A LEGEND OF THE RAVINE.
At a late period in the evening of the 3rd of October, 1736, two horsemen might be seen riding slowly along the high road which leads from the capital to English Harbour. The eldest of these travellers was probably past the meridian of life; but his round florid face bore not a mark of care, nor could a single wrinkle be detected upon his open forehead. Age, indeed, had tinged his hair with grey, and, perhaps, slightly bent his form; but had neither depressed his spirits nor robbed his laughing blue eye of its lustre. In person he was tall and robust; and although jollity was written upon every feature, he possessed at the same time that air of determination which would make few wish to thwart him in his views, or offer an insult that was sure to be resented. The animal he bestrode was of a coal-black, and, like his master, bore his years well. Logo, as he was called, had often followed the hounds in “merrie England;” and, when his master came to take possession of a property in Antigua, his faithful steed, the sharer of many a long day’s sport, was not to be left behind.
The companion of this first-mentioned traveller was, in every respect, far different. Scarcely had seventeen summers passed over his head; and his slight, but well-formed person, was in direct contrast to the large and heavy make of his friend. His rich brown locks clustered around his lofty brow unspoiled by powder; but in his large dark eye, consumption had lit its fire, and flushed, at times, his naturally pale cheek.
“Come, Edward,” said the elder traveller, addressing the youth; “we must mend our pace, lad: here’s Logo champing his bit with every mark of anger at being kept with tightened reign: the old fellow has too much mettle still left to like this hippopotamus trot, when he has an hungry stomach, and the prospect of a well-stored stable before him.”
“Ay, uncle; and one there is at home, who must be as anxiously looking for us, as Logo is for his stable.”
“What, Marien? Well, I dare say the girl feels the loss of her cousin Edward from the side of her spinet, if she don’t her old father from his settle in the gallery. Women love those little attentions you know so well to offer; and Marien would miss you from tuning her lute, or turning the pages of her music book, as I should old Logo, were anything to happen to him. Dame Nature has made you, boy, to shine in lady’s bower, more, I think, than in tented field.”
The deepest hectic sprang to the face of the youth, as his uncle uttered these words, and a half-smothered sigh broke from his lips, which, catching the attention of his companion, caused him to turn and look ardently at him.
“Nay, dearest Edward, I meant not to distress you; I hope your trip to these sunny shores may restore you to stronger health; and then you may follow the steps of your brave father, and fight your country’s battles. But we must not loiter any longer upon the road; for, in truth, I like not the appearance of the night, and we have no shelter near. I care not for myself, for I have weathered too many a storm to shrink from a sprinkling; but you are still delicate; and your cousin Marien will scold me for having already kept you out in the heavy night dew of this climate.”
So saying, they gave their steeds the rein, and dashed on, throwing the loose pebbles with which the road was strewed, on every side.
The night, indeed, was far from promising; the wind blew in sudden gusts, and whirled the dead leaves on every side. A low moaning sound came from the distant mountains, the sure forerunner of a storm; while peals of thunder broke upon the ear. The black clouds drifted rapidly along the sky, and several meteors gilded the night with their evanescent glories. Suddenly a deep silence prevailed, broken only by the sound of the horses’ feet upon the flinty road, as the benighted travellers struck their rowels into the sides of the animals, to urge them to greater speed. But this boding silence did not last long; the wind again rose with redoubled violence—the thunder rolled in awful peals—and a sheet of vivid lightning covered the whole face of the heavens; clap followed clap in rapid succession, shaking the very earth to its centre; the rain came down in torrents, yet still the red-winged lightning struggled through it, and kept up its terrific fire.