The Prison, Or From Any Other Cause, The Offender
Escaped, It Was Pretty Certain That He Would Not Make His Appearance
In A Hurry, Lest Some Worse Thing Might Befall Him, And So There Was
One Malcontent The Less, And One Disturber Of The Peace Gone, Even
Though The Ends Of Punishment Were Not Perfectly Attained.
Spikeman, On Reaching The House Of The Jailer, Was About To Knock At
The Door, When His Attention Was Arrested By Sounds Which Made Him
Pause. The Weather Being Warm, The Window Was Open, And He Was Able To
Hear Distinctly What Was Said Within. Motives Of Delicacy Or Honor
Weighed Not Much In The Mind Of A Man Like Him, And He Scrupled Not To
Appropriate Any Advantage To Be Derived From Eaves-Dropping.
"What Made You, Sam Bars, Take All The Ornaments Off Philip But The
Bracelets, Without Saying Anything To Me?" Inquired A Voice, Which
Spikeman Recognized As Belonging To The Jailer's Wife.
"Why, Margery, To Confess, I Forgot To Tell You," Answered Her
Husband; "But," Added He, Laughing, "I Had No Fear On Thy Account, For
Thou Art A Match For A Man Any Day."
"When I Took Him In His Supper," Said The Woman, "There Was Poor
Philip Rubbing His Ankles To Get The Swelling Out. Truly I Pitied Him,
For He Is A Proper Young Man."
"Oh! Goody, The Women Always Pity Proper Young Men. I Warrant Me Now
If It Had Been A Grizzled Old Wolf Like Me, You Would Not Have Thought
So Much Of His Ankles."
"Say Not So, Sam," Replied The Woman, Affectionately, "Nor Liken
Thyself To A Wolf. O, How They Used To Howl Every Night When We First
Came To This Wilderness; But The Lord Protected His People. I Dare Say
Now, It Was Thy Kind Heart Made Thee Take Off The Irons."
"That It Was Not, Wife. They Were Put On By Order Of One I Am Bound To
Obey; Nor Durst I Take Them Off But By Command Of A Higher Authority."
"Why Do You Talk As Though You Were Giving Me Riddles To Guess? Am I
Not Bone Of Thy Bone?"
"A Big Heap Of Bones We Make Together," Muttered Sam, Glancing At The
Large Frame Of His Wife, Not Much Excelled By His Own, "But She's A
Good Soul, Amiss Only In Her Tongue At Whiles; Howbeit, Saith Not
Paul, It Is An Unruly Member? Well, Margery, An Thou Must Know, It Was
By Order Of The Governor's Own Mouth To Me They Were Taken Off, And
What Is More, I Am To Let Philip Go Free In The Morning."
"Bless His Sweet Face," Cried The Woman, "I Always Said The Worshipful
Governor Was The Sweetest; And Virtuousest And Excellentest Man In The
Whole Country."
"There Be Them Among The Elders And Magistrates Who Be Of A Different
Opinion. Beshrew Me! (May The Lord Forgive Me," He Added, Looking
Round In Alarm. "I Hope No One Hears Me,) But, According To My
Thinking, It Is Only Because Master Winthrop Asks For No Pay, And
Spends So Much Out Of His Own Purse For Other Folk, That They Choose
Him Governor."
"What Can Anybody Have Against So Sweet-Tempered And Liberal A
Gentleman?" Inquired Margery.
"Well, Then, The Elders Complain That He Is Not So Zealous, Even Unto
Slaying, As Becomes A Leader Of The Lord's Host, Which He Is, Like
Moses And Joshua; And Some Of The Deputies Pretend That He Takes Too
Much State On Him, And Means To Make Himself A King, Or Least-Wise, A
Lord."
"And I Trow, Good Man, I Know No Reason Why, When The Commonwealth, As
They Call It, Gets Big Enough, We Should Not Have A King As Well As
The Folk On The Other Side Of The Water. It Was Always A Pleasure To
See His Majesty In The Streets Of London, With The Grand Lords And
Ladies All In Their Silks And Satins, And Jewels And Feathers. It Will
Be Long, I Am Afraid," Sighed The Good Woman, "Before We Shall See
Such Fine Sights In These Woods."
"Hush, Goody," Said Sam, "Take Care Your Tongue Do Not Get You Into
Trouble. Speak Lower, An You Will Talk About Things You Know Nothing
About. You Love Kings And Lords Better Than Some Folk," He Concluded,
With A Laugh.
"Take Care Of Your Own Tongue, Sam Bars; I Warrant You Mine Will Take
Care Of Itself. But Wherefore Should I Not Love The King? Is It Not
Written--Touch Not Mine Anointed, And Do My Prophets No Harm? And I
Will Let You Know, Sam Bars? That I Will Say What I Please About Him,
God Bless Him! Marry, Come Up, A Fine Time Of Day Truly, If A Woman
May Not Speak Her Mind! I Should Like To See The Man Or Woman Either,
Forsooth, To Stop Me. My Tongue And Ten Commandments (Stretching Out
Her Fingers) Know How To Take Care Of One Another, I Can Tell You. My
Tongue Get Me Into Trouble! O, Sam, Why Do You Aggravate Me So? Me,
The Quietest And Peaceablest And Silentest Wife In The World! Why Dost
Not Speak? Art As Dumb As The Bench Your Heavy Carcass Almost Breaks
Down? Speak, I Say, Sam, Speak, Or I Shall Go Crazy."
But Her Husband, Whom Long Experience Had Taught The Best Mode Of
Weathering Such Storms, Only Shook His Head In Silence, Until The Good
Woman, After A Variety Of Ejaculations And Expletives, Finding That
She Made No More Impression On Him Than Children's Pop-Guns On A
Sand-Bank, Concluded To Cool Down, When She Asked What The Governor
Said To Him.
Sam, Glad That The Current Had Taken Another Direction, Answered
Readily "A Mountain Of Questions About Philip. And He Wanted To Know
Why I Put So Many Irons On Him--How He Found It Out, The Lord Only
Knows, Unless"--Here Bars Sunk His Voice, So That The Words Were
Inaudible To The Listener, And He Lost A Sentence Or Two--"And When He
Dismissed Me, He Ordered That I Should Never Do It Again Without His
Consent, And Then Sent Me Into The Kitchen, Where I Had A Pottle Of
Sack.
"A Whole Pottle Of Sack!" Exclaimed His Wife, In A Tone Of
Disappointment; "And Here Was I At Home, As Dry In This Outlandish Hot
Weather As The Children Of Israel At Rephidim, When They Did Chide
Moses Because There Was No Water To Drink." "You Might Have Brought
Your Own Margery A Taste," She Added, Reproachfully.
"Did I Say I Had A Whole Pottle? If I Did, I Spoke Only In A Figure,
As One May Say; For There Was Ephraim Pike To Help Me Make Away With
It, And You Know His Gullet Is Like A London Sewer. Love Your Bright
Eyes, Margery, A Quart Of Sack Stands No More Chance With Ephraim,
When His Nose Once Gets Scent Of The Liquor, Or His Lips Touch The
Edge Of The Mug, Than A Mouse Among A Dozen Cats."
"Or Than It Has With You, Sam. But Men Be All Alike; They Be Always
Guzzling; They Never Think Of Their Poor Wives. Here Am I, Margery
Bars, Thine Own Help-Meet, Never Away From Home; Never Running About
Streets And Going To Governor's Houses To Swill Sack; Never"--But Here
The Voice Of The Discontented Woman, Who, In Her Excitement, Had Risen
From Her Seat And Walked Away, Was Lost In The Pantry, Or Rather
Subdued Into An Inarticulate Grumble; And Spikeman, After Waiting
Awhile, And Finding It Improbable That The Conversation Would Be
Resumed, Knocked In A Peculiar Manner On The Door, Which Was Almost
Immediately Opened By Bars Himself.
"Hath The Order For The Soldier's Release Arrived From The Governor?"
Inquired The Assistant.
"It Hath, Worshipful Sir; He Is To Be Dismissed In The Morning,"
Answer The Jailer.
"Hast Said Anything About It To Joy, As I Requested Thee Not?"
"He Knows No More Concerning It Than The Logs Of His Dungeon," Said
Bars.
"Then Get The Keys, And Means To Strike A Light."
Without Replying, As One Accustomed To Obey Such Orders, The Jailer
Provided Himself In A Few Moments With The Articles Required. He
Placed An Unlighted Candle In The Lantern, And The Two Proceeded To
The Door Of The Jail.
"He Is Your Only Prisoner, I Believe?" Said Spikeman.
"None Other," Answered Bars.
"Remain Outside By The Door. I Would Speak A Moment With Him."
The Jailer, In Silence, Put One Key Into The Lock And Opened The Door,
And Gave Another To Spikeman, And Then Stationed Himself As Directed,
Outside.
Spikeman Entered, And Closed The Door After Him; Then Striking A
Light, Advanced Like One Well Acquainted With The Place. The Space
Wherein He Found Himself Was An Entry Or Passage-Way, Some Four Feet
Wide, Running Along The Four Sides Of The Prison, And Enclosing The
Cells In The Middle, The Security Of The Prisoners Was Greatly
Promoted By This Arrangement, Two Walls Being Necessary To Be Broken
In Order To Effect Escape, And Communication With Persons Without
Being Thus Made More Difficult.
The Assistant Advanced, Until He Came To The Door Of A Cell Which Was
Closed, And Which He Knew From That Circumstance Was Occupied, And
Unlocking It, Stepped Within. He Stopped, And Throwing Around The
Light From The Lantern, Beheld The Form Of The Soldier Extended On
Some Straw Spread In A Corner, And Apparently Asleep. Philip Was
Indeed In A Profound Slumber. Relieved From The Painful Incumbrance Of
The Irons Which Had Prevented His Lying Down, And Kept Him
Consequently In A Constrained Posture, He Was Enjoying A Luxury Hard
To Be Realized Except By One In A Condition As Wretched As His Own.
Spikeman Threw The Light Full Upon His Face, But It Failed To Awaken
Him. He Only Smiled, And Muttering Something Indistinctly, Turned Upon
His Pallet, The Irons On His Wrists Clanking As He Moved. The
Assistant Stood Looking At Him Awhile, And Then Pronounced His Name,
At First In A Low Tone, And Afterwards Louder. Even This Did Not
Banish Sleep, And Spikeman Was Obliged To Shake Him By The Shoulder
Before He Could Be Aroused. It Was Then The
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