DARREL OF THE BLESSED ISLES

Prelude

Yonder up in the hills are men and women, white-haired, who love to tell of that time when the woods came to the door-step and God's cattle fed on the growing corn. Where, long ago, they sowed their youth and strength, they see their sons reaping, but now, bent with age, they have ceased to gather save in the far fields of memory. Every day they go down the long, well-trodden path and come back with hearts full. They are as children plucking the meadows of June. Sit with them awhile, and they will gather for you the unfading flowers of joy and love—good sir! the world is full of them. And should they mention Trove or a certain clock tinker that travelled from door to door in the olden time, send your horse to the stable and God-speed them!—it is a long tale, and you may listen far into the night.

"See the big pines there in the dale yonder?"some one will ask."We ll, The ron Allen lived there, an'across the pond, that's where the moss trail came out and where you see the cow-path—that's near the track of the little red sleigh."

Then—the tale and its odd procession coming out of the far past.

IThe Story of the Little Red Sleigh

It was in 1835, about mid-winter, when Brier Dale was a narrow clearing, and the horizon well up in the sky and to anywhere a day's journey.

Down by the shore of the pond, there, Allen built his house. To-day, under thickets of tansy, one may see the rotting logs, and there are hollyhocks and catnip in the old garden. He was from Middlebury, they say, and came west—he and his wife—in'29. From the top of the hill above Allen's, of a clear day, one could look far across the tree-tops, over distant settlements that were as blue patches in the green canopy of the forest, over hill and dale to the smoky chasm of the St. Lawrence thirty miles north. The Allens had not a child; they settled with no thought of school or neighbour. They brought a cow with them and a big collie whose back had been scarred by a lynx. He was good company and a brave hunter, this dog; and one day—it was February, four years after their coming, and the snow lay deep—he left the dale and not even a track behind him. Far and wide they went searching, but saw no sign of him. Near a month later, one night, past twelve o'clock, they heard his bark in the distance. Allen rose and lit a candle and opened the door. They could hear him plainer, and now, mingled with his barking, a faint tinkle of bells.

It had begun to thaw, and a cold rain was drumming on roof and window.

"He's crossing the pond,"said Allen, as he listened."He's dragging some heavy thing over the ice."

Soon he leaped in at the door, the little red sleigh bouncing after him. The dog was in shafts and harness. Over the sleigh was a tiny cover of sail-cloth shaped like that of a prairie schooner. Bouncing over the door-step had waked its traveller, and there was a loud voice of complaint in the little cavern of sail-cloth. Peering in, they saw only the long fur of a gray wolf. Beneath it a very small boy lay struggling with straps that held him down. Allen loosed them and took him out of the sleigh, a ragged but handsome youngster with red cheeks and blue eyes and light, curly hair. He was near four years of age then, but big and strong as any boy of five. He stood rubbing his eyes a minute, and the dog came over and licked his face, showing fondness acquired they knew not where. Mrs. Allen took the boy in her lap and petted him, but he was afraid—like a wild fawn that has just been captured—and broke away and took refuge under the bed. A long time she sat by her bedside with the candle, showing him trinkets and trying to coax him out. He ceased to cry when she held before him a big, shiny locket of silver, and soon his little hand came out to grasp it. Presently she began to reach his confidence with sugar. The re was a moment of silence, then strange words came out of his hiding-place."Anah jouhan"was all they could make of them, and they remembered always that odd combination of sounds. They gave him food, which he ate with eager haste. Then a moment of silence and an imperative call for more in some strange tongue. When at last he came out of his hiding-place, he fled from the woman. This time he sought refuge between the knees of Allen, where soon his fear gave way to curiosity, and he began to feel her face and gown. By and by he fell asleep.

They searched the sleigh and shook out the robe and blanket, finding only a pair of warm bricks.

A Frenchman worked for the Allens that winter, and the name, Trove, was of his invention.

And so came Sidney Trove, his mind in strange fetters, travelling out of the land of mystery, in a winter night, to Brier Dale.

II

The Crystal City and the Traveller

The wind, veering, came bitter cold; the rain hardened to hail; the clouds, changed to brittle nets of frost, and shaken to shreds by the rough wind, fell hissing in a scatter of snow. Next morning when Allen opened his door the wind was gone, the sky clear. Brier Pond, lately covered with clear ice, lay under a blanket of snow. He hurried across the pond, his dog following. Near the far shore was a bare spot on the ice cut by one of the sleigh-runners. Up in the woods, opposite, was the Moss Trail. Sunlight fell on the hills above him. He halted, looking up at the tree-tops. Twig, branch, and trunk glowed with the fire of diamonds through a lacy necking of hoar frost. Every tree had put on a jacket of ice and become as a fountain of prismatic hues. Here and there a dead pine rose like a spire of crystal; domes of deep-coloured glass and towers of jasper were as the landmarks of a city. Allen climbed the shore, walking slowly. He could see no track of sleigh or dog or any living thing. A frosted, icy tangle of branches arched the trail—a gateway of this great, crystal city of the woods. He entered, listening as he walked. Branches of hazel and dogwood were like jets of water breaking into clear, halted drops and foamy spray above him. He went on, looking up at this long sky-window of the woods. In the deep silence he could hear his heart beating.

"Sport,".said he to the dog,"show me the way;"but the dog only wagged his tail.

Allen returned to the house.

"Wife,"said he,"look at the woods yonder. They are like the city of holy promise.'Behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours and thy foundations with sapphires, and I will make thy windows of agate.'"

"Did you find the track of the little sleigh?"said she.

"No,"he answered,"nor will any man, for all paths are hidden."

"The ron—may we keep the boy?"she inquired.

"I think it is the will of God,"said Allen.

The boy grew and throve in mind and body. For a time he prattled in a language none who saw him were able to comprehend. But he learned English quickly and soon forgot the jargon of his babyhood. The shadows of mystery that fell over his coming lengthened far into his life and were deepened by others that fell across them. Before he could have told the story, all memory of whom he left or whence he came had been swept away. It was a house of riddles where Allen dwelt—a rude thing of logs and ladders and a low roof and two rooms. Yet one ladder led high to glories no pen may describe. The Allens, with this rude shelter, found delight in dreams of an eternal home whose splendour and luxury would have made them miserable here below. What a riddle was this! And then, as to the boy Sid, there was the riddle of his coming, and again that of his character, which latter was, indeed, not easy to solve. The re were few books and no learning in that home. For three winters Trove tramped a trail to the schoolhouse two miles away, and had no further schooling until he was a big, blond boy of fifteen, with red cheeks, and eyes large, blue, and discerning, and hands hardened to the axe helve. He had then discovered the beauty of the woods and begun to study the wild folk that live in holes and thickets. He had a fine face. You would have called him handsome, but not they among whom he lived. With them handsome was as handsome did, and the face of a man, if it were cleanly, was never a proper cause of blame or compliment. But there was that in his soul, which even now had waked the mother's wonder and set forth a riddle none were able to solve.

III

The Clock Tinker

The harvesting was over in Brier Dale. It was near dinner-time, and Allen, Trove, and the two hired men were trying feats in the dooryard. Trove, then a boy of fifteen, had outdone them all at the jumping. A stranger came along, riding a big mare with a young filly at her side. He was a tall, spare man, past middle age, with a red, smooth-shaven face and long, gray hair that fell to his rolling collar. He turned in at the gate. A little beyond it his mare halted for a mouthful of grass. The stranger unslung a strap that held a satchel to his side and hung it on the pommel.

"Go and ask what we can do for him,"Allen whispered to the boy.

Trove went down the drive, looking up at him curiously.

"What can I do for you?"he inquired.

"Give me thy youth,"said the stranger, quickly, his gray eyes twinkling under silvered brows.

The boy, now smiling, made no answer.

"No?"said the man, as he came on slowly."We ll, then, were thy wit as good as thy legs it would be o'some use to me."

The words were spoken with dignity in a deep, kindly tone. They were also faintly salted with Irish brogue.

He approached the men, all eyes fixed upon him with a look of inquiry.

"Have ye ever seen a drunken sailor on a mast?"he inquired of

Allen,

"No."

"We ll, sor,"said the stranger, dismounting slowly,"I am not that.

Let me consider—have ye ever seen a cocoanut on a plum tree?"

"I believe not,"said Allen, laughing.

"We ll, sor, that is more like me.'Tis long since I rode a horse, an'am out o'place in the saddle."

He stood erect with dignity, a smile deepening the many lines in his face.

"Can I do anything for you?"Allen asked.

"Ay—cure me o'poverty—have ye any clocks to mend?"

"Clocks! Are you a tinker?"said Allen.

"I am, sor, an'at thy service. Could beauty, me lord, have better commerce than with honesty?"

They all surveyed him with curiosity and amusement as he tied the mare.

All had begun to laugh. His words came rapidly on a quick undercurrent of good nature. A clock sounded the stroke of midday.

"What, ho! The clock,"said he, looking at his watch."Thy time hath a lagging foot, Marry, were I that slow, sor, I'd never get to Heaven."

"Mother,"said Allen, going to the doorstep,"here is a tinker, and he says the clock is slow."

"It seems to be out of order."said his wife, coming to the step.

"Seems, madam, nay, it is,"said the stranger."Did ye mind the stroke of it?"

"No,"said she.

"Marry,'twas like the call of a dying man."

Allen thought a moment as he whittled.

"Had I such a stroke on me I'd—I'd think I was parralyzed,"the stranger added.

"You'd better fix it then,"said Allen.

"Thou art wise, good man,"said the stranger."Mind the two hands on the clock an'keep them to their pace or they'll beckon thee to poverty."

The clock was brought to the door-step and all gathered about him as he went to work.

"Ye know a power o'scripter,"said one of the hired men.

"Scripter,"said the tinker, laughing."I do, sor, an'much of it according to the good Saint William. Have ye never read Shakespeare?"

None who sat before him knew anything of the immortal bard.

"He writ a book'bout Dan'l Boone an'the Injuns,"a hired man ventured.

"'Angels an'ministers o'grace defend us!'"the tinker exclaimed,

Trove laughed.

"I'll give ye a riddle,"said the tinker, turning to him.

"How is it the clock can keep a sober face?"

"It has no ears,"Trove answered.

"Right,"said the old tinker, smiling."Thou art a knowing youth. Read Shakespeare, boy—a little of him three times a day for the mind's sake. I've travelled far in lonely places and needed no other company."

"Ever in India?"Trove inquired. He had been reading of that far land.

"I was, sor,"the stranger continued, rubbing a wheel."I was five years in India, sor, an'part o'the time fighting as hard as ever a man could fight."

"Fighting!"said Trove, much interested.

"I was, sor,"he asserted, oiling a pinion of the old clock.

"On which side?"

"Inside an'outside."

"With natives?"

"I did, sor; three kinds o'them,—fever, fleas, an'the divvle."

"Give us some more Shakespeare,"said the boy, smiling.

The tinker rubbed his spectacles thoughtfully, and, as he resumed his work, a sounding flood of tragic utterance came out of him—the great soliloquies of Hamlet and Macbeth and Richard III and Lear and Antony, all said with spirit and appreciation. The job finished, they bade him put up for dinner.

"A fine colt!"said Allen, as they were on their way to the stable.

"It is, sor,"said the tinker,"a most excellent breed o'horses."

"Where from?"

"The grandsire from the desert of Arabia, where Allah created the horse out o'the south wind. See the slender flanks of the Barbary? See her eye?"

He seemed to talk in that odd strain for the mere joy of it, and there was in his voice the God-given vanity of bird or poet.

He had caught the filly by her little plume and stood patting her forehead.

"A wonderful thing, sor, is the horse's eye,"he continued."A glance! an'they know if ye be kind or cruel. Sweet Phyllis! Her eyelids are as bows; her lashes like the beard o'the corn. Have ye ever heard the three prayers o'the horse?"

"No,"said Allen.

"We ll, three times a day, sor, he prays, so they say, in the desert. In the morning he thinks a prayer like this,'O Allah! make me beloved o'me master.'At noon,'Do well by me master that he may do well by me.'At even,'O Allah! grant, at last, I may bear me master into Paradise.'

"An'the Arab, sor, he looks for a hard ride an'many jumps in the last journey, an'is kind to him all the days of his life, sor, so he may be able to make it."

For a moment he led her up and down at a quick trot, her dainty feet touching the earth lightly as a fawn's.

"Thou'rt made for the hot leagues o'the great sand sea,"said he, patting her head."Ah! thy neck shall be as the bowsprit; thy dust as the flying spray."

"In one thing you are like Isaiah,"said Allen, as he whittled.

"The Lord God hath given thee the tongue of the learned."

"An'if he grant me the power to speak a word in season to him that is weary, I shall be content,"said the tinker.

Dinner over, they came out of doors. The stranger stood filling his pipe. Something in his talk and manner had gone deep into the soul of the boy, who now whispered a moment with his father.