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diff --git a/36282-8.txt b/36282-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f100e7b --- /dev/null +++ b/36282-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9821 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Donald McElroy, Scotch Irishman, by Willie +Walker Caldwell, Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill + + +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: Donald McElroy, Scotch Irishman + + +Author: Willie Walker Caldwell + + + +Release Date: June 3, 2011 [eBook #36282] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DONALD MCELROY, SCOTCH IRISHMAN*** + + +E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 36282-h.htm or 36282-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36282/36282-h/36282-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36282/36282-h.zip) + + + + + +DONALD McELROY + +SCOTCH IRISHMAN + +by + +W. W. CALDWELL + +Illustrated by Frank T. Merrill + + + + + + + +Philadelphia +George W. Jacobs & Company +Publishers + +Copyright, 1918, by +George W. Jacobs & Company + +All rights reserved +Printed in U. S. A. + + + + +[Illustration: NELLY STOOD READY TO RECEIVE THE GENERAL.] + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + Nelly stood ready to receive the General + + I laid the floral wreath carefully upon the bright curls + + "You have evidently mistaken me for a villain" + + "Cousin Donald! Colonel Clark!" she called sharply + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +The life story of most men, who have lived earnest and active lives, +would doubtless be worth the hearing, if the various influences and the +many vicissitudes which compose it could be separated and skillfully +rearranged into some well wrought design. As I look back upon my own +life, it seems to me full of interest and instruction, yet I suppose not +more so than that of many another; wherefore, were personal experiences +and conclusions the sum of it, I should hesitate to write them down, +lest those events and struggles which to me have seemed notable and +significant, should prove in the telling of them to have been but +commonplace incidents to which all are liable. Because of the accident +of my birth in the year 1754, however, I have lived through a period +which will be ever memorable in the history of the world--a period so +crowded with worthy deeds and great men, especially on this continent, +that there is small danger its interest will be soon exhausted. Do not +conclude that I intend to venture upon a tale of the American +Revolution; only a master's hand can fill in with due skill and +proportion so wide a canvas, and that story waits. Where my own life's +story has been entangled with some of the events of that struggle I must +touch upon them, and the real purpose of my narrative--which is to +chronicle for future generations the noble part played in the great +drama of the nation's making by a certain worthy people--will require me +to review briefly a few of the battles and campaigns of our war against +autocracy. + +The Scotch Irish of America, through the commendable habit of that race, +so it be not carried too far, to put their strength into deeds rather +than into words, have missed their meed of credit for the important work +they did in our struggle for liberty. Now, our honored fellow-countrymen +and co-patriots, the Puritans, have not made this mistake; they took +their part in action nobly, and also they have taken care to record in +history, song, and story the might and glory of their deeds. The "Boston +Tea Party" and the "Boston Massacre" will go down emblazoned on the page +of history, but the fight at Alamance, and the vehement petitions urging +resistance to tyranny sent up to state conventions, and the first +Congress, by the Scotch Irish counties of Virginia, North Carolina, and +Pennsylvania have scarcely been heard of. + +It is my hope not only to show what the Scotch Irish have done for the +cause of liberty, but also to give a just idea of the character of this +people, a true picture of their home life, and a correct estimate of +that religion which is so dear to them, and which has had so much to do +with making them the freedom-loving, and withal broad-minded patriots +they are. Few men, I flatter myself, are better equipped to tell a +Scotch Irish story than I, Donald McElroy, who in blood am pure blue +Scotch Irish, who have been instructed by Scotch Irish divines in things +temporal and spiritual, have fought under Scotch Irish leaders, and +lived all my life among them: yet I think I may promise that my story +shall not be a mere idyl--a panegyric of a people, all whose virtues +will be exaggerated, all whose faults will be slurred, or kept out of +sight. I have seen too much of life not to know that for each height +there is a shadow, that every noble trait of character is closely +attended by a special weakness. I know the faults of my people as I know +their virtues, and through one dearer to me than all else the world +holds, I have suffered much from that narrowness of view and +stubbornness of purpose peculiar to some of them. + +My boyhood was spent within the bounds of our own plantation, in the +valley of Virginia. Rarely was I allowed to venture beyond sight of the +house unless in company with my father, or some of the negro slaves; +then only to the plow lands, or the harvest fields, until I had learned +the use of rifle, knife and tomahawk. After that I was permitted to hunt +in the forest, being solemnly charged each time by my mother that I +should not go more than a few hundred yards into the woods in any +direction, nor be lured by deer or squirrel into the thickets. There +might be Indians lurking in the bushes any day, and the youthfulness of +a scalp did not impair its value. Later, when I could ride and run like +an Indian, and shoot a bounding deer through the heart, at a distance of +three hundred feet, I was not admonished so frequently, and used often +to hunt alone the day long, coming home at twilight, my horse strung +round with many kinds of game. + +All this time with my uncle's eldest son, Thomas, I was being taught +English, Greek, Latin and Mathematics by an old Scotchman, who had +become one of my grandfather's household before the family left +Pennsylvania. He was a fellow of Edinburgh University, and but for the +disabilities of encroaching age was well fitted to bestow upon us all +the education we could imbibe. + +Among the incidents of my boyhood, two stand out with peculiar +distinctness. Both were fraught with terrible danger, and yet, as they +come back to me, I realize with something of astonishment that except +for one brief moment, on each occasion, I felt only a sensation of +exhilarating excitement and grim determination. By living in the midst +of hourly peril, we pioneers were dulled to the sense of it. Our one +thought when peril overtook us was to do our utmost, in the full +assurance that the God of our fathers, who miraculously had preserved us +through so many dangers, would again interpose for our deliverance. In +such faith, and naught else could have served them, my mother went +singing about her work, and my father stood guard, alone, over his +slaves, day after day, as they felled the timber on the hill slopes, in +sight of the mountain pass through which the Indians were accustomed to +raid our valley, without cause or warning. + +This Saturday afternoon, in the fall of the year, I had gone hunting +afoot. In hot pursuit after a deer, I penetrated a thicket deep in the +forest, there to lose track of my game. But in making my way out, came +full upon a panther's burrow, and so much admired the one striped and +mottled cub curled therein, that the fancy seized me to carry it home +and attempt to tame it. Hearing no sound of the parent beast, I put the +sleeping cub into my game bag, and started homeward. Scarcely half a +mile had been covered when there came from the thicket behind me that +nerve-shaking cry of the panther, resembling nothing else so much as the +scream of a child in mortal terror. My steady gait quickened into a run. +A second screech came from the pursuing panther. Knowledge of my danger +lent wings to my limbs, but the beast gained on me with long leaps of +her agile body. Louder and louder sounded her oft repeated cries, and +the cub in my bag answered with pitiable whines. I could hear her deep, +swift panting, and the soft thud of her feet upon the leafy ground. The +open field was gained but a few yards in advance of her, and turning to +face my foe a sudden panic seized me. To my amazement she paused at the +edge of the forest, and, after turning a scornful glance in my +direction, fixed a meditative eye upon a sunset more gorgeous than +usual. With that alertness of observation, and acuteness of +consciousness which most persons experience in moments of high tension, +I remember noting the rich coloring of the tan and brown rings on the +creature's sleek and mottled skin, and of thinking what a fine, soft +cover it would make for my mother's rocking chair. + +Suddenly the panther turned toward me, uttering a still more +blood-curdling cry, and crouched for a spring. My ball met her as she +rose, but only to sting her, and make her the more furious. Her body +came against mine with the force of a cannon ball, and I went down under +it, my unloaded rifle being hurled from my hand. Fastened by the +animal's claws, together we rolled over and over in the dry, matted +grass of the meadow, struggling desperately. + +The confused, doubtful struggle was presently over and not only was I +alive and fully conscious, but could even move my mangled arm, and stand +upon my feet. The hilt of my knife stuck straight upward in the long fur +upon the creature's breast, and I pulled it out, wiped it upon the +grass, and sheathed it, thinking I would not use it again, but keep it +for remembrance. + +Again I was struck by the thickness and beauty of the panther's skin, +and wished to have it for my mother's chair. It was my custom to carry a +leathern thong in the outer pouch of my game bag; one end of it I now +fastened about the beast's body, the other about my own, and so dragged +the carcass after me across the level field. Slow and painful was my +progress, for my lacerated shoulder and arm smarted maddeningly, and +every few yards I was forced to drop upon the ground to rest. + +The full moon was two hours high, when, at last, I came to the barn yard +stile, on which my father leaned, scanning the fields anxiously. + +"Well, son, I'm glad you've come," said my father, "your mother is half +dead with anxiety." + +I showed my trophy and told my story. + +"You did a foolish thing, Don, when you stole the cub, but your mother +need have, I think, little further anxiety about you; you are as able to +take care of yourself as any seasoned woodsman." + +The glow of pride my father's words gave me changed to a feeling of +remorse when I saw my mother's blanched face and trembling hands. She +would not consent to let me tame the cub. "Our lives were already close +enough to savagery," she said, "with Indians and wild beasts likely to +fall upon us at any moment; we do not want the sweet peace of our home +broken by any savage sight or sound." She kept the skin, though, used it +on her winter rocking chair, and prized it highly. Indeed I have more +than once overheard her tell how she came by it. + +The second incident of my youth most vividly stamped upon my memory +happened just ten months after I killed the panther. + +The occasion was the last Indian raid into our valley. Fortunately we +had two days' warning, and in that time the women and children were +gathered within the recently completed stockade around the church, with +provisions enough for a week's siege. Meanwhile the men took their +rifles and marched to the mountain pass through which the Indians were +expected to enter the valley, hoping to turn the savages back with a +bloody lesson such as would last them a while, and insure us some more +years of peace. + +Much exalted in my own opinion by my recent exploit with the panther, I +begged to go with the men, and took it somewhat sullenly that I should +be left behind with the rest of the youths, under the captaincy of the +parson, to guard a church full of women and children. About half an hour +before sunset on the second day I was descending the hill behind the +church to the spring, a piggin in either hand, and my ever present rifle +under my arm, when I saw on the crest of the opposite hill a file of +Indians, their painted bodies and feather crested heads standing out +against the glowing sky, as distinctly as a picture on a white leaf. +Back I flew to the church, with the alarm hot on my lips, and found that +Parson Craig had assembled all within for evening worship. In an +instant, Bible and Psalm book laid aside, the doors of the church were +barricaded, and we youths, each with rifle or musket loaded and primed, +stood close about our parson, awaiting orders. + +"Lads," he said, in tones that rang as they did when he preached one of +his famous sermons of warning to sinners, and dropping in a Scotch word +here and there, as he was apt to when excited, "keep cool and fire +carefully when ye ha'e taken good aim. We ha'e nae bullets to spare and +each ain maun hold himself responsible for half a dozen savages. +Remember, lads, ye are fightin' for your maithers, your sisters, your +kirk an' your hames, for a' that true men hauld dear, and if ye maun gie +your verra lives to save these dearer things count not the price, but +pay like brave men, and like brothers o' that dear Christ wha gladly +gi'ed His life a sacrifice for us a'. Fear not death, my lads--'tis but +the beginning of life, but fear for your maithers' and your sisters' +torture and dishonor." + +Hardly had the brave pastor spoken the last word, when the stockade was +surrounded by whooping red skins, brandishing tomahawks and war clubs, +and yelling to each other unintelligible words of command or +exhortation. In another instant they were flying a shower of arrows and +bullets over the top of the stockade, and several savage faces appeared +above the wall. + +A second, third and fourth attempt to scale the stockade was made. For a +while, however, I could render little assistance in checking our enemies +from without, for I was engaged in a hand to hand death grapple with one +of the three Indians who at the first rush succeeded in getting within +our enclosure. Never, before or since, had I so mighty a wrestle for my +life, and but for my superior height, and the strength of my strong +arms, my reader would have been spared this personal narrative. + +The next half hour--it seems thrice as long--stays in my mind as an idea +of what Hell might well be like. Row after row of hideous, paint +streaked, savage faces rose about our wall; the crack of rifles, the +whizz of arrows, the yell of the red demons, the shrieks of the wounded, +the groans of the dying, mingled in a hideous clamor, and above all rose +the wailing of frightened children, and the moans of terrified women. +The one harmonious note amidst this frightful discord was the ringing, +cheerful tone of Parson Craig's voice, as he encouraged his lads between +the quickly succeeding shots of his own musket. + +Again and again I fired my good rifle, and whenever a savage face fell +backward from the top of the stockade, I experienced a heart bound of +fierce joy. Not until there was almost complete silence about us and not +a living Indian in sight, did we boys cease the almost mechanical action +of loading and firing, and turn to look about us. + +The ground both within and without the enclosure, was strewn with dead +and dying Indians, half a score of them at least, and some of the lads +were carrying our own injured, six in all, into the church, where tender +hands waited to dress their wounds. Presently I discovered clotted blood +upon my sleeve, and realized for the first time that a bullet had +pierced my leathern shirt and the flesh of my left arm between shoulder +and elbow. + +Next day the militiamen joined us, and we learned that the Indians had +evaded them by seeking another pass higher up the range; also that they +had devastated all the valley, except our end of it. We had stopped +effectually the war party detailed against us, and had saved our homes +and crops, as well as the lives of our women and children. The valley +rang with praise of "the fighting lads," and my father's face beamed +with pride and tenderness as he shook my hand. + +"I shall call you boy no longer, Donald," he said; "you have nobly +earned your majority; my advice is always at your service, sir, but no +longer I give you commands." I think I never had a promotion or an honor +that so pleasured me; and doubtless my father was shrewd enough to know +that by thus expressing his pride and confidence in me, he was fixing +upon me a sense of uplifting responsibility, as one from whom only noble +deeds were expected, which would prove a restraint stronger than any +which the most respected authority could impose--an obligation to right +and duty neither to be shirked, nor forgotten. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +The mellow glow of September lay upon green hills and purple mountains, +sleeping in serene content against a tender sky. Over quiet woods, and +gliding river, bordered with ribbons of rich meadows, brooded a sweet +peace, as if nature, after a busy and fruitful season, took her well +earned rest in mood of conscious thankfulness. The very grapes, hanging +in heavy amber clusters below the sloping roof of the low-eaved porch on +which I sat, suggested fruition and content, as if they had stored all +the sweetness possible within their bursting skins, and now rested +thankfully upon their strong stems. + +I could see my father salting sheep in the meadow, watered by the +spring-run, below the house, and I smiled as presently he sought the +shade of a spreading elm, and stretched himself full length upon the +ground. The droning of the bees, and the sleepy humming of the flies +added to the lazy influence of the fondling fruit-scented breeze; I +almost nodded over my bullet molding for a moment, then roused myself +and went to work. Saturday was my only holiday, and I could not laze the +morning away unless I were content to miss my one chance during the week +for an afternoon in the forest. + +"Good morning, nephew," spoke suddenly a high, strong voice which I knew +to be Aunt Martha's. "Spend you all your spare time polishing firearms, +molding bullets, and shooting animals?" + +I turned in my chair, and looked up to see my mother's sister, who was +as unlike her as one sister could be from another--coming up the +sidewalk, and my father leading her pacing mare from the stile, +stable-ward. Aunt Martha's erect and well formed shoulders had a square +set which gave her a masculine air, and she held her somewhat sharp chin +and nose tilted a little upward, as if she felt very sure of her own +convictions. Her brown hair was brushed back severely from her square, +high brow, and her gray eyes met your gaze steadily with a look that was +not unkind, though it was certainly not sympathetic, nor confidence +inviting. + +"Good morning, Aunt Martha," I answered, in undisturbed, and cheerful +tones--for I never allowed Aunt Martha to disconcert or overawe me, as +she did her own son, Thomas, and even Uncle Thomas himself--"I'll clear +the way for you in a moment," and I began to push back my chair, rifle +and implements from the middle of the porch. + +"Your time might be better spent, nephew, in my opinion," continued Aunt +Martha, as she stood waiting on the step, looking with stern disapproval +first at me, and then at the cluttered floor of the porch. "Our lads, it +seems to _me_," (Aunt Martha always accented the _me_ or the _my_) "are +growing up to be a turbulent and bloodthirsty race, with but the most +carnal ideas of life. Did we but serve God more entirely, and trust Him +more fully, we would depend less upon our own strength and skill, and +more upon Him to defend and take care of us. And after all what is man's +puny strength against the dangers of this life? It is our all powerful +Heavenly Father who must save and protect us." + +"True enow, Martha, true enow," broke in the voice of my grandmother, +who appeared just then in the front doorway, her ever busy fingers +picking up and knitting off the stitches from her shining needles with +steady click, "but God has naewhere promised to do His ain work, and +man's as weel. He led the children o' Israel to the Promised Land, and +then bade them fight for a' they wanted o' it, nor did they get ony more +than they could win an' hauld. There's yet need, plenty, for men who can +shoot in this colony, and likely to be for mony lang days to come. Let +the lad alone, Martha; he's fearless, an' sometimes rash, but neither +bloodthirsty nor a brawler," and as my aunt stepped into my mother's +room, adjoining, to lay aside her bonnet, I heard my grandmother add in +somewhat impatient tones, + +"I'm glad enow to ken ye're sae pious, Martha, but dinna get to be +fanatical, nor in the way o' going about a' the time with reproof in +your een, an' a sairmon on your lips. You but cheapen our holy religion +sae, an' harden the young an' the unconverted." + +My grandmother spoke with a rich Irish accent that it is impossible to +indicate, for it was not a brogue, nor a dialect; it was merely a +full-throated, and somewhat rolling sound which she gave to certain +words. Her language too, was freely sprinkled with Scotch words, and +these she pronounced with broad Scotch accent. The combination was +delightful, and her blended speech added a peculiar charm to the +fascinating stories she could sometimes be beguiled into telling. + +"It is strange doctrine, mother, that one may be too pious," answered my +aunt, who certainly did not number meekness among her Christian virtues. +Nor was my grandmother meek spirited, and a warm argument would likely +have followed had not my mother, whose sweet and placid temper was the +oil ready, at all times, to be poured on the threatening argument, +entered the back door at that moment. + +With Dulce, the cook woman, to help her she had been making candles all +morning, in the back kitchen--my father having killed a fat beef but a +few days before--and on seeing Aunt Martha's horse led to the stable she +had but waited to hang up the last dipping, and to tidy herself before +coming in to welcome her sister. + +"How do you do, Sister Martha," she began cheerily, "I'm more glad than +ordinarily to see you; indeed I was just wishing I could send for you to +eat some of the suet pudding we are boiling for dinner; I know you are +fond of it." + +"Yes, suet pudding is a favorite dish of mine," said my aunt, solemnly +and with a deep sigh, "but I am little in the mood to enjoy anything +this morning, Rachael." + +"And what troubles you noo, daughter?" asked grandmother kindly, but +with no note of anxiety in her cheery voice. + +"I thought you looked pestered, child," added my mother in soothing +tones; "take this chair, it sits easier than that one, and tell us +what's on your mind." + +"'Tis about the letter that came yesterday to Thomas," and Aunt Martha +paused, to whet still further her listeners' curiosity, and meantime, +heaved another deep sigh. + +"Well, Martha, who writ the letter, an' what was't writ aboot?" somewhat +impatiently from grandmother. + +"'T'was writ by a cousin of Thomas', in Baltimore, to bring him news of +his Sister Mary's death, and of her husband's, Owen O'Niel, of the small +pox plague within three days of each other," and again Aunt Martha +sighed. + +"But you ken but little o' Mary O'Niel, child, and 'tis near fifteen +years syne you ha'e seen her," remarked my grandmother, a touch of +impatience still audible in her voice. + +"They left an only daughter," continued my aunt, "and made dying request +that the child, Ellen, might be sent to Virginia to the care of Mary's +brother. And now Thomas says there's naught else to do but that he must +start at once to bring her to our house." + +"Thomas is right, Martha; there's naught else to be doon;--the child +canna weal come sae far alone, e'en by the stages. But I see nae sic +sair trouble in that, though I'm nae denyin' 'twill be something of a +trial to you to spare Thomas for four or five weeks. At the same time +'twill be a welcome opportunity to get some muslins, cap laces, and sic +like things; and Martha, you micht hae him fetch you the table and bed +linens you hae wanted for sae lang," and grandmother's voice sounded as +cheery as a bird's morning carol, while she suggested these substantial +compensations. + +"And William will be glad to come over every few days, sister, to advise +with Thomas, who, though he's but a boy yet, is a sensible, steady lad, +and can see that the negroes carry out his father's directions." + +"'Tis not the sparing Thomas I am most troubled about, Rachael, though I +like not the prospect of his absence, and son Thomas is in all things a +child yet. That which kept me awake last night was the thought of having +an O'Niel and a Catholic in my household. 'Tis bitter, indeed, after all +our people have suffered from that name and that religion." + +"Tut, tut, Martha; you fret me," said my grandmother, almost shrilly, +only shrillness was not possible to her rich voice. "I'd ne'er keep an +old sore running that I micht hae the nursing o' it. And was na' the +great, great grandmaither of yourself an O'Niel and a Catholic? 'Tis nae +fact we hae reason to be greatly proud of, I weel ken, yet O'Niel is nae +low Irish name, nor is the Catholic religion, though it be full of +superstition, sae bad as some folks believe. I hae known, indeed, +charitable and pious Catholics, and there was a time when an O'Niel +stood staunch friend to our family, else I misdoubt me there'd hae been +nae McElroys in America to-day." + +"And Ellen is only a child, sister," put in my mother; "we'll make a +good Presbyterian of her in no-time." + +"Ne'er by driving," said grandmother; "an O'Niel was ne'er yet driven to +do anything." + +"She's fourteen or more, thinks Thomas, and knowing the bigoted and +stubborn spirit of the O'Niels I doubt not she is set in her idolatrous +religion by this time," sighed Aunt Martha. + +"But she may be a sweet, tractable child, sister, and since you've no +daughter of your own, and I've always been sorry you did not +have--Jean's such a pleasure to us--this Ellen'll doubtless grow up to +be a great comfort to you." + +Getting no response to this cheerful doctrine but another sigh, my +mother got up, and said briskly: + +"Come, Martha, I want you to see my cheeses. I never made finer ones, +I'm sure." + +The invitation proved too tempting to resist, and Aunt Martha followed +mother into the back entry, wearing still the look of a much burdened +woman. She would forget her role, presently, however, in the interest of +inspecting jellies, and butters, and sampling the new cheeses. My mother +was a famous housewife, and her domestic products were the admiration of +the neighborhood. + +"Grandmother," I said, joining her as soon as they were out of hearing, +"who is this Ellen O'Niel who is niece to Uncle Thomas?" + +"Well, laddie, 'tis a tangled story, but I will e'en try to unravel it +for you, if you'll hold this hank of yarn till I wind me a good ball." + +There was nothing, save hunting, I liked so well as my grandmother's +stories; so I drew my chair in front of her and held my arms as still as +I could, while she wound dexterously, and told me the origin of Ellen +O'Niel. + +To-day I can shut my eyes and call up the picture of the "big room" in +the comfortable log house where I was born and raised. Its walls of hewn +logs, brown from smoke and age, and chinked with yellow plastering, were +almost covered with wild skins, and stag antlers; these last used as +rests for muskets, and powder horns. Over its small paned, deep silled +windows hung speckless muslin curtains; upon its floor was spread a +gayly striped rag carpet; and the wooden rocking-chairs were made soft +with skins or feather cushions. The high mantel-shelf was ornamented, at +either end, with squat wide-lipped blue pitchers, and between them two +shining brass candle-sticks, having trays and snuffers to match. In +winter these pitchers were filled with dried grasses and "everlastings;" +in summer with flowers of the marigold, poppy, heartsease or +love-in-mist, and the great fireplace below with feathery asparagus +branches. At all times it was a homely, comfortable room, but cosier +perhaps on winter evenings, when great logs blazed high above the +dog-irons; when between the candles on either end of the long table +against the wall, sat plates of ginger bread, and pitchers of persimmon +beer; when apples sputtered on the stone hearth, filling the room with +spicy fragrance, and roasting chestnuts popped in the hot ashes. +Especially were we merry on such winter evenings as guests joined the +hearth circle around the blazing logs. Nor were they so infrequent as +you may suppose, for my father, being justice of the county and a man of +substance, kept open house for travelers of all degrees, and, since they +brought us all our news from the outside world, they were always +welcome. On such evenings I was bid to hurry with my lessons, that I +might play a tune for our guests on my fiddle--for music was so rare a +treat in our settlement that even my poor, self-taught efforts were +appreciated. + +But I am wandering, as garrulous old age is apt to do, and meantime my +reader waits for my grandmother's story. + +"The O'Niels, lad," she began, "lang syne, were a great family in +Ireland, the Earls O'Niel, or the Earls O'Tyrone, as they were called, +being hereditary chiefs o' a powerful clan, in the northern part o' +Ireland. But always they were a turbulent people, an' as was the custom +with mony o' the Scotch an' Irish lads in those days, lived for the +maist part by pillaging their neighbors. Continually, too, they were the +leaders in insurrection against the English power, and as far back as +the reign of King James part o' their lands were forfeited to the croon, +an' were granted or sold to English an' Scotch Protestants, with the +hope that a loyal an' peaceful settlement in the heart o' brawling +Ireland micht help to civilize the people, an' keep them quiet, or at +warst, help to subdue them. 'Twas then our ancestor came to Ulster frae +Scotland, though your father's people not until half a century later. +Our people were sheep graziers an' wool manufacturers, and always +thrifty and prosperous. The Irish, for the maist part, e'en the great +lairds, were idle and shiftless, and lived in a sort of squalid splendor +within their castles, surrounded by bands of clansmen and swarms o' +unpayed retainers. + +"Our lands were close to the castles o' Sir Phelim O'Neil, an' I hae +heard my grandmaither say that mony's the time my great grandmaither wad +send welcome gifts o' cheese, an' meat to the maither o' Sir Phelim, +when he would be absent on one of his lang maraudin' expeditions. + +"Twas in the year 1641, that the massacre of Protestants took place, and +the besotted, cruel Sir Phelim was thought to be at the head of the +dreadful plot. At first Protestants were only driven from their homes to +wander, starving an' shiverin', aboot the country, refused shelter or +food everywhere, till mony a woman and her bairns perished from hunger +and exposure, and all suffered cruelly. + +"Presently the killing began, an' no Protestant in a' that part o' +Ireland escaped save the verra few who found refuge with Catholic +friends. My great grandmaither an' her two young children were amangst +those few fortunate ones, though my great grandfaither was killed. She +lay concealed for weeks in a disused wing o' the O'Niel castle itself, +an' was carefully guarded, an' provided for by old lady O'Niel. + +"Afterwards when Cromwell an' his men marched into Ulster to take +revenge, my great grandmaither begged successfully for the lives o' Lady +O'Niel an' her two grandsons. They were not, tho' I am glad to say, the +children o' Sir Phelim, but o' a younger son, who had died before the +massacre. My grandmaither, when she grew up, married Owen O'Niel, an' +'tis there that the one strain o' Irish cooms into our bluid. But this +Owen died young, an' my grandmaither went back to her ain people, with +naithin' to show the Irish in her children, but the name an' accent. My +maither, Jeannie, married, as you know, a full blooded Scotchman, +William Irvine, an' I anaither, Douglas McIlwaine--yet they tell me the +Irish accent has descended as far as me," and my grandmother looked at +me with a half merry, half serious question in her eye. + +"Just enough to make your speech roll musically, grandmother. So then I +am a cousin of Ellen O'Niel's as well as Thomas Mitchell?" + +"Yes, but verra deestant. She's a direct descendant o' James, a brother +of the Owen who was my ancestor, an' who also married a Scotch lass as +his brother did, in spite of the law an' the custom. The grandson o' +James was amangst the first o' the Scotch Irish settlers who came with +the McElroys, an' aithers to Pennsylvania in the year 1729, in the good +ship, _George and Ann_. The Mitchells came a few years later, an' your +Uncle Thomas' sister married the youngest son o' this first emigrant, +some sixteen years syne." + +"They moved from Pennsylvania to Baltimore?" + +"Yes; James O'Niel was a shrewd man, and whilst made money in the ship +traffic; but when Thomas was last on, he brought news that James had +lost his ship, and that his business was being taken frae him by richer +traders. Thees child Ellen has nae aither heritage, I suppose, than her +name, an' mayhap beauty--her race are a comely people." + +"Poor child!" said I, "'Tis a pity she must come here." + +"The purposes o' God in His providences are inscrutable, lad; but that +He maun work final good out o' this event you need nae meesdoot. +Martha's a pious woman, an' her intentions are good, though without doot +she is overly selfrighteous, an' has nae understanding o' the feelings +o' the young. But remember, my son, 'twere better to hae o'er mooch +religion than not enow, an' what e'er experience life may bring you +ne'er lose reverence, lad, for the earnest and beautiful faith of your +forefaithers. Because there be some who pervert its solemnity to +sternness--do not conclude that Presbyterianism is a hard and narrow +faith. There be some, lad, that wad make it appear so, but 'tis in their +perverted minds, an' not in those lofty an' consoling doctrines which +turn life into a joyful though toilsome pilgrimage to a blissful +eternity." + +"Should I ever be inclined to think Presbyterianism a cold, hard faith, +grandmother," I answered, "I shall but need to think of you." + +"Aye, laddie, think o' your old grandmaither, an' that she told you +thees--that during a pilgrimage o' seventy-five years,--an' my life has +known mony vicissitudes, Donald, an' mooch hardship an' danger--nae +trouble e'er came to her that her religion dinna gie her strength to +endure calmly, and hopefully; and nae joy that her faith dinna make the +sweeter an' brighter--as being but a faint foretaste o' that perfect an' +eternal happiness to which she felt assured she was journeying." + +As grandmother spoke these words, there grew upon her face a rapt and +absent look, and her lips parted in a smile of perfect satisfaction. I +like to remember her thus--the silky bands of her white hair shining +beneath her soft cap, her wrinkled hands crossed upon the finished ball, +her alert brown eyes dreamy and tender, and over all her kind, bright +face, that look of pure content--as of faith assured, and Heaven already +realized. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Some weeks later the news came that Uncle Thomas had returned, bringing +with him the "Irish lass," and a huge bundle of linens, muslins, laces, +tea, spices, and other goods and delicacies such as were difficult to +come by in our remote settlement. The horses were saddled as early the +next morning as my mother's energetic household management permitted, +and she and grandmother, who sat her horse as erectly as either of her +daughters, rode across the fields to my aunt's, even more eager to +inspect the contents of the bundles, which Uncle Thomas had brought, +than to see our new kinswoman. I accompanied them, on foot, to lay down +the fences, and to watch my grandmother's horse, lest he stumble, though +I did not dare avow the last named object to the dear old lady, who +liked not to be treated as if she were in any sense incapacitated by her +age. + +When Thomas and I entered the big room, after stabling the horses, we +could see the three women in the adjoining spare room, gathered about +the bed which was piled so high with "feather-ticks" that my little +mother, standing, could not much more than see the top, on which was +laid out an array of fine dry goods, the like of which had seldom been +seen in our neighborhood. + +Aunt Martha, mounted upon the bed-stool, was drawing to the edge of the +bed piece after piece of her treasures, and all were talking volubly as +they examined each article with eyes, fingers, tongues and even noses. I +smiled as the thought came into my mind that Uncle Thomas had used the +wisdom of a serpent combined with the harmlessness of a dove, according +to the Bible injunction, in thus diverting Aunt Martha's worrying spirit +for a while from the Irish lass thrown, so unwelcome, upon their +charities. Uncle Thomas would sacrifice anything for peace in his +household, though he lacked not courage where another than his wife was +concerned. + +"Where is our new cousin, Thomas?" I asked, as I hung my hat upon the +stag antlers near the door. + +"There," he said, pointing to the farthest window; then, after a +moment's hesitation, he approached her and said, with shy, off-hand +manner, "This is another cousin, Ellen, and his name is Donald McElroy." + +The girl, who had been leaning listlessly on the window sill, turned a +thin pale face towards me, and nodded silently. + +"You must be very tired, Cousin Ellen," I said as kindly as I could, +moved somehow with sympathy by the utter dejection of her attitude and +expression. + +When I spoke directly to her she looked me full in the face, and I noted +the singular beauty of her eyes. They were large, almond-shaped, the +bluest I have ever seen, and rayed with minute, dark lines which +centered in the wide pupils. Moreover, the dark lashes, which fringed +thickly their white lids, curved upward, and when they were lifted +almost touched the gracefully arched black brows. Otherwise her face was +not pretty; it was too long, too thin and too pale; the nose was +somewhat sharp and the lips were compressed in an expression that +denoted either sullenness or restrained misery, while the black hair, +which had been cropped like a boy's, was stubbly and unbecoming. + +"I am not tired," she answered, rather scornfully; "I'm very strong." + +"But you are lonely," I said, "I wish we had brought Jean with us." Then +casting about in my mind for some more available resource to offer her, +I asked impulsively: "Would you like to go duck shooting this afternoon +with Thomas and me? Jean goes with me sometimes." + +"I would like it, but I cannot go." + +"And why not?" + +"My Aunt Martha says that girls should be satisfied to keep busy within +doors. I am to learn to spin, and to weave, and then I'll not have time +to get lonesome, she says." + +"Do you not know how to spin and weave, Ellen? Why, even Jean can spin, +and she's but thirteen," put in Thomas. + +"My mother did not make me do the things I detested," answered Ellen +with a flash of her eyes toward Thomas; then to me, with some show of +interest, "Who is Jean?" + +"My little sister. What do you like to do, Cousin Ellen?" + +"Nothing that's useful." + +"Then what sort of play do you like?" + +"To shoot, to climb, to swim, to chop wood, to drive sheep and to read." + +I opened my eyes wide, I suppose, for I never heard of a girl who liked +such things. "And you can do these things?" I asked. + +"Yes, my father taught me, and my mother said I needed outdoor life to +make me strong, and at night my father would read to us, or else my +mother would teach me." + +"But you may like to spin; Jean does." + +"No; I shall hate everything I have to do here; I would rather have died +than to have come." As she said this I noticed a singular quality in her +voice, though not until afterwards did I analyze it. There was a sort of +tremor in certain tones, though tremor is, perhaps, too strong a word, +since it was rather the suggestion of a harp-like vibration.--like the +faintest echo of a sob. + +"I wish I might have died when my mother did," she continued, with +rising passion. "Why did God leave me alone in the world with no one to +love me?" and the strange child burst into a storm of weeping, and ran +out of the room, her face hidden by her arm, her slight body shaken by +sobs. + +"Isn't she queer, Don?" said Thomas, while Aunt Martha came from the +room to inquire what was the matter, followed by my mother and +grandmother. + +"O, 'twas Ellen," I explained, making as light of the matter as +possible; "she was answering our questions, and spoke of her mother, +which started her to crying." + +"Poor child!" said my mother; "I do not wonder she is unhappy, having so +recently lost both her parents." + +"She is by no means humbled by her afflictions, nor does she seem ever +to have been taught respect and obedience," replied Aunt Martha. "Last +night I stayed in her room to see that she said her prayers, and when +she kneeled down she began to count the beads about her neck and to kiss +the crucifix hung to them. I called her to me, and asked her if she did +not know they were idolatrous symbols, that she was breaking the second +commandment in using them, and that she ought to pray to the unseen God +rather than to a wooden cross; and then I bade her give me the beads +that I might put it out of her power to sin in that way again. But she +refused to give them up, said they were the last thing her mother had +kissed, and that her father had told her to say her prayers to them +every day; then she grew violent and said she would part with them only +with her life. I took her to her Uncle Thomas this morning, and urged +him to remonstrate with her, but she again became angry and wept and +stormed till Thomas bade me let the child's beads alone; since they were +the gift of her dead parents, he could not see how they could do her +harm, even though she did attach a superstitious importance to them. So +you see, mother, that already this Irish girl is bringing trouble to my +household, as I was forewarned she would. Last night was the first time +I have ever heard Thomas say a word in favor of idolatry, and not for +months has he spoken to me so sternly." + +"But, Martha, you dinna use due discretion with the child," said my +grandmother; "couldna you hae waited till she hae gotten used to her new +surroundings, an' her grief for her parents had some abated, afore you +began to abuse her religion? You will soon hae the child set in stubborn +defiance, at this rate; hae na' I told you that ne'er yet micht an +O'Niel be driven--that they wad be easier led to hell, than driven to +heaven?" + +"Such language sounds irreverent to me, mother," Aunt Martha replied, +with her most pious air, "and if that is the character of the O'Niels +they must be a stiff necked people. In my opinion anyone should be +grateful to be driven in the right way. But, be that as it may, I cannot +risk the effect of an idolatrous example upon my own children, even +could I bring myself to tolerate such practices in my house. If Ellen +persists in saying prayers to her beads she must do so without my +knowledge or consent, and I shall consider it my duty to speak out +against such practices whenever the opportunity is afforded." + +"Well, Martha, you maun need take your ain way, and reap the fruit of +it," said my grandmother, in her sharpest tone; and my mother as usual +rushed in with soothing words, diverting the conversation into smoother +channels, by further laudation of the beauty of the table linens they +were already beginning to hem. + +Ellen did not come into dinner, and no one appeared to notice her +absence, though Uncle Thomas watched the door, I thought. After dinner I +took my rifle on my shoulder, and went down to the canebrake where I +hoped to find a flock of wild ducks. Thomas had been sent by his father +with more seed to the fields, where the men were sowing wheat, so could +not go with me. I went by the dining room, and found platters of wheaten +bread, and spice cake still on the side table with which I filled my +pockets, for my appetite would be as hearty as ever in three hours, and +I might need bait for the ducks. + +My way lay under a sycamore tree, on the edge of the creek behind the +barn, and as I stooped to pass beneath a low bough, something jumped +from a branch just before me. I raised my head quickly, and saw the +child, Ellen, standing in the path. + +"May I go hunting with you, now?" she said, eagerly. "You asked me this +morning, so I brought my bonnet, and I have been watching for you." + +"But you've had no dinner." + +"I'm not hungry, and I can't eat when she looks at me." + +"Who?" + +"The one I must call Aunt Martha; do _you_ like her?" + +"Well, I never thought about it, much, but I don't believe I am as fond +of her as I ought to be." + +"Ought to be,--why?" + +"She is my real blood aunt, you know--my mother's sister." + +"That's nothing. She's hateful, just as much as if she weren't--this +morning she stole my crucifix--I left it on my dresser, and it's gone. +O, I know she stole it!" + +"Don't let's talk about that now," I said, "but sit down here and have +lunch together. I'm hungry still, though I've had my dinner." This was +not strictly true, but I managed to eat enough to keep her at it till I +thought she was satisfied, and then I bade her follow me, and not to let +me walk too fast for her. + +She scouted the idea, saying: "My father was tall, like you, and walked +fast always, and he never had to wait for me." + +She kept up without seeming to try, and helped me to pile brush for a +blind on the edge of the brake, keeping as still as possible when we +were hidden behind it. + +A flock rose presently, and flew straight over our heads toward the +river. I took aim, brought down one, then loaded quickly, and hit a +second, as the flock circled, calling noisily to each other. + +Ellen ran fleetly into the marshy grass, and brought both of the dead +ducks to me. + +"I wish you had two rifles with you," she said, her eyes shining with +excitement. "I might be loading one, while you shoot the other." + +I smiled at her enthusiasm. "The next flock that rises is yours," I +said, "I want to see how well you can aim." + +In less than half an hour we again heard a whirring in the brake, and +this time the flock flew low, and between us and the river, affording +Ellen a fine chance. She waited with a coolness that surprised me, then +took careful aim and shot the leader. + +"Well done!" I said, seizing the gun to reload, and getting it ready to +pick off one of the scattered flock before they could all get back into +the brake. + +By the time the light began to fail we had six ducks, two of which Ellen +had killed. Already we were good friends, and the child looked so happy, +as she tripped lightly beside me, that I could not believe that she +would ever again seem to me sullen and forbidding as she had that +morning. + +"It's a pity you're a girl, Ellen," with the patronizing air of a youth +of nineteen. + +"I wish I were a boy!" with a profound sigh; "I'd live in the woods, and +eat roots, berries, and game; I'd never have to weave and spin for my +keep, then. Why must I wear skirts and live in the house just because +I'm a girl, Cousin Donald?" + +"I'm not sure I can give a better answer than the one Aunt Martha would +likely make you. God fixed it that way. He meant women for the home, and +men for the fields and for war. There's one good thing, maybe, about +being a girl--that is, some persons might think it a compensation,--you +will never have to fight, or go to war." + +"I think fighting would be fine, a heap more fun than staying at home +and hearing about it. Don't women ever go to war?" + +"Of course not, child, though in this valley they have more than once +helped to fight Indians." + +"I do wish I were a boy," she repeated, "or I'd like better still to be +a splendid, big man like you." + +This flattery, whether intentional or not, had its effect upon me, and I +constituted myself Ellen's champion from that moment. When we reached +the house I marched boldly in with her to Aunt Martha, and after +announcing that I had taken the child to the river to pick up ducks for +me, made Aunt Martha a peace offering of half of them. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +My father had destined me for a lawyer, there being at that time need +for one in our valley--a fact which sounds strangely now, when knights +of quill and ink horn are everywhere so numerous. An accumulation of +legal lore requiring, as was then thought, the deep laid foundation of a +thorough classical education, I was sent, after old David Ramsey had +imparted to me such measure of his learning as his failing powers +permitted, to the Augusta Academy, to continue my Greek and Latin, while +at the same time I read Coke and Blackstone, and practiced on legal +forms. + +We had just begun a second session of eleven months, and I flattered +myself I was making some progress in comprehending the great underlying +principles of law, as well as in unlearning certain faults of +pronunciation and scanning acquired under old David, when my studies +encountered a sudden interruption in an event whose influence upon my +after life was of sufficient importance to justify me in briefly +recording it. + +The class room that August afternoon was hot and buzzing, and most of +the lads in the Greek class awaited the coming of the master with a sort +of drowsy impatience, while a few bent their eyes upon well thumbed +books, and read the coming lesson over greedily, hoping to make up for +previous neglect by diligent use of an unexpected respite. When the +master did come, he had an absent and very serious look upon his face, +and he heard us recite with surprising indifference to mistakes. We knew +intuitively that he held something in waiting, to tell us as soon as the +lesson should be over, and a subdued inward excitement quickly +counteracted our drowsiness. + +After the last line had been recited, he got on his feet, his tall gaunt +figure, stern mouth and Roman nose more impressive than usual, and told +us, as quietly as if he were announcing the next day's lesson, that news +had been received of a confederated rising of the Indians in the Ohio +Valley, and that Colonel Lewis had been ordered to call out the militia, +to enlist volunteers, and to march to the frontier to meet the savages. +He, the master, being a militia man, was in duty bound to go, and as it +was but two days to the one set for the mustering, he would not meet his +class again until his return--if it should be God's will to spare his +life and liberty, and allow him to come back to more peaceful pursuits. +Meantime, he hoped we would not neglect our studies, or grow careless of +our duty to our parents, and our country. That duty, at present, was to +train our minds by constant exercise, and to fill our brains with varied +knowledge, that we might become useful and honored citizens in a +commonwealth, standing upon the threshold of a future which promised to +be one of glorious and continued progress. Then he bade us good-by +feelingly, and left us, each one envying him his chance of adventure and +danger, and each sheepishly conscious of tears in his eyes. A moment +later I made a sudden but resolute decision, and having put my books, +desk, and other school belongings in the care of a fellow student, +struck out across the fields, and walked the twelve miles to the home +stile by sunset. + +"Father," I said, before he had time to express astonishment, "I am +going with Colonel Lewis to whip the Indians." + +The day after the next, my father accompanied me to the mustering, and +gave full consent to my enlistment for the campaign. + +The long march we made through an almost trackless wilderness, and the +effectual check we gave Cornstalk and his warriors, are, now, facts of +history, and since they in no way serve to help on my story, I must +resist the temptation to dwell upon our brief campaign. I cannot even +stop to point out convincingly the far reaching and most important +consequences to the cause growing out of this victory. But this much of +a digression must be forgiven me--though my story halts while I say it. + +Had not the strength and confidence of the Shawnees, and the tribes +confederated with them, been shaken at Point Pleasant, and the prestige +and influence of the brave and capable Cornstalk destroyed, the Indians +would, doubtless months before, have made impossible that intrepid +defiance of Washington, the memory of which we Scotch Irish cherish with +so much pride:--that he would never surrender but if driven to bay would +make a last stand in the mountain fastnesses of Augusta; and, rallying +to his aid those brave pioneers, yet bid defiance to the enemy and hope +to pluck victory from apparent defeat. Nor, had there been no battle of +Point Pleasant, would a dauntless rifle company have been available for +service under the gallant Morgan, to march to Quebec, to win the +decisive battle at Freeman Farm, and the telling victories of King's +Mountain and of Cowpens. + + * * * * * + +Returned from the Ohio, I went back to my books, but I could not settle +down contentedly to Latin odes and Greek classics. The excitement of the +march, the battle, and the victory, had aroused within me a sleeping +aptitude for the life of a soldier, and I chafed at the prospect of a +safe and uneventful career. + +At Christmas I had two weeks' holiday, and what time I was not tracking +game in the snow, was spent breaking the colts to the cutter, or +coasting on a plank down the steepest hills to be found, with Jean and +Ellen O'Niel behind me. My grandmother, who did not share the universal +disapproval of the Irish child's "defiant spirit," had persuaded my +mother to have Ellen over to spend the holidays with Jean, using the +adroit argument, with both my mother and Aunt Martha, that Jean's gentle +and tractable spirit might have a good influence over the untamed Ellen. +She had come, but not very graciously, and sat silent among us, for the +first day and evening, looking sullen and unhappy. + +Few could resist, however, the contagion of our kindly home atmosphere, +and by the second morning, Ellen had melted sufficiently to smile at +grandmother's quaint jokes and stories of Ireland. By dinner time she +was ready to listen with interest to some of my father's pioneer +experiences, and that night when mother bade me give her a relation of +my fight with the panther, she listened with flushed cheeks and shining +eyes. We were by this time drawn in the usual family circle about the +glowing fireplace, from which roasting apples and chestnuts were sending +forth a rich odor. Mother sat in her special corner, her head resting +against the panther's skin, and father sat beside her, grandmother +opposite, and I near her on the settle, while Jean nestled close to me. +Thomas, who occupied the other end of the settle, wore a radiant face, +for he enjoyed the absence of restraint which he found nowhere but with +us, and all the sullen reserve was gone from Ellen's countenance. + +Presently Ellen, who so far had deigned only to answer us, began to +talk. At first she barely asked a question into which interest or +surprise had betrayed her, or made an occasional impulsive remark. But, +as her reserve melted in the genial and sympathetic atmosphere, the +sluice gates of pent up memories seemed suddenly to open, and she talked +freely, relating anecdotes and reminiscences of her childhood, and +showing a depth and warmth of emotion which surprised us. These led her +on to repeat some of the stories her father had read or told to her. +They were chiefly tales from Shakespeare's "Tempest," "Winter's Tale," +"Hamlet," and others of the more fantastical and tragic of these dramas. +None of her listeners had read them, then, though I had heard of +Shakespeare, the great English playwright. We were all charmed, as much, +perhaps, by the flashing expressions of intelligence and feeling which +transformed Ellen's face into one almost of beauty, as by the stories +themselves. Moreover that emotional quality of her voice, so prone to +subtle vibrations, added a special charm to all she said. + +"Now, Donald," said my father, when Ellen seemed to have spent her +present memories, and had lapsed into her usual quiet, "get your fiddle, +and let's have a tune." + +Jean ran at once to bring my violin, and I did my best to add my share +of entertainment to the evening's innocent pleasures. + +"Ellen can sing sweeter than a lark, or a red bird," said Thomas, as I +paused to rest my arm. + +"Can she?" from Jean with eager delight. "I do love singing; sing for +us, Ellen." + +"I can sing only the Irish and Scotch ballads, and the Catholic hymns my +mother used to sing," answered Ellen, flushing. "I do not know the +solemn songs you people sing, and I shall never learn them"--the last +said in a defiant tone which the occasion scarcely called for. + +"Our psalms are vera sweet an' sacred to us, my dear," remarked my +grandmother, with no apparent recognition of the challenge in Ellen's +voice, yet choosing her words with a precision that was evidence of +slight displeasure, "but we like aither sangs too, an' sing them except +on the Sabbath. I love the Scotch and Irish ballads, an' though you hae +already done your share aboot making the evening go by pleasantly for us +a', we'd greatly like a sang or twa, if ye dinna mind to pleasure us +further." + +"It's a delight to please you, grandma," said Ellen impulsively, and she +rose from her chair, slipped behind the settle and dropped upon the +floor beside grandmother, kissing as she did so, one of the soft, +wrinkled hands folded in her lap. Then, resting her head against +grandmother's knee, she fixed her eyes upon the dancing flames, and +began to sing somewhat unsteadily, but with more fullness and +confidence, as she continued. Her voice did indeed soar and swell like a +redbird's, and she threw all her heart into her singing, while the +quaint words of the old ballads slipped meltingly from her lips, as +drops of dew from the petals of a flower. + +"Why, my dear, I hae na' been up sae late for years," remarked +grandmother, in a tone of alarm as the clock struck midnight; then +stroking Ellen's hair, which was growing out in loose curls, "You g'ie +us mouch pleasure, dear, but it's bedtime now, for a'. Come, Jean and +Ellen! Good night a', and a merry Christmas to you." + +Not only were cider and persimmon beer drawn from the full barrels in +the cellar, but a big bowl of apple toddy was concocted early Christmas +morning, and flanked by plates of doughnuts, and ginger bread, raisin +and spiced cake, apples, and nuts, sat upon the long table in the big +room, all day, every one being free to eat and drink his fill. This +custom of my father, which usually drew to our house most of the men +within a ten mile ride, always scandalized my Aunt Martha, and but for +Uncle Thomas' backing we would never have gotten Ellen and Thomas to our +house until after Christmas day. Uncle Thomas himself always came, +however, and on this occasion Aunt Martha broke her rule and came with +him, bringing too their younger son, John. + +I observed a change come over Ellen's face as soon as Aunt Martha +appeared in the doorway; she seemed to draw within herself, and her face +took on the sullen expression which so marred its comeliness, and +presently when I looked about for her, she was nowhere to be found. + +"Ah, Rachael," said Aunt Martha, glancing toward the laden table between +the two southern windows, and shaking her head in solemn disapproval, "I +see you have not yet been able to persuade William of the sinfulness of +this habit of his, of offering the intoxicating cup to all comers, at +this season. Strange perversion, that this holy Christ festival should +be turned into an occasion for gluttony and rioting." + +"William has his own ideas, Martha, and I do not set mine against him," +I heard my mother answer, from the doorway, as she followed my aunt into +the bedroom. "The neighbor gentlemen will all be in presently, and a +warming cup will be needed by those who do not stay to dinner." + +"You are too meek with William, Rachael, and so fail of due influence. +Wifely obedience is commanded in the Bible, it is true, but I do not +think the sacrifice of our principles is required." + +"Preaching still, eh, Martha--" called my father's cheery voice from the +big room, having come in to put another log upon the roaring pile; +"well, you'll have to stop now, for I see Justices McDowell and Willson +riding up, and, as you know, we like not solemn faces in this house on +Christmas day," and he hurried out again to meet his guests, before Aunt +Martha was sufficiently recovered from her indignant surprise to make +him proper answer. + +The ensuing hour brought a dozen others, the most substantial +freeholders in the community, nearly all of them members of the church, +as well as men of influence in public affairs. A few drank only cider or +beer, but most of them quaffed full cups of the spiced, apple-seasoned +toddy with evident appreciation, and ate the cakes, apples and nuts +without stint. + +I sat about the fire with the men, proud of my privilege, but mother and +Aunt Martha, after ceremonious greetings were exchanged, retired, as was +customary for women when several men were met together. The talk was +animated, and at times exciting, though there was but small difference +of opinion among them. The Boston massacre, and recent unjust +restrictions upon our commerce, were indignantly condemned, and the +determined spirit of the colonists of Massachusetts warmly commended. +Presently it was proposed by Justice Willson, and warmly seconded by my +father, that the citizens of Augusta County, or a committee elected by +them, should draw up resolutions to be sent to the Virginia assembly, +expressing with no uncertain sound their fixed determination not to +submit to tyranny, and to sustain Massachusetts in her noble stand +against injustice and oppression at every hazard. In truth the leaders +of the New England "Town Meeting," could not have shown more fervor nor +more determination than these representative men of this Scotch Irish +settlement in the Virginia mountains. The discussion was unabated still, +and not a man had suggested returning home, when my mother announced +dinner. The table had been lengthened to its utmost, by raising all its +"wings" and putting the side tables at either end; but there was still +no seat for me, so I wandered into my mother's room, and then across the +yard to the kitchen to look for Jean and Ellen. Jean, and John Mitchell +I found, eating turkey livers, gravy and potatoes before the embers, +over which hung the now idle cranes, and Thomas was mending John's sled +at the work bench in the back kitchen. But Ellen was not to be found, +and no one had seen her for two hours. Returning to the house, I mounted +the steps to the room under the gable, where grandma and Jean slept, and +there found Ellen, wrapped in a blanket, and lying prone on the floor in +the stream of sunshine pouring through the western window. Her chin was +supported by her hands and an open book lay before her. + +"Are you hiding from Aunt Martha, Ellen?" I asked teasingly. + +"I slipped away while she was helping your mother set table," she +answered, "and stole up here to read. I don't often get a chance; your +Aunt Martha keeps me at work from sun up till dark, and then sends me to +bed. She says it is a wicked waste of time to read anything but one's +Bible--and the holy father in Baltimore told me that the way Protestants +presumed to read the sacred book, and determine for themselves its +sacred meaning is blasphemous." + +"What book are you reading?" I asked. + +"One of the Shakespeare books my father gave me. I have six more like +it," and she held up to my view a small leather bound volume, a good +deal the worse for wear. "I slipped it into my satchel when Aunt Martha +sent me up stairs to get my things, the morning you came for us, but +please don't tell her, Cousin Donald--she said she'd take the books away +from me if she saw me reading them again, for they were not fit reading +for me, and I had no time to waste on them." + +"How did she know they were not fit reading for you?" I asked, curious +to learn if Aunt Martha had stopped work long enough to examine a book. + +"She made Uncle Thomas read some out of one of the volumes to her," +answered Ellen, smiling in response to my thought. "And she said, at +breakfast table next morning, that a great deal of it had neither sense +nor meaning, and the part she could understand was about fighting and +killing, or else foolish love stuff--all of it unfit for any young +person to hear. She wanted to burn my books, as she did my crucifix, but +I ran and hid them, and cried so, all day, that Uncle Thomas said 'Let +the child's books alone, Martha; her father gave them to her; if they +harm her it's no fault of yours.'" + +"Is the reading as good as your telling of the stories, Ellen?" + +"Oh, so much nicer. There are beautiful things I could never say; +listen," and she read me a passage from "Romeo and Juliet." "Isn't that +like music? The very words have a tune to them without thinking of the +meaning even." + +"Could you lend me the book to read while you are here, Ellen? or +to-morrow, if you will, we'll come up here and you shall read aloud to +me." + +"But your mother and father might find out, and tell Aunt Martha." + +"We need not conceal our reading from them; they will make no objection +if I tell them the book is harmless--and I suppose it is, even for +girls. I know it is a famous book and counted among the English +classics. I've always meant to read it some day." + +"And I'll lend you the other volumes, one by one, if you'll take me bear +hunting the next time you find a track," added Ellen. + +"That's a bargain, if my mother will let you go. How old are you, +Ellen?" + +"I shall be sixteen my next birthday." + +"And when is that?" + +"Next November." + +"Then you are just fifteen." + +"Fifteen and two months," she corrected. + +"That is young for you to have read Shakespeare, and to be capable of +appreciating him. Your father taught you so carefully, and read to you +so much because he had no sons, I suppose." + +"Perhaps; he used often to wish I were a boy. He used to say I was so +strong, and tall, and had more sense than most women; and when he was +taken sick, after mother's death, he said every few hours--'Oh if you +were only a boy, Ellen, I would not mind so much leaving you alone in +the world; you could soon be independent then, and make your own way!'" + +"'Tis a pity, Ellen; you'd make a good man, I'm sure. You are as strong +now as a boy of your age is likely to be, and half a head taller than +John who is but six months younger." + +"I dared John to a wrestle, one day in the barn, and threw him," laughed +Ellen, "but I promised not to tell, and you must not twit him about it." + +"All right, I won't; but were I John I'd keep on challenging you till I +had proved my superior strength; no girl should throw me! Does Aunt +Martha know?" + +"Of course not, Donald. Already she calls me a hoyden, and an untamed +Irish girl--which I am, the last I mean, and proud of it. Did she hear +of my wrestling with John, the bread and water she threatens me with +would be my only diet for a week." + +"You'll not have bread and water diet while you are here, at any rate. +But there's my mother calling now; my mouth waters for her Christmas +dinner, for there's no better served in the neighborhood to-day, I +warrant you. Come on; let's go down," and I put the little book in my +pocket, seized Ellen by the hand and pulled her after me, pell-mell down +the stairway where we ran straight into Aunt Martha. + +"Ellen O'Niel!" she stopped to say, fixing a stern eye upon her--"you +are the greatest hoyden I have ever seen. I thank a merciful Providence +you are not my daughter." + +"Amen, and so do I," said Ellen, in my ear, and as Aunt Martha passed +into the next room, she turned toward me, and pulled her face down into +the most comical imitation of Aunt Martha's solemn countenance. I +laughed heartily, though in truth I did not approve of Ellen's +flippancy. Reverence for religion and respect for our elders were among +the virtues earliest and most faithfully instilled into the breasts of +Scotch Irish children. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +"Two of the pigs are gone, and I see fresh bear's tracks behind the +barn, Ellen. If you want to go after the beast with Thomas and me, put +on your heaviest boots, get a rifle from the rack, and come on," and I +spoke with a degree of animation which turned upon me the gaze of the +entire family, assembled at the breakfast table. I was not then so sated +a huntsman that the prospect of big game could fail to excite me. + +"Why, Donald, you are not thinking of taking Ellen bear hunting with +you?" + +"And why not, mother? She wishes to go, she handles a rifle well enough, +and there's no danger with three guns against one poor bear." + +"Oh, Aunt Rachael, please let me go; I have never seen a bear, and it +must be beautiful in the forest to-day." + +"Might as well let her go, mother," put in my father; "the boys will +take care of her, and it will be an experience she will like to tell +when she is an old woman. Besides, it is well enough for her to learn +courage and coolness in facing danger--the women in this valley may need +such qualities in the future, as they have in the past." + +"I can't see why you care to go," said little Jean, shuddering +involuntarily, her brown eyes fixed in amazement upon Ellen's eager +countenance. + +"May I go, Aunt Rachael?" urged Ellen. + +"Well, child, I suppose so, since your heart seems set upon it. Do be +careful, Donald, and get back before sundown." + +We followed the print of the bear's feet across the meadow behind the +barn, and then around the curve of a low range of hills to the edge of +the forest, walking Indian file, Ellen between us, and stepping, as I +bade her, in my tracks. The air was so crisp and buoyant that we were +half intoxicated by long, full breaths of it, and went skimming over the +frozen surface as if, like fabled Mercury, we had wings to our heels. +The meadows gleamed and scintillated, and the edge of the hill's +undulating outline shone in opalescent lines, as if the prying rays of +the sun, forcing their way through the thin snow clouds at the eastern +horizon, were disclosing a ledge of hidden jewels. The world all about +us was downy soft, radiantly pure, and familiar fields and hills took on +a strange newness, in which perspective was confused and outlines +blurred; white fields melted into white hills, hills merged into white +sky, and one might, it seemed, walk out of this world into the next +without noting the point of transition. + +The forest was stranger still, and even more beautiful. There was but +little snow on the ground, and the dry leaves under it rustled beneath +one's feet with homely, cheerful sound, but overhead stretched a +marvelous canopy of graceful feather laden branches, each giant of the +forest being powdered as carefully as any court dame, and, like her, +gaining a sort of distinction for its beauty by this emphasis to its +height and grace. + +"Am I walking too fast for you, Ellen?" I asked soon after we had +started. + +"No; but you step too far," she called back merrily. So I shortened my +stride a little, and again insisted on carrying her rifle, getting this +time her consent. + +"The forest is like a place enchanted," said Ellen with rapt face, as we +waited at the edge of the woods for Thomas to catch up. "How warm and +snug one could sleep under that low boughed pine, yonder; I'd like to +live in the forest were there no panthers, wolves, or bears." + +"But the beasts have possession, and sometimes I almost wonder if we +have a right to drive them with gun and knife out of their inherited +haunts." + +"As we do the Indians." + +"I have more sympathy for wild beasts than for the red savages; the +beasts are not treacherous, nor cruel for sport." + +"Have you lost the bear's track, Don?" interrupted Thomas; "if not, what +are you stopping for?" + +"We are admiring the forest--but I have kept my eye on the track, all +right. There it goes off to the left; we'll find him, I suspect, fast +asleep in some hollow log." + +My surmise was correct, for the track led us to a large fallen tree a +mile within the forest. The bear, having gorged himself on the pigs, was +curled within for a good nap. + +"We'll have to smoke him out," said Thomas, beginning to look about for +dried leaves and twigs. We piled them into the smaller end of the log, +and then lit them with our tinder-boxes, after which we stood about the +larger opening and waited watchfully. + +"You shall have the first shot, Ellen," I said. "Stand a little to one +side, and aim either at his throat, or behind one of his ears." + +The bear could not stand long the stifling smoke of the pungent leaves, +and with a muffled roar, interrupted by a wheezing cough, he backed +awkwardly out of the tree, then turned to look about him for an avenue +of escape. But his captors, with ready rifles, stood in close range +around him, and behind him burned the log, its murky smoke and lapping +blaze limning weirdly the beast's shaggy bulk, against the white forest. + +"Shoot, Ellen!" I called, for she stood as if spellbound, her eyes fixed +upon the crouching, growling animal. She pulled her trigger then, but +with nerveless fingers, and her ball whizzed just above the bear's head, +cutting off one-half of his right ear. With a roar of pain the furious +animal was upon her, the weight of his huge body throwing her down, and +half burying her in the snow. For an instant my brain rocked with +horror; I dared not shoot, for I could not distinguish Ellen's form from +the bear's in the cloud of flying snow which surrounded them, and every +instant I feared to hear a cry of agony, and the crunching of Ellen's +skull between the creature's iron jaws. + +"I must risk it," I swiftly concluded; and with quick intake of my +breath, I raised my rifle to my shoulder, stepped back a pace, and took +the aim of my life. Providence guided the ball, which severed the +beast's spinal column just at the base of his brain. In another instant +I was dragging his shuddering bulk from Ellen's body, lest he crush her +in the death struggle. + +Ellen was as pallid as the snow she lay upon, and as motionless. Her +long lashes made a light shadow on the waxen cheeks, and the dark +ringlets dropping over the brow were like charcoal by contrast with its +marble. When I lifted her head upon my arm, I saw a ragged wound upon +her neck, just behind her right ear, and from it ran trickling a crimson +rill, down the soft throat to the still bosom. Her clothes were torn +from her right shoulder, and there the flesh showed marks of the +animal's teeth in the midst of an ugly bruise. + +Thomas had dropped white and limp upon a log, and, great boy as he was, +began to cry. + +"She's dead, Don, she's dead! Oh, why did we let her come--what shall we +do?" + +"Hush," I said angrily; "she's not dead, only stunned, I hope," and I +gathered handfuls of snow, which I rubbed gently upon her forehead and +cheek, and then forced between her lips a few drops of gin from my +pocket flask. Seeing that she swallowed the gin mechanically, I poured a +good spoonful upon her tongue, and chafed her hands vigorously till she +opened her eyes and recognized the faces bending over her. + +"Where's the bear, Donald?" she asked, as quietly as if she had just +wakened from a vivid dream. + +"Dead," I answered cheerfully; "you shall have the skin for a rug." + +"But I didn't kill him," in disappointed tones. "I got frightened and +aimed badly--I'd never do for a man, after all." + +"You'd make a better man than Thomas; he began to cry as soon as he saw +you were hurt, and you haven't yet complained of the scratches the bear +gave you." + +"They sting some," she said with a grimace, putting her hand to her +wound, and sliding it down to her shoulder. "Why, Donald, my clothes are +torn," and a faint flush tinged her cheeks, while she tried to sit up +and to pull her shredded garment together. + +"The bear bit you there; it is well mother made you put on this buckskin +jacket over your pelisse. Does the place hurt you much?" and I knelt +beside her to examine her shoulder more carefully. + +"It aches, while the hurt on my neck smarts," and she flushed again, and +shrank from the touch of my fingers on her bare flesh. + +And I, too, was suddenly embarrassed, while a new thrill went through +me. "The shoulder bone is not crushed," I said, after a careful +examination which gave Ellen some pain, "nor is the wound very deep; +doubtless, though, it will hurt a good deal, besides making your +shoulder stiff and helpless for a while. We must bandage the wound +somehow, till we can get home, and we must find a way to exclude the +cold air from it." + +Thomas, who had sat by, flushed and silent since I had chidden him for +blubbering, picked up the torn jacket I had stripped from Ellen's +shoulders, and disappeared behind the tree. Presently he came back with +his own flannel shirt and a bunch of linen strips across his arm, +himself reclad in the torn jacket, which had been pinned together, after +some sort, with small thorns. + +"I beg your pardon, Thomas," I said, grasping his hand as I took the +bandages from it. + +"'Twas the sight of her so white and still," replied Thomas, looking yet +mortified and hurt. + +"Thank you, dear Thomas," said Ellen, smiling upon him; "your tears were +only symptoms of a tender heart. I'm glad you were sorry for me; Donald +did not care enough to cry." + +Now that was very unkind of Ellen, for I had been sick with fright and +apprehension for her, and would have rather been torn in pieces by the +beast, myself, than to have carried home in my arms that still, white +form. But I made no response to Ellen's accusation; I only set my lips, +and plastered and bandaged her wounds as best I could. + +Our homeward journey was very unlike the cheerful tramp of the morning, +for Ellen tottered as she walked, and I had need to support her with my +arm, while Thomas carried the guns and powder-horns. The snow no longer +gleamed and sparkled, for the afternoon light was hazy and dull, and the +sky a cold, smeary gray. Forest, field and hill were but the component +parts of a commonplace winter landscape, and bear hunting something else +than a glorious adventure through an enchanted forest. + +And I was not the same, nor Ellen. She was become all at once a woman, +shy, reserved, conscious of my touch, leaning on my arm no more than +necessity required. And I, though half vexed at the change in her, and +grieved that I had lost so congenial a comrade--for I knew intuitively +that our intercourse would never again be so unrestrained--nevertheless +found her more interesting, more alluring because of this very change +which put a distance between us, and which had in it a touch of +mystery:--as the forest had been that morning the fairer, for that +unnameable magic with which nature veils herself in her stiller haunts. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +The conversation around our Yule fire, to which I had listened with such +eager absorption, had caused my budding convictions to bloom in an hour +into fully expanded principles. I had caught the fever of patriotism +running like an epidemic through the land. Were not we of Scotch Irish +race and Presbyterian faith pledged already to the cause since the first +blood shed for American liberty was the blood of the Scotch Irish +Presbyterians, spilled at the battle of Alamance, when the stern North +Carolina "Regulators" had risen, like Cromwell's "Ironsides," against +the tyranny of their royal governor? The "Boston Tea Party," therefore, +found quickest sympathy among the Scotch Irish of the Southern and +Middle States, and the earliest and grimmest of the resolutions sent up +to the several assemblies, urging that Massachusetts be sustained, and +kingly tyranny determinedly resisted, came from the towns and counties +settled by these people. "Freedom or death" was the consuming sentiment +in the hearts of many Scotch Irish Americans for months before the +typical orator of that race thrilled a continent by speaking those +immortal words, "Give me liberty, or give me death." + + * * * * * + +The first call issued by Congress for troops named seven rifle companies +to be recruited in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Again I put +aside my books, only this time I gave them to a fellow student who +sorely needed them, and went home to tell my father that I meant to +enlist. I recall as vividly as 'twere yesterday that calm spring +afternoon when I took the short cut across flower spangled meadows, and +bosky, sweet scented woods to the humble home which had given me a youth +so rich in love and happiness, but which I was so soon to leave for +privations, dangers, and temptations such as had not yet entered into my +imagination. + +It was the year of my majority, and I was already mature in physical +development. Even in our neighborhood of "brawny Scotchmen" I was called +tall, measuring six feet three inches in my moccasins, and though +somewhat spare, was broad of shoulder, long of limb, muscular, agile, +and deep winded; moreover, I could ride and shoot with the best man in +the valley. More proud was I, at this time, of my strength, and the keen +sight of my gray eyes, than of my brown, curling hair, and the general +comeliness of my appearance, in which my mother took such pride. A few +months later I was to have my hour of vanity, and to eat the fruit of +it. + +Few men, I imagine, can separate their lives sharply into boyhood and +manhood, but mine I can. That last Christmas holiday of my schooldays +marked the line of division, and I took the first step across it the day +I saved Ellen from the bear's fangs, and the second the hour I formed +the resolution to shoulder my rifle for American liberty. My father, it +is true, had chosen to treat me as a man, since the Indian raid, but +from the hour I made up my mind to enlist I put aside childish things, +and bore myself with a consciousness of manhood's power. + + * * * * * + +A stranger sat on our porch who, hearing me announce impetuously to my +father, as he came to the top of the porch steps to meet me, that "I +meant to enlist in one of the rifle companies," sprang up from his +chair, seized my hand, shook it heartily, and said with a genial smile, +and cordial tone that made my spirit go out to him at a leap, + +"You're a lad after my own heart, sir! Are there many more like you in +this valley? How old is your son, Justice McElroy?" + +"Not long past twenty, sir. Donald, this is Captain Morgan, the renowned +Indian fighter of whom you have so often heard. He is in the +neighborhood to enlist men for his rifle company, so you have not far to +go to fulfill your purpose." + +I looked now, you may be sure, with fresh interest at the powerful but +graceful figure before me. He was nearly as tall as I, but broader and +heavier; his tanned, handsome face was marred by a scar on the right +cheek, and I noted even in this first hasty scrutiny an indication of +stubborn will in the set of his lips, and a dare devil gleam in his fine +eyes that would make one hesitate to pick a quarrel with him. + +"I have found my captain," I thought, my pulse throbbing joyously, just +as he spoke again, with that ring of cheerful courage in his voice which +I was to learn to know so well, and so often to be inspired by. + +"That we shall win admits no doubt if I can enlist a company of muscular +young giants like you. Can you shoot, lad?" + +"Aye, that he can," laughed my father, well pleased, I could see, by +Captain Morgan's manner toward me. "Cut off a squirrel's head at a +distance of three hundred yards. And there are other marksmen in our +valley that can fully equal him, though few as tall as my son Donald," +and he laid a caressing hand upon my shoulder. + +"You shall be one of my sergeants, lad," continued Captain Morgan, +seizing my hand again, "and to-morrow you must ride with me to enlist as +many like you as this neighborhood affords." + +"Unfortunately, Captain Morgan," said my father, "some of those who +would like nothing better than the opportunity to strike a blow for our +rights, dare not leave their families and homes here unprotected, +subject as we are to the raids of the savages from across the mountain. +Enough able-bodied men must be left in the valley to turn back Indian +forays, though, since our victory over them at Point Pleasant, our +danger is not near so great. Still a score or more recruits may be had +in this neighborhood, I doubt not." + +"May I ask, Captain Morgan, whither we are to march after our quota has +been recruited?" I questioned. + +"Straight to Boston, where we will have a chance to drill." + +"And to fight also, I hope." + +"Amen, lad, say I to that! and may there be other of your brave spirit. +I like not this dallying, this parleying with the stubborn king, who but +deludes us with promises while he gains time to equip and to land his +troops upon our shores. And I am beginning to think that this talk of +our Congress that we take up arms as loyal subjects of England, to force +from the crown redress of our grievances, goes not far enough. Only a +democracy where all are free and equal, and where the stakes are worth +the risks and privations to be endured, is suited to the genius of this +vast and virgin continent. Under no other form of government may she be +rightly developed." + +"Nor are you alone, sir, in that opinion," replied my father. "None +other is held in this valley, as the memorial sent up to the assembly by +the county committee of Augusta in February last can testify. Were the +Scotch Irish settlers of this country consulted, Captain Morgan, our +declaration of independence would be speedily proclaimed; Patrick +Henry's burning words but voice the sentiment of his race." + +"The timid and the half-hearted may not yet be safely set in opposition, +perhaps," answered Captain Morgan, "and Congress is beset with many +difficulties. But 'tis for the independence of the American States I +have drawn my sword"--and as he spoke he sprang suddenly to his feet, +straightened his imposing figure and keyed his voice to a clarion +pitch--"nor will I sheathe it again, save death or bodily infirmities +intervene, till the glorious cause of America's liberty has been +won--till we are a free, self-governing people!" + +"I take that oath with you, sir," said I, springing also to my feet. + +Then my father, looking up at us from his arm chair, unwiped tears upon +his cheeks, said, in deep, reverent tone: "God grant us victory, and +make this goodly land the home of freedom--a refuge for the oppressed of +all nations!" + + * * * * * + +We found no trouble in enlisting men enough in our valley to complete +the company Captain Morgan was to command, and in three weeks I was +ready to march the Augusta boys to Frederick County, where we were to +join our captain and the rest of the men. The twenty-two boys from our +end of the valley bivouacked all night in our yard, that we might get an +early start the next morning; and that evening the neighbors came from +far and near to give us farewell, and a blessing. Uncle Thomas and his +family came with the rest, Aunt Martha helping to cook the hot supper +which my mother insisted on serving the lads under the trees, that their +home-filled haversacks might be saved for the march. + +Thomas wandered about among the men, lying in groups upon the grass in +the shade of the oaks and elms, with a look of distress upon his face +that surprised me. At last he called me to one side, and said with +trembling lips, + +"Don, I'd give the next ten years of my life to go with you." + +"You are too young, Thomas. Why, you are not nineteen yet." + +"There are four boys in the squad no older than I, and I am strong, and +a fair shot." + +"Then enlist; it's not too late yet, and the more the merrier." + +"But my mother made me give her a solemn promise that I would not. She +wishes me to be a minister, and once I thought I was called, but now I +believe I was mistaken. I couldn't be so wild to go to the war if I had +received a call from heaven to the ministry; but mother says it will +kill her if I turn soldier, after she has solemnly consecrated me to the +Lord. Oh, Donald, what must I do?" + +"I cannot advise you to disobey your mother, Thomas," I answered, "but I +am sorry for you." + +"Ellen says my life is my own, to live as I please, and that not even my +mother has a right to dictate to me whether I shall be preacher or +soldier," sighed Thomas. + +Now I half agreed with Ellen, but the doctrine seemed an irreverent one +to a youth of Scotch Irish raising, so I only repeated, "I think you had +best obey your mother, Tom," which afforded him small consolation. He +answered me with a suppressed groan, and presently went back to the +soldiers. + +Hot and tired from the day's labors, I decided, after supper, to cool +myself by a last drink of my mother's delicious buttermilk. The footpath +to the spring wound its careless way down a grassy slope starred with +dandelions, and dusted with milky ways of daisies and pale bluets. +Apple, pear, and peach trees grew in the angles of the worm fence which +separated the garden from the meadow, and they were so full of bloom +that they looked like masses of pink and white clouds drifted down to +earth. There was a crab apple tree among them, and its elusive fragrance +came and went upon the zephyrs which swayed the dandelions and rustled +the blossoms upon the trees. The world about my feet was as fair and +full of mystic charm as the moon-glorified, star-spangled heaven. The +talk, the work, the plans which had filled the last weeks of my life, +seemed out of tune with God's purposes, as revealed in nature--out of +keeping with His beneficent plans for all His handiwork. + +Pondering this strange anomaly, of the tendency of God's creatures to +make war continually upon each other, in the midst of a world so fair, +so beneficent, and so peaceful--the solemn mystery of death always +treading close upon the heels of life--of the desolation always +threatening beauty, I passed the springhouse before I knew it, and found +myself at the foot of the hill, where the spring breaks forth to fall +into a natural basin overhung by a broad, jutting rock. As I raised my +eyes to this rock, a vision greeted me which startled me into an +instant's consciousness of superstitious terror. Did I see a ghost at +last--after all my jeering unbelief? Was that slim shape, wrapped in a +white robe standing so motionless on the white rock, the spirit of some +Indian maiden, seeking again the haunts where in life she had met her +lover? + +Of course not; it was only Ellen, for now I saw a hand lifted, to push +back the wind blowsed curls from her forehead. Softly I climbed the hill +behind her, and stood at her side, but so rapt was she in her own +thoughts, she did not hear me till I spoke. + +"What are you looking at, Ellen?" I asked. + +Had I not thrown my arm quickly about her, she would have sprung from +the rock in her startled surprise, yet she did not scream, but regained +her poise in an instant, disengaged herself from my arm, and answered me +calmly-- + +"At the moon, Cousin Donald." + +"'Tis only a round, bright ball, Ellen; why gaze at it so long and +fixedly?" + +"'Tis more than a silver ball when one looks at it so. It grows bigger +and deeper, and within there are mountains and caverns, and seas and +plains; mayhap there are people there who suffer and think as we do. +Would you not like to have great wings, Cousin Donald, and fly and fly +through the soft blue air, till you reached the moon?" + +"Such fancies have never come into my mind, Ellen. You must have clear +eyes, and a vivid imagination," and I smiled down upon her, not a little +amused by her fanciful conceits. + +"If I did not I should die;" then, turning hotly upon me, "How would you +like to walk back and forth, back and forth along a bare floor, with +bare garret walls about you, whirring a great, ugly wheel, and twisting +coarse, ill-smelling wool all day long, day after day? One dare not +_think_, for then one gets careless and breaks or knots the thread, and +yet to keep one's mind upon so dreary, and so monotonous a task is +maddening. Do you wonder I run away, and talk with the flower-fairies, +or the stars, whenever I get the chance?" + +"No, Ellen, I don't. I have often thought that women's tasks must be +very wearisome, the endless spinning, weaving, and knitting. I wonder +they have patience for such work." + +"I wish I might go to the war with you, Cousin Donald." + +"You could never stand the hardships." + +"But I think I could. I'd love to sleep out of doors, under the winking +stars, and the friendly moon; I'd love to walk through trackless +forests, across wide, unknown plains, and to come now and then upon some +town or settlement where every one would feast and praise the patriots." + +"But what of the cold, hunger and fatigue? of wounds and capture and the +sights and sounds after a battle? It tries even the souls of brave, +strong men to bear such things." + +"The soul of a woman might endure as much, and I think I should mind +even those things less than eternal spinning, Cousin Donald." + +I laughed now. "You are not yet a woman, Ellen, and you are not doomed, +I trust, to eternal spinning. When I come back from the war we'll go +hunting every day, even though we will have to run off from Aunt +Martha." + +"I shall not have a friend left except grandma." + +"And Thomas." + +"Thomas likes me, yes, but he is too much afraid of his mother to help +me have my way. When you come back you may not find me here." + +"Of course I shall; and remember, Ellen, we are always to be good +friends and comrades," and I held out my hand to her. + +"Good friends and comrades," repeated Ellen; "I shall remind you one day +when you come home famous, and dignified--if I am able to endure life +with Aunt Martha so long as that," and she put her hand in mine in the +old way of confident comradeship which had gone out of our intercourse +for months. Hand in hand we went back to the house, talking intimately, +she of her thoughts and feelings, I of my plans and hopes. + + * * * * * + +Before sun-up the next morning we were on the march. I had left Jean +weeping bitterly on grandmother's shoulder, and I doubt not the dear old +lady wept, too, when I was out of sight. My mother stood in the doorway, +shading her brave, loving eyes with her hand, that I might not see fall +the tears glittering on their lashes. Father walked beside me at the +head of my little troop for a mile, and, before he left me, took me in +his arms in sight of them all, straining me for an instant to his +breast, and pouring out a patriarch's blessing upon my bowed head. + +Our valley looked very fair that day, as we marched northward across it. +The rank wheat rolled in billows of rich green, the springing corn +showed narrow gray green blades, which moved gently to and fro above the +loamy uplands, and the forests, which enclosed the cleared lands on all +sides, were fresh robed in verdure of many hues. Edging the forest like +a jeweled braid grew masses of red-bud, dogwood and hawthorn in full +blossom, and singing along its sparkling way, the river wound in and out +of velvety meadows with deep curves and bold sweeps of bountiful intent, +embracing as much as possible of this fair land that it might scatter +widely its fertilizing influences. + +"Boys," I said, pausing on an eminence from which we could see all our +end of the valley, and pointing outward, as I stopped to take a long, +last look, "is it not a land worth fighting for?" + +"Aye, aye, sergeant!" came in hearty chorus. + +"Then fight for it we will, like brave men and true, nor look backward +again till freedom be won." + +"Aye, that we will!" again in deep, full accord, and when all had taken +a lingering look, I gave the command-- + +"Right about face! Forward!" + +Without a backward glance, we tramped onward, our faces forever toward +the enemies of freedom. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +Under Morgan we marched to Boston, and a long and weary tramp it seemed, +though in comparison with later ones, I learned to look back upon it as +a pleasant summer's journey. Our uniforms, patterned after Morgan's +habitual dress, consisted of buckskin breeches, leggins and moccasins, a +flannel shirt, over which we usually wore an unbleached linen hunting +shirt, confined with a leathern belt at the waist, and a huntsman's cap +on the band of which was inscribed, "Liberty or Death." From each man's +belt hung a knife, a tomahawk, and a bullet pouch, and each rifleman +carried in his pockets a bullet mold, and a bar of lead; across one +shoulder passed the strap from which hung his powder-horn, and over the +other he carried his rifle with its whittled ramrod of hickory wood. + +Our uniforms, our size, and our marksmanship won for us immediate +notoriety and consideration, and not many days were we permitted to be +idle, though it was but comparative idleness we enjoyed, even in camp, +since we were drilled two hours each morning and afternoon, and did our +share of guard duty in the trenches around Boston. In our leisure hours +we taught the Yankees to chew tobacco, and to mold bullets, and learned +in return to rant eloquently upon liberty and natural rights in the +language of Samuel Adams, and John Hancock, and to eat beans baked with +hog middling. + +Early in September we were ordered to join Colonel Arnold's command for +a raid into Canada. In addition to our arms, ammunition, and blankets we +must take turns at carrying the light canoes necessary for a part of our +journey, and many miles of our way lay through the tangled undergrowth +of dense forests, or across the treacherous slime of trackless bogs. It +was not long before many of the men were bare footed, half naked, and +weak from insufficient food; for our rifles were soon our dependence for +rations, and game grew scarce as we proceeded northward. Several of the +companies ate their sled dogs with relish. Morgan's men fared better +than the rest, for it was our rule to share equally whatever game we +killed, and we were sure to get a large proportion of all there was to +be found. Moreover, our clothes, being of leather, stood the wear of the +march better than the uniforms of the rest, and many of us could make +rude moccasins of wolf or dog skins. + +After two months of toils and privations such as I wonder now we were +able to endure, we reached Quebec with but seven hundred of the thousand +men with whom we had started from Boston. In response to Arnold's daring +summons to fight or surrender, the garrison shut the city's gates in our +faces, and we were compelled to lie in our trenches, and wait for +General Montgomery's reinforcements. On the last day of December, 1775, +in the midst of a blinding snow storm, we attacked Quebec. General +Montgomery soon received the bullet that ended his career, and Colonel +Arnold was wounded shortly after. But for these two untoward +misfortunes, I truly believe we had won the day, and over all Canada and +all British America would now be waving the Stars and Stripes. Be that +as it may, we riflemen came very near to taking Quebec alone and +unsupported, for Morgan took the battery opposed to him, and penetrated +to the very center of the town. Meanwhile, General Montgomery's troops, +broken and disorganized for lack of a leader, and Arnold's, in like +case, were falling back; our opponents were left free to concentrate +their forces upon us, so that, after a fierce resistance, we were +completely surrounded, outnumbered, and compelled to surrender. + +We lay in prison at Quebec for nine long months, treated with as much +kindness as is usually accorded to prisoners of war, but chafing like +wild animals in a cage. Captain Morgan told me of the offer, made to him +by one of the garrison officers, that he should be made a colonel in the +British army, if he would but desert "a doomed and hopeless cause," and +of the hot reply he made. + +"Sir, I scorn your proposition, and I trust that you will never again +insult me in my present distressed and unfortunate condition, by making +me an offer which plainly implies that you consider me a scoundrel." + +At last we were discharged, Captain Morgan on parole, and were carried +in transports to New York. I saw Morgan as he stepped off the boat, in +the brilliant light of a harvest moon, stoop and kiss the soil, and +heard him whisper in a sort of ecstasy, "My country, my country!" My own +heart swelled within me, and I could have done likewise with full +meaning. + +Great things, of which we had heard but vague rumors, had happened in +our absence. Boston had been evacuated by the enemy, the attack on Fort +Moultrie had failed, and the Declaration of Independence had been +declared by all the thirteen States. On the other hand, General +Washington had been compelled to yield New York to Howe, and to fall +back to New Jersey, and England was making ready to send army after army +across the ocean to conquer her rebellious colonies. + +Though my term of enlistment had already expired, I could not go home in +the midst of such stirring events, so I made haste to Morristown, there +reënlisted, and was put to service as special courier to General +Washington. And now, for the first time, I saw the man to whom all +patriotic hearts turned with hope and pride. His soldierly, dignified +bearing, the look of resolute, yet not arrogant self-consciousness upon +his face, his courteous manner, and the perfectly controlled tone of +voice in which he issued a command, or uttered a rebuke, impressed me +with a confidence that made me from that hour sure of our cause. "With +such leaders as Washington, Arnold and Morgan," I thought, with fervid +enthusiasm and pride, "how can we fail to win?" + + * * * * * + +Not many weeks later my beloved captain, who had been exchanged, and +made a colonel by act of Congress, marched into our camp with one +hundred and eight recruits, most of them from the valley, at his back. I +could hardly wait till he had reported at headquarters before I sought +him. + +"'Tis my old comrade, Donald McElroy!" he said, scarcely less moved than +I. "Have you been on duty all this time, lad, with no furlough, no rest? +Ah, many's the time I've told Arnold, that with ten thousand such troops +as my Scotch Irish riflemen, I'd undertake to whip all the armies that +could be sent to these shores." + +"I believe you could do it, Colonel," answered I, "but your health, sir? +Are you quite strong again?" + +"Never better, lad; even my rheumatism is gone. I've been home, you +know, for five months, and have had nothing but coddling from that good +wife of mine. Six months more of it, and I'd have been unfitted for +further service to my country. My lad, you should marry--how old are +you, sir?" + +"In my twenty-third year, Colonel, but as yet I have had no time to look +for a wife," and I blushed like a lass. + +"There's yet time enough, without doubt, but a man needs a wife to keep +him from mischief--especially a soldier. I was but a half tamed animal +till Abigail took me in training; ever since I have lived the life of a +gentleman, I hope, and been as happy as a lord. You deserve a good wife, +Donald, and I shall help you to find one, sir." + +Despite the embarrassment which such personal interest caused me, I was +greatly pleased to be so noticed by my colonel, and when, a few days +later, he sent for me to tell me that he had named me as one of the +captains who were to command the eight companies of which his regiment +would be composed, I was filled with such joy and pride as I have since +experienced but once--and then upon a very different occasion. + +"Donald, lad," said Colonel Morgan, standing at the door of my tent on +an April morning, when the sweet scents and cheerful sounds of early +spring had started a longing in my heart for a look at our valley, "I've +a secret for your ear, and an expedition to propose to you." + +"Come in, Colonel," said I, smiling with pleasure of his visit, and +offering my one chair; "I'll be proud to know the secret, and I promise +to keep it well." + +"We are shortly to be ordered North to join General Gates, who is to +check the advance of General Burgoyne upon New York, if possible, and +we'll see active service, and mayhap a big battle or two, at last. +Meantime I'm riding home on ten days' furlough, to say good-by to +Abigail, and would you ride with me, I'll grant you leave to go." + +"Your invitation is an honor I much appreciate, Colonel, and it will +give me pleasure to go." + +"Then be ready, by sun up." + +It was about ten o'clock at night, and our horses were stiff jointed, +and without spirit, after three days' hard traveling, when we rode +through the double gates that opened into the driveway circling the lawn +of "Soldier's Rest"--Colonel Morgan's home in Frederick County. The +spacious brick house with its columned porch was in darkness, save for +one brightly lighted room on the left, and a single candle burning in +the hall. Colonel Morgan's spurs and sword clanked noisily on the bare +floor of the hallway, and he called to me, in hearty tones, "Come on, +lad! we'll find Abigail in the red room." As he spoke the door flew +open, warmth and light streamed forth to meet us, and also the sweet +tones of a woman's voice in eager greeting. + +"Well, Dan'l! what good fortune brought you back so soon? Oh, but it is +good to see your dear face again!" I hung back in the shadow, with a +lump in my throat, while Mrs. Morgan laid her head on her husband's +breast, and was for a moment clasped in his arms. + +"Captain McElroy is with me, Abigail," said the Colonel. "Where are you, +Donald?" + +"Here, Colonel," said I, stepping into the light. + +"It is a pleasure to welcome you to our home, Captain McElroy," in Mrs. +Morgan's kind tones. "I've heard the Colonel speak of you, and of your +family; walk in, and be resting while I have supper served; you are both +hungry and tired, I am sure." + +"That we are, Abigail," and the Colonel set me the example of divesting +himself of muddy leggins, spurs, and top coat--"The smell of your coffee +and fried ham has been in my nostrils for two hours past. Donald, she's +the best housekeeper in the Old Dominion," and he smiled proudly upon +the round, comely, beaming little woman, who, as I soon discovered, +deserved all his praise, for she was equal to my own mother as +housewife. + +As I followed Mrs. Morgan into the living room, which was brightly +lighted by half a dozen candles in brass candle-sticks with crystal +pendants, and a pile of roaring logs upon the hearth, I realized +suddenly the presence of a very pretty young woman sitting beside a +candle stand, on one side of the fire place, with a piece of needle work +in her hands. She looked up as we entered, then dropped her eyes again +to her work. + +"Colonel Morgan, this is my cousin, Nelly Buford, and this is Captain +McElroy, Nelly." + +The young lady rose, dropped me a graceful courtesy, then turned and +held out her hand to Colonel Morgan. + +"You do not remember me, Cousin Daniel, but I well recall you, and the +day you came to our house to see Cousin Abigail. I had heard of you as a +famous Indian fighter, and I peeped at you through the half open door, +expecting to see a string of scalps around your waist." + +"I had no eyes nor ears then for any woman save Abigail," replied +Colonel Morgan, shaking her hand in his hearty fashion, "but I'll never +forget your pretty face again, Cousin Nelly--be sure of that." + +She laughed merrily, and her ease of manner indicated that she was as +much used to pretty speeches as she deserved them. There was a witchery +in her laughing hazel eyes, in the curves of her saucy, full lipped +mouth, in the very tendrils of blonde hair which looped and ringed in +riotous fashion about the small pink ears, and low, white brow, which +few men tried to resist. Before we retired that night, I was completely +fascinated. I lay wide awake in spite of my weariness until past +midnight, recalling each curve of her pretty, piquant face, each +modulation of her cooing voice; and then I set over against her many +charms my own awkwardness, the boorishness of my manners, and my +ignorance of everything except camp life and public topics. I longed +ardently for that polish of manner, and that faculty of polite +conversation I had heretofore esteemed so lightly. + +There were no girls in our neighborhood near my own age, and I had known +scarcely any other women besides those of our own family, and the +matrons of our church congregation. I had grown up, therefore, like a +maiden, with no temptations, and small knowledge of passion, and later +my mind had been so fully occupied with hunting, studying, Indians, and +public matters, that all the vanities and snares of youth had passed me +by. But nature is not easily starved into subserviency, and upon the +first opportunity takes vengeance for former neglect by more violent and +unreasoning possession. + +So madly in love was I with Nelly Buford before another sunset that all +my past was forgotten, and all my future weighed as naught. I cared for +nothing, wished for nothing but to be with her; had no dream or ambition +beyond pleasing her. I blushed when she spoke to me, trembled if her +hand or her dress touched me, and could scarcely refrain from kissing +the handkerchief she now and then let fall, and which I restored to her +with a sense of proud privilege. I scarcely heard the remarks of Mrs. +and Colonel Morgan, but every word Nelly spoke was registered in my mind +and conned over and over like a lesson. When they left me alone with +her, as they often did--for they were daily going about the place +together, to take counsel as to its management during the Colonel's +absence--I experienced a sort of ecstasy which made my blood surge +through my brains, and my heart flutter as if I were frightened. + +Nor was Miss Nelly slow to perceive my infatuation, or so little woman +as to fail to take pleasure in it. I think she beguiled me, indeed, with +an audacity she would not have dared to use toward a youth more worldly +wise, or more experienced in the emotions of the heart. I recall one +instance which will illustrate the coquetry which she practiced for my +deeper ensnaring. We were walking through the orchard flush with bloom, +when she stopped beneath a low boughed apple tree, and asked me to pluck +a spray for her, then twisted it into a wreath, and laughingly bade me +crown her queen of May. I took the wreath from her fingers, and would +have dropped it awkwardly upon her blonde curls almost two feet below +me, but she stopped me with a merry laugh, and said in playful tones, + +"How stupid you are! The queen must be enthroned before she is crowned. +Help me to a seat upon this curving limb, and then I'll be just high +enough for you to lay the crown upon my sacred head, with due reverence +and solemnity." + +I lifted her to the bough she indicated, and when she had settled +herself gracefully, and said with pretty affectation of dignity, "Now, +Sir Knight, the Queen awaits your service," I laid the floral wreath +carefully upon the bright curls, and would have stepped back to admire +its effect, only something in the eyes that met mine, and the perfume +breathing lips, which were on a level with my own, made my head reel, +the blood surge in my ears, and many colored motes float between me and +the canopy of blossom bending over us. In another instant I had kissed +her full upon the lips, and then emboldened by their touch, I threw my +arms about her, and kissed her again and again, upon brow, cheek, eyes +and lips, paying no heed to her commands, and only desisting when she +began tearfully to entreat me. + +[Illustration: "I LAID THE FLORAL WREATH CAREFULLY UPON THE BRIGHT +CURLS."] + +No sooner was the madness passed than I was deeply penitent, and begged +her forgiveness so humbly that Nelly gracefully consented to pardon me, +on condition that all should be between us as if the incident had never +occurred. My promise was easier given than fulfilled, however, for the +memory of those kisses lingered with me for years, and came near to my +undoing. Yet I never again entirely lost self-control, and all fear of +consequences in a woman's presence. The realization of the strength of +this heretofore unknown force of my nature sobered me and put me on my +guard against myself, in future. + +Even Colonel Morgan saw presently my infatuation, and tried to warn me. +"Nelly is a pretty lass, and bewitching enough, in all conscience," he +said to me, one morning as we rode over the place together, "but I fear, +lad, she's a sad coquette, and moreover she's an ardent Tory. It was not +she I meant to pick out for a wife for you, indeed I did not know we +should find her here." + +"A Tory? Is she not your wife's cousin?" + +"Aye, lad, 'tis only in our valley that all men are patriots. Nelly is a +cousin to my wife, and the families have always been intimate; but the +Bufords live in Philadelphia, are well to do, and strong Tories. The +stringent orders of General Washington against English sympathizers +compelled Nelly's brother to join the British army and Nelly to take +refuge with us--her mother having gone to New York to nurse a sister who +is ill." + +Colonel Morgan's warning came too late, however, even if I had been +inclined to mix politics with love, or to think that the fact of a +woman's opinion being adverse to my own made her any the less lovable. +Age and experience are needed to teach a man that congeniality of mind +and temperament count more for happiness in the marriage relation than +the sparkle of a bright eye, or the enchanting curve of a rosy mouth. +But I was disappointed, and ventured that afternoon to sound the depths +of my charmer's disloyalty. + +"Colonel Morgan tells me that you are a Tory, Miss Nelly." + +"Yes, and why not?" + +"I cannot understand how an American citizen can take sides with the +oppressors of our country." + +"That is such stuff as Colonel Morgan and all you self-styled patriots +talk--saying nothing of the ingratitude of turning against our mother +land that has lavished her treasures and the blood of her sons, to plant +and protect these colonies; nor of the absurd folly of thinking there +can be aught else but defeat, and years of poverty before us, as the +fruit of this rebellion. Great Britain is sure to win in the end, and +then, sir, mayhap you'll be glad of a friend at court. It were well to +treat me courteously, and my views with respect while I am forced thus +to take refuge among you--the day may come when I can return the favor," +and Miss Nelly's eyes flashed, and she held her small self very erect in +her chair. I had thought her all gayety and softness, and this evidence +of spirit made her but the more charming to me. + +"At all events let us not quarrel," I begged. "I trust I am not so +narrow minded as to be unable to recognize that there may be something +to say on the side of England, especially since it is the tyranny of +King George and not the will of the people which oppresses us. But I can +never agree with your views nor admit the probability of your prophecy. +Should the patriots win, as they will, I may have an opportunity to show +my appreciation of the offer you have just made me. Meantime, while we +await results, let us declare a truce--do not spoil my brief holiday by +withdrawing your smiles." + +"Since you put it so gallantly, I must consent--truce for the present, +alliance for the future." + +"Then I dread nothing the future holds for me--even defeat would be +tolerable with your favor to soften it." + +"You may hold my yarn, Sir Blarney," she laughed; "no need to tell me +there's Irish blood in your veins." + +So I held her yarn, and delayed the winding process all I could, that +she might be the longer over her task, and her soft finger tips touch my +hands the oftener in untangling the threads I snarled. So our first +quarrel resulted in my more certain entanglement in the net of Nelly's +wiles. + + * * * * * + +The sense of loneliness and regret, of distaste for the life of hardship +before me that oppressed me, as we took horse to return to camp, was +entirely new to me. So quickly had a week of ease and luxury, of woman's +society, and idle trifling enervated me! I was too far gone even to have +proper contempt for myself, and rode all morning by Colonel Morgan's +side, silent and morose, answering his cheerful talk with rude +monosyllables. + +"Look here, my lad," said the Colonel, after a while, "I fear your +holiday has done you harm, rather than good. I meant to give you a brief +rest and change that would hearten you for the work before you, and, if +instead I've led you into a snare, Donald, I'm very sorry." + +"What snare, Colonel Morgan?" I enquired somewhat haughtily. + +"The snare that a pretty woman's face and a frivolous woman's mind has +laid for many a strong man before you, Captain McElroy," answered +Colonel Morgan, "but I obtrude neither admonition nor advice, sir," and +he spurred his horse forward and rode on in front of me. + +The "Captain McElroy" brought me to my senses, for I was not used to +hearing anything but "Donald" and "lad" from his lips. I felt heartily +ashamed of myself, and presently spurred to his side, and humbly begged +his pardon. + +"I forgive you without stint, lad," he answered me; "your feelings are +very natural, and 'tis hardly my privilege to preach to any young man, +for my own youth was reckless and dissipated. But I can say with +knowledge that there is no influence a young man needs so much to dread +as that of his own ungoverned passions, and none he should so carefully +guard against. You've heard the old hymn:-- + + 'Lo, on a narrow neck of land + 'Twixt Heaven and Hell I stand'; + +"Well, if there's a single situation in life these words describe it is +that point in a young man's life when he makes his first clear decision +between right and desire, between yielding himself the sport of youthful +inclinations, and following the clean path of duty. When the time comes +for you to win honestly a good woman's love, she will be very proud and +glad to know that you can offer her an unsullied manhood. It's the one +thing that ever comes between Abigail and me:--that even yet I'm ashamed +to tell her some of the episodes of my youth." + +"Thank you, Colonel! I shall try to remember your words." + +Remembering was easy enough, but making application was more difficult. +I could not see, then, that Colonel Morgan's caution applied to my +infatuation for Nelly, further than to put me on my guard against +letting that infatuation interfere with my steadfastness and courage as +a soldier. I took the warning to heart, therefore, only so far as to set +my face sternly toward my duty again. Its true application was made +clear to me, almost too late. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +There was little time for moping after we got back to headquarters, for +on the very next day, Colonel Morgan issued orders to his captains to +get their companies in marching order, and a few days later we filed out +of camp in double column, bands playing, colors flying, and our faces +northward. The men cheered us as we passed, for Morgan's rifle rangers +were famous by this time, and were always greeted vociferously. + +General Gates gave us an enthusiastic welcome when we came up with him, +lying intrenched along the Hudson River from Stillwater to Halfmoon; and +from the first he paid us the compliment of giving us the positions of +greatest danger and responsibility, issuing a command that we were to +receive orders from himself alone. It was ours to do most of the scout +and picket duty during the three weeks that the British army waited on +the opposite bank of the river about thirty miles above us, their rear +protected by Fort Edward. + +Burgoyne wearied presently of inaction, and determined to wait no longer +for Lord Howe's continually delayed reinforcements. He began, too, to +suspect that his position was fast becoming a critical one, for news now +reached him that the forces of Baum and St. Leger had been destroyed at +the battle of Oriskany, and that the attack upon Fort Stanwix had +failed, so that the blow from the west could no longer be counted on; +the New England militiamen were gathering in force in his rear, and his +Indian and Canadian allies--frightened it was said by the report that +Morgan's rifle rangers had joined Gates--daily deserted him. There was +no alternative left to General Burgoyne but to cross the river and +attack Gates, ere this time well fortified, by the skill of Kosciusko, +on Bemis Heights. + +For six days longer, Burgoyne hesitated, or awaited reënforcements. On +the morning of September the nineteenth, one of the outlook, stationed +in a tree top, reported a movement of Burgoyne's army which indicated a +concerted rear and front attack upon our position. General Gates decided +to await the attack behind our fortifications; but Arnold, who commanded +our left wing, argued vehemently in favor of a charge upon Burgoyne's +advance column, and at last won Gates' consent that he should lead +Morgan's riflemen, and Dearborn's infantry against the approaching +enemy. The riflemen were given the lead, and we fell upon Burgoyne with +telling energy, Morgan all the time exposing himself recklessly, and +shouting encouragement to his men above the incessant crack of their +rifles, and the responsive roar of the enemy's guns. + +It was a picture worth seeing--our regiment in action, their tall +commanding figures in their huntsmen's garb scattering or forming as the +ground suggested, and each man firing as coolly as if he had nothing +more than a brace of partridges in range. + +We had been but a short while in action, when General Frazier turned +eastward to help General Burgoyne; and Riedesel, seeing Burgoyne was +hard pressed, hurried up to his assistance from the river road, along +which he was marching to attack Gates' position, in front, while, as +they had planned, Generals Burgoyne and Frazier should simultaneously +attack our position in rear. We had, therefore, successively diverted +the entire force, marching to charge Bemis Heights, and fought, with our +three thousand backwoods riflemen and raw infantry, four thousand of the +best troops in the British army, led by their bravest and most skilled +officers. + +The fight was waged with desperate determination on both sides for two +hours, while Arnold and Morgan galloped hither and thither, animating +the men by their voice, presence, and example. Again and again Arnold +sent couriers to Gates begging for re-enforcements, and assuring him +that with two thousand more men he could crush the army of Burgoyne. But +the self opinionated Gates, who preferred to lose by his own judgment, +rather than win by any other man's, sat calmly in his tent, watching the +fight below, and steadily refused us assistance. In defiance of his +narrow stupidity Arnold fought on till dark, and though Burgoyne was +left in possession of the battle field, he had lost heavily, and his +attack upon our position had been foiled. We, also, had lost heavily, +and of our brave riflemen far more than we could by any means afford to +spare. + +General Burgoyne did not venture another attempt for nearly three weeks. +Meanwhile we did not lack excitement in camp, for the long brewing +difficulties between Gates and Arnold came rapidly to a head, +culminating in a rash speech of Gates that "as soon as General Lincoln +should arrive he would have no further use for General Arnold," and the +withdrawal from Arnold's command of Morgan's and Dearborn's regiments, +the two he counted most upon. Arnold was furious and all the officers +under Gates, except two or three, were indignant. We had as much +confidence in Arnold's courage and military skill, then, as we had doubt +of Gates possessing either of these qualities. General Arnold sent in +his resignation, which General Gates accepted; but after all the other +officers had met and signed a petition entreating Arnold to remain, he +was induced to withdraw his resignation, and Gates submitted sullenly. + +It fell also to the lot of Morgan and Arnold to check the second +concerted movement of the British, and upon almost the same ground as +before. But the second battle of Freeman's Farm was a far more decisive +victory for us. Again Morgan's men led the attack, were the first men on +the field, and the last to withdraw. This might well be called the +battle of the Colonels, for until General Arnold led the famous charge +upon Frazier's wavering line late in the afternoon, which completed the +rout of the British, no officer higher in command than a colonel was +engaged in the fight on our side. + +General Burgoyne now found himself surrounded by the American army, and +next discovered that every ford along the river for miles was strongly +guarded--Gates was a better general at reaping the fruits of others' +victories, than at winning them for himself. A few days later Burgoyne +asked for terms of surrender, and on the seventeenth of October--seven +was our lucky number during this campaign--the "Convention of Saratoga" +was carried into effect by the British army marching into a meadow, and +laying down their arms, while General Burgoyne handed his sword to +General Gates. Our men stayed within their entrenchments, not caring to +look upon the humiliation of a brave enemy, and not a single cheer was +heard as the disarmed and dejected British repassed our lines; we +realized then, as more than once afterwards, that Americans and +Britishers could never really be enemies and that the aims and destinies +of Anglo-Saxon peoples were and always would be much the same. + +In General Gates' report of the surrender he failed to mention Colonel +Morgan's name, or to give any credit to the riflemen for the important +service they had rendered. A few days after the capitulation, General +Gates gave a dinner to a large number of British and American officers, +but he did not include Colonel Morgan. During the progress of the dinner +Colonel Morgan was compelled to make some important report to the +general in chief, and was ushered into the banqueting room. He saluted +formally, made his report, and withdrew. + +"And who, General Gates, may be that soldierly and magnificent looking +colonel?" enquired a British officer. + +"It is Colonel Morgan of the Virginia Riflemen," answered Gates, with as +gracious an air as he could command. + +"What, is that the famous Colonel Morgan! Pardon me, but I must shake +hands with him," and he rose from the table, and followed Morgan, +several of the other British officers doing likewise, thus compelling +General Gates to recall and introduce him. + +"Sir," said General Burgoyne, "you command the finest regiment in the +world." + +Colonel Morgan proudly repeated this to his men, and each man of the +regiment treasured it in his memory to the end of his life, as being the +highest compliment troops could receive, for it came, unsolicited, from +a gallant enemy. + +A few days afterward we rejoined the main army at Whitemarsh, Morgan's +command taking part in the battle of Chestnut Hill. It was there I got +my first and only wound during the Revolution, and was for a second time +taken prisoner. I was leading my men in a headlong charge upon the +enemy's works, when a small body of British cavalry dashed suddenly upon +us from an unexpected direction, and threatened to cut us off from the +main body of our troops; I gave the order to retreat at double quick, +and remembered no more, till I found myself a prisoner with a bullet in +my left thigh. + +The next day I was taken to a prison hospital in Philadelphia, and laid +on a straw pallet in a row of other groaning, tossing, half delirious +unfortunates. For some days--I lost count of time--I lived in a troubled +dream, with but one definite need, one clearly defined longing, and that +for water. Oh, for a fountain of cool sweet water, that I might drink +and drink, then rest and drink again! That which some one brought me +from time to time was muddy and flat, but I drank it as if it had been +the ambrosial cup of Jove, and in the confused visions which floated in +and out of my mind, there was always a sparkling spring gushing out of a +green hillside, and falling with a splashing sound into a pebble paved +basin. Sometimes I seemed to lie flat upon my chest in the cool grass, +and to plunge my head into the cool water. Again I saw the spring, as on +that last night at home, silvered by the moon's rays, and Ellen standing +on the rock above, wrapped in her white robe, her face mystical with +strange thoughts. She smiled at me, and gave me to drink from a golden +cup the sweetest water I had ever quaffed. + +One of the first things to arouse me from my semi-stupor was the +beseeching cry of a poor lad, who lay on the pallet next mine, for +"water, water,"--over and over again, in tones first petulant and +insistent, then entreating and pitiful, then weary and despairing. The +next time the bucket and dipper came around, I begged the man who +distributed our dole to give my share to the lad, though my throat was +like cast iron within, and my heavy tongue as slick as if coated with +varnish. The boy fell asleep afterwards, and the brief quiet of his +tossing limbs with the smile his dreams brought to his pale lips so +rested my nerves, as to enable me to endure the hours which ensued +before the next bucketful was distributed. + +"This is Captain McElroy, I believe, sir," I heard a prison official say +one day, standing over my pallet--I do not know whether it was morning +or afternoon, or how many days after I had been brought to the hospital. + +"Do we not provide better accommodations than this for wounded +officers?" said another in lowered voice. + +"We cannot make our own wounded comfortable, Captain," answered the +first; "we must do as we can in this half savage country." + +I opened my eyes now, and met those of a slim young man in British +uniform,--"Can you tell me, sir," he asked, "where I may find Captain +Donald McElroy, of Morgan's rifle company?" + +"I'm Captain McElroy of the Virginia Riflemen, sir," and I sat up with a +mighty effort, and managed to salute him with a trembling hand. + +"You have not lost your pluck with your strength, I see, Captain +McElroy," returning my salute; "I'm Captain Buford, a brother of the +young woman you met at the home of Colonel Morgan, last April. Nelly saw +your name in the list of wounded prisoners, several days ago, and has +waited impatiently for my return to the city, that she might set me to +searching for you. She tells me that you two entered into a friendly +compact, pledging each other help and protection while the war lasts, +whenever one is needed, and the other possible. It was your pleasure +once, she bade me say, to extend courtesy to a Tory, it is hers now to +show her appreciation of that courtesy, and also of the valor of a brave +opponent,--the word enemy she charged me _not_ to use." + +The little blood left in my body all mounted to my face, and I knew not +if it were weakness, or pleasure that made my brain reel so. "Will you +convey to your sister my most grateful thanks, Captain Buford, and say +to her for me that any obligation she may feel to my friends--for she +can owe none to me, since she but honored me with her society--is doubly +discharged by her gracious interest in my fate. If it is in my power to +do so, I shall call to express my gratitude in person, as soon as I am +strong enough. Will you be so good as to leave your address with me?" +But I had used up all my will power, in this long speech, which had come +faltering from my dry throat, and now I fell back on my pallet almost in +a swoon of weakness. + +"You need more practical assistance, if I mistake not, Captain McElroy, +than a mere expression of interest. And our Cousin Abigail will never +forgive us the neglect of a friend of her husband. If it is possible to +get permission, and I think there will be no difficulty, we wish to take +you to our house as a paroled prisoner. With a comfortable bed, and +nourishing diet we shall have you well in no time." + +"I am too unsightly an object to risk being seen by your mother and +sister, Captain Buford--would it not be well to wait until I am strong +enough to be shaven and dressed," I protested, weakly. + +"You need only fresh garments, and a comb to be entirely presentable." + +"Then I am in your hands." + +When Captain Buford returned, he was accompanied by a physician and his +own body servant, and had my parole in his hand. The last he showed me, +while the physician administered a cordial hardly more stimulating, +after which the negro valet made me as decent in appearance as my state +permitted. Before they carried me to the ambulance in waiting, I stopped +a moment, beside the lad's pallet to say good-by, and speak a cheering +word to him. His fever had abated, now, but I feared he would die of +exhaustion, aided by extreme dejection. + +"Cheer up, comrade," I said; "my friends here have promised me they will +have you paroled or exchanged, if you'll only set your mind to it, and +get well." + +"I'm glad for your good luck," he answered wearily, "but I don't expect +to hear another friendly voice this side of Heaven." + +"That is not soldier-like talk, lad--a patriot must learn to defy +suffering, and mischance." + +"Yes, I know, and I'm trying to learn to endure as a soldier should," +but he shut his eyes, and the weak grasp of his fingers on mine relaxed. + +"That's right, lad, keep up a brave heart; my friends will not forget +you." + +I could trust myself to say no more, and as I took a last look at the +smooth, girlish face of the lad, I thought with a fresh heart pang, "How +much do the horrors of war outweigh its glories!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +The Buford mansion reached, I was at once assisted to my room, and put +to bed, a special servant being assigned to attend upon me. A week later +I was able to sit up each morning in a cushioned chair before my +cheerful fire, and presently to walk about my room. I spent many of my +waking hours listening to the voices which floated up to me from the +lower floor, trying to distinguish Nelly's gay sweet tones among them. +Now and then I recognized a light footfall, as she flitted past my door, +and hoped vainly that she would stop to speak to me. At last I grew +desperate, demanded paper and quill of my man, Hector, and wrote this in +scrawling characters: + + "Am I never to have the honor and privilege of thanking my + generous deliverer? The weight of my gratitude oppresses me; + will you not add another deed of gracious kindness to my debt, + and give me the opportunity to ease my soul by expressing a + part of the thankfulness and devotion which fill it to + overflowing? Only let me see you, and I shall be, for as long + as it pleases you, sweet Nelly. + + "Your most willing captive, + + "DONALD MCELROY." + +Then I sealed, and addressed the note, and bade Hector take it to his +young mistress. He came back in a few moments with the message that +"Miss Nelly would see me in half an hour." The interim was spent by me +in making as careful a toilet as any young girl robing for her first +ball. I had had Captain Buford purchase for me two suits of citizens' +clothes of latest cut and pattern, and I flattered myself that the plum +colored breeches and coat, the sprigged velvet waistcoat, black silk +stockings, and silver buckles set off my heroic proportions to some +advantage. I had been daily clean shaven since I had been strong enough +to stand it, and my "curling chestnut locks," had grown long enough to +admit of their being gathered into a respectable resemblance to a queue, +which I tied with a black satin ribbon. + +Just as I had satisfied myself that I was not ill to look at, a liveried +footman came to my door to say that Miss Buford awaited me in the second +floor reception room, and that I was to follow him thither. I found her +standing by the window, a plume covered brown felt scoop hiding all her +blonde head, except the airy curls upon her forehead, and about her +throat a dark fur tippet, from which her fair face rose, like a flower +set in rich leaves. + +"I'm just going out, Captain McElroy," she said, after she had given me +a gracious greeting, "but I could not resist your gallant appeal, nor go +until I had relieved you of your heavy burden--though I'm sorry, sir, +you should feel it as a burden, the small service it has been our +pleasure to render you." + +"I feel not your kindness as a burden, Miss Nelly, it has been accepted +as freely as bestowed--'twas the longing to see and to thank you that I +could endure no longer. I have now no further cause for unrest, save +this threat of yours to leave me, before I have had time to clothe my +gratitude in adequate words." + +"Will't say you're glad I'm a Tory--and that even a Tory may be honest +and a Christian? If you will, I shall call it fair quittance of all you +owe me," and she laughed the rippling saucy laugh that had been ringing +through my dreams for months. + +"That a Tory may be honest and a Christian, I admit most freely,--but +that I am glad you are one is more than I can say, with aught of truth. +I would have you all on my side if I could; still more, I would have no +one with half so good a claim to you as I." + +"But 'tis the other way, Sir Patriot--no one else has so good a claim to +you as have I; since you are my paroled prisoner. Do they treat you +well, poor captive?" + +"As an honored guest, fair jailer; there's but one thing lacking to my +comfort." + +"And what may that be? It shall be supplied." + +"A daily interview, and a long one, with my jailer." + +"You have been very slow, sir, to signify a wish to see her. Two weeks +ago to-day it has been since you came, and this is the first intimation +I have had that my presence would be welcome." + +"And daily I have hoped you would stop at my threshold to ask of my +improvement--you could not fail to know that I have been pining for one +look at your bright face." + +"Young women must not take things for granted, sir; you, however, are +not like the British officers and the city macaronis, you are both +honest and modest, and if you have not made great haste to be gallant, I +feel sure you are sincere. But I must say good-by for the present, a +skating party waits for me, down stairs." + +"When may I hope to see you again?" + +"To-morrow, if you wish." + +"At what hour, that I may count the minutes!" + +"Eleven o'clock, shall we say? If I might read to you an hour each +morning, would that help you to pass less irksomely the tedious days of +your captivity?" + +She called this back to me over her shoulder, her saucy face fairer for +its frame of soft plumes and rich fur. + +"'Twould make me rejoice in the midst of my misfortunes, most merciful +jailer," I answered, striking an attitude with my hand upon my heart. + +The hours crawled by like a slow procession of half torpid serpents till +I fell asleep, and the next morning passed in eager expectancy. + +"Which of these shall I read from?" began Miss Nelly, entering the small +reception room with her arms full of books. + +"I have chosen a variety, one of which will, I hope, suit both your +taste and your mood. Here is Ossian, if your literary appetite calls for +the mystic and lyric; or Pope if it demands the caustic and humorous; or +Lady Mary Montague if you have a weakness for gossip; or Shakespeare's +'Romeo and Juliet,' Ben Jonson's 'Mourning Bride,' should your mood be +tragic; or 'Evelina,' the most popular of the new novels, if you have a +fancy for fiction. Which shall it be this morning?" + +"First, a few extracts from Ossian, then, a bit of Lady Mary, and +lastly, a chapter from the new novel," I answered with shameless greed. + +But we did not get to the novel that morning, for the reading of Ossian +ended in an animated discussion of the claims of McPherson that his +poems were a genuine translation from the old Gaelic. I strongly +maintained, that the true spirit of the ancient Gaelic people was in +these poems, and that it would be well nigh impossible for a modern to +conceive or to reproduce the feelings and sentiments of these primitive +bards with such absolute truth of conception. Miss Nelly, however, held +stoutly to the views of the critics, as became her conservative habit of +mind. + +Then came a few extracts from "Lady Mary" after which she seemed weary, +so that I picked up her volume of plays and read from it some of my +favorite quotations. + +"Why, Captain McElroy," she exclaimed, "you read well. After this you +shall read to me, sir, while I finish hemstitching my ruffles." + +"I have a favor to ask of you, Captain McElroy," said Miss Nelly one +morning when my hour of bliss was about to end. "I want you to take a +part in the play we are rehearsing,--'tis the latest comedy written by +the late great London playwright, Sheridan, and you could do the part of +Sir Peter Teazle to perfection." + +"But I have never so much as seen a play, Miss Nelly," I answered in +consternation. + +"Never mind that, you will be sure to say your lines with true +expression, and the rest I can teach you. Do consent, Sir Patriot, I +have told the girls and the British officers about you, and they all +desire greatly to meet you; even the belle and beauty, Miss Margaret +Shippen, said last evening to me, 'I hear, Miss Nelly, you have captured +a rebel captain, and hold him imprisoned in your castle--are not we to +have the pleasure of meeting him? 'Tis said he is a Goliath for size; a +David for skill, though with rifle instead of sling; and an Absalom for +beauty of person.' Now, Sir, can you resist a compliment like that from +the fairest Tory maiden in Philadelphia; will you not come in the +drawing room this evening, and be introduced to her?" + +"And meet British officers, who might resent my impertinence!" + +"All who come to this house are gentlemen, sir--nor would they show the +least disrespect to a friend of mine." + +"I am not fit for polite society, Miss Nelly, and I wish not to play the +part of Samson--to make sport for my enemies." + +"The suggestion is insulting, Captain McElroy, and I urge you no more," +and Miss Nelly left the room, her head poised haughtily. Next morning +she did not join me in the library at the usual time, and after an +hour's waiting I sent to beg her presence. + +"I apologize with deep humility of soul for my rudeness of yesterday," I +said, as soon as she came in. "I'll meet your friends gladly, and try +the part of Sir Peter if 'twill gratify you. Do not I owe my life to +you, and have you not made my very captivity a time of delight? Will you +not forgive me, since the speech was prompted by the stupidity of a +blunt soldier, and not by any doubt of you or your friends?" + +"Only upon condition that you stop abusing yourself, will I forgive you, +sir, and moreover that you speak before these British, and Tory friends +of mine with the same bold spirit of independence you have ever used to +me. I like you for it, though, at times, it nettles me." + +"You need have no fear of that," I laughed, "but I shall endeavor so to +act that you may not blush for having honored me with the name of +friend." + +"You know well that I shall be proud of you, Captain McElroy, there's +not so handsome a man in the British army. I would give a great deal to +see you in a British captain's uniform, that I might show them such men +as this land, which they sometimes flaunt and laugh at, produces. Though +a Tory, Captain McElroy, I love America, and Americans, and allow no one +to slur either at our country, or our people." + +O wily, bewitching Nelly; how was it possible to resist you. And yet I +cannot believe that you were from the first playing a part, nor that you +coldly schemed to entrap me. You were my true friend when much I needed +one, and if afterward you became a snare, it was greatly my own fault. + +That evening I donned my best, having sent Hector out to purchase a +white silk vest embroidered with pink rosebuds, and a white silk, lace +trimmed stock, that I might be behind none of the macaronis, nor give +the foppish British officers cause to scoff at my provincial appearance. +A man of gentle blood and sound principles needs scant time for +acquiring society polish, and by saying little, and watching and +listening closely, I soon learned the approved ways of doing the little +things. They thought me shy, and kindly left me a good deal to myself, +at first. Miss Shippen--a stately, beautiful, and most gracious mannered +maiden--called me to her side the second evening, and entered into a +conversation in regard to the comedy. "Like you the part of Sir Peter?" +she asked. + +"Rather better than any of the others, I think." + +"Then I infer you do not find the other characters to your liking?" and +she smiled, and glanced sideways at the officer who sat on her other +hand. + +"The comedy is doubtless a fine satire upon certain gay London circles," +I replied, "but there are but two characters one can like. Maria, and +Sir Peter, and both are shamefully cozened. I must except too the old +uncle, he is quite likable." + +"And you like not that fascinating rake, Charles Surface, nor delicious +Lady Teazle, with her boisterous snobbery, and her irrepressible good +nature? Are you of Quaker faith, Captain McElroy?" + +"No, Miss Shippen, I'm a Scotch Irish Presbyterian." + +"Then we shall shock you, I fear." + +"But whatever may be your religious views, sir, you wish surely to know +something of life?" put in the British officer, a well made blonde man +with straight nose, and large mouth. "Would you take advantage of your +present opportunities, you shall learn things you have not dreamed of in +your mountain wilds." + +"Adventure has ever appealed to me, sir, and lately my life has been +o'er tame," I answered, determined to be no milksop among these British. +"So you do not ask me to go a backbiting with Sir Benjamin, and the +rest, there's little you can offer me, promising excitement, that you +will not find me ready for." + +"Glad am I to hear it, Mr. McElroy-- + +"Captain McElroy, an' you please; having won my humble title by hard +service, and not by court favor, I am very proud of it, sir." + +"Beg your pardon," somewhat haughtily; "I was about to say I like not a +soldier, Captain McElroy, who cants and prays between battles, as did +the hypocritical Cromwellians. A gay life in barracks is proper reward +for arduous work during a campaign;--to-morrow, an' you will, I shall +call to take you to our quarters, where you may lunch with four as jolly +good fellows as are to be found in the British army." + +I had just assented to this invitation of Captain Wheaton's, when Miss +Shippen introduced me to the latest comer, as Colonel Forbes; he was a +small, wiry, swarthy man who had been making the round of the room, and +now leaned over Miss Shippen's chair, whispering in her ear. + +"One of Morgan's Riflemen, said you, Miss Margaret?" eyeing me with most +evident curiosity, as I rose to return his salutation; "a famous leader, +and brave troops; they did the work for us at Saratoga. To your colonel +and his men belongs the glory of that victory, Captain McElroy--yet I +hear it has been filched from you by that braggart Gates, and that +Colonel Morgan has not even been accorded a promotion. This so-called +Continental Congress knows naught of the art of warfare, nor can +recognize the qualities of a true leader, or else it has its favorites +whom it is determined to advance, regardless of merit." + +Though all this was true, I burned inwardly to hear him say it; +determined, however, to repress the rash words which rose to my lips, I +set them firmly, folded my arms, and bowed in grave silence. + +"Captain Morgan is devotedly loved by his men, I hear," put in Miss +Shippen. "Is he very genial with them, Captain McElroy?" + +"He treats them as sons, or as brothers; there's not one but would +follow him cheerfully to certain death." + +"But," said Miss Shippen, "I am much more interested in the comedy, than +in any talk of war, or comparison of leaders, for Captain McElroy it is +I who am to act Maria--do you not think I'll look and act the character +to the life?" + +"To perfection, and now I wish I were to play Charles Surface." + +"Hear him, Nelly," called Miss Shippen to that young lady, crossing the +room to the spinet, attended by half a dozen gallants. "He pretends to +wish that he were going to be Charles Surface in our comedy, didst ever +hear of such shameless deceit?" + +"Or such base ingratitude, for I see he has already transferred his +allegiance--but why should we be surprised by any fresh evidence of +masculine perfidy--have we not long since learned that 'Men were +deceivers ever'?" and Nelly's manner and tone showed that she would be +no amateur upon the stage. + +"And women were ever our innocent victims, I suppose. There's not a +coquette among you!" jeered Captain Buford, who had just joined our +circle, a brown haired Quakeress upon his arm, who was going to sing +duets with Miss Nelly. + +"We but use nature's weapons for our just defense, Captain Buford," +answered Miss Shippen. "The more skillful and wary one's enemy, the more +adroit one needs be. Women have learned to guard, to parry, and to +thrust by long practice in the art of self-defense." + + * * * * * + +The lunch in Captain Wheaton's quarters the next day was not the last of +the entertainments proffered me by my hospitable enemies, especially by +Buford's and Wheaton's mess. Not only did I lunch with them, dine with +them, and drink with them; I also diced and played with them, and was +invited to join their riding parties. Once Wheaton, who seemed to have +conceived a liking for me which I returned heartily, carelessly allowed +me to inspect with him the city's fortifications, and to see how +inadequate they were to resist attack from any strong, well equipped +force. Afterwards this incident, which was purely accidental, and seemed +of small importance as I thought at the time, counted heavily against +me, and proved to be the small silent hinge on which turned the door +opening to me the high road of my destiny. Far more important events +have turned upon still smaller hinges. + + * * * * * + +The British soldiers were most of them fine soldiers, and genial +comrades, and their treatment of me was all courtesy and kindness. +Through an odd streak of luck attending me, for surely skill had nothing +to do with my triumph, I won at nearly all the games of chance so +prevalent among them. Quinze, Piquet, Hazard, and other games, besides +all sorts of wild betting, were their chief diversions. They even bet at +whist, a slow, deep thinking game, well worth the playing without a +wager. Whatever the game, I won indifferently, and soon my depleted +pockets jingled merrily with English gold pieces. + +"The Scotchman's luck" became a proverb in the captain's messes. But in +all the dissipation of that time I was watchful never to drink to +excess. I am not fanatical against strong drinks, and to this day can +find no harm in one's warming and cheering himself with a cup of good +sack, or a finger of rum, but it has ever filled me with disgust to see +a man's legs wabbling and tangling as he walked, and to hear maudlin +words mixing themselves in unintelligible gibberish upon a thick and +lolling tongue. + +And all this time my infatuation for Nelly Buford took daily stronger +possession of me. I spent in her society every hour she would allow me, +and became the slave of each of her pretty, womanish caprices. Her +deference to me as her captive guest led me on as subtly as her +coquetry, and so little skill or wish had I to hide my infatuation, that +I must have seemed to all Miss Nelly's acquaintances to stand to her in +the attitude of an accepted lover. Once or twice I did venture to tell +her that I loved her, but was easily checked by a doubting word, or an +attempt to change the subject. Now, at any rate, I considered, I could +not ask her to marry me, and to avow my love for other purposes were +dishonorable. I yet had not the courage to resign hope, nor the will to +see less of her. + +My habit to drink sparingly has more than once stood me in good stead, +but never more so than at a banquet given to General Howe by the +officers, about the first of February, to which I was most graciously +invited; and to which, being urged by Buford and Wheaton, I foolishly +consented to go. I did not realize the unpleasantness of the position in +which I had put myself until the time came for toasts and speeches. +First the health of the king was drunk with enthusiasm, all standing +with heads held proudly, and brimming glasses tossed high, while a lusty +cheer went up from many throats. I stood, also, not to make myself +conspicuous, but neither drank nor cheered. To General Howe's health, I +drank for courtesy's sake, but when "Success to British arms" was +proposed, I found my stock of politeness completely exhausted, and sat +down abruptly, to the amusement of Forbes on my left and the scorn of +the officer opposite. + +And now began the serious business of the evening; brave soldiers, and +cultivated gentlemen set themselves valorously to the task of drinking +each other under the table; as gradually they waxed uproarious, free +talk was interchanged as to the supposed plans of the British +government, and its unswerving determination to subdue the revolting +colonies at whatever cost of men or money. Meantime Colonel Forbes and +the captain next to him diverted me from the general talk by asking +questions as to the part Morgan and his men had taken in the attack +against Quebec, and the battles which led to Saratoga; throwing in +frequent adroit compliments to the riflemen, and expressions of +admiration and sympathy for Colonel Morgan. Finding me noncommittal as +to the treatment Arnold and Morgan had received from the Continental +Congress, they branched off into an argument meant to convince me of the +hopelessness of our cause, and the uselessness of sacrificing life and +property by further resistance; declaring that Great Britain was willing +to yield all we asked and wanted, short of complete independence, and +that only a few fanatics believed that to be possible, or desirable. + +To this I responded, with perfect calmness, that nothing less than +complete independence from autocratic will would satisfy the American +people and that since we could never be conquered at such distance it +would be wiser to grant us the independence we claimed and to make of us +loyal allies. That we were not warring against the British nation which +we honored and esteemed above all other souls, but against the +tyrannical notions of the King and his courtiers, themselves aliens to +the English blood. That our independence would but hasten theirs and +bring the sooner that freedom of the human race and that universal +democracy which was the dream of all true men and real patriots. Indeed, +I affirmed, waxing more and more enthusiastic for my most cherished +belief, "It would yet be the proud privilege of England and America to +stand side by side for the cause of liberty and self-government." + +Colonel Forbes but laughed at my wild theories and as he got drunker and +drunker grew more and more friendly 'til, presently, he wished I were +his comrade, since I was too good a fellow for a rebel; and then, with +the effusive confidence of a man deep in his cups, began a jumble of +protestations and insinuations, hinting at the high honors, and rich +emoluments which awaited me if I would only consent to give up my +foolish devotion to rebellion and become once more a loyal British +subject. + +I thought his talk but the foolish babble of a drunken man, and turned +it aside with jest and banter. + +When presently the more sober arose to depart, the officer who had sat +next to Colonel Forbes, and who, since the latter had waxed so +confidential, had lapsed into silence, took me by the arm and asked me +to go with him to a small cloak room adjoining the banqueting hall. + +"Captain McElroy," he said when we were seated and alone, "Colonel +Forbes has prematurely made you an offer we have been contemplating for +some days, and in regard to which I was authorized to sound you. We have +good reason to believe there is an officer in the rebel ranks well +affected to our cause; we need some one who can freely communicate with +him--if you will consent to help us, a captain's commission in the +British army, with promise of speedy promotion, and any sum of ready +money you may name is yours. Only sign this paper, and the compact is +closed." + +I took the paper he handed me, opened and read it, then rose to my feet, +and slowly tore it into bits, throwing them, as I did so, into the fire. + +[Illustration: "YOU HAVE EVIDENTLY MISTAKEN ME FOR A VILLAIN."] + +"Captain Forsythe," I said, while my hand and my voice shook with the +strain I put upon myself to control my anger, "you and others have +evidently mistaken me for a villain of that low and despicable type +capable of treason to his country. For the present I condone the insult +for the sake of other British officers who have seemed to consider me a +man of honor. I bid you good night, sir," and reaching for cloak and +hat, I hastened into the street, where the freshness and purity of the +early morning air and the calming message of the steadfast +stars--shining on in their clear, soft beauty, whether men pray and +sleep like Christians, or dice and plot, and drink like devils, on the +changeful earth beneath them--cooled my fevered brow, and helped me to +restrain a seething desire to take violent vengeance upon my insulter. +But I realized clearly the foolhardiness of such course, and moreover +the ingratitude and disrespect to my friends it would seem to imply. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +The second evening after the banquet was the one set for the performance +of our carefully rehearsed comedy, and all the Tory society of +Philadelphia was agog with interest and curiosity to see the latest +London hit, played by the belles of the city and the most popular of the +British officers. I was told, moreover, that the story had gone abroad +that the part of Sir Peter would be taken by a youthful Virginia +mountaineer, whose giant proportions and unusual gifts of person and +bearing--considering his backwoods breeding--made him the feature of the +performance. I was no little annoyed by this talk, though I credited +Wheaton, who retailed it to me, with a good deal of bantering +exaggeration. In truth, being still sore from the insult offered me at +the banquet, I wanted to throw up my part; but, after consideration of +the difficulties it would entail upon my entertainers, and others who +had been courteous to me, I forced myself to stick to my role +cheerfully, and to do my best at it. + +Rigged out in all the toggery of a stage Sir Peter, I presented myself +to Miss Nelly. "Perfect," she exclaimed taking me by the elbow with the +tips of her fingers, and slowly turning me around at arm's length, while +she inspected critically my pompous finery. "Now must they all admit +that there's not so handsome a figure of a man in the British army," and +she nodded approval bewitchingly, with her puffed, powdered, and plumed +head. She was altogether charming in her rich brocade gown and yellow +laces, and I managed to tell her so in words that pleased her. + +The play was pronounced a London success, and the players universally +complimented. Twice were Lady Teazle and Sir Peter called before the +curtain, and such flattering compliments were showered upon me in the +green room that I was quite puffed with vanity and forgot my inward +soreness. After the performance, Colonel Forbes entertained the players +at a supper where sherry, Burgundy, and sparkling white wines of France +were as free as spring water. Wheaton was made to sing his hit of the +evening--Sheridan's jolly drinking song over again, and did so with even +better voice and expression. + + "Here's to the maiden of bashful fifteen, + Here's to the widow of fifty, + Here's to the flaunting, extravagant queen + And here's to the housewife that's thrifty. + +(And all joined in the chorus:--) + + "Let the toast pass, + Drink to the lass, + I'll warrant she'll prove an excuse for the glass. + + "Here's to the charmer whose dimples we prize, + Now to the maid who has none, sir; + Here's to the girl with a pair of blue eyes, + And here's to the nymph with but one, sir. + + "Let the toast pass, etc. + + "Here's to the maid with a bosom of snow, + Now to her that's as brown as a berry; + Here's to the wife with a face full of woe, + And now to the girl that is merry. + + "Let the toast pass, etc + + "For let them be clumsy, or let them be slim, + Young or ancient, I care not a feather, + So fill a pint bottle quite up to the brim + And let us e'en toast them together. + + "Let the toast pass, etc." + +Even Miss Nelly, and the stately Miss Shippen had drunken till their +fair faces were a little flushed, and they joined with noticeable +abandon in the chorus. The men presently became too hilarious, there +being ladies present, and I suddenly realized that I also had imbibed +more freely than I usually allowed myself. Just then I caught Miss +Shippen's eye, saw that she observed my change of manner, and took it +either for reproof or warning. Not to appear either rude or Puritanical +in her eyes, I silently rebuked myself for my Presbyterian +straight-lacedness, and began again to drink and to make noisily merry +with the rest. A moment later Miss Shippen leaned over to us and asked, +in an undertone, if Nelly and I would escort her home--the recent Joseph +Surface being, she feared, already incapacitated for that duty. We +slipped out almost unobserved, being followed soon after, I think, by +the rest of the ladies, and the few gallants in fit condition to escort +them. + +My brain cooled but slowly, even in the fresh night air, and, after we +had safely delivered Miss Shippen at her home, and driven to the Buford +mansion, I begged Nelly to sit with me, in the library, till I felt more +ready to welcome sleep. A single candle burned still in the silver stick +on the candlestand, but through the shutterless French windows giving +upon the rear balcony, a bath of opal-rayed moonlight flooded the room. +I blew out the candle, as Nelly sank into a deep chair within the circle +of the moon's softer radiance, and bade me find something to talk of, +other than the play, for she was sick of it. + +"Then give me a subject your ladyship will be pleased to hear discourse +upon," I said, placing a chair for myself in front of her. + +"The one nearest your heart, sir." + +"That would be the one most accessible to my present satisfied vision." + +"I--and what could you say upon so meager a topic?" + +"Meager? To recount your goodness to me would furnish material for an +hour's discourse; to enumerate your charms and graces another; your +qualities and accomplishments a third. Give me leave and I'll talk till +cock crow upon one subdivision of my theme--how much I love you! But +always you hush me when I approach that subject." + +"Because I know you love me not--that only you love to flatter me. How +learned you such arts of the world, thou whilom backwoodsman?" + +"From instinct. Needs a man ever to learn how to tell a woman he loves +her? How to descant upon charms and graces he sees limned in beauty +before his eyes? How can you say I do not love you?" + +"Have you read of King Arthur's knights, and how they dared mighty deeds +of prowess for the damsels they loved?" + +"Yes, and so would I--were there deeds of prowess to be done. But I, a +prisoner," and then I stopped, ashamed that I should complain, like a +whining stripling, of the fortunes of war,--which in truth had used me +but too kindly in all save enforced inactivity. + +"True, there are no deeds of prowess you may do now, but one single act +of self-sacrifice would convince me of your love." + +"Only name it, dear Nelly," and I leaned nearer and caught in mine the +hands that folded in her lap. + +"It will serve to prove the value of your protestations--though I know +beforehand you will not consent." + +"First name my reward; were it but one kiss from those sweet lips, I'll +engage to earn it at any cost." + +"It might be something more lasting than a kiss, an' you would," and +Nelly blushed adorably, and dropped the soft fringe of her eyes upon her +glowing cheeks. + +"Your dear self, Nelly, your love?" I questioned ardently, kissing the +hands I still imprisoned, and dropping on my knees beside her, that I +might force her eyes to meet mine. + +"Even my own poor self--nor is the sacrifice I would ask so great; +indeed it carries with it a compensation which by many would be deemed +ample reward, were all you are now bargaining for left out of the +contract. Can you not guess what proof of your sincerity I would claim?" + +"Thick headed soldier that I am, I cannot--" but I scarcely knew what I +said, for my arm was about Nelly's warm, pliant form, her soft cheek +rested against mine, her fragrant breath was in my nostrils, and my +heart thumped audibly, while all my blood was in a hot tumult of +blissful agitation. + +"Simply to don the uniform of a British captain, and then to teach these +luxurious laggards how to put a speedy end to this fratricidal contest. +By doing so you will the sooner bring to this distracted country the +blessing of restored peace, and for yourself win quick promotion, honor, +fame, fortune--and if you love me, Donald, that which will make you +happiest." + +As soon as I had realized the full meaning of Nelly's rapidly poured +forth persuasions, I gently released her, and rose to my feet, then +stood silently by, for a moment, looking down upon her, with a conscious +tenseness of all my muscles, as of one who inwardly strengthens himself +for a wrenching effort. Beneath my fixed gaze Nelly paled, and flushed, +and paled again, and the fingers of her freed hands were locked and +loosed alternately, while from beneath her lowered lids two big tears +slipped, and fell unheeded. + +Meantime I thought of Colonel Morgan, and the indignation with which he +had repelled an offer of treason when a prisoner in Canada; then of my +father, and his perfect trust in me--his only son, bearer of a yet +untarnished name to future generations; and then, most strangely, came a +sudden vision of Ellen O'Niel, as last I had seen her poised like a +spirit upon the rock above the spring; and with the vision came a new +and more complete understanding of her feelings of fierce loyalty to her +parents' religion, and of all that it meant to her. + +"And you could give yourself to a traitor," I said, at last--"or would +you play Delilah to my Samson, Jael to my Sisera, Judith to my +Holofernes? But I am roused from my well nigh fatal slumber; I have +broken my bonds. To-morrow I resign my parole, and deliver myself a +prisoner. I must indeed have sunk low, since twice in forty-eight hours +infamous proposals of treason have been made to me!" Then my heart +softened to Nelly, now shaken with sobs, her face covered with her +hands. + +"But I can well believe you meant it not for insult, Miss Nelly; you +were set on by others to offer me love and luxury at the price of my +honor. Women have no place in intrigue; I shall forget the nightmare of +this hour, and remember only your goodness to me, and my happiness in +your home. Farewell, thou sweet and gracious Nelly of my heart; the only +Nelly I shall ever remember." And then I stooped and kissed the bowed +head with reverent tenderness--as one kisses the face of a dying +comrade. + +The soft moon radiance which had caressed Nelly so becomingly, in the +room below, streamed through my opened window, and I kneeled in it, and +prayed, earnestly, that the God of my fathers would protect me against +temptation, as he had hitherto protected me against all other dangers. +As I did so the quavering voice of my grandmother seemed to sound in my +ears, and I could hear her chanting in tones of solemn rapture her +favorite song: + + "The man hath perfect blessedness, + Who walketh not astray + In counsel of ungodly men, + Nor stands in sinners' way, + Nor sitteth in the scorner's chair + But placeth his delight + Upon God's law, and meditates + On His law day and night. + + "He shall be like a tree that grows + Near planted by a river, + Which in his season yields his fruit, + And his leaf fadeth never. + And all he doth shall prosper well. + The wicked are not so, + But like they are unto the chaff, + Which wind drives to and fro." + +Often had I sung with her these words, but now they took on a new +meaning. I had chosen to enjoy luxury with the enemies of my country, +rather than endure the hardships of prison life with other captives, and +had allowed myself to become so entangled with them that the wrench of +total separation must cost me much of regret and suffering. I had walked +astray--therefore God's blessing was no longer upon me. + +All night I tossed, regretting past weakness, and planning an honorable +retreat. I could see, now, how they had played upon my conceit, and even +upon my sociability, and, with writhings of spirit, I was compelled to +admit that Nelly herself had measured my weaknesses, and used them to +gain her ascendancy over me. + + * * * * * + +The household was still wrapped in the slumber of early morning when I +arose, packed my belongings, and leaving a note of thanks and farewell +to Madam Buford, betook myself to Captain Wheaton's quarters. + +"He was still asleep," his man said; so I stretched myself upon a settee +in his smoking room, fell into a doze, and then asleep. + +"In the name of Pluto, and all the other gods of the lower region, how +came you here, McElroy! Had you to bring me home, and were you too drunk +to go farther?" were the first words which aroused me; and they came +from Wheaton, who stood in the middle of the room, unshaven, and +uncombed, his fine figure wrapped in a gay Turkish chamber-robe. + +"I know not how drunk you may have been before the feast ended, +Wheaton," I answered, laughing, "but I slept in my own bed, rose at +sun-up, and have dozed here an hour or so waiting for you." + +"Then you have the stomach and the head of Charles Fox himself. I know +not how, or when I got to bed, and my head is as big and as tight as a +drum. But you came avisiting full early--what's to pay?" + +"I wish to ask a last favor, Captain, though already your courtesy to a +prisoner passeth thanks." + +"Out with it, man,--though why last, I can no way surmise. 'Tis done if +can be." + +As briefly as possible I told him of the offer which had been made me at +the officers' banquet, and of my growing conviction that my own conduct +had made me liable to the insult; so that, though I felt no sentiment +but one of gratitude to the officers, I could no longer remain among +them, as a guest. I wished him, therefore, to ask Colonel Forbes to +grant me an exchange as soon as possible, and meantime I would hand in +my parole, and go to prison. "I tell you truth, Wheaton," I concluded, +"when I say that I scorn myself for my conduct during the past two +months." + +"You take a most exaggerated view of the situation, McElroy, and your +decision is quixotic," answered Wheaton. "I'll ask for your immediate +exchange, but, meantime, why not make yourself comfortable? I'll gladly +share my quarters with you, if you feel indisposed to accept the +Bufords' hospitality longer." + +"Thank you from my heart, Wheaton," and I laid my hand upon his arm in +grateful affection. "You British are good fellows, as well as brave and +generous enemies; would there had never been cause of quarrel between +us. But my resolution is taken; to prison I will go till exchanged. Will +you be so good as to consider me your prisoner, and to send me under +guard to your most comfortable resort for the enemy? Here is my parole." + +"Damn your foolishness, McElroy! I'll not have your parole, nor will I +send you to prison. If you are set to do this absurd thing, and no doubt +you are, for you are as stubborn as--as--a Scotch Irishman, and I know +of no other breed of animal worthy to be compared with him for that +virtue, march yourself over to the general prison, find a cell, lock +yourself in, and throw the key out of the window." + +I laughed, wrung Wheaton's hand in farewell, and took his advice; except +that I had no need to lock myself in, the astonished prison officer +doing that for me with due courtesy. + +My fare that day, and my couch that night were as poor and as hard as my +aroused conscience could have suggested, but I took them as penance, and +almost with pleasure. The very next day, Wheaton came to tell me that my +exchange was, for the present, refused on the ground that I knew too +much of the state of the defenses of Philadelphia; but that my parole +was extended for a year, and I was requested to return to my home until +my exchange could be allowed, as provisions were growing scarce, and the +feeding of prisoners had become well-nigh impossible. + +Unless exchanged in the meantime I could not bear arms against the +British under any circumstances for six months, and I was not permitted +to join my old command under a fixed period of twelve months from the +first day of the present month. The terms seemed to me unduly severe, +but upon Wheaton's assurance that they were the best I could hope for, I +determined to accept them, and to start at once for home. The last was +no unwelcome prospect, more than two years having expired, since I had +seen the dear valley and the faces of loved ones. + +I had still a dozen gold sovereigns in my pocket--fruits of the last +game of Hazard I had played--and Wheaton assisted me in buying that +afternoon, a sorrel horse, a saddle, and a pair of saddle pockets which +I stocked with a bottle of rum, a package of biscuits, and a change of +garments. By sunrise next morning, equipped with proper passports, my +parole, and a pistol, presented to me by Wheaton, I rode southward to +the Virginia border line; then deflected my course eastward, towards +Williamsburg. + +Governor Henry was an acquaintance of my father and a warm friend of +Colonel Morgan. It might be worth my while to ask his influence in +securing my early exchange, and to let him understand how irksome to me +were the terms of my parole. When so many were ready to shirk there were +those who would ask nothing better than an honorable excuse to stay at +home. I would see Governor Henry, and ask that he transfer me to some +frontier service where at least I could help defend the Virginia border +against Indians, during the months of forced inactivity against the +British. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +It will doubtless seem a matter for wonderment to those who may read +this chronicle, that it was no more difficult, in those days, to secure +an interview with the Governor of the State of Virginia than with any +other gentleman in the Commonwealth. The morning after my arrival in +Williamsburg, I betook myself to the Governor's mansion, clanged the +iron knocker, and was shown by the negro doorkeeper straight into the +Governor's office. He sat before a square deal table, littered with +documents, inkhorns, and the like, while under his hand, on a small +tray, lay a pile of letters, one of which he was engaged in deciphering. +I made my bow in the doorway, and with my cocked hat upon my heart, +after the latest manner, announced myself: + +"Your Honor's most obedient servant, sir! My name is Donald McElroy, +late captain in Colonel Morgan's rifle company." + +Governor Henry rose and came to meet me, a friendly smile upon his lean, +dark, beak-nosed face, his hand cordially outstretched. "Then you are +one of the notable marksmen who whipped us the gallantly led English +regulars at Freeman's Farm--closing thereby the trap in which Burgoyne +was taken, a few days later. Let me shake your hand, sir, and thank you +in the name of Virginia. Gates seems minded to claim all the glory, and +that asinine congress still allows him to throw dust into their half +shut eyes. But, history, sir, will be no more deceived than are General +Washington, and others, and the debt of honor due Colonel Morgan and his +riflemen will be paid in full by posterity, Captain McElroy." + +Governor Henry's manner of saying this had far more effect than the mere +words. His head went up, and his whole face beamed with lively +enthusiasm, while his deep voice rang thrillingly. Wheaton had told me +of Charles Fox, and how he made any man think what he pleased, more by +the kindling power of his rich, finely modulated voice, than by his +logic, or bursts of eloquence. Now, I understood what had seemed +exaggeration in Wheaton; now I knew why those simple words, eloquent +only with feeling, spoken by Mr. Henry before the Virginia assembly, at +a surcharged moment, had set them aflame with patriotic fervor. + +So proud was I again of my recent service under Morgan, that I forgot +the depression and self-abasement I had suffered these last few days, +and found it easy to sit down before Governor Henry, and give him an +account of all that had happened to me since I was taken prisoner on the +battle field of Chestnut Hill--leaving out, of course, the name of Nelly +Buford, and hiding as well as I could the part a woman had played in my +downfall. He guessed, I thought, much of what I tried to conceal, though +his words in no way intimated that he did so. He told me candidly, that +he thought I had been wrong to linger with my kind entertainers after my +wound was healed, but added this remark of sympathy which warmed my +heart anew: + +"Yet, who knows but that I'd have done the same in like circumstances. +Your conduct, sir, was less wise than natural. However, a whole year's +absence from your command, without privilege of exchange, meantime, +seems unwarranted by the harm you may be able or inclined to do them." + +I thanked Governor Henry for his sympathy, and then unfolded to him my +wish to spend this forced interval of absence from the regular army in +frontier service, where I might still defend my state, and wipe from my +conscience the reproach of having proved myself unworthy. + +"If that be your wish, Captain," the governor answered heartily, "I have +in waiting the very service you are looking for; and moreover, we sorely +need men for the enterprise--as great a one and almost as difficult, to +my thinking, as the undertaking of Jason and his Argonauts. Have you +ever chanced to meet George Rogers Clark, one of the pathfinders in the +Kentucky wilderness, a friend of Daniel Boone?" + +"I have not had that honor, sir." + +"Then it shall be yours, this evening, and an honor you may well esteem +it. He is yet a young man, but he has the daring of a Cortez. He has +vast schemes abrewing which, if successful, mean great things for +Virginia, and timely aid to the cause. His plans, however, are yet +secret, and must remain so, except in so far as he may see fit to +enlighten you should you enter his service. Meet him here this evening, +and, if Clark consents, you shall be present at our conference. I +demand, you see, no credentials. Most men I can read in an hour's talk; +and, moreover, I know the Scotch Irish breed--rugged, plain, a little +hard and narrow, perhaps, but also steadfast as the rocks which rib the +mountains they delight to dwell among." + +"Though you but give proper praise to the worthy breed from which you +also have partly sprung, Governor Henry, I still owe you warm thanks for +saying it," I answered; "yet with your permission I'll leave my +credentials for Mr. Clark's inspection," and I took from my pocket my +captain's commission, a personal letter from General Arnold, commending +my bravery at Freeman's Farm, and a copy of one written my father by +Captain Morgan. + +Impatiently I awaited the chance to learn more of this great adventure, +and not a moment behind the hour named, presented myself. Yet Clark was +before me. The first look into each other's eyes fixed, I think, our +mutual confidence, and with our first handclasp began a life long +friendship. + +George Rogers Clark had the look and bearing of a man born for deeds of +great emprise. He was half an inch taller than I, measuring in his +moccasins six feet three and a half inches, and not one of Morgan's +riflemen was tougher of muscle, suppler of limb. His face, lighted with +glowing brown eyes, was singularly handsome, at once winning and +commanding. It indicated a lofty mind, and a sweet nature, but also a +reckless boldness of disposition. Better than all, for the fulfilling of +his purposes, there was boundless confidence in himself and his +resources, and a buoyant hopefulness of disposition; and these were +united with a daring will which but strengthened under difficulty. + +"Captain McElroy, I introduce you to Captain George Rogers Clark. He is +quite ready to take you into his service if you can promise to join him +heart and soul in this bold enterprise he is determined upon," said +Governor Henry. + +"Yes, Captain McElroy," and Clark grasped my hand, bestowing his winning +smile upon me. "I am satisfied that I can trust you, and you may be of +great assistance to me. Could you enlist forty or fifty volunteers in +your valley, think you?" + +"If there be left that many able bodied men, if the service be one of +Virginia's need or honor, and there be no rumor of an Indian uprising +afloat." + +"Our enterprise will put an end to all fear of Indian forays, by driving +them to the Mississippi. Our nominal purpose, indeed, is to turn back +the gathering forces of the Northwest savages, who are planning a +surprise for Bonnesville, Harrodsburg and Logan's Fort, and who, after +devastating Virginia's outposts, expect to over-run your valley, and +exterminate the settlements of the Blue Ridge. Now, while all the able +bodied men are engaged in the war upon the coast, is the red man's last +opportunity to regain his lost hunting ground. Does the plan to meet +them more than half way, to do ourselves the surprise act, appeal to +you, Captain McElroy? Is it likely to appeal to your neighbors in the +valley?" + +"Next to fighting our invaders, it is the service I shall like best, +Captain Clark; and there are those of my neighbors more likely to +respond to this call upon their rifles than to any other. The happy +results of Point Pleasant have taught us 'tis best not to wait for the +savages, but to go to meet them." + +"That's encouraging talk, Captain," and Clark's voice rang more +heartily, and his face sparkled with animation and humor, "and you may +be doubly grateful before we see the end of our expedition; though we go +against the Indians, and shall cheerfully fight them if there be need, +our real object"--his voice sank to a whisper--"is to strike the forts +at Kaskaskia and Vincennes. They are weakly garrisoned and unsuspecting, +and their French inhabitants, I hear, are much disaffected to British +rule. We have but need to appear before them with a small, resolute, +well-armed force to compel capitulation, after which we can form +alliance with the French, intimidate the Indians, and claim all the Ohio +Valley as Virginia territory. By doing so we will not only more than +double the dominion of our State, and give a blow to autocratic power, +but will secure safety to the pioneers of Virginia and Kentucky, and +save from butchery many a helpless family." + +"But my parole, Governor Henry," I said, turning to him with rueful +countenance. + +"You are not violating its terms, Captain McElroy, by accepting service +with Clark, since there's small chance of a clash with the British +before your parole has expired." + +"Then what can I do, Captain Clark, to forward your bold enterprise?" I +said, turning again eagerly to my new leader. + +"First you can sit here and listen, while Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Wythe, Mr. +Mason, Governor Henry and I devise ways and means that will make known +to you the details of our plan. You can then hasten home to enlist men +for an advance against the Indians. Later--" + +"That's Jefferson's voice now," interrupted the Governor, "and the +others are with him," and hastening to the street door with a flaring +candle in his hand, he lighted the group through the passage way to our +presence. + +Mr. Jefferson had once dined at our house, and I remembered him as an +elegant and gracious gentleman, though somewhat over dignified and +sententious. Colonel Mason, and the learned and able Wythe, I saw now +for the first time. Since he had written our "Declaration of +Independence" Mr. Jefferson's fame was world-wide, and Colonel Mason, as +the author of our "Bill of Rights," and our State's Constitution, was +not less favorably, though perhaps less widely, known; while Mr. Wythe's +reputation as jurist had already extended beyond America. + +As behooved in such company, I was a silent listener, learning much of +Colonel Clark's plans, and even more of the difficulties in the way of +them. It seemed to me a rash and dangerous undertaking but not without +chance of success. + +Governor Henry, I found, was not a whit behind Clark in zeal for the +enterprise; nor was Mr. Jefferson much less ready to give the plan full +countenance, though he did not expect from the expedition, even if +successful, the vast results that Clark reckoned upon so confidently. +Mr. Wythe showed the caution to have been expected from his calm and +logical mind, suggesting difficulties at every turn, and urging +forethought in the plans, while Colonel Mason spoke infrequently and +with less of flowing readiness than any of the others, but most +pointedly and justly, first on the side of caution, and then on the side +of boldness, as Clark's enthusiasm and strongly presented arguments +gradually won him to our side. + +Governor Henry's fiat had already gone forth, nor could he be persuaded +to modify it, that the men for the expedition must be drawn from the +counties west of the mountains. If the seven companies, of fifty men +each, which was the minimum force demanded by Clark, could be raised in +the counties of Frederick, Augusta, and Fincastle, Clark was welcome to +enlist and use them--otherwise the undertaking must be given up. But +Clark was no wise minded to give up and, after accepting the Governor's +terms, turned to me to know what I thought might be done toward raising +a company in Augusta. + +"It has been more than two years since I left home," I answered, "and I +cannot speak with assurance, but I believe one or more companies of +fifty might be raised, if I am allowed to say that the settlements in +Kentucky are threatened, and that our object is to turn back an Indian +invasion." + +"You can say that with truth, Captain McElroy. I shall rely upon you for +at least one company." + +"I'll do my best, Captain Clark. I continue my journey homeward +to-morrow, and shall begin the work of enlistment at once." + +"You ride my way, Captain McElroy, I think," said Mr. Jefferson +pleasantly, "and I also go to-morrow; with your consent we'll keep each +other company." + +I thanked him, and we fixed sun rise as the hour for our departure from +the Bell Tavern. + +"You are the son of Justice McElroy, of the Stone Church neighborhood, I +suppose, Captain? The name is not a common one even in your valley of +Macs." + +"I am his only son, sir." + +"Once when you were a lad I dined at your house; you scarcely remember +the occasion, I suppose?" + +"Perfectly, sir, and I should have recognized you anywhere. We cherish +with pride the memory of your visit." + +Mr. Jefferson was evidently pleased--few men are so great as to be +indifferent to appreciation. + +"By the way, Clark," continued Mr. Jefferson, "the ex-scout hermit we +were talking of this morning lives on McElroy's direct homeward route, +near the top of the south slope of the mountain between Monticello and +Staunton. It might be well to engage McElroy to see him; that would save +delay and me a journey at a busy season." + +"I am at your service, Mr. Jefferson," spoke I. Then made my bow and +left them. They might wish to talk matters over before taking me further +into their confidence. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +That ride with Mr. Jefferson, and the day I spent at Monticello, have +still a pleasant flavor in retrospect. Mr. Jefferson's urbanity matched +his delightful conversation, and my pleasure in his condescension and +his intellectual charm gave him evident satisfaction. + +Part of our way lay through the forest, and one could hear the oozing +sap, mounting upward into the yet leafless branches interlaced above us. +The graceful, clean-limbed maples had strung themselves with strand +after strand of glowing coral leaf buds, and the white trunked cotton +woods were hung thickly with a soft pinkish brown fringe, while each +branch of the laurel, the dogwood and the ivy shrubs bulged with close +folded gray green buds--big with promise of leaf and blossom. The rich +loam under our horses' feet was cracked open here and there, making tiny +winrows of the rotted leaves, where reawakened roots of fern or flower +were pushing upward with divine instinct for life and sunshine. From +sunny dell's slope, and the southern side of oak and locust trees, rose +nature's incense--the breath of purple violets, of white anemones, and +flushed arbutus blossoms, floating intermittently upon the whimsical +zephyrs of a balmy day in March. + +Sudden bursts of rapture, or shrill, happy calls from vibrant throats of +robin, and wren, cat bird and oriole, red bird and yellow hammer, +mocking bird and blue jay, rang from treetop to treetop, and the +fluttering of busy wings, and the important chirruping and twittering of +the nest builders, told that the birds, too, recognized the many hints +of coming spring, and were all of a spirit with the mounting sap, and +the promise-breathing perfume of violet and arbutus buds. + +We talked of farming and gardening, upon which subject Mr. Jefferson had +gathered much valuable information. From horticulture we drifted to +books, and the writers of them. It pleased me to find that, as far as my +limited reading had gone, our tastes were similar. He preferred the +Greeks and Greek literature to the Romans and their writings. He admired +Demosthenes, Thucydides, and Homer; Tacitus and Horace were his +favorites among the Latins; and when we came to English writers, he also +gave first place to Dryden, Milton, Pope and Ossian among the poets, to +Bacon, Hume and Addison among prose writers. Finding I knew nothing of +French, Italian or German literatures, he barely mentioned Molière, +Racine, Petrarch, Tasso and Goethe. Yet his mere word of appreciation +kindled my resolution to know these masters, when peace and a quiet life +should give me opportunity. + +My liking for Ossian seemed to delight Mr. Jefferson, and he quoted +freely from his poems, saying, with warmth, that he thought "this rude +bard of the North the greatest of poets." + +"Then, sir, you give no credence to the charge of the English critics, +that there was never any other Ossian than his pretended translator?" + +"No, I do not!" answered Mr. Jefferson emphatically, then proceeded to +give me cogent reasons to back his opinion. + +The urgency of Mr. Jefferson's invitation to stop a day at Monticello +was not to be resisted, nor was my inclination far behind the courtesy +of my host. The early morning was spent about the beautifully turfed and +planted grounds, and the carefully cultivated gardens. I was even +allowed to look over the garden books, as accurate as algebraic +demonstrations, and as neat as copy books. Horses were then ordered for +a ride over the plantation. Mr. Jefferson scanned their satiny coats +with critical eye, rubbed a single rough spot on his own mount with his +handkerchief, and showing the black groom who held the impatient steed's +bridle the dust stain made upon it, gave him a sharp reprimand. We got +back in time for a glass of Scotch rum and hot water, seasoned with +nutmeg, before dinner. A second ride to Charlottesville in the +afternoon, to procure the mail and attend to some matter of business, +seemed necessary to Mr. Jefferson's indefatigable energy. + +Mrs. Jefferson gave us her charming company in the evening, and some +excellent music with voice and spinet, after which I was so fortunate as +to be able to entertain her by an account of the Philadelphia +performance of "A School for Scandal," with a few quotations from the +text--since they had not yet had the opportunity to read any of Mr. +Sheridan's plays. + +Though Mr. Jefferson had given me most minute directions, I came near +losing the trail--to the right, half way up the mountain--which was to +lead me to the hermit's retreat. One of the giant sentinel maples, which +marked the entrance to the trail, had recently blown down, and its +sprawling branches completely hid the path. A double log cabin, built in +a dent of the mountain's southern slope, was the old scout's home. The +forest clustered about it protectingly, except for a clearing a few +yards wide just in front of the door, and no other than wild growth was +anywhere visible. Two yelping dogs came from the doorway at the sound of +my horse's feet, followed closely by the hermit himself. + +"Light, stranger, an' hitch," he called, pointing to the nearest tree +trunk. + +I did so, while he leisurely approached, a short stemmed cob pipe in his +mouth, his hands pushed deep into the pockets of his homespun breeches. +His hunting shirt was also of homespun; his leggins, belt, and moccasins +of leather; and the cap which surmounted his face--so covered with beard +that a pair of heavy browed, keen brown eyes, and a large crooked nose +were the only features visible--was made of deerskin. Though hair and +beard were grizzled, he showed no signs of age in figure or bearing. +Within the cabin's wide chimney a fire smoldered, and a rough bench was +drawn up before it. Seated and served with tobacco for my pipe, I +unfolded my mission. + +"Thar' ain't no two men nowhares I'd ruther pleasure thin Pat Henry en' +George Clark," said the scout, "en' I 'low I'm the man they er' lookin' +fur. I knows them Algonquins, en' ther savage ways, en' ther heathen +talk better'n menny." + +"Governor Henry and Mr. Clark say they cannot do without you, and Mr. +Jefferson bade me tell you to come to Monticello this week to give him +your promise." + +"Thar' ain't but one thing es'll hinder me--but thet's 'nuff. I see no +way er promisin' jist now, Cap'n--but I'll see Mr. Jefferson afore I sez +no. You coulden' nohow mention no kind uv frolic, nur no feastin' nur +pleasuring es temptin' ter me, Capt'n, es killin' Injuns. The way I +hates the redskins mought be counted es hell-desarvin' sin, Capt'n, but +fur the fact thet they's devils en' hes devils' ways, en' the Holy Word +commands us ter hate the devil and all his wurrucks. Did Mr. Henry ur +Clark tell yer the old scout's story, Capt'n?" + +Just then my eye was drawn to the crack in the door, between the two +rooms, by hearing the swishering as of a woman's skirts, and a soft +tread upon the planks, and I was much astonished to see what seemed to +me the shadow of a woman's form. The scout, too, looked up, then drew +his brow into a half worried frown. I had not heard of a wife or a +daughter; indeed, had understood that the hermit lived entirely alone, +so was greatly surprised. Something in the scout's manner led me to +think, however, that he did not care to be questioned, so I made haste +to withdraw my eyes and to answer his question in the negative. + +"Wall, ef you kin bide er spell longer you shell hear the pitiful +tale"--said the old man with a sigh--"en' er sadder, I 'low you've +seldom hearn, even in this land uv sorrowful stories en' terrurble +sufferin's." + + * * * * * + +"Then without doubt your opportunity has come," said I when the tale was +ended; "nor do I wonder you hate the Indians," and I wrung his hand. +"But I must say good-by now, and ride on. I hope you will decide to join +us, as your not doing so will be a serious loss to our expedition." + +"I'll see, I'll see. Ther temptation to fight Injun devils is not one +I'm likely ter resist; yit thar's reasons, serious reasons," and he +lowered his voice, looked grave, and watched the crack in the door +between the two rooms as he gripped my hand in farewell. + +A mile farther down the mountain a sudden crackling in the bushes at one +side caused my horse to snort and sniff suspiciously. But I had no time +now to track wild beast, or snare game, for it was already midday, and I +must reach Staunton, if not home, that night. As I rode on I thought +much of the scout's sad story, and pitied his bereaved and lonely +condition. But could he be a hypocrite posing for sympathy? Surely that +was a woman's form which flitted before the partly open door, yet he had +let fall no hint of having any companion of his solitude, and I knew of +no neighbors nearer than the dwellers on the plantations around +Charlottesville. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +The realization that before another sunset I should be at home, should +take mother, grandmother, and little Jean in my arms, clasp my father's +hand and meet his welcoming eye, thrilled me with a joyous excitement +such as I had not felt since, nearly three years before, I had led my +squad of recruits out of the valley. + +The road between the foot of the mountain and Staunton seemed +elastic--as if it stretched as I traveled it. Not for six months now had +I heard from home. The last letter had been brought me by a recruit from +our valley, before the fight at Chestnut Hill, and was then several +weeks old. It told of my grandmother's gradually failing strength, of +Aunt Martha's increasing vexation with still unconquered Ellen, of +Jean's rapid development into womanhood; of my mother's good health and +father's continued vigor; also of the fine crops harvested during the +year, and sold at good prices, after a generous proportion had been +given to help load the wagon train sent from the valley to help to feed +General Washington's army. There were, also, bits of local news and +gossip most interesting to me. + +A chill, misty March drizzle came on with the twilight, my steed drooped +his head wearily, and lifted his feet with mechanical, springless +effort. + +"Poor tired beast," I said, patting his flanks, "we'll stop this night +in Staunton, and you shall have supper and stable if there's a barn left +in the town." He appeared to understand my promise, for his gait +quickened, his head was lifted hopefully, and a moment later, as a turn +in the highway revealed the lighted windows of the town, he uttered a +low, thankful nicker. + +"If William Allen or John Walker is at home, we'll not lack a welcome," +I added, giving him a second encouraging pat. Both these lads--they were +men now, of course--had been mates of mine at "the academy," and 'twas +Allen to whom I made gift of my books when I went home to enlist. +Walker's house was the first reached and, leaving my horse before the +gate, I rapped loudly with the hilt of my sword upon the door. It was +opened somewhat cautiously, and Elder Walker's voice enquired +peremptorily, "Who's without?" + +"An old school mate of your son John's, Donald McElroy." + +"What! Captain McElroy, whom family and friends have mourned as dead +these six months past? Come in, lad, come in!" and the door was flung +wide open. "You'll be chilled to the bone in that drenching +drizzle,--and your horse likewise. John! John! Here's an old school +friend! Call the niggers, wife! Send one of them round for Captain +McElroy's horse, and have on another back log! Bring out the rum and the +peach brandy! The son of William McElroy would be welcome under all +circumstances, but coming from the dead, as it were, and covered with +honor, doubtless,--why, there's nothing in the town good enough for +him." + +The house was abustle by this time, negroes running to and fro, Mrs. +Walker and John overwhelming me with welcoming attention, and the Elder +alternately rattling the decanters and glasses, and ringing the heavy +iron poker against the massive brass andirons, as he vigorously punched +the logs into a brisker blaze. I had half forgotten the warmth and +heartiness of a Scotch Irish welcome, and my eyes filled with tears at +the familiar sound of it all, and the sight of John's kind, homely face +wreathed with glad smiles. + +How pleasant the flavor of the oily peach brandy, how genial the blaze +of the hickory logs, how good to hear the rich voices and the slight +accent, as they called over familiar names and faces, and told me the +valley news! + +"Are they all well at home?" was my first question. + +"All well, the last we heard, and your father continues to be one of the +most prosperous and respected men in the county, and your mother the +best of housewives. Little Jean has grown into a beauty, and your father +has built a big new barn, and is burning brick for a spacious dwelling +to take the place of the old cabin," answered the Elder loquaciously, +while Mrs. Walker superintended the maid Jinsey, serving me, upon a +folding table placed at my elbow, a cavalry man's lunch--which means +enough for three. + +"And they thought me dead, Elder?" + +"They feared it, lad, having heard that you fell wounded on the field at +Chestnut Hill, were taken prisoner, and carried to the prison hospital +in Philadelphia--death traps they are said to be. Your father hopes +still, but your mother greets sair, and fears the very worst." + +It was not easy to get away from my entertainers the next morning, but I +was eager to be at home, and managed to be off by half past ten, despite +their urgent hospitality, and their disinclination to have my horse +brought around. + +"It was communion Sabbath at the Stone Church," the Elder had insisted, +"and my whole family would, without doubt, spend the day at the +services; so I might as well take dinner with them, and ride home in the +afternoon." + +But "No," I said; "I would ride on to the church, hear part of the +sermon, find my people, and take them home with me at the recess between +the morning and afternoon service." + +Elder Walker was one of those who had gone off to form a new +congregation at Tinkling Spring, and I gathered from his talk that the +feud caused by a secession of a part of the congregation had not yet +abated. Between my Uncle Thomas and Elder Walker this split in the +congregation had given rise to a lasting bitterness, and during all our +conversation my Uncle Thomas' name was not mentioned. + +Every rod of the way, from the town to the church, was marked with +memories for me. I smiled at the recollection of the squirrel I had +caught in the top branches of a certain gnarled old oak; of the deer I +had shot, as it bounded across the branch in yonder meadow; of the +strawberries I had gathered from the sunny hillsides. Wrapped in these +recollections of a happy boyhood, I rode on, as in a dream, and came at +last with the surprise of suddenness, upon the old church. + +One might have supposed that a cavalry company was bivouacked in the +grove, from the horses hitched to every tree and shrub, and the illusion +would only be strengthened upon closer view, by the rude but strong +fortifications encircling the building. How vividly came back the sounds +and scenes of the Indian raid! especially the erect form and inspired +face of old Parson Craig, addressing "his lads," in the spirit of a +Spartan leader. Years before this intrepid man of God had gone to his +reckoning, and I had no doubt as to the side of the account on which he +had found that Mosaic charge he had given us to "slay and spare not." + +But the sounds issuing that March morning from the closed doors of the +old church were sounds of Christian harmony and pious rejoicing. The +congregation was singing one of Rouse's paraphrases as I pushed the door +open gently, and glided into the vacant pew against the wall. Not a head +was turned, so engrossed were they all in worship, save those of two or +three restless children. I drew myself close in the shadow of a pillar, +and listened with glad and thankful heart to the singing. This was the +psalm, and the words were set to one of those solemn, grand old tunes, +which rolled so deep and full from the throats of big chested, earnest +men, and devout women, that no accompaniment of instruments, such as the +modern music is said to require, was needed. + + "O praise the Lord, for He is good, + His mercy lasteth ever, + Let those of Israel now say + His mercy faileth never. + Let those who fear the Lord now say + His mercy faileth never." + +I thought I recognized the full tones of my father's voice and my +emotions almost choked me. + +The instant the minister rose to give out his text, I knew him to be +Parson Waddell--the eloquent, blind preacher of Hanover, who more than +once had been described to me, though never before had I seen him, or +heard him preach. That long, lank form; that thin face, and high, bald +forehead, from which the long gray locks flowed backward; those fixed, +open eyes, so evidently sightless; those long, restless arms, and hands, +trembling with palsy--that ensemble could be no other than Parson +Waddell--the pulpit orator of America during his generation, and one who +has been seldom equaled in any age or country. + +I cannot now recall the words of his text, nor their exact place in the +Bible, only that it was some passage in the description of the passion +of our Lord. This I remember well, that from the first sentence uttered +by that mellifluous and feeling voice, I forgot everything but the scene +he depicted, which scene I saw as 'twere passing before me. I agonized +with Jesus in the garden; flamed with Peter's anger, when he struck off +the ear of the servant of the high priest; followed, weeping, afar with +the other disciples; burned with indignation against Christ's accusers +and torturers; heard Pilate's decision, and the High Priest's sentence, +with the despairing astonishment of His followers; grew sick and +tremulous with sympathy as His bleeding form, weighted with the cross, +struggled up Calvary; and my very soul was overwhelmed in horror and +amaze, as I saw His broken body hanging upon the cross, scorned, +reviled, His sacred head crowned with thorns, His sacred side pierced by +the soldier's spear. As the preacher went on to depict Jesus' agony of +spirit, when He felt Himself deserted by His Father, and uttered that +piercing cry, "Eli, Eli, lama Sabachthani?" my every nerve was strung to +its tightest tension, and my throat became so rigid that the moans which +came from my heart could find no utterance. The entire congregation was +moved almost as I was. + +From Dr. Waddell's sightless eyes tears streamed like rain, and his +utterances were almost choked by the heartfelt emotion which moved him. +At last he was forced to pause and to cover his face with his trembling +hands. For an instant the deep silence over all the church was broken +only by low sobs and stifled moans. + +Presently Dr. Waddell lifted up a face, wet with tears, straightened +slowly his tall, gaunt form, lifted his left arm with solemn +impressiveness, and pointing and looking upward, with a gesture of +indescribable faith and assurance, said, in tones which rang in glad +triumph, though an echo of the recent sobs of penitence still lingered +in them, + +"Friends--Socrates died like a philosopher, Jesus Christ like a God." + +The effect was marvelous. The moans and the sobbing ceased, and all over +the church men, women, and children bowed their heads, and wept tears of +thankfulness, while the preacher went on to describe the last scenes of +the crucifixion:--the rent veil of the temple, the darkness, the +earthquake, the terror of the soldiers--divine signs that no mere man, +but the Son of God Himself had here offered up His life a free sacrifice +to satisfy Divine justice. + +When the invitation had been given to the celebration of the Lord's +Supper, and while the communicants were taking their places at the long +tables spread in the aisles, which formed a cross, another psalm was +sung. During its singing I slipped unheeded from the church, and walked +back and forth under the trees, my soul more moved than ever it had been +before. That hour I gave my heart, and my life to Christ, making solemn +vow that from henceforth I would take my place, as my heritage and +baptism, gave me right--at God's Table; that I would no longer be one of +those to scorn so mighty a sacrifice, to refuse so priceless a +redemption. There, under the trees, I knelt and consecrated all my +future to God's service. + +The very day seemed set apart by this solemn resolve, and now I did not +wish to greet my family before the congregation. So I got on my horse +and rode homeward. + +At the bars which led from the highway across my Uncle Thomas Mitchell's +fields to his house, stood my Cousin Thomas, half leaning on the stile. +His gaze was fixed upon some distant object, and though he answered my +greeting, as I halted before him, there was neither interest nor +curiosity in his listless manner. + +"You do not know me, Thomas," I said. + +"Can it be Donald McElroy?" and he was interested enough now, his face +aglow with pleasure. "We had given you up for dead in Philadelphia +prison, Donald," and almost before I was off my horse he had his arms +about me, and was hugging me as if I had been his mother. + +It did not take long to tell him so much of my story as was needful he +should know at once, and then I began to put questions. + +"Are all well at home? Tom?" + +"Yes, all well." + +"Then dear grandmother has recovered from her illness; I'm glad to know +that." + +"And you have not heard, Donald? You do not know that grandmother has +been dead these five months. But there, cousin," putting a comforting +arm about me, "don't grieve for her; she went joyously, her one regret +being that she could not see you once more on earth." + +"And mother has stood it bravely?" + +"Yes, and is if anything, kinder than before, but she grieves all the +time about you. The only thing that keeps her in heart is your father's +confidence in your coming. He looks for you every day, or for good news +of you." + +"And does little Jean believe that I am dead?" + +"Oh, no; she agrees stoutly with Uncle William, and watches the road for +you, each evening." + +"She is almost grown now?" + +"Quite grown up, and the prettiest, sweetest lass in the valley--now +Ellen's gone," and Thomas sighed deeply and fixed his eyes upon the +hills again. + +"Ellen gone? What mean you, Thomas? Where would she go? I thought she +had no other relatives." + +"She has no others, and we do not know where she is. Three months ago +she disappeared--my mother was harsh with her, and Ellen would not brook +it. One night she slipped from her bed, took father's riding horse from +the stable, and rode away. Three days later the horse came back, saddled +and bridled, but we have never heard a word of Ellen, nor had a clew as +to her whereabouts. Perhaps the horse threw and killed her; perhaps wild +beasts devoured her; perhaps she was captured by Indians. My mother says +she is hiding somewhere to spite us, and hardens her heart against +grieving for her; but father and I keep up constant search and inquiry +for her. + +"Meantime, Donald, our peace is gone, and our home is disgraced. We have +driven the orphan, and one of our own blood, forth into the wilderness, +to perish by savages or by wild beasts--yet we boast our religion, pray +our prayers, sing our psalms, and blame harshly the intolerance of the +established church, and the tyranny of the British! Do you wonder that +I'm half Tory, and whole heretic, Donald?--at war with my race, my +religion, and my family?" + +"Then you loved Ellen O'Niel, Thomas?" I said, coming to the prompt +conclusion that such morbid vehemence could spring but from one root. + +"Yes, Donald, I loved her, and will always love her--or her memory, more +than aught else in the world. It was, I think, the suspicion that I was +growing to love Ellen, and the fear of her influence over me, that made +my mother more and more harsh to her. She is beginning, however, to find +out that if I have lost Ellen, she has lost a son, and what is more to +her, I think, the church has lost a preacher. She thought I would soon +get over it, but now she is beginning to worry about it, and to wish me +to find Ellen. I care little any more; however, mother's worries are her +chief sources of happiness." + +"I do not believe Ellen is dead, Thomas," I said, ignoring his +disrespect to his mother. "Either she is hiding somewhere, as Aunt +Martha surmises, or she has been carried off by the Indians. In either +case, Thomas, we'll find her, for I intend to join you in the search, +and will not give up 'till we have a sure clew. Don't let it trouble you +so, laddie, but cheer up and expect good news every day as father has +done. And I'm sorry, Thomas, to hear you express yourself so bitterly +against religion on this day of all others--when for the first time I +have felt the influence of converting grace," and then I told him of +Parson Waddell's sermon, and my resolve to be a Christian. + +Thomas was moved, I could see, but he held firmly to his latest view, +that religion in most people was naught but fanaticism, and +Presbyterianism a narrowing creed. "If ever I find Ellen alive," he +concluded, "I shall become a Catholic and marry her. Should I be assured +of her death I shall go west as pioneer or scout or else turn monk." + +"I can offer you a better career than either of those," I replied, +laying my hand on his arm, and speaking cheerfully, "and not only a fine +career, but, if all our searching hereabouts fails, your best chance to +find Ellen. Come to see me, and we'll talk it over." + +At the first bend in the road, I turned to wave to Thomas; he was still +leaning dejectedly upon the stile, his back to me, and his absent gaze +fixed upon the mountains. And now surprising thoughts and feelings took +possession of me. My sympathy for Thomas was marred by sudden and +unreasoning jealousy. What right had he to fall in love with Ellen +O'Niel in my absence? Had she not shown plainly enough her preference +for me? He had not been man enough to protect her from his mother's +tyranny, and yet he talked as presumptuously of marrying her as if he +had earned a right to her. He had not even found her in all these weeks, +and was now hanging idly on his father's stile, whining, and uttering +blasphemies. Find her and marry her indeed! I'd find her myself, and, +marry her, too, if I pleased, for all he might say. Nor would I turn +Catholic and abuse my relatives, and the religion of my fathers to win +her; rather, I'd make her see she had acted foolishly and teach her to +honor our creed, as I should honor hers. Ellen, I plainly saw, had +needed sympathy, and love, also some one to show her the dangers of her +own impetuous, and self-willed nature. + +Thinking these thoughts, I put my horse to graze in the meadow, and sat +down on the porch, drinking in, with profound content, the well +remembered prospect, and planning how I should search minutely all over +the country for Ellen, and get together my recruits for Clark's +expedition at the same time. Then I fell to castle building, and it was +Ellen, restored to us with added beauty and a nobleness of character +developed by her trials, who was to lend charm and grace to my "Castle +in Spain." + +Already I avoided thoughts of Nelly Buford, and though they often forced +themselves upon me, they brought me always regret and mortification, +mingled still with a lively sense of her powers of fascination. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +The meeting with my parents has a place in my memory so sacred that +description seems desecration. My mother went white as the linen +handkerchief she wore, and with one sharp cry, "O! William, it is +Donald, our son! Oh my laddie, my laddie!" fell into my outstretched +arms, weeping and laughing, in a violent hysteria of joy. + +"There, there, Rachael, wife, don't take on so," said my father. "Of +course it's Donald! You know I've always said he was not dead; he's well +and strong, only broader and more manly looking,"--and he took mother +out of my arms, and began to stroke her hair and to soothe her. + +"And this is the little sister I left three years ago"--turning to Jean +to hide my own emotion. "I can hardly believe it, yet the eyes are the +same," and I kissed her and held her off to look at her, saying +teasingly, "Why, Jean, you are almost as pretty as our mother." + +"Do you hear that, mother?" asked my father in pleased tones. "Don +hasn't forgotten his blarneying ways, either;--just the same lad who +went away from us so many months ago." + +Mother smiled at this, and ceased weeping, and together we went joyfully +into the big room, where I was forced to turn aside to the window to +blink back the tears that welled up at the recollections of my +grandmother, which the familiar room with her chair still in its place +called forth. Not until mother followed me to my room that night, to sit +on the side of my bed, as she used to do when I was a little boy, did we +talk of her. None of us wished to dim the pure joy of our first hours +together by reference to our bereavement, and I had so much to tell +them, so many questions to answer. + +Then, mother gave me a minute history of grandmother's last days. "You +and I, dear daughter," she had said to my mother, "will not for long be +separated; I am just gangin' on a little before you, to make our real +hame the mair ready for your welcome, but Donald's a young man, and will +live a lang an' useful life, I trust. I should like to see him once mair +on earth, an' gie him my last message. But since that could not be, +Rachael, kiss him for me, and tell him the message's just the verra same +as that I told him the day he held the last hank o' yarn for me--he'll +not fail to remember, I'm sure." + +Then I told my mother what it was grandmother had said to me, and also +of the resolution I had made that day to live hereafter a Christian's +life. Mother wept with me, tears of joy mixed with tears of regret that +grandmother was not there to hear the glad news. "I hope, dear Donald," +she said, as she kissed me good night, after the clock had chimed the +midnight hour, "that your dear grandmother in heaven knows of your +conversion, and that it adds to her perfect joy this day, as it has to +mine." + +I was too happy to go to sleep, my heart too full of thankfulness and +high resolve, to be willing to waste the blessed moments in +unconsciousness. So I lay awake until daybreak, tasting with keener and +keener relish my new found holy joy. Then I fell asleep, and slept so +restfully that, after two hours' repose, I awoke feeling as fresh as the +robins, caroling joyously in the branches of the elms that shaded the +eastern window of my room. + +Mother seemed to avoid talking of Ellen. I knew it was because she could +not bear to blame her sister, and yet she could not, in justice, +exonerate her; but with father I discussed the matter freely. He blamed +Aunt Martha's severity, and had little excuse to make for her: + +"She was not only unsympathetic, and harsh with the child," he said, +"but, in all save blows, she was cruel. She overworked her, and tried +hard to break her spirit. Many a child would have been driven to lying, +but Ellen was honest through all, if she was at times defiant and +disrespectful. I do not blame her for running away; it is what any high +spirited lad would have done, long ago." + +"Yes, father," I answered, "but Ellen, being a girl, should have been +more submissive to authority, more meek it seems to me. Think what +fearful risks she took in running away." + +"The very fact that a woman must take such grave risks in pursuing any +course of action not countenanced by her lawful protectors, makes her +condition the more pitiable under oppression. Ellen was completely in +your aunt's power; no relief was possible to her, save from some act of +desperation such as the one she was guilty of." + +"Could she not have found refuge somewhere in the neighborhood?" + +"No one would have taken her in. It would not do to encourage the child +in disrespect and disobedience." + +"What do you surmise has been her fate, father?" with an effort to speak +calmly. + +"I think it most likely she has been carried off by some band of roving +Indians. She doubtless tried to find her way back to Baltimore, lost her +way, and was picked up by the savages. She, I surmise, watched the +chance to turn the horse loose, that he might find his way home." + +"They would hardly kill her." + +"No; more likely they have taken her to their village, and are training +her for a chief's squaw." + +The thought blanched my cheek, and I resolved to make inquiry and search +from the crest of the Blue Ridge all the way to the Mississippi, and not +to return home till I had found Ellen, or had gotten some clew to her +fate. + +"Uncle Thomas has searched the neighborhood thoroughly you think?" + +"He and Tom have made enquiry at every house in the county, I am sure; +have sent to Charlottesville and Richmond; written to Baltimore, and +posted notices at every store and cross roads between here and Maryland. +No, I think there's little room for doubt that she's been carried west +by Indians." + +"That's what I told Thomas, yesterday, and advised him that our best +chance to find her was to go with Clark on this expedition to the +Kentucky border, next month." + +"What expedition, son? I had heard no rumor of it--and do you mean +George Rogers Clark, the Kentucky pioneer and friend of Daniel Boone?" + +"The very same, father, and a most remarkable young man he is." Then I +went on to tell of my interview with Governor Henry, Captain Clark, Mr. +Jefferson and the rest, and of the service to which I had engaged +myself. + +I saw at once that my father was not pleased, and now for the first +time, I felt the chilling influence of his disapproval of my plans. He +had never approved the forward movement into Kentucky, believing it to +have been worked up by land companies, that they might line their +pockets at the expense of the lives of the settlers. + +"I have never grudged your services in the cause of our independence, +Donald," he said, "nor would I your life even, were the sacrifice of it +necessary; but I cannot feel it our duty to give you up a victim to the +scalping knife of some savage, in order that this rash project of the +premature settlement of Kentucky should be encouraged. Have we not +already more land than we can protect, and properly cultivate? The +Kentucky settlers would do much better to move back over the mountains +'til our independence has been won--when Virginia will be able to +establish posts, garrison them adequately, and furnish sufficient +protection to make emigrating to Kentucky other than wanton +self-destruction. Why not stay with us, lad, since you are honorably +released from service for a while?--you'll never know how much we've +missed you these three long years." + +"Father," I replied, laying my hand on his, and inwardly reproaching +myself bitterly for my comparative indifference, now that I realized how +much my long absence had really meant to him, "if my word had not been +given, if I had not already taken service for this expedition, it would +be my pleasure to make my own wishes second to yours. But now, father, +it is too late. I cannot honorably draw back. Moreover, I must join in +the search for Ellen. I could never stay quietly at home as long as +there is uncertainty as to her fate. And I think I can unite the two +duties, follow Clark and make constant search for Ellen from the +mountains to the mouth of the Ohio. Thomas will go with me, I think. +He'd far better do that than some of the rash things he is +contemplating." + +"It will almost break his mother's heart, but she deserves it," spoke my +father, harshly for him, who was usually calm and mild in his judgments. + +I think at this time I had more tolerance for Aunt Martha than any one +in the family, except my mother. To my mind Ellen had not been +blameless, and Aunt Martha's harshness was to have been expected from +her character, and the spirit in which she had received the child. I put +much of the blame on Uncle Thomas for his unmanly meekness, and part on +the neighborhood for not speaking out its sympathy for the child until +too late. And when I thought of her probable sufferings, and dangers, I +almost ground my teeth in impotent rage with them all. + +Poor little Ellen! With her indomitable spirit, and courageous +faithfulness, what a cold, hard, loveless life she had had these three +years! And hers was a nature made for happiness and love, one to expand +under appreciation and sympathy, as a morning glory opens in the early +sun's rays, and to fold close all its beauty and sweetness under the +chilling influence of disapproval, as the morning glory on a cold and +sunless day. + +"You'll not withhold your consent, I hope, father, to my going with +Clark," I said when we had sat together in silence for a while. "This +expedition means far more to our country than appears, and before the +expiration of my year's parole I shall be back, I hope, ready to engage +in the regular service again, should the war not yet be ended." + +"You will take my consent and blessing, Donald, and my love and prayers +upon any honest adventure you see fit to enter. But I grieve, lad, for +your mother. This last strain of anxiety about you, following so soon +upon the shock of her mother's death, came nigh killing her. Tell her +yourself, lad, and soften the blow as much as you can." + +Women are unaccountable creatures. They are apt to do the least expected +things, and to take quietly the news you most dread to break to them. So +it proved in my mother's case. She went white for an instant, and her +hands began to tremble, but she spoke quietly: + +"I knew, Donald, you'd never be content to dwell idly at home, when +there's so much doing in the land; nor would I be so proud of my lad +were he less a man of deeds, and duty. Governor Henry and Captain Clark +honored you in taking you into their confidence; they saw that my son is +no ordinary man," and she stroked the hand that had taken hers, and +smiled tearfully upon me. + +"That such men as Governor Henry, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Mason, and Mr. +Wythe take an interest in the expedition would seem to mean, Donald," +she went on presently, "that they have some more important object in +view than to protect a few scattered emigrants. If the rumored alliance +of the French with us is confirmed, they may intend to use Clark's +troops to make a surprise advance on the western forts, recently ceded +by France to England. That would overawe the Indians and strike a blow +at the British power at the same time." + +My mother's shrewdness so astonished me that I came near telling her all +I knew. "You may be right, mother," I answered nonchalantly, after a +moment; "certainly we hope to overawe the Indians, but our present +instructions go no further than safe conduct for the band of emigrants, +and an attack upon the Indians, should we find them on the warpath, or +plotting an attack on the border settlements. It lifts a weight from my +heart, mother, dear, to have your approval," I added. + +"You are a man, Donald; it would be presumption in your mother to +withhold her blessing from any worthy thing you had set your heart upon. +As for your safety, dear, I must leave that in God's hands. I trust you +to Our Heavenly Father's care, my son, with only the shield of our +hourly prayers about you." + + * * * * * + +Recruiting was no easy task, especially with the account I was free to +give of the object of our expedition. I encountered all sorts of +objections and discouragements, and was obliged to travel from end to +end of the county, and into the district of West Augusta, with little +left of my two months' anticipated holiday to spend at home. I grew +impatient of my ill success, especially since all my enquiries in the +county concerning Ellen were as fruitless as Thomas' had been. There was +no other conclusion left us than the one my father had reached, and both +Thomas and I grew more and more restless to start westward, that we +might begin a more hopeful search. + +At last I was enabled to add Captain Bowman's company to the score of +volunteers I had been able to get together, although this made it +necessary that I should yield him my place as captain, and content +myself with a lieutenant's rank. Captain Bowman was encouraged by the +prospect of glory and land grants, the men satisfied with large but +vague promises; and by the middle of May we were ready to start. + +Clark--recently made colonel by Governor Henry--with three companies, +each of less than fifty men, and a band of emigrants, had already +reached the falls of the Ohio, and we were ordered to join him there as +speedily as possible. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +It was marvelous what Clark had accomplished with less than one hundred +and fifty men in the three weeks he had been at the Falls, and I now +conceived a higher opinion than ever of the rare qualities of the man. +He had a faculty for organization, and for using men and circumstances +which amounted to genius of the noblest order. Already he had builded a +substantial block house on Corn Island, just above the Falls, in which +all his goods, supplies, and ammunition were stored; the newly enlisted +men had been taught some idea of the duties and requirements of soldiers +by the work, systematically organized, of clearing and building, by the +regular camp life, and the daily drills which they practiced. Still more +important, they had acquired unbounded confidence in their leader, and +all his orders were obeyed with a cheerful alacrity that promised well +for our project. + +The camp presented a busy and cheerful scene, and the neighboring +settlement of emigrants had already the promise of a village in the +dozen log cabins built, or building, surrounded by newly broken ground, +ready for the corn planting. Our company was received with enthusiasm, +and Captain Bowman by Clark with the consideration due his rank and age. +Publicly I had only the formal recognition of an acquaintance, but as +soon as we had been assigned a place for our camp, and the ax-men set to +cutting poles for our booths, Colonel Clark, who, meantime, had +concluded his interview with Captain Bowman, and given personal +attention to the pitching of a small tent for his accommodation, sent a +messenger to me with word that I would please follow the man to the +block-house. There Colonel Clark awaited me in a small room adjoining +the one in which the ammunition and extra arms were kept; he had taken +this room for his own quarters that he might watch over his precious +store of lead and powder and guard against its waste. + +"With three hundred like you, McElroy, I'd venture an attack upon Quebec +itself," was Clark's greeting, as he seized and shook both my hands in a +grip that cramped them, "I see what you've done, stepped down rank a +grade in order to get Bowman's militiamen to fill up your company. It +glads my heart, McElroy, to know there's one kindred spirit in this +enterprise with me." + +The proud distinction had been mine of claiming a personal friendship +with Colonel Morgan. Also I had been commended by General Arnold for my +bravery at Freeman's Farm, but more than all these Colonel Clark's +recognition of a sacrifice which had cost my pride no easy struggle, +gratified me. Clark read men as a master in geometry reads his +blackboard, and found as little difficulty in solving the human problem. +Captain Bowman he had won to hearty cooperation in his plans by treating +him with the dignified consideration he deemed his due, and now he took +the surest way to fasten me to him as with hooks of steel. + +"You have accomplished so much already, Colonel Clark," said I, "that I +have less doubt than ever before of the success of your project. Your +raw recruits are already soldierly in bearing, and your camp as orderly +as a barrack. Our company will be the awkward squad of your command." + +"Two weeks' training will bring them up with the rest," answered Clark. +"Most of them are Scotch Irishmen I see--that is saying all that is +necessary. But I must tell you my plans before we are interrupted. I +shall often want your secret counsel, until the opportunity comes to +give you a place on my staff. How much, think you, does Captain Bowman +know?" + +"Only, I surmise, that we are here to protect the frontier, and that it +is probable we may be commanded to make a foray into the lands of the +Iroquois, in which case our chances for promotion and bounty lands will +be increased." + +"That is well. He knows enough to have a mind prepared for further +disclosure, and is not likely to turn back when he knows all. Did any +suspicion of our real object seem to occur to any one in your +neighborhood?" + +"To no one except to my mother, and I easily allayed her shrewd +suspicions. Most of our people were disposed to blame our project as +diverting strength from the cause." + +"More than anything else I am dreading that the English may get some +information as to our movements, their suspicions be aroused, and the +garrisons at Vincennes and Kaskaskia reënforced. I have certain +information, through spies I have been sending out all summer, that both +places are sparsely garrisoned at present, the men having been withdrawn +to defend Canadian forts, which are thought to be more exposed. Also +that the commandant and most of the garrisons, if not all, at Kaskaskia +are French, and not overfond of their new British masters, while the +English officer in charge of Vincennes is just now absent at Detroit. +You see, therefore, that we run but little risk of failure, if only our +plans can be kept secret." + +"Certainly the prospect is so far encouraging. When do we start and by +what route?" + +"In ten days or two weeks, down the river by boat to the mouth of the +Tennessee, and, I suppose, landward to Kaskaskia--since that is the +weaker point. Meantime we must drill and enthuse our men, load our boats +and get all in readiness for a forced march. It will be best, I think, +not to inform the men of our destination till necessary. + +"Hello, Givens!" as a face appeared before the open window--"come in!" +Then, lowering his voice to me--"be careful, McElroy, in your talk to +the scout; he doesn't know all yet, and it is necessary to reveal our +plans to him gradually, and to use some persuasion; he hates the +Indians, and longs to fight them, but he has never consented to bear +arms against Great Britain. Nor do I want to persuade him against his +convictions, but he'll not be of much service to us unless he is one +with us. If he does consent freely to go on he will be as valuable as an +interpreter as he has been so far as a scout and guide. I'm loath to +lose his services." + +Givens had by this time made his way through the armory, and was +knocking on Clark's door. His recognition of me was immediate. + +"Glad ter meet yer ergin, Capt'n McElroy," speaking with his usual +emphatic drawl, and with hand outstretched cordially. "Couldn't resist +ther temptation, yer see, uv goin' ergin ther red-skinned devils onct +more 'fore ole age kitches me, en' lays me by ther heels. But ther +savages's wary, sence they larn't thet last lesson we sot 'm so mighty +well et Pint Pleasant. 'Tain't ther intentions, 'pears like, ter walk +inter no more sich traps; besides er leader like Cornstalk's precious +sildom found 'mongst 'um. They'll be mighty apt, though, ter be at ther +native tricks uv skulkin' roun' en' bushwackin' en' ambushin' ef we give +'um enny chanst. Long es we keeps tergether, howsomever, en' in ther +open they ain't no ways likely ter distarb us." + +"This block-house is a substantial warning to them, Givens," put in +Clark; "I wish we had forts all through the Ohio and Mississippi +country; that would be the surest way to drive and hold back the +savages." + +"And now that the English are arming the Indians and using them to +intimidate the border colonies, we must make a big show of strength, or +all our frontier settlements will be wiped out," said I. + +"Do you believe thet thar 'tale, Capt'n?" asked Givens, a flush rising +to his cheeks. "'Tain't like the gallant English." + +"I think there's small doubt of it, it's by King George's command and is +not approved by his ministers, I understand. Governor Henry has had most +positive information to that effect recently." + +"If thet's so, I ain't no longer countin' myself er loyal subject," said +Givens, speaking even more slowly and emphatically than usual. "Ef ther +English king es capabul' uv armin' red skins, en' turnin' 'em loose on +ther settlements ter murder innocent wimmen en' babies, then I'm done +bein' loyal ter 'im. I'd es lief jine ther Continentals en' fight 'um +wid ther rest uv yer." + +Clark gave me a sly and eloquent look and, with that tact which amounted +to a sixth sense with him, turned the subject at precisely the right +moment. "Where's your foster son this afternoon, Givens? I haven't seen +him since drill this morning." + +"Oh, I got a furlough fur 'im, en' sont 'im over ter ther settlement. He +ain't over strong, so I saves 'im all thet's possible. He's powerful +frens uv some uv ther wimmen en' chillun down ter the settlement, en' +sence he ain't so mighty strong I'm glad fur 'im ter hev ther milk en' +ther eggs they meks 'im eat." + +Just then Clark was called out a minute, and I took this opportunity to +tell Givens about Ellen O'Niel, of her having left her home, of our long +fruitless search for her, and of our finally having reached the +conclusion that she had been captured and carried off by Indians; of our +hope of finding her or getting some clew to her fate during this +expedition, and my reliance on him to help me make enquiries among the +various Indian tribes we might meet. + +At first he asked me a few questions as to the time Ellen left home, her +age, appearance, etc. Then he pulled his cap over his eyes, and listened +silently. + +"You do not think it likely the Indians have killed her?" I asked +anxiously, his silence seeming ominous. + +"'Taint like ther red skinned devils ter kill er handsum' young gal." + +"Then do you not think we have good prospect of finding her, and will +not the Indians be glad to take a big ransom for her?" + +"Thar's some prospects, I reckin', en' ef we find 'er we'll git 'er," +was the scout's answer, as he got up and marched off, his skin cap still +pulled down over his eyes. + +Once during the next two weeks, I had Givens' step-son pointed out to +me; his youth, his shyness, and the scout's special watchfulness over +him, seemed to have excited a good deal of interest. I, too, felt some +curiosity. Givens had said nothing to me of a foster son the day I had +visited him, though it is true our conversation was confined to the one +topic, and there was no occasion to mention any other. Perhaps he was +not then with Givens, or the form I took to be a woman's in the +adjoining room was his, the swish of a woman's skirts being added by my +imagination. Well, it was no concern of mine, either way, and I had +enough to do and to think about. + +Thomas Mitchell, who had improved greatly in health and spirits, under +the influence of an outdoor, active life, and manly duties, came to me +about a week after our arrival at Corn Island, and with an air of +mystery led me off down the river some little distance from the camp. + +"Do you know, Donald," he said almost in a whisper, "I am convinced the +scout, Givens, knows something about Ellen?" + +"And why do you think so?" + +"I was telling him the story of her disappearance, and our vain search +for her, to-day, in the hope of getting him interested, and he seemed +already to know everything." + +"Well," I laughed, "that is not strange. I also told him a week ago, and +for the same reason." + +"Oh, did you! Still that does not fully account for his manner, Donald, +nor his unwillingness to continue the subject. He's got some clew, I'm +sure." + +Colonel Clark now detailed eighteen of the least bold of his men to +remain behind at the block-house, for the protection of the settlers, +and of our extra supplies. He then allowed his officers to make known +that we were about to start on a further journey down the Ohio--the +object and destination of which would be revealed just before the start +was made. Confusion and speculation reigned in camp; boats were loaded; +rifles cleaned; ramrods whittled from the hearts of hard wood saplings; +a supply of bullets molded, and a lot of new moccasins and bullet +pouches made, by those skilled in such work, from the skins we had +collected. + +At the afternoon drill hour, on the twenty-third of June, Clark +presented himself, in riflemen's uniform, before his men, and was +greeted with enthusiastic cheers. He gave orders to the captains that +the men should form in two columns, and then swing out in double line +facing him. The maneuver was executed without a hitch, and our small +force presented a fine soldierly appearance. Most of the men were past +early youth, either brawny pioneers or substantial freeholders, many of +them being persons of some education, and considerable weight in their +own communities. They were not, as some have charged, a set of mere +adventurers. + +The occasion and the scene were well calculated to impress one who +realized their import, and as I walked back and forth to dress the line, +my imagination took fire, and all the daring deeds I knew of tradition +and history marshaled themselves in my memory--a long and glorious +array. + +"My men," spoke Colonel Clark, when all were waiting in expectant +silence--"shall we press onward to a glorious enterprise--or having +conducted our emigrants, and established them here in safety, shall we +turn homeward without having wrought any deed worthy to be written on +the page of our country's history? I can lead you on to the performance +of such deed, my men--that noble friend of liberty, Patrick Henry, has +sanctioned a daring enterprise, which all along, I have had in my mind, +and which, if successfully executed, will bring honor and dominion to +our noble commonwealth, and to each of us renown, fortune, and the +gratitude of all Virginians. Not only so, but in executing this bold +plan, we shall strike a telling blow for that cause we all hold dearest. + +"No need, my men, to say what that cause is--the cause to which the +heart of every man present, I truly believe, responds as gladly, as the +tenderly nurtured infant to its mother's loving call. The cause of +liberty for which each one of us would proudly shed his blood! Nor is +the cause unworthy such devotion, my comrades, for 'tis not only that of +our country's independence, of American liberty, of blessed freedom and +rare privileges for our descendants--'tis the cause of the world's +liberty, of the freedom from kingly tyranny and the right to seek +happiness for all future generations of men, till time shall be no more. +My brothers, future ages will look back to us and call us blessed, will +offer thanks to Heaven for the brave and determined people of the new +continent, who freely risked all for liberty--threw into the scales +against the claims of oppressed humanity, every present good, every hope +for the future. Are you willing, my men, to sacrifice still further, to +risk still more for the cause? Shall I tell you more? Shall we press +onward?" + +"Onward! Colonel, onward!" yelled the men in wild enthusiasm--"tell us +more, tell us more! Onward! Onward!" + +Then Clark told them the true object of our expedition, and unfolded all +his plans, which had been so well concealed, hiding from them nothing of +the hardships and risks of the undertaking. Yet he dwelt long and +eloquently upon the tremendous consequences of success, the glory that +would be theirs, and the important results to Virginia and the cause. He +added that he wanted no half hearted consent, that he far preferred that +all those who were not enlisted heart and soul in the enterprise--ready +to do and to dare all things,--should make their decision now. They +could do so by stepping out of ranks. Seventeen men stepped out, looking +sullen and ashamed of themselves. + +"You are free to go," said Clark, with a contemptuous wave of the hand +toward the east; then he faced the faithful again, and made them a brief +speech, which set them wild, and sent them off to their booths so eager +to begin our adventure that they could scarcely wait for the night to +pass. + +During the first part of Colonel Clark's address, I had watched Givens, +close by. His face was a study of mingled interest, eagerness and doubt. +When Clark gave the command that all who did not wish to follow him +should step out of ranks, he started forward, hesitated, then dropped +back into rank, where presently, he was cheering with the rest. When all +were gone except the officers assembled around Clark, Givens came up to +him. + +"Colonel," he said, "I've tuck my stand by yer fur good en' all; yer may +fight Injuns, ur British, ur what yer please, I'm with yer." + +"Thank you, Givens," said Clark, shaking his hand heartily; "we could +ill afford to lose you." + +"Mebbe you'd better thank that boy uv mine. Him yer've plum bewitched, +en wher' he goes, goes Givens." + +That night as I wandered about the camp--it was all astir till long +after midnight--I got wind of the fact that some of the deserters were +lurking around trying to persuade others to sneak off with them, and +went straight to Clark with the information. + +"Detail a squad from your company, McElroy, and surround the camp with a +close cordon of guards," said Clark, promptly. + +I did so; then Clark had the drum beat, and the men called to the drill +ground, where waning moon and twinkling stars gave barely light enough +for them to see each other's faces. + +"Silence!" commanded Clark, stilling the confusion with a word. "I +understand that the cowards who deserted us this evening are in the camp +attempting to stir up mutiny. It must be stopped. The deserters must +leave camp immediately, or suffer the penalty of mutineers and traitors. +Should any other man, except these, attempt to leave the camp he will be +arrested or shot by the guards now surrounding it. You had your chance, +men, and took your choice; you must now abide by your decision. +To-morrow we start for Kaskaskia." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +A June sky and a resplendent sun, undimmed by cloud or mist, beamed upon +the camp next morning, as we made last preparations for our departure. +Those of the men who had been detailed to "stay by the stuff," at the +block-house, were plainly dissatisfied, now that they realized that they +were to be left out of the adventures and chances, as well as the toils +and dangers of our enterprise. Those who had made the bolder choice were +as eager as boys starting on a first bear hunt. The uncertainty as to +what might befall us, the unknown country we must traverse, the very +dangers we would probably encounter, all lent mystery and excitement to +our undertaking. + +The entire population of the settlement, and all the block-house +garrison were assembled on the river bank to say good-by to us. The +women were in tears, the men quiet and serious; we, on the contrary, +were hilarious with excitement. + +Colonel Clark again addressed the men in words stirring and heroic, and +the command to embark was given. Company by company we stepped upon the +flat boats, and drifted rapidly down the Ohio to the falls, each raft +guided by a skilled poleman, who stood erect, steering carefully for the +one channel through which we could safely shoot the falls. The crowd on +the bank was still cheering the last boat load, as the first dropped +over the edge of the rapids. At that moment the sun, which had beamed +less fiercely for some time, though in our engrossment we had taken +little notice of the fact, became suddenly obscured, and the dimness of +twilight fell upon gliding river, green banks, and tumbling falls. One +could scarcely recognize the faces of his companions beside him in the +boat, nor the polemen see to steer. The cheering ceased, and over man, +beast and nature fell an awesome stillness. The birds in the branches of +the overhanging trees ceased their glad caroling, the insects their +buzzing, the fish their plunging, even the hurrying river seemed hushed +into a more subdued murmur, and the noise of the falls to subside into a +muffled roar. + +The men in my boat drew in their breath; one uttered a stifled sigh, +another a low moan; and I realized that a word might precipitate a +panic. I stood up and studied the sky for explanation of the phenomenon. +The sun held his wonted place in a cloudless sky, but over his radiant +face lay a black disc, leaving only a bright rim upon one edge. + +"It is an eclipse, comrades," I called, in my loudest tones, "an eclipse +of the sun. I take it for a good sign--symbol of what we shall do for +autocratic power upon this continent, only that will be a lasting, as +well as a total, eclipse." + +My words had magic effect upon the men in our boat, and in the two +others near enough to hear my words. Clark must have said something +similar to those in his, and adjacent boats, for I saw him spring to his +feet, pointing to the sun, and simultaneously with our shouts of +"Eclipse, eclipse! good sign, good omen! Thus we'll blot out the forts +in the northwest," came like cries from the other boats, and answering +cheers from the bank. So the ominous portent, as it seemed at first, was +changed into a symbol of encouragement. + +Often since, I have thought of this incident, which seems to illustrate +the way life should be met. Allow ourselves to be discouraged by +apparent auguries of failure, and we will turn our backs upon success, +when our feet are already pressing its threshold; yet such signs read by +the light of a steadfast purpose, and a courageous heart, may become but +prophecies of victory, and encouragement to more strenuous effort. + +Our journey down the river was as rapid and uneventful as the most +hopeful of us could have asked; we reached the mouth of the Tennessee +without a single adventure worth recording. On the way, however, Colonel +Clark had learned a most cheering piece of news, and one momentous to +our undertaking. The rumored French alliance was made public, and France +had promised liberal and immediate aid of men, money, and a fleet. That +night when we had disembarked at the mouth of the Tennessee, after we +had tied up the boats, and killed and cooked our suppers, Clark +assembled the men, and announced the joyous intelligence he had +received, pointing out all the fortunate consequences to our expedition +to be expected from the French alliance. This was all that was needed to +give the men assurance of success, and to make them ready to brave +everything. + +Next morning we shouldered all the ammunition we could march under, and +set out for Kaskaskia. We were still following the river, when, an hour +after starting, we hailed a boat load of hunters. They proved to be +Americans--a new appellation among us--but eight days out from +Kaskaskia, and after a conversation between them and Colonel Clark, one +of them, a certain John Saunders, consented to act as our guide through +the Illinois country, with which he professed to be perfectly familiar. +This solved our one difficulty, for until now we had lacked a guide. +With light hearts we resumed our tramp across prairie, marsh, and +forest, seeing victory within our grasp--renown and wealth as the +individual reward of each, and for our country extended dominion, and +added glory. + +Good luck continued to attend us, while six more days passed. We had +fine weather and made good progress, considering the unbroken; +wilderness through which our route lay. Time was most precious, for +everything depended upon our reaching Kaskaskia before any rumors of our +approach should get to the ears of the commandant. Signs of lurking +Indians, pointed out from time to time by Givens and Saunders, made the +least enthusiastic among the men eager to hurry on; but these filled +Thomas and me with impatience, because even Givens discouraged our wish +to seek out their camps, and to question them in regard to Ellen. It +would be foolhardiness, declared Givens, and result only in our being +ambushed--he'd find "the gal" fast enough for us when once we were safe +behind the walls of a fort, and could kill the "redskin devils" at our +leisure. + +On the eighth morning, Saunders spread consternation among us by the +announcement that he was lost--that he did not know where we were, nor +could he recognize a single landmark. The night before we had seen the +smoke from a distant camp fire, which Saunders said he doubted not was +that of some roving Miamis or Kickapoos. This fact made our predicament +the more serious. At once a halt was called, and Clark sternly declared +to the confused Saunders--who was half suspected of treachery by us +all--that unless he quickly found the way, he might prepare for instant +death. It was not possible, Givens declared, in his slow, emphatic +dialect, for a scout and woodsman to lose his way in a country he had +once traveled over, and Saunders had either lied to us in the first +place, or was laying a trap for us now; therefore all were ready to back +Colonel Clark in his evident resolve to make short work of the suspected +traitor, unless he speedily found himself. Saunders saw that his doom +was sealed if he could not quickly regain his bearings, and went to work +desperately, closely attended by two guards, retracing our way for some +distance, examining sky, stream and trees, then climbing to the tops of +the tallest to overlook the landscape. + +The men sat about smoking dejectedly, or muttering their suspicions to +each other. Meantime I grew restless, and the sight of the anxious face +of Saunders, and the stern face of Clark, oppressed me. So I picked up +my rifle, and plunged into the forest which fringed the higher ground +stretching eastward. A small stream flowing out of the woods promised +either spring or pond, and possibly rare game, within. As I started I +called to Givens asking him to sound his turkey yelper should they +resume the march before my return. + +The shade and freshness of the woods was most grateful and the tangle of +well laden blackberry bushes in a more open space beguiled me to stop +and pluck some of the fruit. The spring found, I looked about for signs +of game, but seeing none, propped my rifle against a tree, laid flat +down upon my chest, and buried my face in the limpid sweetness of the +pure, cool water. I drank till satisfied, then fell to dreaming. The +same scenes under different aspects came to me always in my day visions, +or night dreams--pictures of home, recollections of my childhood, and +occasionally some scenes from those few weeks of dissipation in +Philadelphia, with Nelly's witching face, swimming, amidst my memories. +But I liked the home scenes best, and next to seeing them in the flesh, +was the happiness of closing my eyes, and conjuring up visions of my +mother, of Jean, and of Ellen. + +What a glad day it would be when, Ellen having been found, and our +country's independence won, Thomas and I could go home and settle down +to peace and happiness! + +Peace and happiness! Would it be ours after all, so long as Aunt Martha +set herself, in her narrow bigotry, to persecute Ellen? so long as there +was estrangement between husband and wife, mother and son in my uncle's +family? So tenderhearted was my mother, so loyal to her sister, that +even we could not be a happy family while there was discord and +unhappiness in Aunt Martha's--for mother was our happiness barometer, +and the family atmosphere went up or down with her feelings. But mother +should adopt Ellen, and we would make her happy, and Aunt Martha ashamed +of her harshness and the narrowness of her religion. + +Then and there I vowed a new crusade. I must be a soldier always, +fighting upon one arena or another for some principle of human +liberty--for the love of liberty and a fervent zeal for it had, from +long meditation and some sacrifices in its cause, gotten into my blood, +and become a part of my nature. When this war against autocratic rule +should be ended I would take my stand by Mr. Jefferson, and give all my +time and energies to the brave fight he was making for entire and +universal religious liberty. Deeper and deeper had I plunged into the +trackless wilderness of my own thoughts, till I was lost to +consciousness of the place, the hour and myself. + +Perhaps I had been dimly conscious of some slight movement in the bushes +behind me--afterward I remembered being subtly disturbed by it, and of +lifting my head to listen--but the first sounds that really aroused me +were the short explosion of a rifle, followed, almost instantly, by the +whistle of a bullet cutting its way through the still air, and then, +scarcely a second later, a wild weird whoop, close beside me, which +caused me to spring to my feet, and turned me in its direction, as if I +had been an automaton. There, beside the tree, against which I had +leaned, was stretched the quivering body of a dying Indian. One hand +still grasped a tomahawk, while the other clutched frantically at the +leaves and grasses. A last quiver and he was still, his set eyes staring +into the branches, rustling softly above him. + +It was all a mystery to me. Where had the Indian come from? Who had shot +him? I stood an instant gazing down upon the still savage in dumbfounded +amazement, then took my rifle and started back to the men in search of +an explanation of it all. Presently I overtook Givens' foster son, who +was hurrying forward as fast as he could. I caught up with him, halted +him, and asked if he had shot the Indian. He did not answer, and only +pulled his cap farther over his eyes. I took his rifle, and looked into +the bore of it; it was warm, empty, and smelled strongly of powder. + +"Givens," I said planting myself before him, and holding out my hand, +"you have just saved my life, doubtless. Won't you let me thank you?" + +The beardless lips of the lad, about all I could see of his face under +his wide brimmed cap, curved into a half smile, and he said, in muffled +voice, his head still on his chest: + +"The savage had just poised his tomahawk for a blow when I saw him." + +"You acted most promptly," I answered; "he might have brought a whole +tribe down upon us, so that you have perhaps saved the entire band, as +well as Donald McElroy." I continued to talk, to praise his coolness, +readiness, and marksmanship, and to repeat my thanks, but I got no more +out of the lad and it was so evident that I embarrassed and annoyed him +that presently I walked on and left him to follow. He seemed affected +with a painful shyness, and apparently preferred solitude to the most +flattering society. + +No immediate opportunity was given me to tell Givens of his boy's kindly +deed, for, just as I joined him and Colonel Clark, talking earnestly +together, Saunders, still attended by his guards, came running toward +us, waving his arms, and shouting joyously. He had found a landmark, and +knew our locality! We were but a day's march from Kaskaskia, and the way +was safe and open! + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +"Comrades," said Clark the next morning, just as we were falling into +line of march, "have you remembered the day? It is the fourth of July, +my men--the anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, the birthday +of our liberties--day propitious in the history of the United States of +America! Our guide tells me that we are but six leagues from Kaskaskia, +and I have already planned our attack. Bloodless victory awaits us--for +I can rely on each man of you to do only and all that is expected of +him. We will march within half a mile of the fort this morning, conceal +ourselves in the woods until dark, and, then, dividing into two +companies, we will rush into the town from opposite ends, shouting and +brandishing our knives. + +"I am told that the minds of the French in this region have been filled +with terror of the bordermen by horrid tales of our ruthless cruelty; we +may as well take advantage of this impression to overawe them. Perhaps +we may prevent bloodshed by producing astonishment and terror in the +breasts of the garrison and citizens. We have no quarrel with the +French, but are concerned rather with winning them peaceably to our +side. After a night of fear--but you must remember, men, that we wish to +arouse apprehension alone, and that a single deed of violence or rapine +may ruin all--the reaction will be the greater, and our liberal terms of +amnesty the more gratefully accepted. As we lie in ambush this +afternoon, you will preserve the strictest silence, and not a man must +venture out of hiding till the command to advance be given. Carry out +this plan successfully, and Kaskaskia is ours to-morrow, and Virginia's +forever!" + +Cheers rent the air, and the more enthusiastic waved their caps over +their heads, and shook each other's hands, as if victory were already +ours. + +The town lay dark and silent under the stars, as our two bands circled +it, and simultaneously marched down the principal street from opposite +directions, yelling, and brandishing our unsheathed hunting knives, as +demon-wise as the worst of savages. + +"The Long-Knives! The Long-Knives!" shouted the people upon the streets, +running from house to house to spread the alarm, while women and +children screamed, doors were slammed and barred within, and lights +extinguished everywhere. Gradually the pandemonium of shrieks, shouts, +and screams subsided into a hush of fearful expectation, during which +Givens and Saunders, each of whom could speak a little French, marched +captured citizens from door to door, before which they required them to +announce in loud tones that the general in command of the Long-Knives +had decreed that all citizens of Kaskaskia who should remain quietly +within their houses would be unmolested, but that all who ventured out +would be summarily dealt with. + +M. Rocheblave, the commandant, was surprised in his bed-chamber, and +taken prisoner. His wife, a pretty, voluble Frenchwoman, went into +hysterics, and begged piteously for their lives in broken English, much +mixed with French words, and interpreted with expressive gestures. +Colonel Clark assured her, as best he could, that no harm would be done +them, and then bade me search the apartment for papers while he stood +guard in the doorway. Meantime the Commandant and Madame looked on, the +latter regaining her composure, and seating herself on a small trunk, +from which she watched my proceedings with smiling scorn. I searched +everywhere, upsetting furniture, and even ripping open the feather beds, +but few papers were found, and they of slight importance. The trunk +which Madame seemed to be guarding was, evidently, the receptacle for +the more important documents. + +"Madame," I said, approaching her, and taking her gently by the arm, "I +must search this trunk also." + +But she held her place firmly, and, in better English than she had yet +spoken, heaped reproaches upon me, saying that "no man worthy of the +name would invade the privacy of a woman's personal belongings." Then +she began to weep and to wail, and to entreat Clark piteously. + +"Let her alone, McElroy," said Clark, at last; "we cannot use violence +to a woman," so we marched off with our prisoner, the Commandant, and +left the little Frenchwoman to destroy his papers at her leisure. + +"I tell you, McElroy," said Clark, "I'd rather face a battalion, or +storm a battery, than to encounter another hysterical Frenchwoman." + +During the night we took possession of the ungarrisoned fort--a disused +warehouse, which had served as fort since the burning of the old +one--and Colonel Clark issued strict commands that only the officers and +such soldiers as he should detail to guard the town from time to time, +must leave the fort until further orders. By this ruse the citizens were +deceived for weeks as to our real strength, their imagination readily +using such adroit hints as Colonel Clark threw out to magnify our force +into a strong army of invasion, and the squad left at Corn Island, into +large reinforcements, expected in a few days. + +All night guards patrolled the streets. The inhabitants, however, obeyed +orders strictly, and did not venture forth next morning until permission +was given them, with the information that the fort and the town were in +our possession, and M. Rocheblave a prisoner. + +Their distressed faces presented a strong contrast to the cheerful scene +which greeted our eyes with the beaming sunlight of the morning. +Kaskaskia, situated on the right bank of the Kaskaskia or the Okan +River, six miles above its confluence with the Mississippi, was then a +village of two hundred and fifty houses, situated on a beautiful and +rolling peninsula. The velvet verdure of the plain, dotted with little +groves of pecan, maple, ash, and button-wood, the glassy surface of the +idle river, the lofty hill opposite, with its stately forest, the air +scented with the fragrance of its wild flowers, the little springs +gushing from its sides in sparkling beauty, all reposing in the lap of +nature, with their virgin freshness yet upon them--there was a landscape +to charm her most capricious lover. We gazed enchanted on the fair +picture and felt that we had reached a Canaan, rich reward for all we +had dared and endured. + +Presently came the priest to Colonel Clark, asking that the people be +allowed to assemble once more in the church to say to each other a last +farewell before leaving their homes, and separating forever. "Theirs," +he said, "was the fortune of war, and they made no murmur--since an all +wise God had willed it so. Nor could they complain of their conquerors, +who so far had treated them with unexampled consideration. They had but +one other favor to ask--that the men might not be separated from their +wives and their little ones." + +Doubtless all the night through the woeful fate of the hapless Acadians +had been present to the anxious minds of the people, who were expecting +for themselves, as the best to be hoped, a similar fate. + +When the priest's words had been translated to Colonel Clark by +Saunders, he answered with a winning smile, and a convincing air of +friendliness: + +"Monsieur Gibault, we have nothing whatever against your religion, nor +against the citizens of Kaskaskia. Assemble your people in church when +and for what purpose you will; worship God freely, as your consciences +dictate. It is to win freedom of belief and personal liberty for all the +inhabitants of this broad continent we have taken up our arms. But we +came not to fight against the French; our quarrel is against King George +of England. And why should the citizens of Kaskaskia, for the sake of +being loyal to a power which has but lately subdued them, desert their +comfortable homes, and wander forth again into the wilderness? Why +should they not make peace, and live in harmony with the allies of their +father land? Have they not heard the great news--that France and America +have formed a close alliance--that a French fleet and a French army are +on their way to help us fight the armies who have invaded us because we +would not submit to tyranny and injustice? Does not this alliance +absolve the citizens of Kaskaskia from all allegiance to England? Is not +blood thicker than treaties forced upon a people at the point of the +sword? + +"No! M. Gibault, there is no necessity for your flock to bid each other +farewell, and scatter into the wilderness to fall prey to wild beast and +cruel savage! Remain peacefully in your homes! swear allegiance to +Virginia! conclude with us the same alliance that France has lately +entered into with the United States of America, and not a drop of blood +need be shed, not a man, woman, or child need leave his home, nor resign +either his religion, nor a franc's worth of his lawful property! We will +pledge ourselves to secure your safety, and to maintain you in the +enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of American citizens!" + +The gentle face of the priest passed from distressful entreaty, through +all the varying expressions of surprise, doubt, conviction, relief, and +rapture, as Colonel Clark's speech, phrase by phrase, was interpreted to +him. He poured out fervid and voluble thanks, called down Heaven's +blessing upon such merciful conquerors, and repaired quickly to the +church to spread the glad news among his flock. + +Never have I witnessed a more affecting scene than the one which +followed. The child-like Kaskaskians passed in an instant from despair +to joy, from fear and horror of us, to enthusiastic admiration and +affection. We were their allies, their brothers, not only would they +share all they had with us, but they would assist us against our common +enemy. + +An hour later, when the first outburst of joy had somewhat subsided, +Father Gibault called his flock to assemble again in the church, that +they might offer to God a solemn thanksgiving for this great +deliverance. Colonel Clark and I, with two others of the officers, +attended this service and gave respectful attention. In a far corner of +the dim little chapel I recognized the slim form of young Givens bowed +in worship. Again I fell to puzzling over the lad--some mystery +attended, evidently, his presence among us. Could he be a Catholic? yet +Catholics were as rare as Jews in our part of the State; Ellen had been +the single one in our county as far as I knew. There was no solving the +mystery, unless Givens chose to disclose what he knew, and that he was +little likely to do, without good reason. Well, mysteries were not rare +in the New World, and we were little accustomed to concern ourselves +about them beyond idle speculation. + +When the religious ceremonies were over, Father Gibault announced that +the rest of the day would be celebrated as a fête day, and asked that +the panins, or slaves, should be given holiday. Festoons of flowers were +quickly woven, and hung from house to house; maidens and youths danced +upon the green; flutes, violins, fife, and drum filled the air with +music; and later a supper of pan cakes and maple syrup was served to all +by soft-voiced, bright-eyed Frenchwomen. Dancing, feasting and rejoicing +were kept up in many of the houses until midnight. Intoxicating drinks +had flowed so freely, meantime, that there was much disorder on the +streets, and several fights among the panins, who mingled with their +masters in a familiar manner, strange to us. To their brawls, however, +we paid no attention, since only friendly demonstrations were made us, +and no one ventured near the fort, in which the men were kept with some +difficulty. + +To Colonel Bowman's company fell the lot of marching up the river to +take possession of the town and fort of Cahokia. Several of the citizens +of Kaskaskia had volunteered to go with us, and, entering the town +before us, easily persuaded the inhabitants to transfer their allegiance +from Great Britain to Virginia. As in Kaskaskia, the news of the French +alliance was all that was needed to incline to a bloodless surrender. + +Chosen by Captain Bowman to carry the news of our easy success to +Colonel Clark, and ask for further instructions, I was again in +Kaskaskia within the week. My interview over with Colonel Clark--who +took my news with rather disappointing calmness--I found Givens waiting +for me, his anxious face and air of mystery giving me a sharp surprise. +He led me aside, and asked abruptly, + +"You hed er cousin by ther name uv Ellen O'Niel?" + +"Yes," I answered, still more surprised. + +"She's yander in the fort, en lyin' low. What'll we do erbout et?" + +"Here, in Kaskaskia? It is not to be believed." + +"All ther same, Capt'n, et's so. John Givens es Ellen O'Niel, dressed en +boy's clothes. Howsomever she's down with ther swamp fever now, en must +hev woman's nussin' en' priest's docterin' es soon es it's ter be got +fur 'er. It's yer es must tell Colonel Clark, en' have 'er moved frum +ther fort at onct." + +"How came she with you, Givens? And why did you let her come all this +way from her friends--and dressed, too, in men's clothes?" I questioned +angrily. + +"'Tain't no time fur explanations now, Capt'n. Ther gal needs tendin' +ter, right away," and he stalked on in front of me with imperturbable +manner, but anxious countenance. + +It took few words to explain so much as was necessary to Colonel Clark, +and not many more to enlist the sympathies of Madame Rocheblave. We soon +had the poor child,--yet in her rifleman's garb, but too far gone in the +stupor of her disease to know anything--removed to the Commandant's +house, and left her in the care of Madame, and a fresh faced girl whom +Madame called Angélique, and recommended as an excellent nurse. Then we +went to see Dr. Lafonte, the village doctor, and Father Gibault, who was +reputed to be skilled in herbs and roots, and especially successful in +treating fevers. + +When both had come, while we waited for their verdict, Givens sat down +beside me on the steps of the house and told me the following story: + +"Twuz one bitter cold en' snowy evenin', las' winter, as I wuz out on +ther mountin', huntin'. I seed a dark heap 'long side er ther parth, en' +thort 'twuz er wild beast uv sum descripshun. When I got closter I heerd +er human moan, en' seed it wuz er woman, hurt, en' harf froze. I toted +'er home on my shoulder, laid 'er on my bed, en' rubbed sum life inter +'er. Fur days she did'n' know nothin'; then, when she did 'pear ter +notice sum, she lay ther', too weak ter speak, en' lookin' more like er +ghost than like er woman. When she could talk she 'peared not ter wan' +ter, en' specully not ter keer ter talk erbout herself. I didn't ask 'er +no questions, en' one day I tole 'er I'd call 'er Mary ef she'd es +lieve--thet having been ther name of my own leetle gal, es ther redskin +devils killed, en' her eyes somehow remindin' me uv ther chile's. She +'greed ter thet, en' got more friendly. + +"One day she axed me if I could give her some paper en' er quill. I guv +'em ter 'er, made 'er sum poke-berry ink, en' she writ' er letter; thin +I tramped ter Charlottsville ter post et fur er. She waited en' waited, +en' twiset I went ter town ter git ther answer, afore it cum. When et +did cum, et sot her ter cryin', en' took all ther red out'n her cheeks +ergin--fur by this time she wuz well en' strong, doin' all my cookin' +en' mendin', and makin' cheerful company fur me evenin's. She said 'twuz +her own letter cum back frum ther postman, who had writ on et thet ther +people et wuz sont ter didn't live in Baltimore no longer. She didn't +hev no whar, now, ter go, she said, crying pitiful. She could stay with +me es long es she'd er mind ter, I tole her, en' I'd be glad to hev her +fur my own chile--sence the red-skinned devils hedn't left me none. Thet +seemed ter cumfort her some, but you cum er few days arter thet, en' she +heerd me tell yer I'd like ter go with Clark. You wuz no sooner gone +then she declared she wuz goin' off so es not to be er hinderunce ter +me, nur my plans. Ter thet I wouldn't ergree nohow, spechully arter she +hed tole me er leetle 'bout how she happened ter be on ther mountin thet +evenin'--though she never did tell me her name, nur ther name uv her kin +folks. + +"We talked mos' all thet night; she argified, en' I argified; et las we +cum ter this ergreement:--she wuz ter go with me ter Kaintucky es my +foster-son, en' we'd settle out ther, when she'd put on her gal clothes +ergin, en' be my daughter fur good en' all. + +"I went ter Charlottesville, got er rifleman's uniform fur 'er, en' she +put it right on ter practice wearin' it, en' lookin' natural en it. +Every day she went huntin' with me ter practice shootin', en' I tuk ter +callin' her John. By ther time we started, 'twas all es nat'ral as if +'twere so, en' everything went smooth tel you en' Mr. Mitchell come. She +wuz skeered fur fear you'd fine 'er out, en' staid most er the time at +the settlement. 'Twuz my intention to leave er ther, even ef I went on +with Clark, but she wuz mad fur adventure by thet time, en' would cum' +on. The reason I let 'er wuz becus' uv yer two bein' her kin, in case +'twuz needful ter mek known she wuz er woman. Her being in 'tother +company kept you frum seein' 'er much, en' nights I allus slept nigh 'er +es you know. She's been awful sick now fur twenty-four hours, en' both +uv yer gone. Et's been er terrable responserbility frum fust ter +last--es fatherly as I feel ter ther poor gal," and Givens mopped the +sweat from his brow, and drew a long, deep sigh of intense relief. + +"Will she recover?" I asked eagerly of Dr. Lafonte, who just then opened +the front door softly. To translate my question was beyond Givens' +strictly limited French, but somehow Dr. Lafonte understood, and replied +in his own tongue. + +I gazed at him hopelessly, for then I could not understand a single word +of the French language. Father Gibault, gliding behind the little +doctor, smiled at my bewilderment and translated for me with many shrugs +and gestures. + +"He would say, Monsieur, that Mademoiselle ees very seek--boot she ees +young and strong, eef le bon Dieu ees weeling she weel make recovery. I, +Monsieur, have plenty Peruvian bark, et ees la grande médicine; +Mademoiselle weel make recovery, I theenk, Monsieur," and he gave me a +benign and reassuring smile. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +As soon as Colonel Clark's commands were delivered to Captain Bowman at +Cahokia, I obtained permission for Thomas and myself to return to +Kaskaskia, that we might await there the issue of Ellen's illness. We +took turns of watching upon the porch of the commandant's house to be in +readiness for any instant service it was in our power to render. +Meantime Madame Rocheblave and Angélique nursed Ellen assiduously and +tenderly, and her physicians gave her faithful attention. This was my +first acquaintance with people of French blood, and their unfailing +cheerfulness and sympathy were a revelation to me. In truth the French +Americans of the Northwest were the most simple natured and warm hearted +race I have ever known--they had not, however, the hardier qualities of +my own people. + +For seven days we had always the same answer to our questions given by +the little doctor, with cheery air, and sympathetic expression--"C'est +impossible à dire, Monsieur, il faut avoir la patience." + +Late on the eighth night, Father Gibault came to me, his gentle face +beaming with pleasure, to announce that the crisis had been favorably +passed, and that with no relapse, Ellen would soon be as strong or +stronger than before. + + * * * * * + +The most hazardous part of our enterprise lay yet before us--the taking +of Vincennes, the real key to the Northwest, without which we could not +long hold our position at Kaskaskia and Cahokia. And every day the +English commandant, Abbott, might return from Detroit with +reënforcements for the fort, which was far stronger and better equipped +than the almost abandoned one at Kaskaskia. Moreover we could not hope +so easily to overawe and win the larger and more mixed population of the +town of Vincennes, which had fallen more directly under British +influence. + +Colonel Clark had conceived that his best hope was to make the +Kaskaskians believe his riflemen the most formidable of warriors, and to +lead them to think that he could summon from our recently established +forts on the Ohio any number of reënforcements he might need. So we +drilled and mustered the men and made pretense of sending couriers to +our forts, till the Kaskaskians imagined us to be but the vanguard of an +army. Their fears were aroused for friends and relatives at Vincennes, +and Father Gibault himself offered to proceed to that town under an +escort of Colonel Clark's troops, to counsel submission and alliance. +Clark accepted his offer with apparent indifference, but secret joy, put +me in command of Father Gibault's escort, and bade me gather all the +information possible, in regard to the condition of the fort, the +feeling of the people toward the English, and everything I thought might +be useful in case we should have to storm or besiege the place. + +Still our amazing good luck attended us. The logic of Father Gibault, +and the natural preference of the people for peace--which made a change +of masters a matter of secondary importance--proved irresistible. The +citizens assembled willingly in the church, swore allegiance to +Virginia, elected a town officer favorable to our interests, and allowed +us to garrison the fort, and raise our standards over it. Father Gibault +carried the news of our third bloodless victory back to Clark, and a +week later Captain Helm arrived to take command of the garrison of five +Americans, and about a score of French recruits. Colonel Clark had given +him the large sounding title of "Governor-General of Indian affairs on +the Wabash," and had charged him with a characteristic answer to +Tabac--the head chief of the Piankeshaws, who had visited us at +Vincennes, and arrogantly commanded us to convey a defiant message to +the chief of the Long-Knives. + +"Take your choice," was Clark's answer--by the mouth of the interpreter +Givens--"between the British and the Big-Knives. Choose peace or war +with the Long Knives and you will--but whichever you select, remember it +is final and prepare to stand firmly by your choice. We are fighters by +trade, we object not to war, yet we have no present quarrel with the red +men, and seek none. We prefer to save our strength to make war upon the +British king"--and then the ground of our quarrel with Great Britain was +explained as well as Givens was able to do it by the use of such figures +of speech as the Indians could understand. + +The negotiations lasted several days, nor could we gather from the +stolid faces of Tabac and his warriors what their decision would be. At +last Tabac announced that he had made up his mind,--then sat in +Sphinx-like silence for half an hour, smoking solemnly and looking +straight before him into the dense smoke made by the pine knots, burning +in the midst of our circle. His warriors did likewise. Instructed by +Givens, we showed neither curiosity nor impatience, but remained as +impassive as they. + +Meantime, partially to rest my eyes from the smoke and flame of the pine +logs, I gazed long and curiously at Tabac. How crafty and subtle the +expression about the thin close-lipped mouth, and long half-shut eyes! +How savage the narrow sloping forehead, and the high fleshless cheek +bones, smeared with fantastic daubs of paint, and surmounted with +suggestive scalp lock, conspicuously adorned with gay feathers and stiff +quills. The noble red man indeed! I have no patience with this absurd +sentiment of admiration and pity for the Indian--which seems now to be +coming into fashion. The generation of pioneers, and frontiersmen not +long past, realize as others never can the inherent savagery of the +Indians. Either we should never have come to America, or we must +exterminate the savages. Indians and civilization repel each other like +the opposite poles of a magnet. + +When Tabac arose deliberately to his feet at last, his eyes roved around +the circle, and were fixed upon me with an expression of defiance, +rather than upon Captain Helm, at whose left I sat, showing that he had +felt, and resented my scrutiny. + +"Warriors of the Big-Knife," he began in slow, measured tones, that made +an impression of rude eloquence, though we understood not a word he said +until Givens had translated his speech; "I have reflected long--have +taken counsel of my warriors, and of the Great Spirit himself. I have +made my choice. I have reached a last decision. And when Tabac, chief of +the brave and noble tribe of the Piankeshaws decides, it is the +end--there is no more hesitation with him, nor with his people. We are +friends to the Big-Knife, and his warriors. We make alliance with the +tribes of Virginia. We, too, are Big-Knives, we stand or fall with our +pale face brethren from the rising sun." + +Captain Helm made gracious answer to this language, interspersed with +much flattery of Tabac and his tribe, for their alliance was, really, of +the greatest importance to us, and our apparent indifference but a part +of the big game of bluff Clark was playing. Then the peace pipe was +passed around, presents interchanged, and after bidding our new allies +an elaborate farewell, we returned to the fort. + +Just before he had sent me to Vincennes, Colonel Clark, as I neglected +to mention at the proper time, had raised me to my old rank of Captain, +and given me a place on his staff, as special attaché to himself--as the +moving executive, so to speak, of the central authority. Clark remained +at Kaskaskia, where one Indian deputation after another flocked to him +to make treaties of peace or alliance, while I moved up the river to +Cahokia, or across the prairies and marshes to Vincennes, carrying his +orders, making reports, and gathering information. + +Upon my return to Kaskaskia after my first trip to Vincennes, I found +Ellen more than convalescent. Her vigorous youth had quickly vanquished +the disease after the first crisis was safely passed, and she had made +such rapid recovery as caused Madame Rocheblave to lift her hands, +elevate her eyebrows, and exclaim over the marvelous physical powers of +"zeze so veery strong Ameerikans." + +I found Ellen not only bright-eyed, but plump and rosy, as she had never +been before, and even gay among her new friends. They had already taken +her to their hearts, partly, I suppose, because she was so devout a +Catholic, partly because they had been called upon to befriend and care +for her, and partly too, as any one must recognize, for her own charming +personality. No wonder Thomas had been so infatuated! The thin, awkward, +shy girl, I remembered, with the beautiful blue eyes, set in a slim, +pale face, was become an indescribable compound of girlish roundness, +bloom, and sparkle, of maidenly softness and brightness. Her new woman's +clothes, constructed by Angelique's deft fingers of the delicate hued +soft stuffs of the place, which were woven of home grown flax, or of +buffalo wool, and dyed with native roots, hung about her in long, +graceful folds, that made her figure look statuesque in its poses of +natural grace. But even more than her beauty, her manner astonished +me--its graciousness, piquancy, gayety, and ease. Not Nelly Buford +herself, nor Miss Shippen, reigned with more charming assurance over her +circle of admirers, than did Ellen over the court of adorers which soon +gathered about her. + +She had been enrolled as "John Givens" in Captain Dillard's company, and +they laid now special claim to her; every one of the officers making +himself the slave of her caprices, and vying one with another to flatter +and to spoil her. Dr. Lafonte and young Legère, a distant kinsman of the +commandant, promptly surrendered, and, presently, Colonel Clark enrolled +himself among her devoted admirers. There were a dozen fresh faced, +sweet voiced French girls of the peasant class in the village, but Ellen +alone had qualities to attract men like Dillard, Clark, Thomas and me, +who demanded more than rounded outlines, bright eyes, and soft skin. + +If once I had patronized Ellen, it was her turn now, and she queened it +over me ruthlessly. At our very first interview she proved her power. I +had sought to see her alone, that I might give her in plain words my +opinion of her late rashness, and insist that in future she take no step +without consulting Thomas, or me, in lieu of closer kinsman, with better +right to advise her. It seemed my duty to do this, since Thomas' +infatuation made him dumb in her presence, and would allow him to +recognize no fault in her. + +After keeping me waiting a good fifteen minutes, she came, trailing a +pale yellow robe behind her, and bearing herself like a princess. + +"Is this really Ellen O'Niel?" I asked, involuntarily, meeting her half +way down the long room, and taking both her hands in cousinly greeting. + +"None other than the forlorn little Irish lass you used to be kind to," +and she flashed upon me an irradiating smile, and drew her hands out of +mine with an air of gentle dignity that somehow embarrassed me. "But you +did not know me in riflemen's uniform--my heart need not have fluttered +so that day in the forest when you planted yourself before me, and +looked me straight in the eye." + +"It makes me tremble even yet, Ellen," I answered, "to think of your +rash conduct during the last few months." + +"All has turned out beautifully, Cousin Donald, and I would do it all +over again," and she spoke gaily, but with more seriousness, as she +added: "Are you not risking all for freedom; and is not liberty as dear +to a woman as to a man? I took the risk and I have won. Had I died in +the attempt 'twould have been better than the life of slavery and +persecution. Besides, cousin, though your narrow Protestantism may find +it hard to grant such grace to Catholics, we, too, have faith in an +overruling Providence, believe in a power that can protect the helpless, +and guide the orphan. I rode away from my Uncle Thomas' house that +night, unguarded by man, but guided by the holy Christ and the gentle +Virgin,"--Ellen's face shone with uplifted rapture as she spoke +thus--"By them I have been brought in safety to this peaceful village of +kindly, cheerful people, to the care of holy Father Gibault, kind Madame +Rocheblave, and faithful Angélique. I shall not again lack friends nor +suffer persecution for my religion. You are a distant kinsman, 'tis +true, Cousin Donald, and I hold you in grateful affection for past +kindnesses--but I will not be scolded nor upbraided. I am done with +that, for always. Nor have I any apologies to make to any one. I was +driven to what I did by those who were called to give me a home and +affection. I repeat I would do over again what I have done. If you wish +to treat me with a kinsman's kindness upon these terms I shall be +glad--otherwise you must say farewell, and leave me to my new found +friends." + +Never was I so completely cowed by speech from the lips of any one, as +by these quiet words from Ellen, as she sat before me in calm dignity. +Scattered like summer smoke was my intent to reprimand her once for all, +and set before her the suffering she had caused us. + +"Did you not promise, the night we said good night at the spring, to be +my friend and comrade always?" I answered, "and have not friends and +comrades the right to speak the truth to one another? Once for all, +Ellen, I must say I think you acted rashly, and beg that you will never +again act upon impulse without taking counsel of Thomas or me who are +your loyal kinsmen, and would risk our lives for you. I speak not to +disapprove, but to warn; the dangers, the risks your independent, +confident spirit may lead you into, frighten me. And, Ellen," I went on +rapidly, lest I should never again be able to summon up the needful +courage to say it--"you must not include Uncle Thomas, nor my mother, in +your just condemnation of Aunt Martha; both are sincerely grieved, and +Uncle Thomas half distracted with apprehension and remorse; neither had +a thought that you were so very unhappy." + +"Uncle Thomas had not the courage to take my side, nor your mother to +offer me a refuge--both preferred family peace, and their own comfort to +my salvation; they left no other course open to me than that I took. Not +even Cousin Thomas, though he wished to befriend me, had the bravery to +make a stand on my side against his mother; he, too, was cowed by her +domineering spirit--were I a man, I would cringe to no one, not even to +the woman that I love." + +That last sentence I remembered, and afterwards it helped me to hold my +own a little better against Ellen's growing power over me. + +"You were most unkindly treated, Ellen, and it will always be a reproach +upon us, something for which we must all hang our heads in shame,--but +will you not try to forgive them? They have bitterly atoned for the +wrong they did you, if unhappiness, and self reproach, can atone." + +"Father Gibault says I must freely forgive them ere he can absolve me +from the wrong thoughts, and actions of which I too have been guilty," +answered Ellen--that catch in her voice, which so often I had recalled +to mind, and had never heard in any other woman's--"but I find no +consolation in their remorse. In you, Cousin Donald, I have nothing to +forgive, you have always been good to me. I am still your friend and +comrade, if you wish--though already you are a great and noble man, as I +foresaw you would be," and again she gave me that flashing smile which +made my head swim. + +"And you will go home with Thomas and me when this business is ended?" + +"I can never go back to that dreary, solemn valley, where people think +of nothing but hard work, and long doleful prayers. As yet I have heard +mass but twice, and only once have I been to confession; it seemed to me +that the spirit of my dead parents were with me, and it brought me such +joy and peace as you cannot conceive. I can never be separated again +from the exercise of my religion. In truth I have a solemn and holy +purpose set before me, of which I shall tell you, some day. Meantime let +us not talk upon this painful subject, Cousin Donald,--life is so good +to me now, so full of pure joy, and perfect happiness that I like not to +recall the past five years." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +During the months of August and September, Clark was kept busy receiving +the Indian deputations which came weekly to Kaskaskia to sue for peace +and alliance, with the famed Big-Knives and his warriors. Each visit was +an affair of state, and must be received with due ceremony. Did the +deputation consist only of the chief of some petty sub-tribe, and two or +three warriors, they must have audience at the fort with Colonel Clark +himself, surrounded by an armed body-guard; speeches, presents, and +wampum belts must be ceremoniously exchanged, and the peace pipe smoked +solemnly, after which Clark must tender them a feast. + +Born to administer large affairs, Colonel Clark showed in his +pacification of the Northwest Indians, a remarkable shrewdness, and +knowledge of human nature. He used much the same tactics as those found +so successful in dealing with the French:--he over-awed them by +dauntlessness of spirit, and a show of far greater strength than he +really possessed. When the desired impression had been made upon them, +and they had offered alliance, he would adroitly win them to his +purposes by friendliness and flattery. He could meet them with a counter +stoicism and subtlety that confounded them, and sent them back to their +tribes to tell marvelous stories of the great white warrior chief, the +redoubtable Big-Knife, whose course of conquest had started at the +rising sun, and would be stopped only by the big river towards the sun's +lodge. One edict of Colonel Clark well serves to illustrate his +far-seeing wisdom, and the extent of his power. He forbade any soldier, +any citizen of Kaskaskia, or trader on the river, to sell or to give a +single gill of liquor to an Indian within so many miles of the town and +fort, under heavy penalties; and the few infringements of this rule were +severely punished. Ceremony, presents and feasting were dealt out +generously to the savages, but their expectations of fire-water were +invariably disappointed. Some of them went away sullen, but there was no +rioting in Kaskaskia, and no more bloody fights such as had been +customary between panins and Indians. + +Between these and other duties, Colonel Clark found some leisure for +diversion, and sought it usually in the long room of the Commandant's +house, where Ellen held her court with a constantly increasing number of +subjects. Madame Rocheblave had left Kaskaskia soon after Ellen's +recovery, to visit friends in Detroit, while awaiting the release of M. +Rocheblave, who had been sent to Virginia with several other prisoners. +But Angélique had consented to accept services as Ellen's maid, and was +in constant attendance upon her. + +Among Ellen's admirers the most indefatigable and determined were +Monsieur Légère, Colonel Clark, Thomas and I; and for each of us she had +a special course of treatment that kept us hovering between hope and +despair. Monsieur Légère's manner of attack was nightly to serenade +Ellen with voice and guitar, and daily to present her with passionate +love poems, hidden in bunches of gorgeous wild flowers, which he had +gathered at risk of limb and life from the most inaccessible spurs of +the bluff across the river. These offerings she would receive with just +enough appearance of pleasure, and expression of appreciation to prevent +that emotional youth from committing suicide. Thomas, she treated as she +would a brother, took him to mass with her, and alternately commanded, +scolded, and coaxed him. He alone failed to see that there was naught +but cousinly regard, and a degree of gratitude and pity in her heart for +him. + +Colonel Clark sued, as he did everything else, masterfully. It was +plain, too, that this had a certain effect upon Ellen, who moreover, +could not fail to be attracted by his handsome person and winning +manners. That personal charm felt so strongly by men, even by savages +and foreigners must produce a more sure effect upon the feelings of the +woman whom he condescended to woo. Yet Ellen did not acknowledge his +power, but rather took pleasure in making him yield to her. There was +almost daily warfare of words between them. She would be starting to +vespers with Thomas perhaps, just as Clark would be mounting the porch +steps. + +"You are not going this afternoon, Miss Ellen," in his firm tone of +command; "I want you to stay and talk to me." + +"But I always go to vespers, Colonel Clark." + +"Except when I come to see you." + +"No matter who comes to see me." + +"You need make exception in my case only; I have many duties, and can +not choose my hours of recreation; you can say your prayers all day, if +you wish." + +"Vesper hour is sacred; I cannot profane it by staying away from service +to amuse even _you_, Colonel Clark. Moreover I am neither Frenchman, +Indian, nor soldier; I do not take orders from the Long-Knives," and she +would flash upon him a look of smiling defiance, and pass on. + +"You are as cruel as fair, Miss Ellen," in hurt, gentle tones; "you +cannot guess how weary, and heart-hungry I am, or you would be more +merciful. Are you not the one bit of home, and comfort, and cheer we +soldiers have in this wilderness? Now, after a day of toil, with the +prospect of an hour of delight with you as my only recompense, you leave +me thus without a word of regret." + +"I must to vespers, Colonel Clark, but I shall hasten back; you can wait +here for me." + +And Clark would wait impatiently, Ellen returning promptly, as she had +promised, to put forth for him, during the rest of the evening, the +utmost of her powers of fascination. + +Her treatment of me was less flattering, I thought, than that she +accorded any of the others. I was no more her best friend, her openly +favored comrade. On the contrary, she treated me with alternate +indifference, haughtiness and patronage; she would seem to seek +occasions of difference, and then, when I was lashed into answering her, +would flaunt me angrily, or mock me with sarcasms. Afterwards she would +repent her rudeness, and beg my pardon with the sweetest humility and +gentleness. But this playing hot and cold on her part kept me in a sort +of inward fever, and made me what I had never been in my life before, +irritable and quarrelsome. To the men under me, I was peremptory; I was +testy with Thomas, and often almost rude with Clark. In truth I was half +frenzied with jealousy. A score of times in the day, I would compare +myself with Clark--set my appearance and qualities over against his, and +cast up the balance between us; but, with all my leaning to my own side, +I could not blind myself that neither in manner, person, nor gifts could +I rival him. There could be little doubt as to which one of us Ellen +would choose when a final choice was forced upon her. + +The wild grape vintage was a customary festival with the Kaskaskians. +The woods along the river were wreathed with the vines, which looped +from branch to branch, or from tree to tree, and even the berry thickets +had become trellises to support their luxuriant meanderings. These wild +grapes made a rich, delicious wine, much prized by the people as a +beverage, and by the priests as an antidote to the far less innocent +fire water, peddled by the traders, in boat loads, up and down the +river. Colonel Clark not only consented to the celebration of this one +of their frequent holidays, but agreed that the soldiers might take part +on condition that no liquors be dispensed. + +All assisted in the morning's work of gathering the grapes, and piling +them in the calèches, or two-wheeled carts, to be hauled to the wine +vats, then the afternoon was given up to pleasure and feasting. Games +were interspersed with trials of strength and skill, upon the public +square of the village; shooting at a mark, hurling the tomahawk, +wrestling and racing were the chief contests, which were participated in +by Frenchmen and soldiers on equal terms. Colonel Clark, Captain +Montgomery, and myself were the chosen judges, and we were careful to +distribute the prizes equally, with no very strict regard to merit. + +The free half-breeds and the panins, with a few straggling Indians, had +also their games apart, presided over by three of our men from the fort, +who acted as judges. The supper was provided by Colonel Clark, and +besides the usual pancakes and maple syrup, served at nearly all their +feasts, there were maize cakes, barbecued venison, corn parched, ground +and sweetened, wild duck and plover eggs boiled and roasted, melons, +pawpaws, mulberries and sangaree. This supper was served by the cheery +matrons of Kaskaskia, from calèches backed in a circle around a part of +the green. Later, smiling maidens bedecked with flowers, came out of the +low eaved houses, and with the youths and gayer soldiers fell a dancing +on the green to the sound of banjo and guitar, in the light of a bright +full moon, beneath a star-studded dome of clearest azure. It was a +picture of simple Arcadian happiness, which needed only the +embellishments of nature to beautify it, only the impulses of nature to +stimulate it. + +Ellen had been named "Queen of the Festa" by Clark, and the day seemed +diverted into an occasion to honor her. It was she who pressed with +dainty fingers the juice from the first bunch of grapes, ere they were +put into vats for trampling; she who presented the prizes to the +victors, or crowned them gracefully with the laurel wreaths. And when +the music sounded, Clark led her forth to tread a stately measure alone +with him upon the green, ere the general dancing began. I did not know +before that either of them could dance--for never had I seen such sport +until Nelly Buford had shown me the latest steps at Colonel Morgan's. +But Ellen was a daily astonishment, and Clark had learned much in his +adventurous life. + +When they had thus inaugurated the evening's gayety as also they had +presided over the day's festivities, Ellen and Clark wandered through +the village together, in the moonlight, she leaning on his arm, and he +bending over her like an accepted lover. Half an hour later I saw them +seated side by side on the steps, under the nave of the church, absorbed +in each other, and entirely unconscious of me, as I passed them on the +opposite side of the street. Ellen was all in white, save for a black +lace scarf she wore Spanish fashion, about her head, and shoulders, and +in the moonlight she was a radiant vision of girlish loveliness--as +Clark by her side was a picture of handsome young manhood. "They would +be well mated," I thought with a sigh as I passed on, homesick and +heartsick. In the darkness of the deserted barracks, I sought my +soldier's couch, and lay a long time awake, thinking longingly of home +and loved ones and wrestling with the demon of jealousy which threatened +to master me. + +A deep sigh aroused me after awhile, from the half dream into which I +had slipped, and I heard Thomas' voice, praying in low tones. Poor +Thomas. He was even more unhappy than I, for he had deserted home, +parents, and religion for his idol, who but treated him with cousinly +kindness. Yet I rejoiced, though I pitied him; there was hope for +Thomas, since his sorrow and disappointment but drove him back to God, +and his prayers. + + * * * * * + +Colonel Clark sent for me next morning, and began, in his most +peremptory manner to announce that he desired me to make ready to start +to Virginia immediately, to deliver certain dispatches to the Governor +and the Assembly. He wished his appointments confirmed, and the +conquered territory of the Northwest formally annexed to Virginia. Also, +he must have money, supplies, and reënforcements for a prompt advance on +Detroit, and later on, Quebec. All Canada might be taken, with the aid +of our French and Indian allies, had we but a nucleus of American +soldiers, and sufficient means to forward the enterprise. I must not +only deliver his request to that effect, but urge the members of the +Assembly, publicly and privately, as I had opportunity, to support the +project, and to vote money and men for it. + +When he had said all this, without asking my opinion, I stopped him by +suggesting that perhaps I could not be earnest and eloquent enough in a +cause my reason and judgment did not sanction; that I had once helped to +storm Quebec, and knew the almost insurmountable difficulties of the +attempt without a large army and plenty of cannon; that I did not +believe our allies would be of any value in such an enterprise, and that +in my opinion we would only be risking what we had secured, or +abandoning it more probably, for a success dependent upon a hundred +unlikely chances. + +Colonel Clark had gazed at me haughtily as I spoke--a manner the more +nettling because of his previous friendliness and comradeship with +me--and now he reprimanded me sharply for having forgotten my position +as a subordinate, whose business it was to obey, not to advise, and then +added: + +"Can you start, sir, to Virginia to-morrow, with my dispatches and +commands?" + +"No, Colonel Clark," I answered with a haughtiness that matched his own: +"I remain in Kaskaskia till it is my pleasure to leave; my term of +enlistment expires next week, after which I am no longer under orders. +Confine me if you please, in the guardhouse, while I am still in your +service, but I shall not go to Virginia on this errand." + +"And I know your reason for this act of disrespect and disobedience, +sir. You are jealous of my suit to Ellen O'Neil." + +"As my cousin's lawful protector, I stay by her side until she is safely +placed with the guardian she shall choose upon reaching her legal +majority." + +"Your jealousy has been made evident before, Captain McElroy, but know +this, I recognize not your right to interfere with me in any way, nor to +dictate to Miss O'Neil upon any subject. I shall warn her, sir, and +watch you," and Clark had grown so angry that he talked now half random +foolishness, and glared at me savagely. + +No less angry, I replied, "And I shall watch you, Colonel Clark. A man +who can take advantage of his position of authority to send his rival +across the continent with dispatches that a common courier might as well +carry is capable of taking other and less honorable advantages, +perhaps." + +"No man dare insult me, McElroy, without knowing that he must apologize +or fight. Take your choice; I am no longer your superior officer," and +he threw aside his epauleted coat, and plumed hat, and drawing his +sword, stood before me, pallid and rigid with anger. + +"Sir," I answered, fully as furious as he, "you have so lorded it over +Frenchmen, panins and Indians, that you seem to have forgotten the +respect due a comrade--your equal in all save military rank. Your +challenge, Colonel Clark, I accept with pleasure!" I bowed to him, drew +my sword and stood at guard. + +Neither of us were practiced swordsmen, but both were lithe, active, and +possessed of trained eyes, and arms. We fought with small science, yet +with some skill, and in deadly earnest. Without doubt one or the other +of us would have been killed or badly wounded, had not a startling +interruption paralyzed the arm of each, just when both were wrought up +to the killing frenzy. I was fighting desperately and so was Clark, +when, suddenly, Ellen's voice rang above the clash of our swords, and +the panting emission of our breath: + +"Cousin Donald! Colonel Clark!" she called sharply, and each lowered his +weapon and turned to face her. She stood in the doorway, her eyes +glowing, her face quite pale, and Father Gibault stood behind her, +looking more perturbed than I had ever seen him. + +[Illustration: "COUSIN DONALD! COLONEL CLARK!" SHE CALLED SHARPLY.] + +"I know not whose the fault," she added scornfully, "but each is less +the knight and patriot, in my esteem, for this rash deed. You would kill +each other and bring destruction upon your patriotic enterprise, and +death to these men, whose lives are in your keeping? Bah! Men are +children; their passions rule them! Father Gibault, will you stay with +Colonel Clark and soothe his anger? You have hurt me grievously, Colonel +Clark, and I thought you my friend--" and now was heard the break in +Ellen's voice which tugged always at one's heartstrings. + +"Forgive me, Miss Ellen!" stammered Clark; "I have no quarrel with your +cousin; it was, as you say, foolish anger and rashness. But in justice I +must confess that I forced this fight upon McElroy," and my generous +comrade looked frankly at me. + +"Nor have I just grounds of quarrel with you, Colonel Clark," I +responded. "I was disrespectful in my words and manner. Will you accept +my apology?" and I held out my hand. + +Clark took and shook it warmly, while Ellen smiled upon us, and Father +Gibault blessed us with low spoken benediction. + +"Come with me, Cousin Donald!" commanded Ellen; "I have something I +would say to you." + +We walked together toward the town, for some time in silence, then Ellen +said, blushing as she spoke: + +"Father Gibault tells me that you and Colonel Clark quarreled about me, +Cousin Donald. It was not kind, nor respectful, and it was very foolish, +if jealousy prompted you, for I shall never marry." + +"Never marry, Ellen, and why?" I asked in great astonishment. + +"Did not I tell you, Cousin, that I had set before myself a high and +holy purpose? I have sworn a vow of consecration. As soon as I have +reached my majority, I shall take the veil, and pass the remainder of my +life in prayer, and God's holy service. Will you tell Colonel Clark this +for me? And neither of you, I beg, will ever again couple me, even in +your thoughts with love and marriage. I shall be the bride of the +Church, I trust, but never the bride of mortal. God saved me from an +awful fate in answer to my vow of consecration. To choose a life of +worldly pleasure would be in me dishonesty in its worst form. Help me to +keep my vow, Cousin Donald; make me strong to do the right." + +The touching appeal of her voice and manner as she spoke thus, it is not +possible to describe. She seemed to throw herself upon my strength, to +implore me to help her to sacrifice herself. I saw how strongly she felt +all she said, how impossible it would be to make her see now the folly +of her purpose, and the illogic of her thoughts. She wanted my sympathy +and encouragement--yet how could I give it to her, at risk of forfeiting +my happiness, and possibly hers! Yet I could not fail her. + +"Dear Ellen," I said, with all the deep tenderness of my heart for her +trembling in my words, "whatever you finally conclude is your duty, that +I shall help you to do, with all the sympathy and courage I can give +you. But take no step rashly, nor without consulting Father Gibault. Our +heavenly Father has, I truly believe, guided you thus far; let us look +to Him for further guidance." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +There was no lack of volunteers to convey Colonel Clark's dispatches to +Virginia. More than half of the men it appeared were anxious to return +to their homes at the expiration of their term of enlistment. In that +case, but a handful of us would be left, after October, to hold the +three forts, and keep down the Indians. Colonel Clark resorted to +entreaties and promises, and at last induced about three hundred of the +men to consent to reënlist for six months more. Thirty-five were +determined to go, and even the prospect of being rewarded, by the +gratitude of Virginia, with royal land grants in the new territory, +could not keep them longer. + +"If Virginia did not choose to send recruits to hold the territory, we +had won for her," they argued, "she deserved to lose it. Meantime their +own families might be suffering privation or danger, and their own lands +be lapsing again into the state of wilderness from which they had so +lately rescued them. They could risk no more, sacrifice no further--not +even for Virginia." One was forced to admit there was reason in their +excuses. + +Thomas, to my small surprise, was one of those who could not be +persuaded to remain. Clark asked me to remonstrate with him, and I did +so but without success. + +"I've nothing to stay for," he answered; "Ellen rejects my love, and it +is only what I deserve for my stubborn following of my own will, and my +disrespect to my mother. Since neither Ellen's death nor her misery lies +at our door; since she has reached a safe and pleasant harborage among +people of her own religion, and can take her choice between a nunnery in +Quebec, or a husband--who may be either military hero, or French +Catholic as she will--I feel that my responsibility is ended. I shall go +home, Donald, beg my parents' pardon, renew my vows, and resume the work +to which I was called, and upon which I wickedly turned my back to +pursue a foolish course." + +"I cannot understand your feelings, Thomas," I replied, out of patience +with what sounded to me like spiteful cant; "you joined our expedition +with two specific objects in view:--to regain your lost health, and +possibly find trace of Ellen. You have accomplished both objects; +besides, have done your share toward our fortunate achievement. To +abandon us now, before our success is permanently assured, and Ellen +safely settled, seems to me to be an act of childishness." + +"Yours, Donald, is the soldier's point of view, and I cannot complain of +your disapproval. I see it all differently, however. It was wrong of me +to come, in the first place, with the motives that brought me; the only +reparation I can make is to go back as soon as possible, confess humbly, +and reconsecrate to God and duty all my future life." + +I said no more, for I saw Thomas' will was set; his present state of +mind was as unreasonable as that I had found him in eight months before. +There are men to whom a medium course is not possible--they are born +fanatics; Thomas was one of these, but, in justice to him, I must add +here, that he grew saner as he grew older, and that, with the coming of +maturity, what fanaticism was left took the form of humble service in +God's name, to his fellow men. + + * * * * * + +Colonel Clark's force now numbered barely a hundred men, including +officers. A score were left at Cahokia; the rest were with him at +Kaskaskia. It seemed wise to preserve a show of strength at both places, +since Indian deputations were coming to one or the other of the two +forts, all through the fall, to tender to Colonel Clark the allegiance +or submission of their tribes. Being but half a day's march apart, our +force could quickly be massed at either of these points. + +Captain Helm, backed chiefly by his high sounding title of +"Governor-general of Indian Affairs on the Wabash," with a garrison of +five, held Vincennes! Should an English force march against it there +would be no chance for defense; for that reason, that Vincennes might be +strongly garrisoned, it seemed imperative for us to have speedy +reënforcements from Virginia. It was from Vincennes that Colonel Clark +was planning to advance on Detroit, but I had never any hope of +sufficient reënforcements to make such advance feasible, even in Clark's +daring estimation, so gave myself no anxiety as to that rash project. + +A rumor that Vincennes had been taken by the British reached us about +the middle of December, but a few weeks after the thirty-six had +departed for Virginia. The rumor lacked confirmation, however, and +Colonel Clark eagerly awaited the confidently expected reënforcements. + +After the cold autumn rains set in, visits from the Indian tribes were +less frequent, and presently with the coming of winter they ceased. The +arrival on Christmas eve, therefore, of a large deputation of much +befeathered warriors, and their chief, caused some excitement,--the more +so as they were reported to be Miamis from Lake Michigan. This tribe so +far had held aloof from us, and was said to be faithful to the English. +They demanded an interview with the white chief, Long-Knife, and asked +that he bring only his most trusted warriors to the council chamber, +since they had secret matters of weight and importance to discuss. + +Colonel Clark summoned his officers, and five others, and the conference +began in the large room of the fort--where Clark and I had indulged in +our sword play some days before. The chief was, I thought, not past +middle age, though it is difficult to guess the age of a redskin. He had +a countenance of unusual cruelty and subtlety. His tall frame was +powerfully built, and his tongue was both eloquent and cunning. + +"Long-Knife and his warriors had come," he said, "as strangers to the +land of the Algonquins; they had come to bid the great tribes of the red +men, whose fathers had owned the plains washed by the fresh seas, and +the great Father-of-Waters, from the beginning, to declare war against +their powerful English father, who had given them their guns, and had +protected them against their hereditary enemies, the Hurons and the +Iroquois. It was said that the warriors of the white chief, Big-Knife, +were about to conquer the warriors of the great English father, but were +willing to protect the Miamis, and to leave them in peaceful possession +of their lands. He and his braves had come to ask if these things were +true, and if the Big-Knives sought peace and friendship with the tribes +of the Miami." + +Colonel Clark responded in his usual way, mixing adroitly with his +parade of cool arrogance, and entire indifference, a tone of gracious +condescension. "The Miamis might choose for themselves; he had no +quarrel with the red man--did they wish the redoubtable warriors of +Long-Knife, and the great and war-like nation they came from, on the +shore of the eastern ocean, for their friends and brothers--did they +wish, as so many of their brethren had done, to make alliance with us, +it would be well with them, but we were used to war and liked it--if the +Miamis preferred war--good; it was theirs to choose. But they must +decide once for all, and war once begun the Long-Knives would not be the +first to sue for peace." + +A long silence followed Clark's speech, during which the Indians gazed +fixedly before them, while the air grew dense with the strong tobacco +smoke they exhaled, in great deliberate puffs. We also smoked stolidly +on; and the chief's face was not more a mask than Clark's. In the midst +of this silent ring of grim smokers--as an angelic apparition floats +into the vision of a dream--glided Ellen. She came to my side with +smiling countenance, on which was no other expression than that of idle +curiosity, gazed calmly into the hideous faces of the savages, and +pointing to the crimson aigrette among the head feathers of one, and the +black heron quills worn by another asked me in English to buy them for +her. Then without changing her expression, or looking again at me, she +lowered her tones to a whisper, and scarcely moved her lips in saying, + +"When I go out--wait--then follow," and even while she spoke thus, she +was making gestures of admiration over the Indian's ornaments, +continuing to do so, and to comment upon them to us, as a child might. + +Presently the chief began again to speak. Ellen listened gravely for a +few moments, shook her head, smiled, and passed out. In doing so she +walked behind Clark, and uttered a whisper like a sigh. "Beware! Be on +your guard!" + +Clark gave no sign to indicate that she had spoken, and after lingering +at the door for a moment, Ellen went out, and we heard her singing +gayly, on her way back to the town. + +But for her words to me, I should have thought, as evidently the Indians +did, that she had wandered into the council chamber, prompted by idle +curiosity alone, and finding small amusement there, had wandered out +again. The free customs among their own squaws, in regard to their +comings and goings, made the incident seem natural to the Indians. + +A meaning look from Clark, the barest glance of significance, made known +to me that he too had been spoken to, and was on the watch for something +unusual. Ellen was not found until I had gone all the way to her house, +where she was walking the floor in the greatest excitement, awaiting my +arrival. + +"Cousin Donald," she whispered, as if the walls had really ears,--"the +fort is surrounded by armed savages, they are lurking in the bushes and +in the chimney corners, crouching under the steps, and behind +trees--they are everywhere. Without doubt they await the signal for an +attack; meantime the soldiers are scattered about the village, and ten +went this morning, as you know, to carry the powder to Cahokia." + +"We must take measures at once to collect the men. You have already +warned Colonel Clark?" + +"Yes; and I have sent Angélique to seek every soldier she can find +loitering about the village, and to bid them all come here." + +"Well done, Ellen! I shall muster them as quietly as possible and lead +them to the fort. Have you thought of anything else that should be +done?" + +"M. Légère, who was walking on the bluff with me when I saw the Indians, +with Colonel Clark's spy glass, has already started to Cahokia, mounted +on the fleetest horse in the village. If only you can, by some strategy, +delay the signal until the men from Cahokia can get here." + +"They will, I imagine, wait for twilight. The savages seem to rely much +upon the aid of surprise and confusion. If Légère's horse is fleet, and +they have boats in readiness at Cahokia, reënforcements should reach us +by midnight; but that will be too late, I fear. It will hardly be +possible to divert the Indians from their purpose so long. But, now that +we are warned, we may find a way to outwit them." + +Having disposed my men in the neighborhood of the fort, in a convenient +clump of trees, I told them to wait in absolute silence for the sound of +my turkey call within the fort and then to surround the council chamber +with a rush, making, as they did so, all the hideous noises possible. + +The chief was still speaking when I returned to the council chamber, but +his manner and his words were less conciliatory and his warriors were +scowling ominously. + +"Let my friend, and brother chief, speak for the great American father, +General Washington, since you profess to doubt my word," said Colonel +Clark, as, a moment later, the chief concluded his second wordy and +pointless harangue. "Tell the chief, Captain McElroy, since you were +present on the day it happened, how the warriors of Chief Washington +defeated the warriors of the English father, on the great battlefield +west of the Alleghanies, and how you took prisoners a whole tribe of +them at Saratoga." + +Stepping into the midst of the circle, I told them of the surrender of +Saratoga, vaunting much the courage of my tribe, and the war-like skill +of our chiefs, and ending thus: "Before many more moons have waxed and +waned, the English will mount again their white winged birds, their +great ships, and sail back across the wide waters to their own land, +leaving all this country subject to the great confederation of the white +American tribes. And when the English are gone, and our great chief +Washington shall march his armies against the still hostile Indians, woe +to those who have refused our friendship! They shall be shaken as ripe +fruit from the boughs; scattered to the four corners of the earth, as +fruit blossoms by the wind of an April storm." + +The Indians listened to me at first with solemn stolidity, then began to +utter low grunts of unbelief, or anger, and at last to exchange black +looks, and to scowl at me threateningly. Still they smoked on; still +Colonel Clark and his councilors smoked silently, paying no sort of heed +to the angry demonstrations of the savages. + +The sun set, meanwhile, and what with the fast-coming winter's twilight +without, and the thick fog of smoke within, one could scarcely see the +faces about him well enough to distinguish white face from red, friend +from foe. + +As I sat down, the chief laid aside his pipe, with the utmost +deliberation, and rose to his feet, towering in the midst of his +warriors, who closely copied all his expressions and actions. We rose, +also, and the two half circles faced each other grimly, while the murky +redness of the sun's last rays cast a momentary lurid illumination over +the scene. + +With a quick gesture the chief drew from his long robe of white bear's +skin two wampum belts--the peace and war belts--and flung them with +haughty and insulting air upon the table. + +"There are two belts of wampum," he said, and the Indians crowded closer +about him; "you know what they mean. Choose which you will!" + +There was awesome silence for a moment. For the second time in my life I +knew the feeling of subtle, unreasoning terror, such as must precede a +panic; but again with a tremendous effort of will I controlled the +impulse, and looked calmly from one to another of the scowling, cruel +faces--watching, as beasts do, for a chance to spring. + +Clark gave each a calm, undaunted stare, then fixed his deliberate, +scornful gaze upon the chief, picked up the wampum belts on the point of +his sword, took them in his right hand, and drawing himself to his +utmost height, flung them full into the face of the chief, as he said in +tones of contempt: + +"Begone, ye dogs! Back to your squaws, and your beaver traps!" + +Upon this instant I blew my turkey call, long, and shrilly. From without +came the sound as of a rushing multitude, mingled with yells, whoops, +and howls. The Indians seemed suddenly cowed and gathered together in a +huddled group. + +"We are trapped!" called the chief, and made a leap for the door, +followed by the rest. The savages without were fleeing also. Clark +called out in loud and positive commands that they should be neither +killed nor hindered. + +"Let them run like the coward dogs they are," he said, "we care neither +to capture their living nor to bury their dead carcasses." + +In the midst of the excitement, reënforcements arrived from Cahokia, +Légère having met a squad on their way to Kaskaskia. Clark now stationed +guards all around the fort and the town, and ordered that the soldiers +hold themselves in readiness to repulse a night attack. The Indians +loitered all night in the bushes about the fort, and we could hear them +arguing hotly. When morning came, they sent in a deputation of three to +sue for peace, after which they hastily departed. + +I shall not now relate an incident which happened later that night when +some of the loitering Indians attempted to take terrible revenge on +Ellen, whose warning to Clark they afterwards suspected, and from which +it was my very good fortune to save her. Thus repaying twice over, since +her life was twice as valuable as mine, the debt I owed her, and proving +that I counted my own naught, as weighed against her safety and her +honor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +For four days, a fine, thick rain had been descending persistently from +the low, gray-blanketed sky, and a wet mist rose from the sodden earth +to meet it. The soil reeked with dampness; it oozed from the walls of +the stone or stuccoed houses, dripped from the sloping roofs of rambling +porches, saturated one's clothes, and permeated one's blood. The +Kaskaskia River, pushed out of its banks by its swollen tributaries, had +overflowed all the bottoms, and banked the waters of the bayous up into +the hills. The village was surrounded by water on three sides, and from +the fort one could see nothing save the dreary waste of still, dull +water. Even the reeds, canes, and grasses which ordinarily fringed the +bayous, adding something of life and grace, were now submerged. + +In all the village there was but one cheerful, wooing spot:--the room in +the late Commandant's house, made bright by the presence of Ellen, and +kept warm and cheery by the crackling logs piled high in the wide +fireplace. Here Ellen gave gracious welcome to officer and private, +priest and native, coureur de bois from Canada, trader from New Orleans, +and scout from the eastern settlements--whoever might chance our way, so +he deport himself gentlemanwise. And now, since the winter and the rains +had settled upon us, since the Indian deputations had ceased to trouble +us, and traders were rare, the town afforded the officers no other +diversion than a twice daily visit to Queen Eleanor's audience chamber. + +Colonel Clark, Captains Bowman, Montgomery, Harrod and I, with Légère +and Dr. Lafonte occupied usually the inner circle around the fire, Ellen +throned in our midst. My quill falls from my hand and I lose myself in +the scenes which my memory recalls so vividly that almost I live them +over again. Ellen's graceful head, outlined by dark ringlets, rests +against the white bear skin which covers her chair; her slender hands +are crossed in her lap, and her arched feet, in their gay moccasins, are +half buried in the panther's skin thrown over her foot rest. The fire, +of seasoned logs three feet in length, lights the low-ceiled stone room +with a vivid glow and suffuses the atmosphere with a fragrant warmth. +This glow of the flames plays becomingly on Ellen's rich, soft coloring, +and even brings out the shadows made by the long lashes upon her cheeks. +Also it shows plainly the varied colors and markings of the wild skins +hung thick upon the wall, and the gay stripes in the heavy Indian mats +upon the floor. + +Better still than the cheerful scene was the pleasant talk that filled +the room, the bright, earnest discussions which did more to keep us +keyed to our otherwise dreary task than all the promises that we could +make ourselves of future fortune and renown. Who can gauge the value of +woman's social tact and sympathy? In all ages they have been magnets +around which great thoughts and noble deeds have focused. Some of the +conversations held in the long, stone room at Kaskaskia seem to me to +have been worthy the most brilliant salons in Paris, or the most famous +of London coffee-houses. Ellen was never one of those chattering +women--though she could express herself pithily and gracefully when she +had anything to say--but she was the most inspiring listener I have ever +seen. + +Colonel Clark was a bold and brilliant talker, though sometimes arrogant +and boastful. Légère, who had been bred and educated in Paris, had +culture, and a keen tongue. Bowman was a man of careful observation, +shrewd thinking, and close reasoning; and my own love of mental exercise +made me an ambitious aspirant in these conversational bouts, over which +Ellen presided with inspiring guidance. + +The future of America was the subject we oftenest discussed, perhaps, +and the one upon which we diverged, too, most widely. Colonel Clark +favored the organization of thirteen free states, confederated as +loosely as possible. I was for a close federation with a strong central +government. All the delays and difficulties of our war were due to the +lack of a central authority, it seemed to me. And even after our +independence should be achieved we must fall to pieces, I argued, or +become the prey of European powers unless we sought strength in a firmly +cemented union. + +"But Virginia," argued Clark, "had everything to lose, and nothing to +gain by union. With the Illinois territory added to her possessions she +would be the largest, richest, and strongest, of the States, and could +dominate the rest. No union would be agreed to by the other States which +did not provide for the territorial reduction of the Old Dominion--for +her relinquishment, doubtless, of all we had won for her, and that we +would never consent to. Why should Virginia voluntarily weaken herself +in order to strengthen a union which would control all her resources?" + +To this Ellen responded, taking sides with me: "A course of unselfish +patriotism was the only course worthy of Virginia, and the only one +consistent with her admirable policy so far. The building of a free, +mighty, and glorious republic in America which might become a pattern +for future democracies was the object for which all true Virginians and +all enlightened patriots should be willing to sacrifice everything." + +Légère agreed with Clark, Bowman with me, and our argument waxed +warm--always to be quieted or diverted by Ellen's skillful management. +One day, however, Clark was more arrogant than usual, and I more +vehement, so that at last we quarreled like school boys. + +Ellen's sarcasm, as she rebuked us, seemed directed at me rather than at +Clark, and I left the room in an unseemly rage, being for several days +too sore, and too much ashamed of myself, to return. + +No loafing place was left me, now, save the large room in the barracks, +where the men were accustomed to assemble. On a certain afternoon it +became unbearable. The chimney smoked, the damp logs burned grudgingly, +the soldiers, who were now in the town, slept snoring on the floor, +wrapped in their blankets, or sprawled on the benches, and smoked strong +pipes. My heart ached with home longing; for but an hour with the dear +circle around the cheerful hearth, in the big room, I would at that +moment have resigned all the prospects of my life--save only my hope of +winning Ellen. I could stand it within no longer, and wrapping my cloak +around me, and pulling my bearskin cap over my ears, set out to walk to +the boat landing. It would afford me a moment's diversion to see how far +the water had risen since yesterday. Then the lower end of the wharf was +an inch under water. + +Now it was completely submerged, and the ground all about it. If a boat +should chance to come to Kaskaskia it must seek precarious landing upon +a rock, which in dry weather, was half way up the low bluff on this side +of the river, below the town. I made my way to this rock, and stood +looking out on the formless waste of waters with a new sympathy for the +victims of the flood, and a sudden emotion of deep thankfulness for the +rock-ribbed mountains, rolling hills, upland meadows and well +restricted, gentle streams of our dear valley. He who would might come +west to dwell in the rich alluvial valley of the Mississippi, and her +tributaries--as for me, I wished no other heritage than one of the +fertile, smiling farms in the valley of Virginia. + +As I gazed thus, my mind upon my own land rather than upon this +desolation, a moving speck appeared upon the waters, and rapidly +approached. Yes, it was a boat, one of those long, deep, swift boats +used by the coureurs, and the traders. The two men propelling it were +standing, evidently looking for the wharf. I called and signaled to them +to drift a little down stream, and land upon the rock; then I clambered +to its lower edge, and stood in readiness to help them. I had by this +time recognized Colonel Vigo and his servant. A month before they had +stopped with us on their way to the Illinois country, when Colonel Vigo +had offered to spy out for Colonel Clark the real condition of affairs +at Vincennes, and to send or to bring him word. His coming back so soon +foreboded ill news; he would hardly have returned at such inclement +season, but to warn us. We had hardly counted on such friendship from +him, though we knew that he wished well to the cause of America. +Moreover, he had seemed to conceive a strong friendship both for Colonel +Clark and myself. + +Sardinian by birth, soldier of fortune by profession, Spanish officer by +rank won in Spanish wars, he was to me a most interesting character. +Bold, yet cautious, rash yet diplomatic, shrewd yet daring, accomplished +gentleman yet reckless adventurer, Indian by mode of life, but in manner +and preferred tongue French--he was a type of that age and that +civilization, which alone could have produced his like. + +"Ah, McElroy," he called to me, as I gave him my hand to help him spring +ashore, speaking in what he called English tongue, but which was really +an impossible dialect, composed of a conglomerate of English, French, +Italian, Spanish and Indian words, so that I do not attempt to reproduce +it, but give only the substance of his utterances, "It is you then, and +where is the Colonel?" + +"Visiting," I answered, rather curtly; "do you come from Vincennes?" + +"So the Colonel is courting the fair Americaness, eh?--and you, mon ami, +sulk upon the rock! Is it that you have surrendered? I thought it not +possible for a stubborn Scotchman to own defeat--but this is no time for +banter. Yes, Captain McElroy, I come from Vincennes, and I have for the +Colonel important news. He must arouse himself from the idle pleasure of +paying court to beauty, and go back to the arduous work of a soldier +would he hold his footing on the Wabash." + +Meantime we had reached the village, and were soon before the +Commandant's house. A panin summoned Clark for us, and together we +walked toward the fort, while Colonel Vigo told how Vincennes had +fallen, and outlined clearly the present state of affairs at that place. +The fort had been repaired and restocked, and was garrisoned by a force +of eighty mixed English and Canadians. The French inhabitants were +over-awed, and the Wabash Indians were in sympathy with the English. The +Miamis, who had recently made a pretended treaty with us, were really +agents of Hamilton, having been hired by him to kill or capture Clark, +and as many of his men as possible. Having been disappointed in their +anticipations of big scalp money, they were awaiting surlily a chance of +revenge. The French were, however, in heart, still loyal to us, and +Father Gibault--who had been all the time with Captain Helm, as also had +Scout Givens--was using all his diplomacy for us. It was due to his +insistence that Colonel Vigo was released, and allowed to leave the +town, even though he refused to swear that he would do nothing hostile +to the British cause. + +Clark heard Colonel Vigo to the end, then asked two or three questions +as to General Hamilton's expectation of reënforcements, or apparent +apprehension lest he be attacked by the Americans. Colonel Vigo answered +that he seemed to anticipate neither the one nor the other, whereupon +Clark turned to his officers, now gathered about him, and said in the +tone of a man promulgating some joyful news. + +"Men, we march at once to Vincennes! We are too near success to yield to +the first reverse. Have the drum beat for roll call, McElroy!" + +When all the men, and many of the villagers, were assembled on the +parade ground before the fort, Clark clambered upon the body of a +calèche and made them one of his stirring speeches, recalling the +treachery of General Hamilton and the successful stratagem of Captain +Helm. + +At its conclusion, loud cheers rang forth, and the men crowded about the +calèche. + +"Right, Colonel," called one of the men, "we must thrash this +'hair-buyer' General; he has been needing a lesson for some time." + +"We'll thrash him, Colonel, never doubt it!" called another. + +"If the Kaskaskians wish to help us--if they have found us true allies +and kind friends, we promise them full recognition and reward with our +regular soldiers," added Clark. "Wish any of you to enlist with us?" + +"I! I! I!" came from a dozen throats, in chorus. + +"Légère shall captain you, if as many as twenty-five enlist," added +Clark. "Will you take down their names, Légère, and organize your +company?" turning to that Frenchman, who accepted both the honor and the +task with enthusiasm. + +The commons now presented a lively and almost a cheerful scene; the men +gathered in groups here and there, talking excitedly; drums were +beating, and the villagers chattering and gesticulating. Suddenly, too, +the western sun broke through environing mist and cloud, and poured over +the scene a crimson glow, which might have been a word of promise spoken +from Heaven, so much it cheered them. + +"McElroy," said Clark in my ear, "I would like a word apart with you, +please"; then as we walked off together: "It is time this rivalry +between us were somehow put an end to; there are too few of us pledged +to this dangerous enterprise to risk personal bitterness, especially +among the officers, who should be in entire accord. You love your +cousin, Ellen O'Neil, and so do I. You wish to marry her, so do I. Which +one of us she prefers I defy angel, devil, or man to determine. But she +must decide between us, and quickly. If it is you she loves, she must +say so, and I will resign all claim, and cease to trouble either of you. +If it is I, can you agree to do the same?" + +"Yes," I answered a little reluctantly. "If she loves you, Colonel +Clark, I promise to withdraw my suit. Only as her cousin and present +guardian, I would have a right, I think, to exact one promise of you, +and that is that you will forswear a single habit, and promise to settle +down when this war is over. Can a man who loves adventure, as you do, +resign it for the love of a woman--Colonel Clark--to say nothing of that +other passion which sometimes overmasters you?" + +Clark's face darkened and flushed, but with an effort he controlled +himself. "As her kinsman, McElroy, you doubtless have a right to speak +thus to me. You refer to my love for strong drink, and speak of my +passion for adventure. The one I could easily resign for Ellen's sake; +the other--'tis embedded in my nature, yet even adventure, methinks, +might be well exchanged for the love of such a woman; for domestic joys +with her to share them; for friends, home and children. Yes, McElroy, I +can imagine myself a quiet, respectable, church-going citizen--and yet +content." + +"Then the decision rests with Ellen alone. Should she choose you, I +promise to give my sanction to her choice. But I fear there is small +hope for either of us. Have you not heard her say that she intends to +take the veil, to be a nun?" + +"Yes, but I have never believed that she meant it in her heart of +hearts, though she has deceived herself into thinking she does, by +telling herself that it is her holy duty." + +"She does not seem to me called to the vocation of a nun." I was smiling +at the mere thought of the brilliant Ellen in a nunnery. + +"Surely she is not, McElroy; could she be happy, think you, shut out +from a world which interests her so fully? Your quiet valley, with its +dull routine of duty and religion made her rebellious, then how would +she endure life in a convent? No, she greatly misunderstands herself. I +should rather, by far, see her your wife, McElroy, than to know that all +her brilliancy and charms were hidden behind the chill walls of a +convent." + +"And I would far rather see her your wife than a nun." + +"Then let us pledge mutual aid, thus far--that we will both use all the +influence we may have with her to keep her from a convent. Shall we go +now to see her, and bid her choose between us?" + +"It does not seem to me to be the wisest course. Suppose she should +absolutely refuse both of us? or even in case we can persuade her that +she is not called to a convent life, and can induce her to make choice, +suppose one of us should be killed in this attack upon Vincennes, and he +the one she had chosen? Might she not afterwards feel it disloyal to the +memory of that one to listen to the addresses of the other, and so be +more than ever disposed to think herself set apart to virgin +consecration? Let us leave the matter undecided until one or both of us +return from Vincennes. I can trust you to take no less interest in my +safety on that account, and you, I think, can likewise trust me. Should +I fall, my rights in Ellen, such as they are, become yours. Should you +be killed, I inherit your claim to her. Meantime both are pledged to use +our utmost endeavors to keep her out of a convent--even though to do so, +we must help the other to win her." + +"Shrewdly said, McElroy," replied the Colonel, with a hearty laugh. "It +is a true Scotch-Irishman's bargain you propose--many chances to win, +few to lose. Your hand on it. Once more we are good friends, and loyal +comrades, pledged together and twice over to two noble causes: one--the +independence of the United States of America and the saving of the world +for democracy, and the other--to preserve to the world the beauty, the +wit, and the spirit of Ellen O'Neil." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + +I shall pass over the details of our arduous midwinter march of one +hundred and sixty miles to Vincennes across swamps and flooded plains. +Also any account of the three separate mutinies of our French recruits +and the almost irreparable loss of our boat, the _Willing_, and +consequent lack of food and rest while we worked feverishly, knee deep +in water, building canoes. + +The timely capture, after we had crossed the swollen river and reached +firmer ground, of an Indian canoe loaded with buffalo meat, corn, and +(strange circumstance) several large kettles, alone saved our men from +starving and our hazardous attempt from total disaster. On the afternoon +of the eighteenth day we reached Vincennes, and with our numerous flags, +which through all the suffering of the march we had never relinquished, +mounted on long poles, Clark disposed his little band in squads, and +ordered them to march some distance apart and to follow the winding road +(easily seen from the village, though hidden from the fort) to the town. + +Not only did we meet with no resistance from the townspeople, but +numbers of them offered to assist us in storming the fort. Tabac and his +hundred Indians, who were camping near the town, likewise offered their +services as allies. + +When the firing upon Fort Sackville began, General Hamilton was in +Captain Helm's quarters playing piquet with his prisoner, while the +latter brewed upon the hearth his favorite beverage--a spiced apple +toddy. Helm's room had been pointed out to us, and we aimed at his +chimney. Soot and plaster came tumbling down, half filled the kettle and +ruined the smoking drink. The players sprang to their feet. + +"I'll wager it's Clark, and his riflemen, General," said the jovial +Helm. "They'll take the fort, for they are the finest marksmen in the +world. Meantime they've spoiled our toddy, d---- 'em, and with malicious +intent you may be sure; some villager has indicated my quarters to +McElroy, I dare say, and he pays his respects to me, and announces their +presence this way. D---- their sure bullets and their rude jokes; wish +we had drunk that toddy sooner. Now look at it!" and he held out a ladle +full, gritty with dried mud, and black with soot. + +"You are cool ones, you Americans," said Hamilton, with an uneasy laugh. +"Pray, how do you suppose Clark would get his men here through these +floods?" + +"They swam, maybe--oh, Clark and his riflemen are equal to anything. +Might as well run up your white flag, General, and be done the sooner +with this unpleasant business; we can finish our game then, and have +Clark in to help drink my second brewing--he's good at that as at +fighting; we'll make a jolly party." + +"Curse your impudence, Helm! I'll not surrender the fort while there's a +man to the guns!" and Hamilton departed, sputtering with angry +excitement. + +All night brisk firing was kept up on both sides; at the same time +detachments of us worked like beavers to make a trench about a hundred +yards in front of the main gate. Early next morning Clark sent in a flag +with a bold demand for surrender, and during the respite afforded by its +reception the men ate a hearty breakfast, provided by the well disposed +townspeople. It was the first meal they had had in five days. This was +the message sent by Clark under his flag of truce, and it is so +characteristic of the man that I quote it verbatim: + + "Sir--In order to save yourself from the impending storm that + now threatens you, I order you immediately to surrender + yourself with all your garrison, stores, etc., etc. For if I am + obliged to storm, you may depend on such treatment as is justly + due a murderer. Beware of destroying stores of any kind, or any + papers or letters that are in your possession, for, by Heaven, + if you do, there shall be no mercy shown you. + + "G. R. CLARK." + +An angry and scornful refusal was returned by General Hamilton to this +stern demand, and the firing was renewed. Wherever a port-hole was open, +a dozen rifles were aimed upon it, and the bullets poured through like +hail; the gunners were killed as fast as they were sent to the guns. +Even the cracks in the walls afforded targets to the death-dealing +bullets of the riflemen, and more than one of the garrison fell pierced +through the eye. + +The afternoon of the second day brought a flag of truce from General +Hamilton, asking for a cessation of hostilities for three days, and a +conference with Colonel Clark at the fort. Clark refused the terms +offered by Hamilton, but agreed to a conference in the village church. +At this conference Clark's bold determination again won, and next +morning Fort Sackville was surrendered, with all its stores and +supplies, and General Hamilton and his garrison became prisoners of war. + +This was on the twenty-fifth day of February, 1779. It is a date +deserving enrollment among eventful days of American history. Henceforth +the Northwest was Virginia territory, until ceded by her to the Union. +In the negotiations which preceded the final treaty with England, it was +this fact--that Virginia troops had fought for, and conquered the right +bank of the Mississippi--which gave potency to the claim of our +commissioners, that the Father of Waters and not the Alleghanies, or the +Ohio, was our rightful boundary line on the west. + +Among our Revolutionary heroes, George Rogers Clark should stand high, +not only because of his daring and his achievements, but because of the +important and far-reaching results of his conquest. + +In the last few years, observing the rapidity with which our vast +Western territory is being settled and civilized, noting the rapid +increase of its population and prosperity, I begin to set a true value +upon the importance of this territory to the republic. Not only has it +given us room for necessary expansion, but it has quickened all our +energies, kindled our imaginations, and furnished a safe outlet for the +vigorous, throbbing life of our young nation. Moreover, there is no way +to calculate the important part this common territory has played in +uniting, into a firm and reasonable union, the several States of +America. It gave us a common interest, at a time when we thought our +state interests divergent; furnished us a means of satisfying with land +grants our discontented and unpaid soldiers; and is teaching us, through +experience learned in governing a joint possession, broad principles of +democratic government. In truth, the more I think upon it, the more +highly I rate the achievement of George Rogers Clark--in which those of +my race bore a worthy part. + +"Since fate has not ended our rivalry for us, McElroy," said Clark--when +affairs had been satisfactorily settled at Vincennes, Helm reinstated +with a somewhat larger garrison, and the other troops ready to return to +Kaskaskia--"the decision rests still with Queen Eleanor. We must force +her to a choice, somehow, and certainty is preferable to this suspense." + +"The sooner we know her decision the better I shall be suited," I +responded, "for, now that my year's parole has expired, I am eager to +get back to the regular service, especially as reënforcements from +Virginia can now be counted upon. Moreover, you are not likely to need a +large force to enable you to hold what we have won." + +"I agree with you," replied Clark. "You have stood by me and the +enterprise, like a brave man, and a true comrade, McElroy, and I am glad +our business is finished before your duty calls you back to Virginia. +You have been my right hand, though all my officers and men have alike +acquitted themselves nobly, from first to last." + +"With a leader such as we have had, only worthy conduct is possible," I +said, my eyes suddenly dim. + +"Thank you for that word, McElroy. That worthy men should deem me a +worthy leader, is all the praise I ask. And whatever may come between us +in the future, comrade, let us not forget that we have stood together in +peril and in suffering, have shared risks and dangers in a cause dear to +the hearts of both--not even the love of woman should separate comrades +such as we have been." + +"Nor shall it," I answered earnestly. "God bear me witness, Clark, that +I shall feel no malice should Ellen's heart answer to yours. I shall +wish you both happiness in all sincerity, and seek solace in my duty." + +"No fear, McElroy; you have the sturdiest and best traits of a noble +people. I have some of them, doubtless, as my Saxon blood gives me +right, but mixed, I fear, with a strain of wildness. I doubt if the +anchors of duty are strong enough to hold me to a wise, sane +life--unless Ellen's love shall help to weight them. As you have said, +comrade, an adventurous, reckless life has strong temptation for me; +therefore, if Ellen's love is not for me--and I forebode it is not, +though I'm not yet ready to resign all hope--I shall take it for a sign +that a kind fate is sparing her the woeful doom of a drunkard's wife." +He added, after a brief pause, during which a deep melancholy settled +upon his face, "Sometimes a man is doomed from his birth; from the +beginning he moves on to a prefixed destiny, and all his struggles to +save himself from the end he fears, avail nothing." + +My reply combatted Clark's fatalism with all the arguments I could +command, but I soon saw that his views on the subject of his destiny +were fixed; that with all his cheerful courage, and calculating +boldness, there was in his nature that strange vein of superstition or +fatalism which has marked so many military heroes:--Hannibal, Alexander, +Cæsar, Robert Bruce, Frederick the Great, and others less renowned. Nor +can one lay the fatalistic views Clark held to the charge of his +religion. Though Scotch-Irish by birth, he knew no more of Presbyterian +doctrines than did Father Gibault, and he had no religious principles. + +Clark, as I have said, was a fatalist, though he had no religion. I was +and am a Presbyterian, yet I have always believed in cause and effect, +the working of natural laws to natural ends. Nevertheless, though it be +apparently a contradiction, I believe in an overruling Providence, and +the care of God over the most insignificant of His creatures. Therefore, +when I knew myself to be ill, on that last day of our return march, and +said to Clark, "It seems, after all, comrade, as if fate meant to settle +this matter of rivalry between us," I meant it not as it was said, but +as Clark might look upon it. My future lay, I knew, in God's hands, and +even in that hour of evil apprehension--for I realized that my illness +would be a long and serious one--I felt satisfied to leave it there, and +to trust my life and Ellen's to His guidance. + +A faith that can sustain a man, and leave him calm and undismayed in +each crisis of his life, is worth much to him--call it by what name or +sect, distinguish it by whatsoever creed, you will. And these small +variations of our small minds, are, I conceive, little taken into +account by the Infinite, who knows we are but children, in mental and +spiritual development, and values our faith and our honest striving +without regard to the creeds with which we confuse ourselves. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + +Beyond this comforting assurance of my religion, there was but one idea +floating through my confused and fever-consumed brain, and that was a +longing vision rather than an idea--a vision of my mother's downy, +rose-scented beds; and then, as next best, of the heaps of feathers, +covered with gay Indian blankets, which constituted the pride of the +Kaskaskian homes. Oh, to feel a thick pillow under my head, to stretch +my aching limbs on the yielding feathers! It was the one thing in life I +wanted. I longed for rest as a tired infant longs for his mother's soft +breast, and tender arms. The hope of it alone gave me courage to drag my +weighted feet over the last two miles of our way. + +It was a little strange that the realization of the bliss of repose was +my first conscious thought after an illness of many days, so that I +could never realize that more than a night had intervened between the +longing and the realization, the agony and the relief. My first +conscious moment lasted just long enough for me to appreciate the +comfort of my couch; almost immediately I sank again into sleep or +unconsciousness. The next time I came to myself I was not only wide +awake, but alert and curious as I opened my eyes to note my +surroundings. They were rough limed walls with a low sloping ceiling; +bright-hued Indian rugs were upon the floor, and half-burned logs on +heavy dog-irons, with sputtering candle ends, burning upon a round +stand, in the farthest corner. In the shadow of the corner sat a figure, +its head against the wall. Some one had been good enough to sit up all +the night with me, and now that day was breaking, his eyes could be kept +open no longer, and he had fallen into a doze. I would be very quiet and +not wake him. + +Presently the figure stirred, rose and came to the bedside. I recognized +Clark, even in the dimness of the gray dawn. + +"You have been watching me, my Colonel?" I questioned, trying to smile, +and to put out the hand that was too feeble to answer to my will. Clark +came closer, saw my purpose, gave my hand a warm pressure, and lifted me +a little higher on my pillows. + +"Have I been very ill?" I asked. + +"You have been near enough the happy hunting ground to know the way, my +lad. But, thank God, you are better, and will live long enough, I trust, +to forget the route before you take another journey in that direction." + +"Where are we?" + +"In Kaskaskia, in one of the loft rooms of the Commandant's house." + +"Is Ellen below?" + +"Yes, and asleep, I hope; she and Angélique tend you by day, Légère, +Givens and I by night; but you must not talk yet a while; that's Dr. +Lafonte's orders. Drink this and go to sleep." + +I obeyed like a child, settling myself deeper in the feathers, with a +sigh of content. + +Upon my third awaking, I recognized Ellen's voice, and felt her soft +hand upon my brow. + +"Ellen!" I whispered, and opened my eyes to look at the face bending +above mine with the rapture a saint might feel upon seeing some beatific +vision, long prayed for. + +"Do not talk, Cousin Donald," she said, beaming a smile of cheerful +affection upon me; "Dr. Lafonte says you must be very quiet for a few +days more." + +I managed, despite my weakness, to get hold of her hand, and clung to it +feebly. "I will be perfectly quiet," I answered in tones so weak that I +wondered if it could be really I who was speaking, "if you will sit +beside me and hold my hand." + +She smiled, flushed a little, and as she held a glass of cordial to my +lips said coaxingly, "If you'll drink this and go to sleep, I will." +Then she sat down beside me, and held my nerveless fingers in her warm, +soft clasp, till I was dreaming an odd jumble of pleasant visions +through all of which flitted Ellen's face and form. + +This sort of half dream life went on I know not how long. I only +remember an incident here and there--floating faces, cups held to my +lips, and then the pleasant drifting off into long periods of dreamless +rest. At last I was strong enough to sit part of each day in a +high-backed chair, and after that I saw little of Ellen. She came twice +each day for a brief visit, but Angélique brought my broth and wine, +helped me from bed to chair, smoothed my pillows, and sometimes sang me +to sleep with wild, sweet Acadian ballads. Clark came in and out with +cheery presence, and encouraging words--but now that summer had come +again he had more affairs to administer, and so less time to give me. +Givens would linger, though, when he came on his daily visit, to tell me +the gossip of the village, of which the half wild, half drowsy life +suited him well. Légère and others visited me almost daily, and my +monotonous life was not a lonely one, though forced inaction grew more +and more irksome as my strength returned. + +"Clark," I said to him one day, "I can't stand this suspense any longer. +I want to know all, even if it be the worst. Since I am better, Ellen +comes in only when others are here, and makes prompt excuses to get +away. Her kindness is barely cousinly. And you too seem to avoid being +left alone with me. Have you spoken to Ellen?" + +"Yes, I have spoken--though to do so, comported not fairly with our +compact. But my feelings overmastered me. I have avoided telling you +till you should be stronger." + +"I am strong enough now," I answered, though I trembled from head to +foot; "tell me all--and quickly." + +"It was one evening when we thought you dying. I followed her from the +room, and was moved to tell her your last words to me--when you left her +to my care, and bade me give her perfect freedom in the disposition of +her life, but left us your blessing could she love me enough to link her +fate with mine. She wept afresh at the recital of your words; and then +with friendly candor there was no mistaking, thanked me for my love, and +accepted my offer of protection, even while she told me that whether you +lived or died there was no hope for me. Her quiet decision awed me, and +forced back all the protestations I had formulated against her vow of +nunnery. She declared it was no rash or hasty one, made to be repented +of, but that she held it to be more sacred and binding than any other +claim upon her heart and life, and that she waited only for your +restoration to health to go, under Father Gibault's escort, and yours, +if you would, to the convent at Quebec." + +"Comrade," I said, putting out my shaking hand to clasp his, "that is +not the news I expected--but it is much more distressing to me." + +"Perhaps I am wrong to tell you, and am but making the harder for you +the final disappointment," continued Clark after a silence of some +moments, during which he seemed to be thinking deeply, "but I am not +convinced that Ellen looks forward to the life of a nun. I believe she +once made a foolish vow and thinks it sacrilege to break it. And if I +can read a woman's heart through her face, McElroy, Ellen O'Neil feels +for you a tenderness that is neither usual nor natural for a woman to +feel towards one she regards only as a distant kinsman. I believe she +loves you--yet I cannot honestly say I think you will win her. Her will +is strong, and her religion has so far been the dominant principle of +her life. One side of her nature is fitted to the martyr's role, the +other side is strongly human--throbs with the full current of youth, +loves daring and doing, experiencing and enjoying, even as you and I. +Which part of her complex nature will triumph I cannot foresee. This I +can say honestly, comrade," and Clark laid a hand upon my knee, and his +truth-speaking eyes looked straight into mine, "even with my own +grievous disappointment fresh upon me, I would see Ellen the happy and +joy-giving wife of my true-hearted friend with delight, compared to the +feeling with which I shall see her the self-immolated 'bride of the +church'--which is, in my opinion, but another name for victim to +superstition and priestly tyranny. The fates grant that you may win her, +McElroy." + +An hour I sat in deep thought--then I made my vow. If in Ellen's heart +there dwelt but the weakest germ of love for me, it should grow on until +it uprooted all other influences. I bade the whole Roman Church +defiance. A girl's superstition to come between Ellen and her life's +fulfillment? between me and lifelong happiness? I swore it should not +be! She should love me more and more till love mastered her, choking +superstition and conquering her will. Once convinced, she would see it +all as I did, and be glad all her life that I had saved her from a fatal +mistake. I girded myself afresh for the conflict, as it were, each hour +of the days that followed, and planned my campaign against a maiden's +heart as carefully as a general plans an advance into the enemy's +country. My first move must be to keep her from reaching a final +decision as long as possible; my second to take her, upon some pretext, +back to the valley with me. + +Meanwhile I hastened my recovery by every means possible, watching +impatiently the summer moving on to autumn. From my window I could see +the slow, gliding river, glancing in the sun's rays, and the stagnant, +spreading bayous, gay with spotted lilies, and fringed with swaying +grasses, while birds, as gayly colored as the blossoms, rode blithely +upon the springy reeds. The meadows were green with waving corn, or +yellow with the ripened grass, and the rich odor of the wild grapes came +upon the breeze with other and more elusive fragrances. But gliding +river, reed-fringed bayou, and luxuriant meadow, were not half so fair +to my real vision as the dear valley to my imaginary one. I longed to +see the undulating blue ranges, and the varied landscape, with the +comfortable farmhouses dotted over it. I was eager to be off for home, +to hear the late news from the war, and to bear Ellen away from Romish +influences. + +At last spirit could wait the body's leisure no longer, and though still +weak and emaciated, I made a firm resolve to start for home within a +week or two. Then I sent Angélique with a message to Ellen, demanding a +private interview. + +"Your message is earnest, almost peremptory, Cousin Donald," said Ellen, +coming in with a playful smile on her lips; "am I to have another +scolding, and for what? My conscience acquits me this time; I have +stopped coquetting with the officers, or walking alone without the +village; therefore I know not what wrong I have done to deserve a +kinsman's reprimand." + +"'Tis not to scold, but to entreat that I have sent for you, Ellen," I +replied. "Will you sit down here before me, and give me your serious +attention for a brief while?" Perhaps it was the tone of my voice, or it +may have been that my face betrayed me, for Ellen flushed and dropped +her lids an instant over her eyes, as she took the chair I had +indicated, yet saying with an air of banter: + +"My 'serious attention,' Cousin Donald? You plead for it as if 'twere a +rare favor, and one most difficult to obtain;--am I so seldom serious?" + +"Two weeks from to-day, Ellen, I start back to Virginia," ignoring her +playful manner; "my duty calls me thither; but I cannot leave you here +in Kaskaskia without lawful guardian or protector. You have long known, +Ellen, that I love you with my whole being, that the dearest and most +sacred wish of my heart is to make you my wife. Will you marry me, +Ellen, and go back to Virginia to a home of your own, with the +protection and constant devotion of one whose whole life shall be +dedicated to your happiness?" + +The flush on Ellen's cheeks leaped upward to her brow in a flame of +crimson; her eyes grew darker; and upon her face came a look of mingled +sorrow, yearning and resolve. + +"Oh, my cousin, have I not said it often enough," with the +sob-suggesting catch, vibrating like harp tones through her words--"that +never can I be wife to any man? Do even you believe that all this time I +have been jesting on a subject so sacred--that I have but used pretense +of holy calling as a coquettish wile to lure men on? Yet how can I find +fault with you for having thought so, since my life has so belied my +words? I have been naught but a frivolous coquette these months past--as +if I would get all of worldly triumph, and food for vanity possible out +of my life, during the respite which circumstances have afforded me from +the fulfillment of my vow. Mine has been lip service, only, not yet have +I known true heart consecration. But I will know it, Donald, will +possess the true nun's heart, if all of self must be immolated by hourly +chastisement and self-denial to achieve it. I have solemnly pledged my +life to prayer, and penance, and holy service. Will not you, Cousin +Donald, my only friend and protector, my one source of human strength, +help me to keep my vow to God?" and she clasped her hands in passionate +entreaty, and lifted moist eyes and trembling lips to my serious gaze. + +"Dear Ellen!" and I spoke with a new emotion of respect for the depth of +her feeling, "I want more than aught else to help you, but I do not +fully understand, nor see the reason for your being so determined, and +feeling so strongly--will you not tell me all, so that I can better +understand you? When was this vow you speak of made?" + +"That bitter night I was lost upon the mountain, when, numb with cold, +and shaken with terror of the wolves pursuing us, I fell from the +rearing horse, frightened too by the wild beasts, and lay there in agony +of fear and pain, through long hours, listening to the wolves, as they +chased the poor horse, and each moment expecting to feel their fangs in +my flesh. I prayed as never I had prayed before, to the Holy Virgin and +her sacred Son, promising to consecrate all the rest of my life to +prayer and humble service, in some rigorous convent, if they would send +me deliverance from a violent death. Even as I prayed I fell into sleep, +or unconsciousness, and awoke in Father Givens' house. He nursed me back +to health, and I had it in my mind to induce him to take me to Baltimore +to the Convent of the Sacred Heart, had you not come by with the message +from Mr. Jefferson. I saw the scout's desire was to go with you, and I +would not stand between him and his wish. Already he had done too much +for a willful girl who had no claim upon his charities, save the claim +of common humanity. I gave all my energies to persuading him that a life +of adventure appealed to me even more strongly than the life of a +convent retreat, and so fed his inclination to join in the adventure +that he could not resist it. At last he consented to purchase for me the +coveted disguise as his foster son, and when once he had seen me wear +it, and watched my rifle practice, he grew interested in my plans, and +made no further difficulty. + +"For the first weeks I was buoyed by the spirit of excitement, and +enjoyed the free, outdoor life I had been accustomed to as a child. Not +until you and Thomas joined us did I realize the boldness of my deed. I +dreaded to have you find me out, yet I could not bear to be left behind +in Kentucky. What the result might be haunted my thoughts and my dreams. +Again I added daily vows to daily prayers. Were I safely delivered once +more, delivered from the coil of questionable circumstances with which I +had rashly surrounded myself, I would without delay, find my way to some +peaceful convent and atone for all my willful past by years of devout +consecration. You know how wonderfully I was delivered--was spared even +blame or question; how fortunately I have since been placed. + +"Were not all my prayers heard and answered? Dare I then break my +vows--lie to the holy Virgin and her sacred Son? Accept divine +deliverance, and repay with broken promises, violated oaths? Could you +love and trust a wife who would come to you with a sacrilege upon her +conscience?" + +"My dear one!" answering her solemnly, as she had spoken, and taking the +fluttering fingers firmly in my own to still them; "I will not ask you +to violate a vow you regard so sacredly. I will live all my life with an +unsatisfied longing, an aching, hungry heart, rather than to say one +word to urge you against your conscience. But I think you reason and +feel morbidly. Is there no other life of consecration to God's service +for a woman than that to be found behind convent walls? Think you the +life of wife and mother less holy, less self-sacrificing, of less savory +incense to God than that of a nun? + +"What service can a nun render to God that a consecrated wife and mother +may not offer Him? Prayer? Does not the wife pray with added fervor--for +herself, that she may live a worthy exemplar to those she loves--for +them, with more earnest zeal because love prompts each petition--and for +all the world more fervently because those she lives for are a part of +it. Deeds of unselfish charity? Are they less in God's sight, believe +you, than the daily immolation of her own wishes which each true wife +practices upon the altar of domestic duty. And what need we most in this +new world? Is it not consecrated men and women to spend all the powers +of their being for peace, purity and enlightenment? We hope to found in +this virgin land a wondrous republic where freedom of conscience and +equal opportunities will be offered to the downtrodden of all nations. +But we may not hope to perpetuate such republic, unless there be noble +women--women of the unusual intelligence and gifts with which God has +honored you--to strive with us toward that ideal." + +"There is truth in most you say, Donald," a glow answering mine on her +face, her hands still and warm now in mine; "you move me always by your +calm reasoning. Yet I am bound by my vow. Did I let my selfish +inclinations plead, I might easily persuade myself that your logic is as +true for me as it would be for another, not so solemnly pledged as I am. +But the very leaning of desire warns me to guard my sacred promises the +more sturdily against temptation." In her earnestness she did not +realize the half confession she had made, but my heart leaped within me, +and a quiver of joy thrilled to my finger tips. + +"Tell me, Ellen," and I held her hands in a tighter clasp, and claimed +the full gaze of her eyes, "had you never made this vow, could you +consent to be my wife--would there have been hope of happiness for me?" + +"Oh, Donald!" a cry of entreaty, following the blush that swam upward to +the roots of her hair, "it is not fair to ask me--you have promised to +help me--you should not make my duty so hard--so very hard for me." + +I kissed the hands now cold and trembling again, not with passion, but +with reverence on my lips, and laid them gently on her knee; then said, +with a mighty effort at self-control--for I would have given the world +to take her in my arms, and dared hope she would find it hard to resist +me: + +"Forgive me, Ellen; I will ask you nothing; you shall follow your duty +as you see it. If you feel your promise binds you to the utmost +self-sacrifice, I shall use no power your confidence has given me to +persuade you from your duty. But why should you remain in this +wilderness unprotected--for I must needs follow my soldier's duty back +to Virginia--waiting the uncertain chance of safe convoy to Quebec, when +you could go under my escort to the valley, stay there with your lawful +protectors till the war is over, and then be escorted by them, with due +consent and proper honor to your chosen retreat in Baltimore? There you +will not only have wider sphere of usefulness among people of your own +race and language, but you will be near your parents' graves and in +reach of your relatives, should they need you, or you them. There I +might even visit you sometimes--it would be a consolation and a joy had +I only the happiness to hold your hand an instant, and to catch the old +dear smile through the grating of convent bars. + +"Moreover, Ellen, though I say this not in harshness, you would feel, I +think, surer of God's blessing on your sacrifice if you were to enter +your holy life at peace with all men--without bitterness in your heart +toward the unfaithful guardians to whom your parents left you." + +"That thought has troubled me," said Ellen, tears springing to her eyes, +and making a soft film over their velvet blueness; "it does not seem +meet for me to take the sacred veil with a spirit unforgiving and +unforgiven. I would welcome the opportunity to beg Uncle Thomas' +forgiveness, and to apologize to Aunt Martha for my willfulness. I had +no wish, believe me, Donald, to cause them suffering. I thought to +relieve Uncle Thomas of an obstacle to his domestic happiness, and Aunt +Martha of a source of much annoyance. Remorse has pursued me since I +knew of Thomas' following me, that he was willing to desert his parents +and his religion for me. I made what reparation I could by sending him +back to them, and his nature is not one to grieve long. If you, Cousin +Donald, would but carry to them my repentance, and obtain their +forgiveness, and their consent to my taking the veil, I might be able to +do sufficient penance for my other sins." + +"The truest reparation you can make them, Ellen, the one they would most +value, and which will alone relieve them from the reproach of their +consciences, and the odium of their neighbors, will be to go back with +me, live in peace and amity with them for a time, and go from them in +kindness to your convent seclusion." + +"It is indeed a cup of humbling you would hold to my lips," said Ellen, +paling suddenly--"yet doubtless I need to drink of that very cup. Pride, +I think, is my besetting sin." + +"Pride and love of your own will, Ellen,--unseemly faults for a fair and +gentle woman--yet offset by rare virtues." + +"Do not flatter me, Donald; let me face the truth; in showing me my real +self, you are my truest friend. Pride and self-will! when I should +possess 'a meek and quiet spirit,' and 'an humble and a contrite heart' +before I shall be ready for my holy calling." + +"May it not be, Ellen, that you are mistaking your determination to +fulfill a rash vow, made under exciting circumstances, for a true call +founded on real consecration of heart and spirit? Talk with Father +Gibault; he is a holy man, yet a just and reasonable one; tell him all, +and ask him to help you to determine your path of duty. Then come and +tell me your decision--and with God's help, dear one, I will add to +yours all my strength and courage, to enable you to follow where your +conscience leads you. But oh, Ellen, will you not tell me once, just +once, that you do love me, and would give yourself to me if you were +free?" + +"Donald! Donald! you must not disturb my soul by such entreaties!" she +cried in pleading tones. "Do you not see that if once it were said, it +could never again be unsaid?" and she left me hastily, her head drooping +like a flower upon its stalk. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + +What if Father Gibault's priestly zeal should prove stronger than the +common sense, and sound humanity, I credited him with? What if he should +conclude that the immolation of two lives was necessary to the saving of +one soul? Should strengthen Ellen's superstition as to the sacred +obligation of her impulsive vow? Well! in that case I should have two +strong forces to war against, Ellen's superstition, and a priest's +influence. But I had no thought of resigning Ellen until the authority +of the Roman Church had put her forever beyond reach of my hopes. She +had been created for love, and happiness, for the duties and ties of +earth; once the fervor of self-sacrifice had exhausted itself, she would +be miserable in a convent. I thought I knew her nature better than she +understood it, and meant to save her from self-immolation for a happier +life, and one, I truly believed, not less holy in God's sight. As +impatient as I was to take once more my part in the struggle waging +beyond the Alleghanies, I meant not to leave the Illinois Country until +Ellen had consented to go with me, or was immured for life behind +convent walls. + +Father Gibault was with her when she came to me the next morning, and my +heart beat fast with apprehension; his presence seemed to convey a hint +of doom to my hopes. Ellen's face was very serious, but rigidly +self-controlled, and about her was an air of unaccustomed meekness and +humility. + +"The Father has made my duty plain, Cousin Donald," she began; "I must +go back to the guardians to whom my parents left me, and go from them to +my seclusion, when, by meekness and obedience, I have won their +forgiveness; I must shrive myself for the holy life by conquering will +and pride," and she turned and left us, without having once lifted her +eyes to mine. But my first point was gained, and my heart beat more +calmly as I turned to Father Gibault, still standing by the window, +looking pensively upon the landscape, to exclaim vehemently: + +"And you think a rash vow, made by a child, under stress of fright and +suffering, obligatory, Father Gibault? You will allow this girl to feel +herself doomed to self-immolation because of an irresponsible promise to +her own excited conscience? Cannot you foresee that she will live a long +life of regret, and unavailing struggle against natural inclinations? +And can you believe a half-hearted sacrifice, an immolation of the body +only, is more likely to fit Ellen for Heaven, or more sure to do God's +service, than the thrice holy calling of Christian wife and mother?" + +"You are vehement in your argument beyond necessity, monsieur," answered +the Father, in his soft precise English, and smiling calmly at me from +the chair in which he had seated himself, while I strode up and down the +room excitedly. + +"The matter excuses vehemence," I answered. "Have you not guessed that I +love my Cousin Ellen, that I wish her for my wife? And I would have good +hope of winning her but for this absurd superstition of your cold and +bigoted faith, that a fair and innocent young woman does honor to God by +shutting herself up and doing penance--thus perpetuating a heathen +custom, originating in the need of unprotected women for a place of +refuge in a lawless age, to a more civilized time, which has greater +need of the example and the inspiration of holy matrons, than for +useless bead-counting nuns." + +"You have unsuspected fluency of the tongue, Captain McElroy," and +Father Gibault's habitual expression of gentle benevolence had given +place to one of droll humorousness. "Priest though I be, and with mind, +I trust, fixed usually on holier things, I could not easily have blinded +myself to signs of earthly love so evident as those you have shown for +your cousin. I guessed many things when the maiden lay ill of fever last +autumn, and you haunted my steps for news of her. I wonder not that you +love Ellen O'Neil. A maiden more sweet I have not known, nor one better +worth a man's heart. When I learned of her vow, I thought first of you, +with much sympathy, and fearing that her convictions were but the +expression of extreme sensibility natural to girlhood, I was most +careful not to say aught to fix them into resolve. Later, seeing that +she took a maiden's natural pleasure in her small court, and that her +influence over Colonel Clark and the rest of you was good, softening and +restraining you, I soothed Ellen's unquiet conscience, and showed her +that the holy God had given her a present work she could not wisely +abandon until the way was opened to her. Moreover, I advised her to test +farther her heart, and to be sure of full, free consecration before she +should take the holy vows of a nun. Neither the Supreme God nor the holy +church value half-hearted service, and such vow as Ellen made is binding +only so long as conscience, will, and heart are in full accord. Ellen +goes with you, Captain McElroy, free in conscience, unfettered by +priestly admonition." + +These words of Father Gibault's lifted a weight from my heart. I seized +both his hands, and shook them gratefully, saying: "You are as honest +and as true hearted as I thought you, Holy Father," calling him for the +first time by the reverend title the Kaskaskians gave him. "I have not +words sufficient to express my appreciation of your interest in my +happiness and your regard for Ellen's welfare." + +"I have advised you both as my conscience dictates," he answered, +resuming the expression of benevolence, blended with worldly +abstraction, and the tone of fatherly authority usual to him. "In doing +so I have shifted my responsibility for Ellen O'Niel's future to you, +until she is safe in her uncle's home; even then you must share jointly +with her other kinsmen the trust which I, as her priestly guardian, have +transmitted to you. Had I not full confidence in your honor, and your +manly faith, Captain McElroy, I could not give you so delicate a charge +with free conscience. You are to conduct this maiden in all safety and +honor to her uncle's home; you are to leave her there in unmolested +peace for at least one year--longer if she desires--and then allow her +to choose, with absolute freedom, between your love and a nun's life. +She is to choose, I repeat, freely, as her heart dictates and her +conscience approves. Meantime, while she is under your sole guardianship +you are to take no slightest advantage of her unprotected state, nor +even of her new-found humility, to wring from her any promise or to +exact any condition; you will not so much as trouble her with +protestations, nor frighten her with appeals and entreaties." + +"Most solemnly, I promise all, Holy Father," and I raised my eyes and +hand to Heaven; "in no way will I trouble Ellen's peace for a full year; +I will conduct her in honor and safety to the care of her lawful +guardians, who shall in future be accountable to me for her happiness; +and if she shall adhere to her resolutions to take nun's vows, my mother +shall escort her to the convent she may choose." + +"You leave for Virginia at once, Captain McElroy?" + +"In ten days, if my cousin can be ready so soon." + +"You will take all the brightness from Kaskaskia with Ellen, and leave +many sad hearts behind. Others go with you?" + +"Captain Bowman and twenty of his company." + +"You make the journey by water?" + +"To the headwaters of the Alleghany; there I shall procure horses, and +we will make our way to the valley by the nearest pass." + + * * * * * + +Givens, after much deliberation with himself and others, concluded to +remain with Colonel Clark; there was strong possibility, indeed, that he +would settle in Kaskaskia for the rest of his life. Only one thing +seemed to mar his content--that he would have fewer opportunities in the +Illinois country for killing Indians than in Kentucky, or almost +anywhere else in our borders. Colonel Clark had concluded an alliance +with all the tribes in that part of our territory, and was very positive +in his instructions that no quarrel was to be stirred up among them, and +no excuse whatever given them to molest the whites, and they seemed +equally to desire to live in friendly relations with the Americans. + +"Wut in ther name uv all ther saints en all ther holies," said Givens, +who had been almost converted to the Catholic faith, "Cunnel Clark mout +be hevin' en his mind I doan' know--but, ef he'd er listened ter me he'd +never made no sich er terms with ther murderin' savages es ud lef no +chance fur er man ter git his revenge on 'em fur injuries es is more an +human flesh en blood ought ter be axed ter forgive." + + * * * * * + +Ellen parted with Givens, Father Gibault, and the faithful Angélique and +her many friends in Kaskaskia, with heartfelt sorrow, and they from her +with evident grief. It seemed, at the last, almost cruel to take her +away from so much tenderness, and sympathy, to a cold, loveless +atmosphere. I, too, bade them, and gay Majore Légère, and genial Dr. +Lafonte, farewell, and took my leave of the pleasant village of +Kaskaskia with genuine regret. + +The parting with Clark was a real heart wrench. He had said good-by to +Ellen cheerfully, even gayly,--for it was not his way to wear heart on +sleeve--presenting her with a large Indian basket full of amulets, +chains of shells, small totems, rugs, blankets, beaded moccasins, and +other curious things of Indian workmanship, to remind her, he said, of a +year's life among savages, red savages and white: + +"The happiest year of my life," said Ellen, beaming gratitude upon him +for his cheerful and unselfish God-speed to us; "and also the most +glorious of Colonel Clark's. I go back to chant the victories, both in +war and diplomacy, of our American Hannibal!" + +"The comparison is too flattering, Queen Eleanor," said Clark, but I +knew he was pleased. I thought of Hannibal's end, even as I saw the +force of Ellen's comparison, and a sad premonition was borne in upon my +mind, adding to my grief at parting with him. + +"If our expedition has been successful, even beyond our hopes," added +Clark, "most of the credit is due to my loyal officers and my brave men. +Especially must I share any glory that is mine with this brave, true +comrade," and he laid a hand upon my shoulder, and looked into my eyes +with his own bold and piercing ones, softened to the tenderness of a +woman's. I knew this generous speech was made to forward my cause with +Ellen, and I choked in my throat as I grasped his hand again, and, when +I had given him one look of thanks, must needs turn aside to regain +control of my feelings. + +"If you needed me, Clark, I could not leave you," I found voice, +presently, to say; "I but go to fight for our cause beyond the +Alleghanies. But never can I have a commander more honored, or more +beloved." + +"Success to you, McElroy, in war and peace!--in all things you may have +at heart!" he answered me, also much moved; "and when you have won all +you strive for I shall come to rejoice with you. Farewell, comrade!" + +"Farewell, Queen Eleanor! A pleasant journey and a pleasant home-coming! +Forget me not in your prayers, sweet saint!" and he bent and kissed her +hand, then handed her into the boat with a courtly grace which well +became him. + +He was still standing upon the wharf, when we made the first bend in the +river--his arms folded, his gaze fixed upon the receding boat, as if he +saw it but as part of a vision. We waved to him, but he did not move. +The virgin freshness of the early morning, and the roseate radiance of +the newly risen sun brought out, with added force, the heroic +proportions and carriage of the man, silhouetted like a carven statue, +representing human will, against the far sweeping, luxuriant bluffs, +crowned with the growth of centuries, marking that vast and opulent +territory which his single purpose had won and held for his country. + + * * * * * + +Floating down the river through the soft October haze on our comfortably +fitted flat boat was ideal journeying. Often now when I fall into +reveries, I live over again those golden autumn days, and see the rich +and varied landscape through which we drifted with the swift current of +the majestic Mississippi. + +Ellen spent the days and half the nights on deck, protected from sun and +dew, by the overhanging roof of the little cabin in which she slept. She +had her own chair which Clark had ordered conveyed on board from the +commandant's house, and there were thick Indian mats for her feet. I +sprawled on these, hour after hour, making talk to amuse her, or +listening to her when she pleased to entertain me, and entirely content +were she silent, or talkative, gay or pensive, so only there was no +shadow of regret upon her face. But one thing was lacking,--a book or +two to read from. In lieu of them we told each other stories we had +read, or repeated passages, prose or poetry, as we could remember. Ellen +gave me long extracts from Shakespeare. I recited parts from "The School +for Scandal"--that being, in truth, all the poetry I had learned by +heart since my schoolboy days, and, seeing Ellen was interested, +described the costumes we wore at its playing in Philadelphia, and the +appearance and air of the players. From that I was led on to talk of the +society I had mingled with in Philadelphia, and then of the Bufords and +their kindness to me. Ellen's questions and shrewd guessing brought me +at last to narrate the whole story of my whilom infatuation for Miss +Nelly, and the narrow escape I made from being led to play a traitor's +part by her wiles. + +"She must be loyal Tory, indeed," was Ellen's comment, "or else she knew +you less than her opportunities permitted, for she risked her happiness +most rashly." + +"Her happiness was little at stake, I have thought since; had she truly +loved me she would have prized my honor more." + +"She is fair and very winsome, did you say?" + +"Yes; her manner wins you whether you will or no, and her beauty is of a +kind to bewitch--to lead a man on like a swamp light, till, before he +realizes his danger, he is hopelessly entangled." + +"Would she not resume her sway over you were you to see her again?" + +A throb of joy set my blood bounding at this question. Did it not +suggest a twinge of jealousy in Ellen's heart? And the thought modified +my answer somewhat. + +"Can a man ever measure the influence of a woman's beauty and +fascination upon him? Miss Buford bewitched me once; she might be able +to do so again--unless my heart had some firm anchor to hold by." + +Ellen sighed lightly, "I wish you had been born a Catholic, Cousin +Donald." + +"Or you a Protestant, sweet Ellen." + +Her eyes did not answer the playful smile in mine, nor did she, as +usual, chide my endearment; instead, she sighed lightly again, and +looked dreamily at the water, breaking about our boat in golden ripples +under the slanting rays of a declining sun. "It were a difficult thing +for a Catholic to be happy in the valley, Donald." + +"When Mr. Jefferson has carried his statute of religious liberty it will +not be. The persecuted become readily persecutors; but when we shall all +enjoy complete religious freedom, such as this statute gives us, we +shall be more liberal toward others. And when the war is ended, and we +have formed a free government, we shall have ideals so lofty before us, +and scope so broad for all our energies, that there'll be small time or +inclination for narrow bickering about creed or doctrine." + +"And this statute will be enacted?" + +"Without doubt. It is one of Mr. Jefferson's cherished measures; and +when peace is won, he with Mason, Henry and others, I among them, of +divergent creeds, but a single ideal, are pledged to give all our +energies to its enactment." + +"The brave, I think, are ever liberal-minded," said Ellen, "yet they are +stubborn too, fixed as adamantine in their principles." And then, as she +was wont to do when the talk between us grew personal, she called +Captain Bowman to her side and asked him laughingly, if he still thought +a Catholic worse than an unbeliever, and priests monsters of +superstition, now that he had lived among them, and had known good +Father Gibault? + +"If ever I have thought so I do no longer," replied Bowman. "The +Kaskaskians are honest Christians, and have been faithful friends to us, +while Father Gibault is, I must admit, the equal for piety and +charitableness of any Presbyterian parson I have ever known." + +"Then will you not tell them so in the valley?" pleaded Ellen; "cannot +you, with good conscience, speak a kind word for a misunderstood and +reviled sect?" + +"But I have yet one serious objection to your church, Queen Eleanor, +that it encourages the immuring behind convent walls such as you--women +whom the world _needs_ to leaven its sodden mass of selfishness and sin. +Since you have relinquished your vow of nunnery, however, and are half +willing to reward as he deserves this brave comrade of mine, I can +heartily promise not only my tongue but my rifle also to your defense, +and the defense of your religion--should there ever be need." + +"But you misapprehend my cousin's purposes, Captain Bowman," I made +haste to say; "she is not my promised wife; she but goes to her uncle's +home under our protection, and from there, when she is fully ready, to a +convent." + +"Grant me your pardon for a soldier's bluntness," said Bowman with an +embarrassed bow to Ellen; then followed my lead eagerly, as I broached +another subject. + +Fair weather attended us the entire route, with only summer showers now +and then to drive us to the cabin's shelter; and placid currents made +the rowing, when we came to ascend the Ohio and the Alleghany, easy +work. More fatiguing was the landward journey, which Bowman, Ellen, and +I continued, in company, across mountain range after mountain range, +valley after valley. When the top of the last ridge was reached, and the +fair land of the Shenandoah lay unrolled to my eager vision, I lifted my +hat, and said aloud: + +"Thank God! once more I am home!" + +"Aye, thank God for this crowning mercy!" added Bowman devoutly. There +it lay, the sweet, peaceful scene I loved better than nature's grandest +efforts! My horse must have felt the joyful impetus throbbing in my +heart and tingling through my nerves, for he quickened his gait to match +my eagerness. + +We were still some miles from home, and the sun was setting, when Bowman +halted at a farm gate. + +"A cousin of mine lives a mile beyond this meadow," he said, "and I +shall spend the night with him. He will gladly welcome my friends, and +since you cannot hope to reach home before midnight, McElroy, why not +come with me? Queen Eleanor is already tired; see how her shoulders +droop; and for an hour she has not spoken." + +I thought I saw assent in Ellen's eyes and so answered him, "Thank you, +Captain, for a kind suggestion. I accept gladly for my cousin, but I am +too hungry for a sight of home to need rest. On the day after to-morrow, +Ellen, I shall return for you." + +"You are very thoughtful, Cousin Donald," said Ellen, in low tones, as +Captain Bowman considerately rode up to the gate, and occupied himself +with its fastenings. "You will break the news of my coming, and soften +the way for me. Good-by--till Thursday." Then she added with a merry +smile, "You may promise what you will for me; I shall be good, and meek, +and humble; I will even learn the Shorter Catechism, and wear my beads +and crucifix beneath my bodice. It is easier to be good"--her expression +changing to one of serious gratitude--"when one has a friend and +sympathy." + +"And love, you should say, also, Ellen. My tongue is bound by a promise, +for a year, yet I wish you not to forget that I shall love you with +unchanging devotion to the end of my life. Every breeze that caresses +your hair, Ellen, every sunbeam that kisses your cheek, will bring a +love message from my heart to yours. You cannot get away from my love, +dear one, never again while you live! It will follow you even behind +convent walls, should ever your conscience take you there. You will then +bury my happiness as well as your own." + +The words had sprung from my heart, and were spoken without +premeditation. I realized, as soon as they were uttered, that they +strained, perhaps, the strict letter of my compact with Father Gibault; +yet when I saw the flush upon Ellen's cheeks, and met for an instant a +tender glance, which seemed to beam without permission from those rare +blue eyes, I did not regret the impulse which had made me speak. Who can +set bounds to a lover's tongue, or demand of the eye of love that it +express only what cold reason bids it say? Hearts have swayed heads +since Adam listened to Eve, in the garden, and will to the end of time. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + +The messages I bore Ellen from Aunt Martha, when I rode to Mr. White's +to bring her home, were ample in assurances of forgiveness and +reconciliation, while Uncle Thomas' were full of affection and +satisfaction at her return. Aunt Martha I found much changed; she looked +not only older, but a new expression of meekness struggled with the +habitual one of self-righteousness and indomitable will. Mother, ready +as ever to make excuses for the faults of those she loved, declared that +Aunt Martha's whole nature had been softened by recent chastenings, and +that she had even lost her restless, bustling energy, so that one could +spend, now, a peaceful afternoon with her and not be conscious of having +interrupted a soap boiling, a candle molding, or a quilting. It was +evident from my brief talk with her that Ellen's return was a great +satisfaction; that she regarded it in some sense as a vindication in the +eyes of husband, son, and neighbors. Thomas had just departed for +Liberty Hall Academy to continue his ministerial studies, which was one +reason, perhaps, that Aunt Martha could welcome Ellen sincerely. +Especially had Thomas' full confession of all that had passed between +Ellen and himself softened his mother's heart toward her, and increased +her regret for past harshness. + +Thomas, I found, had been most considerate, having given no hint to any +one of my feelings toward Ellen. But I told my mother, as we sat +talking, late into the night, and got her blessing, with a promise of +profound secrecy, and whatever help she might find quiet opportunity to +give me. All my own affairs were for the present as I would have them, +and my heart would have been as light as thistledown but for the +discouraging war news I had from my father. + +The year that had given us such unbroken success, and such fruitful +victories in the Northwest, had been one of disaster for the American +cause in the East. The British still held New York; Fort Washington had +been taken, Continental currency was depreciated in value till it was no +longer possible to procure necessary army supplies; the troops had not +been paid for months, and were ragged, poorly equipped, half starved, +and mutinous. Georgia had fallen, and South Carolina sorely beset by +home and foreign enemies, could not hope to hold out much longer unless +strongly reënforced from without. Worse still, the gallant and patriotic +Arnold had turned traitor, and a shuddering horror and apprehension was +upon the land--since the noble and high-spirited Arnold could fall to +such depths, might we not look for treason everywhere? On hearing all +this discouraging news, I determined at once to visit Colonel Morgan, +and to urge him, despite his physical infirmities and his justly wounded +pride--for Congress had not yet raised him to the rank to which his past +services had entitled him--to call together his scattered riflemen once +more, and go to the help of the hard-pressed patriots of the sparsely +settled South. And so I told Ellen as we rode together to Uncle Thomas'. + +"Shall I feel as lonely, and as friendless when you are gone, I wonder, +as I did the first time you left the valley with Morgan?" said Ellen +with a light sigh. + +"You were a child then," I answered, "and had few resources. Now you are +sufficient to yourself. I fear you will not miss me half so much as you +will the kindly Kaskaskians, and the good Father, and the faithful +Angélique." + +"Bless their memories! I shall miss them, and long for a sight of their +kind faces. But, all the more, since they are so far away, I shall miss +my one true and tried friend in the valley." + +"Will you be very lonely and unhappy in the valley, Ellen? Would you +have been far better contented had I left you in Kaskaskia?" I +questioned anxiously. + +"Father Gibault thought it my duty, Cousin Donald, and more and more I +understand that it is the one right thing for me. I must find the way my +God would have me walk by following the lowly path of duty, and by +making reparation for past sins. Do you remember, Cousin, that night +before you left the valley--when you found me star-gazing on the rock +overhanging the spring?" + +"Aye, Ellen! The vision of you, as you looked that night, has come back +to me again and again--so often that I began to question, long before I +knew I loved you, as man loves but one woman in his life, what import +the vision might have, and to wonder if it foretold the crossing of our +lives in some fateful way. That picture was the last that floated +through my dream the day I slept in the forest, when you saved me from +the Indian's tomahawk." + +"Memory, it seems to me, has mysterious power,--beyond our will to +guide, or our reason to explain," Ellen replied. "That night of our +farewell at the spring, the first fibers of affection and sympathy +reached out from your heart to mine, and through all these months have +stretched and held till they have grown strong enough to bring me back +to my duty." + +"May they grow yet stronger, Ellen, till our hearts are knitted together +for life, and for eternity!" + +Ellen's serious absorption was shaken by these words, and she blushed +like any earthly minded maiden, as she answered: + +"My heart will ever feel itself bound to yours by the fibers of a deep +and strong affection, Cousin Donald, wherever my duty leads me. There +can be no harm in a nun's cherishing gratitude and affection, nor in her +offering hourly prayers for one who has been to her the noblest of +friends." + +"Your thoughts and prayers would be but cheerless consolation for a +desolate life. I want your daily presence, Ellen, the hourly benediction +of your smile. But, forgive me, dear,"--for I saw that her lips trembled +like a grieved child's, and that a tear had slipped from underneath her +lowered lids; "I am very weak. After all my promises I continue to +disturb you with my arguing and beseeching. You shall have a year to +think upon it all, and, meanwhile, I shall smother in my breast every +word that my heart may urge to my lips." + +My visit to Colonel Morgan was made before Christmas, and I returned +home cheered by his promise to take the field early in the spring. +Meanwhile I was put to my old work of enlisting recruits--a work much +interrupted by the malarial chills which every second day tied me to the +chimney corner. Gradually they wore themselves out, and by the faithful +use of bitters concocted from the Peruvian bark Father Gibault had given +me, I made myself fit for active duty by the early spring, and gladly +joined Morgan. He had been almost grudgingly made general by Congress at +last, and generously forgetting all past wrongs and differences had +hastened to join Gates, after the woeful disaster of Camden. + +But that unfortunate officer reaped now the fruits of his previous +scheming and bragging, and fell rapidly from the favor of Congress, in +which he had held so high a place since Saratoga. He was replaced by the +capable General Greene, and roundly abused by the whole country. Having +been sent into North Carolina with dispatches from General Morgan to +certain officers of the State Militia, it was my good fortune on my +return to fall in with grim backwoodsmen marching to meet and repulse +the advance of Ferguson. I accepted temporary service under Colonel +Campbell, and so had the honor of fighting beside those indomitable +militiamen, who won the victory of King's Mountain--one of the most +glorious incidents of our Revolution, and the turning point of +disasters, from which events marched on, more and more successfully, to +Cowpens and Yorktown. At the risk of wearying my readers with constant +reiteration of the praises of the race from which I, proudly claim +descent--though I have played fair with them, saying, in the beginning, +that it was partly with the hope of repairing our historians' neglect of +the Scotch Irish that this chronicle was undertaken--I must call +attention to the fact that King's Mountain was a Scotch Irish victory, +won by militiamen of that race. I doubt, indeed, if the plan could have +been conceived, or if conceived could have been executed, by regulars. +Men used to climbing mountains, and to the methods of Indian warfare, +were needed to fight and win as the frontiermen fought and won at King's +Mountain. + +By the first of January our affairs in the South were more hopeful. +Recently discouraged patriots, inspired by the victory of King's +Mountain, flocked to General Greene's standard, and that able officer, +supported by General Morgan and Colonel Washington, and aided by the +daring bands led by Sumter and Marion, soon threatened Cornwallis on +both his flanks, and by a series of surprises and sudden maneuvers so +confused that military pedant that he did not know what next to expect, +and hardly which way to turn. Having divided his army into two bodies, +Greene skillfully avoided a drawn battle, and continued to threaten the +British communications. For Cornwallis to sit still was to await his +doom; to march against either army was to give the other an opportunity +to win a fatal advantage. He, therefore, divided his own force, sending +the renowned Tarleton to hold Morgan in check, while he drew Greene +after him into North Carolina. + +Morgan retired slowly before Tarleton's advance to some meadows, not far +from King's Mountain, and there formed his men upon the field of +Cowpens, on gently rising ground, with hills to the left, and a deep, +broad river in the rear. There would be no chance for the militiamen to +run, for, said Morgan, with grim humor, when they had reached the +river's bank they would likely be willing to turn and fight again. We +slept that night upon our chosen battle ground, and until past midnight +General Morgan was abroad in the camp, inspecting arms, inspiring his +officers, joking with his men, and telling them what they and the "old +wagoner" would do for the British regulars the next morning. + +To form in fighting line, according to prearranged plan, was but an +hour's work, when Tarleton's advance was discovered, and time was still +left for our General to ride down the line, encouraging and animating us +with a few hearty words--such as he so well knew how to fit to each +heroic occasion. A furious rush, Tarleton's favorite maneuver, drove in +our front line of militia, as had been foreseen, after they had obeyed +General Morgan's oft repeated command to fire at least two volleys, at +killing range, before breaking rank. But, behind the militia stood +DeKalb and his Marylanders, and a tried company of Virginia +Continentals, who met calmly the too confident pursuit of the British, +and fought deliberately, till Colonel Washington's cavalry swooped down +from the hills, attacking the enemy's right flank simultaneously with +the charge of the militia, which had been re-formed, and marched around +our position, on their left. Already entangled, by their over-eager +pursuit of our first column, with their opponents, and now almost +surrounded, the British fought on, gallantly but hopelessly. A bayonet +charge from the Continentals in their front quickly brought about rout +and panic, and nearly the whole British force engaged was killed or +captured. Their loss was nearly one thousand; ours not more than +seventy-five. No battle of our War for Independence was more skillfully +planned, more boldly won, and to General Morgan, alone, belongs the +credit for plan and execution. + +A fortunately heavy rainfall cut off Cornwallis' pursuit, and gave us an +opportunity to carry our prisoners across the Catawba. General Greene +joined us here, escorted by a few dragoons, his force behind him. He had +heard of Morgan's splendid victory, and pushed forward to help him reap +the fruits of it. But Morgan was now attacked violently by his old +enemy, rheumatism, and could not leave his tent; the gallant "old +wagoner" who had never known defeat in battle, had more than once been +vanquished by disease, the result, he bitterly admitted, of his own +youthful excesses. A few weeks later he was forced to resign his +command, and to return to his home. + +That circumstance made easier for me the duty which had been assigned +me--namely, to command one company of the militia which was to escort +our seven hundred prisoners to Virginia. My latest service, on General +Morgan's staff, had been most congenial to me, and even the honor now +offered me of a similar position with General Greene did not console me +for the loss of my first leader. The place would have been gratefully +accepted, however, for I admired and trusted General Greene, both as man +and leader--even with loss of the opportunity of a few days at home, and +a glimpse of Ellen--had not a circumstance occurred which made me +entirely willing to perform the duty which had been first assigned me. +This circumstance was communicated to me by General Morgan. + +"Whom, in heaven's name, think you I found this morning among our +prisoners, McElroy? Young Buford--the pretty Nelly's brother, he who +rescued you from Philadelphia prison hospital. He has a painful but not +dangerous wound in the hip, for which reason he sent to me, asking for +ambulance service, his wound having become inflamed from the march." + +"Make him _my_ prisoner, General?" I asked eagerly; "I claim no other +share of the spoils." + +"Eh? You'll hold him as hostage for his sister's favor--fair stratagem, +I suppose. He'll be perfectly safe in your hands, doubtless, so I'll +turn him over to you." + +"To him and to his entire family I owe an obligation which can be repaid +in kind only; this is a longed for opportunity." + +"And what will you do with him?" + +"Take him to my own home, even as he did me, and leave him to my +mother's nursing, till he is well enough to be discharged." + +"And no parole asked? The terms granted you were less generous." + +"Buford did not make the terms; but if he had, I should still wish to +surpass my enemies in generosity, as well as in bravery." + +"Then you will decline Greene's offer of a place on his staff? I asked +it for you, thinking this excursion to Virginia in charge of prisoners +less to your liking." + +"It was most kind of you, General, but for this find of Buford it would +have been my choice--could the place be held for me?" + +"It can be, doubtless, especially if you can bring back some recruits. +Greene will need reinforcements, and must look to Virginia for them. But +for these swollen and painful limbs of mine,"--with a grimace toward +those much swathed members--"I should be the last to desert him. It's a +bitter pill, lad, to be obliged to go home--to be chained by disease to +my chair, like a galley slave to his bench, when my spirit is with the +front ranks, against our country's enemies." + +"It is a sore grief to me, also, General, and particularly that your +malady should attack you now, when your newest laurels are still green, +and there are more awaiting you. Your retirement takes half the heart +out of me for the service, as it does for every rifleman in the +regiment." + +"That spirit must not be encouraged, lad. As much as it pleases me to be +regretted by my gallant boys, it would sincerely grieve me were my going +to affect in any way their zeal or bravery. I shall expect them to do no +less than they have always done, indeed they must fight the more +determinedly because their commander has gone stiff and lame and must be +content to stand like a used up horse in the stall, munching memories +for diversion." + +"You'll get better after a rest, General, and be at it again before the +war's over. Not even disease can conquer your spirit." + +"Right, lad! If the war lasts long enough for my good Abigail to tea and +poultice the swelling from my joints, I'll be at 'em again." + + * * * * * + +That evening I had Buford removed to my tent, where, presently, I +visited him. + +"I am sorry for the occasion, Captain Buford," I said, extending my hand +to him, "but since it was written that this misfortune of war should +befall you, I am grateful that the opportunity has come to me to repay +in some degree the courtesy and kindness I received at your hands, when +my situation was similar to your present one." + +"It is indeed Donald McElroy!" Buford exclaimed, in pleased tones. "I am +lucky in spite of this painful accompaniment to my good fortune," +pointing to his bandaged thigh. + +"You are now my prisoner," I said, "and your wound shall have the best +attention possible." + +"You are then in command of the militia which is to convey us to +Virginia? Is it proper to tell me our final destination?" + +"Yours, with your consent, Captain Buford, is my own home. My mother is +the best of nurses. I promise you comfort and kind care, at any rate, if +you will agree to the arrangements just made between Colonel Morgan and +me." + +"One would think me an urged guest, rather than a poor sick prisoner," +answered Buford, a smile upon his face. He was much like Nelly, though +his was strictly a masculine, as hers was purely a feminine, type of +comeliness. "There is small likelihood that I shall decline so generous +an offer--a comfortable home and woman's nursing are all too tempting +for my present weakness." + +"As was your offer to me in Philadelphia. It is seldom, I imagine, that +a man is granted so high a boon as the opportunity to evince in fitting +deeds his gratitude. Your mother and sister are well, I hope, and in +safety?" + +"My mother is dead, Captain McElroy, and I fear her constant anxiety for +me hastened her end. Nelly, poor girl, is left lonely and desolate. She +has taken refuge for the present with Quaker friends near the city." + +I expressed my regret and sympathy, and left him to make arrangements +for the march next day. His news oppressed my spirit more than one would +have supposed; it was hard to think of light-hearted Nelly as a sad +refugee. Oh, this weary, cruel war! When would it end? + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + +Buford's strength had been so burnt out with fever, and so wasted from +the suppuration of his wound, that he was but the pale, limp outline of +a man when I laid him gently on one of my mother's snowy beds. Had he +been more than Tory, more than British officer, my dear mother would +have received him kindly in his present state, and laid aside all other +duties to care for him. It was good to see her hovering over him with +gentle touch and to hear her say: "They were good to you, son, when you +were in like condition. I am proud you brought him to me; he shall have +every care, every comfort." + +"Oh, brother, were you as ill as this, when he took you from the +Philadelphia prison?" said Jean, tender commiseration on her face. + +"Weaker, I think, only I had passed the stage of delirium into which he +slipped only a few days ago. But look at me now! See how robust I am!" +and I lifted her by the elbows to the level of my face, kissed her and +set her upon her feet again, adding: "Buford will soon be as sound, with +yours and mother's nursing." + +"His mother and sister nursed you?" + +"They had me well-cared for. I was over the worst when they found me." + +"We'll nurse him carefully, dear Donald, you may be satisfied of that. +Is he, though, really a Tory? He looks like a gentleman," glancing +toward him as she spoke, as if she half suspected Buford of possessing +hidden tusks and horns like some fabled monster. + +"And gentleman he is, only his opinions do not agree with ours"; +whereupon I laughed so merrily at Jean's shocked face that mother signed +to us to leave the room, lest we disturb her patient. "Aye, little +sister," I continued, "prejudice is a most strange thing! 'Tis like a +pestilence in the air, poisoning even the most innocent and +pure-hearted. Heaven, Jean, I doubt not, is a place where thought is as +free as God's smile, and conviction untrammeled, save by love and +knowledge of truth. Such state would almost be heaven, methinks, without +other concomitants." + +Jean, though the sweetest of little women, and well endowed with common +sense, and all needful womanly reason, cared not, like Ellen, to follow +the twistings and wanderings of thought, so she took me straight back to +our subject. + +"And if Captain Buford gets well, Donald, will they hang him because he +is a Tory?" + +"Do you suppose, innocent one, that we but fatten him for the halter? +Either he'll be exchanged, paroled, or discharged." + +"Then he'll go back to fight more against us? Oh! Donald, I'm afraid I +shall hate the poor man when he begins to get stronger, though he looks +now so pitiable." + +"It would be very hard to hate Buford, Jean. You'll forget he's in a +sense our enemy. But, don't bother your little head about all this yet; +perhaps Generals Greene and Washington may make peace with the British +by the time Buford is strong enough to shoulder arms again. A few more +victories like King's Mountain and Cowpens and it's done." + +"What would then become of Captain Buford?" persisted Jean. + +"He would be released, and could go back to Philadelphia, or to England, +as he pleased. Perhaps his estate would be confiscated, and he might +suffer other persecutions. There is much bitterness everywhere against +the Tories," I responded. + +"Poor gentleman!" she sighed; "perhaps we ought not to want him to get +well." + +"Nonsense, little Jean! Of course we want him to get well, and if he +could be consulted he himself would choose to get well, you may be sure. +A man worth the name wants to see the end of the play--to finish the +game--to keep up life's battle while muscle and wind are left him to +fight with. Do all you can to cure him, Jean, and leave his future in +his own hands." + +"And God's," she added reverently. + + * * * * * + +All this conversation I repeated to Ellen, during the few brief hours I +had to spend with her. Then we went back to the subject of prejudice, +and I talked out the convictions which Jean had not encouraged me to +express. Ellen was broad-minded, open-souled--one of God's chosen +transmitters from generation to generation of ever-widening truth. This +talk between us upon the subject of prejudice, as to which we were +already agreed, led on to a less general discussion, and gave me +opportunity to drive, I hoped, another wedge between superstition and +consecration. Presently I made the enquiry I almost dreaded to have her +answer: + +"Tell me of your daily life with Aunt Martha, Ellen; is each day still a +trial to you, exercising all your fortitude and patience?" Her answer +gave me my first heart's ease for weeks. + +"No, Donald, I wonder, indeed, if it was ever so bad as I thought, or if +my stubborn will and set defiance magnified the hardships I underwent, +as a child, under Aunt Martha's discipline. However that may have been, +I find her, now, disposed to give me full liberty, and to exact few +duties. Indeed, it is of my own will that I relieve her of such duties +as she will trust me to perform; and since her health fails more and +more, she is obliged to let others do many things she once took upon +herself." + +"And she never asks you to go to church?" + +"No, but twice I have offered to go. Father Gibault granted me +absolution beforehand--as Elisha did Naaman--should I think it best to +attend the Protestant meetings which my relatives frequented. And I have +found the quiet church a better place to repeat my litany and aves than +even my own room; the preacher's voice I can imagine to be the priest's +intoning, and if I shut my eyes, I can see the candles, and smell the +incense." + +I smiled at this naïve confession. "But you make no signs, I hope," I +said in pretended seriousness, which for a moment deceived her. + +"I am careful to do so only under my tippet; and see! I wear my beads +beneath my gown," and Ellen drew forth a small ebony cross and held it +out for my inspection. + +Thinking this scene over later, Ellen's religion seemed to me not only +harmless--apart from her superstitious vow--but so much a part of her as +to be lovable. It would nowise affect my confidence and love were my +wife always a devout Catholic. Could I be one with her, though, in her +religion; could I yield my own simple and sublime faith for hers?--to +that question came a not uncertain negative. My reason and feelings +repelled all the dogmas and practices so sacred to Ellen, as hers did +those most congenial to my spirit! No! I would make no compromise with +the woman I loved--the woman I would win for my wife. She must come to +me trusting all, confiding all. There must be no terms of barter between +me and my heart's love. + + * * * * * + +The company of militiamen I was able to take with me to General Greene +was warmly welcomed, for many of the men of King's Mountain and Cowpens +had refused to enlist for regular service, and General Greene was using +all the skillful tactics of which he was master to avoid a drawn battle +with Cornwallis' united army, until his own was strong enough to offer +some hope of another victory. Defeat could not be risked just now, for +that meant a resubjugated South, and then General Washington's +dislodgement from Philadelphia and New Jersey, which would be the end of +our hopes and our efforts. The battle of Guilford Court House, fought on +the fifth of March, was claimed by the British as a defeat for the +Americans; but Charles Fox realized, as General Greene did, its true +import, when he said on the floor of the British Parliament: + +"Another such victory as that of Guilford would destroy the British +Army." + +General Greene now retreated to Troublesome Creek and there awaited the +expected pursuit. We did not know until later that General Cornwallis +had lost a third of his force, nor that he was so encumbered with +wounded, and so needy of supplies of all kinds, as to make pursuit +impossible. Slowly he fell back into the Tory Highland Settlement at +Cross Creek. We followed, at first cautiously, but more and more eager +to dislodge and rout our enemy as we learned of his crippled condition. +Our own lack of ammunition prevented our doing so, and General +Cornwallis was perforce allowed to cross Deep River, near Ramsay's Mill. +Both armies crouched here--like two angry lions, pausing in prolonged +combat, and waiting but for strength enough to make again at each +other's throats--for some weeks, the river between, with all its fords +vigilantly guarded. We Continentals fared hardly, meanwhile, subsisting +on ash cakes, and the black, stringy meat of the half wild cattle, +raised on the pine barrens. The damp ground was our bed, and our ragged +blankets and our tattered clothes were our only protection from the +vagaries of the spring weather. + +A bold decision of General Greene's relieved the strained situation. He +would leave Cornwallis in his rear, and advance by rapid marches to the +relief of South Carolina. If Cornwallis should follow him he would turn +and give him battle;--if he should decide to march on northward to +coöperate with Arnold in Virginia, the militia and General Lafayette +must take care of him. His, General Greene's, task was to relieve the +Southern States; he would stick to his work. + +We advanced swiftly to Camden, held by a considerable British force, and +sat down before it. Cornwallis still remained at Ramsay's Mill. The +night before the fall of Fort Watson, which would give us Camden, +General Greene sent for me to his tent. "Colonel McElroy," he began--I +have found no opportunity to state my gradual rise in rank during my +eight months of southern service,--"I wish to send important dispatches +to Governor Jefferson, and for obvious reasons prefer to have them +conveyed orally. I must have a trusty and well accredited messenger, and +one perfectly familiar with the country, therefore I have chosen you. +Say to Governor Jefferson that I believe it to be General Cornwallis' +intention to advance into Virginia in an attempt to over-run and +subjugate that state. Say to him, that I hope, with the assistance of +Sumter's and Marion's rangers, without further reënforcements, to +relieve the Southern States, and afterwards, if I am needed, I will +gladly come to the help of Virginia. I would not have him think that I +have deserted that noble commonwealth whose aid, more than that of any +of the others, has enabled me to do what so far it has been possible to +accomplish in this department. I know the bravery and loyalty of +Virginians, and have no fears for the result there, but these +over-ridden South Carolinians must have instant succor, if the State is +not to be given over finally to the British and the Tories. Have you a +fleet mount, Colonel McElroy?" + +"The best that can be raised on my father's plantation, and bred from +good English hunting stock." + +"You will need to ride swiftly, and persistently. Once Cornwallis gives +the order to advance--you know his habit--there'll be no delays, no +deliberate marches." + +"I fully realize that, General; I will lose no time." + +"A somewhat circuitous route might be the safer: skirt the Highland +neighborhood, though your route be lengthened thereby. It might be well +to suggest to Governor Jefferson the extreme importance of guarding any +army stores we may have left in Virginia, though doubtless the obvious +necessity to do so will occur to him." + +"Where shall I rejoin you, General?" I asked. + +"I cannot say where one, two or three weeks may find me; it depends both +on Cornwallis' movements, and our successes or reverses, as we attempt +to relieve South Carolina. I would suggest that you do not try to rejoin +me until ordered to do so. Should Cornwallis continue his advance into +Virginia, Governor Jefferson will need you to help to raise and command +the militia, doubtless. You may say that I but lend you to him, until +the tide of invasion has been rolled back from your State." + + * * * * * + +Thanking General Greene for his confidence implied, I saluted, and went +at once to my tent to make preparations for departure early the next +morning. + +Though General Cornwallis had the advantage of two days' start, I +overtook him on the third day, and from that time distanced his +encumbered movements every hour. Part of my way was over ground he had +just traversed, part lay parallel with it, and more than one distressing +scene came under my observation. Smoldering homes, barns, and hay ricks +sent up a sodden smoke from all along the route, and several times I saw +women and children sheltering, for lack of better place, under the eaves +of half-burned ricks. Say the most one can for it, war at its best is +but a grim and terrible necessity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + +My report but confirmed rumors of the approach of Cornwallis which had +already reached Governor Jefferson, and I found him wide awake to +Virginia's danger, against which he was taking every precaution his +exhausted resources allowed. He received me with flattering remembrance +of our former meeting, and an unaffected cordiality. Still more, he +pleased me by the letter of introduction he gave me to General +Lafayette, together with certain dispatches in which he spoke of me in +terms of personal friendship. Among the dispatches was my special +commission to raise reënforcements in the valley, with which I was to +join Lafayette's command as promptly as possible. + +This was my first meeting with the gallant and elegant Frenchman, under +whom I was to serve during the remainder of our struggle. Morgan, Clark, +Greene, and Lafayette were the four great leaders whom I followed during +my eight years of military life. They were as different as four great +souled men of war-like genius could well be--though between Morgan and +Clark there was the kinship of spirits cast in primitive heroic mold, a +like resemblance to Achilles, Priam, Alexander and other heroes of an +earlier time--yet each of the four I could honor and love sincerely, +serving him with exulting sense of privilege. + +For this last emergency, recruiting was not needful. I did not find it +necessary, indeed, to cross the mountain, for at its foot I met the grim +militiamen of the valley, swarming to meet Tarleton. I had only to form +them into a company, and march them to join Lafayette before he began +his strategical retreat toward Fredricksburg, with the double object of +protecting the manufactory of arms near Falmouth, and effecting a +junction with the troops under General Wayne, ordered southward to +reënforce us. Cornwallis followed Lafayette, taking a parallel course to +the eastward of ours. Often not more than twenty miles separated us, and +we dared not slacken our march for heat or storm while the winged +Cornwallis gave chase. The junction with Wayne before a battle was +forced upon us was General Lafayette's one hope of escape. And now, once +more, it was the privilege of the Scotch Irish to render signal service +to the cause. To my company, and that of Captain Mercedes, fell the +posts of honor and danger. We were the scouts, the pickets, the +couriers, and the rear guard on this skillfully conducted retreat. + +We had nearly reached the ford on the Pamunkey we had been pushing for, +when a force of the enemy overtook us and pressed upon our rear. General +Lafayette halted and formed line of battle with the determination to +make a desperate stand. I had been sent for to reconnoiter, on the first +report of the enemy's advance, and soon discovered that it was only a +patrolling force, and that the main body of the British was yet some +distance in the rear of us. Hastening with this good news to General +Lafayette, I found it more expeditious to travel for several miles along +the road recently gone over by Cornwallis' reconnoitering force, and +between that force and the British army. As was my rule when on scout +service, my squad marched in close column, with detail of two in front, +and two in rear, as special lookouts. The front lookout stopped +suddenly, and seemed to listen; we approached quickly and heard also the +confused sounds, with screaming, and hoarse wrangling, which had +arrested their attention. Convinced that the force in front, whatever +its uniform and purpose, could be but a small one, I ordered my men to +advance at double quick, and, putting spurs to my horse, I came +immediately around the bend in the road to the scene of action. + +A squad of fifteen or more British soldiers surrounded an overturned +post chaise, from the tangled harness of which, four frightened and +struggling horses were being extricated by trembling postilions. In the +midst of the group were two female figures, one dressed in black, and +heavily veiled, the other in the costume of a lady's maid. It was she +who continued to utter piercing screams, throwing her hands about in the +most tragic manner, and paying no heed to her mistress' low spoken +commands. We were within fifty yards of the group before the thud of our +horses hoofs upon the sandy soil was loud enough to rise above this +confusion of clamors; and before the mounted British could turn, or the +dismounted leap upon their horses, we had surrounded them. + +"Stack arms: You are my prisoners!" I called, "and what means this +cowardly attack upon a lady's traveling carriage?" + +"You Americans have a trick of using women as your spies and couriers, +and then crying shame upon us if we arrest them, and foil you! This +pretended widow or orphan is doubtless stuffed like a pin cushion +beneath her black robes with spies' reports, and warnings to Jefferson!" +replied the officer in charge of the squad, as he angrily stacked his +gun beside the rest, and cast scornful glances upon the veiled figure, +who, until then, had stood haughtily erect and silent among them. + +"It is a false charge!" she now answered, spiritedly; "I bear no +dispatches, convey no messages. I but go to seek my only brother, late a +British officer, now a wounded prisoner, yet treated by the courteous +enemy who harbor him, I doubt not, with more gentleness than I am +receiving from those who should be most prompt to succor and defend me!" +Then, turning to me, she continued in tones less scornful: "Will you be +so good as to inform me, sir, whose prisoner I have now the honor to +be?--The fortune of war may change, it seems, with such magic swiftness, +that one finds it difficult to be sure of one's present or one's +prospective situation." + +"You are no one's prisoner, madam," I replied, stirred suddenly by +familiar tones in her voice; "you are under the protection, however, of +Virginia troops commanded by Colonel McElroy, and will be conveyed to +some place of safety acceptable to you as soon as possible." I had +dismounted, meantime, and stood near her. + +"Can it be Captain Donald McElroy, of Virginia?" she said in lowered and +tremulous voice, at the same moment throwing back her veil, and +revealing the face of Nelly Buford--fairer than ever in its setting of +rich hair and banded crepe. + +Does a man ever quite forget his first love? Has its remembrance always +power to thrill him, even though the once lively sentiment be +supplanted, or outlived? That the sound of Nelly's voice, and the touch +of her hand, could yet thrill me, was, just now, a disturbing +revelation. I felt myself disloyal to Ellen and so scorned myself for +this fresh evidence of weakness, that I fear my manner to her was almost +haughty. + +Having dispatched a courier with my comforting news to General +Lafayette, and sent my prisoners after him, under sufficient escort, I +ordered the postilions, and some of my men, to right the carriage, and +make the harness safe. Then I joined Nelly, and relieved her mind of all +anxiety about her brother by telling her of his whereabouts, and the +news I had had recently that he was convalescent, and would completely +recover. Nelly's thanks were fervently expressed after which she +proceeded to explain her present situation, and to give me her double +reason for leaving the shelter her generous Quaker friends had for some +months afforded her--the longing to find her brother, and the wish to +relieve her host of the inconvenience and possible danger of harboring +one of a family well-known to be strong Tory adherents. + +The carriage having been made ready, Nelly and her maid were shut +within, and, preceded and followed by mounted escort, Miss Buford was +conveyed in state to General Lafayette's late headquarters. We found the +army gone, and camp deserted, and I surmised, that, upon receipt of my +courier's message, the general, seeing yet a chance to escape, had +ordered an immediate advance. We followed, but did not overtake the +hastily bivouacked army until past midnight. + +No other accommodation than that Nelly's carriage offered was +procurable, and so I regretfully informed her, to be cheerfully assured +that she asked nothing better, if she might have cessation from jolting, +and sense of security. The rest of the hot night I stood guard, watching +the languid stars blink one by one to sleep, and waging lively warfare +with the swarms of greedy mosquitoes, who constituted themselves surety +for my vigilance. As soon as the first flush of morning tinged the +eastern sky, I woke one of my men, and left him to guard the carriage +while I sought General Lafayette. He was sound asleep under a tree with +a gnarled root for pillow, his face and hands covered by his blanket to +protect them from the swamp pests. Awakened by my step, he threw off his +blanket, looked up at the sky, and muttered sleepily some unintelligible +words in his own language. + +"General Lafayette?" I said, stepping in front of him, and saluting, "I +am Colonel McElroy, at present in command of a company of Virginia +militiamen. Will you grant me a few moments of your time while the camp +is getting ready to march?" + +"Most certainly, Colonel McElroy," then, in the precise English of the +cultivated foreigner, and with agreeable accent--"when I have thanked +you for this valuable information sent me last evening. Ah, if fortune +continues to favor us, we'll yet escape the bold Cornwallis, Colonel +McElroy! But we must march unceasingly, till we meet the reinforcements +of General Wayne. Then we'll give Cornwallis the fight he seems so much +to wish, and show him what may be done by the united gallantry of +America and France! But I retard your story, sir; command, now, my +attention." + +I related briefly the capture of the British stragglers, the rescue of +the young lady, and added an account of my previous acquaintance with +Miss Buford, and the debt of gratitude I felt myself under to her +family. He listened with courteous attention, and responded with true +French understanding of such obligation: + +"You can do nothing less, Colonel McElroy, than escort the young woman +in safety to her brother. Later I shall gladly detail such force to +guard you as you may think necessary, but for the present it is safer +that she remain with the army." + +"Then you have no objection, General Lafayette, to her carriage and its +escort traveling between the main army and my company--at present the +van guard?" + +"None, sir--under the circumstances." + +"I have still another favor to ask, General"--somewhat embarrassed by my +own boldness--"that you will grant Miss Buford the honor of an +introduction. Such attention from you as a brief visit to her carriage +would avoid all danger of familiar acts, words, or surmise from any of +the troops while she must be with us; she would become your guest, and +be under your personal protection." + +"A shrewd thought, Colonel, worthy of your Scotch name," General +Lafayette gayly replied, "and for gallantry of conception not unworthy +one of my own countrymen! I consent, with pleasure, and while awaiting +your orderly shall make such toilet as my very limited facilities +permit." + +Nelly had managed in some mysterious way to remove all traces of her +tiresome journey and broken rest, and stood ready to receive the +general, under the canopy of a blooming magnolia, meeting him with the +ease of a society queen, and responding to his gallant speeches with +grace and vivacity. The susceptible young Frenchman at once proclaimed +himself her captive, lingering to talk with her until the troops in +front were moving, and the rear guard falling into line of march. + +Twice during the day he rode back to exchange a few words with her, and +to assure himself of her comfort. He was so attentive, indeed, and so +solicitous for her, that I think I felt almost a pang of jealousy at +being deprived of the full credit of being the fair Nelly's rescuer and +protector. + +Our junction with Wayne was effected near the ford of the Rapidan a few +days later. Already Cornwallis had given over the pursuit, and turned +back to rejoin Tarleton. It was now possible for me to accept General +Lafayette's offer of a furlough and escort, with fair prospect of safe +journey to the valley by circuitous northeastern route. It seemed my +fate, by some claim upon my private sentiments or some untoward +accident, again and again to be withdrawn from active service at +critical periods of our struggle. As willingly as I now rendered this +service to one to whom I owed perhaps my life, I sighed inwardly to +leave General Lafayette at a time when we might speedily expect some +chance to strike a telling blow. To the General I expressed my regret, +and was gratified by the warmth with which he assured me he would +welcome my return as soon as I should have placed my fair charge in +safety. + +Not many hours before we reached home, when indeed we were entering the +valley, I told Nelly of an amusing conceit that had been running in my +head, namely--that I was destined for a rescuer of fair damsels, using +this as an introduction to the story, I had been casting about for an +excuse to relate, of Ellen O'Neil, and her journey to the west with +Clark. But the presence of the maid kept back a full confession, and +Nelly's suspicions did not seem to be aroused by my warm championship. +Evidently she thought I but framed elaborate apologies for a kinswoman. + +Miss Nelly's bearing, in truth, had been a source of disturbance to me +for several days. She was so confiding, so almost affectionate in her +manner, and seemed to appropriate me with such joyous confidence, that +it was difficult not to meet her in like spirit. Not unto this day have +I been able to determine the true meaning of her conduct during that +journey. Did she believe that I was yet a captive to her charms? or, was +it but the natural overflowing of grateful, friendly affection? Or--but +even as it came I reproached myself for such thought--did she wish to +make me again her slave, that she might have revenge for my single +defiance of her power? Such reflections and uncertainties disturbed me +more and more as we neared home; and mixed with the gratification of +uniting Nelly and her brother, and the happiness I could but feel in the +near prospect of seeing Ellen, was a sense of vague uneasiness, of +shadowy foreboding. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + +Seldom have my forebodings gone unverified--possibly because I am not +superstitious, and they are usually founded upon some more or less +clearly realized cause. I had not been home a quarter of an hour till I +felt that something had gone wrong; that the usual sweet and serene home +atmosphere was impregnated with an illusive element of discord. Every +one capable of the finer shades of feeling has experienced, doubtless, +the subtle influence of an atmosphere, surcharged with carefully hidden +emotion that yet jars each soul, and sets all nerves a-quiver. Not +always, however, is there present a serene, commanding spirit, which can +dissipate the threatened storm, by tact and the sunshine of genial +graciousness. + +So did Ellen, being for a while my mother's guest, during Aunt Martha's +absence at a famed medicinal spring. My father, strangely stern and +silent, after his first hearty greeting for me, and courteous one for +his latest guest, would warm into fitful geniality under Ellen's +blandishments, mother's face lose its look of anxious distress, Jean +dimple and brighten in the old way, and Buford relax somewhat his air of +dignity and reserve. + +Yet the cause of the evident gloom hanging over the household was, on +the second day after my return, still a mystery; the entire family +seemed to have entered into a tacit agreement to withhold it from me, +and each one carefully avoided a private interview. For a while it +defied guessing even; I could only surmise that Nelly's presence had +complicated the situation, and was to some extent the reason for my +exclusion from the family confidence. From the first hour I had seen +that Ellen was surprised by Nelly's manner to me, though I alone guessed +her unconscious resentment, noting the expression of it through an added +flush to her cheeks, a slightly more erect attitude of her head, and a +firmer tone in her voice. Mother, too, had presently observed Nelly's +apparently unconscious appropriation of me, and watched us both +anxiously; then Buford seemed to note it, looked annoyed, and exchanged +a quick glance of mingled despair and tender assurance with Jean. That +intercepted glance gave me my first hint, and I longed more than ever to +get Ellen alone, and to ask the score of questions that hung upon my +lips. + +Through all, Nelly seemed unconscious of the false note in her welcome, +and the gloom hanging over the household. After her first regret at +finding that her brother, though almost as strong as ever, was yet lame, +and likely to be always slightly so, she seemed to be entirely content +with her new surroundings, and grew blithe as a child, putting forth all +her charms to win over her new friends. I, meanwhile, was driven to +despair by Ellen's manner--by disappointment, longing, and hope +continually deferred. Once more she was the unapproachable Ellen of +Kaskaskia--sweetly dignified, graciously charming, cousinly kind--yet +the distance of the poles between us! And, continually, she found +excuses to leave me alone with Nelly, constituting me her host and +entertainer, while she kept herself occupied with helping mother or with +entertaining Buford. + +From Thomas, home for his vacation, the explanation came at last. + +"Tom," I asked abruptly, "what is the matter? I have not had a moment's +satisfaction since I came home. Father is stern, mother unhappy, Jean +feverish, and Buford sullen. As for Ellen she avoids me as if I were a +dangerous lunatic." + +Tom gazed at me, astonished at my petulance, and answered with provoking +calmness: "The trouble or at least their knowledge of it, is so recent +that they have had no time as yet to adjust themselves to it, and they +do not know how you may take it--especially since they are in doubt as +to your relations with Miss Buford." + +"What trouble? Speak out, lad! I'm sick of mystery." + +"Jean's avowed love for Captain Buford. Neither your mother nor your +father suspected their interest in each other until four days ago, +though Ellen tells me she had guessed it for weeks." + +"Well, it is no such grave trouble that the family need sink into +despondency because of it. Buford is a Tory, and likely to be always a +little lame; nevertheless he's a gentleman by birth and breeding, and +lacks none of the qualities necessary to make him a good husband." + +"All that may be true, and yet it is not surprising that Uncle William +should object to a penniless, lame Tory, and ex-British officer, as +husband for his only daughter. Your bringing his sister here just at +this time complicates the situation. Buford had decided to go to +Staunton, if such move were consistent with the terms of his parole, but +Miss Buford's arrival brings him the double embarrassment of providing +means for two to live upon, and of seeming to decline for his sister +your proffered hospitality--which for himself he has so long accepted." + +"I have General Morgan's permission to release Buford as soon as he is +well," I said, "so his parole need not interfere with his plans. And he +can sell Miss Nelly's carriage and horses if he is too proud to borrow. +Perhaps General Morgan can induce Congress to restore Buford's +confiscated property, so that his poverty need not influence father, if +he can bring himself to forgive his Tory principles. Moreover, I have +always intended to divide my western bounty lands with Jean." + +"If you are to marry Miss Buford any objection to her brother as husband +for your sister would be untenable." + +"I have no intention, and no wish to marry Miss Buford," I responded +impatiently, "nor she to marry me." + +"She seems greatly interested in you, Donald, and lays open claim to +you. Well, I despair of ever knowing any woman, and am thankful I have +resolved to live a bachelor. Ellen never treated you as familiarly as +Miss Buford, after all your months of comradeship." + +"Ellen is as rare among women, as the nightingale among song birds," I +answered, "but Nelly is lovable and womanly, and I owe her an unpaid +debt. Look here, Tom; if you'll do me one great kindness I will consider +myself under obligations to you for life. Pay Miss Nelly devoted +attention for the next two days; take her for a long ride to-morrow; do +anything to give me a chance for some private talk with Ellen before I +go back to the army. Think of it, lad," and I laid my hand entreatingly +on his shoulder. "My furlough is almost gone, and I haven't had a moment +alone with Ellen! I might be killed in the next battle and never see her +again! She might take a sudden resolve and immure herself before I can +return! I _must_ see her before I go!" + +"I'll do all I can to help you, Don," said Thomas, with a long drawn +sigh, "but you couldn't well ask a harder thing of me. Miss Buford, +though pretty and gay enough, is not my style of woman; and moreover, +the least I have to say to young women, now-a-days, the better pleased I +am!" + +I might have smiled to see Thomas, not yet twenty-six, affect to be +already so blasé, and a woman scorner. But I was too feverishly +engrossed with my own passionate longings, and half angry defiance of +circumstances, to be greatly interested in the feelings of +others--except Ellen's, upon which I knew now depended all my hopes of a +life rounded and completed as God meant a man's to be. + +My next confidential talk was with Jean. She poured out all her innocent +heart to me, surprising me by the depth of her feelings. My sympathy +seemed to comfort her and she promised, without urgence, to heed my +counsel for patience and to impose like conduct upon Buford. They must +wait, I told her, until the war was over and I came home for good. Then, +with time and intercession, there was good hope that she would win the +full consent of our parents, which meant a far better prospect of +happiness than a union unblessed by their approval. I promised her, too, +a last interview with Buford, before he should leave for Staunton, and +she assured me that she would make him no promises I would not be likely +to sanction. + +A second plan had come to me, which offered, I thought, a better chance +to both Buford and myself than my first one of sending Thomas and Nelly +for a long ride together, which was to make up a horseback party to the +big cave, that Tom and I had often explored in our boyhood and which had +now become a resort for pleasure parties. It was but natural that I +should wish to show our guest the greatest curiosity in the +neighborhood, and also that I should desire one day's pleasuring before +I should return to the stern duties of war. I boldly proclaimed my plan, +therefore, at breakfast table, the next morning; it was warmly seconded +by Thomas and Nelly, and met with no spoken opposition from any one. + +A negro boy was sent ahead, with cart laden with skins, wraps, lunch +baskets and candles, and we followed on horseback an hour later. Tom and +Jean, Nelly and I, Ellen and Buford, we started out, and mother viewed +the pairing with little less satisfaction than she would have an +arrangement more pleasing to most of us. Freed from the suspicious eyes +of our elders, we forgot our reserve and self-consciousness, and enjoyed +the cool, dim ramble through the crystal studded passage ways, and also +our lunch in the cool grove near by, with the light chatter afterward. +When we were mounting for the homeward ride, Thomas revived my waning +hopes by boldly proposing a change of partners all around, coolly +sending Jean off with Buford, and himself appropriating Nelly, leaving +Ellen no choice but to ride with me. Even then I was like to be +checkmated, for Ellen kept close behind Thomas and Nelly. At last I grew +desperate, and riding close laid a restraining hand upon her bridle, +stopping her horse just as we were about to enter a beautiful strip of +open forest through which the road extended for a mile. + +"Ellen," I said, in firm tones, "I _must_ have an hour alone with you. +Let them ride on; we'll follow when they are out of hearing. Can you not +trust yourself with me for one brief ride after all our journeying +together?" + +Over throat, cheek and brow came a sudden glow of crimson like that +which was flaming in the western sky; the thick fringed lids dropped +over her eyes, and the harp-like vibration I loved was in her voice, as +she said: + +"You cannot doubt I trust you, Cousin Donald; you saved me once from +claw of wild beast, once from my own folly, and once again from a fate +worse than common death, from the Indian's torture stake. I would trust +my safety to you under all circumstances." + +"But not your happiness, Ellen?" + +"My happiness would be but too safe in your hands, dear cousin. One has +not always the right to be happy." + +"And it is sometimes a sacred duty to make one who loves you with every +fiber of his being, one who would die to save you sorrow, miserable for +life. Oh, Ellen, I know that you are true and holy beyond my +understanding, yet I can see no reason in this fixed purpose of yours to +divert your life from its evident destiny." + +"My weakness assents to all you say, Cousin Donald," and Ellen lifted +eyes to mine that were tenderly aglow with feeling, "but you have missed +the true reason on which my final decision must depend. If my vow to God +may be honestly broken, if I may be absolved from it, it would be only +because that were true beyond question which you have so earnestly +claimed--that your single hope of happiness, Donald, depends upon +me--that by fulfilling my vow, I should leave you to bear the man's +struggle, without hope of the man's God-appointed cheer and solace. But +recently I have been convinced that no one woman circumscribes a man's +possibility of happiness, that God wisely has ordained a quick healing +for heart wounds. Therefore, cousin, since happiness, thank God, would +still be possible to you without me, I am bound by my vow. You will find +some one to devote her life to you who is not of alien faith, who has +not broken sacred vows that she might come to you; and I, meantime, will +be adding to your happiness by daily intercessions for you before God's +holy altar." + +Why it was I do not know, but a sudden anger flamed in my heart. Was I +always to be answered in this absurd, illogical way, with platitudes of +holy vows, and sacred consecration? Were all my protestations of +devotion to be brushed aside, as not worth believing, and my life's +happiness to weigh as nothing against Ellen's will, and pride, her +sudden whims and conclusions? Making no attempt to conceal my anger and +my bitterness, I answered her: + +"Let us have no more of this cant of sacred vows, Ellen. Think you God +has cared to register a disobedient girl's sick fancy that, by +immolating herself, she could render Him special homage, or add one +ounce to His power and His influence? You say I do not need your life, +that I can find happiness without you--thus casting back my words as too +light for belief, and my heart, my very soul, as of small value beside +your vaunted vow. I would I could believe, Ellen, that happiness were +possible for me without you. But it is too late for that, and if in +perversity of stubborn superstition you condemn me to a lonely, loveless +life, I can but endure it with such fortitude as I may learn to command. +It would seem to me but poor reflection for quiet convent hours--that an +honest man's life had been wrecked--that a noble family name had +perished from the earth--all that one more nun might count her beads and +offer up prayers in needless repetition to an all powerful God who has +no need of such mummery to help him rule with eternal wisdom a universe +of worlds." + +"So far apart are we in mind and heart, Donald McElroy," answered Ellen, +with flashing eyes, having reined her horse to a standstill that she +might fully face me, "if these be your true sentiments, that never could +we hope to be one in spirit; never would I dare to unite my life with +yours," and, putting whip to her horse, she joined Thomas and Nelly, nor +deigned to show consciousness of my presence again that evening. + +The next day she kept her room, "with headache," said Jean. The morning +after she came down only at the last moment to say good-by to our guests +and me. Vainly I sought the chance to whisper my regret and repentance +in her ear; she was careful to give me opportunity only for a formal +farewell in the presence of them all. + +To Buford and his sister I said good-by, after I had settled them +comfortably in Staunton, almost with coolness. They, it seemed to me, +had repaid my generous wish to more than return their kindness by a +crass indifference to my feelings. + +Then I faced to the scene of war, once more, with fierce satisfaction. +For the first time I felt a thirst for danger. Since I had thrown away +all chance for happiness, I would win a glorious death in the last +glorious and successful struggle of my country for liberty! + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + +The battle of Green Spring, fought the third day after I had rejoined +General Lafayette--that gallant officer being now in pursuit of +Cornwallis, who was slowly retreating to a less hazardous position, near +the sea coast--was the one engagement Lafayette allowed himself during +the tedious game of march and countermarch at which the opposed armies +had been playing for three months. Fighting was much more to the taste +of the ardent Lafayette, but he had learned the art of war in the school +of Washington, and knew that a timely and skillful retreat is often +worth more than a victory. By such "Fabian policy" as the great leader +himself had condescended to use, to the open scorn of his enemies, +Lafayette had completely aborted the concerted invasion of Virginia, and +had gradually turned Cornwallis on to the open mouth of the trap which +was later to prove so fatal to him. The fight above mentioned was +undecisive, and had no other effect than to hurry Cornwallis' retreat to +the seashore--at a dear cost to us of one hundred and fifty men. + +At Yorktown, the British awaited their fleet with convoys of needed +supplies, and hoped daily for reënforcements from General Clinton; +meantime working industriously to entrench themselves. We sat down at +Malvern Hill, watching, like a bull-dog before his enemy's gate. The sea +protected Cornwallis' position on three sides, and a few days sufficed +to erect strongly fortified works on their fourth--there was small +chance for the bull-dog, unless the desired prey could somehow be driven +from cover. But he crouched and waited on. This stubborn vigilance was +rewarded on the last day of August when the flagship of Count de Grasse +sailed into the Chesapeake Bay at the head of the French fleet. + +Our camp went mad with joy as the three thousand French troops under +Marquis de Saint Simon landed to unite with us, and on the next day we +took position across the neck of the peninsula at Williamsburg. +Cornwallis was in the trap, and Lafayette had sprung shut the last door +which offered possible chance of escape. Admiral Graves with the English +fleet arrived too late. We watched anxiously the naval battle between +him and Count de Grasse, and exulted wildly when the defeated fleet +sailed away. Nine days' later, General Washington arrived, his presence +the final assurance of coming victory, and close on his heels the whole +northern army; by the twenty-sixth of September, the American and French +forces confronting Cornwallis were sixteen thousand strong. It was only +a question of days now. The brave British, inspired ever by the intrepid +Cornwallis, could not hold out long in their cramped condition, without +adequate supplies, and decimated daily by the deadly fire we were +presently ready to pour into the town. Our first parallel was opened on +the sixth of October; the men were so impatient with the prospect of +speedy victory after our long struggle against heavy odds, and so +reckless with mad enthusiasm, that it took all the authority of the +older and more prudent officers to restrain acts of needless risk and +exposure. + +That night--I had helped to fire the first guns and had witnessed the +fearful havoc they made among the enemy's redoubts--my whole being was +in such tumult from violent and conflicting emotions that I could not +sleep. Patriotic joy uplifted my soul to a fervor of grateful emotion +one moment, and in the next, a wave of depression overwhelmed me. Apples +of Sodom would be even the success of the cause, which so long and so +fervently I had cherished, if the future held for me no hope of Ellen's +love, no promise of Ellen's companionship! Ah, if I had not lost my last +chance by the rashness of my tongue! had not thrown away my life's +happiness by yielding to unreasoning anger! + +Had I but explained my true situation and feelings in regard to +Nelly Buford before I began to urge my suit so commandingly, I might +have had hope, at least, to feed upon, instead of the certainty of +disappointment. Yet why admit failure? If General Washington had done so +after Long Island, General Greene after Guilford; where would be to-day +the cause of American liberty? No, I would not recognize defeat! I would +fight on till no ray of hope was left me. This very night I would make a +last appeal to Ellen--set before her once again, but more persuasively, +all the reasons and arguments that to me seemed so clear. So I lit my +last end of candle, took my board upon my knee, found a bottle of +poke-berry ink, sharpened a quill and wrote--the ardent words flowing +from my quill's end more freely than the thin purplish red fluid in +which I transcribed them: + + "Dear Heart of my Heart: + + "Past midnight, and this vast camp lies wrapt in slumber. No + sounds disturb the star lighted peace save now and then the + faint call of the sentinels, and the distant roaring of an + occasional gun, fired from our first parallel which we opened + to-day. To my tent, far in the rear of our front line, these + sounds come softened into the musical echo of to-day's joyous + excitement, and hint of to-morrow's glorious promise. Though + the sweet and brooding peace of the night, the benediction of + the stars, and the caresses of a gentle breeze, all woo my + tired limbs and excited mind to needed repose, my heart is too + full of longing thoughts of you, dear Ellen, to admit sleep! + + "I see your dear face as last I saw it, flushed, hurt, angry, + and hear that voice, whose tender tremor is the sweetest music + my ears have known, ring sharp and firm in those words which + were the death knell of my hopes. In no other mood than that + one, in which I have seen you so rarely, can I recall you--the + hurt and angry state so foreign to your warm and generous + nature. Yet I cannot upbraid you, dearest, or in anywise blame + you, that last I saw you in a mood which so ill-becomes you, + for I was its just occasion. I was too impetuous, too + assertive, dear one. I knew it ere the rashness left me, and + would have given my right arm to have been able to blot my + foolish words from your memory. I longed to explain, to implore + your forgiveness, to humble myself before you, and to recall + all I had said that could give you offense--but you gave me no + opportunity; was it not, mavourneen, a needlessly cruel + punishment to deny me a last chance to beg for mercy, a moment + to say farewell? Yet, dear one, though I expressed myself + rudely, and went too far, much of what I said was true, as your + generous spirit has already admitted when you have, with + characteristic nobleness of soul, recalled my words in the hope + of finding excuses for me. + + "Perhaps before this letter reaches you--it goes by special + courier to Richmond, with General Washington's dispatches to + Governor Jefferson--a glorious victory will be ours. General + Cornwallis and his army are completely surrounded, and must + surrender in a few days. This will end the war, think all the + officers, and bring us peace with Great Britain upon liberal + terms. The United States of America will be a free republic, + and before us stretches a noble future with the grandest + possibilities that the mind of statesmen have yet been able to + conceive. We shall have a free representative government + administered by noble patriots, such as Washington, Jefferson + and Adams. We shall abolish all prerogatives of class, party + and creed; not only life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness + will be free to all, but entire freedom of religious thought + and free speech will be the unquestioned right of all the + inhabitants of America. And not only freedom, but prosperity + will be within reach of all. The wide and fertile plains of the + West await but the claim of the settler to constitute a rich + heritage. My heart thrills at the realization of the vast + territory which Clark and his handful of Virginians added to + that country which shall be called the American Republic. And + you, Ellen, and I had our share in that glorious enterprise. + Can any citizen of America fail to experience the glow of a + true patriot's fervor, a thrill of true patriot's pride, upon + contemplation of the noble destiny which a glowing future seems + to promise our land--with Freedom's crown upon it? A destiny + that will be shared with all who come to us. + + "But oh, heart of my heart, my joy and exultation for my + country are overcast with the gloom of despair! despair of any + hope for my own life, any happiness for my own heart. Even my + joy in our victory will be but the dim shadow of what it would + be for my spirit is sick from this gnawing regret, and despair, + eating daily deeper and deeper into my heart, till all buoyancy + has left me, and I have longed for death. That madness is past, + dear Ellen, else I would not tell you of it, but in truth I + have sought death for days, as a mother seeks a lost child, + wooed it as a lover wooes his mistress while yet there is hope. + Not even death would come to my relief--and now I see it was a + weakness to have sought it, a blasphemy to have prayed for it. + I shall live out as even I must, the span allotted to me, and + strive at least for the patience of hopeless resignation. + + "Two pictures, Ellen, haunt the sick visions of my idle, waking + hours, and glide nightly through my dreams. One is that which + might have been, the other that which, alas, likely will be! I + see a spacious mansion, crowning a green and gently sloping + hill; its wide windows open to the sweet air and gracious + sunshine of Virginia; its doors hospitably spread to welcome + kinsmen, friends, neighbors, or wayfarers, whether bringing or + needing blessing. At the foot of the hill, and seen from the + broad verandas, stretch luxuriant meadows, where sleek horses + and lazy herds of cattle wade knee deep in blossoming grass, + and pink headed clover. + + "Roses, lilies, and pinks bloom in the garden behind the house, + and their fragrance floats in through doors and windows. Music + too is there, for happy, unmolested birds sing their praises to + their Creator, and the sweetest voice in all the world speaks + kindly to contented slave, or happy child, or croons tenderly + to the rosy infant. And beauty is there, rarer than that of the + fair landscape to be glimpsed through doors and windows, for + the fairest, loveliest woman in Virginia fills this happy home + with her sweet pervading presence, and casts over it a rare and + nameless charm--a spell which brings to all its inmates, from + master to slave, from visiting friend to chance guest, a sense + of assured comfort and cheerful content--Does not your heart + tell you, oh, heart of my heart, that such home might be ours! + and can you conceive for any woman, even for my own rare Ellen, + a nobler destiny than to be the mistress of such home, the + priestess of such heart shrine? + + "But the other picture! A gloomy convent cell in which a + spirit-worn one--whose lingering beauty glads no tender heart, + charms no eye of love--kneels with face of despair, to pray for + grace not to loathe a life of useless sacrifice, of cloistered + inaction,--so little suited to an ardent and loving soul, so + fruitless in bringing real peace, true heart renunciation,--a + life of small service to man or God, and of worth only because + it brings to the heavy-hearted nun daily self wrestlings. And + ever as she prays there comes between her and the Christ vision + for which she yearns, and hourly implores her God, the sad face + of a man, old before his time, and hopelessly resigned to sit + in listless idleness by another's fireside, because he has no + heart for one of his own. + + "His old comrades and friends have built for themselves + spacious homes, transformed the wilderness into rich estates, + carved out useful and honorable careers, and are counted among + those Virginians who are laying broad and deep the foundations + of country, state, and family. But he, lacking the dear + responsibilities of wife and children, having no descendants to + carry the name in honorable memory and emulation to future + generations, has dropped out of the struggle, given over the + race; and, broken-hearted and despairing, lives only to recall + the memories of an active and inspired youth. + + "Can you, Ellen, mavourneen, contemplate this last vision, and + not be moved to the thought that such end for God-endowed + spirits, destined to complete each other's lives, were indeed a + fearful sacrifice? That the tears, regrets and prayers of the + nun would be but poor recompense to God--if there can be a + reckoning between man and his Maker--for two unfulfilled lives, + and lost generation after generation of human souls adequately + gifted by noble birth, and honest inheritance, with health, + comeliness, happiness, and opportunities, and trained in love + of country, love of progress, love of virtue, love of God! My + children shall have no other mother, Ellen, should you finally + determine to let your superstition stifle your heart; know that + in doing so you cut off from the earth the race of McElroy. + Last male of the line am I, and vowed to go childless to my + grave unless my offspring may call mother the one woman who is + the love of my life, heart of my heart, hope and inspiration of + my soul! + + "As soon as General Cornwallis surrenders I shall ask for a + furlough, and come home for my final answer. Oh, my Ellen, + dearest of dear ones, will you not crown my rejoicing, make of + true worth to me our hard-won victory! and fill one patriot's + breast with that supreme happiness of love accepted and + returned which is the wine of men's souls, the one elixir which + can furnish them with courage and inspiration for the + constantly repeated struggles and continually renewed efforts + of life! + + "May that God who is your God and mine, the God of your fathers + and the God of mine, come to you in dream or vision, through + word of saint or prophet, and open your eyes to see, as I see, + that destiny which is the noblest and holiest for woman! Yet + always, dear one, whether the happiest, or the most sorely + bereft of men, I shall be + + "Your true and loyal friend, your sworn knight, your devoted + lover, + + "DONALD MCELROY." + +My candle sputtered feebly in its last effort to do its duty as I folded +and sealed my letter. As I crossed the camp in search of the courier, +the formless dull gray of the eastern landscape was suddenly aroused by +the yet unrealized promise of the coming sun, and soon appeared a glow +of life, under whose influence the bolder features of the landscape +began slowly to assume their natural forms. Half an hour later, when I +was returning to my tent, the whole east was glowing gorgeously and +every smallest detail of the landscape was limned in vivid light. Nature +was pulsing with life in every part, beneath the first kiss of the sun. +So would a word of kindness from Ellen scatter the heavy, chill mist +from my heart, and set my whole nature a-quiver with a new life of hope +and joy. + + * * * * * + +To history belongs the record of those brave days when American and +Frenchman vied with one another in deeds of daring gallantry, and when +hour by hour our long delayed reward came nearer. General Cornwallis +made a brave resistance, and delayed surrender almost to the point of +madness. Our final exultation--the day Cornwallis gave up his sword, and +the long line of our prisoners marched between our lines to stack +arms--was, indeed, much softened by respectful admiration and sympathy +for our gallant late foes, and their broken-hearted General. + +As we all know family quarrels are usually the bitterest, but somehow +this long contest between the American colonies and the mother country +did not seem to breed any deep-seated animosity between their respective +peoples. It may have been that the people of England--as certainly some +of their statesmen did--recognized that we were but leading the vanguard +of progress toward a happier order for all nations. England is not fond +of experiments, yet none are more freedom loving than her sons. They +have but moved on more conservatively, more deliberately to their goal. + +Or perhaps the happy absence of any lasting bitterness may have been due +to the circumstance that our war--except for its few Indian +episodes--was conducted with as little savagery as war may well be. +Whatever the explanation, it is true that in two days after Cornwallis' +surrender the officers and men of the two armies were fraternizing like +brothers, and not a few of our late enemies were already declaring their +intention to remain in this new land of promise and to cast in their lot +with the American Republic. + +At a banquet given by our colonels to those of the British army, toasts +were drunk to a firmly cemented and lasting peace between our respective +countries and then to a steadfast alliance between England and America. +In response to the last of these I ventured the prophecy that the two +great English-speaking peoples would not only be bound together +presently by ties of blood and language into a close alliance for mutual +welfare, but that side by side they would go forward toward higher and +higher ideals of free government and universal brotherhood, pointing the +way to a nobler civilization than had yet been conceived. Carried away +by my own fervor, I even predicted a time when the two nations, England +and the United States of America, that was to be, supported by France +perhaps, would make the last fight against autocratic power and military +rule, to conquer the world for democracy--to the end that war might +forever cease, and the world begin to be made ready for the coming of +the "Prince of Peace." + +It was a perfervid and wild harangue doubtless, and some of my +fellow-officers who heard it never ceased to twit me about my one burst +of eloquence. Nevertheless, it seemed at the time to chime in with the +mood of my hearers, who soundly applauded these sentiments. If events +since, and especially more recent ones, have made me appear but a poor +prophet, I am still not ready to withdraw my prediction, and I still +believe that the destiny of humanity lies in the keeping of the +Anglo-Saxon peoples, who will, I yet maintain, go steadily forward +through mistakes and errors to a better understanding and a closer +friendship. + +General Lafayette granted my request for furlough with playful jest +about the fair refugee who awaited my coming, and my blush and stammer +doubtless confirmed his suspicions. I lost no more time getting home +than I could help, you may be sure, but every man I met stopped me to +get details of the big news, which had spread like fairy fire, and men, +women, and children ran out to question me as I passed each hamlet. + +Jean was on the porch enjoying the bracing balminess of a bright October +afternoon when I rode up, and ran with glad cry to meet me. Father and +mother were gone to Staunton for the day--father to get further news, +mother to lay in the fall supplies--and Ellen was back again with Aunt +Martha, whose health failed more and more, so that Ellen was her chief +dependence. All this Jean told me and more, while she urged upon me the +laziest chair, and brought sangaree and spiced cake to refresh me. + +"You, dear Jean, are well again and happy if your face is index to your +feelings," I said, when my first eager questions had been answered. +"Have father and mother already been won over to Buford's cause? I knew +they never could stand to see our little maid wear sad face, and lose +all her pretty bloom." + +"It was not all done by my reproachful looks," she answered, smiling and +blushing. "Ellen's influence more than any other has changed them. Oh, +Donald, she is the dearest girl, and her tact is wonderful! Neither +father nor mother know when it was done, but gradually she has made them +like Captain Buford, till now they are willing for his sake as well as +for mine. Mother told me yesterday that they but waited for your full +approval to withdraw all objection to our marriage." + +"Then, little sister, Buford's happiness is assured, and yours too, I +believe. He is a brave and an honorable gentleman, and likely to make +his wife a happy woman. His poverty, for most of his property will be +confiscated, doubtless, is the one drawback, but if I get my western +bounty lands, I shall be able to make up for that. A deed to one-half of +my share shall be my wedding gift to you." + +"Dear Donald, you are the very dearest of brothers," and Jean perched +herself upon the arm of my chair, kissed my forehead, and began to +thread my somewhat neglected locks with her slender fingers. "Will you +think me presumptuous, brother, if I ask you a personal question?" she +began presently, with apparent hesitation. + +"I can hardly think of a question my little sister would not have the +right to ask me," turning my head to smile encouragement upon her. + +"Did you ever think Nelly Buford a coquette?" she asked, waiting for my +answer with amusing anxiety. + +"Can any one who has ever known her exonerate her from the charge?" I +replied with a smile--"unless it is Buford, who has never guessed his +sister's weakness. Is it high treason in his eyes for his prospective +wife to harbor such suspicions?" + +"Oh, we never discuss family matters; I was thinking only of your +opinion of Nelly." + +"Is my judgment upon coquettes so valuable?" + +"Then you do not love Nelly, Donald? Oh! I'm so glad!" + +"No, I do not love Nelly Buford, though she's a winsome maiden. But why +rejoice, little sister? Do you disapprove of too close family +entanglements?" + +"I could not be happy if it were not so," Jean responded enigmatically. + +"And why?" Indifferent to Jean's meaning, my thoughts wandered off to +the far greater likelihood of my love for Ellen bringing me unhappiness. + +"She has promised to marry Thomas!" + +"Thomas?" I almost sprang from my chair with surprise. "Thomas and Nelly +Buford to be married?" and then I laughed long and heartily. + +Jean laughed too. "It is funny, Don, for at first Thomas barely endured +Nelly. I believe his indifference nettled her into a determination to +win him. She seems entirely unsuited to a parson's wife, much less a +missionary's. Thomas declares he is going to Kentucky as a border +missionary, and that Nelly is willing to go with him anywhere." + +"And give up her Tory principles, and her Episcopal faith? Wonder of +wonders is this love which overleaps all barriers as easily as a hunter +takes his ditch. Does Ellen know of this?" + +"Yes, and seems to be very happy over it. I think she feels now for the +first time easy in conscience, since Thomas' happiness, as well as his +calling is assured." + +"And what says Aunt Martha?" + +"She says very little about it, though we all know that Nelly would not +have been her choice for Thomas. She told Ellen, when first she heard +it, that she had interfered, already, too much with the lives that other +people had to live, and that she no longer felt that confidence in her +own judgment she once had; that humility was the latest flower of her +Christian experience, and though but a weak and sickly bloom, she wished +to cherish it." + +"Poor Aunt Martha. She has suffered much, then?" + +"Yes, but mother and Ellen say she has grown daily gentler under her +sufferings." + +"Only natures of true worth are 'refined by the furnace of affliction,' +to my observation--Aunt Martha evidently deserved not the youthful scorn +I felt for her. But tell me more of Ellen--she is, you think, really +happy to be Aunt Martha's nurse?" + +"Yes, Ellen is more light-hearted recently than I have ever known her; +Aunt Martha called her, talking to mother yesterday, 'a well-spring of +happiness,' and said it made her very thankful when she considered how +Providence had forced upon her a daughter against her time of need, in +spite of her utter undeservingness." + +Scarcely could I wait to greet my parents, I was so eager to see Ellen, +to fathom the true cause of her unaccustomed gayety of spirits, which +even the love-absorbed Jean had noticed. I found her so busy with +household duties, and attentions to Aunt Martha, that I was obliged to +content myself, after the first greetings--which told me without need of +words that I was forgiven--with the vision of her flitting about busily, +and the exchange of an occasional meaningless remark. When reluctantly I +rose to go, Uncle Thomas asked me to stay to tea, and I accepted so +eagerly, that I think Aunt Martha guessed, at last, my secret. Either +because of that, or the way my truant gaze followed Ellen's every +movement. At any rate she surmised the real reason of my prompt visit to +them, and when supper was over, came to my help with something of my own +mother's tactfulness. + +"Donald," she said, "take Ellen out to the porch, and make her rest +while you tell her all about Yorktown--as you told it to me while she +was at the dairy; Ellen never takes time to rest unless I make her. +Thomas will sit with me." + +For a while we talked perfunctorily, and with embarrassed +self-consciousness, like children who are bidden to be sociable; and I +did describe to her the final scenes at Yorktown, but with such lack of +interest in my own story--my mind all the time on other words I wished +to speak--that there was no spirit in the narrative. Disgusted with my +bungling of such an inspiring subject, I broke off abruptly, then after +a silence surcharged with emotion--"Oh, heart of my heart," I asked, +"have you ready the answer to my letter?" + +"Almost," and there was the dear harp-like tremor in her tones, which +bespoke deep feeling. + +"Meantime I may feed on hope, may I not, mavourneen?" + +"Some men need only their own resolution, Donald, to base assurance +upon," and she smiled at me, in such wise that I grew suddenly dizzy, +then gliding away from me to the top of the steps--"you are one of those +masterful men, cousin, whose will is not to be gainsaid by any weaker +vessel." + +"So I fail not this time, I can trust my will for all the rest of my +life," I answered--"but you know full well, Ellen, that with you I am +very coward," following her, and capturing the hands she had clasped +about a column of the porch. "Dearest one, I have waited long, and, it +seems to me, most patiently and humbly--ask not, I beseech you, much +more of my fortitude." Then I kissed softly the blue-veined wrists, +where her heart's blood pulsed warmest, and asked once more, "May I +hope, mavourneen?" getting for answer a low, but tenderly spoken "Yes, +but ask no more, now. Be patient, dear Donald, only a little longer," +and once more she lifted her quivering eyelids, and flashed a smile upon +me which filled my veins with an all-pervading thrill of fiery joy. +Again I kissed the white wrists, looked into her eyes for one instant, +spoke a murmured word of joy, then--lest I could no longer resist the +mad impulse to clasp her in my arms, and ease all my violent emotion in +passionate caresses--turned, and, without daring to grant myself a +single backward glance, walked swiftly away in the starlight. No single +self-conquest of my life cost me the effort of that one. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + + +Buford came down from Staunton the morning after my arrival to urge upon +mother and Jean an immediate marriage. News had just come to him that +made his presence in Philadelphia necessary within the fortnight, and he +was so unwilling, he declared, to leave the valley until Jean was his +own, beyond question of his right to return for her, that, rather than +do so, he would forfeit the chance for pardon, and restoration of his +property, which this call to Philadelphia seemed to promise him. With my +help mother's objections were overborne, and it was settled that the +ceremony should take place on the first day we could procure the +services of a clergyman of the Church of England. + +Under the establishment, a marriage solemnized by any other than an +Episcopal rector was not strictly valid in law, and though such +marriages had been spasmodically tolerated under certain circumstances, +they were regarded with such ill favor by the courts that they often +gave rise to unpleasant complications afterwards. It was, therefore, our +custom to submit to the mortification of begging the nearest Episcopal +clergyman to read the service, previous to the solemnization of the +contract by our own minister. The nearest clergyman to us lived more +than thirty miles distant, and as he spent much of his time in +Williamsburg, it was a difficult matter to induce him to go any distance +to legalize the marriage of dissenters. However, I preferred not to be +the one to enlighten Buford on this subject. + +Buford and I rode together to see the clergyman, while Thomas went to +Staunton for a persuasive interview with Nelly--we to join him there +next day. Our clergyman was at his midday meal when we arrived, and we +were left to cool our heels in his draughty hall while he finished +leisurely an evidently tempting repast. He came out to us after three +quarters of an hour, cleaning his teeth with a golden pick, a string of +hounds at his heels, and his top boots muddy from his morning ride. We +introduced ourselves, and announced our business. + +"You are modest in your request, sirs. Think you I have nothing else to +do than to ride all over the State reading the marriage ceremony for +dissenters? Such usually come to me. Bring your wenches behind you any +afternoon this week and I'll make quick work of the marriage service for +your benefit." + +"This gentleman, sir, who is to marry my sister," I made calm answer, +though restraining my anger with no small effort, "was late an officer +in the British army, and is a member of the Church of England. He is +entitled to your services, therefore, through the double claim of like +politics and religion. His sister weds my cousin. To neither of them +would it appear seemly to ride the width of two counties to seek their +church's blessing on their marriage." + +"You should have stated those facts before," responded the clergyman +stiffly, but with sense enough of decency to flush as he turned to +Buford. "Your rank and name again, please. I shall be glad to come to +you any day and hour you may name. It is my duty and my privilege to go +wherever needed by those of the established faith, but I do not consider +it so to be gallivanting from hut to hut to marry all the heretics in +this valley--who have made such ado about the tithings of their pitiful +substance, that the State has been forced to heed their clamor, and we +are cut down to a beggar's stipend." + +"Since the State requires your services to legitimatize marriage, since +you are paid to perform that duty--and from the scarcity of your +parishioners I judge your other duties are by no means onerous--I see +not how you can excuse yourself," was Buford's cool rejoinder "But you +shall be well paid for your needful assistance, sir. Shall we say +Thursday afternoon, McElroy? There is to be a second service in the +evening, solemnized by your own minister, as you know, and this would +better be got through with beforehand." + +Buford, I saw, was seething inwardly by this time, and holding the reins +on his passion with rigid grip; the clergyman, too, was waxing hot, and +there was need to terminate the interview as soon as possible. + +"It is small wonder, McElroy, that you Presbyterians are so set against +an established church," commented Buford as we remounted our horses. "I +understand as never before, that men appointed to holy office by royal +or state patronage are more likely than otherwise to be men unfitted for +the discharge of sacred duties; to them it is a living rather than a +holy calling. Count me on your side, Donald, when you are ready to throw +yourself into the fight for religious liberty, which is, I believe, the +next war you Scotch Irish propose to engage in, now that your state +independence has been won." + +"The fight for religious liberty and for the separation of church and +state is already on. All through the greater war our ministers have kept +up a brisk warfare of yearly memorials and petitions to the State +Assembly. Four years ago Mr. Jefferson drew up a statute of religious +liberty which he offered to the Assembly, and which has since been +brought up at each session for warm discussion. Sooner or later the +measure will be carried, and you are right in supposing that that is the +next fight in which I shall enlist; nor shall I forget your promise to +be on my side the next time," and I laid my hand on Buford's arm. +Already I felt almost a brother's affection for him. + +"After this, Donald," said Buford with feeling, "your people shall be my +people, your country my country, and your interests mine; and," he added +more lightly, "if I meet many more mere holders of livings, like the +clergyman we have just left, your religion shall be mine also." + +"You and Jean shall settle that question to your mutual satisfaction," I +answered, smiling; "if you can make an Episcopalian out of her you have +my consent." + +"She shall make anything out of me she wishes," and Buford's face and +voice were softened by quick springing tenderness. "My one ambition +shall be to make her happy." + +"You will not find that a hard task," I answered, with a sigh for my own +delayed happiness; "she loves you dearly." + +"Look here, Donald. Some forts may not be taken by the most persistent +siege; a bold assault is the only way. Miss Ellen loves you, but she +dare not close the door for good and all on the morbid conscience to +which she has so long listened. Surprise her into an irreclaimable step, +and she will but love you the more for having mastered her will, since +you have already mastered her heart." + +"But how?" I questioned eagerly. "I was never shrewd at strategy, and +am, at best, but a backwoodsman in love warfare." + +"Procure a license for your marriage _to-day_, and Wednesday show it to +her, refusing to listen to her plea for postponement. + +"Ellen would hold no marriage valid for herself not solemnized by a +priest." + +"Call this but the civil contract and explain it is to get this +unpleasant necessity for a Church of England ceremony over with. You +will surprise her into the necessary step before she has time to listen +to her doubts and fears, and can afford, then, to wait for priest's +blessing before you shall claim her. I will bring you a priest on my +return from Baltimore." + +"Suppose Ellen should be angry?" and I shuddered at the bare thought. + +"What woman was ever made angry by the daring determination of the man +she loves, to win her at all hazards? If at first Ellen should seem +angry, be deeply grieved, and declare your intention to go to Kentucky +to join Clark, and fight the Indians. If she loves you, as she does, she +will never consent to that." + +Buford's suggestion appeared more and more feasible as my mind dallied +with the tempting prospect. In the end three licenses were procured. +Thomas, who acted for Ellen, swore profound secrecy, and I rode home +with the folded paper on which hung my destiny feeling warm against my +beating heart. The more I contemplated the rashness of my deed, next +day, the more I feared Ellen's displeasure. When evening came, I was +still in a state of excitement that seemed to key all my faculties to a +higher pitch. + +An Indian summer's day had been followed by a calm but buoyant night. +The sky, unflecked by lightest cloud, sparkled overhead, an arch of +congealed azure, amidst which the big bright moon shone with such +radiant resplendence that the stars were quite outdone and gleamed +almost apologetically, as if aware that this was not their hour. As the +sky dipped down to meet the mountains, lifting their purple bulk in soft +but distinct undulation, the sparkling blue melted to a fathomless, +almost colorless mist, which cast over the dark blue range a mysterious +reflection, exaggerating its bulk, its mystery, and its silence. + +The night, I thought, was like Ellen, exhilarating, joy-giving, yet +serious and thought-compelling--its beauty and sweetness far removed +from the beauty and sweetness of common things, by a silent suggestion +of unfathomed depths. I found her alone on the porch, a white shawl so +draped about her that once again she looked as she did that night at the +spring, when she was yet a child, like a spirit from some purer world. + +"Ellen," I began, dropping down on the step below her, and compelling +her dream-held eyes to recognize mine, "have I kept high carnival in my +heart these last three days for naught, or are you but playing with my +hopes? Surely, Ellen, promise is but delayed fulfillment." + +"Has it made you very happy--the hope?" she asked, her tones soft and +dreamy, like the far-away notes of a violin. "You are _very_ sure that +you will always be entirely content with me? The pleadings of my own +heart, Donald, I might have resisted, but to bring you happiness, to +bless and crown your life, as you say I alone can--to resist that +temptation, Donald, was beyond my soul's strength. I may have been hard +to win, dear, but your conquest is complete." + +My right arm clasped her, and her head sank to my breast, as a bird into +its nest, and rested there as quietly. + +"Then you will grant my request, Ellen?" my heart throbbing tremulously. +"Say you will! Even before I make it, that will be the sealing sign of +your love and confidence." + +"You could ask nothing I would refuse." + +"Then marry me to-morrow, mavourneen!" and before she could answer, I +dropped softly upon her lips the first kiss I had ever dared to claim. + +"To-morrow, Donald?" she questioned, with more of curiosity than anger +or even surprise; "how could that be? But it shall be soon, dear, almost +as soon as you could ask." + +Then I explained all, and told her how I had dreaded her anger, and yet +felt that I could endure suspense no longer, but must somehow force her +to make me the very happiest or most miserable of men. + +"And you will wait for priest's blessing on our union, before you claim +me, Donald--you have thought fully about it?" + +"When you come to my home, Ellen, it shall be with the full and glad +consent of your whole heart. This marriage to-morrow will be no more +than the publishing of our banns, after all, but I shall be sure of you +then; my heart will be at rest, and this annoying necessity for a Church +of England ceremony will be done with. Our real marriage will be wholly +a dear and solemn rite." + +"Do you know, dear Donald," said Ellen, after a long silence while her +heart beat against mine, "I am very glad it is all settled at last, that +after to-morrow I shall have no right to question my soul, or even to +pray for further guidance? Once I am your wife, dear, I shall give all +my thoughts and prayers to wifely duty. Do not fear I shall still try +your patient soul with doubts and regrets." + +"I fear nothing, dear one, now that we are one. Do you know, mavourneen, +that you can have no feeling, no thought, hereafter, that I shall not +share, and that I shall experience no emotion you will not feel? Awful +mystery, yet precious reality, this merging of two spirits into one!" + +My eyes had turned from time to time to rest in rapt thankfulness upon +sky and mountain; but now, suddenly, I was aware that the haunting +mystery, lately brooding over the horizon, was gone, and in its place +only a perfect peace beyond which the shining circle of the moon, +climbing higher and higher in the azure dome, gave promise of joys +beyond, infinite and eternal. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + + +Impatiently our household awaited Buford's return. Jean, his bride of +two days, bore his absence, and the suspense of his still unsettled +fate, with more fortitude than I the weary waiting for the coming of the +priest, whose blessing was to give me my own--my Ellen. Each day, as I +watched her minister more and more tenderly to Aunt Martha, who was +slowly dying, and had now and then rare hours of confidential +intercourse with her, my love, which I had thought already great beyond +power of increase, grew and deepened, till every plan and aspiration +centered around her, every thought and emotion was inspired by the glad +consciousness of our mutual love. + +Thomas and Nelly would not start to Kentucky while their mother lived, +nor until after Buford's fate was settled. + +There was much hot, foolish talk of banishing Tories, and the English +government had been ordered to convey them to England. Through the +strong influence which General Morgan and myself had been able to enlist +for Buford, however, we hoped to procure for him, at least, a pardon. +Both households lived on week after week in anxious suspense, made +endurable by the love which brightened the lagging hours. + +Meantime Ellen's home was building, planned as to its larger outlines +after my vision, but in all details modeled to meet Ellen's tastes and +wishes. Whenever the weather permitted, and it was possible for her to +leave Aunt Martha--for even the new daughter could not take Ellen's +place acceptably at the invalid's bedside--we rode together to the green +knoll with its fair prospect, which our home was to crown, to inspect +with almost affectionate interest each beam and brick, and to suggest, +alter, and replan to the bewilderment of the tolerant workmen. +Nevertheless the slow winter days dragged along, and Buford's repeated +delays and excuses wore my patience to a thin edge as spring approached. +Was I to wait forever for my long withheld happiness? + +Aunt Martha had been beyond all suffering for a week, and Thomas and +Nelly were almost determined to start to their waiting field of labor +without again seeing Buford, when he returned--taking us all by surprise +at last. + +But he brought no priest with him. "None would come so far," he said, +"in such unsettled times." One indeed had been at first willing, but +could not get the requisite dispensation from his superior. He, Buford, +would be obliged to go back at once to Philadelphia, but he could stand +the separation no longer and had returned for Jean. Why not Ellen and I +go with them, stop in Baltimore to be married, and then go on to +Philadelphia to help him? With me to intercede, personally, for him, he +felt sure of obtaining not only pardon but the restoration of his +estates. + +I took this disappointing news across the fields to Ellen. Surely the +fate of Tantalus was not much worse than mine! + +"Yes, I'll go to Baltimore with you, Donald," she said cheerily--seeming +so little disappointed over this further delay that I was for the moment +hurt. "Indeed, if you can help your brother, it is your duty to go. +Moreover, I shall like a wedding journey, and I have always wanted to go +to Baltimore and to Philadelphia." + +That put a new phase on the matter. Since it would give Ellen pleasure +to take the journey, and we would take it together, I could endure a few +more days of waiting. And a happy journey it was, in our own four-horse +post chaise, notwithstanding the roads were muddy, and the March weather +precarious. Still more happy its ending. + +Ellen and I were married in the Cathedral by the solemn ceremony of the +Catholic Church, with only the priest's assistance--the choir boys, and +Jean and Buford for witnesses. Afterwards Ellen went into the +confessional, while I waited alone for her in the dimly lighted, +reverence-inspiring edifice. She joined me, presently, her face both +tender and radiant. + +"The good Father, Donald," she whispered, slipping a warm little hand +into mine, "bade me obey my husband, and follow my conscience in all +things--even should that lead me into becoming a Protestant; for I must +not let my religion come between me and my wifely duty, since marriage +was a God appointed sacrament. You must never again say, my husband, +that the Catholic faith is bigoted and superstitious." + +"I trust I shall never say anything to wound my dear wife," I answered; +"all her principles and feelings are sacred to me. As to her being a +Protestant, that she shall never be unless she truly wishes it. As a +loyal Catholic, I have learned to love her, and if she is happier still +to be one, I shall love her none the less for that," and I kissed first +the sweet, earnest face upturned to mine, and then the tiny jeweled +cross which had been one of my gifts to her. Three weeks later Buford's +pardon had been obtained, with a full restoration of his estates. He +would return to Philadelphia, occupy the family mansion, and resume his +father's business, for which indeed he had been destined and trained. +But, first, he must take Jean back to her mother, as he had promised, +and gain her consent to really giving up her only daughter. Buford's +supposed poverty, indeed, had been a strong argument in his favor with +my mother. If he had nothing, she argued, why should they not settle +down on the home place? It was big enough for all and then she and Jean +would never be separated. Buford's good fortune would be, I feared, a +sad blow to dear mother. But, then, Ellen and I would live not far away, +and she could often visit us; while Jean affirmed that her mother should +spend part of each year in Philadelphia--for, after all, it was not much +of a journey, with good stage roads all the way. + + * * * * * + +This is the true story of a somewhat eventful life, and I must e'en tell +it as it happened. I cannot then conclude it by saying that Ellen and I +lived in perfect happiness ever after. In truth we had our sorrows and +disappointments, such sorrows and disappointments as are common to +mortals--even our differences at times. + +Yet, looking back upon our united lives, I see that they have been full +and happy--almost realizing the radiant vision of my youth. + +One of the incidents of it which gave us much pleasure, was a visit, +some years after our marriage, from good Father Gibault. His love for +Ellen and hers for him was almost that of a real father and daughter, +and his interest in our children that of a grandfather. Especially did +he take delight in the manly blue-eyed son we had named for him. Before +he bade us farewell, to return to his beloved land of Illinois, he +absolved Ellen finally from her allegiance to her old faith, bidding +her, since her conscience allowed it, be one in creed also with the +husband to whom she was fully united in life and purpose. Though devoted +priest of a faith, held bigoted by some, he too believed that creeds are +man made, and that God lives not in doctrines, but in our hearts and in +our deeds. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DONALD MCELROY, SCOTCH IRISHMAN*** + + +******* This file should be named 36282-8.txt or 36282-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/6/2/8/36282 + + + +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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