"'Twas in the third King William's time,When many a pirate boldCommitted on the seas the crimeOf shedding blood for gold.""My name is Captain Kyd,As I sailed, as I sailed:My name is Captain Kyd,And so wickedly I did,God's laws I did forbidWhen I sailed."Old Ballad.
"'Twas in the third King William's time,When many a pirate boldCommitted on the seas the crimeOf shedding blood for gold."
"My name is Captain Kyd,As I sailed, as I sailed:My name is Captain Kyd,And so wickedly I did,God's laws I did forbidWhen I sailed."
"All in the olden time."
"All in the olden time."
"Our ancestors smoked long pipes, wore breeches and buckles, spoke in a strange tongue, and were called Dutchmen; for what saith the chronicle?"Dutchmen lived in those days in Nieuve-Amsterdam."
"Our ancestors smoked long pipes, wore breeches and buckles, spoke in a strange tongue, and were called Dutchmen; for what saith the chronicle?
"Dutchmen lived in those days in Nieuve-Amsterdam."
Five years have elapsed since the events narrated in the last book transpired. In the interim, the seed then sown has had time to ripen to the germe; the germe to bud, and blossom, and bear fruit: youth has advanced to manhood; the characters then forming, formed; and the effects of the various causes then in operation fully wrought, and apparent to every eye. The scene, as well as the time of the story, is now changed, and, with its actors, transformed from the Old to the New World.
In the year 1695, William the Third appointed Richard, Earl of Bellamont, governor of the province of New-York. He did not, however, receive his commission until eighteen months afterward, nor arrive in his government until April, 1698. At this period the American coast, from New-England to the Capes of Virginia, were infested by a daring bucanier, who not only swept the seas with his fast-sailing vessel, but frequently run boldly, in open day, into the harbours of New-York, Boston, and Newport. To such an extent did his depradations reach,so fearful became the terrible name of "Kyd," that at length the fisherman feared to launch his boat, the mariner to spread his sail, and citizens trembled for their safety within the very centre of their fortified towns.
Such being the state of things, Lord Bellamont, on assuming the administration of colonial affairs, was especially instructed by the English government to make use of all the means placed at his command to remedy an evil so alarming, and fraught with consequences so fatal to the growth and prosperity of the colonies. For this purpose, immediately after his arrival at New-York, he had despatched the light-armed vessel which had brought him over from England in pursuit of the pirate.
She had been absent some time, and her arrival in the bay was hourly and anxiously looked for by the honest Dutch citizens. As the time for her return drew nigh, it was the custom of certain of these worthies, after the humble occupations of the day were over, to assemble at eventide about the stoope offrauJost Stoll's tavern by the water side, and with their long pipes supported in their mouths with one hand, and a mug of double beer or mum held in the other, steadfastly to gaze down the bay, in expectation of the return of the crusier, the while gravely discussing their doubts of the bold bucanier's captivation by mortal ship; and by times relieving their discourse with dark tales of his marvellous and bloody exploits on the high seas.
Before entering further upon this division of the story, it perhaps may be necessary, for the proper understanding of it, to describe New-York as it was at this period. On the north side of the present Wall-street there extended from East River, then called Salt River, to the North River, a palisade ten feet high, constructed of piles firmly driven into the earth, strengthened and sustained by crosspieces of timber. The interstices were filled with earth and stone, and it was in every part ball-proof. South of this palisade lay all that then was New-York. Beyond were forests, and a vast tract called "King's Farms," now embraced between Canal and Liberty streets. This wall was perforated midway between the two rivers by a gateway, through which passed the road to Albany: this avenue is now called Broadway. At the eastern extremity of the wall, at the foot of Wall-street, and facing the water, was a half-moon fort, called a Rondeel: another was at Coenties-slip, or "Countess-slip," so called in honour of the fair Lady of Bellamont; and a third, equidistant from it, on the site of what is now the corner of State-street and the Battery. From Broadway, west, there was a sloping shore to the beach, there being neither wharf nor landing on this side of the town; and on the south, the tides came up nearly to the iron gate of the Battery that at present opens into Broadway—the site of the present "Marine Park" being at low tide a sandy beach strewn with vast fragments of rock, and called "The Ledge," where fishermen spread their nets and dried their fish.
At the foot of Broad-street, then called "Here Graft," and at that time the principal street of New-Amsterdam, were two great docks, called "West" or "East Dock," as they chanced to be on the east or west side of Broad-street. Through this street nearly to Wall-street also run a creek, widened into a canal, and spanned by bridges wherever it was intersected by streets. Near the head of this canal was the abode of the city ferryman, who conveyed passengers in a wherry either to the Island or Jersey shore. The houses of the betterclass stood principally on William and Pearl streets, the latter being open to the water, with dwellings only on the west side facing it. Maiden-lane was then a green lane with a fine spring at its head where the Dutch maidens were accustomed to bleach the linen they wove. Fronting the river stood the Stadt Huys (the ancient City Hall), a massive stone structure two stories high, with battlements rising above the gable ends. The lower story was used as the colonial prison. Opposite the Stadt Huys stood the fish-market. In the Bowling Green, then an oblong square, surrounded by locust-trees, was the City Market, which was held three times a week, and opened and shut by the ringing of a bell. The gate of the city was formed of a pair of massive leaves of oak, strengthened with bars of iron: they were shut at night on the setting of the watch, and opened at sunrise by ringing of bells. The citizens took watch by turns or were fined. They were to be "good men and true, and free from cursing and swearing." It was their duty to watch by the gate and the bridges, and thrice during the night to take the rounds of the city, particularly to see that neither Indians nor negroes were abroad, or lying about in the market-places. In cases of emergency or alarm, they were commanded to call on the nearest citizen for aid; each householder being required to keep always in his house a "goode firelocke," and at least six rounds of balls thereto. Gutters run through the centre of all the streets, which were unpaved; and in the middle of Broadway, near Wall, and also in Pearl-street, were public wells and pumps. The houses were built mostly in the Dutch style, with gable-ends to the street, and stoopes.
The "Rondeel," or crescent before mentioned, that defended the south side of the town at thefoot of Broadway, was erected on the top of a large mound, fourteen feet high, with a green sloping glacis on every side. The wall of the fort was still twenty feet above the glacis, strongly constructed of stone, with two square wings, the centre being in the shape of a half-moon. On the north side stood a few apple-trees and an aged linden that over-topped the walls, from the parapet of which was a near view of the market, of the fields about the "Bowline Greene," the hay-scales, and the north gate of the city. In the centre of this fort stood a small stone chapel, the first Dutch church erected in New-York. Four cannon were mounted on the water side, and a heavy gun, of vast calibre, planted on the north side of the wall, commanded the gate of the palisades. East of the fort was a forest of several acres, in which were kept the governor's deer. Nearly hid among its old trees, yet open to the bay, stood, within a stone's throw of the gate of the fort, the gubernatorial mansion of the earl, a stately Dutch edifice of stone, painted white and ornate with scalloped gables, turret-like chimneys, a cupola, latticed galleries, and "stoopes." The ground before it sloped in a smooth lawn to the glittering beach; and from its door the eye embraced the whole of the far-extended bay, with its green and wooded islands, and a distant glimpse of the sea. On the east of this mansion, which, from its white exterior and imposing appearance, was named by the admiring burghers "Der Vite Sals," or White Hall; a name the site has retained to this day, commenced Pearl, then called Dock street. It was on the corner of this and Broad-street, and within one hundred yards of the White Hall, that the public-house of frau Jost Stoll was situated.
This ancient, well-frequented, and popular inn, the humble progenitor of the numerous costly andpalatialhotelsthat now adorn the modern city, was one story high, and extended far back on both streets, showing a front on each. Its roof was tiled with glazed Dutch tiles, and ascended almost perpendicularly to a great height, where it met a second or super-roof, which was clapped over it like an extinguisher. In its descent towards the ground, however, it look a horizontal curve outward, and projected full seven feet from the walls across the sidewalk, supported along its eaves by a row of rude columns. The gable-ends rose ambitiously above the roof, from which be it said projected sundry dormant windows, which were cut into steps or half-embrasures, giving the building a sort of castellated aspect. Its windows, and they were many of divers shapes, square, circular, oval, and diamond, were placed in all possible positions, as the fancy of the architect dictated. On each street was a broad door, with a narrow carved canopy above it, and beneath a stoop with seats on either side. To these, for the accommodation of her numerous customers, the bustling Dutch hostess had of late placed four long benches, two on each side of the house, against the wall and just beneath a row of windows with little three-cornered panes of glass set in leaden sashes. The advantage of two fronts to the inn is apparent, and was a very great convenience to the worthy citizens. In the summer mornings they were wont to sit on the south and shady side, which looked down the bay; and in the afternoon on the east and now shady side, which commanded not only a side view of the harbour, but a full view of the muddy dock, alive with ducks, at their feet, and the clumsy stone bridge that crossed it. But, since they had begun to watch for the reappearance of the "Ger-Falcon," the name of the vessel which was despatched in pursuit of the pirate,the south front, notwithstanding it was in the month of June, and the level sun lighted up the little windows of the inn like an illumination, had become the most frequented and popular; and, on the evening of the day in question, the east side was deserted by all save a tawny slave, a recumbent Indian, and one or two sleepy dogs. On the south front, therefore, at the time of the opening of the second part of this story, were gathered, towards sunset, beneath the shade of the projecting roof, a motley group, composed of some of the best burghers of New-Amsterdam, and, what is more, the choicest customers offrauStoll. They were seated on benches on either side of the stoop, the two seats of which were occupied by a little, short, fat member of the corporation, and a tall, thin, long-nosed churchwarden, the chiefest dignitaries of the church and state. Besides these worthies, there were several artisans, and other worthy citizens of the ancient town.
"Dere vill be moche fear dat de tamt pucanier hash got de king's ship, and no te king's ship haav got te pucanier," said one of the worthy burghers, sagely shaking his head after a long look down the bay; and taking his pipe from his mouth and emitting a generous cloud of smoke, he looked round to see how his opinion was received.
"'Tis quite time, Mynheer Vandersplocken, that the ship should be back; but whether she brings a prize or no is another thing," said the warden, blowing through his pipe to ignite the tobacco therein.
"I'll ventur' to say you are right dere, Mynheer Varder," said an antiquated Dutch skipper, blowing forth with his words a volume of smoke that for a time rendered his round, rubicund visage and portly paunch invisible; "dis skipper Kyd ish not to pe taken sho easily. Schnaps and tunder! hewould plow up his yocht to de tyfil first. Ay! he vill never haav te hemp cravat, te plack rogue."
"Is he black?" asked the warden, eagerly.
"Ay—ish't plack he ish, schipper Schenk?" repeated the burgher.
"Goot! schipper Schenk, den hash seen him! how doesh dou know dat he ish plack?" asked a third, who, from his greasy apparel, was the tallow-chandler of the town, laying his pipe across his oily knee and looking him in the face with the air of a man who expected to hear something marvellous.
"'Tish not plack in te face I mean, put in te heart," said the skipper. "I have seen him, as you say, Mynheer Schnops; and his hair vas white as te lint, and his eye plue as te sky, and his skin fair as te lantlaty's taughter here. A fair young man he vas to look upon."
"And cruel as fair," said the warden. "Tell us, worthy skipper Schenk, o' the time you saw this bold rover; doubtless it will be a tale to listen to."
"Ay, good schipper!" "Yaw, schipper Schenk, gif us te story," cried several voices.
Ashes were knocked from some of the pipes, and others were refilled; the more distant listeners moved nearer to the skipper, who, looking round with the patronising and superior air of a man who hath seen more danger than his fellows, settled himself into the attitude of a story-teller, and took a long-drawn whiff at his meerschaum:
"It vas in te Long Island Sount," he began, "just after the last line gale. I vas in mine little yocht, te Half Moon, and, haaving carried away my powsprit, put into a creek unter Sachem's Heat to cut another from te treesh dere. I left te men to vork hewing te spar, and valks about on te shore, looking rount, and tinking vat a nice plaace it vas—te Sachem's Heat—for a city, if te lant vas lower, so tat a tyke micht be made all rount it."
"A tyke, sure; vat is te citee mitout te tyke? vera goot," were the approving ejaculations of his listeners.
"Ton't interrupt me, or tish tyfil a pit more you get o' mine shtory. Now vere vas I? Vell, as I vas saying, I vas valking by mineself ven I comes to te oder side of te heatlant, ant tere lay anoder vessel mitout a mast, ant more tan fifty men at vork putting new spars into her. Vell, I vas vondering vat craft it vas, for she vas carry many kuns, vhen somepoty vas lay a hant on mine shoulter, ant I looked rount ant vas see a tall, hantsome, ant fair young man, mit plue eyes ant light locks, mit pistols at belt ant swort py his side.
"'Goot tay, Mynheer Schipper,' says he, in a free ant easy vay. 'Ish tat your craft pelow in te creek?'
"'It ish, mynheer,' says I. 'Dis gale has put us poth into von bipe, if tat ish your craft pelow dere.'
"'It ish, schipper; vill you go on boart?'
"'Ish must get my repairs tone ant pe off,' I sait.
"'I haav a flasche of goot Scheitam, mynheer,' sait he.
"So I vent aboart, ant ve hat a merry time mit te Scheitam ant te bipe.
"'Tis ish te real shuniper from Deutch-lant, captain,' says I, pouring te last trop out of te flasche.
"'It's made from the Italian shuniper, schipper,' says he.
"'Deutch or Italian,' says I, 'it's te oil ov life; ant never pefore tid I trink such shin.'
"'I am glat you like it,' says he; ant he matea negro, in golt ant green jacket ant brocken, put on anoder flasche.
"By-ant-py, says I, 'Vat's te name o' your craft, captain,' tinking it a ship in te king's navy.
"'Te Silfer Arrow,' says he.
"'Te Silfer Arrow. I haav not hear tis name in te navy.'
"'Nor ever vill,' sait he. 'Fill your glass, schipper, I vill give you a toast.'
"So I filled to te top, ant, rising up, swore I't trink it on mine legs, if he gave te tyfil himself, for te Scheitam vas in me. So I helt on to te taple-corner, ant he sait,
"'I give te healt of Kyt.'
"'Nefer,' sait I; ant smashed my glass on te taple in a tousant atoms. 'I vill trink to te tyfil, put not to Kyt,' says I.
"His eyes flashed like coals ov vire, ant he put his hant on a pistol; put ten he laughed ant sait,
"'Drink to my healt, ten, good schipper.'
"'I'll trink your healt, captain, from te neck ov te flasche, till tere pe not von trop left pehint.'
"'Pledge me, den,' sait he.
"So ve filled, ant I trank a bumper to his goot healt.
"'Very vell, schipper. You haav done as I wished,' he sait, smiling. 'Who, tink you, is your entertainer?'
"'Te'il care I,' sait I; 'I know te Scheitam, tat is enough for schipper Schenk to know.'
"'Did you ever hear of te Adventure Galley?' says he.
"'It's Kyt's vessel,' sait I, 'tat he scours te sea mit.'
"'Look here, schipper, ant reat,' said he, shoving asite a sliting panel above te transum.
"I looked, ant reat, in large letters,
"'The Adventure Galley.'
"'Vat te tyfil!' sait I, laying a hant on my cutlass, 'tish is not te—'
"'Te Adventure Galley, ant I am Captain Kyt,' says he.
"So I drew my cutlass ant mate a lunge at him, supposing I vas in for a death; but he wrested it vrom me, ant mate me sit down ant vinish te pottle, ant we soon got right vell acquainted.
"'Vhen do you leave te creek, schipper Schenk?' says he.
"'It vill take me two tays yet, mit my three men, to set te bowsprit. It's a pad pusiness, dish delay; ant I vish I vas vell out of dis place'—for I pegan to fear for my throat, notmitstanding ve drank Scheitam togedder. But Captain Kyt vas de shentleman. He sent his men to help mine, ant in four hours I vas ready for sea again, sount as ever. He came to see me off, sent two flasches ov de Scheitam, ant shook hants mit me, mit many pleashant vords, ant gave me dis arrow, saying, 'Tese are my passports for my frients. If you ever are in any tanger from my peoplesh, it vill pe your safeguart.' Ant he spoke true; for it hash twice saven my cargoesh."
As the skipper concluded, he held up to view a small silver arrow the length of his fore-finger, on which the warden discovered, as it was passed round from one to the other, the words:
"Respect the sign.Kyd."
"Strange—it ish vonderful—vera goot!" exclaimed severally those to whom it was handed.
"He is not so wicked after all, then, schipper Schenk," said the warden.
The skipper shook his head, and replied mysteriously, "I vish I may alvays gif him a goot vide berth, datsh all, Mynheer Vorden, notmitstanding te Schietam."
"I can tell you a tale that will give you a different opinion, Master Warden," said an English mate, who formed one of the party of listeners.
"By all means let us hear it," said the warden, knocking the ashes from his pipe against his shoe, and refilling the bowl from a leathern pouch by his side wherein he was accustomed to carry a pound of loose Turkish cut.
"Ve vill lishten; tell it, skipper Jack," all cried, directing their eyes first down the bay to see if they could discover an approaching sail, and then turning and fixing them upon the face of the seaman.
"Well, shipmates," said the sailor, dropping from his mouth carefully into the palm of his hand a huge quid of tobacco, and sprinkling a shower of saliva over the pavement; "you see as how it was in the West Indies. Captain Kyd had captured a trader bound from Newport to Barbadoes, and, having taken out all the valuables, set fire to her, with every soul on board save a young gentleman and young lady—one being sweetheart to the other, you must know. These he took on board his vessel, the 'Ventur' Galley, and told the young lady, who was very rich, that if she would pay forty thousand dollars for her ransom, she should go free. So she went into the cabin with him, and wrote the order for the money. 'Now,' says she to him, 'I will not give it to you unless you promise to give me what I love best on earth.' 'Now,' says he to her, 'fair lady, what do you love best on earth?'
"'My betrothed husband,' said she.
"'Would you have his heart rather than all else in the world?' asked he.
"'Yes.'
"'I comply with your demand—but first you must dine with me,' said he.
"So a great dinner was served up, and only Kydand the lady sat down to it—for he treated her with great respect all the time, and more like a gentleman than a bucanier. After they had dined, she said, 'Now grant me my wish, and let me have what I love best on earth.'
"'You have had it,' said he.
"'Where—what?' she asked, trembling all over at his fearful looks, and hardly knowing what to dread.
"'Your lover's heart.'
"'Where?' she asked.
"'You have just dined off of it,'" said he.
"What became of the lady?" asked the warden, after the exclamations of horror and surprise had subsided.
"She became a maniac, and in three days was buried in the sea," replied the narrator, replacing his quid and taking a hearty draught at a can of ale handed him by Frau Stoll herself.
"Donder ant blixen! I don't pelieve it—tish not true, I vould shwear," said the skipper. "He ish pad enough, put not so pad ash dat—tish one of te itle shtories tat peoplesh frighten von oder mit."
"'Tis said he always gets devil's luck, before he sails, from them as has dealings with the Evil One, and always burns a Bible on his capstan every time he weighs anchor," said the sailor, without regarding the incredulous skipper.
"The last time he was here, when he walked our streets so boldly, with a score of armed bucaniers at his back, before he set sail I heard how he got evil charms from the witch at Hell Gate," observed the warden, in a low, cautious tone.
"I can give ye a wrinkle on that point, I guess," said a lank, half-farmer, half-sailor looking being, who commanded a trader between the Rhode Island plantations and New-York—one of the first of thespecies now so numerous. "I anchored once, waiting for the flood tide to take me through the gate, close alongside the rock her hut is on. Feeling kind o' neighbourly, and not knowin' then who lived there, I got into my yawl, and pulled ashore to scrape acquaintance and talk a bit. As I came up to the hut I heard a strange noise, and smelt a brimstonish smell, and so thought I'd reconnoitre afore goin' in. Looking through the window, I see the old Witch of Endor and Captain Kyd, as I learned a'terward it was, goin' through the awfullest hellifications ever hearn tell on. She hanged a piece o' yarn round his neck, and then said as how he had a charmed life. Gracious! and the way it lightened and thundered jist then was a sin to death! Blue blazes an' brimstone—great guns and little guns—big devils and little devils, mixed up with owls and hobgoblins, snakes and catamounts, with a sprinkling o' hell-cats and flying sarpents, touched off with the tarnellest yells, 'nough to lift a feller right off his feet by the hair of his head. I thought creation was comin' to an eend, and dropped down on my marrow-bones and prayed away like a disciple. Soon as I could get on my legs, I showed 'um some purty tall walkin' till I got to my yawl again, I tell ye! I expected nothin'd be left o' me when I got there but my eyebrows and shirt risbands."
"She is a fearful woman," said the warden; "and little thanks do we owe them for sending her among us. 'Tis said, before she was transported to the colony from Ireland, that she had spirited away by her foul charms the son of some noble house. Ill has fared the colony the three years she has been in't."
"She shoult pe purned for von vitch vooman," said the skipper; "I would pe te first to make te fagot plaze."
"I'll be there to help you a bit, I guess, too," said the Rhode Islander. "I han't been to Salemtown in New-England for nothin', I guess. The way they do with the critters there is a little the cutest. If they want to tell for sartin if an old woman's a real witch, they throw her into a pond. If she's drownded she's no witch; but if she swims, its gospel proof she is—coz what old woman could swim if she warn't a nat'ral witch. They then tie her to a stake and set fire to her."
"Mit your leave, goot peoplesh, I vill shay vat dey doesh mit vitches in mine countree," said the Dutch burgher, deliberately taking the pipe from his mouth. "Virst, dey tries her py veighing her in te scales mit von Piple; if she be heavier nor te Piple, she ish prove von olt vitch voomans. Dis ish vera goot! Secont, dey tries to shoot her mit silver pulletsh, ant den dey tiesh her heelsh ant het bot' togedder, and drops her into te deep vater. Dat is alsho more vera goot!"
"What are ye gathered here for, ye idle knaves and fat burghers, ye masses of smoked flesh—sponges steeped in ale—and paunches like your own pint-pots, frightening each other's cowardly ears with tales of fear. Who is it ye would kill with your silver bullet, Master Von Schmidt?"
The company started at the harsh, stern voice that addressed them so unexpectedly, and uttered, as they looked up, divers exclamations and interjections of surprise, not unmingled with apprehension. The warden rose from his wooden bench, and, hurrying away, disappeared quickly round the corner of the inn; the tallow-chandler upset his can of ale in his over-eagerness to gain the taproom; the burgher broke the long stem of his pipe by striking it against the door-sill as he crowded in on the tallow-chandler's heels; and on each countenance andin every gesture of those who remained was depicted consternation and anxiety.
The personage who had caused this sudden movement was a female of low stature, deformed and hideous in person, with a stern aspect, and a wild, restless eye—indeed, none other than Elpsy the sorceress. Suspected of having made way with the young Lester—the illegitimate Lester—she had been arrested by the countess and thrown into prison. But confessing nothing on trial, and the circumstances not being sufficient in themselves to convict her, after remaining in prison two years, she was sent, with other criminals and dangerous persons, to the colonies. Forbidden by the worthy burghers to harbour in the town, she had selected, as more in unison with her wild and wandering life, and the mysterious character she claimed, a lonely abode, once a fisherman's lodge, on the rocky islet on the right of the outlet of Hurl Gate, still known as the Witch's Rock. Here she performed her unholy rites, and far and wide her fame spread as a sorceress. Seamen, as they shot through the dangerous pass, propitiated her; and those who would have fair winds sought them of her in full faith. The good came to her for good, and the evil for evil. The tender Dutch maiden would do pilgrimage there to ask after the fate of an absent lover, or seek assurances of his happy and speedy return. There were tales, too, that she favoured the bucaniers who swarmed the coasts, and that their success was owing to the heavy bribes of gold they gave her for prosperous cruises. Occasionally she visited the town, to the consternation of its worthy citizens, who never failed to presage evil to "scot and lot" from her presence.
"What is it ye fear, Master Warden—what is it leads ye to leave your bench, schipper—is't yourown shadows ye fear?" she now cried, fixing her eyes darkly and angrily upon each countenance.
"It ish out ov reshpect, Frau Elpshy," replied the half-tipsy schipper, mustering his physical to the aid of his moral courage, and speaking in a deprecatory tone. "We knowsh your power, ant make reverensh to it by getting up, ash you say."
"Ye are a hypocritical and fear-stricken set, all of ye—ever gulping ale, ye have only ale courage. Jost Stoll, woman, give me a can of thy best Island spirits. I have walked far, and am athirst and weary."
The strong potation was given her by the reluctant hostess, who dared not refuse her demand, lest, in the evil that she would visit upon her hearth-stone and roof-tree, she might lose far more than the value of a goblet. The weird woman quaffed the beverage at a draught, and, placing the cup on the bench with an emphasis, turned and looked down the bay with a steady gaze. Every eye followed hers. The sun had just touched the hills of Jersey with his lower edge, and the evening haze lifting from the water gave a dimness to distant objects. For some seconds she continued to gaze, and then suddenly cried,
"He comes!"
"Sail ho!" instantly shouted the Rhode Islander. At the same moment, a universal exclamation from the observers upon the stoope showed that all eyes had discovered the object that had attracted the attention and caused the sudden outcry of the woman.
Far down the bay, near its junction with the sea, diminished to a mere speck by the distance, and appearing not bigger than a snow-flake floating above the water, or a white gull riding on the waves, a vessel was seen entering the Narrows and standing towards the town. Instantly all was excitement. The noise and rumour ofits approach flew from the Rondeel on the south even to the wall on the north. The worthy citizens, attended by their fraus and their little folk, maids and matrons, old and young, black and white, slaves and Indians, and everything that had life in New-Amsterdam, assembled in front of Jost Stoll's inn, with their eyes directed down the bay. With a steady, onward course, the vessel came gallantly up the channel, and such was the way she made that she promised to drop anchor off against the fort ere the twilight should be deepened into night. Gradually, as she approached, her form and size began to grow more distinct to the eye, and her proportions to stand out clearer.
"She is a brig—but not the Ger-Falcon, I am thinking," said the warden, who had again taken his place among the crowd, his curiosity overcoming his superstitious fears—albeit, he gave the sorceress a wide berth. Nor indeed was he alone in his aversion to her society; for every one present seemed instinctively to avoid her neighbourhood: so that she stood alone in an open space before the inn, intently watching, without heeding those around her, the advancing sail.
"Vat oder prig can it pe, put te Sher-Falcon," said the skipper. "Dere ish none expected here till next Shaint Andrew's tay. De Barbadoesh packet vash just sail—de Glasgow merchantman ish not due till Christmash, and tere ish put one oder prig dat trade here, vich is gone to te Golt Coast for negroesh. 'Tis te Ger-Falcon, or te pucanier Kyt himself."
"Got forbid!" was the exclamation from every tongue.
"She should carry her colours boldly aloft if she were an honest trader," said the warden. "'Tis suspicious."
"The Ger-Falcon, neighbour, was a square-rigger, I guess," said the Rhode Islander, making a focus of his closed hands, and looking long and scrutinizingly at the stranger; "if I know a mainsail from a spanker, that craft is a 'morfydite, with a reg'lar straight stem for a mainmast."
"It ish true; tish not te king's vesshel," said the schipper, looking eagerly at her. "She ish not square-rigged; nor ish she von 'morfridyte neider. She ish polacca-rigged, and has von cut-vater like a pike's nose. Dat craft ish here for no goot."
As the skipper spoke he felt in his pouch anxiously, and, drawing forth his little arrow, looked at it between doubt and confidence, and, shaking his head bodingly, walked into the taproom to comfort his spirits with a fresh can of "mum."
The oracular shake of the skipper's head seemed to have affected all present. Glances of apprehension and words of trembling inquiry were interchanged; and, fluctuating between hope and fear, they continued anxiously to watch the approaching stranger, at times turning their glances towards the witch, to see if, on her dark features, they could read a confirmation of the fears the skipper's words and mysterious manner had awakened. As the vessel came nearer, it was clearly apparent to the most unpractised eye that she was not the vessel sent out in search of the bucanier, and for which they had so long been on the watch. There was something, too, in the shape and air of the stranger, that roused their suspicions of his pacific character, and the dreaded monosyllable "Kyd" was whispered under breath from one to the other. Many an anxious eye was turned towards the Rondeel, to see if the vigilance of the town's defenders was roused, and, to the confirmation of their fears, they saw that the little garrison was on the alert; that armed men were on the walls; that the tompions were takenfrom the guns; and that its captain stood with his glass on the outer bastion watching the vessel, while ever and anon an order, hastening the warlike preparations, reached their ears.
The stranger, a long, sharp, polacca-rigged brigantine, came swiftly on, boldly passed Red Hook, disappeared a few moments behind the wooded swell of Governor's Island, and reappeared on the east side, within gunshot of the town. Just as the more timid citizens began to think of withdrawing to the protection of the fort or the covert of their stout stone houses, and just as a warning gun was fired from the Rondeel, she rounded to, her canvass shivered in the wind, her after sails descended to the deck by the run, and her fore sails one after the other rapidly disappeared: a moment afterward, with everything furled, she dropped her anchor, and, swinging slowly round to it, remained, dimly seen through the thickening twilight, as stationary as the island off which she was anchored. After commenting upon her appearance and character, and giving vent to their doubts and suspicions, one by one the worthy citizens retired to their well-defended mansions, trusting to the governor to keep and hold the city should it be placed in peril before the coming dawn. Elpsy was left alone where she had stood all the while, watching the vessel's approach: the red light of the western sky lighted up her dusky features with a baleful glare, and her features worked with some deep, inward emotion. She would one moment strain her eyes towards the reposing vessel, and the next, with an exclamation of disappointment, stride, with an impatient step, to and fro the narrow strand before the alehouse.
"'Tis he," she said, looking fixedly in the direction of the vessel. "'Tis the day he said he should return, and he has not deceived me. Now will Ibring about that I have laboured five long years to accomplish. He shall obey me; he shall do it; he shall do what I command—fulfil it to the letter, or he shall die. No boat yet!" she said, pausing and looking over the water. "He waits for night. He will scarce think to meet me here; but he shall not come and go again without seeing me. He escapes me no more. Let me lay my hand on his heart and get his promise to see me, and I will go back to my rock; for I know then he will come to me there."
The stars at length came out, and night took the place of the glowing twilight. The customers of Jost Stoll had returned to their homes, or were seated within, under protection of the massive shutters and bars, which, earlier than at her accustomed time, the fore-guarding landlady had placed over her windows. All was still throughout the town save the tread of the sentinel on the parapet of the Rondeel, the tramp of the night-guard going with quicker and more determined tread than usual to their posts, the regular dash of the waves on the beach, and occasionally the low, deep voice of the weird woman soliloquizing. At length, after many an earnest look and impatient word, the distant dip of oars in the direction of the brigantine reached her ears, and in a few minutes afterward, faintly visible through the darkness, a boat was seen approaching the entrance of the canal below the inn. With a glad exclamation she hastened forward to meet it.
"The stain of crime—the stain of crimeGlows in immortal colours there!Not e'en the coursing flood of timeCan make that foulest plague-spot fair.My love was thine; it would have stoodThe test of years, or falsehood even;But thine own hand, imbued in blood,Hath shut to thee both earth and heaven.Away, away! there flows 'tween thee and meThe deep, dark ocean of eternity."
The worthy burghers assembled before the inn offrauJost Stoll had not been alone in their anxiety for the return of the Ger-Falcon, nor in their curiosity about the strange vessel which had sailed so boldly into their harbour.
Between the Rondeel and the alehouse, amid a park of majestic trees with a lawn before it sloping to the water, stood, as has been before described, the ancient White Hall, the gubernatorial residence of the Earl of Bellamont. It was an antiquated, rambling edifice, with divers bastion-like projections, chimneys terminating in turrets, lofty-peaked gables, and long, low wings. Running along the whole front was a balcony, upon which the windows of the second story opened, converting it into an airy and elevated promenade for the occupants of the suite of rooms connecting with it. At the eastern extremity of this terrace, which here wound round an octagonal-shaped tower obtruding from the angle, was a deep curtained window, which led into a boudoir. The slanting rays of the setting sun fell in rich tints through it upon the carpet, and, reflected from its crimson curtains, diffused a roseate light throughout the chamber. Near the centre of this apartment, which was furnished with themost costly articles of luxury, stood a superb harp, with its music lying open upon a stand beside it, as if just deserted. Paintings, of subjects tastefully appropriate for such a scene, from the pencils of the old masters, hung upon the walls, and shelves of gilded books filled the sides of a niche, in which, on a pedestal of black marble, stood a snowy statue of Calliope. In an opposite recess answering to it was a Clio; and in a third, fronting the window, was a Madonna and child, by Guido, before which, on a tall tripod of silver and ivory exquisitely carved, was placed a crucifix of gold, set with precious stones, and several books of prayer and of pious reading.
By the open window which faced the south sat a female, in the white and flowing evening costume of the times. Her face lay in the palm of her right hand, which rested on a slab supported by bronze lions that stood beneath a lofty mirror half hidden in tapestry. A guitar lay unheeded upon her lap, on the silent strings of which her fingers unconsciously lingered, while her eyes were turned towards the sea, whither, it was plain, her thoughts had also flown. At her feet was a silken flag, on which was embroidered the crest of Bellamont—a boar's head—and beneath, in Gothic characters, the lettersR. F., the latter unfinished, with the needle left in it. She was exceedingly lovely, beautiful as the houris that awake the glowing lyre of the Persian bard. Her beauty was oriental too—soft, languishing, dreamy, and most dangerous to look upon. The amorous sun lingered and still lingered on her olive brow, rioting on its beauty, and, to the last, entwined his golden rays among her glorious hair. And such hair! It was dark as the midnight cloud. Evenly parted on her forehead, it was turned back from her blue veined temples to the top of the head, andbraided to resemble the crest of a helmet; but several flowing waves of the luxuriant braid had burst the bondage of the fillet, and now sported about her superb neck in the gentle evening wind.
Five years had passed, and Kate Bellamont had become the lovely woman she now appeared. She had grown taller, being now a little above the common height, and her ripened figure was moulded in the most finished model of feminine grace. Nothing could be more fascinatingly perfect than the undulating outline of her person; and from the rounded arm and elegant hand, to the symmetrical foot just peeping from beneath her robe, resting its tip on an ottoman, all was grace and harmony. Her features, too, were in keeping with the enhanced beauty of her person. The expression of her face was something loftier and more decided, but blending, nevertheless, much sweetness with that peculiar and graceful dignity becoming a very beautiful woman. Her dark, floating eyes were fuller of passion and thought, and far more fatal to the beholder were their animated glances. The budding loveliness of her ruby, laughing lip had changed to a sweeter and more quiet character; yet love, now a practised archer, lay hidden there still, nestled amid smiles and dimples; perhaps, too, they bore a stronger impress of pride of birth and firmness of character than heretofore. Indeed, all that the youthful maiden had promised was fulfilled in the more matured woman, and the unfolding bud had burst into glorious flower.
As she gazed forth from the window, and looked long and anxiously down the bay, which stretched before her reflecting all the hues of the gorgeously painted sky, a pensive shadow would at times steal across her features, and a sigh escape her bosom; then, with a conscious blush, she would drop hereyes, thrum a nervous note or two on the guitar, and again bend her searching, wishful gaze over the water.
At length, just as the sun was setting, a vessel appeared afar off in the entrance of the harbour, and with an exclamation of joy she bounded to the balcony, and watched, with no less interest than the skipper and his companions had done, its approach towards the town. As it came nearer, a look of disappointment clouded her features, and anxiety and suspicion began to take the place of hope.
"No, it is not he; such was not the fashion of his sails; nor does the flag of England fly from her mast as it is wont to do. Heaven forbid that accident should have befallen him. Oh, that he would return and relieve my anxious watching.—Yet perhaps this stranger may bring me news of him."
As this thought occurred to her, she watched the motions of the vessel with renewed interest, until she dropped anchor within gunshot of the town. The gun from the Rondeel, and the confused murmur of voices from the inn below, increased her curiosity; and the deepening twilight still found her at the window, with her eyes fixed on the scarcely visible hull, as if, although it might not contain him she looked for, it was yet in some way connected with her destinies.
Elpsy, it will be remembered, after her appearance at the inn of Jost Stoll, waited until nightfall, and then, hearing the approach of a boat from the strange vessel, hastened to meet it. It pulled in close by a large rock; and as the person it bore stepped to the beach, she at once knew him by his bearing to be him she sought. He gave a few brief orders to his men, warning them to be guarded against surprise, and then, wrapping his mantle about him, first loosening his sword in its scabbardand bringing his pistols round to be ready for use, he moved across the beach towards the silent inn. She permitted him to pass her unseen, and followed him till he reached the open space in front of the alehouse, when, seeing him pause as if to reconnoitre, she approached him from behind and lightly touched his arm.
Quick as lightning, his hand was upon her throat, and a pistol was held to her heart. But as quickly the hand was released and the weapon put up.
"Is it thou, Elpsy? Thou shouldst come less stealthily upon a man who is accustomed to the use of steel. Had I not recognised thy accursed shape, not to be mistaken even in this faint starlight, thou wouldst have caused me to shed thy blood. What wouldst thou?"
"The fulfilment of thy promise."
"Have they come?"
"All. 'Tis five weeks since the ship that bore them from the old country anchored in the harbour."
"All?"
"All, even thy—that is, even to the Lady Lester!"
"Ah, the poor lady! Does she live?"
"Scarcely. For years she shut herself in her castle; but the Earl of Bellamont, pitying her loneliness and her sorrows, a year since did prevail on her to take up her abode at Castle Cor."
"And so, when he was appointed governor, she came hither with him? I would see her, Elpsy."
"Nay, thou hadst better not. There is one who alone will demand all thy time and thought! Hast thou the will to perform? will no faint-heartedness come over thee?"
"None. I love her still. Time only increasesmy passion. Five years has given me worldly lessons. I am ready to fulfil the vow I made to thee when in port a few months ago, in expectation of her arrival, and now assert my claim to the rank and title of Lester, for I have been taught that kings have been bastards, and bastards kings."
"And to this title seek to annex that of the house of Bellamont?"
"But will she hear me still? I fear even thy art, aided by thy subtlest filters, could not make her love if love has once died in her heart."
"It will depend on thee—as it chance that thou love her or her title more."
"I care not for her title so I be once more her accepted wooer. Elpsy," he said, with animation, "I have loved this maiden well; never, save when sleeping—nor even then, for my dreams were of her alone—have I ceased to think of her. There is none, save thyself, that know I am not the true Lester?"
"None. Even Lady Lester still mourns thee as her son, and would be first to hail thee."
"The Mark Meredith?"
"Is lost at sea, and so thou art the only claimant."
"Canst prove it?"
"His name appeared, 'tis said, in every print, as one lost in a king's ship, that went down at sea, in a storm off Calais four years ago."
"'Tis better than I thought. Yet he was a brave lad! Does Lady Lester know of thy presence here?"
"She lives secluded in the White Hall, and knows naught that passeth in the world. But did she, am I not beyond the reach of justice, should she seek my death on suspicion of slaying thee? Was I not tried and nothing found against me—as how should there be? I am an exile and under sentence. Ha, ha, law cannot reach me; and man,unaided by it, dare not. I reign here; I rule all minds. It is they who fear, not I. They are the slaves of superstition, and I make them obedient to my will. Even thou, proud man, dost acknowledge my power."
"I do, Elpsy."
"Therefore shalt thou have its aid in thy wooing."
"Nay, first let me try my fortunes on the footing of our former love."
"If she will not listen to thee?"
"She will."
"Wilt thou resign her if she will not?"
He was silent for a moment, and then said,
"What would you have me do?"
"Take her with thee to thy vessel—once there, thy will must be her will. I shall give thee neither rest nor peace, on sea or land, till thou art the acknowledged Earl of Lester, and, by marriage, Lord of Bellamont. Go. Where you see the light burning in yonder window is her chamber. I saw her there as the sun went down. Go, and when thou hast spoken with her, come to my hut and tell me how thou art received. See thou lag not, for I have prepared the rites thou hast sought of me—and if thou wouldst have thy buried treasures hid from mortal eyes, and prosper in what thou undertakest, see thou art with me before the midnight hour."
"Stay, Elpsy; should she discover that Kyd and Lester are the same?"
"Then," said the woman, in a sneering and malicious tone of voice, "thou wilt have to woo the rougher, and 'twill be more to thy credit if thou carry her off. Would it humble thy pride to have her know it?"
"By Heaven, did I believe she did, I would not go near her."
The witch laughed in such a way that he half suspected her of betraying him. He laid his hand on her shoulder, and said quickly,
"Woman, thou hast told her, to gratify thy malicious soul."
"Think you I would crush the seed, when, by a little patience, I can pluck the fruit of the full-grown tree? Go, boy!"
As she spoke she pointed towards the White Hall. He left her without replying, and walked in the direction of the mansion, which stood silent and majestic amid its noble grove of oaks.
As the night advanced, lights were brought into the boudoir of Kate Bellamont. Turning away from the window with a sigh of disappointment, she struck a few sad notes on her guitar, and then, throwing it aside, took up the flag she was embroidering, and began mechanically to ply the needle, occasionally pausing in her graceful toil, with her head inclined towards the open window, as if she fancied she heard sounds from the water. Suddenly she started and sprung to the balcony. The regular dip of oars now struck distinctly upon her ears, each instant approaching nearer and nearer, and a dim object soon advanced from the distant gloom; and, as it came swiftly on, she could distinguish the bodies of men and the outline of a boat boldly relieved against the glassy flood. In a few seconds it was hidden by an oak and a clump of shrubbery, but she could hear it still as it made its way towards the entrance of the canal in front of the "Boat and Anchor," as the inn of Jost Stoll was designated. After listening a while longer, and hearing nothing to confirm her hopes that it bore a message to the White Hall, she re-entered her boudoir and once more resumed her embroidery. This in a little while she restlessly cast aside, and, approaching her harp, struckits golden chords, and, accompanying it by her voice, sung, in a wild and thrilling strain, a popular Irish air. Now slow and solemn sounded the deep, majestic notes; now light and free; now soft, and touching, and most melancholy, even to sadness, they wailed beneath the magic touch of her fingers—her voice, or deep as an angel's trumpet, or soft as a guitar, or clear as a flute, or wild and high like a clarion, following in faultless harmony through the rangeless fields of melody.