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Governor Lovelace received the party with
great cordiality, and felt his heart warm with
honest benevolence, as the father and daughter
poured out their gratitude in thanks.

“Give me thy hand, young man,” said he to
the Long Finne. “The assurances of this worthy
old gentleman, backed by the entreaties of
this fair lady, have convinced me thou hast been
basely slandered. Give me thy hand; I hope
there is no ill blood between us.”

“None,” replied Koningsmarke; “the wisest
men may be deceived; it is only the virtuous
and just that will acknowledge and repair their
errors.”

“And I,” rejoined his Excellency, “hereby
covenant to forgive myself, and all my enemies,
on one condition; which is no other than that,

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as I perceive with sufficient clearness this young
couple contemplate joining their fates together
ere long, thou, Governor Piper, wilt lay thy
commands upon them to honour my house with
the ceremony, and therewithal charge them, upon
pain of forfeiting thy blessing, to permit me the
pleasure of giving away a lady, whom, if I were
a young man, as I once was, I would dispute
the possession of with Guy of Warwick himself.
What sayest thou, Governor?”

“I say,” replied the Heer, “yea, I swear,
that it must, and shall be so, or I will withdraw
my consent in favour of the backbiter Othman
Pfegel, whom I do contemplate to beat lustily
on my return. Art thou content, my daughter?”

“Dear Father, allow me till to-morrow to decide.”

“Very well, but, der teufel! what has got
into thee, girl? When any thing turns up to
separate thee from the Long Finne, thou art half
mad; and when I am willing to unite you together,
thou art more than half a fool, I think,
and don't altogether know thy own mind. But
harkye, girl, be ready to-morrow morning either
to consent to marry the youth, or never to see
him more.”

“I agree to the alternative, father,” replied

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Christina, bending her head down upon her bosom.

Governor Lovelace now drew the Heer aside,
and whispered him, “come with me, and let us
leave them together—I dare swear the matter
will be settled to our satisfaction;” and thereupon
the two old gentlemen left the room together.
Koningsmarke, then, taking the hand of
Christina, said—

“Christina, thou hast this day made me thy
debtor in a sum of gratitude, which I can never
repay. Dare I ask thee to add to it by complying
with the wishes of thy father? I speak not of my
own happiness, but of his. He will rejoice in
our union.

“Believe it not—hope it not,” replied Christina.
“Oh, how I rejoice in the events of this day,
which have enabled me to repay, at least, some
of my obligations to thee! Thou didst once
save my life and honour, and I have helped, to
redeem thine. Thus far are we even, as to the
past; as to the future, believe not that I can
ever join my fate indissolubly to that of a robber—
at least, to one who has been an associate of
robbers. The debt of gratitude repaid, I can
yield nothing to affection.”

“A robber!” exclaimed the Long Finne,

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starting away from her with dismay and astonishment—
“a robber!”

“Yes! I have said it; for the truth compelled
me, at last, to utter the word, which I have carried
in my heart as a poisoned dagger, from the
very moment, when, at one and the same time, I
became thy debtor in an eternal weight of gratitude,
and discovered thou wert unworthy of my
love. Nay, deny it not; thy whole behaviour,
from first to last, hath acquiesced in the imputation.
None but robbers could have acted
as thou and thy companions acted.”

“But I do deny it. I appeal to facts, to the
whole history of my past life, to the eternal fountain
of truth, to God, and man. I have never
been what thou hast named me.”

This solemn denial led to explanations, which,
for the purpose of compressing in as short a
space as possible, we shall give in the way of a
connected narrative, and in our own words. For
this purpose it will be necessary to go back to
the period when the Heer Piper resided in Finland,
with his wife, a timid, gentle being, their
daughter Christina, and the Frizzled Head, then
to all appearance, as old as on the day she died.

At that period, and, indeed, it hath ever since
been too much the case with the north of

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Europe, to the vexation, and ruin, and degradation
of the cultivators of the soil, the province was
infested with soldiery, who, quartered among the
inhabitants, too frequently acted like so many
freebooters, rather than as protectors of the
lives and property of the people. It was in those
days, and it is still, the custom, for the petty
princes of the north to hire out their subjects at
so much per head, to cut the throats, not of the
enemies of their country, but of those of the
worthy potentate who paid for their services.
The regiment of Holstein, commanded by
Colouel Koningsmarke, was, in this way,
employed in the service of Sweden, at that
time on the eve of becoming embroiled with the
Catholic powers of Germany. These foreign
auxiliaries and hirelings, as might be supposed,
having no attachment to the soil, no common
interests, or affinities of blood or affection with
the people, too often acted as their oppressors,
and plundered and insulted them at pleasure.

One summer evening, in the absence of the
Heer, as Christina, then a little girl of about
six years old, and her mother, were sitting, just
about the twilight, in a little low parlour, whose
open windows looked out on a charming rural
landscape, tinted with the soft, enchanting,

[figure description] Page 287.[end figure description]

changeful hues of evening, on a sudden they
were broken in upon by a party of ruffians,
armed, and apparently half mad with liquor,
who rudely seized both mother and daughter,
and, by way of a good joke, frightened them
almost into convulsions. They shrieked and
screamed, but without any other effect than to
bring forth old Bombie, who assailed the intruders
with the most bitter reproaches she could devise.
This brought the attention of the drunken rout
towards the Frizzled Head, whom they seized,
and, with great ceremony, proceeded, as they
pretended, to decapitate forthwith.

Among the party was a fair, light-haired,
blue-eyed youth, apparently about thirteen
years of age, who, however, kept aloof, and partook
not in any of these outrages, until, incited
by the taunts, and ridicule, and, finally, commanded
by the leader of the party, he came
forward reluctantly, and affected to assist in restraining
the violent efforts of poor Bombie,
whose hands they were endeavouring to bind.
The moment the boy came near enough, Bombie
seized him by the collar, and, tearing off
his ruff, disclosed a large and singular scar, just
under his ear, in the shape of a cross. Christina,
whose eyes were naturally turned in that

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direction, also saw the scar, which was impressed
on her memory, not only by the terrors of
the scene, but by the exclamation of the Frizzled
Head, who cried out—

“Ah! ha! thou bearest a mark—not the
mark of Cain, but one by which I shall know
thee, whatever changes time and chance may
produce in thee. Thou carriest a sign, which
to others may be the emblem of salvation, but
which to thee, sooner or later, shall be the
signal of disgrace and condemnation. I will
remember thee.”

The youth stood abashed, and took the opportunity
of a momentary pause, to whisper the
leader of the party, a threat of representing the
affair to his father, if they proceeded to any
further violence. The whisper was, however,
unnoticed by those whom it was intended to
benefit. The party, after eating, drinking or
wasting every thing they could find, finally
departed, and returned to their quarters. The
agitation and fright produced by this scene of
outrage, operating upon the gentle spirits and
weak frame of Christina's mother, threw her
into a nervous fever, which in a few weeks terminated
her life. The impression of these
events was never effaced from the mind of

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Christina; and, in truth, it may be said, that it
strengthened with age, and every little while
received a deeper shade of horror, from the
exaggerated declamations of the Frizzled Head;
who, as her memory became less retentive and
connected, substituted the youth with the scar
for the principal actor in the death of her beloved
mistress. In this way does memory often
exaggerate the past, almost as much as hope
does the future.

The regiment of Koningsmarke marched the
next day to a distant part of the country; and,
indeed, the knowledge of this event, was what
principally emboldened the ruffians who belonged
to that corps, to the outrage we have
related. It is not within our plan to follow the
Long Finne, step by step, till his appearance at
Elsingburgh. Suffice it to say, that he was
left, by the death of his father, an extravagant
daring adventurer, without money, or the means
of subsistence: that, not long afterwards,
when his mother died in great distress, she gave
him a letter to her brother, the Heer's old
friend, Caspar Steinmets, who received him as
a son, and with whom he lived for some time.
Old Caspar, however, was a man who thought
no more of to-morrow than a grasshopper, but

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sung, and basked in the sun, and was merry all
day long. Such men seldom leave much behind
them, except a sort of equivocal posthumous
fame, made up of a kind recollection of their
generosity and good humour, mixed with a
few shrugs of pity, at their want of prudence.

Old Caspar died; his money was all spent;
his salary, as high bailiff to a prince whose
territories, we are credibly informed, extended
over two square miles, throughout which he held
absolute sway, ceased with his latest breath;
and when honest Caspar was fairly housed in the
final asylum, there was nothing left to his heir,
but the recollection of his kindness, that last
legacy of gratitude, which the good heart delights
to cherish as a keepsake for ever.

In casting about where to choose his future
lot, or, in other words, what he might do to keep
soul and body together, when the few rix-dollars
he had about him should be melted into thin
air, and identified with the things that have been,
young Koningsmarke, who was called the
Long Finne, gentle reader! because he was
born in Finland, and nearly six feet high,
was attracted by the new world. It was now about
the time when the dashing adventurers; the ruined
lads, who had wasted their inheritance; the

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younger brothers, who never had any inheritance
at all; the hero, alive to glory; the daring spirit,
willing to stake his life on the chance of unbounded
wealth; and, lastly, the pious convert,
ready to do all, to dare all, and to suffer all,
were, each and every one, turning their faces
towards the setting sun, as to a region where
some might retrieve their fortunes, others enjoy
the liberty of their consciences. Koningsmarke
knew that Sweden claimed rights, and had a
settlement in this quarter of the world, and that
was all he knew. He was little aware that this
territory was governed by the Heer Piper,
whose house, when a boy, he had entered in the
manner aforesaid; and, indeed, he had long since
forgotten the whole affair, as we forget our
boyish frolics when arrived at the age of manhood.
He took the first opportunity of embarking
for the new world; arrived at the Hoarkill;
proceeded to Elsingburgh; where he fell into
the custody of that vigilant police officer, Lob
Dotterel, and was recognised by Bombie, who
accidentally discovered the scar, which, as
rather unbecoming to his appearance, he generally
hid with a high ruff.

Koningsmarke, at the conclusion of this explanation,
solemnly assured Christina that every

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word of it was true; that he had extenuated
nothing; and that, any farther than hath been
just related, he had no participation in an event
which he had first learned from the Frizzled
Head, on his arrival at Elsingburgh, but in a
manner so mysterious and exaggerated, as almost
convinced him he was actually a murderer.
Christina, too, when she looked attentively
backwards, and traced the progress of her impressions
with regard to this painful event, could
not but acknowledge, that they were in a great
measure derived from the declamations of
Bombie.

To the foregoing explanations of the Long
Finne, we beg leave to prefix a few of our own. In
addition to the declamatory exaggerations of the
Frizzled Head, it is probable that the Long Finne
himself may have contributed to mislead our
readers, by occasionally indulging in that inflated,
romantic style, too common, with those of exalted
imaginations—calling himself an outcast to
whom the elements themselves afforded no refuge;
a prey to the worm that never dies—as if for the
sole purpose of making himself interesting.
To this we may add, that we ourselves, with
the most disinterested intentions of enhancing
the reader's perplexity and delight, in perusing

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this work, have now and then coloured the charges
of the Frizzled Head, and the admissions of
the Long Finne, a little highly. Should the reader
be ill-natured enough to find fault with us for
thus verifying the old proverb that “a story never
loses by telling,” we shall take care how we
treat him to another mystery.

The explanation of Koningsmarke, with his
solemn assurances of its truth, removed a load
that had long pressed on the heart of Christina,
and when he again besought her to comply with
the wishes of her father, she held out her hand
with a smile, such as had not lighted up her eyes
for a long time past.

“The will of my father shall be obeyed,”
said the blue eyed maiden; “for now I trust that
so it can be done, without any offence, either to
my father, or my mother that is in heaven.
Oh God! I thank thee; I can now conform to
his wishes, and consult my own heart, without
wedding myself to never dying remorse. I am
thine for ever.”

A kiss, and an embrace, sealed this covenant
just as the two old squires entered the room.

“Well,” quoth the Heer, “are we to be united
to-morrow, never to part, or to part, never
to meet again?”

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“She has said that to-morrow she will be
mine,” replied the Long Finne, “and she never
broke her word.”

“Did I not tell thee,” quoth the Cavalier
Lovelace, “that there was nothing like leaving
them alone? Egad, there is always two to one
against a woman in such a case, not to say two
to nothing; for there is the lover and the lady
on one side, and nobody on the other.”

“Well, then,” quoth the Heer, “to-morrow
shall see thee one.”

“Nay, let it be the day after to-morrow,”
rejoined Governor Lovelace: “I must have
time to bid the company, and, 'fore Heaven,
Heer! but we'll carouse a little, shall we?”

“Verily,” replied the other, “I see no special
reason why the heart of an old man like me
may not, on an occasion like this, rejoice and
be glad. I will drink a bumper to the name of
the best of daughters with thee.”

“Ay, and to every letter of her name, or my
name is not Richard Lovelace.”

This matter being concluded upon, the preparations
were made by the hearty Cavalier
Lovelace, to celebrate the wedding, in a style
suitable to his own dignity, and the regard he
began to feel for Christina, whose appearance

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and character had won his warm heart. One
thing he especially stipulated, to wit, that the
ceremony should not be performed by a
Presbyterian parson, nor the wedding dress
made by a French milliner. The former part
of the stipulation was easily accorded, and the
latter was entirely unnecessary, as there was
not a single French milliner at that time in the
whole province.

At length the happy hour arrived, which for
ever united Koningsmarke and Christina in one
fate and one name. All the dignitaries of the
city were bidden, not forgetting Alderman Spangler
and his dame; and it was the opinion
of the young ladies present, that the bridegroom
was quite as handsome as the red-coats of Governor
Lovelace's staff, who made such havoc
in the tender hearts of the pretty maidens of
New-York. Truth, our governing principle in
this history, obliges us to state, that Governor
Lovelace, the Heer Piper, Alderman Spangler,
and one or two others, did carouse it lustily till
the second crowing of the cock, when the Governor's
old black valet entered the room, and
informed his Excellency that it was high time
to go to bed, an intimation which he never failed
to attend to with perfect docility.

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The day but one after the wedding, the Heer,
his daughter, and the Long Finne, bade the
worthy Cavalier Lovelace farewell, and embarked
in his state barge, for Elizabeth-Town
Point, where they took up their line of march,
and arrived in due time, without any accident,
at Elsingburgh. After sojourning a few days,
they retired to a beautiful farm, on the banks of
a little river, about half way between Elsingburgh
and Coaquanock, where, in rural ease,
rural quiet, the enjoyment of leisure, health, and
competency, combined with exercise and employment,
they passed quietly down the stream
of life, with as much content as falls to the lot of
this world. But the Heer and his daughter
could never agree on the subject of rural economy.
Christina was for planting flowers, and
ornamental shrubs, and beautifying all around;
while the Heer had a most pestilent propensity
for the useful, and valued a patch of cabbages
above a bed of tulips of a thousand dies.
Christina at length succeeded so far as to make
him promise to pay some little attention to ornament,
and cultivate a few favourite flowers,
which engagement he conscientiously kept, by
planting a notable bed of cauliflowers.

In process of time the good Heer saw his race

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prolonged, in the person of a little blue-eyed
grandson, concerning whom he balanced three
whole days, in sore perplexity, whether to call
him after the immortal Gustavus, or his good
friend the Governor of New-York. Gratitude
at length got the better of loyalty, and the boy
was christened Richard Lovelace. The Heer
privately covenanted with himself, at the same
time, that the next should be called Gustavus
Adolphus, let what would happen.

As we like to follow old customs, sanctioned
by the examples of our betters, we will conclude
by gratifying the reader's curiosity with regard
to the other principal characters of our history.

The worthy Dominie Kanttwell, not long afterwards,
married the prettiest and richest girl in the
whole village, and the next sabbath preached a
mortal philippic against the lusts of the flesh,
and the mammon of unrighteousness. On this
unlooked for event taking place, aunt Edith
took mortal disgust to his doctrines, turned
backslider, and married Wolfgang Lang-fanger,
then a spruce widower, who privately
declared one night at master Oldale's, that
the improvement of that good lady was the
hardest task he ever undertook in all his life.

Lob Dotterel being, by the influence of the

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Heer with Governor Lovelace, reinstated in his
office of High Constable, passed the rest of his
days in busy importance, and happy assiduity,
only that he was ocasionally molested by the intrusion
of the ghost of Bombie of the Frizzled
Head, which never forgave his agency in the
catastrophe of the likely fellow Cupid.

Poor Othman Pfegel having been confidentially
apprized, that the Long Finne intended to
take the first opportunity of giving him a sufficiency
of drubbing to last him all the days he
had to live, departed suddenly—not this life
but the village of Elsingburgh, and settled
down at the Hoarkill, where nobody thought it
worth while to molest him.