Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction
"Now, my man," said the master in a loud, slow voice, "you will point
out to me, as you have agreed to do, every man concerned in the plot
discovered this morning. And you whom he designates, I command you, in
the name of the King, to surrender peaceably. Your hope of pardon
depends upon your doing so. Now, Landless!"
"John Havisham," said Landless.
"Taken redhanded," quoth the master. "Place him here, Woodson, in front
of us. When all are in line, I shall have a word to say to them."
Havisham advanced with quiet dignity, passing Landless as if unaware of
his presence. "I surrender," he said, raising his voice, "because I
have no choice. And I advise those of our number here present to do the
same. Our plans known, our friends taken, betrayed and deserted by the
man in whom we trusted most, whom we called our leader, we have, indeed,
no choice."
"Win-Grace Porringer," said Landless.
The Muggletonian threw up his arms. "Iscariot!" he cried wildly. "Woe,
woe to him by whom offenses come! Well for thee, son of Warham
Landless, hadst thou never been born! By the power given to the Two
Witnesses and to their followers I curse thee! Thou shalt be anathema
maranatha! Famine, thirst, and a violent death be thy portion in this
life, and in the world to come mayest thou burn forever, howling! Amen
and amen!" With a wild laugh he stalked to the side of Havisham,
leaving Trail standing alone upon the doorstep. The eyes of the forger
met the eyes of Luiz Sebastian in another puzzled inquiry, but the
latter shook his head with a frown. Not doubting that his name would be
the next called, Trail had already taken a step forward, but Landless’s
eyes passed him over, and rested upon the face of a man standing near
Luiz Sebastian.
"John Robert!" he cried.
The man, a Baptist preacher suffering under the Act of Uniformity,
turned a gentle, reproachful face upon him, and stepping from the crowd,
joined himself to Havisham and the Muggletonian.
"James Holt!" said Landless.
A rustic, standing behind Luiz Sebastian, uttered a dreadful
imprecation. "You may hang me and welcome, your Honor," he cried as he
took his place, "if you ’ll just let me see this d—d Judas hung first!"
Luiz Sebastian fixed his great eyes upon Landless. "If he calls my
name," said the wicked brain behind the blandly smiling face, "shall I,
or shall I not—? It is many minutes to moonrise yet."
But Landless did not call him. He passed him by as he had passed Trail,
and named another rustic at some little distance from the mulatto, then
a Fifth Monarchy man, then a veteran of Cromwell’s, then the plantation
miller and the carpenter, then two more Oliverians, then more peasants.
Each man, as his name was called, stepped forward into the lengthening
line that faced the master and his party, standing with pistols leveled
and cocked; and each man bestowed upon Godfrey Landless a curse, or a
look that was bitterer than a curse.
"Humfrey Elder!" called Landless.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account