It was Wednesday morning, late in July, when Selectman Horton,
clean-shaven and large, appeared at the wigwam under the rock.
"Good morrow to ye both!" Then without wasting time he plunged
in. "There's been some controversy and much criticism of the
selectmen for allowing a white lad, the child of Christian
parents, the grandson of a clergyman, to leave all Christian folk
and folds, and herd with a pagan, to become, as it were, a mere
barbarian. I hold not, indeed, with those that out of hand would
condemn as godless a good fellow like Quonab, who, in my certain
knowledge and according to his poor light, doth indeed maintain
in some kind a daily worship of a sort. Nevertheless, the
selectmen, the magistrates, the clergy, the people generally, and
above all the Missionary Society, are deeply moved in the matter.
It hath even been made a personal charge against myself, and with
much bitterness I am held up as unzealous for allowing such a
nefarious stronghold of Satan to continue on mine own demesne,
and harbour one, escaped, as it were, from grace. Acting,
therefore, not according to my heart, but as spokesman of the
Town Council, the Synod of Elders, and the Society for the
Promulgation of Godliness among the Heathen, I am to state that
you, Rolf Kittering, being without kinsfolk and under age, are in
verity a ward of the parish, and as such, it hath been arranged
that you become a member of the household of the most worthy
Elder Ezekiel Peck, a household filled with the spirit of
estimable piety and true doctrine; a man, indeed, who,
notwithstanding his exterior coldness and severity, is very sound
in all matters regarding the Communion of Saints, and, I may even
say in a measure a man of fame for some most excellent remarks he
hath passed on the shorter catechism, beside which he hath gained
much approval for having pointed out two hidden meanings in the
27th verse of the 12th chapter of Hebrews; one whose very
presence, therefore, is a guarantee against levity, laxity, and
false preachment.
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