Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-01-21
pose of giving Mr.. Hartman notice to that eff


the purchaser to delay moving on to the prem
ses till after Mr.. Hartman returns"
6 You may reserve your offers of kindness,
and when you seek possession of this farm you
shall have it. The arm of the law is stronger
than my arm, but there is One who says I" ven
geancc is mine" and He will repay it. / have
only this more to say, Mr.. Musgrave, that your
presence isquite undesirable"
will only say then, Mrs Hartman" he re-
piled, '' that since the time of your departure
from the farm is immaterial To you, the late
purchaser will avail himself of an early pos
session, F." and bidding her good night, they sep
arated forever I'd -
Musgrave was anxious to dispoasess the family
of Hartman at that time for two reasons, one
of which was to secure to himself peaceable
and undisputed possession and the other to es-
tablish, in the section in which the farm was
located, an entrepot for the wares in which he
dealt.
Mrs. Hartman soon after, despairiug of her
husbands return, removed, by the advice of her
friends, to the County of W, in the south
ern part of Vermont, where she resided among
the friends of her family till near the period at
which our story terminates Many years after
her removal, Herbert and Alice, at the sugges-
tion of distant connexion of the family on the
maternal side, named Markham, and in consid-
Grafton that he had promised to make them his
heirs, discarded their surname and assumed that
of their relative and thereafter they were
known by the name of Markham. Under the
direction of their relative, they were well pro-
vided for and an education that should fit them
for moral, refined, and rational life, was an
early object of his care.
Musgrave kept watch on Mrs. Harrimans
movements, and soon after she left the County
of Orleans, he returned and secured to minion
the possession of Harrman's farm. Thus mat
ters seemed to prosper in his hands. He had
allayed excitement; rendered doubtful in the
minds of many the existence of his band sup
pressed in the minds of others o disposition to
molest them; added to his store of wealth and
extended, he thought, facilities for acquiring
more. He was shrewd and polite, and in the
direction of his enterprise as the master-spirit
among the Snaggers, he displayed great ability
and knowledge of mankind. He not only per-
mitted, but encouraged, Moll to assume a sort
of leadership at the Retreat; not because he re-
garded her as being mentally or physically su-
perior to many of the male portion of the Gang;
though she was in both of these particulars,
remarkable woman but baraaqe he Justly con-
coived that display of such Aualities in d fe-
male would excite the men to greater and more
determined efforts. But embqldened by success
and the favorable state of his affairs, while he
sought to stimulate his party to greater exer-
tions, he became comparatively arrogant in his
demeanor, and oppressive in his demands
Among the SnaggeIs were persons of various
qualities and attainments. Some were igno-
rant and brutal; Others had very considerable
requirements and were passably refined some
were fearless; others timid some stubborn and
impatient of restraint; others submissive and
easily controlled; some were rustics, coniding
in their temper and Ignorant of the world; 9th
ers were penetrating, suspicious, and deeply
learned in the character of mankind some had
" fallen from high estate; " while the gene
alogy of others was 50 obscured by " Five
Points " darkness it could not be traced to the
latest generation
The task of controlling such set of beings,
and so directing their efforts to secure the ends
it aimed at, was heavy impost on single mind.
But that burden was assumed by Musgraye, and
if his interest would, his pride would not, per-
nit him to falter in his efforts to carry it
through During a succession of years, there
fore, he strove with zeal and diligence becom-
inc better cause, to establish that kind of or
der and system, in the operations of the Bank,
which should enable himself, if not others con-
cerned to realize not only certain but prodigious
incomes.
In this object, various circumstances tended
to battle him. Among Others an increasing want
of cohesion, and comparatively independent
| method of forming conclusions, on the part of
his subordinates, operated to distract his iudg-
ment. and render it less efficient
William Musgrave, since he fell into the
hands of Musgrave senior, had shared from his
putative father very little q. f.paterna soicitude,
or paternal care During the many years from
his infancy, that he had made his home at the
Retreat, he had received from Clovis, Mistress
McDermot, her good-natured husband, and Har-
riman, more tokens of parental regard than
s Musgrave senior had ever displayed and be-
tween him and Clovis, especially, an intimacy
| and generous friendship had sprang up honor
able to both.
As he grew in years, William Musgrave ac-
a quired q manly bearing as well as Aattering
personal appearance, and despite the adverse in
A huencos by which he was surrounded, he devel-
o oped many noble traits of character; and with
apparent instinct he adopted most of the good,
e and repelled many of the bad qualities, princi-
pies, and sentiments, of which he was daily cog
!. nizant. There was, nevertheless dissoute and
V reckless air about him which sayored strongly
e of the influences by which he was encompassed
d and the aggregate of his virtues partook more
perhaps, of negative than of any positive quail
IS tiles. Among his associates he found ample
facilities for acquiring good education, so fal
as the acquisition of knowledge and culture of the
IS mind without reference to its moral bent, were
N concerned and of these he availed himself in O
r commendable degree. Hoping sometime to en-
IF ter upon the world, yet taught to rely upon thC
resources of his putative father for the necessar,
r means, he was in great measure Indifferent tc