mr. m'fadden sees shadows in the future
night has quickly drawn its curtain over the scene. mr. m'fadden lies on his bed, writhing under the pain of the poisoned wound. he left his preacher locked up for the night in a cold hovel, and he has secured the dangerous bible, lest it lessen his value. mr. m'fadden, however, feels that now his earthly career is fast closing he must seek redemption. hie has called in the aid of a physician, who tells him there is great danger, and little hope unless his case takes a favourable turn about midnight. the professional gentleman merely suggests this, but the suggestion conveys an awful warning. all the misdeeds of the past cloud before his eyes; they summon him to make his peace with his maker. he remembers what has been told him about the quality of mercy,--the duration of hope in redemption,--which he may secure by rendering justice to those he has wronged. but now conscience wars with him; he sees the fierce elements of retribution gathering their poisoned shafts about him; he quails lest their points pierce his heart; and he sees the god of right arraigning him at the bar of justice. there, that dispenser of all good sits in his glory and omnipotence, listening while the oppressed recites his sufferings: the oppressed there meets him face to face, robed in that same garb of submission which he has inflicted upon him on earth. his fevered brain gives out strange warnings,--warnings in which he sees the angel of light unfolding the long list of his injustice to his fellow man, and an angry god passing the awful sentence. writhing, turning, and contorting his face, his very soul burns with the agony of despair. he grasps the hand of his physician, who leans over his wounded body, and with eyes distorted and glassy, stares wildly and frantically round the room. again, as if suffering inward torture, he springs from his pillow, utters fierce imprecations against the visions that surround him, grasps at them with his out-stretched fingers, motions his hand backward and forward, and breaks out into violent paroxysms of passion, as if struggling in the unyielding grasp of death.
that physical power which has so long borne him up in his daily pursuits yields to the wanderings of his haunted mind. he lays his hand upon the physician's shoulder as his struggles now subside, looks mournfully in his face, and rather mutters than speaks: "bring-bring-bring him here: i'll see him,--i must see him! i-i-i took away the book; there's what makes the sting worse! and when i close my eyes i see it burning fiercely-"
"who shall i bring?" interrupts the physician, mildly, endeavouring to soothe his feelings by assuring him there is no danger, if he will but remain calm.
"heaven is casting its thick vengeance round me; heaven is consuming me with the fire of my own heart! how can i be calm, and my past life vaulted with a glow of fire? the finger of almighty god points to that deed i did today. i deprived a wretch of his only hope: that wretch can forgive me before heaven. y-e-s, he can,--can speak for me,--can intercede for me; he can sign my repentance, and save me from the just vengeance of heaven. his-his-his-"
"what?" the physician whispers, putting his ear to his mouth. "be calm."
"calm!" he mutters in return.
"neither fear death nor be frightened at its shadows-"
"it's life, life, life i fear--not death!" he gurgles out. "bring him to me; there is the bible. oh! how could i have robbed him of it! 'twas our folly--all folly--my folly!" mr. m'fadden had forgotten that the bustle of current life was no excuse for his folly; that it would be summed up against him in the day of trouble. he never for once thought that the bible and its teachings were as dear to slave as master, and that its truths were equally consoling in the hour of death. in life it strengthens man's hopes; could it have been thus with m'fadden before death placed its troubled sea before his eyes, how happy he would have died in the lord!
the emphatic language, uttered in such supplicating tones, and so at variance with his habits of life, naturally excited the feelings of his physician, whose only solicitude had been evinced in his efforts to save life,--to heal the wound. never had he watched at a patient's bed-side who had exhibited such convulsions of passion,--such fears of death.
now struggling against a storm of convulsions, then subsiding into sluggish writhings, accompanied with low moans, indicating more mental disquietude than bodily pain. again he is quiet; points to his coat.
the physician brings it forward and lays it upon the bed, where mr. m'fadden can put his hand upon it. "it is there--in there!" he says, turning on his left side, and with a solicitous look pointing to the pockets of his coat. the professional gentleman does not understand him.
he half raises himself on his pillow, but sinks back fatigued, and faintly whispers, "oh, take it to him--to him! give him the comforter: bring him, poor fellow, to me, that his spirit may be my comforter!"
the physician understands, puts his hand into the pocket; draws forth the little boon companion. it is the bible, book of books; its great truths have borne harry through many trials,--he hopes it will be his shield and buckler to carry him through many more. its associations are as dear to him as its teachings are consoling in the days of tribulation. it is dear to him, because the promptings of a noble-hearted woman secretly entrusted it to his care, in violation of slavery's statutes. its well-worn pages bear testimony of the good service it has done. it was franconia's gift-franconia, whose tender emotions made her the friend of the slave-made in the kindness of woman's generous nature. the good example, when contrasted with the fierce tenor of slavery's fears, is worthy many followers.
but men seldom profit by small examples, especially when great fears are paramount.
the physician, holding the good book in his hand, enquires if mr. m'fadden would have him read from it? he has no answer to make, turns his feverish face from it, closes his eyes, and compressing his forehead with his hands, mutely shakes his head. a minute or two passes in silence; he has re-considered the point,--answers, no! he wants harry brought to him, that he may acknowledge his crimes; that he may quench the fire of unhappiness burning within him. "how seldom we think of death while in life,--and how painful to see death while gathering together the dross of this worldly chaos! great, great, great is the reward of the good, and mighty is the hand of omnipotence that, holding the record of our sins, warns us to prepare." as mr. m'fadden utters these words, a coloured woman enters the room to enquire if the patient wants nourishment. she will wait at the door.
the physician looks at the patient; the patient shakes his head and whispers, "only the boy. the boy i bought to-day." the bible lays at his side on the sheet. he points to it, again whispering, "the boy i took it from!"
the boy, the preacher, mr. m'fadden's purchase, can read; she will know him by that; she must bring him from the shed, from his cold bed of earth. that crime of slavery man wastes his energies to make right, is wrong in the sight of heaven; our patient reads the glaring testimony as the demons of his morbid fancy haunt him with their damning terrors, their ghastly visages.
"go, woman, bring him!" he whispers again.
almost motionless the woman stands. she has seen the little book-she knows it, and her eyes wander over the inscription on the cover. a deep blush shadows her countenance; she fixes her piercing black eyes upon it until they seem melting into sadness; with a delicacy and reserve at variance with her menial condition, she approaches the bed, lays her hand upon the book, and, while the physician's attention is attracted in another direction, closes its pages, and is about to depart.
"can you tell which one he wants, girl?" enquires the physician, in a stern voice.
"his name, i think, is harry; and they say the poor thing can preach; forgive me what i have done to him, oh lord! it is the weakness of man grasping the things of this world, to leave behind for the world's nothingness," says mr. m'fadden, as the woman leaves the room giving an affirmative reply.
the presence of the bible surprised the woman; she knew it as the one much used by harry, on marston's plantation. it was franconia's gift! the associations of the name touched the chord upon which hung the happiest incidents of her life. retracing her steps down the stairs, she seeks mine host of the tavern, makes known the demand, and receives the keys of this man-pen of our land of liberty. lantern in hand, she soon reaches the door, unlocks it gently, as if she expects the approach of some strange object, and fears a sudden surprise.
there the poor dejected wretches lay; nothing but earth's surface for a bed,--no blanket to cover them. they have eaten their measure of corn, and are sleeping; they sleep while chivalry revels! harry has drawn his hat partly over his face, and made a pillow of the little bundle he carried under his arm.
passing from one to the other, the woman approaches him, as if to see if she can recognise any familiar feature. she stoops over him, passes the light along his body, from head to foot, and from foot to head. "can it be our harry?" she mutters. "it can't be; master wouldn't sell him." her eyes glare with anxiety as they wander up and down his sleeping figure.
"harry,--harry,--harry! which is harry?" she demands.
scarcely has she lisped the words, when the sleeper starts to his feet, and sets his eyes on the woman with a stare of wonderment. his mind wanders-bewildered; is he back on the old plantation? that cannot be; they would not thus provide for him there. "back at the old home! oh, how glad i am: yes, my home is there, with good old master. my poor old woman; i've nothing for her, nothing," he says, extending his hand to the woman, and again, as his mind regains itself, their glances become mutual; the sympathy of two old associates gushes forth from the purest of fountains,--the oppressed heart.
"harry-oh, harry! is it you?"
"ellen! my good ellen, my friend, and old master's friend!" is the simultaneous salutation.
"sold you, too?" enquires harry, embracing her with all the fervour of a father who has regained his long-lost child. she throws her arms about his neck, and clings to him, as he kisses, and kisses, and kisses her olive brow.
"my sale, harry, was of little consequence; but why did they sell you? (her emotions have swollen into tears). you must tell me all, to-night! you must tell me of my child, my nicholas,--if master cares for him, and how he looks, grows, and acts. oh, how my heart beats to have him at my side;--when, when will that day come! i would have him with me, even if sold for the purpose." tears gush down her cheeks, as harry, encircling her with his arm, whispers words of consolation in her ear.
"if we were always for this world, ellen, our lot could not be borne. but heaven has a recompense, which awaits us in the world to come. ellen!"-he holds her from him and looks intently in her face-"masters are not to blame for our sufferings,--the law is the sinner! hope not, seek not for common justice, rights, privileges, or anything else while we are merchandise among men who, to please themselves, gamble with our souls and bodies. take away that injustice, ellen, and men who now plead our unprofitableness would hide their heads with shame. make us men, and we will plead our own cause; we will show to the world that we are men; black men, who can be made men when they are not made merchandise." ellen must tell him what has brought her here, first! he notices sad changes in her countenance, and feels anxious to listen to the recital of her troubles.
she cannot tell him now, and begs that he will not ask her, as the recollection of them fills her heart with sorrow. she discloses the object of her mission, will guide him to his new master, who, they say, is going to die, and feels very bad about it. he was a desperate man on his plantation, and has become the more contrite at death's call. "i hope god will forgive him!"
"he will!-he will! he is forgiving," interrupts harry, hurriedly.
ellen reconnoitres the wearied bodies of the others as they lie around. "poor wretches! what can i do for them?" she says, holding the lamp over them. she can do but little for them, poor girl. the will is good, but the wherewith she hath not. necessity is a hard master; none know it better than the slave woman. she will take harry by the hand, and, retracing her steps, usher him into the presence of the wounded man. pressing his hand as she opens the door, she bids him good night, and retires to her cabin. "poor harry!" she says, with a sigh.
the kind woman is ellen juvarna. she has passed another eventful stage of her eventful life. mine host, good fellow, bought her of mr. o'brodereque, that's all!