GIFT OF 
 JANE K.SATHER 
 
THE DUKE OF STOCKBRIDGE 
 
"I>KSIKK HKSITATKD, THEN ITT 11F.R IlAM) IX HIS." 
 
THE DUKE OF 
 STOCKBRIDGE 
 
 A ROMANCE OF 
 SHATV REBELLION 
 
 By EDWARD BELLAMY 
 
 Author of "Looking Backward" 
 
 SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY 
 NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO 
 
 NINETEEN HUNDRED 
 
3*3* 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY 
 SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY. 
 
 Entered at Stationers Hall, London, England. 
 All rights reserved. 
 

 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 The Duke of Stockbridge was written by Mr. Edward 
 Bellamy in 1879, at the request of the editor of a 
 local paper in Great Harrington, Massachusetts. In 
 the author s mind were already stirring the grave 
 questions which he was soon to propound in Looking 
 Backward-, and when lie undertook to write a romance 
 of his native Berkshire Hills he chose, not unnaturally, 
 the episode of the revolt of the 
 
 against their liarslLcreditors and the^oppressive State 
 
 jklthotfgh he wrote the story primarily for publica 
 tion in an inconspicuous village paper, Mr. Bellamy 
 was not the artist to allow the work to fall below the 
 standard of his literary conscience; and as the tale 
 grew upon his hands he soon was putting into it the 
 rarest quality of his style, of his genuineness, and of 
 his imagination, as well as the industry of his pains 
 taking research. When the story was completed he 
 refused the offers of publishers, and determined to de 
 lay its appearance as a book until after the publication 
 of Looking Backward, which now had taken press 
 ing shape in his mind. The Duke of Stockbridge was 
 the projection of his sympathies into the forms of art ; 
 but he knew that, if published then, it would be re 
 ceived merely as a novel, and its depth of meaning 
 would be perceived only by few. Therefore it seemed 
 better that this tale should wait until he had given, in 
 his next book, his formal and unmistakable definition 
 of proper human relationship. 
 
 But when Looking Backward was fully written, he 
 had become so convinced of his own duty to be the 
 
vi Introductory 
 
 advocate of the cooperative social system,, that in the 
 several remaining years of his life he never returned 
 to fiction as an art. The Duke of Stockbridge thus 
 missed the final touches which the author had prom 
 ised himself to bestow. Shortly before his death he 
 decided upon its publication ; and the editing, which 
 should have been finished by his own unerring taste, 
 has been carried on by another, with sensitiveness, if 
 with clumsier hand. 
 
 It is with candid pride that The Duke of Stock- 
 bridge is presented. In the art of its creations of 
 character, in its truthfulness of color, in its sense of 
 the Yankee, in its convincing interpretation of a rough 
 and decried struggle, it is of assured degree. It is, 
 moreover, unique as an historical novel in that it is 
 based not merely upon the movement of romantic ad 
 venture, but also upon a significant social problem, 
 cast up by history, which appeals forever to human 
 sympathy. 
 
 The picture given of Shays Rebellion is a fresh one. 
 It is the result of a more intimate research among 
 both the documents and the family traditions of West 
 ern Massachusetts than most of the historians have 
 given to the episode. The contemporary, published 
 accounts were written by men whose natural sympa 
 thies were with the governing classes ; the rebels were 
 called "the malcontents," and their audacious uprising 
 against the well-to-do and stately grade of society was 
 regarded with unrelieved horror. Washington, who 
 took his view from General Lincoln, and from his own 
 correspondents all of whom were men of quality, ex 
 pressed an alarmed disapproval of the movement, 
 although he admits that the rebels comprised "the 
 young and active part of the community." Jefferson, 
 however, took far other ground ; he was aware only of 
 the cruel conditions which seemed to be driving the 
 small farmers to a condition inferior to that of peasantry ; 
 and he was actually exultant at the uprising on account 
 of its inevitable effect in making the governments of 
 the States respect the people. 
 
 Only a few facts bearing upon the rebellion need to 
 
Introductory vii 
 
 be recited. Von Hoist estimates that half the popula 
 tion of New England was on the side of the insurrec 
 tion. At one time, according to General Lincoln, 
 12,000 rebels were under arms. Captain Daniel Shays, 
 the most prominent of the military chiefs, though by 
 no means the general leader of the mutiny, was an 
 ex- Revolutionary officer; and a majority of men in 
 the rebel ranks were former soldiers of the Revolu 
 tion, descent from whom is to-day inestimable, but 
 whose distinction at that day was not recognized by 
 their countrymen ; they were nearly all impoverished 
 through their services, and in general were considered 
 ne er-do-wells by the thrifty well-to-do. 
 
 The indescribable poverty of the years after the 
 Revolutionary War, and before the adoption of the 
 Constitution and the beginning of our present govern 
 ment (1783-1789), is indicated by a few facts. Trade 
 had not revived ; we were producing little that the out 
 side world wanted; we were sending our gold abroad 
 with a ruinous balance, for our imports were three times 
 greater than our exports. Consequently, the small 
 amount of gold in the country had left the interior for 
 the sea-ports, and from there it was rapidly sailing 
 away. The paper money was not worth anything. 
 Most transactions were in the exchange medium of 
 farm products ; the editor of the Worcester Spy took 
 subscriptions in salt pork ; in Virginia tobacco was the 
 chief medium, and in North Carolina, whisky. 
 
 When the ground was fertile and the forests almost 
 free, families might not have to starve or shiver, even 
 under such conditions. But seeds and tools had to be 
 bought, and specie was the ultimate charge. Most of 
 all, taxes had to be paid, and pork and hay could not 
 be accepted by the government. During these years 
 the annual tax in Massachusetts amounted to $200 
 per family, more money than the average farmer or 
 mechanic saw in two years. 
 
 The chief industry, therefore, was the law ; the courts 
 were concerned in emptying farmers houses under 
 foreclosures, and in filling the jails with good men who 
 could not pay their debts unless, indeed, their credi- 
 
viii Introductory 
 
 tors gave them the privilege of working their debts on 
 account, in virtual serfdom. 
 
 Such was the state of affairs in Massachusetts when 
 the exasperated people began to empty the jails of their 
 friends and neighbors, to stop the courts which were 
 breaking up society by due process of law, and to de 
 mand some financial relief from the State government. 
 Their own theories of relief were crude and short 
 sighted; they knew nothing of finance and political 
 economy ; but they had borne the strain of the war for 
 independence, and they argued that there had followed 
 a more crushing oppression than that of King George. 
 
 The rebellion was soon stopped by government 
 troops and by the law-respecting habit of the New 
 England mind; but its significance was apprehended 
 very seriously throughout all the neighboring States. 
 It was a bloody object lesson of the results to be ex 
 pected from the anarchy of the loose Confederation; 
 and it was the final argument with many minds for the 
 need of a strong national government which could 
 manage the finances of the whole country and make 
 prosperity possible. 
 
 It should be added that Captain Hamlin and several 
 other characters in the romance were real personages 
 who played their parts in this singular revolt. 
 
 Francis Bellamy. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE MARCH OF THE MINUTE-MEN, i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 NINE YEARS AFTER, 12 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE TAVERN-JAIL AT HARRINGTON, 29 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE PEOPLE ASK BREAD AND RECEIVE A STONE, . . .43 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THAT MEANS REBELLION ! 58 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 PEREZ DEFINES His POSITION, 69 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 THE FIRST ENCOUNTER, 81 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 GREAT GOINGS-ON AT HARRINGTON 90 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 JUDGE DWIGHT S SIGNATURE, 98 
 
 IX 
 
x Contents 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE TAKING OF THE JAIL, ........ 106 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 WHAT THE JAIL HELD, . . . . . . . . 115 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 A FAIR SUPPLIANT, 127 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 A PRAISE MEETING, . . 143 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 PEREZ GOES TO MEETING, 154 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 WHAT HAPPENED AFTER MEETING, 166 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 AN AUCTION SALE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES, .... 179 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 PLOTS AND COUNTERPLOTS, . 197 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 LEX TALIONIS , . .216 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 THE DUKE OF STOCKBRIDGE, . . . . . . .231 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Two CRITICAL INTERVIEWS, . 245 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 THE HUSKING PARTY, . . . . . 263 
 
Contents xi 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Two PROCLAMATIONS, 278 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 SNOWBOUND, .......... 293 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 THE BATTLE OF WEST STOCKBRIDGE, 308 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 A GAME OF BLUFF, 324 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 THE RESTORATION, . . 342 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 THE END OF THE FIGHT, 35 6 
 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 " DESIRE HESITATED, THEN PUT HER HAND IN HIS " . Frontispiece 
 
 " I CAME TO BID YOU GOOD-BYE, PEREZ " . . Facing page IO 
 
 "BEMENT APPEALED FOR MERCY TO THE MEN" . u 112 
 
 " DESIRE GAVE NOT THE FAINTEST SIGN OF REC 
 OGNITION" . 174 
 
THE DUKE OF STOCKBRIDGE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The March of the Minute-Men 
 
 THE first beams of the sun of August 17, 1777, were 
 glancing down the long valley which, opening to the 
 east, let in the early rays of morning upon the village 
 of Stockbridge. The Housatonic River crept still and 
 darkling around the beetling base of Fisher s Nest, 
 and in the meadows laughed above its pebbly shoals, 
 entwining the verdant fields with many a loving curve. 
 The mountains cradled the valley in their eternal em 
 brace, all around, from the Hill of the Wolves on the 
 north, to the peaks that guarded the Ice Glen, away to 
 the far southeast. Many a lake and pond gemmed the 
 landscape, and many a brook hung like a burnished 
 silver chain upon the verdant slopes. 
 
 The main settlement was along a street lying east 
 and west, across the plain which extended from the 
 Housatonic, northerly some distance, to the foot of a 
 hill. The village green, or " smooth," lay rather at the 
 western end of the village than at the centre. At this 
 point the main street intersected with the county road, 
 leading north and south, and with divers other paths 
 and lanes, leading in crooked, rambling lines to several 
 points of the compass, sometimes ending at a single 
 dwelling, sometimes at clusters of several buildings. 
 On the hill to the north, somewhat separated from the 
 i 
 
2. .; The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 settlement on the plain, were a number of houses, 
 erected there during the recent French and Indian 
 wars, for the sake of being near the fort, which was 
 now used as a parsonage by the Reverend Stephen West, 
 the young minister. The streets were all wide and 
 grassy, wholly without shade trees, and bordered for 
 the most part by rail fences or stone walls. The 
 houses, separated by intervals of broad meadows, were 
 rarely over a story and a half in height. When painted 
 at all, the favorite colors were red, brown, or yellow, 
 the effect of which lent a certain picturesqueness to the 
 landscape, wholly outside any design on the part of the 
 practically minded inhabitants. 
 
 Interspersed among the houses, and occurring more 
 thickly in the south and west parts of the village, were 
 curious huts, as much like wigwams as houses. These 
 were the dwellings of the Christianized and civilized 
 Stockbridge Indians, the original possessors of the soil, 
 who lived intermingled with the whites on terms of the 
 most utter comity, fully sharing the offices of church 
 and town, and fighting the battles of the common 
 wealth side by side with the white militia. 
 
 Around the village green stood the public buildings 
 of the place. There was the tavern, a low, two-story 
 building, without porch or piazza, and entered by a 
 door in the middle of the longest side. Over the door 
 swung a sign, on which a former likeness of King 
 George had, by a metamorphosis common at that pe 
 riod, been transformed into a soldier of the Revolu 
 tion, in Continental uniform of buff and blue. But just 
 at that time its contemplation did not afford the patri 
 otic tippler as much complacency as formerly, for Bur- 
 goyne was thundering at the passes of the Hoosacs, 
 only fifty miles away ; and there was a prospect that 
 
The March of the Minute-Men 3 
 
 King George might get his red coat back again after 
 all. The tories in the village said that the landlord 
 kept a pot of red paint behind the door, so that the 
 Hessian dragoons might not take him by surprise, 
 should they come galloping down the valley some af 
 ternoon. 
 
 On the other side of the green was the meeting 
 house, built some thirty years before by a grant from 
 government at Boston. Hard by the meeting-house 
 was the graveyard, with the sandy knoll in its south 
 west corner, set apart for the use of the Indians. The 
 whipping-post, the stocks, and cage, for the summary 
 correction of such offences as came within the jurisdic 
 tion of Justice Jahleel Woodbridge, adorned the middle 
 of the village green, and on Saturday afternoons were 
 usually the centre of a crowd assembled to be edified 
 by the execution of sentences. 
 
 On the opposite side of the green from the meeting 
 house stood the store, built five years before by Timo 
 thy Edwards, Esquire ; it was a structure of a story and 
 a half, with the unusual architectural adornment of a 
 front porch, or piazza, the only one to be seen in the 
 village. The people of Stockbridge were scarcely more 
 proud of the theology of their late shepherd, the famous 
 Doctor Jonathan Edwards, than they were of his son 
 Timothy s store. Indeed, what with Doctor Edwards so 
 lately among them, Doctor Hopkins, then at Great Bar- 
 rington, and Doctor Bellamy, just over the State line in 
 Bethlehem, Connecticut, the people of Berkshire were 
 decidedly more familiar with theologians than with 
 storekeepers, for when Mr. Edwards built his store, in 
 1 7 7 2, it was the only one in the county. It will be readily 
 understood that at such a time a commercial occupation 
 served rather as a distinction than otherwise. Squire 
 
4 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Edwards was, moreover, chairman of the selectmen, 
 and, furthermore, most of the farmers were in his debt 
 for supplies ; while to these varied elements of influ 
 ence his ecclesiastical ancestry added a certain odor of 
 sanctity. It is true that Squire Jahleel Woodbridge 
 was even more brilliantly descended, counting two co 
 lonial governors and numerous divines among his 
 ancestry. But instead of tending to a profitless rivalry, 
 the respective claims of the Edwardses and the Wood- 
 bridges to distinction were happily merged by the 
 marriage of Jahleel Woodbridge and Lucy Edwards, 
 the sister of Squire Timothy, so that in all social and 
 political matters the two families were closely al 
 lied. 
 
 The back room of the store was, in a sense, the coun 
 cil chamber, where the affairs of the village were de 
 bated and settled by the local magnates, whose deci 
 sions the common people never dreamed of anticipating 
 or questioning. It was also a convivial center, a sort 
 of club-room. There of an afternoon often assembled 
 Squire Woodbridge and Squire Williams, Elisha Brown, 
 Deacon Nash, Squire Edwards, and perhaps a few oth 
 ers, relaxing their gravity over generous bumpers of 
 some choice old Jamaica rum which Squire Edwards 
 had luckily laid in just before the war stopped all im 
 ports. In the west half of the store building Squire 
 Edwards lived with his family, including besides his 
 wife and children the remainder of his father s fam 
 ily and that of his sister, the widow of President 
 Burr. Young Aaron Burr was there for a while, after 
 his graduation at Princeton and during the intervals of 
 his arduous theological studies at Bethlehem. Per 
 chance there were heartsore maidens in the village 
 who, to their sorrow, could have given more particular 
 
The March of the Minute-Men 5 
 
 information of the exploits of the fascinating Aaron at 
 this period than I am able to record. 
 
 Such was the village of Stockbridge as the sun of 
 that August morning disclosed it to view. But where 
 were the people? It was seven, yes, nearly eight 
 o clock, and no human being could be seen walking in 
 the streets, or traveling in the roads, or working in 
 the fields. Had the village been deserted by the popu 
 lation through fear of the Hessian marauders, the 
 threat of whose coming had long hung like a porten 
 tous cloud over the Berkshire valley? Not at all. It 
 was not the fear of man, but the fear of God that had 
 laid a spell upon the place. It was the Sabbath, and 
 law and conscience had set their double seal on every 
 door, that neither man, woman, nor child might go 
 forth until sunset, save at the summons of the meeting 
 house bell. One might have wandered all the way 
 from the parsonage on the hill to Captain Konkapot s 
 hut on the Barrington road without meeting a soul, 
 though the windows would have shown a scandalized 
 face framed in each seven-by-nine pane of glass. Such 
 a leisurely wanderer would have met no one, I repeat, 
 unless, passing the hut of Jehoiachim Naunumpetox, 
 the Indian tithing-man, that worthy had espied him, 
 which would have been to the exceeding discomfiture of 
 the wayfarer, for he would have been straightway haled 
 before John Schebuck, the constable, and there had his 
 flesh grievously corrected with stripes for Sabbath- 
 breaking, and caused to sit in the stocks for an en- 
 sample. 
 
 And if so mild an excursion had involved so dire a 
 risk, what momentous event could have been the cause 
 of the unseemly and desperate haste of a horseman 
 who came at a thundering gallop, about eight of the 
 
6 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 clock that morning, along the county road from Pitts- 
 field? His horse was in a foaming sweat, the strained 
 nostrils were filled with blood, and the congested eyes 
 protruded as if they would leap from their sockets to 
 be at their goal. The horseman pulled rein before 
 Squire Woodbridge s two-story red house, and leav 
 ing his steed with hanging head and laboring sides, 
 dragged his own stiffened legs up the walk and entered 
 the house. Almost instantly Squire Woodbridge him 
 self issued from the door, dressed for church in a three- 
 cornered black hat, a fine black coat, waistcoat, knee 
 breeches, white silk stockings, and silver buckles on his 
 shoes ; but in his hand, instead of a Bible, was a mus 
 ket. As he stepped out, the door of a house farther 
 east opened, and another man similarly attired ap 
 peared, also with a gun in his hand. He, too, seemed 
 to have interpreted the meaning of the horseman s 
 arrival. This was Deacon Nash. Beckoning the dea 
 con to follow, Squire Woodbridge walked out to the 
 edge of the green, raised his musket to his shoulder 
 and discharged it into the air. Deacon Nash, coming 
 up a moment later, also raised and fired his gun ; and 
 before the last echoes had ceased to reverberate from 
 the mountains, Squire Edwards, musket in hand, threw 
 open the door of his store, and stepping out on the 
 porch, fired a third gun. 
 
 An instant and striking change was wrought in every 
 household, as the successive reports of the heavily 
 charged pieces sounded through the village and pene 
 trated to the farthest outlying farmhouse. The first 
 shot might easily have been an accident, the second 
 also, but as the third shot inexorably followed, hus 
 bands and wives, brothers and sisters, parents and sons 
 looked at each other with blanched faces, and in- 
 
The March of the Minute-Men 7 
 
 stantly the scenes of quiet preparation for church were 
 transformed into the confusion of a very different kind 
 of preparation. Catechisms were dropped for mus 
 kets, and Bibles fell unnoticed under foot as men sprang 
 for their haversacks and powder horns. For those 
 three guns summoned the minute-men to be on the 
 march for Bennington. All the afternoon before, the 
 roar of cannon had faintly sounded from the north 
 ward, and the people knew that Stark was meeting 
 Baum and his Hessians on the Hoosac. One detach 
 ment of Stockbridge men was already with him. Did 
 this new summons mean disaster? Had the dreaded 
 foe made good his boasted invincibility? No one knew, 
 not even the exhausted messenger, for he had been 
 sent off by Stark, while yet the issue of the battle of 
 the day before trembled in the balance. 
 
 "It s kind o suddin. I wuz in hopes the boys 
 wouldn t hev to go, bein ez they wuz a-fightin yister- 
 day," quavered old Elnathan Hamlin as he trotted 
 about, helplessly trying to help and only hindering Mrs. 
 Hamlin, as with white face but deft hands and quick 
 eyes she was getting her two boys ready, filling their 
 haversacks, sewing a button on here, tightening a 
 buckle there, and looking to everything. 
 
 "Ye must take keer o Reub, Perez. He ain t so 
 rugged s you be. By rights he ought to ha stayed to 
 hum." 
 
 " Oh, I m as stout as Perez. I can wrastle him. 
 Don t fret about me," said Reuben, with attempted 
 gayety, though his boyish lip quivered as he looked at 
 his mother s face, noting how she did not meet his eye 
 lest she should lose her self-control and not be able to 
 do anything more. 
 
 "I ll look after the boy, never fear," said Perez, slap- 
 
8 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 ping his brother on the back. "I ll fetch him back a 
 general, as big a man as Squire Woodbridge." 
 
 " I dunno what n time I shall dew bout gittin in the 
 crops," whimpered Elnathan; "I can t dew it alone, 
 nohow. Seem s if my rheumatiz wuz wuss n ever this 
 last spell o weather." 
 
 "There go Abner Rathbun and George Fennell," 
 cried Perez. " Time we were off. Good-bye, mother. 
 There! there! don t you cry. We ll be back all right. 
 Got your gun, Reub? Good-bye, father. Come on!" 
 and the boys were off. 
 
 In seeming sympathy with the sudden grief that had 
 fallen on the village, the bright promise of the early 
 morning had given place in the last hour to one of 
 those sudden rain storms to which a mountainous re 
 gion is always liable, and a cold drizzle began to fall. 
 But that did not hinder every one who had friends 
 among the departing soldiers, or sympathy with the 
 cause represented, from gathering on the green to 
 witness the muster and march of the men. All the 
 leading men and the officials of the town and parish 
 were there, including the two Indian selectmen, Jo 
 hannes Metoxin and Joseph Sauquesquot. Squire Ed- 
 Wards, Deacon Nash, Squire Williams, and Captain 
 Josiah Jones, brother-in-law of Squire Woodbridge, 
 went about among the tearful groups, of one of which 
 each soldier was a center, reassuring and encouraging 
 both those who went and those who remained; the 
 former with the promise that their wives and children 
 should be looked after and cared for, the latter with 
 confident talk of victory and speedy reunions. 
 
 Squire Edwards told Elnathan, who with Mrs. Ham- 
 lin went down to the green, that he needn t fret about 
 the mortgage on his house, and Deacon Nash added 
 
The March of the Minute-Men 9 
 
 that he would see that his crops were saved; while 
 George Fennell, who stood by with his wife and daugh 
 ter, was assured by the squire that the little family 
 should have what they needed from the store. There 
 was not a plowboy among the minute-men who was not 
 honored that day with a cordial word or two, or at least 
 a smile, from the magnates who never before had rec 
 ognized his existence. 
 
 And proud in her tears that morning was the girl 
 who had a sweetheart among the soldiers. Shy dam 
 sels, who for fear of being laughed at had kept their 
 inclinations secret, now grew suddenly bold and wept 
 as they talked with their lovers, and refused not the 
 parting kiss. Desire Edwards, the squire s daughter, 
 as she moved among the groups and saw those fond 
 farewells, was stirred with sudden envy and a vague 
 longing for a lover of her own, to whom she might 
 give as tender a parting embrace as those bestowed by 
 maids of lesser degree upon their rustic sweethearts. 
 But she was only fifteen, and moreover, she was Squire 
 Edwards s daughter, to whom no village swain dared 
 pretend. Then she bethought herself that one had, 
 timidly enough, so pretended. She well knew that 
 Elnathan Hamlin s son, Perez, was deeply in love with 
 her. He was better bred than the other boys, but 
 after all he was only a farmer s son ; and while pleased 
 with her conquest of him as a testimony to her immature 
 charms, she had looked down upon him as quite an in 
 ferior order of being to herself. But just then he ap 
 peared to her in the desirable light of somebody to bid 
 good-bye to, so that she might seem to be no whit be 
 hind the other girls whom she envied. So she looked 
 about for Perez. 
 
 And he, on his part, was looking about for her. 
 
io The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 That she, the squire s daughter, as far above him as a 
 star, would care whether he went or stayed, or would 
 come to say good-bye to him, he had scarcely ventured 
 to think. And yet how deeply had that thought, which 
 he hardly dared to own, tinged all his other thinking! 
 The martial glory that so dazzled his young imagina 
 tion, how much of its glitter was but reflected from a 
 girl s eyes! As he looked about, and not seeing her, 
 thought, "She does not care, she will not come," the 
 pomp of war lost all its excitement, and his dreams of 
 self-devotion all their exhilaration. 
 
 " I came to bid you good-bye, Perez," said a soft, clear 
 voice behind him. 
 
 He wheeled about, red, confused, blissful. Desire 
 Edwards, dark and sparkling as a gipsy, stood before 
 him with her hand outstretched. He took it eagerly, 
 timidly. The little white fingers gently pressed his big 
 brown ones, which scarcely felt them, for they seemed 
 to be clasping his heart, and it was there that he felt 
 the ecstatic pressure. 
 
 "Fall in!" shouted Captain Woodbridge, for the 
 squire himself was their captain. There was a tumult 
 of embraces and kisses all around. Reuben kissed his 
 mother once more. 
 
 "Will you kiss me good-bye, Desire?" said Perez 
 huskily, carried beyond himself, scarcely knowing what 
 he said; for if he had realized, he never would have 
 dared. 
 
 Desire looked about and saw all the women kissing 
 their men. The air was electric. 
 
 "Yes," she said, and gave him her red lips, and for 
 a moment it seemed as if the earth had gone from un 
 der his feet. The next thing he knew he was standing 
 in line, with Reub on one side and George Fennell on 
 
I CAME TO BID YOU GOOD-BYE, PEREZ. 
 
The March of the Minute-Men 1 1 
 
 the other, and Abner Rathbtm s six feet three towering 
 at one end of the line, while Parson West was standing 
 on the piazza of the store, praying for the blessing of 
 God on the expedition. 
 
 "Amen," the parson said, and Captain Woodbridge s 
 voice rang out again. The lines faced to the right, 
 filed off the green at quick step, turned into the Pitts- 
 field road, and left the women to their tears. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 Nine Years After 
 
 EARLY one evening near the end of August, 1786, 
 only three years after the close of the Revolutionary 
 War, a dozen or twenty men and boys, farmers and 
 laborers, were gathered, according to custom, in the 
 big barroom of Stockbridge tavern. The great fire 
 place of course showed no cheery blaze of logs at this 
 season, and the only light was the dim and yellow 
 illumination diffused by two or three home-made tallow 
 candles stuck about the bar, which ran along half of 
 one side of the apartment. The dim glimmer of some 
 pewter mugs standing on a shelf behind the bar was 
 the only spot of reflected light in the room, whose time- 
 stained, impainted woodwork, dingy plastering and low 
 ceiling, thrown into shadows by the rude and massive 
 cross-beams, seemed capable of swallowing up without 
 a sign ten times the illumination that was provided. 
 The faces of four or five men, standing near the bar or 
 lounging on it, were quite plainly visible, and the 
 forms of half a dozen more who were seated on a long 
 settle placed against the opposite wall, were dimly to 
 be seen ; while in the back part of the room, leaning 
 against the posts or walls or standing in the open door 
 way, a dozen or more figures loomed indistinctly out of 
 the darkness. 
 
 The tavern, it must be remembered, as a convivial 
 resort was the social antipodes of the back room of 
 
Nine Years After 13 
 
 Squire Edwards s store. If one wished to consort with 
 silk-stockinged, bewigged, and silver-shoe-buckled 
 gentlemen, he must step over there, for at the tavern 
 were to be found only the hewers of wood and the 
 drawers of water, mechanics, farm-laborers, and farm 
 ers. Ezra Phelps and Israel Goodrich, the former the 
 owner of the new grist-mill at Mill Hollow, a mile 
 west of the village, the other a substantial farmer, with 
 their corduroy coats and knee-breeches, blue woolen 
 hose and steel shoe-buckles, were the most socially 
 considerable and respectably attired persons present. 
 
 Perhaps about half the men and boys were bare 
 footed, according to the economical custom of a time 
 when shoes in summer were regarded as luxuries, not 
 necessities. The costume of most was limited to shirt 
 and trousers, the material for which their own hands 
 or those of their women-folk had sheared, spun, wov 
 en, and dyed. Some of the better-dressed wore trous 
 ers of blue-and-white striped stuff, of the kind nowa 
 days exclusively used for bed-ticking. The leathern 
 breeches, which several years before were universal, 
 were still worn by a few, in spite of their discomfort in 
 summer. 
 
 Behind the bar sat Widow Bingham, the landlady, a 
 buxom, middle-aged woman, whose sharp black eyes 
 had lost none of their snap, whether she entertained a 
 customer with a little pleasant gossip, or explored with 
 her keen glance the murky recesses of the room about 
 the door, where she well knew sundry old customers 
 were lurking, made cowards of by consciousness of long 
 unsettled scores upon her slate. And whenever she 
 looked with special fixity into the darkness there was 
 soon a scuttling of somebody out of doors. 
 
 She paid little or no attention to the conversation of 
 
14 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 the men around the bar. Being largely political, it 
 might be expected to have the less interest for one of 
 the domestic sex, and, moreover, it was the same old 
 story she had been obliged to hear over and over every 
 evening, with little variation, for a year or two past. 
 
 For in those days, throughout Massachusetts, at home, 
 in the tavern, in the field, on the road, in the street, 
 as they rose up and as they sat down, men talked of 
 nothing but the hard times, the limited markets, and 
 low prices for farm produce, the extortions and multi 
 plying numbers of the lawyers and sheriffs, the op 
 pressions of creditors, the enormous, grinding taxes, 
 the last sheriff s sale, and who would be sold out next, 
 the last batch of debtors taken to jail and who would 
 go there next, the utter dearth of money of any sort, 
 the impossibility of getting work, the gloomy and hope 
 less prospect for the coming winter, and, in general, 
 the wretched failure of the military triumph of the col 
 onies to bring about the public and private prosperity 
 so confidently expected. 
 
 The air of the room was thick with smoke, for most 
 of the men were smoking clay or corncob pipes ; but 
 the smoke was scarcely recognizable as that of tobacco, 
 so largely was that expensive weed mixed with dried 
 sweet-fern and other herbs, for the sake of economy. 
 
 Of the score or two persons present, only two, Israel 
 Goodrich and Ezra Phelps, were actually drinking any 
 thing. It was not that they were the only ones dis 
 posed to drink, as the thirsty looks that followed the 
 mugs to their lips sufficiently testified, but because 
 they alone had credit at the bar. Ezra furnished Mrs. 
 Bingham with meal from his mill, and drank against 
 the credit thus created ; while Israel supplied the land 
 lady with potatoes on the same understanding. There 
 
Nine Years After 15 
 
 being practically almost no money in circulation, most 
 kinds of trade were dependent on such arrangements 
 of barter. Meshech Little, the carpenter, who lay dead 
 drunk on the floor, his clothing covered with the sand 
 which it had gathered up while he was being uncere 
 moniously rolled out of the way, was a victim of one of 
 these arrangements, having just taken his pay in rum 
 for a little job of tinkering about the tavern. 
 
 "Meshech hain t hed a stiddy job since the new 
 meetin -haouse wuz done last year, an I s pose the crit 
 ter feels kind o diskerridged like," said Abner Rath- 
 bun, regarding the prostrate figure sympathetically. 
 Abner had grown an inch and broadened proportion 
 ately since Squire Woodbridge made him file leader of 
 the minute-men by virtue of his six feet three, and as 
 he stood with his back to the bar, resting his elbows 
 on it, the room would not have been high enough for 
 his head, but that he stood between the cross-beams. 
 
 "I s pose Meshech s fam ly ll hev to go onto the 
 taown," observed Israel Goodrich. "They say ez the 
 poorhaouse s twice ez full s it ought to be, naow." 
 
 " It ll hev more into it fore t hez less," said Abner 
 grimly. 
 
 " Got any work yet, Abner? I hearn ye wuz up Len 
 ox way, a-lookin fer suthin ter dew," inquired Pel eg 
 Bidwell, a lank, loose-jointed farmer, who was leaning 
 against a post in the middle of the room, just on the 
 edge of the circle of candle-light. 
 
 " A feller ez goes arter work goes on a fool s errant," 
 responded Abner dejectedly. " There ain t no work 
 nowhere, an a feller might just ez well set down to 
 hum an wait till the sheriff comes arter him." 
 
 " The only work that pays nowadays is picking the 
 bones of the people. Why don t you turn lawyer or 
 
16 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 deputy sheriff, and take to that, Abner? " asked Paul 
 Hubbard, an undersized man, with a dark face and 
 thin, sneering lips. 
 
 He had been a lieutenant in the Continental army, 
 and used rather better language than the country folk 
 ordinarily, which, as well as a cynical wit which agreed 
 with the embittered popular temper, gave him consid 
 erable influence. Since the war he had been foreman 
 of Colonel Williams s iron- works at West Stockbridge. 
 There was great distress among the workmen on ac 
 count of the stoppage of the works by reason of the 
 hard times, but Hubbard, as well as most of the men, 
 still remained at that place, simply because there was 
 no encouragement to go elsewhere. 
 
 " What I can t make aout is that the lawyers an sher 
 iffs sh d git so darn fat a-pickin our bones, seein ez 
 there s sech a little meat onto us," said Abner, by way 
 of rejoinder to Paul s remark. 
 
 " There s as much meat on squirrels as bears if you 
 have enough of em," replied Hubbard. " They pick 
 clean, you see, and take all we ve got, and every little 
 helps." 
 
 "Yas," assented Abner, "they do pick tarnation 
 clean, but that ain t the wust on t, for they send our 
 bones to rot in the jail arter they ve got all the meat 
 off." 
 
 " Twas only yes day Iry Seymour sold out Zadkiel 
 Poor, ez lives long side o me, an took Zadkiel daown 
 to Barrington jail fer the rest that the sale didn t fetch," 
 said Israel Goodrich. "Zadkiel, he s been kind o ail- 
 in fer a spell back, an his wife, she says ez haow he 
 can t live a month daown to the jail, an when Iry took 
 Zadkiel off, she took on real bad. I declare for t, it 
 seemed kind o tough. " 
 
Nine Years After 17 
 
 " I hearn that there wuz tew new fellers a-studyin 
 law into Squire Sedgwick s office," remarked Obadiah 
 Weeks, a gawky youth of about twenty, evidently 
 anxious to buy a standing among the adult circle of 
 talkers by contributing an item of information. 
 
 Abner groaned. " Great Crypus ! more blood-suck 
 ers! Why, there be ten lawyers in this taown a ready, 
 an there warn t but one when I wuz a boy, an there 
 wuz more settlers then than there be naow. " 
 
 "Wai, I guess they ll git nough to dew," said Ezra 
 Phelps. " I hearn ez haow there s seven hundred cases 
 on the docket o the Common Pleas fer next week, most 
 on em fer debt." 
 
 " I hearn ez two hundred on em be from this taown 
 an the iron-works," added Israel. "I declare for t, 
 Zadkiel ll hev plenty o comp ny daown tew jail, by the 
 time them suits be all tried. " 
 
 " What be we a-comin tew? " groaned Abner. " It 
 doos seem s if we all on us might s well move daown ter 
 the jail ter once, an hev done with t. We re baoun to 
 come to t fust or last." 
 
 After a brief silence following this gloomy predic 
 tion, Peleg Bidwell said: "My sister Keziah s son, by 
 her fust husban , hez been daown to Besting, an I 
 hearn say ez haow he says that the folks daown east 
 mostly all hez furnitur from Lunnon, an the women 
 wears them air Leghorn hats ez cost ten shillin lawful, 
 let alone prunelly shoes an silk stockin s; an he says 
 there ain t a ship goes out o Bosting harbor ez don t 
 take more n five thaousan paound o lawful money 
 out o the kentry. I calc late," pursued Peleg, "that 
 that s jest what s tew the bottom o the trouble. It s 
 all long o the rich folks a-sendin money out o the 
 kentry to git their selves fine duds, an* that s why we 
 
1 8 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 don t git more n tuppence a paound fer our mutton, 
 an next to nothin fer wheat, an* don t hev nothin ter 
 pay taxes with, nor ter settle with Squire Edwards 
 daown ter the store. That s the leak in the bar l, an* 
 times won t git no better till that s plugged, naow I 
 tell ye." 
 
 " If t comes to pluggin leaks ye kin look nigher hum 
 than Bosting," observed Abner. "I hearn ez Squire 
 Edwards give fifty paound lawful fer that sort o tune- 
 box he s got fer his gal, an they do say ez them cheers 
 o Squire Sedgwick s cost twenty paound lawful in the 
 old kentry." 
 
 " What dew they call that air tune-box? " inquired 
 Israel Goodrich. " I ve hearn tell, but I kind o fergit. 
 It s some Frenchified saoundin name." 
 
 "It s a pyanner," said Obadiah. 
 
 "I guess peeanner s nigher right," observed Peleg 
 critically. " My gal hearn the Edwards gal call it pee- 
 anner." 
 
 "There ain t nuther on ye within a mile o right. 
 Tain t pyanner, an tain t peeanner; it s pianny," de 
 clared Abner, who, on account of having once served 
 a few weeks in connection with a detachment of the 
 French auxiliaries, was conceded to be an authority on 
 foreign pronunciation. 
 
 "I hain t got no idee on t nohow," said Israel, shak 
 ing his head. " I hearn it a-goin ez I was comin by 
 the store. Saoun s like ez if twas a-hailin ontewa lot 
 o milk-pans. I never suspicioned ez I sh d live ter 
 hear sech a n ise." 
 
 "I guess Peleg s baout right," said Abner; "there 
 won t be no show fer poor folks nless there s a law 
 ag in sendin* money aout o the kentry." 
 
 " That would be a-shuttin of the barn door arter the 
 
Nine Years After 19 
 
 hoss is stole, " said Ezra Phelps, as he arrested a mug of 
 flip on its way to his lips, to express his views. " There 
 ain t no use o beginnin ter save arter all s spent. I 
 calc late gov ment s got ter print a big stack o new 
 bills, ef we re a-goin ter git holt o any money." 
 
 " Ef it s paper bills ez ye re a-talkin baout," said 
 Abner grimly, " I ve got quite a slew on em to hum 
 mebbe a peck or tew. I got em fer pay in the army. 
 They re tew greasy ter kindle a fire with, an* I dunno 
 nothin else they re good for. Ye re welcome to em, 
 Ezry. My little Bijah ast me fer some on em to make 
 a kite out of t other day, an I says ter him, says I, "Bi 
 jah, I don t think they ll do nohow fer a kite, fer I 
 never heard tell of a Continental bill a-goin up; but ef 
 ye want a sinker fer yer fish -line, they re jest the 
 thing. " 
 
 There was asardonic snicker at Ezra s expense, but 
 he returned to the charge undismayed. 
 
 " That ain t nuther here nor there," he retorted, turn 
 ing toward Abner and emphasizing his words with the 
 empty mug. " What I ask yew is, warn t them bills 
 good fer suthin when they wuz fust printed? " 
 
 "They wuz wuth suthin fer a while," admitted Ab 
 ner. 
 
 "Ezackly," said the other; "that s the natur o bills. 
 Allus they re good fer a while, an then they kind o 
 begin ter run daown, an they run daown till they ain t 
 wuth nuthin . Paounds an shillin s runs daown tew, 
 by gittin wore off till they re light weight. Every 
 kind o money runs daown, only it s the natur o bills 
 ter run daown a leetle quicker than other sorts. Naow 
 I says an I ain t the only one that says it that all 
 gov ment s got ter dew is ter keep on printin new bills 
 ez fast ez the old ones gits run daown. Times wuz 
 
20 The Duke of Stockbridgc 
 
 good long in the war. A feller could git baout what 
 he ast fer his crops, an he could git any wages he ast, 
 tew. Ye see, gov ment wuz a-printin money fast then. 
 Jest s quick ez a bill run daown, they up an printed 
 another one, so there wuz allers plenty. Soon ez the 
 war wuz over they stopped a-printin bills, and imme- 
 jitly the hard times come. Hain t that so? " 
 
 " I dunno but yew be right," said Abner thoughtfully. 
 " I never thought on t ezackly that way." Israel Good 
 rich also expressed the opinion that there was " some- 
 thin* into what Ezry says." 
 
 "What we want," pursued Ezra, "is a kind o* bills 
 printed ez shall lose value by reg lar rule, jest so much 
 a month, no more, no less, cordin ez it s fixed by law 
 an* printed onto the bills, so s everybody ll understand 
 an* nobody ll git cheated. I hearn that that s the idee 
 ez the Hampshire folks went fer in the convention 
 daown ter Hatfield this week. Ye see, ez I wuz a-say- 
 in , bills is baoun* ter come daown anyhow, only ef 
 they come daown reg lar, cordin ter law, everybody ll 
 know what ter expect, an nobody won t lose nuthin ." 
 
 " P raps the convention that s a-sittin up ter Lenox ll 
 recommend them bills," hopefully suggested a farmer 
 who had been taking in Ezra s wisdom with open mouth. 
 
 " I don t suppose it ll make any odds how many bills 
 are printed, as far as we re concerned," said Hubbard 
 bitterly. "The lawyers ll get them all pretty soon. 
 You might as well try to fat a hog with a tape-worm in 
 him, as to make folks rich as long as there are any law 
 yers around." 
 
 " Yas, an jestices fees an sheriffs fees is baout ez 
 bad ez lawyers ," added Israel Goodrich, whose counte 
 nance was beginning to glow from the influence of his 
 potations. "I tell ye, we sh d be a darn sight better 
 
Nine Years After 21 
 
 off if all the courts wuz stopped. Most on ye is young 
 fellers, cept you, Elnathan Hamlin, there. He ll tell 
 ye, ez I tell ye, that this caounty never seen sech good 
 times, spite on it s bein war times, ez from seventy- 
 four ter eighty, arter we d stopped the king s courts 
 from sittin and afore we d voted fer the new constitu 
 tion o the State, ez we wuz darn fools fer doin of, ef 
 I do say it. In them six year, there warn t nary court 
 sot nowhere in the caounty, from Boston Corner ter old 
 Fort Massachusetts, an o course there warn t no law 
 yers an no sheriffs, nor no depity sheriffs nuther, ter 
 make every debt twice ez big with their darnation fees. 
 There warn t no sheriff s sales, a-sellin of a feller out 
 o haouse an* hum, an winter comin on; an there 
 warn t no suein an* no jailin of fellers fer debt. 
 Folks wuz keerful who they trusted, ez they d ought 
 ter be allers, for there warn t no collectin o debts no 
 how; an* ef that warn t allers jestice, I reckon t wuz 
 ez nigh jestice ez t is ter collect bills swelled more n 
 double by lawyers an sheriffs an jestices fees, ez 
 they doos naow. In them days if any feller wuz put 
 upon by another, he d jest got ter complain ter the 
 s lectmen or the committee, an they d right him. I 
 tell yew, rich folks an poor folks lived together kind o 
 neighborly in them times, an* cordin ter scripter. The 
 rich folks warn t a-grindin the face o the poor, an the 
 poor they wuzn t a-hatin an a-envyin o the rich, nigh 
 untew blood, ez they is naow, ef I dew say it. Yew 
 recollect them days, Elnathan warn t it jest ez I 
 say?" 
 
 " They wuz good times, Israel. Ye ain t sayin noth- 
 in more n wuz trew," assented Elnathan in a feeble 
 treble, from his seat on the settle. 
 
 "I tell yew, they wuz good," reiterated Israel, as he 
 
22 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 looked around upon the group with scintillating eyes, 
 and proceeded to hand his mug over the bar to be re 
 filled. 
 
 " I hearn ez haow the convention up ter Lenox is 
 a-goin ter bolish the lawyers an the courts," said a stal 
 wart fellow of bovine countenance, named Laban 
 Jones, one of the discharged iron-works men. 
 
 "The convention can t bolish nothin , said Peleg 
 Bidwell gloomily. " It can t do nothin but recommend 
 the Gineral Court way daown ter Bosting. Bosting is 
 too fur off fer this caounty, nor Hampshire nuther, tew 
 git no consideration. This eend o the State 11 never 
 git its rights till the gov ment s moved out o* Bosting 
 tew Worcester, where t used ter be in war times." 
 
 " That s so," said Ezra Phelps; " everybody knows as 
 these tew caounties be taxed higher nor the other eend 
 o the State." 
 
 " Hev yew paid up yer taxes fer last year, Peleg? " 
 inquired Abner. 
 
 44 No, I hain t," Peleg replied, "nor fer year afore, 
 nuther. Gosh! I can t. I could pay in pertaters, but 
 I can t pay in money. There ain t no money. Collec 
 tor Williams says as haow he d hev ter sell me out, 
 an* I s pose he s goin* ter. It s kind o tough, but I 
 don t see ez I kin dew nothin . I expect to be in the 
 jail or the poorhaouse afore spring." 
 
 " I dunno o nobody raound here ez hez paid their 
 taxes fer last year yit," said Israel. "I calc late that 
 more n half the farms in the caounty ll be sold fer 
 taxes afore spring." 
 
 " I hearn as haow Squire Woodbridge says taxes is 
 ten times what they wuz afore the war, an it s sartin 
 that there ain t one shillin inter folks pockets ter pay 
 em with where there wuz ten on em in them days. It 
 
Nine Years After 23 
 
 seems darn cur is, bein as we fit ag in the redcoats jest 
 ter git rid o taxes," said Abner. 
 
 " Taxes is mostly fer pay in interest ontew the money 
 what gov ment borrowed ter kerry on the war. Naow, 
 I says an I ain t the only one in the caounty as says 
 it, nuther as debts ought ter run daown same ez bills 
 doos, reg lar, so much a month, till there ain t nuthin 
 left," declared Ezra Phelps, setting down his mug with 
 an emphatic thud. " S posin I borrers money of yew, 
 Abner, an build a haouse, that haouse is baoun ter 
 run daown in vally, I calc late, long from year ter 
 year. An it seems kind o reas nable that the debt 
 sh d run daown s fast as the haouse, so s when the 
 haouse gits wore aout, the debt ll be, tew. Them 
 things ez gov ment bought with the money it borrered 
 is wore aout, an it seems kind o reas nable that the 
 debts should be run daown, tew. A leetle ought to ha* 
 been took off the debt every year, instead o payin in 
 terest ontew it." 
 
 " I guess like s not ye hev the rights on t, Ezry. I 
 wuzn t a-thinkin on t that air way, ezactly. I wuz a- 
 thinkin that if gov ment paid one kind o debts it ought 
 ter pay t other kind. I fetched my knapsack full o 
 gov ment bills hum from the war. I jedge them bills 
 wuz all on em debts what gov ment owed tew me fur 
 fightin . Ef gov ment ain t a-goin ter pay me them 
 bills an t ain t it don t seem fair ter tax me so s it 
 kin pay debts it owes ter other folks. Leastways, 
 seems s though them bills gov ment owes me ought ter 
 be caounted ag in the taxes instead o bein good fer 
 nothin . It don t seem ez if t was right, nohaow." 
 
 "Leastways," said Peleg, "if the Gineral Court 
 hain t a-goin ter print more bills it ought ter pass a law, 
 seem there ain t no money in the kentry, so s a feller s 
 
24 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 prop ty could be took by a fair valiation fer what he 
 owes, instead o lettin the sheriff sell it fer nothin and 
 sendin a feller ter jail fer the balance. When I give 
 Squire Edwards that air leetle mortgage on my farm, 
 money wuz plenty, an I expected ter pay it up easy; 
 an* naow there ain t no money, an I can t git none, if I 
 died for t. It s jest as if I greed ter sell a load o ice 
 in January, an a thaw come an there wan t no ice left. 
 Property s wuth s much s ever, I guess, an t ought 
 ter be good fer debts instead o money, cor din* to a 
 fair valiation. " 
 
 " Mr. Goodrich, how did you go to work to stop the 
 king s courts in seventy-four? Did you hang the jus 
 tices? " inquired Paul Hubbard, arousing from a fit of 
 contemplation. 
 
 " Nary bit," replied Isaiah; " there warn t no need o 
 hangin nobody. T was a fine mornin in May, I recol 
 lect jest as if twas yes day, when the court was a-goin 
 ter open daown ter Barrington, an abaout a thousand 
 men on us jest went daown an filled up the court- 
 haouse, an wouldn t let the jedges in; an when they 
 see t wan t no use, they jest give in quiet s lambs, an 
 we made em sign their names tew a paper agreein not 
 ter hold no more courts, an the job wuz done. Ye see 
 the war wuzn t fairly begun an none o the king s 
 courts in th other caounties wuz stopped, but we 
 thought the court might make trouble for some o the 
 sons o Liberty in the caounty if we let it set." 
 
 " I should say t ain t nothin very hard ter stop a 
 court, cordin ter that," said Peleg Bidwell. 
 
 " No, t ain t hard, not ef the people is gen ally ag in 
 the settin on it," answered Isaiah. 
 
 " I s pose ef a thousan men sh d be daown ter Bar 
 rington next week Tewsday, they could stop the jestice 
 
Nine Years After 25 
 
 fr m openin the Common Pleas, jest the same ez yew 
 did," said Peleg thoughtfully. 
 
 "Sartin," said Isaiah, "sartin; leastways s long ez 
 the militia warn t aout; but, gosh! there ain t no sense 
 o talkin baout sech things. These hain t no sech 
 times ez them wuz, an folks ain t what they wuz, nuth- 
 er. They seems kind o slimpsy; hain t got no grit." 
 
 During this talk, Elnathan had risen and gone feebly 
 out. 
 
 " Elnathan seems ter take it ter heart baout leavin 
 the old place. I hearn ez how Solomon Gleason s go- 
 in ter sell him aout pretty soon," Abner remarked. 
 
 " I guess t aint so much that as t is the bad news 
 he s heerd baout Reub daown ter Barrington jail," 
 said Obadiah Weeks. 
 
 "What abaout Reub?" asked Abner. 
 
 "He s a-goin intew a decline daown ter the jail." 
 
 " I want ter know ! Poor Reub ! " said Abner, compas 
 sionately. " He fit side o me ter Stillwater, an Perez 
 was t other side. Perez did me a good turn that day, 
 ez I shan t forgit in a hurry. He d take it hard ef he 
 hearn ez haow Reub wuz in jail. I never see tew fel 
 lers set more store by one another than he an Reub." 
 
 "Wonder ef Perez ain t never a-comin hum. He 
 hain t been back sence the war. I hearn his folks had 
 word a spell ago ez he wuz a-comin ," said Peleg. 
 
 " Gosh ! " exclaimed Abner, his rough features soften 
 ing with a pensive cast, " I recollect jest ez if t wuz 
 yes day, that rainy mornin when we fellers set off 
 long with Squire Woodbridge fer Bennington. There 
 wuz me, n Perez, an Reub, an Abe Konkapot, n, 
 le s see you went afore, didn t ye, Peleg? " 
 
 " Yas, I went with Cap n Stoddard," replied that in 
 dividual. 
 
26 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " There we wuz, all a-standin in line, " pursued Abner, 
 seeming to gaze through the ceiling, as if he could see 
 on the other side of it the scene which he vividly 
 recalled, "an* Parson West a-prayin , an the women 
 a-whimperin , an we nigh ontew it, fer we wuz green, 
 an the mothers milk warn t aout of us. But I bet we 
 thought we wuz big pertaters, a-goin to fight fer lib ty. 
 Wai, we licked the red-coats, and we got lib ty, I s pose; 
 lib ty ter starve, that is, ef we don t happen ter git 
 sent ter jail fust; " and Abner s voice fell, and his chin 
 dropped on his breast, in a sudden reaction of dejec 
 tion at the thought of the bitter disappointment of all 
 the hopes which had made their hearts strong that day 
 before the battle, even in the hour of parting. 
 
 44 1 think we wuz a darn sight better off every way 
 under the king, n we be naow. The tories wuz 
 right arter all, I guess. We d better ha let well 
 nough alone, an not to ha jumped aout of the fryin - 
 pan inter the fire," said Peleg, gloomily. 
 
 As he finished speaking, a medium-sized man, with a 
 pasty- white, freckled complexion, bristling red hair, a 
 retreating forehead, and small, sharp eyes, came for 
 ward from the dark corner near the door. His thin 
 lips writhed in a mocking smile, as he stood confront 
 ing Peleg and Abner, looking first at one and then at 
 the other. 
 
 44 Ef I don t forgit," he said at length, 44 that s baout 
 the way I talked when the war wuz a-goin on; an if 
 I recollect, yew, Peleg, an yew, Abner Rathbun and 
 Meshech Little, there on the floor, took arter me with 
 yer guns and dogs cause ye said I wuz a dum tory. 
 An* ye hunted me on Stockbridge mounting like a 
 woodchuck, an ye d ha hed my skelp fer sartin ef I 
 hadn t been a darn sight smarter n yew ever wuz." 
 
Nine Years After 27 
 
 " Jabez," said Abner, "I hope ye don t hev no hard 
 feelin s. Times be changed. Let bygones be by 
 gones. " 
 
 " Mos folks d say I hed some call to hev hard feel 
 in s. Ye druv me ter hide in caves an holes, fer the 
 best part o tew year. I dass n t come hum ter see my 
 wife die, nor ter bury on her. Ye confiscated my 
 house and took my crops fer yer darned army. Mos 
 folks d sartinly say ez I hed call ter hev hard feelin s 
 ag in ye. But I hain t, an why hain t I? Cause ye ve 
 been yer own wust enemies; ye ve hurt yerselves more 
 ner ye hev me, though ye didn t go fer ter do it. 
 Pretty nigh all on ye as fit ag in the king is beggars 
 naow, or next door tew it. Everybuddy hez a kick fer 
 a soldier. Ye ll find em mos ly in the jails an the 
 poorhaouses. Look at you fellers ez wuz a-huntin me. 
 There s Meshech on the floor, a drunken, wuthless 
 cuss. There ye be, Abner, thout a shillin in the world, 
 nor a foot o land yer dad s farm gone fer taxes. An 
 there be yew, Peleg. Wai, Peleg, they dew say ez 
 the neighbors sends ye in things ter keep ye from 
 starvin ." 
 
 Jabez looked from one to the other until he had suffi 
 ciently enjoyed their discomfiture, and then he con 
 tinued. 
 
 " I ain t much better off n yew be, but I hain t got 
 nothin onto my conscience. An when I looks raound 
 an sees the oppression an the poverty of the people, 
 an haow they have none ter help, an the jails so full, 
 an the taxes, an the plague o lawyers, an the voice 
 o cryin ez is goin up from the land, an all the con- 
 sekences o the war, I tell ye, it s considabul satisfac 
 tion to feel ez I kin wash my han s on t." And, with 
 a glance of contemptuous triumph around the circle, 
 
28 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Jabez turned on his heel and went out. The silence 
 was first broken by Ezra Phelps, who said quietly: 
 
 "Wai, Jabez ain t fur from right. It s abaout so. 
 Some says the king is calc latin ter try ter git the colo 
 nies back ag in fore long. Ef he doos, I guess he ll 
 make aout, fur I don t b lieve ez a comp ny o 7 men 
 could be raised in all Berkshire, ter go an* fight the 
 red-coats again, if they wuz to come to-morrer. " And 
 a general murmur of assent confirmed his words. 
 
 " Wai," said Abner, recovering speech, " live an larn. 
 In them days, when I went a-gunnin arter Jabez, I 
 use ter think ez there wuzn t no sech varmint ez a tory ; 
 but I didn t know nothin bout lawyers and sheriffs 
 them times. I calc late ye could cut five tories aout o 
 one lawyer an make a dozen skunks aout o what wuz 
 left over. I m a-goin hum." 
 
 This was the signal for a general break-up. Israel, 
 who had fallen into a boozy slumber on the settle, was 
 roused and sent home between his son and hired man, 
 and presently the tavern was dark save for the soon 
 extinguished glimmer of a candle at the upstairs win 
 dow of the Widow Bingham s apartment. Meshech was 
 left to snore upon the barroom floor and grope his way 
 out of doors as best he might, when he should return 
 to his senses. For doors were not locked in Stock- 
 bridge in those days. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 The Tavern-Jail at Barrington 
 
 PELEG S information, although of a hearsay charac 
 ter, was correct. Perez Hamlin was coming home. 
 The day following the conversation in the barroom of 
 Stockbridge tavern, recorded in the last chapter, about 
 an hour after noon a traveler on horseback approached 
 the village of Great Barrington, on the road from 
 Sheffield. He wore the buff and blue uniform of a 
 captain in the late Continental army, and strapped to 
 the saddle was a steel-hilted sword which had appar 
 ently experienced a good many hard knocks. The 
 lack of any other baggage to speak of, as well as the 
 frayed and stained condition of his uniform, indicated 
 that however rich the rider might be in glory, he was 
 tolerably destitute of more palpable forms of wealth. 
 
 Poverty, in fact, had been the chief reason that had 
 prevented Captain Hamlin from returning home before. 
 The close of the war had found him serving under Gen 
 eral Greene in South Carolina, and on the disbandment 
 of the troops he had been left without means of sup 
 port. Since then he had been slowly working his way 
 homeward, stopping a few months wherever employ 
 ment or hospitality offered. What with the lack and 
 insecurity of mails, and his frequent movements, he 
 had not heard from home for two or three years, al 
 though he had written. But in those days, when that 
 constant exchange of bulletins of health and business 
 
30 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 between friends which burdens modern mail bags was 
 out of the question, the fact perhaps developed a more 
 robust quality of faith in the well-being of the absent 
 than is known in these days. Certain it is that as the 
 soldier rode along, the smiles that from time to time 
 chased each other across his bronzed face, indicated 
 that gay and tender anticipations of the meeting, now 
 only a few hours away, left no room in his mind for 
 gloomy conjectures of possible disaster. It was nine 
 years since he parted with his father and mother ; and 
 his brother Reub he had not seen since the morning in 
 1778, when Perez, accepting a commission, had gone 
 south with General Greene, and Reub had left for home 
 with Abner and Fennell, and several others whose 
 time had expired. He smiled as he thought how he 
 never really knew what it was to enjoy the righting un 
 til he got the lad off home, so that he had not to worry 
 about his being hit every time there was any shooting 
 going on. Coming into Great Harrington, he asked 
 the first man he met where the tavern was. 
 
 "That s it, over yonder," said the man, jerking his 
 thumb over his shoulder at a nondescript building some 
 distance ahead. 
 
 " That looks more like a jail." 
 
 "Wai, so t is. The jail s in the ell part o the tav 
 ern. Cephe Bement keeps em both." 
 
 " It s a queer notion to put them under the same roof. " 
 
 " I dunno bout that, nuther. It s mostly by way o 
 the tavern that fellers gits inter jail, I calc late." 
 
 Perez laughed, and riding up to the tavern end of the 
 jail, dismounted, and going into the barroom, ordered 
 a plate of pork and beans. Feeling in excellent humor, 
 he fell to conversing over his modest meal with the 
 landlord, a big, beefy man, who evidently liked to hear 
 
The Tavern- Jail at Barrington 31 
 
 himself talk, and in a gross sort of way appeared to be 
 rather good-natured. 
 
 " I saw a good many red flags on farmhouses as I was 
 coming up from Sheffield this morning," said Perez. 
 " You haven t got the small-pox in the county again, 
 have you? " 
 
 " Them wuz sheriff s sales," said tho landlord, laugh 
 ing uproariously, in which he was joined by a seedy, 
 red-nosed individual, addressed as Zeke, who appeared 
 to be a hanger-on of the barroom in the function of 
 echo to the landlord s jokes. 
 
 " Ye 11 git used ter that air red flag ef ye stay long in 
 these parts. Ye ain t so fur from right arter all, 
 though, fer I guess most folks d baout ez lieve hev 
 the small-pox in the house ez the sheriff." 
 
 " Times are pretty hard hereabouts, are they? " 
 
 " Wai, yas, they be baout ez hard ez they kin be, but 
 ye see it s wuss in this ere caounty n t is in mos 
 places, cause there warn t nary court here fer six or 
 eight year till lately, an no debts wuz collected, n so 
 they ve kind o piled up. I guess there ain t but darn 
 few fellers in the caounty cept the parsons, n lawyers, 
 n doctors ez ain t a-bein sued to-day, specially the 
 farmers. I tell yew, it makes business lively fer the 
 lawyers an sheriffs. They re the ones ez rides in ker- 
 ridges these days." 
 
 " Is the jail pretty full now? " 
 
 " Chock full ; hed to send a batch up ter Lenox last 
 week, an got em packed bout s thick s they ll lay 
 naow, like codfish in a bar l. Haow in time I m a- 
 goin ter make room fer the fellers the court 11 send in 
 nex week, I dunno, darned if I dew. They d ought 
 ter be three new jails in the caounty this blamed min 
 ute." 
 
32 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " Do you expect a good many more this week? " 
 
 "Land, yes! Why, man alive, the Common Pleas 
 never hed ez much business ez this time. I calc late 
 there s nigh onto seven hundred cases ter try." 
 
 " The devil ! Has there been a riot or a rebellion in 
 the county? What have they all done? " 
 
 " Oh, they hain t done nothin ," replied the landlord; 
 "they ain t nothin but debtors. Darn debtors, I 
 don t like to hev the jailin of em. They hain t got 
 no blood into em like Sabbath-breakers, an blasphem 
 ers, an rapers has. They re weakly, pulin kind o 
 chaps, what there ain t no satisfaction a-lockin up an 
 a-knockin round. They re dreffle deskerridgin kind 
 o fellers, tew. Ye see, we never git rid on em. 
 They never gits let aout like other fellers ez is in jail. 
 They hez ter stay till they pay up, an naterally they 
 can t pay up s long ez they stay. Gen ally they go 
 aout feet foremost, when they go aout at all, an they 
 ain t long lived." 
 
 " Why don t they pay up before they get in? " queried 
 Perez. 
 
 " Where be ye from? " asked the landlord, staring at 
 him. 
 
 " I m from New York, last." 
 
 " I thought ye couldn t be from raound here no- 
 wheres, ter ask sech a question. Why don t they pay 
 their debts? Did ye hear that, Zeke? Why, jest cause 
 there ain t no money in the kentry ter pay em with. 
 It don t make a mite o odds haow much prop ty a fel 
 ler s got. It don t fetch nothin tew a sale. The credi 
 tor buys it in fer nothin , an the feller goes to jail fer 
 the balance. A man as has got a silver sixpence can 
 a most buy a farm. Some folks says there ought ter be 
 a law makin prop ty a tender fer debts on a fair valia- 
 
The Tavern- Jail at Barrington 33 
 
 tion. I dunno an I don t keer; I hain t no fault ter 
 find with my business, leastways the jail end on t." 
 
 Finishing his dinner, Perez asked for his score, and 
 drawing a large wallet from his pocket, took out a roll 
 of about five thousand dollars in Continental bills. 
 
 " Hain t ye got no Massachusetts bills? They ain t 
 wuth but one shillin in six, but that s suthin, an them 
 continental bills ain t wuth haouse room. Gosh darn 
 it! I swow, ef I d known ye hadn t nothin but them 
 I wouldn t ha give ye a drop to drink nor anything ter 
 eat, nuther. Marthy says only this morning, * Cephas, 
 says she, rum is rum an rags is rags, an don t ye 
 give no more rum fer rags. " 
 
 "Well, "said Perez, "I have nothing else. Govern 
 ment thought they were good enough to pay the sol 
 diers for their blood ; they ought to pay landlords for 
 their rum. " 
 
 " I dunno nothin baout yer bein a soldier, an I 
 dunno ez I or any other man s beholden to ye for t, 
 nuther. Ye got paid all t wuz wuth if ye didn t git 
 paid nuthin ; fur s I kin reckon, we wuz a darn sight 
 better off under old King George than we be naow. 
 Ain t that baout so, Zeke?" 
 
 " Well," said Perez, " if you won t take these, I can t 
 pay you at all." 
 
 "Wai," said Bement crossly, "there s the beans an 
 mug o flip. Call it a thaousand dollars, an fork over, 
 but by golly, I don t git caught that way again. It s 
 downright robbery, that s what it is. I say, ain t ye 
 got no cleaner bills nor these? " 
 
 "Perhaps these are cleaner," said Perez, handing 
 him another lot. " What odds does it make? " 
 
 " Wai, ye see, ef they be middlin clean, I kin keep 
 caounts on the backs on em, and Marthy finds em 
 3 
 
34 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 handy when she writes to her folks daown ter Spring 
 field. T ain t fust-class writin paper, but it s cheaper n 
 other kinds, an that s suthin in these times." 
 
 Having 1 satisfied the landlord s requirements as well 
 as possible, Perez walked to the door and stood looking 
 out. The ell containing the jail coming under his 
 eye, he turned and said, "You spoke of several hun 
 dred debtors coming before the court next week. It 
 doesn t look as if you could get over fifty in here." 
 
 "Oh, ye can jam in a hundred. I ve got nigh that 
 naow, and there s other lockups in the caounty," re 
 plied the landlord. " But ef they wuz a-goin ter try 
 to shet up all the debtors, they d hev ter build half 
 a dozen new jails. But bless ye, the most on em 
 won t be shet up. Their creditors 11 git jedgments 
 ag in em, an then they ll hev rings in their noses, an 
 kin dew what they like with em, cause ef they don t 
 stan raound they kin shove em right intew jail, ye see. " 
 
 " You don t mean to say there s much of that sort of 
 slavery," ejaculated Perez. 
 
 "I dunno baout slavery ezackly, but there s plenty 
 o that sort o* thing, fer sartin. Creditors mostly 
 would ruther dew that way, cause they kin git suthin 
 aout of a feller, an ef they send em tew jail it s a dead 
 loss. They make em work aout their debt and reckon 
 their work tew baout what they please. There is some 
 queer kind o talk baout what kind o things they 
 make em stand sometimes rather n go ter jail. Wai, 
 all I says is that a feller ez hez got a good-lookin gal 
 hed better not git a-owin much in these ere times. I 
 hain t said nothin , hev I, Zeke?" and that worthy an 
 swered his wink with a salacious chuckle. 
 
 "Have you any debtors from Stockbridge?" asked 
 Perez suddenly. 
 
The Tavern- Jail at Barrington 35 
 
 "A hull slew on em," replied Bement. "I ve got 
 one more n I shall hev much longer, tew." 
 
 "Who be that?" asked Zeke. 
 
 "Wai, I guess George Fennell won t hold out much 
 longer. " 
 
 "Fennell? George Fennell? George Fennell is not 
 in this jail! " cried Perez. 
 
 "Wai, naow," said Bement, imperturbably, "per 
 haps ye know better n I dew." 
 
 " But, landlord, he s my friend, my comrade. I d 
 like to see him," and the young man s countenance 
 expressed the liveliest concern. 
 
 The landlord seemed to hesitate. Finally he turned 
 his head and called, " Marthy ! " and a plump, kitten-like 
 little woman appeared at a door opening into the end 
 of the bar, whereupon the landlord, as he jerked his 
 thumb over his shoulder to indicate their guest, re 
 marked : 
 
 " He wants ter know if he kin be let ter see George 
 Fennell. Says he s his friend, an used ter know him 
 ter the war." 
 
 Mrs. Bement looked at the officer and said : " Wai, 
 my husband don t gen ally keer to hev folks a-seein 
 the pris ners, cause it makes em kind o discontented 
 like." She hesitated a little and then added: "But I 
 dunno s t will dew no harm, Cephas, bein as Fennell 
 won t last much longer anyhow." 
 
 Thus authorized, Bement took a bundle of keys from 
 a hook behind the bar, and proceeded to unlock the 
 padlock which fastened an iron bar across a heavy 
 plank door in the middle of one of the sides of the 
 room. As he threw open the door, a gust of foul 
 stenches belched forth into the room, almost nauseating 
 Perez. The smell of the prison was like that of a pig- 
 
36 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 sty. The door had opened into a narrow corridor, dim 
 ly lighted by a small square grated window at the far 
 ther end, while along each side were rows of strong 
 plank doors opening outward, and secured by heavy, 
 oaken bars, slipped across them at the middle. The 
 muggy dog-day had been very oppressive, even out of 
 doors, but here in the corridor it was intolerable. To 
 inhale the horrible conglomeration of smells was like 
 breathing in a sewer; the lungs, even as they invol 
 untarily took it in, strove spasmodically to close their 
 passages against it. It was impossible for one unac 
 customed to such an atmosphere to breathe, save by 
 gasps. Bement stopped at one of the doors, and as he 
 was raising the bar across it, he said : 
 
 "There ain t only one feller sides Fennell in here. 
 He s a Stockbridge feller, too. This cell ain t so big s 
 the others. Gen ally there s three or four together. 
 I ll jest shet ye in, an come back for ye in a minute." 
 
 He opened the door, and as the other stepped in, it 
 was closed and barred behind him. The cell was about 
 seven feet square and as many feet high. The floor 
 was a foot lower than the corridor, and correspondingly 
 damper. It must have been on or below the level of 
 the ground, and the floor, as well as the lower end of 
 the planks which formed the walls, was black with 
 moisture. The cell was littered with straw and inde 
 scribable filth, while the walls and ceiling were mil 
 dewed and spotted with loathsome growths of mould, 
 feeding on the moist and filthy vapors, which were 
 even more sickening than in the corridor. 
 
 Fully six feet from the floor, too high to allow of 
 looking out, was a small grated window, a foot square, 
 through which a few feeble, dog-day sunbeams, slanting 
 downward, made a little yellow patch upon the lower 
 
The Tavern- Jail at Barrington 37 
 
 part of one of the sides of the cell. Sitting- upon a pile 
 of filthy straw, leaning 1 back against the wall, with his 
 face directly in this spot of light, one of the prisoners 
 was half -sitting, half-lying, his eyes shut as if asleep, 
 and a smile of perfect happiness resting on his pale and 
 weazened face. Doubtless he was dreaming of the 
 time when, as a boy, he played all day in the shining 1 
 fields, or went blackberrying in the ardent July sun. 
 For him the river was gleaming again, turning its mil 
 lion glittering facets to the sun, or perhaps his eye was 
 delighting in the still sheen of ponds in Indian summer, 
 as they reflected the red glory of the overhanging maple 
 or the bordering sumach thicket. 
 
 The other prisoner was kneeling on the floor before 
 the wall, with a piece of charcoal in his hand, mum 
 bling to himself as he busily added figures to a sum 
 with which the surface above was already covered. 
 As the door of the cell closed, he looked around from 
 his work. Like the face of the man on the floor, his 
 own face had a ghastly pallor, against which the dirt 
 with which it was stained showed with peculiarly 
 repulsive effect, while the beards and hair of both men 
 had grown long and matted and were filled with straw. 
 So completely had their miserable condition disguised 
 them, that Perez would not have known in the dim 
 light of the cell that he had ever seen either before. 
 
 The man who had been kneeling on the floor, after 
 his first look of dull curiosity, began to stare fixedly at 
 Perez as if he were an apparition, and then rose to his 
 feet. As he did so, Perez saw that he could not be 
 Fennell, for the latter was tall, and this man was quite 
 short. Yes, the reclining man must be George, and 
 now he noted as an unmistakable confirmation a scar 
 on one of the emaciated hands lying on his breast. 
 
38 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 "George," he said, stepping to his side. As he did so 
 he passed athwart the bar of sunshine that was falling 
 on the man s countenance. A peevish expression 
 crossed his face, and he opened his eyes, the burning, 
 glassy eyes of the consumptive. For a few seconds he 
 looked fixedly, wonderingly ; and then, half dreamily, 
 half inquiringly, as if he were not quite certain whether 
 it were a man or a vision, he murmured: 
 
 " Perez? " 
 
 "Yes, it is I, George," said the soldier, his eyes fill 
 ing with compassionate tears. " How came you in this 
 horrible place?" 
 
 But before Fennell could answer the other prisoner 
 sprang to the side of the speaker, clutching his arm in 
 his claw -like ringers, and crying in an anguished voice : 
 
 " Perez! brother Perez! Don t you know me? " 
 
 At the voice Perez started as if a bullet had reached 
 his heart. Like lightning he turned his face, frozen 
 with fear that was scarcely yet comprehended, his eyes 
 like fiery darts. From that white filthy face in its wild 
 beast s mat of hair, his brother s eyes were looking into 
 his own. 
 
 " Lord God in heaven ! " It was a husky, struggling 
 voice, scarcely more than a whisper, in which he uttered 
 the words. For several seconds the brothers stood gaz 
 ing into each other s faces, Reuben holding Perez s 
 arm, and he half shrinking, not from his brother s mis 
 ery, though such seemed to be his attitude, but from 
 the horror of the discovery. 
 
 " How long " he began to ask, and then his voice 
 broke. The emaciated figure before him, the face 
 bleached with the ghastly pallor which a sunless prison 
 gives, the deep sunken eyes looking like coals of fire 
 eating their way into his brain, the tattered clothing, 
 
The Tavern- Jail at Barrington 39 
 
 the long unkempt hair and beard, prematurely whiten 
 ing and filled with filth, the fingers grown claw-like 
 and blue with prison mold, the dull vacant look and 
 the thought that this was Reuben, his brother these 
 things filled him with such an unutterable, intolerable 
 pity, that he felt as if he should lose his head and go 
 wild for very anguish of heart. 
 
 "I s pose I m kind o thin and some changed, so ye 
 didn t know me," said Reuben, with a feeble smile. 
 "Ye see, I ve been here a year, and am going into a 
 decline. I sent word home to have father ask Deacon 
 Nash if he wouldn t let me go home to be nussed up 
 by mother. I should get rugged again if I could have 
 a little o mother s nussin. P raps ye ve come to take 
 me home, Perez? " And a faint gleam of hope came 
 into his face. 
 
 " Reub, Reub, I didn t know you were here," groaned 
 Perez, as he put his arm about his brother, and sup 
 ported his feeble figure. 
 
 " How come ye here, then? " asked Reuben. 
 
 " I was going home. I haven t been home since the 
 war. Didn t you know? I heard that George was 
 here and came in to see him, but I didn t think of 
 your being here too." 
 
 "Where have ye been, Perez, all the time? I 
 thought ye must be in jail somewheres, like all the rest 
 of the soldiers." 
 
 " I had no money to get home with. But how came 
 you here, Reub? Who put you here?" 
 
 " T was Deacon Nash done it. I tried to start a 
 farm arter the war, and got in debt to deacon for seed 
 and stock, and there wasn t no crop, and the hard 
 times come. I couldn t pay, and the deacon sued, and 
 so I lost the farm and had to come here." 
 
40 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " Why didn t father help you? He ain t dead, is he? " 
 
 Almost any misfortune now seemed possible to Perez. 
 
 " No, he ain t dead, but he ain t got nothin . I s pose 
 he s sold out by this time. Sol Gleason had a mort 
 gage on the place." 
 
 " How much was your debt, Reub? " 
 
 "Nineteen paound, seven shilling and sixpence. 
 Leastways, the debt was nine pound, and the rest was 
 lawyers , justices , and sheriffs fees. I expect they ll 
 find them figgers cut into my heart when I m dead." 
 
 And then he pointed to the sums in charcoal, cover 
 ing the walls of the cell. 
 
 " I calc lated the interest daown to haow much a min 
 ute. I allers liked cipherin , ye know, Perez, and I 
 have a great deal of time here. Ye see, every day, the 
 interest is a penny and twenty-six twenty-sevenths of 
 a farthin . The wall round me gits that much higher 
 and thicker every day." He stepped closer up to the 
 wall, and pointed to a particular set of figures. 
 
 " Here s my weight, ye see, ten stone and a fraction," 
 and then observing the pitiful glance of Perez at his 
 emaciated form, he added, " I mean when I come to 
 jail. Dividin nineteen paound, seven and six, by that, 
 it makes me come to thrippence ha penny a paound, 
 cordin to the laws o* Massachusetts, countin bones 
 and waste. Mutton ain t wuth but tuppence, and 
 there s lots o fellers here for sech small debts that they 
 don t come to more n a farthin a paound, and ye see 
 I m gittin dearer, Perez. There s the interest one 
 way, and I m a gittin thinner the other way," he added 
 with a piteous smile. 
 
 "Perez," interrupted Fennell, in a feeble, whimper 
 ing voice, as he weakly endeavored to raise himself 
 from the floor, " I wish you d jest give me a boost on 
 
The Tavern- Jail at Barrington 41 
 
 your shoulders, so I kin see out the winder. Reub 
 used ter to do it, but he ain t stout enough now. It s 
 two months since I ve seen out. Say, Perez, won t ye? " 
 
 " It ll do him a sight o good, Perez, if ye will. I 
 never see a feller set sech store by trees and mountings 
 as George does. They re jest like medicine to him, 
 an he s fell off f aster n ever since I hain t been able to 
 boost him up." 
 
 Perez knelt, too much moved for speech, and Reub 
 helped to adjust upon his shoulders the feeble frame of 
 the sick man, into whose face had come an expression 
 of eager, excited expectation. As the soldier rose he 
 fairly tottered from the unexpected lightness of his 
 burden. He stepped beneath the high, grated window, 
 and Fennell, resting his hands on the lintel while 
 Reub steadied him from behind, peered out. He made 
 no sound, and finally Perez let him down to the floor. 
 
 "Could ye see much?" asked Reub, but the other 
 did not answer. His gaze was afar off as if the prison 
 walls were no barrier to his eyes, and a smile of raptur 
 ous contemplation rested on his face. Then with a 
 deep breath he seemed to return to a perception of his 
 surroundings, and in tones of irrepressible exultation 
 he murmured: 
 
 "I saw the mountings. They are so," and with a 
 waving, undulating gesture of the hand that was won 
 derfully eloquent, he indicated the bold sweep of the 
 forest-clad Taghcanic peaks. The door swung open, 
 and the jailer appeared. 
 
 "Time s up," he said sharply. 
 
 " What, you re not going now? You re not going to 
 leave us yet? " cried Reuben piteously. 
 
 Perez choked down the wrath and bitterness that was 
 turning his heart to iron, and said humbly : 
 
42 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " Mr. Bement, I should like to stay a few minutes 
 longer. This is my brother. I did not know he was 
 here." 
 
 " Sorry for t," said Bement carelessly. "Don t see 
 ez I kin help it though. S posed like nough he was 
 soiiH-lmddy s brother. Mivht s well he your n ex. ;my- 
 buddy s. I dunno who yew be. All I know is that 
 ye ve been here fifteen minutes and now ye must 
 leave. Don t keep me waitin , nuther. There ain t 
 nobuddy tendin* bar." 
 
 " I )on t make him mad, Perez, or else he won t let ye 
 come again," whispered Reuben, whq saw that his 
 brother was on the point of some violent outburst. 
 Perez controlled himself, and took his brother s hands 
 in his, coming close up to him and looking away over 
 his shoulder so that he might not see the pitiful work 
 ings of his features which would have given the nega 
 tive to his words of comfort. 
 
 " Cheer up, Rcub," he said huskily, " I ll get you out. 
 I ll come for you," and still holding his grief-wrung 
 face averted that Reuben might not see it, he went 
 forth, and Bement shut the door and barred it. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 The People Ask Bread and Receive a Stone 
 
 As Captain IFainlin, leaving behind him Great Har 
 rington and its tavern-jail, was riding" slowly on toward 
 Stockbridge, oblivions, in the bitter tumult of his feel 
 ings, to the glorious seenery around him, the village 
 
 given was the scene of a quite unusual assemblage. 
 Squire Scdgwick, the town s delegate, was expeeted 
 back that afternoon from the enmity convention, which 
 had hern sit t ing at. Lenox to devise remedies for the 
 popular distress; and most of the farmers from the out 
 lying country had come into the village to get the first 
 tidings of the result of its deliberations. 
 
 Seated on the piazza of the store, and standing 
 around it, at a distance from the assemblage of the 
 common people, suitably typifying their social superi 
 ority, was a group of the magnates of the town, in the 
 Stately dress of gentlemen of the olden time, their 
 three-cornered hats resting upon powdered wigs, and 
 long silken hose revealing the goodly proportions of 
 their calves. Upon the piazza sat a short, portly gen 
 tleman, with bushy black eyebrows and a severe ex 
 pression of countenance. Although a short man he 
 had a way of holding his neck stiff, with the chin well 
 out, and looking downward from beneath his eyelids, 
 upon those who addressed him, which, with his pursed- 
 uplips, produced a decided impression of his authority 
 and unapproachableness. This was Jahleel Wood- 
 bridge, ICsquire. 
 
44 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Parson West stood on the ground in front of him, his 
 silver-headed cane tucked under one arm. His small 
 person was as neatly dressed as if just taken out of a 
 bandbox, and his black, shining hose encased a leg and 
 ankle which were the chaste admiration of the ladies 
 of the parish, and the source, it was whispered, of no 
 small complacency to the good man himself. 
 
 "What think you," he asked of Squire Woodbridge, 
 "will have been the action of the convention? Will it 
 have emulated the demagogic tone of that at Hatfield, 
 do you opine?" 
 
 "Let us hope not, reverend sir," responded the 
 squire, " but methinks it was inexpedient to allow the 
 convention to meet, although Squire Sedgwick s mind 
 was on that point at variance with mine. It is an eas 
 ier matter to prevent a popular assembly than to re 
 strain its utterances when assembled." 
 
 "I trust," said the parson, looking around upon 
 those standing near, " that we have all made it a sub 
 ject of prayer, that the convention might be led by 
 Providence to devise remedies for the inconveniences 
 of the time, for they are sore, and the popular discon 
 tent is great." 
 
 " Nay, I fear t is past hoping for that the people will 
 be contented with anything the convention may have 
 done, however well considered, "said Doctor Partridge. 
 " They have set their hearts on some such miracle as 
 that whereby Moses did refresh fainting Israel with 
 water from the smitten rock. The crowd over yonder 
 will be satisfied with nothing short of that from the 
 convention, " and the doctor waved his hand to ward the 
 people on the green, with a smile of tolerant contempt 
 on his clean-cut, sarcastic, but not unkindly face. 
 
 " I much err," said Squire Woodbridge, " if the stocks 
 
The People Ask Bread 45 
 
 and the whipping-post be not the remedy their discon 
 tent calls for. I am told that seditious and disorderly 
 speech is common at the tavern of evenings. This 
 presumption of the people to talk concerning matters 
 of government is an evil that has greatly increased 
 since the war, and calls for sharp castigation. These 
 numskulls must be taught their place or t will shortly 
 be no country for gentlemen to live in." 
 
 " A letter that I had but a day or two ago from my 
 brother at Hatfield/ said Doctor Partridge, "speaks of 
 the people being much stirred up in Hampshire, so that 
 some even fear an attempt of the mob to obstruct the 
 court at Northampton, though my brother opined that 
 their insolence would not reach so far. One Daniel 
 Shays, an army captain, is spoken of as a leader. " 
 
 Timothy Edwards, Esquire, a tall, sharp-featured 
 man, with a wrinkled forehead, had come to the door 
 of his store while the doctor was talking. I should 
 vainly try to describe this stately merchant of the olden 
 time, if the reader were to confound him ever so little 
 in his mind s eye with the bustling, smiling, obsequi 
 ous, modern shopkeeper. Even a royal customer 
 would scarcely have presumed so far as to ask this im 
 posing gentleman, in powdered wig, snuff-colored coat, 
 waistcoat and short clothes, white silk stockings and 
 silver-buckled shoes, to cut off a piece of cloth or wrap 
 up a bundle for him. It may be taken for granted that 
 commercial enterprise, as illustrated in Squire Ed 
 wards s store, was entirely subservient to the mainte 
 nance of the proprietor s personal dignity. He now 
 addressed Doctor Partridge: 
 
 " Said your brother anything of the report that the 
 tories and British emissaries are stirring up the popu 
 lar discontent, to the end that reproach may be brought 
 
46 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 on the new government of the States, by revealing its 
 weakness as compared with the king s? " 
 
 " Nay, of that he spoke not. " 
 
 "For my part, I do fully believe it," resumed Ed 
 wards, " and, moreover, that this is but a branch of the 
 British policy, looking toward the speedy re-conquering 
 of these States. It is to this end also that they are 
 aiming to weaken us by drawing all the money out of 
 the country, whereby, meanwhile, the present scarcity 
 is caused." 
 
 " Methinks, good sir," replied the doctor, "the great 
 expense of the war, and the public and private debts 
 made thereby, with the consequent taxes and suits at 
 law, do fully explain the lamentable state of the coun 
 try, and the disquiet of the people, though it may be 
 that the king has also designs against us." 
 
 "Nay," said the parson, in tones of gentle reproof, 
 " these all be carnal reasons, whereby if we seek to ex 
 plain the judgments of God, we do fail of the spiritual 
 profiting we might find therein. For no doubt these 
 present calamities are God s judgment upon this peo 
 ple for its sins, seeing it is well known that the bloody 
 and cruel war now over, hath brought in upon us all 
 manner of new and strange sins, even as if God would 
 have us advertised how easily that liberty which we 
 have gained may run into licentiousness. Sabbath- 
 breaking and blasphemy have come in upon us like a 
 flood, and the new and heinous sin of card-playing hath 
 contaminated our borders, as hath been of late brought 
 to light in the cases of Jerubbabel Galpin and Zedekiah 
 Armstrong, who were taken in the act, and are even 
 now in the stocks. And thereby am I reminded that I 
 had purposed to improve this occasion for the reproof 
 and admonition of them that stand by. " 
 
The People Ask Bread 47 
 
 And thereupon the parson saluted the gentlemen and 
 sedately crossed the green toward the stocks, around 
 which was a noisy crowd of men and boys. As the 
 parson approached, however, a respectful silence fell 
 upon them. There was a general pulling off of hats 
 and caps, and those in his path stood obsequiously aside, 
 while the little children, slinking behind the grown 
 folks, peeped around their legs at him. The two hob 
 bledehoys in the stocks, loutish farmer boys, had been 
 already undergoing the punishment for about an hour. 
 Their backs were bent so that their bodies resembled 
 the letter U laid on its side, and their arms were 
 strained as if they were pulling out of the sockets. All 
 attempted bravado, all affectation of stoical indiffer 
 ence, all sense even of embarrassment had evidently 
 been merged in the demoralization of intense physical 
 discomfort, and the manner in which they lolled their 
 heads, first on one side and then on the other, was elo 
 quent of abject and shameless misery. Standing di 
 rectly in front of these hapless youths, and using them 
 as his text, the parson began to admonish the people 
 in this wise : 
 
 " It would seem the will of God to permit the adver 
 sary to try the people of this town with divers new and 
 strange temptations, not known to our fathers, doubt 
 less to the end that their graces may shine forth the 
 more clearly, even as gold tried in the fire hath a more 
 excellent luster by reason of its discipline. I have ex 
 amined myself with fasting, to see if any weakness or 
 laxity in my office, as shepherd of this flock, might be 
 the occasion of this license given to Satan. And it 
 behooveth you, each in his own soul, and in his own 
 household, to make inquisition lest some sin of his or 
 theirs bring this new temptation of card-playing upon 
 
48 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 our people, even as the wedge of fine gold which Achan 
 took and hid in his tent did mightily discomfit the host 
 of Israel with the plagues of the Lord. For even as 
 for the sin of Adam we are all justly chargeable, so 
 for the sins of one another doth the justice of God 
 afflict us, so that we may find our account in watching 
 over our brethren, even as over ourselves. 
 
 "And you, whom Satan hath led away captive," pur 
 sued the reverend orator, addressing himself to the 
 young men in the stocks, " be ye thankful that ye have 
 not been permitted to escape this temporal recompense 
 of your transgression, which, if proved, may save you 
 from the eternal flames of hell. Reflect, whether it be 
 not better to endure for a season the contempt and 
 the chastisement of men, rather than to bear the tor 
 ments and jeers of the devil and his angels forever. 
 
 "Behold," continued the minister, holding up the 
 pack of cards taken from the prisoners, " with what in 
 struments Satan doth tempt mankind, and consider 
 how perverse must be the inclination which can be 
 tempted by devices that do so plainly advertise their 
 devilish origin. At times Satan doth so shrewdly mask 
 his wiles that if it were possible the very elect might be 
 deceived, but how evidently doth he here reveal his 
 handiwork. " 
 
 He held up some of the court cards. 
 
 " Take note of these misshaped and deformed figures, 
 heathenishly attired, and with no middle parts or legs, 
 but with two heads turned diverse ways. These are 
 not similitudes of man, who was made in the image of 
 his Maker, but doubtless of fiends, revealed by Satan 
 to the artificers who do his work in the fabrication of 
 these instruments of sin. Mark these figures of dia 
 monds and hearts, and these others which I am told 
 
The People Ask Bread 49 
 
 do signify spades and clubs. How plainly do they 
 typify ill-gotten riches and bleeding hearts, violence 
 and the grave. Wretched youths, which of ye tempted 
 the other to this sin? " 
 
 " Je ast me to dew it, " whimpered Zedekiah. 
 
 " Kiah, he ast me fust," averred Jerubbabel. 
 
 "No doubt ye are both right," said the minister 
 sternly. " When two sin together, Satan is divided in 
 twain, and the one half tempteth the other. See to it 
 that ye sin not again on this wise, lest a worse thing 
 come upon you. " 
 
 Scarcely had the parson turned away, when a shout 
 from some boys who had gone to the corner to watch 
 for the coming of the squire announced his approach, 
 and presently he appeared at the corner, riding a fine 
 gray horse, and came on at an easy canter across the 
 green. He was a tall, broad-shouldered, finely-propor 
 tioned man of about forty, with a refined face, frank 
 and open, but rather haughty in expression, and with 
 piercing black eyes ; a man in whose every gesture lay 
 conscious power and obvious superiority. As he rode 
 by the silent crowd, he acknowledged the salutations of 
 the people with a courteous wave of the hand, but drew 
 rein only when he reached the group of dignitaries 
 about the store. There he dismounted and shook 
 hands with the parson, who had rejoined the party, 
 with Doctor Partridge, Squire Edwards and Squire 
 Woodbridge. 
 
 " What news bring you from the convention? I trust 
 you have been providentially guided. I have not failed 
 to remember you in my prayers," said the parson. 
 
 "For which I am deeply grateful, reverend sir," re 
 plied Sedgwick. " And truly I think your prayers have 
 been effectual. The blessing of God has been mani- 
 4 
 
50 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 festly upon the convention. Berkshire has not been 
 disgraced, as have been the lower counties, by a sedi 
 tious and incendiary body of resolutions on the part of 
 her delegates. There were not wanting plenty of hot 
 heads, but they were overruled. I am convinced such 
 might also have been the issue in the other counties, 
 had the gentlemen put themselves forward as dele 
 gates, instead of leaving it all, in a fit of disgust, to the 
 people." 
 
 " Was there any action taken in favor of the plan for 
 the emission of bills, which shall systematically depre 
 ciate?" inquired Squire Woodbridge. 
 
 " Such a resolution was introduced by Thomas Gold, 
 of Pittsfield, a pestilent fellow, but we threw it out." 
 
 " What was the action on reduction of expenses of 
 suits at law? " inquired Doctor Partridge. 
 
 " Again, nothing," replied Sedgwick. " In a word, we 
 refused to yield to any of the demands of the malcon 
 tents, or to hamper the legislature with any specific 
 recommendations. You know that we Berkshire peo 
 ple, thanks to our delay in recognizing the State au 
 thority, have an evil repute at Boston for a mobbish and 
 ungovernable set. It seemed that this was a good op 
 portunity, when the conventions of all the other coun 
 ties were sending up seditious petitions, to make the 
 moderation of our conduct such a contrast that there 
 might be an end of such talk in future." 
 
 Meanwhile, as it became apparent to the crowd on 
 the green that they were not likely to be vouchsafed 
 any information unless they asked for it, a brisk dis 
 putation, conducted in an undertone, so that it might 
 not reach the ears of the gentlemen, arose as to who 
 should be the spokesmen. 
 
 " I jest ez lieve go s not," said Jabez Flint, the tory, 
 
The People Ask Bread 51 
 
 "only they wouldn t hev nothin ter say ter me ez wuz 
 a tory. " 
 
 " Ef I was ten year younger, I d go in a minute," 
 said Israel Goodrich, "but my j ints is kind o stiff. 
 Abner, there, he d ought ter go, by rights." 
 
 " Why don t ye go, Abner? Ye ain t scairt o speak- 
 in tew Squire, be ye?" said Peleg. 
 
 " I ain t scairt o no man, and ye know it s well s 
 ye want ter know. I d go in a jiffey, only bein a young 
 man, I don t like ter put myself forrard ter speak for 
 them ez is older." 
 
 "Why don t ye go yerself, Peleg, if ye be so dretful 
 brave?" inquired Israel Goodrich. 
 
 "That s so, Peleg, why don t ye go?" 
 
 " I ain t no talker," said Peleg. " There s Ezry, he d 
 ought ter go, he s sech a good talker." 
 
 But Ezra swallowed the bait without taking the hook. 
 " T ain t talkin ez is wanted, it s askin . Any on ye 
 kin dew that s well s I," he discriminated. 
 
 The spirit of mutual deference was so strong that it 
 is doubtful how long the contest of modesty might have 
 continued, had not Laban Jones suddenly said : 
 
 " Ef none on ye dasn t ask what the convention has 
 done, I ll ask myself. I m more scairt o my hungry 
 babbies than I be o the face o any man." 
 
 Raising his stalwart figure to its full height, and 
 squaring his shoulders as if to draw courage from a 
 consciousness of his thews and sinews, Laban strode 
 toward the store. But though he took the first steps 
 strongly and firmly, his pace grew feebler and more 
 hesitating as he neared the group of gentlemen, and his 
 courage might have ebbed entirely had not the parson, 
 glancing around and catching his eye, given him a 
 friendly nod. Laban thereupon came up to within a 
 
52 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 rod or two of the group, and taking- off his cap, said in 
 a small voice : 
 
 " Please, we d like ter know what the convention has 
 done?" 
 
 Sedgwick, who had his back to him, turned quickly, 
 and seeing Laban, said in a peremptory tone : 
 
 " Ah, Laban, you may tell your friends that the con 
 vention very wisely did nothing at all," and as he said 
 this he turned to finish something that he was saying 
 to Squire Woodridge. Laban s jaw fell, and he con 
 tinued to stand stock still for several moments, his 
 dull features working as he tried to take in the idea. 
 Finally, his consternation absorbing his timidity, he 
 said feebly : 
 
 "Nothin , did you say, Squire?" 
 
 Sedgwick wheeled about with a frown, which, how 
 ever, changed into an expression of contemptuous pity 
 as he saw the genuineness of the poor fellow s discom 
 fiture. 
 
 "Nothing, Laban," he said, "except to resolve to 
 support the courts, enforce the laws, and punish all dis 
 orderly persons. Don t forget that last, Laban, to 
 punish all disorderly persons. Be sure to tell your 
 friends that. And tell them, too, Laban, that it would 
 be well for them to leave matters of government to 
 their betters and attend to their farms," and as Laban 
 turned mechanically and walked back, Sedgwick added, 
 speaking to the gentlemen about him : 
 
 " I like not this assembling of the people to discuss 
 political matters. We must look to it, gentlemen, or 
 we shall find that we have ridded ourselves of a king 
 only to fall into the hands of a democracy, which I 
 take it would be a bad exchange." 
 
 "Sir," said Edwards, "you must be in need of re- 
 
The People Ask Bread 53 
 
 freshment, after your ride. Come in, I beg of you, 
 and come in, gentlemen all. We shall discuss the 
 providential issue of the convention more commodi- 
 ously within doors, over a suitable provision of Ja 
 maica." 
 
 The suggestion seemed to be timely and acceptable, 
 and one by one the gentlemen, standing aside with 
 ceremonious politeness to let one another precede, en 
 tered the store, Parson West leading, for it was neither 
 according to the requirements of decorum, or his own 
 private tastes, that the minister should decline a con 
 vivial invitation of this character. 
 
 "What did he say, Laban?" 
 
 "What did they dew?" 
 
 " Did they bolish the lawyers? " 
 
 "What did they dew baout more bills, Laban, 
 hey?" 
 
 " What did they dew baout the taxes? " 
 
 "Why don t ye speak, man?" 
 
 " What s the matter on ye? " were some out of the vol 
 ley of questions with which the people hailed their chop- 
 fallen deputy on his return, crowding forward around 
 him, plucking his sleeves and pushing him to get his 
 attention, for he regarded them with a dazed expression. 
 Finally he found his voice, and said : 
 
 " Squire says ez haow they didn t dew nothin ." 
 
 There was a moment s dead silence, then the clamor 
 burst out again. 
 
 "Not dew nothin ?" 
 
 "What d ye mean, Laban?" 
 
 "Nothin baout the taxes?" 
 
 "Nothin baout the lawyers?" 
 
 "Nothin baout the sheriffs fees?" 
 
 "Nothin baout jailin for debt?" 
 
54 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " Nothin baout takin prop ty tew a valiation, 
 Laban?" 
 
 " Nothin baout movin gov ment aout o Bost- 
 ing? " 
 
 "Nothin , I tell ye," answered Laban, in the same 
 tone of utter discouragement. " Squire says ez haow 
 the convention hain t done nothin cept ter resolve 
 that ez courts sh d go on an the laws sh d be kerried 
 aout, an disorderly folks sh d be punished." 
 
 The men looked from one to another of each other s 
 faces, and each wore the same blank look. Finally 
 Israel Goodrich said, nodding his head with an expres 
 sion of utter dejection at each word : 
 
 "Wai, I swow, I be kind o disapp inted." 
 
 There was a space of silence. 
 
 "So be I," said Peleg. 
 
 Presently Paul Hubbard s metallic voice was heard. 
 
 "We were fools not to have known it. Didn t we 
 elect a General Court last year on purpose to do some 
 thing for us, and come to get down to Boston didn t 
 the lawyers buy em up or fool em so they didn t do a 
 thing? The people won t get righted till they take 
 hold and right themselves, as they did in the war." 
 
 " Is that all the Squire said, Laban, every word? " 
 asked Israel, and as he did so all eyes turned on Laban 
 with a faint gleam of hope that there might yet be 
 some crumb of comfort. Laban scratched his head. 
 
 " He said suthin baout gov ment bein none o our 
 business an haow we d better go hum an not be 
 loafin raound." 
 
 " Ef gov ment hain t no business o ourn I d like ter 
 know what in time we fit the king fer," said Peleg. 
 
 " That s so, why didn t ye ask Squire that question? " 
 said Meshech Little. 
 
The People Ask Bread 55 
 
 " By gosh ! " exclaimed Abner Rathbun, with a sud 
 den vehemence, "ef gov ment ain t no business o ourn 
 they made a mistake when they taught us that fightin 
 was. " 
 
 " What do ye mean? " asked Israel half timorously. 
 
 "Never mind what I mean," replied Abner, "only a 
 worm 11 turn when it s trod on." 
 
 "I don t b lieve but that Laban s mistook what the 
 Squire said. Ye ain t none tew clever, ye know yer- 
 self, Laban, and I calc late that ye didn t more n half 
 understan what Squire meant. " 
 
 It was Ezra Phelps who announced this cheering 
 view, which instantly found general favor, and poor 
 Laban s limited mental powers were at once the topic 
 of comments more plain spoken than nattering. Paul 
 Hubbard, indeed, shook his head and smiled bitterly 
 at this revulsion of hopefulness, but even Laban him 
 self seemed eager to find ground for believing himself 
 to have been, in this instance, an ass. 
 
 "Ye see the hull thing s in a nutshell," said Abner. 
 " Either Laban s a fool, or else the hull caounty con 
 vention o Berkshire is fools, an wuss, an I ruther 
 guess it s Laban." 
 
 Perhaps the back room of the store lacked for Squire 
 Sedgwick, a comparatively recent resident of the town, 
 those charms of familiarity it possessed for the other 
 gentlemen, for even as Abner was speaking, he came 
 out alone. As he saw the still waiting and undimin- 
 ished crowd of people, he frowned angrily, and mount 
 ing his horse, rode directly toward them. Their sullen 
 aspect, which might have caused another to avoid them, 
 was his very reason for seeking an encounter. As he 
 approached, his piercing eye rested a moment on the 
 face of every man, and as it did so, each eye, impelled 
 
56 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 by a powerful magnetism, rose deferentially to his, 
 and every cap was pulled off. 
 
 "What is it, Ezra?" he demanded sharply, seeing 
 that Ezra wished to address him. 
 
 "If you please, Squire," said Ezra, cap in hand, 
 " Laban s kind o stupid, an we think he must ha got 
 what ye said t other eend tew. Will ye kindly tell us 
 what the convention did? " 
 
 Stopping his horse, Sedgwick replied, in a loud, 
 clear voice : 
 
 " The convention declared that the laws shall be en 
 forced, and all disorderly persons punished with the 
 stocks and with lashes on the bare back." 
 
 " Is that all? " faltered Ezra. 
 
 "All! " exclaimed Sedgwick, as his eye rested a mo 
 ment on every face before him. " Let every one of 
 you look out that he does not find it too much." 
 
 And now he suddenly spoke in a tone of sharp 
 command, " Disperse and go to your houses on the 
 pains and penalties of Sabbath-breaking. The suu is 
 down," and he pointed to the last glimmer of the yel 
 low orb as it sank below the mountains. The people 
 stood still just long enough to verify the fact with a 
 glance that holy time had begun, and instantly the 
 green was covered with men and boys swiftly seeking 
 shelter within their doors from the eye of an angry 
 Deity, while from the store hastily emerged Squire 
 Woodbridge, Doctor Partridge and the parson, and 
 made their several ways homeward as rapidly as dig 
 nity would permit. 
 
 Perhaps ten minutes later, Captain Perez Hamlin 
 might have been seen pricking his jaded horse across 
 the deserted green. He looked around curiously at 
 the new buildings and recent changes in the appearance 
 
The People Ask Bread 57 
 
 of the village, and once or twice seemed a little at loss 
 about his route. But finally he turned into a lane lead 
 ing northerly toward the hill, just at the foot of which, 
 beside the brook that skirted it, stood a weather-beaten 
 house of a story and a half. As he caught sight of this, 
 Perez spurred his horse to a gallop, and in a few mo 
 ments the mother, through her tears of joy, was trying 
 to trace in the stern face of the man the lineaments 
 of the boy whose soldier s belt she had buckled around 
 him nine years before. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 That Means Rebellion! 
 
 ELNATHAN was the only one of the family who went 
 to church the following day. Mrs. Hamlin was too 
 infirm to climb the hill to the meeting-house, and 
 Perez s mood was more inclined to blood-spilling than 
 to God s worship. All day he walked the house, his 
 fists clenched, muttering curses through his set teeth, 
 and looking not unlike a lion ferociously pacing his 
 cage. For his mother was tearfully narrating to him 
 the share of the general misery that had fallen to their 
 lot, as a family, during the past nine years ; how Elnathan 
 had not been able to carry on his farm without the aid 
 of the boys, and had run behind ; until now, Solomon 
 Gleason, the school-master, had got hold of the mort 
 gage, and was going to turn them into the street that 
 very week. But all this with the mother, as with the 
 brother, was as nothing compared with Reuben s im 
 prisonment and sickness unto death. 
 
 It was Mrs. Hamlin who did most of the talking, and 
 much of what she said fell unheeded on Perez s ears, 
 as he walked unceasingly to and fro across the kitchen. 
 For his mind was occupied with all the intensity of ap 
 plication, of which it was capable, with the single point, 
 how he was to get Reuben out of jail. Even the 
 emergency, which would so soon be raised, by the sell 
 ing out of the homestead, and the turning of the family 
 into the street, was subordinated, in his mind, to this 
 
That Means Rebellion! 59 
 
 prime question. The picture of his brother, shaggy- 
 haired and foul, wallowing in the filth of that prison 
 sty and breathing its fetid air, which his memory kept 
 constantly before him, would have driven him dis 
 tracted, if for a moment he had allowed himself to 
 doubt that he should somehow liberate him, and soon. 
 He had told his mother nothing of the horrible condi 
 tion in which he had found him. Under no condi 
 tions must she know of that, not even if worst came 
 to worst ; and so, even while he shuddered at the vision 
 before his mind s eye, he essayed to speak cheerfully 
 about Reuben s surroundings, and his condition of 
 health. When she told him that Deacon Nash had re 
 fused to let him come home to be nursed back to health, 
 Perez had to comfort her by pretending that he was 
 not so very badly off where he was, and would doubt 
 less recover. 
 
 "Nay, Perez," she said, "my eyes are dim; come 
 close to me, that I may read yours. You were ever 
 tender to your old mother, and I fear me you hide 
 somewhat lest I should disquiet myself. Come here, 
 my son. " The brave man s eyes, that had never quailed 
 before the belching artillery, had now ado indeed. 
 Such sickness at heart they had to conceal, such keen 
 mother s instinct they had to elude. 
 
 " Oh, Perez ! My boy is dying ! I see it ! " 
 
 " He is not, I tell you he is not," he cried hoarsely, 
 breaking away from her. " He is well. He looks 
 strong. Do you think I would lie to you? I tell you 
 he is well and getting better. " 
 
 But after that she would not be comforted. The 
 afternoon wore on. Elnathan returned from meeting, 
 and at last, through the open windows of the house, 
 came the cry, in children s voices: 
 
60 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " Sun s down ! Sun s down ! " 
 
 From the upper windows its disc was yet visible, 
 above the crest of the western mountains, and on the 
 hill-tops it was still high Sabbath ; but in the streets 
 below holy time was at an end. The doors, behind 
 which, in Sabbatical decorum, the children had been 
 pent up all day long, swung open with a simultaneous 
 bang, and the boys, with a whoop and halloo, tumbled 
 over each other into the street, while the girls tripped 
 gayly after. Numerous games of " tag " and " I spy " 
 were organized in a trice, and for the hour or two be 
 tween that and bedtime, the small fry of the village 
 devoted themselves, without a moment s intermission, 
 to getting the Sabbath stiffening out of their legs and 
 tongues. 
 
 Nor was the re-awakening of the community by any 
 means confined to the boys and girls. For soon the 
 streets began to be alive with groups of men and 
 women, all in their Sunday best, going to make social 
 calls. In the majority of households, the best clothes, 
 unless there chanced to be a funeral, were not put on 
 oftener than once a week, when the recurrence of the 
 Sabbath made their assumption a religious duty ; and 
 on this account it naturally became the custom to make 
 the evening of that day the occasion of formal social 
 intercourse. As soon, too, as the gathering twilight 
 afforded some shield to their secret designs, sundry 
 young men with liberally greased hair, their arms stiff 
 in the sleeves of the unusual Sunday coat, their feet, 
 accustomed to the immediate contact of the soil, en 
 cased in well-larded shoes, might have been seen glid 
 ing under the shadows of friendly fences, and along 
 by-paths, with that furtive and hang-dog air which, in all 
 ages, has characterized the chicken-thief and the lover. 
 
That Means Rebellion! 61 
 
 In front of the door of Squire Sedgwick s house stood 
 his traveling carriage, with well-groomed horses. On 
 the box was Sol, the coachman, one of the Squire s negro 
 freedmen, whose allegiance to the Sedgwick family 
 was not in the least shaken by the abolition of slavery 
 in the State by the adoption of the Bill of Rights six 
 year H before. 
 
 "I dunno noffin bout no Bill Wright," was Sol s 
 final dismissal of the subject. 
 
 "Drive to Squire Woodbridge s house, Sol," said 
 Sedgwick, as he stepped into the carriage. 
 
 Squire Woodbridge was at the gate of his house, 
 apparently about starting on his usual evening 
 visit to the store, when the carriage drove up. 
 Sedgwick alighted, and taking the other a little aside, 
 said: 
 
 " It is necessary for me to start to-night for Boston, 
 where I have some important cases. I regret it, be 
 cause I would rather be at home just now. The spirit 
 among the people is unruly, and while I do not antici 
 pate serious trouble, I think it is a time when gentle 
 men should make their influence felt in their communi 
 ties. I have no doubt, however, that the interests of 
 Stockbridge and of the government are entirely safe 
 in your hands, as selectman and magistrate. " 
 
 " I hope, sir, that I am equal to the duties of my posi 
 tion," replied Woodbridge, stiffly. 
 
 " Allow me again to assure you that I have not the 
 smallest doubt of it," said Sedgwick, affably, " but I 
 thought it well to notify you of my own necessary de 
 parture, and to put you on your guard. The bearing 
 of the people on the green last evening, of which I saw 
 more than you did, was unmistakably sullen, and their 
 disappointment at the refusal of the convention to lend 
 
62 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 itself to their seditious and impracticable desires, is 
 very bitter." 
 
 " Undoubtedly the result of the convention has been 
 to increase the popular agitation. I had the honor to 
 represent to you before it was held that such would be 
 its effect, at which time, I believe, you held a different 
 view. Nevertheless, I opine that you exaggerate the 
 degree of the popular agitation. It would be natural 
 that, being a comparatively recent resident, you should 
 be less apt to judge the temper of the townsfolk than 
 we who are longer here. " 
 
 A half humorous, half impatient expression on Sedg- 
 wick s face was the only indication he gave that he 
 had recognized the other s huffy and bristling manner. 
 
 "Your opinion, sir," he replied, with undiminished 
 affability, " tends to relieve my apprehensions. I trust 
 the event will justify it. 
 
 "And how does Miss Desire this evening?" he 
 added, saluting with doffed hat and a courtly bow a 
 young lady who had just come up, with the apparent 
 intention of going in at the Woodbridge gate. 
 
 " I do but indifferent well, sir. As well as a damsel 
 may do in a world where gentlemen keep not their 
 promises," she answered, with a curtsey, so saucily 
 deep that the crisp crimson silk of her skirt rustled on 
 the ground. 
 
 " Nay, but tell me the caitiff s name, and let me be 
 myself your knight, fair mistress, to redress your 
 wrongs. " 
 
 " Nay, t is yourself, sir. Did you not promise you 
 would come and hear me play upon my piano when it 
 came from Boston, and I have had it a week already." 
 
 " And I did not know it ! Yes, now I bethink my 
 self, Mrs. Sedgwick spoke thereof, but this convention 
 
That Means Rebellion! 63 
 
 has left me not a moment. But damsels are not politi 
 cal ; no doubt you have heard nothing of the conven 
 tion." 
 
 " Oh, yes; t is that all the poor want to be rich, and 
 to hang all the lawyers. I ve heard. T is a fine 
 scheme." 
 
 " No doubt the piano is most excellent in sound. " 
 
 " It goes middling well, but already I weary me of 
 my bargain. " 
 
 "Are you then in trade, Miss Desire?" 
 
 " A little. Papa said if I would not tease him to let 
 me go to New York this winter, he would have me a 
 piano. I know not what came over me that I con 
 sented. I shall go into a decline ere spring. The 
 ugly dress and the cow-like faces of the people make 
 me sick at heart and give me bad dreams, and the very 
 horses neigh in better English than the farmers talk. 
 Alack, t is a dreary place for a damsel ! But, no doubt, 
 I have interrupted some weighty discussion. I bid you 
 good even, sir," and, once more curtseying, the girl 
 went up the path to the house, much to her uncle 
 Jahleel s relief, who had no taste for badinage, and 
 wanted to get on to the store, whither presently he 
 was on his way, while Sedgwick s carriage rolled off 
 toward Boston. 
 
 About a mile out of the village, the carriage passed 
 two men standing by the roadside, earnestly talking. 
 These men were Perez Hamlin and Abner Rathbun. 
 
 "You remember the ice-hole," said Perez, referring 
 to an extraordinary cleft or chasm, of great depth, and 
 extremely difficult and perilous of access, situated near 
 the top of Little Mountain, a short distance from 
 Stockbridge. 
 
 "Yas," said Abner, "I recollect it well. I guess 
 
64 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 you an I, Perez, air about the only fellers in taown 
 ez hev been clean through it. " 
 
 " My plan is this," said Perez. " Let s kidnap Deacon 
 Nash, carry him up to the ice-hole, and keep him there 
 till he makes out a release for Reub ; then just carry 
 down the paper to jail, get Reub out, and across the 
 York State line, and send back word to the town where 
 to find the deacon." 
 
 " But what ll we dew, ourselves? " 
 
 " Of course we shall have to stay in York. Why 
 shouldn t we? There s no chance for a poor man here. 
 The chances are that we should both be in jail for debt 
 before spring." 
 
 " But what be I a-goin to dew with my little Bijah? 
 He s all I ve got, an I can t leave him." 
 
 " My father and mother will take care of him, and 
 bring him with them to York State, for I m going to get 
 them right over there as soon as they re sold out. 
 There s a chance for poor folks west; there s no chance 
 here." 
 
 " Perez, there s my fist. By gosh, I m with ye! " 
 
 "Abner, it s a risky business, and you haven t got 
 the call I ve got, seeing that Reub isn t your brother. 
 I m asking a good deal of you, Abner." 
 
 "Don t ye say nothin more baout it," said Abner, 
 violently shaking the hand he still held, while he reas 
 suringly clapped Perez on the back. " Dew ye recol 
 lect that time tew Stillwater, when ye pulled them tew 
 Britishers off o me? Per common doin s I don t cal- 
 c late ez two fellers is more n my fair share in a scrim 
 mage, but ye see my arm wuz busted, an if ye hadn t 
 come along jest when ye did, I guess the buryin squad 
 would ha cussed some on caount of my size that even- 
 in*. But, Perez, I dunno what makes me speak o that 
 
That Means Rebellion! 65 
 
 naow. It wouldn t make no odds ef I d never sot eyes 
 onto ye afore, I d help any feller baout sech a job ez this 
 ere, jest fer the fun on t. Risky? Yes, it s risky; 
 that s the fun. I hain t hed my blood fairly flowin 
 afore sence the war. It doos me more good nor a box 
 o pills. Jerewsalem, how riled deacon ll be! " 
 
 The two young men walked slowly back to the vil 
 lage, earnestly discussing the details of their daring 
 enterprise, and turning up the lane leading to the 
 Hamlin house, paused, still conversing, at the gate. 
 As they stood there, the house door opened and a 
 young girl came out and approached them, while Mrs. 
 Hamlin, standing in the door, said : 
 
 " Perez, this is Prudence Fennell, George Fennell s 
 girl. She heard you had seen her father, and came to 
 ask you about him." 
 
 The girl came near to Perez, and looked up at him 
 with a questioning face, in which anxiety was strug 
 gling with timidity. She was a rosy-cheeked lass, of 
 about sixteen, well grown for her age, and dressed in 
 coarse woolen homespun, while beneath her short skirt 
 appeared a pair of heavy shoes, which evidently bore 
 very little relation to the shape of the feet within them. 
 Her eyes were gray and frank, and the childishness 
 which the rest of her face was outgrowing still lin 
 gered in the pout of her lips. 
 
 " Is my father much sick, sir? " 
 
 " He is very sick," said Perez. 
 
 The pitifulness of his tone, no doubt, more than his 
 words, betrayed the truth to her fearful heart, for all 
 the color ran down out of her cheeks, and he seemed 
 to see nothing of her face, save two great terrified eyes, 
 which piteously beseeched a merciful reply, even while 
 they demanded the uttermost truth. 
 5 
 
66 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 "Is he going to die?" 
 
 Perez felt a strong tugging at his heart strings, in 
 which for the moment he forgot his own personal 
 trouble. 
 
 " I don t know, my child," he replied, very gently. 
 
 "Oh, he s going to die. I know he s going to die," 
 she cried, still looking through her welling eyes a mo 
 ment, to see if he would not contradict her intuition ; 
 and then, as he looked on the ground, making no reply, 
 she turned away and walked slowly down the lane, 
 sobbing as she went. 
 
 "Abner, we must manage somehow to get George 
 out, too." 
 
 " Poor little gal, so we must, Perez. We ll kidnap 
 Schoolmaster Gleason long with deacon. But it s a 
 pretty big job, Perez, two o them and only two of us." 
 
 " I m afraid we re trying more than we can do, Abner. 
 If we try too much we shall fail entirely. I don t 
 know, I don t know. There s the whole jail full, and 
 one ought to come out as well as another. All have 
 got friends that feel just as we do." He reflected a 
 moment. "By the Lord! we ll try it, Abner. Poor 
 little girl! It s a desperate game, anyway, and we 
 might as well play for high stakes." 
 
 Abner went down the lane to the green, and Perez 
 went into the house and sat down in the dark to ponder 
 the new difficulties with which the idea of also liberat 
 ing Fennell complicated their first plan. Bold soldier 
 as he was, practised in the school of Marion and Sumter 
 in the surprises and stratagems of partisan warfare, he 
 was forced to admit that if their project had been haz 
 ardous before, this new feature made it almost fool 
 hardy. In great perplexity he had finally determined 
 to go to bed, hoping that the refreshment of morning 
 
That Means Rebellion! 67 
 
 would bring a clearer head and a more sanguine mood, 
 when there was a knock on the door. It was Abner, 
 looking very much excited. 
 
 "Come out! Come out! Crypus! Come out, I ve 
 got news." 
 
 "What is it?" said Perez, eagerly, stepping forth 
 into the darkness. 
 
 " That wuz a putty leetle plan o yourn, Perez." 
 
 "Yes, yes." 
 
 He knew Abner had not come to tell him that, for 
 his voice trembled with suppressed excitement, and the 
 grip of his hand on his shoulder was convulsive. 
 
 " P raps we could ha kerried it aout, an p raps we 
 should ha kerflummuxed. Ye ve got grit an I ve got 
 size," pursued Abner. T wuz wuth tryin on. I m 
 kind o sorry we ain t a-goin ter try it." 
 
 " What the devil do you mean, Abner? Not going 
 to try it? " 
 
 "No, Perez, we ain t goin tew try it, leastways, not 
 the same plan we calc lated, an we ain t a-goin tew 
 try it alone," and he leaned over and hissed in Perez s 
 ear, 
 
 " The hull caounty o Berkshire s a-goin ter help us. " 
 
 Perez looked at him with horror. He was not drunk ; 
 he must be going crazy. 
 
 " What do you mean, Abner? " he said soothingly. 
 
 "Ye think I don t know what I be a-talkin* baout, 
 don t ye, Perez? Wai, jest hold on a minute. A feller 
 hez jest got in, a-ridin express from Northampton, to 
 fetch word that the people in Hampshire hez riz, and 
 stopped the courts. Fifteen hundred men, with Cap 
 tain Dan Shays tew their head, stopped em. Least 
 ways, they sent word to the jedges that they kind o 
 wished they wouldn t hold no more courts till the laws 
 
68 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 wuz changed, and the jedges they concluded that the 
 advice o so many fellers with guns wuz wuth suthin , 
 so they journed. " 
 
 "That means rebellion, Abner." 
 
 " In course it doos. An it means the Lord ain t 
 quite dead yit. That s what it means." 
 
 " But what s that got to do with Reub and George? " 
 
 " Dew with em? why, man alive, don t ye understand? 
 Don t ye s pose Berkshire folks hez got ez much grit 
 ez the Hampshire fellers, an don t ye s pose we hev 
 ez much call to hev a grudge ag in courts? Ye ought 
 ter been daown tew the tavern ter see haow the fellers 
 cut up when the news come. T was like a match 
 dropping intew a powder bar l. Tuesday s court day 
 ter Barrington, an ef there ain t more n a thaousand 
 men on hand with clubs an* guns, ter stop that air 
 court, why, call me a skunk. An when that air court s 
 stopped, that air jail s a-comin open, or it s a-comin 
 daown, one o the tew, naow." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 Perez Defines His Position 
 
 WE who live in these days, when press and telegraph 
 may be said to have almost rendered the tongue a 
 superfluous member, quite fail to appreciate the rapidity 
 with which intelligence was formerly transmitted from 
 mouth to mouth. Virgil s description of hundred- 
 tongued Rumor appeared by no means so poetical an 
 exaggeration to our ancestors as it does to us. Al 
 though the express messenger bearing the news of the 
 Northampton uprising did not reach Stockbridge tavern 
 a minute before half-past seven in the evening, there 
 were very few families in the village or the outlying 
 farmhouses which had not heard it ere bedtime, an 
 hour and a half later. And by the middle of the fol 
 lowing forenoon there was in all Southern Berkshire 
 only here and there a family, off on a lonely hillside 
 or in a hidden valley, in which it was not the subject 
 of debate. 
 
 In the village that morning, what few industries still 
 supported a languishing existence, in spite of the hard 
 times, were wholly suspended. The farmer left his 
 rowen to lie in the field and take the chances of the 
 weather ; the miller gave his mill-stream a holiday, the 
 carpenter left the house half -shingled with rain threat 
 ening, and the painter abandoned his brush in the pot, 
 to collect on the street corners with their neighbors 
 and discuss the portentous aspect of affairs. And even 
 
70 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 when there was little or no discussion, to stand silently 
 in groups was something. Thus merely to be in com 
 pany was, to these excited men, a necessity and a sat 
 isfaction, for so does the electricity of a common ex 
 citement magnetize human beings that they have an 
 attraction for one another and are drawn together by 
 a force not felt at other times. There were not less 
 than three hundred men, a quarter of the entire popu 
 lation of the town, on and about the village green at 
 ten o clock that Monday morning, twice as many as 
 had assembled to hear the news from the convention 
 of the Saturday preceding. 
 
 The great want of the people, for the most part 
 tongue-tied farmers, seemed to be to hear talk, to have 
 something said, and wherever a few brisk words gave 
 promise of a lively dialogue, the speakers were at once 
 surrounded by a dense throng of listeners. The thirst 
 ing eagerness with which they turned their open mouths 
 toward each one as he began to speak, in the hope that 
 he could give expression to some one of the ideas 
 formlessly astir in their own stolid minds, was pathetic 
 testimony to the depth to which the iron of poverty, 
 debt, judicial and governmental oppression had entered 
 \ their souls. They had thought little and vaguely, but 
 \ they had felt much and keenly, and it was evident that 
 j the man who could voice their feelings, however par- 
 I tially, however perversely, and for his own ends, would 
 / be master of their actions. 
 
 k Abner was not present, having gone at an early hour 
 
 over to the Lenox furnaces to carry the news from 
 Northampton, if it should not have arrived there, and 
 to notify the workmen that there would be goings-on 
 at Harrington on the following Tuesday, and that they 
 were expected to be on hand. Paul Hubbard, also, 
 
Perez Defines His Position 71 
 
 had not come down from West Stockbridge, although 
 the news had reached that place the night before. But 
 from the disposition of the man, there could be no ques 
 tion that he was busily at work molding his particular 
 myrmidons, the iron-workers, into good insurrectionary 
 material. There was no doubt that he would have them 
 down at Barrington on time, whoever else was there. 
 
 In the dearth of any further details of the Northamp 
 ton uprising, the talk among the crowd on the village 
 green turned largely upon reminiscences and anecdotes 
 of the disturbances at the same place, and at Hatfield, 
 four or five years previous. Ezra Phelps, who had 
 been concerned in them, having subsequently removed 
 from Hatfield to Stockbridge, enjoyed by virtue of that 
 fact an oracular eminence, and as he stood under the 
 shadow of the buttonwood tree before the tavern relat 
 ing his experiences, the people hung upon his lips. 
 
 " Parson Ely," he explained, " Parson Sam l Ely wuz 
 kind o tew the head on us. He wuz a nice sort o 
 man, I tell yew. He wuz the only parson I ever seen 
 ez hed any feelin in his heart for poor folks, nless it 
 be some o them ere Methody an Baptist preachers ez 
 hez come in sence the war, an I calc late they ain t 
 reg lar parsons nuther. Leastways, t other parsons, 
 they turned Parson Ely aout o the ministry down to 
 Somers where he wuz, fer tellin the poor folks they 
 didn t git their rights. Times wuz hard four or five 
 years ago, though they warn t so all-fired hard ez they 
 be naow. Taxes wuz high nough, an* money wuz dret- 
 ful skurce, an there wuz lots o la win an suein o 
 poor folks. But golly! ef we d ha known haow much 
 wuss all them things wuz a-goin ter git, we sh d ha said 
 we wuz well off. But ye see we warn t so used ter be- 
 in starved an cheated, an jailed, an knocked raound 
 
72 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 then s we be sence, an* so we wuz kind o desprit, an 
 a slew on us come daown from Hatfield tew Northamp 
 ton an stopped the court, when t wuz goin ter set in 
 the spring o eighty-two. I calc late we went tew 
 work baout the same ez Dan Shays an them fellers 
 did last week. Wai, arter we d did the job an gone 
 hum agin, Sheriff Porter up an nabbed the parson, an 
 chucked him inter jail. He wuz long with us, ye see, 
 though he warn t no more tew blame nor any of us. 
 Wai, ye see, we thought t wouldn t be ezackly fair ter 
 let parson git inter trouble fer befriendin on us, an 
 so baout three hundred on us went daown ter North 
 ampton ag in, and broke open the jail an* took parson 
 aout. The sheriff didn t hev nothin ter say when we 
 wuz there, but ez soon ez we d gone hum, he up an 
 took three o the parson s friends as lived ter Northamp 
 ton an chucked em inter jail fer ter hold ez sort o hos- 
 tiges. He thought he d hev a ring in the parson s nose 
 that ere way, so s he wouldn t dass dew riothin . 
 There warn t no law nor no reason in sech doin s, but 
 t wuz plantin* time, leastway gittin on tew it, and he 
 thought the farmers wouldn t leave their farms, not fer 
 nothin . But he mistook. Ye see we wuz fightin 
 mad. Baout five hundred on us took our guns an 
 made tracks fer Northampton. Sheriff he d got more n 
 a thousand milishy ter defend the jail, but the milishy 
 didn t want ter fight, an we did, an that made a sight 
 o odds, fer when we stopped nigh to the taown an sent 
 word that ef he didn t let them fellers aout o jail we d 
 come an take em aout, he let em aout dum quick." 
 
 " What did they do next? " inquired Obadiah Weeks, 
 as Ezra paused with the appearance of having made an 
 end of his narration. 
 
 " That wuz the eend on t," said Ezra. " By that time 
 
Perez Defines His Position 73 
 
 gov ment seen the people wuz in arnest, an* quit fool- 
 in . Gin ral Court passed a law pard nin all on us fer 
 what we d done. They allers pardons fellers, ye see, 
 when there s tew many on em ter lick, gov ment doos; 
 an pretty soon arter, they passed that air tender law 
 fer ter help poor folks ez hed debts, so s prop ty could 
 be offered tew a fair valiation instid o cash." 
 
 "That air law wuz repealed sence," said Peleg. 
 " Ef we hed it naow, mebbe we could git long, spite o 
 there bein no money a-circulatin ." 
 
 "In course it wuz repealed," said Israel. "They 
 only passed it cause they wuz scairt o the people. The 
 lawyers an rich folks got it repealed soon ez ever they 
 dasted. Dumit! gov ment don t keer nothin fer what 
 poor folks wants, nless they gits up riots. That s the 
 only way they kin git laws changed, s fur s I see. 
 Ain t that baout so, Peleg? " 
 
 " Ye ain t fur out o the way, Isr el. We hain t got 
 no money, an they don t keer what we says, but when 
 we takes hold an doos sum thin , they wakes up a lee- 
 tie. We can t make em hear us, but by jocks! we kin 
 make em feel us," and Peleg pointed the sentiment 
 with that cornerwise nod of the head which is the rus 
 tic gesture of emphasis. 
 
 "I calc late ye ve hit the nail on the head, Peleg," 
 said a grizzled farmer. " We poor folks hez to git our 
 rights by our hands, same ez we gits our livin ." 
 
 But at this moment a sudden hush fell upon the 
 group, and from the general direction of all eyes, it 
 was evidently the approach of Perez Hamlin, as he 
 crossed the green toward the tavern, which was the 
 cause thereof. Although Perez had arrived in town 
 only at dusk on the preceding Saturday, and excepting 
 his Sunday evening stroll with Abner had kept within 
 
74 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 doors, the tongue of rumor had not only notified nearly 
 the entire community of his arrival, but had adorned 
 that bare fact with a profuse embroidery of conjecture, 
 as to his recent experiences, present estate, and inten 
 tions for the future. 
 
 An absence of nine years had, however, made him 
 personally a stranger to most of the people. The 
 young men had been mere lads when he went away, 
 while of the elders, many were dead or removed. As 
 he approached the group around Ezra, he recognized 
 but few of the faces, all of which were turned upon 
 him with a common expression of curious scrutiny. 
 There was Meshech Little. Him he shook hands with, 
 and also with Peleg and Israel Goodrich. Ezra had 
 come to the village since his day. 
 
 "Surely this is Abe Konkapot," he said, extending 
 his hand to a fine-looking Indian. " Why, Abe, I heard 
 the Stockbridge Indians had moved out to York State." 
 
 "You hear true," responded the smiling Indian. 
 " Heap go. Some stay. No want to go." 
 
 " Widder Nimham s gal Lu could tell ye baout why 
 Abe don t want ter go, I guess," observed Obadiah 
 Weeks, who directed the remark, however, not so 
 much to Perez as to some of the half -grown young 
 men, from whom it elicited a responsive snicker at 
 Abe s expense. 
 
 Indeed, after the exchange of the first greetings, it 
 became apparent that Perez s presence was a damper 
 on the conversation. The simple fact was, the people 
 did not recognize him as one of themselves. It was 
 not that his dress, although a uniform, was better or 
 costlier than theirs. The blue stockings were thread 
 bare, and had been often mended, and the coat, of the 
 same hue, was pitiably white in the seams, while the 
 
Perez Defines His Position 
 
 75 
 
 original buff of the waistcoat and knee-breeches had 
 faded to a whitey-brown. But the erect soldierly car 
 riage of the wearer, and that neatness and trimness in 
 details which military experience renders habitual, 
 made this frayed and time-stained uniform seem almost 
 elegant, as compared with the clothes that hung slouch- 
 ily upon the men around him. Their faces were rough 
 and unshaven, their hair unkempt, their feet bare or 
 covered with dusty shoes, and they had generally left 
 their coats at home. Perez was clean-shaven ; his shoes, 
 although they barely held together, were neatly 
 brushed and the steel buckles polished ; while his hair 
 was gathered back over his ears, and tied with a black 
 ribbon in a queue behind, after the fashion of gentlemen. 
 But Israel Goodrich and Ezra also wore their hair in 
 this manner, while shoes and clean-shaved faces were 
 occasional indulgences with every bumpkin who stood 
 around. It was not then alone any details of dress, 
 but a certain distinction in air and bearing about Perez, 
 which had struck them. Thejlis^iglin^^ 
 sppnsibiljfrfc__ and the officer s constanF~necessity ol 
 maintaining anaspecFof authority anor fflgnity before" 
 his men, nad^left refining marks upon his face, which 
 distinguished it as a different sort from the qpiintew 
 nances about him, with their expression of pathetic 
 stolidity or boorish shrewdness. In a word, although 
 they^Enew old EInathan Hamlin to be one of them 
 selves, they instinctively felt that this son of his had 
 become a gentleman. 
 
 At any time this consciousness would have produced 
 constraint and checked spontaneous conversation, but 
 now, just at the moment when the demarcation of 
 classes was taking the character of open hostility, it 
 produced a sentiment of repulsion and enmity. His 
 
j6 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 place was on the other side : not with the people, but 
 with the gentlemen, the lawyers, the parsons, and the 
 judges. Why did he come spying among them? 
 
 Perez, without guessing the reason of it, began to be 
 conscious of the unsympathetic atmosphere, and was 
 about to move away, when Israel Goodrich remarked, 
 with the air of wishing to avoid an appearance of churl 
 ishness, 
 
 " Le s see, Perez, ye ve been gone nigh on ter nine 
 years. Ye must find some changes in the taown." 
 
 Israel, as a man of more considerable social impor 
 tance than most of those who stood around, and being, 
 moreover, old enough to be Perez s father, had been 
 less affected by the impulse of class jealousy than the 
 others. 
 
 " I ve been home only one day, Mr. Goodrich," said 
 Perez quietly, "but I ve noticed some changes already. 
 When I went away every man in town had a farm of 
 his own. As far as I ve seen since I ve been back, a 
 few rich men have got pretty near all the farms now, 
 and the men who used to own them are glad of a chance 
 to work on them as hired hands." 
 
 Such a sentiment, expressed by one of themselves, 
 would have called forth a shower of confirmatory ejacu 
 lations, but the people stared at Perez in mere aston 
 ishment, the dead silence of surprise, at hearing such a 
 strong statement of their grievances from one whose 
 appearance and manner seemed to identify him with 
 the anti-popular or gentlemen s side. So far as this 
 feeling of bewilderment took any more definite form, 
 it evidently inclined to suspicion, rather than confi 
 dence. Was he mocking them? Was he trying to 
 entrap them? Even Israel looked sharply at him, and 
 his next remark, after a silence, was on another subject. 
 
Perez Defines His Position \ 77 
 
 " I s pose ye know ez haow they ve set the niggers 
 free." 
 
 "Yes," replied Perez, "I heard of that when I was 
 away, but I didn t know the reason why they d set 
 them free till I got home." 
 
 " What do ye think s the reason? " 
 
 " I see they ve made slaves of the poor folks, and 
 don t need the niggers any more," replied Perez, as 
 quietly as if he were making the most casual remark. 
 
 But still the people stared at him and looked ques- 
 tioningly at each other, so bereft of magnetic force is 
 language, though it express our inmost convictions, 
 when we do not believe that the heart of the speaker 
 is in sympathy with his words. 
 
 "I don t quite git yer idee. Haow do ye make out 
 that air baout poor folks bein slaves? " inquired Ezra 
 Phelps dryly. 
 
 It was evident that any man who thought he was go 
 ing to get at the real feelings of these rustics without 
 first gaining their confidence, little understood the 
 shrewd caution of the race. 
 
 "I make it out this way," replied Perez. "I find 
 pretty nearly every rich man has a gang of debtors 
 working for him, trying to work out their debts. If 
 they are idle, if they dispute with him, if they don t let 
 him do what he pleases with them and their families, 
 he sends them to jail with a word, and there they stay 
 till he wants to let them out. No man can interfere 
 between him and them. He does with them whatever 
 he pleases. And that s why I call them slaves." 
 
 Now, Meshech Little was slightly intoxicated. By 
 that mysterious faculty, whereby the confirmed drunk 
 ard, although absolutely impecunious, nevertheless 
 manages to keep soaked, while other thirsty men can 
 
78 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 get nothing, he had obtained rum. And Meshech it 
 was who, proceeding in that spirit of frankness engen 
 dered by the bottle, now brought about the solution of 
 a misunderstanding that was becoming painful. 
 
 "What ye say, Perez, z all right, but wha n time be 
 yew a-sayin on it fer? Ye be dressed so fine, an a 
 cap n b sides, that we s posed ye d take yer road tew the 
 store, long with the silk-stockin s, stid o consortin* 
 with common folks like we be." 
 
 There was a general sensation. Every mouth was 
 opened and every neck craned forward to catch the 
 reply. 
 
 " Did you think so, Meshech? Well, you see you are 
 mistaken. There s not a man among you has less 
 cause to love the silk-stockings, as you call them, than 
 I have, and you, Meshech, ought to know it. Nine 
 years ago, my brother Reub and I marched with the 
 minute-men. Parson, and Squire Woodbridge, and 
 Squire Edwards, and all of them came around us and 
 said, * We ll take care of your father and mother. 
 We ll never forget what you are doing to-day. Yes 
 terday I came home to find my father and mother 
 waiting to be sold out by the sheriff, and go to the poor- 
 house; and Reub, I found my brother Reub rotting 
 to death in Barrington jail." 
 
 "By gosh! I forgot baout Reub, I declare I did," 
 exclaimed Meshech, contritely. 
 
 "Give us yer hand," said Israel. "I forgot same ez 
 Meshech, an I misdoubted ye. This be Ezra Phelps, 
 ez owns the new mill." 
 
 "Shake ag in," said Peleg, extending his hand. 
 
 There was exhilaration as well as cordiality in the 
 faces of the men, who now crowded around Perez, an 
 exhilaration which had its source in the fact that one 
 
Perez Defines His Position 79 
 
 whose appearance and bearing identified him with the 
 gentlemen was on their side. It filled them with more 
 encouragement than woiild have done the accession 
 of a score of their own rank and sort. Brawn and 
 
 muscle they__cp"l^ the,tnselves sujpgly^Jhiit for 
 ship, social, political, and religious, theyjhad always 
 been accustomecftb look to tHegentlemen of the com- 
 mtitiity";~and trom this lifelong and inKerited habit 
 came the new sense of confidence and moral sanction 
 which they felt in having upon their side in the present 
 crisis one in whom they had instinctively recognized 
 the traits of the superior caste. 
 
 " Hev ye hearn the news from Northampton, Perez? " 
 asked Israel. 
 
 " Yes, and if you men are as much in earnest as I 
 am, there ll be news from Barrington to-morrow," re 
 plied Perez, glancing around. 
 
 " Ef there ain t, there ll be a lot on us disapp inted, 
 fer we be all a-calc latin ter go there ter see," said 
 Israel, significantly. 
 
 " We ll git yer brother aout o jail fer ye, Perez, an 
 ef there s any fightin with the milishy, ye kin show us 
 haow, I guess." 
 
 Meshech, as before intimated, was partially drunk, 
 and spoke out of the fullness of his heart. But except 
 for this one outburst, a stranger, especially one who did 
 not know the New England disposition, and its prefer 
 ence for innuendo to any other mode of speech even in 
 referring to the most important and exciting topics, 
 would have failed entirely to get the idea that these 
 farmers and laborers contemplated an act of armed re 
 bellion on the morrow. He would, indeed, have heard 
 frequent allusions to the probability there would be 
 great goings-on at Barrington next morning, and in- 
 
8o The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 timations, more or less explicit, on the part of nearly 
 every man present, that he expected to be on hand to 
 see what was done. But there was no intimation that 
 they themselves expected to be the doers. Many, in 
 deed, perhaps most, had very likely no distinct idea of 
 personally doing anything, nor was it at all necessary 
 that they should have, in order to ensure the expected 
 outbreak when the time should come. Given an ex 
 cited crowd, all expecting something to be done which 
 they desire to have done, and all the necessary elements 
 of mob action are present. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 The First Encounter 
 
 THE next morning by six o clock, a large number of 
 persons had gathered on the green, in consequence of 
 an understanding that those intending to witness the 
 goings-on at Barrington should rendezvous at the tav 
 ern and go down together, whereby their own hearts 
 would be made stronger, and their enemies the more 
 impressed. A good many, indeed, had gone on ahead, 
 singly, or in parties. Meshech Little, who lived on the 
 Barrington road, said that he hadn t had a wink of 
 sleep since four o clock, for the noise of passing teams 
 and pedestrians. Those who owned horses and carts, 
 including such men as Israel Goodrich and Ezra Phelps, 
 had preferred that mode of locomotion, but there were, 
 nevertheless, as many as one hundred men and boys in 
 the muster on the green. Perhaps a quarter of them 
 had muskets, the others carried stout cudgels. 
 
 All sorts of rumors were flying about. One story 
 was that the militia had been ordered out with a dozen 
 rounds of cartridges, to defend the court and jail. 
 Some had even heard that a cannon had been placed 
 in front of the court house, and trained on the Stock- 
 bridge road. On the other hand, it was asserted that 
 the court would not try to sit at all. As now one and 
 now another of these contradictory reports prevailed, 
 ebullitions of courage and symptoms of panic alternated 
 among the people. It was easy to see that they con- 
 6 
 
82 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 templated the undertaking on which they were em 
 barking with a good deal of nervousness. Abner was 
 going from group to group, trying to keep up their 
 spirits. 
 
 "Hello," he exclaimed, coming across Jabez Flint. 
 " Look a-here, boys. Darned ef Jabez ain t a-comin* 
 long with the rest on us. Wai, Jabez, I swow, I 
 never thought ez I sh d be a fightin* long side o yew. 
 Mis ry makes strange bedfellers, though." 
 
 "It s yew ez hez changed sides, not me," responded 
 the tory. "I wuz allers ag in the State, an naow 
 you ve come over ter my side." 
 
 Abner scratched his head. 
 
 " I swan, it doos look so. Anyhaow, I be glad ter see 
 ye to-day. I see ye ve got yer gun, Jabez. Ye must 
 be keerful. Lawyers is so like foxes that ye might 
 hit one on em by mistake." 
 
 There was a little laughter at this, but the atmos 
 phere was decidedly too heavy for jokes. However 
 boldly they might discourse at the tavern of an even 
 ing, over their mugs of flip, about taking up arms and 
 hanging the lawyers, it was not without manifold mis 
 givings that these law-abiding farmers found them 
 selves on the point of being actually arrayed in armed 
 rebellion against the public authorities. Moreover, the 
 absence of Israel Goodrich and Ezra Phelps, who were 
 looked up to as the most substantial in estate and gen 
 eral respectability of those who inclined to the popular 
 side, was unfortunate, although it was supposed that 
 they would be present at Barrington. 
 
 Meshech, indeed, in spite of the earliness of the hour, 
 was full of pot-valor, and flourished his gun in a man 
 ner more perilous to those about him than to the State 
 authorities ; but his courage reeked so strongly of its 
 
The First Encounter 83 
 
 source, that the display was rather discouraging than 
 otherwise to the sober men around. Paul Hubbard, 
 who had come down from the iron-works with thirty 
 men or more, presently drew Abner aside and said : 
 
 " See here. It won t do to wait around any longer. 
 We must start. They re losing all their grit standing 
 here and thinking it over. " 
 
 But the confabulation was interrupted by a cry of 
 panic from Obadiah Weeks: 
 
 "Golly! here come the s lectmen! " 
 
 "Hell!" exclaimed Hubbard, whirling on his heel 
 and taking in the situation with a glance, while Ab 
 ner s face was expressive of equal consternation. 
 
 The local authorities had been so quiet the day be 
 fore that no interference on their part had been 
 thought of. 
 
 But here in a body came the five selectmen, headed 
 by Jahleel Woodbridge, cane in hand, wearing his most 
 awful frown, and looking like the embodied majesty of 
 the law. The actions and attitudes of the crowd were 
 like those of schoolboys interrupted by the entrance of 
 the master in the midst of a scene of uproar. Those 
 nearest the corners of the tavern promptly slunk be 
 hind it. Obadiah slipped around to the farther side of 
 the buttonwood tree before the tavern. There was a 
 general movement in the body of the crowd, caused by 
 the effort of each individual to slip quietly behind some 
 body else, while from the edges, /men began to sneak 
 homewards across the green, at a rate which, had the 
 warning been a little longer, would have left no assem 
 blage at all by the time the selectmen arrived on the 
 spot. Those who could not find shelter behind their 
 fellows and could not escape save by a dead run, pulled 
 their hats over their eyes and looked on the ground, 
 
84 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 slyly dropping their cudgels, meanwhile, in the grass. 
 There was not a gun to be seen. 
 
 With his head thrown back in the stiffest possible 
 manner, his lips pursed out, and throwing glances like 
 lashes right and left, Squire Woodbrid 6 ^, followed by 
 the other selectmen, passed through the midst of the 
 gathering, until he reached the stone step before the 
 tavern door. He stepped up on this, and ere he 
 opened his lips, swept the shamefaced assemblage be 
 fore him with a withering glance. What with those 
 who had pulled their hats over their eyes, and those 
 who had turned their backs to him in anxiety to avoid 
 identification, there was not an eye that met his. Ab- 
 ner himself, brave as a lion with his own class, was no 
 braver than any one of them when it came to encoun 
 tering one of the superior caste, to whom he and his 
 ancestors before him had looked up as their rulers and 
 leaders by prescription. And so it must be written of 
 even Abner that he had somehow managed to get the 
 trunk of the buttonwood tree, which sheltered Obadiah, 
 between a part at least of his own enormous bulk and 
 Squire Woodbridge s eye. Paul Hubbard s bitter ha 
 tred of gentlemen so far stood him in stead of cour 
 age that it would not let him hide himself. He stood 
 in plain view, but with his face half averted from 
 Woodbridge, while his lip curled in bitter scorn of his 
 own craven^ spirit For it must be remembered that I 
 "arrrfirFiting, not of the American farmer and laborer of 
 this democratic age, but of men who were separated 
 but by a generation or two from the peasant serfs of 
 England, and who under the stern and repressive rule 
 of the untitled aristocracy of the colonies had enjoyed 
 little opportunity for outgrowing inherited instincts of 
 servility. 
 
The First Encounter 85 
 
 And now it was that Perez Hamlin, who had been all 
 this while within the tavern, his attention attracted by 
 the sudden silence which had fallen on the people with 
 out, stepped to the door, appearing on the threshold 
 just above Squire Woodbridge s head and a little to 
 one side of him. At a glance he saw the way things 
 were going. Already half demoralized by the mere 
 presence and glances of the magnates, a dozen threat 
 ening words from the opening lips of the Squire would 
 suffice to send these incipient rebels, like whipped curs, 
 to their homes. He thought of Reub, and for a moment 
 his heart was filled with grief and terror. Then he 
 had an inspiration. 
 
 In the crowd was one known as Little Pete, a German 
 drummer of Reidesel s Hessian corps, captured with 
 Burgoyne s army. Brought to Stockbridge and quar 
 tered there as a prisoner, he had continued to live in 
 the town since the war. Abner had somewhere pro 
 cured an old drum for Pete, and with this hung about 
 his neck, the sticks in his hands, he now stood not ten 
 feet away from the tavern door. He spoke but little 
 English, and being a foreigner, had none of that awe 
 for the selectmen, either in their personal or official 
 characters, which unnerved the village folk. Left iso 
 lated by the falling back of the people around him, 
 Pete was now staring at these dignitaries in stolid in 
 difference. They did not wear uniforms, and Pete 
 had never learned to respect or fear anything not in 
 uniform. 
 
 Having first brought the people before him to the 
 fitting preliminary stage of demoralization by the 
 power of his eye, Squire Woodbridge said in stern, 
 authoritative tones, the more effective for being low 
 pitched: 
 
86 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " You may well " 
 
 That was as far as he got, however. With the first 
 sound of his voice, Perez stepped down beside him. 
 Drawing his sword, which he had put on that morning, 
 he waved it with a commanding gesture, and looking 
 at Little Pete, said with a quick, imperious accent : 
 
 "Drum!" 
 
 If a man in an officer s uniform, with a shining piece 
 of steel in his hand, had ordered Pete to jump into the 
 mouth of a cannon, he would no more have hesitated 
 than the cannon itself would have refused to go off 
 when the linstock was pulled. Without the change of a 
 muscle in his heavy face, he raised the drum-sticks and 
 brought them down on the sheepskin. 
 
 And instantly the roll of the drum deafened the ears 
 of the people, utterly drowning the imperious tones of 
 the selectman, and growing louder and swifter from 
 moment to moment, as the long unused wrists of the 
 drummer recalled their former cunning. 
 
 Squire Woodbridge spoke a few words more, without 
 being able to hear himself. Then, his smooth, fleshy 
 face purple with rage, he wheeled and glared at Ham- 
 lin. It did not need the drum to silence him now. 
 He was so overcome with amazement and passion that 
 he could not have articulated a word. But if he 
 thought to face down the man by his side, he was mis 
 taken. At least a head taller than the Squire, Perez 
 turned and looked down into the angry eyes of the 
 other with cool, careless defiance. 
 
 And how about the people who looked on? The con 
 fident, decisive tone of Hamlin s order to the drummer, 
 the bold gesture that enforced it, the fearless contempt 
 for the village great man which it implied, the un 
 flinching look with which he met that wrathful gaze, 
 
The First Encounter 87 
 
 and, accompanying all these, the electrifying- roll of the 
 drum with its martial suggestions, had acted like magic 
 on the crowd. ^Th^s^vvHoTiad slunk away came run- 
 umg r "T)ack. Muskets rQ"se~~to~~shQ alders, sticks were 
 agf i~15randished, and the eyes of the peopTe7~a " "mo- 
 mem ago averted and downcast, rose defiantly. On 
 every Tace there was~"a" broad grin of delight. Even 
 Paul Hubbard s cynical lips were wreathed with a smile 
 of the keenest satisfaction, and he threw upon Perez 
 one of the few glances of genuine admiration which 
 men of his sardonic type ever have to spare for any 
 body. 
 
 For a few moments Squire Woodbridge hesitated, un 
 certain what to do. To remain standing there was im 
 possible with this crowd of his former vassals on the 
 broad grin at his discomfiture. To retire was to confess 
 defeat. The question was settled, however, when one of 
 his official associates, unable longer to endure the din of 
 the drum, desperately clapped both hands over his ears. 
 At this the crowd began to guffaw uproariously, and 
 seeing that it was high time to see about saving what 
 little dignity he still retained, Squire Woodbridge led 
 the way into the tavern, whither he was incontinently 
 followed by his compeers. 
 
 Instantly, at a gesture from Perez, the drum ceased, 
 and his voice sounded strangely clear in the sudden 
 and throbbing silence, as he directed Little Pete to 
 head the column and gave the order to march. With 
 a cheer and a tread that shook the ground, the men 
 set out. Perez remained standing before the tavern 
 till the last man had passed, by way of guarding 
 against any new move by the selectmen, and then 
 mounting his horse, rode along beside the column. 
 
 They were about half a mile out of the village, when 
 
88 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Abner, accompanied by Paul Hubbard, approached 
 Perez, and remarked: 
 
 " The fellers all on em says ez haow ye ll hev ter be 
 cap n o this ere comp ny. There s no use o shilly- 
 shallyin the business, we ve got ter hev somebody ez 
 kin speak up ter the silk-stockin s. Hain t that so, 
 Paul?" 
 
 Hubbard nodded, but did not speak. It was gall and 
 wormwood to his jealous and ambitious spirit to con 
 cede the leadership to another, but his good sense 
 forced him to recognize the necessity of doing so in the 
 present case. 
 
 "Abner," replied Perez, "you know I only want to 
 get Reub out. That s why I interfered when the plan 
 looked like falling through. I don t want to be cap 
 tain, man, I d no notion of that." 
 
 "Nuther had I," said Abner, "till ye tackled the 
 Squire, an then I see quick ez a flash that ye d got ter 
 be, an* so d all the other fellers. We sh d a kerflum- 
 muxed sure s taxes, ef ye hedn t done jest what ye did. 
 An naow, ye ve got ter be cap n, whether or no." 
 
 "Well," said Perez, "if I can do anything for you, 
 I will. We re all in the same boat, I suppose. But if 
 I m captain, you two must be lieutenants." 
 
 "Yas, we re a-goin ter be," replied Abner. "Ye 
 kin depend on us in a scrimmage, but yew must sass 
 the silk-stockin s." 
 
 Meanwhile the men, as they marched along the road 
 in some semblance of military order, were eagerly dis 
 cussing the recent passage between the dreaded Squire 
 and their new champion. Their feeling about Perez 
 seemed to be a certain odd mingling of respect, with 
 an exultant sense of proprietorship in him as a repre 
 sentative of their own class, a farmer s son who had 
 
The First Encounter 89 
 
 made himself as fine a gentleman as any of the silk- 
 stockings, and could face down the Squire himself. 
 
 " Did ye see haow Squire looked at Perez when Pete 
 begun ter drum?" observed Peleg. "I reckoned he 
 wuz a-goin ter lay hands onto him." 
 
 " Ef he hed, by jiminy, I b lieve Cap n would ha hit 
 him a crack ez would ha knocked him inter the middle 
 o next week," said Meshech. 
 
 "Oh, golly! I only wisht he hed," cried Obadiah, 
 quite carried away at the wild thought of the mighty 
 Squire rolling on the grass with a bloody nose. 
 
 " I allers hearn ez them Hamlin boys hed good blood 
 intew em," observed a farmer. "Mrs. Hamlin s a 
 Hawley, one o them air River Gods, ez they calls em 
 daown Hampshire way. Her folks wuz riled when she 
 took up with Elnathan, I hearn." 
 
 i 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 Great Goings-on at Barrington 
 
 As the company from Stockbridge surmounted the 
 crest of a hill, about half way to Barrington, they saw 
 a girl in a blue tunic, a brown rush hat, and a short 
 gown, of the usual butternut dye, trudging on in the 
 same direction, some distance ahead. As she looked 
 back, in evident amazement at the column of men 
 marching behind her, Perez thought that he recognized 
 the face, and on coming up with her she proved to be, 
 in fact, no other than Prudence Fennell, the little lass 
 who had called at the house Sunday evening to inquire 
 about her father down at the jail, and whose piteous 
 grief at the report Perez was obliged to give had de 
 termined him to attempt the rescue of George, as 
 well as Reub, at whatever additional risk. 
 
 Far enough were they then from dreaming that two 
 days later would find them leading a battalion of armed 
 men in broad daylight along the high road, to free the 
 captives by open force. As readily would they then 
 have counted on an earthquake to open the prison 
 doors, as on this sudden uprising of the people in their 
 strength. 
 
 As the men came up, Prudence stopped to let them 
 pass, her fresh, pretty face expressive of considerable 
 dismay. As she shrunk closely up to the rail fence 
 that lined the highway, she looked up at Perez with 
 timid recognition, as if to claim his protection. 
 
Great Goings-on at Barrington 91 
 
 " Where are you going? " he asked kindly, stopping 
 his horse. 
 
 " I m going to see father," she said, with a tremulous 
 lip. 
 
 " Poor little lassie, were you going to walk all the 
 way?" 
 
 "It is nothing," she said. "I could not wait, you 
 know. He might die," and her bosom heaved with a 
 sob that would fain break forth. 
 
 Perez threw himself from his horse. 
 
 " We are all going to the jail," he said. " You shall 
 come with us, and ride upon my horse. Men, she shall 
 lead us." 
 
 The men, whose discipline was not as yet very rigid, 
 had halted and crowded around to listen to the dialogue, 
 and they received this proposition with a cheer. Pru 
 dence would far rather have had them go on and leave 
 her to make her own way, but she was quite too much 
 scared to resist as Perez lifted her upon his saddle. 
 He shortened one of the stirrups, to support her foot, 
 and then the column took up its march under the new 
 captain, Perez walking by her side and leading the 
 horse. 
 
 Had he arranged this stroke beforehand, he could 
 not have hit on a more effective device for toning up 
 the morale of the men. Those in whose minds the old 
 misgivings as to their course had succeeded the sudden 
 inspiration of Little Pete s drum, now felt that the child 
 riding ahead lent a new and sacred sanction to their I 
 cause. TFey all knew her story, and to their eye she 
 seemeoT at this moment an embodiment of the spirit of 
 suffering and outraged humanity which had nerved 
 them for this day s work. A more fitting emblem, a 
 more inspiring standard, could not have been borne 
 
92 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 before them. But it must not be supposed that even 
 this prevented, now and then, a conscience-stricken in 
 dividual from stopping to drink at some brook crossing 
 the road, until the column had passed the next bend in 
 the road, and then slinking home across-lots, taking an 
 early opportunity after arriving to pass the store, in or 
 der to be seen and noted as not being among the rioters. 
 But whatever was lost in this way, if the defection of 
 such material can be called a loss, was more than made 
 up by the recruits which swelled the ranks from the 
 farmhouses along the road. And so, by the time they 
 entered Muddy Brook, a settlement just outside of 
 Great Barrington, through which the road from Stock- 
 bridge then passed, they numbered fully one hundred 
 and fifty. 
 
 Muddy Brook was inhabited chiefly by a poor and 
 rather low class of people, who, either from actual 
 misery or mere riotous inclination, might naturally be 
 expected to join in any movement against constituted 
 authority. But instead of gaining any accession of 
 forces here, the party found the place almost deserted. 
 Even the small boys and the dogs were gone, and 
 apparently a large part of the able-bodied women as 
 well. 
 
 "Where be all the folks?" called out Abner to a 
 woman who stood with a baby in arms at an open door. 
 
 " Over ter Barrington seem the fun. There be great 
 dewin s," she replied. 
 
 This news imparted valor to the most faint-hearted, 
 for it was now apparent that this was not a movement 
 in which Stockbridge alone was engaged, not a mere 
 local revolt, but a general, popular uprising, whose ex 
 tent would be its justification. And yet, prepared as 
 they thus were to find a goodly number of sympathiz- 
 
Great Goings-on at Barrington 93 
 
 ers already on the ground, it was with mingled exulta 
 tion and astonishment that, on reaching the top of the 
 high hill which separated Muddy Brook from Great 
 Barrington, and gaining a view of the latter place, 
 they beheld the streets packed, and the green in front 
 of the court house fairly black with people. 
 
 There was a general outburst of surprise and satis 
 faction. 
 
 " By thunder! it looks like gineral trainin , or n or 
 dination." 
 
 " Looks kind o ez if a good many fellers b sides us 
 hed business with the jestices this mornin ." 
 
 " I d no idee courts wuz so pop lar." 
 
 "There ain t stocks nough in Berkshire fer all the 
 fellers as is out to-day, that s one sure thing." 
 
 " No, nor Saddleback Mounting ain t big nough pil 
 lory to hold em, nuther," were some of the ejaculations 
 which at once expressed the delight and astonishment 
 of the men, and at the same time betrayed the nature 
 of their previous misgivings, as to the possible conse 
 quences of this day s doings. Estimates of the num 
 ber of the crowd in Barrington, which were freely 
 offered, ranged all the way from two thousand to ten 
 thousand, but Perez, practised in such calculations, 
 placed the number at about eight or nine hundred 
 men, and half as many women and boys. What gave 
 him the liveliest satisfaction was the absence of any mili 
 tary force, not indeed that he would have hesitated to 
 fight, if he could not have otherwise forced access to 
 the jail ; but he had contemplated the possibility of such 
 a bloody collision between the people and militia with 
 much concern. 
 
 "There ll be no fighting to-day, boys," he said, turn 
 ing to the men; "you d better let off your muskets, so 
 
94 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 there may be no accidents. Fire in the air," he com 
 manded; and thus, with a ringing salvo that echoed 
 and re-echoed among the hills and was answered with 
 acclamations from the multitude in the village, the 
 Stockbridge battalion, with the girl riding at its head, 
 entered Great Barrington, and breaking ranks, mingled 
 with the crowd. 
 
 "Golly! we be jest in time to see the fun," cried 
 Obadiah delightedly, as the court house bell rang out, 
 thereby announcing that the justices had left their 
 lodgings to proceed to the court house and open court. 
 
 " I declare for t," exclaimed Jabez, " I wonder ef they 
 be goin ter try ter hold court n spite o all that crowd. 
 There they be, sure s taxes." 
 
 And, indeed, as he spoke, the door of the residence 
 of Justice Dwight opened, and High Sheriff Israel 
 Dickinson, followed by Justice Dwight and the three 
 other justices of the quorum, issued therefrom, and 
 took up their march directly toward the court house, 
 seemingly oblivious of the surging mass of a thousand 
 men which barred their way. 
 
 The sheriff advanced with a goose-step, carrying his 
 wand of office, and the justices strode in Indian file be 
 hind him. They were dressed in fine black clothes, with 
 black silk hose, silver buckles on their shoes, fine white 
 ruffled shirts, and ponderous cocked hats upon their 
 heavily powdered wigs. Their chests were well thrown 
 out, their chins were held in air, their lips were judi 
 cially pursed, and their eyes were contemplatively fixed 
 on vacancy, as if they had never for a moment admitted 
 the possibility that any impediment might be offered to 
 their progress. It must be admitted that their bearing 
 worthily represented the prestige of ancient authority 
 and the moral majesty of the law. Nor did the mob 
 
Great Goings-on at Barrington 95 
 
 fail to render the tribute of an involuntary admiration 
 to this imposing and apparently invincible advance. 
 It had evidently been taken for granted that the mere 
 assembling and the riotous attitude of so great a multi 
 tude, bristling with muskets and bludgeons, would suf 
 fice to prevent the justices from making any attempt to 
 hold court. It was with a certain awe, and a silence in 
 terrupted only by murmurs of astonishment, that the 
 people now awaited their approach. Perhaps had the 
 throng been less dense, it might have justified the 
 serene and haughty confidence of the justices by open 
 ing a path for them. But however disposed the first 
 ranks might have been to give way, they could not, by 
 reason of the pressure from behind and on every side. 
 
 Still the sheriff continued to advance, with as much 
 apparent confidence of opening a way as if his wand 
 were the veritable rod wherewith Moses parted the 
 Red Sea, until he almost trod on the toes of the shrink 
 ing first rank. But there he was fain to pause. Moral 
 force cannot penetrate a purely physical obstacle. 
 
 And when the sheriff stopped, the justices marching 
 behind him also stopped. Not indeed that their Honors 
 so far forgot their dignity as to appear to take direct 
 cognizance of the vulgar and irregular impediment be 
 fore them. It was the sheriff s business to clear the 
 way for them. And although Justice Dwight s face 
 was purple with indignation, he, as well as his associ 
 ates, continued to look away into vacancy, suffering not 
 their eyes to catch any of the glances of the people be 
 fore them. 
 
 " Make way! make way for the honorable justices of 
 the Court of Common Pleas of the Commonwealth of 
 Massachusetts!" cried the sheriff, in loud, imperative 
 tones. 
 
96 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 A dead silence of several moments followed, in which 
 the rattling of a farmer s cart far down the street, as 
 it brought in a belated load of insurgents from Shef 
 field, was distinctly audible. Then somebody in the 
 back part of the crowd, impressed with a certain ludi- 
 crousness in the situation, tittered. Somebody else 
 tittered, then a number, and presently a hoarse haw- 
 haw of derision, growing momentarily louder, and soon 
 after mingled with yells, hoots, and catcalls, burst 
 forth from a thousand throats. The prestige of the 
 Honorable Justices of the Court of Common Pleas was 
 gone. 
 
 A moment still they hesitated. Then the sheriff 
 turned and said something to them in a low voice, and 
 they forthwith faced about and deliberately marched 
 back toward their lodgings. In this retrograde move 
 ment the sheriff acted as rear guard, and he had not 
 gone above a dozen steps before a rotten egg burst on 
 one shoulder of his fine new coat, and as he wheeled 
 around an apple took him in the stomach, and at the 
 same moment the cocked hat of Justice Goodrich of 
 Pittsfield was knocked off with a stone. His Honor 
 did not apparently think it expedient to stop just then 
 to pick it up, and Obadiah Weeks, leaping forward, 
 made it a prey, and instantly elevated it on a pole, 
 amid roars of derisive laughter. The retreat of the 
 justices had indeed so emboldened the more ruffianly 
 and irresponsible element of the crowd, many of whom 
 were drunk, that it was just as well for the bodily safety 
 of their Honors that the distance to their lodgings was 
 no greater. As it was, stones were flying fast, and the 
 mob was close on the heels of the sheriff when the 
 house was gained, and as he attempted to shut the door 
 after him, there was a rush of men, bent on entering 
 
Great Goings-on at Barrington 97 
 
 with him. He knocked down the first, but would have 
 been instantly overpowered and trampled on, had not 
 Perez Hamlin, followed by Abner, Peleg, Abe Konka- 
 pot and half a dozen other Stockbridge men, shouldered 
 their way through the crowd, and come to his relief. 
 Where, then, had Perez been, meantime? 
 7 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 Judge Dwight s Signature 
 
 As soon as the Stockbridge battalion had arrived on 
 the green at Great Harrington and broken ranks, 
 Perez had directed Abner to pass the word to all who 
 had friends in the jail, and presently a party of forty 
 or fifty men was following him, as he led the way 
 toward that building, accompanied by Prudence, who 
 had not dismounted. The rest of them could attend 
 to the stopping of the court. His concern was with 
 the rescue of his brother. But he had not traversed 
 over half the distance when the cry arose : 
 
 "They re stoning the judges! " 
 
 Thus recalled to his responsibilities as leader of at 
 least a part of the mob, he had turned, and followed by 
 a dozen men, had hurried back to the rescue, arriving 
 in the nick of time. Standing in the open door of the 
 house to which the justices had retired, the rescued 
 sheriff just behind him in the hall, he called out : 
 
 "Stand back! Stand back! What more do you 
 want, men? The court is stopped." 
 
 But the people murmured. The Great Barrington 
 men did not know Perez, and were not ready to accept 
 his dictation. 
 
 "We ve stopped court to-day, sartin," said one, "but 
 what s to hender their holdin of it to-morrer, or ez 
 soon s we be gone, an hevin every one on us in jail? " 
 
Judge Dwight s Signature 99 
 
 "What do you want, then?" asked Perez. 
 
 "We want some sartinty baout it." 
 
 "They ve got ter gree not ter hold no more courts 
 till the laws be changed," were replies that seemed to 
 voice the sentiments of the crowd. 
 
 "Leave it to me, and I ll get you what you want," 
 said Perez, and he went down the corridor to the 
 kitchen at the back of the house, where the sheriff had 
 told him he would find the justices. Although the 
 room had been chosen apparently because it was the 
 farthest removed from the public, the mob had already 
 found out their retreat, and a nose was flattened against 
 each pane of the windows. Tall men peered in over 
 short men s shoulders, and cudgels were displayed in a 
 way not at all reassuring to the inmates. 
 
 Their Honors by no means wore the unruffled and re 
 motely superior aspect of a few minutes before. It must 
 be frankly confessed, as regards the Honorable Justices 
 Goodrich of Pittsfield, Barker of Cheshire, and Whiting 
 of Great Barrington, that they looked decidedly scared, 
 as, in fact, they had some reason to be. It might have 
 been supposed, indeed, that the valor of the entire 
 quorum had gone into its fourth member, Justice Eli 
 jah Dwight, who, at the moment Perez entered the 
 room, was being withheld, by the combined strength of 
 his agonized wife and daughter, from sallying forth with 
 a rusty queen s arm to defend his mansion. His wig 
 was disarranged with the struggle, and the powder 
 shaken from it streaked a countenance, scholarly 
 enough in repose no doubt, but just now purple with 
 the threefold wrath of one outraged in the combined 
 characters of householder, host, and magistrate. 
 
 "Your Honors," said Perez, "the people will not be 
 satisfied without your written promise to hold no more 
 
ioo The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 courts till their grievances are redressed. I will do 
 what I can to protect you, but my power is slight." 
 
 " Who is this fellow who speaks for the rabble? " de 
 manded Dwight. 
 
 " My name is Hamlin." 
 
 " You are a disgrace to the uniform you wear. Do 
 you know you have incurred the penalties of high trea 
 son? " exclaimed the justice. 
 
 " This is not the first time I have incurred those pen 
 alties in behalf of my oppressed countrymen, as that 
 same uniform shows," retorted the other. "But it is 
 not now a question of the penalties I have incurred, 
 but of how you are to escape the wrath of the people," 
 he continued sharply. 
 
 " I shall live to see you hanged, drawn and quartered 
 for treason, you rascal! " roared Dwight. 
 
 " Nay, sir. Do but think this man holds your life in 
 his hands. Entreat him civilly," expostulated Madam 
 Dwight. 
 
 "He means not so, sir," she added, turning to 
 Perez. 
 
 " The fellers want ter know why in time that air agree 
 ment ain t signed. We can t keep em back much 
 longer," Abner cried, rushing to the door of the 
 kitchen a moment, and hurrying back to his post. 
 
 " Where are writing materials? " asked Justice Good 
 rich, nervously, as a stone broke through one of the 
 window-panes and fell on the table. 
 
 " I will bring them," said Justice Dwight s daughter. 
 
 "I pray you, make haste," urged Justice Barker. 
 " The mob is even now forcing an entrance." 
 
 "I forbid you to bring them. Remain here," thun 
 dered Dwight. 
 
 The girl paused, irresolute, pale, and terrified. 
 
Judge Dwight!s Signature 101 
 
 " Go, Eliza," said her mother. " Disobey your father 
 and save his life." 
 
 She went, and in a moment returned with the articles. 
 Perez wrote two lines, and read them : 
 
 " We promise not to act under our commissions un 
 til the grievances of which the people complain are re 
 dressed. Now sign that, and quickly, or it will be too 
 late." 
 
 " Do you order us to sign? " asked Barker, apparently 
 willing to find in this appearance of duress an excuse 
 for yielding. 
 
 " Not at all," replied Perez. " If you think you can 
 make better terms with the people for yourselves, you 
 are welcome to try. I should judge, from the racket, 
 that they re on the point of coming in." 
 
 There was a hoarse howl from without, and Justices 
 Goodrich, Barker, and Whiting simultaneously reached 
 for the pen. Their names were affixed in a trice. 
 
 "Will Your Honor sign?" said Perez to Judge 
 Dwight, who stood before the fireplace, silently re 
 garding the proceedings. His first ebullition of rage 
 had passed, and he appeared entirely calm. 
 
 "My associates may do as they please," he replied 
 with dignity, "but it shall never be said that Elijah 
 Dwight surrendered to a mob the commission which 
 he received from his Excellency, the Governor, and 
 their Honors, the Councilors of the Commonwealth." 
 
 " I admire your courage, sir, but I cannot answer for 
 the consequences of your refusal," said Perez. 
 
 "For my sake, sign, sir," urged Madam Dwight. 
 
 "Oh, sign, father. They will kill you," cried 
 Eliza. 
 
 " Methinks, it is but proper prudence to seem to 
 yield for the time being," said Goodrich. 
 
IO2 The- Duke -of Stockbridge 
 
 " T is no more than the justices at Northampton have 
 done," added Barker. 
 
 " I need not remind Your Honor that a pledge given 
 under duress is not binding," said Whiting. 
 
 But Dwight waved them away, merely saying, " I 
 know my duty." 
 
 Suddenly Eliza Dwight stepped to the table and wrote 
 something at the bottom of the agreement, and giving 
 the paper to Perez said something to him in a low 
 voice. But her father s keen eye had noted the act, 
 and he said angrily : 
 
 " Child, have you dared to write my name? " 
 
 " Nay, father, I have not," replied the girl. 
 
 Even as she spoke there were confused cries, heavy 
 falls, and a rush in the hall, and instantly the room 
 was filled with men, their faces flushed with excitement 
 and drink. The guard had been overpowered. 
 
 "Where s that paper?" 
 
 "Hain t they signed?" 
 
 "We ll make ye sign, dum quick." 
 
 "We re a-goin ter tie ye up an give it to ye on the 
 bare back." 
 
 "We ll give ye a dose o yer own med cin ." 
 
 " I don t want ter hurt ye, sis, but ye must git aout o 
 the way," said a burly fellow to Eliza, who, with her 
 mother, had thrown herself between the mob and Jus 
 tice Dwight, his undaunted aspect appearing to excite 
 the special animosity of the rabble. The other three 
 justices were huddled in the most remote corner of the 
 room. 
 
 " It s all right, men, it s all right. No need of any 
 more words. Here s the paper," said Perez, authori 
 tatively. A man caught it from his hand and gave it 
 to another, saying, 
 
Judge D wight s Signature 103 
 
 " Here, Pete, yew kin read. What doos it say? " Pete 
 took the document in both hands, grasping it with un 
 necessary firmness, as if he depended in some degree 
 on physical force to overcome the difficulties of de 
 cipherment, and proceeded slowly and with tremendous 
 frowns to spell it out. 
 
 " * We - promise - not - to-ak-under-our-c o m,-com- 
 mishins-until the-g r i e grievunces, " 
 
 "What be them? " demanded one of the crowd. 
 
 " That means taxes, n lawyers, n debts, n all that. 
 I ve hearn the word afore," exclaimed another. 
 "G long, Pete." 
 
 " Grievunces, " proceeded the reader, " of which- 
 the-people-complain. " 
 
 "That s so." 
 
 " That s darn good. In course we complain." 
 
 "Is that writ so, Pete?" 
 
 "G long, Pete, that air s good." 
 
 " Complain, " began the reader again. 
 
 "Go back to the beginnin , Pete, I lost the hang 
 on t." 
 
 " Yas, go back a leetle, Pete. It be most ez long ez a 
 sermon. " 
 
 " Shell I begin tew the beginnin ? " 
 
 "Yas, begin tew the beginnin agin, so s we ll all on 
 us git the hang." 
 
 " We - promise - not- tew-ak-under-our-commishins,- 
 until-the g r grievunces-of-which-the-people-com- 
 plain-are-r e d r redressed. 
 
 "What s redressed? " 
 
 "That s same ez bolished." 
 
 "Here be the names," pursued Pete. " Charles 
 Goodrich. " 
 
 " He s the feller ez lost his hat" 
 
104 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " William Whiting, James Barker, Elijah Dwight. " 
 
 "It s false!" exclaimed Dwight, "my name is not 
 there." 
 
 But few, if any, heard or heeded his words, for at the 
 moment Pete pronounced the last name, Perez shouted: 
 
 "Now, men, we ve done this job, let s go to the jail 
 and let out the debtors, come on! " and suiting action 
 to word he rushed out, and was followed pell-mell by 
 the yelling crowd, all their truculent enthusiasm in 
 stantly diverted into this new channel. 
 
 The four justices, and the wife and daughter of Jus 
 tice Dwight, alone remained in the room. Even the 
 people who had been staring in, with their noses flat 
 tened against the window-panes, had rushed away to the 
 new point of interest. Dwight stood steadfastly looking 
 at his daughter, with a stern and Rhadamanthine gaze, 
 in which, nevertheless, grief and reproachful surprise, 
 not less than indignation, were expressed. The girl, 
 shrinking behind her mother, seemed more in terror 
 than when the mob had burst into the room. 
 
 " And so my daughter has disobeyed her father, has 
 told him a lie, and has disgraced him," said the justice, 
 slowly and calmly, but in tones that bore a crushing 
 weight of reproof. 
 
 "Add, sir, at least, that she has also saved his life," 
 interposed one of the other justices. 
 
 "Oh, don t talk to me so, father," cried the girl sob 
 bing. " I didn t write your name, I truly didn t." 
 
 " Do not add to your sin by denials, my daughter. 
 Did not the fellow read my name? " Dwight regarded 
 her as he said this, as if he were somewhat disgusted 
 at such persistent falsehood, and the others looked a 
 little as if their sympathy with the girl had received a 
 slight shock. 
 
Judge Dwight s Signature 105 
 
 " But, father, won t you believe me? " sobbed the girl, 
 clinging to her mother as not daring to approach him 
 to whom she appealed. " I only wrote my own name. " 
 
 " Your name, Eliza, but he read mine." 
 
 " Yes, but the pen was bad, you see, and my name 
 looks so like yours when it s writ carelessly and the 
 * z is a little quirked, and I wrote it carelessly, father. 
 Please forgive me. I didn t want to have you killed, 
 and I quirked the * z a little." 
 
 The Rhadamanthine frown on Dwight s face yielded 
 to a composite expression, a look in which chagrin, ten 
 derness, and a barely perceptible trace of amusement 
 mingled. The girl instantly had her arms around his 
 neck, and was crying violently on his shoulder, though 
 she knew she was forgiven. He put his hand a mo 
 ment gently on her head, and then unloosed her arms, 
 saying, dryly, 
 
 " That will do, dear ; go to your mother now. I shall 
 see that you have better instruction in writing. " 
 
 That was the only rebuke he ever gave her. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 The Taking of the Jail 
 
 WHEN Perez and the men who with him were in the 
 act of advancing on the jail, were so suddenly recalled 
 by the judges, Prudence had been left quite alone, sit 
 ting on Perez s horse in the middle of the street. She 
 had no clear idea what all this crowd and commotion 
 in the village was about, nor even what the Stockbridge 
 men had come down for in such martial array. She 
 only knew that Mrs. Hamlin s son, the captain with 
 the sword, had said he would take her to her father, 
 and now that he had run off, taking all the other men 
 with him, she knew not what to do or which way to 
 turn. To her, thus perched up on the big horse, con 
 fused and scared by the tumult, approached a tall, sal 
 low, gaunt old woman, in a huge green sun-bonnet, and 
 a butternut gown of coarsest homespun. Her features 
 were strongly marked, but their expression was not un 
 kindly, though just now troubled and anxious. 
 
 " I guess I ve seen yew ter meetin ," she said to Pru 
 dence. " Ain t you Fennell s gal? " 
 
 " Yes," replied the girl, " I come daown to see father. " 
 Prudence, although she had profited by having lived at 
 service in the Woodbridge family, where she heard 
 good English spoken, made frequent lapses into the 
 popular dialect. 
 
 "I m Mis Poor. Zadkiel Poor s my husban . He s 
 in jail over there long with yer dad, He s kinder ail- 
 
The Taking of the Jail 107 
 
 in , an I fetched daown some roots n yarbs us used 
 ter dew him a sight o good, when he was ter hum. I 
 thought mebbe I might git ter see him. Him as keeps 
 jail lets folks in sometimes, I hearn tell. " 
 
 " Do you know where the jail is? " asked the gill. 
 
 "It s that ere haouse over there. It s in with the 
 tavern." 
 
 " Let s go and ask the jailer if he ll let us in," sug 
 gested Prudence. 
 
 " I wuz goin ter wait an git Isr el Goodrich ter go 
 long an kind o speak fer me, ef I could," said Mrs. 
 Poor. " He s considabul thought on by folks raound 
 here, an he s a neighbor o ourn, an real kind, Isr el 
 Goodrich is. But I don t see him nowhere raound, 
 an mebbe we might s well go right along, an not 
 wait no longer." 
 
 And so the two women went on toward the jail, and 
 Prudence dismounted before the door of the tavern 
 end, and tied the horse. 
 
 * I guess they must keep the folks in that ere ell 
 part, with the row o leetle winders," said Mrs. Poor. 
 She spoke in a hushed voice, as one speaks near a 
 tomb. The girl was quite pale, and she stared with a 
 scared fascination at the wall behind which her father 
 was shut up. Timidly the women entered the open 
 door. Both Bement and his wife were in the barroom. 
 
 "What do ye want?" demanded the latter, sharply. 
 
 Mrs. Poor curtsied very low, and smiled a vague, ab 
 ject smile of propitiation. 
 
 "If ye please, marm, I m Mis Poor. He s in this 
 ere jail fer debt. He s kind o pulin like, Zadkiel is, 
 an I jest fetched daown some yarbs fer him. He s 
 been used ter takin on em, an they doos him good, 
 specially the sassafras An I thought mebbe, marm, I 
 
io8 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 might git ter see him, bein ez he ain t a well man, an* 
 never wuz sence I married him, twenty-five year 
 agone come next Thanksgivin . " 
 
 " And I want to see father, if you please, marm. My 
 father s George Fennell. Is he very sick, marm? " 
 added Prudence eagerly, seeing that Mrs. Poor was 
 forgetting her. 
 
 " I don t keer who ye be, an* ye needn t waste no 
 time a-tellin me," replied Mrs. Bement curtly, her 
 blue eyes as hard as steel ; " ye couldn t go inter that 
 jail not ef ye wuz Gin ral Washington. I ain t goin 
 ter hev no women folks a-bawlin an a-blubberin 
 round this ere jail s long s my husban keeps it, an 
 that s flat." 
 
 " I won t cry a bit, if you ll only let me see father," 
 pleaded Prudence, two great tears gathering in her 
 eye 3 even as she spoke, and testifying to the value of 
 her promise. " And and I ll scrub the floor for you, 
 too. It needs it, and I m a good scrubber. Mrs. Wood- 
 bridge says I am." 
 
 " I d take it kind of ye, I would," said Mrs. Poor, " ef 
 ye d let me in jest fer a minute. He d set store by see- 
 in of me, an I could give him the yarbs. He ain t a 
 well man, an never wuz, Zadkiel ain t. Ye needn t let 
 the gal in. It don t matter s much abaout her, an gals 
 is cryin things. I ll scrub yer floor better n she ever 
 kin, an come to look, it doos kind o need it," and she 
 turned her agonized eyes a moment upon the floor in 
 affected critical inspection. 
 
 "Cephas, see that crowd comin . What do they 
 want? Put them women out. G long there, git out, 
 quick! Shut the door, Cephas. Put up the bar. 
 Whatever s comin to us? " 
 
 Well might Mrs. Bement say so, for the sight that 
 
The Taking of the Jail 109 
 
 had caught her eyes as she stood confronting the wom 
 en and the open door was no less than a mass of nearly 
 a thousand men and boys, bristling with clubs and guns, 
 rushing directly toward the jail. 
 
 Scarcely had the white-faced Bement thrust the 
 women out and dropped the bar into its sockets across 
 the middle of the door, than there was a rushing, 
 tramping sound before the house, and a great hubbub 
 of hoarse voices. Then came a heavy blow, as if with 
 the hilt of a sword against the door, and a loud voice 
 called: 
 
 " Open, and be quick about it! " 
 
 " Don t do it, Cephas ; the house is stout, and mebbe 
 help ll come," said Mrs. Bement, although she trembled. 
 
 But Cephas, though usually like clay in the hands 
 of his wife, was at this instant dominated by a terror 
 greater than his fear of her. He lifted the bar from 
 the sockets, and was sent staggering back against the 
 wall as the door burst open. The room was instantly 
 filled to its utmost capacity with men, who dropped 
 the butts of their muskets on the floor with a jar that 
 made the bottles in the bar clink in concert. 
 
 Bement, who managed to get behind the bar, stood 
 there with a face like ashes, his flabby cheeks relaxed 
 with terror so they hung like dewlaps. He evidently 
 expected nothing better than to be butchered without 
 mercy on the spot. 
 
 "Good morning, Mr. Bement," said Perez, as coolly 
 as if he had just dropped in for a glass of flip. 
 
 "Good morning, sir," faintly articulated the land 
 lord. 
 
 "You remember me, perhaps. I took dinner here 
 last Saturday, and visited my brother in the jail. I 
 should like to see him again. Will you be kind enough 
 
no The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 to hand me the keys hanging there behind you? " Be- 
 ment stared as if dazed at Perez, looked around at the 
 crowd of men, and then looked back at Perez again, 
 and still stood gaping. 
 
 " Did ye hear the cap n? " shouted Abner in a voice 
 of thunder. Bement gave a start of terror, and in 
 voluntarily turned to take the bunch of keys down 
 from the nail. But by the time he had turned, the 
 keys were no longer there. 
 
 It had been easy to see from the first that Mrs. 
 Bement was made of quite different stuff from her hus 
 band. As she stood by his side behind the bar, al 
 though she was tremulous with excitement, the look 
 with which she had faced the crowd was rather vixen 
 ish than frightened. There was a vicious sparkle in 
 her eyes, and the color of her cheeks was concentrated 
 in two small spots, one under each cheekbone. Just 
 as her husband, succumbing to the inevitable, was 
 turning to take the keys from their nail and deliver 
 them over, she quietly reached behind him and 
 snatched them. Then, with a deft motion opening the 
 top of her gown a little, she dropped them into her 
 bosom, and looked at Perez with a defiant expression, 
 as much as to say, " Now I should like to see you get 
 them." 
 
 There was no doubt about the little shrew being 
 thoroughly game, and yet her act was less striking as 
 evidence of her bravery than as testifying her confi 
 dence in the chivalry of the rough men before her. 
 And, indeed, it was comical to see the dumbfoundered 
 and chopfallen expression on their flushed and excited 
 faces as they took in the meaning of this piece of 
 strategy. They had taken up arms against their gov 
 ernment, and but a few moments before had been re- 
 
The Taking of the Jail in 
 
 strained with difficulty from laying violent hands upon 
 the august judges of the land, but not the boldest of 
 them thought it possible to touch this woman. There 
 were men here whom neither lines of bayonets nor 
 walls of stone would have turned back, but not one 
 of them was bold enough to lay a forcible hand upon 
 the veil that covered a woman s breast. They were 
 Americans. 
 
 There was a dead silence. The men gaped at each 
 other, and Perez himself looked a little foolish for a 
 moment. Then he turned to Abner and said in a 
 grimly quiet way: 
 
 " Knock Bement down. Then four of you swing him 
 by his arms and legs and break the jail door through 
 with his head." 
 
 "Ye wouldn t murder me, cap n," gasped the hapless 
 man. In a trice Abner had hauled him out from be 
 hind the bar, and tripped him up on the floor. Then 
 three other men, together with Abner, seized him by 
 the hands and feet, and half dragged, half carried him 
 across the room to the door in the middle of one of the 
 sides which opened into the jail corridor. 
 
 "Swing the cuss three times, so s ter git kind o 
 a-goin , an* then we ll see whether his head or the door s 
 the thickest," said Abner. 
 
 "Give em the keys, Marthy. They re a-killin me," 
 cried Bement. 
 
 The woman set her teeth. Her face was a little 
 whiter, the red spots under her cheek-bones were a lit 
 tle smaller and redder than before. That was all the 
 sign she gave. Putting her hand convulsively over 
 the spot on her bosom where the desired articles were 
 secreted, she replied in a shrill voice : 
 
 "I shell keep the keys, Cephas. It s my dewty. 
 
1 1 2 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Pray, Cephas, that I may hev strength given me ter 
 dew my dewty." 
 
 "Ye won t see me killed fore yer eyes, will ye? 
 Give em the keys, I tell ye," shrieked Bement, as 
 they began to swing him, and Abner said : 
 
 "One." 
 
 The woman looked a bit more like going into hys 
 terics, but not a whit more like yielding. 
 
 " Mebbe t wont kill ye, an they can t bust the door, 
 nohow. Mebbe they ll git tuckered fore long. If 
 wust comes to wust, it s a comfort ter know ez ye re a 
 perfesser in good standin ." 
 
 Bement had doubtless had previous experience of a 
 certain tenacity of purpose on the part of his spouse, 
 for he ceased to address further adjurations to her, and 
 began to appeal for mercy to the men. 
 
 "Two," said Abner, as they swung him again. 
 
 Now, Mrs. Poor and Prudence, having been thrust 
 out of the barroom just before the mob thundered 
 up against the barred door, had been borne back 
 into the room again by the rush when the door was 
 opened, and it was Mrs. Poor who now made a diver 
 sion. 
 
 "Look a-here, Abner Rathbun," she said, "what in 
 time s the use of murd rin the man? He hain t done 
 nothin*. It s the woman ez hez got the keys. She 
 wouldn t let me in ter see Zadkiel, an I m jest itchin 
 ter git my hands onto her, an that s the trewth, ef I be 
 a perfesser. You let the man alone. I ll git them 
 keys, or my name ain t Resignation Ann Poor." 
 
 There was a general murmur of approval, and 
 without waiting for orders from Perez, Abner and 
 his helpers let Bement drop, and he scrambled to his 
 feet. 
 
BEMENT APPEALED FOR MERCY TO THE MEN. 
 
The Taking of the Jail 113 
 
 Mrs. Bement began to pant. She knew well enough 
 that she had nothing to fear from all the men in 
 Massachusetts, but one of her own sex was a more 
 formidable enemy. And, indeed, a much more robust 
 person than the jailer s little wife might have been ex 
 cused for not relishing a tussle with the tall, raw-boned 
 old woman, with hands brown, muscular, and labor- 
 hardened as a man s, who now deliberately laid her big 
 green sun-bonnet on the counter, and stepping to the 
 open end of the bar advanced toward Mrs. Bement. 
 Mrs. Poor held her hands before her about breast high, 
 at half arm s length, elbows depressed, palms turned 
 outward, the fingers curved like a cat s claws. There 
 was an expression of grim satisfaction on her hard 
 features. 
 
 Mrs. Bement stood awaiting her, breathing hard, 
 evidently scared, but quite as evidently furious. 
 
 "Give em the keys, Marthy. She ll kill ye," called 
 out Bement, from the back of the room. 
 
 But she paid no attention to this. Her fingers began 
 to curve like claws, and her hands assumed the same 
 feline attitude as Mrs. Poor s. It was easy to see that 
 the pluck of the little woman extorted a certain admir 
 ation from the very men who had fathers, sons, and 
 brothers in the cells beyond. She was not a bit more 
 than half as big as her antagonist, but she looked game 
 to the backbone, and the forthcoming result was not 
 altogether to be predicted. You could have heard a 
 pin drop in the room, as the men leaned over the 
 counter with faces expressive of intensest excitement, 
 while those behind stood on tip-toe to see. For the 
 moment everything else was forgotten in the interest 
 of the impending combat. Mrs. Bement seemed draw 
 ing back for a spring. Then suddenly, quick as light- 
 8 
 
H4 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 ning, she put her hand in her bosom, drew out the 
 keys, and throwing them down on the counter, burst 
 into hysterical sobs. 
 
 In another moment the jail door was thrown open, 
 and the men were rushing down the corridor. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 What the Jail Held 
 
 THEN, presently, the jail was full of cries of horror 
 and indignation. For each cell door, as it was unbarred 
 and thrown open, revealed the same heartrending scene, 
 the deliverers starting back or standing quite transfixed 
 before the ghastly and withered figures which rose up 
 before them from dank pallets of putrid straw. The 
 faces of these dismal apparitions expressed the terror 
 and apprehension which the tumult and uproar about 
 the jail had created in minds no longer capable of en 
 tertaining hope. 
 
 Ignorant as to who were the occupants of particular 
 cells, it was, of course, a matter of chance whether 
 those who opened any one of them were the friends of 
 the unfortunates who were its inmates. But for a 
 melancholy reason this was a matter of indifference. 
 So ghastly a travesty on their former hale and robust 
 selves had sickness and sunless confinement made al 
 most all the prisoners, that not even brothers recog 
 nized their brothers, and the corridor echoed with 
 poignant voices, calling to the poor creatures : 
 
 "What s your name?" "Is this Abijah Galpin?" 
 " Are you my brother Jake? " " Are you Sol Morris? " 
 " Father, is it you? " 
 
 As they entered the jail with the rush of men, Perez 
 had taken Prudence s hand, and remembering the loca 
 tion of Reuben s cell, stopped before it, lifted the bar, 
 
n6 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 threw open the door, and they went in. George Fennell 
 was lying on the straw upon the floor. He had raised 
 himself on one elbow, and was looking apprehensively 
 to see what the opening of the door would reveal as the 
 cause of this interruption to the usually sepulchral still 
 ness of the jail. Reuben was standing in the middle 
 of the floor, eagerly gazing in the same direction. 
 Perez sprang to his brother s side, his face beautiful 
 with the joy of the deliverer. If he had been a 
 Frenchman, or an Italian, anything but an Anglo-Sax 
 on, he would have kissed him, with one of those noblest 
 kisses of all, wherewith once or twice in a lifetime men 
 may greet each other. But he only supported him 
 with one arm about the waist, and stroked his wasted 
 cheek with his hand, saying, 
 
 " I ve come for you, Reub, old boy, you re free." 
 
 Prudence had first peered anxiously into the face of 
 Reuben, and next glanced at the man lying on the 
 straw. Then she plucked Perez by the sleeve, and 
 said in an anguished voice, 
 
 " Father ain t here. Where is he? " and turned to 
 run out. 
 
 "That s your father," replied Perez, pointing to the 
 sick man. 
 
 The girl sprang to his side, and kneeling down, 
 searched with straining eyes in the bleached and bony 
 face, fringed with matted hair and long unkempt gray 
 beard, for some trace of the full and ruddy countenance 
 which she remembered. She would still have hesitated, 
 but her father said : 
 
 " Prudy, my little girl, is it you? " 
 
 Her eyes might not recognize the lineaments of the 
 face, but her heart recalled the intonation of tender 
 ness, though the voice was weak and changed. Throw- 
 
What the Jail Held 117 
 
 ing her arms around his neck, pressing her full red lips 
 in sobbing kisses upon his corpse-like face, she cried: 
 
 "Father! Oh, father!" 
 
 Presently the throng began to pour out of the jail, 
 bringing with them those they had released. The 
 news that the jail was being broken open and the 
 prisoners set free, had spread like wildfire through the 
 thronged village, and nearly two thousand people were 
 now assembled in front of and about the jail, including 
 besides the people from out of town, nearly every man, 
 woman, and child in Great Barrington not actually bed 
 ridden, excepting, of course, the families of the magis 
 trates, lawyers, and court officers, and the wealthier 
 citizens, who sympathized with them. These were 
 trembling behind their closed doors, hoping, but by no 
 means assured, that this sudden popular whirlwind 
 might exhaust itself before involving them in destruc 
 tion. And, indeed, the cries of pity, and the hoarse, 
 deep groans of indignation with which the throng be* 
 fore the jail received the prisoners as they were suc 
 cessively brought forth, were well calculated to inspire 
 with apprehension those who knew that they were held 
 responsible by the public judgment for the deeds of 
 darkness now being brought to light. It was now per 
 haps the old mother and young wife of a prisoner, hold 
 ing up between them the son and husband, and guiding 
 his tottering steps, that set the people crying and groan 
 ing. Now it was perhaps a couple of sturdy sons, the 
 rare tears running down their tanned cheeks, as they 
 brought forth a white-haired father, blinking with 
 bleared eyes at the almost forgotten sun, and gazing 
 with dazed terror at the crowd of excited people. Now 
 it was Perez Hamlin, leading out Reuben, holding him 
 up with his arm, and crying like a baby in spite of all 
 
1 1 8 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 that he could do. Nor need he have been ashamed, 
 for there were few men who were not in like plight. 
 Then came Abner and Abe Konkapot, stepping 
 carefully, as they carried in their arms George Fen- 
 nell, Prudence walking by his side, and holding fast 
 his hand. 
 
 Nor must I forget to speak of Mrs. Poor. The big, 
 raw-boned woman s hard-favored countenance was 
 lighted up with motherly solicitude, as she lifted, 
 rather than assisted, Zadkiel down the steps of the 
 tavern. 
 
 " Why don t ye take him up in yer arms? " remarked 
 Obadiah Weeks, facetiously, but it was truly more 
 touching than amusing to see the protecting tender 
 ness of the woman for the puny little fellow whom an 
 odd freak of Providence had given her for a husband, 
 instead of a son. 
 
 Although Mrs. Poor movingly declared that "he 
 warn t the shadder of hisself," the fact was, that hav 
 ing been but a short time in jail, Zadkiel showed few 
 marks of confinement. Far enough was he from com 
 paring in this respect with the others, many of whom 
 had been shut up for years. They looked, with the 
 dead whiteness of their faces and hands, rather like 
 grewsome cellar plants, torn from their native dark 
 ness, only to wither in the upper light and air, than 
 like human organisms just restored to their normal 
 climate. As they moved among the tanned and ruddy- 
 faced people, their abnormally pallid complexions made 
 them look like representatives of the strange race of al 
 binos. 
 
 But saddest perhaps of all the sights were the debt 
 ors who found no acquaintances or relatives to wel 
 come them as they came forth again, helpless as at their 
 
What the Jail Held 119 
 
 birth, into the world of bustle, and sun, and breeze. 
 It was piteous to see them wandering- about with feeble 
 and sinewless steps and vacant eyes, staring timidly at 
 the noisy people, and shrinking dismayed from the 
 throngs of sympathizing questioners which gathered 
 round them. There were some whose names not even 
 the oldest citizens could recall, so long had they been 
 shut up from the sight of men. 
 
 Jails in those days were deemed as good places as 
 any for insane persons, and, in fact, were the only 
 places available ; so that, besides those whom long con 
 finement had brought almost to the point of imbecility, 
 there were several entirely insane and idiotic individ 
 uals among the prisoners. One of them went around 
 in a high state of excitement declaring that it was the 
 resurrection morning. Nor was the delusion altogether 
 to be marveled at, considering the suddenness with 
 which its victim had exchanged the cell, which for 
 twenty years had been his home, for the bright vast 
 firmament of heaven, with its floods of dazzling light 
 and its blue and immeasurable dome. 
 
 Another debtor, a man from Sheffield, as a prisoner 
 of war during the Revolution, had experienced the bar 
 barities practised by the British provost Cunningham 
 at New York. Having barely returned home to his 
 native village when he was thrust into jail as a debtor, 
 he had not unnaturally run the two experiences together 
 in his mind. It was his hallucination that he had been 
 all the while a prisoner of the British at New York, and 
 that the victorious Continental army had just arrived to 
 deliver him and his comrades. In Perez he recognized 
 General Washington. 
 
 " Ye wuz a long time comin , Gin ral, but it s all right 
 naow," he said. " I know d ye d come at last an I told 
 
120 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 the boys not to git diskerridged. The red-coats has 
 used us bad though, an I hope ye ll hang em, Gin ral." 
 
 At the time of which I write, rape was practically 
 an unknown crime in Berkshire, and theft extremely 
 uncommon. But among the prisoners there were a few 
 criminals of this kind. These, released with the rest, 
 were promptly recognized and seized by the people. 
 The general voice was first for putting them back in 
 the cells, but Abner declared that it would be doing 
 them a kindness to knock them on the head rather than 
 to send them back to such pig-stys, and this view of 
 the matter finding favor, the fellows were turned loose 
 with a kick apiece and a warning to make themselves 
 scarce. 
 
 In the first outburst of indignation over the horrible 
 condition of the prison and the prisoners, there was a 
 yell for Bement, and had the men, in their first rage, 
 laid hands on him it certainly would have gone hard 
 with him. But he was not to be found, and it was not 
 until some time after that some one, in ransacking the 
 tavern, found him in the garret, hidden under a tow 
 mattress stuffed with dried leaves, on which the hired 
 man slept at night. He was hauled down stairs by the 
 heels pretty roughly, and shoved and buffeted about a 
 good deal; but the people having now passed into a 
 comparatively exhilarated and good-tempered frame of 
 mind, he underwent no further punishment, that is, in 
 his person. But that was saved only at the expense 
 of his pocket, for the men insisted on his going behind 
 the bar and treating the crowd, a process which was 
 kept up until there was not a drop of liquor in his bar 
 rels, and scarcely a sober man in the village. Mrs. 
 Bement, meanwhile, had been caught and held by some 
 of the women, while one of the prisoners, a bestial- 
 
What the Jail Held 121 
 
 looking idiot, driveling and gibbering, and reeking 
 with filth, was made to kiss her. No other penalty 
 could have been devised at once so crushing to the vic 
 tim and so fully commending itself to the popular sense 
 of justice. 
 
 There were about ten or fifteen of the released debt 
 ors whose homes were in or about Stockbridge, and as 
 they could not walk any considerable distance, it was 
 necessary to provide for their transport. Israel Good 
 rich and Ezra Phelps, as well as other men from that 
 town, had driven down in their carts, and these vehi 
 cles being filled with straw, the released prisoners 
 were placed in them. Israel Goodrich insisted that 
 Reuben Hamlin and George Fennell, with Prudence, 
 should go in his cart, and into it were also lifted three 
 or four of the friendless prisoners, who had nowhere 
 to go, and whose helpless condition had stirred old 
 Israel s benevolent heart to its depths. 
 
 " The poor critters shell stay with me, ef I hev ter 
 send my chil n ter the neighbors ter make room fer 
 7 em," he declared, blowing his nose with a blast that 
 made his horses jump. 
 
 With six or seven carts leading the way, and some 
 seventy or eighty men following on foot, the Stock- 
 bridge party began the march home about two o clock. 
 Fully half the men who had marched down in the 
 morning chose to remain over in Barrington until 
 later, and a good many were too drunk on Bement s 
 free rum to walk. Most of Paul Hubbard s iron-work 
 ers being in that condition, he stayed to look after 
 them, and Peleg Bidwell had also stayed, to see that 
 none of the Stockbridge stragglers got into trouble, 
 and to bring them back when he could. Abner walked 
 at the head of the men. Perez rode by Israel Good- 
 
122 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 rich s cart. They traveled slowly, and it was five 
 o clock when they came in plain view of Stockbridge. 
 The same exclamation was on every lip. It seemed a 
 year instead of only a few hours since they had left in 
 the morning. 
 
 " It s been a good day s work, Cap n Hamlin the 
 best I ever hed a hand in," said Israel. "I jedge it 
 was the Lord s own work, ef we dew git hanged for t. " 
 
 As the procession passed Israel s house, he helped out 
 his sad guests, and sent on his cart with its other in 
 mates. All the way back from Barrington, the little 
 company had been meeting a string of men and boys, 
 in carts and afoot, who, having heard reports of what 
 had been done, were hastening to see for themselves. 
 Many of these turned back with the returning proces 
 sion, others keeping on. This exodus of the masculine 
 element, begun in the morning and continued all day, 
 had left in Stockbridge few save women and girls, and 
 small children, always excepting, of course, the families 
 of the wealthier and governing classes, who had no part 
 nor lot in the matter. Accordingly, when the party 
 reached the green, there was only an assemblage of 
 women and children to receive them. These crowded 
 around the carts containing the released prisoners, with 
 exclamations of pity and amazement, and as the vehi 
 cles took different directions at the parting of the 
 streets, each one was followed by a score or two, who 
 witnessed with tearful sympathy each reunion of hus 
 band and wife, of brother and sister, of mother and 
 son. Several persons offered to take George Fennell, 
 who had no home to go to, into their houses ; but Perez 
 said that he should, for the present at least, lodge with 
 him. 
 
 As Israel Goodrich s cart, containing Reuben and 
 
What the Jail Held 123 
 
 Fennell and Prudence, and followed by quite a con 
 course, turned up the lane to Elnathan Hamlin s house 
 and stopped before the door, Elnathan and Mrs. Ham- 
 lin came out looking terrified. Perez, fearing some 
 disappointment, had not told them plainly that he 
 should bring Reuben home, and the report of the jail- 
 breaking, although it had reached the village, had not 
 penetrated to their rather isolated dwelling. So that 
 it was with chilling apprehensions rather than hope 
 that they saw the cart, driven slowly, as if it carried 
 the dead, stop before their door, and the crowd of peo 
 ple following it. 
 
 " Mother, Fve brought Reub home," said Perez, and 
 a gaunt, wild-looking man was helped out of the cart, 
 and tottered into Mrs. Hamlin s arms. 
 
 There was nothing but the faint, familiar smile, and 
 the unaltered eyes, to tell her that this was the stalwart 
 son whom the sheriff led away a year ago. Had she 
 learned that he was dead, it would have shocked her 
 less than to receive him alive and thus. Elnathan and 
 she led him into the house between them. Ready 
 hands lifted Fennell out of the cart and bore him in, 
 Prudence following. And then Perez went in and 
 shut the door, and the cart drove off, the people fol 
 lowing. 
 
 Although the shock which Mrs. Hamlin had received 
 was almost overwhelming, she had known after the 
 first moment how to conceal it, and no sooner had the 
 invalids been brought within doors and comfortably 
 placed than she began without a moment s delay to 
 bestir herself to prepare them food and drink, and 
 make provision for their comfort. Tears of anguish 
 filled her eyes whenever she turned aside, but they 
 were wiped away, and her face was smiling and cheery 
 
i 24 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 when she looked at Reuben. But being with Perez a 
 moment in a place apart, she broke down and wept 
 bitterly. 
 
 " You have brought him home to die, " she sobbed. 
 
 But he reassured her. 
 
 " I have seen sick men," he said, "and I don t think 
 Reub will die. He ll pull through, now he has your 
 care. I m afraid poor George is too far gone, but 
 Reub will come out all right. Never fear, mother." 
 
 " Far be it from me to limit the Holy One of Israel 
 by my want of faith," said Mrs. Hamlin. " If it be the 
 Lord s will that Reuben live, he will live, and if it be 
 not His will, yet still will I praise His name for His 
 great goodness in that I am permitted to take care of 
 him, and do for him to the last. Who can say but the 
 Most High will show still greater mercy to His servant, 
 and save my son alive?" 
 
 As soon as the sick men were a little revived from 
 the exhaustion of their journey, tubs of water were 
 provided in the shed, and they washed themselves all 
 over, Elnathan and Perez assisting in the repulsive 
 task. Then, their filthy prison garments being thrown 
 away, they were dressed in old clothing of Elnathan s, 
 and their hair and matted beards were shorn off with 
 scissors. Perez built a fire in the huge open fireplace, 
 to ward off the slight chill of evening, and the sick 
 men were comfortably arranged before it upon the 
 great settle. The elderly woman and the deft-handed 
 maiden moved softly about, setting the tea-table, and 
 ministering to the needs of the invalids, arranging now 
 a covering, now moving a stool, or maybe merely rest 
 ing their cool and tender palms upon the fevered fore 
 heads. Fennell had fallen peacefully asleep, but 
 Reuben s face wore a smile, and in his eyes, as they 
 
What the Jail Held 125 
 
 languidly followed his mother s motions, to and fro, 
 there was a look of unutterable content. 
 
 "I declar for t," piped old Elnathan, as he sat in 
 the chimney corner warming his fingers over the ruddy 
 blaze, " I declar for t, mother, the boy looks like an 
 other man a ready. There ain t nothin like hum fer 
 sick folks." 
 
 "I shan t want no doctor s stuff," said Reuben, 
 feebly. " Seein mother raound s med cin nough fer 
 me, I guess." 
 
 And Perez, as he stood leaning against the chimney, 
 and looking on the scene, lit by the flickering firelight, 
 said to himself that never, surely, in all his fighting 
 had he drawn his sword to such good and holy pur 
 pose as that day. 
 
 Soon after nightfall the latch-string was pulled in a 
 timid sort of way, and Obadiah Weeks stood on the 
 threshold, waiting sheepishly till Mrs. Hamlin bade 
 him enter. He came forward toward the chimney, 
 taking off his hat and smoothing his hair with his hand. 
 
 " It looks kind o good ter see a fire," he remarked, 
 presently supplementing this by the observation that it 
 was "kind o hot though," and grinning vaguely 
 around at every one in the room, with the exception of 
 Prudence. He did not look at her, though he looked 
 all around her. He put his hands in his pockets and 
 took them out, rubbed one boot against the other, and 
 examined a wart on one of his thumbs, as if he now 
 observed it for the first time and was quite absorbed 
 in the discovery. 
 
 Then with a suddenness that somewhat startled 
 Perez, who had been looking at him with some curios 
 ity, he wheeled around so as to face Prudence, and 
 simultaneously sought in his pocket for something. 
 
126 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Not finding it at first, his face got very red. Finally, 
 however, he drew forth a little bundle and gave it to the 
 girl, mumbling something about " Sassafras, thought 
 mebbe t would be good fer yer dad," and bolted out 
 of the room. 
 
 Nobody said anything after Obadiah s abrupt retire 
 ment, but when, a few moments later, Prudence looked 
 shyly around, with cheeks a little rosier than usual, she 
 saw Perez regarding her with a slight smile of amuse 
 ment. A minute after she got up and went over to 
 Mrs. Hamlin, and laid the sassafras in her lap, saying, 
 
 " Don t you want this, Mrs. Hamlin? I m sure I 
 don t know what it s good for," and went back to her 
 seat and sat down again, with a little toss of the head. 
 
 Presently a medley of discordant sounds began to 
 float up from the village on the gentle southerly 
 breeze. There was a weird, unearthly groaning, as of 
 a monster in pain, mingled with the beating of tin 
 pans. Perez finally went to see what it was. At the 
 end of the lane he met Peleg Bidwell, and Peleg ex 
 plained the matter. 
 
 " Ye see the boys hev all got back from Harrington, 
 and they re pretty darned drunk, most on em, an so 
 nothin would do but they must go an rig up a hoss- 
 fiddle an hunt up some pans, an go an serenade the 
 silk-stockin s. They wuz a-givin it ter Squire Wood- 
 bridge, when I come by. I guess he won t git much 
 sleep ter-night," and with this information Perez went 
 home again. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 A Fair Suppliant 
 
 DOCTOR PARTRIDGE lived at this time on the hill 
 north of the village, and not very far from the parson 
 age, which made it convenient for him to report 
 promptly to Parson West, when any of his patients had 
 reached that point where spiritual must be substituted 
 for medical ministrations. It was about ten o clock by 
 the silver-dialed clock in the living-room of the doc 
 tor s house, when Prudence Fennell knocked at the 
 open kitchen door. 
 
 " What do you want, child? " inquired Mrs. Partridge, 
 who was in the kitchen trying to instruct a negro girl 
 how to use her broom of twigs so as to distribute the 
 silvery sand upon the floor in the complex wavy figures 
 which were the pride of the housewife of that day. 
 
 " Please, marm, father s sick, and Mis Hamlin thinks 
 he ought to have the doctor." 
 
 " Your father and Mrs. Hamlin? Who is your father, 
 pray? " 
 
 " I m Prudence Fennell, marm, and father s George 
 Fennell. He s one of them that were fetched from 
 Barrington jail yesterday, and he s sick. He s at 
 Mis Hamlin s, please, marm." 
 
 " Surely, by that, he must be one of the debtors. 
 The sheriff is more like to come for them than the doc. 
 tor. They will be back in jail in a few days, no doubt," 
 said Mrs. Partridge, sharply. 
 
iz8 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " No one will be so cruel. Father is so sick. If you 
 could see him, you would not say so. They shall not 
 take him to jail again. If Mr. Seymour comes after 
 him, I ll tear his eyes out. I ll kill him! " 
 
 "What a little tiger it is! " said Mrs. Partridge, re 
 garding with astonishment the child s blazing eyes and 
 panting bosom, while peering over her mistress s 
 shoulder the negro girl was turning up the whites of 
 her eyes at the display. " There, there, child, I meant 
 nothing. If he is sick, maybe they will leave him. I 
 know naught of such things. But this Perez Hamlin 
 will be hanged of a surety, and the rest be put in the 
 stocks and well whipped. " 
 
 " He will not be hung. No one will dare to touch 
 him," cried Prudence, becoming excited again. "He 
 is the best man in the world. He fetched my father 
 out of jail." 
 
 " Nay, but if you are so spunky to say no to your 
 betters, t is time you went. I know not what we are 
 in the way to, when a chit of a maid shall set me 
 right," said Mrs. Partridge, bristling up and turning 
 disdainfully away. 
 
 But, her indignation at once forgotten in terror lest 
 the doctor might not come to her father, Prudence 
 followed her and caught her sleeve, saying in tones of 
 entreaty, supported by eyes full of tears : 
 
 " Please, marm, don t mind what I said. Box my 
 ears, marm, but please let doctor come. Father coughs 
 so bad. " 
 
 " I will tell him, and he will do as he sees fit," said 
 Mrs. Partridge, stiffly ; " and now run home and do not 
 put me out with your sauciness again. " 
 
 An hour or two later, the doctor s chaise stopped at 
 the Hamlins . Doctors, as well as other people, were 
 
A Fair Suppliant 1 29 
 
 plainer spoken in those days, especially in dealing with 
 the poor. Doctor Partridge was a kind-hearted man, 
 but it did not occur to him, as it does to his successors 
 of our day, to mince matters with patients and cheer 
 them up with hopeful generalities, reserving the bitter 
 truths to whisper in the ears of their friends outside 
 the door. After a look and a few words, he said to 
 Fennell: 
 
 " I can do you no good." 
 
 " Shall I die? " asked the sick man, faintly. 
 
 " You may live a few weeks, but not longer. The 
 disease has taken too strong a hold. " 
 
 Fennell looked around the room. Prudence was not 
 present. 
 
 "Don t tell Prudy," he said. 
 
 As to Reuben, who was already looking much brighter 
 than the preceding night, the doctor said : 
 
 "He may get well," and left a little medicine for 
 him. 
 
 Perez, who had been in the room, followed him out 
 of doors. 
 
 " Do you think my brother will get well? " he asked. 
 
 " I think so, if he does not have to go back to jail." 
 
 "He will not go back unless I go with him," said 
 Perez. 
 
 "Well, I think it most likely you will," replied the 
 doctor dryly. " On the whole, I should say his pros 
 pect of long life was better than yours, if I am speak 
 ing to Perez Hamlin, the mob captain." 
 
 " You mean I shall be hanged? " 
 
 "And drawn and quartered," added the doctor, grim 
 ly. " That is the penalty for treason, I believe." 
 
 "Perhaps," said Perez. "We shall see. There will 
 be fighting before hanging. At any rate, if I m hanged, 
 9 
 
130 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 it will be as long as it s short, for Reub would have 
 died if I hadn t got him out of jail. " 
 
 The doctor gathered up the reins. 
 
 "I want to thank you for coming," said Perez. 
 "You know, I suppose, that we are very poor, and 
 can t promise much pay. " 
 
 " If you ll see that your mob doesn t give me such a 
 serenade as it did Squire Woodbridge last night, I ll 
 call it square," said the doctor, as he drove away. 
 
 Now, Meshech Little, the carpenter, had gone home 
 and to bed uproariously drunk the night before, after 
 taking part as a leading performer in the serenade to 
 the Squire. His sleep had been exceedingly sound, and 
 in the morning when it became time for him to go to 
 his work, it was only after repeated callings and shak 
 ings that Mrs. Little was able to elicit any sign of 
 wakefulness. 
 
 "You must get up," she expostulated. "Sun s half 
 way daown the west post, an ye know how mad Dea 
 con Nash 11 be ef ye don t git done shinglin his barn 
 ter-day." After a series of heart-rending groans and 
 yawns, Meshech, who had tumbled on the bed in his 
 clothes, got up and stood stretching and rubbing his 
 eyes in the middle of the floor. 
 
 "I snum, it s kind o tough," he said. "I wuz jest 
 a-dreamin ez I wuz latherin deacon. I d jest swotted 
 him one in the snoot when ye woke me, an naow, by 
 golly, I ve got ter go an work fer the critter." 
 
 "An ye better hurry, tew," urged his wife anxious 
 ly. " Ye know ye didn t dew the fust thing all day yis - 
 day." 
 
 " Where wuz I yis day? " asked Meshech, in whose 
 confused faculties the only distinct recollection was 
 that he had been drunk. 
 
A Fair Suppliant 131 
 
 "Ye went daown ter Barrington long with the 
 craowd." 
 
 Meshech was in the act of ducking his head in a 
 bucket of water, standing on a bench by the door, but 
 at his wife s words he became suddenly motionless as 
 a statue, his nose close to the water. Then he 
 straightened sharply up and stared at her, the working 
 of his eye showing that he was gathering up tangled 
 skeins of recollection. 
 
 "Wai, I swow! " he finally ejaculated, with an aston 
 ished drawl, "ef I hadn t forgot the hull dum per 
 formance, an here I wuz a-gittin up an* goin to work 
 jest ez if court hadn t been stopped. Gosh, Sally, I 
 guess I be my own man to-day, ef I hev got a bad taste 
 in my mouth. Golly ! it s lucky I thought afore I wet 
 my head. I couldn t ha gone ter sleep ag in," and 
 Meshech turned toward the bed, with apparent inten 
 tion of resuming his slumber. 
 
 But Mrs. Little, though she knew there had been 
 serious disturbances the preceding day, could by no 
 means bring her mind to believe that the entire system 
 of law and public authority had been thus suddenly and 
 completely overthrown, and she yet again adjured her 
 husband, this time by a more dread name, to betake 
 himself to labor. 
 
 " Ef ye don t go to work, Meshech, Squire Wood- 
 bridge 11 hev ye in the stocks fer gittin drunk. Dea 
 con kin git ye put in any time he wants ter complain on 
 ye. Ye better not rile him." 
 
 But at this Meshech, instead of being impressed, 
 burst into a loud haw-haw. 
 
 "Yis day mornin ye could ha scairt me out of a 
 week s growth a-talkin baout Squire, but, gol, ye ll 
 hev ter try suthin else naow. Why, don t ye know we 
 
132 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 wuz a-serenadin Squire with a hoss-fiddle till ten 
 o clock last night, an* he didn t das show his nose out 
 o doors?" 
 
 " Jiminy! " he continued, getting into bed and turn 
 ing over toward the wall, " I d give considabul ef I 
 could dream I wuz lickin Squire. Mebbe I kin. Don t 
 ye wake me up ag in, Sally; " and presently his regular 
 snoring proclaimed that he had departed to the free 
 hunting-grounds of dreamland in pursuit of his desired 
 game. 
 
 Now, Meshech s was merely a representative case. 
 He was by no means the only workingman who that 
 morning kept his bed warm until an unaccustomed 
 hour. Except those who had farms of their own to 
 work on, or work for themselves to do, there was 
 scarcely any one in the town who went to work. A 
 large part of the labor by which the industries of the 
 community had been carried on had been that of debt 
 ors working out their debts at such allowance for 
 wages as their creditor-employers chose to make them. 
 If they complained that it was too small, they had, in 
 deed, their choice of going to jail in preference to taking 
 it, but no third alternative was before them. Of these 
 coolies, as we should call them in these days, only a 
 few, who were either very timid or ignorant of the full 
 effect of yesterday s doings, went to their usual tasks. 
 
 Besides the coolies, there was a small number of 
 laborers who commanded actual wages in produce or in 
 money. Although there was no reason in yesterday s 
 proceedings why these should not go to work as usual, 
 yet the spirit of revolt that was in the air, and the 
 vague impression of impending changes that were to 
 better the condition of the poor, had so far affected 
 them also that most of the people took this day as a 
 
A Fair Suppliant 133 
 
 holiday, with a hazy but pleasing notion that it was the 
 beginning of unlimited holidays. 
 
 All this idle element naturally drifted into the streets, 
 and collected in particular force on the green and about 
 the tavern. By afternoon these groups, reinforced by 
 those who had been busy at home during the morning, 
 began to assume the dimensions of a crowd. The 
 Widow Bingham, at the tavern, had deemed it expe 
 dient to keep on the right side of the lawless element 
 by a rather free extension of credit at the bar, and 
 there was a good deal of hilarity, which, together with 
 the atmosphere of excitement created by the recent 
 stirring events, made it seem quite like a gala occasion. 
 Women and girls were there in considerable numbers, 
 the latter wearing their gayest ribbons, and walking 
 about in groups together, or listening to their sweet 
 hearts, as each explained to a credulous auditor how 
 yesterday s great events had hinged entirely on the 
 narrator s individual presence and personal prowess. 
 
 Some of the youths on the preceding night had cut a 
 tall sapling and set it in the middle of the green, in 
 front of the tavern. On the top of this had been fixed 
 the cocked hat of Justice Goodrich, brought as a trophy 
 from Great Barrington. This was the center of inter 
 est, the focus of the crowd, a visible, palpable proof of 
 the people s victory over the courts, which was the 
 source of inextinguishable hilarity. It was evident, 
 indeed, from the conversation of the children, that 
 there existed in the minds of those of tender years 
 some confusion as to the previous ownership of the 
 hat, and the circumstances connected with its acquisi 
 tion by the people. Some said that it was Burgoyne s 
 hat, and others that it was the hat of King George him 
 self ; while the affair of the day before at Great Barring- 
 
134 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 ton was variously represented as a victory over the 
 red-coats, the Indians, and the tories. But, whatever 
 might be the differences of opinion on these minor 
 points, the children were noisily agreed that there was 
 something to be exceedingly joyful about. 
 
 Next to the hat two uncouth-looking machines which 
 stood on the green near the stocks were the centers of 
 attention. They were wooden structures, somewhat re 
 sembling saw-horses. Beside each were several boards, 
 and close inspection would have shown that both the 
 surface of the horses and one side of these boards were 
 well smeared with rosin. These were the horse-fiddles, 
 contrived for the purpose of promoting wakefulness by 
 night on the part of the silk-stockings. Given plenty 
 of rosin, and a dozen stout fellows to each fiddle, draw 
 ing the boards to and fro across the backs of the horses, 
 pressing on hard, and the resulting shrieks were some 
 thing only to be imagined with the fingers in the 
 ears. The concert given to Squire Woodbridge the 
 night previous had been an extemporized affair, with 
 only one horse-fiddle and insufficient support from 
 other instruments. To judge from the conversation of 
 the men and boys standing around, it was intended to 
 night to give the Squire a demonstration which should 
 quite compensate him for the unsatisfactory nature of 
 the former entertainment and leave him in no sort of 
 doubt as to the sentiments of the people toward the 
 magistracy and silk-stockings in general, and himself 
 in particular. A large collection of tin pans had been 
 made, and the pumpkin vines of the vicinity had been 
 dismantled for the construction of pumpkin-stalk trom 
 bones, provided with which some hundreds of small 
 boys were to be in attendance. 
 
 Although the loud guffaws which from time to time 
 
A Fair Suppliant 135 
 
 were heard from the group of men and hobbledehoys 
 about the horse-fiddles on the green were evidence 
 that the projected entertainment was not without 
 comical features, as they looked at it, the aspect of the 
 affair as viewed by other eyes was decidedly tragical. 
 Mrs. Woodbridge had long been sinking with consump 
 tion, and the uproar and excitement of the preceding 
 night had left her in a condition so prostrated that Doc 
 tor Partridge had been called in. During the latter part 
 of her aunt s sickness Desire Edwards had made a prac 
 tice of running into her uncle Woodbridge s many times 
 a day to give a sort of oversight to the housekeeping, 
 a department in which she was decidedly more profi 
 cient than damsels of this day of much less aristocratic 
 pretensions find it consistent with their dignity to be. 
 The doctor and Desire were at this moment in the liv 
 ing-room, inspecting through the closed shutters the 
 preparations on the green for the demonstration of the 
 evening. 
 
 " Another such night will kill her, won t it, doctor? " 
 
 "I could not answer for the consequences," replied 
 the doctor, gravely. " I could scarcely hazard giving 
 her laudanum enough to carry her through such a 
 racket, and without sleep she cannot live another 
 day." 
 
 "What shall we do? What shall we do? Oh, poor 
 aunt Lucy! The brutes! the brutes! Look at them 
 over there, laughing their great horse laughs. I never 
 liked to see them whipped before, when the constable 
 whipped them, but oh, I shall like to after this! I 
 should like to see them whipped till the blood ran 
 down," cried the girl, tears of mingled grief and anger 
 filling her flashing eyes. 
 
 " I don t know when you are likely to have the op- 
 
136 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 portunity," said the doctor, dryly. "At present they 
 have the upper hand in town, and seem very likely to 
 keep it. We may thank our stars if the idea of whip 
 ping some of us does not occur to them." 
 
 " My father fears that they will plunder the store and 
 perhaps murder us, unless help comes soon." 
 
 "There is no help to come," said the doctor. "The 
 militia are all in the mob." 
 
 " But is there nothing we can do? Must we let them 
 murder my aunt before our eyes? " 
 
 "Perhaps," said the doctor, "if your uncle were to 
 go out to the mob this evening, and entreat them 
 civilly, and beg them to desist by reason of your aunt s 
 illness, they would listen to him." 
 
 "Doctor! Doctor! you don t know my uncle," cried 
 Desire. " He would sooner have aunt Lucy die, and 
 die himself, and have us all killed, than stoop to ask a 
 favor of the rabble. " 
 
 " I suppose it would be hard for him," said the doc 
 tor, " and yet to save your aunt s life maybe " 
 
 "Oh, I couldn t bear to have him do it," interrupted 
 Desire. "Poor uncle! I d rather go out to the mob 
 myself than have uncle Jahleel go. It would kill him. 
 He is so proud." 
 
 The doctor walked across the room two or three 
 times, with knitted brow, then paused and looked with 
 a certain critical admiration at the face of the girl, to 
 which excitement had lent an unusual brilliance. 
 
 "I will tell you," he said, "the only way I see of 
 securing a quiet night to your aunt. Just go yourself 
 and see this Hamlin, who is the captain of the mob, and 
 make your petition to him. I had words with him this 
 morning. He is a well-seeming fellow enough, and 
 has a bold way of speech that liked me well, i faith, 
 
A Fair Suppliant 137 
 
 though no doubt he s a great rascal and well deserves a 
 hanging." 
 
 He paused, for Desire was confronting him with a 
 look that was a peremptory interruption. Her eyes 
 were flashing, her cheeks mantled with indignant color, 
 and the delicate nostrils were distended with scorn. 
 
 " Me, Desire Edwards, sue for favors from this low 
 fellow! You forget yourself strangely, Doctor Par 
 tridge." 
 
 The doctor took his hat from the table and bowed 
 low. 
 
 " I beg your pardon, Miss Desire. Possibly your 
 aunt may live through the night, after all," and he 
 went out of the house shrugging his shoulders. 
 
 Desire was still standing in the same attitude when a 
 faint voice caught her ear, and stepping to a door she 
 opened it, and asked gently : 
 
 " What is it, aunt Lucy? " 
 
 "Your uncle hasn t gone out, has he?" asked Mrs. 
 Woodbridge, feebly. 
 
 "No, he s in his study walking to and fro, as he s 
 been all day, you know. " 
 
 " He mustn t go out. I was afraid he had gone. Tell 
 him I beg he will not go out. The mob will kill him." 
 
 " I don t think he will go, aunt." 
 
 " Do you think they will make that terrible noise 
 again to-night? " 
 
 " I I don t know. I m afraid so, aunt Lucy. " 
 
 "Oh, dear! " sighed the invalid, with a moan of ex 
 haustion, " it doesn t seem as if I could live through it 
 again, I m so weak and so tired. You can t think, dear, 
 how tired I am. " 
 
 Desire went into the room and shook up the pillows, 
 soothing the sick woman with some little cares, and then 
 
138 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 came out and shut the door. Her wide-brimmed hat of 
 fine Leghorn straw, with a blue ostrich plume curled 
 around the crown, and a light cashmere shawl lay on 
 the table. Perching the hat a trifle on one side upon 
 her dark brown curls, which were tied simply with a 
 ribbon behind, according to the style of the day, she 
 threw the shawl about her shoulders, and knocked at 
 the door of her uncle s study, which also opened into 
 the living-room, and was the apartment in which he 
 held court, when acting as magistrate. In response 
 to the knock the Squire opened the door. He looked 
 as if he had had a severe illness, so deeply had the 
 marks of chagrin and despite impressed themselves 
 upon his face in the past two days. 
 
 " I m going out for a little while," said Desire, "and 
 you will go to aunt Lucy if she calls, won t you? " 
 
 Her uncle nodded and resumed his walking to and 
 fro, and Desire, stepping out of the house by a back 
 way, went by a path across the fields, toward Elnathan 
 Hamlin s house. 
 
 The Hamlin house, like the houses of most of the 
 poorer class of people, had but two rooms on the 
 ground floor, a small bedroom and a great kitchen, in 
 which the family lived, worked, cooked, ate, and re 
 ceived company. There were two doors opening into 
 the kitchen from without, the front door and the back 
 door. Presently upon the front door there came a light 
 tap. Usually callers upon the Hamlins simply pulled 
 the latch-string and walked in. Nobody tapped except 
 the sheriff, the constable, the tax collector, and the 
 parson, and the calls of the latter had been rare since 
 the family fortunes, never other than humble, had been 
 going from bad to worse. So that it was not without 
 some trepidation, which was shared by the family, that 
 
A Fair Suppliant 1 39 
 
 old Elnathan now rose from his seat by the chimney 
 corner and went and opened the door. A clear, musi 
 cal voice, with that effect of distinctness without loud- 
 ness which marks the cultured class, was heard by 
 those within, asking: 
 
 " Is Captain Hamlin in the house? " 
 
 " Do ye mean Perez? " parleyed Elnathan. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " I b lieve he s somewheres raound. He s aout doin 
 up the chores, I guess. Did ye want ter see him? " 
 
 "If you please." 
 
 "Wai, come in, won t ye, an sit daown, an I ll go 
 aout arter him," said Elnathan, backing in and making 
 way for the guest to enter. 
 
 " It s the Edwards gal," he continued, in a feebly in 
 troductory manner, as Desire entered. 
 
 Mrs. Hamlin hastily let down her sleeves, and 
 glanced, a little shamefacedly, at her linsey-woolsey 
 short gown and coarse petticoat, and then about the 
 room, which was in some disorder, a condition not to 
 be wondered at considering the sudden increase of 
 her household cares. But it was, nevertheless, with 
 native dignity that she greeted her guest and set her a 
 chair, not allowing herself to be put out by the rather 
 fastidious way in which Desire held up her skirts. 
 
 "Sit down," said Elnathan hospitably, "an* be kind 
 o neighborly. She wants to see Perez, mother. I 
 dunno what baout, I m sure. Ef he s a-milkin naow 
 I s pose I kin spell him so s he kin come in an see what 
 she s a- wan tin of him," and the old man shuffled out of 
 the back door. 
 
 Desire sat down, calm and composed outwardly, but 
 tingling in every particle of her body with a revulsion 
 of taste, which almost amounted to nausea, at the vul- 
 
140 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 garity of the atmosphere. But it may be doubted if 
 her dainty attire, her air of distinction, and the refined 
 delicacy of her flower-like face had ever appeared to 
 more advantage than as she sat, inwardly fuming, on 
 that rude chair, in that rude room, amid its more or 
 less clownish inmates. Prudence was very much con 
 fused and red in the face. As housemaid in Squire 
 Woodbridge s family, she knew Desire well, and felt a 
 certain sort of responsibility for her on that account. 
 She did not know whether or not she ought to go and 
 speak to her now, though Desire took no notice of her. 
 Reuben also had risen from his chair as she came in, 
 and still stood awkwardly leaning on the back of it, not 
 seeming sure if he ought to sit down again or not. 
 Fennell, too sick to care, was the only self-possessed 
 person in the room. It was a relief to all when the 
 noise of feet at the door indicated the return of Elna- 
 than with Perez, but the running explanations of the 
 former, which his senile treble made quite audible 
 through the door, were less reassuring. 
 
 " Can t make aout what in time she wants on ye. 
 Mebbe she s took a shine to ye, he ! he ! I dunno. Ye 
 used ter be allers arter her when ye wuz a young 
 tin." 
 
 "Hush, father, she ll hear," said Perez, and opening 
 the door came into the kitchen. 
 
 Desire arose to her feet as he did so, and their eyes 
 met. He would have known her anywhere, in spite 
 of the nine years since he had seen her. The small 
 oval of the sparkling gipsy face, the fine features, so 
 mobile and piquant, he instantly recognized from the 
 portrait painted in undying colors upon his youthful 
 imagination. 
 
 "Are you Captain Hamlin?" she said. 
 
A Fair Suppliant 141 
 
 "I hope you remember Perez Hamlin,"he answered. 
 
 " I remember the name," she replied, coldly. " I am 
 told that you command the the men " she was going 
 to say mob "in the village." 
 
 "I believe so," he answered. He was thinking that 
 those red lips of hers had once kissed his, that August 
 morning when he stood on the green, ready to march 
 with the minute-men. 
 
 " My aunt, Madam Woodbridge, is very sick. If 
 your men make a noise again in front of my uncle s 
 house, she will die. I came to to ask " she had to 
 say it " you to prevent it." 
 
 " I will prevent it," said Perez. 
 
 Desire dropped an almost imperceptible curtsey, 
 raised the latch of the door, and went out. 
 
 All through the interview, even when she had over 
 heard Elnathan s confidences to Perez at the door, her 
 cheeks had not betrayed her by a trace of deeper 
 color, but now as she hurried home across the fields, 
 they burned with shame, and she fairly choked to think 
 of the vulgar familiarity to which she had submitted, 
 and the abject attitude she had assumed to this farm 
 er s son. She remembered well enough that childish 
 kiss, and saw in his eyes that he remembered it. This 
 perception had added the last touch to her humiliation. 
 
 But Perez went out and wandered into the wood- 
 lot, and sat down on a fallen tree, staring a long time 
 into vacancy with glowing eyes. He had dreamed of 
 Desire a thousand times during his long absence from 
 home, but since his return, so vehement had been the 
 pressure of domestic troubles, so rapid the rush of 
 events, he had not had time to think of her existence, 
 up to the moment when she had confronted him there 
 in the kitchen, with a beauty at once the same, and yet 
 
142 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 so much more rare, and rich, and perfect, than that 
 which had ruled his boyish dreams. 
 
 Presently he went down to the tavern. The crowd 
 of men and boys on the green received him with al 
 most an ovation. Shaking hands right and left with 
 the men, he went on to the tavern, and rinding Abner 
 smoking on the bench outside the door, drew him aside 
 and asked him to see that there was no demonstration 
 in front of Squire Woodbridge s that evening. Abner 
 grumbled a little. 
 
 " O course I m sorry for the woman, if she s sick, but 
 they never showed no consideration fer our feelin s, an 1 
 I don t see why we sh d be so darn tender o theirn. 
 I shouldn t be naow, arter they d treated a brother o 1 
 mine ez they hev Reub. But yew be cap n, Perez, an* 
 it shell be ez yew say. The boys kin try their riddles 
 on Squire Edwards instead. " 
 
 "No. Not there, Abner," said Perez, quickly. 
 
 " Why not, I sh d like ter know? His wife ain t sick, 
 be she?" 
 
 "No, that is, I don t know," said Perez, his face 
 flushing a little with the difficulty of thinking at once 
 of any plausible reason. "You see," he finally found 
 words to say, " the store is so near Squire Woodbridge s, 
 that the noise might disturb Madam Woodbridge." 
 
 " She must hev dum sharp ears, ef she kin hear much 
 at that distance," observed Abner, "but it shell be as 
 yew say, cap n. I s pose ye ve nothin ag in our givin 
 Sheriff Seymour a little mewsick." 
 
 "As much as you please, Abner." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 A Praise Meeting 
 
 As a fever awakes to virulent activity the germs of 
 disease in the body, so revolution in the political sys 
 tem develops the latent elements of anarchy. It is a 
 test of the condition of the system. The same politi 
 cal shock which throws an ill-constituted and unsound 
 government into a condition of chaos, is felt in a politi 
 cally vigorous and healthful commonwealth as only a 
 slight disturbance of the ordinary functions. The , 
 promptness with which the village relapsed into its or 
 dinary mode of life after the revolt and revolution of 
 Tuesday was striking testimony to the soundness and 
 vitality which a democratic form of government and 
 a popular sense of responsibility impart to a body 
 politic. On Tuesday the armed uprising of the people 
 had taken place ; on Wednesday there was considerable 
 effervescence of spirits, though no violence ; on Thurs 
 day there was still a number of loutish fellows loafing 
 about the streets, wearing, however, an appearance of 
 being disappointed that there was no more excitement, 
 and no prospect of anything special turning up ; Friday 
 and Saturday^ apparently disgusted at finding rebellion 
 such a failure in elements of recreation, these had gone 
 back to their farm-work and chores, and the village had 
 returned to its normal quiet, without even any more 
 serenades to the silk-stockings to enliven the evenings. 
 
 A foreigner, who had chanced to be passing through 
 
144 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 southern Berkshire at this time, would have deemed an 
 informant practising on his credulity who should have 
 assured him that everywhere throughout these quiet 
 and industrious communities the entire governmental 
 machinery was prostrate, that not a local magistrate 
 undertook to sit, not a constable ventured to attempt 
 an arrest, not a sheriff dared to serve a process or make 
 an execution, or a tax-collector distrain for taxes. And 
 yet such was the sober truth, for Stockbridge was in no 
 respect peculiarly situated, and in many of the towns 
 around, especially in Sheffield, Egremont, Great Bar- 
 rington, and Sandisfield, an even larger proportion of 
 the people were open sympathizers with the rebellion 
 than in the former village. 
 
 In these modern days, restaurants, barrooms, and 
 saloons, and similar places of resort, are chiefly 
 thronged on Saturday evening, when the labors of 
 the week being ended, the worker, in whatever field, 
 finds himself at once in need of convivial relaxation, 
 and disposed thereto by the exhilaration of a prospec 
 tive holiday. Necessarily, however, Saturday evening 
 could not be thus celebrated in a community which re 
 garded it in the light of holy time, and accordingly in 
 Stockbridge, as elsewhere in New England at that day, 
 Friday and Sunday evenings were by way of eminence 
 the convivial occasions of the week. One of the conse 
 quences of this arrangement was that a " blue " Satur 
 day as well as the modern " blue Monday " found place 
 in the workingman s calendar. But the voice of the 
 temperance lecturer was not yet heard in the land, and 
 headaches were still looked upon as providential mys 
 teries. 
 
 The Friday following the " goings-on at Barrington," 
 the tavern was filled by about the same crowd which 
 
A Praise Meeting 145 
 
 had been present the Friday evening preceding, and of 
 whose conversation on that occasion some account has 
 been given. But the temper of the gathering a week 
 before had been one of gloomy forebodings, hopeless, 
 and well-nigh desperate; to-night, it was jubilant. 
 
 " It s the Lord s doin s, an* marvelous in our eyes, 
 an 1 that s all I kin say about it," declared Israel Good 
 rich, his rosy face beaming with benevolent satisfaction 
 beneath its crown of white hair. " Jest think where 
 we wuz a week ago, an* where we be naow. Who d ha 1 
 thought it? If one on ye had told me last Friday 
 night, what wuz a-comin raound inside of a week, I 
 should ha said he wuz stark starin mad." 
 
 " We might ha knowed somethin wuz a-goin ter 
 happen," said Abner. "It s allers darkest jest afore 
 dawn, an t was dark nough ter cut last Friday." 
 
 " I declar for t," said Peleg Bidwell, " seem s though 
 I never did feel quite so daown-hearted like ez I did last 
 Friday night, when we wuz a-talkin it over. I d hed 
 a bad day on t. Sol Gleason d been a-sassin of me, 
 an I dassn t say a word fer fear he d send me to jail, 
 fer owin him, an when I got home she wuz a-cryin , fer 
 Gleason d been there an I dunno what he d said ter her ; 
 an then Collector Williams he told me he d hev ter sell 
 the furniture fer taxes, an by gracious ! takin the hull 
 together seemed s though there warn t no place fer a 
 poor man in this ere world, an I didn t keer ef I lived 
 much longer or not. An naow ! Wai, there ain t no 
 use o* tellin ye what ye know. I see Gleason on the 
 street yis day, an he looked like a whipped cur. He 
 hed his tail atween his legs, I tell ye. I reckon he 
 thought I wuz goin* ter lick him. It wuz * Good morn- 
 in , Peleg, ez sweet s sugar, an* he didn t hev nothin* 
 ter say baout what I wuz a-owin 1 him; no, nor he 
 10 
 
146 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 didn t ask me nothin baout why I hedn t been ter 
 work fer him sence Tewsday." 
 
 After the laughter over Peleg s description had sub 
 sided, he added, with a grin : 
 
 " Collector Williams he hain t thought ter call baout 
 them taxes sence Tewsday, nuther. Hev any on ye 
 seen nothin on him? " 
 
 "He hain t skurcely been out o his haouse," said 
 Obadiah Weeks. " I only see him once. It was arter 
 dark, an he wuz a-slippin over t the store arter his 
 tod." 
 
 " I guess it must be considabul like a funeral over t 
 the store, nights," observed Abner, grinning. "I sh d 
 like ter peek in an see em a-talkin on it over. Wai, 
 turn about s fair play. They don t feel no wuss nor 
 we did." 
 
 "Won t there be no more collectin taxes?" inquired 
 Laban Jones. 
 
 " I guess there won t be much more collectin raound 
 here nless the collector hez a couple o rigiments o 
 milishy ter help him dew it," replied Abner. 
 
 "I dunno baout that," said Ezra Phelps. "There s 
 more n one way ter skin a cat." 
 
 "There ain t no way o skinnin this ere cat cept 
 with bagonets," said Abner, decidedly, and a general 
 murmur expressed the opinion that, so far as the pres 
 ent company was concerned, government would have 
 to practise some preliminary phlebotomy on their per 
 sons before they would submit to any further bleeding 
 of their purses by the tax collector. Nothing pleased 
 Ezra more than to find himself placed thus argumenta- 
 tively at bay, with the entire company against him, and 
 then discomfit them all at a stroke. The general expres 
 sion of dissent with which his previous remark was re- 
 
A Praise Meeting 147 
 
 ceived seemed actually to please him. He stood looking 
 at Abner for a moment, without speaking, a complacent 
 smile just curving his lips, and the sparkle of the intel 
 lectual combatant in his eye. To persons of Ezra s dis 
 putatious and speculative temper, such moments, in 
 which they gloat over their victim as he stands within 
 the very jaws of the logic trap which they are about to 
 spring, are no doubt the most delightful of their life. 
 
 "Don t ye be in sech a hurry, Abner," he finally 
 ejaculated. " Would ye mind payin yer taxes ef gov - 
 ment giv ye the money ter pay em with?" 
 
 " No. In course I wouldn t. " 
 
 " Ezackly. Course ye wouldn t. Ye d be dum un- 
 reas nable ef ye did. Wai, naow I expect that air s 
 jest what gov ment s goin ter dew, ez soon ez it gits 
 the news from Northampton and Barrington. It s go- 
 in ter print a stack o bills an git em inter circula 
 tion, an then we ll all on us hev suthin ter pay fer 
 taxes, an not mind it a bit ; yis, an pay all the debts 
 that s a-owin , tew." 
 
 "I hain t no objection ter that," admitted Abner, 
 frankly. 
 
 "Of course ye hain t," said Ezra. "Nobody hain t. 
 Ye see ye spoke tew quick, Abner. All the kentry 
 wants is bills, a hull slew on em, lots on em, an then 
 the courts kin go on, an debts an taxes kin be paid, 
 an everything 11 be all right. I ain t one o them ez 
 goes ag in payin debts an taxes. I say, let em be 
 paid, every shillin , only let gov ment print nough bills 
 fer folks ter pay em with." 
 
 " I reckon a couple o wagon loads o new bills would 
 pay off every mortgage an most o the debts, in Berk 
 shire," said Israel, reflectively. 
 
 "Sartinly, sartinly," exclaimed Ezra. "That would 
 
148 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 be plenty. It don t cost nothin ter print em, an they d 
 pacify this ere caounty a dum sight quicker than any 
 two rigiments, or any ten, either." 
 
 "That air s what I believe in," said Israel, beaming, 
 "peaceable ways o settlin the trouble; bills instid 
 o bagonets. The beauty on t so far is that there 
 hain t been no sheddin o blood, nor no vi lence ter 
 speak of, ceptin a leetle shovin daown ter Barring- 
 ton, an I hope there won t be." 
 
 "I don t know about that," said Paul Hubbard. 
 " Not that I want to see any killing, but there are some 
 silk-stockings in this town that would look mighty well 
 sticking through the stocks, and there are some white 
 skins that ought to know how a whip feels, just so that 
 the men that own them might see how the medicine 
 tastes that they ve been giving us so many years. " 
 
 There was a general murmur indicating approval of 
 this sentiment, and several ejaculations of "That s so," 
 were heard, but Israel said, as he patted Hubbard pa 
 ternally on the back : 
 
 " Let bygones be bygones, Paul. Them things be 
 all over naow, an I guess there won t be no more 
 abusin of poor folks. The lion an the lamb be a-go- 
 in ter lie down together arter this, cordin ter scrip- 
 ter. I declare it seems jest like the good old time long 
 from seventy-four to eighty when there warn t no 
 courts in Berkshire. When I wuz a-tellin ye baout 
 them times t other night, I swow I didn t think ye d 
 ever hev a chance to see em fer yerselves, leastways, 
 not till ye got ter Heaven, an I guess that s a slim 
 chance with most on ye. Jest think on t, boys. 
 There ain t been nary sheriff s sale nor a man took ter 
 jail this hull week." 
 
 " Iry Seymour wuz a-goin ter sell aout Elnathan 
 
A Praise Meeting 149 
 
 Hamlin this week, but somehow he hain t got tew it," 
 said Abner, dryly. " I kind o think he heard some 
 news from Harrington baout Tuesday." 
 
 " Iry might s well give up his commission ez depity 
 sheriff, an try ter git inter some honest trade," re 
 marked Israel. 
 
 " Where does Squire Woodbridge keep hisself these 
 days? I hain t seen him skurcely this week," inquired 
 Ezra Phelps. 
 
 " Yer don t gen ally see much of a rooster the week 
 arter another rooster s gin him a darnation lickin on 
 his own dunghill, an that s what s the matter with 
 Squire," replied Abner. Shifting his quid of tobacco 
 to the other side of his mouth and expectorating across 
 half the room into the chimney-place he continued, re 
 flectively : 
 
 " By gosh ! I don t blame him, nuther. It must come 
 kind o tough fer a feller ez hez lorded it over Stock- 
 bridge f er nigh twenty year ter git put daown afore the 
 hull village the way Perez put him daown last Tuesday. 
 Ef I wuz Squire, I shouldn t never want ter show my 
 self ag in raound here." 
 
 "I be kind o sorry fer him," said Israel Goodrich. 
 " I declare for t if I ain t. It must be kind o tough 
 ter git took daown so, specially fer sech a dreffle proud 
 man." 
 
 " I hain t sot eyes on him only once sence Tewsday," 
 said Peleg. " He looked right straight through me ez 
 if he didn t see nothin . He didn t seem ter notice 
 nobody ez he went along the street." 
 
 "He d notice ye quick nough ef he could put 
 ye in the stocks," observed Abner, grimly. "I tell 
 yew, he ain t forgot one on us that went daown ter 
 Barrington, nor one on us ez wuz a-serenadin him 
 
150 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 t other night. Yew jest let Squire git his grip onto 
 this ere taown ag in ez he used ter hev it, an* the con 
 stable an the whippin post won t hev no rest till he s 
 paid off his grudge ag in every one on us. An ef yew 
 dunno that, yew dunno Squire Woodbridge." 
 
 The silence which followed indicated that the hear 
 ers did know the Squire well enough to appreciate the 
 force of Abner s remarks, and that the contingencies 
 which they suggested were inducive of serious re 
 flections. It was Jabez Flint, the tory, who effected a 
 diversion by observing dryly : 
 
 " Yas, ef Squire gits his grip ag in, some on us will 
 git darnation sore backs ; but he s lost it, an he ain t 
 a-goin ter git it agin ez long ez we fellers keeps ourn. 
 Only t won t dew ter hev no foolin ; t ain t no child s 
 play we re at." 
 
 " I know one thing dum well," said Obadiah Weeks, 
 "and that is I wouldn t like ter be in Cap n Hamlin s 
 shoes ef Squire sh d git top ag in. Jehosaphat ! though, 
 wouldn t he jest go fer the cap n? I guess he d give 
 him ten lashes every day fer a month, an make him 
 set in the stocks with pepper n salt rubbed in his back 
 tween times, an then hev him hung ter wind up with, 
 an he wouldn t be half satisfied then." 
 
 "Warn t that the gol-darndest though, baout that 
 Edwards gal a-goin ter ask Perez ter git the mewsic 
 stopped? By golly! I can t git over that," exclaimed 
 Peleg, grinning from ear to ear. " I was a-lyin awake 
 last night and I got ter thinkin bout it, an I begun 
 snickering so s she waked up, and she says, * Peleg/ 
 says she, * what in time be yew a-snickerin at? and I 
 says I wuz a-snickerin ter think o that air stuck-up 
 leetle gal o Squire Edwards daown on her knees ter 
 Perez, a-cryin an a-askin him ef he wouldn t please 
 
A Praise Meeting 151 
 
 hev the racket stopped. Yew said she wtiz ontew her 
 knees, didn t ye, Obadiah? " 
 
 " Tell us all about it, Obadiah. We want ter hear it 
 ag in," was the general demand. 
 
 "Ye see, the way on t wuz this," said Obadiah, noth 
 ing loath. " She come in all a-cryin an 7 scairt like, and 
 Perez he wuz there an so wuz the rest o the family, an 
 the fust thing she does, she gits down on the floor inter 
 the sand with a new silk gown she hed on, and asks 
 Perez to hev the hoss-fiddles stopped. An he said fust 
 as haow he wouldn t, said twas good nough f er the silk- 
 stockin s, and he p inted ter Reub an says for her ter 
 see what they d done ter his family. But she cried an 
 took on, an says ez haow she wouldn t git up nless 
 he d stop the hoss-fiddles, an so he hed ter give in, an* 
 that s all I know about it." 
 
 "Ye see Obadiah knows all baout it," said Abner. 
 " He keeps comp ny with the Fennell gal, as is to the 
 Hamlins. He got it straight s a string, didn t ye, Oba 
 diah?" 
 
 "Yas," said Obadiah, "it s all jest so. There ain t 
 no mistake. " 
 
 No incident of the insurrection had taken such hold 
 on the popular imagination as the appeal of Desire 
 Edwards to Perez for protection. It was immensely 
 flattering to the vanity of the mob, as typifying the 
 state of terror to which the aristocrats had been re 
 duced, and all the louts in town felt an inch taller by 
 reason of it, and walked with an additional swagger. 
 The demand for the details of the scene between Perez 
 and Desire was insatiable, and Obadiah was called on 
 twenty times a day to relate to gaping, grinning audi 
 ences just how she looked, what she did and said, and 
 what Perez said. The fact that Obadiah s positive in- 
 
152 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 formation on the subject was limited to a few words 
 that Prudence had dropped, made it necessary for him 
 to depend largely on his imagination to satisfy the de 
 mands of his auditors, which accounts for the slight 
 discrepancy between the actual facts as known to the 
 reader and the popular version. After everybody had 
 laughed and cracked his joke over Obadiah s last repe 
 tition of the anecdote, Peleg observed, 
 
 " I dunno s ez a feller kin blame Perez fer givin in 
 tew her. The gal s darned han some, though she be 
 most too black-complected." 
 
 "She ain t none tew black, not to my thinkm ," said 
 the Widow Bingham, looking up from her knitting as 
 she sat behind the bar, the widow herself was a buxom 
 brunette " but I never did see anybuddy kerry their 
 nose quite so high in all my born days. She don t pay 
 no more Mention to common folks n if they wuz dirt 
 under her feet." 
 
 "Where s Meshech Little ter-night?" inquired 
 Israel Goodrich, not so much interested as the younger 
 men in the points of young women. 
 
 " He s been drunk all day," said Obadiah, who always 
 knew everything that was going on. 
 
 " Where d he git the money? " asked some one. 
 
 " Meshech don t need no money ter git drunk," said 
 Abner. " He s got a thirst ontew him as ll draw liquor 
 aout of a cask a rod off, an the bung in, jest like the 
 clouds draws water on a hot day. He don t need no 
 money, Meshech don t, tew git soaked." 
 
 "He hed some, he hed a shillin , howsumever," said 
 Obadiah. " Deacon Nash give it ter him fer pitchin 
 rowen." 
 
 "I hain t been so tickled in ten year," said Israel, 
 * ez I wuz when deacon come raound to-day a-offerin 
 
A Praise Meeting 153 
 
 a shillin lawful ter the fellers ter git in his rowen fer 
 him. It must hev been like pullin teeth fer deacon ter 
 pay aout cash fer work, seein ez he s made his debtors 
 dew all his f armin fer him this five year ; but he hed 
 ter come tew t, fer his rowen wuz a-spilin , an nary 
 one o his debtors would lift a finger thout bein paid 
 for t." 
 
 " That air shillin o Meshech s is the fust money o 
 his n I ve seen fer flip in more n a year," said the Widow 
 Bingham, " an there be them, not a thousand mile from 
 here, nuther, ez I could say the same on, more shame 
 to em for t, an I a lone widder. " 
 
 The line of remark adopted by the widow appeared 
 to exert a depressing influence on the spirits of the 
 company, and this, together with the information 
 volunteered by Obadiah that it was "arter nine," pres 
 ently caused a general break-up. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 Perez Goes to Meeting 
 
 THE very next day, as Squire Edwards and his fam 
 ily were sitting down to dinner, the eldest son, Jonathan, 
 a fine young fellow of sixteen, came in late with a 
 blacked eye and torn clothes. 
 
 "My son," said Squire Edwards, sternly, "why do 
 you come to the table in such a condition? What have 
 you been doing? " 
 
 "I ve been fighting Obadiah Weeks, sir, and I 
 licked him, too." 
 
 "And I shall whip you, sir, and soundly," said his 
 father, with the Jove-like frown of the eighteenth- 
 century parent. " What have I told you about fight 
 ing? Go to your room, and wait for me there. You 
 will have no dinner." 
 
 The boy turned on his heel without a word, and went 
 out and up to his room. In the course of the afternoon, 
 Squire Edwards was as good as his word. When he 
 had come down stairs, after the discharge of his parent 
 al responsibilities, and gone into the store, Desire 
 slipped up to Jonathan s room with a substantial 
 luncheon under her apron. He was her favorite 
 brother, and it was her habit thus surreptitiously to 
 temper justice with mercy on occasions like the pres 
 ent. The lively satisfaction with which the youth 
 hailed her appearance gave ground to the suspicion 
 
Perez Goes to Meeting 155 
 
 that an empty stomach had been causing him more dis 
 comfort than a reproving conscience. As Desire was 
 arranging the viands on the table she expressed a hope 
 that the paternal correction had not been more painful 
 than usual. The boy began to grin. 
 
 "Don t you fret about father s lickings," he said. 
 " I d just as lief he d lick me all day if he ll give me a 
 couple of minutes to get ready in. How many pairs of 
 trousers do you suppose I ve got on? " 
 
 " One, of course. " 
 
 "Four," replied Jonathan, laying one forefinger by 
 the side of his nose and winking at his sister. " I was 
 sort of sorry for father, he got so tired trying to make 
 me cry. Jiminy! though, that veal pie looks good. 
 I should have hated to lose that. You were real good 
 to fetch it up. 
 
 " T was only fair, though, this time," he continued, 
 with his mouth full, " for t was on your account I got 
 to fighting." 
 
 "What do you mean?" Desire asked. 
 
 " Why, Obadiah s been telling the biggest set of lies 
 about you I ever heard of. He s been telling them all 
 over town. He said you went over to Elnathan Ham- 
 lin s, Wednesday, and got down on your knees to that 
 Captain Hamlin, so s to get him not to have any more 
 of those horse-fiddles in front of uncle s and our houses. 
 You d better believe I walloped him well, if he is bigger 
 than I am." 
 
 Jonathan, devoting himself to his luncheon, had not 
 observed his sister s face during this recital, but now 
 he said, glancing up : 
 
 " What on earth do you suppose put such a lie into 
 his head? " 
 
 " It isn t all a lie, Jonathan." 
 
156 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 The boy laid down his knife and fork, and stared at 
 her aghast. 
 
 "You don t mean you were over there?" he ex 
 claimed. 
 
 Desire s face was crimson to the roots of her hair. 
 She bowed her head. 
 
 " Wh-a-a-t! " cried Jonathan, in a tone of utter dis 
 gust, tempered only by a remnant of incredulity. 
 
 " I didn t go on my knees to him," said Desire faint- 
 
 iy. 
 
 " Oh, you didn t, didn t you? I believe you did," said 
 the boy slowly, with an accent of ineffable scorn, rising 
 to his feet and drawing away from his sister as she 
 seemed about to approach him. 
 
 Before the lad of sixteen, his elder sister, who had 
 carried him in her arms as a baby and had been his 
 teacher as a boy, stood like a culprit, quite abject. 
 Finally she said: 
 
 " I didn t do it for myself. I did it for aunt Lucy s 
 sake. The doctor said it would kill her if she was kept 
 awake another night, and there was no other way to stop 
 the mob. And so I did it." 
 
 " Was that how it was? " said the boy, evidently stag 
 gered by this unexpected plea, and seeming quite at 
 loss what to say. 
 
 "Yes," said Desire, rallying a little. "You might 
 have known it. Do you think I d do it for any other 
 reason? I couldn t see aunt Lucy die, could I?" 
 
 " No-o, I suppose not, "replied Jonathan slowly, as if 
 he were not quite sure. His face wore a puzzled ex 
 pression, the problem offered by this conflict of ethical 
 obligations with caste sentiment being evidently too 
 much for his boyish intellect. Evidently he had 
 not inherited his grandfather Edwards s metaphysical 
 
Perez Goes to Meeting 157 
 
 faculty. Finally, with an air of being entirely posed 
 and losing interest in the subject, he sat down on the 
 edge of his bed and abruptly closed the interview by 
 observing, 
 
 " I m going to take off some of these trousers. They 
 are too hot." Desire discreetly departed. 
 
 The only point in the observance of Sunday by the 
 forefathers of New England which is still generally 
 practised in these degenerate days, namely, the duty of 
 sleeping later than usual on that morning, was trans 
 gressed in at least one Stockbridge household on the 
 Lord s Day following. Captain Perez Hamlin was up 
 betimes and busy about house and barns. Since he 
 had returned home he had taken the responsibility of 
 all the chores about the place from the enfeebled 
 shoulders of his father, besides supplying the place of 
 nurse to the invalids. This morning he had risen 
 earlier than usual, because he wanted to finish all the 
 work before time for meeting. 
 
 It would have been easy for any one whose eye had 
 followed him at his work to see that his mind was pre 
 occupied. Now he would walk about briskly, with 
 head in the air, whistling as he went, or talking to the 
 horse and cow, and anon bursting out laughing at his 
 own absent-mindedness, as he found he had given the 
 horse the cow s food, or put the meal into the water 
 bucket. And again, you would certainly have thought 
 that he was fishing for the frogs at the bottom of the 
 well instead of drawing water, so long did he stand 
 leaning over the well-curb, before he bethought him 
 self to loose his hold on the rope and let the ponderous 
 well-sweep bring up the bucket. 
 
 He had not seen Desire Edwards since the Wednesday 
 afternoon when she had called at his home, but he knew 
 
158 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 he should see her at meeting*. It was she who was re 
 sponsible for the day-dreaming way in which he was 
 going about this morning-, and for a good deal of pre 
 vious day dreaming and night dreaming, too, in the 
 last few days. The analogy of the tender passion to 
 chills and fever had been borne out in his case by 
 the usual alternations of complacency and depression. 
 He told himself that, since he remembered so well his 
 boyish courtship of her, she, too, doubtless remembered 
 it. A woman was even more likely than a man to re 
 member such things. Doubtless, she remembered, too, 
 that kiss she had given him. Her coming to him to 
 ask his protection for her aunt, if she remembered 
 those passages, had some significance. She must have 
 known that he would also remember them, and surely 
 that would have deterred her from reopening their ac 
 quaintance had she found the reminiscences in question 
 disagreeable. He assured himself that had it been 
 wholly unpleasant for her to meet him, she would have 
 been shrewd enough to devise some other way of se 
 curing the purpose of her visit. She had remained 
 unmarried all the time of his absence, although she 
 must have had suitors. Perhaps well, if his conjec 
 ture was a little conceited, be sure it was alternated 
 with others self-depreciatory enough to balance it. 
 But I have no space or need to describe the familiar 
 process of architecture, by which with a perhaps for a 
 keystone, possibilities for pillars, and dreams for pin 
 nacles, lovers are wont to rear in a few idle hours 
 palaces outdazzling Aladdin s. I shall more profitably 
 give a word or two of explanation to another point. 
 Those familiar with the aristocratic constitution of 
 New England society at this period will perhaps deem 
 it strange that the social gulf between the poor farmer s 
 
Perez Goes to Meeting 159 
 
 son, like Perez, and the daughter of one of the most 
 distinguished families in Berkshire, should not have 
 sufficed to deter the young man from indulging aspira 
 tions in that direction. 
 
 Perhaps if he had grown up at home such might have"\ 
 been the case, despite his boyish fondness for the girl. 
 But_the army of the Revolution had been, for its offi 
 cers ancfthe more intelligent element, a famousTscn~6ol 
 drdemocrafic ideas. Perez was~uniy one of thousands 
 who cameTioTn~e~tteeply imbued with principles of social 
 equality ; principles which, despite finely phrased mani 
 festoes and declarations of independence, were des 
 tined to work like a slow leaven for generations to come, 
 ere they transformed the oligarchical system of colonial } 
 society into the democracy of our day. ^ fS.\& true that 
 Paul Hubbard, Abner, Peleg, Meshech, and the rest, 
 had been, like Perez, in the army, and yet the demo 
 cratic impressions they had there received, now that 
 tney had returned home, served only to exasperate 
 them against the pretensions of the superior class, 
 without availing to eradicate their inbred instincts of 
 servility in the presence of the very men they hated. 
 Precisely this self-contemptuous recognition of his own 
 servile feeling, operating on a morose temper, was the 
 key to Hubbard s special bitterness toward the silk- 
 stockings. That Perez Jhad^ none of this peasant s in 
 stinct must, after all, be partly ascribed to tHe~"Tact 
 that his descent, by his mother s side, had been that of a 
 gentleman, and as Reuben had taken after Elnathan, so 
 
 ^T" "^^" *" ** """* 
 
 Perez was his mother s boy. ("""He Telt himself a gentle 
 man, although a farmer^son. The air of dainty re 
 moteness and distinction which invested Desire in his 
 imagination was by virtue of her womanhood solely, 
 not as the representative of a higher class. He was 
 
160 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 penniless, she was rich, but to that sufficiently discour 
 aging obstacle no paralyzing sense of caste inferiority 
 was added in his mind. 
 
 Despite the dilatory and absent-minded procedure of 
 the young man, by the time Prudence came out to call 
 him in to the breakfast of fried pork and johnny-cake, 
 the chores were done, and afterwards he had only to 
 concern himself with his toilet. He stood a long time 
 gazing ruefully at his coat, so sadly threadbare and 
 white in the seams. It was his only one, and very old, 
 but Prudence thought, when with a sigh he finally 
 drew it on, that she had never seen so fine a soldier, 
 and, indeed, the coat did look much better on than off, 
 for a gallant bearing will, to some extent, redeem the 
 most dilapidated attire. 
 
 Reuben had grown stronger from day to day, and 
 though still weak, it was thought that he could well 
 enough take care of George Fennell during the fore 
 noon, and allow the rest of the family to go to meeting. 
 Perez had tinkered up the old cart, and contrived a 
 harness out of ropes, by which his own horse could be 
 attached to it, the farm horse having been long since 
 sold off; and Mrs. Hamlin, who by reason of infirmi 
 ties had long been debarred from the privileges of the 
 sanctuary, expected to be able by this means to be 
 present there this morning, to offer up devout thanks 
 giving for the mercy which had so wonderfully, in one 
 week, restored to her both her sons. 
 
 It was half -past nine when the air was filled with a 
 deep, musical, melancholy sound which appeared to 
 come from the hill north of the village, where the 
 meeting-house stood. It lasted perhaps five seconds, 
 beginning with a long crescendo, and quivering into 
 silence by an equally prolonged diminuendo. It was 
 
Perez Goes to Meeting 161 
 
 certainly an astonishing sound, but none of the family 
 appeared in the least agitated, Elnathan merely re 
 marking: 
 
 " There s the warnin blow, Perez, I guess ye better 
 be thinkin baout hitchin up. " It were strange indeed 
 if the people of Stockbridge had not by that time be 
 come familiar with the sound of the old Indian conch- 
 shell which, since the mission church was founded at 
 the first settlement of the town, had served instead of a 
 meeting-house bell. It may be well believed that 
 strong lungs were the first requisite in sextons of that 
 day. When an hour later the same dreary wail filled 
 the valley once more with its weird echoes, the family 
 was on its way to meeting, Mrs. Hamlin and Elnathan 
 in the cart, and Perez with Prudence on foot. The 
 congregation was now rapidly arriving from every 
 direction, and the road was full of people. There were 
 men on horseback with their wives sitting on a pillion 
 behind, and clasping the conjugal waistband for secur 
 ity ; families in carts, and families trudging afoot, while 
 here and there the more pretentious members of the 
 congregation were seen in chaises. 
 
 The new meeting-house on the hill had been built 
 during Perez s absence, to supersede the old church on 
 the green, with which his childish associations were 
 connected. It had been erected directly after the close 
 of the war, and the effort, in addition to the heavy 
 taxation then necessary for public purposes, was such 
 a drain on the resources of the town as to have been a 
 serious local aggravation of the distress of the times. 
 According to the rule in church-building religiously 
 adhered to by the early New Englanders, the bleakest 
 spot within the town limits had been selected for the 
 meeting-house. It was a white, barn-shaped structure, 
 ii 
 
1 62 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 fifty feet by sixty, with a steeple, the pride of the 
 whole country-side, sixty-two feet high, and tipped 
 with a brass rooster brought from Boston, to serve as a 
 weather-vane. 
 
 Perez and Prudence, separating at the door, went to 
 the several places which Puritan decorum assigned to 
 those of the spinister and bachelor condition respec 
 tively, the former going into the right-hand gallery, 
 the other into the left, exceptions being made, however, 
 in behalf of the owners of the square pews, who en 
 joyed the privilege of having their families with them 
 in the house of God. Across the middle of the end 
 gallery Doctor Partridge s square pew extended, so 
 that by no means might the occupants of the two side 
 galleries come within whispering distance of each 
 other. 
 
 Obadiah Weeks, Abe Konkapot and Abner, who was 
 a widower and classed himself with bachelors, and a 
 large number of other young men whom Perez recog 
 nized as belonging to the mob under his leadership on 
 Tuesday, were already in their seats. Fidgeting in 
 unfamiliar boots and shoes, and meek with plentifully 
 greased and flatly plastered hair, there was very little 
 in the subdued aspect of these young men to remind 
 any one of the truculent rebels who a few days before 
 had shaken their bludgeons in the faces of the Honor 
 able the Justices of the Common Pleas. As Perez 
 entered the seat with them, they recognized him with 
 sheepish grins, as if to say, "We re all in the same 
 box," quite as the occupants of a prisoner s dock might 
 receive a fellow victim thrust in with them by the sher 
 iff. Obadiah reached out his clenched fist with some 
 thing in it, and Perez putting forth his hand received 
 therein a handful of dried caraway seeds. " Thought 
 
Perez Goes to Meeting 163 
 
 mebbe ye hadn t got no meetin -seed, " whispered Oba- 
 diah. 
 
 Owing to the fact that nine years absence from home 
 had weaned him somewhat from native customs, Perez 
 had, in fact, forgotten to lay in a supply of this inesti 
 mable simple, to the universal use of which by our fore 
 fathers during religious service may probably be 
 ascribed their endurance of Sabbatical and doctrinal 
 rigors to which their descendants are confessedly un 
 equal. It is well known that their knowledge of the 
 medicinal uses of common herbs was far greater than 
 ours, and it was doubtless the discovery of some secret 
 virtue, some occult theological reaction, if I may so 
 express myself, in the seeds of the humble caraway, 
 which led to the undeviating rule of furnishing all the 
 members of every family, from children to gray-heads, 
 with a small quantity to be chewed in the mouth and 
 mingled with the saliva during attendance on the stated 
 ordinances of the gospel. Whatever may be thought 
 of this theory, the fact will not be called in question 
 that, in the main, the relaxation of religious doctrine 
 and Sabbath observance in New England has pro 
 ceeded side by side with the decline in the use of 
 "meetin -seed." 
 
 In putting all the young men together in one gallery, 
 it may be thought that some risk was incurred of mak 
 ing that a quarter of disturbance. But if the tithing- 
 man, with his argus eyes and long rod, were not enough 
 to insure propriety, the rows of charming maidens on 
 the seats of the gallery directly opposite could have 
 been relied upon to complete the work. The galleries 
 were very deep, and the distance across the meeting 
 house, from the front seat of one to that of the other, 
 was not over twenty-five feet. At this close range. 
 
164 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 reckoning girls eyes to have been about as effective 
 then as they are now, it may be readily inferred what 
 havoc must have been wrought in the bachelors rows 
 in the course of a two-hours service. 
 
 The singers sat in the front seat of the galleries : the 
 bass singers in the front seat on the bachelors side, the 
 treble in the front seat on the spinsters side, and the 
 alto and tenor singers in the wings of the end gallery, 
 separated by Doctor Partridge s pew. For, as in most 
 New England churches at this date, the "old way," of 
 purely congregational singing by "lining out," had 
 given place to select choirs an innovation, however, 
 over which the elder part of the congregation still 
 groaned. On the back seats of the end gallery, be 
 hind the tenors and altos respectively, sat the negro 
 freedmen and freedwomen, the Pomps and Cudjos, the 
 Dinahs and Blossoms. Sitting by Prudence, among 
 the treble singers, Perez noticed a young Indian girl 
 of very uncommon beauty and refinement of features, 
 her dark olive complexion furnishing a perfect foil to 
 the blooming face of the white girl. 
 
 "Who s that girl by Prudence Fennell?" he whis 
 pered to Abe Konkapot, who sat beside him. The 
 young Indian s bronze face flushed darkly, as he re 
 plied: 
 
 "That s Lucretia Nimham." 
 
 Perez was about to make further inquiries when it 
 flashed on him that this was the girl whom Obadiah 
 had jokingly alluded to as the reason why Abe had lin 
 gered in Stockbridge, instead of moving out to York 
 State with his tribe. She certainly was a very sufficient 
 reason for a man s doing or not doing almost anything. 
 
 From his position in the gallery Perez could look 
 down on the main body of the congregation below, and 
 
Perez Goes to Meeting 165 
 
 his cheek flushed with anger as he saw his father and 
 mother occupying one of the seats in the back part of 
 the room, in the locality considered least in honor, ac 
 cording to the distinctions followed by the parish com 
 mittee, in periodically reseating the congregation, or i 
 " dignifying the seats," as the people called it. Con- V^ 
 siderably nearer the pulpit, and in seats of correspond 
 ingly greater dignity, he recognized Israel Goodrich 
 and Ezra Phelps, the two men of chiefest estate among 
 the insurgents. Directly under and before the pulpit, 
 almost beneath it, in fact, facing the people from be 
 hind a sort of railing, sat Deacon Nash. His brother 
 deacon, Squire Timothy Edwards, had not yet arrived. 
 As he looked over the fast filling house, for he 
 and Prudence had arrived rather early, he met many 
 eyes fixed curiously upon him. Sometimes a whisper 
 would pass along a seat, from person to person, till, one 
 after another, the entire row had turned and stared in 
 tently at him. This was the beginning of his fame. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 What Happened After Meeting 
 
 THERE had been considerable discussion during the 
 week as to whether Squire Woodbridge, in view of the 
 public humiliation which had been put upon him, 
 would expose himself to the curious gaze of the com 
 munity by coming to meeting on the following Sun 
 day. It had been the more prevalent opinion that he 
 would find in the low condition of Mrs. Woodbridge, 
 who was hovering between life and death, a reason 
 which would serve as an excuse for not " attending on 
 the stated ordinances of the gospel. " But now, from 
 those whose position enabled them to command a view 
 of the front door of the meeting-house, rose a sibilant 
 whisper, distinct above the noise of boots and shoes 
 upon the uncarpeted aisles : 
 
 " Here he comes! Here comes Squire." 
 There were several gentlemen in Stockbridge who, 
 by virtue of a liberal profession or present or past 
 official dignities, had a claim, always rigorously en 
 forced and scrupulously conceded, to the title of Es 
 quire, but when " The Squire " was spoken of, it was 
 always Jahleel Woodbridge whom the speaker had in 
 mind. Decidedly, those who thought he would not 
 dare to appear in public had mistaken his temper. 
 His face, always that of a full-blooded man, was redder 
 than common ; in fact, contrasted with the white pow- 
 
What Happened After Meeting 167 
 
 der of his wig, it seemed almost purple, but that was 
 the only sign he gave that he was conscious of the peo 
 ple s curious gaze. He wore a long-skirted, straight- 
 cut coat of fine blue cloth with brass buttons ; a brown 
 waistcoat, and small-clothes, silk hose, and a ruffled 
 white shirt and cuffs. Under one arm he carried his 
 three-cornered hat and under the other his gold-headed 
 cane, and he walked with his usual firm, heavy, full- 
 bodied step the step of a man who is not afraid of 
 making a noise and expects that people will look at him. 
 There was not the slightest deflection from the old-time 
 arrogance in the stiff carriage of the head and eyes, nor 
 anything whatever to show that he considered himself 
 one jot or tittle less the autocrat of the town than on 
 the previous Sabbath. Walking the whole length of 
 the meeting-house, he opened the door of the big 
 square pew at the right hand of the pulpit, considered 
 the first in honor, and the only part of the interior of 
 the meeting-house, save the pulpit and sounding-board, 
 which was painted. One by one the numerous children 
 who called him father passed before him into the pew. 
 Then he closed the door and sat down, facing the con 
 gregation, and slowly and deliberately looked at the 
 people. As his glance traveled steadily along the lines 
 of seats, the starers left off staring and looked down 
 abashed. After he had thus reviewed the seats below, 
 he turned his eyes upward and proceeded to scan the 
 galleries with the same effect. 
 
 So strong was the impression made by this unruffled 
 and authoritative demeanor that the people were fain 
 to scratch their heads and look at one another in vacant 
 questioning, as if doubtful if they had not dreamed all 
 this about the great man having been put down by Perez 
 Hamlin, insulted by the mob, and reduced even now 
 
1 68 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 to such powerlessness that he owed the protection of 
 his sick wife to the favor of the threadbare Continental 
 captain up there in the gallery. To those conscious of 
 having had a part in these doings, there was a disagree 
 ably vivid suggestion of the stocks and whipping-post 
 in the Squire s haughty stare, against which even a 
 sense of their numbers failed to reassure them. Of 
 course, the revolt had gained far too great headway to 
 be now suppressed by anybody s personal prestige or by 
 the frowns and stares of any number of Squire Wood- 
 bridges; but, nevertheless, the impression which even 
 after the events of the last week he was still able to 
 make upon the people by his mere manner, was strik 
 ing testimony to their inveterate habit of awe toward 
 him, as the embodiment of secular authority among 
 them. 
 
 Perez had been too long absent from home, and dif 
 fered too much in habits of thought, fully to under 
 stand the sentiments of the peasant-like people towards 
 the Squire; in truth his attention was diverted from 
 that gentlemen ere he had time to observe the effect of 
 his entrance. For he had scarcely reached his pew 
 when Squire and Deacon Timothy Edwards came up 
 the aisle, followed by his family. Desire wore a blue 
 silk skirt and close-fitting bodice, with a white lace 
 kerchief tucked in about her shoulders, and the same 
 blue-plumed hat of soft Leghorn straw in which we 
 have seen her before, the wide brim falling lower on 
 one side than the other, over her dark curls. As she 
 swept up the aisle between the rows of farmers and 
 farmers wives, the contrast between their coarse, ill- 
 fitting and sad-colored homespun, and her rich and 
 tasteful robes, was not more striking than the difference 
 between the delicate distinction of her features and 
 
What Happened After Meeting 169 
 
 their hard, rough faces, weather-beaten and wrinkled 
 with toil and exposure, or sallow and hollow-cheeked 
 with care and trouble. She looked like one of a differ 
 ent order of beings, and indeed, it is nothing more than 
 truth to say that such was exactly the opinion which 
 Miss Desire herself entertained. The eyes of admira 
 tion with which the girls leaning over the gallery fol 
 lowed her up the aisle were quite without a spark of 
 jealousy, for they knew that their rustic sweethearts 
 would no more think of loving her than of wasting 
 their passion on the moon. She was meat for their 
 betters, for some great gentleman from New York or 
 Boston, all in lace and ruffles, some judge or senator, 
 or, greater still, may be some minister. 
 
 To tell the whole truth, however, the admiring at 
 tention which her own sex accorded to Desire on Sun 
 days was rather owing to the ever- varying attractions 
 of her toilet, than to her personal charms. If any of 
 the damsels of Stockbridge who went to bed without 
 their supper Sunday night, because they could not re 
 member the text of the sermon, had been allowed to 
 substitute an account of Desire Edwards s toilet, it is 
 certain they would not have missed an item. It was 
 the chief boast of Mercy Scott, the village seamstress, 
 that Desire trusted her new gowns to her instead of 
 sending to New York for them. From the glow of 
 pride and importance on Miss Mercy s rather dried-up 
 features, when Desire wore a new gown for the first 
 time to church, it was perfectly evident that she looked 
 upon herself as the contributor of the central feature of 
 the day s services. At the quilting and apple-paring 
 bees held about the time of the making of such a new 
 gown, Miss Mercy was the centre of interest, and no 
 other gossip was started until she had completed her 
 
170 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 confidences as to the material, cost, cut, and fit of the 
 foreshadowed garment. It was with glistening eyes 
 and fingers that forgot their needles that these wives 
 and daughters of poor hard-working farmers drank in 
 the details about rich Eastern silks and fabrics of gor 
 geous tints and airy textures, their own coarse, butter 
 nut homespun quite forgotten in imagined splendors. 
 In their rapt attention there was no tinge of envy, for 
 such things were too far above their reach to be once 
 thought of in connection with themselves. It was 
 upon the fit of Desire s gown, however, that Miss 
 Mercy, with the instinct of the artist, grew most im 
 passioned. 
 
 " T ain t no credit to me a-fittin her, " she would some 
 times protest. " There s some figgers you can t fetch 
 cloth tew, nohow. But, deary me, land sakes alive, 
 the cloth seems ter love her, it clings to her so nateral. 
 An t ain t no wonder ef it doos. I never see sech a 
 
 figger. Why, her " But Miss Mercy s audiences 
 
 at such times were exclusively feminine. 
 
 It was a very noticeable circumstance on the present 
 Sunday that all the persons in the meeting-house who 
 looked at Desire as she walked up the aisle, proceeded 
 immediately afterward to screw their necks around 
 and stare at Perez, thereby betraying that the sight of 
 the one had immediately suggested the other to their 
 minds. 
 
 The Edwards seat was the second in dignity in the 
 meeting-house, being the one on the left of the pulpit, 
 and ranking with that of the Sedgwicks, although as 
 between the several leading pews the distinction was 
 not considered so decided as to be odious. Having 
 ushered his family to their place, Squire Edwards took 
 his own official seat as deacon, beside Deacon Nash, 
 
What Happened After Meeting 171 
 
 behind the railing, below the pulpit, and facing the peo- 
 pie. 
 
 Then Parson West came tip the aisle, in flowing 
 gown and bands, his three-cornered hat under his arm ; 
 he climbed the steps into the lofty pulpit, set the hour 
 glass up in view, and the service began. There was 
 singing, a short prayer, and again singing, and then 
 the entire congregation rose, the seats were fastened 
 up that none should sit, and the long prayer began, 
 and went on and on for nearly an hour. Then there 
 was another psalm, and then the sermon began. Up 
 at Pittsfield that morning, you may be very sure that 
 Parson Allen gave his people a rousing discourse on 
 the times, wherein the sin of rebellion was treated 
 searchingly, and the duty of citizens to submit to 
 the powers that be, and to maintain lawful authority 
 even to the shedding of blood, were vigorously set 
 forth. But Parson West was not a political parson, 
 and there was not a word in his sermon which his hear 
 ers, watchful for anything of the kind, could construe 
 into a reference to the existing events of the past week. 
 It was his practice to keep several sermons on hand, and 
 the sermon that day might just as well have been pre 
 pared a thousand years before. It was upon the sub 
 ject of the deplorable consequences of neglecting the 
 baptism of infants. 
 
 Parson West presented the doctrine that if a parent 
 truly gave up a child in baptism, it would be accepted 
 and saved, whether it died in infancy or lived to pass 
 through the mental exercises of an adult convert. But 
 on the other hand, if that duty was purposely neglected, 
 or if baptism was unaccompanied by a proper frame of 
 mind in the parent, there was no reason or hint from 
 revelation to believe that the child was saved. Con- 
 
1 72 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 sidering that the infant was justly liable to eternal suf 
 fering on account of Adam s sin, it was impossible for 
 the human mind to see how God could be just and yet 
 the justifier of an unbaptized infant. But it was not 
 for the human mind to limit infinite mercy and wisdom, 
 and possibly in His secret councils God had devised a 
 way of salvation even for so desperate a case. So that 
 while hope was not absolutely forbidden to parents 
 who had neglected the baptism of their infants, confi 
 dence would be most wicked and presumptuous. 
 
 Deacon Edwards fidgeted on his seat at the laxity of 
 this doctrine, as well might the son of Jonathan Ed 
 wards ; and Deacon Nash, who inherited his Calvinism 
 from a father who had moved from Westfield to Stock- 
 bridge for the express purpose of sitting under that re 
 nowned divine, seemed equally uncomfortable. Parson 
 West, as a young man, had been notoriously affected 
 with Arminian leanings, and although his conversion 
 to Calvinism by Dr. Hopkins of Great Barrington had 
 been deemed a wonderful work of grace, yet a ten 
 dency to sacrifice the logical development of doctrines 
 to the weak suggestions of the flesh was constantly 
 cropping out in his sermons, to the frequent grief and 
 scandal of the deacons. 
 
 At length the service was at an end, and the hum and 
 buzz of voices rose from all parts of the house, as the 
 people passing out of their pews met and greeted each 
 other in the aisles. The afternoon service would begin 
 in an hour and a half, and only those went home who 
 lived close at hand or could easily make the distances 
 in their carriages. These took with them such friends 
 and acquaintances as they might invite. Others of the 
 congregation spent the brief nooning in the "noon- 
 house," a shed near by, erected for this purpose. 
 
What Happened After Meeting 173 
 
 There, or on the meeting-house steps, or perhaps 
 seated near by on the grass and using for tables the 
 stumps of felled trees with which it was studded, they 
 discussed the sermon as a relish to their luncheons of 
 doughnuts, cheese, pie, and gingerbread. To con 
 verse on any other than religious subjects on the Sab 
 bath was a sin and a scandal which exposed the 
 offender to church discipline, but in a public emer 
 gency like the present, when rebellion was rampant 
 throughout the country, it was impossible that political 
 affairs should not preoccupy the most pious minds. 
 Talk of them the people must and did : of the stopping 
 of the courts, the breaking of the jails, of Squire Wood- 
 bridge and Perez Hamlin, of the news from the other 
 counties, and of what might next take place ; but the 
 speakers contrived to compound with their consciences 
 and prevent scandal by giving a pious twist and a Sab 
 batical intonation to their sentences. 
 
 Among the younger people, as might be expected, 
 there was less of this affectation. They were all dis 
 cussing with eager interest something which had just 
 happened. 
 
 " Wai, all I say is I don t want to be a lady if it makes 
 folks so crewel an so deceitful as that," said Submit 
 Goodrich, a black-eyed, bright-cheeked girl, old Israel s 
 youngest daughter. " To think o her pretendin not to 
 know him, right afore all the folks, and she on her 
 knees to him a-cryin only four days ago. I don t care 
 if she is Squire Edwards s gal, I hain t got no opinion 
 o* such doin s." 
 
 Most of the girls agreed with Submit, but some of 
 the young men were inclined to laugh at Perez, saying 
 it was good enough for him, and that he who was 
 nothing more than a farmer like the rest of them 
 
The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 was served right for trying to push in among the big 
 folks. 
 
 " I s pose she s dretful riled to think it s all raound 
 baout her goin over to the Hamlins last week, an* she 
 thought she d jest let folks see she was ez proud ez 
 ever. Land! how red he was! I felt real bad for 
 him, and such a nice bow ez he made, jest like any 
 gentleman! " 
 
 " I expect Jerushy wouldn t ha* been so hard on 
 him," jealously sneered a young farmer sitting by the 
 young woman who last spoke. 
 
 "No, I wouldn t," she said, turning sharply to him. 
 " I s pose ye thought I wasn t no judge o han some 
 men, cause I let yew keep comp ny with me." There 
 was nothing more heard from that quarter. 
 
 But what was the cause of the excitement? Why, 
 simply this: In front of the meeting-house, as they 
 came out from the service, Perez met Desire face to 
 face. All the people were standing around, talking 
 and waiting to see the great folks get into their car 
 riages to drive home. Naturally, everybody looked 
 with special interest to see the meeting of those two 
 whose names gossip had so constantly coupled during 
 the week. Jonathan was with Desire, and looked 
 fiercely at Perez, but his fierceness was quite wasted. 
 Perez did not see him. He took off his hat and bowed 
 to Desire with an air of the most profound respect. 
 She gave not the faintest sign of recognition, not even 
 to the dropping of an eyelid. The people had stopped 
 talking and were staring. The blood rushed to Perez s 
 forehead. 
 
 "Good day, Miss Edwards," he said, firmly and dis 
 tinctly, yet respectfully, his hat still in his hand. 
 Jonathan, in his indignation, was as red as he, but 
 
DESIRE GAVE NOT THE SLIGHTEST SIGN OF RECOGNITION. 
 
What Happened After Meeting 175 
 
 Desire could not have appeared more unconscious of 
 being addressed had she been stone deaf as well as 
 blind. In a moment more she had passed on and en 
 tered the carriage, and the people were left with some 
 thing to talk about. Now, Captain Perez Hamlin had 
 gone to meeting that morning as much in love with 
 Desire Edwards as four days thinking of little else 
 save a fair face and a charming form might be expected 
 to leave a susceptible young man, particularly when 
 the manly passion is but the resurrection of an unfor- 
 gotten love of boyhood. He walked home somewhat 
 more angry with the same young woman than he could 
 remember ever having been with anybody. If a benevo 
 lent fairy had asked him his dearest wish just then, it 
 would have been that Desire Edwards might be trans 
 formed into a )^oung gentleman for about five minutes, 
 in order that he might bestow upon him the con- 
 foundedest thrashing that a young gentleman ever 
 experienced, nor did even the consciousness that no 
 such transformation was possible prevent his fingers 
 from tingling with a most ungallant aspiration to box 
 her small ears until they were as red as his own face 
 had been at the moment she cut him so coolly. For 
 he was a very proud man, was Captain Perez Hamlin, 
 with a soldier s sensitiveness to personal affronts, and 
 none of that mean opinion of himself and his position 
 in society which helped the farmers around to bear 
 with equanimity the snubs of those they regarded as 
 their natural superiors. 
 
 The father and mother had fortunately driven on be 
 fore the scene took place, and so at least he was spared 
 the added exasperation of being condoled with on ar 
 riving at home. Prudence had stayed for the after 
 noon service. Toward twilight, as he was walking to 
 
176 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 and fro behind the barn, and indulging an extremely 
 tmsanctified frame of mind, she came to him and 
 blurted out, breathlessly : 
 
 " All the girls think she was mean and wicked, and 
 I ll never do any more work for her or Mis Wood- 
 bridge either," and before he could answer she had run 
 back into the house with burning cheeks. He had seen 
 that her eyes were also full of tears. It was clear she 
 had been struggling hard between the pity which 
 prompted her to tender some form of consolation and 
 her fear of speaking to him. 
 
 The dreamy habit of the mind induced by love in its 
 first stage often extends to the point of overspreading 
 all the realities of life and the circumstances of the 
 individual with a glamour which, for the time being, 
 disguises the hard and rigid outlines of fact. The pain 
 ful shock which had so sharply ended Perez s brief 
 delusion that Desire might possibly accept his devo 
 tion, had at the same time roused him to a recognition 
 of the critical position of himself and his father s fam 
 ily. What business had he or they lingering here in 
 Stockbridge? Yesterday, in the vague, unpractical 
 way in which hopeful lovers do all their thinking, he 
 had thought they might remain indefinitely. Now he 
 saw that it would be tempting Providence to postpone 
 any further the carrying out of his original plan of 
 moving with them to New York State. The present 
 insurrection might last a longer or shorter time, but 
 there was no reason to think it would result in 
 remedying the already desperate financial condi 
 tion of the family. The house was to have been sold 
 the previous week, and doubtless would be as soon as 
 affairs were a little quieter. Reuben was, moreover, 
 liable to re-arrest and imprisonment on his old debt, 
 
What Happened After Meeting 177 
 
 and as for himself, he knew that his life was forfeit 
 to the gallows for the part he had taken in the re 
 bellion. 
 
 Once across the State line, however, they would be 
 as safe as in Europe, for the present union of the States 
 was not yet formed, and the loose and nerveless bond 
 of the old Federation, then in its last stage of decrepi 
 tude, left the States practically foreign countries to 
 each other. His idea was to get the family over into 
 New York without delay, with such remnants of the 
 farm stock as could be got together ; and leaving them 
 for the winter at New Lebanon, just the other side of 
 the border, to go on himself, meanwhile, to the west 
 ern part of the State, to secure a farm in the new tracts 
 being already opened up in that rich region, and rapid 
 ly filling with settlers. For the populating of the West 
 (and New York was then the West) has gone on by 
 successive waves of emigration, set in motion by 
 periodical epochs of financial and industrial distress in 
 the Atlantic States, and the first of these impulses 
 the hard times following the Revolution was already 
 sending thousands to seek new homes toward the set 
 ting sun. 
 
 Busy with preparations for the start, he kept close at 
 home during the entire week following. Only once or 
 twice did he even go down the street, and then on 
 some necessary errand. Obadiah dropped in frequent 
 ly and looked on as he worked, evidently having some 
 thing on his mind. One evening at twilight, as Perez 
 was cutting wood for the evening fire, the young man 
 came into the back yard and opened conversation in 
 this wise : 
 
 " Guess it s goin ter rain." 
 
 " Looks a little like it," Perez assented. 
 
 12 
 
178 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Obadiah was silent a space, and ground the heel of 
 his bare foot into the dirt. 
 
 " D ye know what s good fer warts? " he finally asked. 
 Perez said he did not. After a pause, Obadiah remarked 
 critically : 
 
 " Them bricks raoun the top o* the chimly be kinder 
 loose, bain t they? " They were, and Perez freely ad 
 mitted the fact. Obadiah looked around for some 
 other topic of conversation, but apparently finding 
 none, he picked up a stone and asked with affected 
 carelessness, as he jerked it toward the barn : 
 
 " Be ye a-goin ter take George Fennell long with 
 ye?" 
 
 "No, "said Perez. "He will not live long, I fear, 
 and he can t be moved. I suppose some of the people 
 will take him and Prudence in, when we go." 
 
 Obadiah said nothing, but from the change which 
 instantly came over his manner, it was evident that the 
 information obtained with such superfluous diplomacy 
 was a prodigious relief to his mind. The officiousness 
 with which he urged a handful of chestnuts on Perez, 
 and even offered to carry in the wood for him, might 
 moreover be construed as indicating a desire to make 
 amends to him for unjust suspicions secretly cherished. 
 As for asking Prudence outright whether she was ex 
 pecting to go away, that would have been a piece of 
 hardihood of which the bashful youth was quite inca 
 pable. If he could not have ascertained her intentions 
 otherwise than by such a desperate measure, he would 
 have waited till the Hamlins set out, and then been on 
 hand to see for himself whether she went or not. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 An Auction Sale and Its Consequences 
 
 SQUIRE WOODBRIDGE had not failed to detect the first 
 signs of decrease in the ebullition of the popular mind 
 after the revolt of Tuesday, and when by Friday and 
 Saturday the mob had apparently quite disappeared, 
 and the village had returned to its normal condition, 
 he assured himself that the rebellion was all over, and 
 it only remained for him and his colleagues cautiously 
 to get hold of the reins again, and then then for the 
 whip. For the similitude under which the Squire 
 oftenest thought of his fellow-townsmen was that of a 
 team of horses which he was driving. There had been 
 a little runaway, and he had been pitched out on his 
 head. Let him once get his grip on the lines again, 
 and the whip in his hand, and there should be some 
 fine dancing among the leaders, or his name was not 
 Jahleel Woodbridge, and the whipping-post on the 
 green was nothing but a rose-bush. 
 
 He was in a hurry for two reasons to get the reins 
 in his hands again. In the first place, for the very 
 natural and obvious reason that he grudged every mo 
 ment of immunity from punishment enjoyed by men 
 who had put him to such an open shame. The other 
 and less obvious reason was the expected return of 
 Squire Sedgwick from Boston. Sedgwick had been 
 gone a week. He might be absent a week or two 
 weeks more, but he might return any day. One thing 
 
180 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 was evident to Jahleel Woodbridge. Before this man 
 returned, of whose growing and rival influence he had 
 already so much reason to be jealous, he must have 
 put an end to anarchy in Stockbridge, and once more 
 stand at the head of its government. Squire Sedgwick 
 had warned him of the explosive state of popular feel 
 ing ; he had resented that warning, and the event had 
 proved his rival right. The only thing now left him 
 was to show Sedgwick that, if he had not been able to 
 foresee the rebellion, he had been able to suppress it. 
 Nevertheless, he would proceed cautiously. 
 
 The red flag of the sheriff had for some weeks waved 
 from the gable end of a small house on the main street, 
 owned by a Baptist cobbler, one David Joy. There 
 were a few Baptists among the Welsh iron-workers at 
 West Stockbridge, and some Methodists, but none of 
 either heresy save David Joy in Stockbridge, which, 
 with this exception, was, as a parish, a Congregational 
 lamb without blemish. No wonder, then, that David 
 was a thorn in the side to the authorities of the 
 church, nor was he less despised by the common people. 
 There was not a drunken loafer in town who did not 
 pride himself upon the fact that, though he might be a 
 drunkard, he was at least no Baptist, but belonged to 
 the "Standing Order." Meshech Little, himself, who 
 believed and practised the doctrine of total immersion 
 in rum, had no charity for one who believed in total 
 immersion in water. 
 
 The date which had been set for the sale of David s 
 house and goods chanced to be the very Monday fol 
 lowing the Sunday with whose religious services and 
 other events the previous chapters have been con 
 cerned. It seemed to Squire Woodbridge that David s 
 case would be an excellent one with which to inaugu- 
 
An Auction Sale 181 
 
 rate once more the reign of law. Owing to the social 
 isolation and unpopularity of the man, the proceedings 
 against him would be likely to excite very little sym 
 pathy or agitation of any kind, and having thus got the 
 machinery of the law once more into operation, it would 
 be easy enough to proceed thereafter, without fear or 
 favor, against all classes of debtors and evil-doers in 
 the good old way. Moreover, it had long been the in 
 tention of those having the interest of Zion at heart to 
 "freeze out" David Joy by this very process, and to 
 that end considerable sanctified shrewdness had been 
 expended in getting him into debt. So that by enforc 
 ing the sale in his case, two birds would, so to speak, 
 be killed with one stone, and the political and spiritual 
 interests of the parish would be coincidentally bene 
 fited, making it altogether an undertaking on which 
 the blessing of Heaven might be reasonably looked 
 for. 
 
 At three o clock in the afternoon the sale took place. 
 Everything worked as the Squire had expected. It 
 being the general popular supposition that there were 
 to be no more sheriffs sales, there were no persons 
 present at the auction save the officers of the law and 
 the gentlemen who were to bid. Only here and there 
 an astonished face peered out of a window at the pro 
 ceedings, and a knot of loafers, who had been boozing 
 away the afternoon, stood staring in the door of the 
 tavern. That was all. There was no crowd, and no 
 attempt at interruption. But the news that a man had 
 been sold out for debt spread fast, and by sunset, when 
 the men and boys came home from their farm- work or 
 mechanical occupations, numerous groups of excited 
 talkers had gathered in the streets. There was a very 
 full meeting that night at the tavern. 
 
1 82 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 "I declare for t," said Israel Goodrich, with an air 
 of mingled disappointment and wrath, " I be real put 
 aout, an disapp inted like. I dunno what ter make 
 on t. I s posed the trouble wuz all over, an times 
 wuz goin ter be good and folks live kind o neighbor 
 ly thout no more suin , an jailin , an sellin aout, 
 same ez long from seventy-four to eighty. I reck 
 oned sure nough them times wuz come raound ag in, 
 an here they ve gone an kicked the pot over, an the 
 fat s in the fire ag in, bad s ever." 
 
 "Darn em! Gosh darn em! I say," exclaimed Ab- 
 ner. " Didn t they get the idee what we wuz arter 
 when we stopped the courts? Did they think we wuz 
 a-foolin baout it? That s what I want some feller ter 
 tell me. Did they think we wuz a-foolin ? " 
 
 Abner s usually good-humored face was darkly 
 flushed, and there was an ugly gleam in his eye as he 
 spoke. 
 
 " We wuz so quiet-like last week, they jedged we d 
 jest hed our fling an got over it. I guess that wuz 
 haow it wuz," said Peleg Bid well. 
 
 " Did they think we d been five year a-gittin our 
 dander up an would git over it in a week? " demanded 
 Abner, glaring around. " If t wuz cause we wuz tew 
 quiet, we ll make racket nough to suit em arter this, 
 hey, boys? If racket s the only thing they kin under 
 stand, they shall hev a plenty on t." 
 
 "Israel thought it was kingdom come already," said 
 Paul Hubbard, who had hurried down from the iron 
 works with a gang of his myrmidons, on receipt 
 of the news. " He thought the silk-stockings were 
 going to give right in as sweet as sugar. Not by a 
 darned sight. No, sir. They aren t going to let go 
 so easy. They aren t of that sort. They mean to 
 
An Auction Sale 183 
 
 have the old times back again, and they ll have them 
 back, too, unless you wake up and show them you re in 
 earnest. " 
 
 " Not yit awhile, by the everlastin Jupiter ! " shouted 
 Abner. " Ef there s any vartue in gunpowder them 
 times shan t come back," and there was an answering 
 yell that shook the room. 
 
 "That s the talk, Abner. Give us your fist," said 
 Paul, delighted to find the people working up to his 
 own pitch of bitter and unrelenting animosity against 
 the gentlemen. " That s the talk, but it ll take more 
 than talk. Look here, men, three out of four of you 
 have done enough already to get a dozen lashes on his 
 bare back, if the silk-stockings get on top again. It s 
 all in a nutshell. If we don t keep them under they ll 
 keep us under. We ve just got to take hold and raise 
 the devil with them. If we don t give them the devil, 
 they ll give us the devil. Take your choice. It s one 
 or the other. " 
 
 There was a chorus of exclamations : 
 
 "That s so." "By gosh! we re in for t, an we 
 might s well go ahead. " " Ye re right, Paul. " " We ll 
 git aout the hoss-fiddles an give em some mewsic." 
 "We ll raise devil nough fer em ter-night." "Come 
 on, fellers." "Le s give em a bonfire." 
 
 There was a general movement of the men out of the 
 barroom, all talking together, clamorously suggesting 
 plans, or merely, as in the case of the younger men 
 and boys, venting their excitement in hoots and cat 
 calls. It was a close, dark night, obscure enough to 
 make cowards brave, and the crowd that surged out of 
 the tavern were by no means cowards, but angry and 
 resolute men, whose exasperation at the action of the 
 authorities was sharpened and pointed by well-founded 
 
184 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 apprehensions of the personal consequences to them 
 selves which that action threatened if not resisted. 
 Some one s suggestion that they should begin by put 
 ting David Joy and his family back into their house 
 was received with acclamation, and they were forth 
 with fetched from a neighboring shed under which 
 they had encamped for the night, and without much 
 ceremony thrust into their former residence and or 
 dered to stay there. For although in this case David 
 happened to be identified with their own cause, it went 
 against their grain to help a Baptist. 
 
 "Now, boys, le s go an see Iry Seymour," said Ab- 
 ner, and with a yell, the crowd rushed off in the direc 
 tion of the deputy sheriff s house. 
 
 Their blood was up, and it was perhaps well for that 
 official that he did not wait to be interviewed. As the 
 crowd surged up before the house, a man s figure was 
 seen dimly flitting across the field behind, having ap 
 parently emerged from the back door. There was a 
 yell, "There goes Iry," and half the mob ran after 
 him, but, thanks to the darkness, the nimble-footed 
 sheriff made good his escape, and his pursuers present 
 ly returned, breathless, but in high good humor over 
 the novel sport, protesting that they laughed so hard 
 they could not run. 
 
 The only other important demonstration by the mob 
 that evening was the tearing up of the fence in front 
 of Squire Woodbridge s house and the construction of 
 an immense bonfire in the street out of the fragments, 
 the conflagration proceeding to the accompaniment of 
 an obligato on the horse-fiddles. 
 
 So it came to pass that, as sometimes happens in 
 such cases, Squire Woodbridge s first attempt to get 
 the reins of the runaway team into his hands had the 
 
An Auction Sale 185 
 
 effect of startling the horses into a more headlong gal 
 lop than ever. 
 
 If the events of the night, superadded to the armed 
 revolt of the week before, left any doubt in the most 
 sanguine mind that the present disturbances were no 
 mere local and trifling irritations, but a general rebel 
 lion, the news which was in the village early the fol 
 lowing morning must have dispelled it. This news 
 was, that the week before an armed mob of several 
 hundred had stopped the courts at their meeting in 
 Worcester and forced an adjournment for two months ; 
 that the entire State, except the district close around 
 Boston, was in a ferment ; that the people were every 
 where arming and drilling and fully determined that 
 no more courts should sit until the distresses of the 
 times had been remedied. As yet the State authorities 
 had taken no action looking toward the suppression of 
 the insurrection, in which, indeed, the great majority 
 of the population appeared actively or sympathetically 
 engaged. The messenger reported that in the lower 
 counties a sprig of hemlock in the hat had been adopted 
 as the badge of the insurgents, and that the towns 
 through which he had ridden seemed to have fairly 
 turned green, so universally did men, women and chil 
 dren wear the hemlock. The news had not been an 
 hour in Stockbridge before every person on the streets 
 had a bit of hemlock in their hat or hair. I say every 
 person upon the street, for those who belonged to the 
 anti-popular or court party took good care to keep 
 within doors that morning. 
 
 " I m glad to see the hemlock ag in," said Israel Good 
 rich. " The old pine-tree flag wuz a good flag to fight 
 under. There wuz good blood spilt under it in the 
 eld colony days. There wuz better times in this ere 
 
1 86 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 province o Massachusetts Bay under the pine-tree flag 
 than this dum Continental striped rag hez ever fetched, 
 or ever will, I reckon. " 
 
 The dismay which the news of the extent and ap 
 parent irresistibleness of the rebellion produced among 
 those attached to the court party in Stockbridge cor 
 responded to the exultation to which the people gave 
 themselves up. Nor did the populace lose any time in 
 giving expression to their bolder temper by overt acts. 
 About nine o clock in the morning, Deputy Sheriff 
 Seymour, who had not ventured to return to his house, 
 was found concealed in the corn-bin of a barn near the 
 burying-ground. A crowd instantly collected and 
 dragged the terrified man from his concealment. 
 Some one yelled : 
 
 " Ride him on a rail," and the suggestion finding an 
 echo in the popular breast, a three-cornered fence rail 
 was thrust between his legs, and lifted on men s 
 shoulders. Astride of this sharp-backed steed, holding 
 on with his hands for dear life, lest he should fall off 
 and break his neck, he was carried through the main 
 streets of the village, followed by a howling crowd, and 
 pelted with apples by the boys, while the windows of 
 the houses along the way were full of laughing women. 
 Having graced the popular holiday by this involuntary 
 exhibition of himself, Seymour was allowed to escape 
 without suffering any further violence, the crowd ap 
 pearing boisterously jocose rather than embittered in 
 temper. Master Hopkins, a young man who had re 
 cently entered Squire Sedgwick s office to study law, 
 was next pounced upon, having indiscreetly ventured on 
 the street, and was treated to a similar free ride, which 
 was protracted until the youth purchased surcease by 
 consenting to wear a sprig of hemlock in his hat. 
 
An Auction Sale 187 
 
 About the middle of the forenoon Squire Wood- 
 bridge, Deacon Nash, and Doctor Partridge, with 
 Squire Edwards and several other gentlemen, were sit 
 ting in the back room of the store. It was a gloomy 
 council. Woodbridge quaffed his glass of rum in short, 
 quick, unenjoying gulps, and said not a word. The 
 others from time to time dropped a phrase or two ex 
 pressive of the worst apprehensions as to what the mob 
 might do, and entire discouragement as to the possibil 
 ity of doing anything to restrain them. Suddenly, 
 young Jonathan Edwards, who was in the outer room 
 tending store, cried out : 
 
 "Father, the mob is coming! Shall I shut the 
 door? " 
 
 Squire Edwards cried " Yes, " and hastily went out to 
 assist, but Doctor Partridge, with more presence of 
 mind than the others seemed to possess at that mo 
 ment, laid his hand on the storekeeper s arm, say 
 ing, 
 
 " Better not shut the door. They will tear the house 
 down if you do. Resistance is out of the question. " 
 
 In another moment a boisterous crowd of men, their 
 faces flushed with drink, all wearing sprigs of hem 
 lock in their hats, came thronging up the steps and 
 filled the store, those who could not enter crowding the 
 piazza and grinning in at the windows. Edwards and 
 the other gentlemen stood at bay at the back end of the 
 store, in front of the liquor hogsheads. Their bearing 
 was that of men who expected personal violence, but 
 who, in a justifiable agitation, did not forget their 
 personal dignity. But the expression on the face of 
 Abner, who was the leader of the gang, was less one of 
 exasperation than of sardonic humor. 
 
 " Good morninV he said. 
 
1 88 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 "Good morning, Abner," replied Edwards, propitiat- 
 ingly. 
 
 " It s a good mornin and it s good news ez is come to 
 taown. I s pose ye hearn it a ready? I thought so. 
 Ye look ez ef ye hed. But we didn t come ter talk 
 baout that. There wuz a little misunderstandin yis - 
 day baout sellin aout David. He ain t nothin but a 
 skunk of a Baptist, an ef Iry hed put him in the stocks 
 or licked him twould ha sarved him right. But ye 
 see some of the boys hev got a notion ag in hevin any 
 more fellers sold aout fer debt, an* we ve been explain- 
 in our idee to Iry this mornin . I guess he s got it 
 through his head naow, Iry hez. Ye see ef neighbors 
 be goin ter live together peaceable they ve jest got ter 
 understand each other. What do ye s pose Iry said? 
 He said Squire there told him to sell David aout. In 
 course we didn t b lieve that. Squire ain t no gol- 
 darned fool, ez that would make him aout ter be. He 
 know d the men ez stopped the courts last week would 
 n t be afeard o stoppin a sheriff. He knows the folks 
 be in arnest baout hevin an end on suein , an sellin , 
 an sendin ter jail. Squire knows, an ye all know, 
 that there ll be fightin fore there s any more sellin ." 
 
 Abner had grown excited as he spoke, and the pecul 
 iar twinkle in his eye had given place to a wrathy 
 glare as he uttered the last words, but this passed, and 
 it was with his former sardonic grin that he added : 
 
 " But Iry didn t save his hide by tryin ter lay it off 
 onter Squire, an I guess he won t try no more 
 sellin aout right away, not ef Goramity told him 
 tew. " 
 
 "Yer gab s runnin* away with yer. Git to yer 
 p int, Abner," said Peleg Bidwell. 
 
 "Lemme lone, I m comin raound," replied Abner. 
 
An Auction Sale 189 
 
 "Ye wuz over t the sale yis day, warn t ye, Squire?" 
 he asked, addressing Edwards. 
 
 "Yes, Abner." 
 
 " Wai, ye see, when we come ter put back David s 
 folks inter the haouse his woman missed the clock, and 
 somebody said ez haow yew d took it." 
 
 " I bid it in," said Edwards, haughtily. 
 
 " I s pose ye clean forgot t wuz the only clock she 
 hed," suggested Abner, with a bland air of accounting 
 for the other s conduct on the most favorable supposi 
 tion. 
 
 As Edwards made no reply save to grow rather red, 
 Abner continued : 
 
 " In course ye forgot it, that s what I told the fellers, 
 fer ye wouldn t go and take the only clock a poor man 
 hed when ye ve got a-plenty, nless ye forgot. Ye see 
 we knowed ye d want ter send it right back soon ez ye 
 thought o that, and so we jest called in for t, calc lat- 
 in ter save ye the trouble." 
 
 "But but I bought it," stammered Edwards. 
 
 "Sartin, sartin," said Abner. "Jest what I said, ye 
 bought it cause ye clean forgot it wuz David s only 
 one, an* he poor an yew rich. Crypus! Squire, ye 
 hain t got no call ter explain it tew us. Ye see, we 
 know yer ways, Squire. We know how apt ye be ter 
 forgit jest that way. We kin make allowances fer ye." 
 
 Edwards s forehead was crimson. 
 
 "There s the clock," he said abruptly, pointing to it 
 where it lay on the counter. Abner took it up and put 
 it under his arm, saying, 
 
 " David 11 be bliged to ye, Squire, when I tell him 
 how cheerful ye sent it back. Some o the fellers," he 
 pursued with an affectation of a confidential tone, 
 "some o the fellers said mebbe ye wouldn t send it 
 
190 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 back cheerful. They said ye d got no more compas 
 sion fer the poor than a flint stun. They said, them 
 fellers did, that ye d never in yer life let up on a man 
 as owed ye, an would take a feller s last drop o blood 
 sooner n lose a penny debt. They said, them fellers 
 did, that yer hands, white ez they look, wuz red with 
 the blood o them that ye d sent to die in jail." 
 
 Abner s voice had risen to a tremendous crescendo 
 of indignation, and he seemed on the point of quite 
 forgetting his ironical affectation, when, with an effort 
 which added to the effect, he checked himself, and re 
 suming his former tone and grin, he added : 
 
 " I argyed with them fellers ez said them things baout 
 ye. I told em haow it couldn t be so, cause ye wuz a 
 deacon, an hed family prayers, and could pray most ez 
 long ez parson. But I couldn t do nothin with em, 
 they wuz so sot. Why, them fellers act lly said ye took 
 this ere clock a-knowin that it wuz David s only one, 
 when ye hed a-plenty o yer own, tew. Jest think o 
 that, Squire ! What a hoggish old hunks they took ye 
 fer, didn t they, naow? " Edwards glared at his tor 
 mentor with a countenance red and white with speech 
 less rage, but Abner appeared as unconscious of any 
 thing peculiar in his manner as he did of the snickers 
 of the men behind him. Having concluded his re 
 marks, he blandly bade the gentlemen good morning 
 and left the store, followed by his gang, the suppressed 
 risibilities of the party rinding expression in long con 
 tinued and uproarious laughter as soon as they reached 
 the outer air. After leaving the store they called on 
 all the gentlemen who had bidden in anything at the 
 sale, reclaimed every article, one after another, and re 
 turned them to David. 
 
 If any of the court party had flattered themselves 
 
An Auction Sale 191 
 
 that this mob, like that of the week before, would, 
 after making an uproar for a day or two, disappear and 
 leave the community in quiet, they were destined to 
 disappointment. The popular exasperation and appre 
 hension which the Squire s ill-starred attempt to regain 
 authority had produced, gave to the elements of an 
 archy in the village a new cohesive force and impulse, 
 while, thanks to the news of the spread and success of 
 the rebellion elsewhere, the lawless were encouraged 
 by entire confidence of impunity. From this day, in 
 fact, it might be said that anarchy was organized in 
 the village. 
 
 There were two main elements in the mob. One, 
 the most dangerous, and with the real element of 
 strength in it, was composed of a score or two of men 
 whom the stoppage of the courts had come too late to 
 help. Their property all gone, they had been reduced 
 to the condition of loafers, without stake in the com 
 munity. Having no farms of their own to work on, 
 and the demand for laborers being limited, they had 
 nothing to do all day but to lounge around the tavern, 
 drinking when they could get drinks, sneering at the 
 silk-stockings, and debating how further to discomfit 
 them. The other element of the mob, the most mis 
 chievous, although not so seriously formidable, was 
 composed of boys and half -grown youths, who less out 
 of malice against the court party than out of mere love 
 of frolic, availed themselves to the utmost of the oppor 
 tunity to play off pranks on the richer class of citizens. 
 Bands of them ranged the streets from twilight till 
 midnight, robbing orchards, building bonfires out of 
 fences, opening barns and letting the cows into the 
 gardens, stealing the horses for midnight races, after 
 ward leaving them to find their way home as they 
 
192 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 could, tying strings across the streets to trip up way 
 farers, stoning windows, and generally making life a 
 burden for their victims by an ingenious variety of 
 petty outrages. Nor were the persons even of the 
 unpopular class always spared. In the daytime it was 
 tolerably safe for one of them to go abroad, but after 
 dark, let him beware of unripe apples and overripe 
 egg" 8 - For the most part the silk-stockings kept their 
 houses in the evening, as much for their own protec 
 tion as for that of their families, and the more prudent 
 of them sat in the dark until bedtime, owing to the 
 fact that lighted windows were a favorite mark with 
 the boys. 
 
 The mob had dubbed itself " The Regulators," a title 
 well enough deserved, indeed, by the extent to which 
 they undertook to reorganize the property interests of 
 the community. For the theory of the reclamation of 
 property carried out in the case of the goods of David 
 Joy by no means stopped there. It was presently given 
 an ex post facto application, and made to cover articles 
 of property which had changed hands at sheriffs sales 
 not only since, but also previous to the stoppage of the 
 courts. Wherever, in fact, a horse or a cart, a har 
 ness, a yoke of oxen, or a piece of furniture had passed 
 from the ownership of a poor man to the possession of 
 a rich man and one of the court party, the original 
 owner now reclaimed it, if so disposed, and so effectual 
 was the mob terrorism in the village that such a claim 
 was usually, with better or worse grace, allowed. 
 
 Nor was the application of this doctrine of the resti 
 tution of all things even confined to personal property. 
 Many of the richer class of citizens occupied houses 
 acquired by harsh foreclosures since the dearth of cir 
 culating medium had placed debtors at the mercy of 
 
An Auction Sale 193 
 
 creditors. A few questions as to when they were 
 thinking of moving out, with an intimation that the 
 neighbors were ready to assist them if it appeared nec 
 essary, was generally hint enough to secure a prompt 
 vacating of the premises, though now and then when 
 the occupants were unusually obstinate and refused to 
 " take a joke " there were rather rough proceedings. 
 Among those thus ejected was Solomon Gleason, the 
 schoolmaster, who had been living in the house which 
 George Fennell had formerly owned. In this case, 
 however, the house remained vacant, George being too 
 weak to be moved. 
 
 When Friday night came around again, there was a 
 tremendous carouse at the tavern, in the midst of 
 which the Widow Bingham, rendered desperate by the 
 demands for rum demands which she did not dare to 
 refuse for fear of provoking the mob to gut her estab 
 lishment finally exclaimed : 
 
 " Why don t ye go over t the store an let Squire 
 Edwards stan treat awhile? What s the use o makin 
 me dew it all? He s got better liquor nor I hev an* 
 more on t, an* he ain t a poor lone widder nuther, 
 without nobody ter Stan up fer her," and the widow 
 pointed her appeal by beginning to weep, which, as 
 she was a buxom, well-favored woman, made a decided 
 impression on the crowd. 
 
 Abner, who was drunk as a king, instantly declared 
 that " By the everlastin Jehu," he d break the head of 
 the " fust dum Nimshi " that asked for another drink, 
 which brought the potations of the company to a sud 
 den check. Presently Meshech Little observed: 
 
 " Come long, fellersh, lesh go ter the store. Whosh 
 fraid? I ain t." There was a chorus of thick-tongued 
 protestations of equal valor, and the crowd reeled out 
 13 
 
194 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 after Meshech. Abner was left alone with the widow. 
 
 " I m real beholden to ye, Abner Rathbun, fer stand- 
 in* up fer me," said she warmly, "an 7 Seliny Bingham 
 ain t one ter ferget a favor nuther. " 
 
 " I d ha smashed the snoot o the fust one on em ez 
 ast fer any more. I d ha* knocked his lights out o 
 him, I don t keer who t wuz," declared Abner, his 
 valor still further inflamed by the gratitude which 
 sparkled from the widow s fine eyes. 
 
 " Lemme mix ye a leetle rum n sugar, Abner. It ll 
 dew ye good," said the widow. " I hope ye didn t take 
 none o that to yerself, what I said ter the rest on em. 
 I m sure I don t grudge ye a drop ye ve ever hed, 
 cause I know ye be a nice stiddy man, an I feel 
 safer like when ye be araound. There, naow, jest try 
 that an see ef it s mixed right." 
 
 Abner did try that, and more subsequently, and 
 sweet smiles and honeyed words therewith, the upshot 
 of all which was the conclusion that evening of a treaty 
 of Dalliance, the tacitly understood conditions being that 
 Abner should stand by the widow and see that she was 
 not put upon, in return for which the widow would see 
 that he was not left thirsty, and if this understanding 
 was sealed with a kiss snatched by one of the contract 
 ing parties as the other leaned too far over the bar 
 with the fourth tumbler of rum and sugar, why, it was 
 all the more likely to be faithfully observed. That the 
 widow was a fine woman Abner had previously ob 
 served, but any natural feeling which this observation 
 might have excited had been kept in check by the con 
 sciousness of a long unsettled score. The woman was 
 merged in the landlady, the sex in the creditor. Seeing 
 that there is no more ecstatic experience known to the 
 soul than the melting of awe into a tenderer sentiment, 
 
An Auction Sale 195 
 
 it will not be wondered at that Abner lingered over his 
 twofold inebriation until at nine o clock the widow said 
 that she must really shut up the tavern. 
 
 His surprise was great on passing the store to see it 
 still lighted up, and a crowd of men inside, while from 
 the apartments occupied by the Edwards family came 
 the tinkling of Desire s piano. Going in, he found the 
 store filled with drunken men, and the back room 
 crowded with drinkers, whom young Jonathan Ed 
 wards was serving with liquor, while the Squire was 
 walking about with a worn and anxious face, seeing 
 that there was no stealing of his goods. As he saw 
 Abner he said, making a pathetic attempt to affect a 
 little dignity: 
 
 " I ve been treating the men to a little liquor, but it s 
 rather late, and I should like to get them out. You 
 have some control over them, I believe. May I ask 
 you to send them out? " 
 
 In the pressure of the present emergency, the poor 
 man appeared to have forgotten the insults which Ab 
 ner had heaped upon him a few days before, and Ab 
 ner himself, who was in high good humor, and really 
 felt almost sorry for the proud man before him, replied : 
 
 "Sartin, Squire. I ll git em aout, but what s the 
 peeanner a-goin fer? " 
 
 " The men thought they would like to hear it, and 
 my daughter was kind enough to play a little for 
 them," said Edwards, his face flushing again, even 
 after the mortifications of the evening, at the necessity 
 of thus confessing his powerlessness to resist the most 
 insulting demands of the rabble. 
 
 Abner passed through the door in the back room of 
 the store, which opened into the living-room, a richly 
 carpeted apartment, with fine oaken furniture imported 
 
196 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 from England. The parlor beyond was even more ex 
 pensively furnished and decorated. Flat on his back, 
 in the middle of the parlor carpet, was stretched 
 Meshech Little, dead drunk. In nearly every chair 
 was a barefooted, coatless lout, drunk and snoring, 
 with his hat over his eyes, and his legs stretched out, 
 or vacantly staring with open mouth at Desire, who, 
 with a face like ashes and the air of an automaton, was 
 playing the piano. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 Plots and Counterplots 
 
 ON the day following, which was Saturday, at about 
 three o clock in the afternoon, Perez Hamlin was at 
 work in the yard behind the house, shoeing his horse 
 in preparation for the start West the next week. 
 Horse-shoeing was an accomplishment he had acquired 
 in the army, and he had no shillings to waste in hiring 
 others to do anything he could do himself. As he let 
 the last hoof out from between his knees and stood 
 up, he saw Israel Goodrich and Ezra Phelps coming 
 across the yard toward him. Ezra wore his working 
 suit, sprinkled with the meal dust of his grist-mill, and 
 Israel had on a long blue woolen farmer s smock, 
 reaching to his knees, and carried in his hand a hick 
 ory-handled whip with a long lash, indicating that he 
 had come in his cart, which he had presumably left 
 hitched to the rail fence in front of the house. After 
 breaking ground by a few comments on the points of 
 Perez s horse, Israel opened the subject of the visit, as 
 follows : 
 
 " Ye see, Perez, I wuz over t Mill Holler arter a grist 
 o buckwheat, an me n Ezry got ter talkin baout the 
 way things wuz goin in the village. I s pose ye ve 
 hearn o the goin s on." 
 
 "Very little, indeed," said Perez. "I have scarcely 
 been out of the yard this week, I ve been hard at 
 work. But I ve heard considerable racket nights." 
 
198 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 "Wai," said Israel, "the long an short on t is the 
 fellers be raisin the old Harry, an it s time somebody 
 said whoa. I ve been a-talkin ter Abner baout it, 
 an so s Ezry, but Abner ain t the same feller he wuz. 
 He s tight most o the time naow, an he says he don t 
 keer a darn haow bad they treats the silk-stockin s. 
 Turn abaout s fair play, he says, an he only larfed 
 when I told him some o the mischief the fellers wuz 
 up tew. An yew said, Ezry, he talked jest so to yew." 
 
 " Sartin, he did," said Ezra. " Ye see," he continued 
 to Perez, "me an Isr el be men o prop ty, an we jined 
 the folks ag in the courts cause we seen they wuz be- 
 in bused. There warn t no sense in makin folks pay 
 debts when there warn t no money in circulation to 
 pay em. T wuz jest like makin them ere chil ren of 
 Isr el make bricks thout no straw. I allers said, an 
 I allers will say," and the glitter that came into Ezra s 
 eye indicated that he felt the inspiring bound of his 
 hobby beneath him, "ef gov ment makes folks pay 
 their debts, gov ment s baound ter see they hez sun- 
 thin ter pay em with. I say that s plain ez a pike 
 staff. An it s jest so with taxes. Ef gov ment " 
 
 "Sartin, sartin," interrupted Israel, quietly choking 
 him off, " but le s stick ter what we wuz a-sayin , Ezry. 
 Things be a-goin tew fur, ye see, Perez. We took 
 part with the poor folks when they wuz bein bused, 
 but I declar for t, it looks ez though we d hev ter 
 take part with the silk-stockin s putty soon, at the rate 
 things be a-goin . It s a reg lar see-saw. Fust the rich 
 folks eend wuz up too fur, and naow it s t other way." 
 
 "They be a-burnin fences every night," said Ezra, 
 " an they ll hev the hull town afire one o these days. 
 I don t b lieve in destroyin prop ty. There ain t no 
 sense in that. That air Paul Hubbard s wuss n Ab- 
 
Plots and Counterplots 199 
 
 ner. Abner he jest larfs an don t keer, but Paul he s 
 that riled ag in the silk-stockin s that he seems fairly 
 crazy. He s daown from the iron-works with his gang 
 every night, eggin on the fellers ter burn fences, an 
 stone houses, an he wuz act lly tryin ter git the boys 
 ter tar and feather Squire, t other night. They didn t 
 quite dass dew that, but there ain t no tellin what 
 they ll come tew yit." 
 
 "Ye see, Perez," said Israel, at last getting to the 
 point, " we thought yew might dew suthin ter kind o 
 stop em ef ye d take a holt. Abner 11 hear ter yew, 
 an all on em would. I don t see s nobody else in 
 taown kin dew nothin . Ezry an me wuz a-talkin 
 baout ye over t the mill, an Ezry says, * Le s go over 
 ter see him, I says, Git right inter my cart, an we ll 
 go, an so here we be." 
 
 "I can t very well mix in, you see," replied Perez, 
 " for I m going to leave town for good the first of the 
 week." 
 
 "Where be ye goin ?" 
 
 " I m going to take father and mother and Reuben 
 over the York line, to New Lebanon, and then I m 
 going on to the Chenango purchase to clear a farm and 
 settle with them. " 
 
 "Sho! I want ter know," exclaimed Israel, scratch 
 ing his head. " Wall, I swow," he added, thoughtfully, 
 " I don t blame ye a mite, arter all. This ere State o 
 Massachusetts Bay ain t no place fer a poor man sence 
 the war, an ye ll find lots o Stockbridge folks out ter 
 Chenango. There s a lot moved out there. " 
 
 " Ef I wuz ten year younger I d go long with ye," 
 said Ezra, " darned ef I wouldn t. I jedge there must 
 be a right good chance fer a grist-mill out there. " 
 
 "Wai, Ezry," said Israel, after a pause, "I don t see 
 
2oo The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 but what we ve hed our trouble fer nothing an* I de- 
 clar I dunno what s goin ter be did. The silk-stock- 
 in s be a- try in ter fetch back the old times, an the 
 people be a-raisin Cain, an what s a-goin ter come on t 
 Gor amity only knows. Come long, Ezry," and the 
 two old men went sorrowfully away. 
 
 It seems that Israel and Ezra were not the only per 
 sons in Stockbridge whose minds turned to Perez as 
 the only available force which could restrain the mob, 
 and end the reign of lawlessness in the village. Scarce 
 ly had those worthies departed when Doctor Partridge 
 rode around into the back yard and approached the 
 young man. 
 
 "I come to you," he said, without any preliminary 
 beating about the bush, " as the recognized leader of 
 the people in this insurrection, to demand of you, as 
 an honest fellow, that you do something to stop the 
 outrages of your gang. " 
 
 " If I was their leader the other day, I am so no 
 longer," replied Perez, coldly. " They are not my fol 
 lowers. It is none of my business what they do." 
 
 "Yes, it is," said Doctor Partridge, sharply. "You 
 can t throw off the responsibility that way. But for 
 you, the rebellion here would never have gained head 
 way. You can t drop the business now and wash your 
 hands of it. " 
 
 " I don t care to wash my hands of it," replied Perez, 
 sternly. " I don t know what the men have done of 
 late, for I have stayed at home, but no doubt those 
 who suffer from their doings deserve it all, and more 
 too. Even if I were to stay in Stockbridge, I see no 
 reason why I should interfere. The people have a 
 right to avenge their wrongs. But I am going away 
 the coming week. My only concern in the rebellion 
 
Plots and Counterplots 201 
 
 was the release of my brother, and now I propose to 
 take him and my father and mother out of this ac 
 cursed Commonwealth, and leave you, whose oppres 
 sion and cruelties have provoked the rebellion, to deal 
 with it." 
 
 " Do you consider that an honorable course, Captain 
 Hamlin?" The young man s face flushed, and he an 
 swered angrily : 
 
 " Shall I stay here to protect men who, the moment 
 they are able, will throw my brother into jail and send 
 me to the gallows? Have you, sir, the assurance to 
 tell me that is my duty? " 
 
 The doctor for a moment found it difficult to reply 
 to this, and Perez went on, with increasing bitter 
 ness : 
 
 " You have sown the wind, you are reaping the whirl 
 wind. Why should I interfere? You have had no pity 
 on the poor; why should they have pity on you? In 
 stead of having the face to ask me to stay here and 
 protect you, rather be thankful that I am willing to go 
 and leave unavenged the wrongs which my father s 
 family has suffered at your hands. Be careful how 
 you hinder my going." The doctor, apparently infer 
 ring from the bitter tone of the young man, and the 
 hard, steely gleam in his blue eyes, that perhaps there 
 was something to be considered in his last words, 
 turned his horse s head without a word, and went 
 away, like the two envoys who had preceded him. 
 
 The doctor was disappointed. Without knowing 
 much of Perez, he had gained a strong impression from 
 what little he had seen of him that he was of a frank, 
 impulsive temperament, sudden and fierce in quarrel, 
 perhaps, but incapable of a brooding revengefulness, 
 and most unlikely to cherish continued animosity 
 
2O2 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 toward enemies who were at his mercy. And as I 
 would not have the reader do the young man injustice 
 in his mind, I hasten to say that the doctor s view of 
 his character was not far out of the way. The hard 
 complacency with which he just now regarded the 
 calamities of the gentlefolk of the town had its origin 
 in the constant and bitter brooding of the past week 
 over Desire s treatment of him. The sense of being 
 looked down on by her, as a fine lady, and his respect 
 ful passion despised, had been teaching him during the 
 past few days a bitterness of caste jealousy which had 
 never before been known to his genial temper. He 
 was trying to forget his love for her in hatred for her 
 class. He was getting to feel toward the silk-stockings 
 a little as Paul Hubbard felt. 
 
 Probably one of this generation of New Englanders, 
 who could have been placed in Stockbridge the day 
 following, would have deemed it a very quiet Sabbath 
 indeed. But what, by our lax modern standards, seem 
 very venial sins of Sabbath-breaking, if indeed any 
 such sins be now recognized at all, to that generation 
 were heinous and heaven-daring. The conduct of cer 
 tain reckless individuals that Sabbath did more perhaps 
 to shock the public mind than anything that had hither 
 to occurred in the course of the revolt. For instance, 
 divers young men were seen openly walking about the 
 streets with their sweethearts during meeting-time, 
 laughing and talking in a noisy manner, and evidently 
 bent merely on pleasure. It was credibly reported 
 that one man, without any attempt at concealment, 
 rode down to Great Barrington to make a visit of 
 recreation upon his friends. Several other persons, 
 presumably for similar profane purposes, walked out 
 to Lee and Lenox furnaces, to the prodigious scandal 
 
Plots and Counterplots 203 
 
 of the dwellers along those roads. As if this were not 
 enough iniquity for one day, there were whispers that 
 Abner Rathbun and Meshech Little had gone a-fish- 
 ing. This rumor was not, indeed, fully substantiated, 
 but the mere fact that it found circulation and some to 
 credit it, was in itself striking evidence of the agitated 
 and abnormal condition of the public mind. 
 
 Toward sunset the news reached Stockbridge of yet 
 another rebel victory in the lower counties. The 
 Monday preceding, three hundred armed farmers had 
 marched into the town of Concord, and prevented the 
 sitting of the courts of Middlesex county. The weak 
 ness of the government was shown by the fact that, 
 although ample warning of the intentions of the rebels 
 had been given, no opposition to them was attempted. 
 The Governor had, indeed, at first ordered the militia 
 to arms, but through apprehension of their unfaithful 
 ness had subsequently countermanded the order. The 
 fact that the rebellion had manifested such strength 
 and boldness within a few hours march of Boston, the 
 capital of the State, was an important element in the 
 elation which the tidings produced among the people. 
 It showed that the western counties were not alone 
 engaged in the insurrection, but that the people all 
 over the State were making common cause against the 
 courts and the party that upheld them. 
 
 The jubilation produced by this intelligence, com 
 bining with the usual reaction at sunset after the re 
 pression of the day, caused that evening a general 
 pandemonium of tin-pans, bonfires, mischief of all 
 sorts, and the usual concomitant of unlimited drunken 
 ness. In the midst of the uproar, the wife of Squire 
 Woodbridge died. The violence of the mob was such, 
 however, that Squire Edwards did not dare to avail 
 
204 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 himself of even the excuse of his sister s death for re 
 fusing to furnish liquor to the crowd. 
 
 The funeral took place on Tuesday. It was the 
 largest and most imposing that had occurred in the 
 village for a long time. The prominence of both the 
 families concerned procured the attendance of all the 
 gentry of Southern Berkshire. I employ an English 
 phrase to describe a class for which, in our modern 
 democratic New England, there is no counterpart. 
 The Stoddards, Littles, and Wendells, of Pittsfield, 
 were represented. Colonel Ashley was there from 
 Sheffield, Justices Dwight and Whiting from Great 
 Barrington, and Barker from Lanesborough, with 
 many more. The carriages, some of them bearing 
 coats of arms upon their panels, made a fine array, 
 which, not less than the richly attired dames and 
 gentlemen who descended from them, impressed a 
 temporary awe upon even the most seditious and 
 democratically inclined of the staring populace. The 
 six pall-bearers, adorned with scarves and mourning 
 rings, were Chief-Justice Dwight, Colonel Elijah Wil 
 liams of West Stockbridge, the founder and owner of 
 the iron-works there, Doctor Sergeant of Stockbridge, 
 Captain Solomon Stoddard, commander of the Stock- 
 bridge militia, Oliver Wendell, of Pittsfield, and Henry 
 W. Dwight, the county treasurer. There were not in 
 the town alone enough families to have furnished six 
 pall-bearers of satisfactory social rank. For while all 
 men of liberal education or profession, or such as held 
 prominent offices, were recognized as gentlemen in 
 sharp distinction from the common people ; yet the ma 
 jority of even these were looked down upon by the 
 county families of long pedigree and large estate. The 
 Partridges, Doctor Sergeant, the Dwights, the Wil- 
 
Plots and Counterplots 205 
 
 Harrises, the Stoddards, and of course his brother-in- 
 law Edwards, were the only men in the town whom 
 Jahleel Woodbridge regarded as belonging to his own 
 caste. Even Theodore Sedgwick, despite his high 
 public offices, he affected to consider entitled to social 
 equality chiefly by virtue of his having married a 
 Dwight. 
 
 After the funeral service Squire Woodbridge man 
 aged to whisper a few words in the ears of a dozen or 
 so of the gentlemen present, the tenor of which, to the 
 great surprise of those addressed, was a request that 
 they would call on him that evening after dark, taking 
 care to come alone and to attract as little attention as 
 possible. Each one supposed himself alone to have 
 been invited, and on being met at the door by Squire 
 Woodbridge and ushered into the study, was surprised 
 to find the room full of gentlemen. Doctors Partridge 
 and Sergeant, and Squire Edwards were there, Captain 
 Stoddard, Sheriff Seymour, Tax Collector Williams, 
 Solomon Gleason, John Bacon, Esquire, General 
 Pepoon and numerous other lawyers, County Treas 
 urer Dwight, Deacon Nash, Ephraim Williams, Es 
 quire, Sedgwick s law-partner, Captain Jones, the 
 militia commissary of Stockbridge, at whose house 
 the town stock of arms and ammunition was stored, 
 and several others. 
 
 When all had assembled, Woodbridge, having satis 
 fied himself that there were no spies lurking about the 
 garden, and that the gathering had not attracted atten 
 tion to the house, proceeded to close the blinds of the 
 study windows and draw the curtains. He then drew 
 a piece of printed paper from his pocket, opened it, 
 and broached the matter in hand to the wondering 
 company, as follows: 
 
206 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " The awful suggestions with which the recent visita 
 tion of God has invested my house for the time being, 
 have enabled us to meet to-night without danger that 
 our deliberations will be interrupted, either by the 
 curiosity or the violence of the rabble. For this one 
 night, the first for many weeks, they have left me in 
 peace, and I deem it is no desecration of the beloved 
 memory of my departed companion that we should 
 avail ourselves of so melancholy an opportunity to take 
 counsel for the restoration of law and order in this 
 sorely troubled community. I have this day received 
 from his Excellency, the Governor, and the honorable 
 council at Boston, a proclamation, directed to all jus 
 tices, sheriffs, jurors, and citizens, authorizing and 
 strictly commanding them to suppress, by force of 
 arms, all riotous proceedings, and to apprehend the 
 rioters. I have called you privately together, gentle 
 men, that we might arrange for concerted action to 
 these ends. " In a low voice, so that no chance listener 
 from without might catch its tenor, the Squire then 
 proceeded to read Governor Bowdoin s proclamation, 
 closing with that time-honored and impressive formula, 
 "God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." 
 Captain Stoddard was first to break the silence which 
 followed the reading of the document. 
 
 " I, for one, am ready to fight the mob to-morrow, 
 but how are we to go about it? There are ten men for 
 the mob to one against it. What can we do? " 
 
 " How many men in your company could be depended 
 on to fight the mob, if it came to blows?" asked Wood- 
 bridge. 
 
 " Not over twenty or thirty, I m afraid. Three 
 quarters are for the mob. " 
 
 " There are a dozen of us here, and I presume at least 
 
Plots and Counterplots 207 
 
 a score more gentlemen in town could be depended on," 
 said Doctor Partridge. 
 
 " But that would give not over three score, and the 
 mob could easily muster four times that, "said Gleason. 
 
 " They have no leaders, though/ said Bacon. " Such 
 fellows are dangerous only when they have leaders. 
 They could not stand before us, for methinks we are 
 by this time become desperate men." 
 
 " You forget that this Hamlin fellow will stop at noth 
 ing, and they will follow him," remarked Seymour. 
 
 " He is going to leave town this week, if he be not 
 already gone," said Doctor Partridge. 
 
 "What?" exclaimed Woodbridge, almost with con 
 sternation. 
 
 " He is going away," repeated the doctor. 
 
 " Perhaps it would be expedient to wait till he has 
 gone," was Gleason s prudent suggestion. 
 
 " And let the knave escape ! " exclaimed Woodbridge, 
 looking fiercely at the schoolmaster. " I would not 
 have him get away for ten thousand pounds. I have a 
 little reckoning to settle with him. If he is going to 
 leave, we must not delay." 
 
 " My advices state that Squire Sedgwick will be home 
 in a few days to attend to his cases at the October term 
 of the Supreme Court at Barrington. His cooperation 
 would no doubt strengthen our hands," suggested 
 Ephraim Williams. 
 
 If the danger of Hamlin s escape had not been a suffi 
 cient motive in Woodbridge s mind for hastening mat 
 ters, the possibility that his rival might return in time 
 to share the credit of the undertaking would have been. 
 But he merely said, coldly: 
 
 " The success of our measures will scarcely depend 
 on the cooperation of one man more or less, and seeing 
 
208 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 that we have broached the business, as little time as 
 possible should intervene ere its execution, lest some 
 whisper get abroad and warn the rabble, for it is clear 
 that it is only by a surprise that we can be sure of beat 
 ing them. " 
 
 He then proceeded to lay before them a scheme of 
 action which was at once so bold and so prudent that 
 it obtained the immediate and admiring approval of all 
 present. Just before dawn, at three o clock in the 
 morning of Thursday, the next day but one, that being 
 the hour at which the village was most completely 
 wrapped in repose, the conspirators were secretly to 
 rendezvous at Captain Jones s house, and such as had 
 not arms and ammunition of their own were there to 
 be supplied from the town stock. Issuing thence and 
 dividing into parties, the arrest of Perez Hamlin, Ab- 
 ner Rathbun, Peleg Bidwell, Israel Goodrich, Meshech 
 Little, and other men regarded as leaders of the mob, 
 was to be simultaneously effected. Strong guards 
 were then to be posted, so that when the village awoke 
 it would be to find itself in military possession of the 
 legal authorities. The next step would be immediately 
 to bring the prisoners before Justice Woodbridge to be 
 tried, the sentences to be summarily carried out at the 
 whipping-post on the green ; and the prisoners were 
 then to be remanded to custody, to await the further 
 action of the law before higher tribunals. It might 
 be necessary to keep up the military occupation of 
 the village for some time, but it was agreed that the 
 execution of the well-laid plot would be sufficient to 
 break entirely the spirit of the mob. The excesses of 
 the rabble during the past week had, it was believed, 
 already done something to produce a reaction of feel 
 ing against them among their former sympathizers, 
 
Plots and Counterplots 209 
 
 and there would doubtless be plenty of recruits for the 
 party of order, as soon as it had shown itself the 
 stronger. The intervening day, Wednesday, was to 
 be devoted by those present to warning secretly such 
 as were counted on to assist in the project. It was es 
 timated that, including all the able-bodied gentlemen 
 in town, as well as some of the people known to be dis 
 affected to the mob, about seventy-five men could be 
 secured for the work in hand. 
 
 Now, Lu Nimham, the beautiful Indian girl whom 
 Perez had noticed in meeting sitting beside Prudence 
 Fennell, had another lover besides Abe Konkapot no 
 other, in fact, than Abe s own brother Jake. Abe had 
 been to the war and Jake had not, and Lu, as might 
 have been expected from a girl whose father and 
 brother had fallen at White Plains in the Continental 
 uniform, preferred her soldier lover to the other. But 
 not so the Widow Nimham, her mother, in whose eyes 
 Jake s slightly better worldly prospects gave him the 
 advantage. It so happened that soon after dusk, 
 Wednesday evening, Abe, drawn by a tender inward 
 stress, betook himself to the lonely dell in the extreme 
 western part of the village, now called Glendale, where 
 the hut of the Nimham family stood. His discomfiture 
 was great on finding Jake already comfortably installed 
 in the kitchen and basking in Lu s society. He did not 
 linger. The widow did not invite him to stay ; in fact, 
 not to put too fine a point upon it, she intimated that 
 it would be just as well if he were to finish his call at 
 some other time. Lu indeed threw sundry tender 
 commiserating glances in his direction, but her mother 
 watched her like a cat, and mothers in those times were 
 a good deal more in the way than they are nowadays. 
 
 How little do we know what is good for us ! As he 
 14 
 
2io The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 beat an ignominious retreat, pursued by the scornful 
 laughter of his brother, Abe certainly had apparent 
 reason to be down on his luck. Nevertheless, the fact 
 that he was " cut out " that particular evening proved to 
 be one of the clearest streaks of luck that had ever oc 
 curred in his career ; and a good many others besides 
 he had equal reason ere morning dawned to be thank 
 ful for it. The matter fell out on this wise : 
 
 About two hours later a little after nine o clock, in 
 fact the Hamlin household was about going to bed. 
 Elnathan and Mrs. Hamlin had already retired to the 
 small bedroom opening out of the kitchen. Reuben, 
 George Fennell, and Perez slept in the kitchen, and 
 Prudence in the loft above. The two invalids were 
 already in bed, and the girl was just giving the last 
 attentions for the night to her father before climbing 
 to her pallet. Perez sat at the other end of the great 
 room before the open chimney, gazing into the embers 
 of the fire. The family was to start for New York the 
 next morning, and as this last night in the old home 
 stead was closing in the young man had enough sad 
 matter to occupy his thoughts. Her loving cares com 
 pleted, Prudence came and stood silently by his side. 
 Taking note of her friendly presence after awhile, he 
 put out his hand without looking up and took hers as 
 it hung by her side. He had taken quite a liking to 
 the sweet-tempered little lassie, and had felt particu 
 larly kindly toward her since her well-meaning, if 
 rather inadequate effort to console him that Sunday 
 behind the barn. 
 
 "You re a good little girl, Prudy," he said, "and I 
 know you will take good care of your father. You can 
 stay here if you want, you know, after we re gone. I 
 don t think Solomon Gleason or the sheriff will trouble 
 
Plots and Counterplots 21 1 
 
 you. Or you can go to your father s old house. Oba- 
 diah says Gleason has left it. Obadiah will look after 
 you and do any chores you may want about the house. 
 He ll be very glad to. He thinks a good deal of you, 
 Obadiah does. I suppose he ll be wanting you to keep 
 house for him when you get a little older," and he 
 looked cheerily up at her. But evidently his little jest 
 had struck her mind amiss. Her eyes were full of tears 
 and the childish mouth quivered. 
 
 "Why, what s the matter, Prudy?" he asked in sur 
 prise. 
 
 " I wish you wouldn t talk so to me, now," she said, 
 "as if I didn t care anything when you re all going 
 away and have been so good to me and father. And I 
 don t care about Obadiah either, and you needn t say 
 so. He s just a great gump ! " 
 
 At this point, the conversation was abruptly broken 
 off by the noise of the latch-string being pulled. Both 
 turned. Lu Nimham was standing in the doorway, 
 her great black eyes shining in the dusk like those of a 
 deer fascinated by the night-hunter s torch. Prudence, 
 with a low exclamation of surprise, crossed the room to 
 her, and Lu whispering something drew her out. Im 
 mediately, however, the white girl reappeared in the 
 doorway, her rosy face pale, her eyes dilated, and 
 beckoned to Perez, who in a good deal of wonderment 
 at once obeyed the gesture. The two girls were stand 
 ing by a corner of the house, out of earshot from the 
 window of Elnathan s bedroom. Both looked very 
 much excited, but the Indian girl was smiling as if the 
 stimulus affected her nerves agreeably rather than 
 otherwise. Abe Konkapot, looking rather sober, stood 
 near by. 
 
 " Oh, what shall we do? " exclaimed Prudence in a 
 
212 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 terrified half- whisper. " She says the militia are com* 
 ing to take you ! " 
 
 " What is it all? demanded Perez of the Indian girl, 
 as he laid his hand soothingly on Prudence s shoulder. 
 
 "Jake Konkapot, he come see me to-night," said 
 Lu, still smiling. " Jake no like Abe, cause Abe like 
 me too. Jake he ask me if I like Abe any more after 
 he git whip on back by constable man. I say no. In 
 dian gal no like marry man what been whip. Jake 
 laugh and say I no marry Abe sure nough, cause Abe 
 git whip to-morrow. He no tell me what he mean till 
 I say I give him kiss. Man all like kiss. Jake he say 
 yes, an I give him kiss. Ugh! Arter that he say 
 Squire an Deacon Edwards, and Deacon Nash, an 
 Cap n Stoddard an heap more, an* Jake he go too, go- 
 in ter git up early, at three o clock to-morrer, with 
 guns; make no noise, go roun creepy, creepy, creepy." 
 Here she expressed by pantomime the way a cat 
 stealthily approaches its prey, culminating by a sudden 
 clutch on Perez s arm that startled him, as she added 
 explosively, " Catch you so ! all abed, an* Abe an Ab- 
 ner an heap more. Then when mornin come they 
 whip all on yer ter the whippin -post. When Jake go 
 home I wait till mammy go sleep, slip out winder an 
 go tell Abe so he no git whip. Then I tink come 
 here tell Prudence, for I tink she no like you git 
 whip." 
 
 Perez had listened with an intense interest that lost 
 not a syllable. As the girl described the disgrace 
 which his enemies had planned to inflict on him, if 
 their plan succeeded, his cheek paled and his lips drew 
 tense across his set teeth. As Prudence looked up at 
 him there was a suppressed intensity of rage in his face 
 which checked the ejaculations upon her lips. There 
 
Plots and Counterplots 213 
 
 was a silence of several seconds, and then he said in a 
 low suppressed voice, hard and unnatural in tone : 
 
 "Young woman, I owe you more than if you had 
 saved me from death." Lu smilingly nodded, evident 
 ly fully appreciating the point. 
 
 " Three o clock, you said? " muttered Perez presently, 
 half to himself, as the others still were silent. 
 
 "Tree clock, Jake say. Jake an all udder man 
 meet to Cap n Jones s tree clock to git um guns." 
 
 "It s nine now, six hours. Time enough," mut 
 tered Perez. 
 
 "Yes, there s time for you to get away," said Pru 
 dence eagerly. " You can get to York State by three 
 o clock, if you hurry. Oh, don t wait a minute. If 
 they should catch you ! " 
 
 He smiled grimly. 
 
 " Yes, there s time for me to get away, but there s 
 no time for them, my sirs." 
 
 " Abe," he added, abruptly changing his tone, " you ve 
 heard what they re going to do? What are you going 
 to do?" 
 
 "I tink me go wake up fellers. Heap time, run 
 clean way fore tree clock," said the Indian. " Mil- 
 ishy come tree clock, no find us. Fraid have to leave 
 Abner. Abner heap drunk to-night. No can walk. 
 Too big for carry. Heap sorry, but no can help it." 
 
 " But you don t want to leave home, Abe. You 
 don t want to leave Lu here for Jake to get." 
 
 Abe shook his head gloomily. 
 
 "No use stay," he said. "If I get whip, Lu no 
 marry me." 
 
 "Abe," said Perez, stepping up to the disconsolate 
 Indian and clapping him sharply on the shoulder, " you 
 were in the army. You re not afraid of fighting. 
 
214 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 We ll stay and beat these fine gentlemen at their own 
 game. By three o clock we ll have every one of them 
 tinder guard, and, by the Lord God of Israel! by noon 
 to-morrow, every man of them shall get ten lashes on 
 his bare back with all Stockbridge looking on. We ll 
 see who s whipped." 
 
 " Ha! you no run. You stay fight em. What heap 
 more better as run. You great brave, ha! ha! " cried 
 Lu, dancing in front of Perez and clapping her hands 
 in noiseless ecstacy, while her splendid eyes rested on 
 him with an admiration of which Abe might have been 
 excusably jealous. 
 
 Her Mohegan blood was on fire at the prospect of a 
 scrimmage, and her lover s response, if more laconic, 
 was quite as satisfactory. 
 
 " Me no like to run. Me stay fight. Me do what 
 you say." 
 
 " Wait here till I get my sword and pistols. We ve 
 plenty of time, but none to lose," and Perez went into 
 the house, followed by Prudence. Mrs. Hamlin, with 
 some garment hastily thrown about her, had come out 
 of her bedroom. 
 
 " I heard voices. What it it, Perez? " she said. 
 
 " Abe has come to get me to go off on a coon hunt. 
 He thinks he s treed several," replied Perez, strapping 
 on his accouterments. He had no notion of leaving 
 his mother a prey to sleepless anxiety during his ab 
 sence. 
 
 "You re not telling me the truth, Perez. Look at 
 Prudence." 
 
 The girl s face, pale as ashes and her eyes full of fear 
 and excitement, -had betrayed him, and so he had to 
 tell her in a few words what he was going to do. The 
 door stood open, On the threshold, as he was going 
 
Plots and Counterplots 215 
 
 out, he turned his head, and said in confident, ringing 
 tones : 
 
 "You needn t be at all afraid. We shall certainly 
 succeed." 
 
 No wonder the breath of the night had inspired him 
 with such confidence. It was the night of all nights in 
 the year which a man would choose if he were to stake 
 his life and all on the issue of some daring stake, as 
 sured that then, if ever, he could depend to the utter 
 most on every atom of nerve and muscle in his body. 
 The bare mountain peaks overhanging the village were 
 tipped with silver by the moon, and under its light the 
 dense forests that clothed their sides wore a sheen like 
 that of thick and glossy fur. The air was tingling with 
 that electric stimulus which characterizes autumn even 
 ings in New England about the time of the first frosts. 
 A faint, sweet smell of aromatic smoke from burning 
 pine woods somewhere off in the mountains could 
 barely be detected. The intense vitality of the atmos 
 phere communicated itself to the nerves, stringing 
 them like steel cords, and setting them vibrating with 
 lust for action and reckless, daring emprise. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Lex Talionis 
 
 THE plan which Perez had formed for forestalling 
 his adversaries and visiting upon their own heads the 
 fate they had prepared for him was very simple. He 
 proposed to go down into the village with Abe and Lu, 
 and with their assistance to call up, without waking 
 anybody else, some forty or fifty of the most deter 
 mined fellows of the rebel party. With the aid of 
 these, he intended as noiselessly as possible to enter 
 the houses of Squires Woodbridge and Edwards, Dea 
 con Nash, Captain Stoddard and others, and arrest 
 them in their beds, simultaneously seizing the town 
 stock of muskets and powder, and conveying it to a 
 guarded place, so that when the conspirators party as 
 sembled at three o clock, they might find themselves at 
 once without arms or officers, their leaders hostages in 
 the hands of the enemy, and their design completely 
 set at naught. Thanks to the excesses of the past week 
 or two, there were many more than forty men in the 
 village who, knowing that the restoration of law and 
 order meant a sharp reckoning for them, would stop at 
 nothing to prevent it ; and Perez could thus command 
 precisely the sort of followers he wanted for his pres 
 ent undertaking. 
 
 For many years after, in certain Stockbridge house 
 holds, the story in grandmother s repertoire most 
 eagerly called for by the young folks on winter even- 
 
Lex Talionis 217 
 
 ings was about how the " Regulators " came for grand 
 pa ; how at dead of night the heavy tramp of men and 
 the sound of rough voices in the rooms below awoke 
 the children sleeping overhead, and froze their young 
 blood with fear of Indians; how at last, mustering 
 courage, they crept downstairs, and peeping into the 
 living-room saw it full of fierce men, with green 
 boughs in their hats, the flaring candles gleaming 
 upon their muskets and bayonets, and the drawn sword 
 of their captain ; while in the midst, half-dressed and 
 in his night-cap, grandpa was being hustled about. 
 
 Leaving these details to the imagination, suffice it to 
 say that Perez s plan, clearly conceived, and executed 
 with prompt, relentless vigor, was perfectly successful, 
 and so noiselessly carried out that, excepting those 
 families whose heads were arrested by the soldiers, the 
 village, as a whole, had no suspicion that anything in 
 particular was going on, until waking up the next 
 morning, the people found squads of armed men on 
 guard at the street corners, and sentinels pacing up 
 and down before the Fennell house, that building, left 
 vacant by Gleason s ejection, having been selected by 
 Perez for the confinement of his prisoners and the 
 stores he had confiscated. As the people ran together 
 on the green to learn the reason of the strange ap 
 pearances, and the story passed from lip to lip what 
 had been the plot against their newly acquired liber 
 ties and the persons of their leaders, and by what a 
 narrow chance and by whose bold action the trouble 
 had been averted, the sensation was prodigious. The 
 tendency of public opinion, which had been inclining to 
 sympathize a little with the abuse the silk-stockings 
 had been undergoing during the past week, was in 
 stantly reversed, now that the so near success of their 
 
21 8 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 plot once more made them objects of terror. The ex 
 asperation was far more general and profound than had 
 been excited by the previous attempt to restore the old 
 order of things in the case of the sale of David Joy s 
 house. This was more serious business. Every man 
 who had been connected with the rebellion felt, in 
 imagination, the lash on his back, and white faces were 
 plenty among the stoutest of them. And what they 
 felt for themselves, you may be sure their wives and 
 children and friends felt for them, with even greater 
 intensity. As now and then the wife or child of one 
 of the prisoners in the guardhouse, with anxious face, 
 timidly passed through the throng, on the way to make 
 inquiries concerning the welfare of the husband or 
 father, black looks and muttered curses followed them, 
 and the rude gibes with which the sentinels responded 
 to their anxious, tearful questionings were received 
 with mocking laughter by the crowd. 
 
 As Perez, coming forth for some purpose, appeared 
 at the door of the Fennell house, there was a great 
 shout of acclamation, the popular ratification of the 
 night s work. But an even more convincing demon 
 stration of approval awaited him. As he began to 
 make his way through the throng, Submit Goodrich, 
 old Israel s buxom, black-eyed daughter, confronted 
 him, saying, 
 
 " My old daddy d ha* been in the stocks by this time 
 if it hadn t been f6r yew, so there," and throwing her 
 arms around his neck, she gave him a resounding kiss 
 on the lips. Meshech Little s wife followed suit, and 
 then Peleg Bidwell s wife and a lot of other women of 
 the people, amid the uproarious plaudits of the crowd, 
 which became deafening as Resignation Ann Poor, 
 Zadkiel s energetic wife, elbowed her way through the 
 
Lex Talionis 219 
 
 pack, and clasping- the helpless Perez against her bony 
 breast in a genuine bear s hug, gave him a kiss like a 
 file. 
 
 "Well, I never!" ejaculated Prudence Fennell, who 
 was bringing some breakfast to Perez, and had ob 
 served all this kissing with a rather sour expression. 
 
 Unluckily for her, Submit overheard the words. 
 
 "Yew never, didn t yew? An 7 livin* in the same 
 haouse long with him too? Wai, it s time ye did," 
 she exclaimed loudly, and seizing the struggling girl 
 she thrust her before Perez, holding down her hands 
 so that she could not cover her furiously blushing face, 
 and amid the boisterous laughter of the bystanders she 
 was kissed also, a proceeding which evidently pleased 
 Obadiah Weeks, who stood near, as little as the general 
 kissing had pleased Prudence. As Submit released her 
 and she rushed away, Obadiah followed her. 
 
 " Haow d ye like it? " he inquired, with a sickly grin 
 of jealous irony. " I see ye didn t cover yer face very 
 tight, he ! he ! Took keer to leave a hole, he ! he ! " 
 
 The girl turned on him like a flash and gave him a 
 resounding slap on the cheek. 
 
 " Take that, you great gump ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 " What d ye want ter hit a feller fer?" whined Oba 
 diah, rubbing the smitten locality. "Gol darn it! I 
 hain t done nothin to ye. Ye didn t slap him when 
 he kissed ye, darn him. Guess t ain t the fust time 
 he s done it, nuther." 
 
 Prudence turned her back to him and walked off, but 
 Obadiah, his bashfulness for the moment quite forgot 
 ten in his jealous rage, followed her long enough to 
 add: 
 
 " Oh, ye needn t think I hain t seen ye settin yer cap 
 fer him all long, an he almost old nough ter be yer 
 
220 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 dad. S pose ye thought ye d git him, bein in the same 
 haouse long with him, but ye hain t made aout. He s 
 goin ter York, an* he don t keer no more baout yew 
 nor the dirt under his feet. He ez good s told me so." 
 
 "There comes Abner Rath bun," said some one in 
 the group around Perez. With heavy eyes, testifying 
 to his debauch over night, and a generally crestfallen 
 appearance, the giant was approaching from the tav 
 ern, where he had presumably been bracing up with a 
 little morning flip. 
 
 " A nice sort o man yew be, Abner, fer yer neigh 
 bors to be a-trustin* ter look aout fer things," said an 
 old farmer, sarcastically. 
 
 " Ef t hedn t been fer Cap n Hamlin there the con 
 stable would ha* waked ye up this mornin with the 
 end of a gad," said another. 
 
 " Yew ll hev ter take in yer horns a little after this, 
 Abner. It won t do to be puttin on any more airs," 
 remarked a third. 
 
 "Go ahead," said Abner, ruefully. "I hain t got 
 nothin* ter say. Ye kin sass me all ye want. Every 
 one on ye kin take yer hack at me. I m kind o sorry 
 there ain t any on ye big nough ter kick me, fer I 
 ought ter be kicked. " 
 
 "Never mind, Abner," said Perez, pitying his hu 
 miliated condition. " Anybody may get too much flip 
 now and then. We missed you, but we managed to 
 get through with the job all right. " 
 
 " Cap n," said Abner, " I was bleeged ter ye when ye 
 pulled them two Britishers off o me ter Stillwater, but 
 that ain t a sarcumstance to the way I be bleeged ter 
 ye this mornin , fer it s all your doin s, and no thanks 
 ter me, that I ain t gittin ten lashes this very minute, 
 with all the women a-snickerin at the size of my back. 
 
Lex Talionis 221 
 
 I hev been kind o cocky, an I hev put on some airs, 
 ez these fellers says, fer I concluded ye d kind o 
 washed yer hands o this business, an left me ter be 
 cap n, but arter this ye ll find Abner Rathbun knows 
 his place. " 
 
 " You were quite right about it, Abner. I have 
 washed my hands of the business. I am going to take 
 my folks out to York State. I meant to start this 
 morning. If the silk-stockings had waited till to-night 
 they wouldn t have found me in their way." 
 
 " I guess t wuz providential they didn t wait, fer we d 
 ha been gone suckers sure ez ye hedn t been on hand 
 ter dew what ye did," said one of the men. "There 
 ain t another man in town ez could ha done it, or 
 would dast try." 
 
 " But ye ain t calc latin ter go arter this, be ye, 
 Perez? " said Abner. 
 
 " This makes no difference. I expect to get off to 
 morrow," replied Perez. 
 
 "Ye shan t go, not ef I hold ye," cried Mrs. Poor, 
 edging up to him as if about to secure his person on 
 the spot. 
 
 " Ef yew go the rest on us might s well go with ye, 
 fer the silk-stockin s 11 hev it all their own way then," 
 remarked a farmer, gloomily. 
 
 " I don t think the silk-stockings will try any more 
 tricks right off," said Perez, grimly. "I propose to 
 give them a lesson this morning, which they ll be like 
 ly to remember for one while. " 
 
 " What be ye a-goin ter dew to em? " asked Abner, 
 eagerly. 
 
 "Well," said Perez, deliberately, as every eye rested 
 on him, " you see they had set their minds on having 
 some whipping done this morning, and I don t propose 
 
222 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 to have them disappointed. I m going to do to them 
 as they would have done to us. The whipping will 
 come off as soon as Abe can find Little Pete to handle 
 the gad. I sent him off some time ago. I don t see 
 what s keeping him." 
 
 His manner was as quiet and matter-of-course as if 
 he were proposing the most ordinary sort of forenoon 
 occupation, and when he finished speaking he walked 
 away without so much as a glance around to see how 
 the people took it. It was nevertheless quite worth 
 observing, the fascinated stare with which they looked 
 after him, and then turned to fix on each other. It 
 was Abner who, after several moments of dead silence, 
 said in an awed voice, like a loud whisper : 
 
 "He s a-goin ter whip em." And Obadiah almost 
 devoutly murmured, " By gosh ! " 
 
 The men who stood around were intensely angry 
 with the prisoners for their plot to arrest and whip 
 them, but the idea of retaliating in kind, by whipping 
 the prisoners themselves, had not for an instant oc 
 curred to the boldest. The prisoners were gentlemen, 
 and the idea of whipping a gentleman just as if he were 
 one of themselves was something the most lawless of 
 them had never entertained. Education, precedent, 
 and innate caste sentiment had alike precluded the 
 idea. But after the first sensation of bewilderment 
 had passed, it was evident that the shock which the 
 popular mind had received from Perez s words was 
 not wholly disagreeable, but rather suggestive of a 
 certain shuddering delight. The introspective gleam 
 which shone in everybody s eye betrayed the half- 
 scared pleasure with which each in his own mind was 
 turning over the daring suggestion. 
 
 "Why not, arter all?" said Meshech Little, hesitat- 
 
Lex Talionis 223 
 
 ingly, as if his logic didn t convince himself. " They 
 wuz goin ter lick us. They d ha had us licked by this 
 time. It s tit for tat." 
 
 " I s pose Goramity made our backs as well as their n," 
 observed Abner. " The only odds is in the kind o coats 
 we wear. Our n ain t so fine ez their n, but it s the back 
 an not the coat that gits licked. Arter Pete has took 
 off their coats there won t be no odds." 
 
 The chuckle with which this was received showed 
 how fast the people were yielding to the awful charm 
 of the thought. 
 
 "Do ye s pose cap n 11 really dass dew it?" asked 
 Obadiah. 
 
 " Dew it? Yes, he ll dew it, you better b lieve. Did 
 ye see the set of his jaw when he wuz talkin so quiet- 
 like baout lickin em? I wuz in the army with Perez, 
 an I know his ways. When he sets his jaw that air 
 way I don t keer to git in his way, big ez I be. He ll 
 dew it ef he doos it with his own hands. He s pison 
 proud, Perez is, an I guess the idee that they wuz 
 layin aout ter hev him licked hez kind o riled 
 him." 
 
 As the people talked, their hearts began to burn. 
 The more they thought of it, the more the idea fasci 
 nated them. Jests and hilarious comments, which be 
 trayed a temper of delighted expectancy, soon began to 
 be bandied about. 
 
 In ten minutes more, this very crowd which had re 
 ceived in shocked silence the first suggestion of whip 
 ping the gentlemen had so set their fancy on that 
 diversion that it would have been hard balking them. 
 It must be remembered that this was a hundred years 
 ago. The weekly spectacle of the cruel punishment of 
 the lash, and the scarcely less painful and disgraceful 
 
224 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 infliction of the stocks and the pillory, left in their 
 minds no possibility for any revolt of mere humane 
 sentiment against the proposed doings, such as a mod 
 ern assembly would experience. To men and women 
 who had learned from childhood to find a certain brut 
 ish titillation in beholding the public humiliation and 
 physical anguish of their acquaintances and fellow- 
 townsmen, the prospect of seeing the scourge actually 
 applied to the backs of envied and hated social supe 
 riors could not be otherwise than delightfully agitating. 
 Nor were there lacking supplies of Dutch courage for 
 the timid. Among the town stores seized and conveyed 
 to the Fennell house the night before had been several 
 casks of rum. One of these had been secretly seques 
 trated by some of the men and hidden in a neighboring 
 barn. The secret of its whereabouts had been, in 
 drunken confidence, conveyed from one man to another, 
 with the consequence that nearly all the men were rap 
 idly getting drunk. Shortly after Perez had communi 
 cated his intention to the people, Paul Hubbard, with 
 thirty or forty of the iron-workers, armed with blud 
 geons, arrived from West Stockbridge. Some rumor 
 of the doings of the previous night had reached there, 
 and he had hastily rallied his myrmidons and come 
 down, not knowing but there might be some fighting to 
 be done. 
 
 " Paul 11 be nigh tickled to death to hear of the whip- 
 pin ," said Abner, seeing him coming. " If he had his 
 way he d skin the silk-stockin s, an make whips out o 
 their own hides to whip em with. He don t seem to 
 love em, somehow nuther, wuth a darn." Nor was 
 Paul s satisfaction at the news any less than Abner had 
 anticipated. Presently he burst into the room in the 
 Fennell house which Perez had appropriated as a sort 
 
Lex Talionis 225 
 
 of headquarters, and wrung the latter s rather indiffer 
 ent hand with an almost tremulous delight. 
 
 " Good for you, Hamlin, good for you ! By the Lord, 
 I didn t suppose you had the mettle to do it. Little Pete 
 is just the man for the business, but if he doesn t come, 
 you can have one of my Welshmen. I suppose most of 
 the Stockbridge men wouldn t quite dare, but just wait 
 till after the whipping. They won t be afraid of the 
 big- wigs any longer. That ll break the charm. Little 
 Pete s whip will do more to make us free and equal 
 than all the swords and guns in Berkshire." And 
 Hubbard went out exultant. 
 
 As he was leaving, he met no less a one than Par 
 son West coming in, and wearing a rather discomfited 
 countenance. The parson had been accustomed, as 
 parsons were in those days, to a good deal of deference 
 from his flock, and the lowering looks and covered 
 heads of the crowd about the door were disagreeable 
 novelties. No institution in the New England of that 
 day was, in fact, more strictly aristocratic than the 
 pulpit. Its affiliations were wholly with the governing 
 and wealthy classes, and its tone with the common 
 people was as arrogant and domineering as that of the 
 magistracy itself. And though Parson West was per 
 sonally a man of unusual affability toward the poor 
 and lowly, it was impossible in a time like this that one 
 of his class should not be regarded with suspicion and 
 aversion by the popular party. 
 
 "I would have word with your captain," he said to 
 the sentinel at the door. 
 
 "He s in there," said the soldier, pointing to the door 
 of the headquarters room. Perez, who was walking to 
 and fro, turned at the opening door and respectfully 
 greeted the parson. 
 
226 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " Are you the captain of the armed band without? * 
 
 "lam." 
 
 " You have certain gentlemen in confinement, I have 
 heard. I came to see you on account of an extraordi 
 nary report that you had threatened to inflict a dis 
 graceful public chastisement upon their persons. No 
 doubt the report is erroneous. You surely could not 
 contemplate so cruel and scandalous a proceeding." 
 
 " The report is entirely true, reverend sir. I am but 
 waiting for a certain Hessian drummer who will wield 
 the lash." 
 
 " But, man, " exclaimed the parson, " you have forgot 
 ten that these are the first men in the county. They 
 are gentlemen of distinguished birth and official sta 
 tion. You would not whip them like common offend 
 ers. It is impossible. You are beside yourself. Such 
 a thing was never heard of. It is most criminal, most 
 wicked. As a minister of the gospel, I protest ! I for 
 bid such a thing! " and the little parson fairly choked 
 with righteous indignation. 
 
 " These men, if they had succeeded in their plan last 
 night, would have whipped me and a score of others 
 to-day. Would you have protested against that? " 
 
 "That is different. They would have proceeded 
 against you as criminals, according to law." 
 
 " No doubt they would have proceeded according to 
 law," replied Perez, with a bitter sneer. "They have 
 been proceeding according to law for the past six years 
 here in Berkshire, and that s why the people are in re 
 bellion. I m no lawyer, but I know that Perez Hamlin 
 is as good as Jahleel Woodbridge, whatever the parson 
 may think, and what he would have done to me shall 
 be done to him." 
 
 "That is not the rule of the gospel," said the minis- 
 
Lex Talionis 227 
 
 ter, taking another tack. " Christ said if any man smite 
 you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. " 
 
 " If that is your counsel, take it to those who are like 
 ly to need it. I am going to do the smiting this time, 
 and it s their time to do the turning. They need not 
 trouble themselves, however. Pete will see that they 
 get it on both sides. 
 
 44 And now, sir," he added, "if you would like to see 
 the prisoners to prepare them for what s coming, you 
 are welcome to do so." And opening the door of the 
 room, he told the sentinel in the corridor to let the par 
 son into the guard-room, and the silenced and horrified 
 man of God, mechanically acting upon the hint, went 
 out and left him alone. 
 
 The imagination of the reader will readily depict the 
 state of mind in which the families of the arrested gen 
 tlemen were left, after the midnight visit of Perez s 
 band. That there was no more sleep in those house 
 holds that night will be easily understood. In the Ed 
 wards family the long hours till morning were passed 
 in praying and weeping by Mrs. Edwards and Desire 
 and the younger children. They scarcely dared to 
 doubt that the husband and father was destined to vio 
 lence or death at the hands of those bloody and cruel 
 men. At dawn Jonathan, who, on trying to follow his 
 father when first arrested, had been driven back with 
 blows, went out again, and the tidings which he 
 brought back, that the prisoners were confined in the 
 Fennell house and as yet had undergone no abuse, 
 somewhat restored their agitated spirits. An hour or 
 two later the boy came tearing into the house, with 
 white face, clenched fists, and blazing eyes. 
 
 " What is it? " cried his mother and sister, half scared 
 to death at his looks. 
 
228 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " They re going " Jonathan choked. 
 
 "They re going to have father whipped," he finally 
 made out to articulate. 
 
 "Whipped!" echoed Desire, faintly and tmcompre- 
 hendingly. 
 
 "Yes!" cried the boy hoarsely, "stripped and 
 whipped at the whipping-post like any vagabond." 
 
 "What do you mean?" said Mrs. Edwards, as she 
 took Jonathan by the shoulder. 
 
 "They re going to whip father, and uncle, and all 
 the others," he repeated, beginning to whimper, stout 
 boy as he was. 
 
 "Whip father? You re crazy, Jonathan, you didn t 
 hear right. They d never dare! It can t be! Run 
 and find out," cried Desire, wildly. 
 
 " There ain t any use. I heard the Hamlin fellow 
 say so himself. They re going to doit. They said it s 
 no worse than whipping one of them, as if they were 
 gentlemen," blubbered Jonathan. 
 
 "Oh, no! no! They can t, they won t," cried the 
 girl in an anguished voice, her eyes glazed with tears 
 as she looked appealingly from Jonathan to her mother, 
 in whose faces there was little enough to reassure 
 her. 
 
 "Don t, mother, you hurt," said Jonathan, trying to 
 twist away from the clasp which his mother had re 
 tained upon his arm, unconsciously tightening it till it 
 was like a vise. 
 
 "Whip my husband!" said she, slowly, in a hollow 
 tone. " Whip him ? " she repeated. " Such a thing was 
 never heard of. There must be some mistake. " 
 
 " There must be ! There must be ! " exclaimed Desire 
 again. " It can never be. They are not so wicked. 
 That Hamlin fellow is bad enough, but, oh, he isn t 
 
Lex Talionis 229 
 
 bad enough for that. They would not dare. God 
 would not permit it. Some one will stop them." 
 
 " There is no one to stop them. The people are all 
 against us. They are glad of it. They are laughing. 
 Oh! how I hate them. Why doesn t God kill them?" 
 And with a prolonged, inarticulate roar of impotent 
 grief and indignation, the boy threw himself flat on 
 the floor, and burying his face in his arms sobbed and 
 rolled, and rolled and sobbed, like one in a fit. 
 
 " I will go and have speech with this son of Belial, 
 Perez Hamlin. It may be the Lord will give me 
 strength to prevail with him," said Mrs. Edwards. 
 " And if not, they shall not put me from my husband. 
 I will bear the stripes with him, that he may never be 
 ashamed before the wife of his bosom." And with a 
 calm and self-controlled demeanor, she bestirred her 
 self to make ready to go out. 
 
 "Let me go, mother/ said Desire, half hesitatingly. 
 
 " It is not your place, my child. I am his wife," re 
 plied Mrs. Edwards. 
 
 "Yes, mother, but Desire s so pretty, and this Ham 
 lin fellow stopped the horse-fiddles just to please her, 
 the other time," whimpered Jonathan. " Perhaps he d 
 let father off if she went. Do let her go, mother." 
 
 The allusion to the stopping of the horse-fiddles was 
 meaningless to Mrs. Edwards, to whose ears the story 
 had never come. But the present was not a time for 
 general inquiries. It sufficed that she saw the main 
 point, the persuasive power of beauty over mankind. 
 
 "It may be that you had better go," she said. "If 
 you fail I will go myself to my husband, and meantime 
 I shall be in prayer that this cup may pass from us." 
 
 Hastily the girl gathered her beautiful disheveled 
 hair into a ribbon behind, removed the traces of tears 
 
230 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 from her wild and terror-stricken eyes, and not stop 
 ping even for her hat, in her fear that she might be too 
 late, left the house and made her way through the 
 throng before the Fennell house. At sight of her 
 pallid cheeks and set lips, the ribald jeer died on the 
 lips even of the drunken, and the people made way for 
 her in silence. It was not that they had ever liked 
 her, or now sympathized with her she had always 
 held herself too daintily aloof from speech or contact 
 with them for that ; but they guessed her errand, and 
 had a certain rude sense of the pathos of such a humil 
 iation for the haughty Desire Edwards. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 As Desire entered the headquarters room, which 
 Parson West had barely left, Perez was sitting at a 
 table with his back to the door. He turned at the 
 sound of her entrance, and, seeing who it was, gave a 
 great start. Then he rose slowly to his feet and con 
 fronted her. It was the first time he had seen her 
 since that Sunday when she cut him dead before all 
 the people, coming out of meeting. For a moment the 
 two stood motionless, gazing at each other. Then she 
 came quickly up to him and laid her hand upon his 
 arm. Her dark eyes were full of terrified appeal. 
 
 " What are you going to do to my father? " she cried 
 in poignant tones. After a pause he repeated stam- 
 meringly, as if he had not quite taken in the idea : 
 
 "Your father?" 
 
 "Yes, my father! What are you going to do to 
 him? " she repeated more insistently. 
 
 His vacant answer had been no affectation. Her 
 beauty, her distress, the touch of her hand on his arm, 
 her warm breath on his cheek, her face so near to his, 
 left him capable in that moment of but one thought, 
 and that was that he loved her wildly, with a love 
 which it had been madness for him to think he could 
 ever overcome or forget. But it was not with soft and 
 melting emotions, but rather in great bitterness, that 
 he owned the mastery of the passion which he had 
 
232 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 tried so hard to throw off. He knew that if she de 
 spised him before, she must hate and loathe him now. 
 Knowing this, it gave him a cruel pleasure to crush 
 her, and to make her tears flow; and even while his 
 glowing eyes devoured her face, he answered her in a 
 hard, relentless voice: 
 
 " What am I going to do with your father? I am go 
 ing to whip him with the others. " 
 
 She started back, stung into sudden defiance, her 
 eyes flashing, her bosom tumultuously heaving. 
 
 " You will not ! You dare not ! " 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders and replied coldly: 
 
 " If you are so sure of that, why did you come to 
 me?" 
 
 " Oh, but you will not ! You will not ! " she cried 
 again, her terror returning with a rush of tears. 
 
 Weeping, she was even more beautiful than before. 
 But conscious of her loathing, her beauty only caused 
 him an intolerable ache. In the self-despite of an em 
 bittered, hopeless love he gloated over her despair, 
 even while every nerve thrilled with wildering pas 
 sion. She caught that look, at once so passionate and 
 so bitter, and perhaps by her woman s instinct inter 
 preting it aright, turned away as in despair, and with 
 her head bent in hopeless grief walked slowly across 
 the room, laid her hand on the latch, and there paused. 
 After a moment she turned her head quickly and looked 
 at him, as he stood gazing after her, and she shuddered 
 perceptibly. Her left hand, which hung at her side, 
 clenched convulsively. Then after another moment 
 she removed her hand from the latch and came back a 
 few steps toward him, saying: 
 
 " You kissed me once. Would you like to do it now ? 
 You may if you will let my father go." 
 
The Duke of Stockbridge 233 
 
 His gaze, before so glowing 1 , actually dropped in 
 confusion before her cold, hard eyes, and for a mo 
 ment it seemed as if such supreme and icy indifference 
 had been able quite to chill his ardor. But as he lifted 
 his eyes again and looked upon her, the temptation of 
 so much submissive beauty proved too great. He 
 snatched her in his arms and covered her lips, and 
 cheeks, and temples with burning kisses, for one alone 
 of which he would have deemed it cheap to give his 
 life if he could not have won it otherwise. He kissed 
 her, passive and unresisting as a statue, till in very 
 pity he was fain to let her go. Even then she did not 
 start away, but standing there before him, pallid, 
 rigid, with compressed lips and clenched hands, said 
 faintly, 
 
 "You will release my father? " He bowed his head, 
 unable to speak, and she went out. 
 
 The people whispered to each other as she passed 
 through the crowd that she had failed in her mission, 
 she looked so white and anguish-stricken. And when 
 she reached home, and throwing herself into a chair, 
 covered her face with her hands, her mother said, 
 
 "The Lord s will be done. You have failed." 
 
 " No, mother, I have not failed. Father will be re 
 leased, but I would rather have borne the whipping for 
 him." 
 
 But that was all she said, nor did she tell any one at 
 what price she had delivered him. 
 
 Desire had scarcely gone when the door opened and 
 Hubbard and Abner came in. Perez was sitting, star 
 ing at the wall in a daze. 
 
 " Little Pete s come, and the people want to know 
 when the whipping s going to begin. Shall I bring 
 them out?" asked Hubbard. 
 
234 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " I ve made up my mind that it will be better to have 
 no whipping," replied Perez, quietly. 
 
 "The devil you have! " exclaimed Hubbard, in high 
 dudgeon. 
 
 " I know d haow t would be when I see that air Ed 
 wards gal goin in. Ef I d been on guard, she d never 
 ha got in," said Abner, gloomily. 
 
 "Who d have supposed Hamlin was such a milksop 
 as to mind a girl s bawling? " said Hubbard, scornfully. 
 
 "The fellers is kind o sot on seein the silk-stockin s 
 licked, naow ye ve got em inter the notion on t, an I 
 dunno haow they ll take it ter be disappointed," con 
 tinued Abner. 
 
 There was a shout of many voices from before the 
 house. 
 
 " Bring em out! Bring out the silk-stockin s! " 
 
 "Do you hear that?" demanded Hubbard, trium 
 phantly. " I tell you, Hamlin," he went on in a bolder 
 tone, "you can t stop this thing, whether you want to 
 or not, and if you know what s best for you, you won t 
 try. I tell you that crowd won t stand any fooling. 
 They re mad, and they re drunk, and they re bound to 
 see a silk-stocking whipped for once in their lives, and 
 by God ! they shall see it, too, for all you or any other 
 man. If you won t order them brought out, I will," 
 and he went out. 
 
 Without a word, Perez took his pistols from the table 
 and followed him, and Abner, who seemed irresolute 
 and demoralized, went slowly after. The report that 
 Perez, in a sudden whim, now proposed to deprive 
 them of the treat he had promised them, had produced 
 on the drunken and excited crowd all the effect which 
 Hubbard had counted on, and as Perez reached the 
 front door of the house, a mass of men with brand- 
 
The Duke of Stockbridge 235 
 
 ished clubs and muskets were pressing around it, and 
 the sentinel, hesitating and frightened, in another mo 
 ment would have given way and let them into the 
 building. As Perez, a pistol in either hand, appeared 
 on the threshold, the crowd recoiled a little. 
 
 " Stand back! " he said. " If any one of you tries to 
 enter, I ll blow his brains out. The men in here are 
 my prisoners, not yours. I took them when most of 
 you were snoring in bed, and I ll do what I please 
 with them. As for Hubbard and these West Stock- 
 bridge men, who make so much noise, this is none of 
 their business, anyway. If they don t like the way we 
 manage this town, let them go home." 
 
 As he finished speaking, Abner shouldered his way 
 by him from within and stepped out between him and 
 the crowd. Deliberately taking off his coat and laying 
 it down, and pitching his hat after it, he drawlingly 
 observed : 
 
 " Look here, fellers. I be ez disapp inted ez any 
 on ye, not ter see them fellers licked. But ye see, 
 t wuz the cap n that saved my back, an it don t no 
 how lie in my mouth no more n it does your n to call 
 names naow he s took a notion ter save their n. So 
 now, cap n," he continued, as he drew his immense 
 bulk squarely up, " I guess you won t need them shoot 
 ers. I ll break their necks ez fast ez they come on." 
 
 But they didn t come on. Perez s determined attitude 
 and words, especially his appeal to local prejudice, per 
 haps the most universal and virulent of all human in 
 stincts, would of themselves have sufficed to check and 
 divide the onset, and Abner s businesslike proposal 
 quite ended the demonstration. 
 
 Two hours later, when most of the people had gone 
 home to dinner, the prisoners were quietly set free, 
 
236 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 and went to their homes without attracting special at 
 tention. About twilight a carriage rolled away from 
 Squire Woodbridge s door, and took the road to Pitts- 
 field. The next day it was known all over the village 
 that the Squire had left town, without giving out defi 
 nitely when he would return. 
 
 "Squire s kind o obstinit, but arter all he knows 
 when he s licked," observed Abner, which was sub 
 stantially the general view taken of the magnate s re 
 tirement from the field. 
 
 That night Perez set a guard of a dozen men at the 
 Fennell house, to secure the town military stores 
 against any possibility of recapture by another silk- 
 stocking conspiracy ; and to protect the community still 
 further against any violent enterprise, he organized a 
 regular patrol for the night. If any of the disaffected 
 party were desperate enough still to cherish the hope 
 of restoring their fortunes by force, it must needs 
 have died in their breasts as, looking forth from their 
 bedroom windows that night, they caught the gleam 
 of the moonlight upon the bayonet of the passing sen 
 tinel. But there was no need of such a reminder. 
 Decidedly, the spirit of the court party was broken. 
 Had their leaders actually undergone the whipping 
 they had so narrowly escaped, they would have scarce 
 ly been more impressed with the abject and powerless 
 situation in which they were left by the miscarriage of 
 their plot. The quasi-military occupation of the town, 
 the night after the attempted revolution, was indeed 
 welcomed by them and their terrified families as some 
 guaranty of order. So entirely had the revolution of 
 the past twenty-four hours changed their attitude tow 
 ard Perez, that they now looked on him as their sav 
 ior from the mob, and their only possible protector 
 
The Duke of Stockbridge 237 
 
 against indefinite lengths of lawlessness. It was 
 among them, rather than among the people, that the 
 knowledge of his intended speedy departure for New 
 York now produced the liveliest apprehensions. And 
 the most timid of the popular party were not more re 
 lieved than they, when the next day it became known 
 that he had declared his resolve to give up going West, 
 and to remain in Stockbridge for the present. 
 
 It would sound much better if I could represent that 
 this abrupt change in his plans was on account of con 
 cern for the welfare of the community, but such was 
 not the case. His motive was wholly selfish. The key 
 to it was the discovery that, as irresponsible chief of 
 the mob, holding the fate and fortunes of her friends 
 in his power, he had a hold on Desire, Unwilling 
 brides were not the most unhappy wives. Yes, even 
 to that height had his hopes suddenly risen from the 
 very dust in which they had lain quite dead a few 
 hours ago. As the poor ex-captain and farmer, she 
 had held him afar off in supercilious scorn; as the 
 chief of the insurgents, she had come to him in tears 
 and entreaty, had laid her hand on his arm, had even 
 given him her lips. With that scene in the guardhouse 
 to look back on, what might he not dare to hope? 
 
 His fate was in his own hands. Who could foresee 
 the end of the epoch of revolution and anarchy upon 
 which the State now seemed entering? These were 
 times when the sword carved out fortunes and the suc 
 cessful soldier might command the most brilliant re 
 wards. 
 
 No sooner had he resolved to stay in Stockbridge, 
 than he set about strengthening his hold on his fol 
 lowers, and imparting a more regular military organi 
 zation to the insurgent element in the town. The 
 
238 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Fennell house was adopted as a regular headquarters, 
 and a young hemlock tree, by way of rebel standard, 
 was planted before the door. Night and day patrols, 
 with regular officers of the day, were organized, and 
 about a hundred men formed into a company and 
 drilled daily on the green. A large proportion of 
 them having served in the Revolution, they made a 
 very creditable appearance after a little practice. In 
 their hats they wore hemlock plumes, jauntily ad 
 justed, and old Continental uniforms being still quite 
 plentiful, with a little swapping and borrowing enough 
 army coats were picked up to clothe almost the entire 
 force. 
 
 One afternoon, as the drill was going on, a traveling 
 carriage turned in from the Boston road, drove across 
 the green in front of the embattled line, and turned 
 down toward the Housatonic, stopped before the Sedg- 
 wick house, and Theodore Sedgwick descended. The 
 next day, as Perez was walking along the street, he saw 
 Doctor Partridge, Squire Edwards, and a gentleman to 
 him unknown, conversing. As he approached them, 
 the doctor said, in the good-humored, yet half-mocking 
 tone characteristic of him : 
 
 " Squire Sedgwick, let me introduce to you the Duke 
 of Stockbridge, Captain Perez Hamlin, to whose gra 
 cious protection we of the court party owe our lives 
 and liberties at present." 
 
 Sedgwick scanned Perez with evident curiosity, but 
 merely bowed without speaking, and the others passed 
 on. Either somebody overheard the remark, or the 
 doctor repeated it elsewhere, for within a day or two it 
 was all over town, and henceforth, by general consent, 
 half in jest, half in recognition of the aptness of the 
 title under the existing conditions, Perez was dubbed 
 
The Duke of Stockb ridge 239 
 
 the Duke of Stockbridge, or more briefly referred to as 
 "The Duke." 
 
 The conversation which his passing had momentarily 
 interrupted was a very grave one. Theodore Sedg- 
 wick had passed through Springfield in his carriage on 
 the 27th of September, and reported that he had found 
 the town full of armed men. The Supreme Judicial 
 Court of the Commonwealth was to have met on the 
 26th, but twelve hundred insurgents, under Captain 
 Daniel Shays himself, were on hand to prevent it, and 
 were confronted by eight hundred militia under Gen 
 eral Shepard, who held the court house. The town 
 was divided into hostile camps, with regular lines of 
 sentinels. At the time Sedgwick had passed through, 
 no actual collision had yet taken place, but should the 
 justices persist in their intention to hold court, there 
 would certainly be fighting, for it was justly appre 
 hended by Shays and his lieutenants that the court in 
 tended to proceed against them for treason, and they 
 would stop at nothing to prevent that. It was this 
 news which Sedgwick was imparting to the two gen 
 tlemen. 
 
 "We have a big business on our hands," he said 
 gravely, " a very big, and a very delicate business. A 
 little bungling will be enough to turn it into a civil 
 war, with the chances all against the government." 
 
 " I don t see that the government, as yet, has done 
 anything," said Edwards. "Do they intend to leave 
 everything to the mob? " 
 
 " Between us, there is really nothing that can be done 
 just now," replied Sedgwick. " The passiveness of the 
 government results from their knowledge that the 
 militia are not to be depended on. Why, as I passed 
 through Springfield, I saw whole companies of militia 
 
240 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 that had been called out by the sheriff to protect the 
 court, march, with drums beating, over to the insur 
 gents. No, gentlemen, there is actually no force 
 that could be confidently counted on against the mob ) 
 save a regiment or two in Boston. Weakness leaves 
 the government no choice but to adopt a policy of 
 conciliation with the rascals, for the present, at least. 
 His Excellency has called the legislature in extra session 
 on the 26th, and a number of measures will at once be 
 passed for relief. If these do not put an end to the 
 mobs, they will, it is hoped, at least so far improve the 
 public temper that a part of the militia will be available. " 
 
 "It is a mysterious dispensation, indeed," he con 
 tinued, " that our State, in the infancy of its independ 
 ence, is left to undergo so fearful a trial. Already 
 there are many of the tories who wag the head and say 
 * Aha! so would we have it, averring that this insurrec 
 tion is but the first fruits of our liberty, and that the 
 rest will be like unto it." 
 
 " God grant that we may not have erred in throwing 
 off the yoke of the king," said Edwards, gloomily. " I 
 do confess that I have had much exercise of mind upon 
 that point during the trials of the past weeks." 
 
 " I beg of you, sir, not to give way to such a frame 
 of mind," said Sedgwick, earnestly, " for it is to gentle 
 men of your degree that the well disposed look for 
 guidance and encouragement in these times. And 
 yet I am constrained to admit that in Boston at no 
 time in the late war, no, not when our fortunes were 
 at the lowest ebb, has there been such gloom as now. 
 And verily I could not choose but to share it, but for 
 my belief that the convention, which is shortly to sit 
 in Philadelphia to devise a more perfect union for the 
 thirteen States, will pave the way for a stronger gov- 
 
The Duke of Stockbridge 241 
 
 eminent of the continent, and one that will guarantee 
 us not only against foreign invasion, but domestic vio 
 lence and insurrection also." 
 
 " We had best separate now," said Partridge in alow 
 voice. " If the populace see but two or three of us 
 having our heads together, they straightway imagine 
 that we are plotting against them, and I see those fel 
 lows yonder are sending black looks this way already. " 
 
 " I shall do myself the honor," he added, to Sedg- 
 wick, "to call upon you at your house for further 
 consultation, since under the pretext of a physician s 
 duty, I am allowed by their high mightinesses, the 
 rabble, to go about more freely than is prudent for 
 other gentlemen. " 
 
 The next day the news from Springfield, which 
 Sedgwick had privately brought, reached the village 
 from other sources, together with the developments 
 since his passage through the town. It seemed that 
 there had indeed been no collision between the militia 
 and the rebel force, but it was because the Supreme 
 Court had, after demurring for two days, finally yielded 
 to the orders of Captain Shays and adjourned, after 
 which the rebels took triumphant possession of the 
 court house. The elation which the news produced 
 among the people was prodigious. Perez doubled the 
 patrols, and even then had to wink at a good many acts 
 of lawlessness at the expense of the friends of the courts. 
 Nothing but his personal interposition prevented a 
 drunken gang from giving Sedgwick a tin-pan sere 
 nade. As for Squire Edwards, he was glad to purchase 
 immunity at the expense of indiscriminate treating of 
 the crowd. 
 
 Whether the Supreme Court would attempt to hold 
 its regular session the first week in October, at Great 
 16 
 
242 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Harrington, was a point on which there was a diversity 
 of opinion. Before adjourning at Springfield, it had 
 indeed passed resolutions that it would not be expe 
 dient to go to Berkshire, but it was loudly declared 
 by many that this was a mere trick to put the people 
 off their guard and prevent their assembling in arms 
 to stop the proceedings. Accordingly, when the time 
 came, although the justices did not put in an appear 
 ance, a mob of several hundred men did, and a very 
 ugly mob it turned out to be, in fact, the worst hith 
 erto in the entire course of the insurrection. Finding 
 no court to stop, and the empty jail affording no op 
 portunity for another jail delivery, the crowd, after 
 loafing around town for a while and getting thirsty, 
 began to break into houses to get liquor. A begin 
 ning once made, this was found to be such an amusing 
 recreation that it was gone into generally, and when 
 liquor could not be found the men contented them 
 selves with appropriating other articles. The fun 
 growing fast and furious, they next began to hustle 
 and stone prominent citizens known to be friendly to 
 the courts, as well as such as objected to having their 
 houses entered and gutted. When their victims broke 
 away from them and fled, being too drunk to overtake 
 them, it was quite natural that they should fire their 
 muskets after them, and if the bullets did not gener 
 ally hit their marks it was merely because the hands 
 of the marksmen were as unsteady as their legs. 
 Some of the most prominent citizens of Great Barring- 
 ton passed the day hid in outhouses and garrets, while 
 others, mounted on fleet steeds, escaped amid a pelting 
 of bullets, and took refuge in neighboring towns, many 
 going as far as Pittsfield before they halted. 
 
 Squire Sedgwick chanced to be at Great Barrington 
 
The Duke of Stockbridge 243 
 
 that day, at the house of his brother-in-law, Justice 
 Dwight. As a lawyer, an aristocrat, and a member 
 of the detested State Senate, he not only shared the 
 general unpopularity of those classes, but as prosecut 
 ing attorney for the county, was in particularly evil 
 odor with the lewd fellows of the baser sort, who 
 were to-day at mischief. When the uproar was at its 
 height, word got around that he was in town, and im 
 mediately the mob dropped whatever was in hand, and 
 rushed in a body toward Dwight s house. As they 
 came in sight of the house a servant was holding Sedg 
 wick s gray horse by the bridle before the gate. Fear 
 ing that their prey might yet escape them, the crowd 
 broke into a run, brandishing cudgels, guns, and pitch 
 forks, and yelling, "Kill him," "Hang him," "Shoot 
 him." They were not fifty yards away when Sedg- 
 wick came out and deliberately mounted his horse. 
 The beast was a good one, and the distance was 
 enough to make his rider s escape perfectly secure. 
 But instead of galloping off, Sedgwick turned his 
 horse s head toward the onrushing, hooting multitude, 
 and rode at a gentle trot directly toward them. It 
 seemed like madness, but the effect fully justified the 
 cool daring that had prompted the action. With the 
 first forward step of the animal, the moment the rid 
 er s intention became evident, the mob stopped dead, 
 and the uproar of execrations gave place to a silence of 
 perfect astonishment, in which you could have heard 
 the swish of a bird s wing. As the horse s head 
 touched the line of men, they slunk aside as if they 
 knew not what they did, their eyes falling abashed be 
 fore Sedgwick s quiet glance and air, as devoid of a 
 trace of fear as it was of ostentatious defiance. The 
 calm, unquestioning assumption that no one would 
 
\Al 
 
 244 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 presume to stop him was a moral force which para 
 lyzed the arm of the most reckless ruffian in the crowd. 
 And so, checking his horse when he would have gone 
 faster, his features as composed as if he were sitting 
 in the senate, and his bearing as cool and matter-of- 
 course as if he were on a promenade, he rode through 
 the mob, and had passed out of musket-shot by the 
 time the demoralized ruffians had begun to accuse each 
 other of cowardice, and each one to explain what he 
 would have done if he had been in somebody else s 
 place, or would do if the occasion again offered. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 Two Critical Interviews 
 
 THE news of the riot at Great Barrington, brought 
 by Sedgwick, excited a ferment of terror among the 
 gentlemen s families in Stockbridge. Later in the 
 day when the report was heard that the mob intended 
 to visit the latter place and treat it in like manner, 
 there was little less than a panic. The real facts of 
 the Great Barrington outrages, quite bad enough in 
 themselves, had been exaggerated ten-fold by rumor, 
 and it was believed that the town was in flames and 
 the streets full of murder and rapine. Some already 
 began to barricade their doors, in preparation for the 
 worst, while others who had horses and vehicles pre 
 pared to convey a part at least of their families and 
 goods out of reach of the marauders. There were 
 several in the village who well remembered the alarm, 
 "The Indians are coming!" that summer Sunday, 
 when the Schaghticokes came down on the infant set 
 tlement, one-and-thirty years before. There was 
 scarcely wilder terror then, but one point of difference 
 sadly illustrated the distinction between a foreign in 
 vasion and a civil war. Then all the people were in 
 the same fright, but now the panic was confined to the 
 well-to-do families and those conscious of being con 
 sidered friendly to the courts. The poorer people 
 looked on their agitation with indifference, while many 
 even jeered at it. 
 
246 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 The afternoon wore away, however, and the expected 
 mob failed to make its appearance, whereupon the peo 
 ple gradually took heart again. Those who had put 
 their furniture into carts unloaded it, and those who 
 had buried their silver in their cellars dug it up to use 
 on the tea-table. Nevertheless, along about dusk, a 
 good many men living in Stockbridge, who had been 
 at Great Barrington all day, came home drunk and 
 hot with mischief; and these, with the aid of some 
 of the same kidney in the village, kept up a riotous- 
 ness all the evening, varied with petty outrages 
 which Perez thought best to ignore, knowing too well 
 the precarious tenure of his authority to endanger it by 
 overstrictness. Perhaps, indeed, he was not wholly 
 averse to such occasional displays by the mob as 
 would keep before the gentlemen of the town a vivid 
 impression of what would be in store for them but for 
 his guardianship. 
 
 It was about eight o clock in the evening that, com 
 ing in sight of the store, he saw it besieged by a gang 
 of men, with whom Squire Edwards, visible against 
 the background of the lighted doorway, was expostulat 
 ing. The men were drunk and reckless. They 
 wanted rum and were bound to have it, and on the 
 other hand, the Squire had evidently made up his 
 mind that if they got into his store in their present 
 mood, they would be likely to plunder him of whatever 
 he had, and drawing valor from desperation, was oppos 
 ing a resistance which involved no small personal 
 peril. The crowd, besides being drunk, was composed 
 of the very men who had grudged him his escape 
 from the whipping-post a few days previous, and was 
 by no means disposed to stand on ceremony with him. 
 Already he was being hustled, his wig had been dis- 
 
Two Critical Interviews 247 
 
 placed, and his cane struck out of his hand, and in 
 another minute he would have been knocked down and 
 the store thronged. The light of a blazing bonfire on 
 the green threw glimmering reflections upon the crowd 
 before the store, and Edwards, catching sight of Perez s 
 three-cornered hat, cried in desperation : 
 
 "Captain Hamlin, will you let them kill me?" 
 
 In another moment Perez was up on the piazza, in 
 full view of the crowd, which, somewhat abashed by his 
 presence, for a moment drew back a little. 
 
 "What do you want, men? You ought not to break 
 into people s houses! You mustn t disgrace the hem 
 lock." 
 
 "That s all mighty fine, cap n," said Meshech Little, 
 "but we want suthin ter drink." 
 
 "Why don t you get it at the tavern?" 
 
 "The widder won t treat no more, an she s kind o 
 got Abner bewitched-like, so s he backs her up, an we 
 can t git nothin there thout fightin Abner, darn 
 him." 
 
 " I say, cap n, t ain t fair fer yew ter be a-interferin 
 with all our fun," spoke up another. 
 
 "That s so," said others. 
 
 "Cap n," remarked Meshech, "yew jest let us lone; 
 we hain t a-techin yew, an we re baoun ter hev a 
 time ter-night." 
 
 Perez knew well enough that to attempt wholly to 
 thwart the intentions of this excited and drunken 
 crowd would be beyond his power, or at least might 
 involve a bloody riot, and so he replied, good-naturedly, 
 
 "That s all right, boys, you shall have your time, 
 but it won t do to break into houses. Go over to the 
 guardhouse and tell Abe Konkapot that I say you may 
 have a couple of gallons of the town rum we seized the 
 
248 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 other night." This compromise was tmrmltuously ac 
 cepted, the entire crowd starting on a run toward the 
 Fennell house, each hoping to get the first advantage 
 of the largess. 
 
 "Come in, captain," said Edwards, and Perez en 
 tered. 
 
 Mrs. Edwards, Desire, and Jonathan were in the 
 store, having hurried thither from the inner living- 
 rooms at the noise of the crowd, to share, if they could 
 not repel, the danger which threatened the head of the 
 house. As Jonathan quickly closed and barred the 
 door, Edwards said, 
 
 " Wife, I owe my property and perhaps my life, also, 
 to Captain Hamlin." 
 
 Mrs. Edwards dropped a stately curtsey, and said 
 with a grand air which made Perez feel as if her ac 
 knowledgments were a condescension quite dwarfing 
 his performance : 
 
 " I truly thank you for your succor. " He mumbled 
 something, he could not have said what, and then his 
 eyes sought Desire, who stood a little aside. As he 
 met her eye, he found himself blushing with embar 
 rassment at the thought of their last interview. He had 
 supposed that it would be she who would be confused 
 and self-conscious when they met, but such feelings 
 were all on his side. She looked cool, dignified, and per 
 fectly composed, quite as if he were a stock or a stone. 
 He could but wonder if he had remembered the incidents 
 correctly. What with Mrs. Ed wards s grand air of 
 condescending politeness, and Desire s icy composure, 
 he began to feel that he needed to get out of doors 
 again, where he could review the situation and recover 
 his equanimity. But on his making a movement in 
 that direction, Squire Edwards, who had no notion of 
 
Two Critical Interviews 249 
 
 parting 1 with the protection of his presence just at 
 present, insisted that he should first go into the parlor, 
 and Mrs. Edwards dutifully and impressively seconding 
 the invitation, he found himself without choice. The 
 education of the camp, while it may adapt a man to com 
 mand other men, does not necessarily fit him to shine 
 in the drawing-room. Perez stepped on his own toes 
 once or twice in passing through the store, and in the 
 parlor doorway, to his intense mortification, he jostled 
 heavily against Desire. He plumped down in the easi 
 est chair in the room, before being invited to sit at all, 
 and changing hastily from that to a stool too small for 
 him, at the third attempt settled in a chair of the right 
 size. It was only then that he remembered to take 
 off his hat, and having crossed and uncrossed his legs 
 several times, and tried numerous postures, finally sat 
 bolt upright, gripping the lapels of his coat with his 
 hands. As for any tender emotions on account of the 
 girl who sat near him, he was scarcely conscious of 
 her presence, save as an added element of embarrass 
 ment. 
 
 " I understand that you have served at the South, 
 Captain Hamlin," said Mrs. Edwards. 
 
 "Yes, I thank you," he replied. 
 
 " You were with General Greene, perhaps? " 
 
 "Yes that is yes, ma am." 
 
 " How is ) T our mother s health? " 
 
 "Very well indeed, that is, when she isn t sick. 
 She is generally sick." 
 
 "Indeed." 
 
 "Yes, but she s pretty well otherwise. How are 
 you? " the last desperately. 
 
 "Oh, thanks, I m quite well," Mrs. Edwards replied, 
 with a slight elevation of the eyebrows. Somehow he 
 
250 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 felt that he ought not to have asked that, and then he 
 made another desperate resolution to go home. 
 
 " I think they ll be looking for me at home," he said, 
 tentatively rising half-way from his chair. " Father 
 isn t well, you see." He had a vague feeling that he 
 could not go unless they formally admitted the adequacy 
 of his excuse. 
 
 At that moment there came the noise of an ax from 
 the green, accompanied by shouts. 
 
 " What is that? " asked Mrs. Edwards of her husband, 
 who entered from the store at that moment. 
 
 "The rascals that is " he corrected himself with a 
 glance at Perez, "the men are chopping down the 
 whipping-post to put on the bonfire. You were not 
 thinking of going so soon, Captain Hamlin? " he added 
 with evident concern. 
 
 " Yes, I think I will go," said Perez, straightening up 
 and assuming a resolute air. 
 
 " I beg you will not be so hasty," said Mrs. Edwards, 
 taking her husband s cue, and Perez abjectly sat down 
 again. 
 
 " You must partake of my hospitality," said Edwards. 
 " Jonathan, draw a decanter of that old Jamaica. De 
 sire, bring us tumblers." 
 
 The only thought of Perez was that the liquor would 
 perhaps brace him up a little, and to that end he filled 
 his tumbler well up and did not refuse a second invita 
 tion. The result answered his expectations. In a 
 very few moments he began to feel much more at ease. 
 The incubus upon his faculties seemed lifted. His 
 muscles relaxed. He recovered the free control of his 
 tongue and his eyes. Whereas he had previously been 
 conscious only of Mrs. Edwards, and but vaguely of 
 the room in which they were and its other inmates, he 
 
Two Critical Interviews 251 
 
 now began to look around, and take cognizance of per 
 sons and things, and even found himself compliment 
 ing his host on the quality of the rum with an ease at 
 which he was surprised. He could readily have mus 
 tered courage enough now to take his leave, but he 
 no longer felt in haste. As I said before, he had 
 heretofore but vaguely taken notice of Desire, as she 
 had sat silently near by. Now he became conscious 
 of her. He observed her closely. He had never seen 
 her dressed as she was now, in a low-necked, white 
 gown with short sleeves. In his state of mind a few 
 moments before, such new revelations of her beauty 
 would have daunted him, would have actually added to 
 his demoralization, but now he contemplated her with 
 an intense, elated complacency. It was easier talking 
 with Mr. Edwards than with madam, and half an hour 
 had passed when Perez rose and said, this time with 
 out trying to excuse himself, that he must go. Mrs. 
 Edwards had some time before excused herself from 
 the room. Jonathan had also gone. Desire bade him 
 good evening, and Squire Edwards led the way into 
 the store to show him out. But Perez, after starting to 
 follow him, abruptly turned back, and crossing the 
 room to where Desire stood held out his hand. She 
 hesitated, and then put her own hand in his. He 
 raised it to his lips, although she tried to snatch it 
 away, and then, as if the touch had maddened him, he 
 audaciously drew her to him and kissed her lips. She 
 broke away, shivering and speechless. Then he saw 
 her face crimson to the roots of her hair. She had 
 seen her mother standing in the doorway, looking at 
 her. But Perez, as he turned and went out through 
 the store, did not perceive this. Had he turned to 
 look back, he would have witnessed a striking picture. 
 
252 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Desire had thrown herself into a chair and buried 
 her face in her arms, against whose rounded whiteness 
 the crimsoned ear-tips and temples testified to the 
 glow of shame upon the hidden face, while her mother 
 stood gazing at her, amazement and indignation pic 
 tured on her face. For a full half minute she stood 
 thus, and then said : 
 
 " My daughter, what does this mean? " 
 There was no answer, save that, at the voice of her 
 mother, a warmer glow appeared upon the nape of the 
 girl s neck, and even spread over the snowy shoulders, 
 while her form shook with a single convulsive sob. 
 
 "Desire, tell me this instant!" commanded Mrs. 
 Edwards. 
 
 The girl threw up her head and faced her mother, 
 her eyes blazing with indignant shame and glistening 
 with tears, which were quite dried up by her hot 
 cheeks ere they had run half their course. 
 
 "You saw," she said in a low, hard, fierce tone, "the 
 fellow kissed me. He does it when he pleases. I 
 have no one to protect me. " 
 
 " Why do you let him? Why didn t you cry out? " 
 "And let father be whipped, let him be killed! 
 Don t you know why I didn t?" cried the girl in a 
 voice hoarse with excitement and overwhelming exas 
 peration that the motive of the sacrifice should not be 
 understood, even for a moment. She had sprung to 
 her feet and was facing her mother. 
 
 " Was it for this that he released your father the 
 other day? " 
 
 Desire looked at her mother without a word, in a 
 way that was an answer. Mrs. Edwards seemed com 
 pletely overcome, while Desire met her horrified gaze 
 with a species of desperate hardihood. 
 
Two Critical Interviews 253 
 
 "Yes, it is I," she said, in a shrill, nervously excited 
 tone. " It is your daughter, Desire Edwards, whom 
 this fellow has for a sweetheart. Oh, yes ! He kisses 
 me where he chooses, and I do not cry out. Isn t it 
 fine? ha! ha!" and then her overstrained feelings find 
 ing expression in a burst of hysterical laughter, she 
 threw herself back into her chair, and buried her face 
 in her arms on the table as at first. 
 
 "What s the matter? What ails the girl?" de 
 manded Edwards, coming in from the store, and view 
 ing the scene with great surprise. 
 
 " The matter? " replied Mrs. Edwards slowly. " The 
 matter is this : As that fellow was leaving, and your back 
 was turned, he took our daughter here and hugged and 
 kissed her, and though she resisted what she could, she 
 did not cry out. I stood in that door and saw it with 
 my own eyes. When I called her to account for this 
 scandal, she began vehemently to weep, and protested 
 that she dared not anger him by outcry, fearing for 
 your life if he were offended. And she further hinted 
 that it was not the first time he had had the kiss 
 ing of her. Nay, she as good as said it was with 
 kisses that she ransomed you out of his hands the 
 other day." 
 
 Edwards listened with profound interest, but with 
 more evidence of curiosity than agitation, and after 
 thinking a few moments, said thoughtfully : 
 
 " I have marveled much by what manner of argu 
 ment she compassed our deliverance, after the parson, 
 a man mighty in persuasion and rebuke, had wholly 
 failed therein. Verily, the devices of God for the pro 
 tection of his saints in troublous times are past under 
 standing. To this very intent, doubtless, was the gift 
 of comeliness bestowed on the maiden, a matter where- 
 
254 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 fore I have often, in much perplexity, inquired of the 
 Lord, seeing that it is a gift that often brings the soul 
 into jeopardy through vain thoughts. But now is the 
 matter made plain to my eyes." 
 
 It was no light thing in those days for a wife to re 
 proach her lord, but Mrs. Ed wards s eyes fairly light 
 ened as she demanded with a forced calm : 
 
 "Will you, then, give up your daughter to these 
 lewd fellows, as Lot would have given up his daughters 
 to save his house? " 
 
 " Tut ! tut ! " said Edwards, frowning. " Your speech 
 is unbridled and unseemly. I am not worthy to be 
 likened to that holy man of old, for whose sake the 
 Lord well nigh saved Sodom, nor am I placed in so 
 sore a strait. You spoke of nothing worse than kiss 
 ing. The girl will not be the worse, I trow, for a 
 buss or two. Women are not so mighty tender. 
 So long as the girls like not the kissing, be sure 
 t will do them no harm, eh, Desire?" and he pinched 
 her arm. 
 
 She snatched it away, and rushing across the room, 
 threw herself upon the settle, with her face in the 
 cushion. 
 
 "Pish!" said her father, peevishly, "she grudges a 
 kiss to save her father from disgrace and ruin. It is a 
 sinful, proud wench ! " 
 
 "Proud!" echoed the girl, raising her tear-stained 
 face from the cushion and sitting up. " I was proud, 
 but I m not any more. All the rabble are welcome to 
 kiss me, seeing my father thinks it no shame." 
 
 " Pshaw, child, what a coil about a kiss or two, just 
 because the fellow smells a little, maybe, of the barn ! 
 Can t you wash your face after? Take soap to t, and 
 save your tears. Bless me ! you shall hide in the gar- 
 
Two Critical Interviews 255 
 
 ret after this, but for my part, I shall still treat the 
 fellow civilly, for he holds us, as it were, in the hollow 
 of his hand," and he went into the store in a pet. 
 
 There was one redeeming feature about the disturb 
 ances in Stockbridge. The early bedtime habits of the 
 people were too deeply fixed to be affected by any politi 
 cal revolution, and however noisy the streets might be 
 soon after dusk, by half -past nine or ten o clock all was 
 quiet. As Perez crossed the green, after leaving the 
 store, the only sound that broke the stillness of the night 
 was the rumble of wheels on the Boston road. It was 
 Sedgwick s carriage, bearing him back to the capital, 
 to take his seat in the already convened State Senate. 
 If his flying visit home had been a failure so far as his 
 law business before the Supreme Court was concerned, 
 it had at least enabled him to gain a vivid conception 
 of the extent and virulence of the insurrection. 
 
 There was really a good deal more than a joke in 
 calling Perez the Duke of Stockbridge. The ante 
 chamber of the headquarters room, at the guardhouse, 
 was often half full of a morning with gentlemen, and 
 those of lower degree as well, waiting to see him with 
 requests. Some wanted passes, or authority to go out 
 of town, or to carry goods away. Others had com 
 plaints of orchards robbed, property stolen, or other 
 injuries from the lawless, with petitions for redress. 
 The variety of cases in which Perez s intervention as 
 the only substitute for law in the village was being 
 constantly demanded, it would be difficult to enumer 
 ate. In addition to this, he had the military affairs of 
 the insurgent train-band to order, besides transacting 
 business with the agents of neighboring towns, and 
 even with messengers from Captain Shays, who already 
 had begun to call on the Berkshire towns for quotas to 
 
256 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 swell the rebel forces, of which a regular military organi 
 zation was now being attempted. 
 
 An informal sort of constitutional convention at the 
 tavern had committed the general government of the 
 town, pending the present troubles, to a committee of 
 Correspondence, Inspection and Safety, consisting of 
 Perez Hamlin, Israel Goodrich and Ezra Phelps, but 
 the two latter left practically everything to Perez. 
 There was not in this improvised form of town gov 
 ernment, singular as it strikes us, anything very novel 
 or startling to the people of the village, accustomed as 
 they were all through the war to the discretionary and 
 almost despotic sway, in internal as well as external 
 affairs, of the town revolutionary committees of the 
 same name. These, at first irregular, were subse 
 quently recognized alike by the Continental and State 
 authorities, and on them the work of carrying the peo 
 ple through the war practically and chiefly fell. In 
 Berkshire, indeed, the offices of these revolutionary 
 committees had been even more multifarious and ex 
 tensive than in the other counties, for owing to the 
 course of Berkshire in refusing to acknowledge the 
 authority of the State government from 1775 to 1780, 
 and the consequent suppression of courts during that 
 period, even judicial functions had often devolved 
 upon the committees, and suits at law had been heard 
 and determined, and the verdicts enforced by them. 
 To the town meeting alone did the revolutionary com 
 mittees hold themselves responsible. The effect of the 
 outbreak of the revolutionary war had been, indeed, to 
 reduce democracy to its simplest terms. The Conti 
 nental Congress had no power, and pretended only to 
 recommend and advise. The State government, by 
 sundering its relations with the crown, lost its legal 
 
Two Critical Interviews 257 
 
 title, and for some time after the war began, and as 
 regards Berkshire, until the county voted to accept the 
 new State constitution in 1780, its authority was not 
 recognized. During that period it may be properly 
 said that, while the Continental Congress advised and 
 the State convention recommended, the town meeting 
 was the only body of actual legislative powers in the 
 commonwealth. The reader must excuse this brief 
 array of dry historical details, because only by bearing 
 in mind that such had been the peculiar political edu 
 cation of the people of Berkshire will it appear fully 
 credible that revolt should so readily become organ 
 ized, and anarchy assume the forms of law and order. 
 
 From the extent of his property interests and the 
 popular animosity which endangered them, no gentle 
 man in Stockbridge had more necessity to keep on the 
 right side of Perez Hamlin than Squire Edwards, and 
 it was not the storekeeper s fault if he did not. Com 
 paratively few days passed in which Perez did not find 
 himself invited to take a glass of something, as he 
 passed the store, and without touching the point either 
 of servility or hypocrisy, Edwards knew how to make 
 himself so affable that Perez began actually to think that 
 perhaps he liked him for his own sake, and even cher 
 ished the wild idea of taking him into his confidence 
 concerning his passion and hope as to Desire. Had 
 he done so Edwards would certainly have found him 
 self in a very awkward predicament. Meanwhile, day 
 after day and even week after week passed, and save 
 for an occasional glimpse of her passing a window, or 
 the shadow on her bedroom curtain with which his 
 long night watches were sometimes rewarded, he saw 
 nothing of Desire. She never went on the street, and 
 for two Sundays had stayed at home from meeting. 
 
258 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 He could not muster courage to ask Edwards about 
 her, feeling that it must be that she kept within doors 
 merely to avoid him. One evening, however, late in 
 October, as he was sitting over some rum with the 
 storekeeper, the latter remarked, in a casual way, that 
 the doctor had advised that his daughter Desire, who 
 had not been well of late, should take a trip to Pitts- 
 field for her health, and as if it were something quite 
 casual, asked Perez to have the kindness to make out a 
 pass for her to go the next day. As the Squire made 
 this request, speaking as if it were a mere matter of 
 course, Perez was in the act of raising a glass of liquor 
 to his lips. He gave Edwards one glance, very slowly 
 set down the untasted beverage, and without a word of 
 reply or of parting salutation got up and went out. 
 The moment he was gone the door connecting the liv 
 ing rooms with the back of the store softly opened, 
 and Mrs. Edwards and Desire entered. 
 
 " Did you. get it? " asked the latter. 
 
 "Get it," replied Edwards in disgust, "I should 
 think not. He looked at me like a wolf when I spoke 
 of it. I had some notion that he would stick his 
 hanger through my stomach, but he thought better of 
 that and got up and stalked out without so much as 
 winking at me. He s a terrible fellow. I doubt if he 
 does not some outrage to us for this." 
 
 "Dear! Dear! What shall I do?" cried Desire, 
 wringing her hands. " I must go. I can t stay here, 
 shut up like a prisoner. I shall fall ill and die." 
 
 "Who knows," said Mrs. Edwards, "what this ruffian 
 may do next? He will stop at nothing. He will not 
 much longer respect our house. He may force him 
 self in any day. She is not safe here. I dare not have 
 her stay another day." 
 
Two Critical Interviews 259 
 
 " I don t know what can be done ; she can t get away 
 without a pass, " replied Edwards. " It would do no good 
 for me to ask him again. Perhaps the girl herself might 
 coax a pass out of him. It s the only chance." 
 
 " I coax him! I see him again! Oh, I can t, I can t 
 do that ! " cried Desire. 
 
 " I could leave the door ajar, you know, Desire, and 
 be ready to come into the room if he were unmanner 
 ly," said her mother. "I think he s rather afraid of 
 me. I fear it s the only chance, as your father says, 
 if you could but bring yourself to it." 
 
 "Oh, it doesn t seem as if I could. It doesn t seem 
 as if I could," repeated the girl. 
 
 Perez did not come near the store for several days, 
 and it was on the street that Edwards next met him. 
 The storekeeper was very cordial and made no further 
 allusion to the pass. In the course of conversation he 
 contrived to make some reference to Desire s piano, 
 and the curiosity the people seemed to feel about the 
 novel instrument. He asked Perez if he had ever seen 
 it, and Perez saying no, he invited him to drop in that 
 evening and hear Desire play a little. It is needless to 
 say that the young man s surprise at the invitation did 
 not prevent his accepting it. It would have melted 
 the heart of his worst enemy to have seen how long he 
 toiled that afternoon trying to refurbish his threadbare 
 coat, so white in the seams, and the rueful face with 
 which he contemplated the result. On presenting 
 himself at the store soon after dusk, Edwards at once 
 ushered him into the parlor, and withdrew, saying that 
 he must see to his business. 
 
 Desire sat at the piano, no one else being in the 
 room. She looked rather pale and thinner than when 
 he had seen her last, but all the more interesting for 
 
260 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 this fragility. There was, however, a far more strik 
 ing alteration in her manner, for to his surprise she 
 rose at his entrance, and came forward with a smile to 
 greet him. He was delightfully bewildered. 
 
 " I scarcely know how to greet a Duke, for such I 
 hear you are become," said Desire, with a profound 
 courtesy and a bewitching tone of badinage. 
 
 Entirely taken aback, he murmured something inar 
 ticulate about her piano. 
 
 "Would Your Grace like to have me play a little?" 
 she asked, gayly. 
 
 He intimated that he would, and she at once sat down 
 before the little piano. It was scarcely more to be 
 compared with the magnificent instruments of our day 
 than the flageolets of Virgil s shepherds with the cornet- 
 a-piston of the modern star performer, but Mozart, 
 Haydn, Handel, or Beethoven never lived to hear a bet 
 ter. It was only about two feet across by four and a 
 half in width, with a small square sounding-board at 
 the end. The almost threadlike wires, strung on a 
 wooden frame, gave forth a thin and tinny sound 
 which would instantaneously bring the hands of a 
 modern audience to its ears. But to Perez it seemed 
 divine, and when, too, Desire opened her lips and 
 sang, tears of genuine emotion filled his eyes. She 
 was more richly dressed than he had ever seen her be 
 fore, wearing a cherry-colored silk bodice, low-necked, 
 and with bell-mouthed sleeves reaching only to her 
 elbows, while the rounded white arms were set off 
 with coral bracelets, a necklace of the same encircling 
 her throat. Upon one cheek, a little below the out 
 side corner of the eye, she wore a small black patch, 
 according to a fashion of the time, by way of heighten 
 ing by contrast the delicacy of her complexion. The 
 
Two Critical Interviews 261 
 
 faint perfume with which she had completed her toilet 
 seemed less a perfume than the very breath of her 
 beauty, the voluptuous effluence which it exhaled. 
 Having played and sung for some time she let her 
 hands drop by her side and, raising her eyes to meet 
 Perez s fascinated gaze, said lightly: 
 
 " Do you like it? " The most exacting performer 
 would have been satisfied with the manner in which, 
 after a husky attempt to say something in reply, he 
 bowed his head in silence. 
 
 "I m glad you came in to-night," she said, "for I 
 want to ask something of you. Since you are Duke of 
 Stockbridge we all have to ask favors of you, you see." 
 
 "What is it?" he asked. 
 
 "Oh, dear me," she said, laughing. "That s not 
 the way people ask favors of kings and dukes. They 
 make them promise to grant the favor first, and then 
 tell what it is. This is the way," and with the words 
 she dropped lightly on one knee before Perez, and with 
 her clasped hands pressed against her bosom, raised 
 her face up toward his, her eyes eloquent of intoxicat 
 ing submissiveness. 
 
 " If thine handmaiden has found grace in the sight 
 of my lord, the Duke, let my request be done even ac 
 cording to the prayer of my lips." 
 
 Perez leaned forward toward the beautiful upward- 
 turning face. 
 
 "Whatever you wish," he murmured. 
 
 " To the half of my dukedom, you must say. " 
 
 " To the half of my dukedom," he repeated, in a me 
 chanical voice, not removing his eyes from hers. 
 
 " Do you pledge your honor? " she demanded, still 
 retaining her position. 
 
 If he had known that she intended asking him to 
 
262 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 blow his own brains out the next moment, and had ex 
 pected to keep his promise, he must needs, with her 
 kneeling so before him, have answered "Yes," and so 
 he did in fact reply. 
 
 " Thank you, " she said, rising lightly to her feet ; " you 
 make a very good duke indeed, and to reward you I 
 shall not ask for anything like half your dukedom, but 
 only for a scrap of paper. Here is ink and paper and 
 a pen. Please write me a pass to go to Pittsfield. 
 Doctor Partridge says I must have change of air, and 
 I don t want to be stopped by your soldiers." 
 
 A ghastly pallor overspread his face. " You re not 
 going away? " he stammered, rising slowly up. 
 
 " To be sure I am. What else should I want of the 
 pass? Come, you re not going to make me do all that 
 asking over again. Please sit right down and write it. 
 You know you promised on your word of honor." 
 
 She even put her hand smilingly on his shoulder, as 
 if to push him down, and as he yielded to the light but 
 irresistible pressure, she put a pen in his nerveless rin 
 gers, saying gayly: 
 
 "Just your name at the bottom, that s all. Father 
 wrote the rest to save you the trouble. Now, please." 
 Powerless against an imperious magnetism which 
 would have compelled him to sign his own death-war 
 rant, he scrawled the words. As she took up the pre 
 cious scrap of paper, and hid it in her bosom, the door 
 opened, and Mrs. Edwards entered with stately formal 
 ity, and the next moment Perez found himself blunder 
 ingly answering questions about his mother s state of 
 health, not having the faintest idea what he was say 
 ing. The next thing he was conscious of was the cold 
 frosty air on his face as he walked across the green 
 from the store to the guardhouse. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 The Husking 
 
 SCARCELY had Perez left, when Edwards entered the 
 parlor, 
 
 " Did you get it? " he asked of Desire. 
 
 " Yes, yes," cried the girl. "Oh, that horrible, hor 
 rible fellow ! I am sick with shame all through sick ! 
 sick ! But if I can only get away out of his reach, I 
 shall not mind. Do let Cephas harness the horse into 
 the chaise at once. He may change his mind. Oh, 
 hurry, father, do! don t, oh, don t lose a minute! " 
 
 Half an hour later, Cephas, an old freedman of Ed 
 wards , drove the chaise up to the side door, and a few 
 bundles having been put into the vehicle, Desire her 
 self entered, and was driven hastily away toward Pitts- 
 field. 
 
 When Perez reached the guardhouse, coming from 
 the store, he went in and sat down in the headquarters 
 room. Presently Abe Konkapot, who was officer of 
 the day, entered and spoke to him. Perez making no 
 reply, the Indian spoke again, and then went up to him 
 and laid his hand on his shoulder. 
 
 " What is it? " said Perez, in a dull voice. 
 
 " What matter with you, cap n? Me speak tree time. 
 You no say nothin . You seek? " Perez looked up at 
 him vacantly. 
 
 "He no drunk!" pursued Abe, changing from the 
 second to the third person in his mode of speech, as he 
 
264 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 saw the other paid no attention. " Seem like was heap 
 drunk, but no smell rum," and he scratched his head 
 in perplexity. Then he shook Perez s shoulder again. 
 " Say, cap n, what ails yer? " 
 
 " She s going away, Abe. Desire Edwards is going 
 away," replied Perez, looking up at the Indian in a 
 helpless, appealing way. 
 
 "You no like have her go, cap n? You like better 
 she stay? What for let her go, then? " 
 
 "I gave her a pass, Abe. She was so beautiful I 
 couldn t help it." 
 
 Abe scratched his head. 
 
 " If she so pretty, me s pose you keep her all more 
 for that. No let her go." 
 
 Perez did not explain this point, but presently said : 
 
 " Abe, you may let the men go home, if you want. 
 It s nothing to me any more what happens here in 
 Stockbridge. The silk-stockings are welcome to come 
 and hang me as soon as they please," and his head 
 dropped on his breast like one whose life has suddenly 
 lost its spring and motive. 
 
 "Look a here, cap n," said Abe, "you say to me, 
 Abe, stop that air gal, fetch her back. Good. Me do 
 it quick. Cap n feel all right ag in." 
 
 " I can t, Abe, I can t. I promised. I gave her my 
 word. I can t. I wish she had asked me to cut my 
 throat instead," and he despairingly shook his head. 
 
 Abe regarded him with evident perplexity for some 
 moments, and then with an abrupt nod of the head 
 turned and glided out of the room. Perez, in his 
 gloomy preoccupation, did not even note his going. 
 His head sank lower on his breast, and he murmured 
 to himself wild words of passion and despair. 
 
 " If she only knew ! If she knew how I love her. 
 
The Husking 265 
 
 But she would not care. She hates me. She will 
 never come back. Oh, no, never. I shall never see 
 her again. This is the end. It is the end. How 
 beautiful she was ! " and he buried his face in his arms 
 on the table and wept miserable tears. 
 
 There were voices and noises about and within the 
 guardhouse, but he took no note of them. Some one 
 came into the room, but he did not look up, and for a 
 moment Desire Edwards, for she it was, in hat and 
 cloak, stood looking down on him. Then she said, in 
 a voice whose first accent brought him to his feet as 
 if electrified : 
 
 " No wonder you hide your head. " 
 
 There was a red spot as big as a cherry in either 
 cheek, and her eyes scintillated with concentrated 
 scorn and anger. Over her shoulder was visible Abe 
 Konkapot s swarthy face, wearing a smile of great self- 
 satisfaction. 
 
 " I was foolish enough to think that even a rebel might 
 keep his word," Desire went on, in a voice trembling 
 with indignation. " I did not suppose even you would 
 give me a pass and then send your footpads to stop 
 me." 
 
 It was evident from his dazed look that he did not 
 follow her words. He glanced inquiringly at Abe, 
 who responded with lucid brevity : 
 
 " Look a here, cap n, me see you feel heap bad 
 cause gal go way. You make fool promise ; no can 
 stop her. Me no make promise., Gal come long in 
 cart. Show pass. Pass good, but no good for gal to 
 go. Tear up pass; fetch gal back. Cap n no break 
 no promise, cause no stop gal. Abe no break promise 
 cause no make none. Cap n be leetle mad with Abe 
 for tear up pass, but heap more glad for git gal back," 
 
266 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 and having thus succinctly stated the matter the In 
 dian retired. 
 
 "I beg your pardon, Captain Hamlin," said Desire, 
 with an engaging smile. " I was too hasty. I suppose 
 I was angry. I see you were not to blame. If you 
 will now please tell your men that I am not to be inter 
 fered with again, I will make another start for Pitts- 
 field." 
 
 " No, not again," he replied slowly. 
 
 " But you promised me," she said, with rising appre 
 hension, nervously clasping the edge of her cloak with 
 her fingers as she spoke. " You promised me on the 
 word of a duke, you know," and she made another 
 feeble attempt at a smile. 
 
 "I promised you," replied he. "I don t know why 
 I was so mad. I was bewitched. I did not break the 
 promise, but I will not make it again. God had pity 
 on me, and brought you back. What have I suffered 
 the last hour, and shall I let you go again? Never! 
 never! None shall pluck you out of my hand. 
 
 " Don t let me terrify you, my darling," he went on 
 passionately, in a softened voice, as she changed coun 
 tenance and recoiled before him in evident fright. " I 
 will not hurt you. I would die sooner than hurt a hair 
 of your head. " He tried to take her hand, and then as 
 she snatched it away, he caught the hem of her cloak, 
 and kneeling quickly, raised it with a gesture of 
 boundless tenderness and reverence to his lips. She 
 had shrunk back to the wall, and looked down on him 
 in wide-eyed, speechless terror, evidently no longer 
 thinking of anything but escape. 
 
 " Oh, let me go home ! Let me go home. I shall 
 scream out if you don t let me go! " she cried. 
 
 He rose to his feet, walked quickly across the room 
 
The Husking 267 
 
 and back, and then having in some measure subdued 
 his agitation, replied: 
 
 " Certainly, you shall go home. It is dark ; I will go 
 with you " ; and they walked together across to the store 
 without speaking. Returning, Perez met Abe, and tak 
 ing him by the hand, gave it a tremendous grip, but said 
 nothing. 
 
 Whatever resentment Squire Edwards cherished 
 against Perez on account of Desire s recapture and re 
 turn, he was far too shrewd to allow it to appear. He 
 simply ignored the whole episode and was more affable 
 than ever. Whenever he met the young man, he had 
 something pleasant to say, and was always inviting 
 him into the store to take a drop when he passed. 
 Meanwhile, however, so far as the latter s opportuni 
 ties of seeing or talking with Desire were concerned, 
 she might just as well have been in Pittsfield, so 
 strictly did she keep the house. A week or ten days 
 passed thus, every day adding fuel to his impatience, 
 and he had already begun to entertain plans worthy of 
 a brigand or a kidnapper, when circumstances pre 
 sented an opportunity of which he made shrewd profit. 
 
 During the Revolutionary war it had been a frequent 
 policy with the town authorities to attempt to correct 
 the high and capricious prices of goods, always inci 
 dent to war times, by establishing fixed rates per 
 pound, bushel, yard or quart, by which all persons 
 should be compelled to sell or barter their merchan 
 dise and produce. It had been suggested in the Stock- 
 bridge Committee of Correspondence, Inspection and 
 Safety that the adoption of such a tariff would tend to 
 relieve the present distress and promote trade. Ezra 
 Phelps proposed the plan, Israel Goodrich was inclined 
 to favor it, and Perez s assent would have settled the 
 
268 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 matter. He it was whom Squire Edwards approached 
 with vehement protestations. He might well be some 
 what agitated, for being the only merchant in town, the 
 proposed measure was little more than a personal dis 
 crimination against his profits, which, it must be ad 
 mitted, had been of late years pretty liberal, thanks to 
 a dearth of money that had made it necessary for farm 
 ers to barter produce for tools and supplies, at rates vir 
 tually at the merchant s discretion. If the storekeeper 
 had been compelled to trade at the committee s prices 
 for a while, it would perhaps have been little more than 
 a rough sort of justice ; but he did not take that view. 
 It is said that all is fair in love and war, and this was 
 the manner in which Perez proceeded selfishly to avail 
 himself of the Squire s emergency. He listened to his 
 protestations with a sympathetic rather than a hopeful 
 air, admitting that he himself would be inclined to op 
 pose the new policy, but remarking that the farmers 
 and some of the committee were so set on it that he 
 doubted his ability to balk them. He finally re 
 marked, however, that he might possibly do some 
 thing, if Edwards himself would meantime take a 
 course calculated to placate the insurgents and disarm 
 their resentment. Being rather anxiously asked by 
 the storekeeper as to what he could consistently do, 
 Perez finally suggested that Israel Goodrich was going 
 to have a husking in his barn the following night, if 
 the warm weather held ; and if Miss Edwards should 
 attend, it would not only please the people generally, 
 but possibly gain over Israel, a member of the commit 
 tee. Edwards made no reply, and Perez left him to 
 think the matter over, pretty confident of the result. 
 
 That evening in the family circle, after a gloomy 
 account of the disaster threatening to engulf the family 
 
The Husking 269 
 
 fortunes if the proposed policy of fixing prices were car 
 ried out, Edwards spoke of Hamlin s disposition to come 
 to his aid, and his suggestion concerning Desire s pres 
 ence at the husking. 
 
 "These huskings are but low bussing-matches, " said 
 Mrs. Edwards with much disgust. " Desire has never 
 set a foot in such a place. I suspect it is a trick of this 
 fellow to get her in his reach. " 
 
 "It may be so," said her husband, gloomily. "I 
 thought of that myself, but what shall we do? Shall 
 we submit to the spoiling of our goods? We are fallen 
 upon evil times, and the most we can do is to choose 
 between evils." 
 
 Desire, who had sat in stolid silence, now said in 
 much agitation: 
 
 "I don t want to go. Please don t make me go, 
 father. I d rather not. I m afraid of him. Since 
 that last time, I m afraid. I d rather not." 
 
 "The child is well nigh sick with it all," said Mrs. 
 Edwards, sitting down by her and soothingly draw 
 ing the head of the agitated girl to her shoulder, 
 which set her to sobbing. It was evident that the 
 constant apprehensions of the past several weeks, 
 as well as her virtual imprisonment within doors, 
 had not only whitened her cheek but affected her 
 nervous tone. 
 
 Edwards paced to and fro with knitted brow. Finally 
 he said: 
 
 " I will by no means constrain your will in this mat 
 ter, Desire. I do not understand all your woman s 
 megrims, but your mother shall not again reproach me 
 with willingness to secure protection to my temporal 
 interests at the cost of your peace and quiet. You 
 need not go to this husking. No doubt I shall be 
 
270 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 able to bear whatever the Lord sends " and he went 
 out. 
 
 Soon after, Desire ceased sobbing and raised her 
 head from her mother s shoulder. "Mother," she 
 said, " did you ever hear of a maiden placed in such a 
 case as mine?" 
 
 " No, my child. It is a new sort of affliction, and of 
 a strange nature. I scarcely have confidence to advise 
 you as to your duty. You had best seek the counsel of 
 the Lord in prayer." 
 
 " Methinks in such matters a woman is the best 
 judge," said the girl naively. 
 
 " Tut, tut, Desire ! " 
 
 " Nay, I meant no harm, mother " ; and then with a 
 great sigh, she said : " I will go. Poor father feels so 
 bad." 
 
 The next evening when, dressed for the husking, 
 she took a last look in her mirror she was fairly startled 
 to see how beautiful she was. And yet despite the dis 
 may and sinking of heart with which she apprehended 
 Perez s unwelcome attentions, she did not brush down 
 the dark ringlets that shadowed her temples so bewitch- 
 ingly, or choose a less becoming ribbon for her neck. 
 That is not a woman s way. It was about seven o clock 
 when she and Jonathan, who went as her escort, reached 
 Israel Goodrich s great barn, guided thither by the light 
 which streamed from the open door. 
 
 The husking was already in full blast. A dozen tal 
 low dips and half as many lanterns, consisting of peaked 
 cylinders of tin, with holes plentifully punched in their 
 sides for the light of the candle to shine through, illu 
 mined the scene. In the middle of the floor was a pile 
 of fully a hundred bushels of ears of corn in the husk, 
 and close around this, their knees well thrust into the 
 
The Husking 271 
 
 mass, sat about two-score young men and maidens, for 
 the most part duly paired off, save where here and 
 there two or three bashful youths sat together. The 
 young men had their coats off, and the round white 
 arms of the girls twinkled distractingly, as with swift 
 deft motions they freed the shining yellow ears from 
 their incasements and tossed them into the baskets. 
 The noisy rustling of the dry husks, the chatter and 
 laughter of the merry workers, ever and anon swelling 
 into uproarious mirth as some protesting maiden re 
 deemed a red ear with a pair of red lips, made alto 
 gether a merry medley that caused the cows and 
 horses, munching their suppers in the neighboring 
 stalls, to turn and stare in wonder. 
 
 Some of the huskers, looking up, caught sight of 
 Desire and Jonathan at the door, and by a telegraphic 
 system of whispers and nudges, the information was 
 presently carried to Israel Goodrich. 
 
 "Glad to see ye. Come right in," he shouted in a 
 broad, cheery voice. " More the merrier, the sayin* is. 
 Glad to see ye. Glad to see ye. Looks kind o neigh 
 borly." 
 
 As Desire entered the barn, some of the girls rose 
 and curtsied, the most merely looking bashful and 
 avoiding her eye, as the rural mode of greeting con 
 tinues to be to this day. Perez was the first person 
 whom Desire had seen on entering the barn. Her 
 eyes had been drawn to him by a sort of fascina 
 tion, certainly not of a pleasant sort, the result of her 
 having thought so much about him. Nor was this 
 fascination without another evidence. There was a 
 vacant stool by Perez, and as she passed it, and he 
 rose and bowed, she made as if she would seat herself 
 there. 
 
272 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 "Don t ye sit there," said Israel; "that ain t nothin 
 but a stool. There s a chair furder along." 
 
 The offer to sit by Perez was almost involuntary on 
 her part, merely a sign of her sense of powerlessness 
 against him. She had had the thought that he meant 
 to have her sit there, and in her nervously abject mood 
 she had not thought of resisting. Her coming to the 
 husking at all had been a surrender to his will, and 
 this seemed but an incident and consequence of that. 
 At Israel s words she blushed faintly, but not in a way 
 to be compared with the red flush that swept over 
 Perez s face. 
 
 "There," said Israel, good-humoredly, as she seated 
 herself in the promised chair, " naow I guess we ll see 
 the shucks begin to fly. " 
 
 "For the land sakes, Miss Edwards, you ain t 
 a-goin* ter go ter shuckin with them ere white 
 hands o yourn," exclaimed Submit Goodrich. " Lem- 
 me git yer some mittins, an an apron, tew. Deary 
 me, ye mustn t dew the fust thing till yew ve got an 
 apron." 
 
 "Guess ye ain t used ter huskin , or ye wouldn t 
 come in yer best gaown," said Israel cheerfully. 
 
 "Come naow, father," Submit expostulated, " t ain t 
 likely she s got nothin poor nough fer sech doin s. 
 Ez if this ere wuz Miss Edwards best gaown ! Yew ve 
 got a sight better n this, hain t ye? " 
 
 Desire smiled vaguely. Meanwhile the husking had 
 been pretty nearly suspended, the huskers either star 
 ing in vacant, open-mouthed wonder at Desire, or 
 communicating whispered comments to each other. 
 And even after she had been duly provided with mit 
 tens and apron, and had begun husking the corn, the 
 chatter and boisterous merriment which her arrival had 
 
The Husking 273 
 
 interrupted did not at once resume its course. Perhaps 
 in a more modern assembly the constraint might have 
 been lasting, but our forefathers did not depend so ex 
 clusively as we upon capricious and uncompellable 
 moods, which, like the winds, blow whence and when 
 they list, for the generation of vivacity in social gath 
 erings. For that same end they used most commonly 
 a force as certain as steam in its action an influence 
 kept in a jug. 
 
 Submit whispered to her father, and the old man 
 merely poured a double portion of rum into the cider 
 flip, with which the huskers were being regaled, and 
 soon all went merrily again. For rum in those good 
 old days was recognized as equally the accompani 
 ment of toil and recreation, and therefore had a double 
 claim to the attention of huskers. From a sale of meet 
 ing-house pews or an ordination, to a ball or a gen 
 eral training, rum was the touch of nature that made 
 the whole world of our forefathers kin. And if Desire 
 did but wet her lips with the flip to-night, it was be 
 cause the company rather than the beverage offended 
 her taste. For even at risk of alienating the sympathies 
 of my total-abstinence readers, I must refrain from 
 claiming for the maiden a virtue which had not then 
 been invented. 
 
 The appearance of Uncle Sim s black and smiling 
 countenance, as he entered, bowing and grinning, his 
 fiddle under his arm, was hailed with uproar and 
 caused a great accession of activity among the husk 
 ers, the completion of whose task would be the signal 
 for the dancing to" begin. The red ears turned up 
 so rapidly as to suggest the theory that some of the 
 youths had stuffed their pockets with a selected lot 
 from the domestic corn bin before coming. But 
 18 
 
274 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 though this opinion was loudly expressed by the girls, 
 it did not seem to excite that indignation in their 
 bosoms which such unblushing duplicity should have 
 aroused. Half a dozen lively tussles for kisses were 
 constantly going on in various parts of the floor and 
 the uproar was prodigious. 
 
 In the midst of the hurly-burly, Desire sat bending 
 over the task of which her unused fingers made slow 
 work, replying now and then with little forced- smiles 
 to Submit s good-natured efforts to entertain her, and 
 paying no attention to the hilarious confusion around. 
 She looked for all the world to Perez like a captive 
 queen among rude barbarian conquerors, owing to her 
 very humiliation a certain touching dignity. It re 
 pented him that he had been the means of bringing 
 her to the place. He could not even take any pleasure 
 in looking at her, because he was so angry to see the 
 coarse stares of admiration which the bumpkins around 
 fixed on her. Paul Hubbard, who sat opposite him, had 
 been particularly free with his eyes in that direction, 
 and all the more so after he perceived the discomfort 
 it occasioned Perez, toward whom, since their collision 
 concerning the disposition to be made of the prisoners, 
 he had cherished a bitter animosity. The last husks 
 were being stripped off, and Sim was already tuning his 
 fiddle, when Hubbard sprang to his feet with a red ear 
 in his hand. He threw a mocking glance toward 
 Perez, and advanced behind the row of huskers toward 
 Desire. Bending over her lap with downcast face, she 
 did not observe him till he laid his hand on the rich 
 kerchief of Indian silk that covered her shoulders. 
 Looking up and catching sight of the dark, malicious 
 face above her, its sensual leer interpreted by the red 
 ear brandished before her eyes, she sprang away with 
 
The Husking 275 
 
 a gasp. There was not one of the girls in the room 
 who would have thought twice about a kiss, or a dozen 
 of them. One of their own number who had made a 
 fuss about such a trifle would have been laughed at. 
 But somehow they did not feel inclined to laugh at 
 Desire s terror and repugnance. They felt that she 
 was different from them, and the least squeamish hoy 
 den of the lot experienced a thrill of sympathy, and 
 had a sense of something tragic impending. And yet no 
 one interfered. Hubbard was but using his rights ac 
 cording to the ancient rules of the game. A girl might 
 defend herself with fists and nails from an unwelcome 
 suitor, but no third party could interfere. As Jonathan, 
 who sat at some distance from his sister, was about to 
 run to her aid, a stout farmer caught him around the 
 waist, crying good-naturedly : 
 
 "Fair play, youngster! fair play! No interferin ! " 
 
 Perez had sprung up, looking very white, his eyes 
 flaming, his fists clenched. As Desire threw an agon 
 ized look of appeal around the circle, she caught sight 
 of him. With a sudden impulse she darted to him, cry 
 ing: 
 
 " Oh, save me from that man ! " 
 
 "Get out of the way, Hamlin," said Hubbard, rush 
 ing after his prey. " God damn you ! get out of my 
 way. What do you mean by interfering? " 
 
 Perez scarcely looked at him, but he threw a glance 
 around upon the others a glance of appeal and said 
 in a peculiar voice of suppressed emotion : 
 
 " For God s sake, some of you take the fellow away, 
 or I shall kill him!" 
 
 Instantly Israel Goodrich and half a dozen more had 
 rushed between the two. The twitching muscles of 
 Perez s face and that strange tone, as of a man appeal- 
 
276 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 ing to be saved from himself, had suddenly roused all 
 around from mirthful or curious contemplation of the 
 scene to a perception that a terrible tragedy had barely 
 been averted. 
 
 Meanwhile the floor was being cleared of the husks, 
 and soon the merry notes of the riddle speedily dissi 
 pated the sobering influence of the recent fracas. 
 Desire danced once with her brother and once with old 
 Israel, who positively beamed with pleasure. But 
 Hubbard, who was now pretty drunk, followed her 
 about, every now and then taking the red ear out of 
 his pocket and shaking it at her, so that between the 
 dances and after them, she took care not to be far from 
 Perez, though she appeared not to notice her pursuer. 
 As for Perez, he was far enough from taking advantage 
 of the situation. Though his eyes followed her every 
 where, he did not approach her, and he seemed very ill 
 at ease and dissatisfied. Finally he called Jonathan 
 aside and told him that the end of a husking was often 
 rather uproarious, and Desire perhaps would prefer to 
 go home early. He would himself see that they 
 reached home without molestation. Desire was glad 
 enough to take the hint, and glad enough, too, in view 
 of Hubbard s demonstration, to accept the offered es 
 cort. As the three were on the way home, Perez 
 finally broke the rather stiff silence by expressing with 
 evident distress his chagrin at the unpleasant events of 
 the evening; and Desire found herself replying quite 
 as if she felt for, and wished to lessen, his self-re 
 proach. Then they kept silent again until just before 
 the store was reached, when he said, 
 
 " I see that you do not go out of doors at all. I sup 
 pose you are afraid of me. If that is the reason, I 
 hope you will not stay in after this. I give you my 
 
The Husking 277 
 
 word you shall not be annoyed, and I hope you ll be 
 lieve me. Good night." 
 
 "Goodnight." 
 
 Was it Desire Edwards s voice which so kindly, al 
 most softly, responded to his salutations? It was she 
 who, in astonishment, asked herself the question. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 A Brace of Proclamations 
 
 PEREZ profited by the fact that, however a man may 
 have abused a woman, that is all forgotten the moment 
 he protects her against another man, perhaps no worse 
 than himself. Ever so little gratitude is fatal to re 
 sentment, and the instinct of her sex to repay protec 
 tion with esteem is so deep, that it is no wonder Desire 
 found her feelings toward Perez oddly revolutionized 
 by that scene at the husking. Try as she might to re 
 sume her former resentment, terror, and disgust tow 
 ard the young man, the effort always ended in recall 
 ing with emotions of the liveliest thankfulness how he 
 had stood between her and that hateful fellow, whom 
 otherwise she could not have escaped. All that night 
 she was constantly dreaming of being pursued by ruf 
 fians and rescued by him. And the grateful sense of 
 safety and protection which, in her dreams, she asso 
 ciated with him, lingered in her mind after she awoke 
 in the morning, and refused to be banished. She was 
 half ashamed, she would not have had anybody know 
 it, and yet she had to own that after these weeks of 
 constant depression and apprehension, the change of 
 mood was not wholly disagreeable. 
 
 She had quite a debate with herself as to whether it 
 would be consistent with her dignity to accept Perez s 
 assurance that she would not be annoyed, and go out 
 to walk. Without fully determining the question, she 
 
A Brace of Proclamations 279 
 
 concluded to go, and a beginning having been thus 
 made, she thereafter resumed her old habit of long 
 daily walks, to the rapid improvement of her health 
 and spirits. For some days she did not chance to meet 
 Perez at all, and it annoyed the high-spirited girl to 
 find that she kept thinking of him, and wondering 
 where she would meet him, and what he would say or 
 do, and how she ought to appear. And yet it was per 
 fectly natural that such should be the case. Thanks 
 to his persecution, he had preoccupied her mind with 
 his personality for so long a time, it was impossible 
 that the new phase of her relations toward him should 
 not strongly affect her fancy. The first time they act 
 ually did meet, she found herself quite agitated. Her 
 heart beat strangely when she saw him coming, and if 
 possible she would have turned aside to avoid him. But 
 he merely bowed and passed on with a word of greet 
 ing. After that he met her oftener, but never pre 
 sumed to stop, or say more than "Good morning," or 
 "Good afternoon," the result of which was that, after 
 having at first welcomed this formality as a relief, after 
 a while she came to think it a little overstrained. It 
 looked as if he thought that she was childishly afraid 
 of him. That seemed absurd. One day, as they met, 
 and with his usual courteously curt salutation he was 
 passing by, she observed that it was delightful weather. 
 As her eye caught his start of surprise, and the expres 
 sion of almost overpowering pleasure that passed over 
 his face at her words, she blushed. She unquestion 
 ably blushed and hurried on, scarcely waiting for his 
 reply. Some days later, as she was taking a favorite 
 walk over a path among the thickets on the slope of 
 Laurel Hill, whence the hazy Indian summer land 
 scape could be seen in perfection beneath the thin but 
 
280 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 wonderfully bland sunshine of November, she again 
 met him face to face. Perhaps it was the color in her 
 cheeks which reminded him to say, 
 
 "You don t look as if you needed to go to Pittsfield 
 for your health now. " 
 
 "No," she said, smiling. "When I found I could 
 not go, I concluded I would get well here. " 
 
 " I suppose you are very angry with me for stopping 
 you that night, though it was not I who did it. " 
 
 " If I were angry, I should not dare to tell you, for 
 fear of bringing down your vengeance on me." 
 
 " But are you angry? " he asked anxiously. 
 
 " I told you I did not dare to say," she replied, smil 
 ing at him with an indomitable air. 
 
 " Please forgive me for it," he said, not jestingly or 
 lightly, but in deepest earnest, with a look almost of 
 tears in his eyes. She wondered she had never before 
 noticed what beautiful blue eyes they were. She 
 rather liked the sensation of having him look at her so. 
 
 "Won t you stop me if I try to go again?" she de 
 manded, with an audacious impulse. But she repented 
 her boldness as the passion leaped back into his eyes, 
 and her own fell before it. 
 
 "I can t promise that," he answered. "God knows 
 I will stop you so long as I have power, and when I can 
 no longer stop you, the wheels of your carriage shall 
 pass over my body. I will not let you go. " 
 
 It was strange that the desperate resolution and the 
 inexorable set of his jaws, which, as he had made a 
 similar declaration on the night of her recapture, had 
 caused her heart to sink, now produced a sensation of 
 rather pleasant excitement. Instead of blanching with 
 fear or revolting in defiance, she replied, with a be 
 witching air of mock terror : 
 
A Brace of Proclamations 281 
 
 " Dear me, what a terrible fellow ! " and, with a toss 
 of the head, went on her way, leaving him puzzling his 
 heavy masculine wits over the fact that she no longer 
 seemed at all afraid of him. 
 
 The Laurel Hill walk, as I observed before, was an 
 old favorite with Desire, and in her present frame of 
 mind it seemed no sufficient reason to forsake it be 
 cause of the fact that after this she often met Perez 
 there. It is a pleasant excitement, playing with lions 
 or other formidable things. Especially when one has 
 long been in terror of them, the newly gained sense of 
 fearlessness is highly exhilarating. Desire enjoyed 
 playing with her lion, calming or exciting him, making 
 his eyes now almost fill with tears, and now flash with 
 passion. The romantic novelty of the situation, which 
 might have terrified a more timid maiden, began to be 
 its most attractive feature to her. Besides, he was 
 really very good-looking, come to observe him closely. 
 How foolish it had been of her to be so afraid of 
 him at first! The recollection of her former terror 
 actually amused her ; as if it were not easy enough to 
 manage such a fellow ! She had not been in such high 
 spirits for a long time. She began to think that in 
 stead of being a hateful, terrible, revolting tragedy, 
 the rebellion was rather jolly, providentially adapted, 
 apparently, for the amusement of young ladies doomed 
 to pass the winter in dismal country towns. One day 
 her mother, commenting on the fact that the patrol 
 and pass system of the insurgents had been somewhat 
 relaxed, suggested that Desire might go to Pittsfield. 
 But she said she did not care to go now. The fact was, 
 she preferred to play with her lion, though she did not 
 mention that reason to her mother. When from time 
 to time she heard of the fear and apprehension with 
 
282 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 which the gentlemen s families in town regarded 
 Perez, she even owned to being a little complacent 
 over the fact that this lawless dictator was her humble 
 adorer. She finally went so far as occasionally to ask 
 him as a favor to have this or that done about the vil 
 lage. It was such fun to feel that through him she 
 could govern the community. One afternoon, being 
 in a particularly gracious mood, she took a pink ribbon 
 from her neck and knotted it about the hilt of his sword 
 as an ornament. 
 
 The hillside path among the laurel thickets where 
 they so often chanced to meet was a lonely spot, be 
 yond the reach of spectators or eavesdroppers; but, 
 while their meetings were thus secret, nothing could 
 be more discreet than the way she managed them. 
 She kept him so well in hand that he did not even dare 
 to speak of the love of which his whole manner was 
 eloquent. Since she had ceased to be afraid of him, he 
 had ceased to be at all fear-inspiring. The rude lover, 
 whose lawless attempts had formerly put her in such 
 terror, was now respectful to the point of reverence, and 
 almost timid in his fear of offending her. The least 
 sign of anything like tenderness on her part sufficed to 
 stir him with a passion of humility, which in turn 
 touched her more deeply sometimes than she would 
 have liked to admit. Now that she had come to see 
 how the poor fellow loved her, she could not cherish 
 the least anger with him for what he had done to her. 
 
 Sometimes she led him on to speak of himself and 
 his present position, and he would tell her of his dream 
 and hope, in this present period of anarchy, to make 
 himself a name. She was somewhat impressed by his 
 talk, though she would not tell him so. She had heard 
 enough political discussion at her father s and uncle s 
 
A Brace of Proclamations 283 
 
 tables to know that the future political constitution 
 and government of the colonies were wholly unsettled, 
 and that even a royal and aristocratic form, with 
 Washington, or some foreign princeling, at the head, 
 was advocated by many. Especially here in Massa 
 chusetts, just now, almost anything was possible. 
 And so when he said one day, " They call me the Duke 
 of Stockbridge in jest, but it may be in earnest yet," 
 she did not laugh, but owned to herself that the tall, 
 handsome fellow would look every inch a duke, if he 
 only had some better clothes. She did not let him tell 
 her in so many words that the motive of his ambition 
 was to win her, but she knew it well enough, and the 
 thought did not excite her indignation, though she 
 knew it ought to. 
 
 The nearest she would let him come to talking love 
 to her was to talk of their childhood and how he had 
 adored her then. Her own remembrance of those 
 days of budding girlhood was dim, but he seemed to 
 remember everything about her, and she could but be 
 touched as he reminded her of scores of little inci 
 dents, and scenes, and words which had quite escaped 
 her memory. The doting tenderness which his tone 
 sometimes took on as he dwelt on these reminiscences 
 made her heart beat rather fast, and in her embarrass 
 ment she had some ado to make light of the subject. 
 
 But now Indian summer, by whose grace the warm 
 weather had been extended nearly through November, 
 came abruptly to a close. New England weather was 
 as barbarous in its sudden changes then as now. One 
 day was warm and pleasant, the next a foot of snow 
 covered the ground, and the next after that the ther 
 mometer, had there been one at that date in Berk 
 shire, would have recorded zero. The Sunday before 
 
284 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Thanksgiving was bitterly cold, "tejus weather" in 
 the farmer s phrase. There was, of course, no stove 
 or other heater in the meeting-house, and the temper 
 ature within differed very slightly from that without, 
 a circumstance aggravated by the fact that furs were 
 as yet almost unknown in the wardrobes even of the 
 wealthiest of the people. A small tippet of Desire s, 
 sent from England, was the only thing of the kind in 
 the town. Parson West wore his gown and bands out 
 side an overcoat and turned his notes with thick wool 
 en mittens, now and then giving a brisk rub to his 
 ears. Like so many clouds of incense rose the breath 
 of the auditors, as they shivered on the hard board 
 seats. The wintry wind blew in gusts through the 
 plentifully broken window-panes for glass was as 
 brittle then as now and costlier to replace and every 
 now and then sifted a whiff of snow down the backs of 
 the sitters in the gallery. Fathers and mothers es 
 sayed to still their little ones chattering teeth by tak 
 ing them in their laps and holding them tight, and 
 where a woman was provided with the luxury of a 
 foot-stove or hot-stone children were squatted around 
 it in the bottom of the pew, quarreling with each other 
 to get their tingling toes upon it. An ominous sound 
 of coughing arose from the audience, mingled with 
 sneezing from such as were now first taking their all- 
 winter colds, and diversified from time to time by the 
 wail of some child too miserable and desperate to have 
 any fear of the parental knuckles before its face. 
 
 Struggling with these noises, and sometimes wholly 
 lost to those in the back part of the house, when some 
 tremendous gust of wind shook and strained the build 
 ing, the voice of Parson West flowed on and on. He 
 was demonstrating that, seeing it was evident some 
 
A Brace of Proclamations 285 
 
 souls would be lost, it must be for the glory of God that 
 they should be lost, and such being the case, all true 
 saints must and should rejoice in the fact, and praise 
 God for it. But in order that their approval of the 
 Divine decree in this matter should be genuine and 
 sincere it must be purely disinterested, and therefore 
 they must be willing, if God in His inscrutable wisdom 
 should so will, to be themselves among the lost and 
 forever to hate and blaspheme Him in hell, because 
 thus would His glory be served. The parson warmly 
 urged that all who believed themselves to have been 
 born again should constantly inquire of their own 
 souls whether they were so resigned, for if they did 
 not feel that they were, it was to be feared they were 
 still dead in trespasses and sins. 
 
 The sermon ended, the parson proceeded to read the 
 annual Thanksgiving Day proclamation of the Gover 
 nor. To this magic formula, which annually evoked 
 from the great brick oven stuffed turkey, chicken pie, 
 mince pie, and plum pudding galore, the children lis 
 tened with faces of mingled awe and delight, forgetful 
 of their aching toes. The mothers smiled at the chil 
 dren, while the sheepish grins and glances exchanged 
 between the youths and maidens in their opposite 
 galleries showed them not unmindful of the usual 
 Thanksgiving ball, and, generally speaking, it is to be 
 feared the thoughts of the congregation were quite 
 diverted, for the time being, from the spiritual exer 
 cise suggested by the parson. But then the people 
 lifted faces of surprise to the pulpit, for instead of the 
 benediction the parson began to read yet another proc 
 lamation. It was no less than an offer by His Excel 
 lency the Governor and the Honorable Council of par 
 don to those concerned in the late risings against the 
 
286 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 courts, provided they should take the oath of allegiance 
 to the State before the first day of January, with the 
 warning that all not availing themselves in time of this 
 offer would be subjected to arrest without bail at the 
 Governor s discretion, under the recent act suspending 
 the habeas corpus. Added to which was a recital of 
 the special act of the legislature, that all persons who 
 did not at once disperse upon the reading of the riot act 
 were to receive thirty-nine lashes and one year s impris 
 onment, with thirty-nine more lashes at the end of each 
 three months of that period. 
 
 There was little enough Thanksgiving look on the 
 people s faces by the time the parson had made an 
 end, and it is to be feared that in many a heart the 
 echo of the closing formula, " God save the Common 
 wealth," was something like, " May the devil take it." 
 
 " Pardon fer what, I sh d like ter know," blurted out 
 Abner on the meeting-house steps. " I dunno nothin 
 baout the rest on ye, but I hain t done nothin I m 
 shamed on." 
 
 And Israel Goodrich said, " Ef he s goin ter go 
 ter pardonin us for lettin them poor dyin critters 
 out o jail ter Harrington t other day, he s jest got the 
 shoe onter the wrong foot. It s them as put em in 
 needs the pardonin , cordin tew my notion." 
 
 "An I guess we don t want no pardon fer stoppin 
 courts nuther. Ef the Lord pardons us fer not hang- 
 in the jedges an* lawyers, it ll be more n I look fer," 
 observed Peleg Bidwell. 
 
 " Here comes the Duke, " said another. " What do yew 
 say ter this ere proclamation, cap n?" 
 
 Perez laughed. 
 
 " The more paper government wastes on proclama 
 tions, the less it ll have left for cartridges," he replied. 
 
A Brace of Proclamations 287 
 
 There was a laugh at this, but it was rather grim 
 sort of talk, and a good many of the farmers got into 
 their sleighs and drove away with very sober faces. 
 
 "It is the beginning of the end," said Squire Ed 
 wards, in high good humor, as he sat in his parlor that 
 evening. " From my seat I could see the people. 
 They were like frightened sheep. The rebellion is 
 knocked on the head. The Governor won t have to 
 call out a soldier. You see the scoundrels have bad 
 consciences, and that makes cowards of them. This 
 Hamlin here will be running away to save his neck in 
 a week, mark my words." 
 
 "I don t believe he is a coward, father; I don t be 
 lieve he ll run away," said Desire, explosively, and 
 then quickly rose from the chair and turned her back, 
 and looked out the window into the darkness. 
 
 "What do you know about him, child?" said her 
 father, in surprise. 
 
 " I don t think he seems like one," said Desire, still 
 with her back turned. And then she added, more 
 quietly, " You know he was a captain in the army, and 
 was in battles." 
 
 "I don t know it; nobody knows it. He says so, 
 that s all," replied Edwards, laughing contemptuously. 
 " All we know about it is, he wears an old uniform. 
 He might have picked it up in a gutter, or stolen it 
 anywhere. General Pepoon thinks he stole it, and I 
 shouldn t wonder." 
 
 "It s a lie, a wicked lie!" cried the girl, whirling 
 around, and confronting her father, with blazing 
 cheeks and eyes. 
 
 She had been in a ferment ever since she had heard 
 the proclamation read that afternoon at meeting, and 
 her father s words had added the last aggravation to 
 
288 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 the already excited state of her nerves. Squire Ed 
 wards looked dumbfounded, and Mrs. Edwards cried 
 in astonishment : 
 
 "Desire, child, what s all this?" 
 
 But before the girl could speak, there was an effect 
 ual diversion. Jonathan came rushing in from out 
 doors, crying: 
 
 " They re burning the Governor! " 
 
 "What! " gasped his father. 
 
 "They ve stuffed some clothes with straw, so s to 
 look like a man, and put that hat of Justice Goodrich s 
 they fetched back from Barrington on top, and they re 
 burning it for Governor Bowdoin, on the hill," cried 
 Jonathan. " See there ! You can see it from the win 
 dow. See the light!" 
 
 Sure enough, on the summit of Laurel Hill the light 
 of a big bonfire shone like a beacon. 
 
 " It s just where they burned Benedict Arnold s 
 effigy in the war," continued Jonathan. "There are 
 more n a hundred men up there. They re awful mad 
 with the Governor. There was some powder put in 
 the straw, and when the fire came to it, it blew up, and 
 the people laughed. But Cap n Hamlin said t was a 
 pity to waste the powder. They might need it all be 
 fore this business was through with. And then they 
 cheered again. He meant there d be fighting, father." 
 
 In the new excitement there was no thought of re 
 suming the conversation which Jonathan s advent had 
 broken off so opportunely for Desire, and the latter was 
 able without further challenge to escape to her own 
 room. Scarcely had she reached it when tnere was a 
 sound of fife and drum and presently a hundred men 
 or more with hemlock in their hats came marching by 
 on their way from Laurel Hill, and Perez Hamlin was 
 
A Brace of Proclamations 289 
 
 riding ahead. They were singing in rude chorus one 
 of the popular songs of the late war, or rather of the 
 Stamp Act agitation preceding it: 
 
 "With the beasts of the wood, we will ramble for food, 
 And lodge in wild deserts and caves, 
 And live as poor Job on the skirts of the globe, 
 Before we ll submit to be slaves, brave boys, 
 Before we ll submit to be slaves." 
 
 Such was the rebels response to the Governor s proc 
 lamation of mingled mercy and threats. Desire had 
 thrown open her window at the sound of the music, 
 and, carried away with excitement, as Perez looked up 
 and bowed, she waved her handkerchief to him. Yes, 
 Desire Edwards actually waved her handkerchief to the 
 captain of the mob. In the shining winter night her 
 act was plainly seen by the passing men, and her par 
 ents and brother who having first blown out the can 
 dle, were looking out from the lower windows, were 
 astonished beyond measure to hear the ringing cheer 
 which the passing throng sent up. Then Desire wept 
 a little, and went to bed feeling very reckless. 
 
 Squire Edwards had clearly been mistaken in think 
 ing that the proclamation had made an end of the re 
 bellion. Its first effect had been rather intimidating, 
 no doubt, but upon reflection the insurgents found that 
 they were more angry than frightened. It was indeed 
 just opposition enough to exasperate those who were 
 fully committed and to stimulate them to more vigorous 
 demonstrations; and an express from Captain Shays 
 having summoned a Berkshire contingent to join in a big 
 military demonstration at Worcester, fifty armed men 
 under Abner marched from Stockbridge Thanksgiving 
 Day, amid an excitement scarcely equaled since the 
 19 
 
290 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 day when Jahleel Woodbridge s minute-men had left 
 for Bennington. But the return of the party about the 
 middle of December threw a damper on the enthusi 
 asm. The demonstration at Worcester had been in 
 deed a brilliant success in some respects. One thou 
 sand well-armed men, headed by Shays himself, with a 
 full staff of officers and a band of music, had held the 
 town for several days in full military occupation, over 
 awing the militia, preventing the sitting of the courts, 
 and even threatening to march on Boston. But on the 
 other hand, the temper of the population had been luke 
 warm and often hostile. The soldiers had been half 
 starved through the refusal to supply provisions, and 
 nearly frozen. Some, indeed, had died. In coming 
 back a number of the Berkshire men had been arrested 
 and maltreated in Northampton. Formidable military 
 preparations were being made by the government, and 
 parties of Boston cavalry were scouring the eastern 
 counties and had taken several insurgent leaders pris 
 oners, who would probably be hanged. The men had 
 been demoralized by the spread of a well-substantiated 
 report that Shays had offered to desert to the other 
 side if he could be assured of pardon. In the lower 
 counties, indeed, all the talk was of pardon and terms of 
 submission. The white paper cockade, which had been 
 adopted in contradistinction to the hemlock as the 
 badge of the government party, predominated in 
 many of the towns through which Abner s party 
 had passed. 
 
 "That air proclamation s kind o scairt em more n 
 it did us Berkshire folks," Abner explained to a crowd 
 at the tavern. "They all want ter be on the hang 
 man s side when it comes ter the hangin . They 
 hain t got the pluck of a weasel, them fellers daown 
 
A Brace of Proclamations 291 
 
 east hain t. This ere war ll hev ter be fit aout in this 
 ere caounty, I guess, ef wust comes to wust." 
 
 "They ve got a slew o men daown Bosting way," 
 said a farmer. " I m afraid we couldn t hold aout ag in 
 em long ef it come ter fightin , an they should really 
 tackle us." 
 
 "I dunno baout that, nuther," declared Abner with 
 a cornerwise nod of the head. " There be plenty o 
 pesky places long the road when it gits up inter the 
 mountings an is narrer and windin -like. I wouldn t 
 ask fer more n a comp ny ter stop a regiment in them 
 places. I wuz talkin ter the Duke baout that ter-day. 
 He says the hull caounty s a reg lar fort, an ef the 
 folks 11 hang together it can t be took by the hull rest 
 o the State. We kin hold aout jist like the Green 
 Mounting boys did ag in the Yorkers, an licked em 
 tew, and got shetof em, an be independent ter-day, by 
 gol, same ez Berkshire ought ter be." 
 
 "Trew s gospel, Abner," averred Israel Goodrich; 
 "there ain t no use o the two eends o the State try in 
 ter git on together. They hain t never made aout ter 
 gree, an I guess they never would nuther ef they tried 
 it a hundred year more. Darn it, the folks is different 
 folks daown east o Worcester. River folk is more like 
 us, but git daown east o Worcester, an I hain t no 
 opinion on em." 
 
 " Yer right there, Isr el," said Abner with heartiness. 
 " I can t bear Bosting fellers no more n I kin a skunk, 
 and I kin tell em baout ez far off. I dunno what t is 
 baout em, but I can t git up no more feller feelin fer 
 em nor I kin fer Britishers. Seem s though they 
 weren t ezackly human, though I s pose they be but 
 darn em anyhaow. " 
 
 " I calc late there s suthin in the mounting air 
 
292 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 changes men," said Peleg, "fer it s sartin we be more 
 like the Green Mounting boys in aour notions an* 
 ways, than we be like the Bosting chaps. " 
 
 " I d be in favor o j inin onto Vairmotmt, an mebbe 
 that ll be the upshot on t all," observed Ezra Phelps. 
 "Ye see, Vairmount hain t a-belongin ter the cussed 
 continental federation, an it hain t got none o them 
 big debts ez is hangin raound the necks o the thir 
 teen States, and so we sh d git rid o the biggest part 
 o our taxes, all kerslap. Vairmount is an independ 
 ent kentry, an I think we d better j ine. Ef they d 
 made aout with that air notion folks hed a spell ago, 
 baout raisin up a new State, made aout o Hampshire 
 caounty an a track o land ter the north ard, t would 
 ha been jest the sort o thing fer us Berkshire fellers 
 to ha hitched on tew." 
 
 " I never hearn nothin baout that idea," said Peleg. 
 
 " I s pose ye hain t," replied Ezra. " I wuz livin in 
 Hampshire them times, an so I wuz right in the way 
 o the talk. They wuz goin ter call the State New 
 Connecticut. But the idee never come ter nothin . 
 The war come on an folks hed other fish ter fry." 
 
 But Israel declared that he was not in favor of join 
 ing on to anything. Berkshire was big enough State 
 for him, and he did not want to see any better times 
 than along from 74 to 80, when Berkshire would take 
 no orders from Boston. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Snowbound 
 
 ALL through the first half of December one heavy 
 snow-storm had followed another. The roads about 
 Stockbridge were often blocked for days together. In 
 the village the work of digging paths along the side 
 walks, between the widely parted houses, was quite too 
 great to be so much as thought of, and the only way of 
 getting about was in sleighs, or wading mid-leg deep. 
 Of course for the women this meant virtual imprison 
 ment to the house, save on the occasion of the Sunday 
 drive to meeting. In these days, even the disciplinary 
 tedium of a convict s imprisonment is relieved by sup 
 plies of reading matter gathered by benevolent socie 
 ties. But for the imprisoned women of whom I write 
 there was not even this recreation. Printing had in 
 deed been invented some hundreds of years, but it can 
 scarcely be said that books had been as yet, and espe 
 cially the kind of books that women care to read. A 
 Bible, concordance, and perhaps a commentary, with 
 maybe three or four other grave volumes, formed the 
 limit of the average library in wealthy Berkshire fami 
 lies of that day. 
 
 It is needless to say, then, that Desire s time hung 
 very heavy on her hands, despite the utmost allevia 
 tions which embroidery, piano-playing, and cake-mak 
 ing could afford. For her> isolated by social superior 
 ity, and just now, more than ever, separated from 
 
294 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 intercourse with the lower classes by reason of the 
 present political animosities, there was no participa 
 tion in the sports which made the season lively for the 
 farmers daughters. The moonlight sledding and skat 
 ing expeditions, the promiscuously packed and uproar 
 ious sleighing-parties, the candy-pulls and " bees " of 
 one sort and another, and all the other robust and not 
 over-decorous social recreations in which the rural 
 youths and maidens of that day delighted, were not for 
 the storekeeper s fastidious daughter. The aristo 
 cratic families in town did indeed afford a more re 
 fined and correspondingly duller social circle, but nat 
 urally enough, in the present state of politics, there was 
 very little thought of jollity in that quarter. 
 
 And so, as I said, it was very dull for Desire in 
 fact, terribly dull. The only outside distraction all 
 through the livelong day was the occasional passage of 
 a team in the road, and her mother, too, usually occu 
 pied the chair at the only window commanding a view 
 of the road. And when the aching dullness of the day 
 was over, and the candles were lit for the evening, and 
 the little ones had been sent to bed, there was nothing 
 for her but to sit in the chimney corner, and look at 
 the blazing logs, and brood and brood, till at bedtime 
 her father and Jonathan came in from the store. Then 
 her mother woke up, and there was a little talk, but 
 after that yawned the long dead night sleep, sleep, 
 nothing but sleep for a heart and brain that cried out 
 for occupation. 
 
 Up to the time when the sudden coming of the win 
 ter put an abrupt end to her meeting with Perez, she 
 was merely playing, as a princess might play with a 
 servitor. She had merely allowed his devotion to 
 amuse her idleness. But now, thanks to the tedium 
 
Snowbound 295 
 
 which made any mental distraction welcome, the com 
 plexion of her thoughts concerning the young man suf 
 fered a gradual change. Having no other resource, 
 she gave her fancy carte blanche to amuse her, and 
 what materials could fancy find so effective as the ex 
 citing experiences of the last autumn? Sitting before 
 the great open fireplace in the evenings, while her 
 mother dozed in the chimney corner, and the silence 
 was broken only by the purring of the cat, the crack 
 ling of the fire, the ticking of the clock, and the low 
 noise heard through the partition of men talking over 
 their cups with her father in the back room of the store, 
 she fell into reveries from which she would be roused 
 by the thick, hot beating of her heart, or wake with 
 cheeks dyed in blushes at the voice of her mother. 
 And then the long, dreamful night. Almost two 
 thirds of each twenty-four hours in this dark season 
 belonged to the domain of dreams. What wonder that 
 discretion should find itself all unable to hold its own 
 against fancy in such a world of shadows? What won 
 der that, when after meeting on Sundays she met 
 Perez as she was stepping into her father s sleigh at 
 the meeting-house door, she should feel too confused 
 to look him fairly in the face, much as she had thought 
 all through the week before of that opportunity of 
 meeting him? 
 
 One day it chanced that Mrs. Edwards, who was sit 
 ting by the window, said abruptly, 
 
 " Here comes that Hamlin fellow." 
 
 Desire sprang up with such an appearance of agita 
 tion that her mother added, 
 
 44 Don t be scared, child He won t come in here. 
 It s only into the store he s coming/* 
 
 She naturally presumed that it was terror which 
 
296 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 occasioned her daughter s perturbation. What would 
 have been her astonishment if she could have followed 
 the girl, as she presently went up to her room, and 
 seen her cowering there by the window in the cold for 
 a full half-hour, so that she might, through a rent in 
 the curtain, obtain a glimpse of Perez as he left the 
 store? I am not sure that I even do right in telling 
 the reader of this. Indeed, her own pride did so re 
 volt against her weakness that she tingled scarcely less 
 with shame than with cold as she knelt there. Once 
 or twice she did actually rise up and leave the window, 
 and start to go downstairs, saying that she was glad 
 she had not seen him yet, for she could still draw back 
 with some self-respect. But even as she was thus in 
 the act of retiring, some sound of footsteps in the store 
 below, suggesting that now he might be going out, 
 brought her hurriedly back to the window. And 
 when at last he did go, in her eagerness to see him she 
 forgot all about her scruples. Her heart sprang into 
 her throat as she caught sight of him. She could have 
 cried with vexation at a fleck in the miserable glass 
 which spoiled her view. Then when he turned and 
 looked up, a wave of color rushed all over her face, 
 and she jumped back in such fear at the thought that 
 he might see her, although she was well hidden, that 
 he had passed out of sight ere she dared look again. 
 But that upward glance and the eager look in his eyes 
 consoled her for the loss. Had he not looked up, she 
 would no doubt have yielded to a revulsion of self-con 
 tempt for her weakness, which would have been a 
 damper on her growing infatuation. But that glance 
 had made her foolishly, glowingly elated, and disposed 
 to make light of the reproaches of her pride. 
 
 " I suppose you were waiting for that Hamlin fellow 
 
Snowbound 297 
 
 to go away, before coming down," said her mother as 
 Desire re-entered the living-room. The girl started 
 and averted her face with a guilty terror, saying faint 
 ly, "What?" How did her mother know? Her fears 
 were relieved, though not her embarrassment, as her 
 mother added : 
 
 "You needn t have been so much frightened, al 
 though I really can t blame you for it, after all you ve 
 been through at his hands. Still he would scarcely 
 dare, with all his impudence, to try to force a way in 
 here. You would have been quite safe had you stayed 
 downstairs. " 
 
 The good lady could not understand why, in spite of 
 this reassurance, Desire should thereafter persist, as 
 she did, in retiring to her own room whenever Hamlin 
 came into the store. The girl s infatuation was on 
 the increase. She had become quite shameless and 
 hardened about using her point of espionage to see, 
 without being seen, the lover who so occupied her 
 thoughts. The only events of the slow, dull days for 
 her now were his visits to the store. She no longer 
 started back when, in going, his eager glance rose to 
 her window, but panting, yet secure behind her covert, 
 looked into his eyes and scanned his expression. 
 Sometimes a quick rush of tears would rob her of her 
 visions as she read in the sad hunger of those eyes how 
 he longed for a glimpse of her face. But for very 
 shame s sake she would have pulled the curtains up. 
 It was so unfair of her, she thought self-reproachfully, 
 to sate her own eyes while cheating his. She knew 
 well enough that all which brought him to the store so 
 often was the hope of seeing and speaking with her. 
 And finally, about the middle of January, she made a 
 desperate resolution that he should. For several days 
 
298 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 she managed to occupy her mother s usual seat by the 
 window commanding the approach to the store, and 
 finally was rewarded by seeing Hamlin go in. She 
 said nothing at first, but soon remarked carelessly, 
 
 " I wonder if father hasn t got some other dimity in 
 the store." 
 
 "Perhaps. I think not, though," replied Mrs. Ed 
 wards. Desire leaned back in her chair, stifled a yawn, 
 and presently said, 
 
 " I believe I ll just run in and ask him before I get 
 any further on this." She rose up leisurely, stole a 
 glance at the mirror in passing how pale she was ! 
 opened the connecting door, and went into the store. 
 
 She saw Perez out of the corner of her eye, the in 
 stant she opened the door. But not taking any notice 
 of him in fact, holding her head very stiffly, and walk 
 ing unusually fast she went across to her father and 
 asked him about the dimity. Receiving his reply she 
 turned, still without looking at Perez, and began me 
 chanically to go back. So nervous and cowardly had 
 she been made by the excessive preoccupation of her 
 mind with him, that she actually had not the self-pos 
 session to carry out her boldly begun project of speak 
 ing to him, now that he was so near. It seemed as if 
 she were actually afraid of looking at him. But when 
 he said, in a rather hurt tone, " Good afternoon, Miss 
 Edwards," she stopped, and turned abruptly toward 
 him and without speaking held out her hand. He had 
 not ventured to offer his, but he now took hers. Her 
 face was red enough now, and what he saw in her eyes 
 made him forget everything else. They stood for 
 several seconds in this intensely awkward way, speech 
 less, for she had not even answered his greeting. 
 Squire Edwards, in the act of putting back the roll of 
 
Snowbound 299 
 
 dimity on the shelf, was staring over his shoulder at 
 them, astounded. She knew her father was looking at 
 them, but she did not care. She felt at that moment 
 that she did not care who looked on or what happened. 
 
 " How cold the weather is! " she said, dreamily. 
 
 "Yes, very," replied Perez. 
 
 " I hope it will be warmer, soon, don t you? " she 
 murmured. 
 
 Then she seemed to come to herself, slowly withdrew 
 her hand from his, and walked into the living-room and 
 shut the door, and went upstairs to her chamber. As 
 soon as Hamlin had gone, Edwards went in and spoke 
 with some indignation of his presumption. 
 
 " If he had not let go her hand, I should have taken 
 him by the shoulder in another second," he said, 
 angrily. 
 
 "Whatever made her shake hands with him?" de 
 manded Mrs. Edwards. 
 
 " I suppose she thought she had to, or he would be 
 murdering us all. The girl acted very properly, and 
 would not have noticed him if he had not stopped her. 
 But by the providence of God, matters now wear a 
 better look. This fellow is no longer to be greatly 
 feared. The rebels lose ground daily in the town as well 
 as in the county and State, and this Hamlin is losing 
 control even over his own sort. If he does not leave 
 the village he will soon be arrested. There is no need 
 that we should humble ourselves before him any 
 longer." 
 
 All of which was quite true. For while we have 
 been following the dreams of a fancy-fevered girl, se 
 cluded in her snow-bound home among the hills of 
 Berkshire, the scenes had shifted swiftly in the great 
 drama of the rebellion, and a total change had come 
 
300 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 over the condition and prospects of the revolt. The 
 policy of conciliation pursued by the State government 
 had borne its fruit better and more speedy fruit than 
 any other policy could have borne. Any other would 
 have plunged the State into bloody war and been of 
 doubtful final issue. The credit for its adoption was due 
 primarily to the popular form of the government which 
 made it impossible for the authorities to act save in ac 
 cordance with popular sentiment. There was no force 
 save the militia, and for their use the approval of the 
 two houses of the legislature was needful. The con 
 servative and aristocratic Senate might alone have fa 
 vored a harsh course, but it could do nothing without 
 the House, which fully sympathized with the people. 
 The result was a compromise by which the legislature 
 at its extra session, ending the middle of November, 
 passed laws giving the people the most of what they 
 demanded, and then threatened them with the heavy 
 arm of the law if they did not thereafter conduct them 
 selves peaceably. 
 
 To alleviate the distress from the lack of circulating 
 medium, the payment of back taxes in certain specified 
 articles other than money was authorized, and real 
 and personal estate at appraised value was made legal 
 tender in actions for debt and in satisfaction for execu 
 tions. An act was also passed and others were prom 
 ised, reducing the justly complained-of costs of legal 
 processes, and the fee tables of attorneys, sheriffs, 
 clerks of courts and justices ; for, according to the sys 
 tem then in vogue, most classes of judges were paid by 
 fees from litigating parties instead of by salary. The 
 complaint against the appropriation of so large a part 
 of the income from the import and excise taxes to the 
 payment of interest on the State debt, was met by the 
 
Snowbound 301 
 
 appropriation of one third of those taxes toward govern 
 ment expenses. To be sure, the legislature had refused 
 to provide for the emission of any more paper money, 
 and this, in the opinion of many, was unpardonable; 
 but it had shown a disposition to make up in some de 
 gree for this failure by passing a law to establish a 
 mint in Boston. These concessions practically cut the 
 ground out from under the rebellion, and the practical- 
 minded people of the State, reckoning up what they 
 had gained, wisely concluded that it would not be 
 worth while to go to blows for the residue, especially 
 as there was every reason to think that the legislature at 
 its next sitting would complete the work of reform it 
 had so well begun. A convention of the Hampshire 
 County people at Hadley, on the second of January, 
 gave formal expression to these views in a resolution 
 advising all persons to lay aside arms and trust to 
 peaceable petition for the redress of such grievances 
 as still remained. 
 
 Indeed, even if the mass of the people had been less 
 satisfied than they had reason to be with the legisla 
 ture s action, they had had quite enough of anarchy. 
 The original stopping of the courts and the jail deliveries 
 had been done with their entire approval. But, as might 
 be expected, the mobs which had done the business 
 had been chiefly recruited from the idle and shiftless. 
 Each village had furnished its contingent of tavern 
 loafers, ne er-do-wells, and returned soldiers with a 
 distaste for industry. These fellows were all prompt 
 to feel their importance and responsibility as champions 
 of the people, and to a large extent had taken the do 
 mestic police as well as military affairs into their own 
 hands. Of course it was not long before these self- 
 elected dictators began to indulge themselves in un- 
 
302 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 warrantable liberties with persons and property, while 
 the vicious and criminal classes generally, taking ad 
 vantage of the suspension of law, zealously made their 
 hay while the sun shone. In fact, whatever course 
 the government had taken, this state of things had 
 grown so unbearable in many places that an insurrec 
 tion within the insurrection, a revolt of the people 
 against the rebels, must presently have taken place. 
 But, as may readily be supposed, these rebel bands, 
 both privates and officers, were by no means in favor 
 of laying down their arms and thereby relapsing from 
 their present position of importance and authority to 
 their former state of social trash, despised by the solid 
 citizens over whom now they lorded it. Peace, and 
 the social insignificance it involved, had no charms for 
 them. Property, for the most part, they had none to 
 lose. Largely veterans of the Revolution, for eight 
 years more used to camp than house, the vagabond 
 military state was congenial to them and its license 
 sufficient reward. The course of the Shays Rebellion 
 will not be readily comprehensible to any who leave 
 out of sight this great multitude of returned soldiers 
 with which the State was at the time filled, men gener 
 ally destitute, unemployed and averse to labor, but in 
 ured to war, eager for its excitements, and moreover 
 feeling themselves aggrieved by a neglectful and 
 thankless country. And so, though the mass of the 
 people by the early part of winter had grown to be in 
 different to the rebellion, if not actually in sympathy 
 with the government, the insurgent soldiery still held 
 together wonderfully and in a manner that would be 
 impossible to understand without taking into account 
 the peculiar material which composed it. Not a man 
 of the lot took advantage of the Governor s proclamation 
 
Snowbound 
 
 33 
 
 offering pardon, and instead of being intimidated by 
 the crushing military force sent against them in Janu 
 ary, the rebel army at the battle of Springfield, the 
 last day of that month, was the largest body of insur 
 gents that had been assembled at any time. 
 
 The causes described, which had been at work in the 
 lowe*- counties to weaken popular sympathy with the 
 insurgents, had simultaneously operated in Berkshire. 
 The report brought back from Worcester by Abner s 
 men, with the subsequent action of the Hadley con 
 vention in advising the laying aside of arms, had 
 strengthened the hands of the conservatives in Stock- 
 bridge. The gentlemen of the village who had been 
 so quiet since Perez s relentless suppression of the 
 Woodbridge rising in September, found their voices 
 again, and cautiously at first, but more boldly as they 
 saw the favorable change of popular feeling, began to 
 talk and reason with their fellow-citizens. If the in 
 surrection had had no other effect, it had at least 
 taught these somewhat haughty aristocrats the neces 
 sity of a conciliatory tone with the lower classes. The 
 return home of Theodore Sedgwick in the latter part 
 of December gave a marked impulse to the govern 
 ment party, of whom he was at once recognized as the 
 leader. He had the iron hand of Woodbridge, with a 
 velvet glove of suavity which the other lacked. To 
 command seemed natural to him, but he could per 
 suade with as much dignity as he could command, a 
 gift at once rare and most needful in the present emer 
 gency. He it was who wore into the village the first 
 white paper cockade which had been seen there, though 
 within a week after they were fully as plenty as the 
 hemlock sprigs. The news which came in the early 
 part of January, that the government had ordered 
 
304 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 4,400 militia, under General Lincoln, to march into the 
 disaffected counties, and put down the rebellion, pro 
 duced a strong impression. People who had thought 
 that stopping a court or two was no great matter, and 
 indeed quite an old fashion in Berkshire, were by no 
 means ready to begin actually fighting the govern 
 ment. But still it should be noted that the majority 
 of those who took off the green emblem did not put on 
 the white. The active furtherance of the government 
 interests was left to a comparatively small party The 
 mass of the people contented themselves with with 
 drawing from open sympathy with the insurrection 
 and maintaining a surly neutrality. They were tired 
 of the rebellion, without being warmly disposed toward 
 the government. Neither the friends of government, 
 nor the insurgents who still withstood them, could pre 
 sume too much on the support of this great neutral 
 body, a fact which prevented them from immediately 
 proceeding to extremities against each other. 
 
 It was fortunate that there was some such check on 
 the animosity of the two factions. For the bitterness 
 of the still unreconciled insurgents against the friends 
 of the government was intense. They derided the 
 white cockade as " the white feather, " denounced its 
 wearers as "tories," every whit as bad as those who 
 took King George s part against the people, and de 
 serving nothing better than confiscation and hanging. 
 Outrages committed upon the persons and families of 
 government sympathizers in outlying settlements were 
 daily reported. Against Sedgwick especial animosity 
 was felt, but though he was constantly riding about the 
 county to organize and encourage the government 
 party, his reputation for indomitable courage pro 
 tected him from personal molestation under conditions 
 
Snowbound 305 
 
 where another man would have been mobbed. In 
 Stockbridge itself, there were no violent collisions of 
 the two parties save in the case of the children, ter 
 rific snowball fights raging daily in the streets between 
 the " Shayites " and the " Boston Army." Had Perez 
 listened to the counsels of his followers, the exchange 
 of hard knocks in the village would have been by no 
 means confined to the children. But he well knew 
 that the change in public opinion which was undermin 
 ing the insurrection would only be precipitated by any 
 violence toward the government party. Many of the 
 men would not hear reason, however, and his attitude 
 on this point produced angry murmurs. The men 
 called up his failure to whip the silk-stockings in Sep 
 tember, his care for Squire Edwards s interests, and 
 his veto of the plan for fixing prices on the goods at 
 the store. It was declared that he was lukewarm to 
 the cause, no better than a silk-stocking himself, and 
 that it would have been better to have had Hubbard 
 for captain. Even Abner Rathbun, as well as Me- 
 shech Little, joined in this schism, which ended in the 
 desertion of the most of the members of the company 
 Perez had organized, to join Hubbard up at the iron 
 works. 
 
 About the same time, Israel Goodrich withdrew 
 from the committee of safety. He told Perez he was 
 sorry to leave him, but the jig was plainly up, and 
 he had his family to consider. If his farm was confis 
 cated, they would have to go on the town. "Arter 
 all, Perez, we ve made some thin by it. I hain t sorry 
 I gone inter it. Them new laws 11 be somethin of a 
 lift; an harf a loaf be considabul better than no 
 bread." He advised Perez to get out of the business 
 as quickly aspossible. " T ain t no use kickin ag in 
 20 
 
306 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 the pricks," he said. Ezra, who was disgusted at the 
 failure of the legislature to print more bills, stuck 
 a while longer, and then he too withdrew. Peleg Bid- 
 well and other men, who had families or a little proper 
 ty at stake, rapidly dropped off. They owed it to their 
 wives and children not to get into trouble, they said. 
 
 Perez could not blame them. And so day by day, 
 all through the month of January, he saw his power 
 melting away by a process as silent, irresistible and 
 inevitable as the dissolving of a snow-bank in spring; 
 and he knew that if he lingered much longer in the 
 village, the constable would come some morning and 
 drag him ignominiously away to the lock-up. It was 
 a desperate position, and yet he was foolishly, wildly 
 happy. Desire was not indifferent to him. That awk 
 ward meeting in the store, those moments of silent 
 handclasp, with her eyes looking with such frank con 
 fession into his, had told him that the sole end and 
 object of his strange role here in Stockbridge was 
 gained. She loved him. Little indeed would he have 
 recked that the role was now at an end ; little would 
 he have cared to linger an hour longer on this scene of 
 his former fantastic fortunes, if only he could have 
 borne her with him on his flight. How gayly he would 
 have laughed at his enemies then. If he could but see 
 her now, could but plead with her. Perhaps he might 
 persuade her. 
 
 But he could contrive no opportunity. Even as 
 far back as December, as soon as the rebellion began 
 evidently to wane, Edwards had begun to turn the 
 cold shoulder to him on his visits to the store. He had 
 put up with insults which had made his cheek burn, 
 merely because at the store was his only chance of see 
 ing Desire. But Edwards s tone to him after that 
 
Snowbound 307 
 
 meeting- with her had been such that he knew it was 
 only by violence that he could again force an entrance 
 over the storekeeper s threshold. The fact was, Ed 
 wards, now that the danger was over, blamed himself 
 for an unnecessary subservience to the insurgent 
 leader, and his mortified pride expressed itself in a 
 special virulence toward him. There was then no 
 chance of seeing Desire. She loved him, but he must 
 fly and leave her. One moment he said to himself that 
 he was the happiest of men. In the next he cursed 
 himself as the most wretched. And so alternately 
 smiling and cursing, he wandered about the village 
 during those last days of January like one daft, too 
 much absorbed in the inward struggle to be more than 
 half conscious of his danger. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 The Battle of West Stockbridge 
 
 ONE day, three days before the end of January, as 
 Perez, returning from a walk, approached the guard 
 house, he saw that it was in possession of Deputy 
 Sheriff Seymour and a posse. The rebel garrison of 
 three or four men only, having made no resistance, 
 had been disarmed and allowed to go. Perez turned 
 on his heel and went home. That same afternoon, 
 about three o clock, as he was sitting in the house, his 
 brother Reuben, who had been on the watch, came in 
 and said that a party of militia were approaching. 
 
 "I ve saddled your horse, Perez, and hitched him to 
 the fence. You ve got a good start, but it won t do 
 to wait a minute." Then Perez rose up, bade his 
 father and mother and brother good-by, and went out 
 and mounted his horse. The militia were visible de 
 scending the hill at the north of the village, several 
 furlongs distant. Perez turned his horse in the opposite 
 direction, and galloped down to the green. He rode 
 up in front of the store, flung himself from his horse, 
 ran up the steps, and went in. Doctor Partridge was 
 in the store talking to Edwards, and Jonathan was also 
 there. As Perez burst in, pale, excited, yet deter 
 mined, the two gentlemen sprang to their feet and 
 Jonathan edged toward a gun that stood in the corner. 
 Edwards, as if apprehending his visitor s purpose, 
 stepped between him and the door of the living-rooms. 
 
The Battle of West Stockbridge 309 
 
 But Perez s air was beseeching, not threatening, almost 
 abject, indeed. 
 
 "I am flying from the town," he said. "The hue 
 and cry is out after me. I beg you to let me have a 
 moment s speech with Miss Desire." 
 
 " You impudent rascal ! " cried Edwards. " What do 
 you mean by this? If you do not instantly go, I will 
 arrest you myself. See my daughter, forsooth ! Get 
 out of here, fellow ! " And he made a threatening step 
 forward, and then fell back again, for though Perez s 
 attitude of appeal was unchanged, he looked terribly 
 excited and pertinacious. 
 
 "Only a word," he cried, his pleading eyes fixed on 
 the storekeeper s angry face. "A sight of her, that s 
 all I ask, sir. You shall stand between us. Do you 
 think I would harm her? Think, sir, I did not treat 
 you ill when I was master. I did not deny you what 
 you asked." 
 
 There was something more terrifying in the almost 
 whining appeal of Perez s voice than the most violent 
 threat could be, so intense was the repressed emotion 
 it indicated. But as Ed wards s forbidding and angry 
 countenance plainly indicated that his words were hav 
 ing no effect, this accent of abjectness suddenly broke 
 off in a tremendous cry : 
 
 " Great God, I must see her! " 
 
 Edwards was plainly very much frightened, but he 
 did not yield. 
 
 "You shall not," he replied between his teeth. 
 " Jonathan ! Doctor Partridge ! will you see him mur 
 der me? " 
 
 Jonathan, gun in hand, pluckily rallied behind his 
 father, while the doctor laid his hand soothingly on 
 Perez s shoulder, who did not notice him. But at that 
 
310 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 moment the door into the living-rooms was flung open, 
 and Desire and her mother came in. The loud voices 
 had evidently attracted their attention and excited 
 their apprehensions, but from the start which Desire 
 gave as she saw Perez it was evident she had not 
 guessed he was there. At sight of her, his tense at 
 titude and expression instantly softened, and it was 
 plain that he no longer saw or took account of any one 
 in the room but the girl. 
 
 " Desire," he said, " I came to see you. The militia 
 are out after me at last, and I am flying for my life. I 
 couldn t go without seeing you again." 
 
 Without giving Desire a chance to reply, which in 
 deed she was much too confused and embarrassed to 
 do, her mother interposed. 
 
 "Mr. Edwards," she exclaimed indignantly, "can t 
 you put the fellow out? I m sure you ll help, doctor. 
 This is an outrage. I never heard of such a thing. 
 Are we not safe in our own house from this impudent 
 loafer? " Perez had not minded the men, but even in 
 his desperation Mrs. Edwards somewhat intimidated 
 him, and he fell back a step, and his eye became un 
 steady. Doctor Partridge walked to the window, 
 looked out, and then turning around, said coolly : 
 
 " I suppose it is our duty to arrest you, Hamlin, and 
 hand you over to the militia, but hang me if I wish you 
 any harm. The militia are just turning into the green, 
 and if you expect to get away, you have not a second 
 to lose." 
 
 " Run ! Run ! " cried Desire, speaking for the first 
 time. 
 
 Perez glanced out at the window and saw his pur 
 suers not ten rods off. 
 
 "I will go," he said, looking at Desire. "I will es- 
 
The Battle of West Stockbridge 3 1 1 
 
 cape, since you tell me to, but I will come again some 
 day ! " And opening the door and rushing out, he leaped 
 on his horse and galloped away on the road to Lee, the 
 baffled militiamen satisfying themselves with yelling 
 and firing one or two vain shots after him. 
 
 Squire Sedgwick, aware that in the ticklish state of 
 public opinion the government party could not afford to 
 provide the malcontents with any martyrs, had post 
 poned the attempt to arrest Perez until affairs were fully 
 ripe for it. The militia company of Captain Stoddard. 
 had been quietly reorganized, so that on the very night 
 of Perez s flight patrols were established and a regular 
 military occupation of the town began. The larger 
 part of the old company having gone over to the insur 
 gents, the depleted ranks had been filled out by the 
 enlistment as privates of the gentlemen of the village. 
 The two Dwights, Doctors Sergeant and Partridge, 
 Deacons Nash and Edwards, and many other silk- 
 stockinged magnates carried muskets, and a dozen 
 others besides had organized themselves into a party 
 of cavalry, with Sedgwick himself as captain. Even 
 then, the difficulty in finding men enough to fill out 
 the company was so great that lads of sixteen and 
 seventeen, of the well-to-do families, were placed in line 
 with the gray fathers of the settlement. There was 
 need, indeed, of every musket that could be mustered, 
 for up at West Stockbridge, only an hour s march away, 
 Paul Hubbard had a hundred and fifty men about him, 
 from whom a raid might at any moment be expected. 
 
 But the village was now to become the center of 
 military operations, not only for its own protection, 
 but for that of the surrounding country. Hampshire 
 county, as well as the eastern counties, had been called 
 on for quotas to swell General Lincoln s army, but upon 
 
312 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 Berkshire no requisition had been made. The peculiar 
 reputation of that county for an independent and in 
 subordinate temper afforded little reason to hope that 
 such a requisition would be regarded if made. And, 
 indeed, the county promptly showed itself quite equal 
 to the independent role which the Governor s course 
 conceded to it. An effective plan for the suppression 
 of the rebellion in the county had been concerted be 
 tween Sedgwick and the leading men of the other 
 towns. It had been agreed upon to raise five hundred 
 men, and concentrate them at Stockbridge, using that 
 town as a base of operations against the rebel bands in 
 southern Berkshire. Captain Stoddard s company had 
 scarcely taken military possession of Stockbridge, when 
 it was reinforced by companies from Pittsfield, Great 
 Barrington, Sheffield, Lanesboro, Lee, and Lenox. It 
 was under escort of the Pittsfield company that Jahleel 
 Woodbridge returned to the town, after an absence of 
 nearly four months. General Patterson, one of the 
 major-generals of militia in the county, and an officer 
 of Revolutionary service, assumed command of the bat 
 talion, and promptly gave it something to do. 
 
 Far from appearing daunted by the presence of so 
 large a body of militia, Hubbard s force at the iron 
 works had increased to two hundred men, who boldly 
 threatened to come down and clean out Patterson s 
 "tories," a feat to which, if joined by some of the 
 smaller insurgent bands in the neighborhood, they 
 might ere long be equal. For this Patterson wisely 
 decided not to wait. And so at noon of one of the first 
 days of February, about three hundred of the govern 
 ment troops, with half a dozen rounds of cartridges to 
 each man, set out to attack Hubbard s camp. 
 
 There had been tearful farewells in the gentlemen s 
 
The Battle of West Stockbridge 3 1 3 
 
 households that morning. The greater number had 
 sent forth father and sons together to the fray, and 
 some families there were which had three generations 
 in the ranks. For this was the gentility s war. The 
 mass of the people held sullenly aloof and left them to 
 fight it out. It was all that could be expected of them 
 selves if they did not actively join the other side. There 
 were more friends of theirs with Hubbard than with 
 Patterson, and the temper in which they viewed the 
 preparations to march against the rebels was so unmis 
 takably ugly that as a protection to the families and 
 property in the village one company had to be left be 
 hind in Stockbridge. It was a muggy, overcast day, a 
 bad day to give men stomach for fighting ; drum and 
 fife were silent that the enemy might have no unneces 
 sary warning of their coming; and so, with an ill- wish 
 ing community behind their backs and the foe in front, 
 the troops set out from home under very depressing 
 conditions. And as they went, mothers and daughters 
 and wives climbed to upper windows and looked out 
 toward the western mountain, up whose face the col 
 umn stretched, straining their ears for the sound of 
 shots with a more quaking apprehension than if their 
 own bosoms had been the marks. It is bad enough 
 to send friends to far-off wars, sad enough waiting for 
 the slow tidings, but there is something yet more poig 
 nant in seeing loved ones go out to battle almost within 
 sight of home. 
 
 The word was that Hubbard was encamped at a 
 point where the road running directly west over the 
 mountain to West Stockbridge met two other roads 
 coming in from northerly and southerly directions. 
 Accordingly, in the hope of catching the insurgents in 
 a trap, the government force was divided into three 
 
314 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 companies. One pushed straight tip the mountain by 
 the direct road, while the others made respectively a 
 northern and a southern detour around the mountain, 
 intending to strike the other two roads and thus come 
 in on Hubbard s flanks while he was engaged in front. 
 The center company did not set out until a little after 
 the other two, so as to give them a start. When it 
 finally began to climb the mountain, Sedgwickwith his 
 cavalry rode ahead. A few rods behind them came a 
 score or two of infantry as a sort of advance guard, 
 the rest of the company being some distance in the 
 rear. The riders in that little party of horsemen had 
 nearly all seen service in the Revolution and knew 
 what fighting meant, but that was a war against their 
 country s foes, invaders from over the sea, not like 
 this, against their neighbors. They had little taste for 
 the job before them, resolute as they were to perform 
 it and to stamp out the mutiny against their class. 
 
 Suddenly a man stepped out from the woods into the 
 road, and firing his musket at them turned and ran. 
 Thinking to capture him the riders spurred their 
 horses forward at a gallop. Other shots were fired 
 around them, indicating clearly that they had come 
 upon the picket line of the enemy. There was a turn 
 in the road a short distance ahead. As they dashed 
 around it, now close behind the flying man, they found 
 themselves in the clearing at the crossing of the roads. 
 Why did they rein in their plunging steeds so sud 
 denly? Well they might! Not six rods off the entire 
 rebel line of two hundred men was drawn up. They 
 heard Hubbard give the order, "Present!" and the 
 muskets of the men rose to their cheeks. 
 
 " We re dead men. God help my wife! " cried Colonel 
 Elijah Williams, who rode at Sedgwick s side. Ad- 
 
The Battle of West Stockbridge 315 
 
 vance or retreat was alike impossible, and the forth 
 coming volley could not fail to annihilate them. 
 
 "Leave it to me," said Sedgwick, quietly, and the 
 next instant he galloped quite alone toward the line 
 of leveled guns. Seeing but one man coming the re 
 bels withheld their fire. Reining up his horse within 
 a yard of the muzzles of the guns, he said in a loud, 
 clear, authoritative voice: 
 
 "What are you doing here, men? Laban Jones, Ab- 
 ner Rathbun, Meshech Little, do you want to hang for 
 murder? Throw down your arms. You re surrounded 
 on three sides. You can t escape. Throw down your 
 arms, and I ll see you re not harmed. Throw away 
 your guns. If one of them should go off by accident 
 in your hands, you couldn t be saved from the gal 
 lows. " 
 
 His air, evincing not the slightest perturbation or 
 anxiety on his own part, but only a concern for their 
 peril, startled and broke their nerve. His evident con 
 viction that there was more danger at their end of the 
 guns than at his impressed them. They lowered their 
 muskets, some threw them down. The line wavered. 
 
 "He lies! Shoot him! Fire! Damn you, fire!" 
 shouted Hubbard as he saw the panic begin. 
 
 " The first man that fires hangs for murder ! " thun 
 dered Sedgwick. " Throw down your arms and you 
 shall not be harmed. " 
 
 " Kin yew say that for sartin, squire? " asked Laban, 
 hesitatingly. 
 
 " No, he lies! Our only chance is to fight! " yelled 
 Hubbard, frantically. "Shoot him, I tell you." 
 
 But at this critical moment, when the result of Sedg 
 wick s daring experiment was still in doubt, the issue 
 was determined by the appearance of the laggard in- 
 
316 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 fantry at the mouth of the Stockbridge road, while 
 simultaneously shots resounding from the north and 
 south showed that the flanking companies were clos 
 ing in. 
 
 "We re surrounded! Run for your lives!" was 
 shouted on every side, and the line broke in confusion. 
 
 " Arrest that man ! " said Sedgwick, pointing to 
 Hubbard, and instantly Laban Jones and others of his 
 former followers had seized him. Many, throwing 
 down their arms, thronged around Sedgwick as if for 
 protection, while the rest fled in confusion, plunging 
 into the woods to avoid the troops who were now ad 
 vancing in plain sight on all three roads. A few scat 
 tered shots were exchanged between the fugitives and 
 the militia, and the almost bloodless conflict was over. 
 
 " Who would have thought they were such a set of 
 cowards? " said a young militia officer, contemptuously. 
 
 "They are not cowards," replied Sedgwick reprov 
 ingly. " They are the same men who fought at Ben- 
 nington, but it takes away their courage to feel that they 
 are arrayed against their own neighbors and the law of 
 the land. " 
 
 " You d have had your stomach full of fighting, 
 young man," added Colonel Williams, "if Squire Sedg 
 wick had not taken them just as he did. Squire," he 
 added, "my wife shall thank you that she s not a 
 widow when we get back to Stockbridge. I honor 
 your courage, sir. The credit of this day is yours." 
 
 Those standing around joining heartily in this trib 
 ute, Sedgwick replied quietly : 
 
 " You magnify the matter overmuch, gentlemen. I 
 knew the men I was dealing with. If I could get near 
 enough to fix them with my eye before they began to 
 shoot, I knew it would be easy to turn their minds." 
 
The Battle of West Stockbridge 317 
 
 The re-entry of the militia into Stockbridge was 
 made with screaming fifes and resounding drums, 
 while nearly one hundred prisoners graced the triumph 
 of the victors. The poor fellows looked glum enough, 
 as they had reason to do. They had scorned the clem 
 ency of the government and been taken with arms in 
 their hands. Imprisonment and stripes was the least 
 they could expect, while the leaders were in imminent 
 danger of the gallows. But considerations other than 
 those of strict justice according to law determined their 
 fate, and made their suspense of short duration. It 
 was well enough to use threats to intimidate rebels, 
 but in an insurrection with which so large a proportion 
 of the people sympathized partly or fully, severity to 
 the conquered would have been a fatal policy. As 
 a merely practical point, moreover, there was not jail 
 room in Stockbridge for the prisoners. They must be 
 either killed forthwith or set free. The upshot of it 
 was that, excepting Hubbard and two or three more, 
 they were offered release that very afternoon, upon 
 taking the oath of allegiance to the State. The poor 
 fellows eagerly accepted the terms. A line of them 
 being formed, they passed one by one before Justice 
 Woodbridge, with uplifted hand took the oath, and slunk 
 away home, free men, but very much crestfallen. As 
 if to add a climax to the exultation of the government 
 party, news was received during the evening of the 
 rout of the rebels under Shays at Springfield, in their 
 attack on the militia defending the arsenal there, the 
 last day of January. 
 
 Now, it must be understood that not alone in Cap 
 tain Stoddard s Stockbridge company had the mem 
 bers of the well-to-do classes filled up the places of 
 the disaffected farmers in the ranks, but such was 
 
3i 8 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 equally the case with the companies which had come 
 in from the other towns, the consequence of which 
 was that the present muster represented the wealth, 
 the culture, and the aristocracy of all Berkshire. There 
 are far more people in Berkshire now than then, and 
 there is far more aggregate wealth and culture; but 
 with the decay of the aristocratic form of society which 
 prevailed in the day of which I write, passed away the 
 elements of such a gathering as this, which stands 
 unique in the social history of Stockbridge. The fam 
 ilies of the county gentry here represented, though 
 generally living at a day or two s journey apart, were 
 more intimate with each other than with the farmer 
 folk, directly surrounded by whom they lived. They 
 met now like members of one family, the sense of 
 unity heightened by the present necessity of defending 
 the interests of their order, sword in hand, against the 
 rabble. The families of gentlefolk in Stockbridge had 
 opened wide their doors to these gallant and genial 
 defenders, whose presence in their households, far from 
 being regarded as a burden required by the public 
 necessity, was rather a social treat of rare and welcome 
 character; and, unless tradition deceives, more than 
 one happy match was the issue of the intimacies formed 
 between the fair daughters of Stockbridge and the 
 knights who had come to their rescue. 
 
 Previous to the conflict at West Stockbridge and the 
 news of the battle at Springfield, the seriousness of the 
 situation availed indeed to put some check upon the 
 spirits of the young people. But no sooner had it be 
 come apparent that the suppression of the rebellion 
 was not likely to involve serious bloodshed, than there 
 was a general ebullition of fun and amusement such as 
 might be expected from the collection of a band of 
 
The Battle of West Stockbridge 3 1 9 
 
 spirited youths. Besides the round of decorous teas 
 and indoor entertainments, gay sleighing parties out 
 to the " scene of battle " at West Stockbridge, as it was 
 jokingly called, were of daily occurrence, and every 
 evening Lake Mahkeenac s shining face was covered 
 with bands of merry skaters, and screaming, laughing 
 sledge-loads of youths and damsels went whizzing down 
 Long Hill, to the no small jeopardy of their own lives 
 and limbs, to say nothing of such luckless wayfarers as 
 might be in their path. To provide partners for so 
 many gentlemen the cradle was almost robbed, and 
 many a farmer s daughter of Shayite proclivities found 
 herself, not unwillingly, conscripted to supply the 
 dearth of gentlefolk s daughters, and provided with an 
 opportunity for contrasting the merits of silk-stock 
 inged and worsted- stockinged adorers, an experience 
 possibly not favorable to their after contentment in 
 the station to which Providence had called them. 
 
 But even with these conscripts there was still such 
 an excess of beaux that every girl had half a dozen. 
 As for Desire Edwards, she captivated the whole army. 
 If I have hitherto spoken of her in a manner as if she 
 were the only " young lady " in Stockbridge, that is no 
 more than the impression which she gave. Although 
 there were several families in the village which had a 
 claim to equal gentility, their daughters felt, when in 
 Desire s presence, a certain question as to their ability 
 to make good that claim. They acknowledged, though 
 they found less flattering terms in which to express it, 
 the same air of distinction and dainty aloofness about 
 her, which the farmers daughters, too humble for ieal- 
 ousy, so admiringly admitted. The young militia of 
 ficers and gentlemen privates found her adorable, and 
 the three or four young men whom Squire Edwards 
 
320 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 took into his house, as his share in quartering the troops, 
 were the objects of the most rancorous envy of the en 
 tire army. These favored youths had too much appre 
 ciation of their good fortune to be absent from their 
 quarters save when military duty required, and what 
 with the obligation of entertaining and being enter 
 tained by them, and keeping in play the numerous call 
 ers who dropped in from other quarters in the evening, 
 Desire had very little time to herself. It was, of course, 
 very exciting for her, and very agreeable to be the sole 
 queen of so gallant and devoted a court. She enjoyed 
 it as any sprightly, beautiful girl fond of society and 
 well nigh starved for it might be expected to. Pro 
 vided here so unexpectedly in remote winter-bound 
 Stockbridge, it was like a table spread in the wilder 
 ness, whereof the Psalmist speaks. 
 
 And in this whirl of gayety, did she quite forget 
 Perez, did she so soon forget the secret flame she had 
 cherished for the Shayite captain? Be sure she had 
 not forgotten, but how gladly would she have done so, 
 had it been possible. 
 
 After the conventual seclusion and mental vacancy 
 of the preceding months, the sudden change in her 
 surroundings had been like a burst of air and sunlight 
 dissipating the soporific atmosphere of a sleeping- 
 room. It had brought back her thoughts and feelings 
 all at once to their normal standards, making her recol 
 lection of that infatuation seem like a grotesque, fan 
 tastic dream; whimsical, impossible, yet shamefully 
 real. Every time she entered her chamber, and her 
 eye caught sight of the little hole in the curtain 
 whence she had spied upon Perez, shame and self-con 
 tempt overcame her like a flood. How could she, how 
 ever could she have done such a thing? What would 
 
The Battle of West Stockbridge 321 
 
 the obsequious, admiring gallants she had left in her 
 parlor say if they but knew of what that little pin-hole 
 in her curtain reminded her? She could not believe it 
 possible herself that the girl whose fine-cut, haughty 
 beauty confronted her gaze from the mirror could have 
 so lost her self-respect, could have actually oh! and 
 tears of self-despite would rush into her eyes as her 
 remorseless memory set before her those scenes. And 
 had she been utterly beside herself that day in the 
 store, when she gave him that look and that hand 
 clasp? But for that, the only fruit of her folly would 
 have been the loss of her own self-respect, but now she 
 was guilty toward him. This wretched business was 
 dead earnest to him, if not to her. With what a pang 
 of self-contemptuous reproach she recalled his white, 
 anguished face as he rushed into the store to bid her 
 farewell when the soldiers were coming to take him. 
 If he at first, by his persecution of her, had left her 
 with a right to complain, she had given him a right to 
 that farewell by her own glance. She writhed as she 
 admitted to herself that thus she had given him a sort 
 of claim on her. 
 
 The village gossip about Perez s infatuation for her, 
 although of her own weakness none guessed, had nat 
 urally come to the ears of the visitors, and some of 
 the young men at Edwards s good-naturedly chaffed 
 her about it, speaking of it as an amusing joke. She 
 had to bear this without wincing, and, worse still, she 
 had to play the hypocrite so far as to reply in the same 
 jesting tone, joining in turning the laugh on the poor, 
 threadbare mob captain, when she knew in her heart 
 it ought to be turned against her. 
 
 There was nothing else she could do, of course. She 
 could not confess to these gay, bantering, young gen- 
 
 21 
 
322 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 tlemen the incredible weakness of which she had been 
 guilty. But if the self-contempt of the doer can 
 avenge a wrong done to another, Perez was amply 
 avenged for this. And the worst of it was that the 
 thought that she had wronged him here also, and had 
 meanly taken advantage of him, added to that terrible 
 sense of his claim on her. He began to occupy her 
 mind to a morbid and painful extent. His sad and 
 shabby figure, with its mutely reproachful face, haunted 
 her. All that might have been to his disadvantage, 
 compared with the refined and cultivated circle about 
 her, was overcome by the pathos and dignity with which 
 her sense of having done him wrong invested him. 
 Such was her unenviable state of mind when, one even 
 ing, a week or ten days after the affair at West Stock- 
 bridge, one of the young men at the house said to her, 
 
 " May I hope, Miss Edwards, not to be wholly 
 forgotten if I should fall on the gory field to-morrow?" 
 
 * What do you mean? " she asked. 
 
 " What, didn t you know? General Patterson is fear 
 ful the Capuan delights of Stockbridge will sap our mar 
 tial vigor, and is going to lead us against the foe in his 
 lair at dawn to-morrow." 
 
 " Where is his lair this time? " asked Desire, care 
 lessly. 
 
 " We ve heard that two or three hundred of the ras 
 cals have collected out here at Lee to stop a petty 
 court, and we re going to capture them." 
 
 " By the way, too, Miss Edwards," broke in another, 
 "your admirer, Hamlin, is at the head of them, and 
 I ve no doubt his real design is to make a dash on 
 Stockbridge, and carry you off from the midst of your 
 faithful knights. He ll have a chance to repent of his 
 presumption to-morrow. Squire Woodbridge told me 
 
The Battle of West Stockbridge 323 
 
 this afternoon that if he does not have him triced up to 
 the whipping-post in two hours after we bring" him in, 
 it will be because he is no justice of the quorum. It s 
 plain the Squire has no liking for the fellow." 
 
 " I hope there ll be a little more fun this time than 
 there was last week. I m sick of these battles without 
 any fighting," doughtily remarked a very young man. 
 
 "I m afraid your bloodthirstiness won t be gratified 
 this time," answered the first speaker. "The general 
 means to surprise them and take every man- jack of 
 them prisoners before they re fairly waked up. We 
 shall be back to breakfast to receive your congratula 
 tions, Miss Edwards." 
 
 But Miss Edwards had left the room. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 A Game of Bluff 
 
 HAD Perez Hamlin been her sweetheart, her brother, 
 her dearest friend, the announcement that he was to be 
 captured and brought to Stockbridge for punishment 
 would not have come upon her with a greater effect 
 of consternation. After hearing that news it would 
 have been impossible for her to retain her composure 
 sufficiently to avoid remark had she remained in the 
 parlor. But there were other reasons why she had 
 fled to the seclusion of her chamber. It was neces 
 sary that she should think of some plan to evade the 
 humiliation of being confronted by him, of being re 
 minded by his presence, by his looks, and maybe his 
 words even, of the weak folly of which she was so 
 cruelly ashamed, and which she was trying to forget. 
 Desperately, she resolved to make some excuse to fly 
 to Pittsfield, to be away from home when Perez was 
 brought in. But no, she could think of no excuse, 
 not even the wildest pretence, for thus precipitately 
 leaving a house full of guests, and taking a journey by 
 dangerous roads to make an uninvited visit. Perez 
 must be warned, he must escape, he must not be cap 
 tured. Thus only could she see any way to evade 
 meeting him. But how could word be got to him? 
 They marched at dawn. There were but a few hours. 
 There was his family. Surely, if they were warned 
 they would find a way of communicating with him. 
 
A Game of Bluff 
 
 3 2 S 
 
 She had heard that he had a brother. Whatever she 
 did she must do quickly, before she was missed from 
 the parlor and her mother came to her door to ask if 
 she were ill. There was no time to change her dress, 
 or even her shoes. Throwing a large shawl over her 
 head, which quite concealed her figure, she noiselessly 
 made her way downstairs, and out into the snowy 
 street, passing, as she went, close under the lighted 
 windows of the parlor, whence came the sound of the 
 voices and laughter of guests who, no doubt, were 
 already wondering at her absence. 
 
 Thanks to the amount of travel of late, the snow 
 in the street had been trodden to a passable con 
 dition. But blinded by the darkness, every now and 
 then, with a gasp and a flounder, she would step out of 
 the path into the deep snow on either side, and once, 
 hearing a sleigh coming along, she had to plunge into 
 a drift nearly as high as her waist, and stand there un 
 til the vehicle had passed, with the snow freezing her 
 ankles, and also ruining, as she well knew, her pretty 
 morocco shoes. Suddenly a tall figure loomed up close 
 before her, there was a rattle of accouterments, and a 
 rough voice said sharply: 
 
 "Halt!" 
 
 She stopped, all in a tremble. She had quite forgot 
 ten that the streets were now guarded by regular lines 
 of sentries. 
 
 "Advance and give the countersign," said the sol 
 dier. 
 
 At first she quite gave herself up for lost. Then she 
 remembered that by the merest chance in the world 
 she knew the countersign for that night. The officer 
 of the day had playfully asked her to name it, and in 
 honor of the patriotic citizens of the capital who had 
 
326 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 lent to the empty treasury the money needed to equip 
 and supply the force of militia the governor had or 
 dered out, she had given "The Merchants of Boston." 
 Scarcely believing that so simple a formula could re 
 move this formidable obstacle from her path, she 
 repeated it in a tremulous voice. " Pass on," said the 
 sentry, and the way was clear. Now turning out of 
 the main street, she made her way slowly and panting- 
 ly, rather wading than walking up the less trodden 
 lane leading to the Hamlins house, through whose 
 windows shone the flickering light of the fire on the 
 hearth within, the only species of evening illumination 
 afforded in those days save in the households of the 
 rich. 
 
 She pulled the latch-string and entered. The mis 
 erable fittings of the great kitchen denoted extreme 
 poverty, but the great fire of logs in the chimney was 
 such as the richest, in these days of wasted forests, can 
 not afford, and the ruddy light illuminated the room 
 as all the candles in the town could scarcely do. Be 
 fore it sat Elnathan and his wife, and Reuben. The 
 shawl which Desire wore was thickly flecked with the 
 snow through which she had stumbled, and instinc 
 tively her first motion on entering the room was to 
 open and shake it, thereby revealing to the eyes of the 
 astonished family the evening toilet of a fashionable 
 beauty. Her hair was built up over a toupee with a 
 charming effect of stateliness, the dusting of powder 
 upon the dark strands bringing out the rich bloom of 
 her brunette complexion. The shoulders gleamed 
 through the meshes of the square of ancient yellow 
 lace that covered them, while the curves of the full 
 young figure and the white roundness of the arms, 
 left bare by the elbow sleeves, were set off in charm- 
 
A Game of Bluff 327 
 
 ing contrast by the stiff folds of the figured crimson 
 brocade. 
 
 "Miss Edwards!" murmured Mrs. Hamlin, as Elna- 
 than and Reuben gaped in speechless bewilderment. 
 
 "Yes, it is I," said Desire, coming forward a few 
 steps, but still keeping in the back of the room. " I 
 came to tell you that the army is going to march at 
 dawn to-morrow to Lee to take your son, and all who 
 are with him, prisoners, and bring them back here to 
 be punished." There was a moment s silence. Then 
 Mrs. Hamlin said: 
 
 " How do you know it? " 
 
 " I was told so ten minutes ago by the officers at my 
 father s house," replied Desire. 
 
 " And why do you tell us? " asked Mrs. Hamlin 
 again, regarding her keenly from beneath her bushy 
 gray eyebrows, and speaking with a certain slight 
 hardness of tone, as if half suspicious of a warning 
 from such a source. 
 
 " I thought if I told you in time you might get some 
 word to him so that he could get away. The counter 
 sign is l The Merchants of Boston. " 
 
 Mrs. Hamlin s face suddenly changed its expression, 
 and she answered slowly, in a tone of intense, sup 
 pressed feeling: 
 
 " And so you left them gay gentlemen, and waded 
 through the snow all alone, half a mile, way out here, 
 all in your pretty clothes, so that no harm might 
 come to my boy. God bless you, my child! God 
 bless you with his choicest blessings, my sweet young 
 lady! My son does well to worship the ground you 
 walk on. " 
 
 It was an odd sensation, but as the gray-haired wom 
 an was speaking, her face aglow with tenderness, and 
 
328 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 her eyes wet with a mother s gratitude, Desire could 
 not help half wishing she had deserved the words, 
 even though that wish implied her being really in love 
 with this woman s son. It was not without emotion, 
 and eyes to which responsive tears had sprung, that she 
 exclaimed, with a gesture of deprecation : 
 
 " No, no, do not thank me. If you knew all, you 
 would not thank me. I am not so good as you think," 
 and, throwing the door open, she sprang out into the 
 snow. 
 
 When she re-entered the parlor at home, the silver- 
 dialed clock, high upon the wall, accused her of only 
 an hour s absence, and since nobody but herself knew 
 that her feet were quite wet through, there were no 
 explanations to make. But for the first time she wea 
 ried a little of her courtiers. She found their compli 
 ments insipid and her repartees were slow. Her 
 thoughts were wandering to that poor home where all 
 undeservedly she had been received as an angel of 
 light; and her anxieties were with the messenger 
 stumbling along the half-broken road to Lee to carry 
 the warning. When at last Squire Edwards proposed 
 that all should fill their punch-glasses and drain to the 
 success of the morrow s expedition, she set down hers 
 untasted, passing off her omission with some excuse. 
 That night toward morning, though it was yet quite 
 dark, she was awakened by the noise of opening doors, 
 and men s footsteps, and loud talk; and afterward 
 hearing a heavy, jarring sound, she looked out of the 
 window and descried in the road a long black column 
 moving rapidly along, noiseless, save for now and then 
 a hoarse word of command. The impressiveness of this 
 silent, formidable departure gave her a new sense of 
 the responsibility she had taken on herself in frustrat- 
 
A Game of Bluff 329 
 
 ing the design of so many grave and weighty men, and 
 interfering with issues of life and death. And then for 
 the first time a dreadful thought occurred to her. What 
 if after all there should be a battle? She had thought 
 only of giving Perez warning, so that he might fly with 
 his men, but what if he should take advantage of it to 
 prepare an ambush and fight? She had not thought 
 of that. Jonathan was with the expedition. What if 
 she should prove to be the murderer of her brother? 
 What had she done? Sick at heart, she lay awake 
 trembling until dawn. Then she arose and dressed, 
 and waited about miserably, and toward eight o clock 
 the news of the result came. Then she laughed until 
 she cried, and ended by saying that she would go to 
 bed, for she thought she was going to be ill. And she 
 was right. Her mother wondered how she could have 
 taken such a terrible cold. 
 
 But leaving Doctor Partridge to cure her cold with 
 calomel and laudanum, after the manner of the day, 
 let us inquire in a historical spirit what it was in the 
 news of the result at Lee which should cause a young 
 woman to laugh so immoderately. 
 
 It had been nearly midnight of the preceding even 
 ing when Reuben, wearily and slowly making his way 
 along the dark and difficult road, reached Lee, and was 
 directed at the rebel outposts to the house of Mrs. 
 Perry, as the place which Perez occupied as a head 
 quarters. Although it was so late, the rebel com 
 mander, too full of anxious and brooding thoughts to 
 sleep, was still sitting before the smoldering fire in 
 the kitchen chimney when Reuben staggered in. 
 
 "Reub," he cried, starting up as he recognized his 
 brother, "what s the matter? Has anything happened 
 at home?" 
 
330 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " Nothing bad. I ve brought you news. Have you 
 got some rum? I m pretty tired." 
 
 Perez found a demijohn, poured out a mug, and 
 watched his brother with anxious eyes as he gulped it 
 down. Presently a little color came back to his white 
 face, and he said, 
 
 " Now I feel better. It was a hard road. I felt like 
 giving out once or twice. But I m all right now." 
 
 "What made you come, Reub? You re not strong 
 yet. It might have killed you." 
 
 " I had to, Perez. It was life or death for you. The 
 army at Stockbridge are going to surprise you at sun 
 rise. I came to warn you. Desire Edwards brought 
 as word." 
 
 "What!" exclaimed Perez, his face aglow. "She 
 brought you word? Do you mean that? " 
 
 "Jest hold on, and I ll tell you how it was," said 
 Reub, with a manner almost as full of enthusiasm as 
 his brother s. " It was nigh bedtime, and we were 
 settin afore the fire a-talkin baout you, and a-hopin 
 you d get over the line into York, when the door 
 opened, an in come Desire Edwards, all dressed up 
 in a shiny gaown, an her hair fixed, an everything 
 like as to a weddin . I tell yew, Perez, my eyes stood 
 out some. An afore we could say nothin , we wuz so 
 flustered, she up an says ez haow she hearn them os- 
 sifers ter her haouse tellin haow they wuz goin ter 
 s prise ye in the mornin , an so she come ter tell us, 
 thinkin we might git word ter ye." 
 
 " Did she say that, Reub? Did she say those words? 
 Did she say that about me? Are you sure? " inter 
 rupted Perez, in a hushed tone of incredulous ecstasy, 
 as he nervously gripped his brother s shoulder. 
 
 "Them wuz her words, nigh ez I kin recollect," 
 
A Game of Bluff 
 
 33 1 
 
 replied Reub, "an* that baout yew she said fer 
 sartin. She said we wuz ter send word ter ye, so s ye 
 might git away, an* then she gave me the countersign 
 fer ter say ter the sentries, so s I could git by ter fetch 
 ye word." 
 
 "To think of her doing all that for me, Reub! I 
 can t believe it. It s too much. Because you see, 
 Reub, if she d take all that trouble for me, it shows it 
 it shows I think it must be she " he hesitated, and 
 finally gulped out " cares for me, Reub," and his eyes 
 filled with tears. 
 
 "Ye may say so, for sartin, Perez," replied his 
 brother with sympathetic enthusiasm. " A gal would 
 n t dew what she did for no feller, unless she set store 
 by him, naow. It s a sign, fer sure." 
 
 "Reub," said Perez, in a voice uneven with sup 
 pressed emotion, " now I know she cares for me that 
 much, I don t mind a snap of the finger what happens 
 to me. If they came to hang me this minute, I should 
 laugh in their faces," and he sprang up and paced to 
 and fro, with fixed eyes and a set smile, and then, still 
 wearing the same look, came back and sat down by his 
 brother, and said : " I sort of hoped she cared for me 
 before, but it seemed almost too much to believe. 
 You don t know how I feel, Reub. You can t think 
 what it means to me." 
 
 " Yes, I kin," said Reuben, quietly. " I guess ye feel 
 suthin* ez I used ter baout Jemimy, sort o light inside 
 an so pleased like ye don t keer a copper ef ye live or 
 die. Yes, I know more n ye think I dew bout the feel- 
 in s a feller hez long o women, only ye see it didn t 
 come ter nothin with Jemimy, fer when my fust crop 
 failed an I was took for debt, Peleg got her arter all." 
 
 "I didn t think about Jemima, Reub," said Perez, 
 
332 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 softly. In the affluence of his own happiness, he was 
 overwhelmed with compassion for his brother. He 
 was stricken by the patient look upon his pale face. 
 "Never mind, Reub," he said. "Don t be down 
 hearted. You and I will stand by each other, and 
 perhaps it ll be made up to you some time," and he 
 laid his arm tenderly on the other s shoulder. 
 
 " I only spoke on t cause o what ye said baout my 
 not understanding " said Reuben, excusing himself for 
 having made a demand on the other s compassion. 
 " She never gave me no sech reason ter think she set 
 store by me ez you ve hed ter night long o Desire 
 Edwards. I wuzn t a-comparin on us, nohow." 
 
 There was a space of silence, finally disturbed by a 
 sound of heavy steps in an adjoining room, and pres 
 ently Abner Rathbun stumped out. Abner had es 
 caped at the West Stockbridge rout, and having made 
 his way to Perez, at Lee, had been forgiven his deser 
 tion by the latter and made his chief lieutenant and 
 adviser. 
 
 "Hello, Reub," he exclaimed. "Where d ye drop 
 from? Heard so much talkin calc lated suthin must 
 ha happened, an turned out ter see what it wuz. 
 Fetched any news, hev ye, Reub? Spit it out. Guess 
 it must be putty good, or the cap n would nt be lookin 
 so darned pleased." 
 
 " The news I fetched is that the army in Stockbridge 
 is goin* ter attack ye to-morrow at dawn." 
 
 Abner s jaw fell. He looked from Reuben to Perez, 
 whose face as he gazed absently at the coals on the 
 hearth still wore the smile which had attracted his at 
 tention. This seemed to decide him for, as he turned 
 again to Reub, he said, shrewdly, 
 
 " Yew can t fool me with no gum -game o that sort 
 
A Game of Bluff 333 
 
 I guess Perez wouldn t be grinnin that air way ef he 
 expected we wuz goin ter be all chawed up afore 
 mornin ." 
 
 "Reuben tells the truth. They are going to attack 
 us in the morning," said Perez, looking up. Abner 
 stared at him a moment, and then demanded, half-sul 
 len, half -puzzled : 
 
 "Wai, cap n, what do ye see ter larf at in that? 
 Darned ef I see nothin funny." 
 
 " Your glum mug would be enough to laugh at if 
 there was nothing else, Abner," said Perez, getting up 
 and gayly slapping the giant on the shoulder. 
 
 " I s pose ye must hev got some plan in yer head fer 
 gittin the best on em," suggested Abner, at last, evi 
 dently racking his brains to suggest a hypothesis to 
 explain his commander s untimely levity. 
 
 "No, Abner," replied Perez, "I have not thought of 
 any plan yet. What do you think about the business? " 
 
 " I m afeard there ain t no dependin on the men fer 
 a scrimmage. I expect they ll scatter ez soon s the 
 news gits raound that the white feathers be comin , 
 thout even waitin fer em ter git in sight," was Ab 
 ner s gloomy response. 
 
 " I shouldn t be at all surprised if they did. I don t 
 believe there s a dozen in the lot we could depend on," 
 said Perez, cheerfully. 
 
 "What s the matter with ye, cap n?" burst out Ab 
 ner, in desperation. " I can t make aout what s come 
 over ye. Ye talk s though ye didn t keer a Bunga- 
 town copper whether we fit or run, or stayed an got 
 hung, but jest set there a-grinnin ter yerself ez if 
 ye d lost yer wits." 
 
 Perez laughed again, but checking himself, replied : 
 " I suppose I do seem a little queer, Abner, but you 
 
334 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 mustn t mind that. I hope I haven t quite lost my 
 wits. Let s see, now," he went on in a business-like 
 tone, with the air of one abruptly enforcing a new di 
 rection upon his thoughts. " We could get up the men 
 and retreat to the mountains by morning, but two 
 thirds would desert before we d marched two miles, 
 and slink away home, and the worst of it is the poor 
 chaps would be arrested and abused when they got 
 home." 
 
 " That s sartin so, cap n," said Abner, his anxiety for 
 Perez s sanity evidently diminishing. 
 
 "It s a shame to retreat, too, with such a position to 
 defend. Why, Abner, just look at it. The snow is 
 three to four feet deep in the fields and woods, and the 
 enemy can come in only on the road. That road is 
 just like a causeway through a swamp or a bridge. 
 They can t go off it without snow-shoes. With half a 
 company that I could depend on, I d defend it against 
 a regiment. If I wanted breastworks all I ve got to 
 do is to dig paths in the snow. I could hold Lee till 
 the snow melts or till they took it by zig-zags and 
 parallels through the drifts. But there s no use talking 
 about any such thing, for there s no fight left in the 
 men, not a bit. If they had ever so little grit left, we 
 might hold out long enough at least to get some sort 
 of fair terms, but, Lord! they haven t. They ll just 
 run like sheep." 
 
 " Ef we only hed a cannon naow, ef t wan t but a 
 three - paounder !" said Abner, pathetically. "We 
 could jest sot it in the middle of the road, and all crea 
 tion couldn t get inter Lee. Yew an I could stop em 
 alone then. Gosh, naow! what wouldn t I give fer a 
 cannon the size o Mis Perry s yarn-beam there. Ef 
 the white feathers seen a gun the size o that p inted 
 
A Game of Bluff 335 
 
 at em an* a feller behind it with a hot coal, I ll bet 
 they d be darn glad ter gree ter a fair settlement. 
 But Lordy massy! we ain t got no cannon, and we 
 can t make one." 
 
 "I don t know about that, Abner," replied Perez, 
 deliberately. His glance had followed Abner s to the 
 loom standing in the back of the kitchen, and as he 
 answered his lieutenant he was fixedly regarding the 
 very yarn-beam to which the other had alluded, a 
 round, smooth, dark-colored wooden roller, five or six 
 feet long and eight or ten inches through. 
 
 But perhaps it will be better to let Doctor Partridge 
 tell the rest of the story, as he related it nearly three 
 weeks later for the amusement of Desire during her 
 convalescence from the cold and fever through which 
 he had brought her. 
 
 "It was pitch dark when we left Stock bridge, " said 
 the doctor, " and allowing a good hour for the march, 
 owing to the state of the road, the general calculated 
 we should reach Lee about dawn and catch the rascals 
 taking their beauty sleep. It was excessively cold 
 and our fingers began to grow numb very soon, and 
 if anybody touched the iron part of his gun without 
 mittens he left a piece of skin behind. But you see 
 we had just heard of General Lincoln s thirty-mile 
 night march from Hadley to Petersham in even worse 
 weather, and for the credit of Berkshire we had to 
 keep on if we froze to death. We met nobody until 
 we were within half a mile of Lee. Then we over 
 hauled one of the rebel sentries, and captured him, 
 though not till he had let off his gun. Then we heard 
 the drum beating in the town. There was nothing to 
 do but to hurry on as fast as we could. And so we did 
 for about ten minutes more, when somebody said, 
 
336 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 There they are. Sure enough, about twenty rods off, 
 where the road enters the village, was a black mass of 
 men occupying its entire breadth, with a man on horse 
 back in front whom I took for Hamlin. We kept on a 
 little longer, and then the general ordered us to halt, 
 and Squire Woodbridge rode forward within easy 
 speaking distance of the rebels, and began to read the 
 Riot Act. But he had no sooner begun than Hamlin 
 made a gesture, and a drum struck up lustily among 
 the rebels, drowning the Squire s voice. Nevertheless 
 he made an end of the reading so that we might pro 
 ceed legally, and thereupon the general ordered the 
 men to fix bayonets and gave the order to march. 
 Then it seemed that the rebels were about to retire, 
 for their line fell back a little, and already our men had 
 given a cheer when a sharp-eyed fellow in the front 
 rank sang out : 
 
 " * They ve got a cannon! And when we looked, 
 sure enough, the slight falling back of the rebels which 
 we had noted had been only to uncover a piece of ar 
 tillery which was planted squarely in the middle of the 
 road, pointing directly at us. A man with a smoking 
 brazier of coals stood by the breech, and another, 
 whom by his size I took to be Abner Rathbun, with a 
 pair of tongs held a bright coal which he had taken 
 from it. It being yet rather dark, though close on 
 sunrise, we could plainly see the redness of the coal 
 the fellow held in the tongs above the touch -hole of 
 the gun, and ticklish near it seemed, I can say. I 
 know not to this day, and others say the same, whether 
 any one gave the order to halt or not, but it is certain 
 we stopped square, nor were those behind at all dis 
 posed to push forward such as were in front, for there 
 is this about cannon balls that is different from musket 
 
A Game of Bluff 337 
 
 balls : the front rank serves the rear rank as a shield 
 from the bullets, but the cannon ba 1 plows the whole 
 length of the file and kills those behind as readily as 
 those before. And, moreover, we had as soon ex 
 pected to see the devil in horns and tail leading the 
 rebels as this cannon, for no one supposed there was 
 a piece of artillery in all Berkshire. You must know 
 the place we were in was, moreover, as bad as could 
 be ; for we could march only by the road, by reason of 
 the deep snow on each side, which was like walls shut 
 ting us in, and leaving room for no more than eight 
 men to go abreast. If the cannon were loaded with a 
 ball, it must needs cut a swath like a scythe from the 
 first man to the last, and if it were loaded with small 
 balls, all of us who were near the front must needs go 
 down at once. The general asked counsel of us who 
 were riding with him at the front what had best be 
 done, whereupon Squire Sedgwick advised that half a 
 dozen of us with horses should put spurs to them and 
 dash suddenly upon the cannon and take it. * Ten to 
 one, he said, * the rascal with the tongs will not dare 
 touch off the gun, and if he does, why, t is but one 
 shot/ But this seemed to us all a foolhardy thing; 
 for, though there were but one shot, who could tell 
 whom it might hit? It might be one of us as well as 
 another. Your uncle Jahleel, as it seemed, lest any 
 should deem Squire Sedgwick braver than he, de 
 clared that he was ready, but the others of us by no 
 means fell in with the notion, and General Patterson 
 said flatly that he was responsible for all our lives and 
 would permit no such madness. And then, as no one 
 had any other plan to propose, we were in a quandary, 
 and I noted that each one had his eyes, as it were, 
 fastened immovably upon the cannon and the glowing 
 
 22 
 
338 The Duke of Stockbridgc 
 
 coal which the fellow held in the tongs. For, in ordef 
 to keep it clear of ash, he kept waving it to and fro, 
 and once or twice, when he brought it perilously close 
 to the touch-hole, I give you my word I began to 
 think in a moment of all the things I had done in my 
 life. And I remember, too, that if one of us was 
 speaking when the fellow made as if he would touch 
 off the gun, there was an interruption of a moment in 
 his speech, ere he went on again. It must be that not 
 only civilians like myself, but men of war also, do find 
 a certain discomposing effect in the stare of a cannon. 
 Meanwhile the wind drew through the narrow path 
 wherein we stood with vehemence, and, whereas we 
 had barely kept our blood in motion by our laboring 
 through the snow, now that we stood still we seemed 
 freezing. Our horses shivered and set their ears back 
 with the cold, but it was notable how quietly the men 
 stood packed in the road behind us, though they must 
 have been well nigh frost-bitten. No doubt they were 
 absorbed in watching the fellow swinging the coal as 
 we were. But if we did not advance we must retreat, 
 that was plain. We could not stay where we were. 
 It was, I fancy, because no one could bring himself to 
 propose such an ignoble issue to our enterprise, that 
 we were for a little space all dumb. 
 
 " Then it was, when the general could no longer have 
 put off giving the order to right about march, that 
 Hamlin tied a white rag to his sword and rode toward 
 us, holding it aloft. When he had come about half 
 way, he cried out : 
 
 Will your commander and Doctor Partridge, if he 
 be among you, ride out to meet me? I would have a 
 parley. 
 
 " Why he pitched on me I know not, save that, want- 
 
A Game of Bluff 
 
 339 
 
 ing a witness, he chose me as being a little more friend 
 ly to him than most of the Stockbridge gentlemen. 
 When we had ridden forward, he saluted us with great 
 cordiality and good humor, as if, forsooth, instead of 
 being within an ace of murdering us all, he had been 
 trying us with a jest. 
 
 " I see, said he to the general, that your fellows like 
 not the look of my artillery, and I blame them not, for 
 it will be a nasty business in that narrow lane if we 
 have to let drive, as assuredly we shall do if you come 
 another foot farther. But it may be we can settle our 
 difference without bloodshed. My men have fled to 
 gether to me to be protected from arrest and prosecu 
 tion for what they have heretofore done, not because 
 they intend further to attack the government. I 
 will agree that they shall disperse and go quietly 
 to their homes, provided you give me your word 
 that they shall not be arrested or injured by your 
 men, and will promise to use your utmost influence 
 to secure them from any arrest hereafter, and that 
 at any rate they shall have trial before a jury of 
 their neighbors. 
 
 "The general is a shrewd bargainer, I make no 
 doubt, for though I knew he was delighted out of 
 measure to find any honorable escape from the pre 
 dicament in which we were, he pulled a long face, and 
 after some thought, said that he would grant the con 
 ditions, provided the rebels also surrendered their 
 arms, and took the oath of allegiance to the State. At 
 this Hamlin laughed a little. 
 
 " I see, sir, we are but wasting time, he said with 
 mighty indifferent air. * You have got the boot on the 
 wrong foot. It is we who are granting you terms, not 
 you us. You may thank your stars I don t require 
 
340 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 your men to surrender their arms. Look you, sir, my 
 men will not give up their guns or take any oath, but 
 are to go as free as yours, with your promise of protec 
 tion hereafter. If you agree to those terms, you may 
 come into Lee, and we will disperse. If not, let us 
 lose no more time waiting, but have at it. 
 
 " It was something to make one s blood run cold to 
 hear the fellow talk so quietly about murdering us. 
 The general hemmed and hawed a little, and made a 
 show of talking aside with me, and presently said 
 that to avoid shedding the blood of the misguided 
 men on the other side he would consent to the terms, 
 but, he added, the artillery must at any rate be sur 
 rendered. 
 
 " It is private property, said Hamlin. 
 
 " It is forfeited to its owner by its use against the 
 government, replied the general sturdily. 
 
 " I will not stickle for the gun, said Hamlin, * but 
 will leave you to settle that with the owner, and, as 
 he spoke he looked as if he were inwardly amused over 
 something. 
 
 "Thereupon we separated. The announcement of 
 the terms was received by our men with a cheer, for 
 they had made up their minds that there was nothing 
 before them but a march back to Stockbridge in the 
 face of the wind and to meet the ridicule of the populace. 
 As we now approached the cannon at quickstep, Abner 
 Rathbun came around and stood in front of it, so that 
 we did not see it until we were close upon it. He was 
 grinning from ear to ear. The road just behind was 
 packed with rebels, all likewise on the broad grin, as 
 if at some prodigious jest. As we came up Hamlin 
 said to the general : 
 
 " * Sir, I now deliver over to you the artillery that 
 
A Game of Bluff 341 
 
 is, if you can settle it with Mrs. Perry. Abner, stand 
 aside. 
 
 " Rathbun did so, and what we saw was a yarn-beam 
 mounted on a pair of ox-cart wheels, with the tongue 
 of the cart resting on the ground behind ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 The Restoration 
 
 As it was remarked in the last chapter, it was some 
 three weeks after the famous encounter at Lee that 
 Doctor Partridge entertained Desire one afternoon 
 with the account of the affair which I have transcribed 
 for the information of my readers. The interval be 
 tween the night before the Lee expedition, when she 
 had taken her severe cold, and the sunny afternoon of 
 expiring February, when she sat listening to the doc 
 tor s story, had for her been only a blank of illness, 
 but in the community around it had been a time of 
 anxiety, of embitterment, and of critical change. The 
 gay and brilliant court, of which she had for a brief 
 period been the center, had long ago vanished. Ham- 
 lin s band at Lee had been the last considerable force 
 of rebels embodied in southern Berkshire, and a few 
 days after its dispersal the companies from other towns 
 left Stockbridge to return home, leaving the protection 
 of the village to the home company. Close on this 
 followed the arrival at Pittsfield of General Lincoln 
 with a body of troops called into Berkshire by the in 
 vitation of General Patterson, to the disgust of some 
 gentlemen who thought the county quite capable of at 
 tending to its own affairs. These forces had completed 
 the pacification of northern Berkshire, where, among 
 the mountain fastnesses, rebel bands had until then 
 maintained themselves ; so that now the entire county 
 
The Restoration 
 
 343 
 
 was subdued and the insurrection, so far as concerned 
 any overt manifestation, was at an end. 
 
 Tax Collector Williams once more went his rounds, 
 Deputy Sheriff Seymour s red flag floated again 
 from the gable ends of the houses whence the mob 
 had torn it last September, foreclosure sales were made, 
 processes were served, debtors were taken to jail, and 
 the almost forgotten sound of the lash was once more 
 heard on the green of Saturday afternoons as the con 
 stable executed Squire Woodbridge s sentences at the 
 re-erected whipping-post and stocks. Sedgwick s re 
 turn to Boston, to his seat in the legislature early in 
 February, had left Woodbridge to resume unimpeded 
 his ancient autocracy in the village, and with as many 
 grudges as that gentleman had to pay off, it may well 
 be supposed the constable had no sinecure. The vic 
 tims of justice were almost exclusively those who had 
 been concerned in the late rebellion. For although 
 the various amnesties, as well as the express stipula 
 tions under which a large number had surrendered, 
 protected most of the insurgents from penalties for 
 their political crimes, still misdemeanors and petty 
 offences against property and persons during the late 
 disturbances were chargeable against most of them, 
 and when tried before a magistrate whom, like Wood- 
 bridge, they had mobbed, a charge was as good as a 
 proof. 
 
 Nor if they appealed to a jury was their chance 
 much better, for the legislature, coming together 
 again in February, had excluded former rebels from 
 the jury-box for three years, binding them to keep the 
 peace for the same time, and depriving them of the 
 elective franchise in all forms for a year, while, on 
 the other hand, complete indemnity was granted to the 
 
344 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 friends of government for all offences against property 
 or persons which they might have committed in sup 
 pressing the rebellion. Without here controverting 
 the necessity of these measures, it is easy to realize the 
 state of hopeless discouragement to which they reduced 
 the class exposed to their effect. Originally driven into 
 the rebellion by the pressure of a poverty which made 
 them the virtual serfs of the gentlemen, they now 
 found themselves not only forced to resume their 
 former position in that respect, but were in addition 
 deprived of the ordinary civil rights and guaranties of 
 citizens. In desperation many fled over the border 
 into New York and Connecticut, and joined bands of 
 similar refugees which were camped there. Others, 
 weaker spirited, or bound by ties they could not or 
 would not break, remained at home, seeking to pro 
 pitiate their masters by a contrite and circumspect de 
 meanor, or sullenly enduring whatever was put upon 
 them. A large number prepared to emigrate to homes 
 in the West as soon as spring opened the roads. 
 
 Of the chief abettors of Perez, the fortunes may be 
 briefly told. Jabez Flint had sold all he possessed and 
 escaped to Nova Scotia to join one of the numerous 
 colonies of deported tories which had been formed 
 there. Jabez was down on his luck. 
 
 "I ve hed enough o rebellin ," he declared. "I ve 
 tried both sides on t. In the fust rebellion I wuz ag in 
 the rebels, an the rebels licked. This ere time I took 
 sides ag in the gov ment, an the gov ment hez licked. 
 I m like a feller ez is fust kicked behind an then in 
 the stummick. I be done on both sides, like a pan 
 cake." 
 
 Israel Goodrich and Ezra Phelps, being excepted 
 from the amnesties as members of the rebel commit- 
 
The Restoration 345 
 
 tee, had escaped jailing only because, as men of some 
 substance, they had been able to give large bonds to 
 await the further disposition of the Boston govern 
 ment. 
 
 "I didn t mind so much baout that," said Israel, 
 " but what come kind o tough on me wuz a-seein them 
 poor, white-livered, pulin chaps ter my house took 
 back ter jail." 
 
 For the debtors whom the mob had released from 
 Great Barrington jail, including those to whom Israel 
 had given asylum, had now been recaptured and re 
 turned to the charge of Cephas Bement and his 
 wife. Reuben Hamlin had been taken with the rest, 
 though his stay in jail this time did not promise to be 
 a long one, for he had overdone his feeble strength in 
 that night walk through the snow to Lee, and since 
 then had declined rapidly. He was so far gone that it 
 would scarcely have been thought worth while to take 
 him to jail if he could have remained at home. But as 
 the sheriff had now sold the Hamlin house at auction, 
 and Elnathan and his wife had been separated and 
 boarded out as paupers, this was out of the question. 
 
 There was one man in the town, however, who was 
 more to be pitied than Reuben. Peleg Bidwell found 
 himself at the end of the rebellion, as at the opening 
 of it, the debtor and thrall of Solomon Gleason, save 
 that his debt was greater, his means of paying it even 
 less, while by his insolent bearing toward Solomon 
 during the rebellion he had made him not only his 
 creditor but his enemy. The jail yawned before 
 Peleg, and of the jail he, as well as the people gener 
 ally, had acquired a new horror since the day when the 
 mob had brought to light the secrets of that habitation 
 of cruelty. He felt that, come what might, he could 
 
346 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 not go to jail. And he did not. But his pretty wife 
 stayed at home and avoided her former acquaintances, 
 and those who saw her said she was pale and acted 
 queer, and Peleg went about with a hang-dog look; 
 Solomon Gleason was a frequent caller at his house, and 
 the women of the neighborhood whispered together. 
 
 Abner Rathbun and Meshech Little had fled across 
 the border, and Abe Konkapot would have done so but 
 for the fact that he could not leave his sweetheart Lu 
 to be secured by his rival and brother Jake. Jake, 
 having out of enmity to his brother sided with the 
 government party, was now in favor with the powers 
 that were, and more preferred than ever by Lu s 
 mother. But Abe knew the girl liked him rather the 
 better, and did not let himself be discouraged. Jake, 
 observing that he made little progress in spite of his 
 advantages, laid a plot against his brother. The latter 
 had acquired in the army a tendency to use profane 
 language in moments of excitement, and it was of this 
 weakness that Jake took advantage. Waiting for an op 
 portunity when there were witnesses, he provoked Abe 
 to wrath, and having made him swear profusely, went 
 straightway to Squire Woodbridge and complained of 
 him for blasphemy. Abe was promptly arrested and 
 brought before the magistrate. The Squire, not un 
 willing to get a handle against so bad a rebel, observed 
 that it was high time for the authorities to make a head 
 against the tide of blasphemy which had swept over the 
 State since the war, and to advertise to the rabble that 
 the statute against profanity was not a dead letter, and 
 he thereupon sentenced Abe to ten lashes at the whip 
 ping-post, to be laid on at once, it chancing to be a 
 Saturday afternoon. While Abe, frantic with rage, 
 was struggling with the constable and his assistants, 
 
The Restoration 347 
 
 Jake ran away to the Widow Nimham s cottage, and 
 asking- Lu to go to walk, managed to bring her across 
 the green in time to see the sentence carried into exe 
 cution. Jake had understood what he was about. 
 There were, no doubt, white girls in Stockbridge who 
 might have married a lover whom they had seen pub 
 licly whipped, but for Lu, with an Indian s intense 
 sensitiveness to a personal indignity, it would have 
 been impossible. Abe needed no one to tell him that. 
 As he was unbound and walked away from the post, 
 his bloodshot eyes had taken her in, standing there 
 with Jake. He did not even make an effort to see her 
 afterward, and next Sunday Jake s and Lu s banns 
 were called in meeting. Abe had been drunk nearly 
 all the time since, lying about the tavern floor. 
 Widow Bingham said she hadn t a heart to refuse him 
 rum, and in truth the poor fellow s manhood was so 
 completely broken down that he must have been a 
 resolute teetotaler, indeed, who would not have deemed 
 it an act of common humanity to help him temporarily 
 to forget himself. 
 
 Such then were the events that were taking place in 
 the community about her, while Desire was lying on 
 her bed, or making her first appearance as a con 
 valescent downstairs. Only faint and occasional 
 echoes of them had reached her ears. She had been 
 told, indeed, that the rebellion was now all over and that 
 peace and order were restored, but of the details and inci 
 dents of the process she knew nothing. To be precise, 
 it was during the latter part of the afternoon of the 
 26th day of February that Doctor Partridge was en 
 tertaining her as aforesaid with his humorous version 
 of the Lee affair. The doctor and Mrs. Partridge 
 had come to tea and to spend the evening. After ten 
 
348 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 o clock the doctor and Squire Edwards sat talking poli 
 tics over their snuff-boxes, while Mrs. Partridge and 
 Mrs. Edwards discussed the difficulty of getting good 
 help, now that the negroes were beginning to feel the 
 oats of their new liberty, and the farmers daughters, 
 since the war and the talk about liberty and equality, 
 thought themselves as good as their betters. Now 
 that the insurrection had still further stirred up their 
 jealousy of gentlefolk, it was to be expected that they 
 would be quite past getting on with at all, and for all 
 Mrs. Edwards could see, ladies must make up their 
 minds to do their own work very soon. 
 
 Desire sat in an arm-chair, her hands folded in her 
 lap, musingly gazing into the glowing bed of coals 
 upon the hearth, and listening half absently to the talk 
 about her. She had been twice to meeting the day be 
 fore, and considered herself as now quite well, but she 
 had not abandoned the invalid s privilege of sitting 
 silent in company. 
 
 "I marvel," said Squire Edwards, contemplatively 
 tapping his snuff-box, " at the working of Providence, 
 when I consider that so lately the commonwealth, and 
 especially this county, was in turmoil, the rebels hav 
 ing everything their own way, and we scarcely daring 
 to call our souls our own, and behold them now scat 
 tered, fled over the border, in prison, or disarmed and 
 trembling, and the authority of law and the courts 
 everywhere established." 
 
 "Yes," replied the doctor, "we have reason to be 
 thankful indeed, and yet I cannot help compassion 
 ating the honester among the rebels. It is the pity of 
 an uprising like this that, while one must needs sym 
 pathize with the want and suffering of the rebels, it is 
 impossible to condemn too strongly the mad plans they 
 
The Restoration 349 
 
 urge as remedies. Ezra Phelps was telling me the 
 other day that their idea, had they succeeded, was to 
 cause so many bills to be printed and scattered abroad 
 that the poorest could get enough to pay all their debts 
 and taxes. Some were for repudiating public and pri 
 vate debts altogether, but Ezra said that this would 
 not be honest. He was in favor of printing bills 
 enough so that everything could be paid. I tried to 
 show him that one plan was as dishonest as the other ; 
 that they might just as well refuse payment, as pay in 
 worthless bits of printed paper, and that the morality 
 of the two schemes being the same, that of refusing 
 outright the payment of dues was preferable practi 
 cally, because, at least, it would not further derange 
 trade by putting a debased and valueless currency in 
 circulation. But I fear he did not see it at all, if he 
 even gave me credit for sincerity, and yet he is an 
 honest, well-meaning chap, and more intelligent than 
 the common run of the rebels. " 
 
 "That is the trouble nowadays," said Edwards; 
 " these numskulls must needs have matters of govern 
 ment explained to them, and pass their own judgment 
 on public affairs. And when they cannot understand 
 them, then, forsooth, comes a rebellion. I think none 
 can deny seeing in these late troubles the first fruits of 
 those pestilent notions of equality, whereof we heard so 
 much from certain quarters, during the late war of in 
 dependence. I would that Mr. Jefferson and some of the 
 other writers of disturbing democratic rhetoric might 
 have been here in the State the past winter, to see the 
 outcome of their preaching." 
 
 "It may yet prove," said Doctor Partridge, "that 
 these troubles are to work providentially to incline the 
 people of this State to favor a closer union with the 
 
350 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 rest of the continent for mutual protection, if the 
 forthcoming convention at Philadelphia shall devise a 
 practicable scheme. By reason of the preponderant 
 strength of our commonwealth we have deemed our 
 selves less in need of such a union than are our sister 
 colonies, but this recent experience must teach us that 
 even we are not strong enough to stand alone." 
 
 "You are right there, sir," said Edwards. "It is 
 plain that if we keep on as we are, Massachusetts will 
 ere long split into as many States as we have counties, 
 or at least into several. What have these troubles 
 been but a revolt of the western counties against the 
 eastern? And had we gone with the rebels, the State 
 would have been by this time divided, and you know 
 well," here Edwards s voice became confidential, "we 
 have in the main, no great cause to be beholden to the 
 Bostonians. They treat our western counties as if they 
 were but provinces." 
 
 Desire s attention had lapsed as the gentlemen s talk 
 got into the political depths, but some time after it was 
 again aroused by hearing the mention of Perez Ham- 
 lin s name. The doctor was saying: 
 
 " They say he is lurking just over the York border at 
 Lebanon. There are four or five score ruffians with 
 him, who breathe out threatening and slaughter 
 against us Stockbridge people; but I think we need 
 lose no sleep on that account, for the knaves will 
 scarcely care to risk their necks on Massachusetts soil. " 
 
 "It is possible," said Edwards, "that they may 
 make some descents on Egremont or Sheffield or other 
 points, just across the line, but they will never venture 
 so far inland as this town, for fear of being cut off, and 
 if they do our militia is quite able to deal with them. 
 What mischief they can do safely they will do, but 
 
The Restoration 351 
 
 nothing else, for they are arrant cowards when all s 
 said." 
 
 Their talk branched off upon other topics, but Desire 
 did not follow it further, finding in what had just been 
 said quite enough to engross her thoughts. Of course 
 there could be no real danger that Hamlin would ven 
 ture a visit to Stockbridge, since both her father and 
 the doctor scouted the idea; but there was in the mere 
 suggestion enough to be very agitating. To avoid the 
 possibility of a meeting with Hamlin, as well as to ac 
 quit her conscience of a goading conviction of unfair 
 ness to him, she had already once risked compromising 
 herself by sending that midnight warning to Lee, nor 
 did she grudge the three weeks illness it had cost her, 
 seeing it had succeeded. Nor was the idea of meeting 
 him any less terrifying now. The result of her ex 
 periences in the last few months had been that all her 
 old self-reliance was gone. When she recalled what 
 she had done and felt, and imagined what she might 
 have gone on to do, she owned in all humility that she 
 could no longer take care of herself or answer for her 
 self. Desire Edwards was, after all, capable of being as 
 foolish as any other girl. Especially at the thought of 
 meeting Hamlin again, this sense of insecurity became 
 actual panic. It was not that she feared her heart. 
 She was not conscious of loving him, but of dreading 
 him. Her imagination invested him with some 
 strange, irresistible magnetic power over her, the mag 
 netism of a tremendous passion, against which, demor 
 alized by the memory of her former weakness, she 
 could not guarantee herself. And the upshot was that 
 just because she chanced to overhear that reference to 
 Perez in the talk of her father and the doctor, she lay 
 awake, nervous and miserable, for several hours after 
 
352 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 going to bed that night. In fact, she had finally to 
 take herself seriously to task about the folly of fright 
 ening herself to death about such a purely fanciful dan 
 ger before she could go to sleep. 
 
 She awoke hours after with a stifled scream, for her 
 mother was standing in the door of the room, half 
 dressed, the candle she held revealing a pale and 
 frightened face, while the words Desire heard were : 
 
 "Quick! get up and dress! or you ll be murdered in 
 bed. An army of Shayites is in the village." 
 
 With chattering teeth and random movements, half- 
 distraught with incoherent terrors, Desire made a 
 hasty, incomplete toilet in the darkness of her freezing 
 bedroom, and ran downstairs. In the living-room 
 she found her mother and the smaller children, with 
 the negro servants and Keziah Pixley, the white do 
 mestic. Downstairs in the cellar her father and 
 Jonathan were at work burying the silver and other 
 valuables, that having been the first thought when 
 a fugitive from the tavern where the rebels had 
 first halted brought the alarm. There were no can 
 dles lighted in the living-room, lest their light should 
 attract marauders, and the faint light of the just 
 breaking dawn made the faces seem yet paler and 
 ghastlier with fear than they were. From the street 
 without could be heard the noise of a drum, shouts, 
 and now and then musket-shots ; and having scraped 
 away the thick frost from one of the panes, Desire 
 could see parties of men with muskets going about 
 and persons running across the green as if for their 
 lives. As she looked she saw a party fire their mus 
 kets after one of these fugitives, who straightway 
 came back and gave himself up. In the room it was 
 bitterly cold, for though the ashes had been raked off 
 
The Restoration 353 
 
 the coals, no wood had been put on lest the smoke from 
 the chimney should attract attention. 
 
 The colored servants were in a state of abject terror, 
 but the white " help " made no attempt to conceal her 
 exultation. They were her friends, the Shayites, and 
 she said her sweetheart was among them. He d 
 sent her a hint that they were coming 1 , she volubly de 
 clared, and yesterday when Mrs. Edwards was "so 
 high n mighty with her a-makin her sweep the 
 kitchen twice over, she was goodamiter tell her ez haow 
 she d see the time she d wisht she d a kep the right 
 side on her." 
 
 "I ve always tried to do right by you, Keziah. I 
 don t think you have any call to be revengeful," said 
 the poor lady, trembling. 
 
 " Mebbe I hain t and mebbe I hev," shrilled Keziah, 
 tossing her head disdainfully. " I guess I know them 
 ez loves me from them ez don t. I s pose ye think I 
 dunno what yer husban an Jonathan be a-buryin 
 daownstairs. " 
 
 "I m sure you won t betray us, Keziah," said Mrs. 
 Edwards. " You ve had a good place with us. And 
 there s that dimity dress of mine. It s quite good yet. 
 You could have it made over for you." 
 
 "Oh, yes, " replied Keziah, scornfully. "It s all 
 well nough ter talk bout givin some o yer things 
 away when yer likely to lose em all." 
 
 With that, turning her back upon her terrified mis 
 tress, with the air of a queen refusing a petition, she 
 patronizingly assured Desire that she had met with 
 more favor in her eyes than her mother, and she 
 would accordingly protect her. " Though," she added, 
 " I guess ye won t need my helpin , fer Cap n Hamlin ll 
 see nobuddy teches ye cept hisself." 
 23 
 
354 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 " Is he here? " gasped Desire, her dismay suddenly 
 magnified into utter panic. 
 
 " Fer sartin ; my sweetheart ez sent me word s un 
 der him," replied Keziah, complacently. 
 
 A noise of voices and tramp of feet at the outside 
 door interrupted her. The marauders had come. The 
 door was barred, and this having been tested, there was 
 a hail of gunstock blows upon it, with orders to open and 
 blasphemous threats as to the consequences of refusal. 
 There was a dead silence within, but for Mrs. Ed- 
 wards s hollow whisper, "Don t open." With staring 
 eyes and mouths apart, the terrified women and chil 
 dren looked at one another motionless, barely daring 
 to breathe. But as the volley of blows and threats 
 was renewed with access of violence, Keziah ex 
 claimed, 
 
 " Ef they hain t your friends, they be mine, an* I 
 hain t goin ter see em kep aout in the cold no longer 
 fer nobuddy," and she went to the door and took hold 
 of the bar. 
 
 "Don t you do it," gasped Mrs. Edwards, springing 
 forward to arrest her. But she had done it, and in 
 stantly Meshech Little, with three or four followers, 
 burst into the room, wearing the green insignia of re 
 bellion in their caps and carrying muskets with bayo 
 nets fixed. 
 
 "Why didn t ye open that air door afore?" de 
 manded Meshech, angrily. 
 
 "What do you want?" asked Mrs. Edwards, trem 
 blingly confronting him. 
 
 "What dew we want, old woman?" replied Meshech. 
 " Wai, we want most everything, but I guess we kin 
 help ourselves. Hey, boys? " 
 
 "Guess we kin make aout tew," echoed one of his 
 
The Restoration 355 
 
 followers, not a Stockbridge man, and then as his eye 
 caught Desire, as she stood pale and beautiful, with 
 wild eyes and disheveled hair, by her mother, he 
 made a dive at her, saying, " Guess I ll take a kiss ter 
 begin with." 
 
 " Let the gal lone, " said Meshech, catching him by the 
 shoulder. " Hands off o her. She s the Duke s doxy, 
 an he ll run ye through the body ef ye tech her." 
 
 "Gosh! she hain t, though, is she?" exclaimed the 
 fellow, refraining from further demonstration but re 
 garding her admiringly. " I hearn baout her. Like 
 ly lookin gal, tew, hain t she? Only a leetle tew 
 black, mebbe." 
 
 " Didn t ye know, ye darn fool, it s along o her the 
 Duke sent us here, ter see nobuddy took nothin till 
 he could come raound?" said Mesech. "But I guess 
 the only way ter keep other fellers from takin anything 
 ter-day is ter take it yerself. We ll hev suthin ter drink, 
 anyhaow. Hello, old cock," he added, as Squire Ed 
 wards, coming up from down cellar, entered the room. 
 "Ye be jest in time. Come on, give us some rum," 
 and neither daring nor able to make resistance, the 
 storekeeper was hustled into the store. Keziah s 
 sweetheart had remained behind. In the midst of 
 their mutual endearments, she had found opportunity 
 to whisper to him something, of which Mrs. Edwards 
 caught the words, " cellar, nough ter buy us a farm 
 an a haouse," and guessed the drift of her communica 
 tion. As Keziah and her young man, who responded 
 to her suggestion with alacrity, were moving toward 
 the cellar door, Mrs. Edwards barred their way. The 
 fellow was about to lay hands on her, when one of the 
 drinkers, coming back from the store, yelled, " Look 
 out; there s the cap n! " and Perez entered. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 The End of the Fight 
 
 AT sight of his commander, the soldier who had been 
 about to lay hands on Mrs. Edwards to thrust her out 
 of his path to the cellar, giving over his design, slunk 
 into the store to join his comrades there, and was fol 
 lowed by the faithful Keziah. Mrs. Edwards, who 
 had faced the ruffian only in the courage of despera 
 tion, sank trembling upon a settle, and the children, 
 throwing themselves upon her, wailed in concert. 
 Without bestowing so much as a glance on any other 
 object in the room, Perez crossed to where Desire 
 stood, and taking her nerveless hand in both his, de 
 voured her face with glowing eyes. She did not flush 
 or show any confusion; neither did she try to get 
 away. She stood as if fascinated, unresponsive but 
 unresisting. 
 
 "Were you frightened?" he asked, tenderly. 
 
 "Yes," she replied, in a mechanical tone correspond 
 ing with her appearance. 
 
 " Didn t you know I was here? I told you I would 
 come back for you, and I have come. You have been 
 ill. I heard of it. Are you well now? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Reuben told me you came on foot through the snow 
 to bring word so that he might warn me the night before 
 the Lee battle. Was it that which made you ill? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
The End of the Fight 357 
 
 "What is that, Desire? What do you mean, child? 
 What did he say about your sending him warning? " 
 cried Mrs. Edwards amazedly. Desire made no reply, 
 but Perez did : 
 
 " I owe it to her that I was not caught in my bed by 
 your men that morning, and that I am not in jail to 
 day, disgraced by the lash and waiting for the hang 
 man. Oh, my dear, how glad I am to owe it to you," 
 and he caught the end of one of the long strands of 
 dark hair that fell down her neck and touched it to his 
 lips. 
 
 " You are crazy, fellow ! " cried Mrs. Edwards, and 
 starting forward and grasping Desire by the arm she 
 demanded, "What does this wild talk mean? There 
 is no truth in it, is there? " 
 
 "Yes," said the girl in the same dead, mechanical 
 voice, without turning her eyes to her mother or even 
 raising them. 
 
 Mrs. Edwards opened her mouth, but no sound came 
 forth. Her astonishment was too utter. Meanwhile 
 Perez had passed his arm about Desire s waist as if to 
 claim her on her own acknowledgment. Stung by the 
 sight of her daughter in the very arms of the rebel 
 captain, Mrs. Edwards found her voice once more, 
 righteous indignation overcoming her first unmingled 
 consternation. 
 
 " Out upon you for a shameless hussy ! Oh, that a 
 daughter of mine should come to this! Do you dare 
 tell me you love this scoundrel? " 
 
 " No," answered the girl. 
 
 " What ? " faltered Perez, his arm involuntarily drop 
 ping from her waist. 
 
 For all reply she rushed to her mother and threw 
 herself on her bosom, sobbing hysterically. For once 
 
35 8 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 at least in their lives Mrs. Edwards s and Perez Ham- 
 lin s eyes met with an expression of perfect sympathy, 
 the sympathy of a common bewilderment. Then Mrs. 
 Edwards tried to loosen Desire s convulsive clasp about 
 her neck, but the girl held her tightly, crying: 
 
 "Oh, don t, mother, don t!" 
 
 For several moments Perez stood motionless just 
 where Desire had left him, looking after her stupefied. 
 The pupils of his eyes alternately dilated and con 
 tracted, his mouth opened and closed, he passed his 
 hand over his forehead. Then he went up to her 
 and stood over her as she clung to her mother, but 
 seemed no more decided as to what he could do or 
 say further. 
 
 But just then there was a diversion. Meshech and 
 his followers, who had passed through from the living- 
 room into the store in search of rum, had thrown open 
 the outside door, and a gang of their comrades had 
 poured in to assist in the onset upon the liquor barrels. 
 The spigots had all been set running, or knocked out 
 entirely, and yet comparatively little of the fiery fluids 
 was wasted, so many mugs, hats, caps, and all sorts of 
 receptacles were extended to catch the flow. Some 
 who could not find any sort of a vessel, actually lay 
 under the stream and let it pour into their mouths or 
 lapped it up as it ran on the floor. Meanwhile the 
 store was being depleted of other than the drinkable 
 property. The contents of the shelves and boxes were 
 littered on the floor, and the rebels were busy swapping 
 their old hats, boots, and mittens for new ones, or filling 
 their pockets with tobacco, tea, or sugar, while some of 
 the more foresighted were making piles of selected 
 goods to carry away. But whatever might be the mo 
 mentary occupation of the marauders, all were drunk, 
 
The End of the Fight 359 
 
 excessively yet buoyantly drunk, drunk with that pe 
 culiarly penetrating and tenacious intoxication which 
 results from drinking in the morning on an empty 
 stomach, a time when liquor seems to pervade all the 
 interstices of the system and lap each particular fibre 
 and tissue in a special and independent intoxication 
 on its own account. Several fellows, including Me- 
 shech, had been standing for a few moments in the door 
 leading from the store into the living-room, grinningly 
 observing the little drama. As Desire broke away 
 from Perez and rushed to her mother, Meshech ex 
 claimed : 
 
 " Why in time didn t yer hold ontew her, cap n? I d 
 like ter seen her git away from me." 
 
 "Or me nuther," seconded the fellow next him. 
 
 Perez paid no heed to this remonstrance, and prob 
 ably did not hear it at all, but Mrs. Edwards looked 
 up. In her bewilderment and distress over Desire, the 
 thought of her husband and Jonathan had been driven 
 from her mind. The sight of Meshech recalled it. 
 
 " What have you done with my husband? " she de 
 manded anxiously. 
 
 " He s all right. He an the young cub be jest a-go- 
 in ter take a leetle walk with us fellers cross the bor 
 der," replied Meshech jocularly. 
 
 " What are you going to take them away for? What 
 are you going to do to them? " cried Mrs. Edwards. 
 
 "Oh, ye needn t be scairt," Meshech reassured her. 
 " He ll hev good comp ny. Squire Woodbridge, an 
 Gin ral Ashley, an Doctor Sergeant, an Cap n Jones, 
 an Schoolmaster Gleason, an a slew more o the silk- 
 stockin s be a-goin tew." 
 
 "Are you going to murder them?" exclaimed the 
 frantic woman. 
 
360 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 "Wai," drawled Meshech, "that depends. Ef gov - 
 ment hangs any o our fellers what they ve got in jail, 
 we re goin ter hang yer husban an the rest on em, 
 sure s taxes. Ef none o aour n ain t hurt, we shan t 
 hurt none o your n. We take em fer kind o hostiges, 
 ye see, old lady." 
 
 " Where have you got my husband? I must go to 
 him. God help us!" ejaculated Mrs. Edwards; and 
 loosing herself from her daughter, now in turn forgot 
 ten in anxiety for husband and son, the poor woman 
 hurried past Meshech through the confused store and 
 out of the house. 
 
 At the same moment the drum at the tavern began 
 to beat the recall to the plundering parties of insur 
 gents scattered over the village, and the men poured 
 out of the store. 
 
 Save for the presence of the smaller children and the 
 negro servants cowering in a corner, Desire and Perez 
 were left alone in the room. With no refuge to fly to, 
 she stood where her mother had left her, just before 
 Perez, with face averted, trembling, motionless, like a 
 timid bird which, seeing no escape, struggles no longer, 
 but waits for its captor s hand to close upon it. But 
 in his nonplussed, piteously perplexed face, you would 
 have vainly looked for the hardened and remorseless 
 expression appropriate to his part. The roll of the 
 rebel drum kept on. 
 
 "See here, cap n," said Abner Rathbun, suddenly 
 appearing at the outside door of the living-room, 
 "we ve got the hostiges together, an we d better be 
 a-gettin along, for the larm s gone ter Pittsfield an 
 all raound, an we ll hev the milishy ontew us in no 
 time. An besides that, the fellers ter the tavern be 
 a-gittin so drunk, some on em can t walk a ready." 
 
The End of the Fight 361 
 
 Aroused by Abner s insistent words, Perez took 
 Desire s hand, and said desperately: 
 
 "Won t you come with me, my darling? You shall 
 have a woman to go with you, and we ll be married as 
 soon as we re over the border. I know it s sudden, but 
 you see I can t wait, and I thought you liked me a little. 
 Won t you come, now?" 
 
 " Oh, no ! Oh, no ! I don t want to," she said, shud 
 dering and drawing her hand away. 
 
 Abner was silent a moment, and then he broke out 
 vehemently : 
 
 " Look here, cap n, we hain t got no time fer soft 
 sawder naow, with the milishy a-comin daown on us. 
 I kin hear em a-drummin up ter Lee a ready, an 
 every jiffey we stay means a man s life an hangin fer 
 them as is took. Ye ve hed fuss nough long o that 
 gal fust and last, an this ain t no time fer ter put up 
 with any more o her tantrums." 
 
 " She doesn t want to come, Abner. She doesn t 
 love me, and I thought she did," said Perez, turning 
 his eyes from the girl to Abner, with an expression of 
 despairing, appealing helplessness, almost child-like. 
 
 "Nonsense," replied Abner, with contemptuous im 
 patience. "She likes ye, or she d never ha sent ye 
 that warnin . Actions speaks louder n words. She s 
 kind o flustered an dunno her own mind, that s all. 
 Gals don t, gen ally. Ye d be a darnation fool ter let 
 her slip through yer fingers naow, arter riskin yer 
 neck an all aour necks in this ere job, jest ter git a 
 holt of her, an a-settin sech store by her ez ye allers 
 hev. Take a fool s advice, cap n. Don t waste no 
 more talk, but jest grab her kind o soft-like, an fetch 
 her aout ter the sleigh, willy-nilly. She ll come 
 raound in less n an hour, an thank ye for t. Gals 
 
362 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 allers do. They like a masterful man. There, that s 
 the talk. Fetch her right along." 
 
 For Perez, apparently decided by Abner s words, had 
 thrown his arm about Desire s waist, and drawing her 
 to him and half lifting her from her feet, had begun 
 with gentle force to bear her away. She made no vio 
 lent resistance, which indeed would have been quite 
 vain in his powerful clasp, but burst into tears, crying 
 poignantly, 
 
 "Oh, don t! Please, please don t! Don t! Oh, 
 don t! " Had there been a trace of defiance or of in 
 dignant pride in her tone, it would have been easy for 
 him to carry out his attempt. But of the proud, high- 
 spirited Desire Edwards there was no hint in the tear- 
 glazed eyes turned up to his in wild dismay. She was 
 but a frightened girl, her nerve quite broken with terror. 
 
 And yet if the thought of leaving her had been 
 dreadful before, the pressure of his arm now upon her 
 pliant waist, the delicious sensation of her weight, 
 made it maddening, and thrilled him with all sorts of 
 reckless impulses. Still clasping her, he whispered 
 hoarsely, " I love you, I love you ! " as if those mighty 
 words left nothing further needed as excuse or ex 
 planation for his conduct. 
 
 " Let me go, then, if you love me. Let me go ! " she 
 cried frantically, catching at his plea and turning it 
 against him. 
 
 " Ef ye let her go, ye ll never set eyes on her ag in, 
 cap n," said Abner. 
 
 "I can t! I can t! Have pity on me," groaned 
 Perez. " I can t let you go." 
 
 "Oh, for pity s sake, do! If you loved me, you 
 would. Oh, you would ! " she cried again. He took 
 her by the shoulders and held her away from him, and 
 
The End of the Fight 363 
 
 looked long at her. There was something- in his eyes 
 which awed her so that she quite forgot her former 
 terror. Then he dropped his hands to his side, and 
 turned away as if he would leave her without another 
 word. But half way to the door he turned again and 
 said huskily: 
 
 " You know I love you now. You believe it, don t 
 you?" 
 
 "Yes," she answered in a small, scared voice, and 
 without another word he went out. As he went out, 
 Mrs. Edwards, who had been standing in the doorway 
 of the store a silent spectator of the last scene, came 
 forward, and at sight of her Desire started from the 
 motionless attitude in which she had remained, and 
 cried out, pressing her hands to her bosom : 
 
 "Oh, mother, mother, I wish he d taken me! He 
 feels so bad." 
 
 " Nonsense, child," said Mrs. Edwards, in a soothing, 
 sensible voice. " That would have been a pretty piece 
 of business indeed. You re all upset, and don t know 
 what you re saying, and no wonder, either, with no 
 breakfast and all this coil. There, there, mother s lit 
 tle girl," and she drew her daughter s head down on 
 her shoulder and stroked her hair till the nervous 
 trembling and sobbing ceased, and raising her head 
 she asked: 
 
 "Where are father and Jonathan?" 
 
 " Hush ! I gave one of the rebels my silver shoe- 
 buckles, and he turned his back while Mrs. Bingham 
 hid your father and brother in the closet behind the 
 chimney at the tavern. They re safe." 
 
 The rebel column, having awaited only the arrival of 
 Perez and Abner, at once set off at quick step on the 
 road to Great Barrington, the prisoners, thirty or forty 
 
364 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 in number, marching in the center. Perez rode be 
 hind, looking- neither to the right hand nor the left, 
 and taking heed of nothing, and Abner, seeing his 
 condition, tacitly assumed command. Two or three 
 fellows, too utterly drunk to walk, had been perforce 
 left behind on the tavern floor, destined to be ignomin- 
 iously dragged off to the lock-up by the citizens be 
 fore the rebel force was fairly out of sight. Several, 
 nearly as drunk as those who were left behind, but 
 more fortunate in having friends, by dint of leaning 
 heavily upon a man on either side were enabled to 
 march. But the pace was rapid, and at the first or 
 second steep hill these wretches had to be left behind, 
 unless their friends were to be sacrificed with them. 
 There was no danger of their freezing to death by the 
 wayside. The pursuing militia would come along soon 
 enough to prevent that. 
 
 Nor were these poor fellows the only burdens that 
 were speedily rejected by their bearers. As the reb 
 els marched out of Stockbridge, nearly every man was 
 loaded with miscellaneous plunder. Some carried 
 bags of flour, or flitches of bacon, some an armful of 
 muskets, others of cloth or clothing, hanks of yarn, a 
 string of boots and shoes, a churn, an iron pot, a pair 
 of bellows, a pair of brass andirons, while one even led 
 a calf by a halter. Some, luckier than their fellows, 
 carried bags from which was audible the clink of sil 
 verware. Squire Woodbridge, lagging a little, was 
 poked in the back by his own gold-headed cane to re 
 mind him to mend his pace, while Doctor Sergeant, as 
 a special favor from one of the rebels whose wife he 
 had once attended, was permitted to take a drink out 
 of his own demijohn of rum. In their eagerness to 
 carry away all they could, the rebels had forgotten that 
 
The End of the Fight 365 
 
 loads which they could barely hold up when standing 
 still, would prove quite too heavy to march under, and 
 accordingly before the band had got out of the village 
 the road began to be littered with the more bulky arti 
 cles of property. At the foot of the first hill there was 
 a big pile of them, and two miles out of the village the 
 rebels were reduced once more to light marching or 
 der, and not much richer than when they entered the 
 village an hour or two before. Besides the hostages, 
 they had under their escort several sleighs containing 
 old men, women, and children, the families of mem 
 bers of the band, or of sympathizers with the rebellion, 
 who were taking this opportunity to elude their credi 
 tors and escape out of bondage across the New York 
 border. As the rebels crossed Muddy Brook, just be 
 fore entering Great Barrington, Abner Rathbun came 
 up to Perez and said: " I don t see yer father n mother 
 nowhere in the sleighs. " 
 
 " My father and mother? " repeated Perez vacantly. 
 
 "Yes," rejoined Abner. "Ye know ye wuz a-goin 
 ter bring em back ter York with ye, but I don t see 
 em nowhere." Perez stared at Abner, and then 
 glanced vaguely at the row of sleighs in the line. 
 
 " I must have forgotten about them," he finally said. 
 
 As the rebels entered Great Barrington, a company 
 of militia was drawn up as if to defend the tavern- jail, 
 but upon the approach of the rebels, who were decid 
 edly more numerous, they retired rapidly on the road 
 to Sheffield. Halting in front of the building, a guard 
 was left with the prisoners, and then the rebels swarmed 
 into the tavern, with the double purpose of emptying 
 the jail of debtors, and filling themselves with Cephe 
 Bement s rum, for the hard tramp from Stockbridge 
 had sobered them and given them fresh thirst. Perez 
 
366 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 did not go in, but sat on his horse in the road. Pres 
 ently Abner came out with a very serious face and 
 slowly approached him. He looked around. 
 
 " What are we stopping here for, Abner?" he asked, 
 a little peevishly. 
 
 " Why, it s the caounty jail, ye know, an we re let- 
 tin aout the debtors. Reub s in here, ye know." 
 
 "So he is; I d forgotten," replied Perez, and then 
 after a pause, "Why doesn t he come out? " 
 
 "Cap n," said Abner, taking off his cap and looking 
 at it, as he fingered it. "I ve got kind o tough news 
 fer ye. Reub s dead. He died this mornin . I 
 thought mebbe ye d like ter see him." 
 
 "Is he in there?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Perez got off his horse and went in at the door, Ab 
 ner leading the way. In the barroom of the tavern 
 there was a crowd of drinking, carousing men, and 
 among them a number of the white-faced debtors, al 
 ready drunk with the bumpers their deliverers were 
 pouring down their throats. Bement was not visible, 
 but as Abner and Perez entered the jail, they saw Mrs. 
 Bement in the corridor. She was not making any fuss 
 or trouble at all over the breaking of the jail this time. 
 With apparent complaisance she was promptly opening 
 cells, or answering questions in response to the demands 
 of Meshech Little and some companions. But there 
 was a vicious glint in her blue eyes, and she was softly 
 singing the lugubrious hymn beginning with the sig 
 nificant words, 
 
 "Ye living men, come view the ground 
 Where ye sha 1 short y lie." 
 
 Abner pushed open the door of one of the cells 
 
The End of the Fight 367 
 
 that had been already opened, and went in, Perez fol 
 lowing-. He knelt by the body of his brother, and Ab- 
 ner turned his back. It was the same cell in which 
 Perez had found Reuben and George Fennell, six 
 months before. Several minutes passed, and neither 
 moved. The drum began to beat without, summoning 
 the men to resume their march. 
 
 "Cap n," said Abner, "we ll hev ter go. We can t 
 do the poor chap no good by stay in , an they can t do 
 him no more harm." 
 
 Then Perez rose up, and leaned on Abner s shoulder, 
 looking down on the patient face of the dead. The first 
 tears gathered in his eyes, and trickled down, and he 
 said: 
 
 " I never was fair to Reub. I never allowed enough 
 for his losing Jemima. I was harder on him than I 
 should have been." 
 
 "Ye warn t noways hard on him, Perez. Ye wuz a 
 good brother tew him. I never hearn o no feller hev- 
 in a better brother nor he hed in yew," protested Ab 
 ner, in much distress. 
 
 Perez shook his head. 
 
 " I was hard on him. I never allowed as I should have 
 done for his losing his girl. I would have been kinder to 
 him if I d known. You must have thought I was hard 
 and unfeeling, Reub, dear, many a time, but I didn t 
 know, I didn t know. We ll go now, if you say so, Ab 
 ner." 
 
 The rebels had not left Stockbridge a moment too 
 soon. Captain Stoddard was rallying his company be 
 fore they had got out of the village, and messengers 
 had been sent to Lee, Lenox, Pittsfield, Great Barring- 
 ton, Egremont, and Sheffield, to rouse the people. 
 Within an hour or two after the rebels had marched 
 
368 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 south, the Stockbridge and Lenox companies were in 
 pursuit. Among the messengers to Great Harrington 
 was Peleg Bidwell. For Peleg, since he had bought 
 his safety by such a shameful surrender, was embit 
 tered above all against those of his former comrades 
 who had been too brave to yield. And having brought 
 word to Great Barrington, he took his place in the 
 ranks of the militia of that town, and though the men 
 among whom he stood eyed him askance, knowing his 
 record, not one of them was really so eager to empty 
 his gun into the bosom of the rebel band as Peleg Bid- 
 well. 
 
 As previously stated, the Great Barrington company, 
 in which Peleg carried a musket, had retired toward 
 Sheffield, when the rebels entered the former town. 
 At Sheffield they were joined by the large company of 
 that populous settlement, and Colonel Ashley of the 
 same village, taking command of the combined forces, 
 ordered a march on Great Barrington, to meet the 
 rebels. Now Great Barrington is but four or five miles 
 from the New York border, while Sheffield is about six, 
 and as many miles south of Great Barrington, the road 
 between the two towns running nearly parallel to the 
 State line. There was nothing to hinder the rebels, 
 after they had gained their main objects, the capture 
 of hostages and the release of the debtors, from turn 
 ing west from Great Barrington, and placing them 
 selves in an hour s march across the town of Egre- 
 mont, beyond the reach of the militia, in neutral 
 territory. Becoming apprehensive that this would be 
 their course, Colonel Ashley, instead of keeping on the 
 road from Sheffield to Great Barrington, presently left 
 it and marched his men along a back road running 
 northwest toward the State line, in a direction that 
 
The End of the Fight 369 
 
 would intercept the rebels if they struck across Egre- 
 mont to New York. 
 
 He adopted, however, the precaution of leaving a 
 party at the junction of the main road with the road 
 he took, so that if, after all, instead of retreating west 
 ward the rebels had boldly kept on the main road to 
 Sheffield, word might be sent after him. It so hap 
 pened that this was just what the rebels had done. 
 Not having the fear of the Sheffield company before 
 their eyes, instead of trying to escape to New York by 
 the shortest cut, they had kept on toward Sheffield, 
 marching south by the main road. And not only this, 
 when they came to the junction of the main road 
 with that which Colonel Ashley had taken, and learned 
 by capturing the guard what plan the colonel had de 
 vised, they became so enraged that instead of keeping 
 on to Sheffield and leaving the militia to finish their 
 wild-goose chase, they turned into the back road after 
 them, and so the hunters became the hunted. In this 
 way it happened that while the militia were pressing 
 on at full speed, breathlessly debating their chances of 
 heading off the flying rebels, "bang," "bang," came a 
 volley in their rear, and from the stragglers who had 
 been fired upon arose a cry : 
 
 " The Shayites are after us! " 
 
 It is greatly to the credit of the militia officers that 
 the result of this surprise was not a hopeless panic 
 among their men. As it was, for several minutes utter 
 confusion reigned. Then one of the companies took to 
 the woods on the right, the other entering the woods on 
 the left, and marching back they presently came in 
 sight of their pursuers, still pushing on pell-mell in the 
 road. The militia now had every advantage, and Colo 
 nel Ashley ordered them to open fire. But the men 
 24 
 
370 The Duke of Stockbridge 
 
 hesitated. There, intermingled with the rebels, their 
 very lineaments plainly to be seen, were the prisoners, 
 the first gentlemen of Stockbridge and of the county. 
 To pour a volley in upon the rebels would endanger 
 the lives of the prisoners as much as those of the 
 enemy. Meanwhile the rebels themselves were rapid 
 ly deploying and opening fire. The militia were in 
 danger of losing all their advantage, of being shot 
 down defenceless, of perhaps losing the day, all owing 
 to the presence of the prisoners in the enemy s ranks. 
 Again Colonel Ashley gave the order to fire. Again 
 not a man obeyed. 
 
 " We can t kill our friends," said an officer. 
 
 " God have mercy on their souls, but pour in your 
 fire ! " roared the commander, and the volley was given. 
 The prisoners broke from the ranks of the enemy and 
 ran ; the firing became general. For five or ten min 
 utes a brisk engagement was kept up, and then the 
 rebels broke and fled in every direction. The Stock- 
 bridge and Lenox companies, after having followed the 
 rebels through Great Barrington and on toward Shef 
 field, had also turned in after them on the back road, 
 and coming up behind in the nick of time had attacked 
 their rear and caused their panic. 
 
 Only two of the militia had been wounded, one mor 
 tally. One also of the prisoners had proved in need 
 of Colonel Ashley s invocation. Solomon Gleason had 
 fallen dead at that first volley from his friends. It 
 was generally supposed that his death was the result of 
 a chance shot. Peleg Bidwell was never heard to ex 
 press any opinion on the subject, but Peleg was a very 
 good marksman. 
 
 As the smoke of the last shot floated up among the 
 tops of the gloomy pines along the road, some thirty 
 
The End of the Fight 371 
 
 killed and wounded rebels lay on the trampled and 
 blood-stained snow. At the foot of a tree lay Abner 
 Rathbun, mortally wounded. And near him, his 
 passionate, troubled heart freed from its burden, was 
 his friend and chief, the fallen Duke of Stockbridge, 
 dead. 
 
 THE END 
 
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 272 Pages, with Illustrations. Price, $1.50 
 
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