it must have been nearly a week later, for i know that the holidays were drawing to a close, when my young master said to me: "dan, i must ask you to do something which may not seem to be very honorable, but which must be done. i have told you that if bates wins my sister i will cut his throat; i have reconsidered that threat—i will not cut his throat, but i will give him a chance to shoot me, and if he avails himself of it like a man, all shall be fair, but if he does not, i will shoot him. do you understand?"
"yes, sir, but what is it you want me to do?"
we were in the stable at the time this conversation took place. he peered about cautiously to see if any one were within hearing, and then he said: "as i said, it is not very honorable, but it must be done. i want you to sneak—i don't know of a softer word, dan—i want you to sneak about and—and as best you can listen to what he says to her."
"it is not for me to make an objection by asking[pg 75] such a question, mars. bob; but do you think it is an honorable thing to do?"
he was looking at me over the partition of a stall, and his eyes snapped. "did you say something to me about honor?" he asked quietly, but to me his soft tones were louder than a shout.
"not of honor on your part, but on mine, mars. bob."
"a fine shift. well, i'll attend to your honor and mine, too. i am doing this to save my sister and the honor will come in my giving him an opportunity to defend himself."
"don't you think you'd better speak to old master?"
"no," he snapped. and then he added: "will you do as i bid you?"
"i am your property, mars. bob?"
"rascal, you disarm me. listen to me a moment. has a father ever taken more care of a son's education than i have of yours? compare your condition with that of every other slave in kentucky, and then form an estimate of my treatment of you."
"mars. bob, i don't have to compare; i already know, and i appreciate. so far as i am concerned, i don't care—i would crawl after the doctor and listen[pg 76] to all he says, but i am afraid that after a while you may think less of yourself for sending me."
"very thoughtful, i'm sure; but you need have no such fear. i am making a bright justice of a black necessity, and if there should be any repentance, i shall be the one to repent. will you do as i tell you?"
"yes, sir."
he took my hand, something he rarely did, for although sociable, familiarity was by him held in quiet abhorrence. i went straightway to the house, leaving him in the stable, and as best i could, entered upon the discharge of my distasteful duty. i heard the doctor's voice in the library, and i was hanging about the door opening out into the large hall, when old miss spied me.
"what are you doing here?" she asked, coming forward with one hand resting upon her great bunch of keys.
"i am waiting for my young master," i replied. "he said that he would meet me here."
"but you can be better employed than by standing round here. take out that library rug and beat it."
i ventured to remind her that the christmas was not quite over and that all work was by custom supposed to be suspended. at this impudence, she lifted her[pg 77] keys and i know that she would have struck me had i not hastened to obey her order. while i was folding the rug, making more than necessary work of it that i might listen to the doctor and miss may, i saw him step back from a window, where the two had been standing, and then i heard him say to her: "i am going to town, but will be back this evening," and then in a still lower tone, he added: "and may i have the promise of a talk in the parlor with you to-night? i have something that i wish to tell you."
"with pleasure," i heard her say as i went out with the rug. and long before the coming of night my dangerous plan was formed. in the parlor, usually some distance from the wall, was a large, old-fashioned horse-hair sofa. i decided to get behind this piece of furniture and lie flat upon the floor. there was a strong chance of discovery and a certainty of punishment should i be discovered, but to my young master i had given my word and i was determined to take the risk. just before supper i laid out my plan to him and after a thoughtful moment, he said: "it's as dangerous as the deuce, but it is the best thing you can do. wait a moment. i will do it myself."
"you shall not, sir," i was bold enough to declare, and he looked at me admiringly. "all right, dan,[pg 78] but be careful. just before supper is over, slip out, and if anyone should ask for you, i will say that i have sent you off."
old master had passed through a moody spell since, with so free a hand, he had dipped into the egg-nog, and just now his rusted spirits were brightening. "what, wine at supper, george?" he said, looking at the doctor.
"our gracious lady's blackberry cordial," the doctor replied, with a wave of his hand toward old miss. "won't you have a glass?"
"not unless i have lost my senses, and i don't think i have," old master rejoined, shrugging his thin shoulders. "when you want to drink, take whisky, for all those side drams are vicious pretenses."
"the percentage of alcohol—" began the doctor, but old master shut him up with a loud "tut, tut. i don't give a snap for the percentage of alcohol," said he. "take the lowest percentage, drink a little too much, and then see where you are. so i say that if a man wants to drink, it is better to take the shortest route."
"that is, if he wants to get drunk," said the doctor, "but i don't see why any man wants to do that. i don't, i'm sure; i never was drunk in my life."
[pg 79]
"there are better men, sir, who cannot say as much," was old master's reply, and the doctor pretended to laugh, but i could see that the remark so truthfully delivered by old master cut him deeply. i was waiting for the conversation to become earnest, so that i could slip away unobserved, but the talk began to lag, and mars. bob must have divined my thoughts for he strove to enliven it.
"father," said he, "i am ready now to take up law at any time you may suggest. i think that i have had enough of miscellaneous training—i have read nearly every book in your library."
"take your degree, sir; take your degree," old master replied.
"that, sir, is a mere matter of form."
"and a form to be observed, sir—to be observed."
"yes," said mars. bob, "but my reading teaches me that an orator can be trained down to a point too fine—it may weaken his passion, dim his fire with too much judgment, hem him in with too much criticism and compel him to dodge. i think that it was greek art, sir, that kept ben johnson from creating great characters. the perfection of greek form rendered it impossible for him to give us anything save talking moralities."
[pg 80]
"sophistry!" old master shouted, and upon the young man he turned with such a storm that i found my opportunity to escape.
in the parlor the light was dim, the flame in the fire-place not yet having enveloped logs recently put on, and in my eagerness to get into my hiding-place, i overturned a chair. it struck the floor with a deafening noise, i thought, and as i put it back into place i listened for approaching footsteps, but heard nothing save old master's loud-toned talk upon the necessity of observing all beneficial forms. i could not understand what he said, nor did i halt long enough to try, but leaping behind the old sofa, stretched myself out upon the floor. of course every sound about the house was now increased to new volume, and of course my heart beat so hard upon the floor that i was afraid that someone might hear it. a cat came in and purred against the legs of the sofa, a yellow, hateful creature that all previous coaxing had failed to induce to come near me; and i scolded at her under my breath, but she rubbed against me, and mewed as if to invite discovery of my shame. i knew that i must get rid of her, and i think that once i felt in my pocket to find my knife to cut her throat, but by a slight noise was frightened out of this cruel intention. i did not parley[pg 81] with her, though i picked her up, clambered over the sofa, raised the window and as she clawed at me, threw her out. and i had just time enough to hasten back to my hiding-place when i heard foot-steps in the hall. there was no opening through which i could see what was passing, for my peeping-place commanded but a view of the hearth and the rug spread in front of it. presently upon the parlor carpet came the doctor's footsteps—i knew them well—and the soft rustle of skirts. for a few moments the doctor stood on the rug, and the skirts, which i could just see, showed me that miss may had sat down in a rocking chair. i fancied that the doctor was lighting a cigar, and about the time i thought he must have it going, he sat down not far from miss may. for a long time they talked of neighborhood happenings, parties, marriages, deaths—she as artless as a child, frank and cheerful; but he, sly and insinuating. he told her of his adventures, with race horses in the east and with gamblers on the mississippi river, and her exclamations from time to time told me of the effect the recital had upon her; and i could well understand it, for indeed the rascal interested me. sometimes i thought that he had wandered so far from the subject which had on his part induced this communion that i did not see how he[pg 82] was to approach it, but somehow he found his way back, though not with perfect ease, for i saw my young mistress move her chair in her embarrassment. "and may," he said, "during all these years, while you were growing and blooming, my mind dwelt upon you—and but for you, i don't think that i should have cared to live—"
"why, brother george," she broke in, "what are you saying?"
"may, listen to me a moment. don't call me brother—call me george. wait a moment, please." there was a flouncing of her skirts and i thought that she must have been getting out of the rocking chair. "you look frightened when, indeed, this should be as quiet as the time when you say your prayers. may, i am no longer as poor a man as i was—"
"but, brother, has anyone reproached you with your poverty?" she asked.
"there you go, calling me brother again. not lately, but in the past, yes. i have eaten the bitter bread of the dependent—"
"don't say that," she protested. "did you invite me here to tell me this? tell me more of your adventures?"
"may, you are not a child."
[pg 83]
"well, no," she laughed. "i am really getting along in years. i am much older than bob, and you know he is nearly a man now."
"we are all getting along in years," he replied. "time is cutting the pigeon wing. but now let me talk seriously to you. your memory of my devotion to your sister lou must still be fresh, and god knows i loved her, but may, my love for you is greater, passes all understanding, and i ask you to be my wife."
he was leaning toward her, for his hands came down within the sweep of my vision. it was some time before she replied, and i lay there waiting, my heart beating loud. he had so impressed her that she was seeking to frame a graceful answer. could it be that she was thinking of accepting him? she got out of the chair and her skirts whisked about as if she had turned toward the door.
i lost sight of the doctor's hand and i saw his feet move. "may, please don't go!" he pleaded.
"doctor bates," she said, "you insult me and the memory of my sister. i am going to marry a man that i love and that you hate, although you have seen him but once."
[pg 84]
"you don't mean john marston, of new orleans?" he almost cried.
"yes, i do. i am going to marry him."
"may, if you do i will shoot him."
she laughed. "oh, you might kill him if called to attend him, doctor, but you will not shoot him."
"i will pass your insults, miss. one more moment, please? does your mother know about it?"
"i have honored you first, doctor. see what confidence i have in you? i have made my own choice and have consulted no one. perhaps it might have been better if my poor sister had done the same."
"you shall not insult me this way. i'll call your father."
"do, puppy."
she whisked out of the room, and i felt myself rising from the floor, so strong was my impulse to spring upon the scoundrel and choke him, but when i straightened up, he was no longer in the room. i hastened to my young master, whom i knew was waiting for me up stairs, and i almost flung myself into the room. there he sat near a table with two pistols lying upon it. he strove to control himself, but he was biting his lip as he looked up at me.
"well," he said.
[pg 85]
"it is well," i replied.
"out with it—tell me. what did she do?"
"she called him a puppy," i replied. and then i told him all that had passed, and he listened, motionless, with his hand lying across the two pistols.
