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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:33:54 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:33:54 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10094-0.txt b/10094-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..692cde4 --- /dev/null +++ b/10094-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8561 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10094 *** + +A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA + +A TALE OF COLONEL WASHINGTON AND BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT + +BY BURTON EGBERT STEVENSON + +1901 + + + + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF THE GALLANT MEN WHO FELL WITH DUST OF FAILURE BITTER ON +THEIR LIPS THAT OTHERS MIGHT BE TAUGHT THE LESSON OF THE WILDERNESS + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. LIEUTENANT ALLEN GROWS INSULTING + + II. THE STORY OF FONTENOY + + III. IN WHICH I INTRODUCE MYSELF + + IV. THE ENDING OF THE HONEYMOON + + V. THE SECRET OF A HEART + + VI. I AM TREATED TO A SURPRISE + + VII. I DECIDE TO BE A SOLDIER + + VIII. A RIDE TO WILLIAMSBURG + + IX. MY FIRST TASTE OF WARFARE + + X. THE FRENCH SCORE FIRST + + XI. DREAM DAYS AT RIVERVIEW + + XII. DOROTHY MAKES HER CHOICE + + XIII. LIEUTENANT ALLEN SHOWS HIS SKILL + + XIV. I CHANCE UPON A TRAGEDY + + XV. WE START ON A WEARY JOURNEY + + XVI. THE END IN SIGHT + + XVII. THE LESSON OF THE WILDERNESS + + XVIII. DEFEAT BECOMES DISHONOR + + XIX. ALLEN AND I SHAKE HANDS + + XX. BRADDOCK PAYS THE PRICE + + XXI. VIRGINIA BIDS US WELCOME + + XXII. A NEW DANGER AT RIVERVIEW + + XXIII. THE GOVERNOR SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE + + XXIV. A WARNING FROM THE FOREST + + XXV. I FIND MYSELF IN A DELICATE SITUATION + + XXVI. A DESPERATE DEFENSE + + XXVII. I COME INTO MY OWN + + XXVIII. AND SO, GOOD-BY + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +"I DO NOT LOVE HIM, TOM" + +"FOR SHAME, GENTLEMEN!" + +"STEWART, LISTEN!" + +THE SAVAGES POURED OVEB THE THRESHOLD + + + + +A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA + + + + +CHAPTER I + +LIEUTENANT ALLEN GROWS INSULTING + + +It was not until he sneered at me openly across the board that I felt my +self-control slipping from me. "Lieutenant Allen seems to have a poor +opinion of the Virginia troops," I said, as calmly as I could. + +"Egad, you are right, Lieutenant Stewart," he retorted, his eyes full +on mine. "These two weeks past have I been trying to beat some sense +into the fools, and 'pon my word, 't is enough to drive a man crazy to +see them." + +He paused to gulp down a glass of wine, of which I thought he had already +drunk too much. + +"I saw them this forenoon," cried Preston, who was sitting at Allen's +right, "and was like to die of laughing. Poor Allen, there, was doing his +best to teach them the manual, and curse me if they didn't hold their +guns as though they burnt their fingers. And when they were ordered to +'bout face, they looked like nothing so much as the crowd I saw six +months since at Newmarket, trying to get their money on Jason." + +The others around the table laughed in concert, and I could not but +admit there was a grain of truth in the comparison. + +"'Tis granted," I said, after a moment, "that we Virginians have not the +training of you gentlemen of the line; but we can learn, and at least no +one can doubt our courage." + +"Think you so?" and Allen laughed an insulting laugh. "There was that +little brush at Fort Necessity last year, from which they brought away +nothing but their skins, and damned glad they were to do that." + +"They brought away their arms," I cried hotly, "and would have brought +away all their stores and munitions, had the French kept faith and held +their Indians off. That, too, in face of an enemy three times their +number. The Virginians have no cause to blush for their conduct at Fort +Necessity. The Coldstreams could have done no better." + +Allen laughed again. "Ah, pardon me, Stewart," he said contemptuously, "I +forgot that you were present on that glorious day." + +I felt my cheeks crimson, and I looked up and down the board, but saw +only sneering faces. Yes, there was one, away down at the farther end, +which did not sneer, but looked at me I thought pityingly, which was +infinitely worse. And then, of course, there was Pennington, who sat next +to me, and who looked immeasurably shamed at the turn the dispute had +taken. He placed a restraining hand upon my sleeve, but I shook it off +impatiently. + +"Yes, I was present," I answered, my heart aflame within me, "and our +provincial troops learned a lesson there which even the gentlemen of the +Forty-Fourth may one day be glad to have us teach them." + +"Teach us?" cried Allen. "Curse me, sir, but you grow insulting! As for +your learning, permit me to doubt your ability to learn anything. I have +been trying to teach you provincials the rudiments of drill for the past +fortnight, without success. In faith, you seem to know less now than you +did before I began." + +"Yes?" I asked, my anger quite mastering me. "But may not that be the +fault of the teacher, Lieutenant Allen?" + +He was out of his chair with an oath, and would have come across the +table at me, but that those on either side held him back. + +"I suppose you considered your words before you spoke them, Lieutenant +Stewart?" asked Preston, looking at me coldly, and still keeping tight +hold on the swearing man at his side. + +"Fully," I answered, as I arose from my chair. + +"You know, of course, that there remains only one thing to be done?" he +continued, with a glance I thought compassionate, and so resented. + +"Certainly," I answered again. "I may be able to teach the gentleman a +very pretty thrust in tierce." + +Upon this Allen fell to cursing again, but Preston silenced him with a +gesture of his hand. + +"I am very willing," I added, "to give him the lesson at once, if he so +desires. There is a charming place just without. I marked it as I passed +to enter here, though with no thought I should so soon have need of it." + +Now all this was merely the empty braggartry of youth, which I blush to +remember. Nor was Allen the blustering bully I then deemed him, as I was +afterwards to find out for myself. But I know of nothing which will so +gloss over and disguise a man's real nature as a glass of wine too much. + +"I shall be happy to give the lesson at once," I repeated. + +"Yes, at once!" cried Allen savagely. "I'll teach you, sir, to keep a +civil tongue in your head when you address an officer of the line." + +"It seems that we are both to learn a lesson, then," I said lightly. "It +remains only to be seen which is the better teacher. Will one of the +other gentlemen present act as my second?" + +"I shall be happy to do so, Lieutenant Stewart," cried my neighbor, +stepping forward. + +"Ah, Lieutenant Pennington, thank you," and I looked into his face with +pleasure, for it was the one, of all those present, which I liked the +best. "Will you arrange the details for me?" + +"May I speak to you a moment first?" he asked, looking at me anxiously. + +"Certainly," I answered, and together we walked over to one corner +of the room. + +"Believe me, Lieutenant Stewart," he said, in a low voice, "I deem you a +brave man, and I honor you for defending the credit of your countrymen. +I little thought, when I invited you to dine with us to-night, that there +would be an issue such as this, for it can end in but one way. Allen is +the best swordsman in the regiment, and a very devil when he is flushed +with wine, as he is now." + +"You would have me decline to meet him, then?" I asked, looking at +him steadily. + +"A word of apology," he stammered, but he did not meet my eyes. His heart +was not in his words. + +"Impossible," I said. "You forget that it was he who insulted me, and +that an apology, if there be one, must come from him. He has insulted not +only myself, but the whole body of Virginia volunteers. Though I were +certain he would kill me, I could not draw back in honor. But I am not so +certain," and I smiled down into his face. "There be some good swordsmen +even in Virginia, sir." + +"In faith, I am wondrous glad to hear it!" he cried, his face +brightening. "I could not do less than warn you." + +"And I thank you for your interest." + +He held out his hand, and I clasped it warmly. Then we turned again to +the group about the table. + +"Well," cried Allen harshly, "does our Virginia friend desire to +withdraw?" + +"On the contrary," answered Pennington quietly, "he has positively +refused to withdraw," and as he spoke, I saw that the others looked at me +with attentive eyes. "There is a little green just back of the barracks. +Let us proceed to it," and he led the way toward the door. + +Allen and I followed him, and the whole rabble of officers crowded after. +In a moment we were at the place, and I walked to one side while the +seconds conferred together. The full moon had risen above the treetops +and flooded the clearing with still radiance. The tall, coarse grass +waved slowly to and fro in the faint breeze, and away off in the forest I +heard a wolf howling. The note, long and clear, rose and quivered in the +air, faint and far away. And as it died to silence, for the first time +the thought came to me that perchance my skill in fence might not avail. +Well, thank heaven, there was none to whom my death would cause much +sorrow, except--yes, Dorothy might care. At thought of her, the forest +faded from before me, and I saw her again as I had seen her last, looking +down upon me from the stair-head, and her kiss was warm upon my lips. + +"We are ready, Lieutenant Stewart," called Pennington, and I shook my +forebodings from me as I strode back toward him. + +"Lieutenant Allen instructs me to say," began Preston, who was acting as +his second, "that an apology on the part of Lieutenant Stewart will avert +consequences which may, perhaps, be unpleasant." + +"Lieutenant Stewart has no apologies to offer," I said shortly. "We are +wasting time, gentlemen." + +"As you will," and Preston turned back to Allen. + +My coat was off in an instant, and I rolled the sleeve of my shirt above +my elbow, the better to have it out of the way. + +"May I have your sword, lieutenant?" asked Pennington, and he walked with +it over to where Preston stood. He was back in a moment. "Allen's sword +is fully an inch the longer," he said. "I have insisted that he secure a +shorter weapon." + +"Nonsense!" I cried. "Let him keep his sword. I am two or three inches +the taller, and the advantage will still be on my side." + +Pennington looked at me a moment in something like astonishment. + +"Very well," he said at last, and stepped over and spoke another word to +Preston. Then he came back and handed me my sword. "You are a gallant +man, Lieutenant Stewart," he said as he did so. + +"No more than many others in Virginia. 'T is that I mean to prove +to-night," I answered lightly, and I saluted my adversary and felt his +blade against my own. The first pass showed me that he was master of the +weapon, but I was far from dismayed. I saw his eyes widen with surprise +as I parried his thrust and pressed him so closely that he gave back a +step. I smiled dryly, for I knew my advantage. The earliest lesson I had +learned at the foils was that victory comes only to the man who keeps his +coolness. I had drunk little wine, while Allen had drunk much, and his +bloodshot eyes told of previous nights spent over the cups and dice. No, +decidedly, I had little to fear. Allen must have read something of my +thought in my eyes, for his face flushed to a yet darker crimson, he +pulled himself together with an effort, and by a trick which I had never +seen, got inside my guard. His point was at my breast, but I leaped back +and avoided it. + +"Ah, you break!" he cried. "'Tis not so easy as you fancied!" + +I did not answer, contenting myself with playing more cautiously than I +had done in my self-satisfaction of a moment before. Out of the corners +of my eyes, I could see a portion of the circle of white faces about us, +but they made no sound, and what their expression was I could not tell. +The night air and the fast work were doing much to sober my opponent, and +I felt his wrist grow stronger as he held down my point for an instant. +It was his turn to smile, and I felt my cheeks redden at the expression +of his face. Again he got inside my guard, but again I was out of reach +ere he could touch me. I saw that I was making but a sorry showing, and I +tried the thrust of which I had had the bad taste to boast, but he turned +it aside quite easily. And then, of a sudden, I heard the beat of a +horse's hoofs behind me. + +"For shame, gentlemen!" cried a clear voice, which rang familiar in my +ears. "Can the king's soldiers find no enemies to his empire that they +must fight among themselves?" + +Our seconds struck up our swords, and Allen looked over my shoulder +with a curse. + +"Another damned provincial, upon my life!" he cried. "Was there ever such +impudence!" + +[Illustration: "FOR SHAME GENTLEMEN!"] + +As he spoke, the horseman swung himself from the saddle with an easy +grace which declared long training in it, and walked coolly toward us. + +"Lieutenant Stewart," he said to me sternly, "I did not think to find +you thus engaged, else had I thought twice before placing a sword in +your hand." + +"The insult was one which could not be passed over, Colonel Washington," +I answered, as I saluted him. "It was not to myself only, but to all the +Virginia troops who serve his Majesty." + +"So," sneered Allen, "'t is the hero of Fort Necessity! I can well +believe him averse to fighting." + +My cheeks were hot with anger and I saw Washington flush darkly, but he +gazed at Allen coldly, and his voice was calm as ever when he spoke. + +"It shall be my privilege at some future time," he said, "to call the +gentleman to account for his words. At present, my sword is pledged to +the king and may be drawn in no other service, more especially not in my +own. I trust, Lieutenant Stewart, you will have the courage to sheathe +your blade." + +I hesitated. It was a hard thing to ask a man to do. + +"Yes, put up your sword!" cried Allen scornfully. "Allow yourself to be +reproved like a naughty boy by this hero who knows only how to retreat. +On my soul, 't was well he arrived when he did. I should have finished +with you long ere this." + +Washington looked at me steadily, without showing by the movement of a +muscle that he had heard. + +"And I promise you, Lieutenant Stewart," he continued, as though there +had been no interruption, "that I shall be happy to act as your second, +once this campaign is closed." + +My cheeks flushed again, this time with pleasure, and I picked up my +scabbard and sent my blade home. + +"I must beg you to excuse me, Lieutenant Allen," I said. "Colonel +Washington says right. My sword is not my own until we have met the +French. Then I shall be only too pleased to conclude the argument." + +Allen's lips curved in a disdainful smile. + +"I thought you would be somewhat less eager to vindicate the courage of +Virginia once you had pause for reflection," he sneered. "Provincials are +all of a kind, and the breed is not a choice one." + +I bit my lips to keep back the angry retort which leaped to them, and I +saw Washington's hand trembling on his sword. It did me good to see that +even he maintained his calmness only by an effort. + +"Oh, come, Allen," cried Pennington, "you go too far. There can be no +question of Lieutenant Stewart's courage. He was ready enough to meet +you, God knows! Colonel Washington is right, our swords belong to the +king while he has work for them," and the young fellow, with flushed +face, held out his hand to Washington, who grasped it warmly. + +"I thank you," he said simply. "I should be sorry to believe that all the +king's officers could so far forget their duty. Come, lieutenant," he +added to me, and taking me by the arm, he walked me out of the group, +which opened before us, and I ventured to think that not all of the faces +were unfriendly. "I have a message for Sir Peter Halket," he said, when +we were out of earshot. "Show me his quarters, Tom, and so soon as I have +finished my business, we will talk over this unhappy affair." + +I led the way toward the building where the commander of the Forty-Fourth +was quartered, too angry with myself and with the world to trust myself +to speak. Why should I, who came of as good family as any in Virginia, be +compelled to swallow insults as I had to-night? I almost regretted for +the moment that I was in the service. + +"But the time will come," I said, speaking aloud before I thought. + +"Yes, the time will come, Tom," and Washington looked at me with a grim +smile. "The time will come sooner than you think, perhaps, when these +braggarts will be taught a lesson which they greatly need. Pray heaven +the lesson be not so severe that it shake the king's empire on this +continent." + +"Shake the king's empire?" I repeated, looking at him in amazement. "I +do not understand." + +"No matter," he said shortly. "Here we are at headquarters. Do you wait +for me. I will be but a moment;" and he ran up the steps, spoke a word to +the sentry, and disappeared within. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE STORY OF FONTENOY + + +My heart was thick with wrath as I walked up and down before Sir Peter +Halket's quarters and waited for Colonel Washington to reappear. I asked +myself again why I should be compelled to take the insults of any man. I +clenched my hands together behind me, and swore that Allen should yet pay +dearly. I recalled with bitterness the joy I had felt a week before, when +I had received from Colonel Washington a letter in which he stated that +he had procured my appointment as lieutenant in Captain Waggoner's +Virginia company. I had been ahungered to make the campaign, and had +donned my uniform with a light heart,--the same I had worn the year +before, now much faded but inexpressibly dear to me,--mounted my horse, +and ridden hotfoot to join the force here at Winchester. I had been +received kindly enough by my companion officers of the provincial +companies, many of whom were old friends. The contempt which the officers +of the Forty-Fourth felt for the Virginia troops, and which they were at +no pains to conceal, had vexed me somewhat from the first, yet it was not +until to-night at the officers' mess, to which I had foolishly accepted +Pennington's invitation, that this contempt had grown unbearable. I had +chanced to pull Pennington's horse out of a hole the day before, and so +saved it a broken leg, but I saw now that I should have done better to +refuse that invitation, courteously as it was given, and sincere as his +gratitude had undoubtedly been. + +So I walked up and down with a sore heart, as a child will when it has +been punished for no fault, and prayed that we provincials might yet +teach the regulars a lesson. Yet they were brave men, most of them, whom +I could not but admire. A kindlier, gallanter roan than Sir Peter Halket +I had never seen, no, nor ever shall see. I noted the sentries pacing +their beats before the colonel's quarters, erect, automatons, their guns +a-glitter in the moonlight, their uniforms immaculate. I had seen them +drill the day before, whole companies moving like one man, their ranks +straight as a ramrod,--tramp, tramp,--turning as on a pivot moved by a +single will. It was a wonderful sight to me who had never seen the like +before, they were so strong, so confident, so seemingly invincible. + +I turned and glanced again at the sentries, almost envying them their +perfect carriage. Had they been men of iron, worked by a spring, they +could not have moved with more clock-like regularity. And yet, no doubt, +they had one time been country louts like any others. Truly there was +much virtue in discipline. Yet still, and here I shook my head, the +Virginia troops were brave as any in the world, and would prove it. From +the officers' quarters came the sound of singing and much laughter, and I +flushed as I thought perchance it was at me they laughed. I have learned +long since that no man's laughter need disturb rue, so my heart be clear, +but this was wisdom far beyond my years and yet undreamed of, and I shook +my fist at the row of lighted windows. + +"What, still fuming, Tom?" cried a voice at my elbow, and I turned to +find Colonel Washington there; "and staring over toward the barracks as +though you would like to gobble up every one within! Well, I admit you +have cause," he added, and I saw that his face grew stern. "You may have +to bear many such insults before the campaign is ended, but I hope and +believe that the conduct of the Virginia troops will yet win them the +respect of the regulars. You seem to have lost no time in getting to +camp," he added, in a lighter tone. + +"There was nothing to keep me at Riverview," I answered bitterly. "My +absence is much preferred to my presence there. Had I not come to +Winchester, I must have gone somewhere else. Your letter came most +opportunely." + +"You are out of humor to-night, Tom," said Washington, but his tone was +kindly, and he placed one hand upon my arm as we turned back toward the +cabin where my quarters were. He was scarce three years my senior, yet to +me he seemed immeasurably the elder. I had always thought of him as of a +man, and I verily believe he was a man in mind and temper while yet a boy +in body. I had ridden beside him many times over his mother's estate, and +I had noticed--and chafed somewhat at the knowledge--that women much +older than he always called him Mr. Washington, while even that little +chit of a Polly Johnston called me Tom to my face, and laughed at me when +I assumed an air of injured dignity. I think it was the fact that my +temper was so the opposite of his own which drew him to me, and as for +myself, I was proud to have such a friend, and of the chance to march +with him again over the mountains against the French. + +He knew well how to humor me, and walked beside me, saying nothing. I +glanced at his face, half shamed of my petulance, and I saw that he was +no longer smiling. His lips were closed in that firm straight line which +I had already seen once or twice, and which during years of trial became +habitual to him. My own petty anger vanished at the sight. + +"I have not yet thanked you, Colonel Washington," I said at last, "for +securing me my appointment. I was eating my heart out to make the +campaign, but saw no way of doing so until your message reached me." + +"Why, Tom," he laughed, "you were the first of whom I thought when +General Braddock gave me leave to fill some of the vacancies. Did you +think I had so soon forgot the one who saved my life at Fort Necessity?" + +I opened my mouth to protest, but he silenced me with a gesture. + +"I can see it as though it were here before us," he continued. "The +French and Indians on the knoll yonder, my own men kneeling in the +trenches, almost waist-deep in water, trying in vain to keep their powder +dry; here and there a wounded man lying in the mud and cursing, the rain +and mist over it all, and the night coming on. And then, suddenly, the +rush of Indians at our back, and over the breastwork. I had my pistol in +my hand, you remember, Tom, but the powder flashed in the pan, and the +foremost of the savages was upon me. I saw his tomahawk in the air, and I +remember wondering who would best command when I was dead. But your aim +was true and your powder dry, and when the tomahawk fell, it fell +harmless, with its owner upon it." + +For a moment neither of us spoke. My eyes were wet at thought of the +scene which I so well remembered, and when I turned to him, I saw that he +was still brooding over this defeat, which had rankled as a poisoned +arrow in his breast ever since that melancholy morning we had marched +away from the Great Meadows with the French on either side and the +Indians looting the baggage in the rear. As we reached my quarters, we +turned by a common impulse and continued onward through the darkness. + +"This expedition must be more fortunate," he said at last, as though in +answer to his own thought. "A thousand regulars, as many more +provincials, guns, and every equipage,--yes, it is large enough and +strong enough, unless"-- + +"Unless?" I questioned, as he paused. + +"Unless we walk headlong to our own destruction," he said. "But no, I +won't believe it. The general has been bred in the Coldstreams and +knows nothing of frontier fighting. But he is a brave man, an honest +man, and he will learn. Small wonder he believes in discipline after +serving half a century in such a regiment. Have you ever heard the +story of their fight at Fontenoy, ten years since, when they lost two +hundred and forty men? I heard it three nights ago at the general's +table, and 't was enough to make a man weep for very pity that such +valor should count for naught." + +"Tell it me," I cried, for if there is one thing I love above all +others,--yea, even yet, when I must sit useless by,--it is the tale of +brave deeds nobly done. + +"'T was on the eleventh day of May, seventeen forty-five," he said, "that +the English and the Dutch met the French, who were under Marshal Saxe. +Louis the Fifteenth himself was on the field, with the Grand Dauphin by +his side and a throng of courtiers about him, for he knew how much +depended on the issue of this battle. A redoubt, held by the famous +Guards, bristling with cannon, covered the French position. The Dutch, +appalled at the task before them, refused to advance, but his Grace of +Cumberland, who commanded the English, rose equal to the moment. He +formed his troops in column, the Coldstreams at its head, and gave the +word for the assault. The batteries thundered, the redoubt was crowned +with flame, but the Coldstreams turned neither to the right nor left. +Straight on they marched,--to annihilation, as it seemed,--reforming as +they went, over hill and gully, as steadily as on parade. At last they +reached their goal, and an instant's silence fell upon the field as they +faced the French. The English officers raised their hats to their +adversaries, who returned the salute as though they were at Versailles, +not looking in the eyes of death. + +"'Gentlemen of the French Guard,' cried Lord Charles Hay, 'fire, if +you please.' + +"'Impossible, monsieur,' cried the Count of Hauteroche; 'the French +Guards never fire first. Pray, fire yourselves.' + +"The order was given, and the French ranks fell as grain before the +sickle. They gave way, the Coldstreams advancing in perfect order, firing +volley after volley. The officers, with their rattans, turned the men's +muskets to the right or left, as need demanded. Nothing could stop that +terrible approach, resistless as a whirlwind, and French and Swiss broke +themselves against it, only to be dashed back as spray from a rocky +coast. Regiment after regiment was repulsed, and the Coldstreams still +advanced. Saxe thought the battle lost, and begged the king and the +dauphin to flee while time permitted. At the last desperate moment, he +rallied the artillery and all the forces of his army for a final effort. +The artillery was massed before the English, and they had none to answer +it. The king himself led the charge against their flanks, which the Dutch +should have protected. But the Dutch preferred to remain safely in the +rear. The Coldstreams stood their ground, reforming their ranks with +perfect coolness, until Cumberland saw it were madness to remain, and +ordered the retreat. And it was more glorious than the advance. With only +half their number on their feet, they faced about, without disorder, +their ranks steady and unwavering, and moved off sullenly and slowly, as +though ready at any moment to turn again and rend the ranks of the +victors. It was a deed to match Thermopylae." + +I lifted my hat from my head, and my lips were trembling. + +"I salute them," I said. "'T was well done. And was General Braddock +present on that day?" + +"He commanded one battalion of the regiment. It was for his gallantry +there that he was promoted to the senior majorship." + +"I shall not forget it." And then I added, "Perhaps the story you have +told me will give me greater patience with our drill-master." + +"I trust so, at least," said Washington, with a smile; "else I fear there +will be little peace for you in the army. I was affected by the story, +Tom, no less than you have been, but after I had left the hall, with its +glamour of lights and gold lace and brilliant uniforms, I wondered if +this discipline would count amid the forests of the Ohio as it did on the +plains of Europe. I fancy, in the battle that is to come, there will be +no question of who shall fire first, and a regiment which keeps its +formation will be a fair mark for the enemy. Do you know, Tom, my great +hope is that the French will send a scouting party of their Indian allies +to ambush us, and that in defeating them, our commander may learn +something of the tactics which he must follow to defeat the French." + +As for myself, I confess I shared none of these forebodings, and welcomed +the chance to turn our talk to a more cheerful subject. + +"But about yourself?" I questioned. "There is much I wish to know. Until +your note reached me, I had not heard a word from you since you rode away +from Mount Vernon with Dinwiddie's messenger." + +His face cleared, and he looked at me with a little smile. + +"We went direct to Williamsburg," he said, "where I first met the +general, and told him what I know about the country which he has to +cross. He treated me most civilly, despite some whisperings which went on +behind my back, and shortly after sent me a courteous invitation to serve +on his staff. Of course I accepted,--you know how it irked me to remain +at home,--but I gave him at the same time a statement of my reason for +quitting the Virginia service,--that I could not consent to be outranked +by every subaltern who held a commission from the king." + +I nodded, for the question was not new to me, and had already caused me +much heart-burning. It was not until long afterwards that I saw the +general's letter among Mrs. Washington's treasures at Mount Vernon, but +it seems to me worthy of reproduction here. Thus it ran:-- + + +WILLIAMSBURG, 2 March, 1755. + +Sir,--The General having been informed that you expressed some desire to +make the campaign, but that you declined it upon some disagreeableness +that you thought might arise from the regulations of command, has ordered +me to acquaint you that he will be very glad of your company in his +family, by which all inconveniences of that kind will be obviated. + +I shall think myself very happy to form an acquaintance with a person so +universally esteemed, and shall use every opportunity of assuring you how +much I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, + +ROBERT ORME, Aide-de-Camp. + +Had Braddock heeded the advice of the man whom he asked to join his +family, the event might have been different. But I must not anticipate, +and I find my hardest task in writing what is before me is to escape the +shadow of the disaster which was to come. At that time, and, indeed, +until the storm burst, few of us had penetration to discern the cloud on +the horizon,--Colonel Washington, Mr. Franklin, and a few others, +perhaps, but certainly not I. It is easy to detect mistakes after the +event, and to conduct a campaign on paper, yet few who saw that martial +array of troops, with its flying banners and bright uniforms, would have +ordered the advance differently. + +But to return. + +"It was not until three days ago," continued Washington, "that I was able +to rejoin the general, and he intrusted me with a message to Colonel +Halket, which I delivered this evening. I must start back to Mount Vernon +to-morrow and place my affairs in order, and will then join the army at +Cumberland, whence the start is to be made." + +"And what make of man is the general?" I asked. + +A cloud settled on Washington's face. + +"Why, Tom," he said at last, "I have seen so little of him that I may +misjudge him. He is at least brave and honest, two great things in a +commander. As for the rest, it is yet too soon to judge. But you have +told me nothing about your affairs. How did you leave them all at +Riverview?" + +"I left them well enough," I answered shortly. + +Washington glanced keenly at my downcast face, for indeed the memory of +what had occurred at Riverview was not pleasant to me. + +"Did you quarrel with your aunt before you came away?" he asked quietly. + +"Yes," I said, and stopped. How could I say more? + +"I feared it might come to that," he said gravely. "Your position there +has been a false one from the start. And yet I see no way to amend it." + +We walked on in silence for some time, each busy with his own thoughts, +and mine at least were not pleasant ones. + +"Tom," said Washington suddenly, "what was the quarrel about? Was it +about the estate?" + +"Oh, no," I answered. "We shall never quarrel about the estate. We have +already settled all that. It was something quite different." + +I could not tell him what it was; the secret was not my own. + +He looked at me again for a moment, and then, stopping suddenly, wheeled +me around to face him, and caught my hand. + +"I think I can guess," he said warmly, "and I wish you every +happiness, Tom." + +My lips were trembling so I could not thank him, but I think he knew what +was in my heart. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +IN WHICH I INTRODUCE MYSELF + + +I doubt not that by this time the reader is beginning to wonder who this +fellow is that has claimed his attention, and so, since there is no one +else to introduce me, I must needs present myself. + +It so happened that when that stern old lion, Oliver Cromwell, crushed +the butterfly named Charles Stuart at Worcester in the dim dawn of the +third day of September, 1651, and utterly routed the army of that unhappy +prince, one Thomas Stewart fell into the hands of the Roundheads, as, +indeed, did near seven thousand others of the Royalist army. Now this +Thomas Stewart had very foolishly left a pretty estate in Kincardine, +together with a wife and two sturdy boys, to march under the banner of +the Princeling, as he conceived to be his duty, and after giving and +taking many hard knocks, here he was in the enemy's hands, and Charles +Stuart a fugitive. They had one and all been declared by Parliament +rebels and traitors to the Commonwealth, so the most distinguished of the +captives were chosen for examples to the rest, and three of them, the +Earl of Derby among the number, were sent forthwith to the block, where +they comported themselves as brave men should, and laid down their heads +right cheerfully. + +The others were sent to prison, since it was manifestly impossible to +execute them all,--nor was Cromwell so bloodthirsty, now the rebellion +was broken utterly,--and some sixteen hundred of them were sentenced to +be transported to the colony of Virginia, which had long been a dumping +ground for convicts and felons and political scapegoats. Hither, then, +they came, in ships crowded to suffocation, and many dead upon the way +and thrown to the sharks for burial, but for some reason only one of the +ships stopped here, while the others went on to Barbados to discharge +their living freight. I more than suspect that Cromwell's agents soon +discovered the Commonwealth had few friends in Virginia, and feared the +effect of letting loose here so many of the Royalist soldiers. At any +rate, this one ship dropped anchor at Hampton, and its passengers, to the +number of about three hundred, were sold very cheaply to the neighboring +planters. I may as well say here that all of them were well treated by +their Cavalier masters, and many of them afterwards became the founders +of what are now the most prominent families in the colony. + +Now one of those who had been sold in Virginia was the Thomas Stewart +whom I have already mentioned, and whom neither stinking jail nor crowded +transport had much affected. Doubtless, no matter what the surroundings, +he had only to close his eyes to see again before him the green hills +and plashing brooks of Kincardine, with his own home in the midst, and +the bonny wife waiting at the door, a boy on either side. Alas, it was +only thus he was ever to see them this side heaven. He was bought by a +man named Nicholas Spenser, who owned a plantation on the Potomac in +Westmoreland County, and there he worked, first as laborer and then as +overseer, for nigh upon ten years. His master treated him with great +kindness, and at the Restoration, having made tenfold his purchase money +by him, gave him back his freedom. + +Despite the years and the hard work in the tobacco-fields, Stewart's +thoughts had often been with the wife and children he had left behind in +Scotland, and he prevailed upon Spenser to secure him passage in one of +his ships for London, where he arrived early in 1662. He made his way +back to Kincardine, where he found his estate sequestered, his wife and +one child dead in poverty, the other disappeared. From a neighbor he +learned that the boy had run away to sea after his mother's death, but +what his fate had been he never knew. Weary and disheartened, Stewart +retraced his steps to London, and after overcoming obstacles innumerable, +occasioned mostly by his want of money, laid his case before the king. +Charles listened to him kindly enough, for his office had not yet grown a +burden to him, and finally granted him a patent for two thousand acres of +land along the upper Potomac. It was a gift which cost the king nothing, +and one of a hundred such he bestowed upon his favorites as another man +would give a crust of bread for which he had no use. Stewart returned to +Virginia with his patent in his pocket, and built himself a home in what +was then a wilderness. + +In five or six years he had cleared near three hundred acres of land, had +it planted in sweet-scented tobacco, for which the Northern Neck was +always famous, bought two-score negroes to tend it, and began to see +light ahead. It was at this time that he met Marjorie Usner, while on a +visit to Williamsburg, and he married her in 1670, having in the mean +time erected a more spacious residence than the rude log-hut which had +previously been his home. He was at that time a man nigh fifty years of +age, but handsome enough, I dare say, and well preserved by his life of +outdoor toil. Certainly Mistress Marjorie, who must have been much +younger, made him a good wife, and when he died, in 1685, he left a son +and a daughter, besides an estate valued at several thousands of pounds, +accumulated with true Scottish thrift. It was this daughter who named the +estate Riverview, and though the house was afterwards remodeled, the name +was never changed. The Stewarts continued to live there, marrying and +giving in marriage, and growing ever wealthier, for the next half +century, at the end of which time occurred the events that brought me +into being. + +In 1733, Thomas Stewart, great-grandson of the Scotsman, was master of +Riverview. His portrait, which hangs to-day to the left of the fireplace +in the great hall, shows him a white-haired, red-faced, choleric +gentleman, with gray eyes and proudly smiling mouth. He had been chosen a +member of the House of Burgesses, as had his father before him, and was +one of the most considerable men in the county. His son, Tom, was just +twenty-one, and had inherited from his father the hasty temper and +invincible stubbornness which belong to all the Stewarts. + +It was in the fall of 1733 that they made the trip to Williamsburg which +was to have such momentous consequences. The House of Burgesses was in +session, and Mr. Stewart, as the custom was, took his whole family with +him to the capital. I fancy I can see them as they looked that day. The +great coach, brought from London at a cost of so many thousand pounds of +tobacco, is polished until it shines again. The four horses are harnessed +to it, and Sambo, mouth stretched from ear to ear, drives it around to +the front of the mansion, where a broad flight of stone steps leads +downward from the wide veranda. The footmen and outriders spring to their +places, their liveries agleam with buckles, the planter and his lady and +their younger son enter the coach, while young Tom mounts his horse and +prepares to ride by the window. The odorous cedar chests containing my +lady's wardrobe are strapped behind or piled on top, the negroes form a +grinning avenue, the whip cracks, and they are off, half a dozen servants +following in an open cart. It is a four days' journey to Williamsburg, +over roads whose roughness tests the coach's strength to the uttermost +but it is the one event of all the year to this isolated family, and +small wonder that they look forward to it with eager anticipation. + +Once arrived at Williamsburg, what craning of necks and waving of +handkerchiefs and kissing of hands to acquaintances, as the coach rolls +along the wide, white, sandy street, scorching in the sun, with the +governor's house, called by courtesy a palace, at one end, and the +College of William and Mary at the other, and perhaps two hundred +straggling wooden houses in between. The coaches and chariots which line +the street give earnest of the families already assembled from Princess +Ann to Fairfax and the Northern Neck. My lady notes that the Burkes have +at last got them a new chariot from London, and her husband looks with +appreciative eyes at the handsome team of matched grays which draw it. As +for young Tom, his eyes, I warrant, are on none of these, but on the bevy +of blooming girls who promenade the side-path, arrayed in silks and +satins and brocades, their eyes alight, their cheeks aglow with the joy +of youth and health. Small blame to him, say I, for that is just where my +own eyes would have been. + +That very night Governor Gooch gave a ball at his palace, and be sure the +Stewart family was there, my lady in her new London gown of flowered +damask in the very latest mode, and Tom in his best suit of peach-blossom +velvet, and in great hopes of attracting to himself some of the bright +eyes he had seen that afternoon. Nor was he wholly unsuccessful, for one +pair of black eyes rested on his for a moment,--they were those of +Mistress Patricia Wyeth,--and he straightway fell a victim to their +charms, as what young man with warm heart and proper spirit would not? +Young Tom must himself have possessed unusual attractions, or a boldness +in wooing which his son does not inherit, for at the end of a week he +disturbed his father at his morning dram to inform him that he and +Mistress Patricia had decided to get married. + +"Married!" cried the elder Stewart. "Why, damme, sir, do you know who the +Wyeths are?" + +"I know who Patricia is," answered young Tom very proudly, his head +well up at this first sign of opposition. "I care naught about the +rest of them." + +"But I care, sir!" shouted his father. "Why, the girl won't have a +shilling to bless herself with. Old Wyeth has gambled away every penny he +possesses, and a good many more than he possesses, too, so they tell me, +at his infernal horse-racing and cock-fighting, and God knows what else. +A gentleman may play, sir,--I throw the dice occasionally, myself, and +love to see a well-matched, race as well as any man,--but he ceases to be +a gentleman the moment he plays beyond his means,--a fact which you will +do well to remember. A pretty match for a Stewart 'pon my word!" + +During this harangue young Tom would have interrupted more than once, +but his father silenced him with a passionate waving of his arm. At +last he was compelled to pause for want of breath to say more, and the +boy got in a word. + +"All this is beside the point, father," he said hotly. "My word is given, +and I intend to keep it. Even if it were not given, I should still do my +best to win Patricia, because I love her." + +"Love her, and welcome!" cried his father. "Marry her, if you want +to. But you'll never bring a pauper like that inside my house while I +am alive." + +"Nor after you are dead, if you do not wish it," answered Tom, with his +head higher in the air than ever. + +"No, nor after I am dead!" thundered the old man, his anger no doubt +carrying him farther than he intended going. "You are acting like a +scoundrel, sir. You know well enough I can't cut you out of the estate, +since you are the eldest, so you think to take advantage of me." + +"Never fear, sir," cried Tom, his lips white with anger and his eyes +ablaze. "You shall ask me back to Riverview yourself ere I return there; +yes, and beg my wife's pardon for insulting her." + +"Then, by God, you'll never return!" snorted his father, and without +waiting to hear more, Tom stalked from the room and from the house. I +think even then his father would have called him back, had the boy given +him the chance, and his face was less red than usual when he heard the +street door slam. + +Of course there was a great to-do immediately. Tom's mother interceded +for him, and I doubt not a single word on his part would have won full +pardon from his father, but one was no less stubborn than the other, and +the word was never spoken. When Mistress Patricia heard of the quarrel, +she straightway informed her lover that she would never marry him and +ruin his inheritance, and returned to her home above Charles City, taking +her old reprobate of a father with her, where he died not long +afterwards, perhaps finding life not worth living when there remained no +one who would take his wagers. + +At the close of the session, the Stewart coach rolled back to Riverview, +but young Tom did not ride beside it. He remained at Williamsburg, and +managed to pick up a scanty practice as an attorney, for he had read a +little law in want of something better to do, and to fit himself for his +coming honors as a member of the House of Burgesses. And at Riverview his +father moped in his office and about his fields, growing ever more +crabbed and more obstinate, and falling into a rage whenever any one +dared mention Tom's name before him. + +It was in the spring of 1734 that Tom Stewart mounted his horse and rode +out of Williamsburg across the Chickahominy, to try his fortune once more +with Patricia Wyeth. The winter had been a hard one for a man brought up +as Tom had been, and that suit of peach-bloom velvet had long since been +converted into bread. Yet still he made a gallant figure when, on the +evening of an April day, he cantered up the road to Patricia's home, and +I dare say the heart of the owner of those bright eyes which peeped out +upon him from an upper window beat faster when they saw him coming. But +it was a very demure little maiden who met him at the great door as he +entered, and gave him her hand to kiss. She was all in white, with a +sprig of blossoms in her hair, and she must have made a pretty picture +standing there, and one to warm the heart of any man. + +Of the week that followed, neither my father nor my mother ever told me +much,--its memories were too sweet to trust to words, perhaps,--but the +event was, that on the first day of May, 1734, Thomas Stewart, attorney, +and Patricia Wyeth, spinster, were made man and wife in Westover church +by the Reverend Peter Fontaine, of sainted memory. How well I recall his +benign face, and what tears of affectionate remembrance brimmed my eyes +when I heard, not long ago, that he was dead! The closing sentences of +his will show how he ever thought of others and not of himself, for he +wrote: "My will and desire is, that I may have no public funeral, but +that my corpse may be accompanied by a few of my nearest neighbors; that +no liquors be given to make any of the company drunk,--many instances of +which I have seen, to the great scandal of the Christian religion and +abuse of so solemn an ordinance. I desire none of my family to go in +mourning for me." His sister sent me a copy of the will, and a very +pretty letter, in which she told me how her brother often spoke of me, +and wished me to have his Bible. It is there on the shelf at my bedside, +and while God gives me life I will read in no other. + +It was in the modest Wyeth homestead, on the bank of the James, that my +father and mother entered upon their honeymoon. Of the depth of their +love for each other I know best of all, and the summer slipped away on +golden wings. My father thought no more of returning to Williamsburg, nor +did he greatly regret Riverview. He wrote a formal letter to his mother +announcing his marriage, but no answer came to it, and I doubt not that +worthy woman sobbed herself to sleep more than once in grieving over the +obstinacy of her husband and her son. Dear lady, it was this trouble +which did much to shorten her days, and the end came soon afterwards. 'T +is said that on her deathbed she tried to soften her husband's heart +against their boy, but with such ill success that she fell sobbing into +the sleep from which she was never to awaken. To such a degree can a +fault persisted in change the natural humor of a man. + +My father, perhaps, hoped for a reply to his letter, but he showed no +sign of disappointment when none came, and never spoke upon the subject +to my mother. He soon found enough in his affairs at home to occupy his +mind, for old Samuel Wyeth had left the estate sadly incumbered with his +debts, and more than half of it was sacrificed to save the rest. With +care and frugality, there yet remained enough to live on, and for the +first year, at least, there came no cloud to dim their happiness. Their +cup of joy was full to overflowing, so my mother often told me, when, on +the night of April 15,1735, a child was born to them. It was a boy, and a +week later, before the altar of the little Westover church, its worthy +rector christened the child "Thomas Stewart," the fifth of his line in +the New World. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ENDING OF THE HONEYMOON + + +Besides my father and my mother, the figure which stands out most clearly +in my memory of my childhood is that of the man who christened me. I +cannot remember the time when I did not know and love him. He was a tall, +well-built man, with kindly face and clear blue eyes which darkened when +any emotion stirred him, and rode--how well I remember it!--a big, bony, +gray horse. It was on this horse's back that I took my first ride, when I +was scarce out of petticoats, and often after that, held carefully before +him on the saddle, or, as I grew older, bumping joyously behind, my arms +about his waist. My place was always on his knee when he was within our +doors, and he held me there with unfailing good humor during his long +talks with my mother, of which I, for the most part, comprehended +nothing, except that oftentimes they spoke of me, and then he would +smooth my hair with great tenderness. But I sat there quite content, and +sometimes dozed off with my head against his flowered waistcoat,--it was +his one vanity,--and wakened only when he set me gently down. + +It was not until I grew older that I learned something of his history. +One day, he had seized time from his parish work to take me for a ramble +along the river, and as we reached the limit of our walk and sat down for +a moment's rest before starting homeward, and looked across the wide +water, I asked him, with a childish disregard for his feelings, if it +were true that his father was a Frenchman, adding that I hoped it were +not true, because I did not like the French. + +"Yes, it is true," he answered, and looked down at me, smiling sadly. +"Shall I tell you the story, Thomas?" + +I nodded eagerly, for I loved to listen to stories, especially true ones. + +"When Louis Fourteenth was King of France," he began, and I think he took +a melancholy pleasure in telling it, "he issued a decree commanding all +the Protestants, who in France are called Huguenots, to abjure their +faith and become Catholics, or leave the kingdom. He had oftentimes +before promised them protection, but he was growing old and weak, and +thought that this might help to save his soul, which was in great need of +saving, for he had been a wicked king. My father and my mother were +Huguenots, and they chose to leave their home rather than give up their +faith, as did many thousand others, and after suffering many hardships, +escaped to England, with no worldly possession save the clothes upon +their backs, but with a great treasure in heaven and an abiding trust in +the Lord. They had six children, and after giving us a good education, +especially as to our religion, committed us to the providence of a +covenant God to seek our fortunes in the wide world. All of us came to +America, although Moses and John have since returned to England. James is +a farmer in King William County, Francis is minister of York-Hampton +parish, and sister Ruth lives with me, as you know." + +A great deal more he told me, which slipped from my memory, for I was +thinking over what he had already said. + +"And your mother and father," I asked, as we started back together, "fled +from France rather than give up their faith?" + +"Yes," he answered, and smiled down into my eyes, raised anxiously to +his. + +"And were persecuted just as the early martyrs were?" + +"Yes, very much the same. All of their goods were taken from them, and +they were long in prison." + +"But they were never sorry?" + +"No, they were never sorry. No one is ever sorry for doing a thing +like that." + +I trotted on in silence for a moment, holding tight to his kindly hand, +and revolving this new idea in my mind. At last I looked up at him, big +with purpose. + +"I am going to do something like that some day," I said. + +He gazed down at me, his eyes shining queerly. + +"God grant that you may have the strength, my boy," he said. He bent +and kissed me, and we returned to the house together without saying +another word. + +It was the custom of the Fontaine family to hold a meeting every year to +give thanks for the deliverance from persecution of their parents in +France, and I remember being present with my father and mother at one of +these meetings when I was seven or eight years old. One passage of the +sermon he preached on that occasion remained fixed indelibly in my mind. +He took his text from Romans, "That ye may with one mind and one mouth +glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." He applied the +duty thus enjoined to the Fontaine family, saying,-- + +"For many weary months was our father forced to shift among forests and +deserts for his safety, because he had dared to preach the word of God to +the innocent and sincere people among whom he lived, and who desired to +be instructed in their duty and to be confirmed in their faith. The +forest afforded him a shelter and the rocks a resting-place, but his +enemies gave him no quiet, and pursued him even to these fastnesses, +until finally, of his own accord, he delivered himself to them. They +loaded his hands with chains, a dungeon was his abode, and his feet stuck +fast in the mire. Murderers and thieves were his companions, yet even +among them did he pursue his labors, until God, by means of a pious +gentlewoman, who had seen and pitied his sufferings, relieved him." + +To my childish imagination, the picture thus painted was a real and +living one, and filled me with a singular exaltation. I think each of us +at some time of his life has felt, as I did then, a desire to suffer for +conscience' sake. + +The preachers of Virginia were, as a whole, anything but admirable, a +condition due no doubt to the worldly spirit which pervaded the church on +both sides of the ocean. The average parson was then--and many of them +still are--coarse and rough, as contact with the forests and waste places +of the world will often make men, even godly ones. But many of them were +worse than that, gamblers and drunkards. They hunted the fox across +country with great halloo, mounted on fast horses of their own. They +attended horse-races and cock-fights, almost always with some money on +the outcome, and frequently with a horse or cock entered in the races or +the pittings. And when the sport was over, they would accompany the +planters home to dinner, which ended in a drinking-bout, and it was +seldom the parson who went under the table first. One fought a duel in +the graveyard behind his church,--our own little Westover church, it +was,--and succeeded in pinking his opponent through the breast, for which +he had incontinently to return to England; another stopped the communion +which he was celebrating, and bawled out to his warden, "Here, George, +this bread's not fit for a dog," nor would he go on with the service +until bread more to his liking had been brought; another married a +wealthy widow, though he had already a wife living in England. His bishop +was compelled to recall him, but I never heard that he was discharged +from holy orders. Another on a certain Saturday called a meeting of his +vestry, and when they refused to take some action which he desired, +thrashed them all soundly, and on the next day added insult to injury by +preaching to them from the text, "And I contended with them, and cursed +them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair." I should +like to have seen the faces of the vestrymen while the sermon was in +progress! It was not an unusual sight to see the parson riding home from +some great dinner tied fast in his chaise to keep him from falling out, +as the result of over-indulgence in the planter's red wine. But our +worthy pastor, during his forty years' ministry in Charles City parish, +was concerned in no such escapades, and I count it one of the great +happinesses of my life that I had the good fortune to fall under the +influence of such a man. A passage of a letter written by him to one of +his brothers in England on the subject of preserving health gives an +outline of the rules of his life. After commending active exercise in the +open air on foot and on horseback, he says, "I drink no spirituous +liquors at all; but when I am obliged to take more than ordinary fatigue, +either in serving my churches or other branches of duty, I take one glass +of good old Madeira wine, which revives me, and contributes to my going +through without much fatigue." + +One other figure do I recall distinctly. We had driven to church as usual +one Sunday morning in early fall, and when we came in sight of the little +brick building, peeping through its veil of ivy, I was surprised to see +the parishioners in line on either side the path which led to the broad, +low doorway. Mr. Fontaine stood there as though awaiting some one, and +when he saw us, came down the steps and spoke a word to father. In a +moment, from down the road came the rumble of heavy wheels, and then a +great, gorgeous, yellow chariot, with four outriders, swung into view and +drew up with a flourish before the church. The footmen sprang to the +door, opened it, and let down the steps. I, who was staring with all my +eyes, as you may well believe, saw descend a little old man, very weak +and very tremulous, yet holding his head proudly, and after him a +younger. They came slowly up the walk, the old man leaning heavily upon +the other's shoulder and nodding recognition to right and left. As they +drew near, I caught the gleam of a great jewel on his sword-hilt, and +then of others on finger, knee, and instep. The younger bore himself very +erect and haughty, yet I saw the two were fashioned in one mould. On up +the steps and into the church they went, Mr. Fontaine before and we after +them. They took their seats in the great pew with the curious carving on +the back, which I had never before seen occupied. + +"Who are the gentlemen, mother?" I whispered, so soon as I could +get her ear. + +"It is Colonel Byrd and his son come back from London," she answered. +"Now take your eyes off them and attend the service." + +Take my eyes off them I did, by a great effort of will, but I fear I +heard little of the service, for my mind was full of the great house on +the river-bank, which it had once been my fortune to visit. Mr. Fontaine +had taken me with him in his chaise for a pastoral call at quite the +other end of his parish, and as we returned, we were caught in a sudden +storm of rain. My companion had hesitated for a moment, and then turned +his horse's head through a gateway with a curious monogram in iron at the +top, along an avenue of stately tulip-trees, and so to the door of a +massive square mansion of red brick, which stood on a little knoll +overlooking the James. The door was closed and the windows shuttered, but +half a dozen negroes came running from the back at the sound of our +wheels and took us in out of the storm. A mighty fire was started in the +deep fireplace, and as I stood steaming before it, I looked with dazzled +eyes at the great carved staircase, at the paintings and at the books, of +which there were many hundreds. + +Presently the old overseer, whom Mr. Fontaine addressed as Murray, and +who had grown from youth to trembling age in the Byrd service, came in to +offer us refreshment, and over the table they fell to gossiping. + +"Westover's not the place it was," said Murray, sipping his flip +disconsolately,--"not the place it was while Miss Evelyn was alive. There +was no other like it in Virginia then. Why, it was always full of gay +company, and the colonel kept a nigger down there at the gate to invite +in every traveler who passed. But all that's changed, and has been these +six year." + +Mr. Fontaine nodded over his tea. + +"Yes," he said, "Evelyn's death was a great blow to her father." + +"You may well say that, sir," assented Murray, with a sigh. "He was never +the same man after. He used to sit there at that window and watch her in +the garden, after they came back from London, and every day he saw her +whiter and thinner. At night, after she was safe abed, I have seen him +walking up and down over there along the river, sobbing like a baby. And +when she died, he was like a man dazed, thinking, perhaps, it was he who +had killed her." + +"I know," nodded Mr. Fontaine. "I was here." There was a moment's +silence. I was bursting with questions, but I did not dare to speak. + +"The young master took him back to London after that," went on Murray, +"hoping that a change would do him good and take his mind off Miss +Evelyn, but I doubt he'll ever get over it. While they were in London, +Sir Godfrey Kneller painted him and Miss Evelyn. Would you like to see +the pictures, sir?" + +"Yes, I should like to see them," said Mr. Fontaine softly. "Evelyn was +very dear to me." + +They were hanging side by side in the great hall, and even my childish +eyes saw their strength and beauty. His was a narrow, patrician face, +beautiful as a woman's, looking from a wealth of brown curls, soft and +flowing. The little pucker at the corners of his mouth bespoke his +relish of a jest, and the high nose and well-placed eyes his courage and +spirit. But it was at the other I looked the longest. She was seated upon +a grassy bank, with the shadows of the evening gathering about her. In +the branches above her head gleamed a red-bird's brilliant plumage. On +her lap lay a heap of roses, and in her hand she held a shepherd's crook. +Her gown, of pale blue satin, was open at the throat, and showed its fair +sweet fullness and the bosom's promise. Her face was pensive,--sad, +almost,--the lips just touching, a soft light in the great dark eyes. I +had never seen such a picture,--nor have I ever looked upon another such. +I can close my eyes and see it even now. But the storm had passed, and it +was time to go. + +"Why did Miss Evelyn die?" I questioned, as soon as we were out of the +avenue of tulips and in the highway. + +He looked down at me a moment, and seemed hesitating for an answer. + +"She loved a man in London," he said. "Her father would not let her marry +him, and brought her home. She was not strong, and gossips say her heart +was broken." + +"But why would he not let her marry him?" I asked. + +"He was not of her religion. Her father thought he was acting for +her good." + +I pondered on this for a time in silence, and found here a question too +great for my small brain. + +"But was he right?" I asked at last, falling back upon my companion's +greater knowledge. + +"It is hard to say," he answered softly. "Perhaps he was, and yet I have +come to think there is little to choose between one sect and another, so +Christ be in them and the man honest." + +He looked out across the fields with tender eyes and I slipped my hand +in his. A vision of her sad face danced before me and I fell asleep, my +head within his arm, to waken only when he lifted me down at our +journey's end. + +All this came back to me with the vividness which childish recollections +sometimes have, as I sat there in the pew at my mother's side. Only I +could not quite believe that this little wrinkled old man was the same +who looked so proudly from Kneller's canvas. But when the service ended +and he stopped to exchange a word with father, I saw the face was indeed +the same, though now writ over sadly by the hand of time weighted down +with sorrow. It was the only time I ever saw him in the flesh, for he was +near the end and died soon after. He was buried beside his daughter in +the little graveyard near his home. It was Mr. Fontaine who closed his +eyes in hope of resurrection and spoke the last words above his grave,-- +beloved in this great mansion as in the lowliest cabin at Charles City. + +My pen would fain linger over the portrait of this sainted man, which is +the fairest and most benign in the whole gallery of my youth, but I must +turn to another subject,--to the cloud which began to shadow my life at +my tenth year, and which still shadows it to-day. For the first six or +seven years of their married life my father and mother were, I believe, +wholly and unaffectedly happy. When I think of them now, I think of them +only as they were during that time, and wonder how many of the married +people about me could say as much. Their means were small, and they lived +a quiet life, which had few luxuries. But as time went on, my father +began to chafe at the petty economies which the smallness of their income +rendered necessary. He had been bred amid the luxuries of a great estate, +where the house was open to every passer-by, and it vexed him that he +could not now show the same wide hospitality. I think he yet had hopes of +succeeding to his father's estate, out of which, indeed, there was no law +in Virginia to keep him should he choose to claim it. Whatever his +thoughts may have been, he grew gradually to live beyond his means, and +as the years passed, he had recourse to the cards and dice in the hope, +no doubt, of recouping his vanishing fortune. It was true then, as it is +true now and always will be true, that the man who gambles because he +needs the money is sure to lose, and affairs went from bad to worse until +the final disaster came. + +It was just after my tenth birthday. My mother and I were sitting +together on the broad porch which overlooked the river. She had been +reading to me from the Bible,--the parable of the talents,--in which and +in the kind advice of Parson Fontaine she found her only comfort in the +anxious days which had gone before, and which I knew nothing of. But the +lengthening shadows finally fell across the page, and she closed the book +and held it on her knee, while she talked to me about my lessons and a +ramble we had planned for the morrow. The red of the sunset still +lingered in the west, and a single crimson cloud hung poised high up +against the sky. I remember watching it as it turned to purple and then +to gray. A burst of singing came from the negro quarters behind the +house, and in the strip of woodland by the river the noises of the night +began to sound. + +As the twilight deepened to darkness, my mother's voice faltered and +ceased, and when I glanced at her, I saw she had fallen into a reverie, +and that there was a shadow on her face. I have only to shut my eyes, and +the years roll back and she is sitting there again beside me, in her +white gown, simply made, and gathered at the waist with a broad blue +ribbon, her slim white hands playing with the book upon her knee, her +eyes gazing afar off across the water, her mouth drooping in the curve +which it had never known till recently, her wealth of blue-black hair +forming a halo round her head. Ah, that she were there when I open my +eyes again, that I might speak to her! For the bitterest thought that +ever came to me is one which troubles my rest from time to time even now: +Did I love her as she deserved; was I a staff for her to lean upon in her +trouble; was I not, rather, a careless, unseeing boy, who recked nothing +of the impending storm until it burst about him? I trust the tears which +have wet my pillow since have gladdened her heart in heaven. + +I was awakened from the doze into which I had fallen by the sound of +rapid hoof-beats down the road. We listened to them in silence, as they +drew near and nearer. I did not doubt it was my father, for few others +ever rode our way. He had been from home all day, as he frequently was of +late, only he did not usually return so early in the evening. Something +in my mother's face as she strained her eyes into the shadows to catch a +glimpse of the advancing horseman drew me from my chair and to her side. + +"It is your father," she said, in a voice almost inaudible, and as she +spoke, the rider leaped from the shadow of the trees. He drew his horse +up before the porch with a jerk and threw himself from the saddle. As he +came up the steps, I saw that his face was strangely flushed and his eyes +gleaming in a way that made me shiver. I felt my mother's arm about me +trembling as she drew me closer to her. + +"Well, it's over," he said, flinging himself down upon the upper step, +"and damme if I'm sorry. Anything's better than living here in the woods +like a lump on a log." + +"What do you mean is over, Tom?" asked my mother very quietly. + +"I mean our possession of this place is over. Since an hour ago, it has +belonged to Squire Blakesley, across the river." + +"You mean you have gambled it away?" + +"If you choose to call it that," said my father ungraciously, and he +turned his back to us and gazed gloomily out over the water. + +For a moment there was silence. + +"Since we no longer possess this place," said my mother at last, "I +suppose you intend to forget your foolish anger against your father, and +claim your patrimony?" + +"Foolish or not," he cried, "I have sworn never to take it until it is +offered to me, and I mean to keep my word!" + +"You would make your boy a beggar to gratify a foolish whim!" retorted my +mother, her voice trembling with passion. I had never seen her so, and +even my father glanced at her furtively in some astonishment. "Very well. +In that it is for you to do as you may choose, but his estate here, or +what is left of it, shall be kept intact for him." + +"What do you mean?" cried my father, and he sprang to his feet and +slashed his boot savagely with his riding-whip. + +"I mean," said my mother very quietly, "that since a gambling debt is not +recoverable by law, we have only to live on quietly here and no one will +dare disturb us." + +"And my honor?" cried my father with an oath, the first I had ever heard +him use. "It seems to me that you forget my honor, madam." + +"You have been the first to forget your honor, sir," said my mother, +rising to face him, but still keeping me within her arm, "in staking your +son's inheritance upon a throw of the dice." + +My father started as though he had been struck across the face, but he +was too far gone in anger to listen to the voice of reason. Indeed, I +have always found that the more a man deserves rebuke, the less likely is +he to take it quietly. + +"Come here, Tom," he said to me, and when I hesitated, added in a sterner +tone, "come here, sir, I say." + +I had no choice but to go to him, nor did my mother seek to hold me back. +He caught me by the arms and bent until his face was close to mine. + +"You are to promise me two things, Tom," he said, and I perceived that +his breath was heavy with the fumes of wine. "One is that you are never +to claim your inheritance of Riverview until it is offered to you freely +by them that now possess it. Do you promise me that?" + +"Yes," I faltered. "I promise you, sir." + +"Good!" he said. "And the other is that you will pay my debts of honor +after I am dead, if they be not paid before. Promise me that also, Tom." + +His eyes were on mine, and I could do nothing but obey, even had I +thought of resisting. + +"I promise that also, sir," I said. + +"Very well," and he retained his grasp on my arms yet a moment. +"Remember, Tom, that a gentleman never breaks his word. It is his most +priceless possession, the thing which above all others makes him a +gentleman." + +He dropped his hands and turned away into the house. A moment later, +from the refuge of my mother's arms, I heard him heavily mounting the +stairs to his room on the floor above. My mother said never a word, but +she covered my face with kisses, and I felt that she was crying. She held +me for a time upon her lap, gazing out across the river as before, and +when I raised my hand and caressed her cheek, smiled down upon me sadly. +She kissed me again as she put me to bed, and the last thing I saw before +drifting away into the land of dreams was her sweet face bending over me. +Had I known that it was the last time I was to see it so,--the last time +those tender hands were to draw the covers close about me,--I should not +have closed my eyes in such content. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SECRET OF A HEART + + +Late that night I was awakened by the slamming of doors and hurried +footsteps in the hall and up and down the stairs. I sat up in bed, and as +I listened intently, heard frightened whispering without my door. It rose +and died away and rose again, broken by stifled sobbing, and I knew that +some great disaster had befallen. It seemed, somehow, natural that this +should happen, after my father's recent conduct. With a cold fear at my +heart, I threw the covers back, slid from the bed, and groped my way +across the room. As I fumbled at the latch, the whispering and sobbing +came suddenly to an end, as though those without had stopped with bated +breath. At last I got the door open, and looking out, saw half a dozen +negro servants grouped upon the landing. One of them held a lantern, +which threw slender rays of light across the floor and queer shadows up +against their faces. They stared at me an instant, and then, finding +their breath again, burst forth in lamentation. + +"What is it?" I cried. "What has happened?" + +My old mammy had her arms around me and caught me up to her face, down +which the tears were streaming. + +"Oh, Lawd, keep dis chile!" she sobbed, looking down at me with infinite +tenderness. "Oh, Lawd, bless an' keep dis chile!" + +"But, mammy," I repeated impatiently, "what has happened?" + +Her trembling lips would not permit her answering, but she pointed to the +door of my father's room and her tears broke forth afresh. + +"Is my mother there?" I asked. + +She nodded. + +"Then I will go to her," I said, and I had squirmed out of her arms and +was running along the passage before she could detain me. In a moment I +had reached the door, but all my courage seemed to fail me in face of the +mystery within, and the knock I gave was a very feeble and timid one. I +heard a quick step on the floor, and the door opened ever so little. + +"Is it you, doctor?" asked my mother's voice. + +"No, mother, it is only I," I said. + +"You!" she cried, in a terrible voice, and I caught a glimpse of her face +rigid with horror before she slammed the door. The sight seemed to freeze +me there on the threshold, powerless to move. I have tried--ah, how +often!--to put behind me the memory of her face as I saw it then, but it +is before me now and again, even yet. And I began to cry, for it was the +first time my mother had ever shut me from her presence. + +"Are you there, Tom?" I heard her voice ask in a moment. Her voice, did +I say? Nay, not hers, but a voice I had never heard before,--the voice of +a woman suffocating with anguish. + +"Yes, mother," I answered, "I am here." + +"And you love me, do you not, Tom?" + +"Oh, yes, mother!" I cried; and I thank God to this day that there was so +much of genuine feeling in my voice. + +"Then if you love me, Tom," she said, "you will go back to your room +and not come near this door again. Promise me, Tom, that you will do as +I ask you." + +"I promise, mother," I answered. "But what has happened? Is father dead?" + +"Mr. Fontaine will be here soon," she said, "and will explain it all to +you. Now run back to your room, dearest, and go to bed." + +"Yes, mother," I said again, but as I turned to go, I heard a sound which +struck me motionless. No, my father was not dead, for that was his voice +I heard, pitched far above its usual key. + +"I shall never go back," he cried. "I shall never go back till he asks +me." + +I felt the perspiration start from my forehead. + +"Have you gone, Tom?" asked my mother's voice. + +"I am just going, mother," I sobbed, and tore myself away from the door. +My mammy's arms were about me again as I turned, and carried me back to +my room. This time I did not resist, but as she sat down, still holding +me, I laid my head upon her breast and sobbed myself to sleep. When I +awoke, I found that I was in bed with the covers tucked close around me, +and through my window I could see the gray dawn breaking. I lay and +watched the light grow along the horizon and up into the heavens. And +while I lay thus, with heart aching dully, the door of my room opened +softly, and with joy inexpressible I saw that it was my beloved friend +who entered. + +"Oh, Mr. Fontaine!" I cried, and stretched out my arms to him. He took me +up as a mother might, and held me close against his heart. + +"Do you remember, dear," he said, and his voice was trembling, "what you +told me one day by the river--that you meant to be brave under trial?" + +I sobbed assent. + +"Well, the trial has come, Tom, and I want you to be brave and strong. +You are not going to disappoint me, are you?" + +Oh, it was hard, and I was only a child, but I sat upright on his knee +and tried to dry my tears. + +"I will try," I said, but the sobs would come in spite of me. + +"That is right," and he was stroking my hair in that old familiar, tender +way. "Your father is very ill, Tom." + +Well, if that was all, I could bear it, certainly. + +"But he will get well," I said. + +He was looking far out at the purple sky, and his face seemed old and +gray. + +"I hope and pray so," he said at last. "He has the smallpox, Tom. +There are some cases along the river near Charles City, and he must +have caught it there. Doctor Brayle has done everything for him that +can be done." + +But I was not listening. There was room for only one thought in my brain. + +"And my mother is with him!" I cried, and my heart seemed bursting. + +He held me tight against him, and I felt a tear fall upon my head. This +was the trial, then--for him no less than me. + +"Yes, she is with him, Tom. She believes it her duty, and will allow no +one else to enter. Ah, she has not been found wanting. Dear heart, I knew +she would never be." + +Of what came after, I have no distinct remembrance. Mr. Fontaine told me +that my mother wished me to go home with him, so that I might be quite +beyond reach of the infection. He had agreed that this would be the +wisest course, and so, too stricken at heart to resist, I was bundled +into his chaise with a chest of my clothes, and driven away through the +crowd of sobbing negroes to the little house at Charles City where he and +his sister lived. + +The week that followed dwells in my memory as some tremendous nightmare, +lightened here and there by the unvarying kindness of my friend and of +his sister. I wandered along the river and gazed out across the changing +water for hours at a time, with eyes that saw nothing of what was before +them. Often I remained thus until some one came for me and led me gently +back into the house. My brain seemed numbed, and no longer capable of +thought. Mr. Fontaine took charge of our affairs, doing everything that +could be done, keeping the frightened negroes to their work, and praying +with my mother through the tight-closed door. He had no fear, and would +have entered and prayed with her beside the bed, had she permitted. + +I was sitting by the river-bank one evening, watching the shadows +lengthen across the water, when I heard a step behind me, and turned to +see my friend approaching. A glance at his face brought me to my feet. + +"What is it?" I cried, and ran to him. + +He took my hands in his. + +"Your father died an hour ago, Tom," he said, and smoothed my hair in the +familiar way which seemed to comfort him as well as me. + +"And my mother?" I asked, for it was of her I was thinking. + +"Your mother is ill, too," he said, and placed his arms about me and held +me close, "but with God's grace we will save her life." + +But I had started from him. + +"If she is ill," I cried, "I must go to her. She will want me." + +He shook his head, still holding to my hands. + +"No, she does not want you, Tom," he said. "The one thing that will make +her happy is the thought that you are quite removed from danger. I +believed my place was at her bedside, but she would not permit it." + +And then he told me, with glistening eyes, that my old mammy, who had +been my mother's thirty years before, was nursing her and would not be +sent away. She had burst in the door of the plague chamber the moment +she had heard that her mistress was ill, and dared any one disturb her. +Old Doctor Brayle had commanded that she be given her will, and declared +that in this old negro woman's careful nursing lay my mother's great +chance of life. + +The scalding tears poured down my cheeks as Mr. Fontaine told me +this,--the first, I think, that I had shed that week, for after that +dreadful night, my sorrow had been of a dry and bitter kind,--and a +stinging remorse seized me as I thought of the times I had been cross and +disobedient to mammy. Ah, how I loved her now! It was the accustomed +irony of my life that I was never to tell her so. + +Ere daylight the next morning I was seated beside my friend as he drove +me home. The river was cloaked in mist, and the dawn seemed inexpressibly +dreary. As we approached the house, I wondered to see how forlorn and +neglected it appeared. A crowd of wailing negroes surrounded the chaise +when we stopped, and I would have got out, but Mr. Fontaine held me +firmly in my seat. + +"We must remain here," he said, and I dropped back beside him, and waited +in a kind of stupor. + +Presently they brought the coffin down, the negroes who carried it +wreathing themselves in tobacco smoke, and placed it in a cart. We +followed at a distance as it rolled slowly toward the Wyeth +burying-ground in the grove of willows near the road. The thought came to +me that my father should lie with the Stewarts, not with the Wyeths, and +then suddenly a great sickness and faintness came upon me, and I remember +nothing of what followed until I found Miss Fontaine lifting me from the +chaise at the door. I was put to bed, and not until the next day was I +able to crawl forth again. + +Then came days of anguish and suspense, days spent by me roaming the +woods, or lying face downward beneath the trees, and praying that God +would spare my mother's life. Bulletins were brought me from her +bedside,--she was better, she was worse, she was better,--how shall I +tell the rest?--until at last one day came my dear friend, his lips +quivering, the tears streaming down his face unrestrained, and told me +that she was dead. I think the sight of his great sorrow frightened me, +and I bore the blow with greater composure than I had thought possible. +Had she sent me no message? Yes, she had sent me a message,--her last +thought had been of me. She asked me to be a good boy and an honest man, +to follow the counsel of Mr. Fontaine in all things, and to keep my +promise to my father. So, even in death her love for him and for the +honor of his memory triumphed, as I would have had it do. + +Again there was a dismal procession through the gray morning to the +willow grove, where we stood beneath the dripping branches, while afar +off the rude coffin was lowered to its last resting-place. The negroes +grouped themselves about, and my friend stood at my side, his head bare, +his face raised to heaven, as though he saw her there. + +"'I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth +in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and +believeth in me, shall never die.'" + +I felt the threads of my life slipping from me one by one, even as the +trees faded from before my eyes. Only that strong, exultant voice at my +side went on and on. + +"'Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them +that slept.'" On and on went the voice; there was nothing else in the +whole wide world but that voice crying out over my mother's grave. "'I +heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me. Write. From henceforth blessed +are the dead who die in the Lord.'" And then the voice faltered and +broke. "She was the light of my life and the joy of my heart," it was no +longer the ritual of the church; "and yet had I to walk beside her and +tell her naught. And now is she taken from me, for the Lord hath received +her to His bosom to live in the light of His love forevermore." + +I looked up into his face and saw the secret of his heart revealed,--the +secret he had kept so well, but which his anguish had wrung from him. It +was only for an instant, yet I think he knew I had read his heart--I, +alone of all the world, understood. Had my mother known, I wonder? Yes, +I think she had, and in the greatness of his love found help and comfort. +Good man and lovely woman, God rest and keep you both. + +I went home with him, remembering with a pang that the place I had called +home was mine no longer. Those among my friends who know the history of +my boyhood understand to some extent my loathing for the cards and dice. +It is perhaps unreasonable,--I might be the first to deem it so in any +other man,--but when I count up the woe they brought my mother,--father +and husband slaves to the same frenzy,--how they wrecked her life and +embittered it, my passion rises in my throat to choke me. Never did I +hate them more than in the days which followed; for they had made me +outcast, and what the future held for me, I could not guess. The question +was answered of a sudden a week later, when there came from my +grandfather a curt note bidding me be sent to Riverview. It was decided +at once that I must go. I myself looked forward to the change with a +boy's blind longing for adventure, and said farewell to the man who had +been so much to me with a willingness I wince to think upon. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +I AM TREATED TO A SURPRISE + + +The rain was falling dismally as the coach in which I had made the +journey rolled up the drive to Riverview, and I caught but a glimpse of +the house as I was rushed up the steps and into the wide hall. A lady +dressed in a loose green gown was seated in an easy-chair before the open +fire, and she did not rise as I entered, doubtless because her lap was +full of knitting. + +"Gracious, how wet the child is!" she cried, looking me over critically. +"Take him to his room, Sally, and see that he has a bath and change of +clothing. I'm sure he needs both." + +I turned away without a word and followed the negro maid. Of course the +lady thought me a surly boor, but my heart was burning, for I had hoped +for a different welcome. As I passed along the hall and up the broad +staircase, the thought came to me that all of this would one day be mine, +should I choose to claim it, and then, with crimson cheeks, I put the +thought from me, as unworthy of my mother's son. + +But my room looked very warm and cheerful even on this chilly day, and +from the window I could see broad fields of new-planted tobacco, and +beyond them the yellow road and then the river. I stood long looking out +at it and wondering what my life here had in store. Half an hour later, +word came from my grandfather that he wished to see me, and the same maid +led me down the stairs and to his study, I stumbling along beside her +with a madly beating heart. As I crossed the lower hall, I heard a burst +of childish laughter, and saw a boy and girl, both younger than myself, +playing near the chair where the lady sat. I looked at them with +interest, but the sight of me seemed to freeze the laughter on their +faces, and they gazed with staring eyes until I turned the corner and was +out of sight. But I had little time to wonder at this astonishing +behavior, for in a moment I was in my grandfather's office. + +He was seated at a great table, and had apparently been going over some +accounts, for the board in front of him was littered with books and +papers. I saw, even beneath the disguise of his red face and white hair, +his strong resemblance to my father, and my heart went out to him on the +instant. For I had loved my father, despite the wild behavior which +marred his later clays. Indeed, I always think of him during that time as +suffering with a grievous malady, of which he could not rid himself, and +which ate his heart out all the faster because he saw how great was the +anguish it caused the woman he loved. That it was some such disease I am +quite certain, so different was his naturally strong and sunny +disposition. + +My grandfather gazed at me some moments without speaking, as I stood +there, longing to throw myself into his arms, and all the misery of the +years that followed might never have been, had I buried my pride and +followed the dictates of my heart. But I waited for him to speak, and the +moment passed. + +"So this is Tom's boy," he said at last. "My God, how like he is!" + +He fell silent for a moment,--silenced, no doubt, by bitter memories. + +"You wonder, perhaps," he said in a sterner tone, "why I have sent for +you; but I could do no less. The letter from your pastor which announced +the deaths of your father and your mother brought me the tidings also +that your mother's fortune had been diced away down to the last penny, +and that even the negroes must be sold to satisfy the claims against it. +However undutiful your father may have been, I could not permit his son +to become a charge upon the poor funds." + +I felt my cheeks flushing, but I judged it best to choke back the words +which trembled on my lips. + +"I can read your thought," said my grandfather quickly. "You are +thinking that the heir of Riverview could hardly be called a pauper. Do +not forget that your father forfeited his claim to the estate by his +ungentlemanly conduct." + +"I shall not forget it," I burst out. "My father made sure that I should +never forget it. I shall never claim the estate. And my father's conduct +was never ungentlemanly." + +"As you will," said my grandfather scornfully. "I am not apt at +mincing words. I told him one thing many years ago which I should have +thought he would remember, and which I now repeat to you. I told him +that a gentleman ceased to be a gentleman when once he gambled beyond +his means." + +I waited to hear no more, but with crimson cheeks and head in air, I +turned on my heel and started for the door. + +"Damn my stars, sir!" he roared. "Wait to hear me out." + +But I would not wait. After a moment's struggle with the latch, I had the +door open and marched straight to my room. Once inside, I bolted the +door, and throwing myself on the floor, sobbed myself to sleep. + +What need to detail further? There were a hundred such scenes between us +in the four years that followed, and as I look back upon them now, I +realize that through it all I, too, showed my full share of Stewart +obstinacy and temper. I more than suspect that my grandfather in his most +violent outbursts was inwardly trembling with tenderness for me, as was I +for him, and that a single gentle word, spoken at the right time, would +have brought us into each other's arms. And I realize too late that it +was for me, and not for him, to speak that word. It was only when I saw +him lying in his bed, stricken with paralysis, bereft of the power of +speech or movement, that I knew how great my love for him had been. His +eyes, as they met mine on that last day, had in them infinite tenderness +and pleading, and my heart melted as I bent and kissed his lips. He +struggled to speak, and the sweat broke from his forehead at the effort, +but what he would have said I can only guess, for he died that night, +without the iron bands which held him fast loosening for an instant. Yet +I love to fancy that his last words, could he have spoken them, would +have been words of love and forgiveness, for my father as well as for +myself, and such, I am sure, they would have been. With him there passed +away the only one at Riverview whom I had grown to love. + +And now a word about the others among whom I passed the second period of +my boyhood. My father's younger brother, James, had married seven or +eight years before a lady whose estate adjoined Riverview,--Mrs. +Constance Randolph, a widow some years older than himself. She had one +child living, a daughter, Dorothy, who, at the time I came to Riverview, +was a girl of nine, and a year after her second marriage she bore a son, +who was named James, much against the wishes of his mother. She would +have called him Thomas, a name which had for five generations been that +of the head of the house. But this my grandfather would by no means +allow, and so the child was christened after his father. I think that +ever since the day she had entered the Stewart family, my aunt had +thought me a spectre across her path, for she was an ambitious woman and +wished the whole estate for her son,--in which I do not greatly blame +her. But she had brooded over her fear until it had become a phantom +which haunted her unceasingly, and she had come to deem me a kind of +monster, who stood between her boy and his inheritance. Her second +husband died three years after their marriage,--he was drowned one day in +January while crossing the river on the ice, which gave way under +him,--and after that she became the mistress of Riverview in earnest, +ruling my grandfather with a rod of iron, for though bold enough with +men, and especially with the men of his own family, he would succumb in a +moment to a woman's shrewish temper. + +Only twice had he revolted against her rule. The first time was when she +had announced her intention of naming her boy Thomas, as I have already +mentioned. The second was when he decided to summon me to Riverview. This +she had opposed with all her might, but he had persisted, and finally +ended the argument by putting her from the room,--doubtless with great +inward trepidation. So I came to be a phantom in the flesh, and do not +wonder that she hated me, so sour will the human heart become which +broods forever on its selfishness. Her children she kept from me as from +the plague, and during the years preceding my grandfather's death, I had +almost no communication with them. He required, however, that every +respect be shown me, placed me on his right at table,--how often have I +looked up from my plate to find his eyes upon me,--selected half a dozen +negroes to be my especial servants, engaged the Rev. James Scott, pastor +of the Quantico church, as my tutor, and even ordered for me an elaborate +wardrobe from his factor in London. + +Mr. Scott was a man of parts, and under him I gained some knowledge of +Latin, Greek, and mathematics. Certainly I made more progress than I +should have done under different circumstances, for finding myself +without companions or other occupation, I applied myself to my books for +want of something better. My grandfather possessed above a hundred +volumes, and when he saw how my bent lay, he ordered others for me, so +that his library came to be one of the largest on the Northern Neck, +though but indifferently selected. Absorbed in these books, I managed to +forget the disorder of my circumstances. + +The remainder of my time I spent in riding along the river road on the +mare my grandfather had given me, or wandering over the estate and in and +out among the negro cabins. To the negroes I was always "Mas' Tom," and I +am proud to remember that I made many friends among them, treating them +always with justice and sometimes with mercy, as, indeed, I try yet to +do. Once I came suddenly upon old Gump, the major-domo of the house +servants, preparing to give a little pickaninny a thrashing, and I +stopped to ask what he had done. + +"He's done been stealing Mas' Tom," answered Gump. "Ain' goin' t' hab no +t'iefs roun' dis yere house, not if I knows it." + +"What did he steal, uncle?" I asked. + +"Dis yere whip," said Gump, and he held up an old riding-whip of mine. + +I looked at it and hesitated for a moment. Was it worth beating a child +for? The little beady eyes were gazing at me in an agony of supplication. + +"Gump," I said, "don't beat him. That's all right. I want him to have +the whip." + +Gump stared at me in astonishment. + +"What, Mas' Tom," he exclaimed, "you mean dat you gib him de whip?" + +"Yes," I said, "I give him the whip, Gump," and luckily the old man could +not distinguish between the past and present tenses of the verb, so that +I was spared a lie. The little thief ran away with the whip in his hand, +and it was long before the incident was recalled to me. + +So I returned again to my books, and to the silent but no less active +antagonism toward my aunt. Yet, I would not paint her treatment of me in +too gloomy colors. Doubtless I gave her much just cause for offense, for +I had grown into a surly and quick-tempered boy, with raw places ever +open to her touch. That she loved her children I know well, and her love +for them was at the bottom of her dislike for me. I have learned long +since that there is no heart wholly bad and selfish. + +While my grandfather yet lived, I think she had some hope that something +would happen to make me an outcast utterly, but after his death this hope +vanished, and she sent for me one morning to come to her. I found her +seated in the selfsame chair in which I had first seen him, and the +table was still littered with papers and accounts. + +"Good-morning, Thomas," she said politely enough, as I entered, and, as I +returned her greeting, motioned me to a chair. She seemed to hesitate at +a beginning, and in the moment of silence that followed, I saw that her +face was growing thinner, and that her hair was streaked with gray. + +"I have sent for you, Thomas," she said at last, "to find out what your +intention is with regard to this estate. You know, of course, that your +father forfeited it voluntarily, and that you have no moral claim to it. +Still, the law might sustain your claim, should you choose to assert it." + +"I shall not choose to assert it," I answered coldly, and as I spoke, her +face was suffused with sudden joy. "I promised my father never to claim +it,--never to take it unless it were offered to me openly and +freely,--and I intend to keep my promise." + +For a moment her emotion prevented her replying, and she pressed one hand +against her breast as though to still the beating of her heart. + +"Very well," she said at last. "Your resolution does credit to your +honor, and I will see that you do not regret it. I will undertake the +management of both estates until my son becomes of age. You shall have an +ample allowance. Let me see; how old are you?" + +"I am fifteen years old," I answered. + +"And have about sounded the depths of Master Scott's learning, I +suppose?" she asked, smiling, the first smile, I think, she had +ever given me. + +"He was saying only yesterday that I should soon have to seek +another tutor." + +"'T is as I thought. Well, what say you to a course at William and Mary?" + +She smiled again as she saw how my cheeks flushed. + +"I should like it above all things," I answered earnestly, and, indeed, I +had often thought of it with longing, so lonely was my life at Riverview. + +"It shall be done," she said. "The year opens in a fortnight's time, and +you must be there at the beginning." + +I thanked her and left the room, and ran to my tutor, who had arrived +some time before, to acquaint him with my good fortune. He was no less +pleased than I, and forthwith wrote me a letter to Dr. Thomas Dawson, +president of the college, commending me to his good offices. So, in due +course, I rode away from Riverview, not regretting it, nor, I dare say, +regretted. In truth, I had no reason to love the place, nor had any +within it reason to love me. + +Of my life at college, little need be said. Indeed, I have small reason +to be proud of it, for, reacting against earlier years, perhaps, I +cultivated the Apollo room at the Raleigh rather than my books, and +toasted the leaden bust of Sir Walter more times than I care to remember. +Yet I never forgot that I was a gentleman, thank God! And previous years +of study brought me through with some little honor despite my present +carelessness. I had a liberal allowance, and elected to spend my +vacations at Williamsburg or at Norfolk, or coasting up the Chesapeake as +far as Baltimore, and did not once return to Riverview, where I knew I +should get cold welcome. In fact, I was left to do pretty much as I +pleased, my aunt being greatly occupied with the care of the estate, and +doubtless happy to be rid of me so easily. So I entered my eighteenth +year, and the time of my graduation was at hand. And it was then that the +great event happened which changed my whole life by giving me something +to live for. + +It was the custom for the first class, the year of its graduation, to +attend the second of the grand assemblies given by the governor while the +House of Burgesses was in session, and we had been looking forward to the +event with no small anticipation. Many of us, myself among the number, +had ordered suits from London for the occasion, and I thought that I +looked uncommon well as I arrayed myself that night before the glass. +Such is the vanity of youth, for I have since been assured many times by +one who saw me that I was a very ordinary looking fellow. Half a dozen of +us, the better to gather courage, went down Duke of Gloucester Street arm +in arm toward the governor's palace with its great lantern alight to +honor the occasion, and mounted the steps together,--our trifling over +our toilets had made us late,--and as we entered the high doorway, did +our best to look as though a great assembly was an every-day event to us. +A moment later, I saw a sight which took my breath away. + +It was only a girl of seventeen--but such a girl! Can I describe her as I +close my eyes and see her again before me? No, I cannot trust my pen, nor +would any such description do her justice; for her charm lay not in +beauty only, but in a certain rare, sweet girlishness, which seemed to +form a nimbus round her. Yet was her beauty worth remarking, too; and I +have loved to think that, while others saw that only, I, looking with +more perceptive eyes, saw more truly to her heart. I did not reason all +this out at the first; I only stood and stared at her amazed, until some +one knocking against me brought me to my senses. There were a dozen men +about her, and one of these I saw with delight was Dr. Price, our +registrar at the college, a benign old man, who could deny me nothing. I +waited with scarce concealed impatience until he turned away from the +group, and then I was at his side in an instant. + +"Dr. Price," I whispered eagerly, "will you do me the favor of presenting +me to that young lady?" + +"Why, bless my soul!" he exclaimed, looking at me over his glasses in +astonishment, "you seem quite excited. Which young lady?" + +"The one you have just left," I answered breathlessly. + +He looked at me quizzically for a moment, and laughed to himself as +though I had uttered a joke. + +"Why, certainly," he said. "Come with me." + +I could have kissed his hand in my gratitude, as he turned back toward +the group. I followed a pace behind, and felt that my hands were +trembling. The group opened a little as we approached, and in a moment we +were before her. + +"Miss Randolph," said Dr. Price, "here is a young gentleman who has just +begged of me the favor of an introduction. Permit me to present Mr. +Thomas Stewart." + +"Why, 'pon my word," cried that young lady, "'t is cousin Tom!" and as I +stood gaping at her like a fool, in helpless bewilderment, she came to me +and gave me her hand with the prettiest grace in the world. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +I DECIDE TO BE A SOLDIER + + +Now who would have thought that in three short years the red-cheeked girl +whom I had left at Riverview, and of whom I had never thought twice, +could have grown into this brown-eyed fairy? Certainly not I, and my +hopeless astonishment must have been quite apparent, for Mistress Dorothy +laughed merrily as she looked at me. + +"Come, cousin," she cried, "you look as though you saw a ghost. I assure +you I am not a ghost, but very substantial flesh and blood." + +"'Twas not of a ghost I was thinking," I said, recovering my wits a +little under the magic of her voice, which I thought the sweetest I had +ever heard, "but of the three Graces, and methought I saw a fourth." + +She gazed at me a moment with bright, intent eyes, the faintest touch of +color in her cheek. Then she smiled--a smile that brought two tiny +dimples into being--oh, such a smile! But there--why weary you with +telling what I felt? You have all felt very like it when you gazed into a +certain pair of eyes,--or if you have not, you will some day,--and if you +never do, why, God pity you! + +She laid her hand on my arm and turned to the group about us. +"Gentlemen," she said, with a little curtsy, "I know you will excuse us. +My cousin Tom and I have not seen each other these three years, and have +a hundred things to say;" and so I walked off with her, my head in the +air, and my heart beating madly, the proudest man in the colony, I dare +say, and with as good cause, too, as any. + +Dorothy led the way, for I was too blinded with joy to see where I was +going, and with a directness which showed acquaintance with the great +house, proceeded to a corner under the stair which had a bit of tapestry +before it that quite shut us out from interruption. She sat down opposite +me, and I pinched my arm to make sure I was not dreaming. + +"Why, Tom," she cried, with a little laugh, as she saw me wince at the +pain, "you surely do not think yourself asleep?" + +"I know not whether 't is dreaming or enchantment," said I; "but sleep or +sorcery, 't is very pleasant and I trust will never end." + +"What is it that you think enchantment, Tom?" she asked. + +"What could it be but you?" I retorted, and she smiled the slyest little +smile in the world. "I swear that when I entered that door ten minutes +since, I was wide awake as any man, but the moment I clapt eyes on you, I +lost all sense of my surroundings, and have since trod on air." + +"Oh, what do you think it can be?" she questioned, pretending to look +mightily concerned, "Do you think it is the fever, Tom?" + +But I was far past teasing. + +"To think that you should be Dorothy!" I said. "I may call you Dorothy, +may I not?" + +"Why, of course you may!" she cried. "Are we not cousins, Tom?" + +What a thrill it gave me to hear her call me Tom! Of course we were not +cousins, but I fancy all the tortures of the Inquisition could not at +that moment have made me deny the relationship. Well, we talked and +talked. Of what I said, I have not the slightest remembrance,--it was all +foolish enough, no doubt,--but Dorothy told me how her mother had been +managing the estate, greatly assisted by the advice of a Major +Washington, living ten miles up the river at Mount Vernon; how her +brother James had been tutored by my old preceptor, but showed far +greater liking for his horse and cocks than for his books; and how Mr. +Washington had come to Riverview a month before to propose that Mistress +Dorothy accompany him and his mother and sister to Williamsburg, and how +her mother had consented, and the flurry there was to get her ready, and +how she finally was got ready, and started, and reached Williamsburg, and +had been with the Washingtons for a week, and had attended the first +assembly, which accounted for her knowing the house so well, and had had +a splendid time. + +"And who was it you sat with here last time, Dorothy?" I asked, for I +could not bear that she should connect this place with any one but me. + +"Let me see," and the sly minx seemed to hesitate in the effort at +recollection. "Was it Mr. Burke? No, I was with him on the veranda. Was +it Mr. Forsythe? No. Ah, I have it!" and she paused a moment to prolong +my agony. "It was with Betty Washington; she had something to tell me +which must be told at once, and which was very private. But what a +great goose you are, to be sure. Do you know, Tom, I had no idea that +melancholy boy I saw sometimes at Riverview would grow into such +a--such a"-- + +"Such a what, Dorothy?" I asked, as she hesitated. + +"Such a big, overgrown fellow, with all his heart in his face. What a +monstrous fine suit that is you have on, Tom!" + +The jade was laughing at me, and here was I, who was a year her senior +and twice her size, sitting like an idiot, red to the ears. In faith, the +larger a man is, the more the women seem tempted to torment him; but on +me she presently took pity, and as the fiddles tuned up in the great +ballroom, she led the way thither and permitted me to tread a minuet with +her. Of course there were a score of others eager to share her dances, +but she was more kind to me than I deserved, and in particular, when the +fiddles struck up "High Betty Martin," threw herself upon my arm and +laughed up into my face in the sheer joy of living. But between the +dances I had great opportunity of being jealous, and spent the time +moping in a corner, where, as I reviewed her talk, the frequency of her +mention of Mr. Washington occurred to me, and at the end of five minutes +I had conceived a desperate jealousy of him. + +"How old is this Mr. Washington?" I asked, when I had managed to get by +her side again. + +"Not yet twenty-two," she answered, and then as she saw my gloomy face, +she burst into a peal of laughter. "He is adorable," she continued, when +she had regained her breath. "Not handsome, perhaps, but so courtly, so +dignified, so distinguished. I can't imagine why he is not here to-night, +for he is very fond of dancing. Do you know, I fancy Governor Dinwiddie +has selected him for some signal service, for it was at his invitation +that Mr. Washington came to Williamsburg. He is just the kind of man one +would fix upon instinctively to do anything that was very dangerous or +very difficult." + +"I dare say," I muttered, biting my lips with vexation, and avoiding +Dorothy's laughing eyes. I was a mere puppy, or I should have known that +a woman never praises openly the man she loves. + +"I am sure you will admire him when you meet him," she continued, "as I +am determined you shall do this very night. He is a neighbor, you know, +and I'll wager that when you come to live at Riverview, you will be +forever riding over to Mount Vernon." + +"Oh, doubtless!" I said, between my teeth, and I longed to have Mr. +Washington by the throat. "How comes it I heard nothing of him when I was +at Riverview?" + +"'Tis only since last year he has been there," she answered. "The estate +belonged to his elder brother, Lawrence, who died July a year ago, and +Major Washington has since then been with his mother, helping her in its +management. Before that time, he had been over the mountains surveying +all that western country, and then to the West Indies, where he had the +smallpox, because he would not break a promise to dine with a family +where it was. But what is the matter? You seem quite ill." + +"It is nothing," I said, after a moment. "It was the smallpox which +killed my father and my mother." + +"Pardon me," and her hand was on mine for an instant. Indeed, the shudder +which always shook me whenever I heard that dread infection mentioned had +already passed. "He has the rank of major," she continued, hoping +doubtless to distract my thoughts, "because he has been appointed +adjutant-general of one of the districts, but somehow we rarely call him +major, for he says he does not want the title until he has done something +to deserve it." + +"He seems a very extraordinary man," I said gloomily, "to have done so +much and to be yet scarce twenty-two." + +"He is an extraordinary man," cried Dorothy, "as you will say when you +meet him. A word of caution, Tom," she added, seeing my desperate plight, +and relenting a little. "Say nothing to him of the tender passion, for he +has lately been crossed in love, and is very sore about it. A certain +Mistress Cary, to whom he was paying court, hath rejected him, and +wounded him as much in his self-esteem as in his love, which, I fancy, +was not great, but which, on that account, he is anxious to have appear +even greater, as is the way with men." + +"Trust me," said I, with a great lightening of the heart; "I shall be +very careful not to wound him, Dorothy." + +"Pray, why dost thou smile so, Tom?" she asked, her eyes agleam. "Is it +that there is a pair of bright eyes here in Williamsburg which you are +dying to talk about? Well, I will be your confidante." + +"Oh, Dorothy!" I stammered, but my tongue refused to utter the thought +which was in my heart,--that there was only one pair of eyes in the whole +world I cared for, and that I was looking into them at this very moment. + +"Ah, you blush, you stammer!" cried my tormentor. "Come, I'll wager +there's a pretty maid. Tell me her name, Tom." + +I looked at her and gripped my hands at my side. If only this crowd +was not about us--if only we were alone together somewhere--I would be +bold enough. + +"And why do you look so savage, Tom?" she asked, and I could have sworn +she had read my thought. "You are not angry with me already! Why, you +have known me scarce an hour!" + +I could endure no more, and I reached out after her, heedless of the time +and of the place. Doubtless there would have been great scandal among +the stately dames who surrounded us, but that she sprang away from me +with a little laugh and ran plump into a man who had been hastening +toward her. The sight of her in the arms of a stranger brought me to my +senses, and I stopped dead where I was. + +"'Tis Mr. Washington!" she cried, looking up into his face, and as he set +her gently on her feet, she held out her hand to him. He raised it to his +lips with a courtly grace I greatly envied. "Mr. Washington, this is my +cousin, Thomas Stewart." + +"I am very happy to meet Mr. Stewart," he said, and he grasped my +hand with a heartiness which warmed my heart. I had to look up to +meet his eyes, for he must have been an inch or two better than six +feet in height, and of a most commanding presence. His eyes were +blue-gray, penetrating, and overhung by a heavy brow, his face long +rather than broad, with high, round cheekbones and a large mouth, +which could smile most agreeably, or--as I was afterward to +learn--close in a firm, straight line with dogged resolution. At this +moment his face was luminous with joy, and he was plainly laboring +under some intense emotion. + +"Where is my mother, Dolly?" he asked. "I have news for her." + +"She is in the reception hall with the governor's wife," she answered. +"But may we not have your news, Mr. Washington?" + +He paused and looked back at her a moment. + +"'T is all settled," he said, "and I am to start at once." + +"I was right, then!" she cried, her eyes sparkling in sympathy with +his. "I was just telling cousin Tom I believed the governor had a +mission for you." + +"Well, so he has, and I got my papers not ten minutes since. You could +never guess my destination." + +"Boston? New York? London?" she questioned, but he shook his head at +each, smiling evermore broadly. + +"No, 't is none of those. 'T is Venango." + +"Venango?" cried Dorothy. "Where, in heaven's name, may that be?" Nor was +I any the less at a loss. + +"'T is a French outpost in the Ohio country," answered Washington, "and +my mission, in brief, is to warn the French off English territory." + +Dorothy gazed at him, eyes wide with amazement. There was something in +the speaker's words and look which fired my blood. + +"You will need companions, will you not, Major Washington?" I asked. + +He smiled in comprehension, as he met my eyes. + +"Only two or three, Mr. Stewart. Two or three guides and a few Indians +will be all." + +My disappointment must have shown in my face, for he gave me his +hand again. + +"I thank you for your offer, Mr. Stewart," he said earnestly. "Believe +me, if it were possible, I should ask no better companion. But do not +despair. I have little hope the French will heed the warning, and 't +will then be a question of arms. In such event, there will be great need +of brave and loyal men, and you will have good opportunity to see the +country beyond the mountains. But I must find my mother, and tell her of +my great good fortune." + +I watched him as he strode away, and I fancy there was a new light in my +eyes,--certainly there was a new purpose in my heart. For I had been +often sadly puzzled as to what I should do when once I was out of +college. I had no mind to become an idler at Riverview, but was +determined to win myself a place in the world. Yet when I came to look +about me, I saw small prospect of success. The professions--the law, +medicine, and even the church--were overrun with vagabonds who had +brought them so low that no gentleman could think of earning a +livelihood--much less a place in the world--by them. Trade was equally +out of the question, for there was little trade in the colony, and that +in the hands of sharpers. But Mr. Washington's words had opened a new +vista. What possibilities lay in the profession of arms! And my +resolution was taken in an instant,--I would be a soldier. I said nothing +of my resolve to Dorothy, fearing that she would laugh at me, as she +doubtless would have done, and the remainder of the evening passed very +quickly. Dorothy presented me to Mrs. Washington, a stately and beautiful +lady, who spoke of her son with evident love and pride. He had been +called away, she said, for he had much to do, and thus reminded, I +remembered that it was time for me also to depart. Before I went, I +obtained permission from Mrs. Washington to call and see her next +day,--Dorothy standing by with eyes demurely downcast, as though she did +not know it was she and she only whom I hoped to see. + +"I am very sorry I teased you, cousin Tom," she said very softly, as I +turned to her to say goodnight. "Your eagerness to go with Mr. Washington +pleased me mightily. It is just what I should have done if I were a man. +Good-night," and before I could find my tongue, she was again at Mrs. +Washington's side. + +I made my way back to my room at the college, and went to bed, but it +seemed to me that the night, albeit already far spent, would never pass. +Sleep was out of the question, and I tossed from side to side, thinking +now of Dorothy, now of my new friend and his perilous expedition over the +Alleghenies, now of my late resolve. It was in no wise weakened in the +morning, as so many resolves of youth are like to be, and so soon as I +had dressed and breakfasted, I sought out the best master of fence in the +place,--a man whose skill had won him much renown, and who for three or +four years past, finding life on the continent grown very unhealthy, had +been imparting such of it as he could to the Virginia gentry,--and +insisted that he give me a lesson straightway. + +He gave me a half hour's practice, for the most part in quatre and +tierce,--my A B C's, as it were,--and the ease with which he held me off +and bent his foil against my breast at pleasure chafed me greatly, and +showed me how much I had yet to learn, besides making me somewhat less +vain of my size and strength. For my antagonist was but a small man, and +yet held me at a distance with consummate ease, and twisted my foil from +my hand with a mere turn of his wrist. Still, he had the grace to commend +me when the bout was ended, and I at once arranged to take two lessons +daily while I remained in Williamsburg. + +It was ten o'clock when I turned my steps toward the house where the +Washingtons were stopping, and, with much inward trepidation, walked up +to the door and knocked. In a moment I was in the presence of the ladies, +Mrs. Washington receiving me very kindly, and Dorothy looking doubly +adorable in her simple morning frock. But I was ill at ease, and the +sound of voices in an adjoining room increased my restlessness. + +"Do you not see what it is, madam?" cried Dorothy, at last. "He has no +wish for the society of women this morning. He has gone mad like the +rest of them. He is dying to talk of war and the French and expeditions +over the mountains, as Mr. Washington and his friends are doing. Is it +not so, sir?" + +"Indeed, I cannot deny it," I said, with a very red face. "I am immensely +interested in Major Washington's expedition." + +Mrs. Washington smiled kindly and bade Dorothy take me to the gentlemen, +which she did with a wicked twinkle in her eye that warned me I should +yet pay dear for my effrontery. Mr. Washington and half a dozen friends +were seated about the room, talking through clouds of tobacco smoke of +the coming expedition. There were George Fairfax, and Colonel Nelson, and +Judge Pegram, and three or four other gentlemen, to all of whom I was +introduced. The host waved me to a pile of pipes and case of +sweet-scented on the table, and I was soon adding my quota to the clouds +which enveloped us, and listening with all my ears to what was said. + +It had been agreed that the start should be made at once, the party +meeting at Will's Creek, where the Ohio company had a station, and +proceeding thence to Logstown, and so on to Venango, or, if necessary, to +the fort on French Creek. How my cheeks burned as I thought of that +journey through the wilderness and over the mountains, and how I longed +to be of the party! But I soon saw how impossible this was, for Mr. +Washington's companions must needs be hardened men, accustomed to the +perils of the forest and acquainted with the country. A bowl of punch was +brought, and after discussing this, the company separated, though not +till all of them had wrung Mr. Washington's hand and wished him a quick +journey. I was going with the others, when he detained me. + +"I wish a word with you, Mr. Stewart," he said. "I shall have to leave +for Mount Vernon at once, and make the trip as rapidly as possible, in +order to prepare for this expedition. May I ask if it would be possible +for you to accompany my mother and Miss Dolly home when their visit here +is ended, which will be in about a week's time?" + +"Certainly," I answered warmly, "I shall be only too glad to be of +service to you and to them, Mr. Washington," and I thought with tingling +nerves that Dorothy and I could not fail to be thrown much together. + +So it was arranged, and that afternoon he set out for Mount Vernon, +whence he would go direct to Will's Creek. His mother cried a little +after he was gone, so Dorothy told me, but she was proud of her boy, as +she had good cause to be, and appeared before the world with smiling +face. The week which followed flew by like a dream. I took my lesson +with the foils morning and evening, and soon began to make some progress +in the art. As much time as Dorothy would permit, I spent with her, and +in one of our talks she told me that she had drawn from her mother by +much questioning the story of my father's marriage and of the quarrel +which followed. + +"When I heard," she concluded, "how Riverview might have been yours but +for that unhappy dispute,"--so Mrs. Stewart had not told the whole truth, +and I smiled grimly to myself,--"I saw how unjustly and harshly we had +always used you, and I made up my mind to be very good to you when next +we met, as some slight recompense." + +"And is it for that only you are kind to me, Dorothy?" I asked. "Is it +not a little for my own sake?" + +"Hoity-toity," she cried, "an you try me too far, I shall withdraw my +favor altogether, sir. My cheeks burn still when I think what might have +happened at the ball the other night, when you so far forgot yourself as +to grab at me like a wild Indian. 'Twas well I had my wits about me." + +"But, indeed, Dorothy," I protested, "'twas all your fault. You had +plagued me beyond endurance." + +"I fear you are a very bold young man," she answered pensively, and when +I would have proved the truth of her assertion, sent me packing. + +So the week passed, the day came when we were to leave Williamsburg, and +at six o'clock one cool October morning, the great coach of the +Washingtons rolled westward down the sandy street, the maples casting +long shadows across the road. And on the side where Mistress Dorothy sat, +I was riding at the window. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A RIDE TO WILLIAMSBURG + + +I was received civilly enough at Riverview, and soon determined to remain +there until Major Washington returned from the west. My aunt treated me +with great consideration, doubtless because she feared to anger me, and I +soon fell into the routine of the estate. My cousin James, a roystering +boy of fourteen, was not yet old enough to be covetous, and he and I were +soon friends. Dorothy treated me as she had always done, with a hearty +sisterly affection, which gave me much uneasiness, 't was so unlike my +own, and I was at some pains to point out to her that we were not +cousins, nor, indeed, any relation whatsoever. In return for which she +merely laughed at me. + +By great good fortune, I found among the overseers on my aunt's estate a +man who had been a soldier of fortune in the Old World until some +escapade had driven him to seek safety in the colonies, and with my +aunt's permission, I secured him to teach me what he knew of the practice +of arms, a tutelage which he entered upon with fine enthusiasm. He was +called Captain Paul on the plantation,--a little, wiry man, with fierce +mustaches and flashing eyes, greatly feared by the negroes, though he +always treated them kindly enough, so far as I could see. He claimed to +be an Englishman,--certainly he spoke the language as well as any I ever +heard,--but his dark eyes and swarthy skin bespoke the Spaniard or +Italian, and his quickness with the foils the French. A strain of all +these bloods I think he must have had, but of his family he would tell me +nothing, nor of the trouble which had brought him over-sea. But of his +feats of arms he loved to speak,--and they were worth the telling. He had +been with Plelo's heroic little band of Frenchmen before Dantzic, where a +hundred deeds of valor were performed every day, and with Broglie before +Parma, where he had witnessed the rout of the Austrians. For hours +together I made him recount to me the story of his campaigns, and when he +grew weary of talking and I of listening, we had a round with the rapier, +or a bout with the sword on horseback, and as the weeks passed, I found I +was gaining some small proficiency. He drilled me, too, in another +exercise which he thought most important, that of shooting from horseback +with the pistol. + +"'T is an accomplishment which has saved my life a score of times," he +would say, "and of more value in a charge than any swordsmanship. A man +must be a swordsman to defend his honor, and a good shot with the pistol +to defend his life. Accomplished in both, he is armed cap-a-pie against +the world. The pistol has its rules as well as the sword. For instance,-- + +"'When you charge an adversary, always compel him to fire first, for the +one who fires first rarely hits his mark. + +"'At the instant you see him about to fire, make your horse rear. This +will throw your horse before you as a shield, and if the aim is true, 't +will be your horse that is hit and not yourself. The life of a horse is +valuable, but that of a man is more so. + +"If your horse has not been hit, or is not badly hurt, you have your +adversary at your mercy, and can either kill him or take him prisoner, as +you may choose. If he be well mounted, and well accoutred, it is usually +wisest to take him prisoner. + +"'If your horse has been hit mortally, take care that in falling you get +clear of him by holding your leg well out and so alighting on your feet. +You can easily recover in time to pistol your adversary as he passes. + +"'Above everything, learn to aim quickly, with both eyes open, the arm +slightly bent, the pistol no higher than the breast. When the arm is +fully extended, the tension causes it to tremble and so destroys the aim, +and the man who cannot hit the mark without sighting along the barrel is +usually dead before he can pull the trigger.'" + +These and many other things he told me, and that I threw myself with +eagerness into the lessons I need hardly say, though I never acquired his +proficiency with either pistol or rapier. For I have seen him bring down +a hawk upon the wing, or throwing his finger-ring high into the air, pass +his rapier neatly through it as it shot down past him. Another trick of +his do I remember,--une, deux, trois, and a turn of the wrist in +flanconade,--which seldom failed to tear my sword from my hand, so +quickly and irresistibly did he perform it. What his lot has been I do +not know, for when the king's troops came to Virginia, he was seized with +a strange restlessness and resigned from my aunt's service, going I know +not whither; but if he be alive, there is a place at my board and a +corner of my chimney for him, where he would be more than welcome. + +In the mean time, not a word had been received from Major Washington--we +called him major now, deeming that he had well earned the title--since +he had plunged into the wilderness at Will's Creek in mid-November, +accompanied only by Christopher Gist as guide, John Davidson and Jacob +Van Braam as interpreters, and four woodsmen, Barnaby Currin, John +M'Quire, Henry Steward, and William Jenkins, as servants. November and +December passed, and Christmas was at hand. There had been great +preparation for it at Riverview, for we of Virginia loved the holiday the +more because the Puritans detested it, and all the smaller gentry of the +county was gathered at the house, where there were feasting and dancing +and much merry-making. One incident of it do I remember most +distinctly,--that having, with consummate generalship, cornered Mistress +Dorothy under a sprig of mistletoe, I suddenly found myself utterly +bereft of the courage to carry the matter to a conclusion, and allowed +her to escape unkissed, for which she laughed at me most unmercifully +once the danger was passed, though she had feigned the utmost indignation +while the assault threatened. So the holidays went and New Year's came. + +It was the thirteenth of January, and in the dusk of the evening I was +riding back to the house as usual after my bout with Captain Paul, when I +heard far up the road behind me the beat of horse's hoofs. Instinctively +I knew it was Major Washington, and I drew rein and watched the rider +swinging toward me. In a moment he was at my side, and we exchanged a +warm handclasp from saddle to saddle. + +"I am on my way to Riverview," he said, as we again urged our horses +forward. "I hope to stay there the night and start at daybreak for +Williamsburg to make my report to the governor. Do you care to accompany +me, Mr. Stewart?" + +"Do you need to ask?" I cried. "And what was the outcome of your +mission, sir?" + +"There will be war," he said, and his face darkened. "It is as I +foresaw. The French are impudent, and claim the land belongs to them and +not to us." + +Neither of us spoke again, but I confess I was far from sharing the gloom +of my companion. Had I not determined to be a soldier, and how was a +soldier to find employment, but in war? I looked at him narrowly as we +rode, and saw that he was thinner than when he had left us, and that his +face was browned by much exposure. + +Right heartily was he welcomed to Riverview, and when dinner had been +served and ended, nothing would do but that he should sit down among us +and tell us the story of his mission. He could scarce have failed to draw +inspiration from such an audience, for Dorothy's eyes were sparkling, and +I was fairly trembling with excitement. Would that I could tell the story +as he told it, but that were impossible. + +He and his little party had gone from Will's Creek to the forks of the +Ohio, through the untrodden wilderness and across swollen streams, +struggling on over the threatening mountains and fighting their way +through the gloomy and unbroken forest, and thence down the river to the +Indian village of Logstown. There he had parleyed with the Indians for +near a week before he could persuade the Half King and three of his +tribesmen to accompany him as guides. Buffeted by unceasing storms, they +toiled on to Venango, where there was an English trading-house, which the +French had seized and converted into a military post. Chabert de Joncaire +commanded, and received the party most civilly. Major Washington was +banqueted that evening by the officers of the post, and as the wine +flowed freely, the French forgot their prudence, and declared +unreservedly that they intended keeping possession of the Ohio, whether +the English liked it or not. Joncaire, however, asserted that he could +not receive Dinwiddie's letter, and referred Major Washington to his +superior officer at Fort le Boeuf. So, leaving Venango, for four days +more the party struggled northward. The narrow traders' path had been +quite blotted out, and the forest was piled waist-deep with snow. At +last, when it seemed that human endurance could win no further, they +sighted the squared chestnut walls of Fort le Boeuf. + +The commander here, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, also received them well, +and to him Major Washington delivered his letter from Governor Dinwiddie, +asking by what right the French had crossed the Lakes and invaded British +territory, and demanding their immediate withdrawal. Saint-Pierre was +three days preparing his answer, which he intrusted to Major Washington, +and at the end of that time the latter, with great difficulty persuading +his Indians to accompany him, started back to Virginia. They reached +Venango on Christmas Day. Here their horses gave out, and he and Gist +pushed forward alone on foot, leaving the others to follow as best they +might. A French Indian fired at them from ambush, but missed his mark, +and to escape pursuit by his tribesmen, they walked steadily forward for +a day and a night, until they reached the Allegheny. They tried to make +the crossing on a raft, but were caught in the drifting ice and nearly +drowned before they gained an island in the middle of the river. Here +they remained all night, foodless and well-nigh frozen, and in the +morning, finding the ice set, crossed in safety to the shore. Once +across, they reached the house of a man named Fraser, on the +Monongahela,--a house they were to see again, but under far different +circumstances,--and leaving there on the first day of January, they made +their way back to the settlements without adventure. Major Washington had +reached Mount Vernon that afternoon, and after stopping to see his +mother, had ridden on to Riverview. + +Long before the recital ended, I was out of my chair and pacing up and +down the room, and Dorothy clapped her hands with joy when that perilous +passage of the Allegheny had been accomplished. + +"So you think there will be war?" I asked. "But you do not know what M. +de Saint-Pierre has written to the governor." + +"I can guess," he answered, with a smile. "Yes, there will be war." + +"And if there is?" I cried, all my eagerness in my face. + +"And if there is, Mr. Stewart," he said calmly, but with a deep light in +his eyes, "depend upon it, you shall go with me." + +I wrung his hand madly. I could have embraced him. Dorothy laughed at my +enthusiasm, but with a trace of tears in her eyes, or so I fancied. + +Well, we were finally abed, and up betimes in the morning. Our horses +were brought round from the stable, and our bags swung up behind the +saddles. I had tried in vain, all the morning, to corner Dorothy so +that I might say good-by with no one looking on, but the minx had +eluded me, and I had to be content with a mere handclasp on the steps +before the others. But as we rode away and I looked back for a last +sight of her, she waved her hands to me and blew me a kiss from her +fingers. So my heart was warm within me as we pushed on through the +dark aisles of the forest. + +The roads were heavy with mud and melting snow, for the weather had +turned warm, and it was not until mid-afternoon that we reached +Fredericksburg. We stopped there an hour to feed and wind our horses, and +then pressed on to the country seat of Mr. Philip Clayton, below Port +Royal, on the Rappahannock. Major Washington had met Mr. Clayton at +Williamsburg, and he welcomed us most kindly. By the evening of the +second day we had reached King William Court House, where we found a very +good inn, and the next day, just as evening came, we clattered into +Williamsburg, very tired and very dirty. But without drawing rein, Major +Washington rode straight to the governor's house, threw his bridle to a +negro, and ordered a footman to announce him at once to his master. + +"You are to come with me, Mr. Stewart," he said, seeing that I hesitated. +"'T will be a good time to present you to his Excellency," and we walked +together up the wide steps which led to the veranda. + +Even as we reached the top, the door at the end of the hall was thrown +violently open, and Governor Dinwiddie stumbled toward us, his face red +with excitement. He had evidently just risen from table, for he carried a +napkin in his hand, and there were traces of food on his expansive +waistcoat, for he was anything but a dainty feeder. His uncertain gait +showed that he still suffered from the effects of a recent attack of +paralysis. + +"By God, Major Washington," he cried, "but I'm glad to see you! I'd begun +to think the French or the Indians had gobbled you up. So you've got +back, sir? And did you see the French?" + +"I saw the French, your Excellency," answered Washington, taking his +outstretched hand. "I delivered your message, and brought one in reply. +But first let me present my friend, Mr. Thomas Stewart, who is a neighbor +of mine at Mount Vernon and a man of spirit." + +"Glad to meet you, Mr. Stewart," said Dinwiddie, and he gave me his hand +for an instant. "We may have need erelong of men of spirit." + +"I trust so, certainly, your Excellency," I cried, and bowed before him. + +Dinwiddie looked at me for an instant with a smile. + +"Come, gentlemen," he said, "you have been riding all day, I dare say, +and must have some refreshment," but Washington placed a hand on his arm +as he turned to give an order to one of the waiting negroes. + +"Not until I have made my report, Governor Dinwiddie," he said. + +Dinwiddie turned back to him. + +"You're a man after my own heart, Major Washington!" he cried. "Come into +my office, both of you, for, in truth, I am dying of impatience to hear +of the journey," and he led the way into a spacious room, where there was +a great table littered with papers, a dozen chairs, but little other +furniture. The candles were brought, and Dinwiddie dropped into a deep +chair, motioning Washington and myself to sit down opposite him. "Now, +major," he cried, "let us have your story." + +So Washington told again of the trip over the mountains and through the +forests, Dinwiddie interrupting from time to time with an exclamation of +wonder or approbation. + +"Here is the message from M. de Saint-Pierre," concluded Washington, +drawing a sealed packet from an inner pocket. "'T is somewhat stained by +water, but I trust still legible." + +Dinwiddie took it with nervous fingers, glanced at the superscription, +tore it open, and ran his eyes rapidly over the contents. My hands were +trembling, for I realized that on this note hung the issue of war or +peace for America. He read it through a second time more slowly, then +folded it very calmly and laid it down before him on the table. My heart +sank within me,--it was peace, then, and there would be no employment for +my sword. I had been wasting my time with Captain Paul. But when +Dinwiddie raised his eyes, I saw they were agleam. + +"M. de Saint-Pierre writes," he said, "that he cannot discuss the +question of territory, since that is quite without his province, but will +send my message to the Marquis Duquesne, in command of the French armies +in America, at Quebec, and will await his orders. He adds that, in the +mean time, he will remain at his post, as his general has commanded." + +We were all upon our feet. I drew a deep breath, and saw that +Washington's hand was trembling on his sword-hilt. + +"Since he will not leave of his own accord," cried Dinwiddie, his +calmness slipping from him in an instant, "there remains only one thing +to be done,--he must be made to leave, and not a French uniform must be +left in the Ohio valley! Major Washington, I offer you the senior +majorship of the regiment which will march against him." + +"And I accept, sir!" cried Washington, moved as I had seldom seen him. +"May I ask your Excellency's permission to appoint Mr. Stewart here one +of my ensigns?" + +"Certainly," said the governor heartily. "From what I have seen of Mr. +Stewart, I should conclude that nothing could be better;" and when I +tried to stammer my thanks, he waved his hand to me kindly and rang for +wine. "Let us drink," he said, as he filled the glasses, "to the success +of our arms and the establishment of his Majesty's dominion on the Ohio." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MY FIRST TASTE OF WARFARE + + +Whatever defects Dinwiddie may have had, indecision was certainly not one +of them, and the very next day the machinery was set in motion for the +advance against the French. Colonel Joshua Fry was selected to head the +expedition, and Colonel Washington made second in command. Colonel Fry at +one time taught mathematics at William and Mary, but found the routine of +the class-room too humdrum, and so sought a more exciting life. He had +found it along the borders of the frontier, and in 1750 was made colonel +of militia and member of the governor's council. Two years later, he was +sent to Logstown to treat with the Indians, and made a map of the colony. +He knew the frontier as well as any white man, and because of this was +chosen our commander. + +Not a moment was to be lost, for Colonel Washington, while at Fort le +Boeuf, had observed the great preparations made by the French to +descend the Allegheny in the spring and take possession of the Ohio +valley, but we hoped to forestall them. The triangle between the forks +of the Ohio was admirably adapted for fortification, and it was +proposed to throw up a fort there so that the French would get a warm +reception when their canoes came floating down the river, and be forced +to retreat to the Lakes. Dinwiddie's energy was wide-felt, and the +whole colony was soon astir. + +He convened the House of Burgesses, laid Colonel Washington's report +before it, and secured a grant of £10,000 for purposes of defense; he +urged the governors of the other colonies, from the Carolinas north to +Jersey, to send reinforcements at once to Will's Creek, whence the start +was to be made; he sent messengers with presents to the Ohio Indians, +pressing them to take up the hatchet against the French, and authorized +the enlistment of three hundred men. William Trent, an Indian trader, and +brother-in-law of Colonel George Croghan, was commissioned to raise a +company of a hundred men from among the backwoodsmen along the frontier, +and started at once for the Ohio country to get his men together and +begin work on the fort, the main body to follow so soon as it could be +properly equipped. + +Long before this I had secured my uniform and accoutrements,--which my +three shillings a day were far from paying for,--and was kept busy +superintending the storage of wagons or drilling under Captain Adam +Stephen, in whose company I was, at Alexandria. The men were for the most +part poor whites, who had enlisted because they could earn their bread no +other way, and promised to make but indifferent soldiers. We were +provided with ten cannon, all four-pounders, which had been presented by +the king to Virginia, and eighty barrels of powder, together with +small-arms, thirty tents, and six months' provision of flour, pork, and +beef. These were forwarded to Will's Creek as rapidly as possible, but at +the best it was slow work, and April was in sight before the expedition +was ready to move. During near all of this time, Colonel Washington was +virtually in command, for Colonel Fry was taken with a fever, which kept +him for the most part to his bed. There seemed no prospect of his +improvement, so he ordered the expedition to advance without him, he to +follow so soon as he could sit a horse. That time was never to come, for +he died at Will's Creek on the last day of May. + +So at last the advance commenced, and from daylight to sunset we fought +our way through the forest. It rained almost incessantly, and I admit the +work was more severe than I had ever done, for the bridle-paths were too +narrow to permit the passage of the guns and wagons, and a way had to be +cut for them; yet all the men were in good spirits, animated by the +example of Colonel Washington and the other officers. Those I came to +know best were of Captain Stephen's company, and a braver, merrier set of +men it has never been my privilege to meet. We were drawn from all the +quarters of the globe. There was Lieutenant William Poison, a Scot, who +had been concerned in the rebellion of '45, and so found it imperative to +come to Virginia to spend the remainder of his days, though at the first +scent of battle he was in arms again. There was Ensign William, +Chevalier de Peyronie, a French Protestant, driven from his home much as +the Fontaine family, and who had settled in Virginia. There was +Lieutenant Thomas Waggoner, whom I was to know so well a year later. And +above all, there was Ensign Carolus Gustavus de Spiltdorph, a quiet, +unassuming fellow, but brave as a lion, who lies to-day in an unmarked +grave on the bank of the Monongahela. I can see him yet, with his blue +eyes and blond beard, sitting behind a cloud of smoke in one corner of +the tent, listening to our wild talk with a queer gleam in his eyes, and +putting in a word of dry sarcasm now and then. For when the day's march +was done, those of us who were not on duty gathered in our tent and +talked of the time when we should meet the French. And Peyronie, because, +though a Frenchman, he had suffered most at their hands, was the most +bloodthirsty of us all. + +Then the first blow fell. It was the night of the twentieth of April, and +our force had halted near Colonel Cresap's house, sixteen miles from +Will's Creek. I was in charge of the sentries to the west of the camp. +The weather had been cold and threatening, with a dash of rain now and +then, and we had made only five miles that day, the guns and wagons +miring in the muddy road, which for the most part was through a marsh. As +evening came, the rain had set in steadily, and the sentries protected +themselves as best they could behind the trees or under hastily +constructed shelters. I had just made my first round and found all well, +when I heard a sentry near by challenge sharply. + +"What is it?" I cried, hastening to him, and then I saw that he had +stopped a horseman. The horse was breathing in short, uncertain gasps, as +though near winded. + +"A courier from the Ohio, so he says, sir," answered the sentry. + +"With an urgent message for Colonel Washington," added the man on +horseback. + +"Very well," I said, "come with me," and catching the horse by the +bridle, I started toward the commander's tent, in which a light was still +burning. A word to the sentry before it brought Colonel Washington +himself to the door, and he signed for us to enter. The courier slipped +from his horse, and would have fallen, had I not caught him and placed +him on his feet. + +"'T is the first time I have left the saddle for two days," he gasped, +and I helped him into the tent, where he dropped upon a stool. Washington +poured out a glass of brandy and handed it to him. He swallowed it at a +gulp, and it gave him back a little of his strength. + +"I bring bad news, Colonel Washington," he said. "Lieutenant Ward and his +whole command were captured by the French on the seventeenth, and the +fort at the forks of the Ohio is in their hands." + +I turned cold under the blow, but Washington did not move a muscle, only +his mouth seemed to tighten at the corners. + +"How did it happen?" he asked. + +"Captain Trent and his men arrived at the Ohio on the tenth of April," +said the courier, "and we set to work at once to throw up the fort. We +made good progress, but on the morning of the seventeenth, while Captain +Trent and thirty of the men were absent, leaving Lieutenant Ward in +command, the river was suddenly covered with canoes crowded with French +and Indians. There were at least eight hundred of them, and they had a +dozen pieces of artillery. We had no choice but to surrender." + +"On what terms?" questioned Washington quickly. + +"That we march out with the honors of war and return to Virginia." + +"And this was done?" + +"Yes, this was done. Lieutenant Ward and his men will join you in a +day or two." + +"You have done well," said Washington warmly. "I am sure Lieutenant Ward +could have done naught else under the circumstances. Forty men are not +expected to resist eight hundred, and I shall see that the occurrence is +properly represented to the governor. Lieutenant Stewart, will you see +that a meal and a good bed be provided? Good night, gentlemen." + +We saluted and left the tent, and I led him over to our company quarters, +where the best we had was placed before him. Other officers, who had got +wind of his arrival, dropped in, and he told again the story of the +meeting with the enemy. It was certain that there were from six to eight +hundred French and a great number of Indians before us, while we were +barely three hundred, and as I returned to my post, I wondered if +Colonel Washington would dare press on to face such odds. The answer came +in the morning, when the order was given to march as usual. Two days +later, we had reached Will's Creek, where we found Lieutenant Ward and +his men awaiting us. He stated that there were not less than a thousand +French at the forks of the Ohio. It was sheer folly to advance with our +petty force in face of odds so overwhelming, and a council of the +officers was called by Colonel Washington to determine what course to +follow. It was decided that we advance as far as Red Stone Creek, on the +Monongahela, thirty-seven miles this side the Forks, and there erect a +fortification and await fresh orders. Stores had already been built at +Red Stone for our munitions, and from there our great guns could be sent +by water so soon as we were ready to attack the French. In conclusion, it +was judged that it were better to occupy our men in cutting a road +through the wilderness than that they should be allowed to waste their +time in idleness and dissipation. + +Captain Trent and the thirty men who were with him, hearing from the +Indians of the disaster which had overtaken their companions, marched +back to meet us, and joined us the next day. Trent himself met cold +welcome, for his absence from the fort at the time of the attack was held +to be most culpable. Dinwiddie was so enraged, when he learned of it, +that he ordered Trent court-martialed forthwith, but this was never done. +His backwoodsmen were wild and reckless fellows, incapable of +discipline, and soon took themselves off to the settlements, while we +toiled on westward through the now unbroken forest. Our advance to Will's +Creek had been difficult enough, but it was nothing to the task which now +confronted us, for the country grew more rough and broken, and there was +not the semblance of a road. We were a week in making twenty miles, and +accomplished that only by labor well-nigh superhuman. + +The story of one day was the story of all the others. Obstacles +confronted us at every step, but we struggled forward, dragging the +wagons ourselves when the horses gave out, as they soon did, and finally, +toward the end of May, we won through to a pleasant valley named Great +Meadows, dominated by a mountain called Laurel Hill. Here there was +abundant forage, and as the horses could go no further, Colonel +Washington ordered a halt, and determined to await the promised +reinforcements. A few days later, a company of regulars under Captain +Mackay joined us, together with near a hundred men of the regiment who +had remained behind with Colonel Fry, raising our numbers to four hundred +men, though many were wasted with fever and dysentery. + +Those of us who were able set to work throwing up a breastwork of logs, +under the direction of Captain Robert Stobo, and at the end of three days +had completed an inclosure a hundred feet square, with a rude cabin in +the centre to hold our munitions and supplies. + +There had been many alarms that the French were marching against us, but +all of them had proved untrue, so when, some days after, the report +spread through the camp again that the enemy were near, I paid little +heed to it, and went to sleep as usual. How long I slept, I do not know, +but I was awakened by some one shaking me by the shoulder. + +"Get up at once, lieutenant, and report at headquarters," said a voice I +recognized as Waggoner's, and as I sat upright with a jerk, he passed on +to awake another sleeper. I was out of bed in an instant, and threw on my +clothing with nervous haste. I could hear a storm raging, and when I +stepped outside the tent, I was almost blinded by the rain, driven in +great sheets before the wind. I fought my way against it to Washington's +tent, where I found Captain Stephen and some thirty men, and others +coming up every moment. + +"What is it?" I asked of Waggoner, who had got back to headquarters +before me, but he shook his head to show that he knew no more than I. + +A moment later, the flap of the tent was raised, and Colonel Washington +appeared, wrapped in his cloak as though for a journey, and followed by +an Indian, who, I learned afterwards, was none other than the Half King. +He spoke a few words to Captain Stephen, and the order was given to form +in double rank and march, Colonel Washington himself leading the +expedition, which numbered all told some forty men. + +I shall never forget that midnight march through the forest, with the +rain falling in a deluge through the dripping trees, the lightning +flashing and the thunder rolling. We stumbled along upon each other's +heels, falling over logs or underbrush, the wet branches switching our +faces raw and soaking us through and through. It seemed to me that we +must have covered fifteen or twenty miles, at least, when the first gray +of the morning brightened the horizon and a halt was called, but really +we had come little more than five. Here it was found that seven men had +been lost upon the way, and that our powder was so wet that most of it +was useless, to many of us the charge in our firelocks being all that +remained serviceable. After an hour's halt, the order came again to +march, with caution to move warily. Scouts were thrown out ahead, and +soon came back with tidings that the enemy was hard by. + +My hands were trembling with excitement as we crept forward to the edge +of a rocky hollow, and as we looked down the slope, we could see the +French below. There were thirty of them or more, and they were getting +breakfast, their arms stacked beside them. Almost at the same instant +their sentries saw us and gave the alarm. + +"Follow me, men!" cried Washington, and he started down the slope, we +after him. As we went, the French sprang to arms and gave us a volley, +but it was badly aimed in their excitement and so did little damage. As +we closed in on them we returned their fire, and some eight or nine fell, +while the others, thinking doubtless that they had been surprised by a +large force, threw down their guns and held up their hands in token of +surrender. Captain Stephen had been slightly wounded, but charged on +down the slope ahead of us, and took prisoner a young officer, who +refused to surrender, but kept on fighting until his sword was knocked +from his hand. Then he began to tear his hair and curse in French, +pointing now and again to another officer who lay among the dead. He grew +so violent that he attracted Colonel Washington's attention. + +"Come here a moment, Lieutenant Peyronie," he called. "You understand +French. What is this fellow saying?" + +Peyronie exchanged a few words with the prisoner, who stooped, drew a +paper from the inner pocket of the dead officer's coat, and held it +toward us. Peyronie took it, glanced over it with grave countenance, and +turned to Colonel Washington. + +"This man is Ensign Marie Drouillon, sir," he said. "The party was in +command of Ensign Coulon de Jumonville, whom you see lying dead there. M. +Drouillon claims that the party did not come against us as spies, or for +the purpose of fighting, but simply to bring a message to you from M. de +Contrecoeur, who is in command of the fort at the forks of the Ohio, +which, it seems, has been named Fort Duquesne. This is the message," and +he held out the paper to Washington. + +"'Tis in French," said the latter, glancing over it. "What does it say?" + +"It warns you to return to the settlements," answered Peyronie, "on the +pretext that all the land this side the mountains belongs to France." + +Here the prisoner, who was evidently laboring under great excitement, +broke in, and said something rapidly in a loud voice, which made Peyronie +flush, and drew nods and cries of approbation from the other prisoners. + +"What does he say?" asked Washington, seeing that Peyronie hesitated. + +"He says, sir," answered Peyronie, with evident reluctance, "that M. de +Jumonville came in the character of an ambassador and has been +assassinated." + +Washington flushed hotly and his eyes grew dark. + +"Ask M. Drouillon," he said, "why an ambassador thought it necessary to +bring with him a guard of thirty men?" + +Peyronie put the question, but Drouillon did not reply. + +"Ask him also," continued Washington, "why he remained concealed near my +troops for three days, instead of coming directly to me as an ambassador +should have done?" + +Again Peyronie put the question, and again there was no answer. + +"Tell him," said Washington sternly, "that I see through his trick,--that +I comprehend it thoroughly. M. Jumonville counted on using his pretext of +ambassador to spy upon my camp, and to avert an attack in case he was +discovered. Well, he produced his message too late. He has behaved as an +enemy, and has been treated as such. That he is dead is wholly his own +fault. Had he chosen the part of an ambassador instead of that of a spy, +this would not have happened." + +He turned away, and apparently dismissed the matter from his mind, but +that it troubled him long afterward I am quite certain, though in the +whole affair no particle of blame attached to him. The French made a +great outcry about it, but I have never heard that any of them ever +answered the questions which were put to M. Drouillon. The truth of the +matter is, that they were only too eager for some pretext upon which to +base the assertion that it was the English who began hostilities, and +this flimsy excuse was the best they could invent. But that little brush +under the trees on that windy May morning was to have momentous +consequences, for it was the beginning of the struggle which drenched the +continent in blood. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE FRENCH SCORE FIRST + + +We marched back to the camp at Great Meadows with our prisoners,--some +twenty in all,--much elated at our success, but near dead with fatigue. +Lieutenant Spiltdorph was selected to escort them to Virginia, and set +off with them toward noon, together with twenty men, cursing the ill-luck +which deprived him of the opportunity to make the remainder of the +campaign with us. + +For that the French would march against us in force was well-nigh +certain, once they learned of Jumonville's defeat, of which the Indians +would soon inform them, and that we should be outnumbered three or four +to one seemed inevitable. But no one thought of retreat, our commander, I +am sure, least of all. He seemed everywhere at once, heartening the men, +inspecting equipment, overseeing the preparations for defense. The only +hostile element in the camp was the company of regulars under Captain +Mackay, who refused to assist in any of the work, asserting that they +were employed only to fight. Captain Mackay, too, holding his commission +from the king, claimed to outrank Colonel Washington, and yielded him but +a reluctant and sullen obedience. + +Christopher Gist, who had just come from Will's Creek with tidings of +Colonel Fry's death, was of the opinion that a much more effective +resistance might be made at his plantation, twelve miles further on, +where there were some strong log buildings and a ground, so he claimed, +admirably suited for intrenchment. Accordingly, we set out for there, +arriving after a fatiguing journey. The horses were in worse case than +ever, and only two miserable teams and a few tottering pack-horses +remained capable of working. Finally, on the twenty-ninth of June, the +Half King, who had been our faithful friend throughout, brought us word +that seven hundred French and three or four hundred Indians had marched +from Fort Duquesne against us. As the news spread through the camp, the +officers left the intrenchments upon which they had been at work, and +gathered to discuss the news. There a message from Colonel Washington +summoned us to a conference at Gist's cabin. + +"Gentlemen," he said, when we had all assembled, "I need not tell you +that the situation is most critical. We can scarce hope to successfully +oppose an enemy who outnumbers us three to one, and yet 't is impossible +to retreat without abandoning all our baggage and munitions, since we +have no means of transport." + +He fell silent for a moment, and no one spoke. I saw that the worry of +the last few weeks had left its mark upon him, for there was a line +between his eyes which I had never seen before, but which never left him +afterward. + +"What I propose," he said at last, "is to fall back to Great Meadows. I +believe it to be better fitted for defense than this place, which is +commanded by half a dozen hills, and where we could not hope to hold out +against artillery fire. At Great Meadows we can strengthen our +intrenchment in the middle of the plain, and the French will hardly dare +attempt to carry it by assault, since they must advance without cover for +two hundred yards or more. It is a charming field for an encounter. Has +any one a better plan?" + +Mackay was the first to speak. + +"'Tis better to lose our baggage than to lose both it and our lives," he +said. "The French may not care to risk an assault, but they have only to +sit down about the work for a day or two to starve us out." + +"That is true," answered Washington, and his face was very grave; "yet +reinforcements cannot be far distant. Two independent companies from New +York reached Annapolis a fortnight since, and are doubtless being hurried +forward. Other companies have arrived in the colony, and must be near at +hand. Besides," he added, in a firmer tone, "I cannot consent to return +to Virginia without striking at least one blow at the French, else this +expedition might just as well have never been begun." + +"That is the point!" cried Stephen. "Let us not run away until we see +something to run from. Your plan is the best possible under the +circumstances, Colonel Washington." + +We all of us echoed this opinion, and after thanking us warmly, our +commander bade us make ready at once for the return to Great Meadows. The +baggage was done into packs as large as a man could carry; a force was +told off to drag the swivels; the officers added their horses to the +train, and prepared to carry packs just as the men did. Colonel +Washington left half of his personal baggage behind, paying some soldiers +four pistoles to carry the remainder. So at daybreak we set out, the +sufferings of our men being greatly aggravated by the conduct of the +regulars, who refused to carry a pound of baggage or place a hand upon +the ropes by which we dragged our guns after us. + +The miseries of that day I hope never to see repeated. Men dropped +senseless on the road, or fell beneath the trees, unable to go further. +The main body of the troops struggled on, leaving these stragglers to +follow when they could, and on the morning of the next day we reached +Great Meadows, weak, trembling, and exhausted. But even here there was no +rest for us, for it was necessary to strengthen our defenses against the +attack which could not be long deferred. The breastwork seemed all too +weak now we knew the force which would be brought against it, and we +started to dig a trench around it, but so feeble were the men that it was +only half completed. Even at the best, our condition was little short of +desperate. Much of our ammunition had been ruined, and our supply of +provisions was near gone. We had been without bread for above a week, +and while we had plenty of cattle for beef, we had no salt with which to +cure the meat, and the hot summer sun soon made it unfit to eat. + +Yet, with all this, there was little murmuring, the example of our +commander encouraging us all. At our council in our tent that evening, +Peyronie, with invincible good humor, declared that no man could complain +so long as the tobacco lasted, and in a cloud of blue-gray smoke, we gave +our hastily constructed fort the suggestive name of "Fort Necessity." + +The morning of the third of July was spent by us in overhauling the +firelocks and making the last dispositions of our men. Colonel Washington +inspected personally the whole line, and saw that no detail was +overlooked. He had not slept for two nights, but seemed indefatigable, +and even the regulars cheered him as he passed along the breastwork. But +at last the inspection was finished and we settled down to wait. + +Peyronie and myself had been stationed at the northwest corner of the +fort with thirty men, and just before noon, from far away in the forest, +came the sound of a single musket shot. We waited in suspense for what +might follow, and in a moment a sentry came running from the wood with +one arm swinging useless by his side. + +"They have come!" he cried, as he tumbled over the breastwork. "They will +be here in a moment," and even as he spoke, the edge of the forest was +filled with French and Indians, and a lively fire was opened against us, +but the range was so great that the bullets did no damage. The drums beat +the alarm, and expecting a general attack, we were formed in column +before the intrenchment. But the enemy had no stomach for that kind of +work, and veered off to the south, where they occupied two little hills, +whence they could enfilade a portion of our position. We answered their +fire as best we could, but it was cruel, disheartening work. + +"Do you call this war?" asked Peyronie impatiently, after an hour of this +gunnery. "In faith, had I thought 'twould be like this, I had been less +eager to enlist. Why don't the cowards try an assault?" + +"Yes, why don't they?" and I looked gloomily at the wall of trees from +which jets of smoke and flame puffed incessantly. + +"'Tis not the kind of fighting I've been used to," cried Peyronie. "In +Europe we fight on open ground, where the best man wins; we do not skulk +behind the trees and through the underbrush. I've a good notion to try a +sally. What say you, Stewart?" + +"Here comes Colonel Washington," I answered. "Let us ask him." But he +shook his head when we proposed it to him. + +"'Twould be madness," he said. "They are three times our number, and +would pick us all off before we could reach the trees. No, the best we +can do is to remain behind our breastwork. It seems a mean kind of +warfare, I admit, but 'tis a kind we must get accustomed to, if we are +to fight the French and Indians;" and he walked on along his rounds, +speaking a word of encouragement here and there, and seemingly quite +unconscious of the bullets which whistled about him. + +Yet the breastwork did not protect us wholly, for now and then a man +would throw up his arms and fall with a single shrill cry, or roll over +in the mud of the trench, cursing horribly, with a bullet in him +somewhere. Doctor Craik, who had enlisted as lieutenant, was soon +compelled to lay aside his gun and do what he could to relieve their +suffering. Not for a moment during the afternoon did the enemy's fire +slacken, and the strain began to tell upon our men. The pieces grew foul, +there were only two screw-rods in the camp with which to clean them, and +as the hours passed, our fire grew less and less. The swivels had long +since been abandoned, for the gunners were picked off so soon as they +showed themselves above the breastwork. + +There had been mutterings of thunder and dashes of rain all the +afternoon, and now the storm broke in earnest, the rain falling in such +fury as I had never seen. The trenches filled with water, and we tried in +vain to keep dry the powder in our cartouch boxes. Not only was this wet, +but the rain leaked through the magazine we had built in the middle of +the camp, and ruined the ammunition we had stored there. So soon as the +rain slackened, the enemy resumed their fire, but Major Washington +forbade us to reply, since there was scarce a dozen rounds in the fort. +I confess that this species of fighting took the heart out of me, and I +could see no chance of a successful issue. + +I was sitting thus, looking gloomily out at the forest in front of me, +and wondering why the fire from there had ceased, when I noticed that +there seemed to be many more rocks and bushes scattered about the plain +than I had ever before observed. The gloom of the evening had fallen, and +I rubbed my eyes and looked again to make sure I was not mistaken. No, +there was no mistake, and I suddenly understood what was about to happen. + +"Peyronie," I whispered to my neighbor, who was sitting in the mud, +swearing softly under his mustache, "we are going to have some excitement +presently. The Indians are creeping up to carry us by assault." + +"What?" he exclaimed, sitting suddenly upright. "Oh, no such luck!" + +"Yes, but they are," I insisted. "Watch those bushes out there. See, they +'re moving up toward us." + +He rose to his knees and peered keenly out through the gloom. + +"Pardieu," he muttered after a moment, "so they are! Well, we shall be +ready for them." + +We passed the word around to our men, and startled them into new life. +The muskets were primed sparingly with dry powder, and we waited with +tense nerves for the assault. The fusillade from the hills had been +redoubled, but a terrible and threatening silence hung over the +intrenchment, and doubtless encouraged our assailants to believe that our +ammunition was quite gone. Near and nearer crept the Indians, fifty or +sixty of them at least, and perhaps many more, and we lay still with +bursting pulses and waited. Now the foremost of them was scarce forty +yards away, and suddenly, with a yell, they were all upon their feet and +charging us. + +"Tirez, tirez!" shouted Peyronie, forgetting his English in his +excitement, and we sent a volley full into them. It was a warmer +reception than they had counted on, and they wavered for a moment, but +there must have been a Frenchman leading them, for they rallied, and came +on again with a rush. We met them with fixed bayonets, but they +outnumbered us so greatly that we must have given way before them had not +Colonel Washington, hearing the uproar and guessing its meaning, dashed +over at the head of reinforcements and given them another volley. As I +was reloading with feverish haste, I saw an Indian rush at Colonel +Washington with raised tomahawk. Washington raised his pistol, coolly +took aim, and pulled the trigger, but the powder flashed and did not +explode. With the sweat starting from my forehead, I dashed some powder +into the pan of my pistol, jerked it up, and fired. Ah, Captain Paul, how +I blessed your lessons in that moment! for the ball went true, and the +Indian rolled in the mud almost at Washington's feet. They had had +enough, and those who were still alive leaped the trench and disappeared +into the outer darkness. + +"They won't try that again," I remarked to Peyronie, who was sitting +against the breastwork. "But what is it, man? Are you wounded?" I cried, +seeing that he was very pale and held both hands to his breast. + +"Yes, I am hit here," he answered, and added, as I fell on my knees +beside him and began to tear the clothing from the wound, "but do not +distress yourself, Stewart. I can be attended after the battle is won." + +"Nonsense," I said. "You shall be attended at once." He smiled up at me, +and then went suddenly white and fell against my shoulder. I tore away +his shirt, and saw that blood was welling from a wound in the breast. I +propped him against the wall, and ordering one of the men to go for +Doctor Craik, stanched the blood as well as I could. The doctor hastened +to us so soon as he could leave his other wounded, but he shook his head +gravely when he saw Peyronie's injury. + +"A bad case," he said. "Clear into the lungs, I think. But I have seen +men recover of worse hurts," he added, seeing how pale I was. + +I watched him as he bound up the wound with deft fingers, and then +between us we carried him to the little cabin, which had been converted +from magazine to hospital, and was already crowded from wall to wall. It +was with a sore heart that I left him and returned to the breastwork, for +I had come to love Peyronie dearly. The event was not so serious as I +then feared, for, after a gallant fight for life, he won the battle, +recovered of his wound, and lived to do service in another war. + +The repulse of the Indians seemed to have disheartened the enemy, for +their fire slackened until only a shot now and then broke the stillness +of the night. Our condition was desperate as it could well be, yet I +heard no word of surrender. I was sitting listlessly, thinking of +Peyronie's wound, when a whisper ran along the lines that the French were +sending a flag of truce. Sure enough, we could see a man in white uniform +approaching the breastwork, waving a white flag above his head. He was +halted by the sentries while yet some distance off, and Colonel +Washington sent for. He appeared in a moment. + +"Where is Lieutenant Peyronie?" he asked. "We will have need of him." + +"He is wounded, sir," I answered. "He was shot through the breast during +the assault." + +Washington glanced about at the circle of faces. + +"Is there any other here who speaks French?" he asked. + +There was a moment's silence. + +"Why, sir," said Vanbraam at last, "I have managed to pick up the fag +ends of a good many languages during my life, and I can jabber French +a little." + +"Very well," and Washington motioned him forward. "Mount the breastwork +and ask this fellow what he wants." + +Vanbraam did as he was bid, and there was a moment's high-toned +conversation between him and the Frenchman. + +"He says, sir," said Vanbraam, "that he has been sent by his commander, +M. Coulon-Villiers, to propose a parley." + +Washington looked at him keenly. + +"And he wishes to enter the fort?" + +"He says he wishes to see you, sir." + +Washington glanced about at the mud-filled trenches, the ragged, weary +men, the haggard faces of the officers, the dead scattered here and there +along the breastwork, and his face grew stern. + +"'Tis a trick!" he cried. "He wishes to see how we are situated. Tell him +that we do not care to parley, but are well prepared to defend ourselves +against any force the French can muster." + +I gasped at the audacity of the man, and the Frenchman was doubtless no +less astonished. He disappeared into the forest, but half an hour later +again approached the fort. Vanbraam's services as interpreter were called +for a second time, and there was a longer parley between him and the +messenger. + +"He proposes," said Vanbraam, when the talk was finished, "that we send +two officers to meet two French officers, for the purpose of agreeing +upon articles of capitulation. M. Coulon-Villiers states that he is +prepared to make many concessions, and he believes this course will be +for the advantage of both parties." + +Washington looked around at the officers grouped about him. + +"It is clear that we must endeavor to make terms, gentlemen," he said. +"The morning will disclose our plight to the enemy, and it will then be +no longer a question of terms, but of surrender. At present they believe +us capable of defense, hence they talk of concessions. What say you, +gentlemen?" + +There was nothing to be said except to agree, and Vanbraam and Captain +Stephen were sent out to confer with the French. They returned in the +course of an hour, bringing with them the articles already signed by +Coulon-Villiers, and awaiting only Colonel Washington's ratification. +Vanbraam read them aloud by the light of a flickering candle, and we +listened in silence until he had finished. They were better than we could +have hoped, providing that we should march out at daybreak with all the +honors of war, drums beating, flags flying, and match lighted for our +cannon; that we should take with us our baggage, be protected from the +Indians, and be permitted to retire unmolested to Virginia, in return for +which we were to release all the prisoners we had taken a few days +before, and as they were already on their way to the colony, should leave +two officers with the French as hostages until the prisoners had been +delivered to them. + +There was a moment's silence when Vanbraam had finished reading, and +then, without raising his head, Colonel Washington signed, and threw the +pen far from him. Then he arose and walked slowly to his quarters, and I +saw him no more that night. Captain Mackay insisted also that he must +sign the paper, and, to my intense disgust, wrote his name in above that +of our commander. + +There was little sleep for any of us that night, and I almost envied +Peyronie tossing on his blanket, oblivious to what was passing about him. +Vanbraam and Robert Stobo were appointed to accompany the French back to +the Ohio, to remain there as hostages, and we all shook hands with them +before they went away through the darkness toward the French camp. + +But the night passed, and at daybreak we abandoned the fort and began the +retreat, carrying our sick and wounded on our backs, since the Indians +had killed all our horses. Most of our baggage was perforce left behind, +and the Indians lost no time in looting it. That done, they pressed +threateningly upon our rear, so that an attack seemed imminent, nor did +the French make any effort to restrain them; but we held firm, and the +Indians finally drew off and returned to the fort, leaving us to cover as +best we might those weary miles over the mountains. By the promise of ten +pistoles, I had secured two men to bear Peyronie between them on a +blanket, but 'twas impossible to treat all the wounded so, and the +fainting men staggered along under their screaming burdens, falling +sometimes, and lying where they fell from sheer exhaustion. + +What Colonel Washington's feelings were I could only guess. He strode at +the head of the column, his head bowed on his breast, his heart doubtless +torn by the suffering about him, and saying not a word for hours +together, nor did any venture to approach him. I doubt if ever in his +life he will be called upon to pass through a darker hour than he did on +that morning of the fourth of July, 1754. Through no fault of his, the +power of England on the Ohio had been dealt a staggering blow, and his +pride and ambition crushed into the dust. + +What need to tell of that weary march back to the settlements, the +suffering by the way, the sorry reception accorded us, the consternation +caused by the news of French success? At Winchester we met two companies +from North Carolina which had been marching to join us, and these were +ordered to Will's Creek, to establish a post to protect the frontier from +the expected Indian aggression. Captain Mackay and his men remained at +Winchester, while our regiment returned to Alexandria to rest and +recruit. As for me, I was glad enough to put off the harness of war and +make the best of my way back to Riverview, saddened and humbled by this +first experience, which was so different from the warfare of which I had +read and dreamed, with its bright pageantry, its charges and shock of +arms, its feats of single combat. Fate willed that I was yet to see +another, trained on the battlefields of Europe, humbled in the dust by +these foes whom I found so despicable, and the soldiers of the king +taught a lesson they were never to forget. + +One word more. Perhaps I have been unjust to Captain Mackay and his men. +Time has done much to soften the bitterness with which their conduct +filled me, and as I look back now across the score of years that lie +between, I can appreciate to some degree their attitude toward our +commander. Certainly it might seem a dangerous thing to intrust an +enterprise of such moment to a youth of twenty-two, with no knowledge of +warfare but that he had gained from books. It is perhaps not wonderful +that veterans should have looked at him askance, and I would not think of +them too harshly. He doubtless made mistakes,--as what man would not +have done?--yet I believe that not even the first captain of the empire +could have snatched victory from odds so desperate. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +DREAM DAYS AT RIVERVIEW + + +In the many summer evenings which followed, I played the part of that +broken soldier, who, as Mr. Goldsmith tells us so delightfully, + +"talked the night away, +Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done, +Shouldered his crutch and showed how fields were won." + +Alas, I could show not how they were won, but only how they were lost, +and how was one to clothe in romance a battle which had been fought in +the midst of mud and rain, from behind a breastwork, and with scarce a +glimpse of the enemy? But I had a rapt audience of two in James and +Dorothy. They were not critical, and I told the story of Great Meadows +over and over again, a score of times. + +A hundred yards from the house, overlooking on one side the willow-draped +waters of Occoquan Inlet, and on the other the broad and placid river, a +seat had been fashioned between two massive oaks, and here, of an +evening, it was our wont to go. Sometimes, by great good fortune, James +did not accompany us, and Dorothy and I would sit there alone together +and watch the shadows deepen across the water. Our talk would falter and +die away before the beauty of the scene, and there would be long +silences, broken only now and then by a half whispered sentence. I had +never known a sweeter time, and even yet, when night is coming on, I love +to steal forth to sit there again and gaze across the water and dream +upon the past. + +During the day, I saw but little of the other members of the family, and +was left greatly to my own resources. My aunt was ever busy with the +management of the estate, to every detail of which she gave personal +attention, and which she administered with a thrift and thoroughness I +could not but admire. The worry of incessant business left its mark upon +her. The lines in her face deepened, and the silver in her hair grew more +pronounced, but though she doubtless felt her strength failing, she clung +grimly to the work. I would have offered to assist her but that I knew +she would resent the suggestion, and would believe I made it to gain some +knowledge of the income from the estate, of which I had always been kept +in densest ignorance, and with which, indeed, I troubled myself but +little. I think her old fear of my claiming the place came on her again, +and though she always tried to treat me civilly, the effort in the end +proved too great for her overwrought nerves, as you shall presently hear. + +Upon Dorothy fell the duty of looking after the household, and she went +about it cheerfully and willingly. Her mornings were passed in +instructing the servants in their duties and seeing that their work was +properly done. There were visits to the pantry and kitchen, and a long +conference with the cook, so that noon was soon at hand. The afternoon +was spent in the great workroom on the upper floor, into which I ventured +to peep once or twice, only to be bidden to go about my business. But it +was a pleasant sight, and I sometimes gathered courage to steal down the +corridor for a glimpse of it. There sat Dorothy in a dainty gown of +Covent Garden calico, directing half a dozen old negro women, who were +cutting out and sewing together the winter clothing of fearnaught for the +slaves. Two or three girls had been brought in to be taught the mysteries +of needle-craft, and Dorothy turned to them from time to time to watch +their work and direct their rebellious fingers. I would fain have taken a +lesson, too, but when I proposed this one day, representing how great my +need might be when I was over the mountains far away from any woman, +Dorothy informed me sternly, amid the titters of the others, that my +fingers were too big and clumsy to be taught to manage so delicate an +instrument as a needle, and sent me from the room. + +Young James had also much to occupy his time. His mother was as yet in +doubt whether he should complete his education at William and Mary, as I +had done, or should be sent to London to acquire the true polish. The boy +greatly favored the latter course, as any boy of spirit would have done, +and his mother would have yielded to him readily, but for the stories she +had heard of the riotous living which prevailed among the young blades in +London, and of which she had had ample confirmation from Parson Scott, +who, I suspect, before coming to his estate at Westwood, had ruffled it +with the best of them. Whether it should be Williamsburg or London, the +boy was required to be kept at his books every morning, and was off every +afternoon to the Dumfries tavern, where there was always a crowd of +ne'er-do-wells, promoting a cock-fight, or a horse race, or eye-gouging +contest. Sometimes, he elected to spend the evening in this company, and +it was then that Dorothy and I were left alone together on the seat +beside the river. + +But when Sunday came, there was another story. The great coach was +brought from the stable and polished till it shone again,--indeed, it had +been polished so often and so vigorously that its gilding and paint began +to show the marks of it. The four horses were led out, rubbed down from +nose to heel, and harnessed in their brightest trappings. The driver, +footman, and two outriders donned their liveries, in which they were the +envy of all the other servants, and the coach was driven around to the +front of the house, from which presently emerged Madame Stewart, in a +stately gown of flowered calamanco, her fan and gold pomander in her +hand. Then came Dorothy, her sweet face looking most coquettish under her +Ranelagh mob of gauze, the ribbons crossed beneath her chin and +fluttering half a yard behind. As she tripped down the stops and lifted +her tiffany petticoat ever so little, I could catch a glimpse of the +prettiest pair of ankles in the world in silk-clocked hose, for the +reader can guess without my telling that I was close behind, holding her +kerchief or her fan or her silver étui until she should be safely seated +in the coach. And that once done, the whip cracked, the wheels started, +and I swung myself on horseback and trotted along beside the window, on +Dorothy's side, you may be sure. + +So, in great state, we proceeded to the new Quantico church near +Dumfries, a prodigious fine structure of brick, built the year before at +a cost of a hundred thousand weight of tobacco, of which my aunt had +contributed a tenth. The other members of the congregation awaited our +arrival, grouped before the door, and, entering after us, remained +decently standing till we had mounted to the loft and taken our seats, a +show of deference which greatly pleased my aunt. The church was built in +a little recess from the road, in the midst of a grove of ancient trees, +cruciform, as so many others were throughout the colony, and stands today +just as it stood then,--as I have good cause to know, for 't was in that +church, before that altar--But there, you shall learn it all in time. + +Doctor Scott was a goodly preacher, but the one portion of the service +for me was the singing, when I might stand beside Dorothy and listen to +her voice. She sang with whole heart and undivided mind, recking nothing +of me standing spellbound there. Indeed, I think the pastor shrewdly saw +that her singing was a means of grace no less than his expounding, and he +never failed to journey to Riverview on a Friday to talk over with her +what should be her part in the service on the coming Sunday. Nor did I +ever know her to refuse this labor,--not because she was vain of her +power, but because she saw the good it did. + +The service once over, there were greetings to exchange, the news of the +neighborhood to talk over, crops to discuss, and what not. My heart would +burn within me as I saw the men buzzing about Dorothy like flies about a +dish of honey, though my jealousy was lightened when I saw that while she +had a gay word for each of them, she smiled on all alike. The minx could +read my mind like an open book, whether I was moping in one corner of the +churchyard or on the bench beside her, and she loved to tease me by +pretending great admiration for this man or that, and consulting me about +him as she would have done a brother. Which, I need hardly say, annoyed +me vastly. + +The gossip over, we drove home again to lunch, after which, on the wide +veranda or the bench by the river's edge, I would read Dorothy some bits +of Mr. Addison or Mr. Pope, which latter she could not abide, though his +pungent verses fell in exceeding well with my melancholy humor. Evening +past and bedtime come, I lighted Dorothy's candle for her at the table in +the lower hall, where the silver sticks were set out in their nightly +array like French soldiers, gleaming all in white, and when I gave it to +her and bade her good-night at the stair-foot, I got her hand to hold for +an instant. Then to my room, where over innumerable pipes of +sweet-scented, I struggled with some halting verses of my own until my +candle guttered in its stick. + +Hours and hours did I pass thinking how I might tell her of my love, but +at the last I concluded it were better to say nothing, until I had +something more to offer her. What right had I, I questioned bitterly, to +offer marriage to any maid, when I had no home to which to take a wife, +and I had never felt the irksomeness of my circumstances as I did at that +moment. Something of my thought she must have understood, for she was +very kind to me, and never by any word or act showed that she thought of +the poverty of my condition. + +So August and September passed, and great events were stirring. The House +of Burgesses had met, and had been much impressed by the showing we had +made against the French, so that they passed a vote of thanks to Colonel +Washington for his distinguished services, and to the officers and men +who had been with him. Dinwiddie was most eager that another advance +should be made at once against Duquesne, but Colonel Washington pointed +out how hopeless any such attempt must be against the overwhelming odds +the enemy would bring against us. + +The news of French aggression on the Ohio and of our defeat at Fort +Necessity had opened the eyes of the court to the danger which threatened +the colonies, and great preparations were set on foot for an expedition +to be sent to Virginia in the early spring. Parliament voted £50,000 +toward its expenses, and it was proposed to equip it on such a scale +that the French could not hope to stand before it. So it was decided that +nothing more should be attempted by the colony until the forces from +England had arrived. And then, one day, came the astounding news that +Colonel Washington had resigned from the service and returned to Mount +Vernon. A negro whom Dorothy had sent on some errand to Betty Washington +had brought the news back with him. I could scarcely credit it, and was +soon galloping toward Mount Vernon to confirm it for myself. I dare say +the ten miles of river road were never more quickly covered. As I turned +into the broad graveled way which led past the garden up to the house, I +saw a tall and well-known figure standing before the door, and he came +toward me with a smile as I threw myself from the saddle. + +"Ah, Tom," he cried, "I thought I should see you soon," and he took my +hand warmly. + +"Is it true," I asked, too anxious to delay an instant the solution of +the mystery, "that you have left the service?" + +"Yes, it is true." + +"And you will not make the campaign?" + +"I see no prospect now of doing so." + +"But why?" I asked. "Pardon me, if I am indiscreet." + +"'Tis a reason which all may know," and he smiled grimly, "which, indeed, +I wish all to know, that my action may not be misjudged." + +We were walking up and down before the door, and he paused a moment as +though to choose his words, lest he say more than he desired. + +"You know there has been great unpleasantness," he said at last, "between +officers holding royal commissions and those holding provincial ones, +concerning the matter of precedence. You may remember that Captain Mackay +held himself my superior at Fort Necessity, because he had his commission +from the crown." + +Of course I remembered it, as well as the many disagreements which the +contention had occasioned. + +"It was evident that the question must be settled one way or another," +continued Washington, "and to do this, an order has just been issued by +the governor. The order provides that no officer who does not derive his +commission immediately from the king can command one who does." + +It was some minutes before I understood the full effect which such an +order would have. + +"Do you mean," I asked at last, "that you would be outranked by every +subaltern in the service who holds a royal commission?" + +"Unquestionably," and Washington looked away across the fields with a +stern face. + +"But that is an outrage!" I cried. "What, every whippersnapper in the +line be your superior? Why, it's rank folly!" + +"So I thought," said Washington, "and therefore I resigned, and refused +to serve under such conditions." + +"And you did right," I said warmly. "You could have taken no other +course." + +But much pressure was brought to bear upon him to get him back into the +service. General Sharpe was most anxious to secure the services of the +best fighter and most experienced soldier in Virginia, and urged him to +accept a company of the Virginia troops; but he replied shortly that, +though strongly bent to arms, he had no inclination to hold a commission +to which neither rank nor emolument attached. And that remained his +answer to all like importunities. Whereat the authorities were greatly +wroth at him, from Governor Dinwiddie down, and seeking how they might +wound him further, cut from the rolls the names of half a dozen officers +whom they knew to be his friends. I was one of those who got a discharge, +the reason alleged in my case being that the companies had been so +reduced in number that there was not need of so many officers. It was a +heavy blow to me, I admit, and I think for a time Washington wavered in +his purpose; but his friends, of whom many now came to Mount Vernon, +persuaded him to remain firm in his resolution, confident that when the +commander-in-chief arrived and learned how matters stood, he would make +every reparation in his power. At the bottom of the entire trouble was, I +think, Dinwiddie's jealousy of Washington's growing popularity and +influence, a jealousy which had been roused by every man who had come +into great favor with the people since Dinwiddie had been +lieutenant-governor of Virginia. + +During the months that followed I was much at Mount Vernon. Indeed, it +was during that winter that we formed the warm attachment which still +continues. The family life there attracted me greatly, and I cannot +sufficiently express my admiration for Mrs. Washington. She was slight +and delicate of figure, but not even her eldest son, who towered above +her, possessed a greater dignity or grace. I loved to sit at one corner +of the great fireplace and see her eyes kindle with pride and affection +as she gazed at him, nor did her other children love him less than she. + +With the new year came renewed reports of activity in England. Two +regiments under command of Major-General Braddock were to be sent to +Virginia, whence, after being enforced by provincial levies, they were to +march against the French. I need not say how both Colonel Washington and +myself chafed at the thought that we were not to make the campaign; but +when he suggested accepting a commission as captain of the provincial +troops, his friends protested so against it that he finally abandoned the +idea for good and all, and we settled down to bear the inactivity as best +we could. But at last the summons came. + +It was Colonel Washington's twenty-third birthday, and there was quite a +celebration at Mount Vernon. The members of the family were all there, as +were Dorothy, her brother, and myself, as well as many other friends from +farther down the neck. Dinner was served in the long, low-ceilinged +dining-room, with the wide fireplace in one corner. What a meal it was, +with Mrs. Washington at the table-head and her son at the foot, yes, and +Dorothy there beside me with the brightest of bright eyes! I was ever a +good trencherman, and never did venison, wild turkey, and great yellow +sweet potatoes taste more savorsome than they did that day, with a jar of +Mrs. Washington's marmalade for relish. At the end came Pompey with a +great steaming bowl of flip, and as the mugs were filled and passed from +hand to hand, Dorothy and Betty Washington plunged in the red-hot irons +with great hissing and sizzle and an aroma most delicious. We pledged our +host, the ladies sipping from our cups--need I say who from mine?--with +little startled cries of agitation when the liquor stung them. Then they +left us to our pipes; but before the smoke was fairly started, there came +the gallop of a horse up the roadway past the kitchen garden, and a +moment later the great brass knocker was plied by a vigorous hand. We sat +in mute expectancy, and presently old Pompey thrust in his head. + +"Gen'leman t' see you, sah," he said to Colonel Washington. + +"Show him in here, Pomp," said the colonel; and a moment later one of +the governor's messengers entered, booted and spurred, his clothing +splashed with mud. + +"I have a message for you from the governor, Colonel Washington," he +said, saluting, and holding out a letter bearing the governor's +great seal. + +Washington took it without a trace of emotion, though I doubt not his +heart was beating as madly as my own. + +"Sit down, sir," he said heartily to the messenger, "and taste our +punch. I am sure you will find it excellent;" and when he had seen him +seated and served, he turned away to the window and opened the letter. +I watched him eagerly as he read it, and saw a slow flush steal into +his cheeks. + +"There is nothing here I may not tell, gentlemen," he said after a +moment, turning back to the group about the table. "Governor Dinwiddie +writes me that General Braddock and the first of the transports have +arrived safely off Hampton, and that he desires me to meet him in +Williamsburg as soon as possible, as he thinks my knowledge of the +country may be of some value. I shall start in the morning," he added, +turning to the messenger. "I trust you will remain and be our guest +till then." + +"Gladly," answered the man, "and ride back with you." So it was settled. + +We were not long away from the women after that, for they must hear the +great news. Colonel Washington refused to speculate about it, but I was +certain he was to be proffered some employment in the coming campaign +commensurate with his merit. The afternoon passed all too quickly, and +the moment came for us to start back to Riverview. Dorothy ran upstairs +to don her safeguard, the horses were brought out, and James and I +struggled into our coats. Dorothy was back in a moment, kissed Mrs. +Washington and Betty, and I helped her adjust her mask and lifted her to +the saddle. I felt my cheeks burning as I turned to bid good-by to +Colonel Washington, who had followed us from the house. + +"If it should be an appointment," I began, as I grasped his hand. + +"You maybe sure I shall not forget you, Tom," he said, smiling down into +my eager face. "I think it very likely that we shall march together to +fight the French." + +And those last words rang in my ears all the way back to Riverview. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DOROTHY MAKES HER CHOICE + + +I had been much from home during the winter, and, engrossed in my own +thoughts, had taken small account of what was passing, but I soon found +enough to occupy me. Dorothy had spent a month at Mount Pleasant, the +seat of the Lees, some distance down the river, and when she returned, I +soon began to suspect that she had left her heart there; for one day +there came riding up to Riverview Mr. Willoughby Newton, whose estate was +near Mount Pleasant, and the way that Dorothy blushed when she welcomed +him aroused my ire at once. Now Mr. Willoughby Newton was a very handsome +and proper gentleman, and on his broad acres grew some of the sweetest +tobacco that ever left Virginia; but I could scarce treat him civilly, +which only shows what an insufferable puppy I still was, and I made +myself most miserable. His learning was more of the court and camp than +of the bookshelf,--a defect which I soon discovered,--and I loved to set +him tripping over some quibble of words, a proceeding which amused me +vastly, though my mirth was shared by none of the others who witnessed +it. In fact, Madame Stewart was partial to the man from the first, in +which I do not blame her, for a better match could not have been desired +for her daughter. She made him see his welcome, and he doubtless thought +the road to Dorothy's heart a fair and easy one. I certainly thought so, +and I spent my days in moping about the place, cutting a most melancholy +and unattractive figure. + +I can look back now with a smile upon those days, realizing what a +ridiculous sight I must have been, but at the time, their tragedy was for +me a very real and living one. Newton had passed some years in London, +and had picked up there the graces of the court, as well as much of its +frippery gossip, which latter he was fond of retailing, to my great +disgust, but to the vast entertainment of the ladies, who found no fault +with it, though it was four or five years old. He could tell a story well +and turn a joke to a nicety,--a fact which I was at that time far from +admitting,--and under other circumstances I should have found him a witty +and amusing friend. I think he soon saw what my feelings were,--indeed, +even a more obtuse man would have had no difficulty in understanding +them,--and he treated me with a good-humored condescension which +irritated me beyond measure. And yet, unquestionably, it was the only +treatment my behavior merited. + +The climax came one evening after dinner. We had both, perhaps, had a +glass of wine too much before we joined the ladies. Certainly, no words +had passed between us when they had left the table, and there was nothing +to do but drink, which we did with moody perseverance. But once before +the fire in the great hall, with Madame Stewart knitting on one side and +Dorothy bending over her tambour on the other, his mood changed and he +grew talkative enough, while I sat down near the candles and pretended to +be absorbed in a book. + +"Do you know, ladies," he said, "this reminds me of nothing so much as a +night in London just five years ago, when the great earthquake was. We +were sitting around the fire, just as we are siting now, Tommy Collier on +my right, and Harry Sibley on my left, when the bottles on the table +began to clink and the windows to rattle, and poor Harry, who was leaning +back in his chair, crashed over backwards to the floor. We picked him up +and went out into the street, where there was confusion worse confounded. +Windows were thrown open, women were running up and down clad only in +their smocks, and one fellow had mounted a barrel and was calling on the +people to repent because the Day of Judgment was at hand. Somebody +predicted there would be another earthquake in a week, and so the next +day the people began to pour out of town, not because they were +frightened, but 'Lord, the weather is so fine,' they said, 'one can't +help going into the country.'" + +"You found the country very pleasant, Mr. Newton, I dare say," I +remarked, looking up from my book. He did not at once understand the +meaning of my question, but Dorothy did, and flushed crimson with +anger. The sight of her disapproval and Madame Stewart's frowning face +maddened me. + +"No," he said slowly, after a moment, "I did not leave the city, but +hundreds of people did. Within three days, over seven hundred coaches +were counted passing Hyde Park corner, with whole families going to the +country. The clergy preached that it was judgment on London for its +wickedness, and that the next earthquake would swallow up the whole town. +The ridotto had to be put off because there was no one to attend it, and +the women who remained in town spent their time between reading +Sherlock's sermons and making earthquake gowns, in which they proposed to +sit out of doors all night." + +"Pray, what was the color of your gown, Mr. Newton?" I inquired, with a +polite show of interest. + +Newton rose slowly from his chair and came toward me. + +"Am I to understand that you mean to insult me, sir?" he asked, when he +had got quite near. + +"You are to understand whatever you please," I answered hotly, throwing +my book upon the table. + +"Tom," cried Dorothy, "for shame, sir! Have you taken leave of +your senses?" + +"Do not be frightened, I beg of you, Miss Randolph," interrupted Newton, +restraining her with one hand. "I assure you that I have no intention of +injuring the boy." + +"Injuring me, indeed!" I cried, springing to my feet, furious with rage, +for I could not bear to be patronized. "It is you who are insulting, and +by God you shall answer for it!" + +"As you will," he said, with a light laugh, and turned back to the fire. + +I knew that I had got all the worst of the encounter, that I had behaved +with a rudeness for which there was no excuse, and that I cut a sorry +figure standing there, and my face burned at the knowledge. But +preserving what semblance of dignity I could, I stalked from the hall and +upstairs to my room. I sat a long time thinking over the occurrence, and +the more I pondered it, the more clearly I saw that I had played the +fool. I did not know then, but I learned long afterward, that my conduct +that night came near losing me the great happiness of my life. My cheeks +flush even now as I think of my behavior. How foolish do the tragedies of +youth appear, once time has tamed the blood! + +I did not wonder in the morning to receive a summons from my aunt, and I +found her in her accustomed chair before the table piled with papers. She +glanced at me coldly as I entered, and finished looking over a paper she +held in her hand before she spoke to me. + +"I need not tell you," she said at length, "how greatly your boorish +conduct of last night surprised me. To insult a guest, and especially to +do so without provocation, is not the part of a gentleman." + +I flushed angrily, for the justness of this statement only irritated me +the more. I think it is always the man who is in the wrong that shows the +greatest violence, and the man that most deserves rebuke who is most +impatient of it. + +"There is no need for you to counsel me how a gentleman should behave," +I answered hotly. + +"I did not summon you here to counsel you," she said still more coldly, +"but to inform you that this disgraceful affair is to go no further, at +least beneath this roof. Mr. Newton has promised me to overlook your +behavior, which is most generous on his part, and I trust you will see +the wisdom of making peace with him." + +"And why, may I ask, madame?" + +"Because," she said, looking me in the eyes, "it is most likely that he +will marry my daughter, and nothing is more vulgar than a family whose +members are forever quarreling." + +I clenched my hands until the nails pierced the flesh. She had hit me a +hard blow, and she knew it. + +"And what does Dorothy think of this arrangement?" I asked, with as great +composure as I could muster. + +She smiled with a calm assurance which made my heart sink. "Dorothy would +be a fool not to accept him, for he is one of the most eligible gentlemen +in Virginia. Indeed, perhaps she has already done so, for I gave him +leave to speak to her this morning," and she smiled again as she noted my +trembling hands, which I tried in vain to steady. "You seem much +interested in the matter." + +I turned from her without replying,--I could trust myself no further. Not +that I blamed her for hating me,--for she loved her son and I was the +shadow across his path,--but she was pressing me further than I had +counted on. I snatched up my hat as I ran along the hall and out the +great door toward the river. Spring was coming, the trees were shaking +out their foliage, along the river the wild flowers were beginning to +show their tiny faces, but I saw none of these as I broke my way through +the brush along the water's edge,--for perhaps even now he was asking +Dorothy to be his wife, and she was yielding to him. The thought maddened +me,--yet why should she do otherwise? What claim had I upon her? And yet +I had builded such a different future for her and me. + +I had walked I know not how long when I came out suddenly upon the road +which wound along the bank and finally dipped to the ferry, and here I +sat down upon a log to think. If Dorothy accepted him, I could no longer +stay at Riverview. I must go away to Williamsburg and seek employment in +the campaign, if only as a ranger. It must soon commence, and surely +they would not refuse me in the ranks. As I sat absorbed in bitter +thought, I heard the sound of hoof beats up the road and saw a horseman +coming. I drew back behind a tree, for I was in no mood to talk to any +one, and gloomily watched him as he drew nearer. There seemed something +strangely familiar about the figure, and in an instant I recognized him. +It was Willoughby Newton. In another moment he had passed, his face a +picture of rage and shame. He was riding away from Riverview in anger, +and as I realized what that meant, I sprang forward with a great cry of +joy. He must have heard me, for he turned in the saddle and shook his +whip at me, and for an instant drew rein as though to stop. But he +thought better of it, for he settled again in the saddle, and was soon +out of sight down the road. + +I had not waited so long, for settling my hat on my head, I set off up +the road as fast as my legs would carry me. It seemed to me I should +never reach the house, and I cursed the folly which had taken me so far +away, but at last I ran up the steps and into the hall. As I entered, I +caught a glimpse of a well-known gown in the hall above, and in an +instant I was up the stairs. + +"Dorothy!" I gasped, seizing one of her hands, "Dorothy, tell me, you +have told him no?" + +I must have been a surprising object, covered with dust and breathless, +but she leaned toward me and gave me her other hand. + +"Yes, Tom," she said very softly, "I told him no. I do not love him, Tom, +and I could not marry a man I do not love." + +"Oh, Dorothy," I cried, "if you knew how glad I am! If you knew how I +was raging along the river at the very thought that he was asking you, +and fearing for your reply; for he is a very fine fellow, Dorothy," and +I realized with amazement that all my resentment and anger against +Newton had vanished in an instant. "But when I saw him ride by like a +madman, I knew you had said no, and I came back as fast as I could to +make certain." + +Somehow, as I was speaking, I had drawn her toward me, and my arm was +around her. + +"Can you not guess, dear Dolly," I whispered "why I was so angry with +him last night? It was because I knew he was going to ask you, and I +feared that you might say yes." + +I could feel her trembling now, and would have bent and kissed her, but +that she sprang from me with a little frightened cry, and I turned to see +her mother standing in the hall below. + +"So," she said, mounting the steps with an ominous calmness, "my daughter +sees fit to reject the addresses of Mr. Newton and yet receive those of +Mr. Stewart. I perceive now why he was so deeply concerned in what I had +to tell him this morning. May I ask, Mr. Stewart, if you consider +yourself a good match for my daughter?" + +"Good match or not, madame," I cried, "I love her, and if she will have +me, she shall be my wife!" + +"Fine talk!" she sneered. "To what estate will you take her, sir? On +what income will you support her? My daughter has been accustomed to a +gentle life." + +"And if I have no estate to which to take her," I cried, "if I have no +income by which to support her, remember, madame, that it is from choice, +not from necessity!" + +I could have bit my tongue the moment the words were out. Her anger had +carried her further than she intended going, but for my ungenerous retort +there was no excuse. + +"Am I to understand this is a threat?" she asked, very pale, but +quite composed. + +"No, it is not a threat," I answered. "The words were spoken in anger, +and I am sorry for them. I have already told you my intentions in that +matter, and have no purpose to change my mind. I will win myself a name +and an estate, and then I will come back and claim your daughter. We +shall soon both be of age." + +She laughed bitterly. + +"Until that day, then, Mr. Stewart," she said, "I must ask you to have no +further intercourse with her. Perhaps at Williamsburg you will find a +more congenial lodging while you are making your fortune." + +My blood rushed to my face at the insult, and I could not trust myself +to answer. + +"Come, Dorothy," she continued, "you will go to your room," and she +pushed her on before her. + +I watched them until they turned into the other corridor, and then went +slowly down the stairs. As I emerged upon the walk before the house, I +saw a negro riding up, whom I recognized as one of Colonel Washington's +servants. Some message for Dorothy from Betty Washington, no doubt, and I +turned moodily back toward the stables to get out my horse, for I was +determined to leave the place without delay. But I was arrested by the +negro calling to me. + +"What is it, Sam?" I asked, as he cantered up beside me. + +"Lettah f'um Kuhnal Washin'ton, sah," he said, and handed me the missive. + +I tore it open with a trembling hand. + +DEAR TOM [it ran],--I have procured you an appointment as lieutenant in +Captain Waggoner's company of Virginia troops, which are to make the +campaign with General Braddock. They are now in barracks at Winchester, +where you will join them as soon as possible. + +Your friend, G. WASHINGTON. + +"Sam," I said, "go back to the kitchen and tell Sukey to fill you up on +the best she's got," and I turned and ran into the house. I tapped at the +door of my aunt's room, and her voice bade me enter. + +"I have just received a note from Colonel Washington," I said, "in which +he tells me that he has secured me a commission as lieutenant for the +campaign, so I will not need to trespass on your hospitality longer than +to-morrow morning." + +There was a queer gleam in her eyes, which I thought I could read aright. + +"Yes, there are many chances in war," I said bitterly, "and I am as like +as another to fall." + +"I am not quite so bloodthirsty as you seem to think," she answered +coldly, "and perhaps a moment ago I spoke more harshly than I intended. +Everything you need for the journey you will please ask for. I wish you +every success." + +"Thank you," I said, and left the room. My pack was soon made, for I had +seen enough of frontier fighting to know no extra baggage would be +permitted, and then I roamed up and down the house in hope of seeing +Dorothy. But she was nowhere visible, and at last I gave up the search +and went to bed. + +I was up long before daylight, donned my old uniform, saw my horse fed +and saddled, ate my breakfast, and was ready to go. I took a last look +around my room, picked up my pack, and started down the stairs. + +"Tom," whispered a voice above me, and I looked up and saw her. "Quick, +quick," she whispered, "say good-by." + +"Oh, my love!" I cried, and I drew her lips down to mine. + +"And you will not forget me, Tom?" she said. "I shall pray for you every +night and morning till you come back to me. Good-by." + +"Forget you, Dolly? Nay, that will never be." And as I rode away through +the bleak, gray morning, the mist rolling up from hill and river +disclosed a world of wondrous fairness. + +Which brings me back again to the camp at Winchester,--but what a +journey it has been! As I look back, nothing strikes me so greatly as +the length of the way by which I have come. I had thought that some +dozen pages at the most would suffice for my introduction, but memory +has led my pen along many a by-path, and paused beside a score of +half-forgotten landmarks. Well, as it was written, so let it stand, for +my heart is in it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +LIEUTENANT ALLEN SHOWS HIS SKILL + + +The days dragged on at Winchester, as days in camp will, and I accepted +no more invitations to mess with the officers of the line. Indeed, I +received none, and we provincial officers kept to ourselves. Major +Washington had returned to Mount Vernon, but I found many of my old +friends with the troops, so had no lack of company. There was Captain +Waggoner, who had got his promotion eight months before, and Peyronie, +recovered of his wound and eager for another bout with the French. He +also had been promoted for his gallantry, and now had his own company of +rangers. There was Captain Polson, for whom a tragic fate was waiting, +and my old captain, Adam Stephen. And there was Carolus Spiltdorph, +advanced to a lieutenancy like myself, and by great good fortune in my +company. We began to chum together at once,--sharing our blankets and +tobacco,--and continued so until the end. + +Another friend I also found in young Harry Marsh, a son of Colonel Henry +Marsh, who owned a plantation some eight or ten miles above the Frederick +ferry, and a cousin of my aunt. Colonel Marsh had stopped one day at +Riverview, while on his way home from Hampton, and had made us all +promise to return his visit, but so many affairs had intervened that the +promise had never been kept. The boy, who was scarce nineteen, had +secured a berth as ensign in Peyronie's company, and he came frequently +with his captain to our quarters to listen with all his ears to our +stories of the Fort Necessity affair. He was a fresh, wholehearted +fellow, and though he persisted in considering us all as little less than +heroes, was himself heroic as any, as I was in the end to learn. We were +a hearty and good-tempered company, and spent our evenings together most +agreeably, discussing the campaign and the various small happenings of +the camp. But as Spiltdorph shrewdly remarked, we were none of us so +sanguinary as we had been a year before. I have since observed that the +more a man sees of war, the less his eagerness for blood. + +From Lieutenant Allen I kept aloof as much as possible, and he on his +part took no notice whatever of me. Some rumor of my affair with him had +got about the camp, but as neither of us would say a word concerning it, +it was soon forgot in the press of greater matters. Whatever Allen's +personal character may have been, it is not to be denied that he labored +with us faithfully, though profanely, drilling us up and down the camp +till we were near fainting in the broiling sun, or exercising us in arms +for hours together, putting us through the same movement a hundred times, +till we had done it to his satisfaction. We grumbled of course, among +ourselves, but at the end of another fortnight the result of his work +began to be apparent, and Sir Peter Halket, when he inspected us just +before starting for Fort Cumberland, as the fortification at Will's Creek +was named, expressed himself well pleased with the progress we had made. + +For the order to advance came at last, and after a two weeks' weary +journey along the road which had been widened for the passage of wagons +and artillery, we reached our destination and went into quarters there. +The barracks were much better appointed than were the ones at Winchester, +for this was to be the rendezvous of the entire force, and the +independent companies which Colonel Washington had stationed here the +previous summer had been at work all winter clearing the ground and +building the fort. They had cleared a wide space in the forest, and on a +little hill some two hundred yards from Will's Creek and four hundred +from the Potomac, had erected the stockade. It was near two hundred yards +in length from east to west, and some fifty in width, but rude enough, +consisting merely of a row of logs set upright in the ground and +projecting some twelve feet above it, loopholed, and sharpened at the +top. There were embrasures for twelve cannon, ten of which, all +four-pounders, were already mounted. Though frail as it could well be, it +was deemed sufficient to withstand any attack likely to be brought +against it. A great two-storied barrack for the officers of the line had +been erected within the stockade, and two magazines of heavy timber. The +men were camped about the fort, and half a mile away through the forest a +hundred Indians had pitched their wigwams. And here, on the tenth of May, +came the Forty-Eighth under Colonel Dunbar, and General Braddock himself +in his great traveling chariot, his staff riding behind and a body of +light horse on either side. We were paraded to welcome him, the drums +rolled out the grenadiers, the seventeen guns prescribed by the +regulations were fired, and the campaign was on in earnest. + +The morning of the next day, the general held his first levee in his +tent, and all the officers called to pay their respects. He was a +heavy-set, red-faced man of some sixty years, with long, straight nose, +aggressive, pointed chin, and firm-set lips, and though he greeted us +civilly enough, there was a touch of insolence in his manner which he +made small effort to conceal, and which showed that it was not upon the +Virginia troops he placed reliance. Still, there was that in his +heavy-featured face and in his bearing which bespoke the soldier, and I +remembered Fontenoy and the record he had made there. In the afternoon, +there was a general review, and he rode up and down with his staff in +front of the whole force, most gorgeous in gold lace and brilliant +accoutrement. Of the twenty-two hundred men he looked at that day, the +nine Virginia companies found least favor in his eyes, for he deemed them +listless and mean-spirited,--an opinion which he was at no pains to keep +to himself, and which had the effect of making the bearing of his +officers toward us even more insulting. + +As we were drawn up there in line, the orders for the camp were +published, the articles of war were read to us, and in the days that +followed there was great show of discipline. But it was only show, for +there was little real order, and even here on the edge of the +settlements, the food was so bad and so scarce that foraging parties were +sent to the neighboring plantations to seize what they could find, and a +general market established in the camp. To encourage the people to bring +in provisions, the price was raised a penny a pound, and any person who +ventured to interfere with one bringing provisions, or offered to buy of +him before he reached the public market, was to suffer death. These +regulations produced some supplies, though very little when compared to +our great needs. + +A thing which encouraged me greatly to believe in the sagacity of our +commander was the pains he took to engage the good offices of the +Indians,--such of them, that is, as had not already been hopelessly +estranged by the outrages committed upon them by traders and +frontiersmen. Mr. Croghan, one of the best known of the traders, had +brought some fifty warriors to the camp, together with their women and +children, and on the morning of the twelfth, a congress was held at the +general's tent to receive them. All the officers were there, and when the +Indians were brought, the guard received them with firelocks rested. +There was great powwowing and smoking the pipe, and the general gave +them a belt of wampum and many presents, and urged them to take up the +hatchet against the French. This they agreed to do, and doubtless would +have done, but for the conduct of some of the officers of the line. + +The Indian camp, with its bark wigwams and tall totem pole, had become a +great place of resort with certain of the officers. They had been +attracted first by the dancing and queer customs of the savages, and had +they come away when once their curiosity was satisfied, little harm had +been done. Unfortunately, after looking at the men they looked at the +women, and found some of them not unattractive. So, for want of something +better to do, they set about debauching them, and succeeded so well that +the warriors finally took their women away from the camp in disgust, and +never again came near it. Other Indians appeared from time to time, but +after begging all the rum and presents they could get, they left the camp +and we never saw them again. Many of them were Delawares, doubtless sent +as spies by the French. Another visitor was Captain Jack, the Black +Rifle, known and feared by the Indians the whole length of the frontier. +He had sworn undying vengeance against them, having come home to his +cabin one night to find his wife and children butchered, and had roamed +from the Carolinas to the Saint Lawrence, leaving a trail of Indian blood +behind him. He would have made a most useful ally, but he took offense at +some fancied slight, and one day abruptly disappeared in the forest. + +Never during all these weeks did the regulars get over their astonishment +at sight of the tall warriors stalking through the camp, painted in red, +yellow, and black, and greased from head to foot, their ears slit, their +heads shaved save for the scalp-lock with its tuft of feathers; nor did +they cease to wonder at their skill in throwing the tomahawk and shooting +with the rifle, a skill of which we were to have abundant proof erelong. + +It was not until four or five days after his arrival with General +Braddock that I had opportunity to see Colonel Washington. I met him one +evening as I was returning from guard duty, and I found him looking so +pale and dispirited that I was startled. + +"You are not ill?" I cried, as I grasped his hand. + +"Ill rather in spirit than in body, Tom," he answered, with a smile. +"Life in the general's tent is not a happy one. He has met with +nothing but vexation, worry, and delay since he has been in the +colony, and I believe he looks upon the country as void of honor and +honesty. I try to show him that he has seen only the darker side, and +we have frequent disputes, which sometimes wax very warm, for he is +incapable of arguing without growing angry. Not that I blame him +greatly," he added, with a sigh, "for the way the colonies have acted +in this matter is inexcusable. Wagons, horses, and provisions which +were promised us are not forthcoming, and without them we are stalled +here beyond hope of advance." + +He passed his hand wearily before his eyes, and we walked some time +in silence. + +"'Tis this delay which is ruining our great chance of success," he +continued at last. "Could we have reached the fort before the French +could reinforce it, the garrison must have deserted it or surrendered to +us. But now they will have time to send whatever force they wish into the +Ohio valley, and rouse all the Indian tribes for a hundred miles around. +For with the Indians, the French have played a wiser part than the +English, Tom, and have kept them ever their friends, while to-day we have +not an Indian in the camp." + +"They will return," I said. "They have all promised to return." + +Washington shook his head. + +"They will not return. Gist knows the Indians as few other white men do, +and he assures me that they will not return." + +"Well," I retorted hotly, "Indians or no Indians, the French cannot hope +to resist successfully an army such as ours." + +For a moment Washington said nothing. + +"You must not think me a croaker, Tom," and he smiled down at me again, +"but indeed I see many chances of failure. Even should we reach Fort +Duquesne in safety, we will scarce be in condition to besiege it, unless +the advance is conducted with rare skill and foresight." + +I had nothing to say in answer, for in truth I believed he was looking +too much on the dark side, and yet did not like to tell him so. + +"How do you find the general?" I asked. + +"A proud, obstinate, brave man," he said, "who knows the science of war, +perhaps, but who is ill fitted to cope with the difficulties he has met +here and has still to meet. His great needs are patience and diplomacy +and a knowledge of Indian warfare. I would he had been with us last year +behind the walls of Fort Necessity." + +"He has good advisers," I suggested. "Surely you can tell him what +occurred that day." + +But again Washington shook his head. + +"My advice, such as I have ventured to give him, has been mostly thrown +away. But his two other aides are good men,--Captain Orme and Captain +Morris,--and may yet bring him to reason. The general's secretary, Mr. +Shirley, is also an able man, but knows nothing of war. Indeed, he +accepted the position to learn something of the art, but I fancy is +disgusted with what knowledge he has already gained. As to the other +officers, there is little to say. Some are capable, but most are merely +insolent and ignorant, and all of them aim rather at displaying their own +abilities than strengthening the hands of the general. In fact, Tom, I +have regretted a score of times that I ever consented to make the +campaign." + +"But if you had not, where should I have been?" I protested. + +"At least, you had been in no danger from Lieutenant Allen's sword," he +laughed. "I have heard many stories of his skill since I have been in +camp, and perhaps it is as well he was in wine that night, and so not at +his best. How has he used you since?" + +"Why, in truth," I said, somewhat nettled at his reference to Allen's +skill, "he has not so much as shown that he remembers me. But I shall +remind him of our engagement once the campaign is ended, and shall ask my +second to call upon him." + +Washington laughed again, and I was glad to see that I had taken his mind +off his own affairs. + +"I shall be at your service then, Tom," he said. "Remember, he is one of +the best swordsmen in the army, and you will do well to keep in practice. +Do not grow over-confident;" and he bade me good-by and turned back to +the general's quarters. + +I thought his advice well given, and the very next day, to my great +delight, found in Captain Polson's company John Langlade, the man of whom +I had taken a dozen lessons at Williamsburg. He was very ready to accept +the chance to add a few shillings to his pay, so for an hour every +morning we exercised in a little open space behind the stockade. I soon +found with great satisfaction that I could hold my own against him, +though he was accounted a good swordsman, and he complimented me more +than once on my strength of wrist and quickness of eye. + +We were hard at it one morning, when I heard some one approaching, and, +glancing around, saw that it was Lieutenant Allen. I flushed crimson +with chagrin, for that he guessed the reason of my diligence with the +foils, I could not doubt. But I continued my play as though I had not +seen him, and for some time he stood watching us with a dry smile. + +"Very pretty," he said at last, as we stopped to breathe. "If all the +Virginia troops would spend their mornings to such advantage, I should +soon make soldiers of them despite themselves. Rapier play is most useful +when one is going to fight the French, who are masters at it. I fear my +own arm is growing rusty," he added carelessly. "Lend me your foil a +moment, Lieutenant Stewart." + +I handed it to him without a word, wondering what the man would be at. He +took it nonchalantly, tested it, and turned to Langlade. + +"Will you cross with me?" he said, and as Langlade nodded, he saluted and +they engaged. Almost before the ring of the first parade had died away, +Langlade's foil was flying through the air, and Allen was smiling blandly +into his astonished face. + +"An accident, I do not doubt," he said coolly. "Such accidents will +happen sometimes. Will you try again?" + +Langlade pressed his lips together, and without replying, picked up his +foil. I saw him measure Allen with his eye, and then they engaged a +second time. For a few moments, Allen contented himself with standing on +the defensive, parrying Langlade's savage thrusts with a coolness which +nothing could shake and an art that was consummate. Then he bent to the +attack, and touched his adversary on breast and arm and thigh, his point +reaching its mark with ease and seeming slowness. + +"Really, I must go," he said at length. "The bout has done me a world of +good. I trust you will profit by the lesson, Lieutenant Stewart," and he +handed me back my foil, smiled full into my eyes, and walked away. + +We both stared after him, until he turned the corner and was out of +sight. + +"He's the devil himself," gasped Langlade, as our eyes met. "I have never +felt such a wrist. Did you see how he disarmed me? 'Twas no accident. My +fingers would have broken in an instant more, had I not let go the foil. +Who is he?" + +"Lieutenant Allen, of the Forty-Fourth," I answered as carelessly +as I could. + +Langlade fell silent a moment. + +"I have heard of him," he said at last. "I do not wonder he disarmed me. +'Twas he who met the Comte d'Artois, the finest swordsman in the French +Guards, in a little wood on the border of Holland, one morning, over some +affair of honor. They had agreed that it should be to the death." + +"And what was the result?" I questioned, looking out over the camp as +though little interested in the answer. + +"Can you doubt?" asked Langlade. "Allen returned to England without a +scratch, and his opponent was carried back to Paris with a sword-thrust +through his heart, and buried beside his royal relatives at Saint +Denis. I pity any man who is called upon to face him. He has need to be +a master." + +I nodded gloomily, put up the foils, and returned to my quarters, for I +was in no mood for further exercise that morning. What Allen had meant by +his last remark I could not doubt. The lesson I was to profit by was that +I should stand no chance against him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +I CHANCE UPON A TRAGEDY + + +As the first weeks of May passed, we slowly got into shape for the +advance, and I began to realize the magnitude of the task before us. Our +march to Great Meadows the year before, arduous as it had been, was mere +child's play to this, and I did not wonder that on every hand the general +found himself confronting obstacles well-nigh insurmountable. And each +day, as though to cover other defects, the discipline grew more exacting. +Arms were constantly inspected and overhauled; roll was called morning, +noon, and night; each regiment attended divine service around the colors +every Sabbath, though neither officers nor men got much good from it that +I could see; guard mount occurred each morning at eight o'clock; every +man was supplied with twenty-four rounds and extra flints, and also a new +shirt, a new pair of stockings and of shoes, and Osnabrig waistcoats and +breeches, the heat making the others insupportable, and with bladders for +their hats. + +On the sixteenth, Colonel Gage, with two companies of the Forty-Fourth +and the last division of the train, toiled into camp, very weary and +travel-stained, and on this day, too, was the first death among the +officers, Captain Bromley, of Sir Peter Halket's, succumbing to +dysentery. Two days later, we all attended his funeral, and a most +impressive sight it was. A captain's guard marched before the coffin, +their firelocks reversed, and the drums beating the dead march. At the +grave the guard formed on either side, and the coffin, with sword and +sash upon it, was carried in between and lowered into place. The service +was read by Chaplain Hughes, of the Forty-Fourth, the guard fired three +volleys over the grave, and we returned to quarters. + +There was a great demonstration next day to impress some Indians that had +come into camp. All the guns were fired, and drums and fifes were set to +beating and playing the point-of-war, and then four or five companies of +regulars were put through their manoeuvres. The Indians were vastly +astonished at seeing them move together as one man, and even to us +provincials it was a thrilling and impressive sight. And on the twentieth +happened one of the pleasantest incidents of the whole campaign. + +The great difficulty which confronted our commander from the first was +the lack of means of transport. Of the three thousand horses and three +hundred wagons promised from the colonies, only two hundred horses and +twenty wagons were forthcoming, so that for a time it seemed that the +expedition must be abandoned. Small wonder the general raved and swore +at provincial perfidy and turpitude, the more so when it was +discovered that a great part of the provision furnished for the army +was utterly worthless, and the two hundred horses scarce able to stand +upon their feet. + +Let me say here that I believe this purblind policy of delaying the +expedition instead of freely aiding it had much to do with the result. +Virginia did her part with some degree of willingness, but Pennsylvania, +whence the general expected to draw a great part of his transport and +provision, would do nothing. The Assembly spent its time bickering with +the governor, and when asked to contribute toward its own defense, made +the astounding statement that "they had rather the French should conquer +them than give up their privileges." Some of them even asserted that +there were no French, but that the whole affair was a scheme of the +politicians, and acted, to use Dinwiddie's words, as though they had +given their senses a long holiday. + +Yet, strangely enough, it was from a Pennsylvanian that aid came at last, +for just when matters were at their worst and the general in despair, +there came to his quarters at Frederick a very famous gentleman,--more +famous still in the troublous times which are upon us now,--Mr. Benjamin +Franklin, of Philadelphia, director of posts in the colonies and sometime +printer of "Poor Richard." The general received him as his merit +warranted, and explained to him our difficulties. Mr. Franklin, as +Colonel Washington told me afterward, listened to it all with close +attention, putting in a keen question now and then, and at the end said +he believed he could secure us horses and wagons from his friends among +the Pennsylvania Dutch, who were ever ready to turn an honest penny. So +he wrote them a diplomatic letter, and the result was that, beside near a +hundred furnished earlier, there came to us at Cumberland on the +twentieth above eighty wagons, each with four horses, and the general +declared Mr. Franklin the only honest man he had met in America. We, too, +had cause to remember him, for all the officers were summoned to the +general's tent, and there was distributed to each of us a package +containing a generous supply of sugar, tea, coffee, chocolate, cheese, +butter, wine, spirits, hams, tongues, rice, and raisins, the gift of Mr. +Franklin and the Philadelphia Assembly. + +There was high carnival in our tent that night, as you may well believe. +We were all there, all who had been present at Fort Necessity, and not +since the campaign opened had we sat down to such a feast. And when the +plates were cleared away and only the pipes and wine remained, Peyronie +sang us a song in French, and Spiltdorph one in German, and Polson one in +Gaelic, and old Christopher Gist, who stuck in his head to see what was +toward, was pressed to pay for his entertainment by giving us a Cherokee +war-song, which he did with much fire and spirit. We sat long into the +night talking of the past and of the future, and of the great things we +were going to accomplish. Nor did we forget to draft a letter of most +hearty thanks to Mr. Franklin, which was sent him, together with many +others, among them one from Sir Peter Halket himself. + +The arrival of the wagons had done much to solve the problem of +transport, and on the next day preparations for the advance began in +earnest. The whole force of carpenters was put to work building a bridge +across the creek, the smiths sharpened the axes, and the bakers baked a +prodigious number of little biscuits for us to carry on the march. Two +hundred pioneers were sent out to cut the road, and from one end of the +camp to the other was the stir of preparation. + +So two days passed, and on the afternoon of the twenty-fourth, Spiltdorph +and myself crossed the creek on the bridge, which was well-nigh +completed, and walked on into the forest to see what progress the +pioneers were making. We each took a firelock with us in hope of knocking +over some game for supper, to help out our dwindling larder. We found +that the pioneers had cut a road twelve feet wide some two miles into the +forest. It was a mere tunnel between the trees, whose branches overtopped +it with a roof of green, but it had been leveled with great care,--more +care than I thought necessary,--and would give smooth going to the wagons +and artillery. We reached the end of the road, where the axemen were +laboring faithfully, and after watching them for a time, were turning +back to camp, when Spiltdorph called my attention to the peculiar +appearance of the ground about us. We were in the midst of a grove of +chestnuts, and the leaves beneath them for rods around had been turned +over and the earth freshly raked up. + +"What under heaven could have caused that?" asked Spiltdorph. + +"Wild turkeys," I answered quickly, for I had often seen the like under +beeches and oaks as well as chestnuts. "Come on," I added, "perhaps they +are not far away." + +"All right," said Spiltdorph, "a wild turkey would go exceeding well on +our table;" and he followed me into the forest. The turkeys had evidently +been frightened away by the approach of the pioneers, and had stopped +here and there to hunt for food, so that their track was easily followed. +I judged they could not be far away, and was looking every moment to see +their blue heads bobbing about among the underbrush, when I heard a sharp +fusilade of shots ahead. + +"Somebody 's found 'em!" I cried. "Come on. Perhaps we can get some yet." + +We tore through a bit of marshy ground, up a slight hill, and came +suddenly to the edge of a little clearing. One glance into it sent me +headlong behind a bush, and I tripped up Spiltdorph beside me. + +"Good God, man!" he cried, but I had my hand over his mouth before he +could say more. + +"Be still," I whispered "an you value your life. Look over there." + +He peered around the bush and saw what I had seen, a dozen Indians in +full war paint busily engaged in setting fire to a log cabin which stood +in the middle of the clearing. They were going about the task in unwonted +silence, doubtless because of the nearness of our troops, and a half +dozen bodies, two of women and four of children, scattered on the ground +before the door, showed how completely they had done their work. Even as +we looked, two of them picked up the body of one of the women and threw +it into the burning house. + +"The devils!" groaned Spiltdorph. "Oh, the devils!" and I felt my own +blood boiling in my veins. + +"Come, we must do something!" I said. "We can kill two of them and reload +and kill two more before they can reach us. They will not dare pursue us +far toward the camp, and may even run at the first fire." + +"Good!" said Spiltdorph, between his teeth. "Pick your man;" but before I +could reply he had jerked his musket to his shoulder with a cry of rage +and fired. An Indian had picked up one of the children, which must have +been only wounded, since it was crying lustily, and was just about to +pitch it on the fire, when Spiltdorph's bullet caught him full in the +breast. He threw up his hands and fell like a log, the child under him. +Quick as a flash, I fired and brought down another. For an instant the +Indians stood dazed at the suddenness of the attack, and then with a yell +they broke for the other side of the clearing. Spiltdorph would have +started down toward the house, but I held him back. + +"Not yet," I said. "They will stop so soon as they get to cover. +Wait a bit." + +We waited for half an hour, watching the smoke curling over the house, +and then, judging that the Indians had made off for fear of being +ambushed, we crossed the clearing. It took but a glance to read the +story. The women had been washing by the little brook before the cabin, +with the children playing about them, when the Indians had come up and +with a single volley killed them all except the child we had heard +crying. They had swooped down upon their victims, torn the scalps from +their heads, looted the house, and set fire to it. We dragged out the +body of the woman which had been thrown within, in the hope that a spark +of life might yet remain, but she was quite dead. Beneath the warrior +Spiltdorph had shot we found the child. It was a boy of some six or seven +years, and so covered with blood that it seemed it must be dead. But we +stripped it and washed it in the brook, and found no wounds upon it +except in the head, where it had been struck with a hatchet before its +scalp had been stripped off. The cold water brought it back to life and +it began to cry again, whereat Spiltdorph took off his coat and wrapped +it tenderly about it. + +We washed the blood from the faces of the women and stood for a long time +looking down at them. They were both comely, the younger just at the dawn +of womanhood. They must have been talking merrily together, for their +faces were smiling as they had been in life. + +As I stood looking so, I was startled by a kind of dry sobbing at my +elbow, and turned with a jerk to find a man standing there. He was +leaning on his rifle, gazing down at the dead, with no sound but the +choking in his throat. A brace of turkeys over his shoulder showed that +he had been hunting. In an instant I understood. It was the husband and +father come home. He did not move as I looked at him nor raise his eyes, +but stood transfixed under his agony. I glanced across at Spiltdorph, and +saw that his eyes were wet and his lips quivering. I did not venture to +speak, but my friend, who was ever more tactful than I, moved to the +man's side and placed his hand gently on his shoulder. + +"They died an easy death," he said softly. "See, they are still smiling. +They had no fear, no agony. They were dead before they knew that danger +threatened. Let us thank God that they suffered no worse." + +The man breathed a long sigh and his strength seemed to go suddenly from +him, for he dropped his rifle and fell upon his knees. + +"This was my wife," he whispered. "This was my sister. These were my +children. What is there left on earth for me?" + +I no longer sought to control the working of my face, and the tears were +streaming down Spiltdorph's cheeks. Great, gentle, manly heart, how I +loved you! + +"Yes, there is something!" cried the man, and he sprang to his feet +and seized his gun. "There is vengeance! Friends, will you help me +bury my dead?" + +"Yes, we will help," I said. He brought a spade and hoe from a little hut +near the stream, and we dug a broad and shallow trench and laid the +bodies in it. + +"There is one missing," said the man, looking about him. "Where is he?" + +"He is here," said Spiltdorph, opening his coat. "He is not dead. He may +yet live." + +The father looked at the boy a moment, then fell on his knees and +kissed him. + +"Thank God!" he cried, and the tears burst forth. We waited in silence +until the storm of grief was past. At last he wrapped the coat about the +child again, and came to us where we stood beside the grave. + +"Friends," he said, "does either of you know the burial service? These +were virtuous and Christian women, and would wish a Christian burial." + +Spiltdorph sadly shook his head, and the man turned to me. Could I do it? +I trembled at the thought. Yet how could I refuse? + +"I know the service," I said, and took my place at the head of the grave. + +The mists of evening were stealing up from the forest about us, and there +was no sound save the plashing of the brook over the stones at our feet. +Then it all faded from before me and I was standing again in a willow +grove with an open grave afar off. + +"'I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord,'" It was not my +voice, but another ringing up to heaven from beside me. And the voice +kept on and on until the last amen. + +We filled in the shallow grave and covered it with logs and rocks. Night +was at hand before we finished. + +"You must come with us," said Spiltdorph to the stranger. "The doctor at +the fort will do what he can for the child. If you still think of +vengeance, you can march with us against the Indians and the French who +set them on." + +He made a gesture of assent, and we set off through the forest. + +"Stewart," asked Spiltdorph, in a low voice, after we had walked some +time in silence, "how does it happen you knew the burial service?" + +"I have read it many times in the prayer-book," I answered simply. +"Moreover, I heard it one morning beside my mother's grave, and again +beside my grandfather's. I am not like to forget it." + +He walked on for a moment, and then came close to me and caught my +hand in his. + +"Forgive me," he said softly. "You have done a good and generous +thing. I can judge how much it cost you," and we said no more until we +reached the fort. + +The news that the Indians had pushed hostilities so near the camp created +no little uproar, and a party was sent out at daybreak to scour the woods +and endeavor to teach the marauders a lesson, but they returned toward +evening without discovering a trace of them, and it was believed they had +made off to Fort Duquesne. The Indians whom we had killed were recognized +as two of a party of Delawares who had been in camp a few days before, +and who, it was now certain, had been sent as spies by the French and to +do us what harm they could. Wherefore it was ordered that no more +Delawares should be suffered to enter the camp. + +We turned the child over to Doctor Craik, and took the man, whose +name, it seemed, was Nicholas Stith, to our tent with us, where we +gave him meat and drink, and did what we could to take his mind from +his misfortune. He remained with us some days, until his child died, +as it did at last, and then, finding our advance too slow to keep pace +with his passion for revenge, secured a store of ball and powder from +the magazine, slung his rifle across his back, and disappeared into +the forest. + +In the mean time our preparations had been hurried on apace. It was no +light task to cut a road through near a hundred and fifty miles of virgin +forest, over two great mountain ranges and across innumerable streams, +nor was it lightly undertaken. Captain Waggoner brought with him to table +one night a copy of the orders for the march and for encampment, which +were adhered to with few changes during the whole advance, and we +discussed them thoroughly when the meal was finished, nor could we +discover in them much to criticise. + +It was ordered that, to protect the baggage from Indian surprise and +insult, scouting parties were to be thrown well out upon the flanks and +in front and rear, and every commanding officer of a company was directed +to detach always upon his flanks a third of his men under command of a +sergeant, the sergeant in turn to detach upon his flanks a third of his +men under command of a corporal, these outparties to be relieved every +night at retreat beating, and to form the advanced pickets. The wagons, +artillery, and pack-horses were formed into three divisions, and the +provisions so distributed that each division was to be victualed from the +part of the line it covered, and a commissary was appointed for each. The +companies were to march two deep, that they might cover the line more +effectively. Sir Peter Halket was to lead the column and Colonel Dunbar +bring up the rear. An advance party of three hundred men was to precede +the column and clear the road. + +The form of encampment differed little from that of march. The wagons +were to be drawn up in close order, the companies to face out, the +flanking parties to clear away the underbrush and saplings, half the +company remaining under arms the while, and finally a chain of sentries +was to be posted round the camp. Sir Peter Halket, with the Forty-Fourth, +was to march with the first division; Lieutenant-Colonel Burton with the +independent companies, provincials, and artillery, was to form the +second; and Colonel Dunbar, with the Forty-Eighth, the third. + +I confess that when I had become acquainted with these orders, they +seemed to me most soldier-like. A copy of them lies before me now, and +even at this day, when I scan again the plan of march, I do not see how +it could be improved. I admit that there are others who know much more +of the art of war than I, and to them defects in the system may be at +once discernible. But at the time, these orders gave us all a most +exalted opinion of our general's ability, and I remembered with a smile +the gloomy prophecies of Colonel Washington. Surely, against such a +force, so ably handled, no army the French might muster could avail, and +I awaited the event with a confidence and eager anticipation which were +shared by all the others. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +WE START ON A WEARY JOURNEY + + +The twenty-ninth of May dawned clear and bright in pleasant contrast to +the violent storm which had raged the day before. Long ere daybreak, the +camp was alive with hurrying men, for the first detachment was to march +under command of Major Campbell, and the sun had scarce risen above the +horizon when the gates were thrown open and the troops filed out. Six +hundred of them there were, with two fieldpieces and fifty wagons of +provision, and very smart they looked as they fell into rank beyond the +bridge and set off westward. The whole camp was there to see them go, and +cheered them right heartily, for we were all of us glad that the long +waiting and delay had come to an end at last. + +All day we could see them here and there in the intervales of the forest +pushing their way up a steep hill not two miles from the camp, and +darkness came before they passed the summit. Three wagons were utterly +destroyed in the passage, and new ones had to be sent from camp to +replace them, while many more were all but ruined. Spiltdorph and I +walked out to the place the next day and found it an almost perpendicular +rock, though two hundred men and a company of miners had been at work +for near a week trying to make it passable. We could see the detachment +slowly cutting its way through the valley below, and I reflected gloomily +that, at so slow a rate, the summer would be well-nigh gone before the +army could reach its destination. Indeed, I believe it would have gone to +pieces on this first spur of the Alleghenies, had not Lieutenant +Spendelow, of the seamen, discovered a valley round its foot. +Accordingly, a party of a hundred men was ordered out to clear a road +there, and worked to such purpose that at the end of two days an +extremely good one was completed, falling into the road made by Major +Campbell about a mile beyond the mountain. + +On the seventh, Sir Peter Halket and the Forty-Eighth marched, in the +midst of a heavy storm, and at daybreak the next day it was our turn. +Under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Burton, all of the independent +companies and rangers left the camp, not, indeed, making so brilliant an +appearance as the regulars,--who stood on either side and laughed at +us,--but with a clearer comprehension of the work before us and a hearty +readiness to do it. It was not until the tenth that the third division +under Colonel Dunbar left the fort, and finally, on the eleventh, the +general joined the army where it had assembled at Spendelow camp, five +miles from the start. + +Our tent that night was a gloomy place, for I think most of us, for the +first time since the campaign opened, began to doubt its ultimate +success. We soon finished with the food, and were smoking in gloomy +silence, when Peyronie came in, and after a glance around at our faces, +broke into a laugh. + +"Ma foi!" he cried, "I thought I had chanced upon a meeting of our +Philadelphia friends,--they of the broad hats and sober coats,--and yet I +had never before known them to go to war." + +"Do you call this going to war?" cried Waggoner. "I'm cursed if I do!" + +Peyronie laughed louder than ever, and Waggoner motioned him to the pipes +and tobacco. + +"By God, Peyronie!" he said. "I believe you would laugh in the face of +the devil." + +Peyronie filled his pipe, chuckling to himself the while, and when he had +got it to drawing nicely, settled himself upon a stool. + +"Why, to tell the truth," said he, "I was feeling sober enough myself +till I came in here, but the sight of you fellows sitting around for all +the world like death-heads at an Egyptian feast was too much for me. And +then," he added, "I have always found it better to laugh than to cry." + +Waggoner looked at him with a grim smile, and there was a gleam in +Spiltdorph's eyes, though he tried to conceal himself behind a cloud of +smoke. Peyronie's good humor was infectious. + +"Let me see," continued the Frenchman, "when was it the first detachment +left the fort?" + +"The twenty-ninth of May," answered Waggoner shortly. + +"And what day is this?" + +"The eleventh of June." + +"And how far have we come?" + +"Five miles!" cried Waggoner. "Damn it, man, you know all this well +enough! Don't make me say it! It's incredible! Five miles in thirteen +days! Think of it!" + +I heard Spiltdorph choking behind his cloud of smoke. + +"Oh, come," said Peyronie, "that's not the way to look at it. Consider a +moment. It is one hundred and fifty miles to Fort Duquesne, so I am told. +At five-thirteenths of a mile a day, we shall arrive there nicely +in--in--let me see." + +"In three hundred and ninety days!" cried Spiltdorph. + +"Thank you, lieutenant," and Peyronie bowed toward Spiltdorph's nimbus. +"I was never good at figures. In three hundred and ninety days, then. You +see, we shall get to Fort Duquesne very comfortably by the middle of July +of next year. Perhaps the French will have grown weary of waiting for us +by that time, and we shall have only to march in and occupy the fort." + +Waggoner snorted with anger. + +"Come, talk sense, Peyronie," he said. "What's to be done?" + +Peyronie smiled more blandly than ever. + +"I fancy that is just what's troubling the general," he remarked. "I met +Colonel Washington a moment ago looking like a thunder-cloud, and he said +a council of war had been called at the general's tent." + +"There was need of it," and Waggoner's brow cleared a little. "What +think you they will do?" + +"Well," said Peyronie deliberately, "if it were left to me, the first +thing I should do would be to cut down Spiltdorph's supply of tobacco and +take away from him that great porcelain pipe, which must weigh two or +three pounds." + +"I should like to see you do it," grunted Spiltdorph, and he took his +pipe from his lips to look at it lovingly. "Why, man, that pipe has been +in the family for half a dozen generations. There's only one other like +it in Germany." + +"A most fortunate thing," remarked Peyronie dryly; "else Virginia could +not raise enough tobacco to supply the market. But, seriously, I believe +even the general will see the need of taking some radical action. He may +even be induced to leave behind one or two of his women and a few cases +of wine, if the matter be put before him plainly." + +"Shut up, man!" cried Waggoner. "Do you want a court-martial?" And we +fell silent, for indeed the excesses of the officers of the line was a +sore subject with all of us. But Peyronie had made a good guess, as we +found out when the result of the council was made known next day. + +It was pointed out that we had less than half the horses we really +needed, and those we had were so weak from the diet of leaves to which +they had been reduced that they could do little work. So the general +urged that all unnecessary baggage be sent back to the fort, and that as +many horses as possible be given to the public cause. He and his staff +set the example by contributing twenty horses, and this had so great +effect among the officers that near a hundred were added to the train. +They divested themselves, also, of all the baggage they did not need, +most of them even sending back their tents, and sharing the soldiers' +tents for the remainder of the campaign. Enough powder and stores were +left behind to clear twenty wagons, and all the king's wagons were +returned to the fort as being too heavy. A deprivation which, I doubt +not, cost some of the officers more than any other, was that of their +women, who were ordered back to the fort, and only two women for each +company were allowed to be victualed upon the march, but in this +particular the example set by the general was not so commendable as in +the matter of the horses. Three hundred lashes were ordered to any +soldier or non-commissioned officer who should be caught gaming or seen +drunk in camp, but these rigors did not affect those higher up, and the +officers still spent half the night over the cards or dice, and on such +occasions there was much wine and spirits drunk. + +We of Waggoner's and Peyronie's companies fared very well, for though +we gave up one of our tents, it was only to bunk together in the other. +There was no room to spare, to be sure, and Peyronie grumbled that +every time a man turned over he disturbed the whole line of sleepers, +but we put the best face possible on the situation, and had little +cause for complaint, except at the food, which soon became most +villainous. I think Spiltdorph had some twinges concerning his pipe, +for he was a conscientious fellow, but he could not decide to give it +up, and finally kept it with him, arguing artfully that without it he +must inevitably fall ill, and so be of no use whatever. Dear fellow, I +wonder what warrior, the envy of his tribe, smokes it now in his wigwam +beside the Miami? + +It took two days to repair our wagons and get our baggage readjusted, and +finally, on the thirteenth, the army set in motion again, winding along +the narrow road through the forest like some gigantic, parti-colored +serpent, with strength barely sufficient to drag its great length along. +It was noon of the next day before we reached Martin's plantation, scarce +five miles away. Yet here we had to stay another day, so nearly were the +horses spent, but at daybreak on the fifteenth the line moved again, and +we toiled up an extremely steep ascent for more than two miles. The +horses were quite unable to proceed, so half the troops were ordered to +ground arms and assist the wagons. It was weary work, nor was the descent +less perilous, and three of the wagons got beyond control and were dashed +to pieces at the bottom. So we struggled on over hills and through +valleys, until on the eighteenth we reached the Little Meadows. Here the +army was well-nigh stalled. The horses had grown every day weaker, and +many of them were already dead. Nor were the men in much better case, so +excessive had been the fatigues of the journey, for on many days they +had been under arms from sunrise till late into the night. + +It was here, for the first time since our departure from Fort Cumberland, +that I chanced to see Colonel Washington, and I was shocked at the change +in his appearance. He was wan and livid, and seemed to have fallen away +greatly in flesh. To my startled inquiry, he replied that he had not been +able to shake off the fever, which had grown worse instead of better. + +"But I will conquer it," he said, with a smile. "I cannot afford to miss +the end. From here, I believe our advance will be more rapid, for the +general has decided that he will leave his baggage and push on with a +picked body of the troops to meet the enemy." + +I was rejoiced to hear it, though I did not learn until long afterwards +that it was by Colonel Washington's advice that this plan was adopted. A +detachment of four hundred men was sent out to cut a road to the little +crossing of the Yoxiogeny, and on the next day the general himself +followed with about nine hundred men, the pick of the whole command. The +Virginia companies were yet in fair condition, but the regulars had been +decimated by disease. Yet though our baggage was now reduced to thirty +wagons and our artillery to four howitzers and four twelve-pounders, we +seemed to have lost the power of motion, for we were four days in getting +twelve miles. Still, we were nearing Fort Duquesne, and the Indians, set +on by the French, began to harass us, and killed and scalped a straggler +now and then, always evading pursuit. On the evening of the nineteenth, +the guides reported that a great body of the enemy was advancing to +attack us, but they did not appear, though we remained for two hours +under arms, anxiously awaiting the event. From that time on, the Indians +hung upon our flanks, but vanished as by magic the moment we advanced +against them. + +In consequence of these alarms, more stringent orders were issued to the +camp. On no account was a gun to be discharged unless at an enemy, the +pickets were always to load afresh when going on duty, and at daybreak to +examine their pans and put in fresh priming, and a reward of five pounds +was offered for every Indian scalp. Day after day we plodded on, and it +was not until the twenty-fifth of June that we reached the Great Meadows. + +I surveyed with a melancholy interest the trenches of Fort Necessity, +which were yet clearly to be seen on the plain. Our detachment halted +here for a space, and it was while I was walking up and down along the +remnants of the old breastwork that I saw an officer ride up, spring from +his horse, and spend some minutes in a keen inspection of the +fortification. As he looked about him, he perceived me similarly engaged, +and, after a moment's hesitation, turned toward me. He made a brave +figure in his three-cornered hat, scarlet coat, and ample waistcoat, all +heavy with gold lace. His face was pale as from much loss of sleep, but +very pleasing, and as he stopped before me, I saw that his eyes were of +a clear and penetrating blue. + +"This is the place, is it not," he asked, "where Colonel Washington made +his gallant stand against the French and Indians last year?" + +"This is indeed the place, sir," I answered, my face flushing; "and it +warms my heart to know that you deem the action a gallant one." + +"No man could do less," he said quickly. "He held off four times his +number, and at the end marched out with colors flying. I know many a +general who would have been glad to do so well. Do I guess aright," +he added, with a smile, "when I venture to say that you were present +with him?" + +"It was my great good fortune," I answered simply, but with a pride I did +not try to conceal. + +"Let me introduce myself," he said, looking at me with greater interest. +"I am Captain Robert Orme, of General Brad dock's staff, and I have come +to admire Colonel Washington very greatly during the month that we have +been associated." + +"And I," I said, "am Lieutenant Thomas Stewart, of Captain Waggoner's +Virginia Company." + +"Lieutenant Stewart!" he cried, and his hand was clasping mine warmly. +"I am happy to meet you. Colonel Washington has told me of the part +you played." + +"Not more happy than am I, captain, I am sure," I answered +heartily. "Colonel Washington has spoken to me of you and in terms +of warmest praise." + +"Now 'tis my turn to blush!" he cried, laughing, and looking at my cheeks +which had turned red a moment before, "but my blood has been so spent in +this horrible march that I haven't a blush remaining." + +"And how is Colonel Washington?" I questioned, glad to change the +subject. "The last I saw him, he seemed most ill." + +Captain Orme looked at me quickly, "Have you not heard?" he asked, and +his face was very grave. + +"I have heard nothing, sir," I answered, with a sinking heart. +"Pray tell me." + +"Colonel Washington has been ill almost from the first. His indomitable +will kept him on horseback when he should have been in bed. At last, when +the fever had wasted him to a mere skeleton, and he spent his nights in +sleepless delirium, he broke down utterly. His body was no longer able to +obey his will. At the ford of the Yoxiogeny he attempted to mount his +horse and fell in a faint. He was carried to a tent and left with two or +three guards. So soon as he recovered consciousness, he tried to get up +to follow us, and was persuaded to lie still only when the general +promised he would send for him in order that he might be present when we +meet the French. He is a man who is an honor to Virginia," concluded +Orme, and he turned away hastily to hide his emotion, nor were my own +eyes wholly dry. + +"Come," I said, "let me show you, sir, how the troops lay that day," and +as he assented, I led the way along the lines and pointed out the +position held by the enemy and how we had opposed them; but my thoughts +were miles away with that wasted figure tossing wearily from side to side +of a rude camp cot on the bank of the Yoxiogeny, with no other nurses +than two or three rough soldiers. + +"'Twas well done," said Orme, when I had finished. "I see not how it +could have been better. And I trust the victory will be with us, not with +the French, when we meet before Duquesne." + +"Of that there can be no question!" I cried. "Once we reach the fort, it +must fall before us." + +"Faith, I believe so," laughed Orme. "My only fear is that they will run +away, and not stay to give us battle. Our spies have told us that such +was their intention," and he laughed again as he saw my fallen face. +"Why, I believe you are as great a fire-eater as the best of us, +lieutenant." + +"In truth, sir," I answered, somewhat abashed at his merriment, "I +decided long ago that since I held no station in the world, I needs must +win one with my sword, but if I can find no employment for it, I see +small hope of advancement." + +"Well, do not repine," and he smiled as he shook my hand, "for if the +French do not wait to meet us here, we shall yet find plenty of fighting +before us. This is only the first stage in the journey, and Duquesne once +ours, we press forward to join forces with the expeditions which are +moving against Canada. If I hear more from Colonel Washington, I shall +let you know." + +I thanked him for his kindness, and watched him as he rode away +across the plain. When he was out of sight, I turned back to join my +company, and I felt that I had made a new friend, and one whom I was +proud to have. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE END IN SIGHT + + +The country beyond Great Meadows was exceeding mountainous, and we could +proceed only a few miles each day, and that with the greatest +difficulty. The horses were by this time well-nigh useless, and at every +little hill half the men were compelled to ground arms and take a hand +at the wagons. It was work fatiguing beyond description, and our sick +list grew larger every day, while those who remained upon their feet +were in scarce better plight. + +On the evening of the twenty-sixth, we reached the pass through which had +come the party of French and Indians to attack us at Fort Necessity. They +must have thought for a time to oppose us here, for we came upon traces +of a camp just broken up, with embers still glowing in the hollow, over +which they had prepared their food. Both French and Indians had been +present, for the former had written on the trees many insolent and +scurrilous expressions,--which gave me a poorer opinion of them than I +had yet entertained,--and the Indians had marked up the number of scalps +they had taken, some eight or ten in all. Whatever their intention may +have been, the sight of our strength had frightened them away, and we +saw no sign of them as we descended into the valley on the other side. + +We toiled on all the next day over a road that was painfully familiar to +most of us, and in the evening came to Christopher Gist's plantation. +Spiltdorph and I made a circuit of the place that night, and I pointed +out to him the dispositions we had made for defense the year before. The +French had burned down all the buildings, but the half-finished trenches +could yet be seen, and the logs which were to have made the breastwork +still littered the ground. + +Beyond Gist's, it was a new country to all of us, and grew more open, so +that we could make longer marches. We descended a broad valley to the +great crossing of the Yoxiogeny, which we passed on the thirtieth. The +general was under much apprehension lest the French ambush us here, and +so advanced most cautiously, but we saw no sign of any enemy. Beyond the +river was a great swamp, where a road of logs had to be built to support +the wagons and artillery, but we won through without accident, and two +days later reached a place called Jacob's cabin, not above thirty miles, +as the bird flies, from Fort Duquesne. Here the rumor ran through the +camp that we were to be held till Colonel Dunbar's division could be +brought up from the Little Meadows, and there was much savage comment at +our mess that evening. + +"Why," cried Peyronie, who voiced the sentiment of all of us, "'twould +take two weeks or more to bring Dunbar up, and what are we to do +meantime? Sit here and eat this carrion?" and he looked disgustedly at +the mess of unsavory beef on the table, which was, to tell the truth, +most odoriferous. "'Tis rank folly to even think of such a course." + +"So the general believes," said a pleasant voice, and I turned with a +start to see a gallant figure standing by the raised flap of the tent. + +"Captain Orme!" I cried, springing to my feet, and I brought him in and +presented him to all the others. We pressed him to sit down, and though +he laughingly declined to partake of our rations, against which, he said, +Peyronie's remark had somehow prejudiced him, he consented to join us in +a glass of wine,--where Waggoner found the bottle I could never +guess,--in which we pledged the success of the campaign. + +"So we are not to stop here?" asked Peyronie, when the toast was drunk. + +"No," and Orme set down the glass. "The suggestion was made by Sir John +St. Clair, and a council was held half an hour since to consider it. It +was agreed without debate that we could not afford the delay, as the +provision is running low, and so we shall press on at once." + +"'Tis the wiser course," said Waggoner. "We have men in plenty." + +"So the general thinks," said Orme. "He has learned that there is only a +small garrison at the fort, which can scarce hope to resist us. But 'twas +not to talk of the campaign I came here. I had a note this evening from +Colonel Washington, which I knew Lieutenant Stewart would wish to see." + +"Oh, yes!" I cried. "What says he, sir?" + +Orme glanced about at the circle of attentive faces. + +"I see Colonel Washington has many friends here," he said, with a smile. +"He writes that he is improving, and hopes soon to join us, and implores +me not to neglect to warn him so that he can be present when we meet the +French. I shall not neglect it," he added. + +"Captain Orme," said Peyronie, after a moment, "I am sure I speak for all +these gentlemen when I say we deeply appreciate your kindness in coming +here to-night. There is not one of us who does not love Colonel +Washington. We thank you, sir," and Peyronie bowed with a grace worthy of +Versailles. + +"Nay," protested Orme, bowing in his turn, "it was a little thing. I, +too, think much of Colonel Washington. Good-evening, gentlemen," and we +all arose and saluted him, remaining standing till he was out of sight. + +"A gentleman and a soldier, if ever I saw one!" cried Peyronie. "A man +whom it is a privilege to know." And we all of us echoed the sentiment. +So, the next morning, the order was given to march as usual, and we made +about five miles to a salt lick in the marsh, where we camped for the +night. The next day we reached a little stream called Thicketty Run, and +here there was a longer halt, until we could gain some further +information of the enemy. Christopher Gist, by dint of many gifts and +much persuasion, had secured the services of eight Iroquois, lazy dogs, +who up to the present time had done little but eat and sleep. But we were +now so near the enemy that it was imperative to reconnoitre their +position, so, after much trouble, two of the Indians were induced to go +forward, and Gist himself was sent after them to see that they really did +approach the fort and not try to deceive us. This was the fourth of July, +just one year since we had marched away from Fort Necessity. All the next +day we remained at Thicketty Run, waiting for the scouts to come in, but +they did not appear until the sixth. + +The Indians returned early in the morning, bringing with them the scalp +of a French officer they had killed near the fort, and stated that they +had seen none of the enemy except the one they had shot, and that the +French possessed no pass between us and Duquesne, and had seemingly made +no preparation to resist us. Gist got back later in the day, having +narrowly escaped capture by two Delawares, and confirmed this story. Such +carelessness on the part of the French seemed incredible, as the country +was very favorable to an ambuscade, and the officers were almost +unanimously of the opinion that it was their purpose to abandon the fort +at our approach. + +These reports once received, we again broke camp and advanced toward the +Monongahela. An unhappy accident marked the day. Three or four men who +had loitered behind were surprised by some Indians, and killed and +scalped, before assistance could be sent them. This so excited our +scouting parties that they fired upon a body of our own Indians, +notwithstanding the fact that they made the preconcerted signal by +holding up a green bough and grounding arms. The son of Chief Monakatuca +was killed by the discharge, and it was feared for a time that the +Indians would leave in a body. But the general sent for them, condoled +with them and made them presents, ordered that Monakatuca's son be given +a military burial, and, in a word, handled them so adroitly that they +became more attached to us than ever. Additional scouting parties were +thrown out to right and left, and every precaution taken to prevent +further mishap. + +The next day we endeavored to pass a little stream called Turtle Creek, +but found the road impracticable, so turned into the valley of another +stream, known as Long Run, and on the night of the eighth encamped within +a mile of the Monongahela, and only about ten from the fort. Here General +St. Clair, who seems from the first to have feared for the result, +advised that a detachment be sent forward to invest the fort, but it was +finally judged best to send the detachment from the next camp, from which +it could be readily reinforced in case it were attacked. We were to ford +the Monongahela at Crooked Run, march along the west bank to the mouth of +Turtle Creek, ford it a second time, and advance against the fort. Both +fords were described by the guides as very good ones and easy of +passage, while if we attempted to advance straight ahead on the east bank +of the river, we should encounter a very rough road, beside passing +through a country admirably fitted by nature for an ambuscade. Colonel +Gage was to march before daybreak to secure both fords, and the men +turned in with full assurance that the battle so long deferred and so +eagerly awaited was not far distant. + +That night it so happened that I was placed in charge of one of the rear +pickets, and I sat with my back against a tree, smoking lazily and +wondering what the morrow would bring forth, when I heard a horse +galloping down the road, and a moment later the sharp challenge of a +sentry. I was on my feet in an instant, and saw that the picket had +evidently been satisfied that all was well, for he had permitted the +rider to pass. As he reached the edge of the camp, he emerged from the +shadow of the trees, and I started as I looked at him. + +"Colonel Washington!" I cried, and as he checked his horse sharply, I was +at his side. + +"Why, is it you, Tom?" he asked, and as I took his hand, I noticed how +thin it was. "Well, it seems I am in time." + +"Yes," I said. "The battle, if there be one, must take place to-morrow." + +"Why should there not be one?" he questioned, leaning down from his +saddle to see my face more clearly. + +"The French may run away." + +"True," he said, and sat for a moment thinking. "Yet it is not like them +to run without striking a blow. No, I believe we shall have a battle, +Tom, and I am glad that I am to be here to see it." + +"But are you strong enough?" I asked. "You have not yet the air of a +well man." + +He laughed lightly as he gathered up his reins. "In truth, Tom," he +said, "I am as weak as a man could well be and still sit his horse, but +the fever is broken and I shall be stronger to-morrow. But I must report +to the general. He may have work for me," and he set spurs to his horse +and was off. + +I turned back to my station, musing on the iron will of this man, who +could drag his body from a bed of sickness when duty called and yet think +nothing of it. All about me gleamed the white tents in which the +grenadiers and provincials were sleeping, dreaming perchance of victory. +Alas, for how many of them was it their last sleep this side eternity! + +The hours passed slowly and quietly. Presently the moon rose and +illumined the camp from end to end. Here and there I could see a picket +pacing back and forth, or an officer making his rounds. At headquarters +lights were still burning, and I did not doubt that an earnest +consultation was in progress there concerning the orders for the morrow. + +At midnight came the relief, and I made the best of my way back to our +quarters, crawled into the tent, whose flaps were raised to let in every +breath of air stirring, and lay down beside Spiltdorph. I tried to move +softly, but he started awake and put out his hand and touched me. + +"Is it you, Stewart?" he asked. + +"Yes," I said, "just in from picket. Colonel Washington reached camp an +hour ago, to be here for to-morrow's battle." + +"To-morrow's battle," repeated Spiltdorph softly. "Ah, yes, I had forgot. +Do you know, Stewart, if I were superstitious, I should fear the result +of to-morrow's battle, for I had a dream about it." + +"What was the dream?" I asked. + +"No matter, we are not women," and he turned to go to sleep again. +"Good-night." + +"Good-night," I said, and in a few moments his deep breathing told me he +was again in the land of dreams. It was long before my own eyes closed, +and my dreams were not of battle, but of a bench upon the river's bank, +and a figure all in white sitting there beside me. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE LESSON OF THE WILDERNESS + + +"Wake up, man, wake up!" cried a voice in my ear, and I opened my eyes to +see Spiltdorph's kindly face bending over me. "I let you sleep as long as +I could," he added, as I sat up and rubbed my eyes, "for I knew you +needed it, but the order has come for us to march." + +"All right," I said. "I'll be ready in a minute," and I ran down to the +brook and dipped my hands and face in the cool, refreshing water. A +biscuit and a piece of cold beef formed my breakfast. Our company was +striking tents and falling in for the march, and the camp was astir from +end to end. The sun was just peeping over the tree-tops, for that +fateful Wednesday, the ninth of July, 1755, had dawned clear and fair, +and all the day rode through a sky whose perfect blue remained unbroken +by a cloud. + +We were soon ready for the road, and while waiting the word, Captain +Waggoner told me that the advance had begun some hours before. At three +o'clock. Colonel Gage had marched with two companies of grenadiers and +two hundred rank and file to secure both crossings of the river, for it +was believed that at the second crossing the French would attack us, +unless they intended giving up the fort without a struggle. An hour +later, Sir John St. Clair had followed with a working party of two +hundred and fifty men, to clear the road for the passage of the baggage +and artillery. And at last came the word for us. + +The ground sloped gently down to the Monongahela, nearly a mile away. The +river here was over three hundred yards in width, and the regulars had +been posted advantageously to guard against surprise. The baggage, +horses, and cattle were all got over safely, for the water was scarce +waist-deep at any point, and then the troops followed, so that the whole +army was soon across. + +Before us stretched a level bottom, and here we were formed in proper +line of march, with colors flying, drums beating, and fifes playing +shrilly. The sun's slant rays were caught and multiplied a thousand times +on polished barrel and gold-laced helmet and glittering shoulder-knot. +Every man had been instructed to put off the torn and travel-stained +garments of Osnabrig he had worn upon the march, and to don his best +uniform, and very fresh and beautiful they looked, the Forty-Fourth with +its yellow facings, the Forty-Eighth with buff. Nor was the showing made +by the Virginia companies less handsome, though perhaps a shade more +sober. Nowhere was there visible a trace of that terrible journey through +the wilderness. It seemed that this splendent host must have been placed +here by some magic hand, alert, vigorous, immaculate, eager for the +battle. I have only to close my eyes to see again before me that +brilliant and gallant array. The hope of a speedy ending to their +struggle through the forest had brought new color to the faces of the +men, and a light into their eyes, such as I had not seen there for many +days. While we waited, the pieces were newly charged and primed, and the +clatter of the cartouch boxes, as they were thrown back into place, ran +up and down the lines. + +At last came word from Gage that he had secured the second crossing, +having encountered only a small party of Indians, who had run away at the +first alarm, and that the route was clear. The drums beat the advance, +and the army swept forward as though on parade. It was a thrilling sight, +and in all that multitude there was not one who doubted the event. I +think even Colonel Washington's misgivings must have melted away before +that martial scene. The broad river rolled at our right, and beyond it +the hills, crowned with verdure, looked down upon us. I do not doubt that +from those heights the eyes of the enemy's spies were peering, and the +sight of our gallant and seemingly invincible army must have startled and +disheartened them. And as I looked along the ordered ranks, the barrels +gleaming at a single angle, four thousand feet moving to the drum tap, I +realized more deeply than ever that without training and discipline an +army could not exist. + +When we reached the second ford, about one in the afternoon, we found +that the bank was not yet made passable for the wagons and artillery, so +we drew up along the shingle until this could be done. Pickets were +posted on the heights, and half the force kept under arms, in case of a +surprise. Spiltdorph and I sauntered together to the water's edge, and +watched the pioneers busy at their work. I saw that my companion was +preoccupied, and after a time he ceased to regard the men, but sat +looking afar off and pitching pebbles into the stream. + +"Do you know, Stewart," he said at last, "I am becoming timid as a +girl. I told you I had a dream last night, and 't was so vivid I cannot +shake it off." + +"Tell me the dream," I said. + +"I dreamed that we met the French, and that I fell. I looked up, and you +were kneeling over me. But when I would have told you what I had to tell, +my voice was smothered in a rush of blood." + +"Oh, come!" I cried, "this is mere foolishness. You do not believe in +dreams, Spiltdorph?" + +"No," he answered. "And yet I never had such a dream as this." + +"Why, man," I said, "look around you. Do you see any sign of the French? +And yet their fort is just behind the trees yonder." + +He looked at me in silence for a moment, and made as if to speak, but the +tap of the drum brought us to our feet. + +"Come," he said, "the road is finished. We shall soon see what truth +there is in dreams." + +We took our places and the advance began again. First the Forty-Fourth +was passed over and the pickets of the right. The artillery, wagons, and +carrying horses followed, and then the provincial troops, the +Forty-Eighth, while the pickets of the left brought up the rear. At the +end of an hour the entire force was safe across, and as yet no sign of +the enemy. Such good fortune seemed well-nigh unbelievable, for we had +been assured there was no other place between us and the fort suited for +an ambuscade. + +Our company halted near a rude cabin which stood upon the bank. It was +the house of Fraser, the trader, where Washington and Gist had found +shelter after their perilous passage of the Allegheny near two years +before. We had been there but a few minutes when Colonel Washington +himself rode up. + +"Captain Waggoner," he said, "you will divide your company into four +flank parties, and throw them well out to the left of the line, fifty +yards at least. See that they get to their places at once, and that they +keep in touch, lest they mistake each other for the enemy." + +He was off as Waggoner saluted, and I heard him giving similar orders to +Peyronie's company behind us. It was certain that the general was taking +no chance of ambuscade, however safe the road might seem. We were soon in +place, Captain Waggoner himself in command of one party, Spiltdorph of +the second, I of the third, and Lieutenant Wright of the fourth. As we +took our places, I could see something of the disposition of our force +and the contour of the ground. The guides and a few light horse headed +the column, followed by the vanguard, and the advance party under Gage. +Then came St. Clair's working party, two fieldpieces, tumbrels, light +horse, the general's guard, the convoy, and finally the rear guard. +Before us stretched a fertile bottom, covered by a fair, open walnut +wood, with very little underbrush, and rising gradually to a higher +bottom, which reached to a range of hills two or three hundred feet in +height. Here the forest grew more closely, the underbrush became more +dense, and a great thicket of pea-vines, wild grape, and trailers +completely shut off the view. + +So soon as the line was formed, the drums beat the forward, and the +head of the column was soon out of sight among the trees, St. Clair's +working party cutting the road as they advanced. We were nearing the +tangle of underbrush, which I thought marked the course of a stream, +when there came suddenly a tremendous burst of firing from the front, +followed by a great uproar of yells. My heart leaped, for I knew the +French were upon us. + +"Close up, men!" shouted Waggoner. "Bring your party up here, Stewart!" + +I obeyed the order, and the other two parties joined us in a moment. +Scarcely had they done so, when the thicket in front of us burst into +flame, and three or four men fell. The others, well used, for the most +part, to this kind of fighting, took at once to the trees, and we +gradually worked our way forward, keeping up a spirited fire till we +reached the shelter of a huge log, which lay at the edge of the ravine. +As I looked over it, I saw that the gully swarmed with Indians, firing at +the main body of the troops, who seemed wedged in the narrow road. I +could see no French, and so judged they were attacking on the other side. + +"We've got 'em now!" yelled Waggoner. "Give it to 'em, men!" and we +poured a well-directed volley into the yelling mob. + +Fifteen or twenty fell, and the others, affrighted at the unexpected +slaughter, threw down their guns and started to run. We were reloading +with feverish haste, when from the woods behind us came a tremendous +volley. We faced about to receive this new attack, for we thought the +French were upon us. But we saw with horror that we were being fired at +by the regulars, who had taken us for the enemy in their madness, and +were preparing to fire again. + +"You fools!" screamed Waggoner. "Oh, you fools!" and white with rage, he +gave the order to retreat. + +A moment later, as I looked around, I saw that Spiltdorph was not with +us. + +"Where is he?" I asked. "Where is Spiltdorph?" + +Waggoner motioned behind us. + +"He was hit," he said. "He was killed by those cowardly assassins." + +"Perhaps he is not dead!" I cried, and before he could prevent me, I ran +back to the log. Not less than twenty dead lay near it, and in an instant +I saw my friend. I dropped beside him, and tore away his shirt. He had +been hit in the side by two bullets, and as I saw the wounds, I cursed +the insensate fools who had inflicted them. I tried to stanch the blood, +and as I raised his head, saw his eyes staring up at me. + +"The dream!" he cried. "The dream! Stewart, listen. There is a +girl--at Hampton"--A rush of blood choked him. He tried to speak, +clutched at my sleeve, and then his head fell back, a great sigh shook +him, and he was dead. + +The Indians were pouring back into the ravine, and I knew I could stay no +longer. So I laid him gently down, and with my heart aching as it had not +ached since my mother died, made my way back to my company. "There is a +girl," he had said, "at Hampton." What was it he had tried to tell? Well, +if God gave me life, I would find out. + +But every other thought was driven from my mind in my astonishment and +horror at the scene before me. Gage's advance party had given way almost +at the first fire, just as Burton was forming to support them, and the +two commands were mingled in hopeless confusion. The officers spurred +their horses into the mob, and tried in vain to form the men in some sort +of order. The colors were advanced in different directions, but there was +none to rally to them, for the men remained huddled together like +frightened sheep. And all around them swept that leaden storm, whose +source they could not see, mowing them down like grain. They fired volley +after volley into the forest, but the enemy remained concealed in the +ravines on either side, and the bullets flew harmless above their heads. + +At the moment I joined my company, General Braddock rode up, cursing like +a madman, and spurred his horse among the men. I could see him giving an +order, when his horse was hit and he barely saved himself from falling +under it. Another horse was brought, and in a moment he was again raving +up and down the lines. + +"What means this?" he screamed, coming upon us suddenly, where we were +sheltering ourselves behind the trees and replying to the enemy's fire as +best we could. "Are you all damned cowards?" + +"Cowards, sir!" cried Waggoner, his face aflame. "What mean you by that?" + +"Mean?" yelled Braddock. "Damn you, sir, I'll show you what I mean! Come +out from behind those trees and fight like men!" + +"Ay, and be killed for our pains!" cried Waggoner. + +"What, sir!" and the general's face turned purple. "You dare dispute my +order?" and he raised his sword to strike, but his arm was caught before +it had descended. + +"These men know best, sir," cried Washington, reining in his horse beside +him. "This is the only way to fight the Indians." + +The general wrenched his arm away and, fairly foaming at the mouth, +spurred his horse forward and beat the men from behind the trees with the +flat of his sword. + +"Back into the road, poltroons!" he yelled. "Back into the road! I'll +have no cowards in my army!" + +Washington and Waggoner watched him with set faces, while the men, too +astounded to speak, fell slowly back into the open. Not until that moment +did I comprehend the blind folly of this man, determined to sacrifice his +army to his pride. + +We fell back with our men, and there in the road found Peyronie, with the +remnant of his company, his face purple and his mouth working with rage. +All about us huddled the white-faced regulars,--the pride of the army, +the heroes of a score of battles!--crazed by fright, firing into the air +or at each other, seeing every moment their comrades falling about them, +killed by an unseen foe. I turned sick at heart as I looked at them. Hell +could hold no worse. + +Hotter and hotter grew the fire, and I realized that it was not the +French attacking us at all, but only their Indian allies. Not half a +dozen Frenchmen had been seen. It was by the savages of the forest that +the best troops in Europe were being slaughtered. Sir Peter Halket was +dead, shot through the heart, and his son, stooping to pick him up, fell +a corpse across his body. Shirley was shot through the brain. Poison was +dead. Totten, Hamilton, Wright, Stone, were dead. Spendelow had fallen, +pierced by three bullets. The ground was strewn with dead and wounded. +Horses, maddened by wounds, dashed through the ranks and into the forest, +often bearing their riders to an awful death. The Indians, growing +bolder, stole from the ravines, and scalped the dead and wounded almost +before our eyes. I began to think it all a hideous nightmare. Surely such +a thing as this could not really be! + +Colonel Burton had succeeded in turning some of his men about to face a +hill at our right, where the enemy seemed in great number, and we of +Waggoner's company joined him. A moment later, Colonel Washington, who +alone of the general's aides was left unwounded, galloped up and ordered +us to advance against the hill and carry it. With infinite difficulty, a +hundred men were collected who would still obey the order. As we +advanced, the enemy poured a galling fire upon us. A ball grazed my +forehead and sent a rush of blood into my eyes. I staggered forward, and +when I had wiped the blood away and looked about me, I saw with amazement +that our men had faced about and were retreating. I rushed after them and +joined two or three other officers who were trying to rally them. But +they were deaf to our entreaties and would not turn. + +As I glanced back up the slope down which we had come, I saw a sight +which palsied me. Colonel Burton had fallen, seemingly with a wound in +the leg, and was slowly dragging himself back toward the lines. Behind +him, an Indian was dodging from tree to tree, intent on getting his +scalp. Burton saw the savage, and his face grew livid as he realized how +rapidly he was being overtaken. In an instant I was charging up the +slope, and ran past Burton with upraised sword. The Indian saw me coming, +and waited calmly, tomahawk in air. While I was yet ten or twelve paces +from him, I saw his hand quiver, and sprang to one side as the blade +flashed past my head. With a yell of disappointment, the Indian turned +and disappeared in the underbrush. I ran back to Burton, and stooped to +raise him. + +"Allow me to aid you, Lieutenant Stewart," said a voice at my elbow, and +there stood Harry Marsh, as cool as though there were not an Indian +within a hundred miles. "I saw you turn back," he added, "and thought you +might need some help." + +I nodded curtly, for the bullets were whistling about us in a manner far +from pleasing, and between us we lifted Burton and started back toward +the lines. + +"My left leg seems paralyzed," he said. "The bullet must have struck a +nerve. If I could get on horseback, I should be all right again." + +And then he staggered and nearly fell, for Marsh lay crumpled up in a +heap on the ground. + +"He is dead," said Burton, as I stared down in horror at what an instant +before had been a brave, strong, hopeful human being. "A man never falls +like that unless he is dead. He was doubtless shot through the heart. He +was a brave boy. Did you know him?" + +"His name was Marsh," I answered hoarsely. "He was my cousin." + +"I shall not forget it," said Burton, and we stood a moment longer +looking down at the dead. + +But it was folly to linger there, and we continued on, I helping Burton +as well as I could. And a great loathing came over me for this game +called war. We reached the lines in safety, where Burton was taken to the +rear and given surgical attention. His wound was not a bad one, and half +an hour later, I saw that he had made good his assertion that he would be +all right once he was on horseback. + +In the mean time, affairs had gone from bad to worse, and the men were +wholly unnerved. Those who were serving the artillery were picked off, +and the pieces had been abandoned. A desperate effort was made to retake +them, but to no avail. The Indians had extended themselves along both +sides of the line, and had sharply attacked the baggage in the rear. The +men were crowded into a senseless, stupefied mob, their faces blanched +with horror and dripping with sweat, too terrified, many of them, to +reload their firelocks. The general rode up and down the line, exposing +himself with the utmost recklessness, but the men were long past the +reach of discipline. After all, human nature has its depths which no +drill-master can touch. Four horses were shot under him, and even while I +cursed his folly, I could not but admire his courage. Nor was the conduct +of his officers less gallant. Throwing themselves from the saddle, they +formed into platoons and advanced against the enemy, but not even by this +desperate means could the regulars be got to charge. So many officers +fell that at last it was as difficult to find any to give orders as to +obey them, and when, as a last desperate resort, the general, putting his +pride in his pocket, yielded to Washington's advice, and directed that +the troops divide into small parties and advance behind the trees to +surround the enemy, there was none to execute the manoeuvre, which, +earlier in the action, would have saved the day. + +It was plain that all was lost, that there was nothing left but to +retreat. We had no longer an army, but a mere mob of panic-stricken men. +The hideous yelling of the savages, as they saw the slaughter they were +doing and exulted in it, the rattle of the musketry, the groans and +curses of the wounded who fell everywhere about us, the screams of the +maddened horses, combined into a bedlam such as I hope never to hear +again. Toward the last, the Virginia troops alone preserved any semblance +of order. Away off to the right, I caught a glimpse of Peyronie rallying +the remnant of his company, and I looked from them to the trembling +regulars, and remembered with a rush of bitterness how they had laughed +at us a month before. + +Of a sudden there was a dash of hoofs beside me, and I saw the general +rein up beneath a tree and look up and down the field. Colonel Washington +was at his side, and seemed to be unwounded, though he had been ever +where the fight was thickest. + +"This is mere slaughter!" the general cried at last. "We can do no more. +Colonel Washington, order the retreat sounded." + +And as the drums rolled out the dismal strain which meant disgrace for +him and the blighting of all his hopes, he sat his horse with rigid face +and eyes from which all life had fled. He had been taught the lesson of +the wilderness. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +DEFEAT BECOMES DISHONOR + + +But there was worse to follow, for scarce had the first tap of the drums +echoed among the trees, when the mob of regulars became a mere frenzied +rabble. The officers tried to withdraw them from the field in some +semblance of order, but the men seemed seized with mad, blind, +unreasoning terror, and were soon beyond all hope of control. They rushed +from the field, sweeping their officers before them, and carrying with +them the provincial troops, who would have stood firm and behaved as +soldiers should. I was caught in one edge of the mob, as I tried to +restrain the men about me, and flung aside against a tree with such force +that I stood for a moment dazed by the blow, and then I saw I was beneath +the tree where Washington and Braddock sat their horses, watching with +grim faces the frenzied crowd sweep past. The soldiers flung away their +guns and accoutrements, their helmets, even their coats, that they might +flee the faster, and I saw one strike down a young subaltern who tried to +stay them. They jostled and fell over one another as sheep pursued by +dogs. I saw a horseman, his head bandaged in a bloody cloth, trying to +make way toward us against this cursing torrent, and recognized Captain +Orme. But he was dashed aside even as I had been, and for a moment I +thought he had been torn from his horse and trodden underfoot. Torn from +his horse he was, indeed, but escaped the latter fate, for some moments +later he came to us on foot through the trees. + +"Come, sir," he cried to the general, as he gained his side, "you must +leave the field. There is no hope of getting a guard from among these +cowards or persuading them to make a stand." + +Braddock turned to answer him, but as he did so, threw up his hands and +fell forward into the arms of his aide. I sprang to Orme's assistance, +and between us we eased him down. His horse, doubtless also struck by a +ball, dashed off screaming through the wood. + +"They have done for me!" he groaned, as we placed his back against a +tree. "Curse them, they have done for me." + +Washington, who had left his horse the instant he saw the general fall, +knelt and rested the wounded man's head upon his knee, and wiped the +bloody foam from off his lips. + +"Where are you hit?" he asked. + +"Here," and the general raised his left hand and touched his side. "'Tis +a mortal hurt, and I rejoice in it. I have no wish to survive this day's +disgrace." + +He cast his bloodshot eyes at the rabble of fleeing men. + +"And to think that they are soldiers of the line!" he moaned, and closed +his eyes, as though to shut out the sight. + +"We must get him out of this," said Orme quietly, and he turned away to +call to some of the Forty-Eighth who were rushing past. But they did not +even turn their heads. With an oath, Orme seized one by the collar. + +"A purse of sixty guineas!" he cried, dangling it before his eyes, but +the man threw him fiercely off, and continued on his way. Orme turned +back to us, his face grim with anger and despair. + +"'Tis useless," he said. "We cannot stop them. The devil himself could +not stop them now." + +The general had lain with his eyes closed and scarce breathing, so that I +thought that he had fainted. But he opened his eyes, and seemed to read +at a glance the meaning of Orme's set face. + +"Gentlemen," he said, more gently than I had ever heard him speak, "I +pray you leave me here and provide for your own safety. I have but a +little time to live at best, and the Indians will be upon us in a moment. +Leave them to finish me. You could not do a kinder thing. I have no wish +that you should sacrifice your lives so uselessly by remaining here with +me. There has been enough of sacrifice this day." + +Yes, he was a gallant man, and whatever of resentment had been in my +heart against him vanished in that instant. We three looked into each +other's eyes, and read the same determination there. We would save the +general, or die defending him. But the situation was indeed a +desperate one. + +At that moment, a tumbrel drawn by two maddened horses dashed by. One +wheel caught against a tree, and before the horses could get it free or +break from the harness, I had sprung to their heads. + +"Quick!" I cried, "I cannot hold them long." + +They understood in a moment, and, not heeding the general's entreaties +and commands that he be left, lifted him gently into the cart. Washington +sprang in beside him, Orme to the front, and in an instant I was clinging +to the seat and we were tearing along the road. It was time, for as I +glanced back, I saw the Indians rushing from the wood, cutting down and +scalping the last of the fugitives. I saw that Orme was suffering from +his wound, which seemed a serious one, and so I took the lines, which he +relinquished without protest, and held the horses to the road as well as +I was able. The tumbrel thundered on, over rocks and stumps of trees, +over dead men,--ay, and living ones, I fear,--to the river-bank, where a +few of the Virginia troops, held together by Waggoner and Peyronie, had +drawn up. It did my heart good to see them standing there, so cool and +self-possessed, while that mob of regulars poured past them, frenzied +with fear. And the thought came to me that never hereafter would a blue +coat need give precedence to a red one. + +We splashed down into the water and across the river without drawing +rein, since it was evident that no chance of safety lay on that side. +Waggoner seemed to understand what was in the cart, for he formed his men +behind us and followed us across the river. Scarcely had we reached the +other bank, when the Indians burst from the trees across the water, but +they stopped there and made no further effort at pursuit, returning to +the battleground to reap their unparalleled harvest of scalps and booty. +About half a mile from the river, we brought the horses to a stop to see +what would best be done. + +"The general commands that a stand be made here," cried Washington, +leaping from the cart, and Orme jumped down beside him, while I secured +the horses. + +"He is brave and determined as ever," said Washington in a low tone, +"though suffering fearfully. The ball has penetrated his lung, I fear, +for he can breathe only with great agony, and is spitting blood." + +Colonel Burton joined us at that moment, and between us we lifted the +general from the cart and laid him on a bed of branches on the ground. + +"Rally the men here," he said, setting his teeth to keep back the groan +which would have burst from him. "We will make a stand, and so soon as we +can get our force in shape, will march back against the enemy. We shall +know better how to deal with them the second time." + +We turned away to the work of rallying the fugitives, but the task was +not a light one, for the men seemed possessed with the fear that the +savages were on their heels, and ran past us without heeding our commands +to halt. At last we got together above a hundred men, posted sentries, +and prepared to spend the night. Darkness was already coming on, and +finally Captain Orme and Colonel Washington, after having searched in +vain for Doctor Craik, themselves washed the general's wound and dressed +it as best they could. They found that the ball had shattered the right +arm, and then passed into the side, though how deeply it had penetrated +they had no means of telling. + +Despite his suffering, he thought only of securing our position, and so +soon as his wound was dressed, he ordered Captain Waggoner and ten men to +march to our last camp and bring up some provisions which had been left +there. He directed Colonel Washington to ride at once to Colonel Dunbar's +camp, and order up the reinforcements for another advance against the +French. He dictated a letter to Dinwiddie calling for more troops, which +Washington was to take with him, and forward by messenger from Dunbar's +camp. Though so shaken in body he could scarce sit upright in the saddle, +Washington set off cheerfully on that frightful journey. Orme and I +watched him until he disappeared in the gloom. + +"A gallant man," he said, as we turned back to the rude shelter which had +been thrown up over the place where the general lay. "I do not think I +have ever seen a braver. You could not see as I could the prodigies of +valor he performed to-day. And he seems to bear a charmed life, for +though his coat was pierced a dozen times and two horses were killed +under him, he has escaped without a scratch." + +We walked on in silence until we reached headquarters, where Colonel +Burton was also sitting, suffering greatly from his wound now he was no +longer on horseback. + +"Lieutenant Stewart," he said to me, "I place you in charge of the +sentries for the night. Will you make the rounds and see that all is +well? I know the men are weary, but I need hardly tell you that our +safety will depend upon their vigilance. Guard especially against a +surprise from the direction of the river." + +I saluted, and started away to make the round. The sun had long since +sunk behind the trees in a cloud of blood-red vapor, which seemed to me +significant of the day. All about us through the forest arose the chorus +of night sounds, and afar off through the trees I could catch the +glinting of the river. What was happening beyond it, I dared not think. +And then I came to a sudden stop, for I had reached the spot where the +first sentry had been posted, but there was none in sight. + +I thought for a moment that in the darkness I must have missed the +place, but as I looked about me more attentively, I saw that could not +be. I walked up and down, but could find no trace of him. Could it be +that the Indians had stolen upon him and killed him with a blow of +knife or tomahawk before he could cry out? Yet if that had happened, +where was the body? + +I hurried on toward the spot where the next sentry had been posted, and +as I neared it, strained my eyes through the gloom, but could see no +trace of him. I told myself that I was yet too far away, and hurried +forward, but in a moment I had reached the place. There was no sentry +there. With the perspiration starting from my forehead, I peered among +the trees and asked myself what mysterious and terrible disaster +threatened us. The third sentry was missing like the others--the fourth +had disappeared--I made the whole round of the camp. Not a single +sentry remained. And then, of a sudden, the meaning of their absence +burst upon me. + +I hurried back to the camp, passing the spot where we had quartered the +men whom we had rallied, but who were not placed on sentry duty. + +As I expected, not one was there. + +"All is well, I trust, Lieutenant Stewart?" asked Colonel Burton, as I +approached. Then something in my face must have startled him, for he +asked me sharply what had happened. + +"I fear we cannot remain here, sir," I said, as calmly as I could. "All +of our men have deserted us. There is not a single sentry at his post;" +and I told him what I had found. + +He listened without a word till I had finished. + +"You will get the tumbrel ready for the general, lieutenant," he said +quietly. "I will report this sad news to him. It seems that our defeat is +to become dishonor." + +I put the horses into harness again, and led them to the place where the +general lay. He seemed dazed by the tidings of his men's desertion, and +made no protest nor uttered any sound as we lifted him again into the +cart and set off through the night. We soon reached the second ford, and +on the other side found Colonel Gage, who had contrived to rally about +eighty men and hold them there with him. But there seemed no hope of +keeping them through the night, so we set forward again, and plunged into +the gloomy forest. + +An hour later, as I was plodding wearily along beside the cart, thinking +over the events of this tragic day, I was startled by a white face +peering from beneath the upraised curtain out into the darkness. It was +the stricken man within, who was surveying the remnant of that gallant +army which, a few short hours before, had passed along this road so +gayly, thinking itself invincible. He held himself a moment so, then let +the curtain drop and fell back upon his couch. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +ALLEN AND I SHAKE HANDS + + +Of the horrors of the night which followed, my pen can paint no adequate +picture. Fugitives panted past us in the darkness, pursued by phantoms of +their own imagining, thinking only of one thing--to leave that scene of +awful slaughter far behind. The wounded toiled on, groaning and cursing, +for to drop to the rear or to wander from the way was to die, if not by +knife or tomahawk, none the less surely by hunger. Here and there some +poor wretch who could win no farther sat groaning by the roadside or +rolled in delirium upon the ground. The vast, impenetrable darkness of +the forest overshadowed us, full of threatening suggestion and peopled +with nameless terrors. + +Colonel Gage remained with us with such of his men as he could hold +together, and among them I saw Lieutenant Allen. He had been wounded in +the shoulder, and at the suggestion of Captain Orme mounted the tumbrel +and drove the horses, while I walked beside it. What agonies the stricken +man within endured, tossed from side to side as the cart bumped along the +rough road, through ruts and over rocks and stumps of trees, must have +been beyond description, but not once during all that long night did I +hear a groan or complaint from him. Once he asked for water, and as Orme +and I stooped over him I heard him murmur as though to himself, "Who +would have thought it?" and again, "Who would have thought it?" Then he +drank the water mechanically and lay back, and said no more. + +The disaster had been too sudden, too unexpected, too complete, for any +of us to fully realize. It seemed impossible that this handful of +terror-stricken fugitives should be all that remained of the proud army +to which we had belonged, and that this army had been defeated by a few +hundred Indians. Few of us had seen above a dozen of the enemy,--we of +Waggoner's company were the only ones who had looked down upon that +yelling mob in the ravine,--and scarce knew by whom we had been +slaughtered. It was incredible that two regiments of the best troops in +England should have been utterly routed by so contemptible a foe. The +reason refused to acknowledge such a thing. + +I was plodding along, wearily enough, thinking of all this, when I heard +my name called, and glancing up, saw Allen looking round the corner of +the wagon cover. + +"Won't you come up here, Lieutenant Stewart?" he asked. "There is ample +room for two, and 't is no use to tire yourself needlessly." + +I accepted gratefully, though somewhat astonished at his courtesy, and in +a moment was on the seat beside him. He fell silent for a time, nor was I +in any mood for talk, for Spiltdorph's fate and young Harry Marsh's +sudden end weighed upon me heavily. + +"Lieutenant Stewart," he said at last, "I feel that I did you and the +Virginia troops a grave injustice when I chose to question their courage. +What I saw to-day has opened my eyes to many things. In all the army, the +Virginia troops were the only ones who kept their wits about them and +proved themselves men. I wish to withdraw the expressions I used that +night, and to apologize for them most sincerely." + +My hand was in his in an instant. + +"With all my heart," I said. "I have thought more than once since then +that we were both too hasty." + +He laughed,--a short laugh, in which there was no mirth. + +"I think there are many of us who have been too hasty in this campaign," +he said. "It is easy enough to see now that regulars are worth little in +this frontier warfare, where their manoeuvres count for nothing, and that +the provincials should have been left to fight in their own fashion. It +is not a pleasant thought that all my work in drilling them was worse +than wasted, and that every new manoeuvre I taught them impaired their +efficiency by just so much." + +"'Twas not quite so bad as that," I protested. "The Virginia troops have +much to thank you for, and we shall know better how to deal with the +enemy next time." + +"Next time?" he repeated despondently. "But when will next time be, +think you?" + +"Why, at once, to be sure!" I cried. "We have still, with Colonel +Dunbar's companies, over a thousand men. So soon as we join with him, and +get our accoutrement in order, we can march back against the enemy, and +we shall not be caught twice in the same trap." + +He did not answer, and there was a moment's silence. I glanced at his +face and saw that it was very grave. + +"You do not mean," I asked, with a great fear at my heart, "that you +think it possible we shall retreat without striking another blow?" + +"I fear it is only too possible," he answered gloomily. "If the general +lives, he may order another advance; indeed, I am sure he will, in the +hope of saving some fragment of his reputation. But if he dies, as seems +most likely, Colonel Dunbar, who succeeds to the command, is not the man +to imperil his prestige by taking such a risk." + +"Risk?" I cried. "How is this any greater than the risk we took at +the outset?" + +"You forget, lieutenant," said Allen, "that all of our equipment was left +on the field. The men flung away their arms, many of them even the +clothes upon their backs. Everything was abandoned,--the general's +private papers, and even the military chest, with £10,000 in it. These +losses will not be easily repaired." + +I could not but admit the truth of this, and said as much. + +"And then," continued Allen, still more gloomily, "we have suffered +another loss which can never be made good. The morale of the men is +gone. They have no longer the confidence in themselves which a winning +army must have. I doubt if many of them could be got to cross the +Monongahela a second time." + +Yes, that was also true, and we fell silent, each busy with his own +thoughts. It seemed too horrible, too utterly fantastic. At last came the +dawn, and the light of the morning disclosed us to each other. As I +looked about me, I wondered if these scarecrows, these phantoms of men, +could be the same who had gone into battle in all the pride of manhood +and pageantry of arms the day before. Orme was ghastly, with his bandaged +head and torn, mud-stained uniform, and as I looked at him, I recalled +sadly the gallant figure I had met at Fort Necessity. Nor were the others +better. Haggard faces, bloodshot eyes, lips drawn with suffering, hair +matted with blood,--all the grim and revolting realities of defeat were +there before us, and no longer to be denied. And I realized that I was +ghastly as any. A bullet had cut open my forehead, leaving a livid gash, +from which the blood had dried about my face. I had lost my hat, and my +uniform was in tatters and stained with blood. + +We soon met the men who had gone forward with Waggoner to secure us some +supplies, and halted by a little brook to wash our injuries. Captain Orme +and some others attended as well as they were able to the general, and +gave him a little food, which was all too scarce, barely sufficient for a +single meal. Fortunately, Doctor Craik, who had learned that the general +was wounded, came up soon after, and made a careful examination of the +injury. He came away, when he had finished, with grave face, and told us +there was little hope, as the wound was already much inflamed and +fevered, and the general was able to breathe only with great agony. He +said there could be no question that the ball had entered the lung. The +general fancied that he would be easier on horseback, so when the march +was begun again, he was mounted on the horse Orme had been riding, but +after half an hour his pain grew so intense that he had to be taken down. +It was evident that he could not endure the jolting of the cart, and we +finally rigged up a sort of litter out of a portion of the tumbrel top, +and the men took turns in bearing him on this between them. + +Daylight banished much of the terror of the night, and as we toiled +onward, we began to talk a little, each to tell what part he had seen +of the battle. It was here that I heard the story of Harry Gordon, the +engineer who had been marking out the road in advance of the column, +and who had first seen the enemy. They had appeared suddenly, coming +through the wood at a run, as though hurrying from the fort, and led by +a man whose silver gorget and gayly fringed hunting-shirt at once +bespoke the chief. So soon as he saw Gordon, he halted and waved his +hat above his head, and the rabble of savages at his heels had +dispersed to right and left and disappeared as if by magic. An instant +later came a tremendous rifle fire from either flank, which cut Gage's +troops to pieces. They had rallied and returned the fire with spirit, +so that for a time the issue hung in the balance; but the terrible fire +to which they were subjected was too much for any discipline to +withstand, and they had finally given way in confusion, just as Burton +was forming to support them. + +It was not until long afterward that I heard the French story of the +fight, but I deem it best to set it down here. As our army had approached +through the wilderness, the Indians who lurked upon our flanks had +carried greatly exaggerated stories of our strength to Fort Duquesne, and +M. de Contrecoeur prepared to surrender on terms of honorable +capitulation, deeming it mere madness to oppose a force so overwhelming +in strength and so well disciplined. To the French the reputation of +General Braddock and of the Forty-Fourth and Forty-Eighth regiments of +the line was well known and commanded the greatest respect. On the eighth +of July, it was reported that the English were only a few miles from the +fort, which they would probably invest the next day, and M. de Beaujeu, a +captain of the regulars, asked the commandant for permission to prepare +an ambuscade and contest the second passage of the Monongahela. +Contrecoeur granted the request with great reluctance, and only on +condition that Beaujeu obtain the assistance of the Indians, of whom +there were near a thousand camped about the fort. Accordingly. Beaujeu at +once called the warriors to a council, and urged that they accompany him +against the English on the morrow. They received his proposition with +marked coldness, and according to the Indian custom, asked until morning +to consider their reply. In the morning, the council was called together +again, and the Indians refused to take part in the expedition. At that +moment a runner burst in upon them and announced that the enemy was at +hand. Beaujeu, who knew well the inflammable nature of his hearers, was +on his feet in an instant. + +"I," he cried, "am determined to go out against the enemy. I am certain +of victory. What! Will you suffer your father to depart alone?" + +It was the one spark needed to set the Indians on fire. They were frantic +with excitement. Barrels of bullets and casks of powder were rolled from +the fort, and their heads knocked out, so that each Indian could take +what he needed. War paint was donned, and in an hour the band, nine +hundred strong, of whom near seven hundred were Indians and the remainder +Canadians and regulars, set off silently through the forest. Beaujeu +calculated, at the most, on giving us a severe check as we crossed the +second ford, but long ere he reached the river, the beating of the drums +and the tramp of the approaching army told him that he was too late, and +that we had already crossed. Quickening their pace to a run, in a moment +they came upon our vanguard, and as Beaujeu gave the signal, the Indians +threw themselves into two ravines on our flanks, while the Canadians and +French held the centre. The first volley of Gage's troops killed +Beaujeu, and was so tremendous that it frightened the Indians, who +turned to flee. But they were rallied by a few subalterns, and finding +that the volleys of the regulars did little damage except to the trees, +returned to the attack, and during the whole engagement were perfectly +sheltered in the ravines, rifle and artillery fire alike sweeping above +them. They lost altogether but twenty-five or thirty men, and most of +these fell before the volley which we of Waggoner's company had fired +into the ravine. + +After our retreat, no pursuit was attempted, the Indians busying +themselves killing and scalping the wounded and gathering up the rich +booty which the army had left behind. They decked themselves in British +uniforms, stuck the tall caps of the grenadiers above their painted +faces, wound neck, wrist, and ankle with gold lace, made the wood to echo +with the dreadful scalp-halloo. Such an orgy of blood they never had +before; not another such will they ever have. + +One other horror must I record, which chokes me even yet to think of. A +score of regulars, surrounded by savages and cut off in their retreat +from the remainder of the army, yielded themselves captive to the +victors, thinking to be treated as prisoners of war have ever been in +Christian nations. But the Indians knew only their own bloodthirsty +customs. Half of the captives were tomahawked on the spot. The others +were stripped of clothing, their faces blackened, their hands bound +behind them, and were driven forward to the Allegheny, where, just +across from Fort Duquesne, a stake had been set in the river's bank. +Arrived there, the prisoners began to understand the fate prepared for +them, yet they could not believe. A hundred yards away across the river +stood the walls of the fort, crowded with soldiers, the fair lilies of +France waving lazily above their heads. Calmly they watched the terrible +preparations,--Contrecoeur, Dumas, and all the others,--and not one +raised a hand to rescue those unhappy men, or uttered a word to mitigate +their torture. From dark to dawn the flames shimmered across the +water,--for the English went to their fate singly,--and things were done +to turn one sick with horror; yet did the French look tranquilly from +their bastions and joke one to another. Our flag, thank God, has never +been sullied by a deed like that! + +Early the next morning, the Indians started westward to their homes, +laden with booty, sated with slaughter, leaving the French to take care +of themselves as best they might. The latter remained for a week in great +fear of another attack, which they would have been quite unable to +withstand, little thinking that our army was fleeing back to the +settlements with feet winged by an unreasoning terror. + +We reached Gist's plantation at ten o'clock on the night of the tenth, +and here we were compelled to stop because of our own exhaustion and the +great suffering of the general. And here, early the next morning, came +Colonel Washington, sitting his cushioned saddle like some gaunt +spectre, and bringing with him wagons loaded with provision. The general +still persisted in the exercise of his duties, despite his suffering, and +he at once detailed a party to proceed toward the Monongahela with a +supply of food, for the succor of the stragglers and the wounded who had +been left behind,--a duty which was ill fulfilled because of the +cowardice of those to whom it was intrusted. Meanwhile we pushed on, and +reached Dunbar's camp that night. + +We found it in the utmost confusion. At five o'clock on the morning after +the battle, a teamster, who had cut loose his horse and fled at the first +onset, had ridden madly into the camp crying that the whole army was +destroyed and he alone survived. At his heels came other teamsters, for +with an appalling cowardice, which makes me blush for my countrymen, they +had one and all cut loose their teams at the first fire, and selecting +the best horse, had fled precipitately from the field. Toward noon, +Colonel Washington had arrived, bringing the first accurate news of the +disaster, and at once setting on foot the relief expedition. After him +came troops of haggard, toil-worn, famished men, without arms, bewildered +with terror, fearing a second ambuscade at every step, and with the yells +of the Indians still ringing in their ears. The news of the disaster and +the incoherent stories of these half-crazed fugitives spread +consternation through the camp. Men deserted by scores and started +hot-foot for the settlements, and all pretense of discipline vanished. +Nor did the arrival of the general greatly better matters. He was fast +sinking, and long periods of delirium sapped his strength. It was evident +that the end was near. + +On the morning of the twelfth, I was engaged in collecting such of +the Virginia troops as I could find about the camp, when I saw +Colonel Washington approaching with a face so gloomy that I foresaw +some new disaster. + +"What is it?" I asked, almost before he had reached me. + +"Have you not heard?" and he looked meaningly back toward a spring near +which a number of men were unheading some casks. "We are to destroy all +our powder and stores, burn our wagons, and flee back to the settlements, +like so many children." + +"Why, 'tis folly!" I cried. "'Tis monstrous! Who gave such an order?" + +"I know not," and Washington smiled bitterly. "It is certain that the +general did not, since he has been raving with fever all the night. +Besides, his one thought has been to march back against the French the +instant he could get his troops together. Come, walk over with me and let +us watch this unhappy work." + +I followed him, and witnessed a sight which filled me with speechless +anger and indignation. Powder casks were being knocked open and their +contents cast into the spring, cohorns broken, shells burst, provisions +destroyed, and upwards of a hundred and fifty wagons burned. I remembered +bitterly what work we had had to obtain those wagons. Such a scene of +senseless and wanton destruction I had never seen before, and hope never +to see again. A frenzy of terror seemed to possess officers and men +alike, and I turned away, raging at heart, to think that to such men as +these had been intrusted the defense of our country. At last the work of +destruction was complete. With barely enough provision to carry us to +Fort Cumberland, and with no ammunition save that in our cartouch boxes, +the retreat commenced, if the flight of a disordered and frenzied rabble +can be dignified by such a name. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +BRADDOCK PAYS THE PRICE + + +It was the morning of Sunday, July 13, that this shameful flight began. +Its arrant cowardice weighed on many of the officers who were left alive, +and even on some of the men, especially, I am glad to say, on many of the +Virginians. Whose fault was it? Well, Colonel Dunbar was in command, +since the general was no longer conscious, and must take the blame. + +Colonel Washington had asked me to remain near him, if possible. He had +secured me a horse, and together with Captain Orme, who was no less +depressed, we formed the escort to the litter whereon lay the dying man. +Doctor Craik came to us from time to time, but the general was far beyond +human aid. I had never respected him so much as in this hour, for of his +downright valor I had had every proof. If only his pride had been a +little less, that his valor might have counted! It was while I was riding +thus, absorbed in melancholy thought, that a horse cantered up beside me, +and looking up, I saw Lieutenant Allen. + +"Confess I was a true prophet, Lieutenant Stewart," he remarked, with +a sorry attempt at a smile, "though damme if I could have foretold +that act of folly back yonder! You see, I know our new commander +better than do you." + +"So it seems," I answered, and at that moment caught Colonel Washington's +astonished eyes fixed upon us. Allen followed my glance, and smiled as he +saw the expression of Washington's face. + +"He cannot understand our friendliness," he laughed. "He is doubtless +wondering if we are arranging the preliminaries for the desperate +encounter for which we were booked. Let me explain the situation to him," +and he spurred to Washington's side. "I had occasion to say to Lieutenant +Stewart a few evenings ago," he said, "that I had been grievously +mistaken in my estimate of his courage, and that of the Virginia +companies, and that I was truly sorry that I had ever questioned them. In +the light of to-day's event, I am still more sorry, and I wish to add to +you, Colonel Washington, that I regret the words I used to you, and that +I sincerely ask your pardon." + +"'Tis granted with all my heart!" cried Washington, his face illumined +with that fine smile which always lighted it before any deed of courage +or gentleness, and the two shook hands warmly. "'Twas granted before you +asked it. I am not such a fire-eater as Tom, back there. I have regretted +that foolish quarrel many times, and had determined that it should not +lead to another meeting between you, which would have been mere folly. +Come here, sir," he called to me. "I wish to tell you how pleased I am +that this quarrel has been adjusted." + +"No more pleased than I, I assure you, colonel," I laughed. +"Lieutenant Allen gave me a sample of his swordsmanship I shall not +soon forget. I should have been as helpless before him as a lamb in the +jaws of a tiger." + +"Now you are mocking me!" cried Allen, and as I related to Colonel +Washington the story of his little bout with Langlade, we rode on +laughing, the best of friends. + +"But, believe me, Lieutenant Stewart," he said, when I had finished, "it +was not self-complacency which urged me to take up the foils that day. I +merely wished to show you that you had need to keep in practice, and so +prevent you from becoming over-sure." + +"'T was well done," said Washington heartily. "I appreciate your conduct, +Lieutenant Allen." + +"And I certainly took the lesson to heart," I laughed. "Just before you +came, I had conceived a most exalted opinion of my own abilities. I shall +not make the mistake a second time." + +Presently Allen fell back to rejoin the rear-guard, with which he had +been stationed, and we rode on beside the general's litter. He was +delirious most of the time, and was fighting the battle of the +Monongahela over and over again, giving orders and threshing from side to +side of his couch in his agony. In one of his intervals of consciousness, +he called my companion to him. + +"Colonel Washington," he said in a low tone, "I feel that I have done you +great injustice. Had I followed your advice, this catastrophe might not +have happened. But my eyes were not opened until too late. Had I lived, +I should not have forgot you. I am sure you cannot withhold your pardon +from a dying man." + +Washington's lips were trembling as he bent over the litter. + +"If there is anything to pardon, general," he said softly, "be sure I +pardon you with all my heart. You have the love of all your officers, +sir, who revere you as a brave and gallant man." + +"Ay, but a proud and stubborn one," and he smiled sadly. "Would God I had +had the grace to see it while it was yet time. Colonel Washington," he +added, "I wish you to have my charger, Bruce, and my body servant, +Bishop. These two gentlemen are witnesses that I give them to you." + +Orme and I bowed our assent, and Washington thanked him with a trembling +voice. He was soon wandering again, this time, apparently, among the +scenes of his earlier manhood. + +"Messieurs de la Garde Française," he cried, "tirez, s'il vous plait!" + +"Ah," murmured Orme, "he is at Fontenoy." + +And again,-- + +"Poor Fanny, I always thought she would play till she would be forced to +tuck herself up." + +"She was his sister," said Orme, answering our questioning glances. "She +ruined herself at cards and then hanged herself. It was a sad story." + +And yet again,-- + +"No, I'll not take your purse!" he cried; and then after a moment, "nor +ask my life at your hands. Do what you will." + +I could bear no more, and rode forward out of earshot. To see this +gallant man lying there, slowly dying, bereft at one stroke of life and +that far dearer to him than life, his military reputation, moved me as +few things had ever done. He had another lucid interval toward the middle +of the afternoon, and warmly praised the conduct of his officers. + +"They were gallant boys, every one," he said. "They did their duty +as brave men should. How many of them fell?" he asked suddenly, +turning to Orme. + +"Sixteen," answered Orme sadly. + +"And how many were wounded?" + +"Forty-seven." + +"Sixty-three,--and there were only eighty-nine," and Braddock sighed +heavily. "And how went it with the men?" + +Orme hesitated, fearing to disclose the extent of the disaster, but the +general's eyes were on his and would take no denial. + +"They suffered very heavily," said Orme at last. "Less than five hundred +escaped unharmed. All of the wounded who remained on the field were +killed by the Indians." + +"And we went into battle with near fifteen hundred men," said Braddock. +"Why, it was mere slaughter. There has never an army gone into battle +which lost such proportion of its numbers. Ah, well, I shall soon join +them. And they are happier than I, for they went to their end honored +and applauded, whilst I am a broken and ruined man, who will be +remembered only to be cursed." + +He turned his head away from us, and a great tear rolled down his cheek. +Orme was crying like a child, and made no effort to conceal it, nor were +Washington and I less moved. + +"At least," he said at last, turning back to us with a smile, "it were +better to have died than to have lived. I am glad I do not have to live." + +He soon lapsed again into delirium, and seemed to be living over a second +time a meeting with some woman. + +"Dear Pop," he said, "we are sent like sacrifices to the altar. They have +given me a handful of men and expect me to conquer whole nations. I know +that I shall never see you more. Good-by, Pop, and God bless you." + +Orme turned away for a moment to master his emotion. + +"'T was his last night in London," he said when he could speak. "He was +to set out on the morrow, and he asked Colonel Burton and myself to go +with him to visit a very dear protegee of his, George Anne Bellamy, the +actress, to whom, I think, he has left all his property. He used to her +almost the same words he has just repeated." + +"So he had doubts of his success," said Washington musingly. "Well, he +was a brave man, for he never permitted them to be seen." + +He was fast growing weaker. His voice faltered and failed, and he lay +without movement in his litter, continuing so until eight o'clock in the +evening. We had halted for the night, and had gathered about his couch, +watching him as his breathing grew slowly fainter. At last, when we +thought him all but gone, he opened his eyes, and seeing the ring of +anxious faces about him, smiled up at them. + +"It is the end," he said quietly. "You will better know how to deal with +them next time;" and turning his head to one side, he closed his eyes. + +We buried him at daybreak. The grave was dug in the middle of the road, +so that the wagons passing over it might efface all trace of its +existence and preserve it inviolate from the hands of the Indians. Our +chaplain, Mr. Hughes, had been severely wounded, so it was Colonel +Washington who read the burial service. I shall not soon forget that +scene,--the open grave in the narrow roadway, the rude coffin draped with +a flag, the martial figure within in full uniform, his hands crossed over +the sword on his breast, the riderless charger neighing for its master, +and the gray light of the morning over it all. The burial service has +never sounded more impressively in my ears than it did as read that +morning, in Colonel Washington's strong, melodious voice, to that little +group of listening men, in the midst of the wide, unbroken, whispering +forest. How often have I heard those words of hope and trust in God's +promise to His children, and under what varying circumstances! + +We lowered him into the grave, and lingered near until the earth was +heaped about it. Then the drums beat the march, the wagons rolled over +it, and in half an hour no trace of it remained. So to this day, he lies +there undisturbed in the heart of the wilderness, in a grave which no man +knows. Others have railed at him,--have decried him and slandered +him,--but I remember him as he appeared on that last day of all, a brave +and loyal gentleman, not afraid of death, but rather welcoming it, and +the memory is a sweet and dear one. If he made mistakes, he paid for them +the uttermost penalty which any man could pay,--and may he rest in peace. + +Of the remainder of that melancholy flight little need be said. We +struggled on through the wilderness, bearing our three hundred wounded +with us as best we could, and marking our path with their shallow graves, +as they succumbed one after another to the hardships of the journey. On +the twenty-second day of July we reached Fort Cumberland, and I learned +with amazement that Dunbar did not propose to stop here, although he had +placed near a hundred and fifty miles between him and the enemy, but to +carry his whole army to Philadelphia, leaving Virginia open to Indian and +French invasion by the very road which we had made. He alleged that he +must go into winter quarters, and that, too, though it was just the +height of summer. Colonel Washington ventured to protest against this +folly, but was threatened with court-martial, and came out of Dunbar's +quarters red with anger and chagrin. + +And sure enough, on the second of August, Dunbar marched away with all +his effective men, twelve hundred strong, leaving at the fort all his +sick and wounded and the Virginia and Maryland troops, over whom he +attempted to exercise no control. I bade good-by to Orme and Allen and +such other of the officers as I had met. Colonel Burton took occasion to +come to me the night before he marched, and presented me with a very +handsome sword in token of his gratitude, as he said, for saving his +life,--an exploit, as I pointed out to him, small enough beside a hundred +others that were done that day. + +The sword he gave me hangs above my desk as I write. I am free to confess +that I have performed no great exploits with it, and when I took it down +from its hook the other day to look at it, I found that it had rusted in +its scabbard. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +VIRGINIA BIDS US WELCOME + + +"To my mind, there is only one thing to be done. That is to retire." + +The speaker was Colonel Henry Innes, commandant of the fort, but as he +looked up and down the row of faces opposite him, he saw few which showed +assent. Scarcely had the rear-guard of Dunbar's troops disappeared among +the trees which lined the narrow military road, when Colonel Innes had +called this meeting of the officers left at the fort, "to decide," as the +summons put it, "on our future course of action." As if, I thought +indignantly to myself, there could be any question as to what our future +course of action should be. + +"We are left here," continued the speaker, in a louder voice and growing +somewhat red in the face, "with scarce five hundred men, all provincials, +and most of them unfit for service. A great part of the army's equipment +has been abandoned or destroyed back there in the woods. In short, we are +so weak that we can hope neither to advance against the enemy nor to +repel an assault, should they march against us in force, as they are most +like to do." + +For a moment there was an ominous silence. + +"May I ask what it is you propose, Colonel Innes?" asked Captain +Waggoner at last. + +"I propose to abandon the place," replied Innes, "and to fall back to +Winchester or some other point where our wounded may lie in safety and +our men have opportunity to recover from the fatigues of the campaign." + +Again there was a moment's silence, and all of us, as by a common +impulse, glanced at Colonel Washington, who sat at one end of the table, +his head bowed in gloomy thought. The fever, which he had shaken off for +a time, had been brought back by the arduous work he had insisted on +performing, and he was but the shadow of his former self. He felt our +eyes upon him and suddenly raised his head. + +"Do you really anticipate that the French will march against us, Colonel +Innes?" he asked quietly. "There were scarce three hundred of them at the +fort three weeks ago, hardly enough for an expedition of such moment, and +it is not likely that they can be reinforced to undertake any campaign +this summer." + +"There would be little danger from the French themselves," retorted +Innes, with an angry flush, "but they will undoubtedly rally the Indians, +and lead them against us along the very road which Braddock cut over the +mountains. Fort Cumberland stands at one end of that road." + +Washington smiled disdainfully. + +"I have heard of few instances," he said, "where Indians have dared +attack a well-manned fortification, and of none where they have captured +one. To retreat from here would be to leave our whole frontier open to +their ravages, and would be an act of cowardice more contemptible than +that which Colonel Dunbar performed this morning, when he marched his +troops away." + +I had never seen him so moved, and I caught the infection of his anger. + +"Colonel Washington is right!" I cried hotly. "Our place is here." + +Innes did not so much as look at me. His eyes were on Washington, and his +face was very red. + +"Colonel Washington," he sneered, his lips curling away from his teeth +with rage, "was, I believe, an aide on the general's staff. Since the +general is dead, that position no longer exists. Consequently, Colonel +Washington is no longer an officer of the army, and I fail to see what +right he has to take part in this discussion." + +Half a dozen of us were on our feet in an instant, but Washington was +before us and waved us back with a motion of his hand. + +"Colonel Innes is right," he said, his deep-set eyes gleaming like two +coals of fire. "I am no longer an officer of the army, and I thank God +this is so, since it is about to further disgrace itself." + +"Take care, sir," cried Innes, springing to his feet. "You forget there +is such a thing as court-martial." + +"And you forget that I am no longer of the army, and so can defy its +discipline." + +He stood for a moment longer looking Innes in the eyes, and then, +without saluting, turned on his heel and left the place. A moment later +the council broke up in confusion, for Innes saw plainly that the +sentiment of nearly all the other officers present was against him, and +he did not choose to give it opportunity of expression. I had scarcely +reached my quarters when I received a note from his secretary stating +that as the mortality among the Virginia companies had been so heavy, it +had been decided to unite the three into one, and my lieutenancy was +therefore abolished. Trembling with anger, I hurried to Washington's +quarters and laid the note before him. + +"Why, Tom," he said, with a short laugh, after he had read it, "we seem +to have fallen into disgrace together. But come," he added more +cheerfully, seeing my downcast face, "do not despair. We may yet win out. +The governor and the House of Burgesses will not receive so quietly this +project to retire from the frontier. I had a letter from Dinwiddie but +the other day, in which he said as much. In the mean time, I am going +home to Mount Vernon to rest, and you must come with me." + +I accepted readily enough, for I knew not what else to do, and on the +morrow we set out. Colonel Washington was so ill that we could proceed +but slowly. We finally reached Winchester, and from there, because of the +better road, crossed the river to Frederick, where a great surprise +awaited us. For scarcely were we off our horses at the little tavern, +than the host, learning our names, rushed away down the wide, rambling +street, crying the news aloud, to our great wonderment, who saw not why +it should interest any one. In an incredibly short time, above a hundred +people had gathered before the inn, cheering and hallooing with all their +might, while we looked at them in dumb amazement. We sent for the host to +learn what this might mean, thinking doubtless there was some mistake, +and even as he entered, a dozen men burst into the room, and insisted +that we should not be permitted for a moment to think of putting up at an +inn, but should accompany them home. + +"But, gentlemen," protested Washington, "you have mistaken us for some +one else. We have done nothing to deserve your hospitality." + +"Have you not?" they cried, and they hustled us out into the yard. There +was no denying them, so off we rode again, greatly bewildered, and in the +course of half an hour were being introduced by our self-appointed +entertainer to his wife and three pretty daughters. + +"'T is Colonel Washington, you understand, wife," he cried. "Colonel +Washington, whose advice, had it been followed, would have saved the +expedition." + +A great light broke upon me. So my friend's merits were to be recognized +at last,--were to win him something more than contumely and insult,--and +as he would have made denial, I cut him short. + +"Do not listen to him!" I cried. "'T is true, every word of it, and much +more besides." + +Whereat the girls smiled at me very sweetly, our host wrung my hand +again, and I swear there were tears in Washington's eyes as he looked at +me in feigned anger. Such a night's entertainment as was given us I shall +not soon forget, nor Colonel Washington either, I dare say. Word of our +presence had got about the neighborhood with singular speed, and the +people flocked in by dozens, until the great hallway, which ran through +the house from front to rear, was crowded from end to end. Then, nothing +would do but that Colonel Washington must tell the story of the advance, +the ambuscade, and the retreat, which he did with such consummate +slighting of his own part in the campaign that I interrupted him in great +indignation, and, unheeding his protests, related some of the things +concerning him which I have already written, and which, I swear, were +very well received. + +"But Lieutenant Stewart says nothing of what he himself did," cried +Washington, when I had finished. + +"Because I did nothing worth relating," I retorted, my cheeks hot with +embarrassment at the way they looked at me. + +"Ask him how he won that sword he wears at his side," he continued, not +heeding my interruption, his eyes twinkling at my discomfiture. "Believe +me, 'tis not many Virginia officers can boast such a fine one." + +And then, of course, they all demanded that he tell the story, which he +did with an exaggeration that I considered little less than shameful. +In some mysterious manner, tankards of cold, bitter Dutch beer, the +kind that is so refreshing after a journey or at the close of a hot +day's work, had found their way into the right hand of every man +present, and as Washington ended the story and I was yet denying, our +host sprang to his feet. + +"We'll drink to the troops of Maryland and Virginia," he cried, "who +behaved like soldiers and died like men, teaching England's redcoats a +lesson they will not soon forget, and to two of the bravest among them, +Colonel Washington and Lieutenant Stewart!" + +It was done with a cheer that made the old hall ring, and when, half an +hour later, I found myself beside the prettiest of the three daughters of +the house, I was not yet quite recovered. Only this I can say,--it is a +pleasant thing to be a hero, though trying to the nerves. I had only the +one experience, and did not merit that, as the reader has doubtless +decided for himself. + +Of course there was a dance,--what merrymaking would be complete without +one?--and Colonel Washington walked a minuet with a certain Mistress +Patience Burd, with a grace which excited the admiration of every swain +in the room, and the envy of not a few,--myself among the number, for I +was ever but a clumsy dancer, and on this occasion no doubt greatly vexed +my pretty partner. But every night must end, as this one did at last. +Colonel Washington was much better next morning, for his illness had been +more of the mind than of the body, and our kind reception had done +wonders to banish his vexation. Our friends bade us Godspeed, and we rode +on our way southward. I never saw the house again, and it is one of my +great regrets and reasons for self-reproach that I have forgot the name +of the honest man who was our host that night, and remember only that the +name of his prettiest daughter was Betty. + +As we reached a part of the country which was more closely settled, I +soon perceived that however great dishonor had accrued to British arms +and British reputations as the result of that battle by the Monongahela, +Colonel Washington had won only respect and admiration by his consistent +and courageous conduct. We were stopped a hundred times by people who +asked first for news, and when they heard my companion's name, vied with +one another to do him honor. It did me good to see how he brightened +under these kind words and friendly acts, and how the color came again +into his face and the light into his eyes. And I hold that this was as it +should be, for I know of nothing of which a man may be more justly proud +than of the well-earned praises of his fellows. + +At last, toward the evening of a sultry August day, we turned our horses' +heads into the wide road which led up to Mount Vernon, and drew near to +that hospitable and familiar mansion. News of our approach must have +preceded us, for there, drawn up in line, were the bowing and grinning +negroes, while at the entrance gate were Mrs. Washington and her +children, as well as a dozen families assembled from as many miles +around to do honor to the returning warrior. My heart beat more quickly +as I ran my eyes over this gathering, but fell again when I saw that the +family from Riverview was not there. + +And such a greeting as it was! We all remained a space apart until Mrs. +Washington had kissed her son, as something too sacred for our intrusion. +But when he turned to greet his neighbors, I have rarely seen such +genuine emotion shown even in our whole-hearted Virginia. At the great +dinner which followed, with Mrs. Washington at the head of the table and +her son at the foot, we told again the story of the campaign, and the men +forgot to sip their wine until the tale was ended. Yet with all this +largess of goodwill, I was not wholly happy. For I had no home to go to, +nor was there any waiting to welcome me, and the woman I loved seemed +farther away than ever, though now she was so near. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A NEW DANGER AT RIVERVIEW + + +But Dorothy was not so near as I had thought, for next morning came a +message from my aunt. It was delivered almost as soon as I was out of bed +by a negro boy who had ridden over at daybreak. It was dated but two days +before, and began very formally. + +"Sir," it ran, "since you no doubt will wish to recuperate from the +fatigues of the campaign so unfortunately ended, and as there is no place +where you can do this so well as at Riverview, I hasten to assure you +that the place is entirely at your service." + +I paused a moment to get my breath. Her reference to the campaign was +intended as a stab, of course, yet could it be she was relenting? But +hope fell as I read on. + +"In order that you may feel at liberty to avail yourself of this +invitation," the note continued, "my daughter and I have accepted one of +long standing to spend a month, or perhaps two months, at the home of a +relative. James is at Williamsburg, so that you may be entirely free to +occupy your leisure at Riverview as best pleases you. Do not think that +you have driven us from the place, for that is not at all the case. I +have long felt the need of rest, and take advantage of this opportunity, +while there is little doing on the plantation, to secure it. I trust to +your sense of honor to make no inquiries as to where we are stopping, nor +to attempt to see my daughter, who, I believe, has already discovered +that any fancy she may ever have seemed to entertain for you was more +imaginary than real." + +Here was a blow, straight from the shoulder, and I winced under it. + +"I could never consent," the note concluded, "to any attachment of a +serious nature between you, having quite other views for my daughter, +which, I am sure, will be for her happiness and well-being." + +I read the note through a second time before I realized what a blow it +gave to all my hopes. I had had little cause to anticipate any other +treatment, it is true, and yet I have often observed that men hope most +who have least reason for it, and this was so in my case. As I read the +note again, I could not but admire the adroitness of its author. She had +placed me upon honor--without my consent, 't is true--to make no effort +to see Dorothy. I stood biting my lips with anger and vexation, and then, +with sudden resolve, turned back to the messenger. + +"Go around to the kitchen and get something to eat, if you are hungry," I +said to him. "I shall be ready to ride back with you in half an hour;" +and as he disappeared around a corner of the house, agrin from ear to +ear at the prospect of refreshment, I sought Mrs. Washington and told her +that I had just received a note from my aunt and would ride to Riverview +at once. How much she suspected of my difference with my aunt, I do not +know, but if she experienced any surprise at my sudden departure, she +certainly did not show it, saying only that she regretted that I must go +so soon, and that I must always consider Mount Vernon no less my home +than Riverview,--an assurance which Colonel Washington repeated when the +moment came to say good-by, and I rode away at last with a very tender +feeling in my heart for those two figures which stood there on the steps +until I turned into the road and passed from sight. + +"And how is everything at Riverview, Sam?" I asked of the boy, as we +struck into the road and settled our horses into an easy canter. He did +not answer for a moment, and when I glanced at him to see the cause of +his silence, I was astonished to find him rolling his eyes about as +though he saw a ghost. + +"What's the matter, boy?" I asked sharply. "Come, speak out. What is it?" + +He looked behind him and all around into the woods, and then urged his +horse close to mine. + +"Mas' Tom," he said, almost in a whisper, "dere's gwine t' be hell at d' +plantation foh long. Youse stay 'way fum it." + +I looked at him, still more astonished by his singular behavior. A +full-blooded negro does not turn pale, but under the influence of great +terror his skin grows spotted and livid. Sam's was livid at that moment. + +"See here, Sam," I said sharply, "if you have anything to tell, I want +you to tell me right away. What are you afraid of?" + +"D' witch man," he whispered, his eyes almost starting from his head, and +his forehead suddenly beading with perspiration. + +"The witch man? Has a witch man come to Riverview?" + +He nodded. + +"And what is he doing there, Sam?" + +"He says d' French dun whopped d' English, an' a-comin' t' set all d' +niggahs free. He says we mus' holp, an' dere won't be no mo' slaves. All +ub us be free, jus' like white folks." + +It took me a minute or two to grasp the full meaning of this +extraordinary revelation. + +"He says the French are coming to set all the niggers free?" I repeated. + +Sam nodded. + +"And that the niggers must help them?" + +Again Sam nodded. + +"Help them how, Sam?" + +He hesitated. + +"By killing the English, Sam?" + +"I reckon dat 's it," he said reluctantly. + +"And burning down their houses, perhaps?" + +"I 'se hearn dat talked erboat, too." + +I drew my horse in with a jerk, and catching Sam's by the bridle, +pulled it to me. + +"Now, boy," I said, "you must tell me all about this. I promise you that +no one shall harm you." + +He began to whimper. + +"I'll tell yo', Mas' Tom," he stuttered, "but yo' mus' n' hurt d' +witch man." + +"Who is this witch man?" I demanded. + +"Ole uncle Polete." + +"Polete's no witch man. Why, Sam, you 've known him all your life. He's +nothing but an ordinary old nigger. He's been on the plantation twenty or +thirty years. All that he needs is a good whipping." + +But the boy only shook his head and sobbed the more. + +"Ef he's a-killed," he cried, "his ha'nt 'll come back fo' me." + +I saw in a moment what the boy was afraid of. It was not of old +Polete in the flesh, but in the spirit. I thought for a moment. Well, +I had no reason to wish Polete any harm, yet if it were discovered +that he had been inciting the slaves to insurrection, there was no +power in the colony could save his life. If his owner did not execute +him, the governor would take the matter out of his hands, and order +it done himself. + +"I tell you what I'll do, Sam," I said at last. "You tell me everything +you know, and I'll do all I can to save Polete. I believe I can stop this +thing without calling in any outside help." + +He agreed to this, and as we jogged along I gradually drew the details of +the plot from him. The news of our defeat had, it seemed, stirred up the +negroes at the plantation, and in some way the wild rumor had been +started that a great force of French was marching over the mountains to +conquer Virginia and all the other English colonies; that emissaries had +come to the negroes and promised them that if they would assist the +invading army, they would be given their freedom and half of the colony +to live in. It was at this time that old Polete, crazed, perhaps, by +working in the tobacco fields under the blazing sun, had suddenly +developed into a witch man, and proclaimed that he could see the French +army marching, and urged the negroes to strike a blow at once in order to +merit their freedom when the French should come. Meetings were held +almost nightly in the woods some miles from their cabins, whence they +stole away after dark by twos and threes. Just what their plans were Sam +did not know, as he did not belong to the inner council, but he believed +that something would happen soon because of the increasing excitement of +the older negroes who were acquainted with the plans. + +I rode on for some time in silence, thinking over this story and trying +to decide what I would better do. I did not know until months later that +signs of unrest had been observed among the slaves all over the colony, +and that the governor had considered the situation so serious that he had +sent out many warnings concerning the danger. It was as well, perhaps, +that I did not know this then, for I might not have thought my own +portion of the problem so easy of solution. At the time, I had no +thought but that the outbreak was the result of old Polete's prophecies, +and was confined alone to Riverview. + +Sam was cantering along behind me, his face still livid with terror, and +as I caught sight of it again, I wondered what impulse it was had moved +him to confide in me, with such fancied peril to himself. + +"I would n' tole nobody else," he said, in answer to my question, "but +you tole a lie fo' me oncet, an' saved me a lickin'." + +"Told a lie for you, Sam?" I questioned in astonishment. "When was that?" + +"Don' yo' 'membah boat d' whip, Mas' Tom, what I stole?" he asked. + +I looked at him for a moment before that incident of my boyhood came +back to me. + +"Why, yes, I remember it now," I said. "But that was years ago, Sam, and +I had forgotten it. Besides, I didn't tell a lie for you. I only told old +Gump that I wished to give you the whip." + +"Well," said Sam, looking at me doubtfully, "yo' saved me a lickin' +anyhow, an' I did n' f 'git it," and he dropped back again. + +Well, to be sure, an act of thoughtfulness or mercy never hurts a man, a +fact which I have since learned for myself a hundred times, and wish all +men realized. + +We were soon at Riverview, and I ordered Sam to ride out to the field +where the men were working, and tell the overseer, Long, that I wished to +see him. Sam departed on the errand, visibly uneasy, and I wandered from +my room, where I had taken my pack, along the hall and into my aunt's +business room while I waited his return. I stood again for a moment at +the spot on the staircase where I had kissed Dorothy that morning,--it +seemed ages ago,--and as I looked up, I fancied I could still see her +sweet face gazing down at me. But it was only fancy, and, with a sigh, I +turned away and went down through the hall. + +There were reminders of her at every turn,--there was the place where she +had sat sewing in the evenings; over the fireplace hung a little picture +she had painted, rude enough, no doubt, but beautiful to my eyes. With a +sudden impulse, I ran down the steps and to the old seat under the oaks +by the river. Nothing had changed,--even the shadows across the water +seemed to be the same. But as I ran my hand mechanically along the arm of +the seat on the side where Dorothy always sat my fingers felt a roughness +which had not been there before, and as I looked to see what this might +be, I saw that some one had cut in the wood a T and a D, intertwined, and +circled by a tiny heart. Who could have done it? I had no need to ask +myself the question. My heart told me that no one but Dorothy could have +done it, and that she knew that I should come and sit here and live over +again the long evenings when she had sat beside me. It was a message from +my love, and with trembling lips I bent and kissed the letters which she +had carved. As I sat erect again, I heard footsteps behind me, and turned +to see Long approaching. + +"You sent for me, Mr. Stewart?" he asked. "I saw you sitting here, and +decided you were waiting for me." + +"Yes," I said, and I shook hands with him, for he was an honest man and a +good workman. + +"I am glad to see you back again, sir, though looking so ill," he added. +"I trust the air of Riverview will soon bring you around all right," and +from his eyes I knew he meant it. + +I thanked him, and bade him sit beside me. Then, in a few words, I +told him what I had learned of the negro meetings, and saw his face +grow grave. + +"'Tis what I have always feared," he said, when I had finished. "There +are too many of them in the colony, and they feel their strength. If they +had a leader and a chance to combine, they might do a great deal of harm. +However, we shall soon knock this in the head." + +"How?" I asked. + +"Make an example of Polete," he answered decidedly. "That's the best way, +sir. Put him out of the way, let the other niggers see us do it, and +they'll quiet down fast enough." + +"Undoubtedly that is the easiest way," I said, smiling, "but, +unfortunately, I had to promise the person who gave me the information +that Polete should not be harmed." + +Long stared at me for a moment in amazement. + +"It would be unfortunate if any of the other planters should hear of that +promise, Mr. Stewart," he said at last. "They would probably take +Polete's case into their own hands." + +I laughed at his evident concern. + +"No doubt," I said, "but they are not going to hear of it. I intend +telling no one but yourself, for we two are quite sufficient to stop this +thing right here, and it need go no further." + +"Perhaps we are," he answered doubtfully. "What is your plan, sir?" + +"Polete will hold a meeting to-night over there in the woods. Well, we +will be present at the meeting." + +He looked at me without saying a word. "Our visit will probably not be +very welcome," I continued, "but I believe it will produce the desired +effect. Will you go with me?" + +"Certainly," he answered readily, "but I still think my plan the +best, sir." + +"Perhaps it is," I laughed, "but we will try mine first," and he went +back to the field, agreeing to be at the house at eight o'clock. + +I covered with my hand the tiny letters on the arm of the bench, and, +looking out across the broad river, drifted into the land of dreams, +where Dorothy and I wandered together along a primrose path, with none to +interfere. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE GOVERNOR SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE + + +I ate my supper in solitary splendor in the old dining-room, with my +grandfather's portrait looking down upon me, and Long found me an hour +later sitting in the midst of a wreath of smoke just within the hallway +out of the river mist. + +"'T was as you said, Mr. Stewart," he remarked, as he joined me. "Fully a +hundred of the niggers stole off to the woods to-night so soon as it was +dark. They went down toward the old Black Snake swamp." + +"Very well," I said, rising. "Wait till I get my hat, and I am with you." + +"But you will go armed?" he asked anxiously. + +I paused to think for a moment. + +"No, I will not," I said finally. "A brace of pistols would avail +nothing against that mob, should they choose to resist us, and our going +unarmed will have a great moral effect upon them as showing them that we +are not afraid." + +"You have weighed fully the extent of the risk you are about to run, I +hope, sir," protested Long. + +"Fully," I answered. "'T is not yet too late for you to turn back, you +know. I have no right to ask you to endanger your life to carry out this +plan of mine. Perhaps it would be wiser for you not to go." + +"And if I stay, you"-- + +"Will go alone," I said. + +He caught my hand and wrung it heartily. + +"You are a brave man, Mr. Stewart," he exclaimed. "If I have shown any +hesitation, 't was on your account, not on my own. I am ready to go with +you," and as he spoke, he drew a brace of pistols from beneath his coat +and laid them on the table by the fireplace. + +"Wait one moment," I said, and hurrying to my aunt's room, I wrote a +short note telling her of the trouble I had discovered and where Long and +I were going, so that, if we did not return, she would know what had +happened. Folding and sealing it, I wrote on the outside, "To be +delivered at once to Mrs. Stewart," left it on the table, knowing that no +one would enter the room till morning, and hurried back to rejoin Long. +We were off without further words, and were soon well on our way. + +It was a clear, cool, summer night, with the breeze just stirring in the +trees and keeping up a faint, unceasing whispering among the leaves. The +moon had risen some hours before, and sailed upward through a cloudless +sky. Even under the trees it was not wholly dark, for the moon's light +filtered through here and there, making a quaint patchwork on the ground, +and filling the air with a peculiar iridescence which transformed the +ragged trunks of the sycamores into fantastic hobgoblins. All about us +rose the croaking of the frogs, dominating all the other noises of the +night, and uniting in one mighty chorus in the marshes along the river. +An owl was hooting from a distant tree, and the hum of innumerable +insects sounded on every side. Here and there a glittering, dew-spangled +cobweb stretched across our path, a barrier of silver, and required more +than ordinary resolution to be brushed aside. As we turned nearer to the +river, the ground grew softer and the underbrush more thick, and I knew +that we had reached the swamp. + +Then, in a moment, it seemed to me that I could hear some faint, +monotonous singsong rising above all the rest. At first I thought it was +the croaking of a monster frog, but as we plodded on and the sound grew +more distinct, I knew it could not be that. At last, in sheer perplexity, +I stopped and motioned Long to listen. + +"Do you hear it?" I asked. "Do you know what it is?" + +"Yes, I have heard it for the last ten minutes, Mr. Stewart," he +answered quietly. "It is old Polete preaching to the niggers. I have +often heard their so-called witch men preach. It is always in a singsong +just like that." + +As we drew nearer, I perceived that this was true, for I could catch the +tones of the speaker's voice, and in a few minutes could distinguish his +words. Some years before, when the river had been in flood, its current +had been thrown against this bank by a landslide on the other side, and +had washed away trees and underbrush for some distance. The underbrush +had soon sprung up again, but the clearing still remained, and as we +stopped in the shadow of the trees and looked across it, we saw a +singular sight. Negroes to the number of at least a hundred and fifty +were gathered about a pile of logs on which Polete was mounted. He was +shouting in a monotone, his voice rising and falling in regular cadence, +his eyes closed, his head tilted back, his face turned toward the moon, +whose light silvered his hair and beard and gave a certain majesty to his +appearance. His hearers were seemingly much affected, and interrupted him +from time to time with shouts and groans and loud amens. + +"Dis is d' promise' lan'!" cried old Polete, waving his arms above his +head in a wild ecstasy. "All we hab t' do is t' raise up an' take it from +ouh 'pressahs. Ef we stays hyah slaves, it's ouh own fault. Now's d' +'pinted time. D' French is ma'chin' obah d' mountings t' holp us. Dee'll +drib d' English into d' sea, and wese t' hab ouh freedom,--ouh freedom +an' plenty lan' t' lib on." + +"Dat's it," shouted some one, "an' we gwine t' holp, suah!" + +The negroes were so intent upon their speaker that they did not perceive +us until we were right among them, and even then for a few minutes, as we +forced our way through the mob, no one knew us. + +"It's Mas' Tom!" yelled one big fellow, as my hat was knocked from my +head. And, as if by instinct, they crowded back on either side, and a +path was opened before us to the pile of logs where Polete stood. He +gaped at us amazedly as we clambered up toward him, and I saw that he was +licking his lips convulsively. A yell from the crowd greeted us as we +appeared beside him,--a menacing yell, which died away into a low +growling, and foretold an approaching storm. + +"Now, boys," I cried, "I want you to listen to me for a minute. That is a +lie about the French coming over the mountains,--every word of it. If +Polete here, who, you know, is only a laborer like most of you, says he +has seen them coming in a vision, why he's simply lying to you, or he +doesn't know what he's talking about. There are not three hundred +Frenchmen the other side of the mountains, in the first place, and it +will be winter before they can get any more there. So if you fight, you +will have to fight alone, and you can guess how much chance of success +you have. You know the penalty for insurrection. It's death, and not an +easy death, either,--death by fire! If you go ahead with this thing, no +power on earth can save every one of you from the stake." + +"It's a lie!" yelled Polete. "I did hab d' vision. I did see d' French +a-comin'--millions o' dem--all a-ma'chin' t'rough d' forest. Dee's almost +hyah. Dee want us t' holp." + +A hoarse yell interrupted him, and I saw that something must be done. + +"Wait a minute, boys," I cried. "Let me ask Polete a question. You say +you have seen the French marching, Polete?" + +He nodded sullenly. + +"What was the color of their uniforms?" + +He hesitated a moment, but saw he must answer. + +"Dee was all colors," he said. "Red, blue, green,--all colors." + +I saw that my moment of triumph was at hand. + +"Now, boys," I cried, holding up my hand so that all might be quiet and +hear my words. "You may guess how much value there is in Polete's +visions. He says he has seen the French army marching, and he has just +told me that their uniforms are all colors,--red, blue, green, and so on. +Now, if he has seen the army, he ought to know the color of the uniforms, +ought he not?" + +"Yes, yes," yelled the mob. + +"Well, boys," I continued, "the French wear only one color uniform, and +that color is just the one which Polete has not mentioned--white. No +Frenchman goes to war except in a white uniform." + +They were all silent for a moment, and I saw them eyeing Polete +distrustfully. + +But he was foaming at the mouth with fury. + +"A lie!" he screamed. "A lie, same's de uddah. Don' yo' see what we mus' +do? Kill 'em! Kill 'em, an' nobody else'll evah know!" + +That low growling which I had heard before again ran through the crowd. I +must play my last card. + +"You fools!" I cried, "do you suppose we are the only ones who know? If +so much as a hair of our heads is touched, if we are not back among our +friends safe and sound when morning comes, every dog among you will yelp +his life out with a circle of fire about him!" + +They were whining now, and I knew I had them conquered. + +"I came here to-night to save you," I went on, after a moment. "Return +now quietly to your quarters, and nothing more will be said about this +gathering. Put out of your minds once for all the hope that the French +will help you, for it is a lie. And let this be the last time you hold a +meeting here, or I will not answer for the consequences." + +I waved them away with my hand, and they slunk off by twos and threes +until all of them had disappeared in the shadow of the wood. + +"And now, what shall we do with this cur?" asked Long, in a low voice, at +my elbow. I turned and saw that he had old Polete gripped by the collar. +"He tried to run away," he added, "but I thought you might have something +to say to him." + +Polete was as near collapse as a man could be and yet be conscious. He +was trembling like a leaf, his eyes were bloodshot, and his lower jaw was +working convulsively. He turned an imploring gaze on me, and tried to +speak, but could not. + +"Polete," I said sternly, "I suppose you know that if this night's work +gets out, as it is certain to do sooner or later, no power on earth can +save your life?" + +"Yes, massa," he muttered, and looked about him wildly, as though he +already saw the flames at his feet. + +"Well, Polete," I went on, "after the way you have acted to-night, I see +no reason why I should try to save you. You certainly did all you could +to get me killed." + +"Yes, massa," he said again, and would have fallen had not Long held him +upright by the collar. + +I waited a moment, for I thought he was going to faint, but he opened his +eyes again and fixed them on me. + +"Now listen," I went on, when he appeared able to understand me. "I'm +not going to kill you. I'm going to give you a chance for your +life,--not a very big chance, perhaps, but a great deal better one than +you would have here." + +"Yes, massa," he said a third time, and there was a gleam of hope +in his face. + +"I'm going to let you go," I concluded. "I'd advise you to follow the +river till you get beyond the settlements, and then try for Pennsylvania. +I promise you there'll be no pursuit, but if you ever show your face +around here again, you're as good as dead." + +Before I had finished, he had fallen to his knees and bowed his head upon +my feet, with a peculiar reverence,--a relic, I suppose, of his life in +Africa. He was blubbering like a baby when he looked up at me. + +"I'll nevah f'git yeh, Mas' Tom," he said. "I'll nevah f'git yeh." + +"That'll do, uncle," and I caught him by the collar and pulled him to +his feet. "I don't want to see you killed, but you'd better get away from +here as fast as you can, and drop this witch man business for good and +all. Here's two shillings. They'll get you something to eat when you get +to Pennsylvania, but you'd better skirmish along in the woods the best +you can till then, or you'll be jerked up for a runaway." + +He murmured some inarticulate words,--of gratitude, perhaps,--and +slid down from the pile of logs. We watched him until he plunged into +the woods to the south of the clearing, and then started back toward +the house. I was busy with my own thoughts as we went, and Long was +also silent, so that scarcely a word passed between us until we +reached the steps. + +"Sit down a minute, Long," I said, as he started back to his quarters. "I +don't believe we'll have any more trouble with those fellows, but perhaps +it would be well to watch them." + +"Trust me for that, sir," he answered. "I'll see to it that there are no +more meetings of that kind. With Polete away, there is little danger. The +only question is whether he will stay away." + +"I think he will," and I looked out over the river thoughtfully. "He +seemed to understand the danger he was in. If he returns, you will have +to deliver him up to the authorities at once, of course." + +"Well," said Long, "I'm not a bloodthirsty man, sir, as perhaps you know, +but I think we'd be safer if he were dead. Still, we'll be safe enough +anyway, now the niggers know their plot is discovered. But we were in a +ticklish place there for a while this evening." + +"Yes," I answered, with a smile. "It was not so easy as I had expected. I +want to thank you, Long, for going with me. It was a service on your part +which showed you have the interest of the place at heart, and are not +afraid of danger." + +"That's all right, sir," he said awkwardly. "Good-night." + +"Wait till I get your pistols," I said. "You left them in the hall, +you know." + +The moonlight was streaming through the open window, and as I stepped +into the hall, I rubbed my eyes, for I thought I must be dreaming. There +in a great chair before the fireplace sat Colonel Washington. His head +had fallen back, his eyes were closed, and from his deep and regular +breathing I knew that he was sleeping. Marveling greatly at his presence +here at this hour, I tiptoed around him, got Long's pistols, and took +them out to him. Then I lighted my pipe and sat down in a chair opposite +the sleeper, and waited for him to awake. I had not long to wait. Whether +from my eyes on his face, or some other cause, he stirred uneasily, +opened his eyes, and sat suddenly bolt upright. + +"Why, Tom," he cried, as he saw me, "I must have been asleep." + +"So you have," I said, shaking hands with him, and pressing him back into +the chair, from which he would have risen. "But what fortunate chance +has brought you here?" + +"The most fortunate in the world!" he cried, his eyes agleam. "You know I +told you that the governor and House of Burgesses would not bear quietly +the project to leave our frontier open to the enemy. Well, read this," +and he drew from his pocket a most formidable looking paper. I took it +with a trembling hand and carried it to the window, but the moon was +almost set, and I could not decipher it. + +"What is it?" I asked, quivering with impatience. + +"Here, give it to me," he said, with a light laugh, which reminded me of +the night I had seen him first in the governor's palace at Williamsburg. +"The House of Burgesses has just met. They ordered that a regiment of a +thousand men be raised to protect the frontier in addition to those +already in the field, and voted £20,000 for the defense of the colony." + +"And that is your commission!" I cried. "Is it not so?" + +"Yes," he said, scarce less excited than myself. "'Tis my commission as +commander-in-chief of all the Virginia forces." + +I wrung his hand with joy unutterable. At last this man, who had done so +much, was to know something beside disappointment and discouragement. + +"But you do not ask how you are concerned in all this," he continued, +smiling into my face, "or why I rode over myself to bring the news to +you. 'Tis because I set out to-morrow at daybreak for Winchester to take +command, and I wish you to go with me, Tom, as aide-de-camp, with the +rank of captain." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A WARNING FROM THE FOREST + + +It was at Winchester that Colonel Washington established his +headquarters, maintaining a detachment at Fort Cumberland sufficient to +repel any attack the Indians were like to make against it, and to cut off +such of their war parties as ventured east of it. From Winchester he was +able more easily to keep in touch with all parts of the frontier, and +with the string of blockhouses which had been built years before as a +gathering-place for the settlers in the event of Indian incursions. By +the first of September his arrangements had been completed, but long +before that time it was evident the task was to be no easy one. + +Already, from the high passes of the Alleghenies, war parties of +Delawares and Shawanoes had descended, sweeping down upon the frontier +families like a devastating whirlwind, and butchering men, women, and +children with impartial fury. The unbounded forest, which covered hill +and valley with a curtain of unbroken foliage, afforded a thousand +lurking-places, and it was well-nigh impossible for an armed force to get +within striking distance of the marauders. So, almost daily, stories of +horrible cruelty came to the fort, plunging the commander into an agony +of rage and dejection at his very impotence. The fort was soon crowded +with refugees,--wives bewailing their husbands, husbands swearing to +avenge their wives, parents lamenting their children, children of a +sudden made orphans,--and from north and south, scores of hard-featured, +steel-eyed men came to us, their rifles in their hands, to offer their +services, and after a time these came to be one of the most valuable +portions of our force. + +Ah, the stories they told us! Tragedies such as that which Spiltdorph and +I had come upon had been repeated scores of times. The settler who had +left his cabin at daybreak in search of game, or to carry his furs to the +nearest post, returned at sundown to find only a smoking heap of ashes +where his home had been, and among them the charred and mutilated bodies +of his wife and children. Horror succeeded horror, and the climax came +one day when we were passing a little schoolhouse some miles below the +fort, in the midst of a district well populated. Wondering at the +unwonted silence, we dismounted, opened the door, and looked within. The +master lay upon the platform with his pupils around him, all dead and +newly scalped. The savages had passed that way not half an hour before. + +And to add to the trials of the commander, his troops, hastily got +together, were most of them impatient of restraint or discipline, and +with no knowledge of warfare, while the governor and the House of +Burgesses demanded that he undertake impossibilities. It was a dreary, +trying, thankless task. + +"They expect me to perform miracles," he said to me bitterly one day. +"How am I to protect a frontier four hundred miles in length with five or +six hundred effective men, against an enemy who knows every foot of the +ground, and who can find a hiding-place at every step?" + +Only by the sternest measures could many of the levies be brought to the +fort, and one man--a captain, God save the mark!--sent word that he and +his company could not come because their corn had not yet been got in. +Yet, in spite of all these drawbacks, we did accomplish something. There +were a few of the Iroquois who yet remained our friends, and the general +spared no effort to retain their goodwill, for their services were +invaluable. With a lofty contempt for the Delawares and Shawanoes, whom +they had one time subjugated and compelled to assume the name of women, +they roamed the forest for miles around, and more than once enabled us to +ambush one of the war parties and send it howling back to the Muskingum, +where there was great weeping and wailing in the lodges upon its return. +But it was fruitless work, for the Indians, driven back for the moment, +returned with augmented fury, and again drenched the frontier in the +blood of the colonists. + +We realized one and all that nothing we could do would turn the tide of +war permanently from our borders and render the frontier safe until the +French had been driven from Fort Duquesne. For it was they who urged the +Indians on, supplying them with guns and ammunition, and rewarding them +with rum when they returned to the fort laden with English scalps. An +expedition against the French stronghold was for the present out of the +question, and we could only bite our nails and curse, waiting for another +night when we might sally forth and fall upon one of the war parties. But +the few Indians we killed seemed a pitiful atonement for the mangled +bodies scattered along the frontier and the hundreds of homes of which +there remained nothing but blackened ruins. As the weeks passed and the +Indians saw our impotence, they grew bolder, slipped through the chain of +blockhouses, and ravaged the country east of us, disappearing into the +woods as if by magic at the first alarm. + +The month of August and the first portion of September wore away in this +dreary manner, and it was perhaps a week later that Colonel Washington +sent me to Frederick to make arrangements for some supplies. The +distance, which was a scant fifty miles, was over a well-traveled road, +and through a district so well protected that the Indians had not dared +to visit it; so I rode out of the fort one morning, taking with me only +my negro boy Sam, whom I had selected for my servant since the day he had +warned me against Polete. I remember that the day was very warm, and that +there was no air stirring, so that we pushed forward with indifferent +speed. At noon we reached a farmhouse owned by John Evans, where we +remained until the heat had somewhat moderated, and set forward again +about four o'clock in the afternoon. + +We had ridden for near an hour, and I was deep in my own thoughts, when +I heard something breaking its way through the underbrush, and the next +moment my horse shied violently as a negro stumbled blindly into the +road and collapsed into a heap before he had taken half a dozen steps +along it. I reined up sharply, and as I did so, heard Sam give a shrill +cry of alarm. + +"Shut up, boy," I cried, "and get off and see what ails the man. He can't +hurt you." + +But Sam sat in his saddle clutching at his horse's neck, his face spotted +with terror as I had seen it once before. + +"What is it, Sam?" I asked impatiently. + +"Good Gawd, Mas' Tom," he cried, his teeth chattering together and +cutting off his words queerly, "don' yo' see who 'tis? Don' yo' +know him?" + +"Know him? No, of course not," I answered sharply. "Who is he?" + +"Polete," gasped Sam. "Polete, come back aftah me," and seemed incapable +of another word. + +In an instant I was off my horse and kneeling in the road beside the +fallen man. Not till then did I believe it was Polete. From a great gash +in the side of his head the blood had soaked into his hair and dried over +his face. His shirt was stained, apparently from a wound in his breast, +but most horrible of all was a circular, reeking spot on the crown of his +head from which the scalp had been stripped. It needed no second glance +to tell me that Polete had been in the hands of the Indians. + +By this time Sam had partially recovered his wits, and being convinced +that it was Polete in the flesh, not in the spirit, brought some water +from a spring at the roadside. I bathed Polete's head as well as I could, +and washed the blood from his face. Tearing open his shirt, I saw that +blood was slowly welling from an ugly wound in his breast. He opened his +eyes after a moment, and stared vacantly up into my face. + +"Debbils," he moaned, "debbils, t' kill a po' ole man. Ain't I said I +done gwine t' lib wid yo'? Kain't trabble fas' 'nough fo' yo'? Don' +shoot, oh, don' shoot! Ah!" + +He dropped back again into the road with a groan, and tossed from side to +side. I thought he was dying, but when I dashed more water in his face, +he opened his eyes again. This time he seemed to know me. + +"Is it Mas' Tom?" he gasped. "Mas' Tom what let me go?" + +"Yes, Polete," I answered gently, "it's Master Tom." + +"Whar am I?" he asked faintly. "Have dee got me 'gin? Dee gwine to buhn +me?" + +"No, no," I said. "Nobody 's going to harm you, Polete. Where have you +been all this time?" + +"In d' woods," he whispered, "hidin' in d' swamps, an' skulkin' long +aftah night. Could n' nevah sleep, Mas' Tom. When I went t' sleep, seemed +laike d' dogs was right aftah me." + +His head fell back again, and a rush of blood in his throat almost +choked him. + +"Wish I'd stayed at d' plantation, Mas' Tom," he whispered. "Nothin' +could n' been no wo'se 'n what I went frough. Kep' 'long d' ribbah, laike +yo' said, but could n' git nothin' t' eat only berries growin' in d' +woods. Got mighty weak, 'n' den las' night met d' Injuns." + +"Last night!" I cried. "Where, Polete?" + +"Obah dah 'long d' ribbah," he answered faintly. "Dee gib me some'n' t' +eat, an' I frought maybe dee'd take me 'long, but dis mornin' dee had a +big powwow, an' dee shot me an' knock me in d' haid. Seems laike dee 's +gwine t' buhn a big plantation t'-night." + +"A big plantation, Polete?" I asked. "Where? Tell me--oh, you must tell +me!" + +But his head had fallen back, and his eyes were closed. There was another +burst of blood from his nose and mouth. I threw water over his face, +slapped his hands, and shouted into his ears, but to no avail. Sam +brought me another hatful of water, but his hands trembled so that when +he set it down, he spilled half of it. I dashed what was left over the +dying man, but his breathing grew slow and slower, and still his eyes +were closed. I trembled to think what would happen should I never learn +where the Indians were going, if Polete should never open his eyes again +to tell me. But he did, at last,--oh, how long it seemed!--he did, and +gazed up at me with a little smile. + +"Reckon it's all obah wid ole Polete, Mas' Tom," he whispered. + +"Where is this plantation, Polete?" I asked. "The plantation the Indians +are going to attack. Quick, tell me." + +He looked at me a moment longer before answering. + +"D' plantation? Obah dah, eight, ten mile, neah d' ribbah," and he made a +faint little motion northward with his hand. The motion, slight as it +was, brought on another hemorrhage. His eyes looked up into mine for a +moment longer, and then, even as I gazed at them, grew fixed and glazed. +Old Polete was dead. + +We laid him by the side of the road and rolled two or three logs over +him. More we could not do, for every moment was precious. + +"Sam," I said quickly, as we finished our task, "you must ride to the +fort as fast as your horse will carry you. Tell Colonel Washington that I +sent you, and that the Indians are going to attack some big plantation on +the river eight or ten miles north of here. Tell him that I have gone on +to warn them. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, sah," he gasped. + +"Well, don't you forget a word of it," I said sternly. "You can reach the +fort easily by nine o'clock to-night. Now, be off." + +He hesitated a moment. + +"What is it?" I cried. "You are not afraid, boy?" + +He rubbed his eyes and began to whimper. + +"Not fo' myself, Mas' Tom," he said. "But yo' gwine t' ride right into d' +Injuns. Dee'll git yo' suah." + +"Nonsense!" I retorted sharply. "I'll get through all right, and we can +easily hold out till reinforcements come. Now get on your horse. +Remember, the faster you go, the surer you'll be to save us all." + +He swung himself into the saddle, and turned for a moment to look at +me, the tears streaming down his face. He seemed to think me as good as +dead already. + +"Good-by, Sam," I said. + +"Good-by, Mas' Tom," and he put spurs to his horse and set off +down the road. + +I watched him until the trees hid him from sight, and then sprang upon my +horse and started forward. Eight or ten miles, Polete had said, northward +near the river. The road served me for some miles, and then I came to a +cross road, which seemed well traveled. Not doubting that this led to the +plantation of which I was in search, I turned into it, and proceeded +onward as rapidly as the darkness of the woods permitted. Evening was at +hand, and under the overlapping branches of the trees, the gloom grew +deep and deeper. At last, away to the right, I caught the gleam of water, +and with a sigh of relief knew I was near the river and so on the right +road. The house could not be much farther on. With renewed vigor I urged +my horse forward, and in a few minutes came to the edge of a clearing, +and there before me was the house. + +But it was not this which drew my eyes. Far away on the other side, +concealed from the house by a grove of trees, a shadowy line of tiny +figures was emerging from the forest. Even as I looked, they vanished, +and I rubbed my eyes in bewilderment. Yet I knew they had not deceived +me. It was the war party preparing for the attack. + +I set spurs to my horse and galloped the jaded beast toward the house as +fast as his weary legs would carry him. As I drew near, I saw it was a +large and well-built mansion. Lights gleamed through the open doors and +windows. Evidently none there dreamed of danger, and I thanked God that I +should be in time. In a moment I was at the door, and as I threw myself +from the saddle, I heard from the open window a ringing laugh which +thrilled me through and through, for I knew that the voice was Dorothy's. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +I FIND MYSELF IN A DELICATE SITUATION + + +I staggered up the steps, reeling as from a blow on the head, and a negro +met me at the top. + +"Where is your master?" I asked. + +"Kun'l Ma'sh 's obah at Frederick, sah," he answered, looking at me with +astonished eyes. + +"Your mistress, then, quick, boy!" and as he turned toward the open door +with a gesture of his hand, I hurried after him. There was a buzz of +conversation in the room as we approached, but it ceased abruptly as we +entered. I felt rather than saw that Dorothy was there, but I looked only +at the plump little woman who half rose from her chair and stared at me +in astonishment. I suppose my appearance was sufficiently surprising, but +there was no time to think of that. + +"A gen'leman t' see yo', Mis' Ma'sh," said my guide. + +I had not caught the name before, but now I understood, and as I looked +at the woman before me, I saw her likeness to her son. + +"I am Captain Stewart, Mrs. Marsh," I said, controlling my voice as well +as I could. "You may, perhaps, have heard of me. If not, there are others +present who can vouch for me," but I did not move my eyes from her face. + + + + +"That is quite unnecessary, Captain Stewart," she cried, coming to me +and giving me her hand very prettily. "I knew your grandfather, and you +resemble him greatly." And then she stopped suddenly and grew very pale. +"I remember now," she said. "You were in dear Harry's company." + +"I was not in his company, but I knew and loved him well," I answered +gently, taking both her hands and holding them tight in mine. "He was a +brave and gallant boy, and lost his life while trying to save another's. +I was with him when he fell." + +She came close to me, and I could feel that she was trembling. + +"And did he suffer?" she asked. "Oh, I cannot bear to think that he +should suffer!" + +"He did not suffer," I said. "He was shot through the heart. He did not +have an instant's pain." + +She was crying softly against my shoulder, but I held her from me. + +"Mrs. Marsh," I said, "it is not of Harry we must think now, but of +ourselves. This afternoon I learned that the Indians had planned an +attack upon this place to-night. I sent my servant back to the fort for +reinforcements and rode on to give the alarm. As I neared the house, I +saw their war party skulking in the woods, so that the attack may not be +long delayed." + +Her face had turned ashen, and I was glad that I had kept her hands in +mine, else she would have fallen. + + + + +"There is no danger," I added cheerily. "We must close the doors and +windows, and we can easily keep them off till morning. The troops will be +here by that time." + +"Oh, do you think so?" she gasped. + +"I am sure of it. Now, will you give the orders to the servants?" + +But that was not necessary. The man who had shown me in had heard my +words, and already had the other servants at work, closing and barring +doors and windows. I saw that my assistance was not needed. + +Then for the first time I looked at Dorothy. She was standing, leaning +lightly with one hand upon a table, her eyes large and dark with terror, +and her lips quivering, perhaps at the scene which had gone before. Her +mother was seated by her, and it was to her I turned. + +"I beg you to believe, Mrs. Stewart," I said, "that I did not know you +and your daughter were here. Indeed, I thought you both were back at +Riverview ere this." + +"I believe you, Mr. Stewart," she answered softly. "I believe you to be a +man of honor. I am sure I can trust you." + +There was a tone in her voice which I had never heard before. + +"Thank you," I said. "I shall try to deserve your trust," and then I +turned away to look to our defenses. + +I confess that, after the first five minutes, our situation appeared more +perilous than I had at first believed it. There was no white man in the +house except myself, only a dozen negro servants, five of whom were men. +A boy, whom I sent to the negro quarters to bring reinforcements, +returned with the news that they were deserted, but he brought back with +him the overseer, a man named Brightson, who was to prove his mettle +before the night was out. + +"I suspected this afternoon that there was something in the wind," he +said to me, when I had explained our situation, "though I could not guess +what it was. The niggers were so damned quiet, not singing in the field +as they always do. They've been mighty uneasy for a month back." + +"Yes, I know," I interrupted. "It's the same all over the colony. They +think the French are going to help them kill the English. I'm rather glad +they ran away. How about these house niggers?" + +"Oh, they're all right, especially Pomp there. They'll help us all +they can." + +"That makes seven of us, then. Can you shoot?" + +"Try me," he answered simply. + +"All right," I said. "We'll pull through, I think. Indians are no good at +anything but a surprise. I dare say some of the niggers have told them +that there would be no men here to-night, so they think they'll have an +easy victory." + +I had ordered Pomp to bring to the hall all the arms and ammunition in +the house, and at this moment he touched me on the elbow and told me +this was done. Brightson and I looked over the collection, and found it +as complete as could be desired. There were a dozen muskets, half a dozen +pairs of pistols, a pile of swords and hangers, and ammunition in plenty. +Evidently, Colonel Marsh had foreseen the possibility of an Indian +attack, and was prepared to receive it. A tour of the house showed me, +moreover, that it had been built with the same possibility in view. The +doors and shutters were all strong and double-barred, and moreover were +loopholed in a way that enabled us to command both approaches. I divided +the arms, and posted Brightson with three men at the rear door, while I, +with Pomp and another negro, took a place at the front. The women I sent +to the top of the staircase, where they would be out of reach of any +flying bullets, and could at the same time see what was going on. It was +my aunt who protested against this arrangement. + +"Can we not be of use, Captain Stewart?" she asked. "We could at least +load the muskets for you." + +"And I am sure that I could fire one," cried Dorothy. + +"No, no," I laughed. "Time enough for that when there is need. They will +not fancy the reception they will get, and may not return for a second +dose." And with a sudden tenderness at my heart, right under the eyes of +Mrs. Stewart, I reached up, caught Dorothy's hand, and kissed it. When I +glanced up again, I saw that she was smiling down at me, but I dared not +look at her mother's face. + +I had wondered at first why the attack was not made at once, but as I +stood looking out at my loophole, I perceived the reason. The first shade +of evening had found the moon high in the heavens, and it was now rapidly +sinking toward the line of trees which marked the horizon. Once plunged +behind them, the darkness would enable the Indians to creep up to the +house unseen. I watched the moon as it dropped slowly down the sky. The +lower rim just touched the treetops--then it was half behind them--then +it had disappeared, and the world was plunged in darkness. I peered into +the gloom with starting eyes, but could see nothing. I strained my ears, +but could catch no sound; three or four tense minutes passed, I could +have sworn it was half an hour. One of the negro women on the stair +screamed slightly, and, as though it were a signal, there came a great +blow upon the door and pandemonium arose without. I fired blindly through +my loophole, seized the musket at my side, and fired a second time, then +emptied both my pistols out into the night. It seemed to me a hundred +rifles were being fired at once. The hall was full of smoke and the +pungent smell of powder, and then, in a second, all was still. + +But only for a second. For there came another chorus of yells from a +distance, and I could hear the negro women on the steps behind me +wailing softly. + +"Load!" I shouted. "Load, Pomp! They will be back in a minute," and then +I ran to the other door to see how Brightson fared. + +"All right," he said cheerfully, in answer to my question. "We couldn't +see 'em, but we emptied a good deal of lead out there, and I think from +the way they yelled we must have hit two or three." "Keep it up!" I +cried. "We'll drive them off easily," and with a word of encouragement to +the negroes, I returned to my post. As I neared the door, I saw two +figures in white working over the guns. It was Dorothy and her mother, +helping the negroes reload. I sent them back to the stair with affected +sternness, but I got a second hand-clasp from Dorothy as she passed me. + +Then came another long period of waiting, which racked the nerves until +the silence grew well-nigh insupportable. The darkness without was +absolute, and there was not a sound to disturb the stillness. The minutes +passed, and I was just beginning to hope that the Indians had already got +enough, when I caught the faint shuffle of moccasined feet on the porch, +and again the door was struck a terrific blow, which made it groan on its +hinges. I fired out into the darkness as fast as I could lay down one gun +and pick up another, and again the uproar ceased as suddenly as it had +begun. As I turned away a moment from the loophole, I saw that Pomp had +sunk down to the floor, his hands to his head. + +"What is it, Pomp?" I cried, as I bent over him, but there was no need +for him to answer, even had he been able. A bullet, entering the +loop-hole through which he was firing, had struck his left eye and +entered the head. The other negro and myself laid him to one side +against the wall, and when I went to him ten minutes later to see if +there was anything I could do, he was dead. I turned away to the women +to say some words of cheer and comfort to them, when a call from +Brightson startled me. + +"What has happened?" I asked, as I reached his side, and for answer he +pointed out through the loophole. + +"They have fired the nigger quarters and outbuildings," he said grimly. +"They'll probably try to fire the house next." + +Even as we looked, the flames rose high above the roofs of the cabins and +bathed the clearing in red radiance. In and out among the buildings we +could see the Indians scampering, a hundred of them at least. Suddenly +there was a chorus of yells, and two Indians appeared, rolling a cask +before them into the belt of light. + +"They've found a keg of rum which was in my quarters," remarked +Brightson; "now they'll get crazy drunk. Our task has just begun, +Captain Stewart." + +I realized that he spoke the truth. Sober, an Indian will not stand up +long in open fight, but drunk, he is a devil incarnate,--a fiend who will +dare anything. I watched them as they knocked in the head of the cask and +scooped up the raw spirits within. Then one of them began a melancholy +melody, which rose and fell in measured cadence, the other warriors +gradually joining in and stamping the ground with their feet. Every +minute one would run to the cask for another draught of the rum, and +gradually their yells grew louder, their excitement more intense, as they +rushed back and forth brandishing their weapons. + +"They will soon be on us again," said Brightson in a low tone, but round +and round they kept dancing, their leader in front in all his war +trappings, the others almost naked, and for the most part painted black. +No wonder I had been unable to see them in the darkness. + +"They are going to attack us again, Tom, are they not?" asked a low voice +at my elbow. + +"Dorothy," I cried, "what are you doing here? Come, you must get back to +the stair at once. The attack may come at any moment." + +"You are treating me like a child," she protested, and her eyes flashed +passionately. "Do you think we are cowards, we women? We will not be +treated so! We have come to help you." + +I looked at her in amazement. This was not the Dorothy I knew, but a +braver, sweeter one. Her mother and Mrs. Marsh were behind her, both +looking equally determined. + +"Very well," I said, yielding with an ill grace. "You may sit on the +floor here and load the guns as we fire them. That will be of greater +service than if you fired them yourselves, and you will be quite out of +reach of the bullets." + +Dorothy sniffed contemptuously at my last words, but deigned to sit down +beside the other women. I placed the powder and ball where they could +reach them easily, shaded a candle so that it threw its light only on the +floor beside them, gave them a few directions about loading, and rejoined +Brightson at his loophole. The Indians had stopped dancing, and were +engaged in heaping up a great pile of burning logs. + +"What are they about?" I asked. + +Brightson looked at me with a grim light in his eyes. + +"They're going to try to burn us out," he said, and almost before he had +spoken, the Indians seized a hundred burning brands from the fire, and +waving them about their heads to fan them to a brighter flame, started +toward us. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +A DESPERATE DEFENSE + + +I had barely time to get back to my post at the front door when they were +upon us. I fired out into the rabble, and as I turned to get another gun, +Dorothy was at my side and thrust it into my hands. There was no time to +protest, even had I not realized, as I glanced into her eyes, that +protestation would be useless. I fired a second time, when a tremendous +explosion in the hall at my side startled me. I saw in a moment what had +happened. The negro who was at the other loophole, dazed with fear, had +discharged his gun straight into the ceiling overhead, and then, flinging +it down, turned and ran. I could not pursue him, and grabbing a third gun +from Dorothy, I fired again at the Indians, some of whom were swarming up +the steps. As I did so, I stared an instant in amazement, for at the shot +two men had fallen. As I turned back for another musket, I saw Mrs. +Stewart at the other loophole, a smoking rifle in her hands, into which +she was feverishly ramming another charge. It was a sight that made my +heart leap, and I found myself suddenly admiring her. But before either +of us could fire again, the Indians were gone, and a chorus of yells and +sharp firing told me they were attacking Brightson's side of the house. +The noise died away after a moment, and they appeared again borne +distance off, looking back eagerly as though expecting something. + +I saw with a start that their firebrands were no longer in their hands, +and a moment later a puff of smoke from the corner of the house and the +exultant yells of the savages warned me of our new danger. As I turned +from the door, I met Brightson coming to seek me with an anxious face. + +"They have fired the house, Captain Stewart," he said. + +"I fear so. We must find the place and put out the flames." + +Without a word he turned and followed me, and we opened the shutters a +little here and there and looked out. We soon found what we were seeking. + +As the Indians had dashed around the house from front to rear, they had +approached the side and piled their burning brands against the boards. We +looked down from the window and saw that the house had already caught +fire. In a few moments the flames would be beyond control. I was back to +the hall in an instant. + +"Is there any water in the house?" I asked of Mrs. Marsh, who was seated +on the floor reloading our guns with a coolness which told me where her +son had got his gallantry. + +She looked at me an instant with face whitened by a new fear. + +"Do you mean that the house is on fire?" she asked. + +I nodded. + +"There is no water," she said very quietly. "The well is a hundred yards +from the house." + +I beckoned to the negroes, who were listening in an anxious group, and +hastened back to Brightson. + +"There is no water," I said to him briefly. "I am going to open the +shutter, drop down, and knock the fire away from the house. Do you be +ready to pull me back in again, when I have finished." + +"But it is death to do that," he exclaimed. + +"No, no," I said. "You and the boys can keep them off. There is no +other way." + +He turned from me and looked about the room. + +"This will save you," he cried, and ran to a heavy oak table which stood +in one corner. I looked at him for a moment without understanding. + +"We will throw it through the window," he explained. "You can drop behind +it, and the Indians' bullets cannot reach you." + +I saw his plan before he had finished, and we had the table at the window +in an instant. + +"Now, boys, all together," I cried, and as I threw the shutter back, they +lifted the table to the sill and pushed it through. Before the Indians +understood what was happening, I had dropped beside it, pulled it around +to screen me, and was kicking the brands away from the building. Then +they understood, and made a rush for the house, but met so sharp a +reception from Brightson and his men that they fell back, and contented +themselves with keeping up a sharp fusilade upon my place of +concealment. It was the work of only a few moments to kick away the +brands and beat out the flames which were running along the side of the +house. I signaled to Brightson that I was ready to return, and he opened +a heavy fire upon the savages, which drove them for a moment out of +musket range. Then throwing the shutter back, he leaned out, grasped my +hands, and pulled me into the house without a scratch. + +"That's what I call genius," he observed, as he clapped the shutter tight +and shot the bar into place. "I fancy they're getting about enough." + +"I trust so," I answered. "But in any event, our troops will be here in +two or three hours more." + +We stood for some time in silence and watched the Indians. They drew +together near one of the burning buildings, apparently for a +consultation, and then running to a cabin which had not yet been +consumed, they tore off the heavy door and shutters. + +"They haven't given it up yet," remarked Brightson grimly, "but they're +going to advance under cover this time." + +Evidently some further preparation was necessary, for half a dozen of +them worked away busily for some time, though we could not see what they +were doing. + +"What new deviltry are they up to now?" I heard Brightson mutter to +himself, but I could find no answer to his question, for I knew little of +this kind of warfare. + +It was soon answered by the Indians themselves. A dozen of them ran +around the house in different directions, each carrying a board, while +the others, after paying a last visit to the cask of rum, grouped +themselves opposite the rear door, but well out of range. We watched them +in breathless silence. Those who were armed with shields approached +nearer and nearer, until within perhaps fifty yards. We fired at them, +but seemingly without effect. Then there was a moment of anxious waiting, +and almost together a dozen streamers of fire rose high into the air and +descended toward the house. Some fell harmlessly on the ground without, +and we saw that they were arrows tipped with burning tow, but the most +must have fallen upon the roof. A second and third shower of fire +followed, and then the Indians withdrew behind their shields and quietly +awaited the result. + +"They have set fire to the roof," I gasped. "We must put it out at once, +or we are lost." + +"Leave that to me, Captain Stewart," said Brightson quietly, and I +never admired the courage of a man more than I did his at that moment. +"I will get out on the roof, and throw the arrows down. I don't believe +they can hit me." + +It was the only thing to do, and he was gone even as I nodded my assent. +Five minutes passed, and then the Indians began to yell again, and I knew +that Brightson had reached the roof. Almost at the same instant, the main +body of the savages advanced at a run, some of them carrying a heavy +log, the others holding boards in front of them. We sent a dozen bullets +among them before they reached the door, but they came on without +faltering. One man, very tall and clad in a suit of fringed buckskin, ran +in front and urged them on. I fired at him twice, but he came on as +before, and I knew that I had wasted the bullets. + +Up the steps they came, yelling like devils fresh from hell, and brought +the log crashing against the door, while others thrust their muskets +through the loopholes and fired into the hallway. One of the negroes sank +down without a groan, the blood spurting from his neck, and another +dropped his gun with a yell, and, clapping his hands to his face, ran +shrieking down the hall. + +Again the log thundered against the door, one of the bars sprung loose, +and half a dozen shots were fired into the hallway. I saw that the door +could hold but a moment longer, and shouting to the negroes to fall +back, I retreated to the stair, grabbing up a hanger as I passed the +place where we had piled the arms. Running back again, I caught up a +bag of powder and another of ball, so that we might not be utterly +without ammunition, and with these sped up the stair, pushing the women +before me. + +We were not an instant too soon, for the door crashed down at the next +blow, and the savages poured over the threshold. They paused a moment to +see what had become of us, and this gave us opportunity to pour a volley +into them. Then on they came, the man in buckskin still leading them. As +they reached the foot of the stair, I took steady aim at him with my +pistol and pulled the trigger. But he seemed to have some intuition of +his danger, for he stooped suddenly, and it was the man behind him who +threw up his hands, sprang into the air, and fell backward. They faltered +only for an instant, and then swarmed up the steps, their greased faces +gleaming in the powder flashes. I thought it as good as ended, and +throwing down my musket, caught up my hanger for a final stand, when +something was thrown past me and bounded down the stair. It swept half +the Indians off their feet and carried them down before it, and the +others, not knowing what had happened, turned and ran down after them. +Nor, indeed, did I know until afterward, when I learned that Brightson, +coming down from the roof and taking in our peril at a glance, had caught +up a great log from the fireplace in the upper hall, where it was +awaiting the winter lighting, and, with a strength little short of +superhuman, had hurled it down upon the savages. + +It gave us respite for a moment, but it was certain they would charge +again, and I knew too well what the result would be, for the last of the +negroes had flung down his gun and run away, leaving only Brightson and +me to guard the women. It was Mrs. Marsh who spoke the saving word. + +"Why not retreat to the roof?" she said. "They could not get at us +there." + +It was the only chance of safety, so to the roof we went, the women +first, and we two bringing up the rear. Once there, we closed the trap +and waited. In a moment we heard the yell which told us that our retreat +had been discovered, and then again came silence. + +"This is no ordinary Indian attack," said Brightson, who was wiping the +sweat and powder stains from his face. "There's a Frenchman leading +them, and maybe two or three. Did you see that fellow in buckskin who +ran in front?" + +"Yes," I answered gloomily. "I have fired at him three times, but always +missed him." + +"Well, he is no Indian," said Brightson, "in spite of his painted face. +If they hadn't had that cask of rum and him to lead them, they would have +cleared out of this long ago. They have no stomach for this kind of work, +unless they are full of liquor." + +The sky in the east was turning from black to gray, and the dawn was not +far distant. + +"Our troops will soon be here," I said, and went to the women where they +were crouching behind a protecting gable. Dorothy, her mother, and Mrs. +Marsh were sitting side by side, and they all smiled at me as I +approached. + +"I think we are safe here," I said as cheerily as I could, "and the +reinforcements cannot be far away. I know Colonel Washington too well +to think he would delay a moment longer than necessary to start to +our relief." + +"You have made a brave defense, Captain Stewart," said Mrs. Marsh +earnestly. "I realize what would have been our fate long ere this, had +you not been here." + +"Nay, madame," I interrupted, "I could have done little by myself. I +have learned to-night that the women of Virginia are no less gallant +than the men." + +"Come, come," laughed Dorothy, "this is not a drawing-room that you need +think you must flatter us, Tom." + +I glanced at Mrs. Stewart, and saw with some surprise that she too +was smiling. + +"'Twas not flattery," I protested, "but a simple statement of fact. And +there is another here," I added, turning to Mrs. Marsh, "whose conduct +should be remembered. I have never seen a braver man," and I glanced at +Brightson where he sat, his musket across his knees. + +"I shall remember it," she said, as she followed my eyes. + +A burst of yells and a piercing cry from below interrupted us. + +"What was that?" asked Dorothy, white to the lips. + +"They have found one of the negroes," I answered, as calmly as I could. +"They ran away, and must have hidden somewhere in the house." + +We sat listening, the women pale and horror-stricken, and even Brightson +and I no little moved. The yells and the single shrill cry were repeated +a second time and then a third, and finally all was still again save for +the negro women wailing softly, as they rocked themselves to and fro +behind the gable, their arms about their knees. I crept back to my +station by the trap and waited feverishly for what should happen next. +We could hear steps in the hall below, a short consultation and a +clanking of arms, and then all was still. + +"Here they come," said Brightson, between his teeth, and even as he +spoke, the trap was thrown outward by a great force from below, and the +savage swarm poured forth upon the roof. I struck madly at the first man, +and saw another fall, pierced by a bullet from Brightson's gun, and then +he was down and I heard the sough of a knife thrust into him. + +"They are coming! They are coming!" screamed a shrill voice behind me, +and I turned to see Dorothy upright on the roof, pointing away to the +southward. And there, sure enough, at the edge of the clearing, was a +troop of Virginians, galloping like mad. Ah, how welcome were those blue +uniforms! We could hear them cheering, and, with a leaping heart, I saw +it was Colonel Washington himself who led them. + +For an instant the Indians stood transfixed, and then, with a yell, +turned back toward the trap. All save one. I saw him raise his musket to +his shoulder and take deliberate aim at Dorothy as she stood there +outlined in white against the purple sky. I sprang at him with a cry of +rage, and dragged his gun toward me as he pulled the trigger. There was a +burst of flame in my face, a ringing in my ears, I felt the earth +slipping from me, and knew no more. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +I COME INTO MY OWN + + +It was long before I realized that that white, bandaged thing lying on +the bed before me was my hand. I gazed at it curiously for a while and +stirred it slightly to make sure,--what a mighty effort that little +motion cost me!--and then I became aware that a breeze was passing across +my face, and a peculiar thing about it was that it came and went +regularly like the swinging of a pendulum. And when I raised my eyes to +see what this might mean, I found myself looking straight into the +astonished face of Sam, my boy. + +He stared at me for a moment, his eyes starting from his head, and then +with a loud cry he dropped the fan he had been wielding and ran from the +room, clapping his hands together as he went, as I had heard negroes do +under stress of great excitement. What could it mean? Again my eyes fell +upon the queer, bandaged thing which must be my hand. Had there been an +accident? I could not remember, and while my mind was still wrestling +with the question in a helpless, flabby way, I heard the swish of skirts +at the door, and there entered who but Dorothy! + +"Why, Dorothy!" I cried, and then stopped, astonished at the sound of my +own voice. It was not my voice at all,--I had never heard it before,--and +it seemed to come from a great way off. And what astonished me more than +anything else was that Dorothy did not seem in the least surprised by it. + +"Yes, Tom," she said, and she came to the bedside and laid her hand upon +my head. Such a cool, soft little hand it was. "Why, the fever is quite +gone! You will soon be well again." + +I tried to raise my hand to take hers, but it lay there like a great +dead weight, and I could scarcely move it. I know not what it was, but +at the sight of her standing there so strong and brave and sweet, and +the thought of myself so weak and helpless, the tears started from my +eyes and rolled down my cheeks in two tiny rivulets. She seemed to +understand my thought, for she placed one of her hands in mine, and with +the other wiped my tears away. I love to think of her always as I saw +her then, bending over me with infinite pity in her face and wiping my +tears away. The moment of weakness passed, and my brain seemed clearer +than it had been. + +"Have I been ill?" I asked. + +"Very ill, Tom," she said. "But now you will get well very quickly." + +"What was the matter with me, Dorothy?" + +She looked at me a moment and seemed hesitating for an answer. + +"I think you would better go to sleep now, Tom," she said at last, "and +when you wake again, I will tell you all about it." + +"Very well," I answered submissively, and indeed, at the time, my brain +seemed so weary that I had no wish to know more. + +She gently took her hand from mine and went to a table, where she poured +something from a bottle into a glass. I followed her with my eyes, noting +how strong and confident and beautiful she was. + +"Drink this, Tom," she said, bringing the glass back to the bed and +holding it to my lips. I gulped it down obediently, and then watched +her again as she went to the window and drew the blind. She came back +in a moment and sat down in the chair from which I had startled Sam. +She picked up the fan which he had dropped, and waved it softly to and +fro above me, smiling gently down into my face. And as I lay there +watching her, the present seemed to slip away and leave me floating in +a land of clouds. + +But when I opened my eyes again, it all came back to me in an instant, +and I called aloud for Dorothy. She was bending over me almost before the +sound of my voice had died away. + +"Oh, thank God!" I cried. "It was only a dream, then! You are safe, +Dorothy,--there were no Indians,--tell me it was only a dream." + +"Yes, I am quite safe, Tom," she answered, and took my hand in +both of hers. + +"And the Indians?" I asked. + +"Were frightened away by Colonel Washington and his men, who killed +many of them." + +I closed my eyes for a moment, and tried to reconstruct the drama of +that dreadful night. + +"Dorothy," I asked suddenly, "was Brightson killed?" + +"Yes, Tom," she answered softly. + +I sighed. + +"He was a brave man," I said. "No man could have been braver." + +"Only one, I think," and she smiled down at me tremulously, her eyes +full of tears. + +"Yes, Colonel Washington," I said, after a moment's thought. "Perhaps he +is braver." + +"I was not thinking of Colonel Washington, Tom," and her lips began +to tremble. + +I gazed at her a moment in amazement. + +"You do not mean me, Dorothy?" I cried. "Oh, no; I am not brave. You do +not know how frightened I grow when the bullets whistle around me." + +She laid her fingers on my lips with the prettiest motion in the world. + +"Hush," she said. "I will not listen to such blasphemy." + +"At least," I protested, "I am not so brave as you,--no, nor as your +mother, Dorothy. I had no thought that she was such a gallant woman." + +"Ah, you do not know my mother!" she cried. "But you shall know her some +day, Tom. Nor has she known you, though I think she is beginning to know +you better, now." + +There were many things I wished to hear,--many questions that I +asked,--and I learned how Sam had galloped on until he reached the fort, +how he had given the alarm, how Colonel Washington himself had ridden +forth twenty minutes later at the head of fifty men,--all who could be +spared,--and had spurred on through the night, losing the road more than +once and searching for it with hearts trembling with fear lest they +should be too late, and how they had not been too late, but had saved +us,--saved Dorothy. + +"And I think you are dearer to the commander's heart than any other man," +she added. "Indeed, he told me so. For he stayed here with you for three +days, watching at your bedside, until he found that he could stay no +longer, and then he tore himself away as a father leaves his child. I had +never seen him moved so deeply, for you know he rarely shows emotion." + +Ah, Dorothy, you did not know him as did I! You had not been with him at +Great Meadows, nor beside the Monongahela, nor when we buried Braddock +there in the road in the early morning. You had not been with him at +Winchester when wives cried to him for their husbands, and children for +their parents, nor beside the desolated hearths of a hundred frontier +families. And of a sudden it came over me as a wave rolls up the beach, +how much of sorrow and how little of joy had been this man's portion. +Small wonder that his face seemed always sad and that he rarely smiled. + +Dorothy had left me alone a moment with my thoughts, and when she came +back, she brought her mother with her. I had never seen her look at me +as she looked now, and for the first time perceived that it was from her +Dorothy got her eyes. She stood in the doorway for a moment, gazing down +at me, and then, before I knew what she was doing, had fallen on her +knees beside my bed and was kissing my bandaged hand. + +"Why, aunt!" I cried, and would have drawn it from her. + +"Oh, Tom," she sobbed, and clung to it, "can you forgive me?" + +"Forgive you, aunt?" I cried again, yet more amazed. "What have you done +that you should stand in need of my forgiveness?" + +"What have I done?" she asked, and raised her face to mine. "What have I +not done, rather? I have been a cold, hard woman, Tom. I have forgot what +right and justice and honor were. But I shall forget no longer. Do you +know what I have here in my breast?" she cried, and she snatched forth a +paper and held it before my eyes. "You could never guess. It is a letter +you wrote to me." + +"A letter I wrote to you?" I repeated, and then as I saw the +superscription, I felt my cheeks grow hot. For it read, "To be delivered +at once to Mrs. Stewart." + +"Ay," she said, "a letter you wrote to me, and which I should never have +received had you not forgot it and left it lying on my table in my study +at Riverview. Can you guess what I felt, Tom, when they brought it to me +here, and I opened it and read that you had gone to the swamp alone +amongst those devils? I thought that you were dead, since the letter had +been delivered, and the whole extent of the wrong I had done you sprang +up before me. But they told me you were not dead,--that Colonel +Washington had come for you, and that you had ridden hastily away with +him. I could guess the story, and I should never have known that you had +saved the place but for the chance which made you forget this letter." + +I had tried to stop her more than once. She had gone on without heeding +me, but now she paused. + +"It was nothing," I said. "Nothing. There was no real danger. Thank Long. +He was with me. He is a better man than I." + +"Oh, yes," she cried, "they are all better men than you, I dare say! Do +not provoke me, sir, or you will have me quarreling with you before I +have said what I came here to say. Can you guess what that is?" and she +paused again, to look at me with a great light in her eyes. + +But I was far past replying. I gazed up at her, bewildered, dazzled. I +had never known this woman. + +"I see you cannot guess," she said. "Of course you cannot guess! How +could you, knowing me as you have known me? 'Tis this. Riverview is +yours, Tom, and shall be always yours from this day forth, as of right it +has ever been." + +Riverview mine? No, no, I did not want Riverview. It was something +else I wanted. + +"I shall not take it, aunt," I said quite firmly. "I am going to make a +name for myself,--with my sword, you know," I added with a smile, "and +when I have once done that, there is something else which I shall ask you +for, which will be dearer to me--oh, far dearer--than a hundred +Riverviews." + +What ailed the women? Here was Dorothy too on her knees and kissing my +bandaged hand. + +"Oh, Tom, Tom," she cried, "do you not understand?" + +"Understand?" I repeated blankly. "Understand what, Dorothy?" + +"Don't you remember, dear, what happened just before the troops came?" + +"Oh, very clearly," I answered. "The Indians got Brightson down and +stabbed him, and just then you sprang up and cried the troops were +coming, and sure enough, there they were just entering the clearing, and +the Indians paused only for one look and then fled down the stairs as +fast as they could go. 'T was you who saved us all, Dorothy." + +"Oh, but there was something more!" she cried. "There was one Indian who +did not run, Tom, but who stopped to aim at me. I saw him do it, and I +closed my eyes, for I knew that he would kill me, and I heard his gun's +report, but no bullet struck me. For it was you whom it struck, dear, +through your hand and into your side, and for long we thought you dying." + +"Yes," I said, "but you see I am not dying, nor like to die, dear +Dorothy, so that I may still rejoin the troops erelong." + +She was looking at me with streaming eyes. + +"Do you mean that I am not going to get well, Dorothy?" I asked, for I +confess her tears frightened me. + +"Oh, not so bad as that, dear!" she cried. "Thank God, not so bad as +that! But your hand, Tom, your right hand is gone. You can never +wield a sword again, dear, never go to war. You will have to stay at +home with me." + +I know not how it was, but she was in my arms, and her lips were on mine, +and I knew that was no more parting for us. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +AND SO, GOOD-BY + + +Well, a right hand is a little price to pay for the love of a wife like +mine, and if I have made no name in the world, I at least live happy in +it, which is perhaps a greater thing. And I have grown to use my left +hand very handily. I have learnt to write with it, as the reader +knows,--and when I hold my wife to me, I have her ever next my heart. + +It is the fashion, I know well, to stop the story on the altar's steps, +and leave the reader to guess at all that may come after, but as I turn +over the pages I have writ, they seem too much a tale of failure and +defeat, and I would not have it so. For the lessons learned at Fort +Necessity and Winchester and at Duquesne have given us strength to drive +the French from the continent and the Indian from the frontier. So that +now we dwell in peace, and live our lives in quiet and content, save for +some disagreements with the king about our taxes, which Lord Grenville +has made most irksome. + +And even to my dearest friend, whose life, as I have traced it here, has +been so full of sorrow and reverse, has come great happiness. He is +honored of all men, and has found love as well, for he has brought a wife +home to Mount Vernon. Dorothy declares that Mistress Washington is the +very image of that Mary Cary who used him so ill years ago,--but this +may be only a woman's leaning toward romance. + +Indeed, we have a romance in our own home,--a bright-eyed girl of +twenty, who, I fear, is soon to leave us, if a certain pert young blade +who lives across the river has his way. It will be I who give her away +at the altar, for her father lies dead beside the Monongahela,--brave, +gentle-hearted Spiltdorph. My eyes grow dim even now when I think of +you, yet I trust that I have done as you would have had me do. For I +found the girl at Hampton, after a weary search,--perhaps some day I +shall tell the story. + +It is in the old seat by the river's edge I write these words, and as I +lay down the pen, my hand falls on those carved letters, T and D, with a +little heart around them,--very faint, now, and worn with frequent +kisses,--and as I lift my head, I see coming to me across the grass the +woman who carved them there and whom I love. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10094 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..24eca29 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10094 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10094) diff --git a/old/10094-8.txt b/old/10094-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9bcb2fe --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10094-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8987 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Soldier of Virginia , by Burton Egbert +Stevenson + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Soldier of Virginia + +Author: Burton Egbert Stevenson + +Release Date: November 16, 2003 [eBook #10094] + +Language: English + +Chatacter set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA *** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA + +A TALE OF COLONEL WASHINGTON AND BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT + +BY BURTON EGBERT STEVENSON + +1901 + + + + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF THE GALLANT MEN WHO FELL WITH DUST OF FAILURE BITTER ON +THEIR LIPS THAT OTHERS MIGHT BE TAUGHT THE LESSON OF THE WILDERNESS + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. LIEUTENANT ALLEN GROWS INSULTING + + II. THE STORY OF FONTENOY + + III. IN WHICH I INTRODUCE MYSELF + + IV. THE ENDING OF THE HONEYMOON + + V. THE SECRET OF A HEART + + VI. I AM TREATED TO A SURPRISE + + VII. I DECIDE TO BE A SOLDIER + + VIII. A RIDE TO WILLIAMSBURG + + IX. MY FIRST TASTE OF WARFARE + + X. THE FRENCH SCORE FIRST + + XI. DREAM DAYS AT RIVERVIEW + + XII. DOROTHY MAKES HER CHOICE + + XIII. LIEUTENANT ALLEN SHOWS HIS SKILL + + XIV. I CHANCE UPON A TRAGEDY + + XV. WE START ON A WEARY JOURNEY + + XVI. THE END IN SIGHT + + XVII. THE LESSON OF THE WILDERNESS + + XVIII. DEFEAT BECOMES DISHONOR + + XIX. ALLEN AND I SHAKE HANDS + + XX. BRADDOCK PAYS THE PRICE + + XXI. VIRGINIA BIDS US WELCOME + + XXII. A NEW DANGER AT RIVERVIEW + + XXIII. THE GOVERNOR SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE + + XXIV. A WARNING FROM THE FOREST + + XXV. I FIND MYSELF IN A DELICATE SITUATION + + XXVI. A DESPERATE DEFENSE + + XXVII. I COME INTO MY OWN + + XXVIII. AND SO, GOOD-BY + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +"I DO NOT LOVE HIM, TOM" + +"FOR SHAME, GENTLEMEN!" + +"STEWART, LISTEN!" + +THE SAVAGES POURED OVEB THE THRESHOLD + + + + +A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA + + + + +CHAPTER I + +LIEUTENANT ALLEN GROWS INSULTING + + +It was not until he sneered at me openly across the board that I felt my +self-control slipping from me. "Lieutenant Allen seems to have a poor +opinion of the Virginia troops," I said, as calmly as I could. + +"Egad, you are right, Lieutenant Stewart," he retorted, his eyes full +on mine. "These two weeks past have I been trying to beat some sense +into the fools, and 'pon my word, 't is enough to drive a man crazy to +see them." + +He paused to gulp down a glass of wine, of which I thought he had already +drunk too much. + +"I saw them this forenoon," cried Preston, who was sitting at Allen's +right, "and was like to die of laughing. Poor Allen, there, was doing his +best to teach them the manual, and curse me if they didn't hold their +guns as though they burnt their fingers. And when they were ordered to +'bout face, they looked like nothing so much as the crowd I saw six +months since at Newmarket, trying to get their money on Jason." + +The others around the table laughed in concert, and I could not but +admit there was a grain of truth in the comparison. + +"'Tis granted," I said, after a moment, "that we Virginians have not the +training of you gentlemen of the line; but we can learn, and at least no +one can doubt our courage." + +"Think you so?" and Allen laughed an insulting laugh. "There was that +little brush at Fort Necessity last year, from which they brought away +nothing but their skins, and damned glad they were to do that." + +"They brought away their arms," I cried hotly, "and would have brought +away all their stores and munitions, had the French kept faith and held +their Indians off. That, too, in face of an enemy three times their +number. The Virginians have no cause to blush for their conduct at Fort +Necessity. The Coldstreams could have done no better." + +Allen laughed again. "Ah, pardon me, Stewart," he said contemptuously, "I +forgot that you were present on that glorious day." + +I felt my cheeks crimson, and I looked up and down the board, but saw +only sneering faces. Yes, there was one, away down at the farther end, +which did not sneer, but looked at me I thought pityingly, which was +infinitely worse. And then, of course, there was Pennington, who sat next +to me, and who looked immeasurably shamed at the turn the dispute had +taken. He placed a restraining hand upon my sleeve, but I shook it off +impatiently. + +"Yes, I was present," I answered, my heart aflame within me, "and our +provincial troops learned a lesson there which even the gentlemen of the +Forty-Fourth may one day be glad to have us teach them." + +"Teach us?" cried Allen. "Curse me, sir, but you grow insulting! As for +your learning, permit me to doubt your ability to learn anything. I have +been trying to teach you provincials the rudiments of drill for the past +fortnight, without success. In faith, you seem to know less now than you +did before I began." + +"Yes?" I asked, my anger quite mastering me. "But may not that be the +fault of the teacher, Lieutenant Allen?" + +He was out of his chair with an oath, and would have come across the +table at me, but that those on either side held him back. + +"I suppose you considered your words before you spoke them, Lieutenant +Stewart?" asked Preston, looking at me coldly, and still keeping tight +hold on the swearing man at his side. + +"Fully," I answered, as I arose from my chair. + +"You know, of course, that there remains only one thing to be done?" he +continued, with a glance I thought compassionate, and so resented. + +"Certainly," I answered again. "I may be able to teach the gentleman a +very pretty thrust in tierce." + +Upon this Allen fell to cursing again, but Preston silenced him with a +gesture of his hand. + +"I am very willing," I added, "to give him the lesson at once, if he so +desires. There is a charming place just without. I marked it as I passed +to enter here, though with no thought I should so soon have need of it." + +Now all this was merely the empty braggartry of youth, which I blush to +remember. Nor was Allen the blustering bully I then deemed him, as I was +afterwards to find out for myself. But I know of nothing which will so +gloss over and disguise a man's real nature as a glass of wine too much. + +"I shall be happy to give the lesson at once," I repeated. + +"Yes, at once!" cried Allen savagely. "I'll teach you, sir, to keep a +civil tongue in your head when you address an officer of the line." + +"It seems that we are both to learn a lesson, then," I said lightly. "It +remains only to be seen which is the better teacher. Will one of the +other gentlemen present act as my second?" + +"I shall be happy to do so, Lieutenant Stewart," cried my neighbor, +stepping forward. + +"Ah, Lieutenant Pennington, thank you," and I looked into his face with +pleasure, for it was the one, of all those present, which I liked the +best. "Will you arrange the details for me?" + +"May I speak to you a moment first?" he asked, looking at me anxiously. + +"Certainly," I answered, and together we walked over to one corner +of the room. + +"Believe me, Lieutenant Stewart," he said, in a low voice, "I deem you a +brave man, and I honor you for defending the credit of your countrymen. +I little thought, when I invited you to dine with us to-night, that there +would be an issue such as this, for it can end in but one way. Allen is +the best swordsman in the regiment, and a very devil when he is flushed +with wine, as he is now." + +"You would have me decline to meet him, then?" I asked, looking at +him steadily. + +"A word of apology," he stammered, but he did not meet my eyes. His heart +was not in his words. + +"Impossible," I said. "You forget that it was he who insulted me, and +that an apology, if there be one, must come from him. He has insulted not +only myself, but the whole body of Virginia volunteers. Though I were +certain he would kill me, I could not draw back in honor. But I am not so +certain," and I smiled down into his face. "There be some good swordsmen +even in Virginia, sir." + +"In faith, I am wondrous glad to hear it!" he cried, his face +brightening. "I could not do less than warn you." + +"And I thank you for your interest." + +He held out his hand, and I clasped it warmly. Then we turned again to +the group about the table. + +"Well," cried Allen harshly, "does our Virginia friend desire to +withdraw?" + +"On the contrary," answered Pennington quietly, "he has positively +refused to withdraw," and as he spoke, I saw that the others looked at me +with attentive eyes. "There is a little green just back of the barracks. +Let us proceed to it," and he led the way toward the door. + +Allen and I followed him, and the whole rabble of officers crowded after. +In a moment we were at the place, and I walked to one side while the +seconds conferred together. The full moon had risen above the treetops +and flooded the clearing with still radiance. The tall, coarse grass +waved slowly to and fro in the faint breeze, and away off in the forest I +heard a wolf howling. The note, long and clear, rose and quivered in the +air, faint and far away. And as it died to silence, for the first time +the thought came to me that perchance my skill in fence might not avail. +Well, thank heaven, there was none to whom my death would cause much +sorrow, except--yes, Dorothy might care. At thought of her, the forest +faded from before me, and I saw her again as I had seen her last, looking +down upon me from the stair-head, and her kiss was warm upon my lips. + +"We are ready, Lieutenant Stewart," called Pennington, and I shook my +forebodings from me as I strode back toward him. + +"Lieutenant Allen instructs me to say," began Preston, who was acting as +his second, "that an apology on the part of Lieutenant Stewart will avert +consequences which may, perhaps, be unpleasant." + +"Lieutenant Stewart has no apologies to offer," I said shortly. "We are +wasting time, gentlemen." + +"As you will," and Preston turned back to Allen. + +My coat was off in an instant, and I rolled the sleeve of my shirt above +my elbow, the better to have it out of the way. + +"May I have your sword, lieutenant?" asked Pennington, and he walked with +it over to where Preston stood. He was back in a moment. "Allen's sword +is fully an inch the longer," he said. "I have insisted that he secure a +shorter weapon." + +"Nonsense!" I cried. "Let him keep his sword. I am two or three inches +the taller, and the advantage will still be on my side." + +Pennington looked at me a moment in something like astonishment. + +"Very well," he said at last, and stepped over and spoke another word to +Preston. Then he came back and handed me my sword. "You are a gallant +man, Lieutenant Stewart," he said as he did so. + +"No more than many others in Virginia. 'T is that I mean to prove +to-night," I answered lightly, and I saluted my adversary and felt his +blade against my own. The first pass showed me that he was master of the +weapon, but I was far from dismayed. I saw his eyes widen with surprise +as I parried his thrust and pressed him so closely that he gave back a +step. I smiled dryly, for I knew my advantage. The earliest lesson I had +learned at the foils was that victory comes only to the man who keeps his +coolness. I had drunk little wine, while Allen had drunk much, and his +bloodshot eyes told of previous nights spent over the cups and dice. No, +decidedly, I had little to fear. Allen must have read something of my +thought in my eyes, for his face flushed to a yet darker crimson, he +pulled himself together with an effort, and by a trick which I had never +seen, got inside my guard. His point was at my breast, but I leaped back +and avoided it. + +"Ah, you break!" he cried. "'Tis not so easy as you fancied!" + +I did not answer, contenting myself with playing more cautiously than I +had done in my self-satisfaction of a moment before. Out of the corners +of my eyes, I could see a portion of the circle of white faces about us, +but they made no sound, and what their expression was I could not tell. +The night air and the fast work were doing much to sober my opponent, and +I felt his wrist grow stronger as he held down my point for an instant. +It was his turn to smile, and I felt my cheeks redden at the expression +of his face. Again he got inside my guard, but again I was out of reach +ere he could touch me. I saw that I was making but a sorry showing, and I +tried the thrust of which I had had the bad taste to boast, but he turned +it aside quite easily. And then, of a sudden, I heard the beat of a +horse's hoofs behind me. + +"For shame, gentlemen!" cried a clear voice, which rang familiar in my +ears. "Can the king's soldiers find no enemies to his empire that they +must fight among themselves?" + +Our seconds struck up our swords, and Allen looked over my shoulder +with a curse. + +"Another damned provincial, upon my life!" he cried. "Was there ever such +impudence!" + +[Illustration: "FOR SHAME GENTLEMEN!"] + +As he spoke, the horseman swung himself from the saddle with an easy +grace which declared long training in it, and walked coolly toward us. + +"Lieutenant Stewart," he said to me sternly, "I did not think to find +you thus engaged, else had I thought twice before placing a sword in +your hand." + +"The insult was one which could not be passed over, Colonel Washington," +I answered, as I saluted him. "It was not to myself only, but to all the +Virginia troops who serve his Majesty." + +"So," sneered Allen, "'t is the hero of Fort Necessity! I can well +believe him averse to fighting." + +My cheeks were hot with anger and I saw Washington flush darkly, but he +gazed at Allen coldly, and his voice was calm as ever when he spoke. + +"It shall be my privilege at some future time," he said, "to call the +gentleman to account for his words. At present, my sword is pledged to +the king and may be drawn in no other service, more especially not in my +own. I trust, Lieutenant Stewart, you will have the courage to sheathe +your blade." + +I hesitated. It was a hard thing to ask a man to do. + +"Yes, put up your sword!" cried Allen scornfully. "Allow yourself to be +reproved like a naughty boy by this hero who knows only how to retreat. +On my soul, 't was well he arrived when he did. I should have finished +with you long ere this." + +Washington looked at me steadily, without showing by the movement of a +muscle that he had heard. + +"And I promise you, Lieutenant Stewart," he continued, as though there +had been no interruption, "that I shall be happy to act as your second, +once this campaign is closed." + +My cheeks flushed again, this time with pleasure, and I picked up my +scabbard and sent my blade home. + +"I must beg you to excuse me, Lieutenant Allen," I said. "Colonel +Washington says right. My sword is not my own until we have met the +French. Then I shall be only too pleased to conclude the argument." + +Allen's lips curved in a disdainful smile. + +"I thought you would be somewhat less eager to vindicate the courage of +Virginia once you had pause for reflection," he sneered. "Provincials are +all of a kind, and the breed is not a choice one." + +I bit my lips to keep back the angry retort which leaped to them, and I +saw Washington's hand trembling on his sword. It did me good to see that +even he maintained his calmness only by an effort. + +"Oh, come, Allen," cried Pennington, "you go too far. There can be no +question of Lieutenant Stewart's courage. He was ready enough to meet +you, God knows! Colonel Washington is right, our swords belong to the +king while he has work for them," and the young fellow, with flushed +face, held out his hand to Washington, who grasped it warmly. + +"I thank you," he said simply. "I should be sorry to believe that all the +king's officers could so far forget their duty. Come, lieutenant," he +added to me, and taking me by the arm, he walked me out of the group, +which opened before us, and I ventured to think that not all of the faces +were unfriendly. "I have a message for Sir Peter Halket," he said, when +we were out of earshot. "Show me his quarters, Tom, and so soon as I have +finished my business, we will talk over this unhappy affair." + +I led the way toward the building where the commander of the Forty-Fourth +was quartered, too angry with myself and with the world to trust myself +to speak. Why should I, who came of as good family as any in Virginia, be +compelled to swallow insults as I had to-night? I almost regretted for +the moment that I was in the service. + +"But the time will come," I said, speaking aloud before I thought. + +"Yes, the time will come, Tom," and Washington looked at me with a grim +smile. "The time will come sooner than you think, perhaps, when these +braggarts will be taught a lesson which they greatly need. Pray heaven +the lesson be not so severe that it shake the king's empire on this +continent." + +"Shake the king's empire?" I repeated, looking at him in amazement. "I +do not understand." + +"No matter," he said shortly. "Here we are at headquarters. Do you wait +for me. I will be but a moment;" and he ran up the steps, spoke a word to +the sentry, and disappeared within. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE STORY OF FONTENOY + + +My heart was thick with wrath as I walked up and down before Sir Peter +Halket's quarters and waited for Colonel Washington to reappear. I asked +myself again why I should be compelled to take the insults of any man. I +clenched my hands together behind me, and swore that Allen should yet pay +dearly. I recalled with bitterness the joy I had felt a week before, when +I had received from Colonel Washington a letter in which he stated that +he had procured my appointment as lieutenant in Captain Waggoner's +Virginia company. I had been ahungered to make the campaign, and had +donned my uniform with a light heart,--the same I had worn the year +before, now much faded but inexpressibly dear to me,--mounted my horse, +and ridden hotfoot to join the force here at Winchester. I had been +received kindly enough by my companion officers of the provincial +companies, many of whom were old friends. The contempt which the officers +of the Forty-Fourth felt for the Virginia troops, and which they were at +no pains to conceal, had vexed me somewhat from the first, yet it was not +until to-night at the officers' mess, to which I had foolishly accepted +Pennington's invitation, that this contempt had grown unbearable. I had +chanced to pull Pennington's horse out of a hole the day before, and so +saved it a broken leg, but I saw now that I should have done better to +refuse that invitation, courteously as it was given, and sincere as his +gratitude had undoubtedly been. + +So I walked up and down with a sore heart, as a child will when it has +been punished for no fault, and prayed that we provincials might yet +teach the regulars a lesson. Yet they were brave men, most of them, whom +I could not but admire. A kindlier, gallanter roan than Sir Peter Halket +I had never seen, no, nor ever shall see. I noted the sentries pacing +their beats before the colonel's quarters, erect, automatons, their guns +a-glitter in the moonlight, their uniforms immaculate. I had seen them +drill the day before, whole companies moving like one man, their ranks +straight as a ramrod,--tramp, tramp,--turning as on a pivot moved by a +single will. It was a wonderful sight to me who had never seen the like +before, they were so strong, so confident, so seemingly invincible. + +I turned and glanced again at the sentries, almost envying them their +perfect carriage. Had they been men of iron, worked by a spring, they +could not have moved with more clock-like regularity. And yet, no doubt, +they had one time been country louts like any others. Truly there was +much virtue in discipline. Yet still, and here I shook my head, the +Virginia troops were brave as any in the world, and would prove it. From +the officers' quarters came the sound of singing and much laughter, and I +flushed as I thought perchance it was at me they laughed. I have learned +long since that no man's laughter need disturb rue, so my heart be clear, +but this was wisdom far beyond my years and yet undreamed of, and I shook +my fist at the row of lighted windows. + +"What, still fuming, Tom?" cried a voice at my elbow, and I turned to +find Colonel Washington there; "and staring over toward the barracks as +though you would like to gobble up every one within! Well, I admit you +have cause," he added, and I saw that his face grew stern. "You may have +to bear many such insults before the campaign is ended, but I hope and +believe that the conduct of the Virginia troops will yet win them the +respect of the regulars. You seem to have lost no time in getting to +camp," he added, in a lighter tone. + +"There was nothing to keep me at Riverview," I answered bitterly. "My +absence is much preferred to my presence there. Had I not come to +Winchester, I must have gone somewhere else. Your letter came most +opportunely." + +"You are out of humor to-night, Tom," said Washington, but his tone was +kindly, and he placed one hand upon my arm as we turned back toward the +cabin where my quarters were. He was scarce three years my senior, yet to +me he seemed immeasurably the elder. I had always thought of him as of a +man, and I verily believe he was a man in mind and temper while yet a boy +in body. I had ridden beside him many times over his mother's estate, and +I had noticed--and chafed somewhat at the knowledge--that women much +older than he always called him Mr. Washington, while even that little +chit of a Polly Johnston called me Tom to my face, and laughed at me when +I assumed an air of injured dignity. I think it was the fact that my +temper was so the opposite of his own which drew him to me, and as for +myself, I was proud to have such a friend, and of the chance to march +with him again over the mountains against the French. + +He knew well how to humor me, and walked beside me, saying nothing. I +glanced at his face, half shamed of my petulance, and I saw that he was +no longer smiling. His lips were closed in that firm straight line which +I had already seen once or twice, and which during years of trial became +habitual to him. My own petty anger vanished at the sight. + +"I have not yet thanked you, Colonel Washington," I said at last, "for +securing me my appointment. I was eating my heart out to make the +campaign, but saw no way of doing so until your message reached me." + +"Why, Tom," he laughed, "you were the first of whom I thought when +General Braddock gave me leave to fill some of the vacancies. Did you +think I had so soon forgot the one who saved my life at Fort Necessity?" + +I opened my mouth to protest, but he silenced me with a gesture. + +"I can see it as though it were here before us," he continued. "The +French and Indians on the knoll yonder, my own men kneeling in the +trenches, almost waist-deep in water, trying in vain to keep their powder +dry; here and there a wounded man lying in the mud and cursing, the rain +and mist over it all, and the night coming on. And then, suddenly, the +rush of Indians at our back, and over the breastwork. I had my pistol in +my hand, you remember, Tom, but the powder flashed in the pan, and the +foremost of the savages was upon me. I saw his tomahawk in the air, and I +remember wondering who would best command when I was dead. But your aim +was true and your powder dry, and when the tomahawk fell, it fell +harmless, with its owner upon it." + +For a moment neither of us spoke. My eyes were wet at thought of the +scene which I so well remembered, and when I turned to him, I saw that he +was still brooding over this defeat, which had rankled as a poisoned +arrow in his breast ever since that melancholy morning we had marched +away from the Great Meadows with the French on either side and the +Indians looting the baggage in the rear. As we reached my quarters, we +turned by a common impulse and continued onward through the darkness. + +"This expedition must be more fortunate," he said at last, as though in +answer to his own thought. "A thousand regulars, as many more +provincials, guns, and every equipage,--yes, it is large enough and +strong enough, unless"-- + +"Unless?" I questioned, as he paused. + +"Unless we walk headlong to our own destruction," he said. "But no, I +won't believe it. The general has been bred in the Coldstreams and +knows nothing of frontier fighting. But he is a brave man, an honest +man, and he will learn. Small wonder he believes in discipline after +serving half a century in such a regiment. Have you ever heard the +story of their fight at Fontenoy, ten years since, when they lost two +hundred and forty men? I heard it three nights ago at the general's +table, and 't was enough to make a man weep for very pity that such +valor should count for naught." + +"Tell it me," I cried, for if there is one thing I love above all +others,--yea, even yet, when I must sit useless by,--it is the tale of +brave deeds nobly done. + +"'T was on the eleventh day of May, seventeen forty-five," he said, "that +the English and the Dutch met the French, who were under Marshal Saxe. +Louis the Fifteenth himself was on the field, with the Grand Dauphin by +his side and a throng of courtiers about him, for he knew how much +depended on the issue of this battle. A redoubt, held by the famous +Guards, bristling with cannon, covered the French position. The Dutch, +appalled at the task before them, refused to advance, but his Grace of +Cumberland, who commanded the English, rose equal to the moment. He +formed his troops in column, the Coldstreams at its head, and gave the +word for the assault. The batteries thundered, the redoubt was crowned +with flame, but the Coldstreams turned neither to the right nor left. +Straight on they marched,--to annihilation, as it seemed,--reforming as +they went, over hill and gully, as steadily as on parade. At last they +reached their goal, and an instant's silence fell upon the field as they +faced the French. The English officers raised their hats to their +adversaries, who returned the salute as though they were at Versailles, +not looking in the eyes of death. + +"'Gentlemen of the French Guard,' cried Lord Charles Hay, 'fire, if +you please.' + +"'Impossible, monsieur,' cried the Count of Hauteroche; 'the French +Guards never fire first. Pray, fire yourselves.' + +"The order was given, and the French ranks fell as grain before the +sickle. They gave way, the Coldstreams advancing in perfect order, firing +volley after volley. The officers, with their rattans, turned the men's +muskets to the right or left, as need demanded. Nothing could stop that +terrible approach, resistless as a whirlwind, and French and Swiss broke +themselves against it, only to be dashed back as spray from a rocky +coast. Regiment after regiment was repulsed, and the Coldstreams still +advanced. Saxe thought the battle lost, and begged the king and the +dauphin to flee while time permitted. At the last desperate moment, he +rallied the artillery and all the forces of his army for a final effort. +The artillery was massed before the English, and they had none to answer +it. The king himself led the charge against their flanks, which the Dutch +should have protected. But the Dutch preferred to remain safely in the +rear. The Coldstreams stood their ground, reforming their ranks with +perfect coolness, until Cumberland saw it were madness to remain, and +ordered the retreat. And it was more glorious than the advance. With only +half their number on their feet, they faced about, without disorder, +their ranks steady and unwavering, and moved off sullenly and slowly, as +though ready at any moment to turn again and rend the ranks of the +victors. It was a deed to match Thermopylae." + +I lifted my hat from my head, and my lips were trembling. + +"I salute them," I said. "'T was well done. And was General Braddock +present on that day?" + +"He commanded one battalion of the regiment. It was for his gallantry +there that he was promoted to the senior majorship." + +"I shall not forget it." And then I added, "Perhaps the story you have +told me will give me greater patience with our drill-master." + +"I trust so, at least," said Washington, with a smile; "else I fear there +will be little peace for you in the army. I was affected by the story, +Tom, no less than you have been, but after I had left the hall, with its +glamour of lights and gold lace and brilliant uniforms, I wondered if +this discipline would count amid the forests of the Ohio as it did on the +plains of Europe. I fancy, in the battle that is to come, there will be +no question of who shall fire first, and a regiment which keeps its +formation will be a fair mark for the enemy. Do you know, Tom, my great +hope is that the French will send a scouting party of their Indian allies +to ambush us, and that in defeating them, our commander may learn +something of the tactics which he must follow to defeat the French." + +As for myself, I confess I shared none of these forebodings, and welcomed +the chance to turn our talk to a more cheerful subject. + +"But about yourself?" I questioned. "There is much I wish to know. Until +your note reached me, I had not heard a word from you since you rode away +from Mount Vernon with Dinwiddie's messenger." + +His face cleared, and he looked at me with a little smile. + +"We went direct to Williamsburg," he said, "where I first met the +general, and told him what I know about the country which he has to +cross. He treated me most civilly, despite some whisperings which went on +behind my back, and shortly after sent me a courteous invitation to serve +on his staff. Of course I accepted,--you know how it irked me to remain +at home,--but I gave him at the same time a statement of my reason for +quitting the Virginia service,--that I could not consent to be outranked +by every subaltern who held a commission from the king." + +I nodded, for the question was not new to me, and had already caused me +much heart-burning. It was not until long afterwards that I saw the +general's letter among Mrs. Washington's treasures at Mount Vernon, but +it seems to me worthy of reproduction here. Thus it ran:-- + + +WILLIAMSBURG, 2 March, 1755. + +Sir,--The General having been informed that you expressed some desire to +make the campaign, but that you declined it upon some disagreeableness +that you thought might arise from the regulations of command, has ordered +me to acquaint you that he will be very glad of your company in his +family, by which all inconveniences of that kind will be obviated. + +I shall think myself very happy to form an acquaintance with a person so +universally esteemed, and shall use every opportunity of assuring you how +much I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, + +ROBERT ORME, Aide-de-Camp. + +Had Braddock heeded the advice of the man whom he asked to join his +family, the event might have been different. But I must not anticipate, +and I find my hardest task in writing what is before me is to escape the +shadow of the disaster which was to come. At that time, and, indeed, +until the storm burst, few of us had penetration to discern the cloud on +the horizon,--Colonel Washington, Mr. Franklin, and a few others, +perhaps, but certainly not I. It is easy to detect mistakes after the +event, and to conduct a campaign on paper, yet few who saw that martial +array of troops, with its flying banners and bright uniforms, would have +ordered the advance differently. + +But to return. + +"It was not until three days ago," continued Washington, "that I was able +to rejoin the general, and he intrusted me with a message to Colonel +Halket, which I delivered this evening. I must start back to Mount Vernon +to-morrow and place my affairs in order, and will then join the army at +Cumberland, whence the start is to be made." + +"And what make of man is the general?" I asked. + +A cloud settled on Washington's face. + +"Why, Tom," he said at last, "I have seen so little of him that I may +misjudge him. He is at least brave and honest, two great things in a +commander. As for the rest, it is yet too soon to judge. But you have +told me nothing about your affairs. How did you leave them all at +Riverview?" + +"I left them well enough," I answered shortly. + +Washington glanced keenly at my downcast face, for indeed the memory of +what had occurred at Riverview was not pleasant to me. + +"Did you quarrel with your aunt before you came away?" he asked quietly. + +"Yes," I said, and stopped. How could I say more? + +"I feared it might come to that," he said gravely. "Your position there +has been a false one from the start. And yet I see no way to amend it." + +We walked on in silence for some time, each busy with his own thoughts, +and mine at least were not pleasant ones. + +"Tom," said Washington suddenly, "what was the quarrel about? Was it +about the estate?" + +"Oh, no," I answered. "We shall never quarrel about the estate. We have +already settled all that. It was something quite different." + +I could not tell him what it was; the secret was not my own. + +He looked at me again for a moment, and then, stopping suddenly, wheeled +me around to face him, and caught my hand. + +"I think I can guess," he said warmly, "and I wish you every +happiness, Tom." + +My lips were trembling so I could not thank him, but I think he knew what +was in my heart. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +IN WHICH I INTRODUCE MYSELF + + +I doubt not that by this time the reader is beginning to wonder who this +fellow is that has claimed his attention, and so, since there is no one +else to introduce me, I must needs present myself. + +It so happened that when that stern old lion, Oliver Cromwell, crushed +the butterfly named Charles Stuart at Worcester in the dim dawn of the +third day of September, 1651, and utterly routed the army of that unhappy +prince, one Thomas Stewart fell into the hands of the Roundheads, as, +indeed, did near seven thousand others of the Royalist army. Now this +Thomas Stewart had very foolishly left a pretty estate in Kincardine, +together with a wife and two sturdy boys, to march under the banner of +the Princeling, as he conceived to be his duty, and after giving and +taking many hard knocks, here he was in the enemy's hands, and Charles +Stuart a fugitive. They had one and all been declared by Parliament +rebels and traitors to the Commonwealth, so the most distinguished of the +captives were chosen for examples to the rest, and three of them, the +Earl of Derby among the number, were sent forthwith to the block, where +they comported themselves as brave men should, and laid down their heads +right cheerfully. + +The others were sent to prison, since it was manifestly impossible to +execute them all,--nor was Cromwell so bloodthirsty, now the rebellion +was broken utterly,--and some sixteen hundred of them were sentenced to +be transported to the colony of Virginia, which had long been a dumping +ground for convicts and felons and political scapegoats. Hither, then, +they came, in ships crowded to suffocation, and many dead upon the way +and thrown to the sharks for burial, but for some reason only one of the +ships stopped here, while the others went on to Barbados to discharge +their living freight. I more than suspect that Cromwell's agents soon +discovered the Commonwealth had few friends in Virginia, and feared the +effect of letting loose here so many of the Royalist soldiers. At any +rate, this one ship dropped anchor at Hampton, and its passengers, to the +number of about three hundred, were sold very cheaply to the neighboring +planters. I may as well say here that all of them were well treated by +their Cavalier masters, and many of them afterwards became the founders +of what are now the most prominent families in the colony. + +Now one of those who had been sold in Virginia was the Thomas Stewart +whom I have already mentioned, and whom neither stinking jail nor crowded +transport had much affected. Doubtless, no matter what the surroundings, +he had only to close his eyes to see again before him the green hills +and plashing brooks of Kincardine, with his own home in the midst, and +the bonny wife waiting at the door, a boy on either side. Alas, it was +only thus he was ever to see them this side heaven. He was bought by a +man named Nicholas Spenser, who owned a plantation on the Potomac in +Westmoreland County, and there he worked, first as laborer and then as +overseer, for nigh upon ten years. His master treated him with great +kindness, and at the Restoration, having made tenfold his purchase money +by him, gave him back his freedom. + +Despite the years and the hard work in the tobacco-fields, Stewart's +thoughts had often been with the wife and children he had left behind in +Scotland, and he prevailed upon Spenser to secure him passage in one of +his ships for London, where he arrived early in 1662. He made his way +back to Kincardine, where he found his estate sequestered, his wife and +one child dead in poverty, the other disappeared. From a neighbor he +learned that the boy had run away to sea after his mother's death, but +what his fate had been he never knew. Weary and disheartened, Stewart +retraced his steps to London, and after overcoming obstacles innumerable, +occasioned mostly by his want of money, laid his case before the king. +Charles listened to him kindly enough, for his office had not yet grown a +burden to him, and finally granted him a patent for two thousand acres of +land along the upper Potomac. It was a gift which cost the king nothing, +and one of a hundred such he bestowed upon his favorites as another man +would give a crust of bread for which he had no use. Stewart returned to +Virginia with his patent in his pocket, and built himself a home in what +was then a wilderness. + +In five or six years he had cleared near three hundred acres of land, had +it planted in sweet-scented tobacco, for which the Northern Neck was +always famous, bought two-score negroes to tend it, and began to see +light ahead. It was at this time that he met Marjorie Usner, while on a +visit to Williamsburg, and he married her in 1670, having in the mean +time erected a more spacious residence than the rude log-hut which had +previously been his home. He was at that time a man nigh fifty years of +age, but handsome enough, I dare say, and well preserved by his life of +outdoor toil. Certainly Mistress Marjorie, who must have been much +younger, made him a good wife, and when he died, in 1685, he left a son +and a daughter, besides an estate valued at several thousands of pounds, +accumulated with true Scottish thrift. It was this daughter who named the +estate Riverview, and though the house was afterwards remodeled, the name +was never changed. The Stewarts continued to live there, marrying and +giving in marriage, and growing ever wealthier, for the next half +century, at the end of which time occurred the events that brought me +into being. + +In 1733, Thomas Stewart, great-grandson of the Scotsman, was master of +Riverview. His portrait, which hangs to-day to the left of the fireplace +in the great hall, shows him a white-haired, red-faced, choleric +gentleman, with gray eyes and proudly smiling mouth. He had been chosen a +member of the House of Burgesses, as had his father before him, and was +one of the most considerable men in the county. His son, Tom, was just +twenty-one, and had inherited from his father the hasty temper and +invincible stubbornness which belong to all the Stewarts. + +It was in the fall of 1733 that they made the trip to Williamsburg which +was to have such momentous consequences. The House of Burgesses was in +session, and Mr. Stewart, as the custom was, took his whole family with +him to the capital. I fancy I can see them as they looked that day. The +great coach, brought from London at a cost of so many thousand pounds of +tobacco, is polished until it shines again. The four horses are harnessed +to it, and Sambo, mouth stretched from ear to ear, drives it around to +the front of the mansion, where a broad flight of stone steps leads +downward from the wide veranda. The footmen and outriders spring to their +places, their liveries agleam with buckles, the planter and his lady and +their younger son enter the coach, while young Tom mounts his horse and +prepares to ride by the window. The odorous cedar chests containing my +lady's wardrobe are strapped behind or piled on top, the negroes form a +grinning avenue, the whip cracks, and they are off, half a dozen servants +following in an open cart. It is a four days' journey to Williamsburg, +over roads whose roughness tests the coach's strength to the uttermost +but it is the one event of all the year to this isolated family, and +small wonder that they look forward to it with eager anticipation. + +Once arrived at Williamsburg, what craning of necks and waving of +handkerchiefs and kissing of hands to acquaintances, as the coach rolls +along the wide, white, sandy street, scorching in the sun, with the +governor's house, called by courtesy a palace, at one end, and the +College of William and Mary at the other, and perhaps two hundred +straggling wooden houses in between. The coaches and chariots which line +the street give earnest of the families already assembled from Princess +Ann to Fairfax and the Northern Neck. My lady notes that the Burkes have +at last got them a new chariot from London, and her husband looks with +appreciative eyes at the handsome team of matched grays which draw it. As +for young Tom, his eyes, I warrant, are on none of these, but on the bevy +of blooming girls who promenade the side-path, arrayed in silks and +satins and brocades, their eyes alight, their cheeks aglow with the joy +of youth and health. Small blame to him, say I, for that is just where my +own eyes would have been. + +That very night Governor Gooch gave a ball at his palace, and be sure the +Stewart family was there, my lady in her new London gown of flowered +damask in the very latest mode, and Tom in his best suit of peach-blossom +velvet, and in great hopes of attracting to himself some of the bright +eyes he had seen that afternoon. Nor was he wholly unsuccessful, for one +pair of black eyes rested on his for a moment,--they were those of +Mistress Patricia Wyeth,--and he straightway fell a victim to their +charms, as what young man with warm heart and proper spirit would not? +Young Tom must himself have possessed unusual attractions, or a boldness +in wooing which his son does not inherit, for at the end of a week he +disturbed his father at his morning dram to inform him that he and +Mistress Patricia had decided to get married. + +"Married!" cried the elder Stewart. "Why, damme, sir, do you know who the +Wyeths are?" + +"I know who Patricia is," answered young Tom very proudly, his head +well up at this first sign of opposition. "I care naught about the +rest of them." + +"But I care, sir!" shouted his father. "Why, the girl won't have a +shilling to bless herself with. Old Wyeth has gambled away every penny he +possesses, and a good many more than he possesses, too, so they tell me, +at his infernal horse-racing and cock-fighting, and God knows what else. +A gentleman may play, sir,--I throw the dice occasionally, myself, and +love to see a well-matched, race as well as any man,--but he ceases to be +a gentleman the moment he plays beyond his means,--a fact which you will +do well to remember. A pretty match for a Stewart 'pon my word!" + +During this harangue young Tom would have interrupted more than once, +but his father silenced him with a passionate waving of his arm. At +last he was compelled to pause for want of breath to say more, and the +boy got in a word. + +"All this is beside the point, father," he said hotly. "My word is given, +and I intend to keep it. Even if it were not given, I should still do my +best to win Patricia, because I love her." + +"Love her, and welcome!" cried his father. "Marry her, if you want +to. But you'll never bring a pauper like that inside my house while I +am alive." + +"Nor after you are dead, if you do not wish it," answered Tom, with his +head higher in the air than ever. + +"No, nor after I am dead!" thundered the old man, his anger no doubt +carrying him farther than he intended going. "You are acting like a +scoundrel, sir. You know well enough I can't cut you out of the estate, +since you are the eldest, so you think to take advantage of me." + +"Never fear, sir," cried Tom, his lips white with anger and his eyes +ablaze. "You shall ask me back to Riverview yourself ere I return there; +yes, and beg my wife's pardon for insulting her." + +"Then, by God, you'll never return!" snorted his father, and without +waiting to hear more, Tom stalked from the room and from the house. I +think even then his father would have called him back, had the boy given +him the chance, and his face was less red than usual when he heard the +street door slam. + +Of course there was a great to-do immediately. Tom's mother interceded +for him, and I doubt not a single word on his part would have won full +pardon from his father, but one was no less stubborn than the other, and +the word was never spoken. When Mistress Patricia heard of the quarrel, +she straightway informed her lover that she would never marry him and +ruin his inheritance, and returned to her home above Charles City, taking +her old reprobate of a father with her, where he died not long +afterwards, perhaps finding life not worth living when there remained no +one who would take his wagers. + +At the close of the session, the Stewart coach rolled back to Riverview, +but young Tom did not ride beside it. He remained at Williamsburg, and +managed to pick up a scanty practice as an attorney, for he had read a +little law in want of something better to do, and to fit himself for his +coming honors as a member of the House of Burgesses. And at Riverview his +father moped in his office and about his fields, growing ever more +crabbed and more obstinate, and falling into a rage whenever any one +dared mention Tom's name before him. + +It was in the spring of 1734 that Tom Stewart mounted his horse and rode +out of Williamsburg across the Chickahominy, to try his fortune once more +with Patricia Wyeth. The winter had been a hard one for a man brought up +as Tom had been, and that suit of peach-bloom velvet had long since been +converted into bread. Yet still he made a gallant figure when, on the +evening of an April day, he cantered up the road to Patricia's home, and +I dare say the heart of the owner of those bright eyes which peeped out +upon him from an upper window beat faster when they saw him coming. But +it was a very demure little maiden who met him at the great door as he +entered, and gave him her hand to kiss. She was all in white, with a +sprig of blossoms in her hair, and she must have made a pretty picture +standing there, and one to warm the heart of any man. + +Of the week that followed, neither my father nor my mother ever told me +much,--its memories were too sweet to trust to words, perhaps,--but the +event was, that on the first day of May, 1734, Thomas Stewart, attorney, +and Patricia Wyeth, spinster, were made man and wife in Westover church +by the Reverend Peter Fontaine, of sainted memory. How well I recall his +benign face, and what tears of affectionate remembrance brimmed my eyes +when I heard, not long ago, that he was dead! The closing sentences of +his will show how he ever thought of others and not of himself, for he +wrote: "My will and desire is, that I may have no public funeral, but +that my corpse may be accompanied by a few of my nearest neighbors; that +no liquors be given to make any of the company drunk,--many instances of +which I have seen, to the great scandal of the Christian religion and +abuse of so solemn an ordinance. I desire none of my family to go in +mourning for me." His sister sent me a copy of the will, and a very +pretty letter, in which she told me how her brother often spoke of me, +and wished me to have his Bible. It is there on the shelf at my bedside, +and while God gives me life I will read in no other. + +It was in the modest Wyeth homestead, on the bank of the James, that my +father and mother entered upon their honeymoon. Of the depth of their +love for each other I know best of all, and the summer slipped away on +golden wings. My father thought no more of returning to Williamsburg, nor +did he greatly regret Riverview. He wrote a formal letter to his mother +announcing his marriage, but no answer came to it, and I doubt not that +worthy woman sobbed herself to sleep more than once in grieving over the +obstinacy of her husband and her son. Dear lady, it was this trouble +which did much to shorten her days, and the end came soon afterwards. 'T +is said that on her deathbed she tried to soften her husband's heart +against their boy, but with such ill success that she fell sobbing into +the sleep from which she was never to awaken. To such a degree can a +fault persisted in change the natural humor of a man. + +My father, perhaps, hoped for a reply to his letter, but he showed no +sign of disappointment when none came, and never spoke upon the subject +to my mother. He soon found enough in his affairs at home to occupy his +mind, for old Samuel Wyeth had left the estate sadly incumbered with his +debts, and more than half of it was sacrificed to save the rest. With +care and frugality, there yet remained enough to live on, and for the +first year, at least, there came no cloud to dim their happiness. Their +cup of joy was full to overflowing, so my mother often told me, when, on +the night of April 15,1735, a child was born to them. It was a boy, and a +week later, before the altar of the little Westover church, its worthy +rector christened the child "Thomas Stewart," the fifth of his line in +the New World. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ENDING OF THE HONEYMOON + + +Besides my father and my mother, the figure which stands out most clearly +in my memory of my childhood is that of the man who christened me. I +cannot remember the time when I did not know and love him. He was a tall, +well-built man, with kindly face and clear blue eyes which darkened when +any emotion stirred him, and rode--how well I remember it!--a big, bony, +gray horse. It was on this horse's back that I took my first ride, when I +was scarce out of petticoats, and often after that, held carefully before +him on the saddle, or, as I grew older, bumping joyously behind, my arms +about his waist. My place was always on his knee when he was within our +doors, and he held me there with unfailing good humor during his long +talks with my mother, of which I, for the most part, comprehended +nothing, except that oftentimes they spoke of me, and then he would +smooth my hair with great tenderness. But I sat there quite content, and +sometimes dozed off with my head against his flowered waistcoat,--it was +his one vanity,--and wakened only when he set me gently down. + +It was not until I grew older that I learned something of his history. +One day, he had seized time from his parish work to take me for a ramble +along the river, and as we reached the limit of our walk and sat down for +a moment's rest before starting homeward, and looked across the wide +water, I asked him, with a childish disregard for his feelings, if it +were true that his father was a Frenchman, adding that I hoped it were +not true, because I did not like the French. + +"Yes, it is true," he answered, and looked down at me, smiling sadly. +"Shall I tell you the story, Thomas?" + +I nodded eagerly, for I loved to listen to stories, especially true ones. + +"When Louis Fourteenth was King of France," he began, and I think he took +a melancholy pleasure in telling it, "he issued a decree commanding all +the Protestants, who in France are called Huguenots, to abjure their +faith and become Catholics, or leave the kingdom. He had oftentimes +before promised them protection, but he was growing old and weak, and +thought that this might help to save his soul, which was in great need of +saving, for he had been a wicked king. My father and my mother were +Huguenots, and they chose to leave their home rather than give up their +faith, as did many thousand others, and after suffering many hardships, +escaped to England, with no worldly possession save the clothes upon +their backs, but with a great treasure in heaven and an abiding trust in +the Lord. They had six children, and after giving us a good education, +especially as to our religion, committed us to the providence of a +covenant God to seek our fortunes in the wide world. All of us came to +America, although Moses and John have since returned to England. James is +a farmer in King William County, Francis is minister of York-Hampton +parish, and sister Ruth lives with me, as you know." + +A great deal more he told me, which slipped from my memory, for I was +thinking over what he had already said. + +"And your mother and father," I asked, as we started back together, "fled +from France rather than give up their faith?" + +"Yes," he answered, and smiled down into my eyes, raised anxiously to +his. + +"And were persecuted just as the early martyrs were?" + +"Yes, very much the same. All of their goods were taken from them, and +they were long in prison." + +"But they were never sorry?" + +"No, they were never sorry. No one is ever sorry for doing a thing +like that." + +I trotted on in silence for a moment, holding tight to his kindly hand, +and revolving this new idea in my mind. At last I looked up at him, big +with purpose. + +"I am going to do something like that some day," I said. + +He gazed down at me, his eyes shining queerly. + +"God grant that you may have the strength, my boy," he said. He bent +and kissed me, and we returned to the house together without saying +another word. + +It was the custom of the Fontaine family to hold a meeting every year to +give thanks for the deliverance from persecution of their parents in +France, and I remember being present with my father and mother at one of +these meetings when I was seven or eight years old. One passage of the +sermon he preached on that occasion remained fixed indelibly in my mind. +He took his text from Romans, "That ye may with one mind and one mouth +glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." He applied the +duty thus enjoined to the Fontaine family, saying,-- + +"For many weary months was our father forced to shift among forests and +deserts for his safety, because he had dared to preach the word of God to +the innocent and sincere people among whom he lived, and who desired to +be instructed in their duty and to be confirmed in their faith. The +forest afforded him a shelter and the rocks a resting-place, but his +enemies gave him no quiet, and pursued him even to these fastnesses, +until finally, of his own accord, he delivered himself to them. They +loaded his hands with chains, a dungeon was his abode, and his feet stuck +fast in the mire. Murderers and thieves were his companions, yet even +among them did he pursue his labors, until God, by means of a pious +gentlewoman, who had seen and pitied his sufferings, relieved him." + +To my childish imagination, the picture thus painted was a real and +living one, and filled me with a singular exaltation. I think each of us +at some time of his life has felt, as I did then, a desire to suffer for +conscience' sake. + +The preachers of Virginia were, as a whole, anything but admirable, a +condition due no doubt to the worldly spirit which pervaded the church on +both sides of the ocean. The average parson was then--and many of them +still are--coarse and rough, as contact with the forests and waste places +of the world will often make men, even godly ones. But many of them were +worse than that, gamblers and drunkards. They hunted the fox across +country with great halloo, mounted on fast horses of their own. They +attended horse-races and cock-fights, almost always with some money on +the outcome, and frequently with a horse or cock entered in the races or +the pittings. And when the sport was over, they would accompany the +planters home to dinner, which ended in a drinking-bout, and it was +seldom the parson who went under the table first. One fought a duel in +the graveyard behind his church,--our own little Westover church, it +was,--and succeeded in pinking his opponent through the breast, for which +he had incontinently to return to England; another stopped the communion +which he was celebrating, and bawled out to his warden, "Here, George, +this bread's not fit for a dog," nor would he go on with the service +until bread more to his liking had been brought; another married a +wealthy widow, though he had already a wife living in England. His bishop +was compelled to recall him, but I never heard that he was discharged +from holy orders. Another on a certain Saturday called a meeting of his +vestry, and when they refused to take some action which he desired, +thrashed them all soundly, and on the next day added insult to injury by +preaching to them from the text, "And I contended with them, and cursed +them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair." I should +like to have seen the faces of the vestrymen while the sermon was in +progress! It was not an unusual sight to see the parson riding home from +some great dinner tied fast in his chaise to keep him from falling out, +as the result of over-indulgence in the planter's red wine. But our +worthy pastor, during his forty years' ministry in Charles City parish, +was concerned in no such escapades, and I count it one of the great +happinesses of my life that I had the good fortune to fall under the +influence of such a man. A passage of a letter written by him to one of +his brothers in England on the subject of preserving health gives an +outline of the rules of his life. After commending active exercise in the +open air on foot and on horseback, he says, "I drink no spirituous +liquors at all; but when I am obliged to take more than ordinary fatigue, +either in serving my churches or other branches of duty, I take one glass +of good old Madeira wine, which revives me, and contributes to my going +through without much fatigue." + +One other figure do I recall distinctly. We had driven to church as usual +one Sunday morning in early fall, and when we came in sight of the little +brick building, peeping through its veil of ivy, I was surprised to see +the parishioners in line on either side the path which led to the broad, +low doorway. Mr. Fontaine stood there as though awaiting some one, and +when he saw us, came down the steps and spoke a word to father. In a +moment, from down the road came the rumble of heavy wheels, and then a +great, gorgeous, yellow chariot, with four outriders, swung into view and +drew up with a flourish before the church. The footmen sprang to the +door, opened it, and let down the steps. I, who was staring with all my +eyes, as you may well believe, saw descend a little old man, very weak +and very tremulous, yet holding his head proudly, and after him a +younger. They came slowly up the walk, the old man leaning heavily upon +the other's shoulder and nodding recognition to right and left. As they +drew near, I caught the gleam of a great jewel on his sword-hilt, and +then of others on finger, knee, and instep. The younger bore himself very +erect and haughty, yet I saw the two were fashioned in one mould. On up +the steps and into the church they went, Mr. Fontaine before and we after +them. They took their seats in the great pew with the curious carving on +the back, which I had never before seen occupied. + +"Who are the gentlemen, mother?" I whispered, so soon as I could +get her ear. + +"It is Colonel Byrd and his son come back from London," she answered. +"Now take your eyes off them and attend the service." + +Take my eyes off them I did, by a great effort of will, but I fear I +heard little of the service, for my mind was full of the great house on +the river-bank, which it had once been my fortune to visit. Mr. Fontaine +had taken me with him in his chaise for a pastoral call at quite the +other end of his parish, and as we returned, we were caught in a sudden +storm of rain. My companion had hesitated for a moment, and then turned +his horse's head through a gateway with a curious monogram in iron at the +top, along an avenue of stately tulip-trees, and so to the door of a +massive square mansion of red brick, which stood on a little knoll +overlooking the James. The door was closed and the windows shuttered, but +half a dozen negroes came running from the back at the sound of our +wheels and took us in out of the storm. A mighty fire was started in the +deep fireplace, and as I stood steaming before it, I looked with dazzled +eyes at the great carved staircase, at the paintings and at the books, of +which there were many hundreds. + +Presently the old overseer, whom Mr. Fontaine addressed as Murray, and +who had grown from youth to trembling age in the Byrd service, came in to +offer us refreshment, and over the table they fell to gossiping. + +"Westover's not the place it was," said Murray, sipping his flip +disconsolately,--"not the place it was while Miss Evelyn was alive. There +was no other like it in Virginia then. Why, it was always full of gay +company, and the colonel kept a nigger down there at the gate to invite +in every traveler who passed. But all that's changed, and has been these +six year." + +Mr. Fontaine nodded over his tea. + +"Yes," he said, "Evelyn's death was a great blow to her father." + +"You may well say that, sir," assented Murray, with a sigh. "He was never +the same man after. He used to sit there at that window and watch her in +the garden, after they came back from London, and every day he saw her +whiter and thinner. At night, after she was safe abed, I have seen him +walking up and down over there along the river, sobbing like a baby. And +when she died, he was like a man dazed, thinking, perhaps, it was he who +had killed her." + +"I know," nodded Mr. Fontaine. "I was here." There was a moment's +silence. I was bursting with questions, but I did not dare to speak. + +"The young master took him back to London after that," went on Murray, +"hoping that a change would do him good and take his mind off Miss +Evelyn, but I doubt he'll ever get over it. While they were in London, +Sir Godfrey Kneller painted him and Miss Evelyn. Would you like to see +the pictures, sir?" + +"Yes, I should like to see them," said Mr. Fontaine softly. "Evelyn was +very dear to me." + +They were hanging side by side in the great hall, and even my childish +eyes saw their strength and beauty. His was a narrow, patrician face, +beautiful as a woman's, looking from a wealth of brown curls, soft and +flowing. The little pucker at the corners of his mouth bespoke his +relish of a jest, and the high nose and well-placed eyes his courage and +spirit. But it was at the other I looked the longest. She was seated upon +a grassy bank, with the shadows of the evening gathering about her. In +the branches above her head gleamed a red-bird's brilliant plumage. On +her lap lay a heap of roses, and in her hand she held a shepherd's crook. +Her gown, of pale blue satin, was open at the throat, and showed its fair +sweet fullness and the bosom's promise. Her face was pensive,--sad, +almost,--the lips just touching, a soft light in the great dark eyes. I +had never seen such a picture,--nor have I ever looked upon another such. +I can close my eyes and see it even now. But the storm had passed, and it +was time to go. + +"Why did Miss Evelyn die?" I questioned, as soon as we were out of the +avenue of tulips and in the highway. + +He looked down at me a moment, and seemed hesitating for an answer. + +"She loved a man in London," he said. "Her father would not let her marry +him, and brought her home. She was not strong, and gossips say her heart +was broken." + +"But why would he not let her marry him?" I asked. + +"He was not of her religion. Her father thought he was acting for +her good." + +I pondered on this for a time in silence, and found here a question too +great for my small brain. + +"But was he right?" I asked at last, falling back upon my companion's +greater knowledge. + +"It is hard to say," he answered softly. "Perhaps he was, and yet I have +come to think there is little to choose between one sect and another, so +Christ be in them and the man honest." + +He looked out across the fields with tender eyes and I slipped my hand +in his. A vision of her sad face danced before me and I fell asleep, my +head within his arm, to waken only when he lifted me down at our +journey's end. + +All this came back to me with the vividness which childish recollections +sometimes have, as I sat there in the pew at my mother's side. Only I +could not quite believe that this little wrinkled old man was the same +who looked so proudly from Kneller's canvas. But when the service ended +and he stopped to exchange a word with father, I saw the face was indeed +the same, though now writ over sadly by the hand of time weighted down +with sorrow. It was the only time I ever saw him in the flesh, for he was +near the end and died soon after. He was buried beside his daughter in +the little graveyard near his home. It was Mr. Fontaine who closed his +eyes in hope of resurrection and spoke the last words above his grave,-- +beloved in this great mansion as in the lowliest cabin at Charles City. + +My pen would fain linger over the portrait of this sainted man, which is +the fairest and most benign in the whole gallery of my youth, but I must +turn to another subject,--to the cloud which began to shadow my life at +my tenth year, and which still shadows it to-day. For the first six or +seven years of their married life my father and mother were, I believe, +wholly and unaffectedly happy. When I think of them now, I think of them +only as they were during that time, and wonder how many of the married +people about me could say as much. Their means were small, and they lived +a quiet life, which had few luxuries. But as time went on, my father +began to chafe at the petty economies which the smallness of their income +rendered necessary. He had been bred amid the luxuries of a great estate, +where the house was open to every passer-by, and it vexed him that he +could not now show the same wide hospitality. I think he yet had hopes of +succeeding to his father's estate, out of which, indeed, there was no law +in Virginia to keep him should he choose to claim it. Whatever his +thoughts may have been, he grew gradually to live beyond his means, and +as the years passed, he had recourse to the cards and dice in the hope, +no doubt, of recouping his vanishing fortune. It was true then, as it is +true now and always will be true, that the man who gambles because he +needs the money is sure to lose, and affairs went from bad to worse until +the final disaster came. + +It was just after my tenth birthday. My mother and I were sitting +together on the broad porch which overlooked the river. She had been +reading to me from the Bible,--the parable of the talents,--in which and +in the kind advice of Parson Fontaine she found her only comfort in the +anxious days which had gone before, and which I knew nothing of. But the +lengthening shadows finally fell across the page, and she closed the book +and held it on her knee, while she talked to me about my lessons and a +ramble we had planned for the morrow. The red of the sunset still +lingered in the west, and a single crimson cloud hung poised high up +against the sky. I remember watching it as it turned to purple and then +to gray. A burst of singing came from the negro quarters behind the +house, and in the strip of woodland by the river the noises of the night +began to sound. + +As the twilight deepened to darkness, my mother's voice faltered and +ceased, and when I glanced at her, I saw she had fallen into a reverie, +and that there was a shadow on her face. I have only to shut my eyes, and +the years roll back and she is sitting there again beside me, in her +white gown, simply made, and gathered at the waist with a broad blue +ribbon, her slim white hands playing with the book upon her knee, her +eyes gazing afar off across the water, her mouth drooping in the curve +which it had never known till recently, her wealth of blue-black hair +forming a halo round her head. Ah, that she were there when I open my +eyes again, that I might speak to her! For the bitterest thought that +ever came to me is one which troubles my rest from time to time even now: +Did I love her as she deserved; was I a staff for her to lean upon in her +trouble; was I not, rather, a careless, unseeing boy, who recked nothing +of the impending storm until it burst about him? I trust the tears which +have wet my pillow since have gladdened her heart in heaven. + +I was awakened from the doze into which I had fallen by the sound of +rapid hoof-beats down the road. We listened to them in silence, as they +drew near and nearer. I did not doubt it was my father, for few others +ever rode our way. He had been from home all day, as he frequently was of +late, only he did not usually return so early in the evening. Something +in my mother's face as she strained her eyes into the shadows to catch a +glimpse of the advancing horseman drew me from my chair and to her side. + +"It is your father," she said, in a voice almost inaudible, and as she +spoke, the rider leaped from the shadow of the trees. He drew his horse +up before the porch with a jerk and threw himself from the saddle. As he +came up the steps, I saw that his face was strangely flushed and his eyes +gleaming in a way that made me shiver. I felt my mother's arm about me +trembling as she drew me closer to her. + +"Well, it's over," he said, flinging himself down upon the upper step, +"and damme if I'm sorry. Anything's better than living here in the woods +like a lump on a log." + +"What do you mean is over, Tom?" asked my mother very quietly. + +"I mean our possession of this place is over. Since an hour ago, it has +belonged to Squire Blakesley, across the river." + +"You mean you have gambled it away?" + +"If you choose to call it that," said my father ungraciously, and he +turned his back to us and gazed gloomily out over the water. + +For a moment there was silence. + +"Since we no longer possess this place," said my mother at last, "I +suppose you intend to forget your foolish anger against your father, and +claim your patrimony?" + +"Foolish or not," he cried, "I have sworn never to take it until it is +offered to me, and I mean to keep my word!" + +"You would make your boy a beggar to gratify a foolish whim!" retorted my +mother, her voice trembling with passion. I had never seen her so, and +even my father glanced at her furtively in some astonishment. "Very well. +In that it is for you to do as you may choose, but his estate here, or +what is left of it, shall be kept intact for him." + +"What do you mean?" cried my father, and he sprang to his feet and +slashed his boot savagely with his riding-whip. + +"I mean," said my mother very quietly, "that since a gambling debt is not +recoverable by law, we have only to live on quietly here and no one will +dare disturb us." + +"And my honor?" cried my father with an oath, the first I had ever heard +him use. "It seems to me that you forget my honor, madam." + +"You have been the first to forget your honor, sir," said my mother, +rising to face him, but still keeping me within her arm, "in staking your +son's inheritance upon a throw of the dice." + +My father started as though he had been struck across the face, but he +was too far gone in anger to listen to the voice of reason. Indeed, I +have always found that the more a man deserves rebuke, the less likely is +he to take it quietly. + +"Come here, Tom," he said to me, and when I hesitated, added in a sterner +tone, "come here, sir, I say." + +I had no choice but to go to him, nor did my mother seek to hold me back. +He caught me by the arms and bent until his face was close to mine. + +"You are to promise me two things, Tom," he said, and I perceived that +his breath was heavy with the fumes of wine. "One is that you are never +to claim your inheritance of Riverview until it is offered to you freely +by them that now possess it. Do you promise me that?" + +"Yes," I faltered. "I promise you, sir." + +"Good!" he said. "And the other is that you will pay my debts of honor +after I am dead, if they be not paid before. Promise me that also, Tom." + +His eyes were on mine, and I could do nothing but obey, even had I +thought of resisting. + +"I promise that also, sir," I said. + +"Very well," and he retained his grasp on my arms yet a moment. +"Remember, Tom, that a gentleman never breaks his word. It is his most +priceless possession, the thing which above all others makes him a +gentleman." + +He dropped his hands and turned away into the house. A moment later, +from the refuge of my mother's arms, I heard him heavily mounting the +stairs to his room on the floor above. My mother said never a word, but +she covered my face with kisses, and I felt that she was crying. She held +me for a time upon her lap, gazing out across the river as before, and +when I raised my hand and caressed her cheek, smiled down upon me sadly. +She kissed me again as she put me to bed, and the last thing I saw before +drifting away into the land of dreams was her sweet face bending over me. +Had I known that it was the last time I was to see it so,--the last time +those tender hands were to draw the covers close about me,--I should not +have closed my eyes in such content. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SECRET OF A HEART + + +Late that night I was awakened by the slamming of doors and hurried +footsteps in the hall and up and down the stairs. I sat up in bed, and as +I listened intently, heard frightened whispering without my door. It rose +and died away and rose again, broken by stifled sobbing, and I knew that +some great disaster had befallen. It seemed, somehow, natural that this +should happen, after my father's recent conduct. With a cold fear at my +heart, I threw the covers back, slid from the bed, and groped my way +across the room. As I fumbled at the latch, the whispering and sobbing +came suddenly to an end, as though those without had stopped with bated +breath. At last I got the door open, and looking out, saw half a dozen +negro servants grouped upon the landing. One of them held a lantern, +which threw slender rays of light across the floor and queer shadows up +against their faces. They stared at me an instant, and then, finding +their breath again, burst forth in lamentation. + +"What is it?" I cried. "What has happened?" + +My old mammy had her arms around me and caught me up to her face, down +which the tears were streaming. + +"Oh, Lawd, keep dis chile!" she sobbed, looking down at me with infinite +tenderness. "Oh, Lawd, bless an' keep dis chile!" + +"But, mammy," I repeated impatiently, "what has happened?" + +Her trembling lips would not permit her answering, but she pointed to the +door of my father's room and her tears broke forth afresh. + +"Is my mother there?" I asked. + +She nodded. + +"Then I will go to her," I said, and I had squirmed out of her arms and +was running along the passage before she could detain me. In a moment I +had reached the door, but all my courage seemed to fail me in face of the +mystery within, and the knock I gave was a very feeble and timid one. I +heard a quick step on the floor, and the door opened ever so little. + +"Is it you, doctor?" asked my mother's voice. + +"No, mother, it is only I," I said. + +"You!" she cried, in a terrible voice, and I caught a glimpse of her face +rigid with horror before she slammed the door. The sight seemed to freeze +me there on the threshold, powerless to move. I have tried--ah, how +often!--to put behind me the memory of her face as I saw it then, but it +is before me now and again, even yet. And I began to cry, for it was the +first time my mother had ever shut me from her presence. + +"Are you there, Tom?" I heard her voice ask in a moment. Her voice, did +I say? Nay, not hers, but a voice I had never heard before,--the voice of +a woman suffocating with anguish. + +"Yes, mother," I answered, "I am here." + +"And you love me, do you not, Tom?" + +"Oh, yes, mother!" I cried; and I thank God to this day that there was so +much of genuine feeling in my voice. + +"Then if you love me, Tom," she said, "you will go back to your room +and not come near this door again. Promise me, Tom, that you will do as +I ask you." + +"I promise, mother," I answered. "But what has happened? Is father dead?" + +"Mr. Fontaine will be here soon," she said, "and will explain it all to +you. Now run back to your room, dearest, and go to bed." + +"Yes, mother," I said again, but as I turned to go, I heard a sound which +struck me motionless. No, my father was not dead, for that was his voice +I heard, pitched far above its usual key. + +"I shall never go back," he cried. "I shall never go back till he asks +me." + +I felt the perspiration start from my forehead. + +"Have you gone, Tom?" asked my mother's voice. + +"I am just going, mother," I sobbed, and tore myself away from the door. +My mammy's arms were about me again as I turned, and carried me back to +my room. This time I did not resist, but as she sat down, still holding +me, I laid my head upon her breast and sobbed myself to sleep. When I +awoke, I found that I was in bed with the covers tucked close around me, +and through my window I could see the gray dawn breaking. I lay and +watched the light grow along the horizon and up into the heavens. And +while I lay thus, with heart aching dully, the door of my room opened +softly, and with joy inexpressible I saw that it was my beloved friend +who entered. + +"Oh, Mr. Fontaine!" I cried, and stretched out my arms to him. He took me +up as a mother might, and held me close against his heart. + +"Do you remember, dear," he said, and his voice was trembling, "what you +told me one day by the river--that you meant to be brave under trial?" + +I sobbed assent. + +"Well, the trial has come, Tom, and I want you to be brave and strong. +You are not going to disappoint me, are you?" + +Oh, it was hard, and I was only a child, but I sat upright on his knee +and tried to dry my tears. + +"I will try," I said, but the sobs would come in spite of me. + +"That is right," and he was stroking my hair in that old familiar, tender +way. "Your father is very ill, Tom." + +Well, if that was all, I could bear it, certainly. + +"But he will get well," I said. + +He was looking far out at the purple sky, and his face seemed old and +gray. + +"I hope and pray so," he said at last. "He has the smallpox, Tom. +There are some cases along the river near Charles City, and he must +have caught it there. Doctor Brayle has done everything for him that +can be done." + +But I was not listening. There was room for only one thought in my brain. + +"And my mother is with him!" I cried, and my heart seemed bursting. + +He held me tight against him, and I felt a tear fall upon my head. This +was the trial, then--for him no less than me. + +"Yes, she is with him, Tom. She believes it her duty, and will allow no +one else to enter. Ah, she has not been found wanting. Dear heart, I knew +she would never be." + +Of what came after, I have no distinct remembrance. Mr. Fontaine told me +that my mother wished me to go home with him, so that I might be quite +beyond reach of the infection. He had agreed that this would be the +wisest course, and so, too stricken at heart to resist, I was bundled +into his chaise with a chest of my clothes, and driven away through the +crowd of sobbing negroes to the little house at Charles City where he and +his sister lived. + +The week that followed dwells in my memory as some tremendous nightmare, +lightened here and there by the unvarying kindness of my friend and of +his sister. I wandered along the river and gazed out across the changing +water for hours at a time, with eyes that saw nothing of what was before +them. Often I remained thus until some one came for me and led me gently +back into the house. My brain seemed numbed, and no longer capable of +thought. Mr. Fontaine took charge of our affairs, doing everything that +could be done, keeping the frightened negroes to their work, and praying +with my mother through the tight-closed door. He had no fear, and would +have entered and prayed with her beside the bed, had she permitted. + +I was sitting by the river-bank one evening, watching the shadows +lengthen across the water, when I heard a step behind me, and turned to +see my friend approaching. A glance at his face brought me to my feet. + +"What is it?" I cried, and ran to him. + +He took my hands in his. + +"Your father died an hour ago, Tom," he said, and smoothed my hair in the +familiar way which seemed to comfort him as well as me. + +"And my mother?" I asked, for it was of her I was thinking. + +"Your mother is ill, too," he said, and placed his arms about me and held +me close, "but with God's grace we will save her life." + +But I had started from him. + +"If she is ill," I cried, "I must go to her. She will want me." + +He shook his head, still holding to my hands. + +"No, she does not want you, Tom," he said. "The one thing that will make +her happy is the thought that you are quite removed from danger. I +believed my place was at her bedside, but she would not permit it." + +And then he told me, with glistening eyes, that my old mammy, who had +been my mother's thirty years before, was nursing her and would not be +sent away. She had burst in the door of the plague chamber the moment +she had heard that her mistress was ill, and dared any one disturb her. +Old Doctor Brayle had commanded that she be given her will, and declared +that in this old negro woman's careful nursing lay my mother's great +chance of life. + +The scalding tears poured down my cheeks as Mr. Fontaine told me +this,--the first, I think, that I had shed that week, for after that +dreadful night, my sorrow had been of a dry and bitter kind,--and a +stinging remorse seized me as I thought of the times I had been cross and +disobedient to mammy. Ah, how I loved her now! It was the accustomed +irony of my life that I was never to tell her so. + +Ere daylight the next morning I was seated beside my friend as he drove +me home. The river was cloaked in mist, and the dawn seemed inexpressibly +dreary. As we approached the house, I wondered to see how forlorn and +neglected it appeared. A crowd of wailing negroes surrounded the chaise +when we stopped, and I would have got out, but Mr. Fontaine held me +firmly in my seat. + +"We must remain here," he said, and I dropped back beside him, and waited +in a kind of stupor. + +Presently they brought the coffin down, the negroes who carried it +wreathing themselves in tobacco smoke, and placed it in a cart. We +followed at a distance as it rolled slowly toward the Wyeth +burying-ground in the grove of willows near the road. The thought came to +me that my father should lie with the Stewarts, not with the Wyeths, and +then suddenly a great sickness and faintness came upon me, and I remember +nothing of what followed until I found Miss Fontaine lifting me from the +chaise at the door. I was put to bed, and not until the next day was I +able to crawl forth again. + +Then came days of anguish and suspense, days spent by me roaming the +woods, or lying face downward beneath the trees, and praying that God +would spare my mother's life. Bulletins were brought me from her +bedside,--she was better, she was worse, she was better,--how shall I +tell the rest?--until at last one day came my dear friend, his lips +quivering, the tears streaming down his face unrestrained, and told me +that she was dead. I think the sight of his great sorrow frightened me, +and I bore the blow with greater composure than I had thought possible. +Had she sent me no message? Yes, she had sent me a message,--her last +thought had been of me. She asked me to be a good boy and an honest man, +to follow the counsel of Mr. Fontaine in all things, and to keep my +promise to my father. So, even in death her love for him and for the +honor of his memory triumphed, as I would have had it do. + +Again there was a dismal procession through the gray morning to the +willow grove, where we stood beneath the dripping branches, while afar +off the rude coffin was lowered to its last resting-place. The negroes +grouped themselves about, and my friend stood at my side, his head bare, +his face raised to heaven, as though he saw her there. + +"'I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth +in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and +believeth in me, shall never die.'" + +I felt the threads of my life slipping from me one by one, even as the +trees faded from before my eyes. Only that strong, exultant voice at my +side went on and on. + +"'Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them +that slept.'" On and on went the voice; there was nothing else in the +whole wide world but that voice crying out over my mother's grave. "'I +heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me. Write. From henceforth blessed +are the dead who die in the Lord.'" And then the voice faltered and +broke. "She was the light of my life and the joy of my heart," it was no +longer the ritual of the church; "and yet had I to walk beside her and +tell her naught. And now is she taken from me, for the Lord hath received +her to His bosom to live in the light of His love forevermore." + +I looked up into his face and saw the secret of his heart revealed,--the +secret he had kept so well, but which his anguish had wrung from him. It +was only for an instant, yet I think he knew I had read his heart--I, +alone of all the world, understood. Had my mother known, I wonder? Yes, +I think she had, and in the greatness of his love found help and comfort. +Good man and lovely woman, God rest and keep you both. + +I went home with him, remembering with a pang that the place I had called +home was mine no longer. Those among my friends who know the history of +my boyhood understand to some extent my loathing for the cards and dice. +It is perhaps unreasonable,--I might be the first to deem it so in any +other man,--but when I count up the woe they brought my mother,--father +and husband slaves to the same frenzy,--how they wrecked her life and +embittered it, my passion rises in my throat to choke me. Never did I +hate them more than in the days which followed; for they had made me +outcast, and what the future held for me, I could not guess. The question +was answered of a sudden a week later, when there came from my +grandfather a curt note bidding me be sent to Riverview. It was decided +at once that I must go. I myself looked forward to the change with a +boy's blind longing for adventure, and said farewell to the man who had +been so much to me with a willingness I wince to think upon. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +I AM TREATED TO A SURPRISE + + +The rain was falling dismally as the coach in which I had made the +journey rolled up the drive to Riverview, and I caught but a glimpse of +the house as I was rushed up the steps and into the wide hall. A lady +dressed in a loose green gown was seated in an easy-chair before the open +fire, and she did not rise as I entered, doubtless because her lap was +full of knitting. + +"Gracious, how wet the child is!" she cried, looking me over critically. +"Take him to his room, Sally, and see that he has a bath and change of +clothing. I'm sure he needs both." + +I turned away without a word and followed the negro maid. Of course the +lady thought me a surly boor, but my heart was burning, for I had hoped +for a different welcome. As I passed along the hall and up the broad +staircase, the thought came to me that all of this would one day be mine, +should I choose to claim it, and then, with crimson cheeks, I put the +thought from me, as unworthy of my mother's son. + +But my room looked very warm and cheerful even on this chilly day, and +from the window I could see broad fields of new-planted tobacco, and +beyond them the yellow road and then the river. I stood long looking out +at it and wondering what my life here had in store. Half an hour later, +word came from my grandfather that he wished to see me, and the same maid +led me down the stairs and to his study, I stumbling along beside her +with a madly beating heart. As I crossed the lower hall, I heard a burst +of childish laughter, and saw a boy and girl, both younger than myself, +playing near the chair where the lady sat. I looked at them with +interest, but the sight of me seemed to freeze the laughter on their +faces, and they gazed with staring eyes until I turned the corner and was +out of sight. But I had little time to wonder at this astonishing +behavior, for in a moment I was in my grandfather's office. + +He was seated at a great table, and had apparently been going over some +accounts, for the board in front of him was littered with books and +papers. I saw, even beneath the disguise of his red face and white hair, +his strong resemblance to my father, and my heart went out to him on the +instant. For I had loved my father, despite the wild behavior which +marred his later clays. Indeed, I always think of him during that time as +suffering with a grievous malady, of which he could not rid himself, and +which ate his heart out all the faster because he saw how great was the +anguish it caused the woman he loved. That it was some such disease I am +quite certain, so different was his naturally strong and sunny +disposition. + +My grandfather gazed at me some moments without speaking, as I stood +there, longing to throw myself into his arms, and all the misery of the +years that followed might never have been, had I buried my pride and +followed the dictates of my heart. But I waited for him to speak, and the +moment passed. + +"So this is Tom's boy," he said at last. "My God, how like he is!" + +He fell silent for a moment,--silenced, no doubt, by bitter memories. + +"You wonder, perhaps," he said in a sterner tone, "why I have sent for +you; but I could do no less. The letter from your pastor which announced +the deaths of your father and your mother brought me the tidings also +that your mother's fortune had been diced away down to the last penny, +and that even the negroes must be sold to satisfy the claims against it. +However undutiful your father may have been, I could not permit his son +to become a charge upon the poor funds." + +I felt my cheeks flushing, but I judged it best to choke back the words +which trembled on my lips. + +"I can read your thought," said my grandfather quickly. "You are +thinking that the heir of Riverview could hardly be called a pauper. Do +not forget that your father forfeited his claim to the estate by his +ungentlemanly conduct." + +"I shall not forget it," I burst out. "My father made sure that I should +never forget it. I shall never claim the estate. And my father's conduct +was never ungentlemanly." + +"As you will," said my grandfather scornfully. "I am not apt at +mincing words. I told him one thing many years ago which I should have +thought he would remember, and which I now repeat to you. I told him +that a gentleman ceased to be a gentleman when once he gambled beyond +his means." + +I waited to hear no more, but with crimson cheeks and head in air, I +turned on my heel and started for the door. + +"Damn my stars, sir!" he roared. "Wait to hear me out." + +But I would not wait. After a moment's struggle with the latch, I had the +door open and marched straight to my room. Once inside, I bolted the +door, and throwing myself on the floor, sobbed myself to sleep. + +What need to detail further? There were a hundred such scenes between us +in the four years that followed, and as I look back upon them now, I +realize that through it all I, too, showed my full share of Stewart +obstinacy and temper. I more than suspect that my grandfather in his most +violent outbursts was inwardly trembling with tenderness for me, as was I +for him, and that a single gentle word, spoken at the right time, would +have brought us into each other's arms. And I realize too late that it +was for me, and not for him, to speak that word. It was only when I saw +him lying in his bed, stricken with paralysis, bereft of the power of +speech or movement, that I knew how great my love for him had been. His +eyes, as they met mine on that last day, had in them infinite tenderness +and pleading, and my heart melted as I bent and kissed his lips. He +struggled to speak, and the sweat broke from his forehead at the effort, +but what he would have said I can only guess, for he died that night, +without the iron bands which held him fast loosening for an instant. Yet +I love to fancy that his last words, could he have spoken them, would +have been words of love and forgiveness, for my father as well as for +myself, and such, I am sure, they would have been. With him there passed +away the only one at Riverview whom I had grown to love. + +And now a word about the others among whom I passed the second period of +my boyhood. My father's younger brother, James, had married seven or +eight years before a lady whose estate adjoined Riverview,--Mrs. +Constance Randolph, a widow some years older than himself. She had one +child living, a daughter, Dorothy, who, at the time I came to Riverview, +was a girl of nine, and a year after her second marriage she bore a son, +who was named James, much against the wishes of his mother. She would +have called him Thomas, a name which had for five generations been that +of the head of the house. But this my grandfather would by no means +allow, and so the child was christened after his father. I think that +ever since the day she had entered the Stewart family, my aunt had +thought me a spectre across her path, for she was an ambitious woman and +wished the whole estate for her son,--in which I do not greatly blame +her. But she had brooded over her fear until it had become a phantom +which haunted her unceasingly, and she had come to deem me a kind of +monster, who stood between her boy and his inheritance. Her second +husband died three years after their marriage,--he was drowned one day in +January while crossing the river on the ice, which gave way under +him,--and after that she became the mistress of Riverview in earnest, +ruling my grandfather with a rod of iron, for though bold enough with +men, and especially with the men of his own family, he would succumb in a +moment to a woman's shrewish temper. + +Only twice had he revolted against her rule. The first time was when she +had announced her intention of naming her boy Thomas, as I have already +mentioned. The second was when he decided to summon me to Riverview. This +she had opposed with all her might, but he had persisted, and finally +ended the argument by putting her from the room,--doubtless with great +inward trepidation. So I came to be a phantom in the flesh, and do not +wonder that she hated me, so sour will the human heart become which +broods forever on its selfishness. Her children she kept from me as from +the plague, and during the years preceding my grandfather's death, I had +almost no communication with them. He required, however, that every +respect be shown me, placed me on his right at table,--how often have I +looked up from my plate to find his eyes upon me,--selected half a dozen +negroes to be my especial servants, engaged the Rev. James Scott, pastor +of the Quantico church, as my tutor, and even ordered for me an elaborate +wardrobe from his factor in London. + +Mr. Scott was a man of parts, and under him I gained some knowledge of +Latin, Greek, and mathematics. Certainly I made more progress than I +should have done under different circumstances, for finding myself +without companions or other occupation, I applied myself to my books for +want of something better. My grandfather possessed above a hundred +volumes, and when he saw how my bent lay, he ordered others for me, so +that his library came to be one of the largest on the Northern Neck, +though but indifferently selected. Absorbed in these books, I managed to +forget the disorder of my circumstances. + +The remainder of my time I spent in riding along the river road on the +mare my grandfather had given me, or wandering over the estate and in and +out among the negro cabins. To the negroes I was always "Mas' Tom," and I +am proud to remember that I made many friends among them, treating them +always with justice and sometimes with mercy, as, indeed, I try yet to +do. Once I came suddenly upon old Gump, the major-domo of the house +servants, preparing to give a little pickaninny a thrashing, and I +stopped to ask what he had done. + +"He's done been stealing Mas' Tom," answered Gump. "Ain' goin' t' hab no +t'iefs roun' dis yere house, not if I knows it." + +"What did he steal, uncle?" I asked. + +"Dis yere whip," said Gump, and he held up an old riding-whip of mine. + +I looked at it and hesitated for a moment. Was it worth beating a child +for? The little beady eyes were gazing at me in an agony of supplication. + +"Gump," I said, "don't beat him. That's all right. I want him to have +the whip." + +Gump stared at me in astonishment. + +"What, Mas' Tom," he exclaimed, "you mean dat you gib him de whip?" + +"Yes," I said, "I give him the whip, Gump," and luckily the old man could +not distinguish between the past and present tenses of the verb, so that +I was spared a lie. The little thief ran away with the whip in his hand, +and it was long before the incident was recalled to me. + +So I returned again to my books, and to the silent but no less active +antagonism toward my aunt. Yet, I would not paint her treatment of me in +too gloomy colors. Doubtless I gave her much just cause for offense, for +I had grown into a surly and quick-tempered boy, with raw places ever +open to her touch. That she loved her children I know well, and her love +for them was at the bottom of her dislike for me. I have learned long +since that there is no heart wholly bad and selfish. + +While my grandfather yet lived, I think she had some hope that something +would happen to make me an outcast utterly, but after his death this hope +vanished, and she sent for me one morning to come to her. I found her +seated in the selfsame chair in which I had first seen him, and the +table was still littered with papers and accounts. + +"Good-morning, Thomas," she said politely enough, as I entered, and, as I +returned her greeting, motioned me to a chair. She seemed to hesitate at +a beginning, and in the moment of silence that followed, I saw that her +face was growing thinner, and that her hair was streaked with gray. + +"I have sent for you, Thomas," she said at last, "to find out what your +intention is with regard to this estate. You know, of course, that your +father forfeited it voluntarily, and that you have no moral claim to it. +Still, the law might sustain your claim, should you choose to assert it." + +"I shall not choose to assert it," I answered coldly, and as I spoke, her +face was suffused with sudden joy. "I promised my father never to claim +it,--never to take it unless it were offered to me openly and +freely,--and I intend to keep my promise." + +For a moment her emotion prevented her replying, and she pressed one hand +against her breast as though to still the beating of her heart. + +"Very well," she said at last. "Your resolution does credit to your +honor, and I will see that you do not regret it. I will undertake the +management of both estates until my son becomes of age. You shall have an +ample allowance. Let me see; how old are you?" + +"I am fifteen years old," I answered. + +"And have about sounded the depths of Master Scott's learning, I +suppose?" she asked, smiling, the first smile, I think, she had +ever given me. + +"He was saying only yesterday that I should soon have to seek +another tutor." + +"'T is as I thought. Well, what say you to a course at William and Mary?" + +She smiled again as she saw how my cheeks flushed. + +"I should like it above all things," I answered earnestly, and, indeed, I +had often thought of it with longing, so lonely was my life at Riverview. + +"It shall be done," she said. "The year opens in a fortnight's time, and +you must be there at the beginning." + +I thanked her and left the room, and ran to my tutor, who had arrived +some time before, to acquaint him with my good fortune. He was no less +pleased than I, and forthwith wrote me a letter to Dr. Thomas Dawson, +president of the college, commending me to his good offices. So, in due +course, I rode away from Riverview, not regretting it, nor, I dare say, +regretted. In truth, I had no reason to love the place, nor had any +within it reason to love me. + +Of my life at college, little need be said. Indeed, I have small reason +to be proud of it, for, reacting against earlier years, perhaps, I +cultivated the Apollo room at the Raleigh rather than my books, and +toasted the leaden bust of Sir Walter more times than I care to remember. +Yet I never forgot that I was a gentleman, thank God! And previous years +of study brought me through with some little honor despite my present +carelessness. I had a liberal allowance, and elected to spend my +vacations at Williamsburg or at Norfolk, or coasting up the Chesapeake as +far as Baltimore, and did not once return to Riverview, where I knew I +should get cold welcome. In fact, I was left to do pretty much as I +pleased, my aunt being greatly occupied with the care of the estate, and +doubtless happy to be rid of me so easily. So I entered my eighteenth +year, and the time of my graduation was at hand. And it was then that the +great event happened which changed my whole life by giving me something +to live for. + +It was the custom for the first class, the year of its graduation, to +attend the second of the grand assemblies given by the governor while the +House of Burgesses was in session, and we had been looking forward to the +event with no small anticipation. Many of us, myself among the number, +had ordered suits from London for the occasion, and I thought that I +looked uncommon well as I arrayed myself that night before the glass. +Such is the vanity of youth, for I have since been assured many times by +one who saw me that I was a very ordinary looking fellow. Half a dozen of +us, the better to gather courage, went down Duke of Gloucester Street arm +in arm toward the governor's palace with its great lantern alight to +honor the occasion, and mounted the steps together,--our trifling over +our toilets had made us late,--and as we entered the high doorway, did +our best to look as though a great assembly was an every-day event to us. +A moment later, I saw a sight which took my breath away. + +It was only a girl of seventeen--but such a girl! Can I describe her as I +close my eyes and see her again before me? No, I cannot trust my pen, nor +would any such description do her justice; for her charm lay not in +beauty only, but in a certain rare, sweet girlishness, which seemed to +form a nimbus round her. Yet was her beauty worth remarking, too; and I +have loved to think that, while others saw that only, I, looking with +more perceptive eyes, saw more truly to her heart. I did not reason all +this out at the first; I only stood and stared at her amazed, until some +one knocking against me brought me to my senses. There were a dozen men +about her, and one of these I saw with delight was Dr. Price, our +registrar at the college, a benign old man, who could deny me nothing. I +waited with scarce concealed impatience until he turned away from the +group, and then I was at his side in an instant. + +"Dr. Price," I whispered eagerly, "will you do me the favor of presenting +me to that young lady?" + +"Why, bless my soul!" he exclaimed, looking at me over his glasses in +astonishment, "you seem quite excited. Which young lady?" + +"The one you have just left," I answered breathlessly. + +He looked at me quizzically for a moment, and laughed to himself as +though I had uttered a joke. + +"Why, certainly," he said. "Come with me." + +I could have kissed his hand in my gratitude, as he turned back toward +the group. I followed a pace behind, and felt that my hands were +trembling. The group opened a little as we approached, and in a moment we +were before her. + +"Miss Randolph," said Dr. Price, "here is a young gentleman who has just +begged of me the favor of an introduction. Permit me to present Mr. +Thomas Stewart." + +"Why, 'pon my word," cried that young lady, "'t is cousin Tom!" and as I +stood gaping at her like a fool, in helpless bewilderment, she came to me +and gave me her hand with the prettiest grace in the world. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +I DECIDE TO BE A SOLDIER + + +Now who would have thought that in three short years the red-cheeked girl +whom I had left at Riverview, and of whom I had never thought twice, +could have grown into this brown-eyed fairy? Certainly not I, and my +hopeless astonishment must have been quite apparent, for Mistress Dorothy +laughed merrily as she looked at me. + +"Come, cousin," she cried, "you look as though you saw a ghost. I assure +you I am not a ghost, but very substantial flesh and blood." + +"'Twas not of a ghost I was thinking," I said, recovering my wits a +little under the magic of her voice, which I thought the sweetest I had +ever heard, "but of the three Graces, and methought I saw a fourth." + +She gazed at me a moment with bright, intent eyes, the faintest touch of +color in her cheek. Then she smiled--a smile that brought two tiny +dimples into being--oh, such a smile! But there--why weary you with +telling what I felt? You have all felt very like it when you gazed into a +certain pair of eyes,--or if you have not, you will some day,--and if you +never do, why, God pity you! + +She laid her hand on my arm and turned to the group about us. +"Gentlemen," she said, with a little curtsy, "I know you will excuse us. +My cousin Tom and I have not seen each other these three years, and have +a hundred things to say;" and so I walked off with her, my head in the +air, and my heart beating madly, the proudest man in the colony, I dare +say, and with as good cause, too, as any. + +Dorothy led the way, for I was too blinded with joy to see where I was +going, and with a directness which showed acquaintance with the great +house, proceeded to a corner under the stair which had a bit of tapestry +before it that quite shut us out from interruption. She sat down opposite +me, and I pinched my arm to make sure I was not dreaming. + +"Why, Tom," she cried, with a little laugh, as she saw me wince at the +pain, "you surely do not think yourself asleep?" + +"I know not whether 't is dreaming or enchantment," said I; "but sleep or +sorcery, 't is very pleasant and I trust will never end." + +"What is it that you think enchantment, Tom?" she asked. + +"What could it be but you?" I retorted, and she smiled the slyest little +smile in the world. "I swear that when I entered that door ten minutes +since, I was wide awake as any man, but the moment I clapt eyes on you, I +lost all sense of my surroundings, and have since trod on air." + +"Oh, what do you think it can be?" she questioned, pretending to look +mightily concerned, "Do you think it is the fever, Tom?" + +But I was far past teasing. + +"To think that you should be Dorothy!" I said. "I may call you Dorothy, +may I not?" + +"Why, of course you may!" she cried. "Are we not cousins, Tom?" + +What a thrill it gave me to hear her call me Tom! Of course we were not +cousins, but I fancy all the tortures of the Inquisition could not at +that moment have made me deny the relationship. Well, we talked and +talked. Of what I said, I have not the slightest remembrance,--it was all +foolish enough, no doubt,--but Dorothy told me how her mother had been +managing the estate, greatly assisted by the advice of a Major +Washington, living ten miles up the river at Mount Vernon; how her +brother James had been tutored by my old preceptor, but showed far +greater liking for his horse and cocks than for his books; and how Mr. +Washington had come to Riverview a month before to propose that Mistress +Dorothy accompany him and his mother and sister to Williamsburg, and how +her mother had consented, and the flurry there was to get her ready, and +how she finally was got ready, and started, and reached Williamsburg, and +had been with the Washingtons for a week, and had attended the first +assembly, which accounted for her knowing the house so well, and had had +a splendid time. + +"And who was it you sat with here last time, Dorothy?" I asked, for I +could not bear that she should connect this place with any one but me. + +"Let me see," and the sly minx seemed to hesitate in the effort at +recollection. "Was it Mr. Burke? No, I was with him on the veranda. Was +it Mr. Forsythe? No. Ah, I have it!" and she paused a moment to prolong +my agony. "It was with Betty Washington; she had something to tell me +which must be told at once, and which was very private. But what a +great goose you are, to be sure. Do you know, Tom, I had no idea that +melancholy boy I saw sometimes at Riverview would grow into such +a--such a"-- + +"Such a what, Dorothy?" I asked, as she hesitated. + +"Such a big, overgrown fellow, with all his heart in his face. What a +monstrous fine suit that is you have on, Tom!" + +The jade was laughing at me, and here was I, who was a year her senior +and twice her size, sitting like an idiot, red to the ears. In faith, the +larger a man is, the more the women seem tempted to torment him; but on +me she presently took pity, and as the fiddles tuned up in the great +ballroom, she led the way thither and permitted me to tread a minuet with +her. Of course there were a score of others eager to share her dances, +but she was more kind to me than I deserved, and in particular, when the +fiddles struck up "High Betty Martin," threw herself upon my arm and +laughed up into my face in the sheer joy of living. But between the +dances I had great opportunity of being jealous, and spent the time +moping in a corner, where, as I reviewed her talk, the frequency of her +mention of Mr. Washington occurred to me, and at the end of five minutes +I had conceived a desperate jealousy of him. + +"How old is this Mr. Washington?" I asked, when I had managed to get by +her side again. + +"Not yet twenty-two," she answered, and then as she saw my gloomy face, +she burst into a peal of laughter. "He is adorable," she continued, when +she had regained her breath. "Not handsome, perhaps, but so courtly, so +dignified, so distinguished. I can't imagine why he is not here to-night, +for he is very fond of dancing. Do you know, I fancy Governor Dinwiddie +has selected him for some signal service, for it was at his invitation +that Mr. Washington came to Williamsburg. He is just the kind of man one +would fix upon instinctively to do anything that was very dangerous or +very difficult." + +"I dare say," I muttered, biting my lips with vexation, and avoiding +Dorothy's laughing eyes. I was a mere puppy, or I should have known that +a woman never praises openly the man she loves. + +"I am sure you will admire him when you meet him," she continued, "as I +am determined you shall do this very night. He is a neighbor, you know, +and I'll wager that when you come to live at Riverview, you will be +forever riding over to Mount Vernon." + +"Oh, doubtless!" I said, between my teeth, and I longed to have Mr. +Washington by the throat. "How comes it I heard nothing of him when I was +at Riverview?" + +"'Tis only since last year he has been there," she answered. "The estate +belonged to his elder brother, Lawrence, who died July a year ago, and +Major Washington has since then been with his mother, helping her in its +management. Before that time, he had been over the mountains surveying +all that western country, and then to the West Indies, where he had the +smallpox, because he would not break a promise to dine with a family +where it was. But what is the matter? You seem quite ill." + +"It is nothing," I said, after a moment. "It was the smallpox which +killed my father and my mother." + +"Pardon me," and her hand was on mine for an instant. Indeed, the shudder +which always shook me whenever I heard that dread infection mentioned had +already passed. "He has the rank of major," she continued, hoping +doubtless to distract my thoughts, "because he has been appointed +adjutant-general of one of the districts, but somehow we rarely call him +major, for he says he does not want the title until he has done something +to deserve it." + +"He seems a very extraordinary man," I said gloomily, "to have done so +much and to be yet scarce twenty-two." + +"He is an extraordinary man," cried Dorothy, "as you will say when you +meet him. A word of caution, Tom," she added, seeing my desperate plight, +and relenting a little. "Say nothing to him of the tender passion, for he +has lately been crossed in love, and is very sore about it. A certain +Mistress Cary, to whom he was paying court, hath rejected him, and +wounded him as much in his self-esteem as in his love, which, I fancy, +was not great, but which, on that account, he is anxious to have appear +even greater, as is the way with men." + +"Trust me," said I, with a great lightening of the heart; "I shall be +very careful not to wound him, Dorothy." + +"Pray, why dost thou smile so, Tom?" she asked, her eyes agleam. "Is it +that there is a pair of bright eyes here in Williamsburg which you are +dying to talk about? Well, I will be your confidante." + +"Oh, Dorothy!" I stammered, but my tongue refused to utter the thought +which was in my heart,--that there was only one pair of eyes in the whole +world I cared for, and that I was looking into them at this very moment. + +"Ah, you blush, you stammer!" cried my tormentor. "Come, I'll wager +there's a pretty maid. Tell me her name, Tom." + +I looked at her and gripped my hands at my side. If only this crowd +was not about us--if only we were alone together somewhere--I would be +bold enough. + +"And why do you look so savage, Tom?" she asked, and I could have sworn +she had read my thought. "You are not angry with me already! Why, you +have known me scarce an hour!" + +I could endure no more, and I reached out after her, heedless of the time +and of the place. Doubtless there would have been great scandal among +the stately dames who surrounded us, but that she sprang away from me +with a little laugh and ran plump into a man who had been hastening +toward her. The sight of her in the arms of a stranger brought me to my +senses, and I stopped dead where I was. + +"'Tis Mr. Washington!" she cried, looking up into his face, and as he set +her gently on her feet, she held out her hand to him. He raised it to his +lips with a courtly grace I greatly envied. "Mr. Washington, this is my +cousin, Thomas Stewart." + +"I am very happy to meet Mr. Stewart," he said, and he grasped my +hand with a heartiness which warmed my heart. I had to look up to +meet his eyes, for he must have been an inch or two better than six +feet in height, and of a most commanding presence. His eyes were +blue-gray, penetrating, and overhung by a heavy brow, his face long +rather than broad, with high, round cheekbones and a large mouth, +which could smile most agreeably, or--as I was afterward to +learn--close in a firm, straight line with dogged resolution. At this +moment his face was luminous with joy, and he was plainly laboring +under some intense emotion. + +"Where is my mother, Dolly?" he asked. "I have news for her." + +"She is in the reception hall with the governor's wife," she answered. +"But may we not have your news, Mr. Washington?" + +He paused and looked back at her a moment. + +"'T is all settled," he said, "and I am to start at once." + +"I was right, then!" she cried, her eyes sparkling in sympathy with +his. "I was just telling cousin Tom I believed the governor had a +mission for you." + +"Well, so he has, and I got my papers not ten minutes since. You could +never guess my destination." + +"Boston? New York? London?" she questioned, but he shook his head at +each, smiling evermore broadly. + +"No, 't is none of those. 'T is Venango." + +"Venango?" cried Dorothy. "Where, in heaven's name, may that be?" Nor was +I any the less at a loss. + +"'T is a French outpost in the Ohio country," answered Washington, "and +my mission, in brief, is to warn the French off English territory." + +Dorothy gazed at him, eyes wide with amazement. There was something in +the speaker's words and look which fired my blood. + +"You will need companions, will you not, Major Washington?" I asked. + +He smiled in comprehension, as he met my eyes. + +"Only two or three, Mr. Stewart. Two or three guides and a few Indians +will be all." + +My disappointment must have shown in my face, for he gave me his +hand again. + +"I thank you for your offer, Mr. Stewart," he said earnestly. "Believe +me, if it were possible, I should ask no better companion. But do not +despair. I have little hope the French will heed the warning, and 't +will then be a question of arms. In such event, there will be great need +of brave and loyal men, and you will have good opportunity to see the +country beyond the mountains. But I must find my mother, and tell her of +my great good fortune." + +I watched him as he strode away, and I fancy there was a new light in my +eyes,--certainly there was a new purpose in my heart. For I had been +often sadly puzzled as to what I should do when once I was out of +college. I had no mind to become an idler at Riverview, but was +determined to win myself a place in the world. Yet when I came to look +about me, I saw small prospect of success. The professions--the law, +medicine, and even the church--were overrun with vagabonds who had +brought them so low that no gentleman could think of earning a +livelihood--much less a place in the world--by them. Trade was equally +out of the question, for there was little trade in the colony, and that +in the hands of sharpers. But Mr. Washington's words had opened a new +vista. What possibilities lay in the profession of arms! And my +resolution was taken in an instant,--I would be a soldier. I said nothing +of my resolve to Dorothy, fearing that she would laugh at me, as she +doubtless would have done, and the remainder of the evening passed very +quickly. Dorothy presented me to Mrs. Washington, a stately and beautiful +lady, who spoke of her son with evident love and pride. He had been +called away, she said, for he had much to do, and thus reminded, I +remembered that it was time for me also to depart. Before I went, I +obtained permission from Mrs. Washington to call and see her next +day,--Dorothy standing by with eyes demurely downcast, as though she did +not know it was she and she only whom I hoped to see. + +"I am very sorry I teased you, cousin Tom," she said very softly, as I +turned to her to say goodnight. "Your eagerness to go with Mr. Washington +pleased me mightily. It is just what I should have done if I were a man. +Good-night," and before I could find my tongue, she was again at Mrs. +Washington's side. + +I made my way back to my room at the college, and went to bed, but it +seemed to me that the night, albeit already far spent, would never pass. +Sleep was out of the question, and I tossed from side to side, thinking +now of Dorothy, now of my new friend and his perilous expedition over the +Alleghenies, now of my late resolve. It was in no wise weakened in the +morning, as so many resolves of youth are like to be, and so soon as I +had dressed and breakfasted, I sought out the best master of fence in the +place,--a man whose skill had won him much renown, and who for three or +four years past, finding life on the continent grown very unhealthy, had +been imparting such of it as he could to the Virginia gentry,--and +insisted that he give me a lesson straightway. + +He gave me a half hour's practice, for the most part in quatre and +tierce,--my A B C's, as it were,--and the ease with which he held me off +and bent his foil against my breast at pleasure chafed me greatly, and +showed me how much I had yet to learn, besides making me somewhat less +vain of my size and strength. For my antagonist was but a small man, and +yet held me at a distance with consummate ease, and twisted my foil from +my hand with a mere turn of his wrist. Still, he had the grace to commend +me when the bout was ended, and I at once arranged to take two lessons +daily while I remained in Williamsburg. + +It was ten o'clock when I turned my steps toward the house where the +Washingtons were stopping, and, with much inward trepidation, walked up +to the door and knocked. In a moment I was in the presence of the ladies, +Mrs. Washington receiving me very kindly, and Dorothy looking doubly +adorable in her simple morning frock. But I was ill at ease, and the +sound of voices in an adjoining room increased my restlessness. + +"Do you not see what it is, madam?" cried Dorothy, at last. "He has no +wish for the society of women this morning. He has gone mad like the +rest of them. He is dying to talk of war and the French and expeditions +over the mountains, as Mr. Washington and his friends are doing. Is it +not so, sir?" + +"Indeed, I cannot deny it," I said, with a very red face. "I am immensely +interested in Major Washington's expedition." + +Mrs. Washington smiled kindly and bade Dorothy take me to the gentlemen, +which she did with a wicked twinkle in her eye that warned me I should +yet pay dear for my effrontery. Mr. Washington and half a dozen friends +were seated about the room, talking through clouds of tobacco smoke of +the coming expedition. There were George Fairfax, and Colonel Nelson, and +Judge Pegram, and three or four other gentlemen, to all of whom I was +introduced. The host waved me to a pile of pipes and case of +sweet-scented on the table, and I was soon adding my quota to the clouds +which enveloped us, and listening with all my ears to what was said. + +It had been agreed that the start should be made at once, the party +meeting at Will's Creek, where the Ohio company had a station, and +proceeding thence to Logstown, and so on to Venango, or, if necessary, to +the fort on French Creek. How my cheeks burned as I thought of that +journey through the wilderness and over the mountains, and how I longed +to be of the party! But I soon saw how impossible this was, for Mr. +Washington's companions must needs be hardened men, accustomed to the +perils of the forest and acquainted with the country. A bowl of punch was +brought, and after discussing this, the company separated, though not +till all of them had wrung Mr. Washington's hand and wished him a quick +journey. I was going with the others, when he detained me. + +"I wish a word with you, Mr. Stewart," he said. "I shall have to leave +for Mount Vernon at once, and make the trip as rapidly as possible, in +order to prepare for this expedition. May I ask if it would be possible +for you to accompany my mother and Miss Dolly home when their visit here +is ended, which will be in about a week's time?" + +"Certainly," I answered warmly, "I shall be only too glad to be of +service to you and to them, Mr. Washington," and I thought with tingling +nerves that Dorothy and I could not fail to be thrown much together. + +So it was arranged, and that afternoon he set out for Mount Vernon, +whence he would go direct to Will's Creek. His mother cried a little +after he was gone, so Dorothy told me, but she was proud of her boy, as +she had good cause to be, and appeared before the world with smiling +face. The week which followed flew by like a dream. I took my lesson +with the foils morning and evening, and soon began to make some progress +in the art. As much time as Dorothy would permit, I spent with her, and +in one of our talks she told me that she had drawn from her mother by +much questioning the story of my father's marriage and of the quarrel +which followed. + +"When I heard," she concluded, "how Riverview might have been yours but +for that unhappy dispute,"--so Mrs. Stewart had not told the whole truth, +and I smiled grimly to myself,--"I saw how unjustly and harshly we had +always used you, and I made up my mind to be very good to you when next +we met, as some slight recompense." + +"And is it for that only you are kind to me, Dorothy?" I asked. "Is it +not a little for my own sake?" + +"Hoity-toity," she cried, "an you try me too far, I shall withdraw my +favor altogether, sir. My cheeks burn still when I think what might have +happened at the ball the other night, when you so far forgot yourself as +to grab at me like a wild Indian. 'Twas well I had my wits about me." + +"But, indeed, Dorothy," I protested, "'twas all your fault. You had +plagued me beyond endurance." + +"I fear you are a very bold young man," she answered pensively, and when +I would have proved the truth of her assertion, sent me packing. + +So the week passed, the day came when we were to leave Williamsburg, and +at six o'clock one cool October morning, the great coach of the +Washingtons rolled westward down the sandy street, the maples casting +long shadows across the road. And on the side where Mistress Dorothy sat, +I was riding at the window. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A RIDE TO WILLIAMSBURG + + +I was received civilly enough at Riverview, and soon determined to remain +there until Major Washington returned from the west. My aunt treated me +with great consideration, doubtless because she feared to anger me, and I +soon fell into the routine of the estate. My cousin James, a roystering +boy of fourteen, was not yet old enough to be covetous, and he and I were +soon friends. Dorothy treated me as she had always done, with a hearty +sisterly affection, which gave me much uneasiness, 't was so unlike my +own, and I was at some pains to point out to her that we were not +cousins, nor, indeed, any relation whatsoever. In return for which she +merely laughed at me. + +By great good fortune, I found among the overseers on my aunt's estate a +man who had been a soldier of fortune in the Old World until some +escapade had driven him to seek safety in the colonies, and with my +aunt's permission, I secured him to teach me what he knew of the practice +of arms, a tutelage which he entered upon with fine enthusiasm. He was +called Captain Paul on the plantation,--a little, wiry man, with fierce +mustaches and flashing eyes, greatly feared by the negroes, though he +always treated them kindly enough, so far as I could see. He claimed to +be an Englishman,--certainly he spoke the language as well as any I ever +heard,--but his dark eyes and swarthy skin bespoke the Spaniard or +Italian, and his quickness with the foils the French. A strain of all +these bloods I think he must have had, but of his family he would tell me +nothing, nor of the trouble which had brought him over-sea. But of his +feats of arms he loved to speak,--and they were worth the telling. He had +been with Plelo's heroic little band of Frenchmen before Dantzic, where a +hundred deeds of valor were performed every day, and with Broglie before +Parma, where he had witnessed the rout of the Austrians. For hours +together I made him recount to me the story of his campaigns, and when he +grew weary of talking and I of listening, we had a round with the rapier, +or a bout with the sword on horseback, and as the weeks passed, I found I +was gaining some small proficiency. He drilled me, too, in another +exercise which he thought most important, that of shooting from horseback +with the pistol. + +"'T is an accomplishment which has saved my life a score of times," he +would say, "and of more value in a charge than any swordsmanship. A man +must be a swordsman to defend his honor, and a good shot with the pistol +to defend his life. Accomplished in both, he is armed cap-a-pie against +the world. The pistol has its rules as well as the sword. For instance,-- + +"'When you charge an adversary, always compel him to fire first, for the +one who fires first rarely hits his mark. + +"'At the instant you see him about to fire, make your horse rear. This +will throw your horse before you as a shield, and if the aim is true, 't +will be your horse that is hit and not yourself. The life of a horse is +valuable, but that of a man is more so. + +"If your horse has not been hit, or is not badly hurt, you have your +adversary at your mercy, and can either kill him or take him prisoner, as +you may choose. If he be well mounted, and well accoutred, it is usually +wisest to take him prisoner. + +"'If your horse has been hit mortally, take care that in falling you get +clear of him by holding your leg well out and so alighting on your feet. +You can easily recover in time to pistol your adversary as he passes. + +"'Above everything, learn to aim quickly, with both eyes open, the arm +slightly bent, the pistol no higher than the breast. When the arm is +fully extended, the tension causes it to tremble and so destroys the aim, +and the man who cannot hit the mark without sighting along the barrel is +usually dead before he can pull the trigger.'" + +These and many other things he told me, and that I threw myself with +eagerness into the lessons I need hardly say, though I never acquired his +proficiency with either pistol or rapier. For I have seen him bring down +a hawk upon the wing, or throwing his finger-ring high into the air, pass +his rapier neatly through it as it shot down past him. Another trick of +his do I remember,--une, deux, trois, and a turn of the wrist in +flanconade,--which seldom failed to tear my sword from my hand, so +quickly and irresistibly did he perform it. What his lot has been I do +not know, for when the king's troops came to Virginia, he was seized with +a strange restlessness and resigned from my aunt's service, going I know +not whither; but if he be alive, there is a place at my board and a +corner of my chimney for him, where he would be more than welcome. + +In the mean time, not a word had been received from Major Washington--we +called him major now, deeming that he had well earned the title--since +he had plunged into the wilderness at Will's Creek in mid-November, +accompanied only by Christopher Gist as guide, John Davidson and Jacob +Van Braam as interpreters, and four woodsmen, Barnaby Currin, John +M'Quire, Henry Steward, and William Jenkins, as servants. November and +December passed, and Christmas was at hand. There had been great +preparation for it at Riverview, for we of Virginia loved the holiday the +more because the Puritans detested it, and all the smaller gentry of the +county was gathered at the house, where there were feasting and dancing +and much merry-making. One incident of it do I remember most +distinctly,--that having, with consummate generalship, cornered Mistress +Dorothy under a sprig of mistletoe, I suddenly found myself utterly +bereft of the courage to carry the matter to a conclusion, and allowed +her to escape unkissed, for which she laughed at me most unmercifully +once the danger was passed, though she had feigned the utmost indignation +while the assault threatened. So the holidays went and New Year's came. + +It was the thirteenth of January, and in the dusk of the evening I was +riding back to the house as usual after my bout with Captain Paul, when I +heard far up the road behind me the beat of horse's hoofs. Instinctively +I knew it was Major Washington, and I drew rein and watched the rider +swinging toward me. In a moment he was at my side, and we exchanged a +warm handclasp from saddle to saddle. + +"I am on my way to Riverview," he said, as we again urged our horses +forward. "I hope to stay there the night and start at daybreak for +Williamsburg to make my report to the governor. Do you care to accompany +me, Mr. Stewart?" + +"Do you need to ask?" I cried. "And what was the outcome of your +mission, sir?" + +"There will be war," he said, and his face darkened. "It is as I +foresaw. The French are impudent, and claim the land belongs to them and +not to us." + +Neither of us spoke again, but I confess I was far from sharing the gloom +of my companion. Had I not determined to be a soldier, and how was a +soldier to find employment, but in war? I looked at him narrowly as we +rode, and saw that he was thinner than when he had left us, and that his +face was browned by much exposure. + +Right heartily was he welcomed to Riverview, and when dinner had been +served and ended, nothing would do but that he should sit down among us +and tell us the story of his mission. He could scarce have failed to draw +inspiration from such an audience, for Dorothy's eyes were sparkling, and +I was fairly trembling with excitement. Would that I could tell the story +as he told it, but that were impossible. + +He and his little party had gone from Will's Creek to the forks of the +Ohio, through the untrodden wilderness and across swollen streams, +struggling on over the threatening mountains and fighting their way +through the gloomy and unbroken forest, and thence down the river to the +Indian village of Logstown. There he had parleyed with the Indians for +near a week before he could persuade the Half King and three of his +tribesmen to accompany him as guides. Buffeted by unceasing storms, they +toiled on to Venango, where there was an English trading-house, which the +French had seized and converted into a military post. Chabert de Joncaire +commanded, and received the party most civilly. Major Washington was +banqueted that evening by the officers of the post, and as the wine +flowed freely, the French forgot their prudence, and declared +unreservedly that they intended keeping possession of the Ohio, whether +the English liked it or not. Joncaire, however, asserted that he could +not receive Dinwiddie's letter, and referred Major Washington to his +superior officer at Fort le Boeuf. So, leaving Venango, for four days +more the party struggled northward. The narrow traders' path had been +quite blotted out, and the forest was piled waist-deep with snow. At +last, when it seemed that human endurance could win no further, they +sighted the squared chestnut walls of Fort le Boeuf. + +The commander here, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, also received them well, +and to him Major Washington delivered his letter from Governor Dinwiddie, +asking by what right the French had crossed the Lakes and invaded British +territory, and demanding their immediate withdrawal. Saint-Pierre was +three days preparing his answer, which he intrusted to Major Washington, +and at the end of that time the latter, with great difficulty persuading +his Indians to accompany him, started back to Virginia. They reached +Venango on Christmas Day. Here their horses gave out, and he and Gist +pushed forward alone on foot, leaving the others to follow as best they +might. A French Indian fired at them from ambush, but missed his mark, +and to escape pursuit by his tribesmen, they walked steadily forward for +a day and a night, until they reached the Allegheny. They tried to make +the crossing on a raft, but were caught in the drifting ice and nearly +drowned before they gained an island in the middle of the river. Here +they remained all night, foodless and well-nigh frozen, and in the +morning, finding the ice set, crossed in safety to the shore. Once +across, they reached the house of a man named Fraser, on the +Monongahela,--a house they were to see again, but under far different +circumstances,--and leaving there on the first day of January, they made +their way back to the settlements without adventure. Major Washington had +reached Mount Vernon that afternoon, and after stopping to see his +mother, had ridden on to Riverview. + +Long before the recital ended, I was out of my chair and pacing up and +down the room, and Dorothy clapped her hands with joy when that perilous +passage of the Allegheny had been accomplished. + +"So you think there will be war?" I asked. "But you do not know what M. +de Saint-Pierre has written to the governor." + +"I can guess," he answered, with a smile. "Yes, there will be war." + +"And if there is?" I cried, all my eagerness in my face. + +"And if there is, Mr. Stewart," he said calmly, but with a deep light in +his eyes, "depend upon it, you shall go with me." + +I wrung his hand madly. I could have embraced him. Dorothy laughed at my +enthusiasm, but with a trace of tears in her eyes, or so I fancied. + +Well, we were finally abed, and up betimes in the morning. Our horses +were brought round from the stable, and our bags swung up behind the +saddles. I had tried in vain, all the morning, to corner Dorothy so +that I might say good-by with no one looking on, but the minx had +eluded me, and I had to be content with a mere handclasp on the steps +before the others. But as we rode away and I looked back for a last +sight of her, she waved her hands to me and blew me a kiss from her +fingers. So my heart was warm within me as we pushed on through the +dark aisles of the forest. + +The roads were heavy with mud and melting snow, for the weather had +turned warm, and it was not until mid-afternoon that we reached +Fredericksburg. We stopped there an hour to feed and wind our horses, and +then pressed on to the country seat of Mr. Philip Clayton, below Port +Royal, on the Rappahannock. Major Washington had met Mr. Clayton at +Williamsburg, and he welcomed us most kindly. By the evening of the +second day we had reached King William Court House, where we found a very +good inn, and the next day, just as evening came, we clattered into +Williamsburg, very tired and very dirty. But without drawing rein, Major +Washington rode straight to the governor's house, threw his bridle to a +negro, and ordered a footman to announce him at once to his master. + +"You are to come with me, Mr. Stewart," he said, seeing that I hesitated. +"'T will be a good time to present you to his Excellency," and we walked +together up the wide steps which led to the veranda. + +Even as we reached the top, the door at the end of the hall was thrown +violently open, and Governor Dinwiddie stumbled toward us, his face red +with excitement. He had evidently just risen from table, for he carried a +napkin in his hand, and there were traces of food on his expansive +waistcoat, for he was anything but a dainty feeder. His uncertain gait +showed that he still suffered from the effects of a recent attack of +paralysis. + +"By God, Major Washington," he cried, "but I'm glad to see you! I'd begun +to think the French or the Indians had gobbled you up. So you've got +back, sir? And did you see the French?" + +"I saw the French, your Excellency," answered Washington, taking his +outstretched hand. "I delivered your message, and brought one in reply. +But first let me present my friend, Mr. Thomas Stewart, who is a neighbor +of mine at Mount Vernon and a man of spirit." + +"Glad to meet you, Mr. Stewart," said Dinwiddie, and he gave me his hand +for an instant. "We may have need erelong of men of spirit." + +"I trust so, certainly, your Excellency," I cried, and bowed before him. + +Dinwiddie looked at me for an instant with a smile. + +"Come, gentlemen," he said, "you have been riding all day, I dare say, +and must have some refreshment," but Washington placed a hand on his arm +as he turned to give an order to one of the waiting negroes. + +"Not until I have made my report, Governor Dinwiddie," he said. + +Dinwiddie turned back to him. + +"You're a man after my own heart, Major Washington!" he cried. "Come into +my office, both of you, for, in truth, I am dying of impatience to hear +of the journey," and he led the way into a spacious room, where there was +a great table littered with papers, a dozen chairs, but little other +furniture. The candles were brought, and Dinwiddie dropped into a deep +chair, motioning Washington and myself to sit down opposite him. "Now, +major," he cried, "let us have your story." + +So Washington told again of the trip over the mountains and through the +forests, Dinwiddie interrupting from time to time with an exclamation of +wonder or approbation. + +"Here is the message from M. de Saint-Pierre," concluded Washington, +drawing a sealed packet from an inner pocket. "'T is somewhat stained by +water, but I trust still legible." + +Dinwiddie took it with nervous fingers, glanced at the superscription, +tore it open, and ran his eyes rapidly over the contents. My hands were +trembling, for I realized that on this note hung the issue of war or +peace for America. He read it through a second time more slowly, then +folded it very calmly and laid it down before him on the table. My heart +sank within me,--it was peace, then, and there would be no employment for +my sword. I had been wasting my time with Captain Paul. But when +Dinwiddie raised his eyes, I saw they were agleam. + +"M. de Saint-Pierre writes," he said, "that he cannot discuss the +question of territory, since that is quite without his province, but will +send my message to the Marquis Duquesne, in command of the French armies +in America, at Quebec, and will await his orders. He adds that, in the +mean time, he will remain at his post, as his general has commanded." + +We were all upon our feet. I drew a deep breath, and saw that +Washington's hand was trembling on his sword-hilt. + +"Since he will not leave of his own accord," cried Dinwiddie, his +calmness slipping from him in an instant, "there remains only one thing +to be done,--he must be made to leave, and not a French uniform must be +left in the Ohio valley! Major Washington, I offer you the senior +majorship of the regiment which will march against him." + +"And I accept, sir!" cried Washington, moved as I had seldom seen him. +"May I ask your Excellency's permission to appoint Mr. Stewart here one +of my ensigns?" + +"Certainly," said the governor heartily. "From what I have seen of Mr. +Stewart, I should conclude that nothing could be better;" and when I +tried to stammer my thanks, he waved his hand to me kindly and rang for +wine. "Let us drink," he said, as he filled the glasses, "to the success +of our arms and the establishment of his Majesty's dominion on the Ohio." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MY FIRST TASTE OF WARFARE + + +Whatever defects Dinwiddie may have had, indecision was certainly not one +of them, and the very next day the machinery was set in motion for the +advance against the French. Colonel Joshua Fry was selected to head the +expedition, and Colonel Washington made second in command. Colonel Fry at +one time taught mathematics at William and Mary, but found the routine of +the class-room too humdrum, and so sought a more exciting life. He had +found it along the borders of the frontier, and in 1750 was made colonel +of militia and member of the governor's council. Two years later, he was +sent to Logstown to treat with the Indians, and made a map of the colony. +He knew the frontier as well as any white man, and because of this was +chosen our commander. + +Not a moment was to be lost, for Colonel Washington, while at Fort le +Boeuf, had observed the great preparations made by the French to +descend the Allegheny in the spring and take possession of the Ohio +valley, but we hoped to forestall them. The triangle between the forks +of the Ohio was admirably adapted for fortification, and it was +proposed to throw up a fort there so that the French would get a warm +reception when their canoes came floating down the river, and be forced +to retreat to the Lakes. Dinwiddie's energy was wide-felt, and the +whole colony was soon astir. + +He convened the House of Burgesses, laid Colonel Washington's report +before it, and secured a grant of £10,000 for purposes of defense; he +urged the governors of the other colonies, from the Carolinas north to +Jersey, to send reinforcements at once to Will's Creek, whence the start +was to be made; he sent messengers with presents to the Ohio Indians, +pressing them to take up the hatchet against the French, and authorized +the enlistment of three hundred men. William Trent, an Indian trader, and +brother-in-law of Colonel George Croghan, was commissioned to raise a +company of a hundred men from among the backwoodsmen along the frontier, +and started at once for the Ohio country to get his men together and +begin work on the fort, the main body to follow so soon as it could be +properly equipped. + +Long before this I had secured my uniform and accoutrements,--which my +three shillings a day were far from paying for,--and was kept busy +superintending the storage of wagons or drilling under Captain Adam +Stephen, in whose company I was, at Alexandria. The men were for the most +part poor whites, who had enlisted because they could earn their bread no +other way, and promised to make but indifferent soldiers. We were +provided with ten cannon, all four-pounders, which had been presented by +the king to Virginia, and eighty barrels of powder, together with +small-arms, thirty tents, and six months' provision of flour, pork, and +beef. These were forwarded to Will's Creek as rapidly as possible, but at +the best it was slow work, and April was in sight before the expedition +was ready to move. During near all of this time, Colonel Washington was +virtually in command, for Colonel Fry was taken with a fever, which kept +him for the most part to his bed. There seemed no prospect of his +improvement, so he ordered the expedition to advance without him, he to +follow so soon as he could sit a horse. That time was never to come, for +he died at Will's Creek on the last day of May. + +So at last the advance commenced, and from daylight to sunset we fought +our way through the forest. It rained almost incessantly, and I admit the +work was more severe than I had ever done, for the bridle-paths were too +narrow to permit the passage of the guns and wagons, and a way had to be +cut for them; yet all the men were in good spirits, animated by the +example of Colonel Washington and the other officers. Those I came to +know best were of Captain Stephen's company, and a braver, merrier set of +men it has never been my privilege to meet. We were drawn from all the +quarters of the globe. There was Lieutenant William Poison, a Scot, who +had been concerned in the rebellion of '45, and so found it imperative to +come to Virginia to spend the remainder of his days, though at the first +scent of battle he was in arms again. There was Ensign William, +Chevalier de Peyronie, a French Protestant, driven from his home much as +the Fontaine family, and who had settled in Virginia. There was +Lieutenant Thomas Waggoner, whom I was to know so well a year later. And +above all, there was Ensign Carolus Gustavus de Spiltdorph, a quiet, +unassuming fellow, but brave as a lion, who lies to-day in an unmarked +grave on the bank of the Monongahela. I can see him yet, with his blue +eyes and blond beard, sitting behind a cloud of smoke in one corner of +the tent, listening to our wild talk with a queer gleam in his eyes, and +putting in a word of dry sarcasm now and then. For when the day's march +was done, those of us who were not on duty gathered in our tent and +talked of the time when we should meet the French. And Peyronie, because, +though a Frenchman, he had suffered most at their hands, was the most +bloodthirsty of us all. + +Then the first blow fell. It was the night of the twentieth of April, and +our force had halted near Colonel Cresap's house, sixteen miles from +Will's Creek. I was in charge of the sentries to the west of the camp. +The weather had been cold and threatening, with a dash of rain now and +then, and we had made only five miles that day, the guns and wagons +miring in the muddy road, which for the most part was through a marsh. As +evening came, the rain had set in steadily, and the sentries protected +themselves as best they could behind the trees or under hastily +constructed shelters. I had just made my first round and found all well, +when I heard a sentry near by challenge sharply. + +"What is it?" I cried, hastening to him, and then I saw that he had +stopped a horseman. The horse was breathing in short, uncertain gasps, as +though near winded. + +"A courier from the Ohio, so he says, sir," answered the sentry. + +"With an urgent message for Colonel Washington," added the man on +horseback. + +"Very well," I said, "come with me," and catching the horse by the +bridle, I started toward the commander's tent, in which a light was still +burning. A word to the sentry before it brought Colonel Washington +himself to the door, and he signed for us to enter. The courier slipped +from his horse, and would have fallen, had I not caught him and placed +him on his feet. + +"'T is the first time I have left the saddle for two days," he gasped, +and I helped him into the tent, where he dropped upon a stool. Washington +poured out a glass of brandy and handed it to him. He swallowed it at a +gulp, and it gave him back a little of his strength. + +"I bring bad news, Colonel Washington," he said. "Lieutenant Ward and his +whole command were captured by the French on the seventeenth, and the +fort at the forks of the Ohio is in their hands." + +I turned cold under the blow, but Washington did not move a muscle, only +his mouth seemed to tighten at the corners. + +"How did it happen?" he asked. + +"Captain Trent and his men arrived at the Ohio on the tenth of April," +said the courier, "and we set to work at once to throw up the fort. We +made good progress, but on the morning of the seventeenth, while Captain +Trent and thirty of the men were absent, leaving Lieutenant Ward in +command, the river was suddenly covered with canoes crowded with French +and Indians. There were at least eight hundred of them, and they had a +dozen pieces of artillery. We had no choice but to surrender." + +"On what terms?" questioned Washington quickly. + +"That we march out with the honors of war and return to Virginia." + +"And this was done?" + +"Yes, this was done. Lieutenant Ward and his men will join you in a +day or two." + +"You have done well," said Washington warmly. "I am sure Lieutenant Ward +could have done naught else under the circumstances. Forty men are not +expected to resist eight hundred, and I shall see that the occurrence is +properly represented to the governor. Lieutenant Stewart, will you see +that a meal and a good bed be provided? Good night, gentlemen." + +We saluted and left the tent, and I led him over to our company quarters, +where the best we had was placed before him. Other officers, who had got +wind of his arrival, dropped in, and he told again the story of the +meeting with the enemy. It was certain that there were from six to eight +hundred French and a great number of Indians before us, while we were +barely three hundred, and as I returned to my post, I wondered if +Colonel Washington would dare press on to face such odds. The answer came +in the morning, when the order was given to march as usual. Two days +later, we had reached Will's Creek, where we found Lieutenant Ward and +his men awaiting us. He stated that there were not less than a thousand +French at the forks of the Ohio. It was sheer folly to advance with our +petty force in face of odds so overwhelming, and a council of the +officers was called by Colonel Washington to determine what course to +follow. It was decided that we advance as far as Red Stone Creek, on the +Monongahela, thirty-seven miles this side the Forks, and there erect a +fortification and await fresh orders. Stores had already been built at +Red Stone for our munitions, and from there our great guns could be sent +by water so soon as we were ready to attack the French. In conclusion, it +was judged that it were better to occupy our men in cutting a road +through the wilderness than that they should be allowed to waste their +time in idleness and dissipation. + +Captain Trent and the thirty men who were with him, hearing from the +Indians of the disaster which had overtaken their companions, marched +back to meet us, and joined us the next day. Trent himself met cold +welcome, for his absence from the fort at the time of the attack was held +to be most culpable. Dinwiddie was so enraged, when he learned of it, +that he ordered Trent court-martialed forthwith, but this was never done. +His backwoodsmen were wild and reckless fellows, incapable of +discipline, and soon took themselves off to the settlements, while we +toiled on westward through the now unbroken forest. Our advance to Will's +Creek had been difficult enough, but it was nothing to the task which now +confronted us, for the country grew more rough and broken, and there was +not the semblance of a road. We were a week in making twenty miles, and +accomplished that only by labor well-nigh superhuman. + +The story of one day was the story of all the others. Obstacles +confronted us at every step, but we struggled forward, dragging the +wagons ourselves when the horses gave out, as they soon did, and finally, +toward the end of May, we won through to a pleasant valley named Great +Meadows, dominated by a mountain called Laurel Hill. Here there was +abundant forage, and as the horses could go no further, Colonel +Washington ordered a halt, and determined to await the promised +reinforcements. A few days later, a company of regulars under Captain +Mackay joined us, together with near a hundred men of the regiment who +had remained behind with Colonel Fry, raising our numbers to four hundred +men, though many were wasted with fever and dysentery. + +Those of us who were able set to work throwing up a breastwork of logs, +under the direction of Captain Robert Stobo, and at the end of three days +had completed an inclosure a hundred feet square, with a rude cabin in +the centre to hold our munitions and supplies. + +There had been many alarms that the French were marching against us, but +all of them had proved untrue, so when, some days after, the report +spread through the camp again that the enemy were near, I paid little +heed to it, and went to sleep as usual. How long I slept, I do not know, +but I was awakened by some one shaking me by the shoulder. + +"Get up at once, lieutenant, and report at headquarters," said a voice I +recognized as Waggoner's, and as I sat upright with a jerk, he passed on +to awake another sleeper. I was out of bed in an instant, and threw on my +clothing with nervous haste. I could hear a storm raging, and when I +stepped outside the tent, I was almost blinded by the rain, driven in +great sheets before the wind. I fought my way against it to Washington's +tent, where I found Captain Stephen and some thirty men, and others +coming up every moment. + +"What is it?" I asked of Waggoner, who had got back to headquarters +before me, but he shook his head to show that he knew no more than I. + +A moment later, the flap of the tent was raised, and Colonel Washington +appeared, wrapped in his cloak as though for a journey, and followed by +an Indian, who, I learned afterwards, was none other than the Half King. +He spoke a few words to Captain Stephen, and the order was given to form +in double rank and march, Colonel Washington himself leading the +expedition, which numbered all told some forty men. + +I shall never forget that midnight march through the forest, with the +rain falling in a deluge through the dripping trees, the lightning +flashing and the thunder rolling. We stumbled along upon each other's +heels, falling over logs or underbrush, the wet branches switching our +faces raw and soaking us through and through. It seemed to me that we +must have covered fifteen or twenty miles, at least, when the first gray +of the morning brightened the horizon and a halt was called, but really +we had come little more than five. Here it was found that seven men had +been lost upon the way, and that our powder was so wet that most of it +was useless, to many of us the charge in our firelocks being all that +remained serviceable. After an hour's halt, the order came again to +march, with caution to move warily. Scouts were thrown out ahead, and +soon came back with tidings that the enemy was hard by. + +My hands were trembling with excitement as we crept forward to the edge +of a rocky hollow, and as we looked down the slope, we could see the +French below. There were thirty of them or more, and they were getting +breakfast, their arms stacked beside them. Almost at the same instant +their sentries saw us and gave the alarm. + +"Follow me, men!" cried Washington, and he started down the slope, we +after him. As we went, the French sprang to arms and gave us a volley, +but it was badly aimed in their excitement and so did little damage. As +we closed in on them we returned their fire, and some eight or nine fell, +while the others, thinking doubtless that they had been surprised by a +large force, threw down their guns and held up their hands in token of +surrender. Captain Stephen had been slightly wounded, but charged on +down the slope ahead of us, and took prisoner a young officer, who +refused to surrender, but kept on fighting until his sword was knocked +from his hand. Then he began to tear his hair and curse in French, +pointing now and again to another officer who lay among the dead. He grew +so violent that he attracted Colonel Washington's attention. + +"Come here a moment, Lieutenant Peyronie," he called. "You understand +French. What is this fellow saying?" + +Peyronie exchanged a few words with the prisoner, who stooped, drew a +paper from the inner pocket of the dead officer's coat, and held it +toward us. Peyronie took it, glanced over it with grave countenance, and +turned to Colonel Washington. + +"This man is Ensign Marie Drouillon, sir," he said. "The party was in +command of Ensign Coulon de Jumonville, whom you see lying dead there. M. +Drouillon claims that the party did not come against us as spies, or for +the purpose of fighting, but simply to bring a message to you from M. de +Contrecoeur, who is in command of the fort at the forks of the Ohio, +which, it seems, has been named Fort Duquesne. This is the message," and +he held out the paper to Washington. + +"'Tis in French," said the latter, glancing over it. "What does it say?" + +"It warns you to return to the settlements," answered Peyronie, "on the +pretext that all the land this side the mountains belongs to France." + +Here the prisoner, who was evidently laboring under great excitement, +broke in, and said something rapidly in a loud voice, which made Peyronie +flush, and drew nods and cries of approbation from the other prisoners. + +"What does he say?" asked Washington, seeing that Peyronie hesitated. + +"He says, sir," answered Peyronie, with evident reluctance, "that M. de +Jumonville came in the character of an ambassador and has been +assassinated." + +Washington flushed hotly and his eyes grew dark. + +"Ask M. Drouillon," he said, "why an ambassador thought it necessary to +bring with him a guard of thirty men?" + +Peyronie put the question, but Drouillon did not reply. + +"Ask him also," continued Washington, "why he remained concealed near my +troops for three days, instead of coming directly to me as an ambassador +should have done?" + +Again Peyronie put the question, and again there was no answer. + +"Tell him," said Washington sternly, "that I see through his trick,--that +I comprehend it thoroughly. M. Jumonville counted on using his pretext of +ambassador to spy upon my camp, and to avert an attack in case he was +discovered. Well, he produced his message too late. He has behaved as an +enemy, and has been treated as such. That he is dead is wholly his own +fault. Had he chosen the part of an ambassador instead of that of a spy, +this would not have happened." + +He turned away, and apparently dismissed the matter from his mind, but +that it troubled him long afterward I am quite certain, though in the +whole affair no particle of blame attached to him. The French made a +great outcry about it, but I have never heard that any of them ever +answered the questions which were put to M. Drouillon. The truth of the +matter is, that they were only too eager for some pretext upon which to +base the assertion that it was the English who began hostilities, and +this flimsy excuse was the best they could invent. But that little brush +under the trees on that windy May morning was to have momentous +consequences, for it was the beginning of the struggle which drenched the +continent in blood. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE FRENCH SCORE FIRST + + +We marched back to the camp at Great Meadows with our prisoners,--some +twenty in all,--much elated at our success, but near dead with fatigue. +Lieutenant Spiltdorph was selected to escort them to Virginia, and set +off with them toward noon, together with twenty men, cursing the ill-luck +which deprived him of the opportunity to make the remainder of the +campaign with us. + +For that the French would march against us in force was well-nigh +certain, once they learned of Jumonville's defeat, of which the Indians +would soon inform them, and that we should be outnumbered three or four +to one seemed inevitable. But no one thought of retreat, our commander, I +am sure, least of all. He seemed everywhere at once, heartening the men, +inspecting equipment, overseeing the preparations for defense. The only +hostile element in the camp was the company of regulars under Captain +Mackay, who refused to assist in any of the work, asserting that they +were employed only to fight. Captain Mackay, too, holding his commission +from the king, claimed to outrank Colonel Washington, and yielded him but +a reluctant and sullen obedience. + +Christopher Gist, who had just come from Will's Creek with tidings of +Colonel Fry's death, was of the opinion that a much more effective +resistance might be made at his plantation, twelve miles further on, +where there were some strong log buildings and a ground, so he claimed, +admirably suited for intrenchment. Accordingly, we set out for there, +arriving after a fatiguing journey. The horses were in worse case than +ever, and only two miserable teams and a few tottering pack-horses +remained capable of working. Finally, on the twenty-ninth of June, the +Half King, who had been our faithful friend throughout, brought us word +that seven hundred French and three or four hundred Indians had marched +from Fort Duquesne against us. As the news spread through the camp, the +officers left the intrenchments upon which they had been at work, and +gathered to discuss the news. There a message from Colonel Washington +summoned us to a conference at Gist's cabin. + +"Gentlemen," he said, when we had all assembled, "I need not tell you +that the situation is most critical. We can scarce hope to successfully +oppose an enemy who outnumbers us three to one, and yet 't is impossible +to retreat without abandoning all our baggage and munitions, since we +have no means of transport." + +He fell silent for a moment, and no one spoke. I saw that the worry of +the last few weeks had left its mark upon him, for there was a line +between his eyes which I had never seen before, but which never left him +afterward. + +"What I propose," he said at last, "is to fall back to Great Meadows. I +believe it to be better fitted for defense than this place, which is +commanded by half a dozen hills, and where we could not hope to hold out +against artillery fire. At Great Meadows we can strengthen our +intrenchment in the middle of the plain, and the French will hardly dare +attempt to carry it by assault, since they must advance without cover for +two hundred yards or more. It is a charming field for an encounter. Has +any one a better plan?" + +Mackay was the first to speak. + +"'Tis better to lose our baggage than to lose both it and our lives," he +said. "The French may not care to risk an assault, but they have only to +sit down about the work for a day or two to starve us out." + +"That is true," answered Washington, and his face was very grave; "yet +reinforcements cannot be far distant. Two independent companies from New +York reached Annapolis a fortnight since, and are doubtless being hurried +forward. Other companies have arrived in the colony, and must be near at +hand. Besides," he added, in a firmer tone, "I cannot consent to return +to Virginia without striking at least one blow at the French, else this +expedition might just as well have never been begun." + +"That is the point!" cried Stephen. "Let us not run away until we see +something to run from. Your plan is the best possible under the +circumstances, Colonel Washington." + +We all of us echoed this opinion, and after thanking us warmly, our +commander bade us make ready at once for the return to Great Meadows. The +baggage was done into packs as large as a man could carry; a force was +told off to drag the swivels; the officers added their horses to the +train, and prepared to carry packs just as the men did. Colonel +Washington left half of his personal baggage behind, paying some soldiers +four pistoles to carry the remainder. So at daybreak we set out, the +sufferings of our men being greatly aggravated by the conduct of the +regulars, who refused to carry a pound of baggage or place a hand upon +the ropes by which we dragged our guns after us. + +The miseries of that day I hope never to see repeated. Men dropped +senseless on the road, or fell beneath the trees, unable to go further. +The main body of the troops struggled on, leaving these stragglers to +follow when they could, and on the morning of the next day we reached +Great Meadows, weak, trembling, and exhausted. But even here there was no +rest for us, for it was necessary to strengthen our defenses against the +attack which could not be long deferred. The breastwork seemed all too +weak now we knew the force which would be brought against it, and we +started to dig a trench around it, but so feeble were the men that it was +only half completed. Even at the best, our condition was little short of +desperate. Much of our ammunition had been ruined, and our supply of +provisions was near gone. We had been without bread for above a week, +and while we had plenty of cattle for beef, we had no salt with which to +cure the meat, and the hot summer sun soon made it unfit to eat. + +Yet, with all this, there was little murmuring, the example of our +commander encouraging us all. At our council in our tent that evening, +Peyronie, with invincible good humor, declared that no man could complain +so long as the tobacco lasted, and in a cloud of blue-gray smoke, we gave +our hastily constructed fort the suggestive name of "Fort Necessity." + +The morning of the third of July was spent by us in overhauling the +firelocks and making the last dispositions of our men. Colonel Washington +inspected personally the whole line, and saw that no detail was +overlooked. He had not slept for two nights, but seemed indefatigable, +and even the regulars cheered him as he passed along the breastwork. But +at last the inspection was finished and we settled down to wait. + +Peyronie and myself had been stationed at the northwest corner of the +fort with thirty men, and just before noon, from far away in the forest, +came the sound of a single musket shot. We waited in suspense for what +might follow, and in a moment a sentry came running from the wood with +one arm swinging useless by his side. + +"They have come!" he cried, as he tumbled over the breastwork. "They will +be here in a moment," and even as he spoke, the edge of the forest was +filled with French and Indians, and a lively fire was opened against us, +but the range was so great that the bullets did no damage. The drums beat +the alarm, and expecting a general attack, we were formed in column +before the intrenchment. But the enemy had no stomach for that kind of +work, and veered off to the south, where they occupied two little hills, +whence they could enfilade a portion of our position. We answered their +fire as best we could, but it was cruel, disheartening work. + +"Do you call this war?" asked Peyronie impatiently, after an hour of this +gunnery. "In faith, had I thought 'twould be like this, I had been less +eager to enlist. Why don't the cowards try an assault?" + +"Yes, why don't they?" and I looked gloomily at the wall of trees from +which jets of smoke and flame puffed incessantly. + +"'Tis not the kind of fighting I've been used to," cried Peyronie. "In +Europe we fight on open ground, where the best man wins; we do not skulk +behind the trees and through the underbrush. I've a good notion to try a +sally. What say you, Stewart?" + +"Here comes Colonel Washington," I answered. "Let us ask him." But he +shook his head when we proposed it to him. + +"'Twould be madness," he said. "They are three times our number, and +would pick us all off before we could reach the trees. No, the best we +can do is to remain behind our breastwork. It seems a mean kind of +warfare, I admit, but 'tis a kind we must get accustomed to, if we are +to fight the French and Indians;" and he walked on along his rounds, +speaking a word of encouragement here and there, and seemingly quite +unconscious of the bullets which whistled about him. + +Yet the breastwork did not protect us wholly, for now and then a man +would throw up his arms and fall with a single shrill cry, or roll over +in the mud of the trench, cursing horribly, with a bullet in him +somewhere. Doctor Craik, who had enlisted as lieutenant, was soon +compelled to lay aside his gun and do what he could to relieve their +suffering. Not for a moment during the afternoon did the enemy's fire +slacken, and the strain began to tell upon our men. The pieces grew foul, +there were only two screw-rods in the camp with which to clean them, and +as the hours passed, our fire grew less and less. The swivels had long +since been abandoned, for the gunners were picked off so soon as they +showed themselves above the breastwork. + +There had been mutterings of thunder and dashes of rain all the +afternoon, and now the storm broke in earnest, the rain falling in such +fury as I had never seen. The trenches filled with water, and we tried in +vain to keep dry the powder in our cartouch boxes. Not only was this wet, +but the rain leaked through the magazine we had built in the middle of +the camp, and ruined the ammunition we had stored there. So soon as the +rain slackened, the enemy resumed their fire, but Major Washington +forbade us to reply, since there was scarce a dozen rounds in the fort. +I confess that this species of fighting took the heart out of me, and I +could see no chance of a successful issue. + +I was sitting thus, looking gloomily out at the forest in front of me, +and wondering why the fire from there had ceased, when I noticed that +there seemed to be many more rocks and bushes scattered about the plain +than I had ever before observed. The gloom of the evening had fallen, and +I rubbed my eyes and looked again to make sure I was not mistaken. No, +there was no mistake, and I suddenly understood what was about to happen. + +"Peyronie," I whispered to my neighbor, who was sitting in the mud, +swearing softly under his mustache, "we are going to have some excitement +presently. The Indians are creeping up to carry us by assault." + +"What?" he exclaimed, sitting suddenly upright. "Oh, no such luck!" + +"Yes, but they are," I insisted. "Watch those bushes out there. See, they +'re moving up toward us." + +He rose to his knees and peered keenly out through the gloom. + +"Pardieu," he muttered after a moment, "so they are! Well, we shall be +ready for them." + +We passed the word around to our men, and startled them into new life. +The muskets were primed sparingly with dry powder, and we waited with +tense nerves for the assault. The fusillade from the hills had been +redoubled, but a terrible and threatening silence hung over the +intrenchment, and doubtless encouraged our assailants to believe that our +ammunition was quite gone. Near and nearer crept the Indians, fifty or +sixty of them at least, and perhaps many more, and we lay still with +bursting pulses and waited. Now the foremost of them was scarce forty +yards away, and suddenly, with a yell, they were all upon their feet and +charging us. + +"Tirez, tirez!" shouted Peyronie, forgetting his English in his +excitement, and we sent a volley full into them. It was a warmer +reception than they had counted on, and they wavered for a moment, but +there must have been a Frenchman leading them, for they rallied, and came +on again with a rush. We met them with fixed bayonets, but they +outnumbered us so greatly that we must have given way before them had not +Colonel Washington, hearing the uproar and guessing its meaning, dashed +over at the head of reinforcements and given them another volley. As I +was reloading with feverish haste, I saw an Indian rush at Colonel +Washington with raised tomahawk. Washington raised his pistol, coolly +took aim, and pulled the trigger, but the powder flashed and did not +explode. With the sweat starting from my forehead, I dashed some powder +into the pan of my pistol, jerked it up, and fired. Ah, Captain Paul, how +I blessed your lessons in that moment! for the ball went true, and the +Indian rolled in the mud almost at Washington's feet. They had had +enough, and those who were still alive leaped the trench and disappeared +into the outer darkness. + +"They won't try that again," I remarked to Peyronie, who was sitting +against the breastwork. "But what is it, man? Are you wounded?" I cried, +seeing that he was very pale and held both hands to his breast. + +"Yes, I am hit here," he answered, and added, as I fell on my knees +beside him and began to tear the clothing from the wound, "but do not +distress yourself, Stewart. I can be attended after the battle is won." + +"Nonsense," I said. "You shall be attended at once." He smiled up at me, +and then went suddenly white and fell against my shoulder. I tore away +his shirt, and saw that blood was welling from a wound in the breast. I +propped him against the wall, and ordering one of the men to go for +Doctor Craik, stanched the blood as well as I could. The doctor hastened +to us so soon as he could leave his other wounded, but he shook his head +gravely when he saw Peyronie's injury. + +"A bad case," he said. "Clear into the lungs, I think. But I have seen +men recover of worse hurts," he added, seeing how pale I was. + +I watched him as he bound up the wound with deft fingers, and then +between us we carried him to the little cabin, which had been converted +from magazine to hospital, and was already crowded from wall to wall. It +was with a sore heart that I left him and returned to the breastwork, for +I had come to love Peyronie dearly. The event was not so serious as I +then feared, for, after a gallant fight for life, he won the battle, +recovered of his wound, and lived to do service in another war. + +The repulse of the Indians seemed to have disheartened the enemy, for +their fire slackened until only a shot now and then broke the stillness +of the night. Our condition was desperate as it could well be, yet I +heard no word of surrender. I was sitting listlessly, thinking of +Peyronie's wound, when a whisper ran along the lines that the French were +sending a flag of truce. Sure enough, we could see a man in white uniform +approaching the breastwork, waving a white flag above his head. He was +halted by the sentries while yet some distance off, and Colonel +Washington sent for. He appeared in a moment. + +"Where is Lieutenant Peyronie?" he asked. "We will have need of him." + +"He is wounded, sir," I answered. "He was shot through the breast during +the assault." + +Washington glanced about at the circle of faces. + +"Is there any other here who speaks French?" he asked. + +There was a moment's silence. + +"Why, sir," said Vanbraam at last, "I have managed to pick up the fag +ends of a good many languages during my life, and I can jabber French +a little." + +"Very well," and Washington motioned him forward. "Mount the breastwork +and ask this fellow what he wants." + +Vanbraam did as he was bid, and there was a moment's high-toned +conversation between him and the Frenchman. + +"He says, sir," said Vanbraam, "that he has been sent by his commander, +M. Coulon-Villiers, to propose a parley." + +Washington looked at him keenly. + +"And he wishes to enter the fort?" + +"He says he wishes to see you, sir." + +Washington glanced about at the mud-filled trenches, the ragged, weary +men, the haggard faces of the officers, the dead scattered here and there +along the breastwork, and his face grew stern. + +"'Tis a trick!" he cried. "He wishes to see how we are situated. Tell him +that we do not care to parley, but are well prepared to defend ourselves +against any force the French can muster." + +I gasped at the audacity of the man, and the Frenchman was doubtless no +less astonished. He disappeared into the forest, but half an hour later +again approached the fort. Vanbraam's services as interpreter were called +for a second time, and there was a longer parley between him and the +messenger. + +"He proposes," said Vanbraam, when the talk was finished, "that we send +two officers to meet two French officers, for the purpose of agreeing +upon articles of capitulation. M. Coulon-Villiers states that he is +prepared to make many concessions, and he believes this course will be +for the advantage of both parties." + +Washington looked around at the officers grouped about him. + +"It is clear that we must endeavor to make terms, gentlemen," he said. +"The morning will disclose our plight to the enemy, and it will then be +no longer a question of terms, but of surrender. At present they believe +us capable of defense, hence they talk of concessions. What say you, +gentlemen?" + +There was nothing to be said except to agree, and Vanbraam and Captain +Stephen were sent out to confer with the French. They returned in the +course of an hour, bringing with them the articles already signed by +Coulon-Villiers, and awaiting only Colonel Washington's ratification. +Vanbraam read them aloud by the light of a flickering candle, and we +listened in silence until he had finished. They were better than we could +have hoped, providing that we should march out at daybreak with all the +honors of war, drums beating, flags flying, and match lighted for our +cannon; that we should take with us our baggage, be protected from the +Indians, and be permitted to retire unmolested to Virginia, in return for +which we were to release all the prisoners we had taken a few days +before, and as they were already on their way to the colony, should leave +two officers with the French as hostages until the prisoners had been +delivered to them. + +There was a moment's silence when Vanbraam had finished reading, and +then, without raising his head, Colonel Washington signed, and threw the +pen far from him. Then he arose and walked slowly to his quarters, and I +saw him no more that night. Captain Mackay insisted also that he must +sign the paper, and, to my intense disgust, wrote his name in above that +of our commander. + +There was little sleep for any of us that night, and I almost envied +Peyronie tossing on his blanket, oblivious to what was passing about him. +Vanbraam and Robert Stobo were appointed to accompany the French back to +the Ohio, to remain there as hostages, and we all shook hands with them +before they went away through the darkness toward the French camp. + +But the night passed, and at daybreak we abandoned the fort and began the +retreat, carrying our sick and wounded on our backs, since the Indians +had killed all our horses. Most of our baggage was perforce left behind, +and the Indians lost no time in looting it. That done, they pressed +threateningly upon our rear, so that an attack seemed imminent, nor did +the French make any effort to restrain them; but we held firm, and the +Indians finally drew off and returned to the fort, leaving us to cover as +best we might those weary miles over the mountains. By the promise of ten +pistoles, I had secured two men to bear Peyronie between them on a +blanket, but 'twas impossible to treat all the wounded so, and the +fainting men staggered along under their screaming burdens, falling +sometimes, and lying where they fell from sheer exhaustion. + +What Colonel Washington's feelings were I could only guess. He strode at +the head of the column, his head bowed on his breast, his heart doubtless +torn by the suffering about him, and saying not a word for hours +together, nor did any venture to approach him. I doubt if ever in his +life he will be called upon to pass through a darker hour than he did on +that morning of the fourth of July, 1754. Through no fault of his, the +power of England on the Ohio had been dealt a staggering blow, and his +pride and ambition crushed into the dust. + +What need to tell of that weary march back to the settlements, the +suffering by the way, the sorry reception accorded us, the consternation +caused by the news of French success? At Winchester we met two companies +from North Carolina which had been marching to join us, and these were +ordered to Will's Creek, to establish a post to protect the frontier from +the expected Indian aggression. Captain Mackay and his men remained at +Winchester, while our regiment returned to Alexandria to rest and +recruit. As for me, I was glad enough to put off the harness of war and +make the best of my way back to Riverview, saddened and humbled by this +first experience, which was so different from the warfare of which I had +read and dreamed, with its bright pageantry, its charges and shock of +arms, its feats of single combat. Fate willed that I was yet to see +another, trained on the battlefields of Europe, humbled in the dust by +these foes whom I found so despicable, and the soldiers of the king +taught a lesson they were never to forget. + +One word more. Perhaps I have been unjust to Captain Mackay and his men. +Time has done much to soften the bitterness with which their conduct +filled me, and as I look back now across the score of years that lie +between, I can appreciate to some degree their attitude toward our +commander. Certainly it might seem a dangerous thing to intrust an +enterprise of such moment to a youth of twenty-two, with no knowledge of +warfare but that he had gained from books. It is perhaps not wonderful +that veterans should have looked at him askance, and I would not think of +them too harshly. He doubtless made mistakes,--as what man would not +have done?--yet I believe that not even the first captain of the empire +could have snatched victory from odds so desperate. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +DREAM DAYS AT RIVERVIEW + + +In the many summer evenings which followed, I played the part of that +broken soldier, who, as Mr. Goldsmith tells us so delightfully, + +"talked the night away, +Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done, +Shouldered his crutch and showed how fields were won." + +Alas, I could show not how they were won, but only how they were lost, +and how was one to clothe in romance a battle which had been fought in +the midst of mud and rain, from behind a breastwork, and with scarce a +glimpse of the enemy? But I had a rapt audience of two in James and +Dorothy. They were not critical, and I told the story of Great Meadows +over and over again, a score of times. + +A hundred yards from the house, overlooking on one side the willow-draped +waters of Occoquan Inlet, and on the other the broad and placid river, a +seat had been fashioned between two massive oaks, and here, of an +evening, it was our wont to go. Sometimes, by great good fortune, James +did not accompany us, and Dorothy and I would sit there alone together +and watch the shadows deepen across the water. Our talk would falter and +die away before the beauty of the scene, and there would be long +silences, broken only now and then by a half whispered sentence. I had +never known a sweeter time, and even yet, when night is coming on, I love +to steal forth to sit there again and gaze across the water and dream +upon the past. + +During the day, I saw but little of the other members of the family, and +was left greatly to my own resources. My aunt was ever busy with the +management of the estate, to every detail of which she gave personal +attention, and which she administered with a thrift and thoroughness I +could not but admire. The worry of incessant business left its mark upon +her. The lines in her face deepened, and the silver in her hair grew more +pronounced, but though she doubtless felt her strength failing, she clung +grimly to the work. I would have offered to assist her but that I knew +she would resent the suggestion, and would believe I made it to gain some +knowledge of the income from the estate, of which I had always been kept +in densest ignorance, and with which, indeed, I troubled myself but +little. I think her old fear of my claiming the place came on her again, +and though she always tried to treat me civilly, the effort in the end +proved too great for her overwrought nerves, as you shall presently hear. + +Upon Dorothy fell the duty of looking after the household, and she went +about it cheerfully and willingly. Her mornings were passed in +instructing the servants in their duties and seeing that their work was +properly done. There were visits to the pantry and kitchen, and a long +conference with the cook, so that noon was soon at hand. The afternoon +was spent in the great workroom on the upper floor, into which I ventured +to peep once or twice, only to be bidden to go about my business. But it +was a pleasant sight, and I sometimes gathered courage to steal down the +corridor for a glimpse of it. There sat Dorothy in a dainty gown of +Covent Garden calico, directing half a dozen old negro women, who were +cutting out and sewing together the winter clothing of fearnaught for the +slaves. Two or three girls had been brought in to be taught the mysteries +of needle-craft, and Dorothy turned to them from time to time to watch +their work and direct their rebellious fingers. I would fain have taken a +lesson, too, but when I proposed this one day, representing how great my +need might be when I was over the mountains far away from any woman, +Dorothy informed me sternly, amid the titters of the others, that my +fingers were too big and clumsy to be taught to manage so delicate an +instrument as a needle, and sent me from the room. + +Young James had also much to occupy his time. His mother was as yet in +doubt whether he should complete his education at William and Mary, as I +had done, or should be sent to London to acquire the true polish. The boy +greatly favored the latter course, as any boy of spirit would have done, +and his mother would have yielded to him readily, but for the stories she +had heard of the riotous living which prevailed among the young blades in +London, and of which she had had ample confirmation from Parson Scott, +who, I suspect, before coming to his estate at Westwood, had ruffled it +with the best of them. Whether it should be Williamsburg or London, the +boy was required to be kept at his books every morning, and was off every +afternoon to the Dumfries tavern, where there was always a crowd of +ne'er-do-wells, promoting a cock-fight, or a horse race, or eye-gouging +contest. Sometimes, he elected to spend the evening in this company, and +it was then that Dorothy and I were left alone together on the seat +beside the river. + +But when Sunday came, there was another story. The great coach was +brought from the stable and polished till it shone again,--indeed, it had +been polished so often and so vigorously that its gilding and paint began +to show the marks of it. The four horses were led out, rubbed down from +nose to heel, and harnessed in their brightest trappings. The driver, +footman, and two outriders donned their liveries, in which they were the +envy of all the other servants, and the coach was driven around to the +front of the house, from which presently emerged Madame Stewart, in a +stately gown of flowered calamanco, her fan and gold pomander in her +hand. Then came Dorothy, her sweet face looking most coquettish under her +Ranelagh mob of gauze, the ribbons crossed beneath her chin and +fluttering half a yard behind. As she tripped down the stops and lifted +her tiffany petticoat ever so little, I could catch a glimpse of the +prettiest pair of ankles in the world in silk-clocked hose, for the +reader can guess without my telling that I was close behind, holding her +kerchief or her fan or her silver étui until she should be safely seated +in the coach. And that once done, the whip cracked, the wheels started, +and I swung myself on horseback and trotted along beside the window, on +Dorothy's side, you may be sure. + +So, in great state, we proceeded to the new Quantico church near +Dumfries, a prodigious fine structure of brick, built the year before at +a cost of a hundred thousand weight of tobacco, of which my aunt had +contributed a tenth. The other members of the congregation awaited our +arrival, grouped before the door, and, entering after us, remained +decently standing till we had mounted to the loft and taken our seats, a +show of deference which greatly pleased my aunt. The church was built in +a little recess from the road, in the midst of a grove of ancient trees, +cruciform, as so many others were throughout the colony, and stands today +just as it stood then,--as I have good cause to know, for 't was in that +church, before that altar--But there, you shall learn it all in time. + +Doctor Scott was a goodly preacher, but the one portion of the service +for me was the singing, when I might stand beside Dorothy and listen to +her voice. She sang with whole heart and undivided mind, recking nothing +of me standing spellbound there. Indeed, I think the pastor shrewdly saw +that her singing was a means of grace no less than his expounding, and he +never failed to journey to Riverview on a Friday to talk over with her +what should be her part in the service on the coming Sunday. Nor did I +ever know her to refuse this labor,--not because she was vain of her +power, but because she saw the good it did. + +The service once over, there were greetings to exchange, the news of the +neighborhood to talk over, crops to discuss, and what not. My heart would +burn within me as I saw the men buzzing about Dorothy like flies about a +dish of honey, though my jealousy was lightened when I saw that while she +had a gay word for each of them, she smiled on all alike. The minx could +read my mind like an open book, whether I was moping in one corner of the +churchyard or on the bench beside her, and she loved to tease me by +pretending great admiration for this man or that, and consulting me about +him as she would have done a brother. Which, I need hardly say, annoyed +me vastly. + +The gossip over, we drove home again to lunch, after which, on the wide +veranda or the bench by the river's edge, I would read Dorothy some bits +of Mr. Addison or Mr. Pope, which latter she could not abide, though his +pungent verses fell in exceeding well with my melancholy humor. Evening +past and bedtime come, I lighted Dorothy's candle for her at the table in +the lower hall, where the silver sticks were set out in their nightly +array like French soldiers, gleaming all in white, and when I gave it to +her and bade her good-night at the stair-foot, I got her hand to hold for +an instant. Then to my room, where over innumerable pipes of +sweet-scented, I struggled with some halting verses of my own until my +candle guttered in its stick. + +Hours and hours did I pass thinking how I might tell her of my love, but +at the last I concluded it were better to say nothing, until I had +something more to offer her. What right had I, I questioned bitterly, to +offer marriage to any maid, when I had no home to which to take a wife, +and I had never felt the irksomeness of my circumstances as I did at that +moment. Something of my thought she must have understood, for she was +very kind to me, and never by any word or act showed that she thought of +the poverty of my condition. + +So August and September passed, and great events were stirring. The House +of Burgesses had met, and had been much impressed by the showing we had +made against the French, so that they passed a vote of thanks to Colonel +Washington for his distinguished services, and to the officers and men +who had been with him. Dinwiddie was most eager that another advance +should be made at once against Duquesne, but Colonel Washington pointed +out how hopeless any such attempt must be against the overwhelming odds +the enemy would bring against us. + +The news of French aggression on the Ohio and of our defeat at Fort +Necessity had opened the eyes of the court to the danger which threatened +the colonies, and great preparations were set on foot for an expedition +to be sent to Virginia in the early spring. Parliament voted £50,000 +toward its expenses, and it was proposed to equip it on such a scale +that the French could not hope to stand before it. So it was decided that +nothing more should be attempted by the colony until the forces from +England had arrived. And then, one day, came the astounding news that +Colonel Washington had resigned from the service and returned to Mount +Vernon. A negro whom Dorothy had sent on some errand to Betty Washington +had brought the news back with him. I could scarcely credit it, and was +soon galloping toward Mount Vernon to confirm it for myself. I dare say +the ten miles of river road were never more quickly covered. As I turned +into the broad graveled way which led past the garden up to the house, I +saw a tall and well-known figure standing before the door, and he came +toward me with a smile as I threw myself from the saddle. + +"Ah, Tom," he cried, "I thought I should see you soon," and he took my +hand warmly. + +"Is it true," I asked, too anxious to delay an instant the solution of +the mystery, "that you have left the service?" + +"Yes, it is true." + +"And you will not make the campaign?" + +"I see no prospect now of doing so." + +"But why?" I asked. "Pardon me, if I am indiscreet." + +"'Tis a reason which all may know," and he smiled grimly, "which, indeed, +I wish all to know, that my action may not be misjudged." + +We were walking up and down before the door, and he paused a moment as +though to choose his words, lest he say more than he desired. + +"You know there has been great unpleasantness," he said at last, "between +officers holding royal commissions and those holding provincial ones, +concerning the matter of precedence. You may remember that Captain Mackay +held himself my superior at Fort Necessity, because he had his commission +from the crown." + +Of course I remembered it, as well as the many disagreements which the +contention had occasioned. + +"It was evident that the question must be settled one way or another," +continued Washington, "and to do this, an order has just been issued by +the governor. The order provides that no officer who does not derive his +commission immediately from the king can command one who does." + +It was some minutes before I understood the full effect which such an +order would have. + +"Do you mean," I asked at last, "that you would be outranked by every +subaltern in the service who holds a royal commission?" + +"Unquestionably," and Washington looked away across the fields with a +stern face. + +"But that is an outrage!" I cried. "What, every whippersnapper in the +line be your superior? Why, it's rank folly!" + +"So I thought," said Washington, "and therefore I resigned, and refused +to serve under such conditions." + +"And you did right," I said warmly. "You could have taken no other +course." + +But much pressure was brought to bear upon him to get him back into the +service. General Sharpe was most anxious to secure the services of the +best fighter and most experienced soldier in Virginia, and urged him to +accept a company of the Virginia troops; but he replied shortly that, +though strongly bent to arms, he had no inclination to hold a commission +to which neither rank nor emolument attached. And that remained his +answer to all like importunities. Whereat the authorities were greatly +wroth at him, from Governor Dinwiddie down, and seeking how they might +wound him further, cut from the rolls the names of half a dozen officers +whom they knew to be his friends. I was one of those who got a discharge, +the reason alleged in my case being that the companies had been so +reduced in number that there was not need of so many officers. It was a +heavy blow to me, I admit, and I think for a time Washington wavered in +his purpose; but his friends, of whom many now came to Mount Vernon, +persuaded him to remain firm in his resolution, confident that when the +commander-in-chief arrived and learned how matters stood, he would make +every reparation in his power. At the bottom of the entire trouble was, I +think, Dinwiddie's jealousy of Washington's growing popularity and +influence, a jealousy which had been roused by every man who had come +into great favor with the people since Dinwiddie had been +lieutenant-governor of Virginia. + +During the months that followed I was much at Mount Vernon. Indeed, it +was during that winter that we formed the warm attachment which still +continues. The family life there attracted me greatly, and I cannot +sufficiently express my admiration for Mrs. Washington. She was slight +and delicate of figure, but not even her eldest son, who towered above +her, possessed a greater dignity or grace. I loved to sit at one corner +of the great fireplace and see her eyes kindle with pride and affection +as she gazed at him, nor did her other children love him less than she. + +With the new year came renewed reports of activity in England. Two +regiments under command of Major-General Braddock were to be sent to +Virginia, whence, after being enforced by provincial levies, they were to +march against the French. I need not say how both Colonel Washington and +myself chafed at the thought that we were not to make the campaign; but +when he suggested accepting a commission as captain of the provincial +troops, his friends protested so against it that he finally abandoned the +idea for good and all, and we settled down to bear the inactivity as best +we could. But at last the summons came. + +It was Colonel Washington's twenty-third birthday, and there was quite a +celebration at Mount Vernon. The members of the family were all there, as +were Dorothy, her brother, and myself, as well as many other friends from +farther down the neck. Dinner was served in the long, low-ceilinged +dining-room, with the wide fireplace in one corner. What a meal it was, +with Mrs. Washington at the table-head and her son at the foot, yes, and +Dorothy there beside me with the brightest of bright eyes! I was ever a +good trencherman, and never did venison, wild turkey, and great yellow +sweet potatoes taste more savorsome than they did that day, with a jar of +Mrs. Washington's marmalade for relish. At the end came Pompey with a +great steaming bowl of flip, and as the mugs were filled and passed from +hand to hand, Dorothy and Betty Washington plunged in the red-hot irons +with great hissing and sizzle and an aroma most delicious. We pledged our +host, the ladies sipping from our cups--need I say who from mine?--with +little startled cries of agitation when the liquor stung them. Then they +left us to our pipes; but before the smoke was fairly started, there came +the gallop of a horse up the roadway past the kitchen garden, and a +moment later the great brass knocker was plied by a vigorous hand. We sat +in mute expectancy, and presently old Pompey thrust in his head. + +"Gen'leman t' see you, sah," he said to Colonel Washington. + +"Show him in here, Pomp," said the colonel; and a moment later one of +the governor's messengers entered, booted and spurred, his clothing +splashed with mud. + +"I have a message for you from the governor, Colonel Washington," he +said, saluting, and holding out a letter bearing the governor's +great seal. + +Washington took it without a trace of emotion, though I doubt not his +heart was beating as madly as my own. + +"Sit down, sir," he said heartily to the messenger, "and taste our +punch. I am sure you will find it excellent;" and when he had seen him +seated and served, he turned away to the window and opened the letter. +I watched him eagerly as he read it, and saw a slow flush steal into +his cheeks. + +"There is nothing here I may not tell, gentlemen," he said after a +moment, turning back to the group about the table. "Governor Dinwiddie +writes me that General Braddock and the first of the transports have +arrived safely off Hampton, and that he desires me to meet him in +Williamsburg as soon as possible, as he thinks my knowledge of the +country may be of some value. I shall start in the morning," he added, +turning to the messenger. "I trust you will remain and be our guest +till then." + +"Gladly," answered the man, "and ride back with you." So it was settled. + +We were not long away from the women after that, for they must hear the +great news. Colonel Washington refused to speculate about it, but I was +certain he was to be proffered some employment in the coming campaign +commensurate with his merit. The afternoon passed all too quickly, and +the moment came for us to start back to Riverview. Dorothy ran upstairs +to don her safeguard, the horses were brought out, and James and I +struggled into our coats. Dorothy was back in a moment, kissed Mrs. +Washington and Betty, and I helped her adjust her mask and lifted her to +the saddle. I felt my cheeks burning as I turned to bid good-by to +Colonel Washington, who had followed us from the house. + +"If it should be an appointment," I began, as I grasped his hand. + +"You maybe sure I shall not forget you, Tom," he said, smiling down into +my eager face. "I think it very likely that we shall march together to +fight the French." + +And those last words rang in my ears all the way back to Riverview. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DOROTHY MAKES HER CHOICE + + +I had been much from home during the winter, and, engrossed in my own +thoughts, had taken small account of what was passing, but I soon found +enough to occupy me. Dorothy had spent a month at Mount Pleasant, the +seat of the Lees, some distance down the river, and when she returned, I +soon began to suspect that she had left her heart there; for one day +there came riding up to Riverview Mr. Willoughby Newton, whose estate was +near Mount Pleasant, and the way that Dorothy blushed when she welcomed +him aroused my ire at once. Now Mr. Willoughby Newton was a very handsome +and proper gentleman, and on his broad acres grew some of the sweetest +tobacco that ever left Virginia; but I could scarce treat him civilly, +which only shows what an insufferable puppy I still was, and I made +myself most miserable. His learning was more of the court and camp than +of the bookshelf,--a defect which I soon discovered,--and I loved to set +him tripping over some quibble of words, a proceeding which amused me +vastly, though my mirth was shared by none of the others who witnessed +it. In fact, Madame Stewart was partial to the man from the first, in +which I do not blame her, for a better match could not have been desired +for her daughter. She made him see his welcome, and he doubtless thought +the road to Dorothy's heart a fair and easy one. I certainly thought so, +and I spent my days in moping about the place, cutting a most melancholy +and unattractive figure. + +I can look back now with a smile upon those days, realizing what a +ridiculous sight I must have been, but at the time, their tragedy was for +me a very real and living one. Newton had passed some years in London, +and had picked up there the graces of the court, as well as much of its +frippery gossip, which latter he was fond of retailing, to my great +disgust, but to the vast entertainment of the ladies, who found no fault +with it, though it was four or five years old. He could tell a story well +and turn a joke to a nicety,--a fact which I was at that time far from +admitting,--and under other circumstances I should have found him a witty +and amusing friend. I think he soon saw what my feelings were,--indeed, +even a more obtuse man would have had no difficulty in understanding +them,--and he treated me with a good-humored condescension which +irritated me beyond measure. And yet, unquestionably, it was the only +treatment my behavior merited. + +The climax came one evening after dinner. We had both, perhaps, had a +glass of wine too much before we joined the ladies. Certainly, no words +had passed between us when they had left the table, and there was nothing +to do but drink, which we did with moody perseverance. But once before +the fire in the great hall, with Madame Stewart knitting on one side and +Dorothy bending over her tambour on the other, his mood changed and he +grew talkative enough, while I sat down near the candles and pretended to +be absorbed in a book. + +"Do you know, ladies," he said, "this reminds me of nothing so much as a +night in London just five years ago, when the great earthquake was. We +were sitting around the fire, just as we are siting now, Tommy Collier on +my right, and Harry Sibley on my left, when the bottles on the table +began to clink and the windows to rattle, and poor Harry, who was leaning +back in his chair, crashed over backwards to the floor. We picked him up +and went out into the street, where there was confusion worse confounded. +Windows were thrown open, women were running up and down clad only in +their smocks, and one fellow had mounted a barrel and was calling on the +people to repent because the Day of Judgment was at hand. Somebody +predicted there would be another earthquake in a week, and so the next +day the people began to pour out of town, not because they were +frightened, but 'Lord, the weather is so fine,' they said, 'one can't +help going into the country.'" + +"You found the country very pleasant, Mr. Newton, I dare say," I +remarked, looking up from my book. He did not at once understand the +meaning of my question, but Dorothy did, and flushed crimson with +anger. The sight of her disapproval and Madame Stewart's frowning face +maddened me. + +"No," he said slowly, after a moment, "I did not leave the city, but +hundreds of people did. Within three days, over seven hundred coaches +were counted passing Hyde Park corner, with whole families going to the +country. The clergy preached that it was judgment on London for its +wickedness, and that the next earthquake would swallow up the whole town. +The ridotto had to be put off because there was no one to attend it, and +the women who remained in town spent their time between reading +Sherlock's sermons and making earthquake gowns, in which they proposed to +sit out of doors all night." + +"Pray, what was the color of your gown, Mr. Newton?" I inquired, with a +polite show of interest. + +Newton rose slowly from his chair and came toward me. + +"Am I to understand that you mean to insult me, sir?" he asked, when he +had got quite near. + +"You are to understand whatever you please," I answered hotly, throwing +my book upon the table. + +"Tom," cried Dorothy, "for shame, sir! Have you taken leave of +your senses?" + +"Do not be frightened, I beg of you, Miss Randolph," interrupted Newton, +restraining her with one hand. "I assure you that I have no intention of +injuring the boy." + +"Injuring me, indeed!" I cried, springing to my feet, furious with rage, +for I could not bear to be patronized. "It is you who are insulting, and +by God you shall answer for it!" + +"As you will," he said, with a light laugh, and turned back to the fire. + +I knew that I had got all the worst of the encounter, that I had behaved +with a rudeness for which there was no excuse, and that I cut a sorry +figure standing there, and my face burned at the knowledge. But +preserving what semblance of dignity I could, I stalked from the hall and +upstairs to my room. I sat a long time thinking over the occurrence, and +the more I pondered it, the more clearly I saw that I had played the +fool. I did not know then, but I learned long afterward, that my conduct +that night came near losing me the great happiness of my life. My cheeks +flush even now as I think of my behavior. How foolish do the tragedies of +youth appear, once time has tamed the blood! + +I did not wonder in the morning to receive a summons from my aunt, and I +found her in her accustomed chair before the table piled with papers. She +glanced at me coldly as I entered, and finished looking over a paper she +held in her hand before she spoke to me. + +"I need not tell you," she said at length, "how greatly your boorish +conduct of last night surprised me. To insult a guest, and especially to +do so without provocation, is not the part of a gentleman." + +I flushed angrily, for the justness of this statement only irritated me +the more. I think it is always the man who is in the wrong that shows the +greatest violence, and the man that most deserves rebuke who is most +impatient of it. + +"There is no need for you to counsel me how a gentleman should behave," +I answered hotly. + +"I did not summon you here to counsel you," she said still more coldly, +"but to inform you that this disgraceful affair is to go no further, at +least beneath this roof. Mr. Newton has promised me to overlook your +behavior, which is most generous on his part, and I trust you will see +the wisdom of making peace with him." + +"And why, may I ask, madame?" + +"Because," she said, looking me in the eyes, "it is most likely that he +will marry my daughter, and nothing is more vulgar than a family whose +members are forever quarreling." + +I clenched my hands until the nails pierced the flesh. She had hit me a +hard blow, and she knew it. + +"And what does Dorothy think of this arrangement?" I asked, with as great +composure as I could muster. + +She smiled with a calm assurance which made my heart sink. "Dorothy would +be a fool not to accept him, for he is one of the most eligible gentlemen +in Virginia. Indeed, perhaps she has already done so, for I gave him +leave to speak to her this morning," and she smiled again as she noted my +trembling hands, which I tried in vain to steady. "You seem much +interested in the matter." + +I turned from her without replying,--I could trust myself no further. Not +that I blamed her for hating me,--for she loved her son and I was the +shadow across his path,--but she was pressing me further than I had +counted on. I snatched up my hat as I ran along the hall and out the +great door toward the river. Spring was coming, the trees were shaking +out their foliage, along the river the wild flowers were beginning to +show their tiny faces, but I saw none of these as I broke my way through +the brush along the water's edge,--for perhaps even now he was asking +Dorothy to be his wife, and she was yielding to him. The thought maddened +me,--yet why should she do otherwise? What claim had I upon her? And yet +I had builded such a different future for her and me. + +I had walked I know not how long when I came out suddenly upon the road +which wound along the bank and finally dipped to the ferry, and here I +sat down upon a log to think. If Dorothy accepted him, I could no longer +stay at Riverview. I must go away to Williamsburg and seek employment in +the campaign, if only as a ranger. It must soon commence, and surely +they would not refuse me in the ranks. As I sat absorbed in bitter +thought, I heard the sound of hoof beats up the road and saw a horseman +coming. I drew back behind a tree, for I was in no mood to talk to any +one, and gloomily watched him as he drew nearer. There seemed something +strangely familiar about the figure, and in an instant I recognized him. +It was Willoughby Newton. In another moment he had passed, his face a +picture of rage and shame. He was riding away from Riverview in anger, +and as I realized what that meant, I sprang forward with a great cry of +joy. He must have heard me, for he turned in the saddle and shook his +whip at me, and for an instant drew rein as though to stop. But he +thought better of it, for he settled again in the saddle, and was soon +out of sight down the road. + +I had not waited so long, for settling my hat on my head, I set off up +the road as fast as my legs would carry me. It seemed to me I should +never reach the house, and I cursed the folly which had taken me so far +away, but at last I ran up the steps and into the hall. As I entered, I +caught a glimpse of a well-known gown in the hall above, and in an +instant I was up the stairs. + +"Dorothy!" I gasped, seizing one of her hands, "Dorothy, tell me, you +have told him no?" + +I must have been a surprising object, covered with dust and breathless, +but she leaned toward me and gave me her other hand. + +"Yes, Tom," she said very softly, "I told him no. I do not love him, Tom, +and I could not marry a man I do not love." + +"Oh, Dorothy," I cried, "if you knew how glad I am! If you knew how I +was raging along the river at the very thought that he was asking you, +and fearing for your reply; for he is a very fine fellow, Dorothy," and +I realized with amazement that all my resentment and anger against +Newton had vanished in an instant. "But when I saw him ride by like a +madman, I knew you had said no, and I came back as fast as I could to +make certain." + +Somehow, as I was speaking, I had drawn her toward me, and my arm was +around her. + +"Can you not guess, dear Dolly," I whispered "why I was so angry with +him last night? It was because I knew he was going to ask you, and I +feared that you might say yes." + +I could feel her trembling now, and would have bent and kissed her, but +that she sprang from me with a little frightened cry, and I turned to see +her mother standing in the hall below. + +"So," she said, mounting the steps with an ominous calmness, "my daughter +sees fit to reject the addresses of Mr. Newton and yet receive those of +Mr. Stewart. I perceive now why he was so deeply concerned in what I had +to tell him this morning. May I ask, Mr. Stewart, if you consider +yourself a good match for my daughter?" + +"Good match or not, madame," I cried, "I love her, and if she will have +me, she shall be my wife!" + +"Fine talk!" she sneered. "To what estate will you take her, sir? On +what income will you support her? My daughter has been accustomed to a +gentle life." + +"And if I have no estate to which to take her," I cried, "if I have no +income by which to support her, remember, madame, that it is from choice, +not from necessity!" + +I could have bit my tongue the moment the words were out. Her anger had +carried her further than she intended going, but for my ungenerous retort +there was no excuse. + +"Am I to understand this is a threat?" she asked, very pale, but +quite composed. + +"No, it is not a threat," I answered. "The words were spoken in anger, +and I am sorry for them. I have already told you my intentions in that +matter, and have no purpose to change my mind. I will win myself a name +and an estate, and then I will come back and claim your daughter. We +shall soon both be of age." + +She laughed bitterly. + +"Until that day, then, Mr. Stewart," she said, "I must ask you to have no +further intercourse with her. Perhaps at Williamsburg you will find a +more congenial lodging while you are making your fortune." + +My blood rushed to my face at the insult, and I could not trust myself +to answer. + +"Come, Dorothy," she continued, "you will go to your room," and she +pushed her on before her. + +I watched them until they turned into the other corridor, and then went +slowly down the stairs. As I emerged upon the walk before the house, I +saw a negro riding up, whom I recognized as one of Colonel Washington's +servants. Some message for Dorothy from Betty Washington, no doubt, and I +turned moodily back toward the stables to get out my horse, for I was +determined to leave the place without delay. But I was arrested by the +negro calling to me. + +"What is it, Sam?" I asked, as he cantered up beside me. + +"Lettah f'um Kuhnal Washin'ton, sah," he said, and handed me the missive. + +I tore it open with a trembling hand. + +DEAR TOM [it ran],--I have procured you an appointment as lieutenant in +Captain Waggoner's company of Virginia troops, which are to make the +campaign with General Braddock. They are now in barracks at Winchester, +where you will join them as soon as possible. + +Your friend, G. WASHINGTON. + +"Sam," I said, "go back to the kitchen and tell Sukey to fill you up on +the best she's got," and I turned and ran into the house. I tapped at the +door of my aunt's room, and her voice bade me enter. + +"I have just received a note from Colonel Washington," I said, "in which +he tells me that he has secured me a commission as lieutenant for the +campaign, so I will not need to trespass on your hospitality longer than +to-morrow morning." + +There was a queer gleam in her eyes, which I thought I could read aright. + +"Yes, there are many chances in war," I said bitterly, "and I am as like +as another to fall." + +"I am not quite so bloodthirsty as you seem to think," she answered +coldly, "and perhaps a moment ago I spoke more harshly than I intended. +Everything you need for the journey you will please ask for. I wish you +every success." + +"Thank you," I said, and left the room. My pack was soon made, for I had +seen enough of frontier fighting to know no extra baggage would be +permitted, and then I roamed up and down the house in hope of seeing +Dorothy. But she was nowhere visible, and at last I gave up the search +and went to bed. + +I was up long before daylight, donned my old uniform, saw my horse fed +and saddled, ate my breakfast, and was ready to go. I took a last look +around my room, picked up my pack, and started down the stairs. + +"Tom," whispered a voice above me, and I looked up and saw her. "Quick, +quick," she whispered, "say good-by." + +"Oh, my love!" I cried, and I drew her lips down to mine. + +"And you will not forget me, Tom?" she said. "I shall pray for you every +night and morning till you come back to me. Good-by." + +"Forget you, Dolly? Nay, that will never be." And as I rode away through +the bleak, gray morning, the mist rolling up from hill and river +disclosed a world of wondrous fairness. + +Which brings me back again to the camp at Winchester,--but what a +journey it has been! As I look back, nothing strikes me so greatly as +the length of the way by which I have come. I had thought that some +dozen pages at the most would suffice for my introduction, but memory +has led my pen along many a by-path, and paused beside a score of +half-forgotten landmarks. Well, as it was written, so let it stand, for +my heart is in it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +LIEUTENANT ALLEN SHOWS HIS SKILL + + +The days dragged on at Winchester, as days in camp will, and I accepted +no more invitations to mess with the officers of the line. Indeed, I +received none, and we provincial officers kept to ourselves. Major +Washington had returned to Mount Vernon, but I found many of my old +friends with the troops, so had no lack of company. There was Captain +Waggoner, who had got his promotion eight months before, and Peyronie, +recovered of his wound and eager for another bout with the French. He +also had been promoted for his gallantry, and now had his own company of +rangers. There was Captain Polson, for whom a tragic fate was waiting, +and my old captain, Adam Stephen. And there was Carolus Spiltdorph, +advanced to a lieutenancy like myself, and by great good fortune in my +company. We began to chum together at once,--sharing our blankets and +tobacco,--and continued so until the end. + +Another friend I also found in young Harry Marsh, a son of Colonel Henry +Marsh, who owned a plantation some eight or ten miles above the Frederick +ferry, and a cousin of my aunt. Colonel Marsh had stopped one day at +Riverview, while on his way home from Hampton, and had made us all +promise to return his visit, but so many affairs had intervened that the +promise had never been kept. The boy, who was scarce nineteen, had +secured a berth as ensign in Peyronie's company, and he came frequently +with his captain to our quarters to listen with all his ears to our +stories of the Fort Necessity affair. He was a fresh, wholehearted +fellow, and though he persisted in considering us all as little less than +heroes, was himself heroic as any, as I was in the end to learn. We were +a hearty and good-tempered company, and spent our evenings together most +agreeably, discussing the campaign and the various small happenings of +the camp. But as Spiltdorph shrewdly remarked, we were none of us so +sanguinary as we had been a year before. I have since observed that the +more a man sees of war, the less his eagerness for blood. + +From Lieutenant Allen I kept aloof as much as possible, and he on his +part took no notice whatever of me. Some rumor of my affair with him had +got about the camp, but as neither of us would say a word concerning it, +it was soon forgot in the press of greater matters. Whatever Allen's +personal character may have been, it is not to be denied that he labored +with us faithfully, though profanely, drilling us up and down the camp +till we were near fainting in the broiling sun, or exercising us in arms +for hours together, putting us through the same movement a hundred times, +till we had done it to his satisfaction. We grumbled of course, among +ourselves, but at the end of another fortnight the result of his work +began to be apparent, and Sir Peter Halket, when he inspected us just +before starting for Fort Cumberland, as the fortification at Will's Creek +was named, expressed himself well pleased with the progress we had made. + +For the order to advance came at last, and after a two weeks' weary +journey along the road which had been widened for the passage of wagons +and artillery, we reached our destination and went into quarters there. +The barracks were much better appointed than were the ones at Winchester, +for this was to be the rendezvous of the entire force, and the +independent companies which Colonel Washington had stationed here the +previous summer had been at work all winter clearing the ground and +building the fort. They had cleared a wide space in the forest, and on a +little hill some two hundred yards from Will's Creek and four hundred +from the Potomac, had erected the stockade. It was near two hundred yards +in length from east to west, and some fifty in width, but rude enough, +consisting merely of a row of logs set upright in the ground and +projecting some twelve feet above it, loopholed, and sharpened at the +top. There were embrasures for twelve cannon, ten of which, all +four-pounders, were already mounted. Though frail as it could well be, it +was deemed sufficient to withstand any attack likely to be brought +against it. A great two-storied barrack for the officers of the line had +been erected within the stockade, and two magazines of heavy timber. The +men were camped about the fort, and half a mile away through the forest a +hundred Indians had pitched their wigwams. And here, on the tenth of May, +came the Forty-Eighth under Colonel Dunbar, and General Braddock himself +in his great traveling chariot, his staff riding behind and a body of +light horse on either side. We were paraded to welcome him, the drums +rolled out the grenadiers, the seventeen guns prescribed by the +regulations were fired, and the campaign was on in earnest. + +The morning of the next day, the general held his first levee in his +tent, and all the officers called to pay their respects. He was a +heavy-set, red-faced man of some sixty years, with long, straight nose, +aggressive, pointed chin, and firm-set lips, and though he greeted us +civilly enough, there was a touch of insolence in his manner which he +made small effort to conceal, and which showed that it was not upon the +Virginia troops he placed reliance. Still, there was that in his +heavy-featured face and in his bearing which bespoke the soldier, and I +remembered Fontenoy and the record he had made there. In the afternoon, +there was a general review, and he rode up and down with his staff in +front of the whole force, most gorgeous in gold lace and brilliant +accoutrement. Of the twenty-two hundred men he looked at that day, the +nine Virginia companies found least favor in his eyes, for he deemed them +listless and mean-spirited,--an opinion which he was at no pains to keep +to himself, and which had the effect of making the bearing of his +officers toward us even more insulting. + +As we were drawn up there in line, the orders for the camp were +published, the articles of war were read to us, and in the days that +followed there was great show of discipline. But it was only show, for +there was little real order, and even here on the edge of the +settlements, the food was so bad and so scarce that foraging parties were +sent to the neighboring plantations to seize what they could find, and a +general market established in the camp. To encourage the people to bring +in provisions, the price was raised a penny a pound, and any person who +ventured to interfere with one bringing provisions, or offered to buy of +him before he reached the public market, was to suffer death. These +regulations produced some supplies, though very little when compared to +our great needs. + +A thing which encouraged me greatly to believe in the sagacity of our +commander was the pains he took to engage the good offices of the +Indians,--such of them, that is, as had not already been hopelessly +estranged by the outrages committed upon them by traders and +frontiersmen. Mr. Croghan, one of the best known of the traders, had +brought some fifty warriors to the camp, together with their women and +children, and on the morning of the twelfth, a congress was held at the +general's tent to receive them. All the officers were there, and when the +Indians were brought, the guard received them with firelocks rested. +There was great powwowing and smoking the pipe, and the general gave +them a belt of wampum and many presents, and urged them to take up the +hatchet against the French. This they agreed to do, and doubtless would +have done, but for the conduct of some of the officers of the line. + +The Indian camp, with its bark wigwams and tall totem pole, had become a +great place of resort with certain of the officers. They had been +attracted first by the dancing and queer customs of the savages, and had +they come away when once their curiosity was satisfied, little harm had +been done. Unfortunately, after looking at the men they looked at the +women, and found some of them not unattractive. So, for want of something +better to do, they set about debauching them, and succeeded so well that +the warriors finally took their women away from the camp in disgust, and +never again came near it. Other Indians appeared from time to time, but +after begging all the rum and presents they could get, they left the camp +and we never saw them again. Many of them were Delawares, doubtless sent +as spies by the French. Another visitor was Captain Jack, the Black +Rifle, known and feared by the Indians the whole length of the frontier. +He had sworn undying vengeance against them, having come home to his +cabin one night to find his wife and children butchered, and had roamed +from the Carolinas to the Saint Lawrence, leaving a trail of Indian blood +behind him. He would have made a most useful ally, but he took offense at +some fancied slight, and one day abruptly disappeared in the forest. + +Never during all these weeks did the regulars get over their astonishment +at sight of the tall warriors stalking through the camp, painted in red, +yellow, and black, and greased from head to foot, their ears slit, their +heads shaved save for the scalp-lock with its tuft of feathers; nor did +they cease to wonder at their skill in throwing the tomahawk and shooting +with the rifle, a skill of which we were to have abundant proof erelong. + +It was not until four or five days after his arrival with General +Braddock that I had opportunity to see Colonel Washington. I met him one +evening as I was returning from guard duty, and I found him looking so +pale and dispirited that I was startled. + +"You are not ill?" I cried, as I grasped his hand. + +"Ill rather in spirit than in body, Tom," he answered, with a smile. +"Life in the general's tent is not a happy one. He has met with +nothing but vexation, worry, and delay since he has been in the +colony, and I believe he looks upon the country as void of honor and +honesty. I try to show him that he has seen only the darker side, and +we have frequent disputes, which sometimes wax very warm, for he is +incapable of arguing without growing angry. Not that I blame him +greatly," he added, with a sigh, "for the way the colonies have acted +in this matter is inexcusable. Wagons, horses, and provisions which +were promised us are not forthcoming, and without them we are stalled +here beyond hope of advance." + +He passed his hand wearily before his eyes, and we walked some time +in silence. + +"'Tis this delay which is ruining our great chance of success," he +continued at last. "Could we have reached the fort before the French +could reinforce it, the garrison must have deserted it or surrendered to +us. But now they will have time to send whatever force they wish into the +Ohio valley, and rouse all the Indian tribes for a hundred miles around. +For with the Indians, the French have played a wiser part than the +English, Tom, and have kept them ever their friends, while to-day we have +not an Indian in the camp." + +"They will return," I said. "They have all promised to return." + +Washington shook his head. + +"They will not return. Gist knows the Indians as few other white men do, +and he assures me that they will not return." + +"Well," I retorted hotly, "Indians or no Indians, the French cannot hope +to resist successfully an army such as ours." + +For a moment Washington said nothing. + +"You must not think me a croaker, Tom," and he smiled down at me again, +"but indeed I see many chances of failure. Even should we reach Fort +Duquesne in safety, we will scarce be in condition to besiege it, unless +the advance is conducted with rare skill and foresight." + +I had nothing to say in answer, for in truth I believed he was looking +too much on the dark side, and yet did not like to tell him so. + +"How do you find the general?" I asked. + +"A proud, obstinate, brave man," he said, "who knows the science of war, +perhaps, but who is ill fitted to cope with the difficulties he has met +here and has still to meet. His great needs are patience and diplomacy +and a knowledge of Indian warfare. I would he had been with us last year +behind the walls of Fort Necessity." + +"He has good advisers," I suggested. "Surely you can tell him what +occurred that day." + +But again Washington shook his head. + +"My advice, such as I have ventured to give him, has been mostly thrown +away. But his two other aides are good men,--Captain Orme and Captain +Morris,--and may yet bring him to reason. The general's secretary, Mr. +Shirley, is also an able man, but knows nothing of war. Indeed, he +accepted the position to learn something of the art, but I fancy is +disgusted with what knowledge he has already gained. As to the other +officers, there is little to say. Some are capable, but most are merely +insolent and ignorant, and all of them aim rather at displaying their own +abilities than strengthening the hands of the general. In fact, Tom, I +have regretted a score of times that I ever consented to make the +campaign." + +"But if you had not, where should I have been?" I protested. + +"At least, you had been in no danger from Lieutenant Allen's sword," he +laughed. "I have heard many stories of his skill since I have been in +camp, and perhaps it is as well he was in wine that night, and so not at +his best. How has he used you since?" + +"Why, in truth," I said, somewhat nettled at his reference to Allen's +skill, "he has not so much as shown that he remembers me. But I shall +remind him of our engagement once the campaign is ended, and shall ask my +second to call upon him." + +Washington laughed again, and I was glad to see that I had taken his mind +off his own affairs. + +"I shall be at your service then, Tom," he said. "Remember, he is one of +the best swordsmen in the army, and you will do well to keep in practice. +Do not grow over-confident;" and he bade me good-by and turned back to +the general's quarters. + +I thought his advice well given, and the very next day, to my great +delight, found in Captain Polson's company John Langlade, the man of whom +I had taken a dozen lessons at Williamsburg. He was very ready to accept +the chance to add a few shillings to his pay, so for an hour every +morning we exercised in a little open space behind the stockade. I soon +found with great satisfaction that I could hold my own against him, +though he was accounted a good swordsman, and he complimented me more +than once on my strength of wrist and quickness of eye. + +We were hard at it one morning, when I heard some one approaching, and, +glancing around, saw that it was Lieutenant Allen. I flushed crimson +with chagrin, for that he guessed the reason of my diligence with the +foils, I could not doubt. But I continued my play as though I had not +seen him, and for some time he stood watching us with a dry smile. + +"Very pretty," he said at last, as we stopped to breathe. "If all the +Virginia troops would spend their mornings to such advantage, I should +soon make soldiers of them despite themselves. Rapier play is most useful +when one is going to fight the French, who are masters at it. I fear my +own arm is growing rusty," he added carelessly. "Lend me your foil a +moment, Lieutenant Stewart." + +I handed it to him without a word, wondering what the man would be at. He +took it nonchalantly, tested it, and turned to Langlade. + +"Will you cross with me?" he said, and as Langlade nodded, he saluted and +they engaged. Almost before the ring of the first parade had died away, +Langlade's foil was flying through the air, and Allen was smiling blandly +into his astonished face. + +"An accident, I do not doubt," he said coolly. "Such accidents will +happen sometimes. Will you try again?" + +Langlade pressed his lips together, and without replying, picked up his +foil. I saw him measure Allen with his eye, and then they engaged a +second time. For a few moments, Allen contented himself with standing on +the defensive, parrying Langlade's savage thrusts with a coolness which +nothing could shake and an art that was consummate. Then he bent to the +attack, and touched his adversary on breast and arm and thigh, his point +reaching its mark with ease and seeming slowness. + +"Really, I must go," he said at length. "The bout has done me a world of +good. I trust you will profit by the lesson, Lieutenant Stewart," and he +handed me back my foil, smiled full into my eyes, and walked away. + +We both stared after him, until he turned the corner and was out of +sight. + +"He's the devil himself," gasped Langlade, as our eyes met. "I have never +felt such a wrist. Did you see how he disarmed me? 'Twas no accident. My +fingers would have broken in an instant more, had I not let go the foil. +Who is he?" + +"Lieutenant Allen, of the Forty-Fourth," I answered as carelessly +as I could. + +Langlade fell silent a moment. + +"I have heard of him," he said at last. "I do not wonder he disarmed me. +'Twas he who met the Comte d'Artois, the finest swordsman in the French +Guards, in a little wood on the border of Holland, one morning, over some +affair of honor. They had agreed that it should be to the death." + +"And what was the result?" I questioned, looking out over the camp as +though little interested in the answer. + +"Can you doubt?" asked Langlade. "Allen returned to England without a +scratch, and his opponent was carried back to Paris with a sword-thrust +through his heart, and buried beside his royal relatives at Saint +Denis. I pity any man who is called upon to face him. He has need to be +a master." + +I nodded gloomily, put up the foils, and returned to my quarters, for I +was in no mood for further exercise that morning. What Allen had meant by +his last remark I could not doubt. The lesson I was to profit by was that +I should stand no chance against him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +I CHANCE UPON A TRAGEDY + + +As the first weeks of May passed, we slowly got into shape for the +advance, and I began to realize the magnitude of the task before us. Our +march to Great Meadows the year before, arduous as it had been, was mere +child's play to this, and I did not wonder that on every hand the general +found himself confronting obstacles well-nigh insurmountable. And each +day, as though to cover other defects, the discipline grew more exacting. +Arms were constantly inspected and overhauled; roll was called morning, +noon, and night; each regiment attended divine service around the colors +every Sabbath, though neither officers nor men got much good from it that +I could see; guard mount occurred each morning at eight o'clock; every +man was supplied with twenty-four rounds and extra flints, and also a new +shirt, a new pair of stockings and of shoes, and Osnabrig waistcoats and +breeches, the heat making the others insupportable, and with bladders for +their hats. + +On the sixteenth, Colonel Gage, with two companies of the Forty-Fourth +and the last division of the train, toiled into camp, very weary and +travel-stained, and on this day, too, was the first death among the +officers, Captain Bromley, of Sir Peter Halket's, succumbing to +dysentery. Two days later, we all attended his funeral, and a most +impressive sight it was. A captain's guard marched before the coffin, +their firelocks reversed, and the drums beating the dead march. At the +grave the guard formed on either side, and the coffin, with sword and +sash upon it, was carried in between and lowered into place. The service +was read by Chaplain Hughes, of the Forty-Fourth, the guard fired three +volleys over the grave, and we returned to quarters. + +There was a great demonstration next day to impress some Indians that had +come into camp. All the guns were fired, and drums and fifes were set to +beating and playing the point-of-war, and then four or five companies of +regulars were put through their manoeuvres. The Indians were vastly +astonished at seeing them move together as one man, and even to us +provincials it was a thrilling and impressive sight. And on the twentieth +happened one of the pleasantest incidents of the whole campaign. + +The great difficulty which confronted our commander from the first was +the lack of means of transport. Of the three thousand horses and three +hundred wagons promised from the colonies, only two hundred horses and +twenty wagons were forthcoming, so that for a time it seemed that the +expedition must be abandoned. Small wonder the general raved and swore +at provincial perfidy and turpitude, the more so when it was +discovered that a great part of the provision furnished for the army +was utterly worthless, and the two hundred horses scarce able to stand +upon their feet. + +Let me say here that I believe this purblind policy of delaying the +expedition instead of freely aiding it had much to do with the result. +Virginia did her part with some degree of willingness, but Pennsylvania, +whence the general expected to draw a great part of his transport and +provision, would do nothing. The Assembly spent its time bickering with +the governor, and when asked to contribute toward its own defense, made +the astounding statement that "they had rather the French should conquer +them than give up their privileges." Some of them even asserted that +there were no French, but that the whole affair was a scheme of the +politicians, and acted, to use Dinwiddie's words, as though they had +given their senses a long holiday. + +Yet, strangely enough, it was from a Pennsylvanian that aid came at last, +for just when matters were at their worst and the general in despair, +there came to his quarters at Frederick a very famous gentleman,--more +famous still in the troublous times which are upon us now,--Mr. Benjamin +Franklin, of Philadelphia, director of posts in the colonies and sometime +printer of "Poor Richard." The general received him as his merit +warranted, and explained to him our difficulties. Mr. Franklin, as +Colonel Washington told me afterward, listened to it all with close +attention, putting in a keen question now and then, and at the end said +he believed he could secure us horses and wagons from his friends among +the Pennsylvania Dutch, who were ever ready to turn an honest penny. So +he wrote them a diplomatic letter, and the result was that, beside near a +hundred furnished earlier, there came to us at Cumberland on the +twentieth above eighty wagons, each with four horses, and the general +declared Mr. Franklin the only honest man he had met in America. We, too, +had cause to remember him, for all the officers were summoned to the +general's tent, and there was distributed to each of us a package +containing a generous supply of sugar, tea, coffee, chocolate, cheese, +butter, wine, spirits, hams, tongues, rice, and raisins, the gift of Mr. +Franklin and the Philadelphia Assembly. + +There was high carnival in our tent that night, as you may well believe. +We were all there, all who had been present at Fort Necessity, and not +since the campaign opened had we sat down to such a feast. And when the +plates were cleared away and only the pipes and wine remained, Peyronie +sang us a song in French, and Spiltdorph one in German, and Polson one in +Gaelic, and old Christopher Gist, who stuck in his head to see what was +toward, was pressed to pay for his entertainment by giving us a Cherokee +war-song, which he did with much fire and spirit. We sat long into the +night talking of the past and of the future, and of the great things we +were going to accomplish. Nor did we forget to draft a letter of most +hearty thanks to Mr. Franklin, which was sent him, together with many +others, among them one from Sir Peter Halket himself. + +The arrival of the wagons had done much to solve the problem of +transport, and on the next day preparations for the advance began in +earnest. The whole force of carpenters was put to work building a bridge +across the creek, the smiths sharpened the axes, and the bakers baked a +prodigious number of little biscuits for us to carry on the march. Two +hundred pioneers were sent out to cut the road, and from one end of the +camp to the other was the stir of preparation. + +So two days passed, and on the afternoon of the twenty-fourth, Spiltdorph +and myself crossed the creek on the bridge, which was well-nigh +completed, and walked on into the forest to see what progress the +pioneers were making. We each took a firelock with us in hope of knocking +over some game for supper, to help out our dwindling larder. We found +that the pioneers had cut a road twelve feet wide some two miles into the +forest. It was a mere tunnel between the trees, whose branches overtopped +it with a roof of green, but it had been leveled with great care,--more +care than I thought necessary,--and would give smooth going to the wagons +and artillery. We reached the end of the road, where the axemen were +laboring faithfully, and after watching them for a time, were turning +back to camp, when Spiltdorph called my attention to the peculiar +appearance of the ground about us. We were in the midst of a grove of +chestnuts, and the leaves beneath them for rods around had been turned +over and the earth freshly raked up. + +"What under heaven could have caused that?" asked Spiltdorph. + +"Wild turkeys," I answered quickly, for I had often seen the like under +beeches and oaks as well as chestnuts. "Come on," I added, "perhaps they +are not far away." + +"All right," said Spiltdorph, "a wild turkey would go exceeding well on +our table;" and he followed me into the forest. The turkeys had evidently +been frightened away by the approach of the pioneers, and had stopped +here and there to hunt for food, so that their track was easily followed. +I judged they could not be far away, and was looking every moment to see +their blue heads bobbing about among the underbrush, when I heard a sharp +fusilade of shots ahead. + +"Somebody 's found 'em!" I cried. "Come on. Perhaps we can get some yet." + +We tore through a bit of marshy ground, up a slight hill, and came +suddenly to the edge of a little clearing. One glance into it sent me +headlong behind a bush, and I tripped up Spiltdorph beside me. + +"Good God, man!" he cried, but I had my hand over his mouth before he +could say more. + +"Be still," I whispered "an you value your life. Look over there." + +He peered around the bush and saw what I had seen, a dozen Indians in +full war paint busily engaged in setting fire to a log cabin which stood +in the middle of the clearing. They were going about the task in unwonted +silence, doubtless because of the nearness of our troops, and a half +dozen bodies, two of women and four of children, scattered on the ground +before the door, showed how completely they had done their work. Even as +we looked, two of them picked up the body of one of the women and threw +it into the burning house. + +"The devils!" groaned Spiltdorph. "Oh, the devils!" and I felt my own +blood boiling in my veins. + +"Come, we must do something!" I said. "We can kill two of them and reload +and kill two more before they can reach us. They will not dare pursue us +far toward the camp, and may even run at the first fire." + +"Good!" said Spiltdorph, between his teeth. "Pick your man;" but before I +could reply he had jerked his musket to his shoulder with a cry of rage +and fired. An Indian had picked up one of the children, which must have +been only wounded, since it was crying lustily, and was just about to +pitch it on the fire, when Spiltdorph's bullet caught him full in the +breast. He threw up his hands and fell like a log, the child under him. +Quick as a flash, I fired and brought down another. For an instant the +Indians stood dazed at the suddenness of the attack, and then with a yell +they broke for the other side of the clearing. Spiltdorph would have +started down toward the house, but I held him back. + +"Not yet," I said. "They will stop so soon as they get to cover. +Wait a bit." + +We waited for half an hour, watching the smoke curling over the house, +and then, judging that the Indians had made off for fear of being +ambushed, we crossed the clearing. It took but a glance to read the +story. The women had been washing by the little brook before the cabin, +with the children playing about them, when the Indians had come up and +with a single volley killed them all except the child we had heard +crying. They had swooped down upon their victims, torn the scalps from +their heads, looted the house, and set fire to it. We dragged out the +body of the woman which had been thrown within, in the hope that a spark +of life might yet remain, but she was quite dead. Beneath the warrior +Spiltdorph had shot we found the child. It was a boy of some six or seven +years, and so covered with blood that it seemed it must be dead. But we +stripped it and washed it in the brook, and found no wounds upon it +except in the head, where it had been struck with a hatchet before its +scalp had been stripped off. The cold water brought it back to life and +it began to cry again, whereat Spiltdorph took off his coat and wrapped +it tenderly about it. + +We washed the blood from the faces of the women and stood for a long time +looking down at them. They were both comely, the younger just at the dawn +of womanhood. They must have been talking merrily together, for their +faces were smiling as they had been in life. + +As I stood looking so, I was startled by a kind of dry sobbing at my +elbow, and turned with a jerk to find a man standing there. He was +leaning on his rifle, gazing down at the dead, with no sound but the +choking in his throat. A brace of turkeys over his shoulder showed that +he had been hunting. In an instant I understood. It was the husband and +father come home. He did not move as I looked at him nor raise his eyes, +but stood transfixed under his agony. I glanced across at Spiltdorph, and +saw that his eyes were wet and his lips quivering. I did not venture to +speak, but my friend, who was ever more tactful than I, moved to the +man's side and placed his hand gently on his shoulder. + +"They died an easy death," he said softly. "See, they are still smiling. +They had no fear, no agony. They were dead before they knew that danger +threatened. Let us thank God that they suffered no worse." + +The man breathed a long sigh and his strength seemed to go suddenly from +him, for he dropped his rifle and fell upon his knees. + +"This was my wife," he whispered. "This was my sister. These were my +children. What is there left on earth for me?" + +I no longer sought to control the working of my face, and the tears were +streaming down Spiltdorph's cheeks. Great, gentle, manly heart, how I +loved you! + +"Yes, there is something!" cried the man, and he sprang to his feet +and seized his gun. "There is vengeance! Friends, will you help me +bury my dead?" + +"Yes, we will help," I said. He brought a spade and hoe from a little hut +near the stream, and we dug a broad and shallow trench and laid the +bodies in it. + +"There is one missing," said the man, looking about him. "Where is he?" + +"He is here," said Spiltdorph, opening his coat. "He is not dead. He may +yet live." + +The father looked at the boy a moment, then fell on his knees and +kissed him. + +"Thank God!" he cried, and the tears burst forth. We waited in silence +until the storm of grief was past. At last he wrapped the coat about the +child again, and came to us where we stood beside the grave. + +"Friends," he said, "does either of you know the burial service? These +were virtuous and Christian women, and would wish a Christian burial." + +Spiltdorph sadly shook his head, and the man turned to me. Could I do it? +I trembled at the thought. Yet how could I refuse? + +"I know the service," I said, and took my place at the head of the grave. + +The mists of evening were stealing up from the forest about us, and there +was no sound save the plashing of the brook over the stones at our feet. +Then it all faded from before me and I was standing again in a willow +grove with an open grave afar off. + +"'I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord,'" It was not my +voice, but another ringing up to heaven from beside me. And the voice +kept on and on until the last amen. + +We filled in the shallow grave and covered it with logs and rocks. Night +was at hand before we finished. + +"You must come with us," said Spiltdorph to the stranger. "The doctor at +the fort will do what he can for the child. If you still think of +vengeance, you can march with us against the Indians and the French who +set them on." + +He made a gesture of assent, and we set off through the forest. + +"Stewart," asked Spiltdorph, in a low voice, after we had walked some +time in silence, "how does it happen you knew the burial service?" + +"I have read it many times in the prayer-book," I answered simply. +"Moreover, I heard it one morning beside my mother's grave, and again +beside my grandfather's. I am not like to forget it." + +He walked on for a moment, and then came close to me and caught my +hand in his. + +"Forgive me," he said softly. "You have done a good and generous +thing. I can judge how much it cost you," and we said no more until we +reached the fort. + +The news that the Indians had pushed hostilities so near the camp created +no little uproar, and a party was sent out at daybreak to scour the woods +and endeavor to teach the marauders a lesson, but they returned toward +evening without discovering a trace of them, and it was believed they had +made off to Fort Duquesne. The Indians whom we had killed were recognized +as two of a party of Delawares who had been in camp a few days before, +and who, it was now certain, had been sent as spies by the French and to +do us what harm they could. Wherefore it was ordered that no more +Delawares should be suffered to enter the camp. + +We turned the child over to Doctor Craik, and took the man, whose +name, it seemed, was Nicholas Stith, to our tent with us, where we +gave him meat and drink, and did what we could to take his mind from +his misfortune. He remained with us some days, until his child died, +as it did at last, and then, finding our advance too slow to keep pace +with his passion for revenge, secured a store of ball and powder from +the magazine, slung his rifle across his back, and disappeared into +the forest. + +In the mean time our preparations had been hurried on apace. It was no +light task to cut a road through near a hundred and fifty miles of virgin +forest, over two great mountain ranges and across innumerable streams, +nor was it lightly undertaken. Captain Waggoner brought with him to table +one night a copy of the orders for the march and for encampment, which +were adhered to with few changes during the whole advance, and we +discussed them thoroughly when the meal was finished, nor could we +discover in them much to criticise. + +It was ordered that, to protect the baggage from Indian surprise and +insult, scouting parties were to be thrown well out upon the flanks and +in front and rear, and every commanding officer of a company was directed +to detach always upon his flanks a third of his men under command of a +sergeant, the sergeant in turn to detach upon his flanks a third of his +men under command of a corporal, these outparties to be relieved every +night at retreat beating, and to form the advanced pickets. The wagons, +artillery, and pack-horses were formed into three divisions, and the +provisions so distributed that each division was to be victualed from the +part of the line it covered, and a commissary was appointed for each. The +companies were to march two deep, that they might cover the line more +effectively. Sir Peter Halket was to lead the column and Colonel Dunbar +bring up the rear. An advance party of three hundred men was to precede +the column and clear the road. + +The form of encampment differed little from that of march. The wagons +were to be drawn up in close order, the companies to face out, the +flanking parties to clear away the underbrush and saplings, half the +company remaining under arms the while, and finally a chain of sentries +was to be posted round the camp. Sir Peter Halket, with the Forty-Fourth, +was to march with the first division; Lieutenant-Colonel Burton with the +independent companies, provincials, and artillery, was to form the +second; and Colonel Dunbar, with the Forty-Eighth, the third. + +I confess that when I had become acquainted with these orders, they +seemed to me most soldier-like. A copy of them lies before me now, and +even at this day, when I scan again the plan of march, I do not see how +it could be improved. I admit that there are others who know much more +of the art of war than I, and to them defects in the system may be at +once discernible. But at the time, these orders gave us all a most +exalted opinion of our general's ability, and I remembered with a smile +the gloomy prophecies of Colonel Washington. Surely, against such a +force, so ably handled, no army the French might muster could avail, and +I awaited the event with a confidence and eager anticipation which were +shared by all the others. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +WE START ON A WEARY JOURNEY + + +The twenty-ninth of May dawned clear and bright in pleasant contrast to +the violent storm which had raged the day before. Long ere daybreak, the +camp was alive with hurrying men, for the first detachment was to march +under command of Major Campbell, and the sun had scarce risen above the +horizon when the gates were thrown open and the troops filed out. Six +hundred of them there were, with two fieldpieces and fifty wagons of +provision, and very smart they looked as they fell into rank beyond the +bridge and set off westward. The whole camp was there to see them go, and +cheered them right heartily, for we were all of us glad that the long +waiting and delay had come to an end at last. + +All day we could see them here and there in the intervales of the forest +pushing their way up a steep hill not two miles from the camp, and +darkness came before they passed the summit. Three wagons were utterly +destroyed in the passage, and new ones had to be sent from camp to +replace them, while many more were all but ruined. Spiltdorph and I +walked out to the place the next day and found it an almost perpendicular +rock, though two hundred men and a company of miners had been at work +for near a week trying to make it passable. We could see the detachment +slowly cutting its way through the valley below, and I reflected gloomily +that, at so slow a rate, the summer would be well-nigh gone before the +army could reach its destination. Indeed, I believe it would have gone to +pieces on this first spur of the Alleghenies, had not Lieutenant +Spendelow, of the seamen, discovered a valley round its foot. +Accordingly, a party of a hundred men was ordered out to clear a road +there, and worked to such purpose that at the end of two days an +extremely good one was completed, falling into the road made by Major +Campbell about a mile beyond the mountain. + +On the seventh, Sir Peter Halket and the Forty-Eighth marched, in the +midst of a heavy storm, and at daybreak the next day it was our turn. +Under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Burton, all of the independent +companies and rangers left the camp, not, indeed, making so brilliant an +appearance as the regulars,--who stood on either side and laughed at +us,--but with a clearer comprehension of the work before us and a hearty +readiness to do it. It was not until the tenth that the third division +under Colonel Dunbar left the fort, and finally, on the eleventh, the +general joined the army where it had assembled at Spendelow camp, five +miles from the start. + +Our tent that night was a gloomy place, for I think most of us, for the +first time since the campaign opened, began to doubt its ultimate +success. We soon finished with the food, and were smoking in gloomy +silence, when Peyronie came in, and after a glance around at our faces, +broke into a laugh. + +"Ma foi!" he cried, "I thought I had chanced upon a meeting of our +Philadelphia friends,--they of the broad hats and sober coats,--and yet I +had never before known them to go to war." + +"Do you call this going to war?" cried Waggoner. "I'm cursed if I do!" + +Peyronie laughed louder than ever, and Waggoner motioned him to the pipes +and tobacco. + +"By God, Peyronie!" he said. "I believe you would laugh in the face of +the devil." + +Peyronie filled his pipe, chuckling to himself the while, and when he had +got it to drawing nicely, settled himself upon a stool. + +"Why, to tell the truth," said he, "I was feeling sober enough myself +till I came in here, but the sight of you fellows sitting around for all +the world like death-heads at an Egyptian feast was too much for me. And +then," he added, "I have always found it better to laugh than to cry." + +Waggoner looked at him with a grim smile, and there was a gleam in +Spiltdorph's eyes, though he tried to conceal himself behind a cloud of +smoke. Peyronie's good humor was infectious. + +"Let me see," continued the Frenchman, "when was it the first detachment +left the fort?" + +"The twenty-ninth of May," answered Waggoner shortly. + +"And what day is this?" + +"The eleventh of June." + +"And how far have we come?" + +"Five miles!" cried Waggoner. "Damn it, man, you know all this well +enough! Don't make me say it! It's incredible! Five miles in thirteen +days! Think of it!" + +I heard Spiltdorph choking behind his cloud of smoke. + +"Oh, come," said Peyronie, "that's not the way to look at it. Consider a +moment. It is one hundred and fifty miles to Fort Duquesne, so I am told. +At five-thirteenths of a mile a day, we shall arrive there nicely +in--in--let me see." + +"In three hundred and ninety days!" cried Spiltdorph. + +"Thank you, lieutenant," and Peyronie bowed toward Spiltdorph's nimbus. +"I was never good at figures. In three hundred and ninety days, then. You +see, we shall get to Fort Duquesne very comfortably by the middle of July +of next year. Perhaps the French will have grown weary of waiting for us +by that time, and we shall have only to march in and occupy the fort." + +Waggoner snorted with anger. + +"Come, talk sense, Peyronie," he said. "What's to be done?" + +Peyronie smiled more blandly than ever. + +"I fancy that is just what's troubling the general," he remarked. "I met +Colonel Washington a moment ago looking like a thunder-cloud, and he said +a council of war had been called at the general's tent." + +"There was need of it," and Waggoner's brow cleared a little. "What +think you they will do?" + +"Well," said Peyronie deliberately, "if it were left to me, the first +thing I should do would be to cut down Spiltdorph's supply of tobacco and +take away from him that great porcelain pipe, which must weigh two or +three pounds." + +"I should like to see you do it," grunted Spiltdorph, and he took his +pipe from his lips to look at it lovingly. "Why, man, that pipe has been +in the family for half a dozen generations. There's only one other like +it in Germany." + +"A most fortunate thing," remarked Peyronie dryly; "else Virginia could +not raise enough tobacco to supply the market. But, seriously, I believe +even the general will see the need of taking some radical action. He may +even be induced to leave behind one or two of his women and a few cases +of wine, if the matter be put before him plainly." + +"Shut up, man!" cried Waggoner. "Do you want a court-martial?" And we +fell silent, for indeed the excesses of the officers of the line was a +sore subject with all of us. But Peyronie had made a good guess, as we +found out when the result of the council was made known next day. + +It was pointed out that we had less than half the horses we really +needed, and those we had were so weak from the diet of leaves to which +they had been reduced that they could do little work. So the general +urged that all unnecessary baggage be sent back to the fort, and that as +many horses as possible be given to the public cause. He and his staff +set the example by contributing twenty horses, and this had so great +effect among the officers that near a hundred were added to the train. +They divested themselves, also, of all the baggage they did not need, +most of them even sending back their tents, and sharing the soldiers' +tents for the remainder of the campaign. Enough powder and stores were +left behind to clear twenty wagons, and all the king's wagons were +returned to the fort as being too heavy. A deprivation which, I doubt +not, cost some of the officers more than any other, was that of their +women, who were ordered back to the fort, and only two women for each +company were allowed to be victualed upon the march, but in this +particular the example set by the general was not so commendable as in +the matter of the horses. Three hundred lashes were ordered to any +soldier or non-commissioned officer who should be caught gaming or seen +drunk in camp, but these rigors did not affect those higher up, and the +officers still spent half the night over the cards or dice, and on such +occasions there was much wine and spirits drunk. + +We of Waggoner's and Peyronie's companies fared very well, for though +we gave up one of our tents, it was only to bunk together in the other. +There was no room to spare, to be sure, and Peyronie grumbled that +every time a man turned over he disturbed the whole line of sleepers, +but we put the best face possible on the situation, and had little +cause for complaint, except at the food, which soon became most +villainous. I think Spiltdorph had some twinges concerning his pipe, +for he was a conscientious fellow, but he could not decide to give it +up, and finally kept it with him, arguing artfully that without it he +must inevitably fall ill, and so be of no use whatever. Dear fellow, I +wonder what warrior, the envy of his tribe, smokes it now in his wigwam +beside the Miami? + +It took two days to repair our wagons and get our baggage readjusted, and +finally, on the thirteenth, the army set in motion again, winding along +the narrow road through the forest like some gigantic, parti-colored +serpent, with strength barely sufficient to drag its great length along. +It was noon of the next day before we reached Martin's plantation, scarce +five miles away. Yet here we had to stay another day, so nearly were the +horses spent, but at daybreak on the fifteenth the line moved again, and +we toiled up an extremely steep ascent for more than two miles. The +horses were quite unable to proceed, so half the troops were ordered to +ground arms and assist the wagons. It was weary work, nor was the descent +less perilous, and three of the wagons got beyond control and were dashed +to pieces at the bottom. So we struggled on over hills and through +valleys, until on the eighteenth we reached the Little Meadows. Here the +army was well-nigh stalled. The horses had grown every day weaker, and +many of them were already dead. Nor were the men in much better case, so +excessive had been the fatigues of the journey, for on many days they +had been under arms from sunrise till late into the night. + +It was here, for the first time since our departure from Fort Cumberland, +that I chanced to see Colonel Washington, and I was shocked at the change +in his appearance. He was wan and livid, and seemed to have fallen away +greatly in flesh. To my startled inquiry, he replied that he had not been +able to shake off the fever, which had grown worse instead of better. + +"But I will conquer it," he said, with a smile. "I cannot afford to miss +the end. From here, I believe our advance will be more rapid, for the +general has decided that he will leave his baggage and push on with a +picked body of the troops to meet the enemy." + +I was rejoiced to hear it, though I did not learn until long afterwards +that it was by Colonel Washington's advice that this plan was adopted. A +detachment of four hundred men was sent out to cut a road to the little +crossing of the Yoxiogeny, and on the next day the general himself +followed with about nine hundred men, the pick of the whole command. The +Virginia companies were yet in fair condition, but the regulars had been +decimated by disease. Yet though our baggage was now reduced to thirty +wagons and our artillery to four howitzers and four twelve-pounders, we +seemed to have lost the power of motion, for we were four days in getting +twelve miles. Still, we were nearing Fort Duquesne, and the Indians, set +on by the French, began to harass us, and killed and scalped a straggler +now and then, always evading pursuit. On the evening of the nineteenth, +the guides reported that a great body of the enemy was advancing to +attack us, but they did not appear, though we remained for two hours +under arms, anxiously awaiting the event. From that time on, the Indians +hung upon our flanks, but vanished as by magic the moment we advanced +against them. + +In consequence of these alarms, more stringent orders were issued to the +camp. On no account was a gun to be discharged unless at an enemy, the +pickets were always to load afresh when going on duty, and at daybreak to +examine their pans and put in fresh priming, and a reward of five pounds +was offered for every Indian scalp. Day after day we plodded on, and it +was not until the twenty-fifth of June that we reached the Great Meadows. + +I surveyed with a melancholy interest the trenches of Fort Necessity, +which were yet clearly to be seen on the plain. Our detachment halted +here for a space, and it was while I was walking up and down along the +remnants of the old breastwork that I saw an officer ride up, spring from +his horse, and spend some minutes in a keen inspection of the +fortification. As he looked about him, he perceived me similarly engaged, +and, after a moment's hesitation, turned toward me. He made a brave +figure in his three-cornered hat, scarlet coat, and ample waistcoat, all +heavy with gold lace. His face was pale as from much loss of sleep, but +very pleasing, and as he stopped before me, I saw that his eyes were of +a clear and penetrating blue. + +"This is the place, is it not," he asked, "where Colonel Washington made +his gallant stand against the French and Indians last year?" + +"This is indeed the place, sir," I answered, my face flushing; "and it +warms my heart to know that you deem the action a gallant one." + +"No man could do less," he said quickly. "He held off four times his +number, and at the end marched out with colors flying. I know many a +general who would have been glad to do so well. Do I guess aright," +he added, with a smile, "when I venture to say that you were present +with him?" + +"It was my great good fortune," I answered simply, but with a pride I did +not try to conceal. + +"Let me introduce myself," he said, looking at me with greater interest. +"I am Captain Robert Orme, of General Brad dock's staff, and I have come +to admire Colonel Washington very greatly during the month that we have +been associated." + +"And I," I said, "am Lieutenant Thomas Stewart, of Captain Waggoner's +Virginia Company." + +"Lieutenant Stewart!" he cried, and his hand was clasping mine warmly. +"I am happy to meet you. Colonel Washington has told me of the part +you played." + +"Not more happy than am I, captain, I am sure," I answered +heartily. "Colonel Washington has spoken to me of you and in terms +of warmest praise." + +"Now 'tis my turn to blush!" he cried, laughing, and looking at my cheeks +which had turned red a moment before, "but my blood has been so spent in +this horrible march that I haven't a blush remaining." + +"And how is Colonel Washington?" I questioned, glad to change the +subject. "The last I saw him, he seemed most ill." + +Captain Orme looked at me quickly, "Have you not heard?" he asked, and +his face was very grave. + +"I have heard nothing, sir," I answered, with a sinking heart. +"Pray tell me." + +"Colonel Washington has been ill almost from the first. His indomitable +will kept him on horseback when he should have been in bed. At last, when +the fever had wasted him to a mere skeleton, and he spent his nights in +sleepless delirium, he broke down utterly. His body was no longer able to +obey his will. At the ford of the Yoxiogeny he attempted to mount his +horse and fell in a faint. He was carried to a tent and left with two or +three guards. So soon as he recovered consciousness, he tried to get up +to follow us, and was persuaded to lie still only when the general +promised he would send for him in order that he might be present when we +meet the French. He is a man who is an honor to Virginia," concluded +Orme, and he turned away hastily to hide his emotion, nor were my own +eyes wholly dry. + +"Come," I said, "let me show you, sir, how the troops lay that day," and +as he assented, I led the way along the lines and pointed out the +position held by the enemy and how we had opposed them; but my thoughts +were miles away with that wasted figure tossing wearily from side to side +of a rude camp cot on the bank of the Yoxiogeny, with no other nurses +than two or three rough soldiers. + +"'Twas well done," said Orme, when I had finished. "I see not how it +could have been better. And I trust the victory will be with us, not with +the French, when we meet before Duquesne." + +"Of that there can be no question!" I cried. "Once we reach the fort, it +must fall before us." + +"Faith, I believe so," laughed Orme. "My only fear is that they will run +away, and not stay to give us battle. Our spies have told us that such +was their intention," and he laughed again as he saw my fallen face. +"Why, I believe you are as great a fire-eater as the best of us, +lieutenant." + +"In truth, sir," I answered, somewhat abashed at his merriment, "I +decided long ago that since I held no station in the world, I needs must +win one with my sword, but if I can find no employment for it, I see +small hope of advancement." + +"Well, do not repine," and he smiled as he shook my hand, "for if the +French do not wait to meet us here, we shall yet find plenty of fighting +before us. This is only the first stage in the journey, and Duquesne once +ours, we press forward to join forces with the expeditions which are +moving against Canada. If I hear more from Colonel Washington, I shall +let you know." + +I thanked him for his kindness, and watched him as he rode away +across the plain. When he was out of sight, I turned back to join my +company, and I felt that I had made a new friend, and one whom I was +proud to have. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE END IN SIGHT + + +The country beyond Great Meadows was exceeding mountainous, and we could +proceed only a few miles each day, and that with the greatest +difficulty. The horses were by this time well-nigh useless, and at every +little hill half the men were compelled to ground arms and take a hand +at the wagons. It was work fatiguing beyond description, and our sick +list grew larger every day, while those who remained upon their feet +were in scarce better plight. + +On the evening of the twenty-sixth, we reached the pass through which had +come the party of French and Indians to attack us at Fort Necessity. They +must have thought for a time to oppose us here, for we came upon traces +of a camp just broken up, with embers still glowing in the hollow, over +which they had prepared their food. Both French and Indians had been +present, for the former had written on the trees many insolent and +scurrilous expressions,--which gave me a poorer opinion of them than I +had yet entertained,--and the Indians had marked up the number of scalps +they had taken, some eight or ten in all. Whatever their intention may +have been, the sight of our strength had frightened them away, and we +saw no sign of them as we descended into the valley on the other side. + +We toiled on all the next day over a road that was painfully familiar to +most of us, and in the evening came to Christopher Gist's plantation. +Spiltdorph and I made a circuit of the place that night, and I pointed +out to him the dispositions we had made for defense the year before. The +French had burned down all the buildings, but the half-finished trenches +could yet be seen, and the logs which were to have made the breastwork +still littered the ground. + +Beyond Gist's, it was a new country to all of us, and grew more open, so +that we could make longer marches. We descended a broad valley to the +great crossing of the Yoxiogeny, which we passed on the thirtieth. The +general was under much apprehension lest the French ambush us here, and +so advanced most cautiously, but we saw no sign of any enemy. Beyond the +river was a great swamp, where a road of logs had to be built to support +the wagons and artillery, but we won through without accident, and two +days later reached a place called Jacob's cabin, not above thirty miles, +as the bird flies, from Fort Duquesne. Here the rumor ran through the +camp that we were to be held till Colonel Dunbar's division could be +brought up from the Little Meadows, and there was much savage comment at +our mess that evening. + +"Why," cried Peyronie, who voiced the sentiment of all of us, "'twould +take two weeks or more to bring Dunbar up, and what are we to do +meantime? Sit here and eat this carrion?" and he looked disgustedly at +the mess of unsavory beef on the table, which was, to tell the truth, +most odoriferous. "'Tis rank folly to even think of such a course." + +"So the general believes," said a pleasant voice, and I turned with a +start to see a gallant figure standing by the raised flap of the tent. + +"Captain Orme!" I cried, springing to my feet, and I brought him in and +presented him to all the others. We pressed him to sit down, and though +he laughingly declined to partake of our rations, against which, he said, +Peyronie's remark had somehow prejudiced him, he consented to join us in +a glass of wine,--where Waggoner found the bottle I could never +guess,--in which we pledged the success of the campaign. + +"So we are not to stop here?" asked Peyronie, when the toast was drunk. + +"No," and Orme set down the glass. "The suggestion was made by Sir John +St. Clair, and a council was held half an hour since to consider it. It +was agreed without debate that we could not afford the delay, as the +provision is running low, and so we shall press on at once." + +"'Tis the wiser course," said Waggoner. "We have men in plenty." + +"So the general thinks," said Orme. "He has learned that there is only a +small garrison at the fort, which can scarce hope to resist us. But 'twas +not to talk of the campaign I came here. I had a note this evening from +Colonel Washington, which I knew Lieutenant Stewart would wish to see." + +"Oh, yes!" I cried. "What says he, sir?" + +Orme glanced about at the circle of attentive faces. + +"I see Colonel Washington has many friends here," he said, with a smile. +"He writes that he is improving, and hopes soon to join us, and implores +me not to neglect to warn him so that he can be present when we meet the +French. I shall not neglect it," he added. + +"Captain Orme," said Peyronie, after a moment, "I am sure I speak for all +these gentlemen when I say we deeply appreciate your kindness in coming +here to-night. There is not one of us who does not love Colonel +Washington. We thank you, sir," and Peyronie bowed with a grace worthy of +Versailles. + +"Nay," protested Orme, bowing in his turn, "it was a little thing. I, +too, think much of Colonel Washington. Good-evening, gentlemen," and we +all arose and saluted him, remaining standing till he was out of sight. + +"A gentleman and a soldier, if ever I saw one!" cried Peyronie. "A man +whom it is a privilege to know." And we all of us echoed the sentiment. +So, the next morning, the order was given to march as usual, and we made +about five miles to a salt lick in the marsh, where we camped for the +night. The next day we reached a little stream called Thicketty Run, and +here there was a longer halt, until we could gain some further +information of the enemy. Christopher Gist, by dint of many gifts and +much persuasion, had secured the services of eight Iroquois, lazy dogs, +who up to the present time had done little but eat and sleep. But we were +now so near the enemy that it was imperative to reconnoitre their +position, so, after much trouble, two of the Indians were induced to go +forward, and Gist himself was sent after them to see that they really did +approach the fort and not try to deceive us. This was the fourth of July, +just one year since we had marched away from Fort Necessity. All the next +day we remained at Thicketty Run, waiting for the scouts to come in, but +they did not appear until the sixth. + +The Indians returned early in the morning, bringing with them the scalp +of a French officer they had killed near the fort, and stated that they +had seen none of the enemy except the one they had shot, and that the +French possessed no pass between us and Duquesne, and had seemingly made +no preparation to resist us. Gist got back later in the day, having +narrowly escaped capture by two Delawares, and confirmed this story. Such +carelessness on the part of the French seemed incredible, as the country +was very favorable to an ambuscade, and the officers were almost +unanimously of the opinion that it was their purpose to abandon the fort +at our approach. + +These reports once received, we again broke camp and advanced toward the +Monongahela. An unhappy accident marked the day. Three or four men who +had loitered behind were surprised by some Indians, and killed and +scalped, before assistance could be sent them. This so excited our +scouting parties that they fired upon a body of our own Indians, +notwithstanding the fact that they made the preconcerted signal by +holding up a green bough and grounding arms. The son of Chief Monakatuca +was killed by the discharge, and it was feared for a time that the +Indians would leave in a body. But the general sent for them, condoled +with them and made them presents, ordered that Monakatuca's son be given +a military burial, and, in a word, handled them so adroitly that they +became more attached to us than ever. Additional scouting parties were +thrown out to right and left, and every precaution taken to prevent +further mishap. + +The next day we endeavored to pass a little stream called Turtle Creek, +but found the road impracticable, so turned into the valley of another +stream, known as Long Run, and on the night of the eighth encamped within +a mile of the Monongahela, and only about ten from the fort. Here General +St. Clair, who seems from the first to have feared for the result, +advised that a detachment be sent forward to invest the fort, but it was +finally judged best to send the detachment from the next camp, from which +it could be readily reinforced in case it were attacked. We were to ford +the Monongahela at Crooked Run, march along the west bank to the mouth of +Turtle Creek, ford it a second time, and advance against the fort. Both +fords were described by the guides as very good ones and easy of +passage, while if we attempted to advance straight ahead on the east bank +of the river, we should encounter a very rough road, beside passing +through a country admirably fitted by nature for an ambuscade. Colonel +Gage was to march before daybreak to secure both fords, and the men +turned in with full assurance that the battle so long deferred and so +eagerly awaited was not far distant. + +That night it so happened that I was placed in charge of one of the rear +pickets, and I sat with my back against a tree, smoking lazily and +wondering what the morrow would bring forth, when I heard a horse +galloping down the road, and a moment later the sharp challenge of a +sentry. I was on my feet in an instant, and saw that the picket had +evidently been satisfied that all was well, for he had permitted the +rider to pass. As he reached the edge of the camp, he emerged from the +shadow of the trees, and I started as I looked at him. + +"Colonel Washington!" I cried, and as he checked his horse sharply, I was +at his side. + +"Why, is it you, Tom?" he asked, and as I took his hand, I noticed how +thin it was. "Well, it seems I am in time." + +"Yes," I said. "The battle, if there be one, must take place to-morrow." + +"Why should there not be one?" he questioned, leaning down from his +saddle to see my face more clearly. + +"The French may run away." + +"True," he said, and sat for a moment thinking. "Yet it is not like them +to run without striking a blow. No, I believe we shall have a battle, +Tom, and I am glad that I am to be here to see it." + +"But are you strong enough?" I asked. "You have not yet the air of a +well man." + +He laughed lightly as he gathered up his reins. "In truth, Tom," he +said, "I am as weak as a man could well be and still sit his horse, but +the fever is broken and I shall be stronger to-morrow. But I must report +to the general. He may have work for me," and he set spurs to his horse +and was off. + +I turned back to my station, musing on the iron will of this man, who +could drag his body from a bed of sickness when duty called and yet think +nothing of it. All about me gleamed the white tents in which the +grenadiers and provincials were sleeping, dreaming perchance of victory. +Alas, for how many of them was it their last sleep this side eternity! + +The hours passed slowly and quietly. Presently the moon rose and +illumined the camp from end to end. Here and there I could see a picket +pacing back and forth, or an officer making his rounds. At headquarters +lights were still burning, and I did not doubt that an earnest +consultation was in progress there concerning the orders for the morrow. + +At midnight came the relief, and I made the best of my way back to our +quarters, crawled into the tent, whose flaps were raised to let in every +breath of air stirring, and lay down beside Spiltdorph. I tried to move +softly, but he started awake and put out his hand and touched me. + +"Is it you, Stewart?" he asked. + +"Yes," I said, "just in from picket. Colonel Washington reached camp an +hour ago, to be here for to-morrow's battle." + +"To-morrow's battle," repeated Spiltdorph softly. "Ah, yes, I had forgot. +Do you know, Stewart, if I were superstitious, I should fear the result +of to-morrow's battle, for I had a dream about it." + +"What was the dream?" I asked. + +"No matter, we are not women," and he turned to go to sleep again. +"Good-night." + +"Good-night," I said, and in a few moments his deep breathing told me he +was again in the land of dreams. It was long before my own eyes closed, +and my dreams were not of battle, but of a bench upon the river's bank, +and a figure all in white sitting there beside me. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE LESSON OF THE WILDERNESS + + +"Wake up, man, wake up!" cried a voice in my ear, and I opened my eyes to +see Spiltdorph's kindly face bending over me. "I let you sleep as long as +I could," he added, as I sat up and rubbed my eyes, "for I knew you +needed it, but the order has come for us to march." + +"All right," I said. "I'll be ready in a minute," and I ran down to the +brook and dipped my hands and face in the cool, refreshing water. A +biscuit and a piece of cold beef formed my breakfast. Our company was +striking tents and falling in for the march, and the camp was astir from +end to end. The sun was just peeping over the tree-tops, for that +fateful Wednesday, the ninth of July, 1755, had dawned clear and fair, +and all the day rode through a sky whose perfect blue remained unbroken +by a cloud. + +We were soon ready for the road, and while waiting the word, Captain +Waggoner told me that the advance had begun some hours before. At three +o'clock. Colonel Gage had marched with two companies of grenadiers and +two hundred rank and file to secure both crossings of the river, for it +was believed that at the second crossing the French would attack us, +unless they intended giving up the fort without a struggle. An hour +later, Sir John St. Clair had followed with a working party of two +hundred and fifty men, to clear the road for the passage of the baggage +and artillery. And at last came the word for us. + +The ground sloped gently down to the Monongahela, nearly a mile away. The +river here was over three hundred yards in width, and the regulars had +been posted advantageously to guard against surprise. The baggage, +horses, and cattle were all got over safely, for the water was scarce +waist-deep at any point, and then the troops followed, so that the whole +army was soon across. + +Before us stretched a level bottom, and here we were formed in proper +line of march, with colors flying, drums beating, and fifes playing +shrilly. The sun's slant rays were caught and multiplied a thousand times +on polished barrel and gold-laced helmet and glittering shoulder-knot. +Every man had been instructed to put off the torn and travel-stained +garments of Osnabrig he had worn upon the march, and to don his best +uniform, and very fresh and beautiful they looked, the Forty-Fourth with +its yellow facings, the Forty-Eighth with buff. Nor was the showing made +by the Virginia companies less handsome, though perhaps a shade more +sober. Nowhere was there visible a trace of that terrible journey through +the wilderness. It seemed that this splendent host must have been placed +here by some magic hand, alert, vigorous, immaculate, eager for the +battle. I have only to close my eyes to see again before me that +brilliant and gallant array. The hope of a speedy ending to their +struggle through the forest had brought new color to the faces of the +men, and a light into their eyes, such as I had not seen there for many +days. While we waited, the pieces were newly charged and primed, and the +clatter of the cartouch boxes, as they were thrown back into place, ran +up and down the lines. + +At last came word from Gage that he had secured the second crossing, +having encountered only a small party of Indians, who had run away at the +first alarm, and that the route was clear. The drums beat the advance, +and the army swept forward as though on parade. It was a thrilling sight, +and in all that multitude there was not one who doubted the event. I +think even Colonel Washington's misgivings must have melted away before +that martial scene. The broad river rolled at our right, and beyond it +the hills, crowned with verdure, looked down upon us. I do not doubt that +from those heights the eyes of the enemy's spies were peering, and the +sight of our gallant and seemingly invincible army must have startled and +disheartened them. And as I looked along the ordered ranks, the barrels +gleaming at a single angle, four thousand feet moving to the drum tap, I +realized more deeply than ever that without training and discipline an +army could not exist. + +When we reached the second ford, about one in the afternoon, we found +that the bank was not yet made passable for the wagons and artillery, so +we drew up along the shingle until this could be done. Pickets were +posted on the heights, and half the force kept under arms, in case of a +surprise. Spiltdorph and I sauntered together to the water's edge, and +watched the pioneers busy at their work. I saw that my companion was +preoccupied, and after a time he ceased to regard the men, but sat +looking afar off and pitching pebbles into the stream. + +"Do you know, Stewart," he said at last, "I am becoming timid as a +girl. I told you I had a dream last night, and 't was so vivid I cannot +shake it off." + +"Tell me the dream," I said. + +"I dreamed that we met the French, and that I fell. I looked up, and you +were kneeling over me. But when I would have told you what I had to tell, +my voice was smothered in a rush of blood." + +"Oh, come!" I cried, "this is mere foolishness. You do not believe in +dreams, Spiltdorph?" + +"No," he answered. "And yet I never had such a dream as this." + +"Why, man," I said, "look around you. Do you see any sign of the French? +And yet their fort is just behind the trees yonder." + +He looked at me in silence for a moment, and made as if to speak, but the +tap of the drum brought us to our feet. + +"Come," he said, "the road is finished. We shall soon see what truth +there is in dreams." + +We took our places and the advance began again. First the Forty-Fourth +was passed over and the pickets of the right. The artillery, wagons, and +carrying horses followed, and then the provincial troops, the +Forty-Eighth, while the pickets of the left brought up the rear. At the +end of an hour the entire force was safe across, and as yet no sign of +the enemy. Such good fortune seemed well-nigh unbelievable, for we had +been assured there was no other place between us and the fort suited for +an ambuscade. + +Our company halted near a rude cabin which stood upon the bank. It was +the house of Fraser, the trader, where Washington and Gist had found +shelter after their perilous passage of the Allegheny near two years +before. We had been there but a few minutes when Colonel Washington +himself rode up. + +"Captain Waggoner," he said, "you will divide your company into four +flank parties, and throw them well out to the left of the line, fifty +yards at least. See that they get to their places at once, and that they +keep in touch, lest they mistake each other for the enemy." + +He was off as Waggoner saluted, and I heard him giving similar orders to +Peyronie's company behind us. It was certain that the general was taking +no chance of ambuscade, however safe the road might seem. We were soon in +place, Captain Waggoner himself in command of one party, Spiltdorph of +the second, I of the third, and Lieutenant Wright of the fourth. As we +took our places, I could see something of the disposition of our force +and the contour of the ground. The guides and a few light horse headed +the column, followed by the vanguard, and the advance party under Gage. +Then came St. Clair's working party, two fieldpieces, tumbrels, light +horse, the general's guard, the convoy, and finally the rear guard. +Before us stretched a fertile bottom, covered by a fair, open walnut +wood, with very little underbrush, and rising gradually to a higher +bottom, which reached to a range of hills two or three hundred feet in +height. Here the forest grew more closely, the underbrush became more +dense, and a great thicket of pea-vines, wild grape, and trailers +completely shut off the view. + +So soon as the line was formed, the drums beat the forward, and the +head of the column was soon out of sight among the trees, St. Clair's +working party cutting the road as they advanced. We were nearing the +tangle of underbrush, which I thought marked the course of a stream, +when there came suddenly a tremendous burst of firing from the front, +followed by a great uproar of yells. My heart leaped, for I knew the +French were upon us. + +"Close up, men!" shouted Waggoner. "Bring your party up here, Stewart!" + +I obeyed the order, and the other two parties joined us in a moment. +Scarcely had they done so, when the thicket in front of us burst into +flame, and three or four men fell. The others, well used, for the most +part, to this kind of fighting, took at once to the trees, and we +gradually worked our way forward, keeping up a spirited fire till we +reached the shelter of a huge log, which lay at the edge of the ravine. +As I looked over it, I saw that the gully swarmed with Indians, firing at +the main body of the troops, who seemed wedged in the narrow road. I +could see no French, and so judged they were attacking on the other side. + +"We've got 'em now!" yelled Waggoner. "Give it to 'em, men!" and we +poured a well-directed volley into the yelling mob. + +Fifteen or twenty fell, and the others, affrighted at the unexpected +slaughter, threw down their guns and started to run. We were reloading +with feverish haste, when from the woods behind us came a tremendous +volley. We faced about to receive this new attack, for we thought the +French were upon us. But we saw with horror that we were being fired at +by the regulars, who had taken us for the enemy in their madness, and +were preparing to fire again. + +"You fools!" screamed Waggoner. "Oh, you fools!" and white with rage, he +gave the order to retreat. + +A moment later, as I looked around, I saw that Spiltdorph was not with +us. + +"Where is he?" I asked. "Where is Spiltdorph?" + +Waggoner motioned behind us. + +"He was hit," he said. "He was killed by those cowardly assassins." + +"Perhaps he is not dead!" I cried, and before he could prevent me, I ran +back to the log. Not less than twenty dead lay near it, and in an instant +I saw my friend. I dropped beside him, and tore away his shirt. He had +been hit in the side by two bullets, and as I saw the wounds, I cursed +the insensate fools who had inflicted them. I tried to stanch the blood, +and as I raised his head, saw his eyes staring up at me. + +"The dream!" he cried. "The dream! Stewart, listen. There is a +girl--at Hampton"--A rush of blood choked him. He tried to speak, +clutched at my sleeve, and then his head fell back, a great sigh shook +him, and he was dead. + +The Indians were pouring back into the ravine, and I knew I could stay no +longer. So I laid him gently down, and with my heart aching as it had not +ached since my mother died, made my way back to my company. "There is a +girl," he had said, "at Hampton." What was it he had tried to tell? Well, +if God gave me life, I would find out. + +But every other thought was driven from my mind in my astonishment and +horror at the scene before me. Gage's advance party had given way almost +at the first fire, just as Burton was forming to support them, and the +two commands were mingled in hopeless confusion. The officers spurred +their horses into the mob, and tried in vain to form the men in some sort +of order. The colors were advanced in different directions, but there was +none to rally to them, for the men remained huddled together like +frightened sheep. And all around them swept that leaden storm, whose +source they could not see, mowing them down like grain. They fired volley +after volley into the forest, but the enemy remained concealed in the +ravines on either side, and the bullets flew harmless above their heads. + +At the moment I joined my company, General Braddock rode up, cursing like +a madman, and spurred his horse among the men. I could see him giving an +order, when his horse was hit and he barely saved himself from falling +under it. Another horse was brought, and in a moment he was again raving +up and down the lines. + +"What means this?" he screamed, coming upon us suddenly, where we were +sheltering ourselves behind the trees and replying to the enemy's fire as +best we could. "Are you all damned cowards?" + +"Cowards, sir!" cried Waggoner, his face aflame. "What mean you by that?" + +"Mean?" yelled Braddock. "Damn you, sir, I'll show you what I mean! Come +out from behind those trees and fight like men!" + +"Ay, and be killed for our pains!" cried Waggoner. + +"What, sir!" and the general's face turned purple. "You dare dispute my +order?" and he raised his sword to strike, but his arm was caught before +it had descended. + +"These men know best, sir," cried Washington, reining in his horse beside +him. "This is the only way to fight the Indians." + +The general wrenched his arm away and, fairly foaming at the mouth, +spurred his horse forward and beat the men from behind the trees with the +flat of his sword. + +"Back into the road, poltroons!" he yelled. "Back into the road! I'll +have no cowards in my army!" + +Washington and Waggoner watched him with set faces, while the men, too +astounded to speak, fell slowly back into the open. Not until that moment +did I comprehend the blind folly of this man, determined to sacrifice his +army to his pride. + +We fell back with our men, and there in the road found Peyronie, with the +remnant of his company, his face purple and his mouth working with rage. +All about us huddled the white-faced regulars,--the pride of the army, +the heroes of a score of battles!--crazed by fright, firing into the air +or at each other, seeing every moment their comrades falling about them, +killed by an unseen foe. I turned sick at heart as I looked at them. Hell +could hold no worse. + +Hotter and hotter grew the fire, and I realized that it was not the +French attacking us at all, but only their Indian allies. Not half a +dozen Frenchmen had been seen. It was by the savages of the forest that +the best troops in Europe were being slaughtered. Sir Peter Halket was +dead, shot through the heart, and his son, stooping to pick him up, fell +a corpse across his body. Shirley was shot through the brain. Poison was +dead. Totten, Hamilton, Wright, Stone, were dead. Spendelow had fallen, +pierced by three bullets. The ground was strewn with dead and wounded. +Horses, maddened by wounds, dashed through the ranks and into the forest, +often bearing their riders to an awful death. The Indians, growing +bolder, stole from the ravines, and scalped the dead and wounded almost +before our eyes. I began to think it all a hideous nightmare. Surely such +a thing as this could not really be! + +Colonel Burton had succeeded in turning some of his men about to face a +hill at our right, where the enemy seemed in great number, and we of +Waggoner's company joined him. A moment later, Colonel Washington, who +alone of the general's aides was left unwounded, galloped up and ordered +us to advance against the hill and carry it. With infinite difficulty, a +hundred men were collected who would still obey the order. As we +advanced, the enemy poured a galling fire upon us. A ball grazed my +forehead and sent a rush of blood into my eyes. I staggered forward, and +when I had wiped the blood away and looked about me, I saw with amazement +that our men had faced about and were retreating. I rushed after them and +joined two or three other officers who were trying to rally them. But +they were deaf to our entreaties and would not turn. + +As I glanced back up the slope down which we had come, I saw a sight +which palsied me. Colonel Burton had fallen, seemingly with a wound in +the leg, and was slowly dragging himself back toward the lines. Behind +him, an Indian was dodging from tree to tree, intent on getting his +scalp. Burton saw the savage, and his face grew livid as he realized how +rapidly he was being overtaken. In an instant I was charging up the +slope, and ran past Burton with upraised sword. The Indian saw me coming, +and waited calmly, tomahawk in air. While I was yet ten or twelve paces +from him, I saw his hand quiver, and sprang to one side as the blade +flashed past my head. With a yell of disappointment, the Indian turned +and disappeared in the underbrush. I ran back to Burton, and stooped to +raise him. + +"Allow me to aid you, Lieutenant Stewart," said a voice at my elbow, and +there stood Harry Marsh, as cool as though there were not an Indian +within a hundred miles. "I saw you turn back," he added, "and thought you +might need some help." + +I nodded curtly, for the bullets were whistling about us in a manner far +from pleasing, and between us we lifted Burton and started back toward +the lines. + +"My left leg seems paralyzed," he said. "The bullet must have struck a +nerve. If I could get on horseback, I should be all right again." + +And then he staggered and nearly fell, for Marsh lay crumpled up in a +heap on the ground. + +"He is dead," said Burton, as I stared down in horror at what an instant +before had been a brave, strong, hopeful human being. "A man never falls +like that unless he is dead. He was doubtless shot through the heart. He +was a brave boy. Did you know him?" + +"His name was Marsh," I answered hoarsely. "He was my cousin." + +"I shall not forget it," said Burton, and we stood a moment longer +looking down at the dead. + +But it was folly to linger there, and we continued on, I helping Burton +as well as I could. And a great loathing came over me for this game +called war. We reached the lines in safety, where Burton was taken to the +rear and given surgical attention. His wound was not a bad one, and half +an hour later, I saw that he had made good his assertion that he would be +all right once he was on horseback. + +In the mean time, affairs had gone from bad to worse, and the men were +wholly unnerved. Those who were serving the artillery were picked off, +and the pieces had been abandoned. A desperate effort was made to retake +them, but to no avail. The Indians had extended themselves along both +sides of the line, and had sharply attacked the baggage in the rear. The +men were crowded into a senseless, stupefied mob, their faces blanched +with horror and dripping with sweat, too terrified, many of them, to +reload their firelocks. The general rode up and down the line, exposing +himself with the utmost recklessness, but the men were long past the +reach of discipline. After all, human nature has its depths which no +drill-master can touch. Four horses were shot under him, and even while I +cursed his folly, I could not but admire his courage. Nor was the conduct +of his officers less gallant. Throwing themselves from the saddle, they +formed into platoons and advanced against the enemy, but not even by this +desperate means could the regulars be got to charge. So many officers +fell that at last it was as difficult to find any to give orders as to +obey them, and when, as a last desperate resort, the general, putting his +pride in his pocket, yielded to Washington's advice, and directed that +the troops divide into small parties and advance behind the trees to +surround the enemy, there was none to execute the manoeuvre, which, +earlier in the action, would have saved the day. + +It was plain that all was lost, that there was nothing left but to +retreat. We had no longer an army, but a mere mob of panic-stricken men. +The hideous yelling of the savages, as they saw the slaughter they were +doing and exulted in it, the rattle of the musketry, the groans and +curses of the wounded who fell everywhere about us, the screams of the +maddened horses, combined into a bedlam such as I hope never to hear +again. Toward the last, the Virginia troops alone preserved any semblance +of order. Away off to the right, I caught a glimpse of Peyronie rallying +the remnant of his company, and I looked from them to the trembling +regulars, and remembered with a rush of bitterness how they had laughed +at us a month before. + +Of a sudden there was a dash of hoofs beside me, and I saw the general +rein up beneath a tree and look up and down the field. Colonel Washington +was at his side, and seemed to be unwounded, though he had been ever +where the fight was thickest. + +"This is mere slaughter!" the general cried at last. "We can do no more. +Colonel Washington, order the retreat sounded." + +And as the drums rolled out the dismal strain which meant disgrace for +him and the blighting of all his hopes, he sat his horse with rigid face +and eyes from which all life had fled. He had been taught the lesson of +the wilderness. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +DEFEAT BECOMES DISHONOR + + +But there was worse to follow, for scarce had the first tap of the drums +echoed among the trees, when the mob of regulars became a mere frenzied +rabble. The officers tried to withdraw them from the field in some +semblance of order, but the men seemed seized with mad, blind, +unreasoning terror, and were soon beyond all hope of control. They rushed +from the field, sweeping their officers before them, and carrying with +them the provincial troops, who would have stood firm and behaved as +soldiers should. I was caught in one edge of the mob, as I tried to +restrain the men about me, and flung aside against a tree with such force +that I stood for a moment dazed by the blow, and then I saw I was beneath +the tree where Washington and Braddock sat their horses, watching with +grim faces the frenzied crowd sweep past. The soldiers flung away their +guns and accoutrements, their helmets, even their coats, that they might +flee the faster, and I saw one strike down a young subaltern who tried to +stay them. They jostled and fell over one another as sheep pursued by +dogs. I saw a horseman, his head bandaged in a bloody cloth, trying to +make way toward us against this cursing torrent, and recognized Captain +Orme. But he was dashed aside even as I had been, and for a moment I +thought he had been torn from his horse and trodden underfoot. Torn from +his horse he was, indeed, but escaped the latter fate, for some moments +later he came to us on foot through the trees. + +"Come, sir," he cried to the general, as he gained his side, "you must +leave the field. There is no hope of getting a guard from among these +cowards or persuading them to make a stand." + +Braddock turned to answer him, but as he did so, threw up his hands and +fell forward into the arms of his aide. I sprang to Orme's assistance, +and between us we eased him down. His horse, doubtless also struck by a +ball, dashed off screaming through the wood. + +"They have done for me!" he groaned, as we placed his back against a +tree. "Curse them, they have done for me." + +Washington, who had left his horse the instant he saw the general fall, +knelt and rested the wounded man's head upon his knee, and wiped the +bloody foam from off his lips. + +"Where are you hit?" he asked. + +"Here," and the general raised his left hand and touched his side. "'Tis +a mortal hurt, and I rejoice in it. I have no wish to survive this day's +disgrace." + +He cast his bloodshot eyes at the rabble of fleeing men. + +"And to think that they are soldiers of the line!" he moaned, and closed +his eyes, as though to shut out the sight. + +"We must get him out of this," said Orme quietly, and he turned away to +call to some of the Forty-Eighth who were rushing past. But they did not +even turn their heads. With an oath, Orme seized one by the collar. + +"A purse of sixty guineas!" he cried, dangling it before his eyes, but +the man threw him fiercely off, and continued on his way. Orme turned +back to us, his face grim with anger and despair. + +"'Tis useless," he said. "We cannot stop them. The devil himself could +not stop them now." + +The general had lain with his eyes closed and scarce breathing, so that I +thought that he had fainted. But he opened his eyes, and seemed to read +at a glance the meaning of Orme's set face. + +"Gentlemen," he said, more gently than I had ever heard him speak, "I +pray you leave me here and provide for your own safety. I have but a +little time to live at best, and the Indians will be upon us in a moment. +Leave them to finish me. You could not do a kinder thing. I have no wish +that you should sacrifice your lives so uselessly by remaining here with +me. There has been enough of sacrifice this day." + +Yes, he was a gallant man, and whatever of resentment had been in my +heart against him vanished in that instant. We three looked into each +other's eyes, and read the same determination there. We would save the +general, or die defending him. But the situation was indeed a +desperate one. + +At that moment, a tumbrel drawn by two maddened horses dashed by. One +wheel caught against a tree, and before the horses could get it free or +break from the harness, I had sprung to their heads. + +"Quick!" I cried, "I cannot hold them long." + +They understood in a moment, and, not heeding the general's entreaties +and commands that he be left, lifted him gently into the cart. Washington +sprang in beside him, Orme to the front, and in an instant I was clinging +to the seat and we were tearing along the road. It was time, for as I +glanced back, I saw the Indians rushing from the wood, cutting down and +scalping the last of the fugitives. I saw that Orme was suffering from +his wound, which seemed a serious one, and so I took the lines, which he +relinquished without protest, and held the horses to the road as well as +I was able. The tumbrel thundered on, over rocks and stumps of trees, +over dead men,--ay, and living ones, I fear,--to the river-bank, where a +few of the Virginia troops, held together by Waggoner and Peyronie, had +drawn up. It did my heart good to see them standing there, so cool and +self-possessed, while that mob of regulars poured past them, frenzied +with fear. And the thought came to me that never hereafter would a blue +coat need give precedence to a red one. + +We splashed down into the water and across the river without drawing +rein, since it was evident that no chance of safety lay on that side. +Waggoner seemed to understand what was in the cart, for he formed his men +behind us and followed us across the river. Scarcely had we reached the +other bank, when the Indians burst from the trees across the water, but +they stopped there and made no further effort at pursuit, returning to +the battleground to reap their unparalleled harvest of scalps and booty. +About half a mile from the river, we brought the horses to a stop to see +what would best be done. + +"The general commands that a stand be made here," cried Washington, +leaping from the cart, and Orme jumped down beside him, while I secured +the horses. + +"He is brave and determined as ever," said Washington in a low tone, +"though suffering fearfully. The ball has penetrated his lung, I fear, +for he can breathe only with great agony, and is spitting blood." + +Colonel Burton joined us at that moment, and between us we lifted the +general from the cart and laid him on a bed of branches on the ground. + +"Rally the men here," he said, setting his teeth to keep back the groan +which would have burst from him. "We will make a stand, and so soon as we +can get our force in shape, will march back against the enemy. We shall +know better how to deal with them the second time." + +We turned away to the work of rallying the fugitives, but the task was +not a light one, for the men seemed possessed with the fear that the +savages were on their heels, and ran past us without heeding our commands +to halt. At last we got together above a hundred men, posted sentries, +and prepared to spend the night. Darkness was already coming on, and +finally Captain Orme and Colonel Washington, after having searched in +vain for Doctor Craik, themselves washed the general's wound and dressed +it as best they could. They found that the ball had shattered the right +arm, and then passed into the side, though how deeply it had penetrated +they had no means of telling. + +Despite his suffering, he thought only of securing our position, and so +soon as his wound was dressed, he ordered Captain Waggoner and ten men to +march to our last camp and bring up some provisions which had been left +there. He directed Colonel Washington to ride at once to Colonel Dunbar's +camp, and order up the reinforcements for another advance against the +French. He dictated a letter to Dinwiddie calling for more troops, which +Washington was to take with him, and forward by messenger from Dunbar's +camp. Though so shaken in body he could scarce sit upright in the saddle, +Washington set off cheerfully on that frightful journey. Orme and I +watched him until he disappeared in the gloom. + +"A gallant man," he said, as we turned back to the rude shelter which had +been thrown up over the place where the general lay. "I do not think I +have ever seen a braver. You could not see as I could the prodigies of +valor he performed to-day. And he seems to bear a charmed life, for +though his coat was pierced a dozen times and two horses were killed +under him, he has escaped without a scratch." + +We walked on in silence until we reached headquarters, where Colonel +Burton was also sitting, suffering greatly from his wound now he was no +longer on horseback. + +"Lieutenant Stewart," he said to me, "I place you in charge of the +sentries for the night. Will you make the rounds and see that all is +well? I know the men are weary, but I need hardly tell you that our +safety will depend upon their vigilance. Guard especially against a +surprise from the direction of the river." + +I saluted, and started away to make the round. The sun had long since +sunk behind the trees in a cloud of blood-red vapor, which seemed to me +significant of the day. All about us through the forest arose the chorus +of night sounds, and afar off through the trees I could catch the +glinting of the river. What was happening beyond it, I dared not think. +And then I came to a sudden stop, for I had reached the spot where the +first sentry had been posted, but there was none in sight. + +I thought for a moment that in the darkness I must have missed the +place, but as I looked about me more attentively, I saw that could not +be. I walked up and down, but could find no trace of him. Could it be +that the Indians had stolen upon him and killed him with a blow of +knife or tomahawk before he could cry out? Yet if that had happened, +where was the body? + +I hurried on toward the spot where the next sentry had been posted, and +as I neared it, strained my eyes through the gloom, but could see no +trace of him. I told myself that I was yet too far away, and hurried +forward, but in a moment I had reached the place. There was no sentry +there. With the perspiration starting from my forehead, I peered among +the trees and asked myself what mysterious and terrible disaster +threatened us. The third sentry was missing like the others--the fourth +had disappeared--I made the whole round of the camp. Not a single +sentry remained. And then, of a sudden, the meaning of their absence +burst upon me. + +I hurried back to the camp, passing the spot where we had quartered the +men whom we had rallied, but who were not placed on sentry duty. + +As I expected, not one was there. + +"All is well, I trust, Lieutenant Stewart?" asked Colonel Burton, as I +approached. Then something in my face must have startled him, for he +asked me sharply what had happened. + +"I fear we cannot remain here, sir," I said, as calmly as I could. "All +of our men have deserted us. There is not a single sentry at his post;" +and I told him what I had found. + +He listened without a word till I had finished. + +"You will get the tumbrel ready for the general, lieutenant," he said +quietly. "I will report this sad news to him. It seems that our defeat is +to become dishonor." + +I put the horses into harness again, and led them to the place where the +general lay. He seemed dazed by the tidings of his men's desertion, and +made no protest nor uttered any sound as we lifted him again into the +cart and set off through the night. We soon reached the second ford, and +on the other side found Colonel Gage, who had contrived to rally about +eighty men and hold them there with him. But there seemed no hope of +keeping them through the night, so we set forward again, and plunged into +the gloomy forest. + +An hour later, as I was plodding wearily along beside the cart, thinking +over the events of this tragic day, I was startled by a white face +peering from beneath the upraised curtain out into the darkness. It was +the stricken man within, who was surveying the remnant of that gallant +army which, a few short hours before, had passed along this road so +gayly, thinking itself invincible. He held himself a moment so, then let +the curtain drop and fell back upon his couch. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +ALLEN AND I SHAKE HANDS + + +Of the horrors of the night which followed, my pen can paint no adequate +picture. Fugitives panted past us in the darkness, pursued by phantoms of +their own imagining, thinking only of one thing--to leave that scene of +awful slaughter far behind. The wounded toiled on, groaning and cursing, +for to drop to the rear or to wander from the way was to die, if not by +knife or tomahawk, none the less surely by hunger. Here and there some +poor wretch who could win no farther sat groaning by the roadside or +rolled in delirium upon the ground. The vast, impenetrable darkness of +the forest overshadowed us, full of threatening suggestion and peopled +with nameless terrors. + +Colonel Gage remained with us with such of his men as he could hold +together, and among them I saw Lieutenant Allen. He had been wounded in +the shoulder, and at the suggestion of Captain Orme mounted the tumbrel +and drove the horses, while I walked beside it. What agonies the stricken +man within endured, tossed from side to side as the cart bumped along the +rough road, through ruts and over rocks and stumps of trees, must have +been beyond description, but not once during all that long night did I +hear a groan or complaint from him. Once he asked for water, and as Orme +and I stooped over him I heard him murmur as though to himself, "Who +would have thought it?" and again, "Who would have thought it?" Then he +drank the water mechanically and lay back, and said no more. + +The disaster had been too sudden, too unexpected, too complete, for any +of us to fully realize. It seemed impossible that this handful of +terror-stricken fugitives should be all that remained of the proud army +to which we had belonged, and that this army had been defeated by a few +hundred Indians. Few of us had seen above a dozen of the enemy,--we of +Waggoner's company were the only ones who had looked down upon that +yelling mob in the ravine,--and scarce knew by whom we had been +slaughtered. It was incredible that two regiments of the best troops in +England should have been utterly routed by so contemptible a foe. The +reason refused to acknowledge such a thing. + +I was plodding along, wearily enough, thinking of all this, when I heard +my name called, and glancing up, saw Allen looking round the corner of +the wagon cover. + +"Won't you come up here, Lieutenant Stewart?" he asked. "There is ample +room for two, and 't is no use to tire yourself needlessly." + +I accepted gratefully, though somewhat astonished at his courtesy, and in +a moment was on the seat beside him. He fell silent for a time, nor was I +in any mood for talk, for Spiltdorph's fate and young Harry Marsh's +sudden end weighed upon me heavily. + +"Lieutenant Stewart," he said at last, "I feel that I did you and the +Virginia troops a grave injustice when I chose to question their courage. +What I saw to-day has opened my eyes to many things. In all the army, the +Virginia troops were the only ones who kept their wits about them and +proved themselves men. I wish to withdraw the expressions I used that +night, and to apologize for them most sincerely." + +My hand was in his in an instant. + +"With all my heart," I said. "I have thought more than once since then +that we were both too hasty." + +He laughed,--a short laugh, in which there was no mirth. + +"I think there are many of us who have been too hasty in this campaign," +he said. "It is easy enough to see now that regulars are worth little in +this frontier warfare, where their manoeuvres count for nothing, and that +the provincials should have been left to fight in their own fashion. It +is not a pleasant thought that all my work in drilling them was worse +than wasted, and that every new manoeuvre I taught them impaired their +efficiency by just so much." + +"'Twas not quite so bad as that," I protested. "The Virginia troops have +much to thank you for, and we shall know better how to deal with the +enemy next time." + +"Next time?" he repeated despondently. "But when will next time be, +think you?" + +"Why, at once, to be sure!" I cried. "We have still, with Colonel +Dunbar's companies, over a thousand men. So soon as we join with him, and +get our accoutrement in order, we can march back against the enemy, and +we shall not be caught twice in the same trap." + +He did not answer, and there was a moment's silence. I glanced at his +face and saw that it was very grave. + +"You do not mean," I asked, with a great fear at my heart, "that you +think it possible we shall retreat without striking another blow?" + +"I fear it is only too possible," he answered gloomily. "If the general +lives, he may order another advance; indeed, I am sure he will, in the +hope of saving some fragment of his reputation. But if he dies, as seems +most likely, Colonel Dunbar, who succeeds to the command, is not the man +to imperil his prestige by taking such a risk." + +"Risk?" I cried. "How is this any greater than the risk we took at +the outset?" + +"You forget, lieutenant," said Allen, "that all of our equipment was left +on the field. The men flung away their arms, many of them even the +clothes upon their backs. Everything was abandoned,--the general's +private papers, and even the military chest, with £10,000 in it. These +losses will not be easily repaired." + +I could not but admit the truth of this, and said as much. + +"And then," continued Allen, still more gloomily, "we have suffered +another loss which can never be made good. The morale of the men is +gone. They have no longer the confidence in themselves which a winning +army must have. I doubt if many of them could be got to cross the +Monongahela a second time." + +Yes, that was also true, and we fell silent, each busy with his own +thoughts. It seemed too horrible, too utterly fantastic. At last came the +dawn, and the light of the morning disclosed us to each other. As I +looked about me, I wondered if these scarecrows, these phantoms of men, +could be the same who had gone into battle in all the pride of manhood +and pageantry of arms the day before. Orme was ghastly, with his bandaged +head and torn, mud-stained uniform, and as I looked at him, I recalled +sadly the gallant figure I had met at Fort Necessity. Nor were the others +better. Haggard faces, bloodshot eyes, lips drawn with suffering, hair +matted with blood,--all the grim and revolting realities of defeat were +there before us, and no longer to be denied. And I realized that I was +ghastly as any. A bullet had cut open my forehead, leaving a livid gash, +from which the blood had dried about my face. I had lost my hat, and my +uniform was in tatters and stained with blood. + +We soon met the men who had gone forward with Waggoner to secure us some +supplies, and halted by a little brook to wash our injuries. Captain Orme +and some others attended as well as they were able to the general, and +gave him a little food, which was all too scarce, barely sufficient for a +single meal. Fortunately, Doctor Craik, who had learned that the general +was wounded, came up soon after, and made a careful examination of the +injury. He came away, when he had finished, with grave face, and told us +there was little hope, as the wound was already much inflamed and +fevered, and the general was able to breathe only with great agony. He +said there could be no question that the ball had entered the lung. The +general fancied that he would be easier on horseback, so when the march +was begun again, he was mounted on the horse Orme had been riding, but +after half an hour his pain grew so intense that he had to be taken down. +It was evident that he could not endure the jolting of the cart, and we +finally rigged up a sort of litter out of a portion of the tumbrel top, +and the men took turns in bearing him on this between them. + +Daylight banished much of the terror of the night, and as we toiled +onward, we began to talk a little, each to tell what part he had seen +of the battle. It was here that I heard the story of Harry Gordon, the +engineer who had been marking out the road in advance of the column, +and who had first seen the enemy. They had appeared suddenly, coming +through the wood at a run, as though hurrying from the fort, and led by +a man whose silver gorget and gayly fringed hunting-shirt at once +bespoke the chief. So soon as he saw Gordon, he halted and waved his +hat above his head, and the rabble of savages at his heels had +dispersed to right and left and disappeared as if by magic. An instant +later came a tremendous rifle fire from either flank, which cut Gage's +troops to pieces. They had rallied and returned the fire with spirit, +so that for a time the issue hung in the balance; but the terrible fire +to which they were subjected was too much for any discipline to +withstand, and they had finally given way in confusion, just as Burton +was forming to support them. + +It was not until long afterward that I heard the French story of the +fight, but I deem it best to set it down here. As our army had approached +through the wilderness, the Indians who lurked upon our flanks had +carried greatly exaggerated stories of our strength to Fort Duquesne, and +M. de Contrecoeur prepared to surrender on terms of honorable +capitulation, deeming it mere madness to oppose a force so overwhelming +in strength and so well disciplined. To the French the reputation of +General Braddock and of the Forty-Fourth and Forty-Eighth regiments of +the line was well known and commanded the greatest respect. On the eighth +of July, it was reported that the English were only a few miles from the +fort, which they would probably invest the next day, and M. de Beaujeu, a +captain of the regulars, asked the commandant for permission to prepare +an ambuscade and contest the second passage of the Monongahela. +Contrecoeur granted the request with great reluctance, and only on +condition that Beaujeu obtain the assistance of the Indians, of whom +there were near a thousand camped about the fort. Accordingly. Beaujeu at +once called the warriors to a council, and urged that they accompany him +against the English on the morrow. They received his proposition with +marked coldness, and according to the Indian custom, asked until morning +to consider their reply. In the morning, the council was called together +again, and the Indians refused to take part in the expedition. At that +moment a runner burst in upon them and announced that the enemy was at +hand. Beaujeu, who knew well the inflammable nature of his hearers, was +on his feet in an instant. + +"I," he cried, "am determined to go out against the enemy. I am certain +of victory. What! Will you suffer your father to depart alone?" + +It was the one spark needed to set the Indians on fire. They were frantic +with excitement. Barrels of bullets and casks of powder were rolled from +the fort, and their heads knocked out, so that each Indian could take +what he needed. War paint was donned, and in an hour the band, nine +hundred strong, of whom near seven hundred were Indians and the remainder +Canadians and regulars, set off silently through the forest. Beaujeu +calculated, at the most, on giving us a severe check as we crossed the +second ford, but long ere he reached the river, the beating of the drums +and the tramp of the approaching army told him that he was too late, and +that we had already crossed. Quickening their pace to a run, in a moment +they came upon our vanguard, and as Beaujeu gave the signal, the Indians +threw themselves into two ravines on our flanks, while the Canadians and +French held the centre. The first volley of Gage's troops killed +Beaujeu, and was so tremendous that it frightened the Indians, who +turned to flee. But they were rallied by a few subalterns, and finding +that the volleys of the regulars did little damage except to the trees, +returned to the attack, and during the whole engagement were perfectly +sheltered in the ravines, rifle and artillery fire alike sweeping above +them. They lost altogether but twenty-five or thirty men, and most of +these fell before the volley which we of Waggoner's company had fired +into the ravine. + +After our retreat, no pursuit was attempted, the Indians busying +themselves killing and scalping the wounded and gathering up the rich +booty which the army had left behind. They decked themselves in British +uniforms, stuck the tall caps of the grenadiers above their painted +faces, wound neck, wrist, and ankle with gold lace, made the wood to echo +with the dreadful scalp-halloo. Such an orgy of blood they never had +before; not another such will they ever have. + +One other horror must I record, which chokes me even yet to think of. A +score of regulars, surrounded by savages and cut off in their retreat +from the remainder of the army, yielded themselves captive to the +victors, thinking to be treated as prisoners of war have ever been in +Christian nations. But the Indians knew only their own bloodthirsty +customs. Half of the captives were tomahawked on the spot. The others +were stripped of clothing, their faces blackened, their hands bound +behind them, and were driven forward to the Allegheny, where, just +across from Fort Duquesne, a stake had been set in the river's bank. +Arrived there, the prisoners began to understand the fate prepared for +them, yet they could not believe. A hundred yards away across the river +stood the walls of the fort, crowded with soldiers, the fair lilies of +France waving lazily above their heads. Calmly they watched the terrible +preparations,--Contrecoeur, Dumas, and all the others,--and not one +raised a hand to rescue those unhappy men, or uttered a word to mitigate +their torture. From dark to dawn the flames shimmered across the +water,--for the English went to their fate singly,--and things were done +to turn one sick with horror; yet did the French look tranquilly from +their bastions and joke one to another. Our flag, thank God, has never +been sullied by a deed like that! + +Early the next morning, the Indians started westward to their homes, +laden with booty, sated with slaughter, leaving the French to take care +of themselves as best they might. The latter remained for a week in great +fear of another attack, which they would have been quite unable to +withstand, little thinking that our army was fleeing back to the +settlements with feet winged by an unreasoning terror. + +We reached Gist's plantation at ten o'clock on the night of the tenth, +and here we were compelled to stop because of our own exhaustion and the +great suffering of the general. And here, early the next morning, came +Colonel Washington, sitting his cushioned saddle like some gaunt +spectre, and bringing with him wagons loaded with provision. The general +still persisted in the exercise of his duties, despite his suffering, and +he at once detailed a party to proceed toward the Monongahela with a +supply of food, for the succor of the stragglers and the wounded who had +been left behind,--a duty which was ill fulfilled because of the +cowardice of those to whom it was intrusted. Meanwhile we pushed on, and +reached Dunbar's camp that night. + +We found it in the utmost confusion. At five o'clock on the morning after +the battle, a teamster, who had cut loose his horse and fled at the first +onset, had ridden madly into the camp crying that the whole army was +destroyed and he alone survived. At his heels came other teamsters, for +with an appalling cowardice, which makes me blush for my countrymen, they +had one and all cut loose their teams at the first fire, and selecting +the best horse, had fled precipitately from the field. Toward noon, +Colonel Washington had arrived, bringing the first accurate news of the +disaster, and at once setting on foot the relief expedition. After him +came troops of haggard, toil-worn, famished men, without arms, bewildered +with terror, fearing a second ambuscade at every step, and with the yells +of the Indians still ringing in their ears. The news of the disaster and +the incoherent stories of these half-crazed fugitives spread +consternation through the camp. Men deserted by scores and started +hot-foot for the settlements, and all pretense of discipline vanished. +Nor did the arrival of the general greatly better matters. He was fast +sinking, and long periods of delirium sapped his strength. It was evident +that the end was near. + +On the morning of the twelfth, I was engaged in collecting such of +the Virginia troops as I could find about the camp, when I saw +Colonel Washington approaching with a face so gloomy that I foresaw +some new disaster. + +"What is it?" I asked, almost before he had reached me. + +"Have you not heard?" and he looked meaningly back toward a spring near +which a number of men were unheading some casks. "We are to destroy all +our powder and stores, burn our wagons, and flee back to the settlements, +like so many children." + +"Why, 'tis folly!" I cried. "'Tis monstrous! Who gave such an order?" + +"I know not," and Washington smiled bitterly. "It is certain that the +general did not, since he has been raving with fever all the night. +Besides, his one thought has been to march back against the French the +instant he could get his troops together. Come, walk over with me and let +us watch this unhappy work." + +I followed him, and witnessed a sight which filled me with speechless +anger and indignation. Powder casks were being knocked open and their +contents cast into the spring, cohorns broken, shells burst, provisions +destroyed, and upwards of a hundred and fifty wagons burned. I remembered +bitterly what work we had had to obtain those wagons. Such a scene of +senseless and wanton destruction I had never seen before, and hope never +to see again. A frenzy of terror seemed to possess officers and men +alike, and I turned away, raging at heart, to think that to such men as +these had been intrusted the defense of our country. At last the work of +destruction was complete. With barely enough provision to carry us to +Fort Cumberland, and with no ammunition save that in our cartouch boxes, +the retreat commenced, if the flight of a disordered and frenzied rabble +can be dignified by such a name. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +BRADDOCK PAYS THE PRICE + + +It was the morning of Sunday, July 13, that this shameful flight began. +Its arrant cowardice weighed on many of the officers who were left alive, +and even on some of the men, especially, I am glad to say, on many of the +Virginians. Whose fault was it? Well, Colonel Dunbar was in command, +since the general was no longer conscious, and must take the blame. + +Colonel Washington had asked me to remain near him, if possible. He had +secured me a horse, and together with Captain Orme, who was no less +depressed, we formed the escort to the litter whereon lay the dying man. +Doctor Craik came to us from time to time, but the general was far beyond +human aid. I had never respected him so much as in this hour, for of his +downright valor I had had every proof. If only his pride had been a +little less, that his valor might have counted! It was while I was riding +thus, absorbed in melancholy thought, that a horse cantered up beside me, +and looking up, I saw Lieutenant Allen. + +"Confess I was a true prophet, Lieutenant Stewart," he remarked, with +a sorry attempt at a smile, "though damme if I could have foretold +that act of folly back yonder! You see, I know our new commander +better than do you." + +"So it seems," I answered, and at that moment caught Colonel Washington's +astonished eyes fixed upon us. Allen followed my glance, and smiled as he +saw the expression of Washington's face. + +"He cannot understand our friendliness," he laughed. "He is doubtless +wondering if we are arranging the preliminaries for the desperate +encounter for which we were booked. Let me explain the situation to him," +and he spurred to Washington's side. "I had occasion to say to Lieutenant +Stewart a few evenings ago," he said, "that I had been grievously +mistaken in my estimate of his courage, and that of the Virginia +companies, and that I was truly sorry that I had ever questioned them. In +the light of to-day's event, I am still more sorry, and I wish to add to +you, Colonel Washington, that I regret the words I used to you, and that +I sincerely ask your pardon." + +"'Tis granted with all my heart!" cried Washington, his face illumined +with that fine smile which always lighted it before any deed of courage +or gentleness, and the two shook hands warmly. "'Twas granted before you +asked it. I am not such a fire-eater as Tom, back there. I have regretted +that foolish quarrel many times, and had determined that it should not +lead to another meeting between you, which would have been mere folly. +Come here, sir," he called to me. "I wish to tell you how pleased I am +that this quarrel has been adjusted." + +"No more pleased than I, I assure you, colonel," I laughed. +"Lieutenant Allen gave me a sample of his swordsmanship I shall not +soon forget. I should have been as helpless before him as a lamb in the +jaws of a tiger." + +"Now you are mocking me!" cried Allen, and as I related to Colonel +Washington the story of his little bout with Langlade, we rode on +laughing, the best of friends. + +"But, believe me, Lieutenant Stewart," he said, when I had finished, "it +was not self-complacency which urged me to take up the foils that day. I +merely wished to show you that you had need to keep in practice, and so +prevent you from becoming over-sure." + +"'T was well done," said Washington heartily. "I appreciate your conduct, +Lieutenant Allen." + +"And I certainly took the lesson to heart," I laughed. "Just before you +came, I had conceived a most exalted opinion of my own abilities. I shall +not make the mistake a second time." + +Presently Allen fell back to rejoin the rear-guard, with which he had +been stationed, and we rode on beside the general's litter. He was +delirious most of the time, and was fighting the battle of the +Monongahela over and over again, giving orders and threshing from side to +side of his couch in his agony. In one of his intervals of consciousness, +he called my companion to him. + +"Colonel Washington," he said in a low tone, "I feel that I have done you +great injustice. Had I followed your advice, this catastrophe might not +have happened. But my eyes were not opened until too late. Had I lived, +I should not have forgot you. I am sure you cannot withhold your pardon +from a dying man." + +Washington's lips were trembling as he bent over the litter. + +"If there is anything to pardon, general," he said softly, "be sure I +pardon you with all my heart. You have the love of all your officers, +sir, who revere you as a brave and gallant man." + +"Ay, but a proud and stubborn one," and he smiled sadly. "Would God I had +had the grace to see it while it was yet time. Colonel Washington," he +added, "I wish you to have my charger, Bruce, and my body servant, +Bishop. These two gentlemen are witnesses that I give them to you." + +Orme and I bowed our assent, and Washington thanked him with a trembling +voice. He was soon wandering again, this time, apparently, among the +scenes of his earlier manhood. + +"Messieurs de la Garde Française," he cried, "tirez, s'il vous plait!" + +"Ah," murmured Orme, "he is at Fontenoy." + +And again,-- + +"Poor Fanny, I always thought she would play till she would be forced to +tuck herself up." + +"She was his sister," said Orme, answering our questioning glances. "She +ruined herself at cards and then hanged herself. It was a sad story." + +And yet again,-- + +"No, I'll not take your purse!" he cried; and then after a moment, "nor +ask my life at your hands. Do what you will." + +I could bear no more, and rode forward out of earshot. To see this +gallant man lying there, slowly dying, bereft at one stroke of life and +that far dearer to him than life, his military reputation, moved me as +few things had ever done. He had another lucid interval toward the middle +of the afternoon, and warmly praised the conduct of his officers. + +"They were gallant boys, every one," he said. "They did their duty +as brave men should. How many of them fell?" he asked suddenly, +turning to Orme. + +"Sixteen," answered Orme sadly. + +"And how many were wounded?" + +"Forty-seven." + +"Sixty-three,--and there were only eighty-nine," and Braddock sighed +heavily. "And how went it with the men?" + +Orme hesitated, fearing to disclose the extent of the disaster, but the +general's eyes were on his and would take no denial. + +"They suffered very heavily," said Orme at last. "Less than five hundred +escaped unharmed. All of the wounded who remained on the field were +killed by the Indians." + +"And we went into battle with near fifteen hundred men," said Braddock. +"Why, it was mere slaughter. There has never an army gone into battle +which lost such proportion of its numbers. Ah, well, I shall soon join +them. And they are happier than I, for they went to their end honored +and applauded, whilst I am a broken and ruined man, who will be +remembered only to be cursed." + +He turned his head away from us, and a great tear rolled down his cheek. +Orme was crying like a child, and made no effort to conceal it, nor were +Washington and I less moved. + +"At least," he said at last, turning back to us with a smile, "it were +better to have died than to have lived. I am glad I do not have to live." + +He soon lapsed again into delirium, and seemed to be living over a second +time a meeting with some woman. + +"Dear Pop," he said, "we are sent like sacrifices to the altar. They have +given me a handful of men and expect me to conquer whole nations. I know +that I shall never see you more. Good-by, Pop, and God bless you." + +Orme turned away for a moment to master his emotion. + +"'T was his last night in London," he said when he could speak. "He was +to set out on the morrow, and he asked Colonel Burton and myself to go +with him to visit a very dear protegee of his, George Anne Bellamy, the +actress, to whom, I think, he has left all his property. He used to her +almost the same words he has just repeated." + +"So he had doubts of his success," said Washington musingly. "Well, he +was a brave man, for he never permitted them to be seen." + +He was fast growing weaker. His voice faltered and failed, and he lay +without movement in his litter, continuing so until eight o'clock in the +evening. We had halted for the night, and had gathered about his couch, +watching him as his breathing grew slowly fainter. At last, when we +thought him all but gone, he opened his eyes, and seeing the ring of +anxious faces about him, smiled up at them. + +"It is the end," he said quietly. "You will better know how to deal with +them next time;" and turning his head to one side, he closed his eyes. + +We buried him at daybreak. The grave was dug in the middle of the road, +so that the wagons passing over it might efface all trace of its +existence and preserve it inviolate from the hands of the Indians. Our +chaplain, Mr. Hughes, had been severely wounded, so it was Colonel +Washington who read the burial service. I shall not soon forget that +scene,--the open grave in the narrow roadway, the rude coffin draped with +a flag, the martial figure within in full uniform, his hands crossed over +the sword on his breast, the riderless charger neighing for its master, +and the gray light of the morning over it all. The burial service has +never sounded more impressively in my ears than it did as read that +morning, in Colonel Washington's strong, melodious voice, to that little +group of listening men, in the midst of the wide, unbroken, whispering +forest. How often have I heard those words of hope and trust in God's +promise to His children, and under what varying circumstances! + +We lowered him into the grave, and lingered near until the earth was +heaped about it. Then the drums beat the march, the wagons rolled over +it, and in half an hour no trace of it remained. So to this day, he lies +there undisturbed in the heart of the wilderness, in a grave which no man +knows. Others have railed at him,--have decried him and slandered +him,--but I remember him as he appeared on that last day of all, a brave +and loyal gentleman, not afraid of death, but rather welcoming it, and +the memory is a sweet and dear one. If he made mistakes, he paid for them +the uttermost penalty which any man could pay,--and may he rest in peace. + +Of the remainder of that melancholy flight little need be said. We +struggled on through the wilderness, bearing our three hundred wounded +with us as best we could, and marking our path with their shallow graves, +as they succumbed one after another to the hardships of the journey. On +the twenty-second day of July we reached Fort Cumberland, and I learned +with amazement that Dunbar did not propose to stop here, although he had +placed near a hundred and fifty miles between him and the enemy, but to +carry his whole army to Philadelphia, leaving Virginia open to Indian and +French invasion by the very road which we had made. He alleged that he +must go into winter quarters, and that, too, though it was just the +height of summer. Colonel Washington ventured to protest against this +folly, but was threatened with court-martial, and came out of Dunbar's +quarters red with anger and chagrin. + +And sure enough, on the second of August, Dunbar marched away with all +his effective men, twelve hundred strong, leaving at the fort all his +sick and wounded and the Virginia and Maryland troops, over whom he +attempted to exercise no control. I bade good-by to Orme and Allen and +such other of the officers as I had met. Colonel Burton took occasion to +come to me the night before he marched, and presented me with a very +handsome sword in token of his gratitude, as he said, for saving his +life,--an exploit, as I pointed out to him, small enough beside a hundred +others that were done that day. + +The sword he gave me hangs above my desk as I write. I am free to confess +that I have performed no great exploits with it, and when I took it down +from its hook the other day to look at it, I found that it had rusted in +its scabbard. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +VIRGINIA BIDS US WELCOME + + +"To my mind, there is only one thing to be done. That is to retire." + +The speaker was Colonel Henry Innes, commandant of the fort, but as he +looked up and down the row of faces opposite him, he saw few which showed +assent. Scarcely had the rear-guard of Dunbar's troops disappeared among +the trees which lined the narrow military road, when Colonel Innes had +called this meeting of the officers left at the fort, "to decide," as the +summons put it, "on our future course of action." As if, I thought +indignantly to myself, there could be any question as to what our future +course of action should be. + +"We are left here," continued the speaker, in a louder voice and growing +somewhat red in the face, "with scarce five hundred men, all provincials, +and most of them unfit for service. A great part of the army's equipment +has been abandoned or destroyed back there in the woods. In short, we are +so weak that we can hope neither to advance against the enemy nor to +repel an assault, should they march against us in force, as they are most +like to do." + +For a moment there was an ominous silence. + +"May I ask what it is you propose, Colonel Innes?" asked Captain +Waggoner at last. + +"I propose to abandon the place," replied Innes, "and to fall back to +Winchester or some other point where our wounded may lie in safety and +our men have opportunity to recover from the fatigues of the campaign." + +Again there was a moment's silence, and all of us, as by a common +impulse, glanced at Colonel Washington, who sat at one end of the table, +his head bowed in gloomy thought. The fever, which he had shaken off for +a time, had been brought back by the arduous work he had insisted on +performing, and he was but the shadow of his former self. He felt our +eyes upon him and suddenly raised his head. + +"Do you really anticipate that the French will march against us, Colonel +Innes?" he asked quietly. "There were scarce three hundred of them at the +fort three weeks ago, hardly enough for an expedition of such moment, and +it is not likely that they can be reinforced to undertake any campaign +this summer." + +"There would be little danger from the French themselves," retorted +Innes, with an angry flush, "but they will undoubtedly rally the Indians, +and lead them against us along the very road which Braddock cut over the +mountains. Fort Cumberland stands at one end of that road." + +Washington smiled disdainfully. + +"I have heard of few instances," he said, "where Indians have dared +attack a well-manned fortification, and of none where they have captured +one. To retreat from here would be to leave our whole frontier open to +their ravages, and would be an act of cowardice more contemptible than +that which Colonel Dunbar performed this morning, when he marched his +troops away." + +I had never seen him so moved, and I caught the infection of his anger. + +"Colonel Washington is right!" I cried hotly. "Our place is here." + +Innes did not so much as look at me. His eyes were on Washington, and his +face was very red. + +"Colonel Washington," he sneered, his lips curling away from his teeth +with rage, "was, I believe, an aide on the general's staff. Since the +general is dead, that position no longer exists. Consequently, Colonel +Washington is no longer an officer of the army, and I fail to see what +right he has to take part in this discussion." + +Half a dozen of us were on our feet in an instant, but Washington was +before us and waved us back with a motion of his hand. + +"Colonel Innes is right," he said, his deep-set eyes gleaming like two +coals of fire. "I am no longer an officer of the army, and I thank God +this is so, since it is about to further disgrace itself." + +"Take care, sir," cried Innes, springing to his feet. "You forget there +is such a thing as court-martial." + +"And you forget that I am no longer of the army, and so can defy its +discipline." + +He stood for a moment longer looking Innes in the eyes, and then, +without saluting, turned on his heel and left the place. A moment later +the council broke up in confusion, for Innes saw plainly that the +sentiment of nearly all the other officers present was against him, and +he did not choose to give it opportunity of expression. I had scarcely +reached my quarters when I received a note from his secretary stating +that as the mortality among the Virginia companies had been so heavy, it +had been decided to unite the three into one, and my lieutenancy was +therefore abolished. Trembling with anger, I hurried to Washington's +quarters and laid the note before him. + +"Why, Tom," he said, with a short laugh, after he had read it, "we seem +to have fallen into disgrace together. But come," he added more +cheerfully, seeing my downcast face, "do not despair. We may yet win out. +The governor and the House of Burgesses will not receive so quietly this +project to retire from the frontier. I had a letter from Dinwiddie but +the other day, in which he said as much. In the mean time, I am going +home to Mount Vernon to rest, and you must come with me." + +I accepted readily enough, for I knew not what else to do, and on the +morrow we set out. Colonel Washington was so ill that we could proceed +but slowly. We finally reached Winchester, and from there, because of the +better road, crossed the river to Frederick, where a great surprise +awaited us. For scarcely were we off our horses at the little tavern, +than the host, learning our names, rushed away down the wide, rambling +street, crying the news aloud, to our great wonderment, who saw not why +it should interest any one. In an incredibly short time, above a hundred +people had gathered before the inn, cheering and hallooing with all their +might, while we looked at them in dumb amazement. We sent for the host to +learn what this might mean, thinking doubtless there was some mistake, +and even as he entered, a dozen men burst into the room, and insisted +that we should not be permitted for a moment to think of putting up at an +inn, but should accompany them home. + +"But, gentlemen," protested Washington, "you have mistaken us for some +one else. We have done nothing to deserve your hospitality." + +"Have you not?" they cried, and they hustled us out into the yard. There +was no denying them, so off we rode again, greatly bewildered, and in the +course of half an hour were being introduced by our self-appointed +entertainer to his wife and three pretty daughters. + +"'T is Colonel Washington, you understand, wife," he cried. "Colonel +Washington, whose advice, had it been followed, would have saved the +expedition." + +A great light broke upon me. So my friend's merits were to be recognized +at last,--were to win him something more than contumely and insult,--and +as he would have made denial, I cut him short. + +"Do not listen to him!" I cried. "'T is true, every word of it, and much +more besides." + +Whereat the girls smiled at me very sweetly, our host wrung my hand +again, and I swear there were tears in Washington's eyes as he looked at +me in feigned anger. Such a night's entertainment as was given us I shall +not soon forget, nor Colonel Washington either, I dare say. Word of our +presence had got about the neighborhood with singular speed, and the +people flocked in by dozens, until the great hallway, which ran through +the house from front to rear, was crowded from end to end. Then, nothing +would do but that Colonel Washington must tell the story of the advance, +the ambuscade, and the retreat, which he did with such consummate +slighting of his own part in the campaign that I interrupted him in great +indignation, and, unheeding his protests, related some of the things +concerning him which I have already written, and which, I swear, were +very well received. + +"But Lieutenant Stewart says nothing of what he himself did," cried +Washington, when I had finished. + +"Because I did nothing worth relating," I retorted, my cheeks hot with +embarrassment at the way they looked at me. + +"Ask him how he won that sword he wears at his side," he continued, not +heeding my interruption, his eyes twinkling at my discomfiture. "Believe +me, 'tis not many Virginia officers can boast such a fine one." + +And then, of course, they all demanded that he tell the story, which he +did with an exaggeration that I considered little less than shameful. +In some mysterious manner, tankards of cold, bitter Dutch beer, the +kind that is so refreshing after a journey or at the close of a hot +day's work, had found their way into the right hand of every man +present, and as Washington ended the story and I was yet denying, our +host sprang to his feet. + +"We'll drink to the troops of Maryland and Virginia," he cried, "who +behaved like soldiers and died like men, teaching England's redcoats a +lesson they will not soon forget, and to two of the bravest among them, +Colonel Washington and Lieutenant Stewart!" + +It was done with a cheer that made the old hall ring, and when, half an +hour later, I found myself beside the prettiest of the three daughters of +the house, I was not yet quite recovered. Only this I can say,--it is a +pleasant thing to be a hero, though trying to the nerves. I had only the +one experience, and did not merit that, as the reader has doubtless +decided for himself. + +Of course there was a dance,--what merrymaking would be complete without +one?--and Colonel Washington walked a minuet with a certain Mistress +Patience Burd, with a grace which excited the admiration of every swain +in the room, and the envy of not a few,--myself among the number, for I +was ever but a clumsy dancer, and on this occasion no doubt greatly vexed +my pretty partner. But every night must end, as this one did at last. +Colonel Washington was much better next morning, for his illness had been +more of the mind than of the body, and our kind reception had done +wonders to banish his vexation. Our friends bade us Godspeed, and we rode +on our way southward. I never saw the house again, and it is one of my +great regrets and reasons for self-reproach that I have forgot the name +of the honest man who was our host that night, and remember only that the +name of his prettiest daughter was Betty. + +As we reached a part of the country which was more closely settled, I +soon perceived that however great dishonor had accrued to British arms +and British reputations as the result of that battle by the Monongahela, +Colonel Washington had won only respect and admiration by his consistent +and courageous conduct. We were stopped a hundred times by people who +asked first for news, and when they heard my companion's name, vied with +one another to do him honor. It did me good to see how he brightened +under these kind words and friendly acts, and how the color came again +into his face and the light into his eyes. And I hold that this was as it +should be, for I know of nothing of which a man may be more justly proud +than of the well-earned praises of his fellows. + +At last, toward the evening of a sultry August day, we turned our horses' +heads into the wide road which led up to Mount Vernon, and drew near to +that hospitable and familiar mansion. News of our approach must have +preceded us, for there, drawn up in line, were the bowing and grinning +negroes, while at the entrance gate were Mrs. Washington and her +children, as well as a dozen families assembled from as many miles +around to do honor to the returning warrior. My heart beat more quickly +as I ran my eyes over this gathering, but fell again when I saw that the +family from Riverview was not there. + +And such a greeting as it was! We all remained a space apart until Mrs. +Washington had kissed her son, as something too sacred for our intrusion. +But when he turned to greet his neighbors, I have rarely seen such +genuine emotion shown even in our whole-hearted Virginia. At the great +dinner which followed, with Mrs. Washington at the head of the table and +her son at the foot, we told again the story of the campaign, and the men +forgot to sip their wine until the tale was ended. Yet with all this +largess of goodwill, I was not wholly happy. For I had no home to go to, +nor was there any waiting to welcome me, and the woman I loved seemed +farther away than ever, though now she was so near. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A NEW DANGER AT RIVERVIEW + + +But Dorothy was not so near as I had thought, for next morning came a +message from my aunt. It was delivered almost as soon as I was out of bed +by a negro boy who had ridden over at daybreak. It was dated but two days +before, and began very formally. + +"Sir," it ran, "since you no doubt will wish to recuperate from the +fatigues of the campaign so unfortunately ended, and as there is no place +where you can do this so well as at Riverview, I hasten to assure you +that the place is entirely at your service." + +I paused a moment to get my breath. Her reference to the campaign was +intended as a stab, of course, yet could it be she was relenting? But +hope fell as I read on. + +"In order that you may feel at liberty to avail yourself of this +invitation," the note continued, "my daughter and I have accepted one of +long standing to spend a month, or perhaps two months, at the home of a +relative. James is at Williamsburg, so that you may be entirely free to +occupy your leisure at Riverview as best pleases you. Do not think that +you have driven us from the place, for that is not at all the case. I +have long felt the need of rest, and take advantage of this opportunity, +while there is little doing on the plantation, to secure it. I trust to +your sense of honor to make no inquiries as to where we are stopping, nor +to attempt to see my daughter, who, I believe, has already discovered +that any fancy she may ever have seemed to entertain for you was more +imaginary than real." + +Here was a blow, straight from the shoulder, and I winced under it. + +"I could never consent," the note concluded, "to any attachment of a +serious nature between you, having quite other views for my daughter, +which, I am sure, will be for her happiness and well-being." + +I read the note through a second time before I realized what a blow it +gave to all my hopes. I had had little cause to anticipate any other +treatment, it is true, and yet I have often observed that men hope most +who have least reason for it, and this was so in my case. As I read the +note again, I could not but admire the adroitness of its author. She had +placed me upon honor--without my consent, 't is true--to make no effort +to see Dorothy. I stood biting my lips with anger and vexation, and then, +with sudden resolve, turned back to the messenger. + +"Go around to the kitchen and get something to eat, if you are hungry," I +said to him. "I shall be ready to ride back with you in half an hour;" +and as he disappeared around a corner of the house, agrin from ear to +ear at the prospect of refreshment, I sought Mrs. Washington and told her +that I had just received a note from my aunt and would ride to Riverview +at once. How much she suspected of my difference with my aunt, I do not +know, but if she experienced any surprise at my sudden departure, she +certainly did not show it, saying only that she regretted that I must go +so soon, and that I must always consider Mount Vernon no less my home +than Riverview,--an assurance which Colonel Washington repeated when the +moment came to say good-by, and I rode away at last with a very tender +feeling in my heart for those two figures which stood there on the steps +until I turned into the road and passed from sight. + +"And how is everything at Riverview, Sam?" I asked of the boy, as we +struck into the road and settled our horses into an easy canter. He did +not answer for a moment, and when I glanced at him to see the cause of +his silence, I was astonished to find him rolling his eyes about as +though he saw a ghost. + +"What's the matter, boy?" I asked sharply. "Come, speak out. What is it?" + +He looked behind him and all around into the woods, and then urged his +horse close to mine. + +"Mas' Tom," he said, almost in a whisper, "dere's gwine t' be hell at d' +plantation foh long. Youse stay 'way fum it." + +I looked at him, still more astonished by his singular behavior. A +full-blooded negro does not turn pale, but under the influence of great +terror his skin grows spotted and livid. Sam's was livid at that moment. + +"See here, Sam," I said sharply, "if you have anything to tell, I want +you to tell me right away. What are you afraid of?" + +"D' witch man," he whispered, his eyes almost starting from his head, and +his forehead suddenly beading with perspiration. + +"The witch man? Has a witch man come to Riverview?" + +He nodded. + +"And what is he doing there, Sam?" + +"He says d' French dun whopped d' English, an' a-comin' t' set all d' +niggahs free. He says we mus' holp, an' dere won't be no mo' slaves. All +ub us be free, jus' like white folks." + +It took me a minute or two to grasp the full meaning of this +extraordinary revelation. + +"He says the French are coming to set all the niggers free?" I repeated. + +Sam nodded. + +"And that the niggers must help them?" + +Again Sam nodded. + +"Help them how, Sam?" + +He hesitated. + +"By killing the English, Sam?" + +"I reckon dat 's it," he said reluctantly. + +"And burning down their houses, perhaps?" + +"I 'se hearn dat talked erboat, too." + +I drew my horse in with a jerk, and catching Sam's by the bridle, +pulled it to me. + +"Now, boy," I said, "you must tell me all about this. I promise you that +no one shall harm you." + +He began to whimper. + +"I'll tell yo', Mas' Tom," he stuttered, "but yo' mus' n' hurt d' +witch man." + +"Who is this witch man?" I demanded. + +"Ole uncle Polete." + +"Polete's no witch man. Why, Sam, you 've known him all your life. He's +nothing but an ordinary old nigger. He's been on the plantation twenty or +thirty years. All that he needs is a good whipping." + +But the boy only shook his head and sobbed the more. + +"Ef he's a-killed," he cried, "his ha'nt 'll come back fo' me." + +I saw in a moment what the boy was afraid of. It was not of old +Polete in the flesh, but in the spirit. I thought for a moment. Well, +I had no reason to wish Polete any harm, yet if it were discovered +that he had been inciting the slaves to insurrection, there was no +power in the colony could save his life. If his owner did not execute +him, the governor would take the matter out of his hands, and order +it done himself. + +"I tell you what I'll do, Sam," I said at last. "You tell me everything +you know, and I'll do all I can to save Polete. I believe I can stop this +thing without calling in any outside help." + +He agreed to this, and as we jogged along I gradually drew the details of +the plot from him. The news of our defeat had, it seemed, stirred up the +negroes at the plantation, and in some way the wild rumor had been +started that a great force of French was marching over the mountains to +conquer Virginia and all the other English colonies; that emissaries had +come to the negroes and promised them that if they would assist the +invading army, they would be given their freedom and half of the colony +to live in. It was at this time that old Polete, crazed, perhaps, by +working in the tobacco fields under the blazing sun, had suddenly +developed into a witch man, and proclaimed that he could see the French +army marching, and urged the negroes to strike a blow at once in order to +merit their freedom when the French should come. Meetings were held +almost nightly in the woods some miles from their cabins, whence they +stole away after dark by twos and threes. Just what their plans were Sam +did not know, as he did not belong to the inner council, but he believed +that something would happen soon because of the increasing excitement of +the older negroes who were acquainted with the plans. + +I rode on for some time in silence, thinking over this story and trying +to decide what I would better do. I did not know until months later that +signs of unrest had been observed among the slaves all over the colony, +and that the governor had considered the situation so serious that he had +sent out many warnings concerning the danger. It was as well, perhaps, +that I did not know this then, for I might not have thought my own +portion of the problem so easy of solution. At the time, I had no +thought but that the outbreak was the result of old Polete's prophecies, +and was confined alone to Riverview. + +Sam was cantering along behind me, his face still livid with terror, and +as I caught sight of it again, I wondered what impulse it was had moved +him to confide in me, with such fancied peril to himself. + +"I would n' tole nobody else," he said, in answer to my question, "but +you tole a lie fo' me oncet, an' saved me a lickin'." + +"Told a lie for you, Sam?" I questioned in astonishment. "When was that?" + +"Don' yo' 'membah boat d' whip, Mas' Tom, what I stole?" he asked. + +I looked at him for a moment before that incident of my boyhood came +back to me. + +"Why, yes, I remember it now," I said. "But that was years ago, Sam, and +I had forgotten it. Besides, I didn't tell a lie for you. I only told old +Gump that I wished to give you the whip." + +"Well," said Sam, looking at me doubtfully, "yo' saved me a lickin' +anyhow, an' I did n' f 'git it," and he dropped back again. + +Well, to be sure, an act of thoughtfulness or mercy never hurts a man, a +fact which I have since learned for myself a hundred times, and wish all +men realized. + +We were soon at Riverview, and I ordered Sam to ride out to the field +where the men were working, and tell the overseer, Long, that I wished to +see him. Sam departed on the errand, visibly uneasy, and I wandered from +my room, where I had taken my pack, along the hall and into my aunt's +business room while I waited his return. I stood again for a moment at +the spot on the staircase where I had kissed Dorothy that morning,--it +seemed ages ago,--and as I looked up, I fancied I could still see her +sweet face gazing down at me. But it was only fancy, and, with a sigh, I +turned away and went down through the hall. + +There were reminders of her at every turn,--there was the place where she +had sat sewing in the evenings; over the fireplace hung a little picture +she had painted, rude enough, no doubt, but beautiful to my eyes. With a +sudden impulse, I ran down the steps and to the old seat under the oaks +by the river. Nothing had changed,--even the shadows across the water +seemed to be the same. But as I ran my hand mechanically along the arm of +the seat on the side where Dorothy always sat my fingers felt a roughness +which had not been there before, and as I looked to see what this might +be, I saw that some one had cut in the wood a T and a D, intertwined, and +circled by a tiny heart. Who could have done it? I had no need to ask +myself the question. My heart told me that no one but Dorothy could have +done it, and that she knew that I should come and sit here and live over +again the long evenings when she had sat beside me. It was a message from +my love, and with trembling lips I bent and kissed the letters which she +had carved. As I sat erect again, I heard footsteps behind me, and turned +to see Long approaching. + +"You sent for me, Mr. Stewart?" he asked. "I saw you sitting here, and +decided you were waiting for me." + +"Yes," I said, and I shook hands with him, for he was an honest man and a +good workman. + +"I am glad to see you back again, sir, though looking so ill," he added. +"I trust the air of Riverview will soon bring you around all right," and +from his eyes I knew he meant it. + +I thanked him, and bade him sit beside me. Then, in a few words, I +told him what I had learned of the negro meetings, and saw his face +grow grave. + +"'Tis what I have always feared," he said, when I had finished. "There +are too many of them in the colony, and they feel their strength. If they +had a leader and a chance to combine, they might do a great deal of harm. +However, we shall soon knock this in the head." + +"How?" I asked. + +"Make an example of Polete," he answered decidedly. "That's the best way, +sir. Put him out of the way, let the other niggers see us do it, and +they'll quiet down fast enough." + +"Undoubtedly that is the easiest way," I said, smiling, "but, +unfortunately, I had to promise the person who gave me the information +that Polete should not be harmed." + +Long stared at me for a moment in amazement. + +"It would be unfortunate if any of the other planters should hear of that +promise, Mr. Stewart," he said at last. "They would probably take +Polete's case into their own hands." + +I laughed at his evident concern. + +"No doubt," I said, "but they are not going to hear of it. I intend +telling no one but yourself, for we two are quite sufficient to stop this +thing right here, and it need go no further." + +"Perhaps we are," he answered doubtfully. "What is your plan, sir?" + +"Polete will hold a meeting to-night over there in the woods. Well, we +will be present at the meeting." + +He looked at me without saying a word. "Our visit will probably not be +very welcome," I continued, "but I believe it will produce the desired +effect. Will you go with me?" + +"Certainly," he answered readily, "but I still think my plan the +best, sir." + +"Perhaps it is," I laughed, "but we will try mine first," and he went +back to the field, agreeing to be at the house at eight o'clock. + +I covered with my hand the tiny letters on the arm of the bench, and, +looking out across the broad river, drifted into the land of dreams, +where Dorothy and I wandered together along a primrose path, with none to +interfere. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE GOVERNOR SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE + + +I ate my supper in solitary splendor in the old dining-room, with my +grandfather's portrait looking down upon me, and Long found me an hour +later sitting in the midst of a wreath of smoke just within the hallway +out of the river mist. + +"'T was as you said, Mr. Stewart," he remarked, as he joined me. "Fully a +hundred of the niggers stole off to the woods to-night so soon as it was +dark. They went down toward the old Black Snake swamp." + +"Very well," I said, rising. "Wait till I get my hat, and I am with you." + +"But you will go armed?" he asked anxiously. + +I paused to think for a moment. + +"No, I will not," I said finally. "A brace of pistols would avail +nothing against that mob, should they choose to resist us, and our going +unarmed will have a great moral effect upon them as showing them that we +are not afraid." + +"You have weighed fully the extent of the risk you are about to run, I +hope, sir," protested Long. + +"Fully," I answered. "'T is not yet too late for you to turn back, you +know. I have no right to ask you to endanger your life to carry out this +plan of mine. Perhaps it would be wiser for you not to go." + +"And if I stay, you"-- + +"Will go alone," I said. + +He caught my hand and wrung it heartily. + +"You are a brave man, Mr. Stewart," he exclaimed. "If I have shown any +hesitation, 't was on your account, not on my own. I am ready to go with +you," and as he spoke, he drew a brace of pistols from beneath his coat +and laid them on the table by the fireplace. + +"Wait one moment," I said, and hurrying to my aunt's room, I wrote a +short note telling her of the trouble I had discovered and where Long and +I were going, so that, if we did not return, she would know what had +happened. Folding and sealing it, I wrote on the outside, "To be +delivered at once to Mrs. Stewart," left it on the table, knowing that no +one would enter the room till morning, and hurried back to rejoin Long. +We were off without further words, and were soon well on our way. + +It was a clear, cool, summer night, with the breeze just stirring in the +trees and keeping up a faint, unceasing whispering among the leaves. The +moon had risen some hours before, and sailed upward through a cloudless +sky. Even under the trees it was not wholly dark, for the moon's light +filtered through here and there, making a quaint patchwork on the ground, +and filling the air with a peculiar iridescence which transformed the +ragged trunks of the sycamores into fantastic hobgoblins. All about us +rose the croaking of the frogs, dominating all the other noises of the +night, and uniting in one mighty chorus in the marshes along the river. +An owl was hooting from a distant tree, and the hum of innumerable +insects sounded on every side. Here and there a glittering, dew-spangled +cobweb stretched across our path, a barrier of silver, and required more +than ordinary resolution to be brushed aside. As we turned nearer to the +river, the ground grew softer and the underbrush more thick, and I knew +that we had reached the swamp. + +Then, in a moment, it seemed to me that I could hear some faint, +monotonous singsong rising above all the rest. At first I thought it was +the croaking of a monster frog, but as we plodded on and the sound grew +more distinct, I knew it could not be that. At last, in sheer perplexity, +I stopped and motioned Long to listen. + +"Do you hear it?" I asked. "Do you know what it is?" + +"Yes, I have heard it for the last ten minutes, Mr. Stewart," he +answered quietly. "It is old Polete preaching to the niggers. I have +often heard their so-called witch men preach. It is always in a singsong +just like that." + +As we drew nearer, I perceived that this was true, for I could catch the +tones of the speaker's voice, and in a few minutes could distinguish his +words. Some years before, when the river had been in flood, its current +had been thrown against this bank by a landslide on the other side, and +had washed away trees and underbrush for some distance. The underbrush +had soon sprung up again, but the clearing still remained, and as we +stopped in the shadow of the trees and looked across it, we saw a +singular sight. Negroes to the number of at least a hundred and fifty +were gathered about a pile of logs on which Polete was mounted. He was +shouting in a monotone, his voice rising and falling in regular cadence, +his eyes closed, his head tilted back, his face turned toward the moon, +whose light silvered his hair and beard and gave a certain majesty to his +appearance. His hearers were seemingly much affected, and interrupted him +from time to time with shouts and groans and loud amens. + +"Dis is d' promise' lan'!" cried old Polete, waving his arms above his +head in a wild ecstasy. "All we hab t' do is t' raise up an' take it from +ouh 'pressahs. Ef we stays hyah slaves, it's ouh own fault. Now's d' +'pinted time. D' French is ma'chin' obah d' mountings t' holp us. Dee'll +drib d' English into d' sea, and wese t' hab ouh freedom,--ouh freedom +an' plenty lan' t' lib on." + +"Dat's it," shouted some one, "an' we gwine t' holp, suah!" + +The negroes were so intent upon their speaker that they did not perceive +us until we were right among them, and even then for a few minutes, as we +forced our way through the mob, no one knew us. + +"It's Mas' Tom!" yelled one big fellow, as my hat was knocked from my +head. And, as if by instinct, they crowded back on either side, and a +path was opened before us to the pile of logs where Polete stood. He +gaped at us amazedly as we clambered up toward him, and I saw that he was +licking his lips convulsively. A yell from the crowd greeted us as we +appeared beside him,--a menacing yell, which died away into a low +growling, and foretold an approaching storm. + +"Now, boys," I cried, "I want you to listen to me for a minute. That is a +lie about the French coming over the mountains,--every word of it. If +Polete here, who, you know, is only a laborer like most of you, says he +has seen them coming in a vision, why he's simply lying to you, or he +doesn't know what he's talking about. There are not three hundred +Frenchmen the other side of the mountains, in the first place, and it +will be winter before they can get any more there. So if you fight, you +will have to fight alone, and you can guess how much chance of success +you have. You know the penalty for insurrection. It's death, and not an +easy death, either,--death by fire! If you go ahead with this thing, no +power on earth can save every one of you from the stake." + +"It's a lie!" yelled Polete. "I did hab d' vision. I did see d' French +a-comin'--millions o' dem--all a-ma'chin' t'rough d' forest. Dee's almost +hyah. Dee want us t' holp." + +A hoarse yell interrupted him, and I saw that something must be done. + +"Wait a minute, boys," I cried. "Let me ask Polete a question. You say +you have seen the French marching, Polete?" + +He nodded sullenly. + +"What was the color of their uniforms?" + +He hesitated a moment, but saw he must answer. + +"Dee was all colors," he said. "Red, blue, green,--all colors." + +I saw that my moment of triumph was at hand. + +"Now, boys," I cried, holding up my hand so that all might be quiet and +hear my words. "You may guess how much value there is in Polete's +visions. He says he has seen the French army marching, and he has just +told me that their uniforms are all colors,--red, blue, green, and so on. +Now, if he has seen the army, he ought to know the color of the uniforms, +ought he not?" + +"Yes, yes," yelled the mob. + +"Well, boys," I continued, "the French wear only one color uniform, and +that color is just the one which Polete has not mentioned--white. No +Frenchman goes to war except in a white uniform." + +They were all silent for a moment, and I saw them eyeing Polete +distrustfully. + +But he was foaming at the mouth with fury. + +"A lie!" he screamed. "A lie, same's de uddah. Don' yo' see what we mus' +do? Kill 'em! Kill 'em, an' nobody else'll evah know!" + +That low growling which I had heard before again ran through the crowd. I +must play my last card. + +"You fools!" I cried, "do you suppose we are the only ones who know? If +so much as a hair of our heads is touched, if we are not back among our +friends safe and sound when morning comes, every dog among you will yelp +his life out with a circle of fire about him!" + +They were whining now, and I knew I had them conquered. + +"I came here to-night to save you," I went on, after a moment. "Return +now quietly to your quarters, and nothing more will be said about this +gathering. Put out of your minds once for all the hope that the French +will help you, for it is a lie. And let this be the last time you hold a +meeting here, or I will not answer for the consequences." + +I waved them away with my hand, and they slunk off by twos and threes +until all of them had disappeared in the shadow of the wood. + +"And now, what shall we do with this cur?" asked Long, in a low voice, at +my elbow. I turned and saw that he had old Polete gripped by the collar. +"He tried to run away," he added, "but I thought you might have something +to say to him." + +Polete was as near collapse as a man could be and yet be conscious. He +was trembling like a leaf, his eyes were bloodshot, and his lower jaw was +working convulsively. He turned an imploring gaze on me, and tried to +speak, but could not. + +"Polete," I said sternly, "I suppose you know that if this night's work +gets out, as it is certain to do sooner or later, no power on earth can +save your life?" + +"Yes, massa," he muttered, and looked about him wildly, as though he +already saw the flames at his feet. + +"Well, Polete," I went on, "after the way you have acted to-night, I see +no reason why I should try to save you. You certainly did all you could +to get me killed." + +"Yes, massa," he said again, and would have fallen had not Long held him +upright by the collar. + +I waited a moment, for I thought he was going to faint, but he opened his +eyes again and fixed them on me. + +"Now listen," I went on, when he appeared able to understand me. "I'm +not going to kill you. I'm going to give you a chance for your +life,--not a very big chance, perhaps, but a great deal better one than +you would have here." + +"Yes, massa," he said a third time, and there was a gleam of hope +in his face. + +"I'm going to let you go," I concluded. "I'd advise you to follow the +river till you get beyond the settlements, and then try for Pennsylvania. +I promise you there'll be no pursuit, but if you ever show your face +around here again, you're as good as dead." + +Before I had finished, he had fallen to his knees and bowed his head upon +my feet, with a peculiar reverence,--a relic, I suppose, of his life in +Africa. He was blubbering like a baby when he looked up at me. + +"I'll nevah f'git yeh, Mas' Tom," he said. "I'll nevah f'git yeh." + +"That'll do, uncle," and I caught him by the collar and pulled him to +his feet. "I don't want to see you killed, but you'd better get away from +here as fast as you can, and drop this witch man business for good and +all. Here's two shillings. They'll get you something to eat when you get +to Pennsylvania, but you'd better skirmish along in the woods the best +you can till then, or you'll be jerked up for a runaway." + +He murmured some inarticulate words,--of gratitude, perhaps,--and +slid down from the pile of logs. We watched him until he plunged into +the woods to the south of the clearing, and then started back toward +the house. I was busy with my own thoughts as we went, and Long was +also silent, so that scarcely a word passed between us until we +reached the steps. + +"Sit down a minute, Long," I said, as he started back to his quarters. "I +don't believe we'll have any more trouble with those fellows, but perhaps +it would be well to watch them." + +"Trust me for that, sir," he answered. "I'll see to it that there are no +more meetings of that kind. With Polete away, there is little danger. The +only question is whether he will stay away." + +"I think he will," and I looked out over the river thoughtfully. "He +seemed to understand the danger he was in. If he returns, you will have +to deliver him up to the authorities at once, of course." + +"Well," said Long, "I'm not a bloodthirsty man, sir, as perhaps you know, +but I think we'd be safer if he were dead. Still, we'll be safe enough +anyway, now the niggers know their plot is discovered. But we were in a +ticklish place there for a while this evening." + +"Yes," I answered, with a smile. "It was not so easy as I had expected. I +want to thank you, Long, for going with me. It was a service on your part +which showed you have the interest of the place at heart, and are not +afraid of danger." + +"That's all right, sir," he said awkwardly. "Good-night." + +"Wait till I get your pistols," I said. "You left them in the hall, +you know." + +The moonlight was streaming through the open window, and as I stepped +into the hall, I rubbed my eyes, for I thought I must be dreaming. There +in a great chair before the fireplace sat Colonel Washington. His head +had fallen back, his eyes were closed, and from his deep and regular +breathing I knew that he was sleeping. Marveling greatly at his presence +here at this hour, I tiptoed around him, got Long's pistols, and took +them out to him. Then I lighted my pipe and sat down in a chair opposite +the sleeper, and waited for him to awake. I had not long to wait. Whether +from my eyes on his face, or some other cause, he stirred uneasily, +opened his eyes, and sat suddenly bolt upright. + +"Why, Tom," he cried, as he saw me, "I must have been asleep." + +"So you have," I said, shaking hands with him, and pressing him back into +the chair, from which he would have risen. "But what fortunate chance +has brought you here?" + +"The most fortunate in the world!" he cried, his eyes agleam. "You know I +told you that the governor and House of Burgesses would not bear quietly +the project to leave our frontier open to the enemy. Well, read this," +and he drew from his pocket a most formidable looking paper. I took it +with a trembling hand and carried it to the window, but the moon was +almost set, and I could not decipher it. + +"What is it?" I asked, quivering with impatience. + +"Here, give it to me," he said, with a light laugh, which reminded me of +the night I had seen him first in the governor's palace at Williamsburg. +"The House of Burgesses has just met. They ordered that a regiment of a +thousand men be raised to protect the frontier in addition to those +already in the field, and voted £20,000 for the defense of the colony." + +"And that is your commission!" I cried. "Is it not so?" + +"Yes," he said, scarce less excited than myself. "'Tis my commission as +commander-in-chief of all the Virginia forces." + +I wrung his hand with joy unutterable. At last this man, who had done so +much, was to know something beside disappointment and discouragement. + +"But you do not ask how you are concerned in all this," he continued, +smiling into my face, "or why I rode over myself to bring the news to +you. 'Tis because I set out to-morrow at daybreak for Winchester to take +command, and I wish you to go with me, Tom, as aide-de-camp, with the +rank of captain." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A WARNING FROM THE FOREST + + +It was at Winchester that Colonel Washington established his +headquarters, maintaining a detachment at Fort Cumberland sufficient to +repel any attack the Indians were like to make against it, and to cut off +such of their war parties as ventured east of it. From Winchester he was +able more easily to keep in touch with all parts of the frontier, and +with the string of blockhouses which had been built years before as a +gathering-place for the settlers in the event of Indian incursions. By +the first of September his arrangements had been completed, but long +before that time it was evident the task was to be no easy one. + +Already, from the high passes of the Alleghenies, war parties of +Delawares and Shawanoes had descended, sweeping down upon the frontier +families like a devastating whirlwind, and butchering men, women, and +children with impartial fury. The unbounded forest, which covered hill +and valley with a curtain of unbroken foliage, afforded a thousand +lurking-places, and it was well-nigh impossible for an armed force to get +within striking distance of the marauders. So, almost daily, stories of +horrible cruelty came to the fort, plunging the commander into an agony +of rage and dejection at his very impotence. The fort was soon crowded +with refugees,--wives bewailing their husbands, husbands swearing to +avenge their wives, parents lamenting their children, children of a +sudden made orphans,--and from north and south, scores of hard-featured, +steel-eyed men came to us, their rifles in their hands, to offer their +services, and after a time these came to be one of the most valuable +portions of our force. + +Ah, the stories they told us! Tragedies such as that which Spiltdorph and +I had come upon had been repeated scores of times. The settler who had +left his cabin at daybreak in search of game, or to carry his furs to the +nearest post, returned at sundown to find only a smoking heap of ashes +where his home had been, and among them the charred and mutilated bodies +of his wife and children. Horror succeeded horror, and the climax came +one day when we were passing a little schoolhouse some miles below the +fort, in the midst of a district well populated. Wondering at the +unwonted silence, we dismounted, opened the door, and looked within. The +master lay upon the platform with his pupils around him, all dead and +newly scalped. The savages had passed that way not half an hour before. + +And to add to the trials of the commander, his troops, hastily got +together, were most of them impatient of restraint or discipline, and +with no knowledge of warfare, while the governor and the House of +Burgesses demanded that he undertake impossibilities. It was a dreary, +trying, thankless task. + +"They expect me to perform miracles," he said to me bitterly one day. +"How am I to protect a frontier four hundred miles in length with five or +six hundred effective men, against an enemy who knows every foot of the +ground, and who can find a hiding-place at every step?" + +Only by the sternest measures could many of the levies be brought to the +fort, and one man--a captain, God save the mark!--sent word that he and +his company could not come because their corn had not yet been got in. +Yet, in spite of all these drawbacks, we did accomplish something. There +were a few of the Iroquois who yet remained our friends, and the general +spared no effort to retain their goodwill, for their services were +invaluable. With a lofty contempt for the Delawares and Shawanoes, whom +they had one time subjugated and compelled to assume the name of women, +they roamed the forest for miles around, and more than once enabled us to +ambush one of the war parties and send it howling back to the Muskingum, +where there was great weeping and wailing in the lodges upon its return. +But it was fruitless work, for the Indians, driven back for the moment, +returned with augmented fury, and again drenched the frontier in the +blood of the colonists. + +We realized one and all that nothing we could do would turn the tide of +war permanently from our borders and render the frontier safe until the +French had been driven from Fort Duquesne. For it was they who urged the +Indians on, supplying them with guns and ammunition, and rewarding them +with rum when they returned to the fort laden with English scalps. An +expedition against the French stronghold was for the present out of the +question, and we could only bite our nails and curse, waiting for another +night when we might sally forth and fall upon one of the war parties. But +the few Indians we killed seemed a pitiful atonement for the mangled +bodies scattered along the frontier and the hundreds of homes of which +there remained nothing but blackened ruins. As the weeks passed and the +Indians saw our impotence, they grew bolder, slipped through the chain of +blockhouses, and ravaged the country east of us, disappearing into the +woods as if by magic at the first alarm. + +The month of August and the first portion of September wore away in this +dreary manner, and it was perhaps a week later that Colonel Washington +sent me to Frederick to make arrangements for some supplies. The +distance, which was a scant fifty miles, was over a well-traveled road, +and through a district so well protected that the Indians had not dared +to visit it; so I rode out of the fort one morning, taking with me only +my negro boy Sam, whom I had selected for my servant since the day he had +warned me against Polete. I remember that the day was very warm, and that +there was no air stirring, so that we pushed forward with indifferent +speed. At noon we reached a farmhouse owned by John Evans, where we +remained until the heat had somewhat moderated, and set forward again +about four o'clock in the afternoon. + +We had ridden for near an hour, and I was deep in my own thoughts, when +I heard something breaking its way through the underbrush, and the next +moment my horse shied violently as a negro stumbled blindly into the +road and collapsed into a heap before he had taken half a dozen steps +along it. I reined up sharply, and as I did so, heard Sam give a shrill +cry of alarm. + +"Shut up, boy," I cried, "and get off and see what ails the man. He can't +hurt you." + +But Sam sat in his saddle clutching at his horse's neck, his face spotted +with terror as I had seen it once before. + +"What is it, Sam?" I asked impatiently. + +"Good Gawd, Mas' Tom," he cried, his teeth chattering together and +cutting off his words queerly, "don' yo' see who 'tis? Don' yo' +know him?" + +"Know him? No, of course not," I answered sharply. "Who is he?" + +"Polete," gasped Sam. "Polete, come back aftah me," and seemed incapable +of another word. + +In an instant I was off my horse and kneeling in the road beside the +fallen man. Not till then did I believe it was Polete. From a great gash +in the side of his head the blood had soaked into his hair and dried over +his face. His shirt was stained, apparently from a wound in his breast, +but most horrible of all was a circular, reeking spot on the crown of his +head from which the scalp had been stripped. It needed no second glance +to tell me that Polete had been in the hands of the Indians. + +By this time Sam had partially recovered his wits, and being convinced +that it was Polete in the flesh, not in the spirit, brought some water +from a spring at the roadside. I bathed Polete's head as well as I could, +and washed the blood from his face. Tearing open his shirt, I saw that +blood was slowly welling from an ugly wound in his breast. He opened his +eyes after a moment, and stared vacantly up into my face. + +"Debbils," he moaned, "debbils, t' kill a po' ole man. Ain't I said I +done gwine t' lib wid yo'? Kain't trabble fas' 'nough fo' yo'? Don' +shoot, oh, don' shoot! Ah!" + +He dropped back again into the road with a groan, and tossed from side to +side. I thought he was dying, but when I dashed more water in his face, +he opened his eyes again. This time he seemed to know me. + +"Is it Mas' Tom?" he gasped. "Mas' Tom what let me go?" + +"Yes, Polete," I answered gently, "it's Master Tom." + +"Whar am I?" he asked faintly. "Have dee got me 'gin? Dee gwine to buhn +me?" + +"No, no," I said. "Nobody 's going to harm you, Polete. Where have you +been all this time?" + +"In d' woods," he whispered, "hidin' in d' swamps, an' skulkin' long +aftah night. Could n' nevah sleep, Mas' Tom. When I went t' sleep, seemed +laike d' dogs was right aftah me." + +His head fell back again, and a rush of blood in his throat almost +choked him. + +"Wish I'd stayed at d' plantation, Mas' Tom," he whispered. "Nothin' +could n' been no wo'se 'n what I went frough. Kep' 'long d' ribbah, laike +yo' said, but could n' git nothin' t' eat only berries growin' in d' +woods. Got mighty weak, 'n' den las' night met d' Injuns." + +"Last night!" I cried. "Where, Polete?" + +"Obah dah 'long d' ribbah," he answered faintly. "Dee gib me some'n' t' +eat, an' I frought maybe dee'd take me 'long, but dis mornin' dee had a +big powwow, an' dee shot me an' knock me in d' haid. Seems laike dee 's +gwine t' buhn a big plantation t'-night." + +"A big plantation, Polete?" I asked. "Where? Tell me--oh, you must tell +me!" + +But his head had fallen back, and his eyes were closed. There was another +burst of blood from his nose and mouth. I threw water over his face, +slapped his hands, and shouted into his ears, but to no avail. Sam +brought me another hatful of water, but his hands trembled so that when +he set it down, he spilled half of it. I dashed what was left over the +dying man, but his breathing grew slow and slower, and still his eyes +were closed. I trembled to think what would happen should I never learn +where the Indians were going, if Polete should never open his eyes again +to tell me. But he did, at last,--oh, how long it seemed!--he did, and +gazed up at me with a little smile. + +"Reckon it's all obah wid ole Polete, Mas' Tom," he whispered. + +"Where is this plantation, Polete?" I asked. "The plantation the Indians +are going to attack. Quick, tell me." + +He looked at me a moment longer before answering. + +"D' plantation? Obah dah, eight, ten mile, neah d' ribbah," and he made a +faint little motion northward with his hand. The motion, slight as it +was, brought on another hemorrhage. His eyes looked up into mine for a +moment longer, and then, even as I gazed at them, grew fixed and glazed. +Old Polete was dead. + +We laid him by the side of the road and rolled two or three logs over +him. More we could not do, for every moment was precious. + +"Sam," I said quickly, as we finished our task, "you must ride to the +fort as fast as your horse will carry you. Tell Colonel Washington that I +sent you, and that the Indians are going to attack some big plantation on +the river eight or ten miles north of here. Tell him that I have gone on +to warn them. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, sah," he gasped. + +"Well, don't you forget a word of it," I said sternly. "You can reach the +fort easily by nine o'clock to-night. Now, be off." + +He hesitated a moment. + +"What is it?" I cried. "You are not afraid, boy?" + +He rubbed his eyes and began to whimper. + +"Not fo' myself, Mas' Tom," he said. "But yo' gwine t' ride right into d' +Injuns. Dee'll git yo' suah." + +"Nonsense!" I retorted sharply. "I'll get through all right, and we can +easily hold out till reinforcements come. Now get on your horse. +Remember, the faster you go, the surer you'll be to save us all." + +He swung himself into the saddle, and turned for a moment to look at +me, the tears streaming down his face. He seemed to think me as good as +dead already. + +"Good-by, Sam," I said. + +"Good-by, Mas' Tom," and he put spurs to his horse and set off +down the road. + +I watched him until the trees hid him from sight, and then sprang upon my +horse and started forward. Eight or ten miles, Polete had said, northward +near the river. The road served me for some miles, and then I came to a +cross road, which seemed well traveled. Not doubting that this led to the +plantation of which I was in search, I turned into it, and proceeded +onward as rapidly as the darkness of the woods permitted. Evening was at +hand, and under the overlapping branches of the trees, the gloom grew +deep and deeper. At last, away to the right, I caught the gleam of water, +and with a sigh of relief knew I was near the river and so on the right +road. The house could not be much farther on. With renewed vigor I urged +my horse forward, and in a few minutes came to the edge of a clearing, +and there before me was the house. + +But it was not this which drew my eyes. Far away on the other side, +concealed from the house by a grove of trees, a shadowy line of tiny +figures was emerging from the forest. Even as I looked, they vanished, +and I rubbed my eyes in bewilderment. Yet I knew they had not deceived +me. It was the war party preparing for the attack. + +I set spurs to my horse and galloped the jaded beast toward the house as +fast as his weary legs would carry him. As I drew near, I saw it was a +large and well-built mansion. Lights gleamed through the open doors and +windows. Evidently none there dreamed of danger, and I thanked God that I +should be in time. In a moment I was at the door, and as I threw myself +from the saddle, I heard from the open window a ringing laugh which +thrilled me through and through, for I knew that the voice was Dorothy's. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +I FIND MYSELF IN A DELICATE SITUATION + + +I staggered up the steps, reeling as from a blow on the head, and a negro +met me at the top. + +"Where is your master?" I asked. + +"Kun'l Ma'sh 's obah at Frederick, sah," he answered, looking at me with +astonished eyes. + +"Your mistress, then, quick, boy!" and as he turned toward the open door +with a gesture of his hand, I hurried after him. There was a buzz of +conversation in the room as we approached, but it ceased abruptly as we +entered. I felt rather than saw that Dorothy was there, but I looked only +at the plump little woman who half rose from her chair and stared at me +in astonishment. I suppose my appearance was sufficiently surprising, but +there was no time to think of that. + +"A gen'leman t' see yo', Mis' Ma'sh," said my guide. + +I had not caught the name before, but now I understood, and as I looked +at the woman before me, I saw her likeness to her son. + +"I am Captain Stewart, Mrs. Marsh," I said, controlling my voice as well +as I could. "You may, perhaps, have heard of me. If not, there are others +present who can vouch for me," but I did not move my eyes from her face. + + + + +"That is quite unnecessary, Captain Stewart," she cried, coming to me +and giving me her hand very prettily. "I knew your grandfather, and you +resemble him greatly." And then she stopped suddenly and grew very pale. +"I remember now," she said. "You were in dear Harry's company." + +"I was not in his company, but I knew and loved him well," I answered +gently, taking both her hands and holding them tight in mine. "He was a +brave and gallant boy, and lost his life while trying to save another's. +I was with him when he fell." + +She came close to me, and I could feel that she was trembling. + +"And did he suffer?" she asked. "Oh, I cannot bear to think that he +should suffer!" + +"He did not suffer," I said. "He was shot through the heart. He did not +have an instant's pain." + +She was crying softly against my shoulder, but I held her from me. + +"Mrs. Marsh," I said, "it is not of Harry we must think now, but of +ourselves. This afternoon I learned that the Indians had planned an +attack upon this place to-night. I sent my servant back to the fort for +reinforcements and rode on to give the alarm. As I neared the house, I +saw their war party skulking in the woods, so that the attack may not be +long delayed." + +Her face had turned ashen, and I was glad that I had kept her hands in +mine, else she would have fallen. + + + + +"There is no danger," I added cheerily. "We must close the doors and +windows, and we can easily keep them off till morning. The troops will be +here by that time." + +"Oh, do you think so?" she gasped. + +"I am sure of it. Now, will you give the orders to the servants?" + +But that was not necessary. The man who had shown me in had heard my +words, and already had the other servants at work, closing and barring +doors and windows. I saw that my assistance was not needed. + +Then for the first time I looked at Dorothy. She was standing, leaning +lightly with one hand upon a table, her eyes large and dark with terror, +and her lips quivering, perhaps at the scene which had gone before. Her +mother was seated by her, and it was to her I turned. + +"I beg you to believe, Mrs. Stewart," I said, "that I did not know you +and your daughter were here. Indeed, I thought you both were back at +Riverview ere this." + +"I believe you, Mr. Stewart," she answered softly. "I believe you to be a +man of honor. I am sure I can trust you." + +There was a tone in her voice which I had never heard before. + +"Thank you," I said. "I shall try to deserve your trust," and then I +turned away to look to our defenses. + +I confess that, after the first five minutes, our situation appeared more +perilous than I had at first believed it. There was no white man in the +house except myself, only a dozen negro servants, five of whom were men. +A boy, whom I sent to the negro quarters to bring reinforcements, +returned with the news that they were deserted, but he brought back with +him the overseer, a man named Brightson, who was to prove his mettle +before the night was out. + +"I suspected this afternoon that there was something in the wind," he +said to me, when I had explained our situation, "though I could not guess +what it was. The niggers were so damned quiet, not singing in the field +as they always do. They've been mighty uneasy for a month back." + +"Yes, I know," I interrupted. "It's the same all over the colony. They +think the French are going to help them kill the English. I'm rather glad +they ran away. How about these house niggers?" + +"Oh, they're all right, especially Pomp there. They'll help us all +they can." + +"That makes seven of us, then. Can you shoot?" + +"Try me," he answered simply. + +"All right," I said. "We'll pull through, I think. Indians are no good at +anything but a surprise. I dare say some of the niggers have told them +that there would be no men here to-night, so they think they'll have an +easy victory." + +I had ordered Pomp to bring to the hall all the arms and ammunition in +the house, and at this moment he touched me on the elbow and told me +this was done. Brightson and I looked over the collection, and found it +as complete as could be desired. There were a dozen muskets, half a dozen +pairs of pistols, a pile of swords and hangers, and ammunition in plenty. +Evidently, Colonel Marsh had foreseen the possibility of an Indian +attack, and was prepared to receive it. A tour of the house showed me, +moreover, that it had been built with the same possibility in view. The +doors and shutters were all strong and double-barred, and moreover were +loopholed in a way that enabled us to command both approaches. I divided +the arms, and posted Brightson with three men at the rear door, while I, +with Pomp and another negro, took a place at the front. The women I sent +to the top of the staircase, where they would be out of reach of any +flying bullets, and could at the same time see what was going on. It was +my aunt who protested against this arrangement. + +"Can we not be of use, Captain Stewart?" she asked. "We could at least +load the muskets for you." + +"And I am sure that I could fire one," cried Dorothy. + +"No, no," I laughed. "Time enough for that when there is need. They will +not fancy the reception they will get, and may not return for a second +dose." And with a sudden tenderness at my heart, right under the eyes of +Mrs. Stewart, I reached up, caught Dorothy's hand, and kissed it. When I +glanced up again, I saw that she was smiling down at me, but I dared not +look at her mother's face. + +I had wondered at first why the attack was not made at once, but as I +stood looking out at my loophole, I perceived the reason. The first shade +of evening had found the moon high in the heavens, and it was now rapidly +sinking toward the line of trees which marked the horizon. Once plunged +behind them, the darkness would enable the Indians to creep up to the +house unseen. I watched the moon as it dropped slowly down the sky. The +lower rim just touched the treetops--then it was half behind them--then +it had disappeared, and the world was plunged in darkness. I peered into +the gloom with starting eyes, but could see nothing. I strained my ears, +but could catch no sound; three or four tense minutes passed, I could +have sworn it was half an hour. One of the negro women on the stair +screamed slightly, and, as though it were a signal, there came a great +blow upon the door and pandemonium arose without. I fired blindly through +my loophole, seized the musket at my side, and fired a second time, then +emptied both my pistols out into the night. It seemed to me a hundred +rifles were being fired at once. The hall was full of smoke and the +pungent smell of powder, and then, in a second, all was still. + +But only for a second. For there came another chorus of yells from a +distance, and I could hear the negro women on the steps behind me +wailing softly. + +"Load!" I shouted. "Load, Pomp! They will be back in a minute," and then +I ran to the other door to see how Brightson fared. + +"All right," he said cheerfully, in answer to my question. "We couldn't +see 'em, but we emptied a good deal of lead out there, and I think from +the way they yelled we must have hit two or three." "Keep it up!" I +cried. "We'll drive them off easily," and with a word of encouragement to +the negroes, I returned to my post. As I neared the door, I saw two +figures in white working over the guns. It was Dorothy and her mother, +helping the negroes reload. I sent them back to the stair with affected +sternness, but I got a second hand-clasp from Dorothy as she passed me. + +Then came another long period of waiting, which racked the nerves until +the silence grew well-nigh insupportable. The darkness without was +absolute, and there was not a sound to disturb the stillness. The minutes +passed, and I was just beginning to hope that the Indians had already got +enough, when I caught the faint shuffle of moccasined feet on the porch, +and again the door was struck a terrific blow, which made it groan on its +hinges. I fired out into the darkness as fast as I could lay down one gun +and pick up another, and again the uproar ceased as suddenly as it had +begun. As I turned away a moment from the loophole, I saw that Pomp had +sunk down to the floor, his hands to his head. + +"What is it, Pomp?" I cried, as I bent over him, but there was no need +for him to answer, even had he been able. A bullet, entering the +loop-hole through which he was firing, had struck his left eye and +entered the head. The other negro and myself laid him to one side +against the wall, and when I went to him ten minutes later to see if +there was anything I could do, he was dead. I turned away to the women +to say some words of cheer and comfort to them, when a call from +Brightson startled me. + +"What has happened?" I asked, as I reached his side, and for answer he +pointed out through the loophole. + +"They have fired the nigger quarters and outbuildings," he said grimly. +"They'll probably try to fire the house next." + +Even as we looked, the flames rose high above the roofs of the cabins and +bathed the clearing in red radiance. In and out among the buildings we +could see the Indians scampering, a hundred of them at least. Suddenly +there was a chorus of yells, and two Indians appeared, rolling a cask +before them into the belt of light. + +"They've found a keg of rum which was in my quarters," remarked +Brightson; "now they'll get crazy drunk. Our task has just begun, +Captain Stewart." + +I realized that he spoke the truth. Sober, an Indian will not stand up +long in open fight, but drunk, he is a devil incarnate,--a fiend who will +dare anything. I watched them as they knocked in the head of the cask and +scooped up the raw spirits within. Then one of them began a melancholy +melody, which rose and fell in measured cadence, the other warriors +gradually joining in and stamping the ground with their feet. Every +minute one would run to the cask for another draught of the rum, and +gradually their yells grew louder, their excitement more intense, as they +rushed back and forth brandishing their weapons. + +"They will soon be on us again," said Brightson in a low tone, but round +and round they kept dancing, their leader in front in all his war +trappings, the others almost naked, and for the most part painted black. +No wonder I had been unable to see them in the darkness. + +"They are going to attack us again, Tom, are they not?" asked a low voice +at my elbow. + +"Dorothy," I cried, "what are you doing here? Come, you must get back to +the stair at once. The attack may come at any moment." + +"You are treating me like a child," she protested, and her eyes flashed +passionately. "Do you think we are cowards, we women? We will not be +treated so! We have come to help you." + +I looked at her in amazement. This was not the Dorothy I knew, but a +braver, sweeter one. Her mother and Mrs. Marsh were behind her, both +looking equally determined. + +"Very well," I said, yielding with an ill grace. "You may sit on the +floor here and load the guns as we fire them. That will be of greater +service than if you fired them yourselves, and you will be quite out of +reach of the bullets." + +Dorothy sniffed contemptuously at my last words, but deigned to sit down +beside the other women. I placed the powder and ball where they could +reach them easily, shaded a candle so that it threw its light only on the +floor beside them, gave them a few directions about loading, and rejoined +Brightson at his loophole. The Indians had stopped dancing, and were +engaged in heaping up a great pile of burning logs. + +"What are they about?" I asked. + +Brightson looked at me with a grim light in his eyes. + +"They're going to try to burn us out," he said, and almost before he had +spoken, the Indians seized a hundred burning brands from the fire, and +waving them about their heads to fan them to a brighter flame, started +toward us. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +A DESPERATE DEFENSE + + +I had barely time to get back to my post at the front door when they were +upon us. I fired out into the rabble, and as I turned to get another gun, +Dorothy was at my side and thrust it into my hands. There was no time to +protest, even had I not realized, as I glanced into her eyes, that +protestation would be useless. I fired a second time, when a tremendous +explosion in the hall at my side startled me. I saw in a moment what had +happened. The negro who was at the other loophole, dazed with fear, had +discharged his gun straight into the ceiling overhead, and then, flinging +it down, turned and ran. I could not pursue him, and grabbing a third gun +from Dorothy, I fired again at the Indians, some of whom were swarming up +the steps. As I did so, I stared an instant in amazement, for at the shot +two men had fallen. As I turned back for another musket, I saw Mrs. +Stewart at the other loophole, a smoking rifle in her hands, into which +she was feverishly ramming another charge. It was a sight that made my +heart leap, and I found myself suddenly admiring her. But before either +of us could fire again, the Indians were gone, and a chorus of yells and +sharp firing told me they were attacking Brightson's side of the house. +The noise died away after a moment, and they appeared again borne +distance off, looking back eagerly as though expecting something. + +I saw with a start that their firebrands were no longer in their hands, +and a moment later a puff of smoke from the corner of the house and the +exultant yells of the savages warned me of our new danger. As I turned +from the door, I met Brightson coming to seek me with an anxious face. + +"They have fired the house, Captain Stewart," he said. + +"I fear so. We must find the place and put out the flames." + +Without a word he turned and followed me, and we opened the shutters a +little here and there and looked out. We soon found what we were seeking. + +As the Indians had dashed around the house from front to rear, they had +approached the side and piled their burning brands against the boards. We +looked down from the window and saw that the house had already caught +fire. In a few moments the flames would be beyond control. I was back to +the hall in an instant. + +"Is there any water in the house?" I asked of Mrs. Marsh, who was seated +on the floor reloading our guns with a coolness which told me where her +son had got his gallantry. + +She looked at me an instant with face whitened by a new fear. + +"Do you mean that the house is on fire?" she asked. + +I nodded. + +"There is no water," she said very quietly. "The well is a hundred yards +from the house." + +I beckoned to the negroes, who were listening in an anxious group, and +hastened back to Brightson. + +"There is no water," I said to him briefly. "I am going to open the +shutter, drop down, and knock the fire away from the house. Do you be +ready to pull me back in again, when I have finished." + +"But it is death to do that," he exclaimed. + +"No, no," I said. "You and the boys can keep them off. There is no +other way." + +He turned from me and looked about the room. + +"This will save you," he cried, and ran to a heavy oak table which stood +in one corner. I looked at him for a moment without understanding. + +"We will throw it through the window," he explained. "You can drop behind +it, and the Indians' bullets cannot reach you." + +I saw his plan before he had finished, and we had the table at the window +in an instant. + +"Now, boys, all together," I cried, and as I threw the shutter back, they +lifted the table to the sill and pushed it through. Before the Indians +understood what was happening, I had dropped beside it, pulled it around +to screen me, and was kicking the brands away from the building. Then +they understood, and made a rush for the house, but met so sharp a +reception from Brightson and his men that they fell back, and contented +themselves with keeping up a sharp fusilade upon my place of +concealment. It was the work of only a few moments to kick away the +brands and beat out the flames which were running along the side of the +house. I signaled to Brightson that I was ready to return, and he opened +a heavy fire upon the savages, which drove them for a moment out of +musket range. Then throwing the shutter back, he leaned out, grasped my +hands, and pulled me into the house without a scratch. + +"That's what I call genius," he observed, as he clapped the shutter tight +and shot the bar into place. "I fancy they're getting about enough." + +"I trust so," I answered. "But in any event, our troops will be here in +two or three hours more." + +We stood for some time in silence and watched the Indians. They drew +together near one of the burning buildings, apparently for a +consultation, and then running to a cabin which had not yet been +consumed, they tore off the heavy door and shutters. + +"They haven't given it up yet," remarked Brightson grimly, "but they're +going to advance under cover this time." + +Evidently some further preparation was necessary, for half a dozen of +them worked away busily for some time, though we could not see what they +were doing. + +"What new deviltry are they up to now?" I heard Brightson mutter to +himself, but I could find no answer to his question, for I knew little of +this kind of warfare. + +It was soon answered by the Indians themselves. A dozen of them ran +around the house in different directions, each carrying a board, while +the others, after paying a last visit to the cask of rum, grouped +themselves opposite the rear door, but well out of range. We watched them +in breathless silence. Those who were armed with shields approached +nearer and nearer, until within perhaps fifty yards. We fired at them, +but seemingly without effect. Then there was a moment of anxious waiting, +and almost together a dozen streamers of fire rose high into the air and +descended toward the house. Some fell harmlessly on the ground without, +and we saw that they were arrows tipped with burning tow, but the most +must have fallen upon the roof. A second and third shower of fire +followed, and then the Indians withdrew behind their shields and quietly +awaited the result. + +"They have set fire to the roof," I gasped. "We must put it out at once, +or we are lost." + +"Leave that to me, Captain Stewart," said Brightson quietly, and I +never admired the courage of a man more than I did his at that moment. +"I will get out on the roof, and throw the arrows down. I don't believe +they can hit me." + +It was the only thing to do, and he was gone even as I nodded my assent. +Five minutes passed, and then the Indians began to yell again, and I knew +that Brightson had reached the roof. Almost at the same instant, the main +body of the savages advanced at a run, some of them carrying a heavy +log, the others holding boards in front of them. We sent a dozen bullets +among them before they reached the door, but they came on without +faltering. One man, very tall and clad in a suit of fringed buckskin, ran +in front and urged them on. I fired at him twice, but he came on as +before, and I knew that I had wasted the bullets. + +Up the steps they came, yelling like devils fresh from hell, and brought +the log crashing against the door, while others thrust their muskets +through the loopholes and fired into the hallway. One of the negroes sank +down without a groan, the blood spurting from his neck, and another +dropped his gun with a yell, and, clapping his hands to his face, ran +shrieking down the hall. + +Again the log thundered against the door, one of the bars sprung loose, +and half a dozen shots were fired into the hallway. I saw that the door +could hold but a moment longer, and shouting to the negroes to fall +back, I retreated to the stair, grabbing up a hanger as I passed the +place where we had piled the arms. Running back again, I caught up a +bag of powder and another of ball, so that we might not be utterly +without ammunition, and with these sped up the stair, pushing the women +before me. + +We were not an instant too soon, for the door crashed down at the next +blow, and the savages poured over the threshold. They paused a moment to +see what had become of us, and this gave us opportunity to pour a volley +into them. Then on they came, the man in buckskin still leading them. As +they reached the foot of the stair, I took steady aim at him with my +pistol and pulled the trigger. But he seemed to have some intuition of +his danger, for he stooped suddenly, and it was the man behind him who +threw up his hands, sprang into the air, and fell backward. They faltered +only for an instant, and then swarmed up the steps, their greased faces +gleaming in the powder flashes. I thought it as good as ended, and +throwing down my musket, caught up my hanger for a final stand, when +something was thrown past me and bounded down the stair. It swept half +the Indians off their feet and carried them down before it, and the +others, not knowing what had happened, turned and ran down after them. +Nor, indeed, did I know until afterward, when I learned that Brightson, +coming down from the roof and taking in our peril at a glance, had caught +up a great log from the fireplace in the upper hall, where it was +awaiting the winter lighting, and, with a strength little short of +superhuman, had hurled it down upon the savages. + +It gave us respite for a moment, but it was certain they would charge +again, and I knew too well what the result would be, for the last of the +negroes had flung down his gun and run away, leaving only Brightson and +me to guard the women. It was Mrs. Marsh who spoke the saving word. + +"Why not retreat to the roof?" she said. "They could not get at us +there." + +It was the only chance of safety, so to the roof we went, the women +first, and we two bringing up the rear. Once there, we closed the trap +and waited. In a moment we heard the yell which told us that our retreat +had been discovered, and then again came silence. + +"This is no ordinary Indian attack," said Brightson, who was wiping the +sweat and powder stains from his face. "There's a Frenchman leading +them, and maybe two or three. Did you see that fellow in buckskin who +ran in front?" + +"Yes," I answered gloomily. "I have fired at him three times, but always +missed him." + +"Well, he is no Indian," said Brightson, "in spite of his painted face. +If they hadn't had that cask of rum and him to lead them, they would have +cleared out of this long ago. They have no stomach for this kind of work, +unless they are full of liquor." + +The sky in the east was turning from black to gray, and the dawn was not +far distant. + +"Our troops will soon be here," I said, and went to the women where they +were crouching behind a protecting gable. Dorothy, her mother, and Mrs. +Marsh were sitting side by side, and they all smiled at me as I +approached. + +"I think we are safe here," I said as cheerily as I could, "and the +reinforcements cannot be far away. I know Colonel Washington too well +to think he would delay a moment longer than necessary to start to +our relief." + +"You have made a brave defense, Captain Stewart," said Mrs. Marsh +earnestly. "I realize what would have been our fate long ere this, had +you not been here." + +"Nay, madame," I interrupted, "I could have done little by myself. I +have learned to-night that the women of Virginia are no less gallant +than the men." + +"Come, come," laughed Dorothy, "this is not a drawing-room that you need +think you must flatter us, Tom." + +I glanced at Mrs. Stewart, and saw with some surprise that she too +was smiling. + +"'Twas not flattery," I protested, "but a simple statement of fact. And +there is another here," I added, turning to Mrs. Marsh, "whose conduct +should be remembered. I have never seen a braver man," and I glanced at +Brightson where he sat, his musket across his knees. + +"I shall remember it," she said, as she followed my eyes. + +A burst of yells and a piercing cry from below interrupted us. + +"What was that?" asked Dorothy, white to the lips. + +"They have found one of the negroes," I answered, as calmly as I could. +"They ran away, and must have hidden somewhere in the house." + +We sat listening, the women pale and horror-stricken, and even Brightson +and I no little moved. The yells and the single shrill cry were repeated +a second time and then a third, and finally all was still again save for +the negro women wailing softly, as they rocked themselves to and fro +behind the gable, their arms about their knees. I crept back to my +station by the trap and waited feverishly for what should happen next. +We could hear steps in the hall below, a short consultation and a +clanking of arms, and then all was still. + +"Here they come," said Brightson, between his teeth, and even as he +spoke, the trap was thrown outward by a great force from below, and the +savage swarm poured forth upon the roof. I struck madly at the first man, +and saw another fall, pierced by a bullet from Brightson's gun, and then +he was down and I heard the sough of a knife thrust into him. + +"They are coming! They are coming!" screamed a shrill voice behind me, +and I turned to see Dorothy upright on the roof, pointing away to the +southward. And there, sure enough, at the edge of the clearing, was a +troop of Virginians, galloping like mad. Ah, how welcome were those blue +uniforms! We could hear them cheering, and, with a leaping heart, I saw +it was Colonel Washington himself who led them. + +For an instant the Indians stood transfixed, and then, with a yell, +turned back toward the trap. All save one. I saw him raise his musket to +his shoulder and take deliberate aim at Dorothy as she stood there +outlined in white against the purple sky. I sprang at him with a cry of +rage, and dragged his gun toward me as he pulled the trigger. There was a +burst of flame in my face, a ringing in my ears, I felt the earth +slipping from me, and knew no more. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +I COME INTO MY OWN + + +It was long before I realized that that white, bandaged thing lying on +the bed before me was my hand. I gazed at it curiously for a while and +stirred it slightly to make sure,--what a mighty effort that little +motion cost me!--and then I became aware that a breeze was passing across +my face, and a peculiar thing about it was that it came and went +regularly like the swinging of a pendulum. And when I raised my eyes to +see what this might mean, I found myself looking straight into the +astonished face of Sam, my boy. + +He stared at me for a moment, his eyes starting from his head, and then +with a loud cry he dropped the fan he had been wielding and ran from the +room, clapping his hands together as he went, as I had heard negroes do +under stress of great excitement. What could it mean? Again my eyes fell +upon the queer, bandaged thing which must be my hand. Had there been an +accident? I could not remember, and while my mind was still wrestling +with the question in a helpless, flabby way, I heard the swish of skirts +at the door, and there entered who but Dorothy! + +"Why, Dorothy!" I cried, and then stopped, astonished at the sound of my +own voice. It was not my voice at all,--I had never heard it before,--and +it seemed to come from a great way off. And what astonished me more than +anything else was that Dorothy did not seem in the least surprised by it. + +"Yes, Tom," she said, and she came to the bedside and laid her hand upon +my head. Such a cool, soft little hand it was. "Why, the fever is quite +gone! You will soon be well again." + +I tried to raise my hand to take hers, but it lay there like a great +dead weight, and I could scarcely move it. I know not what it was, but +at the sight of her standing there so strong and brave and sweet, and +the thought of myself so weak and helpless, the tears started from my +eyes and rolled down my cheeks in two tiny rivulets. She seemed to +understand my thought, for she placed one of her hands in mine, and with +the other wiped my tears away. I love to think of her always as I saw +her then, bending over me with infinite pity in her face and wiping my +tears away. The moment of weakness passed, and my brain seemed clearer +than it had been. + +"Have I been ill?" I asked. + +"Very ill, Tom," she said. "But now you will get well very quickly." + +"What was the matter with me, Dorothy?" + +She looked at me a moment and seemed hesitating for an answer. + +"I think you would better go to sleep now, Tom," she said at last, "and +when you wake again, I will tell you all about it." + +"Very well," I answered submissively, and indeed, at the time, my brain +seemed so weary that I had no wish to know more. + +She gently took her hand from mine and went to a table, where she poured +something from a bottle into a glass. I followed her with my eyes, noting +how strong and confident and beautiful she was. + +"Drink this, Tom," she said, bringing the glass back to the bed and +holding it to my lips. I gulped it down obediently, and then watched +her again as she went to the window and drew the blind. She came back +in a moment and sat down in the chair from which I had startled Sam. +She picked up the fan which he had dropped, and waved it softly to and +fro above me, smiling gently down into my face. And as I lay there +watching her, the present seemed to slip away and leave me floating in +a land of clouds. + +But when I opened my eyes again, it all came back to me in an instant, +and I called aloud for Dorothy. She was bending over me almost before the +sound of my voice had died away. + +"Oh, thank God!" I cried. "It was only a dream, then! You are safe, +Dorothy,--there were no Indians,--tell me it was only a dream." + +"Yes, I am quite safe, Tom," she answered, and took my hand in +both of hers. + +"And the Indians?" I asked. + +"Were frightened away by Colonel Washington and his men, who killed +many of them." + +I closed my eyes for a moment, and tried to reconstruct the drama of +that dreadful night. + +"Dorothy," I asked suddenly, "was Brightson killed?" + +"Yes, Tom," she answered softly. + +I sighed. + +"He was a brave man," I said. "No man could have been braver." + +"Only one, I think," and she smiled down at me tremulously, her eyes +full of tears. + +"Yes, Colonel Washington," I said, after a moment's thought. "Perhaps he +is braver." + +"I was not thinking of Colonel Washington, Tom," and her lips began +to tremble. + +I gazed at her a moment in amazement. + +"You do not mean me, Dorothy?" I cried. "Oh, no; I am not brave. You do +not know how frightened I grow when the bullets whistle around me." + +She laid her fingers on my lips with the prettiest motion in the world. + +"Hush," she said. "I will not listen to such blasphemy." + +"At least," I protested, "I am not so brave as you,--no, nor as your +mother, Dorothy. I had no thought that she was such a gallant woman." + +"Ah, you do not know my mother!" she cried. "But you shall know her some +day, Tom. Nor has she known you, though I think she is beginning to know +you better, now." + +There were many things I wished to hear,--many questions that I +asked,--and I learned how Sam had galloped on until he reached the fort, +how he had given the alarm, how Colonel Washington himself had ridden +forth twenty minutes later at the head of fifty men,--all who could be +spared,--and had spurred on through the night, losing the road more than +once and searching for it with hearts trembling with fear lest they +should be too late, and how they had not been too late, but had saved +us,--saved Dorothy. + +"And I think you are dearer to the commander's heart than any other man," +she added. "Indeed, he told me so. For he stayed here with you for three +days, watching at your bedside, until he found that he could stay no +longer, and then he tore himself away as a father leaves his child. I had +never seen him moved so deeply, for you know he rarely shows emotion." + +Ah, Dorothy, you did not know him as did I! You had not been with him at +Great Meadows, nor beside the Monongahela, nor when we buried Braddock +there in the road in the early morning. You had not been with him at +Winchester when wives cried to him for their husbands, and children for +their parents, nor beside the desolated hearths of a hundred frontier +families. And of a sudden it came over me as a wave rolls up the beach, +how much of sorrow and how little of joy had been this man's portion. +Small wonder that his face seemed always sad and that he rarely smiled. + +Dorothy had left me alone a moment with my thoughts, and when she came +back, she brought her mother with her. I had never seen her look at me +as she looked now, and for the first time perceived that it was from her +Dorothy got her eyes. She stood in the doorway for a moment, gazing down +at me, and then, before I knew what she was doing, had fallen on her +knees beside my bed and was kissing my bandaged hand. + +"Why, aunt!" I cried, and would have drawn it from her. + +"Oh, Tom," she sobbed, and clung to it, "can you forgive me?" + +"Forgive you, aunt?" I cried again, yet more amazed. "What have you done +that you should stand in need of my forgiveness?" + +"What have I done?" she asked, and raised her face to mine. "What have I +not done, rather? I have been a cold, hard woman, Tom. I have forgot what +right and justice and honor were. But I shall forget no longer. Do you +know what I have here in my breast?" she cried, and she snatched forth a +paper and held it before my eyes. "You could never guess. It is a letter +you wrote to me." + +"A letter I wrote to you?" I repeated, and then as I saw the +superscription, I felt my cheeks grow hot. For it read, "To be delivered +at once to Mrs. Stewart." + +"Ay," she said, "a letter you wrote to me, and which I should never have +received had you not forgot it and left it lying on my table in my study +at Riverview. Can you guess what I felt, Tom, when they brought it to me +here, and I opened it and read that you had gone to the swamp alone +amongst those devils? I thought that you were dead, since the letter had +been delivered, and the whole extent of the wrong I had done you sprang +up before me. But they told me you were not dead,--that Colonel +Washington had come for you, and that you had ridden hastily away with +him. I could guess the story, and I should never have known that you had +saved the place but for the chance which made you forget this letter." + +I had tried to stop her more than once. She had gone on without heeding +me, but now she paused. + +"It was nothing," I said. "Nothing. There was no real danger. Thank Long. +He was with me. He is a better man than I." + +"Oh, yes," she cried, "they are all better men than you, I dare say! Do +not provoke me, sir, or you will have me quarreling with you before I +have said what I came here to say. Can you guess what that is?" and she +paused again, to look at me with a great light in her eyes. + +But I was far past replying. I gazed up at her, bewildered, dazzled. I +had never known this woman. + +"I see you cannot guess," she said. "Of course you cannot guess! How +could you, knowing me as you have known me? 'Tis this. Riverview is +yours, Tom, and shall be always yours from this day forth, as of right it +has ever been." + +Riverview mine? No, no, I did not want Riverview. It was something +else I wanted. + +"I shall not take it, aunt," I said quite firmly. "I am going to make a +name for myself,--with my sword, you know," I added with a smile, "and +when I have once done that, there is something else which I shall ask you +for, which will be dearer to me--oh, far dearer--than a hundred +Riverviews." + +What ailed the women? Here was Dorothy too on her knees and kissing my +bandaged hand. + +"Oh, Tom, Tom," she cried, "do you not understand?" + +"Understand?" I repeated blankly. "Understand what, Dorothy?" + +"Don't you remember, dear, what happened just before the troops came?" + +"Oh, very clearly," I answered. "The Indians got Brightson down and +stabbed him, and just then you sprang up and cried the troops were +coming, and sure enough, there they were just entering the clearing, and +the Indians paused only for one look and then fled down the stairs as +fast as they could go. 'T was you who saved us all, Dorothy." + +"Oh, but there was something more!" she cried. "There was one Indian who +did not run, Tom, but who stopped to aim at me. I saw him do it, and I +closed my eyes, for I knew that he would kill me, and I heard his gun's +report, but no bullet struck me. For it was you whom it struck, dear, +through your hand and into your side, and for long we thought you dying." + +"Yes," I said, "but you see I am not dying, nor like to die, dear +Dorothy, so that I may still rejoin the troops erelong." + +She was looking at me with streaming eyes. + +"Do you mean that I am not going to get well, Dorothy?" I asked, for I +confess her tears frightened me. + +"Oh, not so bad as that, dear!" she cried. "Thank God, not so bad as +that! But your hand, Tom, your right hand is gone. You can never +wield a sword again, dear, never go to war. You will have to stay at +home with me." + +I know not how it was, but she was in my arms, and her lips were on mine, +and I knew that was no more parting for us. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +AND SO, GOOD-BY + + +Well, a right hand is a little price to pay for the love of a wife like +mine, and if I have made no name in the world, I at least live happy in +it, which is perhaps a greater thing. And I have grown to use my left +hand very handily. I have learnt to write with it, as the reader +knows,--and when I hold my wife to me, I have her ever next my heart. + +It is the fashion, I know well, to stop the story on the altar's steps, +and leave the reader to guess at all that may come after, but as I turn +over the pages I have writ, they seem too much a tale of failure and +defeat, and I would not have it so. For the lessons learned at Fort +Necessity and Winchester and at Duquesne have given us strength to drive +the French from the continent and the Indian from the frontier. So that +now we dwell in peace, and live our lives in quiet and content, save for +some disagreements with the king about our taxes, which Lord Grenville +has made most irksome. + +And even to my dearest friend, whose life, as I have traced it here, has +been so full of sorrow and reverse, has come great happiness. He is +honored of all men, and has found love as well, for he has brought a wife +home to Mount Vernon. Dorothy declares that Mistress Washington is the +very image of that Mary Cary who used him so ill years ago,--but this +may be only a woman's leaning toward romance. + +Indeed, we have a romance in our own home,--a bright-eyed girl of +twenty, who, I fear, is soon to leave us, if a certain pert young blade +who lives across the river has his way. It will be I who give her away +at the altar, for her father lies dead beside the Monongahela,--brave, +gentle-hearted Spiltdorph. My eyes grow dim even now when I think of +you, yet I trust that I have done as you would have had me do. For I +found the girl at Hampton, after a weary search,--perhaps some day I +shall tell the story. + +It is in the old seat by the river's edge I write these words, and as I +lay down the pen, my hand falls on those carved letters, T and D, with a +little heart around them,--very faint, now, and worn with frequent +kisses,--and as I lift my head, I see coming to me across the grass the +woman who carved them there and whom I love. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA *** + + +******* This file should be named 10094-8.txt or 10094-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/9/10094 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/old/10094-8.zip b/old/10094-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..498f25f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10094-8.zip diff --git a/old/10094.txt b/old/10094.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c214432 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10094.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8987 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Soldier of Virginia , by Burton Egbert +Stevenson + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Soldier of Virginia + +Author: Burton Egbert Stevenson + +Release Date: November 16, 2003 [eBook #10094] + +Language: English + +Chatacter set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA *** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA + +A TALE OF COLONEL WASHINGTON AND BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT + +BY BURTON EGBERT STEVENSON + +1901 + + + + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF THE GALLANT MEN WHO FELL WITH DUST OF FAILURE BITTER ON +THEIR LIPS THAT OTHERS MIGHT BE TAUGHT THE LESSON OF THE WILDERNESS + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. LIEUTENANT ALLEN GROWS INSULTING + + II. THE STORY OF FONTENOY + + III. IN WHICH I INTRODUCE MYSELF + + IV. THE ENDING OF THE HONEYMOON + + V. THE SECRET OF A HEART + + VI. I AM TREATED TO A SURPRISE + + VII. I DECIDE TO BE A SOLDIER + + VIII. A RIDE TO WILLIAMSBURG + + IX. MY FIRST TASTE OF WARFARE + + X. THE FRENCH SCORE FIRST + + XI. DREAM DAYS AT RIVERVIEW + + XII. DOROTHY MAKES HER CHOICE + + XIII. LIEUTENANT ALLEN SHOWS HIS SKILL + + XIV. I CHANCE UPON A TRAGEDY + + XV. WE START ON A WEARY JOURNEY + + XVI. THE END IN SIGHT + + XVII. THE LESSON OF THE WILDERNESS + + XVIII. DEFEAT BECOMES DISHONOR + + XIX. ALLEN AND I SHAKE HANDS + + XX. BRADDOCK PAYS THE PRICE + + XXI. VIRGINIA BIDS US WELCOME + + XXII. A NEW DANGER AT RIVERVIEW + + XXIII. THE GOVERNOR SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE + + XXIV. A WARNING FROM THE FOREST + + XXV. I FIND MYSELF IN A DELICATE SITUATION + + XXVI. A DESPERATE DEFENSE + + XXVII. I COME INTO MY OWN + + XXVIII. AND SO, GOOD-BY + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +"I DO NOT LOVE HIM, TOM" + +"FOR SHAME, GENTLEMEN!" + +"STEWART, LISTEN!" + +THE SAVAGES POURED OVEB THE THRESHOLD + + + + +A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA + + + + +CHAPTER I + +LIEUTENANT ALLEN GROWS INSULTING + + +It was not until he sneered at me openly across the board that I felt my +self-control slipping from me. "Lieutenant Allen seems to have a poor +opinion of the Virginia troops," I said, as calmly as I could. + +"Egad, you are right, Lieutenant Stewart," he retorted, his eyes full +on mine. "These two weeks past have I been trying to beat some sense +into the fools, and 'pon my word, 't is enough to drive a man crazy to +see them." + +He paused to gulp down a glass of wine, of which I thought he had already +drunk too much. + +"I saw them this forenoon," cried Preston, who was sitting at Allen's +right, "and was like to die of laughing. Poor Allen, there, was doing his +best to teach them the manual, and curse me if they didn't hold their +guns as though they burnt their fingers. And when they were ordered to +'bout face, they looked like nothing so much as the crowd I saw six +months since at Newmarket, trying to get their money on Jason." + +The others around the table laughed in concert, and I could not but +admit there was a grain of truth in the comparison. + +"'Tis granted," I said, after a moment, "that we Virginians have not the +training of you gentlemen of the line; but we can learn, and at least no +one can doubt our courage." + +"Think you so?" and Allen laughed an insulting laugh. "There was that +little brush at Fort Necessity last year, from which they brought away +nothing but their skins, and damned glad they were to do that." + +"They brought away their arms," I cried hotly, "and would have brought +away all their stores and munitions, had the French kept faith and held +their Indians off. That, too, in face of an enemy three times their +number. The Virginians have no cause to blush for their conduct at Fort +Necessity. The Coldstreams could have done no better." + +Allen laughed again. "Ah, pardon me, Stewart," he said contemptuously, "I +forgot that you were present on that glorious day." + +I felt my cheeks crimson, and I looked up and down the board, but saw +only sneering faces. Yes, there was one, away down at the farther end, +which did not sneer, but looked at me I thought pityingly, which was +infinitely worse. And then, of course, there was Pennington, who sat next +to me, and who looked immeasurably shamed at the turn the dispute had +taken. He placed a restraining hand upon my sleeve, but I shook it off +impatiently. + +"Yes, I was present," I answered, my heart aflame within me, "and our +provincial troops learned a lesson there which even the gentlemen of the +Forty-Fourth may one day be glad to have us teach them." + +"Teach us?" cried Allen. "Curse me, sir, but you grow insulting! As for +your learning, permit me to doubt your ability to learn anything. I have +been trying to teach you provincials the rudiments of drill for the past +fortnight, without success. In faith, you seem to know less now than you +did before I began." + +"Yes?" I asked, my anger quite mastering me. "But may not that be the +fault of the teacher, Lieutenant Allen?" + +He was out of his chair with an oath, and would have come across the +table at me, but that those on either side held him back. + +"I suppose you considered your words before you spoke them, Lieutenant +Stewart?" asked Preston, looking at me coldly, and still keeping tight +hold on the swearing man at his side. + +"Fully," I answered, as I arose from my chair. + +"You know, of course, that there remains only one thing to be done?" he +continued, with a glance I thought compassionate, and so resented. + +"Certainly," I answered again. "I may be able to teach the gentleman a +very pretty thrust in tierce." + +Upon this Allen fell to cursing again, but Preston silenced him with a +gesture of his hand. + +"I am very willing," I added, "to give him the lesson at once, if he so +desires. There is a charming place just without. I marked it as I passed +to enter here, though with no thought I should so soon have need of it." + +Now all this was merely the empty braggartry of youth, which I blush to +remember. Nor was Allen the blustering bully I then deemed him, as I was +afterwards to find out for myself. But I know of nothing which will so +gloss over and disguise a man's real nature as a glass of wine too much. + +"I shall be happy to give the lesson at once," I repeated. + +"Yes, at once!" cried Allen savagely. "I'll teach you, sir, to keep a +civil tongue in your head when you address an officer of the line." + +"It seems that we are both to learn a lesson, then," I said lightly. "It +remains only to be seen which is the better teacher. Will one of the +other gentlemen present act as my second?" + +"I shall be happy to do so, Lieutenant Stewart," cried my neighbor, +stepping forward. + +"Ah, Lieutenant Pennington, thank you," and I looked into his face with +pleasure, for it was the one, of all those present, which I liked the +best. "Will you arrange the details for me?" + +"May I speak to you a moment first?" he asked, looking at me anxiously. + +"Certainly," I answered, and together we walked over to one corner +of the room. + +"Believe me, Lieutenant Stewart," he said, in a low voice, "I deem you a +brave man, and I honor you for defending the credit of your countrymen. +I little thought, when I invited you to dine with us to-night, that there +would be an issue such as this, for it can end in but one way. Allen is +the best swordsman in the regiment, and a very devil when he is flushed +with wine, as he is now." + +"You would have me decline to meet him, then?" I asked, looking at +him steadily. + +"A word of apology," he stammered, but he did not meet my eyes. His heart +was not in his words. + +"Impossible," I said. "You forget that it was he who insulted me, and +that an apology, if there be one, must come from him. He has insulted not +only myself, but the whole body of Virginia volunteers. Though I were +certain he would kill me, I could not draw back in honor. But I am not so +certain," and I smiled down into his face. "There be some good swordsmen +even in Virginia, sir." + +"In faith, I am wondrous glad to hear it!" he cried, his face +brightening. "I could not do less than warn you." + +"And I thank you for your interest." + +He held out his hand, and I clasped it warmly. Then we turned again to +the group about the table. + +"Well," cried Allen harshly, "does our Virginia friend desire to +withdraw?" + +"On the contrary," answered Pennington quietly, "he has positively +refused to withdraw," and as he spoke, I saw that the others looked at me +with attentive eyes. "There is a little green just back of the barracks. +Let us proceed to it," and he led the way toward the door. + +Allen and I followed him, and the whole rabble of officers crowded after. +In a moment we were at the place, and I walked to one side while the +seconds conferred together. The full moon had risen above the treetops +and flooded the clearing with still radiance. The tall, coarse grass +waved slowly to and fro in the faint breeze, and away off in the forest I +heard a wolf howling. The note, long and clear, rose and quivered in the +air, faint and far away. And as it died to silence, for the first time +the thought came to me that perchance my skill in fence might not avail. +Well, thank heaven, there was none to whom my death would cause much +sorrow, except--yes, Dorothy might care. At thought of her, the forest +faded from before me, and I saw her again as I had seen her last, looking +down upon me from the stair-head, and her kiss was warm upon my lips. + +"We are ready, Lieutenant Stewart," called Pennington, and I shook my +forebodings from me as I strode back toward him. + +"Lieutenant Allen instructs me to say," began Preston, who was acting as +his second, "that an apology on the part of Lieutenant Stewart will avert +consequences which may, perhaps, be unpleasant." + +"Lieutenant Stewart has no apologies to offer," I said shortly. "We are +wasting time, gentlemen." + +"As you will," and Preston turned back to Allen. + +My coat was off in an instant, and I rolled the sleeve of my shirt above +my elbow, the better to have it out of the way. + +"May I have your sword, lieutenant?" asked Pennington, and he walked with +it over to where Preston stood. He was back in a moment. "Allen's sword +is fully an inch the longer," he said. "I have insisted that he secure a +shorter weapon." + +"Nonsense!" I cried. "Let him keep his sword. I am two or three inches +the taller, and the advantage will still be on my side." + +Pennington looked at me a moment in something like astonishment. + +"Very well," he said at last, and stepped over and spoke another word to +Preston. Then he came back and handed me my sword. "You are a gallant +man, Lieutenant Stewart," he said as he did so. + +"No more than many others in Virginia. 'T is that I mean to prove +to-night," I answered lightly, and I saluted my adversary and felt his +blade against my own. The first pass showed me that he was master of the +weapon, but I was far from dismayed. I saw his eyes widen with surprise +as I parried his thrust and pressed him so closely that he gave back a +step. I smiled dryly, for I knew my advantage. The earliest lesson I had +learned at the foils was that victory comes only to the man who keeps his +coolness. I had drunk little wine, while Allen had drunk much, and his +bloodshot eyes told of previous nights spent over the cups and dice. No, +decidedly, I had little to fear. Allen must have read something of my +thought in my eyes, for his face flushed to a yet darker crimson, he +pulled himself together with an effort, and by a trick which I had never +seen, got inside my guard. His point was at my breast, but I leaped back +and avoided it. + +"Ah, you break!" he cried. "'Tis not so easy as you fancied!" + +I did not answer, contenting myself with playing more cautiously than I +had done in my self-satisfaction of a moment before. Out of the corners +of my eyes, I could see a portion of the circle of white faces about us, +but they made no sound, and what their expression was I could not tell. +The night air and the fast work were doing much to sober my opponent, and +I felt his wrist grow stronger as he held down my point for an instant. +It was his turn to smile, and I felt my cheeks redden at the expression +of his face. Again he got inside my guard, but again I was out of reach +ere he could touch me. I saw that I was making but a sorry showing, and I +tried the thrust of which I had had the bad taste to boast, but he turned +it aside quite easily. And then, of a sudden, I heard the beat of a +horse's hoofs behind me. + +"For shame, gentlemen!" cried a clear voice, which rang familiar in my +ears. "Can the king's soldiers find no enemies to his empire that they +must fight among themselves?" + +Our seconds struck up our swords, and Allen looked over my shoulder +with a curse. + +"Another damned provincial, upon my life!" he cried. "Was there ever such +impudence!" + +[Illustration: "FOR SHAME GENTLEMEN!"] + +As he spoke, the horseman swung himself from the saddle with an easy +grace which declared long training in it, and walked coolly toward us. + +"Lieutenant Stewart," he said to me sternly, "I did not think to find +you thus engaged, else had I thought twice before placing a sword in +your hand." + +"The insult was one which could not be passed over, Colonel Washington," +I answered, as I saluted him. "It was not to myself only, but to all the +Virginia troops who serve his Majesty." + +"So," sneered Allen, "'t is the hero of Fort Necessity! I can well +believe him averse to fighting." + +My cheeks were hot with anger and I saw Washington flush darkly, but he +gazed at Allen coldly, and his voice was calm as ever when he spoke. + +"It shall be my privilege at some future time," he said, "to call the +gentleman to account for his words. At present, my sword is pledged to +the king and may be drawn in no other service, more especially not in my +own. I trust, Lieutenant Stewart, you will have the courage to sheathe +your blade." + +I hesitated. It was a hard thing to ask a man to do. + +"Yes, put up your sword!" cried Allen scornfully. "Allow yourself to be +reproved like a naughty boy by this hero who knows only how to retreat. +On my soul, 't was well he arrived when he did. I should have finished +with you long ere this." + +Washington looked at me steadily, without showing by the movement of a +muscle that he had heard. + +"And I promise you, Lieutenant Stewart," he continued, as though there +had been no interruption, "that I shall be happy to act as your second, +once this campaign is closed." + +My cheeks flushed again, this time with pleasure, and I picked up my +scabbard and sent my blade home. + +"I must beg you to excuse me, Lieutenant Allen," I said. "Colonel +Washington says right. My sword is not my own until we have met the +French. Then I shall be only too pleased to conclude the argument." + +Allen's lips curved in a disdainful smile. + +"I thought you would be somewhat less eager to vindicate the courage of +Virginia once you had pause for reflection," he sneered. "Provincials are +all of a kind, and the breed is not a choice one." + +I bit my lips to keep back the angry retort which leaped to them, and I +saw Washington's hand trembling on his sword. It did me good to see that +even he maintained his calmness only by an effort. + +"Oh, come, Allen," cried Pennington, "you go too far. There can be no +question of Lieutenant Stewart's courage. He was ready enough to meet +you, God knows! Colonel Washington is right, our swords belong to the +king while he has work for them," and the young fellow, with flushed +face, held out his hand to Washington, who grasped it warmly. + +"I thank you," he said simply. "I should be sorry to believe that all the +king's officers could so far forget their duty. Come, lieutenant," he +added to me, and taking me by the arm, he walked me out of the group, +which opened before us, and I ventured to think that not all of the faces +were unfriendly. "I have a message for Sir Peter Halket," he said, when +we were out of earshot. "Show me his quarters, Tom, and so soon as I have +finished my business, we will talk over this unhappy affair." + +I led the way toward the building where the commander of the Forty-Fourth +was quartered, too angry with myself and with the world to trust myself +to speak. Why should I, who came of as good family as any in Virginia, be +compelled to swallow insults as I had to-night? I almost regretted for +the moment that I was in the service. + +"But the time will come," I said, speaking aloud before I thought. + +"Yes, the time will come, Tom," and Washington looked at me with a grim +smile. "The time will come sooner than you think, perhaps, when these +braggarts will be taught a lesson which they greatly need. Pray heaven +the lesson be not so severe that it shake the king's empire on this +continent." + +"Shake the king's empire?" I repeated, looking at him in amazement. "I +do not understand." + +"No matter," he said shortly. "Here we are at headquarters. Do you wait +for me. I will be but a moment;" and he ran up the steps, spoke a word to +the sentry, and disappeared within. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE STORY OF FONTENOY + + +My heart was thick with wrath as I walked up and down before Sir Peter +Halket's quarters and waited for Colonel Washington to reappear. I asked +myself again why I should be compelled to take the insults of any man. I +clenched my hands together behind me, and swore that Allen should yet pay +dearly. I recalled with bitterness the joy I had felt a week before, when +I had received from Colonel Washington a letter in which he stated that +he had procured my appointment as lieutenant in Captain Waggoner's +Virginia company. I had been ahungered to make the campaign, and had +donned my uniform with a light heart,--the same I had worn the year +before, now much faded but inexpressibly dear to me,--mounted my horse, +and ridden hotfoot to join the force here at Winchester. I had been +received kindly enough by my companion officers of the provincial +companies, many of whom were old friends. The contempt which the officers +of the Forty-Fourth felt for the Virginia troops, and which they were at +no pains to conceal, had vexed me somewhat from the first, yet it was not +until to-night at the officers' mess, to which I had foolishly accepted +Pennington's invitation, that this contempt had grown unbearable. I had +chanced to pull Pennington's horse out of a hole the day before, and so +saved it a broken leg, but I saw now that I should have done better to +refuse that invitation, courteously as it was given, and sincere as his +gratitude had undoubtedly been. + +So I walked up and down with a sore heart, as a child will when it has +been punished for no fault, and prayed that we provincials might yet +teach the regulars a lesson. Yet they were brave men, most of them, whom +I could not but admire. A kindlier, gallanter roan than Sir Peter Halket +I had never seen, no, nor ever shall see. I noted the sentries pacing +their beats before the colonel's quarters, erect, automatons, their guns +a-glitter in the moonlight, their uniforms immaculate. I had seen them +drill the day before, whole companies moving like one man, their ranks +straight as a ramrod,--tramp, tramp,--turning as on a pivot moved by a +single will. It was a wonderful sight to me who had never seen the like +before, they were so strong, so confident, so seemingly invincible. + +I turned and glanced again at the sentries, almost envying them their +perfect carriage. Had they been men of iron, worked by a spring, they +could not have moved with more clock-like regularity. And yet, no doubt, +they had one time been country louts like any others. Truly there was +much virtue in discipline. Yet still, and here I shook my head, the +Virginia troops were brave as any in the world, and would prove it. From +the officers' quarters came the sound of singing and much laughter, and I +flushed as I thought perchance it was at me they laughed. I have learned +long since that no man's laughter need disturb rue, so my heart be clear, +but this was wisdom far beyond my years and yet undreamed of, and I shook +my fist at the row of lighted windows. + +"What, still fuming, Tom?" cried a voice at my elbow, and I turned to +find Colonel Washington there; "and staring over toward the barracks as +though you would like to gobble up every one within! Well, I admit you +have cause," he added, and I saw that his face grew stern. "You may have +to bear many such insults before the campaign is ended, but I hope and +believe that the conduct of the Virginia troops will yet win them the +respect of the regulars. You seem to have lost no time in getting to +camp," he added, in a lighter tone. + +"There was nothing to keep me at Riverview," I answered bitterly. "My +absence is much preferred to my presence there. Had I not come to +Winchester, I must have gone somewhere else. Your letter came most +opportunely." + +"You are out of humor to-night, Tom," said Washington, but his tone was +kindly, and he placed one hand upon my arm as we turned back toward the +cabin where my quarters were. He was scarce three years my senior, yet to +me he seemed immeasurably the elder. I had always thought of him as of a +man, and I verily believe he was a man in mind and temper while yet a boy +in body. I had ridden beside him many times over his mother's estate, and +I had noticed--and chafed somewhat at the knowledge--that women much +older than he always called him Mr. Washington, while even that little +chit of a Polly Johnston called me Tom to my face, and laughed at me when +I assumed an air of injured dignity. I think it was the fact that my +temper was so the opposite of his own which drew him to me, and as for +myself, I was proud to have such a friend, and of the chance to march +with him again over the mountains against the French. + +He knew well how to humor me, and walked beside me, saying nothing. I +glanced at his face, half shamed of my petulance, and I saw that he was +no longer smiling. His lips were closed in that firm straight line which +I had already seen once or twice, and which during years of trial became +habitual to him. My own petty anger vanished at the sight. + +"I have not yet thanked you, Colonel Washington," I said at last, "for +securing me my appointment. I was eating my heart out to make the +campaign, but saw no way of doing so until your message reached me." + +"Why, Tom," he laughed, "you were the first of whom I thought when +General Braddock gave me leave to fill some of the vacancies. Did you +think I had so soon forgot the one who saved my life at Fort Necessity?" + +I opened my mouth to protest, but he silenced me with a gesture. + +"I can see it as though it were here before us," he continued. "The +French and Indians on the knoll yonder, my own men kneeling in the +trenches, almost waist-deep in water, trying in vain to keep their powder +dry; here and there a wounded man lying in the mud and cursing, the rain +and mist over it all, and the night coming on. And then, suddenly, the +rush of Indians at our back, and over the breastwork. I had my pistol in +my hand, you remember, Tom, but the powder flashed in the pan, and the +foremost of the savages was upon me. I saw his tomahawk in the air, and I +remember wondering who would best command when I was dead. But your aim +was true and your powder dry, and when the tomahawk fell, it fell +harmless, with its owner upon it." + +For a moment neither of us spoke. My eyes were wet at thought of the +scene which I so well remembered, and when I turned to him, I saw that he +was still brooding over this defeat, which had rankled as a poisoned +arrow in his breast ever since that melancholy morning we had marched +away from the Great Meadows with the French on either side and the +Indians looting the baggage in the rear. As we reached my quarters, we +turned by a common impulse and continued onward through the darkness. + +"This expedition must be more fortunate," he said at last, as though in +answer to his own thought. "A thousand regulars, as many more +provincials, guns, and every equipage,--yes, it is large enough and +strong enough, unless"-- + +"Unless?" I questioned, as he paused. + +"Unless we walk headlong to our own destruction," he said. "But no, I +won't believe it. The general has been bred in the Coldstreams and +knows nothing of frontier fighting. But he is a brave man, an honest +man, and he will learn. Small wonder he believes in discipline after +serving half a century in such a regiment. Have you ever heard the +story of their fight at Fontenoy, ten years since, when they lost two +hundred and forty men? I heard it three nights ago at the general's +table, and 't was enough to make a man weep for very pity that such +valor should count for naught." + +"Tell it me," I cried, for if there is one thing I love above all +others,--yea, even yet, when I must sit useless by,--it is the tale of +brave deeds nobly done. + +"'T was on the eleventh day of May, seventeen forty-five," he said, "that +the English and the Dutch met the French, who were under Marshal Saxe. +Louis the Fifteenth himself was on the field, with the Grand Dauphin by +his side and a throng of courtiers about him, for he knew how much +depended on the issue of this battle. A redoubt, held by the famous +Guards, bristling with cannon, covered the French position. The Dutch, +appalled at the task before them, refused to advance, but his Grace of +Cumberland, who commanded the English, rose equal to the moment. He +formed his troops in column, the Coldstreams at its head, and gave the +word for the assault. The batteries thundered, the redoubt was crowned +with flame, but the Coldstreams turned neither to the right nor left. +Straight on they marched,--to annihilation, as it seemed,--reforming as +they went, over hill and gully, as steadily as on parade. At last they +reached their goal, and an instant's silence fell upon the field as they +faced the French. The English officers raised their hats to their +adversaries, who returned the salute as though they were at Versailles, +not looking in the eyes of death. + +"'Gentlemen of the French Guard,' cried Lord Charles Hay, 'fire, if +you please.' + +"'Impossible, monsieur,' cried the Count of Hauteroche; 'the French +Guards never fire first. Pray, fire yourselves.' + +"The order was given, and the French ranks fell as grain before the +sickle. They gave way, the Coldstreams advancing in perfect order, firing +volley after volley. The officers, with their rattans, turned the men's +muskets to the right or left, as need demanded. Nothing could stop that +terrible approach, resistless as a whirlwind, and French and Swiss broke +themselves against it, only to be dashed back as spray from a rocky +coast. Regiment after regiment was repulsed, and the Coldstreams still +advanced. Saxe thought the battle lost, and begged the king and the +dauphin to flee while time permitted. At the last desperate moment, he +rallied the artillery and all the forces of his army for a final effort. +The artillery was massed before the English, and they had none to answer +it. The king himself led the charge against their flanks, which the Dutch +should have protected. But the Dutch preferred to remain safely in the +rear. The Coldstreams stood their ground, reforming their ranks with +perfect coolness, until Cumberland saw it were madness to remain, and +ordered the retreat. And it was more glorious than the advance. With only +half their number on their feet, they faced about, without disorder, +their ranks steady and unwavering, and moved off sullenly and slowly, as +though ready at any moment to turn again and rend the ranks of the +victors. It was a deed to match Thermopylae." + +I lifted my hat from my head, and my lips were trembling. + +"I salute them," I said. "'T was well done. And was General Braddock +present on that day?" + +"He commanded one battalion of the regiment. It was for his gallantry +there that he was promoted to the senior majorship." + +"I shall not forget it." And then I added, "Perhaps the story you have +told me will give me greater patience with our drill-master." + +"I trust so, at least," said Washington, with a smile; "else I fear there +will be little peace for you in the army. I was affected by the story, +Tom, no less than you have been, but after I had left the hall, with its +glamour of lights and gold lace and brilliant uniforms, I wondered if +this discipline would count amid the forests of the Ohio as it did on the +plains of Europe. I fancy, in the battle that is to come, there will be +no question of who shall fire first, and a regiment which keeps its +formation will be a fair mark for the enemy. Do you know, Tom, my great +hope is that the French will send a scouting party of their Indian allies +to ambush us, and that in defeating them, our commander may learn +something of the tactics which he must follow to defeat the French." + +As for myself, I confess I shared none of these forebodings, and welcomed +the chance to turn our talk to a more cheerful subject. + +"But about yourself?" I questioned. "There is much I wish to know. Until +your note reached me, I had not heard a word from you since you rode away +from Mount Vernon with Dinwiddie's messenger." + +His face cleared, and he looked at me with a little smile. + +"We went direct to Williamsburg," he said, "where I first met the +general, and told him what I know about the country which he has to +cross. He treated me most civilly, despite some whisperings which went on +behind my back, and shortly after sent me a courteous invitation to serve +on his staff. Of course I accepted,--you know how it irked me to remain +at home,--but I gave him at the same time a statement of my reason for +quitting the Virginia service,--that I could not consent to be outranked +by every subaltern who held a commission from the king." + +I nodded, for the question was not new to me, and had already caused me +much heart-burning. It was not until long afterwards that I saw the +general's letter among Mrs. Washington's treasures at Mount Vernon, but +it seems to me worthy of reproduction here. Thus it ran:-- + + +WILLIAMSBURG, 2 March, 1755. + +Sir,--The General having been informed that you expressed some desire to +make the campaign, but that you declined it upon some disagreeableness +that you thought might arise from the regulations of command, has ordered +me to acquaint you that he will be very glad of your company in his +family, by which all inconveniences of that kind will be obviated. + +I shall think myself very happy to form an acquaintance with a person so +universally esteemed, and shall use every opportunity of assuring you how +much I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, + +ROBERT ORME, Aide-de-Camp. + +Had Braddock heeded the advice of the man whom he asked to join his +family, the event might have been different. But I must not anticipate, +and I find my hardest task in writing what is before me is to escape the +shadow of the disaster which was to come. At that time, and, indeed, +until the storm burst, few of us had penetration to discern the cloud on +the horizon,--Colonel Washington, Mr. Franklin, and a few others, +perhaps, but certainly not I. It is easy to detect mistakes after the +event, and to conduct a campaign on paper, yet few who saw that martial +array of troops, with its flying banners and bright uniforms, would have +ordered the advance differently. + +But to return. + +"It was not until three days ago," continued Washington, "that I was able +to rejoin the general, and he intrusted me with a message to Colonel +Halket, which I delivered this evening. I must start back to Mount Vernon +to-morrow and place my affairs in order, and will then join the army at +Cumberland, whence the start is to be made." + +"And what make of man is the general?" I asked. + +A cloud settled on Washington's face. + +"Why, Tom," he said at last, "I have seen so little of him that I may +misjudge him. He is at least brave and honest, two great things in a +commander. As for the rest, it is yet too soon to judge. But you have +told me nothing about your affairs. How did you leave them all at +Riverview?" + +"I left them well enough," I answered shortly. + +Washington glanced keenly at my downcast face, for indeed the memory of +what had occurred at Riverview was not pleasant to me. + +"Did you quarrel with your aunt before you came away?" he asked quietly. + +"Yes," I said, and stopped. How could I say more? + +"I feared it might come to that," he said gravely. "Your position there +has been a false one from the start. And yet I see no way to amend it." + +We walked on in silence for some time, each busy with his own thoughts, +and mine at least were not pleasant ones. + +"Tom," said Washington suddenly, "what was the quarrel about? Was it +about the estate?" + +"Oh, no," I answered. "We shall never quarrel about the estate. We have +already settled all that. It was something quite different." + +I could not tell him what it was; the secret was not my own. + +He looked at me again for a moment, and then, stopping suddenly, wheeled +me around to face him, and caught my hand. + +"I think I can guess," he said warmly, "and I wish you every +happiness, Tom." + +My lips were trembling so I could not thank him, but I think he knew what +was in my heart. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +IN WHICH I INTRODUCE MYSELF + + +I doubt not that by this time the reader is beginning to wonder who this +fellow is that has claimed his attention, and so, since there is no one +else to introduce me, I must needs present myself. + +It so happened that when that stern old lion, Oliver Cromwell, crushed +the butterfly named Charles Stuart at Worcester in the dim dawn of the +third day of September, 1651, and utterly routed the army of that unhappy +prince, one Thomas Stewart fell into the hands of the Roundheads, as, +indeed, did near seven thousand others of the Royalist army. Now this +Thomas Stewart had very foolishly left a pretty estate in Kincardine, +together with a wife and two sturdy boys, to march under the banner of +the Princeling, as he conceived to be his duty, and after giving and +taking many hard knocks, here he was in the enemy's hands, and Charles +Stuart a fugitive. They had one and all been declared by Parliament +rebels and traitors to the Commonwealth, so the most distinguished of the +captives were chosen for examples to the rest, and three of them, the +Earl of Derby among the number, were sent forthwith to the block, where +they comported themselves as brave men should, and laid down their heads +right cheerfully. + +The others were sent to prison, since it was manifestly impossible to +execute them all,--nor was Cromwell so bloodthirsty, now the rebellion +was broken utterly,--and some sixteen hundred of them were sentenced to +be transported to the colony of Virginia, which had long been a dumping +ground for convicts and felons and political scapegoats. Hither, then, +they came, in ships crowded to suffocation, and many dead upon the way +and thrown to the sharks for burial, but for some reason only one of the +ships stopped here, while the others went on to Barbados to discharge +their living freight. I more than suspect that Cromwell's agents soon +discovered the Commonwealth had few friends in Virginia, and feared the +effect of letting loose here so many of the Royalist soldiers. At any +rate, this one ship dropped anchor at Hampton, and its passengers, to the +number of about three hundred, were sold very cheaply to the neighboring +planters. I may as well say here that all of them were well treated by +their Cavalier masters, and many of them afterwards became the founders +of what are now the most prominent families in the colony. + +Now one of those who had been sold in Virginia was the Thomas Stewart +whom I have already mentioned, and whom neither stinking jail nor crowded +transport had much affected. Doubtless, no matter what the surroundings, +he had only to close his eyes to see again before him the green hills +and plashing brooks of Kincardine, with his own home in the midst, and +the bonny wife waiting at the door, a boy on either side. Alas, it was +only thus he was ever to see them this side heaven. He was bought by a +man named Nicholas Spenser, who owned a plantation on the Potomac in +Westmoreland County, and there he worked, first as laborer and then as +overseer, for nigh upon ten years. His master treated him with great +kindness, and at the Restoration, having made tenfold his purchase money +by him, gave him back his freedom. + +Despite the years and the hard work in the tobacco-fields, Stewart's +thoughts had often been with the wife and children he had left behind in +Scotland, and he prevailed upon Spenser to secure him passage in one of +his ships for London, where he arrived early in 1662. He made his way +back to Kincardine, where he found his estate sequestered, his wife and +one child dead in poverty, the other disappeared. From a neighbor he +learned that the boy had run away to sea after his mother's death, but +what his fate had been he never knew. Weary and disheartened, Stewart +retraced his steps to London, and after overcoming obstacles innumerable, +occasioned mostly by his want of money, laid his case before the king. +Charles listened to him kindly enough, for his office had not yet grown a +burden to him, and finally granted him a patent for two thousand acres of +land along the upper Potomac. It was a gift which cost the king nothing, +and one of a hundred such he bestowed upon his favorites as another man +would give a crust of bread for which he had no use. Stewart returned to +Virginia with his patent in his pocket, and built himself a home in what +was then a wilderness. + +In five or six years he had cleared near three hundred acres of land, had +it planted in sweet-scented tobacco, for which the Northern Neck was +always famous, bought two-score negroes to tend it, and began to see +light ahead. It was at this time that he met Marjorie Usner, while on a +visit to Williamsburg, and he married her in 1670, having in the mean +time erected a more spacious residence than the rude log-hut which had +previously been his home. He was at that time a man nigh fifty years of +age, but handsome enough, I dare say, and well preserved by his life of +outdoor toil. Certainly Mistress Marjorie, who must have been much +younger, made him a good wife, and when he died, in 1685, he left a son +and a daughter, besides an estate valued at several thousands of pounds, +accumulated with true Scottish thrift. It was this daughter who named the +estate Riverview, and though the house was afterwards remodeled, the name +was never changed. The Stewarts continued to live there, marrying and +giving in marriage, and growing ever wealthier, for the next half +century, at the end of which time occurred the events that brought me +into being. + +In 1733, Thomas Stewart, great-grandson of the Scotsman, was master of +Riverview. His portrait, which hangs to-day to the left of the fireplace +in the great hall, shows him a white-haired, red-faced, choleric +gentleman, with gray eyes and proudly smiling mouth. He had been chosen a +member of the House of Burgesses, as had his father before him, and was +one of the most considerable men in the county. His son, Tom, was just +twenty-one, and had inherited from his father the hasty temper and +invincible stubbornness which belong to all the Stewarts. + +It was in the fall of 1733 that they made the trip to Williamsburg which +was to have such momentous consequences. The House of Burgesses was in +session, and Mr. Stewart, as the custom was, took his whole family with +him to the capital. I fancy I can see them as they looked that day. The +great coach, brought from London at a cost of so many thousand pounds of +tobacco, is polished until it shines again. The four horses are harnessed +to it, and Sambo, mouth stretched from ear to ear, drives it around to +the front of the mansion, where a broad flight of stone steps leads +downward from the wide veranda. The footmen and outriders spring to their +places, their liveries agleam with buckles, the planter and his lady and +their younger son enter the coach, while young Tom mounts his horse and +prepares to ride by the window. The odorous cedar chests containing my +lady's wardrobe are strapped behind or piled on top, the negroes form a +grinning avenue, the whip cracks, and they are off, half a dozen servants +following in an open cart. It is a four days' journey to Williamsburg, +over roads whose roughness tests the coach's strength to the uttermost +but it is the one event of all the year to this isolated family, and +small wonder that they look forward to it with eager anticipation. + +Once arrived at Williamsburg, what craning of necks and waving of +handkerchiefs and kissing of hands to acquaintances, as the coach rolls +along the wide, white, sandy street, scorching in the sun, with the +governor's house, called by courtesy a palace, at one end, and the +College of William and Mary at the other, and perhaps two hundred +straggling wooden houses in between. The coaches and chariots which line +the street give earnest of the families already assembled from Princess +Ann to Fairfax and the Northern Neck. My lady notes that the Burkes have +at last got them a new chariot from London, and her husband looks with +appreciative eyes at the handsome team of matched grays which draw it. As +for young Tom, his eyes, I warrant, are on none of these, but on the bevy +of blooming girls who promenade the side-path, arrayed in silks and +satins and brocades, their eyes alight, their cheeks aglow with the joy +of youth and health. Small blame to him, say I, for that is just where my +own eyes would have been. + +That very night Governor Gooch gave a ball at his palace, and be sure the +Stewart family was there, my lady in her new London gown of flowered +damask in the very latest mode, and Tom in his best suit of peach-blossom +velvet, and in great hopes of attracting to himself some of the bright +eyes he had seen that afternoon. Nor was he wholly unsuccessful, for one +pair of black eyes rested on his for a moment,--they were those of +Mistress Patricia Wyeth,--and he straightway fell a victim to their +charms, as what young man with warm heart and proper spirit would not? +Young Tom must himself have possessed unusual attractions, or a boldness +in wooing which his son does not inherit, for at the end of a week he +disturbed his father at his morning dram to inform him that he and +Mistress Patricia had decided to get married. + +"Married!" cried the elder Stewart. "Why, damme, sir, do you know who the +Wyeths are?" + +"I know who Patricia is," answered young Tom very proudly, his head +well up at this first sign of opposition. "I care naught about the +rest of them." + +"But I care, sir!" shouted his father. "Why, the girl won't have a +shilling to bless herself with. Old Wyeth has gambled away every penny he +possesses, and a good many more than he possesses, too, so they tell me, +at his infernal horse-racing and cock-fighting, and God knows what else. +A gentleman may play, sir,--I throw the dice occasionally, myself, and +love to see a well-matched, race as well as any man,--but he ceases to be +a gentleman the moment he plays beyond his means,--a fact which you will +do well to remember. A pretty match for a Stewart 'pon my word!" + +During this harangue young Tom would have interrupted more than once, +but his father silenced him with a passionate waving of his arm. At +last he was compelled to pause for want of breath to say more, and the +boy got in a word. + +"All this is beside the point, father," he said hotly. "My word is given, +and I intend to keep it. Even if it were not given, I should still do my +best to win Patricia, because I love her." + +"Love her, and welcome!" cried his father. "Marry her, if you want +to. But you'll never bring a pauper like that inside my house while I +am alive." + +"Nor after you are dead, if you do not wish it," answered Tom, with his +head higher in the air than ever. + +"No, nor after I am dead!" thundered the old man, his anger no doubt +carrying him farther than he intended going. "You are acting like a +scoundrel, sir. You know well enough I can't cut you out of the estate, +since you are the eldest, so you think to take advantage of me." + +"Never fear, sir," cried Tom, his lips white with anger and his eyes +ablaze. "You shall ask me back to Riverview yourself ere I return there; +yes, and beg my wife's pardon for insulting her." + +"Then, by God, you'll never return!" snorted his father, and without +waiting to hear more, Tom stalked from the room and from the house. I +think even then his father would have called him back, had the boy given +him the chance, and his face was less red than usual when he heard the +street door slam. + +Of course there was a great to-do immediately. Tom's mother interceded +for him, and I doubt not a single word on his part would have won full +pardon from his father, but one was no less stubborn than the other, and +the word was never spoken. When Mistress Patricia heard of the quarrel, +she straightway informed her lover that she would never marry him and +ruin his inheritance, and returned to her home above Charles City, taking +her old reprobate of a father with her, where he died not long +afterwards, perhaps finding life not worth living when there remained no +one who would take his wagers. + +At the close of the session, the Stewart coach rolled back to Riverview, +but young Tom did not ride beside it. He remained at Williamsburg, and +managed to pick up a scanty practice as an attorney, for he had read a +little law in want of something better to do, and to fit himself for his +coming honors as a member of the House of Burgesses. And at Riverview his +father moped in his office and about his fields, growing ever more +crabbed and more obstinate, and falling into a rage whenever any one +dared mention Tom's name before him. + +It was in the spring of 1734 that Tom Stewart mounted his horse and rode +out of Williamsburg across the Chickahominy, to try his fortune once more +with Patricia Wyeth. The winter had been a hard one for a man brought up +as Tom had been, and that suit of peach-bloom velvet had long since been +converted into bread. Yet still he made a gallant figure when, on the +evening of an April day, he cantered up the road to Patricia's home, and +I dare say the heart of the owner of those bright eyes which peeped out +upon him from an upper window beat faster when they saw him coming. But +it was a very demure little maiden who met him at the great door as he +entered, and gave him her hand to kiss. She was all in white, with a +sprig of blossoms in her hair, and she must have made a pretty picture +standing there, and one to warm the heart of any man. + +Of the week that followed, neither my father nor my mother ever told me +much,--its memories were too sweet to trust to words, perhaps,--but the +event was, that on the first day of May, 1734, Thomas Stewart, attorney, +and Patricia Wyeth, spinster, were made man and wife in Westover church +by the Reverend Peter Fontaine, of sainted memory. How well I recall his +benign face, and what tears of affectionate remembrance brimmed my eyes +when I heard, not long ago, that he was dead! The closing sentences of +his will show how he ever thought of others and not of himself, for he +wrote: "My will and desire is, that I may have no public funeral, but +that my corpse may be accompanied by a few of my nearest neighbors; that +no liquors be given to make any of the company drunk,--many instances of +which I have seen, to the great scandal of the Christian religion and +abuse of so solemn an ordinance. I desire none of my family to go in +mourning for me." His sister sent me a copy of the will, and a very +pretty letter, in which she told me how her brother often spoke of me, +and wished me to have his Bible. It is there on the shelf at my bedside, +and while God gives me life I will read in no other. + +It was in the modest Wyeth homestead, on the bank of the James, that my +father and mother entered upon their honeymoon. Of the depth of their +love for each other I know best of all, and the summer slipped away on +golden wings. My father thought no more of returning to Williamsburg, nor +did he greatly regret Riverview. He wrote a formal letter to his mother +announcing his marriage, but no answer came to it, and I doubt not that +worthy woman sobbed herself to sleep more than once in grieving over the +obstinacy of her husband and her son. Dear lady, it was this trouble +which did much to shorten her days, and the end came soon afterwards. 'T +is said that on her deathbed she tried to soften her husband's heart +against their boy, but with such ill success that she fell sobbing into +the sleep from which she was never to awaken. To such a degree can a +fault persisted in change the natural humor of a man. + +My father, perhaps, hoped for a reply to his letter, but he showed no +sign of disappointment when none came, and never spoke upon the subject +to my mother. He soon found enough in his affairs at home to occupy his +mind, for old Samuel Wyeth had left the estate sadly incumbered with his +debts, and more than half of it was sacrificed to save the rest. With +care and frugality, there yet remained enough to live on, and for the +first year, at least, there came no cloud to dim their happiness. Their +cup of joy was full to overflowing, so my mother often told me, when, on +the night of April 15,1735, a child was born to them. It was a boy, and a +week later, before the altar of the little Westover church, its worthy +rector christened the child "Thomas Stewart," the fifth of his line in +the New World. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ENDING OF THE HONEYMOON + + +Besides my father and my mother, the figure which stands out most clearly +in my memory of my childhood is that of the man who christened me. I +cannot remember the time when I did not know and love him. He was a tall, +well-built man, with kindly face and clear blue eyes which darkened when +any emotion stirred him, and rode--how well I remember it!--a big, bony, +gray horse. It was on this horse's back that I took my first ride, when I +was scarce out of petticoats, and often after that, held carefully before +him on the saddle, or, as I grew older, bumping joyously behind, my arms +about his waist. My place was always on his knee when he was within our +doors, and he held me there with unfailing good humor during his long +talks with my mother, of which I, for the most part, comprehended +nothing, except that oftentimes they spoke of me, and then he would +smooth my hair with great tenderness. But I sat there quite content, and +sometimes dozed off with my head against his flowered waistcoat,--it was +his one vanity,--and wakened only when he set me gently down. + +It was not until I grew older that I learned something of his history. +One day, he had seized time from his parish work to take me for a ramble +along the river, and as we reached the limit of our walk and sat down for +a moment's rest before starting homeward, and looked across the wide +water, I asked him, with a childish disregard for his feelings, if it +were true that his father was a Frenchman, adding that I hoped it were +not true, because I did not like the French. + +"Yes, it is true," he answered, and looked down at me, smiling sadly. +"Shall I tell you the story, Thomas?" + +I nodded eagerly, for I loved to listen to stories, especially true ones. + +"When Louis Fourteenth was King of France," he began, and I think he took +a melancholy pleasure in telling it, "he issued a decree commanding all +the Protestants, who in France are called Huguenots, to abjure their +faith and become Catholics, or leave the kingdom. He had oftentimes +before promised them protection, but he was growing old and weak, and +thought that this might help to save his soul, which was in great need of +saving, for he had been a wicked king. My father and my mother were +Huguenots, and they chose to leave their home rather than give up their +faith, as did many thousand others, and after suffering many hardships, +escaped to England, with no worldly possession save the clothes upon +their backs, but with a great treasure in heaven and an abiding trust in +the Lord. They had six children, and after giving us a good education, +especially as to our religion, committed us to the providence of a +covenant God to seek our fortunes in the wide world. All of us came to +America, although Moses and John have since returned to England. James is +a farmer in King William County, Francis is minister of York-Hampton +parish, and sister Ruth lives with me, as you know." + +A great deal more he told me, which slipped from my memory, for I was +thinking over what he had already said. + +"And your mother and father," I asked, as we started back together, "fled +from France rather than give up their faith?" + +"Yes," he answered, and smiled down into my eyes, raised anxiously to +his. + +"And were persecuted just as the early martyrs were?" + +"Yes, very much the same. All of their goods were taken from them, and +they were long in prison." + +"But they were never sorry?" + +"No, they were never sorry. No one is ever sorry for doing a thing +like that." + +I trotted on in silence for a moment, holding tight to his kindly hand, +and revolving this new idea in my mind. At last I looked up at him, big +with purpose. + +"I am going to do something like that some day," I said. + +He gazed down at me, his eyes shining queerly. + +"God grant that you may have the strength, my boy," he said. He bent +and kissed me, and we returned to the house together without saying +another word. + +It was the custom of the Fontaine family to hold a meeting every year to +give thanks for the deliverance from persecution of their parents in +France, and I remember being present with my father and mother at one of +these meetings when I was seven or eight years old. One passage of the +sermon he preached on that occasion remained fixed indelibly in my mind. +He took his text from Romans, "That ye may with one mind and one mouth +glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." He applied the +duty thus enjoined to the Fontaine family, saying,-- + +"For many weary months was our father forced to shift among forests and +deserts for his safety, because he had dared to preach the word of God to +the innocent and sincere people among whom he lived, and who desired to +be instructed in their duty and to be confirmed in their faith. The +forest afforded him a shelter and the rocks a resting-place, but his +enemies gave him no quiet, and pursued him even to these fastnesses, +until finally, of his own accord, he delivered himself to them. They +loaded his hands with chains, a dungeon was his abode, and his feet stuck +fast in the mire. Murderers and thieves were his companions, yet even +among them did he pursue his labors, until God, by means of a pious +gentlewoman, who had seen and pitied his sufferings, relieved him." + +To my childish imagination, the picture thus painted was a real and +living one, and filled me with a singular exaltation. I think each of us +at some time of his life has felt, as I did then, a desire to suffer for +conscience' sake. + +The preachers of Virginia were, as a whole, anything but admirable, a +condition due no doubt to the worldly spirit which pervaded the church on +both sides of the ocean. The average parson was then--and many of them +still are--coarse and rough, as contact with the forests and waste places +of the world will often make men, even godly ones. But many of them were +worse than that, gamblers and drunkards. They hunted the fox across +country with great halloo, mounted on fast horses of their own. They +attended horse-races and cock-fights, almost always with some money on +the outcome, and frequently with a horse or cock entered in the races or +the pittings. And when the sport was over, they would accompany the +planters home to dinner, which ended in a drinking-bout, and it was +seldom the parson who went under the table first. One fought a duel in +the graveyard behind his church,--our own little Westover church, it +was,--and succeeded in pinking his opponent through the breast, for which +he had incontinently to return to England; another stopped the communion +which he was celebrating, and bawled out to his warden, "Here, George, +this bread's not fit for a dog," nor would he go on with the service +until bread more to his liking had been brought; another married a +wealthy widow, though he had already a wife living in England. His bishop +was compelled to recall him, but I never heard that he was discharged +from holy orders. Another on a certain Saturday called a meeting of his +vestry, and when they refused to take some action which he desired, +thrashed them all soundly, and on the next day added insult to injury by +preaching to them from the text, "And I contended with them, and cursed +them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair." I should +like to have seen the faces of the vestrymen while the sermon was in +progress! It was not an unusual sight to see the parson riding home from +some great dinner tied fast in his chaise to keep him from falling out, +as the result of over-indulgence in the planter's red wine. But our +worthy pastor, during his forty years' ministry in Charles City parish, +was concerned in no such escapades, and I count it one of the great +happinesses of my life that I had the good fortune to fall under the +influence of such a man. A passage of a letter written by him to one of +his brothers in England on the subject of preserving health gives an +outline of the rules of his life. After commending active exercise in the +open air on foot and on horseback, he says, "I drink no spirituous +liquors at all; but when I am obliged to take more than ordinary fatigue, +either in serving my churches or other branches of duty, I take one glass +of good old Madeira wine, which revives me, and contributes to my going +through without much fatigue." + +One other figure do I recall distinctly. We had driven to church as usual +one Sunday morning in early fall, and when we came in sight of the little +brick building, peeping through its veil of ivy, I was surprised to see +the parishioners in line on either side the path which led to the broad, +low doorway. Mr. Fontaine stood there as though awaiting some one, and +when he saw us, came down the steps and spoke a word to father. In a +moment, from down the road came the rumble of heavy wheels, and then a +great, gorgeous, yellow chariot, with four outriders, swung into view and +drew up with a flourish before the church. The footmen sprang to the +door, opened it, and let down the steps. I, who was staring with all my +eyes, as you may well believe, saw descend a little old man, very weak +and very tremulous, yet holding his head proudly, and after him a +younger. They came slowly up the walk, the old man leaning heavily upon +the other's shoulder and nodding recognition to right and left. As they +drew near, I caught the gleam of a great jewel on his sword-hilt, and +then of others on finger, knee, and instep. The younger bore himself very +erect and haughty, yet I saw the two were fashioned in one mould. On up +the steps and into the church they went, Mr. Fontaine before and we after +them. They took their seats in the great pew with the curious carving on +the back, which I had never before seen occupied. + +"Who are the gentlemen, mother?" I whispered, so soon as I could +get her ear. + +"It is Colonel Byrd and his son come back from London," she answered. +"Now take your eyes off them and attend the service." + +Take my eyes off them I did, by a great effort of will, but I fear I +heard little of the service, for my mind was full of the great house on +the river-bank, which it had once been my fortune to visit. Mr. Fontaine +had taken me with him in his chaise for a pastoral call at quite the +other end of his parish, and as we returned, we were caught in a sudden +storm of rain. My companion had hesitated for a moment, and then turned +his horse's head through a gateway with a curious monogram in iron at the +top, along an avenue of stately tulip-trees, and so to the door of a +massive square mansion of red brick, which stood on a little knoll +overlooking the James. The door was closed and the windows shuttered, but +half a dozen negroes came running from the back at the sound of our +wheels and took us in out of the storm. A mighty fire was started in the +deep fireplace, and as I stood steaming before it, I looked with dazzled +eyes at the great carved staircase, at the paintings and at the books, of +which there were many hundreds. + +Presently the old overseer, whom Mr. Fontaine addressed as Murray, and +who had grown from youth to trembling age in the Byrd service, came in to +offer us refreshment, and over the table they fell to gossiping. + +"Westover's not the place it was," said Murray, sipping his flip +disconsolately,--"not the place it was while Miss Evelyn was alive. There +was no other like it in Virginia then. Why, it was always full of gay +company, and the colonel kept a nigger down there at the gate to invite +in every traveler who passed. But all that's changed, and has been these +six year." + +Mr. Fontaine nodded over his tea. + +"Yes," he said, "Evelyn's death was a great blow to her father." + +"You may well say that, sir," assented Murray, with a sigh. "He was never +the same man after. He used to sit there at that window and watch her in +the garden, after they came back from London, and every day he saw her +whiter and thinner. At night, after she was safe abed, I have seen him +walking up and down over there along the river, sobbing like a baby. And +when she died, he was like a man dazed, thinking, perhaps, it was he who +had killed her." + +"I know," nodded Mr. Fontaine. "I was here." There was a moment's +silence. I was bursting with questions, but I did not dare to speak. + +"The young master took him back to London after that," went on Murray, +"hoping that a change would do him good and take his mind off Miss +Evelyn, but I doubt he'll ever get over it. While they were in London, +Sir Godfrey Kneller painted him and Miss Evelyn. Would you like to see +the pictures, sir?" + +"Yes, I should like to see them," said Mr. Fontaine softly. "Evelyn was +very dear to me." + +They were hanging side by side in the great hall, and even my childish +eyes saw their strength and beauty. His was a narrow, patrician face, +beautiful as a woman's, looking from a wealth of brown curls, soft and +flowing. The little pucker at the corners of his mouth bespoke his +relish of a jest, and the high nose and well-placed eyes his courage and +spirit. But it was at the other I looked the longest. She was seated upon +a grassy bank, with the shadows of the evening gathering about her. In +the branches above her head gleamed a red-bird's brilliant plumage. On +her lap lay a heap of roses, and in her hand she held a shepherd's crook. +Her gown, of pale blue satin, was open at the throat, and showed its fair +sweet fullness and the bosom's promise. Her face was pensive,--sad, +almost,--the lips just touching, a soft light in the great dark eyes. I +had never seen such a picture,--nor have I ever looked upon another such. +I can close my eyes and see it even now. But the storm had passed, and it +was time to go. + +"Why did Miss Evelyn die?" I questioned, as soon as we were out of the +avenue of tulips and in the highway. + +He looked down at me a moment, and seemed hesitating for an answer. + +"She loved a man in London," he said. "Her father would not let her marry +him, and brought her home. She was not strong, and gossips say her heart +was broken." + +"But why would he not let her marry him?" I asked. + +"He was not of her religion. Her father thought he was acting for +her good." + +I pondered on this for a time in silence, and found here a question too +great for my small brain. + +"But was he right?" I asked at last, falling back upon my companion's +greater knowledge. + +"It is hard to say," he answered softly. "Perhaps he was, and yet I have +come to think there is little to choose between one sect and another, so +Christ be in them and the man honest." + +He looked out across the fields with tender eyes and I slipped my hand +in his. A vision of her sad face danced before me and I fell asleep, my +head within his arm, to waken only when he lifted me down at our +journey's end. + +All this came back to me with the vividness which childish recollections +sometimes have, as I sat there in the pew at my mother's side. Only I +could not quite believe that this little wrinkled old man was the same +who looked so proudly from Kneller's canvas. But when the service ended +and he stopped to exchange a word with father, I saw the face was indeed +the same, though now writ over sadly by the hand of time weighted down +with sorrow. It was the only time I ever saw him in the flesh, for he was +near the end and died soon after. He was buried beside his daughter in +the little graveyard near his home. It was Mr. Fontaine who closed his +eyes in hope of resurrection and spoke the last words above his grave,-- +beloved in this great mansion as in the lowliest cabin at Charles City. + +My pen would fain linger over the portrait of this sainted man, which is +the fairest and most benign in the whole gallery of my youth, but I must +turn to another subject,--to the cloud which began to shadow my life at +my tenth year, and which still shadows it to-day. For the first six or +seven years of their married life my father and mother were, I believe, +wholly and unaffectedly happy. When I think of them now, I think of them +only as they were during that time, and wonder how many of the married +people about me could say as much. Their means were small, and they lived +a quiet life, which had few luxuries. But as time went on, my father +began to chafe at the petty economies which the smallness of their income +rendered necessary. He had been bred amid the luxuries of a great estate, +where the house was open to every passer-by, and it vexed him that he +could not now show the same wide hospitality. I think he yet had hopes of +succeeding to his father's estate, out of which, indeed, there was no law +in Virginia to keep him should he choose to claim it. Whatever his +thoughts may have been, he grew gradually to live beyond his means, and +as the years passed, he had recourse to the cards and dice in the hope, +no doubt, of recouping his vanishing fortune. It was true then, as it is +true now and always will be true, that the man who gambles because he +needs the money is sure to lose, and affairs went from bad to worse until +the final disaster came. + +It was just after my tenth birthday. My mother and I were sitting +together on the broad porch which overlooked the river. She had been +reading to me from the Bible,--the parable of the talents,--in which and +in the kind advice of Parson Fontaine she found her only comfort in the +anxious days which had gone before, and which I knew nothing of. But the +lengthening shadows finally fell across the page, and she closed the book +and held it on her knee, while she talked to me about my lessons and a +ramble we had planned for the morrow. The red of the sunset still +lingered in the west, and a single crimson cloud hung poised high up +against the sky. I remember watching it as it turned to purple and then +to gray. A burst of singing came from the negro quarters behind the +house, and in the strip of woodland by the river the noises of the night +began to sound. + +As the twilight deepened to darkness, my mother's voice faltered and +ceased, and when I glanced at her, I saw she had fallen into a reverie, +and that there was a shadow on her face. I have only to shut my eyes, and +the years roll back and she is sitting there again beside me, in her +white gown, simply made, and gathered at the waist with a broad blue +ribbon, her slim white hands playing with the book upon her knee, her +eyes gazing afar off across the water, her mouth drooping in the curve +which it had never known till recently, her wealth of blue-black hair +forming a halo round her head. Ah, that she were there when I open my +eyes again, that I might speak to her! For the bitterest thought that +ever came to me is one which troubles my rest from time to time even now: +Did I love her as she deserved; was I a staff for her to lean upon in her +trouble; was I not, rather, a careless, unseeing boy, who recked nothing +of the impending storm until it burst about him? I trust the tears which +have wet my pillow since have gladdened her heart in heaven. + +I was awakened from the doze into which I had fallen by the sound of +rapid hoof-beats down the road. We listened to them in silence, as they +drew near and nearer. I did not doubt it was my father, for few others +ever rode our way. He had been from home all day, as he frequently was of +late, only he did not usually return so early in the evening. Something +in my mother's face as she strained her eyes into the shadows to catch a +glimpse of the advancing horseman drew me from my chair and to her side. + +"It is your father," she said, in a voice almost inaudible, and as she +spoke, the rider leaped from the shadow of the trees. He drew his horse +up before the porch with a jerk and threw himself from the saddle. As he +came up the steps, I saw that his face was strangely flushed and his eyes +gleaming in a way that made me shiver. I felt my mother's arm about me +trembling as she drew me closer to her. + +"Well, it's over," he said, flinging himself down upon the upper step, +"and damme if I'm sorry. Anything's better than living here in the woods +like a lump on a log." + +"What do you mean is over, Tom?" asked my mother very quietly. + +"I mean our possession of this place is over. Since an hour ago, it has +belonged to Squire Blakesley, across the river." + +"You mean you have gambled it away?" + +"If you choose to call it that," said my father ungraciously, and he +turned his back to us and gazed gloomily out over the water. + +For a moment there was silence. + +"Since we no longer possess this place," said my mother at last, "I +suppose you intend to forget your foolish anger against your father, and +claim your patrimony?" + +"Foolish or not," he cried, "I have sworn never to take it until it is +offered to me, and I mean to keep my word!" + +"You would make your boy a beggar to gratify a foolish whim!" retorted my +mother, her voice trembling with passion. I had never seen her so, and +even my father glanced at her furtively in some astonishment. "Very well. +In that it is for you to do as you may choose, but his estate here, or +what is left of it, shall be kept intact for him." + +"What do you mean?" cried my father, and he sprang to his feet and +slashed his boot savagely with his riding-whip. + +"I mean," said my mother very quietly, "that since a gambling debt is not +recoverable by law, we have only to live on quietly here and no one will +dare disturb us." + +"And my honor?" cried my father with an oath, the first I had ever heard +him use. "It seems to me that you forget my honor, madam." + +"You have been the first to forget your honor, sir," said my mother, +rising to face him, but still keeping me within her arm, "in staking your +son's inheritance upon a throw of the dice." + +My father started as though he had been struck across the face, but he +was too far gone in anger to listen to the voice of reason. Indeed, I +have always found that the more a man deserves rebuke, the less likely is +he to take it quietly. + +"Come here, Tom," he said to me, and when I hesitated, added in a sterner +tone, "come here, sir, I say." + +I had no choice but to go to him, nor did my mother seek to hold me back. +He caught me by the arms and bent until his face was close to mine. + +"You are to promise me two things, Tom," he said, and I perceived that +his breath was heavy with the fumes of wine. "One is that you are never +to claim your inheritance of Riverview until it is offered to you freely +by them that now possess it. Do you promise me that?" + +"Yes," I faltered. "I promise you, sir." + +"Good!" he said. "And the other is that you will pay my debts of honor +after I am dead, if they be not paid before. Promise me that also, Tom." + +His eyes were on mine, and I could do nothing but obey, even had I +thought of resisting. + +"I promise that also, sir," I said. + +"Very well," and he retained his grasp on my arms yet a moment. +"Remember, Tom, that a gentleman never breaks his word. It is his most +priceless possession, the thing which above all others makes him a +gentleman." + +He dropped his hands and turned away into the house. A moment later, +from the refuge of my mother's arms, I heard him heavily mounting the +stairs to his room on the floor above. My mother said never a word, but +she covered my face with kisses, and I felt that she was crying. She held +me for a time upon her lap, gazing out across the river as before, and +when I raised my hand and caressed her cheek, smiled down upon me sadly. +She kissed me again as she put me to bed, and the last thing I saw before +drifting away into the land of dreams was her sweet face bending over me. +Had I known that it was the last time I was to see it so,--the last time +those tender hands were to draw the covers close about me,--I should not +have closed my eyes in such content. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SECRET OF A HEART + + +Late that night I was awakened by the slamming of doors and hurried +footsteps in the hall and up and down the stairs. I sat up in bed, and as +I listened intently, heard frightened whispering without my door. It rose +and died away and rose again, broken by stifled sobbing, and I knew that +some great disaster had befallen. It seemed, somehow, natural that this +should happen, after my father's recent conduct. With a cold fear at my +heart, I threw the covers back, slid from the bed, and groped my way +across the room. As I fumbled at the latch, the whispering and sobbing +came suddenly to an end, as though those without had stopped with bated +breath. At last I got the door open, and looking out, saw half a dozen +negro servants grouped upon the landing. One of them held a lantern, +which threw slender rays of light across the floor and queer shadows up +against their faces. They stared at me an instant, and then, finding +their breath again, burst forth in lamentation. + +"What is it?" I cried. "What has happened?" + +My old mammy had her arms around me and caught me up to her face, down +which the tears were streaming. + +"Oh, Lawd, keep dis chile!" she sobbed, looking down at me with infinite +tenderness. "Oh, Lawd, bless an' keep dis chile!" + +"But, mammy," I repeated impatiently, "what has happened?" + +Her trembling lips would not permit her answering, but she pointed to the +door of my father's room and her tears broke forth afresh. + +"Is my mother there?" I asked. + +She nodded. + +"Then I will go to her," I said, and I had squirmed out of her arms and +was running along the passage before she could detain me. In a moment I +had reached the door, but all my courage seemed to fail me in face of the +mystery within, and the knock I gave was a very feeble and timid one. I +heard a quick step on the floor, and the door opened ever so little. + +"Is it you, doctor?" asked my mother's voice. + +"No, mother, it is only I," I said. + +"You!" she cried, in a terrible voice, and I caught a glimpse of her face +rigid with horror before she slammed the door. The sight seemed to freeze +me there on the threshold, powerless to move. I have tried--ah, how +often!--to put behind me the memory of her face as I saw it then, but it +is before me now and again, even yet. And I began to cry, for it was the +first time my mother had ever shut me from her presence. + +"Are you there, Tom?" I heard her voice ask in a moment. Her voice, did +I say? Nay, not hers, but a voice I had never heard before,--the voice of +a woman suffocating with anguish. + +"Yes, mother," I answered, "I am here." + +"And you love me, do you not, Tom?" + +"Oh, yes, mother!" I cried; and I thank God to this day that there was so +much of genuine feeling in my voice. + +"Then if you love me, Tom," she said, "you will go back to your room +and not come near this door again. Promise me, Tom, that you will do as +I ask you." + +"I promise, mother," I answered. "But what has happened? Is father dead?" + +"Mr. Fontaine will be here soon," she said, "and will explain it all to +you. Now run back to your room, dearest, and go to bed." + +"Yes, mother," I said again, but as I turned to go, I heard a sound which +struck me motionless. No, my father was not dead, for that was his voice +I heard, pitched far above its usual key. + +"I shall never go back," he cried. "I shall never go back till he asks +me." + +I felt the perspiration start from my forehead. + +"Have you gone, Tom?" asked my mother's voice. + +"I am just going, mother," I sobbed, and tore myself away from the door. +My mammy's arms were about me again as I turned, and carried me back to +my room. This time I did not resist, but as she sat down, still holding +me, I laid my head upon her breast and sobbed myself to sleep. When I +awoke, I found that I was in bed with the covers tucked close around me, +and through my window I could see the gray dawn breaking. I lay and +watched the light grow along the horizon and up into the heavens. And +while I lay thus, with heart aching dully, the door of my room opened +softly, and with joy inexpressible I saw that it was my beloved friend +who entered. + +"Oh, Mr. Fontaine!" I cried, and stretched out my arms to him. He took me +up as a mother might, and held me close against his heart. + +"Do you remember, dear," he said, and his voice was trembling, "what you +told me one day by the river--that you meant to be brave under trial?" + +I sobbed assent. + +"Well, the trial has come, Tom, and I want you to be brave and strong. +You are not going to disappoint me, are you?" + +Oh, it was hard, and I was only a child, but I sat upright on his knee +and tried to dry my tears. + +"I will try," I said, but the sobs would come in spite of me. + +"That is right," and he was stroking my hair in that old familiar, tender +way. "Your father is very ill, Tom." + +Well, if that was all, I could bear it, certainly. + +"But he will get well," I said. + +He was looking far out at the purple sky, and his face seemed old and +gray. + +"I hope and pray so," he said at last. "He has the smallpox, Tom. +There are some cases along the river near Charles City, and he must +have caught it there. Doctor Brayle has done everything for him that +can be done." + +But I was not listening. There was room for only one thought in my brain. + +"And my mother is with him!" I cried, and my heart seemed bursting. + +He held me tight against him, and I felt a tear fall upon my head. This +was the trial, then--for him no less than me. + +"Yes, she is with him, Tom. She believes it her duty, and will allow no +one else to enter. Ah, she has not been found wanting. Dear heart, I knew +she would never be." + +Of what came after, I have no distinct remembrance. Mr. Fontaine told me +that my mother wished me to go home with him, so that I might be quite +beyond reach of the infection. He had agreed that this would be the +wisest course, and so, too stricken at heart to resist, I was bundled +into his chaise with a chest of my clothes, and driven away through the +crowd of sobbing negroes to the little house at Charles City where he and +his sister lived. + +The week that followed dwells in my memory as some tremendous nightmare, +lightened here and there by the unvarying kindness of my friend and of +his sister. I wandered along the river and gazed out across the changing +water for hours at a time, with eyes that saw nothing of what was before +them. Often I remained thus until some one came for me and led me gently +back into the house. My brain seemed numbed, and no longer capable of +thought. Mr. Fontaine took charge of our affairs, doing everything that +could be done, keeping the frightened negroes to their work, and praying +with my mother through the tight-closed door. He had no fear, and would +have entered and prayed with her beside the bed, had she permitted. + +I was sitting by the river-bank one evening, watching the shadows +lengthen across the water, when I heard a step behind me, and turned to +see my friend approaching. A glance at his face brought me to my feet. + +"What is it?" I cried, and ran to him. + +He took my hands in his. + +"Your father died an hour ago, Tom," he said, and smoothed my hair in the +familiar way which seemed to comfort him as well as me. + +"And my mother?" I asked, for it was of her I was thinking. + +"Your mother is ill, too," he said, and placed his arms about me and held +me close, "but with God's grace we will save her life." + +But I had started from him. + +"If she is ill," I cried, "I must go to her. She will want me." + +He shook his head, still holding to my hands. + +"No, she does not want you, Tom," he said. "The one thing that will make +her happy is the thought that you are quite removed from danger. I +believed my place was at her bedside, but she would not permit it." + +And then he told me, with glistening eyes, that my old mammy, who had +been my mother's thirty years before, was nursing her and would not be +sent away. She had burst in the door of the plague chamber the moment +she had heard that her mistress was ill, and dared any one disturb her. +Old Doctor Brayle had commanded that she be given her will, and declared +that in this old negro woman's careful nursing lay my mother's great +chance of life. + +The scalding tears poured down my cheeks as Mr. Fontaine told me +this,--the first, I think, that I had shed that week, for after that +dreadful night, my sorrow had been of a dry and bitter kind,--and a +stinging remorse seized me as I thought of the times I had been cross and +disobedient to mammy. Ah, how I loved her now! It was the accustomed +irony of my life that I was never to tell her so. + +Ere daylight the next morning I was seated beside my friend as he drove +me home. The river was cloaked in mist, and the dawn seemed inexpressibly +dreary. As we approached the house, I wondered to see how forlorn and +neglected it appeared. A crowd of wailing negroes surrounded the chaise +when we stopped, and I would have got out, but Mr. Fontaine held me +firmly in my seat. + +"We must remain here," he said, and I dropped back beside him, and waited +in a kind of stupor. + +Presently they brought the coffin down, the negroes who carried it +wreathing themselves in tobacco smoke, and placed it in a cart. We +followed at a distance as it rolled slowly toward the Wyeth +burying-ground in the grove of willows near the road. The thought came to +me that my father should lie with the Stewarts, not with the Wyeths, and +then suddenly a great sickness and faintness came upon me, and I remember +nothing of what followed until I found Miss Fontaine lifting me from the +chaise at the door. I was put to bed, and not until the next day was I +able to crawl forth again. + +Then came days of anguish and suspense, days spent by me roaming the +woods, or lying face downward beneath the trees, and praying that God +would spare my mother's life. Bulletins were brought me from her +bedside,--she was better, she was worse, she was better,--how shall I +tell the rest?--until at last one day came my dear friend, his lips +quivering, the tears streaming down his face unrestrained, and told me +that she was dead. I think the sight of his great sorrow frightened me, +and I bore the blow with greater composure than I had thought possible. +Had she sent me no message? Yes, she had sent me a message,--her last +thought had been of me. She asked me to be a good boy and an honest man, +to follow the counsel of Mr. Fontaine in all things, and to keep my +promise to my father. So, even in death her love for him and for the +honor of his memory triumphed, as I would have had it do. + +Again there was a dismal procession through the gray morning to the +willow grove, where we stood beneath the dripping branches, while afar +off the rude coffin was lowered to its last resting-place. The negroes +grouped themselves about, and my friend stood at my side, his head bare, +his face raised to heaven, as though he saw her there. + +"'I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth +in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and +believeth in me, shall never die.'" + +I felt the threads of my life slipping from me one by one, even as the +trees faded from before my eyes. Only that strong, exultant voice at my +side went on and on. + +"'Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them +that slept.'" On and on went the voice; there was nothing else in the +whole wide world but that voice crying out over my mother's grave. "'I +heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me. Write. From henceforth blessed +are the dead who die in the Lord.'" And then the voice faltered and +broke. "She was the light of my life and the joy of my heart," it was no +longer the ritual of the church; "and yet had I to walk beside her and +tell her naught. And now is she taken from me, for the Lord hath received +her to His bosom to live in the light of His love forevermore." + +I looked up into his face and saw the secret of his heart revealed,--the +secret he had kept so well, but which his anguish had wrung from him. It +was only for an instant, yet I think he knew I had read his heart--I, +alone of all the world, understood. Had my mother known, I wonder? Yes, +I think she had, and in the greatness of his love found help and comfort. +Good man and lovely woman, God rest and keep you both. + +I went home with him, remembering with a pang that the place I had called +home was mine no longer. Those among my friends who know the history of +my boyhood understand to some extent my loathing for the cards and dice. +It is perhaps unreasonable,--I might be the first to deem it so in any +other man,--but when I count up the woe they brought my mother,--father +and husband slaves to the same frenzy,--how they wrecked her life and +embittered it, my passion rises in my throat to choke me. Never did I +hate them more than in the days which followed; for they had made me +outcast, and what the future held for me, I could not guess. The question +was answered of a sudden a week later, when there came from my +grandfather a curt note bidding me be sent to Riverview. It was decided +at once that I must go. I myself looked forward to the change with a +boy's blind longing for adventure, and said farewell to the man who had +been so much to me with a willingness I wince to think upon. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +I AM TREATED TO A SURPRISE + + +The rain was falling dismally as the coach in which I had made the +journey rolled up the drive to Riverview, and I caught but a glimpse of +the house as I was rushed up the steps and into the wide hall. A lady +dressed in a loose green gown was seated in an easy-chair before the open +fire, and she did not rise as I entered, doubtless because her lap was +full of knitting. + +"Gracious, how wet the child is!" she cried, looking me over critically. +"Take him to his room, Sally, and see that he has a bath and change of +clothing. I'm sure he needs both." + +I turned away without a word and followed the negro maid. Of course the +lady thought me a surly boor, but my heart was burning, for I had hoped +for a different welcome. As I passed along the hall and up the broad +staircase, the thought came to me that all of this would one day be mine, +should I choose to claim it, and then, with crimson cheeks, I put the +thought from me, as unworthy of my mother's son. + +But my room looked very warm and cheerful even on this chilly day, and +from the window I could see broad fields of new-planted tobacco, and +beyond them the yellow road and then the river. I stood long looking out +at it and wondering what my life here had in store. Half an hour later, +word came from my grandfather that he wished to see me, and the same maid +led me down the stairs and to his study, I stumbling along beside her +with a madly beating heart. As I crossed the lower hall, I heard a burst +of childish laughter, and saw a boy and girl, both younger than myself, +playing near the chair where the lady sat. I looked at them with +interest, but the sight of me seemed to freeze the laughter on their +faces, and they gazed with staring eyes until I turned the corner and was +out of sight. But I had little time to wonder at this astonishing +behavior, for in a moment I was in my grandfather's office. + +He was seated at a great table, and had apparently been going over some +accounts, for the board in front of him was littered with books and +papers. I saw, even beneath the disguise of his red face and white hair, +his strong resemblance to my father, and my heart went out to him on the +instant. For I had loved my father, despite the wild behavior which +marred his later clays. Indeed, I always think of him during that time as +suffering with a grievous malady, of which he could not rid himself, and +which ate his heart out all the faster because he saw how great was the +anguish it caused the woman he loved. That it was some such disease I am +quite certain, so different was his naturally strong and sunny +disposition. + +My grandfather gazed at me some moments without speaking, as I stood +there, longing to throw myself into his arms, and all the misery of the +years that followed might never have been, had I buried my pride and +followed the dictates of my heart. But I waited for him to speak, and the +moment passed. + +"So this is Tom's boy," he said at last. "My God, how like he is!" + +He fell silent for a moment,--silenced, no doubt, by bitter memories. + +"You wonder, perhaps," he said in a sterner tone, "why I have sent for +you; but I could do no less. The letter from your pastor which announced +the deaths of your father and your mother brought me the tidings also +that your mother's fortune had been diced away down to the last penny, +and that even the negroes must be sold to satisfy the claims against it. +However undutiful your father may have been, I could not permit his son +to become a charge upon the poor funds." + +I felt my cheeks flushing, but I judged it best to choke back the words +which trembled on my lips. + +"I can read your thought," said my grandfather quickly. "You are +thinking that the heir of Riverview could hardly be called a pauper. Do +not forget that your father forfeited his claim to the estate by his +ungentlemanly conduct." + +"I shall not forget it," I burst out. "My father made sure that I should +never forget it. I shall never claim the estate. And my father's conduct +was never ungentlemanly." + +"As you will," said my grandfather scornfully. "I am not apt at +mincing words. I told him one thing many years ago which I should have +thought he would remember, and which I now repeat to you. I told him +that a gentleman ceased to be a gentleman when once he gambled beyond +his means." + +I waited to hear no more, but with crimson cheeks and head in air, I +turned on my heel and started for the door. + +"Damn my stars, sir!" he roared. "Wait to hear me out." + +But I would not wait. After a moment's struggle with the latch, I had the +door open and marched straight to my room. Once inside, I bolted the +door, and throwing myself on the floor, sobbed myself to sleep. + +What need to detail further? There were a hundred such scenes between us +in the four years that followed, and as I look back upon them now, I +realize that through it all I, too, showed my full share of Stewart +obstinacy and temper. I more than suspect that my grandfather in his most +violent outbursts was inwardly trembling with tenderness for me, as was I +for him, and that a single gentle word, spoken at the right time, would +have brought us into each other's arms. And I realize too late that it +was for me, and not for him, to speak that word. It was only when I saw +him lying in his bed, stricken with paralysis, bereft of the power of +speech or movement, that I knew how great my love for him had been. His +eyes, as they met mine on that last day, had in them infinite tenderness +and pleading, and my heart melted as I bent and kissed his lips. He +struggled to speak, and the sweat broke from his forehead at the effort, +but what he would have said I can only guess, for he died that night, +without the iron bands which held him fast loosening for an instant. Yet +I love to fancy that his last words, could he have spoken them, would +have been words of love and forgiveness, for my father as well as for +myself, and such, I am sure, they would have been. With him there passed +away the only one at Riverview whom I had grown to love. + +And now a word about the others among whom I passed the second period of +my boyhood. My father's younger brother, James, had married seven or +eight years before a lady whose estate adjoined Riverview,--Mrs. +Constance Randolph, a widow some years older than himself. She had one +child living, a daughter, Dorothy, who, at the time I came to Riverview, +was a girl of nine, and a year after her second marriage she bore a son, +who was named James, much against the wishes of his mother. She would +have called him Thomas, a name which had for five generations been that +of the head of the house. But this my grandfather would by no means +allow, and so the child was christened after his father. I think that +ever since the day she had entered the Stewart family, my aunt had +thought me a spectre across her path, for she was an ambitious woman and +wished the whole estate for her son,--in which I do not greatly blame +her. But she had brooded over her fear until it had become a phantom +which haunted her unceasingly, and she had come to deem me a kind of +monster, who stood between her boy and his inheritance. Her second +husband died three years after their marriage,--he was drowned one day in +January while crossing the river on the ice, which gave way under +him,--and after that she became the mistress of Riverview in earnest, +ruling my grandfather with a rod of iron, for though bold enough with +men, and especially with the men of his own family, he would succumb in a +moment to a woman's shrewish temper. + +Only twice had he revolted against her rule. The first time was when she +had announced her intention of naming her boy Thomas, as I have already +mentioned. The second was when he decided to summon me to Riverview. This +she had opposed with all her might, but he had persisted, and finally +ended the argument by putting her from the room,--doubtless with great +inward trepidation. So I came to be a phantom in the flesh, and do not +wonder that she hated me, so sour will the human heart become which +broods forever on its selfishness. Her children she kept from me as from +the plague, and during the years preceding my grandfather's death, I had +almost no communication with them. He required, however, that every +respect be shown me, placed me on his right at table,--how often have I +looked up from my plate to find his eyes upon me,--selected half a dozen +negroes to be my especial servants, engaged the Rev. James Scott, pastor +of the Quantico church, as my tutor, and even ordered for me an elaborate +wardrobe from his factor in London. + +Mr. Scott was a man of parts, and under him I gained some knowledge of +Latin, Greek, and mathematics. Certainly I made more progress than I +should have done under different circumstances, for finding myself +without companions or other occupation, I applied myself to my books for +want of something better. My grandfather possessed above a hundred +volumes, and when he saw how my bent lay, he ordered others for me, so +that his library came to be one of the largest on the Northern Neck, +though but indifferently selected. Absorbed in these books, I managed to +forget the disorder of my circumstances. + +The remainder of my time I spent in riding along the river road on the +mare my grandfather had given me, or wandering over the estate and in and +out among the negro cabins. To the negroes I was always "Mas' Tom," and I +am proud to remember that I made many friends among them, treating them +always with justice and sometimes with mercy, as, indeed, I try yet to +do. Once I came suddenly upon old Gump, the major-domo of the house +servants, preparing to give a little pickaninny a thrashing, and I +stopped to ask what he had done. + +"He's done been stealing Mas' Tom," answered Gump. "Ain' goin' t' hab no +t'iefs roun' dis yere house, not if I knows it." + +"What did he steal, uncle?" I asked. + +"Dis yere whip," said Gump, and he held up an old riding-whip of mine. + +I looked at it and hesitated for a moment. Was it worth beating a child +for? The little beady eyes were gazing at me in an agony of supplication. + +"Gump," I said, "don't beat him. That's all right. I want him to have +the whip." + +Gump stared at me in astonishment. + +"What, Mas' Tom," he exclaimed, "you mean dat you gib him de whip?" + +"Yes," I said, "I give him the whip, Gump," and luckily the old man could +not distinguish between the past and present tenses of the verb, so that +I was spared a lie. The little thief ran away with the whip in his hand, +and it was long before the incident was recalled to me. + +So I returned again to my books, and to the silent but no less active +antagonism toward my aunt. Yet, I would not paint her treatment of me in +too gloomy colors. Doubtless I gave her much just cause for offense, for +I had grown into a surly and quick-tempered boy, with raw places ever +open to her touch. That she loved her children I know well, and her love +for them was at the bottom of her dislike for me. I have learned long +since that there is no heart wholly bad and selfish. + +While my grandfather yet lived, I think she had some hope that something +would happen to make me an outcast utterly, but after his death this hope +vanished, and she sent for me one morning to come to her. I found her +seated in the selfsame chair in which I had first seen him, and the +table was still littered with papers and accounts. + +"Good-morning, Thomas," she said politely enough, as I entered, and, as I +returned her greeting, motioned me to a chair. She seemed to hesitate at +a beginning, and in the moment of silence that followed, I saw that her +face was growing thinner, and that her hair was streaked with gray. + +"I have sent for you, Thomas," she said at last, "to find out what your +intention is with regard to this estate. You know, of course, that your +father forfeited it voluntarily, and that you have no moral claim to it. +Still, the law might sustain your claim, should you choose to assert it." + +"I shall not choose to assert it," I answered coldly, and as I spoke, her +face was suffused with sudden joy. "I promised my father never to claim +it,--never to take it unless it were offered to me openly and +freely,--and I intend to keep my promise." + +For a moment her emotion prevented her replying, and she pressed one hand +against her breast as though to still the beating of her heart. + +"Very well," she said at last. "Your resolution does credit to your +honor, and I will see that you do not regret it. I will undertake the +management of both estates until my son becomes of age. You shall have an +ample allowance. Let me see; how old are you?" + +"I am fifteen years old," I answered. + +"And have about sounded the depths of Master Scott's learning, I +suppose?" she asked, smiling, the first smile, I think, she had +ever given me. + +"He was saying only yesterday that I should soon have to seek +another tutor." + +"'T is as I thought. Well, what say you to a course at William and Mary?" + +She smiled again as she saw how my cheeks flushed. + +"I should like it above all things," I answered earnestly, and, indeed, I +had often thought of it with longing, so lonely was my life at Riverview. + +"It shall be done," she said. "The year opens in a fortnight's time, and +you must be there at the beginning." + +I thanked her and left the room, and ran to my tutor, who had arrived +some time before, to acquaint him with my good fortune. He was no less +pleased than I, and forthwith wrote me a letter to Dr. Thomas Dawson, +president of the college, commending me to his good offices. So, in due +course, I rode away from Riverview, not regretting it, nor, I dare say, +regretted. In truth, I had no reason to love the place, nor had any +within it reason to love me. + +Of my life at college, little need be said. Indeed, I have small reason +to be proud of it, for, reacting against earlier years, perhaps, I +cultivated the Apollo room at the Raleigh rather than my books, and +toasted the leaden bust of Sir Walter more times than I care to remember. +Yet I never forgot that I was a gentleman, thank God! And previous years +of study brought me through with some little honor despite my present +carelessness. I had a liberal allowance, and elected to spend my +vacations at Williamsburg or at Norfolk, or coasting up the Chesapeake as +far as Baltimore, and did not once return to Riverview, where I knew I +should get cold welcome. In fact, I was left to do pretty much as I +pleased, my aunt being greatly occupied with the care of the estate, and +doubtless happy to be rid of me so easily. So I entered my eighteenth +year, and the time of my graduation was at hand. And it was then that the +great event happened which changed my whole life by giving me something +to live for. + +It was the custom for the first class, the year of its graduation, to +attend the second of the grand assemblies given by the governor while the +House of Burgesses was in session, and we had been looking forward to the +event with no small anticipation. Many of us, myself among the number, +had ordered suits from London for the occasion, and I thought that I +looked uncommon well as I arrayed myself that night before the glass. +Such is the vanity of youth, for I have since been assured many times by +one who saw me that I was a very ordinary looking fellow. Half a dozen of +us, the better to gather courage, went down Duke of Gloucester Street arm +in arm toward the governor's palace with its great lantern alight to +honor the occasion, and mounted the steps together,--our trifling over +our toilets had made us late,--and as we entered the high doorway, did +our best to look as though a great assembly was an every-day event to us. +A moment later, I saw a sight which took my breath away. + +It was only a girl of seventeen--but such a girl! Can I describe her as I +close my eyes and see her again before me? No, I cannot trust my pen, nor +would any such description do her justice; for her charm lay not in +beauty only, but in a certain rare, sweet girlishness, which seemed to +form a nimbus round her. Yet was her beauty worth remarking, too; and I +have loved to think that, while others saw that only, I, looking with +more perceptive eyes, saw more truly to her heart. I did not reason all +this out at the first; I only stood and stared at her amazed, until some +one knocking against me brought me to my senses. There were a dozen men +about her, and one of these I saw with delight was Dr. Price, our +registrar at the college, a benign old man, who could deny me nothing. I +waited with scarce concealed impatience until he turned away from the +group, and then I was at his side in an instant. + +"Dr. Price," I whispered eagerly, "will you do me the favor of presenting +me to that young lady?" + +"Why, bless my soul!" he exclaimed, looking at me over his glasses in +astonishment, "you seem quite excited. Which young lady?" + +"The one you have just left," I answered breathlessly. + +He looked at me quizzically for a moment, and laughed to himself as +though I had uttered a joke. + +"Why, certainly," he said. "Come with me." + +I could have kissed his hand in my gratitude, as he turned back toward +the group. I followed a pace behind, and felt that my hands were +trembling. The group opened a little as we approached, and in a moment we +were before her. + +"Miss Randolph," said Dr. Price, "here is a young gentleman who has just +begged of me the favor of an introduction. Permit me to present Mr. +Thomas Stewart." + +"Why, 'pon my word," cried that young lady, "'t is cousin Tom!" and as I +stood gaping at her like a fool, in helpless bewilderment, she came to me +and gave me her hand with the prettiest grace in the world. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +I DECIDE TO BE A SOLDIER + + +Now who would have thought that in three short years the red-cheeked girl +whom I had left at Riverview, and of whom I had never thought twice, +could have grown into this brown-eyed fairy? Certainly not I, and my +hopeless astonishment must have been quite apparent, for Mistress Dorothy +laughed merrily as she looked at me. + +"Come, cousin," she cried, "you look as though you saw a ghost. I assure +you I am not a ghost, but very substantial flesh and blood." + +"'Twas not of a ghost I was thinking," I said, recovering my wits a +little under the magic of her voice, which I thought the sweetest I had +ever heard, "but of the three Graces, and methought I saw a fourth." + +She gazed at me a moment with bright, intent eyes, the faintest touch of +color in her cheek. Then she smiled--a smile that brought two tiny +dimples into being--oh, such a smile! But there--why weary you with +telling what I felt? You have all felt very like it when you gazed into a +certain pair of eyes,--or if you have not, you will some day,--and if you +never do, why, God pity you! + +She laid her hand on my arm and turned to the group about us. +"Gentlemen," she said, with a little curtsy, "I know you will excuse us. +My cousin Tom and I have not seen each other these three years, and have +a hundred things to say;" and so I walked off with her, my head in the +air, and my heart beating madly, the proudest man in the colony, I dare +say, and with as good cause, too, as any. + +Dorothy led the way, for I was too blinded with joy to see where I was +going, and with a directness which showed acquaintance with the great +house, proceeded to a corner under the stair which had a bit of tapestry +before it that quite shut us out from interruption. She sat down opposite +me, and I pinched my arm to make sure I was not dreaming. + +"Why, Tom," she cried, with a little laugh, as she saw me wince at the +pain, "you surely do not think yourself asleep?" + +"I know not whether 't is dreaming or enchantment," said I; "but sleep or +sorcery, 't is very pleasant and I trust will never end." + +"What is it that you think enchantment, Tom?" she asked. + +"What could it be but you?" I retorted, and she smiled the slyest little +smile in the world. "I swear that when I entered that door ten minutes +since, I was wide awake as any man, but the moment I clapt eyes on you, I +lost all sense of my surroundings, and have since trod on air." + +"Oh, what do you think it can be?" she questioned, pretending to look +mightily concerned, "Do you think it is the fever, Tom?" + +But I was far past teasing. + +"To think that you should be Dorothy!" I said. "I may call you Dorothy, +may I not?" + +"Why, of course you may!" she cried. "Are we not cousins, Tom?" + +What a thrill it gave me to hear her call me Tom! Of course we were not +cousins, but I fancy all the tortures of the Inquisition could not at +that moment have made me deny the relationship. Well, we talked and +talked. Of what I said, I have not the slightest remembrance,--it was all +foolish enough, no doubt,--but Dorothy told me how her mother had been +managing the estate, greatly assisted by the advice of a Major +Washington, living ten miles up the river at Mount Vernon; how her +brother James had been tutored by my old preceptor, but showed far +greater liking for his horse and cocks than for his books; and how Mr. +Washington had come to Riverview a month before to propose that Mistress +Dorothy accompany him and his mother and sister to Williamsburg, and how +her mother had consented, and the flurry there was to get her ready, and +how she finally was got ready, and started, and reached Williamsburg, and +had been with the Washingtons for a week, and had attended the first +assembly, which accounted for her knowing the house so well, and had had +a splendid time. + +"And who was it you sat with here last time, Dorothy?" I asked, for I +could not bear that she should connect this place with any one but me. + +"Let me see," and the sly minx seemed to hesitate in the effort at +recollection. "Was it Mr. Burke? No, I was with him on the veranda. Was +it Mr. Forsythe? No. Ah, I have it!" and she paused a moment to prolong +my agony. "It was with Betty Washington; she had something to tell me +which must be told at once, and which was very private. But what a +great goose you are, to be sure. Do you know, Tom, I had no idea that +melancholy boy I saw sometimes at Riverview would grow into such +a--such a"-- + +"Such a what, Dorothy?" I asked, as she hesitated. + +"Such a big, overgrown fellow, with all his heart in his face. What a +monstrous fine suit that is you have on, Tom!" + +The jade was laughing at me, and here was I, who was a year her senior +and twice her size, sitting like an idiot, red to the ears. In faith, the +larger a man is, the more the women seem tempted to torment him; but on +me she presently took pity, and as the fiddles tuned up in the great +ballroom, she led the way thither and permitted me to tread a minuet with +her. Of course there were a score of others eager to share her dances, +but she was more kind to me than I deserved, and in particular, when the +fiddles struck up "High Betty Martin," threw herself upon my arm and +laughed up into my face in the sheer joy of living. But between the +dances I had great opportunity of being jealous, and spent the time +moping in a corner, where, as I reviewed her talk, the frequency of her +mention of Mr. Washington occurred to me, and at the end of five minutes +I had conceived a desperate jealousy of him. + +"How old is this Mr. Washington?" I asked, when I had managed to get by +her side again. + +"Not yet twenty-two," she answered, and then as she saw my gloomy face, +she burst into a peal of laughter. "He is adorable," she continued, when +she had regained her breath. "Not handsome, perhaps, but so courtly, so +dignified, so distinguished. I can't imagine why he is not here to-night, +for he is very fond of dancing. Do you know, I fancy Governor Dinwiddie +has selected him for some signal service, for it was at his invitation +that Mr. Washington came to Williamsburg. He is just the kind of man one +would fix upon instinctively to do anything that was very dangerous or +very difficult." + +"I dare say," I muttered, biting my lips with vexation, and avoiding +Dorothy's laughing eyes. I was a mere puppy, or I should have known that +a woman never praises openly the man she loves. + +"I am sure you will admire him when you meet him," she continued, "as I +am determined you shall do this very night. He is a neighbor, you know, +and I'll wager that when you come to live at Riverview, you will be +forever riding over to Mount Vernon." + +"Oh, doubtless!" I said, between my teeth, and I longed to have Mr. +Washington by the throat. "How comes it I heard nothing of him when I was +at Riverview?" + +"'Tis only since last year he has been there," she answered. "The estate +belonged to his elder brother, Lawrence, who died July a year ago, and +Major Washington has since then been with his mother, helping her in its +management. Before that time, he had been over the mountains surveying +all that western country, and then to the West Indies, where he had the +smallpox, because he would not break a promise to dine with a family +where it was. But what is the matter? You seem quite ill." + +"It is nothing," I said, after a moment. "It was the smallpox which +killed my father and my mother." + +"Pardon me," and her hand was on mine for an instant. Indeed, the shudder +which always shook me whenever I heard that dread infection mentioned had +already passed. "He has the rank of major," she continued, hoping +doubtless to distract my thoughts, "because he has been appointed +adjutant-general of one of the districts, but somehow we rarely call him +major, for he says he does not want the title until he has done something +to deserve it." + +"He seems a very extraordinary man," I said gloomily, "to have done so +much and to be yet scarce twenty-two." + +"He is an extraordinary man," cried Dorothy, "as you will say when you +meet him. A word of caution, Tom," she added, seeing my desperate plight, +and relenting a little. "Say nothing to him of the tender passion, for he +has lately been crossed in love, and is very sore about it. A certain +Mistress Cary, to whom he was paying court, hath rejected him, and +wounded him as much in his self-esteem as in his love, which, I fancy, +was not great, but which, on that account, he is anxious to have appear +even greater, as is the way with men." + +"Trust me," said I, with a great lightening of the heart; "I shall be +very careful not to wound him, Dorothy." + +"Pray, why dost thou smile so, Tom?" she asked, her eyes agleam. "Is it +that there is a pair of bright eyes here in Williamsburg which you are +dying to talk about? Well, I will be your confidante." + +"Oh, Dorothy!" I stammered, but my tongue refused to utter the thought +which was in my heart,--that there was only one pair of eyes in the whole +world I cared for, and that I was looking into them at this very moment. + +"Ah, you blush, you stammer!" cried my tormentor. "Come, I'll wager +there's a pretty maid. Tell me her name, Tom." + +I looked at her and gripped my hands at my side. If only this crowd +was not about us--if only we were alone together somewhere--I would be +bold enough. + +"And why do you look so savage, Tom?" she asked, and I could have sworn +she had read my thought. "You are not angry with me already! Why, you +have known me scarce an hour!" + +I could endure no more, and I reached out after her, heedless of the time +and of the place. Doubtless there would have been great scandal among +the stately dames who surrounded us, but that she sprang away from me +with a little laugh and ran plump into a man who had been hastening +toward her. The sight of her in the arms of a stranger brought me to my +senses, and I stopped dead where I was. + +"'Tis Mr. Washington!" she cried, looking up into his face, and as he set +her gently on her feet, she held out her hand to him. He raised it to his +lips with a courtly grace I greatly envied. "Mr. Washington, this is my +cousin, Thomas Stewart." + +"I am very happy to meet Mr. Stewart," he said, and he grasped my +hand with a heartiness which warmed my heart. I had to look up to +meet his eyes, for he must have been an inch or two better than six +feet in height, and of a most commanding presence. His eyes were +blue-gray, penetrating, and overhung by a heavy brow, his face long +rather than broad, with high, round cheekbones and a large mouth, +which could smile most agreeably, or--as I was afterward to +learn--close in a firm, straight line with dogged resolution. At this +moment his face was luminous with joy, and he was plainly laboring +under some intense emotion. + +"Where is my mother, Dolly?" he asked. "I have news for her." + +"She is in the reception hall with the governor's wife," she answered. +"But may we not have your news, Mr. Washington?" + +He paused and looked back at her a moment. + +"'T is all settled," he said, "and I am to start at once." + +"I was right, then!" she cried, her eyes sparkling in sympathy with +his. "I was just telling cousin Tom I believed the governor had a +mission for you." + +"Well, so he has, and I got my papers not ten minutes since. You could +never guess my destination." + +"Boston? New York? London?" she questioned, but he shook his head at +each, smiling evermore broadly. + +"No, 't is none of those. 'T is Venango." + +"Venango?" cried Dorothy. "Where, in heaven's name, may that be?" Nor was +I any the less at a loss. + +"'T is a French outpost in the Ohio country," answered Washington, "and +my mission, in brief, is to warn the French off English territory." + +Dorothy gazed at him, eyes wide with amazement. There was something in +the speaker's words and look which fired my blood. + +"You will need companions, will you not, Major Washington?" I asked. + +He smiled in comprehension, as he met my eyes. + +"Only two or three, Mr. Stewart. Two or three guides and a few Indians +will be all." + +My disappointment must have shown in my face, for he gave me his +hand again. + +"I thank you for your offer, Mr. Stewart," he said earnestly. "Believe +me, if it were possible, I should ask no better companion. But do not +despair. I have little hope the French will heed the warning, and 't +will then be a question of arms. In such event, there will be great need +of brave and loyal men, and you will have good opportunity to see the +country beyond the mountains. But I must find my mother, and tell her of +my great good fortune." + +I watched him as he strode away, and I fancy there was a new light in my +eyes,--certainly there was a new purpose in my heart. For I had been +often sadly puzzled as to what I should do when once I was out of +college. I had no mind to become an idler at Riverview, but was +determined to win myself a place in the world. Yet when I came to look +about me, I saw small prospect of success. The professions--the law, +medicine, and even the church--were overrun with vagabonds who had +brought them so low that no gentleman could think of earning a +livelihood--much less a place in the world--by them. Trade was equally +out of the question, for there was little trade in the colony, and that +in the hands of sharpers. But Mr. Washington's words had opened a new +vista. What possibilities lay in the profession of arms! And my +resolution was taken in an instant,--I would be a soldier. I said nothing +of my resolve to Dorothy, fearing that she would laugh at me, as she +doubtless would have done, and the remainder of the evening passed very +quickly. Dorothy presented me to Mrs. Washington, a stately and beautiful +lady, who spoke of her son with evident love and pride. He had been +called away, she said, for he had much to do, and thus reminded, I +remembered that it was time for me also to depart. Before I went, I +obtained permission from Mrs. Washington to call and see her next +day,--Dorothy standing by with eyes demurely downcast, as though she did +not know it was she and she only whom I hoped to see. + +"I am very sorry I teased you, cousin Tom," she said very softly, as I +turned to her to say goodnight. "Your eagerness to go with Mr. Washington +pleased me mightily. It is just what I should have done if I were a man. +Good-night," and before I could find my tongue, she was again at Mrs. +Washington's side. + +I made my way back to my room at the college, and went to bed, but it +seemed to me that the night, albeit already far spent, would never pass. +Sleep was out of the question, and I tossed from side to side, thinking +now of Dorothy, now of my new friend and his perilous expedition over the +Alleghenies, now of my late resolve. It was in no wise weakened in the +morning, as so many resolves of youth are like to be, and so soon as I +had dressed and breakfasted, I sought out the best master of fence in the +place,--a man whose skill had won him much renown, and who for three or +four years past, finding life on the continent grown very unhealthy, had +been imparting such of it as he could to the Virginia gentry,--and +insisted that he give me a lesson straightway. + +He gave me a half hour's practice, for the most part in quatre and +tierce,--my A B C's, as it were,--and the ease with which he held me off +and bent his foil against my breast at pleasure chafed me greatly, and +showed me how much I had yet to learn, besides making me somewhat less +vain of my size and strength. For my antagonist was but a small man, and +yet held me at a distance with consummate ease, and twisted my foil from +my hand with a mere turn of his wrist. Still, he had the grace to commend +me when the bout was ended, and I at once arranged to take two lessons +daily while I remained in Williamsburg. + +It was ten o'clock when I turned my steps toward the house where the +Washingtons were stopping, and, with much inward trepidation, walked up +to the door and knocked. In a moment I was in the presence of the ladies, +Mrs. Washington receiving me very kindly, and Dorothy looking doubly +adorable in her simple morning frock. But I was ill at ease, and the +sound of voices in an adjoining room increased my restlessness. + +"Do you not see what it is, madam?" cried Dorothy, at last. "He has no +wish for the society of women this morning. He has gone mad like the +rest of them. He is dying to talk of war and the French and expeditions +over the mountains, as Mr. Washington and his friends are doing. Is it +not so, sir?" + +"Indeed, I cannot deny it," I said, with a very red face. "I am immensely +interested in Major Washington's expedition." + +Mrs. Washington smiled kindly and bade Dorothy take me to the gentlemen, +which she did with a wicked twinkle in her eye that warned me I should +yet pay dear for my effrontery. Mr. Washington and half a dozen friends +were seated about the room, talking through clouds of tobacco smoke of +the coming expedition. There were George Fairfax, and Colonel Nelson, and +Judge Pegram, and three or four other gentlemen, to all of whom I was +introduced. The host waved me to a pile of pipes and case of +sweet-scented on the table, and I was soon adding my quota to the clouds +which enveloped us, and listening with all my ears to what was said. + +It had been agreed that the start should be made at once, the party +meeting at Will's Creek, where the Ohio company had a station, and +proceeding thence to Logstown, and so on to Venango, or, if necessary, to +the fort on French Creek. How my cheeks burned as I thought of that +journey through the wilderness and over the mountains, and how I longed +to be of the party! But I soon saw how impossible this was, for Mr. +Washington's companions must needs be hardened men, accustomed to the +perils of the forest and acquainted with the country. A bowl of punch was +brought, and after discussing this, the company separated, though not +till all of them had wrung Mr. Washington's hand and wished him a quick +journey. I was going with the others, when he detained me. + +"I wish a word with you, Mr. Stewart," he said. "I shall have to leave +for Mount Vernon at once, and make the trip as rapidly as possible, in +order to prepare for this expedition. May I ask if it would be possible +for you to accompany my mother and Miss Dolly home when their visit here +is ended, which will be in about a week's time?" + +"Certainly," I answered warmly, "I shall be only too glad to be of +service to you and to them, Mr. Washington," and I thought with tingling +nerves that Dorothy and I could not fail to be thrown much together. + +So it was arranged, and that afternoon he set out for Mount Vernon, +whence he would go direct to Will's Creek. His mother cried a little +after he was gone, so Dorothy told me, but she was proud of her boy, as +she had good cause to be, and appeared before the world with smiling +face. The week which followed flew by like a dream. I took my lesson +with the foils morning and evening, and soon began to make some progress +in the art. As much time as Dorothy would permit, I spent with her, and +in one of our talks she told me that she had drawn from her mother by +much questioning the story of my father's marriage and of the quarrel +which followed. + +"When I heard," she concluded, "how Riverview might have been yours but +for that unhappy dispute,"--so Mrs. Stewart had not told the whole truth, +and I smiled grimly to myself,--"I saw how unjustly and harshly we had +always used you, and I made up my mind to be very good to you when next +we met, as some slight recompense." + +"And is it for that only you are kind to me, Dorothy?" I asked. "Is it +not a little for my own sake?" + +"Hoity-toity," she cried, "an you try me too far, I shall withdraw my +favor altogether, sir. My cheeks burn still when I think what might have +happened at the ball the other night, when you so far forgot yourself as +to grab at me like a wild Indian. 'Twas well I had my wits about me." + +"But, indeed, Dorothy," I protested, "'twas all your fault. You had +plagued me beyond endurance." + +"I fear you are a very bold young man," she answered pensively, and when +I would have proved the truth of her assertion, sent me packing. + +So the week passed, the day came when we were to leave Williamsburg, and +at six o'clock one cool October morning, the great coach of the +Washingtons rolled westward down the sandy street, the maples casting +long shadows across the road. And on the side where Mistress Dorothy sat, +I was riding at the window. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A RIDE TO WILLIAMSBURG + + +I was received civilly enough at Riverview, and soon determined to remain +there until Major Washington returned from the west. My aunt treated me +with great consideration, doubtless because she feared to anger me, and I +soon fell into the routine of the estate. My cousin James, a roystering +boy of fourteen, was not yet old enough to be covetous, and he and I were +soon friends. Dorothy treated me as she had always done, with a hearty +sisterly affection, which gave me much uneasiness, 't was so unlike my +own, and I was at some pains to point out to her that we were not +cousins, nor, indeed, any relation whatsoever. In return for which she +merely laughed at me. + +By great good fortune, I found among the overseers on my aunt's estate a +man who had been a soldier of fortune in the Old World until some +escapade had driven him to seek safety in the colonies, and with my +aunt's permission, I secured him to teach me what he knew of the practice +of arms, a tutelage which he entered upon with fine enthusiasm. He was +called Captain Paul on the plantation,--a little, wiry man, with fierce +mustaches and flashing eyes, greatly feared by the negroes, though he +always treated them kindly enough, so far as I could see. He claimed to +be an Englishman,--certainly he spoke the language as well as any I ever +heard,--but his dark eyes and swarthy skin bespoke the Spaniard or +Italian, and his quickness with the foils the French. A strain of all +these bloods I think he must have had, but of his family he would tell me +nothing, nor of the trouble which had brought him over-sea. But of his +feats of arms he loved to speak,--and they were worth the telling. He had +been with Plelo's heroic little band of Frenchmen before Dantzic, where a +hundred deeds of valor were performed every day, and with Broglie before +Parma, where he had witnessed the rout of the Austrians. For hours +together I made him recount to me the story of his campaigns, and when he +grew weary of talking and I of listening, we had a round with the rapier, +or a bout with the sword on horseback, and as the weeks passed, I found I +was gaining some small proficiency. He drilled me, too, in another +exercise which he thought most important, that of shooting from horseback +with the pistol. + +"'T is an accomplishment which has saved my life a score of times," he +would say, "and of more value in a charge than any swordsmanship. A man +must be a swordsman to defend his honor, and a good shot with the pistol +to defend his life. Accomplished in both, he is armed cap-a-pie against +the world. The pistol has its rules as well as the sword. For instance,-- + +"'When you charge an adversary, always compel him to fire first, for the +one who fires first rarely hits his mark. + +"'At the instant you see him about to fire, make your horse rear. This +will throw your horse before you as a shield, and if the aim is true, 't +will be your horse that is hit and not yourself. The life of a horse is +valuable, but that of a man is more so. + +"If your horse has not been hit, or is not badly hurt, you have your +adversary at your mercy, and can either kill him or take him prisoner, as +you may choose. If he be well mounted, and well accoutred, it is usually +wisest to take him prisoner. + +"'If your horse has been hit mortally, take care that in falling you get +clear of him by holding your leg well out and so alighting on your feet. +You can easily recover in time to pistol your adversary as he passes. + +"'Above everything, learn to aim quickly, with both eyes open, the arm +slightly bent, the pistol no higher than the breast. When the arm is +fully extended, the tension causes it to tremble and so destroys the aim, +and the man who cannot hit the mark without sighting along the barrel is +usually dead before he can pull the trigger.'" + +These and many other things he told me, and that I threw myself with +eagerness into the lessons I need hardly say, though I never acquired his +proficiency with either pistol or rapier. For I have seen him bring down +a hawk upon the wing, or throwing his finger-ring high into the air, pass +his rapier neatly through it as it shot down past him. Another trick of +his do I remember,--une, deux, trois, and a turn of the wrist in +flanconade,--which seldom failed to tear my sword from my hand, so +quickly and irresistibly did he perform it. What his lot has been I do +not know, for when the king's troops came to Virginia, he was seized with +a strange restlessness and resigned from my aunt's service, going I know +not whither; but if he be alive, there is a place at my board and a +corner of my chimney for him, where he would be more than welcome. + +In the mean time, not a word had been received from Major Washington--we +called him major now, deeming that he had well earned the title--since +he had plunged into the wilderness at Will's Creek in mid-November, +accompanied only by Christopher Gist as guide, John Davidson and Jacob +Van Braam as interpreters, and four woodsmen, Barnaby Currin, John +M'Quire, Henry Steward, and William Jenkins, as servants. November and +December passed, and Christmas was at hand. There had been great +preparation for it at Riverview, for we of Virginia loved the holiday the +more because the Puritans detested it, and all the smaller gentry of the +county was gathered at the house, where there were feasting and dancing +and much merry-making. One incident of it do I remember most +distinctly,--that having, with consummate generalship, cornered Mistress +Dorothy under a sprig of mistletoe, I suddenly found myself utterly +bereft of the courage to carry the matter to a conclusion, and allowed +her to escape unkissed, for which she laughed at me most unmercifully +once the danger was passed, though she had feigned the utmost indignation +while the assault threatened. So the holidays went and New Year's came. + +It was the thirteenth of January, and in the dusk of the evening I was +riding back to the house as usual after my bout with Captain Paul, when I +heard far up the road behind me the beat of horse's hoofs. Instinctively +I knew it was Major Washington, and I drew rein and watched the rider +swinging toward me. In a moment he was at my side, and we exchanged a +warm handclasp from saddle to saddle. + +"I am on my way to Riverview," he said, as we again urged our horses +forward. "I hope to stay there the night and start at daybreak for +Williamsburg to make my report to the governor. Do you care to accompany +me, Mr. Stewart?" + +"Do you need to ask?" I cried. "And what was the outcome of your +mission, sir?" + +"There will be war," he said, and his face darkened. "It is as I +foresaw. The French are impudent, and claim the land belongs to them and +not to us." + +Neither of us spoke again, but I confess I was far from sharing the gloom +of my companion. Had I not determined to be a soldier, and how was a +soldier to find employment, but in war? I looked at him narrowly as we +rode, and saw that he was thinner than when he had left us, and that his +face was browned by much exposure. + +Right heartily was he welcomed to Riverview, and when dinner had been +served and ended, nothing would do but that he should sit down among us +and tell us the story of his mission. He could scarce have failed to draw +inspiration from such an audience, for Dorothy's eyes were sparkling, and +I was fairly trembling with excitement. Would that I could tell the story +as he told it, but that were impossible. + +He and his little party had gone from Will's Creek to the forks of the +Ohio, through the untrodden wilderness and across swollen streams, +struggling on over the threatening mountains and fighting their way +through the gloomy and unbroken forest, and thence down the river to the +Indian village of Logstown. There he had parleyed with the Indians for +near a week before he could persuade the Half King and three of his +tribesmen to accompany him as guides. Buffeted by unceasing storms, they +toiled on to Venango, where there was an English trading-house, which the +French had seized and converted into a military post. Chabert de Joncaire +commanded, and received the party most civilly. Major Washington was +banqueted that evening by the officers of the post, and as the wine +flowed freely, the French forgot their prudence, and declared +unreservedly that they intended keeping possession of the Ohio, whether +the English liked it or not. Joncaire, however, asserted that he could +not receive Dinwiddie's letter, and referred Major Washington to his +superior officer at Fort le Boeuf. So, leaving Venango, for four days +more the party struggled northward. The narrow traders' path had been +quite blotted out, and the forest was piled waist-deep with snow. At +last, when it seemed that human endurance could win no further, they +sighted the squared chestnut walls of Fort le Boeuf. + +The commander here, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, also received them well, +and to him Major Washington delivered his letter from Governor Dinwiddie, +asking by what right the French had crossed the Lakes and invaded British +territory, and demanding their immediate withdrawal. Saint-Pierre was +three days preparing his answer, which he intrusted to Major Washington, +and at the end of that time the latter, with great difficulty persuading +his Indians to accompany him, started back to Virginia. They reached +Venango on Christmas Day. Here their horses gave out, and he and Gist +pushed forward alone on foot, leaving the others to follow as best they +might. A French Indian fired at them from ambush, but missed his mark, +and to escape pursuit by his tribesmen, they walked steadily forward for +a day and a night, until they reached the Allegheny. They tried to make +the crossing on a raft, but were caught in the drifting ice and nearly +drowned before they gained an island in the middle of the river. Here +they remained all night, foodless and well-nigh frozen, and in the +morning, finding the ice set, crossed in safety to the shore. Once +across, they reached the house of a man named Fraser, on the +Monongahela,--a house they were to see again, but under far different +circumstances,--and leaving there on the first day of January, they made +their way back to the settlements without adventure. Major Washington had +reached Mount Vernon that afternoon, and after stopping to see his +mother, had ridden on to Riverview. + +Long before the recital ended, I was out of my chair and pacing up and +down the room, and Dorothy clapped her hands with joy when that perilous +passage of the Allegheny had been accomplished. + +"So you think there will be war?" I asked. "But you do not know what M. +de Saint-Pierre has written to the governor." + +"I can guess," he answered, with a smile. "Yes, there will be war." + +"And if there is?" I cried, all my eagerness in my face. + +"And if there is, Mr. Stewart," he said calmly, but with a deep light in +his eyes, "depend upon it, you shall go with me." + +I wrung his hand madly. I could have embraced him. Dorothy laughed at my +enthusiasm, but with a trace of tears in her eyes, or so I fancied. + +Well, we were finally abed, and up betimes in the morning. Our horses +were brought round from the stable, and our bags swung up behind the +saddles. I had tried in vain, all the morning, to corner Dorothy so +that I might say good-by with no one looking on, but the minx had +eluded me, and I had to be content with a mere handclasp on the steps +before the others. But as we rode away and I looked back for a last +sight of her, she waved her hands to me and blew me a kiss from her +fingers. So my heart was warm within me as we pushed on through the +dark aisles of the forest. + +The roads were heavy with mud and melting snow, for the weather had +turned warm, and it was not until mid-afternoon that we reached +Fredericksburg. We stopped there an hour to feed and wind our horses, and +then pressed on to the country seat of Mr. Philip Clayton, below Port +Royal, on the Rappahannock. Major Washington had met Mr. Clayton at +Williamsburg, and he welcomed us most kindly. By the evening of the +second day we had reached King William Court House, where we found a very +good inn, and the next day, just as evening came, we clattered into +Williamsburg, very tired and very dirty. But without drawing rein, Major +Washington rode straight to the governor's house, threw his bridle to a +negro, and ordered a footman to announce him at once to his master. + +"You are to come with me, Mr. Stewart," he said, seeing that I hesitated. +"'T will be a good time to present you to his Excellency," and we walked +together up the wide steps which led to the veranda. + +Even as we reached the top, the door at the end of the hall was thrown +violently open, and Governor Dinwiddie stumbled toward us, his face red +with excitement. He had evidently just risen from table, for he carried a +napkin in his hand, and there were traces of food on his expansive +waistcoat, for he was anything but a dainty feeder. His uncertain gait +showed that he still suffered from the effects of a recent attack of +paralysis. + +"By God, Major Washington," he cried, "but I'm glad to see you! I'd begun +to think the French or the Indians had gobbled you up. So you've got +back, sir? And did you see the French?" + +"I saw the French, your Excellency," answered Washington, taking his +outstretched hand. "I delivered your message, and brought one in reply. +But first let me present my friend, Mr. Thomas Stewart, who is a neighbor +of mine at Mount Vernon and a man of spirit." + +"Glad to meet you, Mr. Stewart," said Dinwiddie, and he gave me his hand +for an instant. "We may have need erelong of men of spirit." + +"I trust so, certainly, your Excellency," I cried, and bowed before him. + +Dinwiddie looked at me for an instant with a smile. + +"Come, gentlemen," he said, "you have been riding all day, I dare say, +and must have some refreshment," but Washington placed a hand on his arm +as he turned to give an order to one of the waiting negroes. + +"Not until I have made my report, Governor Dinwiddie," he said. + +Dinwiddie turned back to him. + +"You're a man after my own heart, Major Washington!" he cried. "Come into +my office, both of you, for, in truth, I am dying of impatience to hear +of the journey," and he led the way into a spacious room, where there was +a great table littered with papers, a dozen chairs, but little other +furniture. The candles were brought, and Dinwiddie dropped into a deep +chair, motioning Washington and myself to sit down opposite him. "Now, +major," he cried, "let us have your story." + +So Washington told again of the trip over the mountains and through the +forests, Dinwiddie interrupting from time to time with an exclamation of +wonder or approbation. + +"Here is the message from M. de Saint-Pierre," concluded Washington, +drawing a sealed packet from an inner pocket. "'T is somewhat stained by +water, but I trust still legible." + +Dinwiddie took it with nervous fingers, glanced at the superscription, +tore it open, and ran his eyes rapidly over the contents. My hands were +trembling, for I realized that on this note hung the issue of war or +peace for America. He read it through a second time more slowly, then +folded it very calmly and laid it down before him on the table. My heart +sank within me,--it was peace, then, and there would be no employment for +my sword. I had been wasting my time with Captain Paul. But when +Dinwiddie raised his eyes, I saw they were agleam. + +"M. de Saint-Pierre writes," he said, "that he cannot discuss the +question of territory, since that is quite without his province, but will +send my message to the Marquis Duquesne, in command of the French armies +in America, at Quebec, and will await his orders. He adds that, in the +mean time, he will remain at his post, as his general has commanded." + +We were all upon our feet. I drew a deep breath, and saw that +Washington's hand was trembling on his sword-hilt. + +"Since he will not leave of his own accord," cried Dinwiddie, his +calmness slipping from him in an instant, "there remains only one thing +to be done,--he must be made to leave, and not a French uniform must be +left in the Ohio valley! Major Washington, I offer you the senior +majorship of the regiment which will march against him." + +"And I accept, sir!" cried Washington, moved as I had seldom seen him. +"May I ask your Excellency's permission to appoint Mr. Stewart here one +of my ensigns?" + +"Certainly," said the governor heartily. "From what I have seen of Mr. +Stewart, I should conclude that nothing could be better;" and when I +tried to stammer my thanks, he waved his hand to me kindly and rang for +wine. "Let us drink," he said, as he filled the glasses, "to the success +of our arms and the establishment of his Majesty's dominion on the Ohio." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MY FIRST TASTE OF WARFARE + + +Whatever defects Dinwiddie may have had, indecision was certainly not one +of them, and the very next day the machinery was set in motion for the +advance against the French. Colonel Joshua Fry was selected to head the +expedition, and Colonel Washington made second in command. Colonel Fry at +one time taught mathematics at William and Mary, but found the routine of +the class-room too humdrum, and so sought a more exciting life. He had +found it along the borders of the frontier, and in 1750 was made colonel +of militia and member of the governor's council. Two years later, he was +sent to Logstown to treat with the Indians, and made a map of the colony. +He knew the frontier as well as any white man, and because of this was +chosen our commander. + +Not a moment was to be lost, for Colonel Washington, while at Fort le +Boeuf, had observed the great preparations made by the French to +descend the Allegheny in the spring and take possession of the Ohio +valley, but we hoped to forestall them. The triangle between the forks +of the Ohio was admirably adapted for fortification, and it was +proposed to throw up a fort there so that the French would get a warm +reception when their canoes came floating down the river, and be forced +to retreat to the Lakes. Dinwiddie's energy was wide-felt, and the +whole colony was soon astir. + +He convened the House of Burgesses, laid Colonel Washington's report +before it, and secured a grant of L10,000 for purposes of defense; he +urged the governors of the other colonies, from the Carolinas north to +Jersey, to send reinforcements at once to Will's Creek, whence the start +was to be made; he sent messengers with presents to the Ohio Indians, +pressing them to take up the hatchet against the French, and authorized +the enlistment of three hundred men. William Trent, an Indian trader, and +brother-in-law of Colonel George Croghan, was commissioned to raise a +company of a hundred men from among the backwoodsmen along the frontier, +and started at once for the Ohio country to get his men together and +begin work on the fort, the main body to follow so soon as it could be +properly equipped. + +Long before this I had secured my uniform and accoutrements,--which my +three shillings a day were far from paying for,--and was kept busy +superintending the storage of wagons or drilling under Captain Adam +Stephen, in whose company I was, at Alexandria. The men were for the most +part poor whites, who had enlisted because they could earn their bread no +other way, and promised to make but indifferent soldiers. We were +provided with ten cannon, all four-pounders, which had been presented by +the king to Virginia, and eighty barrels of powder, together with +small-arms, thirty tents, and six months' provision of flour, pork, and +beef. These were forwarded to Will's Creek as rapidly as possible, but at +the best it was slow work, and April was in sight before the expedition +was ready to move. During near all of this time, Colonel Washington was +virtually in command, for Colonel Fry was taken with a fever, which kept +him for the most part to his bed. There seemed no prospect of his +improvement, so he ordered the expedition to advance without him, he to +follow so soon as he could sit a horse. That time was never to come, for +he died at Will's Creek on the last day of May. + +So at last the advance commenced, and from daylight to sunset we fought +our way through the forest. It rained almost incessantly, and I admit the +work was more severe than I had ever done, for the bridle-paths were too +narrow to permit the passage of the guns and wagons, and a way had to be +cut for them; yet all the men were in good spirits, animated by the +example of Colonel Washington and the other officers. Those I came to +know best were of Captain Stephen's company, and a braver, merrier set of +men it has never been my privilege to meet. We were drawn from all the +quarters of the globe. There was Lieutenant William Poison, a Scot, who +had been concerned in the rebellion of '45, and so found it imperative to +come to Virginia to spend the remainder of his days, though at the first +scent of battle he was in arms again. There was Ensign William, +Chevalier de Peyronie, a French Protestant, driven from his home much as +the Fontaine family, and who had settled in Virginia. There was +Lieutenant Thomas Waggoner, whom I was to know so well a year later. And +above all, there was Ensign Carolus Gustavus de Spiltdorph, a quiet, +unassuming fellow, but brave as a lion, who lies to-day in an unmarked +grave on the bank of the Monongahela. I can see him yet, with his blue +eyes and blond beard, sitting behind a cloud of smoke in one corner of +the tent, listening to our wild talk with a queer gleam in his eyes, and +putting in a word of dry sarcasm now and then. For when the day's march +was done, those of us who were not on duty gathered in our tent and +talked of the time when we should meet the French. And Peyronie, because, +though a Frenchman, he had suffered most at their hands, was the most +bloodthirsty of us all. + +Then the first blow fell. It was the night of the twentieth of April, and +our force had halted near Colonel Cresap's house, sixteen miles from +Will's Creek. I was in charge of the sentries to the west of the camp. +The weather had been cold and threatening, with a dash of rain now and +then, and we had made only five miles that day, the guns and wagons +miring in the muddy road, which for the most part was through a marsh. As +evening came, the rain had set in steadily, and the sentries protected +themselves as best they could behind the trees or under hastily +constructed shelters. I had just made my first round and found all well, +when I heard a sentry near by challenge sharply. + +"What is it?" I cried, hastening to him, and then I saw that he had +stopped a horseman. The horse was breathing in short, uncertain gasps, as +though near winded. + +"A courier from the Ohio, so he says, sir," answered the sentry. + +"With an urgent message for Colonel Washington," added the man on +horseback. + +"Very well," I said, "come with me," and catching the horse by the +bridle, I started toward the commander's tent, in which a light was still +burning. A word to the sentry before it brought Colonel Washington +himself to the door, and he signed for us to enter. The courier slipped +from his horse, and would have fallen, had I not caught him and placed +him on his feet. + +"'T is the first time I have left the saddle for two days," he gasped, +and I helped him into the tent, where he dropped upon a stool. Washington +poured out a glass of brandy and handed it to him. He swallowed it at a +gulp, and it gave him back a little of his strength. + +"I bring bad news, Colonel Washington," he said. "Lieutenant Ward and his +whole command were captured by the French on the seventeenth, and the +fort at the forks of the Ohio is in their hands." + +I turned cold under the blow, but Washington did not move a muscle, only +his mouth seemed to tighten at the corners. + +"How did it happen?" he asked. + +"Captain Trent and his men arrived at the Ohio on the tenth of April," +said the courier, "and we set to work at once to throw up the fort. We +made good progress, but on the morning of the seventeenth, while Captain +Trent and thirty of the men were absent, leaving Lieutenant Ward in +command, the river was suddenly covered with canoes crowded with French +and Indians. There were at least eight hundred of them, and they had a +dozen pieces of artillery. We had no choice but to surrender." + +"On what terms?" questioned Washington quickly. + +"That we march out with the honors of war and return to Virginia." + +"And this was done?" + +"Yes, this was done. Lieutenant Ward and his men will join you in a +day or two." + +"You have done well," said Washington warmly. "I am sure Lieutenant Ward +could have done naught else under the circumstances. Forty men are not +expected to resist eight hundred, and I shall see that the occurrence is +properly represented to the governor. Lieutenant Stewart, will you see +that a meal and a good bed be provided? Good night, gentlemen." + +We saluted and left the tent, and I led him over to our company quarters, +where the best we had was placed before him. Other officers, who had got +wind of his arrival, dropped in, and he told again the story of the +meeting with the enemy. It was certain that there were from six to eight +hundred French and a great number of Indians before us, while we were +barely three hundred, and as I returned to my post, I wondered if +Colonel Washington would dare press on to face such odds. The answer came +in the morning, when the order was given to march as usual. Two days +later, we had reached Will's Creek, where we found Lieutenant Ward and +his men awaiting us. He stated that there were not less than a thousand +French at the forks of the Ohio. It was sheer folly to advance with our +petty force in face of odds so overwhelming, and a council of the +officers was called by Colonel Washington to determine what course to +follow. It was decided that we advance as far as Red Stone Creek, on the +Monongahela, thirty-seven miles this side the Forks, and there erect a +fortification and await fresh orders. Stores had already been built at +Red Stone for our munitions, and from there our great guns could be sent +by water so soon as we were ready to attack the French. In conclusion, it +was judged that it were better to occupy our men in cutting a road +through the wilderness than that they should be allowed to waste their +time in idleness and dissipation. + +Captain Trent and the thirty men who were with him, hearing from the +Indians of the disaster which had overtaken their companions, marched +back to meet us, and joined us the next day. Trent himself met cold +welcome, for his absence from the fort at the time of the attack was held +to be most culpable. Dinwiddie was so enraged, when he learned of it, +that he ordered Trent court-martialed forthwith, but this was never done. +His backwoodsmen were wild and reckless fellows, incapable of +discipline, and soon took themselves off to the settlements, while we +toiled on westward through the now unbroken forest. Our advance to Will's +Creek had been difficult enough, but it was nothing to the task which now +confronted us, for the country grew more rough and broken, and there was +not the semblance of a road. We were a week in making twenty miles, and +accomplished that only by labor well-nigh superhuman. + +The story of one day was the story of all the others. Obstacles +confronted us at every step, but we struggled forward, dragging the +wagons ourselves when the horses gave out, as they soon did, and finally, +toward the end of May, we won through to a pleasant valley named Great +Meadows, dominated by a mountain called Laurel Hill. Here there was +abundant forage, and as the horses could go no further, Colonel +Washington ordered a halt, and determined to await the promised +reinforcements. A few days later, a company of regulars under Captain +Mackay joined us, together with near a hundred men of the regiment who +had remained behind with Colonel Fry, raising our numbers to four hundred +men, though many were wasted with fever and dysentery. + +Those of us who were able set to work throwing up a breastwork of logs, +under the direction of Captain Robert Stobo, and at the end of three days +had completed an inclosure a hundred feet square, with a rude cabin in +the centre to hold our munitions and supplies. + +There had been many alarms that the French were marching against us, but +all of them had proved untrue, so when, some days after, the report +spread through the camp again that the enemy were near, I paid little +heed to it, and went to sleep as usual. How long I slept, I do not know, +but I was awakened by some one shaking me by the shoulder. + +"Get up at once, lieutenant, and report at headquarters," said a voice I +recognized as Waggoner's, and as I sat upright with a jerk, he passed on +to awake another sleeper. I was out of bed in an instant, and threw on my +clothing with nervous haste. I could hear a storm raging, and when I +stepped outside the tent, I was almost blinded by the rain, driven in +great sheets before the wind. I fought my way against it to Washington's +tent, where I found Captain Stephen and some thirty men, and others +coming up every moment. + +"What is it?" I asked of Waggoner, who had got back to headquarters +before me, but he shook his head to show that he knew no more than I. + +A moment later, the flap of the tent was raised, and Colonel Washington +appeared, wrapped in his cloak as though for a journey, and followed by +an Indian, who, I learned afterwards, was none other than the Half King. +He spoke a few words to Captain Stephen, and the order was given to form +in double rank and march, Colonel Washington himself leading the +expedition, which numbered all told some forty men. + +I shall never forget that midnight march through the forest, with the +rain falling in a deluge through the dripping trees, the lightning +flashing and the thunder rolling. We stumbled along upon each other's +heels, falling over logs or underbrush, the wet branches switching our +faces raw and soaking us through and through. It seemed to me that we +must have covered fifteen or twenty miles, at least, when the first gray +of the morning brightened the horizon and a halt was called, but really +we had come little more than five. Here it was found that seven men had +been lost upon the way, and that our powder was so wet that most of it +was useless, to many of us the charge in our firelocks being all that +remained serviceable. After an hour's halt, the order came again to +march, with caution to move warily. Scouts were thrown out ahead, and +soon came back with tidings that the enemy was hard by. + +My hands were trembling with excitement as we crept forward to the edge +of a rocky hollow, and as we looked down the slope, we could see the +French below. There were thirty of them or more, and they were getting +breakfast, their arms stacked beside them. Almost at the same instant +their sentries saw us and gave the alarm. + +"Follow me, men!" cried Washington, and he started down the slope, we +after him. As we went, the French sprang to arms and gave us a volley, +but it was badly aimed in their excitement and so did little damage. As +we closed in on them we returned their fire, and some eight or nine fell, +while the others, thinking doubtless that they had been surprised by a +large force, threw down their guns and held up their hands in token of +surrender. Captain Stephen had been slightly wounded, but charged on +down the slope ahead of us, and took prisoner a young officer, who +refused to surrender, but kept on fighting until his sword was knocked +from his hand. Then he began to tear his hair and curse in French, +pointing now and again to another officer who lay among the dead. He grew +so violent that he attracted Colonel Washington's attention. + +"Come here a moment, Lieutenant Peyronie," he called. "You understand +French. What is this fellow saying?" + +Peyronie exchanged a few words with the prisoner, who stooped, drew a +paper from the inner pocket of the dead officer's coat, and held it +toward us. Peyronie took it, glanced over it with grave countenance, and +turned to Colonel Washington. + +"This man is Ensign Marie Drouillon, sir," he said. "The party was in +command of Ensign Coulon de Jumonville, whom you see lying dead there. M. +Drouillon claims that the party did not come against us as spies, or for +the purpose of fighting, but simply to bring a message to you from M. de +Contrecoeur, who is in command of the fort at the forks of the Ohio, +which, it seems, has been named Fort Duquesne. This is the message," and +he held out the paper to Washington. + +"'Tis in French," said the latter, glancing over it. "What does it say?" + +"It warns you to return to the settlements," answered Peyronie, "on the +pretext that all the land this side the mountains belongs to France." + +Here the prisoner, who was evidently laboring under great excitement, +broke in, and said something rapidly in a loud voice, which made Peyronie +flush, and drew nods and cries of approbation from the other prisoners. + +"What does he say?" asked Washington, seeing that Peyronie hesitated. + +"He says, sir," answered Peyronie, with evident reluctance, "that M. de +Jumonville came in the character of an ambassador and has been +assassinated." + +Washington flushed hotly and his eyes grew dark. + +"Ask M. Drouillon," he said, "why an ambassador thought it necessary to +bring with him a guard of thirty men?" + +Peyronie put the question, but Drouillon did not reply. + +"Ask him also," continued Washington, "why he remained concealed near my +troops for three days, instead of coming directly to me as an ambassador +should have done?" + +Again Peyronie put the question, and again there was no answer. + +"Tell him," said Washington sternly, "that I see through his trick,--that +I comprehend it thoroughly. M. Jumonville counted on using his pretext of +ambassador to spy upon my camp, and to avert an attack in case he was +discovered. Well, he produced his message too late. He has behaved as an +enemy, and has been treated as such. That he is dead is wholly his own +fault. Had he chosen the part of an ambassador instead of that of a spy, +this would not have happened." + +He turned away, and apparently dismissed the matter from his mind, but +that it troubled him long afterward I am quite certain, though in the +whole affair no particle of blame attached to him. The French made a +great outcry about it, but I have never heard that any of them ever +answered the questions which were put to M. Drouillon. The truth of the +matter is, that they were only too eager for some pretext upon which to +base the assertion that it was the English who began hostilities, and +this flimsy excuse was the best they could invent. But that little brush +under the trees on that windy May morning was to have momentous +consequences, for it was the beginning of the struggle which drenched the +continent in blood. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE FRENCH SCORE FIRST + + +We marched back to the camp at Great Meadows with our prisoners,--some +twenty in all,--much elated at our success, but near dead with fatigue. +Lieutenant Spiltdorph was selected to escort them to Virginia, and set +off with them toward noon, together with twenty men, cursing the ill-luck +which deprived him of the opportunity to make the remainder of the +campaign with us. + +For that the French would march against us in force was well-nigh +certain, once they learned of Jumonville's defeat, of which the Indians +would soon inform them, and that we should be outnumbered three or four +to one seemed inevitable. But no one thought of retreat, our commander, I +am sure, least of all. He seemed everywhere at once, heartening the men, +inspecting equipment, overseeing the preparations for defense. The only +hostile element in the camp was the company of regulars under Captain +Mackay, who refused to assist in any of the work, asserting that they +were employed only to fight. Captain Mackay, too, holding his commission +from the king, claimed to outrank Colonel Washington, and yielded him but +a reluctant and sullen obedience. + +Christopher Gist, who had just come from Will's Creek with tidings of +Colonel Fry's death, was of the opinion that a much more effective +resistance might be made at his plantation, twelve miles further on, +where there were some strong log buildings and a ground, so he claimed, +admirably suited for intrenchment. Accordingly, we set out for there, +arriving after a fatiguing journey. The horses were in worse case than +ever, and only two miserable teams and a few tottering pack-horses +remained capable of working. Finally, on the twenty-ninth of June, the +Half King, who had been our faithful friend throughout, brought us word +that seven hundred French and three or four hundred Indians had marched +from Fort Duquesne against us. As the news spread through the camp, the +officers left the intrenchments upon which they had been at work, and +gathered to discuss the news. There a message from Colonel Washington +summoned us to a conference at Gist's cabin. + +"Gentlemen," he said, when we had all assembled, "I need not tell you +that the situation is most critical. We can scarce hope to successfully +oppose an enemy who outnumbers us three to one, and yet 't is impossible +to retreat without abandoning all our baggage and munitions, since we +have no means of transport." + +He fell silent for a moment, and no one spoke. I saw that the worry of +the last few weeks had left its mark upon him, for there was a line +between his eyes which I had never seen before, but which never left him +afterward. + +"What I propose," he said at last, "is to fall back to Great Meadows. I +believe it to be better fitted for defense than this place, which is +commanded by half a dozen hills, and where we could not hope to hold out +against artillery fire. At Great Meadows we can strengthen our +intrenchment in the middle of the plain, and the French will hardly dare +attempt to carry it by assault, since they must advance without cover for +two hundred yards or more. It is a charming field for an encounter. Has +any one a better plan?" + +Mackay was the first to speak. + +"'Tis better to lose our baggage than to lose both it and our lives," he +said. "The French may not care to risk an assault, but they have only to +sit down about the work for a day or two to starve us out." + +"That is true," answered Washington, and his face was very grave; "yet +reinforcements cannot be far distant. Two independent companies from New +York reached Annapolis a fortnight since, and are doubtless being hurried +forward. Other companies have arrived in the colony, and must be near at +hand. Besides," he added, in a firmer tone, "I cannot consent to return +to Virginia without striking at least one blow at the French, else this +expedition might just as well have never been begun." + +"That is the point!" cried Stephen. "Let us not run away until we see +something to run from. Your plan is the best possible under the +circumstances, Colonel Washington." + +We all of us echoed this opinion, and after thanking us warmly, our +commander bade us make ready at once for the return to Great Meadows. The +baggage was done into packs as large as a man could carry; a force was +told off to drag the swivels; the officers added their horses to the +train, and prepared to carry packs just as the men did. Colonel +Washington left half of his personal baggage behind, paying some soldiers +four pistoles to carry the remainder. So at daybreak we set out, the +sufferings of our men being greatly aggravated by the conduct of the +regulars, who refused to carry a pound of baggage or place a hand upon +the ropes by which we dragged our guns after us. + +The miseries of that day I hope never to see repeated. Men dropped +senseless on the road, or fell beneath the trees, unable to go further. +The main body of the troops struggled on, leaving these stragglers to +follow when they could, and on the morning of the next day we reached +Great Meadows, weak, trembling, and exhausted. But even here there was no +rest for us, for it was necessary to strengthen our defenses against the +attack which could not be long deferred. The breastwork seemed all too +weak now we knew the force which would be brought against it, and we +started to dig a trench around it, but so feeble were the men that it was +only half completed. Even at the best, our condition was little short of +desperate. Much of our ammunition had been ruined, and our supply of +provisions was near gone. We had been without bread for above a week, +and while we had plenty of cattle for beef, we had no salt with which to +cure the meat, and the hot summer sun soon made it unfit to eat. + +Yet, with all this, there was little murmuring, the example of our +commander encouraging us all. At our council in our tent that evening, +Peyronie, with invincible good humor, declared that no man could complain +so long as the tobacco lasted, and in a cloud of blue-gray smoke, we gave +our hastily constructed fort the suggestive name of "Fort Necessity." + +The morning of the third of July was spent by us in overhauling the +firelocks and making the last dispositions of our men. Colonel Washington +inspected personally the whole line, and saw that no detail was +overlooked. He had not slept for two nights, but seemed indefatigable, +and even the regulars cheered him as he passed along the breastwork. But +at last the inspection was finished and we settled down to wait. + +Peyronie and myself had been stationed at the northwest corner of the +fort with thirty men, and just before noon, from far away in the forest, +came the sound of a single musket shot. We waited in suspense for what +might follow, and in a moment a sentry came running from the wood with +one arm swinging useless by his side. + +"They have come!" he cried, as he tumbled over the breastwork. "They will +be here in a moment," and even as he spoke, the edge of the forest was +filled with French and Indians, and a lively fire was opened against us, +but the range was so great that the bullets did no damage. The drums beat +the alarm, and expecting a general attack, we were formed in column +before the intrenchment. But the enemy had no stomach for that kind of +work, and veered off to the south, where they occupied two little hills, +whence they could enfilade a portion of our position. We answered their +fire as best we could, but it was cruel, disheartening work. + +"Do you call this war?" asked Peyronie impatiently, after an hour of this +gunnery. "In faith, had I thought 'twould be like this, I had been less +eager to enlist. Why don't the cowards try an assault?" + +"Yes, why don't they?" and I looked gloomily at the wall of trees from +which jets of smoke and flame puffed incessantly. + +"'Tis not the kind of fighting I've been used to," cried Peyronie. "In +Europe we fight on open ground, where the best man wins; we do not skulk +behind the trees and through the underbrush. I've a good notion to try a +sally. What say you, Stewart?" + +"Here comes Colonel Washington," I answered. "Let us ask him." But he +shook his head when we proposed it to him. + +"'Twould be madness," he said. "They are three times our number, and +would pick us all off before we could reach the trees. No, the best we +can do is to remain behind our breastwork. It seems a mean kind of +warfare, I admit, but 'tis a kind we must get accustomed to, if we are +to fight the French and Indians;" and he walked on along his rounds, +speaking a word of encouragement here and there, and seemingly quite +unconscious of the bullets which whistled about him. + +Yet the breastwork did not protect us wholly, for now and then a man +would throw up his arms and fall with a single shrill cry, or roll over +in the mud of the trench, cursing horribly, with a bullet in him +somewhere. Doctor Craik, who had enlisted as lieutenant, was soon +compelled to lay aside his gun and do what he could to relieve their +suffering. Not for a moment during the afternoon did the enemy's fire +slacken, and the strain began to tell upon our men. The pieces grew foul, +there were only two screw-rods in the camp with which to clean them, and +as the hours passed, our fire grew less and less. The swivels had long +since been abandoned, for the gunners were picked off so soon as they +showed themselves above the breastwork. + +There had been mutterings of thunder and dashes of rain all the +afternoon, and now the storm broke in earnest, the rain falling in such +fury as I had never seen. The trenches filled with water, and we tried in +vain to keep dry the powder in our cartouch boxes. Not only was this wet, +but the rain leaked through the magazine we had built in the middle of +the camp, and ruined the ammunition we had stored there. So soon as the +rain slackened, the enemy resumed their fire, but Major Washington +forbade us to reply, since there was scarce a dozen rounds in the fort. +I confess that this species of fighting took the heart out of me, and I +could see no chance of a successful issue. + +I was sitting thus, looking gloomily out at the forest in front of me, +and wondering why the fire from there had ceased, when I noticed that +there seemed to be many more rocks and bushes scattered about the plain +than I had ever before observed. The gloom of the evening had fallen, and +I rubbed my eyes and looked again to make sure I was not mistaken. No, +there was no mistake, and I suddenly understood what was about to happen. + +"Peyronie," I whispered to my neighbor, who was sitting in the mud, +swearing softly under his mustache, "we are going to have some excitement +presently. The Indians are creeping up to carry us by assault." + +"What?" he exclaimed, sitting suddenly upright. "Oh, no such luck!" + +"Yes, but they are," I insisted. "Watch those bushes out there. See, they +'re moving up toward us." + +He rose to his knees and peered keenly out through the gloom. + +"Pardieu," he muttered after a moment, "so they are! Well, we shall be +ready for them." + +We passed the word around to our men, and startled them into new life. +The muskets were primed sparingly with dry powder, and we waited with +tense nerves for the assault. The fusillade from the hills had been +redoubled, but a terrible and threatening silence hung over the +intrenchment, and doubtless encouraged our assailants to believe that our +ammunition was quite gone. Near and nearer crept the Indians, fifty or +sixty of them at least, and perhaps many more, and we lay still with +bursting pulses and waited. Now the foremost of them was scarce forty +yards away, and suddenly, with a yell, they were all upon their feet and +charging us. + +"Tirez, tirez!" shouted Peyronie, forgetting his English in his +excitement, and we sent a volley full into them. It was a warmer +reception than they had counted on, and they wavered for a moment, but +there must have been a Frenchman leading them, for they rallied, and came +on again with a rush. We met them with fixed bayonets, but they +outnumbered us so greatly that we must have given way before them had not +Colonel Washington, hearing the uproar and guessing its meaning, dashed +over at the head of reinforcements and given them another volley. As I +was reloading with feverish haste, I saw an Indian rush at Colonel +Washington with raised tomahawk. Washington raised his pistol, coolly +took aim, and pulled the trigger, but the powder flashed and did not +explode. With the sweat starting from my forehead, I dashed some powder +into the pan of my pistol, jerked it up, and fired. Ah, Captain Paul, how +I blessed your lessons in that moment! for the ball went true, and the +Indian rolled in the mud almost at Washington's feet. They had had +enough, and those who were still alive leaped the trench and disappeared +into the outer darkness. + +"They won't try that again," I remarked to Peyronie, who was sitting +against the breastwork. "But what is it, man? Are you wounded?" I cried, +seeing that he was very pale and held both hands to his breast. + +"Yes, I am hit here," he answered, and added, as I fell on my knees +beside him and began to tear the clothing from the wound, "but do not +distress yourself, Stewart. I can be attended after the battle is won." + +"Nonsense," I said. "You shall be attended at once." He smiled up at me, +and then went suddenly white and fell against my shoulder. I tore away +his shirt, and saw that blood was welling from a wound in the breast. I +propped him against the wall, and ordering one of the men to go for +Doctor Craik, stanched the blood as well as I could. The doctor hastened +to us so soon as he could leave his other wounded, but he shook his head +gravely when he saw Peyronie's injury. + +"A bad case," he said. "Clear into the lungs, I think. But I have seen +men recover of worse hurts," he added, seeing how pale I was. + +I watched him as he bound up the wound with deft fingers, and then +between us we carried him to the little cabin, which had been converted +from magazine to hospital, and was already crowded from wall to wall. It +was with a sore heart that I left him and returned to the breastwork, for +I had come to love Peyronie dearly. The event was not so serious as I +then feared, for, after a gallant fight for life, he won the battle, +recovered of his wound, and lived to do service in another war. + +The repulse of the Indians seemed to have disheartened the enemy, for +their fire slackened until only a shot now and then broke the stillness +of the night. Our condition was desperate as it could well be, yet I +heard no word of surrender. I was sitting listlessly, thinking of +Peyronie's wound, when a whisper ran along the lines that the French were +sending a flag of truce. Sure enough, we could see a man in white uniform +approaching the breastwork, waving a white flag above his head. He was +halted by the sentries while yet some distance off, and Colonel +Washington sent for. He appeared in a moment. + +"Where is Lieutenant Peyronie?" he asked. "We will have need of him." + +"He is wounded, sir," I answered. "He was shot through the breast during +the assault." + +Washington glanced about at the circle of faces. + +"Is there any other here who speaks French?" he asked. + +There was a moment's silence. + +"Why, sir," said Vanbraam at last, "I have managed to pick up the fag +ends of a good many languages during my life, and I can jabber French +a little." + +"Very well," and Washington motioned him forward. "Mount the breastwork +and ask this fellow what he wants." + +Vanbraam did as he was bid, and there was a moment's high-toned +conversation between him and the Frenchman. + +"He says, sir," said Vanbraam, "that he has been sent by his commander, +M. Coulon-Villiers, to propose a parley." + +Washington looked at him keenly. + +"And he wishes to enter the fort?" + +"He says he wishes to see you, sir." + +Washington glanced about at the mud-filled trenches, the ragged, weary +men, the haggard faces of the officers, the dead scattered here and there +along the breastwork, and his face grew stern. + +"'Tis a trick!" he cried. "He wishes to see how we are situated. Tell him +that we do not care to parley, but are well prepared to defend ourselves +against any force the French can muster." + +I gasped at the audacity of the man, and the Frenchman was doubtless no +less astonished. He disappeared into the forest, but half an hour later +again approached the fort. Vanbraam's services as interpreter were called +for a second time, and there was a longer parley between him and the +messenger. + +"He proposes," said Vanbraam, when the talk was finished, "that we send +two officers to meet two French officers, for the purpose of agreeing +upon articles of capitulation. M. Coulon-Villiers states that he is +prepared to make many concessions, and he believes this course will be +for the advantage of both parties." + +Washington looked around at the officers grouped about him. + +"It is clear that we must endeavor to make terms, gentlemen," he said. +"The morning will disclose our plight to the enemy, and it will then be +no longer a question of terms, but of surrender. At present they believe +us capable of defense, hence they talk of concessions. What say you, +gentlemen?" + +There was nothing to be said except to agree, and Vanbraam and Captain +Stephen were sent out to confer with the French. They returned in the +course of an hour, bringing with them the articles already signed by +Coulon-Villiers, and awaiting only Colonel Washington's ratification. +Vanbraam read them aloud by the light of a flickering candle, and we +listened in silence until he had finished. They were better than we could +have hoped, providing that we should march out at daybreak with all the +honors of war, drums beating, flags flying, and match lighted for our +cannon; that we should take with us our baggage, be protected from the +Indians, and be permitted to retire unmolested to Virginia, in return for +which we were to release all the prisoners we had taken a few days +before, and as they were already on their way to the colony, should leave +two officers with the French as hostages until the prisoners had been +delivered to them. + +There was a moment's silence when Vanbraam had finished reading, and +then, without raising his head, Colonel Washington signed, and threw the +pen far from him. Then he arose and walked slowly to his quarters, and I +saw him no more that night. Captain Mackay insisted also that he must +sign the paper, and, to my intense disgust, wrote his name in above that +of our commander. + +There was little sleep for any of us that night, and I almost envied +Peyronie tossing on his blanket, oblivious to what was passing about him. +Vanbraam and Robert Stobo were appointed to accompany the French back to +the Ohio, to remain there as hostages, and we all shook hands with them +before they went away through the darkness toward the French camp. + +But the night passed, and at daybreak we abandoned the fort and began the +retreat, carrying our sick and wounded on our backs, since the Indians +had killed all our horses. Most of our baggage was perforce left behind, +and the Indians lost no time in looting it. That done, they pressed +threateningly upon our rear, so that an attack seemed imminent, nor did +the French make any effort to restrain them; but we held firm, and the +Indians finally drew off and returned to the fort, leaving us to cover as +best we might those weary miles over the mountains. By the promise of ten +pistoles, I had secured two men to bear Peyronie between them on a +blanket, but 'twas impossible to treat all the wounded so, and the +fainting men staggered along under their screaming burdens, falling +sometimes, and lying where they fell from sheer exhaustion. + +What Colonel Washington's feelings were I could only guess. He strode at +the head of the column, his head bowed on his breast, his heart doubtless +torn by the suffering about him, and saying not a word for hours +together, nor did any venture to approach him. I doubt if ever in his +life he will be called upon to pass through a darker hour than he did on +that morning of the fourth of July, 1754. Through no fault of his, the +power of England on the Ohio had been dealt a staggering blow, and his +pride and ambition crushed into the dust. + +What need to tell of that weary march back to the settlements, the +suffering by the way, the sorry reception accorded us, the consternation +caused by the news of French success? At Winchester we met two companies +from North Carolina which had been marching to join us, and these were +ordered to Will's Creek, to establish a post to protect the frontier from +the expected Indian aggression. Captain Mackay and his men remained at +Winchester, while our regiment returned to Alexandria to rest and +recruit. As for me, I was glad enough to put off the harness of war and +make the best of my way back to Riverview, saddened and humbled by this +first experience, which was so different from the warfare of which I had +read and dreamed, with its bright pageantry, its charges and shock of +arms, its feats of single combat. Fate willed that I was yet to see +another, trained on the battlefields of Europe, humbled in the dust by +these foes whom I found so despicable, and the soldiers of the king +taught a lesson they were never to forget. + +One word more. Perhaps I have been unjust to Captain Mackay and his men. +Time has done much to soften the bitterness with which their conduct +filled me, and as I look back now across the score of years that lie +between, I can appreciate to some degree their attitude toward our +commander. Certainly it might seem a dangerous thing to intrust an +enterprise of such moment to a youth of twenty-two, with no knowledge of +warfare but that he had gained from books. It is perhaps not wonderful +that veterans should have looked at him askance, and I would not think of +them too harshly. He doubtless made mistakes,--as what man would not +have done?--yet I believe that not even the first captain of the empire +could have snatched victory from odds so desperate. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +DREAM DAYS AT RIVERVIEW + + +In the many summer evenings which followed, I played the part of that +broken soldier, who, as Mr. Goldsmith tells us so delightfully, + +"talked the night away, +Wept o'er his wounds, or, tales of sorrow done, +Shouldered his crutch and showed how fields were won." + +Alas, I could show not how they were won, but only how they were lost, +and how was one to clothe in romance a battle which had been fought in +the midst of mud and rain, from behind a breastwork, and with scarce a +glimpse of the enemy? But I had a rapt audience of two in James and +Dorothy. They were not critical, and I told the story of Great Meadows +over and over again, a score of times. + +A hundred yards from the house, overlooking on one side the willow-draped +waters of Occoquan Inlet, and on the other the broad and placid river, a +seat had been fashioned between two massive oaks, and here, of an +evening, it was our wont to go. Sometimes, by great good fortune, James +did not accompany us, and Dorothy and I would sit there alone together +and watch the shadows deepen across the water. Our talk would falter and +die away before the beauty of the scene, and there would be long +silences, broken only now and then by a half whispered sentence. I had +never known a sweeter time, and even yet, when night is coming on, I love +to steal forth to sit there again and gaze across the water and dream +upon the past. + +During the day, I saw but little of the other members of the family, and +was left greatly to my own resources. My aunt was ever busy with the +management of the estate, to every detail of which she gave personal +attention, and which she administered with a thrift and thoroughness I +could not but admire. The worry of incessant business left its mark upon +her. The lines in her face deepened, and the silver in her hair grew more +pronounced, but though she doubtless felt her strength failing, she clung +grimly to the work. I would have offered to assist her but that I knew +she would resent the suggestion, and would believe I made it to gain some +knowledge of the income from the estate, of which I had always been kept +in densest ignorance, and with which, indeed, I troubled myself but +little. I think her old fear of my claiming the place came on her again, +and though she always tried to treat me civilly, the effort in the end +proved too great for her overwrought nerves, as you shall presently hear. + +Upon Dorothy fell the duty of looking after the household, and she went +about it cheerfully and willingly. Her mornings were passed in +instructing the servants in their duties and seeing that their work was +properly done. There were visits to the pantry and kitchen, and a long +conference with the cook, so that noon was soon at hand. The afternoon +was spent in the great workroom on the upper floor, into which I ventured +to peep once or twice, only to be bidden to go about my business. But it +was a pleasant sight, and I sometimes gathered courage to steal down the +corridor for a glimpse of it. There sat Dorothy in a dainty gown of +Covent Garden calico, directing half a dozen old negro women, who were +cutting out and sewing together the winter clothing of fearnaught for the +slaves. Two or three girls had been brought in to be taught the mysteries +of needle-craft, and Dorothy turned to them from time to time to watch +their work and direct their rebellious fingers. I would fain have taken a +lesson, too, but when I proposed this one day, representing how great my +need might be when I was over the mountains far away from any woman, +Dorothy informed me sternly, amid the titters of the others, that my +fingers were too big and clumsy to be taught to manage so delicate an +instrument as a needle, and sent me from the room. + +Young James had also much to occupy his time. His mother was as yet in +doubt whether he should complete his education at William and Mary, as I +had done, or should be sent to London to acquire the true polish. The boy +greatly favored the latter course, as any boy of spirit would have done, +and his mother would have yielded to him readily, but for the stories she +had heard of the riotous living which prevailed among the young blades in +London, and of which she had had ample confirmation from Parson Scott, +who, I suspect, before coming to his estate at Westwood, had ruffled it +with the best of them. Whether it should be Williamsburg or London, the +boy was required to be kept at his books every morning, and was off every +afternoon to the Dumfries tavern, where there was always a crowd of +ne'er-do-wells, promoting a cock-fight, or a horse race, or eye-gouging +contest. Sometimes, he elected to spend the evening in this company, and +it was then that Dorothy and I were left alone together on the seat +beside the river. + +But when Sunday came, there was another story. The great coach was +brought from the stable and polished till it shone again,--indeed, it had +been polished so often and so vigorously that its gilding and paint began +to show the marks of it. The four horses were led out, rubbed down from +nose to heel, and harnessed in their brightest trappings. The driver, +footman, and two outriders donned their liveries, in which they were the +envy of all the other servants, and the coach was driven around to the +front of the house, from which presently emerged Madame Stewart, in a +stately gown of flowered calamanco, her fan and gold pomander in her +hand. Then came Dorothy, her sweet face looking most coquettish under her +Ranelagh mob of gauze, the ribbons crossed beneath her chin and +fluttering half a yard behind. As she tripped down the stops and lifted +her tiffany petticoat ever so little, I could catch a glimpse of the +prettiest pair of ankles in the world in silk-clocked hose, for the +reader can guess without my telling that I was close behind, holding her +kerchief or her fan or her silver etui until she should be safely seated +in the coach. And that once done, the whip cracked, the wheels started, +and I swung myself on horseback and trotted along beside the window, on +Dorothy's side, you may be sure. + +So, in great state, we proceeded to the new Quantico church near +Dumfries, a prodigious fine structure of brick, built the year before at +a cost of a hundred thousand weight of tobacco, of which my aunt had +contributed a tenth. The other members of the congregation awaited our +arrival, grouped before the door, and, entering after us, remained +decently standing till we had mounted to the loft and taken our seats, a +show of deference which greatly pleased my aunt. The church was built in +a little recess from the road, in the midst of a grove of ancient trees, +cruciform, as so many others were throughout the colony, and stands today +just as it stood then,--as I have good cause to know, for 't was in that +church, before that altar--But there, you shall learn it all in time. + +Doctor Scott was a goodly preacher, but the one portion of the service +for me was the singing, when I might stand beside Dorothy and listen to +her voice. She sang with whole heart and undivided mind, recking nothing +of me standing spellbound there. Indeed, I think the pastor shrewdly saw +that her singing was a means of grace no less than his expounding, and he +never failed to journey to Riverview on a Friday to talk over with her +what should be her part in the service on the coming Sunday. Nor did I +ever know her to refuse this labor,--not because she was vain of her +power, but because she saw the good it did. + +The service once over, there were greetings to exchange, the news of the +neighborhood to talk over, crops to discuss, and what not. My heart would +burn within me as I saw the men buzzing about Dorothy like flies about a +dish of honey, though my jealousy was lightened when I saw that while she +had a gay word for each of them, she smiled on all alike. The minx could +read my mind like an open book, whether I was moping in one corner of the +churchyard or on the bench beside her, and she loved to tease me by +pretending great admiration for this man or that, and consulting me about +him as she would have done a brother. Which, I need hardly say, annoyed +me vastly. + +The gossip over, we drove home again to lunch, after which, on the wide +veranda or the bench by the river's edge, I would read Dorothy some bits +of Mr. Addison or Mr. Pope, which latter she could not abide, though his +pungent verses fell in exceeding well with my melancholy humor. Evening +past and bedtime come, I lighted Dorothy's candle for her at the table in +the lower hall, where the silver sticks were set out in their nightly +array like French soldiers, gleaming all in white, and when I gave it to +her and bade her good-night at the stair-foot, I got her hand to hold for +an instant. Then to my room, where over innumerable pipes of +sweet-scented, I struggled with some halting verses of my own until my +candle guttered in its stick. + +Hours and hours did I pass thinking how I might tell her of my love, but +at the last I concluded it were better to say nothing, until I had +something more to offer her. What right had I, I questioned bitterly, to +offer marriage to any maid, when I had no home to which to take a wife, +and I had never felt the irksomeness of my circumstances as I did at that +moment. Something of my thought she must have understood, for she was +very kind to me, and never by any word or act showed that she thought of +the poverty of my condition. + +So August and September passed, and great events were stirring. The House +of Burgesses had met, and had been much impressed by the showing we had +made against the French, so that they passed a vote of thanks to Colonel +Washington for his distinguished services, and to the officers and men +who had been with him. Dinwiddie was most eager that another advance +should be made at once against Duquesne, but Colonel Washington pointed +out how hopeless any such attempt must be against the overwhelming odds +the enemy would bring against us. + +The news of French aggression on the Ohio and of our defeat at Fort +Necessity had opened the eyes of the court to the danger which threatened +the colonies, and great preparations were set on foot for an expedition +to be sent to Virginia in the early spring. Parliament voted L50,000 +toward its expenses, and it was proposed to equip it on such a scale +that the French could not hope to stand before it. So it was decided that +nothing more should be attempted by the colony until the forces from +England had arrived. And then, one day, came the astounding news that +Colonel Washington had resigned from the service and returned to Mount +Vernon. A negro whom Dorothy had sent on some errand to Betty Washington +had brought the news back with him. I could scarcely credit it, and was +soon galloping toward Mount Vernon to confirm it for myself. I dare say +the ten miles of river road were never more quickly covered. As I turned +into the broad graveled way which led past the garden up to the house, I +saw a tall and well-known figure standing before the door, and he came +toward me with a smile as I threw myself from the saddle. + +"Ah, Tom," he cried, "I thought I should see you soon," and he took my +hand warmly. + +"Is it true," I asked, too anxious to delay an instant the solution of +the mystery, "that you have left the service?" + +"Yes, it is true." + +"And you will not make the campaign?" + +"I see no prospect now of doing so." + +"But why?" I asked. "Pardon me, if I am indiscreet." + +"'Tis a reason which all may know," and he smiled grimly, "which, indeed, +I wish all to know, that my action may not be misjudged." + +We were walking up and down before the door, and he paused a moment as +though to choose his words, lest he say more than he desired. + +"You know there has been great unpleasantness," he said at last, "between +officers holding royal commissions and those holding provincial ones, +concerning the matter of precedence. You may remember that Captain Mackay +held himself my superior at Fort Necessity, because he had his commission +from the crown." + +Of course I remembered it, as well as the many disagreements which the +contention had occasioned. + +"It was evident that the question must be settled one way or another," +continued Washington, "and to do this, an order has just been issued by +the governor. The order provides that no officer who does not derive his +commission immediately from the king can command one who does." + +It was some minutes before I understood the full effect which such an +order would have. + +"Do you mean," I asked at last, "that you would be outranked by every +subaltern in the service who holds a royal commission?" + +"Unquestionably," and Washington looked away across the fields with a +stern face. + +"But that is an outrage!" I cried. "What, every whippersnapper in the +line be your superior? Why, it's rank folly!" + +"So I thought," said Washington, "and therefore I resigned, and refused +to serve under such conditions." + +"And you did right," I said warmly. "You could have taken no other +course." + +But much pressure was brought to bear upon him to get him back into the +service. General Sharpe was most anxious to secure the services of the +best fighter and most experienced soldier in Virginia, and urged him to +accept a company of the Virginia troops; but he replied shortly that, +though strongly bent to arms, he had no inclination to hold a commission +to which neither rank nor emolument attached. And that remained his +answer to all like importunities. Whereat the authorities were greatly +wroth at him, from Governor Dinwiddie down, and seeking how they might +wound him further, cut from the rolls the names of half a dozen officers +whom they knew to be his friends. I was one of those who got a discharge, +the reason alleged in my case being that the companies had been so +reduced in number that there was not need of so many officers. It was a +heavy blow to me, I admit, and I think for a time Washington wavered in +his purpose; but his friends, of whom many now came to Mount Vernon, +persuaded him to remain firm in his resolution, confident that when the +commander-in-chief arrived and learned how matters stood, he would make +every reparation in his power. At the bottom of the entire trouble was, I +think, Dinwiddie's jealousy of Washington's growing popularity and +influence, a jealousy which had been roused by every man who had come +into great favor with the people since Dinwiddie had been +lieutenant-governor of Virginia. + +During the months that followed I was much at Mount Vernon. Indeed, it +was during that winter that we formed the warm attachment which still +continues. The family life there attracted me greatly, and I cannot +sufficiently express my admiration for Mrs. Washington. She was slight +and delicate of figure, but not even her eldest son, who towered above +her, possessed a greater dignity or grace. I loved to sit at one corner +of the great fireplace and see her eyes kindle with pride and affection +as she gazed at him, nor did her other children love him less than she. + +With the new year came renewed reports of activity in England. Two +regiments under command of Major-General Braddock were to be sent to +Virginia, whence, after being enforced by provincial levies, they were to +march against the French. I need not say how both Colonel Washington and +myself chafed at the thought that we were not to make the campaign; but +when he suggested accepting a commission as captain of the provincial +troops, his friends protested so against it that he finally abandoned the +idea for good and all, and we settled down to bear the inactivity as best +we could. But at last the summons came. + +It was Colonel Washington's twenty-third birthday, and there was quite a +celebration at Mount Vernon. The members of the family were all there, as +were Dorothy, her brother, and myself, as well as many other friends from +farther down the neck. Dinner was served in the long, low-ceilinged +dining-room, with the wide fireplace in one corner. What a meal it was, +with Mrs. Washington at the table-head and her son at the foot, yes, and +Dorothy there beside me with the brightest of bright eyes! I was ever a +good trencherman, and never did venison, wild turkey, and great yellow +sweet potatoes taste more savorsome than they did that day, with a jar of +Mrs. Washington's marmalade for relish. At the end came Pompey with a +great steaming bowl of flip, and as the mugs were filled and passed from +hand to hand, Dorothy and Betty Washington plunged in the red-hot irons +with great hissing and sizzle and an aroma most delicious. We pledged our +host, the ladies sipping from our cups--need I say who from mine?--with +little startled cries of agitation when the liquor stung them. Then they +left us to our pipes; but before the smoke was fairly started, there came +the gallop of a horse up the roadway past the kitchen garden, and a +moment later the great brass knocker was plied by a vigorous hand. We sat +in mute expectancy, and presently old Pompey thrust in his head. + +"Gen'leman t' see you, sah," he said to Colonel Washington. + +"Show him in here, Pomp," said the colonel; and a moment later one of +the governor's messengers entered, booted and spurred, his clothing +splashed with mud. + +"I have a message for you from the governor, Colonel Washington," he +said, saluting, and holding out a letter bearing the governor's +great seal. + +Washington took it without a trace of emotion, though I doubt not his +heart was beating as madly as my own. + +"Sit down, sir," he said heartily to the messenger, "and taste our +punch. I am sure you will find it excellent;" and when he had seen him +seated and served, he turned away to the window and opened the letter. +I watched him eagerly as he read it, and saw a slow flush steal into +his cheeks. + +"There is nothing here I may not tell, gentlemen," he said after a +moment, turning back to the group about the table. "Governor Dinwiddie +writes me that General Braddock and the first of the transports have +arrived safely off Hampton, and that he desires me to meet him in +Williamsburg as soon as possible, as he thinks my knowledge of the +country may be of some value. I shall start in the morning," he added, +turning to the messenger. "I trust you will remain and be our guest +till then." + +"Gladly," answered the man, "and ride back with you." So it was settled. + +We were not long away from the women after that, for they must hear the +great news. Colonel Washington refused to speculate about it, but I was +certain he was to be proffered some employment in the coming campaign +commensurate with his merit. The afternoon passed all too quickly, and +the moment came for us to start back to Riverview. Dorothy ran upstairs +to don her safeguard, the horses were brought out, and James and I +struggled into our coats. Dorothy was back in a moment, kissed Mrs. +Washington and Betty, and I helped her adjust her mask and lifted her to +the saddle. I felt my cheeks burning as I turned to bid good-by to +Colonel Washington, who had followed us from the house. + +"If it should be an appointment," I began, as I grasped his hand. + +"You maybe sure I shall not forget you, Tom," he said, smiling down into +my eager face. "I think it very likely that we shall march together to +fight the French." + +And those last words rang in my ears all the way back to Riverview. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DOROTHY MAKES HER CHOICE + + +I had been much from home during the winter, and, engrossed in my own +thoughts, had taken small account of what was passing, but I soon found +enough to occupy me. Dorothy had spent a month at Mount Pleasant, the +seat of the Lees, some distance down the river, and when she returned, I +soon began to suspect that she had left her heart there; for one day +there came riding up to Riverview Mr. Willoughby Newton, whose estate was +near Mount Pleasant, and the way that Dorothy blushed when she welcomed +him aroused my ire at once. Now Mr. Willoughby Newton was a very handsome +and proper gentleman, and on his broad acres grew some of the sweetest +tobacco that ever left Virginia; but I could scarce treat him civilly, +which only shows what an insufferable puppy I still was, and I made +myself most miserable. His learning was more of the court and camp than +of the bookshelf,--a defect which I soon discovered,--and I loved to set +him tripping over some quibble of words, a proceeding which amused me +vastly, though my mirth was shared by none of the others who witnessed +it. In fact, Madame Stewart was partial to the man from the first, in +which I do not blame her, for a better match could not have been desired +for her daughter. She made him see his welcome, and he doubtless thought +the road to Dorothy's heart a fair and easy one. I certainly thought so, +and I spent my days in moping about the place, cutting a most melancholy +and unattractive figure. + +I can look back now with a smile upon those days, realizing what a +ridiculous sight I must have been, but at the time, their tragedy was for +me a very real and living one. Newton had passed some years in London, +and had picked up there the graces of the court, as well as much of its +frippery gossip, which latter he was fond of retailing, to my great +disgust, but to the vast entertainment of the ladies, who found no fault +with it, though it was four or five years old. He could tell a story well +and turn a joke to a nicety,--a fact which I was at that time far from +admitting,--and under other circumstances I should have found him a witty +and amusing friend. I think he soon saw what my feelings were,--indeed, +even a more obtuse man would have had no difficulty in understanding +them,--and he treated me with a good-humored condescension which +irritated me beyond measure. And yet, unquestionably, it was the only +treatment my behavior merited. + +The climax came one evening after dinner. We had both, perhaps, had a +glass of wine too much before we joined the ladies. Certainly, no words +had passed between us when they had left the table, and there was nothing +to do but drink, which we did with moody perseverance. But once before +the fire in the great hall, with Madame Stewart knitting on one side and +Dorothy bending over her tambour on the other, his mood changed and he +grew talkative enough, while I sat down near the candles and pretended to +be absorbed in a book. + +"Do you know, ladies," he said, "this reminds me of nothing so much as a +night in London just five years ago, when the great earthquake was. We +were sitting around the fire, just as we are siting now, Tommy Collier on +my right, and Harry Sibley on my left, when the bottles on the table +began to clink and the windows to rattle, and poor Harry, who was leaning +back in his chair, crashed over backwards to the floor. We picked him up +and went out into the street, where there was confusion worse confounded. +Windows were thrown open, women were running up and down clad only in +their smocks, and one fellow had mounted a barrel and was calling on the +people to repent because the Day of Judgment was at hand. Somebody +predicted there would be another earthquake in a week, and so the next +day the people began to pour out of town, not because they were +frightened, but 'Lord, the weather is so fine,' they said, 'one can't +help going into the country.'" + +"You found the country very pleasant, Mr. Newton, I dare say," I +remarked, looking up from my book. He did not at once understand the +meaning of my question, but Dorothy did, and flushed crimson with +anger. The sight of her disapproval and Madame Stewart's frowning face +maddened me. + +"No," he said slowly, after a moment, "I did not leave the city, but +hundreds of people did. Within three days, over seven hundred coaches +were counted passing Hyde Park corner, with whole families going to the +country. The clergy preached that it was judgment on London for its +wickedness, and that the next earthquake would swallow up the whole town. +The ridotto had to be put off because there was no one to attend it, and +the women who remained in town spent their time between reading +Sherlock's sermons and making earthquake gowns, in which they proposed to +sit out of doors all night." + +"Pray, what was the color of your gown, Mr. Newton?" I inquired, with a +polite show of interest. + +Newton rose slowly from his chair and came toward me. + +"Am I to understand that you mean to insult me, sir?" he asked, when he +had got quite near. + +"You are to understand whatever you please," I answered hotly, throwing +my book upon the table. + +"Tom," cried Dorothy, "for shame, sir! Have you taken leave of +your senses?" + +"Do not be frightened, I beg of you, Miss Randolph," interrupted Newton, +restraining her with one hand. "I assure you that I have no intention of +injuring the boy." + +"Injuring me, indeed!" I cried, springing to my feet, furious with rage, +for I could not bear to be patronized. "It is you who are insulting, and +by God you shall answer for it!" + +"As you will," he said, with a light laugh, and turned back to the fire. + +I knew that I had got all the worst of the encounter, that I had behaved +with a rudeness for which there was no excuse, and that I cut a sorry +figure standing there, and my face burned at the knowledge. But +preserving what semblance of dignity I could, I stalked from the hall and +upstairs to my room. I sat a long time thinking over the occurrence, and +the more I pondered it, the more clearly I saw that I had played the +fool. I did not know then, but I learned long afterward, that my conduct +that night came near losing me the great happiness of my life. My cheeks +flush even now as I think of my behavior. How foolish do the tragedies of +youth appear, once time has tamed the blood! + +I did not wonder in the morning to receive a summons from my aunt, and I +found her in her accustomed chair before the table piled with papers. She +glanced at me coldly as I entered, and finished looking over a paper she +held in her hand before she spoke to me. + +"I need not tell you," she said at length, "how greatly your boorish +conduct of last night surprised me. To insult a guest, and especially to +do so without provocation, is not the part of a gentleman." + +I flushed angrily, for the justness of this statement only irritated me +the more. I think it is always the man who is in the wrong that shows the +greatest violence, and the man that most deserves rebuke who is most +impatient of it. + +"There is no need for you to counsel me how a gentleman should behave," +I answered hotly. + +"I did not summon you here to counsel you," she said still more coldly, +"but to inform you that this disgraceful affair is to go no further, at +least beneath this roof. Mr. Newton has promised me to overlook your +behavior, which is most generous on his part, and I trust you will see +the wisdom of making peace with him." + +"And why, may I ask, madame?" + +"Because," she said, looking me in the eyes, "it is most likely that he +will marry my daughter, and nothing is more vulgar than a family whose +members are forever quarreling." + +I clenched my hands until the nails pierced the flesh. She had hit me a +hard blow, and she knew it. + +"And what does Dorothy think of this arrangement?" I asked, with as great +composure as I could muster. + +She smiled with a calm assurance which made my heart sink. "Dorothy would +be a fool not to accept him, for he is one of the most eligible gentlemen +in Virginia. Indeed, perhaps she has already done so, for I gave him +leave to speak to her this morning," and she smiled again as she noted my +trembling hands, which I tried in vain to steady. "You seem much +interested in the matter." + +I turned from her without replying,--I could trust myself no further. Not +that I blamed her for hating me,--for she loved her son and I was the +shadow across his path,--but she was pressing me further than I had +counted on. I snatched up my hat as I ran along the hall and out the +great door toward the river. Spring was coming, the trees were shaking +out their foliage, along the river the wild flowers were beginning to +show their tiny faces, but I saw none of these as I broke my way through +the brush along the water's edge,--for perhaps even now he was asking +Dorothy to be his wife, and she was yielding to him. The thought maddened +me,--yet why should she do otherwise? What claim had I upon her? And yet +I had builded such a different future for her and me. + +I had walked I know not how long when I came out suddenly upon the road +which wound along the bank and finally dipped to the ferry, and here I +sat down upon a log to think. If Dorothy accepted him, I could no longer +stay at Riverview. I must go away to Williamsburg and seek employment in +the campaign, if only as a ranger. It must soon commence, and surely +they would not refuse me in the ranks. As I sat absorbed in bitter +thought, I heard the sound of hoof beats up the road and saw a horseman +coming. I drew back behind a tree, for I was in no mood to talk to any +one, and gloomily watched him as he drew nearer. There seemed something +strangely familiar about the figure, and in an instant I recognized him. +It was Willoughby Newton. In another moment he had passed, his face a +picture of rage and shame. He was riding away from Riverview in anger, +and as I realized what that meant, I sprang forward with a great cry of +joy. He must have heard me, for he turned in the saddle and shook his +whip at me, and for an instant drew rein as though to stop. But he +thought better of it, for he settled again in the saddle, and was soon +out of sight down the road. + +I had not waited so long, for settling my hat on my head, I set off up +the road as fast as my legs would carry me. It seemed to me I should +never reach the house, and I cursed the folly which had taken me so far +away, but at last I ran up the steps and into the hall. As I entered, I +caught a glimpse of a well-known gown in the hall above, and in an +instant I was up the stairs. + +"Dorothy!" I gasped, seizing one of her hands, "Dorothy, tell me, you +have told him no?" + +I must have been a surprising object, covered with dust and breathless, +but she leaned toward me and gave me her other hand. + +"Yes, Tom," she said very softly, "I told him no. I do not love him, Tom, +and I could not marry a man I do not love." + +"Oh, Dorothy," I cried, "if you knew how glad I am! If you knew how I +was raging along the river at the very thought that he was asking you, +and fearing for your reply; for he is a very fine fellow, Dorothy," and +I realized with amazement that all my resentment and anger against +Newton had vanished in an instant. "But when I saw him ride by like a +madman, I knew you had said no, and I came back as fast as I could to +make certain." + +Somehow, as I was speaking, I had drawn her toward me, and my arm was +around her. + +"Can you not guess, dear Dolly," I whispered "why I was so angry with +him last night? It was because I knew he was going to ask you, and I +feared that you might say yes." + +I could feel her trembling now, and would have bent and kissed her, but +that she sprang from me with a little frightened cry, and I turned to see +her mother standing in the hall below. + +"So," she said, mounting the steps with an ominous calmness, "my daughter +sees fit to reject the addresses of Mr. Newton and yet receive those of +Mr. Stewart. I perceive now why he was so deeply concerned in what I had +to tell him this morning. May I ask, Mr. Stewart, if you consider +yourself a good match for my daughter?" + +"Good match or not, madame," I cried, "I love her, and if she will have +me, she shall be my wife!" + +"Fine talk!" she sneered. "To what estate will you take her, sir? On +what income will you support her? My daughter has been accustomed to a +gentle life." + +"And if I have no estate to which to take her," I cried, "if I have no +income by which to support her, remember, madame, that it is from choice, +not from necessity!" + +I could have bit my tongue the moment the words were out. Her anger had +carried her further than she intended going, but for my ungenerous retort +there was no excuse. + +"Am I to understand this is a threat?" she asked, very pale, but +quite composed. + +"No, it is not a threat," I answered. "The words were spoken in anger, +and I am sorry for them. I have already told you my intentions in that +matter, and have no purpose to change my mind. I will win myself a name +and an estate, and then I will come back and claim your daughter. We +shall soon both be of age." + +She laughed bitterly. + +"Until that day, then, Mr. Stewart," she said, "I must ask you to have no +further intercourse with her. Perhaps at Williamsburg you will find a +more congenial lodging while you are making your fortune." + +My blood rushed to my face at the insult, and I could not trust myself +to answer. + +"Come, Dorothy," she continued, "you will go to your room," and she +pushed her on before her. + +I watched them until they turned into the other corridor, and then went +slowly down the stairs. As I emerged upon the walk before the house, I +saw a negro riding up, whom I recognized as one of Colonel Washington's +servants. Some message for Dorothy from Betty Washington, no doubt, and I +turned moodily back toward the stables to get out my horse, for I was +determined to leave the place without delay. But I was arrested by the +negro calling to me. + +"What is it, Sam?" I asked, as he cantered up beside me. + +"Lettah f'um Kuhnal Washin'ton, sah," he said, and handed me the missive. + +I tore it open with a trembling hand. + +DEAR TOM [it ran],--I have procured you an appointment as lieutenant in +Captain Waggoner's company of Virginia troops, which are to make the +campaign with General Braddock. They are now in barracks at Winchester, +where you will join them as soon as possible. + +Your friend, G. WASHINGTON. + +"Sam," I said, "go back to the kitchen and tell Sukey to fill you up on +the best she's got," and I turned and ran into the house. I tapped at the +door of my aunt's room, and her voice bade me enter. + +"I have just received a note from Colonel Washington," I said, "in which +he tells me that he has secured me a commission as lieutenant for the +campaign, so I will not need to trespass on your hospitality longer than +to-morrow morning." + +There was a queer gleam in her eyes, which I thought I could read aright. + +"Yes, there are many chances in war," I said bitterly, "and I am as like +as another to fall." + +"I am not quite so bloodthirsty as you seem to think," she answered +coldly, "and perhaps a moment ago I spoke more harshly than I intended. +Everything you need for the journey you will please ask for. I wish you +every success." + +"Thank you," I said, and left the room. My pack was soon made, for I had +seen enough of frontier fighting to know no extra baggage would be +permitted, and then I roamed up and down the house in hope of seeing +Dorothy. But she was nowhere visible, and at last I gave up the search +and went to bed. + +I was up long before daylight, donned my old uniform, saw my horse fed +and saddled, ate my breakfast, and was ready to go. I took a last look +around my room, picked up my pack, and started down the stairs. + +"Tom," whispered a voice above me, and I looked up and saw her. "Quick, +quick," she whispered, "say good-by." + +"Oh, my love!" I cried, and I drew her lips down to mine. + +"And you will not forget me, Tom?" she said. "I shall pray for you every +night and morning till you come back to me. Good-by." + +"Forget you, Dolly? Nay, that will never be." And as I rode away through +the bleak, gray morning, the mist rolling up from hill and river +disclosed a world of wondrous fairness. + +Which brings me back again to the camp at Winchester,--but what a +journey it has been! As I look back, nothing strikes me so greatly as +the length of the way by which I have come. I had thought that some +dozen pages at the most would suffice for my introduction, but memory +has led my pen along many a by-path, and paused beside a score of +half-forgotten landmarks. Well, as it was written, so let it stand, for +my heart is in it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +LIEUTENANT ALLEN SHOWS HIS SKILL + + +The days dragged on at Winchester, as days in camp will, and I accepted +no more invitations to mess with the officers of the line. Indeed, I +received none, and we provincial officers kept to ourselves. Major +Washington had returned to Mount Vernon, but I found many of my old +friends with the troops, so had no lack of company. There was Captain +Waggoner, who had got his promotion eight months before, and Peyronie, +recovered of his wound and eager for another bout with the French. He +also had been promoted for his gallantry, and now had his own company of +rangers. There was Captain Polson, for whom a tragic fate was waiting, +and my old captain, Adam Stephen. And there was Carolus Spiltdorph, +advanced to a lieutenancy like myself, and by great good fortune in my +company. We began to chum together at once,--sharing our blankets and +tobacco,--and continued so until the end. + +Another friend I also found in young Harry Marsh, a son of Colonel Henry +Marsh, who owned a plantation some eight or ten miles above the Frederick +ferry, and a cousin of my aunt. Colonel Marsh had stopped one day at +Riverview, while on his way home from Hampton, and had made us all +promise to return his visit, but so many affairs had intervened that the +promise had never been kept. The boy, who was scarce nineteen, had +secured a berth as ensign in Peyronie's company, and he came frequently +with his captain to our quarters to listen with all his ears to our +stories of the Fort Necessity affair. He was a fresh, wholehearted +fellow, and though he persisted in considering us all as little less than +heroes, was himself heroic as any, as I was in the end to learn. We were +a hearty and good-tempered company, and spent our evenings together most +agreeably, discussing the campaign and the various small happenings of +the camp. But as Spiltdorph shrewdly remarked, we were none of us so +sanguinary as we had been a year before. I have since observed that the +more a man sees of war, the less his eagerness for blood. + +From Lieutenant Allen I kept aloof as much as possible, and he on his +part took no notice whatever of me. Some rumor of my affair with him had +got about the camp, but as neither of us would say a word concerning it, +it was soon forgot in the press of greater matters. Whatever Allen's +personal character may have been, it is not to be denied that he labored +with us faithfully, though profanely, drilling us up and down the camp +till we were near fainting in the broiling sun, or exercising us in arms +for hours together, putting us through the same movement a hundred times, +till we had done it to his satisfaction. We grumbled of course, among +ourselves, but at the end of another fortnight the result of his work +began to be apparent, and Sir Peter Halket, when he inspected us just +before starting for Fort Cumberland, as the fortification at Will's Creek +was named, expressed himself well pleased with the progress we had made. + +For the order to advance came at last, and after a two weeks' weary +journey along the road which had been widened for the passage of wagons +and artillery, we reached our destination and went into quarters there. +The barracks were much better appointed than were the ones at Winchester, +for this was to be the rendezvous of the entire force, and the +independent companies which Colonel Washington had stationed here the +previous summer had been at work all winter clearing the ground and +building the fort. They had cleared a wide space in the forest, and on a +little hill some two hundred yards from Will's Creek and four hundred +from the Potomac, had erected the stockade. It was near two hundred yards +in length from east to west, and some fifty in width, but rude enough, +consisting merely of a row of logs set upright in the ground and +projecting some twelve feet above it, loopholed, and sharpened at the +top. There were embrasures for twelve cannon, ten of which, all +four-pounders, were already mounted. Though frail as it could well be, it +was deemed sufficient to withstand any attack likely to be brought +against it. A great two-storied barrack for the officers of the line had +been erected within the stockade, and two magazines of heavy timber. The +men were camped about the fort, and half a mile away through the forest a +hundred Indians had pitched their wigwams. And here, on the tenth of May, +came the Forty-Eighth under Colonel Dunbar, and General Braddock himself +in his great traveling chariot, his staff riding behind and a body of +light horse on either side. We were paraded to welcome him, the drums +rolled out the grenadiers, the seventeen guns prescribed by the +regulations were fired, and the campaign was on in earnest. + +The morning of the next day, the general held his first levee in his +tent, and all the officers called to pay their respects. He was a +heavy-set, red-faced man of some sixty years, with long, straight nose, +aggressive, pointed chin, and firm-set lips, and though he greeted us +civilly enough, there was a touch of insolence in his manner which he +made small effort to conceal, and which showed that it was not upon the +Virginia troops he placed reliance. Still, there was that in his +heavy-featured face and in his bearing which bespoke the soldier, and I +remembered Fontenoy and the record he had made there. In the afternoon, +there was a general review, and he rode up and down with his staff in +front of the whole force, most gorgeous in gold lace and brilliant +accoutrement. Of the twenty-two hundred men he looked at that day, the +nine Virginia companies found least favor in his eyes, for he deemed them +listless and mean-spirited,--an opinion which he was at no pains to keep +to himself, and which had the effect of making the bearing of his +officers toward us even more insulting. + +As we were drawn up there in line, the orders for the camp were +published, the articles of war were read to us, and in the days that +followed there was great show of discipline. But it was only show, for +there was little real order, and even here on the edge of the +settlements, the food was so bad and so scarce that foraging parties were +sent to the neighboring plantations to seize what they could find, and a +general market established in the camp. To encourage the people to bring +in provisions, the price was raised a penny a pound, and any person who +ventured to interfere with one bringing provisions, or offered to buy of +him before he reached the public market, was to suffer death. These +regulations produced some supplies, though very little when compared to +our great needs. + +A thing which encouraged me greatly to believe in the sagacity of our +commander was the pains he took to engage the good offices of the +Indians,--such of them, that is, as had not already been hopelessly +estranged by the outrages committed upon them by traders and +frontiersmen. Mr. Croghan, one of the best known of the traders, had +brought some fifty warriors to the camp, together with their women and +children, and on the morning of the twelfth, a congress was held at the +general's tent to receive them. All the officers were there, and when the +Indians were brought, the guard received them with firelocks rested. +There was great powwowing and smoking the pipe, and the general gave +them a belt of wampum and many presents, and urged them to take up the +hatchet against the French. This they agreed to do, and doubtless would +have done, but for the conduct of some of the officers of the line. + +The Indian camp, with its bark wigwams and tall totem pole, had become a +great place of resort with certain of the officers. They had been +attracted first by the dancing and queer customs of the savages, and had +they come away when once their curiosity was satisfied, little harm had +been done. Unfortunately, after looking at the men they looked at the +women, and found some of them not unattractive. So, for want of something +better to do, they set about debauching them, and succeeded so well that +the warriors finally took their women away from the camp in disgust, and +never again came near it. Other Indians appeared from time to time, but +after begging all the rum and presents they could get, they left the camp +and we never saw them again. Many of them were Delawares, doubtless sent +as spies by the French. Another visitor was Captain Jack, the Black +Rifle, known and feared by the Indians the whole length of the frontier. +He had sworn undying vengeance against them, having come home to his +cabin one night to find his wife and children butchered, and had roamed +from the Carolinas to the Saint Lawrence, leaving a trail of Indian blood +behind him. He would have made a most useful ally, but he took offense at +some fancied slight, and one day abruptly disappeared in the forest. + +Never during all these weeks did the regulars get over their astonishment +at sight of the tall warriors stalking through the camp, painted in red, +yellow, and black, and greased from head to foot, their ears slit, their +heads shaved save for the scalp-lock with its tuft of feathers; nor did +they cease to wonder at their skill in throwing the tomahawk and shooting +with the rifle, a skill of which we were to have abundant proof erelong. + +It was not until four or five days after his arrival with General +Braddock that I had opportunity to see Colonel Washington. I met him one +evening as I was returning from guard duty, and I found him looking so +pale and dispirited that I was startled. + +"You are not ill?" I cried, as I grasped his hand. + +"Ill rather in spirit than in body, Tom," he answered, with a smile. +"Life in the general's tent is not a happy one. He has met with +nothing but vexation, worry, and delay since he has been in the +colony, and I believe he looks upon the country as void of honor and +honesty. I try to show him that he has seen only the darker side, and +we have frequent disputes, which sometimes wax very warm, for he is +incapable of arguing without growing angry. Not that I blame him +greatly," he added, with a sigh, "for the way the colonies have acted +in this matter is inexcusable. Wagons, horses, and provisions which +were promised us are not forthcoming, and without them we are stalled +here beyond hope of advance." + +He passed his hand wearily before his eyes, and we walked some time +in silence. + +"'Tis this delay which is ruining our great chance of success," he +continued at last. "Could we have reached the fort before the French +could reinforce it, the garrison must have deserted it or surrendered to +us. But now they will have time to send whatever force they wish into the +Ohio valley, and rouse all the Indian tribes for a hundred miles around. +For with the Indians, the French have played a wiser part than the +English, Tom, and have kept them ever their friends, while to-day we have +not an Indian in the camp." + +"They will return," I said. "They have all promised to return." + +Washington shook his head. + +"They will not return. Gist knows the Indians as few other white men do, +and he assures me that they will not return." + +"Well," I retorted hotly, "Indians or no Indians, the French cannot hope +to resist successfully an army such as ours." + +For a moment Washington said nothing. + +"You must not think me a croaker, Tom," and he smiled down at me again, +"but indeed I see many chances of failure. Even should we reach Fort +Duquesne in safety, we will scarce be in condition to besiege it, unless +the advance is conducted with rare skill and foresight." + +I had nothing to say in answer, for in truth I believed he was looking +too much on the dark side, and yet did not like to tell him so. + +"How do you find the general?" I asked. + +"A proud, obstinate, brave man," he said, "who knows the science of war, +perhaps, but who is ill fitted to cope with the difficulties he has met +here and has still to meet. His great needs are patience and diplomacy +and a knowledge of Indian warfare. I would he had been with us last year +behind the walls of Fort Necessity." + +"He has good advisers," I suggested. "Surely you can tell him what +occurred that day." + +But again Washington shook his head. + +"My advice, such as I have ventured to give him, has been mostly thrown +away. But his two other aides are good men,--Captain Orme and Captain +Morris,--and may yet bring him to reason. The general's secretary, Mr. +Shirley, is also an able man, but knows nothing of war. Indeed, he +accepted the position to learn something of the art, but I fancy is +disgusted with what knowledge he has already gained. As to the other +officers, there is little to say. Some are capable, but most are merely +insolent and ignorant, and all of them aim rather at displaying their own +abilities than strengthening the hands of the general. In fact, Tom, I +have regretted a score of times that I ever consented to make the +campaign." + +"But if you had not, where should I have been?" I protested. + +"At least, you had been in no danger from Lieutenant Allen's sword," he +laughed. "I have heard many stories of his skill since I have been in +camp, and perhaps it is as well he was in wine that night, and so not at +his best. How has he used you since?" + +"Why, in truth," I said, somewhat nettled at his reference to Allen's +skill, "he has not so much as shown that he remembers me. But I shall +remind him of our engagement once the campaign is ended, and shall ask my +second to call upon him." + +Washington laughed again, and I was glad to see that I had taken his mind +off his own affairs. + +"I shall be at your service then, Tom," he said. "Remember, he is one of +the best swordsmen in the army, and you will do well to keep in practice. +Do not grow over-confident;" and he bade me good-by and turned back to +the general's quarters. + +I thought his advice well given, and the very next day, to my great +delight, found in Captain Polson's company John Langlade, the man of whom +I had taken a dozen lessons at Williamsburg. He was very ready to accept +the chance to add a few shillings to his pay, so for an hour every +morning we exercised in a little open space behind the stockade. I soon +found with great satisfaction that I could hold my own against him, +though he was accounted a good swordsman, and he complimented me more +than once on my strength of wrist and quickness of eye. + +We were hard at it one morning, when I heard some one approaching, and, +glancing around, saw that it was Lieutenant Allen. I flushed crimson +with chagrin, for that he guessed the reason of my diligence with the +foils, I could not doubt. But I continued my play as though I had not +seen him, and for some time he stood watching us with a dry smile. + +"Very pretty," he said at last, as we stopped to breathe. "If all the +Virginia troops would spend their mornings to such advantage, I should +soon make soldiers of them despite themselves. Rapier play is most useful +when one is going to fight the French, who are masters at it. I fear my +own arm is growing rusty," he added carelessly. "Lend me your foil a +moment, Lieutenant Stewart." + +I handed it to him without a word, wondering what the man would be at. He +took it nonchalantly, tested it, and turned to Langlade. + +"Will you cross with me?" he said, and as Langlade nodded, he saluted and +they engaged. Almost before the ring of the first parade had died away, +Langlade's foil was flying through the air, and Allen was smiling blandly +into his astonished face. + +"An accident, I do not doubt," he said coolly. "Such accidents will +happen sometimes. Will you try again?" + +Langlade pressed his lips together, and without replying, picked up his +foil. I saw him measure Allen with his eye, and then they engaged a +second time. For a few moments, Allen contented himself with standing on +the defensive, parrying Langlade's savage thrusts with a coolness which +nothing could shake and an art that was consummate. Then he bent to the +attack, and touched his adversary on breast and arm and thigh, his point +reaching its mark with ease and seeming slowness. + +"Really, I must go," he said at length. "The bout has done me a world of +good. I trust you will profit by the lesson, Lieutenant Stewart," and he +handed me back my foil, smiled full into my eyes, and walked away. + +We both stared after him, until he turned the corner and was out of +sight. + +"He's the devil himself," gasped Langlade, as our eyes met. "I have never +felt such a wrist. Did you see how he disarmed me? 'Twas no accident. My +fingers would have broken in an instant more, had I not let go the foil. +Who is he?" + +"Lieutenant Allen, of the Forty-Fourth," I answered as carelessly +as I could. + +Langlade fell silent a moment. + +"I have heard of him," he said at last. "I do not wonder he disarmed me. +'Twas he who met the Comte d'Artois, the finest swordsman in the French +Guards, in a little wood on the border of Holland, one morning, over some +affair of honor. They had agreed that it should be to the death." + +"And what was the result?" I questioned, looking out over the camp as +though little interested in the answer. + +"Can you doubt?" asked Langlade. "Allen returned to England without a +scratch, and his opponent was carried back to Paris with a sword-thrust +through his heart, and buried beside his royal relatives at Saint +Denis. I pity any man who is called upon to face him. He has need to be +a master." + +I nodded gloomily, put up the foils, and returned to my quarters, for I +was in no mood for further exercise that morning. What Allen had meant by +his last remark I could not doubt. The lesson I was to profit by was that +I should stand no chance against him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +I CHANCE UPON A TRAGEDY + + +As the first weeks of May passed, we slowly got into shape for the +advance, and I began to realize the magnitude of the task before us. Our +march to Great Meadows the year before, arduous as it had been, was mere +child's play to this, and I did not wonder that on every hand the general +found himself confronting obstacles well-nigh insurmountable. And each +day, as though to cover other defects, the discipline grew more exacting. +Arms were constantly inspected and overhauled; roll was called morning, +noon, and night; each regiment attended divine service around the colors +every Sabbath, though neither officers nor men got much good from it that +I could see; guard mount occurred each morning at eight o'clock; every +man was supplied with twenty-four rounds and extra flints, and also a new +shirt, a new pair of stockings and of shoes, and Osnabrig waistcoats and +breeches, the heat making the others insupportable, and with bladders for +their hats. + +On the sixteenth, Colonel Gage, with two companies of the Forty-Fourth +and the last division of the train, toiled into camp, very weary and +travel-stained, and on this day, too, was the first death among the +officers, Captain Bromley, of Sir Peter Halket's, succumbing to +dysentery. Two days later, we all attended his funeral, and a most +impressive sight it was. A captain's guard marched before the coffin, +their firelocks reversed, and the drums beating the dead march. At the +grave the guard formed on either side, and the coffin, with sword and +sash upon it, was carried in between and lowered into place. The service +was read by Chaplain Hughes, of the Forty-Fourth, the guard fired three +volleys over the grave, and we returned to quarters. + +There was a great demonstration next day to impress some Indians that had +come into camp. All the guns were fired, and drums and fifes were set to +beating and playing the point-of-war, and then four or five companies of +regulars were put through their manoeuvres. The Indians were vastly +astonished at seeing them move together as one man, and even to us +provincials it was a thrilling and impressive sight. And on the twentieth +happened one of the pleasantest incidents of the whole campaign. + +The great difficulty which confronted our commander from the first was +the lack of means of transport. Of the three thousand horses and three +hundred wagons promised from the colonies, only two hundred horses and +twenty wagons were forthcoming, so that for a time it seemed that the +expedition must be abandoned. Small wonder the general raved and swore +at provincial perfidy and turpitude, the more so when it was +discovered that a great part of the provision furnished for the army +was utterly worthless, and the two hundred horses scarce able to stand +upon their feet. + +Let me say here that I believe this purblind policy of delaying the +expedition instead of freely aiding it had much to do with the result. +Virginia did her part with some degree of willingness, but Pennsylvania, +whence the general expected to draw a great part of his transport and +provision, would do nothing. The Assembly spent its time bickering with +the governor, and when asked to contribute toward its own defense, made +the astounding statement that "they had rather the French should conquer +them than give up their privileges." Some of them even asserted that +there were no French, but that the whole affair was a scheme of the +politicians, and acted, to use Dinwiddie's words, as though they had +given their senses a long holiday. + +Yet, strangely enough, it was from a Pennsylvanian that aid came at last, +for just when matters were at their worst and the general in despair, +there came to his quarters at Frederick a very famous gentleman,--more +famous still in the troublous times which are upon us now,--Mr. Benjamin +Franklin, of Philadelphia, director of posts in the colonies and sometime +printer of "Poor Richard." The general received him as his merit +warranted, and explained to him our difficulties. Mr. Franklin, as +Colonel Washington told me afterward, listened to it all with close +attention, putting in a keen question now and then, and at the end said +he believed he could secure us horses and wagons from his friends among +the Pennsylvania Dutch, who were ever ready to turn an honest penny. So +he wrote them a diplomatic letter, and the result was that, beside near a +hundred furnished earlier, there came to us at Cumberland on the +twentieth above eighty wagons, each with four horses, and the general +declared Mr. Franklin the only honest man he had met in America. We, too, +had cause to remember him, for all the officers were summoned to the +general's tent, and there was distributed to each of us a package +containing a generous supply of sugar, tea, coffee, chocolate, cheese, +butter, wine, spirits, hams, tongues, rice, and raisins, the gift of Mr. +Franklin and the Philadelphia Assembly. + +There was high carnival in our tent that night, as you may well believe. +We were all there, all who had been present at Fort Necessity, and not +since the campaign opened had we sat down to such a feast. And when the +plates were cleared away and only the pipes and wine remained, Peyronie +sang us a song in French, and Spiltdorph one in German, and Polson one in +Gaelic, and old Christopher Gist, who stuck in his head to see what was +toward, was pressed to pay for his entertainment by giving us a Cherokee +war-song, which he did with much fire and spirit. We sat long into the +night talking of the past and of the future, and of the great things we +were going to accomplish. Nor did we forget to draft a letter of most +hearty thanks to Mr. Franklin, which was sent him, together with many +others, among them one from Sir Peter Halket himself. + +The arrival of the wagons had done much to solve the problem of +transport, and on the next day preparations for the advance began in +earnest. The whole force of carpenters was put to work building a bridge +across the creek, the smiths sharpened the axes, and the bakers baked a +prodigious number of little biscuits for us to carry on the march. Two +hundred pioneers were sent out to cut the road, and from one end of the +camp to the other was the stir of preparation. + +So two days passed, and on the afternoon of the twenty-fourth, Spiltdorph +and myself crossed the creek on the bridge, which was well-nigh +completed, and walked on into the forest to see what progress the +pioneers were making. We each took a firelock with us in hope of knocking +over some game for supper, to help out our dwindling larder. We found +that the pioneers had cut a road twelve feet wide some two miles into the +forest. It was a mere tunnel between the trees, whose branches overtopped +it with a roof of green, but it had been leveled with great care,--more +care than I thought necessary,--and would give smooth going to the wagons +and artillery. We reached the end of the road, where the axemen were +laboring faithfully, and after watching them for a time, were turning +back to camp, when Spiltdorph called my attention to the peculiar +appearance of the ground about us. We were in the midst of a grove of +chestnuts, and the leaves beneath them for rods around had been turned +over and the earth freshly raked up. + +"What under heaven could have caused that?" asked Spiltdorph. + +"Wild turkeys," I answered quickly, for I had often seen the like under +beeches and oaks as well as chestnuts. "Come on," I added, "perhaps they +are not far away." + +"All right," said Spiltdorph, "a wild turkey would go exceeding well on +our table;" and he followed me into the forest. The turkeys had evidently +been frightened away by the approach of the pioneers, and had stopped +here and there to hunt for food, so that their track was easily followed. +I judged they could not be far away, and was looking every moment to see +their blue heads bobbing about among the underbrush, when I heard a sharp +fusilade of shots ahead. + +"Somebody 's found 'em!" I cried. "Come on. Perhaps we can get some yet." + +We tore through a bit of marshy ground, up a slight hill, and came +suddenly to the edge of a little clearing. One glance into it sent me +headlong behind a bush, and I tripped up Spiltdorph beside me. + +"Good God, man!" he cried, but I had my hand over his mouth before he +could say more. + +"Be still," I whispered "an you value your life. Look over there." + +He peered around the bush and saw what I had seen, a dozen Indians in +full war paint busily engaged in setting fire to a log cabin which stood +in the middle of the clearing. They were going about the task in unwonted +silence, doubtless because of the nearness of our troops, and a half +dozen bodies, two of women and four of children, scattered on the ground +before the door, showed how completely they had done their work. Even as +we looked, two of them picked up the body of one of the women and threw +it into the burning house. + +"The devils!" groaned Spiltdorph. "Oh, the devils!" and I felt my own +blood boiling in my veins. + +"Come, we must do something!" I said. "We can kill two of them and reload +and kill two more before they can reach us. They will not dare pursue us +far toward the camp, and may even run at the first fire." + +"Good!" said Spiltdorph, between his teeth. "Pick your man;" but before I +could reply he had jerked his musket to his shoulder with a cry of rage +and fired. An Indian had picked up one of the children, which must have +been only wounded, since it was crying lustily, and was just about to +pitch it on the fire, when Spiltdorph's bullet caught him full in the +breast. He threw up his hands and fell like a log, the child under him. +Quick as a flash, I fired and brought down another. For an instant the +Indians stood dazed at the suddenness of the attack, and then with a yell +they broke for the other side of the clearing. Spiltdorph would have +started down toward the house, but I held him back. + +"Not yet," I said. "They will stop so soon as they get to cover. +Wait a bit." + +We waited for half an hour, watching the smoke curling over the house, +and then, judging that the Indians had made off for fear of being +ambushed, we crossed the clearing. It took but a glance to read the +story. The women had been washing by the little brook before the cabin, +with the children playing about them, when the Indians had come up and +with a single volley killed them all except the child we had heard +crying. They had swooped down upon their victims, torn the scalps from +their heads, looted the house, and set fire to it. We dragged out the +body of the woman which had been thrown within, in the hope that a spark +of life might yet remain, but she was quite dead. Beneath the warrior +Spiltdorph had shot we found the child. It was a boy of some six or seven +years, and so covered with blood that it seemed it must be dead. But we +stripped it and washed it in the brook, and found no wounds upon it +except in the head, where it had been struck with a hatchet before its +scalp had been stripped off. The cold water brought it back to life and +it began to cry again, whereat Spiltdorph took off his coat and wrapped +it tenderly about it. + +We washed the blood from the faces of the women and stood for a long time +looking down at them. They were both comely, the younger just at the dawn +of womanhood. They must have been talking merrily together, for their +faces were smiling as they had been in life. + +As I stood looking so, I was startled by a kind of dry sobbing at my +elbow, and turned with a jerk to find a man standing there. He was +leaning on his rifle, gazing down at the dead, with no sound but the +choking in his throat. A brace of turkeys over his shoulder showed that +he had been hunting. In an instant I understood. It was the husband and +father come home. He did not move as I looked at him nor raise his eyes, +but stood transfixed under his agony. I glanced across at Spiltdorph, and +saw that his eyes were wet and his lips quivering. I did not venture to +speak, but my friend, who was ever more tactful than I, moved to the +man's side and placed his hand gently on his shoulder. + +"They died an easy death," he said softly. "See, they are still smiling. +They had no fear, no agony. They were dead before they knew that danger +threatened. Let us thank God that they suffered no worse." + +The man breathed a long sigh and his strength seemed to go suddenly from +him, for he dropped his rifle and fell upon his knees. + +"This was my wife," he whispered. "This was my sister. These were my +children. What is there left on earth for me?" + +I no longer sought to control the working of my face, and the tears were +streaming down Spiltdorph's cheeks. Great, gentle, manly heart, how I +loved you! + +"Yes, there is something!" cried the man, and he sprang to his feet +and seized his gun. "There is vengeance! Friends, will you help me +bury my dead?" + +"Yes, we will help," I said. He brought a spade and hoe from a little hut +near the stream, and we dug a broad and shallow trench and laid the +bodies in it. + +"There is one missing," said the man, looking about him. "Where is he?" + +"He is here," said Spiltdorph, opening his coat. "He is not dead. He may +yet live." + +The father looked at the boy a moment, then fell on his knees and +kissed him. + +"Thank God!" he cried, and the tears burst forth. We waited in silence +until the storm of grief was past. At last he wrapped the coat about the +child again, and came to us where we stood beside the grave. + +"Friends," he said, "does either of you know the burial service? These +were virtuous and Christian women, and would wish a Christian burial." + +Spiltdorph sadly shook his head, and the man turned to me. Could I do it? +I trembled at the thought. Yet how could I refuse? + +"I know the service," I said, and took my place at the head of the grave. + +The mists of evening were stealing up from the forest about us, and there +was no sound save the plashing of the brook over the stones at our feet. +Then it all faded from before me and I was standing again in a willow +grove with an open grave afar off. + +"'I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord,'" It was not my +voice, but another ringing up to heaven from beside me. And the voice +kept on and on until the last amen. + +We filled in the shallow grave and covered it with logs and rocks. Night +was at hand before we finished. + +"You must come with us," said Spiltdorph to the stranger. "The doctor at +the fort will do what he can for the child. If you still think of +vengeance, you can march with us against the Indians and the French who +set them on." + +He made a gesture of assent, and we set off through the forest. + +"Stewart," asked Spiltdorph, in a low voice, after we had walked some +time in silence, "how does it happen you knew the burial service?" + +"I have read it many times in the prayer-book," I answered simply. +"Moreover, I heard it one morning beside my mother's grave, and again +beside my grandfather's. I am not like to forget it." + +He walked on for a moment, and then came close to me and caught my +hand in his. + +"Forgive me," he said softly. "You have done a good and generous +thing. I can judge how much it cost you," and we said no more until we +reached the fort. + +The news that the Indians had pushed hostilities so near the camp created +no little uproar, and a party was sent out at daybreak to scour the woods +and endeavor to teach the marauders a lesson, but they returned toward +evening without discovering a trace of them, and it was believed they had +made off to Fort Duquesne. The Indians whom we had killed were recognized +as two of a party of Delawares who had been in camp a few days before, +and who, it was now certain, had been sent as spies by the French and to +do us what harm they could. Wherefore it was ordered that no more +Delawares should be suffered to enter the camp. + +We turned the child over to Doctor Craik, and took the man, whose +name, it seemed, was Nicholas Stith, to our tent with us, where we +gave him meat and drink, and did what we could to take his mind from +his misfortune. He remained with us some days, until his child died, +as it did at last, and then, finding our advance too slow to keep pace +with his passion for revenge, secured a store of ball and powder from +the magazine, slung his rifle across his back, and disappeared into +the forest. + +In the mean time our preparations had been hurried on apace. It was no +light task to cut a road through near a hundred and fifty miles of virgin +forest, over two great mountain ranges and across innumerable streams, +nor was it lightly undertaken. Captain Waggoner brought with him to table +one night a copy of the orders for the march and for encampment, which +were adhered to with few changes during the whole advance, and we +discussed them thoroughly when the meal was finished, nor could we +discover in them much to criticise. + +It was ordered that, to protect the baggage from Indian surprise and +insult, scouting parties were to be thrown well out upon the flanks and +in front and rear, and every commanding officer of a company was directed +to detach always upon his flanks a third of his men under command of a +sergeant, the sergeant in turn to detach upon his flanks a third of his +men under command of a corporal, these outparties to be relieved every +night at retreat beating, and to form the advanced pickets. The wagons, +artillery, and pack-horses were formed into three divisions, and the +provisions so distributed that each division was to be victualed from the +part of the line it covered, and a commissary was appointed for each. The +companies were to march two deep, that they might cover the line more +effectively. Sir Peter Halket was to lead the column and Colonel Dunbar +bring up the rear. An advance party of three hundred men was to precede +the column and clear the road. + +The form of encampment differed little from that of march. The wagons +were to be drawn up in close order, the companies to face out, the +flanking parties to clear away the underbrush and saplings, half the +company remaining under arms the while, and finally a chain of sentries +was to be posted round the camp. Sir Peter Halket, with the Forty-Fourth, +was to march with the first division; Lieutenant-Colonel Burton with the +independent companies, provincials, and artillery, was to form the +second; and Colonel Dunbar, with the Forty-Eighth, the third. + +I confess that when I had become acquainted with these orders, they +seemed to me most soldier-like. A copy of them lies before me now, and +even at this day, when I scan again the plan of march, I do not see how +it could be improved. I admit that there are others who know much more +of the art of war than I, and to them defects in the system may be at +once discernible. But at the time, these orders gave us all a most +exalted opinion of our general's ability, and I remembered with a smile +the gloomy prophecies of Colonel Washington. Surely, against such a +force, so ably handled, no army the French might muster could avail, and +I awaited the event with a confidence and eager anticipation which were +shared by all the others. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +WE START ON A WEARY JOURNEY + + +The twenty-ninth of May dawned clear and bright in pleasant contrast to +the violent storm which had raged the day before. Long ere daybreak, the +camp was alive with hurrying men, for the first detachment was to march +under command of Major Campbell, and the sun had scarce risen above the +horizon when the gates were thrown open and the troops filed out. Six +hundred of them there were, with two fieldpieces and fifty wagons of +provision, and very smart they looked as they fell into rank beyond the +bridge and set off westward. The whole camp was there to see them go, and +cheered them right heartily, for we were all of us glad that the long +waiting and delay had come to an end at last. + +All day we could see them here and there in the intervales of the forest +pushing their way up a steep hill not two miles from the camp, and +darkness came before they passed the summit. Three wagons were utterly +destroyed in the passage, and new ones had to be sent from camp to +replace them, while many more were all but ruined. Spiltdorph and I +walked out to the place the next day and found it an almost perpendicular +rock, though two hundred men and a company of miners had been at work +for near a week trying to make it passable. We could see the detachment +slowly cutting its way through the valley below, and I reflected gloomily +that, at so slow a rate, the summer would be well-nigh gone before the +army could reach its destination. Indeed, I believe it would have gone to +pieces on this first spur of the Alleghenies, had not Lieutenant +Spendelow, of the seamen, discovered a valley round its foot. +Accordingly, a party of a hundred men was ordered out to clear a road +there, and worked to such purpose that at the end of two days an +extremely good one was completed, falling into the road made by Major +Campbell about a mile beyond the mountain. + +On the seventh, Sir Peter Halket and the Forty-Eighth marched, in the +midst of a heavy storm, and at daybreak the next day it was our turn. +Under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Burton, all of the independent +companies and rangers left the camp, not, indeed, making so brilliant an +appearance as the regulars,--who stood on either side and laughed at +us,--but with a clearer comprehension of the work before us and a hearty +readiness to do it. It was not until the tenth that the third division +under Colonel Dunbar left the fort, and finally, on the eleventh, the +general joined the army where it had assembled at Spendelow camp, five +miles from the start. + +Our tent that night was a gloomy place, for I think most of us, for the +first time since the campaign opened, began to doubt its ultimate +success. We soon finished with the food, and were smoking in gloomy +silence, when Peyronie came in, and after a glance around at our faces, +broke into a laugh. + +"Ma foi!" he cried, "I thought I had chanced upon a meeting of our +Philadelphia friends,--they of the broad hats and sober coats,--and yet I +had never before known them to go to war." + +"Do you call this going to war?" cried Waggoner. "I'm cursed if I do!" + +Peyronie laughed louder than ever, and Waggoner motioned him to the pipes +and tobacco. + +"By God, Peyronie!" he said. "I believe you would laugh in the face of +the devil." + +Peyronie filled his pipe, chuckling to himself the while, and when he had +got it to drawing nicely, settled himself upon a stool. + +"Why, to tell the truth," said he, "I was feeling sober enough myself +till I came in here, but the sight of you fellows sitting around for all +the world like death-heads at an Egyptian feast was too much for me. And +then," he added, "I have always found it better to laugh than to cry." + +Waggoner looked at him with a grim smile, and there was a gleam in +Spiltdorph's eyes, though he tried to conceal himself behind a cloud of +smoke. Peyronie's good humor was infectious. + +"Let me see," continued the Frenchman, "when was it the first detachment +left the fort?" + +"The twenty-ninth of May," answered Waggoner shortly. + +"And what day is this?" + +"The eleventh of June." + +"And how far have we come?" + +"Five miles!" cried Waggoner. "Damn it, man, you know all this well +enough! Don't make me say it! It's incredible! Five miles in thirteen +days! Think of it!" + +I heard Spiltdorph choking behind his cloud of smoke. + +"Oh, come," said Peyronie, "that's not the way to look at it. Consider a +moment. It is one hundred and fifty miles to Fort Duquesne, so I am told. +At five-thirteenths of a mile a day, we shall arrive there nicely +in--in--let me see." + +"In three hundred and ninety days!" cried Spiltdorph. + +"Thank you, lieutenant," and Peyronie bowed toward Spiltdorph's nimbus. +"I was never good at figures. In three hundred and ninety days, then. You +see, we shall get to Fort Duquesne very comfortably by the middle of July +of next year. Perhaps the French will have grown weary of waiting for us +by that time, and we shall have only to march in and occupy the fort." + +Waggoner snorted with anger. + +"Come, talk sense, Peyronie," he said. "What's to be done?" + +Peyronie smiled more blandly than ever. + +"I fancy that is just what's troubling the general," he remarked. "I met +Colonel Washington a moment ago looking like a thunder-cloud, and he said +a council of war had been called at the general's tent." + +"There was need of it," and Waggoner's brow cleared a little. "What +think you they will do?" + +"Well," said Peyronie deliberately, "if it were left to me, the first +thing I should do would be to cut down Spiltdorph's supply of tobacco and +take away from him that great porcelain pipe, which must weigh two or +three pounds." + +"I should like to see you do it," grunted Spiltdorph, and he took his +pipe from his lips to look at it lovingly. "Why, man, that pipe has been +in the family for half a dozen generations. There's only one other like +it in Germany." + +"A most fortunate thing," remarked Peyronie dryly; "else Virginia could +not raise enough tobacco to supply the market. But, seriously, I believe +even the general will see the need of taking some radical action. He may +even be induced to leave behind one or two of his women and a few cases +of wine, if the matter be put before him plainly." + +"Shut up, man!" cried Waggoner. "Do you want a court-martial?" And we +fell silent, for indeed the excesses of the officers of the line was a +sore subject with all of us. But Peyronie had made a good guess, as we +found out when the result of the council was made known next day. + +It was pointed out that we had less than half the horses we really +needed, and those we had were so weak from the diet of leaves to which +they had been reduced that they could do little work. So the general +urged that all unnecessary baggage be sent back to the fort, and that as +many horses as possible be given to the public cause. He and his staff +set the example by contributing twenty horses, and this had so great +effect among the officers that near a hundred were added to the train. +They divested themselves, also, of all the baggage they did not need, +most of them even sending back their tents, and sharing the soldiers' +tents for the remainder of the campaign. Enough powder and stores were +left behind to clear twenty wagons, and all the king's wagons were +returned to the fort as being too heavy. A deprivation which, I doubt +not, cost some of the officers more than any other, was that of their +women, who were ordered back to the fort, and only two women for each +company were allowed to be victualed upon the march, but in this +particular the example set by the general was not so commendable as in +the matter of the horses. Three hundred lashes were ordered to any +soldier or non-commissioned officer who should be caught gaming or seen +drunk in camp, but these rigors did not affect those higher up, and the +officers still spent half the night over the cards or dice, and on such +occasions there was much wine and spirits drunk. + +We of Waggoner's and Peyronie's companies fared very well, for though +we gave up one of our tents, it was only to bunk together in the other. +There was no room to spare, to be sure, and Peyronie grumbled that +every time a man turned over he disturbed the whole line of sleepers, +but we put the best face possible on the situation, and had little +cause for complaint, except at the food, which soon became most +villainous. I think Spiltdorph had some twinges concerning his pipe, +for he was a conscientious fellow, but he could not decide to give it +up, and finally kept it with him, arguing artfully that without it he +must inevitably fall ill, and so be of no use whatever. Dear fellow, I +wonder what warrior, the envy of his tribe, smokes it now in his wigwam +beside the Miami? + +It took two days to repair our wagons and get our baggage readjusted, and +finally, on the thirteenth, the army set in motion again, winding along +the narrow road through the forest like some gigantic, parti-colored +serpent, with strength barely sufficient to drag its great length along. +It was noon of the next day before we reached Martin's plantation, scarce +five miles away. Yet here we had to stay another day, so nearly were the +horses spent, but at daybreak on the fifteenth the line moved again, and +we toiled up an extremely steep ascent for more than two miles. The +horses were quite unable to proceed, so half the troops were ordered to +ground arms and assist the wagons. It was weary work, nor was the descent +less perilous, and three of the wagons got beyond control and were dashed +to pieces at the bottom. So we struggled on over hills and through +valleys, until on the eighteenth we reached the Little Meadows. Here the +army was well-nigh stalled. The horses had grown every day weaker, and +many of them were already dead. Nor were the men in much better case, so +excessive had been the fatigues of the journey, for on many days they +had been under arms from sunrise till late into the night. + +It was here, for the first time since our departure from Fort Cumberland, +that I chanced to see Colonel Washington, and I was shocked at the change +in his appearance. He was wan and livid, and seemed to have fallen away +greatly in flesh. To my startled inquiry, he replied that he had not been +able to shake off the fever, which had grown worse instead of better. + +"But I will conquer it," he said, with a smile. "I cannot afford to miss +the end. From here, I believe our advance will be more rapid, for the +general has decided that he will leave his baggage and push on with a +picked body of the troops to meet the enemy." + +I was rejoiced to hear it, though I did not learn until long afterwards +that it was by Colonel Washington's advice that this plan was adopted. A +detachment of four hundred men was sent out to cut a road to the little +crossing of the Yoxiogeny, and on the next day the general himself +followed with about nine hundred men, the pick of the whole command. The +Virginia companies were yet in fair condition, but the regulars had been +decimated by disease. Yet though our baggage was now reduced to thirty +wagons and our artillery to four howitzers and four twelve-pounders, we +seemed to have lost the power of motion, for we were four days in getting +twelve miles. Still, we were nearing Fort Duquesne, and the Indians, set +on by the French, began to harass us, and killed and scalped a straggler +now and then, always evading pursuit. On the evening of the nineteenth, +the guides reported that a great body of the enemy was advancing to +attack us, but they did not appear, though we remained for two hours +under arms, anxiously awaiting the event. From that time on, the Indians +hung upon our flanks, but vanished as by magic the moment we advanced +against them. + +In consequence of these alarms, more stringent orders were issued to the +camp. On no account was a gun to be discharged unless at an enemy, the +pickets were always to load afresh when going on duty, and at daybreak to +examine their pans and put in fresh priming, and a reward of five pounds +was offered for every Indian scalp. Day after day we plodded on, and it +was not until the twenty-fifth of June that we reached the Great Meadows. + +I surveyed with a melancholy interest the trenches of Fort Necessity, +which were yet clearly to be seen on the plain. Our detachment halted +here for a space, and it was while I was walking up and down along the +remnants of the old breastwork that I saw an officer ride up, spring from +his horse, and spend some minutes in a keen inspection of the +fortification. As he looked about him, he perceived me similarly engaged, +and, after a moment's hesitation, turned toward me. He made a brave +figure in his three-cornered hat, scarlet coat, and ample waistcoat, all +heavy with gold lace. His face was pale as from much loss of sleep, but +very pleasing, and as he stopped before me, I saw that his eyes were of +a clear and penetrating blue. + +"This is the place, is it not," he asked, "where Colonel Washington made +his gallant stand against the French and Indians last year?" + +"This is indeed the place, sir," I answered, my face flushing; "and it +warms my heart to know that you deem the action a gallant one." + +"No man could do less," he said quickly. "He held off four times his +number, and at the end marched out with colors flying. I know many a +general who would have been glad to do so well. Do I guess aright," +he added, with a smile, "when I venture to say that you were present +with him?" + +"It was my great good fortune," I answered simply, but with a pride I did +not try to conceal. + +"Let me introduce myself," he said, looking at me with greater interest. +"I am Captain Robert Orme, of General Brad dock's staff, and I have come +to admire Colonel Washington very greatly during the month that we have +been associated." + +"And I," I said, "am Lieutenant Thomas Stewart, of Captain Waggoner's +Virginia Company." + +"Lieutenant Stewart!" he cried, and his hand was clasping mine warmly. +"I am happy to meet you. Colonel Washington has told me of the part +you played." + +"Not more happy than am I, captain, I am sure," I answered +heartily. "Colonel Washington has spoken to me of you and in terms +of warmest praise." + +"Now 'tis my turn to blush!" he cried, laughing, and looking at my cheeks +which had turned red a moment before, "but my blood has been so spent in +this horrible march that I haven't a blush remaining." + +"And how is Colonel Washington?" I questioned, glad to change the +subject. "The last I saw him, he seemed most ill." + +Captain Orme looked at me quickly, "Have you not heard?" he asked, and +his face was very grave. + +"I have heard nothing, sir," I answered, with a sinking heart. +"Pray tell me." + +"Colonel Washington has been ill almost from the first. His indomitable +will kept him on horseback when he should have been in bed. At last, when +the fever had wasted him to a mere skeleton, and he spent his nights in +sleepless delirium, he broke down utterly. His body was no longer able to +obey his will. At the ford of the Yoxiogeny he attempted to mount his +horse and fell in a faint. He was carried to a tent and left with two or +three guards. So soon as he recovered consciousness, he tried to get up +to follow us, and was persuaded to lie still only when the general +promised he would send for him in order that he might be present when we +meet the French. He is a man who is an honor to Virginia," concluded +Orme, and he turned away hastily to hide his emotion, nor were my own +eyes wholly dry. + +"Come," I said, "let me show you, sir, how the troops lay that day," and +as he assented, I led the way along the lines and pointed out the +position held by the enemy and how we had opposed them; but my thoughts +were miles away with that wasted figure tossing wearily from side to side +of a rude camp cot on the bank of the Yoxiogeny, with no other nurses +than two or three rough soldiers. + +"'Twas well done," said Orme, when I had finished. "I see not how it +could have been better. And I trust the victory will be with us, not with +the French, when we meet before Duquesne." + +"Of that there can be no question!" I cried. "Once we reach the fort, it +must fall before us." + +"Faith, I believe so," laughed Orme. "My only fear is that they will run +away, and not stay to give us battle. Our spies have told us that such +was their intention," and he laughed again as he saw my fallen face. +"Why, I believe you are as great a fire-eater as the best of us, +lieutenant." + +"In truth, sir," I answered, somewhat abashed at his merriment, "I +decided long ago that since I held no station in the world, I needs must +win one with my sword, but if I can find no employment for it, I see +small hope of advancement." + +"Well, do not repine," and he smiled as he shook my hand, "for if the +French do not wait to meet us here, we shall yet find plenty of fighting +before us. This is only the first stage in the journey, and Duquesne once +ours, we press forward to join forces with the expeditions which are +moving against Canada. If I hear more from Colonel Washington, I shall +let you know." + +I thanked him for his kindness, and watched him as he rode away +across the plain. When he was out of sight, I turned back to join my +company, and I felt that I had made a new friend, and one whom I was +proud to have. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE END IN SIGHT + + +The country beyond Great Meadows was exceeding mountainous, and we could +proceed only a few miles each day, and that with the greatest +difficulty. The horses were by this time well-nigh useless, and at every +little hill half the men were compelled to ground arms and take a hand +at the wagons. It was work fatiguing beyond description, and our sick +list grew larger every day, while those who remained upon their feet +were in scarce better plight. + +On the evening of the twenty-sixth, we reached the pass through which had +come the party of French and Indians to attack us at Fort Necessity. They +must have thought for a time to oppose us here, for we came upon traces +of a camp just broken up, with embers still glowing in the hollow, over +which they had prepared their food. Both French and Indians had been +present, for the former had written on the trees many insolent and +scurrilous expressions,--which gave me a poorer opinion of them than I +had yet entertained,--and the Indians had marked up the number of scalps +they had taken, some eight or ten in all. Whatever their intention may +have been, the sight of our strength had frightened them away, and we +saw no sign of them as we descended into the valley on the other side. + +We toiled on all the next day over a road that was painfully familiar to +most of us, and in the evening came to Christopher Gist's plantation. +Spiltdorph and I made a circuit of the place that night, and I pointed +out to him the dispositions we had made for defense the year before. The +French had burned down all the buildings, but the half-finished trenches +could yet be seen, and the logs which were to have made the breastwork +still littered the ground. + +Beyond Gist's, it was a new country to all of us, and grew more open, so +that we could make longer marches. We descended a broad valley to the +great crossing of the Yoxiogeny, which we passed on the thirtieth. The +general was under much apprehension lest the French ambush us here, and +so advanced most cautiously, but we saw no sign of any enemy. Beyond the +river was a great swamp, where a road of logs had to be built to support +the wagons and artillery, but we won through without accident, and two +days later reached a place called Jacob's cabin, not above thirty miles, +as the bird flies, from Fort Duquesne. Here the rumor ran through the +camp that we were to be held till Colonel Dunbar's division could be +brought up from the Little Meadows, and there was much savage comment at +our mess that evening. + +"Why," cried Peyronie, who voiced the sentiment of all of us, "'twould +take two weeks or more to bring Dunbar up, and what are we to do +meantime? Sit here and eat this carrion?" and he looked disgustedly at +the mess of unsavory beef on the table, which was, to tell the truth, +most odoriferous. "'Tis rank folly to even think of such a course." + +"So the general believes," said a pleasant voice, and I turned with a +start to see a gallant figure standing by the raised flap of the tent. + +"Captain Orme!" I cried, springing to my feet, and I brought him in and +presented him to all the others. We pressed him to sit down, and though +he laughingly declined to partake of our rations, against which, he said, +Peyronie's remark had somehow prejudiced him, he consented to join us in +a glass of wine,--where Waggoner found the bottle I could never +guess,--in which we pledged the success of the campaign. + +"So we are not to stop here?" asked Peyronie, when the toast was drunk. + +"No," and Orme set down the glass. "The suggestion was made by Sir John +St. Clair, and a council was held half an hour since to consider it. It +was agreed without debate that we could not afford the delay, as the +provision is running low, and so we shall press on at once." + +"'Tis the wiser course," said Waggoner. "We have men in plenty." + +"So the general thinks," said Orme. "He has learned that there is only a +small garrison at the fort, which can scarce hope to resist us. But 'twas +not to talk of the campaign I came here. I had a note this evening from +Colonel Washington, which I knew Lieutenant Stewart would wish to see." + +"Oh, yes!" I cried. "What says he, sir?" + +Orme glanced about at the circle of attentive faces. + +"I see Colonel Washington has many friends here," he said, with a smile. +"He writes that he is improving, and hopes soon to join us, and implores +me not to neglect to warn him so that he can be present when we meet the +French. I shall not neglect it," he added. + +"Captain Orme," said Peyronie, after a moment, "I am sure I speak for all +these gentlemen when I say we deeply appreciate your kindness in coming +here to-night. There is not one of us who does not love Colonel +Washington. We thank you, sir," and Peyronie bowed with a grace worthy of +Versailles. + +"Nay," protested Orme, bowing in his turn, "it was a little thing. I, +too, think much of Colonel Washington. Good-evening, gentlemen," and we +all arose and saluted him, remaining standing till he was out of sight. + +"A gentleman and a soldier, if ever I saw one!" cried Peyronie. "A man +whom it is a privilege to know." And we all of us echoed the sentiment. +So, the next morning, the order was given to march as usual, and we made +about five miles to a salt lick in the marsh, where we camped for the +night. The next day we reached a little stream called Thicketty Run, and +here there was a longer halt, until we could gain some further +information of the enemy. Christopher Gist, by dint of many gifts and +much persuasion, had secured the services of eight Iroquois, lazy dogs, +who up to the present time had done little but eat and sleep. But we were +now so near the enemy that it was imperative to reconnoitre their +position, so, after much trouble, two of the Indians were induced to go +forward, and Gist himself was sent after them to see that they really did +approach the fort and not try to deceive us. This was the fourth of July, +just one year since we had marched away from Fort Necessity. All the next +day we remained at Thicketty Run, waiting for the scouts to come in, but +they did not appear until the sixth. + +The Indians returned early in the morning, bringing with them the scalp +of a French officer they had killed near the fort, and stated that they +had seen none of the enemy except the one they had shot, and that the +French possessed no pass between us and Duquesne, and had seemingly made +no preparation to resist us. Gist got back later in the day, having +narrowly escaped capture by two Delawares, and confirmed this story. Such +carelessness on the part of the French seemed incredible, as the country +was very favorable to an ambuscade, and the officers were almost +unanimously of the opinion that it was their purpose to abandon the fort +at our approach. + +These reports once received, we again broke camp and advanced toward the +Monongahela. An unhappy accident marked the day. Three or four men who +had loitered behind were surprised by some Indians, and killed and +scalped, before assistance could be sent them. This so excited our +scouting parties that they fired upon a body of our own Indians, +notwithstanding the fact that they made the preconcerted signal by +holding up a green bough and grounding arms. The son of Chief Monakatuca +was killed by the discharge, and it was feared for a time that the +Indians would leave in a body. But the general sent for them, condoled +with them and made them presents, ordered that Monakatuca's son be given +a military burial, and, in a word, handled them so adroitly that they +became more attached to us than ever. Additional scouting parties were +thrown out to right and left, and every precaution taken to prevent +further mishap. + +The next day we endeavored to pass a little stream called Turtle Creek, +but found the road impracticable, so turned into the valley of another +stream, known as Long Run, and on the night of the eighth encamped within +a mile of the Monongahela, and only about ten from the fort. Here General +St. Clair, who seems from the first to have feared for the result, +advised that a detachment be sent forward to invest the fort, but it was +finally judged best to send the detachment from the next camp, from which +it could be readily reinforced in case it were attacked. We were to ford +the Monongahela at Crooked Run, march along the west bank to the mouth of +Turtle Creek, ford it a second time, and advance against the fort. Both +fords were described by the guides as very good ones and easy of +passage, while if we attempted to advance straight ahead on the east bank +of the river, we should encounter a very rough road, beside passing +through a country admirably fitted by nature for an ambuscade. Colonel +Gage was to march before daybreak to secure both fords, and the men +turned in with full assurance that the battle so long deferred and so +eagerly awaited was not far distant. + +That night it so happened that I was placed in charge of one of the rear +pickets, and I sat with my back against a tree, smoking lazily and +wondering what the morrow would bring forth, when I heard a horse +galloping down the road, and a moment later the sharp challenge of a +sentry. I was on my feet in an instant, and saw that the picket had +evidently been satisfied that all was well, for he had permitted the +rider to pass. As he reached the edge of the camp, he emerged from the +shadow of the trees, and I started as I looked at him. + +"Colonel Washington!" I cried, and as he checked his horse sharply, I was +at his side. + +"Why, is it you, Tom?" he asked, and as I took his hand, I noticed how +thin it was. "Well, it seems I am in time." + +"Yes," I said. "The battle, if there be one, must take place to-morrow." + +"Why should there not be one?" he questioned, leaning down from his +saddle to see my face more clearly. + +"The French may run away." + +"True," he said, and sat for a moment thinking. "Yet it is not like them +to run without striking a blow. No, I believe we shall have a battle, +Tom, and I am glad that I am to be here to see it." + +"But are you strong enough?" I asked. "You have not yet the air of a +well man." + +He laughed lightly as he gathered up his reins. "In truth, Tom," he +said, "I am as weak as a man could well be and still sit his horse, but +the fever is broken and I shall be stronger to-morrow. But I must report +to the general. He may have work for me," and he set spurs to his horse +and was off. + +I turned back to my station, musing on the iron will of this man, who +could drag his body from a bed of sickness when duty called and yet think +nothing of it. All about me gleamed the white tents in which the +grenadiers and provincials were sleeping, dreaming perchance of victory. +Alas, for how many of them was it their last sleep this side eternity! + +The hours passed slowly and quietly. Presently the moon rose and +illumined the camp from end to end. Here and there I could see a picket +pacing back and forth, or an officer making his rounds. At headquarters +lights were still burning, and I did not doubt that an earnest +consultation was in progress there concerning the orders for the morrow. + +At midnight came the relief, and I made the best of my way back to our +quarters, crawled into the tent, whose flaps were raised to let in every +breath of air stirring, and lay down beside Spiltdorph. I tried to move +softly, but he started awake and put out his hand and touched me. + +"Is it you, Stewart?" he asked. + +"Yes," I said, "just in from picket. Colonel Washington reached camp an +hour ago, to be here for to-morrow's battle." + +"To-morrow's battle," repeated Spiltdorph softly. "Ah, yes, I had forgot. +Do you know, Stewart, if I were superstitious, I should fear the result +of to-morrow's battle, for I had a dream about it." + +"What was the dream?" I asked. + +"No matter, we are not women," and he turned to go to sleep again. +"Good-night." + +"Good-night," I said, and in a few moments his deep breathing told me he +was again in the land of dreams. It was long before my own eyes closed, +and my dreams were not of battle, but of a bench upon the river's bank, +and a figure all in white sitting there beside me. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE LESSON OF THE WILDERNESS + + +"Wake up, man, wake up!" cried a voice in my ear, and I opened my eyes to +see Spiltdorph's kindly face bending over me. "I let you sleep as long as +I could," he added, as I sat up and rubbed my eyes, "for I knew you +needed it, but the order has come for us to march." + +"All right," I said. "I'll be ready in a minute," and I ran down to the +brook and dipped my hands and face in the cool, refreshing water. A +biscuit and a piece of cold beef formed my breakfast. Our company was +striking tents and falling in for the march, and the camp was astir from +end to end. The sun was just peeping over the tree-tops, for that +fateful Wednesday, the ninth of July, 1755, had dawned clear and fair, +and all the day rode through a sky whose perfect blue remained unbroken +by a cloud. + +We were soon ready for the road, and while waiting the word, Captain +Waggoner told me that the advance had begun some hours before. At three +o'clock. Colonel Gage had marched with two companies of grenadiers and +two hundred rank and file to secure both crossings of the river, for it +was believed that at the second crossing the French would attack us, +unless they intended giving up the fort without a struggle. An hour +later, Sir John St. Clair had followed with a working party of two +hundred and fifty men, to clear the road for the passage of the baggage +and artillery. And at last came the word for us. + +The ground sloped gently down to the Monongahela, nearly a mile away. The +river here was over three hundred yards in width, and the regulars had +been posted advantageously to guard against surprise. The baggage, +horses, and cattle were all got over safely, for the water was scarce +waist-deep at any point, and then the troops followed, so that the whole +army was soon across. + +Before us stretched a level bottom, and here we were formed in proper +line of march, with colors flying, drums beating, and fifes playing +shrilly. The sun's slant rays were caught and multiplied a thousand times +on polished barrel and gold-laced helmet and glittering shoulder-knot. +Every man had been instructed to put off the torn and travel-stained +garments of Osnabrig he had worn upon the march, and to don his best +uniform, and very fresh and beautiful they looked, the Forty-Fourth with +its yellow facings, the Forty-Eighth with buff. Nor was the showing made +by the Virginia companies less handsome, though perhaps a shade more +sober. Nowhere was there visible a trace of that terrible journey through +the wilderness. It seemed that this splendent host must have been placed +here by some magic hand, alert, vigorous, immaculate, eager for the +battle. I have only to close my eyes to see again before me that +brilliant and gallant array. The hope of a speedy ending to their +struggle through the forest had brought new color to the faces of the +men, and a light into their eyes, such as I had not seen there for many +days. While we waited, the pieces were newly charged and primed, and the +clatter of the cartouch boxes, as they were thrown back into place, ran +up and down the lines. + +At last came word from Gage that he had secured the second crossing, +having encountered only a small party of Indians, who had run away at the +first alarm, and that the route was clear. The drums beat the advance, +and the army swept forward as though on parade. It was a thrilling sight, +and in all that multitude there was not one who doubted the event. I +think even Colonel Washington's misgivings must have melted away before +that martial scene. The broad river rolled at our right, and beyond it +the hills, crowned with verdure, looked down upon us. I do not doubt that +from those heights the eyes of the enemy's spies were peering, and the +sight of our gallant and seemingly invincible army must have startled and +disheartened them. And as I looked along the ordered ranks, the barrels +gleaming at a single angle, four thousand feet moving to the drum tap, I +realized more deeply than ever that without training and discipline an +army could not exist. + +When we reached the second ford, about one in the afternoon, we found +that the bank was not yet made passable for the wagons and artillery, so +we drew up along the shingle until this could be done. Pickets were +posted on the heights, and half the force kept under arms, in case of a +surprise. Spiltdorph and I sauntered together to the water's edge, and +watched the pioneers busy at their work. I saw that my companion was +preoccupied, and after a time he ceased to regard the men, but sat +looking afar off and pitching pebbles into the stream. + +"Do you know, Stewart," he said at last, "I am becoming timid as a +girl. I told you I had a dream last night, and 't was so vivid I cannot +shake it off." + +"Tell me the dream," I said. + +"I dreamed that we met the French, and that I fell. I looked up, and you +were kneeling over me. But when I would have told you what I had to tell, +my voice was smothered in a rush of blood." + +"Oh, come!" I cried, "this is mere foolishness. You do not believe in +dreams, Spiltdorph?" + +"No," he answered. "And yet I never had such a dream as this." + +"Why, man," I said, "look around you. Do you see any sign of the French? +And yet their fort is just behind the trees yonder." + +He looked at me in silence for a moment, and made as if to speak, but the +tap of the drum brought us to our feet. + +"Come," he said, "the road is finished. We shall soon see what truth +there is in dreams." + +We took our places and the advance began again. First the Forty-Fourth +was passed over and the pickets of the right. The artillery, wagons, and +carrying horses followed, and then the provincial troops, the +Forty-Eighth, while the pickets of the left brought up the rear. At the +end of an hour the entire force was safe across, and as yet no sign of +the enemy. Such good fortune seemed well-nigh unbelievable, for we had +been assured there was no other place between us and the fort suited for +an ambuscade. + +Our company halted near a rude cabin which stood upon the bank. It was +the house of Fraser, the trader, where Washington and Gist had found +shelter after their perilous passage of the Allegheny near two years +before. We had been there but a few minutes when Colonel Washington +himself rode up. + +"Captain Waggoner," he said, "you will divide your company into four +flank parties, and throw them well out to the left of the line, fifty +yards at least. See that they get to their places at once, and that they +keep in touch, lest they mistake each other for the enemy." + +He was off as Waggoner saluted, and I heard him giving similar orders to +Peyronie's company behind us. It was certain that the general was taking +no chance of ambuscade, however safe the road might seem. We were soon in +place, Captain Waggoner himself in command of one party, Spiltdorph of +the second, I of the third, and Lieutenant Wright of the fourth. As we +took our places, I could see something of the disposition of our force +and the contour of the ground. The guides and a few light horse headed +the column, followed by the vanguard, and the advance party under Gage. +Then came St. Clair's working party, two fieldpieces, tumbrels, light +horse, the general's guard, the convoy, and finally the rear guard. +Before us stretched a fertile bottom, covered by a fair, open walnut +wood, with very little underbrush, and rising gradually to a higher +bottom, which reached to a range of hills two or three hundred feet in +height. Here the forest grew more closely, the underbrush became more +dense, and a great thicket of pea-vines, wild grape, and trailers +completely shut off the view. + +So soon as the line was formed, the drums beat the forward, and the +head of the column was soon out of sight among the trees, St. Clair's +working party cutting the road as they advanced. We were nearing the +tangle of underbrush, which I thought marked the course of a stream, +when there came suddenly a tremendous burst of firing from the front, +followed by a great uproar of yells. My heart leaped, for I knew the +French were upon us. + +"Close up, men!" shouted Waggoner. "Bring your party up here, Stewart!" + +I obeyed the order, and the other two parties joined us in a moment. +Scarcely had they done so, when the thicket in front of us burst into +flame, and three or four men fell. The others, well used, for the most +part, to this kind of fighting, took at once to the trees, and we +gradually worked our way forward, keeping up a spirited fire till we +reached the shelter of a huge log, which lay at the edge of the ravine. +As I looked over it, I saw that the gully swarmed with Indians, firing at +the main body of the troops, who seemed wedged in the narrow road. I +could see no French, and so judged they were attacking on the other side. + +"We've got 'em now!" yelled Waggoner. "Give it to 'em, men!" and we +poured a well-directed volley into the yelling mob. + +Fifteen or twenty fell, and the others, affrighted at the unexpected +slaughter, threw down their guns and started to run. We were reloading +with feverish haste, when from the woods behind us came a tremendous +volley. We faced about to receive this new attack, for we thought the +French were upon us. But we saw with horror that we were being fired at +by the regulars, who had taken us for the enemy in their madness, and +were preparing to fire again. + +"You fools!" screamed Waggoner. "Oh, you fools!" and white with rage, he +gave the order to retreat. + +A moment later, as I looked around, I saw that Spiltdorph was not with +us. + +"Where is he?" I asked. "Where is Spiltdorph?" + +Waggoner motioned behind us. + +"He was hit," he said. "He was killed by those cowardly assassins." + +"Perhaps he is not dead!" I cried, and before he could prevent me, I ran +back to the log. Not less than twenty dead lay near it, and in an instant +I saw my friend. I dropped beside him, and tore away his shirt. He had +been hit in the side by two bullets, and as I saw the wounds, I cursed +the insensate fools who had inflicted them. I tried to stanch the blood, +and as I raised his head, saw his eyes staring up at me. + +"The dream!" he cried. "The dream! Stewart, listen. There is a +girl--at Hampton"--A rush of blood choked him. He tried to speak, +clutched at my sleeve, and then his head fell back, a great sigh shook +him, and he was dead. + +The Indians were pouring back into the ravine, and I knew I could stay no +longer. So I laid him gently down, and with my heart aching as it had not +ached since my mother died, made my way back to my company. "There is a +girl," he had said, "at Hampton." What was it he had tried to tell? Well, +if God gave me life, I would find out. + +But every other thought was driven from my mind in my astonishment and +horror at the scene before me. Gage's advance party had given way almost +at the first fire, just as Burton was forming to support them, and the +two commands were mingled in hopeless confusion. The officers spurred +their horses into the mob, and tried in vain to form the men in some sort +of order. The colors were advanced in different directions, but there was +none to rally to them, for the men remained huddled together like +frightened sheep. And all around them swept that leaden storm, whose +source they could not see, mowing them down like grain. They fired volley +after volley into the forest, but the enemy remained concealed in the +ravines on either side, and the bullets flew harmless above their heads. + +At the moment I joined my company, General Braddock rode up, cursing like +a madman, and spurred his horse among the men. I could see him giving an +order, when his horse was hit and he barely saved himself from falling +under it. Another horse was brought, and in a moment he was again raving +up and down the lines. + +"What means this?" he screamed, coming upon us suddenly, where we were +sheltering ourselves behind the trees and replying to the enemy's fire as +best we could. "Are you all damned cowards?" + +"Cowards, sir!" cried Waggoner, his face aflame. "What mean you by that?" + +"Mean?" yelled Braddock. "Damn you, sir, I'll show you what I mean! Come +out from behind those trees and fight like men!" + +"Ay, and be killed for our pains!" cried Waggoner. + +"What, sir!" and the general's face turned purple. "You dare dispute my +order?" and he raised his sword to strike, but his arm was caught before +it had descended. + +"These men know best, sir," cried Washington, reining in his horse beside +him. "This is the only way to fight the Indians." + +The general wrenched his arm away and, fairly foaming at the mouth, +spurred his horse forward and beat the men from behind the trees with the +flat of his sword. + +"Back into the road, poltroons!" he yelled. "Back into the road! I'll +have no cowards in my army!" + +Washington and Waggoner watched him with set faces, while the men, too +astounded to speak, fell slowly back into the open. Not until that moment +did I comprehend the blind folly of this man, determined to sacrifice his +army to his pride. + +We fell back with our men, and there in the road found Peyronie, with the +remnant of his company, his face purple and his mouth working with rage. +All about us huddled the white-faced regulars,--the pride of the army, +the heroes of a score of battles!--crazed by fright, firing into the air +or at each other, seeing every moment their comrades falling about them, +killed by an unseen foe. I turned sick at heart as I looked at them. Hell +could hold no worse. + +Hotter and hotter grew the fire, and I realized that it was not the +French attacking us at all, but only their Indian allies. Not half a +dozen Frenchmen had been seen. It was by the savages of the forest that +the best troops in Europe were being slaughtered. Sir Peter Halket was +dead, shot through the heart, and his son, stooping to pick him up, fell +a corpse across his body. Shirley was shot through the brain. Poison was +dead. Totten, Hamilton, Wright, Stone, were dead. Spendelow had fallen, +pierced by three bullets. The ground was strewn with dead and wounded. +Horses, maddened by wounds, dashed through the ranks and into the forest, +often bearing their riders to an awful death. The Indians, growing +bolder, stole from the ravines, and scalped the dead and wounded almost +before our eyes. I began to think it all a hideous nightmare. Surely such +a thing as this could not really be! + +Colonel Burton had succeeded in turning some of his men about to face a +hill at our right, where the enemy seemed in great number, and we of +Waggoner's company joined him. A moment later, Colonel Washington, who +alone of the general's aides was left unwounded, galloped up and ordered +us to advance against the hill and carry it. With infinite difficulty, a +hundred men were collected who would still obey the order. As we +advanced, the enemy poured a galling fire upon us. A ball grazed my +forehead and sent a rush of blood into my eyes. I staggered forward, and +when I had wiped the blood away and looked about me, I saw with amazement +that our men had faced about and were retreating. I rushed after them and +joined two or three other officers who were trying to rally them. But +they were deaf to our entreaties and would not turn. + +As I glanced back up the slope down which we had come, I saw a sight +which palsied me. Colonel Burton had fallen, seemingly with a wound in +the leg, and was slowly dragging himself back toward the lines. Behind +him, an Indian was dodging from tree to tree, intent on getting his +scalp. Burton saw the savage, and his face grew livid as he realized how +rapidly he was being overtaken. In an instant I was charging up the +slope, and ran past Burton with upraised sword. The Indian saw me coming, +and waited calmly, tomahawk in air. While I was yet ten or twelve paces +from him, I saw his hand quiver, and sprang to one side as the blade +flashed past my head. With a yell of disappointment, the Indian turned +and disappeared in the underbrush. I ran back to Burton, and stooped to +raise him. + +"Allow me to aid you, Lieutenant Stewart," said a voice at my elbow, and +there stood Harry Marsh, as cool as though there were not an Indian +within a hundred miles. "I saw you turn back," he added, "and thought you +might need some help." + +I nodded curtly, for the bullets were whistling about us in a manner far +from pleasing, and between us we lifted Burton and started back toward +the lines. + +"My left leg seems paralyzed," he said. "The bullet must have struck a +nerve. If I could get on horseback, I should be all right again." + +And then he staggered and nearly fell, for Marsh lay crumpled up in a +heap on the ground. + +"He is dead," said Burton, as I stared down in horror at what an instant +before had been a brave, strong, hopeful human being. "A man never falls +like that unless he is dead. He was doubtless shot through the heart. He +was a brave boy. Did you know him?" + +"His name was Marsh," I answered hoarsely. "He was my cousin." + +"I shall not forget it," said Burton, and we stood a moment longer +looking down at the dead. + +But it was folly to linger there, and we continued on, I helping Burton +as well as I could. And a great loathing came over me for this game +called war. We reached the lines in safety, where Burton was taken to the +rear and given surgical attention. His wound was not a bad one, and half +an hour later, I saw that he had made good his assertion that he would be +all right once he was on horseback. + +In the mean time, affairs had gone from bad to worse, and the men were +wholly unnerved. Those who were serving the artillery were picked off, +and the pieces had been abandoned. A desperate effort was made to retake +them, but to no avail. The Indians had extended themselves along both +sides of the line, and had sharply attacked the baggage in the rear. The +men were crowded into a senseless, stupefied mob, their faces blanched +with horror and dripping with sweat, too terrified, many of them, to +reload their firelocks. The general rode up and down the line, exposing +himself with the utmost recklessness, but the men were long past the +reach of discipline. After all, human nature has its depths which no +drill-master can touch. Four horses were shot under him, and even while I +cursed his folly, I could not but admire his courage. Nor was the conduct +of his officers less gallant. Throwing themselves from the saddle, they +formed into platoons and advanced against the enemy, but not even by this +desperate means could the regulars be got to charge. So many officers +fell that at last it was as difficult to find any to give orders as to +obey them, and when, as a last desperate resort, the general, putting his +pride in his pocket, yielded to Washington's advice, and directed that +the troops divide into small parties and advance behind the trees to +surround the enemy, there was none to execute the manoeuvre, which, +earlier in the action, would have saved the day. + +It was plain that all was lost, that there was nothing left but to +retreat. We had no longer an army, but a mere mob of panic-stricken men. +The hideous yelling of the savages, as they saw the slaughter they were +doing and exulted in it, the rattle of the musketry, the groans and +curses of the wounded who fell everywhere about us, the screams of the +maddened horses, combined into a bedlam such as I hope never to hear +again. Toward the last, the Virginia troops alone preserved any semblance +of order. Away off to the right, I caught a glimpse of Peyronie rallying +the remnant of his company, and I looked from them to the trembling +regulars, and remembered with a rush of bitterness how they had laughed +at us a month before. + +Of a sudden there was a dash of hoofs beside me, and I saw the general +rein up beneath a tree and look up and down the field. Colonel Washington +was at his side, and seemed to be unwounded, though he had been ever +where the fight was thickest. + +"This is mere slaughter!" the general cried at last. "We can do no more. +Colonel Washington, order the retreat sounded." + +And as the drums rolled out the dismal strain which meant disgrace for +him and the blighting of all his hopes, he sat his horse with rigid face +and eyes from which all life had fled. He had been taught the lesson of +the wilderness. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +DEFEAT BECOMES DISHONOR + + +But there was worse to follow, for scarce had the first tap of the drums +echoed among the trees, when the mob of regulars became a mere frenzied +rabble. The officers tried to withdraw them from the field in some +semblance of order, but the men seemed seized with mad, blind, +unreasoning terror, and were soon beyond all hope of control. They rushed +from the field, sweeping their officers before them, and carrying with +them the provincial troops, who would have stood firm and behaved as +soldiers should. I was caught in one edge of the mob, as I tried to +restrain the men about me, and flung aside against a tree with such force +that I stood for a moment dazed by the blow, and then I saw I was beneath +the tree where Washington and Braddock sat their horses, watching with +grim faces the frenzied crowd sweep past. The soldiers flung away their +guns and accoutrements, their helmets, even their coats, that they might +flee the faster, and I saw one strike down a young subaltern who tried to +stay them. They jostled and fell over one another as sheep pursued by +dogs. I saw a horseman, his head bandaged in a bloody cloth, trying to +make way toward us against this cursing torrent, and recognized Captain +Orme. But he was dashed aside even as I had been, and for a moment I +thought he had been torn from his horse and trodden underfoot. Torn from +his horse he was, indeed, but escaped the latter fate, for some moments +later he came to us on foot through the trees. + +"Come, sir," he cried to the general, as he gained his side, "you must +leave the field. There is no hope of getting a guard from among these +cowards or persuading them to make a stand." + +Braddock turned to answer him, but as he did so, threw up his hands and +fell forward into the arms of his aide. I sprang to Orme's assistance, +and between us we eased him down. His horse, doubtless also struck by a +ball, dashed off screaming through the wood. + +"They have done for me!" he groaned, as we placed his back against a +tree. "Curse them, they have done for me." + +Washington, who had left his horse the instant he saw the general fall, +knelt and rested the wounded man's head upon his knee, and wiped the +bloody foam from off his lips. + +"Where are you hit?" he asked. + +"Here," and the general raised his left hand and touched his side. "'Tis +a mortal hurt, and I rejoice in it. I have no wish to survive this day's +disgrace." + +He cast his bloodshot eyes at the rabble of fleeing men. + +"And to think that they are soldiers of the line!" he moaned, and closed +his eyes, as though to shut out the sight. + +"We must get him out of this," said Orme quietly, and he turned away to +call to some of the Forty-Eighth who were rushing past. But they did not +even turn their heads. With an oath, Orme seized one by the collar. + +"A purse of sixty guineas!" he cried, dangling it before his eyes, but +the man threw him fiercely off, and continued on his way. Orme turned +back to us, his face grim with anger and despair. + +"'Tis useless," he said. "We cannot stop them. The devil himself could +not stop them now." + +The general had lain with his eyes closed and scarce breathing, so that I +thought that he had fainted. But he opened his eyes, and seemed to read +at a glance the meaning of Orme's set face. + +"Gentlemen," he said, more gently than I had ever heard him speak, "I +pray you leave me here and provide for your own safety. I have but a +little time to live at best, and the Indians will be upon us in a moment. +Leave them to finish me. You could not do a kinder thing. I have no wish +that you should sacrifice your lives so uselessly by remaining here with +me. There has been enough of sacrifice this day." + +Yes, he was a gallant man, and whatever of resentment had been in my +heart against him vanished in that instant. We three looked into each +other's eyes, and read the same determination there. We would save the +general, or die defending him. But the situation was indeed a +desperate one. + +At that moment, a tumbrel drawn by two maddened horses dashed by. One +wheel caught against a tree, and before the horses could get it free or +break from the harness, I had sprung to their heads. + +"Quick!" I cried, "I cannot hold them long." + +They understood in a moment, and, not heeding the general's entreaties +and commands that he be left, lifted him gently into the cart. Washington +sprang in beside him, Orme to the front, and in an instant I was clinging +to the seat and we were tearing along the road. It was time, for as I +glanced back, I saw the Indians rushing from the wood, cutting down and +scalping the last of the fugitives. I saw that Orme was suffering from +his wound, which seemed a serious one, and so I took the lines, which he +relinquished without protest, and held the horses to the road as well as +I was able. The tumbrel thundered on, over rocks and stumps of trees, +over dead men,--ay, and living ones, I fear,--to the river-bank, where a +few of the Virginia troops, held together by Waggoner and Peyronie, had +drawn up. It did my heart good to see them standing there, so cool and +self-possessed, while that mob of regulars poured past them, frenzied +with fear. And the thought came to me that never hereafter would a blue +coat need give precedence to a red one. + +We splashed down into the water and across the river without drawing +rein, since it was evident that no chance of safety lay on that side. +Waggoner seemed to understand what was in the cart, for he formed his men +behind us and followed us across the river. Scarcely had we reached the +other bank, when the Indians burst from the trees across the water, but +they stopped there and made no further effort at pursuit, returning to +the battleground to reap their unparalleled harvest of scalps and booty. +About half a mile from the river, we brought the horses to a stop to see +what would best be done. + +"The general commands that a stand be made here," cried Washington, +leaping from the cart, and Orme jumped down beside him, while I secured +the horses. + +"He is brave and determined as ever," said Washington in a low tone, +"though suffering fearfully. The ball has penetrated his lung, I fear, +for he can breathe only with great agony, and is spitting blood." + +Colonel Burton joined us at that moment, and between us we lifted the +general from the cart and laid him on a bed of branches on the ground. + +"Rally the men here," he said, setting his teeth to keep back the groan +which would have burst from him. "We will make a stand, and so soon as we +can get our force in shape, will march back against the enemy. We shall +know better how to deal with them the second time." + +We turned away to the work of rallying the fugitives, but the task was +not a light one, for the men seemed possessed with the fear that the +savages were on their heels, and ran past us without heeding our commands +to halt. At last we got together above a hundred men, posted sentries, +and prepared to spend the night. Darkness was already coming on, and +finally Captain Orme and Colonel Washington, after having searched in +vain for Doctor Craik, themselves washed the general's wound and dressed +it as best they could. They found that the ball had shattered the right +arm, and then passed into the side, though how deeply it had penetrated +they had no means of telling. + +Despite his suffering, he thought only of securing our position, and so +soon as his wound was dressed, he ordered Captain Waggoner and ten men to +march to our last camp and bring up some provisions which had been left +there. He directed Colonel Washington to ride at once to Colonel Dunbar's +camp, and order up the reinforcements for another advance against the +French. He dictated a letter to Dinwiddie calling for more troops, which +Washington was to take with him, and forward by messenger from Dunbar's +camp. Though so shaken in body he could scarce sit upright in the saddle, +Washington set off cheerfully on that frightful journey. Orme and I +watched him until he disappeared in the gloom. + +"A gallant man," he said, as we turned back to the rude shelter which had +been thrown up over the place where the general lay. "I do not think I +have ever seen a braver. You could not see as I could the prodigies of +valor he performed to-day. And he seems to bear a charmed life, for +though his coat was pierced a dozen times and two horses were killed +under him, he has escaped without a scratch." + +We walked on in silence until we reached headquarters, where Colonel +Burton was also sitting, suffering greatly from his wound now he was no +longer on horseback. + +"Lieutenant Stewart," he said to me, "I place you in charge of the +sentries for the night. Will you make the rounds and see that all is +well? I know the men are weary, but I need hardly tell you that our +safety will depend upon their vigilance. Guard especially against a +surprise from the direction of the river." + +I saluted, and started away to make the round. The sun had long since +sunk behind the trees in a cloud of blood-red vapor, which seemed to me +significant of the day. All about us through the forest arose the chorus +of night sounds, and afar off through the trees I could catch the +glinting of the river. What was happening beyond it, I dared not think. +And then I came to a sudden stop, for I had reached the spot where the +first sentry had been posted, but there was none in sight. + +I thought for a moment that in the darkness I must have missed the +place, but as I looked about me more attentively, I saw that could not +be. I walked up and down, but could find no trace of him. Could it be +that the Indians had stolen upon him and killed him with a blow of +knife or tomahawk before he could cry out? Yet if that had happened, +where was the body? + +I hurried on toward the spot where the next sentry had been posted, and +as I neared it, strained my eyes through the gloom, but could see no +trace of him. I told myself that I was yet too far away, and hurried +forward, but in a moment I had reached the place. There was no sentry +there. With the perspiration starting from my forehead, I peered among +the trees and asked myself what mysterious and terrible disaster +threatened us. The third sentry was missing like the others--the fourth +had disappeared--I made the whole round of the camp. Not a single +sentry remained. And then, of a sudden, the meaning of their absence +burst upon me. + +I hurried back to the camp, passing the spot where we had quartered the +men whom we had rallied, but who were not placed on sentry duty. + +As I expected, not one was there. + +"All is well, I trust, Lieutenant Stewart?" asked Colonel Burton, as I +approached. Then something in my face must have startled him, for he +asked me sharply what had happened. + +"I fear we cannot remain here, sir," I said, as calmly as I could. "All +of our men have deserted us. There is not a single sentry at his post;" +and I told him what I had found. + +He listened without a word till I had finished. + +"You will get the tumbrel ready for the general, lieutenant," he said +quietly. "I will report this sad news to him. It seems that our defeat is +to become dishonor." + +I put the horses into harness again, and led them to the place where the +general lay. He seemed dazed by the tidings of his men's desertion, and +made no protest nor uttered any sound as we lifted him again into the +cart and set off through the night. We soon reached the second ford, and +on the other side found Colonel Gage, who had contrived to rally about +eighty men and hold them there with him. But there seemed no hope of +keeping them through the night, so we set forward again, and plunged into +the gloomy forest. + +An hour later, as I was plodding wearily along beside the cart, thinking +over the events of this tragic day, I was startled by a white face +peering from beneath the upraised curtain out into the darkness. It was +the stricken man within, who was surveying the remnant of that gallant +army which, a few short hours before, had passed along this road so +gayly, thinking itself invincible. He held himself a moment so, then let +the curtain drop and fell back upon his couch. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +ALLEN AND I SHAKE HANDS + + +Of the horrors of the night which followed, my pen can paint no adequate +picture. Fugitives panted past us in the darkness, pursued by phantoms of +their own imagining, thinking only of one thing--to leave that scene of +awful slaughter far behind. The wounded toiled on, groaning and cursing, +for to drop to the rear or to wander from the way was to die, if not by +knife or tomahawk, none the less surely by hunger. Here and there some +poor wretch who could win no farther sat groaning by the roadside or +rolled in delirium upon the ground. The vast, impenetrable darkness of +the forest overshadowed us, full of threatening suggestion and peopled +with nameless terrors. + +Colonel Gage remained with us with such of his men as he could hold +together, and among them I saw Lieutenant Allen. He had been wounded in +the shoulder, and at the suggestion of Captain Orme mounted the tumbrel +and drove the horses, while I walked beside it. What agonies the stricken +man within endured, tossed from side to side as the cart bumped along the +rough road, through ruts and over rocks and stumps of trees, must have +been beyond description, but not once during all that long night did I +hear a groan or complaint from him. Once he asked for water, and as Orme +and I stooped over him I heard him murmur as though to himself, "Who +would have thought it?" and again, "Who would have thought it?" Then he +drank the water mechanically and lay back, and said no more. + +The disaster had been too sudden, too unexpected, too complete, for any +of us to fully realize. It seemed impossible that this handful of +terror-stricken fugitives should be all that remained of the proud army +to which we had belonged, and that this army had been defeated by a few +hundred Indians. Few of us had seen above a dozen of the enemy,--we of +Waggoner's company were the only ones who had looked down upon that +yelling mob in the ravine,--and scarce knew by whom we had been +slaughtered. It was incredible that two regiments of the best troops in +England should have been utterly routed by so contemptible a foe. The +reason refused to acknowledge such a thing. + +I was plodding along, wearily enough, thinking of all this, when I heard +my name called, and glancing up, saw Allen looking round the corner of +the wagon cover. + +"Won't you come up here, Lieutenant Stewart?" he asked. "There is ample +room for two, and 't is no use to tire yourself needlessly." + +I accepted gratefully, though somewhat astonished at his courtesy, and in +a moment was on the seat beside him. He fell silent for a time, nor was I +in any mood for talk, for Spiltdorph's fate and young Harry Marsh's +sudden end weighed upon me heavily. + +"Lieutenant Stewart," he said at last, "I feel that I did you and the +Virginia troops a grave injustice when I chose to question their courage. +What I saw to-day has opened my eyes to many things. In all the army, the +Virginia troops were the only ones who kept their wits about them and +proved themselves men. I wish to withdraw the expressions I used that +night, and to apologize for them most sincerely." + +My hand was in his in an instant. + +"With all my heart," I said. "I have thought more than once since then +that we were both too hasty." + +He laughed,--a short laugh, in which there was no mirth. + +"I think there are many of us who have been too hasty in this campaign," +he said. "It is easy enough to see now that regulars are worth little in +this frontier warfare, where their manoeuvres count for nothing, and that +the provincials should have been left to fight in their own fashion. It +is not a pleasant thought that all my work in drilling them was worse +than wasted, and that every new manoeuvre I taught them impaired their +efficiency by just so much." + +"'Twas not quite so bad as that," I protested. "The Virginia troops have +much to thank you for, and we shall know better how to deal with the +enemy next time." + +"Next time?" he repeated despondently. "But when will next time be, +think you?" + +"Why, at once, to be sure!" I cried. "We have still, with Colonel +Dunbar's companies, over a thousand men. So soon as we join with him, and +get our accoutrement in order, we can march back against the enemy, and +we shall not be caught twice in the same trap." + +He did not answer, and there was a moment's silence. I glanced at his +face and saw that it was very grave. + +"You do not mean," I asked, with a great fear at my heart, "that you +think it possible we shall retreat without striking another blow?" + +"I fear it is only too possible," he answered gloomily. "If the general +lives, he may order another advance; indeed, I am sure he will, in the +hope of saving some fragment of his reputation. But if he dies, as seems +most likely, Colonel Dunbar, who succeeds to the command, is not the man +to imperil his prestige by taking such a risk." + +"Risk?" I cried. "How is this any greater than the risk we took at +the outset?" + +"You forget, lieutenant," said Allen, "that all of our equipment was left +on the field. The men flung away their arms, many of them even the +clothes upon their backs. Everything was abandoned,--the general's +private papers, and even the military chest, with L10,000 in it. These +losses will not be easily repaired." + +I could not but admit the truth of this, and said as much. + +"And then," continued Allen, still more gloomily, "we have suffered +another loss which can never be made good. The morale of the men is +gone. They have no longer the confidence in themselves which a winning +army must have. I doubt if many of them could be got to cross the +Monongahela a second time." + +Yes, that was also true, and we fell silent, each busy with his own +thoughts. It seemed too horrible, too utterly fantastic. At last came the +dawn, and the light of the morning disclosed us to each other. As I +looked about me, I wondered if these scarecrows, these phantoms of men, +could be the same who had gone into battle in all the pride of manhood +and pageantry of arms the day before. Orme was ghastly, with his bandaged +head and torn, mud-stained uniform, and as I looked at him, I recalled +sadly the gallant figure I had met at Fort Necessity. Nor were the others +better. Haggard faces, bloodshot eyes, lips drawn with suffering, hair +matted with blood,--all the grim and revolting realities of defeat were +there before us, and no longer to be denied. And I realized that I was +ghastly as any. A bullet had cut open my forehead, leaving a livid gash, +from which the blood had dried about my face. I had lost my hat, and my +uniform was in tatters and stained with blood. + +We soon met the men who had gone forward with Waggoner to secure us some +supplies, and halted by a little brook to wash our injuries. Captain Orme +and some others attended as well as they were able to the general, and +gave him a little food, which was all too scarce, barely sufficient for a +single meal. Fortunately, Doctor Craik, who had learned that the general +was wounded, came up soon after, and made a careful examination of the +injury. He came away, when he had finished, with grave face, and told us +there was little hope, as the wound was already much inflamed and +fevered, and the general was able to breathe only with great agony. He +said there could be no question that the ball had entered the lung. The +general fancied that he would be easier on horseback, so when the march +was begun again, he was mounted on the horse Orme had been riding, but +after half an hour his pain grew so intense that he had to be taken down. +It was evident that he could not endure the jolting of the cart, and we +finally rigged up a sort of litter out of a portion of the tumbrel top, +and the men took turns in bearing him on this between them. + +Daylight banished much of the terror of the night, and as we toiled +onward, we began to talk a little, each to tell what part he had seen +of the battle. It was here that I heard the story of Harry Gordon, the +engineer who had been marking out the road in advance of the column, +and who had first seen the enemy. They had appeared suddenly, coming +through the wood at a run, as though hurrying from the fort, and led by +a man whose silver gorget and gayly fringed hunting-shirt at once +bespoke the chief. So soon as he saw Gordon, he halted and waved his +hat above his head, and the rabble of savages at his heels had +dispersed to right and left and disappeared as if by magic. An instant +later came a tremendous rifle fire from either flank, which cut Gage's +troops to pieces. They had rallied and returned the fire with spirit, +so that for a time the issue hung in the balance; but the terrible fire +to which they were subjected was too much for any discipline to +withstand, and they had finally given way in confusion, just as Burton +was forming to support them. + +It was not until long afterward that I heard the French story of the +fight, but I deem it best to set it down here. As our army had approached +through the wilderness, the Indians who lurked upon our flanks had +carried greatly exaggerated stories of our strength to Fort Duquesne, and +M. de Contrecoeur prepared to surrender on terms of honorable +capitulation, deeming it mere madness to oppose a force so overwhelming +in strength and so well disciplined. To the French the reputation of +General Braddock and of the Forty-Fourth and Forty-Eighth regiments of +the line was well known and commanded the greatest respect. On the eighth +of July, it was reported that the English were only a few miles from the +fort, which they would probably invest the next day, and M. de Beaujeu, a +captain of the regulars, asked the commandant for permission to prepare +an ambuscade and contest the second passage of the Monongahela. +Contrecoeur granted the request with great reluctance, and only on +condition that Beaujeu obtain the assistance of the Indians, of whom +there were near a thousand camped about the fort. Accordingly. Beaujeu at +once called the warriors to a council, and urged that they accompany him +against the English on the morrow. They received his proposition with +marked coldness, and according to the Indian custom, asked until morning +to consider their reply. In the morning, the council was called together +again, and the Indians refused to take part in the expedition. At that +moment a runner burst in upon them and announced that the enemy was at +hand. Beaujeu, who knew well the inflammable nature of his hearers, was +on his feet in an instant. + +"I," he cried, "am determined to go out against the enemy. I am certain +of victory. What! Will you suffer your father to depart alone?" + +It was the one spark needed to set the Indians on fire. They were frantic +with excitement. Barrels of bullets and casks of powder were rolled from +the fort, and their heads knocked out, so that each Indian could take +what he needed. War paint was donned, and in an hour the band, nine +hundred strong, of whom near seven hundred were Indians and the remainder +Canadians and regulars, set off silently through the forest. Beaujeu +calculated, at the most, on giving us a severe check as we crossed the +second ford, but long ere he reached the river, the beating of the drums +and the tramp of the approaching army told him that he was too late, and +that we had already crossed. Quickening their pace to a run, in a moment +they came upon our vanguard, and as Beaujeu gave the signal, the Indians +threw themselves into two ravines on our flanks, while the Canadians and +French held the centre. The first volley of Gage's troops killed +Beaujeu, and was so tremendous that it frightened the Indians, who +turned to flee. But they were rallied by a few subalterns, and finding +that the volleys of the regulars did little damage except to the trees, +returned to the attack, and during the whole engagement were perfectly +sheltered in the ravines, rifle and artillery fire alike sweeping above +them. They lost altogether but twenty-five or thirty men, and most of +these fell before the volley which we of Waggoner's company had fired +into the ravine. + +After our retreat, no pursuit was attempted, the Indians busying +themselves killing and scalping the wounded and gathering up the rich +booty which the army had left behind. They decked themselves in British +uniforms, stuck the tall caps of the grenadiers above their painted +faces, wound neck, wrist, and ankle with gold lace, made the wood to echo +with the dreadful scalp-halloo. Such an orgy of blood they never had +before; not another such will they ever have. + +One other horror must I record, which chokes me even yet to think of. A +score of regulars, surrounded by savages and cut off in their retreat +from the remainder of the army, yielded themselves captive to the +victors, thinking to be treated as prisoners of war have ever been in +Christian nations. But the Indians knew only their own bloodthirsty +customs. Half of the captives were tomahawked on the spot. The others +were stripped of clothing, their faces blackened, their hands bound +behind them, and were driven forward to the Allegheny, where, just +across from Fort Duquesne, a stake had been set in the river's bank. +Arrived there, the prisoners began to understand the fate prepared for +them, yet they could not believe. A hundred yards away across the river +stood the walls of the fort, crowded with soldiers, the fair lilies of +France waving lazily above their heads. Calmly they watched the terrible +preparations,--Contrecoeur, Dumas, and all the others,--and not one +raised a hand to rescue those unhappy men, or uttered a word to mitigate +their torture. From dark to dawn the flames shimmered across the +water,--for the English went to their fate singly,--and things were done +to turn one sick with horror; yet did the French look tranquilly from +their bastions and joke one to another. Our flag, thank God, has never +been sullied by a deed like that! + +Early the next morning, the Indians started westward to their homes, +laden with booty, sated with slaughter, leaving the French to take care +of themselves as best they might. The latter remained for a week in great +fear of another attack, which they would have been quite unable to +withstand, little thinking that our army was fleeing back to the +settlements with feet winged by an unreasoning terror. + +We reached Gist's plantation at ten o'clock on the night of the tenth, +and here we were compelled to stop because of our own exhaustion and the +great suffering of the general. And here, early the next morning, came +Colonel Washington, sitting his cushioned saddle like some gaunt +spectre, and bringing with him wagons loaded with provision. The general +still persisted in the exercise of his duties, despite his suffering, and +he at once detailed a party to proceed toward the Monongahela with a +supply of food, for the succor of the stragglers and the wounded who had +been left behind,--a duty which was ill fulfilled because of the +cowardice of those to whom it was intrusted. Meanwhile we pushed on, and +reached Dunbar's camp that night. + +We found it in the utmost confusion. At five o'clock on the morning after +the battle, a teamster, who had cut loose his horse and fled at the first +onset, had ridden madly into the camp crying that the whole army was +destroyed and he alone survived. At his heels came other teamsters, for +with an appalling cowardice, which makes me blush for my countrymen, they +had one and all cut loose their teams at the first fire, and selecting +the best horse, had fled precipitately from the field. Toward noon, +Colonel Washington had arrived, bringing the first accurate news of the +disaster, and at once setting on foot the relief expedition. After him +came troops of haggard, toil-worn, famished men, without arms, bewildered +with terror, fearing a second ambuscade at every step, and with the yells +of the Indians still ringing in their ears. The news of the disaster and +the incoherent stories of these half-crazed fugitives spread +consternation through the camp. Men deserted by scores and started +hot-foot for the settlements, and all pretense of discipline vanished. +Nor did the arrival of the general greatly better matters. He was fast +sinking, and long periods of delirium sapped his strength. It was evident +that the end was near. + +On the morning of the twelfth, I was engaged in collecting such of +the Virginia troops as I could find about the camp, when I saw +Colonel Washington approaching with a face so gloomy that I foresaw +some new disaster. + +"What is it?" I asked, almost before he had reached me. + +"Have you not heard?" and he looked meaningly back toward a spring near +which a number of men were unheading some casks. "We are to destroy all +our powder and stores, burn our wagons, and flee back to the settlements, +like so many children." + +"Why, 'tis folly!" I cried. "'Tis monstrous! Who gave such an order?" + +"I know not," and Washington smiled bitterly. "It is certain that the +general did not, since he has been raving with fever all the night. +Besides, his one thought has been to march back against the French the +instant he could get his troops together. Come, walk over with me and let +us watch this unhappy work." + +I followed him, and witnessed a sight which filled me with speechless +anger and indignation. Powder casks were being knocked open and their +contents cast into the spring, cohorns broken, shells burst, provisions +destroyed, and upwards of a hundred and fifty wagons burned. I remembered +bitterly what work we had had to obtain those wagons. Such a scene of +senseless and wanton destruction I had never seen before, and hope never +to see again. A frenzy of terror seemed to possess officers and men +alike, and I turned away, raging at heart, to think that to such men as +these had been intrusted the defense of our country. At last the work of +destruction was complete. With barely enough provision to carry us to +Fort Cumberland, and with no ammunition save that in our cartouch boxes, +the retreat commenced, if the flight of a disordered and frenzied rabble +can be dignified by such a name. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +BRADDOCK PAYS THE PRICE + + +It was the morning of Sunday, July 13, that this shameful flight began. +Its arrant cowardice weighed on many of the officers who were left alive, +and even on some of the men, especially, I am glad to say, on many of the +Virginians. Whose fault was it? Well, Colonel Dunbar was in command, +since the general was no longer conscious, and must take the blame. + +Colonel Washington had asked me to remain near him, if possible. He had +secured me a horse, and together with Captain Orme, who was no less +depressed, we formed the escort to the litter whereon lay the dying man. +Doctor Craik came to us from time to time, but the general was far beyond +human aid. I had never respected him so much as in this hour, for of his +downright valor I had had every proof. If only his pride had been a +little less, that his valor might have counted! It was while I was riding +thus, absorbed in melancholy thought, that a horse cantered up beside me, +and looking up, I saw Lieutenant Allen. + +"Confess I was a true prophet, Lieutenant Stewart," he remarked, with +a sorry attempt at a smile, "though damme if I could have foretold +that act of folly back yonder! You see, I know our new commander +better than do you." + +"So it seems," I answered, and at that moment caught Colonel Washington's +astonished eyes fixed upon us. Allen followed my glance, and smiled as he +saw the expression of Washington's face. + +"He cannot understand our friendliness," he laughed. "He is doubtless +wondering if we are arranging the preliminaries for the desperate +encounter for which we were booked. Let me explain the situation to him," +and he spurred to Washington's side. "I had occasion to say to Lieutenant +Stewart a few evenings ago," he said, "that I had been grievously +mistaken in my estimate of his courage, and that of the Virginia +companies, and that I was truly sorry that I had ever questioned them. In +the light of to-day's event, I am still more sorry, and I wish to add to +you, Colonel Washington, that I regret the words I used to you, and that +I sincerely ask your pardon." + +"'Tis granted with all my heart!" cried Washington, his face illumined +with that fine smile which always lighted it before any deed of courage +or gentleness, and the two shook hands warmly. "'Twas granted before you +asked it. I am not such a fire-eater as Tom, back there. I have regretted +that foolish quarrel many times, and had determined that it should not +lead to another meeting between you, which would have been mere folly. +Come here, sir," he called to me. "I wish to tell you how pleased I am +that this quarrel has been adjusted." + +"No more pleased than I, I assure you, colonel," I laughed. +"Lieutenant Allen gave me a sample of his swordsmanship I shall not +soon forget. I should have been as helpless before him as a lamb in the +jaws of a tiger." + +"Now you are mocking me!" cried Allen, and as I related to Colonel +Washington the story of his little bout with Langlade, we rode on +laughing, the best of friends. + +"But, believe me, Lieutenant Stewart," he said, when I had finished, "it +was not self-complacency which urged me to take up the foils that day. I +merely wished to show you that you had need to keep in practice, and so +prevent you from becoming over-sure." + +"'T was well done," said Washington heartily. "I appreciate your conduct, +Lieutenant Allen." + +"And I certainly took the lesson to heart," I laughed. "Just before you +came, I had conceived a most exalted opinion of my own abilities. I shall +not make the mistake a second time." + +Presently Allen fell back to rejoin the rear-guard, with which he had +been stationed, and we rode on beside the general's litter. He was +delirious most of the time, and was fighting the battle of the +Monongahela over and over again, giving orders and threshing from side to +side of his couch in his agony. In one of his intervals of consciousness, +he called my companion to him. + +"Colonel Washington," he said in a low tone, "I feel that I have done you +great injustice. Had I followed your advice, this catastrophe might not +have happened. But my eyes were not opened until too late. Had I lived, +I should not have forgot you. I am sure you cannot withhold your pardon +from a dying man." + +Washington's lips were trembling as he bent over the litter. + +"If there is anything to pardon, general," he said softly, "be sure I +pardon you with all my heart. You have the love of all your officers, +sir, who revere you as a brave and gallant man." + +"Ay, but a proud and stubborn one," and he smiled sadly. "Would God I had +had the grace to see it while it was yet time. Colonel Washington," he +added, "I wish you to have my charger, Bruce, and my body servant, +Bishop. These two gentlemen are witnesses that I give them to you." + +Orme and I bowed our assent, and Washington thanked him with a trembling +voice. He was soon wandering again, this time, apparently, among the +scenes of his earlier manhood. + +"Messieurs de la Garde Francaise," he cried, "tirez, s'il vous plait!" + +"Ah," murmured Orme, "he is at Fontenoy." + +And again,-- + +"Poor Fanny, I always thought she would play till she would be forced to +tuck herself up." + +"She was his sister," said Orme, answering our questioning glances. "She +ruined herself at cards and then hanged herself. It was a sad story." + +And yet again,-- + +"No, I'll not take your purse!" he cried; and then after a moment, "nor +ask my life at your hands. Do what you will." + +I could bear no more, and rode forward out of earshot. To see this +gallant man lying there, slowly dying, bereft at one stroke of life and +that far dearer to him than life, his military reputation, moved me as +few things had ever done. He had another lucid interval toward the middle +of the afternoon, and warmly praised the conduct of his officers. + +"They were gallant boys, every one," he said. "They did their duty +as brave men should. How many of them fell?" he asked suddenly, +turning to Orme. + +"Sixteen," answered Orme sadly. + +"And how many were wounded?" + +"Forty-seven." + +"Sixty-three,--and there were only eighty-nine," and Braddock sighed +heavily. "And how went it with the men?" + +Orme hesitated, fearing to disclose the extent of the disaster, but the +general's eyes were on his and would take no denial. + +"They suffered very heavily," said Orme at last. "Less than five hundred +escaped unharmed. All of the wounded who remained on the field were +killed by the Indians." + +"And we went into battle with near fifteen hundred men," said Braddock. +"Why, it was mere slaughter. There has never an army gone into battle +which lost such proportion of its numbers. Ah, well, I shall soon join +them. And they are happier than I, for they went to their end honored +and applauded, whilst I am a broken and ruined man, who will be +remembered only to be cursed." + +He turned his head away from us, and a great tear rolled down his cheek. +Orme was crying like a child, and made no effort to conceal it, nor were +Washington and I less moved. + +"At least," he said at last, turning back to us with a smile, "it were +better to have died than to have lived. I am glad I do not have to live." + +He soon lapsed again into delirium, and seemed to be living over a second +time a meeting with some woman. + +"Dear Pop," he said, "we are sent like sacrifices to the altar. They have +given me a handful of men and expect me to conquer whole nations. I know +that I shall never see you more. Good-by, Pop, and God bless you." + +Orme turned away for a moment to master his emotion. + +"'T was his last night in London," he said when he could speak. "He was +to set out on the morrow, and he asked Colonel Burton and myself to go +with him to visit a very dear protegee of his, George Anne Bellamy, the +actress, to whom, I think, he has left all his property. He used to her +almost the same words he has just repeated." + +"So he had doubts of his success," said Washington musingly. "Well, he +was a brave man, for he never permitted them to be seen." + +He was fast growing weaker. His voice faltered and failed, and he lay +without movement in his litter, continuing so until eight o'clock in the +evening. We had halted for the night, and had gathered about his couch, +watching him as his breathing grew slowly fainter. At last, when we +thought him all but gone, he opened his eyes, and seeing the ring of +anxious faces about him, smiled up at them. + +"It is the end," he said quietly. "You will better know how to deal with +them next time;" and turning his head to one side, he closed his eyes. + +We buried him at daybreak. The grave was dug in the middle of the road, +so that the wagons passing over it might efface all trace of its +existence and preserve it inviolate from the hands of the Indians. Our +chaplain, Mr. Hughes, had been severely wounded, so it was Colonel +Washington who read the burial service. I shall not soon forget that +scene,--the open grave in the narrow roadway, the rude coffin draped with +a flag, the martial figure within in full uniform, his hands crossed over +the sword on his breast, the riderless charger neighing for its master, +and the gray light of the morning over it all. The burial service has +never sounded more impressively in my ears than it did as read that +morning, in Colonel Washington's strong, melodious voice, to that little +group of listening men, in the midst of the wide, unbroken, whispering +forest. How often have I heard those words of hope and trust in God's +promise to His children, and under what varying circumstances! + +We lowered him into the grave, and lingered near until the earth was +heaped about it. Then the drums beat the march, the wagons rolled over +it, and in half an hour no trace of it remained. So to this day, he lies +there undisturbed in the heart of the wilderness, in a grave which no man +knows. Others have railed at him,--have decried him and slandered +him,--but I remember him as he appeared on that last day of all, a brave +and loyal gentleman, not afraid of death, but rather welcoming it, and +the memory is a sweet and dear one. If he made mistakes, he paid for them +the uttermost penalty which any man could pay,--and may he rest in peace. + +Of the remainder of that melancholy flight little need be said. We +struggled on through the wilderness, bearing our three hundred wounded +with us as best we could, and marking our path with their shallow graves, +as they succumbed one after another to the hardships of the journey. On +the twenty-second day of July we reached Fort Cumberland, and I learned +with amazement that Dunbar did not propose to stop here, although he had +placed near a hundred and fifty miles between him and the enemy, but to +carry his whole army to Philadelphia, leaving Virginia open to Indian and +French invasion by the very road which we had made. He alleged that he +must go into winter quarters, and that, too, though it was just the +height of summer. Colonel Washington ventured to protest against this +folly, but was threatened with court-martial, and came out of Dunbar's +quarters red with anger and chagrin. + +And sure enough, on the second of August, Dunbar marched away with all +his effective men, twelve hundred strong, leaving at the fort all his +sick and wounded and the Virginia and Maryland troops, over whom he +attempted to exercise no control. I bade good-by to Orme and Allen and +such other of the officers as I had met. Colonel Burton took occasion to +come to me the night before he marched, and presented me with a very +handsome sword in token of his gratitude, as he said, for saving his +life,--an exploit, as I pointed out to him, small enough beside a hundred +others that were done that day. + +The sword he gave me hangs above my desk as I write. I am free to confess +that I have performed no great exploits with it, and when I took it down +from its hook the other day to look at it, I found that it had rusted in +its scabbard. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +VIRGINIA BIDS US WELCOME + + +"To my mind, there is only one thing to be done. That is to retire." + +The speaker was Colonel Henry Innes, commandant of the fort, but as he +looked up and down the row of faces opposite him, he saw few which showed +assent. Scarcely had the rear-guard of Dunbar's troops disappeared among +the trees which lined the narrow military road, when Colonel Innes had +called this meeting of the officers left at the fort, "to decide," as the +summons put it, "on our future course of action." As if, I thought +indignantly to myself, there could be any question as to what our future +course of action should be. + +"We are left here," continued the speaker, in a louder voice and growing +somewhat red in the face, "with scarce five hundred men, all provincials, +and most of them unfit for service. A great part of the army's equipment +has been abandoned or destroyed back there in the woods. In short, we are +so weak that we can hope neither to advance against the enemy nor to +repel an assault, should they march against us in force, as they are most +like to do." + +For a moment there was an ominous silence. + +"May I ask what it is you propose, Colonel Innes?" asked Captain +Waggoner at last. + +"I propose to abandon the place," replied Innes, "and to fall back to +Winchester or some other point where our wounded may lie in safety and +our men have opportunity to recover from the fatigues of the campaign." + +Again there was a moment's silence, and all of us, as by a common +impulse, glanced at Colonel Washington, who sat at one end of the table, +his head bowed in gloomy thought. The fever, which he had shaken off for +a time, had been brought back by the arduous work he had insisted on +performing, and he was but the shadow of his former self. He felt our +eyes upon him and suddenly raised his head. + +"Do you really anticipate that the French will march against us, Colonel +Innes?" he asked quietly. "There were scarce three hundred of them at the +fort three weeks ago, hardly enough for an expedition of such moment, and +it is not likely that they can be reinforced to undertake any campaign +this summer." + +"There would be little danger from the French themselves," retorted +Innes, with an angry flush, "but they will undoubtedly rally the Indians, +and lead them against us along the very road which Braddock cut over the +mountains. Fort Cumberland stands at one end of that road." + +Washington smiled disdainfully. + +"I have heard of few instances," he said, "where Indians have dared +attack a well-manned fortification, and of none where they have captured +one. To retreat from here would be to leave our whole frontier open to +their ravages, and would be an act of cowardice more contemptible than +that which Colonel Dunbar performed this morning, when he marched his +troops away." + +I had never seen him so moved, and I caught the infection of his anger. + +"Colonel Washington is right!" I cried hotly. "Our place is here." + +Innes did not so much as look at me. His eyes were on Washington, and his +face was very red. + +"Colonel Washington," he sneered, his lips curling away from his teeth +with rage, "was, I believe, an aide on the general's staff. Since the +general is dead, that position no longer exists. Consequently, Colonel +Washington is no longer an officer of the army, and I fail to see what +right he has to take part in this discussion." + +Half a dozen of us were on our feet in an instant, but Washington was +before us and waved us back with a motion of his hand. + +"Colonel Innes is right," he said, his deep-set eyes gleaming like two +coals of fire. "I am no longer an officer of the army, and I thank God +this is so, since it is about to further disgrace itself." + +"Take care, sir," cried Innes, springing to his feet. "You forget there +is such a thing as court-martial." + +"And you forget that I am no longer of the army, and so can defy its +discipline." + +He stood for a moment longer looking Innes in the eyes, and then, +without saluting, turned on his heel and left the place. A moment later +the council broke up in confusion, for Innes saw plainly that the +sentiment of nearly all the other officers present was against him, and +he did not choose to give it opportunity of expression. I had scarcely +reached my quarters when I received a note from his secretary stating +that as the mortality among the Virginia companies had been so heavy, it +had been decided to unite the three into one, and my lieutenancy was +therefore abolished. Trembling with anger, I hurried to Washington's +quarters and laid the note before him. + +"Why, Tom," he said, with a short laugh, after he had read it, "we seem +to have fallen into disgrace together. But come," he added more +cheerfully, seeing my downcast face, "do not despair. We may yet win out. +The governor and the House of Burgesses will not receive so quietly this +project to retire from the frontier. I had a letter from Dinwiddie but +the other day, in which he said as much. In the mean time, I am going +home to Mount Vernon to rest, and you must come with me." + +I accepted readily enough, for I knew not what else to do, and on the +morrow we set out. Colonel Washington was so ill that we could proceed +but slowly. We finally reached Winchester, and from there, because of the +better road, crossed the river to Frederick, where a great surprise +awaited us. For scarcely were we off our horses at the little tavern, +than the host, learning our names, rushed away down the wide, rambling +street, crying the news aloud, to our great wonderment, who saw not why +it should interest any one. In an incredibly short time, above a hundred +people had gathered before the inn, cheering and hallooing with all their +might, while we looked at them in dumb amazement. We sent for the host to +learn what this might mean, thinking doubtless there was some mistake, +and even as he entered, a dozen men burst into the room, and insisted +that we should not be permitted for a moment to think of putting up at an +inn, but should accompany them home. + +"But, gentlemen," protested Washington, "you have mistaken us for some +one else. We have done nothing to deserve your hospitality." + +"Have you not?" they cried, and they hustled us out into the yard. There +was no denying them, so off we rode again, greatly bewildered, and in the +course of half an hour were being introduced by our self-appointed +entertainer to his wife and three pretty daughters. + +"'T is Colonel Washington, you understand, wife," he cried. "Colonel +Washington, whose advice, had it been followed, would have saved the +expedition." + +A great light broke upon me. So my friend's merits were to be recognized +at last,--were to win him something more than contumely and insult,--and +as he would have made denial, I cut him short. + +"Do not listen to him!" I cried. "'T is true, every word of it, and much +more besides." + +Whereat the girls smiled at me very sweetly, our host wrung my hand +again, and I swear there were tears in Washington's eyes as he looked at +me in feigned anger. Such a night's entertainment as was given us I shall +not soon forget, nor Colonel Washington either, I dare say. Word of our +presence had got about the neighborhood with singular speed, and the +people flocked in by dozens, until the great hallway, which ran through +the house from front to rear, was crowded from end to end. Then, nothing +would do but that Colonel Washington must tell the story of the advance, +the ambuscade, and the retreat, which he did with such consummate +slighting of his own part in the campaign that I interrupted him in great +indignation, and, unheeding his protests, related some of the things +concerning him which I have already written, and which, I swear, were +very well received. + +"But Lieutenant Stewart says nothing of what he himself did," cried +Washington, when I had finished. + +"Because I did nothing worth relating," I retorted, my cheeks hot with +embarrassment at the way they looked at me. + +"Ask him how he won that sword he wears at his side," he continued, not +heeding my interruption, his eyes twinkling at my discomfiture. "Believe +me, 'tis not many Virginia officers can boast such a fine one." + +And then, of course, they all demanded that he tell the story, which he +did with an exaggeration that I considered little less than shameful. +In some mysterious manner, tankards of cold, bitter Dutch beer, the +kind that is so refreshing after a journey or at the close of a hot +day's work, had found their way into the right hand of every man +present, and as Washington ended the story and I was yet denying, our +host sprang to his feet. + +"We'll drink to the troops of Maryland and Virginia," he cried, "who +behaved like soldiers and died like men, teaching England's redcoats a +lesson they will not soon forget, and to two of the bravest among them, +Colonel Washington and Lieutenant Stewart!" + +It was done with a cheer that made the old hall ring, and when, half an +hour later, I found myself beside the prettiest of the three daughters of +the house, I was not yet quite recovered. Only this I can say,--it is a +pleasant thing to be a hero, though trying to the nerves. I had only the +one experience, and did not merit that, as the reader has doubtless +decided for himself. + +Of course there was a dance,--what merrymaking would be complete without +one?--and Colonel Washington walked a minuet with a certain Mistress +Patience Burd, with a grace which excited the admiration of every swain +in the room, and the envy of not a few,--myself among the number, for I +was ever but a clumsy dancer, and on this occasion no doubt greatly vexed +my pretty partner. But every night must end, as this one did at last. +Colonel Washington was much better next morning, for his illness had been +more of the mind than of the body, and our kind reception had done +wonders to banish his vexation. Our friends bade us Godspeed, and we rode +on our way southward. I never saw the house again, and it is one of my +great regrets and reasons for self-reproach that I have forgot the name +of the honest man who was our host that night, and remember only that the +name of his prettiest daughter was Betty. + +As we reached a part of the country which was more closely settled, I +soon perceived that however great dishonor had accrued to British arms +and British reputations as the result of that battle by the Monongahela, +Colonel Washington had won only respect and admiration by his consistent +and courageous conduct. We were stopped a hundred times by people who +asked first for news, and when they heard my companion's name, vied with +one another to do him honor. It did me good to see how he brightened +under these kind words and friendly acts, and how the color came again +into his face and the light into his eyes. And I hold that this was as it +should be, for I know of nothing of which a man may be more justly proud +than of the well-earned praises of his fellows. + +At last, toward the evening of a sultry August day, we turned our horses' +heads into the wide road which led up to Mount Vernon, and drew near to +that hospitable and familiar mansion. News of our approach must have +preceded us, for there, drawn up in line, were the bowing and grinning +negroes, while at the entrance gate were Mrs. Washington and her +children, as well as a dozen families assembled from as many miles +around to do honor to the returning warrior. My heart beat more quickly +as I ran my eyes over this gathering, but fell again when I saw that the +family from Riverview was not there. + +And such a greeting as it was! We all remained a space apart until Mrs. +Washington had kissed her son, as something too sacred for our intrusion. +But when he turned to greet his neighbors, I have rarely seen such +genuine emotion shown even in our whole-hearted Virginia. At the great +dinner which followed, with Mrs. Washington at the head of the table and +her son at the foot, we told again the story of the campaign, and the men +forgot to sip their wine until the tale was ended. Yet with all this +largess of goodwill, I was not wholly happy. For I had no home to go to, +nor was there any waiting to welcome me, and the woman I loved seemed +farther away than ever, though now she was so near. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A NEW DANGER AT RIVERVIEW + + +But Dorothy was not so near as I had thought, for next morning came a +message from my aunt. It was delivered almost as soon as I was out of bed +by a negro boy who had ridden over at daybreak. It was dated but two days +before, and began very formally. + +"Sir," it ran, "since you no doubt will wish to recuperate from the +fatigues of the campaign so unfortunately ended, and as there is no place +where you can do this so well as at Riverview, I hasten to assure you +that the place is entirely at your service." + +I paused a moment to get my breath. Her reference to the campaign was +intended as a stab, of course, yet could it be she was relenting? But +hope fell as I read on. + +"In order that you may feel at liberty to avail yourself of this +invitation," the note continued, "my daughter and I have accepted one of +long standing to spend a month, or perhaps two months, at the home of a +relative. James is at Williamsburg, so that you may be entirely free to +occupy your leisure at Riverview as best pleases you. Do not think that +you have driven us from the place, for that is not at all the case. I +have long felt the need of rest, and take advantage of this opportunity, +while there is little doing on the plantation, to secure it. I trust to +your sense of honor to make no inquiries as to where we are stopping, nor +to attempt to see my daughter, who, I believe, has already discovered +that any fancy she may ever have seemed to entertain for you was more +imaginary than real." + +Here was a blow, straight from the shoulder, and I winced under it. + +"I could never consent," the note concluded, "to any attachment of a +serious nature between you, having quite other views for my daughter, +which, I am sure, will be for her happiness and well-being." + +I read the note through a second time before I realized what a blow it +gave to all my hopes. I had had little cause to anticipate any other +treatment, it is true, and yet I have often observed that men hope most +who have least reason for it, and this was so in my case. As I read the +note again, I could not but admire the adroitness of its author. She had +placed me upon honor--without my consent, 't is true--to make no effort +to see Dorothy. I stood biting my lips with anger and vexation, and then, +with sudden resolve, turned back to the messenger. + +"Go around to the kitchen and get something to eat, if you are hungry," I +said to him. "I shall be ready to ride back with you in half an hour;" +and as he disappeared around a corner of the house, agrin from ear to +ear at the prospect of refreshment, I sought Mrs. Washington and told her +that I had just received a note from my aunt and would ride to Riverview +at once. How much she suspected of my difference with my aunt, I do not +know, but if she experienced any surprise at my sudden departure, she +certainly did not show it, saying only that she regretted that I must go +so soon, and that I must always consider Mount Vernon no less my home +than Riverview,--an assurance which Colonel Washington repeated when the +moment came to say good-by, and I rode away at last with a very tender +feeling in my heart for those two figures which stood there on the steps +until I turned into the road and passed from sight. + +"And how is everything at Riverview, Sam?" I asked of the boy, as we +struck into the road and settled our horses into an easy canter. He did +not answer for a moment, and when I glanced at him to see the cause of +his silence, I was astonished to find him rolling his eyes about as +though he saw a ghost. + +"What's the matter, boy?" I asked sharply. "Come, speak out. What is it?" + +He looked behind him and all around into the woods, and then urged his +horse close to mine. + +"Mas' Tom," he said, almost in a whisper, "dere's gwine t' be hell at d' +plantation foh long. Youse stay 'way fum it." + +I looked at him, still more astonished by his singular behavior. A +full-blooded negro does not turn pale, but under the influence of great +terror his skin grows spotted and livid. Sam's was livid at that moment. + +"See here, Sam," I said sharply, "if you have anything to tell, I want +you to tell me right away. What are you afraid of?" + +"D' witch man," he whispered, his eyes almost starting from his head, and +his forehead suddenly beading with perspiration. + +"The witch man? Has a witch man come to Riverview?" + +He nodded. + +"And what is he doing there, Sam?" + +"He says d' French dun whopped d' English, an' a-comin' t' set all d' +niggahs free. He says we mus' holp, an' dere won't be no mo' slaves. All +ub us be free, jus' like white folks." + +It took me a minute or two to grasp the full meaning of this +extraordinary revelation. + +"He says the French are coming to set all the niggers free?" I repeated. + +Sam nodded. + +"And that the niggers must help them?" + +Again Sam nodded. + +"Help them how, Sam?" + +He hesitated. + +"By killing the English, Sam?" + +"I reckon dat 's it," he said reluctantly. + +"And burning down their houses, perhaps?" + +"I 'se hearn dat talked erboat, too." + +I drew my horse in with a jerk, and catching Sam's by the bridle, +pulled it to me. + +"Now, boy," I said, "you must tell me all about this. I promise you that +no one shall harm you." + +He began to whimper. + +"I'll tell yo', Mas' Tom," he stuttered, "but yo' mus' n' hurt d' +witch man." + +"Who is this witch man?" I demanded. + +"Ole uncle Polete." + +"Polete's no witch man. Why, Sam, you 've known him all your life. He's +nothing but an ordinary old nigger. He's been on the plantation twenty or +thirty years. All that he needs is a good whipping." + +But the boy only shook his head and sobbed the more. + +"Ef he's a-killed," he cried, "his ha'nt 'll come back fo' me." + +I saw in a moment what the boy was afraid of. It was not of old +Polete in the flesh, but in the spirit. I thought for a moment. Well, +I had no reason to wish Polete any harm, yet if it were discovered +that he had been inciting the slaves to insurrection, there was no +power in the colony could save his life. If his owner did not execute +him, the governor would take the matter out of his hands, and order +it done himself. + +"I tell you what I'll do, Sam," I said at last. "You tell me everything +you know, and I'll do all I can to save Polete. I believe I can stop this +thing without calling in any outside help." + +He agreed to this, and as we jogged along I gradually drew the details of +the plot from him. The news of our defeat had, it seemed, stirred up the +negroes at the plantation, and in some way the wild rumor had been +started that a great force of French was marching over the mountains to +conquer Virginia and all the other English colonies; that emissaries had +come to the negroes and promised them that if they would assist the +invading army, they would be given their freedom and half of the colony +to live in. It was at this time that old Polete, crazed, perhaps, by +working in the tobacco fields under the blazing sun, had suddenly +developed into a witch man, and proclaimed that he could see the French +army marching, and urged the negroes to strike a blow at once in order to +merit their freedom when the French should come. Meetings were held +almost nightly in the woods some miles from their cabins, whence they +stole away after dark by twos and threes. Just what their plans were Sam +did not know, as he did not belong to the inner council, but he believed +that something would happen soon because of the increasing excitement of +the older negroes who were acquainted with the plans. + +I rode on for some time in silence, thinking over this story and trying +to decide what I would better do. I did not know until months later that +signs of unrest had been observed among the slaves all over the colony, +and that the governor had considered the situation so serious that he had +sent out many warnings concerning the danger. It was as well, perhaps, +that I did not know this then, for I might not have thought my own +portion of the problem so easy of solution. At the time, I had no +thought but that the outbreak was the result of old Polete's prophecies, +and was confined alone to Riverview. + +Sam was cantering along behind me, his face still livid with terror, and +as I caught sight of it again, I wondered what impulse it was had moved +him to confide in me, with such fancied peril to himself. + +"I would n' tole nobody else," he said, in answer to my question, "but +you tole a lie fo' me oncet, an' saved me a lickin'." + +"Told a lie for you, Sam?" I questioned in astonishment. "When was that?" + +"Don' yo' 'membah boat d' whip, Mas' Tom, what I stole?" he asked. + +I looked at him for a moment before that incident of my boyhood came +back to me. + +"Why, yes, I remember it now," I said. "But that was years ago, Sam, and +I had forgotten it. Besides, I didn't tell a lie for you. I only told old +Gump that I wished to give you the whip." + +"Well," said Sam, looking at me doubtfully, "yo' saved me a lickin' +anyhow, an' I did n' f 'git it," and he dropped back again. + +Well, to be sure, an act of thoughtfulness or mercy never hurts a man, a +fact which I have since learned for myself a hundred times, and wish all +men realized. + +We were soon at Riverview, and I ordered Sam to ride out to the field +where the men were working, and tell the overseer, Long, that I wished to +see him. Sam departed on the errand, visibly uneasy, and I wandered from +my room, where I had taken my pack, along the hall and into my aunt's +business room while I waited his return. I stood again for a moment at +the spot on the staircase where I had kissed Dorothy that morning,--it +seemed ages ago,--and as I looked up, I fancied I could still see her +sweet face gazing down at me. But it was only fancy, and, with a sigh, I +turned away and went down through the hall. + +There were reminders of her at every turn,--there was the place where she +had sat sewing in the evenings; over the fireplace hung a little picture +she had painted, rude enough, no doubt, but beautiful to my eyes. With a +sudden impulse, I ran down the steps and to the old seat under the oaks +by the river. Nothing had changed,--even the shadows across the water +seemed to be the same. But as I ran my hand mechanically along the arm of +the seat on the side where Dorothy always sat my fingers felt a roughness +which had not been there before, and as I looked to see what this might +be, I saw that some one had cut in the wood a T and a D, intertwined, and +circled by a tiny heart. Who could have done it? I had no need to ask +myself the question. My heart told me that no one but Dorothy could have +done it, and that she knew that I should come and sit here and live over +again the long evenings when she had sat beside me. It was a message from +my love, and with trembling lips I bent and kissed the letters which she +had carved. As I sat erect again, I heard footsteps behind me, and turned +to see Long approaching. + +"You sent for me, Mr. Stewart?" he asked. "I saw you sitting here, and +decided you were waiting for me." + +"Yes," I said, and I shook hands with him, for he was an honest man and a +good workman. + +"I am glad to see you back again, sir, though looking so ill," he added. +"I trust the air of Riverview will soon bring you around all right," and +from his eyes I knew he meant it. + +I thanked him, and bade him sit beside me. Then, in a few words, I +told him what I had learned of the negro meetings, and saw his face +grow grave. + +"'Tis what I have always feared," he said, when I had finished. "There +are too many of them in the colony, and they feel their strength. If they +had a leader and a chance to combine, they might do a great deal of harm. +However, we shall soon knock this in the head." + +"How?" I asked. + +"Make an example of Polete," he answered decidedly. "That's the best way, +sir. Put him out of the way, let the other niggers see us do it, and +they'll quiet down fast enough." + +"Undoubtedly that is the easiest way," I said, smiling, "but, +unfortunately, I had to promise the person who gave me the information +that Polete should not be harmed." + +Long stared at me for a moment in amazement. + +"It would be unfortunate if any of the other planters should hear of that +promise, Mr. Stewart," he said at last. "They would probably take +Polete's case into their own hands." + +I laughed at his evident concern. + +"No doubt," I said, "but they are not going to hear of it. I intend +telling no one but yourself, for we two are quite sufficient to stop this +thing right here, and it need go no further." + +"Perhaps we are," he answered doubtfully. "What is your plan, sir?" + +"Polete will hold a meeting to-night over there in the woods. Well, we +will be present at the meeting." + +He looked at me without saying a word. "Our visit will probably not be +very welcome," I continued, "but I believe it will produce the desired +effect. Will you go with me?" + +"Certainly," he answered readily, "but I still think my plan the +best, sir." + +"Perhaps it is," I laughed, "but we will try mine first," and he went +back to the field, agreeing to be at the house at eight o'clock. + +I covered with my hand the tiny letters on the arm of the bench, and, +looking out across the broad river, drifted into the land of dreams, +where Dorothy and I wandered together along a primrose path, with none to +interfere. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE GOVERNOR SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE + + +I ate my supper in solitary splendor in the old dining-room, with my +grandfather's portrait looking down upon me, and Long found me an hour +later sitting in the midst of a wreath of smoke just within the hallway +out of the river mist. + +"'T was as you said, Mr. Stewart," he remarked, as he joined me. "Fully a +hundred of the niggers stole off to the woods to-night so soon as it was +dark. They went down toward the old Black Snake swamp." + +"Very well," I said, rising. "Wait till I get my hat, and I am with you." + +"But you will go armed?" he asked anxiously. + +I paused to think for a moment. + +"No, I will not," I said finally. "A brace of pistols would avail +nothing against that mob, should they choose to resist us, and our going +unarmed will have a great moral effect upon them as showing them that we +are not afraid." + +"You have weighed fully the extent of the risk you are about to run, I +hope, sir," protested Long. + +"Fully," I answered. "'T is not yet too late for you to turn back, you +know. I have no right to ask you to endanger your life to carry out this +plan of mine. Perhaps it would be wiser for you not to go." + +"And if I stay, you"-- + +"Will go alone," I said. + +He caught my hand and wrung it heartily. + +"You are a brave man, Mr. Stewart," he exclaimed. "If I have shown any +hesitation, 't was on your account, not on my own. I am ready to go with +you," and as he spoke, he drew a brace of pistols from beneath his coat +and laid them on the table by the fireplace. + +"Wait one moment," I said, and hurrying to my aunt's room, I wrote a +short note telling her of the trouble I had discovered and where Long and +I were going, so that, if we did not return, she would know what had +happened. Folding and sealing it, I wrote on the outside, "To be +delivered at once to Mrs. Stewart," left it on the table, knowing that no +one would enter the room till morning, and hurried back to rejoin Long. +We were off without further words, and were soon well on our way. + +It was a clear, cool, summer night, with the breeze just stirring in the +trees and keeping up a faint, unceasing whispering among the leaves. The +moon had risen some hours before, and sailed upward through a cloudless +sky. Even under the trees it was not wholly dark, for the moon's light +filtered through here and there, making a quaint patchwork on the ground, +and filling the air with a peculiar iridescence which transformed the +ragged trunks of the sycamores into fantastic hobgoblins. All about us +rose the croaking of the frogs, dominating all the other noises of the +night, and uniting in one mighty chorus in the marshes along the river. +An owl was hooting from a distant tree, and the hum of innumerable +insects sounded on every side. Here and there a glittering, dew-spangled +cobweb stretched across our path, a barrier of silver, and required more +than ordinary resolution to be brushed aside. As we turned nearer to the +river, the ground grew softer and the underbrush more thick, and I knew +that we had reached the swamp. + +Then, in a moment, it seemed to me that I could hear some faint, +monotonous singsong rising above all the rest. At first I thought it was +the croaking of a monster frog, but as we plodded on and the sound grew +more distinct, I knew it could not be that. At last, in sheer perplexity, +I stopped and motioned Long to listen. + +"Do you hear it?" I asked. "Do you know what it is?" + +"Yes, I have heard it for the last ten minutes, Mr. Stewart," he +answered quietly. "It is old Polete preaching to the niggers. I have +often heard their so-called witch men preach. It is always in a singsong +just like that." + +As we drew nearer, I perceived that this was true, for I could catch the +tones of the speaker's voice, and in a few minutes could distinguish his +words. Some years before, when the river had been in flood, its current +had been thrown against this bank by a landslide on the other side, and +had washed away trees and underbrush for some distance. The underbrush +had soon sprung up again, but the clearing still remained, and as we +stopped in the shadow of the trees and looked across it, we saw a +singular sight. Negroes to the number of at least a hundred and fifty +were gathered about a pile of logs on which Polete was mounted. He was +shouting in a monotone, his voice rising and falling in regular cadence, +his eyes closed, his head tilted back, his face turned toward the moon, +whose light silvered his hair and beard and gave a certain majesty to his +appearance. His hearers were seemingly much affected, and interrupted him +from time to time with shouts and groans and loud amens. + +"Dis is d' promise' lan'!" cried old Polete, waving his arms above his +head in a wild ecstasy. "All we hab t' do is t' raise up an' take it from +ouh 'pressahs. Ef we stays hyah slaves, it's ouh own fault. Now's d' +'pinted time. D' French is ma'chin' obah d' mountings t' holp us. Dee'll +drib d' English into d' sea, and wese t' hab ouh freedom,--ouh freedom +an' plenty lan' t' lib on." + +"Dat's it," shouted some one, "an' we gwine t' holp, suah!" + +The negroes were so intent upon their speaker that they did not perceive +us until we were right among them, and even then for a few minutes, as we +forced our way through the mob, no one knew us. + +"It's Mas' Tom!" yelled one big fellow, as my hat was knocked from my +head. And, as if by instinct, they crowded back on either side, and a +path was opened before us to the pile of logs where Polete stood. He +gaped at us amazedly as we clambered up toward him, and I saw that he was +licking his lips convulsively. A yell from the crowd greeted us as we +appeared beside him,--a menacing yell, which died away into a low +growling, and foretold an approaching storm. + +"Now, boys," I cried, "I want you to listen to me for a minute. That is a +lie about the French coming over the mountains,--every word of it. If +Polete here, who, you know, is only a laborer like most of you, says he +has seen them coming in a vision, why he's simply lying to you, or he +doesn't know what he's talking about. There are not three hundred +Frenchmen the other side of the mountains, in the first place, and it +will be winter before they can get any more there. So if you fight, you +will have to fight alone, and you can guess how much chance of success +you have. You know the penalty for insurrection. It's death, and not an +easy death, either,--death by fire! If you go ahead with this thing, no +power on earth can save every one of you from the stake." + +"It's a lie!" yelled Polete. "I did hab d' vision. I did see d' French +a-comin'--millions o' dem--all a-ma'chin' t'rough d' forest. Dee's almost +hyah. Dee want us t' holp." + +A hoarse yell interrupted him, and I saw that something must be done. + +"Wait a minute, boys," I cried. "Let me ask Polete a question. You say +you have seen the French marching, Polete?" + +He nodded sullenly. + +"What was the color of their uniforms?" + +He hesitated a moment, but saw he must answer. + +"Dee was all colors," he said. "Red, blue, green,--all colors." + +I saw that my moment of triumph was at hand. + +"Now, boys," I cried, holding up my hand so that all might be quiet and +hear my words. "You may guess how much value there is in Polete's +visions. He says he has seen the French army marching, and he has just +told me that their uniforms are all colors,--red, blue, green, and so on. +Now, if he has seen the army, he ought to know the color of the uniforms, +ought he not?" + +"Yes, yes," yelled the mob. + +"Well, boys," I continued, "the French wear only one color uniform, and +that color is just the one which Polete has not mentioned--white. No +Frenchman goes to war except in a white uniform." + +They were all silent for a moment, and I saw them eyeing Polete +distrustfully. + +But he was foaming at the mouth with fury. + +"A lie!" he screamed. "A lie, same's de uddah. Don' yo' see what we mus' +do? Kill 'em! Kill 'em, an' nobody else'll evah know!" + +That low growling which I had heard before again ran through the crowd. I +must play my last card. + +"You fools!" I cried, "do you suppose we are the only ones who know? If +so much as a hair of our heads is touched, if we are not back among our +friends safe and sound when morning comes, every dog among you will yelp +his life out with a circle of fire about him!" + +They were whining now, and I knew I had them conquered. + +"I came here to-night to save you," I went on, after a moment. "Return +now quietly to your quarters, and nothing more will be said about this +gathering. Put out of your minds once for all the hope that the French +will help you, for it is a lie. And let this be the last time you hold a +meeting here, or I will not answer for the consequences." + +I waved them away with my hand, and they slunk off by twos and threes +until all of them had disappeared in the shadow of the wood. + +"And now, what shall we do with this cur?" asked Long, in a low voice, at +my elbow. I turned and saw that he had old Polete gripped by the collar. +"He tried to run away," he added, "but I thought you might have something +to say to him." + +Polete was as near collapse as a man could be and yet be conscious. He +was trembling like a leaf, his eyes were bloodshot, and his lower jaw was +working convulsively. He turned an imploring gaze on me, and tried to +speak, but could not. + +"Polete," I said sternly, "I suppose you know that if this night's work +gets out, as it is certain to do sooner or later, no power on earth can +save your life?" + +"Yes, massa," he muttered, and looked about him wildly, as though he +already saw the flames at his feet. + +"Well, Polete," I went on, "after the way you have acted to-night, I see +no reason why I should try to save you. You certainly did all you could +to get me killed." + +"Yes, massa," he said again, and would have fallen had not Long held him +upright by the collar. + +I waited a moment, for I thought he was going to faint, but he opened his +eyes again and fixed them on me. + +"Now listen," I went on, when he appeared able to understand me. "I'm +not going to kill you. I'm going to give you a chance for your +life,--not a very big chance, perhaps, but a great deal better one than +you would have here." + +"Yes, massa," he said a third time, and there was a gleam of hope +in his face. + +"I'm going to let you go," I concluded. "I'd advise you to follow the +river till you get beyond the settlements, and then try for Pennsylvania. +I promise you there'll be no pursuit, but if you ever show your face +around here again, you're as good as dead." + +Before I had finished, he had fallen to his knees and bowed his head upon +my feet, with a peculiar reverence,--a relic, I suppose, of his life in +Africa. He was blubbering like a baby when he looked up at me. + +"I'll nevah f'git yeh, Mas' Tom," he said. "I'll nevah f'git yeh." + +"That'll do, uncle," and I caught him by the collar and pulled him to +his feet. "I don't want to see you killed, but you'd better get away from +here as fast as you can, and drop this witch man business for good and +all. Here's two shillings. They'll get you something to eat when you get +to Pennsylvania, but you'd better skirmish along in the woods the best +you can till then, or you'll be jerked up for a runaway." + +He murmured some inarticulate words,--of gratitude, perhaps,--and +slid down from the pile of logs. We watched him until he plunged into +the woods to the south of the clearing, and then started back toward +the house. I was busy with my own thoughts as we went, and Long was +also silent, so that scarcely a word passed between us until we +reached the steps. + +"Sit down a minute, Long," I said, as he started back to his quarters. "I +don't believe we'll have any more trouble with those fellows, but perhaps +it would be well to watch them." + +"Trust me for that, sir," he answered. "I'll see to it that there are no +more meetings of that kind. With Polete away, there is little danger. The +only question is whether he will stay away." + +"I think he will," and I looked out over the river thoughtfully. "He +seemed to understand the danger he was in. If he returns, you will have +to deliver him up to the authorities at once, of course." + +"Well," said Long, "I'm not a bloodthirsty man, sir, as perhaps you know, +but I think we'd be safer if he were dead. Still, we'll be safe enough +anyway, now the niggers know their plot is discovered. But we were in a +ticklish place there for a while this evening." + +"Yes," I answered, with a smile. "It was not so easy as I had expected. I +want to thank you, Long, for going with me. It was a service on your part +which showed you have the interest of the place at heart, and are not +afraid of danger." + +"That's all right, sir," he said awkwardly. "Good-night." + +"Wait till I get your pistols," I said. "You left them in the hall, +you know." + +The moonlight was streaming through the open window, and as I stepped +into the hall, I rubbed my eyes, for I thought I must be dreaming. There +in a great chair before the fireplace sat Colonel Washington. His head +had fallen back, his eyes were closed, and from his deep and regular +breathing I knew that he was sleeping. Marveling greatly at his presence +here at this hour, I tiptoed around him, got Long's pistols, and took +them out to him. Then I lighted my pipe and sat down in a chair opposite +the sleeper, and waited for him to awake. I had not long to wait. Whether +from my eyes on his face, or some other cause, he stirred uneasily, +opened his eyes, and sat suddenly bolt upright. + +"Why, Tom," he cried, as he saw me, "I must have been asleep." + +"So you have," I said, shaking hands with him, and pressing him back into +the chair, from which he would have risen. "But what fortunate chance +has brought you here?" + +"The most fortunate in the world!" he cried, his eyes agleam. "You know I +told you that the governor and House of Burgesses would not bear quietly +the project to leave our frontier open to the enemy. Well, read this," +and he drew from his pocket a most formidable looking paper. I took it +with a trembling hand and carried it to the window, but the moon was +almost set, and I could not decipher it. + +"What is it?" I asked, quivering with impatience. + +"Here, give it to me," he said, with a light laugh, which reminded me of +the night I had seen him first in the governor's palace at Williamsburg. +"The House of Burgesses has just met. They ordered that a regiment of a +thousand men be raised to protect the frontier in addition to those +already in the field, and voted L20,000 for the defense of the colony." + +"And that is your commission!" I cried. "Is it not so?" + +"Yes," he said, scarce less excited than myself. "'Tis my commission as +commander-in-chief of all the Virginia forces." + +I wrung his hand with joy unutterable. At last this man, who had done so +much, was to know something beside disappointment and discouragement. + +"But you do not ask how you are concerned in all this," he continued, +smiling into my face, "or why I rode over myself to bring the news to +you. 'Tis because I set out to-morrow at daybreak for Winchester to take +command, and I wish you to go with me, Tom, as aide-de-camp, with the +rank of captain." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +A WARNING FROM THE FOREST + + +It was at Winchester that Colonel Washington established his +headquarters, maintaining a detachment at Fort Cumberland sufficient to +repel any attack the Indians were like to make against it, and to cut off +such of their war parties as ventured east of it. From Winchester he was +able more easily to keep in touch with all parts of the frontier, and +with the string of blockhouses which had been built years before as a +gathering-place for the settlers in the event of Indian incursions. By +the first of September his arrangements had been completed, but long +before that time it was evident the task was to be no easy one. + +Already, from the high passes of the Alleghenies, war parties of +Delawares and Shawanoes had descended, sweeping down upon the frontier +families like a devastating whirlwind, and butchering men, women, and +children with impartial fury. The unbounded forest, which covered hill +and valley with a curtain of unbroken foliage, afforded a thousand +lurking-places, and it was well-nigh impossible for an armed force to get +within striking distance of the marauders. So, almost daily, stories of +horrible cruelty came to the fort, plunging the commander into an agony +of rage and dejection at his very impotence. The fort was soon crowded +with refugees,--wives bewailing their husbands, husbands swearing to +avenge their wives, parents lamenting their children, children of a +sudden made orphans,--and from north and south, scores of hard-featured, +steel-eyed men came to us, their rifles in their hands, to offer their +services, and after a time these came to be one of the most valuable +portions of our force. + +Ah, the stories they told us! Tragedies such as that which Spiltdorph and +I had come upon had been repeated scores of times. The settler who had +left his cabin at daybreak in search of game, or to carry his furs to the +nearest post, returned at sundown to find only a smoking heap of ashes +where his home had been, and among them the charred and mutilated bodies +of his wife and children. Horror succeeded horror, and the climax came +one day when we were passing a little schoolhouse some miles below the +fort, in the midst of a district well populated. Wondering at the +unwonted silence, we dismounted, opened the door, and looked within. The +master lay upon the platform with his pupils around him, all dead and +newly scalped. The savages had passed that way not half an hour before. + +And to add to the trials of the commander, his troops, hastily got +together, were most of them impatient of restraint or discipline, and +with no knowledge of warfare, while the governor and the House of +Burgesses demanded that he undertake impossibilities. It was a dreary, +trying, thankless task. + +"They expect me to perform miracles," he said to me bitterly one day. +"How am I to protect a frontier four hundred miles in length with five or +six hundred effective men, against an enemy who knows every foot of the +ground, and who can find a hiding-place at every step?" + +Only by the sternest measures could many of the levies be brought to the +fort, and one man--a captain, God save the mark!--sent word that he and +his company could not come because their corn had not yet been got in. +Yet, in spite of all these drawbacks, we did accomplish something. There +were a few of the Iroquois who yet remained our friends, and the general +spared no effort to retain their goodwill, for their services were +invaluable. With a lofty contempt for the Delawares and Shawanoes, whom +they had one time subjugated and compelled to assume the name of women, +they roamed the forest for miles around, and more than once enabled us to +ambush one of the war parties and send it howling back to the Muskingum, +where there was great weeping and wailing in the lodges upon its return. +But it was fruitless work, for the Indians, driven back for the moment, +returned with augmented fury, and again drenched the frontier in the +blood of the colonists. + +We realized one and all that nothing we could do would turn the tide of +war permanently from our borders and render the frontier safe until the +French had been driven from Fort Duquesne. For it was they who urged the +Indians on, supplying them with guns and ammunition, and rewarding them +with rum when they returned to the fort laden with English scalps. An +expedition against the French stronghold was for the present out of the +question, and we could only bite our nails and curse, waiting for another +night when we might sally forth and fall upon one of the war parties. But +the few Indians we killed seemed a pitiful atonement for the mangled +bodies scattered along the frontier and the hundreds of homes of which +there remained nothing but blackened ruins. As the weeks passed and the +Indians saw our impotence, they grew bolder, slipped through the chain of +blockhouses, and ravaged the country east of us, disappearing into the +woods as if by magic at the first alarm. + +The month of August and the first portion of September wore away in this +dreary manner, and it was perhaps a week later that Colonel Washington +sent me to Frederick to make arrangements for some supplies. The +distance, which was a scant fifty miles, was over a well-traveled road, +and through a district so well protected that the Indians had not dared +to visit it; so I rode out of the fort one morning, taking with me only +my negro boy Sam, whom I had selected for my servant since the day he had +warned me against Polete. I remember that the day was very warm, and that +there was no air stirring, so that we pushed forward with indifferent +speed. At noon we reached a farmhouse owned by John Evans, where we +remained until the heat had somewhat moderated, and set forward again +about four o'clock in the afternoon. + +We had ridden for near an hour, and I was deep in my own thoughts, when +I heard something breaking its way through the underbrush, and the next +moment my horse shied violently as a negro stumbled blindly into the +road and collapsed into a heap before he had taken half a dozen steps +along it. I reined up sharply, and as I did so, heard Sam give a shrill +cry of alarm. + +"Shut up, boy," I cried, "and get off and see what ails the man. He can't +hurt you." + +But Sam sat in his saddle clutching at his horse's neck, his face spotted +with terror as I had seen it once before. + +"What is it, Sam?" I asked impatiently. + +"Good Gawd, Mas' Tom," he cried, his teeth chattering together and +cutting off his words queerly, "don' yo' see who 'tis? Don' yo' +know him?" + +"Know him? No, of course not," I answered sharply. "Who is he?" + +"Polete," gasped Sam. "Polete, come back aftah me," and seemed incapable +of another word. + +In an instant I was off my horse and kneeling in the road beside the +fallen man. Not till then did I believe it was Polete. From a great gash +in the side of his head the blood had soaked into his hair and dried over +his face. His shirt was stained, apparently from a wound in his breast, +but most horrible of all was a circular, reeking spot on the crown of his +head from which the scalp had been stripped. It needed no second glance +to tell me that Polete had been in the hands of the Indians. + +By this time Sam had partially recovered his wits, and being convinced +that it was Polete in the flesh, not in the spirit, brought some water +from a spring at the roadside. I bathed Polete's head as well as I could, +and washed the blood from his face. Tearing open his shirt, I saw that +blood was slowly welling from an ugly wound in his breast. He opened his +eyes after a moment, and stared vacantly up into my face. + +"Debbils," he moaned, "debbils, t' kill a po' ole man. Ain't I said I +done gwine t' lib wid yo'? Kain't trabble fas' 'nough fo' yo'? Don' +shoot, oh, don' shoot! Ah!" + +He dropped back again into the road with a groan, and tossed from side to +side. I thought he was dying, but when I dashed more water in his face, +he opened his eyes again. This time he seemed to know me. + +"Is it Mas' Tom?" he gasped. "Mas' Tom what let me go?" + +"Yes, Polete," I answered gently, "it's Master Tom." + +"Whar am I?" he asked faintly. "Have dee got me 'gin? Dee gwine to buhn +me?" + +"No, no," I said. "Nobody 's going to harm you, Polete. Where have you +been all this time?" + +"In d' woods," he whispered, "hidin' in d' swamps, an' skulkin' long +aftah night. Could n' nevah sleep, Mas' Tom. When I went t' sleep, seemed +laike d' dogs was right aftah me." + +His head fell back again, and a rush of blood in his throat almost +choked him. + +"Wish I'd stayed at d' plantation, Mas' Tom," he whispered. "Nothin' +could n' been no wo'se 'n what I went frough. Kep' 'long d' ribbah, laike +yo' said, but could n' git nothin' t' eat only berries growin' in d' +woods. Got mighty weak, 'n' den las' night met d' Injuns." + +"Last night!" I cried. "Where, Polete?" + +"Obah dah 'long d' ribbah," he answered faintly. "Dee gib me some'n' t' +eat, an' I frought maybe dee'd take me 'long, but dis mornin' dee had a +big powwow, an' dee shot me an' knock me in d' haid. Seems laike dee 's +gwine t' buhn a big plantation t'-night." + +"A big plantation, Polete?" I asked. "Where? Tell me--oh, you must tell +me!" + +But his head had fallen back, and his eyes were closed. There was another +burst of blood from his nose and mouth. I threw water over his face, +slapped his hands, and shouted into his ears, but to no avail. Sam +brought me another hatful of water, but his hands trembled so that when +he set it down, he spilled half of it. I dashed what was left over the +dying man, but his breathing grew slow and slower, and still his eyes +were closed. I trembled to think what would happen should I never learn +where the Indians were going, if Polete should never open his eyes again +to tell me. But he did, at last,--oh, how long it seemed!--he did, and +gazed up at me with a little smile. + +"Reckon it's all obah wid ole Polete, Mas' Tom," he whispered. + +"Where is this plantation, Polete?" I asked. "The plantation the Indians +are going to attack. Quick, tell me." + +He looked at me a moment longer before answering. + +"D' plantation? Obah dah, eight, ten mile, neah d' ribbah," and he made a +faint little motion northward with his hand. The motion, slight as it +was, brought on another hemorrhage. His eyes looked up into mine for a +moment longer, and then, even as I gazed at them, grew fixed and glazed. +Old Polete was dead. + +We laid him by the side of the road and rolled two or three logs over +him. More we could not do, for every moment was precious. + +"Sam," I said quickly, as we finished our task, "you must ride to the +fort as fast as your horse will carry you. Tell Colonel Washington that I +sent you, and that the Indians are going to attack some big plantation on +the river eight or ten miles north of here. Tell him that I have gone on +to warn them. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, sah," he gasped. + +"Well, don't you forget a word of it," I said sternly. "You can reach the +fort easily by nine o'clock to-night. Now, be off." + +He hesitated a moment. + +"What is it?" I cried. "You are not afraid, boy?" + +He rubbed his eyes and began to whimper. + +"Not fo' myself, Mas' Tom," he said. "But yo' gwine t' ride right into d' +Injuns. Dee'll git yo' suah." + +"Nonsense!" I retorted sharply. "I'll get through all right, and we can +easily hold out till reinforcements come. Now get on your horse. +Remember, the faster you go, the surer you'll be to save us all." + +He swung himself into the saddle, and turned for a moment to look at +me, the tears streaming down his face. He seemed to think me as good as +dead already. + +"Good-by, Sam," I said. + +"Good-by, Mas' Tom," and he put spurs to his horse and set off +down the road. + +I watched him until the trees hid him from sight, and then sprang upon my +horse and started forward. Eight or ten miles, Polete had said, northward +near the river. The road served me for some miles, and then I came to a +cross road, which seemed well traveled. Not doubting that this led to the +plantation of which I was in search, I turned into it, and proceeded +onward as rapidly as the darkness of the woods permitted. Evening was at +hand, and under the overlapping branches of the trees, the gloom grew +deep and deeper. At last, away to the right, I caught the gleam of water, +and with a sigh of relief knew I was near the river and so on the right +road. The house could not be much farther on. With renewed vigor I urged +my horse forward, and in a few minutes came to the edge of a clearing, +and there before me was the house. + +But it was not this which drew my eyes. Far away on the other side, +concealed from the house by a grove of trees, a shadowy line of tiny +figures was emerging from the forest. Even as I looked, they vanished, +and I rubbed my eyes in bewilderment. Yet I knew they had not deceived +me. It was the war party preparing for the attack. + +I set spurs to my horse and galloped the jaded beast toward the house as +fast as his weary legs would carry him. As I drew near, I saw it was a +large and well-built mansion. Lights gleamed through the open doors and +windows. Evidently none there dreamed of danger, and I thanked God that I +should be in time. In a moment I was at the door, and as I threw myself +from the saddle, I heard from the open window a ringing laugh which +thrilled me through and through, for I knew that the voice was Dorothy's. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +I FIND MYSELF IN A DELICATE SITUATION + + +I staggered up the steps, reeling as from a blow on the head, and a negro +met me at the top. + +"Where is your master?" I asked. + +"Kun'l Ma'sh 's obah at Frederick, sah," he answered, looking at me with +astonished eyes. + +"Your mistress, then, quick, boy!" and as he turned toward the open door +with a gesture of his hand, I hurried after him. There was a buzz of +conversation in the room as we approached, but it ceased abruptly as we +entered. I felt rather than saw that Dorothy was there, but I looked only +at the plump little woman who half rose from her chair and stared at me +in astonishment. I suppose my appearance was sufficiently surprising, but +there was no time to think of that. + +"A gen'leman t' see yo', Mis' Ma'sh," said my guide. + +I had not caught the name before, but now I understood, and as I looked +at the woman before me, I saw her likeness to her son. + +"I am Captain Stewart, Mrs. Marsh," I said, controlling my voice as well +as I could. "You may, perhaps, have heard of me. If not, there are others +present who can vouch for me," but I did not move my eyes from her face. + + + + +"That is quite unnecessary, Captain Stewart," she cried, coming to me +and giving me her hand very prettily. "I knew your grandfather, and you +resemble him greatly." And then she stopped suddenly and grew very pale. +"I remember now," she said. "You were in dear Harry's company." + +"I was not in his company, but I knew and loved him well," I answered +gently, taking both her hands and holding them tight in mine. "He was a +brave and gallant boy, and lost his life while trying to save another's. +I was with him when he fell." + +She came close to me, and I could feel that she was trembling. + +"And did he suffer?" she asked. "Oh, I cannot bear to think that he +should suffer!" + +"He did not suffer," I said. "He was shot through the heart. He did not +have an instant's pain." + +She was crying softly against my shoulder, but I held her from me. + +"Mrs. Marsh," I said, "it is not of Harry we must think now, but of +ourselves. This afternoon I learned that the Indians had planned an +attack upon this place to-night. I sent my servant back to the fort for +reinforcements and rode on to give the alarm. As I neared the house, I +saw their war party skulking in the woods, so that the attack may not be +long delayed." + +Her face had turned ashen, and I was glad that I had kept her hands in +mine, else she would have fallen. + + + + +"There is no danger," I added cheerily. "We must close the doors and +windows, and we can easily keep them off till morning. The troops will be +here by that time." + +"Oh, do you think so?" she gasped. + +"I am sure of it. Now, will you give the orders to the servants?" + +But that was not necessary. The man who had shown me in had heard my +words, and already had the other servants at work, closing and barring +doors and windows. I saw that my assistance was not needed. + +Then for the first time I looked at Dorothy. She was standing, leaning +lightly with one hand upon a table, her eyes large and dark with terror, +and her lips quivering, perhaps at the scene which had gone before. Her +mother was seated by her, and it was to her I turned. + +"I beg you to believe, Mrs. Stewart," I said, "that I did not know you +and your daughter were here. Indeed, I thought you both were back at +Riverview ere this." + +"I believe you, Mr. Stewart," she answered softly. "I believe you to be a +man of honor. I am sure I can trust you." + +There was a tone in her voice which I had never heard before. + +"Thank you," I said. "I shall try to deserve your trust," and then I +turned away to look to our defenses. + +I confess that, after the first five minutes, our situation appeared more +perilous than I had at first believed it. There was no white man in the +house except myself, only a dozen negro servants, five of whom were men. +A boy, whom I sent to the negro quarters to bring reinforcements, +returned with the news that they were deserted, but he brought back with +him the overseer, a man named Brightson, who was to prove his mettle +before the night was out. + +"I suspected this afternoon that there was something in the wind," he +said to me, when I had explained our situation, "though I could not guess +what it was. The niggers were so damned quiet, not singing in the field +as they always do. They've been mighty uneasy for a month back." + +"Yes, I know," I interrupted. "It's the same all over the colony. They +think the French are going to help them kill the English. I'm rather glad +they ran away. How about these house niggers?" + +"Oh, they're all right, especially Pomp there. They'll help us all +they can." + +"That makes seven of us, then. Can you shoot?" + +"Try me," he answered simply. + +"All right," I said. "We'll pull through, I think. Indians are no good at +anything but a surprise. I dare say some of the niggers have told them +that there would be no men here to-night, so they think they'll have an +easy victory." + +I had ordered Pomp to bring to the hall all the arms and ammunition in +the house, and at this moment he touched me on the elbow and told me +this was done. Brightson and I looked over the collection, and found it +as complete as could be desired. There were a dozen muskets, half a dozen +pairs of pistols, a pile of swords and hangers, and ammunition in plenty. +Evidently, Colonel Marsh had foreseen the possibility of an Indian +attack, and was prepared to receive it. A tour of the house showed me, +moreover, that it had been built with the same possibility in view. The +doors and shutters were all strong and double-barred, and moreover were +loopholed in a way that enabled us to command both approaches. I divided +the arms, and posted Brightson with three men at the rear door, while I, +with Pomp and another negro, took a place at the front. The women I sent +to the top of the staircase, where they would be out of reach of any +flying bullets, and could at the same time see what was going on. It was +my aunt who protested against this arrangement. + +"Can we not be of use, Captain Stewart?" she asked. "We could at least +load the muskets for you." + +"And I am sure that I could fire one," cried Dorothy. + +"No, no," I laughed. "Time enough for that when there is need. They will +not fancy the reception they will get, and may not return for a second +dose." And with a sudden tenderness at my heart, right under the eyes of +Mrs. Stewart, I reached up, caught Dorothy's hand, and kissed it. When I +glanced up again, I saw that she was smiling down at me, but I dared not +look at her mother's face. + +I had wondered at first why the attack was not made at once, but as I +stood looking out at my loophole, I perceived the reason. The first shade +of evening had found the moon high in the heavens, and it was now rapidly +sinking toward the line of trees which marked the horizon. Once plunged +behind them, the darkness would enable the Indians to creep up to the +house unseen. I watched the moon as it dropped slowly down the sky. The +lower rim just touched the treetops--then it was half behind them--then +it had disappeared, and the world was plunged in darkness. I peered into +the gloom with starting eyes, but could see nothing. I strained my ears, +but could catch no sound; three or four tense minutes passed, I could +have sworn it was half an hour. One of the negro women on the stair +screamed slightly, and, as though it were a signal, there came a great +blow upon the door and pandemonium arose without. I fired blindly through +my loophole, seized the musket at my side, and fired a second time, then +emptied both my pistols out into the night. It seemed to me a hundred +rifles were being fired at once. The hall was full of smoke and the +pungent smell of powder, and then, in a second, all was still. + +But only for a second. For there came another chorus of yells from a +distance, and I could hear the negro women on the steps behind me +wailing softly. + +"Load!" I shouted. "Load, Pomp! They will be back in a minute," and then +I ran to the other door to see how Brightson fared. + +"All right," he said cheerfully, in answer to my question. "We couldn't +see 'em, but we emptied a good deal of lead out there, and I think from +the way they yelled we must have hit two or three." "Keep it up!" I +cried. "We'll drive them off easily," and with a word of encouragement to +the negroes, I returned to my post. As I neared the door, I saw two +figures in white working over the guns. It was Dorothy and her mother, +helping the negroes reload. I sent them back to the stair with affected +sternness, but I got a second hand-clasp from Dorothy as she passed me. + +Then came another long period of waiting, which racked the nerves until +the silence grew well-nigh insupportable. The darkness without was +absolute, and there was not a sound to disturb the stillness. The minutes +passed, and I was just beginning to hope that the Indians had already got +enough, when I caught the faint shuffle of moccasined feet on the porch, +and again the door was struck a terrific blow, which made it groan on its +hinges. I fired out into the darkness as fast as I could lay down one gun +and pick up another, and again the uproar ceased as suddenly as it had +begun. As I turned away a moment from the loophole, I saw that Pomp had +sunk down to the floor, his hands to his head. + +"What is it, Pomp?" I cried, as I bent over him, but there was no need +for him to answer, even had he been able. A bullet, entering the +loop-hole through which he was firing, had struck his left eye and +entered the head. The other negro and myself laid him to one side +against the wall, and when I went to him ten minutes later to see if +there was anything I could do, he was dead. I turned away to the women +to say some words of cheer and comfort to them, when a call from +Brightson startled me. + +"What has happened?" I asked, as I reached his side, and for answer he +pointed out through the loophole. + +"They have fired the nigger quarters and outbuildings," he said grimly. +"They'll probably try to fire the house next." + +Even as we looked, the flames rose high above the roofs of the cabins and +bathed the clearing in red radiance. In and out among the buildings we +could see the Indians scampering, a hundred of them at least. Suddenly +there was a chorus of yells, and two Indians appeared, rolling a cask +before them into the belt of light. + +"They've found a keg of rum which was in my quarters," remarked +Brightson; "now they'll get crazy drunk. Our task has just begun, +Captain Stewart." + +I realized that he spoke the truth. Sober, an Indian will not stand up +long in open fight, but drunk, he is a devil incarnate,--a fiend who will +dare anything. I watched them as they knocked in the head of the cask and +scooped up the raw spirits within. Then one of them began a melancholy +melody, which rose and fell in measured cadence, the other warriors +gradually joining in and stamping the ground with their feet. Every +minute one would run to the cask for another draught of the rum, and +gradually their yells grew louder, their excitement more intense, as they +rushed back and forth brandishing their weapons. + +"They will soon be on us again," said Brightson in a low tone, but round +and round they kept dancing, their leader in front in all his war +trappings, the others almost naked, and for the most part painted black. +No wonder I had been unable to see them in the darkness. + +"They are going to attack us again, Tom, are they not?" asked a low voice +at my elbow. + +"Dorothy," I cried, "what are you doing here? Come, you must get back to +the stair at once. The attack may come at any moment." + +"You are treating me like a child," she protested, and her eyes flashed +passionately. "Do you think we are cowards, we women? We will not be +treated so! We have come to help you." + +I looked at her in amazement. This was not the Dorothy I knew, but a +braver, sweeter one. Her mother and Mrs. Marsh were behind her, both +looking equally determined. + +"Very well," I said, yielding with an ill grace. "You may sit on the +floor here and load the guns as we fire them. That will be of greater +service than if you fired them yourselves, and you will be quite out of +reach of the bullets." + +Dorothy sniffed contemptuously at my last words, but deigned to sit down +beside the other women. I placed the powder and ball where they could +reach them easily, shaded a candle so that it threw its light only on the +floor beside them, gave them a few directions about loading, and rejoined +Brightson at his loophole. The Indians had stopped dancing, and were +engaged in heaping up a great pile of burning logs. + +"What are they about?" I asked. + +Brightson looked at me with a grim light in his eyes. + +"They're going to try to burn us out," he said, and almost before he had +spoken, the Indians seized a hundred burning brands from the fire, and +waving them about their heads to fan them to a brighter flame, started +toward us. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +A DESPERATE DEFENSE + + +I had barely time to get back to my post at the front door when they were +upon us. I fired out into the rabble, and as I turned to get another gun, +Dorothy was at my side and thrust it into my hands. There was no time to +protest, even had I not realized, as I glanced into her eyes, that +protestation would be useless. I fired a second time, when a tremendous +explosion in the hall at my side startled me. I saw in a moment what had +happened. The negro who was at the other loophole, dazed with fear, had +discharged his gun straight into the ceiling overhead, and then, flinging +it down, turned and ran. I could not pursue him, and grabbing a third gun +from Dorothy, I fired again at the Indians, some of whom were swarming up +the steps. As I did so, I stared an instant in amazement, for at the shot +two men had fallen. As I turned back for another musket, I saw Mrs. +Stewart at the other loophole, a smoking rifle in her hands, into which +she was feverishly ramming another charge. It was a sight that made my +heart leap, and I found myself suddenly admiring her. But before either +of us could fire again, the Indians were gone, and a chorus of yells and +sharp firing told me they were attacking Brightson's side of the house. +The noise died away after a moment, and they appeared again borne +distance off, looking back eagerly as though expecting something. + +I saw with a start that their firebrands were no longer in their hands, +and a moment later a puff of smoke from the corner of the house and the +exultant yells of the savages warned me of our new danger. As I turned +from the door, I met Brightson coming to seek me with an anxious face. + +"They have fired the house, Captain Stewart," he said. + +"I fear so. We must find the place and put out the flames." + +Without a word he turned and followed me, and we opened the shutters a +little here and there and looked out. We soon found what we were seeking. + +As the Indians had dashed around the house from front to rear, they had +approached the side and piled their burning brands against the boards. We +looked down from the window and saw that the house had already caught +fire. In a few moments the flames would be beyond control. I was back to +the hall in an instant. + +"Is there any water in the house?" I asked of Mrs. Marsh, who was seated +on the floor reloading our guns with a coolness which told me where her +son had got his gallantry. + +She looked at me an instant with face whitened by a new fear. + +"Do you mean that the house is on fire?" she asked. + +I nodded. + +"There is no water," she said very quietly. "The well is a hundred yards +from the house." + +I beckoned to the negroes, who were listening in an anxious group, and +hastened back to Brightson. + +"There is no water," I said to him briefly. "I am going to open the +shutter, drop down, and knock the fire away from the house. Do you be +ready to pull me back in again, when I have finished." + +"But it is death to do that," he exclaimed. + +"No, no," I said. "You and the boys can keep them off. There is no +other way." + +He turned from me and looked about the room. + +"This will save you," he cried, and ran to a heavy oak table which stood +in one corner. I looked at him for a moment without understanding. + +"We will throw it through the window," he explained. "You can drop behind +it, and the Indians' bullets cannot reach you." + +I saw his plan before he had finished, and we had the table at the window +in an instant. + +"Now, boys, all together," I cried, and as I threw the shutter back, they +lifted the table to the sill and pushed it through. Before the Indians +understood what was happening, I had dropped beside it, pulled it around +to screen me, and was kicking the brands away from the building. Then +they understood, and made a rush for the house, but met so sharp a +reception from Brightson and his men that they fell back, and contented +themselves with keeping up a sharp fusilade upon my place of +concealment. It was the work of only a few moments to kick away the +brands and beat out the flames which were running along the side of the +house. I signaled to Brightson that I was ready to return, and he opened +a heavy fire upon the savages, which drove them for a moment out of +musket range. Then throwing the shutter back, he leaned out, grasped my +hands, and pulled me into the house without a scratch. + +"That's what I call genius," he observed, as he clapped the shutter tight +and shot the bar into place. "I fancy they're getting about enough." + +"I trust so," I answered. "But in any event, our troops will be here in +two or three hours more." + +We stood for some time in silence and watched the Indians. They drew +together near one of the burning buildings, apparently for a +consultation, and then running to a cabin which had not yet been +consumed, they tore off the heavy door and shutters. + +"They haven't given it up yet," remarked Brightson grimly, "but they're +going to advance under cover this time." + +Evidently some further preparation was necessary, for half a dozen of +them worked away busily for some time, though we could not see what they +were doing. + +"What new deviltry are they up to now?" I heard Brightson mutter to +himself, but I could find no answer to his question, for I knew little of +this kind of warfare. + +It was soon answered by the Indians themselves. A dozen of them ran +around the house in different directions, each carrying a board, while +the others, after paying a last visit to the cask of rum, grouped +themselves opposite the rear door, but well out of range. We watched them +in breathless silence. Those who were armed with shields approached +nearer and nearer, until within perhaps fifty yards. We fired at them, +but seemingly without effect. Then there was a moment of anxious waiting, +and almost together a dozen streamers of fire rose high into the air and +descended toward the house. Some fell harmlessly on the ground without, +and we saw that they were arrows tipped with burning tow, but the most +must have fallen upon the roof. A second and third shower of fire +followed, and then the Indians withdrew behind their shields and quietly +awaited the result. + +"They have set fire to the roof," I gasped. "We must put it out at once, +or we are lost." + +"Leave that to me, Captain Stewart," said Brightson quietly, and I +never admired the courage of a man more than I did his at that moment. +"I will get out on the roof, and throw the arrows down. I don't believe +they can hit me." + +It was the only thing to do, and he was gone even as I nodded my assent. +Five minutes passed, and then the Indians began to yell again, and I knew +that Brightson had reached the roof. Almost at the same instant, the main +body of the savages advanced at a run, some of them carrying a heavy +log, the others holding boards in front of them. We sent a dozen bullets +among them before they reached the door, but they came on without +faltering. One man, very tall and clad in a suit of fringed buckskin, ran +in front and urged them on. I fired at him twice, but he came on as +before, and I knew that I had wasted the bullets. + +Up the steps they came, yelling like devils fresh from hell, and brought +the log crashing against the door, while others thrust their muskets +through the loopholes and fired into the hallway. One of the negroes sank +down without a groan, the blood spurting from his neck, and another +dropped his gun with a yell, and, clapping his hands to his face, ran +shrieking down the hall. + +Again the log thundered against the door, one of the bars sprung loose, +and half a dozen shots were fired into the hallway. I saw that the door +could hold but a moment longer, and shouting to the negroes to fall +back, I retreated to the stair, grabbing up a hanger as I passed the +place where we had piled the arms. Running back again, I caught up a +bag of powder and another of ball, so that we might not be utterly +without ammunition, and with these sped up the stair, pushing the women +before me. + +We were not an instant too soon, for the door crashed down at the next +blow, and the savages poured over the threshold. They paused a moment to +see what had become of us, and this gave us opportunity to pour a volley +into them. Then on they came, the man in buckskin still leading them. As +they reached the foot of the stair, I took steady aim at him with my +pistol and pulled the trigger. But he seemed to have some intuition of +his danger, for he stooped suddenly, and it was the man behind him who +threw up his hands, sprang into the air, and fell backward. They faltered +only for an instant, and then swarmed up the steps, their greased faces +gleaming in the powder flashes. I thought it as good as ended, and +throwing down my musket, caught up my hanger for a final stand, when +something was thrown past me and bounded down the stair. It swept half +the Indians off their feet and carried them down before it, and the +others, not knowing what had happened, turned and ran down after them. +Nor, indeed, did I know until afterward, when I learned that Brightson, +coming down from the roof and taking in our peril at a glance, had caught +up a great log from the fireplace in the upper hall, where it was +awaiting the winter lighting, and, with a strength little short of +superhuman, had hurled it down upon the savages. + +It gave us respite for a moment, but it was certain they would charge +again, and I knew too well what the result would be, for the last of the +negroes had flung down his gun and run away, leaving only Brightson and +me to guard the women. It was Mrs. Marsh who spoke the saving word. + +"Why not retreat to the roof?" she said. "They could not get at us +there." + +It was the only chance of safety, so to the roof we went, the women +first, and we two bringing up the rear. Once there, we closed the trap +and waited. In a moment we heard the yell which told us that our retreat +had been discovered, and then again came silence. + +"This is no ordinary Indian attack," said Brightson, who was wiping the +sweat and powder stains from his face. "There's a Frenchman leading +them, and maybe two or three. Did you see that fellow in buckskin who +ran in front?" + +"Yes," I answered gloomily. "I have fired at him three times, but always +missed him." + +"Well, he is no Indian," said Brightson, "in spite of his painted face. +If they hadn't had that cask of rum and him to lead them, they would have +cleared out of this long ago. They have no stomach for this kind of work, +unless they are full of liquor." + +The sky in the east was turning from black to gray, and the dawn was not +far distant. + +"Our troops will soon be here," I said, and went to the women where they +were crouching behind a protecting gable. Dorothy, her mother, and Mrs. +Marsh were sitting side by side, and they all smiled at me as I +approached. + +"I think we are safe here," I said as cheerily as I could, "and the +reinforcements cannot be far away. I know Colonel Washington too well +to think he would delay a moment longer than necessary to start to +our relief." + +"You have made a brave defense, Captain Stewart," said Mrs. Marsh +earnestly. "I realize what would have been our fate long ere this, had +you not been here." + +"Nay, madame," I interrupted, "I could have done little by myself. I +have learned to-night that the women of Virginia are no less gallant +than the men." + +"Come, come," laughed Dorothy, "this is not a drawing-room that you need +think you must flatter us, Tom." + +I glanced at Mrs. Stewart, and saw with some surprise that she too +was smiling. + +"'Twas not flattery," I protested, "but a simple statement of fact. And +there is another here," I added, turning to Mrs. Marsh, "whose conduct +should be remembered. I have never seen a braver man," and I glanced at +Brightson where he sat, his musket across his knees. + +"I shall remember it," she said, as she followed my eyes. + +A burst of yells and a piercing cry from below interrupted us. + +"What was that?" asked Dorothy, white to the lips. + +"They have found one of the negroes," I answered, as calmly as I could. +"They ran away, and must have hidden somewhere in the house." + +We sat listening, the women pale and horror-stricken, and even Brightson +and I no little moved. The yells and the single shrill cry were repeated +a second time and then a third, and finally all was still again save for +the negro women wailing softly, as they rocked themselves to and fro +behind the gable, their arms about their knees. I crept back to my +station by the trap and waited feverishly for what should happen next. +We could hear steps in the hall below, a short consultation and a +clanking of arms, and then all was still. + +"Here they come," said Brightson, between his teeth, and even as he +spoke, the trap was thrown outward by a great force from below, and the +savage swarm poured forth upon the roof. I struck madly at the first man, +and saw another fall, pierced by a bullet from Brightson's gun, and then +he was down and I heard the sough of a knife thrust into him. + +"They are coming! They are coming!" screamed a shrill voice behind me, +and I turned to see Dorothy upright on the roof, pointing away to the +southward. And there, sure enough, at the edge of the clearing, was a +troop of Virginians, galloping like mad. Ah, how welcome were those blue +uniforms! We could hear them cheering, and, with a leaping heart, I saw +it was Colonel Washington himself who led them. + +For an instant the Indians stood transfixed, and then, with a yell, +turned back toward the trap. All save one. I saw him raise his musket to +his shoulder and take deliberate aim at Dorothy as she stood there +outlined in white against the purple sky. I sprang at him with a cry of +rage, and dragged his gun toward me as he pulled the trigger. There was a +burst of flame in my face, a ringing in my ears, I felt the earth +slipping from me, and knew no more. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +I COME INTO MY OWN + + +It was long before I realized that that white, bandaged thing lying on +the bed before me was my hand. I gazed at it curiously for a while and +stirred it slightly to make sure,--what a mighty effort that little +motion cost me!--and then I became aware that a breeze was passing across +my face, and a peculiar thing about it was that it came and went +regularly like the swinging of a pendulum. And when I raised my eyes to +see what this might mean, I found myself looking straight into the +astonished face of Sam, my boy. + +He stared at me for a moment, his eyes starting from his head, and then +with a loud cry he dropped the fan he had been wielding and ran from the +room, clapping his hands together as he went, as I had heard negroes do +under stress of great excitement. What could it mean? Again my eyes fell +upon the queer, bandaged thing which must be my hand. Had there been an +accident? I could not remember, and while my mind was still wrestling +with the question in a helpless, flabby way, I heard the swish of skirts +at the door, and there entered who but Dorothy! + +"Why, Dorothy!" I cried, and then stopped, astonished at the sound of my +own voice. It was not my voice at all,--I had never heard it before,--and +it seemed to come from a great way off. And what astonished me more than +anything else was that Dorothy did not seem in the least surprised by it. + +"Yes, Tom," she said, and she came to the bedside and laid her hand upon +my head. Such a cool, soft little hand it was. "Why, the fever is quite +gone! You will soon be well again." + +I tried to raise my hand to take hers, but it lay there like a great +dead weight, and I could scarcely move it. I know not what it was, but +at the sight of her standing there so strong and brave and sweet, and +the thought of myself so weak and helpless, the tears started from my +eyes and rolled down my cheeks in two tiny rivulets. She seemed to +understand my thought, for she placed one of her hands in mine, and with +the other wiped my tears away. I love to think of her always as I saw +her then, bending over me with infinite pity in her face and wiping my +tears away. The moment of weakness passed, and my brain seemed clearer +than it had been. + +"Have I been ill?" I asked. + +"Very ill, Tom," she said. "But now you will get well very quickly." + +"What was the matter with me, Dorothy?" + +She looked at me a moment and seemed hesitating for an answer. + +"I think you would better go to sleep now, Tom," she said at last, "and +when you wake again, I will tell you all about it." + +"Very well," I answered submissively, and indeed, at the time, my brain +seemed so weary that I had no wish to know more. + +She gently took her hand from mine and went to a table, where she poured +something from a bottle into a glass. I followed her with my eyes, noting +how strong and confident and beautiful she was. + +"Drink this, Tom," she said, bringing the glass back to the bed and +holding it to my lips. I gulped it down obediently, and then watched +her again as she went to the window and drew the blind. She came back +in a moment and sat down in the chair from which I had startled Sam. +She picked up the fan which he had dropped, and waved it softly to and +fro above me, smiling gently down into my face. And as I lay there +watching her, the present seemed to slip away and leave me floating in +a land of clouds. + +But when I opened my eyes again, it all came back to me in an instant, +and I called aloud for Dorothy. She was bending over me almost before the +sound of my voice had died away. + +"Oh, thank God!" I cried. "It was only a dream, then! You are safe, +Dorothy,--there were no Indians,--tell me it was only a dream." + +"Yes, I am quite safe, Tom," she answered, and took my hand in +both of hers. + +"And the Indians?" I asked. + +"Were frightened away by Colonel Washington and his men, who killed +many of them." + +I closed my eyes for a moment, and tried to reconstruct the drama of +that dreadful night. + +"Dorothy," I asked suddenly, "was Brightson killed?" + +"Yes, Tom," she answered softly. + +I sighed. + +"He was a brave man," I said. "No man could have been braver." + +"Only one, I think," and she smiled down at me tremulously, her eyes +full of tears. + +"Yes, Colonel Washington," I said, after a moment's thought. "Perhaps he +is braver." + +"I was not thinking of Colonel Washington, Tom," and her lips began +to tremble. + +I gazed at her a moment in amazement. + +"You do not mean me, Dorothy?" I cried. "Oh, no; I am not brave. You do +not know how frightened I grow when the bullets whistle around me." + +She laid her fingers on my lips with the prettiest motion in the world. + +"Hush," she said. "I will not listen to such blasphemy." + +"At least," I protested, "I am not so brave as you,--no, nor as your +mother, Dorothy. I had no thought that she was such a gallant woman." + +"Ah, you do not know my mother!" she cried. "But you shall know her some +day, Tom. Nor has she known you, though I think she is beginning to know +you better, now." + +There were many things I wished to hear,--many questions that I +asked,--and I learned how Sam had galloped on until he reached the fort, +how he had given the alarm, how Colonel Washington himself had ridden +forth twenty minutes later at the head of fifty men,--all who could be +spared,--and had spurred on through the night, losing the road more than +once and searching for it with hearts trembling with fear lest they +should be too late, and how they had not been too late, but had saved +us,--saved Dorothy. + +"And I think you are dearer to the commander's heart than any other man," +she added. "Indeed, he told me so. For he stayed here with you for three +days, watching at your bedside, until he found that he could stay no +longer, and then he tore himself away as a father leaves his child. I had +never seen him moved so deeply, for you know he rarely shows emotion." + +Ah, Dorothy, you did not know him as did I! You had not been with him at +Great Meadows, nor beside the Monongahela, nor when we buried Braddock +there in the road in the early morning. You had not been with him at +Winchester when wives cried to him for their husbands, and children for +their parents, nor beside the desolated hearths of a hundred frontier +families. And of a sudden it came over me as a wave rolls up the beach, +how much of sorrow and how little of joy had been this man's portion. +Small wonder that his face seemed always sad and that he rarely smiled. + +Dorothy had left me alone a moment with my thoughts, and when she came +back, she brought her mother with her. I had never seen her look at me +as she looked now, and for the first time perceived that it was from her +Dorothy got her eyes. She stood in the doorway for a moment, gazing down +at me, and then, before I knew what she was doing, had fallen on her +knees beside my bed and was kissing my bandaged hand. + +"Why, aunt!" I cried, and would have drawn it from her. + +"Oh, Tom," she sobbed, and clung to it, "can you forgive me?" + +"Forgive you, aunt?" I cried again, yet more amazed. "What have you done +that you should stand in need of my forgiveness?" + +"What have I done?" she asked, and raised her face to mine. "What have I +not done, rather? I have been a cold, hard woman, Tom. I have forgot what +right and justice and honor were. But I shall forget no longer. Do you +know what I have here in my breast?" she cried, and she snatched forth a +paper and held it before my eyes. "You could never guess. It is a letter +you wrote to me." + +"A letter I wrote to you?" I repeated, and then as I saw the +superscription, I felt my cheeks grow hot. For it read, "To be delivered +at once to Mrs. Stewart." + +"Ay," she said, "a letter you wrote to me, and which I should never have +received had you not forgot it and left it lying on my table in my study +at Riverview. Can you guess what I felt, Tom, when they brought it to me +here, and I opened it and read that you had gone to the swamp alone +amongst those devils? I thought that you were dead, since the letter had +been delivered, and the whole extent of the wrong I had done you sprang +up before me. But they told me you were not dead,--that Colonel +Washington had come for you, and that you had ridden hastily away with +him. I could guess the story, and I should never have known that you had +saved the place but for the chance which made you forget this letter." + +I had tried to stop her more than once. She had gone on without heeding +me, but now she paused. + +"It was nothing," I said. "Nothing. There was no real danger. Thank Long. +He was with me. He is a better man than I." + +"Oh, yes," she cried, "they are all better men than you, I dare say! Do +not provoke me, sir, or you will have me quarreling with you before I +have said what I came here to say. Can you guess what that is?" and she +paused again, to look at me with a great light in her eyes. + +But I was far past replying. I gazed up at her, bewildered, dazzled. I +had never known this woman. + +"I see you cannot guess," she said. "Of course you cannot guess! How +could you, knowing me as you have known me? 'Tis this. Riverview is +yours, Tom, and shall be always yours from this day forth, as of right it +has ever been." + +Riverview mine? No, no, I did not want Riverview. It was something +else I wanted. + +"I shall not take it, aunt," I said quite firmly. "I am going to make a +name for myself,--with my sword, you know," I added with a smile, "and +when I have once done that, there is something else which I shall ask you +for, which will be dearer to me--oh, far dearer--than a hundred +Riverviews." + +What ailed the women? Here was Dorothy too on her knees and kissing my +bandaged hand. + +"Oh, Tom, Tom," she cried, "do you not understand?" + +"Understand?" I repeated blankly. "Understand what, Dorothy?" + +"Don't you remember, dear, what happened just before the troops came?" + +"Oh, very clearly," I answered. "The Indians got Brightson down and +stabbed him, and just then you sprang up and cried the troops were +coming, and sure enough, there they were just entering the clearing, and +the Indians paused only for one look and then fled down the stairs as +fast as they could go. 'T was you who saved us all, Dorothy." + +"Oh, but there was something more!" she cried. "There was one Indian who +did not run, Tom, but who stopped to aim at me. I saw him do it, and I +closed my eyes, for I knew that he would kill me, and I heard his gun's +report, but no bullet struck me. For it was you whom it struck, dear, +through your hand and into your side, and for long we thought you dying." + +"Yes," I said, "but you see I am not dying, nor like to die, dear +Dorothy, so that I may still rejoin the troops erelong." + +She was looking at me with streaming eyes. + +"Do you mean that I am not going to get well, Dorothy?" I asked, for I +confess her tears frightened me. + +"Oh, not so bad as that, dear!" she cried. "Thank God, not so bad as +that! But your hand, Tom, your right hand is gone. You can never +wield a sword again, dear, never go to war. You will have to stay at +home with me." + +I know not how it was, but she was in my arms, and her lips were on mine, +and I knew that was no more parting for us. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +AND SO, GOOD-BY + + +Well, a right hand is a little price to pay for the love of a wife like +mine, and if I have made no name in the world, I at least live happy in +it, which is perhaps a greater thing. And I have grown to use my left +hand very handily. I have learnt to write with it, as the reader +knows,--and when I hold my wife to me, I have her ever next my heart. + +It is the fashion, I know well, to stop the story on the altar's steps, +and leave the reader to guess at all that may come after, but as I turn +over the pages I have writ, they seem too much a tale of failure and +defeat, and I would not have it so. For the lessons learned at Fort +Necessity and Winchester and at Duquesne have given us strength to drive +the French from the continent and the Indian from the frontier. So that +now we dwell in peace, and live our lives in quiet and content, save for +some disagreements with the king about our taxes, which Lord Grenville +has made most irksome. + +And even to my dearest friend, whose life, as I have traced it here, has +been so full of sorrow and reverse, has come great happiness. He is +honored of all men, and has found love as well, for he has brought a wife +home to Mount Vernon. Dorothy declares that Mistress Washington is the +very image of that Mary Cary who used him so ill years ago,--but this +may be only a woman's leaning toward romance. + +Indeed, we have a romance in our own home,--a bright-eyed girl of +twenty, who, I fear, is soon to leave us, if a certain pert young blade +who lives across the river has his way. It will be I who give her away +at the altar, for her father lies dead beside the Monongahela,--brave, +gentle-hearted Spiltdorph. My eyes grow dim even now when I think of +you, yet I trust that I have done as you would have had me do. For I +found the girl at Hampton, after a weary search,--perhaps some day I +shall tell the story. + +It is in the old seat by the river's edge I write these words, and as I +lay down the pen, my hand falls on those carved letters, T and D, with a +little heart around them,--very faint, now, and worn with frequent +kisses,--and as I lift my head, I see coming to me across the grass the +woman who carved them there and whom I love. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA *** + + +******* This file should be named 10094.txt or 10094.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/0/9/10094 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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