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 Library 
 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924022051 91 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER 
 
'^^a eS^J^-C J I -I i 
 "^ ^ - .Sr 62 u ;5 .^ i; 
 
THE 
 
 BEGUM'S DAUGHTER 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWIN LASSETTER BYNNER 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 ' AGNES SURRIAGE," " PENELOPE'S SUITORS," ETC. 
 
 n^ITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY F. T. MERRILL 
 
 BOSTON 
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 
 
 iSoQ- 
 
 5 1— 
 
I\.c\^^i'^ 
 
 Copyright, 1889, 1890, 
 By Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 
 
 Copyright, 1890, 
 By Edwin Lassetter Bynner. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 En(t)eieit5 Jfxtee: 
 John Wilson and Son, Cambridgb. 
 
 s 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 A NATURAL surprise Trill be felt by those not 
 ■^^ critically acquainted with early New York 
 history to find so extraordinary a personage as the 
 Begum introduced as a resident of the little Dutch 
 town of two centuries ago. Her name, marriage, 
 and residence there are, however, recorded as facts 
 in more than one work of high authority. Until 
 lately these statements have not been questioned. 
 Now, however, there comes forward a sceptic who, 
 by the citation of a passage from the family record 
 in a famous old Bible, throws doubt upon the whole 
 matter. 
 
 Reluctantly, therefore, we hand the point over to 
 the pundits to settle, and sadly confess ourselves 
 unable to vouch for the identity of one of the most 
 interesting persons in our drama. 
 
 Of the numerous authorities consulted for what 
 is true in the following story, the greater part are 
 dead and gone. Among the living the author grate- 
 fully acknowledges his especial indebtedness to Mrs. 
 Martha J. Lamb, the accomplished historian of New 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 York, for much material drawn from her graphic 
 narrative ; to Mrs. Gertrude L. Vanderbilt for many 
 hints gleaned from her charming book on early 
 Platbush ; to Mr. William Kelly, the assistant-libra- 
 rian of the New York Historical Society, and to the 
 Pundita Ramabai, the distinguished Hindoo lately 
 visiting in this country, for valuable suggestions. 
 
 E. L. B. 
 
 Boston, April 15, 1890. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 IT was market-day ; the most worthy and worshipful 
 burgomaster and schepens of Nieuw Amsterdam 
 turned over in bed, stretched their fat legs, and 
 recognized that it was time to get up, while all the 
 host of the groote en kleine Burgerrecht, at much 
 the same time and in much the same way, did the 
 like. 
 
 " Burgomaster and schepens," — the sounding old 
 titles still h.aunted their dreams, although done away 
 with more than a score of years before, when that 
 choking monosyllable " York " displaced dear old 
 " Amsterdam " in the city style ; but notwithstanding 
 the treaty of Westminster and despite its English 
 name, the little town was still Dutch to its heart's 
 core, yielding witfi -sorry grace to the rule of the 
 Papist Stuart, and viewing with sullen dislike the 
 outlandish beasts blazoned upon his flag yonder 
 above their little fort. 
 
 After all, it was their High-Mightinesses of the 
 Staats-General who were at fault. They had bungled 
 the business at Westminster, and finding themselves 
 at a loss, coolly threw over their infant colony. 
 
 Deep was the anger and grievous the shame of 
 the loyal burghers on learning that their little town 
 
 1 
 
2 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 had been tossed without scruple into the diplomatic 
 balance as a makeweight. 
 
 But the milk was spilled, and what availed crying ? 
 All the more patiently, on account of their wrath 
 at the Staats-General, they bowed their necks under 
 the new yoke, — a yoke destined never to be lifted 
 in their day and generation. Luckily, it proved no 
 very irksome burden. They were left to go pretty 
 much their own gait. Their hearth-stones were held 
 sacred. They ate their supaen and roUiches of an 
 evening, smoked their pipes in the chimney-nook, 
 and upon the Lord's Day waddled their wonted way 
 to the Gereformeerde Kerche, cased each in who 
 shall say how many redundant pairs of breeches, to 
 hear Dominie Selyns expound the sacred word from 
 the pure text approved by the classis of Amsterdam. 
 
 Town affairs, too, were for the most part still 
 left to their guidance. Indeed, so long as stern 
 old Sir Edmund Andros was kept busy yonder by 
 the Boston Puritans, there was |ittle fear of en- 
 croachment from his easy-going lieutenant, who, as 
 all the world knew, had long been sighing to get 
 back to his London fogs. 
 
 It was market-day, early in May, in the year of 
 grace 1689, — a memorable month" and a memorable 
 year in the annals of the town. The newly risen 
 sun, shining across the low plains of Midwoud and 
 Breuckelen and over the rounded peaks of Rem- 
 sen's Hoodgts, showed the little community already 
 astir. 
 
 Outside the city wall, which stretched across the 
 island from river to river, following nearly the line 
 of the street which still bears its name, and gathered 
 before the Landpoort, which stood at the head of 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 3 
 
 Broadway, a motley group of country-folks, afoot, on 
 pillions, or in ox-carts laden with produce for the 
 market, waited impatiently for the opening of the 
 gates. 
 
 Down at the water-side, meanwhile, there was an- 
 other and livelier scene. Crowded about the entrance 
 to the dock, a fleet of small craft were awaiting the 
 signal to swarm into the little basin and unload. 
 Scattered over the surface of the two rivers to the 
 north and east, other boats were making speed to 
 come up. In the distance a belated ketch could be 
 seen tacking her way through the Hoofden, while along 
 the misty coast-line of Staaten Island a group of tiny 
 specks like bobbing corks showed a flotilla of Indian 
 canoes, all bound for the same point. 
 
 Within the walls, the smoke curling from the 
 chimney-tops showed that the thrifty huysvrouw was 
 wrestling witli her cranes and pot-hooks over the open 
 kitchen fire, in preparation of the morning meal. Up 
 and down the chief thoroughfares and in many a 
 humbler street negro slaves were busy with mop and 
 broom, scrubbing the high stoops and polishing the 
 brass knockers, singing, whistling, or chattering back 
 and forth to each other in their grotesque African- 
 Dutch patois ; ceasing their pranks for the moment as 
 the schout, with grim look and heavy step, strode past, 
 jingling the massive keys of the Landpoort. 
 
 Presently from the church in the fort rang out the 
 mellow peal of the old bell, captured years before by a 
 Dutch man-of-war from a Spanish galleon. It was 
 the signal for the day to begin. In a trice the little 
 town awoke to life and activity, — the gates were 
 thrown open, the country-folks swarmed in, the streets 
 were filled with tradesmen and artisans going to their 
 
4 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 tasks, while the noise of hurrying feet, the creaking 
 of the heavy ox-carts, the rattle of the windmills, the 
 far-echoing hammer-blows of carpenters and black- 
 smiths, the barking of dogs, the lowing of cattle, and 
 the shrill laughter of children swelled the opening 
 chorus of the day. 
 
 A large open space over against the fort was set 
 apart for the marcktvelt, which on market-days be- 
 came the centre of life and affairs. A line of rude 
 booths on the eastern side, a row of ox-carts opposite, 
 with their tails turned inward for the better display 
 of their goods, and an oblong grass-plot in the midst 
 were the principal features. 
 
 Now it was a scene of turmoil, as the busy traders 
 and hucksters bustled about disposing their wares in 
 a fashion the most fit to tempt the buyer. Here the 
 sturdy farmers from Vlacktebos, Nieuw Utrecht, and 
 Ompoge disposed upon the clean straw in their carts 
 the carcasses of calves, hogs, turkeys, and geese, 
 flanked by heavy casks filled with salt beef and pork 
 of their own curing. In the opposite booths the thrifty 
 matrons from Ghmoenepaen, Vlissingen, Nieuw Haer- 
 lem, or Boomtre's Hoeck, with hoods thrown back, 
 arms bared, hips padded to abnormal dimensions by 
 numberless petticoats, made haste to set forth the 
 products of their dairies, assisted by stolid, rosy- 
 cheeked young women, wearing close-quilted caps, 
 heavy gold ear-rings, bright copper buckles to set off 
 their hob-nailed shoes, and fancy jackets to relieve 
 their homespun petticoats. Squatting upon the green- 
 sward in the middle space, Indians of the Corchang, 
 Secatang, and Najack tribes gravely looked about on 
 the noisy scene, and awaited customers for their veni- 
 son, wild-fowl, skins, and birch-bark water-spouts. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 6 
 
 Hardly were the wares set in order when the cus- 
 tomers came flocking to the spot. Forth from the low 
 brick houses, with their high stoops and battlemented 
 gables, which lined the chief thoroughfares, came the 
 worshipful magistrates, the rich tradesmen, the rever- 
 end dominie, the learned schoolmaster, some with 
 slaves at their heels bearing hampers ; while filing 
 down Broadway, along the winding Strand, through 
 Winkle and Pearl and Hoogh streets, and skirting the 
 canal in the Heeren-Gracht, came craftsmen, laborers, 
 and serving-men, the latter with bare heads, wooden 
 shoes, red-baize waistcoats, and leather aprons, all 
 bringing their baskets to be filled. 
 
 Immediately the market-place resounds with hag- 
 gling, chaffering, and good-natured jest, as the buyers, 
 roaming from hooth to cart, cheapen the wares which 
 the crafty dealer has set at a price from which he can 
 safely afford to abate. 
 
 " What will your worship, this morning ? Here 
 you have eggs new laid by my own fowls in Mid- 
 woud, — you '11 never find an addled egg in Annetje's 
 basket ; here 's twaelft, too, smoked by myself, only 
 one string of seawant ; or if you are for herbs to stuff 
 the goose for Lord's Day, here, look you ! put your 
 worshipful nose to these ! " 
 
 " Cahbages, my vrouw ? Feel o' these ! — your own 
 bosom is not more firm and white ; and ei ! do you 
 pass by such apples as yonder ? Pinkster Bloomitjes, 
 — the first o' the year ; no winter's leavings, mind 
 ye ; there 's not their like in the velt. Come, what 
 say ye ? The cask for a beaver ? " 
 
 But a neighbor with shriller tongue has lured away 
 the wavering customer : — 
 
 " Who 's for cheese ? See ye here, all made from 
 
6 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 cream, sweet cream in my own bouwerie at Sapokani- 
 can. Butter too, — let that melt on your tongue ! it 
 costs nothing." 
 
 '■ Here, John, son of John ! " shouts a lusty farmer- 
 youth from his cart to a lean-looking artisan. " Come 
 you here and buy something to fill out your skin ! 
 You 'd best not come to Seawanacky, lest the crows 
 get ye!" 
 
 " The pot calls the kettle black. Your own bones 
 are not so far out of sight, junker, for all you feed 
 yonder with the cows and pigs in your bouwerie. 
 What's here?" 
 
 " Look for yourself ! — tarwe, three guilders the 
 schepel, maeys, the like is not to be found in the 
 market, and erten ; your huysvrouw's eyes '11 gladden 
 at the sight." 
 
 " That will they not ; ' a burnt child dreads the 
 fire.' The last schepen was musty. Take care you 
 come not in the way o' my Elsie, or your ears are like 
 to make acquaintance with the dish-clout." 
 
 An hour or two of this, and the bustle is over. 
 Such is the strife among the thrifty townsfolk to be 
 on hand at the opening of the market, and thereby 
 get the pick of the goods, that long before noon the 
 bulk of the business is done. 
 
 Thereupon the dealers draw a breath of relief 
 and compare notes ; the farmers fill their pipes and 
 talk over their crops, the wives gossip about their 
 babes and kitchens, the daughters chatter of sillier 
 matters. 
 
 " Come, Gertryd, the best is over ; let 's away ! " 
 
 " Not so fast ! I have herbs yet, and my hoof-kaas 
 is not sold." 
 
 " What matter ? "take it back ; 't will do for an- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 7 
 
 other time. Come away, and let us see what new 
 things are for sale." 
 
 " Not I ; 't is not for nothing I got the best place 
 to-day." 
 
 " You '11 find it against your coming back ; the 
 market-place is not like to melt and run into the 
 sea." 
 
 " All the same, good luck comes not twice in one 
 day. I '11 hold my post till all is gone — Resel, your 
 worship ? Pine and white ; take some home to your 
 huysvrouw, or you '11 get no olykoeks ! What mean 
 you to buy, Annetje ? — a cradle ? You and Claes 
 must be of a mind by this ! " 
 
 " Who knows ? " and the buxom Annetje tossed her 
 head. 
 
 " Poh ! never tell me he has not spoken yet ! " 
 
 " That will I not ; nor tell you anything about it." 
 
 « Come ! " 
 
 " You would know what I am to buy ? " 
 
 " Since 't is no secret." 
 
 " Well, then, 't is no child's gear for those who may 
 never see the light, but three ells duffels, needles and 
 thread — " 
 
 " So ! a likely story ! " 
 
 " Sausage, Mynheer ! four guilders in good strung 
 seawant." 
 
 Nearly opposite the Stadthuys on the corner of the 
 Heeren-Gracht stood the mansion of Van Cortlandt, 
 the worshipful mayor of the town. 
 
 Duly at the ringing of the bell the worthy mayor 
 came forth upon the stoop, followed by an old negro 
 slave with a basket. 
 
 There was a cloud upon the magistrate's face ; he 
 
8 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 paused a moment to reflect, and evidently changing 
 his purpose of, going to marlcet himself sent the negro 
 instead, while with a. preoccupied air he bent his own 
 steps towards the Stadthuys. 
 
 Hardly was he out of sight when the door again 
 opened, and a youth appeared upon the stoop, busily 
 engaged in mending a fishing-tackle which he carried 
 in his hand. Turning in the direction opposite to 
 that taken by his father, he crossed the bridge span- 
 ning the canal at the foot of the Heeren-Gracht and 
 sauntered slowly along the Strand, too much absorbed 
 in his task to note the passers-by. 
 
 " Is that Van Oortlandt's junker ? " asked one burly 
 citizen of another. 
 
 " It needs not to ask ; has he not the mark of the 
 tribe, — a fair outside with a worm at the heart ? " 
 
 " What worm is that ? " 
 
 " Pride and vain-glory ; they would set up for lords 
 and princes in this new world, now that they have 
 lands to match the titles." 
 
 " Look yonder, Maretje ! " cried an old crone to her 
 gossip. "Here comes the worshipful mayor's son, the 
 fairest junker in Nieuw Amsterdam." 
 
 " Have a care lest some of the prying English hear 
 that name ! " 
 
 " 'T is the good old name." 
 
 " 'T is treason now to speak it." 
 
 " But the junker, look ! he 's close upon us ! Saw 
 you ever such a skin upon a man ? 'T is like milk 
 and honey, and his hair shines like silk." 
 
 " His broad shoulders please me better, and his 
 straight legs ; he 's a lad of mettle already, I '11 war- 
 rant him, and his chin not yet ripe for the razor. 
 What has he in his hand ? " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 9 
 
 " A hook and line ; he goes to catch sun-fish in the 
 Kolch." 
 
 " Bi ! he '11 find other fish to catch one of these days ; 
 he '11 have but to cast his hoolc to get the best." 
 
 " He has never a thought that way yet. Mark you 
 how he passed Elsie Vanderdonck's fluttering chicks 
 not a moment since ? — a wag of the head, but never 
 a glance back to see if they be cocks or pullets." 
 
 ''And they, silly fools, darting their eyes out at him !" 
 
 " 'T is pride in him, they say." 
 
 " His mother had not suckled him else." 
 
 " 'T is the proudest huysvrouw in the land. Mark 
 you the pace she holds at kerche, and the air where- 
 with she looks about?" 
 
 " 'T is said the worshipful burgomaster stands in 
 awe of her." 
 
 " "Who talks of burgomasters ? " 
 
 " Pardon ! — my old tongue will never learn their 
 new names ; but as for Gertryd Schuyler, 't would be 
 a marvel if she had not given some of her spirit to 
 her brood." 
 
 " Well may one carry a high head with a purse so 
 deep." 
 
 " There be others with deeper purses, but who else 
 counts back his forefathers to Russian dukes ? " 
 
 " What are their dukes to us ? The bargains 'II all 
 be gone at market, with your lagging. Come ! " 
 
 Thus prattling, the two old gossips went their way 
 to market, while young Stephanus Van Cortlandt kept 
 along the Strand until he came to the Waterpoort, the 
 name given to the gate at the foot of Wall Street, 
 close to the East Eiver, where the old wall was 
 pierced by an opening which gave egress to the coun- 
 try beyond. Here stood awaiting him a youth of 
 
10 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 about his own age, and similarly dressed in a long- 
 skirted coat with silver buttons, linsey-woolsey knee- 
 breeches, clocked stockings, and buckled shoes. 
 
 " Hola there, Oornelis ! have you waited long ? " 
 
 " Did you not say two hours after sunrise ? The 
 dial had passed the mark before I started, and see 
 now yonder shadow, how it slants ! " 
 
 " T was no fault' of mine. I could not come fast- 
 ing, and some saucy sailor frJ)m the Massachusetts 
 must needs have speech with my worshipful father, 
 which kept the table waiting." 
 
 " What matters the reason, so you are come ? I 
 have not wasted the time, you see," holding up his 
 fishing-rod, with the name Oornelis Be Peyster rudely 
 cut in the bark. 
 
 " Good ! we are in luck," said Van Cortlandt, as 
 they passed through the gate. " We may get some 
 roach, for the wind is in the south." 
 
 " How came you so weather-wise?" 
 
 " Look yonder at Jan Vinge's wind-mill ! " 
 
 " Since your eyes are so good, look further, and tell 
 me what rare sight is that in the Magde Paetje." 
 
 " I see nothing out of the common," said Van Cort- 
 landt, indifferently, turning his eyes in the direction 
 indicated. 
 
 " There again ! Oh, never mind, — 't is a bird, 
 mayhap." 
 
 "What are you at?" 
 
 " A bird they say charms you with her song." 
 
 Van Cortlandt's face kindled with a look of intelli- 
 gence. He scanned the distant object, muttering, — 
 
 " There be more red hoods than one." 
 
 " Look now ! " 
 
 " You 're right ; 't is she ! " starting eagerly to go. 
 
' Here he comes ! here — here ! just at your heels ! 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 11 
 
 " Stay ! Wait, I say, Steenie ! What 's doing yon- 
 der in Smiet's Vly ? " pointing to an excited group in 
 the marsh to their right. 
 
 " 'T is a bullock they are bringing to the shambles. 
 See, they cannot hold him ! " 
 
 " Look ! look ! he is at large — he has gored one — 
 the man is killed ! " 
 
 " No, he is up again." 
 
 " Let them have a care ! the bull is mad ! " 
 
 " See now ! big Claes the butcher is bringing his 
 axe ; they will kill him on the spot." 
 
 At this juncture the attention of the two eager 
 youths was drawn to the cries of a group of terrified 
 children who were rushing past. 
 
 " He is free ! he is free ! " 
 
 " He is coming after us ! " 
 
 « We shall all be kiUed ! " 
 
 Up over the grassy edge of the basin which formed 
 the vly, and down the slope which led to the gate, the 
 children came bounding pell-mell. 
 
 A mischievous look suddenly gleamed in the eyes 
 of young Van Cortlandt, — a touch of pure boyishness 
 hardly to be looked for in so strapping a youth. 
 Spreading wide his arms, he obstructed the way of 
 the leader of the group, a half-grown girl of thirteen 
 or thereabouts, crying, — 
 
 " Here he comes ! here — here ! just at your heels ! " 
 
 Screaming with fear, the poor girl, in her futile 
 efforts to escape, darted to the right and to the left, 
 only to find herself intercepted by her cruel tor- 
 mentor, still shouting, — 
 
 " He 's upon you, I say ! Quick ! Run ! He '11 
 catch you sure ! " 
 
 " Let me go ! Let me go-o-o ! " 
 
12 THE BEGUM'S LAUGHTER. 
 
 " Now — now ! Look back I See, just behind you ! " 
 continued tlie wicked Steenie, choking with laughter. 
 
 With a frantic effort the terrified girl broke from 
 his relaxed grasp, and rushing forward in blind haste 
 struck her foot against a stone, and fell heavily to the 
 ground. 
 
 Dii-ectly the sobered Steenie sprang to help her, 
 and beheld with dismay her pale face and bleeding 
 arm. He stood for a moment helplessly looking 
 about, when the murmur of the little creek close by 
 in the vly fell upon his ear. He hurried thither, 
 soaked his handkerchief in the cold water, and, com- 
 ing back, bathed the face and clumsily bound up the 
 arm of the sufferer. 
 
 She presently revived, and gazed about in a dazed 
 way, to find herself alone with the junker. 
 
 "There," he said, with a final turn of the bandage, 
 " if you will but take a little care, that will stay on 
 until you get home." 
 
 " That shall it not, nor a minute more ! " cried 
 the girl, springing to her feet and stripping off the 
 handkerchief, which she flung disdainfully to the 
 ground. 
 
 " But — but it will bleed again — see, 't is bleeding 
 now ! " 
 
 "I care not how much it bleeds." 
 
 " But I care. I am grieved that I hurt you. I 
 meant not to be so rude. I pray you forgive me ! " 
 
 " I never will forgive you ! " 
 
 "And it would serve me right, too. Here, clear 
 you the score now ; 't is better than to wait. Here 
 is a stick ! " 
 
 " Go away ! " 
 
 "Lay on! Do! I beg you, strike! Then shall 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 13 
 
 we both feel better, so that against the next time we 
 meet — " 
 
 " Go away, I say ! " 
 
 " — you will forget your grudge, and we shall be 
 friends." 
 
 " We shall never be friends ! " 
 
 " 'T is well, meantime, you know not my name, to 
 lay up resentment against me." 
 
 " I know it well enough." 
 
 " What is it, then ? " 
 
 " 'Tis Mynheer Van Cortlandt, and I hope never to 
 hear it again ? ' 
 
 " And why never again ? " 
 
 " Because I hate it ! " she cried with spiteful energy, 
 as she hurried away. 
 
14 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 11. 
 
 AMONG the score or more of ox-carts which, in a 
 long and straggling line, lumbered out of the 
 Landpoort shortly before noontide, on their homeward 
 way. Rip Van Corn's was noted as the only one quite 
 empty ; not a scrap remained of his morning's load. 
 
 Rip was the well-known tenant of Leisler's bouwerie, 
 ■ a half-mile or more beyond the walls ; and although 
 his land was not noted for its fertility, nor Rip for 
 cunning in his craft, yet he made good all such defi- 
 ciencies by his skill as a chapman. He had indeed 
 long been acknowledged as the best huckster in the 
 market; cajoling his women patrons by shrewd per- 
 sonal appeals or barefaced compliments, as best served 
 his turn, and winning over his own sex by a beguiling 
 waggery. Now, naturally enough, with his load dis- 
 posed of, he was in a happy frame of mind, and spared 
 not, as he strode along swinging his heavy ox-goad, to 
 rally his less successful fellows. 
 
 " Hola daar, Matthias ! " he shouted to the driver 
 of the cart just before him. " Get along, or the sun '11 
 go down on us ! But what do ye with such a load, 
 Mat ? Did ye go to market to huy calf's flesh ? I '11 
 bet all 's in my pouch there 's more now in your cart 
 than in the morning." 
 
 " 'T is well Captain Leisler is not by to hear ye 
 betting his money," countered the man promptly. 
 
 " Kill your bull. Mat, and get a ram ! Ye '11 do 
 better with sheep ! " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 15 
 
 " I wait ; never fear ! The good people will wear 
 out their teeth by and by, eating half-starved beasts ! " 
 
 " Or next time, for God's sake, take your calves 
 down alive ! 'T is pity to kill the poor beasts that 
 might better be driven back on their own hoofs ! " 
 
 " What good to take live calves to market ? You 
 bellow so loud they could never be heard ! " retorted 
 the man, with good, current rustic humor. 
 
 Rip, nothing daunted, joined loudly in the laugh at 
 his own expense. 
 
 " Jaa wel, 't is better play the calf at market than 
 the ass on the homeward way, ei, Peterse ? " to the 
 man just behind. " There 's no calf's flesh in your' 
 cart, I warrant," — casting a look back, — else there 'd 
 be no room for cabbages. Have the good people, then, 
 lost their love for cabbages ? " 
 
 " No, that have they not, for I saw all the women 
 gaping at your head." 
 
 " Good, Peterse, good ! At him again ! " 
 
 " Wel, zoo ! and why not ? There 's something in- 
 side," tapping his head ; " 'tis full, d' ye see, Peterse ? 
 Better a full head and an empty cart than — ye know 
 what ! " 
 
 A hoarse chorus of laughter arose from the whole 
 group of clowns, as they cried confusedly, " Down, 
 Peterse, — ye 're down again ! " 
 
 " That am 1 not. Give me rather an empty head 
 than one full of wind and brande-wyn I " 
 
 Loud was the shout at this dexterous thrust at one 
 of Rip 's well-known weaknesses. 
 
 " Bi, ei, give me the brande-wyn, and keep you the 
 empty head ! " retorted Rip, as he turned off the high- 
 way upon the grass-grown road leading to his own 
 door. 
 
16 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Get a bouwerie o' your own, and then come preach 
 to us, dominie ! " 
 
 " First must I learn the trick to grow rich driving 
 cabbages to market and back again ! " rejoined Rip, 
 with a burst of ironical laughter, prolonged so as to 
 prevent all attempt at a reply frem his late compan- 
 ions until he was safely out of ear-shot. 
 
 Happily none of these good friends and neighbors 
 were thin-skinned. Such banter, it seemed, served 
 only to put their blood into healthful circulation, and 
 accordingly Rip drove up to his own door in undis- 
 turbed serenity. 
 
 Rip's house, although small and poor, had an air of 
 thrift and comfort. It was a little wooden cottage 
 covered with shingles grown silvery-gray with age, 
 and topped by a wooden chimney blackened with soot 
 at the mouth. Like other cottages of the time, it 
 stood gable-end towards the highway, with the Dutch 
 wife's inevitable tulip-bed in front, and on the side 
 a rude stoop furnished with two stout benches, all 
 overhung by a clambering wild-brier. A stone's throw 
 from the door was a goose-pond, and along the garden 
 wall a row of clumsy bee-hives. 
 
 Having unyoked and foddered his oxen. Rip, still 
 wearing his beaming look, stalked into the house. 
 
 " Good luck again ! Still good luck ! " he cried in 
 tones which made the rafters ring. " All is sold, to 
 the last hair and feather." 
 
 His grim little huysvrouw, busied in getting the 
 noonday meal, deigned neither greeting nor reply. 
 Taking down from an upper shelf a big pewter platter, 
 she gave her whole mind to wiping it, as oblivious, 
 seemingly, of her husband as of a very fat and clumsy 
 baby tugging at her skirts behind. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 17 
 
 Having rubbed the already clean dish to a super- 
 fluous polish, she crossed briskly to the open fireplace, 
 where with a long fork she critically prodded a huge 
 piece of salt beef boiling in an iron pot. The baby, 
 holding fast to her skirts, was dragged along at a pace 
 far too swift for his uncertain equilibrium, and after 
 one or two long, wavering strides toppled over sideways 
 to the floor. 
 
 The busy mother betrayed no concern, nor cast so 
 much as a glance behind. It was plainly an every-day 
 mishap. The baby, indeed, without a cry or whimper, 
 speedily straightened himself, got his bearings, and 
 following like a crab along the floor was soon at her 
 skirts again. 
 
 " H'ola, little vrouw ! Good luck, I say ! Look ye 
 here!" cried Rip, more lustily, as he 'temptied his 
 pockets on a small table in the corner. " One good 
 beaver, four strings of white seawant, two of black, 
 a half-dozen guilders, and more than two handfuls 
 of stuyvers." 
 
 Pulling the crane bearing the heavy pot out over the 
 hearth-stone and balancing the platter in her left hand, 
 Vrouw Van Dorn, with a dexterous movement, fished 
 out the meat, and stood watching the greasy liquor 
 drain back into the pot without betraying by so much 
 as the quiver of an eyelash any interest in her good 
 man's intelligence. 
 
 " Let go ! let go, Ripse ! Mother put baby in the 
 fire and burn him up ! " 
 
 Undeterred by this terrible threat, the persistent 
 Ripse kept tugging to raise his ponderous bulk from 
 the floor, rendering very difficult his mother's man- 
 agement of the heavy platter. 
 
 " Mother whip Ripse — slap ! slap ! slap ! " 
 
 2 
 
18 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Tryntje, I say ! " broke in Rip senior, coming up 
 in a rollicking manner and folding his spouse in a 
 voluminous embrace, regardless of meat and platter. 
 " Come, my dear ! Come glad your eyes with the 
 sight yonder ! " 
 
 " Go away ! " said the little woman curtly. 
 
 " ' Away,' says she ; she sends away her own man ! " 
 
 Replying only by a sniff to this bit of sentiment, 
 Vrouw Van Dorn proceeded to bring forth from the 
 same pot two dripping cabbages, dump them on the 
 platter to garnish the meat, and carry the whole 
 to the table, dragging the tottering Ripse behind 
 her. 
 
 " Come ! do you hear ? Come here, I say ! " per- 
 sisted her husband. 
 
 Releasing her petticoats from the dimpled clutch 
 of Ripse, and substituting by way of consolation a 
 piece of boiled beef to suck, Vrouw Van Dorn, with a 
 resigned air, stalked to the corner and gazed at the 
 treasure. 
 
 " What think you now ? " 
 
 " Huh ! " 
 
 " Ei ? " 
 
 " T 'is much good — all that ! " 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " It goes to stuff Mynheer's pocket." 
 
 " The bouwerie is his ; he takes no more than his 
 own." 
 
 " Huh ! " 
 
 " Nor so much. He is a good landlord, — he 
 tosses me back always a guilder or two for the 
 cub yonder." « 
 
 " Zoo '{ Come here, Ripse ! Show mother where 
 keep you ail these guilders the good Mynheer sends ! " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 19 
 
 cried the dame ironically to the baby, who came creep- 
 ing towards them. 
 
 " ' T is easy to see, my dear," went on Rip, deaf to 
 the interruption, " you have not yet learned to love 
 Mynheer." 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Wait, then ! Wait only ! It will come. He loves 
 you already ; he asks always for my vrouw." 
 
 " Huh ! " 
 
 " He is a good man, he has a big heart. He tries 
 always to do the right." 
 
 Vrouw Van Dorn maintained a stony silence. 
 
 " Who was so kind when Ripse was sick ? " 
 
 " Vrouw Leisler is not Mynheer." 
 
 " And the children, — Jacob ?" 
 
 " The junker is well enough." 
 
 " And Mary ? " 
 
 " I say nothing against her." 
 
 " And Hester ? " 
 
 " She is Catalina's friend." 
 
 " Zoo ? 'T is enough. Friend to Catalina, the dear 
 Catalina ! Poor Hester ! nothing by yourself ; but no 
 matter, — you have Catalina for a friend." 
 
 Vrouw Van Dorn listened with grim composure to 
 this feeble raillery. 
 
 " What makes so dear to you the blackamoor's 
 child?" 
 
 " I had her always in my arms from the hour she 
 was born — " 
 
 " What a pity you had not me always in arms ! " 
 interposed Rip, whimsically. 
 
 " She loves me, that one, better than the mother." 
 
 " And 3'ou love her better again than that. Poor 
 Ripse and me ! we must live without love, — ei, 
 
20 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 schelnije ? " he cried, catching up the baby and toss- 
 ing him again and again into the air, shaking and 
 mauling him at every descent as though he had been 
 made of putty. 
 
 This, ho-wever, was plainly a favorite exercise with 
 the infant, who manifested his delight by certain 
 breathless and inarticulate outcries. Altogether the 
 two were having a truly uproarious time, when Tryn- 
 tje, who meanwhile had finished spreading her board 
 by the addition of some bread, butter, cheese, curds 
 prepared with rennet, and a tankard of home-brewed 
 beer, interrupted them with, " Come, it is ready ! 
 Come and eat ! " 
 
 " What does mother to Ripse ? " asked the father, 
 while the young one waited for another toss. 
 
 Unfolding hiK begrimmed little hands from his 
 father's grasp, the child brought them together with 
 a resounding smack, which sent the father off into a 
 paroxysm of laughter. 
 
 " Come, I say ; the meat gets cold ! " 
 
 Obedient to this peremptory summons. Rip returned 
 the baby to his underfoot domain, and placed himself, 
 nothing loath, at the board. 
 
 " Jaa wel," he continued, with a mouth full of beef 
 and cabbage, returning to the subject of his morn- 
 ing's gains, "'tis Mynheer's land, and he must have 
 his share." 
 
 "And what is left?" 
 
 " This is left," pointing to the beef and cabbage, 
 " and this," taking up the skirt of his smock, " and — 
 and there will be a few pieces for your stocking, 
 mayhap." 
 
 " Few enough ! " 
 
 " 'T is the way to grow rich," gasped Rip, setting 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 21 
 
 down the pewter mug after a breathless draught of 
 beer, and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. 
 " One by one makes a hundred." 
 
 " It makes not a hundred here — " 
 
 " Humph — m-m," interposed Rip, recognizing 
 a storm signal. " Saw ye ever, Tryntje, a finer 
 beaver ? " 
 
 " It makes nothing at all nor ever will, while you 
 waste fair daylight and — " 
 
 " See ! Stroke it with your own hand," he con- 
 tinued, in precipitation, picking up the skin from the 
 floor and tossing it across to his kindling vrouw. 
 
 " — and spend all we get at Annekin Litschoe's 
 pot-house." 
 
 "'Tis worth an English guinea, every stuyver 
 of it." 
 
 " Ye heed me well enough, for all your clatter ! " 
 
 " What now is the matter ? " opening his eyes in 
 feigned surprise. 
 
 Tryntje tossed her head in contempt at the artifice. 
 
 " Annekin, say ye ? Annekin is an honest, hard- 
 working vrouw, and give and take is fair dealing." 
 
 " Never a doubt, and ye '11 be giving and she taking 
 till all is gone." 
 
 " Does she not buy her hoof-kaas of ye ? " 
 
 " "Where is my gain ? " 
 
 " And many a fat pullet and basket of eggs ? " 
 
 " How grow we rich on that when you pour down 
 the whole and more in her brande-wyn — " 
 
 " Heaven help us ! What is like a vrouw's tongue ! 
 But, Tryntje — " 
 
 " — and call all the idlers in the tap-room to drink 
 at your cost ? " 
 
 " Can a man drink by himself ? " 
 
22 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Then leave drinking alone." 
 
 "Ei, ei, hear her! Not to drink at all! To live 
 and not to drink ! Am I not to eat, too ! Am I to 
 die, then ? " 
 
 " Jaa — jaa — jaa ! 'T is better than wear out the 
 life tilling Mynheer Leisler's bouwerie." 
 
 " Zoo ! And what then would you have ? " 
 
 " A bouwerie of oar own." 
 
 " Hola ! hear the mother, junker ! Hear her talk ! " 
 cried Rip, rising and catching up the expectant infant. 
 " She would be a high-mightiness ! A bouwerie of 
 our own ! Hark, Ripse, while I whisper in your ear ; 
 the poor mother is crazy." 
 
 With a snort of disdain Tryntje rose from the table, 
 and began clearing away the dishes. 
 
 " Zoo ! zoo ! zoo ! " muttered Rip, collecting his 
 treasure and passing out of the house, "the poor 
 mother is crazy. A bouwerie of our own, — 't is 
 good ! " 
 
 By a prodigious clatter of her pewter trenchers and 
 platters Tryntje quite drowned her husband's raillery, 
 nor did she deign any answer when after a time he 
 summoned her in good earnest. 
 
 " Tryntje ! hola, Tryntje, I say ! look out for the 
 junker! I must away now to settle accounts with 
 Captain Leisler." 
 
 Having given due warning. Rip put the infant down 
 upon the grass, and took a short cut across the fields 
 on his way to the Lahdpoort. 
 
 The adventurous baby, meantime, left to his own 
 devices, rashly invaded the neighboring green, where 
 a flock of geese were feeding. A warlike old gander 
 at once set upon the innocent intruder, threw him 
 down, and pecked and flapped his face severely. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 23 
 
 In answer to Ripse's lusty howls, Tryntje came 
 flying from the house. Seizing the irate bird by its 
 long neck, she dragged it, squawking and fluttering, 
 to the neighboring wood-pile, where with one vigor- 
 ous blow of the axe she struck off its head, and hur- 
 rying back half-smothered h'er bawling infant with 
 caresses. 
 
24 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 III. 
 
 THE Magde Paetje, now Maiden's Lane, was once 
 a pretty dingle, where the Dutch wives and 
 maids went to wash and bleach their linen in the 
 cold, clear waters of a brook which rippled and bub- 
 bled along between the hills on its way to the East 
 River. 
 
 Just now, swollen by the melting of the snow, the 
 brook filled the air with its roarings, the willows 
 along its borders were silvery with catkins, while the 
 southern hill-slopes gave promise of liverwort and 
 saxifrage. 
 
 Up this little valley, quite neglectful of Cornelis 
 and his purposed sport, Steenie hastened with bound- 
 ing step ; picking his way over the spongy turf, cross- 
 ing the brawling brook upon a fallen log, keeping all 
 the time a watchful eye upon the bobbing red hood 
 which appeared and disappeared among the copses 
 and thickets dotting the hillside, where its busy owner 
 had come a-Maying. 
 
 The persistence with which the back of the hood 
 was kept turned to the south as the young man drew 
 near, and the conscious flush with which he was 
 welcomed, argued that his approach had not been 
 unnoted. 
 
 " "What brings you to the Magde Paetje so early ? 
 It cannot be for flowers." 
 
 " How know you that ? " 
 
 " I never heard men cared for them," said the 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 25 
 
 young woman, continuing her search with affected 
 indifference. 
 
 " I care not for all sorts myself," returned the 
 panting Steenie, seating himself upon a neighboring 
 log and casting off his broad-brimmed hat. 
 
 " What sort is your favorite ? " 
 
 " A fair red flower." 
 
 Feigning dulness, the girl answered demurely, — 
 
 " There is no such now arbloom." 
 
 " Surely " — more significantly — "I thought I saw 
 one hereabouts." 
 
 Covert gratification leaked out from guarded eyes and 
 mouth, and overran the tell-tale face of the listener. 
 
 "You must needs be always jesting." 
 
 « Where is the jest ? " 
 
 "To liken my old hood to a flower." 
 
 " What if it seem to my fancy a flower ? " 
 
 " Then shall I beg my mother for leave to give it 
 to you for a keepsake," said the owner of the hood, 
 laughing. 
 
 « Do ! " 
 
 " You need not fear I shall be so silly." 
 
 " My only fear is you may not." 
 
 " You are going a-fishing ! " 
 
 « Who told you ? " 
 
 " The line in your hand." 
 
 " It shall tell no more lies," thrusting the fishing- 
 gear into his wide-flapped pocket. 
 
 " But why do you not go ? " asked the young woman, 
 with transparent coquetry. 
 
 " I bethought me you might need help." 
 
 " And is this the way you would help ? " 
 
 "Oh, there is no haste; 'tis early yet. Sit you 
 down till I catch my breath ; see, here is a dry place," 
 
26 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 he said, making room upon the log where he was 
 sitting. 
 
 " I have not time to waste," she objected, taking the 
 seat, however, with sweet, feminine inconsistency. 
 
 " But I must needs have some teaching ; how can I 
 be of any help otherwise ? What have you here ? Is 
 it for this I am to search ? " he continued, boldly pull- 
 ing some flowers from her apron, and edging nearer 
 under pretence of examining them. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Is this all your store ? " 
 
 " Yes, and a very fair store, too. These are not 
 easy to find, I warn you ; they hide themselves cun- 
 ningly away, and you must thrust aside tlie leaves 
 and look sharp to get them." 
 
 " 'T is a winsome flower," said the young man, hold- 
 ing up one of the tiny purple-streaked bells. 
 
 " Yes, and they are not over-plentiful." 
 
 " 'T is that, mayhap, makes their worth ; things too 
 common do not stir our longing." 
 
 " No more should things too precious, for they are 
 often set at a price beyond our reach." 
 
 " I pray that may not hold true with what is now 
 most precious to me ! " burst forth the junker with 
 sudden gravity, and an emphasis made more impres- 
 sive by a moment's forethought. 
 
 Thereafter neither spoke for a space. The girl 
 moved uneasily in her seat, and passed the flowers 
 aimlessly from hand to hand. 
 
 Her companion's behavior was most disconcerting. 
 It was as if his eyes had been set as sentinels upon 
 her while his wits had gone wandering ; he simply sat 
 and stared. Oppressed by the prolonged silence, she 
 at last faltered, — 
 
THE B£!GUM'S DAUGHTER. 27 
 
 "How green the hills are yonder on Staaten Island !" 
 
 Perhaps he thought it not worth while to answer a 
 speech of so little pertinence. As he did not, she fell 
 to toying again with the flowers. 
 
 " Hester," he at length broke out, " do you remem- 
 ber, long ago, we went one day to get water-lilies at 
 the Kolch?" 
 
 " When we were children ? " 
 
 He nodded. 
 
 "And you pulled me out when I fell into the 
 pool ? " 
 
 " You have not forgotten it ?" he asked, eagerly. 
 
 " No ; I remember because I was so affrighted." 
 
 " Oh, humph ! " The gladness visibly faded from 
 his eyes, and only after a long pause he added, in 
 an undertone, " I was not affrighted, and yet I 
 remember." 
 
 " Because you did a brave thing." 
 
 " I did not know it was a brave thing," he retorted, 
 impatiently. 
 
 She looked puzzled. 
 
 " Hester," he said suddenly, " let us go back there ! " 
 
 " To childhood again ? " she asked, with an embar- 
 rassed laugh. 
 
 "To the Kolch." 
 
 "Now?" 
 
 " Yes ; 't is but a few minutes' walk." 
 
 "And then you can fish," she said, with make- 
 believe innocence. 
 
 But he was not in the mood for her dull little 
 maidenly wiles, pretty as they were. He answered 
 gravely and half frowning, — 
 
 "I shall not fish." 
 
 She looked at the flowers in her lap as though in 
 
28 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 search of another objection. He forestalled her 
 directly. 
 
 " We will gather some more on the way." 
 
 Thereupon he reached forth his hand imperatively ; 
 she placed her own in it without further demur. Turn- 
 ing northward, they crossed some intervening fields, 
 she perversely keeping him dancing hither and thither 
 in a vain search foj? the flowers which she well knew 
 could not be found. 
 
 Presently they came to the Kolch, or Collect, a 
 beautiful pond quite surrounded by green hills, cover- 
 ing the spot where now stands the gloomy prison of 
 the Tombs. 
 
 Following a cow-path, they soon reached the water's 
 edge, where Steenie, taking his bearings, guided his 
 companion along the shore to a rocky point which 
 jutted out to some distance into the deep water. 
 
 " See, here 't is ! " he cried, dragging himself up the 
 steep slope, and reaching back a helpful hand to his 
 companion. " 'T was here you stood, and I quite out 
 upon the point yonder." 
 
 Hester sat down upon the rock, and threw back 
 her hood, showing her cheeks glowing with the 
 exercise. 
 
 " Is it indeed here ? The rock looks not so high 
 nor the water so deep as I remember." 
 
 " 'T is because childhood is a dream where all is 
 big or miraculous," he said, throwing himself on the 
 ground at her feet. 
 
 "It remains a miracle still that I was not drowned," 
 studying the spot as she spoke. 
 
 " And a mercy, too — perhaps." 
 
 The last word came like a lagging thought involun- 
 tarily verbalized. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 29 
 
 " I hope that is meant more graciously than it 
 sounds," she commented, half-laughing. 
 
 " I had no thought of being gracious or otherwise. 
 I was only thinking of what might be." 
 
 " I trust 't is not a cause for repentance with you 
 that you saved my life ? " 
 
 " It may be." 
 
 She sat with a half-smile, as if ^ awaiting a jest. 
 
 " It may be a blessing, and it may be a curse," he 
 said suddenly and with emphasis. 
 
 " Heaven be good to us ! " she cried, tranquilly. 
 
 " Will it not be a curse if we are to be separated in 
 the end, if you are forbidden to hold converse with 
 me, if you are made to give me up, to see me no 
 more ? " he asked vehemently. 
 
 Except for a slight and natural reddening of the 
 cheeks, caused by this precipitation of the issue of 
 their long courtship, her composure remained unshak- 
 en, her cool Dutch blood held its course unquickened, 
 and her mild blue eyes encountered with steadiness 
 his ardent gaze. 
 
 " You know my family," he went on ; " you know 
 your own fatlier and their present relations, — what 
 likelihood is there that they will ever consent ? And 
 if they do not consent, what are we to do ? " 
 
 She listened to him gravely enough now, all co- 
 quetry and wiles laid aside. She surrendered her 
 hands to his passionate hold ; she acquiesced without 
 protest in the position he took, as the natural and 
 proper culmination of what had gone before. She 
 was happy, too, it was plain, but without transport. 
 She sat in serene content with the moment. Her 
 lover's looks and tones so filled her fancy as to leave 
 no room for the gloomy auguries he was so busily 
 
30 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 marshalling. Withal she may have been a little 
 dazed at the sudden development of the climax or by 
 the effort to follow his swiftly succeeding words and 
 emotions. 
 
 " One thing they cannot do ! " he went on impetu- 
 ously ; " they cannot help our being faithful to each 
 other ! " 
 
 She pressed his hand, in answer to the question in 
 his eyes. 
 
 " But they will make trouble for us ; prepare for 
 that, — have a care for that ! Well I know them. 
 They will make hindrances enough, never fear, for 
 us; they will be for making another match for you." 
 
 She shook her head and smiled. 
 
 That smile, brimful of confidence, of security, of 
 deep-going fidelity, outweighed a hundred verbal pro- 
 tests. It went straight to his heart, a doubt-dispelling 
 balm. With an eloquent look of gratitude he went 
 on : — 
 
 " Ah, sweetheart, hold to that and we are safe ! 
 Never heed them, never fear them. They can do 
 nothing so we but stand fast by one another." 
 
 She pressed his hand again, as if no other answer 
 were needed. But he craved a more definite pledge. 
 
 " Come, pipe up, little bird ! Where is your voice ? 
 I am hungering for a note of it. What say you, ei ? 
 Promise me now that whatever they do you will 
 cleave the closer to me." 
 
 " I promise," she said, demurely. 
 
 Thereupon he seized her rapturously in his arms, 
 and her face suffered a total eclipse for several 
 moments. 
 
 " Stay ! " he said presently. " Why not' bind our- 
 selves after the old fashion ? " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 31 
 
 Whereupon, taking a gold piece from his pocket, 
 with the aid of his hunting-knife and a heavy stone 
 he cut it in two. 
 
 " See, this is my pocket-piece ! I give you half. 
 Never part with it, Hester, whatever comes ! " 
 
 " That will I not, save to you yourself," she an- 
 swered firmly. 
 
 Directly her face suffered another and a longer 
 eclipse. 
 
 " Then will you keep it forever." 
 
 They were interrupted by a gabble of approaching 
 voices. A group of boys with fishing-tackle had come 
 to take possession of the point on which fhey were 
 seated. 
 
32 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 IV. 
 
 COME, let us go," said Hester, as the intruders 
 drew near. 
 
 " So soon ? " 
 
 " See yonder, how late it grows ! " pointing to the 
 shadow of a neighboring tree. 
 
 " But your flowers ! " 
 
 " There is no time for them now." 
 
 " Never mind. You shall have them to-morrow. 
 We will go in my ketch to Staaten Island, where 
 there is a great store of all sorts." 
 
 " Mother will never give me leave to go so far save 
 in older company." 
 ' " Let us have company, then." 
 
 " We might mayhap get Tryntje." 
 
 « Tryntje ? " 
 
 " The huysvrouw of Rip Van Dorn, who tills my 
 father's bouwerie above the Landpoort." 
 
 " Good ! " 
 
 " And Catalina." 
 
 « Van Dorn ? " 
 
 " Not she," laughing. " Well for you she hears not 
 that! Vrouw Van Dorn was her nurse and foster- 
 mother. She is Catalina Staats, my dearest friend ; 
 daughter of the worshipful Dr. Staats." 
 
 " He that married the Eastern princess they call the 
 begum ? " 
 
 " Yes, and not long ago fetched her hither from 
 India to live." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 33 
 
 " Catalina ! I wonder if 't is not the fiery little elf 
 I met this morning." 
 
 " What was she like ? " 
 
 " Like nothing else I ever saw. 
 
 " Oh, then, 't was she ! " 
 
 " With big black eyes, a skin like smoked pearl, 
 and hair not to be told from flax." 
 
 " Yes ; Dutch and Indian, see you, half and half, 
 her father and mother mixed." 
 
 " Get her, — get her, by all means ! 'T would be 
 sport to have the little wild-cat, though she might 
 scratch and bite ; and as for Vrouw Van Dorn, let us 
 go now and make sure of her." 
 
 " The bouwerie is near by ; we may take it on the 
 way home. But 1 warn you I am no great favorite 
 there, and she may not come at a bidding." 
 
 Turning southward, they followed a grass-path to 
 the highway, which in a short time brought them to 
 Rip's cottage. About to knock at the door, they were 
 stayed by a sound from within. 
 
 " Somebody is in pain," suggested Steenie. 
 
 " No, no," whispered Hester, stifling a laugh ; " 'tis 
 Tryntje singing." 
 
 " Never ! 'T is one in mortal agony, that ! " 
 
 " Sh-h ! Come here ! " 
 
 Tiptoeing along the path, with no great delicacy 
 they peeped in at the window. 
 
 Before them in a high-backed chair, sat Vrouw Van 
 Dorn, with one knee thrown across the other, balan- 
 cing upon her outstretched foot the ponderous Ripse, 
 while in a strident and raucous voice she sang the fol- 
 lowing ditty : — 
 
 " Trip a trop a tronjes, 
 De vai'keus in de boonjes, 
 3 
 
34 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 De koejes in de klaver, 
 
 De paarden in de haver, 
 
 De eenjes in de water-plass, 
 
 So groot myn kleine Ripse was ! " 
 
 As she reached his name, with a vigorous kick she 
 sent high in air the delighted infant, who came down 
 each time gurgling and choking with hysterical laugh- 
 ter. In strong contrast with the bacchanalian air of 
 the babe was the severe aspect of the mother, who 
 nevertheless went on patiently repeating a gymnastic 
 exercise which might well have taxed the strength of 
 a man. Stepping back to the door, Hester, after a 
 warning cough, lifted the latch and went in. 
 
 " Good-day to you, Tryntje ! " 
 
 The vrouw, as if ashamed at being detected in such 
 a display of maternal weakness, put Ripse straightway 
 upon the floor, rose, and stiffly curtsied. 
 
 " 'T is a fine day." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I hope you are well." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " My mother was greatly obliged for the hoof-kaas 
 you sent the other day by Rip." 
 
 " I am glad to suit her — Go away, Ripse ! " head- 
 ing off the creeping young one from an attack upon 
 the stranger by a swiftly protruded foot. " Sit you 
 down, pray ! " 
 
 " Ahem ! " coughed Hester, her skirmishing ammu- 
 nition nearly exhausted. " Your tulip-bed is truly a 
 wonder." 
 
 " It is nothing." 
 
 " You — er — we seldom see you in town these 
 days," continued the visitor, casting about cautiously 
 for some fit introduction of her subject. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 35 
 
 " 'T is that one," pointing to the baby. 
 
 " So ! I thought not of him. Have you — ahem — 
 er — seen Catalina of late ? " 
 
 " Yes ; she comes often." 
 
 The little huysvrouw's bolt-upright attitude, while 
 profoundly respectful, contributed little towards re- 
 assuring the visitor. Meantime the latter showed 
 few resources of diplomacy. In the awkward pause 
 Steenie's form darkening the doorway was sugges- 
 tively welcome. 
 
 " I have brought with me Mynheer Van Cortlandt ; 
 we are on our homeward way from the Kolch." 
 
 " Good-day to you, vrouw ! " said Steenie, seating 
 himself in the nearest chair with homespun familiarity. 
 " I am happy to make your acquaintance. I see you 
 have a fine lump of a boy yonder. Come, you rogue, 
 — come to me ! " 
 
 Dislodged from her defences by this flank attack of 
 the ingratiating stranger, Tryntje flushed with pleas- 
 ure at the compliment, and casting an admiring 
 glance at the tall junker, she muttered some inco- 
 herent disclaimer. 
 
 Noting with gratitude their first advantage, Hester 
 lost not a moment in following it up. " I promised 
 Mynheer Van Cortlandt you would give him a drink 
 of buttermilk." 
 
 This was a masterly touch, and put them a long 
 stride onward. 
 
 " That I will, and most welcome ! " cried Tryntje, 
 bristling in a moment with activity. 
 
 Taking her best pewter tankard from the shelf, she 
 plunged into the cellar, and presently brought it back 
 filled with foaming sweet buttermilk. Going next to 
 the pantry, she produced a couple of mugs and a 
 
36 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 heaped-up plate of cakes, murmuring as she set forth 
 her treat, — 
 
 " If you had but sent me warning ! " 
 
 " A year's warning could not have found you better 
 
 prepared. Come, junker ! " and lifting the baby to his 
 
 knee, Steenie placed himself at the table. " Where 
 
 are you, Hester ? Make haste if you would get your 
 
 'share." 
 
 " Oh, I knew well nobody makes olykoeks like 
 Tryntje." 
 
 The praise of the food demanded by etiquette was 
 received without elation by their hostess, who indeed 
 was at the moment far more interested in the matter 
 of Ripse's toilet. 
 
 With great uneasiness she beheld him in such close 
 proximity to the elegant stranger. Accordingly, mak- 
 ing some pretext for taking him, she employed the 
 interval while her guests were at their luncheon in 
 plying the wash-rag and comb, to such good effect 
 that Cinderella suffered no greater transformation at 
 the hands of the fairy godmother. 
 
 Hester presently brushed the crumbs from her lap, 
 and went to the window. 
 
 " Who would think of seeing the water from here ? " 
 she cried, again getting on the track of her object. 
 " You may see the masts of the ketches as they go 
 sailing along. Were you ever on the sea, Tryntje ? " 
 
 " Yes, as I came hither on the ship." 
 
 " It makes you not qualmish, then ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " What would I give to cross the sea I Did you find 
 it sport ? " 
 
 " I was like a fool over it." 
 
 "A sail in the harbor is nothing to crossing the 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 37 
 
 sea, but 't would be better than nothing, surely," said 
 Hester, cautiously advancing. 
 
 Tryntje listened with the feeble and unattached 
 interest she might have lent to one talking of trips to 
 the moon. 
 
 " A ketch might prove a poor matter after a big ship." 
 
 " 'T was old times then," sighed the dame, absently, 
 as with attention fixed upon the table she watched to 
 see that Steenie was kept supplied ; " there is no 
 chance for such fooling now." 
 
 " See your mistake ; here is a chance already. Myn- 
 heer and I go sailing to Staaten Island to-morrow ; 
 you shall go with us." 
 
 Tryntje only stared ; this sudden, proposal, so with- 
 out motive or preliminary, was very perplexing. She 
 covered her embarrassment by darting forward and 
 pouring another mug of buttermilk for Steenie, despite 
 his emphatic protest. 
 
 " What say you ? " demanded Hester, waiting pa- 
 tiently for an answer. 
 
 " You are most kind ; 't is a great honor, — I thank 
 you much." 
 
 " Then you will go ? " 
 
 " No," passing her stiff little hand with a discon- 
 certed movement over her lips, as if to wipe away the 
 effect of her ungracious refusal. 
 
 " What hinders you ? " 
 
 " That one," pointing to the baby. 
 
 " We will take him too." 
 
 Tryntje shook her head. 
 
 " What harm can come to him ? The sea air is 
 wholesome; 'twill do him good, — 'twill give you a 
 holiday. Come, Tryntje, such chances are not forth- 
 coming every day ; you will go ? " 
 
38 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " No." 
 
 " But why not, please you ? " 
 
 "I — he — the father will be afraid," stammered 
 the dame, driven to the wall for an answer. 
 
 " Rip afraid ? Not he ! I will answer for him." 
 
 Tryntje, however, stood stubbornly upon the defence. 
 Her visitor showed no less resources in the attack. 
 
 " 'T is a short course, mind you ; only to Staaten 
 Island." 
 
 The dame still continued to emphasize every fresh 
 argument by a prompt negation. 
 
 " We may be back for dinner." 
 
 A head-shake. 
 
 " There is no danger." 
 
 Another head-shake. 
 
 " 'T is Mynheer's own ketch." 
 
 A third. 
 
 " And he himself is to sail it." 
 
 Another jet. 
 
 With a growing look of persistence in her cool blue 
 eyes, Hester paused a moment to cast about for a 
 change of tactics. Opportunely Steenie came up, with 
 Ripse on his arm. 
 
 With one stroke of unswerving directness he stulti- 
 fied all Hester's laborious circumlocution. 
 
 " I hope, vrouw, you will oblige us. 'T is for my 
 pleasure. I would take Hester for a sail, and her 
 mother will be better content that some discreet 
 person is of the company." 
 
 This speech might as well have been accompanied 
 by an overt wink, so meaning was the glance the 
 junker fixed upon his listener. 
 
 In a trice she understood. Few women could have 
 resisted such an appeal. Tryntje was not one of 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 39 
 
 them. Flattered and disarmed, she showed instant 
 signs of relenting. 
 
 " And Catalina," put in Hester for a clincher, — 
 " Catalina is to go too." 
 
 But her sympathies were aroused, and Tryntje 
 needed no more urging. 
 
 " Mind you," continued Hester, turning upon the 
 step as they were about to set forth, " I have not yet 
 my mother's consent, but she cannot refuse when she 
 knows you are to be with us ; and so if you have no 
 word from me, be in waiting at the dock as soon as 
 may be after the opening of the gates." 
 
 " And bring this rogue with you," added Steenie, 
 giving Ripse a parting toss. 
 
 A smile which contorted for a moment the dame's 
 face was promptly and violently repressed, as if she 
 were ashamed of such weakness. 
 
 " 'T is settled, then. Come, Hester ! Good-by, 
 vrouw ! " 
 
 The junker had builded better than he knew; by 
 one happy stroke he had gained an ally whose value 
 the happy pair little suspected, as they marched 
 rollicking away. 
 
 And well for them they did not. 
 
40 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 IT is still market-day ; the fort bell has not yet 
 rung its curfew peal. Before the door of a small 
 shop in Winckel Street sits a middle-aged burgher. 
 The man is not comely, he is not agreeable looking, 
 but he fixes attention. It would be hard to account 
 for the instant and strong impression his personality 
 creates, — an impression which provokes while it 
 baffles analysis. One point soon becomes clear ; the 
 result of the whole outgiving of the man, so far as the 
 physical may reveal the moral, is presently recognized 
 in an atmosphere of power. Details here may not be 
 neglected, — a burly, robust figure, a head bristling 
 with energy, harsh features, a severe aspect, are points 
 each and all necessary to a clear realization of his 
 person. Significant, too, is his evident contempt for 
 small decencies ; his chin is rough with a two days' 
 beard, his long hair is uncombed, his nails are black, 
 his linen is soiled, his coarse hose are ill-gartered, his 
 breeches show divers rents, and his threadbare doublet 
 is splashed with grease ; for all that, he has an air of 
 entire respectability. 
 
 A certain strong odor from the shop proclaims the 
 man's calling, — he is a liquor dealer. In fact, he is 
 at this very minute awaiting the arrival of an invoice 
 of foreign wine now unloading in the dock. 
 
 As he sits waiting and smoking, there comes along 
 the street a tall figure with shambling gait, and stops 
 before him. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 41 
 
 " Well ? " grunts the sitter, with a sharp interroga- 
 tive accent. 
 
 " I am h-here — ye see." 
 
 " Ye come with the rent ? " 
 
 " Look at this ! " shaking a pouch. 
 
 " Ye are late." 
 
 " 'T is mar-market day." 
 
 " Ye found time to go to Vrouw Litschoe's." 
 
 "Ei?" 
 
 " Ye 're drunk again — " 
 
 " Not I ! " 
 
 " — and no wonder, with the damned dregs and 
 lees ye get yonder." 
 
 " I had but a drop passing the door ; 't is all — 
 't is — " 
 
 " Give me the money." 
 
 " Here — here 't is, all safe for ye ! " producing it 
 from his pouch. 
 
 " 'T is not enough." 
 
 "Bi?" 
 
 " Here is wanting four strings of seawant yet." 
 
 " So ? " with a blank stare. 
 
 "The old story, — ye spent it at the pot-house, ye 
 drunken dog ! But ye shall make up the lack, mark 
 ye, — every stnyver of it ! " 
 
 Mumbling and fumbling in his pocket, the tenant 
 affected a tipsy astonishment. 
 
 " What gave ye to your vrouw of your gains at the 
 market?" 
 
 " Ei ? " 
 
 " What had the vrouw from ye, I say, to keep soul 
 and body together ?" 
 
 " Tryntje ? N-never ye fear for her ! She — hie — 
 gets ever all that 's left." 
 
42 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " So ! They '11 not grow fat, she and the brat, 
 this time. Get home with ye, and mark my words ; 
 keep clear of Vrouw Litschoe, or I '11 have ye put into 
 the stocks ! " 
 
 Calling, a bareheaded apprentice from the shop, as 
 his crestfallen tenant staggered away, the landlord 
 growled, — 
 
 " Go get ye after yonder fool and see him safe 
 home to the bouwerie ; and, Olaes, stay ! Come 
 here!" He paused, and regarded with calculating 
 eye the treasure in his lap, from which he picked up 
 presently two strings of sea want, and added, " Hand 
 you this to the little vrouw yonder, on the sly, and 
 whisper there is no need to pay it back." 
 
 As the apprentice hastens after the tipsy Rip, Myn- 
 heer sees on the other side his expected load of wine 
 approaching. A heavy ox-cart tugs up the muddy 
 street, and after much shouting on the part of the 
 driver and some brutal clubbing of the patient oxen, 
 it is at last duly backed up before the shop-door. A 
 gang-plank is then adjusted, and the huge butts and 
 casks are rolled down and disposed so as completely 
 to fill the narrow space between the street and the 
 building, except that part occupied by Mynheer and 
 his wooden bench. 
 
 Mynheer looks on in silence, save for bawling out 
 now and then some direction to the slaves who are 
 handling the casks, or grunting assent to the idle 
 comments of his neighbors, who have gathered to wit- 
 ness the unloading. 
 
 The cart being driven away the diversion is ended, 
 and these worthy trades-folk fall back upon the staple 
 topics of the day for gossip. 
 
 " What think you, neighbor Leisler, of these stories 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 43 
 
 from over the water ? " asked the bareheaded haber- 
 dasher from next door, taking a seat on the bench. 
 
 " Stoi-ies ? " echoed the grocer, chewing a piece of 
 African ginger, and scraping his bedaubed leather 
 apron with a cheese-knife. 
 
 " That the Prince of Orange has invaded England 
 and King James is thrust off the throne," explained 
 the haberdasher, before Mynheer could empty his 
 mouth of smoke. 
 
 " Poh ! 'T is an old granny's tale," put in a Scotch 
 tobacconist, whose shop was close at hand. 
 
 " As Christ lives, it is the truth ! " cried Leisler, 
 bringing his heavy fist down upon, the bench. 
 
 " Pudge ! I say the English are not a folk to be 
 put down by a handful of Dutchmen." 
 
 "Who talks of putting down? 'Tis the British 
 themselves ; they were sick of the Stuart's Popish 
 plots." 
 
 " Have a care, Mynheer Leisler ! " 
 
 " Bah ! I stand by my words. They called in 
 Prince William because the old Romish serpent was 
 winding them in his coils." 
 
 " What avails knocking down the father to set up 
 the daughter?" 
 
 " They are as different as light from dark. Mary 
 is no Papist ; the prince would as soon take a viper 
 to his bed." 
 
 " But 't is a revolution you talk of," continued the 
 Scotchman. 
 
 " What then ? 'T is time, God knows, for a revolu- 
 tion when the king begins to plot with the Pope and 
 the French against his own." 
 
 " Trim your tongue. Master Leisler ! 'T is rank 
 treason you 're talking." 
 
44 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Leisler knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and gave 
 a snort of defiance. 
 
 " If this tale prove false," persisted the Scotchman, 
 " as many another has, j'ou may answer for it with 
 your head." 
 
 " I '11 answer it with sword and arquebuse, come 
 who will to the reckoning." 
 
 " And what ground is there for all this pother ? 
 Tell me that." 
 
 " Was not an honest man cast into jail in Boston 
 t' other day by yonder beast Andros — " 
 
 " Sh-h ! " 
 
 " Fie ! " 
 
 " Hush, man ! are you mad ? " There was a sibi- 
 lant chorus of protestation. 
 
 " — for showing a copy of the prince's own declara- 
 tion ? " persisted Leisler. 
 
 " Whence had he it ? " 
 
 "Fetched by himself from England, and he that 
 moment landed from the ship." 
 
 " And because some idle fellow shows a paper, call 
 you that proof the throne of England is overturned ? " 
 
 " How if it be stamped with the great seal ? " 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " What say you ? " 
 
 The suggestion caused a sensation, — the little 
 group gathered closer about the bold speaker ; others, 
 passing, attracted by the loud voice, joined the circle, 
 which soon swelled to a dozen or more interested 
 listeners. 
 
 " What is more," went on Leisler, " the great Dr. 
 Mather himself sent over an account of the whole 
 matter. But I waste my time talking to blind men 
 who cannot see, to deaf men who will not hear, and 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 45 
 
 to fools who cannot understand what goes on. I tell 
 you," he concluded, sternly, " when the air has been so 
 long time full of thunder, 't is time for the lightning." 
 ■ " But we are safe, at any rate," chimed in the official 
 inviter-to-funerals, who had just joined the crowd ; 
 " 't will hardly reach over here." 
 
 " Will it not ? Ugh ! " cried Leisler, with an om- 
 inous snort. 
 " Eh ? " 
 "What?" 
 
 " There will be violence here, think you ? " 
 " But we are good Protestants." 
 " Tell us your mind. Captain Leisler ! " 
 " Are there not Papists holding office here ? " roared 
 Leisler, in a thundering voice ; " boldly and shame- 
 lessly keeping themselves in high places when their 
 master is thrown down ? " 
 "Sh-h!" 
 
 " Speak softly, captain ! " 
 " Have a care ! " 
 
 " Who are those in authority, and what are they 
 doing ? " pursued Leisler, ignoring the cautions whis- 
 . pered in his ear. " Why is not William proclaimed, 
 since he is king ? " 
 
 A feeble murmur ran through the crowd, and the 
 listeners looked at one another in doubt. 
 
 " Why, indeed ? " cried a bold-looking man, elbow- 
 ing his way towards the bench. " How will the new 
 king take such backwardness ? " 
 
 " Think not that is all," went on Leisler. " Those 
 rascally Papists are plotting to seize the government 
 and make us into a Catholic province ; then they will 
 invite the old king over, and set up a Catholic king- 
 dom here in the New World." 
 
46 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 The Scotchman alone dared sneer at this suggestion, 
 but he was speedily silenced by the growing applause. 
 
 " The French devils in Canada are stirring up the 
 savages this very minute to help on the plot, and as 
 soon as James lands on these shores they will swoop 
 down and burn our houses and butcher our children, 
 if we go not over to the Papists." 
 
 " Right, captain, right ! You have hit it. Some 
 say the savages are already on the march." 
 
 " What measures are taken here against them ? 
 What are they doing, — the governor, the mayor, and 
 the worshipful councillors yonder at the Stadthuys ? " 
 
 " Ay, ay ! tell us that ! " echoed the bold-faced 
 man. 
 
 " Hatching treason," answered Leisler, bluntly. 
 
 " Fie ! they are no more Papists than you ! " cried 
 the Scotchman. 
 
 " Is not Nicholson a 'Piscopal ? " 
 
 " And if he be ? " 
 
 " I would rather be an out-and-out Papist than a 
 make-believe," said Leisler's adherent. 
 
 " Where is the treason in that ? " put in the Scotch- 
 man again. "Look out, my masters, how you play 
 with gunpowder ! A fire is easier set going than put 
 out." 
 
 " Have they not seized upon the public money and 
 locked it up in the fort ? " went on Leisler, with in- 
 creasing vehemence. " 'T is seized for King James ! 
 'T is the netSpIi^ mOney, — 't is our money ; will ye 
 have it given to a Papist ? " 
 
 A loud cry of protestation arose from excited by- 
 standers. 
 
 " 'T is ours, I say ; it came froin the sweat of our 
 faces, and we will have it back !" pursued Leisler, 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 47 
 
 clinching his fist and glancing ominously towards the 
 fort. 
 
 At this moment a hurried footstep was heard coming 
 down the street. The new-comer was recognized and 
 hailed by many of the group. 
 
 « Sola, StoU ! " 
 
 " What now, Joost ? " 
 
 " One might think his father had died and left him 
 an heir." 
 
 " Make way ! Make way ! Where 's the captain ? " 
 
 " Here ! Here ! " 
 
 " The devil breaks loose — ugh ! ugh ! Everything 
 goes to pieces — ugh ! ugh ! All the country is up in 
 arms." 
 
 " Have done with your grunting, and tell your story 
 like a Christian." 
 
 " My — my wind is gone — " 
 
 " Damn your wind ! What is your news ? " 
 
 " The Bostoneers have uprisen and — and laid the 
 governor by the heels and — " 
 
 "Andros?" 
 
 " The old Turk yonder that kept the people down." 
 
 " God ! " exclaimed Leisler, springing to his feet in 
 uncontrollable excitement. 
 
 " The people — ugh ! — have cast him into prison 
 — and — and — " 
 
 " Go on ! " cried Leisler, fiercely. " Go on, I say ! " 
 
 " — and set up the old governor — " 
 
 " Tes, and then ? " < 
 
 " They choose a committee to carry on the business." 
 
 "Who told you this?" 
 
 " An express is just come to the Stadthuys, most 
 dead with haste ; he says the whole country follows 
 after Boston, — Plymouth, Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
 
48 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 all ; they have all cast down the Papists and up with 
 King William." 
 
 Leisler glared at the man for a moment, and said no 
 more. He sat down upon the bench, with elbows on 
 his knees, and deeply pondered this startling news, 
 while the others gabbled and chattered about the 
 panting Stoll. 
 
 In the midst of the confusion a striking-looking 
 person quietly turned the corner of the street from the 
 direction of the fort, and slowly approached the spot, — 
 a small, slender woman, with a complexion as dark as 
 a mulatto's, but with features of the most delicate type, 
 and a very marked air of high-breeding and dignity. 
 Her dress was as extraordinary as her person. Both 
 in fashion and in fabric it was notably different from 
 that in vogue among the Dutch women of the period. 
 Over her head was draped a scarf of rich embroidery 
 wrought in colors, beneath wliich gleamed another 
 head-covering of the finest lawn. Across her low fore- 
 lie:id hung a thin plate of beaten gold set in gems. 
 Wrapped about her shoulders was a rare Indian shawl 
 wliich fell almost to her feet, displaying as she walked 
 a white skirt of the softest cashmere. She was accom- 
 panied by two negro slaves, one following, and the 
 other going before to secure a passage and inspire 
 respect. 
 
 As she approached the noisy group before Leisler's 
 door, some of those in the outer circle made a move- 
 ment to afford her passage. 
 
 " Make way ! " 
 
 " Stand aside ! " 
 
 " Make room ! Do you hear, junkers ? " 
 
 " 'T is her mightiness ! " 
 
 " The begum ! " 
 
"She lifted her veil.' 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 49 
 
 The lady, brought to a standstill, hastily drew a veil 
 across lier face as she noted the gaze of the group 
 fixed upon her. All stepped aside to make room for 
 her, — all save a group of three or four directly about 
 Leisler. 
 
 " Do you hear, there ? " bawled out the Scotchman. 
 " Are your ears stuffed with wool ? Make room for 
 the lady." 
 
 " Who is it calls ? " 
 
 " Bestir yourselves, I say, and let the worshipful 
 lady pass ! " 
 
 With much grumbling, the others climbed the casks 
 or stepped into the shop, but the doughty captain kept 
 his seat. " Damn the worshipful lady , and all other 
 worshipfuls ! There '11 be no more worshipf uls here ! 
 I '11 give way to no one before my own shop ! " 
 
 Turning his eyes as the others moved aside, and re- 
 cognizing the person for whom so imperative a demand 
 had been made, he went on with a fresh access of rage : 
 " Wliat, Staats' huysvrouw ? Make way for Staats' 
 blackamoor? Not I! Let her take the street ! There'll 
 be no more worshipful masters and highmightinesses in 
 this land, thank God ! Let her take the street, I say ! 
 I have better-looking wenches in my kitchen." 
 
 The woman started ; she lifted her veil, and gazed 
 steadily at Leisler, as if to identify the man and real- 
 ize his meaning. More impressive than any contortion 
 of feature or outburst of passion was the suppressed 
 look of profound outrage in the woman's face, and the 
 parting glance she cast at her aggressor was sinister 
 in its deep resentment. 
 
 Motioning to her slaves, she turned without a word, 
 and disappeared in the direction whence she had come. 
 
60 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 VI. 
 
 RETURNING from their visit to Tryntje, Steenie 
 and Hester entered the town by way of the 
 Landpoort, and sauntered down Broadway. Coming 
 near the fort, they found the green filled with an ex- 
 cited crowd. 
 
 " What is it ? " asked Hester, reluctantly admitting 
 any distraction in her new happiness. 
 
 " Wait, and I will bring you word." 
 
 " Never mind. What matters it ? " 
 
 Biit leaving her on the corner of Petticoat Lane, 
 Steenie had already darted across to mingle with the 
 throng. 
 
 Hester gazed after him with wistful eyes, sitting 
 down meanwhile on a wayside bowlder to beguile the 
 time. It was not long. He came back almost directly 
 with an explanation. 
 
 " 'T is nothing. Those noisy train-bands are dis- 
 content. You know, since this late news came from 
 abroad, they have been set to guard the town." 
 
 " Yes ; my father is one of the captains, and he has 
 to take his turn." 
 
 " Well and good. But last night. Lieutenant Cuy- 
 ler, one of De Peyster's men, took upon him to set a 
 guard at the sally-port without leave of the lieutenant- 
 governor, who, when he heard of it, called the rascal 
 up and had like to have broken his head with a pistol ; 
 and served him right, too." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 61 
 
 " To be sure, he was very bold," said Hester, ab- 
 sently, as she fastened a knot of flowers in her lover's 
 button-hole. 
 
 *' And now these grimy fellows would make a stir 
 about it. ' Let them stick to their shops, and leave 
 the guidance of public matters to their betters,' says 
 my father, and he should know. I will go tell him 
 of this uproar, and beg him send a file of soldiers to 
 drive these greasy fellows back to their work." 
 
 At this moment the bell in the fort sounded. 
 Trained to the clockwork regularity of a Dutch 
 household, the junker dropped the subject in mid-air, 
 and involuntarily turned his face homeward. 
 
 " Let us mend our pace, or we shall be late." 
 
 But Hester, defiant even of discipline in her present 
 bliss, loitered on the way, lengthening out every re- 
 maining inch of the distance. 
 
 Arrived at the corner' of the Strand, they stopped 
 and -gazed at each other ; it was their first parting. 
 Unhappily it was broad daylight and there were pass- 
 ers in the street. 
 
 " Must you go ? " he asked, holding both her hands. 
 
 She answered by a look which acknowledged no 
 compulsion. 
 
 " Think what a sweet day 't will be to-morrow at 
 Staaten Island ! " he said, by way of lessening the pang. 
 
 "But— till then?" 
 
 " I must overhaul my ketch this evening while the 
 light holds." 
 
 The excuse was plainly not accepted as sufficient. 
 
 " If we are to go — it must needs be repaired — " 
 
 Still with swaying hands clasped tightly in his, 
 Hester would not, by word or look, make herself an 
 accomplice in the impending separation. What mor- 
 
52 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 tal man could resist such sweet stubbornness ? The 
 enraptured junker, catching her in his arms, kissed 
 her again and again, careless of consequences. 
 
 Overwhelmed with shamefacednesS) she broke from 
 him and ran away. 
 
 " Stay ! Hester — Hester, I will go with you ! " 
 " But if we are seen — No, you must not." 
 Realizing the wisdom of this caution, he watched 
 her out of sight along the winding street, and heaving 
 a big sigh turned to go home, when plump upon him, 
 around a neighboring corner, came his young acquaint- 
 ance of Smiet's Vly. Filled at the moment with 
 thoughts of peace and good-will to all mankind, and 
 wishing perhaps to make amends for his mischievous 
 prank of the morning, he nodded and smiled, and in 
 further testimony of his friendliness held out a flower 
 which he carried in his hand. 
 
 Incensed by sucli effrontei'y, she snatched the flower 
 and contemptuously flung it to tlie ground as she 
 swept along, leaving the junker to hide in his sleeve 
 the laugh he dared not show. 
 
 Hester, meanwhile, on reaching home was rudely 
 awakened from her sweet meditations by finding a 
 crowd of rough men gathered before the door, and her 
 father, bareheaded, upon the stoop, haranguing them. 
 Unable to make her way into the house, she perforce 
 stood still and listened. What could her father be 
 saying that these men hung on his words with such 
 breathless interest ? Her curiosity was awakened. 
 
 " Cuyler was right, 1 say. Will he fall upon an hon- 
 est man for doing his duty ? He '11 pistol us all next. 
 Will ye stand and wait to be shot down like dogs ? " 
 
 Loud cries of " No ! No ! " arose from the crowd. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 53 
 
 " What right has he yonder in the governor's chair ? 
 He is no governor ; he is but the underling of that old 
 rat Andros the Bostoneers have trapped." 
 
 " Out with him ! " 
 
 " What is he doing there ? Plotting, — plotting to 
 steal away your liberties. He is a Papist ; his hand 
 is against us. He would burn the town ; he is getting 
 his torches ready day and night. And why ? Be- 
 cause we are Protestants, because we are Dutchmen, 
 because we will not bow down to idols and yield our- 
 selves slaves to Rome." 
 
 A lioarse cry like a muttering of thunder arose with 
 ominous effect from the increasing mob. 
 
 " What would they do ? They would bring over the 
 Stuart, him the English have kicked out, and set him 
 up here for a king." 
 
 "Never! Never!" 
 
 " That is not all. The worst is to come. There is a 
 plot to destroy us ; do ye hear ? — a hellish plot. Next 
 Lord's Day morning, on God's own blessed Sabbath, 
 while we are at worship in his holy tabernacle, the 
 devils are to fall upon us. They will cut us down, 
 kill, slay, murder us, one and all, and hand over the 
 town to the Papists." 
 
 " Down with them all ! " roared the crowd. 
 
 " Where are our city rulers ? What are they do- 
 ing ? The worshipful mayor and council, — why do 
 they not protect us ? Why ? Because they are hand 
 in glove with these bloodhounds ! " 
 
 This was a touch too much ; a murmur of conster- 
 nation and protest arose from the crowd. For one 
 moment there was a feeble movement of reaction, but 
 with the instinct of a demagogue Leisler saw, and 
 furiously stamped it out. 
 
64 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Hand in glove, I say," he repeated, coming down 
 the steps into the very midst of the throng, in his 
 ardor. " They are all one brood, — cursed aristocrats. 
 They look down upon the poor man. They would 
 make lords of themselves ! Years ago they cheated 
 the poor savage out of his home. They seized upon 
 all the fat lands in the province. Now they 're grown 
 rich they forget their Dutch blood. Damn their 
 traitorous souls ! Thev would betray us ! " 
 
 The momentary compunction of the mob was swept 
 away by this blast of invective, and with the blind 
 impulse of sheep they followed on where their bold 
 leader showed the way. 
 
 " They sell body and soul to the English, and are 
 paid by riches and titles, — a pack of rogues and 
 knaves and Papist cut-throats ! Will ye have men 
 like these to rule the country ? " 
 
 " No ! No ! " 
 
 " Will ye suffer them to stay yonder in the Stadt- 
 huys another hour ? " 
 
 " No ! We will fling them out ! Lead us on ! " 
 
 " Mark ye what the people did in Boston ? " 
 
 " Ay, ay ! Lead us on ! Huzza ! Leisler ! Leisler ! 
 To the fort ! " 
 
 Turning suddenly about, bearing the bold orator in 
 their midst, the infuriated rabble started to carry out 
 their threat. Unprepared for the movement, Hester 
 was thrown down and trampled upon. Happily her 
 father saw it all. Beating back the crowd, he sprang 
 to her aid, natural affection overriding even the fierce 
 excitement of the moment. 
 
 " You are hurt, child ? Hetty, my little Hetty, 
 they have not killed you ? Speak, child ! No ! Well, 
 then, stupid jade ! what do you in the street ? Get 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 65 
 
 you in, and serve you right ! " kissing her tenderly as 
 he placed her in safety upon the stoop. " Get you in, 
 I say, and let me not catch you in the street again." 
 
 Unhurt save for a few scratches, Hester stood gaz- 
 ing, dumfounded, after the howling moh until they 
 disappeared along the winding street. With no sus- 
 picion of any serious cause of discord among her 
 fellow-townsmen, she naturally regarded their action, 
 in breaking the peace of the sweet twilight hour, 
 filling with clamor the quiet little town, and setting 
 up for enemies their own neighbors and brother 
 churchfolk, as simple madness. 
 ' In her bewilderment only one impression remained 
 clear ; somehow, somewhere, there was a grievance 
 against Mayor Van Cortlandt. Instinct took alarm ; 
 the secret she locked in her bosom had already be- 
 come a dangerous one. 
 
 In this doubtful mood she went into the house. 
 Her mother, seated at the supper-table, surrounded 
 by the family, chid her perfunctorily for tardiness. 
 
 Vrouw Leisler, an easy-going, motherly Dutch 
 housewife, with a mind given wholly to the manage- 
 ment of her family, could throw no light on the 
 state of public affairs, but dismissed the question 
 Hester addressed to her upon the subject as usual, 
 with, "I know nothing of all that; go ask your 
 father, child." When told of the projected sail, how- 
 ever, and that Tryntje was to be of the party, the 
 indulgent mother readily gave her consent. There 
 was now nothing wanting but to secure Catalina. 
 
 Dr. Samuel Staats lived in a comfortable mansion 
 on a quiet street not far from the fort, whither, di- 
 rectly after supper, Hester took her way, skirting 
 without notice the excited groups that thronged the 
 
56 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 streets, nor troubling herself to ask the cause of the 
 disturbance. 
 
 Hardly had she entered the garden gate when she 
 was greeted by a cry of joy from an upper window, 
 and before she had time to ply the knocker the door 
 was thrown open and Catalina flew into her arms. 
 
 The two friends presented an interesting contrast. 
 Notwithstanding the slight difference in their ages, 
 one was as unmistakably a child as the other was 
 a woman. For the rest, they were as unlike as pos- 
 sible, and all the better friends in consequence. 
 
 " Hola, I heard you ! I knew 't was you. There — 
 there — there ! " cried the breathless Catalina, shower- 
 ing her friend with kisses. " Bad, bad girl ! — there, 
 again ! — 't is two whole days since I saw you." 
 
 " I sent Quimbo for you this morning to go for 
 flowers in the Magde Paetje, but — " 
 
 " I was out. I am enraged at it. Come in here. 
 Sit you down — so ! " and the imperious young host- 
 ess pushed her visitor into a big chair in a corner of 
 the living-room, and nestled down by her side with 
 arms tightly clasped about her waist. " Yes, what 
 a pity for me to be out ! Where was Quimbo loiter- 
 ing on the way ? Why sent you not sooner ? I went 
 to Smiet's Vly with the rest to see Wouter Olfert set 
 up his new water-wheel." 
 
 " But you are here now," put in Hester at the first 
 chance, " and I am come to bespeak you for a sail in 
 a ketch to-morrow to Staaten Island, which is full 
 of flowers." 
 
 « Dearest Hester ! " 
 
 " Go ask your mother." 
 
 " No, come you and ask her. She thinks you so 
 wise." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 57 
 
 " But let her know besides, that Tryutje is to go 
 and have care of us." 
 
 " Oh, then is there no doubt ; mother thinks me 
 always safe with Tryntje. But come, you shall ask 
 for me." 
 
 Hester arose, and followed across the hall and into 
 the opposite room, Catalina announcing her entrance. 
 
 " Mother, it is Hester ; she has come to speak with 
 you." 
 
 The room they entered answered to the parlor in 
 an ordinary Dutch house, where it would have been 
 shut up in sacred disuse save on ceremonial occa- 
 sions. This room was flooded with light, richly and 
 curiously appointed, and had withal a characteristic 
 air, notwithstanding the bizarre jumble of Dutch 
 furniture, Eastern rugs and draperies, Indian pot- 
 tery, and Oriental curios with which it was crowded. 
 
 The mistress of the house sat near one of the 
 windows, busied with some embroidery. A shadow, 
 like a passing cloud, swept across her face at sight of 
 Hester. She rose, however, with great ceremony, 
 and made her visitor a courtesy. 
 
 " Mother — I — we have come — You tell her, 
 Hester." 
 
 " I come to beg you will let Catalina go with us 
 for a sail to Staaten Island, to-morrow," began Hester, 
 with directness. 
 
 The begum regarded her visitor with an inscrutable 
 look. The pupils of her eyes dilated and contracted, 
 the action of her heart visibly quickened, but she did 
 not speak. 
 
 " It is to gather flowers," pursued Hester, insensi- 
 ble to small barometric indications. "We are to go 
 in a ketch." 
 
58 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Madam, wearing the same baffling expression, 
 silently shook her head. 
 
 " It is but a few miles over and back." 
 
 The argument produced no effect. Hester was 
 naturally puzzled by this demeanor, for the begum 
 had hitherto received her with the cordiality due to 
 her daughter's dearest friend. Catalina, too, was 
 evidently quite as much perplexed, for she stole 
 around to her mother's side in a caressing way. 
 
 " We count upon being gone but a short time," 
 continued Hester, witla perseverance. 
 
 Still the lady made no answer. 
 
 " Tryntje is to go with us. My mother gave me 
 leave to ask Catalina." 
 
 Quite unimpressed by these additional reasons, the 
 begum sat quietly opposing a bulwark of silence to 
 Hester's strengthening attack. 
 
 " Catalina, I am sure, is very urgent for going." 
 
 " Yes, mother, that I am." 
 
 " I should count it a great favor if you would let 
 her go." 
 
 A dawning look of impatience at this untiring 
 persistence began to show in the lady's face. 
 
 " If the day be not fair, we shall not go. We may, 
 with good luck, be home for dinner. Prom your 
 chamber window above, you may watch us all the 
 way yonder and hither again." 
 
 The petitioner stopped to take breath. Without 
 a word, the begum suddenly arose and courtesied in a 
 very significant manner. Hester flushed, but kept 
 her seat. Catalina, with keener apprehension, after a 
 respectful salute, drew her friend from the room. 
 
 Hardly was the door shut behind them, however, 
 when the disappointed girl burst into tears. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 59 
 
 " What means she by treating you in such a 
 fashion, — you, that have given no offence ? 'T is 
 the first time you had such a greeting from her." 
 
 Between her outbursts of tears and indignation 
 she asked for more news of the expedition. 
 
 " And in what ketch are you to go ? " 
 
 " The best in the harbor." 
 
 " And which call you the best ? " 
 
 " Mynheer Van Cortlandt's." 
 
 The visitor's bewilderment was completed on be- 
 holding Catalina spring to her feet, and cry with 
 flashing eyes, — 
 
 " Never ! Never would I set foot in it ! " 
 
60 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 VII. 
 
 A SCORE of miles, more or less, north^vard from 
 the town stood the manor house of Councillor 
 Frederick Philipse, the richest man in the New World. 
 His estate, comprising vast tracts of land bought for 
 a song from the Indians, stretched for miles along 
 the eastern bank of the Hudson. Intact in its virgin 
 beauty, it formed a natural garden unspoiled by hu- 
 man hand, where thick-wooded hills, wild ravines, 
 bold cliffs, and wide-sweeping meadows exhausted the 
 resources of variety. Close at hand, gleaming through 
 every clearing in the forest, flowed the broad and 
 tranquil river, shut in on its western shore by pin- 
 nacled heights, which rose palled in purple splendor 
 against the sunset sky, or withdrawn to mysterious 
 distance in the morning mists, as, fold on fold, 
 the fleecy vapor floated up from the surface of the 
 water. 
 
 The house which stood upon this demesne was as 
 worthy its surroundings as man's handiwork can well 
 be in the midst of God's. It was simple, ample, un- 
 pretentious, and thus not without dignity. In answer- 
 ing the claims of convenience, comfort, and an enlarged 
 hospitality, the builder had incidentally achieved a 
 certainly homely grace and unsought impressiveness. 
 
 It chanced that Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson was 
 visiting the councillor at the time of the outbreak in 
 town, and he very gladly accepted his host's invita- 
 tion to remain. Clearly he saw — as who could fail 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 61 
 
 to see? — the significance of the Boston news. He 
 felt the spirit of change in the thickening air. Di- 
 rectly all interest in his administration fled; he 
 thought only of retreat with a saving of dignity. 
 Daily, therefore, after his routine work at the Stadt- 
 huys was dispatched, he made haste to shake off the 
 dust of the cavilling little town, and gallop up to this 
 lovely retreat, radiant now iu all the heauty of early 
 spring. 
 
 The London bachelor, with his fashionable habits, 
 would never have been permitted to upset the sober 
 regulations of the household in Madam Margaret's 
 time, — she who used to go as supercargo on her own 
 ships to Holland without relaxing for a moment her 
 regulating grip on things at home. As it was, the 
 widower-host allowed his visitor the largest freedom, 
 and each went his separate way without interfering 
 with the other. 
 
 It chanced one morning that the two were seated 
 very late at breakfast ; for although Mynheer had long 
 since broken his fast, he returned to the table to keep 
 his guest in countenance ; moreover, the two had 
 business of moment in hand. 
 
 " Whatever their new Majesties may conclude to do 
 with the provinces," said Nicholson, chipping an egg, 
 " 't is clearly my part to stand by the helm for the 
 time being." 
 
 Philipse, with his heavy, neutral face void of ex- 
 pression, did'not commit himself by assenting. 
 
 " There can be no two minds about that as a matter 
 of right and propriety," went on his Excellency, rather 
 nervously. " Somebody must govern ; there is no- 
 body with a better right, or for the matter of that any 
 right at all." 
 
62 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 He paused as if expecting an answer, but his host 
 simply bowed. 
 
 " I was appointed by the Crown," he continued, 
 salting his egg quite unconsciously for the third time, 
 " and, whatever may be the state of things now, no- 
 body will pretend to deny that King James had the 
 power, at the time, to appoint me, or that he pro- 
 ceeded in a regular manner. Then 'tis plain, until 
 somebody is sent over with a new commission, I am 
 in of right, eh ? " 
 
 " It would seem so," said Philipse, driven at last 
 from cover. 
 
 " But we are standing on the verge of a volcano 
 Since those rebellious Bostoneers opened the ball by 
 laying hands on Sir Edmund the leaven of discontent 
 has been working through the whole country." 
 
 " Sir Edmund carried it with too high a hand yon- 
 der in Boston. There is no cause for the like discon- 
 tent here." 
 
 " They '11 not stick at causes ; they '11 find a cause 
 fast enough, never fear. But the question is what to 
 do. My authority is boldly defied. Heard you what 
 Bayard said ? Why, when I sent him last night to 
 call these train-bands to order, as their superior officer, 
 an impudent clown comes blustering forth and lec- 
 tures him. ' Go back to them that sent ye ! Go 
 back,' says he, ' and tell them to go about their busi- 
 ness ; we '11 none o' them ! ' " 
 
 " The fellow was in liquor." 
 
 " Not he. 'T was a well-known creature of this 
 Leisler." 
 
 " Stoll ! Yes, I know him, — a rough dog." 
 
 " But for this Leisler himself, — how came he so 
 suddenly to the fore ? Who is the man ? " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 63 
 
 " A liquor-seller in the dock. He married a rich 
 widow, and straightway thrust himself in among 
 honest folks. He is grown of much consequence 
 with the rabhle, and he is, moreover, a deacon of the 
 church." 
 
 '"Tis a lesson for you dissenters. A low-bred, 
 scurvy fellow like that could never come to office in 
 the Established Church." 
 
 " 'T is his money gives him consequence ; but for 
 all he has grown so rich, he can scarce write his own 
 name, and goes about as ragged and greasy as when 
 he was a varlet in a leather apron." 
 
 At this moment a servant entered hastily, and 
 paused at the threshold with an air of some excite- 
 ment. 
 
 " Pardon, Mynheer — " 
 
 « What is it ? " 
 
 " There be great doings down at the fort. All the 
 train-bands are gathered, and there is talk of the 
 city being stormed by the Papists. 'T is said Staaten 
 Island is alive with them." 
 
 " Bring me no more such idle tales," said Philipse, 
 sternly. " Go, and see you spread not this silly 
 report among the people ! " 
 
 " You see the fever grows," said Nicholson, signifi- 
 cantly, as the man withdrew. 
 
 Philipse nodded ominously. 
 
 "What's to be done?" 
 
 " If you were to go down to them yourself — " be- 
 gan the councillor, tentatively. 
 
 " Not I ! After Bayard's experience last night the 
 rascals would stone me. If they have reached the 
 point of turning upon their own colonel, all discipline, 
 you may be sure, is thrown to the winds." 
 
64 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Philipse glared at the floor, barren of further sug- 
 gestion, while his Bxcellencj- walked up and down. 
 
 " If we could but seize the ringleaders, this Leisler 
 and his creatures, the contagion might be stayed for 
 the moment." 
 
 " You have waited too long." 
 
 " Too long ! " repeated Nicholson, irritably. " And 
 by whose advice, prithee, did I wait ? " 
 
 " We — ahem — nobody could well foresee such a 
 state of affairs as — " 
 
 " I will send off a runner forthwith to Albany and 
 another to Connecticut," interrupted Nicholson, with 
 a sudden burst of energy. " I will appeal to the 
 country. These scurvy clowns shall find with whom 
 they have to deal. Come, let us get to work." 
 
 They were met on the threshold by another servant, 
 with the breathless announcement, — 
 
 " Here is Captain Ludowyck, with a troop behind 
 him, demanding to see your Excellency ! " 
 
 " How now ? " cried Nicholson, with a startled 
 glance at his host. 
 
 The latter stood struggling with his dismay, and 
 made no suggestion. 
 
 " Go say I will see Ludowyck, but not his 
 myrmidons." 
 
 The servant stared. 
 
 " Bring in the leader, but keep out the men," ex- 
 plained Philipse, coming to himself. 
 
 The servant withdrew. The two turned back into 
 the breakfast-room, and looked at each other in 
 silence. Nicholson hurriedly poured and tossed off 
 a glass of wine. He had not wiped his lips when the 
 tread of heavy feet was heard in the hall, the door 
 was flung open without ceremony, and a short, thick- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 65 
 
 set man, with a half -score armed attendants, entered 
 the room. 
 
 "Mynheet Nicholson," began the leader, without 
 preamble, "I come to demand of ye the keys of the 
 fort." 
 
 " What say you ? " shouted Nicholson, starting to 
 his feet, half-choked with indignation. " Who dares 
 send me this message ? " 
 
 " I come at the behest of Captain Jacob Leisler and 
 the other captains of the train-bands, and it will be 
 well for ye if ye presently obey." 
 
 " Get back to that rabble that sent you, and tell 
 them they shall pay dearly for this insolence ! Be- 
 gone, I say ! " 
 
 The lofty look and spirited tone of the governor 
 took the doughty captain by surprise. His men, too, 
 were plainly overawed by the magnificence of the 
 house and the dignity of the two officials. 
 
 Ludowyck, none too confident, as it seemed, of his 
 position, wavered before the angry glare of the gov- 
 ernor, and showed signs of withdrawing, when his 
 lieutenant whispered encouragement in his ear. 
 
 He began again : " Take good heed. Mynheer Gov- 
 ernor, what consequences ye bring on yourself." 
 
 "Will you go?" 
 
 " I am sent hither for the keys," answered the cap- 
 tain, with a returning hesitancy of tone. 
 
 Disdaining to reply, Nicholson maintained his atti- 
 tude of contemptuous dismissal; 
 
 " 'T is none of my affair, — 't is for them that sent 
 me to judge. Ye '11 hear from them again, — trust 
 me, ye will," muttered the daunted train-band captain, 
 retiring with his followers slowly and reluctantly from 
 the room. 
 
 5 
 
66 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Standing rigidly in his theatrical attitude until the 
 sound of their footsteps died away in the hall, his 
 Excellency then whirled about, crying, — 
 
 " This is not to be borne. Let us away to the 
 Stadthuys and oall together the Council ! 1 will pun- 
 ish these rascals at the risk of my neck. The keys of 
 the fort, forsooth ! This blow is struck at us all. It 
 means deadly mischief. Come, let us be stirring." 
 
 Even the stolid councillor was startled by this revo- 
 lutionary incident. Acting upon Nicholson's sugges- 
 tions speedily and with vigor, he dispatched runners 
 with appeals for aid to the other provinces, he posted 
 off messengers to his fellow-councillors, and in an 
 hour's time the two were on the way to town. 
 
 Colonel Bayard and Mayor Van Cortlandt promptly 
 obeyed the summons. Once closeted with his coun- 
 cil, Nicholson laid the matter before them in a few 
 words. Bayard heard it all without surprise and coolly 
 remarked, — 
 
 " This is but the beginning." 
 
 " Let us make it the end ! " retorted the governor, 
 sharply. 
 
 " I am with you. What does your Excellency 
 advise ? " 
 
 " Proclaim William and Mary," suggested the 
 mayor doubtfully. 
 
 " Impossible ! We have no official notice of their 
 accession. 'T is unsafe to take action on such idle 
 rumors as are blown across the water to us." 
 
 " And who knows but next week the tables may be 
 turned ? " added Philipse. " The French have taken 
 up King James, and he has a great following in 
 Ireland." 
 
 " None the less," went on the governor, impatiently, 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 67 
 
 " something must be concluded here and now as to 
 dealing with these rascals. They are stirring up the 
 people against us with tales of plots and conspiracies 
 and a thousand such lies." 
 
 " Why not gain time by affecting to make terms ? " 
 said the mayor again. 
 
 " The terms I would make are the four walls of a 
 dungeon ! " broke out his Excellency. 
 
 " The stocks and the whipping-post are better suited 
 to that sort," added Bayard, contemptuously. 
 
 " I fear me the disease has got beyond that stage," 
 interposed the mayor, with a wag of his head. 
 
 " Poh ! " cried the governor, with an intermittent 
 gust of resolution. " Poh ! I say. A show of au- 
 thority and the thing is done. These curs have 
 been 'at somebody's beck and nod all their lives, 
 and they '11 heed the crack of the whip like a dan- 
 cing bear." 
 
 " There 's nothing, then, but for you to go down to 
 them again, colonel, and bid them disperse under pen- 
 alty of being held rebels," ventured Van Cortlandt. 
 
 "Not I," growled Bayard, shrugging his. shoulders. 
 " I took my turn yesterday, and was well-nigh tossed 
 in a blanket." 
 
 " What then shall we do ? Come, come, gentlemen, 
 life and property are at stake. If the sun goes down 
 with this question unsettled, 't will settle itself in a 
 way you won't like." 
 
 Philipse, who had been listening for some minutes 
 in silence, now interposed ; all turned to him with an 
 air of expectancy. 
 
 " Threats and bluster are waste of time ; we have 
 no means of enforcing them, — we must try other 
 measures." 
 
68 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " ' Other measures ' is vague, Mynheer," laughed 
 the governor, ironically. 
 
 " Let your Excellency issue a proclamation," calmly 
 pursued Philipse, " calling upon all good citizens to 
 keep the peace — " 
 
 The governor gave an impatient sniff. 
 
 " — commanding these men to go back to their 
 workshops on pain of being declared enemies to the 
 welfare and peace of the community — " 
 
 « Poh ! Poh, sir ! " 
 
 " Let the mayor follow this up by calling a public 
 meeting," continued Philipse, with unruffled compo- 
 sure, " and appeal to the citizens to uphold the present 
 government and preserve the peace until orders arrive 
 from England." 
 
 " And pray what will all this avail ? " aslsed the 
 governor, with a sneer. 
 
 " 'T is good advice," said Colonel Bayard, decisively ; 
 " it will gain time, it will create a diversion, it will 
 throw them off their guard meanwhile, mark you ! 
 When night comes, we can seize this braying ass and 
 thrust him into prison." 
 
 " 'T is something, at least," commented the gov- 
 ernor, doubtfully ; " 't is better than sitting still. 
 Colonel, I am with you ; we will make the trial. 
 They shall find in the end who is ruler here. Once 
 let me lay hand on that knave Leisler, and — 
 Hark ! " 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " What was that ? " 
 
 A scuffling of feet was heard outside. Directly the 
 door was burst open, disclosing Ludowyck at the head 
 of his entire band, wearing this time a very significant 
 air of resolution. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 69 
 
 " Mynheer Nicholson," he began, in an uncompro- 
 mising tone, " I come again to demand of ye the keys 
 of the fort ! " 
 
 Nicholson controlled himself by a visible effort. 
 
 " On whose authority come you ? " 
 
 " Captain Leisler sent me, as I told ye, and he will 
 very speedily satisfy ye of his authority if ye comply 
 not with his request." 
 
 Stung by this threat, his Excellency lost all com- 
 mand of himself, and roared, — 
 
 " Go back to this braggart, and say I will have his 
 saucy head struck off and his body given to the 
 crows if — " 
 
 Before the incensed governor could complete his 
 foolish threat the other councillors interfered, and pro- 
 ceeded to hold apart a whispered consultation, which 
 Captain Ludowyck interrupted without ceremony, — 
 
 " Will ye give me the keys or no ? If ye yield them 
 quietly, well and good. If not," striking his halberd 
 on the floor with a ringing blow, " the consequences 
 be upon your own heads. I leave not the room with- 
 out the keys." 
 
 Nicholson paced up and down, accompanied by Van 
 Cortlandt and Philipse on either hand, talking to him 
 in tones of expostulation and entreaty. At length, 
 whirling about, he said with an outraged air, — 
 
 " I yield only to violence." 
 
 Ludowyck bowed grimly. 
 
 " You shall answer for this, mind you, with life and 
 estate." 
 
 " We fear not the threats of Papists and traitors." 
 
 "Never think to escape the penalty of your vil- 
 lanies by calling names ! The day of reckoning — " 
 
 " Will ye give me the keys ? " 
 
70 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " There they lie ! " cried the governor in an out- 
 burst of exasperation, tossing the heavy keys upon the 
 table. " Take them at your peril ! " 
 
 Without further ado the sturdy train-band captain 
 seized tlie ponderous iron symbols, and marched from 
 the room without so much as a salute to the humbled 
 officials. 
 
 Meantime, at the fort, the return of Ludowyck with 
 the keys produced a profound moral effect. The little 
 knot of captains were startled at their own victory. 
 They had taken the first step of a career in which 
 they could no more stop than a falling stone can stay 
 in its course. They must needs go on ; the revolu- 
 tion had begun. Realizing too late that they had 
 called up a spirit beyond their control, the timid took 
 alarm ; they began to count chances and to weigh 
 consequences ; several crept away by stealth to the 
 Stadthuys to patch up a compromise with their of- 
 fended commander, Bayard. 
 
 One bold spirit, however, there was who knew no 
 dismay. Leisler was not wanting to the moment. He 
 accepted the situation freely, fully, and defied its worst 
 consequences. Mounting the rostrum, he straight- 
 way threw off all disguise, and frankly confessed there 
 was no turning back. 
 
 " At last, my friends, we are free. See, here is the 
 pledge of it!" shaking the keys. "At last we have 
 cast off the yoke. We '11 have no more to do with 
 yokes. We '11 have no more to do with Papists and 
 Popes and despots. Down with them all ! Hence- 
 forth we stand for liberty ! William comes of a race 
 of freemen, — he will leave us to rule ourselves ! 
 But the work is not done. Those vipers yonder in the 
 
\THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 71 
 
 Stadthuys, they thirst for our blood ; they will not rest 
 till they have done us a harm. Beware of them ! Be- 
 ware of next Lord's Day ! They have planned to 
 make it a new St. Bartholomew's, more bloody than 
 the old. Beware, I say ! The torch is kindled un- 
 der your roof-tree ; the knife is whetted that will 
 drink your blood ! " 
 
 Cries of " Traitors ! Traitors ! Bloody villains ! 
 Down with them ! Drag them out ! Down with 
 them ! " drowned the voice of the orator. 
 
 " Stand by one another, and look to me. I will 
 care for ye. When the signal sounds for the mur- 
 derers and savages to begin their work, come ye here. 
 I will protect ye from the malice of these devils ! " 
 
 This harangue was received with such storms of 
 applause by the rank and file that the unhappy cap- 
 tains had no alternative but to join in. Thus the wa- 
 verers were brought back to the fold. Leisler seized 
 the occasion. He drew up a declaration on the spot, 
 which the nine captains of the train-bauds signed 
 then and there on a drum-head. 
 
 At nightfall, after a day of exhausting toil and ex- 
 citement, Leisler took his accustomed course home- 
 ward along the Strand. The events of the day had 
 made him a man of mark. Partly by his own bold- 
 ness and address, partly by the force of circumstances, 
 he had been lifted into great and sudden prominence. 
 The effect was notable. Every eye was upon him ; 
 the very children and slaves gazed in awe and admira- 
 tion upon the hero of the hour. Absorbed, elated, 
 unconscious of all this public homage, he strode along, 
 loudly declaiming to his companions upon the day's 
 transactions. 
 
 Nearing his own house, he seemed not, for a time, 
 
72 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 to note a couple, laden with baskets and -wild-flowers, 
 loitering upon the stoop. It was indeed not until he 
 reached the bottom of the steps that he fairly recog- 
 nized the two standing there, with hands clasped and 
 deep in converse. Immediately he flamed forth, — 
 
 " Ei — ye dare touch flesh and blood of mine ! 
 Stand back ! Stand back ! Get into the house, ye 
 shameless hussy ! What do ye here with this Papist 
 whelp?" 
 
 Choking with rage and shame, Steenie could not 
 articulate the words which came flooding to his lips. 
 
 "I — I — well for you 't is Hester's father — else 
 would I — but — but you shall smart for it — I '11 — 
 I '11 make you sorry yet ! " 
 
 " So ! your worshipful father will send the schout 
 for me ! Bah ! that for your father ! We '11 have 
 no more of him and his sort. We '11 pull him down, 
 strip him of his thievings, and send him begging. But 
 for you, young puppy! let me catch ye about my 
 house again, — I '11 have ye whipped at the cart's 
 tail ! " 
 
 About to retort, Steenie was hustled away by Leis- 
 ler's rough companions, and although he made a vig- 
 orous resistance he was quickly overpowered and 
 driven down the street, covered with mud and offal 
 rained upon him from the gutter. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 73 
 
 VIII. 
 
 " "V 7'IRTUS sibi munus " was the high-sounding 
 V motto of the Van Cortlandts, and the design 
 upon the family escutcheon signified in some heraldic 
 way their descent from the Dukes of Courland. 
 
 On the whole, as men and mottoes go, they had 
 done fairly well in making good the boast. Their 
 record for uprightness was at least as clear as their 
 neighbors', while for shrewdness and energy it was for 
 the most part better. Indeed, later generations had 
 turned into a jest the reproach once suggested by 
 their patronymic, Short-land. 
 
 Although born with a silver spoon in his mouth, 
 Stephanus Van Cortlandt, the father of Steenie, owed 
 what he had and what he was chiefly to his own exer- 
 tions. He had not only made the most of himself 
 individually by cultivating his wits and curbing his 
 passions, but had added a hundred fold to his estate 
 both in lands and chattels. 
 
 Naturally, the management of such large interests 
 had developed in him certain qualities of mind and 
 ciiaracter which gradually came to be recognized by 
 his fellow-townsmen as the traits most fit for a chief 
 magistrate. Thus it came about in the course of time 
 he was made mayor. In the discharge of his public 
 duties he gave such general satisfaction that he was 
 returned again and again to the office. And with 
 good reason, — he not only administered the govern- 
 ment with ability, but upheld its dignity with a b6- 
 
74 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 coming pomp. Furthermore, his comely person, his 
 costly garb, his sumptuous mansion, his troop of ser- 
 vants and slaves, and, by no means last or least, the 
 forceful character and commanding presence of his 
 wife were all factors of value in the sum total of his 
 popularity. Withal, Mynheer Van Cortlandt was 
 esteemed a model magistrate. 
 
 Accustomed so long to rule over a law-abiding popu- 
 lace, the worshipful mayor regarded the present vio- 
 lent proceedings at the fort with unmixed dismay. 
 Flying in the face of law and order, withstanding duly 
 appointed officials, seemed acts so illogical and un- 
 warrantable that he could find no rational standpoint 
 from which to judge them. 
 
 Accordingly he went home from the Stadthuys, after 
 the episode of Ludowyck's seizing the keys, shocked 
 and bewildered. Indeed, his extreme astonishment 
 appeared to have quite overbalanced tlie wrath and 
 humiliation proper to the moment. 
 
 Madam Van Cortlandt sat awaiting him. The lady 
 is not unknown to history. A native vigor of under- 
 standing, a masculine force of will, and a lifelong 
 association with the leaders of thought and action 
 in the little world in which she lived had begotten 
 in Gertryd Van Cortlandt a virile interest in public 
 affairs. She had, moreover, so often given sound and 
 practical advice in matters of moment that she had 
 come to be regarded in administration circles as the 
 silent member of the Council. 
 
 Well aware of the present crisis, knowing too that 
 her husband had been hastily summoned to the Stadt- 
 huys a few hours before upon urgent business. Madam 
 was naturally anxious to hear what new turn affairs 
 had taken. For her own reasons, however, she chose 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 75 
 
 not to betray by so much as a word or look any 
 interest in her husband's return. 
 
 Profoundly acquainted with his temperament, she 
 perhaps achieved thereby economical results in the 
 way of time and patience. 
 
 Mynheer, with exasperating scrupulosity, put away 
 his hat and stick, wiped his shoes again and again, sat 
 down in his easy-chair, fumbled with the papers in his 
 hand, sighed, adjusted his ruffles, cleared his throat, 
 crossed his legs, coughed, and otherwise temporized, 
 until, perhaps finding the ominous silence of his help- 
 meet more imperative than a volley of questions, he 
 began : " I know not what we are coming to." 
 
 Madam knit on in a controlled way, but with a 
 staccato stitch. 
 
 " Everything is upside down, authority is put at 
 defiance, the people are gone mad." 
 
 Madam vouchsafed no comment. 
 
 " The train-bands are risen against us." 
 
 " Leisler ? " suggested Madam, with contempt. 
 
 « Yes." 
 
 « Humph ! " 
 
 " His aim is clear under all his pretence, — to bring 
 himself into power, and thrust us out." 
 
 " How came he to such a pitch of credit with these 
 men ? " 
 
 " By inflaming their minds with talk of plots and 
 Papists." 
 
 " A braggart's wind is nothing," said Madam, coolly 
 loosening by a little jerk the tension of her yarn. 
 " Let him talk." 
 
 " But he begins to act. To-day he sent Ludowyck 
 to demand the keys of the fort." 
 
 "So?" 
 
T6 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " And his Excellency refused." 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 " But, seeing the danger, he hurried to the Stadt- 
 huys, called a meeting of the Council, and laid the 
 matter before us. We were in the midst of discuss- 
 ing some means of punishing their insolence when 
 the door was burst open, and in he came again." 
 
 " Ludowyck ? " 
 
 " Yes, with his whole troop at his lieels, and de- 
 manded the keys then and there to be delivered." 
 
 " And his Excellency ? " 
 
 " Had no resource but to give them up." 
 
 " Father in heaven ! " Shocked out of all self- 
 control, Madam started to her feet. She presently 
 checked herself, and walked up and down, profoundly 
 moved. At length stopping before her husband, she 
 asked abruptly, " And were you standing by ?" 
 
 The worshipful mayor quailed before the eyes of his 
 wife. "I — I was there. I told you so." 
 
 " And suffered it to go on ? " 
 
 " "What was to be done ? The man was backed by 
 a score of hulking fellows. They were ready for any 
 violence ; the madness had already seized upon them." 
 
 Madam did not answer ; she continued looking at 
 her spouse with a gaze that caused the sweat to start 
 out in beads on his pale forehead. 
 
 " What was to be done ? " he repeated, in a tone of 
 deeper deprecation. " There was Leisler yonder at 
 the fort with ten times as many more rascals to burn 
 down the Stadthuys and hale us forth if we refused/' 
 
 "And what then?" 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " If they had haled you forth ? " 
 
 This was a cruel question. Mynheer had no answer 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 77 
 
 for it. Unable to bear the intolerable look with which 
 it was accompanied, he started to his feet, and walked 
 about the room, plucking up a show of spirit as he 
 talked. 
 
 " 'T is my part as a public officer to do everything 
 to keep the peace. This business is only a fever, a 
 passing excitement, which will blow over in a few 
 days if met with calmness." 
 
 Madam did not answer ; she sat down and resumed 
 her knitting. She made bad work of it, too, repeatedly 
 ravelling out what she had done. Her husband studied 
 her face with anxiety. He seemed waiting for her to 
 speak, but she held her peace. 
 
 " What think you we must do ? " he asked, after a 
 long pause. 
 
 " Seize that man." 
 
 The crisp laconism of this answer and the unwaver- 
 ing positivism which inspired it so took the wind out 
 of Mynheer's sails that his little fleet of objections and 
 obstacles could hardly come to port. 
 
 " 'T is impossible. He holds the fort, mind you ; 
 he has a small army besides." 
 
 " Seize him, at all hazards," repeated Madam, as if 
 she had not heard a word of all this. 
 
 " We have no force equal to it ; he has the men, he 
 has the arms, he has the public money. 'Tis im- 
 possible, I say." 
 
 Madam knit and ravelled in silence. 
 
 " 'T is useless to attempt what is not in our power," 
 continued Mynheer presently, as if to invite further 
 discussion. 
 
 " Are all the train-band captains in league with 
 him ? " asked Madam suddenly. 
 
 " No ; three are still wavering." 
 
78 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Three, — 't is something." She spent a long 
 minute in deliberation. "And what hinders these 
 from going over ? " 
 
 " Their own qualms, — nothing else." 
 
 " Get them together, then ! " sharply and with deci- 
 sion. " Stay the progress of the contagion. Fix them 
 in their allegiance ; find out their following." 
 
 " I have sent for them already," plucking up at this 
 unexpected point of coincidence. " I am waiting for 
 them now." 
 
 " Waiting ! " 
 
 Mynheer perceptibly winced at the intonation. 
 
 " I expect them every minute." 
 
 " If every minute of this night were an hour, every 
 hour of it would be precious. Why are you sitting 
 here ? " 
 
 "What better can I do?" 
 
 " Put forth a proclamation ! Brand these wretches 
 as traitors ! Set a price on their heads ! Let not the 
 people think they are gaining ground ! " 
 
 The decision and energy of his wife's tone affected 
 Mynheer ; it afforded him visible comfort. He arose, 
 and seemed on the point of taking some action, when 
 the outer door was heard to slam violently, there was 
 a rush in the hall, and his eldest son came bursting 
 into the room. 
 
 " Father — sir — I — that dog — that hog — quick ! 
 send and seize him ! " 
 
 Mynheer, simply irritated by the interruption, gave 
 no heed to its merits. 
 
 " Don't trouble us now, my son. Your mother and 
 I have weighty matters to discuss." 
 
 " You have nothing weightier than this," persisted 
 Steenie. " That beast heaped insults upon me ! " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 79 
 
 Absorbed as he was with the one imperative ques- 
 tion of the hour, this persistence was intolerable to 
 Mynheer. 
 
 " Go away, I say ! " he cried angrily. " Leave us 
 alone ! I have no time for foolish quarrels." 
 
 " ' T is no foolish quarrel, this ! " shouted the 
 junker, confronting his father, with blazing eyes, 
 and pounding the table with his big clinched fist 
 until everything on it rattled. " He called me a 
 Papist, and threatened me with the cart's tail ! " 
 
 Mynheer was getting bewildered at the universal 
 spirit of insubordination. He simply stood and 
 stared. 
 
 " Who is this, my son ? " asked his mother, with 
 unshaken equilibrium. 
 
 " Old Leisler." 
 
 It may be taken as an evidence of Madam's control 
 over the small emotions that she did not change front 
 at this. 
 
 " I told him," continued Steenie, addressing his 
 father, " you would call him to account, and he 
 snapped his finger at you and cursed you, and said 
 you were a traitor, and to be pulled down ; and 
 when I would make answer to his taunts, his brutal 
 fellows thrust me into the street, and pelted me with 
 mud." 
 
 " Where was this ? " asked Mynheer, gradually 
 awakening. 
 
 " In the Strand." 
 
 " What were you doing there ? " 
 
 " We — I had taken a party to Staaten Island in 
 my ketch — " 
 
 "And then?" 
 
 " We had but just come ashore in the dock, and — 
 
80 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 and the basket was heavy, and I was helping Hester 
 home with it — " 
 
 " So, that silly chit again ! You brought it on 
 yourself, then," interposed Madam, calmly. 
 
 " She is not to blame for her father," retorted 
 Steenie, stoutly. 
 
 " But she is of his brood, and her pink cheeks will 
 not cure her bad blood. Take warning, my boy, and 
 keep clear of her." 
 
 Mynheer had at last a tangible thread to the snarl. 
 Forthwith he put in angrily : — 
 
 " Mark you, now, from henceforth I forbid you to 
 hold any acquaintance with that girl, or ever be seen 
 in her company. As for this matter, you are well 
 served for your folly." 
 
 Madam did not join in this foolish inhibition, but 
 studying the junker's crestfallen face as he turned to 
 withdraw, she added, with a significance which fixed 
 his attention, " Whenever an ill afflicts you, my son, 
 which you can find no cure for, bide your time ! " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 81 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE townsfolk were aghast when they heard of 
 the doings at the fort. It was as though a sir- 
 occo from the tropics had burst upon their tranquil 
 little island. The very air, like the atmosphere of 
 thunder-storms, seemed dense and murky, presaging 
 convulsion. There was, withal, a pervading feeling 
 of panic. The children, taking advantage of the re- 
 laxed vigilance at home, flocked in gaping wonder to 
 Bowling Green. Groups of whispering slaves, in de- 
 fiance of the law against their congregating on the 
 street, gathered at corners and in byways, keeping a 
 watchful outlook lest the schout should detect them 
 and drag them off to the whipping-post. The train- 
 bands inspired the awe of a conquering army, and 
 Jacob Leisler was suddenly invested with the mys- 
 terious interest of a nursery hero. 
 
 Perhaps no one in all the town was more deeply 
 disturbed than Dr. Samuel Staats. In vain he rubbed 
 his eyes and looked about to see things settle back 
 into their old ruts. Everything was awry. The ele- 
 ment of correspondence had vanished from the social 
 scheme. The moral world had warped away from the 
 physical. Ousted from his comfortable place in the 
 old dispensation, he could by no means adjust himself 
 to the new. The result was perplexity and distress. 
 
 Amidst all the darkness and confusion, there were 
 here and there feeble points of light, like fixed stars, 
 towards which he looked as guides. In the first place, 
 
 6 
 
82 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 he was a Dutchman ; no convulsion of nature or dyn- 
 astic revolution could affect that unalterable fact. 
 Thus by birth, blood, and association he seemed rather 
 to belong to the party at the fort than to the so-called 
 English party at the Stadthuys. Again, the situation 
 brought back old stirring remembrances of the recap- 
 ture of the city from the English iu 1673. While, 
 lastly, as a stanch member of the Reformed Church, 
 he necessarily took alarm at the cry of " Papist." 
 
 Naturally yielding to these varied influences, he 
 unconsciously gravitated slowly and surely in one 
 direction. It needed but a slight determining force 
 from without to give him impetus. 
 
 It was the day after the seizure of the fort. Early 
 in the morning there came a thundering knock at the 
 door. When it was opened, a loud, rough voice re- 
 sounded through the house : — 
 
 " Tell Dr. Staats Captain Leisler bids him come to 
 the fort without delay, ! " 
 
 Thereupon, without waiting for an answer, the mes- 
 senger strode off down the street. 
 
 The begum, sitting at her embroidery, heard the 
 message; it may be she even recognized worthy En- 
 sign StoU's voice. Dropping her work, she made an 
 odd little reflex movement with her hands, — a gest- 
 ure so unmeaning it could not have been voluntary. 
 
 Rising presently, she went towards the door, stop- 
 ped, turned back, and slowly walked up and down the 
 room. At last, with a sudden outward fling of her 
 nervous hands, as if casting off some resisting impres- 
 sion, she proceeded to a small room at the end of the 
 hall, which her husband used for an herbarium. 
 
 The Doctor had already put aside his work, and was 
 buttoning up liis long-tailed coat. He turned his heavy. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 83 
 
 sedate face toward the door as his wife entered, with a 
 passing look of surprise; it was evident she did not 
 often invade his workshop. 
 
 " You go out ? " she asked, carelessly, as if casually 
 noting his preparation. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " 'T is better to stay at home." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Yonder 't is so — so — " She finished the sentence 
 with a movement of her hands indicating confusion. 
 
 " Poh ! no, — old huysvrouw's tales." 
 
 " It must be most urgent, the business that takes 
 you forth." She drew near, and affected to correct 
 some detail in his dress. 
 
 " There is need I should go." 
 
 "So?" 
 
 " I shall be back before long," he said by way of 
 consolation. ' 
 
 " Is it for your own affairs there is such need ? " 
 she asked, unheeding his assurance. 
 
 " In part." 
 
 At a loss for an expletive, she made a gesture of 
 impatience. 
 
 " The public business is every man's business when 
 there is need of him." 
 
 " Who says there is need of you ? " 
 
 " I have been sent for." 
 
 " There is no king here. To send for another is to 
 have power over him." 
 
 " Sometimes." 
 
 " Who is here has power to send ? Comes the word 
 from his Excellency ? " 
 
 The doctor shrugged his shoulders. " Be sure it 
 does not, or I should be slow to heed it. His 
 
84 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Excellency's day is over. The king who set up his 
 Excellency is pulled down himself." 
 
 " And has the new king set up one in his place ? " 
 
 « Not yet." 
 
 " Who then takes the power to himself ? " 
 
 "Little woman," said the doctor, making a move- 
 ment to escape, " I cannot explain these matters to 
 you ; they are hard to understand." 
 
 She renewed her interest in his toilet, smoothing 
 his sleeves, tucking in the ends of his neck-cloth, and 
 now and again casting a quick glance up into his face. 
 
 " Do you understand them, then, — you ? " 
 
 The doctor coughed uneasily, and again tried to 
 edge away, whereupon, changing her tone, madam 
 cried imperatively, — 
 
 " Do not go ! " 
 
 " Where ? " 
 
 " To that man." 
 
 Despite the phlegm which encased him like an 
 armor, the worthy Dutchman almost started at this 
 unexpected thrust. 
 
 "Bi?" 
 
 " To go is your ruin." 
 
 " Poh ! poh ! " he said, stroking her with his fat 
 hands. " Somebody has been filling your ears with 
 fables." 
 
 She broke away from his caress, and her slender 
 figure seemed visibly to tower as she continued her 
 warning : — 
 
 " Go not, I say ! I see clearly, while you are blind." 
 
 The doctor looked discomfited, but his flabby, white 
 face only settled into stubborn lines of resolution. 
 
 " That man," pursued madam, vehemently, " has 
 always been a poor beast ; now he raves, he mounts 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 85 
 
 a car he cannot guide, he goes on — on — The — 
 the abyss lies before." 
 
 Affecting to laugh, the doctor gently moved his ex- 
 cited helpmeet from his path and walked to the door, 
 saying in a matter-of-fact way : — 
 
 " Be not afraid, my dear ; I will keep clear of his 
 car. Never you fear — " His fat sides shook at the 
 joke. " I will not go near the abyss." 
 
 " It will seize you too, then, this madness," muttered 
 the lady, looking after him. " Go ; but it is for 
 nothing, — nothing, only to follow in the steps of a 
 fool ! " 
 
 Listening mechanically as her husband's heavy step 
 resounded along the hall and the outer door closed 
 behind him, the begum's musing was presently inter- 
 rupted by Catalina, who came bursting in with a' 
 petition : — 
 
 " Mother, I would go out." 
 
 Madam looked at her daughter vacantly, without 
 realizing her words. 
 
 "I would go out, if it please you," repeated Cata- 
 lina, more emphatically. " Gertryd and Johanna are 
 at play in the garden ; you will not be alone." 
 
 The mother nodded, still with divided mind. 
 
 " I need not be back to dinner, I hope ? You will 
 not be troubled now that you know where to find me." 
 
 Receiving another nod of acquiescence, Catalina 
 with a joyous look skipped away, only turning at the 
 door to say, — 
 
 " I will come back before nightfall, and if those 
 noisy men are in the street Hester will send — " 
 
 " Stop ! " The cry was ringing and imperative. 
 " Where would you go ? " demanded the mother, 
 aroused in an instant to suspicious alertness. 
 
86 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 "To Hester's." 
 
 " You shall not ! " 
 
 " Mother ! " 
 
 " You shall not go ! " 
 
 " It is to Hester's, — to Hester's, do you hear ? She 
 expects me. I pledged myself to go." 
 
 " Say no more ; you cannot." 
 
 " But why ? What shall I say ? She will think I 
 forget. What is the matter ?" cried the disappointed 
 girl, her utterance choked by tears of grief and anger. 
 
 " Listen, Catalina, — listen, child ! Strange things 
 go on in the town, — stranger things come to-mor- 
 row ; all is upturned. Danger is everywhere ; it is 
 not safe to go. Dry your eyes now, and go play with 
 Johanna." 
 
 But Catalina was not to be so easily consoled. She 
 protested with energy against being obliged to break 
 faith with her friend. Impatient of this childish in- 
 terruption at a moment of deep pre-occupation, the 
 begum promised to despatch a messenger at once 
 to advise Hester that the visit was postponed, and 
 further appeased her daughter by proposing, — 
 
 " If you must needs go out, you shall visit Tryntje. 
 In that direction is no danger. Outside the walls all 
 is at peace." 
 
 After some demur, Catalina accepted the compro- 
 mise, for in her faithful nurse she had a sympathizing 
 confidant. Once reconciled to the change of plan, she 
 lost no time in making her way to the bouwerie. As 
 her mother had predicted, the road in that direction 
 was clear. 
 
 It was Saturday morning. Like a model huys- 
 vrouw, Tryntje was putting things in shining ordei 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 87 
 
 for the Lord's Day. The pewter ware stood in a row 
 above the fireplace. The brown and blue Delft had 
 been taken down piece by piece, and rearranged in 
 the corner cupboard ; the hearth-tiles had been stained 
 red, the futniture polished, and Tryntje, with arms 
 bared and skirts tucked up, stood holding a box of 
 fine white sand, wherewith she was about to sprinkle 
 the floor, already scrubbed to spotless cleanness. 
 
 Dropping the box, she spread wide her arms to re- 
 ceive her loved fosterling, who came rushing to em- 
 brace her. 
 
 " Oh, Tryntje, you are glad to see me ! " 
 
 " Mm-m ! Mm-m ! " 
 
 " I have come to eat dinner." 
 
 " 'T is too much happiness for me." 
 
 " But you must go on with your work, mark you," 
 continued Catalina, tossing her hood and jacket on the 
 table. " Where is Ripse ? I will play with him." 
 
 Tryntje silently pointed to a barrier built across the 
 bedroom door, behind which the chubby infant was 
 seen busily engaged with some bits of broken china. 
 
 " I will get over there too, and watch you," said the 
 visitor, stepping over the light boundary. " Nobody 
 can make such patterns in the sand as you, Tryntje." 
 
 " Bi ! Ei ! " cried the flattered little woman, hasten- 
 ing to fetch one of her best chairs. 
 
 " Oh, Tryntje, I 'm so glad — you know not how 
 glad — to see you ! I wish I could run away, and 
 come to live with you." 
 
 "Zoo-! Zoo!" 
 
 " Mother is like some other one ; she thinks to her- 
 self. She does not heed one. She grows harsh and 
 strange." 
 
 " 'T is nothing." 
 
88 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Yes, but it is. Mind you the time she would not 
 let me go to Staaten Island, and Hester, Hester her- 
 self, came to beg for it ? And now, this very morn- 
 ing, when I asked to go and see Hester, she broke out 
 with such anger. I never saw her so. I cannot think 
 what is the matter." 
 
 " 'T is nothing, quite nothing," said Tryntje, sooth- 
 ingly, as she cast the sand thickly about her. 
 
 " And Hester, — she also is grown strange, these 
 last days," continued Catalina, as she watched the 
 busy huysvrouw. " She thinks to herself, too. Some- 
 times she heeds not at all when I speak." 
 
 " What matter ? " interposed Tryntje, as she went 
 on dexterously forming with her broom, in the sand, 
 a wide border of an intricate shell-work pattern all 
 around the room. 
 
 " Because she has secrets from me. Only yester- 
 day I came upon her suddenly, and she hid something 
 in her bosom." 
 
 " M-m ! " exclaimed Tryntje, leaning her chin upon 
 the top of her broom-handle, and gazing at Catalina 
 with a knowing look. " Did she do that ? " 
 
 " Yes, did she, and turned red as a rose up to her 
 very hair." 
 
 " Zoo ! " said Tryntje, nodding her head significantly. 
 
 "What is it?" cried Catalina in uncontrollable 
 curiosity. " Tell me, Tryntje ! " 
 
 " I see something in the meal that day they come 
 from the Kolch together." 
 
 " They ? " 
 
 « And the buttermilk — " 
 
 " What ? " 
 
 " 'T was all for him," 
 
 « Him ? " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 89 
 
 " She touched not a drop ; 't was all for him. See 
 that ? " 
 
 « No, no. What is it ? " 
 
 " And Staaten Island ? " 
 
 " Yes ? " 
 
 " I go with them. They say not a word to me all 
 the day, but whisper, whisper, whisper to themselves." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Come here, my treasure. Help me with the schoor- 
 sten valletje," said Tryntje, bringing forth a long strip 
 of pink-checked calico, freshly washed and ironed. 
 " There, take you hold of that end. I mean," con- 
 tinued the dame, as she pinned up her end of the long 
 valance across the top of the fireplace, " she has a 
 sweetheart." 
 
 " Hester ? " cried Catalina in a shrill, startled tone, 
 dropping her end in the ashes. 
 
 " Mm-m ! " 
 
 "■ Who — who is it ?" she demanded, clutching the 
 little vrouw's arm. 
 
 " No less than the son of the worshipful mayor 
 himself." " 
 
 " That big — rough — saucy — hateful creature ? " 
 gasped Catalina. 
 
 " No such a one, but a fine, tall junker as ever I saw." 
 
 " Oh, Tryntje, you are the only friend I have left in 
 the world!" and throwing herself into her nurse's 
 arms, she burst into a violent fit of sobbing. 
 
90 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 CATALINA was inconsolable at what she consid- 
 ered the loss of her friend. That Hester should 
 have deserted her was bad enough; that she should 
 have kept from her a secret, and a secret of such mo- 
 ment, was worse ; but the cruellest blow of all was to 
 find herself supplanted in her friend's affection by 
 that odious junker Van Cortlandt. 
 
 She met this first trial of her life in a rebellious, 
 undisciplined spirit. By turns she was a woman, by 
 turns a child. She underwent rapid changes of mood, 
 abounded in whims and caprices, developed a contempt 
 for food and sleep, together with other small eccen- 
 tricities, betokening a mind ill at ease. 
 
 The begum, used to frequent fluctuations in Cata- 
 lina's spirit thermometer, gave little heed at first to 
 these new symptoms, and not until several days had 
 passed awoke to the fact that something unusual had 
 happened. 
 
 Her action, upon this discovei'y, was interesting. 
 She did not question Catalina ; she refrained from 
 talking with her; she only narrowly observed her. 
 By patient brooding over the matter, it gradually 
 dawned upon her mind that the trouble dated from 
 her daughter's last visit to Tryntje. 
 
 Communication with the bouwerie was frequent, 
 and a pretext was soon found for summoning Tryntje 
 to the house upon some domestic business. The 
 unsuspicious Catalina was quietly sent away on an 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 91 
 
 errand that morning, and the vrouw, when she arrived, 
 was shown at once to the room where the begum sat 
 at her embroidery. 
 
 The lady graciously nodded to her visitor, and by a 
 gesture indicated a rug just in front of the tambour- 
 frame as a place for her to stand. 
 
 " You are always welcome," she said, without inter- 
 rupting her task. " Goes all well at home ? " 
 
 " At the best, many thanks." 
 
 " The little one grows ? " 
 
 " That does he." 
 
 " And the goodman is in health ? " 
 
 " Always, I thank you much." 
 
 " 'T is fine weather now for your tulips," continued 
 the hostess, stopping to pick out a false stitch, while 
 her visitor stood waiting with an air of deference. 
 
 " Nothing can be better." 
 
 " Has it happened you have plucked your geese 
 yet?" 
 
 " Not yet, my lady ; I am waiting for a day." 
 
 " We have need of some feathers. Let me have all 
 you can spare." 
 
 " That you shall, and the best." 
 
 " Catalina says you have a fine flock." 
 
 " 'T is not much. 
 
 " Catalina goes often to your house. She plagues 
 you, I fear." 
 
 " Never. She comes too little." 
 
 " She gave me no account of her last visit." 
 
 « Zoo ? " 
 
 " I hope nothing went amiss ; " and the lady accom- 
 panied her words with a searching look. 
 
 Tryntje cleared her throat, and hesitated. The 
 begum became intent upon a snarl in her silks. 
 
93 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " She is heart-broke that Hester has a sweetheart." 
 
 An effect like the passing of a ray of light across a 
 picture was seen in the begum's face. 
 
 " And who is the junker 1 " 
 
 " Mynheer Van Oortlandt." 
 
 The busy needlewoman pricked her finger. Pausing 
 to stanch the blood, she murmured in a commonplace 
 tone : — 
 
 " Ah, my head, — it forgets everything ! We are in 
 great need of 6ggs. Pray you, send a basket by Rip 
 in the morning." 
 
 Long familiar with the peculiarities of her former 
 mistress, Tryntje showed no consciousness of this 
 sudden change of subject. 
 
 " He shall bring the last that are laid." 
 
 " So. Then I need not keep you longer here, when 
 you are thinking of the little one at home." 
 
 " Take your time. I had not a thought of him." 
 
 Casting a compassionating look upon the dullard 
 who had failed to take her hint, the begum went on 
 with her work without condescending to offer another. 
 Tryntje, after waiting patiently several minutes for 
 further recognition, shifting the while awkwardly from 
 one foot to another, at last began to understand. 
 
 " The feathers, and — the eggs, — 't was for that you 
 wanted me ? " 
 
 " Only that." 
 
 The lady's small black eyes were as unfathomable 
 as beads, as she gravely returned the vrouw's parting 
 salute. 
 
 After an understanding so explicit the begum was 
 naturally astonished to hear, early next morning, that 
 Vrouw Van Dorn was at the door again, demanding 
 to speak with her. Dissembling a look of curiosity. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 93 
 
 she signified by a gesture that the visitor should be 
 admitted. 
 
 Entering the room, Tryntje walked forward, and 
 without a word of warning or preamble exclaimed : 
 
 " Hester is shut up ; the door is locked against her ; 
 she is never to see or speak with her sweetheart again! 
 The beautiful junker is driven home like a dog ! Hes- 
 ter cries herself sick ! She sends for Catalina ! " 
 
 Although the begum sat motionless while these 
 spasmodic sentences were exploded in her ear, certain 
 interesting changes took place in her countenance. 
 She plainly resisted divers impulses to exclaim, to 
 interrupt, to start from her seat. To such good effect 
 did she control herself, however, that Tryntje waited 
 impatiently a whole minute for her to speak. 
 
 " Her father does this ? " 
 
 " Who else ? " 
 
 " He hates Mynheer Van Cortlandt?" 
 
 « 'T is like." 
 
 " He cares nothing to make his child happy ? " 
 
 « Not he." 
 
 " He shuts her up like a thief. He thinks only of 
 himself. He will make all bend to his will." 
 
 Even in her own agitation Tryntje noted the 
 growing intensity of these utterances. Her look of 
 wonder warned the speaker, who, checking herself, 
 said abruptly, — 
 
 " Catalina is in the garden. 'T is better for you to 
 tell her." 
 
 Tryntje, nothing loath, went on her errand. Left 
 alone, the begum, throwing off her head-dress, passed 
 her hands nervously over her face, and otherwise 
 showed signs of agitation. Directly, however, at 
 the sound of footsteps in the passage, she resumed 
 
94 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 her self-control as effectually as if it had been a 
 garment. 
 
 It was Tryntje again. Quite forgetful of decorum, 
 she came rushing in with the announcement, — 
 
 " She will not budge ! " 
 
 The begum was plainly very much astonished. 
 
 "Not?" 
 
 « Not a step." 
 
 Through and beyond the breathless dame, as if she 
 had been imponderable ether, the lady stared for sev- 
 eral minutes. The result of her reflection directly 
 appeared. Her action, however, remains as puzzling 
 now, after the lapse of nearly two centuries, as it 
 seemed at the moment. 
 
 " Go bring her here," she said presently, as if 
 awaking from sleep. 
 
 Tryntje went out, and after a few minutes came 
 leading in the reluctant Catalina. 
 
 "You will not go to your friend?" asked the 
 mother in a tone of reproach. 
 
 " No ! no ! no ! " vehemently. " She is no friend, — 
 she has left me. Her heart is changed, — she has 
 another. Let her have him ! I am glad she is shut 
 up, — glad ! glad ! glad ! Now she sees who is her 
 friend, — now she thinks of her dear Catalina ! " 
 
 Waiting until this outburst of passion had spent 
 itself, the mother said simply : — 
 
 " 'T is yourself, then, you love, yourself you most 
 think of. If you had loved your friend you would 
 have pity on her when she is unhappy." 
 
 This deft and nicely timed touch did its work. 
 
 " I do pity her, — I do pity her, and I will go to 
 see her, but she is no longer my friend ! No longer 
 — no longer — no longer ! " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 95 
 
 Burning indignation at the insult put upon him by 
 Leislei' for a time overmastered all softer emotions 
 in Steenie's heart. Impatiently he waited for the 
 condign punishment which he felt sure would be 
 visited upon the offender. Undue notions of his 
 father's official power added to a warranted faith in 
 his mother's strength of purpose confirmed him in 
 this belief. 
 
 Thus occupied with himself, he was for a long time 
 blind to the significance of things going on in the 
 town. Little by little, however, he awoke to a 
 realizing sense that something very unusual was 
 taking place ; that in some inscrutable way the 
 Winckel Street liquor-seller had risen into sudden 
 and threatening prominence; and that his own 
 worshipful father, far from any thought of making 
 the militant leader of the train-bands an object of 
 discipline, was striving by frantic efforts to hold fast 
 to the few shreds of authority still vouchsafed him 
 by that worthy. 
 
 Together with the discovery that Captain Leisler 
 had become a personage to inspire respect, not to say 
 fear, came the news that Hester was shut up in the 
 house by orders of her stern parent. There could 
 be no mistaking the cause. Wrath straightway 
 admitted Love a cotenant of his heart. 
 
 Thereupon, despite the threats of the tyrant and 
 the warnings of his own family, he began to haunt 
 the neighborhood of Hester's prison. Back and forth 
 he paced through the Strand, reckless of conse- 
 quences, keenly scrutinizing every opening blind or 
 fluttering curtain ; but never a glimpse had he of the 
 longed-for face. 
 
 With patience well-nigh exhausted, he was medi- 
 
96 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 tating some bolder move, when one morning he saw 
 coming towards him, from the direction of the dock, 
 a figure, in whom he presently recognized his new 
 acquaintance of Smiet's Vly. 
 
 " Good day, little one ! " he said, in the involuntary 
 tone of patronage one uses towards a child. 
 
 He might have spared his condescension. The 
 object of it ignored him utterly, and passed on her 
 way without a look of recognition. 
 
 Steenie laughed aloud at this lofty air. He even 
 turned with an amused look to watch the haughty 
 damsel down the street. Where was she going ? A 
 thought flashed through his mind. Darting forward, 
 he ran with all his might to overtake her. 
 
 " Wait ! Wait, I beg you ! Oatalina, I would speak 
 with you ! " 
 
 The little lady turned a deaf ear. 
 
 " Catalina — Catalina ! " he panted, in his eagerness 
 actually laying hold of her arm. " Wait ! Listen to 
 
 me 
 
 I " 
 
 " Dare to touch me," she cried, almost fiercely, 
 
 " and I will call for the schout ! " 
 
 " I mean no harm," he faltered, quite humbly. " I 
 
 want to see you. I would have you stop." 
 " I will not stop." 
 " Truly, I must speak with you." 
 " Go speak with them that want to hear you." 
 " But you are the only one who can help me." 
 " I do not want to help you." 
 " Fie ! Fie ! Do you bear malice for a little fun?" 
 " I do what I like. I ask not your advice." 
 " But I need your aid. I would ask a favor. You 
 
 can do me a great service. Listen ! " placing himself 
 
 in her path. " If I have given you offence, I am 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 97 
 
 truly sorry. I ask pardon ; I will make amends. 
 I meant no harm. This is no time to bear grudges. 
 Here is a gra^e matter. Hester, your friend, is shut 
 up yonder. I cannot get speech with her. I cannot 
 send her a message. You are going to see her. They 
 will let you in. Take a word from me, I beg you ! " 
 
 " I will take no word. I will not listen to you. 
 Never speak to me again. Let me go, I say ! " 
 
 The astonished Steenie moved aside, a,nd the 
 wrathful girl swept by him. 
 
 At a loss what to do next, the junker sauntered 
 down into the dock, where he saw a crowd gathered. 
 In his aimless mood any distraction was welcome. 
 He elbowed his way to the front, and foimd himself 
 in luck. A young negro woman was about to be 
 flogged ; they were just tying her to the whipping- 
 post. Here was something which promised for the 
 moment to lift his own weight of care. The girl 
 merely shrank when the first blow fell upon her bare 
 back. At the next stroke she screamed lustily, and 
 the vigor of her outcries increased with the progress 
 of the punishment. A murmur of appreciation ran 
 through the crowd. Steenie's own eyes glistened 
 with a languid interest. Although a common sight, 
 the incident had dramatic elements which raised it to 
 the dignity of a diversion. 
 
 Finding, when this was over, no other such happy 
 resource, the junker wandered vaguely across the 
 bridge, and following the bank of the canal, climbed 
 the Verlettenberg, the steep little hill at the head of 
 the Heeren-Gracht. Here, for lack of anything 
 better to do, he sat listlessly throwing sticks a!nd 
 stones into the canal, when his attention was drawn 
 by a beating of drums. 
 
98 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Looking down upon the little fortress, which lay 
 below him to the right, he saw several of the train- 
 bands armed and undergoing drill. 'He saw, too, 
 messengers coming and going, ox-carts of provisions 
 arriving, and a general appearance of bustle and 
 activity outside as well as within the walls. 
 
 A natural thought occurred to him. He looked to 
 the left, down upon the Stadthuys : not a sound nor 
 a sign of life appeared. The contrast was suggestive. 
 The startled junker sprang to his feet. 
 
 " The governor — the Council — my father ! " he 
 cried. " Are they asleep ? What are they doing ? 
 Do they know what is going on ? Will they make 
 no move until it is too late ? " 
 
 Urged on by a sudden resolution, he quickly de- 
 scended the hill, and was about to cross the bridge, 
 when he felt himself plucked by the sleeve. 
 
 He turned about, and beheld Catalina standing 
 with averted and forbidding look. 
 
 " You ? " 
 
 " She wanted me to come," began the messenger, in 
 an implacable tone. " I do it for her, and not for you." 
 
 "You have seen her!" burst in Steenie, oblivious 
 of all lesser considerations. " What did she say ? 
 How did she look ? " 
 
 " She says she will go to church on Sunday." 
 
 " Yes, yes." 
 
 " Perhaps her father may not be there." 
 
 " Whether he be or not — " 
 
 " Then she may get a word with you." 
 
 " She shall ! she shall ! Thank you, Catalina ; 
 thank you a thousand times ! " 
 
 " I don't want your thanks. I won't have your 
 thanks. I do it for her." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 99 
 
 XI. 
 
 MOVED by the instinct of self-preservation, the 
 procrastinating gentlemen at the Stadthuys 
 at last made an attempt to appeal to public opinion. 
 At the eleventh hour they decided to step down from 
 their pedestals and have a talk with the people. 
 
 In ordinary times personal influence or official 
 dignity might have gained them a hearing, but here 
 were times out of joint, and as they soon discovered, 
 the malady they undertook to treat had already long 
 since passed beyond the reach of preventive remedies. 
 The fever was in the blood, and day by day fired 
 more deeply the hearts of the lethargic Dutchmen. 
 
 There is reason to believe that Bayard disapproved 
 these long-delayed and futile measures, but at the 
 instance of his fellows he went forth with the mayor 
 and Mynheer Philipse to reason with the excited 
 crowds, gathered about the landing-place in the dock 
 or upon the fort-green. 
 
 " What 's the matter here, my friends ? " said the 
 mayor, approaching the mob in the dock. " What 
 brings you together ? Has some harm befallen ? " 
 
 With the lifelong habit of subordination the men 
 made way for their chief magistrate, but with no look 
 or word of welcome. 
 
 " What new thing has happened, I say ? Have you 
 not work to do and bread to eat ? Have you not wives 
 and children and comfortable homes ? Is not God 
 mindful of you more than you deserve, making your 
 
100 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 seeds to sprout in the ground, and sending sun and 
 rain for your crops ? " 
 
 Having no answer at hand to these awkward ques- 
 • tions, the listeners maintained a sullen silence. 
 
 " What 's lacking, I say ? Or who has done you 
 any wrong ? What brings you here, forsaking your 
 tasks and wasting the fair daylight, with knitted brows 
 and mutterings ? " 
 
 " We '11 have no Papist to rule over us ! " cried out 
 some one, bluntly, from the outskirts of the crowd. 
 
 Directly there was a hoarse cry of applause. 
 
 " And who, tell me, is a Papist ? Is it Mynheer 
 Philipse, or Colonel Bayard, or I ? " 
 
 "Them that go with Papists are no better than 
 their company." 
 
 " ^ho is the Papist, I ask ? Not his Excellency ? " 
 
 The speaker was interrupted by a loud murmur from 
 the crowd. 
 
 " Who dare stand forward and lay such a charge ? '" 
 demanded the mayor, with a show of indignation. 
 " Colonel Nicholson is no more a Papist than Dominie 
 Selyns himself. He is an upright, honest man, who 
 will abide by the law and do justice to all." 
 
 But though they could not answer, the good citizens 
 would not approve. One by one each little group 
 melted away and disappeared, and the astonished 
 mayor found himself again and again without an 
 audience. The other councillors had the same mor- 
 tifying experience, and, meeting at noon near the 
 Stadthuys, they gloomily confessed to each other the 
 hopelessness of continuing their efforts. 
 
 Meantime, as weak measures are worse than none, 
 they had done their cause a positive harm. The mob 
 liad no stomach for truisms. They wanted dogma- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 101 
 
 tism, not logic; brute force, not persuasion. They 
 wanted boldness, decision, action, — in short, leader- 
 ship. And they found it. 
 
 Down at the fort, like a clai'ion, rang out inces- 
 santly, morning, noon, and night, the warning voice 
 of their self-appointed leader, the prophet of the hour. 
 
 The fateful wheel was already set whirling, and it 
 knew no pause. In motion only a revolution has life 
 and being. Like an unquenched fire, it must needs 
 move on with ever swifter and fiercer progress until 
 its desolating work is done. 
 
 Affairs in the province grew momently worse. 
 News of discontent, of insubordination, of outbreaks, 
 poured in daily from the country districts- In .the 
 town something in the very air told of the impending 
 crisis. The old leaders seemed stricken with paraly- 
 sis, the new nerved with a superhuman energy. The 
 people awaited in tragic suspense the approach of the 
 fateful Lord's Day, concerning which so many dark 
 forebodings had been uttered. 
 
 At last it came. Strange to say. Providence saw fit 
 to lighten the darkness of doom by causing the sun to 
 shine, the birds to sing, and the waves to dance in the 
 bay as usual. The worthy citizens were shocked by 
 so gross an incongruity. They confidently expected 
 the day to be marked by awful convulsions of nature, 
 — tempests, earthquakes, and upwhirled sulphurous 
 flames from the bottomless pit. With equal trust 
 they looked for invading hordes of French and sav- 
 ages, for the uprising of some secret mysterious order 
 in society, to annihilate all good and virtuous men. ' 
 
 Heavily the moments of the fair May morning wore 
 away. Suddenly the tense silence was broken by the 
 tolling of the silver-tongued bell in the fort. The 
 
102 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 sweet, familiar sound sent a chill to the very mai-row 
 of the watching and waiting citizens. Had it come at 
 last ? Was this the signal for the massacre to begin ? 
 Was it their own knell ? No. It was simply the call 
 to the' morning service, — a call which all their lives 
 they had obeyed. Now, too, they must obey it, though 
 fire and sword or devastating flood barred the way. 
 
 With nerves high-strung by long suspense, with 
 faces ominous of evil, they marched forth, those hon- 
 est burghers, followed by their wives and children, — 
 marched stoutly forth, with the air of conscious vic- 
 tims, to the martyr's post. 
 
 Arrived within the fort they found a passing relief 
 in the presence of the large crowd of their friends and 
 neighbors assembled. The fortifications gave a sense 
 of security, and their place of worship was a second 
 home to them all. 
 
 The famous little church is well known to stu- 
 dents of history ; it stands forth a prominent and 
 striking feature in all the early views of the town, 
 with its double-peaked roof and its marble inscription 
 proclaiming ; — 
 
 WILHELM KIEFT DIRECTEUR GENERAL. 
 
 HEEFT DE GEMEENTE DESEN TEMPEL DOEN BOUWEN 
 
 Within, though severe, it was not 'less picturesque, 
 with its big stoves hoisted up on stilts to a level with 
 the gallery, its old chandelier fitted with long candles, 
 its droll little octangular pulpit in which the dominie 
 looked dangerously like a jack-in-the-box, and its bell- 
 rope dangling in the middle aisle. 
 
 Filing in as the last stroke of the bell sounded, the 
 men took their places on a raised bench which ran 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 103 
 
 around three sides of the room, while the women 
 and children silently seated themselves in the middle 
 space. The church seemed cold and a little damp 
 after the warmth of the outer air, and the pervading 
 smell of tobacco denser than usual this morning, as 
 the men puffed fiercely at their pipes. 
 
 Precisely upon the point of the hour Dominie Selyns 
 climbed into the pulpit, inverted the hour-glass on the 
 desk, and looked down upon the deacons sitting in a 
 row beneath him as if noting the absence of a well- 
 known figure ; then gazing calmly about upon his 
 anxious congregation, in unfaltering tones he gave 
 out the hymn, " A firm city is our God." 
 
 The zieken-trooster, with less command of himself, 
 pitched the tune a full half-tone below the key, and 
 the congregation sang it through in distracting dis- 
 cord. The hymn ended, there was an unusual inter- 
 ruption to the service. A dozen or more slips of 
 paper were handed up to the clerk, who in turn passed 
 them one by one up to the high pulpit, on the end of 
 a split stick. 
 
 It was a matter of much surprise to the congre- 
 gation that, notwithstanding these numerous peti- 
 tions, no allusion was made to the disturbed state of 
 affairs save this one brief passage in the long-drawn 
 prayer : — 
 
 " God of hosts, in the multitude of thy creatures 
 we are as nothing, yet thou carest for us ! Teach us, 
 we pray thee, to put away vain fears, to dread no evil 
 but thy wrath ! Teach us that while thou art near 
 no harm can befall us, and that thou art with the 
 chosen of thy people even from everlasting to ever- 
 lasting ! " 
 
 Midway the sermon the dominie suddenly stopped. 
 
104 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 The deacons inarched out and stood in a row under 
 the pulpit, facing the people, each carrying upon his 
 shoulder a pole with a bag at the end, from which 
 depended a little bell. The dominie solemnly pro- 
 nounced a blessing upon the collection about to be 
 taken, and the deacons started upon their rounds, 
 passing the bag scrupulously under the nose of each 
 individual, the poor and rich alike, who, warned by 
 the tinkling of the bell, could by no means feign 
 abstraction. 
 
 From his seat on the raised bench set apart for 
 the men Steenie commanded the whole congregation. 
 Presently his eyes brightened, his lips moved, he 
 started forward in his seat, and with difficulty re- 
 strained himself from crying out. Vrouw Leisler, 
 with her daughter, was coming down the aisle. One 
 glance at Hester's pale cheeks and downcast eyes sent 
 the hot blood in a flood to his face. He saw her un- 
 happiness, and remembered the cause of it. 
 
 Oblivious now of the preacher's words, oblivious of 
 the people's anxiety, the junker sat with unconcealed 
 impatience gazing upon that one rude bench and its 
 occupant. Hitherto Hester, glancing furtively about, 
 had failed to discover him ; but in the general move- 
 ment attending the taking of the contribution she 
 made a more careful survey. Their eyes met. A 
 hundred words were compressed into the glance. 
 
 Meantime the anxious people, although intent upon 
 every outside movement, were yet somewhat reassured 
 by the serenity of their pastor and the calm and or- 
 derly conduct of the service. Coming forth from the 
 little sanctuary, however, they found themselves once 
 more in the stifling atmosphere of plots and omens. 
 It was whispered that Leisler and the captains of the 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 105 
 
 train-bands were closeted in secret session in the gov- 
 ernor's house, of which they had latterly taken pos- 
 session. Several of the train-bands stood drawn up 
 in arms, ready for any emergency. The sentinels 
 stalked up and down with a portentous mien. 
 
 After the service many of the little flock gathered 
 about their pastor for comfort and advice. He could 
 give them no good reason for so sudden and profound 
 a disturbance of the peace, but bade them be of good 
 cheer, and he would go himself and confer with Cap- 
 tain Leisler, and learn, if possible, the real state of 
 affairs. 
 
 True to his promise, the dominie went straight to 
 the governor's house, and demanded admission. After 
 some delay he was ushered into a large, low-studded 
 room, where stood the object of his search busily 
 haranguing his associates. 
 
 Leisler paused, and a momentary look of discom- 
 fiture swept over his face upon the abrupt entrance of 
 his pastor. 
 
 " Deacon Leisler," said the divine, not without se- 
 verity, " I missed your presence at church. If leaders 
 and elders be wanting, how shall the common sort be 
 kept to their duty ? " 
 
 " Dominie, ye know well I am not often wanting," 
 answered Leisler, in a tone of respect, " nor would I 
 now be but for matters of grave moment which hold 
 me here." 
 
 " There be no matters of graver moment than your 
 duty to God, nor can ever be." 
 
 Somewhat taken aback by this prompt reproof, 
 Leisler had need to consider a moment his reply. 
 
 " There be other duties than praying and psalm- 
 singing." 
 
106 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " What other duty may there be to warrant you in 
 breaking God's divine commandment to keep holy the 
 Sabbath Day?" 
 
 " Watching over the safety of his people," retorted 
 Leisler, quickly ; " taking care they be not betrayed to 
 the enemy ; taking care that fire shall not visit his 
 sanctuary nor destruction overcome his iiock." 
 
 " And whence comes this peril ? " 
 
 " Prom the arch-enemy of mankind, — from yonder 
 whore of pollution, the Church of Rome." 
 
 " The damned Papists ! " broke in Stoll. 
 
 " Where find you proof of this ? " 
 
 " Everywhere. On every side they are plotting to 
 destroy us. They lie in ambush in our midst. They 
 are ready to rise. When the hour comes and the 
 signal is given, the town will run red with the blood 
 of its people, and the sky be blackened from the ruin 
 of our homes." 
 
 " How comes this to your ears, and not to mine ? " 
 
 "I am not to tell every man what I know," an- 
 swered Leisler, his eye flaming with enthusiasm, and 
 his person assuming a lofty port. " 'T is enough that 
 I know it. And yonder traitors have done it all ! " 
 pointing towards the Stadthuys. 
 
 A loud murmur of approbation from those about 
 him encouraged the speaker to proceed. 
 
 " I am put forth by my fellow-citizens to protect 
 them. I stand in the breach. I stand here ready 
 and waiting, and if those dogs and traitors do but 
 raise a hand — " 
 
 " By God, we will sweep them from the earth ! " 
 shouted Stoll, finishing the sentence. 
 
 " Silence ! " thundered the dominie, turning with 
 blazing eyes upon the speaker. " One breath from 
 
"Take heed what you do in the name of the Almighty 1" 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 107 
 
 Him whose awful name you mouth so glibly would 
 send your hardened soul to burn in everlasting 
 fire ! " 
 
 The abashed ensign quailed before this vigorous re- 
 buke, and interfered no more in the conversation. 
 
 " And as for you, Deacon Leisler," pursued the dom- 
 inie, in a warning tone, " take heed what you do in the 
 name of the Almighty ! Take heed you stir not men 
 to strife without cause ! Take heed the fever of am- 
 bition or the greed of revenge moves you not to deeds 
 for which you shall answer before a mightier tribunal 
 than that of men ! " 
 
 "With these words the undaunted preacher turned 
 upon his heel and withdrew. 
 
 In the general confusion attending the coming forth 
 of the congregation, Hester found no difficulty in slip- 
 ping away with Steenie. Regardless of the general 
 panic, regardless of the impending peril, they walked 
 calmly out of the fort, and following a beaten path 
 which lead towards the water, made their way to the 
 Copake rocks, a bold ledge which formerly jutted forth 
 into the North River, not far from the fort. Here, 
 among the nooks and crannies of the cliff, they easily 
 found a seat quite secure from landward observation. 
 
 They sat for a space silent, clasped in each other's 
 arms. 
 
 " Steenie ! " 
 
 " My sweetheart ! " 
 
 "What shall we do?" 
 
 "We will run away." 
 
 « No — no ; that I dare not," said Hester, startled 
 at the bold suggestion. 
 
 " Would you go back to that — to him yonder?" 
 
108 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " He is my father," faltered Hester, in meek pro- 
 testation. 
 
 " And what if he be ? " 
 
 "I owe him duty and obedience." 
 
 " You owe him nothing. He has forfeited all claims 
 upon you." 
 
 "The Bible says — " 
 
 " ' Honor your father and mother.' Good, while 
 they are worthy of honor ; it says notliing of honor- 
 ing a tyrant." 
 
 " We live in great dread of him," she went on, after 
 a little, in a tone of self-justification, " Mary and 
 mother and I, — he is so changed. We are nothing 
 now to him. His head is full of plots and conspira- 
 cies. He calls himself a prophet." 
 
 " He is — " The wrathful junker checked himself. 
 " 'T is all talk, brag, and bluster, to deceive the vul- 
 gar, to bring himself to power." 
 
 " We know not what to think. He talks of a great 
 work he is called to do, of blood to be shed, of 
 fire and ruin and slaughter — Oh, 'tis terrible to 
 hear ! Then he fixes his eye on a point in the air, 
 and talks in a way we cannot understand. We dare 
 not speak. We dare not cross him. If anything 
 goes wrong he flies into a mighty passion, and swears 
 most wickedly." , 
 
 " He is a madman. 'T is not safe to live with him. 
 You shall not go back, — never ! " 
 
 " Truly I shudder at the thought. We watch for 
 his coming. We dread to hear his step. When we 
 wait to meet him, 't is a mercy if we miss a cursing. 
 If, however, we run away and hide out of hia sight, he 
 sends fiercely to hale us forth." 
 
 " You shall never ga back." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 109 
 
 •' Oh, what else can I do ? There is no help for 
 me." 
 
 " There is, I say." 
 
 " How, tell me, and where ? " 
 
 " Listen ! I have a kinswoman at Vlacktebos. She 
 will receive you for my sake. 'T is far away enough 
 from town to be secure." 
 
 Hester looked tempted, but irresolute. 
 
 " She is a good, pious woman, and will give you 
 kind treatment. After 't is discovered you are gone, 
 and the storm is blown over, I will go counsel with 
 Dominie Selyns upon what's to be done." 
 
 "I fear, — 'tis an awful thing to run away from 
 home. How shall we come to this place ? " 
 
 " Easy enough. We may go in my ketch to Breucke- 
 len, and make the rest of the way on foot, at the very 
 worst." 
 
 " We might be seen setting forth." 
 
 " Not a bit. We will sail after nightfall. Come, 
 let us go this very night." 
 
 « Sh-h ! " 
 
 A sound of marching feet and a clatter of arras 
 were heard approaching from the left. Looking around, 
 they saw a sergeant of the train-bands with a squad of 
 a half-score armed men, to whom had been assigned 
 the duty of patrolling the shore to guard against any 
 hostile assault by sea. 
 
 " Ei ! Ei ! " hiccoughed the sergeant, with a vinous 
 utterance. " What 's here ? Here 's mis-mischief 
 hatching ! Misch — hie — mischief — see ! " 
 
 " Get away with you ! We are peaceable citizens 
 minding our own business," said Steenie, starting up 
 indignantly, " and I warn you to have a care how you 
 molest us." 
 
110 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " He-hear him, men ! Look ye here, young cock, no 
 crowin' here ! I '11 — I '11 tell ye wh-what ye are ! " 
 
 " It 's Rip ! " exclaimed Hester, in astonishment, as 
 the men drew nearer. 
 
 « Eh ? " 
 
 " Rip Van Dorn, Tryntje's goodman." 
 
 " He 's a meddling fool, whoever he be." 
 
 " 'T is only that" he has stopped too often at Vrouw 
 Litschoe's — " 
 
 " I '11 tell ye wh-what ye are," pursued the vigilant 
 sergeant. " Pa-Papists, — a couple of damned Pa- 
 Papists hatching a p-plot." 
 
 " Hold your saucy tongue, and go your way ! " cried 
 the junker, beside himself with rage. 
 
 " A. plot, I — hie — say, — hatching a plot ! I — 
 I 've been hunting for ye all day ! Fetch — fetch 'em 
 along to the captain ! " 
 
 " Rip ! " cried Hester, aghast at this threat. " Look 
 at me ! Do you know who I am ? " 
 
 " ' Rip ! ' Humph ! There be no R-Rips here, mark 
 ye ! " with an unrecognizing leer. " Sergeant, if ye 
 p-please, — Ser-Sergeant Van Dorn, at your bid- 
 bidding ." 
 
 " Listen ! " continued Hester, severely. " You know 
 very well who I am." 
 
 " That I do. Ye 're a Pa-Papist, — a damned fine 
 little Papist!" 
 
 " Hush, I say ! I am nothing of the kind, and you 
 know it well. So now pray lead your men away, and 
 go about your business." 
 
 Sergeant Van Dorn shook his head, and hiccoughed 
 out a very cunning laugh. 
 
 " My business ! So ! That will I, and t-take ye 
 along with me ! Ye shall g-go to the captain and 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. Ill 
 
 t-tell all about the p-plot ye 're ma-making here with 
 this other Pa-Papist! " 
 
 Whereupon, in spite of entreaty, threat, or expos- 
 tulation, the two were led away in custody by the 
 triiunphant Kip. 
 
112 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XII. ' 
 
 HESTER naturally trembled at thought of the 
 consequences, both to Steenie and herself, of 
 being dragged before her father in his present mood. 
 Despite her entreaties, however, the zealous Rip hur- 
 ried his prisoners towards "the fort. 
 
 To all inquirers on the way he bawled out, trium- 
 phantly, " Papists ! C-caught at last — caught hatch- 
 ing a p-plot. See the wretches ! Thejwould butcher 
 us — they would fire the t-town ! " 
 
 Upon the green outside the gates they came upon a 
 group of persons loitering to discuss the extraordinary 
 state of affairs. Hailing them in clarion tones. Rip 
 proclaimed his discovery. Encouraged by their gap- 
 ing wonder, he was going on to enlarge upon the im- 
 portance of the capture, when his eye fell upon a 
 familiar object in the crowd. He stopped short in 
 his bombast. His voice stuck in his throat ; the mar- 
 tial insolence faded from his eye, the swagger from 
 his gait. Pausing in his march, the hulking, rois- 
 tering sergeant visibly slunk into an abashed clown 
 before the apparition of a grim little figure which 
 suddenly stepped forth from the throng. 
 
 " Zoo ! " it began, in a corvine croak. 
 
 " 'T is you — m-my treasure ? " 
 
 " You are a great soldier ! " 
 
 "Ei?" 
 
 " Already the war is begun, then 1 " 
 
 «N-notyet." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 113 
 
 " But Vrouw Litschoe, good woman, keeps up the 
 courage till you go, ei ? " 
 
 " Th-the church is out early to-to-day," said the dis- 
 concerted sergeant, with a puerile attempt to change 
 the subject. 
 
 " A great, great soldier ! " repeated the vrouw, with 
 a withering survey of her spouse. 
 
 Finding his muddled wits quite unequal to the 
 occasion, and having from long experience a well- 
 grounded dread as to the result of the dispute, Rip for- 
 bore to answer, but with a tipsy assumption of dig- 
 nity beckoned his wife to a private parley. 
 
 " 0-come here, my treasure ! Co-come to me ! I 
 would — hie — talk to ye. Here, I say ! " He repeat- 
 ed the invitation in tones ranging through the whole 
 gamut of expression, from rotund command to falter- 
 ing entreaty, his pleading enforced by insinuating 
 signals of a fat forefinger. 
 
 But his inflexible helpmeet disdaining to budge 
 from her position, Mahomet must needs go to the 
 mountain. Edging up to her, therefore, with a very 
 unmartial bearing, he entered upon an undertoned, 
 deprecating explanation, to which the listener, scorn- 
 ing all subterfuge, replied by loud sniffs of disgust. 
 
 Meantime the prisoners looked on with differing 
 emotions. Steenie, too much outraged at the indignity 
 offered them to heed anything else, was impatient at 
 the interruption, but Hester, recognizing in the little 
 vrouw a possible ally, eagerly called her by name. 
 
 Tryntje, who had thus far been so taken up with 
 her husband that she had not heeded his following, 
 looked dumfounded at sight of the captives. 
 
 " Tryntje, Tryntje, see you ! 't is Mynheer Van Cort- 
 landt. We are seized for Papists, — Papists, mind you ! " 
 
 8 
 
114 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Goede Hemel ! " 
 
 " He — we have done no harm. We were sitting 
 yonder by the sea. What think you my mother will 
 say to see me dragged though the streets for a Papist, 
 — and on the Lord's Day, too ? " 
 
 "Ye hear, — ye see what ye do!" cried Tryntje, 
 shaking her husband's arm in her consternation. 
 
 Gathering himself with much ado, the sergeant 
 stared blankly at his prisoners. 
 
 " He affects not to know us, — he is made a fool by 
 the brande-wyn. Tell him, Tryntje, tell him we are 
 not Papists." 
 
 " Look ye ! 't is Hester and Mynheer Van Cortlandt 
 ye have here. They come from the church, — I have 
 seen them there myself." 
 
 " These P-Papists, say ye ? " 
 
 " Do ye take for Papists honest people coming from 
 church ? Church, mind ye ! 'T is better than Vrouw 
 Litschoe's. A soldier ! Ugh ! go home to bed ! " 
 
 The crestfallen sergeant stood helplessly staring. 
 
 " If these be u-not Papists, wh-where be the P- 
 Papists?" 
 
 " Go ask the captain ; 't is he talks of Papists. Go, 
 I say, and take to him his own child for a Papist ; 
 what then comes about ? " 
 
 «Ei?" 
 
 "The sergeant is whipped at the cart's tail and 
 drummed out of town for a drunken fool." 
 
 " Wh-where be the Papists, then ? " repeated Rip, 
 with tipsy persistence. 
 
 " Set these free, and go look for them at the pot- 
 house." 
 
 " Set 'em free ! — let 'em go free ! hear ye ? " hic- 
 coughed the sergeant, turning angrily to his men. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 115 
 
 " My vrouw says these be not P-Papists, 'n' she knows. 
 Wh-what are ye doin' wi-with these, ei ? Ye 've made 
 a bl-blunder, see ? Let 'em g-go, I say ! " 
 
 It was only after several emphatic repetitions of the 
 order that the guard, who were all more or less deeply 
 indebted to Vrouw Litschoe's reluctantly obeyed. 
 
 Hardly had the liberated pair thanked Tryntje for 
 her good offices, when Hester, recognizing among a 
 group of people just issuing from the gates some 
 members of her own family, whispered aside to her 
 companion, — 
 
 " Go — quick ! Let them not see us together ! " 
 
 " And you — you will go back to prison, then ? " 
 
 " There is no help." 
 
 " Where — when shall we meet again ? " 
 
 " Go, go ! They come this way." 
 
 " The bouwerie." 
 
 Hester looked quickly at Tryntje, who nodded 
 emphatically. 
 
 " Find some pretext to go there — soon — to-mor- 
 row ! " whispered Steenie, hurriedly. 
 
 In a moment more he was lost in the crowd. 
 
 Next day the junker set out betimes to keep his 
 tryst with Hester. On account of the shorter dis- 
 tance, he chose to go by way of the Landpoort. 
 
 It was a bright June morning ; a fresh wind blew 
 up from the water, the lilacs and apple blossoms in 
 the gardens along the road filled the air with sweet- 
 ness, and the young man's spirits, buoyed up by so 
 many cheering associations, rose to the pitch of con- 
 fidence. With youth, health, vigor, an ardent love, a 
 soaring hope, as allies, what could avail against him ? 
 
 Walking briskly forward, he thought out in detail 
 his scheme for Hester's relief. It seemed there could 
 
116 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 never be a more favorable time for carrying it into 
 effect than now,* while her father's whole mind was 
 intent upon the crisis in public affairs. 
 
 Despite his sanguine mood, however, a whole crop 
 of little doubts sprang up in his path like the weeds 
 by the wayside. Would Hester's courage uphold her 
 at the ripe moment ? Would his kinswoman receive 
 her, under the circumstances ? Could he keep the 
 matter from his own family ? Might not Leisler 
 raise a hue and cry which would make any hiding- 
 place impossible ? Would Dominie Selyns approve ? 
 Last, but first in present interest, would Hester be 
 able to find a pretext for keeping her appointment at 
 the bouwerie ? 
 
 Absorbed with these riddles, he heeded not, until 
 close upon them, some persons in the highway, evi- 
 dently engaged in an altercation. Something unusual 
 in the character of the group drew his attention ; a 
 number of Indians — the upper end of the island was 
 still swarming with them — seemed to be barring the 
 way of a traveller, whose escort of slaves made loud 
 and vehement protestation. 
 
 Drawing nearer, Steenie recognized a well-known 
 and striking object, and a moment's attention made 
 him master of the situation. In the midst of the 
 road stood the begum's palanquin, — a light, graceful 
 kind of litter which Dr. Staats had imported from 
 India for his wife's use, as she could by no means be 
 persuaded to trust herself in the saddle, after the 
 fashion of the Dutch ladies. The Indians, a strolling' 
 band of Najacks, accustomed to look upon the blacks 
 with contempt on account of their servile condition, 
 meeting, as they supposed, one of that despised race 
 riding in such state upon the highway, had stopped 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 117 
 
 the little cavalcade to satisfy their curiosity, greatly 
 to the terror and disgust of the lady. But regardless 
 of her fear and repugnance, they coolly persisted in 
 examining her jewels and fingering her garments 
 with many grunts of perplexity and admiration. It 
 was while she was undergoing this ordeal that Steenie 
 approached. Directly she caught sight of him the lady 
 called loudly for aid. 
 
 Having heard her complaint, the junker turned upon 
 the savages with an air of authority, announced him- 
 self a son of the mayor, reproved them sharply for 
 interfering with the lady, whose rank he duly de- 
 scribed, and concluded by warning them, upon pain 
 of bringing their people into disfavor with his towns- 
 men, against repeating the rudeness. 
 
 Impressed by the stature and bearing of the new- 
 comer, the Indians, disclaiming all evil intent, went 
 their way. 
 
 In view of the daily familiar intercourse then 
 existing between the Indians and the colonists, the 
 whole affair was quite commonplace. The begum, 
 however, chose to look upon it otherwise. It was 
 her first encounter with the red men, and she could 
 not be persuaded they intended anything less than 
 assassination. 
 
 Eegarding her deliverance as a true feat of knight- 
 errantry, she was eloquent in thanks, — more eloquent, 
 indeed, than intelligible to Steenie, who stared at such 
 tropical fervor. In her Oriental zeal nothing would 
 do but to make her gratitude concrete. It must needs 
 have a symbol. Drawing from her finger, therefore, 
 a ring of value, she pressed it upon her benefactor. 
 By no means clear that the ring was not proffered by 
 way of reward, he indignantly declined it. Thereupon 
 
118 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 she would know the name of one to whom she was 
 under such an eternal obligation. Intent only upon 
 keeping his appointment, Steenie muttered his name 
 and strode away, leaving the lady peering after him 
 from between the parted draperies of her palanquin 
 with a new and quite particular interest. 
 
 Eip found himself very heavy, that same Monday 
 morning. It was with much difi&culty that his thrifty 
 little wife routed him out of bed in time for breakfast 
 at sunrise. Although coming off sound in limb and 
 wind, he had nevertheless found his campaigning 
 somewhat exhausting. Nerves so long strained to 
 repel the attack of oncoming hosts needed unbending. 
 He felt himself listless. He was in no mood for work. 
 As laws are silent among arms, so, too, for the most 
 part, the arts of peace languish. The ploughshare 
 grows rusty while the sabre gleams. It need scarcely 
 be said that things at the bouwerie were sadly 
 neglected. 
 
 Tryntje, well aware of this, had not failed to hint 
 more than once that things were going to wrack and 
 ruin. Moreover, with a woman's insensibility to ar- 
 gument, she could not be brought to understand how 
 impossible it is for one to be a warrior to-day and a 
 farmer to-morrow, how painfully the smock cramps 
 the chest high-swollen from the shining cuirass, and 
 how ill it consorts with human blood and nature to 
 come back enthusiastically to the half-finished furrow 
 with the clang of cymbals still ringing in the ears. 
 But by every hero and patriot of his own sex, it will 
 be readily understood why, after the cattle were fed 
 and a few necessary chores done, Rip showed no dis- 
 position to go afield. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 119 
 
 Meantime, the expected visitors, either or both, 
 might arrive at any moment. Once let Rip see them 
 together or suspect the cause of their coming, and all 
 hope of secrecy was at an end. In doubt as to his 
 purposes, Tryntje indulged in a little skirmishing. 
 
 " 'T is three hours after sunrise." 
 
 " Well-nigh." 
 
 " You will be late yonder." 
 
 " I go not to-day." 
 
 " The war is over, then ? " 
 
 " I had my turn yesterday." 
 
 " Zoo ! one fights not every day in war ? " 
 
 " 'T is time for that when the enemy comes." 
 
 " He stays a long time away, this enemy." 
 
 " Never fear but he comes quick enough when I am 
 killed, and you have to till the bouwerie by yourself." 
 
 " I tremble not for that till it comes." 
 
 "Zoo!" 
 
 Time was flying; the sun was now nearly four 
 hours high. Tryntje became agitated, although not 
 yet barren of expedients. Having watched Rip pack 
 his pipe for a long smoke and settle himself with a 
 grunt of comfort in the doorway, she began again in 
 some precipitancy. 
 
 " There be many down there ? " 
 
 "At the fort?" 
 
 " Mm-m." 
 
 "A great crowd." 
 
 " Where comes the food from ? " 
 
 « Who knows ? " 
 
 "They must needs buy a great store." 
 
 " Cartloads." 
 
 " We sold not any yet." 
 
 " Ei ? " 
 
120 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " We have hoof-kaas and roUiches to spare ; then 
 there be our apples rotting in the cellar." 
 
 Slowly but surely the suggestion did its work. The 
 smoker's eyes kindled with a speculative gleam, his 
 lips contracted into a pucker of resolution. The in- 
 stinct of the chapman was aroused. Starting up at 
 last, he knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and declared 
 energetically, — 
 
 " 'T is a good thought ! I go there." 
 
 " 'T is late for to-day," suggested Tryntje, conser- 
 vatively. 
 
 " Damn ! No ; it is plenty of time. Get ready the 
 basket. 1 go now." 
 
 Tryntje showed no exultation at the success of her 
 tactics. She quietly packed the basket, and from the 
 door-way watched her swaggering spouse out of sight, 
 as he went striding away on his errand to town. 
 
 It was well -that Rip took a short cut across the 
 fields that morning, or he would have met the incau- 
 tious Steenie plunging along the highway, and thus 
 all Tryntje's trouble would have gone for nothing. 
 
 It was, to be sure, a ridiculously early hour for 
 such high, tragic, grave, and tender business as Steenie 
 had in hand, and so he had sense enough to see for 
 himself when he came to the door of the cottage, and 
 found Tryntje still busy over her breakfast pots and 
 pans. He lost nothing in the vrouw's eyes by excess 
 of ardor, it would appear ; for she received him with 
 the most respectful deference, brought him a glass of 
 cool buttermilk as he sat in the shaded stoop mopping 
 his forehead, and listened with a flush of pleasure to 
 his praises and thanks for her aid the day before. 
 
 " Sh-h ! sh-h ! in with ye. Mynheer ! " called the 
 little dame, warningly, in the midst of their talk. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 121 
 
 " Here they come ; she, and her brother with her. 
 In with ye, quick, or the cat's out of tlie bag." 
 
 Hardly had Steenie vanished through tlie door when 
 Jacob Leisler, Jr., came riding up, with his sister on 
 a pillion. 
 
 " Here 's Hester come to stay with ye, huysvrouw, 
 while I go to Sapokanican in search of forage. She 
 is to be home, mind ye, by noon, in case I come not 
 back this way, and you may send Rip with her." 
 
 Tryntje received this blunt message with scant 
 courtesy and not a word of comment. Hester, wait- 
 ing only until her brother was out of sight, turned 
 with inquiring eye to Tryntje, who answered only by 
 a nod. 
 
 "And Rip?" 
 
 " Yonder ! " with thumb pointing townwards. 
 
 Thereupon, without wasting further time in empty 
 compliments, the thoughtful vrouw caught up her off- 
 spring, who came creeping to the door leaving a long 
 wake on the sanded floor behind him, and went back 
 to her pots and pans. 
 
 Although the watcher within lost no time in taking 
 her place, it was not until a full half-hour had been 
 wasted in preliminaries and incoherent talk that 
 he suddenly bethought him of the object of their 
 meeting. 
 
 "Things go no better at home?" 
 
 Hester shook her head. 
 
 " He knows of your coming hither ? " 
 
 " That does he not, else be sure I had never come." 
 
 " He keeps guard over you still ? " 
 
 " No ; he takes little heed of any one ; he thinks 
 only of yesterday." 
 
 "And the failure of his prophecy — Did I not 
 
122 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 warn you ? ' Papists and plots ' ! Faugh ! there is 
 no plotter here but him ! " 
 
 " He has nothing but threats and curses for his Ex- 
 cellency, for your father and Colonel Bayard ; 't is a 
 most bitter hatred he cherishes for all three." 
 
 " Never fear but 't is well repaid." 
 
 " He grows mightier and mightier at home," con- 
 tinued Hester, rehearsing new causes of grievance as 
 if with deliberate intent to inflame her hearer's mind. 
 
 " Curse him for a tyrant ! " 
 
 "Jacob and mother believe him a great prophet, 
 like them told of in the Bible. They think all he does 
 is right, and that God is behind him." 
 
 " They are daft ! " 
 
 " Heaven knows what he may choose to do next ! " 
 
 " 'T is best not to wait upon his whims." 
 
 He looked at her inquiringly ; she let him draw 
 what inference he would from her silence. 
 
 " 'T is best to escape now while we can," he went 
 on, still without evoking an answer. 
 
 " You are unhappy there ? " he began again, after a 
 little pause. 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 " Come, then ! let us not lose another day ! I will 
 take measures at once." 
 
 Startled out of her silence by these decisive words, 
 she faltered, in a voice full of doubt and trouble, — 
 
 " If I were but assured it is not wrong ! " 
 
 " Never fear ! it cannot be wrong. Tryntje shall 
 go with us to Vlacktebos. I will take counsel of the 
 dominie." 
 
 " And the dominie, — think not but that he will go 
 straightway to him with the story." 
 
 « That will he not." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 123 
 
 Absorbed in their discussion they had uncon- 
 sciously sauntered out upon the higliway, and so, 
 quite regardless of precaution, on towards the town. 
 They brought up at last at the Landpoort. 
 
 " What say you ? " asked Steenie, anxious for a 
 decision. 
 
 " I would have guidance before I can move in the 
 matter." 
 
 " 'T is not safe ; who is there we can trust ? " 
 
 " I will pray upon it by myself, then, and let you 
 know my mind." 
 
 " Do ! and as soon as may be Tryntje shall come to 
 you to bring me your answer. Meantime I will have 
 all things in readiness." 
 
 « Hush ! " 
 
 They were startled by the apparition of a man's 
 head above the city gate. 
 
 " What 's this ? — the gates locked at midday ! " 
 said the junker in consternation. 
 
 So it proved. For the first time, tliat very morning, 
 in a passing fit of suspicion, Leisler had stationed 
 guai'ds at the gates, with orders to challenge all pas- 
 sers and inquire into their business. Indignant at 
 such a tyrannical measure, Steenie answered defi- 
 antly. The altercation brought to the spot the cap- 
 tain of the guard, who proved to be no other than 
 the redoubtable Joost StoU. One glance showed this 
 astute official the situation. The young people saw 
 themselves detected. Stoll had been a witness of their 
 former humiliation. Taking advantage of this knowl- 
 edge and of his present position, therefore, he roughly 
 bade them enter, sent Steenie on his way with threats 
 and curses, and gave Hester in charge of an armed 
 escort, to be taken to her father's house. 
 
124 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 \ 
 
 It was dinner-time, as it chanced, and Leisler was 
 at home. Outraged beyond words by Stoll's report, 
 he caused the refractory girl to be brouglit before him. 
 She came, looking ready to fall. 
 
 The stern father regarded her in grim silence for 
 a whole minute, as if to let her taste in full measure 
 the awe and suspense proper to the moment before 
 the thunderbolt of his wrath descended. 
 
 " So," he began at last, " ye dare to look at me ? 
 Ye dare to stand before my face ? Ye will not mind 
 what I say, ei ? Ye will run away from home ? Ye 
 will go after that long-legged poltroon, that scurvy 
 cub of a Papist, — ye will, I say ! " 
 
 Hester turned white before the gathering blast, 
 her breath came short and quick, she clutched the 
 chair before her for support ; but for all that, there 
 appeared in her streaming eyes and compressed, 
 quivering lips a look of immovable stubbornness, 
 which for the moment invested her face with a start- 
 ling likeness to the formidable one she confronted. 
 
 « By God ! we will see ! " 
 
 The hurtling bolt seemed to shake the ground 
 beneath her and fill the air with whirring stars, yet 
 she made no attempt to move, but stood holding fast 
 to the friendly chair, and never averted her eyes from 
 the fierce glare bent upon her. 
 
 " I will teach ye now a lesson ye '11 never need to 
 learn again ! I will — " 
 
 The sentence was never finished. There was a 
 confused noise and movement near at hand. In her 
 bewilderment Hester was only conscious of a slave 
 standing in the open doorway, saying over and over 
 the word gone. 
 
 " What ? " shouted Leisler, starting from his seat. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 125 
 
 " The governor ! " 
 
 " Nicholson ? " 
 
 " He has run away ! " 
 
 "When — where?" 
 
 " In a ship to London ! " 
 
 " Quick ! let me pass ! " And brushing his for- 
 gotten daughter from his path, the excited captain 
 strode in hot haste from the room. 
 
12B THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 PARTLY to see that his ketch was in good sailing 
 trim, and partly, it is suspected, to have an 
 opportunity to wrestle with his anxieties, Steenie 
 went that afternoon for a sail. Chance-led, he took 
 a spin up the North River, without much heeding 
 the conditions of wind and tide. In consequence he 
 spent the afternoon in tacking to get back, reaching 
 the city just before sun-down. 
 
 Skirting the western shore of the island on his 
 home stretch, he noticed a solitary figure upon the 
 Copake rocks. Idly scanning it as he came nearer, 
 he recognized Catalina, fishing. 
 
 The rocks, originally a continuous ledge, had been 
 wrought by the triturating waves into the semblance 
 of a hugh dumb-bell, — two big, rounded knobs con- 
 nected by a rugged isthmus, over which, at high tide, 
 the water flowed amain. It was on the outer one 
 that Catalina sat. 
 
 Knowing that the tide was coming in, the sailor 
 thought proper to warn the little fisher-maid. He 
 hailed her repeatedly, however, without result ; she 
 was absorbed in her sport, and the wind was against 
 him. 
 
 Presently, having occasion to renew her bait, she 
 looked up. He shouted again with might and main, 
 making at the same time vigorous signs for her to 
 leave the place. Failing to hear his words, miscon- 
 struing his gestures, and having no high opinion of 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 127 
 
 him at best, she received his warning with silent 
 contempt, and quietly went on with her fishing. His 
 outburst of vexation at her wilfulness ended in a 
 good-humored laugh. 
 
 A half-hour later, having moored his ketch and 
 landed in the dock, he bethought him again of the 
 disdainful fisher, and went roundabout, on his way 
 home, to look ^ after her. 
 
 A glance showed that his warning had been well- 
 founded. There she was, a prisoner; the narrow 
 path between the rocks being already covered by the 
 tide, whose angry surface presented to the aghast 
 Catalina a barrier as effectual as though it had been 
 fathoms deep. 
 
 Finding her retreat cut off, her cries for help 
 drowned by the hurly-burly of winds and waters, 
 she stood looking about her with a pathetic air of 
 helplessness. The sight of the junker aroused her 
 ebbing spirit ; she made a move as if to attempt the 
 passage. Steenie shouted, to stop her. Unheeding 
 his warning as before, she boldly persisted. Hardly 
 had she gone a dozen steps when a breaker, rolling 
 in, nearly swept her from the path. She retreated 
 in dismay. 
 
 The spectator's face beamed with quiet gratifica- 
 tion. " Shall I come for you ? " he called, demurely. 
 
 " No ! " The answer was prompt and emphatic. 
 
 Thereupon, without pressing the matter, he lighted 
 his pipe, and sat down upon a neighboring rock. 
 
 Meantime the day was gone, the afterglow was 
 fast fading from the west, and the prisoner presently 
 began to grow anxious. Again and again she studied 
 the situation, casting seaward and landward wistful, 
 fruitless glance's. There was no choice of resources. 
 
128 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 At last, when his pipe was smoked out, and the 
 opposite rock began to look like a silhouette against 
 the gray of the sky, hearing no sign of relenting from 
 the stubborn little maid, Steenie threw off his coat 
 and shoes to go to her. 
 
 From his look of repressed amusement, it was 
 plain he was thinking more of humbling his rebel- 
 lious captive than of the task before him. His ex- 
 pression speedily changed. He found that he had 
 undertaken a serious business. He had much ado, 
 indeed, to keep his footing, and reached the outer 
 rock somewhat spent in breath. 
 
 Drenched and trembling, Catalina stood awaiting 
 him. With contrite promptness she now obeyed his 
 directions. For him, such had been the sobering 
 effects of the transit, he seemed quite to have 
 forgotten his purpose of triumphing. 
 
 " Poor little Catalina," he said, gently, as he 
 stretched forth his stalwart hand to help her down 
 the slippery rock. 
 
 Cunning junker ! That one touch of tenderness 
 secured him a swifter triumph than the choicest 
 store of gibes and sarcasm. Hiding her face upon 
 his shoulder, the humbled maiden sobbed aloud. 
 
 But there was no time for condolence. Grasping 
 his quaking little companion firmly by both hands, 
 and bracing himself against the undertow, Steenie 
 moved backward step by step along the well-known 
 path. 
 
 On a level the water scarcely reached to his waist, 
 but tossed about as it was, and reinforced by an oc- 
 casional breaker, it seemed to Catalina of formidable 
 depth. With gasping breath and suppressed cries of 
 terror, she watched the combing billows bearing 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 129 
 
 dowu upon them in the darkness, and chmg with 
 desperate hold to her guide as the crest passed them 
 
 by. 
 
 Bidding his terrified charge to hold fast and not 
 be afraid, Steenie kept steadily on. A score of paces 
 and the worst was over. The rest of the way was 
 easy, and presently they came crawling up, safe and 
 sound, out of the maelstrom. Mindful of their drip- 
 ping state, Steenie was for putting his dry coat upon 
 Catalina. Still gasping, she protested : — 
 
 "No! No!" 
 
 " ' T is only till we reach your door." 
 
 " No ! " 
 
 " I can take it then myself." 
 
 "You need to go home. You shall not go with 
 me. I know the way for myself." 
 
 " The dogs will hunt you for a drowned rat. 
 Come." 
 
 "No!" 
 
 " Why not, pray you ? " 
 
 " I have well-nigh cost you life already." 
 
 " What then ? " 
 
 " 'T is enough." 
 
 " 'T is nothing, so we hencefoi'th swear a peace." 
 
 He waited as if for an answer. 
 
 " Say, shall we be friends or no ? " he persisted, 
 holding out the coat. 
 
 Without a word she suddenly stooped, kissed one of 
 his cold, wet hands, and ran away. 
 
 Several days afterwards, returning from the neigh- 
 borhood of the fort, Steenie passed Dr. Staats's house, 
 and bethought him to ask after the fugitive. 
 
 Hearing voices in the garden, he loitered to peer 
 over the fence, when a slave came to bid him enter, 
 
 9 
 
130 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 the begum having seen him from the stoop, where she 
 was at work behind the vines. • 
 
 Receiving him with every mark of distinction, the 
 lady straightway proceeded to bewilder her guest with 
 lavish and Oriental acknowledgment of his late ser- 
 vice. Involved, iterated, and reiterated, her song of 
 praise was rehearsed with fugue-like intricacy. 
 
 The junker had much ado to keep his face. 
 
 " 'T was nothing," he said at last, in protest. " I 
 but helped her over a deep place." 
 
 Disconcerted by this bald bit of prose after all her 
 poetry, the lady studied her visitor attentively. 
 
 " I hope she got no harm from the soaking ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " You shall see for yourself. Will it please you to 
 come in ? " she said, leading the way to the parlor. 
 
 Although the slave sent to summon her reported 
 that she was in the garden, Catalina delayed an un- 
 conscionable time in coming. 
 
 Directly she appeared the cause of the delay was 
 apparent. She had made a toilet. 
 
 The begum suffered a fleeting little look of surprise 
 to run the guard of her controlling muscles upon 
 noting this new freak of her harum-scarum daughter. 
 
 But if the mother was perplexed at her toilet, the 
 visitor was more puzzled at her behavior. His surprise, 
 moreover, was clearly not altogether an agreeable one ; 
 he evidently missed an expected entertainment. 
 
 Coming in, she lingered timorously upon the thres- 
 hold ; she courtesied with drooped eyes ; she stood in 
 much constraint while stammering forth her greeting : 
 
 " I hope you are well. Mynheer, after that — after 
 what you went through ? " 
 
 " Many thanks for your concern. Never fear for 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 131 
 
 me. I am neither sugar nor salt, to be hurt by a 
 wetting. 'T is you should have dissolved, going home 
 without a coat." 
 
 " I took, no harm." 
 
 " So ? All is then for the best. Have you heard, 
 madam," turning to the begum with a quizzical air, 
 " the outcome of our adventure yonder ? Catalina 
 and I have sworn a pact. From deadly foes we are 
 become fast friends." 
 
 The mother looked with inquiring eyes at her 
 daughter. Catalina flushed, but whether at the words 
 or tone did not appear. 
 
 " Eh, is it not so ? " demanded the visitor. 
 
 " I cannot say." 
 
 The questioner's face lighted up. Hopeful of hav- 
 ing at last struck out an old-time spark of contradic- 
 tion, he made haste to fan it. 
 
 " Confess, now." 
 
 « What shall I confess ? " 
 
 " That we are fast friends." 
 
 " I know not if we be." 
 
 " Fie ! Here 's a pretty going back upon your 
 word ! " cried Steenie, with rising hope, as he drew 
 his chair nearer to Catalina. 
 
 " There is no going back." 
 
 " What ? Will you keep your promise ? " 
 
 " Yes — no. I gave no promise." 
 
 Although these last few answers were scarcely au- 
 dible on account of the growing embarrassment of the 
 speaker, the pertinacious cross-examiner kept on. 
 
 " Will you tell me 't was all for nothing, our peace- 
 making yonder on the rocks ? " 
 
 " 'T is not for me to tell." 
 
 "How then?" 
 
132 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 "I — you — it is for time to show." 
 
 " A going back, — a plain going back. Madam, you 
 shall judge." 
 
 The begum, however, proved an indifferent accom- 
 plice in badinage. Western humor bewildered her at 
 best. Moreover, she was at the moment profoundly 
 preoccupied with a new thought she had just con- 
 ceived with regard to the pair before her. 
 
 Disconcerted by the grave look of the mother, 
 Steenie turned back to the daughter, but the daughter 
 had flown. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 133 
 
 XIV. 
 
 FOR the second time in forty-eight hours chance 
 had stepped in to save Hester from the penalty 
 of her contumacy. All thoughts of lesser matters 
 were naturally overborne in her father's mind by the 
 astounding report just brought to him. 
 
 The report, moreover, proved true. It soon came 
 out that the lieutenant-governor, finding his authority 
 gone and seeing no means of regaining it, had been 
 for several days quietly making ai-rangements for his 
 flight. 
 
 Departing, he cast behind him a Parthian shaft ; he 
 left the government in solemn form to his three coun- 
 cillors. Had Leisler been gifted with a spark of humor, 
 he would have smiled grimly at such child's play. In 
 truth it filled him with needless rage. 
 
 Wrath, however, did not dim his political vision. 
 He saw plainly the consequences of the flight. The 
 whole situation was simplified. Directly the dark- 
 ened sky cleared, and behold an horizon of possibility 
 opened vast and wide before him. It was an hour of 
 opportunity, of which, needless to say, not a moment 
 was lost. 
 
 With the instinct of leadership, he recognized the 
 instant need of fortifying his usurped authority by an 
 appearance of popular sanction. With the directness 
 and resistless energy of a born leader he carried out 
 his purpose. 
 
134 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 By a scratch of tlie pen he changed the name of the 
 fort from " James " to " William." In a few rude, 
 stirring words, void of grammar or coherence, he pro- 
 claimed the government vacant, and called a con- 
 vention to organize a committee of safety, after the 
 fashion of the Bostoneers. 
 
 " Men and brethren," he cried to the assembled 
 delegates, " the trumpet of the Lord has sounded, and 
 the hosts of the enemy are flying before us. He 
 they called leader has stolen away like a coward, and 
 deserted his post. The finger of God is in it. It 
 means that the reign of tyrants and Papists is over, — 
 over forever. We will have no more to do with Popes 
 and their minions. We are left to our own guidance. 
 In this hour of darkness the voice of the Lord has 
 come to me, saying, ' Get ye up and do your duty ! ' 
 I obey the call ! I give up my business, I neglect my 
 family, I waste my substance, — all for the good of 
 ray country. Ay," he went on, with uplifted arm and 
 in a loftier strain, " like the great Cromwell, I have 
 been called to save this people from tyrants and op- 
 pressors. As God is my witness, I will not fail ye ! 
 Prom this hour forth, by day and by night, I will hunt 
 down your enemies. There shall be no more soft 
 measures. The sword henceforth must rule ! " 
 
 Electrified by these bold words, the astonished dele- 
 gates answered by a mighty shout, which was caught 
 up and prolonged by the expectant crowd without. 
 
 His eyes flaming, his strong voice swelling in tri- 
 umph, the orator continued, — 
 
 " The sword, I say, must rule and shall rule until 
 every Papist and aristocrat be driven from the land 
 like that dog Nicholson, or sent to burn in hell fire 
 whence they came! Take heed, then, ye do what 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 136 
 
 belongs to ye in this cause ! Take heed ye uphold my 
 arm ! Go on speedily, and take such measures as are 
 needful for the common good ! Choose ye a commit- 
 tee like them in Boston yonder, who shall have charge 
 to carry out such business as I commit to ye. Do 
 your duty like men, and have no fear. I will see no 
 harm comes to ye." 
 
 All the world knows the result of the convention. 
 A committee was chosen for the general direction of 
 affairs under the executive control of Leisler, who by 
 a liberal construction of his powers speedily converted 
 his trust into a virtual dictatorship. 
 
 But with no training in public affairs, Leisler found 
 that the career he had started on abounded in snares 
 and pitfalls ; that instinct does not always avail in 
 statecraft ; that knowledge of laws, precedents, ways, 
 and means does not necessarily go with usurped in- 
 signia of power. In vain he strove to cut his way 
 through all these red-tape entanglements by force and 
 violence. He stumbled and floundered at every step; 
 he saw too late his own mistakes, and realized with 
 bitterness the ridicule which his ignorance must in- 
 evitably awaken. 
 
 In this hour of his need, as if heaven-sent, came to 
 him an ally. The whole world might have been 
 ransacked in vain for a coadjutor more fit. Jacob 
 Milborne proved a lieutenant after his own heart. 
 Accomplished in all wherein Leisler was wanting, he 
 straightway smoothed the path of technical obstruc- 
 tions, masked audacious innovation under a specious 
 cloak of precedent, and saved the dictator from con- 
 tempt by turning his ill-spelt, ungrammatical bom- 
 bast into sound sense and good English. 
 
 Nor was this all, — he proved an inspiration as well 
 
136 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 as a guide. Born with the itch of revolution and an 
 intolerance of conservatism in his blood, he threw 
 himself heart and soul into the new movement, 
 spurred Leisler on to swifter and bolder progress, 
 and confirmed his wavering faith in the reality of his 
 mission. 
 
 What welcome was warm enough for such a man ! 
 Leisler did what he could. He treated him with dis- 
 tinction, clothed him with authority, and toot him 
 home to his own hearth-stone as an honored member 
 of the household. 
 
 Finding such great, essential qualities in his new 
 helpmeet, Leisler could well afford to shut his eyes to 
 little shortcomings. It is indeed much to be doubted 
 whether he was ever aware of such petty draw- 
 backs as a soured disposition, an embittered tongue, 
 a morose and forbidding aspect, in his accomplished 
 lieutenant. If the other members of his family made 
 any such discovery, be sure they kept their own coun- 
 sel, neither caring nor daring to run counter to a per- 
 sonage who speedily became next to the head of the 
 household in authority. 
 
 As for Milborne, never before in his checkered 
 career had he met with such appreciation. But he 
 was too shrewd to betray himself. He accepted this 
 hospitality, and took his place in the household with- 
 out any qualms of delicacy. Moreover, as week after 
 week he found himself more firmly established in the 
 favor of his host, he began to realize the value of his 
 own services, and in due time disclosed a purpose of 
 putting a price upon them. 
 
 It all came about very gradually and as the natural 
 outgrowth of the situation. Milborne was not likely 
 to act upon impulse, and there is even reason to be- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 137 
 
 lieve he took much time mulling over the matter after 
 it developed in his mind. 
 
 A wanderer as he had been upon the face of the 
 earth for so many years, lonely, unsuccessful, friend 
 less, he first discovered the worth of a home and a 
 family circle under Leisler's roof-tree. He naturally 
 began to ask himself .if it were too late to set up 
 household gods of his own. Pondering the subject, 
 his gloomful eyes rested upon Mary Leisler. The 
 blooming maiden came and went about her daily 
 tasks, duteous, cheerful, helpful, unconsciously ap- 
 proving herself more and more every day to the watch- 
 ful elderly eyes of her father's friend. 
 
 It may be taken as a proof of the esteem in which 
 he held his guest that Leisler showed neither surprise 
 nor disapproval when the matter was broached to him. 
 
 It was not, indeed, a time for him to nurse scruples. 
 Affairs were at a crisis. Notwithstanding the tem- 
 porary success he had met with, his position was crit- 
 ical. He was hedged about with doubts and dangers. 
 The men he could count upon were few. Here was a 
 chance of binding to his cause an invaluable ally by 
 the double bond of interest and relationship. There 
 is reason enough to believe he welcomed it with 
 eagerness. 
 
 His own mind made up, he looked upon the thing 
 as settled. Bluntly, therefore, without preface or pre- 
 liminary, he broached the matter to Mary. 
 
 Consternation at the moment kept the astonished 
 girl silent, while her father went on and discussed the 
 advantages of the union. Thinking, however, that in 
 the end she would assuredly be left free to exercise 
 her own choice in so momentous a business, she waited 
 until such time as she could collect her wits and sum- 
 
138 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 mon resolution to frame a reply which should not 
 unduly affront her father and his powerful friend. 
 
 What, then, was her alarm to find, upon consultation 
 with her mother, that her consent had been assumed 
 as a matter of course, and that preparations were 
 actually on foot for her marriage with this elderly and 
 morose suitor, who had never spoken a word of love 
 to her, and whom she secretly feared and disliked. 
 
 Panic-stricken, she appealed to her mother to put 
 a stop to the business. But Vrouw Leisler, dearly as 
 she loved her daughter, was not in a frame of mind 
 for impartial judgment. She had already been con- 
 vinced of the wisdom and expedience of the step by 
 her infallible guide. 
 
 All other resource failing, Mary turned to her 
 younger sister. She was dismayed at the counsel re- 
 ceived. Reasonable as it might be from the stand- 
 point of right and justice, it was shocking to her 
 instincts of reverence, to her training of subordina- 
 tion. In her vacillation she adopted a middle course ; 
 she tried propitiation. Hester, as it chanced, stood 
 by when Mary put her head in the lion's mouth, and 
 the incident is of value here solely for its memorable 
 effect upon the witness. 
 
 Mary chose a' time when her father was smoking his 
 pipe in the chimney-nook, after supper, to make her 
 appeal. 
 
 " What, ei ? ye would not have him ? A man of 
 age, of experience, of good habits, of comfortable 
 estate, — as I shall see to it, — is not good enough 
 for ye?" 
 
 " No — no ; 't is not that ; he is far too good, he — " 
 
 " 'T is his own lookout, that." 
 
 " But, father, if it please you, — I am so young." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 139 
 
 " That 's a fault will mend itself, never fear." 
 
 " Yet I — I doubt if I can content so worshipful a 
 gentleman." 
 
 " Do your best, — do your best, child, and leave the 
 rest to Providence." 
 
 "He is so old — " 
 
 " Not older than I." 
 
 " He will look for great wisdom in a wife." 
 
 " Then must he bear his disappointment as I did." 
 
 "But — " 
 
 " Pish ! say no more ; 't is settled ; he has my word." 
 
 " But I have no love for him." 
 
 " Ei ! no love for Milborne ? 'T is something in 
 the order of a milksop would stir your liking, I warrant 
 me. Poh ! poh ! women's gabble ! Respect and obey 
 him, — 't is enough to begin with. The rest will 
 follow when ye once come under the yoke." 
 
 " But, father, I pray you — " began the sobbing girl. 
 
 " Say no more. He shall come himself to talk 
 to ye." 
 
 " No ! no ! no ! let him not come ! I cannot have 
 him, — I will never marry him ! " she concluded, in a 
 passionate outburst. 
 
 " By the Lord, but ye shall ! Ye shall, I say, and 
 straightway too. Go to your mother and get ready 
 your duds. The day shall be fixed before the sun 
 goes down ! " 
 
 "Father, — oh, father!" 
 
 " He is too good for ye. I pity him to marry such 
 a fool. But such as ye are, ye shall be his wife before 
 the week is out, mark that ! Go to your mother ! I 
 have no time to spend with your whimseys." 
 
140 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XV. 
 
 WITH so fair a showing of legal right upon their 
 side, it must not be thought that the party at 
 the Stadthuys stood idly looking on at the changes 
 taking place in the province. They did what was in 
 them. They played the part of feebleness, and irreso- 
 lution to the end. They failed not to be wise and bold 
 after the event. Laying futile plots, nursing ineffect- 
 ual rage, and cursing their ill luck, they waited su- 
 pinely for Providence to come to their relief. 
 
 And so verily at last it did, — or seemed to. One 
 fine day there arrived a messenger from Boston, bear- 
 ing a royal proclamation under the sign-manual of the 
 new sovereigns, confirming in office all Protestant 
 incumbents throughout the provinces. The procla- 
 mation, dated months before, had been heedlessly 
 withheld in Boston ; the result was a revolution in 
 New York. 
 
 Here at last was an end of Leisler and his domina- 
 tion. Here was a fiat of the royal lieges whom he him- 
 self acknowledged and had so eagerly proclaimed, 
 leaving him without a pretext for further meddling in 
 public affairs, and relegating him to his dingy liquor- 
 shop in the dock. 
 
 To their credit be it said. Mynheer Van Cortlandt 
 and his fellow-councillors lost no further time in inac- 
 tion. For a moment, as it seemed, they rose to the 
 level of statesmanship. In his capacity of Mayor, Van 
 Cortlandt called together the aldermen and citizens, 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 141 
 
 and showed them that he could, on occasion, read a 
 proclamation without duress. Speedily the summer 
 breeze blew the echoes of these doings down to the 
 fort. To show how little he was intimidated by the 
 rustle of parchment and the vain wind of words, 
 Leisler straightway flew into a rage, warned the people 
 of another plot, and dubbed the three worshipful 
 gentlemen " popishly affected, lying dogs," — an 
 epithet bearing strong internal evidence of genuine- 
 ness, even if history had not scrupulously set down for 
 us the exact phrase. 
 
 But the three were used to loud words from the fort ; 
 they doubtless were prepared for some such outburst 
 at first. They may have taken secret gratification in 
 it ; their victory would indeed have been barren with- 
 out some sign that the stab had reached the quick. 
 With a just confidence they went on, therefore, to 
 exercise the powers confirmed to them. The first 
 step was to get control of the public funds. Forth- 
 with they thrust out the old collector, and put in a 
 commission with Bayard at the head. 
 
 It directly appeared how much their proclamation 
 had availed. Within an hour down came a file of 
 soldiers from the fort, and drove them all out with 
 such violence that Bayard barely escaped with his life. 
 Indeed, hearing during the day that further mischief 
 was intended him, the colonel, under cover of night, 
 stole away to Albany. 
 
 Here, then, was a short and sharp lesson for the 
 worshipful councillors upon tlie difference in effect be- 
 tween governments de jure and, de facto. Lest any 
 misgivings on the subject still lingered in their minds, 
 others were speedily to follow. 
 
 But what need of rehearsing familiar history? 
 
142 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 The fast following events of those changeful days are 
 well known, — how Mynheer Van Cortlandt, when the 
 time came about, was forbidden to hold his mayor's 
 court ; how, soon after, he was thrust out of office 
 entirely by the election of a successor ; how Madam 
 Van Cortlandt, in the absence of her husband, refused 
 to give up the city seal and insignia, defying Leisler and 
 slamming the door in the face of his threatening emis- 
 sary ; how, in the midst of all, Albany sent frantic 
 appeals for aid in the Indian war ; how Leisler, seeing 
 his chance, posted off Milborne with a strong detach- 
 ment, not to fight Indians, but to bring the stanch 
 little frontier town under his control ; how Bayard, a 
 refugee in the town, warned the citizens and defeated 
 his purpose ; how soon and how bitterly the bold 
 colonel repented his interference, when, stealing back 
 to New York to visit the bedside of his dying son, he 
 was hunted out of town like a rat, and well-nigh paid 
 the penalty with his life ; how, enraged at their failure 
 to find the fugitive, the maddened troopers, looking 
 about for another victim, bethought them of the hap- 
 less ex-mayor, who, warned in time, slunk out of his 
 garden gate and fled for asylum to Connecticut. 
 
 Thus one by one the old councillors were gone, 
 
 • scattered to the four winds : Nicholson in England, 
 
 Philipse hiding in his country retreat, Bayard and 
 
 Van Cortlandt suppliant refugees in Albany and 
 
 Connecticut. 
 
 At last Leisler breathed freely. There was no one 
 left to dispute his authority. Not on this account did 
 he for a moment relax his energies. He strengthened 
 his government and kept alive the zeal of his followers 
 by the most extraordinary measures. He filled the 
 air with startling rumors. Wanting facts, he scrupled 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 143 
 
 not to resort to fiction. No hereditary monarch born 
 ^in the purple, or diplomate trained in the schools, ever 
 showed a greater skill in coloring truths or inventing 
 fables than this same ingenuous deacon. 
 
 The field at home being cleared, it was time to give 
 a thought to foreign relations. With the insidious 
 Nicholson in London pouring what slanders he would 
 into the king's ear there was danger of the royal mind 
 being poisoned, and Joost Stoll must be sent off post- 
 haste to prevent it. Honest Joost was not an ideal 
 figure for an ambassador, but it was Hobson's choice. 
 Milborne could not be spared, and there was nobody 
 else who could be trusted ; for the doughty ensign, if 
 not learned or polished, or even very intelligent, was 
 at least loyal to his heart's core. 
 
 Meantime an investigation was on foot as to how 
 Bayard and Van Cortlandt had both so successfully 
 evaded the troopers and effected their escape. As the 
 field narrowed, suspicion pointed to Steeuie. 
 
 Warned in time by a note sent to his mother, — a 
 note written in lines as delicate as a spider's web, and 
 bearing no signature, — the junker got away in safety, 
 but, as it proved, not a moment too soon. The next 
 day the Van Cortlandt mansion resounded with the 
 curses of his chagrined pursuers. 
 
 Leaving at such short notice, there was no time to 
 see Hester. Passing the Van Dorn bouwerie, how- 
 ever, he bethought him of Tryntje, and hastily scrib- 
 bling a. few lines on a leaf of his pocketbook, he 
 stopped and handed the crumpled note to the trusty 
 huysvrouw, with a word of caution. Her silent nod 
 inspired him with confidence that it would reach its 
 destination. 
 
 Tryntje justified this confidence ; she lost no time 
 
144 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 in executing her errand. It chanced one day, not 
 long after Steenie's escape, that Ensign StoU, busy 
 with preparation for his foreign mission, saw the dame 
 trudging before him along the Strand. He knew at 
 once she was going to Leisler's. Thinking nothing of 
 it at first, her odd behavior presently drew his atten- 
 tion. Arriving at the house, she passed the stoop, 
 paused, cast a cautious look about, and slipping 
 quickly through the garden gate shut it carefully 
 behind her. 
 
 The suspicious ensign hastened at once to the spot, 
 and peeped over the high wall. Perhaps he felt a 
 moment's mortification upon seeing her walk quietly 
 to the kitchen door and hand in a basket of eggs. 
 If so, his triumph was the greater, a few moments 
 later, upon.beholding the pretended egg-peddler hur- 
 riedly exchange signals with some unseen watcher at 
 an upper window, draw a letter from her bosom, and 
 hide it quickly in the thick foliage of a flowering 
 shrub. 
 
 StoU's worst suspicions were confirmed ; Hester was, 
 then, in communication with the refugee, or, worse 
 still, here was another popish plot. 
 
 Returning to the fort, he went at once to report 
 the whole matter to the commander-in-chief ; but that 
 busy person was occupied with more momentous busi- 
 ness, and could not be disturbed. Preparations for 
 his mission to England, meantime, so engrossed the 
 ensign's attention that nearly a week went by before 
 he made his report. As may be imagined, Leisler 
 was highly incensed. 
 
 That very day, as it turned out, while returning 
 home from the fort, he came upon Tryntje in the 
 street. The discreet vrouw affected not to see liim, 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 145 
 
 and would have passed without a salute but that the 
 captain, enraged at sight of her, bawled out : — 
 
 "Here, ye, stop! Stop, I say I 'Tis ye, is it, 
 teaches that hussy of a girl to disobey ? Hark ye, a 
 word iu your ear. If I find ye sneaking about my 
 house again, — mark now what I say ! — as hell owns 
 ye, I '11 have ye whipped at the cart's tail I " 
 
 To the amazement of the arrogant captain, who 
 latterly brooked no opposition to his supreme will, 
 this scrap of womankind turned upon him, and, her 
 white-gray eyes flashing with a spirit as fierce as his 
 own, cried : — 
 
 " Will ye ? Will ye so ? Try it an' ye dare ? 
 Shame, shame upon ye, to keep your own child shut 
 up like a malefactor, and for nothing!" 
 
 " Silence, ye bitch ! " 
 
 " That will I not. Who are ye to stop my mouth, — 
 who but old Jacob Leisler that sold brande-wyn in the 
 dock ? And who made ye anything better ? Ye are 
 taking great airs and manners. Wait ! Wait till the 
 king hears of ye ! " 
 
 " Away ! Away with her to the stocks ! " roared 
 Leisler to the crowd that was rapidly gathering. 
 
 " I 'U leave the print of my nails on the man who 
 dares ! " retorted the dauntless vrouw, fairly quiver- 
 ing with rage. " Mark, old hog-driver ! ye shall know 
 what one vrouw thinks, and many another too, if they 
 dared but speak their minds." 
 
 "Will nobody seize her, — will nobody take her, 
 I say ? " thundered Leisler, glaring about upon the 
 crowd. 
 
 But none of his retainera were at hand, and it was 
 only too plain that the sympathies of the bystanders 
 were with the woman. 
 
 10 
 
146 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " No, that will they not," went on the virago, boldly 
 taking a stride towards Leisler, and shaking her bony 
 finger as she talked. " They are honest men. There 's 
 none of your thieves and rascals here to do your 
 bidding. Ye 're afraid of a woman, one woman, when 
 ye have not your bullies at hand to protect ye. But 
 ye shall hear the truth ! " 
 
 " Have done, — have done, ye hag, or by — " 
 
 He paused, and lifted the heavy hilt of his sword as 
 if to strike. 
 
 " Do ! " cried the transported vrouw, advancing 
 upon him tauntingly with arms akimbo. " Strike, 
 strike, ye butcher ! ye brawler ! ye peace-breaker, 
 tyrant, and hog-driver ! Bah-h-h ! a deacon, an elder, 
 a teacher in the house of the Lord ! — Out upon 
 ye!" 
 
 " Away with her, I say ! " cried Leisler, fairly chok- 
 ing with rage. 
 
 " I tell ye a day of judgment is coming. Think not 
 to escape ; ye shall pay for your wickedness." 
 
 At this moment the sound of heavy footsteps and 
 the clanking of weapons were heard down the 
 street. Recognizing the familiar tramp of his men- 
 at-arms, Leisler called aloud for them to come to 
 his aid. 
 
 "Ei! Ei! Call for help, big brat! shout! split 
 your throat ! Ye tremble I ye 're afraid of one wo- 
 man ! Afraid, I say ! " she repeated, drawing still 
 nearer, and with a look so threatening that the 
 perplexed commander involuntarily shrank back. 
 " Ah-h-h, I have a mind to tear your eyes I " 
 
 Happily for the dignity and safety of the luckless 
 official, several soldiers came bursting through the 
 crowd at this juncture. 
 
" Take this she-devil, and give her the ducking-stool I ' 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 147 
 
 " Take this she-devil," gasped Leisler, " and give 
 her the ducking-stool ! Now, — now, at once ! Take 
 her, I say, and duck her till her damned tongue can 
 never wag again ! " 
 
 Startled at first by the unexpected order, and doubt- 
 ful perhaps of their right to usurp the functions of the 
 schout, the soldiers hesitated. Presently, however, 
 , fearful of exciting still more the wrath of their out- 
 raged captain, they seized and dragged away the de- 
 fiant Tryntje, who continued to scold vociferously all 
 the way to the dock. 
 
 So vigorous, moreover, was the resistance of the 
 wiry, determined little woman that it required the 
 combined efforts of four strong men to carry out the 
 captain's order. 
 
 Close upon the edge of the dock the instrument of 
 torture stood ready. It was a simple contrivance, 
 consisting of a stout plank laid across a block. To 
 the end of the long arm of the lever overhanging the 
 water was fixed a stool, upon which, after a long 
 struggle, 'Tryntje was securely lashed. 
 
 At a given signal she was plunged into the water. 
 Coming up gasping and choking, she no sooner caught 
 her breath than she used it with vigor in bitterly up- 
 braiding her tormentors, calling down upon them and 
 their master the heaviest curses of Heaven. 
 
 Cheered by the crowd, the plucky vrouw continued 
 the unequal contest as long as she could speak. Even 
 at the end it was only the flesh which succumbed. 
 
 Down, and down, and down again she was plunged, 
 until, exhausted by the repeated shocks, she sank half- 
 lifeless in her seat. 
 
 Then only they released her. Willing hands, a 
 score or more, were stretched forth from the crowd to 
 
148 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 support the hapless creature as she came staggering 
 up the dock, her clothes dripping, her lank hair fall- 
 ing on her shoulders, her eyes sunken, her skin blue 
 and corpse-like ; while a hoarse murmur of disgust 
 and indignation followed Leisler's henchmen as they 
 moved away, which would have sounded ominously in 
 ears not deaf to all signs and portents. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 149 
 
 XVI. 
 
 ONE evening, several weeks after her son's escape, 
 Madam Van Cortlandt received a visit. Go- 
 ing into the parlor, she found there a small woman, 
 closely veiled. 
 
 " I am Gertryd Van Oottlandt." 
 
 The stranger saluted with a deep reverence. 
 
 " What is your business ? " inquired Madam, bluntly. 
 
 " It is only for your own ears." 
 
 " There is no other here," said the lady of the 
 house, standing erect before her visitor, with no 
 very hospitable aspect. 
 
 " You are the mother of the tall junker ? " 
 
 "Andif Ibe?" 
 
 "He is driven from home by — " looking around 
 with an air of caution — " yonder ruffian." 
 
 " So is his father, so are his friends, and to- 
 morrow it may be my own turn," burst forth Madam, 
 bitterly. 
 
 " I hear it all, — I see it all. 'T is a great wicked- 
 ness." 
 
 " You know more of me than I of you," said 
 Madam, not without a touch of suspicion. 
 
 " Look, now ! " exclaimed the stranger, throwing 
 off her veil. 
 
 " The wife of Dr. Staats ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Your husband is in league with those yonder." 
 
 " Yes. The madness seized upon him. He would 
 not heed me. He is drawn on by that babbler. They 
 
160 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 go to their ruin. But," with an impatient gesture, 
 " we will not talk of them ; 't is the junker." 
 
 " And what of him ? " 
 
 " He is in danger," lowering her voice, and laying 
 her hand on the mother's arm. 
 
 " How know you that ? " asked the lady of the 
 house, drawing back with increased distrust. 
 
 " I know it ; ' t is enough. I have not time to talk. 
 I must not be missed at home. The junker saved my 
 life." 
 
 " I never heard of it." 
 
 " No, he makes no account of it, but I keep it 
 always here," tapping her forehead, " and it is a 
 good time now to remember." 
 
 " So ! " exclaimed Madam, guardedly, her eyes 
 darkening with interest. 
 
 " They hunt for him. They hunt for them all, — 
 this way, that way, days, nights, always." 
 
 " What then ? " 
 
 " There comes to-day a — a — " halting for a word 
 — "a noise that they are near." 
 
 " Ahem ! " Some recreant muscle gives way, and 
 a tell-tale flush creeps slowly over the listener's face. 
 
 " Hereabouts, mark you ! " 
 
 " I cannot say." 
 
 "No, no," nodded the begum, as approving the 
 caution, '• you know nothing, but," uplifting her dusky 
 face, and whispering with dilated eyes, " bid some 
 bird go find them out and tell them, ' Lie close 
 to-night.' " 
 
 " What are the devils at now ? " burst out the 
 startled matron. 
 
 A noise of footsteps and a murmur of voices in the 
 street interrupted them. The begum looked ner- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 151 
 
 vously around, and dropped her veil. Directly the 
 sound died away she rose to take leave. 
 
 " What is this you tell me ? " asked the anxious 
 mother. " What is on foot ? Give me something to 
 act upon." 
 
 " There is danger, — danger all about, like a tiger 
 in the jungle. Now it crouches to spring. You are 
 warned, — it is enough. Go speed your bird. Bid 
 him spread his wings to the north" with a significant 
 look. " Every minute lost is sorrow." 
 
 With a quick obeisance, half-salaam, half-courtesy, 
 the speaker turned to go. Madam followed to the 
 door, fruitlessly protesting. In the shadow of the 
 stoop outside she saw a slave waiting. 
 
 " Stay, you have no lantern." 
 
 " No, no. The darkness is a friend," and slipping 
 out, the little figure was directly lost in the gloom. 
 
 That night a supper-party was assembled in the 
 Philipse manor. The cloth had been removed ; a 
 huge punch-bowl, flanked by a tray of glasses, stood 
 in the midst of the heavy oaken table. The guests 
 sat about, smoking pipes and talking, but plainly in 
 no convivial mood. 
 
 Outside not a ray of light broke the darkness. The 
 wind held high carnival. Shutters, doors, window- 
 casements, hay-ricks, fences, dead limbs, and with- 
 ered leaves, each and all played some creaking, 
 shrieking, rattling, banging part in the great wind- 
 symphony, while the cavernous chimneys, like huge 
 bassoons, softened the discord with perpetual roar. 
 
 The host and one of his guests had stepped out on 
 the stoop for a weather prognosis. They came in 
 talking. 
 
152 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Not yet, not yet, — the time is not ripe," said 
 Philipse, expostulating against some suggestion. 
 "Let him run his course." 
 
 " What, stand and look on while he lays waste our 
 estates and murders our families ? " 
 
 "It will never come to that, colonel, never fear. 
 He is at the end of his rope already. The people 
 will not bear it much longer." 
 
 Bayard turned ; it was the ex-mayor who had 
 joined the pair. 
 
 " Bear it ! ■" he said. " Will they not ? They are 
 a flock of sheep without a bell-wether. They dare 
 not stir while the dog stands over them with his 
 band of cut-throats." 
 
 " They will stir in due time ; have patience," said 
 Philipse, calmly. " Wait. The evil will work its 
 own cure." 
 
 " ' Wait ! ' " The tone was frankly contemptuous. 
 " Wait until the brutal boor has scourged, im- 
 prisoned, or driven away every honest man from the 
 place, — until he has destroyed the city and laid 
 waste the province ! " 
 
 " What would you, then, advise ? " It was a fourth 
 who chimed in, as they resumed their seats about the 
 table. 
 
 " Well put, French. What would you do, colonel ? 
 Let us have everybody's voice. ' T is that we are 
 here for." 
 
 " I would get together a hundred stout fellows, 
 meet outside the walls on the first dark night, over- 
 power the guard, make a rush on the fort, and seize 
 the hog in his sty. One bold dash and the day is 
 ours." 
 
 Steenie, sitting at the foot of the board, leaned 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 153 
 
 forward, with glistening eyes. His blood was stirred 
 by these bold words. 
 
 Philipse shook his head, and puEfed his pipe with 
 an air of forbearance. It was Van Cortlandt who 
 spoke : — 
 
 " ' T is not so easy. The fellow knows his danger. 
 Day and night he is on the alert. Every approach 
 is doubly guarded. A surprise is impossible." 
 
 " March down, then, in open daylight, with ban- 
 ners flying, and fight it out to the death," said the 
 colonel, recklessly. 
 
 "Let us talk sense, and act like men," returned 
 the mayor, coldly. " I have come latest from town. 
 I made a study of things there, as 1 had good cause 
 to do. I know the rascal's strength and the hold he 
 has on the people. Bear this in mind, — 't is better 
 not to move at all than to fail. It is our failures 
 thus far that have put him where he is." 
 
 "And is it your voice, too, that we should wait, 
 that we should lie skulking in holes while this mad- 
 man runs his course ? " asked Bayard, with a sneer. 
 
 " We need not sknlk. There is plenty to do. We 
 may help on the work. 'T is our part to set in train 
 every influence which may avail to bring him down." 
 
 " And where, pray, be these mysterious influences ? 
 What but knock-down blows can bring this rascal to 
 reason ? " 
 
 " Seeing the province fall away from him ; seeing 
 his power crumble to pieces ; finding himself without 
 money to pay his train-bands ; hearing that the other 
 colonies are finding him out, that the king knows 
 the truth, and that a new governor has been ap- 
 pointed." 
 
 " Vastly fine ; but before a tithe of this is done, 
 
154 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 will lie not, think ye, have the whole province under 
 his heel ? Will he not have money enough by the 
 sale of our estates ? Will he not have increased his 
 following by enlisting every idle fellow in the pro- 
 vince, while we and our friends, every man who has 
 the wit to see through him and the will to withstand 
 him, must choose betwixt submission and the 
 dungeon ? " 
 
 " Poh ! Poh ! The work is already half done to 
 our hands." 
 
 " What is done but talk ? Not an honest blow has 
 been struck." 
 
 " And if he work his own ruin, what need for 
 blows ? Set a hog swimming, — 't is an old saw, — 
 and he will cut his own throat." 
 
 The colonel made a gesture of impatience. 
 
 " Bethink you. Bayard, of the Canadian expedition. 
 What is thought of him in Connecticut and the 
 Massachusetts after that ? " 
 
 " What matters it what 's thought of him there ? " 
 
 " Much ! He will look in vain for aid and coun- 
 tenance in those quarters." 
 
 " Think, too, how he must tremble at every ship 
 sighted from London." 
 
 " Poh ! he laughs at any danger from that source, 
 and well he may." 
 
 " Why, then, did he post that fool of an ensign off 
 to England in such haste ? He knew Nicholson had 
 the king's ear." 
 
 " Little good 't will do Nicholson or us. The king 
 is too unsteady in his seat and has too much to do 
 near at hand to bother his head about the colonies. 
 He will leave us to ourselves." 
 
 " What more do we want ? " asked French. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 165 
 
 " Can you not see, colonel, the discontent is 
 deepening every day ? " 
 
 " No, that can I not." 
 
 " Why, sir, the farmers of Long Island are ali-eady 
 in open revolt. Did he not have to send his bullies 
 to Hempstead only yesterday, to put down a riot 
 over gathering the tax ? " 
 
 " Yes, and another troop went the day before to 
 Jamaica on the same business." 
 
 " And another still to Flushing." 
 
 The suggestions came pouring in from all around 
 the board. 
 
 " I tell you the fire is spreading," summed up the 
 ex-mayor, with an air of authority. 
 
 " How spreading, when he stamps it out at the 
 first puff of smoke ? " 
 
 " He does not stamp it out ; he cannot. 'T is 
 getting beyond his control ; he gives signs of panic 
 already." 
 
 " And well he may ; keeping all those hulking 
 loafers at his heels is costly business ; he must feed 
 and pay them." 
 
 " And for that he must have money." 
 
 " Which he has not ; he is at his wits' end 
 already." 
 
 " And goes any length to come by a stuyver." 
 
 The colonel answered the temporizing chorus only 
 by a look of disdain. 
 
 " Did you hear his new laws ? " 
 
 " Ay, now there is a case in point." 
 
 " Was there ever heard the like ? " 
 
 " You know them, colonel ? " 
 
 " No," answered Bayard, with indifference. 
 
 " Listen, then ! " said Van Cortlandt, taking a paper 
 
156 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 from his pocket and reading. " First and foremost he 
 levies a direct tax for the support of the garrison." 
 
 " 'T is that raised all the pother among the 
 farmers." 
 
 " And no wonder ; what need have they for a 
 garrison ? " 
 
 " Next," went on th^ ex-mayor, " he commands all 
 persons who have left the province to return within 
 three weeks, under pains and penalties." 
 
 « That is levelled at us." 
 
 " And if we come not back — " 
 
 " He seizes our estates." 
 
 " Dog ! " 
 
 " Beast ! " 
 
 « Thief ! " 
 
 " Wait ! Patience, gentlemen, if you would hear 
 what trick this new Hampden, this second Cromwell, 
 this prophet and deliverer of his country, is at ! 
 Wait, I say ! " continued the reader, going on with 
 his paper. "Any one refusing a civil or military 
 commission under him shall be fined seventy-five 
 pounds." 
 
 " 'T is to get more money." 
 
 " How is that ? " 
 
 " He will appoint us to offices : Philipse shall be 
 master of the whipping-post, Bayard the hog-reeve, 
 and I — 't is doubtful if he has anything for me, un- 
 less the place of hangman's varlet be haply vacant ; 
 then if we delay to accept these favors, mark ye ! " 
 
 " He collects the fines out of our estates." 
 
 " See you ? " 
 
 " ' Any one leaving Albany or Nieuw Utrecht,' " 
 went on Van Cortlandt from his paper, " ' without 
 permission, to be fined one hundred pounds.' " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 157 
 
 " 'T is easy to see the drift of that." 
 
 " Easy indeed ; 't is to provide other fields when 
 the crop of rich men here fails him." 
 
 " ' And all persons,' " resumed the reader, " ' who 
 have left those counties must return within fourteen 
 days, at their utmost peril.' " 
 
 " Yes," said Philipse, knocking the ashes from his' 
 pipe, " 't is a scheme to plunder us in cold blood. 
 These laws are aimed at the men of substance 
 amongst us. Every man with an estate tempts his 
 greed, and he will have it, by hook or crook." 
 
 " Right," chimed in Nichols, " and what escapes 
 the colander will stop at the sieve." 
 
 " Yet in the face of all this," cried Bayard, jumping 
 from his seat and striding up and down the room, " ye 
 say, ' Wait ' ! In the face of all this ye would stand here 
 like a flock of bleating lambs and wait, — wait for the 
 coming of the wolf ! / say," he went on, striking the 
 table with his clinched fist, " we 've had waiting 
 enough. I say the man is a fool or a coward who 
 waits another hour. We are driven from our homes. 
 We are hiding in holes like wolves. We come to- 
 gether in fear and trembling, under cover of night to 
 take counsel, and all your cry is ' Wait ' ! /say," he 
 concluded, in stentorian tones, " begin to act, to do 
 something ! / say, let our watchword be war, — war 
 to the death ! / say, let us take an oath here and 
 now to stand up and give blow for blow ! " 
 
 A look of conscious shame showed itself in the 
 faces of the little group at these accusing words. 
 The host and the ex-mayor, the natural leaders of 
 the party, shifted uneasily in their seats, but did 
 not speak. 
 
 The awkward silence was broken at last by Steenie, 
 
158 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 who, sitting in the background, started suddenly from 
 his seat with an exclamation. 
 
 "Hark!" 
 
 «Eh?" 
 
 " What was that ? " 
 
 'AH listened, but nothing could be heard save the 
 creaking framework of the house and the roaring 
 wind in the vast chimneys. 
 
 Presently Philipse, with his usual air of deliberation, 
 broke silence : — 
 
 " I quite agree with the colonel." 
 
 Naturally everybody looked astonished. 
 
 " This rascal should be put down. This robbery 
 should be stopped. I have a vital interest in the 
 matter. I want to see it done. The only question is 
 how to do it. Cut off from our homes, — I am left 
 this retreat as yet, but to-morrow may see me 
 driven forth, — cut off from our friends and sup- 
 plies, what chance have we to work ? Let the colonel 
 tell us as plain, practical men, what there is we can 
 do!" 
 
 " That I will," returned Bayard promptly. " You 
 shall have it in a nutshell. Get together a force of 
 men able to put down this fellow and crush out his 
 following ! " 
 
 " And bow is such an army to be come by ? " 
 
 " Not by sitting here sucking thumbs. By bestir- 
 ring ourselves ; by going about through the whole 
 province, wherever discontent has appeared, and win- 
 ning the people over. Once set the ball going and it 
 will roll of itself. Then call on Albany and Con- 
 necticut to join ! " 
 
 "It sounds fair," observed Philipse thoughtfully, 
 " but more promising schemes have come to naught. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 159 
 
 Bethink you, colonel, if we fail, we are in a worse 
 plight than before." 
 
 "We shall not fail, for come the worst to the 
 worst," muttered the colonel, " there are the French 
 and the saAges ! " 
 
 A murmur ran around the circle at this dark 
 innuendo. 
 
 " Why not ? Can we be worse off ? On the one 
 side there is sure ruin; on the other there is a 
 chance." 
 
 I " But why think of failure ? " asked French of the 
 chief objector. 
 
 "And so I would not, could I but see any good pros- 
 pect of success," answered Van Cortlandt, walking 
 away to bask before the open fire. 
 
 " Listen, gentlemen," said Bayard, drawing his chair 
 up to the table, and emphasizing his words by sharp 
 taps of his gold snuff-box upon the polished oak ; 
 " hearken to me a minute ! I ask no great matters 
 of you. I will undertake the brunt of the work. 
 Only pledge me your support. Hold yourselves bound 
 to pay all needful charges and draw your swords for 
 the final fray, and I will answer for the result." 
 
 " No, colonel, you shall not hold me so lukewarm 
 in the matter," spoke up Philipse, his ice of caution 
 melting before Bayard's enthusiasm. " I am willing 
 to take my share both of toil and danger." 
 
 " And count upon me to do and dare anything in 
 the cause ! " cried Van Cortlandt, yielding to the im- 
 pulse which fired the little group. 
 
 " And me ! " 
 
 " And me ! " 
 
 '^ And I, Colonel Bayard, will go with you to raise 
 the army ! " exclaimed Steenie, starting up. 
 
160 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " You shall, boy ! " said the colonel, laying his hand 
 affectionately on the junker's shoulder. 
 
 " So ! the tide is turned. Fill up, — fill up, gentle- 
 men ! Here 's victory to our cause ! That dog has 
 had his day. Before a month has passed — I ask but 
 thirty days, mind ye — I will sweep the province clear 
 of him and his pack. Again ! fill again, and let it be 
 a bumper ! " 
 
 Amidst this pledging of healths and clinking of 
 glasses a servant in the doorway strove in vain to 
 make himself heard. 
 
 " The troopers ! " 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " Run ! run ! they 're upon us ! " 
 
 To confirm the man's words the heavy tramp of 
 horses' feet was heard outside upon the lawn. 
 
 There was a scramble for the door. The host, 
 through real or affected contempt of the danger, stood 
 by his post ; the guests stayed not upon the order of 
 their going. Seizing their hats and cloaks as they 
 rushed through the hall, they made the best of their 
 way by the back stairs to the kitchen door, whence, 
 guided by a servant, they slipped away through the 
 thick shrubbery towards the river, where a boat was 
 in waiting. 
 
 Half-way downstairs, Bayard, thinking of some for- 
 gotten detail of his scheme, turned back for a last 
 word with his host. 
 
 The front door resounded with blows from halberds 
 and sabres, as the colonel whispered his hurried 
 charge to Philipse. Familiar with the house, how- 
 ever, he took his time, and coolly groped his way to 
 the back entrance. Here, smiling at thought of the 
 futile rage of his pursuers on missing their prey, he 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 161 
 
 folded his heavy cloak about him and stepped forth 
 into the pitchy darkness. 
 
 Directly he was seized by two stout men-at-arms, 
 and despite a vigorous resistance he was quickly dis- 
 armed, bound, and led away in triumph. 
 
162 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 xvn. 
 
 STEENIB gone, there was no longer any restraint 
 upon Hester's movements ; she could come, and 
 go at her will within the bounds of the city walls. This 
 limit to her wanderings would seem to hkve cut off 
 all communication with the bouwerie ; but notwith- 
 standing the vigilance of the sentinels at the gates 
 and the severe experience of the ducking-stool, there 
 is not wanting evidence that Vrouw Van Dorn knew 
 more than she chose to tell of certain messages and 
 letters which had much to do with keeping up Hes- 
 ter's hope and spirits. 
 
 Save for this trial of separation, life in the Strand 
 had latterly been more tolerable. Her father and his 
 lieutenant had been too much taken up with public, 
 matters to heed things ai home. Often they went 
 away at daybreak, and only came back at nightfall, 
 when, worn out by cares of state, they ate heavily at 
 supper, and directly afterward fell asleep over their 
 pipes on either side the chimney. 
 
 After a time, however, there came, as it seemed, a 
 lull in public business. Directly the saturnine suitor 
 bethought him of his long-interrupted nuptials. He 
 spoke to Leisler, who at once took up the matter with 
 his wonted energy and pushed on the preparations. 
 
 Accustomed now for some months to the thought 
 which had at first been so shocking, and overcome by 
 the masterful will of her father, Mary resigned herself 
 to the inevitable. Without further tears or murmurs 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 163 
 
 she gave the implied assent of silence, unconsciously 
 adding a last element of pathos to the occasion by 
 taking a chief part in decking herself for the sacrifice. 
 
 The simple preparations were soon made. The 
 day came, and a gloomful day enough. Not a gleam 
 of sunshine pierced the leaden sky. A puffy wind 
 filled the narrow street with clouds of dust, and drove 
 the melting snow — when at last it came — in dank 
 masses against the window-panes. 
 
 Indoors things were no better. Vrouw Leisler had 
 much ado to keep a brave front. Not to have Dom- 
 inie Selyns marry the pair was the first blow and a 
 cruel disappointment. Again, certain , of their old 
 friends and neighbors whom she had ventured to bid 
 to the feast had coldly declined. In despair, the poor 
 vrouw went weeping to her husband for advice. He 
 supplied her with a haphazard list of guests from his 
 coadjutors at the fort. 
 
 Vainly the fond mother strove to give a touch of 
 gladness and cheer to the festival despite all these de- 
 pressing circumstances. Well and faithfully she had 
 done her part. The house shone with cleanliness ; the 
 family, slaves included, were in holiday dress. Her 
 own harrowed face, however, looked grotesquely in- 
 congruous with her wedding finery. Small comfort 
 she took in her quilted puce silken petticoat embroid- 
 ered in silver filigree, her crape samare, her ponderous 
 rings and necklace, and the heavy gold chatelaine 
 still carefully preserved by her descendants. 
 
 At the last minute Leisler came stalking home from 
 the fort, with dress more than usually disordered, and 
 a bevy of guests at his heels in much the same guise. 
 
 Five o'clock sounded, and the little company were 
 at last assembled in the best room. Huge logs blazed 
 
164 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 in the open fireplace and long candles burned in the 
 sconces, for the short winter's day was already at 
 an end. 
 
 The bride was presently led in by her mother. She 
 was a thought pale, but showed none of the nervous- 
 ness proper to the moment. On the contrary, she 
 gazed about on the company with an apathetic look, 
 as if not quite clear why they were gathered. Dressed 
 in a blue jacket over a scarlet petticoat of fine cloth, 
 with her fair hair brushed back under a close cap, a 
 massive gold necklace wound twice about her throat, 
 and an embroidered purse garnished with silver orna- 
 ments hanging at her side, she presented the spectacle 
 at once of a typical Dutch bride and a most fair and 
 winsome young creature. 
 
 So, plainly enough, thought the waiting groom, as 
 he regarded her from under his shaggy eyebrows ; and 
 for a moment a gnarled smile unsettled his severe 
 features. 
 
 The hour had come and all was ready, but where 
 was the dominie ? Another bad omen. Vrouw Leisler 
 glanced anxiously at her husband, who muttered 
 curses under his breath. 
 
 " Give him time," said the groom, patiently; "'tis 
 a long ferriage, and both wind and tide are against 
 him." 
 
 Leisler chafed, and the guests glanced dubiously at 
 each other. It was an awkward moment, but hap- 
 pily not a long one. The dominie soon arrived, cold, 
 wet, and bedraggled. No time was lost in explana- 
 tions and apologies. He was given a glass of grog 
 and reminded of the hour. At an impatient nod from 
 Leisler, the waiting pair came forward and the family 
 gathered about. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 165 
 
 At the first word of the service Hester clutched her 
 sister by the hand, as if to drag her away ; but Mary, 
 with a stony, unmoved look, quietly released herself, 
 and turned back to the dominie. 
 
 Solemnly the good man droned through his formulas, 
 his prayer, and his long admonition, and at last with 
 fitting unction pronounced the fateful words "man 
 and wife." 
 
 To the dismay of the gratified groom, Hester broke 
 into loud sobs when she went up to kiss the bride. 
 Vrouw Leisler's overstrained nerves could bear no 
 more, and she straightway followed suit in a flood of 
 tears. Leisler sternly thrust them both aside, and 
 made room for the guests to offer their congratu- 
 lations. 
 
 Happily the call tO' supper was not delayed. It was 
 a merciful relief. Here, at least, was abundant ma- 
 terial for good cheer. The hospitable dame had set 
 forth a plentiful and tempting repast. Here were 
 huge roasts of beef, pork, and venison. Here were 
 boiled fowls and oysters. Here were bowls of smok- 
 ing supaen. Here were heaped plates of olykoecken, 
 pannekoecken, and sweetmeats. Here were heavy 
 glittering glass decanters filled with Antigua rum, 
 Fiall passado, sack, and old madeira. Here was a 
 huge china bowl of fragrant brandy-punch. In short, 
 no delicacy known to the time and proper to her state 
 was wanting to the good vrouw's wedding-feast, and 
 all had been prepared under her own eye and direction. 
 
 However much a relief, the supper added little of 
 real cheer to the occasion. The guests, although re- 
 strained by their simple notions of decency from 
 falling upon the food with latter-day voracity, yet 
 gave their thoughts wholly to their treachers. Not a 
 
166 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 smile, not a jest, not a strain of music lightened the 
 gloom. The host, unconscious of what he ate, brooded 
 over all with a severe aspect ; and presently, when a 
 slave appeared with a brass chafing-dish filled with 
 live coals, he lighted his pipe as a signal for his 
 guests, and drew away the groom to talk over a 
 packet which had just come to hand from the 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 " What make ye of that ? " he asked, pointing to a 
 clause in the letter. 
 
 Milborne read aloud : — 
 
 " ' And well you know what good reason we have to 
 wish well to your cause, but beg you to have a care 
 not to carry matters with too high a hand, but to 
 temper justice with moderation and mercy, since the 
 king's own settlement of the matter is so near at hand.' " 
 
 " Fudge ! " said Milborne, handing back the letter. 
 " Whence got they news of the king's own settlement 
 of the matter ? He settled it long ago by leaving you 
 in charge ; when any other settlement is made, be 
 sure 'twill not come to us by way of Boston." 
 
 Leisler nodded, and his brows relaxed. 
 
 " As for the rest of their sermon, — be you content 
 with justice, and leave mei'cy to the Lord. What 
 , you have got by the strong hand, hold fast, and let 
 these cavillers prate ! " 
 
 While Leisler was considering this advice, a slave 
 came groping his way through the thick clouds of to- 
 bacco smoke, to say that a child was at the outer door, 
 demanding to see him. 
 
 " Go fetch him in. And ye," he continued, turning 
 to Milborne as the slave disappeared, "get back to 
 your bride and your festivities." 
 
 The groom, nothing loath, obeyed ; while his father- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 167 
 
 in-law, draining a neglected glass of punch in his 
 hand, sat down in the broad window-seat to refill his 
 pipe. 
 
 In a few moments the slave reappeared with a 
 dripping little figure, looking like a half-drowned 
 rat. 
 
 "What want ye with me, my lad?" asked the 
 captain, gruffly, as he puffed at his kindling pipe. 
 
 Directly the child burst into a violent fit of 
 weeping. 
 
 " How now ? " What 's here ? Ei, 't is StoU's brat ! 
 What 's the matter, young one ? " continued the ques- 
 tioner, not unkindly. 
 
 " Little Joost is dy-ying, and mother bids you come 
 to her." 
 
 ■ " So ! so ! " A look of concern softened the man's 
 harsh features, and taking the sobbing child in his 
 arms he tenderly kissed him. " Stay you here, my 
 boy, with my good vrouw ! She will give you some 
 cakes and sweetmeats, and I will go to the mother. 
 Come, now ! Come now, little man, I say, cry no 
 more ; here is Vrouw Leisler." 
 
 Giving the child over to his wife with some hurried 
 directions, Leisler threw on his cloak and hat, and 
 strode away through the storm to Joost StoU's humble 
 dwelling. 
 
 He found Vrouw StoU, her face haggard with 
 anxiety, her eyes swollen with weeping, bending over 
 her sick child. 
 
 " How is it with him, Annetje ? " 
 
 " 'T is bad enough with him," said the woman 
 sullenly. 
 
 " Tut ! tut ! take heart, woman, there 's a chance 
 yet!" 
 
168 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " There 's no chance ! He '11 be taken from me — 
 he 's going now ! " returned the mother with choking 
 voice. 
 
 " He has the fever ? " asked the visitor, bending over 
 the bed and clasping the burning little palm in his 
 own. 
 
 " He has death on him — and 't is ye did it ! " cried 
 the woman, with a flash of indignation. " Ye sent . 
 away his father, and I had nobody to help me. Ye 
 sent away my Joost ; he will never come back, — 
 the husband, and now the child. I have nothing 
 left!" 
 
 " Sh — sh ! Where is your sense, woman ? Joost 
 will soon be home, and the babe here well, and all 
 happy." 
 
 " ' Well,' say ye ? Look at that ! " sobbed the poor 
 mother, pointing to the bed and. covering her face. 
 
 Leisler turned, and saw the child writhing in 
 convulsions. 
 
 When the paroxysm was over, he lifted the tiny 
 sufferer in his arms, and walked up and down in the 
 little chamber, where the light of the single dip-candle 
 threw his shadow in grotesque proportions on the 
 wall. 
 
 " When had ye the doctor ? " he asked, as the child 
 grew quieter. 
 
 " Oh, the doctor — the doctor ! I '11 have no more 
 of 'm ! What good is he ? He shakes his head, and 
 does nothing ! " 
 
 " Poor Annetje ! " 
 
 " 'T is ye have done it ! " cried the woman, irritated 
 by this unavailing sympathy. " But for ye I had now 
 both husband and child ! " 
 
 " I did but my duty, woman," said the captain hum- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 169 
 
 bly. " Had it been my own to suffer, I must have 
 done the same." 
 
 " Husband and child — husband and child — both 
 gone — lost and gone — never to come back! "re- 
 peated the woman in despairing tones, as she rocked 
 back and forth in her chair. 
 
 " Pray ye to the Lord, good Annetje. Go to him 
 with your sorrow, and he will send ye comfort," said 
 the captain, devoutly. " But give not up all hope yet. 
 I will go myself and fetch the doctor." 
 
 " Fetch him no more ! I '11 have him no more ! He 
 was here at sundown. He does nothing but shake his 
 head and say, ' Ye must lose yer babe, — 't is the 
 Lord's will.' Fetch him no more. I'll not believe 
 him." 
 
 " I'll go, then, and call the neighbors to help ye." 
 
 " That shall ye not. I sent them home. I '11 have 
 him to myself. Little Joost ! Sweet one ! The best 
 of the brood, and named for his father, too. 'T was 
 but last Monday, a week ago, he was running all 
 about, and laughing till ye might hear him in the 
 street. Oh-h-h ! 'T is well his father is gone ! 
 Well — well — well for me ! "What could I say to 
 him, coming back ? Gone — gone ! Big Joost and 
 little Joost — man and child both angels in glory. 
 'T is ye have done it ! And ye shall answer for it, 
 too, if a widow's prayers be heard ! " 
 
 To and fro, to and fro, in the little room, the rough 
 soldier walked with the dying child. Worn out by 
 grief and care, the hapless mother slept from sheer 
 exhaustion ; waking by fits and starts to renew her 
 laments and reproaches, ringing with wearying monot- 
 ony the changes upon the few phrases afforded by her 
 scant vocabulary. 
 
170 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Returning no answer, save now and then a brief 
 word of consolation, the conscience-stricken watcher 
 kept his march. 
 
 Quicker and sharper grew the attacks of the little 
 sufferer, as its life ebbed with the waning night. The 
 candle burnt out and guttered in its socket, leaving 
 the room in darkness. The storm filled the night 
 with tumult, the waves lashed the neighboring rocks 
 with thunderous roar, while high up above the little 
 roof, on the Yerlettenberg, the old windmill creaked 
 and groaned in the furious blast. 
 
 In the gray of the morning all was over ; the flick- 
 ering life-light had gone out at last. With softened 
 look, Leisler laid the tiny, wasted form on the bed, 
 beside its sleeping mother ; then, with uplifted reverent 
 face, muttering over the unconscious pair a hurried 
 prayer, he went away to rouse the neighbors. 
 
 Wading home in the early dawn through the slump- 
 ing, half -melted snow, the chastened commander was 
 met at the turning of the dock by one of his slaves, 
 guiding a breathless messenger with a packet. It 
 contained but a few lines from his correspondent in 
 Boston : — 
 
 " News is come that Nicholson is made lieutenant- 
 governor of Virginia, and that Colonel Henry Slaughter 
 is appointed governor of New York." 
 
 To the amazement of the gaping messenger, the 
 grave, sad-looking, middle-aged man to whom he had 
 handed the letter tore it into strips, stamped it under 
 foot, and filled the cool, still morning air with hot- 
 mouthed curses. 
 
" In tlic t^n'av 'if the morning all wa^ o\'ci' 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 171 
 
 xvin. 
 
 BARBNT RHYNDBRS was the son of a well-to-do 
 blacksmith of Albany. Sent to New York on 
 some business by his father, he caught the martial 
 fever, and offered his services at the fort. 
 
 Leisler, only too glad to get such a strapping recruit, 
 speedily discovered in him metal of worth. That lum- 
 bering body, as it turned out, was topped by a good 
 head. A matter of moment accidentally entrusted to 
 him was managed with a judgment surprising in a tyro. 
 Other commissions followed, with the same result; 
 everything given him to do was done with quietness 
 and despatch. At last, for want of a more experi- 
 enced envoy, he was sent up to his native town on 
 some delicate mission, in which he showed such steadi- 
 ness and good sense that on his return he found him- 
 self in high favor. 
 
 Going back and forth on frequent errands from the 
 fort to the house in the Strand, he of necessity fell in 
 with Jacob junior, and as the two were nearly of an 
 age they soon became boon companions. Thus, 
 although not a member of the household, he was a con- 
 stant visitor. The commander always gave him a 
 grunt of welcome, Vrouw Leisler took a motherly in- 
 terest in his health, and the younger fry made him 
 one in all their plans and pastimes. 
 
 Hester was too much preoccupied, these days, to 
 take careful note of the new-comer. His silence, his 
 stolidity, his homeliness of mind and person, were 
 
172 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 qualities not of a sort to draw attention. It was not 
 very clear how the junker produced his social effects, 
 for he had little to say, and seemed always furnishing 
 a background of neutrality to the more loquacious and 
 forth-putting. Yet plainly enough he had a value for 
 his associates, a very positive value, which, while as 
 inscrutable in its working as the dark rays of the sun, 
 was as marked in its effect. It may have been, after 
 all, only a sound-metal ring of genuineness in him ; for 
 in time one found out that he spoke only when he had 
 something to say, he laughed only when he was 
 pleased, he told the truth so far as practicable, and for 
 the rest kept his own counsel as to things not needful 
 to be mentioned. 
 
 So -far as Hester was concerned, it was not at all in 
 the stranger's favor that he was Cobus's bosom friend, 
 for she rebelled at her brother's lordly and patron- 
 izing ways since he had been employed in the public 
 business. Thus, vexed by Cobus's contemptuous air 
 and weary of her mother's eternal housekeeping 
 prattle, Hester came little by little to find a solace in 
 the ungainly junker's society. Whether it was that 
 he did not dispute with her, that he was always atten- 
 tive, that he seemed to carry about an atmosphere of 
 kindliness and sympathy, it is impossible now to say. 
 Each and all of these considerations doubtless served 
 as determining iniiuences in making her gradually 
 turn to him for her only real companionship. 
 
 It will presently more clearly appear how uncon- 
 scious she was of this tendency in herself. In pass- 
 ing, it may be instanced as significant that she seemed 
 often to forget him in her preoccupation, and to go on 
 as if thinking aloud, and with as little restraint in 
 feeling or action as if in presence of a chair or bureau. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 173 
 
 In this self-absorption, naturally enough it had never 
 occurred to her to consider what his feelings might be 
 in the matter, or whether he had any. Quite blind to 
 the look of pleasure which twinkled in his small eyes 
 and overspread his broad face at her approach, she 
 was equally insensible of his many little devices for 
 ministering to her comfort, accomplished as they were 
 for the most part by stealth. So, too, when Cobus 
 burst in upon their communings and rudely dragged 
 Barent off on some junker sport or quest, she failed, 
 in her own vexation, to remark her companion's 
 chagrin. 
 
 From this happy unconsciousness she was roughly 
 awakened. Catalina came one morning to visit her. 
 Such an event was of rare occurrence now-a-days for 
 divers reasons, none of which were very clear to 
 Hester. In the first place, Catalina had been slow in re- 
 covering from her resentment at her friend's engage- 
 ment ; again, no sooner was the obnoxious sweetheart 
 gone, and that stumbling-block removed, than the 
 begum began mysteriously to bristle with so many ob- 
 jections to any social intercourse with the Strand that 
 the old intimacy was well-nigh broken up. 
 
 Whether reconciled at last to a divided affection, or 
 whether hoping that in this long separation Hester's 
 heart would become estranged from the absent junker, 
 Catalina had latterly shown an inclination to take her 
 friend back into favor ; and this morning, on coming 
 together, they flew into each other's arms with old- 
 time fervor. 
 
 What a day of delight it proved to the joyous 
 maiden! How lover-like she followed Hester about 
 in her household tasks, from the cold, stone-flagged 
 pantry, where she chopped, seasoned, and pressed the 
 
174 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 savory hoof-kaas, to the big lumber-strewn garret 
 where, seated near a southern window at the old-fash- 
 ioned hand-loom brought from Holland by Vrouw 
 Leisler's grandam, Hester skilfully sped back and 
 forth the flying shuttle, weaving her mother's good 
 homespun thread into a coarse blue linsey-wool- 
 sey stuff against the time new petticoats should be 
 needed. 
 
 At dinner there was the strange junker brought 
 home by Cobus. Having neither seen nor heard of 
 him, Catalina at first bestowed scant notice upon him. 
 By and by, as it chanced, he spoke to Hester. It was 
 a quite commonplace speech, not at all worth repeat- 
 ing, but none the less the watchful visitor's eye in- 
 stantly sought out the speaker; none the less she 
 studied him narrowly for the rest of the meal, noting 
 how steadily his eyes were fixed in one direction, how 
 intently his ears listened for the sound of one voice. 
 
 Neither did she fail to remark, as they rose from 
 the table, that he speedily drew Hester aside,' nor with 
 what a true wizard touch he held fast to his victim by 
 bringing forth things from his pocket, — a pair of 
 Hester's scissors which he had taken down on the sly 
 to be sharpened by the armorer at the fort, and a 
 curious little talisman he had bought of a sailor in 
 the dock. 
 
 The things were trifles ; they did not count. It was 
 the looks and manners of the two, the comfortable 
 air of intimacy between them, which fixed the watch- 
 er's attention. And herein, as it seemed, she found 
 some alarming significance, as well as in the further 
 fact that their parting at the door was prolonged until 
 interrupted by the peremptory whistle of Cobus, who 
 stood waiting in the street for his friend. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 175 
 
 Turning back into the house, Hester found her 
 friend putting on her hood with an air of precipitation. 
 
 "Going?" 
 
 "'T is time, I think." 
 
 " What, now ? " wonderinglj 
 
 " You have no need of me." 
 
 "So?" 
 
 " I leave you to your junkers." 
 
 The listener gazed with innocent, wide-opened eyes. 
 
 " You comfort yourself while the old one is gone. 
 What becomes of the new when the old comes back ? 
 You think, mayhap, he will never come. So ! you 
 waste no time ; you cannot wait, you fill his place at 
 once," with an ironical laugh. " How seems it, then, 
 to have two at a time ? Poor number one, if he could 
 see who fills his place ! Poor junker, he had at least 
 a fair face ; he did not look like a devil-fish." 
 
 A look of growing intelligence succeeded the wonder 
 in the listener's eyes. Her cheeks were burning red ; 
 she stood like one in a stupor, while her jealous little 
 guest, with a scornful courtesy, marched quickly to 
 the door, sending back as a parting shaft, — 
 
 " I wish you joy of your junkers, — a fresh one every 
 month. You have no need of friends, not you ! " 
 
 Hester made no move to stop her angry friend. 
 She was for the moment too much stunned. Like a 
 somnambulist waking in a place wild and strange, she 
 had a feeling of unsettled equilibrium. Was this the 
 truth she had heard ? If not, why had it such an 
 appearance of truth ? With swift retrospect she went 
 over the few months covering her acquaintance with 
 Barent. A new wave of color surged slowly over her 
 face. She walked to the window, and looked out; 
 she turned, and went mechanically up to her own 
 
176 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 room, threw herself down in a chair, and passed her 
 hand vaguely over her forehead. 
 
 After a while, by a fresh effort of will, she forced 
 herself slowly and carefully to review the whole matter 
 again. Her face gradually cleared. 
 
 It was nothing, after all. She had talked with this 
 big, kindly hearted junker, to be sure, because — be- 
 cause he was there, because she had nothing else to do. 
 She had never thought of him a moment after he was 
 out of sight. Besides, he was Cobus's friend ; he 
 came to see Cobus ; he cared nothing for her. Cata- 
 lina was absurd, as usual ; she was always ipiagining 
 things. 
 
 By such sound reflections she gradually won back 
 her self-composure. With absolute innocence -of in- 
 tent there could be no deep sense of wrong-doing. 
 Nevertheless, as appeared, she felt far from easy about 
 the matter, and awaited with evident anxiety her next 
 meeting with Barent. When he came she studied 
 him curiously, critically, from a new and different 
 standpoint. Now for the first time and clearly enough 
 she saw his face kindle at her approach, she noted his 
 little kindnesses. It had an odd effect upon her. 
 She flamed up with indignation, as though he had 
 taken an unwarrantable liberty, and replied sharply 
 to his friendly overtures. 
 
 Barent naturally looked greatly discomfited, and 
 cast an inquiring glance at the capricious maiden out 
 of the corner of his eye. But he was blessed with a 
 temperament to deal with caprices. As a strong man 
 treats the foibles of a child, he let them pass, and 
 waited for the return of reason, — a method equally 
 admirable whether due to thickness of skin or large- 
 ness of mind. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 177 
 
 But here was no case of caprice, as the junker was 
 soon to learn to his cost. This young woman, who 
 for months had been so kind, so hospitable, so com- 
 panionable, and even confidential, now suddenly turned 
 about, and began to treat him in a most distant man- 
 ner, to avoid meeting him or holding with him any 
 but the most formal communication. All this without 
 explanation or apparent cause. 
 
 As suddenly on his side the junker began to realize 
 how prized this companionship had been by him, what 
 an important part it had formed of his daily life, how 
 insensibly it had colored all his plans for the future, 
 and what a grievous affliction its abrupt cessation now 
 proved. 
 
 Conscious of no offence committed, of no short- 
 coming in manner or intent, nor of any neglect of 
 duty towards his young hostess, he was at first puzzled, 
 and then greatly disturbed, by this singular change of 
 deportment. After a long and fruitless pondering 
 upon the matter, he resolved to seek an explanation 
 of Hester herself. This, however, he found no easy 
 matter, so persistently did she avoid him, and so 
 lacking was he in the boldness needed to make 
 opportunities. 
 
 But patience such as Barent's rarely goes unre- 
 warded. One Sunday afternoon, while idly pacing 
 the ramparts of the fort, he saw the familiar figure 
 just turning into the old burying-ground which for- 
 merly stretched between the western side of Broad- 
 way and the North Eiver. Here at last was his 
 chance. He paused a moment to summon resolution, 
 and then made the best of his way to the spot. 
 
 Passing through the gate, he looked about for sev- 
 eral minutes before discovering the object of his 
 
 12 
 
178 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 search. After no long time, however, he saw her half- 
 way down to the river, wandering among the graves 
 and studying the epitaphs. 
 
 He stopped ; his courage flew away now when he 
 most needed it. He loitered, watching her move- 
 ments, accommodating his pace to hers. Muttering 
 to himself in a distraught way, he read aloud scraps 
 of the inscriptions on the simple head-stones, as he 
 sauntered on. 
 
 " ' Hier rust het ligJiaem von Peter Suydam ' — 
 now she stops — ' gehoren den 20^'° February ' — she 
 does not hear me — ' overleden ' — she goes on again. 
 ' In den Heere ontslapen ' — in a minute more I shall 
 come up with her — ' Hendrick Amermore ' — how 
 will she look ! ' Tot gedaohtenis von Jacob Mindert 
 overleden ' — she will be angered — ' oude zynde 75 
 jaaren ' — yet will I not go without speech with her. 
 ' Hier leydt het staff elyck deel von Wouter VanDyhe.' " 
 
 Hester, too, it seemed, was busy with mortuary lore ; 
 for, turning back by chance to read again an epitaph 
 she had passed, she came full upon her abashed fol- 
 lower. With a dismayed look, he stammered, — 
 
 " I saw you from the fort. I — I came here to get 
 speech with you ! " 
 
 " With me ? " she began, with a flushed and guilty 
 look, but directly rallied, and ended in a freezing 
 tone, " What can you have of such moment to say to 
 me?" 
 
 "I — we — of late you have not treated me with 
 the old good-will." 
 
 "So?" 
 
 He did not wince at the exasperating monosyllable, 
 but went on simply, — 
 
 " I beg to be told in what I have given you o£fence." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 179 
 
 Staggered a little by this directness, Hester labored 
 over her answer. 
 
 "I — you cannot — my good-will is not a matter 
 that comes at bidding," she answered at last, evasively. 
 
 " I see well — I know all. I am a big bungler. 1 
 have done something ; I have made a mistake ; I have 
 hurt your feelings. 'Tis always so; I drive them 
 away I would draw to me. What shall I do? I 
 think only of pleasing you, and here see how it turns 
 out. Tell me now what it is, that I may do it no 
 more." 
 
 The petitioner was plainly stirred up. This was a 
 long speech for him, and it was blurted out in a spas- 
 modic, half-surly tone, as though in resentment at 
 Providence for having made him after so faulty a 
 pattern. 
 
 Hester looked at him attentively, as she said in a 
 tone somewhat softer, — 
 
 " You have done nothing ; there is nothing to tell." 
 
 " But why, then, do you speak after that fashion ? 
 Why do you look at me in such a way ? 'T would 
 scare an enemy, that look ! Why do you not give me 
 your hand when we meet ? Why do we not sit and 
 talk as we did ? Why do you never come upon the 
 stoop now-a-days ? Why do you not ask me to do 
 things ? Tell me that, — tell me that, if there is 
 nothing ! " 
 
 This downright way of conducting the interview 
 was very confusing. Hester blushed, quite at a loss 
 for an answer. Recovering herself presently, she 
 replied, — 
 , " I do not choose to talk upon the matter." 
 
 " You will be friends no longer ? " cried the junker, 
 with a great burst. 
 
180 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Hester hesitated ; for a moment a look of irresolu- 
 tion disturbed her face ; then stepping forward with 
 outstretched hand, she said, — 
 
 " I thank you for all your good offices. You have 
 my good-will, but," she concluded, firmly, " we can 
 never be friends in the way you would wish." 
 
 And turning about she walked away, leaving him 
 staring at the grave-stones, and muttering vaguely, — 
 
 " Hier leydt het lighaem . . . ' never be friends ' . . . 
 von ffester, huysvrouw von Barent Rhynders . . . ' nev- 
 er be friends in the way you would wish ' . . . over- 
 leden den . . . ' never — never in the way you would 
 wish!'" 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 181 
 
 XIX. 
 
 ONE morning, before he was dressed, Leisler was 
 told that a lady in much distress waited below 
 to speak with him. This every-day incident failed to 
 awaken any interest in the commander, who finished 
 his toilet with deliberation. 
 
 On his way downstairs, as it chanced, he met a 
 slave going up with a dish of fresh olykoecken. A 
 circumstance so very unusual directly excited his 
 curiosity, and he stopped to question the woman, who 
 explained that it was a gift to Hester from Vrouw 
 Van Dorn, just left at the door by Rip with his 
 basket of garden stuff. 
 
 Content with this plausible explanation, the fasting 
 oflBcial, without thinking of his action, helped himself 
 to one of the cakes from the heaped-up dish, and 
 munched it as he went his way. 
 
 Hester greeted her gift with a look of joy, — with 
 the look of a gourmand at sight of his favorite tid- 
 bit. In her eagerness she even proceeded to count 
 the cakes. Suddenly her face fell. She counted 
 them again ; she overturned the dish upon the table, 
 and carefully replaced them one by one. The tale 
 was always the same. Her face settled into deeper 
 disappointment. 
 
 " Ye-es — 't is very kind in Vrouw Van Dorn to re- 
 member me — I like olykoecken so much — and these 
 seem very good. Go take them to the kitchen." 
 
182 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 The puzzled slave withdrew, leaving her distraught 
 young mistress to finish dressing. Called presently 
 to breakfast, Hester went moodily downstaii's, where 
 she found her father still occupied with his visitor. 
 She caught a glimpse of the petitioner's face as she 
 passed through the hall, — a pale woman, with a look 
 of faded beauty and an air of suffering. Her father 
 was talking in a voice even louder and rougher than 
 usual. She heard the tag-end of the conversation ; 
 she had no choice. It^was for anybody's benefit with- 
 in stone's throw of the house. 
 
 " So ! he has found out, then, who is master here, 
 — and so will the rest of his damned crew, every 
 traitor of them. They will hatch Papist plots, they 
 will stir up the French and Indians, will they ? " 
 
 "Whatever my husband did, he thought it his 
 duty — " 
 
 « Bah-h-h-h ! " 
 
 " If he has done wrong, he has paid a bitter pen- 
 alty. He has been punished enough ; he is sick, he 
 is suffering. 'T is cruel to keep him in that dreadful 
 prison ! " 
 
 " So ! he finds it not a bower, then ? I 'm glad of 
 that." 
 
 " ' T is a deadly place ; the damp stands in drops 
 on the wall ; 't is not fit for a beast, much less a 
 Christian. His health fails, he is wasting away, — he 
 cannot live there." 
 
 " Huh ! better men have lived all their lives in a 
 dungeon." 
 
 " He will pledge himself to meddle in public affairs 
 no more." 
 
 " He is late with his pledges," with a scoffing laugh. 
 " I take care myself now of all that." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 183 
 
 A gleam of spirit leaped up for a moment in the 
 woman's eyes, and it was with great difficulty she 
 kept her voice pitched to the petitioner's key. 
 
 " If you could but see him now," she began, after 
 making sure of the conquest over herself ; " he has 
 not strength left to do you any harm. If you will 
 but let him come back to his family — " 
 
 " No, I say ; you have my answer. Get you gone ! 
 Let the dog humble himself ! Let him do his own 
 begging ! " 
 
 Bolting his breakfast after the agitation of this 
 scene, the commander went away to the fort without 
 another thought of the olykoecken. 
 
 Near the dock, as it chanced, two ox-carts, passing, 
 obstructed the narrow street and brought him to a 
 stand-still. As he stood waiting, a man and a woman, 
 turning into the street from the direction of the 
 Heeren-Gracht, came full upon him. Whirling about 
 with a suppressed exclamation, the woman gazed 
 fixedly at the bay. The man stopped to speak. 
 
 " Well, Staats ? " 
 
 " I have been to see the prisoners, as you desired, 
 and 't is fit I should call your attention to their con- 
 dition." 
 
 Leisler scowled. 
 
 " Bayard is in a bad state. If he be not presently 
 brought forth from that place and well cared for, I 
 will not answer for his life." 
 
 " Let him die and rot, and go to hell, then ! Look 
 to your own affairs, and keep your hands from med- 
 dling in matters of state." 
 
 Roaring out this answer as he brushed past them, 
 the commander held his way to the fort. 
 
 There was an interval of silence ; then the begum, 
 
184 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 slowly turning, laid her claw-like hand on her hus- 
 band's arm. He looked down at her sullenly. Rais- 
 ing herself upon her toes, she peered into his face. 
 
 " This is the great, good man God sends to save 
 the people ! " 
 
 Regardless of the effect of his words, Leisler strove, 
 by a fierce application to other matters, to forget the 
 unwelcome subject which had been forced upon Ins 
 attention twice in the course of the morning. 
 
 Arrived at the fort, notwithstanding the early hour, 
 an expectant crowd was already waiting to get speech 
 with him. Silent and scowling, he stalked through 
 the midst of them, roughly thrusting off one or two 
 who were bold enougli to pluck him by the sleeve, in 
 the hope thereby of getting an earlier hearing. 
 
 The large, low-studded room which he had made 
 his headquarters was a scene of confusion ; arms, 
 ammunition, provisions, harnesses, broken furniture, 
 parts of uniforms, were scattered about on benches or 
 on the fioor, while a large table near the windows 
 was piled high with papers in hopeless disorder. 
 
 At this table he took his seat, and one by one the 
 petitioners filed in. 
 
 A stout farmer from Hempstead, sent up by his 
 neighbors, came to warn the commander that if he 
 persisted in enforcing the last tax levy there would be 
 an uprising ; that the people had borne all they could 
 bear ; and that certain out-spoken folks boldly said 
 his assembly, called together from here, there, and 
 everywhere, had no right to lay taxes on folks not 
 represented in it. 
 
 The man stopped to take breath and observe the 
 effect of his words. Despite his hulking form, his 
 heavy, sunburnt features framed in long, matted locks 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 185 
 
 of tow-colored hair, his coarse homespun, which added 
 to the general clumsiness of his appearance, there was 
 an earnestness in his manner, a significant look of 
 resolution about his coarse mouth, which should have 
 inspired respect. 
 
 Leisler, however, gazing sternly at the wall before 
 him, said only, — 
 
 "Is that all?" 
 
 " Is it not enough ? " 
 
 " Bring in the next," to the sentinel. 
 
 As the discomfited farmer withdrew, two deacons 
 from the Vlacktebos church came to beg for the re- 
 lease of their pastor, Dominie Varick, who had been 
 shut up in prison for too plain speaking in the pulpit. 
 The big furrows between the listener's eyebrows deep- 
 ened, as the woBthy pair went on to urge that worse 
 talk than the dominie's could be heard on every cor- 
 ner ; that folks could not be hindered from speaking 
 their minds ; that on account of this and other like 
 acts of severity people were getting daily more out- 
 spoken, and it would be well for them in power to 
 take warning. 
 
 " The next ! " bawled the commander for answer. 
 
 A tradesman in the dock came to complain that 
 some of the soldiers from the fort helped themselves 
 to his wine and brandy, and when they could drink 
 no more destroyed and made waste of it. 
 
 ." And what better use could it be put to ? Get 
 along with ye ! " 
 
 " Captain Ludowyck ! " 
 
 Notwithstanding the scowl with which he was 
 greeted, the new-comer walked boldly forward and 
 delivered himself of his errand in a firm voice. 
 
 " I come here to ask ye no favor, Jacob Leisler. 
 
186 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 I come to tell ye the truth whether ye like it or no. 
 The whole town is stirred up over this story of Bayard ; 
 't is said he is in a bad state and growing worse. ' Tis 
 said ye know it well, and will not let him forth. Heed 
 me or not, as ye choose ; but I warn ye, if harm comes 
 to him 't is not these walls nor yonder handful of men 
 will save ye from the wrath of the people." 
 
 Clutching the heavy table before him with his big 
 hairy hands, the listener had much ado to control the 
 paroxysm of rage which convulsed his whole person, 
 as his former fellow-captain of the train-bands turned 
 on his heel and walked calmly away. Doubtless he 
 was amazed that there still lived in the community 
 a man bold enough to make such a speech to his 
 face. 
 
 " Dr. Gerardus Beekman ! " called the sentinel, open- 
 ing the door again. 
 
 At sight of his next visitor, a tall, spare, dignified 
 figure in clerical dress, the commander's face some- 
 what relaxed. 
 
 " What now, doctor ? " he asked, extending his 
 hand. 
 
 " Heigho ! little that 's cheering, I grieve to say." 
 
 "So?" 
 
 " We are losing ground, I fear ; there is much 
 discontent — " 
 
 « Bah-h ! " 
 
 " Worse than that, there is daily defection — " 
 
 Leisler gave a scornful nod. 
 
 " The people are ready to believe anything, and 
 where there are eager ears, as you know, there is 
 never dearth of wherewithal to fill them." 
 
 " What is said ? Out with it ! " 
 
 "The worst is that you are sending every week 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 187 
 
 shiploads of things to the Indies to be sold, — house- 
 hold stuff you have stripped from these aristocrats, — 
 and — " 
 
 " Lies ! lies, — damned, infernal lies ! " cried Leisler, 
 hoarsely, while his thick skin flushed crimson. 
 
 " — and that you line your own purse with the pro- 
 ceeds," continued the doctor, calmly. " ' T is said and 
 believed you have a rabid thirst for money, and that 
 you are prepared to go any length to get it." 
 
 " Can I fight the Indians, can I build fortifications, 
 can I carry on the government, without money ? " 
 asked the commander, hotly. 
 
 " No, but it must be raised by lawful methods. The 
 pocket is the sore place. Let it be once believed that 
 you will empty it without scruple, and your power is 
 gone." 
 
 The listener moved uneasily in his seat, and swal- 
 lowed an execration that rose to his lips. He knew 
 this man was his frie^id, that he came with a friendly 
 purpose to tell him tlie truth, — the truth at once so 
 interesting and exasperating to hear. 
 
 " Go on ! Go on ! What other lies, what worse 
 slanders, are ye keeping back ? " 
 
 " There is great indignation that you meddle with 
 the preachers." 
 
 " And think ye I '11 have 'em preaching treason in 
 the pulpit ? No !" striking the table with his clinched 
 fist. " I '11 nail up every church door and thrust every 
 parson into a dungeon first ! " 
 
 " Have a care," said the doctor, shaking his head. 
 " I speak for your good, as you well know. You 
 are lost if you go on after this fashion. The whole 
 island is stirred up over Dominie Varick's case, and 
 this morning comes news from Albany that Dominie 
 
188 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Dellius has been hunted out of town by Milborne for 
 a slip of the tongue in his morning prayer, and this 
 upon your order and procurement." 
 
 The angry outburst which awaited the conclusion 
 of this protest was cut short by an altercation at the 
 door. The sentinel was denying entrance to some- 
 body, who, rudely shoving that official aside, strode 
 boldly into the room. 
 
 " Joost ! " The speaker's face beamed with un- 
 mistakable delight, as he stepped forward, with both 
 hands outstretched, to meet the sun-browned ensign 
 just arrived from his long sea-voyage. 
 
 Dr. Beekman turned to go ; his leave-taking was 
 unheeded. The two were left alone. 
 
 "Well?" cried the commander, compressing into 
 one short, sharp word all his unbounded curiosity and 
 interest. 
 
 Honest Joost drew up a chair, and entered upon 
 his story at once. He did noj; mince matters ; he 
 blurted out the bald, ugly truth. His journey had 
 been in vain. He had been snubbed at court ; he had 
 been kicked, and cuffed, and knocked about, thrust 
 into corners, neglected, contemned, ignored. 
 
 " But the king — his Majesty — ye saw him ? " 
 
 " That did I, and often ! " 
 
 " Ye spoke of me — ye told him how I saved the 
 city — the province — from the Papists ? " 
 
 " All — everything — I tried to tell it." 
 
 " What said he to that ? " 
 
 " Said ! He heard nothing. He looked at me side- 
 ways — thus ! " imitating with his fat neck and clown's 
 head the royal manner — " with just one look down- 
 ward from my poll to my shoe-buckles — like this, 
 see ! " — another illustration — " and tlien ye would 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 189 
 
 think I was there no more, for he turns to talk to 
 some popinjay of a fine lord." 
 
 " And ye were put down by a look ? Why called 
 ye not out, ' I come from your Majesty's humble ser- 
 vant Jacob Leisler, to set forth how he suppressed a 
 damnable plot of the Papists to seize upon your rich 
 province of New York ' ? " 
 
 " All that I said, — all that and more ; but when 
 I would go on, his Majesty turns him about, and wav- 
 ing his hand, — as it might be in this way, — ' Go,' 
 says he, ' tell your story to the lord secretary ! ' " 
 
 Leisler started to his feet, nearly overturning the 
 chair in his violence. 
 
 " Why did I ever send such an ass on this business ? 
 I know ye well ; ye went in to his Majesty in a greasy 
 doublet, I '11 be bound, with dung on your shoes and 
 your locks in a snarl." 
 
 " That did I not ! There was never a man in the 
 chamber finer than I, — nor so fine ; a grand new 
 velvet doublet, which took every stuyver in my purse 
 to pay for, with yellow hose, knots of green ribbon at 
 my garters, new pinchbeck buckles in my shoes, my 
 hair reeking with bear's fat and a goodly sprinkling 
 of civet. Ye 'd have sworn I was born to it, to see 
 me ducking and kneeling down with my hat under 
 my arm, like the best of 'em ! I watched them close, 
 never fear, to get the trick of it." 
 
 " But the lord secretary, — what said he ? " 
 
 " Nothing but a ' Humph ' and a ' Ha ' and ' I '11 
 think upon it,' and never looked fairly at me all the 
 time I was there, but got upon his legs in the midst 
 of my story, yawned in my face, as he would swal- 
 low me, and went mincing and ambling out of the 
 closet." 
 
190 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Pool ! And ye were content with this ! Ye took 
 this for answer, and went no more ! " broke in the 
 listener fiercely, as if resolved to find his henchman 
 at fault. 
 
 " That did I not. I went every day, once, twice, 
 and again, to his Majesty, to his Lordship, to the 
 Plantation Committee, to everybody who had voice 
 or vote in the matter, and I soon smelt out the 
 rat." 
 
 " Ei ? " 
 
 " The reason of all the neglect and the insults." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " I found it all out." 
 
 " Will ye speak, fool ? " 
 
 " That damned Nicholson ! " 
 
 Leisler snorted with rage. 
 
 " I find him everywhere ; creeping, — creeping like 
 a snake out of the king's closet, creeping into the 
 lord's waiting-room, whispering, — whispering till he 
 has turned all to poison." 
 
 " 'T is true, then, that tale ? " 
 
 " He is sent to Virginia." 
 
 « And New York ? " 
 
 " One Sloughter is appointed." 
 
 Again the commander clutched the table, while his 
 breath, sucked in between his clinched teeth, sounded 
 like escaping steam. 
 
 " And that is not the worst," continued the inexo- 
 rable Joost. 
 
 "Ei?" 
 
 " Those dogs yonder are made councillors to the 
 new governor." 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 " Philipse, Van Cortlandt, and — " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 191 
 
 "And — " 
 
 " This one below," pointing downward. 
 
 « God Almighty ! " 
 
 Seizing a heavy glass containing the lees of a stale 
 dram, which stood near him upon the table, the in- 
 censed official dashed it into a thousand pieces on the 
 floor. 
 
 " And not a word of Jacob Leisler." 
 
 " Bi ? " 
 
 " Your name not mentioned in it all." 
 
 " Go ! Go ! Get along ! Leave me alone, will 
 ye ? " roared the agonized man, as he raged about the 
 room like a wild beast. 
 
 Shocked and overawed at sight of the wrestlings of 
 that strong spirit, the faithful ensign withdrew at last 
 and left him alone. 
 
 Overwhelmed with a flood of curses at his attempt 
 to usher in the next suitor in waiting, the wondering 
 sentinel held the door against all comers, and the 
 commander had it out with himself. 
 
 An hour passed. The sentinel ventured at length 
 to open the door and take in a paper. There, white 
 and haggard, sat his master glaring- at the table, upon 
 which lay a significant result of his meditation in the 
 shape of a freshly written letter to Milborne, sum- 
 moning him home from Albany. Leisler took the 
 paper, opened it, and perfunctorily read the first few 
 lines. His look of indifference quickly gave way in 
 turn to one of surprise, to one of eagerness, to one of 
 triumph, and finally, as he studied the signature at 
 the bottom of the page, to a passing contortion of the 
 muscles which fulfilled the functions of a smile. 
 
 That extraordinary signature the commander glared 
 at so eagerly still merits study after the lapse of two 
 
192 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 centuries. It has become historic. With its elab- 
 orate flourish it looks like nothing so much as a 
 skein of black silk hopelessly snarled, yet among the 
 tangled lines stands out boldly enough the name 
 Nicholas Bayard. 
 
 It was pathetic, that signature, in its feeble execu- 
 tion of a dashing intent; for it was the only bold 
 touch in the paper. All the rest was meek enough. 
 Grievous indeed must have been the case of the 
 writer when he brought himself to address Leisler as 
 " lieutenant-governor," when he promised respect and 
 deference for the future, and humbly begged for par- 
 don and release. 
 
 Straightway all the vexations of the morning are 
 forgotten. The commander lifts again his head, the 
 fire returns to his eye, and as the bell in the steeple 
 close at hand rings forth the noontide hour he sets 
 out, with a deep-heaved sigh, for his dinner in the 
 Strand. 
 
 He walks along deeply absorbed in thought ; he 
 takes no heed of what goes on about him. Neighbors 
 and townsmen pass and repass, like the figures in a 
 dream. He sees them through a mist ; their voices 
 come like a distant murmur ; he is blind to their 
 angry glances shot at him askance, deaf to their mut- 
 terings, not always low, as he passes. 
 
 High above their heads, grappling with great odds, 
 he strides along. Something happens, — a common 
 street incident. A hulking fellow is rolling a cask 
 into a shop. His passage barred by this necessary 
 business, the dreamer stops patiently. Through his 
 abstraction the thought gradually penetrates to his 
 mind that the fellow is purposely and impudently 
 blocking his way ; directly he flames forth : — 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 193 
 
 " Get along with ye, idle dog ! D' ye think to hold 
 me here all day ? " 
 
 The man, as if waiting for this remonstrance as a 
 cue, makes a loud and saucy answer. Straightway a 
 crowd of his fellows begin to gather from the neigh- 
 boring shop-doors. The commander, nothing daunted, 
 raises his halberd, whereupon, like the sudden burst- 
 ing of a thunder-cloud, the whole pack set upon him. 
 
 " Dog-driver ! " 
 
 " Down with him ! " 
 
 « General Hog ! " 
 
 « Butcher ! " 
 
 " Tread him in the mire ! " 
 
 " We have him now ! " 
 
 " Give him no quarter ! " 
 
 " Deacon Jailer ! " 
 
 " Blockhead ! " 
 
 " Little Cromwell ! " 
 
 Pressing upon him, thrusting him into the mud, 
 knocking off his hat, pelting him with offal, they were 
 every moment advancing to greater indignities, when 
 in a trice he turned upon them. Without a word of 
 parley or threat, without deigning to draw his sword, 
 he fell upon them as upon a pack of dogs, with buffets 
 and kicks, routing them utterly. Then pausing only 
 to catch his breath and cast about him one wide-flash- 
 ing look of triumph, he went his way. 
 
 Doubtless he little realized what a potent ally in the 
 fray was the terror of his name. One man does not 
 rout a multitude by the strength of his arms alone. 
 But though he had come forth a victor, he had also 
 learned a lesson. He took it to heart, and next 
 morning a guard was appointed to wait upon the 
 commander-in-chief wherever he went. 
 
 13 
 
194 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 It is a proof otherwise how little weight the matter 
 had with him that he made no mention of it at 
 home. • 
 
 " Where is Ehynders ? " he asked of Cobus, on 
 reaching the house. " Go find him, and bid him 
 make ready to go at once to Albany on a pressing 
 matter ! " 
 
 "Barent? He is gone!" 
 
 " Where ? And who gave him leave ? " 
 
 " Oh, little he cared for anybody's leave ; he was 
 ready to jump into the dock but for me." 
 
 " What ailed the lad ? " 
 
 " He bade me not tell." 
 
 " Out with it, I say ! " 
 
 " 'T is Hester, then," went on Cobus, only too glad 
 to unbosom himself. 
 
 " What had Hester to do with him ?" 
 
 "He, wanted to court her, and she turned him a 
 cold shoulder, and when he pressed the matter let 
 him know that never would she have anything to say 
 to him." 
 
 " Will she not ? So ! What, she sends packing a 
 lad like that, and just at the minute I have need of 
 him ? Go call the hussy to me ! " 
 
 Quite unsuspiciously Hester came at her father's 
 bidding. 
 
 " Bi, ei ! A fine trick ye have played with your 
 airs and graces ! Ye send away Barent — now — now 
 when I want him ? Ye with your damned nonsense 
 will have nothing to say to him, ei ? " 
 
 Mary's wedding was not forgotten. Hester turned 
 ghastly white. 
 
 " Ye will have nothing to say to the best junker in 
 the province, — one that can keep his mouth shut, 
 
"An' ye kill me for it I will never marry him!' 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 195 
 
 that has an old head on his shoulders ? Ye will have 
 nothing to say to him ? " 
 
 , "I — did he — who has said this ? " stammered 
 the dismayed culprit. 
 
 " Ask me no questions ! No matter who said it. 
 'Tis the truth. I know ye. Ye think still of that 
 sneaking cur of a Papist. Listen to me ! Mark ye, I 
 say ; I will have no child's play. I send this very 
 day for that junker to come back. I bring ye face to 
 face with him, and let me hear ye say no to him 
 then ! " 
 
 Even the lips of the poor girl blanched, and her 
 eyes had the look of one in a swoon. But though 
 sorely tried, her nerves bore the strain. Leaning 
 against the wall to steady herself, she directed a look 
 at her father and tried to speak. Once — twice — 
 thrice, but her voice stuck in her throat. In despiera- 
 tion she shook her head. 
 
 "Ye will not!" he ejaculated, in hoarse amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 Uttered with shaking limbs, but with a look as 
 resolute as his own, at last the faltering answer 
 came : " An' ye kill me for it, I will never marry 
 him ! " 
 
196 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTEU. 
 
 XX. 
 
 THIS scene with her father proved to Hester a 
 veritable moral crisis ; that is to say, a divid- 
 ing point between all that had gone before and all 
 that was to come. Like an electric storm, it had 
 cleared the air. She could now look about her to 
 better purpose, and, whatever else might come of it, 
 her own position, at least, was sharply defined. 
 
 Despite her courage at the moment, however, 
 directly it was all over she was seized with a feeling 
 of panic. She well knew her father's strength, she 
 had little confidence in her own, and then there was 
 the experience of Mary. 
 
 Pacing back and forth in her fireless little chamber 
 all the next morning, careless of the biting cold, she 
 scratched peep-holes in tlie thick hoar-frost covering 
 the window-panes to catch glimpses of the outer 
 world, as if in hopes thereby to find suggestion or 
 relief. 
 
 At last the constraint of the four walls became in- 
 tolerable. She must get out under the sky, away 
 from the oppressing sense of human nearness. Put- 
 ting on her quilted hood and long cloak, she left the 
 house, turning, as it seemed, at random, but in reality 
 in obedience to the sub-conscious tension of a guid- 
 ing rein which directed her thought always to one 
 spot, her mount of promise, her outlook of hope and 
 expectation. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 197 
 
 Slipping and floundering up and down over the 
 snow hummocks, worn to stony hardness by foot-- 
 passengers and ox-carts, which covered all the city 
 streets, she made her way, in the teeth of a whistling 
 wind, around to the bridge, and climbed the icy slope 
 of the Verlettenberg. 
 
 There, with eyes turned wistfully northward, she 
 studied long and anxiously every detail of the land- 
 scape. It lay in winter desolation, cold and still. 
 Above the jumble of chimneys, gables, and snow- 
 covered roofs in the near fore-ground there bristled 
 the jagged line of the palisades. Beyond, as the 
 island widened towards the mainland, the ground 
 rose into high, wooded hills, the leafless forests be- 
 ing relieved here and there by rich masses of ever- 
 greens, while the interlying valleys were marked by 
 white stretches where the thick, untrodden snow 
 covered the frozen bouweries. 
 
 Again and again Hester intently scanned this whole 
 region from river to river. A hawk soaring high in 
 air, the pines and hemlocks of the distant forest bil- 
 lowing like ocean waves in the wind, the shadows of 
 the clouds sweeping over the hills, the smoke curling 
 up from a far-off farm-house, — these were the only 
 signs of life and movement in the wide and varied 
 scene. 
 
 What did Tryntje mean ? 
 
 The bleak wind, the hard, bright sun, the white- 
 gray sky, the outer solitude, — were these the com- 
 forting influences she sought? Plainly Nature had 
 no message for her. Thereupon, by a swift revulsion 
 neither strange nor rare, she straightway yearned for 
 the closer touch of her human kind. She bethought 
 her of Catalina. Indeed, Catalina was intimately con- 
 
198 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 nected with this crisis. It was she who, however un- 
 consciously, had brought it all about ; who, whether 
 by instinct or insight, had instantly' detected the 
 truth. Moreover, notwithstanding her caprices and 
 fits of passion, Catalina's loyalty was as steadfast as 
 the sunshine. To Catalina she would go. 
 
 Down at the bottom of her father's garden, where 
 a miniature pond formed by the melting snow had 
 frozen over, Catalina was found skating with her sis- 
 ters. Hester stopped a moment to look on. The 
 busy skater was revelling in her sport. With her fair 
 hair blowing about, her eyes glowing, her cheeks 
 well-nigh as bright as her scarlet hood, she was at the 
 moment a sight to gaze upon. Despite the grotesque 
 clumsiness of her dress, with its multitudinous petti- 
 coats and quiltings, despite the thick, shapeless shoes 
 and clumsy Dutch skates which encumbered her feet, 
 her figure asserted itself through all its uncouth 
 wrappings in lines of grace and beauty. 
 
 Uttering a cry of joy at sight of Hester, she came 
 plunging and staggering up through the drifts to wel- 
 come her. Pilled with the abounding life, with the 
 sense of power, with the madcap, rollicking spirits, 
 produced by vigorous exercise in the clear, cold air, 
 she seized upon her friend with affectionate violence, 
 hugged and kissed her, whirled her about, and dragged 
 her breathless and protesting to the pond, where she 
 fitted her, would she or no, to a pair of skates. 
 
 Although pleased with so cordial a reception, Hes- 
 ter was by no means in accord with this romping 
 mood. It jarred upon her nerves ; it seemed, too, 
 very silly and childish after her own late experiences. 
 None of this internal discord, however, appeared upon 
 her placid face, as she glided mechanically about after 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 199 
 
 Catalina, who, like a young bacchante, whirled and 
 swayed and circled around her with gay tauntings, 
 with teasing gestures, with mocking, mischievous eyes, 
 and all with the wild freedom of a swallow in its 
 flight. 
 
 Now and then, as if to goad her dumpish visitor to 
 some retaliation, the merry hoiden came down upon 
 her with a tremendous bump, which brought them 
 both, amid shouts of laughter, in a swirl of petticoats, 
 to the icy floor. 
 
 Sitting stiir a moment to catch her breath after 
 one of these downfalls, Catalina noted her friend's 
 preoccupation. 
 
 " Something is the matter ? " 
 
 The visitor looked in doubt whether to confess or 
 deny. 
 
 " Come, now, you need not shake your head. Out 
 with it. 1 must hear. I love secrets, as you know. 
 Will you tell?" 
 
 Still confidence hung fire. 
 
 " You shall not budge from this place till you do. 
 See, I will hold you fast ! You cannot stir ! Come, I 
 say ! " with an imperative little shake. " What is it ? " 
 
 Seeing the growing seriousness in the pleading face, 
 Hester, who seemed only waiting for a sympathetic 
 mood, at last yielded. 
 
 "Do you remember, when you were last at our 
 house, what you said ? " 
 
 Catalina shook her head, with a puzzled look. 
 
 " You were very peevish and rude. You got into 
 a passion and went home before your time, and I 
 thought you a silly little fool, as sometimes — pardon 
 me — you are. Nay, you need not redden, for this 
 time you were in the right." 
 
200 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 "So?" 
 
 "About the junker," continued Hester, reddening 
 in her turn. 
 
 " The new junker ? You are in love with him ? " 
 
 «No — yet — " 
 
 " You made him think so ? " 
 
 " Yes, but I was innocent. It came about I know 
 not how. He was always there ; he was like the air, 
 the sunshine, comfortable-like, but one took no note 
 of him." 
 
 Catalina drew closer, with increasing interest. 
 
 " You came ; you opened my eyes. I was affrighted 
 and drew back." 
 
 " And he ? " 
 
 " He thought me fickle." 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " That I was sporting with him." 
 
 " And then ? " 
 
 " He would take no hints, no warnings, he must 
 needs make me speak, and I had no course but to 
 speak truth." 
 
 " What said he then ? " 
 
 " He must needs be pleading." 
 
 " To be sure." 
 
 " Whereupon I thought it right and honest to have 
 done with the matter then and there, and so made 
 him understand there could be nothing betwixt us." 
 
 " How did he look at that ? " 
 
 " Woful he looked, poor junker, and wofuUy he took 
 it all to heart ; for he straightway left his work and 
 everything, and stole away home to Albany." 
 
 Catalina drew a long breath of tragic interest. 
 
 " But mark you now what befalls. Just then my 
 father has need of him upon some public business. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 201 
 
 He is not to be found. The truth comes out. Father 
 sends for me in terrible rage. He has heard an idle 
 rumor somewhere that I had to do with it." 
 
 " What then ? " demanded the listener, almost be- 
 side herself with impatience. 
 
 " He makes me speak. I tell the truth, whereupon 
 he swears an awful oath that he will send and hale 
 the junker back, and that I shall marry him, yea or 
 nay." 
 
 " He is a devil ! " cried Catalina, with clinched 
 fists. " My mother says so." 
 
 Hester stared, even in the excitement of her con- 
 fession, at this outspoken opinion of her father. 
 
 " But you — you will not do it ? What did you 
 then ? " 
 
 " I was affrighted almost beyond speech, but I mus- 
 tered strength to say I never would do it." 
 
 " He was worse at that ? " 
 
 " I thought he would kill me upon the spot, for sure 
 I am he suspected the truth." 
 
 " ' Suspected ' ? But just now you said you bad 
 told him." 
 
 " Nay, but the cause of my refusal." 
 
 " You did not love the junker. That is enough." 
 
 " You grow a dullard." 
 
 " Ei ? " 
 
 " Can you think of no other reason ? " 
 
 An odd, quick movement disturbed the listener's 
 face, a hot flush mingled with the cool glow in her 
 cheeks. 
 
 " You see at last, little dunce ? " 
 
 Without answering, Catalina turned and gazed a long 
 minute, as it seemed, upon the ice-bound harbor. 
 
 "Bi?" 
 
202 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " You mean the other junker ? " The tone was too 
 elaborate in its indifference. 
 
 "Who else?" 
 
 " There is hope, then, he may come back ? " 
 
 " I don't know," faltered Hester, choking with tears 
 at the unexpected question. 
 
 " He is in danger ? " cried her friend, all indiffer- 
 ence gone. 
 
 "No-o, I hope not, — perhaps. Tryntje has sent 
 me a message. 'Tis not the one I thought to get. 
 I know not what it means. I only know he is near, 
 — but sh-h ! " looking timorously about. " Never 
 breathe a word of this. It might bring harm to him." 
 
 " Have no fear." The speaker drew herself up 
 stiffly. 
 
 " I must needs have fear. I am filled with fear. 
 I breakfast and sup on nothing else. What will be- 
 come of him ? What will become of me ? " She 
 quite broke down, and sobbed aloud. 
 
 Catalina was greatly shocked, for Hester was not 
 of the weeping sort. Never before in all their child- 
 ish troubles had she seen that steadfast face so con- 
 vulsed. She stood for a moment in doubt. The 
 struggle was short and sharp ; the victory not un- 
 worthy the pen of the recording angel. Throwing 
 her arms about her weeping friend, she cried : — 
 
 " Sh-h, Hester ! You shall not — you must not — 
 I will not let you weep. All will come right. You 
 will be happy. I will pray God for you. He will let 
 no harm come to you." 
 
 " But — but when that junker is fetched back from 
 Albany, as surely he will be, to take me to wife, what 
 then?" 
 
 " I will tell you." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER, 203 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " Run away — " 
 
 « Catalina ! " 
 
 " — and — go — to — Mm ! " 
 
 Four breathless little words, and every letter of 
 them heroic. The listener saw nothing of that. She 
 was thinking only that she had received the same 
 advice from another source. 
 
 As usual, that night a squad of men kept watch 
 and ward over the city walls. For many months 
 this careful precaution had been taken against any 
 surprise from the mysterious foe, who had never yet 
 shown his head. As, however, night after night set 
 for the dreaded onslaught wore peacefully away, the cry 
 of " Wolf ! " began to lose its terrors, and the doughty 
 sentinels, having spent the earlier hours of their watch 
 in smoking, singing, and cracking stupid jokes, passed 
 the later in shamelessly napping at their posts. 
 
 By good or ill chance, as it may be judged, Rip 
 Van Dorn had been stationed at the Waterpoort. It 
 will not be forgotten in what comfortable proximity 
 this was to Vrouw Litschoe's tap-room, and justifiable 
 doubts may arise as to the vigilance of the guard. 
 But strange as it may appear, it was due to this very 
 proximity that when the distant fort bell rang out its 
 midnight peal there was one trusty sentinel awake to 
 count the strokes. 
 
 His voice might have been a trifle thick and his 
 step somewhat uncertain, but he was unmistakably 
 awake, else had he never seen and clutched a dark 
 figure which came leaping stealthily over the wall, in 
 bis very face, as he staggered back to his post from 
 a visit to Vrouw Annetje. 
 
204 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 "Hola there!" muttered the stranger, struggling 
 to his feet. " Let go your hold ! Let go, I say ! " 
 
 " "We — th-think about that by and by, my fr-friend." 
 
 " Let go ! I come here on business." 
 
 " Zoo ? Ye come — hie — on business ? Good ! I 
 — I come on b-business too." 
 
 " Let go, my good man. 'T is a most pressing 
 matter I have on hand." 
 
 " 'T is always p-pressing when one climbs o-over the 
 wall." 
 
 " I had no choice but to climb the wall, when I 
 could make nobody hear at the gate." 
 
 " Ei ? " gasped the startled sergeant. 
 
 "I might have pounded till doomsday for all of 
 you, — a set of lazy rascals that sleep at their posts. 
 Wait till the commander hears of it." 
 
 " We open not ga-gates to night-haw-awks," hic- 
 coughed the sergeant, defensively. 
 
 " You must open to him who gives the countersign, 
 night or day." 
 
 " But we wait first ,till — hie — till he comes, that 
 man with the count-countersign." 
 
 " He is here ; I have the countersign ! " 
 
 " Truly ! " with drunken irony. " Out — out with 
 it, then ! " 
 
 " William of Orange ! " 
 
 " ' T is true, as I live ! " muttered the astonished 
 sergeant. 
 
 " Come ! come, then, let go your hold ! I must be 
 on my way." 
 
 "Zoo?" 
 
 " Beware how you detain me ! " 
 
 " Who — who does bus-business at this — hie — this 
 hour?" 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 205 
 
 "Quit your trifling! 'Tis with the commander 
 himself." 
 
 Par from being taken aback by this bold announce- 
 ment, the worthy sentinel answered : — 
 
 " Zoo ? Then I go with ye." 
 
 " Bh ? " 
 
 "I go — go — hie — with ye : I too have bus-busi- 
 ness with the com-commander." 
 
 " What ? Desert your post ? Have a care ! What 
 I did others may do," pointing to the wall. 
 
 "I — I go with ye to the com-commander," per- 
 sisted the sergeant, with tipsy concentration. 
 
 " Very good, then," coincided the junker, as if 
 seized with a happy thought. " Come along, so you 
 make haste ! " 
 
 " Oh, we '11 make ha — hie — haste enough." 
 
 Stumbling and plunging along the snow-blocked 
 Strand, the staggering officer, however unsteady in 
 his gait, kept ever a tight clutch on his prisoner. 
 Presently they came to a low, squat house in which 
 a feeble light was still burning. 
 
 " ' T is very cold," said the stranger, with a sug- 
 gestive shiver. 
 
 « Humph — 't is — 't is — hie — that ! " 
 
 " A glass of brande-wyn might warm the blood." 
 
 " That would it, like — hie — nothing else in the 
 world." 
 
 ' " What say you, then, to waking up old Annetje ? 
 Think you she could be coaxed to give us a dram ? " 
 
 " One knows n-nothing till he tries — Mynheer," 
 chuckled the sergeant, turning with his prisoner into 
 the well-known haunt. " Here, Annetje — where are 
 ye ? An-netje, I say ! " 
 
 The wakeful vrouw came promptly forth from her 
 
206 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 flock-bed lu a neighboring closet, lighted more can- 
 dles, mended the fire, and made them welcome. 
 
 The stranger, meantime, seated himself in the dark 
 corner of the chimney, and kept his broad-brimmed 
 hat pulled forward over his face ; and as he spoke as 
 little as possible he was clearly somewhat startled 
 when the sergeant, warmed up by his first dram, 
 hiccoughed slyly : — 
 
 " ' T is the way to — tr-treat an old fr-friend this 
 — 'n' we — we 're no strangers, ye — ye 'n' I 're no 
 strangers. Mynheer." 
 
 " So ? " 
 
 " No-oo ; we 're old fr-friends, ye 'n' I ! " 
 
 " You are mistaken, my good man." 
 
 " Zoo ? There 's a look — look about ye — one 
 might th-think ' t was Mynheer Van — " 
 
 " Ahem-hem ! " coughed the prisoner, suddenly 
 choking over his dram. 
 
 " — Mynheer Van Co-Cort — " persisted the ser- 
 geant. 
 
 " So ? Another dram there, vrouw ! " 
 
 It was only by repeated drams that the inquiring 
 sergeant could be diverted from the question of 
 identification. 
 
 At last they rose to go. The stranger beheld with 
 satisfaction the increased unsteadiness of his captor's 
 gait. None the less, on coming to the highway, he 
 found it no such easy matter to shake loose from him. 
 
 " Come now, my good fellow, 't is time you were 
 back at your post. Let us part. I thank you for 
 your civility, and wish you good-night." 
 
 " Not so fa-fast," hiccoughed the other, with 
 drunken cunning. "I — I go with ye to — hie — the 
 c-c-com-n-nder!" 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 207 
 
 " Not to-night. I am in haste. Next time, my good 
 friend," objected the captive, striving to break loose 
 from the still vigorous clutch. 
 
 " I too, I go — to the com-com-mander's with ye ! " 
 
 Realizing that the moment for action had come, 
 the prisoner, by a sudden and violent effort, wrenched 
 himself free from the sturdy Rip, with one quick blow 
 knocked him into the gutter, and sped away in the 
 darkness. 
 
 Rip, however, like many another seasoned toper, 
 clung fast to the main idea. Here was a running of 
 the guard, the escape of a prisoner. Collecting him- 
 self, therefore, he took a horn from his belt and blew 
 a blast that sent panic to the heart of the bold 
 fugitive. 
 
 Taking by-paths and keeping in the shadow, the 
 latter hurried with might and main through the 
 sleeping town, his heavy boots making a crunching 
 sound upon the frozen streets. Looking back, he 
 heard the murmur of voices, the rush of feet ; he 
 knew the alarm had been given. 
 
 But his goal was almost reached. An anxious 
 heart awaited him. A loving welcome was assured. 
 His breath came quick and short, his pulse-throbs 
 sounded like rumbling thunder in his ears, he felt 
 cold and hot by turns. What mattered dangers and 
 sufferings endured ? Was it not for her ? And she 
 — was close at hand ! 
 
 In such a tumult of thought and feeling he climbed 
 the slippery hill, and stood at last upon the summit 
 of the Verlettenberg. Hester was not there ! 
 
208 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 IN answer to a curt summons, Barent came reluc- 
 tantly back from Albany in the train of Mil- 
 borne. He realized, as it seemed, neither the gravity 
 of his offence nor the clemency shown him, for he 
 stared indifferently when told that he might have 
 been shot for a deserter, and listened without ap- 
 parent shame to the stern reproof of his superior. 
 With the same stolid unconcern he accepted a warm 
 hand-grip from his rugged chief when they met later 
 in private. 
 
 At another time he might have fared worse. Just 
 now there were more imperative things on the carpet 
 than matters of petty discipline. Long consultations 
 took place daily between Leisler and his returned 
 lieutenant. They shut themselves up for hours at 
 headquarters, while an impatient crowd thronged 
 the gloomy waiting-room. 
 
 Par from being quiet, these closetings were marked 
 by every sign of discord : shouts of anger, sniffs of 
 contempt, stamping, and good round oaths not a few 
 reached the wondering ears of those airing their 
 heels in the passage. None the less, Leisler invaria- 
 bly came forth from these sittings with added cour- 
 age and confidence. 
 
 Naturally enough, Milborne's arguments were spe- 
 cious. He persuaded his listener — it was no difficult 
 task — that his ill-success at the English court was 
 due solely to the character of his envoy; that, al- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 209 
 
 though prejudiced, his cause was by no means lost ; 
 that his petitions must still be read and would speak 
 for themselves ; that Sloughter's appointment was 
 only a sop thrown to the other side ; that there was 
 no thought of really sending him over. Witness the 
 long months which had intervened sjnce his appoint- 
 ment, and still no news of his setting sail. 
 
 The commander took heart at this. He turned 
 back with fresh energy to his work of levying new 
 taxes, strengthening fortifications, and raising re- 
 cruits, daily increasing the rigor of his rule as he 
 noted signs of contumacy among the people, as he 
 felt them writhe under his heavy hand and detected 
 in their sullen looks hopes of speedy relief from over 
 the water. 
 
 Time passed ; it presently turned out that Milborne 
 had no divine gift of prophecy. One upon the other's 
 heels came two brief and momentous bits of news, 
 two facts which resolved to air his soap-bubble theo- 
 ries : item : all Leisler's reports, justifications, and 
 petitions had been referred by the king to the new 
 governor and his council to pass upon ; item : the new 
 governor himself, furnished with a goodly store of 
 arms, ammunition, and troops, and a convoy of three 
 fair vessels, had at last really set sail, and was com- 
 ing, as fast as wind and wave would serve, to take 
 possession of his government. 
 
 The commander's thoughts and feelings upon hear- 
 ing this news will never be known. To this hour his 
 point of view remains a fruitful theme for study and 
 dispute. What matters it now ? Whether he was 
 upheld by the serene faith of a fatalist, fired by the 
 blind infatuation of a zealot, or nerved by the stub- 
 born, dogged courage of a beast at bay, the result 
 
 14 
 
210 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 remains the same. Enough to know that he rose to 
 the crisis and was equal to it ; that if a doubt or mis- 
 giving pierced his breastplate of confidence it carried 
 no panic to his heart, nor shook the firm nerve with 
 which he bided the event. 
 
 Such news cou^d not be suppressed. It was blown 
 abroad upon every wind to the farthest limits of the 
 province. The result was quickly seen. Like a giant 
 in toils the impatient people strained at their bonds. 
 From highest to lowest all felt a strange stir in their 
 blood. An ominous cloud of revolution loomed in 
 the west. The poison of anarchy floated in the air. 
 Work was given over, trade neglected ; placemen 
 quaked in their shoes, household discipline was re- 
 laxed, saucy slaves went unwhipped. Even the im- 
 maculate stoops grew dusty, and the shining brass 
 knockers, the pride of every Dutch vrouw's heart, lost 
 their brightness. 
 
 Outside the walls, the overjoyed exiles, hearing in 
 their retreat of the promised deliverance, came flock- 
 ing to the gates, awaiting the signal to ■ rush in. 
 The country districts re-echoed with rumors of risings 
 and riots. On every hand, from every side, low 
 grumblings of fear and hate swelled day by day into 
 a sullen and universal roar of execration. 
 
 As yet, however, rebellion but showed its teeth and 
 spent itself in noise. Not the hardiest dared lift hand 
 in actual revolt while yonder in the fort sat that man, 
 watchful, unintimidated, ready with swift might to 
 crush out the first show of insubordination. 
 
 Thus in harrowing suspense da3'S and nights wore 
 on. That cloud yonder in the west began to look 
 fleet and sheer as a phantom, those soaring hopes 
 of the exiles to come fluttering down like tailless 
 
THE -BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 211 
 
 kites. What meant the delay ? For weeks the little 
 fleet had been overdue. Still the vaporous horizon 
 was unbroken by a sail, and the mysterious voices of 
 the ocean in their sighings, soughings, thunderings, 
 brought no tidings of its fate. 
 
 In such distraction all the humdrum routine of life 
 came to a stand-still, like the whirring machinery in 
 a factory upon the shutting off of motive power. Liv- 
 ing became simply waiting. One occupation alone 
 went on, steadily, regularly, without let or interrup- 
 tion, — the roll-call from the fort still sounded forth 
 upon the prick of the hour, and the train-ba.nds went 
 through their daily drill. 
 
 At last, one lowering morning, as the commander 
 sat before his table at headquarters giving orders for 
 the day, there came a gasping messenger with tidings 
 of three vessels anchored off Sandy Hook. 
 
 The convoys ! — but the leader of the fleet, the 
 frigate "Archangel," which bore his Excellency, where 
 was she? None could tell. Worthy Lieutenant In- 
 goldsby could only say that he had parted company 
 with her in a gale, and that he expected her hourly 
 to arrive. Meantime, what was to be said to the 
 good lieutenant ? Never since he came to power had 
 Leisler been so at a loss. He took time to consider. 
 Fateful moments ! While he waited others moved. 
 He still sat pondering the matter when news came 
 that Van Cortlandt and Philipse had already slipped 
 down the harbor to greet and welcome the stranger. 
 He started to his feet as if with a futile movement to 
 intercept them. Too late ! for once he had been 
 found wanting ; for once his enemies had scored a 
 point. One little lapse, one moment of indecision, 
 and the whole course of history is changed to the end 
 
212 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 of time. Of what avail now to send off the perfunc- 
 tory greeting and half-hearted offer of hospitality 
 which Milborne insists upon ? He submits, but knows 
 it is in vain. His enemies have had a hearing ; the 
 ears of the new-comer are already stuffed with calum- 
 nies. His case is prejudged. 
 
 Proof ? — here it comes in the form of a messenger, 
 a saucy rascal, from Ingoldsby, demanding the im- 
 mediate surrender of the fort. 
 
 Behold the hand of his enemies already ! But 
 they shall miss their expected triumph. Like a lion 
 aroused from his lair, the outraged man roared in 
 defiance. 
 
 What followed is well known. The record of those 
 days glows still in letters of fire upon pages of history 
 as familiar as they are famous. 
 
 Day and night the commander stood at his post, 
 eating and sleeping within the fort. Without a 
 thought of retreat or concession he braced himself for 
 the struggle. 
 
 Meantime, the family in the Strand were left to 
 themselves, for Cobus was with his father. Ignorant, 
 for the most part, of what was going on, having only 
 a vague sense of some impending calamity, they sat 
 and awaited the result. 
 
 Vrouw Leisler gave vent to her anxiety in a for- 
 mula of lamentation which through constant repeti- 
 tion had lost significance and degenerated into an 
 unheeded whine, wherewith she relieved her stuffed 
 bosom and beguiled the tedium of her daily tasks. 
 Hester was, in reality, little disturbed. These crises, 
 in truth, had come to be an old story. At intervals, 
 ever since her father had had to do with public 
 affairs, there had been these recurring threats of dis- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 213 
 
 aster and ruin. With so little real knowledge of the 
 situation, how could she distinguish this case from 
 others. 
 
 Besides, she had her own affairs to think of, and 
 food enough for thought they gave her. Where was 
 Steenie in all this time ? Why had she heard nothing 
 more from Tryntje ? In the midst of these specula- 
 tions and wonderings there came to her ears a rumor 
 with a whole train of alarming possibilities. Barent 
 had returned ! 
 
 Her father, then, had kept his word. One half his 
 threat was already fulfilled. She grew cold at the 
 thought. Old fears started into life. Mary — Mary ! 
 Directly uprose the figure of that dumb bride, that 
 cheerless wedding, that night of tempest, and her 
 sister's white face vanishing in the gloom. 
 
 To whom else speak of all this ? She must needs go 
 again to Catalina. Despite public orders that women 
 and children should keep shut up at home, she sallied 
 forth. The streets were thronged with idle men gath- 
 ered in grbops, all busily talking and disputing, with 
 now and then a bolder one haranguing his fellows. 
 
 In the dock she came upon the crier reading a pro- 
 clamation. The crowd blocked her way ; she listened 
 perforce. The commander warned all honest people 
 against the new-comers, a party of Papists and disaf- 
 fected persons who had fled from their own country 
 with good reason, and come hither with forged cre- 
 dentials and commissions, and impudently taken pos- 
 session of the Stadthuys. He warned good citizens 
 to give them no credence, yield them no aid or com- 
 fort, nor hold any parleyings with them. 
 
 Listening with half an ear to this familiar phrase- 
 ology, and getting no sense of the gist of the procla- 
 
214 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 mation, Hester pushed through the crowd and went 
 her way. 
 
 Sounding the knocker at Dr. Staats's she was as- 
 tonished to see the slave peer timorously through the 
 upper half of the Dutch door before opening to admit 
 her. Having seated herself upon a bench in the hall 
 while the woman went to find Catalina, Hester was 
 presently conscious of a hum of voices close at hand. 
 It proved to be Dr. Staats and another talking in the 
 parlor. The door was open, and she listened without 
 choice. From their deep tones and rapid utterance 
 it was evident they were much in earnest. 
 
 " Know you where the king's troops are quartered ? " 
 asked the doctor. 
 
 " They are fortified in the Stadthuys." 
 
 " There will be trouble," in an ominous tone. 
 
 " Surely he will give way." 
 
 " I doubt him ; he is more rabid than ever. ' T was 
 but yesterday he sent forth a proclamation forbidding 
 the British soldiers to walk the streets, — mark ye, 
 Mynheer Beekman, his Majesty's own troops ; he would 
 keep them cooped up." 
 
 " What hopes he to gain by such high-handed 
 doings ? " 
 
 "To drive them out! He says, as they cannot show 
 credentials, they have no right here till his Excellency 
 arrives, which — " 
 
 " Poh ! 't is Milborne's talk that, you may. be sure," 
 broke in Mynheer Beekman impatiently ; " he is a 
 braying English ass ! These men in the Stadthuys 
 are the lieutenant-governor and secretary appointed 
 by the Crown ; these troops are sent by the king to 
 establish the new government ; to resist them — " 
 
 " Is sheer madness ! " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 215 
 
 " He must be reasoned with." 
 
 " As well reason with a beast ; he flies into a rage , 
 at the least word of opposition." 
 
 " Beast let him be, it must be done," repeated Beek- 
 man, firmly. " This course he is taking is treason. 
 We are known as his advisers ; we shall be held to 
 answer for it ; moreover, the peace of the town and 
 the lives of innocent men are at stake." 
 
 " ' T will be like entering a lion's den," said Staats, 
 hesitatingly. 
 
 " And if it were a very lion, no choice is left us. 
 Come ! will you go ? To-morrow it may be too late." 
 
 A stir, a movement as of something close at hand 
 in the air, drew the listener's notice. Raising her 
 eyes, she saw reflected from a mirror on the opposite 
 wall a slight figure in soft draperies, bent forward, 
 with head canted upon one side and claw-like hands 
 extended in an attitude of tense attention. Hester 
 uttered an exclamation, and the reflection disappeared 
 like a passing shadow. 
 
 Presently the slave came back with word that Cata- 
 lina could not be found. Hester did not note the 
 woman's faltering manner ; she was scarcely disap- 
 pointed. Her thoughts had taken a new direction. 
 She remembered now the proclamation in connection 
 with these words still sounding in her ears. Here 
 was a crisis of a new sort. There might be war. Far 
 from thinking such a result deplorable, she regarded 
 it with equanimity ; it opened up a whole new world 
 of chances, by some of which the ugly old stumbling- 
 blocks might be cast from her path, and some short 
 sunny by-way to happiness revealed. 
 
 Several days passed. She heard nothing but the 
 vague and conflicting reports brought in by the ser- 
 
216 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 vants from the streets ; the suspense was almost 
 intolerable. 
 
 One morning she went out upon the stoop, to see 
 if anything could be picked up from the passers-by. 
 A slave was loitering in front of the door. Upon her 
 appearance he quickly handed her a note and hurried 
 away. She opened it eagerly ; whatever the con- 
 tents, they set her thoughts flying and her pulses 
 bounding in a tremor of anticipation. 
 
 In the midst of her agitation came a squad of sol- 
 diers from the fort with a message to Vrouw Leisler 
 from her imperious spouse, bidding the good dame get 
 together her chattels and remove at once, bag and 
 baggage, to the fort; the soldiers were to wait and 
 escort her. 
 
 Instinctively Hester clutched the letter in her bosom. 
 Incapable of counsel or comfort, she stared stupidly 
 at her mother, while that distracted woman ran hither 
 and thither, bawling contradictory orders to the panic- 
 stricken slaves, and bewailing the absence of Mary 
 and Cobus. 
 
 Striving in her bewilderment to decide upon her own 
 course of action, Hester listened mechanically to the 
 soldiers on the stoop. 
 
 " Will it come to blows, think ye ? " 
 " Not a doubt of it, and straightway, too." 
 " But they yonder may give way." 
 " That will they not, nor budge a foot." 
 " Then will he drive them out like dogs." 
 " Well, zoo, they have had warning. Bully Joost 
 went an hour ago to bid them lay down arms and be- 
 gone, or bide the consequence." 
 " But think ye he will fire ? " 
 " The guns are loaded, I tell ye." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER, 217 
 
 " And pointed, too ?" 
 
 " He gives them till nightfall." 
 
 « Lieve Hemel ! " 
 
 Like words heard in a nightmare, this talk sounded 
 unnatural and awful. Had the crisis then come, and 
 so soon ? Was war indeed at hand ? Uncertain what 
 of good or ill it might bode to her, Hester was filled 
 with a vague dread, and turned with willing hand but 
 wandering thoughts to help her mother. And in good 
 time ; poor Vrouw Leisler was well-nigh at her wits' 
 end. Never before in her peaceful life had she faced 
 such an emergency. 
 
 To pack up and move the household gear gathered 
 during a long married life, to do it at a moment's 
 warning and as it were at the point of the bayonet, 
 was a task far beyond any powers Nature had given 
 her. Straightway her good sense and clear house- 
 wifely judgment flew to the winds. She yielded to 
 panic. Without plan, choice, or system, she sent 
 the frightened slaves to bring her most precious be- 
 longings to the ground-floor, where they were thrown 
 pell-mell, — heavy bureaus, sofas, bedsteads, mirrors, 
 feather-beds, china, glass, silver, linen, fire-irons, all 
 piled in hopeless confusion, while the smoke from 
 the smouldering logs in the fireplace, driven about 
 by counter-drafts and mingled with clouds of dust, 
 filled the house to suffocation. 
 
 In the midst of it all the soldiers outside became 
 clamorous for haste. lu despair the poor huysvrouw 
 gave the word, and- the rough troopers began loading 
 her cherished goods with scant ceremony upon the ox- 
 carts without. 
 
 Meantime the brief spring twilight was on the wane; 
 a fierce wind blew out its flickering candle in the west. 
 
218 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 This, it would seem, was the signal Hester had been 
 awaiting. With a cloak thrown over her head, she 
 stole into the garden. The house behind her re- 
 sounded with uproar, — the shouts and oaths of the 
 troopers, the running back and forth of slaves, the 
 slamming of doors, and the intermittent bewailings of 
 Vrouw Leisler. 
 
 Hester went straight to the bottom of the garden, 
 where some large cherry-trees made a mass of 
 shadow. Scarcely had she arrived when a tall figure 
 leaped over the wall. Directly the two were folded 
 in each other's arms. 
 
 " It is you ! " 
 
 "Hester!" 
 
 " Oh, I feared you might never come back." 
 
 " I have come at last." 
 
 " But will you stay ? " 
 
 " With God's help ! " 
 
 " Oh, what will become of me, else ? " 
 
 " What has happened ? " 
 
 ''He — " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " He thinks to do with me as with Mary." 
 
 " He would marry you to another ? " 
 
 " To yonder junker from Albany." 
 
 " Never ! " 
 
 " He swears it shall be done." 
 
 " Never while I live ! But have no fear, sweetheart. 
 His day is almost done : the new governor is at hand, 
 and hourly expected in town, and then he will be 
 driven out of his kennel yonder." 
 
 " There will be no war, then ? " 
 
 " War ! poh ! A war of words, perhaps, but that 
 is all. He barks, but he dare not bite ; this talk of 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 219 
 
 war is only to scare the people and keep them 
 under." 
 
 " Hester ! Hester ! " The voice of Vrouw Leisler 
 was heard frantically calling from the house. " Hes- 
 ter ! where are you ? We must go — Hester ! " 
 
 The servants and slaves joined in the cry. They 
 were coming to search the garden. Their footsteps 
 could be heard approaching. 
 
 With a rapturous embrace the two were taking 
 leave, when a rumbling sound like distant thunder 
 broke upon the air. 
 
 The junker stood as if petrified, muttering through 
 his set teeth, — 
 
 " The madman ! " 
 
 « What is it ? " 
 
 " He has dared to do it ! " 
 
 " What ? " 
 
 " He has fired upon the Stadthuys ! " 
 
 " Then the war is begun ! " 
 
220 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 CASTING back one last sad look of parting upon 
 the deserted home, Vrouw Leisler marshalled 
 her household, and turned to follow the groaning 
 ox-cart. The good dame was a sight to look upon. 
 Dumb with fright, pale with fatigue and anxiety, 
 her dress in disorder, her face streaming with tears, 
 her whole person begrimed with dust, hardly would her 
 best friend have recognized in this woe-begone figure 
 the tidy, well-appointed huysvrouw of yesterday. 
 
 Leading a younger sister by the hand, Hester 
 walked at her mother's side, floundering ankle- 
 deep in mire through tho dark streets, still oozy 
 from the spring thaws. 
 
 Arrived at the fort, they found, as it seemed, Bed- 
 lam let loose. The open space between the buildings 
 was crowded Avith refugees, encamped on the bare 
 ground amid tumultuous heaps of their own belong- 
 ings, while in discordant chorus arose the wailing of 
 women, the rattle of arms, the shrill crying of chil- 
 dren, the ribald laughter of soldiers, and the muttered 
 cursing of angry citizens groping with lanterns through 
 the chaos in vain search of their own gear. 
 
 More dreadful than all, huge mysterious forms 
 from time to time loomed suddenly out of the dark- 
 ness, vanishing again with frightful snortings and 
 gruntings as some restless searcher came upon one 
 of the drove of horses, cattle, or hogs, roaming loose 
 in the pent inclosure. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 221 
 
 What wonder poor Vrouw Leisler and her 
 daughters gazed about them in dismay ? Deserted 
 by their escort, refused admission at headquarters 
 where those within were tragically engaged making 
 history, unheeded by the busy folks flying past on 
 every hand, they knew not where to go or what to 
 do, and stood for a space dazed and helpless. 
 
 The sight of the loaded ox-cart backed against the 
 wall at last decided the question for the good dame. 
 There, at least, were her possessions, — all that was 
 left to her of home, — and she would stick by them. 
 
 With the help of some warm quilts which had been 
 thrown over the load for the protection of the furni- 
 ture, they were all at last snugly disposed among the 
 nooks and crannies of the load ; and the honest 
 vrouw herself, having carefully tucked in her chil- 
 dren, soon joined the universal chorus with a nasal 
 trump which held its own against any trooper of 
 them all. 
 
 As for Hester, she took no note of the strangeness 
 and discomfort of their state. From the moment the 
 ponderous gates closed behind them she had acted 
 like one in a stupor. Did that ominous clang first 
 suggest to her that she had walked unconsciously 
 into a prison ? Why else did she strain her eyes so 
 persistently through the darkness to make out the 
 big portal, and listen with stifled heart-beat to the 
 thud of the sentinel's halberd as he stalked back and 
 forth on his march ? Did she mayhap remember her 
 father's threat, and realize that she was now more 
 than ever at his mercy ? — that all chance of escape 
 was cut off, and the junker from Albaliy close at 
 hand? 
 
 Unconsciously these fears and forebodings, becom- 
 
222 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 ing mingled with the sensuous impressions of her 
 surroundings, renewed themselves in grotesque com- 
 plications, faded little by little to vagueness, 
 lapsed into nothingness, — nature had claimed her 
 due. 
 
 She slept, but through her sleep echoed the boom 
 of that dreadful cannon, accompanied by visions of 
 war, of burning homes, of blood-red skies, accom- 
 panied by frantic and futile efforts to escape some 
 formless evil through paths blocked at every turn — 
 oh, horror ! — with the mangled and lifeless form of 
 her beloved Steenie. 
 
 Thus, haunted by nightmare, the darkness wore 
 away. However dreary and long-drawn, it yet passed 
 like a tale that is told to the day that followed. That 
 day was like a thousand years. It began with cattle 
 lowing and children wailing for their breakfast. But 
 there was no breakfast ; the terrors of war were al- 
 ready realized. Catching sight of Cobus pressing 
 through the crowd, his delighted mother made shift 
 to seize him by the doubtlet. Pilled with the impor- 
 tance of his mission, the bustling junker angrily 
 shook her off, with no word or look of recognition, 
 and went his way. The poor woman broke forth into 
 loud sobs. A rough-looking trooper near by came to 
 her relief. He fetched from the mess-room some 
 loaves of bread, which they were fain to wash down 
 with a cup of water from the spring. 
 
 Meanwhile the crowd within is reinforced by a 
 larger one from without. The gates of the fort are 
 besieged by a throng of citizens, — men of the closet 
 and men of affairs, soldiers, parsons, stout burghers, 
 and horny-handed mechanics, — sober-minded men 
 one and all, who have come to implore the comman- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 22ii 
 
 der to stop in his mad course and take counsel with 
 his fellow-townsmen. 
 
 He answers them with another roar of the cannon. 
 
 A shudder runs through the serried mass of people 
 gathered about the door of headquarters. There is 
 a movement from the direction of the Stadthuys. 
 Presently comes a whisper that the well-aimed bolt 
 has killed two of the royal troopers. Directly a 
 shout is heard. Rising, swelling at every turn, pro- 
 longed by myriad voices, it comes sweeping down 
 upon the wind of human breath till all earth and 
 heaven ring with the horrid cry of murder ! 
 
 The day yet young in time is hoary in experience. 
 Events in their swift succession tread close upon each 
 other's heels. 
 
 While the people still await in hushed silence the 
 result of the commander's boldness, comes a panting 
 messenger shouldering his way up to headquarters. 
 Those about the door listen with intent ears ; Hester 
 presses up with the foremost. There is an intermin- 
 able pause, — a whole minute of silence. Then is 
 heard a roar of rage followed by a volley of oaths. 
 
 The crowd sways to and fro in its fierce desire to 
 force a way in. The suspense is short. In a moment 
 more the news comes flying out from lip to lip. 
 
 " The block-house at Smiet's Vly has surrended to 
 the enemy ! " 
 
 Realizing from her father's outburst, and from the 
 looks of those around, that this is in some especial 
 way a calamity, Hester, hiding a wild throb of exul- 
 tation in her heart, turns back to her mother. 
 
 On the way she came suddenly upon a well-known 
 figure. Uttering a cry, she put out her hands in an 
 attitude half of greeting, half of aversion, — it was 
 
224 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Barent ! He did not speak, he onlj' stood and looked 
 at her with that expression of mute suffering one 
 sees in a dumb beast. Their clothes almost touched 
 as they passed, yet they passed without a word. 
 
 Before the brood of fears and misgivings awakened 
 by the incident had time to nest in her bosom, it was 
 swept away by the rush of events. Her name was 
 called from the midst of the crowd ; she turned, — 
 there was Catalina ! The two leaped into each 
 other's arms. Dr. Staats was with his daughter. 
 Being shown to Vrouw Leisler's retreat upon the 
 cart, he left Catalina for a time in her charge. 
 
 The two girls had whole volumes to tell; they 
 clung to each other, chattering like magpies. 
 
 " Mother is not here — she fears not the guns — 
 she would not come with us — she makes friends 
 with those yonder — she sends wine and food to the 
 Stadthuys — she bids them welcome and hopes the 
 war will go on." 
 
 " I too — I hope and pray it may." 
 
 "Goon?" 
 
 " Yes, yes, — sh-h ! Never tell ! ' t is my only 
 chance. I am in prison here ; that other one is come 
 from Albany." 
 
 " Barent ! " 
 
 " Within these very walls ! " 
 
 " Hester ! " 
 
 " Father has sworn we shall be married." 
 
 " Never ! — never ! — never ! " 
 
 " But if the war holds out, there is hope ; for — " 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " He has come home — " 
 
 " So ! » 
 
 " And came straightway to see me." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 226 
 
 In her preoccupation Hester failed to note the 
 shudder with which her last words were received, the 
 relaxed clasp of the arms, or the averted face. 
 
 " He swears, too,. I shall uever be sacrificed while 
 he lives." 
 
 " What need to doubt, then ? What need to fear ? 
 What need to care for anything that may come ? " 
 
 For a moment Hester was aroused from her self- 
 concentration not so much by the words as by the 
 reckless, half-desperate note in her friend's voice. 
 
 " Why do you talk ? Why do you complain ? Why 
 do you come to me ? Would you have everything ? " 
 
 « Eh ? " 
 
 " He is here, you say ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " He loves you ? " 
 
 " More than ever." 
 
 " Go then, go away ! I will hear no more of your 
 talk ; you come to me for pity for such happiness ! " 
 With a bitter laugh, " Go thank heaven for your good 
 fortune ! " 
 
 ■ " But — but," stammered the amazed Hester, " am 
 I not in a prison here ? What help can ever reach 
 me if—" 
 
 Turning aside, Catalina covered her face with her 
 hands, and suppressed a sob which expended itself in 
 a mute, inward convulsion. It was only for a moment. 
 Directly facing about, she put her arms about Hester 
 and said, gently, — 
 
 "Dear Hester — have faith! these times are not 
 forever. You will be happy — I feel it — I know it — 
 I " — the clear voice was clouded by a passing huski- 
 ness — "I hope it ! I must go join my father." 
 
 « But — " 
 
 15 
 
226 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Hester made no effort to retain her friend, or to 
 discover the cause of her changed looks and bearing. 
 It was indeed no time to dwell on trifles. Even the 
 momentous crisis in her own life, with all its train of 
 fears and hopes, was speedily forgotten in the larger 
 interests of that fateful day, — that day of which 
 each long-drawn minute came fraught with intenser 
 interest, like the scenes of a melodrama. 
 
 This feeling of self-forgetfulness was in the air. 
 The people — all other thought, purpose, occupation, 
 gone — looked on in breathless interest at the two 
 combatants. Everything, as it seemed, hung upon 
 the issue, — home, family, earthly-havings, life. Yet 
 ventured they not to intermeddle. The moral force 
 of one man dominated the town. 
 
 As the day wore on it was whispered that the com- 
 mander was planning some grand stroke for the 
 morrow. The rumor flew over the wall and abroad 
 amongst the people. It reached the Stadthuys. De- 
 spite sneers and scoffing, it caused a sensation. There 
 was straightway a mustering of resources, a strength- 
 ening of defences ; there was even a consultation. 
 
 Night came at last. A fog crept in from seaward. 
 With ghostly march it stole over the city, climbing 
 the steeples, wrapping the windmills in its spectral 
 drapery, invading every little street and alley till the 
 sparse lanterns looked like fireflies in a mist. 
 
 Dank and dripping, a fisherman came groping his 
 way out of the fog up to the Stadthuys. With scant 
 ceremony he broke in upon the sitting of a half-score 
 anxious gentlemen there gathered, and blurted out 
 his message. 
 
 Directly there was a shout. 
 
 " It has come ! " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 227 
 
 « Eh ! " 
 
 "The 'Archangel'!" 
 
 " And the governor ? " 
 
 " He is here, — yonder, anchored in the Narrows." 
 
 " Huzza ! " 
 
 Amidst a wild scurrying hither and thither, a danc- 
 ing about of lanterns and torches, a clashing of arms, 
 — a joyous hurly-burly, — a committee was sent post- 
 haste to advise his Excellency of the critical state of 
 affairs. 
 
 Despite the fact that it was nearly midnight, the 
 governor came directly ashore ; and with clangor of 
 bells, blazing of torches, blare of trumpets, and a 
 hoarse babel of human voices, his commission was 
 read and he was sworn into office, together with cer- 
 tain of his councillors. 
 
 These midnight jubilations failed not speedily to 
 reach the ears of that little band of watchers at the 
 fort. All understood what had happened, and silently 
 fixed their eyes upon their chief. As he sat gazing 
 at a heavy iron inkstand on the table before him, the 
 flickering candle showed on his gaunt and bloodless 
 face the expression of one slowly recovering from a 
 shock. 
 
 " 'T is fitting you should send him a greeting," said 
 Milborne, the first to rally from his consternation. 
 
 The commander waved his hand in denial, with a 
 gesture of contempt for so feeble and tardy a con- 
 cession. • 
 
 " Sooner or later you must recognize him. There 
 is no escape. 'T is better do it of your own motion 
 than upon compulsion." 
 
 The commander made no answer. A silence as 
 of death fell upon the chamber. A small eternity 
 
228 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 elapsed, when a thunderous pounding at the gates 
 came mercifully to break the suspense. The com- 
 mander sat as if carved out of stone. There was a 
 bustle outside swelling to a tumult, then a loud voice 
 at the door. After a moment's parley in came strid- 
 ing Ensign StoU, saying Ingoldsby was at the gate de- 
 manding the instant surrender of the fort in the name 
 of Governor Sloughter. 
 
 The commander sat doggedly, and never raised his 
 eyes. 
 
 " What answer shall I make ? " 
 
 The commander held his peace. 
 
 " Some answer must needs be sent," suggested 
 Milborne, impatiently. 
 
 " Go ye to them, Stoll, and demand to see their 
 authority for this under the king's sign-manual." 
 
 A murmur of protestation arose from his own 
 friends and followers, many of whom had now 
 crowded into the room. In contempt of all objection, 
 Leisler waved his hand impatiently. Stoll nodded 
 and disappeared. The faithful henchman had his cue. 
 
 Waked from sleep by the unusual bustle, Hester 
 and her mother learned that something of moment 
 was taking place. Following the crowd which now 
 held its way unchallenged, they pushed on into the 
 commander's room. With locks astray and startled 
 eyes, the bewildered women turned this way and 
 that, to learn from the disjointed talk what was the 
 matter. 
 
 Pressing to the front, they caught sight of Leisler 
 sitting in his chair. They exchanged a look. It was 
 true, then ; they both saw it, — a shocking change 
 had taken place in him. Vrouw Leisler uttered a 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 229 
 
 spasmodic sound between a gasp and a sob, and 
 clutched Hester's hand. Both kept their eyes fixed 
 in fascination upon the transformed figure m the 
 chair. His face, in the candle-light, had the hue of 
 granite ; the bony outline of his jaw, his eyebrows, 
 the flaring cartilages of his nose, wore in their hard 
 rigidity the very texture of the stone. As the shad- 
 ows lay, his eyes were lost in two cavernous pits, 
 while his grizzled locks fell straight and heavy upon 
 his shoulders. Deaf to the buzz of wondering com- 
 ment in the room, unconscious of the public gaze 
 riveted upon him, he sat with the brooding look of 
 Michael Angelo's figure upon the Medicean tomb and 
 as motionless. 
 
 As the two women compared notes in a whisper, a 
 voice at Hester's elbow startled her : — 
 
 " You may finish the night in your own house if 
 you will, Vrouw Leisler." 
 
 Both turned and saw Dr. Staats pushing his slow 
 way to the door. 
 
 " Ei ? " 
 
 " What mean ye ? " 
 
 " 'T is all over here." 
 
 " The war ? " 
 
 " Yes ; the new governor is come." 
 
 Hester's heart gave a great bound. Steenie, then, 
 was right. The hour of deliverance was at hand. 
 She clutched her mother and whispered hoarsely, — 
 
 " Come, let us go home." 
 
 But Vrouw Leisler only shook her head, and glared 
 fixedly at her husband. 
 
 Hester followed suit, and again she felt a sinking 
 at the heart. If the new governor had indeed come 
 and the revolution was accomplished, why did her 
 
230 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 father still sit there holding the crowded room in 
 awed subjection? 
 
 Busied with these thoughts, Hester presently be- 
 came aware that the hum of conversation about her 
 had ceased. Everybody listened. Another parley was 
 going on at the gates. The officer of the guard came 
 in to say it was Ingoldsby again. The man looked at 
 Leisler and hesitated. The latter made a gesture for 
 him to proceed. 
 
 "He demands the instant release of Bayard and 
 Nichols." 
 
 A flash came and went in the commander's eyes, 
 and it seemed he grew a shade paler. 
 
 " And he further orders your Excellency and them 
 you call your councillors — they are his own words — 
 to report yourselves forthwith at the Stadthuys." 
 
 There was a pause — a long pause — in which a pin- 
 fall might have been heard in the room. As before, 
 Milborne spoke first. 
 
 " You have no resource but to go." 
 
 Without changing his position, without taking his 
 eyes from the iron inkstand, the commander at last 
 spoke. 
 
 " The fort cannot be handed over in the night ; 't is 
 against military law. I will not do it. I am answer- 
 able to their Majesties. You, Milborne, you La Noy, 
 go to them yonder and explain." 
 
 Both men began with one accord to object. 
 
 « No more talk. Go ! " 
 
 Without further ado, the two envoys set forth. 
 Silence again settled upon the room and its anxious 
 occupants. Even the whisperings ceased, and nothing 
 broke the stillness but the plashing of the waves 
 without. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 231 
 
 Scarcely fifteen minutes elapsed. It seemed a cycle. 
 There came another pounding at the gates. The ofii- 
 cer duly appeared to report. He told his story in few 
 words. 
 
 " It is Ingoldsby again. Milborne and La Noy are 
 thrown in irons. He demands the immediate surren- 
 der of the fort." 
 
 Leisler seized the table with a sudden clutch. A 
 throe convulsed his whole frame, and big drops of 
 sweat started out on his clammy forehead. 
 
 « What shall I tell him ?" asked the officer. 
 
 " Tell him to go to hell ! " 
 
232 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 A MURMUR of consternation burst from every lip 
 in the crowded room when the ofificer withdrew 
 bearing Leisler's defiant message. This first outspoken 
 indication of revolt awoke the commander to a sudden 
 consciousness of the crowd. 
 
 " Away with ye ! " he shouted, springing to his feet 
 in a fury. " Coward Papists and time-servers ! Go ! 
 Go, I say, and leave me alone ! " 
 
 He drove them before him like a flock of sheep. At 
 the door one dared turn and brave his wrath, — a well- 
 known figure, a homely face lighted up with a look of 
 love and tenderness. In this hour of trial and deser- 
 tion his faithful vrouw still loved and believed in him. 
 He staggered forward and fell upon her neck with an 
 outburst like the sob of a brute beast in distress. 
 
 It was but a passing weakness ; directly his face 
 chilled and hardened, and leading the weeping woman 
 to the door he gently thi'ust her out. 
 
 Bewildered by the startling events of the day, by her 
 father's audacity, by the failure of the prophecies that 
 all would be quickly settled when the new governor 
 arrived, Hester went back to their lodgings in the ox- 
 cart, where a slave was watching over her sleeping 
 sister. 
 
 One by one all her doubts and fears came back 
 swarming. Why should her father yield to this new 
 governor more than to the old ? Who could say he 
 would not drive him away as he had done Nicholson ? 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 233 
 
 Then what would become of her ? What would be- 
 come of Steenie ? How could they ever meet again ? 
 
 Busied with these thoughts she did not notice that 
 her mother had tarried behind, until she beheld the 
 clumsy matron, several minutes later, climbing back, 
 with much puffing and panting, to her place in the 
 cart. Neither did the fact that the good dame was 
 weeping awaken in her any surprise, such a state 
 seemed so in keeping with their surroundings. 
 
 " 'T is not like him," sobbed the vrouw. 
 
 « Who ? " 
 
 " Jacob. 'T is like some other." 
 
 « So ? " 
 
 " He is wasting away ; he has grown an old man ; 
 't is killing him ! " continued the poor dame. 
 
 " And now we cannot go home," said Hester, thought- 
 centred at her own axis of the ellipse which circum- 
 scribed the interests of the moment. " The war is not 
 over, and we must needs stay here." 
 
 " Look, look ! See him walk yonder ! " cried the 
 anxious wife, pointing to a dark figure striding up 
 and down past the lighted window in the governor's 
 house. 
 
 Hester looked without seeing. 
 
 " The man is crazy. Why goes he not to bed ? 
 'Tis sleep he needs. Ye may see he has not slept 
 for weeks. 'T is past midnight, too, for the cocks are 
 crowing. Did ye hear the cocks crow, Hester ? " 
 
 Used all her life to her mother's maundering, Hester 
 gave no heed to the question. Lying wrapped in her 
 quilt, squeezed in between two heavy pieces of furni- 
 ture, with her face upturned to the midnight sky, she 
 watched the fog roll away like a curtain, and the stars 
 shine forth like flecks of fire thrown hap-hazard over 
 
234 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 the black canopy, while she lay and thought, and 
 thought, and thought. 
 
 " See, now he writes," went on the dame. " Now 
 he tears it. At it again. Foolish man, as if there 
 were not enough fair daylight to write in ! Ei, that 
 will do no better. 'T is the very same with me. I 
 must ever blot three or four before fetching forth one 
 that will serve. What now ? What now ? He throws 
 all down and stamps about. Jacob ! Jacob ! " 
 
 Thus through the night the faithful heart watched 
 that lone figure wrestling with his task, — ah, futile 
 task ! — watched quite oblivious of other things going 
 on about her. 
 
 Yet there were other things going on, and things 
 very significant ; for it turned out that Vrouw Leisler 
 and her daughter were not the only watchers in the 
 foi't that night. 
 
 Down in the soldiers' quarters dark groups were 
 gathered, and sullen mutterings were heard, which, 
 as the hours went by, grew to outspoken words and 
 very positive utterance. The rats were taking coun- 
 sel whether the moment had come to desert the sink- 
 ing ship. 
 
 Presently the dame saw another tall shadow in the 
 lighted room. She recognized at once the familiar 
 and characteristic outline. It approached the first 
 figure writing in the chair and seemed to speak. The 
 words she could not hear were these : — 
 
 « Hola ! " 
 
 " Go away ! " 
 
 " Ei, so will I, but — but hearken to me first ! " 
 
 " Go away ! Ye are drunk ! " 
 
 " No m-matter for that. I come to — hie — put a 
 in your ear." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 236 
 
 " Will ye go ? " with a touch of fierceness. 
 
 « Not I." 
 
 " Will ye not ? " jumping up threateningly. " Get 
 back to the pothouse, ye damned fool, and leave me 
 to my work ! " 
 
 "I — I — budge not — hie — a step till I tell ye." 
 
 The incensed man seized a heavy halberd from the 
 table ; but directly, with a muttered exclamation, 
 threw it down. 
 
 " Speak out, then. What drunken drivel have ye to 
 say?" 
 
 " Mynheer, I am your very good friend. Ye know 
 — hie — know that. Well, I — I say drop this and 
 g-get ye gone from here like — hie — like the wind." 
 
 "Ei?" 
 
 " Yonder rascals," pointing over his shoulder, " are 
 plo-plotting against ye." 
 
 The commander nodded with a look of contempt. 
 
 " They — are — are going to give up the fort and — 
 and ye — hie — along with it as soon as the day 
 dawns." 
 
 The listener showed no surprise. 
 
 " So true as I live ! " persisted the visitor. 
 
 The commander for all answer picked up his pen 
 and dipped it into the iron inkstand. 
 
 " Hear ye wh-what I say ? Get ye out of this wh- 
 while 'tis dark! See, — ye may put on my hat and 
 cloak and c-copy my walk — straight and st-steady, 
 mark ye ! And who — who 's the wiser — ei ? " 
 
 The commander shook his head sadly, and said 
 with a touch of kindness, — 
 
 " Go get ye back to the pot-house, poor devil ! 'T is 
 pity so good a heart had not a better head. Go, man ! 
 go and leave me to my work ! " 
 
236 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Wei zoo ! the f-f ools '11 never — never — hie — 
 all die." 
 
 So long a vigil naturally made Vrouw Leisler and 
 Hester drowsy in the morning. When they awoke, 
 the sun was shining brightly in their faces and all 
 was bustle about them. 
 
 What was going on ? It was easy enough to see. 
 The gates were thrown wide open, the rats were 
 stealing away in a long dark line, and the hapless 
 ship was sinking fast. 
 
 The bewildered women sat up in the cart — their 
 caps awry, their hair dishevelled, the clumsy bed- 
 quilts still wrapped about them — and rubbed their 
 eyes. 
 
 " Mother, mother, look there ! " cried Hester, sud- 
 denly pointing to a group advancing towards them 
 from headquarters. 
 
 " Jacob ! 'T is he, Jacob ! Heavenly Father, what 
 has happened him ? Jacob, where are ye going ? 
 Jacob, will ye not heed me ? " 
 
 Accompanied by his late councillors, and guarded 
 by a troop of strange soldiers, the commander passed 
 on, nor cast so much as a look upon the bawling 
 woman. 
 
 " Come, mother, come ! " cried Hester, jumping 
 from the cart. " See, the gates are open ! Every- 
 body is going ; we may go too ! " 
 
 At this amazing news, the dame, speedily tying up 
 her hair and ordering her dress, lost no time in fol- 
 lowing in the wake of the wondering procession. 
 
 Outside the walls it seemed all the world had gone 
 mad. The air resounded with shouts and laughter, 
 flags were flying, bells were ringing, slaves were 
 
"Guarded by a troop of strange soldiers the commander uassed 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 237 
 
 dancing in wild abandon, while up and down the 
 thronged streets women stood crowded upon the 
 stoops, tasting the sweet spring air like prisoners 
 just released from a dungeon. 
 
 Heeding nothing of all this, Vrouw Leisler with 
 her two daughters, following ever in the wake of the 
 procession, marched fast towards the Stadthuys. 
 
 By dint of running, elbowing, and pushing, they 
 came up with the head of the line in time to press 
 into the council-chamber upon the heels of the 
 prisoners. 
 
 There sat the new governor, stern and expectant, 
 surrounded by his council. Turning to view the 
 prisoners, Hester noted that Milborne and La Noy 
 had been added to their number. 
 
 The governor straightway proceeded to subject the 
 leading culprits to a short and sharp examination. 
 Hester looked with awe upon the magistrate that he 
 dared address her father in such a tone. In breath- 
 less suspense she awaited the explosion to follow. 
 To her amazement there was no explosion, but an 
 answer most humble and submissive. As if doubting 
 her own senses she cast a look at her mother. The 
 good dame stood with eyes and mouth agape. 
 
 But already the summary examination is ended; 
 the governor is saying something to the prisoners. 
 
 "You are committed to prison, pending your ex- 
 amination before a proper tribunal, on a charge of 
 being taken in open and armed rebellion against their 
 Majesties ; clerk, make out the commitments ! " 
 
 While the clerk is busy with his task and the gov- 
 ernor is whispering apart with his council, there is 
 heard a bustle at the door. The crowd gives way to 
 admit two strange figures, — figures squalid, haggard, 
 
238 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 ghostly, with sunken eyes and matted hair, who blink 
 in the blinding sunlight and totter as they walk. 
 
 At an exclamation from Milborne, Leisler looks 
 up ; a deep flush overspreads his face, and a hangdog 
 look of guilt gleams in his tell-tale eyes as he quickly 
 turns away. 
 
 A cry of execration loud and deep rises from the 
 crowd. They too have recognized the strangers ; they 
 too understand their presence here, — understand why 
 Mynheer Van Cortlandt hastens forward to embrace 
 them, and why his Excellency receives the squalid 
 wretches with such honor : — 
 
 " Colonel, your name is well known to me ; Mr. 
 Nichols, I am much honored by your acquaintance. 
 I congratulate myself that I have been the means of 
 delivering you both from your cruel imprisonment." 
 
 Well, too, the watchful bystanders note and under- 
 stand the triumphant look with which, as he signs 
 the warrants of the new prisoners, his Excellency 
 says to the old : — 
 
 " And now, gentlemen, as their Majesties have ap- 
 pointed you to be my advisers, it were well you 
 should be sworn in here and now of the council. 
 Officer, here are the papers ; take you the prisoners 
 and see them committed to the dungeons in the fort, , 
 there to be kept safe and fast pending further pro- 
 ceedings." 
 
 The officer obeyed. Amidst the howling and jubi- 
 lations of an excited mob the culprits were led back 
 to the fort, where the shackles just dropped from the 
 shrunk shank of Colonel Bayard had scarcely grown 
 cold before they were hung upon the stalwart leg of 
 his oppressor. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 239 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 " T HAD fainted unless I had believed to see the 
 J. goodness of God in the land of the living," — 
 this was Dominie Selyn's text next Lord's Day 
 morning. 
 
 The sermon which followed was an anthem of 
 thanksgiving, a paean of praise. It sounded the 
 keynote of universal jubilation. The people's joy 
 can be but feebly imagined ; it had the thrill of those 
 who awake to wholesome daylight after a prolonged 
 nightmare. The world was once more a place of 
 health and comfort. The sunshine seemed again a 
 gift from God in which they could bask without 
 qualm ; the refreshing sea-breeze, a breath of heaven 
 which they could suck in freely to their famished 
 lungs. Again friend could greet friend without sus- 
 picion ; again neighbors talk in the chimney nook in 
 the old free, outspoken fashion. Even nature seemed 
 in sympathy with this ecstatic mood. Just freed from 
 the icy bonds of winter, the brooks and creeks ran 
 frolicking to the sea ; and through every pore in the 
 earth-crust came bursting upward a wealth of verdure 
 and fragrance. 
 
 Vrouw Leisler had boundless faith in her husband's 
 ability to take care of himself ; and although at first 
 shocked by his arrest, she soon recovered from her 
 alarm. Indeed, she presently plucked up spirit to 
 
240 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 inveigh sharply against this high-handed proceeding 
 on the part of the new governor, who, as she re- 
 peatedly declared in the bosom of her own family, 
 would very soon learn better than to meddle with her 
 Jacob. Looking, therefore, upon his imprisonment 
 as a temporary measure pending the trial about to 
 take place, she gave herself up heart and soul to set- 
 ting her dismantled house in order and getting all 
 things in readiness to give her spouse a rousing wel- 
 come on his return. 
 
 This interval of work and waiting was brightened 
 to the good wife by one blessing; since Milborne's 
 imprisonment Mary had come home to live, and the 
 delighted mother rejoiced again in the aid and fellow- 
 ship of her favorite daughter. 
 
 Cobus, perhaps upon some hint from his father, 
 was as busy at the shop in Winckel Street as was his 
 mother at home. Damp and mildew, dust and cob- 
 webs, had formed there a close and thriving corpora- 
 tion, so that Cobus found it no easy task to bring 
 back the little warehouse to its old appearance of 
 thrift and order. 
 
 Meantime the new governor, directed and urged 
 on by his council, proceeded with vigor in the public 
 business. Chief in importance and interest among 
 the tasks awaiting the new administration was the 
 disposition of the prisoners. A court was speedily 
 organized, and their trial began. 
 
 Every step in the proceedings was of course watched 
 with profound interest by the household in the Strand. 
 A body of their friends and relatives attended every 
 day at court, and in the evening the news was dis- 
 cussed, point by point, in the family circle. Their 
 consternation at the charges of treason and murder 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 241 
 
 was quickly burned away ia the hot flame of their in- 
 dignation at the composition of the court. 
 
 " They are all Papists ! " cried Cobus. 
 
 " And his worst enemies at that," joined in his 
 mother. " Wait till the king, — wait, I say, till their 
 Majesties hear of these doings ! " 
 
 " Wait only till he himself gets out of prison ! " 
 muttered Cobus between his clinched teeth. 
 
 " So ! 't will be a sorry day for these fine gentle- 
 men, — that ! " concluded the dame, wagging her 
 head. 
 
 Or another evening it would be : — 
 
 " They are proving nothing ; they can find nothing 
 against him." 
 
 " See there now ! What told I ye, Mary ? What 
 said I, Cobus, from the first?" 
 
 " All goes to show that he was in by authority of^ 
 the king, and did his duty." 
 
 " Be sure of that ! " 
 
 " And that the province was never so governed 
 before." 
 
 " No, nor ever will be again ; he was not sent by 
 the Lord for nothing to this work ! " 
 
 Hester heard and took part in this talk. From 
 whatever point of view, the trial was a matter of vital 
 and determining moment to her. But since the re- 
 sult was a foregone conclusion, — as Dr. Staats, Dr. 
 Beekman, Mr. Walters, and Cobus all agreed it was, 
 — she dismissed it from her mind as a subject of 
 anxiety, and busied herself with other besieging 
 thoughts. 
 
 In the hurly-burly of the moment she failed for 
 some time to realize that she was free. The tardy 
 discovery was made at last without a thrill. The 
 
 16 
 
242 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 prospect of its short duration robbed the precious 
 liberty of all its value. In vain she repeated over 
 and over to herself, — 
 
 " It has come, it is here, I have it, that long-ex- 
 pected freedom." Like a mocking echo a voice came 
 back, — 
 
 " But where is the long-expected happiness it was 
 to bring ? " 
 
 As if in answer to the unknown scoffer, Steenie 
 came one day and boldly asked for her at the door. 
 The slave who opened it said she was in the garden. 
 Hurrying thither, he saw a girlish figure among the 
 trees. He advanced with eager strides. Instead of 
 coming to meet him, the girl marched as fast as she 
 could go towards the gate. 
 
 The junker's surprise was but for a moment. He 
 recognized the fugitive; the old mischievous gleam 
 shone in his eyes as, clearing the tulip-bed at a bound, 
 he hastened after the retreating maiden, crying, — 
 
 " Hola there, Catalina ! Catalina, are you running 
 away from old friends ? " 
 
 There was no answer. 
 
 " Hola, I say," springing and intercepting her ; 
 " why do you run away ? " 
 
 " I am not running away," she answered, turning 
 with an air of dignity, her cheeks meantime flushing, 
 and her eyes looking to this side and that in the 
 effort to avoid his. 
 
 " Let us shake hands, then ; 't is a long time since 
 we met," extending his own huge palm. 
 
 " There is no occasion to shake hands." 
 
 " Have you then no greeting for an old friend ? " 
 
 " We are not old friends." 
 
 " So ? " with an amused look ; " then surely 't is 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER, 243 
 
 time we were. We are old friends to Hester. Hester 
 loves us both, and we should love each other." 
 
 " I hold not myself bound to love everything that 
 Hester does." 
 
 They were close to the gate by this. Catalina 
 reached to lift the latch. He put out his hand to 
 prevent it. She turned with an indignant protest on 
 her lips, her eyes all the time fastened on the ground. 
 
 " Pray yOu, now," said the junker, looking as if 
 tempted to catch up this sprig of humanity, with its 
 odd, brilliant coloring and its disdainful face, "do 
 not go ! " 
 
 " I must go," with a tone of emphasis, but with a 
 look of hesitation. 
 
 " Come, now," he coaxed, as he gently, but boldly 
 too, crowded her away from the gate. " Tell me of 
 Hester ; where is she ? " 
 
 " She is here at baud to speak for herself," turning 
 back promptly towards the gate. 
 
 "How is she, then?" 
 
 " She is well enough." 
 
 " I am but just come home. I want to meet all my 
 friends ; I am glad to see everybody I knew in the 
 old days. Give my duty to your worshipful mother ; 
 tell her I heard of her kind offices in my behalf. I 
 hope to wait upon her soon." 
 
 By his adroit management they were again headed 
 back towards the garden and slowly walking down 
 the path, every step taken by the reluctant Catalina 
 having the force of a repeated protest. 
 
 " But where is Hester hiding all this time ? They 
 told me she was in the garden." 
 
 " Go seek her out, then, I pray ! " turning suddenly 
 and hurrying towards the gate. 
 
244 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Stay ! hold ! say good-by, at least ! " hastening 
 after her. 
 
 " I cannot stop ! " 
 
 " Come, now ! " 
 
 " I will not." 
 
 " You shall not go, I swear, till you shake hands ! " 
 and with a long stride he swept past her and blocked 
 the path. 
 
 She stopped, dumb with indignation. 
 
 " Come, now ! " 
 
 She cast upward a searching look at his face. He 
 held out his hand pleadingly. 
 
 " Let us be friends, I say." 
 
 There was a moment's pause ; then like a flash she 
 thrust out her mite of a palm, lightly touched his, 
 and bounded away. 
 
 The junker stood gazing after her with a puzzled 
 look, when a crunching of gravel behind drew his at- 
 tention, and turning he saw Hester coming with a 
 pretty blush of welcome to meet him. 
 
 It was like no other meeting they ever had. Un- 
 like that sweet early intercourse, so free from care of 
 anything but themselves and the moment, it was also 
 far different from their later stolen interviews. They 
 studied each other now with covert curiosity, while 
 both felt the constraint of self-consciousness. What 
 an age had elapsed since those early times ! — an age 
 which had left them ripe in experience. Meantime, 
 there was so much to say they knew not where to 
 begin ; and what with it all, actually walked up and 
 down several minutes in silence. 
 
 Attributing this constraint to their surroundings, 
 Steenie suggested going to their old haunt in the 
 Magde Paetje. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER.' 245 
 
 Passing through the house to get Hester's hood and 
 cloak, they came upon Cobus, who had run up on 
 some errand from the court. Recognizing Steenie, 
 he cast on the two a black look, and called out 
 bluntly, — 
 
 " You had best keep in-doors, sister, while the town 
 is in the hands of thieves and pirates ! " 
 
 Hester treated her brother's advice with silent con- 
 tempt, while Steenie towered serenely aloft, blind and 
 deaf to his peevishness. 
 
 Going somewhat roundabout, they picked their way 
 through Smiet's Vly, crossed the foaming brook, and 
 wandered at leisure up the narrowing dell. 
 
 The season was earlier than at that other time so 
 long ago. The air was still a little raw, the ground 
 not yet quite freed from its winter thrall. Neither 
 liverwort nor saxifrage was yet in bloom, and the 
 pollards by the brookside showed not a touch of the 
 furry little catkins folded tight in each swelling 
 bourgeon. 
 
 There was, however, much to remind them of their 
 former walk together in the little valley, as they 
 sauntered along hand in hand, stopping only to break 
 here and there an osier switch or skirt dry-shod some 
 marshy place in the path. But for their hand-clasp 
 one might have thought they had quarrelled, so little 
 they talked. Even Steenie was tongue-tied. The 
 brief speeches they made were for the most part com- 
 monplaces. Yet the low whistling with which he 
 beguiled the way, and the odd snatches of song she 
 hummed, were but the brimmings-over of a speech- 
 less content. For the rest, it is quite certain that no 
 possible words could have added to the thoroughness 
 of their communion. 
 
246 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Even when they climbed into a little sun-warmed 
 niche in a ledge overlooking the town, — ■ where tucked 
 snugly in by themselves the world seemed shut out, 
 — they were not garrulous. Indeed, the supreme 
 eloquence of silence never more clearly appeared than 
 when, later, Steenie strove to formulate the emotional 
 significance of the moment. 
 
 " At last we are happy." 
 
 Hester stirred as if he had awaked her from a de- 
 lightful dream, and answered presently with a long- 
 drawn sigh, — 
 
 " Ah, but for so short a time ! " 
 
 " Why say you that, darling ? " 
 
 " Because 't is true ; because as soon as he comes 
 home he will put an end to all, as you know." 
 
 A strange look passed over the junker's face, yet 
 not so much passed over as came and went in it like 
 the opening and shutting of a lid. He made a move- 
 ment to speak, but checked himself. 
 
 " 'T will be worse for us then than ever," went on 
 Hester, unconscious of all this facial disturbance ; 
 " he will be so sore at the treatment he has received." 
 
 It is a sufficient proof of her own preoccupation 
 that she found nothing noteworthy in his continued 
 silence. 
 
 " You have not thought of this ? " 
 
 " Yes, 't is no straight course we have to run ; there 
 are other stumbling-blocks in the way." 
 
 " You mean your own family," she put in quickly. 
 
 " Remember what they have suffered." 
 
 " They hate him, and they will hate me." 
 
 " They cannot when they come to know you." 
 
 " Which will never be." 
 
 " But it shall be, I say." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 247 
 
 " And do you think the time will ever come " — 
 playing with a silver button on his waistcoat — 
 "when — " 
 
 "When?" 
 
 " — when we shall be left alone and suffered to do 
 as we choose ? " 
 
 " Yes, if we have but patience to wait — " 
 
 " I could wait a thousand years," she murmured. 
 
 " And if we but hold fast to each other," he con- 
 cluded, dryly. 
 
 She looked up to study his face. He was gazing at 
 her with a confident smile. Directly she saw it was 
 a joke. And what a capital joke, too ! They both 
 laughed outright. He kissed her upturned forehead 
 and called her a goose ; and she, playfully patting his 
 cheeks, justified the epithet by asking, — 
 
 "And do you think we shall hold fast to each 
 other?" 
 
 Thereupon they both laughed again. Indeed, the 
 joke was so good that it lasted them for the rest of 
 the day ; for when the outstretching shadows warned 
 them to go home, a little preliminary which marked 
 their setting-forth brought it up again. Nay, even 
 when they had reached the house, and stood on the 
 porch swinging back and forth by their clasped hands, 
 Hester cried in playful warning as she swung out over 
 the edge of the stairs, — 
 
 " If you hold me not fast now, I may get my death- 
 fall." 
 
 " Never fear ! 'T is you will let go first ! " 
 
 " Indeed ! " with a show of indignation. 
 
 " Else will we hold hands here forever." 
 
 "If you are never free till I let go my hold — " 
 She stopped and listened. 
 
248 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 It was only a disturbance in the street, — several 
 citizens hurrying in the direction of the Stadthuys. 
 
 " Hola there ! " shouted Steenie, hailing from the 
 porch. " What is it ? " 
 
 " The jury." 
 
 " Bi ? " 
 
 " A verdict." 
 
 " What — what ! " 
 
 " Guilty ! " 
 
 The junker seized Hester in his arms; his eyes 
 shone, his face flushed, he knew not whether to shout 
 in triumph or whisper in condolence. She looked 
 simply stupefied. 
 
 " It may be false. I will go learn the truth and 
 bring you word." 
 
 He embraced her hurriedly, and turned to the 
 stairs. 
 
 Stirred by a conflict of emotions she could not 
 analyze, Hester gasped, — 
 
 "I — I — take me ! I must go too ! " 
 
 " Quick, then ! let us run ! " 
 
 Hand in hand they hurried along, keeping to the 
 middle of the street and clearing the puddles with 
 flying leaps. 
 
 " Guilty of what ? " panted Hester, as they went. 
 
 " Of — of — of withstanding his Excellency, Governor 
 Sloughter," said Steenie, pushed for an answer. 
 
 Reassured by this simple statement of the case, Hes- 
 ter in a measure recovered her self-possession before 
 arriving at the Stadthuys. Here they found the court- 
 room already packed to suffocation, and the narrow 
 hall and stairway fast filling up. With much ado they 
 squeezed into a niche within earshot of the door. The 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 249 
 
 crowd stood with eyes and ears in strained attention. 
 A murmur of voices was heard from within. Suddenly 
 there came a sharp rap and a cry of " Silence ! " There 
 was a general stir in the audience; every one rose 
 upon tip-toe and canted his head to listen. 
 
 " What is it ? " whispered Hester. 
 
 " Hush ! the court is addressing the prisoner." 
 
 Breathless and pulseless, the anxious girl listened ; 
 she heard a voice declaiming in solemn monotone, but 
 not a word reached her. 
 
 Presently the voice ceased, and there was a 
 movement among those standing near. Two men 
 came pushing their way out. It was Dr. Gerar- 
 dus Beekman and Dr. Staats, both pale and deeply 
 agitated. 
 
 " Ei ? what was it ? I could not hear," said 
 Beekman. 
 
 " He is to be taken yonder without the walls — " 
 The speaker paused and stammered ; there before 
 him, with tragic face, stood Hester, drinking in his 
 words. 
 
 " Well, and then ? " demanded Beekman, eagerly. 
 
 " The old form," muttered Staats, taking refuge 
 in Latin : " Ibidem suspendatur per collum et vivus 
 ad terram prosternatur. Interiora sua extra ventrem 
 suum capiantur. Ipsoque vivente comburantur. Caput 
 suum amputetur. Quodque corpus suum in quatuor 
 partes dividatur. Et quod caput et quateria ilia po- 
 nantur ubi dominus rex ea assignare voluerit." 
 
 Understanding nothing of all this, but filled with a 
 vague fear, Hester frantically forced her way in through 
 the serried crowd to the railing. Eagerly her eyes 
 sought out the prisoner. He stood motionless within 
 the dock, with cold beads of sweat hanging like dew- 
 
250 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 drops on his rugged forehead. In a moment all was 
 clear. Sickened with horror, she felt the room begin 
 to reel about her, and straightway a blessed veil of 
 unconsciousness fell between her and all further sights 
 and sounds. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 251 
 
 XXV. 
 
 ONE morning, not long after the sentence had heen 
 pronounced, the chief culprits were disturbed 
 in their dungeon by the rattling of chains and the 
 drawing of heavy bolts. 
 
 On a rude stone bench opposite the door sat Leisler, 
 his elbows on his knees, his chin propped on his 
 clinched fist, his eyes, their gaze inturned, bent out- 
 wardly upon the floor. Thus, day and night, he had 
 been sitting since his return to the cell, while his rest- 
 less companion, on a bench over against him, talked 
 without pause. 
 
 Now, aroused by the noise in that direction, Mil- 
 borne looked curiously towards the door, which opened 
 to admit three persons, whom, in the dim light, he did 
 not directly recognize. 
 
 His doubt was short-lived. A sobbing little figure 
 came groping in and knelt by his side ; at the same 
 moment a loud wail broke upon the air, as Vrouw 
 Leisler threw herself upon her husband's neck. Mean- 
 while Cobus, lingering in the corner, turned his face 
 to the wall. 
 
 For many minutes not a word was said. It was the 
 elder huysvrouw who first spoke. 
 
 " 'T is an awful, awful thing ; but take heart, Jacob ! 
 They dare not harm ye. Take heart, I say. We have 
 appealed to the king. When his Majesty hears o' this, 
 he '11 see then what comes o' sending over his new 
 
252 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 governors. Ei ! ei ! there '11 be a stir when he hears 
 o' this, never fear ! " 
 
 The condemned man mechanically put his arm about 
 his wife, as she crouched by his side, but gave no other 
 sign of heeding her words. ' 
 
 " Jacob ! Jacob ! speak to me, man ! What is this, 
 — chains on ye? How dare they? Look, Mary! See, 
 Cobus ! They have fetters on him, — fetters, like a 
 common wretch. Oh ! oh ! oh ! wait till their Majes- 
 ties hear this ! After all ye did for them, after hav- 
 ing them proclaimed at cost of life and limb, after 
 saving the province from the Papists, after letting 
 your own affairs go to wrack and ruin ! Wait ! Wait 
 till the king and the good queen hear these doings ! " 
 
 " Sh ! sh ! mother," whispered Mary, " lest we be 
 overheard." 
 
 " I care not who hears." 
 
 " It may go worse with them." 
 
 " It can go no worse with them ! " cried the in- 
 dignant vrouw. " What can they do more, tell me ? 
 See ye the hole they have thrust them in ! See the 
 chains hanging on them, — and now thirsting for their 
 blood ! What can they do more, tell me ? " 
 
 " Cry away, mother, loud as ye will ; spit out your 
 spleen ; 't will give ye ease, if it helps not us," broke 
 in Milborne, ironically. " 'T is little enough his Ma- 
 jesty cares what we have suffered in the cause. Those 
 rascals have his ear, and will stuff it with what lies 
 they choose." 
 
 " Let them say what they like, brother Milborne, 
 they dare not do anything," joined in Cobus, coming 
 forward. " Warnings are pouring in from every quar- 
 ter ; a petition has been sent to the king. They dare 
 not raise finger against ye." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 253 
 
 Shaking his head and waving his hand with an air 
 of lofty deprecation, Milborne answered : — 
 
 " Seek not to unsettle our peace. Seek not to arouse 
 vain hopes in us. Our minds are made up for the 
 worst." 
 
 "Hush!" 
 
 « Jacob ! " 
 
 " Be not so cast down, brother Milborne." 
 
 " Why cheat ourselves with hope ? " he went on, 
 ignoring the protesting trio. "Did ye hear the news ? 
 He has pardoned all others but us two, — ye know 
 what that means." 
 
 " But the king," urged Cobus ; " they cannot move 
 till word comes from his Majesty." 
 
 " The king will not interfere." 
 
 A low wail broke from the women. 
 
 " Blood must be shed to glut the thirst of these wolf- 
 hounds. Vengeance demands a sacrifice ; we shall be 
 the victims." 
 
 " That shall ye not ! " burst out Cobus, with a touch 
 of his father's energy. " Help is at hand. Our friends 
 are rising all over the province. Woe to the man that 
 lifts hand of violence against ye ! " 
 
 " Good, my son ! " joined in his mother. " We have 
 friends enough ; they '11 see no harm comes to ye." 
 
 The sound of sliding bolts announced the jailor's 
 coming, and cut short the good dame's eloquence. In- 
 stinctively she turned to her husband for protection. 
 
 " Jacob, Jacob, my man, they 've come to drag me 
 away from ye ! Jacob, I say, lift your eyes ; turn 
 about and speak a word to me. Do ye hear ? One 
 word for the sake of the old times." 
 
 She gently pulled his head around and gazed anx- 
 iously in his face ; he stared at her stupidly. 
 
254 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Father in heaven! Something is wrong with him. 
 Look, Mary, at his eyes ! He heeds nothing. Jacob, 
 I say, look now, — look in my face ! 'T is Elsie, your 
 old Elsie ! 'T was young Elsie years ago, when first 
 I came to ye. Ye remember the day, Jacob, and how 
 ye laughed that night, — our wedding night, — and 
 joined the song, and said we 'd be the happiest two in 
 all Nieuw Amsterdam ? Oh, well ye remember ; often 
 ye spoke of it since. See, here 's the ring ye gave me. 
 'T is worn thin and small now with all the years. Ei ! 
 't is long enough ago, but ye know best whether I have 
 been true to it. Hard I tried, heart an' soul I did, to 
 be a faithful wife to ye, Jacob, but — but " — tears 
 choked her utterance — "I 'm an old woman now, 
 and ye heed me no more." 
 
 Aroused by this outburst, her husband put out his 
 hand and softly caressed her head. 
 
 " Ye heed me no more," sobbed the dame. 
 
 " Ye have been a true wife, Elsie. Go home to your 
 cjiildren." 
 
 " Oh, Jacob, how can I go leave ye in a place like 
 this!" 
 
 " Go get ye home, and waste no thought on me." 
 
 " To leave ye in a dungeon, with fetters on ye ! " 
 
 " 'T is just." 
 
 " Ye shall not say it ! " 
 
 " 'T is right I should suffer for my sin." 
 
 " How could ye sin, being sent about the Lord's 
 business ? " 
 
 " No more o' that, woman ! " 
 
 " Ei ? " 
 
 " The Lord had no hand in it." 
 
 " No hand ? " - 
 
 " 'T was my own vainglory." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 255 
 
 " I '11 not believe ye, — I '11 not believe ye ever did 
 wilful wrong ! " 
 
 " God knows I did not, — stick ye to that. I was 
 no rogue, but a fool. A fool does the greater harm, — 
 't is a deadly beast, not to be spared. Go get ye home 
 to the children, and bid them forget me." 
 
 " Come, I say, get through with your whimpering. 
 'T is time ye were gone," broke in the impatient turn- 
 key at the door. 
 
 But the dame, dismayed by her husband's tone of 
 submission, a note which in all their long intercourse 
 she had never before heard sounded, and which now 
 jarred upon her ears like a painful discord, threw her- 
 self in a fresh outburst upon his neck, clinging there till 
 Cobus with might and main dragged her from the cell. 
 
 On their way out, as they passed through the great 
 gate of the fort, they met a party of gayly dressed 
 horsemen about to enter. A stout, red-faced person, 
 with an air of pomp and circumstance, who rode in 
 advance, was laughing loudly. 
 
 " 'T is the new govei-nor," said Mary under her 
 breath, skipping along to get out of the way. 
 
 Cobus, who had already recognized several well- 
 known faces in the group, scowled darkly and stepped 
 aside. 
 
 Vrouw Leisler, however, startled by Mary's warn- 
 ing, stood stock-still, and gazed hard at the advancing 
 cavalcade. Thus she neglected to. secure her escape 
 from the narrow entrance, and was in consequence 
 well-nigh trampled upon by his Excellency's pranc- 
 ing stallion. 
 
 Fresh from that sad scene in the dungeon, the poor 
 dame could not restrain her wrath at sight of the 
 rollicking party. 
 
256 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Shame, shame on ye, cruel man ! " she cried, 
 boldly. " Ye have brought sorrow and suffering 
 enough upon us, and now would ye make sport of 
 our misery ? " 
 
 His Excellency stared in amazement upon being 
 thus taken to task, but at a hint from Bayard, who 
 rode at his elbow, he quietly drew rein for the dame 
 to pass, and went on his way without answer. 
 
 Slight as it was, the incident plainly caused the 
 governor more than a passing discomfiture. Thus 
 far the burden of the song which had reached his 
 ears had been one of unmixed praise. By the 
 common sort he had been hailed as a deliverer. By 
 the long-oppressed body of the groote burgerrecht he 
 had been well-nigh apotheosized. Brought back from 
 exile, restored to their homes, families, and estates, 
 and advanced to new honors, how could they do 
 enough for the man by whose hands all this had been 
 wrought ! 
 
 A round of dinners, balls, and routs of very un- 
 usual splendor was set going, at which his Excellency 
 was the chief and honored guest. It was, indeed, 
 while returning early in the morning from a supper- 
 party at Philipse's, where a dozen of them had liter- 
 ally made a night of it, that the self-complacent 
 official had been so rudely accosted by Vrouw 
 Leisler. 
 
 The young gentlemen in the governor's train 
 spared not to make merry over the incident. 
 
 " What old vrouw was that ? " 
 
 " The commander's wife." 
 
 " So ? " 
 
 " Never ! " 
 
 "• What, great Cromwell's spouse ? " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 257 
 
 The laughing sceptics turned back to scan the 
 retreating party. 
 
 " Governor, you are a naughty man." 
 
 "'Tis better your Excellency meet not the old 
 dame alone." 
 
 " That is it. I noted her nails." 
 
 " And the vigor of her arm." 
 
 " And the mischief in her eye." 
 
 " Hear the wags prate. Van Cortlandt ! " said the 
 governor, good-naturedly, turning to his neighbor. 
 
 "And why not? 'Tis our turn to prate. The 
 shoe is on the other foot now, eh. Bayard?" 
 
 " And they that wear it know how it pinches," 
 added the colonel, bitterly. " Let it pinch. 'T is 
 well they should know the pang. Little enough any 
 of their brood cared for my poor wife's misery, while 
 I lay yonder in the self-same dungeon." 
 
 " Do they cry out already ? Poh ! they have had 
 but a month of it yet, while we had a round dozen 
 and more," put in Nichols. 
 
 " Yet lacked you one solace they enjoy," suggested 
 a new voice. 
 
 " What is that, Graham ? " 
 
 " You were not under sentence." 
 
 " No, but 't was worse with us ; in a sentence there 
 is some certainty." 
 
 " There should be," broke in Van Cortlandt, with 
 a swift glance at the governor. 
 
 " Let us hope 't will prove so," added another, 
 significantly. 
 
 " But we," continued Bayard, " were subject to the 
 caprice of yonder beast, who was capable of striking 
 off our heads at a moment's notice." 
 
 " His days of mischief would soon be ended now, 
 17 
 
258 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 if his Excellency were of my mind," muttered 
 Nichols. 
 
 " Gr of mine." 
 
 " Patience, patience, gentlemen ; be not so blood- 
 thirsty," said his Excellency, laughing as he jumped 
 from his horse at the door of the governor's house, 
 and led the way to a small withdrawing-room ad- 
 joining the audience-chamber. There, no sooner had 
 he seated himself and called for some wine than his 
 companions settled about him like a swarm of flies, 
 and directly the chorus was renewed. 
 
 " 'T is no laughing matter, your Excellency. If you 
 knew but a tithe we have suffered from the wretch ! " 
 
 " Ay, colonel, you, indeed, have some cause of com- 
 plaint. Is everybody served? Gentlemen, here's 
 your very good health ! " 
 
 "And which of us has not, and of dread, too, 
 while that viper breathes the air ? " 
 
 " Poh, poh ! What have you to dread now ? 
 Nothing! He is fast and safe. Come, my friends, 
 fill up ! " 
 
 " He is but scotched ; he should be crushed." 
 
 " There '11 be neither peace nor safety in the 
 province till 'tis done." 
 
 " Every breath he draws is a menace to our lives 
 and liberties." 
 
 "Know ye, too, that hordes of lawless, hulking 
 rascals are scheming this very minute to compass 
 his escape ? " 
 
 "Eh? Think you there is any truth in that?" 
 asked the governor, rather nervously. 
 
 " 'T is certain ! " 
 
 " And if your Excellency move not in the matter 
 soon — " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 259 
 
 " Gentlemen, this talk is idle ; my authority in the 
 matter is suspended; they have appealed to the 
 king." 
 
 A habel of protestation arose upon this. 
 
 " ' Appealed ! ' What ground have condemned 
 traitors of appeal ? " 
 
 " They have no right of appeal beyond the governor 
 and council." 
 
 " The governor stands here in loco regis." 
 
 " Was not your Excellency sent hither to compose 
 differences and secure the peace of the province ; and 
 is every little matter to be referred back to his 
 Majesty?" 
 
 The governor looked harassed and uncertain. 
 
 " There may be reason in what you say, my friends. 
 I will consider of it, and take the minds of my coun- 
 cil in the matter." 
 
 Bayard and Van Cortlandt exchanged a grim 
 smile. 
 
 " We have a meeting to-day on the question of my 
 going up in person to Albany to make terms with the 
 Mohawks." 
 
 " I trust you will not think of going away till this 
 matter be settled." 
 
 " Van Cortlandt, I cry you mercy. Whatever I do, 
 I will postpone further discussion of this matter for 
 the present," retorted his Excellency, pettishly. 
 
 " Right ! right ! We have too much business ! " 
 cried one of the younger men. " What says your 
 Excellency to a bit of sport to lighten these weighty 
 affairs of state ? Come, will you join us in running 
 down a cunning old wolf that has been carrying off 
 all the lambs in Ompoge?" 
 
 " When is it set for ? " 
 
260 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 « This very day." 
 
 " Egad, 't is a cruel temptation, but " — motioning 
 with a rueful look towards the table before him, piled 
 high with papers — " duty, you see, holds me here." 
 
 " You will not, however, fail us to-night ? " 
 
 "To-night?" 
 
 « At the wedding." 
 
 " Ay, ay, surely. I 'm pledged to that. To-night 
 is it?" 
 
 " To-night ; all our little world will be there." 
 
 " Count upon me. I will not fail." 
 
 The governor bowed his friends out, but did not 
 stay to watch them across the green ; else he might 
 have wondered at their locked arms, their clustered 
 heads, and frequent stops to parley. 
 
 The wedding proved a very grand affair. It has, 
 indeed, become of historic interest, and that, too, 
 without any great beauty or worth on the part of the 
 wedded pair. The bride's father — whose name is 
 withheld for sufficient reasons — was a rich mynheer 
 of good old Dutch stock, a stanch member of the 
 Stadthuys party, who had himself suffered in person 
 and estate under Leisler's domination. This feast, 
 then, to which were bidden all the men of weight 
 and influence in the country-side, served the double 
 purpose of reassembling the leaders of his own party 
 in a general jubilation over the change in affairs, and 
 incidentally doing honor to his daughter's nuptials. 
 The governor, who had been the figure-head of the 
 revolution, was naturally the guest of distinction. 
 
 Mynheer's house, if not the finest in the town, was 
 yet worthy the company and the occasion, and a good 
 example of the home of a rich burgher of the day. It 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 261 
 
 was a large, square, stone mansion on the corner of 
 two considerable streets, with commodious offices, and 
 a garden filled with choice Dutch plants stretching 
 away to the rear. Somewhat bald without, it was 
 luxurious enough within. 
 
 The heavy oak rafters which upheld the ceiling of 
 the spacious drawing-room were carved in grotesque 
 devices, and polished like a mirror. The walls, 
 wainscoted in Spanish mahogany and hung with oil- 
 paintings from the best Antwerp masters, abounded 
 in nooks of mysterious gloom, defying the detective 
 glare of a hundred candles. The floor was covered 
 with a thick Flemish carpet. The high, carved man- 
 telpiece, adorned with twisted pilasters and overhung 
 by a flowered tabby cloth, was relieved below by a 
 hearthstone, depicting in chocolate and blue tiles the 
 pathetic story of Daniel in the lions' den. 
 
 The furniture was of a sort with the room. A tall 
 clock in a carved oak case black with age stood in 
 the corner. Velvet chairs hung with silver lace, 
 others covered with leather and studded with brass 
 nails, stood about. Tlie massive sofa seemed poised 
 upon the back of some monstrous beast crouched 
 against the wall, whence his huge claw-feet protruded. 
 Above gleamed a big, round mirror framed in ebony, 
 and flanked by glittering silver sconces ablaze with 
 wax-lights. On the marble table stood tall cande- 
 labra, also bristling with lighted candles. Flowered 
 tabby curtains draped the windows, and the broad 
 window-seats were furnished with feathered cushions 
 covered in tapestry-work. Upon the narrow chimney- 
 shelf stood an hour-glass, and the family Bible with 
 polished brass ends and clasps. Above hung the 
 sword used by the host's father in the English wars. 
 
262 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 In the near corner leaned a burnished warming-pan, 
 and on the opposite side was a spinning-wheel with 
 ehinningly inlaid frame. 
 
 In the dining-room, what with the precious accumu- 
 lation of years of smoke from roaring logs on the 
 hearth and the flaring of innumerable candles, the 
 dusky walls and ceilings recalled the witching som- 
 breness of certain Dutch masterpieces. The heavy 
 mahogany table, dimmed by years of service, mir- 
 rored with a ghostly gleam the massive silver service 
 which glittered on its surface. The carving of the 
 huge sideboard was lost in gloom, but the rich store 
 of glasses, flagons, and decanters with which it was 
 loaded caught and reflected in a dazzling way the 
 glow of the fire and candles. 
 
 Punctuality had not yet fallen from its high estate 
 as a virtue, so that before the last peal of the sunset 
 bell from the fort had died away the whole company 
 was assembled. 
 
 And where upon the round earth could a more 
 sober, respectable, and decorous-looking company 
 have been called together ? What it wanted in bril- 
 liance it made up in dignity ; what in grace, was am- 
 ply supplied in splendor. In outward aspect, indeed, 
 it fell little short of gorgeousness. The women were 
 loaded with heavy rings and chains of gold; they 
 sported lace of Flemish and Venetian point. Their 
 silken petticoats, of which each wore as many as she 
 could carry, quilted with endless toil in a hundred 
 fantastic patterns, were marvels of handiwork. Stock- 
 ings curiously clocked, jewelled shoe-buckles, and 
 heavy purses wrought in filigree made up an attire 
 not conspicuous for simplicity. 
 ■ Neither was the garb of the men, grave and sedate 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 263 
 
 as they looked, behindhand in point of finery, nor, it 
 must be confessed, in point of clumsiness. The num- 
 ber of Mynheer's breeches equalled that of his vrouw's 
 petticoats, — the outer pair, made of silk or velvet, 
 being overhung by the long lappets of a waistcoat 
 wrought in gold. Covering all was a voluminous coat 
 with buckram-stiffened skirts sweeping to his very 
 ankles. The host, as he stood beside his bobbing 
 vrouw, near the open door, to receive his guests, pro- 
 tected his bald head from the draught by a cap of 
 yellow brocade, with a crimson-velvet brim turned up 
 to the crown. 
 
 Amidst all this splendor there was one object of 
 elegance; it was the begum. Her flowing robe of 
 creamy cashmere was superbly wrought in colors. A 
 fillet of diamonds shone in her coarse, black hair and 
 secured her head-gear, — a long veil of sheerest mus- 
 lin hemmed with gold thread, — which was drawn at 
 will about her slender person, or tossed hither and 
 thither by her restless hands. 
 
 Steenie, coming upon the little woman in the throng, 
 for the first time in his life became vaguely aware of 
 this air of distinction. He stopped to talk, and — 
 was it his own ripened taste, or that he now heeded 
 it as never before ? — he found her conversation so 
 abounding in a piquant flavor that he took no pains 
 to conceal his look of annoyance when somebody 
 came to interrupt them. 
 
 Thereafter, wandering listlessly through the rooms, 
 his eye was caught by a chattering group gathered 
 about one of the window-seats. He drew near, and 
 found Catalina the centre of it. By a happy audac- 
 ity her mother had dressed her in scarlet, and she 
 formed the high-light of a striking picture. 
 
264 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Stopping merely to look, he unconsciously listened. 
 Catalina was the speaker. With gay looks and trip- 
 ping accent she was rehearsing some cabalistic rhyme, 
 to determine which of the group should next fill the 
 place of bride and groom. One after another, with 
 much good-natured banter, slipped into place before 
 her to undergo the test. 
 
 A whim seized the junker; watcliing his chance, 
 without leave or warning he stepped into the vacant 
 place. The speaker was hopelessly discomfited. Con- 
 trolling an impulse to cry out, she stared at him a 
 moment, and dropped her eyes. Her companions 
 clamored noisily for her to go on. She flushed pain- 
 fully and stammered. The momentary silence was 
 broken by a rumor that the bride had appeared. 
 
 Directly the others flew away, like a flock of birds, 
 leaving Steenie and Catalina alone. 
 
 '• See," he began, holding to his purpose, " here is 
 my hand. I am waiting to try my luck." 
 
 The timely diversion had given the rhymster a 
 moment's relief. With ill-assumed indifference she 
 took his hand, steadied herself, and looked up in his 
 face to begin. 
 
 Nothing surely could have been more amiable than 
 the junker's expectant look. But she, suspecting per- 
 haps a lurking mockery behind that demure mask, 
 suddenly dropped his hand, and hurried away after 
 her companions. 
 
 Directly the marriage ceremony was over, the bride 
 fell from her rank as a person of consequence. She 
 was left to the younger fry, who repaired to a room 
 apart, where they danced and sported after time- 
 honored fashion. 
 
 With the rest of the company the governor was the 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 265 
 
 hero of the hour. All pressed forvard for a presen- 
 tation. His Excellency, was most obliging. He stood 
 flushed and perspiring in his scarlet toggery, shaking 
 hands and bowing acknowledgment of the compli- 
 ments poured in upon him. 
 
 Happily he was soon relieved ; supper was an- 
 nounced, and he was led away by his host to the 
 seat of honor at the board. Every delicacy which 
 the peopled woods or teeming waters could afford 
 loaded the table. The choicest fruit of Spanish and 
 Portuguese vineyards was not wanting, while all was 
 supplemented by divers toothsome kickshaws of the 
 huysvrouw's art. 
 
 Such heavy viands called for huge draughts to wash 
 them down. His Excellency, well known as a good 
 trencherman, proved that he was no laggard at the 
 bowl. Willing hands were not lacking to see that his 
 cup was filled, nor ready wits to furnish occasion for 
 new bumpers to his honor and success. 
 
 " Here 's to our new governor," began an over-zealous 
 young man, sitting below the little group gathered 
 at the head of the table. 
 
 " Nay, nay, spare me ; 't is growing stale, that toast. 
 It has been drunk a half-score times already," pleaded 
 his Excellency, laughing. 
 
 " Very good," returned the pledger, with a wink at 
 those about him, " I will ring a change upon it. How 
 is this ? Here 's to our new broom ; may it make a 
 clean sweep, and leave no dust in the corners ! " 
 
 A buzz of approbation ran round the table. 
 
 " I accept the amendment, my good friend," an- 
 swered the governor, in a voice already somewhat 
 thick, " though I must say 't is something of a riddle, 
 that toast of yours." 
 
266 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Let me resolve it for your Excellency by another," 
 said a voice nearer at hand. " Gentlemen, are you 
 ready ? "Well, then ! Here 's to the Theseus sent to 
 cope with our Minotaur ; may he prove that the race 
 of heroes is not run out ! " 
 
 An uproar of applause greeted this sentiment, what 
 with the stamping of feet, the rattling of knives and 
 spoons, mingled with hoarse shouts of delight. 
 
 "After hunting tigers in Bengal, I might make 
 shift to engage the monster," said his Excellency, 
 with growing unsteadiness of utterance ; " but remem- 
 ber the beast was inclosed in a labyrinth, and I — I 
 have no skill in labyrinths." 
 
 "The way is straight," said a low voice in his 
 ear. 
 
 " And there are willing guides," added one, in a 
 stage whisper from across the table. 
 
 " Fie, fie, gentlemen ! " cried his Excellency, with a 
 nervous laugh ; " remember the occasion ; 't is a feast 
 we are at. No business, I pray you. See, you are 
 driving away the ladies ! " 
 
 The remark was occasioned by Madam Van Cort- 
 landt, who, summoning the reluctant Steenie to escort 
 her, was saying good-night at the door. Other guests 
 were going ; it was getting late. One little group, 
 however, still lingered about the fireside, listening to 
 the begum's account of similar festivities in her native 
 land. 
 
 Having sent Catalina home in her palanquin, that 
 lady was professedly killing time till its return. Not- 
 withstanding her listeners' keen interest in what she 
 was saying, the lady talked in a very odd and absent 
 manner. Perhaps the convivial party at the other 
 end of the room disconcerted her, for at every move- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGRTEU. 267 
 
 meut in their circle she hesitated, looked uneasy, and 
 cast a furtive glance in that direction. Suddenly she 
 stopped in the very midst of a sentence, and forget- 
 ting her staring audience, she listened heart and soul 
 to what his Excellency was saying. 
 
 " Ah, my friends, what a curry Colonel Bob could 
 make ! T would keep a fish in the sea thirsty ; I 
 swear to you a man could drink all night after it, and 
 begin again in the morning. Egad, I 'd give half my 
 income for a dish of it this minute, if I might ever 
 meet another with the trick of making it." 
 
 To the great surprise of her auditors, the begum 
 advanced quickly, and leaning over the table, said, — 
 
 " Gentlemen — your pardon ! " 
 
 " Madam, your most humble servant," answered the 
 governor, struggling to his feet. 
 
 " I hear," — the lady's tone showed, as it seemed, 
 undue agitation, — " it comes to my ear, your Excel- 
 lency's wish. 'T is a secret I learned in my own coun- 
 try, the dish you talk of — I know it well, and if I can 
 serve you — " 
 
 " Nay, Madam, 't was a passing whim. I could 
 never put you to such trouble." 
 
 " I shall count it an honor. Sir, I beg you ! " 
 
 " Gentlemen, you hear, — what can I say ? " 
 
 " Your Excellency, such an offer is not to be 
 slighted." 
 
 " Madam, I am but mortal. Hark ye, gentlemen, a 
 toast ; and let it be a bumper. Here 'a health and 
 gratitude to her Mightiness the Begum ! " 
 
 The lady acknowledged the compliment with a pro- 
 found obeisance. Then turning briskly to the fulfil- 
 ment of her promise, she sent to the kitchen for a 
 chafing-dish and ingredients, dispatched a slave to her 
 
268 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 own house for the rarer condiments, and in an in- 
 credibly short time the savory dish was smoking upon 
 the board. 
 
 A murmur of thanks, another toast, another salaam, 
 and the agitated cook withdrew to join the ladies in 
 the drawing-room. 
 
 Whether the dish proved too fiery for the untutored 
 palates of the Dutchmen, whether from forbearance or 
 some unexplained reason, the lion's share was served 
 to his Excellency, who scrupled not to accept it. His 
 account of its effects, moreover, was abundantly veri- 
 fied. Relay after relay of wine, fetched from the well- 
 stocked bins beneath, failed to cool the burning throats. 
 In due time a huge bowl of punch took the place of the 
 bottles. Thereupon the merriment grew boisterous. 
 Indiscriminate applause greeted alike the well-turned 
 song, the stupid jest, or salacious tale, — the ladies 
 were at a safe distance. 
 
 The ladies, indeed, were, for the most part, gone. 
 In the drawing-room the patient hostess still nodded 
 in the midst of a few heavy-eyed dames, who, kept by 
 the storm, waited for their carousing lords. 
 
 For the storm, long threatening, had broken at last, 
 and in ill-lighted, unpaved streets was not to be lightly 
 encountered. The begum's palanquin-bearers, driven 
 in by the pelting rain, lay crouched like sleeping dogs 
 upon a rug in a dark corner of the hall. Their mis- 
 tress, unconscious of their presence, paced the draw- 
 ing-room with cat-like tread and ear intent upon the 
 progressing orgies. 
 
 After a lull which sadly tried the patience of the 
 listener, his Excellency was heard, more inarticulate 
 than ever, in converse with another, whose tones were 
 clear, insinuating, and urgent. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 269 
 
 " But I pray your Excellency to consider ; you arc 
 among friends here." 
 
 " Fr-frien's ! yesh, go-ood frien's ! " 
 
 " Good friends, very true. Now among good friends 
 one may talk his mind." 
 
 " Ay, ay, talk away, go-ood frien' ; but your glash 
 is empty — see ! " 
 
 " Listen ; this is business. Your Excellency is look- 
 ing for a home. Now, there is a fine plantation on the 
 river wants an owner." 
 
 «Eh?" 
 
 " An estate for a duke, well watered, timbered, 
 stocked with cattle and slaves." 
 
 "So— hic-o?" 
 
 " There is no better estate in the province." 
 
 « Go-ood ! " 
 
 " A word in your ear ; the day this matter is 
 settled — " 
 
 His Excellency's blurred vision clearly failed to 
 catch the wink. 
 
 "Umph?" 
 
 " — that estate finds an owner — " 
 
 Was the fuddled official past taking a hint ? 
 
 " — and your Excellency — ahem — " 
 
 "Eh?" 
 
 " — finds a home." 
 
 Ha»Bome savor of the insinuation at last reached 
 him tfirough the clogged avenues of sense ? He 
 shifts uneasily in his chair, and as his eye lights 
 upon two of the party withdrawn to whisper in the 
 corner, he hails it as a distraction, and loudly rallies 
 them : — 
 
 " Hello ! Hel-lo, I say ! See yon sneaks ! Go 
 fetch 'm back, 'n' fill their gl-lashes ! " 
 
270 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " But your Excellency — " 
 
 " Fetch 'em back ! F-fetch 'em back, I say, and 
 make 'em dr-rink ! We '11 have no sn-neaks here ! " 
 
 " Make good your promise to us, your Excellency, 
 and we '11 drink you measure for measure till the 
 cock crows." 
 
 " Drink — dr-rink, I say, and I '11 make good any- 
 thing!" 
 
 " Here, then, if it please you, 't is but to sign this 
 paper." 
 
 " F-faugh ! T-take it away. Leaving si-ignin' 
 papers till the day. Dr-rink, I say ! " 
 
 " So we will ; but first — 't is but to write your 
 name." 
 
 A place was cleared upon the table, the parchment 
 was spread before him, a half-dozen of the most 
 noted men of the province crowded around. 
 
 " Pray you, sir ! " 
 
 " A stroke of the pen and 't is done." 
 
 " See, here is the place." 
 
 " To-morrow 't will be as hard to do." 
 
 " 'T is the sentence of the court." 
 
 " 'T is approved by the council." 
 
 " And confirmed by the assembly." 
 
 " Would you free the land from rebels and 
 traitors ? "■ 
 
 " Indeed, you have no choice." 
 
 " Come, sir, the punch is waiting." 
 
 " See, here is the place." 
 
 A pen was fitted to the unsteady fingers, the pap^r 
 was adjusted, A tense silence fell upon the room, 
 broken only by the roaring of the wind in the huge 
 chimney and the raging of the storm without. The 
 candles burned low in their sockets; a fitful flame 
 
' He scrawled the fatal lines.' 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 271 
 
 flickered among the wasted logs upon the hearth- 
 stone. Out of the shadows of the doorway close at 
 hand peered a dusky face, with glaring eyes fixed 
 upon the little group. 
 
 " Wh-wha' zis/or, gen-gen'lemen ? " 
 
 The thick tongue could scarcely articulate, and the 
 heavy lids drooped over the vacant eyes. 
 
 " For his Majesty's glory and the peace of the 
 province." 
 
 " He-here 's to 's Ma-majesty's gl-glory ! " 
 
 He scrawled the fateful lines, the pen dropped 
 from his nerveless grasp, and he rolled, a senseless 
 clod, under the table. 
 
272 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 ALL through the night the storm raged on, and 
 the morning brought no change save the glim- 
 mering of a cold, gray light sifted through countless 
 strata of icy vapor. Prom the exhaustless reservoir 
 of the northern seas came sweeping, in endless suc- 
 cession, vast masses of clouds, to pour out their 
 floods upon the drenched city. 
 
 Round about the little island the storm marshalled 
 its forces as an enemy about a beleaguered camp. 
 The sea thundered upon the rocks ; the Kolch, risen 
 high in its basin, threatened ovierflow ; the brook 
 leaped its bounds, and swept in mad turbulence down 
 the Magde Paetje ; while far and near the ground was 
 strewn with dead branches of trees and rotten sap- 
 lings wrenched from the dismantled palisades. 
 
 Within the walls the gutters ran in rivulets ; the 
 shattered bark eaves-troughs spurted cascades from 
 every corner ; mimic lakes formed in each hollow of 
 the ground, and the unpaved streets were an ooze of 
 mud. 
 
 The fort, perched on its little promontory, suffered 
 the full fury of the attack : loose mortar and bits of 
 rubble from the walls were flung hither and yonder ; 
 streams of water poured over the bastions ; the wind, 
 swooping among the enclosed buildings, tore shingles 
 from the roofs, rocked the old bell-tower from base 
 to summit, dashed in shrieks of ill-omen against the 
 barred windows of the dungeon, howled down the 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 273 
 
 chimney of the governor's house, sending out thick 
 clouds of smoke from the struggling fire into the 
 low-ceiled room where sat some members of the 
 council, shuddering amidst their whispered confer- 
 ence at the fury of the blast, which, shrieking, 
 demon-voiced, at the casement, sped away to blab 
 abroad the dark secret it had eavesdropped. 
 
 Catalina stood at the window of her own room, 
 looking out upon the storm. Over the tree-tops in 
 the garden she caught a glimpse of the sea gleaming 
 with white-caps, the further shore blurred out by 
 clouds and rain. 
 
 Despite the dreariness of the outlook, the young 
 girl lingered long at her post, and shivered as she 
 turned away ; for within things were at their worst. 
 The whole house was torn up and disordered in prep- 
 aration for moving, — her father, having resolved, 
 since the change, in affairs, to quit the town and 
 retire to his farm in Nieuw Utrecht. 
 
 Shut up in his herbarium brooding over the results 
 of the late revolution, the doctor concerned not him- 
 self with details ; the begum had a native scorn for 
 any menial task, and thus the work of packing was 
 left to the slaves, with the natural result. 
 
 Notwithstanding the turmoil and the swarming 
 humanity, Catalina was conscious of a sense of isola- 
 tion and mystery. The house held not a companion 
 for her. The children were at play in the garret ; 
 the slaves at their work ; her father shut up as de- 
 scribed ; while her mother, preoccupied and anxious, 
 spent the day wandering restlessly from room to 
 room, peering from the windows, listening breath- 
 lessly as if for some expected sound to break through 
 the dull roar of wind and rain. 
 
 18 
 
274 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Impatient of the stress of influences not to be seen 
 or understood, Catalina, at last, with an impetuous 
 movement, started to go to her father's room. 
 Though silent, he was not unkind, and though he 
 might not welcome, he would not repulse her. She 
 could at least sit quietly and look at his big musty 
 books filled with odd cuts of plants and flowers, and 
 forget all malign influences in his protective 
 presence. 
 
 Down the broad staircase and through the hall, 
 cluttered with furniture and packing-cases, she passed, 
 reaching at length the narrow passage which led to 
 her father's room. 
 
 The sight of the door ajar and the sound of conver- 
 sation from within caused her to stop. Her father 
 was speaking in a tone of strong excitement. 
 
 " What do you tell me, woman ? " 
 
 Could this be to her mother ? Never had she 
 heard her addressed in such wise. 
 
 " 'T is done, I say. 1 saw him sign the paper." 
 
 " They dare not ! " 
 
 " 'T is the sentence of the court." 
 
 " A court packed with his enemies." 
 
 " The council, the assembly, approve it." 
 
 " And who be they ? — the selfsame blood-hungry 
 brood." 
 
 " The whole country cries out for it. He is a mon- 
 ster, — a beast of carnage that must be hunted down 
 and — " 
 
 The speaker, at a loss for a word strong enough to 
 express her meaning, finished the sentence with a 
 stamp of her foot. 
 
 " 'T will be a murder ! " 
 
 " It will be to take away a dread and a burden 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 276 
 
 from the people. It will be to bless the province. 
 It will be to let honest people breathe in peace, sleep 
 without horrid dreams, speak like men and women, 
 and not slaves." 
 
 " I tell you, woman, that day Jacob Leisler dies by 
 the hangman's hand will be the darkest ever dawned 
 upon this land." 
 
 " Be it dark or light," came the retort in a tone al- 
 most fierce with exultation, " 't will dawn with to- 
 morrow's sun." 
 
 Catalina heard these concluding words, saw the 
 door open, saw her mother's form advancing towards 
 her in the passage, but she stood motionless. So 
 gradually had the intelligence grown in her mind 
 from a premonition to a dark suspicion, to a sinking 
 fear, to a horrible conviction, that she did not start 
 or tremble ; she simply stood as if the blood had 
 stopped coursing in her veins. 
 
 It was her mother who brought her back to a reali- 
 zation of the truth. 
 
 " Child, what have you heard ? " 
 
 Catalina scarcely felt the grasp upon her arm, 
 heeded not the question ; she had but one thought. 
 
 Shaking off her mother's hold, she flew through the 
 hall, opened the door, — entreaties, warnings, threats, 
 unheard, — and dashed away through the pelting 
 storm, hoodless and cloakless. 
 
 The day was spent. Night was fast falling. It 
 was simply a change from gray to black. Light or 
 darkness, it was all the same to Catalina ; she could 
 have found her way in sleep to that familiar stoop in 
 the Strand. The slave who opened the door was 
 almost startled into dropping her candle, as the 
 
276 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 bedraggled little figure sprang in out of the swirl of 
 wind and rain, and darted past her up the stairs. 
 
 Hester stood before the mirror smoothing her hair. 
 She looked up tranquilly as the door was flung open, 
 shaded her eyes from the glare of the candle, and 
 stared with quiet curiosity on recognizing her visitor 
 at such an hour and in such a guise. 
 
 That undisturbed look struck the visitor dumb. 
 She stood rooted to the threshold, with not a, word to 
 say. 
 
 " Catalina, what brings you ? " 
 
 The girl tried to speak ; her lips quivered, her face 
 was contorted, but unable to fetch forth a word she 
 threw herself into her friend's arms with a troubled 
 cry. 
 
 In vain Hester asked what it all meant. She could 
 only get sobs and inarticulate cries in answer. She 
 made matters worse by offering general condolence 
 upon any or all ills her visitor might be afflicted 
 with. 
 
 Her entreaties were interrupted by a loud wail from 
 below, followed by groans and despairing cries. In 
 dismay Hester hurried downstairs, Catalina vainly 
 striving to withhold her. 
 
 She found the cosey supper-room warmed and 
 lighted, and the table spread for their evening meal ; 
 but, as if in mockery of all these preparations for 
 creature comfort, there, upon the hearth-rug, stood 
 their old pastor, his wide-brimmed hat and cloak 
 fallen in a sodden mass to the floor, supporting in his 
 arms her mother, who, in an utter abandonment of 
 grief, filled the air with groans. Before him, upon 
 the floor, Mary sobbed without restraint ; in the hall 
 Cobus strode up and down in violent agitation ; while 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 277 
 
 from the kitchen doorway peered the frightened faces 
 of a group of slaves. 
 
 Hester stood in silence, yielding to the creeping 
 chiU of coming terror. Before the question that 
 trembled upon her lips could be put into words the 
 need for it was gone. 
 
 " Let us pray." 
 
 All heeded the dominie's call save Cobus, who kept 
 on his restless march. 
 
 The prayer left no more questions to be asked. 
 Hester rose from her knees with face ashen and fixed. 
 She shed no tears, uttered no sound of grief. She sat 
 in a chair for a space, and then went and asked the 
 dominie if they might go to the fort. 
 
 " Yes, yes, go, all of you. Take the mother. The 
 time is short." 
 
 Seeing herself forgotten, Catalina stole away. Com- 
 ing out upon the stoop, she found a taU figure stand- 
 ing in the darkness. She was about to pass, when a 
 well-known voice said, " You have seen her ? " 
 
 " Yes ; oh, go in, — go you and speak to her. She 
 will listen to you." 
 
 Quite unconsciously she caught the junker's arm 
 and peered beseechingly in his face. He did not heed 
 her clutch, he could not see her pleading eyes; he 
 was busy with some scruples of his own. 
 
 " You will go ? " 
 
 " I will wait for the dominie." 
 
 Dimly guessing at his meaning, she turned away. 
 A passing lantern showed her scanty dress. He 
 quietly stripped off his great-coat and threw it over 
 her. Failing for the first time in her life to resent 
 such a liberty, she went submissively away, trailing 
 the heavy garment through the mud. 
 
278 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 The junker remained at his post, pacing up and 
 down in the rain. Drenched, muffled figures slipped 
 past him into the house, amongst them Dr. Staats 
 with lantern and a cloak, in search of his daughter. 
 Others, friends and relatives, arrived; the dreadful 
 news was spreading. A score of persons, all told, 
 might have gathered. The sound of lamentation 
 mingled with curses and execrations gradually in- 
 creased to an uproar. Thereupon, dominating the 
 tumult, the voice of the dominie once more uprose in 
 supplication. Directly his prayer was ended, a silent 
 procession filed out of the door and took its way to- 
 wards the fort. 
 
 Which of all these cloaked and hooded figures was 
 she ? The junker stood looking after them, in doubt 
 whether to follow, when the dominie stepped up to 
 him. 
 
 " Come with me ! I have work for you." 
 
 Without question or hesitation the summons was 
 obeyed. 
 
 " This is a woful business," said the good man, as 
 they hurried along ; " it crushes these poor people. 
 I pity them; but God looks on, 'tis all done in his 
 providence. We cannot stay the course of justice. 
 'Tis best we should not. 'Tis best for the people, 
 best for the country, that this thing should be done, 
 — I may speak freely to you, — but some part of 
 these cruel practices may be dispensed with. Let 
 the man pay the penalty of his great sin with his life ; 
 all beyond is barbarity. Let us make haste and see 
 if we may get these cruelties abated." 
 
 " Is it needful for that to see his Excellency ? " 
 
 " Yes ; he alone has power to remit any part of the 
 sentence." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 279 
 
 " I hope he may be found," said Steenie, signifi- 
 cantly. 
 
 But the storm drowned his voice, and the unsus- 
 pecting dominie plunged on towards Colonel Bayard's 
 house, where the governor lodged. Arrived, they 
 were told his Excellency was not at home. 
 
 " Where is he ? " demanded the dominie, sharply. 
 
 The servant knew nothing about it. 
 
 " Go tell your master Dominie Selyns waits to see 
 him ! " 
 
 But the colonel was absent also, and nothing was 
 known of his whereabouts. 
 
 The dominie uttered an exclamation of impatience. 
 
 " Leave it to me," said Steenie, quickly. 
 
 " There must be no miscarriage in the matter," was 
 the stern warning. 
 
 " If it be in the power of man to do, I will do it," 
 said the junker, resolutely. 
 
 The dominie still hesitated. 
 
 " You are needed yonder," pointing towards the 
 fort. 
 
 "True, true; go, my lad, — go and do your best. 
 The business is safer in your hands than in mine," he 
 added, perhaps with a recollection of the junker's 
 kinship with many of the party in power. 
 
 The two parted on the dark stoop, and went their 
 separate ways. \ 
 
 Whether acting upon information or surmise, Steenie 
 decided at once upon his course, and lost no time in 
 setting off on his errand. Going home, he told nobody 
 of his purpose, but stole to the stables, saddled his own 
 horse, and unaccompanied by servant or slave made 
 his way to the Landpoort and 'galloped off through the 
 darkness. 
 
280 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Like all youths of the day, he was a skilled horse- 
 man and quite familiar with the few highways travers- 
 ing the island. 
 
 Pushing on, as fast as the storm and darkness would 
 permit, he saw presently, to the right of the road, a 
 feeble gleam of light. He remembered his where- 
 abouts. Thinking perhaps of his dripping state and 
 the long ride before him, he dashed up to the house 
 and pounded on the door with his whip. It was 
 opened directly, and Tryntje appeared. 
 
 " Quick, huysvrouw, a glass of brande-wyn ! " 
 
 Without pause or question the little woman darted 
 away, and presently appeared with a bottle and mug, 
 — the owner of the bottle, aroused from his fireside 
 nap, bringing up the rear. 
 
 " What happens. Mynheer ? " he asked, stifling a 
 yawn. 
 
 The junker told the news in a word as he wheeled 
 his horse. 
 
 « God help us all ! " 
 
 " The great captain himself ! Ach, if he had but 
 minted me when I — " 
 
 Heedless of the consternation of the worthy pair, 
 Steenie galloped off in the midst of their exclama- 
 tions, and for several hours, without pause or inter- 
 ruption, held his course. 
 
 It was /past midnight when at last he drew up be- 
 fore a dark mass of buildings and shrubbery which 
 presently proved a mansion of unusual extent, as 
 the broken line of its wings and offices stood out 
 in gray relief against the black background of the 
 forest 
 
 Driving into the stable-yard, where he was greeted 
 by a chorus of barking dogs, the rider gave over his 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 281 
 
 jaded horse to a sleepy groom and made all haste to 
 the house. 
 
 Here tell-tale rays of light seen through chinks and 
 cracks in the closed shutters, together with a murmur 
 of voices and an occasional burst of laugliter from 
 within, told of a convivial party. 
 
 Sounding the knocker and making known his name, 
 Steeuie was ushered directly to the supper-room, where 
 his appearance was the signal for a noisy greeting. 
 
 As the junker stood for a moment upon the thresh- 
 old, there took place divers swift and marked contrac- 
 tions of his facial muscles. Before him was reproduced 
 the scene of the wedding-feast ; the disordered table, 
 the selfsame company, with his Excellency in the seat 
 of honor proposing, in a voice reminiscent of yester- 
 day, a toast in his honor. 
 
 Notwithstanding this cordial reception, Steenie failed 
 not to detect certain keen and critical glances bent upon 
 him. There was need of caution ; there was need of 
 presence of mind. An ill-judged move might defeat 
 his purpose. He studied the group with anxiety as 
 he set down his cup ; he noted the condition of his 
 Excellency ; clearly, no time was to be lost. 
 
 Meantime the flow of conviviality was checked. 
 Naturally the company looked to him for an explan- 
 ation of his unbidden entrance to the revel. The 
 junker hesitated ; he floundered for a moment in em- 
 barrassment. Presently he drew himself up. His 
 face cleared. 
 
 " Gentlemen, J am come here on an errand of 
 mercy." 
 
 There was an indefinable movement among his 
 hearers. 
 
 " I am come hither on the part of the dominie to 
 
282 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 beg that bo needless cruelty be practised on yonder 
 wretches." 
 
 A murmur, which, though inarticulate, was as dis- 
 tinctly hostile as the growl of a wild beast, went around 
 the board. 
 
 " May it please your Excellency," went on the junker 
 without giving time for an interruption, " I appeal 
 to you to remit so much of this sentence as goes 
 beyond — " 
 
 " No more o' that bus-business ! 'T is settled, — 
 I '11 not be plagued with it again. Come, gentlemen, 
 where are your glasses ? " 
 
 " But please your Excellency, if the ends of justice 
 are answered by the death of the culprits, anything 
 further — " 
 
 " No more, I say ! " interrupted the governor, an- 
 grily. " My go-ood friend, let the old dominie do his 
 own preaching, and fill you up your gl-lass like your 
 father's son ! " 
 
 Silenced by the loud applause which greeted this 
 answer, Steenie looked about with an air of discour- 
 agement. Well he knew his listeners ; small sympa- 
 thy they would have at any time for mere sentiment ; 
 but in this instance he came to plead for one at whose 
 hands they had suffered every form of indignity, till 
 the very thought of him filled them with a blighting 
 hatred. 
 
 As if recognizing in the occasion a crucial test of 
 character, the junker summoned every resource of 
 manhood to the fore. 
 
 " Gentlemen, you are advisers to his Excellency ; I 
 appeal to you. Shall we go back to savage practices ? 
 This is a remnant of barbarism ; 't is a disgrace to 
 Christianity ; will you suffer it ? " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 283 
 
 There was a dead silence. 
 
 Driven to straits, the petitioner next called ou in- 
 dividuals by name to aid him in persuading his Excel- 
 lency ; in each case he was met by a^ blank refusal. 
 
 " D-damn me if I '11 be persua-suaded by the best of 
 you ! " hiccoughed his Excellency. " I 'd have you to 
 know I 've a m-mind o' my own. C-come, no more o' 
 this ! Fill up, gentlemen ! " 
 
 Straightway there was a prodigious bustle in opening 
 bottles and filling glasses. The junker was ignored. 
 
 But only for a minute. With a supreme effort he 
 met the crisis. 
 
 " Listen ! " he cried, as he struck the table a re- 
 sounding thump. " Listen, I say, one and all ! Grant 
 me now and here this thing I ask, or by the goodness 
 of God I will make known to the world how yonder 
 wretch's death was compassed ! " 
 
 There was an instant commotion. The governor 
 staggered to his feet, purple with wrath. 
 
 " Does he th-think to bully us ? S-seize him ? Seize 
 him ! " 
 
 Several members of the startled circle expostulated 
 with his Excellency, others came with overtures to 
 Steenie. 
 
 " Stand off ! I will have no parleying. There is no 
 time to waste. Once for all," he cried, turning and 
 stalking to the door, " shall I have what I ask ?" 
 
 There was a whispered consultation, accompanied 
 by many oaths and much angry gesticulation. At last 
 one of the elders of the party wrote a few hurried lines 
 on a slip of paper, which his Excellency signed with a 
 tipsy scrawl and flung to the floor. Verifying the 
 paper with one sweeping glance as he picked it up, 
 the waiting junker was away without a word. 
 
284 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 On the way back, what with his breathless pace and 
 the heavy roads, his horse foundered. There was no 
 help at hand. There was no time for consideration. 
 Turning the poor beast loose upon the highway, there- 
 fore, he pushed on afoot, and arrived, travel-worn 
 and exhausted, at the Landpoort as the gates were 
 opening. 
 
 The night had gone, and left a dark legacy of storm 
 and tragedy to the infant day. About the entrance of 
 the fort a restless crowd was already gathered. What 
 had brought them? What was doing? Was he too 
 late? 
 
 Filled with forebodings, the junker pushed his way 
 through to the gate, explained his business to the sen- 
 try, and after much delay was admitted. 
 
 Within, a squadron of troops drawn up before the 
 governor's house shocked him by its grim signifi- 
 cance. Pausing not to see or hear, however, he 
 made his way with all speed to the dungeon in search 
 of the dominie. In the narrow corridor, posted about 
 the door of the cell, stood on guard another detach- 
 ment of troopers. 
 
 His name, muttered to the officer, was heard 
 within, and caused a sensation, — his errand being 
 well-known. Shrinking from entering, he demanded 
 only to see the dominie, but was pushed across the 
 threshold by the officious soldiers. 
 
 In his heated state the dungeon chilled him to the 
 marrow ; coming straight from the light, he could 
 see nothing in the gloom but detached, haggard faces, 
 with eyes hungering for a word of liope. He stood 
 like one in a nightmare till the dominie reached his 
 side. 
 
 "What luck?" 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 285 
 
 «'T is granted." 
 
 " God be praised ! " 
 
 The fervent words were misconstrued. A false 
 hope leaped up in the hearts of those who overheard. 
 Milborne was one of them ; Steenie shuddered to see 
 the despair of the unhappy wretch when the dominie 
 mercifully corrected the mistake. 
 
 " Go back to him, then ! Go to him again ! Go, 
 some one, tell him the king — his Majesty has par- 
 doned us ! The reprieve is on the way — 't is the 
 storm keeps back the ship ! Go bid him wait — wait 
 for the storm to clear ! Go you, dominie ; they will 
 hearken to you ! Tell him God will avenge the death 
 of innocent men ! Go ! time is flying. Waste no 
 more breath in prayer. Go threaten them with the 
 thunderbolts of heaven, with earthquake, pestilence, 
 and famine ! — go call down upon them the curses of 
 the Almighty, if they persist in this wickedness ! 
 Will nobody listen — will nobody heed ? Have ye no 
 pity — no. mercy ? Van Cortlandt, go you, I say, and 
 tell his Excellency we will humble ourselves — we 
 will confess our guilt — we will bind ourselves with 
 pledges — we will submit to any penalty ; go ! go 
 while there is time ! If you ever hope for mercy, go ! 
 Go, as you look for redemption in Christ ! Quick ! 
 Haste! Speak them soft — speak them fair! Tell 
 those honorable councillors and the worshipful gover- 
 nor we are two poor, miserable, contrite wretches, 
 worn out in body and sick at heart, who have few 
 days at best to live. Beg them ! — implore them to 
 save us from this ! Oh ! — oh-h-h ! Will nobody 
 listen — will nobody heed me ? Cobus ! Jacobse, 
 I say, Gouveneur — Walters, heed me ! Give over 
 whining and prayer ! Out ! Out with ye into the 
 
286 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 streets ! Rouse the town ! Call out our friends — 
 bid them save us from these bloody tyrants ! They 
 are but a handful, they will run like sheep ! Away 
 with ye ! Go while there 's time ! ye may save us 
 yet. Do ye hear? Cowards, will ye stand by and 
 see us dragged to slaughter like beasts? Oh — ■ 
 oh-h-h. Father in heaven — dear God, merciful God, 
 will ye hear ? Almighty God, will ye heed ? Save — 
 save — SAVE us ! " 
 
 The frantic appeals of the unhappy man were in- 
 terrupted by a movement at the door. An officer 
 stepped forward and said gruffly, — 
 
 " Let the prisoners make ready to go ! " 
 
 Whether finding a calm in uttermost despair, 
 whether paralyzed by the forerunning breath of the 
 impending blow, Milborne straightway ceased. Not 
 another word escaped him. 
 
 Crowded back against the wall by the advancing 
 guard, Steenie saw before him as in a picture the cell 
 and its inmates. There was a movement in the cor- 
 ner ; Leisler had risen from his bench and stood where 
 the light of the narrow window fell full upon him. 
 
 The junker stared in amazement at the transfigura- 
 tion wrought in him : shaven, combed, and dressed, 
 his person had an air of decency which even in the 
 heyday of his power it had lacked ; his rugged fea- 
 tures, softened by a look of resignation, showed yet a 
 certain loftiness in their serenity. The strong plebeian 
 expression which had so marked his whole personality 
 seemed to have been fused away, leaving something 
 akin to the sublimated look of martyrdom. 
 
 He began to speak, and directly there was a hush 
 in the room. 
 
 " Good-by, dominie. So ! ye scorn not to take the 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 287 
 
 hand of a felon ? Ye have behaved to me ever like 
 a true Christian ; I deserved it not from ye. I am 
 sorry now for the ill-treatment ye had at my hands. 
 I misjudged ye as I did others. 
 
 " Of you and all I have injured I humbly beg 
 pardon, as here a dying sinner before God and the 
 world I declare my own forgiveness of the most 
 bitter of my enemies. More, — I make it my last 
 prayer to kith and kin that they be forgetful of any 
 wrong done me. 'Tis your holy office, dominie, to 
 bear testimony of the truth ; make clear, then, to the 
 people the mind I die in of true repentance and 
 forgiveness. Touching this matter I am condemned 
 for, I declare as my dying word it was my only 
 object to serve the interests of our sovereign lord and 
 lady and the Protestant Reformed Church. Say this 
 for the truth's sake, when ye hear me maligned ! 
 
 " Ei, children ! Are ye all here ? -!- Mary, Hester, 
 Cobus ! Good-by to ye ! — nay, dry your eyes ! I am 
 not one to weep for ; my going is no loss to ye, but 
 a gain. Forgive me, my children, the shame I 
 brought upon ye ; 't is a blot will wash out in time. 
 Take ye good care o' my old Elsie, — she has been a 
 faithful mother to ye. God sends ye not many such 
 friends in life ! 
 
 " Elsie," — he paused, shaken by a passing tremor 
 as he lifted his wife's half-senseless form and strove 
 to look on her face, — " what can I say to ye, wife ? 
 I have slighted ye and your faithful heart's service. 
 I held it too cheap because I knew it sure. I had 
 been better off to have minded your counsel, but I 
 was a fool in my pride. Can ye forgive me ? I know 
 ye can ! I know ye will ! Ye need not open your 
 lips, I see it in your eyes. 'T was God joined ye to 
 
288 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 me for better and for worse ; he parts us now in his 
 own great wisdom and goodness. Good-by — good-by. 
 D' ye hear me, wife ? May God in his mercy — there 
 — there, take her — take her away ! " 
 
 Nothing but force availed to tear the faithful vrouw 
 from her husband's arms. Steenie shut his eyes that 
 he might not see the poor despairing creature as she 
 was dragged past him out of the cell. 
 
 The next moment a movement in the doorway 
 drew his attention ; Hester was coming out with the 
 rest. She looked him in the face without a sign of 
 recognition ; her eyes were as glassy and staring as 
 a doll's. 
 
 With an instinctive movement he sprang forward, 
 as if expecting her to fall ; she passed on like a sleep- 
 walker, unheeding his presence. He walked by her 
 side along the corridor and up the steep steps to the 
 outer air, but for all she knew he might have been 
 a thousand miles away. 
 
 Half-way to the gate they were stopped by the 
 guard. No reason was given for the detention, they 
 asked none ; they dumbly stood and waited, like 
 cattle. 
 
 The silence was suddenly broken by a sound which 
 filled the air above them and shook the earth be- 
 neath ; the bell in the tower began to toll. With a 
 humane instinct Steenie quickly seized Hester by the 
 shoulders and turned her away. 
 
 There was a stir behind them, — the procession 
 had begun to move. In the midst of a hollow square 
 formed by the troops the culprits walked. The dull 
 thuds of a muffled drum regulated their step through 
 the mud ; they were bound and bareheaded ; the rain 
 dashed in blinding torrents in their faces, while 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 289 
 
 above, like an awful metronome, the bell beat the 
 time for their funeral march. 
 
 N-n-n-g ! N-n-n-g ! 
 
 At the gate they are stopped ; there is a disturb- 
 ance. A little woman breaks through the file of sol- 
 diers and stretches forth a bottle to the commander. 
 
 " Take it ! 't is good brande-wyn, 't will bear ye up. 
 The cold and rain will kill ye else, — take but a 
 sip ! " 
 
 Prom his upper air the commander looked down 
 upon her as upon an insect wriggling in the pathway, 
 with no sense of her meaning. 
 
 Before she could repeat her offer the little huya- 
 vrouw was roughly thrust back by the soldiers. 
 
 N-n-n-g ! N-n-n-g ! 
 
 The merciless bell drives them on. The waiting 
 multitude outside the gate, hungering for the ghastly 
 spectacle, feed fat their eyes upon it as they surround 
 and hem it in and bear it away through the Land- 
 poort, as a monster that has seized its prey. 
 
 Homeward faring, the mourners go their different 
 way, marking with shufSing feet the adagio measure 
 beaten by the pursuing metronome. 
 
 N-n-n-g ! N-n-n-g ! 
 
 Every blow crushes in upon their hearts, yet its 
 dying vibrations leave them in dread suspense lest it 
 come not again. 
 
 But the fear is vain. It comes again and ever 
 again. It tolls on through ages of suffering before 
 they reach the house. 
 
 Assembled on the stoop, they turn to go in. Again 
 it comes with warning peal. 
 
 N-n-n-g ! N-n-n-g ! 
 
 " There — there 't is ! I feared 't was the last. 
 19 
 
290 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 My Jacob ! my husband ! Father in heaven, there is 
 time to save him — he lives and breathes yet ! " 
 
 " Come, mother, — come in from the storm." 
 
 " Go ! — go leave me here ! I '11 pray while I have 
 breath. There ! there again ! he lives, I say, he 
 thinks of us. God will hear me, — he '11 put a stop 
 to this. There ! — 't is louder, that — " 
 
 Unable to bear this longer, Steenie turned to go. 
 He looked wistfully at the figure by his side. He 
 made a move to speak, but the sight of the doll's eyes 
 restrained him. 
 
 At the bottom of the steps he stopped and turned. 
 They were bearing the distracted mourner in; the 
 others followed, and the door closed behind them. 
 
 Turning to the left, the junker sauntered toward the 
 Waterpoort, mindless of the storm which momently 
 increased. At the gate he paused, hesitating which 
 way to go; suddenly he became conscious that the 
 bell had ceased to toll. 
 
 With a shudder he turned around and hurried 
 home. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 291 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 VROUW LYSBETH WIOKOPF was, in her owu 
 way, as interesting as her cousin, Madame 
 Van Cortlandt, although, being but a farmer's wife, 
 slie lacked something of the grand air of her kins- 
 woman. Let it not be thought, however, that the 
 good widow was wanting in presence. Credible tra- 
 dition represents her as of a strictly imposing person- 
 ality ; her ample figure, aside from the impressiveness 
 which belongs to mere area-displacement, had a sug- 
 gestion of seasoned energy ; her rounded shoulders, 
 of fardels borne ; her big seamed hands, of the plough- 
 handle, which at need she had not shrunk from grip- 
 ing, and of the lesser mattock ; while her shrewd, 
 resolute face, with its ingrained weather-worn bloom, 
 was saved from hardness by touches of womanly 
 sympathy and mother-kindliness. 
 
 If these various marks of individuality be thought 
 insufficient to justify her high standing as a leader in 
 the little village of Vlacktebos, where she lived, let it 
 be added that Vrouw Wickoff was mistress of a com- 
 fortable estate, comprising a snug homestead and a 
 large farm under good cultivation. 
 
 That Dame Lysbeth dwelt alone was no fault of 
 her own ; for her husband had died in the course of 
 nature, and of her two children, Grietje, her daugh- 
 ter, had married a young minister, whom the Clas- 
 sis had recently called back to Amsterdam, while 
 Marten, her son, had gone to be a sea-captain in 
 
292 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 command of a goodly bark which his fond mother had 
 built for him with her own dowry increased by years 
 of hoardings. 
 
 Bat the widow did not suffer herself to mope under 
 this desertion of kith and kin. There was in her 
 none of the fibre that gathers moss. She was not of 
 the sort to let her limbs stiffen, her blood stagnate, 
 and her feelings grow morbid, knitting stockings in 
 the chimney-nook, while there was so much stirring 
 work at hand to be done. 
 
 Seldom need the born toiler go in search of a vine- 
 yard, and Vrouw Lysbeth found ample scope for her 
 energies in lending a helpful hand to Dominie Yarick 
 with his struggling little church, in works of benevo- 
 lence among her neighbors, and in the care of her 
 own people and estate. 
 
 In this last field she had already gained an enviable 
 repute, not only as a prudent huysvrouw, but as a 
 cunning tiller of the soil. There was an air of order, 
 industry, and thrift about the widow's messuage which 
 roiled the gall of divers small-minded fellow-cultiva- 
 tors in the town, who were loath to confess that 
 a woman could outstrip them in good husbandry. 
 Whether it was from prodigality in manuring, judg- 
 ment in planting, or care in harvesting, there was no 
 gainsaying the result. It was common talk that the 
 Wickoff farm was better managed than during old 
 Marten's life ; it was plain enough, too, that its owner 
 was beforehand with the world, and no thanks to 
 anybody but herself. 
 
 Notwithstanding this bustling and successful life, 
 Dame Lysbeth did not suffer her social interests and 
 sympathies to languish. She was a woman and a 
 mother; and it may be safely assumed that many a 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 293 
 
 stifled yearning stirred her ample bosom, unknown by 
 the world, as she sat of an evening by her well-winged 
 hearth. 
 
 Deep and genuine was the good woman's joy, there- 
 fore, on receiving one day a letter from cousin Ger- 
 tryd, saying that Steenie, who had been lying for 
 weeks at death's door from a lung fever, brought on 
 by reckless exposure at the time of the late execu- 
 tions, was now convalescent, that the doctor had 
 ordered him sent to the country and turned out to 
 pasture like a colt, and that thereupon nothing would 
 serve the junker's whim but going to Vlacktebos. 
 
 Cousin Lysbeth, be it said, lost no time in sending 
 back a cordial answer, and straightway bestirred her- 
 self to make ready for the invalid, who had been afore- 
 time a frequent visitor at her house, and who, indeed, 
 after her own little brood, stood highest in her favor. 
 
 The widow's dwelling, without and within, had a 
 winning air of homeliness. The house looked not so 
 much like something built as like something which 
 had grown out of the ground. Long, low, and ramb- 
 ling, it had a grotesque resemblance to a big mush- 
 room, with its heavy roof sweeping in a curved line 
 from the ridge-pole almost to the ground, save where, 
 in front, it was poked up, visor-fashion, to give place 
 to the broad front stoop, which, with its comfortable 
 benches and riot-running vines, seemed to woo the 
 dusty wayfarer to rest and coolness. The heavy 
 wooden shutters, pierced with crescent-shaped slits 
 to let in the light, were, day-times, swung back and 
 fastened by long, twisted, S-shaped irons. In the 
 gable abutting upon the highway might be found evi- 
 dences of the solidity and age of the homestead in 
 the massive stone masonry supporting the base- of the 
 
294 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 chimney, and in the rude iron figures, giving the date 
 of construction, imbedded in the rough-cast of the 
 upper wall. At the corners stood two large casks to 
 catch the rain-water. Over against the back door was 
 a detached kitchen for the slaves, while on a plateau 
 below the level of the house a line of out-buildings, 
 including two roomy barns, surrounded an ample cow- 
 yard, in one corner of which bubbled a never-failing 
 spring. 
 
 It was early summer; the bustle of planting was 
 over, the house had been cleaned from cellar to gar- 
 ret, and the widow was in the best possible trim for 
 company. 
 
 The visitor did not wait for a second bidding. He 
 came riding up to the door on a pillion one afternoon, 
 accompanied by one of his father's clerks and his old 
 negro nurse. 
 
 Notwithstanding the care taken in his removal, he 
 was a good deal shaken by the undue exertion. The 
 hospitable look of the old house, the motherly figure of 
 cousin Lysbeth in her white cap and homespun petti- 
 coat, standing in the doorway with both her arms ex- 
 tended in widest welcome, brought a smile to his tired 
 eyes, and he suffered himself to be lifted down like a 
 child and led into the cosey parlor, where he could 
 scarcely walk upiight without bumping his towering 
 head. 
 
 He looked around the room with a convalescent 
 gleam of satisfaction to find nothing displaced from 
 its old-time order ; the wide fireplace filled with fresh 
 oak-boughs ; the shining andirons ; the pale pink 
 hearth-tiles ; the two snowy goose-wings standing up- 
 right on either hand ; the floor sanded in the familiar 
 waving pattern ; the dark old cupboard in the corner 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 295 
 
 on its huge ball-feet ; the low, straight-backed chair at 
 the -window with its puffy feather cushion, and the 
 silk patchwork bag hanging from the back filled with 
 unfinished knitting ; the little table holding the big 
 Amsterdam Bible with its burnished clasps ; the two 
 old prints on the wainscoted wall, depicting terrific 
 naval battles won by noted Dutch admirals, which 
 no doubt inspired young Marten with his wild longing 
 for a seafaring life ; the sacred guest-bed, in a deep 
 niche at the end of the room, supporting, on its four 
 fluted posts, a tester hung with gay chintz to match 
 the counterpane and the covering of the padded old 
 comfort-chair standing hard by in the corner. 
 
 At the first glance of her experienced eye cousin 
 Lysbeth saw the state her patient was in, and assumed 
 masterful control of him. Asking no questions, she 
 took off his wraps, settled him in the big chair, per- 
 emptorily forbade him to move or to talk, and beckon- 
 ing his attendants, went away to the kitchen. Coming 
 back after a little with a glass of wine and a tooth- 
 some morsel, and finding the junker too tired to eat, 
 she promptly put him to bed, darkened the room, and 
 left him to sleep. Finding, on a second visit a half- 
 hour afterward, that he was staring awake and in a 
 high fever, she posted off one of her slaves to Nieuw 
 Utrecht for Dr. Staats, and in the meantime admin- 
 istered an herb draught of her own brewing. 
 
 Although nominally in another village, the Staats 
 farm was, in point of fact, not far away ; for Vrouw 
 Lysbeth herself lived close upon the boundary line. 
 Near or far, the doctor took his time, and chose not 
 to come until the next day, when he found the junker 
 somewhat revived after a good night's sleep. 
 
 While studying his patient's symptoms, the doctor 
 
296 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 talked in a neighborly way with Vroiiw Wickoff about 
 the planting of corn, the promise of calves, the fatten- 
 ing of pigs, and the like farmer's gossip. The patient 
 listened with an air of deep content. It was part of 
 tlie cure, this country talk ; he assimilated it as a 
 tonic ; its earthy, out-of-door tone accorded so per- 
 fectly with notes of crowing cocks, of lowing cattle, 
 with snatches of bird-song and the whole full-throated 
 chorus of field and barnyard. 
 
 In due time the doctor took his leave, promising to 
 send some medicine of his own compounding, — vastly 
 better, of course, than cousin Lysbeth's draught, for 
 it had a villanous taste and a Latin name rotundly 
 accented on the antepenult. 
 
 Cousin Lysbeth cared not a fig for the Latin or the 
 doctor's wise look, only in the case of Gertryd's child 
 she chose not to take any chances. She failed not, 
 however, to vent sundry sarcasms on doctors in gen- 
 eral when the medicine failed to arrive, and she per- 
 force had recourse again to the despised herb tea. 
 
 Next day, thanks to nature and cousin Lysbeth, the 
 patient was so much improved that he begged to be 
 taken out ; and his nurse, being happily a believer in 
 fresh air and sunshine, lost no time in bringing forth 
 the big chair to the most sheltered corner of the stoop, 
 where, having tucked in her charge with the responsi- 
 ble air of one conscious of skill and well content at 
 having an occasion to display it, she went away to her 
 dairy. 
 
 Entrance to Vrouw Wickoff's dairy was forbidden 
 to all the world save one or two discreet women-ser- 
 vants. Naturally, this spot more than any other in 
 the house was the object of her jealous care, as it 
 was the source of her highest triumph as a huysvrouw. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 297 
 
 The very approach to it on a summer's day was re- 
 freshing, with its cool air, its delicious fragrance of 
 fresh butter and new curds. Once past the threshold, 
 the widow gave herself up with professional gravity 
 to its cares and duties ; skimming the thick, yellow 
 cream with her own hands ; peeping with jealous eye, 
 from time to time, into the deep churn which a stout 
 negress pumped up and down ; adjusting the press 
 upon the green cheeses ; scanning with sharp eye the 
 stone-flagged floor, the white-washed walls, the well- 
 scrubbed shelves, lest haply a stray insect or floating 
 speck of dirt smirch the awful purity of the odorous 
 cell. 
 
 Meantime Steenie, left to himself upon the stoop, 
 watched the white clouds sail up the sky, watched 
 the waving tree-tops, or followed the humming-birds - 
 among the flower-beds; listening the while to the 
 chit-chat of the robins in the orchard, the tinkling 
 warble of the bobolink in the distant meadow, the 
 crickets in the blooming clover, and through all 
 and over all the soughing accompaniment of the 
 summer breeze. 
 
 Soothed by these combined influences, the junker 
 was fast nodding off to sleep, when he was aroused 
 by the sharp clatter of a horse's feet close by in the 
 highway. The noise stopped at his kinswoman's gate. 
 Then followed a murmur of voices and a burst of 
 laughter, and the next minute, with romping step, a 
 girl came dashing around the corner, cleared with a 
 bound the three broad stone doorsteps, and was about 
 to lay hold of the knocker, when she saw him and 
 drew back. 
 
 « Catalina ! " 
 
 The smile faded from her lips ; she caught anew 
 
298 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 her spent breath, and with swift hand adjusted her 
 disordered dress. 
 
 " I thought you were in bed," she said, and looked 
 away with an air of embarrassment. 
 
 " I am sorry not to be sick enough to suit you." 
 
 Casting a look askance at his wasted figure, she 
 reddened at the reproach. 
 
 "I am come — my father sent me — to bring you 
 some medicine." 
 
 " So ! You are very good. Stay ! draw up yonder 
 bench. Medicine ! Sit you down now, and tell me 
 about it." 
 
 It was still the same old tone of good-humored 
 condescension, as to a child. The little frown and 
 slight drawing up of her figure, by which she mutely 
 protested against this persistent insinuation of in- 
 fancy, were lost upon the languid junker. 
 
 " Vrouw Wickoff is within ? " she asked, ignoring 
 the invitation. 
 
 " Yes," he answered, with a look of amusement at 
 the little snub, " but she likes not to be interrupted 
 at her butter-making. See, here is a bench." 
 
 " I — my sister is waiting at the gate on a pillion." 
 
 " Go fetch her in straightway. Cousin Lysbeth 
 will be glad to have you at dinner. You may tie the 
 horse." 
 
 " Thank you much, but we have to go to the 
 dominie's. I cannot stay," moving away, then stop- 
 ping and hesitating. " Here is the medicine." 
 
 " You may put it on the bench, since you will not 
 stay." 
 
 " These powders are to be taken once in four 
 hours, and — " 
 
 The junker shook his head peevishly. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 299 
 
 " — and a spoonful of this," holding out a vial, " on 
 going to bed." 
 
 " I cannot remember all that," closing his eyea, 
 weariedly. 
 
 " 'T is to be well shaken before using, and — " 
 
 " Go tell it to cousin Lysbeth," moving impatiently 
 in his chair, and groaning as if in pain. 
 
 " You want something ? " 
 
 " If I had anybody to attend me." 
 
 She stood looking at him with a comical mixture 
 of compassion and irritation. 
 
 « If it be — I will — what is it ? " 
 
 " A draught of syllabub." 
 
 « I will call Vrouw Wickoff." 
 
 "There is no need ; 'tis on the table within, — the 
 blue jug." 
 
 She went quickly and brought the draught, which 
 he barely tasted. 
 
 " Is that all ? " she asked, as he handed back the 
 
 jug- 
 
 " No." 
 
 She looked a little exasperated. 
 
 " The flies are biting me." 
 
 " If I knew where a fan was to be had ! " 
 
 He waved his hand toward the parlor. She has- 
 tened away, and came back directly with a partridge- 
 tail, spread, and finished at the node with a bit of 
 ribbon. 
 
 What with her impatience and his nerveless grasp, 
 the fan fell between them ; whereupon, reaching 
 forward to pick it up, he lost his balance and toppled 
 forward iu a heap to the floor. With a look of alarm 
 and sympathy she sprang to help him, which she 
 could do only by actually lifting him in her arms. 
 
300 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Hardly was he seated in the chair, however, when, 
 with a deep blush, she cleared herself from this in- 
 voluntary embrace, darted into the house, found the 
 pantry, handed the medicine to the astonished Vrouw 
 Wickoff, repeated the directions in a breathless tone, 
 and was away around the back of the house like a 
 whirlwind. 
 
 The clatter of horse's feet in the road was the first 
 notice Steenie had of her going. 
 
 Breathing the pure country air and fed upon 
 cousin Lysbeth's goodies, Steenie presently began 
 to pick up. A very unexpected token of good-will 
 came to him one morning in the shape of a note from 
 the begum, tendering him, with many superfluous 
 compliments, the use of her palanquin during his 
 convalescence. On the heels of the bearer of the 
 note, that there might be no room for declining, 
 came the airy little vehicle itself. 
 
 Cousin Lysbeth was at first in much doubt about 
 trusting her patient's neck in such an outlandish 
 conveyance, but one or two trial trips silenced her 
 objections. 
 
 Thenceforth, accordingly, Steenie took an outing 
 every day. Lying at length, with the curtains thrown 
 back, and borne along by two stout men, he visited 
 all his favorite haunts in the country-side. 
 
 More from habit than the expectation of bagging 
 any game, he took along his gun, and swept with 
 roving eye the sideway coverts on the march. 
 
 One day, having had the good luck to shoot an 
 overbold rabbit, and coming soon after to a pretty 
 opening in the woods, the fancy seized him to picnic 
 on the spot and cook his own dinner. 
 
 So sending home one of his bearers for a basket of 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUaHTER. 301 
 
 necessaries and the other in search of water, he 
 busied himself in making a fire and dressing the 
 rabbit. 
 
 Wearied by the unaccustomed effort, he threw 
 himself down on the palanquin to watch the flames 
 curl and crackle among the dry boughs he had 
 heaped together. In this quiet pastime he was 
 presently disturbed by outcries for help, mingled, as 
 it seemed, with the snarling of enraged beaSts. 
 
 Without thought of the consequences, he loudly 
 replied. Encouraged by his answer, the cries turned 
 in his direction ; they sounded nearer and nearer, 
 and directly, with a prodigious rustling of leaves and 
 snapping of twigs, out from a neighboring thicket 
 rushed Catalina and her shepherd dog closely pur- 
 sued by a bristling wolf. Although covered with 
 blood and much worsted by the fray, the dog turned 
 back at every few steps to renew the contest, thus 
 giving his mistress a chance to gain ground, which 
 she failed not to improve. 
 
 Next to the French and the Indians, wolves ranked 
 as the greatest pest of the early colonists. They 
 were, however, held in contempt rather than dread, 
 inasmuch as they seldom or never attacked human 
 beings save where, as in this case, they were baited 
 into a pursuing rage by dogs or sportsmen. 
 
 Like other youths of the day, Steenie had often 
 hunted them, and now without alarm sat up on his 
 couch, reached for his gun, and levelled it at the ap- 
 proaching beast. Directly he remembered that the 
 precious charge had been wasted upon the rabbit. 
 It was too late to mend the matter. Failing other 
 missiles, he discharged at the enemy an ineffectual 
 oath. Meantime, Catalina, in an agony of friglit, 
 
302 ' THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 came rushing towards him and took refuge behind the 
 palanquin. The plucky dog, making a last stand in 
 defence of his mistress, was overpowered and dis- 
 abled, while, with an intent and unamiable expression, 
 the wolf came bounding towards the palanquin. 
 
 Clubbing his gun, Steenie made a show of resist- 
 ance ; but staggered by the onset of the beast, he was 
 thrown back upon the couch, where he saved his 
 throat only by the intervention of a plump cushion. 
 
 This, however, was but a makeshift; he had no 
 strength to struggle with the brute ; there was no 
 help at hand ; it was in all respects an unpleasant 
 moment. 
 
 Happily, like other moments, it proved of limited 
 duration. Directly he was vaguely conscious of an odor 
 of smoke and singed hair in the palanquin. With a 
 howl of pain the wolf dashed out. The junker feebly 
 raised himself. There stood Catalina, quaking with 
 terror, yet holding the exasperated beast at bay with 
 a iiaming brand. Again the unwary sportsman aimed 
 a feeble blow with the butt of his flint-lock. Again 
 the wolf turned upon him. Again Catalina interposed 
 with her brand ; whereupon, taking the hint, Steenie 
 snatched a brand himself from the coals. Thus 
 making common cause, they backed upon the fire 
 and kept the wolf at bay. Opportunely, the slave 
 sent for water appeared, bearing a dripping birch- 
 bark measure. Steenie shouted to him. The man 
 dropped his water, crept up softly behind, and with 
 a powerful blow from a stout club laid the beast 
 lifeless. 
 
 Exhausted by his excitement and unusual exer- 
 tion, Steenie, without a word, threw himself on the 
 palanquin. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 303 
 
 " You are hurt — he tore you — you are bleeding ! 
 Oh, I was the cause of it ! " cried Catalina, rushing 
 to his side. " Cato, where is Kouba ? Kouba ! 
 Kouba ! How dare you bring him so far from home ? 
 Get water — do you see how white he is ? Kouba ! 
 Kouba, I say ! Where is Kouba ? " 
 
 The slave explained that his fellow had been sent 
 back on an errand. 
 
 " I will take his place, then." 
 
 The man stared. 
 
 " Come, get to your poles ! We must carry him 
 home ! " 
 
 " Stop ! Hold, I say ! I am not hurt. You shall 
 not." 
 
 The feeble voice from within was unheeded. 
 
 In obedience to an imperative gesture from his 
 mistress, the slave took his place, and despite all 
 objections, protests, and threats from their passenger 
 they set forth. 
 
 The road was none of the best, but happily the dis- 
 tance was not great, and by dint of frequent stops — 
 during which the passenger made futile expostu- 
 lations — the inexperienced young bearer stuck to 
 her task with a staying power one would scarcely 
 have expected, till they reached the highway, where 
 the returning Kouba met and relieved her of the 
 task. 
 
 Next day, what with the fatigue and excitement, 
 the convalescent showed himself the worse for the 
 adventure, and cousin Lysbeth accordingly kept him 
 in bed. 
 
 To this hard discipline the patient yielded with 
 sorry grace, as he lay among his pillows sniffing the 
 fresh air which floated in through the open window, 
 
304 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 listening with eager ears to the varied sounds of life 
 from witliout, and ■watching with wistful eyes the 
 sunbeams which, streaming through the casement, 
 lighted up here and there a tiny cresset among the 
 grains of sand, and left a track of splendor along the 
 jewelled floor. 
 
 In the course of the morning cousin Lysbeth was 
 called to the door by a visitor, who would not heed 
 the slave's bidding to enter. Through the open win- 
 dow the junker overheard, without scruple, bits of 
 their talk. 
 
 " I trust he is none the worse for it ? " 
 
 " Yes, but he is," answered downright Dame 
 Lysbeth. 
 
 " Surely he is not brought to bed again ? " 
 
 The patient's face wore a look of amused interest at 
 the anxious tone of the inquiry. 
 
 " That is he." 
 
 " But — 't is not for long, think you ? " 
 
 " God knows ! " 
 
 The patient well-nigh betrayed himself by laughing 
 aloud at this gloomy description of his state, thereby 
 losing sevei-al sentences which followed. The next 
 words that came to him were in the firm tones of 
 cousin Lysbeth. 
 
 " You had best come in and see him yourself." 
 
 " No, no ! " was the nervous answer. 
 
 " What message will you please to leave ? " 
 
 "I — I — none at all." 
 
 " I will say only you came to ask." 
 
 " I am come to do nothing of the sort." 
 
 The sharp tone of this retort clearly puzzled the 
 matter-of-fact huysvrouw not a little, who asked 
 bluntly, — 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 305 
 
 " For what, then, do you call me from my work and 
 waste my time here ? " 
 
 " I was passing, and — and stopped to — ask after 
 your health." 
 
 " For me ? best thanks ! I never had a sick hour 
 since Marten was born." 
 
 " I am glad, and I hope your family will soon be as 
 well. Good-day, huysvrouw." 
 
 Uttering her parting salutation in a tone of stilted 
 dignity, the visitor went her way. 
 
 Steenie, as it proved, suffered no lasting ill-effects 
 from his adventure ; it was only cousin Lysbeth's love 
 of discipline which kept him housed for a day o^ two. 
 He was soon on his feet, stronger than ever, — so 
 strong, in fact, that he declined the further use of the 
 palanquin in a polite note which speedily brought the 
 owner herself to wait upon him. 
 
 This visit proved, on more accounts than one, a 
 notable experience. The begum had been invested 
 with a new and indefinable interest ever since the 
 wedding feast. Nor was her behavior on this occa^ 
 sion of a sort to lessen the impression. 
 
 For the first few minutes Steenie busied himself 
 studying her very striking physical traits, as sh6. ex- 
 changed greetings with his cousin. The two, as they 
 sat before him, were at the poles of contrast. The 
 delicacy of build, the elegance of dress and manner, 
 the suggested subtlety of mind in every look and tone 
 of the Oriental, could not on the round earth have 
 found a better foil than in the massive bulk, the 
 steady dignity, the simplicity of garb, and the uncom- 
 promising straightforwardness of the Dutch huysvrouw. 
 
 The junker's musings were presently interrupted 
 by his visitor, 
 
 20 
 
306 TEE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " And you, Mynheer, — I am glad from the heart 
 to see you win back your health." 
 
 Steenie bowed, and murmured thanks. 
 
 " But when you are quite well, then," insinuatingly, 
 " you will fly away." 
 
 " That will not be for a good while yet," spoke up 
 cousin Lysbeth, " if he shows not better sense in 
 taking care of himself." 
 
 " Your cousin would like well to keep you, I am 
 sure." 
 
 " No, she will be glad to be rid of me ; I make too 
 much trouble." 
 
 The visitor directed a puzzled, inquiring look at 
 Vrouw Wickoff. 
 
 Cousin Lysbeth wagged her head, but would not be 
 drawn into a disclaimer. 
 
 " You should rather come to live with her forever," 
 went on the visitor, turning with watchful eyes from 
 one to the other. " *T is sad to be alone ; and here 
 there is land, good land for fine plantations, where a 
 junker may come and make a home of his own." 
 
 " 'T is a good place to visit," said Steenie, with 
 mock reserve, but directing at the same time a grate- 
 ful glance at his kinswoman. 
 
 " But you have always the thought of going back ? " 
 
 Steenie nodded. 
 
 " It must be, then, the heart is left yonder." The 
 suggestion was accompanied by a searching glance 
 and a quick withdrawal of the eyes. 
 
 A look of pain crossed the junker's face, and he 
 became abstracted. Cousin Lysbeth noted the effect 
 of the remark upon her patient, and, however much 
 at a loss to account for it, instantly changed the 
 subject. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 307 
 
 "Your daughter is well, after all that the other 
 day?" 
 
 " She is well," answered the begum, with a per- 
 plexed look. 
 
 " 'T is a mercy they were not both torn in pieces," 
 went on cousin Lysbeth. 
 
 The begum turned from one to the other, with eyes 
 full of the curiosity she thought it not polite to put 
 into words. 
 
 " And carrying that — that thing such a distance,-^ — 
 't was the work of a man ! " 
 
 The listener bowed with a blank expression. 
 
 " And after all she did, I warrant me the heedless 
 boy yonder has not thanked her yet." 
 
 Aroused from his musings by this direct reference 
 to himself, Steenie reviewed with a mind-flash the 
 words which had been passing through his ears, and 
 said, quickly, — 
 
 " She would give me no chance." 
 
 By this time the begum's curiosity had reached a 
 painful pitch, when cousin Lysbeth, suddenly fathom- 
 ing her bewildered look, cried, — 
 
 " She did not tell you ! " 
 
 The begum shook her head. 
 
 " Go on you, now, and tell her," said the dame to 
 her cousin. 
 
 The story lost nothing in the grateful junker's re- 
 cital. The begum's dark skin flushed as she listened ; 
 her breathless interest in the account constantly bely- 
 ing the affected indifference of her comments. 
 
 " It is nothing ; but what danger for you ! So ! you 
 then saved her life as well. You were weak, yes, yes 
 — Catalina pitied you, she has a good heart — 'tis 
 nothing — yes, Catalina is brave — you were an old 
 
308 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 friend, she knew you yonder — 't is nothing — yet I 
 am glad — yes, she is so shy — I will tell her — yes 
 — all your thanks, but you must come yourself. Good- 
 by — I keep you too long — I forget — forgive me ! 
 Madam, I await a visit from you ; you will bring Myn- 
 heer. He should stay by you yet for a good while. I 
 hope we shall see you many times. Good-by." 
 
 Steenie stared after their strange visitor, as deeply 
 perplexed as cousin Lysbeth herself at her sudden 
 agitation and abrupt departure. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 309 
 
 xxvni. 
 
 THE begum had made a shrewd guess as to the 
 drift of Steenie's yearnings. Long before cousin 
 Lysbeth pronounced him well enough to go, his thoughts 
 were plainly turning homeward, as appeared by divers 
 toilfuUy composed and carefully sealed letters which he 
 found means of sending up to town by the hands of 
 neighboring farmers going to market. Getting back 
 not a single word in return, he presently fell to mop- 
 ing. Vigilant cousin Lysbeth took alarm, and cast 
 about for ways and means to distract his thoughts. 
 She set him to mending tools and harness, sent him 
 on ready-made errands, took him afield when over- 
 looking the slaves, made him cast up farm accounts 
 gathered here and there from chalked memoranda on 
 the kitchen wall and the barn doors. Not that her 
 own faithful memory needed any such mechanical aid, 
 but because she was hard pushed to find fit work for 
 a town-bred junker. Driven to straits, she one day 
 took him to wait upon the Staatses, where the begum's 
 marked chagrin at her daughter's absence greatly 
 puzzled both her visitors. 
 
 All resources having been exhausted to content her 
 homesick guest, cousin Lysbeth was fain at last to let 
 him go, which she did with much reluctance and re- 
 peated warnings against youthful imprudence. 
 
 Arriving home, Steenie found in the outward aspect 
 of the town an air of bustle and prosperity which it 
 had never worn under Leisler ; but from certain re- 
 
310 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 marks exchanged between his father and mother at 
 the supper-table, he drew a moral not to take for gold 
 all that glittered. 
 
 The new governor, as it appeared, far from fulfill- 
 ing the high hopes which his coming had aroused, had 
 already slipped from the heroic niche in which he had 
 been too hastily enshrined ; while from certain dark 
 hints let drop by his father, the watchful junker sur- 
 mised that the violent measures wherewith the new 
 administration had been inaugurated, instead of prov- 
 ing of wholesome efficacy, had spread far and wide 
 the poison of a deeper disaffection. 
 
 The following morning Madame Van Cortlandt 
 stood upon the stoop when her son came out and 
 passed down the steps. As a woman of the world, 
 she let no trace of any thought or feeling stir her im- 
 passive face while noting the carefulness of his toilet, 
 — his holiday coat, silk small-clothes, lace ruffles, 
 and shining shoe-buckles. Whatever conclusions, in- 
 deed, she may have formed from his premature re- 
 turn home, from the loss of his habitual cheerfulness, 
 of the object of his present errand, she kept her own 
 counsels, and with wise restraint bided her time. 
 
 As for Steenie, he was too preoccupied to think of 
 small politics at the moment, to think of any disguise 
 of his mood or purposes. Greeting his mother, there- 
 fore, dutifully yet mechanically, he went his way to 
 the well-known brick house in the Strand. 
 
 Arrived at the door, however, he was seized with a 
 passing agitation, — a natural result, perhaps, of some 
 weeks of doubts and misgivings. Pausing at the bot- 
 tom of the steps, he seemed not able to summon 
 resolution to go in. After a moment's hesitation he 
 turned and walked along to the Waterpoort, where 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 311 
 
 he again came to- a halt. Lingering here for sev- 
 eral moments, he presently whirled about as if with 
 a sudden return of firmness, briskly retraced his 
 steps, mounted the stairs, and nervously sounded the 
 knocker. 
 
 On being shown in, he found the little parlor empty, 
 the windows shut, and the room darkened. An omi- 
 nous silence, indeed, brooded over the whole house, 
 as though the shadow of the late tragedy still lay 
 dark and heavy upon the once bustling and happy 
 home. 
 
 It seemed an age to the impatient junker before 
 Hester appeared. He was shocked into uttering an 
 exclamation at the change in her. It was not only 
 that her bloom was gone, that she had lost contour, 
 that her old look of serenity was wanting ; here was 
 another individuality. He was not of an age or ex- 
 perience for subtle theorizing. That such a sudden 
 and violent development of latent traits could take 
 place in a flesh-and-blood fellow-creature as would 
 dominate her known and normal characteristics was 
 a thing as unknown in his experience as it was un- 
 dreamed of in his philosophy. Happily or unhappily, 
 the thought did not even occur to him. He hastened 
 with outstretched arms to meet his sweetheart. Re- 
 garding him with lack-lustre eyes, in which was no 
 gleam of welcome, she endured his embrace without 
 returning it. Fondly, eagerly, pityingly, he looked 
 into her eyes. Their glance was petrifying, — the 
 old stony stare of the dungeon-cell. 
 
 " Hester, poor child ! dear girl ! " 
 
 He repeated the phrases over and over again, with 
 every appealing and tender inflection. It was all he 
 seemed able to say. 
 
312 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 He led her presently to a chair. She sat down with 
 an air of sufferance, as if waiting for him to have done. 
 He was painfully discomfited ; he tried to speak, but 
 his voice stuck in his throat. Indeed, it was plain he 
 was at an utter loss what to say. With whatever 
 doubts and misgivings, he had come, clearly enough, 
 expecting to resume their old relations. He was be- 
 wildered at finding it impossible, — at finding that 
 the physical contiguity from which he had hoped so 
 much brought no nearness ; that between himself and 
 this young creature who had grown to seem a part of 
 his very being there had mysteriously intervened a 
 yawning gulf, across which his piping human voice 
 availed not to reach, and his pygmy arms stretched 
 forth in vain to grasp back his treasure. 
 
 Unconsciously he grew old in heart and brain, as 
 he sat staring at his dumb companion, while the 
 interminable minutes dragged along. 
 
 Had that blighting shadow fallen also upon him ? 
 Not unnaturally the thought occurred to him and 
 haunted him, till it seemed as if he were indeed 
 wrestling with some malign influence ambushed 
 there in the darkened room. 
 
 " Hester, poor child ! dear girl ! " he kept repeating, 
 as one who talks in sleep. 
 
 On a sudden impulse he took her hands; they 
 rested cold and limp in his grasp, but it gave him 
 courage to go on. 
 
 " I have been down with a fever. I was sent away 
 to get well — down to cousin Lysbeth's ; it was a 
 long time — I wrote you letters." 
 
 She nodded, without raising her eyes from their 
 fixed stare at the floor. 
 
 " And I thought of you, poor girl, all the time. It 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 313 
 
 was hard to be so long away, but now I am well, now 
 I am come back to stay ; we shall be happy again. 
 Do not shake your head, darling. Look at me ; smile 
 at me as you used to. Remember we have each other 
 yet. Come, Hester, — listen to me, dear girl. Think 
 how happy we used to be. We may be again, — why 
 not ? We have done no wrong to any one. When 
 this — this awful — shall pass away, we may be 
 happy again. Take comfort, Hester. Think not upon 
 all that too much ; think of the old times ; think 
 I am here, — that I am faithful to you, and — " 
 
 He stopped. Her lips moved ; he leaned forward 
 eagerly to catch her words, which came husky and 
 grating, as from a voice unused for yearsl 
 
 " We are attainted ! " 
 
 He studied her face with a puzzled look, as if she 
 had spoken without sense. It was a full minute 
 before he fathomed her meaning. 
 
 " And what then ? Is it your fault ? Is it for 
 anything you have done ? Does it make you any- 
 thing other than what yoii were, — my own dear, 
 faithful sweetheart ? " 
 
 She shook her head, as if he were talking idly. 
 
 " It takes away your goods and estates. I am 
 sorry for your mother, your brother and sisters, 
 but you need think nothing of that ; I shall have 
 enough for both. Shake not your head, darling." 
 
 " We are attainted ! " she said again, with the 
 same barrenness of hope. 
 
 He released her hands, and cast himself back in 
 his chair with a sigh of discouragement. 
 
 As they sat thus in silence a door opened below- 
 stairs, and the voice of her younger sister was heard 
 softly calling to Hester. Realizing the uselessness 
 
314 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 of prolonging the interview, Steenie rose at once to 
 go. She made no protest, but mechanically extended 
 her hand. He put it aside, and took her tenderly in 
 his arms. 
 
 " You are not well, poor child ! You have not 
 recovered from that — You will be better when I 
 come again. I will come soon, darling. Good-by! 
 Good-by!" 
 
 Pausing upon the stoop to shut the door gently 
 behind him, the junker heard a strange voice in the 
 garden, and glancing over the wall, saw Barent walk- 
 ing with Cobus, among the vegetables. In the dis- 
 turbed state of his feelings, it is doubtful whether 
 the incident made even a passing impression upon 
 his mind. 
 
 Next morning, overhearing his father express a 
 purpose of sending a messenger to Hartford on im- 
 portant business, Steenie was somewhat startled at 
 the suggestion of his own name by his mother, who 
 urged it . upon her husband with characteristic per- 
 sistence. As for Steenie, he seemed at first not 
 much pleased with the notion, but on a little reflec- 
 tion assented with a show of cheerfulness, not quite 
 realizing the probable length of his absence. 
 
 He made no attempt to see Hester again before 
 going; indeed, the importance and responsibility of 
 his new duties distracted his mind for the moment 
 from thoughts of her. It proved business of a sort to 
 try his mettle. Kealizing now the cause of his 
 father's hesitation in committing it to hands so 
 young and unskilled, he resolved to justify the con- 
 fidence reposed in him. 
 
 Without mishap or adventure, he reached his des- 
 tination, and acquitted himself creditably of his 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 315 
 
 errand. The result was duly made known at home. 
 At the end of several weeks, expecting daily his re- 
 call, he was met by a courier from his father with 
 congratulations upon his success, accompanied by 
 minutes of some other matters of moment in the 
 Massachusetts, confided to his management at his 
 mother's instance. 
 
 Despite this flattering commendation and the natu- 
 ral gratification at succeeding in his first mission, 
 it was nevertheless with a feeling of keen disappoint- 
 ment that the junker turned his face towards Boston ; 
 and in the answer sent back to his father there was, 
 mingled with many dutiful expressions, an uncon- 
 scious little touch of resentment at his mother's 
 interference. 
 
 The matter in the Massachusetts, as it proved, 
 admitted not of such dispatch as the former. He 
 was delayed many weeks, chafing at obstacles which 
 he had not foreseen and could not surmount, so that 
 before he again reached home several months had 
 elapsed. 
 
 As he neared the city his impatience to arrive be- 
 came quite uncontrollable. Outstripping his escort, 
 he cruelly spurred his jaded horse, to gain, need- 
 lessly, as it seemed, a few useless hours, and enter 
 the town before nightfall. So, too, without any more 
 tangible excuse, he went a foolish, roundabout course 
 in order to go in by way of the Waterpoort and ride 
 along the Strand. 
 
 Passing the little brick house, he came almost to 
 a halt, scanning with painful eagerness the door, the 
 jealously shut windows, and every dumb brick, for 
 some intelligence of Hester. Seeing no sign of life, 
 the remembrance of his last visit perhaps recurred 
 
816 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 to him, for he repressed a shudder as he looked 
 away. 
 
 Turning into the dock, he was aroused from his 
 gloomy preoccupation by a sight which sent the spurs 
 into his horse's sides, so that the poor brute reared 
 and cavorted, despite his spent condition. There, a 
 few paces distant, looking calmly towards him, stood 
 Hester, attended by Barent Khynders. She showed 
 no surprise at his sudden appearance, but returning 
 his agitated greeting by a grave courtesy, passed along 
 as if they had parted but yesterday. 
 
 Various adroit measures adopted by Madam Van 
 Cortlandt next morning, proved unavailing to keep 
 her son at home. As soon as breakfast was over, 
 without a minute's delay he proceeded to the Strand. 
 
 He found Hester in the garden with her sister. 
 The latter ran away, but Hester came directly to 
 meet him, with something of her old-time manner. 
 His face brightened at once, its anxious look giving 
 place to one of extreme agitation. He fairly stam- 
 mered in his first hurried greeting. 
 
 " It is a long — long time — I thought not to be 
 gone so far, else I — it was business of moment — I 
 could not come — you understood, I hope, I could not 
 — I wrote you by every hand — if you had the letters, 
 you know why I was so neglectful, as it seemed." 
 
 " Yes," she said, with a little movement to free 
 lierself from his embrace, " I had the letters. "I was 
 glad to hear you were in health and well quit of your 
 business." 
 
 He looked confounded at her tone. It was that of 
 one who turns aside from an absorbing purpose to 
 answer a child. It was many minutes before he 
 could rally self-possession to go on, as they walked 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 317 
 
 back and forth, back and forth, between the rows of 
 currant bushes. 
 
 Breaking free at last from the constraint which 
 seemed every moment weighing down upon him with 
 deadlier force, he suddenly stopped, and cried with 
 impetuous directness: — 
 
 " Hester, what is between us ? What is it, I say ? 
 A terrible trial has come upon you. You suffered 
 cruelly. I suffered too, in thinking of your pain, in 
 seeing you crushed under such affliction. I have 
 waited long for the wound to heal. It was a grievous 
 wound, but I was not the cause of it. I have done you 
 no wrong. I have been faithful to you through all. 
 You are pledged to me. I am come at last to claim 
 you ! " 
 
 She made a movement as if to speak, but he went 
 on with added vehemence : — 
 
 " 'T is time we stopped dwelling upon the past and 
 turned to the future. We cannot amend the wrong 
 that has been done ; we must bethink us how to make 
 the best of the life that is left us." 
 
 They had reached the bottom of the garden, and 
 turned to come back. Her attitude, standing before 
 him in the path as if barring the way ; her utterance, 
 slow at first, but gathering impetus as she went on ; 
 her controlled manner and measured tones, all com- 
 bined to give a memorable emphasis to her answer. 
 Meantime, to her astonished hearer, her expression 
 seemed visibly to change, as she' talked, from the 
 callowness of youth to the maturity of middle age. 
 It was as if a mask had dropped, showing how suffer- 
 ing had developed the woman, morally and mentally, 
 with the ripening efficacy of years. 
 
 " Amend the wrong ! No ! Neither can we avenge 
 
318 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 crime, nor wash out the stain of blood-guiltiness that 
 lies upon the heads of those yonder, nor call back 
 martyred men from the grave ! Vengeance is for 
 God ; he has said it ! " 
 
 The tone in which the words were uttered might 
 have startled her hearer, had he not been so impressed 
 with the transformation wrought in the speaker her- 
 self that he scarcely heeded her words. 
 
 " Such part of the wrong we may not amend," she 
 went on, " but we may amend such as lies in the power 
 of man. We may wipe out the blot put upon the 
 names of the dead. "We may show their innocence to 
 the world. We may have their memory restored to 
 honor in men's mouths. We may wipe out the taint 
 that has been put upon their innocent wives and 
 children." 
 
 Awed by this sudden revelation of character, the 
 junker stood for a space helplessly staring; it was 
 only when the prolonged silence became painful that 
 he made a blundering attempt to speak. 
 
 " I thought not that — that you would take the 
 matter so much to heart, Hester — I — I " — he floun- 
 dered, realizing, perhaps, that this was an unhappy 
 beginning. " I hope you may gain your end, — 't is 
 just you should ; but — but touching yourselves, I 
 hope this blow may not fall so heavily as you fear." 
 
 " 'T is for mother we fear." 
 
 " Surely, after so grievous an affliction, she will be 
 suffered to live in peace." 
 
 " How and where ? She is driven from home 
 already." 
 
 " You will quit this house ? " 
 
 "What choice have we? They turn us out; 'tis 
 a favor we have been suffered to stay these few weeks 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 319 
 
 while mother kept her bed, brought to the very door 
 of death by their doings. Better for her she had 
 died!" 
 
 " Good God ! 't will surely not be pushed ; 't is 
 wanton cruelty ; if it were but made known to his 
 Excellency — " 
 
 " Think you we would ask mercy of that butcher ? " 
 she broke in, almost fiercely. 
 
 " What then, my poor girl, will you do ? " 
 
 " Sister Walters will take us in till Cobus has a 
 hearing of his Majesty. He has gone to England ; he 
 will make known all this wickedness to the king." 
 
 " But if he fail ? Your brother is young and un- 
 used to courts." 
 
 " He will not fail ; if his Majesty be a man, and not 
 a monster, he cannot but listen." 
 
 " My poor Hester, 't is hard to get speech with the 
 king ; one must have influence at court ; there are a 
 thousand diflBculties in the way ; his Majesty is plagued 
 with much business." 
 
 " If he will not hear, he can read, at least. Cobus 
 has it all writ down in petitions signed by a hundred 
 names of good. God-fearing men." 
 
 " A flood of petitions pour into the royal closet 
 every day ; the king has not time for half of them. 
 He hands them over to his ministers. These gentle- 
 men are not fond of giving themselves pains. They 
 take their own time ; they hear all sides of the story ; 
 they put the business off from time to time ; new 
 matters arise, public needs which claim a preference. 
 Years go by ; suitors grow old and gray and faint- 
 hearted, and give up the hopeless quest. I would not 
 discourage you by this gloomy picture ; I would but 
 save you from disappointment." 
 
320 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " We shall bide our time," she said, resolutely, " and 
 give them no peace till our suit is granted." 
 
 " But I — we — where is my part in all this wait- 
 ing ? I might aid ; I would fain help in anything I 
 may," he added, in a halting way. " I might at least 
 be of comfort to you. Surely, we need not await the 
 issue of all this. We are pledged for better or worse ; 
 not for one day, but for life. We may be married all 
 the same ; you will not be less dutiful as a daughter 
 that you have become a wife." 
 
 She hesitated ; for the first time, it seemed, a mo- 
 ment's thought of him crossed her mind. There was 
 a touch of commiseration in the look she turned upon 
 him ; her voice softened, but in no whit abated its 
 tone of inflexible resolution, as she answered, — 
 
 " Never will I give a thought to marriage until this 
 wrong be amended." 
 
 A deep flush overspread his face. He stood looking 
 steadily at her until it slowly faded, giving place to a 
 pallor which made his sun-browned cheeks look russet- 
 hued. 
 
 "Never?" 
 
 " Never ! " 
 
 The word fell from her lips like an iron bolt, but no 
 bolt ever moulded could have dealt him such a blow. 
 Large beads of moisture gathered on his forehead, and 
 slowly trickled over his temples, as he stood with 
 clinched hands and lips tight pressed, like one con- 
 trolling himself under some physical pang. 
 
 Her eyes were turned away, perhaps purposely, to 
 avoid witnessing the effect of her words. Each must 
 have felt there was no more to be said. The painful 
 silence which ensued was broken by the sound of some 
 commotion at the house, — the sound of hurrying feet 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 321 
 
 and some one calling. Hester turned to look. Her 
 sister came flying down the path, followed by Vronw 
 Leisler, crying, with awe-stricken looks, — 
 
 " My child, my child, it has come at last ! Your 
 father is avenged ! " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " He is dead, — that wicked man." 
 
 « Who ? " 
 
 " The governor ! " 
 
 "God's hand is in it!" 
 
 21 
 
322 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 THE stir caused in the community by the death 
 of Governor Sloughter was due not so much to 
 grief felt for the defunct as to anxiety regarding the 
 character and policy of his successor. This question, 
 indeed, so engrossed the attention of all those in any 
 way connected with the administration that for a 
 while nothing else was thought of. 
 
 There is, therefore, less ground for surprise that 
 Madam Van Cortlandt did not at once remark her 
 son's sudden despondency. Once returned to home 
 duties, however, the watchful matron was not long 
 blind to the matter. Without troubling herself over- 
 much to account for it, she recognized the need of 
 some timely intervention, and with a mother's license 
 took measures accordingly. No treatment, it would 
 seem, could have been better suited to the case than 
 that adopted, — of sending him off on a trip to the 
 West Indies with his cousin. Captain Marten Wickoff. 
 
 Steenie made no objection, nor expressed any grati- 
 fication. He merely assented, and looked on in apathy 
 while his energetic mother made all the arrangements 
 for the voyage. Bluff Captain Marten had many pri- . 
 vate interviews with his kinswoman, and was doubt- 
 less given a hint as to the trouble from her point of 
 view. Between them they kept secret the day and 
 hour of sailing, so that the unsuspicious junker was 
 hustled on board the bark early one morning, before 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 323 
 
 any " compunctious visitings of nature " could inter- 
 fere with their resolve. 
 
 Captain Marten faithfully followed his private in- 
 structions. No leisure was given his young cousin 
 for indulging in morbid fancies. He was kept hard 
 at work and fed upon plain fare, until he came grad- 
 ually to find in the free, wholesome life, so varied by 
 chance and peril, the solace felt by many another 
 world-sick wretch before him. Moreover, the voyage 
 was destined to be savored by a sort of sea-spice he 
 little dreamed of. Two days out from Sandy Hook a 
 sail hove in sight, which behaved in a way not at all 
 satisfactory to Captain Marten. After studying the 
 stranger for a long time in silence, on a sudden he 
 threw down his glass and flew about with very un- 
 usual activity. Ordering all sail on and the decks 
 cleared, he presently directed the crew to make ready 
 to throw over the cargo or stand to their guns, as the 
 case required. 
 
 Steenie heard all this with a little creeping of the 
 flesh. Heretofore a pirate had been merely a bug- 
 bear ; he now saw the fabulous monster realized. As 
 in the nurser} tales pirates are always burned, sunk, 
 or brought to some condign end, he felt no doubt 
 of the issue in this case, and, arming himself with a 
 cutlass, longed to come to close quarters. His en- 
 thusiasm, however, was somewhat dampened by the 
 captain's blunt answer to his questioning as to the 
 result of such a proximity. 
 
 " Do ! damn 'em ! They 'd sink the ship, and make 
 every mother's son of us walk the plank ! " 
 
 In view of this very uncomfortable probability, the 
 valiant landsman straightway developed more interest 
 in the captain's policy of " showing his heels." 
 
324 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Thanks to his stout vessel and good seamanship, 
 the prudent captain at last succeeded in outstripping 
 his enemy, and escaping with the loss of only a small 
 part of his cargo. 
 
 Matters had come to such a pass that this experi- 
 ence, far from being unusual, was accepted as one 
 of the ordinary perils of the sea; and although the 
 rest of the voyage was accomplished in safety, they 
 learned, on arriving at St. Kitt's, of a large Spanish 
 galleon which had been sunk in plain sight of the 
 town by the rakish stranger who had given them 
 chase ; and coming ashore they found the most ab- 
 sorbing topic among sailors and merchants was the 
 doings of these bold bandits, — all of which made a 
 profound impression upon Steenie's mind, as will pres- 
 ently appear. 
 
 If no other gain came from the voyage. Madam 
 Van Cortlandt noted with silent satisfaction its effect 
 upon her son's health. Madam naturally enough con- 
 cluded that one who could eat and sleep like this sun- 
 bronzed junker was no longer a fit subject for anxiety. 
 That she pushed further her conclusions, and founded 
 upon this experience certain sweeping and unsafe gen- 
 eralizations, was the fault of her temperament. Lest 
 any undue prejudice attach to her on account of it, 
 let it be remembered that dogmatism is for the most 
 part harmless ; that it is always amusing, and indeed, 
 viewed aright, is not without a certain ethical value. 
 
 Nobody in the world, perhaps, was more perfectly 
 aware of Madam's limitations than her own silent and 
 conservative husband. At the same time, nobody lis- 
 tened to her with greater deference. When, there- 
 fore, upon this occasion, she emphatically pronounced 
 her conclusions upon youthful affairs of the heart, and 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 325 
 
 the proper treatment of them after the fashion of 
 croup and measles, he dryly coughed, without com- 
 mitting himself by an assent. 
 
 Steenie, meanwhile, unconscious of being an object 
 of concern, felt himself under no obligation to con- 
 firm his mother's theories, but went his own gait, in 
 a state of apathy not to be easily distinguished from 
 content. 
 
 Returning in this listless mood from a long ride 
 northward upon the island, about a week after his 
 landing, he was aroused by &, sound of somebody run- 
 ning after him, and presently a breathless voice was 
 heard calling him by name : 
 
 " Mynheer — Mynheer Stephanus ! " 
 
 Turning, he saw Tryntje hurrying with might and 
 main to overtake him. 
 
 " You, vrouw ? I 'm glad to see you." 
 
 " Ei, Myn-Mynheer ! " she gasped, coming up. " I 
 thought never to see ye again. They — they said ye 'd 
 gone beyond sea." 
 
 " So I did, and have come home again. How is 
 Ripse these days ? " 
 
 " The schelmje ! — he grows like a weed." 
 
 "And Rip?" 
 
 " Ever the same ; he is away at the market, or he 'd 
 be glad of a sight o' ye. But I have n't run the breath 
 out o' my body to tell my own affairs ; I 've something 
 for ye." 
 
 ^" So ! " 
 
 " 'T is yonder in the house ; ye went so fast I 
 could n't stay to bring it, but if ye '11 turn back — " 
 
 "What is it, then?" 
 
 The dame looked cautiously about, and lowered her 
 voice. 
 
326 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 "A letter!" 
 
 " For me ? " 
 ■ " Ye '11 need no help to guess who sends it." 
 
 It would have puzzled keener wits than Tryntje's 
 to say whether the change which took place in the 
 listener's countenance was due to pleasure or pain. 
 Staring at her a moment while recovering from his 
 astonishment, he said, gravely, — 
 
 " I will go." 
 
 Walking his horse to keep pace with the panting 
 vrouw, he did not exchange another word with her, 
 however, until they came to the house. Everything 
 there looked much the same ; the geese feeding on the 
 green ; the little stoop with its well-scrubbed benches ; 
 the tulip-beds, now filled with summer flowers ; Ripse, 
 much grown, in a little round cap, and a grotesque 
 frock made from an old doublet of his father's, chas- 
 ing the poultry with a stick, — all might have awak- 
 ened old remembrances in the junker's bosom, if he 
 had not been too preoccupied to take note of anything. 
 
 Tryntje did not keep him waiting; she came out 
 unfolding a long piece of clean linen, from which she 
 produced the precious letter. 
 
 Steenie took it, and, gazing at it a full minute in 
 an abstracted way, rode off without breaking the seal, 
 or even giving the little vrouw a word of thanks for 
 her pains. 
 
 It was only when quite alone upon the highway that, 
 dropping the reins upon his horse's neck, he read the 
 letter. He read it, indeed, over and over again. Who 
 will say he had not cause ? 
 
 HoNOBED Febnd, — It has come upon me sence see- 
 ing you I made an unfit answer to what you said to me 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 327 
 
 meant in all love and kindness. Truely I have no cause 
 to give any butt kind words as I have no other butt kind 
 thouts towards you. My mind as you know was full off 
 other things as God our Heavenly Father knows full 
 well it had call to be. 
 
 For that I was always a stubborn and undutifuU child 
 to that dere and blissed martyr we have lost I am now 
 arroused to a sinse of my great sin and wickedness and 
 from this out must ever strive to make what poor amends 
 in me lye in following his example and heeding his coun- 
 sells remembered in my mind. 
 
 After some note taken off my feelings I find them still 
 turned towards you much as of old butt my sinses are 
 benumbed as it where and all within me seems awry. 
 I am like a plant trod to earth and lift myself feebly 
 from the dust all bruised and warped as I must never 
 again expect to stand upright. See then what need I 
 have to commend myself to God's Mercy by putting away 
 all weak and foolish desires off my own heart and yield 
 my thouts and strenth to lifting up from the foul mire 
 and making clear off smirch the memory of that blissed 
 one I held in such small esteem whiles living. Praying 
 you then to think me not so much unmindfuU off your 
 true affection as pledged to a duty^ which holds me heart 
 and soul 
 
 Your humble ser't 
 
 Hesteb Leisleb. 
 
 The reader was recalled to himself by his horse 
 stopping before the city gate. Thrusting the letter 
 into his pocket, he gathered up the reins, and by the 
 shortest way proceeded to the little house in the 
 Strand. He found it shut and deserted. He stared 
 about in dismay. The house in its desolation rose 
 before him a dumb but eloquent accuser, afflicting 
 him with a sense of personal guiltiness. 
 
328 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 He sat for a space as not knowing what to do ; then 
 betkiuking him of Tryntje, turned and rode back to 
 the bouwerie. The evening was warm, the door and 
 windows stood open, and through the still air the dis- 
 cordant voice of the little huysvrouw was heard get- 
 ting Ripse ready for bed. 
 
 Steenie stopped. Perhaps it was the song which 
 reminded him of that time long ago when he first 
 came to the bouwerie. Surely, Tryntje's voice was 
 one upon which to found a remembrance. Whatever 
 the impulse, he yielded to it, and lingered at the door. 
 Quite absorbed in her task, Tryntje held the fat, half- 
 naked young one on her knee, beguiling him into 
 spasms of laughter by some nursery trick, as she al- 
 ternately slipped on and pulled off his bit of a night- 
 gown, singing the while with unmodulated vigor, — 
 
 " Duur zat een Aapje op een stokje 
 Acliter myn moeder's kenken deur 
 Hy had een gnatje in syn rokje 
 Duur stok dat schelmje syn kopje deur." 
 
 Waiting patiently until the game was ended and 
 Ripse tucked into his cradle, Steenie presented him- 
 self, and making known his errand, learned that 
 Vrouw Leisler and her family were scattered among 
 their friends and relatives, and that Hester was visit- 
 ing Catalina at Nieuw Utrecht. 
 
 Madame Van Cortlandt was equally surprised and 
 pleased, next morning, when Steenie announced his 
 purpose of making a visit to Vlacktebos. She lost 
 no time in making up a hamper of town delicacies, 
 and sent him off with a redundancy of piessages com- 
 mon to that time of infrequent intercourse. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 329 
 
 The visit was a joyful surprise to cousin Lysbeth. 
 She stood by chance on the stoop as Steenie came 
 around the corner of tlie house, just before supper, 
 and grasped him in her heartiest fashion. He was 
 even more welcome than usual, for he brought the 
 latest news from her darling Marten, and gave her, 
 as they sat on the stoop in the evening, an account of 
 his voyage, together with many details of her son's 
 daily life, of which she had little notion. 
 
 Cousin Lysbeth was naturally interested and puz- 
 zled, next morning, when directly after breakfast, her 
 kinsman announced his intention of going to Nieuw 
 Utrecht. She kept her firm lips shut, however, and 
 asked no question ; and as for Steenie, if by chance 
 it occurred to him that his doings might awaken curi- 
 osity, he showed no disposition to gratify it. 
 
 Arrived at the doctor's door, he beheld a well-known 
 person sitting in the cool shadow of the stoop, whom, 
 from his disconcerted look, it was plain he had not 
 thought of encountering. 
 
 " You are very welcome. Mynheer," said the lady, 
 witli a profound obeisance, blinking away industriously 
 her first look of surprise and curiosity. " Vrouw Wick- 
 off is well, I hope ? She must be greatly rejoiced to 
 see you so restored to health." 
 
 Steenie murmured some commonplace as he took off 
 his broad-brimmed hat, seated himself upon the bench 
 opposite his hostess, and looked wistfully about. 
 
 " It is pleasant to come to the country in the warm 
 season," went on the lady, much busier with her pri- 
 vate thoughts than with those she saw fit to put into 
 words. 
 
 Her visitor assented absently, with furtive looks 
 cast hither and thither. 
 
330 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Your worshipful father and mother, — I hope they 
 are in health ? " 
 
 " They are both well, I thank you much." 
 
 A word in Hindostanee whispered apart to an Indian 
 servant who sat on a straw mat just within the open 
 door, and a tray was brought, holding a cool drink 
 and some cakes, of which the guest partook as know- 
 ing not what else to do. 
 
 "'Tis far away from the world, here among our 
 bouweries ; we hear only the echoes ; 't is like open- 
 ing a book when some one comes from town to tell 
 us what passes," continued the begum, keeping up 
 the conversation as a running accompaniment to her 
 thoughts, while she studied the junker askance, and 
 accounted in her own way for his abstraction. 
 
 " There is not much to tell," he answered, with signs 
 of restiveness. 
 
 " Is there not great stir of late on account of the 
 pirates ? " 
 
 " To be sure ; that there is. Madam, a prodigious 
 stir," with a touch of interest. " They are become 
 a great plague ; they are sweeping our commerce 
 from the sea ; the Lords of Trade are busy with the 
 matter." 
 
 " 'T is whispered here by mischief-makers his Mighti- 
 ness is in league with them." 
 
 " Governor Fletcher ! 'T is a great scandal ! " cried 
 Steenie indignantly. " He is an honest man, and gives 
 himself up heart and soul to the good of the province. 
 His health is broken by overwork and newness to the 
 climate." 
 
 " I believe you ; yet some there be, and not a few, 
 scruple not to say it boldly, together with many other 
 evil things of his Excellency. You know well them 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 331 
 
 I mean," returned the lady, significantly, curbing her 
 tongue just in time from a closer description of a class 
 among whom her own husband was known to be a 
 leader. " They never forgive it that he holds no fel- 
 lowship with the followers of that monster who met 
 his deserts so long ago." 
 
 Old memories stirred within the junker as he gazed 
 at his singular hostess, noted her eyes flash and her 
 vibrating voice deepen in intensity. Notwithstanding 
 his astonishment, however, he failed not to take in- 
 stant advantage of the opportunity she had given 
 him to lead the conversation in the direction he 
 wished. 
 
 " Whatever the crimes of that wretch, 't is time they 
 were forgotten." 
 
 " And who, pray you, keeps the memory of them 
 fresh but his own friends ? " 
 
 " Poor creatures, they are to be pitied." 
 
 " How pitied, when they fill all England and Amer- 
 ica with cries for vengeance ? " 
 
 Leaning far forward, with her beady eyes fixed 
 glaringly upon her visitor, the excited begum by turns 
 tossed back the floating muslin head-gear from her 
 heated face, and plucked with the vengeful movement 
 of a bird of prey bits of down from a feather fan 
 which she fluttered in her hands. 
 
 " Surely his family ars innocent, yet are they 
 branded with infamy, and cast out like beggars into 
 the street." 
 
 " For the woman, for the children, give them back 
 their poor belongings, — I would not have them suf- 
 fer ; but for him — " She finished her sentence with 
 a violent gesture, and plucked again at her fan. 
 
 " I am glad to hear that you show kindness to the 
 
332 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 living, however you may feel towards the dead," said 
 the junker significantly. 
 
 " 'T is my husband does that," she rejoined, in- 
 stantly and emphatically, as if to show her qualified 
 approval of the act, " and Catalina, you know — " 
 
 Her hearer nodded, and while she still stuck at a 
 word he came bluntly to the point towards which the 
 whole conversation had tended. 
 
 " Hester is here. I would speak with her." 
 
 A look of mortification, quickly controlled, passed 
 over the lady's tell-tale face. 
 
 " Yes, surely. 'T is most unlucky she is gone walk- 
 ing with my daughter, but they cannot be long ; they 
 will come back to dinner. You will wait ? " 
 
 " With many thanks, no ; if it please you, I will 
 follow them." 
 
 " Ah, I am most wretched ! " with an expression 
 of mock despair. " If I but knew whither to send 
 you ! " 
 
 " Never fear ! I shall not be long in finding them." 
 
 Seeing her visitor so determined, the lady made a 
 show of catechising the slaves, and at last gained the 
 information that the two girls had gone to a hill, not 
 far off, overlooking the sea. 
 
 With a hurried leave-taking, the impatient junker 
 strode off in the direction pointed out. Across some 
 fields, through a wood, and, up a gentle slope, and he 
 was there. 
 
 The search was not a long one, for directly he came 
 to the summit of the hill and looked about, there, 
 under an oak-tree close at hand, sat the two maidens, 
 busily engaged in closest talk. 
 
 Steenie coughed, and they both looked around. 
 Catalina started up instantly, and a flush overspread 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. • 333 
 
 her face. Hesitating a moment, she dropped a slight 
 courtesy to the intruder, muttered a word to her 
 friend, and turned to go. 
 
 Hester made a movement to clutch her by the pet- 
 ticoat, and Steenie uttered a half-hearted protest, but 
 the fugitive held her course, and was soon out of sight. 
 
 The two left behind found it an awkward meeting. 
 It had been made worse, if possible, by Catalina's 
 flight. Hester rose and gravely courtesied. Both 
 stood silent for a space, not knowing what to say. 
 
 But the junker had come with a purpose, and he 
 did not suffer it to grow cold. Making an impatient 
 gesture as if to brush away the constraint which hold 
 them both dumb, he approached, and put forth his 
 hand. 
 
 " I had your letter but yesterday," he said. " I am 
 just come back from a voyage to the Antilles. I have 
 been long away." 
 
 " I am glad to see you safe returned," she answered 
 simply, but with a touch of consciousness which was 
 wanting in their former interview. 
 
 " Your letter gave me great comfort," he went on, 
 leaning against the tree, while she stood uneasily a 
 little apart. " I know not why it should, unless it be 
 that at our former meeting you," — he hesitated, 
 stooped and picked up a dry twig, which he broke 
 idly in his fingers — " you seemed not quite your 
 real self." 
 
 She looked troubled, but did not answer. 
 
 " For myself, I was so downcast that I was long 
 time quite without hope, until little by little the 
 thought came to me that your great affliction had 
 unsettled your good sense, and turned you aside from 
 a right way of thinking." 
 
334 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " I have but one way of thinking," — she spoke 
 calmly and with a touch of pride, — " which is ever 
 as God gives direction to my thoughts." 
 
 " 'T is not safe to take for God's doing what may 
 more likely be the effect of evil counsels forever 
 sounded in your ears," he retorted, with a little 
 heat. 
 
 " One needs not evil counsels to think amiss," was 
 the instant reply, delivered in a tone coldly significant. 
 
 Directly Steenie saw liis mistake, and as if relieved 
 at having freed his mind of some long-stored bitter- 
 ness answered with an utter change of voice and 
 manner, a reminiscence of his old masterful way with 
 the girl. 
 
 " Let us have done with upbraiding ! Let us have 
 done once and for all with bygones which had best be 
 forgotten ! We have both had trouble enough ; we 
 have both carried about sad looks and heavy hearts 
 till 't is time we cast them off. Come, Hester ! Come, 
 sit you down now, dear girl, beside me, and remember 
 only you are my sweetheart yet, and bethink you it 
 rests only with ourselves whether our lives are to run 
 to waste and nothingness, or we are to find some 
 cheer and comfort in the days that are left to us." 
 
 As he spoke he threw himself on the ground at 
 the foot of the tree, and motioned her to a place at 
 his side ; but she, looking very ill at ease, remained 
 standing. 
 
 " Hester, I say, come, sit you down. Let us have 
 a talk like the old times. Tell me your mind. 
 Show me your whole heart. If I hold still my old 
 place there, then all is right yet." 
 
 She hesitated, still much discomfited. 
 
 " See, here is your seat waiting. Come," he con- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 335 
 
 tinued, half playfully, " you shall not escape. Come, 
 I say, will you wait to be haled hither ? " 
 
 With an embarrassed flush and no very good grace, 
 she at last sat down by his side. 
 
 " Now," he cried, taking her hand and burying it 
 out of sight between his own big palms, " what shall 
 ever come between us again ? Are we not happy ? 
 Are we not, eh, little one ? I feel at least a thousand 
 years younger than yesterday, and my heart, or what- 
 ever it be within me which feels, weighs but a feather, 
 which this morning was a ton. Did I not do well to 
 come and seek you out ? And all, too, on account of 
 your precious letter, which had well-nigh missed me ! 
 What, tongue-tied still ? " he asked, with an anxious 
 glance at her downcast face. " Have you then no 
 word for me ? " 
 
 Her whole person showed by certain nervous move- 
 ments that she was making ready to speak, and clearly 
 with the greatest effort. His face clouded, perhaps 
 with a premonition, as he watched her, and waited in 
 almost breathless suspense for her words. 
 
 " Glad would I be to take part in your cheer and 
 speak some word which would answer to your hope 
 or give you comfort, but " — she stopped, and plainly 
 had to call up all her resources of firmness to go 
 on — "but what can I say? As I se't forth in my 
 letter, my heart is still bound to you, but I can give 
 no ear to my own inclinings. I must go the way laid 
 out for me, I must do the work appointed for my 
 hands." 
 
 The junker held fast his tongue, although an im- 
 pulse of impatience convulsed his whole person. 
 
 " 'T is a voice out of the grave calls me to this 
 work, friends and kindred unite in it, whiles a still, 
 
336 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 small whisper within, which I know no other but 
 as the voice of God, swells the cry, till I find no 
 peace day or night but in thinking how best to com- 
 pass this charge laid upon me." 
 
 " Listen, Hester," Steenie began, after a few min- 
 utes had passed in ominous silence, — began in a 
 voice whose measured tone showed the restraint he 
 had put upon himself. " Once more I say. Do all this 
 that is required of you, do this which your conscience 
 compels. I would not withhold you. But again I 
 demand, What hinders you should be faithful to me 
 as well ? What makes it needful that whiles you are 
 true to one you should be false to the other ? " 
 
 " ' False ' ! " she repeated, weighing the word a mo- 
 ment before proceeding ; " 't is not a question of true 
 or false ; consider the matter only in a right light. 
 What means the dominie when he reads out of the 
 good book yonder that man cannot serve both God 
 and Mammon ? 'T is that a weak mortal cannot fol- 
 low two paths at the same time. Either must he go 
 the one shown of God, or that pointed out by his own 
 selfish passions." 
 
 " Truly ; and pray you tell me how long is it since 
 I was exalted to the high post, in your esteem, of 
 serving at need as type of greed and lust and all im- 
 righteousness'? There remains, it would seem, but 
 the part of Beelzebub still unplayed." 
 
 Panoplied in that densest of all armor which turns 
 the shafts of wit, she went on, without the least sense 
 of smart, in a tone calmly controversial. 
 
 " Whiles I am true to a higher bidding, I cannot 
 well be false in an}- wise." That word plainly 
 rankled in her mind, for she concentrated her attack 
 upon it. " To be false to one's self is ofttimes to be 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 337 
 
 true to God; 'tis better, then, in that way, to be 
 false. What is false ? 'T is but a -word. I shall 
 have no fear of any word whiles I have the sense of 
 right action." 
 
 Starting up as if irritated beyond longer control, 
 the junker made no answer, but paced swiftly up and 
 down in the shadow of the tree. After a moment 
 Hester rose also, and carefully shaking the wrinkles 
 out of her skirt, made a movement to go. He sud- 
 denly stopped ill his feverish march. 
 
 " Is this, then, all the answer you would make ? " 
 
 " What other can I give ? " she asked, still shaking 
 her skirt. 
 
 " You bid me wait for years as you would say, 
 ' Wait till next Lord's Day morning ! ' " 
 
 " Why should you think 't will prove so long ? " 
 she asked, looking up from her adjusted drapery with 
 untroubled eyes. 
 
 *' What matter why ? I have cause. I know after 
 what manner they conduct these affairs. It will be 
 for years, I say, -^ for weary, hopeless years ; it "may be 
 indeed, for life itself. And all for what ? What, tell 
 me ! A whim, a caprice. Oh, Hester, Hester," he 
 cried, catching her passionately in his arms, " think 
 what you are doing ? Is my happiness nothing to 
 you ? Think of my misery ! You will, you do, — 
 I see it in your face." He covered her blooming 
 cheek with kisses. " I knew you could not be so 
 cruel. Say then you will come with me ! - Nay, you 
 shall not go till you speak the word, — I swear you 
 shall not ! Now — now — there, I give you breath ! 
 Will you come with me, I say ? There needs but one 
 word to answer." 
 
 He released her. She was flustered by the em- 
 22 
 
338 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 brace ; her cheek was burning from the attack of 
 his ardent lips. She smoothed back her disordered 
 locks and adjusted her dainty cap, while her face 
 settled slowly back into its old lines of calm inflexi- 
 bility as she answered, — 
 
 " If it was but to folio w^ my own heart ^- " 
 He saw the look, he heard the tone ; it was enough. 
 Waiting not for another word, he turned about and 
 plunged out of view into the thicket. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 339 
 
 XXX. 
 
 LANDING- at the dock from the ketch which had 
 brought him over from Breuckelen, Steenie 
 for the first time bethought him that cousin Lysbeth 
 might wonder at his sudden disappearance ; accord- 
 ingly he flung the boatman an extra string of sea- 
 want, and bade him send back at the first opportunity 
 a word of explanation to Vrouw Wickoff. 
 
 Watching the clumsy little boat until it reached 
 midstream, he turned, with a deep sigh, and saun- 
 tered listlessly homeward. It was after sundown and 
 he was late for supper, but he took no note of the 
 hour. Time and place had become barren names to 
 him ; he wandered as the straggler from a caravan in 
 mid-desert, aimless and hopeless among the drifting 
 sands. 
 
 As in this mood, he dragged with heavy-footed 
 pace across the bridge, he suddenly felt himself 
 clapped upon the shoulder and a hearty voice 
 sounded in his ear. 
 
 " Where away now, Mynheer ? " 
 
 Looking up, he recognized a young Englishman 
 whom he dimly remembered to have met latterly at 
 the governor's house, at church, and at divers routs 
 and frolics among the foremost people in the town. 
 The fact that he could not recall the man's name 
 showed the extent of their acquaintance. 
 
 " Fie, now. Mynheer Van Cortlandt ! you are surely 
 never going to affect not to know ine ? We have met 
 
340 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 more than once. Egad, with so many friends in com- 
 mon, we have very good warrant to consider ourselves 
 old acquaintance ; the quicker to bring about such a 
 result, what say you now to going home with me to 
 pot-luck ? " 
 
 Taken aback at this unexpected offer of hospitality, 
 Steenie began to stammer some pretext for declining, 
 but the watchful stranger gave him no chance. 
 
 " See you there, now, what labor you have to find 
 an excuse, the surest of all signs that you have none 
 at all. One may see by your air, moreover, you have 
 no errand on hand." 
 
 In his state 6f limp irresolution, the junker needed 
 nothing so much at the moment as somebody to think 
 and act for him. The stranger may have seen this, 
 for taking his arm with the license of an intimate, he 
 marched him away, saying, laughingly, — 
 
 " Come, Mynheer, you may invent as many excuses 
 for declining as pleases you, on the way, so long as 
 you end by accepting. Never fear, too, but I will 
 make your peace at home ; for know you, I have 
 grown into great favor with your worshipful father 
 while you were away voyaging." 
 
 Expressing no surprise or curiosity, Steenie suffered 
 himself to be led away like a docile child, without so 
 much as demanding the name of the new friend who 
 had taken so masterful a control of him. 
 
 As it turned out they had not far to go, for the 
 stranger lived not a stone's-throw away, in a fair 
 brick house in Liberty Street. Entering, Steenie had 
 a confused sense of unusual luxury in the furnishing, 
 and his notice was especially drawn to the floor by 
 the odd sensation of walking upon a carpet, the first 
 he had ever in his life beheld. A rustling and patter- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 341 
 
 ing of small feet was heard presently in the hall, and 
 in bounded a pretty child of ten years, who leaped 
 into her father's arms, while a quiet, gentle-looking 
 woman, dressed with much richness, stood smiling 
 a welcome in the background. 
 
 The lady was introduced as Mrs. Kidd, whereupon 
 Steenie directly recognized in his friend one Capt. 
 William Kidd, who had lately been sent over by the 
 government on some special service requiring bold- 
 ness and skill. Thereupon he regarded his host with 
 more attention and momently growing interest. His 
 charm lay not so much in his handsome person, ele- 
 gant dress, or engaging manners, — it is doubtful if, 
 in his preoccupation, Steenie noted these historical 
 traits, — but in something back of these ; a character- 
 istic of temperament, shown in the abounding vitality, 
 the high-hearted hope and reckless gayety, which 
 caught and fixed the visitor's desponding gaze and 
 drew him like a loadstone. 
 
 Feeling himself, as he afterwards described his 
 state to the dominie, like a disused harp flung un- 
 strung upon the wayside, he welcomed this strange 
 minstrel who, rescuing him from the rubbish, had 
 attuned him to a new and stirring measure. The min- 
 strel indeed seemed able to sound what chord he 
 would, and the harp lapsed back into its tuneless state 
 when his inspiring hand quitted the strings. This was 
 apparent when, after convivial sessions with his new 
 friend, the guest took his homeward way at the heels 
 of a lantern-swinging slave, and straightway fell 
 again a victim to his old enemy, lurking for him in 
 midnight ambush. 
 
 Captain Kidd, however, showed no disposition of 
 leaving his new friend a prey to megrims. He sought 
 
342 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 him out at his home, dragged him forth to the sun- 
 light and bustle of every-day life, made him by de- 
 grees a familiar guest at the luxurious little fireside 
 in Liberty Street, and led him, as historical gossips 
 "whisper, into an occasional carousal, which, whatever 
 it may be accounted now, was held no very heinous 
 offence at the time. 
 
 Let it not be thought from anything foregoing that 
 Kidd was an idler. On the contrary, he was the 
 busiest man in town ; so busy, in fact, that his less 
 busy neighbors grew very curious as to his move- 
 ments. What meant his frequent flying visits to dis- 
 tant points on the seaboard ? What meant his 
 constant communication with Hartford and the Mas- 
 sachusetts by couriers who came on blown and jaded 
 horses, demanding entrance at the Landpoort at un- 
 heard-of hours of niglit ? What meant the long and 
 whispered confabs with rough and sinister-looking 
 men seen hanging around the dock? 
 
 In the sanctity of confidence, the secret of all this 
 was let slip to the wondering Steenie. It came at 
 first in the shape of insinuations, innuendoes, and 
 dark hints of changes in the air, of a thunder-bolt 
 hanging over the unsuspecting province. With grow- 
 ing trust in the junker's discretion, many things were 
 presently made clearer. There need be no fear now 
 of betraying the captain's secret in the matter of a 
 hoary old bit of history. " The lords of trade," he 
 explained, in an impressive whisper, " are at last 
 aroused to action. The king himself has taken a 
 hand in the matter. War, a bloody war of extermi- 
 nation, is to be waged against the pirates. The colo- 
 nists are looked to for aid. That they may act more 
 efficiently they are to be thrown together into one 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 343 
 
 body politic ; one governor is to be set over all, — a 
 new man, a strong one, a man chosen for this end 
 (not a whisper of all this, mind you. Van Cortlandt, 
 or I am ruined !), a friend of my own, as it seems ! " 
 added the speaker with a wink. " See, here are his 
 initials, R. C, signed to a memorial to their lordships 
 recommending that the command of the fleet and 
 chief conduct of the enterprise be committed to — 
 whom think you ? Why, no other than one Captain 
 William Kidd, as a person well fitted for the post, ' by 
 his great skill as a mariner, his bold and adventurous 
 disposition, his long experience, and by no means 
 last or least, his ardent and proven zeal in their 
 Majesties' service.' What think you now, eh ? Will 
 there not be a whirlwind rattling the loose bricks 
 from these Dutchmen's chimneys, presently ?" 
 
 A few days later, the incautious mariner handed 
 over to Steenie a letter from his powerful friend in 
 court, commending the management of some business 
 committed to his hands. Of more interest to the 
 junker than the contents was a glimpse which he 
 caught of an earl's coronet on the seal, and the name 
 " Richard Coote " signed at the foot of the page. 
 
 Once having made a confidant of Steenie, thereafter 
 the captain's talk was of nothing but of chases, of 
 captures, of hair-breadth escapes, of bold adventures, 
 of bloody combats, of honor, of glory, of endless booty, 
 until the junker went home at night with his head 
 swimming and his heart aflame. 
 
 Although no definite agreement had been made, it 
 somehow came to be understood between the two that 
 Steenie was to join the expedition under his new friend 
 in whatsoever capacity was best suited to him. 
 
 Meantime Madam Van Cortlandt had not been 
 
344 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 blind to the new intimacy formed by her son. There 
 had been much of late in the junker's behavior to fix 
 her attention, perhaps to modify her views. It is 
 not impossible that riper reflection may have shaken 
 her confidence in the lasting efficacy of sea-air as a 
 nepenthe. Here was a surprising tonic found in 
 mere human companionship ; for the bracing influ- 
 ence on her son of the stranger's society was only 
 too apparent. 
 
 Idle curiosity as to the secret of their sudden in- 
 timacy doubtless first moved Madam to study the 
 stranger, but Steenie's guarded answers as to the 
 man's character and profession must have whetted 
 the spirit of inquiry, for one day, having a good 
 opportunity, — she clianced to be sitting on the stoop 
 when he came to ask for Steenie, — she made bold to 
 engage Kidd in conversation. 
 
 It was with the weather and divers such humdrum 
 topics they began. Tlie captain's intelligent talk and 
 well-bred air plainly scored a point in his favor. 
 
 " My son seems to find much content in your com- 
 pany, captain," said the lady presently, coming to 
 closer quarters. 
 
 " No more, I dare swear, than I do in his, Madam." 
 
 " He is not used to take up so readily with new 
 acquaintances," continued Madam, studying the de- 
 tails of the stranger's fine person with observant eye, 
 " nor to carry the matter in so short time to such a 
 pitch." 
 
 " Indeed ! " said the imperturbable captain ; " then 
 must I esteem it a higher compliment that he has 
 honored me out of the common." 
 
 Madam controlled a movement of uneasiness as one 
 checks a sneeze, and cast a quick look at the speaker's 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 345 
 
 face, as though she had detected a subtle edge of 
 mockery in his last speech. 
 
 " I fear he may obstruct your affairs by his frequent 
 comings and long tarryings." 
 
 " Never a bit ; I go about my business as if he were 
 not there, and give him only such attention as my 
 leisure warrants." 
 
 Madam's cough had a baffled expression, but she 
 held none the less to her purpose. 
 
 " Your sojourn in New York is for some time yet ?" 
 
 " It is in doubt." 
 
 " Surely it is not out of curiosity or pleasure-seeking 
 you choose such an out-of-the-way corner of the world?" 
 
 " You divine excellently well." 
 
 The answer was accompanied by a low bow, and a 
 smile lurked about the corners of the speaker's clean- 
 cut mouth, at which a person less perfectly poised 
 than the hearer might have been disturbed. It is due 
 to the lady, however, to say that no sign of discom- 
 fiture troubled her composed face. With one definite 
 point to make in the interview, she suddenly by a 
 vigorous, straightforward thrust achieved it. 
 
 " 'T is our wish," she said, with what now seems 
 like a touch of intuition, "to get our son settled to 
 some useful course of life fitted to his station and to 
 the newness of affairs in this province. We are con- 
 cerned," she continued, fixing a steady and quite sig- 
 nificant look upon her caller, " that he should not be 
 led astray by projects unsuited to one of his training 
 and sober prospects." 
 
 " Such views are most natural, I am sure," returned 
 the stranger, with demure unconcern ; " and it is safe 
 to predict that your son will do you honor in whatso- 
 ever course of life he may enter upon." 
 
346 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Further talk was put an end to by Steenie's appear- 
 ance. From her bench on the stoop Madam followed 
 the two with an inscrutable look, as they went saun- 
 tering down the street. 
 
 But the gallant captain and his designs were not 
 destined to serve much longer as mysteries. One fine 
 morning all his pretty secrets took wing and flew out 
 of the window like a flock of birds. And a prodigious 
 flutter they caused. The whole province was thrown 
 into a ferment, from the red-faced governor down in 
 the fort, digesting in indignation the official announce- 
 ment of his removal, to the widow Leisler and her re- 
 joicing friends in their retirement at Albany, — even 
 to Tryntje, interrupted in her task of plucking geese 
 at the bouwerie by tidings that Rip had enlisted under 
 the great Captain Kidd to go fight the pirates. 
 
 It was her husband who carried home the news to 
 Madam Van Cortlandt. He was even more deliberate 
 than usual in unfolding it, and it was only as an in- 
 cidental and quite trivial detail that he mentioned the 
 circumstance of a commission under the great seal 
 being granted to Captain Kidd to make war upon the 
 pirates. He did not remark Madam's startled look 
 at the announcement. He was much too absorbed 
 with the greater news of the change in the adminis- 
 tration. Here, indeed, was food for thought ; dark 
 whispers had flown across the Atlantic about Lord 
 Bellomont's views on the late revolution, and was it 
 not common talk that Cobus Leisler and Abram 
 Gouveneur were frequent and favored guests at his 
 lordship's house in London ? 
 
 " He is, then, held to be a man of weight and char- 
 acter ? " asked Madam, abruptly, after a long silence. 
 
 "Yes, and rank and fortune to boot! What of 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 84T 
 
 that? Think of the mischief he will make here 
 by-" 
 
 " Tut, tut ! T speak not of Bellomont." 
 
 "Who, then?" 
 
 « This Kidd." 
 
 " He ? Surely. The king had a hand in his ap- 
 pointment. Divers other big lords support him be- 
 sides Bellomont; he is held to be a man of honor, 
 withal, and well fitted for the enterprise." 
 
 The worshipful ex-mayor, having dismissed the in- 
 cident, returned to the main theme ; he seemed not at 
 all to note his wife's inattention, as he maundered on 
 in gloomy forebodings as to the effect of this new 
 change of the administration. 
 
 Madam, meantime, was busy with forebodings of 
 her own, the result of which duly appeared. 
 
 Next morning, at breakfast, her attention was fixed 
 upon Steenie ; she cast frequent looks askance at his 
 grave and preoccupied face, in a way that made it clear 
 he was the object of her thoughts. It presently 
 came out that she had been making up her mind 
 as to her course of action with regard to him. It 
 was as straightforward and as lacking in finesse as 
 usual. 
 
 "So the mystery is cleared up at last," she said 
 suddenly, addressing him. 
 
 Steenie looked up inquiringly. 
 
 "Your friend the captain's momentous business, 
 which has been kept so close. He is set to catch the 
 pirates, it seems." 
 
 The junker flushed, rather at the tone than at the 
 words. 
 
 " 'Tis no great ofiice, that of a thief-catcher," con- 
 tinued Madam, in a tone of cold depreciation. " One 
 
348 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 would think a man of honor and spirit loath to under- 
 take it." 
 
 " 'T is a work of great hardship and danger, which 
 few would dare undertake, and which only a man of 
 great courage and skill could hope to accomplish," 
 answered Steenie, with warmth. 
 
 " Poh ! " retorted Madam, with over-emphasized con- 
 tempt, " these wretches are like other vermin ; one 
 has but to turn upon them. The vulgar skipper of a 
 fishing-ketch is hero enough for this business, give 
 him but money and countenance." 
 
 Steenie made no answer ; experience had not been 
 wasted upon him. Silence, moreover, was a policy 
 peculiarly trying to his mother ; it was her own especial 
 weapon, which she well knew how to use with varied 
 and formidable effect. 
 
 Madam, however, having taken her part with advise- 
 ment, pursued it with energy. She continued upon 
 every occasion to belittle the captain and his under- 
 taking, underrate the potential fruits of his success, 
 magnify its perils, and deny that glory or profit could 
 be a possible outcome of the enterprise. 
 
 Her son's continued and ominous silence at last 
 warned the anxious mother that she miglit be mak- 
 ing a mistake ; whereupon she abruptly changed her 
 tactics. Early one morning she went over and laid 
 tjie whole matter before Dominie Selyns, who had 
 seen Steenie grow up, and had in a way some influ- 
 ence with him. 
 
 Long and intimate acquaintance with Madam Van 
 Cortlandt may have led the shrewd old dominie to 
 take her very positive statements with regard to Cap- 
 tain Kidd with a sly pinch of salt ; but he knew too 
 that she was afflicted with neither sentiment nor im- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 349 
 
 agination, that she was shrewd and observing; and 
 when she said that Steenie was in a desperate state 
 of mind on account of some fresh quarrel with " that 
 worthless hussj who for years had made such a fool 
 of him," he recognized the extreme probability of the 
 rest of the story, — that the disappointed swain was 
 preparing to run away to sea with Captain Kidd, and 
 that they were keeping secret the hour of their depart- 
 ure in order to prevent any interference on the part 
 of family or friends. 
 
 The dominie comforted his visitor by promising to 
 take the matter in hand at once. And so he did. 
 Fortunately, he met Steenie on the street in the cap- 
 tain's company, and made that fact the excuse for a 
 long talk with the junker, in which, having in vain 
 sought to make him confess his engagement with the 
 bold sailor, he plumply taxed him with it. 
 
 Steenie was too truthful to deny the charge, but 
 he obstinately kept silent during the dominie's long 
 homily, and parted from the good man without hav- 
 ing bound himself by any promise. 
 
 The dominie, however, was too deeply interested 
 to desist from his purpose. Moreover, chance ac- 
 quainted him with the very fact he most wanted to 
 know. The night following his talk with Steenie, the 
 door of his study was rudely burst open, and a bare- 
 headed little figure, in great excitement, appeared 
 upon the threshold. 
 
 " Oh ! Oh ! Oh, moord ! Go ye to him, dominie ! 
 Go ! go ye ! he '11 not heed me — ugh ! ugh ! he had 
 the door shut in my face ! Go, dominie, dear man ! 
 Go and stop him ! " 
 
 "What, is it you, Tryntje, making such an out- 
 cry ? Shame, shame ! Hush ! Sit you down and 
 
350 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 take your breath ! So — there ! Now what is it 
 ails you ? " 
 
 " He — ugh ! ugh ! he will take my Rip off to fight 
 the pirates ! " 
 
 " "Who will do this ? " 
 
 " Yonder maii they — call captain." 
 
 " When did he this ? " 
 
 " They found him at — at Annetje Litschoe's pot- 
 house — ugh ! ugh ! He was filled with the brande-wyn 
 and knew no better — ugh ! — and so bound himself 
 to go." 
 
 " Poh ! dry your eyes, good woman ; when he gets 
 his senses, he may say 'twas all a mistake." 
 
 " That will he not ; he must needs go, he says, being 
 bound ; he will hear no reason." 
 
 " Where is he now ? " 
 
 " I locked him in the barn ; but he breaks down 
 the door, lets all the cattle to run wild, and follows 
 me till he turns off to Vrouw Litschoe's, where he is 
 safe enough till they want him, never fear ! Oh, dom- 
 inie, go ye to yonder man and bid him leave my Rip 
 behind. 'T is but a drunken sot, as ye know, and no 
 good to fight pirates. Go, good dominie, tell him this ! 
 'T is the last chance, for they 're away this very night 
 at the turn of the tide ! " 
 
 " What say you, woman, — to-night ? " exclaimed 
 the dominie, starting to his feet. 
 
 " This very night, I say ! " 
 
 Without a word the good man opened a clothes-press 
 behind him, and began fumbling among the pegs for 
 his hat and cloak. 
 
 « Ye will go?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " The blessed Lord above go with ye ! " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 861 
 
 Calling a slave to bring a lantern, the dominie turned 
 upon the threshold for a last word. 
 
 " Get you down to Vrouw Litsohoe's and hold fast 
 to your man, and I will do what I can with yonder 
 captain." 
 
 As good as his word, the dominie lost no time in 
 making his way to the little house in Liberty Street. 
 
 Having been shown in, he found the household in a 
 state of confusion which tended to confirm Tryntje's 
 statement. 
 
 Kidd, although very busy, received with politeness 
 his visitor, who, on his side, lost not a moment in 
 coming to the point and making a most earnest plea 
 on behalf of both his petitioners. The captain listened 
 with attention, but seemed not much impressed with 
 the urgency of either case. 
 
 " How, then, is his Majesty's work to be done, if 
 everybody is excused upon so slight a pretext ? " 
 
 " The ties of family, at least, should be respected." 
 
 " What think you becomes of the expedition if I 
 give ear to this plea ? There is my own dear wife 
 above, crying her eyes out this moment, and my in- 
 nocent babe asleep in her crib, never dreaming her 
 father is going to run away in the night." 
 
 The dominie, although somewhat staggered by this 
 personal argument, renewed his appeal, however, and 
 with such eloquence and persistence that Kidd at last 
 very reluctantly gave his promise to leave both men 
 behind. 
 
 " 'T is easy enough in the case of Rip, but you will 
 find young Van Cortlandt hard to manage," said the 
 dominie, warningly, as he rose to go. 
 
 The captain smiled, and said only, — 
 
 " You have my promise." 
 
352 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " It is enough." 
 
 Coming out together into the hall, the two found 
 poor Mrs. Kidd sobbing at the foot of the stairs. 
 
 " Look you here, dominie," said the husband, put- 
 ting his arm tenderly about the little woman, " turn- 
 about, as you know, is fair play ; if aught of ill befalls 
 me on this business, here is one will stand in need of 
 a friend and a comforter." 
 
 " And that she shall find in me so long as I live," 
 answered the dominie, heartily. " And so, good-by to 
 you. Remember to temper justice with mercy in deal- 
 ing with those rogues, and may God further and bless 
 you in every good undertaking ! " 
 
 The grateful fervor with which this qualified bless- 
 ing was received came back to the dominie with start- 
 ling vividness in the light of after-events. 
 
 As the person in greatest distress at the moment, 
 the dominie, on leaving Kidd's door, bethought him 
 first of Tryntje. Accordingly, he went straight to 
 Vrouw Litschoe's, where he found husband and wife 
 seated at a little table in the tap-room. Rip, greatly 
 flattered by his wife's extreme and unexpected agita- 
 tion at the prospect of losing him, was holding forth 
 grandiloquently between his cups, while the little huys- 
 vrouw's reddened eyes were fixed so steadfastly upon 
 her spouse that she failed to see her pastor. 
 
 " Zoo ! zoo ! Never ye cry, my treasure ! I may 
 come back, after all — though — hie — they say 't is 
 an awful, aw-hic-ful business, going to fight pirates — 
 they — they 're bloody-minded wretches, that sort ! 
 One falling into their clutches may r-roast — hie — 
 alive, or boil in oil, or — or — hie — be cut into bait 
 for fishes. Zoo ! zoo ! Never cry, I say ! Annetje, 
 good vrouw, see ye not my mug is empty ? I may 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 353 
 
 come back to ye without arms — who knows ? ^ — or 
 w-walking on one leg — " 
 
 " Never ! I should die to see ye like that ! " sobbed 
 the little woman. " Oh, Rip — Rip, I say, ye will not 
 have the heart to go and leave me ! " 
 
 " His Maj-majesty sends for me — he will none but 
 me — there is — hie — need of my arm to put down 
 these villains ! " 
 
 " No — no — no, man, I 'll not hear of it. Ye must 
 not go. Would ye leave me to live alone ? Stay by 
 me, Rip — stay, my man ! I cannot part with ye ; 
 'twill break my — " 
 
 The impassioned appeal was cut short by a sight of 
 the dominie standing at her elbow. Starting up, she 
 cried with frantic eagerness, — 
 
 « Wei zoo ? " 
 
 " Your wish is granted." 
 
 " The captain — he will leave him to me — he will 
 not take my Rip ? " 
 
 Before he could frame a word in reply, the delighted 
 woman had read the answer in his eyes, and seizing 
 his hand, she covered it with kisses, pouring forth 
 upon him the while an eloquent but incoherent 
 medley of thanks and blessings. In the midst of it 
 all, as it chanced, up came Vrouw Litschoe with a 
 smoking glass of grog. To the amazement of the 
 good dominie, Tryntje snatched it from the hands of 
 the stout landlady and flung it violently to the floor, 
 crying,— 
 
 " Get ye gone with your stuff ! Get ye gone, or 
 I '11 give ye a taste of my nails ! Bold ! do ye hear ? " 
 she continued, turning sharply upon her husband. 
 
 " Bi ! " grunted Rip, stupefied at the sudden change 
 in tone and manner. 
 
354 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Do ye hear, I say ? Ye '11 get no more to drink 
 to-night, and ye '11 go home with me ! " 
 
 "Zoo?" 
 
 " Come ! " 
 
 « Bi ?» 
 
 " Heard ye not what the dominie says ? Ye are 
 left behind. They '11 not take ye to fight pirates." 
 
 " Umph ! " 
 
 " Get ye home, I say ! Will ye wait to be haled 
 forth?" 
 
 " M-my treasure — " 
 
 " If ye go not upon the minute, so true as I live, I 
 tear the roof down upon your head." 
 
 Overawed and bewildered, the new recruit suffered 
 himself to be half-led, half-propelled, from the house 
 by his energetic helpmeet, who, having once more fer- 
 vently thanked the dominie for his kindness, started 
 homeward with her lumbering spouse in tow. 
 
 Later, the same evening, Steenie, awaiting at home 
 a private message which was to warn him of the sail- 
 ing of the ship, received in its stead the following 
 note : — 
 
 Mt dear Van Coetlandt, — Never pass judgment 
 on a man's action till you know whereof you judge ; nor 
 ever be quite sure of anything in this world save what 
 comes through your five senses. All of which is but 
 preface to saying that I have gone away and left you in 
 the lurch ; and though you may never know the reason 
 why I do this, be sure I am not such a fool as to do it 
 without one. 
 
 So now vent all your spleen upon me ! Eave ! Curse ! 
 Exhaust billingsgate ! Consign me and the expedition 
 to the devil, if you will ! But, when all is over, and 
 your blood is cooled, call up some tender thought of me, 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 356 
 
 and consider that this scurvy trick I am playing you — 
 and much against my will, I swear — may prove the one 
 act in our short and sweet acquaintance which will some 
 day earn for me your eternal gratitude. 
 
 Your obedient servant and loving friend, 
 
 William Kidd. 
 
356 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 FROM the sweeping confiscation of her husband's 
 estate Vrouw Leisler succeeded in saving cer- 
 tain valuable chattels, — a part of her own dowry, — 
 and upon the modest income thence derived she was 
 still able to live in comparative comfort. 
 
 "While on a visit to Albany with her youngest 
 daughter, she was offered by some well-to-do kinsfolk 
 there the use of a small house, rent free, and grate- 
 fully caught at the chance of calling together again 
 her scattered family. Accordingly, Mary, now a 
 widow and destitute, was sti-aightway summoned to 
 come to her, and Hester recalled from her prolonged 
 visit at Nieuw Utrecht. 
 
 The two sisters set forth to make the long journey 
 together in a ketch loaded with household stuff for 
 their new home. What with contrary winds and 
 their heavy cargo, however, they made such slow pro- 
 gress that, upon arriving at Esopus, they were fain 
 to quit the vessel and make the last fifty miles on 
 horseback. 
 
 Having as their only attendant an old family chat- 
 tel named Congo, — a part of the above-named 
 dowry, — they accepted with gratitude an offer of 
 escort from an honest citizen of Esopus, going up to 
 Albany to trade with the Indians. 
 
 To Mary, whose experience in travelling had thus 
 far been limited to occasional trips to Seawan- 
 acky, the journey was full of interest. Much of the 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 357 
 
 way lay through the virgin forest, where the primal 
 charm of spring-time still lurked in the air and am- 
 bushed in woody recesses, and everything seemed 
 bursting into riotous life. Knowing well her sister's 
 delight in all this, Vrouw Milborne noted with much 
 perplexity that Hester soon lapsed from her first 
 mood of enthusiasm into long silences and fits of 
 abstraction, in which she was constantly falling be- 
 hind to escape the talk of her companions. On en- 
 camping for the night, moreover, when Mary, awak- 
 ened in the small hours by some forest sound, started 
 from her bed of fragrant hemlock-boughs, she discov- 
 ered Hester sitting with her back against a big pine, 
 staring absently at the camp-fire. The care-taking 
 instinct aroused in the young matron, she studied 
 Hester more carefully next day ; but once having sat- 
 isfied herself that her sister's health was not in dan- 
 ger, she paid no heed to so sentimental a matter as 
 the state of her spirits. 
 
 At the end of the second day the party arrived at 
 Albany. The sisters gazed with natural curiosity at 
 this notable little town, of which all their lives they 
 had heard so much, recalling with new interest the 
 tales told by their grandfather, of Rensselaerwyck and 
 the Indian wars. It was Rensselaerwyck no more, 
 although the patroon still held feudal sway over the 
 town and miles of fertile country round about. 
 
 Their first feeling was one of disappointment in its 
 size, as upon issuing from the woods, it rose unex- 
 pectedly before them. Truly, it was a very bit of 
 a town. Bound around so trim and smug with its 
 high stockade, it looked at a distance not unlike a 
 clumsy top with its point in the air. Upon a high 
 hill to the westward stood the fort, inclosing the first 
 
358 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 rude Stadthuys, and commanding a view of the whole 
 surrounding region, while adown the gentle declivity 
 the town itself, consisting of two or three hundred 
 buildings, more or less, sloped to the river's edge. 
 
 The suppaen-bell was just ringing as the tired trav- 
 ellers passed through the southern gate nearest the 
 river. Within, the town looked even smaller than 
 without, and more droll, yet had, withal, an attractive 
 air of homeliness. Most of the small story-and-a-half 
 houses, with their scalloped gables, like a modern 
 beauty's crimps, turned towards the highway, fronted 
 upon blooming gardens and grateful patches of green, 
 in which already the tulips were beginning to flaunt 
 their gaudy pennons. There seemed to be but three 
 streets of any size, and at the crossing of the two 
 larger of these, Jonkers and Handelaer, plump, as it 
 were, in the midst of the highway, stood Dominie 
 Dellius's church, a square stone structure, with its 
 peaked roof ending in a bell-tower. 
 
 Here taking leave of their companion with many 
 thanks, the sisters inquired the way, and soon found 
 out the little nook where Vrouw Leisler and her 
 youngest daughter were already busy setting up their 
 household gods. They were received with open arms ; 
 the good vrouw, indeed, moved by divers natural rec- 
 ollections, fairly wept at seeing her long-scattered 
 family gathered once more about the little supper- 
 table. 
 
 Within a day or two the ketch arrived with the fur- 
 niture, and thereupon nothing was thought of but get- 
 ting the house to rights. In a Dutch household this 
 involved an endless deal of scouring, scrubbing, and 
 polishing, in which, with the others, Hester lent an 
 active hand. Her attention thus constantly taken 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 359 
 
 up by petty cares, she had no time for wandering 
 thoughts, the rather that at night so much good hon- 
 est toil demanded its wage of sound sleep. 
 
 The bustle was soon over ; things were arranged to 
 give, so far as might be, a suggestion of the old home 
 in the Strand, and the little household was ordered 
 upon a scale suitable to its modest resources. The 
 routine once established, the work was an easy mat- 
 ter; it was shared, as a matter of course, between 
 Mary and her mother, — both born housewives, — 
 aided by old Congo, a most accomplished factotum. 
 
 Thus, for the early part of the day, Hester was left 
 to her own resources. They proved to be meagre. 
 She passed the time wandering, chance-led, about the 
 town, roaming for miles along the river-side, or pac- 
 ing her own chamber under the ridge-pole. Her face 
 was tense with calculation, like that of one busied 
 with a momentous problem. 
 
 At the long afternoon sessions of sewing, spinning, 
 or mat-weaving, however, she made one of the home 
 circle, where the widowed mother and daughter, in 
 strophe and antistrophe, reviewing every smallest de- 
 tail of their common tragedy, exalted the virtues of 
 their lost spouses to a pitch which might well have 
 caused the rank and file of the saints' calendar to 
 look to their halos. 
 
 This talk, in which she rarely joined save to cor- 
 rect some date or matter of detail, had nevertheless 
 a marked effect upon Hester. She listened with un- 
 wearied attention, and always with an air of convic- 
 tion. At times her face cleared, as if something said 
 had afforded her a present solace, and once or twice 
 she started up and paced the floor with a long-drawn 
 sigh of relief. 
 
360 TEE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 The coming to town of so notable a person as Leis- 
 ler's widow made a stir. The deep aversion in which 
 her husband had been held by the majority of the 
 townsfolk told strongly against his family, who were 
 received for the most part with cold civility. Dominie 
 Dellius, despite some wrangling with the commander 
 during his life, failed not in the Christian duty of 
 waiting upon his family, which he did in due time, 
 tendering them the hospitality of his church. Vrouw 
 Leisler accepted the courtesy with gratitude, and on 
 the following Lord's Day took Hester with her to the 
 morning service. 
 
 The interior of the building reminded them of their 
 own church at home, with its octagon pulpit fetched 
 over from Holland, its stoves perched upon stilts, its 
 narrow, straight-backed pews, and its bell-rope dang- 
 ling in the middle aisle. Two features combined to 
 give it an air of cheerfulness, wanting to the rather 
 gloomy sanctuary of Dominie Selyns : the bright blue 
 paint which tinted the ceiling and gallery, and the 
 memorial window of the Van Eensselaers, which illu- 
 minated the northeast corner. 
 
 Seated in a wall-pew, their strange faces were an 
 object of easy scrutiny to most of the congregation. 
 Schooled, however, by severe experience to compos- 
 ure under public notice, they took refuge in rapt at- 
 tention to the service. 
 
 But human nerves and muscles are rebellious ; it 
 must be a strict guard they will not run ; and so it 
 chanced that Hester, opening her eyes, calm with 
 devout attention, at the end of the long prayer, turned 
 them unconsciously upon a striking personage sit- 
 ting near at hand across the aisle. She started, and 
 barely stifled an outcry. Despite every eflFort at self- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 861 
 
 control, her agitation showed clearly in her face. Her 
 first look of startled astonishment quickly gave place 
 to pne of painful and guilty confusion under the 
 cold, searching glance her incautious movement had 
 brought upon her. 
 
 Nothing was more natural than that Madam Van 
 Cortlandt, horn Gertryd Schuyler, should be visiting 
 her old home. To Hester, knowing nothing of the 
 cause, and profoundly occupied with a certain problem 
 not yet definitely settled, the lady's sudden apparition 
 seemed of special and threatening significance. 
 
 The long service passed in a series of sounds and 
 movements signifying nothing. Not until, freed from 
 the homeward-thronging congregation, Hester found 
 herself answering at random her mother's strictures 
 upon the sermon, did she quite recover her composure. 
 
 This little incident, thrown in but as a straw to 
 show the current, had a result out of all proportion 
 to its seeming importance. It is curiously significant 
 of Hester's mental state that this simple appearance 
 of Steenie's mother should have had the effect of 
 quite unsettling her; of violently turning her aside 
 from the comfortable conviction towards which she 
 had been fast gravitating, and setting her again at 
 work upon the old problem. 
 
 As, however, driven by a restless feeling, she went 
 roaming again to get space to think in, as she listened 
 daily tO her mother's and Mary's reminiscences, in- 
 sensibly the old influences did their work, and slowly, 
 gradually, brought back her routed peace. 
 
 Meantime the dead monotony of life in the frontier 
 town, which had long since showed its effect upon 
 her younger sister's spirits, began to tell upon her 
 own. Cut off from Catalina's affectionate companion- 
 
362 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 ship, far from the bustling metropolis, out of reach of 
 friends with whom, all her life, she had been in daily 
 communication, ostracized by the community in which 
 they lived, social life seemed reduced well-nigh to its 
 lowest terms. 
 
 The one great distraction was reading Cobus's let- 
 ters. The days on which they came were marked by 
 a feverish excitement. Filled as they were with the 
 bustle and stir of London life, with glimpses of court 
 splendor, with accounts of the plots, machinations, or 
 open hostility of their enemies, and with evidences of 
 the slow but certain progress of their great cause, 
 what wonder that they were read with breathless in- 
 terest, that they were re-read and read again, and dis- 
 cussed point by point for weeks afterwards in family 
 conclave ! 
 
 But for these, one day was as like as possible to 
 another. It was almost a relief, one morning, when 
 old Congo came in and asked for leave to go the 
 Pingster feast. Hester and Francina exhausted their 
 ingenuity in tricking the old man out, and he went off 
 with a fine strut, fluttering his ribbons, and charging 
 them not to fail to join the crowd of lookers-on at 
 Pingster Hill. 
 
 In Congo's absence Hester went, that afternoon, to 
 answer a knock at the door. 
 
 « You ! " 
 
 She stepped back into the shadow of the doorway 
 to hide the blush caused by her own joyous outcry, 
 while Barent's beaming gratification at this unex- 
 pected welcome was somewhat dampened by the look 
 of chill demureness with which, the next moment, she 
 bade him come in. 
 
 By the rest of the family he was received in the 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 heartiest way. Aside from the fact that he was 
 Cobus's friend and a special favorite of her late hus- 
 band, he was endeared to Vrouw Leisler by many 
 kindly offices during the dark days of her affliction. 
 He was doubly welcome now as the bearer of funds 
 collected by Dr. Staats on her account, of household 
 goodies from her daughter Walters, and, more than 
 all, of cheering news regarding their prospects abroad. 
 
 More than once, in the telling of all this, the visitor 
 cast a furtive eye at Hester, sitting with grave face 
 over her work ; but he was wise enough to show no 
 consciousness of her growing interest in the rapid 
 cross-fire of question and answer, until at last, quite 
 forgetting herself, she was led on to take an active 
 part in it. 
 
 He went home to his own family for the night, and 
 they parted quite in the old way, without conscious- 
 ness on her part. Next morning, when he appeared, 
 she was about setting forth with Prancina to visit the 
 Pingster feast. He joined them as a matter of course, 
 explaining, as they went along, his own great delight 
 in the festival when a child, and his intimate knowl- 
 edge of the vicinity and its ceremonies. 
 
 It was the second and most important day of the 
 festival, which usually lasted a week. All along the 
 way the air was filled with the holiday clamor of 
 groups of children, both white and black, under the 
 care of some gray-haired old aunty or buxom young 
 wench, all alike bedizened with cheap jewelry and gay 
 streamers, and decked out vrith branches of lilac and 
 cherry blossoms. 
 
 Arrived at the hill, now long since swept away by 
 the levelling spirit of a later day, they found the 
 grounds laid out in the form of an oblong square, 
 
364 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 surrounded on three sides by rude booths and tents, 
 and open only at the eastern end for entrance and 
 exit. Here, given over to the frolic spirit of the hour, 
 swarmed the whole slave population of the town, to- 
 gether with a plentiful sprinkling of Indians, feathered 
 and blanketed, otherwise easily to be distinguished by 
 their stolid gravity amid the effervescent jollity of the 
 negroes, like notes of discord in music artfully put in 
 to accentuate the harmony. 
 
 Pausing before the entrance to the grounds, Barent, 
 with a sly twinkle in his eye, said they must by no 
 means go in until they had exhausted the outlying 
 features of the spectacle. Whereupon he led them 
 around to the rear of the booths, where were several 
 side-shows in active operation. Before one tent a 
 negro, loudly beating a drum, advertised the tricks 
 of a conjurer ; in the next a dancing bear was per- 
 forming to a tune ground out by a monl^ey on a 
 hurdy-gurdy ; while in a third a two-lieaded pig was 
 exhibited as the greatest living attraction of the age. 
 
 The cicerone's evident delight in these wonders 
 showed that he had by no means outgrown his boyish 
 tastes. Indeed, the girls might have had hard work 
 to drag him away but for a sudden shout which arose 
 from the grounds, proclaiming something of interest 
 in that direction. 
 
 " Haste ! haste ! " he exclaimed, eagerly. " 'T is 
 the king, — the Pingster king ! " 
 
 By dint of running they arrived at the entrance 
 just in time to witness the approach of his Majesty. 
 No Roman conqueror in triumphal car ever bore him- 
 self with loftier port. Few, indeed, among mere con- 
 querors and potentates have been so blessed by kindly 
 Nature, or furnished forth in greater pomp of awe- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 striking haberdashery, withal, than was the Pingster 
 king. 
 
 A gold-laced cocked hat was perched upon his 
 snow-white head ; his tall, spare figure was draped 
 in a scarlet coat, which hung to his very heels, while 
 his buck-skin breeches, blue stockings, and silver- 
 buckled shoes flashed in and out as his wide-flapping 
 coat-skirts yielded to his stately tread. 
 
 Loud cries rent the air ; his loyal subjects, indeed, 
 nearly shouted themselves hoarse in salvos of wel- 
 come, as the king strode on and took his place at the 
 upper end of the square. 
 
 Motioning to his aids, he gave orders for the revels 
 to begin. Amidst a hush of expectation a solitary 
 musician came forward and stationed himself near 
 the royal seat. He was furnished with a grotesque 
 instrument called an eel-pot, which looked like a big, 
 hollow, wooden cask covered by a tightly drawn sheep- 
 skin. Although not at all an impressive-looking in- 
 strument, the eel-pot, in the hands of its skilled 
 performer, speedily showed orchestral resources quite 
 adequate to the occasion. 
 
 At a sign from the king, the musician, an agile 
 young negro, leaped astride his instrument, and beat- 
 ing with his naked hands upon the sounding sheep- 
 skin, sang in cadences, now dolefully prolonged like 
 the wind soughing in the tree-tops, now tense, sharp, 
 and ringing like a dithyrambic chorus, the uncouth 
 refrain, " Hi-a bomba bomba." 
 
 Old eyes glistened and dusky bosoms swelled again 
 with remembrances of the wild rhythm of youthful 
 dances on Guinean plain or Loango shore. A drum- 
 ming of feet, a waving of hands, a nodding of the 
 head, and a swaying of the whole body were the early 
 
366 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 symptoms of a purely physical intoxication, a nerve 
 delirium, which this strange music speedily produced 
 in these susceptible tropical organizations. 
 
 Suddenly the king, seizing a buxom wench in his 
 arms, set off in a swift course about the open space 
 which had been cleared for dancing. Directly a score 
 of waiting couples followed suit. "With long, dizzying 
 whirl they went, with high skip and jump, with picked 
 and fantastic steps, each and every movement seem- 
 ing to adapt itself without difficulty to the resounding 
 " Hi-a bomba bomba." Eound and round, up and 
 down, back and forth, to and fro, in swift and swifter 
 course the dancers flew, filled by the pursuing " Hi-a 
 bomba bomba" with a supernal vigor, with a wild 
 abandon rising by degrees to true bacchanalian frenzy, 
 and culminating in utter physical exhaustion. 
 
 The spectacle was not new to any of them ; and 
 Hester, after a little, growing weary, turned to go, but 
 Francina, glad of any diversion in their humdrum life, 
 wanted to stay. Accordingly, she was left in charge 
 of Congo, while Hester and Barent sauntered away 
 towards home. 
 
 Passing the fort, they loitered along Jonkers Street 
 to the corner of Pearl. There, looking down the quiet 
 little by-way, they caught a glimpse of the smiling 
 outer world through the open city-gate at the end of 
 the street. 
 
 The junker stopped, and with a wistful look at 
 Hester expressed a wish to visit some of his old 
 boyish haunts in the woods and fields. To his un- 
 bounded surprise she quietly assented. 
 
 He studied her askance as they walked along, and 
 any undue elation he may have felt presently abated. 
 With the new tone of kindliness and easy-going com- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 367 
 
 panionship she had adopted there appeared again the 
 old trait of unconsdiousness, the habit of talking to 
 him as if thinking aloud. His look of humble appre- 
 ciation even for this cavalier treatment had a toucli 
 of pathos, and despite her wandering attention he 
 went on patiently recounting his homely tales of boy- 
 ish pranks and gambols connected with well-known 
 spots, as they passed them by. 
 
 After a long walk they came to the river, and upon 
 a high bank overlooking the windings of the noble 
 stream sat down to take breath. Here the fancy 
 seized Hester to ask about her friends in New York 
 and talk about their old life there, whereupon by and 
 by it came out that Barent had no thought of going 
 back. 
 
 With a languid word of surprise very significant of 
 her interest in the matter, she asked the reason. 
 
 " Things are no longer as they were, yonder," he 
 answered, simply ; " there is little chance there now-a- 
 days for one like me." 
 
 " How like you ? " 
 
 " With no fortune or hope of inheritance." 
 
 " Industry may supply the lack." 
 
 " And no gifts of nature." 
 
 " Men make shift oftentimes to get on without 
 them," she answered, letting the self-accusation pass 
 unchallenged in a way so pointed that nothing but the 
 junker's triple-plated armor of modesty saved him 
 from mortification. 
 
 " One must have strong friends there, and I have 
 none." 
 
 " How then made you such good advance as it 
 seemed at first ? " 
 
 " Because of your father," 
 
368 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 She started at the unexpected answer. 
 
 " 'T was he pushed me on. He was ever a good 
 friend to me." 
 
 Oddly enough, her face grew troubled while listen- 
 ing to this generous tribute. 
 
 " But if he had lived he would have found me out. 
 He held me at more than I am worth. Ah," sighing, 
 "far more he did, and treated me as he might a 
 son." 
 
 A flush crept over the listener's face, and the gath- 
 ering cloud deepened and settled there. After some 
 minutes of silence she stole a look at her companion ; 
 he was absorbed in his reminiscences. Whatever 
 emotions had been awakened by his .words, it was 
 plain he had spoken them in all simplicity. 
 
 For a long time they sat thus, he talking on in his 
 quiet fashion, and she studying, as it seemed, with a 
 new interest every detail of his ugly face and grace- 
 less figure.' 
 
 " But what better hope have you of doing something 
 in this out-of-the-world corner ? " she asked, breaking 
 the silence at last with a blunt question. 
 
 '• I can go on here with my father's handicraft; I 
 am well skilled in it now. He is old and much 
 broken, and has need of help." 
 
 " So ! " 
 
 " I can be of comfort, too, to my mother and the 
 young ones whiles they are in need of guidance ; 't is 
 all I am like to be good for." 
 
 The calm patience of the speaker's tone and his air 
 of unconscious resignation seemed in some way to 
 touch his hearer. She looked afflicted, and, rising, 
 she demanded to be conducted home. 
 
 If heretofore Barent had been puzzled in his rela- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 369 
 
 tions with Hester, he was thrown into perfect bewil- 
 derment by her later demeanor. For many days 
 after their walk, she treated him with an attention 
 and consideration approaching tenderness. The as- 
 tonished junker rubbed his eyes. His own attitude 
 had been steadfastly maintained, — a simple kindli- 
 ness, a familiarity without presumption. Evidently 
 he had accepted as final that answer spoken long 
 ago in the graveyard, and no word or look had since 
 escaped him showing any hope of its amendment ; but 
 now as day by day he was accorded a more cordial 
 welcome, was greeted with a smile instead of the old 
 grave or indifferent salutation, as he was even at times 
 chided for absence or tardiness when he failed to ap- 
 pear daily and regularly, long-choked-up sources of 
 emotions showed signs of freshening life. There were 
 evidences of a deep stir within him. His aspect of 
 patient resignation gave place to a wistful look, — a 
 look of hoping and fearing, a look of trembling 
 anticipation. 
 
 In this mood, no word or movement of Hester's but 
 seemed to him of significance ; after every interview 
 he puzzled in his plodding way over her speeches and 
 her silences, not always with success. He was des- 
 tined to further mystification before enlightenment. 
 
 One day, at his request, she went for a sail on the 
 river, Prancina accompanying them. Whether ex- 
 hilarated by the unwonted exercise, by the cool brac- 
 ing air, or the beauty of the scene, Hester showed 
 herself unusually light-hearted. 
 
 Barent, seated at the helm, watched her with un- 
 disguised delight. In the flood-tide of her hilarity she 
 went the length of rallying him. 
 
 " It is clear to me now why you would forsake 
 24 
 
370 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 New York and come to make your home here in the 
 wilderness." 
 
 "How is that?" 
 
 " See him, Prancina ! See the rogue ! How inno- 
 cent he is, is not he ? Well, well ! " 
 
 " Out with it, — come ! " 
 
 " Would one now ever suspect him ? Ah, how oft 
 and often have I stood in need of such assurance ! 
 Mark it, Francina ! You may never see the like 
 again ! " 
 
 " Come, now, I say," pleaded the helmsman, with a 
 foolish look, " I cry for mercy. I feel like a very 
 villain, and am pricking all over with a sense of 
 guiltiness, set upon with such sharp looks. What is 
 it you have found out ? What are you at ? " 
 
 " 'T is no wonder, sure, you feel guilt/." 
 
 " I redden only that I am treated like a rogue ; as 
 I live, I can think of nothing done to be ashamed of." 
 
 " I said not you should be ashamed." 
 
 "So!" 
 
 f Oh, no, that will you not, I '11 be bound, for all 
 you have been so sly." 
 
 " I follow you only as one gropes in the dark." 
 
 " There is light enough for others to see, never 
 fear." 
 
 " Will you out with it or no ? " 
 
 " Francina, what think you would make a man come 
 away from New York to live in the wilderness ? " 
 
 " I cannot think of anything," returned Francina, 
 simply, and with only a half-interest in the talk, 
 " unless it be a sweetheart." 
 
 " There, there ! it was not I that said it ; 't is noted 
 of all the world, you see ! " 
 
 The junker blushed crimson, but the beaming, flat- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 371 
 
 tered look he cast upon Hester showed how much 
 more the fact of the accusation than the substance of 
 it had to do with his confusion. 
 
 In this merry mood the party brought up to the dock 
 at the foot of Handelaer Street, and, filing through the 
 gate, found the town in a tumult. 
 
 The bell in the little church was ringing with might 
 and main, guns were thundering from the fort, while 
 Jonkers Street was thronged with citizens hux-rying 
 to the Stadthuys. 
 
 Inquiring the meaning of the commotion, they 
 learned that an express had just arrived with great 
 news from New York. 
 
 Following in the wake of the crowd, they climbed 
 the hill, and soon found themselves wedged in among 
 a mass of excited people who filled the narrow space 
 within the fort. The secret was soon out ; Lord Bello- 
 mont, the new governor, had arrived some weeks be- 
 fore in New York, and his long-delayed commission 
 was being read from the Stadthuys steps. 
 
 However much the general public may have been 
 startled at this news, the Leislers and their friends, long 
 before forewarned, had awaited it with ill-disguised 
 impatience. 
 
 Naturally, Barent, who knew well how much this 
 event imported to the family, broke forth into con- 
 gratulations, under his breath, to the sisters as soon 
 as they got clear of the crowd. " T is great news, — 
 great news. 'T is the beginning of the end. At last 
 we shall have justice. At last there is good hope you 
 will get your rights again." 
 
 In the midst of his speech they arrived at the corner 
 of the little side-street which led to his father's house. 
 
 "I pray you," said Hester, breaking in abruptly 
 
372 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 upon his eloquence, " do not give yourself the trouble 
 of going with us any further. We are greatly obliged 
 for the favor of the sail, and shall hope to find some 
 means of giving you a like pleasure." 
 
 Her face was pale, her tone almost hard, her man- 
 ner constrained to the last degree. The old bovine 
 look crept into the junker's face as he listened, and 
 he stood as if benumbed by a sudden blow. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 373 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 THE following letter from Madam Van Cortlandt 
 to her husband explains itself: — 
 
 Albant, loth May, 1698. 
 
 My beloved Husbajtd, — I am much concerned to 
 
 know how affairs go on since B t's accession. His 
 
 I'dsh'p's coming, if all that 's said be true, is not likely to 
 make for the benefit of some we wot of. There 's an end 
 once and for all of a certain junker's chances. What 
 next is to be undertaken we will consider of when we 
 meet. The plan writ of in my last with such commen- 
 dation, that he come hither to bear brother John com- 
 pany in his forthcoming embassy to the Five Nations, 
 must no longer be thought of ; for only last Lord's Day 
 morning, as I sat at ease in church, who should pop up 
 before me but that Leisler hussy ! and upon inquiry I 
 find the whole brood is settled down here. Make shift 
 rather to send him down to Lysbeth's for two or three 
 weeks' shooting, until we hit upon a snfficient pretext 
 for dispatching him to Holland. . . . 
 
 Your faithful, loving wife, 
 
 Gertrtd. 
 
 It was in accordance with the hint above given 
 that Steenie was forthwith posted off to Vlacktebos. 
 He received- the hint from his father with instant 
 favor. He was a zealous sportsman, Seawanacky 
 abounded in game, there was nothing to keep him at 
 home, and the suggestion of a possible voyage to 
 Holland upon business of moment was a prospect 
 
374 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 tangible and alluring enough to rob the future of 
 vagueness, life of aimlessness, and justify present 
 idling. 
 
 Cousin Lysbeth welcomed him with her usual 
 heartiness, but directly became aware of a change in 
 him which perplexed her not a little. What had 
 come over the ingenuous junker ? Where had he 
 picked up that hard, disagreeable way of talking, and 
 that laugh without a touch of mirth to it ? Shrewd 
 as she was, the good huysvrouw could never be quite 
 sure whether he was in jest or earnest ; and for the 
 matter of that, many of his jests — if they were jests 
 — she did not at all understand. 
 
 " So we have a new governor, it seems," she said, 
 as they sat on the stoop after supper. 
 
 " I believe you, cousin, and we made the welkin 
 ring at his coming." 
 
 " How so ? " , 
 
 " Nothing less than four full barrels of gunpowder 
 could avail to bruit the matter to the world." 
 
 " And all well enough ; 't is fitting he should be 
 received with honor," remarked the dame, who had 
 an hereditary but well-regulated love for parade. 
 
 " Humph, yes ! In that respect 't was small meas- 
 ure. Nay, as I think on it, 't was niggardly. They 
 should have burned the other two. Would you be- 
 lieve, now, they had two good barrels left, saved with 
 old-granny prudence against an attack by the Indians ? 
 To such things are we come ! " 
 
 " But his Excellency is of higher rank, 't is said, 
 than any before sent out to us." 
 
 " So you would have sworn from the banquet ; the 
 like was never seen here ; only your earls and lord- 
 ships are born with stomachs for such feasts." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 375 
 
 " What had they then so fine ? " asked cousin Lys- 
 beth, eagerly, with a true huysvrouw interest. 
 
 " Everything that walks or creeps, or swims or 
 flies, — venison, beef, mutton, pork, veal, lamb, 
 sausages — " 
 
 " Meat to every man's liking, and none too much 
 for the occasion." 
 
 " — turkeys, geese, ducks, chickens, grouse, and 
 quail — " 
 
 " Ei ! ei ! " exclaimed cousin Lysbeth, in protesta- 
 tion. 
 
 " I swear to you ! — was I not one of them ? — to- 
 gether with pasties, puddings, cakes without number, 
 and wines without stint." 
 
 " And how many to eat ? " 
 
 " Everybody worth counting in the town ; a hun- 
 dred and fifty at least, — all bowing and smirking 
 and lordshipping with might and main. Mayor De 
 Peyster at the head." 
 
 " What manner of man is his Excellency ?" 
 
 " Not a woman in the land but will say we had 
 never such a governor before." 
 
 " Humph ! " 
 
 " Eor besides that, in stature and port, he outdoes 
 De Peyster himself, he comes dangerously up to 
 Solomon in glory of raiment." 
 
 " So ? He should make a show in keeping with his 
 ofiice, but 'tis pity if he have no more sense than to 
 overdo the matter." 
 
 " Sense ! Never fear. You have not more your- 
 self. See what a great opinion I hold of the man. 
 He has a will of his own, too. Heigho ! " He in- 
 terrupted himself with one of those lauglis the honest 
 dame liked not to hear. " Is it not enough to set a 
 
376 THE BEGUM'S, DAUGHTER. 
 
 dog laughing, cousin, to see them yonder hugging and 
 cosseting, when in three weeks they will be snarling 
 and spitting like cats ? " 
 
 " For me," said Vrouw Wickoff, gravely, " I see no 
 laughing matter in it ; 't is time we had an end of 
 quarrelling and bickering, and some heed was given 
 to the good of the province." 
 
 " ' The good of the province ! ' " repeated the junker, 
 with another laugh, louder and harder than before. 
 " What, pray, mean you by that fine phrase, cousin ? 
 What is the good of the province but the good of 
 Claes and E.ip and Jan many times multiplied ? Who 
 cares for Claes and Eip and Jan singly ? Not a 
 mother's son but themselves. See you ? 'T is every 
 one for himself. The province is but a name which 
 everybody writes on his banner to serve his turn." 
 
 The dame did not answer directly. She sat for 
 several minutes studying her kinsman as his roving 
 eyes gave her opportunity. 
 
 " I hope, at any rate," she began after a while, " his 
 Excellency will let bygones be bygones, and rake up 
 no old bones of contention." 
 
 " Why, know you not 't is for that precisely he has 
 come ? " 
 
 « What ? " 
 
 " To put down the pirates." 
 
 "'T is high time, too." 
 
 " And put up the Leislerians." 
 
 " Ei ? " 
 
 " For which these worthy merchants who have been 
 feasting him are expected to supply the money." 
 
 " God grant they may never be such fools." 
 
 The junker laughed long and loud. 
 
 " See you there, who would be bickering now ? 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 377 
 
 Ah, cousin Lysbeth, 't is as I thought ; were you a 
 man, there 'd be no such roistering bickerer in the 
 land." 
 
 " 'T is no bickering to make a stand against letting 
 loose a lot of vipers upon us." 
 
 " Why should they not be let loose, tell me ? Why 
 should they not have their ups after being trod so 
 long in the mire ? " 
 
 " 'T is the place for them," retorted Vrouw Wickoff, 
 stoutly ; " they 're not to be trusted." 
 
 A look of demure gratification gleamed in Steenie's 
 eye, as he watched his sober kinswoman take fire. 
 
 " Give them power again and they 'd cast the whole 
 province into an uproar," she continued, quite uncon- 
 scious of being baited. 
 
 " They are all of one flesh and blood ; 't is but fair 
 they should have their chance with the rest," went on 
 the junker, casting about for material to keep up the 
 flame. 
 
 " Go get you to bed ! " cried cousiu Lysbeth, sud- 
 denly awaking to the situation, " and to-morrow let 
 me find you in better sense ! " 
 
 The first week of Steenie's stay in Vlacktebos 
 passed without any event of note. He spent the days 
 tramping the country with his dog and gun, to such 
 good purpose that his cousin's larder was supplied to 
 overflowing. It was, perhaps, on account of this em- 
 barrassment of riches that she suggested sharing his 
 gifts with the begUm, in return for her kindness of 
 long ago. 
 
 Accordingly, on his way home one day he stopped 
 at the Staats farm with a bagful of birds. The begum 
 was not at home, so leaving his offering with a civil 
 message, the junker turned away. Hardly had he 
 
378 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 reached the highway, however, when he saw the lady 
 approaching. Upon hearing his errand she over- 
 whelmed him with thanks, and despite his excuses 
 and bedraggled condition, by sheer insistence brought 
 him back with her to supper. 
 
 At the entrance to the driveway she dismissed her 
 palanquin, and loitered under the tall trees upon a 
 pretext of pointing out the view. 
 
 " Here, if it please you. Mynheer, upon this knoll, 
 — so — looking to the west. There is nothing, I sup- 
 pose, stirring in town ? " 
 
 " Nothing of moment," he answered, busied with 
 the view. 
 
 " 'T is strange, with the coming of a new governor." 
 
 " True, the new governor, — I quite forgot him." 
 
 " 'T is because he goes on with things where his 
 late Excellency dropped them," continued the lady, 
 attentively studying his averted face. 
 
 « Not he." 
 
 "So?" 
 
 Directly the questioner's eye darkened with inter- 
 est, but she turned away with excellent control, and 
 occupied herself with the scenery. 
 
 " A little further to the right. Mynheer, The doc- 
 tor says 'tis the best point for a view in all Nieuw 
 Utrecht. Note the cliff yonder, glittering in the 
 sunset ; 't is like the glories of the Taj -Mahal. 'T is 
 thought, then, his lordship will have other views than 
 Governor Fletcher ? " 
 
 "As different as dawn from dark, so goes the 
 report." 
 
 " Yonder faint line you think the sky. Mynheer ; 
 't is no sky, but the sea itself. When the sun is over- 
 head 't is as blue as the sapphire on my hand." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 379 
 
 Steenie, perhaps thinking of the. last time he saw 
 the sea in Nieuw Utrecht, was silent. 
 
 " What, then, called so loud for amendment in Gov- 
 ernor Fletcher's doings ? " 
 
 The junker replied with his new laugh, and his 
 listener naturally stared. 
 
 " Pardon, Madam, your question is so innocent. 
 Know you not New York is become a den of thieves 
 under him ? The merchants are all turned pirates 
 and the officials are hand in glove with the rogues, 
 till there's not an honest man left in authority to 
 enforce his Majesty's noble Acts of Trade." 
 
 The new note struck by her mitor, accompanied 
 by. a certain slight recklessness of manner, clearly 
 fell upon the lady's ear as a discord, for she flashed 
 upon him a searching look. 
 
 " What think you of the story of Madam Fletcher's 
 jewels ? " he went on. 
 
 " Ei ? " cried the begum, with an outburst of curi- 
 osity, all guards forgotten. 
 
 " Her late lamented Majesty, 't is said, had nothing 
 like them." 
 
 " I know nothing of all that ! " interjected Madam, 
 breathlessly. 
 
 " How comes it, tell me, they look so like to certain 
 gems taken by pirate Tew from the Grand Mogul 
 himself in the Indian Ocean ? " asked the junker, with 
 a look of mingled mockery and insinuation. 
 
 The begum did not speak, but she gazed at him as 
 if every feature and limb had turned into bristling 
 interrogation points. 
 
 " Again, how came Madam Bayard with that won- 
 drous diamond, once worn by an Arabian princess, 
 foully murdered, 'tis said, on the high seas?" 
 
380 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 "What say you?" 
 
 " Let Minvielle too explain, if he can, the chest of 
 Arabian gold pieces found under his bed, and Adolphe 
 Philipse why he steals out in a ketch, under cover of 
 night, to meet his father's merchantmen coming in 
 from Madagascar." 
 
 Steenie laughed again in a way which seemed to 
 bewilder and irritate his hearer. 
 
 " How think you now ? " he went on, not blind .to 
 the impression he was making; "has not his new 
 Excellency something to do to drive out the rogues 
 and bring back those dear Leislerians ? " 
 
 " He dare not venture upon that ! " 
 
 " Why, know you not they are the only honest men 
 left in the province ? " 
 
 " What huysvrouw's tales are these. Mynheer ? " 
 cried the lady, with a sudden flash of anger. 
 
 " Such as are flying about the Stadthuys and buz- 
 zing in his new Excellency's ears. — So! this, then, 
 is the view you speak of ? 'T is indeed a fine pros- 
 pect of the land, but I see no water ; perhaps 't is 
 because the sun blinds my eyes I cannot make it 
 out." 
 
 The listener paid no heed to the attempted digres- 
 sion. 
 
 " And will he have new conncillors ? " 
 
 " Trust him for that ! " 
 
 " Men of his own mind, men of the mind to bring 
 back those " — she choked over the obnoxious word 
 — " those others to power ? " 
 
 Assuredly ! Think you he would consort a minute 
 with the rogues Fletcher had at his board ? " ques- 
 tioned the junker, with another laugh. 
 
 Insensibly pressing closer to her guest, Madam low- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 381 
 
 ered her high-pitched voice to a more confidential 
 key. 
 
 " What say you ? He will give back to the vrouw 
 and her children their goods and lands?" 
 
 "'T is so said." 
 
 "And take away — if he can — the guilt and dis- 
 grace ? " 
 
 " God knows ! " 
 
 Struck by the speaker's sudden sternness of tone, 
 the begum stood looking at him with kindling eyes. 
 There followed a moment of silence, in which she 
 seemed busied with the form of her next question. 
 Her trouble was lost. A cloud of dust arose on the 
 highway, a sound of heavy trampling was heard, and 
 the next minute a herd of young cattle caiife rushing 
 and snorting down the road, with heads tossing and 
 tails standing straight in air. 
 
 With a loud cry of terror the begum darted off 
 towards the house, her soft draperies floating back- 
 ward in the breeze of her own making. 
 
 Calling out vainly to reassure her, Steenie faced 
 about to cover her retreat. But the danger was 
 already over, and he stood staring at the cause of the 
 stampede. Mounted on a colt, without saddle or 
 bridle, her cap gone, her long braids hanging half 
 unravelled down her back, Catalina galloped past in 
 the wake of the flying cattle, followed afar off by a 
 panting negro. 
 
 Steenie jumped upon a bowlder to look after them. 
 The dishevelled rider soon overtook the herd, and 
 dashing through their midst headed them back. The 
 negro, meantime, had come up- and opened a gate, 
 and by dint of dodging and much shouting the cattle 
 were soon all driven into the lane leading to the barn- 
 
382 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 yard. Thereupon dismounting and turning her colt 
 in after them, the breathless young hoiden sauntered 
 up towards the house. 
 
 Coming unexpectedly upon the junker, who stood 
 waiting at the entrance to the driveway, she cast a 
 swift glance downward at her disordered dress, and 
 courtesying in some confusion stammered, — , 
 
 " I — I knew not you were here. Mynheer." 
 
 Steenie did not answer ; he stood noting in silent 
 amazement the physical development which had taken 
 place in the speaker since their last meeting. 
 
 " If you come to wait upon my mother, she is 
 within," continued Catalina, with a movement of im- 
 patience under the scrutiny. 
 
 "No — I — yes, I have seen her." 
 
 « So ! " 
 
 Another minute passed in awkward silence, the vis- 
 itor still absorbed. 
 
 "I bid you good-night, then. Mynheer !" cried the 
 girl, courtesying again, and starting at a round pace 
 for the house. 
 
 " Pray you — I — Catalina, will you run away ? " 
 
 The fugitive halted with evident reluctance. 
 
 " I am bidden to eat supper with you." 
 
 " You are welcome," she said, constraining herself 
 with ill grace to the duties of hospitality. 
 
 They turned and walked towards the house, Steen- 
 ie's eyes still busy, and not without cause. With her 
 tints all heightened and her limbs pliant from her 
 late exercise, the girl's whole person seemed marked 
 by a physical brilliancy not to be overlooked. 
 
 " Pray where learned you that trick of riding ? " he 
 asked, awaking suddenly to a sense of his responsi- 
 bility for some part of the conversation. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 383 
 
 " That colt is not broken yet ; he cannot abide any 
 sort of gear;" she explained briefly. 
 
 " Your mother was in terror of the cattle, and ran 
 away." 
 
 " Yes, she dreads all beasts with horns." 
 
 Steenie hemmed and hawed. For some reason not 
 quite clear, he felt the contagion of his companion's 
 constraint, and strove in vain to lift the conversation 
 from the dead level of formality. 
 
 " I have come down for some shooting." 
 
 "So?" 
 
 " And am visiting at my cousin's." 
 
 "Vrouw WickofE?" 
 
 " Yes. I met your mother upon the highway, when 
 she would nothing but that I should stay, despite my 
 sorry plight." 
 
 " She could not do less, it seems." 
 
 The begum stood on the stoop awaiting them; 
 quite unconsciously she relieved the situation in a 
 moment. 
 
 " Catalina, you have given me a great terror ; never 
 drive again those mad cattle ! Ah ! " she cried, with 
 a shudder, " I tremble yet here at my heart to think 
 of it. Mynheer, pardon that I left you. I was beside 
 myself. You would order your dress before eating ? 
 There is a servant waiting within to attend you." 
 
 But a sudden impulse had seized Catalina. Turn- 
 ing quickly to their guest, she almost took his hand 
 in her eagerness. 
 
 "Oh, Mynheer— " 
 
 " Pardon ! " 
 
 " You come lately from New York ? " 
 
 " Yes," murmured Steenie, somewhat taken aback 
 by this unaccountable change of mood. 
 
384 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " You have seen her, then ! Where is she ? Is she 
 well ? How does she look ? " 
 
 " She ! " 
 
 " Catalina ! Catalina ! " nervously interposed the 
 begum, " Mynheer has to make himself ready for 
 supper, your own dress is to be thought of, the table 
 waits." 
 
 The junker made excellent use of the moment's 
 diversion. A dawning look of consternation upon his 
 face was quietly checked, and he answered calmly if 
 a little stiffly, — 
 
 " You mean Hester ; I hope she is well." 
 
 " Hope ! " 
 
 Catalina's honest stare of amazement was more 
 trying than her question. 
 
 " She is not in New York ; she is in Albany. I 
 have had no business to take me thither — " 
 
 The explanation was interrupted by the begum, who, 
 putting the questioner unceremoniously aside with a 
 profound courtesy to her guest, motioned for him 
 to go. 
 
 Deeply grateful at the moment for the interference, 
 it did not occur to the junker until long afterwards 
 that the mother's behavior was somewhat peculiar. 
 
 When later they all met in the parlor, the begum 
 explained that her husband was absent from home 
 upon business, and herself led the way to the supper 
 room and did the honors of the table. Meantime she 
 held the conversation strictly within bounds, and pre- 
 vented any further outburst from her daughter by 
 doing all the talking herself. 
 
 Steenie's vacant look showed that he gave but little 
 heed to what she said, and it iS" doubtful, indeed, if the 
 lady herself could have given a very clear subsequent 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 385 
 
 account of the drift of her own talk, so differently 
 busied were her thoughts and tongue. Later in the 
 evening, however, she was brought to a shai-p recogni- 
 tion of time, place, and circumstance by a chance re- 
 mark of Catalina's in answer to their guest's parting 
 greeting. 
 
 " I know not," he said, " how much longer I may be 
 in Vlacktebos, but I hope at any rate to see you soon 
 again." 
 
 " There is good prospect of it, too, for we may go 
 back to New York to live, now that father is made one 
 of Lord Bellomont's councillors." 
 
 Lingering upon the stoop after their visitor had 
 gone, Catalina's eye fell by chance upon an unfamiliar 
 object lying near her on the bench. Taking it in her 
 hand, she discovered it to be a powder-horn, heavily 
 mounted in silver and bearing the initials " S. V. C." 
 Starting up, she looked eagerly along the highway 
 with the purpose of recalling the owner, but his tall 
 figure had already disappeared. 
 
 " Mother ! " she called, turning at the same time to 
 go in. 
 
 Receiving no answer, her first impulse evidently gave 
 way to a later. She did not repeat her call, but stood 
 hesitating, one foot upon the threshold, looking at the 
 object in her hand. 
 
 Presently a step was heard in the hall. With a 
 quick movement she thrust the horn under her apron, 
 and went in " with an air of nothing." 
 
 An hour later, as she sat in the broad window-seat 
 in the seclusion of her own room, she drew forth the 
 bauble and studied the chasing upon the silver bands, 
 holding it the while tenderly in her hand, and polish- 
 ing it with her handkerchief in a caressing way. 
 
 25 
 
386 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 After a little, with apparent forgetfulness she 
 dropped it in her lap, and sat with her head resting 
 on her hand, gazing at the fading tints in the west 
 and the lighting up of the stars, until the tenuous 
 silvery peal of Dominie Varick's far-off church-bell 
 came floating over the meadows, a warning curfew. 
 She arose at the familiar signal, forgetful of the 
 treasure in her lap, which fell thumping to the floor. 
 
 With a quick look of remorse as for an injury done 
 to a sentient creature, she sprang to pick it up, wiped 
 it gently, and with a sudden impulse carried it to her 
 lips. Directly she realized what she had done. A hot 
 flush swept over her face, she threw the horn violently 
 to the floor, and darting across the room cast back 
 over her shoulder a startled, guilty look, as if under 
 arraignment before her own accusing conscience. 
 
 Next morning, on going downstairs, she sought her 
 mother without delay, and handing over the horn said, 
 gravely, " Here is something Mynheer left behind 
 him."" 
 
 " 'T is something he needs, too," said the begum, 
 studying it curiously ; " he will think it lost ; you can- 
 not do better than ride over speedily and take it back 
 to him." 
 
 " I will do nothing of the sort ! " cried the daughter, 
 in a sudden flutter. 
 
 The matron, opening wide her small black eyes, 
 stared after the retreating maiden, and thereupon 
 spent a good half-hour puzzling over this trifling cir- 
 cumstance, as she paced to and fro upon the sanded 
 floor. 
 
 Before she could take further action in the matter, 
 liowever, there came a mounted servant with a mes- 
 sage from Vrouw Wickoff, begging the begum and 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 387 
 
 Catalina to do her the honor of supping with her the 
 following day. 
 
 Without consulting her daughter, the begum re- 
 turned an elaborate message accepting the invitation. 
 
 The old negro charged with the duty of repeating 
 this grandiloquence to his mistress looked aghast, but, 
 disdaining to ask either repetition or explanation, hied 
 him home, and recited to Vrouw Wickoff an unin- 
 telligible jargon which drew from Steenie a shout of 
 laughter. 
 
 The supper-party was a shrewd and characteristic 
 move on the part of cousin Lysbeth. Having heard 
 from her cousin that the Staatses might soon move 
 back again to the city, she straightway bethought her 
 that by one timely and well-directed stone she could 
 bring down a small flock of birds, to wit : I'edeem her 
 reputation from the taint of unneighborliness by a 
 parting touch of hospitality ; do honor to her kins- 
 man's visit; avail herself — no small consideration in 
 the case of so remarkable a personage as the begum — 
 of his services in entertaining ; and lastly — whisper 
 it not beyond the pantry wall ! — put to good use 
 the uncommon delicacies with which her larder was 
 stored. 
 
 When told that she was expected to make one of 
 the supper-party, Catalina for a moment looked panic- 
 stricken and declared she would not go. Waiting for 
 the consternation to pass, her mother asked in the 
 quietest way an artful question. 
 
 " Why, then, my daughter, are you in such fear to 
 meet Vrouw Wickoff ? " ' 
 
 Catalina was silent ; she saw the alternative await- 
 ing her disclaimer. With a burst of resentment at 
 the covert Insinuation, she cried indignantly, — 
 
388 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " I care nothing for Vrouw Wickoff ! I do not care 
 for anybody. I will go." 
 " It is well." 
 
 Cousin Lysbeth's supper was worthy of her reputa- 
 tion ; the napery was of home weaving and bleaching ; 
 the ware was brought from Holland by her grand- 
 mother ; the silver was of honest Dutch handiwork ; 
 and as for the fare, each separate viand had been 
 cooked under her own critical eye, from the partridges 
 roasted on a spit before the coals to the delicious izer- 
 cookjes, each branded in the middle with a big " S," 
 her maiden initial, by the baking-iron brought to her 
 husband's house as a part of her dowry. 
 
 The begum had honored the occasion with fitting 
 splendor. Not only was her own toilet rich and elab- 
 orate, but her interference in Catalina's had invested ' 
 the uncouth Dutch holiday garb with a touch of Orien- 
 tal elegance. This, instead of the usual crude colors 
 and violent contrasts, consisted of a dull red camlet 
 petticoat richly wrought with Indian embroidery, re- 
 lieved by a pale blue jacket of softest cashmere; while, 
 instead of clumsy gold ornaments, the rich tints of her 
 glowing eyes and sunburned cheeks were softened by a 
 double row of gleaming pearls wound closely about the 
 throat. 
 
 The anxious mother, thinking perhaps to forestall in- 
 vidious criticism upon her daughter, whispered Vrouw 
 Wickoff at the first opportunity that Catalina was 
 grown so shy since coming to the country that she 
 had much ado to bring her. To her measureless 
 amazement, however, she presently found herself stul- 
 tified by the young woman's very unusual behavior. 
 Far from being timid, the latter showed herself auda- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 389 
 
 cious. Without waiting to be addressed, she boldly- 
 accosted the company, she chattered like a magpie, 
 she interrupted Vrouw Wickoff without compunction, 
 she flatly contradicted her mother, she rallied the 
 astonished junker unmercifully, she paid no heed to 
 anything said to her, and effectually prevented any- 
 body else from talking. 
 
 The discomfited mother, affecting not to notice this 
 odd behavior, strove in vain to divert the attention of 
 her hostess. The trouble was, she could not divert her 
 own. With her thoughts wholly fixed upon Catalina, 
 her random words were without coherence. Vrouw 
 Wickoff made no pretence of heeding them. 
 
 " What think you. Mynheer ? " began Catalina as 
 soon as they had exchanged greetings. " When it 
 was discovered you had left your powder-horn behind, 
 mother would have had me come over straightway to 
 restore it." 
 
 " And why did you not ? " 
 
 " Why did I not ? Why did I not ? " interposing a 
 little scornful laugh. " Think you I would ride so far 
 upon so slight a matter ? " 
 
 " 'T is no slight matter to make me lose a day's 
 sport." 
 
 " So-o ! " she exclaimed, with an almost insolent 
 inflection. 
 
 " Besides, if you had come, I should have had the 
 pleasure of seeing you." 
 
 " I had liefer do something to pleasure myself." 
 
 " It should have yielded you some satisfaction to 
 procure me so great a boon." 
 
 " 'T is a fine speech, that, but why waste so much 
 breath without meaning ? " 
 
 " I see you would draw me on to an oath to confirm 
 it?" 
 
390 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Not I, indeed ; I would have nothing sworn to but 
 what is worth while." 
 
 " By what means am I to convince you ? " 
 
 " One deed is better than a thousand words," re- 
 turned the reckless girl, with a toss of the head and 
 a bravado smile. 
 
 " So ! Then shall I come to wait upon you to- 
 morrow morning." 
 
 There was a passing look of consternation, a quick 
 rally, and the forced smile turned to a nervous laugh 
 as she answered, — 
 
 " You had best make sure I am to be at home." 
 
 The begum, left alone by Vrouw Wickoff's with- 
 drawal to give a supervising touch to the supper- 
 table, listened aghast as the conversational ball was 
 thus tossed back and forth between the young people. 
 
 " You may tell me now, then," continued Steenie, 
 with a look of amusement. 
 
 " Indeed shall I not ! " 
 
 " Then must I needs take the risk." 
 
 Further talk was prevented by the arrival of Domi- 
 nie Varick and the announcement of supper. 
 
 Next day, Dr. Staats, who had come home on a fly- 
 ing visit, took his wife back to town with him to make 
 some preparations for their forthcoming removal. 
 
 Oatalina, left alone with the children and servants, 
 wandered about the house in an aimless waj', anxiously 
 studying the movement of the shadows on the dial, or 
 from her chamber window scanning at brief intervals 
 the distant highway. She became more and more un- 
 easy as the hours rolled by. At dinner-time she had 
 reached such a state of suspense that she sat pushing 
 about the dishes and drumming on the cloth, unable 
 to swallow a mouthful. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 391 
 
 Hardly had she risen from the table, when a man 
 came with a note announcing that Mynheer Van Cort- 
 landt had been called to Breuckelen on some business, 
 which would prevent his coming to pay the promised 
 visit. 
 
 An odd mixture of relief and chagrin showed itself 
 in the reader's face as she finished the note. Her sus- 
 pense, at least, was ended ; she wasted no more time 
 peering from the window, but taking some needle- 
 work, repaired to the orchard, where she disposed her- 
 self upon a shaded bench under the apple-trees, her 
 favorite resort on a warm afternoon. 
 
 Her little fit of industry soon passed ; her work fell 
 unheeded from her lap, while eyes and thoughts were 
 given up to reading and re-reading the bit of a note 
 which she drew from her pocket. 
 
 To one in such oblivion the hours steal by on muf- 
 fled feet, and so to Catalina the afternoon passed like 
 a dream. The sun was already setting when, upon 
 hearing a faint stir near at hand, she raised her head, 
 and beheld the writer of the note himself standing 
 before her. With a futile effort at concealment, she 
 thrust the crumpled paper in her bosom, rose quickly 
 from her seat, and all her hardihood of yesterday 
 flown, stood dumb and trembling before him. 
 
 " I am here at last, you see." 
 
 But instead of a welcome, the amazed junker had for 
 his pains only a confused impression of burning blushes, 
 eyes filled with tears, and a vanishing figure. 
 
392 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 A WEEK or more after the supper-party, some so- 
 cial impulse prompted Steenie to send up and 
 invite his old friend Oornelis De Peyster down for a 
 day's shooting. 
 
 Cousin Lysbeth was captivated with their visitor. 
 His name was well known and honored in the pro- 
 vince. Tales of his family's wealth, moreover, and of 
 the state maintained at the magnificent new mansion 
 in Queen Street had reached the old dame's ears, and 
 not without effect. 
 
 But Cornells needed no such bolstering. Nature, 
 as if to prove that she had not exhausted her resources 
 of wit and comeliness upon his brothers, doled him out 
 a double-handed measure of each at his birth. The 
 hospitable huysvrouw showed that she well knew the 
 meaning of the phrase " hungry as a hunter," by the 
 repast she had ready for the two tired junkers at their 
 home-coming. 
 
 Grateful for her bounty, Cornells crammed the ears 
 of the delighted old woman with alternate compliments 
 and gossip, as they sat at supper. " News, Madam ! 
 the air is filled with it. You know well with what a 
 high hand Bellomont started out ; 't was child's play 
 to the pitch he is now arrived at. He stops at noth- 
 ing; he has set the whole town by the ears. He seizes 
 upon ships and cargoes, no matter whose ; charges the 
 highest merchants with piracy ; thrusts Bayard, Min- 
 vielle, and others as good out of the council in dis- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 393 
 
 grace ; and now outdoes everything yet by giving out 
 that he will annul all grants of government lands made 
 in the memory of man. Think of the panic among the 
 owners ! EoUing in riches to-day, to-morrow they may 
 be beggars. Another breast of duck, Steenie — enough 
 — enough ! I never in my life tasted such cider, Vrouw 
 Wickoff. But as I was saying, his lordship has stirred 
 up a cage of lions, — oh, believe me, he has ! Bayard 
 is already flown to England to lay his grievance be- 
 fore the king, the great laiwi-owners are making ready 
 for battle, when just at this moment, alack for his 
 lordship ! comes news that the famous Captain Kidd 
 has raised the black flag, turned freebooter on his own 
 account, and is robbing and sinking every vessel that 
 comes in his way. Mark you, 't was Bellomont had 
 him appointed ! Not another morsel, good huysvrouw, 
 unless you would have my death at your door ! " 
 
 So happily absorbed were guest and hostess in 
 their gossip that neither noted Steenie's big eyes and 
 gasp of astonishment. 
 
 " See you now how speedily his lordship's curses 
 come home to roost ! T was well-known this villain 
 was his bosom friend. But the worst remains : you 
 would never believe it in a man of his lordship's birth 
 and breeding; 'tis incredible, I say, yet none the less 
 true that he has gone over, body and soul, to the 
 Leislerians. So ! you have heard something of that ? 
 Yes, to be sure. Councillor Staats is your neighbor ; 
 but has his Excellency's latest freak perchance come 
 to your ears ? What think you 't is ? Why, hearing 
 that Parliament has at last taken off the curse of at- 
 tainder from old Jacob's progeny, his lordship straight- 
 way issues an order that their lands and chattels be 
 restored, — restored, mind you, after all these years 
 
394 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 when they have been boug^ht and sold over and over 
 again. Oh, there never was such a storm since the 
 deluge. Eh, Steenie, what now ? Your face is the 
 color of a rag ; that last pull through the swamp was 
 too much for you." 
 
 But Steenie, without troubling himself to answer 
 this friendly inquiry, arose and stalked out of the 
 room. 
 
 Cousin Lysbeth was greatly interested in the dis- 
 covery that Steenie's cynical mood, his queer talk, and 
 strange laugh, entirely disappeared after his friend's 
 visit. She was not surprised to see him instead rather 
 pensive and preoccupied. What more natural ? He 
 missed that gay, high-hearted junker's companionship; 
 she missed it herself ; it had acted upon her like a 
 current of electricity, quickening her circulation and 
 exciting her sensory ganglia. She accordingly sym- 
 pathized with her cousin, and sang, with proper re- 
 serves, the praises of their departed guest. 
 
 Steenie listened to all this in silence. One might 
 have thought, indeed, he had heard never a word of 
 cousin Lysbeth's kindly solace. , One might have 
 thought, moreover, that all the birds had flown the 
 land, so empty was the hunter's pouch, these days, 
 when he slipped it from his stalwart shoulders, on 
 getting home. 
 
 At last one morning there arrived a letter from his 
 mother with the news that things were fast getting in 
 trim for his mission to Holland, and that the time of 
 his going had been already fixed. 
 
 It proved to be stirring news. He acted like a man 
 just awakened from sleep, and possessed with a fever- 
 ish desire to make up for long inaction. He seemed 
 hardly able to endure the petty obstacles to his set- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 395 
 
 ting forth out of hand. Upon any available wings 
 he would have flown as the bee flies, and left his be- 
 longings out of account. But even the best-regulated 
 household is at the mercy of events. The horse he 
 usually rode was lame, another had gone on an errand 
 to Nieuw Utrecht, the rest were at work in the fields. 
 Cousin Lysbeth, with ready sympathy, went forth her- 
 self after one of the field-horses. The junker knew 
 too well the deliberate pace of the good huysvrouw; 
 he knew the difficulties of the way, including a hill 
 and a marsh ; he knew the slow plodding gait of the 
 heavy cart-horse; knew that it must be baited and 
 reharnessed before starting; and dwelling upon all 
 these points with a too active fancy, he hastily threw 
 his things into a pack, slung it across his shoulder, 
 and without awaiting his kinswoman's return started 
 forth on foot. 
 
 Making his way through the thick woods surround- 
 ing Vlacktebos, over the hills beyond, and down 
 through the straggling village of Breuckelen, with its 
 one poor little church planted conspicuously in the 
 middle of the highway, he came at last to the ferry, 
 at the close of day, and was put over in the lumbering 
 little ketch to the other shore. 
 
 Here was to be seen no sign of the broil and tur- 
 moil Cornelis had told of. The harbor lay shining 
 and waveless as glass, reflecting the gorgeous pageant 
 of sunset, and showing the town with its score of 
 steeples, towers, and wind-mills turned topsy-turvy in 
 its placid water. Within as without reigned the same 
 unbroken peace. It was the ^upper-hour. Nature's 
 breathing-time, when the buzzing, fretful human 
 swarm had gone to hive, and the streets were de- 
 serted save for a few sober, belated people hurrying 
 
396 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 to their homes. Lights gleamed from the houses as 
 the junker passed along, and in the gathering gloom 
 the bits of gardens looked cool and dim and shadowy, 
 while odorous shrubs, wafting a neglected fragrance 
 on the air, sealed the spell of perfect peace and 
 repose. 
 
 The morrow was Lord's Day. Like all the world, 
 Steenie went to church. Cornelis's report was veri- 
 fied. In their old pew sat the Leislers, a reunited 
 family. The junker felt a deep stir within him, a 
 heart-queasiness which was neither pleasure nor pain, 
 but upheaval. The church, the congregation, the 
 measured tones of the preacher, the swashing of the 
 waves upon the neighboring rocks, the distant carol 
 of the song-birds borne in through the open windows, 
 all seemed whelmed and merged in a background, 
 vague, shifting, neutral, on which was projected in 
 magic relief that well-known form, which he studied 
 now as if for the first time, and with an intensity of 
 interest never felt before. A form well-known yet 
 new, a face familiar yet not the same. Was the 
 change wholly in the face, or somewhat in him ? 
 Perhaps this thought added to his bewilderment. 
 Had the ripening years wrought in him a clairvoyant 
 vision, revealing what lay hidden to the purblind gaze 
 of youth and passion ? Whatever the change in him 
 or her, the same charm still hung about that serene 
 forehead, those steady, clear-gazing eyes ; it was with 
 the lower face the ruthless remodeller had been busy, 
 there where the same serenity strove in vain to veil 
 the traces of the relentless strigil. 
 
 At the breaking up of the congregation many old 
 friends gathered about the widow and her children 
 with hand-shakings and congratulations. It is no- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 397 
 
 body's business to insinuate that these worthy folks 
 were not sincere, or that the recent good-fortune of 
 the family had anything to do with the matter, not- 
 withstanding the ironic turn to Cobus's lip. 
 
 Steenie waited his turn. The crowd opened, and 
 Hester stood before him. The tranquil smile died 
 away on her lips, perhaps on account of the sudden- 
 ness of the meeting, and a fleeting little look of 
 trouble passed over her face. 
 
 It was the wake of a volition. It was as though 
 she had foreseen and prepared herself for this emer- 
 gency. Her manner was as nearly like the old, free, 
 familiar manner as a conscious imitation can be like 
 teality. The junker himself was constrained. As 
 growth is the distinctive function of all life, it was 
 inevitable that the two should have warped away from 
 their old perfect adjustment. It was like every com- 
 ing together of friends long separated, each striving 
 to take up and go on with the severed relations, and 
 each groping blindly back from different standpoints 
 for the lost thread. 
 
 As they came out upon the greensward before the 
 fort, Steenie unconsciously turned towards the Copake 
 Rocks, their favorite stroll in the old days. Hester 
 hesitated. He looked at her anxiously, as if attach- 
 ing some peculiar significance to her decision. It was 
 promptly made, and in his favor. They walked along 
 the beaten path by the shore, they clambered over the 
 rocks ; visiting all the old nooks and haunts, talking 
 of the recent happy turn of fortune in her family, — 
 of their prospects and plans, of Cobus's long struggle 
 in England, of their own life in Albany, of the en- 
 ergetic advocacy of their cause by his Excellency, and 
 like topics. At last all this came to an end, like the 
 
398 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 running down of a clock. Then fell a silence. Each 
 had dreaded it, fought against it, put it off by make- 
 shifts, all the time conscious that it must come. 
 Awkward, painful, terrible, as it became in its in- 
 definite duration, it was the first honest intercourse 
 of the day, — for intercourse it was, as real as any 
 tongue-told commerce of their thoughts. 
 
 If, as they sat thus in dumb suspense waiting for 
 the swift spirit to move, all their past had unfolded 
 itself before them like a panorama, which of the two, 
 in the long and varied history, would have found the 
 seed of a single remorse ? Which would have ac- 
 knowledged in the whole record a deed or thought 
 unfaithful to that spring-time betrothal of so long 
 ago? 
 
 The junker knew that it was for him to speak, and 
 he did speak. As he cleared his throat a shallop 
 turned the point from the Bast River, and slowly 
 floated past them just outside the breakers. It had 
 the effect of an intrusion. He waited for it to pass ; 
 then, without turning his head or lifting his eyes 
 from the crisp blue waves dancing before him, he 
 said suddenly, — 
 
 " So our long waiting is at an end. I thought never 
 to have seen the day." 
 
 Receiving no answer, he presently went on : — 
 
 " I thought you cruel, — I will be frank with you, — 
 I had many bitter thoughts of you. It seemed you 
 held me of mean account. It is easier now for me 
 to see that you had some cause for your course. It 
 was perhaps a pride I should have reverenced." 
 
 " Do not call it pride," she answered, scarcely 
 audible for huskiness. " Call it rather duty." 
 
 " Whatever it be called, it is satisfied ; it need no 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 399 
 
 longer be considered. All you waited for is happily 
 accomplished, and the ordeal is ended." 
 
 " I know not if it be." 
 
 " What mean you ? " 
 
 " 'T is feared by some among our friends here that 
 his Excellency's order will not be obeyed, but will be 
 resisted in the courts." 
 
 " That touches only the gear," broke in the junker, 
 impatiently. " "What has that to do with the matter ? 
 Your father's memory is vindicated, your name is 
 cleared of taint ; 'tis that you were concerned about." 
 
 A slight flush kindled in Hester's cheeks at this 
 rebuke, and she looked humiliated. 
 
 " I was thinking of my mother," she murmured 
 apologetically. 
 
 " 'T is time to be thinking of ourselves, if indeed I 
 am any longer worth thinking of in your estirnation." 
 
 " I am sorry to have grieved you ; it was innocently 
 spoken." 
 
 He choked down his bitterness at this meek reply. 
 " I have forgotten how to make plans," he went on, 
 more gently, " for happiness, at any rate. Thus far 
 in life all the schemes held dear have come to naught. 
 I believe no longer in any good-fortune. I cannot 
 shake off the dread that it is a dream from which I 
 shall soon awake, to find life colder and drearier than 
 ever." 
 
 " We have had small cause for joy these late years," 
 she said, vaguely. 
 
 " Nor ever will until you cast off the fetters you 
 have so long worn." 
 
 " Fetters ? " 
 
 " Of superstition." 
 
 She flushed, but refrained from speaking. 
 
400 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Of mistaken zeal, of devotion to tlie dead, which 
 has led you into neglect and injustice to the living." 
 
 She sat for a space without remark, as if weighing 
 his words and making allowance for his mood. " How 
 will it help us now to talk upon that ? " 
 
 " By way of warning," he returned quickly. 
 
 " I thank my heavenly Father no such call is like 
 to come to me again in this life. If there should — " 
 
 He turned, and waited intently for the conclusion 
 of the sentence. 
 
 " — I trust and pray to him I may have strength to 
 do my duty as it is made clear to me," she concluded, 
 firmly. 
 
 He rose to his feet, with an angry look, and walked 
 a few steps apart, as if to prevent the answer which 
 rose to his lips. 
 
 The brief space for reflection was evidently im- 
 proved by each. 
 
 " Hester," he said, coming back to his seat presently, 
 in a calmer mood, " this is not the way for us to talk. 
 I am at fault. Let us have done with reproaches ; 
 they cannot bring us together; they cannot help to 
 bring back those old days, those old dreams, all that 
 sweet companionship, of a time so long ago it seems 
 a part of some former life." 
 
 " I meant not to offend you," she murmured, touched 
 by his words and tone. 
 
 " Let it pass. I was childish. I am not offended. 
 I ought not to be offended by anything you can say, 
 so long — so long as you love me ? " 
 
 He finished the sentence with an inflection so em- 
 phatically interrogative that involuntarily she put out 
 her hand towards him, as if for a reassuring caress. 
 
 He seized it eagerly. His face lighted up with a 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 401 
 
 look long strange to it. He drew a deep breath. His 
 tongue was loosed. His pulses beat time again to the 
 measure of hope. With one strenuous effort, he rose 
 forth from the atmosphere of benumbing apathy which 
 had overhung and hemmed them in since leaving the 
 church door. 
 
 " Think you they will ever come again, those times, 
 Hester ? Are we not grown too old, and wise, and 
 sad ? We were silly then, two happy fools. I wonder 
 often, now-a-days, if one needs not be a fool to be so 
 happy ? " 
 
 A pleased look stole over her face. Regarding him 
 shyly, with an evident reawakening of her old admira- 
 tion, she listened to his enthusiasm and yielded to his 
 impetuosity. This change of mood was not lost to his 
 watchful eye, and it acted upon him like sunlight on 
 a flower. 
 
 " But why cannot we grow silly again, sweetheart ? 
 I feel within me the makings of a rare fool." 
 
 She laughed outright at this conceit, — an answer 
 which, more than a hundred words, availed to rend 
 the filmy web of constraint years of estrangement had 
 woven between them. He seized her other hand, he 
 folded her in his arms. They awoke, as it seemed, 
 from a long sleep, and looked back upon their trouble 
 as upon a nightmare. 
 
 Approaching sounds were heard ; their privacy was 
 presently intruded upon by a group of idle boys com- 
 ing to sit upon the rocks. It was more than an in- 
 terruption ; it was a shock. It resulted in dashing the 
 cup from lips thirsting for a long-expected draught. 
 It was one of the finite nothings that have infinite 
 effects. 
 
 They rose and sauntered up Broadway. 
 26 
 
402 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 In the street, a short distance before them, stood 
 a little group of three well-known persons, who 
 seemed in the act of separating. Abram Gouveneur 
 and Mary Milborne walked northward towards the 
 Landpoort, while Cobus, turning away from them 
 with a loud laugh and a parting gibe, strode south- 
 ward towards the fort. 
 
 His face was still beaming with the afterglow of 
 laughter, when by chance he raised his eyes and be- 
 held, just beside him, his other sister and her swain. 
 His face changed in a trice. The smile gave way to 
 a scowl, and without a word or look of greeting he 
 passed them by. 
 
 Having long since adjusted his relations with 
 Jacob Leisler junior, Steenie made a stout effort to 
 ignore the matter, and went on talking with studied 
 indifference. As well might he have hoped to ignore 
 an iceberg ; turning one's back and vaunting the 
 sunshine unhappily does not stay the lowering 
 temperature. 
 
 Hester made no pretence of indifference, nor effort 
 to hide her dismay. Prom her silence, indeed, it is 
 much to be feared she lent but half an ear to Steenie's 
 talk. But the junker, it should be said, made sorry 
 work of talking. He had been cruelly winged, and 
 no longer able to soar, he lamely fluttered along the 
 ground. Arrived at the graveyard gate, why did not 
 some instinct warn him to drop the matter for a time, 
 or adjourn it until he could lay an offering on the 
 altar of the fickle goddess of moods ? Because youth 
 would forever be overcoming the giant Circumstance 
 with a pebble, and learns nothing from the bones of 
 former victims ; because, perhaps, a subtler instinct 
 whispered him to go on. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 403 
 
 He did go on, and Hester blindly followed. They 
 ■walked up and down among the grass-grown mounds 
 in the little burying-ground, he manfully wrestling with 
 the situation. Growing weary of fighting in the dark, 
 an impulse presently seized him to recognize what he 
 had been so laboriously trying to put out of sight, 
 drag it forth like a skeleton from the closet, and 
 make an end of it in fair daylight. 
 
 " Hester," he cried, suddenly, " you have always 
 shown yourself a girl with a mind of her own. Do 
 you suffer yourself now to be ruled by yonder — " 
 he checked himself — " by them who have no rights 
 in the matter ? " 
 
 " Poor Cobus ! " she answered, deprecatingly ; " he 
 cannot forget the past, he cannot understand how 
 things have changed in his absence. He comes back 
 thinking to find everything as it was. He has waited 
 so long, he has borne such trial and humiliation, he 
 should be forgiven." 
 
 " I forgive him. I forget him. I think nothing of 
 him. I only claim you shall give no heed to his 
 glowerings." 
 
 " I must needs consider him, he has toiled so hard 
 in my behalf. He has lifted us from the dust. He 
 has redeemed from reproach our martyred father's 
 name." 
 
 " That can he never do. Take no such comfort to 
 your heart ! " he burst forth, as if irritated beyond 
 endurance by this unexpected sounding of the old 
 string of discord. 
 
 "What say you ?" 
 
 " The memory of that man's tyra,nny and perse- 
 cution," he went on, with blind infatuation, "will 
 never be forgotten nor forgiven. 'T is burnt in upon 
 
404 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 men's hearts ; 't is interwoven in the annals of the 
 province." 
 
 " You — you say this ! " 
 
 "The king may make what decrees he will, and 
 forbid that a spade shall be called a spade, but 
 neither king nor Parliament can wash out guilt." 
 
 " Guilt ! " repeated Hester, in a tone whose breath- 
 less amazement aroused him too late to a sense of 
 what he was saying. " Think you, then, my father 
 was guilty?" 
 
 Looking down into her whitening face and glowing 
 eyes, he took alarm, and hesitated. 
 
 "The truth, — the truth, if you be a man!" she 
 demanded, imperiously. 
 
 " I do ! " he answered, with the look of one driven 
 to the wall. 
 
 " Then, as God my heavenly Father helps me, I 
 will never have more to do with you ! " 
 
 " Hester ! " 
 
 " Never ! — never ! — never ! " 
 
 The solemnity, touched with horror, of her look 
 and manner shocked the repentant junker. Bewil- 
 dered by the suddenness of it all, he stared stupidly 
 at the face before liim, — stared until, with returning 
 consciousness, he saw there signs, well-known to him, 
 of a resolution fixed as fate. He did not speak, but 
 drawing a long breath, as of one after suspended 
 animation, he turned away, and walked out of the 
 graveyard. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER- 406 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 HAVING caught a fleeting glimpse of Steenie at 
 church, Cornelis De Peyster came, a few days 
 afterward, to welcome him back to town. Doubtless 
 it was due to the host's own mood that the visitor 
 seemed a thought more gay and rattling than usual. 
 
 " Steen, trust me, bouwerie life is a bad thing for 
 you. You grow to loot like Van Twiller's owl ; 't is 
 truth, I swear! You've heard the news about old 
 Bellomont ? 'T is well he cannot hear me ; there 's 
 not such another tyrant betwixt this and the Grand 
 Mogul. This latest freak is worthy of him. What 
 think you ? 'T is nothing more nor less than to dig 
 up the bones of yonder gallow-birds." 
 
 Disgusted by the apathy on his listener's face, the 
 speaker shook him by the shoulder. 
 
 " Hear you that, man ? Leisler and his henchmen 
 are to be dug up, I say. A store of powder is to be 
 burned over them, bells are to be rung, and such 
 noisy honor done. 'Tis the newest London method 
 to wash out guilt, you may be sure. By and by when 
 this precious carrion is purged of sin and duly sanc- 
 tified, 't is then to be buried in the church, 'neath the 
 very sanctuary roof, mind you ; and there is a mon- 
 strous stir about it among the deacons and elders. Bi ? 
 So you can open your eyes at last ! " 
 
 The apathetic host indeed showed a languid 
 interest. 
 
406 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " But that is nothing to the pother raised in town. 
 The memory of that old bully is so green, and the 
 dread of him so little abated, that many are quaking 
 in their shoes lest, brought back to the light of 
 day, his ghost should usurp its ancient place, and 
 sweep the land with fire and sword. But I see you 
 care nothing for all this. Your eyes are strained 
 across the sea. Come, then, tell us about this Hol- 
 land voyage. When do you set sail?" 
 
 " To-morrow — next day — I know nothing about 
 it ; at any hour the ship is loaded." 
 
 " So ! You are on tenterhooks, then. Egad, if I 
 were but in your shoes ! You might do worse, too, 
 than take me in your train. My word for it, I 'd not 
 dishonor you. But I know not, after all, that I want 
 to go. Here are stirring times coming I would not 
 miss. The old Mogul yonder cannot hold this course 
 long ; there are ugly squalls ahead. He upsets every- 
 thing ; heaps honors on the Leislerians ; declares war 
 to the knife against all the world beside. Oh-h-h, 
 there is promise of rare sport hereabouts before you 
 get back ! But what time is set for your stay ? " 
 
 " None ; 't is not fixed ; it may be forever." 
 
 " Poll ! poll ! Never tell me you are downhearted 
 over going ! Ei ? I swear you are ! What, wear a 
 face like that over such a lucky chance ! There 's not 
 a junker in the province but would jump at it." 
 
 " They are welcome." 
 
 " Well, well ! was ever heard ? But 't is the way 5 
 luck comes to them that prize it not. Pearls cast be- 
 fore — Pardon! Oh, but this is a passing megrim, 
 a grumbling-fit the sea-air will blow away." 
 
 " I make no complaint." 
 
 " Truly, and do you not ? Complaint ! I hope not, 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 407 
 
 indeed ! Complaint at having a cliance to see the 
 world, to travel, to get out of this little hive and 
 spread your wings ! " 
 
 "And what is the good of all that?" 
 
 "Good! — but I'll not waste time talking to a 
 madman. Steen, your spleen is upset. Go- take a 
 posset and get on your nightcap. One might th^k," 
 rising to go, with a loud, rallying laugh, " I swear he 
 might, that you were leaving a sweetheart behind." 
 
 " I 'm leaving all behind. There 's none cares 
 whether I go or stay. I care not myself. What 
 matters it ? If the rest of the world prove no better 
 than this corner of it — " 
 
 « Ay, but it will, — it will ! " 
 
 " So let it, then. Good-by. 'T was good of you to 
 come. You were ever friendly. I shall think of you 
 often among yonder strangers." 
 
 The visit, perhaps by bringing about the formula- 
 tion of certain undefined thoughts, resulted in filling 
 Steenie with uneasiness and an impatience to be gone. 
 Every day he wandered down to the dock, and rest- 
 lessly hung about to watch the stanch bark " Angel 
 Gabriel " loading for the voyage. 
 
 Getting weary, one morning, noting the slow pro- 
 cess, he sauntered across town and out through the 
 Landpoort to the open country. 
 
 Passing Van Dorn's bouwerie, some impulse 
 prompted him to stop. The door was opened by 
 Ripse, now grown to a chubby, staring boy in 
 breeches. Walking in without a bidding, the junker 
 found Tryntje bending over Rip senior, who lay 
 stretched on a bed in the corner. The look which 
 lighted up the little huysvrouw's face at sight of him 
 was the best welcome he could have had. 
 
"408 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " What is here ? " 
 
 " 'T is Rip ; he thinks himself in a poor -way." 
 
 " What ails him ? " 
 
 " The rheumatics 't is." 
 
 " Ay, Mynheer," interposed the invalid himself, with 
 the open-hearted manner which had been an appreci- 
 able charm even in his worst estate, " rheumatics — 
 ugh-h ! — caught lying out all night in a ditch, com- 
 ing home from Annetje Litschoe's. She always said, 
 my — ugli-h ! — my vrouw here, I should come to 
 that, and so you see I have — ugh-h ! And what does 
 she ? She takes me home and cares for me, instead 
 of driving me off like a drunken dog ! " 
 
 " Ye 'd best not be a fool now, if ye can help it ! '' 
 broke in sharply the little vrouw, who was rubbing 
 the patient with some home-made liniment. 
 
 " She did, Mynheer, — she did, I say, and waits and 
 tends on me night and day since — ugh-h ! — " 
 
 " Well, then, will ye stop ? " 
 
 " — as I had been good and faithful to her." 
 
 " Go on, do, and bring back the fever with your 
 talk ! " 
 
 " There 's not such an — oh, moord ! — another 
 huysvrouw in the land — ugh-h ! " 
 
 " He is growing a baby. Mynheer ; give him no 
 heed," muttered the nurse aside to Steenie, as she 
 finished her task and turned away from the bed. 
 
 " I believe you. Rip," said the visitor heartily, in 
 answer to the patient. " Take you good care, then, 
 my man, that you give her no needless trouble hence- 
 forth. But I am sorry to find you in such a case, 
 with the winter at hand. How goes all else with you, 
 vrouw ? " 
 
 " All well, best thanks, Mynheer." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 409 
 
 " Never trust her, — never trust her, Mynheer," put 
 in the sick man again between his twinges. 
 
 " Would ye bring back the fever, I say ? " asked 
 Tryntje, interrupting her patient, with a vain attempt 
 to check the coming confidence. 
 
 " Things are at the worst. Mynheer, — at the very 
 worst. We are to be turned out of this, — turned out 
 on the highway like dogs, and me, — ugh-h ! — as you 
 see, in this state. Out of our own home, bought by 
 yonder one. Oh, my treasure, this kills me ! " 
 
 « Ye will be talking ! " 
 
 " By my vrouw yonder, I say, with her own gear." 
 
 " How is this ? " 
 
 " 'T was the old commander's, as ye know, this 
 bouwerie. We bought it — 't was for anybody to 
 buy — at the sale, and now comes his Excellency 
 and — ugh-h ! — and bids us be packing. They would 
 take it from her, — all she has in the world, and never 
 a stuyver of the cost paid back." 
 
 " They '11 never do it." 
 
 " We are warned, I say." 
 
 " But Vrouw Leisler, — she knows you, she will do 
 something." 
 
 " No, no, that will she not, Mynheer, nor raise a 
 hand. She hates the sight of us since we bought the 
 land." 
 
 " But his Excellency ? " 
 
 " Speak not of him. My Tryntje went to him yonder 
 at the fort, and showed him — ugh-h ! — the truth. 
 He turned her a deaf ear, and when she would argue 
 upon it, as she has a way at times, and spoke her mind 
 to his face, he had her thrust forth the council cham- 
 ber. Now tell me — tell me — ugh-h ! — if things are 
 at the best." 
 
410 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Lending a divided attention to the sick man, and 
 following the movements of the silent vrouw busied 
 with her household tasks, Steenie sat musing upon 
 what he had heard, when he was aroused by the rattle 
 of the latch. Seated in the corner, at the foot of the 
 bed, the door opened back upon him, and the new- 
 comer did not at once see him. 
 
 " My treasure ! " It was an ecstatic cry from the 
 vrouw as she embraced her visitor. 
 
 " So, Tryntje ! You are glad, then ? " 
 
 " Never till now ! And so tall, — a woman grown. 
 Where is my little dear ? She is lost, she is gone." 
 
 " No, she is not gone, but come, — just come back 
 to you, silly old goose to cry ! Come, now, dry your 
 eyes ! I have heard of your sick man from my 
 father, — we came back but yesterday. I have 
 brought him some medicine, and there are things 
 for yourself," setting down a basket upon the floor. 
 " Sh-h ! sh-h ! "Will you stop, I say ? Go empty 
 your basket, that I may have it for another time ! 
 Along with you ! I will not be soaked in tears, — 
 't is a pretty welcome indeed after all this time. So, 
 Rip, I am sorry to see you down, man. You must — 
 er — pardon — I — I saw not — " 
 
 " Catalina ! " 
 
 " Mynheer ! " 
 
 " So 't is you who are playing the doctor ? " 
 
 " Yes — no — ■ I knew not the need of one till to-day. 
 My father told me — 'twas he sent the medicine — 
 since he became councillor he has little time for heal- 
 ing the sick." 
 
 While delivering this spasmodic answer, the speaker, 
 all the dash of her entrance spent, edged nervously 
 towards the door. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 411 
 
 " But you are never leaving your patient so soon ? " 
 
 " 'T is my vrouw, Mynheer," put in Rip, " 't is ever 
 my vrouw she wants. Tryntje nursed her when a 
 baby. 'T is my vrouw she comes to see ; she cares 
 not a seawant's sliell for me, as why should she ? " 
 
 " I leave the patient to you, Mynheer. I go to help 
 Tryntje with the basket." 
 
 " 'T is a firm friend of the vrouw, that," said Rip, 
 looking after her as she disappeared from the room. 
 " Her worshipful mother, the doctor's great lady yon- 
 der, sends us a store of things and many fair speeches, 
 but she cares not enough to come." 
 
 In this wise the sick man maundered on, Steenie 
 nodding mechanical assent. It was fully quarter of 
 an hour before the two came back with the empty 
 basket. The visitor was tying the strings of her 
 hood, preparing to go. 
 
 " Good-day to you. Rip," she said, pausing at the 
 bedside. " I hope the next time to sec you better." 
 
 Turning then with a constrained air to Steenie, she 
 dropped him a formal courtesy, and, murmuring some- 
 thing inaudible, walked to the outer door, followed by 
 Tryntje. 
 
 " Away so soon ? " 
 
 " I must needs go — I — my mother charged me 
 not to loiter." 
 
 " By your leave, then, since you have no other com- 
 pany, T will walk back with you." 
 
 The junker looked puzzled at the evident embarrass- 
 ment which his suggestion caused. 
 
 " Many thanks — but — I — you are most kind. 
 Mynheer. I would else, but my horse is at the 
 door." 
 
 " What matter ?" persisted the officious escort. " I 
 
412 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 will walk at ybur side, then, since you will not wait 
 at mine." 
 
 Interpreting after his own fashion the two or three 
 disjointed words which he heard of the muttered an- 
 swer, the junker bustled after them and seated the 
 visitor in her saddle. Turning then, he took leave of 
 Tryntje. 
 
 " I am sorry to leave you in this trouble, vrouw." 
 
 " 'T is nothing." 
 
 " I will not forget, be sure, if I see a way to help 
 you." 
 
 " You were ever good, Mynheer." 
 
 " He will be well soon, the goodman yonder, never 
 fear." 
 
 Nodding respectfully in recognition of the attempt 
 at encouragement, but plainly without sharing the 
 hope expressed, the vrouw courtesied repeatedly as 
 her guests walked slowly away, the tall junker at the 
 horse's bridle, and Catalina fidgeting vaguely with the 
 saddle. 
 
 Directly they were upon the highway the rider 
 began to talk garrulously, showing an odd agitation 
 at the least pause in the conversation. Her com- 
 panion was naturally puzzled at the apparent want 
 of purpose with which she persistently kept to one 
 subject. 
 
 " 'T is well to try to raise her hopes, Mynheer, — 
 'tis good of you. She is much downcast, howsoever 
 she holds up her head ; she never complains, she 
 would not to me. It was nothing but ' All is at the 
 best, — all at the best,' but I saw her wipe the tears, 
 on the sly. And father says, — he went to them 
 yonder a week ago, — he says there is fear of Rip ; if 
 the cramp once lays hold upon the heart, there is an 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 413 
 
 end of him. She knows it, too, — she has puzzled it 
 out ; but she will not say so, she will never open her 
 lips to complain." 
 
 " Poor vrouw ! 't is a hard case. She is a brave 
 little body, and I would I might do something for her. 
 So you have come back to town to live ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes, we are but just come, — yesterday. 
 What a great pity 't is for them to lose the bouwerie!" 
 
 " So 't is, yes, a pity indeed. You must find the 
 town much changed." 
 
 " Oh, another place ; it seems no more like home — 
 I would go back — their own, too, hers alone if right 
 were right, and all they have ; what will they do ? " 
 
 " Be sure some way will be found, — something 
 can be done to hinder it ; 't will never be suffered, 
 such a wrong. Aha, see ! there is a place unchanged 
 for you, — Smiet's Vly yonder ; not a leaf nor a bush 
 is turned. 'T is the spot we first met, you and I. 
 You remember the bull, and the children running 
 away, and the mad prank I played you ? " 
 
 "I — I was very young ; 't is long ago now," was 
 the evasive answer. 
 
 " What ! have you forgot how I teased you, and the 
 rage you were in, and how you scolded me ? " 
 
 The junker laughed outright at the picture he' had 
 conjured up, and in his enthusiasm in recalling its de- 
 tails failed to note his listener's distressed look at the 
 reminiscence. 
 
 " Yes, yes, your face was blazing red, your eyes 
 shooting fire. You stripped my handkerchief from 
 your arm and stamped it underfoot, and declared 
 eternal war against me. Surely ycJu must remember 
 something of that ? " 
 
 "I — • I was a peevish child." 
 
414 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " That you were ; you held to your threat, too, 
 'T was a long time till — " 
 
 " But if, touching this matter, his Excellency has 
 declared against it, what can be done, Mynheer ? " 
 
 "Bi?" 
 
 " Can it be taken to the king ? " 
 
 " This business of Tryntje's ? Humph — haw — I 
 much doubt — I will think upon it. Oh, but 't was a 
 droll time we had that day. See you there the very 
 spot ! Here stood Corny De Peyster calling me, the 
 bull down yonder in the Vly, big Claes running with 
 the axe, you farther on by the Waterpoort stamping 
 your bit of a foot and tragically casting me off forever, 
 while up the Magde Paetje there was — ahem — er — 
 I—" 
 
 The speaker stopped short in his floundering, and 
 made no attempt to finish his sentence. He walked 
 on for several minutes without speaking. Catalina, 
 at once puzzled and relieved, stole a curious look ask- 
 ance at her glum escort as he strode along, but made 
 no attempt to break the silence. Presently recollect- 
 ing himself, by a resolute effort he shook off the im- 
 pression which weighed upon him. With a sweeping 
 glance townward, as if in search of a suggestion, he 
 forced himself to speak. 
 
 " Yes, the good old times are gone ; one knows not 
 what new things are in store for us here. Nothing 
 stays a minute as it was ; the town and townsfolk 
 will be changed past knowing against my coming 
 home." 
 
 " You are going away ? " asked the listener, quickly. 
 
 « Yes." 
 
 "To — to — a long journey ? " 
 
 " To Holland." 
 
'T is doubtful if I ever come back." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 415 
 
 " That need not take so long ; one may be back 
 again in a few months." 
 
 " 'T is doubtful if ever I come back." 
 
 « So ! " 
 
 A note of consternation in the tone drew the 
 junker's attention to an odd change in the speaker's 
 looks. The glowing color suddenly faded from her 
 cheeks, her eyes slowly closed, she clutched blindly 
 at the saddle-bow and swayed in her seat. None too 
 soon came her escort's supporting grasp. Upholding 
 the limp figure with one hand, he turned the horse's 
 head towards the Magde Paetje in quest of water. 
 
 As if surmising his purpose, the rider opened her 
 eyes, straightened herself in the saddle, and, as it 
 seemed, by an effort of pure will resumed self-control. 
 
 " Mynheer — pardon," gathering up her reins. "Do 
 not think me unmannerly. You will not mind that I 
 leave you. I must needs get home." 
 
 " But — but 't is better that I be with you — 't is 
 not safe ; you may be taken again — Catalina — I beg 
 you—" 
 
 Giving the whip to her horse, however, the wilful 
 girl galloped off in a cloud of dust, only drawing 
 rein to the slow pace required by law as she passed 
 through the city gate, and disappeared from sight. 
 
 Reaching home, Steenie was met on the threshold 
 by his mother, with the news that the " Angel Ga- 
 briel " was to sail the following day. This announce- 
 ment for a time put every other thought out of his 
 head. Despite his previous apathy, now that the mo- 
 ment of departure had come it stirred him into a 
 healthful excitement. The rest of the day was filled 
 with the bustle of final preparation. Although busied 
 with his own concerns, he did not forget his promise 
 
416 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 to Tryntje, and commended her case to his mother's 
 care. Madam Van Cortlandt, who had heard of the 
 Van Dorns only as old retainers of Leisler, was con- 
 servative in her promises. 
 
 " So ? Humph ! I will see. But now, my son, I 
 must leave you to do what more there is by yourself. 
 Your father seems not well of late, and needs my 
 attention." 
 
 The evening was only half-spent. Left to himself, 
 the junker brooded a long time over the fire. Then, 
 yielding to a restlessness whicli forbade the thought 
 of sleep, he threw on his hat and cloak, and wandered 
 out into the town. 
 
 Without thought as to his course, he visited many 
 of his old haunts, bringing up at last in the dock, 
 where he sat down upon the weather-stained cross- 
 beam of the old ducking-stool, and gazed off upon the 
 water, as if longing for the moment of his setting 
 forth. 
 
 The night was stormy ; the clouds hung low over the 
 little town, shutting out the world beyond. Through 
 the thick drapery of fog, the feeble lights of the sparse 
 shipping looked like the dull fiery eyes of some malign 
 disembodied intelligence keeping guard over the un- 
 conscious watcher. 
 
 Sitting thus absorbed, he presently became aware of 
 some unusual stir in the town. There was the tread 
 of many feet, the suppressed murmur of voices, while 
 from time to time dark figures, singly and in groups, 
 could be seen hurrying in the direction of the fort. 
 
 Brought back from his reverie to real life by this 
 strange occurrence, and moved still by an unconscious 
 interest, the interest of habit, in ^\'hat belonged to the 
 old life and old world from which he had already in 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 417 
 
 intent severed himself, he refrained from following the 
 crowd, but climbed with listless steps to his favorite 
 outlook on the Verlettenberg. 
 
 Here, though nothing could be seen for the dark- 
 ness, the wind brought to his ears faint sounds of 
 martial music from the direction of the Landpoort. 
 The sounds gradually came nearer. Heard more dis- 
 tinctly, the music resolved itself into the rhythm of 
 a solemn march. A long row of flaming torches 
 was seen moving down Broadway. He remembered 
 Cornells De Peyster's words, and knew what it all 
 meant. 
 
 With the languid interest of one foreign to place 
 and occasion, he left his post and repaired to the fort. 
 He arrived in time to see a memorable procession. 
 Behind a strong detachment of troops, marching with 
 draped flags and arms reversed, came a funeral car, 
 decked with mourning emblems, and followed by a 
 long line of attendant citizens carrying torches, which 
 flared and sputtered in the driving rain. 
 
 Massed about the entrance to the fort was a dense 
 multitude, silent and waiting. Steenie made one of 
 them. As the gates opened and the funeral car rolled 
 in, the bell in the old church-tower struck the hour of 
 midnight. The junker shuddered. Certain old im- 
 pressions came swarming back upon him with intoler- 
 able vividness. 
 
 The commander was, then, at last justified. The 
 ignominy of the scaffold and the darkness of the grave 
 had been followed by this resurrection to the honor of 
 the world and due sacramental rites. 
 
 Next morning, as he sailed out of the harbor under 
 a brilliant sun, this midnight pageant seemed to Steenie 
 as something he had dreamed. 
 
 27 
 
418 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 THE clouds which had so long shadowed the lives 
 and fortunes of the commander's family at last 
 showed signs of breaking. Like nature's clearings the 
 change came gradually. A dim white disk of promise, 
 glimmering at first vaguely through the vapor, bright- 
 ened presently into a noontide blaze of fulfilment. 
 
 If, as has been argued, there is needed a sombre 
 background of trial to bring out in their true values 
 the common blessings of peace of mind and daily 
 bread, Vrouw Leisler and her little flock by this time 
 should have been brought to a due appreciation of 
 these unprized gifts of Providence. 
 
 The atonement, so long in coming, seemed now 
 as complete as it lay in the power of man to make. 
 The taint had been taken from their blood; their dead 
 had been reinterred with Christian burial and public 
 honor ; the order had gone forth for the restoration 
 of their estates ; nay, even his Excellency, in the late 
 election, had found their name one still potent enough 
 to conjure with. 
 
 Furthermore, to signalize this heyday of returning 
 prosperity and happiness, Mary announced that she 
 had consented to become the wife of Abram Gouve- 
 neur. The young widow, in the full bloom of health 
 and ripened beauty, had, this time of her own free 
 will, yielded her hand' to the importunity of the keen- 
 eyed young Huguenot, who was as unlike in character 
 as he was in person to her former spouse. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 419 
 
 As if to emphasize in every way the contrast to her 
 earlier nuptials, the sun rose cloudless ou her wedding- 
 day, the glory of June shone in garden and orchard, 
 friends gathered from far and near about the now 
 prosperous family, and even their beloved old dominie 
 came tottering in on the arm of Cobus to perform the 
 marriage service. 
 
 Although still hale, time and suffering had left their 
 script on good Dame Leisler's face and sapped the 
 vigor of her frame. She stood resignedly aside, and 
 left the brunt of the preparation to Hester, who, with 
 her grave air of responsibility, might have been taken 
 for the bride's elder sister. Mary, indeed, was almost 
 foolish in her gayety, as long-frozen sources of sen- 
 timent, thawed by this new-found joy, bubbled up 
 in her heart and flooded to her lips and eyes for 
 expression. 
 
 When the feast was over and the guests were gone, 
 the whole family escorted the bride to her new home, 
 a cosey little house which the energetic groom had 
 fitted to receive her. 
 
 It was on the way back that, with the natural re- 
 bound of feelings long overstrained in one direction, 
 Vrouw Leisler gave vent to certain characteristic 
 reflections. 
 
 " Oh, if Jacob — if your father could but have been 
 here to-day to see how we lift up our heads, — to see 
 Mary, too ! She was ever his favorite. What need 
 for wonder at it ! She was an obedient cliild. She 
 did ever what she was bid. See ye now the fruit 
 of that ! See, Hester, how she is rewarded ! If he 
 could but see her ! But ei ! ei ! he cares nothing for 
 all that now. He wears a crown of glory in paradise 
 if ever yet a mortal did ! Ay, he is looking down on 
 
420 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 us, — I cannot believe but he is. He knows all has 
 been done. Think of that, now ! I pray he may for- 
 give us all we do amiss. If he but knew how we have 
 striven day and night to carry out his will ! But we 
 are not as he was. He should think of that. His 
 sight was made clear, he went not astray, he knew the 
 right and what was best for us. I pray we may guide 
 ourselves to please him. It must meet his liking, this, 
 one would think. Abram has been from a child under 
 his eye, like a son, as it might be, since the day when 
 he himself befriended the mother — ye were too young, 
 Hester, to remember the gibberish she spoke — in her 
 sorrow and trouble so long ago." 
 
 The good Vrouw's maundering came to a natural 
 end ; they had reached home. With one accord all 
 stopped at the foot of the steps, realizing perhaps for 
 the first time that, despite its attendant smiles and 
 congratulations, despite the songs of poets and the 
 jests of all mankind, a wedding is as truly the first 
 act of a tragedy as a funeral is the latest. The ring, 
 the veil, the bridal wreath, have filled the opening 
 epithalamium with sounding rhymes ; let it fitly end 
 with figures of a vacant chair, a vanished form, a 
 silenced voice, the listening for a step that comes no 
 more, of a familiar service rendered not again. 
 
 In the momentary silence, as Vrouw Leisler paused 
 with her foot upon the bottom step, it might be to 
 make the foregoing reflection, it might be to take 
 breath, a tall figure rose from the bench on the stoop 
 above and greeted them. It was Barent Rhynders 
 awaiting their return. His appearance following so 
 closely upon certain words just spoken by her mother 
 may have seemed significant to Hester. Although her 
 voice was wanting in the chorus of cordial greetings 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 421 
 
 with which the visitor was welcomed, he must have 
 • gathered from her look that his presence was a pleas- 
 ure and a relief ; else surely would he not have stayed 
 on until one by one the tired family withdrew and left 
 them alone. 
 
 They sat on the porch in the soft summer air and 
 watched the moon rise over Remsen*s Hoodgts, while 
 the discordant clamor of the day died away to a drowsy 
 murmur, as the bustling little town slowly settled it- 
 self to repose. 
 
 At last Barent rose to go. He had already stayed 
 beyond his hour, and it was late, according to the sim- 
 ple notions of the time. Directly Hester, who had 
 been sitting all the evening in silence, began to bristle 
 with things to say. Unconsciously she followed the 
 lingering visitor down the steps and called him back 
 for a forgotten word. Without plan or suggestion 
 they presently found themselves sauntering up and 
 down the deserted street. Despite Hester's protest, 
 Barent must needs go back to the stoop for her cloak. 
 Thereupon they wandered on to the dock. 
 
 Here they paused to look off upon the water, to 
 taste the cool breeze blowing up through the Hoofden, 
 and note the moon's white track upon the river just 
 where it turns with broad sweep to join its sister 
 flood. 
 
 As they stood thus it chanced that the ferryman 
 came rowing slowly up to the landing from his last 
 passage to Breuckelen. 
 
 " What say you ? " whispered Barent. " Shall we 
 take a turn upon the water ? Here is Jan would 
 catch at a chance guilder, and the river is smooth as 
 a goose-pond." 
 
 Hester looked wistfully at the water, hesitated a 
 
422 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 moment, then followed her companion down to the 
 landing. 
 
 As they stepped into the clumsy little craft the 
 night-watch came stalking to the spot to demand 
 their errand, but upon the representation of the 
 ferryman winked at the irregularity and forebore to 
 interfere. 
 
 With long, steady stroke the skilful Jan propelled 
 them out into the noble river, not, as now, a turbid 
 sewer hemmed in by masses of brick and mortar, 
 noisy with screaming whistles, gay with flaring lights, 
 crowded with a forest of foreign masts, but broad 
 and peaceful and undefiled, inclosed by wooded banks 
 abounding in mysterious shadows, where nothing 
 broke the solemn hush save the rippling of the water 
 on the rocky shore, the far-off chorus of the tree- 
 toads, or the plaintive persistence of the whip-poor- 
 will, — sounds which seemed born of the night to 
 accentuate the silence. 
 
 " 'T is wondrous beautiful ! " said the junker in a 
 half-whisper, as if afraid to break the spell by a 
 discordant note. 
 
 " Yes," was the murmured answer. 
 
 " Mary has had a rare day." 
 
 " Ye-es," as before. 
 
 " 'T is a comfort to think of her coming to such 
 happiness after all her pain." 
 
 " 'T is no more than her desert." 
 
 " Nor so much ; there 's nothing good enough for 
 Mary, when it comes to that. Yet there 's not a finer 
 junker in the province than Abram." 
 
 " 'T is an old matter between them." 
 
 "So?" 
 
 " They had a thought of each other when children." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 423 
 
 " In Milbonie's time ? " 
 
 " Yes, and long before, when Abram spoke iu his 
 outlandish French chatter we could never under- 
 stand." 
 
 " And she broke off with him to take Milborne ? " 
 
 " 'T was a sore trial to her, but — 't was at Ms 
 bidding." 
 
 "Your father?" 
 
 " Yes. 'T was not with a man's light he walked ; 
 he had surer guidance. 'T is now made clear how all 
 he did and said was for the right. Well for Mary 
 that she heeded him ! " 
 
 Barent, perhaps conscientiously refraining from as- 
 sent until he had arrived at conviction, perhaps with 
 reservations which it would have been hard to define, 
 made no answer. To Hester, luckily, his speech or 
 silence upon the matter appeared to make no differ- 
 ence. She had merely paused for breath. 
 
 "I was ever rebellious and stubborn, and heeded 
 not in my pride his blessed words. I was hardened 
 in disobedience, and more times than one sorely 
 angered him." 
 
 " Think no more on it ! You cannot mend what 
 is past. You must be excused, not knowing you were 
 wrong." 
 
 " That did I ; I was wilful in my wrong-doing, and 
 now henceforth must T abide the consequence." 
 
 " Take cheer ! 'T is Mary's turn to-day ; to-morrow 
 't will be yours ! " 
 
 " Mine has passed and gone ; 't will come not 
 again." 
 
 " You are downcast now over Mary's leave-taking, 
 — that is all. Next week 't will look another way." 
 
 " It cannot ; there is no chance of it." 
 
424 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " In a few months Mynheer will be coming back 
 from Holland." 
 
 " If it be Mynheer Van Cortlandt you have in mind, 
 't is all one to me whether he comes or stays." 
 
 Staggered by this unexpected speech, the junker 
 made no answer. He was not of the nimble wits who 
 can cover their dismay by tossing in a conversational 
 stop-gap. 
 
 As before, his companion seemed unconscious of 
 his silence and of the fact that he was staring at her 
 with might and main. 
 
 " I was accursed," she went on, bitterly, " to hold 
 converse with a man who told me to my face that 
 awful murder might be justified. 'T is right I should 
 suffer for my sin," she continued, with added vehe- 
 mence. " I shudder to think he was of the party that 
 did it, their kith and kin. I feel that I have clasped 
 the hand of a murderer. 'T is the penalty I must pay 
 for my wrong-doing ; 't is the yoke I must bear, and 
 a grievous, heavy yoke it is ! Forgive me that I cry 
 out under it! I am not yet grown callous to the 
 smart." 
 
 Again Barent was mute. He may well have been 
 dumfounded at the revelation he had heard. A 
 silence fell between them ; it was prolonged till 
 clearly neither cared to break it. As if relieved by 
 her outburst of feeling, Hester yielded to the soothing 
 influences of time and place, and found a needed 
 solace in the brooding quiet. 
 
 Thus they glided on. Par out of sight of the town 
 or of any sign of man's presence, they were alone in 
 the wilderness. Worn out by the fatigue and ex- 
 citement of the day, lulled by the rhythm of the 
 dipping oars, Hester's head began to droop. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 425 
 
 The vigilant junker arranged a roll of sailcloth for 
 a pillow ; then covering her from the dew with the 
 warm cloak, he sat at hand as they fared homeward, 
 guarding the unconscious sleeper with watch-dog 
 fidelity. 
 
 Not until they rounded up to the dock did she open 
 her eyes. Then staggering to her feet, she looked 
 about in bewilderment. Barent spoke a reassuring 
 word. 
 
 " 'T is the dock, Hester, — see ! Let me go first ! 
 — now give me your hand. Have a care where you 
 step ! So, here we are again ! " 
 
 " Yes, come ; 't is time we were going. Hark ! 
 What o'clock is that ? It must be very late. Ugh-h ! 
 how cold it grows ! Let us make haste ! " 
 
 Barent strode in silence by her side as she hurried 
 along the winding Strand. Upon the stoop he faced 
 about to take leave. 
 
 " You would leave me, then ? " she cried, in a 
 dismayed tone. 
 
 " That will I not, now or ever, if you but bid me 
 stay," he said, stoutly. 
 
 " I bid you neither stay nor go," she answered, 
 wearily. " I bid you do what you will." 
 
 She stood with her face in shadow, leaning against 
 the doorpost, while he pondered for a whole minute 
 what she had said. 
 
 " I am a fool at guessing folks' meaning. I made 
 a blunder once ; I would not do the same again. You 
 know my mind, Hester; 'tis the same now it was 
 then. If you would take back what you said yonder, 
 let me know it in one plain word ! " 
 
 She made a movement to speak, but the words died 
 on her lips. 
 
426 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " If you say not no, I shall think you mean yes." 
 
 He waited a minute in trembling suspense lest she 
 might speak. 
 
 " Hester — Hester ! " he cried at last, in a voice 
 deeply moved ; " I am a happy man." 
 
 At the end of his transport she released herself 
 from his embrace witji a sigh. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 427 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 ONE theme held sway over Steenie's thoughts all 
 the voyage long, nothing happening in the 
 weary round of ship-life to break its hold upon him. 
 Perforce he must sit and think, and think, and think. 
 All nature, too, seemed in his confidence ; the waves 
 breaking upon the vessel's prow to his enkindled fancy 
 sang of the selfsame subject, the winds whispered of 
 it, the stars winked knowingly down that they were 
 in the secret. An end, or a welcome interruption, 
 came to all this when the " Angel Gabriel " cast an- 
 chor in the Zuyder Zee, and the junker found himself 
 in the home of his ancestors. Before he well realized 
 the fact, however, or had breathing-time to look about 
 upon the odd sights and varied forms of life in this 
 new-old world, there came a letter telling of his 
 father's death and calling upon him to go home. 
 
 He received the news with calmness, perhaps be- 
 cause mere words, blown thousands of miles across 
 the sea, lose something of their dramatic foi'ce, per- 
 haps because he was getting shock-proof. Neither, 
 as it proved, did the interruption of his travels cause 
 him any great regret ; . for, setting sail on his return 
 voyage without loss of time, he saw the land recede 
 with a look of pure indifference. 
 
 On the long homeward way he had ample time to re- 
 flect upon the new responsibilities awaiting him. For 
 the first time he became sensible that his mother' .s 
 more pronounced character had blinded him to his 
 
428 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 father's unusual qualities, and that the family, one 
 and all, had been unconsciously guided by the rare 
 sagacity and great worldly experience of his dead 
 parent. 
 
 This subject, having been ripely considered, gave 
 way, like a variation in music, to the original theme. 
 Again the scene in the graveyard arose before his 
 cooled and sobered fancy. Like tormenting insects, 
 certain questions with regard to it, questions neces- 
 sarily unanswerable, kept buzzing in his ears : Had 
 the change been in him or in Hester ? If she had 
 ever really loved him, could she have cast him off 
 thus ? Could he help his opinions ? Ought she to 
 expect all the world to share her delusion that her 
 father was a saint and a martyr, or accept as sane 
 the judgment of her morbid conscience that filial duty 
 should overshadow every other, and that her old right- 
 eous revolt against her father's tyranny had become 
 through mere lapse of time a heinous crime ? 
 
 But a profounder riddle than any of these was his 
 own changed attitude with regard to the matter, was 
 the growing remoteness of his own point of view, was 
 the lack of any poignant regret as to its outcome. 
 Had this change in himself come about gradually ? 
 Had it been of volcanic action ? In either case, what 
 had caused it? He was bewildered to find himself 
 unable to decide. 
 
 Tiring of these puzzles, others awaited him ; the 
 sea-life showed itself prolific of th,em. Unbidden, 
 there uprose before him the scene of his last meeting 
 with Catalina, her strange behavior and unaccounta- 
 ble swoon. Thereupon, as he hung musing for hours 
 over the taffrail, came remembrances of other times 
 when she had been odd and baffling, and he recalled 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 429 
 
 •with a passing smile his old delight in her irascibility. 
 Thus idly reminiscent he made a discovery. For the 
 first time, in his self-absorption, it occurred to him 
 that a change had taken place in the little maid's 
 demeanor, — the old attitude of bristling hostility was 
 gone ! 
 
 Directly this puzzle outvied all others in interest. 
 Catalina's conduct under this narrowed scrutiny be- 
 gan to assume new lights and significances. At last, 
 with the suddenness of an electric iiash it all stood 
 before him in perfect consistency. 
 
 He jumped up and paced the deck ; it seemed a 
 very narrow and cramped little deck now, when he 
 longed for a boundless course over which he could 
 stretch his long legs with some chance of relieving 
 the white heat of heart and brain during those first 
 few hours after his discovery. 
 
 Whereupon he began to turn his eyes towards the 
 western horizon with growing suspense, to question 
 the captain and sailors about their progress and the 
 probabilities of arrival, all his patient apathy gone. 
 
 At the end of a dreary gray day the long-expected 
 cry was heard, " Land ho ! " The next morning the 
 ship entered the harbor. Greeting an outward-bound 
 vessel just issuing from the Hoofden, they were met 
 with the news that a fast had just been proclaimed in 
 town on account of the death of Lord Bellomont. 
 
 This startling report speedily brought the dreamer 
 back to real life, to thoughts of the cause of his home- 
 coming and of the afflicted family he was so soon to 
 to meet. Moreover these two deaths presaged, as he 
 well knew, momentous changes in private and public, 
 and so invested his return with a sense of strangeness 
 and upheaval. 
 
430 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Notwithstanding the familiar look of everything as 
 he sailed up the harbor, years seemed to have elapsed 
 since he went away. His voyage already began to 
 serve as a dividing-point in his life, and all that lay 
 beyond it belonged to a past even now of shadowy 
 remoteness. The same sense of strangeness pursued 
 him on land. Making his way along the well-known 
 streets, he stared about with the dazed look of a 
 stranger, — so suddenly had everything grown shabby, 
 dwarfed, or disappointing. 
 
 Reaching home, he was greeted by the announce- 
 ment that the family had removed to their summer 
 estate upon the Hudson. This news, coming as a 
 culmination to tlie train of thoughts described, filled 
 him with a sense of loneliness and desolation. He 
 longed for a welcoming face or voice. In this mood 
 he hurried around to the Staatses'. 
 
 A slave at work in the garden saw him at the door 
 plying the knocker, and came hurrying to say that 
 the begum and the children had gone to the farm at 
 Nieuw Utrecht, leaving only a couple of servants be- 
 hind to care for the doctor, who was kept in town 
 by business. 
 
 Among the political disturbances which followed 
 upon the death of Lord Bellomont, and filled with 
 stormful echoes the brief administration of Lieutenant- 
 Governor Nanfan, two only came home to the returned 
 traveller with immediate interest, — the trial and con- 
 viction of Colonel Bayard on the charge of high trea- 
 son, and the persecution of his mother by Nanfan's 
 officious auditing committee because of her refusal to 
 give up the papers of her dead husband. Madam, it 
 should be said, was as calmly defiant of their threats 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 431 
 
 as she had been of Leisler's in the time of the revolu- 
 tion, and, as it turned out, with the like victorious 
 result. 
 
 What with these political distractions and the im- 
 perative demands of important private duties in con-, 
 nection with his father's estate, Steenie had small 
 leisure for ocean dreams. Though overlaid in his 
 mind, however, it speedily appeared how little they 
 were forgotten. 
 
 In his frequent comings and goings between the 
 town and the new manor-house upon the river, he had 
 thought many times of the Van Dorns as he passed 
 the well-known bouwerie ; but the urgency of present 
 business had always prevented his stopping, until one 
 morning, surprised by the littered stoop and general 
 air of desolation, he rode up to the door and found 
 the cottage empty. Conscience-stricken at his neglect, 
 he at once set about a search, and soon succeeded in 
 finding the family temporarily lodged with one of the 
 neighbors. 
 
 Although plainly astonished to see him so soon re- 
 turned from his voyage, Tryntje greeted the junker 
 with her usual air of grave respect. 
 
 " How goes it with you, vrouw ? " 
 
 " All at the best, thank ye much, Mynheer ! " 
 
 " And Rip, — he has still the rheumatics ? " 
 
 " 'T is no great matter." 
 
 " You have then left the bouwerie ? " 
 
 " Mm-m," answered the little woman, dryly affir- 
 mative. 
 
 " So ! " exclaimed Steenie, with instant apprehen- 
 sion, " they took it from you ? " 
 
 " I came not out of it upon a wink," was the an- 
 swer, pronounced with a certain grim significance. 
 
432 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " But they gave you its worth ? " 
 
 " I see it not yet what they give." 
 
 " So ! humph — umph ! Say a good word for me 
 to Rip. I will see you soon again." 
 
 Tryntje courtesied, and gazed after the galloping 
 horseman with a look of much perplexity. 
 
 Steenie's non-committal air at parting covered, as 
 it proved, a serious intent. Before a week went by, 
 he came with the offer of a small bouwerie belonging 
 to his father's estate. 
 
 Certainly his statement was explicit enough, but 
 Tryntje stupidly stared at him as if she had not 
 heard. He repeated his words. 
 
 "'Tis forme — this?" 
 
 " Yes ; the cottage is small, but so is the rent, and 
 you may get help to till the land." 
 
 Turning away her head and looking fixedly in the 
 other direction, Tryntje made one or two attempts to 
 speak, but beyond a choking sound nothing was 
 audible. 
 
 Steenie suddenly discovered that he was parching 
 for a glass of buttermilk. It was a happy thought ; 
 the little vrouw darted away to get the draught, and 
 came back in a measure composed and coherent. 
 
 Needless to say, the timely offer was accepted. 
 Rip's few belongings were soon removed, with the 
 help of the neighbors, and at the end of a week the 
 family were fairly installed in their new cottage, not 
 very far removed from the old, on the Sapokanican 
 road. 
 
 Here, calling upon them not long afterwards to see 
 if they were comfortably settled, Steenie found his 
 new tenant loquacious in explaining the superior con- 
 venience of her new quarters; the tulip-bed was 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 433 
 
 larger and better placed for the sun than the old; 
 the brook, being running water, was better for the 
 geese than their former muddy pond ; and the bees 
 were disposed in a more sheltered nook. 
 
 " You find everything, then, to your mind ? " asked 
 the pleased landlord. 
 
 " Beyond all I ever knew. Mynheer." 
 
 " You are in need of nothing ?" 
 
 " Nothing, Mynheer, best thanks." 
 
 " You have wherewithal to buy food for the young 
 ones till the crops ripen ? " 
 
 " Never fear. Mynheer ! " 
 
 Turning to go, Steenie was almost overturned by 
 a slave who came riding up, carrying a large hamper 
 before him on the saddle. 
 
 " 'T is like her ! " exclaimed Tryntje, receiving the 
 hamper. 
 
 "Who is that?" 
 
 " Catalina ! " 
 
 " She has been here ? " with sudden eagerness. 
 
 " Ei, not this age ; she bides yonder on the island." 
 
 « In Nieuw Utrecht ? " 
 
 " Mm-m ; but lets never a week go by that she 
 sends me not something like this ye see." 
 
 " So ! " muttered Steenie, in whom the incident 
 seemed to have awakened a new train of thought. 
 
 " But 'tis not my old Catalina, that was here and 
 away over the fields, and filled the house with 
 song ! " 
 
 " No ? " 
 
 " Not she ; her face is as long as the dominie's, 
 with no cause one can see, and never a smile for her 
 best friend, they say." 
 
 " In Nieuw Utrecht ? Humph. Good-day to you, 
 28 
 
434 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 vrouw. I must not stay longer lest I be late getting 
 home. Let me know if anything goes amiss." 
 
 After his professed eagerness to get home, Tryntje 
 naturally wondered to see her landlord, instead of 
 continuing his homeward way, turn about and ride 
 smartly back towards the town. 
 
 Tryntje's astonishment, however, was as nothing to 
 that of cousin Lysbeth, on seeing her kinsman come 
 galloping up to her door that same evening, as she 
 sat after supper upon the stoop. 
 
 The visitor was not the less welcome for being un- 
 expected ; and having feasted him with cold meats 
 from the pantry, the dame drew up her chair, in keen 
 anticipation of a quiet gossip, as he settled himself 
 with his pipe upon the stoop. 
 
 Family news, an account of his recent voyage, the 
 state of the province, these topics of their desultory 
 talk, although of absorbing interest to cousin,Lysbeth, 
 availed not to keep Steenie from dropping shamelessly 
 to sleep in the midst of her eager comments and ques- 
 tions. Realizing then the cruelty of prolonging the 
 interview, she straightway packed her drowsy cousin 
 off to bed. 
 
 Having early business in the fields, the bustling 
 huysvrouw was up and gone, next morning, long 
 before her lazy kinsman came sauntering down to his 
 breakfast. 
 
 Once up, however, his indolence gave place to a 
 restless activity. He did small justice to the dainty 
 breakfast set forth for him, but dispatching the meal 
 quite unconscious of its excellence, called for his 
 horse and rode briskly away. 
 
 At a turn in the road, he came by chance upon the 
 begum riding in her palanquin. With practised skill, 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 435 
 
 the lady blinked out of sight her look of surprised 
 recognition, and greeted him with matter-of-course 
 cordiality. 
 
 " 'T is long since we saw you, Mynheer." 
 
 " I have been out of the province, and am but just 
 come back," he explained, returning the speaker's 
 salute. 
 
 "Yes — pardon — it needs not to explain — you 
 have my deep sympathy — pardon again — you visit 
 here Vrouw Wickoff ? " 
 
 " For the moment." 
 
 " I hope for the honor of seeing you." 
 
 " I was — er — am now on the point — " The 
 junker paused, with a look of embarrassment. " You 
 are most kind." 
 
 " I go to-day up to town ; my husband sends word 
 a bgx is come from India. With good fortune I am 
 home again to-night, and if you fi.nd yourself here 
 to-morrow — " 
 
 " I thank you jnuch." 
 
 Thereupon with renewed compliments the lady 
 went on her way to Breuckelen ferry, while Steenie 
 took a speedier advantage of her invitation than she 
 had dreamed of. 
 
 The servant, having bestowed him in the parlor, 
 went in search of Catalina. Sunk in a luxurious 
 Indian chair in the darkened room, the eyes of the 
 waiting visitor idly followed the wake of an intruding 
 beam of light out through the open hall door to an 
 alluring little perspective of green fields and waving 
 tree-tops. During the long absence of the servant 
 his thoughts, flocking along the lighted way into the 
 outer air, visited in swift succession divers scenes 
 rendered memorable to him in the neighborhood. 
 
436 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Roused from his revery by the sound of approach- 
 ing voices, he was presently aware of figures upon 
 the stoop darkening his field of vision. Checking an 
 impulse to rise and go forward, he consciously lis- 
 tened. A younger sister was urging upon Catalina 
 some project to which she was disinclined. 
 
 " You have no excuse ; j'ou must go. All the 
 junkers in Seawanacky, they say, will be there ; and 
 as for Vlacktebos and Nieuw Utrecht, there '11 not be 
 a soul left at home. You should have heard the talk 
 at church last Lord's Day. The Lefferts, Van de 
 Bildts, Remsens, Martenses, Van Voorhuys, Cortel- 
 yous, Couwenhoovens, Lotts, Stryckers, and Hege- 
 mans will all be there." 
 
 " So ? " 
 
 " There '11 be every sport ever was heard of, 't is 
 said, — reels, hipseysaw, shuffle-shuffle, cards, ninepins, 
 plucking the goose, balls, and I know not what." 
 
 " You may go and bring me back a history of it all." 
 
 " Not I. You shall see it for yourself." 
 
 " I care not to go." 
 
 "And why, tell me?" 
 
 " I care not for it." 
 
 " 'T was only last year you could not get enough of 
 it. Poll ! You must go, I say." 
 
 " Have done ! I will not ! " 
 
 " Suit yourself, then. I think too much of my 
 breath to waste any more of it upon one so stubborn. 
 But yonder is Johanna waiting for me to go gather 
 cresses. Good-by. You '11 be sorry when 't is too 
 late." 
 
 A deep sigh from the solitary figure upon the stoop 
 presently aroused Steenie to a realizing sense of the 
 fact that he had been playing the eavesdropper. Ris- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 437 
 
 ing quickly, he walked to the outer door, but was 
 stayed upon the threshold by the unexpected dismay 
 his sudden appearance produced. 
 
 Clutching with convulsive grasp the bench upon 
 which she sat, Catalina rose slowly and stared at him 
 without speaking. Her look and attitude were so ex- 
 pressive of a deep inward shock that the junker him- 
 self was at a loss what to say. 
 
 " I have affrighted you. Had you not heard of my 
 return ? " 
 
 Catalina shook her head. 
 
 " 'T is some weeks now — when my father — surely 
 you heard of our great loss ? " 
 
 She muttered an assent under her breath. 
 
 " My mother sent for me. I had scarcely landed. 
 I have been much pressed since getting back. There 
 have been troublous times yonder in town. My 
 mother has been plagued by these busybodies. And 
 Bayard, — you have heard how they try to hunt him 
 to death?" 
 
 With resumed self-control Catalina sat quietly down 
 upon the bench, and motioned him to a seat. 
 
 He remained standing, as if with some passing 
 scruple about accepting the invitation. 
 
 " Tryntje — the Van Dorns — I stopped yesterday 
 to see them in their new home." 
 
 The listener's face kindled with a faint interest. 
 
 " Whiles we talked came a messenger loaded with 
 your bounty — " 
 
 The listener suddenly found her tongue. 
 
 " And Rip, — he is not worse for the moving ? " 
 
 " None at all, as it seems. We had talk of you, 
 the little vrouw and I. You should hear her upon 
 that theme." 
 
438 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " You are come here to — to visit Vrouw Wickoff ? " 
 
 « No." 
 
 "So?" 
 
 The little monosyllable quivered upon her lip, and 
 came fluttering forth -with scarce breath enough to 
 make known its birth. 
 
 " No, Catalina, I am come to see you." he said, 
 bluntly, sitting down as he spoke on the bench beside 
 her, and looking close into her face with anxious 
 eyes. 
 
 She made a vague movement as if to escape, but it 
 was evident the effort was beyond her powers. She 
 seemed well-nigh transfigured by an access of emo- 
 tion; her eyes were filled with changing lights, her 
 limbs were rigid, her organs of speech were paralyzed. 
 
 " And why should I not ? " He paused as if for 
 some sign of assent. " Are we not old friends ? " 
 
 Still there was no answer ; only in the startled eyes 
 gleamed the same impotent purpose of flight. 
 
 " On the ship coming home I thought over my whole 
 life as never before. I weighed my friends according 
 to their worth. I examined well my heart as to 
 which of them I prized and which I yearned to come 
 back to." 
 
 She put out her hand with a gesture of protest. 
 
 " 'T was then my eyes were opened. Then I saw 
 my fatal mistake. Oh, Catalina, there came before 
 me something, as it might be the finger of God, point- 
 ing to the precious flower blooming these many years 
 in my pathway, which yet I had never reached to 
 gather. From that moment all has been clear as the 
 light ; from that moment I have thought day and 
 night of you, — of you, Catalina, as the one most dear 
 to me in life." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER, 439 
 
 " Stop ! " she cried, a note of terror quivering in her 
 breathless voice. 
 
 " All these years, I say, this spark has been smoul- 
 dering in my heart, and I going blindfold on with no 
 sense of it. I thought of your old childish spite as 
 still living. I thought of it as a thing not to be 
 shaken off, until, in the midst of the ocean yonder, 
 something whispered me one day it was gone." He 
 paused in vain for an assuring look. " Tell me, Cata- 
 lina, is it so ? " 
 
 He took her hand, but almost started at its icy 
 touch. 
 
 " Speak, pray you, Catalina ! Is it cured, that old 
 spite ? Pity my blindness that I did not know my 
 own heart ! 'T was duty blinded me, — duty, do you 
 see ? I thought myself bound by those old childish 
 bonds. Catalina, do you hear me ? " Stooping lower, 
 he whispered tenderly in her ear, " Speak, little one. 
 I am come hither to-day to tell you this, — to tell 
 you that all my hope of happiness is now in you. Cat- 
 alina, my treasure, I love you with all my heart ! " 
 
 Receiving no word or look of answer, he bent down 
 and kissed the cold little hand, when, as if awakened 
 to life by an electric touch, she sprang quivering to 
 her feet. 
 
 " You — you dare ! " 
 
 He gazed at her in amazement. 
 
 " Nev-never speak to me again ! " 
 
 " What ! 't is not dead, then, — not dead yet ! 
 Heed it not, Catalina ! Catalina, dearest, put it away 
 from you ! Mark me, 't is child's play ; let it not 
 follow us and blight us forever ! We are man and 
 woman now. 'T is a man's love I offer you." 
 
 " Go away — go — go ! " 
 
440 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Listen. I was a fool to speak thus without warn- 
 ing. You shall have time to think. I will wait till 
 you know your mind." 
 
 " No — no ! " she protested, violently. " I know it 
 now — I know it well ! " 
 
 " What then— " 
 
 " Go — go — go — go ! " 
 
 " You do not love me ? " 
 
 Stepping swiftly forward, she caught the doorpost 
 and steadied her swaying figure upon the threshold. 
 There was a pause. It seemed a whole minute passed. 
 Then constraining herself by a measureless effort, 
 she answered, in a tone firm, unhesitating, almost 
 defiant, — 
 
 " No r " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 441 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 SPEED being an impossible factor in the begum's 
 travelling, on account of her peculiar means of 
 conveyance, the journey to New York and back in 
 one day proved necessarily a tedious undertaking. 
 Indeed, it was not until long after supper that she 
 arrived home with her hamper of Indian goods. 
 
 Having been met and noisily welcomed by the 
 younger children, and hearing from a trusted servant 
 that all had gone well in her absence, she took no 
 further thought of household matters, but gave herself 
 up heart and soul to the delightful task of unpack- 
 ing the rare fabrics and curious ornaments she had 
 brought. Thus engrossed, it was not until she came 
 upon something especially intended for Catalina that 
 she noticed her absence. With the thought of giving 
 her a pleasant surprise, she went directly to her 
 daughter's chamber, where she found the recluse 
 curled up in the window-seat. 
 
 " Alone ! " cried the mother, going gayly forward, 
 holding the candle in one hand and waving the flash- 
 ing bauble in the other. 
 
 "With her face turned towards the darkened window, 
 the daughter seemed not to hear. 
 
 " Why are you in the dark ? " asked the begum, with 
 a growing presentiment. 
 
 Still there was no answer. 
 
 " Catalina, you are in pain ?" 
 
442 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 « No." 
 
 The hollow dreariness of tone startled the anxious 
 mother. Quickly putting down the things in her 
 hands, she flung herself on her knees by the window 
 and clasped the speaker in her arms. 
 
 " My daughter, what is it ? " 
 
 « Nothing ! " 
 
 " Catalina ! " 
 
 " Oh, do not speak to me ! Go — go, and leave me 
 alone ! " 
 
 She sprang to her feet, and almost shook herself 
 free from her mother's embrace. 
 
 Shocked by the despairing cry, the begum rose, and 
 stood gazing at her daughter in bewilderment. Mak- 
 ing no further offer of sympathy, however, after a 
 moment's thought she slowly withdrew, and, going 
 downstairs, walked up and down for an hour or two 
 among the unheeded stuffs and trinkets. Later in 
 the night she stole with cat-like tread to Catalina's 
 door and listened. Hearing within a soft footstep 
 coming and going in an aimless, wearying march, 
 she crouched upon the floor, and waited in suspense 
 until with the breaking of day it ceased. 
 
 As soon as the household was astir the cautious 
 mother, questioning the servants, learned of the visit 
 received in her absence. Involuntarily she heaved a 
 sigh of relief. A part, at least, of the mystery was 
 solved ; but directly, as if realizing that what remained 
 had become more impenetrable than ever, she yielded 
 to her former agitation. Instinctively she resorted to 
 her embroidery frame, and after a long time spent 
 there in taking false stitches, snarling her silks, and 
 tossing about her head-gear, she suddenly arose with 
 a look of resolution, ordered her palanquin, and 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 443 
 
 betook herself to Vlacktebos to wait upon Vrouw 
 Wickoff. 
 
 Cousin Lysbeth, summoned from cabbage-planting 
 in a neighboring field, clumsily dissembled her annoy- 
 ance at the visit, as she wiped her perspiring face on 
 the under side of her apron, and passed an investigat- 
 ing hand over her cap and kerchief. 
 
 " 'T is a day without a fault," began the visitor in 
 an indefinite manner, as she settled herself in a prof- 
 fered seat ; " it has no cruel wind to spoil the good 
 sunshine ; it brings back thoughts of my own country. 
 You care not much to go about, Vrouw Wickoff ; you 
 love better, I think, to hug the chimney -nook." 
 
 " The chimney-nook gets little of my hugging," 
 answered the dame dryly, mindful, perhaps, of her 
 sweating forehead. 
 
 " Pardon ! " Recalling herself from a moment's 
 preoccupation, the visitor recognized her mistake. 
 " Your affairs — I thought not of them — take you 
 out. Yes, such a repute for thrift is not gained 
 sitting in idleness." 
 
 Vrouw Wickoff received the tardy tribute with an 
 embarrassed little cough. 
 
 " Work," continued the begum, in a strain that had 
 no obvious pertinence to anything suggested by the 
 visit, " is called a blessing ; the worker forgets — how 
 great a thing is it to forget ! — and is happy. Work 
 brings too the deep sleep that shuts us up every night 
 in a tomb and brings us forth every morning, like the 
 resurrection the dominie tells of." 
 
 " So ! " murmured the puzzled huysvrouw, vainly 
 trying to find some profitable application of this 
 platitude to her neglected cabbages. 
 
 " It helps to pass away the dull hours," went on the 
 
444 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 begum, too intent upon her own purpose to heed her 
 hostess's perplexity ; ■' you forget the solitude, and 
 you are not sad." 
 
 "Work is a good thing enough," said the dame, 
 sinking back in her chair with a timely sigh of 
 fatigue, " so there be not too much of it." 
 
 " But when 't is over, and the night comes, and 
 there 's nobody to fill the chair yonder, then think 
 you not of your children, your kinsfolk, and wish for 
 some of them here ? " 
 
 " I remember that I am an old woman, and count 
 not upon their coming," said Vrouw Wickoff, sturdily, 
 but not ■vs^ithout a touch of bitterness. 
 
 " There is one — -your cousin, the junker that comes 
 so often to visit you — seems not to mind you are not 
 young." 
 
 "Who is that?" 
 
 " Mynheer Van Cortlandt." 
 
 " He is like the rest," answered the dame, sceptically; 
 " he comes to suit himself, with little thought of me." 
 
 " He has, then, something this way that draws him 
 from the town ? " 
 
 . " Who knows ? A junker must be doing something. 
 'T is to get a drink of my buttermilk or a day with the 
 birds." 
 
 " I met him by chance yesterday on the highway, 
 but he had not his gun." 
 
 " Then I know not his errand, — some folly, no doubt, 
 to waste his money on a dog or a colt. I concern my- 
 self not with his doings." 
 
 " So ! " The visitor studied the speaker with a 
 searching glance strikingly at variance with her in- 
 different tone. " I am glad at least you have him 
 with you." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 445 
 
 " That have I not ; he is but a bird on the wing, — 
 here to-day and away to-morrow." 
 
 "He is gone?" 
 
 " Long ago." 
 
 " He comes soon again ? " 
 
 " Not he ; 'tis a doubt if I see him before the wild 
 geese fly." 
 
 " That is many months." 
 
 " These are troublous times yonder in their bicker- 
 ing little town." 
 
 " 'T is why he has grown so grave, perhaps." 
 
 " He is like me ; he has much to do of late," said 
 the dame, with a significance not to be mistaken. 
 
 " Pardon ! I keep you from work." The begum 
 instantly rose. 
 
 " You make a short stay," faltered her neighbor, in 
 •feeble protest. 
 
 " I must needs go," subjecting her hostess's face to 
 a final scrutiny. " 'T will be a good year, they say, 
 for the crops." 
 
 " That 's as it turns out," commented Vrouw Wickoff, 
 with professional reserve. " You will be going, then ? " 
 
 "Yes, they look for me yonder; 'tis nearly noon. 
 I hope soon for the honor of a visit from you." 
 
 With a profound salaam the visitor was gone, leav- 
 ing the dame as bewildered as upon her former visit. 
 
 Returning home, the begum found Catalina upon 
 the stoop in a state of unaccountable excitement. 
 With the detective sensitiveness of a barometer, the 
 mother knew directly that something had happened 
 in her absence. Abstaining, however, from question 
 or comment, she watched her daughter's every move- 
 ment with anxious interest. The repression of yes- 
 terday had given place to a feverish thirst for action. 
 
446 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " You are come ? Where have you been ? T have 
 wanted you ! I have searched for you everywhere ! " 
 
 " I am here," said the mother, reassuringly. 
 
 " 'T is well you are come, else I had gone without 
 you." 
 
 " Gone ! " 
 
 " Yes ; I would go to town." 
 
 " So ! and why so far ? " 
 
 "Because — because — oh, I cannot tell why, but 
 I must go, — I needs must go ! " she concluded, with 
 growing imperativeness, as if to forestall objection. 
 
 " You shall go, my daughter," was the calm reply. 
 
 " Dear mother ! " 
 
 Surprised, as it seemed, by this prompt acquiescence, 
 the petitioner clasped her indulgent parent in a fer- 
 vent embrace. 
 
 " But when, — when ? How long must we wait ? " 
 
 « Not long." 
 
 " But how long ? " 
 
 " We will go to-morrow." 
 
 " Father, — what will he say ? " 
 
 " I will send him word to-day." 
 
 " I may go, then, and make ready my things ? " 
 
 « Yes." 
 
 In her precipitation the overjoyed girl let fall upon 
 the floor, as she hurried away, a folded paper. Im- 
 mediately her watchful mother picked it up, and read 
 without scruple the following letter from Hester : — 
 
 Dearest Catalina, — Here is grate news for you. I 
 had thought of late to have ended my life a spinster but 
 Providence has ordayned it otherwise. How I wish for 
 you here that I might tell you face to face I am to be 
 married ! Scarcely can I yet credit it myself so strangely 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 447 
 
 it sounds in my ears. Barent it would seem has never 
 given me up in his hart senoe years ago in my blindnes 
 I cast him off, — see what it is to have forbearance. He 
 was my blissid father's own choyce as you well know, 
 thanks be to my Heavenly Lord and Master who has 
 cured my wicked pryde and opened my eyes to his trew 
 merrit. Now at last I see my duty and find my best con- 
 tent in doing it. 
 
 As you have been ever my faithful frend I hope to have 
 your prayers and good wishes in this grate change. 
 Your obed't and loving ser't, 
 
 Hestbk Lsisleb. 
 
 Although it does not appear that the begum had 
 any well-defined theory as to her daughter's purpose, 
 it may be taken as in a measure significant of her ex- 
 pected stay in town that she set forth next morning 
 with only a few changes of clothes and her insepara- 
 ble Indian servant for escort. There were, to be sure, 
 the bearers of the palanquin, and the two slaves left 
 to attend the doctor's wants in town, to eke out the 
 household. 
 
 As they approached the shore in the rolling and 
 tossing old ferry-boat, Catalina grew more and more 
 agitated. She longed yet dreaded to arrive. Her ex- 
 citement indeed reached such a painful pitch that when 
 at last they stepped ashore in the dock she clutched 
 her mother's arm and dragged her at a breathless pace 
 by the nearest way home, darting anxious, furtive looks 
 down every intersecting street. 
 
 Doubtless Dr. Staats had long ago given up as futile 
 all attempts to fathom his wife's motives. If on this 
 occasion he felt any surprise upon seeing her reappear 
 with Catalina, he gave no sign of it. By thus neglect- 
 ing to concern himself with the lesser politics of the 
 
448 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 household, the good doctor gained much valuable time 
 for the larger pursuits which held him tied to the town 
 while his family were in the country. 
 
 Arrived at her journey's end, Catalina's mood sud- 
 denly changed. Her look of eager hope gave place to 
 one of blank helplessness, which in turn yielded to an 
 expression, harrowing to her anxious mother, of dumb, 
 weary, hopeless waiting. 
 
 The begum made bad work of her embroidery in 
 those days ; she snarled and knotted, and cut and 
 ravelled, without advancing an inch on her design. 
 • At last, one morning, having found Catalina in her 
 room pacing back and forth from window to window, 
 while her untasted breakfast grew cold on the table, 
 and noting with alarm a distinct shrinkage of the 
 rounded oval of her face and a growing hollowness 
 about the eyes, the excited mother, coming back to 
 her embroidery, threw down the frame with a violent 
 gesture, and then and there took the case into her own 
 hands. 
 
 Having inquired of her husband with particularity 
 the way to the Van Cortlandt manor, she dressed her- 
 self with unusual splendor, and attended by the lar- 
 gest escort the household afforded, set forth upon an 
 errand the nature of which she chose not to divulge. 
 
 Midway upon the road the lady's attention was drawn 
 by a distant sound. Looking up, she saw approaching 
 an imposing equipage enveloped in a cloud of dust. 
 As it came nearer she recognized the Van Cortlandt 
 coach, drawn by four horses and escorted by outriders 
 in mourning, the whole making a prodigious show and 
 bustle as it rolled heavily along. 
 
 Ordering her bearers to climb a bank upon one side 
 of the road, the begum made way for the ponderous 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 449 
 
 vehicle to pass. Supported on sumptuous cushions, 
 her dress glittering with jewels, the silk curtains of 
 the palanquin draped effectively about her, she formed 
 a striking picture on the lonely highway. 
 
 As the coach drew near, Madam Gertryd, accom- 
 panied by the widowed Lady Bellomont, was seen 
 sitting within. To the profound and ingratiating 
 obeisance of the begum the owner of the carriage 
 returned a freezing nod, as she rolled slowly past. 
 The dark cheeks of the Indian flushed at the studied 
 discourtesy. She sat speechless with indignation, look- 
 ing after the retreating carriage. After some min- 
 utes' reflection, however, her face slowly cleared. The 
 reason of the affront was plain. Dr. Staats had been 
 one of the obnoxious auditing committee which had 
 called the haughty Dutch matron to account, and pur- 
 sued her with threats and legal process. The remem- 
 brance of this fact, if it did not induce her wholly to 
 forgive the offender, plainly appeased in large measure 
 the begum's anger. Quietly giving the order to her 
 servants, she turned about and followed back towards 
 town in the wake of the lumbering chariot. 
 
 Traversing thus leisurely her homeward way, busied 
 with the new turn given to her thoughts by the late 
 incident, she came upon a small cottage by the road- 
 side, from the door of which, as she passed, a familiar 
 figure came forth and proceeded slowly down the gar- 
 den path. 
 
 Calling upon her bearers to halt, the begum alighted 
 and hastened after the little huysvrouw, who, uncon- 
 scious of being observed, continued her way to the 
 bottom of the garden, where, pausing before a row of 
 beehives set against the wall, she threw her apron 
 over her head with a loud wail. 
 
 29 
 
450 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 Suspecting her purpose, the visitor stopped, with a 
 look of deep concern, and listened. 
 
 After a little the vrouw uncovered her head, and. 
 knocking upon the hives one after another, cried in a 
 voice choked with grief,- — 
 
 " Sh I sh ! my bees ! He is gone at last ! Have 
 done with your buzzing ! He is dead, I say ! Never 
 opens he his eyes again ! Never comes he to ye again ! 
 My Rip — he is dead — dead — dead ! " 
 
 Familiar with this old custom, and shocked by the 
 intelligence she had heard, the begum softly retreated, 
 and stood by the stoop waiting for the mourner to re- 
 turn. Soon, however, unable to refrain from offering 
 her sympathy, she approached again, saying, — 
 
 " Tryntje, my good Tryntje, I hear you. My heart 
 is sad for you. Weep ! weep ! 't will ease the load. 
 But bethink you, too, 'tis best for him ; 'tis over at 
 last, all his trouble ; he sleeps, he is at rest, he has no 
 more pangs ! " 
 
 But, as if deaf to her words and unconscious of her 
 presence, the little vrouw went on from hive to hive 
 with her despairing lament. 
 
 " Zoo ! He 's gone — gone ! Ye '11 see him no more 
 with his pipe on the stoop yonder ! Never ! He is 
 dead, I say ! Hush, little fools ! Would ye break his 
 sleep ? Go sing round his grave when I have it 
 planted with turf, and bid flowers grow there, and 
 fetch me honey thence ! Will ye have done, noisy 
 rogues, and let me think ? Dead — dead ! I '11 not 
 believe it ! 'T was but this morning he opened his 
 eyes and spoke to me ! " 
 
 " Tryntje ! " called the begum. 
 
 " Look ye, go not away from me, too, my bees, as 
 my Rip is gone ! " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 451 
 
 " Tryntje, I say, remember your children ! Remem- 
 ber they were Rip's children, tool" 
 
 " See ye not I am alone, pretty bees ? See ye not 
 Rip is gone — gone — gone not to come again ? Look 
 then ye leave me not, too ! " 
 
 "Tryntje, vrouw, hear but a word. You are not 
 alone. You have friends. I will send them that will 
 help you. Catalina will come. We will not forget 
 you. Take comfort, I say." 
 
 Finding her attempts at sympathy unheeded, the 
 begum at last reluctantly withdrew. Arriving home, 
 she did not forget her promise, but directly dis- 
 patched to the afflicted woman a store of necessaries, 
 with a servant to help her prepare for the coming 
 funeral. 
 
 Contrary to all her hopes and expectations, how- 
 ever, Catalina made no offer to go, nor took, as it 
 seemed, more than a passing interest in the matter. 
 Vainly the begum, in her dramatic manner, recounted 
 every detail of her visit to the bouwerie ; the listener 
 only wearily interjected an occasional " So ! " or " Poor 
 Tryntje ! " at pauses in the narrative, and directly the 
 story was over thought no more about it. 
 
 Meantime there came about a long-expected crisis 
 in public affairs, which threw the whole province into 
 a ferment of excitement. The timely arrival of Lord 
 Cornbury, the new governor, changed in a moment 
 the whole course of public policy. The Leislerians 
 were thrust out of power, and, so far as possible, 
 amends made for their mischievous and unlicensed 
 doings. In the long list of these recited, it is only 
 pertinent here to note that Colonel Bayard was saved 
 from the scaffold, and that a stop was put to the per- 
 secution of Madam Van Cortlandt. 
 
452 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 These acts of justice were consistently followed by 
 the dismissal of Dr. Staats and his coadjutors from 
 the council. Thus, it will be seen, the begum had 
 divers grounds for personal concern in the crisis. So 
 absorbing, indeed, was her interest in these public 
 issues at the moment that she left Catalina to dream 
 away the hours among the Copake rocks, and quite 
 forgot the existence of the afflicted Tryntje. 
 
 Thus a fortnight slipped away, when, one day, as 
 she was setting forth upon some errand, in her palan- 
 quin, a funeral bell began to toll from the church- 
 tower in the fort. The doleful sound reminded her 
 of Tryntje, and directly, with a touch of remorse for 
 her long neglect, she gave orders to be taken to the 
 bouwerie. 
 
 She found the bereaved widow upon the stOop, in 
 warm discussion with a man whom, upon nearer ap- 
 proach, she recognized as the town sexton. Tryntje 
 was criticising, with looks of indignation and dismay, 
 a paper which he seemed to be reading. 
 
 Thus engrossed, she failed to notice the presence 
 of her old mistress, who stood patiently awaiting the 
 result of the discussion. 
 
 " 'T is a true and honest account, and the money 
 due, every stuyver of it," said the sexton, as if in 
 reply to a protest. 
 
 " Huh ! " was the scornful rejoinder. 
 
 " Hark ye ! I will read it again." 
 
 " Oft reading makes it none the better." 
 
 " Three dry boards for the coffin, seven guilders ten 
 stuyvers." 
 
 " Three ! — three boards ! Heard ever any one be- 
 fore of so much timber to one coffin ? " 
 
 " Think of the size of him. He was a big man." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 453 
 
 " Mm-m ! the very size of an angel," assented the 
 mollified vrouw, with a sudden choking, "that he 
 was ; there 's none like him left." 
 
 " Three quarters of a pound of nails, one guilder 
 ten stuyvers," pursued the sexton. 
 
 " Where -went all the nails ? Nigh upon a whole 
 pound of nails to one coffin! 'Tis past belief!" 
 
 " Making coffin, four and twenty guilders. Cartage, 
 ten stuyvers." 
 
 " 'T is robbery ! " 
 
 "A half-vat and an anker of good beer, twenty- 
 seven guilders," pursued the imperturbable sexton. 
 
 "There was never the half of it drunk in the 
 house ! " 
 
 " One gallon of brande-wyn, thirty-two guilders." 
 
 " Lieve hemel ! " shrieked the little vrouw. " Where 
 went it, then ? It came not here." 
 
 " They drank it in his honor. 'T was what he liked 
 best, mark ye." 
 
 "That did he, — that did he; nothing so much. 
 Oh, Rip, if ye could but come back, man, ye 'd hear 
 no more hard words about the brande-wyn ! " 
 
 "Six gallons madeira for the women, eighty-four 
 guilders." 
 
 ■•Eoo ! zoo ! They were thirsty that day ! " 
 
 " T was for grief, mind ye ; nothing so much dries 
 the throat." 
 
 "'Tis true." 
 
 " And they mourn not every day one so close to the 
 liking of all." 
 
 " Zoo ! One and all ! " with a fresh outburst of 
 tears. "Who could help but to love him?" 
 
 " Sugar and spice, five guilders. One hundred and 
 fifty sugar cakes, fifteen guilders. Tobacco and pipes, 
 
454 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 four guilders and ten stuyvers. Digging grave, thirty 
 guilders," continued the sexton in some precipitation, 
 taking advantage of the listener's emotion to hurry 
 over several objectionable items. 
 
 " Om God's wil! " burst forth the little dame, wrath- 
 fully, the tears still shining in her eyes. " Thirty 
 guilders, — thirty, say ye, for one grave?" 
 
 " Remember his size, will ye ? " 
 
 " 'T is out of all reason ! " 
 
 " He looked down upon the most of men." 
 
 " Mm-m ! that did he ; 't is true." 
 
 " Would ye have him stinted for room in his last 
 bed ? " 
 
 " No — no — no-o-o ! " sobbed the widow. 
 
 " Or put in bent or twisted ? " continued the crafty 
 sexton. 
 
 " Ye know I would not." 
 
 " Inviting to the funeral, twelte guilders. Marritje 
 Lieverse, for assistance, six guilders. The whole, two 
 hundred and forty-nine guilders. A true account, and 
 small as can be made," concluded the sexton, thinking 
 to finish under cover of the vrouw's sobs. 
 
 But the keen ears were on the alert. 
 
 "Two hundred, say ye, — two hundred and more? 
 'T is beyond all sense and reason ! Two hundred and 
 fifty guilders ! I have not the half of it in the world ! 
 Not the half of it, I say, with the clothes on my back ! 
 Two hundred, ye say, and forty-nine guilders for bury- 
 ing one poor Christian ? " 
 
 " And a modest sum, too," protested the sexton, 
 stoutly. 
 
 " God forgive the poor for being born, then, and 
 spare us, good Lord, from death ! We cannot afford 
 to die." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 455 
 
 "I'll make the payment suit your convenience,' 
 vrouw." 
 
 " That will ye or get nothing ! Two hundred and 
 forty-nine guilders ! I saw not so much money since 
 buying the bouwerie yonder they have cheated me 
 out of ! " 
 
 "I'll be easy with ye, I say. Give me what ye 
 have in hand." 
 
 " T is not much." 
 
 " 'T is a beginning, and I '11 not let ye forget the 
 rest." 
 
 " That will ye not. Go along with ye, and come 
 back to-morrow.. Ye shall have what there is, but 
 I'll not take the bread from the children's mouths 
 for ye!" 
 
 The satisfied look upon the sexton's face, as he 
 rode away on his gaunt black horse, was significant 
 of confidence in his debtor. 
 
 The begum now announced her presence. Tryntje 
 greeted her with warmest gratitude. 
 
 " I heard what was not meant for my ears," began 
 the visitor, apologetically. 
 
 " That one ? He thought to rob me. He grows 
 rich grinding the poor. He comes now, when my 
 heart is heavy with grief for — for — " 
 
 She broke out into loud sobs, and for several 
 minutes wept unrestrainedly. 
 
 "Never heed him. He shall not plague you. I 
 will help you to the money." 
 
 " No." 
 
 " You may bring it back if you will." 
 
 « I shall not, — I shall not." 
 
 " 'T is better to owe me than him." ' 
 
 The vrouw still continued to shake her head. 
 
.456 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " But your children, — they must be cared for. 
 What have you left for them ? " 
 
 " These ! " cried the plucky vrouw, holding up her 
 bony, hard-worked little hands. 
 
 " Poor Tryntje ! " 
 
 " They gained money once ; there is strength left 
 in them yet, so they rob me not again." 
 
 " Tryntje ! " The begum's face lighted up with a 
 sudden thought. 
 
 " Bi ? " 
 
 " Wait, good vrouw, — wait, my Tryntje. I may 
 do something for you yet." 
 
 " So ? " 
 
 But without waiting to explain herself further, the 
 lady gave the order to her slaves, and rode hastily 
 away. 
 
 Arriving home filled with her new project, she was 
 surprised, upon entering the house, to hear the sound 
 of voices in Oatalina's room. 
 
 Going thither in some anxiety, she pushed open the 
 door, and beheld Hester, in the middle of the floor, 
 cowering, with looks of amazement, before Catalina, 
 who, with flaming eyes and withering emphasis, 
 poured forth upon her a flood of denunciation. 
 
 " You — you — who are you to cast off him, a high- 
 born junker with a noble heart, who has followed you 
 with years and years of faithful service ? Your father, 
 say you ? Who was your father ? All the fathers ever 
 born should not make me break my word ! Your 
 father ! What is he but a handful of dust ! He has 
 done harm enough. Let the grave hold him ! I am 
 tired of his name, and for you — go — go ! Get back 
 to your blacksmith ! He is good enough for you ! I 
 want never — never — never to lay eyes on you again ! " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 457 
 
 Dumfounded and dismayed, Hester turned about, 
 went downstairs and out of the house. Uncon- 
 sciously making way for her to pass, the begum said 
 not a word, but stood rooted to the spot, with her 
 eyes fixed in wonder upon her daughter, wlio, the 
 next moment rushing forward, fell into her arms, 
 crying in pitiable, despairing tones, — 
 
 " Oh, my mother, help me 1 " 
 
458 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 SCARCELY had Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury 
 arrived in New York to take upon him the gov- 
 ernment of the province under a commission from 
 William III., when he was called upon to mourn the 
 death of that able monarch, and proclaim the acces- 
 sion of his own royal kinswoman, Anne Stuart. 
 
 In fact, his Lordship was not only cousin-german 
 to her new Majesty, but, as is well known, so closely 
 resembled her in face and figure that he plumed him- 
 self much upon the likeness, and was led to favor it 
 in unusual ways. 
 
 As has been hinted, the coming of the new gover- 
 nor was most opportune for the Van Cortlandts and 
 their friends. It so chanced that Steenie, in behalf 
 of his mother and in furtherance of certain family 
 interests, had occasion to wait upon his Lordship 
 soon after his arrival, when he was received with so 
 much favor that he naturally formed a high opinion 
 of his Excellency's character and abilities. 
 
 On his part, the governor, in those early days while 
 he was yet uncertain of his foothold, may have had 
 reasons of his own for his kindly reception of a mem- 
 ber of one of the most influential families in the 
 province, a young man belonging to his own party, 
 whose speech and air, moreover, were so marked by 
 the settled gravity of middle age. It will be remem- 
 bered that the begum had already remarked the 
 junker's growing seriousness of manner. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 459 
 
 " And what wonder he is become an old man ? " 
 cried Cornells De Peyster, in consultation with 
 Madam Van Cortlandt upon the subject. " He turns 
 the cold shoulder upon all his old fellows ; he '11 have 
 nothing to do with any of us, these days. And see 
 how he lives ! He is never seen at a rout, he has 
 forgotten how to handle a gun, he sees no point to 
 a joke, he must be ever at work." 
 
 " Yes," put in Madam, with a motherly exten- 
 uation, " he works too hard, — 't is that is the 
 matter." 
 
 " ' Works ! ' " went on the irreverent Cornelis ; 
 " but at what, pray you. Madam ? If 't were in the 
 way of ambition to make a figure in the world, all 
 well and good. But 't is nothing of the sort. 'T is 
 poor cheap drudgery, and he works at it like a horse 
 in a treadmill." 
 
 Steenie, meantime, unconscious of his friend's con- 
 cern about him, kept on in his treadmill, until one 
 morning he was brought to a standstill by a circum- 
 stance which would be quite too simple to mention if 
 it had not resulted in his liberation. 
 
 This was nothing more nor less than a letter, — 
 a curious letter, written in a graceful but illegible 
 hand, which cost Steenie an hour's close labor to 
 decipher. Its contents were as follows : — 
 
 Mynheer, — Suffer that I commend myself to you in 
 all honor and respect, and pray that this may find you 
 and your worshipful family in well-being ! 
 
 I come to beseech your aid and favor in a matter of 
 moment. It is, be assured, no business of my own, else 
 had I not ventured to call upon you. It is to favor the 
 humble petition of one in suffering. This is the matter : — 
 
 There is one Vrouw Van Dorn, well known to you. 
 
460 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 She lives now upon your estate. She is lately plunged 
 in great grief by her husband's death. It may not yet 
 reach your ears that she is left in great want, that she 
 has scarce food for her children, and nothing where- 
 withal to pay the heavj'- funeral charges of her husband 
 that is dead. 
 
 For all this, and despite her great need, she will take 
 no aid. 'T is a pride most strange in one of her condi- 
 tion. None the less is she fixed and stubborn in her 
 resolve. 
 
 You know her history, and with what injustice she 
 was treated by them lately in power. I have now a 
 thought. It comes to me his new Excellency may look 
 with more favor upon her suit. To this end it must be 
 brought to his notice by one he is well inclined to. You 
 know in what esteem my name is held by his Lordship, 
 and for what cause. 'Tis therefore I stand now like one 
 with the hands tied. 
 
 In this strait I think of you. I pray you may be 
 moved to lift your voice and to stir your hand in the 
 matter. Forgive such boldness, and let me know freely 
 your mind. If you refuse, 't is well, — you will have 
 reasons. If your heart is rather moved to give help, 
 I pray you to wait upon me at your convenience, when 
 I will make known to you all that is needful, and have 
 the matter fairly set forth in a paper to lay before his 
 Excellency. 
 
 Whatever be your choice, it will not change the 
 thoughts I have of you. Do nothing to oblige me ! 
 Obey only your own heart ! I am done. I thank you 
 for your pains in reading this letter. I pray you may 
 have health and peace. 
 
 From your most respectful and obedient humble 
 servant, # # * 
 
 The signature was adorned with a flourish so in- 
 volved and elaborate that the junker could make 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 461 
 
 nothing of it, yet he had no trouble in guessing the 
 writer. 
 
 The call came to him like a voice out of the past, 
 at once appealing and peremptory. Moved not by 
 any impulse of benevolence, not by any love of jus- 
 tice, not even by any prompting of friendship for 
 Tryntje, he obeyed, — obeyed as if in recognition of 
 an obligation, but so mechanically that he went about 
 the task required of him with the look and manner of 
 a sleep-walker. 
 
 The begum received him with a gravity equal to his 
 own. Perhaps because of her own profound preoc- 
 cupation she seemed to find nothing unusual in his 
 bearing. 
 
 " 'T is good to see you again, Mynheer, — we grow 
 strangers of late. I was surp of your coming ; I knew 
 well 't would touch your heart, — this noble charity. 
 Sit, pray, and let us talk." 
 
 The visitor's eyes glanced furtively about the fa- 
 miliar room as he took the offered seat. 
 
 " Did I say ' charity ' ? I take back the word ; 't is 
 rather justice. But you know it all. Mynheer, this 
 story ? " 
 
 Steenie bowed, with his sleep-walking look. 
 
 " It needs not, then, that I explain, but rather tell 
 me your mind, Mynheer.' Think you his Excellency 
 will listen to our suit with favor ? " 
 
 " Pardon ! " 
 
 The lady saw instantly that she had been talking 
 to deaf ears. Oddly enough, something very like a 
 gleam of gratification at the discourtesy showed for 
 a moment in her face, but directly gave way to her 
 former zealous look as she repeated with gentle 
 emphasis, — 
 
462 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Will his Lordship, think you, be inclined to see 
 justice done the poor woman ? " 
 
 " 'T is like — I hope so — er — there is good ground 
 to expect it." 
 
 " Lies it in his Lordship's power to amend the 
 wrong ? " 
 
 " ' Wrong ' ! " repeated the junker again at sea. 
 
 " May he of his own will give order that the money 
 be paid back, or is it a matter for the council ? Pity 
 my ignorance ! " 
 
 " The council, — humph ! 'T is rather a question 
 for the assembly ! " 
 
 " Then the governor can do nothing in the matter ? " 
 
 " Anything, everything ; they will heed his slightest 
 beck till the honeymoon is over," answered Steenie, 
 with a touch of irony, as he straightened himself in 
 his chair and gave his mind at last to the subject. 
 
 " And you. Mynheer, — will you, then, take the great 
 trouble to lay the matter before liis Excellency 1 " 
 
 " Most willingly ; 't is for that I — " 
 
 The sound of voices and steps outside in the passage 
 caused him to stop. He listened a moment ; then rose, 
 with a troubled look. 
 
 " Are you in haste. Mynheer ? " 
 
 " I have — er — pressing matters needing my at- 
 tention." 
 
 " Let me not hold you. I — but since you have 
 business — I am most bounden for your pains. Will 
 it suit your convenience to move soon in the matter, 
 Mynheer ? " 
 
 " To-morrow or the day following, at his Lordship's 
 leisure I will wait upon him," 
 
 " 'T is sooner than I had hoped. Let us pray you 
 may persuade him ; and if you do, oh, Mynheer — " 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 463 
 
 « Pardon ? " 
 
 " What a joy for the poor woman ! " 
 
 " I will do my best." 
 
 " 'T were a pity — that — " 
 
 " Eh ? " 
 
 " — she should not know it without loss of time." 
 
 " So ! " 
 
 Blind to the subtle insinuation of this suggestion, 
 the junker stood obtusely staring. 
 
 " A thought comes to my mind — " The lady 
 struggled with a momentary embarrassment. 
 
 " What thought ? " 
 
 " How much greater pleasure if she could hear it 
 from your own lips ! " 
 
 " You would have me tell her ? " 
 
 " 'T is on your homeward way." 
 
 " So 't is. Yes, I will do it. I will stop at the 
 door. What more, then, is there ? " 
 
 " Nothing, 't is all. Take my thanks, a thousand 
 thanks. Mynheer, for this great aid. 'T is raising a 
 poor creature from the dust. My heart goes with you 
 on this business. I think of nothing till the good 
 news comes." 
 
 Since Rip's death, the begum, for reasons not hard 
 to understand, had talked much at home of Tryntje's 
 bereavement and of the sad state of things at the 
 bouwerie. It was with no surprise, then, that Cata- 
 lina heard the hackneyed subject brought up again, 
 next morning, at table. As usual, of late, she gave 
 little heed to what was said beyond a general recog- 
 nition of the topic. It was otherwise when, an hour 
 later, her mother came suddenly upon her, cloaked 
 and hooded, in the passage, as she was about stealing 
 forth to her old haunt upon the rocks. 
 
464 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " So, Cafcalina ? 'T is well I saw you. You are go- 
 ing out, you may do me a service. Here are some 
 things I had made ready for Tryntje — " 
 
 " But I — 't was not that way I had in mind to go." 
 
 " What matters to you one way or another ? And 
 she, poor woman, is in sore need. I have neglected 
 her these last days." 
 
 " Kouba will do as well." 
 
 " No ; she takes it to heart you go not to see her." 
 
 " 'T is a great distance." 
 
 " Take your time. "What need for haste ? You 
 may eat your dinner at the bouwerie." 
 
 Catalina hesitated, reflected ; perhaps the long- 
 stifled voice of conscience seconded the motion. The 
 begum saw her advantage, and failed not to pur- 
 sue it. 
 
 " Tell her — say to poor Tryntje to take heart. 
 There is good news in store for her, — mark you 
 what I say, my daughter ? " 
 
 " I hear you." 
 
 " Say that one has undertaken the matter who has 
 great weight with the new governor." 
 
 " One who has weight with the governor," repeated 
 Catalina, absently. 
 
 " He will go himself to plead her cause, and some- 
 thing must come of it." 
 
 " I will tell her." 
 
 " His Excellency cannot refuse to hearken to Myn- 
 heer Van Cortlandt." 
 
 The listener started, and turned in great agitation, 
 as if to witlidraw from the errand. 
 
 " Here are the things for Tryntje," went on the 
 watchful begum. " You had best set forth at once ; 
 't is a good stretch. You may take your time com- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 465 
 
 ing back. I will send Kouba with your horse. Look 
 you wait there till he comes." 
 
 The same morning, mindful of his promise, Steenie 
 presented himself at the governor's house. There 
 having made known his wish for an interview, he was 
 shown into the audience room and left, with the an- 
 nouncement that his Lordship was engaged at his toilet, 
 but would presently appear. 
 
 Busied with his own thoughts, he scarcely heeded 
 what the man said. He sat down, and for a long 
 time waited patiently. Gradually it began to dawn 
 upon him that he was being neglected. Perhaps he 
 had been forgotten ! The thought made him uneasy. 
 He stalked up and down the floor, he looked out at 
 the windows, he moved about the furniture, to no pur- 
 pose. At last, when his patience was quite exhausted 
 and he was about leaving the house in dudgeon, there 
 was heard a movement in the ante-room, — the sound 
 of footsteps and the rustle of garments. Remember- 
 ing his errand, he controlled his irritation, and com- 
 posed his face and manner to outward deference. 
 
 Directly the door was thrown open with a flourish, 
 and two servants in livery appeared, backing slowly 
 into the room. There followed a moment of strained 
 expectancy, not void of effect upon the junker. Then 
 an imposing figure filled the doorway. Steenie rose 
 from his chair. A large woman, with an assumption 
 of great state, came forward and seated herself upon 
 a dais at the upper end of the room. She was fol- 
 lowed by a train-bearer and several attendants, who 
 solemnly ranged themselves behind her chair. 
 
 Steenie noted in some amazement the person and 
 dress of this majestic gentlewoman. She seemed not 
 
 30 
 
466 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 remarkable for either grace or beauty, being of un- 
 usual stature, with a clumsy figure, a heavy face, big, 
 staring eyes, and a double chin. 
 
 Her dress, however, was ordered with an approach 
 to magnificence. She wore a velvet robe, opened in 
 front to show a bare neck, and a stomacher wrought 
 in seed pearls, while at the waist the heavy folds of 
 her gown were gathered into a girdle set in precious 
 stones. Perched grotesquely upon her large wig shone 
 a tiny head-gear in the form of a tiara. 
 
 Adjusting her draperies somewhat awkwardly, the 
 lady directed her eyes with a look of extreme com- 
 placency upon Steenie, as if awaiting some explana- 
 tion of his presence. 
 
 " May it please you, Madam, I am come to see his 
 Excellency Lord Cornbury." 
 
 " Mynheer Van Oortlandt is a frequent visitor at our 
 court," answered the lady, in a powerful baritone voice 
 which made Steenie start and lose countenance. 
 
 The speaker's complacent look broadened into a 
 smile at the junker's discomfiture, and she exchanged 
 meaning glances with her attendants. 
 
 " Madam," continued Steenie, with dignity, " I am 
 not come this time in my own behalf, but in the in- 
 terest of one who suffered great injustice at the hands 
 of those lately in power. I am persuaded that if I 
 can but get speech with his Excellency, and make 
 known to him the merits of the case, he will take it 
 into consideration." 
 
 " Go on and tell your tale. Mynheer," said the 
 lady, in a condescending tone, as she adjusted a 
 bracelet. 
 
 " Pardon, your Ladyship, I would lay the matter be- 
 fore his Excellency in person." 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 467 
 
 Turning with a frown to repress a sudden tittering 
 among her attendants, the lady repeated, — 
 
 " Go on, I say ! If there be anything in the matter, 
 it shall come to his ears, never fear ! " 
 
 Impressed by the speaker's air of authority, Steenie 
 judged it better not to prejudice his case by further 
 hesitation, and so proceeded to tell Tryntje's story in 
 the fewest possible words, darting an occasional glance 
 of indignation at the giggling attendants, whom no awe 
 of their mistress seemed to keep in check. 
 
 " These, then, are the facts, your ladyship," said 
 Steenie, in conclusion. " It is, as you will see, a plain 
 case of robbery. If you have any influence with his 
 Excellency — " 
 
 " Be assured I have, the very greatest," interrupted 
 the lady, cooling her florid face with a large feather 
 fan. " Indeed, I may say he is always ruled by me 
 in such cases ; but I am free to confess," she went on, 
 with an air of irritation, " that I can give you no 
 great hope in this matter. His Excellency is tired 
 of these complaints ; he hears of nothing else from 
 morning till night. He is sorry for these people, he 
 feels great pity for them, but there is a limit to his 
 power, there is a limit to the funds in the treasury. 
 'T is the people's money you ask for ; his Excellency 
 has no power over it, and there are needs more crying 
 in other directions." 
 
 Somewhat taken aback by this emphatic rebuff, 
 Steenie stood casting about in his mind for some pre- 
 text by which he could get speech with his Excellency 
 in person, when the door opened, and the lackey ap- 
 peared ushering in another petitioner. 
 
 Directly the lady's face lighted up ; she stretched 
 forth her hand with a gracious smile. 
 
468 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 The new-comer advanced. It was Cornelia De Pey- 
 ster. Hardly had the two friends exchanged looks of 
 recognition, when, to Steenie's amazement, Cornelia 
 stalked up to the dais, knelt upon one knee, and kiss- 
 ing the lady's fat hand said in an undertone, which 
 yet was audible in every part of the room, — 
 
 " I hope I find your Majesty in better health thia 
 morning." 
 
 " Hush ! " said the lady, tapping his lips with her 
 fan ; " those are dangerous words. Mynheer, if mali- 
 ciously reported." 
 
 "'Tis impossible to help it, your Maj — er — I 
 would say — never was anything so like, I swear — 
 't is stronger this morning than ever," glancing back 
 and forth from the lady's face to a large portrait of 
 Queen Anne hanging above her on the wall. " The 
 look, the attitude,- — everything is complete; 'tis as 
 if your Maj — er — had walked bodily down out of 
 the frame." 
 
 " You would flatter me." 
 
 " Not I." 
 
 " There may be a look, a passing likeness, I grant 
 you, — it has indeed been remarked ; but nothing so 
 strong as you would have it," rejoined the lady, in a 
 tone which invited contradiction. 
 
 " Two peas are not more like, I swear ; 't is past all 
 belief. But I intrude upon some graver business," 
 looking around upon Steenie. 
 
 " No, Mynheer De Peyster is always welcome," said 
 the lady, reassuringly ; adding directly, with marked 
 emphasis, " I wish I might say as much for others of 
 his family whom — " 
 
 " Ah, poor Abraham ! Forgive him. He was led 
 astray by those Leislerians," interposed Cornells, 
 
' I hope I find your Majesty in better health this morning.' 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 469 
 
 hastily, in defence of hia brother, lately dismissed 
 from the council. 
 
 The lady replied only with a sceptical look, and 
 abruptly changed the subject. 
 
 "If I mistake not, Mynheer, I read a petitioning 
 look in your eyes this morning." 
 
 " Well read, your Majesty." 
 
 "Have done with that before harm comes of it," 
 said the lady, with a passing frown. 
 
 " You must tie my tongue first." 
 
 " What is your petition ? " 
 
 " To remind your — " 
 
 " Hush, I say." 
 
 " — of a certain promise." 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 "You cannot forget. I shall not let you forget. 
 What a pity I have not the artist here this morn- 
 ing, — all is so perfect ! " 
 
 A flush of extreme gratification overspread the 
 lady's broad face. She was just gathering herself to 
 answer, when the bell in the church close by began to 
 ring, with such a deafening clamor that for some min- 
 utes nothing else could be heard. 
 
 " Mark that," said the lady, rising ; " 't is striking 
 twelve. You shall stay and dine with us, and we 
 will talk further of this matter of a portrait. Mean^ 
 time, as Colonel Heathcote is waiting with some busi- 
 ness of the council, I must leave you for the moment. 
 Come to me presently in my closet." 
 
 So saying, and graciously including the dum- 
 founded Steenie in her farewell nod, the lady and 
 her attendants disappeared from the room. 
 
 Left together, the two junkers gazed at each other 
 for a moment in silence. 
 
470 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " Who — what means all this ? " asked Steenie, 
 with a look of hopeless perplexity. 
 
 " You do not know ? " 
 
 " 'T is Lady Cornbury, that ? " 
 
 " ' Lady Cornbury ! ' " repeated Cornells, laughing in 
 his friend's face. " Are you blind or a dunce, Steen ? " 
 
 " Who, then ? " 
 
 " Sh-h ! " whispered Cornells, discreetly lowering his 
 voice. " Can you not see ? " 
 
 « Eh ? " 
 
 " 'T is his Excellency himself." 
 
 " Lord Cornbury 1 " 
 
 " The same." 
 
 " In petticoats ? " 
 
 " To favor the likeness, see you ? Oh, 't is well 
 known, this weakness of his Lordship. Look now 
 what comes of living out of the world. I 'm in high 
 favor because I humor the whim, — and with no vio- 
 lence to my conscience, either. Did you note the 
 resemblance ? Come here," dragging Steenie before 
 the portrait. " See you there, now ? They are like 
 as twins." 
 
 Steenie stood gazing in silence, quite unable to 
 believe the evidence of his own senses. 
 
 " What, then, are you doing here, since you knew 
 not 't was his Excellency ? " asked Cornells. 
 
 " I came with a petition, and demanded to see his 
 Lordship." 
 
 " And it was granted, — your suit ? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " So ! " Cornells laughed satirically, and added 
 presently, in a good-humored tone, " Come, come, 
 Steen, your wits are gone wool-gathering. It needed 
 no prophet to say you would fail if you stood by, star- 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 471 
 
 fng, and never made the mistake of supposing that 
 you were speaking with her Majesty in person. What 
 is your business ? Tell it to me. If it be anything 
 short of restoring brother Abraham to the council, 
 I may bring it about for you." 
 
 " Do, do. Try, at least, dear Corny. 'Tis a case 
 crying for relief. See, here in this paper are the 
 facts. You may have the little woman up herself to 
 be questioned, and as many witnesses as you want." 
 
 " So ! It sounds well," said Cornells, glancing 
 over the paper as he talked. " It seems just and 
 right. 'T is no great matter, either. Good ! " he 
 concluded, folding the paper and putting it in his 
 pocket. " I am called to his closet, as you heard, 
 and am kept to dinner. I will bring it before him, 
 and 't will be granted, too, or I 'm no courtier." 
 
 " Thanks, thanks. Corny. 'T is like you. And you 
 will bring me word ? " 
 
 " The moment I am let free, never fear. Sh ! " 
 
 A lackey appeared to summon Cornells to his 
 Excellency, and thereupon Steenie took leave. 
 
 Several hours later, true to his promise, Cornells 
 came to Steenie's door with the welcome news that 
 his Excellency had pledged his word Tryntje's loss 
 should be made good, if, upon inquiry, the case 
 proved as deserving as represented. Thereto he sum- 
 moned the dame to an examination next morning. 
 
 Thanking Cornells cordially for his timely aid, 
 Steenie set forth on his long ride home by way of the 
 Sapokanican road. 
 
 The sun was fast sinking behind the distant pali- 
 sades ; his level rays, entangled as it seemed, in the 
 roadside shrubbery, hung like a golden fleece from 
 the thick-leaved branches. His quickening influence 
 
472 THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 withdrawn, nature called a halt. The glare and tu- 
 mult of the day were gone. Night came on apace. 
 The air resounded with the evening song I all 
 created things, a rest-inspiring chorus. Lambs "*. ated 
 for entrance to the fold ; cattle lowed for the loitering 
 cow-boy ; birds twittered drowsily as they sank to rest ; 
 the gossiping poultry clucked their good-night greet- 
 ings as they sought vantage points in the apple-trees ; 
 tree-toads in their viewless haunts and frogs from the 
 distant marsh heralded with joyous clamor the night's 
 approach. It was nature's crooning-time, and Steenie 
 listened unconsciously to the lullaby as he strode 
 along busied with deeper matters, soothed in his own 
 despite. 
 
 Arriving at Tryntje's bouwerie, he dismounted at 
 the gate, and leaving his horse with a servant on the 
 highway, sauntered up the grass-grown path. 
 
 Door and windows stood open, but nobody ap- 
 peared. Steenie looked around with the critical eye 
 of a landlord. The stoop was well swept ; the yard 
 was tidy. Upon a bench beside the door there lay 
 some unfinished knitting ; a busy kitten rolled about 
 the ball of yarn upon the floor. 
 
 With the freedom of a neighbor, the visitor walked 
 into the house. The supper-table was spread in the 
 small living-room, the kettle was singing over the open 
 fire, but the huysvrouw was nowhere to be seen. The 
 junker called out once or twice to announce his pres- 
 ence. There was no answer. He searched the bed- 
 room, peeped into the pantry, and bawled down the 
 cellar stairs, and came at last to the back door. 
 Clearly Tryntje had gone neighboring. 
 
 Pausing a moment as if in doubt what to do, 
 Steenie turned back towards the front of the house. 
 
THE BEGUM'S DAUGHTER. 473 
 
 As he passed through the living-room he heard a 
 voiee. He stopped. It was somebody on the stoop 
 talking to the kitten. Tryntje had been milking and 
 had come in from the barn. He strode forward and 
 presented himself at the door. 
 
 Dropping kitten and knitting, the new-comer 
 sprang to her feet in dismay. Steenie's face fell. 
 The joyous expectation faded from his eyes. He 
 stood a moment with a troubled look ; then, gravely 
 stepping forth, said, in tones carefully guarded, — 
 
 "I was looking for Tryntje. Say to her, please, 
 that I will come again to-morrow." 
 
 He turned and walked towards the highway. A 
 despairing cry rang in his ears. He stopped. 
 
 " Mynheer — Mynheer ! " 
 
 The words sounded like a wail. He hurried back 
 and lifted the prostrate figure from the bench. Slip- 
 ping from his hold, she sank to her knees, with face 
 buried in her hands. 
 
 " Forgive — oh, forgive me. Mynheer ! " 
 
 « Catalina ! " 
 
 " I did not know — " 
 
 "What say you?" 
 
 " I thought — I thought you bound to her." 
 
 " To Hester ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " But," he cried, tenderly gathering the little figure 
 once more in his arms, and striving to look into the 
 telltale face, — " but you told me — " 
 
 " A wicked lie ! " she gasped, hiding her burning 
 blushes upon his shoulder.