"P. N. Elrod - Jonathan Barrett 01 - Red Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (Elrod P N)

right ear to set them off like a bit of tinder. Some of these rebels are men
of education, but most seem to be louts of the lowest class with more wind
than brains and better able to blame the king for their woes than apply them
selves to wholesome work. If there had been any proper enforcement of the la
w, they'd be in jail for sedition instead of hailed as heroes by the ignoran
t. No good will come of it, mark me."
"What about the injured man?" asked Elizabeth.
"Oh, he'll be all right, by and by, but went to live with his daughter on he
r farm. After tending to the poor fellow I came to realize that dear Deborah
and I would no longer be safe ourselves, so we closed up the house and came
here to accept the kind invitation your mother once extended to us."
"And glad I am that you did," said Mother. "Beatings, tar, and feathers. W
hy, the two of you might have been murdered in your beds."
Mrs. Hardinbrook shivered appreciatively at her narrow escape.
"The lot of them should be in jail, down to the last cowardly dog and the
instigators hanged on the common. What do you think, Mr. Barrett?" Beldon
turned toward me.
"I agree," I said heartily. Anyone who had the least responsibility for shif
ting Beldon and his sister from Philadelphia to my home certainly deserved s
ome sort of severe punishment.
After supper, Mother suggested—or rather ordered—us to remove to the mus
ic room so Elizabeth could entertain us with something on her spinet. Th
is was greeted with enthusiasm from Mrs. Hardinbrook and resignation fro
m Elizabeth.
"Do you play an instrument, Mr. Barrett?" asked Beldon.
"Not a note," I said. "I enjoy music, but haven't the ear or hand to reproduce
it for myself."
"What a pity," said Mrs. Hardinbrook. "Theophilous is quite good with a riddl
e. Perhaps he could play a duet with Miss Barrett." She had a crafty look in
her eye, the idea behind it so painfully transparent that Mother's head jerke
d warningly. If his sister did not notice it, Beldon certainly did.
"Another time, Deborah, I beg you. I am quite worn out from the journey, a
nd any sounds I might draw from my fiddle would not be worth the hearing."
He spread his hands in mock deprecation and a hard look swiftly passed be
tween them that said more than his words. She burned for the briefest inst
ant and abruptly subsided into a smile of sympathy for him.
"Yes, of course," she said, not quite able to smooth the edge from her voice.

Elizabeth looked relieved and assumed her seat before the spinet. She played
well enough but with little enthusiasm. I drifted toward the door and lifte
d my eyebrows at Jericho, who had made it his business to keep close and lis
ten in on things. It was partly to sate his own curiosity and partly at my e
ncouragement.
"No sign of Father?" I whispered from the side of my mouth.
"None," he answered morosely.
"Have one of the lads sit out by the road with a lantern, then. We wouldn't w
ant him to miss the gate."
He knew as well as I that there was little chance of Father losing himself
. If nothing else, his horse knew the way home. I suspected that Mrs. Mont
agu was proving to be more charming than ever and Father had elected to ta