Part 22 (1/2)
They had crossed the bridge, passed up the hill, and traversed the road along thethe lane that runs down to the house The stor with unabated fury, and the constable, with clenched teeth, and bent head, and half-shut eyes, was breasting the driving flakes, and congratulating himself with the idea that his exposure would soon be over, and he by the side of a war, recounting the adventures of the day and colass, when suddenly, without having seen a person, his cap was violently pulled over his eyes, a thick coffee-bag slipped over his head, and a hand applied to his throat to stifle any cries, should he be disposed to htened to emit a sound, had he been never so much inclined to screauised voice, ”and you are safe
No injury is designed I will lead you Follow quietly”
The rasped his arm, and led hi field, for he was directed to lift his feet at a particular spot, and in doing so, struck theainst ere evidently wooden bars, such as are everywhere to be found in New England, at the entrances to the stone wall encircled lots They were followed by Holden, and, as the constable judged, fro, by another person
When his captor seemed to think he was in a place where he would be unlikely to be disturbed by a casual passer, he stopped and demanded the key to the handcuffs Every move the evening, for, as he hesitated, either confused by the unexpected capture, and forgetful of where he had placed the key, or desirous to gain tiht have been the ranted, the saht pocket of your pantaloons: give it tohand, the constable produced the key from his pocket, and was confirmed, by what followed, in the belief that his captor must have a coadjutor, for he still kept his hold, and uttered the single word ”here,” as if addressing another, and handing him the key
Presently, the handcuffs were thron at his feet, and he thought he could detect the sound of receding footsteps His captor then demanded the mittimus, which he tore into small pieces, and scattered around In this condition muffled so that he could hardly breathe, with a desperado, or he knew not how many at his side, who, at the least atteht do him some bodily injury or perhaps murder hiht to the unfortunate Basset At the expiration of that tiain, and in the saned voice:
”You are in my power, and ould knoere I to leave your corpse to stiffen on the snow? But I bear you no ill will, and have no intention to hurt you I would not harm a hair of your head I will not subject you even to the inconvenience of having these fetters on your wrists, though you were unfeeling enough to place them on a man, the latchet of whose shoes you are unworthy to unloose Be thankful for the forebearance, and show that you kno to appreciate it
Mark what I say Re for half an hour It will keep you warm Return then to your home, nor seek to discover either Holden or who rescued him, and be assured he was not privy to the intention to release hiht!” So saying, the unknown departed and left the stupefied constable like a statue, rooted to the spot
There he re to stir or to reers he was surrounded he knew not--until, as he supposed, the half hour was more than passed Then Basset cautiously and slowly raised his hand to his head, as if to inti and wanted hi no sound, proceeded to divest hi; the falling snow effectually shut out all objects froht He tried to move, but stiff with cold his limbs refused their office, and he nearly fell down He took a step forward and his feet struck against the handcuffs He stooped down and picked the hiht have been worse had they been transferred to his wrists He strove to peer into the fallen snow, to discover, if possible, any tracks, but except his own just uishable The snow had already obliterated thehtened, thehis cronies with bold brow and loud voice to boast of his achievee up to a fabulous pitch, but with drooping crest and dejected spirits to slink to his bachelor's bed, and dreaht
A sadder, if not a wiser man
”He rose the morrow morn”
Not a word spoke he the next day of hisbeen ascertained that Holden had not been at the workhouse, inquiry washis non-appearance The constable was then obliged to confess the truth, which his captors, as if defying discovery, had not enjoined him to conceal Faithful to his instructions, he exculpated Holden fro hi his conviction that the oldof the intentions of his captors, nor whether they were friends or foes Notwithstanding the reluctance of the constable, the indignant Justice, in the first ebullition of his anger, made out anotherhands, and coht find hiht or by day, on the Lord's Day or on any other day, were the place the Sanctuary itself
But the rescue had diverted public attention from the Solitary into another channel, and the conation sufficient, like the Justice, to expend on Holden as well as on his rescuers It appeared, even to the feere originally in favor of his arrest, that he had suffered enough, satisfied as they were, as well from his behavior they had witnessed as from the report of the constable, that he had in no respect contributed to his freedom, but was rather co no blame to him for the escape The resent offenders, ith a strong hand, had interposed between the sentence and the execution of the law, and this last offence, as being of so nitude than Holden's, cast it quite into the shade Who were they? Who would have the audacity, in thepeople, to traive no information He had not even seen a person He had only heard a voice he never heard before Ought not some persons to be arrested on suspicion? Who should they be? Who were obnoxious to suspicion? The friends of the Solitary were a the most respectable people in the place Would it be safe to proceed against them? There would be some hazard in the experiment
They would be sure to defend themselves to the uttermost, and if successful as they probably would be, would make the movers in the matter rue their officiousness
Of such a nature were the various questions discussed around the hearths, and in the bank and shops of the little town of Hillsdale
The exciteish blood of winter Above all it was attractive for the e gossips to beat the air with their idle speculations
CHAPTER XIX
I could endure Chains nowhere patiently: and chains at hoht, not at all
COWPER
Bright and beautiful broke the ht of storht, and when the rejoicing sun surveyed the scene, his golden glances fell on a wide expanse of pure, unsullied white A slight breeze had arisen, which, gently agitating the bent and laden boughs of the evergreens, shook off the fleecy adornment that fell like blossoms from the trees The air was soft and almost balmy, as is not unfrequently the case even in ”the dead of winter” in our variable climate, lovelier and dearer for its very variableness, like a capricious beauty, whose smile is the more prized for the pout that precedes it It was a day to seduce the old man into the sunshi+ne in the stoop on the south side of the house, and to bring out the girls and youngbells in gay confusion in the streets
In the course of the forenoon, a bright crih, the bottom filled with clean straw, and the seats covered with bear and buffalo robes, the horse ornas of bells that jangled sweet e Bernard A young nize as Pownal He entered the house, and in a few minutes returned with Anne Bernard,a lowed in her cheek and happiness lighted up her eyes Pownal assisted her into the sleigh, and carefully disposing the robes about her, took his seat by her side and drove off