The Crater by James Fenimore Cooper

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The great extent of the citadel, which contained an area of not less
than a hundred acres, it will be remembered, rendered its garrison very
insufficient for a siege. It is probable that no one there would have
thought of defending it, but for the certainty of powerful support being
at hand. This certainty encouraged the garrison, rendering their
exertions more ready and cheerful. Betts divided his men into parties of
two, scattering them along the Summit, with orders to be vigilant, and
to support each other. It was well known that a man could not enter from
without unless by the gate, or aided by ladders, or some other
mechanical invention. The time necessary to provide the last would bring
broad daylight, and enable the colonists to march such a force to the
menaced point, as would be pretty certain to prove sufficient to resist
the assailants. The gate itself was commanded by a carronade, and was
watched by a guard.

Great was the disappointment of Waally when he ascertained, by personal
examination, that the Summit could not be scaled, even by the most
active of his party, without recourse to assistance, by means of
artificial contrivances. He had the sagacity to collect all his men
immediately beneath the natural walls, where they were alone safe from
the fire of the guns, but where they were also useless. A large pile of
iron, an article so coveted, was in plain sight, beneath a shed, but he
did not dare to send a single hand to touch it, since it would have
brought the adventurer under fire. A variety of other articles, almost
as tempting, though not perhaps of the same intrinsic value, lay also in
sight, but were tabooed by the magic of powder and balls. Eleven hundred
warriors, as was afterwards ascertained, landed on the Reef that
eventful morning, and assembled under the walls of the crater. A hundred
more remained in the canoes, which lay about a league off, in the
western passage, or to leeward, awaiting the result of the enterprise.

The first effort made by Waally was to throw a force upward, by rearing
one man on another's shoulders. This scheme succeeded in part, but the
fellow who first showed his head above the perpendicular part of the
cliff, received a bullet in his brains. The musket was fired by the
hands of Socrates. This one discharge brought down the whole fabric,
several of those who fell sustaining serious injuries, in the way of
broken bones. The completely isolated position of the crater, which
stood, as it might be, aloof from all surrounding objects, added
materially to its strength in a military sense, and Waally was puzzled
how to overcome difficulties that might have embarrassed a more
civilized soldier. For the first time in his life, that warrior had
encountered a sort of fortress, which could be entered only by regular
approaches, unless it might be carried by a _coup de main_. At the
latter the savages were expert enough, and on it they had mainly relied;
but, disappointed in this respect, they found themselves thrown back on
resources that were far from being equal to the emergency.

Tired of inactivity, Waally finally decided on making a desperate
effort. The ship-yard was still kept up as a place for the repairing of
boats, &c., and it always had more or less lumber lying in, or near it.
Selecting a party of a hundred resolute men, and placing them under the
orders of one of his bravest chiefs, Waally sent them off, on the run,
to bring as much timber, boards, planks, &c., as they could carry,
within the cover of the cliffs. Now, Betts had foreseen the probability
of this very sortie, and had levelled one of his carronades, loaded to
the muzzle with canister, directly at the largest pile of the planks. No
sooner did the adventurers appear, therefore, than he blew his match.
The savages were collected around the planks in a crowd, when he fired
his gun. A dozen of them fell, and the rest vanished like so much dust
scattered by a whirlwind.

Just at that moment, the cry passed along the Summit that the Rancocus
was in sight. The governor must have heard the report of the gun, for he
discharged one in return, an encouraging signal of his approach. In a
minute, a third came from the westward, and Betts saw the sails of the
Mermaid over the low land. It is scarcely necessary to add, that the
reports of the two guns from a distance, and the appearance of the two
vessels, put an end at once to all Waally's schemes, and induced him to
commence, with the least possible delay, a second retreat from the spot
which, like Nelson's frigates, might almost be said to be imprinted on
his heart.

Waally retired successfully, if not with much dignity. At a given signal
his men rushed for the water, plunged in and swam across the basin
again. It was in Betts's power to have killed many on the retreat, but
he was averse to shedding blood unnecessarily. Fifty lives, more or
less, could be of no great moment in the result, as soon as a retreat
was decided on; and the savages were permitted to retire, and to carry
off their killed and wounded without molestation. The last was done by
wheeling forward the planks, and crossing at the bridge.

It was far easier, however, for Waally to gain his canoes, than to know
which way to steer after he had reached them. The Mermaid cut off his
retreat by the western passage, and the Rancocus was coming, fast along
the northern. In order to reach either the eastern, or the southern, it
would be necessary to pass within gun-shot of the Reef, and, what was
more, to run the gauntlet between the crater and the Rancocus. To this
danger Waally was compelled to submit, since he had no other means of
withdrawing his fleet. It was true, that by paddling to windward, he
greatly lessened the danger he ran from the two vessels, since it would
not be in their power to overtake him in the narrow channels of the
group, so long as he went in the wind's eye. It is probable that the
savages understood this, and that the circumstance greatly encouraged
them in the effort they immediately made to get into the eastern
passage. Betts permitted them to pass the Reef, without firing at them
again, though some of the canoes were at least half an hour within the
range of his guns, while doing so. It was lucky for the Indians that the
Rancocus did not arrive until the last of their party were as far to
windward as the spot where the ship had anchored, when she was first
brought up by artificial means into those waters.

Betts went off to meet the governor, in order to make in early report of
his proceedings. It was apparent that the langer was over, and Woolston
was not sorry to find that success was obtained without recourse to his
batteries. The ship went immediately alongside of the natural quay, and
her people poured ashore, in a crowd, the instant a plank could be run
out, in order to enable them to do so. In an hour the cows were landed,
and were grazing in the crater, where the grass was knee-high, and
everything possessing life was out of the ship, the rats and
cock-roaches perhaps excepted. As for the enemy, no one now cared for
them. The man aloft said they could be seen, paddling away as if for
life, and already too far for pursuit. It would have been easy enough
for the vessels to cut off the fugitives by going into the offing again,
but this was not the desire of any there, all being too happy to be rid
of them, to take any steps to prolong the intercourse.

Great was the delight of the colonists to be once more on the land.
Under ordinary circumstances, the immigrants might not have seen so many
charms in the Reef and crater, and hog-lot; but five months at sea have
a powerful influence in rendering the most barren spot beautiful.
Barrenness, however, was a reproach that could no longer be justly
applied to the group, and most especially to those portions of it which
had received the attention of its people. Even trees were beginning to
be numerous, thousands of them having been planted, some for their
fruits, some for their wood, and-others merely for the shade. Of
willows, alone, Socrates with his own hand had set out more than five
thousand, the operation being simply that of thrusting the end of a
branch into the mud. Of the rapidity of the growth, it is scarcely
necessary to speak; though it quadrupled that known even to the most
fertile regions of America.

Here, then, was Mark once more at home, after so long a passage. There
was his ship, too, well freighted with a hundred things, all of which
would contribute to the comfort and well-being of the colonists! It was
a moment when the governor's heart was overflowing with gratitude, and
could he then have taken Bridget and his children in his arms, the cup
of happiness would have been full. Bridget was not forgotten, however,
for in less than half an hour after the ship was secured Betts sailed in
the Neshamony, for the Peak; he was to carry over the joyful tidings,
and to bring the 'governor's lady' to the Reef. Ere the sun set, or
about that time, his return might be expected, the Neshamony making the
trip in much less time than one of the smaller boats. It was not
necessary, however, for Betts to go so far, for when he had fairly
cleared Cape South, and was in the strait, he fell in with the Abraham,
bound over to the Reef. It appeared that some signs of the hostile
canoes had been seen from the Peak, as Waally was crossing from Rancocus
Island, and, after a council, it had been decided to send the Abraham
across, to notify the people on the Reef of the impending danger, and to
aid in repelling the enemy. Bridget and Martha had both come in the
schooner; the first, to look after the many valuables he had left at the
'governor's house,' on the Summit, and the last, as her companion.

We leave the reader to imagine the joy that was exhibited, when those on
board the Abraham ascertained the arrival of the Rancocus! Bridget was
in ecstasies, and greatly did she exult in her own determination to
cross on this occasion, and to bring her child with her. After the first
burst of happiness, and the necessary explanations had been made, a
consultation was had touching what was next to be done. Brown was in
command of the Abraham, with a sufficient crew, and Betts sent him to
windward, outside of everything, to look after the enemy. It was thought
desirable not only to see Waally well clear of the group, but to force
him to pass off to the northward, in order that he might not again
approach the Reef, as well as to give him so much annoyance on his
retreat, as to sicken him of these expeditions for the future. For such
a service the schooner was much the handiest of all the vessels of the
colonists, since she might be worked by a couple of hands, and her
armament was quite sufficient for all that was required of her, on the
occasion. Brown was every way competent to command, as Betts well knew,
and he received the females on board the Neshamony, and put about,
leaving the schooner to turn to windward.

Bridget reached the Reef before it was noon. All the proceedings of that
day had commenced so early, that there had been time for this. The
governor saw the Neshamony. as she approached, and great, uneasiness
beset him He knew she had not been as far as the Peak, and supposed that
Waally's fleet had intercepted her, Betts coming back for
reinforcements. But, as the boat drew near, the fluttering of female
dresses was seen, and then his unerring glass let him get a distant view
of the sweet face of his young wife. From that moment the governor was
incapable of giving a coherent or useful order, until Bridget had
arrived. Vessels that came in from the southward were obliged to pass
through the narrow entrance, between the Reef and the Hog Lot, where was
the drawbridge so often mentioned. There was water enough to float a
frigate, and it was possible to take a frigate through, the width being
about fifty feet, though as yet nothing larger than the Friend Abraham
White had made the trial. At this point, then, Woolston took his
station, waiting the arrival of the Neshamony, with an impatience he was
a little ashamed of exhibiting.

Betts saw the governor, in good time, and pointed him out to Bridget,
who could hardly be kept on board the boat, so slow did the progress of
the craft now seem. But the tender love which this young couple bore
each other was soon to be rewarded; for Mark sprang on board the
Neshamony as she went through the narrow pass, and immediately he had
Bridget folded to his heart.

Foreigners are apt to say that we children of this western world do not
submit to the tender emotions with the same self-abandonment as those
who are born nearer to the rising sun; that our hearts are as cold and
selfish as our manners; and that we live more for the lower and
grovelling passions, than for sentiment and the affections. Most
sincerely do we wish that every charge which European jealousy, and
European superciliousness, have brought against the American character,
was as false as this. That the people of this country are more
restrained in the exhibition of all their emotions, than those across
the great waters, we believe; but, that the last _feel_ the most, we
shall be very unwilling to allow. Most of all shall we deny that the
female form contains hearts more true to all its affections, spirits
more devoted to the interests of its earthly head, or identity of
existence more perfect than those with which the American wife clings
to her husband. She is literally "bone of his bone, and flesh of his
flesh." It is seldom that her wishes cross the limits of the domestic
circle, which to her is earth itself, and all that it contains which is
most desirable. Her husband and children compose her little world, and
beyond them and their sympathies, it is rare indeed that her truant
affections ever wish to stray. A part of this concentration of the
American wife's existence in these domestic interests, is doubtless
owing to the simplicity of American life and the absence of temptation.
Still, so devoted is the female heart, so true to its impulses, and so
little apt to wander from home-feelings and home-duties, that the
imputation to which there is allusion, is just that, of all others, to
which the wives of the republic ought not to be subject.

It was even-tide before the governor was again seen among his people. By
this time, the immigrants had taken their first survey of the Reef, and
the nearest islands, which the least sanguine of their numbers admitted
quite equalled the statements they had originally heard of the
advantages of the place. It was, perhaps, fortunate that the fruits of
the tropics were so abundant with Socrates and his companions. By this
time, oranges abounded, more than a thousand trees having, from time to
time, been planted in and around the crater, alone. Groves of them were
also appearing in favourable spots, on the adjacent islands. It is true,
these trees were yet too young to produce very bountifully; but they had
begun to bear, and it was thought a very delightful thing, among the
fresh arrivals from Pennsylvania, to be able to walk in an orange grove,
and to pluck the fruit at pleasure!

As for figs, melons, limes, shaddocks, and even cocoa-nuts, all were now
to be had, and in quantities quite sufficient for the population. In
time, the colonists craved the apples of their own latitude, and the
peach; those two fruits, so abundant and so delicious in their ancient
homes; but the novelty was still on them, and it required time to learn
the fact that we tire less of the apple, and the peach, and the potato,
than of any other of the rarest gifts of nature. That which the potato
has become among vegetables, is the apple among fruits; and when we rise
into the mere luscious and temporary of the bountiful products of
horticulture, the peach (in its perfection) occupies a place altogether
apart, having no rival in its exquisite flavour, while it never produces
satiety. The peach and the grape are the two most precious of the gifts
of Providence, in the way of fruits.

That night, most of the immigrants slept in the ship; nearly all of
them, however, for the last time. About ten in the forenoon, Brown came
running down to the Reef, through the eastern passage, to report Waally
well off, having quitted the group to windward, and made the best of his
way towards his own islands, without turning aside to make a
starting-point of Rancocus. It was a good deal questioned whether the
chief would find his proper dominions, after a run of four hundred
miles; for a very trifling deviation from the true course at starting,
would be very apt to bring him out wide of his goal. This was a matter,
however, that gave the colonists very little concern. The greater the
embarrassments encountered by their enemies, the less likely would they
be to repeat the visit; and should a few perish, it might be all the
better for themselves. The governor greatly approved of Brown's course
in not following the canoes, since the repulse was sufficient as it was,
and there was very little probability that the colony would meet with
any further difficulty from this quarter, now that it had got to be so
strong.

That day and the next, the immigrants were busy in landing their
effects, which consisted of furniture, tools and stores, of one sort and
another. As the governor intended to send, at once, forty select
families over to the Peak, the Abraham was brought alongside of the
quay, and the property of those particular families was, as it came
ashore, sent on board the schooner. Males and females were all employed
in this duty, the Reef resembling a beehive just at that point. Bill
Brown, who still commanded the Abraham, was of course present; and he
made an occasion to get in company with the governor, with whom he held
the following short dialogue:

"A famous ship's company is this, sir, you've landed among us, and some
on 'em is what I calls of the right sort!"

"I understand you, Bill," answered Mark, smiling. "Your commission has
been duly executed; and Phoebe is here, ready to be spliced as soon as
there shall be an opportunity."

"_That_ is easily enough made, when people's so inclined," said Bill,
fidgeting. "If you'd be so good, sir, as just to point out the young
woman to me, I might be beginning to like her, in the meanwhile."

"_Young?_ Nothing was said about that in the order, Bill. You wished a
wife, invoiced and consigned to yourself; and one has been shipped,
accordingly. You must consider the state of the market, and remember
that the article is in demand precisely as it is youthful."

"Well, well, sir, I'll not throw her on your hands, if she's old enough
to be my mother; though I do rather suppose, Mr. Woolston, you stood by
an old shipmate in a foreign land, and that there is a companion
suitable for a fellow of only two-and-thirty sent out?"

"Of that you shall judge for yourself, Bill. Here she comes, carrying a
looking-glass, as if it were to look at her own pretty face; and if she
prove to be only as good as she is good-looking, you will have every
reason to be satisfied. What is more, Bill, your wife does not come
empty-handed, having a great many articles that will help to set you up
comfortably in housekeeping."

Brown was highly pleased with the governor's choice, which had been made
with a due regard to the interests and tastes of the absent shipmate.
Phoebe appeared well satisfied with her allotted husband; and that very
day the couple was united in the cabin of the Abraham. On the same
occasion, the ceremony was performed for Unus and Juno, as well as for
Peters and his Indian wife; the governor considering it proper that
regard to appearances and all decent observances, should be paid, as
comported with their situation.

About sunset of the third day after the arrival of the Rancocus, the
Abraham sailed for the Peak, having on board somewhat less than a
hundred of the immigrants, including females and children. The Neshamony
preceded her several hours, taking across the governor and his family.
Mark longed to see his sister Anne, and his two brothers participated in
this wish, if possible, in a still more lively manner.

The meeting of these members of the same family was of the most touching
character. The young men found their sister much better established than
they had anticipated, and in the enjoyment of very many more comforts
than they had supposed it was in the power of any one to possess in a
colony still so young. Heaton had erected a habitation for himself, in a
charming grove, where there were water, fruits, and other conveniences,
near at hand, and where his own family was separated from the rest of
the community. This distinction had been conferred on him, by common
consent, in virtue of his near affinity to the governor, whose
substitute he then was, and out of respect to his education and original
rank in life. Seamen are accustomed to defer to station and authority,
and are all the happier for the same; and the thought of any jealousy on
account of this privilege, which as yet was confined to Mark and Heaton,
and their respective families, had not yet crossed the mind of any one
on the island.

About twelve, or at midnight, the Abraham entered the cove. Late as was
the hour, each immigrant assumed a load suited to his or her strength,
and ascended the Stairs, favoured by the sweet light of a full moon.
That night most of the new-comers passed in the groves, under tents or
in an arbour that had been prepared for them; and sweet was the repose
that attended happiness and security, in a climate so agreeable.

Next morning, when the immigrants came out of their temporary dwellings,
and looked upon the fair scene before them, they could scarcely believe
in its reality! It is true, nothing remarkable or unexpected met their
eyes in the shape of artificial accessories; but the bountiful gifts of
Providence, and the natural beauties of the spot, as much exceeded their
anticipations as it did their power of imagining such glories! The
admixture of softness and magnificence made a whole that they had never
before beheld in any other portion of the globe; and there was not one
among them all that did not, for the moment, feel and speak as if he or
she had been suddenly transformed to an earthly paradise.

Chapter XXII.

"You have said they are men;
As such their hearts are something."

Byron.

The colony had now reached a point when it became necessary to proceed
with method and caution. Certain great principles were to be
established, on which the governor had long reflected, and he was fully
prepared to set them up, and to defend them, though he knew that ideas
prevailed among a few of his people, which might dispose them to cavil
at his notions, if not absolutely to oppose him. Men are fond of change;
half the time, for a reason no better than that it is change; and, not
unfrequently, they permit this wayward feeling to unsettle interests
that are of the last importance to them, and which find no small part of
their virtue in their permanency.

Hitherto, with such slight exceptions as existed in deference to the
station, not to say rights of the governor, everything of an
agricultural character had been possessed in common among the colonists.
But this was a state of things which the good sense of Mark told him
could not, and ought not to last. The theories which have come into
fashion in our own times, concerning the virtues of association, were
then little known and less credited. Society, as it exists in a legal
form, is association enough for all useful purposes, and sometimes too
much; and the governor saw no use in forming a wheel within a wheel. If
men have occasion for each other's assistance to effect a particular
object, let them unite, in welcome, for that purpose; but Mark was fully
determined that there should be but one government in his land, and that
this government should be of a character to encourage and not to depress
exertion. So long as a man toiled for himself and those nearest and
dearest to him, society had a security for his doing much, that would be
wanting where the proceeds of the entire community were to be shared in
common; and, on the knowledge of this simple and obvious truth did our
young legislator found his theory of government. Protect all in their
rights equally, but, that done, let every man pursue his road to
happiness in his own way; conceding no more of his natural rights than
were necessary to the great ends of peace, security, and law. Such was
Mark's theory. As for the modern crotchet that men yielded _no_ natural
right to government, but were to receive all and return nothing, the
governor, in plain language, was not fool enough to believe it. He was
perfectly aware that when a man gives authority to society to compel him
to attend court as a witness, for instance, he yields just so much of
his natural rights to society, as might be necessary to empower him to
stay away, if he saw fit; and, so on, through the whole of the very long
catalogue of the claims which the most indulgent communities make upon
the services of their citizens. Mark understood the great desideratum to
be, not the setting up of theories to which every attendant fact gives
the lie, but the ascertaining, as near as human infirmity will allow,
the precise point at which concession to government ought to terminate,
and that of uncontrolled individual freedom commence. He was not
visionary enough to suppose that he was to be the first to make this
great discovery; but he was conscious of entering on the task with the
purest intentions. Our governor had no relish for power for power's
sake, but only wielded it for the general good. By nature, he was more
disposed to seek happiness in a very small circle, and would have been
just as well satisfied to let another govern, as to rule himself, had
there been another suited to such a station. But there was not. His own
early habits of command, the peculiar circumstances which had first put
him in possession of the territory, as if it were a special gift of
Providence to himself, his past agency in bringing about the actual
state of things, and his property, which amounted to more than that of
all the rest of the colony put together, contributed to give him a title
and authority to rule, which would have set the claims of any rival at
defiance, had such a person existed. But there was no rival; not a
being present desiring to see another in his place.

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