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Show Page 236 Frethorne had his cloak pulled tightly about his neck as though to ward off any black humors that might be lurking about ready to cause his disease. And when he stepped ashore, he tiptoed about in an effort to avoid dirtying his boots, though he wore slippers over them to avoid that very thing. I had not cause to wonder long about the man, however, for Richard Frethorne soon attached himself to John and me. "I am from a family of gentry," he had anounced upon our first meeting. "How a person such as myself came to be indentured by my own family, I do not understand. Even so, had they allowed me to be servant to someone in England, that I could have endured. But not here in this fetic, uncivilized backwater! Oh, I do not know what shall become of me!" And he fanned his pasty face rapidly with a rather grimy handkerchief. "I think I know why his family bonded him to Harwood," chuckled John, when at last our new acquaintance had left us. "To straighten his spine and make a man of him, though I doubt it will have that effect." I feared John was right, though I, too, doubted Frethorne's indenture would have that result, since so far nothing had happened to show that the wishes of his family might come true. In fact, as the days passed, he did nothing but whine and whine, even more than when he first came. And now it seemed we were to hear another tongue-wagging just when we were hoping to enjoy each other's company in peace. |
