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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76074 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+                             A LOYAL LASS
+
+               _A Story of the Niagara Campaign of 1814_
+
+                          By AMY E. BLANCHARD
+
+                            ILLUSTRATED BY
+                           FRANK T. MERRILL
+
+                          W. A. WILDE COMPANY
+                          BOSTON AND CHICAGO
+
+                          _Copyright, 1902_,
+                        By W. A. Wilde Company.
+                        _All rights reserved._
+
+                             A Loyal Lass.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+                                  To
+                        DOROTHEA HARRISON ALLEN
+                      IN MEMORY OF OUR HAPPY DAYS
+                              AT NIAGARA
+                   This Volume is Lovingly Dedicated
+                               A. E. B.
+
+
+
+
+                               Contents
+
+
+                       I. War Clouds
+
+                      II. Across the River
+
+                     III. A House Divided
+
+                      IV. New Friends
+
+                       V. A Surprise for Royal
+
+                      VI. Scheming
+
+                     VII. An Exchange of Prisoners
+
+                    VIII. Friend or Enemy
+
+                      IX. A Little Fun
+
+                       X. The Husking and What Followed
+
+                      XI. A Turning of the Tables
+
+                     XII. Trouble for Sue
+
+                    XIII. Runaways
+
+                     XIV. Kate and Royal
+
+                      XV. Home No More
+
+                     XVI. Jerusha to the Rescue
+
+                    XVII. Asa Again
+
+                   XVIII. Sorrowful Hearts
+
+                     XIX. Marianne Celebrates
+
+                      XX. Peace
+
+
+
+
+
+                             Illustrations
+
+
+"'It's odd,' she said, 'and I like it.'"
+
+"She took one of his big strong hands in hers and stroked it gently."
+
+"'This ... is the young lady of whom you were telling me.'"
+
+"Each with her attendant cavalier, rode up the morning after the
+capture."
+
+ "She had discovered a comfortably hollowed seat."
+
+
+
+
+                             A LOYAL LASS
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I
+
+                             _War Clouds_
+
+
+It was getting dark in the woods which ran along above the deep gorge
+through which whirled and rushed the waters of the Niagara River,
+and Marianne Reyburn unconsciously hurried her steps; for, though a
+frontier lass and fearless to a degree, she was alive to the dangers
+which lay hidden in the forest, and at this particular time she felt
+a new apprehension, for there were mutterings of a war with England,
+and that meant--what, she hardly knew. It might include other dangers
+beside the Indian horrors of which her grandmother was always ready
+to tell her. Those tales of the early settlements, of the days of
+Frontenac, of the Seven Years' War, and of the "Hungry Year," were what
+had fed her childhood's fancy, and even now she listened to them with
+wide-open eyes and parted lips. Canadian was this grandmother, and
+it was Marianne's father who had come up out of the south with his
+parents. Marianne liked to hear him tell how they left their Kentucky
+home in an emigrant wagon to settle in Ohio, and how a few years later
+her father, a young man of adventurous turn, had followed along the
+great lakes till he found him a wife on the borders of Ontario, and had
+finally made him a home near the little village of Lewiston.
+
+Fair of skin, blue-eyed, light-haired, Marianne was like her father,
+though he was long-limbed and muscular; from her French mother she had
+taken her petite figure and her quick, animated movements. She was half
+French, but as she ran along through the woods her heart beat more
+loyally for her father's country than for that land of her grandmother,
+on the other side of the river. Her moccasined feet made little noise
+as she followed the pathway before her. The sun was low in the west,
+and was setting blood-red, so that it flecked with a ruddy light the
+trunks of the trees. "It is getting late; I must hurry," murmured the
+girl. Suddenly she paused and her hand sought her belt. She stood very
+still and listened, then with stealthy tread she moved forward and with
+a catlike spring swung herself up amid the branches of a large tree
+near by. Stretching her slim body along a heavy limb, she lay quite
+motionless, hidden by the leaves, her ears alert for the slightest
+sound.
+
+Presently down the pathway came two men talking earnestly. Marianne
+was very quiet after the first start of surprise and the whispered
+word "Victor!" which accompanied it. One of the men wore the rough
+dress of a habitant; the other, in homespun, bore a pack on his back,
+and Marianne decided him to be a Yankee pedler. He was talking with
+the garrulity of one accustomed to an audience. As the two approached
+nearer, Marianne caught the words: "I sez, sez I: That's neither here
+nor there. If we hev a war, it's every man's dooty to fight for his
+country whether he's sartin she'd ought to hev fit or no. Fur my part,
+I say she hadn't oughter fight, but then I dunno as I'm capable of
+jedgin'--mebbe she'd ought. At any rate, ef she sez: Son, I want you
+should fight, I'll fight. I guess mebbe I kin. I'm kinder curious about
+it; but there! I'm the curiousest fellow you ever did see,--always
+pryin' into what's no consarn of mine."
+
+The young Canadian eyed him, a little puzzled, then seeing some reply
+was expected of him, he said, "For me, no, I fight not."
+
+"You don't say? Wal, I dunno as you want to, but then I dunno as you
+won't hev to, come to thet. Ef the weepons of war are handy and your
+hairth and home are invaded, I dunno, bein' a man, as you won't up and
+fire a shot at somebody. Seems to me 'most any man would. But there! I
+dunno, mebbe you'd stand and take it all." "I? Not I!" cried Victor.
+"I defend, yes, I defend, but I do not thrust myself, as it were, into
+the front of the fighting."
+
+"Mebbe you'll hev to. Seems to me you're going to git the thick of it
+up here, if all I hear's correct. I'm sellin' out my pewter mugs and
+plates with jest that idee. Sez I, They'll come in handy, come time
+you want bullets; and it's an indoocement to buy. I've got a few left
+right here; you wouldn't care to take the hull lot cheap, would you?
+I'm willin' to let 'em go rather than lug 'em cross country." And the
+man from Connecticut swung his load from his shoulders preparatory to
+opening it.
+
+The young Canadian laughed. "I do not buy, not I. Not of the pewter
+mug, but if you have--"
+
+"A ribbon, or a few yards of calico?" returned the other, briskly.
+"Wal, I hev, though you don't look like one that needs either one to
+commend you," he added slyly. "But gals is gals, and it don't do no
+harm to propitiate 'em."
+
+Before the open pack the two squatted, while Marianne, filled with
+inward mirth, watched them. First a roll of bright calico was
+displayed, next a gay kerchief, then a string of beads, some yards
+of coarse lace, and a bolt of ribbon. "Now, there you are," said the
+pedler; "that's as good a stock as you'd find to Buffalo or anywhere
+else about. Goods is goin' to be fearful high on account of the war,
+and I dunno as I sh'll ever be able to sell so cheap ag'in,--allowin'
+that I do come 'round ag'in, which ain't likely." He waited to see the
+effect of his words while Victor eyed the array doubtfully. "Dunno
+which she'd like?" continued the pedler. "I'll bet she'd like that
+ribbon. She'll take to that, I'll be bound."
+
+"Oh, but I don't." There was a rustle in the leaves overhead, a quick
+movement of something sliding down the trunk of the tree, and Marianne
+stood before the astonished pair, who started to their feet at sight of
+her. "I don't care for that," the girl went on. "I would much rather
+have the neckerchief. You meant me, didn't you, Victor? You wouldn't
+buy anything for any other girl, except Victorine or me, would you?"
+She clasped her hands around his arm and looked confidingly up into his
+face.
+
+"Wal, I vum!" said the pedler. "Where did you drop from?"
+
+"That tree," replied Marianne, with a toss of her head toward
+the spreading branches. She laughed as she saw that the look of
+astonishment had not left the face of the younger man. "I surprised
+you, didn't I, Victor? Did you think me a wildcat when I sprang into
+your midst?"
+
+He looked down at her admiringly. "No, not that, Marianne. You could be
+but a kitten at best." "And you meant to buy a ribbon for the kitten's
+collar? Well, I am not sure that I want it. Show me what you have
+there," she said imperiously to the pedler.
+
+The man winked at Victor and held up the neckerchief.
+
+"Is that the very prettiest thing you have in your pack?" the girl
+asked. "I want something else; something that nobody else has;
+something rare and unusual. I am tired of seeing myself wearing what
+every girl in Lewiston can have. I know you have sold dozens like this.
+Confess, haven't you?" She smiled archly at the man, who grinned in
+response, nothing abashed.
+
+"You're a peart little crittur," he said admiringly, "and I dunno as I
+haven't sold quite a few of them. But now, see here, I've got something
+that I ain't ever shown to a woman soul, not sence I got it, and that
+wa'n't but jest yis'day; got it from an Injun squaw. Bless you, she had
+her heart sot on a few yards of bright calico, and I ain't one to deny
+my goods to women folks s'long as they've anything to swop. Now, I call
+this pretty and sightly." He drew from his pocket a quaint bracelet of
+curiously carved stones linked together ingeniously. "I don't guess
+either of you ever saw a thing just like that. I dunno's them stuns
+is perticklerly precious, but it's a sightly piece of work, and some
+folks east might give me a pretty penny fur it. But there! I dunno's I
+ain't willing to part with it right here."
+
+Victor shot a quick look at Marianne, who was examining the bracelet
+with much interest. "It's odd," she said, "and I like it. I want it,
+Victor." She slipped it over her wrist and held out her slender young
+arm, her head to one side, and a critical expression upon her face.
+"Yes, I like it," she repeated. "It isn't a bit bright, or shiny, or
+anything like that; in fact, it's rather dull-looking, and it's made
+of only common little stones, but it's nothing like other people wear.
+I like things that way. I don't want what any one can have. I like the
+first strawberries because they are scarce, and I like the last wild
+flowers because no one can get any more. I don't suppose any one could
+get another bracelet just like this."
+
+[Illustration: "_'It's odd,' she said, 'and I like it.'_"]
+
+Victor nodded to the pedler. "What will you take for it?"
+
+"Wal," returned the man, considering, "seein's you give me my supper
+and come this fur out of your way to show me the path, I won't be hard
+on you. I guess about five shillin's won't be overcharging. Calico's
+going to be skeerce, and I guess I could hev done better to hold on to
+what I hed, but there! I couldn't disa'pint that old Injun woman. I
+al'ays am weak consarnin' weemen,--hed a mother myself,--and, though I
+ain't overfond of the redskins as a rule, I hed to humor that old soul
+and let her have that piece of calico."
+
+"How big a piece was it?" Marianne asked sharply.
+
+"Wal, I dunno as I kin tell you how much just to an inch, but 'twas a
+sizable piece," he replied evasively.
+
+Marianne looked doubtful. "Who was the woman? Where does she live?"
+
+"Oh, suz! I can't tell ye jest who she is. Them old squaws all look
+alike. But I'm telling ye the gospel truth, as sure as my name is Asa
+Peaslee. I'll tell ye what I'll do: call it five shillin's, and I'll
+throw in the ribbon; it's a yard good measure and true Scotch plaid."
+
+Victor's hand sought his pocket, for Marianne made no comment, and in
+a moment he had transferred the amount to the pedler, and Marianne had
+her bracelet.
+
+"Wal," said Asa, cheerfully, "I'll go on my way rejoicin'. I guess I'll
+reach the old fort by night, and I'll hunt ye up if I come along this
+way ag'in. I may be shoulderin' an unwieldy musket, but all the same
+I'd like to see how that bracelet's wearin'. Moreover, wherever my
+eyes gits a chance to be sot on a purty gal, I 'low 'em the chance."
+He slung his pack over his shoulder and trudged up the path, leaving
+Marianne and Victor standing together.
+
+"And now I will kiss you for my present, Victor," said Marianne, and,
+suiting the action to the word, she lightly touched her lips to each
+of his cheeks, standing on tiptoe to do so, although Victor himself
+was below medium height. "Now come," she said, "we must hurry, for it
+is growing late. Tell me, is it true that we shall have war? I don't
+understand much about it, but my father will fight for the States, of
+course; and you, Victor?"
+
+"I shall not fight; for I do not love England, and I am French, I am
+Canadian. I am loyal enough to my government, but I have no quarrel
+anywhere."
+
+"I am glad of that. I wonder what grandmother will say, and--I hope it
+will not be, for it is all very silly. You will not go back to-night,
+Victor?"
+
+"No, I thought I could perhaps row you over in the morning. Your
+grandmother wished it so."
+
+"Then I will go. I wish to show her and Victorine the bracelet. The
+ribbon--I do not know just what I shall do about the ribbon. You were
+very good to get these things for me. Did I scare you when I dropped
+down so suddenly? I had hidden myself there when I heard you coming,
+for this talk of war made me feel less secure, and I did not know who
+might be prowling around the woods. I was so glad it was you."
+
+"Marianne!"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Nothing; yet if I were to go to the war, you would be sorry?"
+
+"Of course. What a foolish question! I shall be sorry if my father
+goes. He declares he will, and mamma shuts her ears--so, and shakes
+her head when he speaks of it. Yet, I shall side with him. I always
+do, poor mamma says; but I tell her that she sides always with my
+brother, and so why should I not? I am a Reyburn, though my mother is a
+Desvouges. I am like my father, am I not, Victor? Say I am."
+
+"You have his blue eyes and brown hair and are like him in feature, but
+you are little, like your mother, and have many of her ways of moving
+your hands and head."
+
+"I wish I were tall, like my father. Why did Royal have all the height
+of the family? He could easily spare me an inch or two and not miss it,
+and he is not like my father in anything else. Still, I should be glad
+of my blue eyes."
+
+"And you do not like dark eyes, Marianne?"
+
+"Not for myself. I don't mind them in other people," she replied
+cheerfully.
+
+"I am glad of that, else I should stand a poor chance of being admired."
+
+Marianne laughed. "As if you wanted me to admire you, stupid old
+Victor. Why this is, I cannot tell, but when one has been used to
+seeing a person all her life, she cannot tell how he looks. Now, you
+see, I cannot remember the time when I did not know you, and if, let
+me see--if Rose Maury should come and say to me: Do you think Victor
+handsome? I should say, How can I tell? I know he is a dear, good
+fellow, as a son to my grandmother, as a brother to my mother, as an
+uncle--not uncle either--as a--an elder brother to me; and as for his
+looks, I never think of them." She looked mischievously at him, nodding
+her head. "But I know what Rose would say."
+
+Victor did not reply, but switched the leaves away from beneath their
+feet.
+
+"You feel so, too, no doubt," Marianne went on. "If Rose or--or Leon or
+some of the boys were to ask you if you thought me pretty, you could
+not tell?" She looked at him inquiringly.
+
+Victor laughed. "Fishing for a compliment, Marianne? I will not tell
+you."
+
+"Oh, you will not hurt my feelings, I assure you."
+
+"No, I suppose not."
+
+"But you do feel just that way?"
+
+"Not just that way. I think I could express an opinion."
+
+"Oh, and--you will not tell me?"
+
+"Marianne,"--he turned and stood in front of her, taking her two hands
+in his, and swinging them together lightly,--"you know as well as you
+can know anything that I have told you a hundred times that I think
+you are adorably pretty. You know it."
+
+"I do not. I didn't know but that you'd changed your mind; you haven't
+told me so for a long, long time, and one changes. My grandmother told
+me only last week that I had changed, and that a girl at sixteen is
+often quite different from a woman grown. Sometimes, she said, a really
+pretty girl grows up to be a hideous old woman, so--"
+
+"You are so nearly an old woman that you thought you might be in danger
+of becoming hideous?" Victor asked mockingly.
+
+"No; but how do I know that I do not change?"
+
+"You do not look quite as you did when you were a little girl."
+
+"I am more--"
+
+"Yes, more--"
+
+"What you said just now? What was it?"
+
+"No, Marianne, I will not repeat it. Once a day is enough. Your
+grandmother long ago bade me not to feed you on sweets. See, we are out
+of the woods now, and the lights begin to twinkle from the houses. We
+are quite late."
+
+"And I am very hungry; are not you?"
+
+"Very."
+
+"I forgot to ask. Did you come out to find me?"
+
+"Not altogether. I came to show the pedler the way to the fort. He
+will sleep there to-night, and go on to Buffalo to-morrow."
+
+By this time they had emerged from the woods, and the roaring of the
+cataract came less distinctly to their ears, though the river rushed
+toward the lake with tremendous swiftness as it broadened out after
+its maddening whirl. Where the cliffs ended, the village of Lewiston
+appeared on the American side, while opposite, the heights of Queenston
+frowned. Marianne stood still for a moment, looking from the steep
+cliff to the roofs below her. Here were grouped the warehouses which
+held the goods brought by the lake boats, and stored there awaiting
+shipment, east or west. Here, too, were comfortable dwellings of the
+villagers, becoming more and more scattered as the town stretched off
+into the fertile country.
+
+"About this war, Victor," said the girl, after a long pause, "will it
+come here?"
+
+"It is reported so, yet who knows? One cannot tell. Think of it no
+more, Marianne, but enjoy the present. It will be a fine day to-morrow,
+I think, and we shall enjoy our trip across the river."
+
+"Perhaps. Who can tell that, either? One may have a headache or be
+triste. It is not well to count on the future," she added demurely.
+
+Victor laughed. "Since when did Marianne Reyburn consider the future?"
+
+"Since a moment ago," she returned, laughing in her turn, and beginning
+to descend the steep path toward the village, a little beyond which
+stood her father's farmstead. A light twinkled from one of the windows
+before they had reached the house, and Marianne gave a sigh of
+satisfaction. "That means that supper is ready, but," she added, "it
+also means that I shall get a scolding for being so late. To be sure,
+they do not need help in matters of cookery, yet my mother will say I
+neglect my duties. Help me out, Victor, with some startling tale of
+adventure to spare me much blame."
+
+As they stepped into the big kitchen, savory odors arose from a huge
+kettle hanging over the fire, for Mrs. Reyburn followed the fashion of
+her own people and served soup at least twice a day, even in summer.
+
+"Ah me, but that smells good!" exclaimed Marianne.
+
+"And well it may," returned her mother, sharply, "since you have not
+had a hand in it. Gadabout, where have you been? Not a sign of you
+since mid-day."
+
+"Victor and I met a pedler," returned Marianne, evading the question.
+"See, mamma, what a curious bracelet Victor got for me. Is it not odd
+and fantastic? Oh, yes, and what was it the pedler said about the war,
+Victor? That it was sure to come; and will father go? and Royal?"
+
+Her mother paused, ladle in hand. "War! Alas, there is much talk of it,
+and it will divide families and lay waste the land. You surely are not
+thinking of going soldiering, Victor?"
+
+"Not unless I needs must."
+
+"Good!" returned Mrs. Reyburn, approvingly. "That is what I say. Go,
+call your father, Marianne."
+
+Glad of escaping her scolding, Marianne ran out. It was still a little
+light, for the summer was upon them. The girl went to the stable, from
+which the sound of voices came. "Papa," called Marianne, "come, do you
+know how late it is?"
+
+"By the clock, no; by my appetite, yes," answered her father, appearing
+at the door. "Come, give an account of yourself. Where have you been
+hiding all the afternoon? In the woods with the other wild things, I'll
+be bound."
+
+Marianne nodded. "That is exactly where; it is so lovely to be out of
+doors when summer is coming. I can't bear to be pent up in the house.
+We met a pedler."
+
+"We?"
+
+"Yes; Victor and I."
+
+"Ah, Victor was with you?"
+
+"We met in the woods, and came back together. It was Victor who was
+showing the pedler the way to Fort Schlosser, and they came my path
+so--See my bracelet, papa. Isn't it odd?"
+
+He examined it gravely. "Where did you get it?"
+
+"From the pedler, who got it from an old squaw. Victor bought it for
+me."
+
+"Did you happen to hear the pedler's name?"
+
+"Asa Peaslee."
+
+Her father nodded. "I know him. A sharp Connecticut Yankee, yet not
+half a bad man. No doubt he drove a good bargain. I wouldn't parade
+this thing around. Keep it safe. I saw one something like it once, and
+it served as a sort of talisman. This may be useful to you some day."
+
+"Then I will keep it safely. Where is Royal?"
+
+"Where, but at his grandmother's. He'd better live on the other side of
+the river altogether, it seems to me. He's his mother's own son--more
+French than American."
+
+"While I am more American than French," put in Marianne, with a
+satisfied air. "I wish I were as fair as you, papa. It does not seem
+right that I should have this dark skin with my blue eyes."
+
+"Your skin is all right," replied her father, pinching her cheek. "You
+have a good healthy color."
+
+"Papa," said Marianne, suddenly changing the subject, "shall you fight
+if there is a war? And what will Royal do?"
+
+"What he is doing now, no doubt--hob-nobbing with his French cousins.
+And I? Well, you needn't ask the son of an old Continental what he will
+do. There is going to be war fast enough, and I shall be in it; that's
+all."
+
+"And Royal?" Marianne repeated.
+
+Her father compressed his lips. "Let us go in; your mother will be
+waiting, and you know she does hate to have a good meal spoiled."
+
+Arm in arm they walked slowly toward the house, the little girl and her
+tall father. On the doorstep the man paused and put his hands upon his
+daughter's shoulders. "See here, daughter," he said, "don't discuss
+this matter of war before your mother; she feels it sorely, and no
+wonder. We'll laugh and be merry while we can. Victor is in there?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"So much the better. He's a good chap, if a little slow."
+
+No reference was made to the matter, which was now becoming a serious
+one in the family. Mrs. Reyburn asked, "Where is Royal?" and her
+husband replied, "At his grandmother's," and there the subject
+dropped. Marianne set herself to playfully teasing her father and
+Victor, while her mother sat silent, keeping a furtively watchful eye
+upon her husband's countenance.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II
+
+                          _Across the River_
+
+
+To Marianne the little trip across the river to the Canada side where
+her grandmother lived was always a pleasant outing, and on this June
+morning when she set out with Victor to row over, it was as fair a day
+as one could wish.
+
+"Tell Royal I want him," Mrs. Reyburn had whispered at the last moment.
+There was a troubled look on her face which Marianne understood, and
+she was a little more quiet than usual when she joined Victor and
+the two stepped into the light canoe which was to take them over. A
+short walk beyond the landing and they would reach the house of her
+grandmother,--a typical country mansion of the French period. The house
+was but one story high, but its sloping roof gave ample space for
+bedrooms above, where peaked dormer windows let in the light. Though
+but one room deep, the house stretched along for nearly a hundred feet,
+and with its many outbuildings was a cosey and comfortable abode.
+
+"My husband was a seigneur on his own domain," Madame Desvouges was
+wont to tell her granddaughter proudly; "and though the old régime
+has passed away, we do not forget what we have been." A quick, alert,
+bright-eyed, little woman was Madame, despite her seventy years;
+independent to a degree, and with the help of Victor, her adopted
+son, she managed her estate fairly well. The old French customs were
+religiously observed, and Madame never failed to impress upon the
+younger generation that they should not forget their family pride
+however much their fortunes were altered.
+
+"You are very silent, Marianne," remarked Victor, as the canoe sped
+through the water.
+
+"I am thinking," she replied, dabbling her fingers softly in the
+ripples. "Out upon the war! as they used to say in Shakespeare's day.
+Isn't it funny, Victor, that I like Shakespeare, and Royal does not
+care a sou for him? That in itself should prove me more English than
+French--not English, but American," she added quickly. "And yet when I
+listen to grandmother's tales and hear how my grandfather fought under
+Montcalm and De Levis, I feel myself glow all over. My father would
+have been on the English side then if he had been of that day, and--O
+dear! who can tell just what is right?"
+
+"One cannot," returned Victor, "and that is what I say when I am urged
+by these bombasts to join the army. Fine enough, say I, when the war
+is all on paper, but to go through life maimed is not so fine. If I
+must defend yonder home, I will shed my life's blood for grand'mère
+and Victorine, but--" He shrugged his shoulders, and Marianne lapsed
+again into silence until they had reached their landing-place. She was
+full of the thought of her brother Royal, and of how he would take her
+mother's message.
+
+When she arrived at her grandmother's door she was greeted in voluble
+French: "But yes, you have arrived. I told Royal you would come, ma
+chère, though he would not be certain of it."
+
+"Where is he?" Marianne asked eagerly, after kissing her grandmother on
+each brown cheek.
+
+"He?" Madame spread out her fingers. "Who knows? He is at Queenston or
+perhaps at Fort George. One knows not just where. He is not like Victor
+whom one can always count upon." She patted the girl upon the shoulder
+and led her into the house. In the corner of the large room by a clumsy
+loom stood a little figure busy at work over the threads of flax. Above
+the clatter of the shuttles arose a voice sweet, clear, and pathetic,
+singing a Canadian boat-song through which thrilled a wild note.
+Marianne stopped short to listen.
+
+Suddenly the clattering stopped and the figure turned, showing a face
+beautiful by reason of wild-rose color, soft luminous hazel eyes,
+a mouth whose sweetness hid its sad curves. A mass of auburn hair
+touched by glints of sunlight fell over the shoulders, unhappily much
+misshapen, and the long arms were those of a hunchback. This was
+Victor's twin sister, Victorine La Rue, born in that terrific "Hungry
+Year," and left motherless and fatherless by reason of it. But for
+Madame Desvouges the two tiny babies would have followed their mother,
+but wrapped in softest skins they were carried to the seigniory; and
+cuddled side by side in a basket like two kittens, they were tended,
+nursed, and saved from starvation, becoming as her own children to
+Madame Desvouges. In her tenth year the little Victorine had developed
+spinal trouble; and though by means of an outdoor life she finally grew
+quite strong and well, the twist in her back could never be lessened
+and she arrived at womanhood a hunchback. Yet withal, so sweet and
+lovable she was that she seemed a sunbeam in the house and had her
+compensations in the love given her and in the power to use a beautiful
+voice. Her face lighted up as she saw Marianne, and she made a swift
+step forward.
+
+"I knew you would come when Victor stayed all night."
+
+Marianne laughed. "That is what grandma said. I wanted to come,
+Victorine, and Victor said he would bring me. I have something to show.
+See, isn't it pretty?" She held up her arm, from which dangled the
+Indian bracelet.
+
+Victorine showed immediate interest. Like most afflicted persons, she
+had an intense love of adornment, and decked her own person almost
+fantastically. "It is not so pretty as it is curious," she replied,
+examining the bawble. "Where did you get it?"
+
+"Victor got it for me of a pedler." She dived down into her pocket and
+produced the ribbon. "And this is for you. Victor is too generous to
+me." She shook out the ribbon and held it against Victorine's hair. "It
+looks well with those curly locks; it is blue and green, and you must
+wear it."
+
+"Oh, no," protested Victorine, "not when Victor bought it for you."
+
+"He had no business to," laughed Marianne; "and after all, he did not
+really buy it, for the pedler threw it in for good measure. Besides, as
+I said before, Victor is too generous to me."
+
+Victorine looked at her steadily, stroking the silken bit of ribbon
+with her slim fingers. "I wonder if you really think so, Marianne."
+
+"What? That Victor is generous? Of course. Don't you know he is?"
+
+"You are a sly puss," said Victorine, "but in my opinion the ribbon
+will be much more becoming to you than to me."
+
+"Nonsense! nothing of the kind! I won't have it. I told Victor so as we
+were coming over. I'll tie it around the cat's neck if you don't take
+it." And she darted across the room to catch up a sedate tabby which
+was blinking in the doorway.
+
+"Stop, Marianne!" cried Victorine. "You shall not do that. I will take
+it and keep it; and when you want it, come to me."
+
+"I'll do nothing of the kind. You must promise to wear it, or I'll do
+as I said. Here, Gris-Gris, come and have your collar on."
+
+Victorine caught the ribbon away and shook her head at the laughing
+girl. "There is no doing anything with you, Marianne. I'll take it,
+since you will have it so. Come, tell me what is the news."
+
+The roguish smile died from Marianne's face, and she said soberly:
+"News enough and of an ill sort. My father is pleased to join the
+American forces in their fight against the British, and Royal--" She
+paused. "You know about Royal, Victorine."
+
+"Yes," she replied slowly. "He has joined the loyalists of Canada."
+
+Marianne started. "Do you mean that he has really enlisted? Are you
+sure?"
+
+"He said last night that he meant to do so to-day."
+
+"Dreadful! dreadful!" murmured Marianne. "If I could but see him and
+dissuade him before it is too late. My mother's last words were to bid
+him come home at once."
+
+"There is a bare chance of his not having gone," returned Victorine.
+"Wait a moment. He will not come back if he knows you are here."
+
+"But he will come for you,--yes, I know that,--or for grandmother." She
+turned to where her grandmother was covering the bake-kettle with coals.
+
+After the fleur-de-lis ceased to wave over Canada Madame Desvouges had
+been obliged to live very frugally and simply. Though many of the old
+customs were kept up, the retinue of servants had dwindled to one stout
+maid for the house, and the manor was let out in parcels to those who
+lived humbly in their log houses. Madame Desvouges declared herself a
+loyal subject of Great Britain, but it was none the less a sore trial
+to her when her daughter married a man of the English-speaking race.
+She comforted herself later with the knowledge that her grandson was
+more French than English, and she adored him. It had been a dream,
+which even now she could not relinquish, that Royal and Victorine
+would marry, and for Victor there was Marianne. So would the younger
+generation return to the French side of the border, and all would
+be as she desired. No one spoke English in her household, and at
+Marianne's "Grand'mère, j'ai quelque chose de vous dire," she smiled
+and straightened herself up from bending over the bake-kettle.
+
+"I wait to hear," she replied. "What is the secret?"
+
+"Grandma, Royal will bear arms against his own father. Think how
+terrible, how terrible! He did not know, perhaps, that our father
+really intended to fight; but he will, my father will, and it will
+break my mother's heart. Dear grandma, I beg you will entreat Royal to
+leave fighting for others to do, and to come home. If my father must
+leave his home, what will my mother and I do with no natural protector?"
+
+"You will come here; that is easy enough," returned her grandmother,
+with some satisfaction. But immediately after she said: "It is indeed,
+my child, a sad condition of affairs, yet I fear it is too late to
+change it. Thank Heaven, Victor has no palm-itching for a soldier's
+pay. He will not fight unless driven to it in order to defend his home.
+For my own part, I see no use in this war--a folly all around. We, who
+are neither English nor Americans, what have we to do with the quarrels
+of Great Britain and the States? Why cannot Royal, and your father,
+too, be content to remain at home peaceably and let others fight out
+their differences?"
+
+"For the same reason," returned Marianne, slowly, "that my grandfather
+could not content himself; he made his stand for France in the New
+World. My father comes of Revolutionary stock, and he will not stand by
+and see his country threatened a second time by British oppression."
+
+"Mon Dieu de la France!" cried Madame, lifting her hands dramatically.
+"Hear the child talk. Had your grandfather lived, he would have
+returned to France, as did many of his comrades; and I am not less
+French because we did not go, nor is your mother less French."
+
+"And it was France who helped America win her freedom in the
+Revolutionary War; so now will I, who am half French, become
+indifferent to the cause which La Fayette made his own?"
+
+Her grandmother threw her arms around her and hugged her. "You are
+such an orator, of such a persuasive tongue, that I have no more to
+say. This all may be as a bag of wind; a prick in the side, and pouf!
+it goes. Yet I will have a word with Royal if it be not too late. See,
+here he comes with Victorine."
+
+Marianne looked up to see a young man, tall of stature, dark-eyed, and
+dark-haired. Just now his eyes were bent upon the ground as he listened
+to what Victorine had to say to him. He stopped short when he reached
+the door.
+
+"Royal, my son," said his grandmother, "your mother wants her boy. She
+will need you, Royal, if your father goes to the war. And as you are a
+dutiful son, you will go home to-day and say: Here I am, my mother, to
+be your comfort and protection when my father is gone." She spoke in a
+gentle, half-questioning voice.
+
+The young man made no reply, but dropped upon the bench by the door,
+and with elbows on knees and head held between hands he kept his eyes
+fixed upon the ground. Marianne went up to him. "Royal," she said,
+imitating her grandmother's gentle tone, "mother wants you. Her last
+words to me as I left home were: 'Tell Royal I want him.' You will go,
+brother?"
+
+He rose to his feet. "Yes, I will go."
+
+"And you will stay," urged his grandmother.
+
+He was silent a moment, and then he faced them with: "That must be
+as I am ordered. I shall hardly be allowed on the American side, for
+to-morrow I report for duty."
+
+Marianne recoiled aghast. "For duty! Oh, Royal, have you--"
+
+"Yes, I have joined the army under Brock."
+
+Marianne's eyes showed the distress she felt as she said: "And that
+means you will arm yourself against your own father. A shot fired by
+you may be the cause of his death."
+
+"Don't!" Royal lifted his hand. "It may be the other way. At all
+events, it is too late. I cannot retreat from the step I have taken."
+
+"Oh, but why, why did you need to fight at all?" cried his sister, with
+tears in her voice.
+
+"Because I come of a fighting race, I suppose," he replied with a half
+attempt at a smile. "There is no use in saying anything now, Marianne;
+the thing is done, and I have as good a right to fight for my cause as
+father has for his."
+
+"No, but his ought to be yours, too. Are you not an American born? Did
+not your father's father fight for your country's freedom? and how
+could you join hands with his enemies?" cried Marianne, passionately.
+
+"Hold, my children," interrupted their grandmother. "Do not quarrel
+here on the verge of a separation. Royal may have been hasty, but he
+thinks he is right, and if he finds he is not, he can lay down his arms
+and remain at home. No doubt, after all, it is all bluster; much smoke
+and no fire. Go home, Royal, and see your mother and then return to us;
+that is, if the way is open to you."
+
+"Oh, hostilities have not begun; one can cross as he wills, if he but
+knows how."
+
+"And I will go, too," decided Marianne.
+
+Royal looked uneasy.
+
+"You don't want me," pouted Marianne. "I think, when you are so soon
+going to leave home, that you are very unfeeling not to want your only
+sister to be with you all she can."
+
+"It is not that," returned Royal, "but I do not want my father to know,
+for more than one reason."
+
+"I would not tell him."
+
+"It would only make it that much harder for you to have to guard your
+speech, and to feel that you were keeping a secret from him."
+
+"Yes, I know, for you do not love father as I do, else you could not do
+this thing."
+
+"Tut, tut!" Madame Desvouges interfered. "I would not say such things,
+Marianne."
+
+"But it is true. He cannot love his father if he be willing to side
+with his mortal enemies."
+
+"I do love my father," said Royal, sullenly; "but he will not
+understand me, and he never has tried to. He has always been annoyed
+because I am not like his people."
+
+"Oh, no, Royal, not annoyed. He has wished you were like them; that is
+all. And you are like them in self-will," she added, under her breath.
+"At all events," she went on after a miserable pause, "he loves you,
+and so does mother, and it will break their hearts to have you do this."
+
+"But I have told you I cannot undo it. Don't you understand?" said
+Royal, impatiently. "Would you rather I were shot as a deserter? There
+is no use staying here arguing the question. I will go home and see
+them. I shall tell my mother, and I will take leave of my father, but
+I will not let him know that it is a real farewell. And I want you to
+stay here, Marianne."
+
+His grandmother nodded. "It will be better all around, Marianne."
+
+"But I want to go," persisted the girl.
+
+"You will remain," said her grandmother, drawing herself up to her
+fullest height, and speaking in the voice that Marianne had learned as
+a little child to obey. There was no appeal when grand'mère spoke in
+that way, and the girl yielded, turning away with tears in her eyes to
+enter the house. She sat down by the loom which Victorine had left, and
+idly fingered the linen threads. She was hurt and indignant at Royal's
+attitude, and half resentful at her grandmother's authoritative manner.
+"I've a mind to go, after all," she murmured.
+
+"You wouldn't do that," said a voice at the vine-covered window.
+
+Marianne started. "Victor!" she exclaimed. "You heard it all?"
+
+"Yes, and you would not make it harder for your mother and father."
+
+"No, of course not; but how could I?"
+
+"By that telltale face of yours, which cannot hide a secret. Your
+father would be sure to suspect something unusual; then your sense
+of loyalty would make it hard for you not to tell him he had one of
+Brock's soldiers under his roof, and it would be hard for him to have
+to give up that soldier to the authorities."
+
+"Oh!" Marianne's eyes grew big. "Would all that happen? Would he have
+to give him up?"
+
+"He might consider it his duty."
+
+"How dreadful! but Roy is not a Britisher."
+
+"He is the same thing in the eyes of the Americans."
+
+Marianne sighed and repeated: "How dreadful! I wish Royal had sense
+enough to stay at home and let the real Britishers fight their own
+battles."
+
+"If your father goes, you and your mother will come here?" Victor spoke
+with more than indifferent curiosity.
+
+"I don't know. It will be as mother and father say, of course; and--oh,
+Victor, is it really getting dangerous to cross the river? Will it make
+any difference which side one is on?"
+
+"Yes, I suppose so. This will be the enemy's country; it is so even
+now; and one must be known to be a non-combatant to get over."
+
+"O dear! O dear! what a mess it all is! I don't like it at all." She
+arose and began to pace the room. Victor, leaning on the window-sill,
+watched her.
+
+Presently she came back to the window. "Has Royal gone?"
+
+"I believe so. Your grandmother and Victorine are coming in."
+
+Marianne scrambled over the window-sill. "I want to get out of this
+enemy's country," she explained, half laughing. "I am afraid I shall
+be captured. I am going to hide, and then grand'mère will be sorry she
+told me I must stay."
+
+"Where are you going to hide?" Victor asked, smiling.
+
+"It wouldn't be hiding if I told; and if you dare to watch me, I'll
+never forgive you. I won't speak to you for a week if you say a word
+about it; you must just say that you don't know where I am. Promise."
+
+"What will you give me if I promise?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't know. What do you want?"
+
+"A kiss will do."
+
+"That's easy enough given; yet what have you done with all those I have
+been giving you ever since I was a baby?"
+
+"I have them all, and I will give them back to you whenever you say so."
+
+Marianne laughed. "You silly old Victor; if you are so ready to return
+what I give you, I'll give you no more. You'll have to promise anyhow,
+or I'll never, never give you one more. I'm getting too big to kiss,
+anyhow, even if I am not as tall as you."
+
+"You're only a foolish little girl still," returned Victor, teasingly;
+"and I'm your uncle, so you must obey me."
+
+"I never did, and I'm not going to begin now, at my age. Besides, it
+is different from what it would be if you were really my uncle; then
+perhaps I would obey you. I am glad you are not."
+
+"So am I, monstrously glad."
+
+"You unkind creature! My uncle, Tom Reyburn, adores me."
+
+"I am willing he should, but that is not saying that I--"
+
+"What? That you do or you don't?"
+
+"Why didn't you wait for me to finish? You have broken the thread of my
+speech now, and I cannot tell what I meant to say."
+
+Marianne gave her shoulders a shrug and made a face at him. "Stay right
+here for five minutes," she commanded. "Don't dare to move or you'll be
+sorry." She gave one look back to see if he intended to do as she had
+ordered, and then ran off, not pausing till she had reached the river.
+She was in time to see her brother's canoe half over, but she had no
+intention of following him; though she unfastened a little boat from
+where it was tied, and, getting in, was soon paddling up-stream.
+
+It was nearly dark when she reappeared at her grandmother's, looking
+half ashamed and half defiant.
+
+"Have you been over to your home?" asked Victorine, quickly.
+
+"No, I have not," replied Marianne, nonchalantly, "I have simply
+been entertaining myself as I could. I have been where I was neither
+scolded, starved, nor frowned upon."
+
+"You are a saucy girl," said her grandmother. "You ought to have known
+that we would worry about you."
+
+"You needn't have done that. You know I am perfectly at home anywhere
+around here. I know the country thoroughly."
+
+"But you do not know war," returned her grandmother, gravely. "Girls
+would best bide at home when battles are in prospect."
+
+"Where were you, Manny?" asked Victorine, coaxingly.
+
+"Oh, up the river a little way. I went to see some of my Indian
+friends, if you must know, and I learned several things I did not know
+before."
+
+"I hope one of them was obedience to your elders," said grand'mère.
+
+Marianne put her head to one side with an air of giving serious thought
+to the remark. "I didn't have to learn that. I never disobey," she
+said after a moment.
+
+"You were bidden to remain this side the river."
+
+"Well, grand'mère, and can you say I did not?" laughed Marianne. Then
+she went up and kissed her. "I didn't disobey; please say I didn't."
+
+"Nevertheless you might as well have done so for all the peace of
+mind I have had over it, as if it were not enough to worry over one
+grandchild's impetuosity; but I must needs have another's naughtiness
+to keep me in an affright all day."
+
+Marianne was at once penitent. "I was naughty; I confess it, granny,
+dear. I wanted to do something to tease you, but I didn't think it
+would really put you in an affright. I am sorry. I am, really."
+
+"Then go and call Victor, and come eat your supper," replied her
+grandmother, mollified by this contriteness.
+
+Marianne was only too glad to obey. She had expected a scolding and had
+escaped better than she had any reason to think she deserved.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III
+
+                           _A House Divided_
+
+
+When Royal returned the next morning, he maintained a stolid
+indifference, which Marianne felt covered a real regret at his
+impetuous decision. He would not talk, and gave her no further
+information than that he had told his mother the step he had taken and
+had made his farewells.
+
+"Does father know?" Marianne asked.
+
+Royal was silent for a moment, then he answered, "No."
+
+"Oh, what will he say?" Marianne exclaimed.
+
+Royal did not reply, but ground an inoffensive dandelion into the earth
+at his feet. The two were standing in the orchard, whither Royal had
+followed his sister. She watched the gloom gather upon his face more
+and more deeply, and said, with a sisterly attempt at cheerfulness:
+"Oh, well, it may all blow over very soon, and at all events you don't
+have to serve more than this first term of enlistment; and since you
+are only in the militia, you won't have to be at camp all the time
+like the regulars, and can stay here at grandmamma's, and that will be
+almost like being at home."
+
+Royal smiled a little. "But you will be on the other side of the
+river," he said, "and it will soon be not so easy to come back and
+forth. As it is, we could scarcely do it but that we are known at the
+ferry. When I am a soldier on this side, and you are the daughter of a
+soldier on that--"
+
+Marianne put her hands over her ears. "I won't hear it. You don't mean
+this is a real good-by, Royal? Why, I thought I'd see you a dozen
+times,--that you could pop in when you pleased."
+
+"That will not be possible."
+
+"And this is truly adieu?" She threw her arms around his neck and
+kissed him over and over. Then suddenly flung herself from him and down
+on the grass, where she lay sobbing.
+
+Royal watched her for a few minutes before he went over and shook
+her shoulder gently. "See here, Marianne," he said, "I had one scene
+yesterday with mother. She vows she will not face my father with the
+news of my enlistment, and--and I depended upon you to do it. Sit up,
+there's a good girl, and listen to me."
+
+Marianne obeyed, wiping her wet eyes and turning her tear-stained face
+toward her brother.
+
+"I confess I may have been in too great haste about this matter,"
+he continued. "I was at Queenston one day when the subject was put
+before us in this way: the Americans desire the annexation of Canada;
+if we would not be merged into that hodgepodge of nationalities,
+we must stand up for ourselves and fight, that Canada may keep her
+individuality."
+
+The tears were gone from Marianne's eyes, and now they flashed
+with indignation. "Her individuality, indeed! Are you forsooth an
+Englishman, Royal Reyburn? Is Canada French? Hasn't she given her
+allegiance to Great Britain? And if she is not fighting under the
+French flag, why are not the American Stars and Stripes good enough
+for you? You are an American born, and it is all nonsense, this talk
+of Canada's rights. If you were talking of her rights as a French
+province, that would be another thing; but when you begin about English
+rights for her, I don't see why it wouldn't be just as good for her
+individuality, as you call it, if she were an American possession. She
+isn't French, either way you fix it. One would suppose that England had
+suddenly become a part of France to hear you talk."
+
+"At all events, she doesn't want to belong to the United States,"
+persisted Royal.
+
+"I don't see what business it is of yours if she doesn't," said
+Marianne, sharply. "Besides, that is not what the war is about. Father
+told me the whole trouble. It is because the English will not allow
+us free trade, and they impress American-born sailors whenever they
+can, just to be overbearing bullies. We are not going to stand having
+our liberties abused in that impudent way, and we are not going to
+allow our own real American sailors to be stolen from us by Johnny
+Bull. Canada has nothing to do with the question. Besides, you are not
+Canadian; you are an American."
+
+"I am Canadian now," said Royal, soberly.
+
+Marianne jumped to her feet. "Thank Heaven, I am not. Hurrah for the
+Stars and Stripes! Down with the British! Death to the redcoats!
+Hurrah for America! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" She caught off her apron
+and waved it around her head excitedly. "There!" she cried, stamping
+her foot, "there! I am an American, and I hope you remember it,
+and your father is an American; so was your grandfather, and your
+great-grandfather, and your great-great-grandfather. Now, what have you
+to say?"
+
+"Take care!" Royal warned. "You are on British soil, and war is
+declared."
+
+"Maybe you would like to arrest me," Marianne taunted, dancing before
+him mockingly. "Maybe you'd like to have your sister and your father
+and your whole family in some vile prison-ship or some loathsome
+prison? Such a noble ambition!"
+
+"Marianne!" Her brother spoke impatiently. "This is perfectly
+childish. I have done what I believe to be right, and I am not going to
+be taunted out of my duty by a silly girl. If you will not make your
+adieux to me in a sisterly fashion, then we will part without them." He
+turned on his heel and walked off.
+
+Marianne ran after him and caught him by the arm. "Royal, Royal, don't
+go away like that. I will do my best to spare my father. I will tell
+him you thought you were doing right. Don't go without kissing me
+good-by; please don't."
+
+He stopped, a smile lighting up his dark face. "That sounds more like
+my little sister." He lifted her up bodily and kissed her two or three
+times. "Good-by, my little girl. I hope to see you soon again. You must
+try to be son and daughter to our father and mother. Perhaps my father
+has not meant to be hard on me, but he has treated me as if I were an
+infant to be told not to go beyond the garden gate, and I could not
+stand it. That's the true reason, Marianne, only don't tell any one.
+Politics have little to do with it."
+
+"No, I will not tell. But he doesn't mean to be hard on you, Roy, I
+know he doesn't. He forgets that you are a child no longer. He treats
+me as if I were a babe in arms, and I rather like it, so why should
+not you? My grandmother says you are like father in disposition, that
+he will not be controlled by another's will, and neither will you; I
+suppose that is the way of it. Adieu, Royal. I will be good, and I
+will stay at home and try to be a comfort to father and mother."
+
+He lifted her up once more to kiss her, and they parted.
+
+Marianne returned to the house. Victorine was not singing at the loom.
+She was very soberly engaged in scouring a pewter dish. Her beautiful
+hair fell down each side her face so that Marianne could not see her
+eyes, in which she would have discovered traces of tears. "Where is
+Victor?" asked the younger girl, abruptly.
+
+"He is in the garden," Victorine answered in a quiet voice.
+
+"I want him to take me home. I want to go now, right off."
+
+"Why need you do that?" her grandmother asked from the buttery.
+
+"I must. Royal has gone, and they are all alone there; they will need
+me. I promised Royal that I would go."
+
+"She is right," commented Madame Desvouges. "We must do without her for
+a while, Victorine. This troublesome war is going to put a stop to the
+freedom of going back and forth as one wishes; and besides, they say
+the country about is like to be full of soldiers, and it will be best
+that maids remain at home. We will keep our eyes on Royal, my child,
+and no doubt there will be found a way to keep up communication. If
+your father goes to the war, you and your mother will, of course, come
+here, and we will all be together."
+
+Marianne did not reply, for her mind was made up on that score. So
+she kissed her grandmother and Victorine good-by with more than usual
+warmth, and set out with Victor toward her home.
+
+"You will only ferry me over, Victor," she said to him, "and the rest
+of the way it will be all right." At the opposite shore she held out
+her hand. "Good-by, Victor."
+
+He took the offered hand in both his. "And why adieu so seriously,
+Marianne? I shall see you again soon; to-morrow, it may be."
+
+"You may not," she returned.
+
+"Then I will go all the way with you."
+
+"No, you had better go back. I don't want you. The way is easy enough,
+and I shall have work to do when I get there."
+
+"I can help you with it."
+
+She shook her head. "Not with the kind that I have on hand. Go back,
+please." She pushed him gently by the shoulders, and he obediently
+stepped into the boat and picked up his oars.
+
+"Very well, Marianne. Good-by for to-day, if you say so, but you do not
+prevent me from seeing you soon again."
+
+She watched the little boat push off, and then she took her way up the
+path toward the road which led to her home. It was still early in the
+day, but the warmth of a summer day brooded over the woods and fields.
+Usually Marianne noted every wayside blossom, the songs of the birds
+in the trees, and the drift of white clouds floating across the sky;
+but to-day she was intent upon reaching home, and gave but scant heed
+to the pleasures of the way. She walked rapidly, and her hair clung in
+little damp rings around her face when she appeared before her mother.
+
+"You are returned," said Mrs. Reyburn. "I am glad, Marianne, that you
+did not tarry. They are all well? Yes?"
+
+"Quite well, and sent their love and a hundred messages, as usual."
+Marianne sat down and fanned herself vigorously with her hat. "I saw
+Royal," she announced abruptly.
+
+Her mother's lips quivered. "His father does not know," she said
+tremulously.
+
+"No, I know he does not. Where is father?"
+
+"In the shop. There was some tool to be mended, and he took it there. I
+heard him hammering upon it a moment ago."
+
+Marianne did not waste words. She picked up her hat again and went
+toward the door; then something in her mother's face made her turn
+back. "Do not worry, mother mine," she said. "I am going to tell
+father, and I think I can make him understand that he is not to blame
+Royal too much." She took her mother's head between her hands and
+kissed the shining bands of dark hair before she started again upon her
+errand.
+
+Walter Reyburn was hammering away at a bit of iron, giving powerful
+blows, which brought out the muscles on his bare arm. Marianne stood
+watching him. What a great, strong man he was; what mighty sinews and
+strong, brawny hands! It was funny, she told herself, that any one
+as little as she should have such a big father, and what was funnier
+still, she was not in the least afraid of him. She stood poised upon
+the sill of the rude work-shop until her father caught sight of her.
+
+"Well," he exclaimed, "you are back I see, bright and early, too."
+
+"Yes, I would have come yesterday, but--" She paused.
+
+"But what?" Her father examined carefully the bit of iron he had been
+pounding.
+
+"Only they would not let me. Grandmamma said I shouldn't, and I had to
+mind her."
+
+"Yes, of course. I'm glad you've come, though. Mother needs you. She
+doesn't seem quite as bright as usual; something on her mind. I fancy
+she suspects I am going off as soon as I get the call."
+
+Marianne was silent for a minute, then she said bravely, "That isn't
+all."
+
+"It isn't? She isn't ill, is she?"
+
+"No. It's--it's about Royal."
+
+"What about Royal?" Her father turned his back to her and picked up his
+hammer again, weighing it in his hand aimlessly. There was dead silence
+for a moment.
+
+"He's joined the army," said Marianne, in a low voice, after she had
+summoned sufficient courage to make the statement, "the army over there
+at--at Queenston."
+
+The hammer dropped with a thud, and the strong man grasped the rough
+work-bench for support. Marianne ran up to him and leaned her face
+against his sleeve. "Father, dear," she whispered, "don't be hard on
+him. He is a man full grown. You were married and were his father at
+his age, and--and--I think if you'd only let him feel that he is not a
+child. You see he wanted to let you understand that he is old enough
+to do what he had made up his mind to. I don't believe he would have
+gone if you hadn't laid down the law and said he shouldn't do anything
+except what you told him he could. Grandmamma says he has a strong will
+just like yours."
+
+"Mine never led me to be a traitor to my country," replied her father,
+in a stifled tone.
+
+It was a critical moment, and Marianne felt the need of the right word
+which would turn her father's bitterness of spirit into something
+gentler. She took one of his big strong hands in hers and stroked it
+gently. "Father," she went on, "do you remember that when your father
+joined the American army that his grandfather called him a traitor, and
+you have often said that your great-grandfather thought he was right
+in being a Tory at the beginning of the war, though he changed his
+opinions later. You know Royal feels as if he belonged to Canada as
+much as to the States, and if he thinks he is right to fight for his
+mother's country instead of his father's, do you think that makes him
+altogether bad?" Marianne's arm had stolen around her father's neck,
+and she looked at him with anxious eyes.
+
+[Illustration: "_She took one of his big strong hands in hers and
+stroked it gently._"]
+
+"You don't understand how a man feels about these things," her father
+replied, with a little more heartiness of tone. "I don't think Royal
+altogether bad, but isn't it a terrible thing for father and son to be
+arrayed against each other?"
+
+"It is dreadful, dreadful, but it was so in the last war, and perhaps
+it will never come to that really. You may neither of you have a chance
+to fight at all; and if you do, even then you would forgive Royal and
+let him come again, wouldn't you?"
+
+Her father was silent for a little. "We will talk of that when the
+time comes," he said at last. "There may be no home to come to."
+
+"Oh!" Such a possibility had never entered Marianne's head. "What do
+you mean?"
+
+"Just what I say. While I never for a moment doubt the righteousness of
+our cause nor the result of our arms, there are chances to be taken,
+and war on this border land means perhaps destruction. That brings us
+to something else I want to say. I had hoped when I joined our troops,
+that Royal would at least remain at home and look after you and your
+mother, even if he did not give active assistance to our side. Since
+this is not to be expected now, I see nothing for you to do but to go
+to your grandmother's."
+
+"Mother may go, but I am not going," replied Marianne, decidedly.
+
+"You will go where your mother does."
+
+"I will stay where my father stays. I am not going to grandmamma's,
+any such thing, and I don't believe mother will either. We are going
+to stay right here where you are. Do you suppose I want to be over
+there in that nest of Britishers? If I were a man, I'd shoulder a gun
+with you, and we'd march off together. As it is, I mean to stay in the
+United States of America. There!"
+
+Her father looked at her half amused. She had left his side and was
+standing before him. He took her two hands and gave them a hearty
+shake. "Well, little girl, I've one loyal child, anyhow, I'm happy to
+see. Stay you shall, while there is any chance of safety. It may be
+that you are right and that there is more bluster than danger."
+
+Yet a few days later Marianne, looking toward the foot of the cliffs
+in the rear of Lewiston, saw the fields white with the tents of Van
+Rensselaer's encampment, and then war seemed very near home.
+
+Her father was not yet in active service, and brought home the news
+of a cessation of hostilities. Then came the information that Hull
+had surrendered, not only Detroit but the whole of Michigan, to the
+enemy, and the troops under Van Rensselaer chafed under their enforced
+inaction when they saw, marched in ostentatious parade on the other
+side of the river, the unhappy prisoners taken at Detroit.
+
+Then came the battle of Queenston, with its disheartening ending, when
+a stolid body of militia saw their companions, who had started out so
+bravely and who, reinforced, could easily have won the day,--these
+they saw overpowered and made prisoners; that, too, after their fierce
+fight, when they had attained to their position by making the perilous
+climb up the heights of Queenston. A brave fight it was for those of
+the American troops who were in it, and all glory is theirs.
+
+It was with a great fear in her heart that Marianne heard the news.
+She had watched the battle from the American shore, had beheld the
+dead and wounded brought back in boats, had witnessed the stubborn
+refusal of the militia to advance to the relief of those who were so
+dangerously in want of reënforcements; and at last, when all was over,
+the great question that arose to her lips was: Where is my father? Was
+he among those cowards on the bank? If so, he was safe--yet a coward.
+Was he among those who had valiantly scaled the heights, but to be
+captured at last after their noble defence? If so, he was a prisoner.
+Together mother and daughter watched and waited all that day and the
+next.
+
+About dusk of the second evening came the sound of footsteps along the
+path leading to the kitchen door. Marianne jumped to her feet. "It is
+father!" she cried.
+
+"No, no, it is but a neighbor," her mother declared, afraid to
+encourage hope.
+
+"But it must be father," persisted Marianne, flinging open wide the
+door. But there was disappointment in her tones as she exclaimed, "Oh,
+it is only you!"
+
+Her mother came rapidly forward, asking, "Who is it, Marianne?"
+
+"Only Victor."
+
+"Victor? And how comes he here?"
+
+"I have come to take you home with me," he answered, entering the room.
+
+"I shall not go," Marianne objected decidedly.
+
+"You'd better," returned Victor.
+
+"I shall wait here for my father. Oh, Victor, have you heard anything
+of him? We do not know whether he was with those who crossed; and we
+have heard that there has been a fearful battle, and that the Indians
+who came rushing in at the end of it under that half-breed, Captain
+Norton, were the cause of our losing the day. The militia, they say,
+were so terrified at the sight of the painted Indians, that they
+refused to cross the river, and go to the assistance of their friends.
+I know my father was never afraid of an Indian; he is too used to them,
+and so we fear he is hurt, or that worse has happened."
+
+"Nothing worse has happened, Marianne. He is wounded, to be sure, and
+is at our house. It was a stiff fight, and General Brock was killed,
+and your General Scott, with some others, officers of high rank, have
+been taken prisoners."
+
+"Mon Dieu!" cried Mrs. Reyburn. "We do not care to hear of those; what
+we are waiting to know is my husband's condition."
+
+"He is wounded severely, but not dangerously. It will be some time
+before his wounds are healed."
+
+"Oh, and I said I would never leave this side; I told him that."
+Marianne clasped her hands. "And now he is over there, and Royal--do
+you know anything of him?"
+
+"It was he who obtained consent to have your father brought to our
+house. You will go to him?" He turned to Mrs. Reyburn.
+
+"I? Yes, and quickly, too. Come, Marianne, we must go at once."
+
+But Marianne still hesitated. "Can I come back again?"
+
+"I don't know," Victor answered. "You will be better off with us."
+
+"Did father say I was to come?"
+
+"I did not ask him. He was in no condition to talk."
+
+Marianne stood uncertainly, twisting her apron around her finger. She
+did not want to be disloyal and break her promise to her father, but
+she longed to be with him, and she finally decided that it would be
+right for her to go, and she would find a way to get back when her
+father should have recovered. So she said, "I will go if mother does."
+
+"To be sure you will," her mother replied. "No one questioned your
+doing otherwise. We can leave Jerusha in charge of the house, and
+Mark will no doubt attend to the other affairs. Go, Victor, and give
+him proper directions. Explain the situation, and he will understand
+that he is accountable. I think he will do his best, and I am sure of
+Jerusha. We will get ready at once. Make up a bundle of your clothing,
+Marianne; enough to last some time, but be quick about it."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV
+
+                             _New Friends_
+
+
+Before the night had settled down, Marianne found herself again under
+her grandmother's roof and by the side of the wounded man was her
+mother established. It was a much more comfortable state of things than
+to be left at home, still the girl chafed under the fact that she was
+in the enemy's country. Her feelings had been roused to their fullest
+extent by the fact that her father lay suffering from wounds inflicted
+by the Britishers, and she felt very bitter about it.
+
+"You'd better make the best of it," Victorine told her, "and be
+thankful that you are all here together. It was a Providence, to my
+thinking, that your father was wounded thus early in the war, else
+there might have worse trouble come upon you."
+
+"It is bad enough," Marianne returned; "yet when I think of those dead
+and dying men I saw brought over in the boats, I am thankful that my
+father was not one of them. The churches and houses at Lewiston are
+turned into hospitals, and the sounds of the groaning and moaning
+is terrible. As you say, there is no doubt but that we are lucky to
+have father here instead of among strangers. I wonder if he knows that
+it was all Royal's doing, and that he found him among the wounded,
+and rescued him from those horrible savage Indians, and then went to
+headquarters, and begged that he might be taken here."
+
+Victorine's eyes shone with a starry softness. "I don't think he does
+know, but he will some day. It was like Royal."
+
+"Yes, but who wouldn't do it for his own father? Still, I am glad that
+Royal could rescue him, though I am sure father would have done the
+same for him."
+
+"Poor Royal, he is quite used up over General Brock's death. He admired
+him greatly."
+
+Marianne looked up. "Oh, I didn't know you had seen Royal. Has he been
+here?"
+
+Victorine hesitated, then replied, "Yes, he has been here every day to
+inquire for his father."
+
+"And I have not seen him." Marianne spoke in quite an injured tone.
+
+"He thought you might not care to see him, knowing the outcome of the
+battle."
+
+"It wasn't he who won the battle," sniffed Marianne, but she said
+nothing more about seeing her brother, and after a while burst out
+with, "It isn't very nice to be in a place where you don't dare to
+speak your own mind, and where every one hopes your best friends will
+get beaten."
+
+"They are our friends, too," returned Victorine. "We girls need not
+bother our heads over any part of the war except that which gives us
+wounded men to nurse. Grand'mère says our duty is that which is nearest
+at hand, and she nurses your father as tenderly as she would her own
+son."
+
+"Of course she does; and if she didn't, there would be mother to do it."
+
+"You are a discontent, Marianne."
+
+"I am, just now. I like to be free, and I cannot speak my mind, nor run
+through the woods as I am used to doing, for fear I will meet some vile
+soldiers, and I cannot do this and that, so I have half a mind to run
+away."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"I shall not tell you."
+
+Victorine laughed, but Marianne's words were something more than mere
+jest. She was busy forming a scheme which in time she meant to carry
+out, and which she dared not breathe to any one. It was when her turn
+came to sit with her father that she gave him the first intimation of
+what she desired to bring about.
+
+"What is the news?" was his daily question when he was able to take an
+interest in what was going on. He depended upon Marianne for all his
+information, for he knew her keen sympathy with his own cause would
+lead her to glean all the bits she could. She had her own methods of
+procuring her news, but she did not whisper the reports to any one but
+her father. She would tell him of the squabbles in the American army,
+of how General Van Rensselaer had been disgusted with the conduct of
+the militia and had asked to be relieved, and that General Smyth had
+taken his place, and many other newsy items.
+
+"Where did you learn all this?" her father would ask.
+
+"A little bird told me," Marianne would reply with a smile.
+
+"What is a parole?" she asked one day.
+
+"It is one's word given that he will not take arms against a foe within
+a given time, and so he is allowed freedom of a certain sort."
+
+"All the militia and their officers who were taken prisoners in your
+battle were sent back to their own side, on parole. Are you a prisoner
+on parole?"
+
+"No, I was unconscious when they picked me up and brought me here. I
+have been puzzling lately to know how I happened to be brought to my
+own mother-in-law's house, and who was the means of doing it."
+
+After a moment's silence Marianne told him, "It was Royal."
+
+Her father turned his face away, but made no comment when she gave him
+the details. After she had finished she looked cautiously around and
+whispered, "Father."
+
+He turned his head toward her again, and with her face close to his she
+laid bare her scheme.
+
+Her father listened attentively, and when she had concluded he said,
+"But your mother, and Victor, and grand'mère--you forget that it might
+reflect upon them, and perhaps do them an injury."
+
+"I have thought about that," Marianne told him. "I think I can arrange
+it so it will do them no harm. Will you trust me, father?"
+
+"You are pretty quick-witted, and--yes, I can't afford to miss a
+chance. I don't mean to submit to being a prisoner if there's a chance
+of freedom, but I'm not strong yet, and the only thing I object to in
+the matter is, that we do not consider your mother."
+
+"Yes, I know; I think that is a difficulty, but I don't believe we
+ought to tell even her. I'll come back and get her after you are safe."
+
+Her father laughed. "For up and down assurance, commend me to a little
+body of your size. It is a case of the elephant and the mouse. Well,
+Marianne, it's worth the trying, and it cheers me up to have one good
+staunch American at my side. You would have been a brave soldier if you
+had been a boy."
+
+"Royal is a brave soldier," said Marianne, "but he just happens to
+be on the wrong side." With that she left the room, but this was not
+the last conversation her father had with her upon the subject of his
+escape.
+
+The leaves were falling fast when the time at last seemed ripe for
+Marianne to venture upon the thing which she so long had in mind. The
+frequent warnings of her elders, not to venture far from home, were
+unheeded one crisp afternoon in November. And while her grandmother
+was at work preparing a ragout for Mr. Reyburn, and her mother was no
+less busy with Victorine at the loom, and Victor in the barn with the
+men, she slipped out of the house, and down through the orchard, which
+she skirted, reaching the road without being seen. Her destination was
+an Indian wigwam in the woods, back some distance. She hoped she would
+encounter no one on the way, which was one lonely enough to encourage
+her belief that she could make her journey unobserved. She sped along,
+crunching the crisp leaves under foot, and singing softly to herself.
+Once in a while she left the path to chase a saucy squirrel or to
+gather chestnuts from the fallen burrs, already opening to the frost.
+
+It was upon one of these excursions from the bridle path, that she
+finally came to grief, for in following the quirks and turns of a
+specially impudent squirrel, she stepped knee-deep in a bog so covered
+with fallen leaves as to be undistinguishable. She was flouncing and
+floundering, and trying to get out as best she could, when she heard
+a stifled laugh, and looking up she saw a boyish face above a scarlet
+coat. The face was on a broad grin, and the mischievous brown eyes were
+running over with mirth.
+
+Marianne was indignant. That any one should see her in this plight was
+bad enough, but to be so discovered by a Britisher was too much. "You
+are in a hole, little girl," said the Britisher. "How did you do it?"
+
+This was adding insult to injury. "Little girl," indeed! Marianne
+maintained a furious silence, and made no effort at all to extricate
+herself.
+
+"Oh, maybe you like it in there," continued the youth. "Perhaps you
+went in on purpose--for leeches or something."
+
+"It's none of your business what I went in for," cried Marianne,
+roused to speech. "There is one thing I didn't go in for, and that is,
+impertinence from a vile Britisher."
+
+"Aha! then I have a prisoner without capturing one,--the mud has done
+that for me; but if you will cry, 'God save the king,' I will help you
+out."
+
+"I will not cry God save anything, for you,--no, not if I stay here
+forever."
+
+"You won't? All right. I suppose you do not really want to be helped
+out?"
+
+"Not by you, you horrid rude creature!"
+
+"Because I wear a scarlet coat? Don't you like my uniform?"
+
+"I like you less, and that is saying a great deal. If all the British
+army were as ungallant as you, I should think they'd better be wiped
+off the face of the earth, and I hope we'll do it."
+
+"We? Who are we?"
+
+"We Americans."
+
+"If you are an American, what are you doing over here, this side the
+river?"
+
+"That, too, is none of your concern."
+
+"You are a saucy little child. But, say, look here, you are getting
+in deeper." He spoke with real earnestness, and looking about him he
+spied a stout log which he dragged to the edge of the bog and pushed
+toward Marianne, then stepping upon it, he dragged her out, despite her
+protests that she would rather stay there forever than have him touch
+her.
+
+"You'd smother after a while, or if you didn't go deep enough for
+that, you'd catch your death," he said coolly. "I may be an ungallant
+Britisher, but I'm not going to see little girls smother to death
+before my very eyes."
+
+"Little girl!" there it was again. "I'll thank you to put me down,"
+said Marianne, as soon as they had reached the solid ground.
+
+"I'm going to. You are heavier than I thought. My! but you are a
+sight." He looked her over, and suddenly a half embarrassed expression
+came over his face. "Say," he remarked apologetically, "you are older
+than I thought you were. You see you were so far down in the mire that
+you looked like a small child. I didn't mean to be rude. I was only
+teasing."
+
+"You were rude,--very,--but now that I see you nearer, I perceive that
+you are only a boy, and of course one cannot expect much politeness
+from hobbledehoys hardly out of their pinafores." Having given voice to
+this withering speech, Marianne turned her back and began to scrape the
+mud from her dress with a bit of bark.
+
+"Here, let me help you do that," said Master Redcoat.
+
+"You needn't trouble yourself," replied Marianne, magnificently, "I
+don't require your services. When I want the attentions of young
+gentlemen, I don't go to little boys dressed up in soldier clothes. You
+might spoil your boomaladdy coat, and your mother might put you to bed
+without your supper," she said mockingly.
+
+The lad laughed. "You are giving it to me hot and heavy, aren't you? If
+you don't want me to help you, I'll sit down here and wait."
+
+"Wait? What for?"
+
+"For you."
+
+"You can spare yourself the trouble. I don't want you. I know my way
+home."
+
+"All the same, I'm going to stay. You can't possibly go far with your
+shoes heavy with mud and water, even if you should get the worst off
+your frock. Besides, it isn't safe for young ladies to go wandering
+around the woods when there are encampments of soldiers so near. My
+sisters are not allowed to do it."
+
+"I'm not allowed to do it either, but I do when I have a purpose." The
+accent on "young ladies" mollified Marianne somewhat, but she could not
+resist adding, "I don't think it is much safer for little boys to be
+out alone."
+
+"Look here! how old do you suppose I am?" asked the lad.
+
+"Oh, I don't know--ten or twelve," returned Marianne, with marked
+indifference.
+
+Her companion laughed. "That overdoes it. If you had said fifteen or
+sixteen, I might have felt aggrieved, for I believe I do look younger
+than I am. I am nineteen."
+
+"You don't look it. How old do you suppose I am?"
+
+"When you were in the bog, I thought you were eight or ten, but now you
+are out of it, I suppose you may be--let me see--fourteen."
+
+"I am seventeen," replied Marianne, with dignity.
+
+"Really? You aren't very big for your age."
+
+"No, I am little, like mamma, though I look like my father. My brother,
+Royal, looks like mamma, but he is tall like father."
+
+"You don't happen to mean Royal Reyburn, do you?"
+
+"Yes. Do you know him?"
+
+"Don't I? Why, he is up at our house now. I am in his regiment, and we
+belong to the same company. I wish I had known in the beginning that
+you were his sister."
+
+"You would have been more polite, I suppose. It doesn't speak very well
+for your gallantry that you were not so anyhow, even though you didn't
+know who I was."
+
+"That is so. I am a thoughtless fellow, and I am afraid I like to
+tease. Please don't tell Roy, or I'll never hear the last of it. He
+will be sure to tell Kate. By the way, I haven't told you my name. I am
+Jack Silverthorn. Now I will tell you what we'd better do: Our house is
+just back here a little way, and I think we'd better go up there and
+get you a dry rig."
+
+"Oh, no, no! Appear before entire strangers in this condition? I could
+never do it."
+
+"Oh, but you needn't see any one but Kate. We can sneak around the back
+way, and I will get Kate to come to you and fix you up. You will like
+Kate; every one does. Then I will see that you get home safely."
+
+Marianne was still doubtful. "You said Roy was up there?"
+
+"Yes, I left him there with the girls when I came away."
+
+"What girls?"
+
+"My two sisters, Kate and Sue. I came out to get some chestnuts. I
+forgot all about that."
+
+Marianne's curiosity to see the two girls whose society her brother
+seemed to enjoy overcame her scruples, and she finally consented to
+accompany Jack to his house. The thought of the surprise she would
+give her brother quite drove away her ill feeling, and she became more
+gracious to her companion as they walked along. After all, he had done
+her a service, for, as she thought of it, she was in a predicament; and
+if no one had chanced to come her way, even if she had not sunk deeper
+in the marsh, she might never have been able to extricate herself, and
+might have died of cold and starvation there in the lonely wood. At
+the thought of this she relented still further, and they were laughing
+gayly by the time they reached the outbuildings of the Silverthorn
+farm. The lad had such a cheery, unaffected way with him, that in his
+presence Marianne forgot to be resentful; but once his back was turned
+and she was left standing in the woodhouse, she realized that she was
+in the hands of the enemy, and all her complacent acceptance of the
+situation died within her.
+
+But the feeling did not have time to acquire bitterness before Kate
+Silverthorn appeared. Hers was a bonny face, showing honest blue-gray
+eyes, a nose just a trifle tip-tilted, and a mouth with sweet, smiling
+curves. Around her smooth forehead clustered curling brown locks, and
+her homespun gown, open at the neck, displayed a round white throat.
+
+She hurried toward Marianne, holding out both hands. "This is too bad,"
+she said. "Jack has just been telling me that you fell into a bog. How
+did you manage to get out?"
+
+"He pulled me out," Marianne told her, half-reluctantly.
+
+"That was good. I am glad he was there to do it. Let me take off those
+stiff shoes and stockings." She was down on her knees in a minute.
+
+"No, no!" protested Marianne. But Kate laughed and said coaxingly:
+"Just let me do it. You have such little feet that unfortunately my
+shoes will not fit you, but Sue's will be a little better. I will run
+into the house and get them. Stay right here. No one will see you.
+I will lock the door behind me." And Marianne was left a veritable
+prisoner for a few minutes.
+
+Presently Kate returned with a pan of warm water and the necessary
+articles of clothing. "There," she said, "you'll soon look like
+yourself. I want to see your brother's face when you come in with me.
+He hasn't an idea that you are anywhere about."
+
+"He is still here then?"
+
+"Oh, yes, he comes nearly every day with Jack. You see, they are in
+the militia and can get away. There, you look fine! That blue is very
+becoming. Here, let me do your hair over." And the deft fingers soon
+piled up Marianne's hair in a becoming twist. Then Kate stood off
+to see the effect. "You are lovely in that gown," she declared. "It
+is quite long, and makes you look ever so much taller." She leaned
+over and kissed her visitor, and putting an arm around her, drew
+her into the garden. Marianne felt her charm and was unable to make
+the slightest resistance or to conjure up any feeling of animosity;
+instead, her heart warmed toward this unaffected, cheery girl as it had
+seldom done toward any one.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V
+
+                        _A Surprise for Royal_
+
+
+When the two girls had reached the porch, Kate paused with a suppressed
+laugh, then she beckoned Marianne around to where, through a half-open
+doorway, she could see the group in the room beyond. Here, before the
+crackling open fire, sat Royal, Jack, and Sue. They were roasting
+chestnuts in the hot embers and appeared to be thoroughly enjoying
+themselves. Jack had emptied his pockets of the nuts he had remembered
+to gather at the last moment, and they lay in a shining brown heap upon
+the hearth.
+
+"It was a sight, I assure you," Jack was saying, "to see the American's
+general, Van Rensselaer, with old Judge Peck in cocked hat and carrying
+a big sword, riding up and down, trying to get their brave troops to
+come over and fight us. But not an inch would they budge; they simply
+stood there and sulked. If that's the kind of soldiers we have to
+confront, who run at the first sound of a bugle, there will not be much
+of a war. We have a lot of prisoners. Did you see General Scott? He is
+a fine-looking fellow, if ever there was one."
+
+"No, I didn't see him," returned Royal, "but I did see what must have
+been gall and bitterness to the other side,--their heroes of Tippecanoe
+and the garrisons of Mackinac and Detroit, five hundred or so, I should
+say. We marched them from Fort Erie to Fort George, and a parade we
+made of it that must have been a dose to the Americans."
+
+Here he was interrupted by a figure which came flying in through the
+doorway,--a figure clad in a blue Empire gown, which, falling to her
+feet in soft folds, made her look taller than she really was. With
+scarlet cheeks and snapping eyes the girl cried: "American yourself,
+Royal Reyburn. Suppose it had been your father who was driven along
+like an ox, could you have borne to see it? For shame on you, to boast
+of the woes of your countrymen!"
+
+Royal sprang to his feet, surprise and confusion written upon his face.
+"Marianne, how in the world came you here?" he exclaimed.
+
+"I'll explain," Kate made answer. "Jack discovered your sister in the
+woods, where she had made a misstep and had fallen into a bog. You know
+what a rainy autumn we have had, and there are many treacherous spots
+under the fallen leaves. Jack pulled her out, it seems, and brought her
+here to us, that she might dry her clothes and get rid of the mud upon
+them. If it were not for the discomfort she has undergone, I should be
+glad of an accident which has given us an opportunity of making her
+acquaintance." And she smiled down on Marianne, but met no response,
+for her visitor was still smarting from the effects of her brother's
+speech.
+
+"You ought to suffer for it," Marianne went on, still addressing
+Royal, "and when your own father was wounded and is still a prisoner,
+it shows you are very heartless. You will be a prisoner yourself some
+day, and perhaps you will find it no laughing matter. As for General
+Van Rensselaer," she turned to Jack, "he was ill when he went on the
+field of battle. He carried away five painful wounds. Was he a coward?
+And General Scott wore his bravest regimentals, and by so doing became
+all the more a target for your men. Was he a poltroon? And I have heard
+even your own soldiers say that no fiercer nor braver attack was ever
+made than by our men who stormed Queenston Heights. Before this war is
+over you will not be laughing at the exploits of my countrymen, I'll
+venture to say; and by that time you may be old enough to do something
+more than play at soldiering." There was silence all around; but at
+last Royal said, a little awkwardly, "But, you see, Marianne, we didn't
+know you were listening."
+
+"It doesn't make any difference who was listening. You can jest at the
+misfortunes of your own people, and that is enough. I want to go home,
+if you please," she said, turning to Kate. "I don't care if my clothes
+are wet."
+
+"No, please," Kate's voice began coaxingly; "we'll not mention the
+war nor anything approaching it. We are not responsible for all the
+dreadful things that are done. Please let us be friends, even if we
+don't think exactly alike. You cannot, you ought not, to go home alone,
+for the country is overrun with all sorts of riffraff. What with the
+soldiers and the Indians and the refugees, no one on the border is
+safe. Do stay with us and don't mind what our brothers say; I'm sure
+I wouldn't." She shot a saucy look at Royal. "This is my sister Sue,"
+she went on. "You haven't met her yet. Let me whisper something in your
+ear: Sue is half on your side. She always stands up for the Americans."
+
+Here was one friend at court, and Marianne looked at Sue with more
+favor. This other sister was not unlike her brother and sister, except
+that her features were more delicate and her eyes and mouth more
+serious. She was taller and more slender than Kate, too. Marianne put
+her hand into Sue's extended one and responded to its warm pressure.
+
+"You see," Sue told her, "we were Americans once; that is, our
+grandparents were. The family lived in New York from the settlement of
+the colony till the Revolutionary War, and then my grandfather, being a
+loyalist, fled across the border into Canada."
+
+"By loyalist you mean Tory," said Marianne, bluntly.
+
+"Yes, if you like that word better. He called himself loyal to the
+king. He was an English subject before the war broke out, and he kept
+on being one; that was all. He thought he had a right to." A merry,
+mischievous look came into her eyes as she said this, and Marianne felt
+that she was showing rather an aggressive spirit.
+
+"Of course he had a right to," she returned, with more exhibition of
+tolerance, "only I don't see how he could think he ought not to stay
+and fight for freedom."
+
+"I don't either," Sue replied, "but then, you know, we don't all think
+alike. Don't let's talk about it any more. Come over here and sit down
+by the fire, and let Jack roast you some chestnuts. You deserve a big
+share, for he says you helped him to gather them."
+
+There was no resisting this sweetness, and Marianne yielded, feeling
+that she had been rather ungracious, and that she might take a lesson
+from these sisters of him whom she had termed a discourteous boy.
+Yet in her character of young lady Jack's deference to her was very
+noticeable, and the members of the little party before the fire soon
+were laughing and talking, becoming better friends every moment,
+though it was chiefly to the girls that Marianne unbent; for she did
+not intend that Jack should be admitted to her good graces. The short
+afternoon had nearly gone when she came to a realizing sense that it
+was getting very dark, and she looked quite aghast. "Oh," she cried, "I
+ought to have been home an hour ago."
+
+"Don't go," begged her entertainers. "Stay all night with us. It is so
+late for you to be going home, and we should so like to have you."
+
+"But they will miss me, and will wonder where I am and will be so
+worried," Marianne objected.
+
+"I'll ride over and tell them where you are," Jack offered. "They know
+me. I have been there often."
+
+"I never saw you there," Marianne returned.
+
+"No; it has just happened that you haven't seen me. I don't always go
+to the house. We haven't been living very long on this place, for we
+used to live farther up the country; and that is why you and the girls
+have never met before, I suppose. Please stay."
+
+"Do you like pumpkin cake?" Kate asked. "We are going to have some for
+supper."
+
+If there was anything that Marianne did like, it was pumpkin cake; that
+mixture of pumpkin and corn-meal, sweetened with maple sugar, spiced,
+and baked, had always been something that she considered a great
+treat. She looked out of the window. It certainly was dark. She looked
+down at her little boots drying before the fire.
+
+Kate stooped to feel them. "They are still very wet, you see."
+
+"You'd better stay, Marianne," said her brother; and Marianne
+doubtfully consented. "Only I don't like to have you go so far for me."
+She turned her blue eyes on Jack, and in them he saw the first gentle
+expression she had yet shown him.
+
+"I'd go twice as far," he said, in a low, eager voice; and she felt
+her cheeks grow hot under his look. To hide her confusion she tossed
+her head with a saucy laugh. "Little boys don't usually like to go on
+errands," she said.
+
+Jack laughed, too, and from one to the other passed a look of
+understanding.
+
+"What are you two laughing at?" Kate asked.
+
+"At each other," Marianne replied. Then she nodded to Jack. "If you
+like to go, very well; but I would rather stay, if I were you."
+
+"So I would," Jack answered quickly.
+
+"Oh, then I wouldn't have you go for the world," Marianne made haste to
+assure him; and Jack stammered that he only wanted to please her, and
+whatever she desired was his wish. And he made such a mess of it that
+Kate had to come to his relief by saying: "We all know what you want to
+say, Jack. Just go along and hurry back. We'll wait supper for you."
+
+"I'll take Duke; he's the fastest horse on the place," said Jack, as he
+hurried from the room.
+
+They had been having such a cosey time of it, just this group of young
+people, that Marianne quite forgot that there were probably other
+members of the family; and she was rather taken aback when two men
+strode into the kitchen, where the three girls were busy over the
+preparations for supper. "This is Royal Reyburn's sister Marianne,
+father. Grandfather, you haven't met Miss Reyburn," were the words with
+which Kate presented her; and Marianne was suddenly conscious that here
+was the grandfather whom she had called a Tory, and whose actions she
+had discussed with Sue. He was rather a fierce-looking old fellow, she
+thought, and she felt that she would rather not bring up the subject
+of politics before him. She hoped he would not introduce the subject,
+and was half sorry that she had consented to remain. Kate's father she
+liked better, and saw at once how Jack had become possessed of his good
+nature and his love of teasing; for when Grandfather Silverthorn left
+the room, his son began lazily to ask the girls if they had sent Jack
+for the doctor, that he had ridden off in such hot haste.
+
+"No," Sue explained; "he went to tell them at Madame Desvouges's that
+Marianne would stay with us all night."
+
+"He was in the mischief of a hurry to get there," said Mr. Silverthorn,
+with a quizzical look at Marianne.
+
+"He wanted to get back to supper," put in Kate. "We are going to have
+pumpkin cake, and no doubt he is afraid he will not get his share if he
+does not hurry."
+
+Mr. Silverthorn laughed. "Judging by the way he was riding, I should
+say that he thought there was some other sweet thing for him to hurry
+back for."
+
+Marianne caught his teasing look, and blushed scarlet. Kate shook her
+head at him, and went on to say, "You are quite right, father; we are
+going to have some honey."
+
+"Come here, honey," said Mr. Silverthorn, turning to Marianne. And then
+she could but join in the laugh that followed, while half angry, half
+pleased, she dropped him a curtsey, and stood smiling down at him as he
+lounged on the big settle by the fire.
+
+"You're not a bit like your brother," he said.
+
+"No," returned Marianne, "I am like my father."
+
+"And he is about five feet one or two in his stockings?" Mr.
+Silverthorn asked quizzically.
+
+"No, he is six feet two; but except for height I am exactly like him,
+only my skin is not so fair."
+
+"Must be a pretty good-looking man," Mr. Silverthorn added. "I'll be
+switched, if there isn't Jack back again. That horse must be in a
+perfect lather. I'll have to go out and look to it that Jack gives him
+a good rubbing down. See here, Miss Marianne, if you send my boy off
+on many such trips, I'll have to fix him up a flying machine, or else
+he'll ruin my horses." And the man went out, leaving his daughters
+laughing at Marianne's confusion.
+
+"You mustn't mind father," they told her. "He jokes with everybody and
+has always been the greatest tease; but he is the dearest father in the
+world, and ever since our mother died he has been father and mother
+both to us. Grandfather can be pretty sharp sometimes, but father never
+is."
+
+Royal had gone out to help with the evening's chores in Jack's absence,
+and presently all came in together, ready for the pumpkin cake, which,
+done to a turn in the bake-kettle, was set smoking hot upon the table.
+
+Kate's quickness of wit saved Marianne any wounded feelings, for,
+though the subject of the war was begun, she turned it into a channel
+of reminiscence, and Marianne found herself deeply interested in those
+tales of hardship which the refugees had to tell. She looked with
+renewed interest at the tall old clock, the weather-beaten chairs, and
+the other carefully preserved pieces of furniture, relics of a former
+luxury, and it gave her a new respect for these people, to learn how
+cheerfully they had accepted privation and discomfort for conscience'
+sake.
+
+"Yes," said Mr. Silverthorn, as he rose from the table, "the only
+gown my wife had when we were married was of deerskin; that was her
+wedding-dress, and she came near not having that."
+
+"Why?" Marianne asked, much interested.
+
+"She took it off to wash it for the great occasion. Deerskin lasts
+pretty well, but it does get greasy, so Kitty thought she'd be
+specially particular and use lye for it, soap being scarce, but, bless
+my soul! it shrank away to nothing, and she hadn't anything to wear
+but a blanket till all the women folks around got together and helped
+her get a new deerskin ready for her wedding. It looked for a time
+as if we'd have to put off getting married, but they got her rigged
+up finely, after all; at any rate I thought so. I wasn't thinking of
+what she had on; it was the girl herself that was in my mind." He gave
+a sigh, and Kate said softly: "And mother often told us it was the
+happiest day of her life. She often used to tell us that story, to show
+us that fine clothes aren't necessary for happiness."
+
+Marianne glanced down at the blue dress she wore and smiled.
+
+"That is the one bit of finery we possess," Kate told her. "It
+belonged to our grandmother, and we made it over a few years ago for
+Sue; but now she has out-grown it, yet it is full long for you. Doesn't
+Marianne look well in it, grandfather?"
+
+The old man turned his sharp eyes upon Marianne, who wondered how he
+would like the idea of her parading around in his wife's one fine gown,
+if he had known her dislike of Tories; but he made no comment, only
+nodded assent and walked from the room.
+
+Very amicably did the grandchildren of Tory and Whig spend their
+evening, and Marianne went to bed feeling as if she must love these
+new friends, whatever side their ancestors had fought upon; and she
+parted from them the next morning with promise to see them soon again.
+Royal and Jack escorted her back to her grandmother's house, which she
+reached none the worse for her adventure.
+
+It was when she came again into her father's presence and saw him still
+pale and weak from his wounds, that she fully appreciated the fact that
+she must make another effort to start the ball rolling which would urge
+on the plan she had made for his escape. If he had belonged to the
+militia instead of to the regular troops, he would simply be paroled
+and returned home, as were the other militiamen, and the matter would
+be very simply adjusted; but to think of his being sent to Quebec to
+wait for exchange, was not to be thought of.
+
+She gave a full account of her visit to the Silverthorns, and her
+father listened gravely, shaking his head when she told him of her
+adventure in the woods. "It was fortunate that it was no one but a
+good-hearted lad that you met. I do not want my little girl to be
+running wild in the woods and about the country when hordes of soldiers
+are gathering; and if the Indians are on the war-path and learn that
+you are the daughter of an American, what can you expect. No, no, my
+child; let matters take their course."
+
+This Marianne was determined not to do, though she said no more at the
+time, but went to Victorine to relate her adventures. She received a
+scolding for running off alone, and Victorine made minute inquiries
+about her entertainers, at first a little disposed to discourage the
+acquaintance. "What are they like, these girls?" she asked.
+
+Marianne described them in glowing terms.
+
+"I have heard Royal speak of them, but I did not know they were such
+intimate friends," she said musingly. "I think it is the one you call
+Kate that he likes best."
+
+"Oh, I don't know. What makes you think so? When have you seen them?"
+
+"I have not seen them," said Victorine, "but," with a wistful little
+smile, "the last time he mentioned them he called her _she_, and when
+he spoke of her sister he called her by her name."
+
+Marianne pondered over this for a moment. "Anyhow," she said, "he
+didn't talk to one more than the other. He likes Jack--I mean the
+brother; and it is convenient and pleasant for him to have a place like
+that to go to."
+
+"Instead of coming here."
+
+"He doesn't come here, because he thinks it would distress father to
+see him."
+
+"Perhaps. You haven't told me yet why it was that you went off in that
+naughty way."
+
+"I am not going to tell. I said I meant to run away. Don't you
+remember? And one may have secrets."
+
+"Oh, yes, one may."
+
+"You have yours?"
+
+"Yes, I have mine." Victorine spoke with a little sigh.
+
+"Vic, dear," Marianne leaned over and kissed her, "I would tell you if
+I could, but I can't now. Perhaps--yes, I am sure I will some day, and
+then you will tell me, too."
+
+Victorine drew a needle from the stocking she was knitting and began
+the next row before she answered. "I cannot promise."
+
+"Well, then, we will leave it." And she spoke no more of her secret,
+though it was on her mind night and day how she could carry out her
+schemes for her father's deliverance. The river was guarded by pickets;
+there were encampments on both sides, batteries above and below;
+desertions were frequent, and those in sympathy with the Americans
+listened anxiously to the reports of disease and disaffection in the
+camps.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI
+
+                              _Scheming_
+
+
+Nearly every day Royal and Jack made their appearance at the house of
+Madame Desvouges, but it was a rare chance that gave them a sight of
+Marianne. She was more disposed to become good friends with Sue and
+Kate than with their brother, for while the exchange of visits between
+the girls was frequent, Marianne took care that her visits were made
+when Jack was not at home.
+
+Her father was now nearly well, and the question of his being
+transferred to some other point became one that must be settled very
+soon. Only out of consideration to Royal and by the influence of his
+friends had his case been left unsettled.
+
+"If they take him away," Marianne made her plaint to Victor, "they will
+perhaps send him to some of those dreadful places we hear about; and
+even if he were allowed a parole, he would not be able to fight."
+
+"Perhaps he will soon be exchanged," Victor tried to comfort her
+by saying. "That would not be a bad fate at all. It has been very
+pleasant, I am sure, for the family to be all here together, even if
+your father and brother do not meet."
+
+Marianne turned away impatiently. "You don't understand what it means
+to father and me not to be actively at work for our own country. You
+have no special country, and what do you care which side wins? There is
+no use asking your help in the matter; that is plain to see."
+
+"I have a country, and I am loyal to it," Victor returned.
+
+"No, no, you are not, for this is not a struggle between French and
+English, and you are French. Don't talk to me about your being loyal, I
+don't want to hear it."
+
+Victor was discomfited; he realized that he was not making much headway
+in Marianne's good graces.
+
+"I'd help any way that I could, but I don't see what can be done," he
+said helplessly. "If you would only tell me."
+
+"If you can't see of your own accord, there is no use trying to make
+you," returned Marianne, impatiently.
+
+"You know I'd do anything in the world to please you."
+
+"Then use your wits and find me a way to get back home with my father,"
+she said, as she walked away.
+
+Victor felt that he was between two fires. His desire to please
+Marianne, and his desire to keep her where she was, conflicted. She
+would never cease to reproach him if he did not make some effort to
+liberate her father, and yet he was a British prisoner whose own son
+was his captor. If Royal could not find a means to get him decently
+exchanged, how could he be expected to do it? Victor was faithful, but
+he was not brilliant, though inadvertently he did play into Marianne's
+hands.
+
+He came to the girl with an air of mystery one day. "There is some
+one out in the barn who wants to speak to you," he said. He looked
+cautiously around as he made the announcement.
+
+Madame Desvouges and Victorine were busy in one corner of the kitchen;
+Marianne in the other was at work paring apples. She looked up quickly.
+"Very well," she replied. "I will come directly I have finished these,
+that is--Who is it, Victor?"
+
+"The old pedler. He says he has something to tell you about the
+bracelet."
+
+Marianne nodded. "I will come as soon as I have pared these apples."
+
+Victor sat down beside her. "I will help you."
+
+Madame Desvouges from the other side of the room watched them with a
+pleased look. "They grow confidential, those two," she whispered to
+Victorine. "It is an ill wind that blows no one good; and when two
+young people are thrown together day after day--well, one knows what
+is likely to be the result. We have never been able before to keep
+Marianne with us for so long a time."
+
+"Why is Asa Peaslee so secret in his coming? Why didn't he come to the
+house?" Marianne asked in a low tone.
+
+"That I cannot say, but he seemed desirous of not being seen."
+
+"I wonder how in the world he happened to know I was here."
+
+"He did not know till he asked me of your whereabouts. He knew I lived
+here, it seems."
+
+"They do not wish to be heard," said grandmamma, significantly. "We
+will not try to overhear them, will we, Victorine?" She laughed a
+little pleased chuckle. "Start the loom and let them talk."
+
+But presently Marianne brought the apples over to the table. "They are
+all ready, grandmamma. I am going to the barn to hunt eggs. With the
+army so near it is hard to keep supplied, and we have not an egg left
+in the basket."
+
+"Go, then," said her grandmother. She watched the two depart, and
+her satisfied air was very obvious to Marianne; it half annoyed her.
+Grand'mère was too ready to thrust Victor upon her, she was beginning
+to see, and it would have been better for his cause if there had been
+less eagerness on the part of the good lady.
+
+Once out of the house, Marianne ran ahead to the barn, where, sitting
+on a pile of hay, she found Asa Peaslee. "Go, you, and hunt the eggs,
+and don't come back till I call you," she ordered Victor. "I want to
+talk to our friend here. How are you, Mr. Peaslee?"
+
+"Wal, I'm 'bout as usual; pretty smart in body, though I must say I'm
+considerable upset in mind."
+
+"Why is that?"
+
+"Oh, these blamed fools o' gin'rals make me sick. That pompous old
+Smyth is the biggest idiot that I ever did see. He's all gab; and if he
+'mounts to a row of pins, I'm mistaken. But there! I didn't come over
+here to talk about him. It's a wonder I got acrost at all, but I did.
+They know me, and I jest snuck over above here. Found an Injun that
+showed me a way."
+
+"Oh, how did you come? Do tell me," Marianne broke in eagerly.
+
+Asa nodded his head with a sly wink. "I wa'n't born yist'day. You don't
+ketch me. What I come to this here place is to see if you'd got that
+there bit of a bracelet yit. Ain't lost it, hev ye?"
+
+"No, I have it safe enough; but why do you want to know?"
+
+"'Cause that there old Injun squaw's been pesterin' the life out o' me
+to git it back for her; says it's a sort o'--what d'ye call it?--amulet
+or somethin', and she's had bad luck ever sence she parted with it;
+wants to git it back at any cost."
+
+"Oh, and you think you'll make a good bargain with her; I see."
+
+"Now, ain't you a suspicious young miss? Jest you wait a bit. I don't
+calc'late to make nawthin' off the old soul. Lord! she's wore out the
+calico I give her for it long ago; but, wal, her and her son's been
+pretty good to me, and I'd ought to show 'em some 'preciation of it.
+Now, jest let's us come to business. What'll you take for it?"
+
+Marianne considered the matter. "I don't know. I am not sure that I
+want to part with it. I shall have to think about it."
+
+"Mebbe I've got suthin' along with me that you'd like better. I ain't
+over here peddlin', to be sure, but then I dunno's I couldn't git ye
+what ye want, and send it to ye when I git back."
+
+"You are goin' back? When? How?"
+
+"That's neither here nor there. There's more ways of killin' a dog than
+by chokin' him with soft butter. I'm a-goin', and, as the Bible says,
+an' that right airly."
+
+Marianne leaned forward and looked at him steadfastly. The shrewd gray
+eyes met hers honestly, and the humorous mouth gave her a twisted
+smile. "I'm a purty crittur, ain't I?" he said with a chuckle. "Look as
+long as ye want. I ain't the blushin' kind."
+
+Marianne laughed. Then she said in a low voice: "I thought you were a
+true, loyal American."
+
+He looked around cautiously, put both hands on his knees, leaned
+forward, and whispered back, "So I am. Ain't you?"
+
+"To my heart's core."
+
+"That's what I thought."
+
+"My father was wounded in the attack on Queenston."
+
+"So I heerd tell."
+
+"He is a prisoner there in my grandmother's house."
+
+Asa nodded.
+
+Marianne leaned still closer and whispered still lower, "Are you a spy?"
+
+Asa drew down his face. "Don't like the eepithet. You're true blue? I
+kin trust ye?"
+
+"To the utmost."
+
+"Wal, then, I'm here for my country's intrus'. I guess I've found out
+what I come for, and I'm goin' back with what no man kin find on my
+pusson. Good reason why--'tain't there; it's all in this timepiece."
+And he tapped his head.
+
+Marianne sat with her chin in her hands, her thoughts busy.
+
+"What about that bracelet?" Asa asked, breaking the silence.
+
+"I will let you have it upon one condition. I think the good God has
+sent you to help us. If you will help me to invent a plan for my
+father's escape, you shall have the bracelet. I know you are a shrewd
+man, and the Yankees, they tell me, are very inventive; so, now, here
+is a chance to exercise your wits."
+
+"Blamed if I don't do it." He thought a moment, then struck his knee
+hard. "You've hit it; the bracelet will do the business. That's a happy
+thought. The old squaw can help us out."
+
+Marianne clapped her hands. "To be sure, and that will carry out my
+first plan. Let me tell you about it. I started out one day, thinking
+I would go to the Indian village and see if I could get some paint and
+things to disguise my father, and then I thought he could at least
+escape from the house undetected. I thought we would dress up like
+Indians, he and I, and escape to the woods and hide there, and maybe
+we could avoid the pickets and get across the river in some way. I was
+going to offer the bracelet to the Indians; for father told me it was
+not a common thing, and that it might be of use some day. I hadn't
+quite settled it all, for I fell into a bog, and since then they have
+not let me go off by myself."
+
+Asa regarded her admiringly. "You've got a headpiece, and I guess two
+heads is better than one, if one is a pumpkin head. You've got the
+right idear, and we'll work on that, and see how's the best way to
+carry it out."
+
+"It must be soon, for my brother is responsible for my father. He is
+his prisoner."
+
+Asa stared. "What ye talking about? Yer brother?"
+
+"Yes, my brother is on the enemy's side. He belongs to the militia;
+and it was he who found my father wounded, and rescued him from
+the Indians. I should hate to have any trouble come to Royal, but
+father must be helped away. Do you suppose they would think Royal had
+contrived his father's escape? He has given his word that he will
+deliver him up when it is required of him, and my grandmother, too,
+promised that he should be guarded as any other prisoner. It was only
+on that account that they were allowed to take him to her house."
+
+"We'll have to see into that. You're like that old fellow we used to
+read about when I was a little chap: avoidin' Scylly he fell onto
+Charybdus." He leaned back against his pile of hay, and meditatively
+pulled his beard, much the color of the hay itself. Presently he began
+to chuckle to himself. "That would be a joke," he said, "a big joke."
+He wagged his head in enjoyment of the thought. "Brother's in militia?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"'Spose they ever give him picket dooty?"
+
+"I suppose so. Yes, I am sure of it."
+
+"Wal, if fortune favors us, and we happen on a dark night, we might
+be able to kill two birds with one stone. I'd like nawthin' better.
+Jeehosophat! but that would be fun. Now, sissy, you keep quiet, and
+to-morrer I'll come along 'bout this time. Meanwhile, I'll see the
+old Injun woman, and mebbe we kin git this straightened out. She done
+me a good turn oncet upon a time,--cured me up with her yarbs,--and I
+happened to be able to do her son a favor, so we keep on tryin' to git
+quits; and this time she thinks she's in my debt, and if I promise that
+bracelet, I guess that will clinch matters."
+
+Marianne arose to her feet. "Then I will trust it all to you."
+
+"Ye kin."
+
+"I know I can." She held out her hand, and the old man took it
+gingerly, but did not fail to give it a squeeze before he dropped it.
+
+"Call yer young man, and I'll git out," he said.
+
+Victor obediently appeared at Marianne's summons. He had been patiently
+sitting up in the loft with his hat full of eggs. "You did find some;
+that's good," said Marianne, in a satisfied tone. "You may bring them
+in for me, and don't, for your life, let any one know that we did not
+hunt them together; and keep it a dead secret about Asa Peaslee."
+
+"What about the bracelet?"
+
+"Oh, the old squaw wanted to get it back again, that was all."
+
+"Did you let him have it?"
+
+"No, Asa is going to see what she will give for it, and will let me
+know to-morrow."
+
+All the next day Marianne was excited and watchful. As evening
+approached, she waited her chance to make an excuse to absent herself
+from the house. Victor, her usual willing cat's-paw, was busy in the
+garden. She would fain have offered to go and help him, but she had
+never been too ready with such offers, and she would best not do
+anything to arouse suspicion. She knew that Roy and Jack might appear
+that day, and she had set Victor upon the watch for them. There were
+no eggs needed? Yes, there should be. She would see to it that there
+were; and before the afternoon was over, there was a crash in the
+pantry, an exclamation of dismay, and Marianne appeared at the door,
+crying out: "Oh, grandmamma, I have overturned the egg basket in trying
+to reach the top shelf, and alas! I have broken every egg. Was ever
+such an unfortunate? It is all due to my being such a mite. If I had
+been taller, I would not have had to stand upon that treacherous stool.
+What shall I do? I will clear up the mess at once; but there will be no
+eggs for supper, and you had promised my father one of your own best
+omelets. Is it not unfortunate?"
+
+She seemed so genuinely distressed that her grandmother tried to
+comfort her. "Never mind, my child. Of course, one is sorry for such a
+waste, but there are others to be found, I have no doubt, and your only
+punishment shall be that you go and hunt for them."
+
+"That I will do gladly," replied Marianne, brightening up.
+
+"I will help you," Victorine volunteered.
+
+"Oh, I can never allow that," Marianne hastened to say. "You are
+too good, Victorine. I ought to do it all by myself for having been
+so naughty and careless. If I allow any one to help me, it shall be
+Victor, for it is partly his fault; he should have made a better stool."
+
+"True enough," put in Madame Desvouges, well pleased. "You have a cold,
+Victorine; I would not go out in this keen air."
+
+So Marianne made her escape unsuspected and found Asa waiting for her,
+as before. "Wal, you don't keep a feller long coolin' his heels," was
+his greeting, "and it's well you don't, for we've got to make hay while
+the sun shines. Ye see, grandma and brother and them mustn't know, or
+else it may be wuss for 'em. Me an' them Injuns hev concocted a plan.
+Old squaw wunt leave a stone unturned to git back that jig-a-me-rig
+armlet, so says I, 'Ef you help me to git a man back to his hairth and
+hum, the bracelet you shell have, as sure as my name's Asy Peaslee.'
+An' I says to Fire-Eyes,--that's the old woman's son, 'We'll call it
+quits if you git us all over safe.' So here's the scheme: About dark
+this evening you and pop steals out of the house and meets me here.
+I've got stuff to rig you up Injun shape, and we'll go along, striking
+into the woods unmolested. Pop kin walk a bit, I s'pose. Ain't too
+weak?"
+
+"No, I think not. He grows stronger all the time, but has pretended
+weakness that he might still remain here, and does not venture beyond
+the gate. He has orders to keep within bounds. We think it is intended
+that he shall be sent to Quebec or elsewhere with the next company of
+prisoners sent."
+
+"Pray God there'll be no next ones," remarked Asa, fervently. "Wal,
+then, we're all right if we don't git nabbed. Pop kin talk Injun, I
+guess. I see some of them red cattle comin' in here yist'day."
+
+"Yes, they come with various things to sell."
+
+"That's good. We'll pretend we have various things to sell if we meet
+up with any Britishers. Now all you've got to do is to make your chance
+to git out here, and leave the rest to me. We'll flank them pickets and
+git acrost, for it's goin' to be a dark night, no moon and cloudy. Now
+run in, or they'll suspicion ye."
+
+"I've got to hunt for eggs; that is my excuse."
+
+"I'll help ye. I guess nob'dy is better at findin' things than Asy
+Peaslee." He was as good as his word, and was not many minutes in
+finding a nest of eggs, which he made over to Marianne, who ran quickly
+to the house with them.
+
+It required some contriving to arrange it so that her father could
+leave the house unobserved. First Marianne must find a chance to
+give him a whispered account of her interview with Asa. Then Mr.
+Reyburn declared that he must not leave his wife, and Marianne was in
+a quandary. "I don't want to leave mother, either," she said. "But,
+father, if you are carried off and should be sent to England to prison,
+you would have to leave her, and in much worse manner. We will find a
+way for her to come to us; and if she knew, she would feel that her
+mother ought to be told, so you see--you know how it would be."
+
+Her father nodded. "I see, but it seems a cowardly thing to leave
+women behind to bear the brunt of my escape."
+
+"You would do worse to bear the brunt of your being carried off. This
+is much less dreadful. Do, dearest father, consent. The time is short,
+and mother will be so glad to know that you are safe at home. She would
+stand by you, of course, if she knew, but she is excitable, and could
+not keep it to herself. Every one would know that something unusual was
+on hand."
+
+At last Mr. Reyburn was won over, and consented to announce that he
+would take a nap, and being left alone would climb out the window, his
+room being on the ground floor, and would meet Marianne in the barn. To
+Marianne's relief all went well so far, and if Mrs. Reyburn wondered
+why her husband and daughter were so unusually affectionate to her when
+she left the latter to cover up her father for his proposed nap, she
+ceased to wonder when she found the note which announced their flight.
+Yet, good woman that she was, she did not tell her secret that night,
+and rejoiced rather than regretted their going, being anxious only that
+they should reach their destination in safety.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII
+
+                      _An Exchange of Prisoners_
+
+
+It was dark when two figures clad in Indian garb stole out of Madame
+Desvouges's barn, and under cover of the shadows of evening were able
+to get to the woods without discovery. Asa Peaslee, startlingly arrayed
+in the red coat of a British soldier, met them. "We were so afraid
+Victor or some one would come into the barn while we were getting
+ready," said Marianne, in a hysterical whisper. "We were going to hide
+in the hay if we heard any one, but as good luck had it, not a soul saw
+us except the old white horse. Do you think we shall get through all
+right?"
+
+"As long as we are out of the way of the patrol, we needn't fear," Asa
+told her. "We've got some weapons hid up here in the hollow, and we'd
+ought to be able to defend ourselves against more than one man. If any
+one must bite the dust, it will have to be the Britisher."
+
+They followed along, one after the other, Indian fashion, through the
+dark woods, Asa leading the way. It seemed a grewsome journey to
+Marianne, used, though she was, to forest ways. When they had reached
+a certain hollow tree, Asa stopped and drew from it a rifle, which he
+handed to Mr. Reyburn. Then he gave Marianne a pistol, saying, "I guess
+you know how to use that when occasion requires."
+
+The girl in her deerskins, looking like a funny little Indian lad,
+stuck the pistol in her belt and replied: "I don't believe I shall need
+any one to show me how to aim straight, but I am not sure whether my
+courage will hold out, if it is light enough to see the thing at which
+I must shoot."
+
+"I guess when it comes to a question of self-defence, you'll be all
+right," Asa remarked,--an answer which did not add to Marianne's peace
+of mind.
+
+After keeping to the road for some time they struck into the road
+leading to St. David's, and finally made the branch road, which would
+take them to the Heights. At the angle of these roads stood the remnant
+of the Hamilton house, battered by the American guns on the day of the
+battle of Queenston. "There is a battery not far off," said Asa, under
+his breath; "we must fight shy of that, and get down the cliffs as best
+we can. You can manage it, I hope, sir."
+
+"I managed to climb up, and I've no doubt I can climb down again,"
+replied Mr. Reyburn, grimly; and the scramble down the steep cliffs
+began,--an almost perpendicular climb, rendered possible only by the
+presence of the trees and bushes which held fast to the crannies of the
+rocks. Yet a dangerous way it was, for a misstep might hurl one into
+the rapidly flowing river beneath. They were about halfway down, when
+from the dimness came a voice: "Halt! Who goes there?" The snapping of
+the branches had betrayed them.
+
+"A friend," replied Asa. "Go on," he called as loudly as he dared to
+his companions. "We're all right."
+
+"Advance friend, and give the countersign," said the voice they had
+heard.
+
+"It's easy enough to say advance," said Asa, "but when a fellow has
+lost his way in the dark, advancin' ain't so easy, but I'll give the
+countersign all right, if you'll trust to the advancin' bein' down
+hill."
+
+There came a chuckle from the dimness. "Go ahead, I'll take the
+countersign," returned the voice, and Asa proceeded to give it. He
+stood still for a moment after, and muttered to himself, "I'd like
+plaguey well to know if that fellow's above or below."
+
+The voice of the patrol continued, "Just follow this light and you'll
+be all right." A bit of a flame flashed out, and Asa, by its light saw
+that by their circuitous route they had come very near to the battery.
+He proceeded to scramble down the rocks as fast as possible. "Hold
+there!" cried the patrol. "You're going the wrong way." Another flash
+showed him Asa's red coat; and, seeing that the man had no idea of
+advancing in his direction, the patrol called again, "Halt there, will
+you!"
+
+"Halt yourself!" shouted back Asa.
+
+"You're trying to desert!" shouted the patrol, and his rifle rang out
+upon the air, the bullet passing close to Asa's head. The pedler dodged
+behind a tree, and gave an answering shot. There was the sound of a
+falling body which came crashing through the bushes, rolling past the
+pedler, and on down the cliff. Then there came a startled scream from
+below, and in a moment Asa had scrambled down almost to the river,
+to find upon a small abutment, Mr. Reyburn and Marianne, the latter
+clinging to her father. Just above in the bushes lay the body of the
+man who had rolled down the cliff, and who was stopped from going
+farther by a thick clump of undergrowth.
+
+"You've struck the exact spot," announced Asa. He gave a low whistle,
+followed by a peculiar call, and over the edge of the jutting rock came
+the head of the Indian, Fire-Eyes. He actively scrambled upon the place
+where the others were standing, and waited orders.
+
+A slight groan came from the man in the bushes. "Oh," cried Marianne,
+"he is alive. Don't leave him here to die."
+
+"We'll take him, too," returned Asa; "the more the merrier. This isn't
+bad; two prisoners for our side. You've got the other fellow?" he asked
+the Indian.
+
+Fire-Eyes signified that he had, and then Marianne was lifted down into
+the boat, rocking on the river. She was grasped by the sinewy arms of
+the Indian squaw. Next came Mr. Reyburn, and then the wounded man; last
+of all, Asa and the Indian.
+
+"We've one more passenger than we bargained for," said Asa, "but I
+guess we'll get over all right."
+
+Marianne perceived that there was with them a man gagged and bound;
+she wondered how he happened to be there. To this man Asa presently
+addressed himself: "Soon's we git over, young man, we'll take that
+bandage off your mouth. I dunno's there's anything I'd hate wuss'n
+hevin' to keep my mouth shet," he added, chuckling softly.
+
+The muffled oars made no sound, and at last they were safely landed,
+the willing and the unwilling prisoners.
+
+Marianne, half bewildered, stumbled along in the darkness. Once during
+the silent walk the old squaw laid hold of the girl's wrist, and gave
+a grunt of satisfaction as she felt the presence of the bracelet.
+Marianne loosened the trinket and handed it to her. She received it
+without a word, and stowed it away in her bosom. Fire-Eyes and the
+little pedler bore the body of the wounded man, and Mr. Reyburn kept a
+close grasp upon the shoulder of the other prisoner. Asa had removed
+his coat and tossed it back into the boat, saying: "If we come across
+any of our Yankee brethren, they shan't take me for a blamed Britisher.
+I'm about as ready to keep out of the way of my own countrymen as I was
+out of the enemy's. What you want to do, Mr. Reyburn, is to make tracks
+for home as quick as you kin. We want to git this man somewhere and the
+gal, too. You know the way better'n I do; s'pose you lead. Keep a tight
+holt on your man. You kin trot him into camp in the morning if you want
+to, but we ain't goin' to let him give us the slip to-night if we kin
+help it." The warning was needed, for more than once the prisoner tried
+to wrench himself from the grasp of his warder; and seeing this, the
+old squaw lent her strength to the holding of the fellow.
+
+It was a tedious and exhausting journey which at last brought them into
+the road leading to the Reyburn farm. They had encountered no patrol on
+this side, though the camp-fires gleamed along the foot of the cliffs.
+The Indian's sharp eyes had been on the look-out before they landed,
+and he had discovered the form of a picket to the right of them. The
+boat was then directed a little farther up-stream, and being favored by
+the darkness, they were able to get under shadow of some bushes before
+the man on picket duty could come that way again.
+
+"The dark's a good friend when you want to keep out of sight," said
+Asa, "but I'm blest if I wouldn't like a little more light to travel
+home by; I'd like to borry a camp-fire for a while."
+
+Long and wearisome as the journey was, they came to the end of it at
+last, and Marianne was glad enough to see the familiar landmarks, and
+to hear the barking of old Towser, who came bounding out to meet them,
+and after sniffing around, yelped with joy, and jumped against one and
+another, nearly knocking Marianne down in his delight. His barking and
+yelping brought some one to the window. "Shut up there, Towser! Who's
+there?" came from a door hastily opened.
+
+"Let us in, Jerusha," replied Mr. Reyburn. The man under his grasp made
+a quick movement.
+
+"No, you don't, my fine sir," Asa exclaimed. "We've got you this far
+with some trouble to ourselves, and we'll keep you now."
+
+"It is I, Walter Reyburn," said Mr. Reyburn in answer to the query from
+the doorway. "I have some friends with me; you needn't be afraid to let
+us all in."
+
+There was an ejaculation of surprise, but the door opened wider, and
+a lank figure with a candle peered out. "Bless my soul!" exclaimed
+Jerusha, "you could have knocked me down with a feather when I heard
+your voice, Mr. Reyburn. Which are you?" She peered around at the
+various faces, holding the candle so it would fall on each in turn.
+
+"I'm here, all right," replied Mr. Reyburn, grimly, "though I'm not
+surprised that you don't recognize me in this rig. I'm a big Injun,
+Jerusha," and he laughed. It was good to feel himself at liberty again.
+
+To his laugh Jerusha responded by a dry cackle. "That's proof positive,
+Mr. Reyburn. Come right in, sir." She held the door wide open, and they
+passed through, Asa and the Indian, Fire-Eyes, depositing their burden
+on the floor.
+
+"Not there," exclaimed Marianne, "put him on the settle."
+
+Jerusha stared at the little figure in deerskins. "Why, land sakes! if
+that ain't Mary Anne. Why, I want to know!"
+
+"Yes, it is I, you dear old Jerusha." She hugged the lank figure, in
+her joy at seeing her again. "Here, Jerusha," she said, as soon as she
+had finished her embrace, "help me to get our man here safely looked
+after. I do not know how badly he is hurt."
+
+"You go 'long," said Jerusha. "I'll attend to him. I guess I'm capable
+of it."
+
+Meantime Mr. Reyburn and the others were busy in securing the other
+prisoner. "We'll take off this bandage, and make him comfortable,"
+said Asa. He lifted the man's fur cap from his head, and untied the
+handkerchief which covered his mouth. As the dim light of the candle
+disclosed his features, Marianne gave a cry of surprise, "Father!
+Father! It is Royal!"
+
+"Wal, I'll be switched!" exclaimed Asa; "if that ain't what you might
+call a coincidence, I'm a sinner. 'Tain't your brother?"
+
+"It is, it is!" Marianne's arms were around him. "Oh, you poor Royal,
+you've been bandaged up all this time and couldn't speak a word. If we
+had only known who it was, do you suppose I would have allowed you to
+come this distance without saying a word to me? Did you know us?"
+
+"Not for some time," he replied doggedly.
+
+"Mary Anne," came Jerusha's sharp voice. "This here man's in want of
+more attention than your brother. I want you should go and get me some
+bandages. There's some in the chist in the upper room."
+
+"Is he badly hurt?" asked Marianne, as she took up the candle to light
+her way.
+
+"He's not so terrible hurt, as near as I kin make out; but he's been
+bleedin' pretty freely, and he's faint. I'd like a little spirits for
+him, Mr. Reyburn. Never mind, Mary Anne can get me some."
+
+Marianne went off to obey directions. Meantime father and son faced
+each other. "If I had known it was you, sir," said Mr. Reyburn, "I am
+not so sure that I could have held you with a pistol in my other hand,
+ready to blow your brains out if you got the best of me."
+
+Royal made no reply, only stood with head thrown back and defiance
+written on his face. His father turned on his heel. "We must keep a
+watch over him," he said. "Where is Mark?"
+
+"It is Royal Reyburn, your son, sir," said Jerusha, turning from the
+man to whom she was ministering.
+
+"I know it," was the answer, "but he is none the less a prisoner,
+captured in the service of the enemy."
+
+By this time Marianne had returned with the bottle of spirits and some
+bandages. She was at no loss to find things in this her own home. She
+leaned over the man lying white and still on the settle, and seeing him
+for the first time she gave a little smothered cry, then she cried,
+"Oh, father, Royal, it is Jack,--poor Jack Silverthorn! What a strange,
+strange fatality! My brother and his best friend our prisoners. Yet I
+am glad, glad that we are the ones to take them."
+
+"Who is the man?" asked her father, coming up.
+
+"It is Jack Silverthorn."
+
+"A friend of yours?"
+
+"Yes,--I mean, no. He is a friend of mine, and yet he is an enemy. I
+know his sisters, and I am very fond of them; so for their sakes I am
+glad their brother has fallen into our hands,--though, to be sure," she
+added, "he wouldn't have been hurt but for us."
+
+"The man shall be made as comfortable as possible," returned her
+father. "Jerusha will not let him suffer for want of nursing. But
+Marianne, my child, you must go to bed. You can leave the patient and
+the rest of us to Jerusha's good graces."
+
+"You must go to bed, too," said the girl, tenderly. "I do not see how
+you have held out so bravely when you are not as strong as you ought to
+be. You will remain here with us," she continued, turning to Asa and
+the two Indians.
+
+"I guess I know when I'm well off," Asa replied; "but these two friends
+of mine say they must go back to-night. I'm well content to stay where
+I am."
+
+"Won't you stay?" Marianne asked the Indians. "You will be very
+welcome."
+
+But they thought it safer to return, as they had come, in the darkness,
+although Mr. Reyburn added his invitation to Marianne's. They responded
+gravely to all expressions of gratitude, assuring the family of their
+friendship and promising to remember that the hospitality of the house
+was open to them.
+
+"We are quits, though," Asa told Fire-Eyes. "I don't forget that." But
+the old squaw shook her head, and produced the bracelet as a token that
+she felt there was still an obligation on her side. At last, after
+many ceremonious speeches and an exchange of grave farewells, the two
+Indians glided out into the night, leaving the others safe indoors.
+
+It was strange, indeed, to Marianne to sleep under her own roof again,
+brought thither through such peculiar circumstances. What a twist of
+fortune's wheel, that had made her brother her father's prisoner, after
+the latter had been in the hands of the enemy and had escaped. She
+was not quite sure of Asa's part in the capture of her brother, and
+determined to ask him about it. She did this later, but received no
+satisfaction, though if the truth had been known, it was he who planned
+that Royal should be taken by Fire-Eyes as the lad was returning from a
+visit from the Silverthorn's. He thought it a huge joke, did Asa, but
+he would not tell Marianne of it. After her thoughts had dwelt upon
+Royal for a while, Marianne began thinking of Jack. She wondered if he
+suffered much. Would he be very angry with them all when he learned how
+he had been fired upon in the discharge of his duty? She was very sorry
+for his sisters, who would be distressed over his condition. She cared
+more for their feelings than for his, for they were innocent, and he
+had been an enemy. She would like to get word to Kate and Sue. Perhaps
+Asa would help her do that, and send a message to her mother, too.
+The tears came to her eyes as she thought of her mother. She wondered
+if she were lying wide awake, worrying over her beloved ones. Excited
+as Marianne was, she was so weary in mind and body that she soon fell
+asleep, the thought of her mother her last conscious one.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII
+
+                           _Friend or Enemy_
+
+
+When she awoke the next morning and saw her familiar surroundings, for
+a moment Marianne forgot that she had been from home all these weeks;
+but gradually the events of the night before came back clearly, and
+she sprang out of bed, remembering that Jerusha would need her help.
+She found this maid of all work had already a good fire started, and
+was stirring around, making breakfast ready. "What can I do, Jerusha?"
+Marianne asked.
+
+"You can go and see if the men folks are getting up; and if they are,
+you might ask that little whiffet of a pedler how the wounded boy is,
+and if he can eat any breakfast. I ain't had time to see to him this
+morning, and I don't know as I need to. They was all quiet when I got
+up. I listened at the door, and I didn't hear nothin' but a snore."
+
+"Where is father?"
+
+"Land! he was up and off before daybreak! He ain't going to let grass
+grow under his feet when it comes to getting back to camp. He said last
+night that he wouldn't be back to breakfast."
+
+Leaving Jerusha vigorously stirring up a johnny-cake, Marianne went to
+the door of the room where the three men were, and timidly knocked. The
+door was opened by Asa, who was keeping cheerful watch over the two
+prisoners. On the bed lay Jack, laughing, actually laughing, at some
+of Asa's witticisms. Marianne stood still in the doorway, surprised at
+this levity on the part of the wounded prisoner.
+
+"Come in," called Jack, cheerfully. "Isn't this a huge joke? Peaslee
+has been telling me about it."
+
+"I don't see the joke," said Royal, looking grum.
+
+"Roy has no sense of humor," Jack went on. "For my part, I think it is
+the funniest thing I've heard for many a long day. You must have been
+surprised when you got here and saw who your prisoners were."
+
+"It was owing to the dark that we didn't know sooner," Marianne
+replied. "I don't see now why we didn't recognize Royal; but he had no
+chance to speak, and I was so scared, and altogether we didn't seem
+to have our wits about us. Are you much hurt?" She felt a little more
+kindly disposed toward this young man, now he was helpless.
+
+"No, not so much," Jack made reply. "I was stunned by the bullet, and I
+got a rough tumbling rolling down hill; but, beyond a few bruises and a
+sprained ankle, I'm not so badly off. Asa says your father has gone to
+see if we can be set free on parole."
+
+"Oh, then will you stay here?" She turned to Royal.
+
+"Not necessarily," he replied. "I, for one, am not willing to promise
+not to take up arms again."
+
+"Nonsense!" broke in Jack. "I am willing enough to do it; and,
+moreover, I don't object to staying where I am. I should think you'd be
+glad enough of your luck, Roy, when here's your home, and you've a good
+excuse for not fighting against your people. You've shown your colors,
+and that's all that is necessary for you to do. So far as that goes, if
+it hadn't been for grandfather's being so set upon my joining the army,
+I don't believe I should have done it; at least, not till things were
+a little more lively. I suppose you think I would have been perfectly
+right if I had remained a neutral, Miss Marianne."
+
+"I don't like half-hearted people," she replied coldly. Then she added:
+"I came up to see if you could eat any breakfast."
+
+"I? Oh, yes. Can't I?" He turned to Asa.
+
+"I'd be a little keerful," returned the pedler. "A bit of porridge,
+maybe, with a little milk."
+
+"Porridge!" Jack made a wry face. "I'm not a baby."
+
+"You've a bit of fever," Asa warned him.
+
+"Jerusha will fix you up something, if there's anything to be had,"
+Marianne promised him. She felt her responsibility with a sick man in
+the house. So she bustled about, and hunted here and there till she
+was able to provide a couple of poached eggs for Jack; and Jerusha had
+made ready quite an abundant meal for the others, for Mark had started
+out early, and had brought in some game to supply the larder. It was
+well he did, and that Jerusha was capable of exhibiting her merits as a
+cook, for Mr. Reyburn came in just before the meal was ready, and with
+him was no less a person than the colonel of his regiment. He was quite
+a young man, but tall and distinguished looking, and he met the little
+frontier maid with all the courtesy in the world. "So this," he said,
+"is the young lady of whom you were telling me, and to whom the success
+of your escape is due."
+
+[Illustration: "'_This ... is the young lady of whom you were telling
+me._'"]
+
+"Oh, no," returned the blushing Marianne, "not to me, for it was Asa
+Peaslee and his Indian friends who carried out the plan."
+
+"But it was your plan, to begin with," insisted the colonel. "Now about
+these prisoners of yours, Miss Reyburn; since they are young, and don't
+know any better, I think we shall have to release them on parole. I
+have consulted the general, and that is his opinion. Will that suit
+you?"
+
+"Indeed, yes."
+
+"You are specially interested in them, of course."
+
+"In my brother, of course, sir; and as the other is the brother of some
+very good friends of mine, I should like to see him receive the same
+generous treatment."
+
+"Only because he is the brother of your friends?" said the colonel,
+quizzically.
+
+Marianne drew herself up to the full extent of her height. "That is the
+only reason. Do you suppose I could have any other with regard to one
+who is my country's enemy?"
+
+The colonel laughed, and asked to see this terrible foe. Jack, with his
+boyish face and his bandaged head, did not seem very formidable; and he
+was so ready to give his word not to take arms within the time proposed
+by the colonel, that there was no trouble at all in settling his case.
+Royal was more stubborn; yet there was something in the dignified
+courtesy of the colonel, something in the half sarcastic way in which
+he referred to the lad's birthplace, to his ancestry, and his father's
+loyalty to his country, that finally broke down the boy's obduracy,
+and he confessed that it was not so much a matter of principle as of
+bravado which had caused him to take the other side, and he gave his
+parole with Jack.
+
+"Then you are safe not to fight against your country for a year," said
+the colonel. "At the end of that time you may see more clearly that it
+would not show a lack of manhood to fight for her."
+
+Royal made no reply, but accepted with a good grace the colonel's
+advice to stay at home quietly. It is doubtful if he had been quite so
+ready to accept the situation, if his father had been present at the
+interview; but he with good judgment stayed away, and, indeed, Royal
+did not see him again till the matter was half-forgotten.
+
+He rode back to camp with the colonel, but not before he had had a talk
+with Marianne. "I think it is best for all concerned that I remain at
+camp," he told her. "I shall, perhaps, be able some day to tell my son
+that I am not ungrateful to him for having saved my life, but now does
+not seem the best time for it."
+
+"He wasn't in a very good humor this morning," Marianne confessed. "I
+suppose he thinks you had something to do with his capture."
+
+"Well, you can tell him I didn't. It's best that we should not meet for
+a time, and I can leave, feeling secure in your safety. I hope we can
+get your mother home before long."
+
+"And I, too. Jerusha is very capable, but one does want one's own
+mother."
+
+"Yes, I can well imagine that. I want her, too. Jerusha will attend to
+our wounded man; you will not have anything to do there."
+
+"He isn't very badly hurt. I thought he must be, at first. I should
+like to get word to his family."
+
+"Asa tells me that he sent them a message by Fire-Eyes."
+
+"That was thoughtful of him. He is such a funny, queer old fellow, that
+Asa; but I think he has a very good heart."
+
+Mr. Reyburn smiled. "Yes, he is a queer Dick, but he is all right. Now
+I must be off, daughter. I see the colonel coming. Do the best you can,
+and if I don't see you soon, I will let you hear from me." He rode off,
+and Marianne returned to the house feeling rather disappointed that her
+father was not to be on hand to consult, and to direct affairs.
+
+She found her days passed busily enough. There was more or less
+excitement at this time, for there was the constant expectation of
+an attack upon the British from the Americans, and, indeed, several
+abortive attempts to advance upon Canada were made. There were days
+when the thunder of guns from the batteries on one side or the other
+of the river, struck terror to those living near by; but little was
+accomplished beyond the destruction of some stores at Black Rock
+and the injuries to General Porter's house, in which he made his
+headquarters, being then in command of a body of New York militia.
+
+Had she willed it otherwise, Marianne at that time had few moments for
+Jack, a fact of which he complained, but only laughed good-naturedly
+when she remarked severely that he was treated a thousand times better
+than he deserved, and that a prisoner, even on parole, could not expect
+more than toleration from his enemies. "Are you really my enemy?" Jack
+would ask, and Marianne with dignity would tell him that she most
+decidedly was.
+
+The noise of the cannonading brought war almost to their very door,
+and gave Marianne a big scare, but Royal and Jack laughed at her
+fears, and Jerusha tried to comfort her by saying that death must
+come to all, and those that took the sword must expect to die by the
+sword; consequently, she had no reason to expect death from a cannon
+ball. Rather peculiar logic, but it had a certain effect. Jerusha, be
+it said, was a real comfort. She had been with the family for some
+fifteen years, having first appeared at Madame Desvouges's, where she
+applied for work, and later she was taken into the Reyburn family.
+She had little to tell of herself. She was originally from Maine, and
+had married a Canadian, whom the Reyburns supposed to have been a
+worthless sort of fellow. Jerusha, however, seldom made references to
+her past life, but she had a fine scorn of men in general. She was
+brusque of manner, plain of speech, energetic, capable and trustworthy
+to a degree, and quite content and grateful for the home offered
+her. She was specially fond of Marianne, whom she always called Mary
+Anne, to the girl's discontent. Whether Jerusha preferred the name,
+or whether she used it from a grim sense of humor and a desire not
+to cater to small vanities, no one ever knew. She was in her element
+with the responsibility of the housekeeping and a sick man to look
+after; for the greater call upon her, the better she liked it. Though
+usually a taciturn and rather melancholy person, her spirits rose in
+an emergency; and the more depressed were those around her, the more
+cheerful she became, accentuating her speech with trite maxims and
+quotations from Scripture.
+
+It was one day when Marianne felt particularly despondent that
+Jerusha's prophecies came really true. All the morning Marianne had
+complained of loneliness, seemed possessed of forebodings, and longed
+for her mother, and Jerusha had answered her with, "It's always darkest
+before day" and "Every cloud has a silver lining," concluding with
+"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver
+him out of them all."
+
+"I'm afraid I'm not very righteous, then," said Marianne, petulantly.
+
+"Now, Mary Anne, don't you go speaking lightly of Scripture," Jerusha
+chided her by saying. "I guess we all fall short, if it comes to that.
+I ain't a saint, but the Lord has delivered me from the hand of the
+ungodly. This is a vale of tears, to be sure, but sometimes them very
+tears waters joy and gladness. I rather guess your ma's more anxious to
+see you 'n you are to see her."
+
+"If she were, she'd try and come home."
+
+"Now, that's what I call right down undutiful," returned Jerusha.
+"You'll forget your fifth commandment next. There's your brother
+removed from the device of the enemy, and your father freed from the
+pit digged for him, and you're safe and sound. What's the use of
+complaining? Count your mercies, child; count 'em over."
+
+Marianne leaned her head against the woman's shoulder. "But I am
+homesick for mother."
+
+"I guess you ain't the only one's been homesick in her life," returned
+Jerusha, giving a vicious dig to the pumpkin she was paring. "There's
+some that never expects to git a sight of their home ag'in, and they
+live and move and have their bein' just the same. Your mother'll come
+when you ain't looking for her."
+
+And sure enough, about dusk the very next evening, who should appear
+but Mrs. Reyburn, laughing, crying, chattering half in French, half
+in English: "Nomme de Grace! but I am glad to embrace you again, my
+daughter. Ciel! but I have a mind not to love you at all. Oui, ma
+chère, vous êtes mechante to steal away from your poor mother in such
+fashion. Grand'mère, how she was mystified, and how she was outraged
+that you did not confide in her! As for me, I wept tears, such tears
+that my pillow was damp from them. But they send love, all. And Victor,
+he goes about as a sick owl. Royal we have not seen at all. I know
+not where he is. We are afraid he has been made responsible for your
+father's escape. I am anxious, yet I make my first opportunity to come
+over, and here I am."
+
+"Oh, mother, mother, but I am glad to see you," Marianne murmured,
+patting her face. "And yes, I forgot, you did not know; Royal is here."
+
+"Mon Dieu!" screamed Mrs. Reyburn, raising her hands. "My son is here?"
+
+"Yes." Marianne told her the story, concluding with: "Mother dear, it
+is well you have come home, for you see we need you, and besides, you
+are forgetting your English which you spoke so well."
+
+"Naughty child, I do not forget."
+
+"But you are speaking French half the time, and the other half it is
+with the accent of my grandmother."
+
+Mrs. Reyburn laughed. "It is because I am excited. I will soon become
+accustomed to my English, now I am at home." But the hands went up
+again. "Tiens! I have forgot. Our guest, where is she?"
+
+"She? Who is she? You mean, I think, the wounded Jack Silverthorn."
+
+"No, no; I did not tell you in my joy to embrace you again. It is the
+sister of your wounded prisoner, your Silverthorn. She came with me. It
+was she who procured the passes through the lines, that she might come
+and see her brother."
+
+"Kate, or Sue, is it?"
+
+"The one called Kate. I left her with her brother, whom we found on the
+porch outside, too late in the evening for a man who has been ill, I
+thought. I sent them inside, and there they must be now."
+
+"Then I must go to her at once. I am very glad to have dear Kate. Ah,
+but I am happy now, with my mother and my good friend of whom I am so
+fond. Dearest mother, if you but knew how mother-sick I have been."
+
+Her mother gathered her again in her arms, and they stood in a silent
+embrace for a moment. Then Marianne withdrew herself and said, "I must
+go and give Kate a welcome, but I shall not stay long, for I want to
+hear all you have to tell me."
+
+She found Kate in animated conversation with Jack. "Am I not an
+impertinent piece?" Kate cried. "I invite myself here without so much
+as a 'by your leave.' But the message alarmed us so! The Indian brought
+it, you know, and we felt sure that Jack must be much worse than he
+said; but see him, as lively as a cricket! Sue at first insisted that
+she would come, but she gave in when grandfather said that she was
+halfway an American already, and we might count upon never seeing her
+again if she once escaped to this side. Behind his back she told me
+that she thought after all that I might as well come and learn her way
+of thinking, which speech, if grandfather had heard, he would have
+scolded her well for."
+
+"You would both have been welcome," Marianne assured her, "and now
+we have one of you here, we will try to keep you till you do become
+Americanized. Your brother does not need much nursing. His sprained
+ankle seems now to be the worst of his troubles, and it is but a
+question of time when that will be well. Royal and Jerusha and Asa
+Peaslee have been his nurses, so he has not lacked for attention, I can
+assure you."
+
+"Royal?" The color flamed up into Kate's cheeks, and she stooped over
+to caress a purring cat which had followed Marianne into the room.
+
+"Yes, Royal. You didn't know he was here?"
+
+"No, I hadn't heard," Kate returned, in a low voice. "We had not seen
+him, but that was not strange, seeing that Jack was away from home;
+and, besides, a soldier's duties make him rather an uncertain visitor."
+She was a little confused, but quickly regained her composure, and then
+Marianne bore her off to her own little room in a corner of the sloping
+roof, and there they chattered as girls will, till Marianne, jumping
+up, declared that she was neglecting her duties, and would Kate come
+with her to the kitchen.
+
+A big cheerful room it was, with white-washed walls, great open
+fireplace, and well-scrubbed floor. Mrs. Reyburn was already bustling
+about, exclaiming at this and that thing, and excusing all deficiencies
+upon the ground of her absence. "Not that you and Jerusha have not done
+famously," she said to Marianne, "but I see many things to be made
+ready for winter. My faith! but I am glad to be at home again, with my
+husband safe and both my children beside me."
+
+"And other people's children as well," put in Kate. "You are very good
+to take us in, but I really see no reason why we should remain long to
+burden your hospitality, for Jack is comparatively well now, though the
+hypocrite pretends he is not." She looked up lovingly at her brother,
+who had followed the girls into the kitchen, using a crutch to assist
+him.
+
+"Comparatively well," he repeated. "If you had been knocked over by
+a bullet, and sent rolling down a cliff, banging your head and arms
+and legs against every tree in your way, I don't believe you'd call
+yourself comparatively well for a year."
+
+"A year! Am I given to suppose that you mean to stay here a year?" Kate
+asked.
+
+"I'll stay here as long as they'll keep me," returned Jack, with a
+laugh. "There's no use in going home when I can't fight; besides, I am
+told our troops are half starved and half clothed. Do you imagine I
+could think of going with that ragout of Mrs. Reyburn's in my nostrils?"
+
+They all laughed, and Marianne declared that since it was all a matter
+of loaves and fishes, and though the Bible said, that if our enemy
+hungered, we should feed him, yet she thought that Master Silverthorn
+might have found a better excuse for staying. Whereupon Jack told
+her that he had excuse enough, which he had more than once sought to
+reveal to her, but that she would not hear it. Marianne tossed her
+head impatiently at this and announced that it was her intention to go
+immediately to the dairy, and would Kate go with her. As for Jack, he
+would best remain where he was and tell her mother his fibs; perhaps
+she could be made to believe them, but as for Marianne herself, she
+knew better.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX
+
+                            _A Little Fun_
+
+
+The year 1812 was closing with but small encouragement to the land
+forces of the Americans. General Van Rensselaer having resigned, his
+command was turned over to the bombastic Smyth, who was a veritable
+windbag. His high-sounding proclamations, however, had some effect, for
+they brought volunteers flocking to the front. But these found their
+leader a man of words and not of deeds, for, after twice bringing them
+to the very brink of an invasion into Canada, he recalled them, and
+thereby brought down such jeers and threats upon his devoted head that
+he at last retired to his home in Virginia.
+
+Mr. Reyburn, like most of his comrades, chafed and fumed under all
+these disappointments. Since his return he had been raised to the rank
+of captain, and was now more away from home than ever. He and his son
+never met, for Royal made a point of getting out of the way when he
+saw his father coming. The young man felt somewhat embarrassed at the
+position he was in as paroled prisoner in his father's house, and he
+also felt somewhat aggrieved that his father had not acknowledged his
+efforts in saving him from a savage enemy. On the other hand, Captain
+Reyburn saw that Royal made a point of keeping out of his way, and he
+made no advances.
+
+"They are both entirely too proud," said Marianne to her mother. "I
+think Royal might give in, because he is the younger, and he knows
+father appreciates what he did for him; because I told Royal what
+father said."
+
+"It will all come right in time," her mother told her, "in the meantime
+let us be thankful that we have them both so near. Your father
+complains at the inaction, but I am thankful enough that it is so
+quiet. Here comes the dear man now. Let us welcome him with cheerful
+faces."
+
+"Such management!" said Captain Reyburn, throwing off his cap, and
+sitting down before the fire. "As if it were not enough to have
+incompetent leaders, but some idiot must circulate the report among
+the militia, that if they cross into Canada for military purposes,
+they become liable for five years' service, becoming regulars in so
+doing. Such talk! yet there is nothing but desertion and rioting to be
+heard of. The only fighting the men seem to be able to do is that among
+themselves, and their leaders are not any better. By George! I wish
+I were back in Kentucky; there they are putting out real stuff, true
+soldiers with William Henry Harrison at their head. I wish I were with
+them. Ordered into winter quarters, when our force, if it had any grit
+to back it, could knock out the British over on the other side in no
+time! They don't begin to have the number of troops we have. Imagine!
+brought to the very brink of an invasion, and then ordered back, the
+regulars to winter quarters and the volunteers to their homes!"
+
+Marianne brought her two hands smartly together. "Oh, then you are at
+home for good! How glad I am! We knew that the expedition was given
+up, but we heard there had been some fighting, and we were afraid that
+there was more to come."
+
+"I wish to Heaven there were more to expect. Yes, I am at home for a
+time. It's a pretty poor outlook for our success, as things are now."
+
+"We've given 'em some good licks on the sea," said Asa Peaslee, who had
+come in and was listening to Captain Reyburn's report. "I've half a
+mind to jine the marines myself. I ain't much of a climber, an' I dunno
+'s I wouldn't tumble kerflunk on deck, if I was to try to shinny up
+them ropes, but I like to be on the winnin' side; and, seein' as there
+ain't much glory to be had soldierin' around these parts, I dunno's I
+won't light out and go where it's more excitin'. You're goin' to be at
+home now, cap'n, and my days of usefulness so far's helpin' you out is
+concerned, is most over."
+
+"I thought you meant to fight only in self-defence, Asa," put in
+Marianne.
+
+"That's what I said; but I guess it'll be self-defence if I git a
+sight of the enemy's weapons," he replied dryly. "S'long as they
+ain't no Injun fightin', I kin stand it, but I would like to save
+my scalp, seein' as I've kep' a-holt of it all these years. Injuns
+ain't sea-farin' folks, and when a fellow hears of victories like the
+_Constitution_ over the _Gareer_, and the _Wasp_ takin' the _Frolic_,
+seems as if he'd like to be there. I guess I'll be hitchin' along in a
+day or two, and see what gol-durned foolishness I'll be gittin' into
+next. I don't seem to be able to keep from meddlin' somewheres. Used
+to be always pokin' my fingers into the pies and cakes when I was a
+youngster, and gittin' licked for it, so I guess it's inborn original
+sin's the matter with me now that makes me just ache to be gittin' into
+trouble."
+
+True to his word, he started away one morning soon after, saying, at
+parting: "You ain't rid of me for good, I guess. If I don't git blowed
+up, or scalped, or hacked to pieces, like as not I'll be coming this
+way ag'in, when there's anything goin' on. I'm the curiosest fellow you
+ever did see; must be pokin' my nose into other folk's consarns, and
+never can mind my own business."
+
+Marianne watched him depart, having first loaded him down with
+provisions. "I like the old fellow," she told Kate. "I suppose he may
+be shrewd in driving a bargain, and doesn't always tell the exact
+truth about his wares, but he is so good-hearted and brave, though he
+pretends he is neither."
+
+"He poses for an innocent," said Kate, "but he is really pretty smart,
+and knows a heap more than he tells. Here come our brothers. Shall we
+go and meet them?"
+
+"You may, if you choose," replied Marianne, "but I've something better
+to do."
+
+Kate caught her around the waist, and laughing said: "You don't escape
+this time. You always make that excuse. Do you really dislike poor Jack
+so much?"
+
+"You know I do," replied Marianne, struggling to get away.
+
+"Just because he fought on the other side?"
+
+"No, not that altogether, but you know he was very rude to me when he
+first saw me, that time in the woods."
+
+"When he pulled you out of the bog? Did you want to stay there?"
+
+"Stop teasing, Kate. You know it wasn't that, but he made fun of me."
+
+"He thought you a small child. He doesn't make fun of you now. I am
+sure he is as polite as possible."
+
+"Yes, but--it is really because he is on the enemy's side."
+
+"So is your brother, but you don't dislike him."
+
+"That is a very different thing. One ought not to hate her own brother;
+and besides, Royal is fond of me."
+
+"Then if Jack were fond of you, you'd be fond of him."
+
+"How you do make one choose words. Let me go, Kate. I don't like him,
+so there; I am sorry he is your brother, for you I love." She suddenly
+broke away, then returned to throw her arms around Kate, and kiss her
+over and over again, after which she ran into the house, without so
+much as a look at the two coming up the walk.
+
+Jack still limped a little, but he leaned on Royal's arm, and the two
+were talking animatedly. "Where has Marianne run to?" Royal asked. "We
+wanted to tell her the latest news."
+
+"And what is that?" Kate asked. "Am I not to hear it?"
+
+"It is reported that there is going to be trouble with the Indians on
+the western frontier."
+
+"O dear!" Kate looked distressed. "That is the worst thing to dread. I
+wish I could see the right of this war, anyhow."
+
+Jack shook his head. "You'd better not let Captain Reyburn or Marianne
+hear you say that. They think there is righteous cause enough."
+
+"Do you?" Kate asked quickly.
+
+"Looking at it from their side, I think they have, maybe, though I
+wouldn't confess it to any one else. I don't wonder that they got mad
+at the impressment of their seamen; still, I've no doubt England would
+have made that all right, and I think the States were too hasty in the
+matter."
+
+"Since I have been here," Kate returned, "I can see how they love
+liberty beyond anything else, and that they believe the mother country
+considers the United States only as a naughty child who has been too
+impertinent, and that she wants them still to feel her power. I don't
+much wonder that they resent that, and that they want to show her that
+they can stand alone after their splendid fight for freedom in the
+Revolution."
+
+Jack laughed. "What would grandfather say to such a speech?"
+
+"He would rage and rant, and call upon King George to witness that he
+had always been loyal, no matter what views his descendants might hold.
+Poor grandfather, I'm afraid he'll think we are entire renegades when
+we go back."
+
+"And when will that be?"
+
+"As soon as we can."
+
+"That's a very indefinite time. What's the use of going at all, when
+I've given my word not to fight for so many months? Here's Royal,
+declaring that he isn't going to stay at home because his father is
+back again. I might get into just such a state of mind concerning
+grandfather if I went back; and if one cannot be at home, he might as
+well be in one place as another. I propose to stay."
+
+"Why don't you say something, Royal?" Kate asked. "Shall we go or stay?"
+
+"Stay," Royal answered. "The war can't last very long at this rate. You
+see how utterly the States have failed in carrying the war into Canada,
+and it will not be long before there will be peace."
+
+"And are you really not going to live at home while your father is
+here?"
+
+"I am not. I am going to stay at Will Fenton's."
+
+Kate looked at him wistfully. She wanted to tell him that she did not
+think he was doing the best thing, but she hesitated. "You don't have
+to meet your father, even if you stay at home," she said at last, "and
+it would please your mother to have you stay."
+
+Royal began to make fantastic figures in the path with the stick he
+carried. "It's awkward enough as it is," he replied. "It has come to
+such a pass now that my father just nods to me when we meet, and never
+has a word to say if I am by. I don't want to spoil it for the rest,
+and I think I'd better keep away and only come home when he is not
+here."
+
+Kate looked thoughtfully out into the winter sunlight, but made no
+comment. "To return to the subject of our staying," she said, after a
+pause. "I think I ought to go back, even if Jack is determined to stay.
+I ought not to desert Sue any longer."
+
+But when Marianne was told this, she declared against it. "Just as
+winter is coming on, and there will be sleigh-rides and skating, and
+all sorts of frolics, it would be too bad to leave and go over to that
+stupid place where you will not have half the fun you would here. You
+mustn't think of it." And forthwith she began to contrive a series
+of amusement to keep her friend. She consulted Royal on the subject,
+and found him quite ready to further her schemes. "We will show them,
+Royal," she said, with a toss of her head, "we will show them that,
+backwoodsmen though our father and grandfather were, we know how to
+dance and entertain. The elegance of Monsieur Silverthorn, vieux, the
+fine manners he pretends to have bequeathed to his grandson, I don't
+find them after being with you and Victor, who can bow and dance with
+the grace of a marquis. Bah! do you suppose that old withered Tory
+over there can hold a candle to our grandfather Desvouges, of whom
+grand'mère tells us? Such a gallant, he; so beautiful to behold in his
+satins and velvets! Ah me! I wish we had satins and velvets to wear. In
+homespun we will attire ourselves; yet we will not forget the graces of
+our ancestors, even if some of our guests do despise us."
+
+"All this, I suppose, is a tirade against Jack Silverthorn," said
+Royal, coolly. "Why do you think he despises you? I am sure he has
+never given you reason to think so, and it was but yesterday that Kate
+said she had never seen a girl more graceful than you."
+
+"Ah, Kate! yes, of course she would say that. She always is sweet and
+lovely. I was not thinking of her. I wish to show Mr. Silverthorn that
+I do not lack for partners in a dance, and do not have to go seeking
+them among refugee Tories."
+
+"Chut! Chut! Marianne, your tongue runs away with you at times. Yet I
+should like the dance well enough. I suppose Kate and Jack would like
+it, too, though perhaps we had better ask them."
+
+"Nonsense, of course they will like it, and I do not want them to know
+till it is all arranged. We will have it in the barn. A big, big place,
+we want. It shall be a real frolic. We will have no lack of guests, I
+assure you, for there are the military to draw upon. We will say it is
+in Kate's honor, and we will have Long Joe to play for us, if we can
+get him. I wish Victor were here, he dances so well; it is the one
+thing that he does better than any one I know. Good old Victor, he
+never lets me lack for a partner."
+
+When all the arrangements were made for the dance, Kate and Jack were
+told, and cheerfully accepted the arrangement; though Jack may have had
+a passing thought that some other form of entertainment would be better
+suited to a man with a weak ankle. Yet he offered his help with a good
+grace.
+
+At the suggestion of Captain Reyburn the affair resolved itself into
+a husking-bee, followed by a dance. "In that way," said he, "I'll get
+my work done, and you'll have your fun. Half the boys around are ready
+for an invitation, and I think you'll have some difficulty in providing
+partners for them all."
+
+"I know a way out of that difficulty," said Marianne, patriotically.
+"We will not invite any one of the men who have not been or who are not
+in our army."
+
+"Ho! Ho!" laughed her father. "That is a good way out of it. I've no
+doubt we shall find the soldier lads eager enough for sport of that
+kind."
+
+"I'll leave you to choose which ones ought to be invited," said
+Marianne, "and I think we can find girls enough, if we depend upon
+Black Rock as well as Lewiston. My only anxiety is whether we can
+supply sufficient refreshments."
+
+"Trust your mother for that," replied her father. "Between my wife
+and Jerusha, I reckon no one will go away hungry." And, indeed, for
+days Mrs. Reyburn was in her element. She liked nothing better than to
+provide a feast, and to show her skill in using her mother's famous
+recipes. So there were great pasties of game, huge roasts of venison,
+doughnuts rolled in maple sugar, pumpkin cake, and pies of many kinds
+in turnover shape.
+
+"My!" exclaimed Kate, when the last pie came from the oven. "I never
+saw such a pile of goodies. That doesn't look much like war time, does
+it?"
+
+"They will eat it all," Mrs. Reyburn told her. "Every time my husband
+comes in he tells me of some new guest he has invited, and we shall
+soon have room for not another one."
+
+Truly it was a goodly company which assembled on the evening selected.
+The boys from the regiments now in winter quarters, Virginians,
+Marylanders, Kentuckians, and New Yorkers, in motley uniforms; the
+girls from the villages and the surrounding country, in homespun,
+deerskin, or calico; a few Canadians, who had taken refuge on the
+American side of the river, and all eager for a frolic.
+
+The huge piles of Indian corn lay ready for the huskers; the table
+groaned with its load of pasties, cakes, and pies; torches and
+pine-knot fires were ready to be lighted; and Marianne viewed it all
+with a pleased eye. "It will do," she said to Kate, "but it is neither
+the husking nor the supper that I am looking forward to; it is the
+dance. I long for the dance. Don't you, Kate?"
+
+Kate hesitated, blushed, looked down. She could not bear to dampen
+Marianne's ardor, and all this time she had failed to tell her.
+"I--you see, I don't know much about it. Grandfather is such an
+old Puritan--and--he never liked to have us--and so we--that is--I
+have never learned." She looked helplessly at Marianne when she had
+stammered out this piece of information.
+
+Marianne stared at her in surprise, then she laughed merrily, but in
+some embarrassment. "And I have given this frolic for you, and took it
+for granted that you danced. What a stupid I am! Why didn't you tell
+me?"
+
+"Because I didn't want to spoil your fun. I saw that the dance was what
+you liked the best. I can husk corn, you know, and I shall love to
+watch the dancers."
+
+"You shall do more. Where is Royal? Where is your brother? Ah, that
+Victor were here to play the violin for us! He plays with much feeling,
+that Victor." She darted out of the log building and came back with
+her brother and Jack. "I am the most stupid!" she exclaimed. "I am a
+selfish one, to be sure. I prepare an entertainment for my friends,
+and behold, one does not dance, and the other cannot because of his
+sprained ankle. Did you ever know such a stupid, Royal? But come, in
+the little time that is before us we must teach Kate the figures. Come,
+Mr. Jack, you must hobble through it somehow."
+
+She extended her hand, and Jack led her out upon the rough floor.
+"We'll have no music," he said.
+
+Marianne gave him a little side glance, and drew from her pocket a
+queer little instrument, upon which she began to play a quaint tune,
+piping out the few notes with a sweet shrillness while she kept time
+with her foot. Jack looked at her in wonder. "How unlike any other girl
+you are," he said; "you are full of surprises. Where did you get that
+curious little pipe?"
+
+"Victor made it for me," Marianne told him, exhibiting the little pipe
+with some pride.
+
+"Has it a name? I never saw one like it before."
+
+"No, it has no special name. You see it is neither a fife nor a horn
+nor a whistle, though Victor and I usually call it the little horn. I
+think he was very clever to make it. He taught me to play upon it while
+he played his violin. Come now; one, two, three. Advance, Royal."
+
+Royal led Kate toward her, they swung corners, balanced, bowed to
+imaginary couples, represented by stalks of corn, and finally the dance
+stopped. Marianne gave a nod to Kate, saying: "You will do. Royal will
+see that you do not lack for partners who can guide you properly. As
+for you, Mr. Jack, I am afraid you have already been kept too long on
+your lame ankle."
+
+"I suppose that this must be my last dance," said Jack, dejectedly.
+"One does not feel very graceful, I imagine, dancing with a lame man."
+
+Marianne gave a little shrug of her shoulders and walked away, saying:
+"There are those who could make a more courteous speech, Mr. Jack,
+and who would say I am not ungraceful at any time; but, of course, an
+awkward little girl, as I am in your eyes, cannot be expected to show
+grace, except under very fortunate circumstances."
+
+"What a dolt I am!" Jack hastened to explain. "I didn't mean that; you
+know I didn't. Why do you always try to twist my words into a wrong
+meaning? Are you never going to forgive me for that unlucky first
+meeting?"
+
+"Oh, unlucky, of course, since otherwise I should, perhaps, never have
+met you at all."
+
+Jack hobbled up to her and looked down into the blue eyes, which met
+his stonily. "I wish I knew whether you really hate me or whether you
+merely try to tease me when you say such things."
+
+"You cannot think I would take the trouble to tease you," Marianne
+answered, moving away. "You know full well how I feel toward my
+country's enemies." Whereupon Jack heaved a sigh and looked so
+disconsolate that Kate fancied he was suffering, and solicitously came
+over to him, begging him to find a place where he could be seated
+comfortably.
+
+"You shouldn't have tried the dance, Jack," she said.
+
+"But I enjoyed it." His eyes were following Marianne, who was lighting
+up the torches, which flared out from the dingy walls of the log
+building.
+
+"You look as if you were enjoying yourself now," Kate laughed. "I see,
+Jack, that little tease has been saying something sharp. Don't mind
+her; she doesn't mean half she says." And then the guests came trooping
+in, glad to get under cover from the cold.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER X
+
+                    _The Husking and What Followed_
+
+
+For a couple of hours the fun over the husking was fast and furious;
+and by ten o'clock three rousing cheers gave evidence that the task was
+completed, though to her discomfiture, Marianne's was not the winning
+side.
+
+A big, burly Frenchman was hoisted upon a clumsy platform, and soon
+his fiddle sung out a merry tune; then amid much laughter the dancing
+began. A fantastic picture the scene made, only possible on the
+frontier. Erect young soldiers, decked out in the best uniforms at
+their command, stepped through the figures with dignified carriage;
+gay young Frenchmen, some clad in the silks and satins brought over by
+their forefathers a century before; others, in the deerskin garments
+of the habitant, bowed and pirouetted with an elegance handed down
+from some courtly sire; rough militiamen, farmer boys in homespun or
+buckskin, galloped about awkwardly, making the floor resound with the
+energy of their steps. The smoky flare of the torches lighted up the
+fair faces of the girls, most of them in gay calicoes, though some
+wore the silken gowns hoarded by their mothers. Few wore other shoes
+than moccasins, though here and there a pair of satin-clad feet would
+twinkle from under the brocaded petticoats. The big room was dingy with
+smoke, illy lighted, and none too warm. Against its rough walls the
+entertainers had fastened long stalks of corn, whose dry blades rustled
+as the dancers swept by. Clumsy benches were ranged along the sides,
+and mixed with the odor of the burning pine-knots was the scent of the
+corn and the leathery odor of the deerskin garments.
+
+Marianne and Kate wore cotton prints, and, in imitation of a fashion
+then in vogue, they had each contrived from some "book-muslin" curtains
+which had been lying away, a scarf, trimmed around the hem with a frill
+of lace lent by Mrs. Reyburn for the occasion. They were a little
+conscious of the responsibility their vanity brought them, for Mrs.
+Reyburn had given them many charges to be careful of the lace which
+her mother's mother had brought from France, and which could never be
+replaced if anything were to happen to it. Rather incongruous it was,
+to be sure, worn with the gay calico gowns, but the girls were vastly
+pleased with this addition of elegance to their costumes.
+
+"I am sure we will look as fine as any one," Marianne had declared as
+she stood on tiptoe to peep into the small mirror over her bureau. "I
+am so pleased that we found this book-muslin. It is a little stiff, but
+it will become more flowing the longer we wear it. Mother has lent me
+her brooch. I should like to have my curious bracelet, but it does not
+spoil my pleasure to be deprived of it."
+
+Nothing did spoil her pleasure, although she felt a small pang of envy
+to see that Minerva Ashman, the prettiest girl in the room, was one
+of the few who wore a silk gown. And although she could not bear Jack
+Silverthorn, Marianne told herself that he needn't have singled out the
+belle of the evening for his special attentions. He might have been
+more polite to her, if only for appearance' sake; but she remembered
+that he had begun their acquaintance by being rude, and she didn't
+care, she had plenty of partners,--which in truth she had, and so did
+Kate, who acquitted herself nobly in the matter of dancing, in spite of
+her declaring that she had no knowledge of the figures.
+
+Marianne's most devoted admirer was a young Kentuckian, who claimed
+distant cousinship. Mr. Reyburn had brought him up to present to his
+daughter, and beamed with pleasure as he told her he had discovered a
+kinsman from his native State. "This is Sergeant Frederic Lyle," he
+told her. "Come to find out, he is a cousin upon my mother's side; your
+grandmother was a Lyle, you know, and you must make your cousin Fred
+feel at home."
+
+"A cousin? How nice!" Marianne exclaimed. "I have not many cousins. Am
+I to say Cousin Fred or Mr. Lyle?"
+
+"Cousin Fred, please," said the young man, eagerly. "It will make it
+seem so much more like home; and I hope I may say Cousin Marianne."
+
+"Why, yes, I have no objection; and it is a poor rule that will not
+work both ways. Do you dance? Shall I find you a partner? Minerva
+Ashman is the belle of the evening, you see, and if you have not been
+presented--"
+
+"I need not be. She seems to be quite well attended. The young
+gentlemen hover around her like moths around a candle. I must confess
+such brilliant beauty does not attract me. I can find greater charms
+closer at hand." He bowed gallantly. "If you have not promised the next
+dance, may I hope that you will honor me?"
+
+"I am afraid the next is promised, but--"
+
+"The next, then?"
+
+"Yes, I can give you that." And her father nodded approvingly as she
+swept by with this new cousin.
+
+"They make a pretty good-looking couple," he said with satisfaction
+to his wife. But Mrs. Reyburn did not reply. There was Victor, absent
+and out of mind. She agreed with her mother that no better match for
+Marianne could be found than Victor, and in time it might be brought
+about. Yet she did not forget that her husband, with American notions,
+would hardly second her in arranging a marriage French fashion, and in
+thinking of this she sighed.
+
+"Why that sigh, my wife?" Mr. Reyburn asked. "Are you tired, or does
+the supper not satisfy your housewifely desires?"
+
+"It is the war of which I think," she made reply. "At all festivities
+we have had my family present, and now they cannot get to us nor we to
+them."
+
+"To be sure; that is too bad. Well, the war will not last long, and it
+has brought us an increase of guests in all these soldier lads. The
+girls do not lack for beaux to-night."
+
+"Ours never did," returned Mrs. Reyburn. Her eyes followed Marianne,
+who was smiling up into the face of the tall Kentuckian. And then her
+gaze wandered to where Royal sat toying with the end of Kate's scarf.
+"He will ruin the lace with his clumsy fingers," Mrs. Reyburn murmured.
+And with this thought came another of Victorine, patient and loving; of
+Victor, faithful and devoted, on the other side of the river.
+
+It was nearly morning when the dance broke up. "It was a great
+success," declared Kate, when the two girls had sought their chilly
+little room. "I never had such a good time,--no, never. I wish Sue
+could have been here, and then my happiness would have been complete."
+
+Marianne was dreamily smoothing out her scarf, and did not answer.
+"What makes you so quiet?" Kate asked. "Are you disappointed?"
+
+Marianne roused herself with a start. "No, no, I am not. Yes, I wish
+Sue could have been here; and I am glad you had a good time, Kate." She
+paused for a moment and then asked, "Do you think Minerva Ashman very
+beautiful?"
+
+"Not beautiful, but quite handsome. She is dark and brilliant and
+showy, and in that dress looked very well."
+
+"Yes, the dress was handsome. Oh, Kate, is not my new cousin a fine
+lad? He will be here very often, for he is homesick, poor fellow, and
+my father wishes him to feel that he can come here at will."
+
+"And that will please you?"
+
+"Certainly; a cousin, yet not too nearly related, and one who is almost
+a stranger; the situation is full of promise. He is a devoted patriot,
+and on that question we can strike hands. You can see how my father
+approves of him, and his manners are certainly those of a gentleman. He
+is not like some persons, who forget to be polite."
+
+"Do you chance to mean any one in particular?" Kate asked.
+
+"Oh, no," returned Marianne, indifferently. "I was speaking in a
+general way. But mercy! it is not far from morning, and we shall lose
+every bit of our beauty sleep." At which terrible suggestion Kate
+hurried off her clothes, and they climbed shivering into bed, to sink
+down comfortably into the feathers which billowed up warmly around them.
+
+The winter promised to pass pleasantly enough. There were no specially
+aggressive movements upon the Niagara frontier, with the exception of
+a few skirmishes; the volunteers had gone to their homes, and only the
+regulars were in their winter camp. It was Virginia and Maryland that
+at this time were suffering from the depredations of the enemy, for
+Cockburn and his men were not idle there. On the ocean, too, battles
+were frequent, and from time to time came the news of more than one
+naval victory.
+
+At the Reyburn farmstead there was no lack of jollity. Given an
+encampment of soldiers near the home of two lively girls, and it
+could not be expected but that good times would follow. Among the
+most frequent visitors was Fred Lyle, who proved himself to be a good
+comrade for riding, skating, or in fact for any indoor or outdoor
+sport. He and Marianne were on the best of terms, and if any kind of
+frolic were proposed, he was the first to offer his escort. Well
+bundled up in furs, the merry sleigh-riders would enjoy a dash over the
+hard snow and appear at the house of some neighbor, who always kept on
+hand a supply of provisions for the comfort of just such visitors; then
+after the hot supper was eaten, off again they would dash. Or it might
+be an afternoon on the ice, cutting fantastic figures; or on mild days
+a horseback ride would be taken along the side of the great gorge to
+the wonderful falls above.
+
+Between Marianne and Jack there had not arisen a better appearance of
+friendliness. They were constantly differing. "It seems to me that
+Marianne goes out of her way to say sharp things," Jack complained to
+his sister, "and she is hand in glove with that long-legged Kentucky
+chap, who knows entirely too well how to presume upon his distant
+relationship."
+
+"That's not for you to complain of," Kate told him. "If her parents
+and her brother are satisfied with his way of acting, it is none of
+our business. He is a good fellow, Jack, and you know it. Besides,
+you might expect that he would receive more consideration, being an
+American soldier."
+
+"But I am not in arms," grumbled Jack.
+
+"No; but you have been."
+
+"I just wish I had him on the other side of the river," said Jack, with
+decision.
+
+"What would you do with him?" asked Kate, her dimples showing.
+
+"I'd keep him there."
+
+"And stay there yourself to watch him. I don't see that you'd be any
+better off than you are now. You might have gone home long ago, but you
+stayed here from preference; so you have no one to blame but yourself,
+if you don't like it. What's the use of fussing, Jack, just because a
+girl flouts you,--and a girl that you don't specially care for, too.
+It's just because you want to play first fiddle; and that's all there
+is to it."
+
+"That's all you know about it," returned Jack. "I think my own sister
+might side with me, but you always stand up for Marianne every time."
+
+"Of course I do, because she's a girl, and I'm a girl."
+
+"Oh, and not because she's Roy's sister."
+
+Kate drew herself up with dignity. "Jack, if you ever say such a thing
+again, I'll--I'll not speak to you. Don't you know that it is arranged
+that Royal is to marry Victorine La Rue?"
+
+Jack stared. "Who told you such a thing?" he asked.
+
+"Mrs. Reyburn."
+
+"Well, I vow! Why, Kit, she's almost a hunchback."
+
+"But she is beautiful."
+
+"Who says so?"
+
+"Marianne."
+
+"Who else?"
+
+"Her mother--and Royal."
+
+"Well, I vow!" repeated Jack. Then after a pause, "Well, all is, I
+think Royal is treating you pretty shabbily."
+
+"Jack, don't you dare to say such a thing!" cried Kate, bursting into
+tears. "It isn't true. We are only good friends, and I don't want him
+to be anything more. Any one can see that. Every one can, can't they.
+Jack?"
+
+"I can't see it, then. Look here, Kate,"--Jack put his arm around his
+sister,--"I wouldn't for the world make you cry. By George! I wish we'd
+gone home long ago. We're both pretty well knocked out by the pair of
+them."
+
+Kate wiped her eyes, and rested her head on Jack's shoulder. "You
+mean--Marianne and Royal?"
+
+Jack nodded.
+
+"You are knocked out, Jack? Are you really? Do you actually care
+how Marianne treats you? I thought it was just your vanity that was
+touched. I didn't know it was your heart. Poor old Jack!"
+
+"Don't 'poor old' me! I can stand it, I suppose; but I wish I had never
+seen the saucy little witch. Let's drop it, Kate. I'm not going to
+give up, though. I have that much of the British bulldog about me that
+I know how to hold on. Yet what you tell me about Roy confounds me. I
+should think if there were anything of that kind settled upon, that he
+would have told me."
+
+"Let's drop that, too," said Kate. "We'll try to stand it as best we
+can. They are all awfully good to us, Jack; and we've no claim on them.
+They never make us feel that we are aliens and here under protest; but
+oh! I want to see Sue and father."
+
+"And I am the one who has been keeping you here all this time. It is
+all my fault. I ought to have thought of some one else besides myself."
+Jack patted the curly head resting against his shoulder. "Well, cheer
+up, old girl; we'll try to get back. I guess it's what is best for us
+both."
+
+This conversation occurred the day upon which a little party started
+out for an afternoon ride. It was a mild day for the season, but the
+air was crisp and exhilarating. Marianne rode ahead with her two
+attendant knights, Jack and Fred; Kate followed with Royal. In spite of
+the fact that she directed most of her conversation to Fred, Jack stuck
+close by Marianne's side. As for Kate, she had no reason to complain
+of the lack of attention from her cavalier; if there was any fault to
+find, it was because of his too devoted air. It hurt Kate. Why could
+he not joke and laugh and tease as Fred was doing? It half annoyed her
+that there should be long lapses of silence in which Royal would give
+her such glances as should be given only to the woman he loved. She
+tried to keep before her the face of Victorine La Rue as Marianne had
+described it: the face of a saint with glorious eyes, a perfect mouth,
+and that marvellous cloud of hair falling over her shoulders. She spoke
+out her thought: "It must be very hard for you to be deprived of going
+to your grandmother's."
+
+"It would be under some circumstances," returned Royal. "I never
+thought I could be so content at home. I have always chafed under my
+father's rule, but now nothing seems to make much difference." He
+looked at Kate with a tender smile.
+
+She lowered her lids and did not look at him as she said: "It
+is unfortunate that you and your father cannot come to a good
+understanding. If anything should happen to either of you, it would be
+a great sorrow to remember that you were estranged."
+
+"Yes, I think so now. I felt that when I saw him wounded and in the
+hands of those savages."
+
+"How glad you must have been to be able to rescue him, and to take him
+to your grandmother's. They must miss you there, when you have always
+spent so much of your time with them."
+
+"No doubt they do miss me, but Victor is very capable, and he looks
+after everything as a son of the house would; in fact he is a son,
+though an adopted one."
+
+"Victorine, his sister; I think you have told me that she is very
+beautiful."
+
+"Of face, yes, poor girl."
+
+"And of character."
+
+"She is an angel of goodness."
+
+"Then, in spite of her deformity, she is very lovable."
+
+"No one could help loving her. You would if you knew her, as I hope you
+will some day."
+
+Kate gave a little quick sigh. But just at that moment there was a
+sudden stifled scream from Marianne, and Kate drew rein. Then from the
+side of the road sprang out a figure which caught her bridle, and on
+the other side a hand was laid on Royal. Sudden shots rung out upon the
+air, then a horse went riderless along the road ahead. Jack was down on
+the ground, and Fred Lyle was struggling with a man. Kate, bewildered
+at this sudden onslaught, sat perfectly still, but recovering herself,
+leaned forward to look below the furry cap of the man who had stopped
+her progress. She gave an amazed cry: "Grandfather!"
+
+"Sh!" said her captor. "Keep quiet, my girl; we'll have you home in a
+trice."
+
+By this time Fred was overpowered, and Marianne, held by a pair of
+strong arms, was indignantly protesting against this procedure. "I'm
+sorry," said a voice, which sounded very familiar to Kate, "but we'll
+have to take you all along, if we want to get off at all. You needn't
+be afraid that any one is going to treat you badly, Miss Reyburn. Come,
+boys, we'll let the horses go."
+
+"Oh, but my parents, they will be so alarmed!" cried Marianne. "They
+will think something dreadful has happened to us."
+
+The man picked up a bit of birch bark, and scribbled on it: "We are all
+safe, but are prisoners. We are promised good care and a safe return."
+"There, sign your name to that, and we'll let your horse carry that
+home instead of you," said Marianne's captor, still holding her by
+the wrist. Marianne obeyed, and the note was fastened securely. "That
+will go as safe as by post," said the man. "The horse will probably go
+straight home." He turned Marianne's gentle little mare, gave her a
+light cut, and she cantered off.
+
+By a short detour the members of the riding party were led along the
+cliffs to a woody path which took them to the river, which was still
+open. Here two boats were waiting. "This is a pretty how-do-you-do,"
+said Fred to Marianne; "right here, in sight of our own shores, to
+be carried off like a bundle of old clothes! I hope we will get over
+without being fired upon by our own people."
+
+"You'll not be fired upon," said his escort. "We brought over some
+provender, and we've a right to go back. There are plenty of folks
+along here who can be bought off with a small sum; and if you think
+there's no bartering back and forth, you are mistaken. We are all good
+loyalists here, except perhaps yourself."
+
+"I am an American soldier, and no loyalist to your British king."
+
+"I am no loyalist, either," spoke up Marianne. "At least, I am loyal to
+my own country but not to that wicked old England."
+
+"Sh!" warned Fred, fearing for the girl in her outspoken declaration;
+but the man only laughed. "We don't care what little lasses profess to
+be; it's only the men we are fighting. My son and daughter and the rest
+of us are good loyalists, so we are in the majority."
+
+"Your son and daughter!" cried Marianne. "Then you are Mr. Silverthorn.
+I thought your voice sounded very familiar. Oh, now I don't so much
+mind, though it was very mean of you to grab us in this way. You'll not
+hurt Cousin Fred, Mr. Silverthorn? I think you ought to let him go."
+She laid her hand on the young man's arm.
+
+"He's your cousin Fred, is he. I guess we don't want to hurt him, but
+we'll have to take him over just for the fun of the thing; and when
+we get home, we'll see what Jack has to say about it. We'll treat you
+rebels according to the way you've treated my boy and girl."
+
+Marianne was conscious that personally she had not treated Jack very
+well, but she knew his creature comforts had been well supplied, and
+so far as the rest of her family were concerned, he would have no
+complaint to make; so she concluded that she would have to accept the
+situation, which was much less dreadful than it at first seemed.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI
+
+                       _A Turning of the Tables_
+
+
+It was nearly dark when the boat touched the opposite shore, and the
+company disembarked. They proceeded on their way unmolested, and at
+last a friendly beam ahead showed them that they were nearing the
+Silverthorns' house. Kate's voice trembled with eagerness as she cried,
+"I can see into the room, and there is Sue. Dear Sue! I wonder if she
+suspects."
+
+"Not a bit of it," replied her father. "We don't give information of
+our secret expeditions. She will be as surprised as you were."
+
+As the little procession came around the corner of the house, Sue came
+to the door and peered out. "Is that you, father?" she asked. "Down,
+Cæsar! you needn't bark so furiously; it's all right."
+
+"It's myself, daughter, sure enough," her father told her. "We've
+brought you visitors. Sue; extra company for supper."
+
+Then Kate darted forward and threw herself in her sister's arms. "Sue,
+dear old Sue, we're all here!"
+
+"What!" Sue could hardly believe her ears. "Kate and Jack and Royal,
+and actually Marianne! What does it all mean?"
+
+"It means," said her father, laughing, "that we've turned the tables
+and taken them all prisoners. First, they were the Reyburns' prisoners,
+and now they are the Silverthorns'. Come in, boys. Take this young lady
+upstairs, Sue; she's our prisoner, too."
+
+"I never heard of such a thing!" Sue exclaimed. "You don't really mean
+it, father. Tell me the truth. I want to hear all about it."
+
+"Want to hear all about it, hey? I shouldn't wonder if there were not
+a little curiosity in other quarters. It's a surprise all around.
+We went over the river, a party of us, to see if we could get some
+provender, supplies being rather short on this side, and as we were
+reconnoitring about there, what did we see but a party of horsemen--and
+horsewomen--approaching. We didn't know there were any women in the
+party and were a bit scared, for we thought we might be going to have
+a skirmish; but as they came nearer, what was our surprise to see it
+was our own young folks. All of a sudden it popped into my head that it
+would be a good joke to capture them and carry them back home again, so
+I spoke to the others and they fell into my plan,--thought it would be
+a good joke; and we hid ourselves in the bushes till they came along,
+and then we grabbed them. You never saw a more startled set in your
+life. I thought it was high time we had our boy and girl home again;
+and then it didn't seem more than right that we should entertain those
+who had been entertaining them, and so we brought along Miss Marianne
+and her company. There you have the whole story."
+
+"That's the way of it, was it?" said Jack. "And it was a surprise to
+you as well as to us. I am afraid, though, that Mr. and Mrs. Reyburn
+will think we are rather impolite to take such unceremonious leave of
+them after all their kindness to us."
+
+"You can write them as polite a note as you choose, and I reckon we'll
+find a way to get it through the lines; you see we have an officer of
+the king right at hand,--your grandfather, the major, there."
+
+"Is grandfather a major?" exclaimed Kate. "We will have to walk a chalk
+line now."
+
+"Major Silverthorn he is, so we can dispose of our prisoners at once.
+Shall we draw and quarter them, major, or put them in a dungeon?" he
+asked, looking at Marianne with a quizzical smile as he spoke.
+
+"Jack and Royal can return to their regiment when the call comes for
+action," said Major Silverthorn. "The young lady is our guest," he
+bowed to Marianne, "and this young gentleman--well, we'll see about him
+to-morrow."
+
+"I'm on parole, sir," said Jack.
+
+"But, bless me! you didn't try to get away; we fetched you," said his
+father.
+
+"I'll not go back on my word, whether it was by my own act or not that
+I got away," Jack assured him.
+
+His grandfather nodded approval. "That's an honorable spirit, my boy. I
+like to hear you speak so. I think we may release Mr. Lyle on parole.
+Consider these your quarters, Mr. Lyle. You will not go beyond the
+limits of our place here, you understand, but you might have worse
+quarters."
+
+Worse quarters, indeed, thought Fred, as he looked around on the big
+comfortable room, plain in its appointments, yet boasting more than
+one handsome piece of furniture, brought from their old home by the
+Silverthorns when they fled from the States. Fred was perfectly ready
+to give his parole, and all but Marianne seemed quite satisfied with
+the state of affairs.
+
+"I have not a stitch of clothing except what I have on," Marianne
+complained.
+
+"You can go to grandmother's and get something there," Royal told her.
+"This is something like a joke, for no one is hurt, and we are simply
+returning a visit. I think even father could see the humor in this."
+
+The reminder that she would be able to see her grandmother appeased
+Marianne somewhat and she showed a more contented face.
+
+The half-dozen men who had accompanied the Silverthorns upon their
+expedition had tramped away as soon as the captured party was safe
+indoors. "Now, Miss Marianne," said Mr. Silverthorn, "it's only fair
+that you should pay us as long a visit as Kate paid you. You needn't
+be afraid that our friends that have just gone out are going to stand
+guard over you. They have gone for good, and you are as free as air. It
+was all a joke about your being a prisoner. Kate tells me that you were
+all very good to her and Jack, and we have no scores to settle, except
+that you carried Jack off and gave him a bad ankle."
+
+"We didn't know it was Jack. I did so want to get my father home again,
+and it seemed the only way," she said wistfully.
+
+Mr. Silverthorn noticed her embarrassment. "Well, well, we won't go
+into whys and wherefores now. You girls can have a good time, and the
+boys can help you."
+
+"I'll take you over to your grandmother's the first thing to-morrow
+morning," said Jack.
+
+"Royal can take me," she returned ungraciously.
+
+Kate gave a little shiver. There was not unalloyed bliss in getting
+home again. She had forgotten that Royal now would find no obstacle to
+his daily visits to his grandmother's.
+
+But here Royal spoke up. "We'll all go. Wouldn't you like the ride,
+Miss Kate?"
+
+"Yes," she returned, brightening. If Royal were willing that she should
+be present at this first meeting, it could not be so important an
+occasion to him as one might suppose.
+
+The new condition of affairs did not appear very distasteful to any
+concerned. The sisters were rejoiced to be together again; Royal did
+not seem to be distressed at being an inmate of his friend's home; Jack
+was pleased for more reasons than one, and his father beamed genially
+upon them all. Even Major Silverthorn unbent somewhat, and it was quite
+a jolly company that sat around the supper table; and when the next
+day Mr. Silverthorn brought word that they had obtained an indorsement
+of their disposal of Fred Lyle's case, it did not seem that Mr. Lyle
+was very much perturbed by the news that he would be compelled to stay
+where he was. Indeed, the whole thing seemed more like a frolic than
+anything else, and so the Silverthorns treated it, making many sly
+allusions to the manner in which they had been compelled to act in
+order to get their friends to visit them.
+
+The girls enjoyed the situation, as what girls would not. They
+chattered and laughed and had their confidences in the same fashion
+as has existed and will exist as long as there are girls.
+
+The surprise they gave Madame Desvouges was such as might be expected.
+Marianne and Kate, each with her attendant cavalier, rode up the
+morning after the capture, startling Victorine from her corner and the
+grandmother from her buttery. "Mon Dieu de la France! What is that,
+Victorine?" called the old lady. "Some foraging party, I think. At this
+rate we shall soon have nothing left. Where is Victor?" But Victor had
+already seen the riders come up and was hurrying toward them. He had
+caught sight of a little figure that gladdened his heart, and he could
+not hasten fast enough.
+
+[Illustration: "_Each with her attendant cavalier, rode up the morning
+after the capture._"]
+
+"That is no foraging party," declared Victorine. "Those are women's
+voices. A visit from some of the neighbors, no doubt." And then the
+door was flung open, and in ran Marianne crying: "Where is everybody?
+Grand'mère! Victorine!"
+
+"Nomme de Dieu!" cried Madame Desvouges. "It is my granddaughter. What
+surprise is this?"
+
+Marianne jumped up and down, hugged her grandmother, flew to Victorine,
+then back to her grandmother. "Are you not amazed?" she asked. "We did
+not know we were coming; we thought ourselves prisoners. It is all very
+droll, as you will think when you hear the story. Let me present my
+friends. Mr. Jack Silverthorn you have met, I think, and his sister is
+here, too. So is Royal." Kate was standing back a little, looking with
+all her eyes at the fair face of Victorine.
+
+"And where is Royal?" asked the old lady. "Does he not intend to
+embrace his grandmother?" She stood on tiptoe to kiss the young man on
+each cheek, and then turned to Victorine. "Where are you, my daughter?
+Come and see this naughty boy." Kate gave a little gasp as Royal bent
+to kiss Victorine's proffered cheek. He passed his hand over her
+beautiful hair. "You are as like an angel as ever, Victorine," he said
+in a low voice. And into the lovely eyes came a look of tender joy.
+"And you, Royal, are as like to a big naughty boy as ever."
+
+"No angel about me," he laughed. "No, I am very human." They spoke
+in French, which Kate only half understood, but she needed no
+interpretation of Victorine's happy smile.
+
+"And Victor! Mercy, Victor," cried Marianne, as the young man entered,
+"you look scared to death! Am I, then, so frightful?" She ran to him
+and then danced away again, making shocking faces at him, and laughing
+and shaking her head as he attempted to come near her. "You are not
+allowed to kiss the prisoners without permission from the authorities,"
+she cried.
+
+Victor turned to Royal. "What does she mean?"
+
+"Come, come, Marianne," said her brother, "keep still and let us tell
+them the story. You fly about like a feu follet. Sit down and let us
+tell them the tale."
+
+"And I will be the story-teller," Marianne announced. "No, no, I shall
+let no one else tell it. I mean that grandmamma shall hear it from me,
+for I know just what she will like best to know." And she proceeded
+with her recital, interrupted by many exclamations, accompanied by
+lifting of hands and shruggings of shoulders. "And so," concluded
+Marianne, "we are all here, and how long we stay depends upon how soon
+we can get away."
+
+"A wise speech, surely," laughed grand'mère. "But must you be always
+at the house of your captors? Is not your proper place with your
+grandmother?"
+
+Marianne stole a mischievous glance at Kate, and said solemnly, "But
+you see, grand'mère, you let one prisoner get away."
+
+"Mon Dieu!" cried Madame. "I let him get away! It was your own wicked
+contriving, ungrateful one. Was it not well enough as it was, with the
+entire family safe under my roof?"
+
+"Yes, it was as it should be for all of us but my father, and he did
+not know what might be his lot. He did not know what a terrible fate
+might be his, for you know all these wicked Britishers treat their
+prisoners with great disrespect and rudeness, even if they are not
+absolutely cruel."
+
+"I protest," cried Jack, growing very red. But Kate laughed, and said:
+"You see, Madame, we have a very difficult prisoner to deal with, and
+we should not allow her out of our sight, otherwise she should be
+handed over to her relatives. We promise you, however, that when she
+gets to be more than we can manage, that we shall send her to you; and
+in any case, she shall see you often."
+
+"And you will come to see me," said Marianne, nodding to Victorine,
+"you and Victor."
+
+"Yes, please come," Kate urged earnestly. She went up to Victorine and
+held out her two hands. "I want you to come and see us. We have not
+been very long in the neighborhood, and we know few of the people."
+
+Victorine looked at her wistfully. This bright sunny girl, the very
+embodiment of health and strength and fine proportion, did she really
+want her friendship? "Please say you will come," Kate begged, with her
+own sweet smile. "Your brother will bring you, I am sure."
+
+"I do not often leave maman," Victorine pleaded as an excuse.
+
+"She will come, too. Oh, yes, she will. We will make an occasion. We
+will have a birthday party, and I know you will not refuse to come."
+She begged so earnestly that Madame herself, when asked, gave a promise
+that satisfied Kate, and they all trooped out, leaving the little
+grandmother well pleased.
+
+But that night, long after all others were asleep, Kate lay broad
+awake, her thoughts intent upon the pathetic, beautiful face of
+Victorine La Rue, and she whispered: "Never, never! I will never stand
+between them. It would be a wickedness for which I could never forgive
+myself. We must find a way to make her happy; hers is the first claim.
+Royal must not stay here." And in her little room under the sloping
+roof, Victorine was on her knees, murmuring broken prayers, the tears
+streaming from her eyes. "Make me patient, dear Lord. Not my happiness,
+but his. Mother Mary, pity me, help me!"
+
+The next day Kate linked her arm in Jack's, and drew him down the
+path which led from the house. "I want to talk to you, Jack," she
+said. "I want you to help me to get Royal away. He ought to go to his
+grandmother's, where he is needed."
+
+"Why--why," Jack stammered. Then he was silent for a space. "I see,
+Kate," he said, after a while. "I think I understand. Do you think it
+is really as you were told?"
+
+"It ought to be so."
+
+"The girl has a lovely face, but I don't think Royal cares in that way."
+
+"She does, and that is enough. Oh, Jack, I have strength and youth and
+everything. She is one of God's unfortunates, and shall it be my place
+to snatch this happiness from her, when she has been brought up to
+think it will be hers?"
+
+"Kate, you are a good girl."
+
+"No, no. You don't know anything about it. I could never be happy if I
+did one small thing to add to her burden. If--if after I have done all
+I can, and then it does not turn out as it should, Jack,--don't you see
+that I shall then have nothing to reproach myself for?"
+
+"I see; and for my part, I'll do my best to help you, Kate. It is
+rather a delicate situation, but I think we can let Royal understand
+that it is from no lack of hospitality on our part."
+
+"Then you will undertake it."
+
+"Yes--Kate."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Marianne--do you think she likes her cousin? And I say, I've had hard
+thoughts, but I'd be ashamed to do less than you. I--perhaps I ought
+not to stand in the way."
+
+"But that is different," Kate interrupted eagerly. "He is on equal
+ground with you. One is as strong and well as the other. If anything,"
+she laughed, "he has the advantage in looks. There's no need for your
+Quixoticism there, Jack. Besides--" she hesitated, "you have no reason
+to think yourself favored, or that you could stand in any one's way."
+
+"That's so," returned Jack, so dejectedly that Kate hastened to say:
+"But that is no reason why you should not be some day. I am sure
+Marianne does not care for her cousin or any one else in a romantic
+way."
+
+"You think not?" doubtfully.
+
+"No, I don't. I have been watching her. I think she has a genuine
+affection for Victor La Rue, but it is not like being in love."
+
+"I never thought of him. By George! I have no doubt but that is what
+her grandmother would like. He's a good fellow, but since I had my
+ideas set upon the other fellow, I can't quite accept a possible
+rivalry with the other one."
+
+"Oh, I am not sure at all that she likes him best; but at all events,
+you have no reason to think that Marianne would ever listen to you."
+
+"No," said Jack, disconsolately. "I suppose it is folly to hug such a
+delusion, when she would never listen to any one who was not on the
+American side."
+
+"Then I don't see that you need worry yourself to make any sacrifices
+in another man's behalf. Let Fate decide. With me it is different.
+Come, we will go back to the house. I'll trust you to help me out, and
+I'll do the same for you, if occasion requires." With which compact,
+the conversation ended.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XII
+
+                           _Trouble for Sue_
+
+
+So far as Fred Lyle was concerned, it soon became apparent that Jack
+need not consider him a rival, for he was scarce a week under the
+Silverthorn's roof before the young sergeant had eyes and ears for no
+one but Sue,--a discovery which Jack was the last one to make, and
+which he took triumphantly to Kate with the remark, "I say, Kate, do
+you know I believe Lyle's making up to Sue."
+
+"Do you?" Kate returned, with laughter in her eyes. "And how long since
+you made this wonderful discovery?"
+
+"Oh, I've suspected it for some time, but I didn't think there was
+really anything in it till to-day. Look here, did you know it?"
+
+"Did I know it? Why, of course. Anybody but a blind bat who has only
+eyes for a little whiffet of a girl like Marianne would see it.
+Grandfather is in a rage over it."
+
+"You don't say so!"
+
+"Yes, and he's for getting him out of the house, neck and heels, as
+speedily as possible."
+
+"Pshaw! what's the matter with him? Of course nobody's good enough for
+Sue, but the fellow's a gentleman, and she might do much worse."
+
+"Precisely, but he's not a loyalist."
+
+"He's loyal to his own convictions and to his father's teachings." Jack
+was disposed to look very leniently upon this cousin of Marianne's,
+since he had proved beyond doubt that he did not stand in Jack's way.
+
+"You know grandfather and his prejudices. He will get father all
+stirred up next. Dear me! we are all in something of a fix."
+
+"What does Sue say?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"Does she--is she interested?"
+
+"You know she has always declared herself more American than British,
+and it is very likely that she has a warm spot for the young sergeant;
+yet it is too early to say positively, and I don't suppose, as matters
+stand, that it would break her heart to part with him. Still--"
+
+"Yes, still--"
+
+"It is mean of grandfather to be so hard on him, as if loving Sue were
+a terrible crime. If he should do anything that would lead to Fred's
+misfortune, it would be the surest way to increase Sue's regard for the
+boy."
+
+"He hasn't been talking to her about it, has he?"
+
+"Indeed, he has, then. He tackled her in the kitchen this very morning.
+Sue had very little to say,--you know her way of keeping silence when
+she feels the most,--but I tell you the look on her face as she marched
+out of the room made me know that she'd cross the border if she dared."
+
+"With Fred Lyle?"
+
+"Yes, or without him. Grandfather has taken the wrong way to break off
+this affair, for I never saw Sue give Mr. Lyle such a look as she did
+the next time they chanced to meet."
+
+"Well, well, well!" Jack ejaculated. "It's a sort of a mess all around.
+I'm good-natured, and I don't like to fuss, but I say no one has a
+right to dictate to girls and boys as big as we are when there is no
+moral question, only a difference of fool politics. Such things make a
+fellow stubborn; it's what drove Royal from his father's side, and it
+would drive me to the Yankees if grandfather were to try to force me
+to his way of thinking. We are all fond of old grand-dad, but he can't
+pull strings and make us all jump to his bidding like puppets. What
+does father say about all this?"
+
+"Oh, you know father. He just laughs and jokes about it and won't see
+that there is any serious side."
+
+"That's better than the other way. Well, Kate, we all have our
+troubles, and what has turned out one for Sue, has relieved me of one
+of mine. I shall not have any duel to fight except with Victor."
+
+"Nonsense, you'll have no duels to fight. By the way, do you expect to
+return to your regiment?"
+
+"Yes, as soon as my parole is ended. There will be no fighting anyhow
+for some time, for us volunteers, for we have been dismissed to our
+homes, and the regulars have gone into winter quarters. By spring the
+whole affair may be settled, and I most devoutly hope it will be."
+
+But it was not settled by spring, and in the meantime there was a
+parting between Sue and her lover,--a parting which no one witnessed,
+and of which Sue would not speak. Major Silverthorn very curtly
+announced to the young man that it was decided to return him to his own
+side with some others exchanged. "We do not usually parole regulars,"
+said the old gentleman, "and in your case it was an exceptional favor
+that gave you any sort of freedom. Your exchange has been arranged, and
+you will leave to-morrow."
+
+In polite terms Fred expressed his thanks for the unusual consideration
+shown him, but made no further comment.
+
+Not long after this Royal took up his quarters at his grandmother's,
+and Marianne passes her time between the Silverthorns and the home of
+her grandmother, Mr. Silverthorn, in his jocose way, insisting that
+she was still their prisoner, and, chaffing her about it, pretended
+that she could leave them only on parole, making a great fuss over
+it when she did. Victorine and Madame Desvouges fulfilled their
+promise of visiting the Silverthorns, and Kate's gentle concern for
+both of them quite won their hearts, so that one day the old lady, in
+confidence, told Kate her hopes concerning her grandchildren. "If it
+would but arrange itself so," she said plaintively, "I should have
+no compunctions about the property. Victor marries Marianne; I give
+him the farm; they are then both provided for. Victorine marries
+Royal, and brings him the dot I have saved for her. You see then this
+excellent plan; I provide at once for both my adopted children and my
+grandchildren. My daughter thinks it a plan of most excellent wisdom,
+and indeed I shall be desolated if it comes not about. True, you say;
+but would one want a deformity for a wife? I reply, but behold the
+angel face, the soul of such beauty, the life so pure, so unselfish
+that one forgets there is not perfection of body. You, for example, who
+have but lately met her, did she repel you? Were you shocked, abhorrent
+of her, my poor Victorine?"
+
+"No, no," Kate hastened to say. "I was not. She is, as you say,
+beautiful, attractive, lovable."
+
+"Ah, but that gratifies me. We are so accustomed to seeing her we
+forget, and I said to myself but the other day: I will ask the young
+demoiselles Silverthorn if they were repelled by her, if she to them
+seemed impossible." She peered up into Kate's face with her bright dark
+eyes, and Kate felt herself grow warm under the gaze. "You are such a
+creature of excellent health, so robust and full of verve," Madame went
+on, "that you, if any one, would feel the difference; and you do not
+dislike to be near this child of affliction?"
+
+"On the contrary, I find her a sweet, noble soul, one whom it is a
+privilege to know."
+
+Madame nodded with a satisfied air. Kate hesitated, and then asked
+wistfully, "Your grandson, he, of course--he knows your desire in this?"
+
+"Mon Dieu! no," cried the old lady. "We would be of the most unwise to
+tell him now. He is at the perverse age. He is young; he will get over
+it. We must be patient, that is all. I have made my will, and in that I
+have expressed myself concerning the matter."
+
+"And Marianne?"
+
+"Ah, that is different. It is for a girl to have her marriage arranged
+for her. She has been told by both her mother and myself, that she may
+expect to marry Victor."
+
+"And she accepts the arrangement?"
+
+"Ah, well, she is young and full of the idea of living nowhere but in
+her father's country; but Victor is a good boy; she is fond of him.
+What more could she ask? When she is tired of her butterfly ways, and
+desires to be settled as every woman should be, she will be amiable
+enough. Oh, no, I have no fear for Marianne. And Victor is content;
+he understands. He would not cage a wild bird and break its heart, he
+says; but when it is tamed, that is different. She will not then wish
+to hop beyond call, he tells me. He is very patient and prudent, is
+Victor."
+
+Kate kept her own counsel, but she took all this confidence to heart.
+Marianne, a docile French girl, accepting the arrangements made for
+her by mother and grandmother? No, indeed, they would find themselves
+mistaken in the girl. Had she not once said: "Liberty of thought, of
+speech, of action, that is to me the most glorious condition of which
+we have to boast in our country. I am like my father in that. And yet,"
+sighed Kate, "that same father wanted to coerce Royal, and he had
+resented it, too. Neither Royal nor Marianne would submit to having
+their lives arranged for them, and yet it would be a wise arrangement
+in most directions. I don't think Marianne yet knows what love is,"
+thought the girl. "She is still such a child; but when she does
+care, it will be with all her heart. Poor Victorine, poor Sue, poor
+Jack! I won't pity myself," said Kate, with a toss of the head and a
+compression of the lips.
+
+And that was how matters stood all winter. If Royal made advances,
+Kate repelled them; if Jack one day felt that he had gained a little
+in Marianne's good graces, the next she gave him a flout and a fling,
+so that he was in the depths of despair. What Sue thought she kept
+to herself, but that she had something to keep was evident by the
+hardening of her face whenever her grandfather began a tirade against
+the Yankees. Major Silverthorn did not spare words upon such occasions,
+even when Marianne was present. Once or twice she began a protest,
+but the sudden bringing together of Grandfather Silverthorn's heavy
+eyebrows, and his high-handed methods of disposing of Marianne's
+remarks, sealed her lips for all future controversy. Besides, Kate had
+begged her not to open a discussion. "Grandfather is very bitter," she
+said. "He suffered a good deal at the hands of those he called rebels,
+and was driven from his home in the dead of winter by the Sons of
+Liberty. There was wrong done on both sides, Marianne, but it doesn't
+do any good to argue the question; and besides, it makes it much harder
+for Sue. We want to spare her, you know." So, for Sue's sake, as well
+as to prevent the irascible old man from berating Marianne herself, the
+girl thought discretion the better part of valor, and kept silence.
+
+Meanwhile it was pleasant enough at her grandmother's, and to avoid
+Grandfather Silverthorn she stayed away more and more, spending her
+time with Victorine at the loom, or helping her grandmother with her
+various duties, or sometimes starting off with Victor for a long walk
+or ride through the woods; again she might go skating with him, or dash
+off for a sleigh-ride. Whatever else her grandmother forbade, it was
+never a frolic in which Victor was concerned; and Marianne, knowing
+this, took advantage of it, having but to make Victor her special
+pleader to obtain consent for any outing. It pleased the girl well
+enough, too, to have him with her, for Victor was a willing slave, and
+allowed her to queen it over him magnificently, though sometimes he did
+tease her and mock her.
+
+Royal, in spite of the fact that he considered his grandmother's
+house his real home, nevertheless spent most of his time at the
+Silverthorn's, to his grandmother's displeasure and Kate's uneasiness.
+
+When Marianne wanted to see these girl friends, she had no trouble in
+finding an escort in her brother, and so seldom called upon Victor
+to take her. Royal was not much of a talker, except at times. He was
+either gay and volatile or gloomy and morose. Marianne knew enough to
+select a time when the lively mood was in force to prefer her requests,
+and was seldom refused.
+
+He was ready enough one winter afternoon to accept her suggestion to
+take a sleigh-ride. "We can stop at the Silverthorn's and get the
+girls," Marianne proposed, "then we'll take a little ride in the cold,
+and be ready with big appetites for supper."
+
+"Very well," responded Royal, with alacrity. "We will go. Bundle up
+warm. We'll perhaps stop somewhere and get supper, so we'll take the
+big sleigh. I've no doubt that Jack will be glad to go with us."
+
+Marianne gave a little lift of her chin. "Oh! Jack! must he always go?"
+
+"Why not? He is a good fellow, I am sure, and jolly company; and,
+besides, he is my friend."
+
+"Oh, well, of course," Marianne returned lamely. She ran up to the room
+she shared with Victorine and donned a fur jacket and cap, pulling the
+flaps of the latter well down over her ears, and was ready to start
+off by the time Royal had the sleigh at the door; for in spite of his
+grandmother's protests, he generally managed to secure her consent to
+the use of anything he wanted. They found Kate and Sue quite in the
+humor for a frolic, and Jack was nothing loath. So off they started,
+through the woods and over the hard snowy road; Kate snuggled down by
+Royal's side on the front seat, and Jack with Sue and Marianne behind
+these two. Marianne had insisted that Sue should occupy the middle
+place, and in this order they decided it.
+
+"You are so quiet, Sue," said Marianne, when they were well started.
+"What is wrong?"
+
+"Grandfather has been in one of his fierce moods to-day," Jack
+explained. "Sometimes he gets too personal. I don't mind it, but Sue
+does and has reason to."
+
+"I think he is a most unpleasant, tyrannical old gentleman," Marianne
+said, with fervor.
+
+"And that is the reason you keep out of his way," Jack said.
+
+"Of course. I don't intend to place myself in disagreeable company if
+I can avoid it. One cannot always choose one's company, but there are
+times when it is possible. Never mind, Sue, you and I will skip across
+the river some day and leave the wicked old Britishers."
+
+"Of whom I am one, I suppose," returned Jack, a little too ready to
+take offence. He looked so unlike a wicked old anything, with his
+boyish good-humored face, that even Sue laughed.
+
+"You are spoiling Jack's disposition," she said.
+
+"You may be wicked, but you are not old," Marianne told him, demurely.
+"I should prefer that you were the latter if you could be but one."
+
+"What if I were both, wherein could I be better?" Jack asked.
+
+"You could cross the river and join our army," said Marianne, quickly.
+
+"And add to my other sins that of being a traitor. You would like me to
+do that?"
+
+"Well, no, I don't suppose I would, come to think of it. No, I see
+there is no way to improve your sad condition. You are hopelessly
+beyond benefiting. It is too bad that you committed yourself, or
+otherwise you could join our side and not be a traitor. I should like
+to hear you shout, 'Free trade and sailors' rights,' and see you trying
+to avenge the massacre of our men by your Indians." Jack compressed his
+lips, but said nothing. It was Marianne's habit to make these little
+flings, and to give him to understand that she endured him simply for
+the sake of his sisters and of her brother. Having accomplished her
+purpose in annoying him, Marianne laughed and whispered to Sue, "'Free
+trade and sailors' rights'; that's Cousin Fred's cry, you know." Sue
+made no reply except to give Marianne's hand a quick pressure.
+
+They were approaching a comfortable farmhouse, the owners of which were
+ready to entertain friends at quick notice, to pop a meat pasty in the
+oven, to warm up a fowl already roasted, and to have a warm meal ready
+for whoever might need it. There seemed a little embarrassment visible
+as the sleighing-party entered, but as the supplies in this part of the
+country were getting low, the visitors attributed the confusion to this
+fact.
+
+"Don't bother about a hot supper for us, Mrs. Hunter," said Royal. "A
+dish of porridge to warm us will be quite as much as we expect, and
+more than we deserve."
+
+"We will be able to give you something more, I hope," the good woman
+replied. "Will you go to the other room, girls, and lay off your
+things?"
+
+"I will stay and help you," Kate said. "Here, Sue, carry in my cloak
+and hood." Sue hung the heavy cloak over her arm and followed Marianne
+into the next room.
+
+"Just put them on the bed," Mrs. Hunter directed them.
+
+The two girls obeyed and deposited their wraps upon the plump white
+bed; then they stood before the small mirror to arrange their
+disordered ringlets, by the dim light of a candle. The room opened upon
+a porch on one side, and into the kitchen on the other. There was a
+small closet by the chimneypiece, and the door of it stood ajar. Sue
+turned away from the glass. "I have an uncomfortable feeling as if some
+one were looking at me," she remarked. "Did you ever have that creepy
+feeling, Marianne?"
+
+"I don't know. Not just that. Perhaps some one is looking in the
+window. It is so dark outside that we couldn't see if any one was
+there."
+
+Sue gave a swift glance at the window, and drew back. Then she looked
+around and gave a suppressed scream. "Oh, Marianne, there is some one
+there in the closet. I saw the door move."
+
+"It's only the wind. Don't be scary, Sue. You are not given to being so
+nervous."
+
+"I know--but--"
+
+"Come, I'll open the door and show you." She advanced toward the small
+door of the closet, but it was suddenly flung open, and a man stood
+before them, raising a silencing finger. "Cousin Fred!" Marianne
+exclaimed, in a whisper.
+
+"Fred!" murmured Sue. "What are you doing here?"
+
+"I was on my way to see you," he told her. "I could not stand it any
+longer. I may be ordered away at any moment, and the thought that I
+might never see you again was too much for me. The Hunters, I learned,
+were secretly friends to our side, and they sheltered me. I meant to
+try to get word to you somehow, and fortune has favored me. How can I
+see you for a little while without suspicion from those outside? Your
+brother, and yours, Marianne, would have a right; and it would be their
+duty to take me."
+
+"They are calling us now," said Sue, in perturbation. And just then
+Kate's voice was heard at the door.
+
+"What are you girls doing so long in there?" she inquired.
+
+"We'll be there presently," Sue answered faintly. "Oh, what excuse can
+we make?" She turned to Marianne.
+
+Immediately Marianne flung herself on the bed. "I am suddenly ill,
+Sue. Tell them, and you must stay here with me. I'll manage it. Go ask
+Mrs. Hunter if she can make me a cup of ginger tea. Go back into your
+hiding-place, Cousin Fred."
+
+He stepped into the closet, and Marianne set up such a moaning and
+groaning as brought Kate to her side. "Poor child!" she exclaimed
+sympathetically, "you shouldn't have taken that long ride; it was far
+enough to our house without this added distance. You have taken cold, I
+am afraid."
+
+"Don't let me keep you," said Marianne, in a weak voice. "Go back to
+Mrs. Hunter. Sue will stay with me."
+
+Kate retired, and presently Mrs. Hunter came bustling in, all concern.
+Marianne sat up and whispered something to her. "I am not really ill,"
+was what she said, "but I must make an excuse for Sue and me to remain
+after the others have gone. Will you mind keeping us here to-night. It
+is for Fred and Sue, you understand, Mrs. Hunter."
+
+The good woman nodded assent. "Keep you? Of course, as long as you want
+to stay. I was young once myself, my child."
+
+"And not so long ago," returned Marianne. "Say to them in there that I
+must be quiet, and that you have given me an herb drink, and if I can
+get to sleep I shall feel better."
+
+"That I will do, and the herb drink will do you no harm, either. I will
+keep them all out and send them home in good order."
+
+"We will settle the other matters when they have gone," Marianne
+decided.
+
+Mrs. Hunter went out, carefully shutting the door behind her, and they
+heard her make her report according to Marianne's directions.
+
+"I will pretend I am asleep, Sue," said Marianne, "and you can then go
+and eat your supper. In doing that there will be less suspicion. Then
+you must insist that you will stay with me and that we will return in
+the morning. Now go. I can't help it if it is a deceit; there is no
+other way." For answer Sue bent over and kissed her; and Marianne,
+left to herself, cuddled down in the big feather-bed, drawing a warm
+comfortable over her. She did not dare to speak to her cousin lest
+their whispered conference be overheard.
+
+It was not long before Sue and Kate returned. "She is awake," said
+Kate, as Marianne opened her eyes from her feigned nap. "Are you
+feeling better, dear?"
+
+"Yes," said Marianne, in a feeble tone.
+
+"But she must not go out to-night into the cold," said Mrs. Hunter, who
+had followed the others into the room.
+
+"Then I shall stay with her," Kate declared.
+
+"No, Sue promised that she would," Marianne told her.
+
+"Oh, well," Kate made reply, a little hurt. But Marianne drew her down
+and whispered:--
+
+"Royal will be so disappointed if you do not return."
+
+Kate shook her head, but smiled and made no further demur. So
+presently the depleted party drove off, and the two girls were left to
+themselves.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII
+
+                              _Runaways_
+
+
+As the sleigh-bells commenced their departing jingle Marianne sprang
+from the bed. "Now then, they are gone!" she cried. "That I hope was
+an excusable deception. Come out, Cousin Fred, and tell us the rest of
+your story; you must be tired enough of your close corner."
+
+The young man obeyed with alacrity, and began to tell them of the
+battle of Frenchtown, saying, "I suppose you have not yet heard what
+has befallen us in the battle on the 23d of January at Frenchtown. It
+is the latest news I bring and bad enough at that. At first our side
+was successful, but we were surprised by a combined force of British
+and Indians, and a most horrible massacre ensued. It makes one's
+blood run cold to think of it, and I will spare you details. Hundreds
+of brave Kentuckians, my own friends and relatives among them, were
+scalped and mutilated by the savages. Do you wonder that I long for
+revenge, and for a chance for active service?"
+
+The girls listened, pale and horror-stricken.
+
+"I have begged to be sent to the front," said Fred, "but before I
+should go, I felt that I must make an effort to see you, Sue, dear. I
+took my chances, for I felt that I could not go without one more word
+with you."
+
+"Don't say that, after the dreadful tale you have been telling us."
+Sue held out her hands supplicatingly. "It will be harder than ever to
+sit mute and listen to grandfather's tirades against you. Oh, Fred, to
+think you might have been one of those to fall by the hand of those
+murderous Indians. How can I let you go? Pray do not try to be in the
+thick of it. Let fate take its course and do not court danger."
+
+He came closer and took her hands. "You love me, Sue?"
+
+She gave a quick glance at Marianne before she whispered, "Yes."
+
+"Never mind my little cousin," said Fred, smiling at Marianne. "You are
+our good friend, Marianne, I know."
+
+"Yes, yes," Marianne replied eagerly, "and I shall be glad, very glad,
+Sue, dear, to have you for my cousin."
+
+Sue smiled faintly, then asked her lover wistfully, "Must you go back
+soon?"
+
+"Yes, it was a risk to come at all, you know."
+
+"And after you return, will you go to the front at once?"
+
+"I cannot tell just how soon, but at all events I cannot stay here very
+long."
+
+"No, I can see that, but," she put her hand on his arm, "it seems
+harder than ever to let you go."
+
+"If you were but on the other side of the river, we could be together
+till the time came when I should be ordered away. Sue, dear heart, do
+you love me enough to forsake your family and to take the chances of a
+soldier's wife now, when it may bring you greater sorrow if I fall?"
+
+She clung to him closely, "Oh Fred, I love you enough for anything,"
+she whispered, "but--if I could know what is right! Would it make you
+happier, dear?"
+
+"Happier! You know that, Sue; and if anything can make me fight more
+desperately, it will be the thought of my wife waiting my return."
+
+"Your wife?" Sue's whisper was a half sigh.
+
+"Yes, sweet. Shall it be so? Will you consent to it? To cross the
+river with me where we can best get over on the ice? Do you think your
+parents would receive us, Cousin Marianne? Would you--could you send
+with us a message to your parents, commending Sue to their charge?"
+
+"I? Gladly, Cousin Fred. And--yes, I know my mother will welcome Sue,
+and our home shall be hers while you are away."
+
+"Good girl. Thank you, cousin. So, Sue--"
+
+"Yes?"
+
+"Shall we do this? And after the war we will go back to Kentucky, God
+willing, and I shall be proud to present my wife to my family there."
+
+Sue smiled up at him and nodded assent, her heart too full for words.
+And then Mrs. Hunter came in to remind Marianne that she had had no
+supper, and they all went into the kitchen together.
+
+The first dim light of dawn was stealing over the land when Sue bade
+Marianne a tearful good-by. "Wouldn't it be better if I were to go,
+too?" Marianne asked.
+
+Sue shook her head. "No, no, I will not have any censure come to you
+through me. I shall have Fred, and I am not afraid. You will try to
+comfort Kate and be a sister to her. I would rather have you stay for
+that. It will not be so hard for Kate if she is not left alone; and I
+hope soon, soon there will be no barrier to separate us. Tell father I
+love him dearly as I have always done, and that I hope he will forgive
+me for leaving him."
+
+So they watched her depart into the gray of the morning, confident in
+her love and faith, and yet with a strange longing and regret tugging
+at her heart.
+
+Of course there was a scene at the Silverthorns when the news of Sue's
+flight was brought them. It was Royal who spared his little sister the
+pain of telling it. "I can stand the Major's explosions of wrath," he
+insisted. "You can tell Kate if you like, and I will face the others."
+
+"My poor Sue," said Kate, the tears gathering in her eyes; "it seems
+so pitiful that she must go without one of us to wish her happiness.
+Oh, I hope she will be happy; but I shall miss her so, and I cannot
+quite forgive Fred for being willing to have her leave us all without
+a word." She put her head down on Marianne's shoulder and wept softly.
+Presently she wiped away her tears. "I must go to father," she said.
+"He is the one who needs me."
+
+Marianne wisely stayed behind, and Royal slipped from the room when
+Kate appeared. Major Silverthorn was storming up and down the floor,
+uttering all manner of execrations. Kate paid no heed to him, but went
+directly to her father, who gathered her into his arms. The humorous
+twinkle was gone from his eye, and his mouth was gravely set. "You are
+not angry, too, father?" Kate whispered.
+
+"Angry with my girl? No." He shook his head. "She had no mother to
+teach her patience and prudence, my poor little Sue. She is not to
+blame."
+
+"And you will forgive her when she comes back?"
+
+"Forgive her? There's nothing to forgive. I am to blame myself. I
+should not have treated it all so lightly. It was no joke to her, poor
+child. While she was eating her heart out with fear and anxiety, I
+laughed at her." He drew his hand across his eyes.
+
+Kate clung closer to him and would not have him blame himself, rather
+counting herself at fault. And so they comforted each other, and no one
+felt harshly toward poor Sue except the inflexible major. Jack heard
+the news gravely. It was Kate who told him, and he had no comment to
+make but, "Poor Sue, I hope she will be happy. Fred is a good fellow if
+he does belong to the other side, though I think he was wrong to steal
+our sister away."
+
+But soon there was little time to consider anything but near and
+immediate dangers. As the spring opened, hostilities were renewed.
+
+The invasion of Canada was still the object of the Americans. Their
+regular force was now nearly sixty thousand, while that of Sir George
+Prevost, governor of Canada, was comparatively small. Up to this time
+neither side had displayed very excellent tactics, and the border
+country, except in special localities, had not suffered greatly.
+But the day of terror was near. The employment of Indian allies was
+sufficient fact to determine a season of horrible warfare, and the more
+timid were trembling at the possibilities in store for them.
+
+In February Sir George Prevost directed an attack against Ogdensburg,
+capturing the American stores and artillery. It was considered so
+great a victory that a message was sent to the commanding officer of
+Fort Niagara, informing him that a salute would be fired from Fort
+George in honor of the affair. The American officer sent a return
+message to the effect that he was gratified to be able to return the
+compliment, as he intended to fire a salute from his fort at the same
+time, having just received news of a brilliant naval victory: that of
+the _Peacock_ over the British frigate _Java_. Probably no one enjoyed
+the humor of this more than Mr. Silverthorn, and he laughed with
+Marianne over the Yankee wit of Colonel McFeely.
+
+With the disappearance of the ice from the streams and the lakes the
+military movements were started, and then Marianne's grandmother
+clamored for her to remain with her altogether. "I shall not have a
+moment's peace," the old lady declared, "with both you and Royal in the
+midst of danger."
+
+"But shall I be any safer here?" Marianne asked.
+
+"Surely, yes. Monsieur Silverthorn has chosen a most isolated
+habitation, and who could ever discover if a horde of savages were
+suddenly to descend upon you all there?"
+
+"But it does not seem right to desert Kate."
+
+"And what is to prevent the coming of Mademoiselle Kate, too?"
+
+But to this Kate would not listen. "It is right for you to go to your
+grandmother's," she decided, "for families should keep together if they
+can at such times, and for that reason I must stay here where father
+and Jack can come if they need me."
+
+"But if danger seems nearer you than us, you will come?" said Marianne.
+
+"If I can. You must not worry about me. We are so far out of the way
+that for that very reason we shall probably be safer than those nearer
+the village and the high road."
+
+So Marianne left her reluctantly, and arrived at her grandmother's to
+hear them all talking of the attack upon York. General Pike had been
+killed, and it was reported that the American fleet was coming down
+the lake. Then came the positive information that General Dearborn had
+evacuated York and was making for the Niagara country.
+
+"There will be trouble for us now," said Victor, who brought the news.
+And it was not long before the first booming of the great guns from the
+batteries on both sides the river told them that the trouble had begun.
+The thunders of the cannons were silenced by night, but began again
+the next morning. Except for the constant booming, it was quiet enough
+at the Desvouges farm, but there was confusion enough beyond,--troops
+marching, fighting, shouting; flags waving, drums beating, fifes
+shrilly playing. From time to time one or another of these sounds
+came faintly to the ears of the family. By noon Fort George had been
+surrendered, and by night all was quiet. The Niagara frontier was
+abandoned by the British.
+
+"My father! My father! I shall see him soon," Marianne cried
+delightedly.
+
+"I would not count upon it too surely," her grandmother warned her.
+
+"But why? He will surely come. He must have been there with his
+regiment."
+
+"Yes, but this is war, my child. It does not mean that there are none
+slain, nor wounded."
+
+"Oh!" Marianne had not for a moment considered such a possibility,
+since her friends were the victors. She grew suddenly pale. "Do you
+think he is killed, grand'mère?" she asked, in an awed tone.
+
+"Tut, tut, my child, I did not say so. I but warned you not to be too
+confident of seeing him. The fortunes of war are so very uncertain."
+
+But the girl did not hear her. She had sprung to her feet. "He is
+coming now! I hear him! I see him!" she cried. "Father! Father!" She
+sprang to the door to meet him, indeed, upon the very sill, hale and
+hearty and weather-beaten.
+
+"You have come! You have come!" cried Marianne, catching him around the
+neck and receiving a mighty embrace.
+
+"Come, sure enough; and not alone, either," replied her father with a
+laugh. "This time there are plenty to keep me in countenance."
+
+"It is true, then; we have taken Fort George?"
+
+"Yes, and five hundred prisoners."
+
+"Good!" But a sudden thought sobered her. "Do you suppose that Royal
+and the Silverthorns are among them?" she asked gravely.
+
+Her father's smile faded. "I do not know. We shall see." Then he
+brightened again. "You are on our soil to-night, daughter."
+
+"So I am, and long enough have I been off it. Now do tell me the news,
+father. Mother and Jerusha are well?"
+
+"Yes, but anxious to see you. Let me have a word with your grandmother,
+and then I will tell you all that you are so ready to hear." He
+turned to Madame Desvouges and chatted with her while Marianne waited
+impatiently her turn. A long sigh drew her grandmother's attention to
+the wistful face. She laughed. "I see I shall be considered an old one
+most tiresome, if I do not give way to this questioner. We shall have
+to send her to bed very early in order to converse."
+
+"I do want to hear about Sue," said Marianne, eagerly.
+
+"She is still with your mother, and a great comfort to her in your
+absence. Naughty little Marianne, you let her steal a march on you. I
+had looked to see you in her place."
+
+Marianne laughed. "Cousin Fred could not wait for me, it seems, for I
+have no mind to marry yet, and I am very well content to have Sue for a
+cousin. Isn't she a fine girl?"
+
+"She is, and Fred is a fine fellow."
+
+"They ought to be very happy, then, and I suppose they are. Is Fred
+with you? Was he in the battle to-day?"
+
+"Yes, and came out of it safe and sound. To-morrow you shall see him,
+and your mother, too, I hope."
+
+"Here?"
+
+"Or at our own home."
+
+"No, here," interrupted Madame Desvouges, "and then we shall all have
+the pleasure. I protest at breaking up a family again."
+
+"We must get Kate, and--oh, but it will be fine to have every one safe,
+and to feel that one does not have to hide and contrive and beware
+of enemies at every turn. Grand'mère forgives you for making her an
+American, I know she does. Yes, grand'mère, this is American soil now,
+and you cannot do or say anything against any of us or you will be made
+a prisoner as I make you one now." She encircled the old lady's waist
+with her arms and would not let her go.
+
+"To-morrow, Victor," said Madame, "you will go and bring my daughter
+and her friend home. Do not forget to start early."
+
+"And we will go and get Kate, and have a grand family reunion. Will it
+not be fine, Victorine?"
+
+Victorine smiled sadly. Her thoughts flew to Royal. Was he this night
+wounded, a prisoner, or dead? "Your brother, too, should be here to
+make it complete," she said.
+
+"True," Marianne sighed. "I hope he is safe. I forgot that one can
+never be completely happy; there is always a thorn somewhere." But
+where Royal was at that moment they little knew.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIV
+
+                           _Kate and Royal_
+
+
+The hearthstone of the Silverthorns was cold. Before it sat Kate,
+with her throbbing head between her hands. Up and down the country
+had been raging the conflicting armies. Her father, her grandfather,
+Jack, Royal, had gone forth to battle, but not one had returned to her.
+Where were they? She shivered, though the mild May evening brought
+little chill in it. Her supper was forgotten. The day had passed like
+a nightmare; and now at evening, with the triumphing Americans in
+possession, she felt deserted, lonely, despairing. If but one of her
+friends would come and bring her news; if but one would return to
+comfort her! In a dull way she felt that she must not leave her post
+lest she be needed. "But how foolish! how foolish!" she said aloud.
+"They cannot come back into the enemy's country; it isn't their country
+any more."
+
+She aroused herself wearily, and went to the door. The peace of evening
+was over the landscape. Bloody scenes of revenge and warfare seemed
+far enough away, but the loveliness of the view only brought tears to
+the girl's eyes, and she went inside again, sitting dejectedly down at
+the table and resting her head upon her arms.
+
+The daylight faded, and as darkness came on from out of the stillness
+of the night some one stealthily approached, stood for a moment
+listening, then pushed open the door. Kate, hearing the sound, sprang
+to her feet and held out two trembling hands. "Royal!" she cried,
+"Royal!" There was such longing and relief in her tones that he
+gathered her to his heart without a question.
+
+"My poor lonely darling, my poor little Kate! Why have you stayed here
+by yourself? It was not safe, Kate." He laid her head against his
+breast, and kissed her white forehead.
+
+"But you?" she asked. "Is it safe for you?"
+
+"Safe enough. It is quiet now."
+
+"My father, and Jack, and grandfather--what of them?"
+
+He was silent a moment before answering. "Jack and Major Silverthorn
+are prisoners. Your father--" he paused again, and held her closer.
+"Can you bear to hear it, dearest?"
+
+"Yes, yes," she whispered, clinging to him.
+
+"He was mortally wounded. We took him to a house not far from here. We
+will lay him to rest in the morning."
+
+Kate broke away from him and stretched out helpless hands. "Where is my
+comfort?" she moaned. "I am all alone, all alone."
+
+Royal took the cold hands in his. "Dearest Kate, I told your father I
+would take care of you. You will let me, Kate?"
+
+She gazed at him with wide unseeing eyes. "No, no!" She made a gesture
+which sent him back a step, and her head moved painfully from side to
+side.
+
+To see her suffering was more than Royal could bear, and he came to her
+side again and possessed himself of her hand. "Do you mean that you do
+not love me, Kate?" he asked, in a low, troubled tone. She was silent,
+but kept her face turned from him and covered by her free hand. "You
+know, Kate dearest, you must know that I love you, that I have loved
+you from the first. It does not seem a time to speak of it, but--I
+thought to-night--when I came in, that you loved me, too. And you do
+not, Kate?"
+
+"I must not," she replied, still sobbing.
+
+"It does not seem a time to speak of it," Royal repeated, "but your
+father was so troubled for you, and I told him I would cherish you,
+love you, care for you, if you would be my wife, Kate; and he was
+glad, and told me to give you his blessing. If you do not love me,
+Kate, I will not worry you again."
+
+She turned her sad eyes upon him. "I must not," she repeated.
+
+"You will tell me why? Why must you not? Have I a right to know?"
+
+"Victorine," she said faintly. "It is to her you should tell your love."
+
+"Victorine? I have told her of my love."
+
+Kate looked at him wildly. Her mouth twitched, and she asked in a
+hysterical gasp, "Then why? then why?" She turned from him and sat down
+on the doorstep, sobbing again in a pitiful, helpless way.
+
+Royal looked at her in a sort of wonder, then he sat down by her side.
+"I have told her, Kate. I told her long ago. She is the only one who
+knows about it; and she said she would love you, too, and if anything
+happened to me, she promised that she would be to you as a sister. You
+see--you know how things are at home; I could not tell them there, and
+so I told Victorine. I have always gone to her with my secrets ever
+since we were children together, and so it was natural that I should
+give her my confidence. Do you care that I did? that she knew it before
+I told you? Poor little heart, I should not disturb you with this; but
+I did hope--I thought--your father thought, that perhaps I could bring
+you a little comfort."
+
+Then Kate turned to him with a sigh and laid her hand in his. "You do
+comfort me, Royal. No one else could bring me a gleam of light in this
+dark hour; no one but you."
+
+"And you will let me carry out your father's wish? I will tell you,
+my dearest: when he was wounded, and we found how serious it was, we
+took him to one side, and after a little were able to bear him to a
+farmhouse near by. His great concern was for you and Sue, and I felt
+that I ought to tell him of my feeling for you, and that I thought
+perhaps you might care a little; and he was pleased. He said he would
+give you to me if you were willing, and he asked me to come at once and
+tell you so. He wanted so to see you before he should go, but we knew
+it would be too late by the time you could reach him, and it seemed
+to comfort him to have me stay by his side to the last. He wished--he
+asked that there should be no delay in our right to belong to each
+other. He asked that I would take you for my wife before we gave him
+our last farewell." He paused for Kate's answer, but she made none.
+
+"I would have told you long ago," he went on; "but sometimes you were
+so cold and seemed to shun me, and I felt that you did not want to
+hear what I had to tell. I was afraid you did not care."
+
+"I cared always," Kate spoke very quietly now, "but I thought I
+understood that you were to marry Victorine, and it seemed a natural
+arrangement--"
+
+"Victorine? Why, I never thought of her as a wife; as a saint, an
+angel, so pure and holy, but--" He shook his head. "As I told you, she
+has always been my confidante, my counsellor. I have never spoken of
+love to her, except of my love to you, and she has encouraged me and
+urged me not to give you up; she has assured me that I might hope to
+win you, has given me courage, and confidence, and hope, as a sweet
+sister might do. She bade me tell you, if ever I did win your love,
+that if you could consent to make me happy, that she would feel that
+you conferred a happiness upon her, and that it would be for her
+happiness as well as mine."
+
+"She said that?"
+
+"Yes. You believe it?"
+
+"I believe you."
+
+"And you will not send me away from you?"
+
+"No. But can I go to him?" she asked wistfully.
+
+"Yes. You must not stay here alone. We will go together. They are
+expecting us. You will try to sleep to-night. You can be sure that it
+is I who am watching."
+
+They walked away into the spring night, following a beaten path across
+fields till a white farmhouse gleamed out of the dim green, and into
+this they passed, Kate's joy swallowed up in her great grief.
+
+It was a solemn little company that stood in the presence of death
+to witness the entering upon a new life of Royal and Kate; and the
+clergyman who united the two turned from the marriage service to that
+for the burial of the dead. Friend and foe alike stood by the grave to
+do honor to the soldier, Robert Silverthorn.
+
+It was General Porter himself who offered Royal his hand when giving
+him his parole, though shaking his head and saying, "I didn't expect to
+see the son of my friend Walter Reyburn in this plight." Yet he wished
+him happiness, and told him he was fortunate in winning such a bride.
+
+It was afternoon of the same day that Royal and Kate, sitting in front
+of the Silverthorns' house, saw two figures ride up, and descried
+Victor and Marianne to be the riders. Marianne was off her horse in a
+twinkling. "Royal is here!" she cried. "We have been so anxious about
+him. Why didn't you come and report your safety, you bad child?"
+
+Her brother looked at Kate. "I had other things to do." He took Kate's
+hand in his. "This is my wife, Marianne. Come and give her a sisterly
+greeting."
+
+Marianne stood stock still in astonishment for a second, then she ran
+forward and clasped Kate in her arms. "Dear Kate, I am so glad." She
+held her off at arm's length. "Tell me all about it. I think you were
+very, very unkind not to ask me to be present, and not to let me know
+long ago that you meant to marry my brother. But you look so sad. What
+has happened?"
+
+Kate's eyes filled, and Marianne looked at her brother for explanation.
+"Kate is fatherless," he said, in a low tone.
+
+Instantly Marianne's arms were again about the girl. "Dear Kate, dear
+Kate. Ah, how sad! I see; that is why you married so quietly. You must
+let us comfort you, for now you have our father and mother for yours."
+She paused, for she wondered if this step of Royal's would further
+estrange his father. "I came over on purpose to have you go back with
+me. Sue and mother are both at grandmother's. Sue would have come with
+me, but I was ready to start off as soon as she arrived, and so we
+thought it best not to wait. And now that we have Royal safe, it will
+make the meeting of the family that much more complete."
+
+At this moment Victor, who had been tying the horses, came up, and
+Marianne pounced upon him, crying: "Victor, what do you think? They are
+married, these two. Is it not a surprise, and with Sue at the house,
+is it not fortunate?" Then she remembered the sad news of which Sue had
+yet to be told, and she was silent. Royal beckoned Victor aside, and
+Marianne sat down by Kate to hear all that she had to tell.
+
+An hour or two later the expectant company at Madame Desvouges's were
+startled by Marianne's announcement: "Here we are, mother. Royal we
+have found, and Kate, too; and what do you think? It is no more Kate
+Silverthorn, but Kate Reyburn. She is Royal's wife."
+
+But Kate had flown to Sue, and was clasped in her sister's arms.
+"Sue, Sue," sobbed she, "he is gone from us forever; our dear father
+we shall never see more on earth. And, oh, Sue, it is all so sad! my
+wedding-day, and such a grief to carry!" The two sisters did not hear
+nor heed the consternation which Marianne's announcement had made.
+
+"Mon Dieu!" cried Madame Desvouges. "Ungrateful boy, do not come here
+with a wife. A wife, indeed! And what right have you to take a wife
+without your parents' consent? I will not have it. Victorine, where are
+you? Do you hear, Victorine? The ungrateful has a wife. Ah, I am an old
+woman to be thus ignored, set aside. He should have consulted me, me;
+and I would have told him the impossibility of it. No, no, take her
+away. I will not welcome her. Where is my daughter? Take me to my room."
+
+Victorine, as pale as a ghost, stepped between the uplifted hands that
+would seem to drive away Royal. There was the smile of a martyr upon
+the girl's face as she held out both hands to the young man. "Bring
+your wife to me, Royal," she said, "that I may wish her the joy she
+deserves, and that I may share her sorrow. I am glad, glad of your
+happiness; I have prayed for it night and day." Royal stooped to kiss
+her, and with a little quivering indrawing of her breath she turned her
+cheek to him and received his caress silently. Then she sought Kate,
+sitting with Sue in one corner, and after giving her gentle words of
+greeting and of sympathy, Victorine slipped from the room, and they saw
+her no more.
+
+Marianne followed her mother, who had led the tottering steps of the
+old lady from the room. "You will be good to Kate, even if grand'mère
+is not," Marianne urged. "Think, mother, her father died but yesterday;
+and what a sad wedding-day for her! We should not make it more sad.
+And Royal has long loved her, and you know yourself how dear and
+lovely a girl she is. If you will give her a loving welcome, it will
+make both of your children happy after this long parting." And though
+Mrs. Reyburn's own disappointment was great, she had the wisdom to see
+that the fault was neither Royal's nor Kate's, but that it lay within
+themselves, who had set their hearts upon a thing that could not be
+brought about.
+
+So she followed her daughter, Madame Desvouges shrieking after them:
+"Do not bring her to me. I will not receive her. I will not have her
+under my roof. I will not come from my room till she leaves the house."
+
+The shrill voice reached Kate's ears this time, and she turned white
+and then red, shrinking back when Mrs. Reyburn appeared.
+
+"You must not mind my mother," said that good woman. "She is old, and
+cannot understand that these children of mine are grown up and are old
+enough to decide some matters for themselves. You have had a great
+sorrow, my daughter, and I hope you believe that you have all our
+sympathy. I am very glad Royal has not brought us a stranger, but some
+one whom we already know and love."
+
+This was very sweet for Kate to hear, but she could not forget those
+piercing tones, declaring Madame Desvouges's disappointment. She felt
+ill at ease while she remained in the house.
+
+His grandmother's attitude had the effect of antagonizing Royal, and
+he strode off to her room, insisting that she should hear him, and
+declaring that he had never asked any one to receive his wife, and that
+they were sufficient for each other.
+
+"You talk of my defying you, grand'mère, of my disobedience, when
+you have never forbidden me to marry. It was but the other day you
+encouraged me to consider it, saying that it was high time I was
+looking out for a wife. I don't understand this opposition, and I shall
+not subject my wife to any such treatment. You need not fear that we
+will remain. Of all times, to treat her unjustly when she has become
+orphaned and has none to look to but to us. I expected more gentleness
+from my grandmother, who has always treated me so tenderly."
+
+He did not wait for a reply, but slammed the door after him, and left
+her in tears. Yet he was somewhat mollified by his mother's gentle
+acceptance of this new daughter, and by Marianne's evident happiness in
+having Kate for a sister.
+
+"I have always wanted a sister," she told Kate, "and I would choose you
+above any one."
+
+"Not above Victorine," Kate added.
+
+"Well, that is different. I love her dearly, of course, but she is
+older and does not seem the companion that you do. I must tell Sue that
+mother wants her to feel that she can return home with us to-morrow,
+and that she must not leave till she goes to Kentucky with her husband."
+
+"But she is going home with me," Kate told her. "We will be happier so.
+She is heart-broken at having gone away without a word of farewell to
+father, and reproaches herself for acting in such haste."
+
+"But she has been very happy with Fred."
+
+"Yes, and father was content that she should have gone. He sent her
+such loving messages, but all the more she reproaches herself. Royal
+has tried to comfort her by telling her that father sent word that
+she must not fret, for he did not blame her, and that he had never
+forbidden her to marry. He said he loved her not one bit the less. It
+was so like father to think of her and not of himself. He had such a
+great loving heart that he was always readier to excuse than to blame."
+The tears fell from Kate's eyes, and Marianne put her arms around her.
+
+"I know," she said. "I know how hard it must be, but he would be glad
+if he could see you and Sue here together, and could know that each has
+the love of the man who of all others is dearest to her."
+
+"Yes," sighed Kate, "that is one comfort; and another is that all of
+you but your grandmother have been so good to me. I hope some day even
+Madame Desvouges will be reconciled. It is very hard for old people to
+give up, and I know she had other plans for Royal."
+
+"Yes, I know what you mean," Marianne returned, thoughtfully, "but
+that never could have been. I know it, Kate, and you mustn't let that
+trouble you."
+
+That Sue would go back to their old home with her, that Marianne was
+pleased, that Victorine had welcomed her, and that Mrs. Reyburn had
+received her as a daughter, was indeed Kate's comfort; and she felt
+that, sadly as she must always remember her wedding-day, that she could
+also gather from it memories of much sympathy, consideration, and
+affection.
+
+Mr. Reyburn had not appeared; he was busy with his military duties.
+Fred had been able to join them, and Kate felt in the face of
+the displeasure shown upon her account, that she could have a
+fellow-feeling for her brother-in-law, who, after all, had erred, but
+because of his love for Sue. He was so brotherly, so sympathetic,
+so concerned for her, that she could not have the heart to show him
+ill-will; and when he professed himself glad that Sue wanted to stay
+with her sister in the old home, Kate lost all feeling of resentment.
+
+When told of this new exhibition of independence on the part of his
+son, Captain Reyburn at first made no comment; then he remarked, "He
+might have done worse." He had always liked Kate, and the fact that
+Sue had been for all these months an inmate of his house, increased
+his feeling of friendliness for her sister. He met Kate and Sue on
+the road one day and stopped them. "When this war is over I hope we
+shall see something of each other," he said. "My son has not asked
+my congratulations upon his new possession, but he has them just the
+same." He bowed and passed on, and Kate looked at Sue. "Well, what do
+you think of that?" she asked.
+
+"I think," said Sue, "that you may be the bond that is needed to unite
+those two."
+
+"I hope so," said Kate, fervently.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XV
+
+                            _Home No More_
+
+
+Throughout the summer there were exciting times along the lake country.
+The affairs of Stony Creek and Beaver Dams were the ones most affecting
+the inhabitants of the Niagara frontier, while lesser skirmishes and
+conflicts did not give time for much respite from anxiety. Kate and Sue
+remained quietly at home. Royal, being still under parole and allowed
+to remain with them, could be on hand to look after matters requiring
+a man's attention, while Fred was stationed near by with the troops at
+Fort George.
+
+Marianne and her mother had returned to their home across the river,
+and with Jerusha and Mark managed affairs, but lived in a state of
+dread and anxiety for the safety of their friends of both sides.
+Captain Reyburn was constantly on duty, and although after the
+unfortunate issue of the fight in the Beechwoods the American troops
+did not make many ventures, there was a feeling of uncertainty and
+apprehension about, which served to make this a most uncomfortable
+time. Jerusha, however, was never in better spirits. There was occasion
+for the display of her best efforts at cheerfulness, and her depression
+decreased in proportion to the greatness of the reverses reported.
+
+"I don't believe you care one bit for our success," Marianne
+complained. "You are so disagreeably cheerful, Jerusha. One would think
+it was a wedding you were talking about, instead of a battle."
+
+"A weddin'," sniffed Jerusha. "I guess I'd be sorry enough to see any
+poor misguided woman throw herself away on any man, let alone myself.
+Thank goodness, I'm beyond any hopes or fears of marriage."
+
+"You'd better not be too sure," returned Marianne. "There's Asa
+Peaslee, if he ever comes back. I heard him say you were 'a fine figger
+of a woman.' You don't know what may be in store for you."
+
+"As if I'd look twice at that little weazly-faced crittur," Jerusha
+scoffed.
+
+"I'm sure I caught you making eyes at him," Marianne continued, bent
+upon teasing.
+
+"Me make eyes at that poor little atomy! I can put my eyes to better
+use, and my ears, too. I don't give no heed to the maunderin' of that
+runt of a pedler. I kin tell you a tale worth two of yours. I heard
+that Mis' Secord acrost the river carried the word to them Britishers,
+and they was on the look-out for Colonel Boerstle and his men. She
+walked through the woods for miles to get FitzGibbons the information.
+Now, I call that brave, if she is an enemy."
+
+"Yes, it was brave enough, but plenty of our women were as brave and
+braver in the Revolution. I'd do the same if I had a chance, and so
+would you. The reason why they make such a fuss over it, is because
+it isn't usual for their women to show so much spunk, while ours are
+always doing such things." Marianne was not disposed to give Mrs.
+Secord any too much credit.
+
+"Mebbe that's so, but 'tain't no good to try to belittle her, if it is
+so. They've had a bad fight. Your pa wa'n't in it, I'm glad to say."
+
+"No, he wasn't there, but I don't know about Royal. He expected to be
+exchanged by this time."
+
+"What about that boy Jack? You ain't seen him this good bit?"
+
+"No, nor heard of him."
+
+"He's kind of relation of yourn, now your brother's married his sister.
+Jack is a good sort of boy, if he is a miserable Britisher."
+
+Marianne was silent. She had many things to think of these days. She
+wondered how it would be when the war was over; how she would settle
+her own life. She thought of Sue and Kate and Victorine and Victor.
+She was well aware of her grandmother's anxiety to see her the wife of
+Victor, but she felt that there was quite time enough, besides--She
+gave her head an impatient jerk, and arose from where she had been
+sitting lost in thought. "Father wants us to go to Uncle Tom's," she
+announced. "He said it is farther inland, and we'll be safer there
+beyond the Genesee, but I don't want to go, and mother says she will
+not desert her people."
+
+"She's right," agreed Jerusha. "I wouldn't go either, if any of my
+folks was in danger."
+
+"Then you think we really are in danger?"
+
+"There's no doubt of that at any time. If it ain't the terror that
+flieth by night, it is the noisome pestilence."
+
+Even then the danger was, indeed, near. The disturbing summer passed
+away, and before the close of the year the Americans were ready to
+withdraw their troops from Fort George. The common occurrences of war
+had given the inhabitants in the country around a sad year. Whichever
+side they might favor, they were, nevertheless, sufferers from foraging
+parties and from the lawless marauders who demolished houses, drove off
+the cattle, and played havoc generally.
+
+"There's dreadful goings on at the other side of the river," said
+Jerusha, coming in one morning in early December. "I hope I'm a
+good American, but I must say I don't uphold the 'abomination of
+desolation.' I suppose 'nation must war against nation and kingdom
+against kingdom.' The Bible says so. 'And there shall be fearful
+sights, and signs there shall be from heaven,' and I say, 'Let them
+that are in Judea flee to the mountain.'"
+
+"What are you talking about, Jerusha?" Marianne asked, as Jerusha set
+down a plate of hot cakes upon the table.
+
+"I'm talkin' about the burning of Newark. I suppose you have not heard
+that they've turned out men, women, and children, the young and the
+old, into the cold, and have burnt the town. 'Vengeance is mine, I will
+repay, saith the Lord,' but we'll get it here, I'm afraid. If them
+Britishers and Injuns is let loose on us, then look out."
+
+"Oh, dear, dear," said Marianne, setting down her cup of coffee, "you
+are so alarming, Jerusha. Just think of the splendid victories on
+the lakes and the ocean. Our own Captain Perry, whom father knows so
+well--just think of that good whipping he gave the British. I like his
+message, 'We have met the enemy and they are ours.' And think, too, of
+General Harrison having Malden and Detroit, and of Tecumseh's being
+killed, and of all those prisoners we have. I think it looks very
+promising, and I don't see what we need to be afraid of."
+
+"You wait and see," returned Jerusha. "There shall be signs from
+heaven, and the sun set blood red last night, and I dreamed that the
+stars were blood red too, and descended in a shower upon us. If that
+ain't a sign, I don't know what is; and one easy enough to read. The
+redcoats will descend upon us, and the redskins will follow."
+
+"Nonsense, Jerusha," Mrs. Reyburn spoke up, sharply, "don't scare the
+child to death. It is true these are evil days, but the sufferers are
+our friends across the river, and not ourselves. I pray God my mother
+and her family are safe."
+
+"Fort George is evacuated, I'm told," said Jerusha, "and I suppose that
+takes Mis' Lyle's husband from her."
+
+"And if Royal is away at Burlington, where he expected to go, Kate and
+Sue are all alone. Dear, dear, I hope they will not be harmed."
+
+"I hope Royal will be allowed to stay. He has friends on his father's
+side, and has received much consideration from that fact. Then his
+brother-in-law is in the American army, and has, so far, been able to
+use his influence; so it may be that he has not gone."
+
+"Perhaps the farmhouses have been left, even if they have burned the
+town," Marianne said hopefully.
+
+Jerusha shook her head. "There's scarce a farmhouse left, they say.
+I'm surprised Mis' Desvouges has hers, but I guess it's because she
+has friends to protect it. All I say is that when our hour will come,
+no man knoweth. I think, Mis' Reyburn, that we'd ought to be goin'
+somewheres else."
+
+"It would not be any safer at mother's," she replied. "I think we
+will stay here for the present, Jerusha, and run our chances with our
+neighbors."
+
+It was very cold, and snow had already begun to fall. "It is pitiful to
+think of those poor, homeless people turned out at this time of year,"
+said Marianne, looking out of the window, about a week later. "Ah,
+mother dear, I am less light-hearted than I was a year ago, when we had
+our husking-bee. I had hardly begun to realize then how terrible war
+can be. I pray you, Jerusha, don't dream of red stars again to-night."
+
+Whatever Jerusha's dreams might have been, the next morning brought
+danger to their very doors. The distant noise of firing came to them at
+daybreak. A single cannon shot fired from Fort Niagara at five o'clock
+was a portentous sound. It meant that on, on were coming the vengeful
+invaders. Down the road to Lewiston they advanced, ransacking and
+burning every house in sight.
+
+Marianne awakened to a day of terror; for, before the inmates of the
+house had time to realize their imminent peril, a yelling, hooting,
+shrieking horde of Indians were approaching the house, and the British
+soldiers, scarcely less eager, were bent upon destroying everything
+in their path. Fort Niagara, with its valuable stores, was taken, the
+savages were let loose, and death and destruction faced the inhabitants
+of the quiet villages upon the east shore of the river.
+
+At the first sight of the enemy, Mrs. Reyburn shrieked to her daughter:
+"They come! The Indians! Run for your life! Marianne! Marianne! Where
+are you, Jerusha? We must escape while we can!"
+
+"Must we leave our home to be destroyed?" cried Marianne, wringing her
+hands. "Can we save nothing, mother?"
+
+"Nothing but our lives; and we'll be lucky if we get off with those,"
+Jerusha told her, grimly. "I saw Mark legging it up the road as soon as
+the gun was fired. There's not a minute to be lost, Marianne. You've
+got to come along. Get something warm as quick as you can, and come."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Don't ask me where," said Jerusha. "Anywhere we can git."
+
+Trembling in every limb, Marianne clad herself as warmly as possible in
+the time given her; and with a hastily prepared bundle of provisions
+which Jerusha scrambled together, they set out, running till they were
+breathless, across fields and over stones and drifts of snow. Suddenly
+Mrs. Reyburn slipped and fell, giving a moan of pain when she attempted
+to rise. "I am afraid I have either twisted my ankle or broken a bone,"
+she said. "Go on, go on, I pray you! Don't wait for me, I beg of you!"
+
+Jerusha came to a halt, and looked down at the little woman whose face
+was drawn with pain. Marianne was down on her knees in an instant.
+"Leave you, dearest mother? Not while I live. If we must die, we will
+die together."
+
+"Go on, go on!" begged Mrs. Reyburn. "My child, my child, I cannot see
+you die!"
+
+Jerusha's gaunt form straightened itself up. "I guess I kin lug you,"
+she said briefly. And picking Mrs. Reyburn up in her arms, she strode
+on, Marianne by her side. Mrs. Reyburn's face was bravely set, and she
+begged them to leave her, for they were now not able to make very good
+speed, and a running, leaping, howling band of Indians gained upon them
+at every step. These were followed closely by a company of soldiers.
+
+The house had already been looted, and the torch applied: it was now
+bursting into flames, and in the red firelight the howling savages
+danced and yelled. Nearer and nearer came the pursuers. Now they could
+see the painted faces, now the gleam of the tomahawks.
+
+But not so fast did they run but the men behind kept up with them; and
+they had scarce touched their victims, before a young soldier made a
+great leap, and placed himself in front of the fugitives. "Stop!" he
+cried. "Not a hair of their heads shall be hurt! Come, boys, help me to
+protect these ladies; they are friends."
+
+The sudden halt gave the white men time to rally to the side of the
+young man, who valiantly stood his ground. But the cold hand of an
+Indian had already clutched Marianne's brown locks, and she had been
+dragged some distance off, where she lay face down, momentarily
+expecting that the death-blow would be given her. Indeed, the
+keen-bladed knife was already uplifted to do its frightful work, when
+it was sent spinning into the snow, and, with a savage grunt, the
+Indian sprang to recover it. Fear and horror had already sent Marianne
+into a state of blessed oblivion; and she was scarcely conscious,
+when, seeing the danger they would both be in from the enraged savage,
+frustrated in his bloody design, the young soldier seized the girl in
+his arms, and ran with all his speed away from the spot. Seeing his
+design, his friends fell upon the Indian and secured him.
+
+Jerusha, with determined front, faced the soldiers. Mrs. Reyburn
+weakly begged to be put down. "Let them kill me, Jerusha," she
+whispered, "and you may still be able to escape."
+
+Jerusha gave a sardonic laugh. "I'd look pretty trying to escape," she
+said. "I kin jump pretty high, but I guess I couldn't clear the heads
+of twenty men."
+
+At the sound of her voice there was a movement in the company, and a
+man stepped wonderingly forward. "Jerushe!" he exclaimed, "it is thou!"
+
+Jerusha almost dropped her burden in her surprise. "I guess it is me,
+Jooly Fooshay," she replied.
+
+"You have, then, not forgot me. Gentlemen, I present my wife."
+
+Jerusha stood imperturbably staring at the laughing soldiers, who
+thought this a good joke.
+
+"I have ze plaisir to save thy life, my Jerushe," said the man, smiling.
+
+"I guess I'm not under such special obligation for that," returned
+Jerusha. "I don't know as I'm particular about it, if I've got to pass
+the rest of it with you."
+
+Her sharp repartee entertained the listeners, and they began to applaud
+her and to jeer at their comrade, who took it all good-naturedly,
+saying: "All same, it is ze wife of me; I am lose her zis long
+time. I am now ask you to accompany us to ze garrison. See you, my
+friends, to ze lady she has in charge. I myself will accompany my
+wife." Two soldiers volunteered to carry Mrs. Reyburn, and Jerusha
+stalked silently along by the side of her newly found husband. Finding
+themselves deprived of any trophies in this direction, the Indians took
+another way, and the little company proceeded to the fort.
+
+Marianne, meanwhile, was very quickly borne along in a pair of stalwart
+arms. She was conscious of the fact that her life had been spared,
+but to what purpose she felt dimly uncertain. The soldier held her
+as he would a baby, and she lay with closed eyes, feeling helplessly
+indignant as she grew to a better consciousness of her plight. It was
+useless to resist. Any effort to struggle might bring worse trouble
+upon her, and she concluded to lie quietly. She could only pray that
+her mother and Jerusha had been saved, and that she might be allowed to
+plead for her own life.
+
+The smoke of the burning of her home came to her nostrils, and she
+lifted her head to see what was to fill her with distress, and yet
+which was to possess her with a strange fascination. "Don't look,
+Marianne," said her rescuer, tenderly. "I thought you had fainted, poor
+little girl." And Marianne for the first time was aware who it was who
+held her.
+
+"Jack," she said faintly. "Oh, Jack." The relief was so great that she
+began to sob, great tearless, heart-breaking gasps.
+
+"Poor little girl, dear little Marianne," said Jack. "You are safe;
+don't do so."
+
+"I--I--can't help it," she gasped.
+
+"Well, if it does you any good, cry all you please. I am glad you can.
+I think we are safe now. We are coming to the woods, and I will put
+you down." He set her gently on the ground as he would a child. He was
+evidently much unstrung himself and stood for a minute looking at the
+trembling little figure.
+
+Marianne gradually recovered herself. "You have saved my life," she
+said. "Oh, Jack, to think in God's mercy it should have been you. I am
+thankful. I have not words to say how thankful."
+
+Jack's voice shook as he replied: "So am I. My God, Marianne, when
+I think of that moment when I saw you in the hands of that horrible
+painted savage and feared I was too late--I feel I cannot say how
+thankful that I determined to follow the party. I had a deadly fear
+that you might not have been warned, and I was determined to save you
+if I could. I have little taste for such horrors as we have witnessed
+this morning. I want you to believe that I did not come out to distress
+innocent women and children."
+
+"I know that," said Marianne, simply. "But mother and Jerusha? Did you
+see? Do you think they are safe?"
+
+"They are, I feel sure. There were enough of my friends to see to it
+that they were freed. But it is too cold for you to stand here. Shall
+I carry you again, or would you rather walk? I think there must be a
+shelter somewhere."
+
+"There is a little cabin two or three miles away in the woods; it is
+very lonely there, and no one would be likely to find it, unless he
+knew just where to look for it. Some people live there, a hunter and
+his wife. Unless the place has been discovered and burned, I think
+they will take me in. It is in that direction," she indicated by a
+wave of the hand. "It is in such a lonely spot that I hope it has been
+overlooked."
+
+"I think it more than probable. Shall we go? I think it might be better
+than if you were to try to get to the garrison, for we may come across
+another band of Indians; and one man against a number, especially when
+they are on the war-path, has not much chance, even though he be a
+friend. They might not hurt me, but would perhaps harm you."
+
+Marianne shuddered and turned so pale that Jack hastened to reassure
+her that she was safe. "You have nothing on your head, and it is so
+cold." He drew a handkerchief from his pocket and tied it under her
+chin. The sight of her pale face and fear-stricken eyes nearly unnerved
+him, but he strove to distract her thoughts by harking back to the days
+of their first acquaintance, and they managed to keep up a desultory
+talk upon indifferent subjects until at last the little cabin was
+discerned; but upon reaching it they found it deserted. The family had
+taken alarm and had fled with so many of their neighbors that long
+processions were formed upon the roads west of the Genesee.
+
+In spite of the empty house Jack's cheerfulness and his quality of
+making the best of things asserted themselves. "It's much better than
+being out of doors," he said. "I will make a fire and see if they have
+left us anything to eat. After that we will find out what is to be done
+next."
+
+The place was neat and clean, and the family in their flight had
+taken only their clothing and their most necessary articles, so these
+later comers found sufficient for their needs. A cracked cup, an iron
+skillet, a pewter spoon, and a few such things stood upon a shelf
+in the cupboard depleted of all provisions but a little meal. Jack,
+however, found a sack of potatoes in a bin at the back of the kitchen,
+and some grain in the small stable. He brought a handful of the
+potatoes back with him after he had made his tour of investigation,
+and exhibited them in triumph. He built a rousing fire on the hearth,
+and they roasted the potatoes in the ashes, becoming quite cheerful in
+the warmth and comfort.
+
+"If we only had some hot coffee, we would be faring very well," said
+Jack, as he tried one of the potatoes to see if it were done.
+
+Marianne looked thoughtfully into the fire. "Didn't you say there was
+some rye in the stable?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, I think there is a very little."
+
+"Then if you will bring me some, we can brown it and pound it up and
+make a very good sort of drink; that is, if you are not too hungry to
+wait for it. There is some maple sugar in the cupboard; I found it in a
+crock, but we haven't milk."
+
+"Who cares for milk? I'll get the rye." It took some time to prepare
+their rye coffee; but with this addition to their meal they felt
+themselves well served, and were fairly merry over their breakfast.
+
+The warm food and drink brought a little color into Marianne's cheeks,
+though she was still very nervous and started at the slightest sound,
+sometimes finding it impossible to keep back the tears. Once she gave
+way entirely and put her head down on the table, sobbing so hopelessly
+that it was too much for Jack. He came over and knelt by her side,
+taking her hands in his:--
+
+"Marianne, Marianne, don't cry so, little girl! You are safe here; and
+as soon as we can go, I will take you over to your grandmother. I will
+not leave you a minute alone. You know I would shed my last drop of
+blood for you. What do other men do who see those they love massacred
+before their very eyes? When I think of your being spared such a
+horrible fate, I think only of being glad."
+
+"Don't Jack, don't. You have saved my life," the words came haltingly,
+"but don't talk so."
+
+"I'm a wretch," he cried, springing to his feet. "I'm a pretty soldier
+to allow myself to get unstrung, but the sight of your tears was too
+much for me. I ought to have known better than to distress you. Come,
+we won't talk about it any more. The thing to do is to decide what is
+to be done next."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVI
+
+                        _Jerusha to the Rescue_
+
+
+It was something of a puzzle to Jack to know the best step to take
+next. The country on one side the river had been laid waste by the
+Americans, and up and down the other side was at this moment raging
+a relentless band of soldiers with their savage allies bent upon
+destruction and pillage. Jack did not feel at all sure that Madame
+Desvouges still occupied her house, and to attempt to go across to it
+just now was not a wise venture.
+
+It seemed safer there in the little cabin, isolated as it was in the
+woods, and far from the beaten road; and if Marianne could but have her
+mother or some older woman with her, it would be best for her to remain
+in this retreat till matters became quieter. The girl was too weak and
+ill from the shock of the morning to venture forth that day, and he
+could not leave her to get aid. He felt that he ought to report at the
+proper time for duty, yet to leave Marianne was not to be thought of.
+It must be said that the scenes of the morning were not such as gave
+him much taste for further proceedings of like character, and he was
+quite content to remain where he was, if turning women and children out
+of their homes was the order of the day.
+
+"If you would rather go on, Marianne," he said, when the confronting
+question became one which must be met, "we will go, but I don't believe
+you are able to walk far. I can carry you, to be sure."
+
+"Where?" she asked helplessly. It was very unlike the alert,
+independent Marianne to reply so utterly upon another's lead.
+
+"To the garrison. I am sure there must be a number there under our
+protection."
+
+"Those whose houses you have burned over their heads, you mean?"
+
+"Yes; but I did not have a hand in it. You don't believe that of me,
+Marianne? I am willing to fight for my side, but I am not a robber."
+
+Marianne subsided after her flash of anger. "Is it far?" she asked,
+after a little while.
+
+"It is not very near."
+
+The girl arose and looked out on the winter landscape. The yard and
+outbuildings of this woodland hut occupied but a small space of the
+great forest around them. The naked branches of a multitude of trees,
+clumps of white fringed pines, silence, and an untrodden waste alone
+seemed there. All Marianne's terror returned to her. She sank down
+weakly upon the bench by the small window. "I cannot, I cannot," she
+wailed. "Go and leave me here."
+
+"Alone? Never. I am going now outside to gather in some wood, and
+to set a trap to snare a rabbit for our next meal. We won't starve,
+anyway." He smiled confidently. "I shall not go out of sight. You don't
+mind if I leave you? You can watch me from the window."
+
+This quick understanding of her fear of being left alone was a relief
+to the girl, and she smiled faintly. "I am very silly," she said.
+
+"No, you have had enough of a shock to shatter the nerves of a stronger
+woman," he made reply. He longed to take her in his arms and convince
+her of the greatness of his love and sympathy, of his desire to protect
+her; but he could only nod and smile reassuringly as he went out. From
+time to time he looked back to see the little pale face at the window,
+with eyes upon him. He had loved her in a fitful boyish way before,
+but now all his manhood's best was roused, and to the woman within, in
+that hour he consecrated the love of his life. "I may never win her,"
+he told himself. "After this terrible experience how could she ever
+love one of her country's enemies, but I will serve her as the knights
+of old served their chosen ladies." They had talked of his father, of
+Royal and Kate, of all the things which had befallen them both since
+they last met; and to Jack, Marianne had never seemed so near; but for
+the one great barrier he felt that he might not despair of one day
+winning from her something more than tolerance. A great wave of love
+and devotion swept over him, and he turned to wave a hand to the girl
+watching him. If that were his wife at the window and that were their
+little home in the wilderness, how gladly would he give the labor of
+each day to her happiness.
+
+He was roused from these thoughts by the sound of voices coming up
+the path ahead. He stopped with a pile of wood upon his shoulder and
+listened. Were they friends or enemies? Who could they be who knew the
+way to this lonely spot? Presently he caught sight of two figures; a
+man and a woman were nearing the cabin. The young man placed himself
+back of the path, that he might watch them unobserved. Were they the
+owners of the place, or were they some of those fugitives whom the
+morning had driven forth. In another instant he was aware that the man
+wore the uniform of a Canadian volunteer, and that the woman, tall and
+gaunt, was striding along as if she knew her ground.
+
+"I tell you," the sharp high voice said, "I guess we're right. They
+ain't no other tracks, and I see him make for the woods with her. They
+ain't no other habitation in two or three miles, and I cal'late we'll
+find 'em just about here. My land, Jooly Fooshay, you needn't try to
+learn me wood ways; I guess I was brought up in the heart of Maine, and
+I was around long enough before I see you to know a thing or two. I say
+I'm right."
+
+Jack strode forward into the middle of the path. "Jerusha!" he cried.
+"My old friend Jerusha, you couldn't be more welcome if you were an
+angel from heaven."
+
+Jerusha came to a halt. "Well, suz!" she exclaimed. "If I'd knowed who
+it was makin' off with Mary Anne, I dunno as I'd been in such a feeze
+to git here. She's alive and kickin' I guess, or you wouldn't be so
+smilin'."
+
+"She's safe, but dreadfully shaken, poor little girl, and so weak and
+nervous. But no wonder. It was God's providence that I was in time to
+save her."
+
+"It was nip and tuck with us all," returned Jerusha. "This is my
+husband. I dunno's I've any call to be proud of the fact, but such as
+he is, he's mine. Jooly Fooshay is his name."
+
+"Why, Jules! I know him. He is in my regiment. Why didn't he tell you
+who it was that was running off with your Marianne?"
+
+"I didn't ask him; more fool I."
+
+"Well, he is a lucky fellow to have you for a wife, no matter what."
+
+"The luck's all on his side, then," returned Jerusha.
+
+"My Jerushe! You to say so, when I am save the life of you."
+
+"You may be my death yet," she retorted grimly.
+
+But now Marianne saw them coming, and she was at the door to meet them.
+Whose but Jerusha's could be that tall lank figure? All in a turmoil
+of tears and exclamations, she fell into the good woman's arms. "Oh,
+Jerusha, Jerusha! I am so thankful, so glad to see you alive. Tell me
+quick, my mother, my mother, is she safe?"
+
+"Yes, yes, child. There, don't take on so. She's at the garrison. The
+doctor says she's broke a small bone, but he has set it, and she'd be
+all right only she is near crazy about you. If we had been sensible
+enough to ask who 'twas that was lugging you off, we might have been
+easier in our minds."
+
+"Tell me what happened. I forget all but that terrible moment when the
+Indian had me in his grasp. I cannot get rid of that memory, try as I
+will."
+
+"Well, the most surprising thing that happened to me was the coming
+acrost my husband, that I ain't seen this fifteen year. He declares
+that he didn't run off with another woman, and that he was hurt up
+there in a lumber camp; but law suz, you can't tell when to believe
+him, and I don't know any more than I did before. I was well rid of
+him, in any case, for he never could do much but fiddle and sing.
+Work wasn't his strong pint; and though I've heerd tell of folks that
+fiddled for their bread and butter, I ain't never seen one. Anyways we
+come acrost each other, and here we are. Jooly Fooshay is his name, and
+one that will never bring him much luck. Come here, Jooly."
+
+The curly-headed little man with the bright twinkling eyes approached
+and bowed low. "Jules Fouchet, at your sairvice, mademoiselle," he
+said; and when Marianne answered in French his eyes twinkled more than
+ever, and he bowed again very low.
+
+"Come in, come in all of you," said Jack.
+
+"Yes, we have a good fire, and we can give you something to eat. Jack
+has been very good to me, Jerusha, and we have not starved. I can give
+you potatoes and porridge and rye coffee. Are you cold? Are you hungry?"
+
+"A little of both," Jerusha replied. "But I guess the first thing to do
+is to get back word to your mother that you are safe, and she needn't
+put on mourning for you yet."
+
+"Shall I go at once? Would you rather have me?" Jack asked eagerly.
+
+"I? Oh--yes--no--that is--Will it be best that Jack go, Jerusha?"
+
+Jerusha looked into the fire thoughtfully, pinching her chin the
+while. "I guess it depends upon who'd be the best fighter if we
+happened to need him," she returned. "This here man of mine--Sakes! I
+never expected to call a British soldier my man, and I ain't so proud
+of it now. Well, as I was a-saying, so far as my judgment goes, he'd as
+lief crawl under the bed as to stand up and defend us."
+
+"Ah, but Jerushe," broke in Jules, "you have forgot that but to-day I
+r-rescue you from the hand of the savage."
+
+"You git out! Ain't I set by myself night after night alone, with the
+wolves howling outside the house, and you miles away with your boon
+companions in a tavern? I guess you'd better go, for you'll not stop
+till you reach the garrison, I well know; and so far as I'm consarned,
+you needn't come back."
+
+Jules shrugged his shoulders. "She has the tongue of sharpness, but the
+heart is not so like steel as she would pretend," he said in an aside
+to Jack. "If you will have it so, Jerushe, I will go and I will return.
+Prepare your message that I may be off, else the wolf is surely possess
+himself of me." He laughed good-naturedly.
+
+"But you must have something to eat first," Marianne insisted.
+
+Both she and Jack perceived that the little man had a real affection
+for Jerusha, and that he was rejoiced to find her again, while she,
+despite her words to the contrary, was not so ill-pleased to have met
+her husband.
+
+"All you've got to do," said Jerusha, "is to tell Mis' Reyburn where we
+are, and that I'm going to stay by Mary Anne till I'm able to fetch her
+home. Tell her we've got full and plenty to eat; there's a bag of nice
+good potatoes in the kitchen, and meal, too. You can say the child is
+well, which ain't a lie, so far as I know. Now, if this young gentleman
+has any word to send, let him give it to you and you can be off. You
+won't git ketched by nawthin' wuss'n your own kind, I guess; and if you
+don't take in seven other sperits wuss'n yourself, I haven't no doubts
+but what you'll git there alive. Now hurry up and eat them wittles and
+be off."
+
+He did not delay in making away with the food set before him, and then
+made ready to depart. "But not without one kees, Jerushe," he said.
+
+"Go 'long, you've no time for foolishness," declared Jerusha, giving
+him a gentle push with her elbow, and looking at Marianne in a funny
+embarrassed way. But she followed Jules to the door, and he departed
+with the note Jack had prepared for him to give his captain. "Now
+then," said Jerusha, when she had watched him out of sight, "nobody
+can tell when they'll see him agin. He is as onsartin as old Sancho.
+He's soft as dough, and as easy going and ready to be led as a blind
+hoss; but I guess he'll give the message all right, whatever happens to
+him after. I felt as if you'd be better cal'lated to look after us if
+anything happened, Mr. Jack, and I hope you don't mind staying."
+
+"Mind!" Jack was glad enough of the opportunity which made it his
+duty to remain and watch over these two, dependent upon him alone
+for protection there in the lonely woods. He knew that his report of
+himself would satisfy his superior officer, and with the wolves howling
+outside, and the predatory Indians, more to be feared than the wild
+beasts, roaming the forest, they shut themselves in that night. Sitting
+around the fire they talked quietly; Jerusha's spirits, as usual, rose
+in proportion to the gravity of the situation, but Marianne's heart was
+very full. Her mother ill and needing her; her father retreating before
+an angry foe; Royal and Kate separated from her by more than miles of
+distance; her own home in ashes, and her grandmother's perhaps also
+in ruins--all these things so weighed upon her spirits that she sat
+hearing only half the things which Jack and Jerusha said.
+
+"The' ain't no use kicking agen the pricks," Jerusha told her. "The
+Lord's delivered you out of the hand of the Philistine, and has set
+your feet upon a safe place. You've passed through deep waters, but
+the Lord's 'stablished your goings, Mary Anne, and you've no cause to
+complain. You've been a pretty light-hearted crittur, but you may be
+permitted to win your crown through tribulation."
+
+"There, Jerusha, there," put in Jack, "don't make her think she must
+suffer any more."
+
+"I ain't said so. I dunno's she ain't had her own passel young. We
+all have to git it; some gits it old, and some young. I guess mebbe
+it's best to git it young, and be over with it. Land alive, child, you
+needn't cry now. You're safe and sound and sheltered and shod."
+
+But Marianne's tears would not be stayed, and she wept so forlornly
+that Jerusha's tenderness, rarely shown, was stirred.
+
+"Poor little lamb," she said, "I guess I know just how you feel; just
+as if you'd like to be little and curl up in your mother's lap, and git
+rocked and sung to. My old bones ain't very soft, but there, you come
+and let me hold you." She drew the girl into her lap, and to the sound
+of a creaking old chair and the singing of a tea-kettle swung over the
+sizzling logs, Marianne rested.
+
+Jack sat and watched the two. How pitifully small and helpless the girl
+looked with her eyes closed, the long lashes brushing the pale cheek.
+What a plaintive droop to the sweet mouth, and how her slim fingers
+curled themselves around Jerusha's bony ones, as if they found comfort
+in the human clasp. All the terrible consequences of war arose before
+him. How lightly he had entered the army, and how little he anticipated
+the horrors of his experience. And this was not the end. He felt as
+if he must take the little figure lying there in Jerusha's arms, and
+fly away with her to some safe spot where the clamors of war would
+never be heard. He sat moodily looking into the fire before he spoke
+his thought. "To-morrow I will find out if Madame Desvouges's house is
+still untouched. It will seem more like home to Marianne than any other
+place."
+
+"If you think the child is going to be ready to take a journey
+to-morrow, you are mistaken," Jerusha told him. "She's had about as
+much travelling as she can stand for a while. I guess she'd better stay
+right here, as long as it's safe."
+
+True enough, Jerusha knew what she was talking about, for the next day
+saw Marianne in a raging fever, murmuring incoherent words, and crying
+out wildly as she tossed on her hard bed. "Poor lamb! Poor lamb!" said
+Jerusha, shaking her head; "mebbe it's just as well that she should be
+taken, and be spared any more trials. The Lord knows what's before her,
+and it's only when we've drunk the cup to the dregs that we begin to
+think that death ain't our worst portion."
+
+"We must save her; we must," said Jack, fiercely. "Don't you dare let
+yourself believe for one moment that she is going to die."
+
+"Look here, young man, it ain't you or me that's got anything to say
+about it. I'll do my best, I guess you know that, and you will do your
+best; but if she's going to be snatched from this vale of tears, we
+poor worms ain't powerful to prevent it." Her face softened as she
+saw Jack's distress. "Poor boy," she went on, "it goes hard with you,
+but, then, it's all a snarl at best. You just go along there to the
+garrison, and get me some medicine, and with the doctoring I'm able to
+give her, she'll pull through if it's the Lord's will. She's got youth
+and a good constitution on her side. You needn't be afraid of leaving
+me for a few hours. I'm not a mite scared. It's best to give the boy
+something to do," she said to herself, as he strode off. "He can't do
+no good moping around here."
+
+She went in and bent over Marianne, putting a finger on the quickly
+beating pulse. "She's a pretty sick child," said Jerusha, her face
+working. "Poor little lamb, I've nursed you 'most from a baby, and I
+guess you won't die from want of attention."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVII
+
+                              _Asa Again_
+
+
+The spring had fairly begun to show signs of its coming, when Marianne
+was at last able to creep out into the sunshine and face the world
+again. But that she viewed it with the eyes of buoyant youth, it would
+have seemed a very sad world. She had heard nothing of her parents
+except mere rumors. Jack had been ordered away, and Jules too. An old
+Indian woman was Jerusha's only helper through the long winter's siege,
+but both women were accustomed to a hardy life and knew how to make the
+forest yield them the necessities for existence, and they had fared
+better than might be imagined. Little news of the outside world reached
+them in their quiet retreat, and Marianne, ready once more to take an
+interest in affairs, began to question. She could gather but scant
+news. The British were still in possession of Fort Niagara; the country
+on both sides the river was almost a desolation, most families having
+fled beyond the Genesee.
+
+"But where are they all, mother and father and Royal? And grandmother,
+is she still in her home? Is it burned, too? And what has become of Sue
+and Kate?" These questions came crowding to Marianne's lips.
+
+"Now look here, Mary Anne," said Jerusha, "do you think I've had
+nawthin' better to do than to set down and write letters and go gadding
+over the country a-hunting up your relations? Land sakes, child, it's
+been as much as I could do to haul you back from the Valley of the
+Shadder, without trying to edit a bulletin of war news."
+
+"Well, tell me what you know," said Marianne, with the fretfulness of
+an invalid.
+
+Jerusha sat down and planted her big veined hands upon her knees.
+"Mebbe you remember we sent word to your mother by Jooly. When he got
+back to the garrison, she'd gone. Some folks had told her she could git
+to your father by going with them, and she needed doctoring, and they
+promised to see that she got to her kin-folks in Geneva. Then somehow
+it got reported that I had gone off with Jooly to Canady agin, because
+I had found out that you was dead and couldn't bear to tell her. I
+don't know what fool started the story, but seeing me and him making
+off together to hunt you up, I suppose it got out that way."
+
+"Oh, poor mother, poor mother!" Marianne cried. "Does she know now?"
+
+"I dunno as she does, and then I dunno as she doesn't. I made a fist
+of writing to her, and told her to stay where she was if she was
+comfortable; that we was safe and well enough off for the present.
+I didn't feel I'd ought to write till you was out of danger, for if
+she believed you wasn't counted among the living 'twa'n't no use to
+undeceive her till we was certain about you. I got an Injun to git the
+letter through the lines. I didn't rightly know her directions, but I
+hope she got the letter. You'd been sick about a week, I guess, when
+young Jack Silverthorn was ordered away. He'd done the best he could
+to make us comfortable by gitting medicine and flour and what stuff
+he could, and it was him got old Acsah to stay with me. While he was
+here, I'll say it for both him and Jooly, they kept me in wittles and
+fire-wood. After they went I had to make the best of it, but the old
+squaw has been a human being to speak to, and she ain't so helpless.
+
+"We made the best of it, as I said; and what with keeping bags of ice
+on your head and finding kivers warm enough for you and us, and food
+enough to keep body and soul together, we had about all we could do for
+three months. But there! we've had a shelter, and the woods is full of
+game of all kinds, so we did manage to git enough, though some days
+it was slim pickings. We sewed the skins together for kivers,--the old
+Injun is a master hand at that,--and she got a few blankets from her
+people, so we ain't neither friz nor starved. Howsomever it's all over
+now, and we'll move along pretty soon, I guess, though I dunno jest
+where; they say they ain't skeerce a house left standing." She nursed
+her knees thoughtfully.
+
+"They say it was for revenge because the Americans burnt Newark;
+pretty heavy revenge to destroy six villages, not to mention dozens of
+farmhouses, and wuss than all, to murder scores of innocent people.
+Somebody's got to pay a heavy debt when he goes to meet his jedgment. I
+told Jooly I didn't know as I wanted he should come near me agin if he
+come as an inimy of my country, but I dunno's he would come anyway. But
+there, I've talked my throat dry. It's summer instid of winter coming,
+and all you've got to do, Mary Anne, is to set still and git well."
+
+There was nothing but hope to keep up Marianne's spirits. It was
+dreary work to spend her time sitting alone in the woods with never a
+visitor but an inquisitive squirrel or a bird tamer than his neighbors;
+yet Marianne day by day grew stronger, though with her strength came
+a deeper longing to get to her friends. She was sitting one day
+under a huge tree, among whose roots she had discovered a comfortably
+hollowed seat, when she saw coming up the checkered path a man whose
+destination seemed to be the cabin. He was short and spare of figure,
+with grizzled beard standing well out from under his chin. As soon
+as Marianne caught sight of him, she sprang to her feet with less
+listlessness than she had shown for months. "Asa!" she cried; "Asa
+Peaslee!"
+
+[Illustration: "_She had discovered a comfortably hollowed seat._"]
+
+"Wal, I vum!" exclaimed the pedler, stopping short as he caught sight
+of the girl. "I wouldn't skeerce hev knowed you, yer that pindlin';
+'most starved, air ye?"
+
+"No; but I have been ill. I am so glad to see you. How did you find us?"
+
+"Who ye got in there?" asked the pedler, peering suspiciously at the
+cabin.
+
+"Only Jerusha and an old Indian woman."
+
+"I didn't find ye; I jest stumbled on ye. I seen smoke, and thinks I,
+where there's smoke there's fire, and I trotted in this direction. I
+ain't takin' a very direct route, seein' as me and the Britishers ain't
+on the best of terms. Where's your folks?"
+
+"I don't know. I haven't heard from them in three or four months." And
+she proceeded to tell her pitiful tale.
+
+"I vum!" repeated Asa. "Wal, pop's prisoner up to Quebec, I guess, and
+if the ijits that has the exchanges in hand don't git 'em fixed some
+day soon, he'll stay there awhile, but I hear they treat 'em pretty
+good up there. Young Lyle's all right; I see him a couple of weeks ago,
+said his wife was in Geneva. As for the rest of the crew, I dunno as
+I keer to run up agen 'em, seein' as me and them don't pull the same
+direction. Ain't heerd nawthin' of your granny and them, hev ye?"
+
+"No, and I wish I could. Ah, but I do so long to reach them. I don't
+know whether their house has been destroyed or not."
+
+Asa picked up a bit of a twig and chewed the end of it thoughtfully.
+"Wouldn't keer to hev me go out and find out, I s'pose. I'm achin' to
+do it; ye know my curiosity'll kill me yit. I'd like nawthin' better
+than to slip over and find out how the land lays."
+
+"Oh, would you? Could you without danger?"
+
+"We ain't talkin' about danger; we're talkin' about findin' out what's
+goin' on acrost the river. I guess I'll sneak over. I'll begin hitchin'
+along to-night. You're right snug here. Nobody'd ever think of lookin
+for a house in these here woods."
+
+"It has been a good shelter; we had to take possession of it. Some day
+I hope we shall be able to tell the owners what a godsend it has been
+to us."
+
+"You do look pindlin'," Asa repeated. "I guess the sooner ye git to
+grandma's the better. Now I'll go along and speak to Jerushy. I'll
+set round and chat with ye all till towards night, and then I must be
+gittin' on."
+
+"You are always on hand in time of need," Marianne told him.
+
+"Wal, no, I can't say jest that, or I'd been here sooner. It jest seems
+to be a time of need when I do happen along. They ain't much noos
+stirrin'; some little skirmishes at sea; it's got to be a game of give
+and take."
+
+"I thought you were going to join the marines, Asa."
+
+"Who says I didn't?"
+
+"Did you really?"
+
+Asa nodded. "J'int 'em there on the lakes; was along with Cap'n Perry."
+
+"You were? Oh, how proud you must be."
+
+"Dunno's I'm runnin' over with pride. I can't say as I take to
+sailorin', so I left when my time was up, and I've been hangin' around
+camp all winter watchin' 'em drill and gittin' ready for spring. I
+guess they'll be better fighters when Gin'ral Scott's through with 'em.
+But, as I was a-sayin', I got tired of standin' round doin' nawthin',
+so I snuck off this way to watch my opportunity of bein' of use, and
+here I be."
+
+Jerusha greeted him with a jerk of the head and went on with her soap
+making. She did not waste a scrap of grease, and had her kettle of
+soft soap ready when it was needed. She listened attentively to Asa's
+recital while she worked, and after a while set off her kettle and
+invited him into the house. "You'll have a bite with us," she said. "I
+can't offer you much chice of wittles; you'll have to take what you kin
+git."
+
+"I guess I kin give my thanks right purtily fur what's set before me,"
+returned Asa. "And I dassay I kin furnish ye with a bite of somethin',
+I see a likely spot as I came along. I keep a bit of line in my pocket,
+and I guess I kin hook ye a fish." He was as good as his word, and half
+an hour later a fine trout was sizzling over the fire. Asa made good
+use of his afternoon, bringing in wood and water and setting traps for
+game. Toward night he started off with a hearty good-by, and Marianne's
+hopes arose.
+
+He reappeared three or four days later as if it were nothing unusual
+to come and go in this fashion. "Found 'em as easy as rolling off a
+log," he called to Marianne, who went out to meet him. "'Most eat me up
+when I told 'em I'd seen you. They were afeard you was dead, scalped
+by the Injuns and all that. They've been kinder lucky, havin' friends
+both sides. The Americans spared 'em because your pop happened to be
+a capting, and the Britishers spared 'em because their friends and
+neighbors was along to see that they did. So you see it's well to
+have your bread buttered on both sides. They sent ye messages by the
+cartload, but I couldn't find a vehicle for 'em all, so I'll jest give
+ye the gist of 'em, and that is, that as soon as ever ye kin, yer to
+come home to 'em. I told 'em ye was safe and in good hands, or the
+young man, Victor, would have come along with me. I told him he'd ought
+to stay there and look after his women folks, and I guessed you'd find
+a way to git there."
+
+"And you saw them all, grandmother and Victorine and Victor?"
+
+"All three of them."
+
+"Kate was not there, of course. Did they say anything about her and
+Royal? I hope they are safe."
+
+Asa did not reply quite so readily as before. "They said she was all
+right," he told her, after a slight pause.
+
+"And we will go--when will we go, Jerusha?" Marianne asked.
+
+"Soon as convenient," was all the reply Jerusha would vouchsafe.
+
+Asa, having satisfied his curiosity in more ways than one, did not seem
+inclined to tarry, but went off with his usual little quip of being so
+ready to poke his nose into the affairs of others.
+
+"That man's nobody's fool," declared Jerusha, shaking her head
+knowingly. "He gits around and finds out what he wants when nobody'd
+ever suspect it, but I guess the spying ain't all of the most innercent
+kind." And then it dawned on Marianne that there was method in Asa's
+curiosity.
+
+She fretted to get away, but Jerusha had one of her contrary moods
+and would not humor her, saying that patience was a virtue, and that
+it was good for folks not to get what they wanted at once; so poor
+Marianne was more than usually irritable after Asa left. The days were
+growing warmer, and she could spend more time in the open air, and one
+afternoon went a little farther from the cabin than usual to hunt for
+wild flowers. She was standing on tiptoe trying to reach a branch of
+dogwood, when she heard a voice call out, "Don't fall into a bog!" And
+then, running, leaping from tangled roots to tufted knoll, Jack came
+hastening toward her. "Marianne, Marianne!" he cried; "did I startle
+you? How glad I am to find you still here, and to know you are well
+again. You are well?" He came up and held out both hands, into which
+she put hers. She wondered at herself for being so glad to see him, a
+Britisher, whom she ought to despise, even if he had saved her from a
+dreadful fate. She ought to hate the fact of the obligation. Yet it was
+Jack, and he had saved her life; she could not forget that. He stood
+holding her hands and looking down at her critically. "How thin you
+are," he said tenderly, "and your eyes have grown so big, but they are
+as blue as ever. Did they have to cut your hair so short? It does not
+look badly so, though it makes you look more like a little girl than
+ever."
+
+Marianne laughed. "Like the little girl you first thought I was. Was
+that why you called to me not to fall into a bog?"
+
+"Yes; it reminded me of that time when I first saw you in the woods. I
+was so glad to see you alive and well. It nearly broke my heart to go
+off and leave you lying there so ill in that poor little cabin."
+
+"It was much better than many poor people had, and Jerusha was like a
+mother to me. I should have died but for her."
+
+"Yes, I know." Jack softly stroked one of her hands, which she allowed
+to lie passively in his. Such a thin little hand it was. "I have
+thought of you so constantly all winter," he went on.
+
+Marianne looked down a little uneasily. "Have you seen your family?"
+she asked. "Do you hear from Sue and Kate?"
+
+"I have not seen either of them lately. I have been on special duty,
+which has taken me out of the neighborhood. Sue, I believe, is with
+friends in Geneva."
+
+"I think my mother is there, too, though I have not heard a word from
+her since we parted on that dreadful day." She shuddered and grew pale
+at the remembrance. "Perhaps some day," she sighed, "all this dreadful
+time will end, and we shall all be together again. My grandmother
+wishes me to come to her. Asa was here, and he found out for me that
+they are still at the old home. I was so glad to know; it seemed as if
+something were still left to me. Asa brought me the very first news I
+have had."
+
+"Asa Peaslee, you mean?" Jack's brows came together thoughtfully, and
+he shook his head as if he would say, this will not do; but he only
+remarked, "It is well I did not come along at the same time."
+
+"Why? Oh, yes, I see; you think he is too--curious." Marianne smiled.
+"Well, perhaps he is too much so for his own good, but--"
+
+"Your people don't think so? All's fair in love and war, and I have no
+right to question his behavior. He is a good friend to you, and that
+should be enough for me to know. So you will go to your grandmother,
+Marianne?"
+
+"Yes; as soon as convenient, Jerusha says."
+
+"I suppose that means as soon as you can get safe passage over. She
+does not want to run any risks, and she is right."
+
+"Ah me, if only this dreadful war were over. Is there any prospect of
+peace?"
+
+"One can hardly say. I wish it were over, for then we might be placed
+on a different footing, and you might not feel as if you ought to hate
+me."
+
+"I don't--hate you--but--"
+
+"You don't love me. I know that--I could not expect that you would, and
+I have no right to ask you to. All I ask is that you sometimes give me
+a kind thought. Do you ever?"
+
+"I don't think I ought to hate you, for you saved my life. I can never
+forget how good you were to me that day." Her lip trembled like a hurt
+child's, and Jack drew a long sigh at sight of it.
+
+"Heaven knows I would never take advantage of that to force you to
+think kindly of me," he said. "This winter, many times, when I have
+not known whether you were dead or alive, when it seemed as if I might
+expect my own death at any moment, I have wished that I had told you
+how much I loved you. No, you need not answer. I only want to tell
+you, so you will know that I love you, love you, love you, not as
+a boy loves,--that was at first; now it is a man's devotion I give
+you. I don't let myself hope I can ever win from you more than a kind
+tolerance; but if you were my enemy ten times over; if you, by your own
+act, handed me over to your own people to be shot or hung, or sent to
+languish my life away in prison, I should still love you, love you.
+Ah, how good you are to let me say it, and not forbid me. I have felt
+sometimes as if I must tell you or die. Marianne, Marianne, how much I
+thank you. You have let me tell you that I love you." The words poured
+out with passionate fire, not indeed as a boy would say them, yet it
+was not two years since they had met, and he had hardly reached man's
+estate.
+
+Marianne was thrilled to the very core of her being. She felt that
+this was true love; that he had given her the best he would ever have
+to give, and she stood silent and awed in the presence of this great
+affection. "I don't see how you can feel so," she said, after a moment.
+She drew her hand gently away from his clasp. "You know it would be
+impossible. I ought to feel more than grateful, because you stood
+between me and death at the risk of your own life."
+
+He lifted his hand, and she understood that it hurt him for her to
+refer again to that, but she went on: "Ever since then--and--yes,
+before, I wanted to like you, but I felt that I couldn't; I should not,
+when you were my country's enemy--my father's enemy and mine--but I
+have--I do think kindly of you. I can't help that, and I don't believe
+it is disloyal--when--when--that is all I do. But you see--you know,
+it could only be a friendship at the best."
+
+"I know," he said gently. "It makes me very happy to hear you say that
+it can be that; and if I fall before the war is over, you will have
+known that if I could give my life for you it would not be too much,
+but that to have told you of my love will bring me peace in my last
+hour."
+
+Again Marianne's lip trembled. "Don't talk that way, please, and--and I
+am not worthy of all that. I don't see how you can feel so when I--"
+
+"When you don't care for me? Jerusha might tell you that you have yet
+to learn that it is more blessed to give than to receive," he said,
+smiling; for, seeing that she was white and shaken by this interview,
+he reproached himself for having been so insistent. "Forgive me,
+Marianne," he said. "I didn't realize that you are not as strong as you
+might be, and I am afraid I have been inconsiderate in talking."
+
+"No, no," she smiled, "don't mind. I am a little easily made nervous,
+but I am getting stronger every day; and please don't blame yourself if
+I seem silly and babyish. I cry so easily nowadays that Jerusha has no
+patience with me. I intend to get strong and well; you know it's only a
+question of time." She was very gentle and quiet, quite different from
+the Marianne of old; but her very gentleness appealed to him all the
+more.
+
+They walked slowly toward the cabin, and though Jerusha was not very
+cordial in her greeting, she was not ill-pleased to see the young man
+again. "There is a stir in the armies," he told them, "and one does
+not know just where it is safe. We hold Fort Niagara, it is true,
+but the Americans say that they are determined to relieve us of that
+responsibility, if what the spies and deserters tell us be true. I
+think the longer we delay in making our way to your grandmother's,
+Marianne, the worse for your safety."
+
+So then it was that with a sort of grim regret Jerusha bade farewell to
+her leach pits, her soap kettle, her small stores and belongings which
+had made the little cabin a real home to her, and after seeing Acsah
+returned to her people, she started out with Marianne into what new
+trials neither could foresee.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVIII
+
+                          _Sorrowful Hearts_
+
+
+Of the few houses left standing in that border country, Madame
+Desvouges's was one. Victor, it is true, had not had an easy time of
+it, and more than once was threatened with expulsion by one party or
+the other, but Victor was not combative; he had no personal grievance,
+he told the authorities, and why should he fight? When they attempted
+to burn his home over his head, for Madame Desvouges and for his sister
+he would do battle, but he had friends in both armies, and why should
+he quarrel with one or the other? Such obvious neutrality was quite
+enough to assure any one of his peaceable intentions; and even when
+orders were given that every able-bodied man should be pressed into
+service, Victor somehow managed to slip out of the way, and calmly held
+to his post, while up and down the land ravaging bands of foragers,
+hangers-on of both armies, and plunderers of all sorts, were laying
+waste the country. "My place is here," declared Victor; "I am the
+garrison, the commandant, what officer you will, of this fort, and here
+I remain."
+
+And so the besom of destruction passed over the old house, and it was
+left to its occupants who clung to it so obstinately. It is true they
+had been stripped of nearly all that could be of use to either army,
+but the more they were called upon for supplies, the more indefatigably
+did Victor plant and reap and gather into barns, so that he came to
+be considered quite a valuable commissariat, and perhaps that was the
+reason he was let alone.
+
+It was one cold night during the time that Marianne was lying ill that
+those at the Desvouges farm were startled by hearing rapid hoof beats
+coming up the lane. Madame cast a quick look of apprehension at Victor.
+"Some one for you, my son?"
+
+"Perhaps," he replied, "but there can be nothing to alarm us, when the
+men are all in winter quarters and no expeditions are likely to be
+undertaken."
+
+"Go, then, and see who it is."
+
+Victor lighted his lantern and went to the door. It was snowing
+drearily, in heavy flakes. The horse was coming fast up the lane,
+between the rows of leafless trees; at the gate he stopped of his own
+accord. Victor held up his lantern. "Who is it?" he cried.
+
+"For the love of Heaven, Victor, help us," said a familiar voice.
+
+"Royal!" cried Victor. Not once since that day when his grandmother
+had bidden him take his wife away had Royal entered the house. He
+and Victor had met: they bore each other no ill-will. Victor had
+few, if any, enemies; he was always disposed to be tolerant. True,
+Royal had disappointed his grandmother, but, argued Victor, he did it
+unwittingly, and so now to see him at the gate at this hour and in this
+weather argued some disaster. As he turned the light of his lantern
+fuller upon Royal, he saw that he was not alone. Close to his breast he
+held his wife, and under her cloak was warmly clasped a tiny baby.
+
+At sight of this down went Victor's lantern in a twinkling. "Give me
+the little one," he said, holding out his arms. "Victorine! Maman!" he
+shouted. "Here!" Victorine came running out, and into her arms Victor
+laid the child. "It is Royal's baby," he said. And Victorine enfolded
+the tiny bundle closer. "Run in with the little one; it is cold,"
+Victor urged, and then he gave his attention to Kate, gently helping
+her down. As she reached the ground she staggered into the arms of
+Madame Desvouges, opened to receive her. "Go in quickly," said Victor,
+"and I will come with Royal; he is hurt, I think."
+
+"To the death," murmured Royal. "Get me in, Victor, I have not long."
+
+The tears were rolling down Madame's face as she knelt by Kate, who
+had fainted upon reaching the warm room. "She is ill and weak, poor
+child," said Madame. "Such a little baby, Victorine. Ah me, how cruel
+to drive them out into this bitter night." Between them they got Kate
+into an inner room. Victorine laid the child by her side, and the two
+women gave themselves up to ministering to the mother and child, while
+Victor helped Royal to his own bed.
+
+"It is no use," gasped Royal. And, indeed, Victor saw that no effort
+of his could stay the hand of the death angel. "They came upon us,"
+Royal said, speaking with difficulty, "no, no, not American soldiers,
+they were but a band of plunderers and ruffians with no country. They
+drove us out and set fire to the house. They would have done worse but
+I struck down one fellow and seized his horse--I managed to get Kate
+and the boy, but--they fired--and--I am hard hit." He lay breathing
+heavily. "Poor Kate!" he said, after a time. "You will--not--let
+her--suffer, Victor. And my little son. Where is Victorine? She--will
+be--good--to my--boy. He, you know--my father forgave me--the
+letter is here--" He laid his hand feebly on his breast. "He--it
+was all cross purposes--misunderstandings. Mother--and poor--little
+Marianne--I--don't--know--where they are. You'll be good--to
+Kate--and--the boy, Victor?"
+
+"I swear to you I will," said Victor, gravely. "They shall not suffer
+while I am able to help them."
+
+"Victorine!"
+
+Victor went to the door and called his sister. She came in quick
+response. Victor took her two hands in his. "Victorine, my poor girl,
+he is dying."
+
+"No, no!" Victorine clutched his hand with frantic clasp.
+
+"He has asked for you. Can you be calm?"
+
+"Yes, yes, I can. I will."
+
+They entered the room together. The man lying there was
+growing very weak. "Victorine," he whispered, "good angel,
+Victorine--you--will--love my--boy? Kate, my wife--is she--is she--"
+
+"She is very weak, but comparatively comfortable. We have put her to
+bed. Maman is with her."
+
+A smile came over the man's face. "Grand'mère?"
+
+"Yes. Ah, Royal, dear boy, you need not fear for your wife and son.
+We will love them and care for them. Maman is so distressed. She
+reproaches herself."
+
+"No--she must not. Grand'mère!"
+
+The elder woman was summoned. She came, trembling and wretched. "I
+drove you from me, Royal. I did this dreadful thing!" she cried,
+wringing her hands. "Where should you have brought your young wife
+but here to your own people? Ah me, I have a cruel, bad heart. Live,
+Royal, live, and I will show you how tender I can be to your wife and
+child. Such a little child, so small and helpless! My great-grandson.
+Ah me! that I should be so cruel." She burst into uncontrollable
+weeping.
+
+The dying man's eyes rested on Victorine. "My boy," he said.
+
+"You want to see him?"
+
+"Yes," came the faint whisper.
+
+Victorine went out, and returned with the little one, who opened
+his baby eyes and blinked as he was brought into the lighted room.
+Victorine laid him by Royal's side, and the baby closed its little
+hand around one of his father's chill fingers. Royal's eyes, full of
+a strange, awed, yearning expression, sought Victorine. "My son," he
+said, "and he will have no father."
+
+"I will be a father to him, Royal," said Victor, in a broken voice.
+
+"And he shall be my dearest care," Victorine told him. "If God spares
+me, and so far as a woman can, I will watch over him, and I pray he may
+grow to be a good man. His mother shall not be left to battle alone; be
+sure of that."
+
+Royal smiled. He seemed content. His eyes closed, and he lay very
+still, each moment pulsing out his last heart-beats. Victorine bent
+over him, an agony of love in her eyes. Once more he smiled at her.
+"Good angel--Victorine--sing."
+
+She began tremblingly, faintly; it was so sore a trial, but faith and
+devotion and heroism gave her strength, and the beautiful voice arose
+clearer and sweeter. Her eyes were uplifted; one hand clasped Royal's.
+The sobs of Madame Desvouges grew less and less. She wept quietly. Once
+more Royal opened his eyes. Before him Victorine held her crucifix,
+dearer forever after by reason of its having received his last look.
+There was one deep sigh, and Royal's boy was fatherless. But Victorine,
+in the very agony of her grief, sang on till her hymn was concluded.
+Then she sank down on her knees by the bedside. Victor led his mother
+away, and they left her there with her dead love and his living child.
+
+Kate took her place very quietly in the household. It was weeks before
+she could leave her bed, and in that time Royal had been laid to rest
+under the snows of March, and the baby had become the most important
+member of the family. Nothing in all the world could have brought
+Victorine the comfort that this helpless bit of humanity was able to
+give. In her heart he was Roy, her king, though Kate had told her
+that he was named Walter by his father's wish. Under unremitting love
+and care, the baby throve, and Kate at last was able to take up the
+business of living with a less feeling of loneliness than at first
+seemed possible. They were all so gentle, so solicitous, so concerned
+for her and her little son. There was not one in the house who did
+not make mother and child the first consideration, and though Kate
+protested, they all assured her that they could not help it; there was
+nothing in the world so important to them as Royal's wife and child.
+Therefore Kate accepted this homage graciously and unaffectedly, and
+grew to love them as they did her. So that when Marianne arrived late
+in the spring, she found at her grandmother's quite a new state of
+things: Queen Kate and his Royal Highness, Sir Walter, absorbing the
+interest of the whole family.
+
+Marianne had not made her journey without difficulty. With the news
+of the probable approach of the Americans, who were determined more
+than ever to conduct a successful invasion of Canada, the country
+again became the haunt of bands of marauders ready for the slightest
+excuse to pounce down upon whatever might present itself in the way of
+plunder. To avoid these, who might almost be termed bandits, it was
+necessary that the travellers should proceed cautiously. But with the
+aid of some friendly Indians, and with Jack as their main protector,
+they reached the river and were set over safely.
+
+It was a pretty domestic scene which greeted them at the threshold of
+Madame Desvouges's door. Kate held her little son, before whose eager
+eyes Victor dangled a bright coin. Victorine was sewing upon a small
+garment, fashioned from one of Madame's treasured bits of fine cambric,
+but none too good for Master Walter. Madame was knitting a pair of
+baby's socks, and all eyes were given to glancing between times to the
+baby himself.
+
+Into the room came Marianne, Jerusha, and Jack; and the first thing,
+Marianne, too, prostrated herself before the idol. "Oh, the dear
+love," she cried. "To think I didn't know I was an aunt." She kissed
+the soft, curling, pink hands, then ran from one to the other to give
+her greeting. "You knew I would be here soon? Yes, it was Jack who
+discovered me. Ah me, but it has been a long, sad winter. Perceive me,
+grand'mère, as one arisen from the dead. I will tell you my tale of woe
+later. Yes, I have been ill. Did Asa not tell you? And how are you all?
+Everybody? And where is Royal?"
+
+There was silence. Kate's head bent low over her baby's. "Our dear Lord
+has taken him, Marianne," said Victorine, gently. Marianne gazed at
+her, wide-eyed, and then she fell into a passion of weeping.
+
+But it was Victorine who took her in her arms and tried to comfort her.
+
+"It is so dreadful, so dreadful," sobbed Marianne. "My only brother,
+and my father a prisoner, and my mother I cannot tell where. Oh, why
+did I not die, too? It is too sorrowful a world to live in."
+
+"No, no, dear child," Victorine chided her, gently, "you do not know
+what may be in store for you. You do not know what work waits for you
+to do. See, here are all of us who love you, and this dear baby, your
+nephew; he has your brother's eyes, and he will comfort you as he has
+all of us." She took the baby from Kate, and placed him in Marianne's
+arms. And indeed her tears were stayed at sight of the wondering baby
+eyes; and when the little one smiled up at her, she could but smile
+back at him.
+
+Jack could not stay with them long. There was too much astir. He
+and Marianne had one more talk together. For some reason, Marianne
+discerned that her grandmother did not make such a point of forcing
+Victor's company upon her; and Victor himself, though the same
+even-tempered fellow, had not once sought her out for a confidential
+talk, had not once told her that she was the prettiest girl in the
+country, nor had he made any allusions to those old days when they were
+such comrades. Was she, then, so changed? Had her illness and her dire
+experiences so altered her as to give her no more a claim to being
+called pretty? She felt quite aggrieved, and perhaps because of that
+was all the more ready to join Jack when he asked her to walk with him
+down to the orchard, where the apple-blossoms were displaying their
+wonders of pink and white.
+
+"You do not mind going?" he said.
+
+"No, I shall like to," Marianne replied, with a side glance at Victor.
+She was glad of this opportunity of showing her indifference to her old
+admirer. To be sure she had never thought of Victor sentimentally, she
+told herself, and it was time he knew it. She had grown very dependent
+upon Jack in these days when they had braved the perils of the journey
+together, and somehow they seemed to have more in common.
+
+They passed out into the spring sunshine, and Kate watched them with
+a sigh. A year ago, in spring-time, she and Royal were married; so
+long ago, it seemed. She looked at the little one lying in her lap.
+Victor came and laid a gentle finger on the baby's soft fuzzy head. "He
+grows," he said, with pleased interest. "He will soon be walking and
+talking, Kate, and I will teach him to do many things. Do you notice
+that he likes music? Already he listens when I take my violin." He took
+down the instrument from its corner, and began to play softly upon it,
+watching the baby's face the while.
+
+The gentle strains reached the ears of the two who had seated
+themselves under a branching apple tree. "It is Victor," said
+Marianne. "He plays to the baby. I think," she said, half-aggrieved,
+"the baby has cut me out."
+
+Jack picked up a rosy petal which had drifted down upon her hand. "Do
+you care for that?" he asked.
+
+"I don't know. A little, maybe. I don't like to be set aside even for a
+baby, and then--" She paused, and let the falling petals drift through
+her fingers.
+
+"And then some day you expect to marry Victor; is that it?" asked Jack,
+in an unsteady voice.
+
+"No--yes--that is, I cannot tell. Grand'mère has always wanted it to
+be so, but--I--" She shot a quick glance at Jack, and turned her head
+aside. "I am beginning to think I could never have cared enough--not in
+that way. I am beginning to know one doesn't--does not feel just the
+same toward--oh, I don't know what I am trying to say."
+
+Jack seized her hand. "Marianne, what makes you say this?"
+
+She was silent. "Because I am older, I suppose," she answered, after a
+pause. "I know better what it means. I couldn't be content to live all
+my life with Victor; he isn't exciting enough." She laughed a little.
+
+"Then if he were--exciting--you would be willing?"
+
+"Perhaps. I can't tell. That is the way I feel now. I don't know what
+will suit me a year or two hence."
+
+"You are older than when you fell into the bog, I confess," said Jack.
+"Ah, Marianne, I am in a worse slough than ever you were in. I fell
+in then, and I shall never get out unless you pull me. You have your
+revenge." He sighed. "I am afraid I shall always stay there, for you
+are not so merciful to a prisoner as I was."
+
+Marianne shook her head. "Don't let us talk about it. You know there is
+not the slightest, no, not the slightest, possibility of your getting
+out by my help. I have no doubt," she added brightly, "that some one
+else will come to your rescue before you are in too deep. Oh, if I
+could really save your life," she added more seriously, "I would be so
+glad; for then I would not feel, when I have to tell you the truth,
+that I ought not for fear of hurting you."
+
+"I know all that," said Jack, humbly. "Shall I put myself in danger to
+make it easier for you?"
+
+"You ridiculous boy, of course not." She tapped him lightly with a
+little bunch of blossoms. "At least, the situation has this merit: I
+can be friends with you without censuring myself, and I never felt that
+I could before."
+
+"Did you ever want to?"
+
+"Sometimes, yes."
+
+"Then that is a point gained. I feel more hopeful. Isn't it a French
+fashion--are you French enough--to--to kiss me good-by?"
+
+Marianne colored up. "I--no--but you may kiss my cheek. No, no, not
+now. When you go." The thought of his going suddenly startled her, and
+she put both hands over her eyes quickly, as if she would shut out a
+vision she saw. "Will there be much fighting?" she asked. "Shall you be
+in many battles, do you think?"
+
+"Who can tell? I go, and that is enough to know. It is all very
+uncertain. I may come back with flying colors, and I may be stricken
+down before night; that is a soldier's life. Would you be sorry to lose
+your--friend?"
+
+"Yes, very. Please don't talk of that as a possibility. Let us be
+gay and happy. You will come back, we will say and believe; and your
+grandfather and Kate will live together, and after a while you will
+marry--Minerva Ashman."
+
+"Never!"
+
+"Oh, I don't mean right away. Years and years from now."
+
+Jack shook his head very positively. "There is only one girl in the
+world I shall ever be content to marry, and if I cannot have her, I
+shall live and die an old bachelor. Besides, you forget; it would be
+cruel to take Kate from your grandmother and Victorine. I couldn't
+feel that it would be right to do that."
+
+"Then you will have to go to Kentucky and live with Sue. Would you ever
+be willing to do it, I wonder."
+
+"I think not. I might go somewhere, miles and miles away. If you--ah,
+Marianne, if you married, I don't think I could live near you."
+
+"Don't you?" she asked lamely.
+
+"No, I love you too much. There, I said I would not worry you again by
+saying so, but it is so sweet to tell you and have you listen. Here,
+under these trees, in the spring sunshine, with war and danger and all
+so far off, as it seems, I can only think of one thing as I look at
+you, and that is that I love you. Some day, maybe, if it is my lot to
+fall upon the battlefield, you may like to remember that you made me so
+very happy in this our last hour together."
+
+"I am glad if I do." The words came in a whisper. "I think, perhaps,
+if this is really our last hour together, that you may kiss me good-by
+now."
+
+"Marianne, dearest, how good you are." He bent to kiss her cheek, but
+she turned her face and her lips met his. Then she started to her feet
+and ran back to the house holding one hand over her beating heart; and
+up to her room she went, to throw herself down on the bed and weep the
+bitter tears of a newly awakened and hopeless love.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIX
+
+                         _Marianne Celebrates_
+
+
+The summer of 1814 found the American troops upon the Niagara frontier
+more confident than ever before. Under the indefatigable labors of
+General Scott, they had been vigorously trained, all through the
+spring, in military tactics, and toward the end of June it was proposed
+to reopen the campaign. There were British troops encamped at Chippewa;
+Forts George, Niagara, and Erie were garrisoned, and at Queenston was
+a small force. There was much sickness in the British camp, and their
+entire force was not so large but that they had to resort to a draft of
+one-fourteenth of the male population. This proclamation alarmed Madame
+Desvouges and Victorine. What if Victor, who had been so fortunately
+exempt thus far, should now be forced to take up arms, when he was more
+than ever needed at home? But Victor was again lucky, for the axe did
+not fall upon his devoted head.
+
+With Royal beyond all hopes and fears, with her father a prisoner at
+Quebec, all Marianne's anxiety was now centred in Jack, who was in the
+field and might at any time be called to battle. There were daily
+reports that the Americans intended to lose no time in regaining their
+lost ground, and that they were ready to invade Canada. The British had
+been vigilant in picking off spies who attempted to cross the river,
+but, nevertheless, it was known that the Americans were quite aware
+of the strength--or weakness--of their foe, and that when they came a
+hot conflict might be expected. Soon the whole country was up in arms.
+Marching and counter-marching, camps here, there, everywhere; the noise
+of skirmishing, of hoof-beats up and down the roads, of alarms sounded,
+of the beat of drums and the call of fifes filled the air.
+
+On the morning of the fourth of July Marianne came downstairs full
+of enthusiasm. "Independence Day," she cried. "I wish we could win a
+battle this day."
+
+"You know what that means," said Kate, significantly.
+
+"What?" asked Marianne, wheeling around defiantly.
+
+Kate took her face between her hands. "Your eyes were very red the day
+Jack went away, little sister."
+
+Marianne bit her lip and gave her head a toss. "Well, and what of it?
+I suppose I may have my griefs and that you do not always know the
+nature of them."
+
+Kate put her arms around her. "Don't be cross, dear. Jack told me
+long, long ago that you were very dear to him, and it is nothing to be
+ashamed of that you should shed a tear for his sake."
+
+Marianne's head drooped, and she sighed. "Yes; but, Kate, you know that
+however much he cared, it could never be anything but a friendship."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because he is a Britisher, or the same as one; and my father would be
+very unhappy, more than ever that he is bereft of his son, if I were to
+go over to the enemy. I have always stood by father, and I shall always
+do so, whatever happens."
+
+"Even if it means the breaking of your own heart?"
+
+"I will not let my heart break; but even if it did, rather than not
+live on American soil I will die by inches, but I will die a free,
+independent citizen of my own United States; so there!"
+
+"Then nothing will persuade you to live on this side the river? What
+about Victor? You know your family's desire in that direction."
+
+"Whoever marries me will have to come over to my side. If he doesn't
+love me enough for that, he can stay at home. But it is Fourth of July,
+and I want to celebrate. Where is Jerusha? She is a good American; we
+will do something together to declare our sentiments. If the country
+were not full of soldiers, I would ride up to the Falls; only something
+big and tremendous and exhilarating like that expresses my feelings on
+this day."
+
+Kate laughed and picked up her baby, who was crowing in his cradle,
+while Marianne went in search of Jerusha. She found her in the
+wash-house industriously at work. "It's Fourth of July, Jerusha," said
+Marianne. "How shall we celebrate?"
+
+"I guess I'm doing all the celebrating I'll do," Jerusha replied.
+"There's one thing I don't mean shall be said to me, and that is, 'Why
+stand ye all the day idle?' I've no time for jewlarking."
+
+"Who said anything about that? Just hurrah for the Stars and Stripes,
+or sing Yankee Doodle while you are washing, or do something. Oh, dear,
+if one could but have a picnic or something like that, and if some one
+was here to make a speech and set off fireworks, as we used to do at
+home, I would be pleased."
+
+Jerusha swashed her clothes up and down vigorously. "There's no time
+for patriotic speeches these days. The army's on the move, and I guess
+they'll show their patriotism by a kind of fireworks that ain't very
+harmless. They say a proclamation has come out, saying that nobody's
+going to be touched if they're peaceable and quiet; and I guess we can
+rest easy, and not be afraid of Injuns being let loose on us. They're
+marching toward Fort Erie; they say it's took by our men, and they're
+coming this way. I guess they'll git stopped before they git here."
+
+"They may get stopped, but I hope they'll not get beaten. I see
+plainly, Jerusha, that you won't let me kindle the fires of your
+patriotism, or if I do, you put them out with soapsuds, so I will go
+off by myself and do my own celebrating."
+
+"Look out that you don't go too far," Jerusha warned her.
+
+"I'll not," Marianne called back. She went up to the garret to rummage
+in an old chest, where she remembered storing a good-sized American
+flag two years before. It was one she had made and brought over for the
+purpose of teasing Royal and Jack. She rolled it up and slipped it in
+her pocket with her little pipe. Then she went down through the orchard
+and on into the woods. A slim young sapling gave her a staff for her
+flag, and with it flung out to the breeze, she marched along gayly
+piping Yankee Doodle.
+
+When she reached a certain little knoll she planted her flag firmly,
+and standing by its side she addressed herself to the silent company of
+the trees. Her clear, girlish voice rang out in a flowery speech, in
+which much spread-eagle oratory, mixed metaphor, and queer logic were
+prominent. She was totally unaware that she had other audience than the
+sentinel trees, but behind her, watering his horse at a tinkling brook,
+was a young British soldier hastening with a message to Queenston. In
+front of her in the thicket was hidden an American scout on his way in
+the opposite direction to join Scott's army. Of the two, it was the
+scout who was least anxious to be seen; for his was a dangerous errand
+through the enemy's country, and he took his life in his hand when he
+ventured forth.
+
+The address ended, Marianne piped up again her Yankee Doodle. The two
+men listened with very opposite emotions. What did not the little pipe
+bring to the redcoat's recollection? What patriotic feelings were not
+stirred in the heart of the American? He plucked up courage at the
+sound. Here was a patriotic maiden, who could probably give him a few
+hints how best to avoid the enemy on his journey.
+
+Marianne stood smiling as he advanced toward her. He halted at the
+foot of the mound, but alas for the Britisher, this very moment gave
+a glimpse of the redcoat to the scout. Each saw the other at the same
+instant. It was a critical time for the American; there might be other
+British near; he obeyed his first impulse and fired. At the same
+instant Marianne, having seen his start of surprise, swung around and
+caught sight of the figure by the brook. She rushed forward still
+holding her flag, which she had a minute before taken in her hand. Did
+she not recognize that boyish face? "Jack!" she cried. "Oh, Jack!"
+
+The young man still stood, but he leaned heavily against his horse and
+felt for his pistol. Seeing this, the American took aim a second time,
+but before he could fire, the form of the girl sprang between him and
+his enemy, and her flag covered Jack from sight. "You dare not fire on
+your flag," cried Marianne. "Go, go quickly; I, too, am an American,
+but you shall not fire upon this man. Go, or I will call help; your
+enemies are nearer than you know." She put the pipe to her lips, and
+the man plunged into the thicket without a look behind.
+
+Then Marianne flung down her flag, and ran to where Jack had sunk to
+the ground, very white, but with a smile on his lips. The girl crouched
+beside him, and took his head in her lap. "Jack," she said, "Jack,
+you are not hurt badly; tell me you are not." His lips moved, but he
+grew very faint, and no words came. His pallor and silence overcame
+Marianne with alarm. "He is dead," she moaned. "All I love must go.
+Oh, Jack, dear, dear Jack, I have been so cruel to you, so wrong and
+hard-hearted. Speak to me. I love you, yes, I do love you. Listen
+while I tell it. Listen before you die. I know now. I knew when you
+left me that day. Jack, my dearest, my only love, don't die." The
+eyelids fluttered, but there was no response from his white Lips. "What
+shall I do? What shall I do? Oh, if some one would only come! Jerusha!
+Victor! Kate!" she called. There came an answer from over the hill,
+and presently a figure in sunbonnet and flapping gown appeared between
+the trees. "Jerusha! Jerusha!" cried Marianne, "hurry! hurry!" And
+Jerusha's strides became a run.
+
+"I cal'lated you'd been gone long enough," Jerusha began, but she broke
+short her sentence. "What in the name of conscience are you doin'
+there? For the land's sake, Mary Anne Reyburn, what are you doing with
+that Britisher?"
+
+"Oh, Jerusha, Jerusha, it's Jack, it's Jack, and he's killed! Oh,
+Jerusha, it is my own dear Jack who loves me so; and I love him, I do.
+Jack, I do!"
+
+Despite the gravity of the situation, Jerusha gave her a glance of
+scorn. "You do, do you? I thought you couldn't abide him. Trust a girl
+for not knowing her own mind. Here, let me see what's the matter." She
+knelt down and laid her hand over the young man's heart. "He ain't
+dead; he's just swoonded." She went to the brook, and scooping up some
+water, dashed it in his face, and then began to bathe his head. After a
+little he opened his eyes and smiled at them. Marianne sat up stiffly.
+"You're not dead," she said.
+
+"No," he replied; "I guess not this time. It was a close shave. You
+saved me, Marianne," he whispered.
+
+The color came back to the girl's lips. "I believe I did," she replied,
+in a low voice, glancing at Jerusha, who was tethering the horse that
+he might not get away. "Or, rather," she went on, seeing that Jerusha
+did not hear, "it was the flag did it. You were saved by my flag; you
+can never revile it again."
+
+Jack began to laugh weakly in spite of his evident pain. "It was so
+funny," he said.
+
+"What?" asked Marianne, in surprise.
+
+"The Fourth of July address," he answered, and then he fainted again,
+and Marianne's rising pique was lost in her anxiety.
+
+"We must try to get him up to the house at once," said Jerusha,
+coming at Marianne's call. "I'll go and fetch Victor and some sort of
+litter, and I guess between us we can carry him. Don't you get into
+high-strikes again while I'm gone. He's good for some time yet, for all
+I kin see."
+
+With this reassurance and admonishment, Marianne was left. She sat
+quietly, with Jack's head resting in her lap, and in a short time
+Jerusha returned, and Jack was carefully carried to the house, where
+he was wept over by Kate, and tenderly ministered to by Victorine and
+Madame Desvouges. He was Royal's friend, and that was enough to win him
+compassionate and gentle care. Upon seeing him in competent hands,
+Marianne held aloof, and as his danger lessened, she withdrew herself
+more and more.
+
+As night came on, the sound of distant cannonading reached their ears,
+and the next day brought the news of victory for the Americans on
+the field of Chippewa. "I told you," said Jerusha, "there would be
+fireworks."
+
+A few days later, when the American army was encamped at Queenston, who
+should come hobbling in but Asa. He had been wounded at Lundy's Lane,
+but had declined to be sent to the hospital at Lewiston, saying he had
+friends on this side the river. He brought news that gave a strange
+gray pallor to Jerusha's face. Her husband had fallen in battle. She
+heard Asa imperturbably, giving no evidence of emotion but a tight
+clasping of her knotted hands. "I hope he was prepared," she said, as
+she arose to leave the room. Marianne stole after her. "Jerusha, dear
+Jerusha," she said, with her arms about her, "I am so, so grieved for
+you."
+
+Jerusha pressed her lips convulsively together. "I guess my bitterest
+tears were shed long ago," she said. "He wa'n't a good man, but he
+might have been a worse one. He was no patriot, but--but--" She turned
+away her head, and the tears stole down her cheeks. He was the love of
+her youth, and at that moment all else was blotted out.
+
+Next to appear was Fred Lyle, Lieutenant Lyle now, and he brought
+brighter news. Mrs. Reyburn and Sue were in Geneva, and had been
+together all this time. They were both well. Captain Reyburn still
+awaited his exchange, but they had heard from him from time to time,
+and he was well treated and hoped for a speedy release; indeed, they
+might expect to see him any day. Of Major Silverthorn Jack was able
+to tell them; he was still with the army, and as bitter a partisan
+as ever. Jack, it may be mentioned, seemed very well content not to
+have been a sharer in the fortunes and misfortunes of his regiment at
+Chippewa and Lundy's Lane. Fred gave them a graphic account of these
+two battles, of that valiant charge at Chippewa, where General Scott,
+by his brilliant tactics, defeated the larger force of the enemy;
+and of Lundy's Lane, fought within sight and sound of the thundering
+cataract of Niagara, and fought by night, a weird battle surely. "We
+took the battery, held it, and drove the enemy from the field. We
+should have held our ground; there was no reason why we could not have
+done it, but because we did not, the British claim a victory, but it is
+preposterous."
+
+Jack, to whom he was talking, did not argue the point. He felt in no
+mood for it. He was occupied with wondering why Marianne held herself
+so aloof. She had saved his life, for without a doubt a second shot
+from the unerring gun of an American scout would have laid him low. He
+felt secure as to his despatches, for Victor had taken charge of them
+and forwarded them. But for Marianne's presence they might have fallen
+into the hands of the enemy, Jack told himself, and he owed the girl
+thanks for that.
+
+It was his old spirit of teasing which finally brought Marianne out of
+her attitude of diffidence; for he told her triumphantly that he meant
+to apply to the British government for a medal for her in recognition
+of her gallantry in defending his Majesty's messenger, who was carrying
+important despatches upon his person.
+
+She recoiled a step from him and looked at him with a shocked
+expression. He was sitting up for the first time, and though not rosy,
+he looked well. "Oh," she exclaimed, "I did that! I was disloyal to
+my country! O dear, that was dreadful! I ought not to have failed to
+examine your pockets to find out what you carried; that is what a real
+heroine would have done. It really was dreadfully wrong of me."
+
+"To save my life?" He held out his hand. "You said we were friends,
+Marianne," he dropped his bantering tone. "Won't you let me thank you
+for that? It was like your dear, noble self."
+
+Marianne smiled. "As I told you before, you must thank my flag; it
+defended you. You were under its protection. No good American would
+fire on his own flag, you see, and I knew it would be perfectly safe
+for you behind it."
+
+"All the same, the flag couldn't have walked without feet, and it was
+you who placed yourself between me and danger. I repeat, and shall
+always to my dying day, that you saved my life; I wish you would take
+the credit for it and let me tell them all what you did."
+
+"I don't want you to."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+Marianne shot him a hurt glance. "You must not tell any one that it was
+I who saved you. Oh, can't you see why?" And she precipitately fled,
+leaving Jack to puzzle over her words. It was months after that his
+masculine mind grasped what she meant, and he was able to perceive what
+her womanly intuition had seen in a moment.
+
+Jack joined his grandfather in Montreal, and Asa with his limping foot
+remained with the family till the summer faded and the winter brought
+the news that the Niagara frontier was abandoned by both sides. It had
+been sorely distressed, but one after another began to creep back to
+the abandoned homes; the wasted fields once more began to show signs of
+greenness, and houses sprang up here and there upon the sites marked
+by blackened heaps. Among the last to return were Captain Reyburn and
+his wife. The former had at last received his exchange and made haste
+to join his wife at Geneva. Together they made the journey back to
+where their home once stood, and then they crossed the river. The news
+of Royal's death and of Marianne's safety had reached them, and now
+they were eager to see their daughter and the new claimant to their
+affections, the baby Walter.
+
+It was a nipping cold day when they arrived at Madame Desvouges's and
+found, shut in the warmth of her big living-room, the whole family.
+For once Mrs. Reyburn had no words as she held Marianne to her mother
+heart. "Our child, our child; all we have left," she said at last,
+turning to her husband. But Captain Reyburn was smiling down at Kate,
+as he held the baby close to his bearded face. "Oh, no," he said, "we
+have another daughter, and here, my wife, is our little grandson that
+you have so longed to see." He put the child in her lap and asked, "And
+what is the name of this little fellow?"
+
+"Walter, Kate told me. It was Royal's dearest wish that he should be
+named after you." And then the strong man, who had bravely faced danger
+and loss and sorrow and defeat, fell upon his knees by his wife's side
+and hid his face. "My son, my son," he cried, "how gladly would I have
+died for you!"
+
+Tears were coursing down Marianne's cheeks as she bent over him.
+"Father, dear father," she whispered, "don't say that. What would
+mother and I do without you?"
+
+"Your last letter was such a comfort," Kate told him, "and he said
+many times that he loved you very dearly even when he seemed the most
+unruly, and he hoped his son would be the comfort and stay to you that
+he thought he had failed to be."
+
+"My poor Royal," sighed Mrs. Reyburn, "he was so young, and it was love
+he needed to lead him. He would never be driven."
+
+Despite the knowledge that all hard feeling had been swept away by
+the letter Captain Reyburn had written to his son, and which was so
+treasured by him, it was a bitter moment for the father, who realized
+too late that but for his own inflexible will there need never have
+been any misunderstanding between him and his eldest born.
+
+That Kate bore him no ill-will and was so anxious to carry out Royal's
+wishes affected Captain Reyburn greatly, and he paid her such deference
+and consideration as would have gladdened Royal's heart to see. "You
+will come home to us, my daughter," he said to her. "I shall rebuild as
+soon as spring opens. By then I hope we shall have peace."
+
+"We will see whether Kate and the boy are willing to leave me,"
+interposed Madame Desvouges, jealously. She was pitifully eager to
+recompense Kate for her first unkindness, and as to the boy, to lose
+him seemed more than she could bear. "You would not take them from
+me," she said pathetically. "I should never recover from it! I want
+them always, always."
+
+"But we want them, too," said Mrs. Reyburn, already a slave to her
+grandson's charms.
+
+"We shall see," said Madame, emphatically. "There is time enough.
+Matters will adjust themselves. There is no need to quarrel over them
+now. Possession is nine points of the law, and behold, we possess."
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XX
+
+                                _Peace_
+
+
+By the time the new home across the river was built there was peace
+in the land. The battle of New Orleans had been fought, the last
+engagement upon the high seas had taken place, the last prize had been
+brought in. The roar of battle would never again reach those whose ears
+were once more attuned to the rush of the mighty cataract of Niagara.
+
+"Your Uncle Tom wanted me to sell out up here and settle down near
+him," Captain Reyburn told his daughter, "but I have never seen a spot
+that suits me so well in all my travels."
+
+"There was never so lovely a country," returned Marianne,
+enthusiastically. "Where is there anything so grand as our Falls, and
+where will you see such color as in our river and lake? Who can show us
+finer scenery? No, no, I am glad to live and die here."
+
+They had taken a ride up to the Falls and were looking at the
+marvellous greens and blues in the water below them. "I feel very much
+as if I had been in the Whirlpool rapids myself," said Marianne. "Ah,
+father dear, what a terrible, terrible time it has been. I think while
+I live I never can blot out that day when our home was burned."
+
+Her father looked grave. "I haven't paid my debt to that young man yet,
+and I don't suppose I shall ever be able to do it. I wish you would
+find out if there's anything in the world I can do for him. He was your
+brother's friend, and so he has more than one claim on me. I suppose
+you don't know what he intends to do with himself now that the war is
+over."
+
+A lovely color flushed Marianne's face. "He says his grandfather has
+decided to remain in Montreal, and he wanted Jack to remain with him
+there, but Jack didn't care to do it. He loves our Niagara country as
+much as we do."
+
+"I don't blame him, then, for wanting to stay. Will he go back to the
+old place?"
+
+"No, it is to be sold, or has been already, so Kate tells me. Major
+Silverthorn owned half of it, and the rest goes to his son's children,
+Kate and Sue and Jack."
+
+Mr. Reyburn smiled. "I can't get over your letting Fred Lyle slip you,"
+he said jokingly.
+
+"Ah, but you see he would have taken me to Kentucky; and how would you
+have liked that?"
+
+"I didn't think of that part of it. Well, he is happy; he got the girl
+he wanted, I reckon."
+
+"Yes, I am sure of that."
+
+They mounted their horses and rode slowly back. This was their first
+day in the new home, but before they had quite reached it they met Jack.
+
+"I came over to see the new house," he announced. "I got back last
+night. Kate said you would be in condition to receive callers to-day.
+It is quite an affair. Shall you build a barn, Captain?"
+
+"Yes, I shall have to, for I am going to work for a good crop, and I
+hope I shall need it. Then we'll have to have another husking-bee,
+Marianne."
+
+"But alas, I fear we should have a slim attendance."
+
+"That is a fact; the thing we are most in need of is neighbors."
+
+"I was thinking of becoming a neighbor myself," said Jack. "I must
+settle somewhere."
+
+"You couldn't find a better place," said Captain Reyburn, heartily.
+"We'll try to be neighborly. But then you'll have to become an American
+citizen, if you're this side the river."
+
+"I don't think that need matter now, sir. I did my duty when I was
+called upon, and I don't think it makes any difference since the war
+is over. Most of my friends have left the other side of the river, and
+there are rather sad memories connected with the old place. I shouldn't
+care to live there again, and I shouldn't care to live anywhere else,
+if I must settle over there."
+
+"Then come and make yourself a home next to us. I will sell you a good
+piece of land at your own price. What do you say?"
+
+"That's a very kind offer, Captain, and I appreciate it, I assure you,
+but I'd like to think about it." He glanced quickly at Marianne as he
+spoke. She had dismounted, and Jack was leading her horse while she
+walked by his side.
+
+"I owe you a debt I can never repay," Captain Reyburn continued. "You
+saved my girl's life, and if there's anything in the world I can do for
+you, Jack, you have but to tell me. But I must be getting along. If you
+two like to take a slower way of getting home, just take your time.
+Don't forget that's a standing offer about the land."
+
+"But, Captain, the debt--" Jack began. But Captain Reyburn was already
+too far ahead to hear.
+
+"What were you going to say?" Marianne asked him.
+
+They were standing still, the horse cropping the young grass at their
+feet.
+
+"I didn't want him to think that he was under such a weight of
+obligation after what you did for me. I wanted him to know that the
+debt is cancelled."
+
+"Oh, you goose!" returned Marianne. And then Jack suddenly understood
+why she did not want it known that she had lessened that debt.
+
+He dropped the horse's bridle, and let the creature nibble at will.
+"Marianne, Marianne," he said, seizing her hands, "is that why you did
+not want it known? Did you think of it so long ago? What a stupid dolt
+I am."
+
+"Did I think of what? Did you hear father say that if you wanted
+anything you were to tell him? What shall you ask for? I think he would
+use his influence with Mr. Ashman if you are thinking of asking for
+Minerva's hand. I hear the family have returned."
+
+"Marianne, darling, will you let me ask for what I most want? Will
+he give it to me, do you think?" Jack went on, paying no heed to her
+teasing.
+
+"If he wants to save my life, he will," Marianne answered, half
+laughing, half crying.
+
+"Are you joking? Do you mean it? Will you be glad to have me for a
+neighbor? Ah, Marianne, Marianne, one day, long ago, I looked up at
+your dear face watching me from the little cabin window, and I thought
+then how gladly, how joyfully, I would make a home for you, and work
+all my days for you if you would but love me a little, and now, how
+dear such a home would be with you in it. May I build it for you,
+Marianne?"
+
+"Perhaps. Some day. Not yet, oh, no, not yet."
+
+"Why not yet?"
+
+"You will have to prove yourself a good American by a certain length
+of residence; you will have to do--oh, many things. I believe it was
+nothing in the world but my flag that induced you to consider settling
+this side the river. You owe your life to it, as I told you, and you
+cannot do less than acknowledge its power."
+
+"You are a tease, Marianne."
+
+"And so are you."
+
+"I confess it. I have something else to confess. That day, when the
+flag protected me, you know, I--wasn't altogether unconscious all the
+time."
+
+The color flamed up into Marianne's face. "Jack Silverthorn, all this
+time! You mean--mean--cheating--"
+
+Jack put his arms around her. "Forgive me, dear girl."
+
+"Go away. I don't want to speak to you."
+
+"I didn't hear everything, I am quite positive," Jack went on
+apologetically, "only a very little; but that--oh, Marianne, are you so
+ashamed of it? It has made me so happy, and has made me content to wait
+till I could have a little hope that your father would consent to let
+me marry you some day. If it was true what you said, you cannot mind
+that it made me happy; and you said, a little while ago, that if your
+father wanted to save your life, and all that--"
+
+"I didn't mean it; I was only joking. I told you long ago we could only
+be friends."
+
+Jack looked very miserable. "Then I was dreaming. Very well, Marianne,
+I am sorry I didn't understand that it was only a dream, or that in
+your excitement you said what, in your calmer moments, you would deny.
+You didn't really care, and that is all; or else, though you might have
+cared for me a little then, you do not now. I cannot help loving you,
+but I will go back to Montreal, I think."
+
+Marianne turned swiftly. "No, no, you shall not. I am a horrid wretch,
+and you are much too good for me--for a silly thing like me. I meant it
+all, every word. There, is that enough, sir? Is it?"
+
+"It is enough, dearest, best beloved. It is everything. Why were you so
+cruel? How could you have the heart?"
+
+"Because I am so very silly. You will think so when I tell you. I
+didn't mean you should know. I wanted you to tell me all over again. It
+has been a long time since you did, till to-day. I wanted to wait till
+I thought my father would say just what he has said, and then I would
+tell you to go and ask him; and some day I meant to tell you myself
+about that dreadful day when I said those things, and thought you
+didn't hear."
+
+"I will tell you all over again, and I will ask your father very
+properly. I love you as my life, Marianne. I love you with all my
+heart. Some day will you say those words you said that day?"
+
+"I forget what I said."
+
+He drew her nearer to him, and whispered, "You said, 'Jack, my dearest,
+my only love, don't die.'"
+
+"Did I say all that?" she whispered back. "You must have heard every
+word."
+
+"Won't you say it over so you won't forget? Won't you, Marianne?"
+
+She stood without speaking, suddenly shy. Then it came over her that
+he had been so willing to give his love in full measure, he had never
+withheld one tithe of it from her, and then he was no more her enemy
+than she was his, and she whispered, half laughing, "Jack, my dearest,
+my only love, don't die."
+
+"I won't if I can help it," he returned, laughing, too, "I promise you
+I'll try not. Do you know the apple trees are all in blossom again?
+Have you forgotten a day--"
+
+"How you do remind one of humiliating things."
+
+"To me they are the joys of my life, the happiest memories I could
+possess. There, we are in sight of your house. See the apple trees,
+they are covered with blooms. For the sake of that parting, Marianne--"
+
+"Oh, are you going? I didn't know it was good-by. I thought--"
+
+"I am not going; I have to tell your father what I want before I can
+think of going."
+
+"Then, of course, since it isn't good-by--you know--I couldn't--"
+
+"Let it be a parting from our old trials and tribulations, from all
+uncertainty and despair. Marianne--"
+
+She did not resist as his head bent lower, but, as before, it was the
+fleetest kiss she gave him, and then she ran from him to the house
+to seek--strange to say, not her mother, but Jerusha. "Oh, Jerusha,
+Jerusha," she whispered, hiding her hot face on Jerusha's shoulder,
+"Jack, you know--Jack--"
+
+Jerusha patted her awkwardly, but a sly smile broke over her face. "Why
+yes, Mary Anne, I know Jack. What about him?"
+
+"He's going to build a house, and--"
+
+"I don't see anything remarkable in that, that it should set you all of
+a quiver."
+
+"No, not that--but--there is something more remarkable."
+
+"Well, out with it." Jerusha was merciless.
+
+Down went the head again. "He's going to build it for me," she
+whispered, and Jerusha laughed. But she gave a sigh a minute after
+and bestowed a trembling kiss upon Marianne's cheek. "God bless you,
+child," she said; "there ain't nawthing like honest love. I guess
+you've airnt it. It's come to you at the right time, and I'm glad for
+you. They say they ain't no marrying and giving in marriage in heaven,
+but the' ain't a word said about the' being no loving." Marianne lifted
+her head, and softly kissed the sunburnt face. Jerusha went to the
+door, and looked out at the bloom-sweet orchard. "Asa Peaslee's taken a
+shine to that little old cabin in the woods," she said, in an altered
+tone. "He's bought it off the folks that owned it; they ain't coming
+back."
+
+"I am glad Asa is going to have it. I have an affection for that little
+old cabin. Poor Asa, his lame leg will prevent him from going back to
+his peddling, I am afraid. Is he going to live there alone?"
+
+Jerusha did not answer for a moment, then she said, in a hard way, "He
+wanted I should come and keep house for him."
+
+"Oh, Jerusha, Jerusha! And are you going? Do you mean to leave us?"
+
+"No, marm, I ain't. I'm nobody's fool. I had a real hankering arter
+them leach pits and my old soap kittle, but when I considered what
+went with 'em I give 'em up right willingly."
+
+"Asa is very handy; I think he will get along without a wife."
+
+"Can't say. Men's terrible onsartin critturs. You can't expect much of
+'em, even the best among 'em. The heart of man is deceitful above all
+things and desperately wicked."
+
+"O, dear me, Jerusha, how discouraging. I shall not stay to listen to
+such remarks."
+
+"You'd better go," returned Jerusha, half maliciously; "here's your
+father looking fur you; he's called you twicet."
+
+Marianne started back, then she gave an embarrassed laugh and said to
+herself, "There's no use putting it off; I might as well be over with
+it." She ran out at once to meet her father, and they sat down together
+upon a pile of logs left from the building.
+
+"Look here, young woman," said Captain Reyburn. "How old are you?"
+
+"I am almost twenty years old, sir."
+
+He looked at her in surprise. "Goodness, child, I can't believe it. I
+thought you were about seventeen."
+
+"I was about that when the war broke out."
+
+"That's it; the war made me forget. Why, you're two years older than
+your mother was when I married her."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"What about this young fellow, Jack? He's asked me for a pretty big
+thing in payment of my debt of obligation."
+
+"Not very big, sir, only five feet one and a half."
+
+"You minx, I see you are in the game. You want to leave your old dad,
+do you? Just as he has you back again?"
+
+"Oh, no, I don't, not for a long, long while. And besides, you didn't
+mind my going to Kentucky with Cousin Fred."
+
+"You've got me there, haven't you. How about your grandmother's plan
+for you and Victor? No entanglement there?"
+
+"No, sir, that was over long ago. I think grand'mère has other plans
+for Victor, and besides, I should be nearer you on this side the river."
+
+"That's so. I've as good as sold Jack a hundred acres, at least--but
+we'll talk about that later. I thought you were too good an American to
+marry a man who'd fight against your country."
+
+"I'd rather marry a man that was brave and honest and true to his own
+country when he thought she needed him, than one like Victor, who
+wouldn't fight at all. Besides, Jack is going to be an American. I
+would never, never live anywhere but under the Stars and Stripes."
+
+"That's right all around. He won't have to go far back to establish his
+claim to being an American; his father was born in the States."
+
+"Yes, and besides, his sister Sue has married a Kentuckian."
+
+"Yes, I see. Well then, little girl, I reckon that hundred acres has
+got to go for a wedding present, and we'll get Kate and the boy over
+here to take your place, for I don't see but that we've got to let you
+go; it won't do to keep the young man waiting too long for a home. I
+like the boy; and because a man fought on the other side is no reason
+he can't be honest and straightforward and manly. I learned that up in
+Quebec, where I have some good friends this minute, for all they wore
+the king's uniform while I was a prisoner at their mercy. We'll agree
+to bury the hatchet, and I guess there will be no quarrelling over
+politics. I think Jack will be good to my little girl, and it is worth
+everything to have her close by. Come now, kiss your old dad, and run
+along and tell mother."
+
+Marianne was not slow to give him all the kisses he wanted, and he
+watched her graceful figure as it disappeared into the house; then he
+turned away with a sigh. "We'll have to get Kate and the baby over
+here," he said.
+
+But, as Marianne said, grand'mère had her own plans. To let that baby
+go was something not to be thought of. She realized it, yes, of course
+it was the right of the Reyburns to care for Kate and her child, but
+she confided to Victor they would all be desolated without that baby.
+She perceived that to a young man of Victor's sensibility the spectacle
+of a young mother and her child was one of unusual beauty; and then
+Kate was a superior woman, so sweet of soul, so good to have around
+one. She did not wish to depreciate Marianne, whom she loved, she
+idolized, but it would be cruel to deprive her parents of their only
+child, and Victor had not seemed of late so charmed to consider the
+old plan. It was not that Marianne had less charm, but that the young
+mother and child had more,--so pathetic, so appealing to a young man of
+good heart. "Yes, Victor, you see," she went on to say, "that it would
+be of all things the most delightful. Royal's son is provided for at
+the same time that you are. Victorine, our saint, has still her dot,
+though she will not have her husband; she does not wish one, our poor
+Victorine. She adores the child. Then how cruel to deprive her of this
+joy. You see, Victor, my wish?"
+
+"I see, maman; but you do not consider Kate. For me, I am more than
+content. It is, as you say, a beautiful sight,--the mother and her
+young child. It fills me with holy thoughts, but I do not know if she
+would consent? Her heart is there buried in the grave of her husband."
+
+"Patience, my son, patience. You have that rare virtue, which is not
+that of every man. Already I see her depend upon you, look up to you,
+confide in you. In good time, perhaps not the love she gave to Royal,
+but affection, yes, affection. She is too sweet a nature not to make
+happy the man she marries. Yes, yes, I see it will all come about in
+time. She will not reject you after a while."
+
+It was when Marianne came to tell Kate that she had decided upon her
+wedding-day that she first perceived that it might be possible for
+grand'mère's plan to come about. In her own heart Marianne had hoped
+that it would. It seemed so good an arrangement, even Mr. Reyburn
+agreed when his wife told him, and he entered into the conspiracy
+by not demanding that Madame should give up Kate and the baby. Kate
+herself was the only one who was oblivious of it all. She was relieved
+that they did not insist upon her changing her home. She was very
+content, even happy, where she was. They loved her dearly; they were
+so good to her; they were less strangers than the Reyburns. It was now
+over two years since she had become a widow, and in two years a home
+can become much more a home.
+
+She greeted Marianne's news joyfully. "I am so glad," she said. "Dear
+old Jack, he is the happiest mortal alive. It does one good to see his
+sunny face. And when is it to be?"
+
+"On the Fourth of July," returned Marianne, triumphantly.
+
+Kate laughed. "Oh, you most patriotic of maidens, you give poor Jack no
+chance."
+
+"No," Marianne laughed, "I don't intend to. I mean that he shall always
+celebrate the day. There are more reasons than one why he is perfectly
+contented to be married on the Fourth. Jack is very sentimental, if you
+did but know it, and he has reason to remember more than one Fourth of
+July, he says. There is an American flag which belongs to me. We shall
+be married under that; he loves it and I love it, and we shall keep
+it treasured always. I will tell you why, some day, when I am an old
+married woman."
+
+"You do love Jack very dearly, don't you?" said Kate, wistfully.
+
+"I do love him very, very dearly," Marianne answered steadily. "He is
+much too good for me, but I hope I shall grow better and wiser as I
+grow older; there is room for it," she said lightly, to cover her real
+earnestness. "You will all come in your best bibs and tuckers. You must
+have a pretty new white gown, Kate. I want it to be a happy day for
+everybody."
+
+Kate sat thoughtful over her sewing. "Will it be a happy day for
+Victor?" she asked hesitatingly.
+
+"For Victor? Oh, Kate, you don't think--why, that was over long ago.
+We were never lovers at the best; it was only make believe, because
+grand'mère wanted it. Did you think--why, Kate, don't you know--" She
+looked at her with an amused, half surprised expression, and then ran
+out, saying, "I must tell my news to the others."
+
+She found that Jack was before her so far as Victor was concerned, but
+she drew the latter aside and said, "You might be as happy as we are if
+you were not as blind as a mole, you slow old Victor."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Victor, showing more eagerness than was his
+wont.
+
+"There's such a thing as being too patient," Marianne returned, nodding
+her head wisely. "There is Kate coming this way; go and meet her, and--"
+
+But this time Victor was not dull of comprehension. He walked off with
+a great leap at his heart, for she who was coming was the one woman in
+the world to him at that moment.
+
+Marianne turned to Jack. "There is a little tinkling brook over there
+in the woods. I used to sail chips there when I was a little child."
+Jack looked at her with appreciative eyes. It was not the memory of her
+childhood which made hers so sweetly moist; the little brook had other
+associations, he well knew. He took her hand in his, and together they
+walked slowly down the path to the woods.
+
+Victorine sat at the door; in her lap lay the sleeping boy, one chubby
+hand clasping her fingers. She sang softly to him a quaint old French
+lullaby. She saw Victor lead Kate down the orchard lane, to where stood
+little Madame Desvouges in bright-eyed expectation. She saw Marianne
+and Jack saunter off together, so engrossed in each other that the
+world seemed to hold but the two. As in a vision the coming years
+passed before her. For Victor and Kate, for Marianne and Jack, would be
+hope and home and wedded love. She looked down at the child upon her
+knees. To her God had given Royal's boy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+                 HISTORICAL BOOKS BY AMY E. BLANCHARD.
+
+             _Each fully illustrated. 12mo. Price $1.50._
+
+
+    A GIRL OF '76. A Story of the Early Period of the War for
+    Independence.
+
+    A REVOLUTIONARY MAID. A Story of the Middle Period of the War for
+    Independence.
+
+    A DAUGHTER OF FREEDOM. A Story of the Latter Period of the War for
+    Independence.
+
+    A HEROINE OF 1812. A Maryland Romance.
+
+    A LOYAL LASS. A Story of the Niagara Campaign of 1814.
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76074 ***