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Show 298 HIC'IIARO IIUHDIS. "No, 'Squire Hurd if;, I don't mind tltC' \\·ords of c·ontC'mpt that you rich men utter for the poor; if I did, 1 should be miscrnble enough mysC'If, and nwke many othrrs more so. 'J'hat's go11C out of my mi1Hl, :md, as I t('ll yon, 1 for~ct it all when I think of those worse matters which l can't so well forget.'' " '\'lty, tllen, say you will counsel me no more 1" "Been usc I'm about to IC':tVO Marengo for rver." " llrt! remove! whcrc-whcn1" "In thrf'C days, 'squire, I'll be oft~ bag and Lnggagc, for the ' nntion.' l\Iy wife's ripe for it; she's been nt me a long time to be off from a place where nobody knows any good of me. And I lmvc heard a good deal about the' nation.'" "And what will yon do tltcre for a livcli110od 7" " .\Veil, just wli:tt I can; try, nt lrnst, to live a little more honestly than l di<l l1ere- or more respectably, which is not often the same thing." u Dut do you expect, when there, to evnde tl1is confederacy 1" Hurdis eagerly demanded. "No-1 hnve no such hope." "llow, then, cau you hope to liYe more honestly 7" u More respectably, I may." "They will summon you to do their crim es." "I will do tbem." "What! shed more blood at a time when yon are troubled for what's already done 1" "Ycs-I will obey where I c:m not cscnpe; Lut I will do no crime of that sort again on my own nccouut-nothing which I nm not forced to do. But if they sny, • Strik r ,' l will do so as readily ns if it was the best action which they commanded. I will cut the throat of my best friend at tl1cir bidding ; for you sec, 'squire, I l1aYC been so lo11g' knocked about in ti JC worldnow to one side, now to another, like a clumsy log going downstream- that I'm now quite indifferent, I may s::~y, to all tho chances of the current, and I'll just go wherever it mny drive me. 'This 'confederacy' can't make me worse than I lun·e been -than I am-and it increases my security and strength. It gives me more certain means and greater power; aud, if I am to be forced, I will make what usc I can of the ~wwer that forces met DESPAJH OF TIIF: YI CTDLS. 209 u But, llen, such a re solution will make you a willing and nctiYe membrr of this dan." ·• Smcly !" snitl the otl1er indiffrrcntly. "All yom o;d interests nml friend ships, Ben, would be forsnkPn , rooted up-" "Ay, ':;q nirr, aud my old friend s just ns liable to my bullet rmtl knife ns my enemies, if the command of the confederacy required me to usc them. You yourse lf, 'squire-though we have worked togeth er for a long time-even you I would not spare, if they required me to shed your blood; nnd yon will sec from this thnt there is no hope for you unless you comply with the summons, nnd hcnrtily give yourself up to the interests of the whole fraternity ." llurdis was stri cken dumb by this frank avownl of his associate. lie hnd no more to say; and, with a better understnnding of ench otber than either bad ever possessed before, tl1cre WllS now a wall between them, over which neither at the present moment seemed willing to look. In three days more, Pickett with all his family was on his wny toward the" nation," where, it mny be added in this place, lw l1ad already made arrangements with the emissary for a more active co-operation with the members of the "Mystic Confederacy." His dest iny, which forced him into the bosom of this clan, seemed thoroughly to yield to his desire. The buffeting of the world, of which he had spoken, had only made him the more indifrercnt to the }o,·elincss of virtue-more reckless of the risk, aud Jess averse to the natural re1Jul sivencss. of vice. |
