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diff --git a/old/44651.txt b/old/44651.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d1b9f91 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44651.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8118 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of With the Swamp Fox, by James Otis + +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: With the Swamp Fox + A Story of General Marion's Young Spies + +Author: James Otis + +Illustrator: J. Watson Davis + +Release Date: January 12, 2014 [EBook #44651] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH THE SWAMP FOX *** + + + + +Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have + been preserved. In particular, the book uses reconnoiter and + reconnoitre, and both redcoat and red-coat. Obvious typographical + errors have been corrected. + + Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal + signs=. + + + + + [Illustration: I clasped the old man's hand, understanding for the + first time what a friend he was.--Page 93.] + + + + +WITH THE SWAMP FOX + +A Story of General Marion's Young Spies. + +BY JAMES OTIS. + +With Six Page Illustrations by J. Watson Davis. + + NEW YORK: + A. L. BURT, PUBLISHER. + + + + +Copyright, 1899, by A. L. Burt. + + WITH THE SWAMP FOX. + By James Otis. + + + + +"Thank God I can lay my hand on my heart and say that, since I came to +man's estate, I have never intentionally done wrong to any." + +(General Francis Marion's last words, spoken February 27th, 1795.) + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAP. PAGE + I. My Uncle the Major 1 + II. General Marion 24 + III. The Tory Camp 48 + IV. Samuel Lee 72 + V. The Ambush 96 + VI. The Prisoners 120 + VII. The Retreat 144 + VIII. Black Mingo Swamp 167 + IX. The Battle 191 + X. Georgetown 215 + XI. Gabriel 238 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + I Clasped the Old Man's Hand, Understanding for the Frontispiece + First Time What a Friend He Was + + PAGE + + As the Tory Spoke, Percy Leaped Upon Him 23 + + Then Suddenly a Red-coated Tory Rushed Toward Me with 49 + Upraised Saber + + As Gavin Gathered Up the Weapons, Percy and I Called 183 + Upon the Sleepers to Surrender + + In the Darkness We Four Comrades Were Sent Forward to 205 + Reconnoitre + + Gavin Seized My Arm, Shouting in My Ear: "Surrender, 250 + Lad, Surrender!" + + + + +WITH THE SWAMP FOX. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +MY UNCLE, THE MAJOR. + + +He who sets himself down to write of his own deeds in order that future +generations may know exactly what part he bore in freeing the colonies +from the burdens put upon them by a wicked king, must have some other +excuse, or reason, than that of self-glorification. + +Some such idea as set down above has been in my mind from the moment +Percy Sumter--meaning my brother--urged that I make a record of what we +did while serving under General Francis Marion, that ardent patriot and +true soldier, who was willing to make of himself a cripple rather than +indulge in strong drink. + +I question if there be in the Carolinas any one who does not know +full well the story of that night in Charleston, when, the door +being locked upon him in order that he might be forced to drink, +General Marion--then only a colonel--leaped from the window, thereby +dislocating his ankle, rather than indulge in a carousal which to him +was unseemly and ungentlemanly. + +This is but a lame beginning to what it is intended I shall tell +regarding those days when we two lads, Percy and myself, did, as it has +pleased many to say, the work of men in the struggle against foreign +rule; yet however crude it may appear to those better versed in the use +of the pen, it is the best I can do. My brother and myself went into +General Marion's camp before our fourteenth birthday, and since that +time have studied the art of warfare instead of letters, which fact +is due to the troublous times rather than our own inclination, for my +desire ever was to improve my mind until I should be at least on equal +terms with those lads who were more favored as to country. + +First let me set down that of which we two--meaning Percy and +myself--can honestly claim without fear of being called boastful. + +Our mother was sister to those noble gentlemen, John, William, Gavin, +James and Robert James, who one and all devoted their fortunes and +their lives to the cause of the independence of the Carolinas. She +married a Sumter, who died while yet we twins were in the cradle, and, +therefore, we were come to look upon ourselves as true members of the +James family, rather than Sumters, priding ourselves upon that which +every true Carolinian is ready to declare, that "he who rightfully +bears the name of James is always ready for the foe, the first in +attack and the last in retreat." + +I am coming to the beginning of my story in a halting, and what may +seem a boastful, fashion, yet to my mind there is no other way of +telling plainly what Percy and I were so fortunate as to accomplish +under General Marion, than that of explaining why it was we two +lads, less than fourteen years of age, should have been given such +opportunities. + +Now I will write particularly of my uncle, the major, in order that it +may be further understood how we lads came to be known as scouts in the +service of the "Swamp Fox," and while so doing much which is already +well-known must be repeated. + +When the city of Charleston was captured by the British, thousands of +Carolinians who were true to the cause of independence voluntarily made +of themselves exiles, despairing of being able to wrest their native +colonies from the hands of the king, and willing to assist those in the +north whose possibilities seemed bright. + +To the men who were left at home, the proclamation of Sir Henry +Clinton, offering pardon to the inhabitants and a reinstatement of all +their rights, seemed most honest. + +When, however, Sir Henry's second decree was issued early in August, +in the year 1780, declaring that we who accepted "pardon" must take up +arms against those of the northern colonies who were yet holding their +own against oppression, the condition of affairs seemed suddenly to +have changed, and the gentlemen of the Carolinas asked themselves how +these two proclamations could bear relationship. + +Such question could only be answered by those high in authority under +the king, and that the matter might be made plain, the people of +Williamsburg, in the colony of South Carolina, chose my uncle, Major +John James, to represent them in asking for an explanation. + +The nearest post was at Georgetown, and the commandant one Captain +Ardesoif. + +To this officer my uncle presented himself with the question as to +what might be meant by the demand that the people of South Carolina +"submit themselves to the king," and if, after having done so to the +satisfaction of his majesty, they would be allowed to remain at their +homes. + +The British captain was one who looked upon the colonists generally as +slaves who should be whipped into subjection, rather than men who were +able and willing to defend their lives, and taking such view of the +Carolinians, he made answer much in this fashion: + +"His majesty offers you a free pardon, of which you are undeserving, +for you all ought to be hanged: but it is only on condition that you +take up arms in his cause." + +Had this redcoated captain known my uncle better, he might have +selected his words with greater wisdom; but, unacquainted with our +family, he could have made no greater mistake, and proud am I to set +down that which I know to be my uncle's answer: + +"Sir, the people whom I am come to represent will scarcely submit to +such condition." + +Then it was that Captain Ardesoif flew into a passion, giving no heed +to the possibility that it might be dangerous to allow his tongue free +rein. + +"Represent!" he cried in a fury. "You insolent rebel, if you dare speak +in such language I will have you hung up at the yard-arm," and the +redcoated captain pointed to his ship, which lay in the harbor. + +I had never set myself down as a member of the James family if such +words had been allowed to pass unnoticed, but those who know my uncle +could have told the captain that he was most unwise in attempting to +_force_ us into any agreement. + +The king's officer was armed, and my uncle, clad in a garb such as is +worn by us of Williamsburg, carried no weapons. This fact, however, had +no weight with Major James. + +Seizing the chair upon which he sat he rushed upon the insolent +Britisher, striking him senseless with a single blow, and then making +his escape at once, for the king's soldiers were there in force, he +mounted his horse and fled from the town. + +All possibility that we of Williamsburg would "submit" had vanished, +and within four and twenty hours came the enrolment of that body of +true gentlemen and noble soldiers who were afterward known, and the +memory of whom will live so long as the history of these colonies are +told, as "Marion's Brigade." + +It was the major, as a matter of course, who took command of these +volunteers, and they were divided into four companies, each under a +captain. + +The first was led by William M'Cottry; Henry Mouzon had command of the +second. John of the Lake--another branch of the James family, and an +uncle to the major--was captain of the third, while John McCauley stood +at the head of the fourth division. + +These gentlemen, who had come together within less than four and twenty +hours after my uncle's interview with the representative of his majesty +at Georgetown were all residents of the district of Williamsburg, and +were rendezvoused on the banks of Lynch's Creek nearby where it joins +the Great Pedee River within less than two miles of my mother's home. + +All this is set down by way of explanation, so that whosoever in the +days to come shall read what I am so lamely doing, may understand +how it chanced that we two lads played so important a part--for +circumstances put it in our way to do good work--in the struggle which +finally freed the Carolinas, as well as the other colonies of America, +from the burdens which the king put upon them. + +Percy and I had seen somewhat of warfare, or at least we believed we +had, and watched keenly the movements of this brigade which my uncle +commanded, expecting that such deeds of valor would be performed by him +and his soldiers as must give new impetus to the Cause throughout all +the colonies. + +Then, to our great surprise, we learned that General Marion was +appointed chief over the forces raised in the Williamsburg district, +and our hearts were filled with disappointment because it appeared to +us that thereby had Major James lost the opportunity to show himself +the valiant and skillful officer we believed him to be. + +As a matter of course we had heard much regarding this soldier who +leaped out of a window at the expense of breaking his bones, rather +than join a party of gentlemen in their drinking, and were burning with +curiosity, which as I have said, was mixed with deep disappointment, to +know what kind of an appearance he might present. + +The men of the command were by no means as captious regarding him as we +two nephews of the man whom we believed to be the rightful commander. + +Those Carolinians who took part in the defense of Charleston knew him +to be a brave colonel, and expected much of him as a general; but we +lads were more than disappointed in the appearance of the soldier who +had already made for himself a worthy name. + +We saw a small, swarthy gentleman, walking with a decided limp, wearing +a round-bodied, crimson jacket, and, perched upon his head was a +leathern cap ornamented with a silver crescent on which were inscribed +the words "liberty or death." + +While we were not disposed to compare the king's soldiers with our own +brave men to the disparagement of the latter, we had seen officers from +many countries, and had rather more than a vague idea of what a uniform +should be. Therefore this grotesque costume--for I can call it by no +other name--impressed us unfavorably, although in a very few days we +came to learn better than ever before that something more than clothes +are needed to make the man. + +When General Marion arrived at Lynch's Creek on the 12th of August, +the men of Williamsburg had a military organization numbering, perhaps, +four hundred, and not a man that could boast of a complete equipment. + +Our Carolinians were armed with whatsoever weapons they owned, some +carrying shot-guns and others muskets, while M'Cottry's company were +provided with small-bore rifles. Each man had, perhaps, his horn filled +with powder; but no more than that, and, as I have heard my uncle say +time and time again, when the brigade first went into camp there was +not of ammunition sufficient to sustain an engagement lasting half an +hour. + +The variety of missiles was as great as that of weapons. A few had +muskets or rifle balls which they themselves had molded; others carried +buck-shot, and some were provided only with bird-shot. + +As for swords, bayonets and pikes, we had none, and the first order +which General Marion issued after arriving at Lynch's Creek, caused me +to have a higher opinion of him than I had at first believed would be +possible. + +Word was given that the force disperse in squads of from five to +a dozen men, and set about sacking the saw mills in the immediate +vicinity. Nothing was to be taken away from them save the saws, and +these it was proposed should be beaten by the blacksmiths of the +district into sabres. + +Now in such work as this two lads like Percy and myself could do as +much as men, and, without asking the privilege of volunteering, we set +out, forming an "independent command of two," as Percy put it, bound +for a certain mill owned by one Pingree, who had announced again and +again that a Carolinian who would set himself in defiance against the +king deserved nothing better than hanging. + +It was no brave adventure which we started upon, and yet it led to our +being brought into direct, and I might almost say close, contact with +General Marion himself. + +There was little need that we two lads should ask permission from our +mother to join in the work of saw gathering, for the major was at the +head of the family in good truth, and whatsoever he might do, was, in +the opinion of even the most distant relatives, worthy of being copied. + +It was only necessary Percy and I should announce that we counted on +aiding the major so far as might be possible, and our mother at once +saw that we were provided with such amount of provisions as would serve +to keep hunger at bay during at least two days. + +Perhaps my uncle might have objected to the plan had he been informed +of it; but such information we were not minded to give lest the venture +should be a failure, and we become a butt for his mirth. + +Therefore it was we set out secretly, so to speak, armed with the +rifles which during no less than half a dozen years had served us in +all the turkey-hunts and deer-stalking parties we were allowed to join. + +Because this venture of ours was not important, save in what it led up +to, there is no reason why I should use many words in the telling of +it. Suffice it to say that after a tramp of ten miles or more, when +we had crossed the Pedee River at Port's Ferry and were at Pingree's +Mills, we learned, greatly to our surprise and considerably to our +fear, that we should not be allowed to dismantle the building. + +There we were met by a lad of our acquaintance whose home was in +Kingstree. Samuel Lee was the name of this fellow, with whom we had +had little intercourse because of his associating much with the king's +soldiers; there had never been any bad blood between us, but we held +aloof from him, and now I was less inclined than ever to give him my +confidence. + +He was curious to know what brought us so far from home, and on our +part we wondered what had led him out of the district. + +Neither Percy nor I had any particular reason to fear Sam Lee; yet +instinctively we closed our mouths on his approach, which was at the +very moment when we were about to wrench the saws from the fastenings, +and awaited his speech. + +"What are you two hunting?" he asked with an unwarranted assumption of +familiarity which Percy at once resented by closing his mouth closely, +while I, little dreaming what information it was possible for him to +give, replied in a tone intended to repel his advances: + +"Any game which comes our way is not unwelcome." + +"Are you expecting to find fur or feather in Pingree's Mill?" + +I was tempted to reply roughly; but without knowing why it should be +done, I put a curb upon my tongue and spoke him fairly, even against my +inclination. + +"When one has traveled far under such a blazing sun as shines to-day, +any shelter from the heat is grateful." + +"And may at the same time be dangerous for some lads," he said in a +tone which caused me to believe it was within his power to give some +information of value to us. + +"Why should it be dangerous for some, and not for others?" I asked. + +"Because all who live in the Williamsburg district do not boast of +their relationship to the James family, great though it may be." + +Now was I certain he had it in his mind to do us a mischief, and was +capable of carrying it out, else the cowardly lad who called himself a +Loyalist would never have spoken so boldly. + +There was a similar thought in Percy's mind, as I understood from the +meaning look he gave me, and then I was resolved to know all Sam Lee +could tell. + +By way of provoking him to further speech I said boastingly: + +"If you know of another family hereabout who have greater reason to be +proud of its members, than ours, I would like much to hear the name." + +"Those who are wrapped up in their own conceit fail oftentimes of +seeing the good which is in others, and I have heard it said that not +one of the James tribe would admit that even the king was higher in +position than he." + +"You might have heard it said with equal truth that not a James, or a +true Carolinian would admit that such a king as now claims the right +to rule over us, was even our equal." Percy replied hotly, and this +seditious remark had the effect which I was hoping to bring about. + +It stirred Sam Lee to anger, and he cried menacingly, but taking good +care meanwhile to move off at a safe distance. + +"Before many days you will learn that the James family cannot even take +care of themselves!" + +"But who shall teach us that lesson?" Percy asked with a sneer. + +"No less a man than Major Gainey himself." + +"And how can he, who is now in Charleston, teach us so odd and sudden +a lesson?" + +"The major is at Britton's Neck!" Sam cried triumphantly. "In command +of a body of Loyalists so large that the people of Williamsburg will +soon be on their knees begging protection from the king's troops." + +"He will need have more Tories at his back to do that, than have ever +been found in the Carolinas," Percy cried, now almost boiling with +rage. + +"It may be that you Sumter lads, who hang to the skirts of Major James +because of the great deeds he claims to be able to perform, have yet +much to learn regarding the Loyalists of the Carolinas! What say you to +two thousand well-armed and well-drilled men?" + +"Two thousand?" Percy repeated with a laugh of scorn. "You know full +well, Sam Lee, that such a number of Tories cannot be gathered in these +colonies." + +"There is at this moment, ready to march upon your wonderful General +Marion, near to that number of men, and before a week has passed every +James around Williamsburg will be in custody of the king's forces." + +"If all you say be true, and I doubt seven-eighths of it, why are you +so far afield from those of your kidney? After all that has taken place +in this colony, a Tory would do well to have a care over his steps lest +he blunder into evil," and now it was that I began to lose control over +my temper. + +"It is you who are blundering, Bob Sumter, for I have but to raise my +voice and an hundred soldiers will answer me." + +Percy laughed derisively; but I am willing to confess that there was +something very like timorousness in my heart as the Tory lad spoke, for +I knew full well he had not dared say so much unless friends were close +at hand. + +Now I felt positive there were no such number of Tories under Major +Gainey as Sam Lee had said, yet was I equally certain there must be a +strong gathering in the neighborhood, and he would have been a dull lad +indeed who could not realize how important it was that my uncle, the +major, have immediate information regarding the assembly. + +Once this fact had gained lodgment in my mind I was burning with +anxiety to retrace my steps. + +There was no longer any desire in us to bring back a goodly store of +saws that our neighbors might praise us for having been industrious. + +There remained only the question of leaving Sam Lee as quickly as might +be, without arousing his suspicions as to where we were going. + +It was not a simple matter, however, to give him the slip. + +He must have read in my face that his information disturbed me, and, +like a fool who believes that by multiplying words he gives yet further +weight to his argument, the fellow launched forth in praises of this +vast body of Tories who were to work us of Williamsburg so much injury. + +My impatience increased until it seemed no longer possible to stand +there listening to what was little less than threats, and, seizing +Percy by the hand lest in his anger he should leap upon the braggart, +I said with so much of friendliness as could be assumed: + +"As you have said, Master Lee, we are far from home, and it behooves +us to retrace our steps before sunset, more particularly if there are +so many traitors to their country in this vicinity as you would have us +believe. We bid you good-day, and trust that the time may speedily come +when it will not be so simple a matter to part company." + + [Illustration: As the Tory spoke, Percy leaped upon him.--Page 28] + +"You may be certain that day is near at hand," he replied in a menacing +tone. "Before a week has passed I venture to predict the king's enemies +in Williamsburg will be under close guard, powerless to say when they +will go or come." + +As the Tory spoke Percy wrenched himself free from my grasp, and leaped +upon him. + +To flog such a coward as Sam Lee was a simple matter, and I stepped +aside lest it should afterward be said that two of us set upon one, +thinking that while it might be imprudent for my brother to mete out +the punishment which was merited, it was a duty which could not with +honor be avoided. + +Sam shrieked lustily, and before he had received half a dozen +well-aimed blows I heard a great trampling in the underbrush; then came +into view two score or more of men in the king's uniform, and for an +instant I believed that the Tory's threat was about to be made good. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GENERAL MARION. + + +Not until I had warned him, was Percy aware of the danger which menaced. + +Intent only upon the task which he set himself, with a view of +performing it in the shortest possible space of time, the lad gave no +heed to anything else, and but for the fact of my being on watch, so to +speak, I believe of a verity he would have been taken prisoner. + +Even as it was, he did not cease his labors until the Tory crew +were come within fifty yards of him, and then with one vigorous, +well-directed blow by way of parting, Percy took to his heels. + +I had at that moment started toward him, believing the lad was minded +to give battle even though the odds were twenty to one, for the James +family of Williamsburg are not given to counting cost when the chances +are heavily against them. + +Then, seeing what was his inclination, I wheeled about almost at the +very instant when the Tories sent a volley of bullets after us, and +I do truly believe there was a blush of shame upon my cheek that men +of Carolina should show themselves such wretched marksmen, for not +a missile hit us, although the range could not have been above forty +yards. + +We were not minded to run in the open where the traitors might practise +at shooting, with us as targets; but, bearing sharply to the left, we +plunged into the thicket, where I felt certain such as those who would +consort with Sam Lee could not come up with us. + +Percy, whose blood had been warmed by the punishment given the young +Tory, burned with a desire to halt and give battle. + +"It would be folly for us to set ourselves against such odds when no +benefit may be derived from the battle," I said, speaking as we ran. + +"If the odds are great, so much more thorough the lesson, and these +skulking traitors surely need a check just now, when the fortunes of +war seem to be in their favor." + +"Ay, but it is not for us to play the schoolmaster with less than half +a horn of powder and five bullets," I replied, checking back the mirth +which came upon me when the dear lad spoke of making an attack almost +empty-handed upon the Tories of Williamsburg. + +It was such a suggestion as might be expected from a James of the +Carolinas, and certain it is Percy would have halted with a smile upon +his face and a sense of deepest satisfaction in his heart, even though +by so doing we brought ourselves face to face with death. + +He always looked upon me as a leader, however, and now it was well he +had been accustomed to do so, otherwise I doubt if we should ever have +left that place alive. + +"Since we must perforce return empty-handed, for there are no other +mills to be sacked in this neighborhood, I would give much for the +privilege of showing those fellows how to shoot, else will this day be +wasted," he said after a pause. + +"In that you are making a mistake, lad. The day would surely be spent +in vain if yonder band of Tories suffer no greater loss of numbers than +we could inflict; but by running away now it may be possible to crush +out the whole nest." + +"Then you have some plan in mind?" he cried eagerly. + +"No more than this: After the reverses which have come to our people at +Charleston something in the nature of success is necessary to revive +the faint-hearted, and it can readily be done if we carry to General +Marion word of what has been done. Unless I am much mistaken in our +commander, we shall soon have ample opportunity of showing these +traitors how to shoot." + +Now, and for the first time, Percy understood what might be the result +of this day's failure, so far as we were concerned, to secure material +for sabres. + +It was no longer necessary for me to urge him to make greater speed in +the retreat. + +Halting only when forced to do so that we might regain breath, and +giving no thought whatsoever to fatigue, the race was ended in a little +more than two hours, when we stood before our uncle, the major, telling +him of what we had seen at Pingree's Mill. + +"It is a fortunate chance for us, lads," he said in a tone of +satisfaction. "Scantily equipped as this force is, we need something to +inflame the courage of our men." + +"Sam Lee would have had us believe there were two thousand Tories +nearabout, sir," I ventured to suggest, and the major looked at me +searchingly for an instant. + +"Do the odds make you timorous, lad?" + +"Not so, sir. But that I believed it necessary General Marion should +know of the encampment, Percy and I would have given them so much of +a lesson as might be possible with five bullets. In fact, I found it +somewhat difficult to force him along with me, so much averse was he to +running away." + +My uncle's stern, questioning gaze disappeared on the instant, and +gripping both of us lads by the hands, he said in a most friendly tone: + +"I had no reason whatsoever to question your courage, for you are +members of our family; yet for the merest fraction of time it seemed +as if you might perchance show the white feather when our enemies were +in such force. Come with me to the general, and you shall see whether +any account be taken of numbers, for now has the Cause fallen into such +sore straits that every man who holds to it must consider himself equal +to a dozen of the king's minions." + +Our brigade was set down, rather than encamped, in the woods; there +were no shelters other than such as the men made for themselves with +pine boughs, and the command bore but little semblance to a military +organization. + +Therefore it was that we were not troubled to gain audience with the +commander. + +The crimson jacket could be seen a long distance away under a +huge live-oak tree, nearby where were three or four men building a +camp-fire, and toward that gleaming spot of color we made our way. + +"I would introduce to you two members of my family, sons of the Widow +Sumter," the major said as he saluted, and I was surprised at the +change which passed over that serious, almost gloomy-looking face when +a friendly expression came into his eyes. + +It was as if he had thrown off the mask, and shown us a countenance +almost the opposite to that which we had previously seen. + +Nothing more was needed to tell me, that now indeed, we had a leader +who was worthy to supersede my uncle. + +"It pleasures me to meet with those who are akin to such a true patriot +as Major James," the general said most courteously, and one needs +remember that he was speaking to two lads, in order to understand how +much such words meant. + +"I can answer for it they will be true to any trust you may repose in +them," my uncle said, and Percy gripped me by the hand that I might +understand how well pleased he was at such words of praise. "It was +not simply to bring the lads to your notice that I have thus introduced +them, General; they have information of greatest importance." + +General Marion turned toward us inquiringly, and in as few words as +might be I told him of the encounter. + +"A force of two thousand?" he said half to himself, and added as he +looked me full in the eye. "Can you depend upon the truthfulness of the +lad who made the boast?" + +"Indeed we cannot, sir. I would have been inclined to doubt the entire +story, had not forty or more appeared in response to Sam Lee's cries +for help." + +"Are you positive he spoke of Major Gainey as being in command?" + +"Ay, sir; I remember well the name." + +"Are you lads enlisted with this force?" + +Instead of answering the question I looked toward my uncle, and he +replied without hesitation: + +"They are, General, if it please you to accept lads as young as they." + +"It is the will and the courage, rather than the age, which we need, +Major James, and unless I have made a mistake in reading their faces, +these sons of the Widow Sumter may do men's work in the task which is +set them." + +Percy and I made our best salute, as can well be fancied and from that +moment counted ourselves as being enlisted under that true general and +valiant soldier, to whom the butcher Tarleton gave the name of "Swamp +Fox." + +The general, having acknowledged our salute, turned toward my uncle +in such manner as gave us to understand that he wished to speak +with him privately, and we withdrew a short distance, to where Gavin +Witherspoon, an old acquaintance, was making ready for the eating a +string of fish. + +"Are you two lads come to see how soldiers live?" the old man asked +with that peculiar grin which had earned for him the name of the "big +mouthed." + +"If we had, it would seem that we were come to the wrong place," Percy +replied with a laugh. "Surely you are not counting yourself a soldier, +Gavin Witherspoon?" + +"I am allowin' I'll come as nigh to it as many who wear the king's +uniform. It isn't always him who stands the stiffest that can bring +down the most game, an' there's no need of my tellin' two lads by +the name of Sumter that we of Williamsburg are not given to wastin' +ammunition." + +"Of that I am not so certain," Percy retorted, "for within the past +three hours, forty, who might perhaps claim this district as their +home, had fair shot at us, and within fifty-yard range, therefore you +can see for yourself whether the ammunition was wasted or not." + +"Forty?" Gavin cried excitedly, forgetting for the instant his camp +duties at this mention of the enemy. + +I was not minded to keep the old man in suspense, therefore at once +told him of what we had seen, whereupon he ceased his labors as cook +and began overhauling the long, smooth-bore rifle, in the use of which +he might truly be called an expert. + +"Are you going out single-handed in search of them?" Percy asked +banteringly. + +"Hark you, lads! I served under General Marion in '75, when he was +only a captain, and know full well what manner of man he is. Neither he +nor Major James would remain here idle after such a story as you have +brought, and I venture to say this mess of fish won't be needed until +they are past cookin'." + +Gavin Witherspoon had no more than spoken, before we heard the word +passed from man to man around the encampment that an immediate advance +was to be made. + +Now to the credit of the men of Williamsburg, let me set down this +fact, that without the least show of hesitation, although it was +understood the enemy which we had reported far outnumbered us, every +member of the brigade set about his preparations for the journey with +apparently as much pleasure as if bent on some merry-making. + +We were not well supplied with provisions, yet there were others than +Gavin Witherspoon who left the food by the fires, lest perchance they +should be among the last who were ready. + +I think no more than twenty minutes passed from the time of our arrival +until everything was in readiness--every man mounted, except the +commanding officers, and Percy said to me mournfully: + +"It is like to benefit us but little, this having been enlisted under +General Marion, for how may we keep pace with the horsemen?" + +I had asked myself that question, and decided that on this expedition, +which rightfully belonged to us because of the discovery, we must +perforce be left behind. + +"All appear to have forgotten us; even Gavin Witherspoon no longer +looks our way," Percy continued, and it was then that our uncle called +us by name. + +It can well be imagined that we lost no time in obeying the summons, +and, approaching to where he was standing in company with the general +and a captain, we heard that which gave us much pleasure. + +"Captain Mouzon has generously offered you lads a mount. His spare +horses are to be found back here in the thicket, under care of the +servants," my uncle said. "You will overtake us as soon as may be, and +report at once to me. The general has been pleased to detail you for +special duty." + +While speaking he mounted his horse, the others doing the same, and as +Percy and I hurried away the word was given for the command to advance. + +Even at the expense of telling over-much that may seem like dry +reading, I must make especial mention of the advantage we had over the +enemy, in the way of horses. + +The Carolinians dearly loved a thoroughbred, and in Williamsburg +district every soldier was mounted in kingly fashion. + +The heavy, lumbering work-horses which were sold to the redcoats, +were like snails compared with the blooded stock our people rode, and +because of these did General Marion owe much of his success in the +days to come, when we dashed here and there over the country, striking +a blow at night twenty miles or more away from where we had hurled +ourselves upon the foe in the morning. + +Now we two lads knew that Captain Mouzon had in his stables not less +than thirty beasts which had no superiors in the neighborhood, and +therefore were we positive of being astride such as would carry us well +in the advance, however mad might be the pace set. + +We found old Jacob, the captain's chief groom, in charge of four +clean-limbed, noble beasts as ever wore a saddle, and it was not an +easy matter to persuade him we had authority to select such as we +chose, for he claimed that until a lad had had much experience in the +hunting field, he was not to be trusted with a choice of mounts. + +Threats would have availed us but little, for despite the old fellow's +dark skin, he had a brave heart when the welfare of his stable was at +stake, and therefore we spoke him fairly, using soft words rather than +harsh, until, coming to believe we were but repeating the words of his +master, he saddled the horses we had selected. + +Bestride such animals as could not well be excelled in the Carolinas, +Percy and I set forth in pursuit of our friends, confident that we +would be able to give a good account of ourselves, although sadly +lacking an outfit. + +"Unless it so be we can borrow powder and ball, I fear our share in +the punishment of the Tories will be slight indeed," my brother said +mournfully, and I laughed at his gloomy face. + +"Two hours ago, when we were hastening back from Pingree's Mill, you +would have said that with steeds like these we should be equipped +in most kingly fashion, and now that we have under us the choice of +Captain Mouzon's stud, you find yet further necessities." + +"I leave it to you to say if five bullets and half a horn of powder +make any very formidable outfit under such leaders as General Marion +and our uncle, the major, both of whom are like to show a greediness +for fighting?" + +It was a matter which could not be remedied, this lack of ammunition, +until we were come up with some acquaintance who had a larger store +than he needed, and such an one might be difficult to find in the +district of Williamsburg, for we who held to the Cause were poor in +everything save the desire to aid our country. + +That exhilaration which comes with the stride of a horse when one is +in the saddle was upon me, and, for the time being, I gave little heed +to our necessities, save that I remembered with regret the fish Gavin +Witherspoon had wasted. + +After a tramp of twenty miles Percy and I stood in need of food, and +but for our own foolhardiness we might have eaten our fill from the +different messes which the men left behind, instantly the word was +given that the enemy were in such position as invited attack. + +When we were come up with the command, Major James beckoned for us to +join the general and himself, and then it was we learned what work had +been cut out for us. + +"It is my desire," General Marion said as if speaking to comrades, +"that you two lads seek out the haunts of the Tories in this vicinity, +and do not let it be known you are enlisted with us. While our +numbers are few, the blows must be quick and frequent, therefore it is +necessary we have constantly in advance searchers, or scouts, whichever +you may choose to call them." + +"Are we to bear no share in the fighting, sir?" I ventured to ask, +and a great disappointment came into my heart that we were to be of so +little service. + +"No more than absolutely necessary. You can serve the Cause to better +purpose otherwise, for two lads like yourselves are less liable to +suspicion when venturing in the enemy's country." + +"Any who know us as members of the James family will understand full +well that we have no sympathy with the Tories," Percy cried, whereat +the general laughed heartily as, turning to the major, he said: + +"The ties of kinship are drawn more closely in the Carolinas than +elsewhere in all the world, I believe, and well it should be so." Then +he added, looking directly at me. "We shall stir up the nest which +you two found, and perhaps give you a share of the fighting, but only +because Britton's Neck is, from this point, on the direct road to +another quarter I would have you visit. You may, if you please, join +us in the first attack, and then I shall expect you to ride toward +Indian Village, where I have reason to believe certain enemies under +one Captain Barfield may be found. You will gain so much of information +as is possible, and report to me somewhere on the east bank of Cedar +Creek." + +So that we were to join in this first attack I gave little thought for +the future, and said to myself that if we proved our metal in one case +we might find further opportunities. + +The general dismissed us with a friendly nod, and we rode down the +line, hoping to find some friend who would loan us powder and ball. + +In this last quest we were so far successful as to obtain, perhaps, +sufficient for five charges more, and then we had even a larger store +than many a man who rode with the brigade. + +It was within an hour of sunset when we set out for Britton's Neck, +on the first ride Percy and I had ever undertaken for the Cause, and +it would please me much to repeat all the incidents of that night's +journey, for they are so deeply impressed upon my memory as never to be +effaced by whatsoever of adventure may come to me later in life. + +It is not well that I devote so much space, however, to what others +may think uninteresting, and, therefore, acting on Percy's advice, I +shall say no more concerning the journey when our brigade, only four +companies strong, rode through the silent hours of the night at a slow +trot, eager to measure strength with an enemy known to be several times +greater in numbers than we could muster. + +The gray light of the early dawn was just becoming tinged with that +yellow tint which betokens the near approach of the sun, when at a +signal from Major James we came to a halt. + +Not until that moment could I see any signs of the enemy, and then, +gazing in the direction indicated by General Marion's outstretched +hand, I saw dimly amid the mist the outlines of an encampment so large, +that for the moment I had no question but what Sam Lee told us only the +truth when he said the force of Tories to be full two thousand. + +It may have been one minute or ten that we remained there, horses and +men silent, and motionless as statues; so great was my excitement that +I could not count the passage of time. Only this do I know, that it +seemed as if we wasted all that early time of morning twilight before +the signal was given. + +Then it was my uncle raised his hat, waving it above his head at the +instant he gave rein to his horse, and so eager were our men to be at +the throats of the enemy, that before the major's steed had fairly made +the first bound, every member of the brigade was riding forward in mad +haste. + +The onward rush of that body of horsemen must have presented a singular +spectacle, had any one been near at hand to look at it calmly. + +In the gray light four hundred or more men riding at full speed in +perfect silence, save for the thud of the horses' feet upon the sward, +and with them in their very midst, thanks to the fleetness of Captain +Mouzon's steeds, were Percy and I. + +My one thought was that to prove myself a worthy follower of such a +commander, I must in this attack appear the equal of any man in the +ranks, and, having such aim in view, I urged the willing steed forward. + +Percy was not minded to be left behind when there was a chance one +might be accused of timorousness, and side by side we rode as if on a +wager, soon outstripping all save two who were leading the advance. + +These two were the major, our uncle, and Captain Mouzon, owner of the +horses we bestrode. + +We four were well up to the edge of the encampment by the time I +understood we were comparatively alone, and not until then, when the +first word was spoken, did I fully realize the situation. + +"The Mouzon stables lead!" the captain cried triumphantly, thinking +even at that moment of peril more about his horses than himself. + +"But the tribe of James are riding them!" the major shouted, and +then, as if he had come up through the earth, a Tory horseman appeared +directly in front of us. + +Two pistols were discharged almost in our very faces--so near that the +mane of my horse was singed by the fire, and then this particular enemy +was in full retreat. + +"It is Major Gainey!" our leader shouted as he struck the spurs into +his steed, and before one had time to realize anything more we four +were in the very midst of the Tory band, while around us, forming a +circle of fire, were the flashes of burning powder. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE TORY CAMP. + + +It was the first time Percy and I had ever taken part in a deadly +encounter, and, perchance, had there been opportunity for us to +consider the situation, one or both might have shown the white feather. + +As it was, however, and I have since noted the fact on every similar +occasion, there was no opportunity for fear; the fever of excitement +was upon us; the odor of burned powder mounted to one's brain, as it +were, and we became more like brutes than human beings. + + [Illustration: Then suddenly a redcoated Tory rushed toward me with + upraised saber.--Page 49.] + +There was to me a certain sense of satisfaction in the danger; a +savage delight in shooting, with intent to kill, at the enemies of our +country, and above all, the knowledge that we were proving ourselves +worthy a place in the James family. + +I saw Captain Mouzon's horse fall, and looked with a certain curiosity +to see how he might extricate himself from the weight of the animal. + +I also wondered where Sam Lee might be, hoping it would be my good +fortune to come upon him. Then suddenly, when my musket was empty, a +redcoated Tory rushed toward me with upraised saber. + +I tried to ward off the blow with my gun, knowing full well that I +could not hope to be successful in such an encounter, and then the man +suddenly fell to the ground as if stricken by a bolt of lightning. + +It was Percy who had brought the Tory down, thus saving my life, and I +heard him, as one hears from afar off, cry impatiently: + +"My last charge of powder is gone!" + +It is impossible for me to say, and I have pondered over the matter +again and again, why it was that the scene suddenly changed, or how we +three--for now that Captain Mouzon was on foot he did not count as one +of our squad--emerged from that tangle of men, and found ourselves in +pursuit of the fleeing, panic-stricken enemy. I remember clearly that +one moment it was as if we were entirely surrounded, and the next, all +was clear before us, save for that blotch of red in the distance which +we pursued at the full speed of our horses, Major James shouting now +and again as if to give us lads courage: + +"If it so be that we ride hard they cannot escape us! Spare not your +horses, lads, and we shall soon clear Williamsburg district of the nest +of vipers that should have been crushed out years ago!" + +I was near to smiling, despite the fact that this was a race in which +human life had been put at stake, because our uncle should suggest that +we might take any part in wiping out the "vipers," when our last charge +of ammunition was expended, and we carried no other arms than muskets. + +Yet did we press on at his heels with all the speed of which Captain +Mouzon's steeds were capable, eager to gain the advance if that +might be, lest he should for a single instant fancy we had grown +faint-hearted. + +It was the first time we had had an opportunity of proving that the +James blood ran in our veins, and had I been certain death awaited me +at the end of that mad chase, I would have spurred my horse on yet +faster, exulting in the thought that I might come to my end in such +noble fashion as now, when following the lead of Major James! + +Percy shouted like one who is without sense, and yet there was no +thought in my mind of chiding him, for I understood full well why it +was that the sound of his own voice seemed necessary--it was but the +natural vent of the excitement that had taken hold of him like as +a fever, and I have since been told that I also cried out unmeaning +words; but yet was unconscious of having done so. + +Then suddenly the scene changed again, and with this transformation +came into my heart what was very like fear. + +One moment it was as if we had the whole of General Marion's force +at our heels, and the next we were alone, riding down into that mass +of fleeing Tories who outnumbered us two hundred to one, while not a +friend of the Cause could be seen in the rear. + +I saw Major James glancing over his shoulder, and involuntarily I +copied the movement, although for thirty seconds or more had I known +we were so far in the advance as to be practically cut off from our +friends. + +There was no change of expression in my uncle's face when he realized +that we were come into sore danger--for now we were well upon the heels +of the enemy;--but he looked at me as if asking whether the knowledge +of our situation brought timorousness into my heart. + +I have ever been proud because at that instant I answered his inquiring +look with such words as tickled his fancy mightily: + +"There be three of us, Major, and more are not needed." + +It was the speech of a braggart, but yet under such circumstances the +words gave my uncle more confidence in our courage than almost anything +else could have done, and an expression, which for the moment I took to +be affection, came over his face as he replied in a ringing tone: + +"God bless the sister who gave to me such nephews!" Then, waving his +saber and shouting at the full strength of his lungs as if he had a +thousand men behind him, he cried, "Here they are, boys! Here they are! +Come on!" + +I believe of a verity that the Tories fancied he was calling to a large +force, rather than to two lads who were practically weaponless, for +their panic increased, if that could be possible, and they crowded upon +each other's heels until the advance was impeded. + +With fifty well-armed men at that time I venture to say we might have +wiped out Major Gainey's entire force, and that officer himself was +nigh to being taken prisoner when my uncle, spurring his horse into the +very midst of the fugitives, singled out the leader as if challenging +him to mortal combat. + +Major Gainey, although he was a Tory, had never been called a coward; +but on this morning he absolutely refused the challenge, and instead of +halting to meet the foe as he would have done had his cause been just, +he forced aside the weaker of his following, and succeeded in making +good an escape. + +"It was shame enough that one from Williamsburg should be a Tory," my +uncle cried, brandishing his saber in impotent rage; "but that a Gainey +would show himself a coward as well, I have never believed until this +hour." + +It was strange indeed that of all the enemy we pursued so hotly and so +closely, none turned upon us. + +It would have been a simple task for a dozen of them, armed as we +knew they were, to have allowed us to come into their midst, and then, +closing, taken all three prisoners, or shot us down as might best have +suited their fancy. + +The fever of fear, however, was upon them until there was no thought +in the minds of any save of individual safety, and during ten minutes +or more we rode upon the heels of that retreating rabble, taunting them +with such words as should have turned the faintest-hearted at bay. + +There were seconds during that chase when I trembled with what was like +unto a fear, realizing all which it was possible for them to do, and +then that sensation would pass away while rage took possession of me +because of my inability to do other than lash the miserable Tories with +my tongue. + +Then Major James wheeled suddenly about, for we had come to the edge of +Pedee Swamp, and, by his gesture rather than words, we understood that +it was our turn to retreat. + +The Tories were forced, because of the water, to ride more slowly, and +should we still press upon them they must, even like rats, turn at bay; +when, as a matter of course, the end would have come for us. + +We had shown them what a man could do whose cause was just, and it +would have been folly to continue on to the useless sacrifice of our +own lives. + +We turned about, as I have said, in obedience to my uncle's signal, and +rode to the rear faster than we came, for now was there fear some of +the cowardly foe might shoot us in the back, and before drawing rein we +came upon General Marion and Captain M'Cottry. + +These two were, like ourselves, far in advance, and by reining in his +horse the general forced us to halt. + +Now occurred that which I shall ever remember with the most intense +pride and satisfaction so long as the breath remains in my body. + +He who was to be afterward so well-known as the "Swamp Fox," he who was +the bravest among all the brave men in the Carolinas, leaning forward +in the saddle held out his hands, one to each of us lads, and said in +a tone so hearty that there could be no mistaking the sentiment in his +heart: + +"I have ever believed the members of the James family to be true to +their country, their friends, and to themselves; but never before had +I expected to see two boys ride at their kinsman's call straight into +what seemed certain danger. I am proud indeed that you were eager to +seek service under my command, and promise that if my life be spared +you shall have fitting opportunity to show your devotion to the Cause." + +We lads were unable to speak because of the pride and pleasure which +filled our hearts to overflowing; but my uncle, taking off his hat with +more of homage than I had ever seen him bestow upon any other man, made +reply: + +"When General Marion is pleased to speak such words to members of my +family, he places under obligation every one of us." + +"There can be no sense of obligation, Major, when the praise has been +won so handsomely." + +"In that I agree with you, General, and more particularly because +neither of my nephews had a charge of ammunition. After the first rush +they followed bravely, although virtually weaponless, and I am happy +to be able to call them my sister's sons. The ride is completed, and we +now await your orders." + +"Have all the force escaped?" the general asked. + +"Ay, sir, all save those who may have been rendered unable to continue +the retreat. They are in Pedee Swamp where it would be worse than folly +to make any attempt at following them." + +The general wheeled his horse around, motioning Percy and I to ride +by his side, and together we returned to where the main body of our +brigade was halted. + +Here after a short time we learned that a captain and nine men had +been killed from among the Tory force, while our loss amounted to only +two wounded, and it was safe to say that many days would elapse before +Major Gainey's regiment could be got into fighting shape again. + +There was no reason why any of us should longer suffer from hunger, +for we were in possession of the Tory camp where were provisions in +abundance, and during an hour we feasted, Percy and I, as only lads can +who have been without food nigh on to four and twenty hours. + +Then, when believing it would be possible to return to our home +for a short time--and we were eager to tell our mother of the proud +distinction we had won--word was brought by one of the troopers that +General Marion would speak with us. + +I venture to say there was not a man in the brigade who did not envy +us two lads as we went toward that portion of the thicket where the +commander was seated under a live oak tree with his officers clustered +about him, and I am also quite certain that of all the force, we two +had the least right to be praised or singled out for preferment. + +Among those who served the Cause in the Carolinas there were no +cowards; it appeared much as if the timorous ones turned Tories +because, by professing to serve the king, a colonist is not required to +bear so many hardships or encounter so many dangers, as those who would +throw off his majesty's yoke. Therefore it was that when an officer +like General Marion selected two from among all that gathering, it was +indeed a great distinction, and we understood by his sending for us +that we were like to be called upon for an especial service, as he had +already intimated. + +Although unused to such a life as we had so suddenly embarked upon, +Percy and I contrived to salute the general in something approaching +military fashion, and he, returning it, asked in the tone of a friend +rather than of one who commands: + +"Are you lads minded to set out on a venture which has in it much of +danger?" + +Percy looked at me as if to say that I should act as spokesman, and I +replied more readily than perhaps was courteous, fearing lest it might +be fancied we hesitated: + +"Aye, sir; that we are, and the more of danger the more readily do we +set out. I say this last not in a boasting manner, but to show you, +sir, that we are right willing to lay down our lives for the good of +the Cause which our uncle serves." + +"It is well spoken, young sir. I had no doubt of your willingness; but +rather made mention of the danger that you might have an opportunity +to draw back honorably, if it so be you shrank in any degree from the +task, for it is one through which little honor can be gained, although +the service must be performed." + +"We are ready for whatsoever pleases you, sir," I said, and Percy laid +his hand in mine that it might be understood he repeated the words. + +"Between here and Dubose Ferry--the precise location you must +yourselves determine--one Captain Barfield lies encamped, having +under him a force not less than four hundred strong. Our purpose is +to advance upon him immediately; but having learned that there is a +possibility his men may far exceed ours in numbers, it is necessary +we have full information before venturing an attack. Are you minded to +seek him out, and learn all that may be ascertained within a few hours, +returning to us before nightfall?" + +"We will set out at once, sir. Captain Mouzon lent us horses that we +might join in the march, and perhaps he will allow us to use them in +this service," I said, turning toward the captain, who replied readily: + +"That you may, lads, and in welcome. I am right glad that the Mouzon +stables can furnish mounts for such riders as you have shown yourselves +to be." + +"Then we will set out at once, sir," I said to the general. "The horses +have already been cared for, and should be able to make the journey +without distress." + +"There is no time to be lost. You yourselves are to decide how the +information we desire can best and most safely be obtained, for it +would be unwise to hamper you with advice or commands. At about noon +the brigade will set out at a slow pace in the direction of Dubose +Ferry, and I hope you may be able to meet us several miles this side +of the encampment. We shall ride so nearly as may be in a straight +line, and at about nightfall keep sharp watch for your approach. The +most important information is as to the number of the enemy; then the +general position of the camp, and, finally, how it may be best come +upon." + +Having said this the general saluted, as did the officers round about +him, and Percy and I, understanding that we were dismissed, would have +moved away, but that the major, my uncle, stepped forward, taking us +each by the hand. + +He spoke no word; but I understood that he was bidding us good-by, and +his manner of doing it told me, had such information been necessary, +how dangerous was the mission with which we were charged. + +Again the general and his officers saluted, and then we, turning on our +heels, set about making ready for the departure. + +Some of the men lounging nearabout would have spoken with us; but I +was not minded to indulge in conversation just at that moment, and it +seemed much as if Percy had the same idea. + +Beginning to realize more fully each moment what this duty on which we +were embarked might mean, I feared lest we grow faint-hearted because +of the perils. To have spoken with any one regarding the service, would +have been to show us more plainly all that it meant, and silence was +safest if we would hold our uncle's good opinion. + +The horses were saddled, and we about to mount when Gavin Witherspoon, +whom I had not seen since the attack, came up hurriedly and with the +air of one who is in a fault-finding mood. + +"So! We are much puffed up with pride, eh, since it has been our good +fortune to follow Major James in pursuit of a lot of scurvy Tories? We +don't care to speak with old friends?" + +"Now you are disgruntled without cause, Gavin Witherspoon," Percy +said laughingly. "How may it be possible that we speak with old or +new friends when we fail to meet them. Since you dropped the fish so +hurriedly, we have not had a glimpse of your face, and I question if +you cared to meet us until, perhaps, within an hour." + +"I have been looking for you high and low since we came to a halt here." + +"Then it must be your eyes are grown dim with age," I said, now joining +my brother in his mirth, for the old man's anger was comical rather +than serious. "We unsaddled our horses in this spot, and have remained +until within ten minutes under this same tree, therefore it could not +have been a difficult matter to find us." + +"But there is no reason for fault-finding, and we have little time to +spend in conversation," Percy added. + +"You will speak with me though!" Gavin said, seizing the bridle of my +horse as if fearing I was about to ride away. "In what direction are +you two lads going?" + +"That we may not say," Percy replied quickly. "It is enough that we are +acting upon General Marion's orders." + +"That is as I suspected," Gavin cried, shaking his fist at Percy as +if the lad had proven himself guilty of some serious crime. "You would +slip away from the old man, believing yourselves so wondrous brave that +he isn't fit to join in any adventure however trifling?" + +"Now you are talking wildly, Gavin Witherspoon," I said, losing my +patience, for, knowing we had but little time at our disposal, I +was fretted by what seemed to me no more than folly. "We have been +entrusted with a duty which must be performed immediately, and may not +stand here parleying with you over trifling matters." + +"It is my intention you shall remain until I can have speech with +General Marion, or failing him, with Major James." + +"Why should we wait for that?" Percy asked, leaping into the saddle, +and as he did so the old man seized the bridle of his horse also. + +"Because I am counting on going with you. I promised your mother six +months or more ago that when you two lads were minded to turn soldiers +I would keep an eye upon you, and now has come the time when I must +fulfil the pledge, or write myself down a liar." + +I knew enough of the old man's character to understand that we could +not browbeat him into loosing his hold of the bridle, and was not +minded to ride over him. Therefore said with as much of patience as I +could assume: + +"So that you move quickly, we will wait until you can speak with either +officer you name; but remember, Gavin, we are under orders to set off +without delay." + +"What have you in the way of weapons?" + +Until this moment, strange as it may seem, I had entirely lost sight of +the fact that we were virtually unarmed, and now I realized the folly +of setting out so wholly unprepared. + +"We must have ammunition if nothing more," I said hurriedly, "and while +you are gone in search of the general, I will set about procuring it. +Therefore the time spent in waiting for you will not be wasted." + +Gavin Witherspoon now seemed to have every confidence that we would +not slip away from him, and hurried off toward the other end of the +encampment, while I went from one acquaintance to another in search of +powder and ball. + +In this quest I was more successful than had seemed possible. + +Knowing that we lads had been entrusted with a mission, the men +bestirred themselves to see that we were outfitted properly, and +soon our store of ammunition was even greater than could be used to +advantage. + +We had two horns full of powder, thirty or forty balls, and a couple of +pistols; more than that would have hampered our movements. + +Perhaps no more than ten minutes had been spent in outfitting +ourselves, and yet this time was sufficient for Gavin to make his +preparations to accompany us, as was shown when he rode up while I was +dividing the ammunition with Percy. + +"Is it really your purpose to follow us?" I asked in surprise, for it +had not seemed to me probable the old man would be allowed to join in +the venture. + +"I am not countin' to _follow_, lads; but ride side by side with you, +and perhaps somewhat in advance. I'm not thinkin' of letting you go on +this mission alone----" + +"It may be safer for two than for three," Percy said half to himself, +and the old man, without so much as turning his head, replied solemnly +and in such a tone as impressed me strangely: + +"There is nothing whatsoever of safety in an attempt to ride from here +to Dubose Ferry, for two, or even a dozen of those who love the cause. +My going with you will neither increase nor lessen the danger, because +that is impossible. It may be, however, that I can give a word of +advice which will prevent your coming to a final end quite so soon, for +I hold to it that General Marion and Major James have this day sent you +lads to what is little less than death." + +Having thus spoken, and in a manner well calculated to disturb even the +stoutest hearted lad, the old man wheeled his horse about and rode in +the direction of Dubose Ferry, never so much as turning his head to see +if we were following him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SAMUEL LEE. + + +Had Gavin Witherspoon been less strange in his manner, I should have +taken little heed of his joining us in the mission with which we had +been entrusted by General Marion, because the old man was often given +to whims, and this could well have been considered as simply a fancy on +his part to indulge in the love for adventure. + +If he had contented himself with vague words concerning the possible +danger, neither Percy nor I would have paid any particular attention +to him, believing he simply magnified the peril in order that it might +appear as if he counted on being able to protect us. + +His manner, however, was so exceeding odd--I can find no word +which comes nearer explaining it--that I believed at once he was in +possession of some knowledge which we did not share, and therefore had +good reason for crediting all he said. + +A year later, perhaps, after I had had more experience in what some +gentlemen are pleased to call the "art of warfare," I might have held +my peace, trusting in our ability to ward off such dangers as should +arise, but then, ignorant as we were of a soldier's life, the old man's +actions impressed me disagreeably, as I have said already, and I was +minded to demand from him an explanation. + +Never before had I found it a difficult matter to gain speech with +Gavin Witherspoon, for the old man was prone to indulge in conversation +regardless of suitable opportunity or place; but on this morning +Percy and I found it necessary to ride at full speed in order to come +alongside our self-appointed guardian, and we were, perhaps, five +miles from the camp when I finally succeeded in forcing him to open his +mouth. + +"If you count to ride with us, Master Witherspoon, and claim that it is +your purpose to protect Percy and I, we at least have the right to know +why such an escort is considered necessary." + +"That I have already explained," the old man replied curtly, and would +have spurred ahead of us once more but that Percy caught his bridle +rein, as he said sharply: + +"We are minded, Gavin Witherspoon, to know the meaning of your +mysterious words and odd behavior. If it so be you know more concerning +the enemy than is told among the men of our brigade, let us hear it +now, that my brother and I may be in some degree prepared for coming +events." + +"I have ridden with the command, and had no more means of gaining +information than others. What may be in my mind has come there through +what I call sound commonsense." + +"And you have reasoned out that we are in greater danger than we were +four and twenty hours ago?" I said with a laugh, beginning to feel +somewhat of relief in my mind by this discovery, as I believed, that +the old man's fears were the result of his own imagination. + +He must have read in the tone of my voice somewhat of that in my mind, +for, reining in his horse, he wheeled around to face Percy and myself +as he replied, speaking slowly and with exceeding earnestness: + +"It was known to the leaders of our brigade that Captain Barfield had a +force of Tories nearabout Dubose Ferry. Think you Major Gainey and his +men did not have the same information?" + +"Of course they did," I replied, wondering greatly what the old man +would come at. + +"It is no more of a journey from Pedee Swamp to Dubose Ferry, than from +where we halted for breakfast." + +Again he paused as if waiting some reply; but neither Percy nor I +spoke, for as yet we failed to understand what he was trying to convey. + +"Major Gainey's force has lost an outfit, since our people took +possession of it, and must, therefore, seek another encampment. Do +you believe they will be content to remain in the swamp, knowin' their +friends are near at hand?" + +"It would be reasonable that they rode in the direction of the Ferry," +Percy said, an expression of deepest seriousness chasing away the smile +which had been upon his lips. + +"Very well. Since you allow that, there is no need for me to say more. +It is the general belief that Gainey had near to two thousand men with +him, an' think you they will not fight, however much cowardice may be +in their hearts, when next we ride upon them? If these two forces of +Tories come together--and by this time I venture to say the men we +routed in the early dawn have begun to understand how few we are in +numbers--I look to see hot work. Therefore it is I predict that before +arrivin' at Dubose Ferry we shall meet with many of those who so lately +fled before us." + +I now realized why the old man looked upon the situation as being grave +in the extreme, and there was no further inclination in my mind to make +sport of his forebodings. + +Having learned what it might, perhaps, have been better we did not +know, Percy and I became quite as solemn as was Gavin Witherspoon, and +we three rode on again as if certain some evil fortune was about to +overtake us, neither so much as speaking until half an hour or more had +passed, when we came to a sudden halt. + +Our road at this time lay through the bottom-lands, which were covered +with a growth of scrub oaks, and we had heard a noise as of horsemen +forcing their way through the foliage. + +This it was which had caused us to halt so suddenly, and I was looking +to my rifle to make certain it was loaded, when Sam Lee came into view. + +He was riding a heavily-built iron-gray horse, the very animal I could +have sworn to seeing during the brush with Major Gainey's force. Upon +his face was an expression of deepest satisfaction and joy, which did +not change materially when he saw us. + +Percy, quicker than I at such times, cried out for the Tory to halt, +and he wisely obeyed the command, knowing full well his steed would +have no show in a race with such animals as we bestrode, even though +our rifles might not have brought him to a halt. + +"Well," he asked, with an evil look upon his face. "Since when have you +begun to stop peaceful travelers?" + +"We have not yet commenced," I cried, allowing anger to take possession +of me. "In these times a Tory cannot lay claim to peacefulness, and +it is our purpose to make such prisoners whenever and wherever we find +them." + +"And I am a prisoner, eh?" he asked, with not the slightest show of +fear, and I was surprised thereat, because we knew him to be a rank +coward. + +"Throw down your musket an' hold up your hands while Percy makes search +for pistols!" Gavin Witherspoon said sternly, for the old man was a +ready comrade in times when quick action became necessary. + +Sam Lee obeyed without a word, and after a brief search we discovered +that he had no other weapons than the musket which lay upon the ground. + +Still he appeared well satisfied--even pleased. + +It angered me yet further, this show of carelessness, and I cried +hastily: + +"You were in no such happy mood this morning, when we chased your +friends into the swamp--when less than four hundred men put to flight +two thousand!" + +Gavin Witherspoon turned upon me quickly, and with such a show of +temper as caused me to understand in an instant that I had thus given +to the enemy information concerning the size of General Marion's force. + +It was too late to recall the words, unfortunately, and Sam, giving no +heed to the old man's show of resentment at my folly, replied to the +words which I had believed would humiliate him: + +"The condition of affairs in the Carolinas have changed wonderfully +within the past few days, and we who are loyal inhabitants of the +colony have little to fear from rebels." + +Now did I realize that this Tory lad was certain of his ground, else he +would not have dared to speak in such strain, and the result was that +I, rather than our prisoner, grew disheartened. + +Gavin Witherspoon also pricked up his ears at this bold speech from the +lad who had heretofore been so cowardly as never to venture an opinion +lest he make trouble for himself, and the old man asked as he advanced +toward the rascal threateningly: + +"What is it that has given you such a dose of courage, you Tory cur?" + +Sam winced, as if believing Gavin Witherspoon was about to strike +him, and then, understanding an instant later that we were not of his +kidney, who would ill-treat a prisoner, replied with a laugh which +aroused all my anger again: + +"Your General Gates with his rag-tag and bob-tail of an army has been +cut to pieces at Camden by Lord Cornwallis! What you are pleased to +call the 'Cause,' is now wiped out from the Carolinas!" + +We three sat speechless with dismay, gazing at each other +questioningly, apprehensively, as the young Tory told a story which we +at the time believed to be true, and afterward came to learn that no +part had been exaggerated. + +General Gates, who believed himself to be more of a soldier than was +the fact, had moved from Rugely's Mills on the evening of the 15th, +with his entire force, never so much as sending scouts in advance to +learn whether the enemy might be in the vicinity. His raw recruits were +suddenly met by a volley from the British skirmishers, and, retreating +so far as seemed necessary for safety, lay upon their arms until +morning. + +When the sun rose any other general than Gates would have known he was +defeated, even before trying the issue. His men, unused to service, +were formed in the swamp with the reserve only a few hundred yards in +the rear of the battle line. Perhaps not one out of ten of these had +ever been under fire, and opposed to them were picked soldiers--the +best to be found in the king's regiments stationed at Charleston and +Camden. + +At sunrise General Gates ordered the advance of the Virginia militia, +who were met by the redcoats with such a deadly volley that the +division retreated before more than half of them had discharged their +muskets. The North Carolina militia followed the disgraceful example, +as did also the cavalry, and a charge by the British horse completed +the rout. + +Only the Continentals under command of De Kalb held their ground until +further resistance would have been madness, and the battle of Camden +had been half fought, and wholly lost. + +No wonder Sam Lee was triumphant. + +To us who heard the story it seemed as if his boast that the Cause had +been killed in the Carolinas was neither more nor less than the truth, +and for a moment I fancied it our duty to return without loss of time +to warn General Marion. + +Now it may seem strange to whosoever shall read these lines, that we +believed so readily all the Tory told us; but we had good cause for +credulity. + +Old soldiers among us--and the men of my mother's family had been in +arms from the time the colonists first began resistance against the +king's oppression--had again and again argued that General Gates was +not a skilful officer, despite his victory at Saratoga. + +When it was known that General Marion, who up to the time of taking +command in the Williamsburg district had been only a colonel, was to +leave the staff of Gates, our people predicted a disaster similar to +what it seemed had just occurred. + +Therefore, when Sam Lee, liar and coward though he was naturally, gave +us an account of the battle with so much of detail he could not have +invented, we, unfortunately, had no choice but to believe the tale. + +It was Gavin Witherspoon who first regained sufficient composure to +understand what should be done, and he soon showed the Tory that, +however hardly our people had been used, it would not avail him under +the present circumstances. + +"It seems to me necessary we keep this young cub with us, however +disagreeable the association may be, and do you lads lash him on the +saddle in such fashion that he will not be able to make his escape +without assistance." + +Although believing for the moment that we ought to return immediately +to General Marion, I obeyed the old man's order, and now it was that +the look of satisfaction and exultation began to vanish from the +coward's face. + +He had counted on our so far losing heart as to make an attempt at +currying favor with him, or, at least, pass him by, and our thus +guarding against the possibility of escape was by no means to his +liking. + +"What is to be done?" I asked when the lad was secure, for I now +realized, as did Percy, that Gavin Witherspoon should be given the +command of our squad. + +"We shall push on as was at first intended, keeping our wits well about +us, lest we be surprised by others of this fellow's kidney, who are +making haste to join Barfield. After having accomplished that for which +we were sent, if it be possible, there will be time enough to repeat +the disagreeable story." + +I am making an overly long story of what should be told in fewer words, +prompted to do so because of the fear which beset me at this time and +caused the matter to seem of more importance than it really was. + +We pressed forward two hours or more, Percy and I riding either side of +the prisoner, and Gavin Witherspoon keeping in advance. + +Then we were come, as nearly as could be judged, to the vicinity of the +Tory camp, and might no longer with safety use the horses. + +Still acting under Gavin Witherspoon's command, we picketed our steeds +in the thicket, leaving them and the prisoner to the charge of Percy, +while the old man and I pressed forward to reconnoiter. + +This work occupied a full hour, and the time was by no means wasted, +because when it had expired we were well informed as to the number of +Barfield's men. + +To the best of our belief there were not less than eight hundred Tories +fairly well entrenched at Dubose Ferry, and Gavin said to me as we +turned to retrace our steps: + +"There will be no fighting this night, unless we are driven to it, for +neither General Marion nor Major James, however brave they may be, will +make the attack with such odds against us, particularly while it is +certain this same force of Tories will be reinforced before nightfall +by those whom we drove into the swamp." + +A similar thought was in my own mind, and therefore I made no reply. + +It was necessary we rejoin our friends before they should have come +so far as to put themselves in a dangerous position, and Gavin and I +hurried back to where we had left Percy. + +We had no difficulty in finding the place where we tethered the horses, +and once there the cold sweat of fear broke out upon my forehead. + +Percy, and prisoner, and the three horses which we had ridden, were not +to be seen. But for the fact that the gray steed of Sam Lee was feeding +close by, I would have said we had mistaken the location. + +Words are not sufficient to describe my condition of mind when this +horrible truth burst upon me. I could not so much as speak; but looked +questioningly at the old man, who said slowly and in a half whisper, +after gazing carefully around: + +"The boy has been captured by some of Gainey's cowards who no doubt +are hunting for us at this moment. Sam Lee knew for what purpose we +went ahead, and as a matter of course has given his Tory friends all +possible information." + +"Why do we stand here idly?" I cried, regaining speech when the +horrible fact had been put before me in words. "We cannot desert him, +and at whatsoever cost must go in pursuit." + +"It is not possible we could compass anything save our own capture," +Gavin Witherspoon said, speaking slowly, and gripping hard both my +hands as if to give me comfort. + +"Surely you will not turn your back upon him," I cried in a fury, +trying to wrench myself from his grasp; "if that cowardly thought be +in your mind you shall go alone, for I had rather face all Barfield's +force single-handed, than have it said I deserted my brother." + +"Fair and softly, Robert Sumter, fair and softly. I am not minded to go +back. It is you who shall do that." + +"But I will not," and again I strove to release my hands. + +"Listen to me, lad, and the sooner the better for your brother's sake, +because I shall hold you here by force until having laid the case +squarely before you. Would you have it told that one of the James +family, on account of his own personal grief, allowed four hundred +brave men to ride on to destruction? Would you have it said that rather +than desert your brother you allowed the men of Williamsburg to face +certain capture or death? Yet that is what must happen unless you are +willing to do as I bid." + +"But let me hear what is in your mind, for until then how can I +answer the questions you ask!" and now I was grown more tractable, +understanding that the old man knew better than I what was necessary +both for the safety of Percy, and those who were riding behind us. + +"There is but one horse here, and it would be unsafe to set out on +foot. Having had many more years of experience than you, I should be +more capable of following the Tories who have Percy in their keeping, +and having come upon them, if there be a chance for his rescue, ought +to be able to take better advantage of the opportunity than you. Now +this is my plan: Mount the gray horse and ride back until you have met +our friends; tell them what has occurred, and perchance Major James +will send forward ten or twelve experienced woodsmen, who will help me +in what seems little better than a forlorn hope. At all events, the +gentlemen whom we both can trust implicitly will know the situation, +and advise what we may do with honor. In addition to that you will be +spared the pain of confessing in later days that you did what a James +should never do--left your friends to ride blindly into such danger as +has never before come upon men of the Carolinas." + +It was not easy to follow this advice, as may well be imagined, and I +spent fully five minutes trying to force myself to do it. + +It seemed as if by going back when Percy had been forced to go forward, +I was deserting him, and yet such seeming desertion was necessary to +save, perhaps, the entire Williamsburg district. + +"You will return as a brave lad should," the old man said finally, and, +my heart well-nigh bursting with grief, I made reply by mounting the +gray horse. + +Not until then did I realize how much Gavin Witherspoon had taken upon +himself. + +The old man was voluntarily remaining behind on foot, surrounded by +enemies, in the vain hope that he might by some fortunate accident +rescue Percy, and I knew full well that the chances were as one in a +thousand that it could not be done. + +In other words, he was doing little less than delivering himself +into the hands of the enemy and I--I was deserting him as well as my +brother. + +"I can't do it, Gavin," I said, making as if to dismount. "It is better +you ride back." + +"No, lad. Having once come to a brave decision, hold steadfast, and +forget all else save that the Cause demands the sacrifice, perchance of +your life, and certainly of your feelings. Push the horse at his best +pace, which will be a sorry one at the most, and before many hours have +passed we may grasp hands again; but I solemnly swear not to desert +Percy whatever may come upon me." + +I clasped the old man's hand, understanding for the first time in my +life what a friend he was. Then, not daring to so much as speak, I set +the spurs deep into the gray, and he bounded forward with more of life +than I had expected it would be possible for him to show. + +The wonder of it all to me is now, while I am writing it down after +so many months have passed, that I was not captured before having +traversed a mile on the backward journey, for I saw nothing, heeded +nothing, thought of nothing save Percy and the brave old man who was +following on his trail. + +Heedless alike of friend or foe I rode as if in all the district of +Williamsburg there was not an enemy, and the good God allowed me to +pass through that Tory infested district in safety. + +It was no more than two hours past noon when I came upon the advance +guard of our brigade, and five minutes later stood before my uncle and +General Marion, shaking like one in an ague fit. + +Those brave soldiers needed not to be told that some disaster had +befallen us. The fact, although not the story, was imprinted plainly on +my face, and Major James dismounted that he might fling his arm around +my shoulders, as he asked softly and tenderly: + +"How far beyond here did you leave Percy and Gavin Witherspoon?" + +"Within three miles of Dubose Ferry, so nearly as I can say." + +"Were you come upon Barfield's force before this thing happened?" + +Then it was that I found my tongue, and told him all the sad story, +taking good care however, that both he and the general understood full +well the strength of the enemy as we had found them. + +"We will fall upon them as soon as may be," the general cried, and +beckoning to Captain Mouzon he would have given some order but that I +said hurriedly, forgetting my manners, as well I might, after all that +had happened: + +"Gavin Witherspoon declared that Major Gainey's men would join +Barfield's force, and should the Williamsburg brigade advance, it would +be only to their capture or death." + +"Death is what every soldier must expect, and peradventure it be +delayed until the end comes peacefully, then is he less fortunate, +perhaps, than his fellow. We will ride on, gentlemen, and attack +Barfield as soon as we can come upon him." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE AMBUSH. + + +Had the men composing the brigade all been akin to me they could +not have shown greater kindness, nor done more to soothe my grief, +than they did during the brief time before the march toward the Tory +encampment was really commenced. + +One found immediately a better steed; another brought assurances from +Captain Mouzon that I was not to think for a single instant of the loss +of his horses, since it was only the fortunes of war, which must be +expected. A third would have pressed food upon me; but I could not have +swallowed a single morsel unless, perchance, life itself might have +depended upon the act. + +My uncle, Major James, said very little after hearing the story we had +gotten from Sam Lee. + +At first I attributed his silence to the apprehensions which had come +upon him with the knowledge that General Gates had been overwhelmed; +but later I had good reason to believe it arose solely from anxiety +concerning my brother. + +"You shall ride by my side, lad, until we have settled this affair, and +when it is done neither you nor I will have cause to reproach ourselves +for not having ventured enough." + +Such a promise from such a man was sufficient to tell me that while +he and I remained alive, we would struggle as men do who have no fear +of death, until the dear lad was rescued, or we borne down by press of +numbers. + +At this day it seems singular to me that I heard no one speak of the +great disaster which had come upon the colonists at Camden. + +I can only explain it by the supposition that each man saw in +the adventure before us an opportunity to do somewhat by way of +retaliation, and set all his thoughts on that purpose. + +We were halted, after my rejoining the brigade, twenty minutes or more, +and then the word to advance was given; but not in such fashion as +I had supposed from what General Marion said, on his learning of the +disaster which had come upon Percy. + +My idea was, and in my ignorance I saw no other method of procedure, +that the little troop would ride into Barfield's Tories even as they +had among those commanded by Major Gainey, and that we should profit by +the surprise. + +This could not be done, as I afterward came to realize. + +The capture of Percy, and what Sam Lee could tell, would be sufficient +to prevent us from coming upon them unexpectedly. + +When the Tory lad should inform the commander that two of Major James' +nephews were in that vicinity, it would be immediately known that our +uncle, with a goodly following, was somewhere nearabout. + +The Tories would be prepared, and those who had suffered defeat that +morning must have, by this time, a very good idea of our strength. + +General Marion, as I afterward came to know full well, was not the man +to neglect any precaution, and while he counted on making an attack +despite the difference in numbers, it was his intention to do so in +such manner as would come nearest to guaranteeing success. + +Fifty of the best mounted men were detached and sent straight toward +Dubose Ferry, while the remainder of the brigade rode off at right +angles, in such direction as would bring us to the timber lands +eastward of the road leading to Indian Village. + +It was this last portion of the force which my uncle and I accompanied, +and I, surprised that a part of the brigade rode at full speed, while +we loitered, as it were, asked the reason. + +"Those in advance are mounted in such fashion that they may easily +outrun the enemy, and it is the plan that they appear before Barfield's +force as if intending to make an attack," my uncle replied. "After thus +showing themselves the squad will beat a retreat, causing it to appear +as if they were surprised by seeing so large a force. Then, unless the +Tories are quicker witted than I give them credit for being, a goodly +portion of the band will be led into ambush." + +It was the Indian's favorite method of warfare, and, cruel though I had +ever considered it, at this moment it gave me most intense pleasure. + +I had said to myself that we could hope to do little less than die in +the vain attempt to rescue Percy; but now it seemed as if, should our +lives be demanded as a sacrifice, we might sell them dearly. + +Well, all went as our commander had counted upon. + +We hid ourselves in the thicket either side the road, three hundred and +fifty horsemen, with not a man dismounted, for we counted upon riding +the Tories down when they should retreat after the first volley had +warned them that they had been led into a trap. + +There we waited upwards of an hour, no man venturing to so much as +speak, and each looking well after his steed lest one of the animals +whinny at the supreme moment, thus giving the enemy a clew, before they +were fairly within our grasp, of what awaited them. + +During that hour I resolutely kept my thoughts on trifles, such as +caring for the animal I bestrode, making certain I was in such position +that it would be possible to get out of the wood with the least +possible delay when the enemy was thrown into confusion, and by these +and other means prevented myself from dwelling upon Percy's fate. + +Then came that sound for which we had waited--the thunder of horses' +feet upon the beaten road. + +We heard cries of fear, which were uttered by our decoys to entice +the Tories into yet hotter pursuit, and far in the distance could be +distinguished the crack of rifles and the rattle of muskets. + +At that time, with the blood literally boiling in my veins and my heart +beating like the blows of a hammer, I never stopped to question how +many of ours might be killed in this attempt to deal out punishment to +the enemies of the colonies; but realized only that now was come the +moment when I could strike a blow in defense of my brother. + +Nearer and nearer came the horsemen, until through the trees we saw the +Williamsburg men riding madly down, not a saddle emptied, and before +one could count twenty the advance of the Tories came in sight. + +A whispered word went around among us to "hold ready," although every +man was on the alert, and when the road in front of us appeared to be +one dense mass of horses, and men wearing red uniforms, my uncle gave +the signal for which we waited: + +"Fire, boys, and at them!" + +From each side the road rang out reports of rifles which had been +leveled in deadly aim, for at such short range each could pick his man +and make certain of bringing him down. + +Instantly the ranks were broken; the redcoated horsemen reined in +their steeds as the squad they had been pursuing halted and fired their +volley, and then came a scramble and retreat when we dashed among them. + +Twice I loaded and discharged my rifle, and then it seemed to me as if +such work was all too slow. + +Using the weapon as a club, I rode by my uncle's side into the very +midst of that scrambling, terrified mass of human beings, and cried +aloud with savage joy when I struck one of the frightened villains +down. + +As was afterward learned, there were no less than one thousand men who +had set out in pursuit of our decoys, and yet after our first attack +not one of them remained to hold us in check. + +Had they been only so many sheep, we could not have found them easier +prey. + +The major, my uncle, had said I should ride by his side, and so I did, +down the road at the heels of the Tory scoundrels, ever as we had done +the night previous. Then on, and on, striking down a foe here and there +until we were come, nearly the whole brigade, into that encampment +which Gavin Witherspoon and I had looked upon, believing it could not +be taken by such a force as ours. + +Out of all those scoundrels who had so lately held the place, believing +that those true to the Cause had been virtually crushed by the defeat +of General Gates, only two men came forth to meet us, and those two, my +brother and Gavin Witherspoon. + +Is there any need I should say how warm was the greeting between us +two lads when I threw myself from the horse and clasped to my heart the +dear boy whom I had thought never to see again in this life? + +It needed no more than an hundred words for him to tell his story. + +While he remained in the thicket guarding Sam Lee a body of men, who +had lately served under Major Gainey, came upon them by chance, and, as +a matter of course, he was at once taken prisoner, Sam Lee immediately +telling the story of his own capture. + +Then it was the Tory Sam who became the jailer, and Percy the prisoner. + +My brother was conducted to Barfield's camp, and there kept under guard +of Sam, who did all that lay in his power, save by way of personal +violence, to pay off old scores. + +Gavin Witherspoon, wily as an Indian, had crept up to the very edge +of the encampment, and was lying there in the vain hope that some +opportunity would come for the rescue, when our force, sent as a decoy, +appeared. + +An hundred or more men were left to guard the encampment, and Gavin +hoped the moment had come when he might be of service to the lad. + +Believing that the Tories would be victorious in the chase, because of +superior numbers, he ventured too near Percy, and was himself captured. + +An hour later the first of the terrified fugitives burst into the +encampment, riding straight through it in their wild terror, thus +causing a panic among the guard who might even then, because of their +intrenched position, have held us in check. + +In a twinkling Percy and Gavin were free; but in imminent danger of +being ridden down by the panic-stricken. + +Crouching behind trees, or at the stronger portions of the +intrenchments, they awaited our coming, and when we rode into camp came +forth to greet us as I have said. + +Our force remained in the captured quarters until next morning, and +during the evening Gavin Witherspoon, Percy and myself had much to talk +about. + +My brother and I were come by this time to look upon the old man as a +comrade, and well we might, after the friend he had proven himself to +be. + +While we talked only concerning ourselves, and looked after our own +welfare, General Marion and the officers of the command spent the time +discussing how it might be possible for so small a force to uphold the +cause in the Carolinas, for since the defeat of Gates ours was the only +body of men in the colony to oppose the foe. + +It was as if the king's troops had indeed crushed what they were +pleased to term "rebellion," and more than one man in the brigade whose +fidelity to the Cause could not be questioned, asked his comrade if it +were wise to longer remain in arms when we were virtually whipped. + +The outlook was gloomy indeed for those who had hoped to be freed from +the burdens the king had put upon them; but, fortunately for the Cause, +General Marion and Major James were not the men to give in beaten so +long as life remained. + +Even while some among us were making ready to say openly that the time +had come when we must submit, those two gallant gentlemen were planning +for the future--planning as to how four hundred or less might best +oppose ten times their number of trained soldiers. + +Gavin Witherspoon, Percy and myself, while listening to the +faint-hearted ones or discussing the situation between ourselves, hoped +that the general would call upon us for some especial mission, even as +he had when we were sent to spy out Barfield's camp; but the time was +not come when we were needed for a venture of any moment, as we learned +an hour before daybreak next morning. + +Then the men were aroused with orders to breakfast from the Tories' +provisions as hurriedly as might be, and make ready for the forced +march. + +Among those with whom I talked, when in the gray light we made our +preparations for the march, not a man believed there was the slightest +question we should continue upon the offensive. + +All understood that we could not in safety remain much longer in the +Tory camp, for unless those whom we had routed were greater cowards +than was generally believed, they would soon recover from the panic +into which we had driven them, and return to make an attack. + +Therefore it was that we set out believing the move was made simply for +the purpose of changing quarters, and when orders were given that each +man take from the Tory stores so much of provisions for himself, or +provender for his horse as could be carried conveniently behind him, we +fancied it was the general's purpose to so outfit the brigade that it +might lay in hiding two or three days without being forced to venture +forth in search of food. + +Before noon came, however, all understood that some maneuver was in +progress. + +Instead of riding rapidly, as would have been the case had we counted +on simply exchanging one encampment for another, we went forward at a +leisurely pace, making no halt until the sun was high in the heavens, +when we were come to the ford on Black River, half a dozen miles or +more south of Kingstree. + +Then the men and horses were allowed a rest of an hour, after which we +bore nearly due west until we struck the road leading from Georgetown +to Nelson's Ferry, and the word was whispered from man to man that the +commander had it in mind to strike yet another blow at the red-coated +enemy before we laid down our arms. + +It is well known, as a matter of course, that the "war-path" from +Charleston to Camden crosses Santee River at Nelson's Ferry, and here, +above all other places, would one who was eager for fighting be likely +to get his fill. + +More than once during the day had we learned from planters, who were +true to the Cause, additional particulars concerning the blunder of +General Gates, and before nightfall we understood beyond a peradventure +that the story told by Sam Lee was only untrue in so far as it did not +contain all the disasters which had befallen the American arms. + +Now we knew how many prisoners had been taken, and, what was more to +the purpose, learned that our unfortunate countrymen were being sent +as rapidly as possible from the scene of the one-sided conflict to +Charleston. + +It was an hour before sunset, and we were holding the same pace at +which we started, with no evidence of going into camp, when Gavin +Witherspoon said bitterly, as if the thought had just seized him: + +"Lads, if it so be you have any curiosity concerning this long march +of ours, during which we have traversed the Williamsburg district +apparently for no other purpose than to come upon an enemy who may +crush us with but little trouble, I can satisfy you." + +"Have you been getting some special information?" Percy asked with a +laugh. + +"Aye, lad, that I have, and you may count upon its being true, although +I got it only from my own head." + +"Then you are guessing as to where we are going?" I said with no great +show of enthusiasm, for I was weary to the verge of exhaustion with +long remaining in the saddle. + +"It is more than guessing, lad. It is what has been learned from +observation, and that is the most reliable information a man can +obtain. We are heading for Nelson's Ferry." + +"If that is all your observation has taught you, it would seem as if +much time had been wasted," Percy replied laughingly. "Every man in the +brigade has known as much since noon." + +"True, lad, but that is not the sum of the information I am willing +to give. It has been told us that the American prisoners which Lord +Cornwallis took are being sent to Charleston as rapidly as possible, +and you will admit with me that all must pass through this same place +toward which we are bound. It is General Marion's purpose to strike +another blow, if no more, at the enemy, and in so doing set free some +of those who were made prisoners through their general's stupidity." + +There was much of sound common sense in Gavin Witherspoon's reasoning, +and straightway the truth of it came into my mind, all sense of fatigue +was lost sight of in the relief which was mine at knowing we would +not yet submit to the Britishers, even though it seemed as if we were +already driven to the last extremity. + +A moment before the old man gave words to his thoughts, I would +have said that both the animal I bestrode and myself were so near +to exhaustion that we could not hold the pace an hour longer; but +now it was as if I had enjoyed a long time of repose, and action was +absolutely necessary, lest I grow rusty with much idleness. + +We three discussed the possibility of the future as if all Gavin +Witherspoon had suggested was known to be true, until one of the +general's aides came riding down the line, drawing rein in front of us, +as he said curtly: + +"The general would speak with you." + +"We have not been forgotten," Percy cried gleefully, "and now has come +our time to render some immediate service." + +"Or fall into the hands of the enemy," Gavin Witherspoon added with +a smile. "These special missions are not the safest, and sometimes he +who sets out on them with the idea of making his name famous, comes to +grief." + +"As I did yesterday," Percy replied, still laughing. "When I have +as comrades you and Bob, it matters little how much of unpleasant +adventure I see, save for the discomfort of the moment." + +Then the dear lad spurred his horse onward, and we two followed, +Gavin Witherspoon wearing a serious countenance, while I was in +much perplexity as to whether two lads like Percy and myself should +be trusted with work such as old soldiers oftentimes fail at doing +successfully. + +Arriving at the head of the line we found the general and Major James +riding side by side. + +Both returned our salute, but neither slackened speed, and we rode +alongside of the general, Percy and I, while Gavin remained slightly in +the rear. + +"We should be within twenty miles of Nelson's Ferry," the commander +said, speaking as if we were eager for such information. "It is certain +that portions of Cornwallis's force guarding American prisoners will +pass there from time to time within the next eight and forty hours. It +is my desire that we have early information of such coming and going, +and to that end I have sent for you, lads." + +He paused for an instant as if debating in his mind what to say next, +and Gavin Witherspoon rode up that he might attract the general's +attention, when the latter said with a smile: + +"I am speaking to you two lads and the old man who is so eager to +participate in venturesome missions. Any force coming from Camden will +halt over night, at least, nearabout the Ferry. By riding up the river +ten miles or more you should be able to give me timely information of +their coming. Within an hour we shall halt, and then it is you who must +push forward so far as the animals can go. Continue on until having +come to a point ten or twelve miles above the Ferry. There remain, +in whatsoever fashion may please you, until you hear of the enemy's +approach. Then wait only so long as may be necessary to learn how +strong he is in numbers, after which you will ride without delay to Taw +Caw Creek, on the bank of which we shall be encamped." + +Having said this he saluted, as did my uncle, and we three, +understanding that this was the signal for dismissal, reined in our +steeds until we were fallen back to our proper place in the line. + +The knowledge that we were to perform some especial work which bid fair +to be of service to the Cause, heartened us wonderfully, and indeed we +had need of something to raise our courage, for much talking about the +disasters which had overtaken the American troops caused it to seem as +if the so-called rebellion was well-nigh come to an end. + +"It may be our last chance of striking a blow at those who represent +the king, lads," Gavin Witherspoon said cheerily. "Mayhap we shall +be fortunate if a British bullet finds lodgment in our bodies with +sufficient force to wipe us out of existence, for such a death as that +is preferable to hanging, and that is what awaits us of Williamsburg +who defy his majesty, after my Lord Clinton's second proclamation." + +"It is a doleful way you have of preparing one for venturesome work," +Percy said, with a laugh which told that he claimed little share in +these forebodings. "If to be shot is good fortune, then we may rejoice, +for I doubt not but that there are hundreds of the king's servants who +will readily grant such a favor." + +"I am not minded to dishearten you," Gavin said in a kindly tone; "but +the straits into which the Cause has fallen are so sore and desperate +now, that to an old man like me who has ventured all, it would seem as +if a soldier's death, coming before the last blow to the colonies had +been struck, was a kindly thing. However, we are like to go ten miles +above Nelson's Ferry and back, without falling into more harm than was +brought about by the capture of Sam Lee, and I venture to say we shall +report in proper form and due time such information as the general +desires." + +Then we fell silent, each intent on his own thoughts, and at that +moment I was thinking far more of my mother than of the Cause, for +Gavin Witherspoon's words had depressed me until it began to appear as +if I might never see her dear face again. + +From this pleasant but yet painful reverie I was roused by the halting +of the command, and Percy said, seizing me by the arm as if believing +I had fallen asleep: + +"The time has come for us to push forward alone, Bob, and we must make +as many miles 'twixt now and dark as can be forced out of these jaded +steeds." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE PRISONERS. + + +Giving no heed to those around us, we continued on when the command was +halted, much as if we had not heard the orders, and without anything in +the way of leave-taking. + +I know not how it may have been with my companions; but as for myself, +I was in no mood to speak even with my uncle, so thickly did the sad +and gloomy thoughts flow through my mind. It was to me as if we were +playing the last acts in that drama which should have had a glorious +ending--as if we were assisting at the death of the Cause, and I +believe that nine out of every ten men in the brigade had some such +thought as myself. + +It was true that we might strike a blow at Nelson's Ferry, but let +the reader remember that ours was probably the only armed force, true +to the colonies, then in the Carolinas; let him remember that the +Britishers overran our land, even as did the locusts of old, and how +might four hundred men or less oppose all the soldiers the king could +send against us? + +Surely for us of the southern colonies, this night, when we three set +out to spy upon the victorious troops coming down from Camden with our +friends as prisoners, was the worst ever known. + +We were beaten--hemmed in, and, like rats in the corner, could only +make one desperate fight, not against death, but simply as proof that +our courage held good even to the very last moment. + +Let all these things be borne well in mind, and it is little wonder +that when we rode on after the command was halted, we were in no mood +for leave-taking. Ours might, and it seemed probable it would, be the +last blow in a gallant struggle for liberty. + +When we passed the group of officers at the head of the column, all +sitting their horses motionless as statues, looking neither to the +right nor the left, but each man as it were peering into the recesses +of his own heart, asking himself in what way the end would come, I +gave one glance toward my uncle, and it seemed to me as if there was a +certain uplifting of the eyebrows which I interpreted as a "good-by." + +More than that we saw not, and five minutes later the brigade of +Williamsburg patriots, tried and true, were left behind, while we two +lads and the old man rode forward, hoping almost against hope that it +might be possible we should accomplish something toward showing the +British king how strong in our hearts was the desire for liberty. + +Our horses, jaded by the long march of the day, were unwilling to leave +the troop; they went forward listlessly, and we had not the heart to +spur them on because it was much as if they shared our feelings. + +I question if we gained ten miles in advance of the column that night. + +Certain it is we were not yet come within the vicinity of Nelson's +Ferry when Gavin Witherspoon's horse stopped short, and the old man +said as he dismounted slowly: + +"We may as well rest here for the night, as a mile or two further on. I +propose that we halt until a couple of hours before sunrise, and by so +doing we shall gain time." + +After the experience we had had with the old man, Percy and I were more +than willing to follow his advice, and we set about making ourselves as +comfortable as might be under all the circumstances. + +A better place for camping could not be found. A tiny brook running +through a grove of pines, where the underbrush was so dense as to +form ample hiding-place, as well as a shelter from the dews of the +night. There was little green feed for the horses; but we carried a +goodly store of grain on our saddles, and, heedless of the possible +necessities of the future which seemed so dark, we allowed the tired +steeds to eat their pleasure from the store. + +Such food as we had, and as I have said was taken from the Tory camp, +we ate, and then, lame and sore in every joint from the long hours in +the saddle, we laid ourselves down for perchance the last sleep on this +earth. + +My eyes were closed in slumber within two or three minutes after I +was thus stretched at full length upon the bed of pine needles, and +it seemed as if I had slept several hours when something--I know not +what--awakened me. + +There was no movement, and the faint light of the stars did not +penetrate the thicket; yet I could see that the horses were lying down; +that my comrades were wrapped in slumber, and it puzzled me to make out +why I was thus wakeful. + +Then, partially turning my head, for no other reason than to make +a change of position, I saw what appeared to be the reflection of a +camp-fire through the underbrush. + +When one knows that he is surrounded by enemies, the lightest thing +out of the ordinary arouses his suspicions, and although this gleam of +light was so faint that at another time I would have given no heed to +it, now it seemed absolutely necessary I should understand the cause. + +It would be foolish to awaken my comrades, so I argued, when there +might be no good reason, and I crept out through the bushes softly +until, having traversed a distance of fifty yards or more, when I saw +that we were not the only ones who had utilized this thicket as a camp. + +Four men sat around a small fire eating, and near by were tethered +their horses. + +It was fortunate our steeds were so leg-weary, else when this party +drove up they might have given the alarm, for I doubted not but that +these were enemies. At such time in the history of the so-called +rebellion we had so few friends as to be able to say with a certainty +where they were. + +It was in my mind to return at once and arouse Gavin Witherspoon and +Percy, that we might make our escape; but all was so quiet, and these +four apparently unsuspicious that any save themselves were in the +vicinity, that I delayed carrying out the purpose in my mind, until, +having almost unconsciously approached a few yards nearer, I recognized +in one of them, that Tory villain, Sam Lee. + +Once this discovery was made I no longer thought of returning to where +I had left my comrades; but wriggled along yet nearer, and was well +repaid for the delay. + +It would seem as if the men had been questioning young Lee as to his +ability to do something which had been promised, for one of them was +saying when I came within earshot: + +"It is a blind chase to push ahead in search of a party of rebels who +by this time may have returned home, hoping to keep secret the part +they have been playing." + +To this Sam Lee replied hotly, much as if the honor of the James family +were in his keeping: + +"The major will never go home alive so long as one other can be found +to remain with him, and there are many of his kin in Williamsburg." + +"But what reason have we for believing you can lead us to them?" + +"Because I know of their haunts," the scoundrel said, as if he was +telling the truth. "So far all they have accomplished has been by +surprising our people who are not soldiers; but I guarantee that you +men of the Prince of Wales' regiment will make a different showing +among them." + +"Of that I have no question; but these people, knowing fully the +country, can easily disperse between the time we come upon them, and +word has been sent to the command. Then again, we must trust to your +finding them, which I misdoubt greatly, else are you a keener lad than +I have seen in the Carolinas." + +It was the eldest of the three men who said this, and as he moved +slightly I saw that his uniform, which I knew full well, was that +of the Prince of Wales' regiment, to which organization Sam Lee had +referred. + +"You may do as you please," the young Troy said angrily. "I have told +the colonel that I could lead you to where the scarecrow Marion was +encamped and put you on their trail wheresoever the forces might be +going; but if, now that we are hardly more than started, you choose to +turn back, it is none of my affair, I have done my part." + +No reply was made to this, and for a time the men were silent, while I, +speculating as to what might be their purpose, believed it was a simple +matter to guess why they were there. + +We knew full well that Sam Lee had been in Captain Barfield's +encampment, and, like the coward that he was, fled when our troops came +up. He also must have ridden all day in order to gain Nelson's Ferry; +had most likely met this regiment of the king's, and claimed ability +to deliver our people into their hands. It seemed also true that these +troopers had ridden in advance of the command, as had we three, and we +were thus come together at a place midway between the Britishers and +our own force. + +Up to this point I had no difficulty in forming a satisfactory +conclusion; but beyond that I was all at sea, and naturally thought the +proper course was to return and give information to Gavin Witherspoon. + +In fact I was in the act of turning when one of the soldiers said +grumblingly: + +"Even though the rebels may be where this lad has stated, I fail to +see why we should have left the camp and ridden half a dozen miles in +advance. What good can be gained by spending the night here, when we +might have done so with our comrades?" + +"For my part," the third trooper added, "I would rather sleep here than +do my share of guarding an hundred or more scurvy rebels. Had we stayed +in camp some portion of the duty would have come upon us, whereas we +may lie down under these bushes and sleep until it pleases us to open +our eyes next morning." + +"That is all very true," the first speaker replied; "yet there were +good quarters to be found at Nelson's Ferry, and here a bed upon the +ground is the best to be had." + +It was almost with difficulty that I suppressed a cry of triumph, for +now I had the full story, and we might return with the information +desired by General Marion before having fairly set out to do the work. + +The British force, comprised in whole or in part of the Prince of +Wales' regiment, and guarding an hundred or more of our people, +captured when General Gates was defeated, were encamped at Nelson's +Ferry, six or seven miles away. These fellows, through information +given by Sam Lee, were coming out in search of us, and would not leave +their halting-place until sunrise. + +It was a lucky chance which led us to this spot, and the forebodings +which had weighed heavily upon me a few hours previous, were lightened +wonderfully by the thought that fortune, which had borne so hardly upon +us in the past, was about taking a turn in our favor. + +I lost no time in returning at once to my comrades, although forced +to do so slowly lest I make so much of noise that the Tory and his +red-coated companions be warned of our nearness. + +Then, having arrived by the side of Percy and Gavin Witherspoon, +I pressed both hands upon their mouths to prevent any cry in their +awakening. + +The old man's grasp upon my arm told that he was fully alive to the +situation, and I repeated as quickly as might be all that had been +heard. + +Sitting bolt upright as if any future movement depended wholly upon me, +he said in a whisper: + +"Whether the horses can cover sixteen or twenty miles after a long +day's work, is a question." + +"But one which you should not ask," Percy added in a more serious tone +than I had ever heard him employ. "We have gained the information for +which we were sent, and it must be carried back to camp without delay." + +"I grant you that, lad; but was only asking myself whether it might be +possible for our people to take advantage of it." + +"Such speculations can be deferred until we have spoken with General +Marion," Percy replied as he arose, and after that there was no +discussion among us. + +To get the horses on their feet without making a noise was no slight +task; but we accomplished it after a certain fashion, and led them out +of the thicket, not mounting until we were fully two miles away. + +After that our progress was no more rapid than if we had remained on +foot, for it seemed impossible to urge the animals at a pace faster +than a walk, and it appeared to me as if the morning must be near at +hand when we were finally come to the encampment. + +All our men were not given over to slumber, as was shown by our being +challenged before yet we knew how near to us was the military force, +and five minutes later we were standing beside our uncle, who, suddenly +aroused from his sleep, asked with a note of alarm in his tones: + +"What disaster has befallen you?" + +We soon gave him to understand that fortune had played us a good turn, +and immediately the information was given he became animated. + +One would have said he had never known fatigue, to have seen him as he +ran toward where General Marion was sleeping, and, shaking the officer +into wakefulness, he repeated in a few words our story. + +I had supposed the news we brought would cause some sensation in the +camp; but never believed it would be acted upon so quickly. + +Within fifteen minutes from the time of our being challenged by the +sentinel, every man was in the saddle, and Percy, Gavin Witherspoon +and myself were riding at the head of the column by my uncle's side, in +order that we might point out the place where the soldiers and Sam Lee +were encamped. + +We now learned that it was midnight; the tired men and their horses +had had six hours of rest, and although the advance was not rapid, we +pressed forward with greater speed than I had believed possible, our +own steeds seeming to be revived by the companionship of the others. + +Now I am come to that point in this story concerning which I can say +but little of my own knowledge, for certain it is that I fell asleep +even while in the saddle, and was not conscious of anything until the +halting of my horse nearly threw me over his head. + +We had arrived within two miles of Nelson's Ferry, and it was yet +night. Unless some unfortunate accident occurred at the last moment, +there was an opportunity of our soon learning whether the British +regulars would hold firm under such a surprise as we should be able to +give them. + +The purpose of the halt was not to reconnoiter, as I had at first +supposed, but in order that a squad of twenty might be detached to gain +possession of the road in the swamp at that post known as Horse Creek, +while we were to attack the main body in the rear. + +The scouts who had been sent ahead half an hour before my awakening, +came back reporting that the enemy were encamped on the east bank of +the creek, which was another and a great point in our favor. + +Once more would General Marion have a chance to execute his favorite +maneuver, the only one by which we could hope to win while the odds +were so heavily against us. + +Twenty minutes or more were spent here waiting for the detachment to +get into position at Horse Creek, and then the advance was resumed, +this time at a slow pace lest the thud of our horses' feet upon the +road should give an alarm. + +Despite the fact that I knew full well we would soon be engaged in +deadly encounter, slumber weighed heavily upon my eyelids, and it was +with difficulty I could prevent them from closing. + +Rather like one in a dream, than a lad who burned to give his life for +the Cause, did I hold myself in the saddle, and it seemed as if no more +than ten minutes had passed when we were halted again, this time so +near the enemy that the gleam of his camp-fires could be seen. + +The moment for reflection had come. + +General Marion's force was about to be hurled upon the best men in +the king's army. We who knew little or nothing of military tactics, we +who were mounted upon jaded steeds, and half dead for lack of sleep, +were about to charge a camp of well armed men, most likely in the best +possible condition, and if the end for us of the southern colonies was +near, it seemed as if this was indeed the last moment. + +"At full speed, and do not fire until we are close upon them!" was the +whispered word passed from man to man, and I saw those either side of +me carefully charging their rifles or muskets. + +Even though we were come upon the Prince of Wales' regiment and a +portion of the 63d Regulars, as was afterward learned, the result was +much the same as when we rode down upon the undisciplined Tories. + +There was the onward leaping of the horses as the spurs were sunk deep +in their flanks; the thunder of their hoofs; the cries of the enemy +as they were awakened from their slumbers; our shouts of triumph; the +crackle of musketry and the groans of the wounded. + +It was a dream--a horrible nightmare rather than a reality, and had +I been a spectator instead of a participant, it would have seemed no +different. + +At such times the excitement of the battle is full upon one, and I have +yet to see man or boy who can give a clear and detailed account of all +that occurred while the scent of the powder was in his nostrils. + +This much I do know, that, as twice before, I loaded and discharged +my musket, or used it as a club; that I forced my horse to keep pace +with my uncle's steed, who was ever foremost in the fray, and then the +fleeing mass told that the enemy were in retreat. + +This victory, when the majority of our men had believed the attack +would prove our final ending, did more to revive the drooping spirits +of General Marion's force than anything else could have done. + +We forgot weariness; forgot everything save the fact that we of +Williamsburg had been pitted against the king's best soldiers, and +were come out of the battle as well as when we met Major Gainey's or +Barfield's men. + +On this occasion, however, we did not press the pursuit. It was known +that these soldiers would re-form, where raw recruits might continue +panic-stricken, and we were not so strong in numbers as to risk a +regular engagement. + +My uncle was the foremost here, as he ever had been, and Percy and I +remained by his side, therefore can I say of a verity that we did not +ride after the retreating column more than half a mile; but, once well +clear of the encampment, drew rein and turned about. + +It was now near to daylight, and we soon learned that we had captured +or killed twenty-two regulars, among whom was a captain, and held two +Tories as prisoners. + +Our loss was one killed and one wounded. + +In addition to having thus gained a victory over the best of his +majesty's soldiers in the colonies, we had recaptured one hundred and +fifty men, and it is not necessary to say how much of rejoicing there +was in our lines when the sun rose. + +Now am I come to the shameful part of the story, and one which will be +most difficult of belief. + +To Percy and I it seemed that with this successful attack, by +liberating one hundred and fifty men who were supposed to be friends +to the Cause, because of wearing the Continental uniform, we had added +just so much to General Marion's strength, and neither of us had any +question but that every one of them would gladly join our force. + +As we two believed, so did all our comrades as well as the officers who +led us, for after the first rejoicings were over those who had been +prisoners were ordered into line, and Major James proposed, with the +air of one who thinks he makes what will be accepted without question, +that they enroll themselves among us of Williamsburg until such time as +we could fight our way through the district to where others who loved +the Cause might be found. + +To the shame of these Continental soldiers it must be set down that out +of that number freed by us at risk of our lives, only three consented +to serve under the general. + +Some said that the "Cause was lost;" others declared that to fight +longer was "simply to risk one's life without an object, because the +king's troops overrun the country, and after the defeat of Gates there +was no longer the slightest chance we could hold our own many days." + +When no more than these three stepped forward from the ranks +in response to his proposal, and the others talked loudly among +themselves, or with our men, my uncle turned away like one who is +stricken with a deadly wound. + +Then Percy and I made our way among these men who wore the buff and the +blue, to hear further reasons as to why they had acted such a cowardly +part. + +It was a captain, one who should have been the first to urge his men to +enlist, who said in reply to my questions: + +"Surely the Cause has none in the Carolinas, save this beggarly force +to which you are attached, while the British have overrun this section +of the country. The Continentals are dispersed or captured; the +Virginia and North Carolina militia are scattered to the four winds; +Sumter's Legion has been whipped by Tarleton, and their leader is +fleeing for his life. In addition to all that, here is a copy of the +letter which Lord Clinton has sent to the commandants of the different +posts throughout the colonies." + +Then the officer handed me a slip of paper on which was written the +following: + +"I have given orders that all of the inhabitants of this province who +have subscribed, and have taken part in this revolt, should be punished +with the greatest rigor; and also those who will not turn out, that +they may be imprisoned and their whole property taken from them or +destroyed.... I have ordered in the most positive manner that every +militiaman, who has borne arms with us, and afterwards joined the +enemy, shall be immediately hanged!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE RETREAT. + + +We of Williamsburg were most certainly in a peculiar position, after +having released one hundred and fifty prisoners and discovered that +only three had sufficient faith in the Cause, or were sufficiently +eager for death, to join us. + +Now right here let me set down that the men under General Marion were +true patriots, gentlemen of the Williamsburg district, and in every +sense of the word, worthy citizens. This I say because the British +people even at this late day, five years since peace was declared and +we have become a free and independent people, say that "that officer +who caused Tarleton so much annoyance had as a following only the +dissolute and depraved." + +I repeat, the force under General Marion was made up of gentlemen, the +greater number of whom owned plantations in or near the Williamsburg +district, and the fact that they had for a leader such a man as my +uncle, Major James, is sufficient proof as to their character. + +Although these men were by this time come to believe that the Cause for +which they had struggled so long was much the same as lost, so far as +we in the southern colonies were concerned, yet they were not of the +class that acknowledges itself beaten while life remains. + +Therefore it was, that instead of being yet further disheartened by +this failure which followed a brilliant victory, they were the more +determined to strike every possible blow before the end should come. + +The cruel and barbarous proclamation of Lord Clinton aroused their +anger rather than fear, and within half an hour after it had been +circulated among us, I heard my uncle, the major, say that no document +could have been put in a style better calculated to drive recruits +into our ranks than that which was written evidently for the purpose of +frightening the colony into submission. + +There is, perhaps, a good word to be spoken for those men, who, having +been released from captivity by us, were willing to serve under General +Marion. + +They had been whipped at the very moment victory seemed certain, and it +is little wonder that the faint-hearted should have begun to despair, +when, after four years of desperate struggling, the "rebellion" was +well-nigh crushed out. + +At the moment, we of Williamsburg could have no sympathy for such +cowards, as we called them, and had any of the men begged us for food +I question if we would have supplied their wants, so angered were we by +the refusal to enlist. + +It was evident to every man among us that it was not safe to remain +on this road over which the British soldiers were continually passing, +and particularly since those whom we had defeated would speedily give +information to all the king's officers in the colony. + +From this hour our little brigade would be hunted down without mercy, +and there could be no question but that the chase would be a lively one +since the Britishers in this section had no other "rebels" with whom to +occupy their attention. + +Therefore it was that every man in the command felt a certain sense of +relief, when, after a halt of no more than four hours, word was given +to remount the tired horses. + +We rode four hours or more, and then were come to the forest round +about Hope Mountain, when the word was given that we would have an +opportunity to indulge in a long rest. + +During this march it can well be imagined that Gavin Witherspoon, Percy +and myself kept a sharp lookout for Sam Lee. The greatest desire in +my heart at that moment was to make a prisoner of the young Tory, for +he, knowing well every man in the brigade, would be able to give the +Britishers many valuable hints regarding our probable whereabouts, and +so long as he remained at liberty we had a dangerous enemy afoot, even +though that enemy was a coward. + +Every man, including officers, brought away with him from this last +encounter a goodly store of provisions, and there was no fear of +suffering from lack of food, even though we remained a week in this +encampment at the foot of the mountain. + +The days were passed in perfect idleness, save so far as the grooming +of our horses was concerned, and, although not a trooper left the camp, +we were kept well informed regarding the movements of the enemy, by +such of the people round about as were friendly to the Cause. + +Therefore it was that we heard sad news from Camden when the humane +and chivalrous Lord Cornwallis hanged eight old men and seven boys, +prisoners whom he had taken after the battle, simply because there +was a suspicion that they might have been concerned in the so-called +rebellion. + +Nor was this wholesale murder the only crime committed by the +conquerors in the Carolinas during the week we remained idle. + +From every quarter came stories of barbarity and excesses committed by +British officers, and that which seemed like a great misfortune soon +proved, despite the horror, to be a blessing in disguise, for it drove +into our ranks every man from the surrounding country who had ever been +charged, whether rightfully or no, with taking any part whatsoever in +the resistance to the king's oppressions. + +Within six days there were enrolled among the followers of General +Marion no less than seven hundred and fifty good men and true; but it +is not to be supposed that such number remained in camp. + +In fact, although the brigade was being strengthened daily, the +force under arms was decreasing, and for two good reasons: First, +because such a body could not readily be supplied with provisions, +and secondly, because the majority of these troopers were men of +families, who, during this season of inactivity, took advantage of the +opportunity to provide for the wants of those at home. + +No more than one hundred and fifty remained in the camp at Hope +Mountain; but the others stood ready to respond to the first summons +that their service was needed. + +It was late in the evening of the eighth day, when one on whose +fidelity to the Cause we could rely, came into camp with the +information that Tarleton's Legion and a strong force under Major +Wemyss, had been sent by Lord Cornwallis against us. + +Although his lordship had affected to despise General Marion, he +certainly acted as if he believed our commander a gallant officer, +otherwise why were the 63d Regulars and the Legion of Tarleton sent +against what the Britishers had contemptuously termed "that beggarly +crew." + +Before morning other friends came into camp, and we knew that the two +forces were not as yet united; but Major Wemyss with the 63d Regulars, +and a large body of Tories under Major Harrison, were advancing rapidly +toward Hope Mountain, information of our whereabouts having been given, +perhaps, by that young scoundrel, Sam Lee, who I doubted not was doing +his best to work us harm. + +Although there was much in this information to dishearten, I believe +every member of our small band felt a certain sense of satisfaction +that the time for action was near at hand. None of us had doubted but +that we should be employed against the enemy in some manner, despite +the great difference in numbers. + +Gavin Witherspoon, Percy and I were so fortunate as to be among the +fifty selected to reconnoiter, and when we saddled our horses, which +were in prime condition after their long halt, there was a certain +sense of exultation in our hearts, even though it seemed absolutely +certain we could effect nothing so far as the welfare of the Cause was +concerned. + +It is not my purpose to write at any length regarding the adventure +which befell us, for among the many deeds of daring which the followers +of General Marion were given liberty to perform, this incident would +seem to one who did not take part in it, as something too trifling to +be worthy of mention. + +Therefore will I tell it hurriedly, and in the fewest words, in order +the sooner to come to that time of sorrow and humiliation when we began +the retreat from the lower Carolinas. + +We, fifty picked men, and I speak of Percy and myself as such +although we were only boys, set out near to noon on the reconnoiter, +understanding that the remainder of the force led by General Marion +would follow fifteen or twenty miles in the rear in order to be ready, +if opportunity presented itself, to fall upon the detached bands of +Major Wemyss' command. + +It was known, however, that the general would halt at the old Sinclair +plantation, if it so chanced that the venture should lead us thus far. + +Until nightfall we rode straight on, and then we were met by those who +told us that the advance guard of the enemy was near at hand. + +The command was immediately given for each man to conceal himself in +the thicket either side the road, where a view could be had of the +enemy as they passed, and in such position we were to remain until the +last straggler was beyond us, after which the major proposed that, by +making a wide detour, we could reach the Sinclair plantation in ample +time to give an alarm, should it be learned that the attack was not +advisable. + +Although we were in hiding, and there was little reason for whosoever +might lead this force to believe any of Marion's men were in +the vicinity, the position we had taken was a dangerous one, for +peradventure one of our horses was allowed to whinny, the Britishers +would attack immediately, when fifty against a thousand would stand +small chance of escape. + +It was nightfall before the first of the red-coated column appeared, +and Percy and I, standing side by side, gripping our horses' muzzles, +saw the formidable 63d Regulars as they came up with swinging +stride even more than a thousand strong, and marched by our place of +concealment with never a thought that the very prey for whom they were +seeking might be near at hand. + +My heart literally stood still for the time being, because even a lad +unused to warfare knew beyond a question that should these men learn +where we were hidden the end would come speedily. + +I hardly dared to breathe, lest by so doing an alarm be given, and yet +although fifty horses were concealed either side the road, not a sound +was heard to betoken their whereabouts. + +The regiment marched by; then came the Tory command under Major +Harrison, which I believe was even more in numbers than Major Wemyss' +men, and after them, more than a thousand yards in the rear, twenty +Tory stragglers. + +The major, my uncle, was stationed on the opposite side of the road +from where Percy and I stood, and we had no knowledge whatsoever of his +movements. + +When these rascally traitors to their country lounged along, evidently +believing themselves safe because of the large force in advance, the +thought came into my mind that it would be a proper ending to our +reconnoissance if we set upon them suddenly. + +This idea had no more than come into my mind when we heard a crashing +noise from the opposite side of the road, and immediately the major +appeared, followed by all who had remained with him, and we needed no +other signal. + +In a twinkling, as it were, the Tory stragglers were surrounded, and +perhaps no more than sixty seconds elapsed before each man of them had +been disarmed and was mounted behind one of our troop. + +Then it can readily be understood that we put spurs to our horses, +striking through the wooded country to the left in order to circle +around the main body of the enemy, and the frightened prisoners had +an opportunity of knowing that we raised good stock in Williamsburg +district, for in less than an hour we were come to the Sinclair +plantation. + +The information for which we had sent was gained, and, in addition, we +had twenty disconsolate-looking prisoners, who by this time had come +to know that the Cause of freedom in the Carolinas was not yet wholly +crushed out. + +The renegades were herded into a stable, and, to the surprise of us +all, no order was given to dismount. + +That portion of the force which had been left behind with General +Marion was in the saddle when we came up, and there they remained, as +did we, while our officers, withdrawing to a clump of live oaks near +at hand, entered into what proved to be a long, and certainly was a +serious, consultation. + +We knew full well that our future movements were being decided upon, +and although there were more than two thousand armed men in the +immediate vicinity searching for us, who would soon be joined by +Tarleton's Legion, I believe there was not one of our brigade who did +not hope most certainly that we would be pitted against them, desperate +though the odds were. + +Not until an hour before sunrise was the consultation come to an end, +and then came the long expected order to advance. + +"Ay; but in what direction?" Gavin Witherspoon, who was by my side, +asked in a low tone, and the answer came later, when General Marion +said: + +"My men, it is the opinion of all in command that we return to Lynch's +Creek, and I ask you to have confidence in us who have arrived at this +decision, which is as painful to those who made it as to those who +hear it. Nothing can be accomplished by staying here where capture or +death must inevitably result; but so long as we remain at liberty, so +long will the Cause live, and I promise you that however unpleasant +and apparently disastrous may seem this move, you shall yet have +many opportunities of striking at the British uniform. I ask that you +follow, as you have done since I came among you, cheerfully and without +question, believing that this step has not been decided upon without +due deliberation." + +"We are on the retreat," Gavin Witherspoon said to me as the general +ceased speaking, and the words were no more than uttered before a groan +was heard throughout the entire line. + +I here set it down, repeating the words that these brave fellows, only +an hundred and fifty strong, could not repress their sorrow because at +this moment, when we were threatened by over two thousand armed men, +one-half of them well-trained troops, the word had been given to fall +back. + +It is proof of the spirit of patriotism which animated the hearts of +those in Williamsburg district, that they were saddened only because +of not being brought immediately face to face with an enemy which could +conquer them by sheer force of numbers. + +If the cause of liberty was crushed out elsewhere, it yet lived and +burned with an ardent flame in the hearts of those who had pledged +themselves to follow General Marion, and among these patriots Percy +Sumter and myself had the good fortune to be numbered. + +Well, we set out on what can be called none other than a retreat, for +once we left the enemy behind us there was no other name for the move. +The old camp at Lynch's Creek was the direct road to North Carolina, +and the king's forces were hunting for us in Williamsburg district. + +Now let it be fully understood what all that meant, and then in years +to come no man may wonder why we whose homes were hereabout had sadness +in our hearts. + +For the first time since we had risen in our might against the king's +oppression, were the people of Williamsburg and of Pedee to be left +unprotected. Until this moment the enemy had never appeared in our +neighborhood with such a force as enabled them to over-run it without +fear of opposition. + +Once we were gone our people must suffer the tender mercies of the +Britishers and the Tories who had in other parts of the Carolinas, +wherever they penetrated, written their names in blood and in flame. + +Heretofore the James family, standing at the head of those who served +the Cause, had kept this section of the Carolina colonies free from +the invader. Now they were to leave it--to abandon it--while there were +yet two thousand enemies in the district with more to come, and knowing +full well that should they ever return again it would be to find their +houses smoking ruins, their wives and children homeless and wandering. +It was to leave behind all that was dear, and all that was sacred in +order that the flame of freedom might, although burning feebly, yet be +unquenched. + +Even if Percy and I were yet lads, we were full grown in the knowledge +of what had been and what would come, therefore, but in a lesser +degree, of course, were we bowed down by sorrow as, setting our faces +in that direction which would lead us away from home, we allowed the +steeds to make their way at such pace as pleased them. + +No man set spur on that ride; no man urged his horse forward, for it +was as if we were held back by chains, and little wonder. + +At the time this seemed to us to be a shameful march; but now I can +look back upon it and realize how necessary it was--can understand +that He who rules the destinies of nations had willed that, like the +children of Israel, we should wander through the desert a certain time +before we were come to the Promised Land. + +Now having set down all that was in our hearts at this time, let me +hurry over such portion of the story, for it is not pleasant to dwell +upon it. + +We arrived at Lynch's Creek that evening, and here we were halted only +so long as was necessary to make the arrangements already decided upon +between our leaders. + +Those who had families were requested, when we had come into the old +camp, to leave the brigade and return home, there to remain until such +time as they might be again summoned. + +This was done in order that we might move more secretly, and also that +those who were needed at home should be enabled to give to their loved +ones at least the last words which might be spoken on earth. + +Within an hour our force was reduced to sixty men, and yet there +remained among us every member of the James family--a fact which went +far toward cheering Percy and I in this retreat. + +Five were there, John, William, Gavin, Robert and James, and each +had a family; yet none would desert the leader in whom they had every +confidence--none would desert the Cause, although it was come so low. +Yet for the honor of those who dropped out, it must be said that they +were ready at the first signal to rejoin the brigade. + +Gavin Witherspoon had a wife and five children, the youngest eight +years old. To him I said, when, man after man, raising his hat in +adieu, departed with an expression on his face which told of the +sadness in his heart: + +"It is for you to go also, Gavin. Such as Percy and I can well be +spared, even though we leave behind a mother whom we love; but she has +kinsfolk who will comfort her." + +"My family are alone in the district, Robert Sumter, and yet they will +be comforted, knowing that I am doing my duty as a man." + +"Yet every one should care for his own, and you can well be spared when +this movement is no more than a retreat." + +"Ay, so I may be," the old man replied emphatically, and in such a +tone as caused me to grip him heartily by the hand. "So I may be, +and yet it would shame me to go, because now has come the hour of our +adversity--the time when all hope seems to have fled; but my desire +to free the colonies from the yoke of the king is as strong as when I +first set out, nigh on to four years ago. I shall remain in the saddle, +Robert Sumter, until we have won that toward which we set our faces, or +a British bullet has brought me low, and in the doing find happiness +for myself as well as give comfort to those who look upon me for an +example." + +It was a brave man who spoke those words, and I said then in my heart +that never again would I allow another to utter aught against Gavin +Witherspoon--never again would I allow Percy or myself to laugh at his +oddities or his whimsical fancies. + +Freshly mounted were we who left Lynch's Creek at sunset on the day +when we were arrived at the old camp, after those who went insisted +on bringing to us their best horses and the major part of all their +store of ammunition, because, in so doing, it seemed as if they were +contributing in some slight degree to sustaining the Cause which they +had long since despaired of seeing successful. + +Dark days indeed were these which had come upon us; but they were +needed, as was afterwards proven, to strengthen our hearts for the +future trial, which led us on to victory when defeat was seemingly +already upon us. + +From the hour of leaving Lynch's Creek until we were arrived in +North Carolina, at Amy's Mill on Downing Creek, we never drew rein, +save to halt that the tired steeds might find rest, and at this last +encampment, we remained four and twenty hours. + +From there a detachment of ten was sent back as scouts to gain +intelligence of what might be going on in the lower Carolinas, and to +cheer those of our number who had been left behind, in order that the +fire of patriotism might be kept burning. + +Then once more we took up the line of retreat, holding it until we were +come to the east side of White Marsh, near the head of the Waccamaw +River, where my uncle, the major, told us three comrades that a +permanent camp would be established. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +BLACK MINGO SWAMP. + + +A protracted halt to men whose hearts are heavy is not a desirable +boon, and so we from Williamsburg soon discovered. + +The first idea in our minds, when we were come into camp and began to +build shelters for ourselves, each after his own liking, was that we +could enjoy this respite from a roving life, where it was necessary to +be constantly on the alert against danger. + +Once we had really settled down, however, and there was nothing of +especial moment with which to occupy our attention, the hours moved so +slowly as to seem like unto days. + +At first we three comrades spent a goodly portion of the time +speculating among ourselves as to how long we might be able to hold the +field against the numberless men which the king was sending in pursuit; +but after a time we were wearied with such occupation, and began to +long for active duty. + +This isolation and sense of perfect security grew irksome, and there +was not a man among the small detachment who would not gladly have +faced a foe of five times our number, in order to shake off the +lethargy which began to creep over him after eight and forty hours had +passed. + +On the fourth day after our having settled down in this encampment, +Major James and Captain Mouzon were sent back into the lower Carolinas +to make certain those who were enlisted in the Williamsburg brigade +held steadfast to their pledges, and the absence of our uncle was to +Percy and I like a great calamity. We looked upon him not only as the +head of the family; but as a true friend and companion-in-arms upon +whom we could rely under every circumstance, and although not thrown +much in his company because of the position we occupied in the force, +the knowledge of his being near at hand, did we need his advice, was +in itself a pleasurable satisfaction which we failed fully to realize +until he was absent. + +When a week passed and we were "rusting out," as Gavin Witherspoon +said, it seemed absolutely necessary we have some employment, and +the old man said to me one morning while Percy was making ready the +breakfast: + +"Three men have already been sent out as scouts since we came into this +camp, and such duty is necessary because it stands to reason that the +Tories will make every effort to discover the general's hiding-place." + +"Ay, all you have said is true, Gavin Witherspoon," I replied; "but of +what avail is it to us since the general calls upon others to act as +scouts, forgetting that we readily performed such duty when it was an +hundred times more dangerous than at present?" + +"This is how it may avail," the old man said in the tone of one who +defies contradiction. "You shall go this morning to General Marion and +offer the services of us three, promising that we will act as scouts so +long as the detachment remains here." + +"But if he refuses to detail us for such work?" + +"Then pluck up sufficient courage to remind him that we went gladly, +when, perchance, every man in the command would have hesitated. By so +doing you may make him understand he owes something to us three." + +At first thought I was not willing to browbeat our commander, for it +appeared to me that what Gavin Witherspoon had proposed was little less +than an attempt to bully the general into acceding to our desires; but +the longer I considered the matter the more reasonable did it seem that +we should be sent out, rather than forced to remain in camp where our +presence was of no possible benefit. + +By going we should take away nothing of value from the encampment, and +it might be possible fortune would so favor us that we could render +some signal assistance, even though it did not seem probable there was +any force of the enemy in that vicinity. + +Therefore it was that I did as Gavin Witherspoon requested, and to our +great surprise the general not only willingly gave his consent, but +said it pleasured him much that we should so desire to serve the Cause. + +"While we remain here waiting such turn in the tide of affairs as +will give us an opportunity to serve the colonists, it is well to know +thoroughly all the country and its inhabitants," he said in conclusion. +"Therefore, so that you return to camp and report once in every four +and twenty hours, you not only have my permission; but will lay me +under obligation by acting the part of scouts, spies or whatsoever you +choose to call the officer." + +It can well be understood that we did not linger long after this +interview. + +In less than an hour we three, provided with such store of provisions +as would be our portion until the following day, and carrying an ample +amount of ammunition, set out with no idea whatsoever as to where +chance might lead us, save that it seemed wisest to travel toward the +south, for in that direction lay home and friends. + +Gavin Witherspoon at once took command of the party by proceeding in +advance, and we, having good cause to trust him implicitly, were more +than willing to follow as he should propose. + +There was no thought in our minds that a single enemy might be near at +hand. + +The only possibility counted upon was that we should run across one +or more Tories seeking to find the encampment, and thus, perchance, +prevent discovery. + +Thus it was we proceeded with a certain amount of caution, although not +deeming it necessary. + +Until late in the afternoon we traveled along the banks of the Waccamaw +River, our faces turned toward Williamsburg, and then Percy said, as he +threw himself at full length by the side of the stream: + +"We are come on a mission which cannot bear fruit, and it makes little +difference whether we halt here, or five miles further on. Having +remained so long in camp without exercise, my legs tire quickly, and I +propose to rest for the night." + +We were ready to gratify him in this respect, the more so because all +of us were in much the same condition, and therefore it was that our +scout came to an end, for the time being, hardly more than fifteen +miles from the starting-point. + +Surely we had no reason to grumble against fortune on this our first +visit in the Upper Carolinas. + +Such food as we had was ready cooked, and in order to make camp it was +only necessary to lie down among the bushes, where for a time all slept +as we had not done during the time of idleness. + +The sun was within an hour of setting when I awakened and found my +companions lying in restful attitudes, but with open eyes. + +They also had satisfied the desire for slumber. + +How it chanced that we three remained there without speaking one to +another, I know not; but so we did, strangely enough, and because of +our unwitting silence were we enabled to accomplish that which had +seemed improbable. + +Human voices in the distance, but sounding nearer and nearer, attracted +our attention, causing all three to rise and seek better concealment, +when we saw through the foliage a party of seven armed men coming up +the bank of the stream from the south, and proceeding with a certain +degree of caution which told that they were in search of something or +some one. + +Although not absolutely certain, we felt reasonably sure these +travelers were enemies, and well we might, considering the fact that +nowhere between here and the Carolinas was it known that any friends of +the Cause had habitation. + +When the party passed where we were in hiding, they had ceased +conversation; therefore we had no means of determining who they were, +save that all wore portions of a Britisher's accouterments, while our +friends still held to the powder-horn and shot-pouch. + +Not until they were lost to view in the distance did either of us +speak, and then it was Percy who said, much as if he had made an +important discovery: + +"They are Tories, and searching for General Marion's encampment." + +"I allow all that to be true, lad, and now what may be our duty?" Gavin +Witherspoon asked. + +"To learn where they halt for the night, and then carry the information +back to camp," my brother said heedlessly, for indeed that seemed to be +the only course left for us. + +"There is in my mind a better plan, lad, and, if it so be you two are +willing to take the chances, I venture to predict we will carry yonder +gentlemen before General Marion, instead of hastening ahead to tell him +they are coming." + +"Do you mean that we three are to attack seven?" Percy asked, and the +old man said with a smile: + +"I have seen both you lads ride gallantly forward when it was a case +of twenty against one, and yet you hesitate with the odds not much more +than double against us?" + +"Percy does not hesitate," I replied, jealous lest there should be +a question as to the courage of one of our family. "So that it is in +your mind, Gavin Witherspoon, we will agree to anything that has the +faintest hope of success." + +"This is my plan: Yonder strangers are doubtless enemies; but if they +prove to be friends, then have we done them no harm by carrying out +that which is in my mind. We will follow so far in the rear that there +is no danger of being discovered until they camp for the night, and +then it will go hard indeed if we fail to find an opportunity for +making them prisoners." + +I did not agree with Gavin Witherspoon in his belief that we might +readily make prisoners of seven men; yet was I well pleased to venture +the attempt, believing something of good might come, even though we +failed in the purpose. It was seldom we who held true to the colonies +had an opportunity of striking even so slight a blow as this when the +odds were no more than two against one, and it would have been folly +for us to have refused such a chance. + +Percy, once the plan was made plain, did not consider it necessary to +say whether he agreed to it or not. + +To his mind, all who were acquainted with him should know he would +favor any plan, and there was little need for Gavin Witherspoon to go +further into details than he had already done. + +"It is such work as this for which we left the camp," Percy said +quietly, "and if the strangers are friends, we can atone for any rough +handling by showing them the way to General Marion's camp." + +This, so nearly as I can repeat it after these many years, was all that +passed between us regarding the venture, and we set off on the trail +without further delay. + +There is less difficulty in successfully stalking a man than a deer, +and this last had both Percy and I performed time and time again +until it seemed to us like a simple task. Therefore it was that Gavin +Witherspoon had no green hands to aid him in the work he had cut out. + +Keeping so far in the rear as to hear the noise as they forced their +way through the underbrush, and yet not so near that we might by any +possibility be seen, the three of us followed this little company who +might be friends, but were probably enemies, until the going down of +the sun, when we knew from such sounds as came to us that they had +halted. + +Now it was only a matter of waiting, which, under almost any +circumstances, is the most difficult task to perform patiently; yet +every lad who has hunted wild turkeys is well schooled in such work, +and it can safely be said that we did not risk a failure by being +over-eager. + +The men, although having advanced with but little caution, realized +the fact that there might be enemies in the vicinity, for they forbore +building a camp-fire, and this fact rendered our work rather more +difficult than it otherwise would have been. + +After it was certain they had settled down for the night we stole +nearer and nearer, until it was possible to hear the conversation +carried on in an ordinary tone, and then we remained motionless until +the time for action should arrive. + +When we were come thus far I believed we should hear such words as +would declare whether these seven men were friends or enemies, and in +this I was not disappointed, although we failed to learn anything of +importance. + +While eating supper one of them, in the course of the ordinary +conversation concerning the tramp of the day, remarked: + +"There is no probability we shall find any of the rebels during the +next two or three days' march, for as yet we are among those who remain +loyal to the king." + +The words as written above were all we had to give us a clue to the +character of these strangers; but they were sufficient. + +We knew now, as well as if these men had explained at length, that they +were in search of General Marion's encampment, and from that instant, +answering for Percy as well as Gavin Witherspoon, I know that the three +of us counted on making a capture at whatsoever hazard. + +Not until fully an hour after the men had stretched themselves upon the +ground and the last word was spoken between them, did we make a move +toward nearing the encampment. + +Then it was that I would have gone forward, risking the danger with the +belief that my life had better be made the price, rather than either +of the others, when the old man laid his hand on mine as he whispered +softly in my ear: + +"It is for me to go, first, because I have had more experience in such +work, and again, on the plea that I can best be spared to the Cause if +either of us must pay a penalty for leading in the attack." + +Although there may be the twang of a braggart in the words, still must +it be set down that I tried to restrain Gavin Witherspoon, but without +success. + +When I would have pushed him away he held me back, and it seemed +impossible to advance without such a squabble as would have given the +alarm. + +I was absolutely forced to let him take the lead; but Percy and I kept +close upon his heels. + +When, after creeping so cautiously that not a twig snapped beneath +our weight, we had come to the small cleared place on the bank of the +stream which the men had selected as an encampment, we saw that they +were sleeping near the foot of a pine tree that had been overturned by +the wind. + +The overhanging mass of roots formed a certain sort of shelter which +served to protect them from the dew. + +Their rifles were stacked against one of the branches at a distance of +fully three yards from where they lay, and, as a matter of course, it +was necessary to first secure possession of these. + + [Illustration: As Gavin gathered up the weapons, Percy and I called + upon the sleepers to surrender.--Page 183.] + +Gavin did his work, as we knew beyond a question he could do, and when +he raised himself beside the weapons, we two, Percy and I, sprang to +our feet, calling upon the sleepers to surrender. + +They had no other choice than to obey, and sheepish indeed were these +seven after we had drawn them up in line, when they understood how +small was the force which had taken them prisoners. + +Yet were they reasonably good men, so far as Tories go, inasmuch as no +one spoke a word, all refusing to answer the questions which we asked. + +So far as we ourselves were concerned this made little difference, and +without delay, although they as well as ourselves were fatigued, most +likely, by the long tramp, we began the return to General Marion's +camp. + +As it proved later, our capture was of great importance, even though +the prisoners stoutly refused to give information when the general +questioned them, for their presence showed that Tarleton was hot after +us, knowing somewhat of our whereabouts, and the time was come when we +must retreat yet further, or return to the task of showing the invaders +that the spirit of liberty in these southern colonies was not yet +crushed out. + +Now let me set down here what we had learned since the day when we set +free the one hundred and fifty Continentals who refused, save in the +case of the three true men, to join our force. + +Major Wemyss had marched for seventy miles from Nelson's Ferry, +straight across the district of Williamsburg, desolating a path fifteen +miles in breadth after such merciless fashion that one would have said +he had been taught in the schools of the savage. + +All the dwellings on his way, save those habited by well-known +Tories, were given to the flames; the people were plundered of their +possessions; such property as the troops could not use was destroyed, +while the animals were wantonly shot and allowed to rot where they +fell. + +Those who were thus plundered saw all their belongings swept away by +fire, and they, even to the women and children, were held forcibly back +to prevent them from saving the smallest article of value. + +Men were hanged without semblance of trial, and when their loved ones +pleaded for mercy, the British soldiery rode them down. + +All the time it seemed almost as if the good God had forsaken the +colonies, and yet we came to know that all these acts of barbarous +cruelty were necessary to arouse our people from the fear and the +despondency into which they had fallen. + +It did arouse them. + +It forced men into the ranks of the patriots who otherwise would have +waited quietly by until the colonies or the king should have proven a +right to the country. + +Within two days from the time the seven scouts were taken prisoners +and we had arrived at our encampment, the hour was come when we should +return, and among those on the banks of the Waccamaw who held steadfast +to General Marion, there was no one who did not rejoice because the +moment for action was at hand. + +Taking the prisoners with us, we set out on a forced march, which was +continued night and day until we had seen the sun rise and set three +times while we yet remained in the saddle, save when it was absolutely +necessary to give rest to our steeds. + +Then we were come to Lynch's Creek once more--to the old camp--where we +found all those who had waited behind until the signal should be given, +with the addition of more than two hundred new recruits--men who had +been driven by the cruelty of the king's hirelings into the ranks of +those who would save their country. + +More than this, those whom we met gave information that Major Wemyss +had retired to Georgetown, wearied with chasing the Swamp Fox, and a +body of six hundred well-armed Tories were encamped near Black Mingo +Swamp, fifteen miles below where we were halted, under command of +Captain John Ball. + +Here was our work cut out for us, and like the true patriot and ardent +soldier that he was, General Marion gave us no cause to complain of +hesitation on his part. + +It was less than four hours from the time our command was halted, and +while yet we were exchanging greetings with those who had parted from +us so many days before, that our commander, calling the men in a body +around him, thus spoke: + +"Hardly more than two hours' ride from here are encamped a force of +these renegades whom we call Tories. They outnumber us slightly; but +even though there were twice as many, yet I believe you who have served +so gallantly under me since I came into the Williamsburg district, +could whip them in the open field. We are told that recruits are +flocking from every quarter of this portion of the colony to join us, +and by waiting we may double our strength; yet at the same time it is +possible that the enemy will take the alarm and flee. I propose that we +march at once, and within twenty-four hours from the time of returning +to the scene of our labors strike such a blow as shall give Tarleton +and Wemyss to understand that the spirit of liberty has been revived, +rather than broken, by their butcheries and their barbarities." + +A ringing cheer, in which every man participated, was the answer to +this speech, and more than that no commander could need. + +Five minutes later, it could not have been more, we were in the saddle, +led by two sons of Captain Waties, who had already made themselves +familiar with the approaches to the enemy's camp, and Major James, my +uncle, said as he reined his horse in that he might fall back between +Percy and I for a moment: + +"Lads, we have once more taken up the work, and with such a commander +I venture to predict that it will not cease, until the last adherent to +the Cause has yielded up his life, or we have brought the Carolinas out +from under the sway of the butchers." + +Gavin Witherspoon, who had been riding slightly in the rear, spurred +his horse forward until he could speak with my uncle: + +"Whereabout in the Black Mingo are these scurvy scoundrels encamped?" + +"At Shepherd's Ferry on the south side of the stream." + +"Then we must cross that bridge on planks, if I mistake not, in order +to come at them?" + +"You are right, Gavin." + +"And so many horsemen as we number may not be able to do that without +giving an alarm." + +"It is a chance which we must take. Whether they have warning of our +approach, or not, from the moment we reach the causeway our advance +must be rapid." + +Then my uncle rode ahead to join General Marion, and we, tired and +sleepy from being long in the saddle without proper hours of rest, +relapsed into silence until we were arrived at this same bridge of +which Gavin had spoken. + +It was midnight, and I had said to Percy that all the odds were in our +favor, so far as taking the enemy by surprise was concerned, when the +foremost of the troops clattered across the planks. + +Within sixty seconds an alarm gun was heard from the Tory encampment. + +Now was come the time, and the first, when we two lads were to take +part in a conflict where the enemy was expecting us. + +It would be a real battle, and Percy cried, clasping my hand as we +spurred our horses on at a gallop lest we be left in the rear: + +"We may perchance come to our death, Bob, before the sun shall rise +again; but it shall never be said that we failed to follow the head of +the family wherever he might lead!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE BATTLE. + + +Of the battle, short, sharp and bloody, which followed after we had +given the alarm by riding across the plank causeway into Black Mingo +Swamp, I can set down but little of my own knowledge, because Gavin +Witherspoon, Percy and myself were with what was called, for the time +being, the "cavalry," and we saw only that portion of the engagement +which fell to our share. + +However, I have heard my uncle tell the story again and again in these +words, and there can be no doubt as to its correctness, however the +historian of the future may write concerning the action: + +"After the alarm gun sounded, promptness and swift riding became as +necessary as had caution, and the general ordered his men to follow him +at a gallop until the force reached the main road, about three hundred +yards from where it was known the enemy lay. + +"Here, with the exception of a small number who were to act as cavalry, +the entire command dismounted. A body of picked men under Captain +Waties was ordered down the road to attack Dollard's house where the +Tories had been posted. Two companies under Hugh Horry were sent to +the right, and the cavalry to the left, to support the attack, Marion +himself bringing up the rear. + +"It so happened, however, that the Tories had left the house +immediately after being alarmed, and were strongly drawn up in a field +near at hand. + +"Here it was they encountered Horry's command on the advance, with a +fire equally severe and unexpected. The effect was that of a surprise +upon the colonists. Horry's troops fell back in confusion, but were +promptly rallied and brought on the charge. + +"Immediately the battle became obstinate and bloody; but the appearance +of the men under Waties, who came up suddenly in the rear of the +Tories, soon brought it to a close. Finding themselves between two +fires, the enemy gave way in all directions to flee for refuge to the +neighboring swamp of Black Mingo." + +This is the story of the battle as I have heard my uncle tell it many +times. + +As for the part which we three comrades played, I can say but little in +detail. + +When the advance was ordered we rode forward eagerly, for inaction +had whetted our desire, and once more we gave the renegade sons of the +colony a much needed lesson. + +To me the engagement was not as desperate as either of the others in +which Percy and I had taken part, for at no time did we of the cavalry +come to a hand-to-hand encounter with those who chose to serve a king +whose only delight was in oppression; but that it was a real and a +bloody battle was known full well after we had gained possession of +the field, for then our officers learned from such prisoners as had +been taken, that the enemy outnumbered us two to one, and of all those +engaged, true colonists as well as false, a full third were killed or +disabled. + +Our loss was great, when one takes into consideration the fact that we +made the attack, and that it was in a certain sense surprising. + +Captain Logan was killed; Captain Mouzon and Lieutenant Scott so +severely wounded that even though their lives were saved it would +be impossible for them to do active service again, and more than an +hundred people were dead or disabled. + +Among the Tories the execution had been great; Captain Ball was dead, +and a full two hundred lay on the ground lifeless, or wounded to such +an extent that retreat was impossible. + +In addition to that, we had among us one hundred and two as prisoners, +and they who had a few hours previous believed the Cause of freedom in +the Carolinas was dead, now pleaded eagerly to be allowed to enlist. + +They had no love for country; but were ready as ever to join such force +as appeared to be gaining ascendancy, and this one victory had put the +Cause on a different footing from what it had been since the day we +made the attack upon the Prince of Wales' regiment at Nelson's Ferry. + +In discussing this engagement afterward, Gavin, Percy and I have +decided, to our own satisfaction at least, that not one among our +leaders had any idea of the good which might result from what was +little less than a chance encounter when the king's officers believed +we had been whipped into submission. + +We ourselves almost became weary of it as the days passed and this man +or that, who had previously declared his allegiance to the king, came +into camp, begging the privilege to enlist under the banner of General +Marion. + +But I am getting ahead of my story, and it is little wonder, for on the +night before the battle at the Black Mingo we had considered ourselves +outlaws, whose only hope lay in striking one or more severe blows +before death should befall us. Then to find that the Cause had suddenly +received a new lease of life was so unexpected and happily surprising, +that even at this late day I cannot forbear a sense of triumph such as +I did not know even on the day peace was declared, when these colonies +had become a free nation--a nation such as I doubt not will one day be +a power in the world. + +We laid in this captured camp sufficiently long to give all our friends +opportunity of joining us, and the faint-hearted inhabitants nearabout +time to declare their pretended love for the Cause, before attempting +to continue the lesson to the red-coats which had been so long delayed. + +It was during this time of inaction that we were joined by a young man +hardly older than myself, who was destined to make the fourth in our +comradeship. + +This was none other than Gabriel Marion, the general's nephew, a lad +loved by our commander as if he had been a son, and on whom one might +pin his faith, knowing full well it would never be betrayed. + +This Gabriel did not resemble his uncle in feature, else might we +never have come to take him to our hearts as we did. The general wore +a somber countenance, while the lad was ever smiling, however great the +danger which threatened. + +The general rarely spoke in a jovial tone, while Gabriel never lost an +opportunity of uttering a jest. + +Within half an hour after he rode into the captured camp at Shepherd's +Ferry the general sent for Percy and myself, and, when we presented +ourselves, introduced his nephew much in the following fashion: + +"This lad is as dear to me as a son, and his honor, his courage and +patriotism as near to my heart as my own, therefore do I present him to +you two lads whom I know to be true and faithful to whatsoever you set +your word. Make of him a comrade, and you will please me; hold him to +his duties as you hold each other, and you will benefit him." + +No words could have been more flattering or more pleasing to us, and it +can well be imagined that we were especially careful from this day out +to merit the continuance of the same favorable opinion. + +Gabriel was a lad whom all would love immediately after knowing him, +and once having formed his acquaintance, he was found to be the same +one day as another,--a true, lovable comrade. + +To him, as a matter of course, we told all that had come to us, since +we were regularly enrolled as members of his uncle's force, and in so +doing spoke necessarily of Sam Lee. + +Although we held ourselves ever ready to meet any enemies of the Cause, +it was that young Tory whom we especially hoped to come across. + +If I have not heretofore set it down strongly, let it be understood +we had never come to a new neighborhood without a strong hope that +he might be met, and the three of us were resolved to capture him at +the first opportunity whatever the hazard, for in all the Carolinas +could be found no more bitter enemy than this same lad who had taken +sides with the hirelings of the king simply because of his own vicious +nature. + +"Without good reason therefore, Sam Lee is, I believe, bent on doing +all possible harm to us of Williamsburg, and when we have made him +prisoner, holding the scoundrel so close that he cannot escape until +the Cause be won or hopelessly lost, we shall have accomplished a good +work," Percy said when I had finished the story regarding that young +Tory. + +"How may he, a lad without influence, do so much mischief?" Gabriel +asked, and Gavin Witherspoon replied promptly: + +"It is because of being a mere boy that gives him the advantage. Unless +our friends know him for what he is, it would naturally be thought that +he was incapable of harm. I had rather have him in my clutches than any +man short of a major in the British service." + +"What prevents our setting out some day and bringing him into camp?" +Gabriel asked with a merry laugh; but there was no need I should answer +the question, for he knew full well had it been possible we would have +had the Tory within our grasp long before this. + +Just how many days we remained in camp at Shepherd's Ferry I am unable +to set down, because there was much to occupy our time, although such +occupation was not directly connected with the Cause. + +We four comrades were constantly being sent out as scouts, or to urge +that the planters near at hand bring in food, so that one day went +by after another with exceeding swiftness and so much of pleasurable +intercourse that it was more like a merry-making than a struggle +against a mighty king. + +However, the day came when word was whispered round about the camp that +we were to set out at once for Lynch's Creek, to make an attack upon +Colonel Harrison and his Tory Legion. + +While we were preparing for the journey, good friends came in with +tidings that the renegades were gathering in large force in and about +Salem and the fork of Black River. + +Here it was, so we were told, that Colonel Tynes of the British service +had appeared, summoning the people as good subjects of his majesty to +take the field against their countrymen, and he brought with him ample +supplies of war materials, provisions, and even of luxuries such as our +people had not seen for many a month. + +Eager though we were to be at Harrison's Tories, the tidings of new +muskets with bayonets, broad swords, pistols, saddles, bridles, and +of powder and ball which the Britisher had brought with him caused our +mouths to water. + +Had General Marion neglected to take advantage of such opportunity +as seemed suddenly to have presented itself, I believe the men of his +brigade, obedient and faithful as they had been, would have burst into +loud murmurings, for we were sadly in need of equipments. + +Before the day on which this information was brought had come to an +end, others who were friendly to the Cause arrived with the definite +information that Colonel Tynes was encamped at Tarcote, on the forks of +Black River, and apparently so secure in mind regarding his position +that such watchfulness as common prudence would have dictated was +neglected. + +It was just such an advantage as General Marion delighted in; exactly +the kind of work for which we of the brigade were best adapted, and +every man was in a fever to be at the task which was at one and the +same time for the benefit of the Cause and the better equipment of +ourselves. + +While the officers deliberated, the rank and file announced what +articles they most needed, as if it were only necessary to make the +statement in order to have their desires fulfilled, and, in short, +there was not one among us but that believed we could have for the +choosing anything in Colonel Tynes' stores. + +Tarleton with his Legion was hot after us, and so every one knew; but +thus far we had failed to meet him, and between his force and ours was +that gallant general of Carolina, my father's kinsman, General Sumter +standing ever ready to interpose lest Tarleton should fall upon General +Marion when he was least prepared, and who delighted in leading that +British butcher on a wild-goose chase. + +Truly we two, Percy and I, had reason to be proud of the men to whom we +were bound by ties of blood, for the names of Sumter and James stood +high, and with good cause, among the defenders of the Carolinas in +those dark days when armed resistance seemed little short of suicide. + +I realize that this task which Percy has insisted I shall perform is +being done in a halting fashion, because of my speaking overly much, +perhaps, of those who remained true during the darkest days known by +the southern colonies; but yet how may it be possible to tell any +portion of the story of the Carolinas without mentioning again and +again the names of those patriots who ventured life and fortune when +such sacrifice seemed hopeless? + + [Illustration: In the darkness we four comrades were sent forward to + reconnoitre.--Page 205.] + +However, just now must be told what we of the Williamsburg district +did with the overly confident Colonel Tynes, and yet the story +must be brief, because the adventure was no more than an ordinary +occurrence, where neither glory nor honor is to be won, nor great deeds +accomplished. + +At midnight, eight and forty hours after the news had been brought, +General Marion's brigade descended upon Colonel Tynes' camp, and simply +overran it. + +It seems strange even now that we should have seized upon all that +store, throwing so many well-armed men into a panic by simply riding +among them, yet such is the fact. + +When, in the darkness of the night, the brigade came upon the +encampment, we four comrades were sent forward to reconnoiter, and true +it is that we failed to find a single sentinel on guard. In some of the +camps men were playing cards, in others they slept, and yet more sat +around the camp-fires, drinking and smoking. + +The officers were making merry in a building hard by, and there were +none to oppose our progress. + +The reconnaissance was attended with as little danger as if we four +had gone out sight-seeing among friends, and when we returned to where +General Marion and my uncle the major, awaited our coming, it was with +a story so incredible that for an instant they could hardly believe our +statements. + +Then the word "Forward" was given, and we, as I have said, overran that +camp without hindrance. + +Neither Britisher nor Tory so much as discharged a gun; the redcoat +and renegade Carolinian alike sought refuge in flight, hoping to gain +the fastness of Tarcote Swamp, and to have cut them down in their panic +would have been like murdering men in cold blood, for how can you take +the life of him who offers no resistance? + +Twenty minutes had not elapsed from the time we made our report, until +the encampment with all its wealth of British stores was our own, and +here and there came some scurvy Tory crawling and cringing before our +officers as he begged to be allowed the privilege of enlisting. + +It was not warfare; but simply a foraging expedition among people who +were the same as unarmed. + +Colonel Tynes, two of his captains, and fifty-four British regulars +were taken prisoners. We hardly troubled ourselves about the Tories, +save that Gavin, Percy, Gabriel and I rode here and there searching +eagerly for Sam Lee, but finding him not. + +When day broke our men overhauled the equipments and the provisions +which were intended for those who should take up arms against us, +and before we gave heed to breaking our fast the old and patched +saddles were replaced by new ones of English make; our powder-horns +and shot-pouches were filled; we wore breeches and boots that had been +brought for the benefit of our enemies, and, to a man, were as well +equipped as any force the butcher Tarleton ever headed. + +The prisoners were sent to Kingstree, which town we now believed +ourselves capable of holding, and in the fourth encampment that had +been wrested from the Britishers or their allies, we feasted and made +merry, Gabriel declaring that he was "disappointed in having thus +joined a band of foragers when he expected to see somewhat of warfare." + +And the poor lad did see warfare in its most bitter phase before many +days passed. + +Now that I am come to the closing acts in this life which we knew for +so short a time and loved so well, I must hasten over them because of +the bitterness which comes to me with the memory that has never faded. + +We three comrades--meaning Gavin, Percy and myself--had seen the +darkest days of the struggle, and then suddenly participated in the joy +which came to us when, seemingly without good reason, we were once more +triumphant. + +Gabriel had come at the moment when we were flushed with the excitement +of unexpected success, and he saw but little of it, poor lad! + +While we lay at Salem receiving every day new recruits from those +who had been lukewarm to the Cause, and from the cowards who believed +safety lay only in friendship with the "rebels," word was brought that +Lord Cornwallis had begged Colonel Tarleton to "get at" General Marion. + +It was said that the butcher had arisen from a bed of sickness brought +about by his own excesses, with a vow that he would capture "the scurvy +Swamp Fox," and that his Legion, which was before Camden, had orders +to meet him on the Wateree River, from which place he would set out to +make a prisoner of our general. + +This information came to us at a time when we were not only ready, but +willing, to meet the infamous Tarleton, although in his Legion were +two men, where there was one of ours, and, as my uncle said with a grim +smile, when speaking to Gavin Witherspoon after orders had been given +us to prepare for the march, "we would make Colonel Tarleton's mission +as easy of accomplishment as was possible, so far as showing him the +whereabouts of the Swamp Fox was concerned." + +Our horses were in good condition; every man among us eager to measure +strength with this human brute who had devastated the Carolinas +wherever he marched, and we hardly drew rein until arriving once more +at Nelson's Ferry, on the Santee River. + +This was the second time we had crossed the entire district of +Williamsburg with a swiftness such as astounded the British horsemen, +and it is little wonder that our general received from them the name in +which we of his brigade gloried. + +Exactly how strong the Britishers were there was no means of knowing, +although one might guess that Tarleton would not come out with less +than his full legion, which numbered upwards of eleven hundred men; but +yet we pressed forward even after having come upon their trail, and +knowing how much greater their force was than ours--pressed forward +close upon their heels until the hour came when it would have been +folly to continue on, because the horses were winded. + +Then we made camp in the woods, Gabriel Marion complaining bitterly +because his uncle had called a halt, although the steed the lad +bestrode could not have advanced five miles more at an ordinary pace. + +Near the enemy, as we knew ourselves to be, it was necessary to take +every precaution at this encampment, and we were yet hard at work +while our steeds were feeding, throwing up such rude shelters as would +suffice for the use of the sharp-shooters, when Colonel Richardson, who +served under General Sumter until wounded and had then retired to his +plantation for a time, came into camp. + +Percy and I were acting as sentinels when he first arrived, and, +fearing some treachery, for he was a stranger to us, would have +prevented him from even speaking with one of our officers, had he +not referred to his services under our father's brother with such +minuteness of detail that we could not longer remain incredulous. + +I conducted him to where General Marion and Major James sat upon the +ground amid a clump of bushes discussing plans for the next day's work, +and had hardly more than saluted when a great light flashed up on the +western sky. + +"It is the flames of my dwelling," Colonel Richardson exclaimed +bitterly, even before the general and the major had time to welcome +him. "Tarleton's Legion is within five miles, bent now as ever upon +their work of devastation!" + +"And you have fled at such a time?" my uncle, the major, said, in a +tone very nearly that of reproach. + +"I would willingly have given up my life in defense of those whom I +love; but that you are in the greatest danger. Hidden with my wife +and children in one of the outbuildings--no other able-bodied man on +the plantation to aid me in a defense which would have been vain--I +saw a lad, whom I believe to be one of the Tory Lees from nearabout +Kingstree, ride up and demand audience of Tarleton. So near was the +butcher to me at the moment that I heard plainly the young scoundrel's +speech, and it was to the effect that General Marion with his brigade +lay here at this place. There was no longer any course left me save to +give you warning, for as soon as my plantation has been ruined and the +butcher satisfies himself I am not at hand to be hanged, he will make +a descent upon you." + +"We have come to give him that opportunity," my uncle, the major, said +proudly, whereat Colonel Richardson showed signs of great alarm. + +"You can easily be surrounded here, and, with a force such as Tarleton +has, must be cut to pieces, however bravely your men may fight. To make +a stand would be useless sacrifice of life, and I conjure you, General +Marion, that you seek a more advantageous place in which to meet the +enemy; but whatsoever may be your decision, I here offer myself as +a recruit until you shall have given the British cutthroat a proper +lesson." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +GEORGETOWN. + + +The information which Colonel Richardson brought regarding the renegade +who had acquainted Tarleton with General Marion's whereabouts, fired +us four comrades to such a degree that right willingly would we have +pushed forward alone in the hope of taking him prisoner, even while +surrounded by his British friends. + +As has already been set down, we gave Sam Lee credit for doing +whatsoever was in his power against us, but, while it was no surprise +that he should have continued making every effort to work harm to +the friends of freedom, there was mingled with our righteous anger +something of astonishment at his success. + +He might have lived twice the ordinary lifetime of a man without being +able to do as much mischief as in this case, when our people were +making ready to fall suddenly upon Tarleton's forces. + +Now, however, that was impossible. Even Major James realized that, +instead of pushing on, we must beat a retreat once more, and without +loss of time. + +From this moment until that sad hour when Gavin, Percy and myself, to +say nothing of the general, were so sorely afflicted, there is nothing +of particular moment to write, except that I set down the different +movements made by our brigade, and the situation of affairs in the +Carolinas. + +In less than twenty minutes from the time Colonel Richardson came into +the encampment, were we urging our jaded steeds through that gloomy +swamp known as the "wood-yard," and two hours later the command was +halted on Jack's Creek. + +We had covered only six miles in all that time, owing to the condition +of the horses; but it was sufficient, so far as eluding the Britishers +was concerned, because they might not find us unless, perchance, more +spies were lurking around, until after the day should break. + +While Colonel Tarleton was a butcher--a man who had no idea of mercy +or compassion, it is only just to give him the credit of being a good +soldier after his own particular fashion. + +As a man to lead rough-riders, he was perhaps the best in the king's +service, and we who were fleeing before him understood that not +a single moment would be lost in the pursuit. Ride as fast and as +constantly as we might, his men would be ever on our heels, so long +as they could hold the pace, and it was endurance and the speed of the +horses which should give the final result. + +At daybreak our brigade was on the march once more, making its way over +bogs and through swamps until it was arrived at Benbow's Ferry, about +ten miles above Kingstree, where was a strong natural camp. + +It was a place with which we were all familiar. It commanded a passage +of the river, and was within easy riding distance of all the country +roundabout from which we must draw provisions and provender. As a +rallying point it could not have been equalled in the Carolinas, and +should we be hard pressed there were three difficult passes through the +swamp in the rear where, if necessary, we might make a stubborn fight. + +Strong as was this position, General Marion set about strengthening it +yet further. + +Trees were felled, breastworks put up, and in eight and forty hours +we were prepared to meet Tarleton's much-vaunted legion, reasoning +that our defenses made up for lack of numbers until we were fully the +enemy's equal. + +Now we believed that a decisive battle would soon be fought--one in +which the victory could not be doubtful, but where the conquerors +might for a certain length of time hold undisputed possession of the +Williamsburg district, and we counted on being those conquerors. + +It was not destined, however, that the struggle in the Carolinas should +be brought to so speedy a conclusion. + +Tarleton pursued our brigade, losing time here and there to burn +dwellings which sheltered only women and children, until he was come +to within less than twelve miles of our camp, when, to the surprise of +enemies as well as friends, he turned suddenly about and marched with +all speed for Camden. + +It was afterward said by the Tories that Lord Cornwallis had expressly +ordered him to return; but more than one of us believed then, and yet +hold to it, that the redcoated Britisher who could be so courageous +when he had none but old men, boys and women in front of him, was +absolutely afraid to measure strength with General Marion. + +Now while we laid here in safety, gathering numbers every day, much was +done by our friends in other parts of the colony. + +General Sumter, our kinsman, gave battle to Tarleton at the Blackstock +farm on the banks of the Tyger, defeating him utterly, but at a +terrific loss, so far as the Cause was concerned. The Britishers had +ninety-two killed and one hundred and four wounded. Among the Americans +only three were slain and four wounded; but in the latter list was the +general himself, who bore as marks of the victory a severely dangerous +wound in the breast. + +His gallant followers, true to him as was our brigade to General +Marion, lashed him in the raw hide of a bullock which was slung as +a litter between two horses, and thus, guarded by an hundred picked +men, he was carried to the upper colony, so we were told, where he lay +hovering 'twixt life and death. + +It was also while we were encamped here that the battle of King's +Mountain was fought, when the British, under Major Ferguson, were +defeated handsomely, the killed, wounded and captured of the enemy +amounting to eleven hundred men, and among the dead was the major +himself. + +Two exceedingly fortunate encounters for us--encounters such as +guaranteed to us final victory if we could but hold out as we had +begun, and this seemed most probable, for, as ever will be the case, a +successful commander finds plenty of recruits. + +We of Williamsburg were not inactive during the days spent in camp; but +made forays here and there, capturing in some places bands of Tories +on their way to Georgetown, or, having the good fortune to come across +detachments of the redcoats who were guarding store-trains, until, +should I attempt to repeat all the little adventures which befell us, +I might continue this writing until so many pages were filled that one +would shrink from the reading because of the magnitude of the task. + +It is with the more adventurous, but yet the sadder part of our service +under General Marion that I must close this record which has been +intended only to show what we comrades did, up to the time Snow's +Island was fortified, when we ceased active operations during the year. + +The British post at Georgetown was the one place which our people most +needed as a base of operations against Charleston, and, in fact, to +hold our own in Williamsburg district. + +Situated as it was, we were constantly menaced, wherever our brigade +might be, by the enemy holding possession of the place. In addition to +that, it was a depot for supplies of salt, clothing and ammunition for +the king's troops, and of such goods, we who fought for the Cause were +grievously in need. + +To capture Georgetown would be an exploit such as might advantage our +people more than had the victory at King's Mountain, therefore it was +to this end that our general proposed to bend all his energies, and in +the proposition he was seconded ably by such followers as Major James +and Colonel Richardson, the last-named gentleman having remained with +us since the day his home was destroyed. + +It was believed that the enemy lay at Georgetown in great force, +perhaps to the number of four thousand men, and we knew full well the +nature of the fortifications round about the post. + +A direct assault would have been fatal to us. It was only by such +methods as had won for our general the name of "Swamp Fox," that +we could succeed, and, as can well be fancied, none of our people +were averse to an attempt under those circumstances, for we believed +ourselves, so far as backwoods strategy was concerned, far superior to +any of the king's forces. + +The first we of the rank and file knew, regarding the method by which +it was hoped we might succeed, was when we broke camp, carrying with +us all our equipage and so much of provisions as could be gathered from +the country round about, and crossed Black River to a little settlement +known as Potato Ferry, advancing toward Georgetown by that road called +the "Gap Way." + +Now this much by way of explanation for the benefit of those who are +not acquainted with the vicinity of that post. + +Three miles from Georgetown is an inland swamp known as White's Bay, +which, discharging itself by two mouths, the one into Black River and +the other into Sampit, completely cuts off the post, which stands on +the north side of the last-named river near its junction with Winyaw +Bay. Over the creek which empties into Sampit there is a bridge, two +miles from the town. + +Now it was in the rear of this swamp that we finally came to a halt, +having, as was believed, arrived there without knowledge of the enemy. + +Gavin Witherspoon claimed that he understood all which the general +proposed to do, but that statement I question seriously, otherwise +would we have heard from the old man concerning several moves that +would have been more than injudicious if General Marion had the same +idea in mind Gavin gave him credit for. + +Let it be understood that we were come to this point, not more than +three miles from the post, five hundred and fifty strong, each one +mounted and carrying so much of provisions and provender as would +suffice for eight and forty hours' consumption. + +Up to the moment of our halting we had seen no persons save those +whom we knew beyond a peradventure to be devoted to the Cause, and, +therefore, could say to a certainty that we were thus far advanced +toward the object of our desires in such fashion as the Swamp Fox most +desired. + +Unless some false move was made, some prying, unfriendly eye discovered +us, we would be able to ride down upon Georgetown as we had ridden into +many a British camp before, doing more through fear than bullets, and +gaining victory where by rights none should have been enjoyed. + +Well, we were halted here, and all had dismounted, each man feeding his +horse in anticipation of the work to come when the speed of the animals +would avail as much, perhaps even more than the accuracy of our aim. + +Then it was, after a consultation with the general, my uncle advanced +where all, save that line of sentinels which hemmed us in to keep +prying eyes at a respectful distance, might see him, and Gabriel Marion +said to me gleefully: + +"Now has come the time, lad, when we will be able to ride into this +adventure side by side, and carve out for ourselves such names as shall +live in the grateful memory of men after these colonies are free." + +And the dear lad did carve out a name for himself! + +"I call for volunteers who will present themselves for dangerous +service," my uncle began, and every man pricked up his ears, each +eager to be among those who might distinguish themselves. "Two squads +of twenty each, and so many as are minded to sacrifice their lives, +perchance, for the benefit of the brigade, may step forward two paces." + +Gavin, Percy, Gabriel and I advanced without loss of time, and the +blood fairly leaped in my veins when I saw that of all the brigade +every man had made the same movement. + +In General Marion's force each was equally eager to lay down his life +for the others, and it was that spirit which finally gained for us the +independence of the American colonies. + +"I had expected some such outburst of patriotism; but failed by a +considerable degree to anticipate the reality," my uncle, the major, +said with a smile of satisfaction. "You be brave lads all, as has been +proven many and many a time before, and therefore each and every one is +entitled to the honor of making his life the sacrifice for the others; +but, unfortunately for your desires, only forty men may be chosen. Let +those who are willing to relinquish the desire to show their love for +country in order that others who, perhaps, can better be spared may +make any sacrifice, retreat two paces." + +Not a man moved; every trooper of the Williamsburg brigade stood firm +in place, as if determined that he, and he alone, should be the one who +would give up his life for the other, and among them all were we four +comrades, tried and true--comrades who were destined to ride on until +we saw one of our number fall, foully murdered, without being able to +raise a hand in his defense. + +Now it was that General Marion advanced to the side of my uncle, his +eyes all aflame, and more enthusiasm showing in that quiet face than I +had ever believed could find a place there. + +"Gentlemen of the Williamsburg brigade, I thank you from the bottom of +my heart. Many a time before have you proven yourselves heroes; but +never so truly, never so emphatically as at this moment--when every +man of you is eager to offer up his life, and in that for which the +volunteers are called I do assure you there are eight chances out of +ten that no one comes back alive. Now I entreat that so many of you as +are fathers of families shall step back, allowing younger soldiers to +take your places." + +Yet every man remained in his place, and it seemed much as though +we might come at loggerheads, one with the other, as to who should +die first, for all knew that this attack upon the well-fortified, +over-garrisoned post of Georgetown was no child's play, no feint at +warfare; but a desperate undertaking which to succeed must be carried +on with total disregard of life. + +"Now has come the time when I myself must make the selection," the +major, my uncle, said with a look on his face which told how greatly +this exhibition pleased him. "I shall call out one man, and the general +may select another, each making his choice until the forty have been +chosen. Let it be remembered that in this case I exercise the right +to use favoritism, for there be among you lads of my own blood whom +I am minded shall go forth in preference to those who have families +dependent upon them. Therefore, men, do not blame me when I claim what +I _may_ claim, even disregarding the privilege of others." + +Then it was, and proud am I to write it, that he cried out: + +"Robert Sumter!" + +I stepped forward, my face flushed with pardonable pride, and in his +turn the general cried: + +"Gabriel Marion!" + +"Percy Sumter!" my uncle next called, and the general added: + +"Gavin Witherspoon!" + +Thus were we four comrades the first to be selected for this post of +honor which will be remembered, as I fondly believe, long after we are +gone from this world, and in all the Carolinas were no four individuals +more puffed up with pride and pleasure than we. + +Around us everywhere were envious eyes, as if life had suddenly lost +all its charm, and death were the one thing most desired. + +Man after man was thus summoned to take his place in the ranks of the +devoted, until we had the full number two paces in advance of all the +rest, and then it was my uncle said, moving up and down the line as +if it pleasured him to look on those who were selected for the most +perilous venture: + +"Gentlemen, it may be that after another hour has passed we shall not +meet again on this earth. Therefore I pray you, those who have any +request to make, speak now, that we may remember in the days to come +that all you desired was granted." + +No man spoke for so long a time as would have taken me to count +twenty, and then Gabriel Marion, dear lad that he was, raised his cap +courteously, as he bowed and said: + +"Major James, if it so be the request we make now be granted, I pray +your pardon when I ask a selfish one, which is that us four who have +been comrades since I joined the brigade--us four who have eaten and +slept together, may not be separated when you shall divide this squad +into two. That we may be allowed to go on side by side, as we have from +the day I first knew these lads and Gavin Witherspoon." + +"It shall be as you say," my uncle replied, and then turning, looked at +the others. + +Emboldened by Gabriel's speech, one man requested that should he fail +to return, evidence might be sent his kinsmen that he was proud at +being able to thus serve the colonies. + +Another made a similar request, and so on until perhaps half a dozen +had spoken, when all fell silent. + +There was no more to be said. It only remained that we march forth to +lay down our lives, or to win them, as the case might be. + +As for myself, I believed we who were chosen would probably perish in +whatsoever of adventure was before us, for I thought then, much as did +Gavin Witherspoon, that we were to make an attack upon two portions +of the town, while the remainder of the brigade, after we were slain, +would come in a different direction, and, taking advantage of the +diversion caused by our attack, win the day. + +It would be a glorious ending of one's life; yet as I reflected upon +it, although not in the least degree wishing I might have been among +this third party rather than in the lead, I said to myself that it +would be sweet to live until we had thrown off the king's yoke, for +at this moment when we stood face to face with death, almost feeling +the great white angel's cold hand upon us, I was as certain we would +finally win the victory, however many hirelings his majesty might send +upon us, as I was certain that my life might within a very few moments +be the penalty of the pride which was within me. + +Perchance never in the history of the Carolinas has there at any +one time so much of true bravery been shown as we saw then when the +only discontent was because one was more favored than another in the +permission to offer his life as a sacrifice. + +Well, we were not kept long in line after such arrangements had been +made as I have described. + +Before being dismissed, however, those who were to be left behind would +have raised a cheer, but that Captain Horry prevented any such outburst +lest scouting parties of the enemy might be near, and then the final +preparations were made without loss of time for the work in hand. + +Captain Melton was named as the gentleman who should lead our squad, +and Captain Horry given command of the other. + +So far as his purpose was concerned, General Marion did not leave us in +doubt, claiming, as he said, that we had the right to know exactly what +he proposed doing so we might act the more intelligently. + +Our squad was to approach the town near White's Bridge, and the other +would reconnoiter on the opposite side of the post; but neither was to +return, save in case of some serious disaster, until the main attack +had been made. + +It was not exactly as Gavin Witherspoon had predicted, because we were +given no orders to assault the enemy independently; but were to make a +detour, each squad half around the post, and in case of any important +discovery to send word back immediately to the general. + +At the dawn of the following day the brigade was to advance, and at the +first alarm, wherever we of the chosen ones might be, we would join the +assaulting party in such manner as our commanders thought proper. + +All this, as I have said, was told by General Marion himself, and +nothing could have given us greater confidence in the adventure than +that he should see fit to explain his plans when another commander +might have remained silent. + +There were no leave-takings; no delay. + +Such work as ours was to be done on the instant, and Captain Melton, +advancing at the head of our squad, for by this time we had been told +off in two parties of twenty, said quietly: + +"We will move on foot in such formation as may be most agreeable. As +I understand it, our work is rather in the nature of spying than of a +military movement, and my only order is that you allow me to lead." + +Captain Horry was already leaving the encampment when we set off, +following our commander much as a party of pleasure seekers might +troop after him who had promised to show them some desirable place of +entertainment, and as we threaded our way through the swamp Gabriel +Marion, linking his arm in mine, said cheerily, with never a tremor in +his voice to show that the doom of the future lay upon his heart: + +"We four are in rare luck, Robert Sumter. I did not believe my uncle +would grant me so great a boon as to call my name, and when yours was +spoken by Major James the tears almost came into my eyes, fearing lest +you should go while I remained behind." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +GABRIEL. + + +I know not how to set down properly such a narrative as this, and, +therefore, should be excused for such mistakes as may occur through +ignorance and inexperience. + +It is with the attack upon Georgetown that I must end this portion of +the adventures which befell Percy and myself during the time we served +under General Marion, and it may be the story should be continued +straight on without any heed whatsoever to those who fought with us, +although in the same squad. + +Whether it be right or wrong, I cannot well neglect to speak of the +part played by that other party of twenty who volunteered their lives +as eagerly as did we who followed Captain Melton, and what I write +concerning them must, of course, be from hearsay. + +Therefore it seems to me proper to tell first the story of Colonel +Horry's squad, as I have heard it related again and again, before +attempting to set down that which I know of my own knowledge. + +When the forty volunteers were divided into two squads there was +no time lost, as I have already said, in setting forward upon that +mission which we believed could be fully accomplished only through +the sacrifice of us all, and we parted at the limits of the temporary +halting place, Captain Melton leading his force to the right, while +Colonel Horry began the reconnoiter by bearing to the left. + +As to what befell the first squad, this is as I have heard it related: + +They continued on through the woods until near to daybreak, when, as +Colonel Horry himself has said, and I am now quoting from his official +account, he "laid an ambuscade, with my twenty men, near the road. +About sunrise a chair appeared with two ladies escorted by two British +officers. I was ready in advance with an officer to cut them off, but +reflecting that they might escape, and alarm the town, which would +prevent my taking greater numbers, I desisted. The officers and chair +halted very near me, but soon the chair went on, and the officers +galloped into the town. Our party continued in ambush until 10 o'clock. + +"Nothing appearing, and we having eaten nothing for many hours, retired +to a plantation not far distant, where I knew were to be found friends. +As soon as I entered the house four ladies appeared, two of whom were +Mrs. White and her daughter. I was asked what I wanted. I answered, +food, refreshment. The other two ladies were those whom I had seen +escorted by the British officers. + +"The strange ladies seemed greatly agitated, and begged most earnestly +that I would go away. I kept my eye on Mrs. White, and saw she had a +smiling countenance, but said nothing. Soon she left the room, and I +left it also and went into the piazza, laid my cap, sword and pistols +on the long bench, and walked the piazza; when I discovered Mrs. White +behind the house chimney beckoning me. + +"I got to her undiscovered by the young ladies, when she said: +'Colonel Horry, be on your guard; these two young ladies are just from +Georgetown; they are much frightened, and I believe the British are +leaving it and may soon attack you. As to provisions, I have plenty in +yonder barn, but you must affect to take them by force.' + +"I begged her to say no more, for I was well acquainted with all such +matters. We both secretly returned, she to the room where the young +ladies were, and I to the piazza I had just left." + +The colonel had no more than gained this point, when the sentinels gave +an alarm. + +Two musket-shots told him that an enemy was near at hand, and almost +immediately afterward the firing became so rapid that he knew an +encounter was already begun. + +That brave officer thought only of his men, and so nearly were the +interests of the squad allied, that he forgot all else save the desire +to be with them in the time of danger. + +He rushed into the fight, forgetting to take with him even his +saber--intent only on being with those who had so well proven their +devotion to the Cause. + +The British were seventeen in number, well armed, and commanded by a +brave fellow named Merritt; but they were taken by surprise. + +The redcoats retreated, but turned in their flight to strike a blow, +and our men, believing they had been ordered on even to death, pursued +with fatal earnestness. + +Of the enemy's force only two men escaped death or capture, and one of +these was the captain, of whom Colonel Horry writes: + +"My men in succession came up with Captain Merritt, who was in the +rear of his party, urging them forward. They engaged him. He was a +brave fellow. Baxter, with pistols, fired at his breast, and missing +him, retired; Postell and Greene, with swords, engaged him; both were +beaten off. Greene nearly lost his head. His buckskin breeches were cut +through several inches. I almost blush to say that this one British +officer beat off three Americans. Merritt escaped to a neighboring +swamp, from whence, at midnight, he got to Georgetown." + +I would it were possible for me to give as brief an account, with as +satisfactory an ending, regarding our portion of the reconnoiter. + +As has been said, after crossing White's Bridge the two squads +separated, Colonel Horry's going toward the left and ours to the right. + +Then it was, as we rode on slowly, mentally nerved for anything which +might happen and fully expecting sharp and bloody work at any instant, +that Gabriel Marion said, looking first at Percy and then at me: + +"Perhaps it will never again be our good fortune, comrades, to have +such an opportunity of proving our metal as has come to us this night. +Now I am in nowise eager for death; but to my mind there is little fear +that the end be near at hand. Although the odds are so strongly against +us, we shall take this post of Georgetown, and I believe it because +my uncle, the major, is a careful, prudent soldier, never taking upon +himself chances that are utterly without hope, although many times the +fact may have seemed to be the reverse. We shall capture Georgetown, +comrades, and if either of us fails to come out alive, we have the +proud satisfaction of knowing that whatsoever befalls the Cause our +names must live among those who volunteered everything for freedom." + +"I hold to it that this is not the time for such speeches," Gavin +Witherspoon said nervously; and had I not known him to be a man of +tried courage I should have said that at that moment he was afraid. +"These forty men who came forward so gallantly understood full well in +what kind of an adventure they were engaged. It does not prove that his +courage is the greatest who speaks overly much regarding the future." + +"Meaning by such speech, that I had best hold my tongue," Gabriel said +with a laugh. "Perhaps you may be right, and yet there is upon me the +inclination to speak of what we have ventured, in order that I may +be the better able to appreciate life after it has been offered as a +sacrifice and refused." + +"I guarantee that once we are come out from this expedition, you +will need no thought of the past to make you understand that we rode +down the very shadow of death, when we crossed yonder bridge, and +this I say, not because there is in my mind any foreknowledge of the +future, but from what I know regarding the enemy. I realize, without +being told, that ours is as desperate an undertaking as men can well +imagine." + +"I am thinking that your words, Gavin Witherspoon, are as ill-timed as +were Gabriel's, for while he spoke of what might be our reward, you are +weighing, as it were, the chances against us, and to my mind it is not +pleasant," Percy said with an attempt at cheerfulness which I knew full +well was forced, and, stepping nearer to the lad, I grasped his hand, +an act which, perhaps, gave him as much encouragement as was in my mind +to impart. + +Gabriel continued to speak of the future, as if he had no part in the +present, until word came that each man must hold himself silent because +we were come so near the town that there was good reason for believing +the enemy's sentinels might be close at hand. + +We straggled on, each as he pleased, although there was some little +show of military formation. Captain Melton was allowed to remain in the +lead as he had stipulated, but we four comrades took good care not to +fall back more than two or three paces, for we were minded to bear the +brunt of the first encounter. + +I had never before known what it was to advance against an enemy on +foot, and the fact of being without a horse gave me a certain sense of +uneasiness. + +So far as we of these two advanced squads were concerned, there could +be no sudden dash; no spurring forward into the very midst of the +enemy. We must fight our way forward slowly, and, as it seemed to me, +at a disadvantage. + +However, it is true that my courage did not fail me, although my hand +trembled with excitement, and my mouth was parched and dry as if I had +been many hours without water. + +Gabriel had just thrown his arm over my shoulder, to show the affection +which was in his heart for us all, when the thud of horses' hoofs +directly in the front told that the enemy were on the alert. + +Instantly we were halted, every man in a posture of defense, and I +venture to say that there was not one among us who did not wish he was +in the saddle. + +"Hold steady, boys!" Captain Melton whispered. "Yonder comes the +patrol, and it may be they will turn before coming as far as this; but +if not, we have our work cut out for us. The enemy must not pass this +point lest our friends in the rear be discovered!" + +Involuntarily we four had crouched upon our knees in such position that +we could use the muskets to good advantage, and thus we remained in +the front line while the horsemen galloped nearer and nearer until they +were absolutely upon us. + +"Fire!" our commander shouted, and from that little squad of crouching +figures a line of fire flashed forth into the very nostrils of the +animals, causing them to rear and plunge madly, thus diverting our +bullets from their targets. + +Three saddles were emptied when a full twenty would have been the +result of the volley had we fired one minute before, and then every man +among us began to reload his weapon with feverish haste, for but few +seconds could elapse before the Britishers would charge. + +"This is what may be called a real battle!" Gabriel cried exultantly; +but no one replied. + +Death for many of us was close at hand, and at such a time words do not +come readily. + +I was ramming home the bullet in my musket when the horsemen again +dashed upon us from out the darkness; there came a roar as if a +thousand guns had been discharged at the same instant, and all before +me seemed to be a sheet of flame. + +Of what followed during the next five or ten minutes I have no clear +idea. + +Before me reared and plunged the British horses, while here, there and +everywhere I heard cries of rage or groans of mortal agony until it was +all a hideous, whirling, dancing picture in which I could distinguish +only the outlines of my comrades, who held their places bravely. + +Side by side we fought against the redcoats, ignorant of the fact +that we were alone, and then came the moment when all our muskets were +emptied at the same instant. + +The horsemen surrounded us; our weapons were of little service against +the sabers of the enemy, and we understood it, although there was no +thought of surrender in my mind until Gavin Witherspoon seized me by +the arm, shouting in my ear: + +"Surrender, lad, surrender! There is neither honor nor glory in dying +when our lives are of no avail for the Cause!" + + [Illustration: Gavin seized my arm, shouting in my ear: "Surrender, + lad, surrender!"--Page 250.] + +Even as he spoke three of the redcoats had clutched Gabriel and Percy. + +I allowed my musket, which had been raised as a club, to drop, and +immediately I felt, for the first time, the grasp of a Britisher. + +We were prisoners. The glory of fighting to the bitter end with the +knowledge that in so doing we were opening the way for those in the +rear, was denied us, and but for the shame of it I could have wept like +a girl. + +And yet all this was as nothing compared with what followed. + +The troopers were about to disarm us, and some one had fired a torch +that we might be the better seen, when Sam Lee--that miserable Tory and +renegade--came up from the rear, where most likely he had been skulking +during the fighting, and, seeing us, set up a shout of triumph. + +"Now have I got you rebels where I've been burning to see you?" he +cried. + +"Now we shall see----" + +"Is that Sam Lee?" Gabriel shouted, struggling to release himself from +his captor's grasp. + +"Ay, and it is the cur who has sold his country, his kinsmen and +himself for the king's gold!" Percy replied. "There is no dishonor in +being overpowered by true soldiers in a fair fight; but to have such as +that villain alive before one's eyes is a disgrace." + +"It shall be worse than that to you!" Sam shrieked, "and as for that +nephew of the rebel Marion, I----" + +"What are you saying?" one of the troopers asked, seizing Sam Lee and +shaking him as if to force the reply more quickly. "Is one of these a +nephew to the Swamp Fox?" + +"Ay, that he is!" Gabriel made answer, stepping forward as far as the +hand of the captor would permit. "I am the nephew of General Marion, +and proud indeed of the kinship!" + +I was looking at the dear lad that instant, having turned my eyes from +the scurvy Tory when Gabriel began to speak, otherwise, perhaps, I +might have prevented that terrible thing which followed. + +While the remainder of the party were looking at the brave lad who +stood before them in the glare of the torches, Sam Lee, doubled-dyed +villain that he was, rushed upon him with a saber which he had seized +from the hand of the trooper. + +In the flickering light I saw the gleam of the steel, and before a word +of warning could escape my lips, the cruel weapon descended, striking +Gabriel full upon the head, sheering its way downward until the dear +lad sank a lifeless mass at the feet of that cur who was not worthy to +so much as kneel before him. + +On the instant it was as if my eyes were blinded by the crimson flood +that followed the stroke of the blade. There was a sensation as if all +my blood was boiling, and, for the time being, reason left me. + +Gavin Witherspoon declares that I wrenched myself free from the trooper +who held me, as if the Britisher had been no more than a babe, that at +the same instant I leaped upon the Tory murderer, bearing him to the +earth till his face was sunk deep in the blood-stained moss, and with +the same weapon which had let out the life of the most gallant lad who +ever lived, I killed him. + +It was done so quickly, Gavin declares, that the redcoats had no +time to interfere before the work was accomplished, and while they, +horror-stricken as it were by that which was not warfare in any sense +of the word, stood before us three--two dead and one senseless, the +remainder of our squad fell upon them. + +This last attack was successful; the Britishers were beaten off, and +our brave fellows carried Gabriel's dear body, and myself, back to the +rear. + +The attempt to capture Georgetown was a failure, now that the enemy had +been warned, and our brigade beat a hasty retreat. + +Of all that I know nothing; it was many days before my senses returned, +and then we were encamped on Snow's Island. + +It is best that I add to my story what has been written by one who is +a master hand at wielding a pen, while I am only a novice, and that +I bring this portion of the adventures which befell Percy Sumter and +myself to an end, with the promise to write out at some later day +what we two did when the work of the patriots was finally crowned with +success. + +* * * * * + +"The murder of Gabriel Marion, with some other instances of brutality +and butchery on the part of the Tories, happening about this time, gave +a more savage character than ever to the warfare which ensued. Motives +of private anger and personal revenge embittered and increased the +usual ferocities of civil war; and hundreds of dreadful and desperate +tragedies caused the inhabitants to pursue each other rather like wild +beasts than like men. + +"In the Cheraw district, on the Pedee, above the line where +Marion commanded, the warfare was one of utter extermination. The +revolutionary struggle in Carolina was of a sort unknown in any other +part of the Union. + +"The attempt upon Georgetown was defeated. The British had taken +the alarm, and were now in strength, and in a state of vigilance and +activity which precluded the possibility of surprise. Marion's wishes, +therefore, with regard to this place, were deferred accordingly to a +more auspicious season. + +"He retired to Snow's Island, where he made his camp. It was peculiarly +eligible for his purposes, furnishing a secure retreat, a depot for his +arms, ammunition, prisoners and invalids--difficult of access, easily +guarded, and contiguous to the scenes of his most active operations. + +"Snow's Island lies at the confluence of Lynch's Creek and the Pedee. +On the east flows the latter river; on the west, Clark's Creek, issuing +from Lynch's and a stream navigable for small vessels; on the north +lies Lynch's Creek, wide and deep, but nearly choked by rafts of logs +and refuse timber. The island, high river swamp, was spacious, and, +like all the Pedee river swamp of that day, abounded in live stock and +provision. Thick woods covered the elevated tracts, dense cane-brakes +the lower, and here and there the eye rested upon a cultivated spot, in +maize, which the invalids and convalescents were wont to tend. + +"Here Marion made his fortress. Having secured all the boats of the +neighborhood, he chose such as he needed, and destroyed the rest. Where +the natural defenses of the island seemed to require aid from art, he +bestowed it; and, by cutting away bridges and obstructing the ordinary +pathways with timber, he contrived to insulate, as much as possible, +the country under his command. + +"From this fortress his scouting parties were sent forth nightly in +all directions. Enemies were always easy to be found. The British +maintained minor posts at Nelson's Ferry and Scott's Lake, as well as +Georgetown; and the Tories on Lynch's Creek and Little Pedee were much +more numerous, if less skilfully conducted, than the men of Marion. + +"Marion's encampment implied no repose, no forbearance of the active +business of war. Very far from it. He was never more dangerous to an +enemy than when he seemed quiet in camp. + +"His camp, indeed, was frequently a lure, by which to tempt the +Tories into unseasonable exposure. The post at Snow's Island gave him +particular facilities for this species of warfare. He had but to cross +a river, and a three hours' march enabled him to forage in an enemy's +country. + +"Reinforcements came to him daily, and it was only now, for the first +time, that his command began to assume the appearance, and exhibit the +force of a brigade." + + +THE END + + + + +A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS + +For Young People + +BY POPULAR WRITERS. + +52-58 Duane Street, New York. + + +=Bonnie Prince Charlie=: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. By G. A. +Henty. With 12 full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +The adventures of the son of a Scotch officer in French service. The +boy, brought up by a Glasgow bailie, is arrested for aiding a Jacobite +agent, escapes, is wrecked on the French coast, reaches Paris, and +serves with the French army at Dettingen. He kills his father's foe +in a duel, and escaping to the coast, shares the adventures of Prince +Charlie, but finally settles happily in Scotland. + +"Ronald, the hero, is very like the hero of 'Quentin Durward.' The +lad's journey across France, and his hairbreadth escapes, make up +as good a narrative of the kind as we have ever read. For freshness +of treatment and variety of incident Mr. Henty has surpassed +himself."--_Spectator._ + + +=With Clive in India=; or, the Beginnings of an Empire. By G. A. Henty. +With 12 full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, price +$1.00. + +The period between the landing of Clive as a young writer in India and +the close of his career was critical and eventful in the extreme. At +its commencement the English were traders existing on sufferance of +the native princes. At its close they were masters of Bengal and of +the greater part of Southern India. The author has given a full and +accurate account of the events of that stirring time, and battles and +sieges follow each other in rapid succession, while he combines with +his narrative a tale of daring and adventure, which gives a lifelike +interest to the volume. + +"He has taken a period of Indian history of the most vital importance, +and he has embroidered on the historical facts a story which of itself +is deeply interesting. Young people assuredly will be delighted with +the volume."--_Scotsman._ + + +=The Lion of the North=: A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus and the Wars +of Religion. By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by John +Schoenberg. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +In this story Mr. Henty gives the history of the first part of the +Thirty Years' War. The issue had its importance, which has extended +to the present day, as it established religious freedom in Germany. +The army of the chivalrous king of Sweden was largely composed of +Scotchmen, and among these was the hero of the story. + +"The tale is a clever and instructive piece of history, and as boys +may be trusted to read it conscientiously, they can hardly fail to be +profited."--_Times._ + + +=The Dragon and the Raven=; or, The Days of King Alfred. By G. A. +Henty. With full-page Illustrations by C. J. Staniland, R.I. 12mo, +cloth, price $1.00. + +In this story the author gives an account of the fierce struggle +between Saxon and Dane for supremacy in England, and presents a vivid +picture of the misery and ruin to which the country was reduced by the +ravages of the sea-wolves. The hero, a young Saxon thane, takes part +in all the battles fought by King Alfred. He is driven from his home, +takes to the sea and resists the Danes on their own element, and being +pursued by them up the Seine, is present at the long and desperate +siege of Paris. + +"Treated in a manner most attractive to the boyish reader."--_Athenaeum_. + + +=The Young Carthaginian=: A Story of the Times of Hannibal. By G. A. +Henty. With full-page Illustrations by C. J. Staniland, R.I. 12mo, +cloth, price $1.00. + +Boys reading the history of the Punic Wars have seldom a keen +appreciation of the merits of the contest. That it was at first +a struggle for empire, and afterward for existence on the part of +Carthage, that Hannibal was a great and skillful general, that he +defeated the Romans at Trebia, Lake Trasimenus, and Cannae, and all but +took Rome, represents pretty nearly the sum total of their knowledge. +To let them know more about this momentous struggle for the empire of +the world Mr. Henty has written this story, which not only gives in +graphic style a brilliant description of a most interesting period +of history, but is a tale of exciting adventure sure to secure the +interest of the reader. + +"Well constructed and vividly told. From first to last nothing stays +the interest of the narrative. It bears us along as on a stream whose +current varies in direction, but never loses its force."--_Saturday +Review._ + + +=In Freedom's Cause=: A Story of Wallace and Bruce. By G. A. Henty. +With full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, price +$1.00. + +In this story the author relates the stirring tale of the Scottish +War of Independence. The extraordinary valor and personal prowess of +Wallace and Bruce rival the deeds of the mythical heroes of chivalry, +and indeed at one time Wallace was ranked with these legendary +personages. The researches of modern historians have shown, however, +that he was a living, breathing man--and a valiant champion. The +hero of the tale fought under both Wallace and Bruce, and while the +strictest historical accuracy has been maintained with respect to +public events, the work is full of "hairbreadth 'scapes" and wild +adventure. + +"It is written in the author's best style. Full of the wildest and +most remarkable achievements, it is a tale of great interest, which a +boy, once he has begun it, will not willingly put on one side."--_The +Schoolmaster._ + +=With Lee in Virginia=: A Story of the American Civil War. By G. A. +Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +The story of a young Virginian planter, who, after bravely proving his +sympathy with the slaves of brutal masters, serves with no less courage +and enthusiasm under Lee and Jackson through the most exciting events +of the struggle. He has many hairbreadth escapes, is several times +wounded and twice taken prisoner; but his courage and readiness and, in +two cases, the devotion of a black servant and of a runaway slave whom +he had assisted, bring him safely through all difficulties. + +"One of the best stories for lads which Mr. Henty has yet written. +The picture is full of life and color, and the stirring and romantic +incidents are skillfully blended with the personal interest and charm +of the story."--_Standard._ + + +=By England's Aid=; or, The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604). By +G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Alfred Pearse, and Maps. +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +The story of two English lads who go to Holland as pages in the service +of one of "the fighting Veres." After many adventures by sea and land, +one of the lads finds himself on board a Spanish ship at the time +of the defeat of the Armada, and escapes only to fall into the hands +of the Corsairs. He is successful in getting back to Spain under the +protection of a wealthy merchant, and regains his native country after +the capture of Cadiz. + +"It is an admirable book for youngsters. It overflows with stirring +incident and exciting adventure, and the color of the era and +of the scene are finely reproduced. The illustrations add to its +attractiveness."--_Boston Gazette._ + + +=By Right of Conquest=; or, With Cortez in Mexico. By G. A. Henty. With +full page Illustrations by W. S. Stacey, and Two Maps. 12mo, cloth, +price $1.50. + +The conquest of Mexico by a small band of resolute men under the +magnificent leadership of Cortez is always rightly ranked among +the most romantic and daring exploits in history. With this as the +groundwork of his story Mr. Henty has interwoven the adventures of +an English youth, Roger Hawkshaw, the sole survivor of the good ship +Swan, which had sailed from a Devon port to challenge the mercantile +supremacy of the Spaniards in the New World. He is beset by many perils +among the natives, but is saved by his own judgment and strength, and +by the devotion of an Aztec princess. At last by a ruse he obtains the +protection of the Spaniards, and after the fall of Mexico he succeeds +in regaining his native shore, with a fortune and a charming Aztec +bride. + +"'By Right of Conquest' is the nearest approach to a +perfectly successful historical tale that Mr. Henty has yet +published."--_Academy._ + + +=In the Reign of Terror=: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy. By G. A. +Henty. With full-page Illustrations by J. Schoenberg. 12mo, cloth, price +$1.00. + +Harry Sandwith, a Westminster boy, becomes a resident at the chateau +of a French marquis, and after various adventures accompanies the +family to Paris at the crisis of the Revolution. Imprisonment and death +reduce their number, and the hero finds himself beset by perils with +the three young daughters of the house in his charge. After hairbreadth +escapes they reach Nantes. There the girls are condemned to death in +the coffin-ships, but are saved by the unfailing courage of their boy +protector. + +"Harry Sandwith, the Westminster boy, may fairly be said to beat Mr. +Henty's record. His adventures will delight boys by the audacity and +peril they depict.... The story is one of Mr. Henty's best."--_Saturday +Review._ + + +=With Wolfe in Canada=; or, The Winning of a Continent. By G. A. Henty. +With full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, price +$1.00. + +In the present volume Mr. Henty gives an account of the struggle +between Britain and France for supremacy in the North American +continent. On the issue of this war depended not only the destinies +of North America, but to a large extent those of the mother countries +themselves. The fall of Quebec decided that the Anglo-Saxon race should +predominate in the New World; that Britain, and not France, should take +the lead among the nations of Europe; and that English and American +commerce, the English language, and English literature, should spread +right round the globe. + +"It is not only a lesson in history as instructively as it is +graphically told, but also a deeply interesting and often thrilling +tale of adventure and peril by flood and field."--_Illustrated London +News._ + + +=True to the Old Flag=: A Tale of the American War of Independence. +By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, +cloth, price $1.00. + +In this story the author has gone to the accounts of officers who +took part in the conflict, and lads will find that in no war in which +American and British soldiers have been engaged did they behave with +greater courage and good conduct. The historical portion of the book +being accompanied with numerous thrilling adventures with the redskins +on the shores of Lake Huron, a story of exciting interest is interwoven +with the general narrative and carried through the book. + +"Does justice to the pluck and determination of the British soldiers +during the unfortunate struggle against American emancipation. The son +of an American loyalist, who remains true to our flag, falls among the +hostile redskins in that very Huron country which has been endeared to +us by the exploits of Hawkeye and Chingachgook."--_The Times._ + + +=The Lion of St. Mark=: A Tale of Venice in the Fourteenth Century. +By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, +cloth, price $1.00. + +A story of Venice at a period when her strength and splendor were put +to the severest tests. The hero displays a fine sense and manliness +which carry him safely through an atmosphere of intrigue, crime, and +bloodshed. He contributes largely to the victories of the Venetians at +Porto d'Anzo and Chioggia, and finally wins the hand of the daughter of +one of the chief men of Venice. + +"Every boy should read 'The Lion of St. Mark.' Mr. Henry has +never produced a story more delightful, more wholesome, or more +vivacious."--_Saturday Review._ + + +=A Final Reckoning=: A Tale of Bush Life in Australia. By G. A. Henty. +With full-page Illustrations by W. B. Wollen. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +The hero, a young English lad, after rather a stormy boyhood emigrates +to Australia, and gets employment as an officer in the mounted police. +A few years of active work on the frontier, where he has many a brush +with both natives and bushrangers, gain him promotion to a captaincy, +and he eventually settles down to the peaceful life of a squatter. + +"Mr. Henty has never published a more readable, a more carefully +constructed, or a better written story than this."--_Spectator._ + + +=Under Drake's Flag=: A Tale of the Spanish Main. By G. A. Henty. With +full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +A story of the days when England and Spain struggled for the supremacy +of the sea. The heroes sail as lads with Drake in the Pacific +expedition, and in his great voyage of circumnavigation. The historical +portion of the story is absolutely to be relied upon, but this will +perhaps be less attractive than the great variety of exciting adventure +through which the young heroes pass in the course of their voyages. + +"A book of adventure, where the hero meets with experience enough, one +would think, to turn his hair gray."--_Harper's Monthly Magazine._ + + +=By Sheer Pluck=: A Tale of the Ashanti War. By G. A. Henty. With +full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +The author has woven, in a tale of thrilling interest, all the details +of the Ashanti campaign, of which he was himself a witness. His hero, +after many exciting adventures in the interior, is detained a prisoner +by the king just before the outbreak of the war, but escapes, and +accompanies the English expedition on their march to Coomassie. + +"Mr. Henty keeps up his reputation as a writer of boys' stories. 'By +Sheer Pluck' will be eagerly read."--_Athenaeum._ + + +=By Pike and Dyke=: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic. By G. A. +Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Maynard Brown, and 4 Maps. 12mo, +cloth, price $1.00. + +In this story Mr. Henty traces the adventures and brave deeds of an +English boy in the household of the ablest man of his age--William the +Silent. Edward Martin, the son of an English sea-captain, enters the +service of the Prince as a volunteer, and is employed by him in many +dangerous and responsible missions, in the discharge of which he passes +through the great sieges of the time. He ultimately settles down as Sir +Edward Martin. + +"Boys with a turn for historical research will be enchanted with the +book, while the rest who only care for adventure will be students in +spite of themselves."--_St. James' Gazette._ + + +=St. George for England=: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. By G. A. +Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +No portion of English history is more crowded with great events than +that of the reign of Edward III. Cressy and Poitiers; the destruction +of the Spanish fleet; the plague of the Black Death; the Jacquerie +rising; these are treated by the author in "St. George for England." +The hero of the story, although of good family, begins life as a London +apprentice, but after countless adventures and perils becomes by valor +and good conduct the squire, and at last the trusted friend of the +Black Prince. + +"Mr. Henty has developed for himself a type of historical novel for +boys which bids fair to supplement, on their behalf, the historical +labors of Sir Walter Scott in the land of fiction."--_The Standard._ + + +=Captain's Kidd's Gold=: The True Story of an Adventurous Sailor Boy. +By James Franklin Fitts. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +There is something fascinating to the average youth in the very +idea of buried treasure. A vision arises before his eyes of swarthy +Portuguese and Spanish rascals, with black beards and gleaming +eyes--sinister-looking fellows who once on a time haunted the Spanish +Main, sneaking out from some hidden creek in their long, low schooner, +of picaroonish rake and sheer, to attack an unsuspecting trading +craft. There were many famous sea rovers in their day, but none more +celebrated than Capt. Kidd. Perhaps the most fascinating tale of all is +Mr. Fitts' true story of an adventurous American boy, who receives from +his dying father an ancient bit of vellum, which the latter obtained +in a curious way. The document bears obscure directions purporting +to locate a certain island in the Bahama group, and a considerable +treasure buried there by two of Kidd's crew. The hero of this book, +Paul Jones Garry, is an ambitious, persevering lad, of salt-water New +England ancestry, and his efforts to reach the island and secure the +money form one of the most absorbing tales for our youth that has come +from the press. + + +=Captain Bayley's Heir=: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California. By +G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by H. M. Paget. 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +A frank, manly lad and his cousin are rivals in the heirship of a +considerable property. The former falls into a trap laid by the latter, +and while under a false accusation of theft foolishly leaves England +for America. He works his passage before the mast, joins a small band +of hunters, crosses a tract of country infested with Indians to the +Californian gold diggings, and is successful both as digger and trader. + +"Mr. Henty is careful to mingle instruction with entertainment; +and the humorous touches, especially in the sketch of John +Holl, the Westminster dustman, Dickens himself could hardly have +excelled."--_Christian Leader._ + + +=For Name and Fame=; or, Through Afghan Passes. By G. A. Henty. With +full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +An interesting story of the last war in Afghanistan. The hero, after +being wrecked and going through many stirring adventures among the +Malays, finds his way to Calcutta and enlists in a regiment proceeding +to join the army at the Afghan passes. He accompanies the force under +General Roberts to the Peiwar Kotal, is wounded, taken prisoner, +carried to Cabul, whence he is transferred to Candahar, and takes part +in the final defeat of the army of Ayoub Khan. + +"The best feature of the book--apart from the interest of its scenes of +adventure--is its honest effort to do justice to the patriotism of the +Afghan people."--_Daily News._ + + +=Captured by Apes=: The Wonderful Adventures of a Young Animal Trainer. +By Harry Prentice. 12mo, cloth, $1.00. + +The scene of this tale is laid on an island in the Malay Archipelago. +Philip Garland, a young animal collector and trainer, of New York, sets +sail for Eastern seas in quest of a new stock of living curiosities. +The vessel is wrecked off the coast of Borneo and young Garland, the +sole survivor of the disaster, is cast ashore on a small island, and +captured by the apes that overrun the place. The lad discovers that +the ruling spirit of the monkey tribe is a gigantic and vicious baboon, +whom he identifies as Goliah, an animal at one time in his possession +and with whose instruction he had been especially diligent. The brute +recognizes him, and with a kind of malignant satisfaction puts his +former master through the same course of training he had himself +experienced with a faithfulness of detail which shows how astonishing +is monkey recollection. Very novel indeed is the way by which the +young man escapes death. Mr. Prentice has certainly worked a new vein +on juvenile fiction, and the ability with which he handles a difficult +subject stamps him as a writer of undoubted skill. + + +=The Bravest of the Brave=; or, With Peterborough in Spain. By G. A. +Henty. With full-page Illustrations by H. M. Paget. 12mo, cloth, price +$1.00. + +There are few great leaders whose lives and actions have so completely +fallen into oblivion as those of the Earl of Peterborough. This is +largely due to the fact that they were overshadowed by the glory and +successes of Marlborough. His career as general extended over little +more than a year, and yet, in that time, he showed a genius for warfare +which has never been surpassed. + +"Mr. Henty never loses sight of the moral purpose of his work--to +enforce the doctrine of courage and truth. Lads will read 'The +Bravest of the Brave' with pleasure and profit; of that we are quite +sure."--_Daily Telegraph._ + + +=The Cat of Bubastes=: A Story of Ancient Egypt. By G. A. Henty. With +full page Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +A story which will give young readers an unsurpassed insight into the +customs of the Egyptian people. Amuba, a prince of the Rebu nation, is +carried with his charioteer Jethro into slavery. They become inmates +of the house of Ameres, the Egyptian high-priest, and are happy in his +service until the priest's son accidentally kills the sacred cat of +Bubastes. In an outburst of popular fury Ameres is killed, and it rests +with Jethro and Amuba to secure the escape of the high-priest's son and +daughter. + +"The story, from the critical moment of the killing of the sacred +cat to the perilous exodus into Asia with which it closes, is very +skillfully constructed and full of exciting adventures. It is admirably +illustrated."--_Saturday Review._ + + +=With Washington at Monmouth=: A Story of Three Philadelphia Boys. By +James Otis. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Three Philadelphia boys, Seth Graydon "whose mother conducted a +boarding-house which was patronized by the British officers;" Enoch +Ball, "son of that Mrs. Ball whose dancing school was situated on +Letitia Street," and little Jacob, son of "Chris, the Baker," serve +as the principal characters. The story is laid during the winter when +Lord Howe held possession of the city, and the lads aid the cause by +assisting the American spies who make regular and frequent visits from +Valley Forge. One reads here of home-life in the captive city when +bread was scarce among the people of the lower classes, and a reckless +prodigality shown by the British officers, who passed the winter in +feasting and merry-making while the members of the patriot army but +a few miles away were suffering from both cold and hunger. The story +abounds with pictures of Colonial life skillfully drawn, and the +glimpses of Washington's soldiers which are given show that the work +has not been hastily done, or without considerable study. + + +=For the Temple=: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem. By G. A. Henty. With +full-page Illustrations by S. J. Solomon. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Mr. Henty here weaves into the record of Josephus an admirable and +attractive story. The troubles in the district of Tiberias, the +march of the legions, the sieges of Jotapata, of Gamala, and of +Jerusalem, form the impressive and carefully studied historic setting +to the figure of the lad who passes from the vineyard to the service +of Josephus, becomes the leader of a guerrilla band of patriots, +fights bravely for the Temple, and after a brief term of slavery at +Alexandria, returns to his Galilean home with the favor of Titus. + +"Mr. Henty's graphic prose pictures of the hopeless Jewish resistance +to Roman sway add another leaf to his record of the famous wars of the +world."--_Graphic._ + + +=Facing Death=; or, The Hero of the Vaughan Pit. A Tale of the Coal +Mines. By G. A. Henty. With full-page Illustrations by Gordon Browne. +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"Facing Death" is a story with a purpose. It is intended to show that +a lad who makes up his mind firmly and resolutely that he will rise +in life, and who is prepared to face toil and ridicule and hardship +to carry out his determination, is sure to succeed. The hero of the +story is a typical British boy, dogged, earnest, generous, and though +"shamefaced" to a degree, is ready to face death in the discharge of +duty. + +"The tale is well written and well illustrated, and there is much +reality in the characters. If any father, clergyman, or schoolmaster +is on the lookout for a good book to give as a present to a boy who is +worth his salt, this is the book we would recommend."--_Standard._ + + +=Tom Temple's Career.= By Horatio Alger. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Tom Temple, a bright, self-reliant lad, by the death of his father +becomes a boarder at the home of Nathan Middleton, a penurious +insurance agent. Though well paid for keeping the boy, Nathan and +his wife endeavor to bring Master Tom in line with their parsimonious +habits. The lad ingeniously evades their efforts and revolutionizes the +household. As Tom is heir to $40,000, he is regarded as a person of +some importance until by an unfortunate combination of circumstances +his fortune shrinks to a few hundreds. He leaves Plympton village to +seek work in New York, whence he undertakes an important mission to +California, around which center the most exciting incidents of his +young career. Some of his adventures in the far west are so startling +that the reader will scarcely close the book until the last page shall +have been reached. The tale is written in Mr. Alger's most fascinating +style, and is bound to please the very large class of boys who regard +this popular author as a prime favorite. + + +=Maori and Settler=: A Story of the New Zealand War. By G. A. Henty. +With full-page Illustrations by Alfred Pearse. 12mo, cloth, price +$1.00. + +The Renshaws emigrate to New Zealand during the period of the war +with the natives. Wilfrid, a strong, self-reliant, courageous lad, is +the mainstay of the household. He has for his friend Mr. Atherton, a +botanist and naturalist of herculean strength and unfailing nerve and +humor. In the adventures among the Maoris, there are many breathless +moments in which the odds seem hopelessly against the party, but they +succeed in establishing themselves happily in one of the pleasant New +Zealand valleys. + +"Brimful of adventure, of humorous and interesting conversation, and +vivid pictures of colonial life."--_Schoolmaster._ + + +=Julian Mortimer=: A Brave Boy's Struggle for Home and Fortune. By +Harry Castlemon. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Here is a story that will warm every boy's heart. There is mystery +enough to keep any lad's imagination wound up to the highest pitch. +The scene of the story lies west of the Mississippi River, in the days +when emigrants made their perilous way across the great plains to the +land of gold. One of the startling features of the book is the attack +upon the wagon train by a large party of Indians. Our hero is a lad +of uncommon nerve and pluck, a brave young American in every sense of +the word. He enlists and holds the reader's sympathy from the outset. +Surrounded by an unknown and constant peril, and assisted by the +unswerving fidelity of a stalwart trapper, a real rough diamond, our +hero achieves the most happy results. Harry Castlemon has written many +entertaining stories for boys, and it would seem almost superfluous to +say anything in his praise, for the youth of America regard him as a +favorite author. + + +"=Carrots=:" Just a Little Boy. By Mrs. Molesworth. With Illustrations +by Walter Crane. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"One of the cleverest and most pleasing stories it has been our +good fortune to meet with for some time. Carrots and his sister are +delightful little beings, whom to read about is at once to become very +fond of."--_Examiner._ + +"A genuine children's book; we've seen 'em seize it, and read it +greedily. Children are first-rate critics, and thoroughly appreciate +Walter Crane's illustrations."--_Punch._ + + +=Mopsa the Fairy.= By Jean Ingelow. With Eight pages of Illustrations. +12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"Mrs. Ingelow is, to our mind, the most charming of all living +writers for children, and 'Mopsa' alone ought to give her a kind of +pre-emptive right to the love and gratitude of our young folks. It +requires genius to conceive a purely imaginary work which must of +necessity deal with the supernatural, without running into a mere +riot of fantastic absurdity; but genius Miss Ingelow has and the story +of 'Jack' is as careless and joyous, but as delicate as a picture of +childhood."--_Eclectic._ + + +=A Jaunt Through Java=: The Story of a Journey to the Sacred Mountain. +By Edward S. Ellis. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +The central interest of this story is found in the thrilling adventures +of two cousins, Hermon and Eustace Hadley, on their trip across the +island of Java, from Samarang to the Sacred Mountain. In a land where +the Royal Bengal tiger runs at large; where the rhinoceros and other +fierce beasts are to be met with at unexpected moments; it is but +natural that the heroes of this book should have a lively experience. +Hermon not only distinguishes himself by killing a full-grown tiger +at short range, but meets with the most startling adventure of the +journey. There is much in this narrative to instruct as well as +entertain the reader, and so deftly has Mr. Ellis used his material +that there is not a dull page in the book. The two heroes are brave, +manly young fellows, bubbling over with boyish independence. They cope +with the many difficulties that arise during the trip in a fearless way +that is bound to win the admiration of every lad who is so fortunate as +to read their adventures. + + +=Wrecked on Spider Island=; or, How Ned Rogers Found the Treasure. By +James Otis. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +A "down-east" plucky lad who ships as cabin boy, not from love of +adventure, but because it is the only course remaining by which he +can gain a livelihood. While in his bunk, seasick, Ned Rogers hears +the captain and mate discussing their plans for the willful wreck of +the brig in order to gain the insurance. Once it is known he is in +possession of the secret the captain maroons him on Spider Island, +explaining to the crew that the boy is afflicted with leprosy. While +thus involuntarily playing the part of a Crusoe, Ned discovers a wreck +submerged in the sand, and overhauling the timbers for the purpose +of gathering material with which to build a hut finds a considerable +amount of treasure. Raising the wreck; a voyage to Havana under sail; +shipping there a crew and running for Savannah; the attempt of the crew +to seize the little craft after learning of the treasure on board, and, +as a matter of course, the successful ending of the journey, all serve +to make as entertaining a story of sea life as the most captious boy +could desire. + + +=Geoff and Jim=: A Story of School Life. By Ismay Thorn. Illustrated by +A. G. Walker. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"This is a prettily told story of the life spent by two motherless +bairns at a small preparatory school. Both Geoff and Jim are very +lovable characters, only Jim is the more so; and the scrapes he gets +into and the trials he endures will, no doubt, interest a large circle +of young readers."--_Church Times._ + +"This is a capital children's story, the characters well portrayed, and +the book tastefully bound and well illustrated."--_Schoolmaster._ + +"The story can be heartily recommended as a present for +boys."--_Standard._ + + +=The Castaways=; or, On the Florida Reefs. By James Otis. 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +This tale smacks of the salt sea. It is just the kind of story that +the majority of boys yearn for. From the moment that the Sea Queen +dispenses with the services of the tug in lower New York bay till the +breeze leaves her becalmed off the coast of Florida, one can almost +hear the whistle of the wind through her rigging, the creak of her +straining cordage as she heels to the leeward, and feel her rise to +the snow-capped waves which her sharp bow cuts into twin streaks of +foam. Off Marquesas Keys she floats in a dead calm. Ben Clark, the hero +of the story, and Jake, the cook, spy a turtle asleep upon the glassy +surface of the water. They determine to capture him, and take a boat +for that purpose, and just as they succeed in catching him a thick +fog cuts them off from the vessel, and then their troubles begin. They +take refuge on board a drifting hulk, a storm arises and they are cast +ashore upon a low sandy key. Their adventures from this point cannot +fail to charm the reader. As a writer for young people Mr. Otis is a +prime favorite. His style is captivating, and never for a moment does +he allow the interest to flag. In "The Castaways" he is at his best. + + +=Tom Thatcher's Fortune.= By Horatio Alger, Jr. 12mo, cloth, price +$1.00. + +Like all of Mr. Alger's heroes, Tom Thatcher is a brave, ambitious, +unselfish boy. He supports his mother and sister on meager wages earned +as a shoe-pegger in John Simpson's factory. The story begins with +Tom's discharge from the factory, because Mr. Simpson felt annoyed +with the lad for interrogating him too closely about his missing +father. A few days afterward Tom learns that which induces him to start +overland for California with the view of probing the family mystery. +He meets with many adventures. Ultimately he returns to his native +village, bringing consternation to the soul of John Simpson, who only +escapes the consequences of his villainy by making full restitution +to the man whose friendship he had betrayed. The story is told in that +entertaining way which has made Mr. Alger's name a household word in so +many homes. + + +=Birdie=: A Tale of Child Life. By H. L. Childe-Pemberton. Illustrated +by H. W. Rainey. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"The story is quaint and simple, but there is a freshness about it that +makes one hear again the ringing laugh and the cheery shout of children +at play which charmed his earlier years."--_New York Express._ + + +=Popular Fairy Tales.= By the Brothers Grimm. Profusely Illustrated, +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"From first to last, almost without exception, these stories are +delightful."--_Athenaeum._ + + +=With Lafayette at Yorktown=: A Story of How Two Boys Joined the +Continental Army. By James Otis. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +The two boys are from Portsmouth, N. H., and are introduced in August, +1781, when on the point of leaving home to enlist in Col. Scammell's +regiment, then stationed near New York City. Their method of traveling +is on horseback, and the author has given an interesting account of +what was expected from boys in the Colonial days. The lads, after no +slight amount of adventure, are sent as messengers--not soldiers--into +the south to find the troops under Lafayette. Once with that youthful +general they are given employment as spies, and enter the British +camp, bringing away valuable information. The pictures of camp-life +are carefully drawn, and the portrayal of Lafayette's character is +thoroughly well done. The story is wholesome in tone, as are all of Mr. +Otis' works. There is no lack of exciting incident which the youthful +reader craves, but it is healthful excitement brimming with facts which +every boy should be familiar with, and while the reader is following +the adventures of Ben Jaffreys and Ned Allen he is acquiring a fund of +historical lore which will remain in his memory long after that which +he has memorized from text-books has been forgotten. + + +=Lost in the Canyon=: Sam Willett's Adventures on the Great Colorado. By +Alfred R. Calhoun. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +This story hinges on a fortune left to Sam Willett, the hero, and +the fact that it will pass to a disreputable relative if the lad dies +before he shall have reached his majority. The Vigilance Committee of +Hurley's Gulch arrest Sam's father and an associate for the crime of +murder. Their lives depend on the production of the receipt given for +money paid. This is in Sam's possession at the camp on the other side +of the canyon. A messenger is dispatched to get it. He reaches the lad +in the midst of a fearful storm which floods the canyon. His father's +peril urges Sam to action. A raft is built on which the boy and his +friends essay to cross the torrent. They fail to do so, and a desperate +trip down the stream ensues. How the party finally escape from the +horrors of their situation and Sam reaches Hurley's Gulch in the very +nick of time, is described in a graphic style that stamps Mr. Calhoun +as a master of his art. + + +=Jack=: A Topsy Turvy Story. By C. M. Crawley-Boevey. With upward of +Thirty Illustrations by H. J. A. Miles. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"The illustrations deserve particular mention, as they add largely to +the interest of this amusing volume for children. Jack falls asleep +with his mind full of the subject of the fishpond, and is very much +surprised presently to find himself an inhabitant of Waterworld, +where he goes though wonderful and edifying adventures. A handsome and +pleasant book."--_Literary World._ + + +=Search for the Silver City=: A Tale of Adventure in Yucatan. By James +Otis. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Two American lads, Teddy Wright and Neal Emery, embark on the steam +yacht Day Dream for a short summer cruise to the tropics. Homeward +bound the yacht is destroyed by fire. All hands take to the boats, but +during the night the boat is cast upon the coast of Yucatan. They come +across a young American named Cummings, who entertains them with the +story of the wonderful Silver City, of the Chan Santa Cruz Indians. +Cummings proposes with the aid of a faithful Indian ally to brave the +perils of the swamp and carry off a number of the golden images from +the temples. Pursued with relentless vigor for days their situation is +desperate. At last their escape is effected in an astonishing manner. +Mr. Otis has built his story on an historical foundation. It is so full +of exciting incidents that the reader is quite carried away with the +novelty and realism of the narrative. + + +=Frank Fowler, the Cash Boy.= By Horatio Alger, Jr. 12mo, cloth, price +$1.00. + +Thrown upon his own resources Frank Fowler, a poor boy, bravely +determines to make a living for himself and his foster-sister Grace. +Going to New York he obtains a situation as cash boy in a dry goods +store. He renders a service to a wealthy old gentleman named Wharton, +who takes a fancy to the lad. Frank, after losing his place as cash +boy, is enticed by an enemy to a lonesome part of New Jersey and held +a prisoner. This move recoils upon the plotter, for it leads to a +clue that enables the lad to establish his real identity. Mr. Alger's +stories are not only unusually interesting, but they convey a useful +lesson of pluck and manly independence. + + +=Budd Boyd's Triumph=; or, the Boy Firm of Fox Island. By William P. +Chipman. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +The scene of this story is laid on the upper part of Narragansett +Bay, and the leading incidents have a strong salt water flavor. Owing +to the conviction of his father for forgery and theft, Budd Boyd is +compelled to leave his home and strike out for himself. Chance brings +Budd in contact with Judd Floyd. The two boys, being ambitious and +clear sighted, form a partnership to catch and sell fish. The scheme +is successfully launched, but the unexpected appearance on the scene +of Thomas Bagsley, the man whom Budd believes guilty of the crimes +attributed to his father, leads to several disagreeable complications +that nearly caused the lad's ruin. His pluck and good sense, however, +carry him through his troubles. In following the career of the boy firm +of Boyd & Floyd, the youthful reader will find a useful lesson--that +industry and perseverance are bound to lead to ultimate success. + + +=The Errand Boy=; or, How Phil Brent Won Success. By Horatio Alger, Jr. +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +The career of "The Errand Boy" embraces the city adventures of a smart +country lad who at an early age was abandoned by his father. Philip +was brought up by a kind-hearted innkeeper named Brent. The death of +Mrs. Brent paved the way for the hero's subsequent troubles. Accident +introduces him to the notice of a retired merchant in New York, who +not only secures him the situation of errand boy but thereafter stands +as his friend. An unexpected turn of fortune's wheel, however, brings +Philip and his father together. In "The Errand Boy" Philip Brent is +possessed of the same sterling qualities so conspicuous in all of the +previous creations of this delightful writer for our youth. + + +=The Slate Picker=: The Story of a Boy's Life in the Coal Mines. By +Harry Prentice. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +This is a story of a boy's life in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. +There are many thrilling situations, notably that of Ben Burton's +leap into the "lion's mouth"--the yawning shute in the breakers--to +escape a beating at the hands of the savage Spilkins, the overseer. +Gracie Gordon is a little angel in rags, Terence O'Dowd is a manly, +sympathetic lad, and Enoch Evans, the miner-poet, is a big-hearted, +honest fellow, a true friend to all whose burdens seem too heavy for +them to bear. Ben Burton, the hero, had a hard road to travel, but +by grit and energy he advanced step by step until he found himself +called upon to fill the position of chief engineer of the Kohinoor Coal +Company. + + +=A Runaway Brig=; or, An Accidental Cruise. By James Otis. 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +"A Runaway Brig" is a sea tale, pure and simple, and that's where it +strikes a boy's fancy. The reader can look out upon the wide shimmering +sea as it flashes back the sunlight, and imagine himself afloat with +Harry Vandyne, Walter Morse, Jim Libby and that old shell-back, Bob +Brace, on the brig Bonita, which lands on one of the Bahama keys. +Finally three strangers steal the craft, leaving the rightful owners +to shift for themselves aboard a broken-down tug. The boys discover +a mysterious document which enables them to find a buried treasure, +then a storm comes on and the tug is stranded. At last a yacht comes +in sight and the party with the treasure is taken off the lonely key. +The most exacting youth is sure to be fascinated with this entertaining +story. + + +=Fairy Tales and Stories.= By Hans Christian Andersen. Profusely +Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"If I were asked to select a child's library I should name these three +volumes 'English,' 'Celtic,' and 'Indian Fairy Tales,' with Grimm and +Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales."--_Independent._ + + +=The Island Treasure=; or, Harry Darrel's Fortune. By Frank H. +Converse. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Harry Darrel, an orphan, having received a nautical training on a +school-ship, is bent on going to sea with a boyish acquaintance named +Dan Plunket. A runaway horse changes his prospects. Harry saves Dr. +Gregg from drowning and the doctor presents his preserver with a bit of +property known as Gregg's Island, and makes the lad sailing-master of +his sloop yacht. A piratical hoard is supposed to be hidden somewhere +on the island. After much search and many thwarted plans, at last Dan +discovers the treasure and is the means of finding Harry's father. Mr. +Converse's stories possess a charm of their own which is appreciated by +lads who delight in good healthy tales that smack of salt water. + + +=The Boy Explorers=: The Adventures of Two Boys in Alaska. By Harry +Prentice. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Two boys, Raymond and Spencer Manning, travel from San Francisco to +Alaska to join their father in search of their uncle, who, it is +believed, was captured and detained by the inhabitants of a place +called the "Heart of Alaska." On their arrival at Sitka the boys with +an Indian guide set off across the mountains. The trip is fraught +with perils that test the lads' courage to the utmost. Reaching the +Yukon River they build a raft and float down the stream, entering the +Mysterious River, from which they barely escape with their lives, only +to be captured by natives of the Heart of Alaska. All through their +exciting adventures the lads demonstrate what can be accomplished +by pluck and resolution, and their experience makes one of the most +interesting tales ever written. + + +=The Treasure Finders=: A Boy's Adventures in Nicaragua. By James Otis. +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Roy and Dean Coloney, with their guide Tongla, leave their father's +indigo plantation to visit the wonderful ruins of an ancient city. +The boys eagerly explore the dismantled temples of an extinct race and +discover three golden images cunningly hidden away. They escape with +the greatest difficulty; by taking advantage of a festive gathering +they seize a canoe and fly down the river. Eventually they reach safety +with their golden prizes. Mr. Otis is the prince of story tellers, for +he handles his material with consummate skill. We doubt if he has ever +written a more entertaining story than "The Treasure Finders." + + +=Household Fairy Tales.= By the Brothers Grimm. Profusely Illustrated, +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"As a collection of fairy tales to delight children of all ages this +work ranks second to none."--_Daily Graphic._ + + +=Dan the Newsboy.= By Horatio Alger, Jr. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +The reader is introduced to Dan Mordaunt and his mother living in a +poor tenement, and the lad is pluckily trying to make ends meet by +selling papers in the streets of New York. A little heiress of six +years is confided to the care of the Mordaunts. At the same time the +lad obtains a position in a wholesale house. He soon demonstrates +how valuable he is to the firm by detecting the bookkeeper in a bold +attempt to rob his employers. The child is kidnapped and Dan tracks the +child to the house where she is hidden, and rescues her. The wealthy +aunt of the little heiress is so delighted with Dan's courage and many +good qualities that she adopts him as her heir, and the conclusion of +the book leaves the hero on the high road to every earthly desire. + + +=Tony the Hero=: A Brave Boy's Adventure with a Tramp. By Horatio +Alger, Jr. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Tony, a sturdy bright-eyed boy of fourteen, is under the control of +Rudolph Rugg, a thorough rascal, shiftless and lazy, spending his time +tramping about the country. After much abuse Tony runs away and gets +a job as stable boy in a country hotel. Tony is heir to a large estate +in England, and certain persons find it necessary to produce proof of +the lad's death. Rudolph for a consideration hunts up Tony and throws +him down a deep well. Of course Tony escapes from the fate provided +for him, and by a brave act makes a rich friend, with whom he goes +to England, where he secures his rights and is prosperous. The fact +that Mr. Alger is the author of this entertaining book will at once +recommend it to all juvenile readers. + + +=A Young Hero=; or, Fighting to Win. By Edward S. Ellis. 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +This story tells how a valuable solid silver service was stolen +from the Misses Perkinpine, two very old and simple minded ladies. +Fred Sheldon, the hero of this story and a friend of the old ladies, +undertakes to discover the thieves and have them arrested. After much +time spent in detective work, he succeeds in discovering the silver +plate and winning the reward for its restoration. During the narrative +a circus comes to town and a thrilling account of the escape of the +lion from its cage, with its recapture, is told in Mr. Ellis' most +fascinating style. Every boy will be glad to read this delightful book. + + +=The Days of Bruce=: A Story from Scottish History. By Grace Aguilar. +Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"There is a delightful freshness, sincerity and vivacity about all +of Grace Aguilar's stories which cannot fail to win the interest and +admiration of every lover of good reading."--_Boston Beacon._ + + +=Tom the Bootblack=; or, The Road to Success. By Horatio Alger, Jr. +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +A bright, enterprising lad was Tom the bootblack. He was not at all +ashamed of his humble calling, though always on the lookout to better +himself. His guardian, old Jacob Morton, died, leaving him a small sum +of money and a written confession that Tom, instead of being of humble +origin, was the son and heir of a deceased Western merchant, and had +been defrauded out of his just rights by an unscrupulous uncle. The +lad started for Cincinnati to look up his heritage. But three years +passed away before he obtained his first clue. Mr. Grey, the uncle, did +not hesitate to employ a ruffian to kill the lad. The plan failed, and +Gilbert Grey, once Tom the bootblack, came into a comfortable fortune. +This is one of Mr. Alger's best stories. + + +=Captured by Zulus=: A story of Trapping in Africa. By Harry Prentice. +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +This story details the adventures of two lads, Dick Elsworth and Bob +Harvey, in the wilds of South Africa, for the purpose of obtaining a +supply of zoological curiosities. By stratagem the Zulus capture Dick +and Bob and take them to their principal kraal or village. The lads +escape death by digging their way out of the prison hut by night. They +are pursued, and after a rough experience the boys eventually rejoin +the expedition and take part in several wild animal hunts. The Zulus +finally give up pursuit and the expedition arrives at the coast without +further trouble. Mr. Prentice has a delightful method of blending +fact with fiction. He tells exactly how wild-beast collectors secure +specimens on their native stamping grounds, and these descriptions make +very entertaining reading. + + +=Tom the Ready=; or, Up from the Lowest. By Randolph Hill. 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +This is a dramatic narrative of the unaided rise of a fearless, +ambitious boy from the lowest round of fortune's ladder--the gate of +the poorhouse--to wealth and the governorship of his native State. +Thomas Seacomb begins life with a purpose. While yet a schoolboy he +conceives and presents to the world the germ of the Overland Express +Co. At the very outset of his career jealousy and craft seek to +blast his promising future. Later he sets out to obtain a charter +for a railroad line in connection with the express business. Now he +realizes what it is to match himself against capital. Yet he wins +and the railroad is built. Only an uncommon nature like Tom's could +successfully oppose such a combine. How he manages to win the battle is +told by Mr. Hill in a masterful way that thrills the reader and holds +his attention and sympathy to the end. + + +=Roy Gilbert's Search=: A Tale of the Great Lakes. By Wm. P. Chipman. +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +A deep mystery hangs over the parentage of Roy Gilbert. He arranges +with two schoolmates to make a tour of the Great Lakes on a steam +launch. The three boys leave Erie on the launch and visit many points +of interest on the lakes. Soon afterward the lad is conspicuous in the +rescue of an elderly gentleman and a lady from a sinking yacht. Later +on the cruise of the launch is brought to a disastrous termination +and the boys narrowly escape with their lives. The hero is a manly, +self-reliant boy, whose adventures will be followed with interest. + + +=The Young Scout=; The Story of a West Point Lieutenant. By Edward S. +Ellis. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +The crafty Apache chief Geronimo but a few years ago was the most +terrible scourge of the southwest border. The author has woven, in a +tale of thrilling interest, all the incidents of Geronimo's last raid. +The hero is Lieutenant James Decker, a recent graduate of West Point. +Ambitious to distinguish himself so as to win well-deserved promotion, +the young man takes many a desperate chance against the enemy and +on more than one occasion narrowly escapes with his life. The story +naturally abounds in thrilling situations, and being historically +correct, it is reasonable to believe it will find great favor with the +boys. In our opinion Mr. Ellis is the best writer of Indian stories now +before the public. + + +=Adrift in the Wilds=: The Adventures of Two Shipwrecked Boys. By +Edward S. Ellis. 12mo, cloth, price, $1.00. + +Elwood Brandon and Howard Lawrence, cousins and schoolmates, +accompanied by a lively Irishman called O'Rooney, are en route for +San Francisco. Off the coast of California the steamer takes fire. +The two boys and their companion reach the shore with several of the +passengers. While O'Rooney and the lads are absent inspecting the +neighborhood O'Rooney has an exciting experience and young Brandon +becomes separated from his party. He is captured by hostile Indians, +but is rescued by an Indian whom the lads had assisted. This is a very +entertaining narrative of Southern California in the days immediately +preceding the construction of the Pacific railroads. Mr. Ellis seems to +be particularly happy in this line of fiction, and the present story is +fully as entertaining as anything he has ever written. + + +=The Red Fairy Book.= Edited by Andrew Lang. Profusely Illustrated, +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"A gift-book that will charm any child, and all older folk who have +been fortunate enough to retain their taste for the old nursery +stories."--_Literary World._ + + +=The Boy Cruisers=; or, Paddling in Florida. By St. George Rathborne. +12mo, cloth, price, $1.00. + +Boys who like an admixture of sport and adventure will find this book +just to their taste. We promise them that they will not go to sleep +over the rattling experiences of Andrew George and Roland Carter, who +start on a canoe trip along the Gulf coast, from Key West to Tampa, +Florida. Their first adventure is with a pair of rascals who steal +their boats. Next they run into a gale in the Gulf and have a lively +experience while it lasts. After that they have a lively time with +alligators and divers varieties of the finny tribe. Andrew gets into +trouble with a band of Seminole Indians and gets away without having +his scalp raised. After this there is no lack of fun till they reach +their destination. That Mr. Rathborne knows just how to interest the +boys is apparent at a glance, and lads who are in search of a rare +treat will do well to read this entertaining story. + + +=Guy Harris=: The Runaway. By Harry Castlemon. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Guy Harris lived in a small city on the shore of one of the Great +Lakes. His head became filled with quixotic notions of going West to +hunt grizzlies, in fact, Indians. He is persuaded to go to sea, and +gets a glimpse of the rough side of life in a sailor's boarding house. +He ships on a vessel and for five months leads a hard life. He deserts +his ship at San Francisco and starts out to become a backwoodsman, but +rough experiences soon cure him of all desire to be a hunter. At St. +Louis he becomes a clerk and for a time he yields to the temptations of +a great city. The book will not only interest boys generally on account +of its graphic style, but will put many facts before their eyes in a +new light. This is one of Castlemon's most attractive stories. + + +=The Train Boy.= By Horatio Alger, Jr. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Paul Palmer was a wide-awake boy of sixteen who supported his mother +and sister by selling books and papers on one of the trains running +between Chicago and Milwaukee. He detects a young man named Luke Denton +in the act of picking the pocket of a young lady, and also incurs the +enmity of his brother Stephen, a worthless fellow. Luke and Stephen +plot to ruin Paul, but their plans are frustrated. In a railway +accident many passengers are killed, but Paul is fortunate enough to +assist a Chicago merchant, who out of gratitude takes him into his +employ. Paul is sent to manage a mine in Custer City and executes his +commission with tact and judgment and is well started on the road to +business prominence. This is one of Mr. Alger's most attractive stories +and is sure to please all readers. + + +=Joe's Luck=: A Boy's Adventures in California. By Horatio Alger, Jr. +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +Without a doubt Joe Mason was a lucky boy, but he deserved the golden +chances that fell to his lot, for he had the pluck and ambition to push +himself to the front. Joe had but one dollar in the world when he stood +despondently on the California Mail Steamship Co.'s dock in New York +watching the preparations incident to the departure of the steamer. +The same dollar was still Joe's entire capital when he landed in the +bustling town of tents and one-story cabins--the San Francisco of '51, +and inside of the week the boy was proprietor of a small restaurant +earning a comfortable profit. The story is chock full of stirring +incidents, while the amusing situations are furnished by Joshua +Bickford, from Pumpkin Hollow, and the fellow who modestly styles +himself the "Rip-tail Roarer, from Pike Co., Missouri." Mr. Alger never +writes a poor book, and "Joe's Luck" is certainly one of his best. + + +=Three Bright Girls=: A Story of Chance and Mischance. By Annie E. +Armstrong. With full page Illustrations by W. Parkinson. 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +By a sudden turn of fortune's wheel the three heroines of this story +are brought down from a household of lavish comfort to meet the +incessant cares and worries of those who have to eke out a very limited +income. And the charm of the story lies in the cheery helpfulness of +spirit developed in the girls by their changed circumstances; while the +author finds a pleasant ending to all their happy makeshifts. + +"The story is charmingly told, and the book can be warmly recommended +as a present for girls."--_Standard._ + + +=Giannetta=: A Girl's Story of Herself. By Rosa Mulholland. With +full-page Illustrations by Lockhart Bogle. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +The daughter of a gentleman, who had married a poor Swiss girl, was +stolen as an infant by some of her mother's relatives. The child having +died, they afterward for the sake of gain substitute another child for +it, and the changeling, after becoming a clever modeler of clay images, +is suddenly transferred to the position of a rich heiress. She develops +into a good and accomplished woman, and though the imposture of her +early friends is finally discovered, she has gained too much love and +devotion to be really a sufferer by the surrender of her estates. + +"Extremely well told and full of interest. Giannetta is a true +heroine--warm-hearted, self-sacrificing, and, as all good women +nowadays are, largely touched with enthusiasm of humanity. The +illustrations are unusually good. One of the most attractive gift books +of the season."--_The Academy._ + + +=Margery Merton's Girlhood.= By Alice Corkran. With full-page +Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +The experiences of an orphan girl who in infancy is left by her +father--an officer in India--to the care of an elderly aunt residing +near Paris. The accounts of the various persons who have an after +influence on the story, the school companions of Margery, the sisters +of the Conventual College of Art, the professor, and the peasantry of +Fontainebleau, are singularly vivid. There is a subtle attraction about +the book which will make it a great favorite with thoughtful girls. + +"Another book for girls we can warmly commend. There is a delightful +piquancy in the experiences and trials of a young English girl who +studies painting in Paris."--_Saturday Review._ + + +=Under False Colors=: A Story from Two Girls' Lives. By Sarah Doudney. +With full-page Illustrations by G. G. Kilburne. 12mo, cloth, price +$1.00. + +A story which has in it so strong a dramatic element that it will +attract readers of all ages and of either sex. The incidents of the +plot, arising from the thoughtless indulgence of a deceptive freak, +are exceedingly natural, and the keen interest of the narrative is +sustained from beginning to end. + +"Sarah Doudney has no superior as a writer of high-toned stories--pure +in style, original in conception, and with skillfully wrought out +plots; but we have seen nothing equal in dramatic energy to this +book."--_Christian Leader._ + + +=Down the Snow Stairs=; or, From Good-night to Good-morning. By Alice +Corkran. With Illustrations by Gordon Browne. 12mo, cloth, price 75 +cents. + +This is a remarkable story: full of vivid fancy and quaint originality. +In its most fantastic imaginings it carries with it a sense of reality, +and derives a singular attraction from that combination of simplicity, +originality, and subtle humor, which is so much appreciated by lively +and thoughtful children. Children of a larger growth will also be +deeply interested in Kitty's strange journey, and her wonderful +experiences. + +"Among all the Christmas volumes which the year has brought to our +table this one stands out _facile princeps_--a gem of the first water, +bearing upon every one of its pages the signet mark of genius.... +All is told with such simplicity and perfect naturalness that the +dream appears to be a solid reality. It is indeed a Little Pilgrim's +Progress."--_Christian Leader._ + + +=The Tapestry Room=: A Child's Romance. By Mrs. Molesworth. Illustrated +by Walter Crane. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"Mrs. Molesworth is a charming painter of the nature and ways of +children; and she has done good service in giving us this charming +juvenile which will delight the young people."--_Athenaeum_, London. + + +=Little Miss Peggy=: Only a Nursery Story. By Mrs. Molesworth. With +Illustrations by Walter Crane. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +Mrs. Molesworth's children are finished studies. She is never +sentimental, but writes common sense in a straightforward manner. A +joyous earnest spirit pervades her work, and her sympathy is unbounded. +She loves them with her whole heart, while she lays bare their little +minds, and expresses their foibles, their faults, their virtues, their +inward struggles, their conception of duty, and their instinctive +knowledge of the right and wrong of things. She knows their characters, +she understands their wants, and she desires to help them. + + +=Polly=: A New Fashioned Girl. By L. T. Meade. Illustrated 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +Few authors have achieved a popularity equal to Mrs. Meade as a writer +of stories for young girls. Her characters are living beings of flesh +and blood, not lay figures of conventional type. Into the trials and +crosses, and everyday experiences, the reader enters at once with zest +and hearty sympathy. While Mrs. Meade always writes with a high moral +purpose, her lessons of life, purity and nobility of character are +rather inculcated by example than intruded as sermons. + + +=Rosy.= By Mrs. Molesworth. Illustrated by Walter Crane. 12mo, cloth, +price 75 cents. + +Mrs. Molesworth, considering the quality and quantity of her labors, +is the best story-teller for children England has yet known. This is a +bold statement and requires substantiation. Mrs. Molesworth, during the +last six years, has never failed to occupy a prominent place among the +juvenile writers of the season. + +"A very pretty story.... The writer knows children and their ways +well.... The illustrations are exceedingly well drawn."--_Spectator._ + + +=Little Sunshine's Holiday=: A Picture from Life. By Miss Mulock. +Illustrated by Walter Crane. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"This is a pretty narrative of baby life, describing the simple doings +and savings of a very charming and rather precocious child nearly three +years old."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ + +"Will be delightful to those who have nurseries peopled by 'Little +Sunshines' of their own."--_Athenaeum._ + + +=Esther=: A Book for Girls. By Rosa N. Carey. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +"She inspires her readers simply by bringing them in contact with the +characters, who are in themselves inspiring. Her simple stories are +woven in order to give her an opportunity to describe her characters by +their own conduct in seasons of trial."--_Chicago Times._ + + +=Sweet Content.= By Mrs. Molesworth. Illustrated by W. Rainey. 12mo, +cloth, price 75 cents. + +"It seems to me not at all easier to draw a lifelike child than to draw +a lifelike man or woman: Shakespeare and Webster were the only two men +of their age who could do it with perfect delicacy and success. Our own +age is more fortunate, on this single score at least, having a larger +and far nobler proportion of female writers; among whom, since the +death of George Eliot, there is none left whose touch is so exquisite +and masterly, whose love is so thoroughly according to knowledge, +whose bright and sweet invention is so fruitful, so truthful, or so +delightful as Mrs. Molesworth."--A. C. Swinburne. + + +=One of a Covey.= By the Author of "Honor Bright," "Miss Toosey's +Mission." With Numerous Illustrations by H. J. A. Miles. 12mo, cloth, +price 75 cents. + +"Full of spirit and life, so well sustained throughout that grown-up +readers may enjoy it as much as children. This 'Covey' consists of the +twelve children of a hard-pressed Dr. Partridge, out of which is chosen +a little girl to be adopted by a spoilt, fine lady.... It is one of the +best books of the season."--_Guardian._ + +"We have rarely read a story for boys and girls with greater pleasure. +One of the chief characters would not have disgraced Dickens' +pen."--_Literary World._ + + +=The Little Princess of Tower Hill.= By L. T. Meade. Illustrated, 12mo, +cloth, price 75 cents. + +"This is one of the prettiest books for children published, as pretty +as a pond-lily, and quite as fragrant. Nothing could be imagined more +attractive to young people than such a combination of fresh pages and +fair pictures; and while children will rejoice over it--which is much +better than crying for it--it is a book that can be read with pleasure +even by older boys and girls."--_Boston Advertiser._ + + +=Honor Bright=; or, The Four-Leaved Shamrock. By the Author of "One +of a Covey," "Miss Toosey's Mission," etc., etc. With full-page +Illustrations. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"It requires a special talent to describe the sayings and doings of +children, and the author of 'Honor Bright,' 'One of a Covey,' possesses +that talent in no small degree."--_Literary Churchman._ + +"A cheery, sensible, and healthy tale."--_The Times._ + + +=The Cuckoo Clock.= By Mrs. Molesworth. With Illustrations by Walter +Crane. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"A beautiful little story. It will be read with delight by every +child into whose hands it is placed.... The author deserves all the +praise that has been, is, and will be bestowed on 'The Cuckoo Clock.' +Children's stories are plentiful, but one like this is not to be met +with every day."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ + + +=Girl Neighbors=; or, The Old Fashion and the New. By Sarah Tytler. +With full-page Illustrations by C. T. Garland. 12mo, cloth, price 75 +cents. + +"One of the most effective and quietly humorous of Miss Tytler's +stories. 'Girl Neighbors' is a pleasant comedy, not so much of errors +as of prejudices got rid of, very healthy, very agreeable, and very +well written."--_Spectator._ + + +=The Little Lame Prince.= By Miss Mulock. Illustrated, cloth, price 75 +cents. + +"No sweeter--that is the proper word--Christmas story for the little +folks could easily be found, and it is as delightful for older readers +as well. There is a moral to it which the reader can find out for +himself, if he chooses to think."--_Herald_, Cleveland. + + +=The Adventures of a Brownie.= As Told to my Child. By Miss Mulock. +Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"The author of this delightful little book leaves it in doubt all +through whether there actually is such a creature in existence as +a Brownie, but she makes us hope that there might be."--_Standard_, +Chicago. + + +=Only a Girl=: A Story of a Quiet Life. A Tale of Brittany. Adapted +from the the French by C. A. Jones. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, price +$1.00. + +"We can thoroughly recommend this brightly written and homely +narrative."--_Saturday Review._ + + +=Little Rosebud=; or, Things Will Take a Turn. By Beatrice Harraden. +Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"A most delightful little book.... Miss Harraden is so bright, so +healthy, and so natural withal that the book ought, as a matter of +duty, to be added to every girl's library in the land."--_Boston +Transcript._ + + +=Little Miss Joy.= By Emma Marshall. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, price 75 +cents. + +"A very pleasant and instructive story, told by a very charming writer +in such an attractive way as to win favor among its young readers. The +illustrations add to the beauty of the book."--_Utica Herald._ + + +=Little Lucy's Wonderful Globe.= By Charlotte M. Yonge. Illustrated, +12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"This story is unique among tales intended for children, alike for +pleasant instruction, quaintness of humor, gentle pathos, and the +subtlety with which lessons moral and otherwise are conveyed to +children, and perhaps to their seniors as well."--_The Spectator._ + + +=Joan's Adventures at the North Pole and Elsewhere.= By Alice Corkran. +Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"Wonderful as the adventures of Joan are, it must be admitted that they +are very naturally worked out and very plausibly presented. Altogether +this is an excellent story for girls."--_Saturday Review._ + +=Count Up the Sunny Days=: A Story for Boys and Girls. By C. A. Jones. +With full-page Illustrations, 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"An unusually good children's story."--_Glasgow Herald._ + + +=Sue and I.= By Mrs. O'Reilly. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"A thoroughly delightful book, full of sound wisdom as well as +fun."--_Athenaeum._ + + +=Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.= By Lewis Carroll. With 42 +Illustrations by John Tenniel. 12mo, cloth, price 75 cents. + +"From first to last, almost without exception, this story is +delightfully droll, humorous and illustrated in harmony with the +story."--_New York Express._ + + +=Celtic Fairy Tales.= Edited by Joseph Jacobs. Illustrated by J. D. +Batten. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"A stock of delightful little narratives gathered chiefly from the +Celtic-speaking peasants of Ireland."--_Daily Telegraph._ + +"A perfectly lovely book. And oh! the wonderful pictures inside. Get +this book if you can; it is capital, all through."--_Pall Mall Budget._ + + +=English Fairy Tales.= Edited by Joseph Jacobs. Illustrated by J. D. +Batten. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"The tales are simply delightful. No amount of description can do +them justice. The only way is to read the book through from cover to +cover."--_Magazine and Book Review._ + +"The book is intended to correspond to 'Grimm's Fairy Tales,' and it +must be allowed that its pages fairly rival in interest those of the +well-known repository of folk-lore."--_Sydney Morning Herald._ + + +=Indian Fairy Tales.= Edited by Joseph Jacobs. Illustrated by J. D +Batten. 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"Mr. Jacobs brings home to us in a clear and intelligible manner the +enormous influence which 'Indian Fairy Tales' have had upon European +literature of the kind."--_Gloucester Journal._ + +"The present combination will be welcomed not alone by the little +ones for whom it is specially combined, but also by children of larger +growth and added years."--_Daily Telegraph._ + + +=The Blue Fairy Book.= Edited by Andrew Lang. Profusely Illustrated, +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"The tales are simply delightful. No amount of description can do +them justice. The only way is to read the book through from cover to +cover."--_Magazine and Book Review._ + + +=The Green Fairy Book.= Edited by Andrew Lang. Profusely Illustrated, +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"The most delightful book of fairy tales, taking form and contents +together, ever presented to children."--E. S. Hartland, in _Folk-Lore_. + + +=The Yellow Fairy Book.= Edited by Andrew Lang. Profusely Illustrated, +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"As a collection of fairy tales to delight children of all ages ranks +second to none."--_Daily Graphic_ (with illustrations). + +=Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There.= By Lewis +Carroll. With 50 Illustrations by John Tenniel. + +"A delight alike to the young people and their elders, extremely funny +both in text and illustrations."--_Boston Express._ + + +=The Heir of Redclyffe.= By Charlotte M. Yonge. Illustrated, 12mo, +cloth, price $1.00. + +"A narrative full of interest from first to last. It is told clearly +and in a straightforward manner and arrests the attention of the reader +at once, so that one feels afresh the unspeakable pathos of the story +to the end."--_London Graphic._ + + +=The Dove in the Eagle's Nest.= By Charlotte M. Yonge. Illustrated, +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"Among all the modern writers we believe Miss Yonge first, not in +genius, but in this, that she employs her great abilities for a high +and noble purpose. We know of few modern writers whose works may be so +safely commended as hers."--_Cleveland Times._ + + +=A Sweet Girl Graduate.= By L. T. Meade. Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, +price $1.00. + +"One of this popular author's best. The characters are well imagined +and drawn. The story moves with plenty of spirit and the interest does +not flag until the end too quickly comes."--_Providence Journal._ + + +=The Palace Beautiful=: A Story for Girls. By L. T. Meade. Illustrated, +cloth, 12mo, price $1.00. + +"A bright and interesting story. The many admirers of Mrs. L. T. Meade +in this country will be delighted with the 'Palace Beautiful' for more +reasons than one."--_New York Recorder._ + + +=A World of Girls=: The Story of a School. By L. T. Meade. Illustrated, +12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"One of those wholesome stories which it does one good to read. It will +afford pure delight to her numerous readers."--_Boston Home Journal._ + + +=The Lady of the Forest=: A Story for Girls. By L. T. Meade. +Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"This story is written in the author's well-known, fresh and easy +style. All girls fond of reading will be charmed by this well +written story. It is told with the author's customary grace and +spirit."--_Boston Times._ + + +=At the Back of the North Wind.= By George Macdonald. Illustrated by +George Groves, 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"A very pretty story, with much of the freshness and vigor of Mr. +Macdonald's earlier work.... It is a sweet, earnest, and wholesome +fairy story, and the quaint native humor is delightful. A most +delightful volume for young readers."--_Philadelphia Times._ + + +=The Water Babies=: A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby. By Charles Kingsley. +Illustrated, 12mo, cloth, price $1.00. + +"The strength of his work, as well as its peculiar charms, consist in +his description of the experiences of a youth with life under water +in the luxuriant wealth of which he revels with all the ardor of a +poetical nature."--_New York Tribune._ + + + + +BURT'S HOME LIBRARY + + +Comprising three hundred and sixty-five titles of standard works, +embracing fiction, essays, poetry, history, travel, etc., selected +from the world's best literature, written by authors of world-wide +reputation. Printed from large type on good paper, and bound in +handsome uniform cloth binding. + + +Uniform Cloth Binding, Gilt Tops. + +Price $1.00 per Copy. + + + Abbe Constantin. By Ludovic Halevy. + + Abbot, The. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Adam Bede. By George Eliot. + + AEsop's Fables. + + Alhambra, The. By Washington Irving. + + Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. By Lewis + Carroll. + + Alice Lorraine. By R. D. Blackmore. + + All Sorts and Conditions of Men. By Besant and Rice. + + Amiel's Journal. Translated by Mrs. Humphrey Ward. + + Andersen's Fairy Tales. + + Anne of Geierstein. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Antiquary, The. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Arabian Nights Entertainments. + + Ardath. By Marie Corelli. + + Armadale. By Wilkie Collins. + + Armorel of Lyonesse. By Walter Besant. + + Around the World in the Yacht Sunbeam. By Mrs. Brassey. + + Arundel Motto. By Mary Cecil Hay. + + At the Back of the North Wind. By George Macdonald. + + Attic Philosopher. By Emile Souvestre. + + Auld Licht Idylls. By James M. Barrie. + + Aunt Diana. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Aurelian. By William Ware. + + Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. + + Averil. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Bacon's Essays. By Francis Bacon. + + Barbara Heathcote's Trial. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Barnaby Rudge. By Charles Dickens. + + Barrack-Room Ballads. By Rudyard Kipling. + + Betrothed, The. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Black Beauty. By Anna Sewell. + + Black Dwarf, The. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Bleak House. By Charles Dickens. + + Bondman, The. By Hall Caine. + + Bride of Lammermoor. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Bride of the Nile, The. By George Ebers. + + Browning's Poems. (Selections.) By Robert Browning. + + Bryant's Poems. (Early.) By William Cullen Bryant. + + Burgomaster's Wife, The. By George Ebers. + + Burns' Poems. By Robert Burns. + + By Order of the King. By Victor Hugo. + + California and Oregon Trail. By Francis Parkman, Jr. + + Cast Up by the Sea. By Sir Samuel Baker. + + Caxtons, The. By Bulwer-Lytton. + + Chandos. By "Ouida." + + Charles Auchester. By E. Berger. + + Character. By Samuel Smiles. + + Charles O'Malley. By Charles Lever. + + Children of the Abbey. By Regina Maria Roche. + + Children of Gibeon. By Walter Besant. + + Child's History of England. By Charles Dickens. + + Christmas Stories. By Charles Dickens. + + Clara Vaughan. By R. D. Blackmore. + + Cloister and the Hearth. By Charles Reade. + + Complete Angler. By Walton and Cotton. + + Confessions of an Opium Eater. By Thomas De Quincey. + + Consuelo. By George Sand. + + Corinne. By Madame De Stael. + + Countess Gisela, The. By E. Marlitt. + + Countess of Rudolstadt. By George Sand. + + Count Robert of Paris. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Cousin Pons. By Honore De Balzac. + + Cradock Nowell. By R. D. Blackmore. + + Cranford. By Mrs. Gaskell. + + Cripps the Carrier. By R. D. Blackmore. + + Crown of Wild Olive, The. By John Ruskin. + + Daniel Deronda. By George Eliot. + + Data of Ethics. By Herbert Spencer. + + Daughter of an Empress, The. By Louisa Muhlbach. + + Daughter of Heth, A. By William Black. + + David Copperfield. By Charles Dickens. + + Days of Bruce. By Grace Aguilar. + + Deemster, The. By Hall Caine. + + Deerslayer, The. By James Fenimore Cooper. + + Descent of Man. By Charles Darwin. + + Dick Sand; or, A Captain at Fifteen. By Jules Verne. + + Discourses of Epictetus. Translated by George Long. + + Divine Comedy, The. (Dante.) Translated by Rev. H. F. Carey. + + Dombey & Son. By Charles Dickens. + + Donal Grant. By George Macdonald. + + Donovan. By Edna Lyall. + + Dove in the Eagle's Nest. By Charlotte M. Yonge. + + Dream Life. By Ik Marvel. + + Duty. By Samuel Smiles. + + Early Days of Christianity. By F. W. Farrar. + + East Lynne. By Mrs. Henry Wood. + + Education. By Herbert Spencer. + + Egoist, The. By George Meredith. + + Egyptian Princess, An. By George Ebers. + + Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon. By Jules Verne. + + Emerson's Essays. (Complete.) By Ralph Waldo Emerson. + + Emperor, The. By George Ebers. + + Essays of Elia. By Charles Lamb. + + Esther. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Executor, The. By Mrs. Alexander. + + Fair Maid of Perth. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Fairy Land of Science. By Arabella B. Buckley. + + Far from the Madding Crowd. By Thomas Hardy. + + Faust. (Goethe.) Translated by Anna Swanwick. + + Felix Holt. By George Eliot. + + Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World. By E. S. Creasy. + + File No. 113. By Emile Gaboriau. + + Firm of Girdlestone. By A. Conan Doyle. + + First Principles. By Herbert Spencer. + + First Violin. By Jessie Fothergill. + + For Faith and Freedom. By Walter Besant. + + Fortunes of Nigel. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Fragments of Science. By John Tyndall. + + Frederick the Great and His Court. By Louisa Muhlbach. + + French Revolution. By Thos. Carlyle. + + From the Earth to the Moon. By Jules Verne. + + Goethe and Schiller. By Louisa Muhlbach. + + Gold Bug, The, and Other Tales. By Edgar A. Poe. + + Gold Elsie. By E. Marlitt. + + Good Luck. By E. Werner. + + Grandfather's Chair. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. + + Great Expectations. By Chas. Dickens. + + Great Taboo, The. By Grant Allen. + + Great Treason, A. By Mary Hoppus. + + Greek Heroes. Fairy Tales for My Children. By Charles Kingsley. + + Green Mountain Boys, The. By D. P. Thompson. + + Grimm's Household Tales. By the Brothers Grimm. + + Grimm's Popular Tales. By the Brothers Grimm. + + Gulliver's Travels. By Dean Swift. + + Guy Mannering. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Handy Andy. By Samuel Lover. + + Hardy Norseman, A. By Edna Lyall. + + Harold. By Bulwer-Lytton. + + Harry Lorrequer. By Charles Lever. + + Heart of Midlothian. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Heir of Redclyffe. By Charlotte M. Yonge. + + Henry Esmond. By Wm. M. Thackeray. + + Her Dearest Foe. By Mrs. Alexander. + + Heriot's Choice. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Heroes and Hero Worship. By Thomas Carlyle. + + History of a Crime. By Victor Hugo. + + History of Civilization in Europe. By Guizot. + + Holy Roman Empire. By James Bryce. + + Homo Sum. By George Ebers. + + House of the Seven Gables. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. + + Hunchback of Notre Dame. By Victor Hugo. + + Hypatia. By Charles Kingsley. + + Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow. By Jerome K. Jerome. + + Iliad, The. Pope's Translation. + + Initials, The. By the Baroness Tautphoeus. + + In the Counselor's House. By E. Marlitt. + + In the Golden Days. By Edna Lyall. + + In the Schillingscourt. By E. Marlitt. + + It Is Never Too Late to Mend. By Charles Reade. + + Ivanhoe. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Jack's Courtship. By W. Clark Russell. + + Jack Hinton. By Charles Lever. + + Jane Eyre. By Charlotte Bronte. + + John Halifax, Gentleman. By Miss Mulock. + + Joshua. By George Ebers. + + Kenilworth. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Kidnapped. By R. L. Stevenson. + + Kit and Kitty. By R. D. Blackmore. + + Kith and Kin. By Jessie Fothergill. + + Knickerbocker's History of New York. By Washington Irving. + + Knight Errant. By Edna Lyall. + + Koran, The. Translated by George Sale. + + Lamplighter, The. By Maria S. Cummins. + + Lady with the Rubies. By E. Marlitt. + + Last Days of Pompeii. By Bulwer-Lytton. + + Last of the Barons. By Bulwer-Lytton. + + Last of the Mohicans. By James Fenimore Cooper. + + Lena Rivers. By Mary J. Holmes. + + Life of Christ. By Frederic W. Farrar. + + Light of Asia, The. By Sir Edwin Arnold. + + Light That Failed, The. By Rudyard Kipling. + + Little Dorrit. By Charles Dickens. + + Longfellow's Poems. (Early.) + + Lorna Doone. By R. D. Blackmore. + + Louise de la Valliere. By Alexandre Dumas. + + Love Me Little, Love Me Long, By Charles Reade. + + Lover or Friend? By Rosa N. Carey. + + Lucile. By Owen Meredith. + + Maid of Sker. By R. D. Blackmore. + + Makers of Florence. By Mrs. Oliphant. + + Makers of Venice. By Mrs. Oliphant. + + Man and Wife. By Wilkie Collins. + + Man in the Iron Mask. By Alexandre Dumas. + + Marquis of Lossie. By George Macdonald. + + Martin Chuzzlewit. By Charles Dickens. + + Mary Anerley. By R. D. Blackmore. + + Mary St. John. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Master of Ballantrae, The. By R. L. Stevenson. + + Masterman Ready. By Captain Marryat. + + Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Translated by George Long. + + Merle's Crusade. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Micah Clarke. By A. Conan Doyle. + + Michael Strogoff. By Jules Verne. + + Middlemarch. By George Eliot. + + Midshipman Easy. By Captain Marryat. + + Mill on the Floss. By George Eliot. + + Milton's Poems. By John Milton. + + Mine Own People. By Rudyard Kipling. + + Molly Bawn. By "The Duchess." + + Monastery, The. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Moonstone, The. By Wilkie Collins. + + Mosses from an Old Manse. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. + + Mysterious Island, The. By Jules Verne. + + Natural Law in the Spiritual World. By Henry Drummond. + + Nellie's Memories. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Newcomes, The. By William M. Thackeray. + + Nicholas Nickleby. By Charles Dickens. + + Ninety-Three. By Victor Hugo. + + No Name. By Wilkie Collins. + + Not Like Other Girls. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Odyssey, The. Pope's Translation. + + Old Curiosity Shop. By Charles Dickens. + + Old Mam'selle's Secret. By E. Marlitt. + + Old Mortality. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Old Myddleton's Money. By Mary Cecil Hay. + + Oliver Twist. By Charles Dickens. + + Only a Word. By George Ebers. + + Only the Governess. By Rosa N. Carey. + + On the Heights. By Berthold Auerbach. + + Origin of Species. By Charles Darwin. + + Other Worlds Than Ours. By Richard Proctor. + + Our Bessie. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Our Mutual Friend. By Charles Dickens. + + Pair of Blue Eyes, A. By Thos. Hardy. + + Past and Present. By Thomas Carlyle. + + Pathfinder, The. By James Fenimore Cooper. + + Pendennis. By William M. Thackeray. + + Pere Goriot. By Honore de Balzac. + + Peveril of the Peak. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Phantom Rickshaw, The. By Rudyard Kipling. + + Phra, the Phoenician. By Edwin L. Arnold. + + Picciola. By X. B. Saintine. + + Pickwick Papers. By Charles Dickens. + + Pilgrim's Progress. By John Bunyan. + + Pilot, The. By James Fenimore Cooper. + + Pioneers, The. By James Fenimore Cooper. + + Pirate, The. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Plain Tales from the Hills. By Rudyard Kipling. + + Prairie, The. By James Fenimore Cooper. + + Pride and Prejudice. By Jane Austen. + + Prime Minister, The. By Anthony Trollope. + + Prince of the House of David. By Rev. J. H. Ingraham. + + Princess of the Moor. By E. Marlitt. + + Princess of Thule, A. By William Black. + + Professor, The. By Charlotte Bronte. + + Prue and I. By George William Curtis. + + Queen Hortense. By Louisa Muhlbach. + + Queenie's Whim. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Quentin Durward. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Redgauntlet. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Red Rover. By James Fenimore Cooper. + + Reign of Law. By Duke of Argyle. + + Reveries of a Bachelor. By Ik Marvel. + + Rhoda Fleming. By George Meredith. + + Rienzi. By Bulwer-Lytton. + + Robert Ord's Atonement. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Robinson Crusoe. By Daniel Defoe. + + Rob Roy. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Romance of Two Worlds. By Marie Corelli. + + Romola. By George Eliot. + + Rory O'More. By Samuel Lover. + + Saint Michael. By E. Werner. + + Schonberg-Cotta Family. By Mrs. Andrew Charles. + + Sartor Resartus. By Thomas Carlyle. + + Scarlet Letter, The. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. + + Schopenhauer's Essays. Translated by T. B. Saunders. + + Scottish Chiefs. By Jane Porter. + + Scott's Poems. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Search for Basil Lyndhurst. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Second Wife, The. By E. Marlitt. + + Seekers After God. By F. W. Farrar. + + Self-Help. By Samuel Smiles. + + Sense and Sensibility. By Jane Austen. + + Sesame and Lilies. By John Ruskin. + + Seven Lamps of Architecture. By John Ruskin. + + Shadow of a Crime. By Hal Caine. + + Shadow of the Sword. By Robert Buchanan. + + Shirley. By Charlotte Bronte. + + Silas Marner. By George Eliot. + + Silence of Dean Maitland. By Maxwell Grey. + + Sin of Joost Avelingh. By Maarten Maartens. + + Sir Gibble. By George Macdonald. + + Sketch Book, The. By Washington Irving. + + Social Departure, A. By Sarah Jeannette Duncan. + + Soldiers, Three, etc. By Rudyard Kipling. + + Son of Hagar, A. By Hall Caine. + + Springhaven. By R. D. Blackmore. + + Spy, The. By James Fenimore Cooper. + + Story of an African Farm. By Olive Schreiner. + + Story of John G. Paton. Told for Young Folks. By Rev. James + Paton. + + Strathmore. By "Ouida." + + St. Ronan's Well. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Study in Scarlet, A. By A. Conan Doyle. + + Surgeon's Daughter, The. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Swiss Family Robinson. By Jean Rudolph Wyss. + + Tale of Two Cities. By Charles Dickens. + + Tales from Shakespeare. By Charles and Mary Lamb. + + Talisman, The. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Tanglewood Tales. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. + + Tempest and Sunshine. By Mary J. Holmes. + + Tempest Tossed. By Theodore Tilton. + + Ten Nights in a Barroom. By T. S. Arthur. + + Tennyson's Poems. By Alfred Tennyson. + + Ten Years Later. By Alexandre Dumas. + + Terrible Temptation, A. By Charles Reade. + + Thaddeus of Warsaw. By Jane Porter. + + Thelma. By Marie Corelli. + + Thirty Years' War. By Frederick Schiller. + + Thousand Miles Up the Nile. By Amelia B. Edwards. + + Three Guardsmen. By Alexandre Dumas. + + Three Men in a Boat. By Jerome K. Jerome. + + Thrift. By Samuel Smiles. + + Toilers of the Sea. By Victor Hugo. + + Tom Brown at Oxford. By Thomas Hughes. + + Tom Brown's School Days. By Thomas Hughes. + + Tom Burke of "Ours." By Charles Lever. + + Tom Cringle's Log. By Michael Scott. + + Tour of the World in Eighty Days, A. By Jules Verne. + + Treasure Island. By Robert Louis Stevenson. + + Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. By Jules Verne. + + Twenty Years After. By Alexandre Dumas. + + Twice Told Tales. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. + + Two Admirals. By James Fenimore Cooper. + + Two Years Before the Mast. By R. H. Dana, Jr. + + Uarda. By George Ebers. + + Uncle Max. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Uncle Tom's Cabin. By Harriet Beecher Stowe. + + Undine and Other Tales. By De La Motte Fouque. + + Unity of Nature. By Duke of Argyle. + + Vanity Fair. By Wm. M. Thackeray. + + Vendetta. By Marie Corelli. + + Vicar of Wakefield. By Oliver Goldsmith. + + Vicomte de Bragelonne. By Alexander Dumas. + + Villette. By Charlotte Bronte. + + Virginians, The. By Wm. M. Thackeray. + + Water Babies, The. By Charles Kingsley. + + Water Witch, The. By James Fenimore Cooper. + + Waverley. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Wee Wifie. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Westward Ho! By Charles Kingsley. + + We Two. By Edna Lyall. + + What's Mine's Mine. By George MacDonald. + + When a Man's Single. By J. M. Barrie. + + White Company, The. By A. Conan Doyle. + + Whittier's Poems. (Early). + + Wide, Wide World. By Susan Warner. + + Widow Lerouge, The. By Emile Gaboriau. + + Window in Thrums. By J. M. Barrie. + + Wing and Wing. By James Fenimore Cooper. + + Woman in White, The. By Wilkie Collins. + + Won by Waiting. By Edna Lyall. + + Wonder Book, A. For Boys and Girls. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. + + Woodstock. By Sir Walter Scott. + + Wooed and Married. By Rosa N. Carey. + + Wooing O't. By Mrs. Alexander. + + World Went Very Well Then, The. By Walter Besant. + + Wormwood. By Marie Corelli. + + Wreck of the Grosvenor, The. By W. Clark Russell. + + Zenobia. By William Ware. + + + + +The Fairy Library + +A series of books composed wholly of Fairy Stories, compiled and edited +by various authors, comprising the fairy stories and folk tales of +various people. Each volume profusely illustrated and handsomely bound +in cloth ornamented in gold and colors. + +PRICE $1.00 PER VOLUME. + + +=The Red Fairy Book=, edited by Andrew Lang, with numerous +illustrations by H. J. Ford and Lancelot Speed, cloth, price $1.00. + +=The Blue Fairy Book=, edited by Andrew Lang, with numerous +illustrations by H. J. Ford and G. P. Hood, cloth, price $1.00. + +=The Green Fairy Book=, edited by Andrew Lang, with numerous +illustrations by H. J. Ford, cloth, price $1.00. + +=The Yellow Fairy Book=, edited by Andrew Lang, with numerous +illustrations by H. J. Ford, cloth, price $1.00. + +=Celtic Fairy Tales=, edited by Joseph Jacobs, profusely illustrated +by John D. Batten, cloth, price $1.00. + +=English Fairy Tales=, edited by Joseph Jacobs, profusely illustrated +by John D. Batten, cloth, price $1.00. + +=Indian Fairy Tales=, edited by Joseph Jacobs, profusely illustrated +by John D. Batten, cloth, price $1.00. + +=Andersen's Fairy Tales=, by Hans Christian Andersen, with many +illustrations by Cooper Edwards and others, cloth, price $1.00. + +=Grimm's Household Fairy Tales=, by the Brothers Grimm, with many +illustrations by Walter Crane and others, cloth, price $1.00. + +=Grimm's Popular Fairy Tales=, by the Brothers Grimm, with many +illustrations by Walter Crane and others, cloth, price $1.00. + + +_For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by +the publisher, A. L. BURT, 97 Reade Street, New York._ + + + + +THE LITTLE WOMEN SERIES. + +Uniform Cloth Binding. Profusely Illustrated. + +PRICE 75 CENTS PER COPY. + +A series of most delightful stories for young girls. Selected from +the best known writers for children. These stories are narrated in a +simple and lively fashion and cannot but prove irresistible with the +little ones, while throughout the volumes there is a comprehension of +and sympathy with child thought and feeling that is almost as rare out +of books as in. These stories are sunny, interesting and thoroughly +winsome and wholesome. + + +=Adventures of a Brownie=, As Told to My Child. By Miss Mulock. +Illustrated. Price 75 cents. + +=Adventures in Toyland.= What the Marionette Told Molly. By Edith King +Hall. Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.= By Lewis Carroll. With 42 +Illustrations by John Tenniel. Cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Birdie.= A Tale of Child Life. By H. L. Childe-Pemberton. Illustrated, +cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Count Up the Sunny Days.= A Story for Girls. By C. A Jones. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Cuckoo Clock, The.= By Mrs. Molesworth. With 7 Illustrations by Walter +Crane. Cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Down the Snow Stairs=; or, From Good Night to Good Morning. By Alice +Corkran. With 60 Illustrations by Gordon Browne. Price 75c. + +=Joan's Adventures.= At the North Pole and Elsewhere. By Alice Corkran. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Little Lame Prince=, and His Traveling Cloak. By Miss Mulock. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Little Lucy's Wonderful Globe.= By Charlotte M. Yonge. Illustrated, +cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Little Miss Joy.= By Emma Marshall. Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Little Miss Peggy.= Only a Nursery Story. By Mrs. Molesworth. With 13 +Illustrations by Walter Crane. Cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Little Princess of Tower Hill.= By L. T. Meade. Illustrated, cloth, +price 75 cents. + +=Little Rosebud=; or, Things Will Take a Turn. By Beatrice Harraden. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Little Sunshine's Holiday.= A Picture from Life. By Miss Mulock. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Mixed Pickles.= A Story for Girls. By Mrs. E. M. Field. Illustrated, +cloth, price 75 cents. + +=One of a Covey.= By the author of "Honor Bright." With 19 +Illustrations by H. J. A. Miles. Cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Rosy.= By Mrs. Molesworth. With 8 Illustrations by Walter Crane. +Cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Sue and I.= By Mrs. Robert O'Reilly. Illustrated, cloth, price 75 +cents. + +=Sweet Content.= By Mrs. Molesworth. With 20 Illustrations by W. +Rainey. Cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Tapestry Room, The.= By Mrs. Molesworth. Illustrated, cloth, price 75 +cents. + +=Through the Looking-Glass=, and What Alice Found There. By Lewis +Carroll. With 50 Illustrations by John Tenniel. Cloth, price 75 cents. + + + + +THE CONTINENTAL SERIES. + +Uniform Cloth Binding. Olivine Edges. + +Extra Illustrated. Price $1.50. + +In this series of historical stories each one is complete in itself, +yet taken together they form one of the most entertaining histories +of the Revolution. The utmost care has been exercised to have them +historically correct, and so much of romance as is used to make the +tales stirring is subordinated to the facts. They have been written +with the distinct purpose of portraying the struggle for liberty +in romantic form, and while being in the highest degree interesting +stories for the young, are at the same time especially instructive, +inasmuch as the greatest possible amount of information is given. + + +=The Capture of the Laughing Mary.= A Story of Two New York Boys in +1776, as set down by Eliphalet Willett, and edited by James Otis. With +8 page illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Extra 12mo, illuminated cloth, +olivine edges, price $1.50. + +=With Lafayette at Yorktown.= A Story of How Two Boys Joined the +Continental Army. By James Otis. With 8 full page illustrations by +George E. Graves. Extra 12mo, illuminated cloth, olivine edges, price +$1.50. + +=With Warren at Bunker Hill.= A Story of the Siege of Boston. How +Ben Scarlett Escaped from Boston Town, as set down by his Comrade, +and edited by James Otis. With 8 full page illustrations by J. Watson +Davis. Extra 12mo, illuminated cloth, olivine edges, price $1.50. + +=With Washington at Monmouth.= A Story of Three Philadelphia Boys. By +James Otis. With 8 full page illustrations by George E. Graves. Extra +12mo, illuminated cloth, olivine edges, price $1.50. + + + + +THE LITTLE MEN SERIES. + +Uniform Cloth Binding. Profusely Illustrated. + +PRICE 75 CENTS PER COPY. + +This series of boys' books have been selected from the writings +of a large number of popular authors of juvenile stories, and are +particularly adapted to interest and supply attractive reading for +young boys. The books are profusely illustrated, and any one seeking to +find a book to give a young boy cannot make a mistake by selecting from +the following list of titles. + + +=Black Beauty.= The Autobiography of a Horse. By Anna Sewell. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Carrots=: Just a Little Boy. By Mrs. Molesworth. Illustrated, cloth, +price 75 cents. + +=Chunk, Fuskey and Snout.= A Story of Wild Pigs for Little People. By +Gerald Young. Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Daddy's Boy.= By L. T. Meade. Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Flat Iron for a Farthing, A.= The Story of an Only Son. By Juliana +Horatia Ewing. Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Flock of Four, A.= A Story for Boys and Girls. By Ismay Thorn. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Geoff and Jim.= A Story of School Life. By Ismay Thorn. Illustrated, +cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Jack=: A Topsy Turvy Story. By C. M. Crawley-Boevey. Illustrated, +cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Jackanapes.= By Juliana Horatia Ewing. Illustrated, cloth, price 75 +cents. + +=Larry's Luck.= By the author of "Miss Toosey's Mission," "Tom's +Opinion." Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Little Ivan's Hero.= A Story of Child Life. By Helen Milman. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Mopsa the Fairy.= A Fairy Story for Boys. By Jean Ingelow. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=My Dog Plato=: His Adventures and Impressions. By M. H. Cornwall Legh. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Peter the Pilgrim.= The Story of a Boy and His Pet Rabbit. By L. T. +Meade. Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Prince Prigio, Adventures of.= By Andrew Lang. Illustrated, cloth, +price 75 cents. + +=Robin's Ride.= A Story for Children. By Ellinor D. Adams. Illustrated, +cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Squib and His Friends.= A Story for Children. By Ellen Everett Green. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Tom's Opinion.= The Story of a Boys' School. By the author of "Miss +Toosey's Mission." Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=We and the World.= A Story for Boys. By Juliana Horatia Ewing. +Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + +=Wonder Book, A=: For Boys and Girls. Comprising Stories of Classical +Fables. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. Illustrated, cloth, price 75 cents. + + + + +THE YALE SERIES OF POETS. + +A Selection of Twenty-five Authors from the Most Celebrated Poets of +All Nations. + +Each Author's Poems Complete in One Volume. + +_UNIFORM CLOTH BINDING. PRICE $1.00 PER COPY._ + + BROWNING, R. + + BRYANT. + + BURNS. + + BYRON. + + CHAUCER. + + COLERIDGE. + + DANTE. + + FAUST. + + HOOD. + + ILIAD. + + INGOLDSBY LEGENDS. + + KEATS. + + LIGHT OF ASIA. + + LONGFELLOW. + + LUCILE. + + MILTON. + + MOORE. + + ODYSSEY. + + POPE. + + ROSSETTI. + + SHAKESPEARE. + + SHELLEY. + + SWINBURNE. + + TENNYSON. + + WHITTIER. + + + + +Fireside Series for Girls. + +Uniform Cloth Binding. Illustrated. + +A carefully selected series of books for girls, written by authors +of acknowledged reputation. The stories are deeply interesting in +themselves, and have a moral charm that emanates from the principal +characters; they teach without preaching, are of lively interest +throughout, and will win the hearts of all girl readers. + + +=Esther.= By Rosa Nouchette Carey. Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=A World of Girls: The Story of a School.= By L. T. Meade. Illustrated. +Price $1.00. + +=The Heir of Redclyffe.= By Charlotte M. Yonge. Illus. Price $1.00. + +=The Story of a Short Life.= By Juliana Horatia Ewing. Illustrated. +Price $1.00. + +=A Sweet Girl Graduate.= By L. T. Meade. Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=Our Bessie.= By Rosa Nouchette Carey. Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=Six to Sixteen: A Story for Girls.= By Juliana Horatia Ewing. +Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=The Dove in the Eagle's Nest.= By Charlotte M. Yonge. Illustrated. +Price $1.00. + +=Gianetta; A Girl's Story of Herself.= By Rosa Mulholland. Illustrated. +Price $1.00. + +=Jan of the Windmill: A Story of the Plains.= By Juliana Horatia Ewing. +Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=Averil.= By Rosa Nouchette Carey. Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking-Glass.= Two volumes +in one. By Lewis Carroll. Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=Merle's Crusade.= By Rosa Nouchette Carey. Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=Girl Neighbors; or, The Old Fashion and the New.= By Sarah Tytler. +Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=Polly: A New Fashioned Girl.= By L. T. Meade. Illus. Price $1.00. + +=Aunt Diana.= By Rosa N. Carey. Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=The Water Babies; A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby.= By Charles Kingsley. +Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=At the Back of the North Wind.= By George Macdonald. Illustrated. +Price $1.00. + +=The Chaplet of Pearls; or, The White and Black Ribaumont.= By +Charlotte M. Yonge. Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=The Days of Bruce: A Story of Scottish History.= By Grace Aguilar. +Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=The Palace Beautiful: A Story for Girls.= By L. T. Meade. Illustrated. +Price $1.00. + +=Margery Merton's Girlhood.= By Alice Corkran. Illus. Price $1.00. + +=Three Bright Girls: A Story of Chance and Mischance.= By Annie E. +Armstrong. Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=Pythia's Pupils: The Story of a School.= By Eva Hartner. Illustrated. +Price $1.00. + +=The Lady of the Forest: A Story for Girls.= By L. T. Meade. +Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=Only a Girl: A Tale of Brittany.= By C. A. Jones. Illus. Price $1.00. + +=Honor Bright; or, The Four-Leaved Shamrock.= By the author of Miss +Toosey's Mission. Illustrated. Price $1.00. + +=Under False Colors: A Story from Two Girls' Lives.= By Sarah Doudney. +Illustrated. Price $1.00. + + + + +THE MOTHER GOOSE SERIES. + +Handsome Cloth Binding, Illuminated Covers. + +A Series of Profusely Illustrated Books for Young Children. + +PRICE, 50 CENTS PER COPY. + + +=Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp=, and Other Stories. Profusely +Illustrated. Price 50 cents. + +=Beauty and the Beast=, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. +Price 50 cents. + +=Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper=, and Other Stories. +Profusely Illustrated. Price 50 cents. + +=Jack and the Beanstalk=, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. +Price 50 cents. + +=Jack the Giant Killer=, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. +Price 50 cents. + +=Little Red Riding Hood=, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. +Price 50 cents. + +=Mother Goose's Rhymes.= Profusely Illustrated. Price 50 cents. + +=Mother Hubbard's Melodies.= Profusely Illustrated. Price 50 cents. + +=Puss in Boots=, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. Price 50 +cents. + +=The Sleeping Beauty=, and Other Stories. Profusely Illustrated. +Price 50 cents. + + + + +THE IDEAL SERIES. + +Books for Boys by G. A. Henty. + +_Uniform Cloth Binding. Price 75 Cents._ + +"Mr. Henty is the King of Story Tellers for boys. All boys will read +his stories with eager and unflagging interest. The episodes are all +graphic, exciting, realistic; in all Mr. Henty's books the tendency is +to the formation of an honorable, manly, and even heroic character." + + +=Bonnie Prince Charlie=: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. By G. A. +Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=In Times of Peril=: A Tale of India. By G. A. Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=With Clive in India=; or, The Beginnings of an Empire. By G. A. Henty. +Price 75 cents. + +=The Dragon and the Raven=; or, The Days of King Alfred. By G. A. +Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=The Young Carthaginian=: A Story of the Times of Hannibal. By G. A. +Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=The Cornet of Horse=: A Tale of Marlborough's Wars. By G. A. Henty. +Price 75 cents. + +=With Lee in Virginia=: A Story of the American Civil War. By G. A. +Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=By England's Aid=; or, The Freeing of the Netherlands (1585-1604). By +G. A. Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=The Boy Knight=: A Tale of the Crusades. By G. A. Henty. Price 75 +cents. + +=By Pike and Dyke=: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic. By G. A. +Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=Captain Bayley's Heir=: A Tale of the Gold Fields of California. By G. +A. Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=Under Drake's Flag=: A Tale of the Spanish Main. By G. A. Henty. Price +75 cents. + +=In Freedom's Cause=: A Story of Wallace and Bruce. By G. A. Henty. +Price 75 cents. + +=In the Reign of Terror=: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy. By G. A. +Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=True to the Old Flag=: A Tale of the American War of Independence. By +G. A. Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=With Wolfe in Canada=; or, The Winning of a Continent. By G. A. Henty. +Price 75 cents. + +=The Young Buglers=: A Tale of the Peninsular War. By G. A. Henty. +Price 75 cents. + +=By Right of Conquest=; or, With Cortez in Mexico. By G. A. Henty. +Price 75 cents. + +=St. George for England=: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. By G. A. +Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=The Bravest of the Brave=: With Peterborough in Spain. By G. A. Henty. +Price 75 cents. + +=For Name and Fame=; or, Through Afghan Passes. By G. A. Henty. Price +75 cents. + +=The Young Colonists=: A Story of Life and War in South Africa. By G. +A. Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=The Lion of St. Mark=: A Story of Venice in the Fourteenth Century. By +G. A. Henty. Price 75 cents. + +=Through the Fray=: A Story of the Luddite Riots. By G. A. Henty. Price +75 cents. + +=Orange and Green=: A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick. By G. A. Henty. +Price 75 cents. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of With the Swamp Fox, by James Otis + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH THE SWAMP FOX *** + +***** This file should be named 44651.txt or 44651.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/6/5/44651/ + +Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +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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