CHAPTER V
Through Solway sands, through Taross moss, Blindfold, he knew the paths to cross: By wily turns, by desperate bounds, Had baffled Percy's best bloodhounds. In Eske, or Liddel, fords were none, But he would ride them, one by one; Alike to him was time or tide, December's snow or July's pride; Alike to him was tide or time, Moonless midnight or matin prime. --WALTER SCOTT.
All the members of the Wharton family laid their heads on their pillowsthat night, with a foreboding of some interruption to their ordinaryquiet. Uneasiness kept the sisters from enjoying their usual repose, andthey rose from their beds, on the following morning, unrefreshed, andalmost without having closed their eyes.
On taking an eager and hasty survey of the valley from the windows oftheir room, nothing, however, but its usual serenity was to be seen. Itwas glittering with the opening brilliancy of one of those lovely, milddays, which occur about the time of the falling of the leaf; and which,by their frequency, class the American autumn with the most delightfulseasons of other countries. We have no spring; vegetation seems to leapinto existence, instead of creeping, as in the same latitudes of the OldWorld; but how gracefully it retires! September, October, even Novemberand December, compose the season for enjoyment in the open air; theyhave their storms, but they are distinct, and not of long continuance,leaving a clear atmosphere and a cloudless sky.
As nothing could be seen likely to interrupt the enjoyments and harmonyof such a day, the sisters descended to the parlor, with a returningconfidence in their brother's security, and their own happiness.
The family were early in assembling around the breakfast table; andMiss Peyton, with a little of that minute precision which creeps intothe habits of single life, had pleasantly insisted that the absence ofher nephew should in no manner interfere with the regular hours she hadestablished; consequently, the party were already seated when thecaptain made his appearance; though the untasted coffee sufficientlyproved that by none of his relatives was his absence disregarded.
"I think I did much better," he cried, taking a chair between hissisters, and receiving their offered salutes, "to secure a good bed andsuch a plentiful breakfast, instead of trusting to the hospitality ofthat renowned corps, the Cowboys."
"If you could sleep," said Sarah, "you were more fortunate than Francesand myself; every murmur of the night air sounded to me like theapproach of the rebel army."
"Why," said the captain, laughing, "I do acknowledge a little inquietudemyself--but how was it with you?" turning to his younger and evidentlyfavorite sister, and tapping her cheek. "Did you see banners in theclouds, and mistake Miss Peyton's Aeolian harp for rebellious music?"
"Nay, Henry," rejoined the maid, looking at him affectionately, "much asI love my own country, the approach of her troops just now would give megreat pain."
The brother made no reply; but returning the fondness expressed in hereye by a look of fraternal tenderness, he gently pressed her hand insilence; when Caesar, who had participated largely in the anxiety of thefamily, and who had risen with the dawn, and kept a vigilant watch onthe surrounding objects, as he stood gazing from one of the windows,exclaimed with a face that approached to something like the hues of awhite man,--
"Run--Massa Harry--run--if he love old Caesar, run--here come a rebelhorse."
"Run!" repeated the British officer, gathering himself up in militarypride. "No, Mr. Caesar, running is not my trade." While speaking, hewalked deliberately to the window, where the family were alreadycollected in the greatest consternation.
At the distance of more than a mile, about fifty dragoons were to beseen, winding down one of the lateral entrances of the valley. Inadvance, with an officer, was a man attired in the dress of acountryman, who pointed in the direction of the cottage. A small partynow left the main body, and moved rapidly towards the object of theirdestination.
On reaching the road which led through the bottom of the valley, theyturned their horses' heads to the north.
The Whartons continued chained in breathless silence to the spot,watching their movements, when the party, having reached the dwelling ofBirch, made a rapid circle around his grounds, and in an instant hishouse was surrounded by a dozen sentinels.
Two or three of the dragoons now dismounted and disappeared; in a fewminutes, however, they returned to the yard, followed by Katy, fromwhose violent gesticulations, it was evident that matters of no triflingconcern were on the carpet. A short communication with the loquacioushousekeeper followed the arrival of the main body of the troop, and theadvance party remounting, the whole moved towards the Locusts withgreat speed.
As yet none of the family had sufficient presence of mind to devise anymeans of security for Captain Wharton; but the danger now became toopressing to admit of longer delay, and various means of secreting himwere hastily proposed; but they were all haughtily rejected by the youngman, as unworthy of his character. It was too late to retreat to thewoods in the rear of the cottage, for he would unavoidably be seen, and,followed by a troop of horse, as inevitably taken.
At length his sisters, with trembling hands, replaced his originaldisguise, the instruments of which had been carefully kept at hand byCaesar, in expectation of some sudden emergency.
This arrangement was hastily and imperfectly completed, as the dragoonsentered the lawn and orchard of the Locusts, riding with the rapidity ofthe wind; and in their turn the Whartons were surrounded.
Nothing remained now, but to meet the impending examination with as muchindifference as the family could assume. The leader of the horsedismounted, and, followed by a couple of his men, he approached theouter door of the building, which was slowly and reluctantly opened forhis admission by Caesar. The heavy tread of the trooper, as he followedthe black to the door of the parlor, rang in the ears of the females asit approached nearer and nearer, and drove the blood from their faces totheir hearts, with a chill that nearly annihilated feeling.
A man, whose colossal stature manifested the possession of vaststrength, entered the room, and removing his cap, he saluted the familywith a mildness his appearance did not indicate as belonging to hisnature. His dark hair hung around his brow in profusion, though stainedwith powder which was worn at that day, and his face was nearly hid inthe whiskers by which it was disfigured. Still, the expression of hiseye, though piercing, was not bad, and his voice, though deep andpowerful, was far from unpleasant. Frances ventured to throw a timidglance at his figure as he entered, and saw at once the man from whosescrutiny Harvey Birch had warned them there was so much to beapprehended.
"You have no cause for alarm, ladies," said the officer, pausing amoment, and contemplating the pale faces around him. "My business willbe confined to a few questions, which, if freely answered, willinstantly remove us from your dwelling."
"And what may they be, sir?" stammered Mr. Wharton, rising from hischair and waiting anxiously for the reply.
"Has there been a strange gentleman staying with you during the storm?"continued the dragoon, speaking with interest, and in some degreesharing in the evident anxiety of the father.
"This gentleman--here--favored us with his company during the rain, andhas not yet departed."
"This gentleman!" repeated the other, turning to Captain Wharton, andcontemplating his figure for a moment until the anxiety of hiscountenance gave place to a lurking smile. He approached the youth withan air of comic gravity, and with a low bow, continued, "I am sorry forthe severe cold you have in your head, sir."
"I!" exclaimed the captain, in surprise; "I have no cold in my head."
"I fancied it then, from seeing you had covered such handsome blacklocks with that ugly old wig. It was my mistake; you will please topardon it."
Mr. Wharton groaned aloud; but the ladies, ignorant of the extent oftheir visitor's knowledge, remained in trembling yet rigid silence. Thecaptain himself moved his hand involuntarily to his head, and discoveredthat the trepidation of his sister
s had left some of his natural hairexposed. The dragoon watched the movement with a continued smile, when,seeming to recollect himself, turning to the father, he proceeded,--
"Then, sir, I am to understand there has not been a Mr. Harper here,within the week?"
"Mr. Harper," echoed the other, feeling a load removed from his heart,"yes, I had forgotten; but he is gone; and if there be anything wrong inhis character, we are in entire ignorance of it; to me he was a totalstranger."
"You have but little to apprehend from his character," answered thedragoon dryly. "But he is gone--how--when--and whither?"
"He departed as he arrived," said Mr. Wharton, gathering renewedconfidence from the manner of the trooper; "on horseback, last evening,and he took the northern road."
The officer listened to him with intense interest, his countenancegradually lighting into a smile of pleasure, and the instant Mr. Whartonconcluded his laconic reply he turned on his heel and left theapartment. The Whartons, judging from his manner, thought he was aboutto proceed in quest of the object of his inquiries. They observed thedragoon, on gaining the lawn, in earnest and apparently pleasedconversation with his two subalterns. In a few moments orders were givento some of the troops, and horsemen left the valley, at full speed, byits various roads.
The suspense of the party within, who were all highly interestedwitnesses of this scene, was shortly terminated: for the heavy tread ofthe dragoon soon announced his second approach. He bowed again politelyas he reentered the room, and walking up to Captain Wharton, said, withcomic gravity,--
"Now, sir, my principal business being done, may I beg to examine thequality of that wig?"
The British officer imitated the manner of the other, as he deliberatelyuncovered his head, and handing him the wig, observed, "I hope, sir, itis to your liking."
"I cannot, without violating the truth, say it is," returned thedragoon. "I prefer your ebony hair, from which you seem to have combedthe powder with great industry. But that must have been a sad hurt youhave received under this enormous black patch."
"You appear so close an observer of things, I should like your opinionof it, sir," said Henry, removing the silk, and exhibiting the cheekfree from blemish.
"Upon my word, you improve most rapidly in externals," added thetrooper, preserving his muscles in inflexible gravity. "If I could butpersuade you to exchange this old surtout for that handsome blue coat byyour side, I think I never could witness a more agreeable metamorphosis,since I was changed myself from a lieutenant to a captain."
Young Wharton very composedly did as was required and stood anextremely handsome, well-dressed young man. The dragoon looked at himfor a minute with the drollery that characterized his manner, and thencontinued,--
"This is a newcomer in the scene; it is usual, you know, for strangersto be introduced; I am Captain Lawton, of the Virginia horse."
"And I, sir, am Captain Wharton, of his Majesty's 60th regiment offoot," returned Henry, bowing stiffly, and recovering hisnatural manner.
The countenance of Lawton changed instantly, and his assumed quaintnessvanished. He viewed the figure of Captain Wharton, as he stood proudlyswelling with a pride that disdained further concealment, and exclaimedwith great earnestness,--
"Captain Wharton, from my soul I pity you!"
"Oh! then," cried the father in agony, "if you pity him, dear sir, whymolest him? He is not a spy; nothing but a desire to see his friendsprompted him to venture so far from the regular army in disguise. Leavehim with us; there is no reward, no sum, which I will notcheerfully pay."
"Sir, your anxiety for your friend excuses your language," said Lawton,haughtily; "but you forget I am a Virginian, and a gentleman." Turningto the young man, he continued, "Were you ignorant, Captain Wharton,that our pickets have been below you for several days?"
"I did not know it until I reached them, and it was then too late toretreat," said Wharton sullenly. "I came out, as my father hasmentioned, to see my friends, understanding your parties to be atPeekskill, and near the Highlands, or surely I would not have ventured."
"All this may be very true; but the affair of Andre has made us on thealert. When treason reaches the grade of general officers, CaptainWharton, it behooves the friends of liberty to be vigilant."
Henry bowed to this remark in distant silence, but Sarah ventured tourge something in behalf of her brother. The dragoon heard her politely,and apparently with commiseration; but willing to avoid useless andembarrassing petitions, he answered mildly,--
"I am not the commander of the party, madam; Major Dunwoodie will decidewhat must be done with your brother; at all events he will receivenothing but kind and gentle treatment."
"Dunwoodie!" exclaimed Frances, with a face in which the roses contendedfor the mastery with the paleness of apprehension. "Thank God! thenHenry is safe!"
Lawton regarded her with a mingled expression of pity and admiration;then shaking his head doubtingly, he continued,--
"I hope so; and with your permission, we will leave the matter for hisdecision."
The color of Frances changed from the paleness of fear to the glow ofhope. Her dread on behalf of her brother was certainly greatlydiminished; yet her form shook, her breathing became short andirregular, and her whole frame gave tokens of extraordinary agitation.Her eyes rose from the floor to the dragoon, and were again fixedimmovably on the carpet--she evidently wished to utter something but wasunequal to the effort. Miss Peyton was a close observer of thesemovements of her niece, and advancing with an air of feminine dignity,inquired,--
"Then, sir, we may expect the pleasure of Major Dunwoodie's companyshortly?"
"Immediately, madam," answered the dragoon, withdrawing his admiringgaze from the person of Frances. "Expresses are already on the road toannounce to him our situation, and the intelligence will speedily bringhim to this valley; unless, indeed, some private reasons may exist tomake a visit particularly unpleasant."
"We shall always be happy to see Major Dunwoodie."
"Oh! doubtless; he is a general favorite, May I presume on it so far asto ask leave to dismount and refresh my men, who compose a part of hissquadron?"
There was a manner about the trooper that would have made the omissionof such a request easily forgiven by Mr. Wharton, but he was fairlyentrapped by his own eagerness to conciliate, and it was useless towithhold a consent which he thought would probably be extorted; hetherefore made the most of necessity, and gave such orders as wouldfacilitate the wishes of Captain Lawton.
The officers were invited to take their morning's repast at the familybreakfast table, and having made their arrangements without, theinvitation was frankly accepted. None of the watchfulness, which was sonecessary to their situation, was neglected by the wary partisan.Patrols were seen on the distant hills, taking their protecting circuitaround their comrades, who were enjoying, in the midst of danger, asecurity that can only spring from the watchfulness of discipline andthe indifference of habit.
The addition to the party at Mr. Wharton's table was only three, andthey were all of them men who, under the rough exterior induced byactual and arduous service, concealed the manners of gentlemen.Consequently, the interruption to the domestic privacy of the family wasmarked by the observance of strict decorum. The ladies left the table totheir guests, who proceeded, without much superfluous diffidence, to doproper honors to the hospitality of Mr. Wharton.
At length Captain Lawton suspended for a moment his violent attacks onthe buckwheat cakes, to inquire of the master of the house, if there wasnot a peddler of the name of Birch who lived in the valley at times.
"At times only, I believe, sir," replied Mr. Wharton, cautiously. "He isseldom here; I may say I never see him."
"That is strange, too," said the trooper, looking at the disconcertedhost intently, "considering he is your next neighbor; he must be quitedomestic, sir; and to the ladies it must be somewhat inconvenient. Idoubt not that that muslin in the window seat cost twice as much as hewould have asked them for it."
Mr. Wharton turned in consternation, and saw some of the recentpurchases scattered about the room.
The two subalterns struggled to conceal their smiles; but the captainresumed his breakfast with an eagerness that created a doubt, whether heever expected to enjoy another. The necessity of a supply from thedominion of Dinah soon, however, afforded another respite, of whichLawton availed himself.
"I had a wish to break this Mr. Birch of his unsocial habits, and gavehim a call this morning," he said. "Had I found him within, I shouldhave placed him where he would enjoy life in the midst of society, for ashort time at least."
"And where might that be, sir?" asked Mr. Wharton, conceiving itnecessary to say something.
"The guardroom," said the trooper, dryly.
"What is the offense of poor Birch?" asked Miss Peyton, handing thedragoon a fourth dish of coffee.
"Poor!" cried the captain. "If he is poor, King George is a badpaymaster."
"Yes, indeed," said one of the subalterns, "his Majesty owes him adukedom."
"And congress a halter," continued the commanding officer commencinganew on a fresh supply of the cakes.
"I am sorry," said Mr. Wharton, "that any neighbor of mine should incurthe displeasure of our rulers."
"If I catch him," cried the dragoon, while buttering another cake, "hewill dangle from the limbs of one of his namesakes."
"He would make no bad ornament, suspended from one of those locustsbefore his own door," added the lieutenant.
"Never mind," continued the captain; "I will have him yet before I'm amajor."
As the language of the officers appeared to be sincere, and such asdisappointed men in their rough occupations are but too apt to use, theWhartons thought it prudent to discontinue the subject. It was no newintelligence to any of the family, that Harvey Birch was distrusted andgreatly harassed by the American army. His escapes from their hands, noless than his imprisonments, had been the conversation of the country intoo many instances, and under circumstances of too great mystery, to beeasily forgotten. In fact, no small part of the bitterness expressed byCaptain Lawton against the peddler, arose from the unaccountabledisappearance of the latter, when intrusted to the custody of two of hismost faithful dragoons.
A twelvemonth had not yet elapsed, since Birch had been seen lingeringnear the headquarters of the commander in chief, and at a time whenimportant movements were expected hourly to occur. So soon as theinformation of this fact was communicated to the officer whose duty itwas to guard the avenues of the American camp, he dispatched CaptainLawton in pursuit of the peddler.
Acquainted with all the passes of the hills, and indefatigable in thedischarge of his duty, the trooper had, with much trouble and toil,succeeded in effecting his object. The party had halted at a farmhousefor the purposes of refreshment, and the prisoner was placed in a roomby himself, but under the keeping of the two men before mentioned; allthat was known subsequently is, that a woman was seen busily engaged inthe employments of the household near the sentinels, and wasparticularly attentive to the wants of the captain, until he was deeplyengaged in the employments of the supper table.
Afterwards, neither woman nor peddler was to be found. The pack, indeed,was discovered open, and nearly empty, and a small door, communicatingwith a room adjoining to the one in which the peddler had beensecured, was ajar.
Captain Lawton never could forgive the deception; his antipathies to hisenemies were not very moderate, but this was adding an insult to hispenetration that rankled deeply. He sat in portentous silence, broodingover the exploit of his prisoner, yet mechanically pursuing the businessbefore him, until, after sufficient time had passed to make a verycomfortable meal, a trumpet suddenly broke on the ears of the party,sending its martial tones up the valley, in startling melody. Thetrooper rose instantly from the table, exclaiming,--
"Quick, gentlemen, to your horses; there comes Dunwoodie," and, followedby his officers, he precipitately left the room.
With the exception of the sentinels left to guard Captain Wharton, thedragoons mounted, and marched out to meet their comrades.
None of the watchfulness necessary in a war, in which similarity oflanguage, appearance, and customs rendered prudence doubly necessary,was omitted by the cautious leader. On getting sufficiently near,however, to a body of horse of more than double his own number, todistinguish countenances, Lawton plunged his rowels into his charger,and in a moment he was by the side of his commander.
The ground in front of the cottage was again occupied by the horse; andobserving the same precautions as before, the newly arrived troopshastened to participate in the cheer prepared for their comrades.