Now of Ralph Goldsmith I've a good opinion, And of the bilboes I've an ill opinion;And both of these opinions I'll maintain As long as there's a shot left in the locker.
Enter EDWARD BUTTER, with an ear-trumpet.
BUTTER.
Good morning, Captain Kempthorn.
KEMPTHORN.
Sir, to you.
You've the advantage of me.I don't know you.
What may I call your name?
BUTTER.
That's not your name?
KEMPTHORN.
Yes, that's my name.What's yours?
BUTTER.
My name is Butter.
I am the treasurer of the Commonwealth.
KEMPTHORN.
Will you be seated?
BUTTER.
What say? Who's conceited?
KEMPTHORN.
Will you sit down?
BUTTER.
Oh, thank you.
KEMPTHORN.
Spread yourself Upon this chair, sweet Butter.
BUTTER (sitting down).
A fine morning.
KEMPTHORN.
Nothing's the matter with it that I know of.
I have seen better, and I have seen worse.
The wind's nor'west.That's fair for them that sail.
BUTTER.
You need not speak so loud; I understand you.
You sail to-day.
KEMPTHORN.
No, I don't sail to-day.
So, be it fair or foul, it matters not.
Say, will you smoke? There's choice tobacco here.
BUTTER.
No, thank you.It's against the law to smoke.
KEMPTHORN.
Then, will you drink? There's good ale at this inn.
BUTTER.
No, thank you.It's against the law to drink.
KEMPTHORN.
Well, almost everything's against the law In this good town.Give a wide berth to one thing, You're sure to fetch up soon on something else.
BUTTER.
And so you sail to-day for dear Old England.
I am not one of those who think a sup Of this New England air is better worth Than a whole draught of our Old England's ale.
KEMPTHORN.
Nor I.Give me the ale and keep the air.
But, as I said, I do not sail to-day.
BUTTER.
Ah yes; you sail today.
KEMPTHORN.
I'm under bonds To take some Quakers back to the Barbadoes;And one of them is banished, and another Is sentenced to be hanged.
BUTTER.
No, all are pardoned, All are set free by order of the Court;But some of them would fain return to England.
You must not take them.Upon that condition Your bond is cancelled.
KEMPTHORN.
Ah, the wind has shifted!
I pray you, do you speak officially?
BUTTER.
I always speak officially.To prove it, Here is the bond.
Rising and giving a paper.
KEMPTHORN.
And here's my hand upon it, And look you, when I say I'll do a thing The thing is done.Am I now free to go?
BUTTER.
What say?
KEMPTHORN.
I say, confound the tedious man With his strange speaking-trumpet! Can I go?
BUTTER.
You're free to go, by order of the Court.
Your servant, sir.
[Exit.
KEMPTHORN (shouting from the window).
Swallow, ahoy! Hallo!
If ever a man was happy to leave Boston, That man is Simon Kempthorn of the Swallow!
Re-enter BUTTER.
BUTTER.
Pray, did you call?
KEMPTHORN.
Call! Yes, I hailed the Swallow.
BUTTER.
That's not my name.My name is Edward Butter.
You need not speak so loud.
KEMPTHORN (shaking hands).
Good-by! Good-by!
BUTTER.
Your servant, sir.
KEMPTHORN.
And yours a thousand times!
[Exeunt.
SCENE III.-- GOVERNOR ENDICOTT'S private room.An open window.
ENDICOTT seated in an arm-chair.BELLINGHAM standing near.
ENDICOTT.
O lost, O loved! wilt thou return no more?
O loved and lost, and loved the more when lost!
How many men are dragged into their graves By their rebellious children! I now feel The agony of a father's breaking heart In David's cry, "O Absalom, my son!"BELLINGHAM.
Can you not turn your thoughts a little while To public matters? There are papers here That need attention.
ENDICOTT.
Trouble me no more!
My business now is with another world, Ah, Richard Bellingham! I greatly fear That in my righteous zeal I have been led To doing many things which, left undone, My mind would now be easier.Did I dream it, Or has some person told me, that John Norton Is dead?
BELLINGHAM.
You have not dreamed it.He is dead, And gone to his reward.It was no dream.
ENDICOTT.
Then it was very sudden; for I saw him Standing where you now stand, not long ago.
BELLINGHAM.
By his own fireside, in the afternoon, A faintness and a giddiness came o'er him;And, leaning on the chimney-piece, he cried, "The hand of God is on me!" and fell dead.
ENDICOTT.
And did not some one say, or have I dreamed it, That Humphrey Atherton is dead?
BELLINGHAM.
Alas!
He too is gone, and by a death as sudden.
Returning home one evening, at the place Where usually the Quakers have been scourged, His horse took fright, and threw him to the ground, So that his brains were dashed about the street.
ENDICOTT.
I am not superstitions, Bellingham, And yet I tremble lest it may have been A judgment on him.
BELLINGHAM.
So the people think.
They say his horse saw standing in the way The ghost of William Leddra, and was frightened.
And furthermore, brave Richard Davenport, The captain of the Castle, in the storm Has been struck dead by lightning.
ENDICOTT.
Speak no more.
For as I listen to your voice it seems As if the Seven Thunders uttered their voices, And the dead bodies lay about the streets Of the disconsolate city! Bellingham, I did not put those wretched men to death.
I did but guard the passage with the sword Pointed towards them, and they rushed upon it!
Yet now I would that I had taken no part In all that bloody work.
BELLINGHAM.
The guilt of it Be on their heads, not ours.
ENDICOTT.
Are all set free?
BELLINGHAM.
All are at large.
ENDICOTT.
And none have been sent back To England to malign us with the King?
BELLINGHAM.
The ship that brought them sails this very hour, But carries no one back.
A distant cannon.
ENDICOTT.
What is that gun?
BELLINGHAM.
Her parting signal.Through the window there, Look, you can see her sails, above the roofs, Dropping below the Castle, outward bound.
ENDICOTT.
O white, white, white! Would that my soul had wings As spotless as those shining sails to fly with!
Now lay this cushion straight.I thank you.Hark!
I thought I heard the hall door open and shut!
I thought I beard the footsteps of my boy!
BELLINGHAM.
It was the wind.There's no one in the passage.
ENDICOTT.
O Absalom, my son! I feel the world Sinking beneath me, sinking, sinking, sinking!
Death knocks! I go to meet him! Welcome, Death!
