FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101  
102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   >>  
n of Priscilla the Puritan maiden. Friends were assembled together; the Elder and Magistrate also Graced the scene with their presence, and stood like the Law and the Gospel, One with the sanction of earth and one with the blessing of heaven. 935 Simple and brief was the wedding as that of Ruth and of Boaz.[56] Softly the youth and the maiden repeated the words of betrothal, Taking each other for husband and wife in the Magistrate's presence, After the Puritan way, and the laudable custom of Holland, Fervently then and devoutly, the excellent Elder of Plymouth 940 Prayed for the hearth and the home, that were founded that day in affection, Speaking of life and of death and imploring Divine benedictions. Lo! when the service was ended, a form appeared on the threshold, Clad in armor of steel, a sombre and sorrowful figure! Why does the bridegroom start and stare at the strange apparition? 945 Why does the bride turn pale, and hide her face on his shoulder? Is it a phantom of air,--a bodiless, spectral illusion? Is it a ghost from the grave, that has come to forbid the betrothal? Long had it stood there unseen, a guest uninvited, unwelcomed; Over its clouded eyes there had passed at times an expression 950 Softening the gloom and revealing the warm heart hidden beneath them, As when across the sky the driving rack[57] of the rain cloud Grows for a moment thin, and betrays the sun by its brightness. Once it had lifted its hand, and moved its lips, but was silent, As if an iron will had mastered the fleeting intention. 955 But when were ended the troth and the prayer and the last benediction, Into the room it strode, and the people beheld, with amazement Bodily there in his armor, Miles Standish, the Captain of Plymouth! Grasping the bridegroom's hand, he said with emotion, "Forgive me! I have been angry and hurt,--too long have I cherished the feeling; 960 I have been cruel and hard, but now, thank God! it is ended. Mine is the same hot blood that leaped in the veins of Hugh Standish, Sensitive, swift to resent, but as swift in atoning for error. Never so much as now was Miles Standish the friend of John Alden." Thereupon answered the bridegroom: "Let all be forgotten between us,-- 965 All save the dear old friendship, and that shall grow older and
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101  
102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   >>  



Top keywords:

Standish

 

bridegroom

 

Plymouth

 
maiden
 
betrothal
 

Puritan

 
Magistrate
 

presence

 

prayer

 

intention


driving
 

beneath

 

hidden

 

strode

 

fleeting

 
benediction
 

brightness

 

lifted

 

moment

 
betrays

silent

 
people
 

mastered

 

resent

 

Sensitive

 

atoning

 

leaped

 
forgotten
 

answered

 

Thereupon


friend

 

emotion

 

Forgive

 

Grasping

 

Captain

 

amazement

 

Bodily

 

friendship

 

feeling

 

cherished


beheld

 

laudable

 

custom

 

husband

 

repeated

 

Taking

 
Holland
 

Fervently

 

founded

 

affection