"Allah forbid!" exclaimed the Khan.
Rid me of him at once, O man!"
"Nay," Hamza said, "no spell of mine Can slay that cursed thing of thine.
"Leave feast and wine, go forth and drink Water of healing on the brink
"Where clear and cold from mountain snows, The Nahr el Zeben downward flows.
"Six moons remain, then come to me; May Allah's pity go with thee!"
Awestruck, from feast and wine the Khan Went forth where Nahr el Zeben ran.
Roots were his food, the desert dust His bed, the water quenched his thirst;
And when the sixth moon's scimetar Curved sharp above the evening star,
He sought again the santon's door, Not weak and trembling as before,
But strong of limb and clear of brain; "Behold," he said, "the fiend is slain."
"Nay," Hamza answered, "starved and drowned, The curst one lies in death-like swound.
"But evil breaks the strongest gyves, And jins like him have charmed lives.
"One beaker of the juice of grape May call him up in living shape.
"When the red wine of Badakshan Sparkles for thee, beware, O Khan,
"With water quench the fire within, And drown each day thy devilkin!"
Thenceforth the great Khan shunned the cup As Shitan's own, though offered up,
With laughing eyes and jewelled hands, By Yarkand's maids and Samarcand's.
And, in the lofty vestibule Of the medress of Kaush Kodul,
The students of the holy law A golden-lettered tablet saw,
With these words, by a cunning hand, Graved on it at the Khan's command:
"In Allah's name, to him who hath A devil, Khan el Hamed saith,
"Wisely our Prophet cursed the vine The fiend that loves the breath of wine,
"No prayer can slay, no marabout Nor Meccan dervis can drive out.
"I, Khan el Hamed, know the charm That robs him of his power to harm.
"Drown him, O Islam's child! the spell To save thee lies in tank and well!"
1879.
THE KING'S MISSIVE.
1661.
This ballad, originally written for The Memorial History of Boston, describes, with pardonable poetic license, a memorable incident in the annals of the city. The interview between Shattuck and the Governor took place, I have since learned, in the residence of the latter, and not in the Council Chamber. The publication of the ballad led to some discussion as to the historical truthfulness of the picture, but I have seen no reason to rub out any of the figures or alter the lines and colors.
UNDER the great hill sloping bare To cove and meadow and Common lot, In his council chamber and oaken chair, Sat the worshipful Governor Endicott.
A grave, strong man, who knew no peer In the pilgrim land, where he ruled in fear Of God, not man, and for good or ill Held his trust with an iron will.
He had shorn with his sword the cross from out The flag, and cloven the May-pole down, Harried the heathen round about, And whipped the Quakers from town to town.
Earnest and honest, a man at need To burn like a torch for his own harsh creed, He kept with the flaming brand of his zeal The gate of the holy common weal.
His brow was clouded, his eye was stern, With a look of mingled sorrow and wrath; "Woe's me!" he murmured: "at every turn The pestilent Quakers are in my path!
Some we have scourged, and banished some, Some hanged, more doomed, and still they come, Fast as the tide of yon bay sets in, Sowing their heresy's seed of sin.
"Did we count on this? Did we leave behind The graves of our kin, the comfort and ease Of our English hearths and homes, to find Troublers of Israel such as these?
Shall I spare? Shall I pity them? God forbid!
I will do as the prophet to Agag did They come to poison the wells of the Word, I will hew them in pieces before the Lord!"
The door swung open, and Rawson the clerk Entered, and whispered under breath, "There waits below for the hangman's work A fellow banished on pain of death-- Shattuck, of Salem, unhealed of the whip, Brought over in Master Goldsmith's ship At anchor here in a Christian port, With freight of the devil and all his sort!"
Twice and thrice on the chamber floor Striding fiercely from wall to wall, "The Lord do so to me and more,"
The Governor cried, "if I hang not all!
Bring hither the Quaker." Calm, sedate, With the look of a man at ease with fate, Into that presence grim and dread Came Samuel Shattuck, with hat on head.
"Off with the knave's hat!" An angry hand Smote down the offence; but the wearer said, With a quiet smile, "By the king's command I bear his message and stand in his stead."
In the Governor's hand a missive he laid With the royal arms on its seal displayed, And the proud man spake as he gazed thereat, Uncovering, "Give Mr. Shattuck his hat."
He turned to the Quaker, bowing low,-- "The king commandeth your friends' release; Doubt not he shall be obeyed, although To his subjects' sorrow and sin's increase.
What he here enjoineth, John Endicott, His loyal servant, questioneth not.
You are free! God grant the spirit you own May take you from us to parts unknown."
So the door of the jail was open cast, And, like Daniel, out of the lion's den Tender youth and girlhood passed, With age-bowed women and gray-locked men.
And the voice of one appointed to die Was lifted in praise and thanks on high, And the little maid from New Netherlands Kissed, in her joy, the doomed man's hands.
And one, whose call was to minister To the souls in prison, beside him went, An ancient woman, bearing with her The linen shroud for his burial meant.
For she, not counting her own life dear, In the strength of a love that cast out fear, Had watched and served where her brethren died, Like those who waited the cross beside.
One moment they paused on their way to look On the martyr graves by the Common side, And much scourged Wharton of Salem took His burden of prophecy up and cried "Rest, souls of the valiant! Not in vain Have ye borne the Master's cross of pain; Ye have fought the fight, ye are victors crowned, With a fourfold chain ye have Satan bound!"
The autumn haze lay soft and still On wood and meadow and upland farms; On the brow of Snow Hill the great windmill Slowly and lazily swung its arms; Broad in the sunshine stretched away, With its capes and islands, the turquoise bay; And over water and dusk of pines Blue hills lifted their faint outlines.