"The Indian woman turned cold in her seat. For a little time she could
not see; but when her eyes grew clear, her child, her beautiful child,
whom she had worshipped afar off like a slave, that child stood in her
white garments before the communion-table, with her hand in that of the
old minister; and before them stood the man who had come down from the
pulpit, muttering words that could not reach the dark corner where the
poor Indian stood. But she knew that they were giving the young
girl--her child--to that stern old man for his wife. Filled with horror,
she strove to cry out and protest against it; but the tongue clove to
the roof of her mouth, and she was dumb. When she struggled to get down
from her high place in the gallery, and make her way to the pulpit, the
beadle stopped her rudely. 'Indians were not permitted,' he said, 'to
enter there.'
"While this poor Indian was struggling to pass him, the meeting broke
up. The crowd came down the aisles, almost sweeping her away; but she
stood firm, till that old man came forward, leading her child by the
hand. His bride saw the Indian mother, of whom she had but a knowledge
of vague kindnesses, and smiled softly as she drew near. Then the poor
creature knew that it was too late; that her white enemies had bound the
young one to them forever. So she forgot her own people, and followed
the old man and his bride sorrowfully home to his house. There was no
servant in the kitchen. She crept in through the back door and went to
work. Her heart was full of bitterness and love: hate for him, love for
her, the gentle one, who came in her meek beauty and settled down like a
dove in his home.
"At first the Indian watched for an opportunity to tell the young wife
that she had married the son of her mother's persecutor; that the father
of Parris had been one of Anna Hutchinson's judges; and that he, her
bridegroom, had been among the worst enemies of her own noble sister;
but when she saw the young wife settling down in her new home, so serene
and contented, the Indian's heart failed her, and she drudged on from
day to day, putting the cruel duty off, till at last one night--"
Abby, who had been greatly excited during this recital, suddenly threw
out her hand, laying it heavily on the old woman's shoulder.
"Do not speak of that. I cannot bear to hear in words what is in my own
remembrance like a vague, wild dream. Enough! My mother died in that
chair; her sister, Elizabeth Parris, expired the next day, with a
new-born infant slumbering in her arms. That infant is my cousin
Elizabeth. The meek, old man, whose heart began to break that night, was
my mother's cruel, cruel judge. But the Indian woman--what became of
her?"
The old woman folded her arms more tightly about her knees, and looked
up with the glance of a faithful dog.
"Her children were dead, but their little ones had no mother, so she
stayed in the kitchen."
"And died there?"
"Is Tituba dead that you ask this question of her?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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