Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-02-11


81 dinna ken as ye are to bide here the
night" said Judith. &C But, ohon my loo
some wean,'' she continued, perceiving Alice's
grief increased, binna sac tearfu' an ye can
ma dry yer cen at aimee, my Teddy, lay yerseh
doom on the cot and gle the puir body some
rest
And the good woman with genuine sympathy
in her heart took Alice in her arms and laid her
as carefully as she would an infant on the bed.
As she laid Alice sdown, Judith wbispered III
her ear,
"Dinna fear-a' wull be weel. My guide
mon, Med ermot, tauld me a anent We, and gin
ye were my ain BARN, an ye had an hunder'
hearts in yer ain wnsome body, I suldna be
mar loosome till ye nor | wull moo. An my
guide mon and myself seem betimes unfreens till
ye, dinna foar-we maun mystryst sic as mys-
tryst us, but ilk day ye bide wi us, ye and yer
brither wull be an ye were our ain barns -
loosome until us as the apple O. our Gen."
| These words were uttered in tone of tender
sympathy, and Alices heart was so full she
could not speak but threw her arms around
the neck of Judith and imprinted warm and
grateful kisses on her lips. This kind of pan
tomime Herbert very readily interpreted, and
advancing toward Judith, he gave her hand
friendly grasp.
Presently the outdoor confusion ceased upon
the suggestion of McDermot that the fatigue
incident to their journey had nearly exhausted
the physical power of the strangers, and that
farther test Of their endurance might bring on
Ills for which Musgrave would hold the gang
responsible. Shortly thereafter, without seeing
any of the Snaggers save McDermot and his
wife, Harriman's children sank into a refresh
ing sleep in different apartments of McDermot's
hut Herbert sharing a bed with the generous
Scot, and Alice in the arms of his wife.
On the morrow they arose early, but before
she had seen any of the gang, Judith, by Nc
Dermot's direction had warned Alice to beware
of Clovis. From each of these Snaggers she had
received nearly equal assurances of fidelity and
protection, yet by one she was admonished, with
apparently equal sincerity, to distrust the 9TH
er. Without disclosing, therefore, the avowals
made by Clovis after McDermot separated from
the party on the previous night, she was led to
regard them both with perplexing doubts, and
began to feel as if her only safe reliance WAS
upon the women of the gang. But when she
saw Moll, she was SO much struck with that
gross and vulgar caricature upon her SEX that
her mind shrunk back upon Clovis and McDer-
mot, to screen her from Moll's offensive pres
ence
The feeling of disgust she entertained, Moll
readily perceived, and straightway resolved, if
she could not invoke respect, she would exact
as penalty submission and fear. She therefore
assailed Alice in an abrupt manner with num-
berless and minute inquiries, and offensive sug-
gestions concerning her origin, circumstances,
relation to Herbert, the object of her journey,
&c.,-all of which the poor girl parried with
what skill she could till Judith interposed, and
suggested to Moll that two persons were at the
door who would gladly be swift witnesses against
her to Musgrave, if Alice were, as Judith pro-
tested she had good reason to believe, his pro-
tege.
"Well, said Moll as she turned toward the
door and met Clovis and William Belden, 81
; will have reason to know if Musgrave sent these
stragglers here, " and she left the hut.
Seeking out Pellet, she urged him to make all
possible haste to the settlements, and appraise
Musgrave of the arrival of the strangers and
bring her word if they came by his direction.
If Musgrave is not at home," said Moll,
/" on no account return without seeing him; for
though I can hardly believe these creatures
, would venture here without permission, yet they
don't look, nor act as if they were the sort for
snaggers, and mistrust EN-"
Clovis and William Belden were influenced
by different motives to visit McDermots hut
the latter by curiosity alone--thc former went
as heathen, who has had an inkling of the
hopes, the promises, and the interests of anoth-
er and happier state of being, goes to the de-
vout missionary, to drink deeper of the spirit
: of his inspiration, and indulge in complaccnt
longings for the enjoyment of that future in its
t full fruition. He found her fearful and sad
dened by the events we have detailed, yet there
} was in her features an expression of patient
resignation to whatsoever ills she might be sub
f tect. He knew he had wronged her-that he
sought to entce her to the Snaggers' Quarter.
with an evil intent-yet he saw, or fancied he
5 saw as if predominant among the other qnali.
} ties she possessed, that she was blessed as she
r truly was, with the sweetest and most Heavenly
{ boon to mortals given--the will to forgive a
: grieyous and premeditated wrong. In her pres
i, encc the bad purposes of his heart were contin-
ually subsiding, and better ones were springine
up. He sought and suffered the pleasing trans.
: mutation and as he gazed upon her, aud quaf
y fed the pure sentiment from her lips as from al
:, oracle the one single, impassioned longing o.
r his heart was ''to be to others what he be-
l. held"
William Belden was struck with her person
d al beauty; the sweetness of her temper; hel
n art in conversation, and an ndescribable some
o thing in her manner, which " "detained hin
Is against his will" He had not, like Clovis, an,
very perverse passions to encounter Yet OF
o both of these persons different means were pro
" ducing powerful, and the like effects.
In the absence Of Pellet, Moll had sought ou
v Hartman, and by artful means had excited il
his already grabbed mind, a feeling of strong
h bitterness and suspicion toward Herbert ant
d Alice whom he had not yet seen since their ar
rival Mt the Retreat Although Moll confden