XXXIV. THE PRISONER AND THE JUDGE.
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THE two men looked at each other for some moments
in silence. There was something striking
and impressive in this silent examination by each
of his adversary; and points of great similarity
were not wanting, at least in the carriage of their persons.
Neither of them had anything in common with the humbler
class of human beings. Both men, in their attitudes,
bearing, and poise of head and feet, were plainly of that
rank accustomed to command and not to be commanded,—
to question but not to be questioned. An indifferent spectator
would have said, however, that the mysterious “wizard”
was the superior, and the stronger of the two. There
was something superb and haughty in the figure no longer
bent, but as straight as an arrow, in the eye flashing clearly
beneath the shaggy white eye-brow, in the proudly compressed
lip, the forehead raised calmly aloft. Lord Fairfax
had the air of a nobleman, but the stranger that of a monarch.
“Well, sir,” said the Earl, betraying unmistakable astonishment,
for no man had a quicker eye for the indefinable
evidences of superior character. “Well, sir, now for your
private communication. You have made a somewhat singular
request, and used a mode of address which indicates
former acquaintance. Where and how did you learn that
`Lord Thomas of Denton' was my name upon my patrimonial
estate, and there alone? Speak, sir!—let us end this
mystery. I listen!”
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And sitting down, his lordship motioned with cold courtesy
toward a chair opposite to his own.
His companion did not take the offered seat, but said
coolly:
“Then you do not recognize me, my lord?”
“No, sir; I find, it is true, something strangly familiar in
your features, but”——
“Possibly I may assist your recollection,” interrupted the
other; and throwing off his long overcoat, he stood before
Lord Fairfax metamorphosed from a rude backwoodsman
into an English gentleman clad in the most courtly and imposing
costume. His coat was richly embroidered in scarlet—
his frill snow-white,—his waistcoat of blue silk, loaded
with decorations, and falling over knee-breeches of the finest
material.
“Have you forgotten me?” he said coldly, as he saw the
Earl give a great start and suddenly turn pale.
Lord Fairfax almost recoiled, as the stranger advanced
toward him, but by a powerful effort summoned his strength
again, and replied:
“I have not, sir. You are Sir William Powys!”
“Yes, my lord,” returned the wizard with a frown, “I
am Sir William Powys! Sir William Powys whom your
lordship's father stripped of nearly all his possessions in
Yorkshire—who swore enmity thirty years ago against your
family—whose body bears the scar of a pistol ball lodged
therein by your lordship, in the right shoulder here, as that
hunter by a strange coincidence, declared—who has left the
Old World, as your lordship has left it, to come to the New,
and who here, as there, finds one of the house of Fairfax
eternally in his path, set in judgment over him, to oppose
him, and strive to direct him, in all his acts; to endeavor—
vainly! vainly my lord!—to thwart and to crush him!
Not content with alienating from me the heart of my daughter,
and marrying her against my wishes!—not content with
shipwrecking my happiness and hope in the Old World, your
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lordship has followed me hither!—you assemble a body of
low yeomen to try an English gentleman for witchcraft!
Had I not requested this interview, the vulgar fellow who
arrested me yonder would have preferred in addition a charge
of counterfeiting coin!—against me. me, my lord! me!”
And the old man, with flushed cheeks and forehead, looked
down upon the Earl with a fiery wrath which made his
countenance almost terrible in its indignation.
Lord Fairfax did not immediately reply. He seemed endeavoring
to control a sentiment as violent as that of his
companion. His compressed lips and heaving bosom indicated
the struggle which was passing in his mind, and he
was silent for some moments. The effort at self-control was
successful. His features slowly grew calm. The flush disappeared
from his face, and returning the other's gaze with
cold solemnity he said:
“Sir William Powys, what you have just uttered is an injustice
unworthy of your character, and unlike your blood,
which, in all its representives with whom I am acquainted,
has been violent and implacable, but neither unfair nor ungenerous.
You know well that I have had no part in originating
this silly prosecution of you for witchcraft. You
know that I am simply among these people, not of them,—as
the Lieutenant of the county, as an official bound to act
officially. So much for that. And touching the subject of
counterfeiting, it was mentioned in my hearing but an hour
ago. These are the wrongs which I have inflicted upon you,
as you declare, in the New World!”
The Earl paused a moment, then continued gloomily:
“Of events in England I would rather not speak: except to
say that you have here done me equal injustice. I do not believe
that my father was harsh toward you—but let that
pass. In a single accusation, you are just. I did force a
quarrel with you and wound you,—I regretted it. I still regret
it; it was unnecessary. But touching the last charge,—
here, Sir William Powys, I have nothing to blame myself
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with. I honestly loved your daughter—she honestly loved
me; in spite of your hatred for my family, she became my
Countess—if against your wish, as you say, still not without
your legal consent. But enough, sir. These memories move
me bitterly. Let the past sleep. I do not speak angrily as
you see, Sir William; I address you as your rank and position
demand. I have done, sir.”
There was so much nobility and sincerity in the tone of
the Earl, that his words evidently affected the listener
strangely. The menacing expression disappeared, and a
gloomy calm succeeded.
“My lord,” he said, “I so far acquit you of this present
annoyance as to fully believe that you had no part in it. The
pain it has occasioned both me and my child, no less remain.
There is, besides, no certainty that in future it will
not be repeated—and thus I have reason when I say that
the name of Fairfax is my evil genius, for you are the real
master and controlling influence in the country. But I pass
that by. You have said that my family is implacable. That
is only partly true of myself; but I shall not discuss the
question. I shall simply say that toward yourself personally
I have no ill feeling; indeed I am conscious of having
more than repaired all your injuries, as some day you will
know.”
Lord Fairfax made a motion with his hand and said with
noble simplicity:
“I would rather have it so than otherwise, sir.”
The words seemed to dissipate still further the enmity of
his companion. He sat down, and when he spoke again,
his voice was greatly changed. It was almost sad.
“My lord,” he said, “this is a strange and sorrowful
world—have you not found it so?”
“Eminently,” replied the Earl, sadly.
“I am more than seventy years old; you must be nearly
or quite fifty. Well, at our respective ages, men should
strive to forget the passions of their youth—the enmities
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and hatreds which sear the soul. You have wronged me—I
have wronged you. There let it rest. I am willing to forget
all, and to go upon my way without cherishing any thoughts
of vengeance in my heart. I will do more: I will right the
wrong I have done you;”—here the brows of the speaker
contracted painfully—“but not now. Let us come to the
business which made me request this interview.”
The Earl inclined his head with great courtesy, and listened.
“Nearly two years ago,” said his companion, “I bought
of your agent here—I never expected to see you in Virginia—
the tract of land upon which I live with my granddaughter.
I removed from my small estate on the seaboard, because
the chills and fevers of that region, for a portion of
the year, render it dangerous to her constitution; and again
because she derives singular benefit from a mineral spring
in the `fort' yonder. I brought with me only a man and a
maid, intending to return in the cold season, but have remained.
One of the reasons for this decision, in addition to
the health of my granddaughter, was the discovery of a
mine of gold and silver, upon the tract, which I have worked
with the utmost success.”
The Earl bowed with the same calm courtesy, and the
speaker continued:
“I know that by the charter granted to Lord Culpeper,
from whom you derive your property in this province, you
are entitled to one-fourth of the proceeds of all mines of gold
and silver discovered upon all lands within Lord Culpeper's
grant, and I have accordingly laid aside carefully one ingot
from every four, in a box marked “Lord Fairfax.” In relation
to the coin discovered by the bailiff, in one sense it is
counterfeit. I cast it from pure gold in a mould of clay, as
the amusement of an idle moment; and inasmuch as its
value, from the absence of all alloy, is one-fourth more than
that of real coin, I imagine my moral innocence of the
charge of coining may be established. I have made this
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explanation,” continued the speaker, “in order to propound
to you an interrogatory. I do so that there may be no misunderstanding,
no ambiguity. Shall I be permitted to
remain in this region undisturbed by legal annoyances, or
must I go with my child to another? The heart beats chill
at seventy, my lord, and a man is disposed to quiet. I
would ask no favor; I would have you reply as a mere matter
of business; I address myself to you as Lord Proprietor
of the Northern Neck in which I live, and chief executive
officer of the country.”
“As such I reply, Sir William,” said the Earl, calmly,
“that your further sojourn in the region shall be, as far as
lies in my power, wholly freed from all annoyance. If I
were not disposed to make you this assurance, with reference
to yourself, I should do so for your granddaughter's
sake. I cannot forget that she would have been the cousin
of my children. No more of that. In regard to the fourth
part of all gold mines, I do not claim that right in my charter—
or, if you insist, I reply that I wish the child to receive
the sum which you have laid aside—as a present from her
uncle by marriage. I pray you, sir, not to refuse me this
trifle. I shall not stop here, with your permission, in my
privilege of displaying my affection for my little niece. I
am truly proud to think of her as such; a more perfect
young princess I have never seen than the child, as she
came to you in the court-room. But enough, sir. I shall
not let you offer me this gold again, as I think you intend;
let us return and terminate this business. All shall end at
once.”
And opening the door, the Earl made a courteous gesture
to the old man, who had again donned his long coat, to
precede him, which resulted in their issuing forth together.
In the two hearts thus close to each other, there was no
longer any enmity; but in the elder's there was pain, and a
cruel hesitation.
They entered the room where the members of the court
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were seated, and in ten minutes Lord Fairfax had impressed
upon his associates, in private conference, the entire absurdity
of all charges brought against the prisoner. Indeed
the honorable justices were rather ashamed of themselves;
and many looks of disgust were directed toward the person
of Major Hastyluck, chief instigator and persecutor, who
was slumbering serenely with his face on the table. The
toils of his arduous position had overcome this watch-dog
of justice; after all his labors and his Jamaica, he “slept
well.”
The Wizard of the Massinutton was thus promptly discharged,
and in a moment two soft arms were around his
neck, and a face wet with tears was pressed to his thin
cheek.
Cannie was crying on the old man's bosom.*
eaf507n3* The following extract from “A visit to the Fort Mountain,” in the Southern Literary
Messenger for February, 1841, will indicate the origin of the character of “Old
Powell;” the first lines describe the Massinutton:
“On the left bank of the creek, the mountain crowds against the narrow road—on the
right, a granite escarpment of a thousand feet frowns down upon you—and the ravine
itself, clothed with a luxuriant growth of pines, cypresses, and laurels, deepens the gloom
of the overshadowing rocks.... On a sultry day, dispersed along the comb of the
precipice, groups of these vultures (turkey buzzards) may be seen, with their broad, rusty
wings, half expanded to the breeze—resembling so many spirits of darkness, brooding
over the gulf of perdition. The view from the bank is splendid. Passage Creek is diminished
to a rivulet, whose murmurs are faint as the dying wind in the pines around us. The
highway along its bank, seems but a winding footpath, over which the millboy's horse—
didst think it was a small brindled dog with a white spot on its back?-steals without
any apparent effort or motion of its own. What a majestic mountain is this across the
defile! It looks like Atlas, strong enough to sustain the world upon its shoulders.
Within this fort a comparative abundance of wild game is still to be found, particularly
wild hogs descended from the domestic breeds, but fierce as the monsters of the Pyrenees.
It is called “Powell's Fort,” after one of the first settlers of the country, the
valley of the creek is also known as “the Fort.” There is a curious and popular tradition
cherished in the neighborhood regarding “Old Powell.” It is said that he was
an advocate of a specie currency, and to assist the Government in the promotion of a
specie circulation, (established a hard money factory on his own responsibility, and
coined thousands of the genuine “Carolus III.—Del gratia”—procuring his metal
from mines in the vicinity only known to him. Suspected, and fearing detection,
he barreled up his immense treasure, and buried it at various places in the mountains.
Without disclosing the secret he died, and the barrels of silver still remain undisturbed
because undiscovered.”
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Cooke, John Esten, 1830-1886 [1868], Fairfax, or, The master of Greenway Court: a chronicle of the valley of the Shenandoah. (G.W. Carleton and Co., New York) [word count] [eaf507T].
