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"Come out of it, silly Janet," said she on the horse; "you'll never
make a Sweet-Singer, for there's not a notion of a tune in your head."
"It's not singing that I seek, my leddy," said the woman, blushing. "I
follow the call o' the Lord by the mouth o' His servant, John Gib."
"You'll follow the call of your mother by... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
There was no time to be lost, for the whole clan came round me like a
flock of daws. One of the men, the slim lad, had a pistol, but I saw by
the way he handled it that it was unprimed. I was most afraid of the
women, who with their long claws would have scratched my eyes out, and
I knew they would not spare the girl.... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Ye beldame," he said, with many oaths, "I'll pare your talons for ye."
Now I, who a minute before had been in danger from this very crew, was
smitten with a sudden compunction. Except for Muckle John, they were so
pitifully feeble, a pack of humble, elderly folk, worn out with fasting
and marching and ill weather. I ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
They took us down from the hill to the highroad a little north of
Linton village, where I was dumped on the ground, my legs untied, and
my hands strapped to a stirrup leather. The women were given a country
cart to ride in, and the men, including Muckle John, had to run each by
a trooper's leg. The girl on the sorrel ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The women were sent to the House of Correction to be whipped and
dismissed, for there was little against them but foolishness; all
except one, a virago called Isobel Bone, who was herded with the men.
The Canongate Tolbooth was our portion, the darkest and foulest of the
city prisons; and presently I found myself forc... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"So that is the man Gib," he said musingly. "I have heard tell of him,
for he was a thorn in the flesh of blessed Mr. Cargill. Often have I
heard him repeat how he went to Gib in the moors to reason with him in
the Lord's name, and got nothing but a mouthful of devilish
blasphemies. He is without doubt a child of Beli... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
But sleep was impossible, for Muckle John got another fit of cursing He
stood up by the door with his eyes blazing like a wild-cat's, and
delivered what he called his "testimony." His voice had been used to
shout orders on shipboard, and not one of us could stop his ears
against it. Never have I heard such a medley of... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Now, I was no match for this great being with my ungrown strength, but
the lesson of my encounter with the dragoon was burned on my mind, and
I was determined to keep out of grips with him. I was light on my feet,
and in our country bouts had often worsted a heavier antagonist by my
quickness in movement. So when Muck... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
When the gaoler came with food, we all wakened up, and Gib asked very
peaceably to be released. The gaoler laughed at his predicament, and
inquired the tale of it; and when he heard the truth, called for a vote
as to what he should do. I was satisfied, from the look of Muckle John,
that his dangerous fit was over, so ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"What will they do wi' me, think ye?" he asked. "This is the second
time I've fallen into the hands o' the Amalekites, and it's no likely
they'll let me off sae lightly."
"What will they do with us all?" said I. "The Plantations maybe, or the
Bass! It's a bonny creel you've landed me in, for I'm as innocent as a
newbo... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The minx pretended to examine me carefully. Her colour was high with
the fresh morning, and she kept tapping her boot with her whip handle.
"Why, yes, Uncle Gregory," she said, "It is the very man, though none
the better for your night's attentions."
"And you say he had no part in Gib's company, but interfered on your... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Through the door, down the left stairway, and you will be in the
street," said the gentleman.
I made some sort of bow and moved to the door.
"Farewell, Mr. Whiggamore," the girl cried, "Keep a cheerful
countenance, or they'll think you a Sweet-Singer. Your breeches will
mend, man."
And with her laughter most unpleasa... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
CHAPTER IV.
OF A STAIRHEAD AND A SEA-CAPTAIN.
With the escapade that landed me in the Tolbooth there came an end to
the nightmare years of my first youth. A week later I got word that my
father was dead of an ague in the Low Countries, and I had to be off
post-haste to Auchencairn to see to the ordering of our little... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I went into the business with the monstrous solemnity of youth, and
took stock of my equipment as if I were casting up an account. Many a
time in those days I studied my appearance in the glass like a foolish
maid. I was not well featured, having a freckled, square face, a
biggish head, a blunt nose, grey, colourless ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"See, Andrew," he would cry, "this is the true leveller of mankind. It
will make the man his master's equal, for though your gentleman may
cock on a horse and wave his Andrew Ferrara, this will bring him off
it. Brains, my lad, will tell in coming days, for it takes a head to
shoot well, though any flesher may swing a... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
They were happy years, the four I spent in Glasgow, for I was young and
ardent, and had not yet suffered the grave miscarriage of hope which is
our human lot. My uncle was a busy merchant, but he was also something
of a scholar, and was never happier than when disputing some learned
point with a college professor over... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
But an incident befell ere I left which was to have unforeseen effects
on my future. One afternoon I was in the shooting alley I have spoken
of, making trial of a new size of bullet I had moulded. The place was
just behind Parlane's tavern, and some gentlemen, who had been drinking
there, came out to cool their heads ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
My antagonist took every care with his last shot, and, just missing the
cockade, hit the hat about the middle, cut the branch on which it
rested, and brought it fluttering to the ground a pace or two farther
on. It lay there, dimly seen through a low branch of the cherry tree,
with the cockade on the side nearest me. ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I had dinner with my uncle in the Candleriggs, and sat with him late
afterwards casting up accounts, so it was not till nine o'clock that I
set out on my way to my lodgings. These were in the Saltmarket, close
on the river front, and to reach them I went by the short road through
the Friar's Vennel. It was an ill-repu... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Then a cry came and a noise of hard breathing. At the same moment a
door opened somewhere above my head, and a faint glow came down the
stairs. Presently with a great rumble a heavy man came rolling past me,
butting with his head at the stair-side. He came to anchor on a landing
below me, and finding his feet plunged ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Who were the men?" I asked, in much confusion, for this laughing
warrior perplexed me.
"Who but just my cousins from Glengyle. There has long been a sort of
bicker between us, and they thought they had got a fine chance of
ending it."
"And who, in Heaven's name, are you," I said, "that treats murder so
lightly?"
"Me?... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"It looks like Providence," he said, "that we two should come together.
I, too, will soon be back in the Western Seas, and belike we'll meet.
I'm something of a rover, and I never bide long in the same place, but
I whiles pay a visit to James Town, and they ken me well on the Eastern
Shore and the Accomac beaches."
He... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
You are to remember that I was a country lad who had never set foot
forth of Scotland. I was very young, and hot on the quest of new sights
and doings. As I walked down the unpaven street and through the narrow
tobacco-grown lanes, the strange smell of it all intoxicated me like
wine.
There was a great red sunset burn... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Rounding the hut corner I ran full into a man.
"Hold you," cried the stranger, and laid hands on my arm; but I shook
him off violently, and continued the race. The collision had cracked my
temper, and I had a mind to give Muckle John a lesson in civility. For
Muckle John it was beyond doubt; not two men in the broad e... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Then on the bank above me I saw the fellow who had run into me and
hindered my catching Muckle John on dry land. He was shaking with
laughter.
I was silly and hot-headed in those days, and my wetting had not
disposed me to be laughed at. In this fellow I saw a confederate of
Gib's, and if I had lost one I had the othe... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
He dropped my wrists, and motioned me to follow him. Very crestfallen
and ashamed, I walked in his wake to a little shanty almost on the
wateredge. The place was some kind of inn, for a negro brought us two
tankards of apple-jack, and tobacco pipes, and lit a foul-smelling
lantern, which he set between us.
"First," sa... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"What's the result?" he cried again. "Why, that there's nothing to be
had in the land except what the merchants bring. There's scarcely a
smith or a wright or a cobbler between the James and the Potomac. If I
want a bed to lie in, I have to wait till the coming of the tobacco
convoy, and go down to the wharves and pay... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"But they tell me the Indians are changed nowadays," I put in. "They
say they've settled down to peaceful ways like any Christian."
"Put your head into a catamount's mouth, if you please," he said
grimly, "but never trust an Indian. The only good kind is the dead
kind. I tell you we're living on the edge of hell. It m... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Good-night to you," he said at length. "And when you have finished
your travels come west to the South Fork River and ask for Simon Frew,
and I'll complete your education."
I went to bed in a glow of excitement. On the morrow I should begin a
new life in a world of wonders, and I rejoiced to think that there was
more... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
In these months my thoughts were chiefly of trade, and I saw enough to
prove the truth of what the man Frew had told me. This richest land on
earth was held prisoner in the bonds of a foolish tyranny. The rich
were less rich than their estates warranted, and the poor were ground
down by bitter poverty. There was littl... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
* * * * *
The upshot was that I paid a visit to the Governor, Mr. Francis
Nicholson, whom my lord Howard had left as his deputy. Governor
Nicholson had come from New York not many months before with a great
repute for ill-temper and harsh dealing; but I liked the look of his
hard-set fac... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Now I did not think much of the French danger being far more concerned
with the peril in the West; but I held my peace on that subject. It was
not my cue to cross his Excellency in his present humour.
"What makes the colony poor?" I asked. "The planters are rich enough,
but the richest man will grow tired of bearing t... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"I'll not deny that there's glimmerings of sense in you, Mr. Garvald.
But how do you, a lad with no backing, propose to beat a strong
monopoly buttressed by the whole stupidity and idleness of Virginia?
You'll be stripped of your last farthing, and you'll be lucky if it
ends there. Don't think I'm against you. I'm wit... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"You mind the big man you were chasing that night you and me first
forgathered? Well, I've seen him."
"Where?" I cried, all else forgotten.
"Here, in this very place, six weeks syne. He stalked in about ten o'
the night, and lifted half my plenishing. When I got up in my bed to
face him he felled me. See, there's the ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
He took me homeward at a speed which well-nigh foundered me, and, when
I questioned him, he told me where he got his knowledge.
They were three men, for there were three different footmarks in the
ashes' edge, and they were Cherokees because they made their fire in
the Cherokee way, so that the smoke ran in a tunnel i... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The last day he took me north up a stream called the North Fork, which
joined with his own river. I had left my musket behind, for this heavy
travel made me crave to go light, and I had no use for it. But that day
it seemed we were to go hunting.
He carried an old gun, and slew with it a deer in a marshy hollow--a
pre... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
CHAPTER VII.
I BECOME AN UNPOPULAR CHARACTER.
I did not waste time in getting to work. I had already written to my
uncle, telling him my plans, and presently I received his consent. I
arranged that cargoes of such goods as I thought most suitable for
Virginian sales should arrive at regular seasons independent of the... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
In a week I found myself the most-talked-of man in the dominion, and
soon I saw the troubles that credit brings. I had picked up a very
correct notion of the fortunes of most of the planters, and the men who
were most eager to sell to me were just those I could least trust. Some
fellow who was near bankrupt from dice ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The thing made me very bitter. I sat in my house during the hot noons
when no one stirred, and black anger filled my heart. I grew as peevish
as a slighted girl, and would no doubt have fretted myself into some
signal folly, had not an event occurred which braced my soul again.
This was the arrival of the English conv... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Then I hied me back to my store, which was my worst anxiety, I was
followed by ill names as I went down the street, and one day in a
tavern, a young fool drew his shabble on me. But I would quarrel with
no man, for that was a luxury beyond a trader. There had been an attack
on my tobacco shed by some of the English se... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Nay," said I, "our penitent's tale has the note of truth. One word to
you, gentlemen. I am hospitably inclined, and if any one of you will so
far honour me as to come himself instead of dispatching his servant,
his welcome will be the warmer. I bid you good-night and leave you this
fellow in proof of my goodwill. Kee... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Judge, then, of my disgust when I got news a week later that one of my
ships, the Ayr brig, had straggled from the convoy, and been seized,
rifled, and burned to the water by pirates almost in sight of Cape
Charles. The loss was grievous, but what angered me was the mystery of
such a happening. I knew the brig was a s... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
All this made me feel pretty solemn. My uncle was a rich man, but no
firm could afford these repeated losses. I was the most unpopular
figure in Virginia, hated by many, despised by the genteel, whose only
friends were my own servants and a few poverty-stricken landward folk.
I had found out a good way of trade, but I... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"What's your errand this e'en, Mr. Garvald?" he said in broad Scots.
"Will you drink a rummer o' toddy, or try some fine auld usquebaugh I
hae got frae my cousin in Buchan?"
I sat down on the settle outside the tavern door. "This is my errand. I
want you to bring me to a man or bring that man to me. His name is
Ninian... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"The man's name is Ninian Campbell," I said, somewhat puzzled.
"Well, it's the same thing. What did they teach you at Lesmahagow if ye
don't know that Ringan is the Scots for Ninian? Lord bless me, laddie,
don't tell me ye've never heard of Red Ringan?"
To be sure I had; I had heard of little else for a twelvemonth. I... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Then I remembered. Some months before I had been riding back the road
from Green Springs, and in a dark, woody place had come across an
Indian sore beset by three of the white scum which infested the
river-side. What the quarrel was I know not, but I liked little the
villainous look of the three, and I liked much the ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
That evening we had a cold bed; but the storm blew out in the night,
and the next day the sun was as hot as summer, and the wind a point to
the east. Shalah once again was steersman, for we were inside some very
ugly reefs, which I took to be the beginning of the Carolina keys. On
shore forests straggled down to the s... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
He stepped from the boat to the hill-side, and with incredible speed
and stillness began to ascend. His long, soft strides were made without
noise or effort, whether the ground were moss, or a tangle of vines, or
loose stones, or the trunks of fallen trees, I had prided myself on my
hill-craft, but beside the Indian I... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Shalah touched my hand, and I followed him into the wood. We climbed
again, and from the tinkle of the stream on my left I judged that we
were ascending to a higher shelf in the glen. The Indian moved very
carefully, as noiseless as the flight of an owl, and I marvelled at the
gift. In after days I was to become somet... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Red Ringan sat on a stone with a naked cutlass across his knees. In
front stood a man, the most evil-looking figure that I had ever beheld.
He was short but very sturdily built, and wore a fine laced coat not
made for him, which hung to his knees, and was stretched tight at the
armpits. He had a heavy pale face, witho... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"It is your privilege to choose your manner of death and to name your
successor," I heard Ringan say.
But Cosh did not need the invitation. Now that his case was desperate,
the courage in him revived. He was fully armed, and in a second he had
drawn a knife and leaped for Ringan's throat.
Perhaps he expected it, perha... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The whole company turned on me, and I was gripped by a dozen hands and
flung on the ground. Ringan came forward to look, but there was no
recognition in his eyes. Some one cried out, "A spy!" and there was a
fierce murmur of voices, which were meaningless to me, for fear had got
me again, and I had neither ears nor vo... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I rubbed my eyes and took long draughts of the morning breeze.
"Are you a warlock, Mr. Campbell, that you can spirit folk about the
country at your pleasure? I have slept sound, but my dreams have been
bad."
"Yes," he said; "what sort of dreams, maybe?"
"I dreamed I was in a wild place among wild men, and that I saw m... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
It was a silly speech, and I could have bitten my tongue out when I had
uttered it. But I was in a vile temper, for the dregs of the negro's
rum still hummed in my blood. His face grew dark, till he looked like
the man I had seen the night before.
"I allow no man to slight my race," he said in a harsh voice.
"It's the... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
My arm was too short to make a fighter of me, and I could only strive
to close, that I might get the use of my weight and my great strength
of neck and shoulder. Ringan danced round me, tapping me lightly on
nose and cheek, but hard enough to make the blood flow, I defended
myself as best I could, while my temper rose... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
There was a kind of boastful sincerity about the man which convinced
me. But his words put me in mind of my own business.
"I came seeking you to ask help. Your friends have been making too free
with my belongings. I would never complain if it were the common risk
of my trade, but I have a notion that there's some sort... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"You took a roundabout road," said I, by no means appeased.
"It had to be. D'you think I could come marching into James Town and
collogue with you in your counting-house? Now that you're here, you
have my sworn word that the Free Companions will never lay hand again
on your ventures. Will that content you?"
"It will,"... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I knew all about Dick Lawrence, for I had heard the tale twenty times.
"But surely they're right," I said, "It's fifteen years since any man
had word of him."
"Well, you'll see him within an hour," said Ringan, "It's a queer
story, but it seems he fell in with a Monacan war party, and since he
and Bacon had been fight... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
'Twas the first time I had ever seen an Indian village. The tents, or
teepees, were of skins stretched over poles, and not of bark, like
those of the woodland tribes. At a great fire in the centre women were
grilling deer's flesh, while little brown children strove and
quarrelled for scraps, I saw few men, for the bra... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"He says that the Tuscaroras are stirring. Word has come down from the
hills to be ready for a great ride between the Moon of Stags and the
Corngathering."
Lawrence nodded. "That's an old Tuscarora habit; but somehow these
ridings never happen." He said something in Sioux to one of the
warriors, and got an emphatic an... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"I'm willing enough," I said, "but what can I do? I'm not exactly a
popular character in the Tidewater. If you want me to hammer sense into
the planters, you could not get a worse man for the job. I have told
Governor Nicholson my fears, and he is of my opinion, but his hands are
tied by a penurious Council. If he can... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"So be it," I said, "I will do what I can."
"God be praised," said Mr. Lawrence, "I have here certain secret papers
which Will give you the names of the men we can trust. Messages will
come to you, which I trust you to find the means of sending on. Mercer
has our confidence, and will arrange with you certain matters o... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Good-bye to you, Andrew," cried Ringan. "You'll be getting news of me
soon, and maybe see me in the flesh on the Tidewater. Remember the word
I told you in the Saltmarket, for I never mention names when I take the
road."
CHAPTER X.
I HEAR AN OLD SONG.
When we sailed at daybreak next morning I had the glow of satisfa... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I found one quicker than I had hoped. Almost at once I came on a track
which led me into a carriage-road and out of the thickets to a big
clearing. The daylight had not yet wholly gone, and it guided me to two
gate-posts, from which an avenue of chestnut trees led up to a great
house. There were lights glimmering in t... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The company had finished dining, for the table was covered with fruits
and comfits, and wine in silver goblets. There was sack and madeira,
and French claret, and white Rhenish, and ale and cider for those with
homelier palates. I saw dimly around me the faces of the guests, for
the few candles scarcely illumined the ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
As I sat dazed and dreaming, I knew that a great thing had befallen me.
For me, Andrew Garvald, the prosaic trader, coming out of the darkness
into this strange company, the foundations of the world had been upset.
All my cares and hopes, my gains and losses, seemed in that moment no
better than dust. Love had come to... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
She was clad in white satin, and in her hair and bosom spring flowers
had been set. Her little hand played with the slim glass, and her eyes
had all the happy freedom of childhood. But now she was a grown woman,
with a woman's pride and knowledge of power. Her exquisite slimness
and grace, amid the glow of silks and s... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Come, come, sirs," Colonel Beverley cried, "remember the sacred law of
hospitality. You are all my guests, and you have a lady here, whose
bright eyes should be a balm for controversies."
The Governor had sat with his lips closed and his eyes roving the
table. He dearly loved a quarrel, and was minded to use me to ba... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Presently we rose from table, and Colonel Beverley summoned us to the
Green Parlour, where Miss Elspeth was brewing a dish of chocolate, then
a newfangled luxury in the dominion. I would fain have made my escape,
for if my appearance was unfit for a dining-hall, it was an outrage in
a lady's withdrawing-room. But Doct... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Are you a republican, Mr. Garvald?" she asked. "Now that I remember, I
have seen you in Whiggamore company."
"Why, no," I said. "I do not meddle with politics. I am a merchant, and
am well content with any Government that will protect my trade and my
person."
A sudden perversity had taken me to show myself at my most... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"It seems you are a gentleman, sir," he said, "so I desire a word with
you. Your manners at table deserved a whipping, but I will condescend
to forget them. But a second offence shall be duly punished." He spoke
in a high, lisping voice, which was the latest London importation.
I looked him square in the eyes. He was ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Some of the men on the list were poor settlers, and it was our business
to equip them with horse and gun. That was to be my special duty--that
and the establishing of means by which they could be summoned quickly.
With the first Mercer could help me, for he had his hand on all the
lines of the smuggling business, and ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
In those weeks I discovered what kind of force Lawrence leaned on. He
who only knew James Town and the rich planters knew little of the true
Virginia. There were old men who had long memories of Indian fights,
and men in their prime who had risen with Bacon, and young men who had
their eyes turned to the unknown West.... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
When I got back to James Town, Faulkner would report on his visitors,
and he seems to have had many. Rough fellows would ride up at the
darkening, bringing a line from Mercer, or more often an agreed
password, and he had to satisfy their wants and remember their news. So
far I had had no word from Lawrence, though Mer... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I asked him a question which had long puzzled me, why the natural
defence of a country should be kept so secret. "The Governor, at any
rate," I said, "would approve, and we are not asking the burgesses for
a single guinea."
"Yes, but the Governor would play a wild hand," was the answer. "He
would never permit the thin... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
In these days a new Shalah revealed himself. I think he had been
watching me closely for the past months, and slowly I had won his
approval. He showed it by beginning to talk as he loped by my side in
our forest wanderings. The man was like no Indian I have ever seen. He
was a Senecan, and so should have been on the s... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Then he turned and strode away, and I did not dare to question him.
There was that about him which stirred my prosaic soul into a wild
poetry, till for the moment I saw with his eyes, and heard strange
voices in the trees.
Apart from these uncanny moods he was the most faithful helper in my
task. Without him I must ha... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
After that we sent out warnings, and kept a close eye on the different
lodges of the Algonquins. But nothing happened till weeks later, when
the tragedy on the Rapidan fell on us like a thunderclap.
* * * * *
All this time I had been too busy to go near the town or the
horse-racings and ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
As we reached my house a cavalier rode up with a bow and a splendid
sweep of his hat. 'Twas my acquaintance, Mr. Grey, come to greet the
travellers. Elspeth gave me her hand at parting, and I had from the
cavalier the finest glance of hate and jealousy which ever comforted
the heart of a backward lover.
CHAPTER XII.
... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I must tell you that during the last week I had been coming more into
favour with the prosperous families of the colony. Some one may have
spoken well of me, perhaps the Doctor, or they may have seen the
justice of my way of trading. Anyhow, I had a civil greeting from
several of the planters, and a bow from their dam... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
None were left, however, and as I walked homewards I reflected very
seriously that the baiting of Andrew Garvald could not endure for long.
Pretty soon I must read these young gentry a lesson, little though I
wanted to embroil myself in quarrels. I called them "young" in scorn,
but few of them, I fancy, were younger t... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Patience, friend," said the stranger. "Thee is not alone in thy
crosses. The Lord hath many people up Boston way, but they are sore
beset by the tribulations of Zion. On land there is war and rumour of
war, and on the sea the ships of the godly are snatched by every manner
of ocean thief. Likewise we have dissension ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
* * * * *
That evening about nine the Quaker slipped into my room.
"How about that tobacco-shed?" he asked. "Is it well guarded?"
"Faulkner and one of the men sleep above it, and there are a couple of
fierce dogs chained at the door. Unless they know the stranger, he will
be apt to lose ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Just this way. The Monacans put an arrow through the neck of a young
brave, and they found this in his belt."
He laid before me a bit of a printed Bible leaf. About half was blank
paper, for it came at the end of the Book of Revelation. On the blank
part some signs had been made in rude ink which I could not understa... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Hullo, old Square-Toes," he hiccupped; "what the devil are you?"
"Friend, thee is shaky on thy legs," said Ringan, in a mild voice, "It
were well for thee to be in bed."
"Bed," cried the roysterer; "no bed for me this night! Where is that
damnable Scots packman?"
I rose very quietly, and lit another lamp. Then I shut... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
Ringan smiled gently, "Thee must grant me the first favour," he said,
"for I am the challenger, if that be the right word of the carnally
minded." And standing up, he picked up the blade from beside him, and
bowed to the leader from Gracedieu.
Nothing loath he engaged, and the others stood back expecting a high
fiasco... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
They moved off, and then halted and apparently were for returning. But
they thought better of it, and presently they were all six of them
racing and stumbling down the hill in their shifts.
The Quaker stretched his legs and lit a pipe. "Was it not a scurvy
trick of fate," he observed to the ceiling, "that these poor l... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I am no judge of racing, but I love the aspect of sleek, slim horses,
and I could applaud a skill in which I had no share. I can keep my
seat on most four-legged beasts, but my horsemanship is a clumsy,
rough-and-ready affair, very different from the effortless grace of your
true cavalier. Mr. Grey's prowess, especial... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Come hither, Mr. Garvald," she said. "We have a dispute which a third
must settle. I favour the cherry, and Mr. Grey fancies the blue; but I
maintain that blue crowds cherry unfairly at the corners. Use your
eyes, sir, at the next turning."
I used my eyes, which are very sharp, and had no doubt of it.
"That is a matt... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"I have been very patient, sir," I said, "but there is a limit to what
a man may endure from a mannerless fool." And I gave him a hearty slap
on the face.
Instantly there was a dead silence, in which the sound seemed to linger
intolerably. He had grown very white, and his eyes were wicked.
"I am obliged to you, sir," ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
The consequence was that I became a prey to dismal fear. That bravery
which knows no ebb was never mine. Indeed, I am by nature timorous, for
my fancy is quick, and I see with horrid clearness the incidents of a
peril. Only a shamefaced conscience holds me true, so that, though I
have often done temerarious deeds, it ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"I have settled everything with this gentleman, but I would beg of you,
sir, to reconsider your choice of arms. My friend will doubtless be
ready enough to humour you, but you have picked a barbarous weapon for
Christian use."
"It's my only means of defence," I said.
"Then you stick to your decision?"
"Assuredly," sai... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
We turned from the path into an alley which led to an open space on the
edge of a derelict clearing. There, to my surprise, I found a
considerable company assembled. Grey was there with his second, and a
dozen or more of his companions stood back in the shadow of the trees.
The young blood of Virginia had come out to ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
I emptied my pistol among the tree-tops.
No one moved. Grey continued to stare, leaning a little forward, with
his lips working.
Then I took from Faulkner my second pistol. My voice came out of my
throat, funnily cracked as if from long disuse.
"Mr. Grey," I cried, "I would not have you think that I cannot shoot."
For... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
All this was a great ease, but it brought one rueful consequence.
Elspeth grew cold to me. Women, I suppose, have to condescend, and
protect, and pity. When I was an outcast she was ready to shelter me;
but now that I was in some degree of favour with others the need for
this was gone, and she saw me without illusion ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"You are never out of mine," I said dismally.
At this she laughed, something of the old elfin laughter which I had
heard on the wet moors.
"A compliment!" she cried, "To be mixed up eternally with the weights
of tobacco and the prices of Flemish lace. You are growing a very
pretty courtier, sir."
"I am no courtier," I... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
That very day I had finished my preparations. The train was now laid,
and the men were ready, and a word from Lawrence would line the West
with muskets. But I had none of the satisfaction of a completed work.
It was borne in upon me that our task was scarcely begun, and that the
peril that threatened us was far darker... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
"Be it known, gentlemen, and you, fair ladies," he cried, "that to-day
is a more auspicious occasion than any Royal festival or Christian holy
day. To-day is Dulcinea's birthday. I summon you to drink to the flower
of the West, the brightest gem in Virginia's coronal."
At that we were all on our feet. The gentlemen sn... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
To this day I do not know what were Francis Nicholson's motives. He
wished the mountains crossed, but he cannot have expected to meet a
pathfinder among the youth of the Tidewater. I think it was the whim of
the moment. He would endow Elspeth, and at the same time test her
cavaliers. To the ordinary man it seemed the ... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 | |
He asked for food and drink, and I observed that his manner was very
grave.
"Are things in train, Andrew?" he asked.
I told him "to the last stirrup buckle."
"It's as well," said he, "for the trouble has begun."
Then he told me a horrid tale. The Rapidan is a stream in the north of
the dominion, flowing into the Rappa... | Salute to Adventurers | Buchan, John | 1875 | 1940 | ['en'] | 24 | {'Scottish Americans -- Virginia -- Fiction', 'Historical fiction', 'Glasgow (Scotland) -- Fiction', 'Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction', 'Jamestown (Va.) -- Fiction'} | PG10046 |
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