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.'He paused, but he had already lost their attention.They gazed not at him, but past him to the left, in twos and threes, and then in increasing numbers, until every head faced the forest, above which the smoke rose in a long column of memory.Yarico stood there, her hands hanging at her sides, her hair a black shawl on her neck.'Mon Dieu,' Belain muttered.‘I had forgot the princess.' -They watched her move, slowly, down the beach.Then one of the Frenchmen gave a yell and they surged forward, reaching for her with hands still hungry in their lust.'Avast there,' Ashton bellowed.'Wait,' Tom shouted.'Arretez-vous,' Belain bawled.Edward drew the undischarged pistol from his belt and fired it into the air.The report brought them up, and they looked over their shoulders, their leader's fingers already at the girl's breast.'There will be no more of that,' Tom said.'Of these women, you may take your pick.You will have to draw lots, to be sure, but it is the only way.I'll have no promiscuity.One woman, one man.'Belain translated for him, and then glanced at him.'You include the princess in that, Captain Warner?'The girl had ignored the men who would have attacked her, and had continued to walk forward.Now she was only a few feet away.'She must make her own choice,' Tom said.'She has that right, for the service she has rendered us, for the great loss she has suffered.' He gazed at her.'Yarico,' he said.'You must take a man.And live by our laws, now.And be sure of our respect and honour.'She smiled.Or did she merely show her teeth? Edward watched her in fascination as she approached.Approached? But she ignored him, went up to Tom Warner, and held his hand.'War-nah,' she said.‘Yarico.'Tom flushed, although he was obviously flattered.'You mistake the situation, my dear,' he said.‘I already have a woman.Rebecca.'Yarico glanced at the white woman with total scorn.‘War-nah,' she said again.'Yarico.' She interlocked her fingers and held them to her belly, and then slowly carried them away from her to her arm's length.'War-nah.Yarico.Son.'7The RevolutionThere will be a headstone,' Tom Warner said.‘I would have you bring marble from England, John.I will give you an inscription.'John Jefferson fanned himself with the hat he had originally removed out of respect.‘It will be my pleasure, Tom.But she scarce needs one.This entire hill shall be her monument.You see it, almost before you see the island itself, at least when approaching from the west.The first lady of Merwar's Hope could scarce wish a better memorial.'The first lady,' Tom said.'When she died, John, she was the only lady on Merwar's Hope.''No doubt.You'd not say that now.She'd have been proud to see thus sight.' Jefferson walked from the grave, across the smoothed earth of the courtyard, past the two great cannon which stared westward over the Caribbean Sea, and rested his hand on the earthen breastworks as he looked down from the fortress at Sandy Point.This was his third visit.He recalled the eager, almost desperate faces which had greeted his first arrival, and the equal hunger for news and food and reassurance which had met his second, two years ago.The colony had been struggling then, and no doubt the trouble with the Caribs had taken its toll of spirit as well as ambition.This was something he meant to investigate.So many rumours had filtered back to England, not all of them believable.But now.Sandy Point was no longer merely a settlement.It was not even merely a village.He looked down on a street, stretching back from the beach, unpaved and dusty, to be sure, but none the less a street, lined with houses on either side.These too were in the main modest, but curtains fluttered at the windows, and lines of washing in the back yards, and there were other, larger buildings: Jarring's General Store, half way up the right hand block, with its overhanging porch which was a refuge for thirsty planters on a hot day, and close by, the church, with its bell tower rising above all others; it faced the courthouse—this and the solid, window-less gaolhouse beside it were evidences that there was more lawlessness than religion as yet, but also evidences that Tom Warner and his officers were capable of dealing with it.The gaolhouse was seldom empty, although its inmates were mainly the Irish labourers who worked hard, driven to it by the lashes of their employers, and drank and fought amongst each other with equal spirit.Set at the inland end of the town, where the land rose slightly, was the Governor's House.This was the only two-storeyed dwelling on the island, or at any rate, in Sandy Point.Its floors were fronted by a huge porch, really a continuation of the sloping roof, extending outwards and held in place by six great pillars, small tree trunks in themselves, to give the seaward facing windows shelter at once from sun and rain.The others, like all the houses in the town, were protected by shutters, but these were only needed when the hurricane winds blew, and this was seldom enough.The Governor's House was a suitably imposing building; it required suitably imposing inmates.Something else to be investigated.But the town was only an aspect of Merwar's Hope.The corn fields and tobacco fields spreading away on either side, the ships riding to their anchors in Old Road, these, too, were no more than aspects of the current prosperity which shrouded the island.Its future lay in the manner in which it had pushed its tentacles farther inland.Hal Ashton had been one of those who had taken advantage of Tom's law that any man who had proved his worth by three years of labour for the community could go and claim himself a plantation removed from the town.Hal now lived and farmed tobacco five miles up the coast, with his own two-storeyed house and his own fields of corn; he had never married, but he maintained a thriving establishment, with half a dozen Irish labourers and three serving girls, and two overseers to look after the whole; a small colony in itself.Even more independent was Tony Hilton's plantation on the windward coast, where he held sway with his beautiful, silent, red-haired wife.Hilton did not welcome visitors, and indeed it was a full day's journey through the forest and the mountain passes from Sandy Point to the other side.But even Hilton acknowledged the authority of the King's Lieutenant.Jefferson glanced at his friend.'Aye,' he said again.'She would have been proud.'‘I doubt that,' Tom said.'Once.' he sighed."You'll dine with me, of course, John.'‘I was but waiting for your invitation, Tom.' He followed the Governor down the steep slope.'You do not mount a permanent guard in your fortress?"Tom shook his head."We should see an enemy fleet approaching long before they could come within range, and have all the time we need to man our defences.But there are no such things as fleets in the Leewards.''Aye.There is too much bloodshed in Europe for even the most vicious stomach; they say that Germany is reduced to nothing better than a desert.And the French? You'll have heard our countries are again at war, even if our queen does come from Paris?"'Harriman told me things were shaping that way.But in Europe.Here we have a treaty with them," Tom said over his shoulder.'But truly, John, I wonder what Belain was at.They lay around the place for a year, and then, their ship repaired, they sailed for home."'All of them?"Tom shrugged [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.'He paused, but he had already lost their attention.They gazed not at him, but past him to the left, in twos and threes, and then in increasing numbers, until every head faced the forest, above which the smoke rose in a long column of memory.Yarico stood there, her hands hanging at her sides, her hair a black shawl on her neck.'Mon Dieu,' Belain muttered.‘I had forgot the princess.' -They watched her move, slowly, down the beach.Then one of the Frenchmen gave a yell and they surged forward, reaching for her with hands still hungry in their lust.'Avast there,' Ashton bellowed.'Wait,' Tom shouted.'Arretez-vous,' Belain bawled.Edward drew the undischarged pistol from his belt and fired it into the air.The report brought them up, and they looked over their shoulders, their leader's fingers already at the girl's breast.'There will be no more of that,' Tom said.'Of these women, you may take your pick.You will have to draw lots, to be sure, but it is the only way.I'll have no promiscuity.One woman, one man.'Belain translated for him, and then glanced at him.'You include the princess in that, Captain Warner?'The girl had ignored the men who would have attacked her, and had continued to walk forward.Now she was only a few feet away.'She must make her own choice,' Tom said.'She has that right, for the service she has rendered us, for the great loss she has suffered.' He gazed at her.'Yarico,' he said.'You must take a man.And live by our laws, now.And be sure of our respect and honour.'She smiled.Or did she merely show her teeth? Edward watched her in fascination as she approached.Approached? But she ignored him, went up to Tom Warner, and held his hand.'War-nah,' she said.‘Yarico.'Tom flushed, although he was obviously flattered.'You mistake the situation, my dear,' he said.‘I already have a woman.Rebecca.'Yarico glanced at the white woman with total scorn.‘War-nah,' she said again.'Yarico.' She interlocked her fingers and held them to her belly, and then slowly carried them away from her to her arm's length.'War-nah.Yarico.Son.'7The RevolutionThere will be a headstone,' Tom Warner said.‘I would have you bring marble from England, John.I will give you an inscription.'John Jefferson fanned himself with the hat he had originally removed out of respect.‘It will be my pleasure, Tom.But she scarce needs one.This entire hill shall be her monument.You see it, almost before you see the island itself, at least when approaching from the west.The first lady of Merwar's Hope could scarce wish a better memorial.'The first lady,' Tom said.'When she died, John, she was the only lady on Merwar's Hope.''No doubt.You'd not say that now.She'd have been proud to see thus sight.' Jefferson walked from the grave, across the smoothed earth of the courtyard, past the two great cannon which stared westward over the Caribbean Sea, and rested his hand on the earthen breastworks as he looked down from the fortress at Sandy Point.This was his third visit.He recalled the eager, almost desperate faces which had greeted his first arrival, and the equal hunger for news and food and reassurance which had met his second, two years ago.The colony had been struggling then, and no doubt the trouble with the Caribs had taken its toll of spirit as well as ambition.This was something he meant to investigate.So many rumours had filtered back to England, not all of them believable.But now.Sandy Point was no longer merely a settlement.It was not even merely a village.He looked down on a street, stretching back from the beach, unpaved and dusty, to be sure, but none the less a street, lined with houses on either side.These too were in the main modest, but curtains fluttered at the windows, and lines of washing in the back yards, and there were other, larger buildings: Jarring's General Store, half way up the right hand block, with its overhanging porch which was a refuge for thirsty planters on a hot day, and close by, the church, with its bell tower rising above all others; it faced the courthouse—this and the solid, window-less gaolhouse beside it were evidences that there was more lawlessness than religion as yet, but also evidences that Tom Warner and his officers were capable of dealing with it.The gaolhouse was seldom empty, although its inmates were mainly the Irish labourers who worked hard, driven to it by the lashes of their employers, and drank and fought amongst each other with equal spirit.Set at the inland end of the town, where the land rose slightly, was the Governor's House.This was the only two-storeyed dwelling on the island, or at any rate, in Sandy Point.Its floors were fronted by a huge porch, really a continuation of the sloping roof, extending outwards and held in place by six great pillars, small tree trunks in themselves, to give the seaward facing windows shelter at once from sun and rain.The others, like all the houses in the town, were protected by shutters, but these were only needed when the hurricane winds blew, and this was seldom enough.The Governor's House was a suitably imposing building; it required suitably imposing inmates.Something else to be investigated.But the town was only an aspect of Merwar's Hope.The corn fields and tobacco fields spreading away on either side, the ships riding to their anchors in Old Road, these, too, were no more than aspects of the current prosperity which shrouded the island.Its future lay in the manner in which it had pushed its tentacles farther inland.Hal Ashton had been one of those who had taken advantage of Tom's law that any man who had proved his worth by three years of labour for the community could go and claim himself a plantation removed from the town.Hal now lived and farmed tobacco five miles up the coast, with his own two-storeyed house and his own fields of corn; he had never married, but he maintained a thriving establishment, with half a dozen Irish labourers and three serving girls, and two overseers to look after the whole; a small colony in itself.Even more independent was Tony Hilton's plantation on the windward coast, where he held sway with his beautiful, silent, red-haired wife.Hilton did not welcome visitors, and indeed it was a full day's journey through the forest and the mountain passes from Sandy Point to the other side.But even Hilton acknowledged the authority of the King's Lieutenant.Jefferson glanced at his friend.'Aye,' he said again.'She would have been proud.'‘I doubt that,' Tom said.'Once.' he sighed."You'll dine with me, of course, John.'‘I was but waiting for your invitation, Tom.' He followed the Governor down the steep slope.'You do not mount a permanent guard in your fortress?"Tom shook his head."We should see an enemy fleet approaching long before they could come within range, and have all the time we need to man our defences.But there are no such things as fleets in the Leewards.''Aye.There is too much bloodshed in Europe for even the most vicious stomach; they say that Germany is reduced to nothing better than a desert.And the French? You'll have heard our countries are again at war, even if our queen does come from Paris?"'Harriman told me things were shaping that way.But in Europe.Here we have a treaty with them," Tom said over his shoulder.'But truly, John, I wonder what Belain was at.They lay around the place for a year, and then, their ship repaired, they sailed for home."'All of them?"Tom shrugged [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]