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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tory Maid, by Herbert Baird Stimpson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tory Maid
+
+Author: Herbert Baird Stimpson
+
+Release Date: February 26, 2007 [EBook #20678]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORY MAID ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Diane Monico, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+The
+Tory Maid
+
+By
+HERBERT BAIRD
+STIMPSON
+
+
+New York
+Dodd, Mead and Company
+
+[Illustration: (decorative borders)]
+
+
+
+
+Copyright, 1898, by H. B. STIMPSON.
+
+
+
+
+_To
+Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Hall Harrison
+this volume
+is affectionately inscribed by
+the Author_
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER                             PAGE
+
+I. WE START FOR THE WAR                1
+
+II. WE MEET THE MAID                  10
+
+III. A FLASH OF STEEL                 24
+
+IV. THE RED COCKADE                   34
+
+V. SIR SQUIRE OF TORY DAMES           44
+
+VI. A TALE IS TOLD                    55
+
+VII. THE DEFIANCE OF THE TORY         68
+
+VIII. THE BLACK COCKADE               77
+
+IX. THE RED TIDE OF BLOOD             89
+
+X. THE HARRYING OF THE TORY          107
+
+XI. THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY            118
+
+XII. THE VETO OF A MAID              132
+
+XIII. THE GREETING OF FAIR LIPS      146
+
+XIV. THE RETURN OF THE TORY          156
+
+XV. THE FLAG OF TRUCE                166
+
+XVI. THE BALL OF MY LORD HOWE        176
+
+XVII. AN EXCHANGE OF COURTESIES      187
+
+XVIII. THE CROSSING OF SWORDS        196
+
+XIX. THE SANDS OF MONMOUTH           206
+
+XX. IN THE LINES OF THE ENEMY        222
+
+XXI. THE PASSING OF YEARS            230
+
+XXII. THE COMING OF THE MAID         238
+
+
+
+
+The Tory Maid
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WE START FOR THE WAR
+
+
+I, James Frisby of Fairlee, in the county of Kent, on the eastern
+shore of what was known in my youth as the fair Province of Maryland,
+but now the proud State of that name, growing old in years, but hearty
+and hale withal, though the blood courses not through my veins as in
+the days of my youth, sit on the great porch of Fairlee watching the
+sails on the distant bay, where its gleaming waters meet the mouth of
+the creek that runs at the foot of Fairlee. A julep there is on the
+table beside me, flavoured with mint gathered by the hands of John
+Cotton early in the morning, while the dew was still upon it, from the
+finest bank in all Kent County.
+
+So with these old friends around me, with the julep on my right hand
+and the paper before me, I sit on the great porch of Fairlee to write
+of the wild days of my youth, when I first drew my sword in the Great
+Cause. To write, before my hand becomes feeble and my eyes grow dim,
+of the strange things that I saw and the adventures that befell me, of
+the old Tory of the Braes, of the fair maid his daughter, and of the
+part they played in my life during the War of the Deliverance. To
+write so that those who come after me, as well as those who are
+growing up around my knees, may know the part their grandfather played
+in the stirring times that proclaimed the birth of a mighty nation.
+
+The first year of the great struggle, ah, me! I was young then, and
+the wild blood was in my veins. I was broad of shoulder and long of
+limb, with a hand that gripped like steel and a seat in the saddle
+that was the envy of all that hard-riding country. I was hardy and
+skilled in all the outdoor sports and pastimes of my race and people,
+and being light in the saddle I often led the hardest riders and won
+from them the brush, while every creek for fifty miles up and down the
+broad Chesapeake, and even the farther shore as far as Baltimore, knew
+my canoe, and the High Sheriff himself was no finer shot than I.
+
+You, who bask in the sunshine of long and dreary years of peace, who
+never hear the note of the bugle nor see the flash of the foeman's
+steel from one year's end to another, know not what it was to live in
+those stirring times and all the joy of the strife. You should have
+seen us then, when the whole land was aflame.
+
+The fiery signal had come like a rush of the wind from the north, with
+the cry of the dying on the roadsides and fields of Lexington.
+
+All along the western shore the men of Anne Arundel, of Frederick, and
+Prince George were mustering fast and strong. Then the Kentish men and
+those of Queen Anne and all the lower shore were mounting fast and
+mustering, while from the Howard hills came riding down bold and hardy
+yeomen.
+
+Then, and as it has always been in the old province of Maryland, the
+gentlemen led the people, and everywhere the spirit of fire ran like
+molten steel through the veins of the gathering hosts, and the people
+took up the gauntlet of war with a laugh and a cheer and shook their
+clenched hands at the King who was over the sea; so it was the length
+and breadth of the province, and so it was with me.
+
+And so one day the signal came, and I mounted my black colt Toby and
+rode away to the Head of Elk in the county of Cecil, where the
+mustering was, to take my place, as it was my duty and right to do,
+side by side with the bravest gentlemen of the province in the coming
+struggle for the Great Cause.
+
+I was eighteen in the month of March of that year and considered
+myself a man, and, having reached man's estate, I bade good-bye to my
+mother and rode from out the sheltering walls and groves of Fairlee.
+
+But just before I rode within the shadow of the great woods I turned
+in my saddle and waved my hand to the small, quaint figure that stood
+on the broad porch watching me disappear; and she bravely--for the
+women were brave in those days--waved her hand in return, and then I
+rode on, for the moment saddened at the parting, for the die that day
+would be cast, and, though there would be mustering and drilling for
+many weeks before we took up our march to the northward, the hand of
+the cause would claim me as its own.
+
+I was riding thus through the forest when I heard hoof-beats behind me
+and a cheery halloo, and who should ride up but Dick Ringgold of
+Hunting Field, a lad of my own age and my true friend?
+
+"Why such a long face?" he laughed. "You look as if you were going to
+a funeral and not to a hunt that will beat all the runs to the hounds
+in the world. We are going to hunt redcoats and fair ladies' smiles
+and not foxes now; so cheer up, man."
+
+"Plague on it, Dick, you are ten miles from home and I am only one," I
+retorted. "You ought to have seen how bravely her ladyship tried to
+smile, too."
+
+"We will increase the number of miles then," said he, and reaching
+over he struck Toby across the flank. Well, Toby needs the curb at
+best, and it was a full half-mile before I brought him up and had a
+chance to give Dick a rating.
+
+But Dick only laughed.
+
+And so we rode on, across the low-lying plains of Kent, northward
+toward the borders of Cecil.
+
+For miles we would ride under the shadow of the dense forest, and then
+we would come to the wide-reaching fields of some great manor or
+plantation, the manor house itself generally crowning some gently
+rising knoll amid a grove of trees, with a view of the distant bay,
+or creek, or river, as the case might be; the cluster of houses, the
+quarters for the slaves, the stables and the barns, making little
+villages and hamlets amid the wide expanse of farm lands and the
+distant circle of the dark green forests.
+
+Then, again, a creek or river would bar our course, and we would have
+to ride for miles until we turned its head, or found a ferry or a
+ford, and so overcome its opposition. So on we rode until, as the day
+waxed near the noon hour, we came to the little hamlet of Georgetown,
+nestling amid the hills on the banks of the Sassafras. Crossing the
+river at the ferry, we began the last stage of our journey.
+
+The trail now skirted the broad lands of Bohemia Manor, and crossed
+the beautiful river of that name, embedded between the hills and
+wide-stretching farm lands.
+
+As we approached the banks of the Elk the country grew more rolling
+and wilder--in our front the Iron Hills rose up before us, crowned
+with forests, in sharp contrast to the low-lying country through which
+we had been passing.
+
+And now, as our appetites became pressing, we urged our horses on, for
+we had still many miles to travel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+WE MEET THE MAID
+
+
+We had just come in sight of the blue waters of the Elk, as it rolled
+between the forest-clad hills on either side, basking here for a
+moment in the sunshine, then lost in the deeper shadows of the
+overhanging forest.
+
+"There rolls the Elk," cried Dick. "Only ten miles more, and a stroke
+upon a piece of paper, and then, my boy, you are done for. A pain that
+eats its way ever inward, a thirst that never slackens, and over all
+the black night lowering down. Aye, so it is, Sir Monk of the Long
+Face; but we will have some fun before we are put under the sod or our
+bones are left to whiten on the sands."
+
+"That we will, Sir Richard. And now we are in for it, for here comes
+our first adventure. Is she ugly or is she fair? Which, Sir Richard?"
+
+For, as we reached the point where our road joins the river road, we
+saw, approaching along the lower road, a gentleman riding on a
+powerful horse, while behind him on a pillion sat a slight girlish
+figure, hidden in part by the broad shoulders of the rider.
+
+"By Jove, it is Gordon of the Braes," said Dick.
+
+"What, the suspected Tory?"
+
+"Yes; and that must be his daughter. They say she is the fairest lass
+in all the county of Cecil."
+
+"Tory or no Tory," said I, "with a fair face at stake, I will speak to
+him."
+
+They were as yet some distance off, but as the rider drew nearer to us
+we saw that he was a splendid specimen of manhood, such as I had but
+seldom seen before.
+
+While strong of frame and above the medium height, he carried himself
+and rode with a courtliness and ease that bespoke the accomplished
+horseman and gentleman. His splendid head and face showed the marks of
+an adventurous career, and all bespoke the blood of the family from
+which he had sprung, the Gordons of Avochie.
+
+But striking as was the figure of the rider, the glimpse we caught of
+the fair burden behind made us for the moment forget him.
+
+A slender figure it was that sat upon the pillion, with wonderful eyes
+of the darkest blue and hair of the deepest brown that waved and
+clustered around the temples--a mouth that was winsome and sweet, a
+small and aristocratic nose, a chin that was slightly determined,
+giving her altogether a queenly air, as she sat so straight and prim
+behind her father.
+
+"Sir," said I, making Toby advance and bowing to his mane, "as we are
+travelling the same way, will you permit us to accompany you? My
+friend is Richard Ringgold of Hunting Field and I am James Frisby of
+Fairlee."
+
+"It will give me pleasure," he replied, saluting courteously, "to have
+your company to the Head of Elk. I know your families and your houses
+well, and you, no doubt, have heard of me, Charles Gordon of the
+Braes."
+
+"That we have," said Dick Ringgold. "It was only a week ago that my
+mother spoke of your first coming to old Kent."
+
+"It was kind of her to remember me," he replied. "She was a great
+belle and a beauty in her youth."
+
+Dick smiled with pleasure, and I, taking advantage of a narrow place
+in the road, fell behind, and rode so I could talk to Mistress Jean,
+much to Master Richard's secret indignation. But she received me with
+a show of displeasure, and though I courteously asked her of her
+journey, it was some minutes before I knew the cause thereof.
+
+"Are you not," said she, and her aristocratic little head was in the
+air, "afraid to be seen riding with suspected Tories, you who wear the
+black cockade?"
+
+And then I remembered that I wore the emblem of our party.
+
+"Afraid!" I replied. "Afraid! We who have bearded the Ministers of the
+Crown in the broad light of day? Do you think I am afraid of our own
+men? Why, if Mistress North herself were half as fair as your ladyship
+of the Braes, I would ride with her through all the armies of the
+patriots, and no man would dare say me nay."
+
+A merry twinkle came into her eyes. "Would you wear the red cockade if
+she should ask you?"
+
+"Ah, Mistress Jean, would you seduce me from my allegiance to the
+cause of the patriots?"
+
+"To the cause of the patriots? What of your allegiance to the King?"
+
+"But the King himself has broken that, and forced us in self-defence
+to take up arms in revolt. Would you have me true to my people, or to
+the King, who is over the sea?"
+
+"To the King," she answered promptly, "for the King's Ministers may be
+bad men to-day and good to-morrow, but if you once strike a blow at
+the mother country and win, then the ties of love, of friendship, and
+of interest are severed for ever."
+
+"Yes; but she should have thought of that before she forced us to it."
+
+"What spoiled children you are," she cried. "Because the taffy is not
+as good as usual you want to pull the house down about our ears."
+
+Thus receiving and parrying thrusts, we rode along the banks of the
+Elk, and as we neared the ferry we met numbers of men travelling the
+same way with us, all bound for the great mustering, and though they
+returned our salutations, seeing the black cockade in our hats, they
+scowled on Gordon of the Braes.
+
+"There goes that dog of a Tory," I would hear them growl to one
+another as we passed.
+
+But Gordon rode on with a cool, indifferent, almost contemptuous
+manner, which made the frowns grow blacker, and the mutterings deeper
+and louder. But no man as yet sought to beard him, for his courage and
+his daring were well known throughout the shore, and it would have
+taken a bold man indeed to cross Gordon of the Braes.
+
+At last we came to the ferry and saw on the hillside, among the forest
+trees, the white tents, already taking on the appearance of a
+well-regulated camp. The little town amid the trees, busy with the
+life of the moving crowd, and bright with the uniforms of the Maryland
+Line, which we were soon to don, formed a curious spectacle as we
+entered.
+
+Every part of the province was represented. Here was a tall
+backwoodsman in his coonskin cap, buckskin shirt and leggings, with
+his long and deadly rifle, totally unadorned by the glint of silver or
+chasing on the barrel to betray him to his redskin neighbour--and you
+knew that one of Cresap's riflemen was before you.
+
+By his side, for the moment, was a young tobacco planter from Prince
+George. The youngster to whom he was talking, clad in the scarlet and
+buff of the Maryland Line, was a young dandy from Annapolis.
+
+And so it was all through the crowd, the frontiersman, the hard-riding
+country squire, and the city swell, all mingled together, and all
+animated with one all-pervading and all-engrossing thought--how best
+to secure the freedom of the country and resist the tyranny of the
+King.
+
+As we made our way through the crowd the faces grew dark as they saw
+the Tory, but as Dick and I rode on either hand, with our black
+cockades, the crowd murmuringly gave way before us, and though all the
+people were hostile to him, and he could not help but see it, he
+coolly looked them over and rode as if he had no enemy within a
+hundred miles.
+
+But the colour in Mistress Jean's cheek flamed high, and I saw her
+little hands clenched together, as if she would like to tell these
+rebels what she thought of their treatment of her father. And I,
+seeing the war signal so clearly on her cheek, and daring not the
+batteries of her eyes and wit, was discreet and said not a word.
+
+We took our way to the inn, kept by one John McLean, a genial host and
+Scotchman, who was well known in three provinces, and kept the finest
+inn for many miles around.
+
+He received us in a jovial way, for though he was a stanch patriot, he
+and Gordon had been friends for many years.
+
+"So, Mistress Jean, you have deigned to honour my roof with your
+presence. Welcome, welcome, all of you."
+
+And though I had swung myself off Toby to assist Mistress Jean to
+dismount, he was before me and swung her lightly to the ground.
+
+"I declare," he said, "you grow bonnier every day, lassie," which
+brought a blush to her cheek. Then, turning, he called his wife and
+placed Mistress Jean in her charge.
+
+"I am sorry to say, gentlemen, that the inn is very crowded, as you
+see, but I think I can find a place for you." Then drawing the Tory
+aside for a little way, we heard him remonstrating with him for coming
+to the town at such a time, when the feeling ran so strong and high
+against the Loyalist.
+
+"You risk your life," he said, "for the slightest spark or
+indiscretion will bring a mob, boiling and seething around you. The
+officers will not be able to hold the men in, as they are only
+volunteers, and have not yet felt the hand of discipline."
+
+But Charles Gordon shrugged his shoulders, and his reply came
+distinct and clear: "I thought you knew me better, McLean. I would
+not hide my head for a hundred or a thousand of them;" and he turned
+and went into the inn.
+
+The innkeeper made a gesture of despair. "That is always the way,"
+said he, "both in this country and the old; tell a Gordon of a danger
+and he will rush right into it, and then expect to come out safe and
+sound."
+
+We laughed, for the expression on the old Scotchman's face was so
+droll.
+
+"But now for your room, gentlemen;" and he led the way to a small room
+under the gable roof. "It is the only room I have left," he said, "but
+you are welcome to it."
+
+It was now somewhat late in the afternoon, but having made ourselves
+presentable and partaken of a lunch, we went to report ourselves to
+Captain Ramsay of the 1st Regiment of the Maryland Line.
+
+He received us at his tent door with a warm grasp of the hand. "You
+are the very lads I have been waiting for," he said. "I have two
+Lieutenancies to fill, and you are the men to fill them."
+
+"But, Captain," said Dick Ringgold, "we have not been tried yet. Let
+us go into the ranks and fight our way up, as so many better men than
+we are doing."
+
+I could not help admiring Dick for his modesty, and though I, too,
+said the same thing, I confess I hoped the Captain would not hear of
+it, and so it proved.
+
+"No, no," he said, and patted Dick on the shoulder. "I must have you;
+I know the blood that runs in your veins, lads, and that I will have
+no better fighting stock in the army." And thus it was settled, and
+we became officers in that Maryland Line, and--I say it with all due
+modesty--the most famous of all the fighting regiments in the struggle
+for the Great Cause.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A FLASH OF STEEL
+
+
+That night we sat at the long table in the dining-room of the inn. All
+up and down its great length sat the officers of the Line--country
+gentlemen from Cecil, Kent, and as far south as Queen Anne, who had
+ridden thus far to see the mustering and to give it their countenance
+and their favour. Grave and sedate gentlemen many of them, men of
+affairs, the leaders of their counties, and delegates to the
+Convention and to Congress--men of the oldest and bluest blood in the
+province, of wide estates and famous names, whose families wielded a
+mighty influence in the cause of the patriots and gave it stability
+and great strength.
+
+Then there was the parson, a merry old gentleman, stout of form, with
+a round face and twinkling eyes, who in his youth was a mighty
+fox-hunter in spite of his cloth; even then, stout as he had grown,
+when he heard the music of the hounds, it was with difficulty he
+restrained the inclination to follow, which now, alas! was made
+impossible by his great weight. We who loved hard riding, hard
+fighting, and a strong will, admired him, and no man was more popular
+throughout the three counties than the fox-hunting parson. He knew the
+people and their ways, and was one of them.
+
+"I hear you are fire-eaters here," he said to a vestryman upon being
+installed.
+
+"Then we are well matched," came the reply, "for they say you are a
+pepperbox."
+
+So no gathering throughout the county was a success without the
+parson, and by the unanimous voice of the Line he was called to be
+their chaplain.
+
+We sat there in the long dining-room amid the hum of many voices, the
+glare of many lights, and the click of the glasses, as the wine was
+going around, when a young man who sat across the table from me rose
+with his glass poised between his fingers.
+
+He was a handsome man, of twenty-one or twenty-two, of dark and
+swarthy features, thick lips and nose, and hair as black as night,
+telling of the Indian blood in his veins.
+
+His name was Rodolph, and he was the son of a man more noted for his
+wealth than for his principles, but who was then at the city of
+Annapolis, a delegate from the county of Cecil.
+
+"I propose a toast," he cried, "that all true patriots should drink. A
+toast to the delegates of this county, who at the convention of the
+province in the city of Annapolis are standing as the bulwarks of
+liberty against the tyranny of the Crown."
+
+We were all on our feet in an instant to drink the toast, with a right
+goodwill, all except Charles Gordon, who sat at my right hand. He kept
+his seat and watched us with a cool, sarcastic smile upon his lips.
+
+"Is not the toast good enough for you?" cried Rodolph, with an ugly
+sneer upon his face.
+
+All eyes now turned to where Charles Gordon sat, and he slowly rose.
+
+"Drink to your delegates?" said he. "Not I. They are the scum of the
+county of Cecil, and you know it. I would as soon be governed by my
+slaves at the Braes as by such men as they are. I wish you joy of
+them." And bowing, he turned and left the room by a door that was near
+at hand.
+
+For an instant there was silence, then an uproar broke forth, and
+Rodolph sprang around the table to follow him, with several of the
+young men at his heels. But I, seeing the danger, with possibly a
+thought of a fair maid's eyes, threw myself before the door with drawn
+sword.
+
+"No man passes through this door," I cried, "unless he passes over
+me."
+
+The crowd drew back in surprise.
+
+"Since when," I shouted, for they hesitated, "have Maryland gentlemen
+learned to fight in mobs? If any one has an insult to resent, let him
+fight as becomes a gentleman, man to man."
+
+"Stand aside," shouted Rodolph, who was now before me, "and let me get
+at the traitor."
+
+"Put up your swords, gentlemen." I found I had a new ally in a tall,
+dignified gentleman, who took his place beside me, a Mr. Wilmer of the
+White House in Kent.
+
+"The lad is right," he said; "and you, Rodolph, I should think, would
+have had enough of Charles Gordon of the Braes."
+
+At this there was a laugh, which at the time I did not understand; but
+the company good-naturedly put back their swords and resumed their
+places at the table, all except Rodolph, who slipped away from the
+room.
+
+That night, as I lay upon my bed, dreaming, boylike, of the fair eyes
+of the Tory maid, and hoping that the part I had played in the matter
+of the toast might come to her ears and cause her to give me a smile
+at our next meeting, I heard the sound of footsteps coming down the
+passageway.
+
+"There is great danger," said a voice, which I recognised as the
+landlord's, as they were passing by my door. "Rodolph is stirring up
+the crowd, and though you might brave the mob, Mistress Jean--" and
+then the voices died away.
+
+"The mob" and "Mistress Jean." Clearly something must be afoot.
+Springing from my bed, I swore to myself, that, if anything happened
+to the Tory maid, I would make Phil Rodolph feel the edge of my sword.
+Hastily throwing on my clothes, I went to the window and looked out.
+The night was dark, the sky being full of drifting clouds, through
+which the moon faintly struggled; everything lay quiet and still in
+the village and the camp. Steps were heard upon the porch below, and
+then a horse was brought around from the stables. A moment later a
+horseman mounted, and I saw a slender figure on the pillion behind
+him.
+
+"Keep to the south road," said a voice, "they have only one sentry
+there."
+
+I did not wait to hear more, but slipped downstairs and out of a side
+door, and the next moment I was running softly through the camp to the
+outpost on the south road, for one of my own men was stationed there,
+and I knew that without orders or the countersign no man would pass
+that way that night. It was well I did, for as I drew near I heard the
+challenge "Who goes there?" and the answer "A friend."
+
+"Advance, friend, and give the countersign."
+
+"Maryland." But the Tory had missed it, and the next moment the
+sentry's rifle was at his shoulder, and I knew the cry for the officer
+of the guard would follow; so I stepped out from the shadow, and the
+sentry, seeing me, brought his rifle to a salute.
+
+"Lieutenant," he said, "he wants to pass, and has given the wrong
+countersign."
+
+"Yes," said I, drawing my hat over my eyes, for I did not wish to be
+recognised by Mistress Jean. "I heard. But I know them; let them
+pass."
+
+"Certainly, Lieutenant."
+
+"Thank you," said the rider, and a still softer "Thank you" came from
+his companion. I bowed, but said nothing, and stood there watching
+them disappear down the dark road until the sound of the horse's hoofs
+was lost in the distance.
+
+"Queer time of the night to ride, sir," said the sentinel.
+
+"Yes; but they have far to go."
+
+"Kent or Queen Anne's, sir?"
+
+"Down by Bohemia Manor."
+
+"That is where that old Tory Gordon lives; they say they are going to
+rout him out in the morning for insulting the committee last night. He
+is up at the inn, there, and Phil Rodolph says he is going to make it
+hot for him."
+
+"Mere talk, I expect. Good-night."
+
+"Good-night, sir."
+
+I took my way back to the inn, and when I crawled to my room once more
+and into bed, Dick Ringgold raised himself on his arm and said in a
+sleepy voice: "What's up, Frisby?"
+
+"Oh, nothing," I replied; "go to sleep." And I soon followed my own
+advice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE RED COCKADE
+
+
+The stirring notes of the bugle made us spring up in the morning, to
+find, when we were again downstairs, that every one was talking of the
+disappearance of Charles Gordon of the Braes.
+
+Master Richard marvelled much at the disappearance of the Tory, and,
+though I knew it was of the Tory maid he was thinking, I said not a
+word, but went on with my duties; and manifold they were for many days
+to come. The drilling of the raw recruits, who, though they were full
+of fire and _élan_, were not used to the strict obedience of orders,
+was at first very difficult. But soon there came the spirit and the
+pride that were to make them the best drilled troops, the dandies and
+macaronies of the army. And so, with the drilling of recruits and
+assisting Captain Ramsay in the formation of the regiment, a week
+passed by before a day came when Dick and I found a few spare hours on
+our hands. And having certain plans and purposes in view, and not
+wishing them to be known to Dick, I sat and watched for an opportunity
+to slip away.
+
+Master Richard, it was evident, had also some plans on foot, for after
+moving from the chair to the top of a box and then back again, he
+stretched his arms above his head, and, yawning, said: "I believe I
+will take a little canter down the south road; come along?"
+
+"No," I replied; "I am going to ride a short distance down the east
+road."
+
+"All right," said he, and springing from his chair, he went to order
+his horse. I soon followed, and, having seen Dick well on his way,
+rode for a short distance on the east road, then turned, rode back,
+and entered the road which runs along the bank of the Elk, by which we
+had entered the town on our journey from Kent. As I rode, I hummed a
+jovial hunting-song and touched Toby with the spur, for I was quite
+jubilant at having got rid of Dick and so well on the road to my
+adventure.
+
+My time was short and it was good twelve miles to the Braes, but
+Toby's sire was a son of old Ranter, and I knew he could do it in an
+hour and a half. So Toby felt the spur, and I barely noticed the miles
+as we flew along, until we came to the road that leads south to the
+Braes. Down this road we turned, and as we were so near the end of our
+journey I began to think of the reasons and excuses I should give for
+my visit. Reason! Pshaw! What better reason does a Marylander want
+than a pair of blue eyes? And if Mistress Jean should so much as
+demand it by the merest glance of those eyes, I would tell her so.
+Aye, but she is a Tory and wears the red cockade. True, but the fairer
+the enemy the more difficult the prize, the greater the glory and
+effort to win.
+
+And so, having justified my invasion of the stronghold of the Tory, I
+pricked Toby with the spur and rode on more rapidly, when, on turning
+a bend in the road where it is intersected by one from the east, whom
+should I come face to face with but Master Richard? For a moment he
+stared at me with open mouth, and I at him; then his brow grew dark.
+
+"I thought," he cried; but suddenly the humour of our meeting came
+over him. Thrusting his hands into his pockets, he broke out into a
+hearty burst of laughter, and I could do nothing but follow.
+
+"And so, Master Frisby, you rode down the east road."
+
+"And you, methinks, rode down the south." Again our laughter rang
+through the woods.
+
+"Come," he cried, "which is it to be? So fair a maid deserves two
+cavaliers, but we would be at sword points within a week, and I do not
+wish to lose the friendship of Mr. James Frisby of Fairlee."
+
+"A chance has brought us here, so let chance decide."
+
+"Agreed," said Dick, pulling out a sovereign, and with a twitch of the
+thumb, he sent it high in the air. "Heads, you win. Tails, I win."
+Then catching it as it fell: "By Jove, you have it. Present my
+compliments to Mistress Jean," he cried, with a grandiloquent bow,
+"and tell her how near she came to being Mrs. Dick Ringgold of Hunting
+Field."
+
+"That I will, Sir Richard." But Dick was gone, and I was left to ride
+on to the Braes.
+
+A long, rambling house it was, standing white amid the trees, a wide
+lawn around it stretching down to the creek at its foot; while beyond
+could be seen the sunlight gleaming on the bay. A quaint,
+old-fashioned place, the low roof already growing dark with age; the
+quiet air of ease and comfort brooding over all, making a fitting
+setting for the quaint, slender little lady that ruled its destinies.
+
+A negro took my horse; another showed me across the broad hall, with
+its hunting whips and trophies on the wall, to the parlour, and there
+I awaited the coming of the Tory maid. And as I sat there, gently
+stroking the toe of my boot with my whip, and thinking of that night
+at the inn, of that soft "Thank you" on the old south road, I heard
+the soft swish of her skirts, and, looking up, saw Mistress Jean
+standing in the doorway. A beautiful picture it was, like some old
+portrait of Lely's, the maid standing there framed in the old oak. And
+I, though I had been to the balls at the Governor's house the winter
+before, and was therefore a man of the world, sat staring for a
+moment. But she advanced, and I was on my feet with a low and sweeping
+bow.
+
+"Father is away," said she, "but in his name I wish to thank you for
+defending us at the inn that night."
+
+So she knew.
+
+"It was to save the honour of Maryland gentlemen," I replied modestly.
+"Heretofore they have not fought in mobs. But will you not thank me
+for yourself?"
+
+"When you turn loyalist, yes," said she.
+
+"Almost thou persuadest me to become a traitor."
+
+"You are that already," she said with spirit.
+
+"Yes, that is the way they have written 'Patriot' since Tyranny first
+stalked across the world. But patriot or traitor, Mistress Jean, I
+have already won one 'Thank you,' and I hope some day to win another."
+
+"Won one 'Thank you'--when and where?" and she looked at me with wide
+open eyes.
+
+Now every Marylander will admit that there are no more gallant fellows
+in the world than we are, and if any one chooses to dispute it, well
+and good, we are willing to cross swords with him any day, and so
+reprove him for his recklessness. Indeed, we have been called with
+truth the Gascons of the South, and, like those gallant gentlemen of
+old France, we have never hidden our light under a bushel, to use a
+homely phrase; and so when I saw Mistress Jean's air of surprise, the
+spirit of my race came over me.
+
+"Yes," I replied, "it was the sweetest 'Thank you' I ever heard."
+
+Again the mystified look.
+
+"But where?" said she again.
+
+"It was rather dark," I replied, "and the clouds were drifting across
+the sky, and you, I am afraid, did not know who it was who received
+that soft 'Thank you.'"
+
+"Were you the Lieutenant?"
+
+I bowed.
+
+"Oh," she said, and she stamped her tiny foot, "if you were only not a
+rebel!"
+
+"But even rebels have their uses."
+
+Thus it was we became good friends in spite of the traitor stamped
+upon my brow. Ere I knew it, the time approached when I had to mount
+and ride. But before I left, her soft hand rested for a moment in
+mine.
+
+"We march in a few days," said I, "to the North, to the Leaguer of
+Boston. There will be fighting there and bloody work. Can I not carry
+a single token?"
+
+Her nimble fingers flew to her hair, and took from thence a blood-red
+rose, and pinned it to my coat.
+
+"There," said she, "my red cockade;" and turning quickly, she ran into
+the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+SIR SQUIRE OF TORY DAMES
+
+
+"Well, Sir Squire of Tory Dames, did she smile on you?" The voice was
+harsh and rasping; looking across the table, I saw the sneer upon his
+lips. I had but entered a moment before the dining-room of the inn,
+after my long ride, and was about to take my seat, when Rodolph's
+sneering question made me pause.
+
+"That is more than you could ever win, my Mighty Lord from Nowhere," I
+retorted. At this there was a laugh from those about. An angry flush
+showed through even his dark and swarthy skin; for, being a burly
+bully of the border, he liked not being bearded thus by a youth.
+
+"You damned impudent puppy!" he cried, rising.
+
+But there stood a glass at my right hand, full to the brim, and ere he
+could say another word the red wine flew across the table straight
+into his face.
+
+"Take that!" I cried, "with the compliments of James Frisby of
+Fairlee!"
+
+A dozen men were now around us, and Rodolph, spluttering through the
+wine and swearing many oaths, demanded to be released from the hands
+upon his shoulders, shouting that he would shoot me like a dog.
+
+"It will give me pleasure to let you have an opportunity," I replied
+coolly. "It will be a rare chance for you to become a gentleman."
+
+And so, still muttering and swearing, his friends took him from the
+room, while I took my seat at the table. But I was not allowed to eat
+my meal in peace; for many gentlemen came to offer their services and
+to thank me. Rodolph's overbearing manners had long been unpopular
+among them, and the wonder was that he had not been forced to fight
+before. But I was determined that Dick should be my second, and so,
+thanking them all for their kind offers, I placed my hand on Dick's
+shoulder, and we went out together amid a volley of advice and
+friendly warning.
+
+Half an hour later, as I was examining my sword and Dick his pistols,
+there came a rap on my door, and two gentlemen entered; one was
+Captain Brooke, the other Lieutenant Barry of the Line.
+
+"Lieutenant Frisby," said Captain Brooke, as he advanced and bowed,
+"it is my painful duty to deliver you this challenge."
+
+"It is a pleasure to receive it from your hands," I replied,
+returning his courtesy. "Lieutenant Ringgold and Harry Gresham of Kent
+will act as my seconds, permit me to refer you to them."
+
+Dick now went out with them to Harry Gresham's room near by, where
+they would be safe from interruption, Gresham having volunteered with
+Dick to be one of my seconds, and I went on polishing my sword,
+waiting for the issue. At last Dick came back.
+
+"Well," he cried, "it is all settled. You are to fight to-morrow
+morning at sunrise down in the little meadow below the creek."
+
+"Swords, I suppose?"
+
+"No; pistols. I insisted on swords at first, it being our privilege;
+but Captain Brooke said that Rodolph had broken his arm the year
+before, and that it was still too weak to fight with. So I waived the
+swords and agreed to the pistols."
+
+"It is not quite as gentlemanly a weapon, but just as deadly. I have
+put a bullet through the head of a wild duck flying, and I think I can
+hit Phil Rodolph."
+
+"That you can," said Dick.
+
+It was a bright, clear morning as we slipped out of the inn on our way
+to the little meadow. The eastern sky was already tinged with crimson,
+and the blood-red lances across the heavens told of the coming dawn.
+The air was fresh and cool as it blew up the river from the bay, and
+our lungs drew in great draughts of it as we felt the breeze in our
+faces.
+
+"A splendid morning to die on," said Harry Gresham.
+
+"And to live on, too," I replied.
+
+"Stop your croaking, Gresham," put in Dick Ringgold. We walked on
+silently to the meadow, where we found that we were the first to
+arrive.
+
+Though I have stood on many a field of honour since that day, though I
+have felt the bullet tearing and burning its way through the flesh,
+and the sudden, sharp pain of the sword thrust, I shall never forget
+that encounter on the meadow beside the Elk, when I first faced the
+muzzle of a hostile pistol, and knew that the will behind it sought my
+life.
+
+It was not fear that I felt as I stood there, waiting for the coming
+of my adversary, for fear has always been foreign to my family, but a
+sort of secret elation. For that day, if I survived, though the down
+upon my lip was as yet imperceptible, I could take my place as a man
+among men. No longer would my boyish face keep me out of the councils
+of my elders, but I would have the right to take my stand and ruffle
+it with the best of them all. I was there to win my spurs as a man
+and a duellist, and to show to all the world that I had the courage of
+my race. For then, as it has ever been in the fair province of
+Maryland, we love above all else courage in a man; and so it was I
+waited with impatience Rodolph's approach, for it meant the casting
+off of the boy and the making of the man.
+
+We did not have long to wait, for Rodolph and his seconds soon
+followed us down the path, and each party saluted. Then Captain Brooke
+and Dick Ringgold measured off the paces, and threw for the choice of
+positions. Dick won, and I found myself standing near a small sapling,
+with my back to the rising sun, which as yet had not climbed over the
+tree tops, and so did not interfere with Rodolph's position. Facing
+me, twelve paces away, stood Rodolph, his dark, swarthy face darker,
+more Indian-like, and forbidding than ever; behind him stretched away
+the small glade, and the smooth green waters of the river, as they
+wound their way between the tall forests on either side. I remember
+watching a wild duck as he went swiftly flying down the Elk, when Dick
+Ringgold's "Are you ready?" suddenly recalled me to my position.
+"Yes," I nodded. Then came the even counting, "One, two;" but ere
+"two" had been uttered, I saw the flash of Rodolph's pistol, and felt
+the sharp pain of the bullet tearing its way into my side. While I,
+taken by surprise at such rank treachery, fired not so accurately as
+usual, and my bullet clipped his ear. Dick's sword was out in an
+instant, and I verily believe he would have run Rodolph through on the
+spot, as it was his duty and right to do, so base was the crime of
+firing before the time--a thing that had never been known among
+Maryland gentlemen before. But seeing me reel, he came to my
+assistance, and threw his arm around me.
+
+"Tie me to the sapling, Dick," said I, "and give me one more shot."
+
+"But no gentleman should fight with such a scoundrel!" cried Dick
+hotly.
+
+"I waive that, just one more shot."
+
+So, with Harry Gresham's assistance, they took Dick's sash and tied me
+to the sapling, and in this way enabled me to keep an upright
+position. Captain Brooke had come forward to inquire as to my injury,
+but Dick met him and demanded another exchange of shots. "My
+principal," he said, "waives the treachery that places your principal
+beyond the pale of men of honour. But," continued Dick, "if he should
+dare to fire again before the time, I will shoot him down where he
+stands."
+
+Captain Brooke flushed, and though we saw that it was painful to him
+as a man of honour to be the second of such a principal, he could do
+nothing but accept. "I will shoot him down myself," said he, "if he
+dares again to do it."
+
+He then returned to his party, and we saw by his angry gestures that
+he was warning Rodolph of the penalty if he should a second time
+transgress the rules of honour.
+
+Again we faced, and I could feel the strength ebbing fast from me, but
+I could see that Rodolph's face was pale, even through his swarthy
+skin. "One, two, three, Fire," came again the fateful words; but I had
+nerved myself for the final effort, and glancing down the polished
+barrel, I fired, at the same moment that Rodolph's pistol rang out.
+
+For a moment I saw him standing there, and then he lurched forward,
+with his arms in the air, and fell face downward as the mortally
+wounded do. With that there came a mist before my eyes, my hand fell
+to my side, and I remembered nothing more. They told me afterward that
+they carried me to the inn in the village, Captain Brooke assisting,
+after they had seen that Rodolph was dead. "Leave him there for
+awhile," said the Captain, as he came to assist Dick in my removal.
+"The dog had a better death than he deserved."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A TALE IS TOLD
+
+
+I lay there at the inn, I do not know how long, but they told me
+afterward it was for many days, hanging on the brink between life and
+death, until one day I heard in my dreams the music of the fife and
+the rattle of the drums, and awoke to life and hope again. The
+sunlight was streaming through the south window across the counterpane
+of the bed, and outside could be heard the steady tread of marching
+men.
+
+"What troops are those?" I asked somewhat hazily, for I was still on
+the borderland of dreams.
+
+"They are the Maryland Line marching away to the North to join General
+Washington."
+
+"Marching to the North? Then I must join them." And I tried to rise in
+my bed, for it came back to me with a rush that I was a Lieutenant in
+the Line. But strong hands pushed me gently back upon my pillow, and I
+recognised now the voice of my nurse, Mrs. McLean.
+
+"No, no, Mr. Frisby; be still. You are a regular little bantam, but
+your spurs are clipped for some time yet."
+
+"Why, what is the matter, Mrs. McLean? How did I come here?"
+
+"Law bless the boy!" said the good old soul. "He has clean forgot."
+
+But the dull pain in my side soon brought back to me that clear, fresh
+morning on the bank of the Elk, and for a moment I lay still.
+
+"Did I kill Rodolph?" I asked.
+
+"That you did, lad; and no man deserved it more."
+
+Then I heard a heavy step in the passageway outside, and then a
+lighter one. The next moment the door opened and I saw my mother, more
+pale and fairy-like than ever, and behind her came Captain Ramsay,
+bluff and hearty, but looking very solemn at that moment. But they saw
+the news on Mrs. McLean's good-natured face, and when I spoke to my
+lady, the old-time happy look came back again, as she came to my
+bedside and kissed me, while the great voice of the Captain came
+hearty and strong.
+
+"Aye, lad, I told them that you would pull through; make a gallant
+fight, my boy, and you will have a shot at the redcoats yet."
+
+"But, Captain, you are marching away without me."
+
+"You will be in time for the fighting, never worry; lie still and get
+well. Half the young men in the Line are envying you, you rogue, for
+becoming a hero before them all." And the Captain took my hand, and
+bade me good-bye, for he must hurry away to join his regiment.
+
+A few minutes later there came the clank of a sword and a hurried
+step, and then the door burst open and in marched Master Dick in all
+the glory of his full regimentals. And so brave was the show that he
+made in his cocked hat, scarlet coat, with its facings of buff, and
+the long clanking sword, that I longed to spring up and don my own
+then and there. But my mother's finger on her lip caused him to stop
+the cheery greeting, and he came forward on his tiptoes, holding his
+sword carefully to keep it from clanking, for by this time I was
+growing weak again. Master Dick shook my hand gently and murmured,
+"Cheer up, old fellow, you will soon be with us again," but I could
+only give him a slight smile, for I was again on the borderland of
+dreams. Dick stood for awhile looking down on me; then he, too, had to
+depart. Gradually the steady tramp of marching feet died away, and
+everything became quiet and still again.
+
+The days passed by, week followed week, and though at first I gained
+strength but slowly, the process seeming a long and dreary one, the
+vigour of a youthful frame soon asserted itself, and I could feel the
+returning tide of health and strength. But as yet I lay there upon the
+great four-post bed, with my mother sitting near by, her dear face
+bending over the embroidery frame, as her deft fingers weaved
+beautiful designs with the silk. As I lay there, I would wander back
+again to that day before the duel, to the swift challenging glance of
+a pair of blue eyes as a blood-red rose was pinned to my coat. But
+that was so long ago, years it seemed to me, away back in the past, a
+memory as it were of a fairy tale heard from the lips of a grandmother
+before the big open fire in the great hall on a winter night; a fairy
+tale, aye, and she the Princess, with her blue eyes and hair of waving
+brown, with her step as light as the dew-drop, and her voice as low
+and soft as the breath of the Southern breeze in the spring; and then
+I would be her Prince Charming, with my coal-black horse. But, pshaw!
+I am becoming a child again; whereas I am a man, who has fought his
+duel as becomes a man, with a right to the sword by his side. And yet
+those blue eyes, what fate was in store for them? And would their
+challenging glance ever meet mine again? But here my mother stopped
+the trend of my thoughts for a moment.
+
+"James," she said, "John Cotton tells me that an old darky comes to
+inquire for you every night. Strange, is it not? We know so few
+people here."
+
+"Yes," I replied. "Does John Cotton know who he is?"
+
+"No; he refuses to tell, and all John Cotton can find out is that he
+leaves town by the river road. He appears to be a stranger to all the
+other darkies, and nobody seems to know him."
+
+By the river road! Could it possibly be, then, that it was the Tory
+maid who sent those many miles to see if I were in the land of the
+living or the dead? Ah, it was too pleasant a thing to dream of; too
+pleasant to have it shattered by the rough hand of fact. And so I said
+dreamily, "It is only one of John Cotton's stories, I suppose."
+
+Yet I would not have believed it otherwise for all of John Cotton's
+weight in gold. Thus it was I was thinking one day of the Tory maid,
+when the door opened, and a tall, dignified gentleman came in--the man
+who had stood by my side that day when with drawn sword I held the
+door against Rodolph and his followers--Mr. Lambert Wilmer of the
+White House in Kent.
+
+He came forward and greeted me with many kind phrases. While he sat
+talking to me of the duel and its cause, I thought of that great burst
+of laughter when he told Rodolph to put up his sword, as by this time
+he should have had enough of Gordon of the Braes, and I asked the
+reason for it all.
+
+"It is a long story, lad," said he, "but I will tell it to you."
+
+Then he told me how, many years before, Mistress Margaret Nicholson
+had been the loveliest girl in Kent, and the belle of the whole shore,
+and how there was not a bachelor within three counties who did not
+seek her as his bride, or who would not have sold his soul for a
+glance of her eyes or the soft pressure of her hand; and how when
+James Rodolph of Charlestown Hundred came riding down from Cecil and
+boasted of his wealth, his horses, and his slaves, swearing that he
+would win her or no one would, the suitors stood aside to see how he
+would fare with this the proudest of Kent beauties. To their dismay,
+he seemed to prosper well, until one day there disembarked from a
+vessel that came sailing up the broad Chester a young gentleman of
+distinguished appearance, who asked his way to Radcliffe, the home of
+the Nicholsons.
+
+"Now, the Nicholsons, as you know," said Mr. Wilmer, "are Scotch, and
+this young gentleman was Scotch, for his accent betrayed him, and we,
+thinking he might be a cousin and have brought news from over the
+water, welcomed him, and showed him the way to Radcliffe. He, though
+he was very reserved, told us that he had indeed come from over the
+sea, and bore a letter to the Nicholsons, who were old friends of his
+family, but of himself he would say no more. And so, when he strode
+off, we turned to Captain Hezekiah Brown of the Maid of Perth, who was
+a man who delighted to talk. From him we learned that his name was
+Gordon, and that there was a mystery about him, as people suspected
+him of being one of the young chiefs who had led that famous clan in
+the recent rebellion against the King. But this we held not to his
+injury, for there were still many lovers of the White Rose in the fair
+province of Maryland, and we afterward welcomed him the more heartily
+for it. From the advent of the stranger the good fortune of James
+Rodolph began to wane; for the rich planter of the border, with his
+wild and boisterous manners, was no match for the Scottish cavalier.
+It is true that he was penniless, but he was very handsome, of
+distinguished manners and address, and when it became known that he
+was out in 'forty-five' the mantle of romance that fell around Prince
+Charles was shared as well by him, and he became the hero of many a
+pair of fair eyes.
+
+"James Rodolph soon saw this, and his hatred grew from day to day, as
+his rival became more successful. One day there was a quarrel, and
+next morning, upon the smooth, sandy shore of the river, they met and
+fought it out. Rodolph was fiery, quick, and fierce; Gordon cool and
+steady; until Rodolph, growing weary and desperate, tried a foul and
+dangerous stroke, to find his rapier flying through the air, to fall
+with a splash into the river.
+
+"'I would not stain my blade by killing you,' said Gordon; and turning
+with the other gentlemen who had seen the foul stroke, he walked away,
+leaving him there.
+
+"And so it was that Rodolph came back to Cecil with a blot upon his
+name, and Gordon married the maid, and became in time the owner of the
+Braes, for she was an heiress as well as a great beauty. From that
+time has grown the feud which we may some day see the end of. And that
+is why the people laughed and Rodolph slunk away. For the old story is
+known throughout the shore, and Rodolph proved, in his fight with you,
+the bad blood in his veins. It never does to cross the white blood
+with the red, for the treachery of the Indian will taint the race for
+generations."
+
+Thus it was, by the light of this old tale of thirty years before, I
+saw and read the cause and reason of it all--of his fatal course, of
+our quarrel, and of the meeting by the banks of the river Elk.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE DEFIANCE OF THE TORY
+
+
+A few weeks later I was up and out, fast gaining strength and courage
+for the long ride to the northward to join the gallant fellows of the
+Maryland Line, who had taken up their line of march soon after the
+accident befell me. And though I was eager to be off, the surgeon
+would not let me go, and so, until I could gather strength for the
+long journey, I served as best I could my country and the commands of
+the Committee of Public Safety sitting at the Head of Elk. Thus it was
+I rode one day by the side of Edward Veasey, High Sheriff of the
+county of Cecil, carrying the writ and command of the Committee of
+Public Safety to Charles Gordon of the Braes, now a suspected Tory
+and a malcontent. And as I rode by the side of the High Sheriff on
+this most unpleasant task, I longed to turn back and let the Sheriff
+ride on alone; but duty held me as a point of honour. For as it was, I
+was carrying I knew not what ruin and destruction to the roof of the
+very house that once had received me as a guest and that sheltered the
+fairest eyes that had ever gazed in mine. And now I was to appear
+before that house as the bearer of ill-tidings. Ah, duty often wears a
+gruesome countenance; yet it is a sign of courage to face this duty
+down, and I sat more firmly in my saddle and rode nearer to the High
+Sheriff. He was a stern and determined man; he was short of stature,
+stout of frame, and sat his powerful horse like the fox-hunter that he
+was. But, though it was the height of summer, and the hills and the
+forests were green, the air laden with the odour of flowers, and the
+streams full and rushing, there was anything but a smile on the High
+Sheriff's face. For though he was no friend to Gordon of the Braes, he
+liked not the errand on which he rode, and would gladly have turned
+his horse's head with me.
+
+"If they want to fight," said he to me, "why don't they join the
+Maryland Line and leave men alone who are disposed to be quiet? They
+will have enough to do in repulsing the redcoats, and should not stir
+up opposition in the rear of our armies, which this persecution of
+private individuals will certainly do. I wish some other carried this
+writ, and I was with the lads fighting in the North."
+
+"Aye, so do I, but it is the order of the committee," said I grimly.
+
+"True, and as such must be obeyed."
+
+We had come to where the ferry crosses the Elk, and hailing it we
+were soon on the south bank and taking up again the road that leads to
+the Braes. Over the hills and dales of Cecil, the forest, streams, and
+rivers, the soft warm sunlight played, and nature blessed with lavish
+hand the harvest of the year. Seldom had she been more pleasing, the
+earth bursting with flowers and the very trees welcoming with
+outstretched arms the soft breezes wafted from the bay. And then,
+after some hours' travelling, we came to the Braes and I saw again the
+long rambling house amid the trees. I took a firmer grip upon my sense
+of duty and rode on. The clatter of our horses' hoofs as we rode up to
+the door announced us. A moment later Charles Gordon came through the
+open doorway on to the porch. Though I had seen him before, it seemed
+to me, as I saw him standing there, with the memory of the old tale
+in my mind, that I saw not the Tory, but one of those figures of
+romance that stepped out from the mystery and the haze of the North,
+when Prince Charles raised his standard in the Highlands, one of those
+heroic men who drew swords with Wallace and with Bruce, rallied with
+Montrose, and went to death with a cheer behind Bonnie Dundee at
+Killiecrankie, of such gallant bearing and bold and open countenance
+was he.
+
+"What brings you here, Mr. Sheriff, riding so fast?"
+
+"I come, Charles Gordon of the Braes," replied the Sheriff, "to serve
+on you the writ and summons of the Committee of Public Safety." And
+here he unfolded the summons and read aloud, sitting on his horse as
+he was:
+
+     "_Whereas_, Great complaints have this day been made against
+     Charles Gordon of the Braes, for that he has infamously
+     reflected on the membership of this Committee and the
+     deputies of this county who lately attended the Provincial
+     Convention,
+
+     "These are therefore requiring the said Charles Gordon of
+     the Braes that he appear before this Committee, at the house
+     of Thomas Savin at the Head of Elk, to-morrow at two o'clock
+     P.M., to answer unto said complaints.
+
+     "Hereto fail not on your peril.
+
+                    "JAMES RODOLPH, Chairman.
+
+     "To CHARLES GORDON of the Braes."
+
+Then spoke Charles Gordon:
+
+"Go tell those who sent you, Mr. Sheriff, that if they wish to see
+Charles Gordon they will have to come to the Braes to do so; that I
+will give them a right warm welcome, as my plantation is large enough
+to hold them all; but that if any of their rascally crew dare to
+approach the house, there will be lives lost; for I say to you, Mr.
+Sheriff, as I have said before and will say again, that James Rodolph
+and his committee are a set of infamous scoundrels, who have usurped
+such power and authority in troublous times as the King himself would
+not dare to claim. Tell them that I am at their defiance, that I do
+not recognise their authority, and that I have as much contempt for
+them as I have for their dogs."
+
+The old gentleman, for he must have been nearly sixty, looked splendid
+in his wrath, as he denounced the Committee of Public Safety. The ring
+in his voice told that the ire of the Scot was rising.
+
+For an instant the High Sheriff hesitated, as if he would turn and go,
+but then he said:
+
+"Charles Gordon, I spoke to you a moment ago as an officer of the law.
+I speak to you now as one who does not wish you an injury. Obey the
+order of the committee, and I will see that you have fair speech
+before it. Refuse and you will be declared a traitor and an outlaw,
+and the edict will go forth through all the province that no man shall
+buy of you, that no man shall sell to you, and he that shows you
+kindness will become an outlaw like yourself."
+
+Charles Gordon laughed.
+
+"Do you think I care a snap of a finger for their edict? There has not
+been a generation of my family that has not been at the Horn at
+Edinburgh for high treason. Do you think that I care when my neck has
+been on the block for the part I took at Preston Pans and Culloden? Go
+frighten the children with their edicts, but not an old Scot who has
+seen the claymores flash and led the charge for the King who is over
+the sea."
+
+"If you fought against the father, why not against the son?"
+
+"A fair question deserves a fair answer. When my head was on the
+block my life was saved by the intercession of the Duchess of Gordon,
+but upon conditions, and those conditions are these: That I should
+nevermore bear arms against the King, that I should leave the realm of
+Scotland, sail across the sea to the province of Maryland, there
+remain and never return. So, though I love not the King nor his race,
+I will not draw sword against him, for never yet has a Gordon broken
+faith with friend or foe. Yet for all that I will not take up arms for
+the King's cause unless I am forced to do so by such rascals as
+compose your Committee of Public Safety."
+
+"So be it, then, but I wish it were otherwise," said the Sheriff; and,
+turning, we rode away, leaving him standing there. As I entered the
+woods I looked back again, my eyes searching every window in the old
+house, but never a sign of the Tory maid did I see.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE BLACK COCKADE
+
+
+It was two o'clock next day when we rode up to the house where the
+Committee of Public Safety held its meetings, dismounted, and entered
+the room. Six gentlemen sat at the long table, and the room was
+crowded with hangers-on. They were men who stayed behind while the
+others went to the war; they fought the fight with their tongues, with
+writs of forfeiture for high treason, became great statesmen, and in
+time aspired to become members of the committee. How the worthy High
+Sheriff regarded them could be seen by the manner in which he brushed
+past them to stand before the committee.
+
+"What right have you to talk of liberty and of freedom, if you will
+not fight for it? Why are you not with Howard, Gist, Smallwood, and
+the other heroes who are making the name of the Maryland Line ring
+through the army?" he would ask, and they would turn away.
+
+The burly form and dark, swarthy face of the Chairman dominated the
+committee. As we entered and stood before him his dark eyes flashed.
+
+"Do you bring the body of Charles Gordon with you?" he demanded.
+
+"No; I do not. I bring his defiance, instead;" and the High Sheriff
+delivered the message of Charles Gordon to the committee.
+
+The committee glanced from one to another, and there was a big stir in
+the room. Then the Chairman was on his feet.
+
+"By a thousand devils," he swore, "Charles Gordon shall suffer for
+this. I will not stop until the Braes is razed to the ground, and I
+have driven him from the province. He is a Tory and a traitor, and a
+danger to the peace of the county. He will be up in arms next. Mr.
+Sheriff, summon a posse and ride to the Braes and bring us the body of
+Charles Gordon, dead or alive."
+
+"You will not accept the invitation to go to the Braes yourself,
+then?" asked the High Sheriff gravely, though there was the suggestion
+of a smile around the corners of his mouth.
+
+The Chairman hesitated. "No," he said; "it is absolutely necessary for
+the welfare of the county of Cecil that we should remain where we are
+and not engage in any brawls or tumults, for if we are killed who will
+take our places?"
+
+"That is true," said the High Sheriff ironically, "but have you
+considered, gentlemen, that Charles Gordon's wife was of the
+Nicholsons of Kent, who, as you know, are the leaders of the patriots
+in that county? How will they like it when they hear of your burnings
+and your razings?"
+
+The Chairman frowned. "You are right," he said; "we must proceed about
+it in a legal way, which is slow but sure. Mr. Clerk, institute
+proceedings against Charles Gordon for the forfeiture of his lands for
+high treason, and meanwhile we will publish him throughout the
+province as a Tory and a traitor. We will teach this Charles Gordon
+and all Tories what it means to contemn the authority and dignity of
+this province and its committee."
+
+And then applause broke out from the crowd; but the High Sheriff, who
+left the room with me, shrugged his shoulders and said: "If they had
+half of the courage of that Scot they would not be loafing around
+here, applauding James Rodolph. I am tired of it; I am going to resign
+and go to the front." He was as good as his word, for that very day he
+resigned the office of High Sheriff of the county of Cecil, packed his
+saddle-bags, gathered some volunteers about him, and rode away to the
+North, becoming in time a noted officer. But it was not until the
+month of August of that year that I was ready to follow him and felt
+equal to the length of the journey. On the night of the day before I
+took my departure I called John Cotton and ordered him to saddle Toby.
+
+John Cotton received the order with wide-open eyes, as it was growing
+somewhat late.
+
+"Fo' de Lord's sake, Mars Jim, what do you want Toby fo'? It's after
+ten o'clock."
+
+"Ask no questions, you black rascal, and bring Toby around in a
+hurry."
+
+Then his eyes fell on a cluster of red roses on my table, and a broad
+grin crept from ear to ear.
+
+"Sartin, Mars Jim, sartin;" and he was out of the door before my
+flying boot could repay the impertinence of that grin. A few minutes
+later I slipped out of the house to the stables, and, mounting Toby,
+was soon riding out of the silent town, having hit that rascal John
+Cotton across the shoulders with my whip for the snickering laugh he
+could not restrain as I was riding off.
+
+Have you ever ridden by the silent river after the night has fallen,
+and when it is far advanced? The great trees, rising far above you
+like the vaulted arch of a cathedral, overhanging the path down which
+you ride; the smooth flowing waters of the river, the towering dark
+mass on the farther shore, and over all the glorious moon shining
+down flooding everything with its silvery light, weird and fantastic,
+glinting now like polished steel upon the waters, now deepening the
+shadows of the forest, or flooding again with its glorious radiance
+some wide and sweeping stretch of water. And then, the unearthly
+silence of it all, the mournful howl of the wolf in the hills, and the
+piercing shrill cry of the wildcat, like that of a child tortured by
+the demons of hell; then the horror of its beauty, its stillness and
+its loneliness, comes over you; nervous chills become distinctly
+apparent, and you put spurs to your horse and ride on more rapidly,
+and the night is broken first by your whistle and then by your song.
+So it was, as I rode by the banks of the Elk, that night in early
+August, and my voice rang across the waters, as I sang the old
+Highland ballad:
+
+    The Gordons cam', and the Gordons ran,
+    And they were stark and steady,
+    And aye the word among them a'
+    Was, Gordons, keep you ready.
+
+A ballad that I heard a young girl sing one day not long before. Thus
+the length of my ride passed quickly away until Toby felt the soft
+grass under his feet as I rode silently across the lawn. Her window
+was high, it is true, but it was open to admit the fresh, cool breeze
+from the bay, and then I had not thrown quoits in my youth not to be
+able to surmount so small a difficulty. So I fastened a black cockade
+amid the blood-red of the roses, and, rising in my stirrups, threw
+them firmly and gently, and saw them rise in the air, top the
+window-sill, and fall with a slight thud upon the floor. I did not
+wait for more, but turned and rode away; but it seemed to me that as I
+gained the shadow of the forest and looked back I saw the faint
+suggestion of a girlish form standing at the open window. I looked
+once again and rode on.
+
+When morning came, I bade good-bye to my mother, mounted my black colt
+Toby, and rode away to join the Maryland Line, which was marching now
+from Boston, to meet the British before New York. As that day I
+crossed the line into the province of Delaware, I saw nailed to a
+great oak the proclamation of the Committee of Public Safety,
+denouncing Charles Gordon as a Tory and a traitor, and calling upon
+all persons to have no dealings with him, either in public or private,
+at their peril. And thus it was at every cross-roads in the county of
+Cecil, and in all the counties to the south and west, the edict had
+gone forth.
+
+Now in Maryland, as I have said before, we love, above all else,
+courage in a man, and so I rode under the oak, and tore down the
+proclamation, for I knew the courage of Charles Gordon, Tory though he
+was. I knew also that the proceedings of forfeiture had been
+instituted against him in the High Court of the Province, and that ere
+I set foot on the soil of Maryland again, he would be driven from the
+province, and it was for this that I paid this courtesy to the courage
+of an enemy, as I left my native plains behind me.
+
+It was a long road for a lad, but the people received me with open
+arms and urged me on when I told them whither I was riding. After
+several days of travelling along the shore of the Delaware and across
+the low-lying plains of New Jersey, I came to the banks of the Hudson,
+and saw across the water the great city of New York, its clustering
+houses and steeples. And then it was not long before I was on the
+ferry that conveyed me across the river, and heard the sharp ring of
+the pavement under my horse's feet as I rode toward the great common
+where lay the encampment of the troops. It was near twelve o'clock
+when I came to the camp of the patriots and asked my way of an officer
+to the quarters of the Maryland Line.
+
+"You must be a stranger," he said, "or you would know that the
+Maryland Line always has the place of honour in the camp;" and he
+showed me where their quarters lay.
+
+I felt aglow with pride when I heard this tribute to my countrymen. I
+thanked him and rode on. A few minutes later I was among them. The
+great voice of the Captain was giving me greeting; Dick Ringgold's
+hand was on my shoulder, as he took charge of me; and many of my kith
+and kin, old friends and neighbours who belonged to that famous
+corps, came forward to greet and welcome me to the camp. Thus, after
+many days of sickness and of travel, I took my place among the men who
+were about to face the great storm. True, at the time quiet reigned
+all along our front, which lay over beyond the heights of Brooklyn;
+but hot work was soon expected, as the British fleet had been seen in
+the offing, and it was only a question of time when the army would be
+landed and the attack begun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE RED TIDE OF BLOOD
+
+
+    Spruce Macaronies, and pretty to see,
+    Tidy and dapper and gallant were we;
+    Blooded, fine gentlemen, proper and tall,
+    Bold in a fox-hunt and gay at a ball;
+
+    Tralara! Tralara! now praise we the Lord,
+    For the clang of His call and the flash of His sword.
+    Tralara! Tralara! now forward to die;
+    For the banner, hurrah! and for sweethearts, good-bye!
+
+                JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER.
+
+
+It was on the 22d day of August that the rumour flew through the camp
+that the enemy had landed and was preparing to attack. But the hours
+flew by, and still no orders came, until the Line became restless, and
+the fear grew that the fight would begin before we could reach the
+field of battle. The sun began to sink over the Heights of Harlem
+when an aide rode into our lines. It was Tench Tilghman, who swung his
+hat and shouted as he went by: "You will have warm work in a day or
+two, boys!"
+
+We gave him a yell in reply, and started with renewed interest the
+preparations for the coming fight. A few minutes later came the orders
+that we were to march at dawn. The men received the news joyfully, and
+it was wonderful to see the change in their bearing; for while the
+doubt hung over them, they were restless and murmuring was heard all
+through the camp; but now all was laughter and gaiety. They prepared
+for the fight as one would prepare for the next county ball or a
+fox-hunt on the morrow.
+
+The stirring notes of the bugle ringing over the camp brought me to my
+feet with a bound, and I looked out of the tent to see a heavy mist
+over everything, and hear the sound of men's voices coming through it
+all around me. It does not take a soldier long to don his uniform, and
+I was soon out attending to my duties. At seven o'clock we were on our
+march to the ferry, crossing the East River at the foot of the main
+street of the small town of Brooklyn; then we took a road leading over
+a creek called Gowanus, and knew that we were marching to guard the
+right of the American line. Low-lying hills, heavily wooded, lay
+before us; it was in these woods that our line was called to a halt,
+and we took up our position for the battle. We lay there several days,
+with constant rumours flying through the camp of the enemy's advance,
+but yet they would not come.
+
+It was on the morning of the 27th of August that the great battle of
+Long Island, so disastrous for the patriot forces, broke upon us. The
+scattering shots of the skirmishers first made us spring to arms; then
+the sharp rattle of the musketry of Atlee's men and the boom of
+Carpenter's cannon on our immediate right told that the enemy was
+pushing them hard. Then through the forest trees came the line of the
+British advance. The fire extended along our whole front, while far
+over, to our left came the distant roar of cannon and musketry.
+
+"They are having a hot time over there," said Dick, "but why don't
+these fellows charge us?"
+
+"They will charge us soon enough," I replied. But it seemed as if they
+never would, for what promised to be an attack along our whole line
+dwindled down to a mere exchange of shots. Hour after hour went by,
+and yet they never advanced beyond a certain point except when a
+company or so would dash forward and a sharp skirmish would break
+forth for a moment or two, and then die away again. But far over to
+our left the sound of the battle came rolling nearer and nearer,
+telling the tale of Sullivan's men being driven in.
+
+"I do not like that," said Dick. "They are doing all the fighting,
+while we are merely exchanging courtesies with our friends six hundred
+yards away. Hello! There comes news."
+
+I looked behind us to a small hill, where Lord Stirling stood with his
+staff, and saw Tench Tilghman riding up at full speed. There was a
+hurried movement among the staff, and Stirling's glasses swept the
+country to our left and rear. A moment later an order was given and
+the aides came dashing down our lines, and then, to our disgust, came
+the order to retire.
+
+"Retreat!" cried one of the men. "Why, we haven't begun to fight
+yet!"
+
+"Steady, men," cried Captain Ramsay; "you form the rear guard and must
+hold the enemy in check," for they were beginning to advance as the
+regiments on each side of us withdrew. Then we began slowly to
+withdraw, but there came an aide riding swiftly to Major Gist.
+Pennsylvania and Delaware regiments took our place in the rear, and we
+were marched rapidly to the front. The heavy woods had heretofore
+prevented our seeing what was taking place, but now that we had come
+out to the opening a wild scene of terror and dismay lay before us.
+Gowanus Creek, deep and unfordable, with its sullen tide rising fast,
+lay like a great ugly serpent across our path, while over the meadow
+and far in our front the broken streams of fugitives were swarming,
+flying toward the bridge at the mill, the only hope of crossing
+Gowanus Creek. And as I looked, to my horror, the mill and the bridge
+burst into flames, catching the routed army as it were between the
+rising tide and the advancing legions of the victorious English. Then,
+as we watched it, a rumour grew and spread through the ranks, as such
+things will in battle, that a New England Colonel had fired the bridge
+to save himself and his regiment. How we cursed New England then, and
+swore that if we ever escaped we would have our reckoning with her and
+her people.
+
+"There they come!" cried Dick at my side, pointing to where a large
+stone house crowned a hill immediately in the rear and commanded the
+whole field of the terror-stricken fugitives.
+
+I saw the brilliant scarlet of their coats as they took possession of
+the hill and prepared to open fire.
+
+"They will have to be driven from there or we are lost," I answered.
+
+Then, as the prospect looked the darkest and the long line of the
+British formed to make their last advance, Lord Stirling rode up to
+our line.
+
+"Men of Maryland!" he shouted, "charge that hill, hold Cornwallis in
+check and save the army!"
+
+We answered with a yell, as he sprang from his horse to lead us.
+
+Ah, I shall never forget the pride with which we stepped out of the
+mass of flying fugitives, four hundred Marylanders, the greatest
+dandies and bluest blood in all the army, for this, the proudest
+service of the day. We formed for the charge as if on the drill
+ground; our evolutions and lines were perfect, and would have done
+credit to the grenadiers of the later empire. Stirling's sword was in
+the air, the drums were beating the charge, when there broke from the
+throats of our Marylanders the wild, thrilling yell of the southern
+provinces, and we leaped to the charge up the long hill, straight into
+the face of Cornwallis's army, a handful against thousands. Up, up the
+hill we dashed. A fire as of hell broke upon us and rattled and roared
+about our ears, thinning our ranks and strewing our pathway with the
+dead. Men fell to the right and to the left of me, and I strode across
+the bodies of the slain in my path; but still, over the roar of the
+cannon and the rattle of musketry, high and shrill rose the yell of
+the charging line. We swept up the hill, the crest was gained, and the
+British fell back before us, when we were met by a sheet of flame, a
+storm of lead and smoke and fire. We were raised as it were in the air
+and held there gasping for breath, and then we were swept back down
+the hill, struggling desperately to gain a foothold to make a stand.
+
+Again we saw Stirling glance over the meadow and the marsh behind us
+as we re-formed our line. His voice came ringing down our ranks.
+
+"Once again, men of Maryland."
+
+Once again! Aye, we knew how to answer that call, for the bodies of
+our comrades lay dotting the long hillside.
+
+"Once again, and charge home!" cried Ramsay.
+
+We sprang to the charge, and wilder, shriller, fiercer, more terrible,
+rose the yell--the yell of vengeance that seemed to pick the line up
+bodily and hurl it up the hill through the scorching, blistering storm
+and hail of lead, fire, and smoke. I remembered naught till the crest
+was gained, and Edward Veasey crying, "Charge home! Charge home!" and
+we dashed in upon the scarlet line. Ah me, for a moment, then it was
+glorious, as steel met steel, and we drove them, ten times our
+number, back, and rolled them up against the house and forced them off
+the plain. And then our hands were on the ugly muzzles of the guns,
+and Edward Veasey, springing on the carriage, cheered on his men. But
+ere it had died on his lips, so desperate was the struggle, the
+English Captain of the guns fired, and Veasey fell. I was but a dozen
+steps away, and, seeing Veasey fall, I dashed through the press of
+bayonets to where the English Captain fought.
+
+"Another one!" he cried, as we met face to face.
+
+"Yes, and the last;" and our swords met.
+
+"No time for that!" cried a voice at my side; then there was a flash,
+and the Englishman fell back into the arms of his men, and the guns
+were won for an instant. But only for an instant. Our men melted away
+under the storm of lead from the Cortelyou house, and the weight of
+the advancing regiments forced us back to the crest of the hill. Then
+slowly, step by step, down the hill they forced us, until we rested
+once more at its foot.
+
+But still the meadow, the marsh, and the creek were black with the
+mass of flying men seeking eagerly, desperately to escape, while
+between them and the victorious British stretched the ranks of the
+Maryland Line, now sadly thinned, for one-third of our men were dyeing
+the long dank grass with their blood. But that line, thin as it was,
+closed up the wide gaps in the ranks with as jaunty a step and as
+gallant a carriage as when they first stepped out for the charge.
+Their faces looked grim, it is true, for with the smoke and the fire,
+and the blood and the dust, the genius of battle had sketched
+thereon.
+
+For a few minutes we rested at the foot of the hill, for we knew that
+our work was not half done, and until the last fugitive was over
+Gowanus Creek we must check the British advance. A glance from Lord
+Stirling told us to charge, as he pointed up the long hill with his
+sword.
+
+Again there came the answering yell, the requiem for many a gallant
+soul, and the line once more swung forward to breast the hill. Up the
+long hill we toiled again, straight into the teeth of the fire.
+
+Again we gained the crest and fought them, man to man; again by weight
+of numbers they forced us off the crest, and sent us staggering,
+reeling down the hill, desperate now.
+
+Yet again Lord Stirling called on us to follow, and yet again we
+charged them home.
+
+Men lay wounded, men lay dying, all across the long hillside, and
+more than half our number were dead or sorely stricken.
+
+Yet it was for a fifth time that Stirling's voice rang clear, over the
+roar of the battle, and for the fifth time we picked up the gauge of
+their challenge, and swept forward in the charge.
+
+Thus for the last time we reached the crest, and for one heroic moment
+held our own, and then came reeling back from the shock. And, as I was
+carried down the hill with the retreating line, I saw the tall figure
+of Lord Stirling standing upright and alone amid the storm of bullets,
+courting death and disdaining to retreat.
+
+"To the rescue of Lord Stirling," I cried to the few soldiers who were
+around me. Dick, who was near, echoed my shout, and we dashed forward,
+determined to bring him off by force if no other way could be found.
+
+But we had not advanced a dozen yards before every man that was with
+us had fallen and only Dick and I reached Lord Stirling, who was
+calmly awaiting the end.
+
+"The day is lost, my lord," I cried, "but we have yet time to save
+you."
+
+"Save yourselves, lads," he replied; "you have done everything that
+men can do, but it remains for me either to die or surrender."
+
+"My lord," I cried; but at this moment Dick reeled. "Struck, by
+George!" he exclaimed, and I caught him as he fell.
+
+"See to your comrade," said Lord Stirling; "you have yet time to
+escape."
+
+So, throwing Dick's arms around my neck, for there was no time to
+parley under that rain of lead, I bore him quickly down the hill.
+
+But our work had not been in vain, for as a soldier came to my
+assistance I saw that the last of the fugitives had reached the other
+side, and the army for the moment was saved.
+
+And so, when we reached the banks of Gowanus Creek, we formed in line
+once more and gave a parting yell of defiance; then, turning, we
+plunged into the creek and swam to the other side, while the shot and
+grape from the English on the hill tore across the whole surface of
+the water.
+
+Dick was badly wounded, but, with the soldier's assistance, I swam
+with him across the creek and bore him safely out of the range of the
+fire.
+
+Ah, it was but a shadow of our former line when we formed once more,
+but the great General himself came to thank us, and that shadow of a
+line was worth a thousand men.
+
+Thereafter we claimed as our own the post of honour in advance or in
+retreat; during the famous march on the night after the battle, and
+in the retreat to White Plains, we formed the rear guard, and the army
+felt secure.
+
+There came a breathing time one day during the retreat, and the
+General rode up to our lines. We greeted him with the yell he loved to
+hear, for it brought back to him the Southland and the hunting fields
+of Old Virginia.
+
+Then he told our officers that he wanted us to pick out the youngest
+of our line to carry a special despatch to the Committee of Public
+Safety, sitting at Annapolis, announcing the battle and the famous
+part we had taken therein. The choice fell on me, as poor Dick was
+groaning in the hospital, but luckily out of danger from his wound.
+
+"Well, my boy, how old are you?" said the General, smiling down upon
+me, as I saluted.
+
+"Eighteen, General."
+
+"Do you think you can carry this safely?"
+
+"I was in the charge at Gowanus Ford, General," said I modestly.
+
+"I see," laughed the General, "you are a true Marylander. I wish I had
+more of you in the army."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE HARRYING OF THE TORY
+
+
+I was soon riding southward, the bearer of the message from General
+Washington to the Council of Safety, sitting at Annapolis; and as I
+rode, the people hailed me for my news, and gave me food and drink, so
+I could hurry on.
+
+At last I reached the borders of Maryland, and again rode under the
+old oak from which I had torn the proclamation. It was only a few
+weeks before, and I wondered what had been the fate of Charles Gordon.
+
+So, as I rode through the Head of Elk late that afternoon and came to
+the ferry there, I asked the boatman what they had done with him.
+
+"Forfeiture has been decreed," he answered, "and the new High Sheriff
+and James Rodolph have gone to-day with a posse and many men to root
+the traitor out."
+
+"How long ago did they start?"
+
+"About an hour."
+
+"What road did they take?"
+
+"The river road. They expect to reach there about nine o'clock.
+Jupiter! I'd like to be there and see the flames reddening the sky. It
+will be a grand sight." He looked longingly through the forest toward
+the Braes.
+
+"Something else will be dyed crimson, if I know that Tory right."
+
+"That there will be, sir; it will be a lovely scrimmage;" and he
+sighed at the lost opportunity.
+
+The boat grounded on the south bank, and I mounted Toby.
+
+"A pleasant ride, sir."
+
+"Thanks; good-night."
+
+"Toby," said I, as I patted his neck, "you have travelled many a mile
+to-day, old fellow; but you will have to cover the ground to-night as
+you never covered it before. They have an hour's start, and we have a
+longer distance to go; so double your legs under you, my boy, and go."
+
+Toby rising to the occasion, and the spirit of old Ranter proving
+true, he broke into the long even gallop that makes the miles pass
+swiftly. It was a race against time, against James Rodolph and his
+crew. I knew if once they gained the Braes, black death would stalk
+among the ruins, for Charles Gordon would never surrender.
+
+The night fell rapidly as we raced along and the miles flew by.
+
+As Toby and I drew near Bohemia Manor, where the road joined the one
+on which the posse was marching, I reined him in and rode more
+cautiously. It was well that I did so, for as I approached I heard
+the low murmur of men's voices and saw their figures in the dim light
+as they were marching by.
+
+I brought Toby to a halt. The road was cut off that way, so I wheeled
+him around to ride back a short distance to where the road skirted the
+open fields of Bohemia Manor. As Toby plunged forward in answer to my
+spur, I heard a cry and then a shot came whistling by. But I left them
+behind, and coming to the open fields, I put Toby at the fence and
+raced across the open country, through the lower fields to the Braes,
+Toby taking the fences in his stride.
+
+Then I dashed once more across the green lawn of the Braes and drew my
+sword hilt across the shutter.
+
+There was a stir in the room above me; the shutter was cautiously
+opened and I was covered by the muzzle of a pistol.
+
+"Who are you?" demanded a voice which I knew to be Charles Gordon's.
+
+"James Frisby of Fairlee," I replied. "I have ridden to warn you, Mr.
+Gordon. You have only a few minutes to escape in; James Rodolph, with
+a hundred men behind him, will be here in ten minutes."
+
+"Thank you, lad, for the information. I will give them a warm
+reception."
+
+"But you cannot hold the Braes against a hundred men; they will burn
+you out, and then Mistress Jean."
+
+"Hum; that is so, lad. Ride round to the rear of the house."
+
+I did so, and a moment later, they came out on the little porch. The
+old gentleman had buckled on his sword, and there were pistols in his
+belt. And she, ah! she never looked more bewitching. Her beautiful
+hair flowed wild about her shoulders, over the light dark mantle in
+which she was wrapped. By the flicker of the candle, I saw that a
+bright flush mantled her cheek, as she spoke rapidly.
+
+"Father, there is an English vessel a few miles down the bay. Call the
+slaves and escape to it."
+
+"But I cannot take you there."
+
+"I will carry her through the lines," I cried, "and see her safe in
+the hands of her aunt in Kent."
+
+They hesitated, but the noise in front of the house told of the
+approaching mob, and there was no time for parley. So, true to my
+race, I acted quickly, and stooping from my saddle I caught her up
+gently and placed her on Toby before me.
+
+"It is the only chance, lad. See that you carry her safely."
+
+"I will carry her through or die," I replied with deep conviction. At
+the touch of the spur Toby sprang forward under his double burden.
+
+"The creek," she cried.
+
+"Yes; but we can swim it."
+
+Indeed it was our only way, as the mob blocked the other roads of
+escape, so we rode boldly in and swam for the other side. The creek
+was several hundred yards wide, but Toby bore us bravely until we
+reached the southern shore, then he plunged forward, threw himself up
+the bank, and we were out of immediate danger.
+
+There we halted for a moment under the shadow of a great tree and
+looked back across the water.
+
+We heard the sound of many voices, the howling of the mob, and through
+the trunks of the trees flickered the glare of the torches. Suddenly
+shots rang out, a cry of dismay and rage followed, and then the flash
+of guns and a rattling volley crashed around the house.
+
+"By Jove, he is fighting it out!" But the slender figure on my arm
+trembled, and I saw that her face was white through the darkness.
+
+"He will escape, Mistress Jean," I said reassuringly; "trust an old
+Highlander for that." And I saw that her eyes were bright and tense,
+watching the scene across the water.
+
+"There he goes," she exclaimed joyfully; and there, gliding swiftly
+through the waters, where the shadow of the trees made the darkness
+more intense, was a long low boat rowed by stalwart slaves. The sound
+of the oars was drowned by the clamour of the mob.
+
+"If he passes the neck," I exclaimed, "he will be safe;" for the creek
+narrowed at its mouth until it was but a hundred yards wide.
+
+"Ride quick to the point," she said.
+
+So Toby plunged forward again at the pressure of my knees, and though
+he still went gallantly on, I could tell that the strain and the toil
+of the long march from the north, and his dash from the Head of Elk,
+were beginning to tell on him.
+
+At last we reached the mouth of the creek, and I brought Toby to a
+halt under the shadow of a clump of trees, where we could see and yet
+not be seen. I glanced for a moment out over the waters of the bay,
+and I saw, several miles to the southward, the gleam of a light as it
+fell on the waves; I knew it was the English man-of-war.
+
+But Mistress Jean's eyes were eagerly searching the waters of the
+creek, and she was straining her ears to catch the sound of the oars.
+Then we were rewarded. For at that moment we heard the long sweep of
+the oars in the water, and out from the mouth of the creek came the
+boat, the brawny negroes bending to their task.
+
+The commanding figure of the old Tory stood in the stern, looking back
+up the creek whence they came. Unconsciously my glance followed his,
+and I saw that the sky was crimson, and high above the tree-tops the
+flames licked the skies.
+
+"The Braes!" I exclaimed, and Mistress Jean was about to call out,
+when there came the sound of galloping hoofs on the other side. A
+horseman dashed into view, and rode into the water up to the
+saddle-girths. There was a flash, and the crack of a pistol broke the
+stillness of the night; then with a gesture of rage, the horseman rose
+in his stirrups and hurled the pistol far over the water; we heard the
+splash as it fell.
+
+Then the figure in the boat raised his clenched hand and shook it at
+the horseman and the flames.
+
+"You fired too quick, Mr. Rodolph," said the ferryman.
+
+"Yes, damn him, he has escaped." He turned his horse and rode into the
+darkness, while a soft voice whispered in my ear,--
+
+"Thank God."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY
+
+
+The sun had risen when we came once more in view of the groves of
+Fairlee. Toby's pace had degenerated into a walk, as if not to disturb
+the fair burden he bore, for she, overcome with fatigue and
+excitement, was quietly sleeping with her head on my shoulder. Toby
+picked his way like a dancing-master, and though the road was rough,
+never once did he stumble; he still bore himself gallantly for the old
+House of Fairlee. Ah! Toby, that road was miles too short for your
+master. Willingly would he have ridden thus, aye, until his hair had
+turned as white as snow on his brows, until the hand that guided the
+reins became too feeble to grasp them; aye, even unto the end of time.
+
+But before us lay Fairlee, and beyond that lay duty and the army.
+"Look once more, my cavalier," said I to myself; "look once more, for
+the moments are short, and in the days to come, in the dreary bivouacs
+and on the long marches, when the world seems bare and cold, the
+memory of that sweet face will brighten up with sunshine your
+existence and make it all glorious again. Oh, hang it, here is
+Fairlee!"
+
+"Mistress Jean," I whispered. I was loath to wake her, but it had to
+be done. "Mistress Jean!" I said, this time louder, and she awoke with
+a start. "This is Fairlee, and you can rest here with my mother, while
+I push on."
+
+"Fairlee? Why, where am I? Oh, I remember now. Did I go to sleep, Mr.
+Frisby?"
+
+"You did, Mistress Jean."
+
+A quick, blush came.
+
+"Oh," she said, "how can I thank you? I don't deserve----"
+
+"Ah, Mistress Jean, it is I who do not deserve that pleasure. I would
+go through a hundred fights to be able to do it again; but you are
+tired, and I will rouse the house."
+
+So, hammering on the door, I soon brought John Cotton to it. His
+woolly hair almost went straight on seeing me, and he started back,
+for he thought he saw my ghost.
+
+"Good Lord, Mars Jim," he stammered, "does that be you?"
+
+"Yes, you black scamp." And I soon convinced him of my real
+personality.
+
+"But, Mars Jim, who is dat you got wid you? It ain't one of dem
+Yankee ladies, is it?" For, I am sorry to say, John Cotton did not
+approve of the ladies in question, and was afraid I would "disgrace de
+family" if I married one of them. Before I could answer I heard a glad
+little cry, and there was my mother, coming down the stairway of the
+great hall.
+
+"How is my little lady?" said I, as I picked her up and kissed her,
+and then I introduced Mistress Jean to her and told her of our
+adventure at the Braes.
+
+Then my mother went up to her, in her stately little way, and took her
+hands in hers, and kissed and welcomed her to the House of Fairlee.
+
+So they made friends with each other then and there, as women do, and
+my mother led her away, up the broad stairs, and I stood looking after
+them. Then I turned to my own room, and, throwing myself on the bed,
+I slept the sleep of exhaustion for many hours.
+
+When the hour of my awakening came I sprang up, for there lay the
+despatch which I was to bear to the Council of Safety.
+
+Drawing on my riding-boots and buckling on my sword, I called John
+Cotton to bring my horse to the door, for several miles lay between
+Fairlee and Rock Hall, where the boat lay to take me to Annapolis.
+
+I walked across to the hall and on to the old porch, where I saw
+Mistress Jean standing, gazing wistfully out on the broad bay.
+
+"He is safe now, Mistress Jean."
+
+"Yes," she said with a sad smile, "but when shall I ever see him
+again?"
+
+"Just as soon as we whip them," I replied.
+
+"Then it will never be," came her retort.
+
+"Oh, ho! What will your uncle, Captain Nicholson, say when he finds he
+has such a fiery little Tory in his house? He will have to give up
+chasing the redcoats to suppress the Goddess of Sedition in his own
+camp."
+
+But at this Mistress Jean gave her head a toss and walked away to the
+end of the porch.
+
+Then John Cotton brought the horse to the steps.
+
+"Are you going so soon, Mr. Frisby?"
+
+"I must," I answered; "I am a bearer of despatches to the Council of
+Safety. I would gladly desert my trust to be your escort to
+Chestertown, but--"
+
+"The honour of the House of Fairlee stands in the way," said she
+mockingly.
+
+"Not that, my lady," I replied, bowing courteously, "but the fact that
+I would fall even lower in your good graces."
+
+"Well said, cavalier," she retorted, with a sweeping courtesy. "'Tis a
+pity that so fine a gentleman should be a rebel."
+
+"Or so fair a maid a Tory."
+
+"Is this a minuet?" came the laughing voice of my mother from the
+door.
+
+"Nay, mother, I am only bidding Mistress Jean good-bye with all due
+ceremony."
+
+A few moments later I was in the saddle, trotting slowly off, while
+behind me fluttered their handkerchiefs, waving good-bye.
+
+Rock Hall lies on a bluff, looking out across the bay. To the
+southward lies the Isle of Kent, with its fertile fields of waving
+grain, and off there on the horizon the greenish ribbon near the sky
+line tells where the hills of Anne Arundel lay.
+
+Down below, under the bluff, lay a long, slender boat, shaped like a
+canoe, but much larger, stouter, stronger, and far swifter, when the
+wind filled its sails and carried it like a bird skimming over the
+waters.
+
+"An English man-of-war is lying off the Isle of Kent now," said the
+old waterman in answer to my question, "but we can walk all around her
+in this boat."
+
+"Then we will start immediately," I replied, and placing my things on
+board we were soon under way.
+
+The wind caught our sails; we stood out into the bay gloriously, and
+she fairly flew through the water. As we rounded the Isle of Kent we
+saw, lying almost in our track, the English man-of-war, lazily rolling
+with the tide.
+
+Then there was a great bustle on board, and the sailors flew to the
+rigging, the sails filled with the wind, and through the port hole was
+run the ugly muzzle of a Long Tom. The waterman with me laughed
+merrily.
+
+"They think they can stop us," said he, but he never altered his
+course.
+
+So we bore down on her until there came a flash; a cannon ball came
+ricochetting across the water, but fell short by a hundred yards.
+
+The waterman chuckled. "That is about the right distance," said he;
+and the boat answering the helm, fairly danced around his Majesty's
+representative, always, by a saving grace, just beyond cannon shot.
+
+And when his Majesty's ship actually gave chase and sent a broadside
+after our impertinent piece of baggage the waterman fairly danced with
+delight and led her a merry chase down the bay until we were opposite
+Annapolis. Then with a flirt of her sail we bade them good-bye and ran
+for the mouth of the Severn. Gaining that, we soon passed the charred
+hulk of the Peggy Stewart and ran up beside the wharf, and I found
+myself walking the streets of that gay little capital.
+
+It was growing somewhat late, but I made my way at once to the State
+House, where the Convention of the Freemen of the Province sat, hoping
+still to find them at their deliberations. I paused for the moment
+when I came to the foot of the knoll on which the State House stands,
+for it had only recently been completed, and was the noblest building
+in America. Its massive proportions towered high above me, overawing
+the town at its feet, and commanding the country for miles around. But
+it was not a time for halting. Hurrying up the long flights of steps,
+I found myself in the great lobby, with its lofty ceilings and its air
+of vastness.
+
+The Convention had adjourned but a short time before, and the lobby
+was still filled with men. As I threaded my way through them my dusty
+uniform and muddy boots marked me out as a bearer of despatches.
+
+"News from the army--victory or defeat?" cried eager voices around me.
+Answer them I would not, but hurried on to the room where sat the
+Council of Safety, who held the fate and the fortunes of the province
+in its hand and was the heart and soul of the great revolt.
+
+An usher stood at the door, but, seeing my uniform, threw it wide
+open, and, as I entered, softly swung it to behind me. It was a lofty
+room in which I found myself, with immense windows looking out over
+the town and the sweep of the waters of the bay to the distant line
+of the eastern shore. A long, broad table extended down the centre of
+the room. Around it were seated some sixteen or eighteen gentlemen.
+Staid men and grave they were, past the middle age of life, for the
+younger men had gone to fight the battles of the republic; men who
+were fitted by experience to guide the province through the stormy
+scenes of the civil war.
+
+At their head sat a venerable gentleman whom I knew to be Matthew
+Tilghman, the patriarch of the Colony. At his right hand sat a man of
+sturdy build, ruddy countenance, and dark hair and eyes, more like a
+prosperous planter with many acres and numerous slaves than the man
+who was soon to become the Great War Governor of Maryland. All down
+the table on either side sat men with strong, determined faces, whose
+names bespoke the chieftainship of many a powerful family. A movement
+of interest ran down the table as I entered and delivered to the
+venerable Chairman the despatch. He broke the seal with nervous
+fingers, and then rising, read General Washington's despatch aloud
+amid intense interest.
+
+"Battle," "defeat," "rout," "Cortelyou House," "the Maryland Line."
+"Good, I see the boys did their duty," were among the many
+exclamations I heard around the table and when the despatch ended.
+
+"The bearer will describe the battle."
+
+They all turned to me, and Thomas Johnson said: "Come, young
+gentleman, tell us everything you saw and heard."
+
+So I took my place by the Chairman and told them of what I had seen
+and done, amid many interruptions and eager questions from the
+Council.
+
+Thus for a time, as I stood there, I became a man of importance,
+telling the tale of the battle, of the defeat and the rout, of the
+fiery charges, the death, the pain and the anguish of it all, until
+long after the night had fallen. But an end comes to all things, and
+Thomas Johnson, laying his hand on my shoulder, said:
+
+"Young gentleman, you must stay with me to-night."
+
+I accepted gladly, for the inns were crowded, and it was somewhat late
+in the evening to find a friend to take me in. We strolled across the
+State House grounds under the soft September skies, through the wide,
+dusty streets, until we came to the future Governor's house. Though it
+was late, we talked for yet another hour, and then, with a cheery
+good-night, I was shown to my room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE VETO OF A MAID
+
+
+Ah, I am afraid the clean white sheets, the soft springy bed, and the
+balmy September air proved traitor to me, after the hardships of a
+soldier's life in the field, the rough bivouac, and the hard ride from
+the North, for when I awoke with a start, I found the sun high in the
+heavens and the music of birds coming through the open window from the
+trees outside. Hurriedly dressing, I opened my door and went down the
+broad stairway into the old hall. Everything was quiet, not a soul was
+around. I wandered across the hall and parlour, and there I stood for
+a few minutes, looking out into the street, when a merry burst of
+laughter across the hall attracted my attention. The door of the room
+opposite was slightly ajar, and I saw that it was the library of the
+house; so crossing the hall, I gently rapped on the panel. A cheery
+"Come in!" was my answer. I obeyed the summons, threw the door open,
+and entered.
+
+"Why, it is our feather-bed soldier," came a merry voice from the
+broad window-sill, where sat two young ladies. A peal of ringing
+laughter followed; for, indeed, I was somewhat non-plussed to thus
+come upon two such laughing, merry girls.
+
+    One was dark, the other fair;
+    Both were sweet and debonair.
+
+Indeed they were very pretty, sitting there amid the quaint old
+surroundings, the heavy old book-presses, with solid oak doors, the
+wainscoting extending to the ceiling, the broad window-seats, the
+green trees, and quiet garden beyond. I knew at once that they must be
+daughters of my host, Mistress Polly and Mistress Betsy Johnson, at
+that time the reigning belles of the western shore.
+
+"Now I know what awaited me I shall never forgive that feather-bed," I
+replied, recovering from my confusion and making my best bow. "I would
+never have proved such a traitor to my cloth."
+
+"That is better," said Mistress Polly, the black-haired, dark-eyed
+one. "Come and report to us, sir. Do you not know that no officer
+returns from the army who does not immediately report to us?"
+
+"I understand their alacrity in doing so. I shall be among the first
+to obey the order hereafter."
+
+"Then, sir, come tell us of the battle, and what brought you hither so
+fast that the mud is still upon your boots?"
+
+Now, telling the account of the battle to two charming young ladies,
+whose bright eyes and eager faces told of the interest they took in my
+narrative, was a far different thing from telling the same tale before
+the powerful Council of Safety, and I am free to confess that I
+enjoyed the last far more than the first.
+
+Their exclamations and excited questions spurred me on, and I drew the
+picture of the battle with a stronger hand and painted myself a hero,
+which I am afraid I was far from being.
+
+But Mistress Betsy suddenly sat up straight, exclaiming:
+
+"Bless me, Polly, Mr. Frisby has not had his breakfast, and here it is
+near ten o'clock"--an outrageous late hour in those days.
+
+At this both Mistress Polly and Mistress Betsy sprang to their feet,
+and I was duly conducted to the dining-room, where a delightful
+breakfast awaited me, which I endeavoured to eat amid their sallies
+and their questioning.
+
+We were having a very gay time of it, when there came a heavy step
+through the hall into the room, and a cheery voice asked: "How is the
+soldier to-day? In good hands, I see." It was Thomas Johnson.
+
+"That he is, sir," I replied, rising, "and he thoroughly enjoys it
+too."
+
+"Spoken like a soldier," replied our future Governor, "and like a
+soldier you must leave at once, for the Council desire you to carry
+these despatches posthaste to General Washington."
+
+"No; he shall not," cried Mistress Polly, with a stamp of her foot.
+"He has promised to drive our four-in-hand to the races this
+afternoon, and I am not going to let that Council of old fogies rob us
+of the only soldier in town who has seen service for at least one
+day."
+
+"So that is the way the wind blows," said her father, pinching her
+cheek and laughing. "I will tell the great Council of Public Safety
+that they have been overruled by a maid."
+
+"It will not be the first time," she retorted. "Their wives overrule
+them every day."
+
+"I will ride all night to make it up," I suggested.
+
+"Never mind, my boy," he replied, "you deserve a little holiday; you
+need not leave Annapolis until nightfall, and Kent the following
+night, which will give you a chance to see your mother again. There, I
+hope this little minx will give me some peace now."
+
+The treaty was quickly sealed by a kiss, and Mistress Polly ran off to
+give the order for the coach-and-four, for the races began at one
+o'clock and the course was a short distance out of the city.
+
+There soon came a clatter of hoofs, a rattle, a slam and a bang, a
+whoaing, a yelling, and a confusion of noises.
+
+"They have put the colts in," cried Mistress Betsy with glee, and
+Mistress Polly was at the door crying, "Come on."
+
+"Great Jove!" said I to myself, as I seized my hat and followed after,
+for though I had driven many a wild team I had never done so through a
+town before. And four devils they were for a certainty, a little under
+size, but making up for that by the fire and vim of their proceedings.
+
+The heels of the wheelers were playing like castanets on the
+dashboard, while the leaders were in the air half the time as they
+swayed above the crowd of darkies, who, hanging on everywhere, were
+trying to hold them down, while the great coach swayed and rocked
+behind.
+
+There was a flash of skirts, a gleam of the smallest feet in the
+world, and Mistress Polly and Mistress Betsy were in their places, and
+I had sprung to my seat and gathered the reins in my hands.
+
+"All ready, Captain?"
+
+"Ready. Let go." They scattered like chaff. There was a flash of hoofs
+and they were off like a shot, their bodies stretched low to the
+ground, the great coach rolling and rocking behind.
+
+Luckily the street ended in a country road, for the street and the
+houses were gone in an instant, and we were rushing along between
+green fields. A column of dust rose up and whirled behind us, and the
+road stretched like a ribbon before, while the young ladies at my side
+laughed and clapped their hands in glee. After several miles the pace
+began to tell, I slowly brought them under control, and by the time I
+had come to the race-course I had them well in hand. We had gone
+several miles out of our way, but by taking a short cut we arrived at
+the races on time. I brought the four colts into the field with a dash
+and a flourish as they were preparing for the first race.
+
+The course was a great level field of greensward, oval in shape, with
+the track in beautiful condition. Far down the track on either hand,
+almost encircling the field, stretched the lines of the coaches,
+chariots, gigs, and wagons. Gentlemen on horseback and on foot, an
+eager, bustling crowd, gay with colours and bright faces, already
+tingling with the excitement of the coming race, made a stirring
+scene; for the Trinity of the Marylanders in the early days of my
+youth were the horse, the hounds, and a fight.
+
+But though the faces were fair, merry, and pleasant to look upon,
+though the chariots and four-in-hands were gorgeous and bedecked,
+there was a woful lack of cavaliers to make those damask cheeks
+mantle with a blush, for they were away fighting in the North. Thus it
+was, as I drove down the line in my uniform of scarlet and buff, to
+find a stand, that Mistress Polly and Mistress Betsy had their
+triumph, and many a fair face turned our way as we drove by, until I
+brought the coach to a halt in a good place next to the parson, where
+he sat his cob, watching the preliminaries.
+
+"Find the parson," said Mistress Polly judiciously, "and you will have
+found the best place in the field."
+
+"Oh, Mistress Polly, you are a minx," said that reverend gentleman.
+"How in the world could I make the youngsters come to church if they
+did not know I was a good judge of horseflesh as well as a minister?"
+
+"They are off," cried Mistress Betsy. The race had begun; but why
+describe the race? Those who have never seen a race are mere
+worthless creatures deserving no consideration, and those who have
+seen a race do not need a description. At the mere name they see the
+grand thoroughbreds at the line, their coats shining like satin in the
+sun, eager and ready to be off. Then the flag falls, and, amid the
+rustling of skirts and craning of necks, they are off. Ah, and then
+comes the glorious excitement of it all as you watch with eager eyes
+that ribbon of a track, and see now this one, now that one, slowly
+draw away from the bunch at the start, and the closing of the space
+again, until they become mere moving spots on the far side of the
+field. And then, that home stretch, with its thunder of hoofs, its
+roar of voices, and cheers and yells, as the grand beasts, with
+straining nerves and neck to neck, make the last great effort; and
+afterward the triumph, the waving of handkerchiefs, the great cheer
+that greets the victor, and the smiles of merry lips and laughing
+eyes. Those were the prizes we raced for, when racing was the pastime
+of gentlemen, and not an excuse for blackguardism and gambling, as
+to-day it is fast becoming. So my kind hosts and I made our little
+bets, and enjoyed ourselves right thoroughly, until the last race,
+which was won by a grandson of the great Selim, was over and done.
+Then I swung my four colts into the road again, and at a rattling pace
+returned to town.
+
+It was late now, and the sun was preparing to take its last dip behind
+the western hills; so I was forced to bid my charming hostesses adieu,
+and amid many good wishes and a waving of handkerchiefs, departed to
+seek my waterman, to begin my trip across the bay.
+
+The town became a blur, a dark mass behind us, broken by the twinkling
+of the lights through the gloom, as we swiftly glided down the Severn
+before the wind. Out upon the bay it was still light, and we steered
+for the north point of the Isle of Kent. The wind was fresh. With all
+sail set we skimmed the water before it, and ere many hours had passed
+we saw the light through the gloom of Rock Hall straight ahead. But
+the old waterman suddenly brought his helm around hard, and pointed
+her nose for the wide mouth of the Chester close at hand.
+
+"What is wrong?" I asked, and for an answer he pointed with his arm to
+where against the sky were outlined the tapering masts of a large
+vessel lying between us and Rock Hall.
+
+"That is a man-of-war," he said, "we will have to run up the river to
+Chestertown."
+
+"Agreed," said I, right readily, for I thought I might see Mistress
+Jean once more before I went back to the front.
+
+The mouth of the Chester was soon gained, and for hours, through the
+stillness of the night, we glided over its smooth waters, between low,
+heavily wooded banks, or the broad sweeping fields of some plantation,
+whose boundaries were lapped by the waters of the river. In the early
+morning, in the dusky gray hours, we ran along beside the wharf of the
+old county seat of Kent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE GREETING OF FAIR LIPS
+
+
+After wandering through the streets of this old town during the early
+hours of the morning, seeing it gradually wake into life and take on
+the quiet bustle of the day, I at last found myself before the inn,
+which had just been opened.
+
+The host was an old friend, and we were soon fighting over the battles
+again, when a shadow fell across us and I sprang to my feet.
+
+It was Capt. James Nicholson, one of the three brothers who fought
+their ships in sunshine and in storm, while there was a plank left for
+them to stand upon, carrying dismay through the English fleets by
+their desperate courage and daring. He was a man about forty years
+old, over medium height, but slender and of fair complexion, with
+light blue eyes and reddish hair, a typical descendant of that old
+Viking, Nicholson, who fought some famous fights under King Haco, and
+harried the coasts of Scotland until he gained a foothold there and
+founded the Scottish family of the name. The same open, bold
+countenance of the Admiral, the same frank and manly bearing, showed
+him to be a sailor and a fighter.
+
+"Hello, Frisby," said he, shaking my hand cordially. "With the dove so
+near I knew that the hawk would not be far away."
+
+I stammered out, as the landlord smiled, that I was forced to come to
+Chestertown to avoid the man-of-war lying off Rock Hall.
+
+"She is off Rock Hall, is she? Well, I shall have to chase her away
+with the Defence next week. But is that your only excuse for coming
+so far out of your way?"
+
+And when I protested that it was, he laughed genially, and, turning to
+the landlord, said: "He does not look like a knight-errant who flies
+to the rescue of maids, and Tory maids at that, does he? But see here,
+youngster, since you have brought this little traitress into my
+household, you will have to do your share in converting her to the
+true principles of liberty and democracy."
+
+"Keep that for the men, Captain," cried the landlord. "Keep that for
+the men; the women give us no peace, as it is, and if they once get
+those notions there will be no living with them."
+
+"Ah, you old reprobate, you had better not let your wife hear you."
+
+With this we left the inn, and going through some quiet streets, we at
+last came to Water Street, with its square brick houses, gardens and
+flowers, and green lawns leading to the river. Very substantial were
+the buildings, quaint and old-fashioned. A number of white steps led
+from the street to the porch of the Captain's house. When, at his
+motion, I opened the door and stepped into the hall, which was
+somewhat dark after the glare of the street, there came a flurry of
+lace, and soft arms were around my neck. And--well, what could a man
+do but return that kiss with interest? But the best things are but
+fleeting, for, when she glanced at my face, and saw who I was, she
+gave a little cry, broke from my arms, and vanished in confusion up
+the stairway, followed by the merry laughter of the real uncle, not
+the proxy.
+
+"You surely cannot object to that welcome, Frisby; but I must tell
+Mistress Jean to be more careful, or the army will lose a promising
+officer. They will not be able to keep you away from the town if this
+keeps on."
+
+So saying, he led the way to the rear porch where it overlooked the
+lawn and the river.
+
+Here we sat and talked until the breakfast-bell rang, and we went into
+the dining-room. I was as hungry as a trooper by this time, after my
+all-night experience on the Chester.
+
+The dining-room was a long room, with open windows looking out across
+the river and the fields.
+
+We had not as yet taken our seats, when through another door came
+Mistress Jean and Mistress Nancy Nicholson, her bosom friend and
+confidante, with their arms around each other's waists--a charming
+picture.
+
+The colour mantled high on Mistress Jean's cheek, and I am sure that
+mine played the traitor also, but Mistress Nancy came to the rescue by
+demanding news and particulars of her cavalier, for such she declared
+Mr. Richard Ringgold of Hunting Field to be.
+
+Answering, I told her that I had left him covered with blood and with
+glory, but on the fair road to recovery. And so, though Mistress Jean
+still showed a heightened colour, in telling of Master Richard's
+fortunes and escapes we broke the embarrassment of the meeting, and
+were soon fast friends again. It was a merry breakfast. Afterward the
+two young ladies and I walked in the garden by the river's edge and
+talked of many things,--of war and campaigning, for I claimed to be an
+authority by now, and quite a veteran,--of love; but that was too
+dangerous, for Mistress Nancy would look at me slyly and laugh as she
+asked if I was as great an authority upon the one as I was upon the
+other.
+
+I retorted that I had heard many a lecture on the subject from Master
+Richard, but otherwise knew nothing of the art, and then I begged her
+to take me as a pupil, so that in time I might become as great a
+scholar as Dick himself. But she roguishly recommended me to her
+Assistant Professor Mistress Jean Gordon, who, she told me, knew more
+of the art than she did herself. And then, having come to some boxwood
+alleys, she slipped away and left Mistress Jean and me alone.
+
+"They tell me, Mistress Jean, that love is war; may I ask what the
+fate of the prisoners is?"
+
+"As in real war," she replied, "those who surrender at discretion
+receive but scant courtesy, but those who make a gallant resistance
+are often victorious in their defeat."
+
+"I see that you love the old Highland fashion, where the bridegroom
+came with force and arms and bore the bride away."
+
+"Better swords and daggers, and hearts that are true, than silks and
+satins, Lowland fops and perfidy."
+
+"English swords have crossed ere this with Highland steel, and English
+hearts are as tried and as true as those that beat beneath the plaid,"
+said I, coming to the defence of my English ancestry.
+
+"So ho! Sir Rebel!" she cried in glee, "what means this defence of the
+hated redcoat? Do you not fear the shadow of the great committee that
+you preach treason so openly?" And she looked so bewitching in her
+little triumph that I had to thrust my hands into my pockets and turn
+away, so great was the temptation.
+
+"I will turn Highlander," said I, "if you do not stop."
+
+"Stop?" she said with the most innocent air in the world.
+
+"Aye," said I, "for if your Highlanders have ever been sturdy knaves,
+the Frisbys have ever been quick where bright eyes and ruby lips are
+concerned, and there is no telling what might happen." And I looked so
+determined and fierce that she broke into merry laughter in my face.
+
+"Your fate be upon you," said I solemnly; and--well, at that moment, I
+heard Captain Nicholson calling that my horse was at the door, waiting
+for me.
+
+"That means that I must go, Mistress Jean," and the laughter died on
+her lips, "go to join my comrades in the North in their struggle for
+the Great Cause. When you hear of battles and sieges and sudden
+deaths, will you sometimes think of the young rebel who rode with you
+from the Braes to Fairlee? For wherever he may be, whether in the
+glory of the rush and the sweep of the charge, or the gloomy and
+dismal retreat; whether in the camp on the bleak hillside, with the
+cold north wind blowing, or bivouacked in the Southern savannahs
+warmed by the rays of the sun; in the fatigue and the toil of the
+marches, amid the groans and cries of the dying, or the joy and
+triumph of the hour when the fight has been fought and won, your smile
+shall always be with him, the light of your eye in his heart. Will you
+think of him, or forget, Mistress Jean?"
+
+"I will think of him." Her voice was very low and sweet. Then I
+stooped and kissed her hand, the fairest hand that man ever looked
+upon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE RETURN OF THE TORY
+
+
+As I turned to ride away, after bidding good-bye to the Captain, I
+heard a voice calling me, and looking up, I saw Mistress Nancy at a
+window, and riding under it she commanded me to convey to Master
+Richard a tiny case wrapped in many papers.
+
+"And now, sir," said she, "here is something for you;" and she threw
+me a little case, which, on opening quickly, I saw contained a
+miniature of a fair young girl, with a wealth of dark brown hair, the
+loveliest eyes and the sweetest face.
+
+"Mistress Nancy," I cried, "you are my guardian angel." Placing the
+miniature over my heart, I threw her a kiss, and rode on my way
+rejoicing.
+
+I rode from Chestertown to Fairlee, where I bade my mother good-bye,
+and from there I took up the trail to the North, riding into camp one
+evening just as the sun was setting.
+
+I reported immediately to the great General, who thanked me for the
+speed with which I had carried the despatches and returned. And then I
+was once more among my old comrades of the Line.
+
+They crowded around me, one and all, for I had messages for many of
+them, and they were eager for the news of old Kent and the shore, and
+my welcome was right royal.
+
+And now, for a month or so, disasters came crowding upon our arms;
+defeat and death stalked through our ranks, and cast a gloom over the
+cause.
+
+We fought the fight at White Plains, and when Fort Washington fell
+many of our Maryland boys went to the hulks of old Jersey to find a
+last resting-place under the cold gray waters of Wallabout Bay. Amid
+constant marching, skirmishes, and defeats the months slipped away,
+and the cold gloomy winter was upon us. Ah, how cold and bleak and
+barren the hillsides looked after the smiling fields of Maryland,
+touched and warmed by the Southern sun! And then the cold, the bitter
+cold of it all, the white winding sheet of the snow and the ice made
+us shiver and hug the fire of dry fence-rails and button our
+threadbare coats more tightly around us, while we looked in despair at
+the toes peeping through the ends of our boots. But the great General
+knew how to warm the blood in our veins and drive the despair from our
+hearts, when on that bitterly cold Christmas night he led us across
+the Delaware and hurled us against the Hessians.
+
+It is true that we left a trail of blood as we marched, dyeing the
+snow with its crimson. Yet the fight itself was glorious, and when we
+came back in our triumph the cold and the snow were as nothing. We
+made sport of our rags and tatters and laughed the English to scorn.
+
+Then again when we struck them at Princeton seven days later, threw
+the dust in Cornwallis's eyes, and played with him as we willed, we
+were ready to follow our leader wherever he pointed the way.
+
+And so, after humbling the English, we returned to our camp for the
+winter, and there made ready for the spring, when we saw my Lord
+Cornwallis back on the Hudson again.
+
+Then we lay in Jersey, watching them over in New York, until far into
+the summer, ready to take up the march when the news should come of
+the destination of the English fleet that lay off Sandy Hook.
+
+At last one day there came a horseman spurring fast from the
+southward, bearing the news of a vast fleet that covered the waves of
+the Chesapeake and lay at that moment off the harbor of Baltimore,
+threatening it with fire and sword.
+
+Then there was a mighty bustle in the camp, and we whose homes were
+now in danger took up the march to the southward, eager to meet the
+foe.
+
+When we reached Philadelphia we found that the enemy had entered the
+Elk, and was now marching on the city, while the hastily called
+Maryland and Delaware volunteers threw themselves in the way, cutting
+off straggling parties and obstructing the advance.
+
+So we hurried on to assist them, and found ourselves on the evening of
+the 10th of September at the Brandywine, with the English advance but
+a few miles away.
+
+It was here that I met with one of the volunteers, who on hearing the
+English were in the Chesapeake had taken his rifle from the rack and
+joined in the defence. He came from lower Kent, but told me of the
+devastation all through the county of Cecil, wherever the enemy had
+laid its blighting hand.
+
+"They tell me," he said, "that the old Tory, Charles Gordon, whom they
+ran out of Cecil, is with Lord Howe, and high in his counsels. When
+they arrived in the Elk, Gordon, with a body of troops, marched all
+night and attacked the house of James Rodolph at dawn. Rodolph was
+away from home, and that is the only thing that saved him, for they
+say that Gordon swore that he would hang him if he once caught him. As
+it was, he gave Rodolph's house to the flames, and burned everything
+on the place. 'An eye for an eye,' said he, 'is a Highland saying as
+well as a Jewish one. I regret that I cannot destroy the land as
+well.' Rodolph, when he heard of it, stormed and swore, but he has not
+dared to venture within the confines of Cecil since."
+
+"Did Gordon do anything else?" I asked.
+
+"No. After he burnt Rodolph out he tried to stop Lord Howe from
+pillaging, but his lordship answered, 'You have had your turn, and now
+you must let the others have theirs,' and so the pillaging went on."
+
+But the planters and the yeomen who had risen at the first alarm hung
+on the flanks of Lord Howe's army, cutting off stragglers and
+scouting-parties, and confining the belt of desolation within narrow
+lines.
+
+At last came the 11th of September, the day when we met Lord Howe at
+the Brandywine, and were sent reeling back in disorderly retreat, when
+by a skilful march they outflanked our right wing and rolled it up.
+
+And then disaster followed disaster. Paoli came, that grim and bloody
+surprise at the dead of night. We had marched with Wayne and gained
+the rear of the British column, and lay for the night in a dense wood,
+waiting for the recruits under Smallwood, who was marching to join us,
+before we began our attack on the British rear.
+
+It was in the early hours of the morning, the blackest of the night,
+the hour before the dawn, when there came sudden shots from our
+pickets, and before we could spring to arms the Highland war-cry rang
+through the forest and the Black Watch swept over us. The wild forms
+of the Highlanders, the intense darkness, the surprise, the din and
+noise of the strife as those who could grasp their muskets made a
+desperate stand, struck terror through the camp, and ere the men could
+rally we were swept into the woods beyond. It seemed to me, as I was
+borne along in the press, I heard, high over the charging cry of the
+Scots, the voice of the old Tory cheering his men on. Certain it is
+that I saw him for a moment by the light of a camp-fire, sword in
+hand, urging on his wild Scots, who seemed to grow wilder under his
+leadership, as our line melted away before their advance.
+
+Ah! but it was grim and terrible. Our men, overcome by the surprise
+and the rout, carried terror into the camp of Smallwood's recruits,
+which was near at hand, and they, too, gave way.
+
+But the dawn came: with it we gathered our shattered forces together
+and marched back to join Washington.
+
+Philadelphia fell, but the tide soon turned; for at Germantown we once
+more met them and avenged the surprise at Paoli.
+
+But the thing that thrilled us through and through and set our banners
+high was the courage of our brothers of the Line, who, thrown into
+Fort Mifflin, held it in the teeth of the enemy's fire until every gun
+was dismounted and the fort itself levelled to the earth, leaving
+nothing to defend. It was a brave and gallant action, and we envied
+them for their good fortune.
+
+We had avenged Paoli at Germantown, yet this added another wreath to
+our banner. It was a thing to stir the blood and to set the pulses
+bounding to hear how those heroes fought under the crumbling walls of
+Mifflin, and prayed for the friendly cover of night to fall to hide
+them from that storm of fire and shell, and yet fought on.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE FLAG OF TRUCE
+
+
+The long hard winter soon came on, and we retired to Valley Forge to
+suffer and to bear what was far more deadly than the English
+bullets--the terrible cold and desolation of that dreary place. Cold,
+bitterly cold it was, as the wind came down from the mountains, swept
+over the broad fields, pierced through our torn and tattered garments,
+and racked our frames with pain. And yet, terrible as the exposure
+was, there stands out one bright day in all that dreary winter, one
+day, one hour in which I forgot all the cold and the hardships and
+would not have been elsewhere for anything in the wide world.
+
+It was near the setting of the sun on one of the bleakest and coldest
+days of the year. The sun itself was sinking behind the distant hills,
+and the sky was brilliant with its fiery javelins, which threw a lurid
+light across the cold gray heavens, the last protest of departing day
+against the approach of the chill dismal night. The snow lay heavy
+upon the ground, and spread like a great white pall over the sins and
+sorrows of the world. Before us stretched the road, unbroken and
+trackless; not a man had passed that way, for we stood guard at the
+outpost, and the flicker of the foeman's fire could be seen six
+hundred yards away, through the gloom.
+
+"Lucifer, but it is cold!" said one of the guard, as he threw another
+rail on the fire and held his hands out over the flames to warm them.
+
+"Aye; Old Nick himself would not be a bad acquaintance now--his smell
+of brimstone and sulphur might warm us up a bit," said another.
+
+We were making the best we could of it, under the lee of a high bank
+by the side of the road, where we had cleared a space and stacked a
+good supply of dry fence-rails to feed the fire during the night. The
+wind from the northwest swept over our heads, sheltered as we were by
+the bank, and we would have defied the cold that crept ever upward but
+for the rags and tatters that covered our frames. The men themselves
+were cheerful, as they sat hugging the fire, and laughed and joked at
+their hardships.
+
+"I wonder if those Highland devils will bother us to-night?" asked
+one, for the Black Watch held the outpost down the road.
+
+"They will be too busy warming their knees," came the reply from
+across the fire, and a laugh followed.
+
+"Hello, what is that?" for the thud of hoofs was heard on the road
+coming from the camp.
+
+"A flag of truce, by George!" said the sergeant. "Who on earth wants
+to go through the lines on a night like this?"
+
+The party, consisting of several troopers, an officer, and what
+appeared to be a woman on horseback, was soon within hailing distance,
+and I heard Ringgold's voice call out:
+
+"I say, Frisby, are you in charge here?"
+
+"Yes," I replied. "What's up?"
+
+"We have a prisoner here who wishes to go through the lines, but I
+don't know whether you will permit her or not."
+
+"Is she fair?" I asked. "For in that case she shall not pass unless
+she gives us a smile by way of tribute as she rides by."
+
+"Not even if George Washington so orders, sir," said a voice that I
+knew.
+
+"By the saints, my lady!" I cried, and I was by her side in an
+instant. "What brings you here, and why are you going within the
+English lines?"
+
+"Should not a daughter be with her father?" she asked.
+
+"But those bloody English, with all their fine trappings and their
+feathers! Nay, my lady, you have been disrespectful to the Continental
+Congress, as I can vouch for. You are our prisoner, and I will not let
+you escape thus, to smile on the wearers of his Majesty's uniform."
+
+But she laughed quite merrily, and answered my threat with "Lieutenant
+Ringgold, pray ride on with the flag of truce."
+
+"Dick Ringgold," I cried in my turn, "if you take less than ten
+minutes I shall be your deadly enemy for life."
+
+"All right, old fellow." Dick rode on toward the enemy's campfire with
+the bugler until he had gone about half the way, and then we heard the
+parley sounded and saw a stir in the opposite camp.
+
+"Mistress Jean," said I, returning to the charge, "you are perfectly
+heartless, and though I know the redcoats cannot help but fall in love
+with you, I warn you that if you smile on any one of them I shall go
+through the lines and seek him out, even into the heart of the city
+itself, though I have to swing for it."
+
+"You will never try anything so rash;" and now the laughter had gone
+from her voice.
+
+"That I will, my lady," I replied, "for I would rather dance on
+nothing than know that you belonged to another."
+
+"But you must not," said she. "You must not think of such a thing. You
+must promise me never to attempt it."
+
+"Nay, Mistress Jean, that I cannot promise. It would drive me mad to
+stand here on guard all the winter night and see the lights of
+Philadelphia off there in the east; to know amid all the gayety and
+the balls you reign supreme; to know I could not see you because of
+the miserable redcoats that guard the city. If they were ten times
+their number I would find my way through them to be once more at your
+side, Mistress Jean."
+
+Before she could reply the Highland officer broke in, for he had
+ridden up with Ringgold.
+
+"Mistress Jean, it gives me pleasure to be the first to welcome you to
+our lines. Your father told us of your coming, and there has been a
+rivalry between us as to who should be the one to escort you to the
+city."
+
+"That was kind of all of you; but how did you leave my father?"
+
+"Well, and eager for your coming."
+
+He was a splendid-looking young fellow, tall, broad-shouldered, and
+somewhat bony, with a voice that rang frank and true. He was a
+Highlander, every inch of him, and carried himself with a free and
+graceful carriage, and when I heard him tell Mistress Jean that he was
+a Farquharson and an old ally of her house, I knew I had at last met a
+dangerous rival. For, out of romances, it is not the villain, but the
+brave and frank gentleman who is most dangerous to the peace of mind
+of lovers, for they see in him what they themselves most admire, and
+by which they hope to win their ladies' love.
+
+"Lieutenant Ringgold, now," said Farquharson, "I am ready to receive
+Mistress Gordon from your hands, and to conduct her within our lines."
+
+"Far more ready than we are to let her go," answered Dick gallantly;
+"but it is the fortune of war." And then the two officers saluted and
+the exchange was made.
+
+So Mistress Jean bade us all good-bye right prettily, and I, being on
+the off side of her horse from the others, seized her hand as it hung
+by her side and kissed it several times. She at first did not withdraw
+it, and then, bending over, whispered, "Do not try to enter the city,
+for they will hang thee, and I would not lose so true a friend." Here
+her voice was very soft and low. I kissed her hand once again and she
+was gone.
+
+We watched their dark shadows down the road to the Highland outpost,
+as they moved like great blots across the snow. I stood, I do not know
+how long, gazing after them, when Dick's hand was on my shoulder.
+
+"Never mind, Frisby," said he, "we shall win the city in the spring,
+and then you may win her also."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE BALL OF MY LORD HOWE
+
+
+Many a night after that last parting I stood guard on that dreary
+outpost, gazing out across the snow at the dim lights of the city far
+to the eastward. Aye, for the city was gay that winter, gay with
+parties and dances, balls and dinners, and the bells rang as merrily
+as if we were not starving and dying out on the bleak, hillsides. Aye,
+those old burghers were warm and comfortable as they sat by their
+fires, with a glass of their wine or toddy at their side.
+
+True, my Lord Howe ruled the city with an iron hand, but he was a
+gallant gentleman, and his officers made good partners for their fair
+daughters at the balls. They were handsome in their scarlet uniforms,
+with their epaulets and their sabres, making, indeed, a very gallant
+show, while those ragged patriots out upon the snow had not shoes to
+their feet, and were altogether too disreputable to be admitted even
+to the kitchens of their houses. Then, again, runs not the Quaker law,
+"Thou shalt not fight"? And so the good old burghers threw another log
+on the fire and sat down to enjoy the cheerful blaze.
+
+The news came to us, sifted through the lines; we heard of their
+dances and their balls, and everywhere we heard that Mistress Jean
+Gordon was the belle of them all. The old Tory held high rank in the
+counsels of Lord Howe, and the daughter, by her grace and beauty,
+reigned it over the hearts of every gallant gentleman of his army.
+
+We heard of her refusing my Lord Paulet and several other gentlemen,
+noted among us for their hard fighting, whenever by chance we were
+opposed to them. And I, standing guard on the outpost, chafed in vain
+when I heard these tales, until one day chance decided me to risk all,
+to see her once more with my own eyes, and perhaps speak to her.
+
+There had been a skirmish on the outposts that day, and our men had
+captured an English officer, a Captain of the line. He was a talkative
+man, and while he was waiting to be sent to the rear as a prisoner we
+entertained him at our mess table, and he in turn told us the news of
+the town.
+
+"That must be a wonderful country, what do you call it, that eastern
+shore of yours?" said he, "if it contains any more beauties like
+Mistress Jean Gordon."
+
+"Ah, the Tory's daughter?"
+
+"Yes. She is the reigning belle of the whole town, and all our fellows
+are wild about her. I never saw so many fellows in love with one girl
+before, but Farquharson seems to have the best of it, while Lord
+Paulet stamps and swears."
+
+Now, we were loyal Marylanders--loyal, at least, to her wit and
+beauty, so then and there we proposed and drank the health of the Tory
+maid, while Dick chimed in with the amendment, "May she never marry a
+Britisher, but a patriot tried and true," at which our English Captain
+good-naturedly protested; and while they drank the toast I made a vow
+that ere a week was past I would be within that city.
+
+Fortune came my way, for as I left the mess-room that night I ran
+against Tom Jones of Cresap's old company of riflemen from the
+mountains of the West, the most daring and desperate spy in all our
+army. He was a man of powerful strength, as lithe and active as a
+panther, while his face was as immovable as that of an Indian, with
+never a sign thereon of the thoughts and passions of the man within.
+He was clad for the moment in the dress of the riflemen, a full suit
+of buckskin, leggings, hunting-shirt, and all, while carelessly thrown
+across one arm was his rifle, and in his belt was sheathed the long
+hunting-knife.
+
+"Lieutenant," said he, "I expect to return through your lines
+to-morrow night, so do not fire before you challenge."
+
+"Come this way, Jones," said I, leading him aside from the others. "I
+do not know which way you are going, but I want you to help me through
+the lines into the city. Can you do so?"
+
+"But, Lieutenant, they will be wanting to hang you if you are caught."
+
+"I will take that risk. I must be in the city within a week."
+
+Jones, like most great frontiersmen, was a man of quick decision and
+few words.
+
+"Meet me in an hour," said he, "at the Yellow Tavern."
+
+An hour later found me at the tavern in full uniform, for it was the
+only suit I possessed in which it would be possible to present myself
+before a lady, so dilapidated, torn, and ragged was my wardrobe. But I
+had a great storm-coat which hid the uniform and was an admirable
+disguise.
+
+The tavern was crowded. As I stood by the fire I did not at once
+notice a quiet, unassuming traveller who had just entered, until he
+brushed past my arm and whispered, "Follow me." I did so a few minutes
+later, for it was Tom Jones, who looked for all the world as if he was
+a quiet city merchant, born and bred within its limits. Yet you had
+but to notice his walk, and you saw at once that he was a
+mountaineer, for he threaded his way through the crowd as noiselessly
+as he did among his native forests, where the crack of a dead twig
+might mean his death by a hostile bullet.
+
+I followed him out into the night, and a dark and dismal night it was;
+the snow was falling heavily and you could not see three rods away.
+
+"We will follow the pike," said he, "until we see their camp-fire.
+They will not keep strict watch to-night, and we will have to keep in
+touch with the landmarks."
+
+We trudged along through the snow past the outpost where I had
+commanded so many nights, keeping the vigils by the weary hours; then
+we became more careful, as the Highland outpost was but a few yards
+away.
+
+"They will have their backs to the storm," said the spy, "and though
+it is dangerous to go to the windward of a foe, yet he is not so apt
+to hear us as he would be to see us if we tried the leeward side.
+Those Highlanders have keen eyes."
+
+So we flanked the outpost to the windward and passed them safely, and
+then Jones led me by many little bypaths and lanes until we came to
+the outskirts of the town. And though the guard at one time could have
+touched us as they passed, so dense was the storm that never for a
+moment was our safety jeoparded.
+
+At last the houses became closer and we found ourselves in the town,
+while every now and then a belated traveller met us, glanced our way
+and passed on, for by now it was far into the night. But when we
+reached the heart of the town, even at that hour, the streets became
+filled with carriages, and we met many officers and gentlemen,
+returning from a ball. My Lord Howe entertained that night, and it
+was a sign of loyalty and good faith for every one to attend.
+
+Though I became interested in seeing the muffled figures pass us, and
+the carriages hurrying through the street, I grew uneasy as I saw that
+Jones was making his way to the centre of the town, to the very door
+of Lord Howe's mansion. At last I remonstrated with him, but Jones
+growled in answer: "How can you throw the dogs off your track, if the
+snow does not fill it, but by mixing it with other tracks?"
+
+This was unanswerable. I followed him along the street until we were
+among the crowd before Lord Howe's door.
+
+It was a gay and brilliant scene, that ball of my Lord Howe, and
+though it was near the end, the music of the dance still floated
+through the wide entrance, while the figures of the dancers flitted
+across the windows, which were ablaze with lights. The guests were
+fast leaving; fair ladies and officers bravely uniformed were coming
+down the steps. There was a calling of carriages and of names, the
+slamming of doors and the muffled roll of the wheels as they drove
+off. I was about to move on with Jones, when I heard the major-domo, a
+sergeant of the guard, call out the carriage of Colonel Charles
+Gordon, and then I would have drawn back, as I had been forced into
+the front rank; for, though I knew that she must be at the ball, I had
+not thought to be brought so suddenly face to face with her. But ere I
+could do so, she came down the carpeted stairs leaning on her father's
+arm, graceful and beautiful, while by her side walked Farquharson in
+full Highland costume, eager and attentive. A smile was upon her lips
+as she listened, and then her eyes met mine. Her face went pale, and
+she was near fainting. Her father caught her as she slightly reeled,
+and Farquharson looked fiercely around to see what the cause was. But
+I was muffled up, and before he could demand the cause Mistress Jean
+was eagerly declaring that it was a mere nothing; and, as if to prove
+what she said was true, she hurried on to the carriage.
+
+Farquharson leaned for a moment into the carriage to bid them
+good-night, and then it rolled off into the darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+AN EXCHANGE OF COURTESIES
+
+
+"A narrow escape that for you, Lieutenant," said Jones. "But she was a
+plucky lass, and now it is time for us to be looking for cover."
+
+He turned down a narrow, quiet street until we came to a house set
+somewhat back in the yard.
+
+Jones now rapped very gently on the door; it swung open as if he was
+expected, and a moment later we found ourselves heartily welcomed by
+an old Quaker lady in a little room with a bright fire burning.
+
+"I thought thee would come, Brother Jones," said she, "and who is this
+braw lad thou hast brought with thee?" And she smiled on me.
+
+"He is one of our Lieutenants, who has a sweetheart in town, and is
+willing to risk his neck to see her," said Jones gruffly, but there
+was a twinkle in his eye.
+
+This completed my conquest, and the motherly old soul proceeded to
+take charge of me.
+
+"Who is thy lady love thou hast come to see?" And when I told her that
+she was a Tory she was much distressed, but eager to help me.
+
+"The Good Book says thou must not fight, but it also says thou must
+help thy friends and neighbours, so I will help thee."
+
+But at last, after chattering awhile she took a candle and showed us
+to our rooms. I was soon lost in the almost blissful comfort of clean
+white sheets and a feather-bed.
+
+When I awoke next morning Jones had already departed on his mission,
+leaving me a note telling me where to meet him the next night on our
+return to camp.
+
+All that day I kept close to the house, for I did not dare to venture
+forth in the broad day, as I was known to many, and it would not have
+gone well with me if I had met with those I knew.
+
+But at last the night began to fall, and, bidding my kind hostess
+good-bye, I made my way through the streets to the Tory's house.
+
+I soon found it--a square brick structure in a quiet street. I
+noticed, as I approached it, several dark alleys just at the right
+places for a rapid retreat if the worse should come to the worst.
+
+Then my hand was on the knocker, and its fall startled me as the
+clatter echoed far down the street and seemed to wake the very dead.
+
+A slave opened the door, who, though he glanced at me suspiciously,
+told me that his mistress was at home.
+
+Then in a moment my storm-coat was off, and I stood in the door of the
+drawing-room.
+
+It was a beautiful picture, the great strong Highlander on his knees
+at the feet of Mistress Jean begging for her hand, which she seemed to
+be denying him, for he was growing more and more passionate.
+
+For a moment, as I stood there, I could feel my hair grow gray, but
+the tumult and the conflict within me were short and I turned to go,
+for it seemed to me that she could not but care for so gallant a
+gentleman.
+
+But her eyes met mine, and then for a moment there was terror in them,
+and a cry broke forth from her lips.
+
+Farquharson, startled by her gaze, turned also, and, seeing me, was
+quickly on his feet, his face aflame with passion.
+
+"Sir," said he, advancing toward me, "do you not know the fate of
+eavesdroppers"--and then for the first time noticing my uniform,
+added, "and spies?"
+
+"I know the fate of those who call a gentleman by such names," I
+retorted coolly.
+
+"A gentleman?" and he laughed. "I will have you hanged for a dog of a
+spy before sunrise."
+
+"Pardon me, sir, but you are my prisoner until it shall suit me to let
+you go free."
+
+At this he laughed merrily.
+
+"Well said, Sir Rebel," he cried; "but permit me to pass before I spit
+you on my sword." And he drew and advanced upon me.
+
+"Permit me, sir, to use another argument;" and I drew my pistol and
+covered him. "Advance another step and I will blow your brains out."
+
+He glanced at me for a moment, but did not advance. "And further, let
+me suggest that we are in the presence of a lady, and it is not seemly
+for her to see the flash of weapons."
+
+At this he put up his sword.
+
+"To whom do I owe a lesson in gallantry?" he asked with a low and
+sweeping bow.
+
+"James Frisby, of Fairlee, a Lieutenant in the Maryland Line," I
+replied with equal courtesy.
+
+Mistress Jean had stood as though she were turned to stone during our
+exchange of courtesies, but now she seemed to recover.
+
+"Captain Farquharson," she cried, and she came and stood between us,
+"this is an old friend of mine. He saved my life at the Braes when we
+were raided by the rebels. You must promise me to let him go free out
+of the city."
+
+"Your wishes, Mistress Jean, are law," said he, "and shall be obeyed.
+I shall give him till morning to escape in."
+
+"Which I promptly accept," said I, "with the hope that I may be able
+to repay your courtesy if fortune should bring you within our lines
+some day."
+
+And so he bade Mistress Jean farewell, but as he passed me, I
+whispered to him:
+
+"Sir, some words have been said that need an explanation."
+
+"It will give me pleasure to offer you one at any place you may
+appoint."
+
+"Then meet me," I said, "two days hence at sunrise on the pike,
+half-way between the lines."
+
+"With swords or pistols?"
+
+"Swords."
+
+"I will be there;" and he passed on out.
+
+When he had gone, I turned to Mistress Jean, who urged me to leave at
+once.
+
+"You must go," said she, "for at any moment you may be tracked and
+discovered, and then----"
+
+"And then--what?" I answered, smiling. "Do you think, Mistress Jean,
+that I, who travelled for miles through the snow and the storm last
+night to catch one glimpse of your face, that I, who at last stand in
+your presence, would give a thought to the noose around my neck?"
+
+But she would not let me say her nay, and then her terror grew, until
+at last she told me that Lord Howe sometimes came home with her father
+at nine o'clock to talk over the plans of the spring campaign, and
+that every moment she expected to hear their voices in the hall.
+
+"The sight of your face, Mistress Jean, has repaid me for my journey;
+but if you bid me go, why, then, it is fate, and go I must." Then a
+thought came to me. "Mistress Jean, tell me this before I leave in the
+enemy's camp all that is dearest on earth to me: tell me if you love
+that Highlander, if you care for him." And she, who a moment before
+was urging me to leave, stood silent, with her face turned away from
+me, with never a word to say.
+
+And I, seeing how matters stood, took my courage in my hands, and,
+with a low bow, wished her good-bye.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE CROSSING OF SWORDS
+
+
+Sunrise, two days later, found Mr. Richard Ringgold and myself
+stamping our feet in the snow on the pike, half-way between the
+hostile lines.
+
+"I suppose they will let us fight here without interruption," said
+Dick.
+
+"No danger from that," I replied. "We will fight in that little
+hollow, where the outposts cannot see us."
+
+"Here they come," said Dick. We saw two officers approaching across
+the snow from the Highland outpost.
+
+They soon came up, and we saluted, while Dick and Captain Forbes,
+Farquharson's second, soon agreed upon the preliminaries.
+
+"Will you lead the way, gentlemen?" said Forbes.
+
+Dick and I led them to the little hollow between the hills, where a
+slight meadow formed a platform, as it were, for us to act our drama
+upon.
+
+Since my first duel with Rodolph on the banks of the Elk I had seen
+something of war and of battles, and considered myself an old hand in
+such encounters.
+
+And so I found myself looking Farquharson over and estimating his
+strength and his skill, for I knew him to be one of the best swordsmen
+among the Highlanders, while I could claim, with all due modesty, to
+be the best in the Maryland Line.
+
+He was a notable swordsman, you could see that at a glance; the
+powerful figure, yet as light and active as a cat, the muscles of his
+sword arm telling of long and patient handling of the weapon, while
+his cold gray eye spoke for his coolness and determination.
+
+He glanced at me, as we threw off our coats, in almost an indifferent
+manner, as if he had a duty to perform, which was to be done as
+quickly as possible, the mere suppression of a country bumpkin by a
+gentleman of fashion. I knew that would change as soon as our swords
+crossed, and smiled to myself. Then, being stripped to our shirts, we
+took our places and saluted.
+
+Click, and our swords rang true. Though he fenced somewhat carelessly
+at first, there came a surprised look and a sudden change in his
+manner, as I parried a skilful thrust and touched him lightly on the
+shoulder. He seemed to realise that he had no ordinary swordsman
+opposed to him, and quickly brought into play all his skill and
+fierceness in attack, throwing me on the defensive and forcing me
+gradually back.
+
+It could not last; no strength could stand it. When he found that the
+steel guard met every attack, that every thrust was parried, he
+relaxed the fierceness of his attack and began to fence with more
+skill and caution.
+
+Thus it was we fenced for several minutes, the clash of the steel
+ringing out in the cold, crisp air across the snow, and it came to my
+opponent that he had at last met a swordsman who was his equal in
+skill. From this on every moment he developed some new feint, some new
+attack, and, though I met them every one, it took my utmost skill to
+do so.
+
+But at last there came the end. He had assumed the offensive again and
+was pressing hard upon me, when he placed his foot upon a loose stone
+in the snow, which rolled. The sword flew from out his hand and he
+was down upon his knee.
+
+My sword was at his throat, and then my hand was stayed, for there
+came before me the vision of the Tory maid, standing with face averted
+in the square brick house in the city. That she might care, that she
+might be in terror then as to the fate that might befall him, flashed
+through my brain. I brought my sword to a salute, and returned it to
+its scabbard.
+
+"Sir," said I, as Farquharson rose, "it is a pleasure to have fought
+with so gallant a gentleman."
+
+"And I, sir," he returned, "am happy to have met so skilful a
+swordsman." And then, like gallant men who have fought and know each
+other's worth, we shook hands on the spot where a moment before our
+blades were thirsting for each other's blood.
+
+"It gives me pleasure," he continued, "to withdraw my remarks at
+Colonel Gordon's, as they arose from a misapprehension."
+
+"I will consider them as if they had never been said," I replied, "and
+I beg of you, on your return, to present my compliments to Mistress
+Gordon, and tell her that I send you to her as my wedding gift."
+
+"Why, is she to be married?" he asked in a startled way.
+
+"I believe so," I answered, "but she will tell you all about it."
+
+And so we returned to the pike, where we all saluted again, and
+retraced our steps to the lines.
+
+The spring was late that year. April had come before there came a soft
+warm breeze from the Southland, waking nature into life, and covering
+the hard frozen face of mother earth with wreaths and clouds of mist
+and moisture. From every hillside, from every frost-bound plain, the
+smoke of spring arose, and through the air there breathed the spirit
+of the reincarnated life of the world.
+
+How we of the Southland hailed it with joy, and drank in with our
+lungs this promise of a new life! We who loved the sunshine and the
+balmy breezes, the great joy of living amid fragrant fields and
+green-clad forests, we who hated the storms, the wind and cold of the
+North,--ah, how the blood in our veins welcomed this soft caress of
+the South! We threw off the terror of the winter, looked forward with
+glee to the opening of the spring campaign, and counted in
+anticipation the honours we were to win, the glory that would be ours.
+
+New life sprang up all through the camp; the troops left the busy duty
+of hugging the fires, the ranks filled up, and order and discipline
+once more became the order of the day.
+
+Rumours soon came creeping through the lines of a change in the
+leadership of the enemy's forces, but as yet they lay quietly within
+the city and showed not the teeth of offence. Thus we lay on the green
+hillsides of Valley Forge, busily preparing for the struggle which was
+certain to come, until far into the spring, without a sign of a
+movement on the part of the enemy.
+
+But with May came their new Commander-in-Chief, Sir Henry Clinton, and
+the departure of Lord Howe, and we knew that the time had at last come
+when some bold stroke would be played in the game of war.
+
+The gaps in our ranks had been somewhat filled, and we were ready and
+eager for active service as soon as the great General would give the
+command.
+
+At last came rumours of a retreat, that the English were preparing to
+desert the city and march across the plains of Jersey to where New
+York lay, sheltered by the waters of the sea and the rivers. We
+marched toward the Delaware to be ready to strike them when they
+moved.
+
+So, one day, as I stood on the outpost, guarding the nearest road to
+the city, I saw Jones approaching at full speed on an old horse, which
+he had evidently borrowed. I was ready for his news.
+
+"The British are crossing the Delaware; we will catch them in Jersey
+now or never," he cried, and then he had dashed past on his way to
+headquarters.
+
+My little guard received the news with a yell, and we looked forward
+eagerly for the order to join our regiment on the march.
+
+It was not long in coming, and on that night, the 18th of June, we
+crossed the Delaware, and started on the race across Jersey that was
+to end at Monmouth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE SANDS OF MONMOUTH
+
+
+For a week we hung on the flank of the enemy, waiting for an
+opportunity to strike, as we saw the immense train form on the right
+bank of the Delaware and take up its cumbersome march across the
+Jersey plains.
+
+With it marched the whole force of the British army of seventeen
+thousand men, who did their duty so well that we longed for an opening
+in vain.
+
+All through those blazing hot days of June we marched through the
+sands of Jersey, ankle deep as we trudged along, and it seemed as if
+the time for a trial of strength would never come. All to the east and
+south of us the great train of their wagons crawled along through the
+heat and the dust, and the sun glinted and gleamed on the points of
+the bayonets as the mass of their troops marched on.
+
+Slowly they crawled through the dusty roads of Jersey, and slowly they
+were crawling beyond the reach of our arms into the haven of safety.
+
+At last, on the 27th of the month, they reached the heights of
+Monmouth, within a day's march of their journey's end, while we lay
+five miles away at Englishtown, swearing low and earnestly at our
+luck.
+
+That night there came news to the camp that put new life in the men,
+and made them forget the heat and the toil of the march; the news that
+the great General had decided to risk a throw in the morning, and that
+our regiment was to be with the advance.
+
+And so, when Lee rode up to take command, we gave him a cheer, for
+though we disliked and distrusted the man, yet his coming meant a
+fight in the morning.
+
+Then there was a great stir in the camp; the men saw to their muskets,
+and the signs everywhere told of their eager preparations for the
+deadly struggle in the morning, while the cheery laugh and the
+snatches of song spoke well for the spirits of the men after the long,
+toilsome march of the day.
+
+The sun comes up out of the ocean early in Jersey, but even before its
+rays had cleared the pine tops our camp was stirring with life, the
+men preparing for the advance.
+
+But there seemed to be a fatality about it all; a hand, as it were,
+covered us and held us back, paralyzing the spirit of the men. Delay
+followed delay, and when at last the regiments took up the line of
+march, ours was held back until almost the last. The New Jersey
+volunteers had the post of honour, as they longed to revenge their
+ruined homesteads and devastated farms, and then our turn came.
+
+We marched out of Englishtown into the dreary country beyond. On every
+side sand dunes, former barriers of the ocean, raised their crests,
+covered with a straggling forest of stunted pines and scrub trees,
+which, in the passes in the hills, came down to the road, disputing
+the passageway, while in the shallow valleys lay the open fields and
+marshes. A dreary country withal, but where a small body of troops
+could hold the passes in the hills against many hundreds and make good
+their defence.
+
+We passed through the defile in the first range of hills, crossed the
+low valley, and then, after passing through the second defile, we had
+only to cross the one before us to be on the heights overlooking the
+enemy's position at Freehold.
+
+As we approached this last pass in the hills we were surprised to see
+a steady stream of our troops coming back in disorder through the gap.
+The men were retreating doggedly in broken ranks, and turning, as they
+trudged along, to look back, as if with half a mind to return.
+
+As they came streaming past our advance I called to a sergeant, an old
+backwoodsman whose courage I knew, and asked him of the battle and why
+he was not fighting.
+
+"Fight?" he cried indignantly, "why, damn it, Lieutenant, they will
+not let us fight. They ordered us to retreat before a musket was
+fired."
+
+At that moment Captain Mercer, an aide of the staff of General Lee,
+rode up to Colonel Ramsay, who was near me.
+
+He delivered an order rapidly, and then I heard Ramsay's voice ring
+out angrily. "Retreat?" he cried. "By whose order?"
+
+"By the order of General Lee."
+
+"But," he protested hotly, "we have not seen the enemy yet."
+
+Mercer shrugged his shoulders. "I only carry the order," he said.
+
+The stream of fugitives grew rapidly, becoming more disorderly,
+showing at every step the spread of the panic and the rout, as Colonel
+Ramsay stopped the advance and gave the order to retreat.
+
+Slowly and reluctantly we obeyed, and as we retired through the second
+pass in the hills we saw the British gain the opposite ridge and
+advance with cheers on the disorderly flying mass in the sandy valley
+behind.
+
+Every moment the press of the fugitives grew greater, and though we
+still maintained our formation and marched as on parade the retreat
+had turned into a rout. On every side and in our rear the broken
+ranks of the army poured past, demoralised and in despair, and ever
+nearer came the musketry and the cheers of the advancing English.
+
+"They will catch us before we get through the gap," said Dick, looking
+at the pass in front of us.
+
+"Then we will fight anyhow," I replied, "and General Lee can go to the
+devil."
+
+Whereupon our spirits began to pick up, and the men retreated more
+slowly than ever, glancing over their shoulders to see how near the
+head of the British column was.
+
+At last we came to the foot of the first pass, with its hills heavily
+covered with scrub pines. Behind us stretched the fields of broken
+troops, and we could see the red line of the British as they debouched
+upon the plain and drove the patriots before them.
+
+It was a wild scene of confusion and disorder, of demoralised retreat
+and rout; and then something happened.
+
+There was a stir in the pass in our front, a clatter of hoofs, and
+there appeared before us the General with his staff. He towered there
+with his great figure, a veritable god of war and of wrath.
+
+For a moment his eye swept the field, and his face flushed crimson
+with indignation and anger, as he saw the best troops of his army
+flying like sheep before the enemy. There was a storm in the air, and
+then, as Lee rode up, it broke.
+
+We heard his excited "Sir, sir!" and the General's angry tones, and
+then dismissing him contemptuously, he called to Hamilton to ask if
+there was a regiment which could stop the advance.
+
+Ramsay sprang forward.
+
+"My regiment is ready, General."
+
+"If you stop them ten minutes until I form, you will save the army."
+
+"I will stop them or fall," cried Ramsay, and, turning to us, he gave
+the order to "About face," and then crying that the General relied on
+us to save the army, he led us in the charge.
+
+Not a moment too soon, for, as the press of the fugitives was brushed
+aside by our advance, mingling in the midst of the disorderly mass,
+came the red line of the British, cheering and victorious.
+
+But suddenly the flying mass disappeared, and in their place came the
+yell of the Maryland Line, the long array of their bayonets bent to
+the charge, with all the fury and weight of their onset.
+
+For a moment the red line hesitated; then an officer, who looked
+strangely familiar, sprang forward, shouting:
+
+"They are nothing but dogs of rebels; charge and break them."
+
+The red line answered with a cheer, for their fighting blood was up,
+and they dashed forward to meet us.
+
+Then came such a clash of steel as is seldom heard, as the King's
+Grenadiers and the Maryland Line met in the shock of the charge. For a
+moment so close was the press that we could not wield our arms, and
+men fell, spitted on each other's bayonets.
+
+Then came a deadly struggle, as men fought desperately, hand to hand,
+and the lines swayed backward and forward as the weight of the numbers
+told. The ground was lost and gained, struggled for and won over and
+over, while the dead lay in heaps under our feet.
+
+It was in the midst of this deadly struggle, when I was fighting sword
+in hand amid the press of bayonets for my very life, that I saw
+Ramsay, who was near, cheering on his men, come face to face with the
+officer who led the charge of the Grenadiers. Then, in that storm
+centre, around which the roar of battle raged, there was a flash of
+steel and the swords crossed. But in the fury of the battle duels are
+short and fierce, and I saw Ramsay, who was already covered with
+wounds, falter for a moment, as the other lunged, and then he was down
+among the slain.
+
+Our line hesitated as Ramsay fell, and the English pressed on with a
+cheer. But I sprang forward, shouting to the men to save their
+Colonel, and they, answering my call, forced the English back, until I
+stood by Ramsay's body. But only for a moment; before we could raise
+Ramsay gently up and bear him off the field, there came another charge
+of the Grenadiers that forced us off our feet and hurled us backward,
+fighting desperately, leaving the body of our Colonel in the hands of
+the enemy. But in the _mêlée_ I found my sword crossing that of the
+officer who had fought with Ramsay, and instantly I attacked him
+fiercely, for I was burning to avenge Ramsay's fall. But he, with ease
+and coolness, parried all my thrusts and played with me as if I were
+but a child. Then, as I was growing desperate, he called to me, "Nay,
+lad, go try your sword on some one else and leave an old Scot alone. I
+would not hurt you for the world."
+
+I started and let the point of my sword fall, for it was the voice of
+the old Tory, whom I had not before recognised in the confusion of the
+fight. This slight hesitation almost led to my capture, for I had been
+fighting in advance of our line, and now I found myself in the midst
+of the English troops. So, saluting the old Tory hastily, I regained
+our lines.
+
+Then, fighting foot by foot and inch, by inch, we contested their
+advance, as the weight of numbers bore us backward up the hill into
+the pines. But every minute gained meant the salvation of the army.
+
+Ah, it was hot work there, ankle deep in the sand, with the broiling
+sun above us, while the smoke and the dust of the conflict filled our
+throats and eyes; but we staggered on and fought blindly, desperately,
+amid the din and the carnage.
+
+Ten minutes, twenty minutes--ah, there it is at last, and the roar of
+the opening battle broke out to the right and left of us, as the
+re-formed regiments went into the fight.
+
+Then to our left came the high piercing yell of our brothers of the
+Line, and we knew that the British were falling back before them. The
+Grenadiers struggled on for a moment longer, but the force of their
+charge was spent, and the fire of the new regiments forced them back
+in turn.
+
+But it was only for awhile, for they re-formed, and, under the
+leadership of the gallant Monkton, hurled themselves upon us once
+again.
+
+Monkton fell, and their lines shrivelled up under our fire. Then, as
+it was near the setting of the sun, Washington, glancing over the
+field, saw that the time had come and ordered the advance.
+
+Our whole line sprang forward, and, though we had borne the brunt, the
+toil, and heat of the day, not a man faltered. As the long line swept
+forward the British slowly retreated before us. We drove them across
+the plain and through the second pass, where night overtook us and
+stopped our pursuit.
+
+But then, when the fever of the battle left us, a great fatigue
+seized hold of our limbs, the men sank to the earth as they stood,
+and slept from very exhaustion.
+
+But we were soon to be aroused.
+
+Through the darkness came the sound of a horse's hoofs, and a voice,
+asking for Ramsay's regiment. I sprang up, answering, and saw
+approaching a body of horsemen. The foremost rider seemed an immense
+figure, as he advanced in the darkness; but I, who had seen him often
+before, knew him to be the great General.
+
+I immediately gave the alarm, and the men sprang to their feet and
+presented arms.
+
+And then, there under the pines, by the light of the stars, the
+General rode down our line, and, coming to the centre, we felt his
+glance fall over our ranks.
+
+"Men of Maryland," spoke Washington, and his voice rang clear through
+the pines, "once before at Long Island you saved the army, and to-day,
+for a second time, you have done so by your courage and tenacity. I
+thank you in the name of the army and the nation; I thank you for
+myself."
+
+A wild yell that broke from the Line was his answer. We forgot our
+fatigue and our wounds in the pride of the moment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+IN THE LINES OF THE ENEMY
+
+
+It was near the end of the first watch when an order came to me to
+pick out several men, go forward, feel the enemy's outposts, and see
+if the enemy was still retreating.
+
+Making my choice, I passed our pickets with three men, and made my way
+cautiously to the last pass in the hills which was in the enemy's
+possession at nightfall. But not a sign of their pickets or troops
+could I find; so I boldly advanced in the pass, and, crossing the
+ridge, found myself on the heights overlooking Freehold. It was a
+small town of scattered houses, and beyond it I could see the lights
+of the British camp-fires.
+
+But as the heights were not near enough for our purpose, we descended
+into the plain, and carefully made our way toward the town, where I
+knew certain patriots were, who, if I could once get speech with them,
+would tell me the whole plans of the enemy.
+
+We could hear the tramp of feet at the further side of the village,
+and all the sounds of an army in retreat. Being now so close to them,
+and in great danger, we moved with the utmost caution. Near at hand,
+on the outskirts of the town, stood a large, square stone house,
+separated from the rest of the houses by an immense garden. Having
+found a break in the hedge, we entered.
+
+It was an old garden, filled with boxwood walks and flowers run wild.
+Very prim at one time it must have been; but, now that the war had
+helped the return to nature, it was a wild and tangled mass.
+
+Making our way through the garden, a light was suddenly thrown upon
+our path, and, glancing up, I saw that it came from a window which,
+though it was on the first floor of the house, was yet some distance
+from the ground.
+
+Then the figure of a woman crossed the window, stopping for a moment
+to look out, while we stood in the shadow of the hedge, holding our
+breath. But she passed on, and I, determining to see into the room to
+discover whether it contained friend or foe, quickly gained the
+shelter of the wall of the house. The wall was of rough hewn stone,
+and with the help of my comrades' shoulders, I raised myself high
+enough to glance over the window-sill, and what I saw there made me
+drop to the ground quickly.
+
+Then, whispering to my comrades to stay where they were, I made my way
+to the rear entrance of the house, and, finding the door unfastened,
+softly entered the hall; and then I was standing in the door of the
+room from which the light came.
+
+A lamp stood on a table near a long horse-hair sofa with spindle legs,
+on which lay the figure of a man. The coat had been cut from his
+shoulder, which was swathed in many bandages, while the blood-stained
+rags on the table and the floor told of the seriousness of the wound.
+
+A slender figure was bending over him, gently arranging a pillow under
+his head.
+
+"Do you feel easier now, father?"
+
+"Yes, lassie." Then, a moment later, "Why does not Clinton send me a
+carriage? He surely does not intend to desert me here."
+
+"Captain Farquharson is searching for one," she answered. And then
+turning to the table, she saw me standing in the doorway. The colour
+left her face; she gave a little cry, for she thought there were many
+men behind me, and that all was lost. So, quickly putting my finger to
+my lips, I stepped back into the darkness of the hall, and as I did
+so, I heard the old Tory ask, "What's that?"
+
+"It was nothing," she answered. "I thought I saw a ghost."
+
+I stood there in the broad window waiting, for I knew she would come.
+
+Below me was the garden, heavy-scented with the odour of flowers, and
+the hum of the night insects was everywhere in the air. Close to the
+wall I saw the figures of my scouts. The noise of the tramp of feet,
+the creak of waggons, and the voice of command came to me from the
+village street.
+
+At last she came and stood before me. In her eyes were great pain and
+fear and suffering.
+
+"Tell me," she asked anxiously, "is there any danger for him?"
+
+"More danger for me than for him," I replied. "The whole American
+advance guard consists of three men and myself; the rest will follow
+in the morning."
+
+"Ah," she cried, and there was hope once more in her voice; "then we
+can escape."
+
+"If you can move your father by sunrise, yes," I replied.
+
+"But you," she said, and there was new anxiety in her voice; "you are
+in great danger here. When the soldiers come to remove father they
+will take you prisoner."
+
+"I care not, Mistress Jean," I answered, "for your eyes have held me
+prisoner for many a long day, and all the prison bars in the world are
+nothing to me so long as I can look into them."
+
+"Nay," she said, "you must not say such things to me."
+
+And I, taking this as a confirmation of all my fears and that at last
+Farquharson had succeeded in his suit, would have bade her good-bye
+and gone my way. But before I went I told her of my wishes for her
+happiness, and that I had met Farquharson and knew of his skill and
+courage.
+
+"Farquharson?" and her eyes were wide open in surprise. "I really
+believe you think I am going to marry him;" and she laughed so softly,
+bewitchingly, that--
+
+"Jean, Jean," I cried, now that hope and life had come back with a
+rush, "Jean, do you know that I love you; that I love the very ground
+on which you walk, the sunbeams in your hair, the very air you
+breathe? Ah! Jean--" But at that moment came the voice of the Tory
+calling her and the tramp of feet on the porch.
+
+"Let me go," she cried, for I held her hands in mine; "and fly,--that
+is the guard."
+
+"Nay," said I, "not till you give me a kiss. I will stay here and be
+captured first."
+
+There was a moment's hesitation, and then a flash of white arms, and
+the softest caress--ah, such a caress that the memory of it will go
+with me to the grave. And then she was gone.
+
+And I, not wishing to be captured now, slipped through the rear door
+to my men, and a short time later, having satisfied ourselves of the
+retreat of the enemy's forces, we made our way back over the hills to
+report to the General.
+
+We followed the enemy closely the next day, and did not draw off until
+we saw them beyond our reach at Sandy Hook.
+
+Then we took our way to the Jersey hills, and lay there for a time
+watching the enemy in New York.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE PASSING OF YEARS
+
+
+Then came a long period when it seemed almost as if peace had settled
+over the land, so seldom did the rattle of musket fire or the angry
+flash of guns break the quiet repose of the Jersey plains and farms.
+
+Far across the marshes lay New York, and behind its walls and the
+broad sweep of the waters the British army rested safe, while the army
+of the patriots, scattered among the forests, woods, and hills of
+Jersey and New York, lived, like Robin Hood's followers of old, and
+waited while the wheel of fortune turned.
+
+A year went by, when at the taking of Paulus Hook I first heard news
+of the welfare of the Tory and the maid, since the night of the
+Monmouth retreat.
+
+It was after an all-night march through the marshes of Jersey, often
+breast-high in the water, that we made a silent, deadly charge with
+the bayonet on the enemy's fort, and carried it before the sun had
+risen.
+
+We were retiring rapidly, after securing our prisoners, when one of my
+men called to me: "Captain, here's one of those Highland chiefs
+knocked on the head."
+
+I went to him and found that it was Farquharson, who had received an
+ugly blow on the head from a clubbed musket.
+
+A little whiskey between his teeth and water on his face revived him,
+and I was able, with the help of several men, to carry him along with
+our party.
+
+We made good our retreat, and when several days later I was in the
+main camp of the army, I went to the quarters where the prisoners were
+detained, and there I again met Farquharson.
+
+"Captain," said he, smiling, for he had almost recovered from his
+wound, "there is no entering a contest against you; fortune is always
+on your side."
+
+"My turn will come," I answered; "but is there anything I can do for
+you?"
+
+"I am afraid not, unless you bribe the guards to let me escape."
+
+"That would be clear against the articles of war," I replied. We fell
+to talking, and then it was I heard of the Tory and his daughter.
+
+"It was about Christmas time," said Farquharson, "that the King sent a
+message over the sea, granting him a pardon for the part he had taken
+in '45, for you know he was out then. The Sea Raven was about to
+clear in a week for Glasgow, and a sudden longing seemed to seize him
+to see once more the dash of the waters through the Braes of Mar and
+the heather-crowned hills of old Aberdeen; and so, within a week, they
+had sailed away; and as he left he said to me: 'A revolt drove me from
+old Scotland; another sends me back again. I wonder where fortune will
+end my days.' It is a strange fortune that has followed him through
+life."
+
+"It is, indeed," I replied.
+
+So they sailed away over the seas, gone back to their own land and
+people; and between that land and mine burned high the flame of war.
+But through the flame and across the broad stretch of the waters, I
+saw the form of the maid beckoning me on, and though my hope was
+well-nigh gone, I buckled tight my sword-belt and doggedly went
+on,--went on, through the long march to the southward, the toil, the
+hunger, and the defeat of the Camden campaign.
+
+The great triumph of Eutaw Springs and Cowpens, as we drove back
+Cornwallis from the hill country to the shore, rolled back the tide of
+invasion and drowned it in the sea.
+
+A year went by, bringing me adventures not a few, and with the
+adventures came wounds and honours; and when there came the news of
+the leaguer of Yorktown, it found me a full Colonel in the army of the
+South.
+
+It was not my fortune to be present at that last great feat of our
+arms, when the great General struck the blow that freed us for ever
+from the tyranny of the King.
+
+But when the news came down to us in the savannahs of the South we
+hailed it with joy, for we saw once more before us the quiet, smiling
+fields of Maryland, with the ease and comfort and plenty of it all
+that awaited but our coming to repay us for the years of strife and
+blood.
+
+And then at last came the order for us to take up the homeward march.
+The men took up the trail with as jaunty a step as when they first
+marched to the northward, long years before. The gay uniforms were
+faded and gone; rags and tatters had taken their places, while of the
+brave banner that was flung to the breeze at the Head of Elk nothing
+remained but the staff and a few ribbons that flaunted therefrom.
+
+But every tatter told the tale of a fight where the shot and shell had
+torn it as it waved above the charging line, the deadly struggle of
+the hand to hand, or marked the slow and sullen retreat.
+
+The men themselves were hardy and bronzed; from their ragged caps to
+their soleless shoes they bore the stamp of veterans. They showed the
+signs of their training in the angry school of war; wide indeed was
+the difference between the gay volunteers of '76 and the hardy
+veterans of '82. We swung along in our homeward march with a right
+goodwill, and at last came to the broad Potomac and saw the hills of
+Maryland beyond.
+
+Now the river itself to the low water-line of the southern bank is
+within the boundaries of Maryland. Wishing to be the first across the
+line, I rode my horse in to the saddle-girths, and let him drink
+thereof.
+
+A day later brought us to Annapolis, where we received the thanks of
+the State authorities, and with all due form and ceremony obtained our
+discharge and then dispersed to our homes.
+
+That very day I took a canoe, and, crossing the bay, found myself
+again on the steps of Fairlee.
+
+Once more my mother leaned on my arm, and, looking up at her tall,
+broad-shouldered son, with his epaulets of a Colonel, bronzed face,
+and hardy bearing, seemed proud and happy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE COMING OF THE MAID
+
+
+Many months had passed away, spring had come again, and the fair city
+of Annapolis lay in a mass of flowers. The vivid green of the old
+trees cast a delightful shade over all, tempting one to stroll through
+the quiet streets and byways, past the moss-grown walls, the
+old-fashioned gardens, buried in roses, and the stately, proud
+mansions of many of Maryland's best and bravest.
+
+I was standing on a step and above me stood Mistresses Polly and Betsy
+Johnson, who were railing at me now that I no longer wore a uniform
+and was simply a plain member of the Legislature.
+
+"He looked so fine in his brass buttons," said Mistress Polly.
+
+"A brave, bold, quite proper-looking young fellow," added Mistress
+Betsy.
+
+"And now just look at him," continued Mistress Polly pathetically; and
+they surveyed me sorrowfully, while malicious mischief played around
+the corners of their eyes.
+
+I laughed outright. I could not help it, so droll was the expression
+on their faces.
+
+"True, your ladyship," I said; "the toga does not fit a young man so
+well as the buckled sabre and glittering epaulets. But now that dull
+peace has come, the hall of the Legislature is the only place where
+you can throw the weight of your sword in the conflict and wield some
+influence in the great struggles of the country; would you have me
+idle?"
+
+"Nay, I would not have that," said Mistress Polly judiciously. "But
+your round head and big hands are just the things for a fight, and
+though your voice is--well--can be heard a considerable distance, I am
+afraid----" She paused, as if doubtful about its being put to any good
+use in the hall of the Assembly.
+
+Decidedly I was getting the worst of it.
+
+At this moment Dick Ringgold, who represented Kent with me, came
+swinging up the street, and, seeing me standing on the steps, hailed
+me with--
+
+"Hello, Frisby, have you heard the news?"
+
+"What news?"
+
+"Your old Tory friend Gordon is on the Sally Ann, from London, which
+has just come up the harbour."
+
+"Any one with him?" I asked anxiously.
+
+"Well," said Dick, maliciously drawling it out, "I heard some one say
+there was a young lady with him."
+
+I did not stop to protest against the laughter that followed me as I
+dashed down the street, or to Dick's shout as he called something
+after me. A few minutes later I was on the wharf.
+
+Out in the stream, swaying with the current of the tide, lay the Sally
+Ann, her tall spars tapering high in air, her decks full of bustle and
+activity, showing the journey's end and that the final preparations
+for disembarkation were under full headway.
+
+As I arrived a boat was pulling off from her side containing two
+passengers. As I saw them my heart gave a great bound; my hand went to
+my hat and swung it around my head. In answer to my signal came the
+fluttering of a handkerchief.
+
+"Sir," said I, as the old Tory stepped ashore, "let me be the first
+to welcome you back to old Maryland."
+
+"Would that all my enemies were like you!" he replied. "I hesitated
+long about returning, but Jean would have it so."
+
+And Mistress Jean said not a word as I took her hand in mine, but her
+face was mantled in scarlet and her eyes were downcast.
+
+The prim old garden of the Nicholsons never looked more charming, the
+flowers more sweet and beautiful, or the green boxwood hedges more
+suggestive of rest and repose; the lazy waters of the Chester rolled
+along at its foot, gently lapping the grass. Ah! the sun was shining
+on a glorious world that day, for Mistress Jean walked beside me.
+
+"Mistress Jean," said I, as we stood where the waters met the grass
+and looked out over the broad and silent river, flowing on and on as
+if to eternity, "our lives have been more like mountain torrents than
+the broad smooth river here. We have lived through the battles and
+sieges, seen blood and death and all the horrors of a great war, but
+now that peace has come, and our course lies through pleasant fields
+and verdant meadows, would it not be best for them to join and flow on
+as this great river does, Jean? Ah, Jean, you know how much I love
+you."
+
+And then she placed her hand in mine; her eyes spoke that which I most
+wished to know, and the very earth seemed glorious.
+
+I know not how long we stood there, when there came Mistress Nancy
+Nicholson's voice through the garden, calling, "Jean, Jean, where are
+you?"
+
+"Here," she answered; and with that Mistress Nancy came running round
+the hedge.
+
+"Oh, Jean," she cried, "Dick has proposed."
+
+And then, seeing me, she stamped her little foot, and cried, "Oh,
+bother!" blushing meanwhile as red as one of her roses.
+
+"And so have I, Mistress Nancy," I replied.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now, my children, I end this tale, sitting here on the old porch
+at Fairlee. The pen drops from my hand, but my eyes are not too dim to
+see the flash of the sunlight on the waters of the great bay through
+the break in the trees.
+
+Nor are they too dim, Miss Jean, in spite of the impertinent toss of
+your head, to see in you the likeness of the maid that led me such a
+wild dance in the days of my youth. And I promise you, if you do not
+smile on young Dick Ringgold and stop your outrageous treatment of
+him, I will not leave you a cent in my will.
+
+There, there; I retract every word that I said. Was there ever so
+audacious a monkey in the world?
+
+There, I have finished. Oh, yes, I forgot--
+
+"John Cotton, bring me some more mint."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tory Maid, by Herbert Baird Stimpson
+
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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Tory Maid, by Herbert Baird Stimpson.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
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+    p {  margin-top: .75em;
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+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tory Maid, by Herbert Baird Stimpson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tory Maid
+
+Author: Herbert Baird Stimpson
+
+Release Date: February 26, 2007 [EBook #20678]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORY MAID ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Diane Monico, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<p class="figcenter" style="width: 418px;">
+<img src="images/image001.jpg" width="418" height="580" alt="(cover)" title="" />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p class="figcenter" style="width: 344px;">
+<img src="images/image002.jpg" width="344" height="580" alt="(frontispiece)" title="" />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p class="figcenter" style="width: 333px;">
+<img src="images/image003.jpg" width="333" height="600" alt="(title page)" title="" />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+
+<h1>The<br />
+Tory Maid</h1>
+
+<h3>By</h3>
+<h2>HERBERT BAIRD<br />
+STIMPSON<br /><br /><br /><br /></h2>
+
+
+<h4>New York</h4>
+<h4>Dodd, Mead and Company</h4>
+
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 33%;" />
+<p class="center">Copyright, 1898, by <span class="smcap">H. B. Stimpson</span>.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 33%;" />
+<p class="center">
+<i>To<br />
+Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Hall Harrison<br />
+this volume<br />
+is affectionately inscribed by<br />
+the Author</i><br />
+</p>
+<hr style="width: 33%;" />
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="toc">
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Chapter</span></td><td align='left'></td><td align='right'><span class="smcap">Page</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>I. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">We Start for the War</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>II. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">We Meet the Maid</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_10">10</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>III. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Flash of Steel</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>IV. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Red Cockade</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>V. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Sir Squire of Tory Dames</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>VI. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Tale is Told</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>VII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Defiance of the Tory</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>VIII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Black Cockade</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>IX. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Red Tide of Blood</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>X. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Harrying of the Tory</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XI. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Council of Safety</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Veto of a Maid</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XIII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Greeting of Fair Lips</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XIV. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Return of the Tory</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_156">156</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XV. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Flag of Truce</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XVI. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Ball of My Lord Howe</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XVII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">An Exchange of Courtesies</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XVIII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Crossing of Swords</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XIX. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Sands of Monmouth</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_206">206</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XX. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Lines of the Enemy</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XXI. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Passing of Years</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>XXII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Coming of the Maid</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h1><a name="The_Tory_Maid" id="The_Tory_Maid"></a>The Tory Maid</h1>
+
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h3>WE START FOR THE WAR</h3>
+
+
+<p>I, James Frisby of Fairlee, in the
+county of Kent, on the eastern shore
+of what was known in my youth as the
+fair Province of Maryland, but now
+the proud State of that name, growing
+old in years, but hearty and hale withal,
+though the blood courses not through
+my veins as in the days of my youth,
+sit on the great porch of Fairlee watching
+the sails on the distant bay, where
+its gleaming waters meet the mouth of
+the creek that runs at the foot of Fairlee.
+A julep there is on the table
+beside me, flavoured with mint gathered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>
+by the hands of John Cotton early
+in the morning, while the dew was still
+upon it, from the finest bank in all
+Kent County.</p>
+
+<p>So with these old friends around me,
+with the julep on my right hand and
+the paper before me, I sit on the great
+porch of Fairlee to write of the wild
+days of my youth, when I first drew
+my sword in the Great Cause. To
+write, before my hand becomes feeble
+and my eyes grow dim, of the strange
+things that I saw and the adventures
+that befell me, of the old Tory of the
+Braes, of the fair maid his daughter,
+and of the part they played in my life
+during the War of the Deliverance.
+To write so that those who come after
+me, as well as those who are growing
+up around my knees, may know the
+part their grandfather played in the
+stirring times that proclaimed the birth
+of a mighty nation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The first year of the great struggle,
+ah, me! I was young then, and the
+wild blood was in my veins. I was
+broad of shoulder and long of limb,
+with a hand that gripped like steel and
+a seat in the saddle that was the envy
+of all that hard-riding country. I was
+hardy and skilled in all the outdoor
+sports and pastimes of my race and
+people, and being light in the saddle I
+often led the hardest riders and won
+from them the brush, while every creek
+for fifty miles up and down the broad
+Chesapeake, and even the farther shore
+as far as Baltimore, knew my canoe,
+and the High Sheriff himself was no
+finer shot than I.</p>
+
+<p>You, who bask in the sunshine of
+long and dreary years of peace, who
+never hear the note of the bugle nor
+see the flash of the foeman's steel from
+one year's end to another, know not
+what it was to live in those stirring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+times and all the joy of the strife.
+You should have seen us then, when
+the whole land was aflame.</p>
+
+<p>The fiery signal had come like a
+rush of the wind from the north, with
+the cry of the dying on the roadsides
+and fields of Lexington.</p>
+
+<p>All along the western shore the men
+of Anne Arundel, of Frederick, and
+Prince George were mustering fast and
+strong. Then the Kentish men and
+those of Queen Anne and all the lower
+shore were mounting fast and mustering,
+while from the Howard hills came
+riding down bold and hardy yeomen.</p>
+
+<p>Then, and as it has always been in
+the old province of Maryland, the gentlemen
+led the people, and everywhere
+the spirit of fire ran like molten steel
+through the veins of the gathering
+hosts, and the people took up the
+gauntlet of war with a laugh and a
+cheer and shook their clenched hands<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>
+at the King who was over the sea; so
+it was the length and breadth of the
+province, and so it was with me.</p>
+
+<p>And so one day the signal came, and
+I mounted my black colt Toby and
+rode away to the Head of Elk in the
+county of Cecil, where the mustering
+was, to take my place, as it was my
+duty and right to do, side by side with
+the bravest gentlemen of the province
+in the coming struggle for the Great
+Cause.</p>
+
+<p>I was eighteen in the month of
+March of that year and considered myself
+a man, and, having reached man's
+estate, I bade good-bye to my mother
+and rode from out the sheltering walls
+and groves of Fairlee.</p>
+
+<p>But just before I rode within the
+shadow of the great woods I turned in
+my saddle and waved my hand to the
+small, quaint figure that stood on the
+broad porch watching me disappear;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>
+and she bravely&mdash;for the women were
+brave in those days&mdash;waved her hand
+in return, and then I rode on, for the
+moment saddened at the parting, for
+the die that day would be cast, and,
+though there would be mustering and
+drilling for many weeks before we took
+up our march to the northward, the
+hand of the cause would claim me as
+its own.</p>
+
+<p>I was riding thus through the forest
+when I heard hoof-beats behind me
+and a cheery halloo, and who should
+ride up but Dick Ringgold of Hunting
+Field, a lad of my own age and my
+true friend?</p>
+
+<p>"Why such a long face?" he laughed.
+"You look as if you were going to a
+funeral and not to a hunt that will beat
+all the runs to the hounds in the world.
+We are going to hunt redcoats and fair
+ladies' smiles and not foxes now; so
+cheer up, man."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Plague on it, Dick, you are ten
+miles from home and I am only one,"
+I retorted. "You ought to have seen
+how bravely her ladyship tried to smile,
+too."</p>
+
+<p>"We will increase the number of
+miles then," said he, and reaching over
+he struck Toby across the flank. Well,
+Toby needs the curb at best, and it
+was a full half-mile before I brought
+him up and had a chance to give Dick
+a rating.</p>
+
+<p>But Dick only laughed.</p>
+
+<p>And so we rode on, across the low-lying
+plains of Kent, northward toward
+the borders of Cecil.</p>
+
+<p>For miles we would ride under the
+shadow of the dense forest, and then
+we would come to the wide-reaching
+fields of some great manor or plantation,
+the manor house itself generally
+crowning some gently rising knoll amid
+a grove of trees, with a view of the distant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>
+bay, or creek, or river, as the case
+might be; the cluster of houses, the
+quarters for the slaves, the stables and
+the barns, making little villages and
+hamlets amid the wide expanse of farm
+lands and the distant circle of the dark
+green forests.</p>
+
+<p>Then, again, a creek or river would
+bar our course, and we would have to
+ride for miles until we turned its head,
+or found a ferry or a ford, and so overcome
+its opposition. So on we rode
+until, as the day waxed near the noon
+hour, we came to the little hamlet of
+Georgetown, nestling amid the hills on
+the banks of the Sassafras. Crossing
+the river at the ferry, we began the last
+stage of our journey.</p>
+
+<p>The trail now skirted the broad lands
+of Bohemia Manor, and crossed the
+beautiful river of that name, embedded
+between the hills and wide-stretching
+farm lands.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As we approached the banks of the
+Elk the country grew more rolling and
+wilder&mdash;in our front the Iron Hills
+rose up before us, crowned with forests,
+in sharp contrast to the low-lying
+country through which we had been
+passing.</p>
+
+<p>And now, as our appetites became
+pressing, we urged our horses on, for
+we had still many miles to travel.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h3>WE MEET THE MAID</h3>
+
+
+<p>We had just come in sight of the
+blue waters of the Elk, as it rolled
+between the forest-clad hills on either
+side, basking here for a moment in the
+sunshine, then lost in the deeper shadows
+of the overhanging forest.</p>
+
+<p>"There rolls the Elk," cried Dick.
+"Only ten miles more, and a stroke
+upon a piece of paper, and then, my
+boy, you are done for. A pain that
+eats its way ever inward, a thirst that
+never slackens, and over all the black
+night lowering down. Aye, so it is,
+Sir Monk of the Long Face; but we
+will have some fun before we are put
+under the sod or our bones are left to
+whiten on the sands."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"That we will, Sir Richard. And
+now we are in for it, for here comes
+our first adventure. Is she ugly or is
+she fair? Which, Sir Richard?"</p>
+
+<p>For, as we reached the point where
+our road joins the river road, we saw,
+approaching along the lower road, a
+gentleman riding on a powerful horse,
+while behind him on a pillion sat a
+slight girlish figure, hidden in part by
+the broad shoulders of the rider.</p>
+
+<p>"By Jove, it is Gordon of the
+Braes," said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>"What, the suspected Tory?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and that must be his daughter.
+They say she is the fairest lass in all
+the county of Cecil."</p>
+
+<p>"Tory or no Tory," said I, "with
+a fair face at stake, I will speak to
+him."</p>
+
+<p>They were as yet some distance off,
+but as the rider drew nearer to us we
+saw that he was a splendid specimen of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>
+manhood, such as I had but seldom
+seen before.</p>
+
+<p>While strong of frame and above the
+medium height, he carried himself and
+rode with a courtliness and ease that
+bespoke the accomplished horseman
+and gentleman. His splendid head
+and face showed the marks of an
+adventurous career, and all bespoke the
+blood of the family from which he had
+sprung, the Gordons of Avochie.</p>
+
+<p>But striking as was the figure of the
+rider, the glimpse we caught of the fair
+burden behind made us for the moment
+forget him.</p>
+
+<p>A slender figure it was that sat upon
+the pillion, with wonderful eyes of the
+darkest blue and hair of the deepest
+brown that waved and clustered around
+the temples&mdash;a mouth that was winsome
+and sweet, a small and aristocratic
+nose, a chin that was slightly determined,
+giving her altogether a queenly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
+air, as she sat so straight and prim
+behind her father.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," said I, making Toby advance
+and bowing to his mane, "as we are
+travelling the same way, will you permit
+us to accompany you? My friend is
+Richard Ringgold of Hunting Field
+and I am James Frisby of Fairlee."</p>
+
+<p>"It will give me pleasure," he
+replied, saluting courteously, "to have
+your company to the Head of Elk. I
+know your families and your houses
+well, and you, no doubt, have heard of
+me, Charles Gordon of the Braes."</p>
+
+<p>"That we have," said Dick Ringgold.
+"It was only a week ago that
+my mother spoke of your first coming
+to old Kent."</p>
+
+<p>"It was kind of her to remember
+me," he replied. "She was a great
+belle and a beauty in her youth."</p>
+
+<p>Dick smiled with pleasure, and I,
+taking advantage of a narrow place in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+the road, fell behind, and rode so I
+could talk to Mistress Jean, much to
+Master Richard's secret indignation.
+But she received me with a show of
+displeasure, and though I courteously
+asked her of her journey, it was some
+minutes before I knew the cause thereof.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you not," said she, and her
+aristocratic little head was in the air,
+"afraid to be seen riding with suspected
+Tories, you who wear the black
+cockade?"</p>
+
+<p>And then I remembered that I wore
+the emblem of our party.</p>
+
+<p>"Afraid!" I replied. "Afraid! We
+who have bearded the Ministers of
+the Crown in the broad light of day?
+Do you think I am afraid of our own
+men? Why, if Mistress North herself
+were half as fair as your ladyship of the
+Braes, I would ride with her through
+all the armies of the patriots, and no
+man would dare say me nay."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A merry twinkle came into her eyes.
+"Would you wear the red cockade if
+she should ask you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Mistress Jean, would you
+seduce me from my allegiance to the
+cause of the patriots?"</p>
+
+<p>"To the cause of the patriots?
+What of your allegiance to the King?"</p>
+
+<p>"But the King himself has broken
+that, and forced us in self-defence to
+take up arms in revolt. Would you
+have me true to my people, or to the
+King, who is over the sea?"</p>
+
+<p>"To the King," she answered
+promptly, "for the King's Ministers
+may be bad men to-day and good to-morrow,
+but if you once strike a blow
+at the mother country and win, then
+the ties of love, of friendship, and of
+interest are severed for ever."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but she should have thought
+of that before she forced us to it."</p>
+
+<p>"What spoiled children you are,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>
+she cried. "Because the taffy is not as
+good as usual you want to pull the
+house down about our ears."</p>
+
+<p>Thus receiving and parrying thrusts,
+we rode along the banks of the Elk, and
+as we neared the ferry we met numbers
+of men travelling the same way with us,
+all bound for the great mustering, and
+though they returned our salutations,
+seeing the black cockade in our hats,
+they scowled on Gordon of the Braes.</p>
+
+<p>"There goes that dog of a Tory," I
+would hear them growl to one another
+as we passed.</p>
+
+<p>But Gordon rode on with a cool, indifferent,
+almost contemptuous manner,
+which made the frowns grow blacker,
+and the mutterings deeper and louder.
+But no man as yet sought to beard him,
+for his courage and his daring were
+well known throughout the shore, and
+it would have taken a bold man indeed
+to cross Gordon of the Braes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At last we came to the ferry and saw
+on the hillside, among the forest trees,
+the white tents, already taking on the
+appearance of a well-regulated camp.
+The little town amid the trees, busy
+with the life of the moving crowd, and
+bright with the uniforms of the Maryland
+Line, which we were soon to
+don, formed a curious spectacle as we
+entered.</p>
+
+<p>Every part of the province was represented.
+Here was a tall backwoodsman
+in his coonskin cap, buckskin
+shirt and leggings, with his long and
+deadly rifle, totally unadorned by the
+glint of silver or chasing on the barrel
+to betray him to his redskin neighbour&mdash;and
+you knew that one of Cresap's
+riflemen was before you.</p>
+
+<p>By his side, for the moment, was a
+young tobacco planter from Prince
+George. The youngster to whom he
+was talking, clad in the scarlet and buff<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>
+of the Maryland Line, was a young
+dandy from Annapolis.</p>
+
+<p>And so it was all through the crowd,
+the frontiersman, the hard-riding country
+squire, and the city swell, all mingled
+together, and all animated with one all-pervading
+and all-engrossing thought&mdash;how
+best to secure the freedom of
+the country and resist the tyranny of
+the King.</p>
+
+<p>As we made our way through the
+crowd the faces grew dark as they saw
+the Tory, but as Dick and I rode on
+either hand, with our black cockades,
+the crowd murmuringly gave way before
+us, and though all the people were
+hostile to him, and he could not help
+but see it, he coolly looked them over
+and rode as if he had no enemy within
+a hundred miles.</p>
+
+<p>But the colour in Mistress Jean's
+cheek flamed high, and I saw her little
+hands clenched together, as if she would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>
+like to tell these rebels what she
+thought of their treatment of her father.
+And I, seeing the war signal so clearly
+on her cheek, and daring not the batteries
+of her eyes and wit, was discreet
+and said not a word.</p>
+
+<p>We took our way to the inn, kept
+by one John McLean, a genial host
+and Scotchman, who was well known
+in three provinces, and kept the finest
+inn for many miles around.</p>
+
+<p>He received us in a jovial way, for
+though he was a stanch patriot, he and
+Gordon had been friends for many
+years.</p>
+
+<p>"So, Mistress Jean, you have
+deigned to honour my roof with your
+presence. Welcome, welcome, all of
+you."</p>
+
+<p>And though I had swung myself off
+Toby to assist Mistress Jean to dismount,
+he was before me and swung
+her lightly to the ground.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I declare," he said, "you grow
+bonnier every day, lassie," which
+brought a blush to her cheek. Then,
+turning, he called his wife and placed
+Mistress Jean in her charge.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry to say, gentlemen, that
+the inn is very crowded, as you see,
+but I think I can find a place for
+you." Then drawing the Tory aside
+for a little way, we heard him remonstrating
+with him for coming to the
+town at such a time, when the feeling
+ran so strong and high against the
+Loyalist.</p>
+
+<p>"You risk your life," he said, "for
+the slightest spark or indiscretion will
+bring a mob, boiling and seething
+around you. The officers will not be
+able to hold the men in, as they are
+only volunteers, and have not yet felt
+the hand of discipline."</p>
+
+<p>But Charles Gordon shrugged his
+shoulders, and his reply came distinct<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
+and clear: "I thought you knew me
+better, McLean. I would not hide my
+head for a hundred or a thousand of
+them;" and he turned and went into
+the inn.</p>
+
+<p>The innkeeper made a gesture of
+despair. "That is always the way,"
+said he, "both in this country and the
+old; tell a Gordon of a danger and he
+will rush right into it, and then expect
+to come out safe and sound."</p>
+
+<p>We laughed, for the expression on
+the old Scotchman's face was so
+droll.</p>
+
+<p>"But now for your room, gentlemen;"
+and he led the way to a small
+room under the gable roof. "It is the
+only room I have left," he said, "but
+you are welcome to it."</p>
+
+<p>It was now somewhat late in the
+afternoon, but having made ourselves
+presentable and partaken of a lunch, we
+went to report ourselves to Captain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>
+Ramsay of the 1st Regiment of the
+Maryland Line.</p>
+
+<p>He received us at his tent door with
+a warm grasp of the hand. "You are
+the very lads I have been waiting for,"
+he said. "I have two Lieutenancies to
+fill, and you are the men to fill
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Captain," said Dick Ringgold,
+"we have not been tried yet. Let us
+go into the ranks and fight our way up,
+as so many better men than we are
+doing."</p>
+
+<p>I could not help admiring Dick for
+his modesty, and though I, too, said
+the same thing, I confess I hoped the
+Captain would not hear of it, and so it
+proved.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no," he said, and patted Dick
+on the shoulder. "I must have you;
+I know the blood that runs in your
+veins, lads, and that I will have no
+better fighting stock in the army."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+And thus it was settled, and we became
+officers in that Maryland Line,
+and&mdash;I say it with all due modesty&mdash;the
+most famous of all the fighting
+regiments in the struggle for the Great
+Cause.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3>A FLASH OF STEEL</h3>
+
+
+<p>That night we sat at the long table
+in the dining-room of the inn. All up
+and down its great length sat the officers
+of the Line&mdash;country gentlemen from
+Cecil, Kent, and as far south as Queen
+Anne, who had ridden thus far to see
+the mustering and to give it their countenance
+and their favour. Grave and
+sedate gentlemen many of them, men
+of affairs, the leaders of their counties,
+and delegates to the Convention and to
+Congress&mdash;men of the oldest and
+bluest blood in the province, of wide
+estates and famous names, whose families
+wielded a mighty influence in the
+cause of the patriots and gave it stability
+and great strength.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then there was the parson, a merry
+old gentleman, stout of form, with a
+round face and twinkling eyes, who in
+his youth was a mighty fox-hunter in
+spite of his cloth; even then, stout as
+he had grown, when he heard the music
+of the hounds, it was with difficulty he
+restrained the inclination to follow,
+which now, alas! was made impossible
+by his great weight. We who loved
+hard riding, hard fighting, and a strong
+will, admired him, and no man was
+more popular throughout the three
+counties than the fox-hunting parson.
+He knew the people and their ways,
+and was one of them.</p>
+
+<p>"I hear you are fire-eaters here," he
+said to a vestryman upon being installed.</p>
+
+<p>"Then we are well matched," came
+the reply, "for they say you are a
+pepperbox."</p>
+
+<p>So no gathering throughout the
+county was a success without the parson,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>
+and by the unanimous voice of the
+Line he was called to be their chaplain.</p>
+
+<p>We sat there in the long dining-room
+amid the hum of many voices, the glare
+of many lights, and the click of the
+glasses, as the wine was going around,
+when a young man who sat across the
+table from me rose with his glass poised
+between his fingers.</p>
+
+<p>He was a handsome man, of twenty-one
+or twenty-two, of dark and swarthy
+features, thick lips and nose, and hair as
+black as night, telling of the Indian
+blood in his veins.</p>
+
+<p>His name was Rodolph, and he was
+the son of a man more noted for his
+wealth than for his principles, but who
+was then at the city of Annapolis, a
+delegate from the county of Cecil.</p>
+
+<p>"I propose a toast," he cried, "that
+all true patriots should drink. A
+toast to the delegates of this county,
+who at the convention of the province<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
+in the city of Annapolis are standing
+as the bulwarks of liberty against the
+tyranny of the Crown."</p>
+
+<p>We were all on our feet in an instant
+to drink the toast, with a right goodwill,
+all except Charles Gordon, who sat
+at my right hand. He kept his seat
+and watched us with a cool, sarcastic
+smile upon his lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Is not the toast good enough for
+you?" cried Rodolph, with an ugly
+sneer upon his face.</p>
+
+<p>All eyes now turned to where Charles
+Gordon sat, and he slowly rose.</p>
+
+<p>"Drink to your delegates?" said he.
+"Not I. They are the scum of the
+county of Cecil, and you know it. I
+would as soon be governed by my slaves
+at the Braes as by such men as they are.
+I wish you joy of them." And bowing,
+he turned and left the room by a door
+that was near at hand.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant there was silence, then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>
+an uproar broke forth, and Rodolph
+sprang around the table to follow him,
+with several of the young men at his
+heels. But I, seeing the danger, with
+possibly a thought of a fair maid's
+eyes, threw myself before the door with
+drawn sword.</p>
+
+<p>"No man passes through this door,"
+I cried, "unless he passes over me."</p>
+
+<p>The crowd drew back in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Since when," I shouted, for they
+hesitated, "have Maryland gentlemen
+learned to fight in mobs? If any one
+has an insult to resent, let him fight as
+becomes a gentleman, man to man."</p>
+
+<p>"Stand aside," shouted Rodolph,
+who was now before me, "and let me
+get at the traitor."</p>
+
+<p>"Put up your swords, gentlemen."
+I found I had a new ally in a tall, dignified
+gentleman, who took his place
+beside me, a Mr. Wilmer of the White
+House in Kent.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The lad is right," he said; "and
+you, Rodolph, I should think, would
+have had enough of Charles Gordon of
+the Braes."</p>
+
+<p>At this there was a laugh, which at
+the time I did not understand; but the
+company good-naturedly put back their
+swords and resumed their places at the
+table, all except Rodolph, who slipped
+away from the room.</p>
+
+<p>That night, as I lay upon my bed,
+dreaming, boylike, of the fair eyes of
+the Tory maid, and hoping that the
+part I had played in the matter of the
+toast might come to her ears and cause
+her to give me a smile at our next meeting,
+I heard the sound of footsteps coming
+down the passageway.</p>
+
+<p>"There is great danger," said a voice,
+which I recognised as the landlord's,
+as they were passing by my door.
+"Rodolph is stirring up the crowd, and
+though you might brave the mob,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+Mistress Jean&mdash;" and then the voices
+died away.</p>
+
+<p>"The mob" and "Mistress Jean."
+Clearly something must be afoot.
+Springing from my bed, I swore to
+myself, that, if anything happened to
+the Tory maid, I would make Phil
+Rodolph feel the edge of my sword.
+Hastily throwing on my clothes, I went
+to the window and looked out. The
+night was dark, the sky being full of
+drifting clouds, through which the moon
+faintly struggled; everything lay quiet
+and still in the village and the camp.
+Steps were heard upon the porch below,
+and then a horse was brought around
+from the stables. A moment later a
+horseman mounted, and I saw a slender
+figure on the pillion behind him.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep to the south road," said a
+voice, "they have only one sentry
+there."</p>
+
+<p>I did not wait to hear more, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+slipped downstairs and out of a side
+door, and the next moment I was running
+softly through the camp to the
+outpost on the south road, for one of
+my own men was stationed there, and
+I knew that without orders or the countersign
+no man would pass that way
+that night. It was well I did, for as I
+drew near I heard the challenge "Who
+goes there?" and the answer "A
+friend."</p>
+
+<p>"Advance, friend, and give the
+countersign."</p>
+
+<p>"Maryland." But the Tory had
+missed it, and the next moment the
+sentry's rifle was at his shoulder, and I
+knew the cry for the officer of the guard
+would follow; so I stepped out from
+the shadow, and the sentry, seeing me,
+brought his rifle to a salute.</p>
+
+<p>"Lieutenant," he said, "he wants to
+pass, and has given the wrong countersign."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said I, drawing my hat over
+my eyes, for I did not wish to be recognised
+by Mistress Jean. "I heard.
+But I know them; let them pass."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, Lieutenant."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you," said the rider, and a
+still softer "Thank you" came from
+his companion. I bowed, but said
+nothing, and stood there watching them
+disappear down the dark road until the
+sound of the horse's hoofs was lost in
+the distance.</p>
+
+<p>"Queer time of the night to ride,
+sir," said the sentinel.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but they have far to go."</p>
+
+<p>"Kent or Queen Anne's, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"Down by Bohemia Manor."</p>
+
+<p>"That is where that old Tory Gordon
+lives; they say they are going to rout
+him out in the morning for insulting
+the committee last night. He is
+up at the inn, there, and Phil Rodolph
+says he is going to make it hot for him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Mere talk, I expect. Good-night."</p>
+
+<p>"Good-night, sir."</p>
+
+<p>I took my way back to the inn, and
+when I crawled to my room once more
+and into bed, Dick Ringgold raised
+himself on his arm and said in a sleepy
+voice: "What's up, Frisby?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nothing," I replied; "go to
+sleep." And I soon followed my own
+advice.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE RED COCKADE</h3>
+
+
+<p>The stirring notes of the bugle made
+us spring up in the morning, to find,
+when we were again downstairs, that
+every one was talking of the disappearance
+of Charles Gordon of the Braes.</p>
+
+<p>Master Richard marvelled much at
+the disappearance of the Tory, and,
+though I knew it was of the Tory maid
+he was thinking, I said not a word,
+but went on with my duties; and
+manifold they were for many days to
+come. The drilling of the raw recruits,
+who, though they were full of fire and
+<i>&eacute;lan</i>, were not used to the strict obedience
+of orders, was at first very difficult.
+But soon there came the spirit
+and the pride that were to make them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>
+the best drilled troops, the dandies and
+macaronies of the army. And so, with
+the drilling of recruits and assisting
+Captain Ramsay in the formation of
+the regiment, a week passed by before
+a day came when Dick and I found
+a few spare hours on our hands. And
+having certain plans and purposes in
+view, and not wishing them to be
+known to Dick, I sat and watched for
+an opportunity to slip away.</p>
+
+<p>Master Richard, it was evident, had
+also some plans on foot, for after moving
+from the chair to the top of a box
+and then back again, he stretched his
+arms above his head, and, yawning,
+said: "I believe I will take a little
+canter down the south road; come
+along?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," I replied; "I am going to ride
+a short distance down the east road."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," said he, and springing
+from his chair, he went to order his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>
+horse. I soon followed, and, having
+seen Dick well on his way, rode for
+a short distance on the east road,
+then turned, rode back, and entered
+the road which runs along the bank
+of the Elk, by which we had entered
+the town on our journey from Kent.
+As I rode, I hummed a jovial hunting-song
+and touched Toby with the spur,
+for I was quite jubilant at having got
+rid of Dick and so well on the road to
+my adventure.</p>
+
+<p>My time was short and it was good
+twelve miles to the Braes, but Toby's
+sire was a son of old Ranter, and I knew
+he could do it in an hour and a half.
+So Toby felt the spur, and I barely
+noticed the miles as we flew along,
+until we came to the road that leads
+south to the Braes. Down this road
+we turned, and as we were so near the
+end of our journey I began to think
+of the reasons and excuses I should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
+give for my visit. Reason! Pshaw!
+What better reason does a Marylander
+want than a pair of blue eyes? And
+if Mistress Jean should so much as
+demand it by the merest glance of those
+eyes, I would tell her so. Aye, but
+she is a Tory and wears the red cockade.
+True, but the fairer the enemy the
+more difficult the prize, the greater the
+glory and effort to win.</p>
+
+<p>And so, having justified my invasion
+of the stronghold of the Tory, I pricked
+Toby with the spur and rode on more
+rapidly, when, on turning a bend in
+the road where it is intersected by
+one from the east, whom should I come
+face to face with but Master Richard?
+For a moment he stared at me with
+open mouth, and I at him; then his
+brow grew dark.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought," he cried; but suddenly
+the humour of our meeting came over
+him. Thrusting his hands into his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
+pockets, he broke out into a hearty burst
+of laughter, and I could do nothing but
+follow.</p>
+
+<p>"And so, Master Frisby, you rode
+down the east road."</p>
+
+<p>"And you, methinks, rode down
+the south." Again our laughter rang
+through the woods.</p>
+
+<p>"Come," he cried, "which is it to
+be? So fair a maid deserves two
+cavaliers, but we would be at sword
+points within a week, and I do not
+wish to lose the friendship of Mr. James
+Frisby of Fairlee."</p>
+
+<p>"A chance has brought us here, so
+let chance decide."</p>
+
+<p>"Agreed," said Dick, pulling out a
+sovereign, and with a twitch of the
+thumb, he sent it high in the air.
+"Heads, you win. Tails, I win."
+Then catching it as it fell: "By Jove,
+you have it. Present my compliments
+to Mistress Jean," he cried, with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>
+grandiloquent bow, "and tell her how
+near she came to being Mrs. Dick
+Ringgold of Hunting Field."</p>
+
+<p>"That I will, Sir Richard." But
+Dick was gone, and I was left to ride
+on to the Braes.</p>
+
+<p>A long, rambling house it was, standing
+white amid the trees, a wide lawn
+around it stretching down to the creek
+at its foot; while beyond could be seen
+the sunlight gleaming on the bay. A
+quaint, old-fashioned place, the low
+roof already growing dark with age;
+the quiet air of ease and comfort brooding
+over all, making a fitting setting
+for the quaint, slender little lady that
+ruled its destinies.</p>
+
+<p>A negro took my horse; another
+showed me across the broad hall, with
+its hunting whips and trophies on the
+wall, to the parlour, and there I awaited
+the coming of the Tory maid. And
+as I sat there, gently stroking the toe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>
+of my boot with my whip, and thinking
+of that night at the inn, of that soft
+"Thank you" on the old south road,
+I heard the soft swish of her skirts,
+and, looking up, saw Mistress Jean
+standing in the doorway. A beautiful
+picture it was, like some old portrait
+of Lely's, the maid standing there
+framed in the old oak. And I, though
+I had been to the balls at the Governor's
+house the winter before, and was therefore
+a man of the world, sat staring for a
+moment. But she advanced, and I was
+on my feet with a low and sweeping bow.</p>
+
+<p>"Father is away," said she, "but
+in his name I wish to thank you for
+defending us at the inn that night."</p>
+
+<p>So she knew.</p>
+
+<p>"It was to save the honour of Maryland
+gentlemen," I replied modestly.
+"Heretofore they have not fought in
+mobs. But will you not thank me for
+yourself?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"When you turn loyalist, yes," said
+she.</p>
+
+<p>"Almost thou persuadest me to
+become a traitor."</p>
+
+<p>"You are that already," she said
+with spirit.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that is the way they have
+written 'Patriot' since Tyranny first
+stalked across the world. But patriot
+or traitor, Mistress Jean, I have already
+won one 'Thank you,' and I hope
+some day to win another."</p>
+
+<p>"Won one 'Thank you'&mdash;when
+and where?" and she looked at me with
+wide open eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Now every Marylander will admit
+that there are no more gallant fellows
+in the world than we are, and if any
+one chooses to dispute it, well and good,
+we are willing to cross swords with him
+any day, and so reprove him for his
+recklessness. Indeed, we have been
+called with truth the Gascons of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>
+South, and, like those gallant gentlemen
+of old France, we have never hidden our
+light under a bushel, to use a homely
+phrase; and so when I saw Mistress
+Jean's air of surprise, the spirit of my
+race came over me.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," I replied, "it was the sweetest
+'Thank you' I ever heard."</p>
+
+<p>Again the mystified look.</p>
+
+<p>"But where?" said she again.</p>
+
+<p>"It was rather dark," I replied,
+"and the clouds were drifting across
+the sky, and you, I am afraid, did not
+know who it was who received that
+soft 'Thank you.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Were you the Lieutenant?"</p>
+
+<p>I bowed.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she said, and she stamped
+her tiny foot, "if you were only not a
+rebel!"</p>
+
+<p>"But even rebels have their uses."</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was we became good friends
+in spite of the traitor stamped upon my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+brow. Ere I knew it, the time approached
+when I had to mount and
+ride. But before I left, her soft hand
+rested for a moment in mine.</p>
+
+<p>"We march in a few days," said I,
+"to the North, to the Leaguer of Boston.
+There will be fighting there and bloody
+work. Can I not carry a single
+token?"</p>
+
+<p>Her nimble fingers flew to her hair,
+and took from thence a blood-red rose,
+and pinned it to my coat.</p>
+
+<p>"There," said she, "my red cockade;"
+and turning quickly, she ran into
+the house.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h3>SIR SQUIRE OF TORY DAMES</h3>
+
+
+<p>"Well, Sir Squire of Tory Dames,
+did she smile on you?" The voice
+was harsh and rasping; looking across
+the table, I saw the sneer upon his lips.
+I had but entered a moment before the
+dining-room of the inn, after my long
+ride, and was about to take my seat,
+when Rodolph's sneering question
+made me pause.</p>
+
+<p>"That is more than you could ever
+win, my Mighty Lord from Nowhere,"
+I retorted. At this there was a laugh
+from those about. An angry flush
+showed through even his dark and
+swarthy skin; for, being a burly bully
+of the border, he liked not being
+bearded thus by a youth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You damned impudent puppy!"
+he cried, rising.</p>
+
+<p>But there stood a glass at my right
+hand, full to the brim, and ere he could
+say another word the red wine flew
+across the table straight into his face.</p>
+
+<p>"Take that!" I cried, "with the
+compliments of James Frisby of
+Fairlee!"</p>
+
+<p>A dozen men were now around us,
+and Rodolph, spluttering through the
+wine and swearing many oaths, demanded
+to be released from the hands
+upon his shoulders, shouting that he
+would shoot me like a dog.</p>
+
+<p>"It will give me pleasure to let you
+have an opportunity," I replied coolly.
+"It will be a rare chance for you to
+become a gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>And so, still muttering and swearing,
+his friends took him from the room,
+while I took my seat at the table. But
+I was not allowed to eat my meal in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>
+peace; for many gentlemen came to
+offer their services and to thank me.
+Rodolph's overbearing manners had
+long been unpopular among them, and
+the wonder was that he had not been
+forced to fight before. But I was determined
+that Dick should be my second,
+and so, thanking them all for their
+kind offers, I placed my hand on
+Dick's shoulder, and we went out together
+amid a volley of advice and
+friendly warning.</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour later, as I was examining
+my sword and Dick his pistols,
+there came a rap on my door, and two
+gentlemen entered; one was Captain
+Brooke, the other Lieutenant Barry of
+the Line.</p>
+
+<p>"Lieutenant Frisby," said Captain
+Brooke, as he advanced and bowed, "it
+is my painful duty to deliver you this
+challenge."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a pleasure to receive it from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>
+your hands," I replied, returning his
+courtesy. "Lieutenant Ringgold and
+Harry Gresham of Kent will act as my
+seconds, permit me to refer you to them."</p>
+
+<p>Dick now went out with them to
+Harry Gresham's room near by, where
+they would be safe from interruption,
+Gresham having volunteered with Dick
+to be one of my seconds, and I went
+on polishing my sword, waiting for the
+issue. At last Dick came back.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," he cried, "it is all settled.
+You are to fight to-morrow morning at
+sunrise down in the little meadow below
+the creek."</p>
+
+<p>"Swords, I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; pistols. I insisted on swords
+at first, it being our privilege; but Captain
+Brooke said that Rodolph had
+broken his arm the year before, and
+that it was still too weak to fight with.
+So I waived the swords and agreed to
+the pistols."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It is not quite as gentlemanly a
+weapon, but just as deadly. I have
+put a bullet through the head of a wild
+duck flying, and I think I can hit Phil
+Rodolph."</p>
+
+<p>"That you can," said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>It was a bright, clear morning as we
+slipped out of the inn on our way to
+the little meadow. The eastern sky
+was already tinged with crimson, and
+the blood-red lances across the heavens
+told of the coming dawn. The air was
+fresh and cool as it blew up the river
+from the bay, and our lungs drew in
+great draughts of it as we felt the breeze
+in our faces.</p>
+
+<p>"A splendid morning to die on,"
+said Harry Gresham.</p>
+
+<p>"And to live on, too," I replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop your croaking, Gresham," put
+in Dick Ringgold. We walked on
+silently to the meadow, where we found
+that we were the first to arrive.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Though I have stood on many a
+field of honour since that day, though I
+have felt the bullet tearing and burning
+its way through the flesh, and the sudden,
+sharp pain of the sword thrust, I
+shall never forget that encounter on the
+meadow beside the Elk, when I first
+faced the muzzle of a hostile pistol, and
+knew that the will behind it sought my
+life.</p>
+
+<p>It was not fear that I felt as I stood
+there, waiting for the coming of my adversary,
+for fear has always been foreign
+to my family, but a sort of secret elation.
+For that day, if I survived,
+though the down upon my lip was as
+yet imperceptible, I could take my
+place as a man among men. No longer
+would my boyish face keep me out of
+the councils of my elders, but I would
+have the right to take my stand and
+ruffle it with the best of them all. I
+was there to win my spurs as a man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
+and a duellist, and to show to all the
+world that I had the courage of my
+race. For then, as it has ever been in
+the fair province of Maryland, we love
+above all else courage in a man; and so
+it was I waited with impatience Rodolph's
+approach, for it meant the casting
+off of the boy and the making of
+the man.</p>
+
+<p>We did not have long to wait, for
+Rodolph and his seconds soon followed
+us down the path, and each party
+saluted. Then Captain Brooke and
+Dick Ringgold measured off the paces,
+and threw for the choice of positions.
+Dick won, and I found myself standing
+near a small sapling, with my back to
+the rising sun, which as yet had not
+climbed over the tree tops, and so did
+not interfere with Rodolph's position.
+Facing me, twelve paces away, stood
+Rodolph, his dark, swarthy face darker,
+more Indian-like, and forbidding than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
+ever; behind him stretched away the
+small glade, and the smooth green
+waters of the river, as they wound their
+way between the tall forests on either
+side. I remember watching a wild duck
+as he went swiftly flying down the
+Elk, when Dick Ringgold's "Are you
+ready?" suddenly recalled me to my
+position. "Yes," I nodded. Then came
+the even counting, "One, two;" but
+ere "two" had been uttered, I saw the
+flash of Rodolph's pistol, and felt the
+sharp pain of the bullet tearing its way
+into my side. While I, taken by surprise
+at such rank treachery, fired not
+so accurately as usual, and my bullet
+clipped his ear. Dick's sword was out
+in an instant, and I verily believe he
+would have run Rodolph through on
+the spot, as it was his duty and right to
+do, so base was the crime of firing before
+the time&mdash;a thing that had never
+been known among Maryland gentlemen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
+before. But seeing me reel, he
+came to my assistance, and threw his
+arm around me.</p>
+
+<p>"Tie me to the sapling, Dick," said
+I, "and give me one more shot."</p>
+
+<p>"But no gentleman should fight
+with such a scoundrel!" cried Dick
+hotly.</p>
+
+<p>"I waive that, just one more shot."</p>
+
+<p>So, with Harry Gresham's assistance,
+they took Dick's sash and tied me to
+the sapling, and in this way enabled me
+to keep an upright position. Captain
+Brooke had come forward to inquire as
+to my injury, but Dick met him and
+demanded another exchange of shots.
+"My principal," he said, "waives the
+treachery that places your principal beyond
+the pale of men of honour. But,"
+continued Dick, "if he should dare to
+fire again before the time, I will shoot
+him down where he stands."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Brooke flushed, and though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+we saw that it was painful to him as a
+man of honour to be the second of such a
+principal, he could do nothing but accept.
+"I will shoot him down myself,"
+said he, "if he dares again to do it."</p>
+
+<p>He then returned to his party, and
+we saw by his angry gestures that he
+was warning Rodolph of the penalty if
+he should a second time transgress the
+rules of honour.</p>
+
+<p>Again we faced, and I could feel the
+strength ebbing fast from me, but I
+could see that Rodolph's face was pale,
+even through his swarthy skin. "One,
+two, three, Fire," came again the fateful
+words; but I had nerved myself for
+the final effort, and glancing down the
+polished barrel, I fired, at the same
+moment that Rodolph's pistol rang out.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment I saw him standing
+there, and then he lurched forward, with
+his arms in the air, and fell face downward
+as the mortally wounded do.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
+With that there came a mist before
+my eyes, my hand fell to my side, and
+I remembered nothing more. They
+told me afterward that they carried me
+to the inn in the village, Captain Brooke
+assisting, after they had seen that Rodolph
+was dead. "Leave him there for
+awhile," said the Captain, as he came to
+assist Dick in my removal. "The dog
+had a better death than he deserved."</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h3>A TALE IS TOLD</h3>
+
+
+<p>I lay there at the inn, I do not know
+how long, but they told me afterward it
+was for many days, hanging on the brink
+between life and death, until one day I
+heard in my dreams the music of the
+fife and the rattle of the drums, and
+awoke to life and hope again. The sunlight
+was streaming through the south
+window across the counterpane of the
+bed, and outside could be heard the
+steady tread of marching men.</p>
+
+<p>"What troops are those?" I asked
+somewhat hazily, for I was still on the
+borderland of dreams.</p>
+
+<p>"They are the Maryland Line marching
+away to the North to join General
+Washington."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Marching to the North? Then I
+must join them." And I tried to rise
+in my bed, for it came back to me with
+a rush that I was a Lieutenant in the
+Line. But strong hands pushed me
+gently back upon my pillow, and I recognised
+now the voice of my nurse,
+Mrs. McLean.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, Mr. Frisby; be still. You
+are a regular little bantam, but your
+spurs are clipped for some time yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what is the matter, Mrs. McLean?
+How did I come here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Law bless the boy!" said the good
+old soul. "He has clean forgot."</p>
+
+<p>But the dull pain in my side soon
+brought back to me that clear, fresh
+morning on the bank of the Elk, and
+for a moment I lay still.</p>
+
+<p>"Did I kill Rodolph?" I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"That you did, lad; and no man
+deserved it more."</p>
+
+<p>Then I heard a heavy step in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>passageway
+outside, and then a lighter one.
+The next moment the door opened and
+I saw my mother, more pale and fairy-like
+than ever, and behind her came
+Captain Ramsay, bluff and hearty, but
+looking very solemn at that moment.
+But they saw the news on Mrs. McLean's
+good-natured face, and when I
+spoke to my lady, the old-time happy
+look came back again, as she came to
+my bedside and kissed me, while the
+great voice of the Captain came hearty
+and strong.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, lad, I told them that you would
+pull through; make a gallant fight, my
+boy, and you will have a shot at the
+redcoats yet."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Captain, you are marching
+away without me."</p>
+
+<p>"You will be in time for the fighting,
+never worry; lie still and get well.
+Half the young men in the Line are
+envying you, you rogue, for becoming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>
+a hero before them all." And the
+Captain took my hand, and bade me
+good-bye, for he must hurry away to join
+his regiment.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later there came the
+clank of a sword and a hurried step,
+and then the door burst open and in
+marched Master Dick in all the glory
+of his full regimentals. And so brave
+was the show that he made in his cocked
+hat, scarlet coat, with its facings of buff,
+and the long clanking sword, that I
+longed to spring up and don my own
+then and there. But my mother's finger
+on her lip caused him to stop the cheery
+greeting, and he came forward on his
+tiptoes, holding his sword carefully to
+keep it from clanking, for by this time
+I was growing weak again. Master
+Dick shook my hand gently and murmured,
+"Cheer up, old fellow, you
+will soon be with us again," but I could
+only give him a slight smile, for I was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>
+again on the borderland of dreams.
+Dick stood for awhile looking down on
+me; then he, too, had to depart. Gradually
+the steady tramp of marching feet
+died away, and everything became quiet
+and still again.</p>
+
+<p>The days passed by, week followed
+week, and though at first I gained
+strength but slowly, the process seeming
+a long and dreary one, the vigour of
+a youthful frame soon asserted itself,
+and I could feel the returning tide of
+health and strength. But as yet I lay
+there upon the great four-post bed, with
+my mother sitting near by, her dear face
+bending over the embroidery frame, as
+her deft fingers weaved beautiful designs
+with the silk. As I lay there, I would
+wander back again to that day before
+the duel, to the swift challenging glance
+of a pair of blue eyes as a blood-red
+rose was pinned to my coat. But that
+was so long ago, years it seemed to me,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
+away back in the past, a memory as it
+were of a fairy tale heard from the lips
+of a grandmother before the big open
+fire in the great hall on a winter night;
+a fairy tale, aye, and she the Princess,
+with her blue eyes and hair of waving
+brown, with her step as light as the dew-drop,
+and her voice as low and soft as
+the breath of the Southern breeze in the
+spring; and then I would be her Prince
+Charming, with my coal-black horse.
+But, pshaw! I am becoming a child
+again; whereas I am a man, who has
+fought his duel as becomes a man, with
+a right to the sword by his side. And
+yet those blue eyes, what fate was in
+store for them? And would their challenging
+glance ever meet mine again?
+But here my mother stopped the trend
+of my thoughts for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"James," she said, "John Cotton
+tells me that an old darky comes to
+inquire for you every night. Strange,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>
+is it not? We know so few people
+here."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," I replied. "Does John Cotton
+know who he is?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; he refuses to tell, and all
+John Cotton can find out is that he
+leaves town by the river road. He
+appears to be a stranger to all the
+other darkies, and nobody seems to
+know him."</p>
+
+<p>By the river road! Could it possibly
+be, then, that it was the Tory
+maid who sent those many miles to
+see if I were in the land of the living
+or the dead? Ah, it was too pleasant
+a thing to dream of; too pleasant to
+have it shattered by the rough hand of
+fact. And so I said dreamily, "It is
+only one of John Cotton's stories, I
+suppose."</p>
+
+<p>Yet I would not have believed it
+otherwise for all of John Cotton's
+weight in gold. Thus it was I was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+thinking one day of the Tory maid,
+when the door opened, and a tall, dignified
+gentleman came in&mdash;the man
+who had stood by my side that day
+when with drawn sword I held the door
+against Rodolph and his followers&mdash;Mr.
+Lambert Wilmer of the White
+House in Kent.</p>
+
+<p>He came forward and greeted me
+with many kind phrases. While he
+sat talking to me of the duel and its
+cause, I thought of that great burst of
+laughter when he told Rodolph to put
+up his sword, as by this time he should
+have had enough of Gordon of the
+Braes, and I asked the reason for it
+all.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a long story, lad," said he,
+"but I will tell it to you."</p>
+
+<p>Then he told me how, many years
+before, Mistress Margaret Nicholson
+had been the loveliest girl in Kent, and
+the belle of the whole shore, and how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>
+there was not a bachelor within three
+counties who did not seek her as his
+bride, or who would not have sold his
+soul for a glance of her eyes or the soft
+pressure of her hand; and how when
+James Rodolph of Charlestown Hundred
+came riding down from Cecil and
+boasted of his wealth, his horses, and
+his slaves, swearing that he would win
+her or no one would, the suitors stood
+aside to see how he would fare with
+this the proudest of Kent beauties. To
+their dismay, he seemed to prosper
+well, until one day there disembarked
+from a vessel that came sailing up the
+broad Chester a young gentleman of
+distinguished appearance, who asked
+his way to Radcliffe, the home of the
+Nicholsons.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, the Nicholsons, as you
+know," said Mr. Wilmer, "are Scotch,
+and this young gentleman was Scotch,
+for his accent betrayed him, and we,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+thinking he might be a cousin and have
+brought news from over the water, welcomed
+him, and showed him the way
+to Radcliffe. He, though he was very
+reserved, told us that he had indeed
+come from over the sea, and bore a letter
+to the Nicholsons, who were old
+friends of his family, but of himself he
+would say no more. And so, when he
+strode off, we turned to Captain Hezekiah
+Brown of the Maid of Perth, who
+was a man who delighted to talk. From
+him we learned that his name was Gordon,
+and that there was a mystery about
+him, as people suspected him of being
+one of the young chiefs who had led
+that famous clan in the recent rebellion
+against the King. But this we held
+not to his injury, for there were still
+many lovers of the White Rose in the
+fair province of Maryland, and we
+afterward welcomed him the more
+heartily for it. From the advent of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>
+the stranger the good fortune of James
+Rodolph began to wane; for the rich
+planter of the border, with his wild and
+boisterous manners, was no match for
+the Scottish cavalier. It is true that
+he was penniless, but he was very handsome,
+of distinguished manners and address,
+and when it became known that
+he was out in 'forty-five' the mantle
+of romance that fell around Prince
+Charles was shared as well by him, and
+he became the hero of many a pair of
+fair eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"James Rodolph soon saw this, and
+his hatred grew from day to day, as his
+rival became more successful. One day
+there was a quarrel, and next morning,
+upon the smooth, sandy shore of the
+river, they met and fought it out.
+Rodolph was fiery, quick, and fierce;
+Gordon cool and steady; until Rodolph,
+growing weary and desperate, tried a foul
+and dangerous stroke, to find his rapier<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>
+flying through the air, to fall with a
+splash into the river.</p>
+
+<p>"'I would not stain my blade by
+killing you,' said Gordon; and turning
+with the other gentlemen who had seen
+the foul stroke, he walked away, leaving
+him there.</p>
+
+<p>"And so it was that Rodolph came
+back to Cecil with a blot upon his name,
+and Gordon married the maid, and became
+in time the owner of the Braes,
+for she was an heiress as well as a great
+beauty. From that time has grown the
+feud which we may some day see the
+end of. And that is why the people
+laughed and Rodolph slunk away. For
+the old story is known throughout the
+shore, and Rodolph proved, in his
+fight with you, the bad blood in his
+veins. It never does to cross the white
+blood with the red, for the treachery
+of the Indian will taint the race for
+generations."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Thus it was, by the light of this old
+tale of thirty years before, I saw and
+read the cause and reason of it all&mdash;of
+his fatal course, of our quarrel, and of
+the meeting by the banks of the river
+Elk.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE DEFIANCE OF THE TORY</h3>
+
+
+<p>A few weeks later I was up and out,
+fast gaining strength and courage for
+the long ride to the northward to join
+the gallant fellows of the Maryland
+Line, who had taken up their line of
+march soon after the accident befell me.
+And though I was eager to be off, the
+surgeon would not let me go, and so,
+until I could gather strength for the
+long journey, I served as best I could
+my country and the commands of the
+Committee of Public Safety sitting at
+the Head of Elk. Thus it was I rode
+one day by the side of Edward Veasey,
+High Sheriff of the county of Cecil,
+carrying the writ and command of the
+Committee of Public Safety to Charles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>
+Gordon of the Braes, now a suspected
+Tory and a malcontent. And as I rode
+by the side of the High Sheriff on this
+most unpleasant task, I longed to turn
+back and let the Sheriff ride on alone;
+but duty held me as a point of honour.
+For as it was, I was carrying I knew
+not what ruin and destruction to the
+roof of the very house that once had
+received me as a guest and that sheltered
+the fairest eyes that had ever gazed in
+mine. And now I was to appear before
+that house as the bearer of ill-tidings.
+Ah, duty often wears a gruesome countenance;
+yet it is a sign of courage to
+face this duty down, and I sat more
+firmly in my saddle and rode nearer to
+the High Sheriff. He was a stern and
+determined man; he was short of stature,
+stout of frame, and sat his powerful
+horse like the fox-hunter that he was.
+But, though it was the height of summer,
+and the hills and the forests were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>
+green, the air laden with the odour of
+flowers, and the streams full and rushing,
+there was anything but a smile on
+the High Sheriff's face. For though
+he was no friend to Gordon of the
+Braes, he liked not the errand on which
+he rode, and would gladly have turned
+his horse's head with me.</p>
+
+<p>"If they want to fight," said he to
+me, "why don't they join the Maryland
+Line and leave men alone who are disposed
+to be quiet? They will have
+enough to do in repulsing the redcoats,
+and should not stir up opposition in the
+rear of our armies, which this persecution
+of private individuals will certainly
+do. I wish some other carried this
+writ, and I was with the lads fighting
+in the North."</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, so do I, but it is the order of
+the committee," said I grimly.</p>
+
+<p>"True, and as such must be obeyed."</p>
+
+<p>We had come to where the ferry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
+crosses the Elk, and hailing it we were
+soon on the south bank and taking up
+again the road that leads to the Braes.
+Over the hills and dales of Cecil, the
+forest, streams, and rivers, the soft warm
+sunlight played, and nature blessed
+with lavish hand the harvest of the
+year. Seldom had she been more
+pleasing, the earth bursting with flowers
+and the very trees welcoming with
+outstretched arms the soft breezes wafted
+from the bay. And then, after some
+hours' travelling, we came to the Braes
+and I saw again the long rambling
+house amid the trees. I took a firmer
+grip upon my sense of duty and rode
+on. The clatter of our horses' hoofs as
+we rode up to the door announced us.
+A moment later Charles Gordon came
+through the open doorway on to the
+porch. Though I had seen him before,
+it seemed to me, as I saw him standing
+there, with the memory of the old tale<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>
+in my mind, that I saw not the Tory,
+but one of those figures of romance that
+stepped out from the mystery and the
+haze of the North, when Prince Charles
+raised his standard in the Highlands,
+one of those heroic men who drew
+swords with Wallace and with Bruce,
+rallied with Montrose, and went to
+death with a cheer behind Bonnie
+Dundee at Killiecrankie, of such gallant
+bearing and bold and open countenance
+was he.</p>
+
+<p>"What brings you here, Mr. Sheriff,
+riding so fast?"</p>
+
+<p>"I come, Charles Gordon of the
+Braes," replied the Sheriff, "to serve
+on you the writ and summons of the
+Committee of Public Safety." And
+here he unfolded the summons and read
+aloud, sitting on his horse as he was:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Whereas</i>, Great complaints have this day
+been made against Charles Gordon of the
+Braes, for that he has infamously reflected on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>
+the membership of this Committee and the
+deputies of this county who lately attended
+the Provincial Convention,</p>
+
+<p>"These are therefore requiring the said
+Charles Gordon of the Braes that he appear
+before this Committee, at the house of Thomas
+Savin at the Head of Elk, to-morrow at two
+o'clock <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>, to answer unto said complaints.</p>
+
+<p>"Hereto fail not on your peril.</p></div>
+
+<p class="center">
+<span class="smcap">"James Rodolph</span>, Chairman.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="smcap">"To Charles Gordon</span> of the Braes."<br />
+</p></div>
+
+<p>Then spoke Charles Gordon:</p>
+
+<p>"Go tell those who sent you, Mr.
+Sheriff, that if they wish to see Charles
+Gordon they will have to come to the
+Braes to do so; that I will give them a
+right warm welcome, as my plantation
+is large enough to hold them all; but
+that if any of their rascally crew dare to
+approach the house, there will be lives
+lost; for I say to you, Mr. Sheriff, as I
+have said before and will say again, that
+James Rodolph and his committee are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>
+a set of infamous scoundrels, who have
+usurped such power and authority in
+troublous times as the King himself
+would not dare to claim. Tell them
+that I am at their defiance, that I do
+not recognise their authority, and that
+I have as much contempt for them as I
+have for their dogs."</p>
+
+<p>The old gentleman, for he must have
+been nearly sixty, looked splendid in
+his wrath, as he denounced the Committee
+of Public Safety. The ring in
+his voice told that the ire of the Scot
+was rising.</p>
+
+<p>For an instant the High Sheriff hesitated,
+as if he would turn and go, but
+then he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Charles Gordon, I spoke to you a
+moment ago as an officer of the law. I
+speak to you now as one who does not
+wish you an injury. Obey the order
+of the committee, and I will see that
+you have fair speech before it. Refuse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>
+and you will be declared a traitor and
+an outlaw, and the edict will go forth
+through all the province that no man
+shall buy of you, that no man shall sell
+to you, and he that shows you kindness
+will become an outlaw like yourself."</p>
+
+<p>Charles Gordon laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think I care a snap of a
+finger for their edict? There has not
+been a generation of my family that
+has not been at the Horn at Edinburgh
+for high treason. Do you think that I
+care when my neck has been on the
+block for the part I took at Preston
+Pans and Culloden? Go frighten the
+children with their edicts, but not an
+old Scot who has seen the claymores
+flash and led the charge for the King
+who is over the sea."</p>
+
+<p>"If you fought against the father,
+why not against the son?"</p>
+
+<p>"A fair question deserves a fair answer.
+When my head was on the block<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>
+my life was saved by the intercession of
+the Duchess of Gordon, but upon conditions,
+and those conditions are these:
+That I should nevermore bear arms
+against the King, that I should leave
+the realm of Scotland, sail across the
+sea to the province of Maryland, there
+remain and never return. So, though
+I love not the King nor his race, I will
+not draw sword against him, for never
+yet has a Gordon broken faith with
+friend or foe. Yet for all that I will
+not take up arms for the King's cause
+unless I am forced to do so by such
+rascals as compose your Committee of
+Public Safety."</p>
+
+<p>"So be it, then, but I wish it were
+otherwise," said the Sheriff; and, turning,
+we rode away, leaving him standing
+there. As I entered the woods I
+looked back again, my eyes searching
+every window in the old house, but
+never a sign of the Tory maid did I see.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE BLACK COCKADE</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was two o'clock next day when we
+rode up to the house where the Committee
+of Public Safety held its meetings,
+dismounted, and entered the room.
+Six gentlemen sat at the long table, and
+the room was crowded with hangers-on.
+They were men who stayed behind
+while the others went to the war; they
+fought the fight with their tongues,
+with writs of forfeiture for high treason,
+became great statesmen, and in time
+aspired to become members of the committee.
+How the worthy High Sheriff
+regarded them could be seen by the
+manner in which he brushed past them
+to stand before the committee.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What right have you to talk of
+liberty and of freedom, if you will not
+fight for it? Why are you not with
+Howard, Gist, Smallwood, and the
+other heroes who are making the name
+of the Maryland Line ring through the
+army?" he would ask, and they would
+turn away.</p>
+
+<p>The burly form and dark, swarthy
+face of the Chairman dominated the
+committee. As we entered and stood
+before him his dark eyes flashed.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you bring the body of Charles
+Gordon with you?" he demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"No; I do not. I bring his defiance,
+instead;" and the High Sheriff
+delivered the message of Charles Gordon
+to the committee.</p>
+
+<p>The committee glanced from one to
+another, and there was a big stir in the
+room. Then the Chairman was on his
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>"By a thousand devils," he swore,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
+"Charles Gordon shall suffer for this.
+I will not stop until the Braes is razed
+to the ground, and I have driven him
+from the province. He is a Tory and
+a traitor, and a danger to the peace of
+the county. He will be up in arms
+next. Mr. Sheriff, summon a posse
+and ride to the Braes and bring us the
+body of Charles Gordon, dead or
+alive."</p>
+
+<p>"You will not accept the invitation
+to go to the Braes yourself, then?"
+asked the High Sheriff gravely, though
+there was the suggestion of a smile
+around the corners of his mouth.</p>
+
+<p>The Chairman hesitated. "No,"
+he said; "it is absolutely necessary for
+the welfare of the county of Cecil that
+we should remain where we are and not
+engage in any brawls or tumults, for if
+we are killed who will take our places?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is true," said the High
+Sheriff ironically, "but have you <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>considered,
+gentlemen, that Charles Gordon's
+wife was of the Nicholsons of
+Kent, who, as you know, are the leaders
+of the patriots in that county? How
+will they like it when they hear of your
+burnings and your razings?"</p>
+
+<p>The Chairman frowned. "You are
+right," he said; "we must proceed
+about it in a legal way, which is slow
+but sure. Mr. Clerk, institute proceedings
+against Charles Gordon for
+the forfeiture of his lands for high treason,
+and meanwhile we will publish
+him throughout the province as a Tory
+and a traitor. We will teach this
+Charles Gordon and all Tories what
+it means to contemn the authority
+and dignity of this province and its
+committee."</p>
+
+<p>And then applause broke out from
+the crowd; but the High Sheriff, who
+left the room with me, shrugged his
+shoulders and said: "If they had half<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>
+of the courage of that Scot they would
+not be loafing around here, applauding
+James Rodolph. I am tired of it; I
+am going to resign and go to the front."
+He was as good as his word, for that
+very day he resigned the office of High
+Sheriff of the county of Cecil, packed
+his saddle-bags, gathered some volunteers
+about him, and rode away to the
+North, becoming in time a noted officer.
+But it was not until the month of
+August of that year that I was ready to
+follow him and felt equal to the length
+of the journey. On the night of the
+day before I took my departure I called
+John Cotton and ordered him to saddle
+Toby.</p>
+
+<p>John Cotton received the order with
+wide-open eyes, as it was growing somewhat
+late.</p>
+
+<p>"Fo' de Lord's sake, Mars Jim, what
+do you want Toby fo'? It's after ten
+o'clock."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Ask no questions, you black rascal,
+and bring Toby around in a hurry."</p>
+
+<p>Then his eyes fell on a cluster of red
+roses on my table, and a broad grin
+crept from ear to ear.</p>
+
+<p>"Sartin, Mars Jim, sartin;" and he
+was out of the door before my flying
+boot could repay the impertinence of
+that grin. A few minutes later I
+slipped out of the house to the stables,
+and, mounting Toby, was soon riding
+out of the silent town, having hit that
+rascal John Cotton across the shoulders
+with my whip for the snickering laugh
+he could not restrain as I was riding off.</p>
+
+<p>Have you ever ridden by the silent
+river after the night has fallen, and
+when it is far advanced? The great
+trees, rising far above you like the
+vaulted arch of a cathedral, overhanging
+the path down which you ride; the
+smooth flowing waters of the river, the
+towering dark mass on the farther shore,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>
+and over all the glorious moon shining
+down flooding everything with its silvery
+light, weird and fantastic, glinting
+now like polished steel upon the waters,
+now deepening the shadows of the
+forest, or flooding again with its glorious
+radiance some wide and sweeping
+stretch of water. And then, the unearthly
+silence of it all, the mournful
+howl of the wolf in the hills, and the
+piercing shrill cry of the wildcat, like
+that of a child tortured by the demons
+of hell; then the horror of its beauty,
+its stillness and its loneliness, comes
+over you; nervous chills become distinctly
+apparent, and you put spurs to
+your horse and ride on more rapidly,
+and the night is broken first by your
+whistle and then by your song. So it
+was, as I rode by the banks of the Elk,
+that night in early August, and my
+voice rang across the waters, as I sang
+the old Highland ballad:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Gordons cam', and the Gordons ran,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And they were stark and steady,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And aye the word among them a'<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was, Gordons, keep you ready.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>A ballad that I heard a young girl
+sing one day not long before. Thus
+the length of my ride passed quickly
+away until Toby felt the soft grass
+under his feet as I rode silently across
+the lawn. Her window was high, it is
+true, but it was open to admit the
+fresh, cool breeze from the bay, and
+then I had not thrown quoits in my
+youth not to be able to surmount so
+small a difficulty. So I fastened a
+black cockade amid the blood-red of
+the roses, and, rising in my stirrups,
+threw them firmly and gently, and saw
+them rise in the air, top the window-sill,
+and fall with a slight thud upon
+the floor. I did not wait for more,
+but turned and rode away; but it
+seemed to me that as I gained the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>
+shadow of the forest and looked back I
+saw the faint suggestion of a girlish
+form standing at the open window. I
+looked once again and rode on.</p>
+
+<p>When morning came, I bade good-bye
+to my mother, mounted my black colt
+Toby, and rode away to join the Maryland
+Line, which was marching now
+from Boston, to meet the British before
+New York. As that day I crossed the
+line into the province of Delaware, I
+saw nailed to a great oak the proclamation
+of the Committee of Public Safety,
+denouncing Charles Gordon as a Tory
+and a traitor, and calling upon all persons
+to have no dealings with him,
+either in public or private, at their peril.
+And thus it was at every cross-roads
+in the county of Cecil, and in all the
+counties to the south and west, the
+edict had gone forth.</p>
+
+<p>Now in Maryland, as I have said
+before, we love, above all else, courage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+in a man, and so I rode under the oak,
+and tore down the proclamation, for I
+knew the courage of Charles Gordon,
+Tory though he was. I knew also that
+the proceedings of forfeiture had been
+instituted against him in the High
+Court of the Province, and that ere I
+set foot on the soil of Maryland again,
+he would be driven from the province,
+and it was for this that I paid this
+courtesy to the courage of an enemy,
+as I left my native plains behind me.</p>
+
+<p>It was a long road for a lad, but the
+people received me with open arms and
+urged me on when I told them whither
+I was riding. After several days of
+travelling along the shore of the Delaware
+and across the low-lying plains of
+New Jersey, I came to the banks of
+the Hudson, and saw across the water
+the great city of New York, its clustering
+houses and steeples. And then it
+was not long before I was on the ferry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
+that conveyed me across the river, and
+heard the sharp ring of the pavement
+under my horse's feet as I rode toward
+the great common where lay the encampment
+of the troops. It was near
+twelve o'clock when I came to the camp
+of the patriots and asked my way of
+an officer to the quarters of the Maryland
+Line.</p>
+
+<p>"You must be a stranger," he said,
+"or you would know that the Maryland
+Line always has the place of honour in
+the camp;" and he showed me where
+their quarters lay.</p>
+
+<p>I felt aglow with pride when I heard
+this tribute to my countrymen. I
+thanked him and rode on. A few
+minutes later I was among them. The
+great voice of the Captain was giving
+me greeting; Dick Ringgold's hand
+was on my shoulder, as he took charge
+of me; and many of my kith and kin,
+old friends and neighbours who belonged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+to that famous corps, came forward to
+greet and welcome me to the camp.
+Thus, after many days of sickness and
+of travel, I took my place among the
+men who were about to face the great
+storm. True, at the time quiet reigned
+all along our front, which lay over beyond
+the heights of Brooklyn; but hot
+work was soon expected, as the British
+fleet had been seen in the offing, and it
+was only a question of time when the
+army would be landed and the attack
+begun.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h3>THE RED TIDE OF BLOOD</h3>
+
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Spruce Macaronies, and pretty to see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Tidy and dapper and gallant were we;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Blooded, fine gentlemen, proper and tall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Bold in a fox-hunt and gay at a ball;<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Tralara! Tralara! now praise we the Lord,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For the clang of His call and the flash of His sword.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Tralara! Tralara! now forward to die;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For the banner, hurrah! and for sweethearts, good-bye!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">J<small>OHN</small> W<small>ILLIAMSON</small> P<small>ALMER</small>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+<p>It was on the 22d day of August
+that the rumour flew through the camp
+that the enemy had landed and was
+preparing to attack. But the hours
+flew by, and still no orders came, until
+the Line became restless, and the fear
+grew that the fight would begin before
+we could reach the field of battle. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>
+sun began to sink over the Heights of
+Harlem when an aide rode into our
+lines. It was Tench Tilghman, who
+swung his hat and shouted as he went
+by: "You will have warm work in a
+day or two, boys!"</p>
+
+<p>We gave him a yell in reply, and
+started with renewed interest the preparations
+for the coming fight. A few
+minutes later came the orders that we
+were to march at dawn. The men
+received the news joyfully, and it was
+wonderful to see the change in their
+bearing; for while the doubt hung
+over them, they were restless and
+murmuring was heard all through the
+camp; but now all was laughter and
+gaiety. They prepared for the fight as
+one would prepare for the next county
+ball or a fox-hunt on the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>The stirring notes of the bugle ringing
+over the camp brought me to my
+feet with a bound, and I looked out of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>
+the tent to see a heavy mist over everything,
+and hear the sound of men's
+voices coming through it all around
+me. It does not take a soldier long
+to don his uniform, and I was soon out
+attending to my duties. At seven
+o'clock we were on our march to the
+ferry, crossing the East River at the
+foot of the main street of the small
+town of Brooklyn; then we took a
+road leading over a creek called Gowanus,
+and knew that we were marching
+to guard the right of the American
+line. Low-lying hills, heavily wooded,
+lay before us; it was in these woods
+that our line was called to a halt, and
+we took up our position for the battle.
+We lay there several days, with
+constant rumours flying through the
+camp of the enemy's advance, but yet
+they would not come.</p>
+
+<p>It was on the morning of the 27th
+of August that the great battle of Long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>
+Island, so disastrous for the patriot
+forces, broke upon us. The scattering
+shots of the skirmishers first made us
+spring to arms; then the sharp rattle
+of the musketry of Atlee's men and
+the boom of Carpenter's cannon on our
+immediate right told that the enemy
+was pushing them hard. Then through
+the forest trees came the line of the
+British advance. The fire extended
+along our whole front, while far over,
+to our left came the distant roar of
+cannon and musketry.</p>
+
+<p>"They are having a hot time over
+there," said Dick, "but why don't
+these fellows charge us?"</p>
+
+<p>"They will charge us soon enough,"
+I replied. But it seemed as if they
+never would, for what promised to be
+an attack along our whole line dwindled
+down to a mere exchange of shots.
+Hour after hour went by, and yet they
+never advanced beyond a certain point<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>
+except when a company or so would
+dash forward and a sharp skirmish would
+break forth for a moment or two, and
+then die away again. But far over to
+our left the sound of the battle came
+rolling nearer and nearer, telling the
+tale of Sullivan's men being driven in.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not like that," said Dick.
+"They are doing all the fighting, while
+we are merely exchanging courtesies
+with our friends six hundred yards
+away. Hello! There comes news."</p>
+
+<p>I looked behind us to a small hill,
+where Lord Stirling stood with his staff,
+and saw Tench Tilghman riding up at
+full speed. There was a hurried movement
+among the staff, and Stirling's
+glasses swept the country to our left
+and rear. A moment later an order
+was given and the aides came dashing
+down our lines, and then, to our disgust,
+came the order to retire.</p>
+
+<p>"Retreat!" cried one of the men.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+"Why, we haven't begun to fight
+yet!"</p>
+
+<p>"Steady, men," cried Captain Ramsay;
+"you form the rear guard and
+must hold the enemy in check," for
+they were beginning to advance as the
+regiments on each side of us withdrew.
+Then we began slowly to withdraw, but
+there came an aide riding swiftly to
+Major Gist. Pennsylvania and Delaware
+regiments took our place in the
+rear, and we were marched rapidly to
+the front. The heavy woods had heretofore
+prevented our seeing what was
+taking place, but now that we had
+come out to the opening a wild scene
+of terror and dismay lay before us.
+Gowanus Creek, deep and unfordable,
+with its sullen tide rising fast, lay
+like a great ugly serpent across our
+path, while over the meadow and far in
+our front the broken streams of fugitives
+were swarming, flying toward the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>
+bridge at the mill, the only hope of crossing
+Gowanus Creek. And as I looked,
+to my horror, the mill and the bridge
+burst into flames, catching the routed
+army as it were between the rising tide
+and the advancing legions of the victorious
+English. Then, as we watched
+it, a rumour grew and spread through
+the ranks, as such things will in battle,
+that a New England Colonel had fired
+the bridge to save himself and his regiment.
+How we cursed New England
+then, and swore that if we ever escaped
+we would have our reckoning with her
+and her people.</p>
+
+<p>"There they come!" cried Dick at
+my side, pointing to where a large
+stone house crowned a hill immediately
+in the rear and commanded the whole
+field of the terror-stricken fugitives.</p>
+
+<p>I saw the brilliant scarlet of their
+coats as they took possession of the
+hill and prepared to open fire.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"They will have to be driven from
+there or we are lost," I answered.</p>
+
+<p>Then, as the prospect looked the
+darkest and the long line of the British
+formed to make their last advance,
+Lord Stirling rode up to our line.</p>
+
+<p>"Men of Maryland!" he shouted,
+"charge that hill, hold Cornwallis in
+check and save the army!"</p>
+
+<p>We answered with a yell, as he
+sprang from his horse to lead us.</p>
+
+<p>Ah, I shall never forget the pride
+with which we stepped out of the mass
+of flying fugitives, four hundred Marylanders,
+the greatest dandies and bluest
+blood in all the army, for this, the
+proudest service of the day. We
+formed for the charge as if on the drill
+ground; our evolutions and lines were
+perfect, and would have done credit
+to the grenadiers of the later empire.
+Stirling's sword was in the air, the
+drums were beating the charge, when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+there broke from the throats of our
+Marylanders the wild, thrilling yell of
+the southern provinces, and we leaped
+to the charge up the long hill, straight
+into the face of Cornwallis's army, a
+handful against thousands. Up, up the
+hill we dashed. A fire as of hell broke
+upon us and rattled and roared about
+our ears, thinning our ranks and strewing
+our pathway with the dead. Men
+fell to the right and to the left of me,
+and I strode across the bodies of the
+slain in my path; but still, over the
+roar of the cannon and the rattle of
+musketry, high and shrill rose the yell
+of the charging line. We swept up
+the hill, the crest was gained, and the
+British fell back before us, when we
+were met by a sheet of flame, a storm
+of lead and smoke and fire. We were
+raised as it were in the air and held
+there gasping for breath, and then we
+were swept back down the hill, struggling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>
+desperately to gain a foothold to
+make a stand.</p>
+
+<p>Again we saw Stirling glance over
+the meadow and the marsh behind us
+as we re-formed our line. His voice
+came ringing down our ranks.</p>
+
+<p>"Once again, men of Maryland."</p>
+
+<p>Once again! Aye, we knew how to
+answer that call, for the bodies of our
+comrades lay dotting the long hillside.</p>
+
+<p>"Once again, and charge home!"
+cried Ramsay.</p>
+
+<p>We sprang to the charge, and wilder,
+shriller, fiercer, more terrible, rose the
+yell&mdash;the yell of vengeance that seemed
+to pick the line up bodily and hurl it
+up the hill through the scorching, blistering
+storm and hail of lead, fire, and
+smoke. I remembered naught till the
+crest was gained, and Edward Veasey crying,
+"Charge home! Charge home!"
+and we dashed in upon the scarlet line.
+Ah me, for a moment, then it was glorious,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>
+as steel met steel, and we drove
+them, ten times our number, back, and
+rolled them up against the house and
+forced them off the plain. And then
+our hands were on the ugly muzzles of
+the guns, and Edward Veasey, springing
+on the carriage, cheered on his men.
+But ere it had died on his lips, so desperate
+was the struggle, the English Captain
+of the guns fired, and Veasey fell. I was
+but a dozen steps away, and, seeing
+Veasey fall, I dashed through the press
+of bayonets to where the English Captain
+fought.</p>
+
+<p>"Another one!" he cried, as we met
+face to face.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and the last;" and our swords
+met.</p>
+
+<p>"No time for that!" cried a voice
+at my side; then there was a flash, and
+the Englishman fell back into the arms
+of his men, and the guns were won for
+an instant. But only for an instant.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>
+Our men melted away under the storm
+of lead from the Cortelyou house, and
+the weight of the advancing regiments
+forced us back to the crest of the hill.
+Then slowly, step by step, down the
+hill they forced us, until we rested once
+more at its foot.</p>
+
+<p>But still the meadow, the marsh, and
+the creek were black with the mass of
+flying men seeking eagerly, desperately
+to escape, while between them and the
+victorious British stretched the ranks
+of the Maryland Line, now sadly
+thinned, for one-third of our men were
+dyeing the long dank grass with their
+blood. But that line, thin as it was,
+closed up the wide gaps in the ranks
+with as jaunty a step and as gallant a
+carriage as when they first stepped out
+for the charge. Their faces looked
+grim, it is true, for with the smoke and
+the fire, and the blood and the dust, the
+genius of battle had sketched thereon.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>For a few minutes we rested at the
+foot of the hill, for we knew that our
+work was not half done, and until the
+last fugitive was over Gowanus Creek
+we must check the British advance. A
+glance from Lord Stirling told us to
+charge, as he pointed up the long hill
+with his sword.</p>
+
+<p>Again there came the answering yell,
+the requiem for many a gallant soul,
+and the line once more swung forward
+to breast the hill. Up the long hill
+we toiled again, straight into the teeth
+of the fire.</p>
+
+<p>Again we gained the crest and fought
+them, man to man; again by weight of
+numbers they forced us off the crest,
+and sent us staggering, reeling down
+the hill, desperate now.</p>
+
+<p>Yet again Lord Stirling called on us
+to follow, and yet again we charged
+them home.</p>
+
+<p>Men lay wounded, men lay dying,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+all across the long hillside, and more
+than half our number were dead or
+sorely stricken.</p>
+
+<p>Yet it was for a fifth time that Stirling's
+voice rang clear, over the roar of
+the battle, and for the fifth time we
+picked up the gauge of their challenge,
+and swept forward in the charge.</p>
+
+<p>Thus for the last time we reached the
+crest, and for one heroic moment held
+our own, and then came reeling back
+from the shock. And, as I was carried
+down the hill with the retreating line, I
+saw the tall figure of Lord Stirling
+standing upright and alone amid the
+storm of bullets, courting death and
+disdaining to retreat.</p>
+
+<p>"To the rescue of Lord Stirling," I
+cried to the few soldiers who were
+around me. Dick, who was near,
+echoed my shout, and we dashed forward,
+determined to bring him off by
+force if no other way could be found.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But we had not advanced a dozen
+yards before every man that was with us
+had fallen and only Dick and I reached
+Lord Stirling, who was calmly awaiting
+the end.</p>
+
+<p>"The day is lost, my lord," I cried,
+"but we have yet time to save you."</p>
+
+<p>"Save yourselves, lads," he replied;
+"you have done everything that men
+can do, but it remains for me either to
+die or surrender."</p>
+
+<p>"My lord," I cried; but at this
+moment Dick reeled. "Struck, by
+George!" he exclaimed, and I caught
+him as he fell.</p>
+
+<p>"See to your comrade," said Lord
+Stirling; "you have yet time to escape."</p>
+
+<p>So, throwing Dick's arms around my
+neck, for there was no time to parley
+under that rain of lead, I bore him
+quickly down the hill.</p>
+
+<p>But our work had not been in vain,
+for as a soldier came to my assistance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>
+I saw that the last of the
+fugitives had reached the other side,
+and the army for the moment was
+saved.</p>
+
+<p>And so, when we reached the banks
+of Gowanus Creek, we formed in line
+once more and gave a parting yell of
+defiance; then, turning, we plunged into
+the creek and swam to the other side,
+while the shot and grape from the English
+on the hill tore across the whole
+surface of the water.</p>
+
+<p>Dick was badly wounded, but, with
+the soldier's assistance, I swam with him
+across the creek and bore him safely
+out of the range of the fire.</p>
+
+<p>Ah, it was but a shadow of our former
+line when we formed once more, but the
+great General himself came to thank us,
+and that shadow of a line was worth
+a thousand men.</p>
+
+<p>Thereafter we claimed as our own the
+post of honour in advance or in retreat;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>
+during the famous march on the night
+after the battle, and in the retreat to
+White Plains, we formed the rear guard,
+and the army felt secure.</p>
+
+<p>There came a breathing time one day
+during the retreat, and the General rode
+up to our lines. We greeted him with
+the yell he loved to hear, for it brought
+back to him the Southland and the
+hunting fields of Old Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>Then he told our officers that he
+wanted us to pick out the youngest of
+our line to carry a special despatch to
+the Committee of Public Safety, sitting
+at Annapolis, announcing the battle and
+the famous part we had taken therein.
+The choice fell on me, as poor Dick
+was groaning in the hospital, but luckily
+out of danger from his wound.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my boy, how old are you?"
+said the General, smiling down upon
+me, as I saluted.</p>
+
+<p>"Eighteen, General."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Do you think you can carry this
+safely?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was in the charge at Gowanus
+Ford, General," said I modestly.</p>
+
+<p>"I see," laughed the General, "you
+are a true Marylander. I wish I had
+more of you in the army."</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h3>THE HARRYING OF THE TORY</h3>
+
+
+<p>I was soon riding southward, the
+bearer of the message from General
+Washington to the Council of Safety, sitting
+at Annapolis; and as I rode, the
+people hailed me for my news, and gave
+me food and drink, so I could hurry on.</p>
+
+<p>At last I reached the borders of
+Maryland, and again rode under the
+old oak from which I had torn the
+proclamation. It was only a few weeks
+before, and I wondered what had been
+the fate of Charles Gordon.</p>
+
+<p>So, as I rode through the Head of
+Elk late that afternoon and came to
+the ferry there, I asked the boatman
+what they had done with him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Forfeiture has been decreed," he
+answered, "and the new High Sheriff
+and James Rodolph have gone to-day
+with a posse and many men to root the
+traitor out."</p>
+
+<p>"How long ago did they start?"</p>
+
+<p>"About an hour."</p>
+
+<p>"What road did they take?"</p>
+
+<p>"The river road. They expect to
+reach there about nine o'clock. Jupiter!
+I'd like to be there and see the flames
+reddening the sky. It will be a grand
+sight." He looked longingly through
+the forest toward the Braes.</p>
+
+<p>"Something else will be dyed crimson,
+if I know that Tory right."</p>
+
+<p>"That there will be, sir; it will be
+a lovely scrimmage;" and he sighed at
+the lost opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>The boat grounded on the south
+bank, and I mounted Toby.</p>
+
+<p>"A pleasant ride, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks; good-night."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Toby," said I, as I patted his neck,
+"you have travelled many a mile to-day,
+old fellow; but you will have to
+cover the ground to-night as you never
+covered it before. They have an hour's
+start, and we have a longer distance to
+go; so double your legs under you, my
+boy, and go."</p>
+
+<p>Toby rising to the occasion, and the
+spirit of old Ranter proving true, he
+broke into the long even gallop that
+makes the miles pass swiftly. It was
+a race against time, against James Rodolph
+and his crew. I knew if once
+they gained the Braes, black death would
+stalk among the ruins, for Charles Gordon
+would never surrender.</p>
+
+<p>The night fell rapidly as we raced
+along and the miles flew by.</p>
+
+<p>As Toby and I drew near Bohemia
+Manor, where the road joined the one
+on which the posse was marching, I
+reined him in and rode more cautiously.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>
+It was well that I did so, for as I
+approached I heard the low murmur
+of men's voices and saw their figures in
+the dim light as they were marching
+by.</p>
+
+<p>I brought Toby to a halt. The
+road was cut off that way, so I wheeled
+him around to ride back a short distance
+to where the road skirted the
+open fields of Bohemia Manor. As
+Toby plunged forward in answer to my
+spur, I heard a cry and then a shot
+came whistling by. But I left them
+behind, and coming to the open fields,
+I put Toby at the fence and raced
+across the open country, through the
+lower fields to the Braes, Toby taking
+the fences in his stride.</p>
+
+<p>Then I dashed once more across the
+green lawn of the Braes and drew my
+sword hilt across the shutter.</p>
+
+<p>There was a stir in the room above
+me; the shutter was cautiously opened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+and I was covered by the muzzle
+of a pistol.</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you?" demanded a voice
+which I knew to be Charles Gordon's.</p>
+
+<p>"James Frisby of Fairlee," I replied.
+"I have ridden to warn you,
+Mr. Gordon. You have only a few
+minutes to escape in; James Rodolph,
+with a hundred men behind him, will
+be here in ten minutes."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, lad, for the information.
+I will give them a warm
+reception."</p>
+
+<p>"But you cannot hold the Braes
+against a hundred men; they will burn
+you out, and then Mistress Jean."</p>
+
+<p>"Hum; that is so, lad. Ride round
+to the rear of the house."</p>
+
+<p>I did so, and a moment later, they
+came out on the little porch. The old
+gentleman had buckled on his sword,
+and there were pistols in his belt. And
+she, ah! she never looked more <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>bewitching.
+Her beautiful hair flowed
+wild about her shoulders, over the light
+dark mantle in which she was wrapped.
+By the flicker of the candle, I saw that
+a bright flush mantled her cheek, as
+she spoke rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>"Father, there is an English vessel
+a few miles down the bay. Call the
+slaves and escape to it."</p>
+
+<p>"But I cannot take you there."</p>
+
+<p>"I will carry her through the lines,"
+I cried, "and see her safe in the hands
+of her aunt in Kent."</p>
+
+<p>They hesitated, but the noise in
+front of the house told of the approaching
+mob, and there was no time for
+parley. So, true to my race, I acted
+quickly, and stooping from my saddle I
+caught her up gently and placed her
+on Toby before me.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the only chance, lad. See
+that you carry her safely."</p>
+
+<p>"I will carry her through or die," I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
+replied with deep conviction. At the
+touch of the spur Toby sprang forward
+under his double burden.</p>
+
+<p>"The creek," she cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; but we can swim it."</p>
+
+<p>Indeed it was our only way, as the
+mob blocked the other roads of escape,
+so we rode boldly in and swam for the
+other side. The creek was several
+hundred yards wide, but Toby bore
+us bravely until we reached the southern
+shore, then he plunged forward,
+threw himself up the bank, and we
+were out of immediate danger.</p>
+
+<p>There we halted for a moment under
+the shadow of a great tree and looked
+back across the water.</p>
+
+<p>We heard the sound of many voices,
+the howling of the mob, and through
+the trunks of the trees flickered the
+glare of the torches. Suddenly shots
+rang out, a cry of dismay and rage
+followed, and then the flash of guns<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>
+and a rattling volley crashed around
+the house.</p>
+
+<p>"By Jove, he is fighting it out!"
+But the slender figure on my arm
+trembled, and I saw that her face was
+white through the darkness.</p>
+
+<p>"He will escape, Mistress Jean," I
+said reassuringly; "trust an old Highlander
+for that." And I saw that her
+eyes were bright and tense, watching
+the scene across the water.</p>
+
+<p>"There he goes," she exclaimed joyfully;
+and there, gliding swiftly through
+the waters, where the shadow of the
+trees made the darkness more intense,
+was a long low boat rowed by stalwart
+slaves. The sound of the oars was
+drowned by the clamour of the mob.</p>
+
+<p>"If he passes the neck," I exclaimed,
+"he will be safe;" for the creek narrowed
+at its mouth until it was but a
+hundred yards wide.</p>
+
+<p>"Ride quick to the point," she said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>So Toby plunged forward again at
+the pressure of my knees, and though
+he still went gallantly on, I could tell
+that the strain and the toil of the long
+march from the north, and his dash
+from the Head of Elk, were beginning
+to tell on him.</p>
+
+<p>At last we reached the mouth of the
+creek, and I brought Toby to a halt
+under the shadow of a clump of trees,
+where we could see and yet not be
+seen. I glanced for a moment out
+over the waters of the bay, and I
+saw, several miles to the southward,
+the gleam of a light as it fell on the
+waves; I knew it was the English
+man-of-war.</p>
+
+<p>But Mistress Jean's eyes were eagerly
+searching the waters of the creek, and
+she was straining her ears to catch the
+sound of the oars. Then we were rewarded.
+For at that moment we heard
+the long sweep of the oars in the water,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>
+and out from the mouth of the creek
+came the boat, the brawny negroes
+bending to their task.</p>
+
+<p>The commanding figure of the old
+Tory stood in the stern, looking back
+up the creek whence they came. Unconsciously
+my glance followed his, and
+I saw that the sky was crimson, and
+high above the tree-tops the flames
+licked the skies.</p>
+
+<p>"The Braes!" I exclaimed, and
+Mistress Jean was about to call out,
+when there came the sound of galloping
+hoofs on the other side. A horseman
+dashed into view, and rode into
+the water up to the saddle-girths.
+There was a flash, and the crack of a
+pistol broke the stillness of the night;
+then with a gesture of rage, the horseman
+rose in his stirrups and hurled the
+pistol far over the water; we heard the
+splash as it fell.</p>
+
+<p>Then the figure in the boat raised<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>
+his clenched hand and shook it at the
+horseman and the flames.</p>
+
+<p>"You fired too quick, Mr. Rodolph,"
+said the ferryman.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, damn him, he has escaped."
+He turned his horse and rode into the
+darkness, while a soft voice whispered
+in my ear,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Thank God."</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY</h3>
+
+
+<p>The sun had risen when we came
+once more in view of the groves of
+Fairlee. Toby's pace had degenerated
+into a walk, as if not to disturb the fair
+burden he bore, for she, overcome with
+fatigue and excitement, was quietly
+sleeping with her head on my shoulder.
+Toby picked his way like a dancing-master,
+and though the road was
+rough, never once did he stumble; he
+still bore himself gallantly for the old
+House of Fairlee. Ah! Toby, that
+road was miles too short for your master.
+Willingly would he have ridden
+thus, aye, until his hair had turned as
+white as snow on his brows, until the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>
+hand that guided the reins became too
+feeble to grasp them; aye, even unto
+the end of time.</p>
+
+<p>But before us lay Fairlee, and beyond
+that lay duty and the army.
+"Look once more, my cavalier," said
+I to myself; "look once more, for the
+moments are short, and in the days to
+come, in the dreary bivouacs and on
+the long marches, when the world
+seems bare and cold, the memory of
+that sweet face will brighten up with
+sunshine your existence and make it all
+glorious again. Oh, hang it, here is
+Fairlee!"</p>
+
+<p>"Mistress Jean," I whispered. I
+was loath to wake her, but it had to be
+done. "Mistress Jean!" I said, this
+time louder, and she awoke with a
+start. "This is Fairlee, and you can
+rest here with my mother, while I push
+on."</p>
+
+<p>"Fairlee? Why, where am I? Oh,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>
+I remember now. Did I go to sleep,
+Mr. Frisby?"</p>
+
+<p>"You did, Mistress Jean."</p>
+
+<p>A quick, blush came.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," she said, "how can I thank
+you? I don't deserve&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Mistress Jean, it is I who do
+not deserve that pleasure. I would go
+through a hundred fights to be able to
+do it again; but you are tired, and I
+will rouse the house."</p>
+
+<p>So, hammering on the door, I soon
+brought John Cotton to it. His woolly
+hair almost went straight on seeing me,
+and he started back, for he thought he
+saw my ghost.</p>
+
+<p>"Good Lord, Mars Jim," he stammered,
+"does that be you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you black scamp." And I
+soon convinced him of my real personality.</p>
+
+<p>"But, Mars Jim, who is dat you
+got wid you? It ain't one of dem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>
+Yankee ladies, is it?" For, I am
+sorry to say, John Cotton did not approve
+of the ladies in question, and
+was afraid I would "disgrace de
+family" if I married one of them.
+Before I could answer I heard a glad
+little cry, and there was my mother,
+coming down the stairway of the great
+hall.</p>
+
+<p>"How is my little lady?" said I, as
+I picked her up and kissed her, and
+then I introduced Mistress Jean to
+her and told her of our adventure at
+the Braes.</p>
+
+<p>Then my mother went up to her,
+in her stately little way, and took her
+hands in hers, and kissed and welcomed
+her to the House of Fairlee.</p>
+
+<p>So they made friends with each
+other then and there, as women do,
+and my mother led her away, up the
+broad stairs, and I stood looking after
+them. Then I turned to my own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>
+room, and, throwing myself on the
+bed, I slept the sleep of exhaustion
+for many hours.</p>
+
+<p>When the hour of my awakening
+came I sprang up, for there lay the
+despatch which I was to bear to the
+Council of Safety.</p>
+
+<p>Drawing on my riding-boots and
+buckling on my sword, I called John
+Cotton to bring my horse to the door,
+for several miles lay between Fairlee
+and Rock Hall, where the boat lay to
+take me to Annapolis.</p>
+
+<p>I walked across to the hall and on
+to the old porch, where I saw Mistress
+Jean standing, gazing wistfully out on
+the broad bay.</p>
+
+<p>"He is safe now, Mistress Jean."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she said with a sad smile,
+"but when shall I ever see him
+again?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just as soon as we whip them," I
+replied.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Then it will never be," came her
+retort.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, ho! What will your uncle,
+Captain Nicholson, say when he finds
+he has such a fiery little Tory in his
+house? He will have to give up chasing
+the redcoats to suppress the Goddess
+of Sedition in his own camp."</p>
+
+<p>But at this Mistress Jean gave her
+head a toss and walked away to the
+end of the porch.</p>
+
+<p>Then John Cotton brought the
+horse to the steps.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going so soon, Mr.
+Frisby?"</p>
+
+<p>"I must," I answered; "I am a
+bearer of despatches to the Council of
+Safety. I would gladly desert my
+trust to be your escort to Chestertown,
+but&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"The honour of the House of
+Fairlee stands in the way," said she
+mockingly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Not that, my lady," I replied,
+bowing courteously, "but the fact that
+I would fall even lower in your good
+graces."</p>
+
+<p>"Well said, cavalier," she retorted,
+with a sweeping courtesy. "'Tis a
+pity that so fine a gentleman should be
+a rebel."</p>
+
+<p>"Or so fair a maid a Tory."</p>
+
+<p>"Is this a minuet?" came the
+laughing voice of my mother from the
+door.</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, mother, I am only bidding
+Mistress Jean good-bye with all due
+ceremony."</p>
+
+<p>A few moments later I was in the
+saddle, trotting slowly off, while behind
+me fluttered their handkerchiefs, waving
+good-bye.</p>
+
+<p>Rock Hall lies on a bluff, looking
+out across the bay. To the southward
+lies the Isle of Kent, with its fertile
+fields of waving grain, and off there on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>
+the horizon the greenish ribbon near
+the sky line tells where the hills of
+Anne Arundel lay.</p>
+
+<p>Down below, under the bluff, lay a
+long, slender boat, shaped like a canoe,
+but much larger, stouter, stronger, and
+far swifter, when the wind filled its sails
+and carried it like a bird skimming over
+the waters.</p>
+
+<p>"An English man-of-war is lying off
+the Isle of Kent now," said the old
+waterman in answer to my question,
+"but we can walk all around her in this
+boat."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we will start immediately," I
+replied, and placing my things on board
+we were soon under way.</p>
+
+<p>The wind caught our sails; we stood
+out into the bay gloriously, and she
+fairly flew through the water. As we
+rounded the Isle of Kent we saw, lying
+almost in our track, the English man-of-war,
+lazily rolling with the tide.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then there was a great bustle on
+board, and the sailors flew to the rigging,
+the sails filled with the wind, and
+through the port hole was run the ugly
+muzzle of a Long Tom. The waterman
+with me laughed merrily.</p>
+
+<p>"They think they can stop us," said
+he, but he never altered his course.</p>
+
+<p>So we bore down on her until there
+came a flash; a cannon ball came ricochetting
+across the water, but fell short
+by a hundred yards.</p>
+
+<p>The waterman chuckled. "That is
+about the right distance," said he; and
+the boat answering the helm, fairly
+danced around his Majesty's representative,
+always, by a saving grace, just
+beyond cannon shot.</p>
+
+<p>And when his Majesty's ship actually
+gave chase and sent a broadside after
+our impertinent piece of baggage the
+waterman fairly danced with delight and
+led her a merry chase down the bay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
+until we were opposite Annapolis.
+Then with a flirt of her sail we bade
+them good-bye and ran for the mouth
+of the Severn. Gaining that, we soon
+passed the charred hulk of the Peggy
+Stewart and ran up beside the wharf,
+and I found myself walking the streets
+of that gay little capital.</p>
+
+<p>It was growing somewhat late, but I
+made my way at once to the State
+House, where the Convention of the
+Freemen of the Province sat, hoping
+still to find them at their deliberations.
+I paused for the moment when I came
+to the foot of the knoll on which the
+State House stands, for it had only
+recently been completed, and was the
+noblest building in America. Its massive
+proportions towered high above
+me, overawing the town at its feet, and
+commanding the country for miles
+around. But it was not a time for halting.
+Hurrying up the long flights of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>
+steps, I found myself in the great lobby,
+with its lofty ceilings and its air of
+vastness.</p>
+
+<p>The Convention had adjourned but
+a short time before, and the lobby was
+still filled with men. As I threaded my
+way through them my dusty uniform
+and muddy boots marked me out as a
+bearer of despatches.</p>
+
+<p>"News from the army&mdash;victory or
+defeat?" cried eager voices around me.
+Answer them I would not, but hurried
+on to the room where sat the Council
+of Safety, who held the fate and the
+fortunes of the province in its hand and
+was the heart and soul of the great
+revolt.</p>
+
+<p>An usher stood at the door, but, seeing
+my uniform, threw it wide open,
+and, as I entered, softly swung it to
+behind me. It was a lofty room in
+which I found myself, with immense
+windows looking out over the town and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>
+the sweep of the waters of the bay to
+the distant line of the eastern shore. A
+long, broad table extended down the
+centre of the room. Around it were
+seated some sixteen or eighteen gentlemen.
+Staid men and grave they were,
+past the middle age of life, for the
+younger men had gone to fight the battles
+of the republic; men who were
+fitted by experience to guide the province
+through the stormy scenes of the
+civil war.</p>
+
+<p>At their head sat a venerable gentleman
+whom I knew to be Matthew
+Tilghman, the patriarch of the Colony.
+At his right hand sat a man of sturdy
+build, ruddy countenance, and dark hair
+and eyes, more like a prosperous planter
+with many acres and numerous slaves
+than the man who was soon to become
+the Great War Governor of Maryland.
+All down the table on either side sat
+men with strong, determined faces,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
+whose names bespoke the chieftainship
+of many a powerful family. A movement
+of interest ran down the table as
+I entered and delivered to the venerable
+Chairman the despatch. He broke
+the seal with nervous fingers, and then
+rising, read General Washington's despatch
+aloud amid intense interest.</p>
+
+<p>"Battle," "defeat," "rout," "Cortelyou
+House," "the Maryland Line."
+"Good, I see the boys did their duty,"
+were among the many exclamations I
+heard around the table and when the
+despatch ended.</p>
+
+<p>"The bearer will describe the battle."</p>
+
+<p>They all turned to me, and Thomas
+Johnson said: "Come, young gentleman,
+tell us everything you saw and
+heard."</p>
+
+<p>So I took my place by the Chairman
+and told them of what I had seen and
+done, amid many interruptions and
+eager questions from the Council.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Thus for a time, as I stood there, I
+became a man of importance, telling the
+tale of the battle, of the defeat and the
+rout, of the fiery charges, the death,
+the pain and the anguish of it all, until
+long after the night had fallen. But an
+end comes to all things, and Thomas
+Johnson, laying his hand on my shoulder,
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"Young gentleman, you must stay
+with me to-night."</p>
+
+<p>I accepted gladly, for the inns were
+crowded, and it was somewhat late in
+the evening to find a friend to take me
+in. We strolled across the State House
+grounds under the soft September skies,
+through the wide, dusty streets, until we
+came to the future Governor's house.
+Though it was late, we talked for yet
+another hour, and then, with a cheery
+good-night, I was shown to my room.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE VETO OF A MAID</h3>
+
+
+<p>Ah, I am afraid the clean white
+sheets, the soft springy bed, and the
+balmy September air proved traitor to
+me, after the hardships of a soldier's
+life in the field, the rough bivouac, and
+the hard ride from the North, for when
+I awoke with a start, I found the sun
+high in the heavens and the music of
+birds coming through the open window
+from the trees outside. Hurriedly
+dressing, I opened my door and went
+down the broad stairway into the old
+hall. Everything was quiet, not a soul
+was around. I wandered across the
+hall and parlour, and there I stood for a
+few minutes, looking out into the street,
+when a merry burst of laughter across<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>
+the hall attracted my attention. The
+door of the room opposite was slightly
+ajar, and I saw that it was the library
+of the house; so crossing the hall, I
+gently rapped on the panel. A cheery
+"Come in!" was my answer. I obeyed
+the summons, threw the door open, and
+entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it is our feather-bed soldier,"
+came a merry voice from the broad
+window-sill, where sat two young ladies.
+A peal of ringing laughter followed;
+for, indeed, I was somewhat non-plussed
+to thus come upon two such
+laughing, merry girls.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">One was dark, the other fair;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Both were sweet and debonair.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Indeed they were very pretty, sitting
+there amid the quaint old surroundings,
+the heavy old book-presses, with solid
+oak doors, the wainscoting extending
+to the ceiling, the broad window-seats,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+the green trees, and quiet garden beyond.
+I knew at once that they must
+be daughters of my host, Mistress
+Polly and Mistress Betsy Johnson, at
+that time the reigning belles of the
+western shore.</p>
+
+<p>"Now I know what awaited me I
+shall never forgive that feather-bed,"
+I replied, recovering from my confusion
+and making my best bow. "I would
+never have proved such a traitor to my
+cloth."</p>
+
+<p>"That is better," said Mistress Polly,
+the black-haired, dark-eyed one. "Come
+and report to us, sir. Do you not know
+that no officer returns from the army
+who does not immediately report to us?"</p>
+
+<p>"I understand their alacrity in doing
+so. I shall be among the first to obey
+the order hereafter."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, sir, come tell us of the battle,
+and what brought you hither so fast
+that the mud is still upon your boots?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Now, telling the account of the battle
+to two charming young ladies, whose
+bright eyes and eager faces told of the
+interest they took in my narrative, was
+a far different thing from telling the
+same tale before the powerful Council
+of Safety, and I am free to confess that
+I enjoyed the last far more than the
+first.</p>
+
+<p>Their exclamations and excited questions
+spurred me on, and I drew the
+picture of the battle with a stronger
+hand and painted myself a hero, which
+I am afraid I was far from being.</p>
+
+<p>But Mistress Betsy suddenly sat up
+straight, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<p>"Bless me, Polly, Mr. Frisby has not
+had his breakfast, and here it is near ten
+o'clock"&mdash;an outrageous late hour in
+those days.</p>
+
+<p>At this both Mistress Polly and Mistress
+Betsy sprang to their feet, and I
+was duly conducted to the dining-room,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>
+where a delightful breakfast awaited me,
+which I endeavoured to eat amid their
+sallies and their questioning.</p>
+
+<p>We were having a very gay time of it,
+when there came a heavy step through
+the hall into the room, and a cheery
+voice asked: "How is the soldier to-day?
+In good hands, I see." It was
+Thomas Johnson.</p>
+
+<p>"That he is, sir," I replied, rising,
+"and he thoroughly enjoys it too."</p>
+
+<p>"Spoken like a soldier," replied our
+future Governor, "and like a soldier you
+must leave at once, for the Council desire
+you to carry these despatches posthaste
+to General Washington."</p>
+
+<p>"No; he shall not," cried Mistress
+Polly, with a stamp of her foot. "He
+has promised to drive our four-in-hand
+to the races this afternoon, and I am not
+going to let that Council of old fogies
+rob us of the only soldier in town who
+has seen service for at least one day."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"So that is the way the wind blows,"
+said her father, pinching her cheek and
+laughing. "I will tell the great Council
+of Public Safety that they have been
+overruled by a maid."</p>
+
+<p>"It will not be the first time," she
+retorted. "Their wives overrule them
+every day."</p>
+
+<p>"I will ride all night to make it up,"
+I suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, my boy," he replied,
+"you deserve a little holiday; you need
+not leave Annapolis until nightfall, and
+Kent the following night, which will
+give you a chance to see your mother
+again. There, I hope this little minx
+will give me some peace now."</p>
+
+<p>The treaty was quickly sealed by a
+kiss, and Mistress Polly ran off to give
+the order for the coach-and-four, for the
+races began at one o'clock and the course
+was a short distance out of the city.</p>
+
+<p>There soon came a clatter of hoofs, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>
+rattle, a slam and a bang, a whoaing, a
+yelling, and a confusion of noises.</p>
+
+<p>"They have put the colts in," cried
+Mistress Betsy with glee, and Mistress
+Polly was at the door crying, "Come
+on."</p>
+
+<p>"Great Jove!" said I to myself, as I
+seized my hat and followed after, for
+though I had driven many a wild team
+I had never done so through a town
+before. And four devils they were for
+a certainty, a little under size, but making
+up for that by the fire and vim of
+their proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>The heels of the wheelers were playing
+like castanets on the dashboard,
+while the leaders were in the air half
+the time as they swayed above the crowd
+of darkies, who, hanging on everywhere,
+were trying to hold them down, while
+the great coach swayed and rocked
+behind.</p>
+
+<p>There was a flash of skirts, a gleam<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>
+of the smallest feet in the world, and
+Mistress Polly and Mistress Betsy were
+in their places, and I had sprung to my
+seat and gathered the reins in my hands.</p>
+
+<p>"All ready, Captain?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ready. Let go." They scattered
+like chaff. There was a flash of hoofs
+and they were off like a shot, their
+bodies stretched low to the ground, the
+great coach rolling and rocking behind.</p>
+
+<p>Luckily the street ended in a country
+road, for the street and the houses were
+gone in an instant, and we were rushing
+along between green fields. A column
+of dust rose up and whirled behind us,
+and the road stretched like a ribbon
+before, while the young ladies at my
+side laughed and clapped their hands
+in glee. After several miles the pace
+began to tell, I slowly brought them
+under control, and by the time I had
+come to the race-course I had them well
+in hand. We had gone several miles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>
+out of our way, but by taking a short
+cut we arrived at the races on time. I
+brought the four colts into the field
+with a dash and a flourish as they were
+preparing for the first race.</p>
+
+<p>The course was a great level field of
+greensward, oval in shape, with the
+track in beautiful condition. Far down
+the track on either hand, almost encircling
+the field, stretched the lines
+of the coaches, chariots, gigs, and
+wagons. Gentlemen on horseback and
+on foot, an eager, bustling crowd, gay
+with colours and bright faces, already
+tingling with the excitement of the
+coming race, made a stirring scene;
+for the Trinity of the Marylanders
+in the early days of my youth were
+the horse, the hounds, and a fight.</p>
+
+<p>But though the faces were fair,
+merry, and pleasant to look upon,
+though the chariots and four-in-hands
+were gorgeous and bedecked, there was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>
+a woful lack of cavaliers to make those
+damask cheeks mantle with a blush, for
+they were away fighting in the North.
+Thus it was, as I drove down the line
+in my uniform of scarlet and buff, to
+find a stand, that Mistress Polly and
+Mistress Betsy had their triumph, and
+many a fair face turned our way as we
+drove by, until I brought the coach to
+a halt in a good place next to the parson,
+where he sat his cob, watching the
+preliminaries.</p>
+
+<p>"Find the parson," said Mistress
+Polly judiciously, "and you will have
+found the best place in the field."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mistress Polly, you are a
+minx," said that reverend gentleman.
+"How in the world could I make the
+youngsters come to church if they did
+not know I was a good judge of horseflesh
+as well as a minister?"</p>
+
+<p>"They are off," cried Mistress Betsy.
+The race had begun; but why describe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
+the race? Those who have never seen
+a race are mere worthless creatures
+deserving no consideration, and those
+who have seen a race do not need a
+description. At the mere name they
+see the grand thoroughbreds at the line,
+their coats shining like satin in the sun,
+eager and ready to be off. Then the
+flag falls, and, amid the rustling of skirts
+and craning of necks, they are off. Ah,
+and then comes the glorious excitement
+of it all as you watch with eager eyes
+that ribbon of a track, and see now this
+one, now that one, slowly draw away
+from the bunch at the start, and the
+closing of the space again, until they
+become mere moving spots on the far
+side of the field. And then, that home
+stretch, with its thunder of hoofs, its
+roar of voices, and cheers and yells, as
+the grand beasts, with straining nerves
+and neck to neck, make the last great
+effort; and afterward the triumph, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>
+waving of handkerchiefs, the great cheer
+that greets the victor, and the smiles of
+merry lips and laughing eyes. Those
+were the prizes we raced for, when
+racing was the pastime of gentlemen,
+and not an excuse for blackguardism
+and gambling, as to-day it is fast becoming.
+So my kind hosts and I
+made our little bets, and enjoyed ourselves
+right thoroughly, until the last
+race, which was won by a grandson of
+the great Selim, was over and done.
+Then I swung my four colts into the
+road again, and at a rattling pace
+returned to town.</p>
+
+<p>It was late now, and the sun was
+preparing to take its last dip behind
+the western hills; so I was forced to
+bid my charming hostesses adieu, and
+amid many good wishes and a waving
+of handkerchiefs, departed to seek my
+waterman, to begin my trip across the
+bay.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The town became a blur, a dark
+mass behind us, broken by the twinkling
+of the lights through the gloom,
+as we swiftly glided down the Severn
+before the wind. Out upon the bay it
+was still light, and we steered for the
+north point of the Isle of Kent. The
+wind was fresh. With all sail set we
+skimmed the water before it, and ere
+many hours had passed we saw the
+light through the gloom of Rock Hall
+straight ahead. But the old waterman
+suddenly brought his helm around
+hard, and pointed her nose for the wide
+mouth of the Chester close at hand.</p>
+
+<p>"What is wrong?" I asked, and for
+an answer he pointed with his arm to
+where against the sky were outlined the
+tapering masts of a large vessel lying
+between us and Rock Hall.</p>
+
+<p>"That is a man-of-war," he said,
+"we will have to run up the river to
+Chestertown."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Agreed," said I, right readily, for I
+thought I might see Mistress Jean
+once more before I went back to the
+front.</p>
+
+<p>The mouth of the Chester was soon
+gained, and for hours, through the
+stillness of the night, we glided over its
+smooth waters, between low, heavily
+wooded banks, or the broad sweeping
+fields of some plantation, whose boundaries
+were lapped by the waters of the
+river. In the early morning, in the
+dusky gray hours, we ran along beside
+the wharf of the old county seat of
+Kent.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE GREETING OF FAIR LIPS</h3>
+
+
+<p>After wandering through the streets
+of this old town during the early hours
+of the morning, seeing it gradually
+wake into life and take on the quiet
+bustle of the day, I at last found myself
+before the inn, which had just been
+opened.</p>
+
+<p>The host was an old friend, and we
+were soon fighting over the battles
+again, when a shadow fell across us
+and I sprang to my feet.</p>
+
+<p>It was Capt. James Nicholson, one
+of the three brothers who fought their
+ships in sunshine and in storm, while
+there was a plank left for them to stand
+upon, carrying dismay through the
+English fleets by their desperate courage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>
+and daring. He was a man about
+forty years old, over medium height,
+but slender and of fair complexion, with
+light blue eyes and reddish hair, a typical
+descendant of that old Viking,
+Nicholson, who fought some famous
+fights under King Haco, and harried
+the coasts of Scotland until he gained a
+foothold there and founded the Scottish
+family of the name. The same open,
+bold countenance of the Admiral, the
+same frank and manly bearing, showed
+him to be a sailor and a fighter.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Frisby," said he, shaking
+my hand cordially. "With the dove
+so near I knew that the hawk would
+not be far away."</p>
+
+<p>I stammered out, as the landlord
+smiled, that I was forced to come to
+Chestertown to avoid the man-of-war
+lying off Rock Hall.</p>
+
+<p>"She is off Rock Hall, is she? Well,
+I shall have to chase her away with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>
+Defence next week. But is that your
+only excuse for coming so far out of
+your way?"</p>
+
+<p>And when I protested that it was, he
+laughed genially, and, turning to the
+landlord, said: "He does not look like
+a knight-errant who flies to the rescue
+of maids, and Tory maids at that, does
+he? But see here, youngster, since you
+have brought this little traitress into
+my household, you will have to do your
+share in converting her to the true
+principles of liberty and democracy."</p>
+
+<p>"Keep that for the men, Captain,"
+cried the landlord. "Keep that for the
+men; the women give us no peace, as
+it is, and if they once get those notions
+there will be no living with them."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, you old reprobate, you had
+better not let your wife hear you."</p>
+
+<p>With this we left the inn, and going
+through some quiet streets, we at last
+came to Water Street, with its square<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>
+brick houses, gardens and flowers, and
+green lawns leading to the river. Very
+substantial were the buildings, quaint
+and old-fashioned. A number of white
+steps led from the street to the porch
+of the Captain's house. When, at his
+motion, I opened the door and stepped
+into the hall, which was somewhat dark
+after the glare of the street, there came
+a flurry of lace, and soft arms were
+around my neck. And&mdash;well, what
+could a man do but return that kiss
+with interest? But the best things are
+but fleeting, for, when she glanced at
+my face, and saw who I was, she gave
+a little cry, broke from my arms, and
+vanished in confusion up the stairway,
+followed by the merry laughter of the
+real uncle, not the proxy.</p>
+
+<p>"You surely cannot object to that
+welcome, Frisby; but I must tell Mistress
+Jean to be more careful, or the
+army will lose a promising officer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>
+They will not be able to keep you away
+from the town if this keeps on."</p>
+
+<p>So saying, he led the way to the rear
+porch where it overlooked the lawn and
+the river.</p>
+
+<p>Here we sat and talked until the
+breakfast-bell rang, and we went into
+the dining-room. I was as hungry as
+a trooper by this time, after my all-night
+experience on the Chester.</p>
+
+<p>The dining-room was a long room,
+with open windows looking out across
+the river and the fields.</p>
+
+<p>We had not as yet taken our seats,
+when through another door came Mistress
+Jean and Mistress Nancy Nicholson,
+her bosom friend and confidante,
+with their arms around each other's
+waists&mdash;a charming picture.</p>
+
+<p>The colour mantled high on Mistress
+Jean's cheek, and I am sure that mine
+played the traitor also, but Mistress
+Nancy came to the rescue by demanding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
+news and particulars of her cavalier,
+for such she declared Mr. Richard
+Ringgold of Hunting Field to be.</p>
+
+<p>Answering, I told her that I had left
+him covered with blood and with glory,
+but on the fair road to recovery. And
+so, though Mistress Jean still showed
+a heightened colour, in telling of Master
+Richard's fortunes and escapes we broke
+the embarrassment of the meeting, and
+were soon fast friends again. It was a
+merry breakfast. Afterward the two
+young ladies and I walked in the garden
+by the river's edge and talked of
+many things,&mdash;of war and campaigning,
+for I claimed to be an authority by
+now, and quite a veteran,&mdash;of love;
+but that was too dangerous, for Mistress
+Nancy would look at me slyly and
+laugh as she asked if I was as great an
+authority upon the one as I was upon
+the other.</p>
+
+<p>I retorted that I had heard many a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>
+lecture on the subject from Master
+Richard, but otherwise knew nothing
+of the art, and then I begged her to
+take me as a pupil, so that in time I
+might become as great a scholar as
+Dick himself. But she roguishly recommended
+me to her Assistant Professor
+Mistress Jean Gordon, who, she
+told me, knew more of the art than she
+did herself. And then, having come
+to some boxwood alleys, she slipped
+away and left Mistress Jean and me
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>"They tell me, Mistress Jean, that
+love is war; may I ask what the fate
+of the prisoners is?"</p>
+
+<p>"As in real war," she replied,
+"those who surrender at discretion
+receive but scant courtesy, but those
+who make a gallant resistance are often
+victorious in their defeat."</p>
+
+<p>"I see that you love the old Highland
+fashion, where the bridegroom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>
+came with force and arms and bore the
+bride away."</p>
+
+<p>"Better swords and daggers, and
+hearts that are true, than silks and
+satins, Lowland fops and perfidy."</p>
+
+<p>"English swords have crossed ere this
+with Highland steel, and English hearts
+are as tried and as true as those that beat
+beneath the plaid," said I, coming to
+the defence of my English ancestry.</p>
+
+<p>"So ho! Sir Rebel!" she cried in
+glee, "what means this defence of the
+hated redcoat? Do you not fear the
+shadow of the great committee that
+you preach treason so openly?" And
+she looked so bewitching in her little
+triumph that I had to thrust my hands
+into my pockets and turn away, so
+great was the temptation.</p>
+
+<p>"I will turn Highlander," said I,
+"if you do not stop."</p>
+
+<p>"Stop?" she said with the most innocent
+air in the world.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Aye," said I, "for if your Highlanders
+have ever been sturdy knaves,
+the Frisbys have ever been quick where
+bright eyes and ruby lips are concerned,
+and there is no telling what might happen."
+And I looked so determined
+and fierce that she broke into merry
+laughter in my face.</p>
+
+<p>"Your fate be upon you," said I
+solemnly; and&mdash;well, at that moment,
+I heard Captain Nicholson calling that
+my horse was at the door, waiting for
+me.</p>
+
+<p>"That means that I must go, Mistress
+Jean," and the laughter died on
+her lips, "go to join my comrades in
+the North in their struggle for the
+Great Cause. When you hear of battles
+and sieges and sudden deaths, will
+you sometimes think of the young
+rebel who rode with you from the
+Braes to Fairlee? For wherever he
+may be, whether in the glory of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>
+rush and the sweep of the charge, or
+the gloomy and dismal retreat; whether
+in the camp on the bleak hillside,
+with the cold north wind blowing, or
+bivouacked in the Southern savannahs
+warmed by the rays of the sun; in the
+fatigue and the toil of the marches, amid
+the groans and cries of the dying, or
+the joy and triumph of the hour when
+the fight has been fought and won,
+your smile shall always be with him,
+the light of your eye in his heart.
+Will you think of him, or forget, Mistress
+Jean?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will think of him." Her voice
+was very low and sweet. Then I
+stooped and kissed her hand, the fairest
+hand that man ever looked upon.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE RETURN OF THE TORY</h3>
+
+
+<p>As I turned to ride away, after bidding
+good-bye to the Captain, I heard
+a voice calling me, and looking up, I
+saw Mistress Nancy at a window, and
+riding under it she commanded me to
+convey to Master Richard a tiny case
+wrapped in many papers.</p>
+
+<p>"And now, sir," said she, "here is
+something for you;" and she threw
+me a little case, which, on opening
+quickly, I saw contained a miniature
+of a fair young girl, with a wealth of
+dark brown hair, the loveliest eyes and
+the sweetest face.</p>
+
+<p>"Mistress Nancy," I cried, "you
+are my guardian angel." Placing the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+miniature over my heart, I threw her a
+kiss, and rode on my way rejoicing.</p>
+
+<p>I rode from Chestertown to Fairlee,
+where I bade my mother good-bye, and
+from there I took up the trail to the
+North, riding into camp one evening
+just as the sun was setting.</p>
+
+<p>I reported immediately to the great
+General, who thanked me for the speed
+with which I had carried the despatches
+and returned. And then I was once more
+among my old comrades of the Line.</p>
+
+<p>They crowded around me, one and
+all, for I had messages for many of
+them, and they were eager for the news
+of old Kent and the shore, and my
+welcome was right royal.</p>
+
+<p>And now, for a month or so, disasters
+came crowding upon our arms; defeat
+and death stalked through our ranks,
+and cast a gloom over the cause.</p>
+
+<p>We fought the fight at White Plains,
+and when Fort Washington fell many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>
+of our Maryland boys went to the
+hulks of old Jersey to find a last resting-place
+under the cold gray waters of
+Wallabout Bay. Amid constant marching,
+skirmishes, and defeats the months
+slipped away, and the cold gloomy winter
+was upon us. Ah, how cold and
+bleak and barren the hillsides looked
+after the smiling fields of Maryland,
+touched and warmed by the Southern
+sun! And then the cold, the bitter
+cold of it all, the white winding sheet
+of the snow and the ice made us shiver
+and hug the fire of dry fence-rails and
+button our threadbare coats more
+tightly around us, while we looked in
+despair at the toes peeping through the
+ends of our boots. But the great General
+knew how to warm the blood in our
+veins and drive the despair from our
+hearts, when on that bitterly cold Christmas
+night he led us across the Delaware
+and hurled us against the Hessians.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is true that we left a trail of blood
+as we marched, dyeing the snow with
+its crimson. Yet the fight itself was
+glorious, and when we came back in
+our triumph the cold and the snow were
+as nothing. We made sport of our rags
+and tatters and laughed the English to
+scorn.</p>
+
+<p>Then again when we struck them at
+Princeton seven days later, threw the
+dust in Cornwallis's eyes, and played
+with him as we willed, we were ready
+to follow our leader wherever he pointed
+the way.</p>
+
+<p>And so, after humbling the English,
+we returned to our camp for the winter,
+and there made ready for the spring,
+when we saw my Lord Cornwallis back
+on the Hudson again.</p>
+
+<p>Then we lay in Jersey, watching
+them over in New York, until far into
+the summer, ready to take up the
+march when the news should come of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>
+the destination of the English fleet that
+lay off Sandy Hook.</p>
+
+<p>At last one day there came a horseman
+spurring fast from the southward,
+bearing the news of a vast fleet that
+covered the waves of the Chesapeake
+and lay at that moment off the harbor
+of Baltimore, threatening it with fire and
+sword.</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a mighty bustle in
+the camp, and we whose homes were
+now in danger took up the march to
+the southward, eager to meet the foe.</p>
+
+<p>When we reached Philadelphia we
+found that the enemy had entered the
+Elk, and was now marching on the city,
+while the hastily called Maryland and
+Delaware volunteers threw themselves
+in the way, cutting off straggling parties
+and obstructing the advance.</p>
+
+<p>So we hurried on to assist them, and
+found ourselves on the evening of the
+10th of September at the Brandywine,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>
+with the English advance but a few
+miles away.</p>
+
+<p>It was here that I met with one of
+the volunteers, who on hearing the
+English were in the Chesapeake had
+taken his rifle from the rack and joined
+in the defence. He came from lower
+Kent, but told me of the devastation all
+through the county of Cecil, wherever
+the enemy had laid its blighting hand.</p>
+
+<p>"They tell me," he said, "that the
+old Tory, Charles Gordon, whom they
+ran out of Cecil, is with Lord Howe,
+and high in his counsels. When they
+arrived in the Elk, Gordon, with a
+body of troops, marched all night and
+attacked the house of James Rodolph
+at dawn. Rodolph was away from
+home, and that is the only thing that
+saved him, for they say that Gordon
+swore that he would hang him if he
+once caught him. As it was, he gave
+Rodolph's house to the flames, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>
+burned everything on the place. 'An
+eye for an eye,' said he, 'is a Highland
+saying as well as a Jewish one. I
+regret that I cannot destroy the land as
+well.' Rodolph, when he heard of it,
+stormed and swore, but he has not
+dared to venture within the confines of
+Cecil since."</p>
+
+<p>"Did Gordon do anything else?"
+I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No. After he burnt Rodolph out
+he tried to stop Lord Howe from pillaging,
+but his lordship answered, 'You
+have had your turn, and now you must
+let the others have theirs,' and so the
+pillaging went on."</p>
+
+<p>But the planters and the yeomen
+who had risen at the first alarm hung
+on the flanks of Lord Howe's army,
+cutting off stragglers and scouting-parties,
+and confining the belt of desolation
+within narrow lines.</p>
+
+<p>At last came the 11th of September,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>
+the day when we met Lord Howe at
+the Brandywine, and were sent reeling
+back in disorderly retreat, when by a
+skilful march they outflanked our right
+wing and rolled it up.</p>
+
+<p>And then disaster followed disaster.
+Paoli came, that grim and bloody surprise
+at the dead of night. We had
+marched with Wayne and gained the
+rear of the British column, and lay for
+the night in a dense wood, waiting for
+the recruits under Smallwood, who was
+marching to join us, before we began
+our attack on the British rear.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the early hours of the
+morning, the blackest of the night, the
+hour before the dawn, when there came
+sudden shots from our pickets, and
+before we could spring to arms the
+Highland war-cry rang through the
+forest and the Black Watch swept over
+us. The wild forms of the Highlanders,
+the intense darkness, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>surprise,
+the din and noise of the strife as
+those who could grasp their muskets
+made a desperate stand, struck terror
+through the camp, and ere the men
+could rally we were swept into the
+woods beyond. It seemed to me, as I
+was borne along in the press, I heard,
+high over the charging cry of the Scots,
+the voice of the old Tory cheering his
+men on. Certain it is that I saw him
+for a moment by the light of a camp-fire,
+sword in hand, urging on his wild
+Scots, who seemed to grow wilder under
+his leadership, as our line melted away
+before their advance.</p>
+
+<p>Ah! but it was grim and terrible.
+Our men, overcome by the surprise
+and the rout, carried terror into the
+camp of Smallwood's recruits, which was
+near at hand, and they, too, gave way.</p>
+
+<p>But the dawn came: with it we gathered
+our shattered forces together and
+marched back to join Washington.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Philadelphia fell, but the tide soon
+turned; for at Germantown we once
+more met them and avenged the surprise
+at Paoli.</p>
+
+<p>But the thing that thrilled us through
+and through and set our banners high
+was the courage of our brothers of the
+Line, who, thrown into Fort Mifflin,
+held it in the teeth of the enemy's fire
+until every gun was dismounted and the
+fort itself levelled to the earth, leaving
+nothing to defend. It was a brave and
+gallant action, and we envied them for
+their good fortune.</p>
+
+<p>We had avenged Paoli at Germantown,
+yet this added another wreath to
+our banner. It was a thing to stir the
+blood and to set the pulses bounding
+to hear how those heroes fought under
+the crumbling walls of Mifflin, and
+prayed for the friendly cover of night
+to fall to hide them from that storm of
+fire and shell, and yet fought on.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE FLAG OF TRUCE</h3>
+
+
+<p>The long hard winter soon came on,
+and we retired to Valley Forge to suffer
+and to bear what was far more deadly
+than the English bullets&mdash;the terrible
+cold and desolation of that dreary place.
+Cold, bitterly cold it was, as the wind
+came down from the mountains, swept
+over the broad fields, pierced through
+our torn and tattered garments, and
+racked our frames with pain. And yet,
+terrible as the exposure was, there
+stands out one bright day in all that
+dreary winter, one day, one hour in
+which I forgot all the cold and the
+hardships and would not have been
+elsewhere for anything in the wide
+world.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was near the setting of the sun on
+one of the bleakest and coldest days of
+the year. The sun itself was sinking
+behind the distant hills, and the sky
+was brilliant with its fiery javelins,
+which threw a lurid light across the
+cold gray heavens, the last protest of
+departing day against the approach of
+the chill dismal night. The snow lay
+heavy upon the ground, and spread
+like a great white pall over the sins and
+sorrows of the world. Before us stretched
+the road, unbroken and trackless; not a
+man had passed that way, for we stood
+guard at the outpost, and the flicker of
+the foeman's fire could be seen six hundred
+yards away, through the gloom.</p>
+
+<p>"Lucifer, but it is cold!" said one
+of the guard, as he threw another rail
+on the fire and held his hands out over
+the flames to warm them.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye; Old Nick himself would not
+be a bad acquaintance now&mdash;his smell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>
+of brimstone and sulphur might warm
+us up a bit," said another.</p>
+
+<p>We were making the best we could
+of it, under the lee of a high bank by
+the side of the road, where we had
+cleared a space and stacked a good
+supply of dry fence-rails to feed the
+fire during the night. The wind from
+the northwest swept over our heads,
+sheltered as we were by the bank, and
+we would have defied the cold that
+crept ever upward but for the rags and
+tatters that covered our frames. The
+men themselves were cheerful, as they
+sat hugging the fire, and laughed and
+joked at their hardships.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if those Highland devils
+will bother us to-night?" asked one,
+for the Black Watch held the outpost
+down the road.</p>
+
+<p>"They will be too busy warming
+their knees," came the reply from
+across the fire, and a laugh followed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Hello, what is that?" for the thud
+of hoofs was heard on the road coming
+from the camp.</p>
+
+<p>"A flag of truce, by George!" said
+the sergeant. "Who on earth wants
+to go through the lines on a night like
+this?"</p>
+
+<p>The party, consisting of several
+troopers, an officer, and what appeared
+to be a woman on horseback, was soon
+within hailing distance, and I heard
+Ringgold's voice call out:</p>
+
+<p>"I say, Frisby, are you in charge
+here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," I replied. "What's up?"</p>
+
+<p>"We have a prisoner here who wishes
+to go through the lines, but I don't
+know whether you will permit her or
+not."</p>
+
+<p>"Is she fair?" I asked. "For in
+that case she shall not pass unless she
+gives us a smile by way of tribute as
+she rides by."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Not even if George Washington
+so orders, sir," said a voice that I
+knew.</p>
+
+<p>"By the saints, my lady!" I cried,
+and I was by her side in an instant.
+"What brings you here, and why
+are you going within the English
+lines?"</p>
+
+<p>"Should not a daughter be with her
+father?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"But those bloody English, with all
+their fine trappings and their feathers!
+Nay, my lady, you have been disrespectful
+to the Continental Congress,
+as I can vouch for. You are our prisoner,
+and I will not let you escape thus,
+to smile on the wearers of his Majesty's
+uniform."</p>
+
+<p>But she laughed quite merrily, and
+answered my threat with "Lieutenant
+Ringgold, pray ride on with the flag
+of truce."</p>
+
+<p>"Dick Ringgold," I cried in my turn,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+"if you take less than ten minutes I
+shall be your deadly enemy for life."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, old fellow." Dick rode
+on toward the enemy's campfire with
+the bugler until he had gone about half
+the way, and then we heard the parley
+sounded and saw a stir in the opposite
+camp.</p>
+
+<p>"Mistress Jean," said I, returning to
+the charge, "you are perfectly heartless,
+and though I know the redcoats cannot
+help but fall in love with you, I warn
+you that if you smile on any one of
+them I shall go through the lines and
+seek him out, even into the heart of the
+city itself, though I have to swing for
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"You will never try anything so
+rash;" and now the laughter had gone
+from her voice.</p>
+
+<p>"That I will, my lady," I replied, "for
+I would rather dance on nothing than
+know that you belonged to another."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But you must not," said she.
+"You must not think of such a thing.
+You must promise me never to attempt
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, Mistress Jean, that I cannot
+promise. It would drive me mad to
+stand here on guard all the winter
+night and see the lights of Philadelphia
+off there in the east; to know
+amid all the gayety and the balls
+you reign supreme; to know I could
+not see you because of the miserable
+redcoats that guard the city. If they
+were ten times their number I would
+find my way through them to be once
+more at your side, Mistress Jean."</p>
+
+<p>Before she could reply the Highland
+officer broke in, for he had ridden up
+with Ringgold.</p>
+
+<p>"Mistress Jean, it gives me pleasure
+to be the first to welcome you to our
+lines. Your father told us of your coming,
+and there has been a rivalry between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>
+us as to who should be the one to escort
+you to the city."</p>
+
+<p>"That was kind of all of you; but
+how did you leave my father?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, and eager for your coming."</p>
+
+<p>He was a splendid-looking young
+fellow, tall, broad-shouldered, and somewhat
+bony, with a voice that rang frank
+and true. He was a Highlander, every
+inch of him, and carried himself with a
+free and graceful carriage, and when I
+heard him tell Mistress Jean that he
+was a Farquharson and an old ally of
+her house, I knew I had at last met a
+dangerous rival. For, out of romances,
+it is not the villain, but the brave and
+frank gentleman who is most dangerous
+to the peace of mind of lovers, for they
+see in him what they themselves most
+admire, and by which they hope to win
+their ladies' love.</p>
+
+<p>"Lieutenant Ringgold, now," said
+Farquharson, "I am ready to receive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>
+Mistress Gordon from your hands, and
+to conduct her within our lines."</p>
+
+<p>"Far more ready than we are to let
+her go," answered Dick gallantly; "but
+it is the fortune of war." And then the
+two officers saluted and the exchange
+was made.</p>
+
+<p>So Mistress Jean bade us all good-bye
+right prettily, and I, being on the off
+side of her horse from the others, seized
+her hand as it hung by her side and
+kissed it several times. She at first did
+not withdraw it, and then, bending over,
+whispered, "Do not try to enter the
+city, for they will hang thee, and I would
+not lose so true a friend." Here her
+voice was very soft and low. I kissed
+her hand once again and she was
+gone.</p>
+
+<p>We watched their dark shadows down
+the road to the Highland outpost, as
+they moved like great blots across the
+snow. I stood, I do not know how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>
+long, gazing after them, when Dick's
+hand was on my shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, Frisby," said he, "we
+shall win the city in the spring, and then
+you may win her also."</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE BALL OF MY LORD HOWE</h3>
+
+
+<p>Many a night after that last parting
+I stood guard on that dreary outpost,
+gazing out across the snow at the dim
+lights of the city far to the eastward.
+Aye, for the city was gay that winter,
+gay with parties and dances, balls and
+dinners, and the bells rang as merrily
+as if we were not starving and dying
+out on the bleak, hillsides. Aye, those
+old burghers were warm and comfortable
+as they sat by their fires, with a glass
+of their wine or toddy at their side.</p>
+
+<p>True, my Lord Howe ruled the city
+with an iron hand, but he was a gallant
+gentleman, and his officers made good
+partners for their fair daughters at the
+balls. They were handsome in their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>
+scarlet uniforms, with their epaulets and
+their sabres, making, indeed, a very gallant
+show, while those ragged patriots
+out upon the snow had not shoes to their
+feet, and were altogether too disreputable
+to be admitted even to the kitchens
+of their houses. Then, again, runs
+not the Quaker law, "Thou shalt not
+fight"? And so the good old burghers
+threw another log on the fire and sat
+down to enjoy the cheerful blaze.</p>
+
+<p>The news came to us, sifted through
+the lines; we heard of their dances and
+their balls, and everywhere we heard
+that Mistress Jean Gordon was the belle
+of them all. The old Tory held high
+rank in the counsels of Lord Howe,
+and the daughter, by her grace and
+beauty, reigned it over the hearts of
+every gallant gentleman of his army.</p>
+
+<p>We heard of her refusing my Lord
+Paulet and several other gentlemen,
+noted among us for their hard fighting,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>
+whenever by chance we were opposed
+to them. And I, standing guard on the
+outpost, chafed in vain when I heard
+these tales, until one day chance decided
+me to risk all, to see her once more
+with my own eyes, and perhaps speak
+to her.</p>
+
+<p>There had been a skirmish on the
+outposts that day, and our men had
+captured an English officer, a Captain
+of the line. He was a talkative man,
+and while he was waiting to be sent to
+the rear as a prisoner we entertained
+him at our mess table, and he in turn
+told us the news of the town.</p>
+
+<p>"That must be a wonderful country,
+what do you call it, that eastern shore
+of yours?" said he, "if it contains
+any more beauties like Mistress Jean
+Gordon."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, the Tory's daughter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. She is the reigning belle of the
+whole town, and all our fellows are wild<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>
+about her. I never saw so many fellows
+in love with one girl before, but Farquharson
+seems to have the best of it,
+while Lord Paulet stamps and swears."</p>
+
+<p>Now, we were loyal Marylanders&mdash;loyal,
+at least, to her wit and beauty, so
+then and there we proposed and drank
+the health of the Tory maid, while Dick
+chimed in with the amendment, "May
+she never marry a Britisher, but a patriot
+tried and true," at which our English
+Captain good-naturedly protested; and
+while they drank the toast I made a
+vow that ere a week was past I would
+be within that city.</p>
+
+<p>Fortune came my way, for as I left
+the mess-room that night I ran against
+Tom Jones of Cresap's old company
+of riflemen from the mountains of the
+West, the most daring and desperate
+spy in all our army. He was a man of
+powerful strength, as lithe and active as
+a panther, while his face was as immovable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>
+as that of an Indian, with never a
+sign thereon of the thoughts and passions
+of the man within. He was clad
+for the moment in the dress of the riflemen,
+a full suit of buckskin, leggings,
+hunting-shirt, and all, while carelessly
+thrown across one arm was his rifle, and
+in his belt was sheathed the long hunting-knife.</p>
+
+<p>"Lieutenant," said he, "I expect to
+return through your lines to-morrow
+night, so do not fire before you challenge."</p>
+
+<p>"Come this way, Jones," said I,
+leading him aside from the others. "I
+do not know which way you are going,
+but I want you to help me through the
+lines into the city. Can you do so?"</p>
+
+<p>"But, Lieutenant, they will be wanting
+to hang you if you are caught."</p>
+
+<p>"I will take that risk. I must be in
+the city within a week."</p>
+
+<p>Jones, like most great frontiersmen,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+was a man of quick decision and few
+words.</p>
+
+<p>"Meet me in an hour," said he, "at
+the Yellow Tavern."</p>
+
+<p>An hour later found me at the tavern
+in full uniform, for it was the only suit
+I possessed in which it would be possible
+to present myself before a lady, so
+dilapidated, torn, and ragged was my
+wardrobe. But I had a great storm-coat
+which hid the uniform and was an
+admirable disguise.</p>
+
+<p>The tavern was crowded. As I
+stood by the fire I did not at once notice
+a quiet, unassuming traveller who
+had just entered, until he brushed past
+my arm and whispered, "Follow me."
+I did so a few minutes later, for it was
+Tom Jones, who looked for all the
+world as if he was a quiet city merchant,
+born and bred within its limits. Yet
+you had but to notice his walk, and you
+saw at once that he was a mountaineer,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+for he threaded his way through the
+crowd as noiselessly as he did among
+his native forests, where the crack of a
+dead twig might mean his death by a
+hostile bullet.</p>
+
+<p>I followed him out into the night,
+and a dark and dismal night it was;
+the snow was falling heavily and you
+could not see three rods away.</p>
+
+<p>"We will follow the pike," said he,
+"until we see their camp-fire. They
+will not keep strict watch to-night, and
+we will have to keep in touch with the
+landmarks."</p>
+
+<p>We trudged along through the snow
+past the outpost where I had commanded
+so many nights, keeping the
+vigils by the weary hours; then we
+became more careful, as the Highland
+outpost was but a few yards away.</p>
+
+<p>"They will have their backs to the
+storm," said the spy, "and though it is
+dangerous to go to the windward of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>
+foe, yet he is not so apt to hear us as
+he would be to see us if we tried the
+leeward side. Those Highlanders have
+keen eyes."</p>
+
+<p>So we flanked the outpost to the
+windward and passed them safely, and
+then Jones led me by many little bypaths
+and lanes until we came to the
+outskirts of the town. And though the
+guard at one time could have touched
+us as they passed, so dense was the
+storm that never for a moment was our
+safety jeoparded.</p>
+
+<p>At last the houses became closer and
+we found ourselves in the town, while
+every now and then a belated traveller
+met us, glanced our way and passed on,
+for by now it was far into the night.
+But when we reached the heart of the
+town, even at that hour, the streets
+became filled with carriages, and we met
+many officers and gentlemen, returning
+from a ball. My Lord Howe entertained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>
+that night, and it was a sign of
+loyalty and good faith for every one to
+attend.</p>
+
+<p>Though I became interested in seeing
+the muffled figures pass us, and the carriages
+hurrying through the street, I
+grew uneasy as I saw that Jones was
+making his way to the centre of the
+town, to the very door of Lord Howe's
+mansion. At last I remonstrated with
+him, but Jones growled in answer:
+"How can you throw the dogs off your
+track, if the snow does not fill it, but by
+mixing it with other tracks?"</p>
+
+<p>This was unanswerable. I followed
+him along the street until we were among
+the crowd before Lord Howe's door.</p>
+
+<p>It was a gay and brilliant scene, that
+ball of my Lord Howe, and though it
+was near the end, the music of the dance
+still floated through the wide entrance,
+while the figures of the dancers flitted
+across the windows, which were ablaze<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>
+with lights. The guests were fast leaving;
+fair ladies and officers bravely uniformed
+were coming down the steps.
+There was a calling of carriages and of
+names, the slamming of doors and the
+muffled roll of the wheels as they drove
+off. I was about to move on with
+Jones, when I heard the major-domo, a
+sergeant of the guard, call out the carriage
+of Colonel Charles Gordon, and then
+I would have drawn back, as I had been
+forced into the front rank; for, though
+I knew that she must be at the ball, I
+had not thought to be brought so suddenly
+face to face with her. But ere I
+could do so, she came down the carpeted
+stairs leaning on her father's arm,
+graceful and beautiful, while by her side
+walked Farquharson in full Highland
+costume, eager and attentive. A smile
+was upon her lips as she listened, and
+then her eyes met mine. Her face went
+pale, and she was near fainting. Her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>
+father caught her as she slightly reeled,
+and Farquharson looked fiercely around
+to see what the cause was. But I was
+muffled up, and before he could demand
+the cause Mistress Jean was eagerly
+declaring that it was a mere nothing;
+and, as if to prove what she said was
+true, she hurried on to the carriage.</p>
+
+<p>Farquharson leaned for a moment
+into the carriage to bid them good-night,
+and then it rolled off into the
+darkness.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+
+<h3>AN EXCHANGE OF COURTESIES</h3>
+
+
+<p>"A narrow escape that for you,
+Lieutenant," said Jones. "But she
+was a plucky lass, and now it is time
+for us to be looking for cover."</p>
+
+<p>He turned down a narrow, quiet
+street until we came to a house set
+somewhat back in the yard.</p>
+
+<p>Jones now rapped very gently on
+the door; it swung open as if he was
+expected, and a moment later we found
+ourselves heartily welcomed by an old
+Quaker lady in a little room with a
+bright fire burning.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought thee would come,
+Brother Jones," said she, "and who
+is this braw lad thou hast brought with
+thee?" And she smiled on me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"He is one of our Lieutenants, who
+has a sweetheart in town, and is willing
+to risk his neck to see her," said Jones
+gruffly, but there was a twinkle in his
+eye.</p>
+
+<p>This completed my conquest, and
+the motherly old soul proceeded to
+take charge of me.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is thy lady love thou hast
+come to see?" And when I told her
+that she was a Tory she was much distressed,
+but eager to help me.</p>
+
+<p>"The Good Book says thou must
+not fight, but it also says thou must
+help thy friends and neighbours, so I
+will help thee."</p>
+
+<p>But at last, after chattering awhile
+she took a candle and showed us to our
+rooms. I was soon lost in the almost
+blissful comfort of clean white sheets
+and a feather-bed.</p>
+
+<p>When I awoke next morning Jones
+had already departed on his mission,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>
+leaving me a note telling me where to
+meet him the next night on our return
+to camp.</p>
+
+<p>All that day I kept close to the
+house, for I did not dare to venture
+forth in the broad day, as I was known
+to many, and it would not have gone
+well with me if I had met with those
+I knew.</p>
+
+<p>But at last the night began to fall,
+and, bidding my kind hostess good-bye,
+I made my way through the streets to
+the Tory's house.</p>
+
+<p>I soon found it&mdash;a square brick
+structure in a quiet street. I noticed,
+as I approached it, several dark alleys
+just at the right places for a rapid retreat
+if the worse should come to the
+worst.</p>
+
+<p>Then my hand was on the knocker,
+and its fall startled me as the clatter
+echoed far down the street and seemed
+to wake the very dead.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A slave opened the door, who,
+though he glanced at me suspiciously,
+told me that his mistress was at home.</p>
+
+<p>Then in a moment my storm-coat
+was off, and I stood in the door of the
+drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p>It was a beautiful picture, the great
+strong Highlander on his knees at the
+feet of Mistress Jean begging for her
+hand, which she seemed to be denying
+him, for he was growing more and
+more passionate.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment, as I stood there, I
+could feel my hair grow gray, but the
+tumult and the conflict within me were
+short and I turned to go, for it seemed
+to me that she could not but care for
+so gallant a gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>But her eyes met mine, and then for
+a moment there was terror in them,
+and a cry broke forth from her lips.</p>
+
+<p>Farquharson, startled by her gaze,
+turned also, and, seeing me, was quickly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>
+on his feet, his face aflame with passion.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," said he, advancing toward me,
+"do you not know the fate of eavesdroppers"&mdash;and
+then for the first
+time noticing my uniform, added, "and
+spies?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know the fate of those who call
+a gentleman by such names," I retorted
+coolly.</p>
+
+<p>"A gentleman?" and he laughed.
+"I will have you hanged for a dog of
+a spy before sunrise."</p>
+
+<p>"Pardon me, sir, but you are my
+prisoner until it shall suit me to let
+you go free."</p>
+
+<p>At this he laughed merrily.</p>
+
+<p>"Well said, Sir Rebel," he cried;
+"but permit me to pass before I spit
+you on my sword." And he drew and
+advanced upon me.</p>
+
+<p>"Permit me, sir, to use another argument;"
+and I drew my pistol and covered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>
+him. "Advance another step and
+I will blow your brains out."</p>
+
+<p>He glanced at me for a moment, but
+did not advance. "And further, let me
+suggest that we are in the presence of
+a lady, and it is not seemly for her to
+see the flash of weapons."</p>
+
+<p>At this he put up his sword.</p>
+
+<p>"To whom do I owe a lesson in
+gallantry?" he asked with a low and
+sweeping bow.</p>
+
+<p>"James Frisby, of Fairlee, a Lieutenant
+in the Maryland Line," I replied
+with equal courtesy.</p>
+
+<p>Mistress Jean had stood as though
+she were turned to stone during our
+exchange of courtesies, but now she
+seemed to recover.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Farquharson," she cried,
+and she came and stood between us,
+"this is an old friend of mine. He
+saved my life at the Braes when we
+were raided by the rebels. You must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>
+promise me to let him go free out of
+the city."</p>
+
+<p>"Your wishes, Mistress Jean, are
+law," said he, "and shall be obeyed. I
+shall give him till morning to escape in."</p>
+
+<p>"Which I promptly accept," said I,
+"with the hope that I may be able to
+repay your courtesy if fortune should
+bring you within our lines some day."</p>
+
+<p>And so he bade Mistress Jean farewell,
+but as he passed me, I whispered
+to him:</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, some words have been said that
+need an explanation."</p>
+
+<p>"It will give me pleasure to offer
+you one at any place you may appoint."</p>
+
+<p>"Then meet me," I said, "two days
+hence at sunrise on the pike, half-way
+between the lines."</p>
+
+<p>"With swords or pistols?"</p>
+
+<p>"Swords."</p>
+
+<p>"I will be there;" and he passed on
+out.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When he had gone, I turned to Mistress
+Jean, who urged me to leave at
+once.</p>
+
+<p>"You must go," said she, "for at
+any moment you may be tracked and
+discovered, and then&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And then&mdash;what?" I answered,
+smiling. "Do you think, Mistress
+Jean, that I, who travelled for miles
+through the snow and the storm last
+night to catch one glimpse of your face,
+that I, who at last stand in your presence,
+would give a thought to the noose
+around my neck?"</p>
+
+<p>But she would not let me say her
+nay, and then her terror grew, until at
+last she told me that Lord Howe sometimes
+came home with her father at
+nine o'clock to talk over the plans of
+the spring campaign, and that every
+moment she expected to hear their
+voices in the hall.</p>
+
+<p>"The sight of your face, Mistress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>
+Jean, has repaid me for my journey;
+but if you bid me go, why, then, it is
+fate, and go I must." Then a thought
+came to me. "Mistress Jean, tell me
+this before I leave in the enemy's camp
+all that is dearest on earth to me: tell
+me if you love that Highlander, if you
+care for him." And she, who a moment
+before was urging me to leave,
+stood silent, with her face turned away
+from me, with never a word to say.</p>
+
+<p>And I, seeing how matters stood,
+took my courage in my hands, and,
+with a low bow, wished her good-bye.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE CROSSING OF SWORDS</h3>
+
+
+<p>Sunrise, two days later, found Mr.
+Richard Ringgold and myself stamping
+our feet in the snow on the pike, half-way
+between the hostile lines.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose they will let us fight here
+without interruption," said Dick.</p>
+
+<p>"No danger from that," I replied.
+"We will fight in that little hollow,
+where the outposts cannot see us."</p>
+
+<p>"Here they come," said Dick. We
+saw two officers approaching across the
+snow from the Highland outpost.</p>
+
+<p>They soon came up, and we saluted,
+while Dick and Captain Forbes, Farquharson's
+second, soon agreed upon
+the preliminaries.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Will you lead the way, gentlemen?"
+said Forbes.</p>
+
+<p>Dick and I led them to the little
+hollow between the hills, where a slight
+meadow formed a platform, as it were,
+for us to act our drama upon.</p>
+
+<p>Since my first duel with Rodolph on
+the banks of the Elk I had seen something
+of war and of battles, and considered
+myself an old hand in such
+encounters.</p>
+
+<p>And so I found myself looking
+Farquharson over and estimating his
+strength and his skill, for I knew him
+to be one of the best swordsmen among
+the Highlanders, while I could claim,
+with all due modesty, to be the best in
+the Maryland Line.</p>
+
+<p>He was a notable swordsman, you
+could see that at a glance; the powerful
+figure, yet as light and active as a
+cat, the muscles of his sword arm
+telling of long and patient handling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>
+of the weapon, while his cold gray
+eye spoke for his coolness and determination.</p>
+
+<p>He glanced at me, as we threw off
+our coats, in almost an indifferent manner,
+as if he had a duty to perform,
+which was to be done as quickly as possible,
+the mere suppression of a country
+bumpkin by a gentleman of fashion. I
+knew that would change as soon as our
+swords crossed, and smiled to myself.
+Then, being stripped to our shirts, we
+took our places and saluted.</p>
+
+<p>Click, and our swords rang true.
+Though he fenced somewhat carelessly
+at first, there came a surprised look
+and a sudden change in his manner, as
+I parried a skilful thrust and touched
+him lightly on the shoulder. He
+seemed to realise that he had no ordinary
+swordsman opposed to him, and
+quickly brought into play all his skill
+and fierceness in attack, throwing me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+on the defensive and forcing me gradually
+back.</p>
+
+<p>It could not last; no strength could
+stand it. When he found that the
+steel guard met every attack, that every
+thrust was parried, he relaxed the fierceness
+of his attack and began to fence
+with more skill and caution.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was we fenced for several
+minutes, the clash of the steel ringing
+out in the cold, crisp air across the
+snow, and it came to my opponent that
+he had at last met a swordsman who
+was his equal in skill. From this on
+every moment he developed some new
+feint, some new attack, and, though I
+met them every one, it took my utmost
+skill to do so.</p>
+
+<p>But at last there came the end. He
+had assumed the offensive again and
+was pressing hard upon me, when he
+placed his foot upon a loose stone in
+the snow, which rolled. The sword<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>
+flew from out his hand and he was
+down upon his knee.</p>
+
+<p>My sword was at his throat, and
+then my hand was stayed, for there
+came before me the vision of the Tory
+maid, standing with face averted in the
+square brick house in the city. That
+she might care, that she might be in
+terror then as to the fate that might
+befall him, flashed through my brain.
+I brought my sword to a salute, and
+returned it to its scabbard.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," said I, as Farquharson rose,
+"it is a pleasure to have fought with so
+gallant a gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"And I, sir," he returned, "am
+happy to have met so skilful a
+swordsman." And then, like gallant
+men who have fought and know each
+other's worth, we shook hands on
+the spot where a moment before our
+blades were thirsting for each other's
+blood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It gives me pleasure," he continued,
+"to withdraw my remarks at
+Colonel Gordon's, as they arose from
+a misapprehension."</p>
+
+<p>"I will consider them as if they had
+never been said," I replied, "and I
+beg of you, on your return, to present
+my compliments to Mistress Gordon,
+and tell her that I send you to her as
+my wedding gift."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, is she to be married?" he
+asked in a startled way.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe so," I answered, "but she
+will tell you all about it."</p>
+
+<p>And so we returned to the pike,
+where we all saluted again, and retraced
+our steps to the lines.</p>
+
+<p>The spring was late that year. April
+had come before there came a soft
+warm breeze from the Southland, waking
+nature into life, and covering the
+hard frozen face of mother earth
+with wreaths and clouds of mist and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>
+moisture. From every hillside, from
+every frost-bound plain, the smoke of
+spring arose, and through the air there
+breathed the spirit of the reincarnated
+life of the world.</p>
+
+<p>How we of the Southland hailed it
+with joy, and drank in with our lungs
+this promise of a new life! We who
+loved the sunshine and the balmy
+breezes, the great joy of living amid
+fragrant fields and green-clad forests,
+we who hated the storms, the wind
+and cold of the North,&mdash;ah, how the
+blood in our veins welcomed this soft
+caress of the South! We threw off
+the terror of the winter, looked forward
+with glee to the opening of the spring
+campaign, and counted in anticipation
+the honours we were to win, the glory
+that would be ours.</p>
+
+<p>New life sprang up all through the
+camp; the troops left the busy duty
+of hugging the fires, the ranks filled up,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>
+and order and discipline once more became
+the order of the day.</p>
+
+<p>Rumours soon came creeping through
+the lines of a change in the leadership
+of the enemy's forces, but as yet they
+lay quietly within the city and showed
+not the teeth of offence. Thus we lay
+on the green hillsides of Valley Forge,
+busily preparing for the struggle which
+was certain to come, until far into the
+spring, without a sign of a movement
+on the part of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>But with May came their new Commander-in-Chief,
+Sir Henry Clinton,
+and the departure of Lord Howe, and
+we knew that the time had at last come
+when some bold stroke would be
+played in the game of war.</p>
+
+<p>The gaps in our ranks had been
+somewhat filled, and we were ready
+and eager for active service as soon
+as the great General would give the
+command.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At last came rumours of a retreat,
+that the English were preparing to desert
+the city and march across the plains
+of Jersey to where New York lay, sheltered
+by the waters of the sea and the
+rivers. We marched toward the Delaware
+to be ready to strike them when
+they moved.</p>
+
+<p>So, one day, as I stood on the outpost,
+guarding the nearest road to the
+city, I saw Jones approaching at full
+speed on an old horse, which he had
+evidently borrowed. I was ready for
+his news.</p>
+
+<p>"The British are crossing the Delaware;
+we will catch them in Jersey
+now or never," he cried, and then
+he had dashed past on his way to headquarters.</p>
+
+<p>My little guard received the news
+with a yell, and we looked forward
+eagerly for the order to join our regiment
+on the march.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was not long in coming, and on
+that night, the 18th of June, we crossed
+the Delaware, and started on the race
+across Jersey that was to end at
+Monmouth.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SANDS OF MONMOUTH</h3>
+
+
+<p>For a week we hung on the flank of
+the enemy, waiting for an opportunity
+to strike, as we saw the immense train
+form on the right bank of the Delaware
+and take up its cumbersome march
+across the Jersey plains.</p>
+
+<p>With it marched the whole force of
+the British army of seventeen thousand
+men, who did their duty so well that we
+longed for an opening in vain.</p>
+
+<p>All through those blazing hot
+days of June we marched through the
+sands of Jersey, ankle deep as we
+trudged along, and it seemed as if the
+time for a trial of strength would never
+come. All to the east and south of us
+the great train of their wagons crawled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+along through the heat and the dust,
+and the sun glinted and gleamed on the
+points of the bayonets as the mass of
+their troops marched on.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly they crawled through the
+dusty roads of Jersey, and slowly they
+were crawling beyond the reach of our
+arms into the haven of safety.</p>
+
+<p>At last, on the 27th of the month,
+they reached the heights of Monmouth,
+within a day's march of their
+journey's end, while we lay five miles
+away at Englishtown, swearing low and
+earnestly at our luck.</p>
+
+<p>That night there came news to the
+camp that put new life in the men, and
+made them forget the heat and the toil
+of the march; the news that the great
+General had decided to risk a throw in
+the morning, and that our regiment was
+to be with the advance.</p>
+
+<p>And so, when Lee rode up to take
+command, we gave him a cheer, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>
+though we disliked and distrusted the
+man, yet his coming meant a fight in
+the morning.</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a great stir in the
+camp; the men saw to their muskets,
+and the signs everywhere told of their
+eager preparations for the deadly
+struggle in the morning, while the
+cheery laugh and the snatches of song
+spoke well for the spirits of the men after
+the long, toilsome march of the day.</p>
+
+<p>The sun comes up out of the ocean
+early in Jersey, but even before its rays
+had cleared the pine tops our camp
+was stirring with life, the men preparing
+for the advance.</p>
+
+<p>But there seemed to be a fatality
+about it all; a hand, as it were, covered
+us and held us back, paralyzing the
+spirit of the men. Delay followed
+delay, and when at last the regiments
+took up the line of march, ours was
+held back until almost the last. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>
+New Jersey volunteers had the post of
+honour, as they longed to revenge their
+ruined homesteads and devastated farms,
+and then our turn came.</p>
+
+<p>We marched out of Englishtown
+into the dreary country beyond. On
+every side sand dunes, former barriers
+of the ocean, raised their crests, covered
+with a straggling forest of stunted pines
+and scrub trees, which, in the passes in
+the hills, came down to the road, disputing
+the passageway, while in the
+shallow valleys lay the open fields and
+marshes. A dreary country withal,
+but where a small body of troops could
+hold the passes in the hills against
+many hundreds and make good their
+defence.</p>
+
+<p>We passed through the defile in the
+first range of hills, crossed the low
+valley, and then, after passing through
+the second defile, we had only to cross
+the one before us to be on the heights<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>
+overlooking the enemy's position at
+Freehold.</p>
+
+<p>As we approached this last pass in
+the hills we were surprised to see a
+steady stream of our troops coming
+back in disorder through the gap.
+The men were retreating doggedly in
+broken ranks, and turning, as they
+trudged along, to look back, as if with
+half a mind to return.</p>
+
+<p>As they came streaming past our
+advance I called to a sergeant, an old
+backwoodsman whose courage I knew,
+and asked him of the battle and why
+he was not fighting.</p>
+
+<p>"Fight?" he cried indignantly,
+"why, damn it, Lieutenant, they will
+not let us fight. They ordered us to
+retreat before a musket was fired."</p>
+
+<p>At that moment Captain Mercer, an
+aide of the staff of General Lee, rode up
+to Colonel Ramsay, who was near me.</p>
+
+<p>He delivered an order rapidly, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>
+then I heard Ramsay's voice ring out
+angrily. "Retreat?" he cried. "By
+whose order?"</p>
+
+<p>"By the order of General Lee."</p>
+
+<p>"But," he protested hotly, "we have
+not seen the enemy yet."</p>
+
+<p>Mercer shrugged his shoulders. "I
+only carry the order," he said.</p>
+
+<p>The stream of fugitives grew rapidly,
+becoming more disorderly, showing at
+every step the spread of the panic and
+the rout, as Colonel Ramsay stopped the
+advance and gave the order to retreat.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly and reluctantly we obeyed,
+and as we retired through the second
+pass in the hills we saw the British gain
+the opposite ridge and advance with
+cheers on the disorderly flying mass in
+the sandy valley behind.</p>
+
+<p>Every moment the press of the fugitives
+grew greater, and though we still
+maintained our formation and marched
+as on parade the retreat had turned into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>
+a rout. On every side and in our rear
+the broken ranks of the army poured
+past, demoralised and in despair, and
+ever nearer came the musketry and the
+cheers of the advancing English.</p>
+
+<p>"They will catch us before we get
+through the gap," said Dick, looking
+at the pass in front of us.</p>
+
+<p>"Then we will fight anyhow," I
+replied, "and General Lee can go to
+the devil."</p>
+
+<p>Whereupon our spirits began to pick
+up, and the men retreated more slowly
+than ever, glancing over their shoulders
+to see how near the head of the British
+column was.</p>
+
+<p>At last we came to the foot of
+the first pass, with its hills heavily
+covered with scrub pines. Behind us
+stretched the fields of broken troops, and
+we could see the red line of the British
+as they debouched upon the plain
+and drove the patriots before them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was a wild scene of confusion and
+disorder, of demoralised retreat and
+rout; and then something happened.</p>
+
+<p>There was a stir in the pass in our
+front, a clatter of hoofs, and there
+appeared before us the General with
+his staff. He towered there with his
+great figure, a veritable god of war and
+of wrath.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment his eye swept the
+field, and his face flushed crimson with
+indignation and anger, as he saw the
+best troops of his army flying like
+sheep before the enemy. There was
+a storm in the air, and then, as Lee
+rode up, it broke.</p>
+
+<p>We heard his excited "Sir, sir!"
+and the General's angry tones, and
+then dismissing him contemptuously,
+he called to Hamilton to ask if there
+was a regiment which could stop the
+advance.</p>
+
+<p>Ramsay sprang forward.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"My regiment is ready, General."</p>
+
+<p>"If you stop them ten minutes until
+I form, you will save the army."</p>
+
+<p>"I will stop them or fall," cried
+Ramsay, and, turning to us, he gave
+the order to "About face," and then
+crying that the General relied on us
+to save the army, he led us in the
+charge.</p>
+
+<p>Not a moment too soon, for, as the
+press of the fugitives was brushed aside
+by our advance, mingling in the midst
+of the disorderly mass, came the red line
+of the British, cheering and victorious.</p>
+
+<p>But suddenly the flying mass disappeared,
+and in their place came the
+yell of the Maryland Line, the long
+array of their bayonets bent to the
+charge, with all the fury and weight of
+their onset.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment the red line hesitated;
+then an officer, who looked strangely
+familiar, sprang forward, shouting:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"They are nothing but dogs of
+rebels; charge and break them."</p>
+
+<p>The red line answered with a cheer,
+for their fighting blood was up, and
+they dashed forward to meet us.</p>
+
+<p>Then came such a clash of steel as is
+seldom heard, as the King's Grenadiers
+and the Maryland Line met in the
+shock of the charge. For a moment
+so close was the press that we could
+not wield our arms, and men fell,
+spitted on each other's bayonets.</p>
+
+<p>Then came a deadly struggle, as men
+fought desperately, hand to hand, and
+the lines swayed backward and forward
+as the weight of the numbers told.
+The ground was lost and gained, struggled
+for and won over and over, while
+the dead lay in heaps under our feet.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the midst of this deadly
+struggle, when I was fighting sword in
+hand amid the press of bayonets for
+my very life, that I saw Ramsay, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>
+was near, cheering on his men, come
+face to face with the officer who led the
+charge of the Grenadiers. Then, in
+that storm centre, around which the
+roar of battle raged, there was a flash
+of steel and the swords crossed. But
+in the fury of the battle duels are short
+and fierce, and I saw Ramsay, who was
+already covered with wounds, falter for
+a moment, as the other lunged, and
+then he was down among the slain.</p>
+
+<p>Our line hesitated as Ramsay fell,
+and the English pressed on with a
+cheer. But I sprang forward, shouting
+to the men to save their Colonel, and
+they, answering my call, forced the
+English back, until I stood by Ramsay's
+body. But only for a moment;
+before we could raise Ramsay gently
+up and bear him off the field, there
+came another charge of the Grenadiers
+that forced us off our feet and hurled
+us backward, fighting desperately, leaving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>
+the body of our Colonel in the
+hands of the enemy. But in the <i>m&ecirc;l&eacute;e</i>
+I found my sword crossing that of the
+officer who had fought with Ramsay,
+and instantly I attacked him fiercely,
+for I was burning to avenge Ramsay's
+fall. But he, with ease and coolness,
+parried all my thrusts and played with
+me as if I were but a child. Then, as
+I was growing desperate, he called to me,
+"Nay, lad, go try your sword on some
+one else and leave an old Scot alone.
+I would not hurt you for the world."</p>
+
+<p>I started and let the point of my
+sword fall, for it was the voice of the
+old Tory, whom I had not before recognised
+in the confusion of the fight.
+This slight hesitation almost led to my
+capture, for I had been fighting in advance
+of our line, and now I found
+myself in the midst of the English
+troops. So, saluting the old Tory
+hastily, I regained our lines.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then, fighting foot by foot and inch,
+by inch, we contested their advance, as
+the weight of numbers bore us backward
+up the hill into the pines. But
+every minute gained meant the salvation
+of the army.</p>
+
+<p>Ah, it was hot work there, ankle
+deep in the sand, with the broiling sun
+above us, while the smoke and the dust
+of the conflict filled our throats and
+eyes; but we staggered on and fought
+blindly, desperately, amid the din and
+the carnage.</p>
+
+<p>Ten minutes, twenty minutes&mdash;ah,
+there it is at last, and the roar of the
+opening battle broke out to the right
+and left of us, as the re-formed regiments
+went into the fight.</p>
+
+<p>Then to our left came the high piercing
+yell of our brothers of the Line, and
+we knew that the British were falling
+back before them. The Grenadiers
+struggled on for a moment longer, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>
+the force of their charge was spent, and
+the fire of the new regiments forced
+them back in turn.</p>
+
+<p>But it was only for awhile, for they
+re-formed, and, under the leadership
+of the gallant Monkton, hurled themselves
+upon us once again.</p>
+
+<p>Monkton fell, and their lines shrivelled
+up under our fire. Then, as it
+was near the setting of the sun, Washington,
+glancing over the field, saw that
+the time had come and ordered the
+advance.</p>
+
+<p>Our whole line sprang forward, and,
+though we had borne the brunt, the toil,
+and heat of the day, not a man faltered.
+As the long line swept forward the
+British slowly retreated before us. We
+drove them across the plain and through
+the second pass, where night overtook
+us and stopped our pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>But then, when the fever of the
+battle left us, a great fatigue seized<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+hold of our limbs, the men sank to the
+earth as they stood, and slept from very
+exhaustion.</p>
+
+<p>But we were soon to be aroused.</p>
+
+<p>Through the darkness came the
+sound of a horse's hoofs, and a voice,
+asking for Ramsay's regiment. I sprang
+up, answering, and saw approaching a
+body of horsemen. The foremost rider
+seemed an immense figure, as he advanced
+in the darkness; but I, who had
+seen him often before, knew him to be
+the great General.</p>
+
+<p>I immediately gave the alarm, and
+the men sprang to their feet and presented
+arms.</p>
+
+<p>And then, there under the pines, by
+the light of the stars, the General rode
+down our line, and, coming to the
+centre, we felt his glance fall over our
+ranks.</p>
+
+<p>"Men of Maryland," spoke Washington,
+and his voice rang clear through<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>
+the pines, "once before at Long Island
+you saved the army, and to-day, for a
+second time, you have done so by your
+courage and tenacity. I thank you in
+the name of the army and the nation;
+I thank you for myself."</p>
+
+<p>A wild yell that broke from the Line
+was his answer. We forgot our fatigue
+and our wounds in the pride of the
+moment.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+
+<h3>IN THE LINES OF THE ENEMY</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was near the end of the first watch
+when an order came to me to pick out
+several men, go forward, feel the enemy's
+outposts, and see if the enemy
+was still retreating.</p>
+
+<p>Making my choice, I passed our
+pickets with three men, and made my
+way cautiously to the last pass in the
+hills which was in the enemy's possession
+at nightfall. But not a sign of
+their pickets or troops could I find; so
+I boldly advanced in the pass, and,
+crossing the ridge, found myself on the
+heights overlooking Freehold. It was
+a small town of scattered houses, and
+beyond it I could see the lights of the
+British camp-fires.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But as the heights were not near
+enough for our purpose, we descended
+into the plain, and carefully made our
+way toward the town, where I knew
+certain patriots were, who, if I could
+once get speech with them, would tell
+me the whole plans of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>We could hear the tramp of feet at
+the further side of the village, and all
+the sounds of an army in retreat. Being
+now so close to them, and in great
+danger, we moved with the utmost caution.
+Near at hand, on the outskirts
+of the town, stood a large, square stone
+house, separated from the rest of the
+houses by an immense garden. Having
+found a break in the hedge, we entered.</p>
+
+<p>It was an old garden, filled with boxwood
+walks and flowers run wild. Very
+prim at one time it must have been;
+but, now that the war had helped the
+return to nature, it was a wild and
+tangled mass.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Making our way through the garden,
+a light was suddenly thrown upon our
+path, and, glancing up, I saw that it
+came from a window which, though it
+was on the first floor of the house, was
+yet some distance from the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Then the figure of a woman crossed
+the window, stopping for a moment to
+look out, while we stood in the shadow
+of the hedge, holding our breath. But
+she passed on, and I, determining to
+see into the room to discover whether
+it contained friend or foe, quickly
+gained the shelter of the wall of the
+house. The wall was of rough hewn
+stone, and with the help of my comrades'
+shoulders, I raised myself high
+enough to glance over the window-sill,
+and what I saw there made me drop to
+the ground quickly.</p>
+
+<p>Then, whispering to my comrades to
+stay where they were, I made my way
+to the rear entrance of the house, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>
+finding the door unfastened, softly entered
+the hall; and then I was standing
+in the door of the room from which the
+light came.</p>
+
+<p>A lamp stood on a table near a long
+horse-hair sofa with spindle legs, on
+which lay the figure of a man. The
+coat had been cut from his shoulder,
+which was swathed in many bandages,
+while the blood-stained rags on the
+table and the floor told of the seriousness
+of the wound.</p>
+
+<p>A slender figure was bending over
+him, gently arranging a pillow under
+his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you feel easier now, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, lassie." Then, a moment
+later, "Why does not Clinton send me
+a carriage? He surely does not intend
+to desert me here."</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Farquharson is searching
+for one," she answered. And then
+turning to the table, she saw me standing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>
+in the doorway. The colour left her
+face; she gave a little cry, for she
+thought there were many men behind
+me, and that all was lost. So, quickly
+putting my finger to my lips, I stepped
+back into the darkness of the hall, and
+as I did so, I heard the old Tory ask,
+"What's that?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was nothing," she answered. "I
+thought I saw a ghost."</p>
+
+<p>I stood there in the broad window
+waiting, for I knew she would come.</p>
+
+<p>Below me was the garden, heavy-scented
+with the odour of flowers, and
+the hum of the night insects was everywhere
+in the air. Close to the wall I
+saw the figures of my scouts. The
+noise of the tramp of feet, the creak of
+waggons, and the voice of command
+came to me from the village street.</p>
+
+<p>At last she came and stood before
+me. In her eyes were great pain and
+fear and suffering.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Tell me," she asked anxiously,
+"is there any danger for him?"</p>
+
+<p>"More danger for me than for him,"
+I replied. "The whole American advance
+guard consists of three men and myself;
+the rest will follow in the morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," she cried, and there was hope
+once more in her voice; "then we can
+escape."</p>
+
+<p>"If you can move your father by
+sunrise, yes," I replied.</p>
+
+<p>"But you," she said, and there was
+new anxiety in her voice; "you are in
+great danger here. When the soldiers
+come to remove father they will take
+you prisoner."</p>
+
+<p>"I care not, Mistress Jean," I answered,
+"for your eyes have held me
+prisoner for many a long day, and all
+the prison bars in the world are nothing
+to me so long as I can look into them."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," she said, "you must not
+say such things to me."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And I, taking this as a confirmation
+of all my fears and that at last Farquharson
+had succeeded in his suit, would
+have bade her good-bye and gone my
+way. But before I went I told her of
+my wishes for her happiness, and that
+I had met Farquharson and knew of
+his skill and courage.</p>
+
+<p>"Farquharson?" and her eyes were
+wide open in surprise. "I really believe
+you think I am going to marry
+him;" and she laughed so softly, bewitchingly,
+that&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Jean, Jean," I cried, now that hope
+and life had come back with a rush,
+"Jean, do you know that I love you;
+that I love the very ground on which
+you walk, the sunbeams in your hair,
+the very air you breathe? Ah! Jean&mdash;"
+But at that moment came the voice of
+the Tory calling her and the tramp of
+feet on the porch.</p>
+
+<p>"Let me go," she cried, for I held<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>
+her hands in mine; "and fly,&mdash;that is
+the guard."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," said I, "not till you give
+me a kiss. I will stay here and be
+captured first."</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment's hesitation,
+and then a flash of white arms, and the
+softest caress&mdash;ah, such a caress that
+the memory of it will go with me to
+the grave. And then she was gone.</p>
+
+<p>And I, not wishing to be captured
+now, slipped through the rear door to
+my men, and a short time later, having
+satisfied ourselves of the retreat of the
+enemy's forces, we made our way back
+over the hills to report to the General.</p>
+
+<p>We followed the enemy closely the
+next day, and did not draw off until we
+saw them beyond our reach at Sandy
+Hook.</p>
+
+<p>Then we took our way to the Jersey
+hills, and lay there for a time watching
+the enemy in New York.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE PASSING OF YEARS</h3>
+
+
+<p>Then came a long period when it
+seemed almost as if peace had settled
+over the land, so seldom did the rattle
+of musket fire or the angry flash of
+guns break the quiet repose of the
+Jersey plains and farms.</p>
+
+<p>Far across the marshes lay New
+York, and behind its walls and the
+broad sweep of the waters the British
+army rested safe, while the army of the
+patriots, scattered among the forests,
+woods, and hills of Jersey and New
+York, lived, like Robin Hood's followers
+of old, and waited while the wheel
+of fortune turned.</p>
+
+<p>A year went by, when at the taking
+of Paulus Hook I first heard news<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>
+of the welfare of the Tory and the
+maid, since the night of the Monmouth
+retreat.</p>
+
+<p>It was after an all-night march through
+the marshes of Jersey, often breast-high
+in the water, that we made a silent,
+deadly charge with the bayonet on the
+enemy's fort, and carried it before the
+sun had risen.</p>
+
+<p>We were retiring rapidly, after securing
+our prisoners, when one of my men
+called to me: "Captain, here's one
+of those Highland chiefs knocked on
+the head."</p>
+
+<p>I went to him and found that it was
+Farquharson, who had received an ugly
+blow on the head from a clubbed
+musket.</p>
+
+<p>A little whiskey between his teeth
+and water on his face revived him, and
+I was able, with the help of several
+men, to carry him along with our
+party.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>We made good our retreat, and when
+several days later I was in the main
+camp of the army, I went to the quarters
+where the prisoners were detained,
+and there I again met Farquharson.</p>
+
+<p>"Captain," said he, smiling, for he
+had almost recovered from his wound,
+"there is no entering a contest against
+you; fortune is always on your side."</p>
+
+<p>"My turn will come," I answered;
+"but is there anything I can do for
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid not, unless you bribe
+the guards to let me escape."</p>
+
+<p>"That would be clear against the
+articles of war," I replied. We fell to
+talking, and then it was I heard of the
+Tory and his daughter.</p>
+
+<p>"It was about Christmas time," said
+Farquharson, "that the King sent a
+message over the sea, granting him a
+pardon for the part he had taken in
+'45, for you know he was out then.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>
+The Sea Raven was about to clear in a
+week for Glasgow, and a sudden longing
+seemed to seize him to see once
+more the dash of the waters through
+the Braes of Mar and the heather-crowned
+hills of old Aberdeen; and so,
+within a week, they had sailed away;
+and as he left he said to me: 'A
+revolt drove me from old Scotland;
+another sends me back again. I wonder
+where fortune will end my days.'
+It is a strange fortune that has followed
+him through life."</p>
+
+<p>"It is, indeed," I replied.</p>
+
+<p>So they sailed away over the seas,
+gone back to their own land and
+people; and between that land and
+mine burned high the flame of war.
+But through the flame and across the
+broad stretch of the waters, I saw the
+form of the maid beckoning me on,
+and though my hope was well-nigh
+gone, I buckled tight my sword-belt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>
+and doggedly went on,&mdash;went on,
+through the long march to the southward,
+the toil, the hunger, and the
+defeat of the Camden campaign.</p>
+
+<p>The great triumph of Eutaw Springs
+and Cowpens, as we drove back Cornwallis
+from the hill country to the
+shore, rolled back the tide of invasion
+and drowned it in the sea.</p>
+
+<p>A year went by, bringing me adventures
+not a few, and with the adventures
+came wounds and honours; and
+when there came the news of the
+leaguer of Yorktown, it found me a
+full Colonel in the army of the South.</p>
+
+<p>It was not my fortune to be present
+at that last great feat of our arms, when
+the great General struck the blow that
+freed us for ever from the tyranny of
+the King.</p>
+
+<p>But when the news came down to
+us in the savannahs of the South we
+hailed it with joy, for we saw once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>
+more before us the quiet, smiling fields
+of Maryland, with the ease and comfort
+and plenty of it all that awaited
+but our coming to repay us for the
+years of strife and blood.</p>
+
+<p>And then at last came the order for
+us to take up the homeward march.
+The men took up the trail with as
+jaunty a step as when they first
+marched to the northward, long years
+before. The gay uniforms were faded
+and gone; rags and tatters had taken
+their places, while of the brave banner
+that was flung to the breeze at the
+Head of Elk nothing remained but
+the staff and a few ribbons that flaunted
+therefrom.</p>
+
+<p>But every tatter told the tale of a
+fight where the shot and shell had torn
+it as it waved above the charging line,
+the deadly struggle of the hand to
+hand, or marked the slow and sullen
+retreat.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The men themselves were hardy and
+bronzed; from their ragged caps to
+their soleless shoes they bore the stamp
+of veterans. They showed the signs of
+their training in the angry school of war;
+wide indeed was the difference between
+the gay volunteers of '76 and the hardy
+veterans of '82. We swung along in
+our homeward march with a right goodwill,
+and at last came to the broad
+Potomac and saw the hills of Maryland
+beyond.</p>
+
+<p>Now the river itself to the low water-line
+of the southern bank is within the
+boundaries of Maryland. Wishing to
+be the first across the line, I rode my
+horse in to the saddle-girths, and let
+him drink thereof.</p>
+
+<p>A day later brought us to Annapolis,
+where we received the thanks of the
+State authorities, and with all due form
+and ceremony obtained our discharge
+and then dispersed to our homes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>That very day I took a canoe, and,
+crossing the bay, found myself again on
+the steps of Fairlee.</p>
+
+<p>Once more my mother leaned on my
+arm, and, looking up at her tall, broad-shouldered
+son, with his epaulets of a
+Colonel, bronzed face, and hardy bearing,
+seemed proud and happy.</p>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p><hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE COMING OF THE MAID</h3>
+
+
+<p>Many months had passed away,
+spring had come again, and the fair city
+of Annapolis lay in a mass of flowers.
+The vivid green of the old trees cast a
+delightful shade over all, tempting one
+to stroll through the quiet streets and
+byways, past the moss-grown walls, the
+old-fashioned gardens, buried in roses,
+and the stately, proud mansions of many
+of Maryland's best and bravest.</p>
+
+<p>I was standing on a step and above
+me stood Mistresses Polly and Betsy
+Johnson, who were railing at me now
+that I no longer wore a uniform and
+was simply a plain member of the
+Legislature.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"He looked so fine in his brass
+buttons," said Mistress Polly.</p>
+
+<p>"A brave, bold, quite proper-looking
+young fellow," added Mistress
+Betsy.</p>
+
+<p>"And now just look at him," continued
+Mistress Polly pathetically; and
+they surveyed me sorrowfully, while
+malicious mischief played around the
+corners of their eyes.</p>
+
+<p>I laughed outright. I could not help
+it, so droll was the expression on their
+faces.</p>
+
+<p>"True, your ladyship," I said; "the
+toga does not fit a young man so well
+as the buckled sabre and glittering
+epaulets. But now that dull peace has
+come, the hall of the Legislature is the
+only place where you can throw the
+weight of your sword in the conflict and
+wield some influence in the great struggles
+of the country; would you have
+me idle?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Nay, I would not have that," said
+Mistress Polly judiciously. "But your
+round head and big hands are just the
+things for a fight, and though your
+voice is&mdash;well&mdash;can be heard a considerable
+distance, I am afraid&mdash;&mdash;"
+She paused, as if doubtful about its being
+put to any good use in the hall of
+the Assembly.</p>
+
+<p>Decidedly I was getting the worst
+of it.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment Dick Ringgold, who
+represented Kent with me, came swinging
+up the street, and, seeing me standing
+on the steps, hailed me with&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Frisby, have you heard the
+news?"</p>
+
+<p>"What news?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your old Tory friend Gordon is
+on the Sally Ann, from London, which
+has just come up the harbour."</p>
+
+<p>"Any one with him?" I asked
+anxiously.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Dick, maliciously drawling
+it out, "I heard some one say there
+was a young lady with him."</p>
+
+<p>I did not stop to protest against the
+laughter that followed me as I dashed
+down the street, or to Dick's shout as
+he called something after me. A few
+minutes later I was on the wharf.</p>
+
+<p>Out in the stream, swaying with
+the current of the tide, lay the Sally
+Ann, her tall spars tapering high in air,
+her decks full of bustle and activity,
+showing the journey's end and that the
+final preparations for disembarkation
+were under full headway.</p>
+
+<p>As I arrived a boat was pulling off
+from her side containing two passengers.
+As I saw them my heart gave a great
+bound; my hand went to my hat and
+swung it around my head. In answer
+to my signal came the fluttering of a
+handkerchief.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," said I, as the old Tory stepped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>
+ashore, "let me be the first to welcome
+you back to old Maryland."</p>
+
+<p>"Would that all my enemies were
+like you!" he replied. "I hesitated
+long about returning, but Jean would
+have it so."</p>
+
+<p>And Mistress Jean said not a word
+as I took her hand in mine, but her
+face was mantled in scarlet and her eyes
+were downcast.</p>
+
+<p>The prim old garden of the Nicholsons
+never looked more charming, the
+flowers more sweet and beautiful, or the
+green boxwood hedges more suggestive
+of rest and repose; the lazy waters of
+the Chester rolled along at its foot,
+gently lapping the grass. Ah! the sun
+was shining on a glorious world that
+day, for Mistress Jean walked beside
+me.</p>
+
+<p>"Mistress Jean," said I, as we stood
+where the waters met the grass and
+looked out over the broad and silent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>
+river, flowing on and on as if to eternity,
+"our lives have been more like mountain
+torrents than the broad smooth
+river here. We have lived through
+the battles and sieges, seen blood and
+death and all the horrors of a great war,
+but now that peace has come, and our
+course lies through pleasant fields and
+verdant meadows, would it not be best
+for them to join and flow on as this
+great river does, Jean? Ah, Jean, you
+know how much I love you."</p>
+
+<p>And then she placed her hand in
+mine; her eyes spoke that which I
+most wished to know, and the very
+earth seemed glorious.</p>
+
+<p>I know not how long we stood
+there, when there came Mistress Nancy
+Nicholson's voice through the garden,
+calling, "Jean, Jean, where are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here," she answered; and with that
+Mistress Nancy came running round
+the hedge.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Jean," she cried, "Dick has
+proposed."</p>
+
+<p>And then, seeing me, she stamped
+her little foot, and cried, "Oh, bother!"
+blushing meanwhile as red as one of her
+roses.</p>
+
+<p>"And so have I, Mistress Nancy,"
+I replied.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>And now, my children, I end this
+tale, sitting here on the old porch at
+Fairlee. The pen drops from my hand,
+but my eyes are not too dim to see
+the flash of the sunlight on the waters
+of the great bay through the break in
+the trees.</p>
+
+<p>Nor are they too dim, Miss Jean, in
+spite of the impertinent toss of your
+head, to see in you the likeness of the
+maid that led me such a wild dance in
+the days of my youth. And I promise
+you, if you do not smile on young
+Dick Ringgold and stop your <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>outrageous
+treatment of him, I will not
+leave you a cent in my will.</p>
+
+<p>There, there; I retract every word
+that I said. Was there ever so audacious
+a monkey in the world?</p>
+
+<p>There, I have finished. Oh, yes, I
+forgot&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"John Cotton, bring me some more
+mint."</p>
+
+
+
+<p class="center">THE END.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tory Maid, by Herbert Baird Stimpson
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tory Maid, by Herbert Baird Stimpson
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Tory Maid
+
+Author: Herbert Baird Stimpson
+
+Release Date: February 26, 2007 [EBook #20678]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TORY MAID ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Diane Monico, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+https://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+The
+Tory Maid
+
+By
+HERBERT BAIRD
+STIMPSON
+
+
+New York
+Dodd, Mead and Company
+
+[Illustration: (decorative borders)]
+
+
+
+
+Copyright, 1898, by H. B. STIMPSON.
+
+
+
+
+_To
+Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Hall Harrison
+this volume
+is affectionately inscribed by
+the Author_
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER                             PAGE
+
+I. WE START FOR THE WAR                1
+
+II. WE MEET THE MAID                  10
+
+III. A FLASH OF STEEL                 24
+
+IV. THE RED COCKADE                   34
+
+V. SIR SQUIRE OF TORY DAMES           44
+
+VI. A TALE IS TOLD                    55
+
+VII. THE DEFIANCE OF THE TORY         68
+
+VIII. THE BLACK COCKADE               77
+
+IX. THE RED TIDE OF BLOOD             89
+
+X. THE HARRYING OF THE TORY          107
+
+XI. THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY            118
+
+XII. THE VETO OF A MAID              132
+
+XIII. THE GREETING OF FAIR LIPS      146
+
+XIV. THE RETURN OF THE TORY          156
+
+XV. THE FLAG OF TRUCE                166
+
+XVI. THE BALL OF MY LORD HOWE        176
+
+XVII. AN EXCHANGE OF COURTESIES      187
+
+XVIII. THE CROSSING OF SWORDS        196
+
+XIX. THE SANDS OF MONMOUTH           206
+
+XX. IN THE LINES OF THE ENEMY        222
+
+XXI. THE PASSING OF YEARS            230
+
+XXII. THE COMING OF THE MAID         238
+
+
+
+
+The Tory Maid
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WE START FOR THE WAR
+
+
+I, James Frisby of Fairlee, in the county of Kent, on the eastern
+shore of what was known in my youth as the fair Province of Maryland,
+but now the proud State of that name, growing old in years, but hearty
+and hale withal, though the blood courses not through my veins as in
+the days of my youth, sit on the great porch of Fairlee watching the
+sails on the distant bay, where its gleaming waters meet the mouth of
+the creek that runs at the foot of Fairlee. A julep there is on the
+table beside me, flavoured with mint gathered by the hands of John
+Cotton early in the morning, while the dew was still upon it, from the
+finest bank in all Kent County.
+
+So with these old friends around me, with the julep on my right hand
+and the paper before me, I sit on the great porch of Fairlee to write
+of the wild days of my youth, when I first drew my sword in the Great
+Cause. To write, before my hand becomes feeble and my eyes grow dim,
+of the strange things that I saw and the adventures that befell me, of
+the old Tory of the Braes, of the fair maid his daughter, and of the
+part they played in my life during the War of the Deliverance. To
+write so that those who come after me, as well as those who are
+growing up around my knees, may know the part their grandfather played
+in the stirring times that proclaimed the birth of a mighty nation.
+
+The first year of the great struggle, ah, me! I was young then, and
+the wild blood was in my veins. I was broad of shoulder and long of
+limb, with a hand that gripped like steel and a seat in the saddle
+that was the envy of all that hard-riding country. I was hardy and
+skilled in all the outdoor sports and pastimes of my race and people,
+and being light in the saddle I often led the hardest riders and won
+from them the brush, while every creek for fifty miles up and down the
+broad Chesapeake, and even the farther shore as far as Baltimore, knew
+my canoe, and the High Sheriff himself was no finer shot than I.
+
+You, who bask in the sunshine of long and dreary years of peace, who
+never hear the note of the bugle nor see the flash of the foeman's
+steel from one year's end to another, know not what it was to live in
+those stirring times and all the joy of the strife. You should have
+seen us then, when the whole land was aflame.
+
+The fiery signal had come like a rush of the wind from the north, with
+the cry of the dying on the roadsides and fields of Lexington.
+
+All along the western shore the men of Anne Arundel, of Frederick, and
+Prince George were mustering fast and strong. Then the Kentish men and
+those of Queen Anne and all the lower shore were mounting fast and
+mustering, while from the Howard hills came riding down bold and hardy
+yeomen.
+
+Then, and as it has always been in the old province of Maryland, the
+gentlemen led the people, and everywhere the spirit of fire ran like
+molten steel through the veins of the gathering hosts, and the people
+took up the gauntlet of war with a laugh and a cheer and shook their
+clenched hands at the King who was over the sea; so it was the length
+and breadth of the province, and so it was with me.
+
+And so one day the signal came, and I mounted my black colt Toby and
+rode away to the Head of Elk in the county of Cecil, where the
+mustering was, to take my place, as it was my duty and right to do,
+side by side with the bravest gentlemen of the province in the coming
+struggle for the Great Cause.
+
+I was eighteen in the month of March of that year and considered
+myself a man, and, having reached man's estate, I bade good-bye to my
+mother and rode from out the sheltering walls and groves of Fairlee.
+
+But just before I rode within the shadow of the great woods I turned
+in my saddle and waved my hand to the small, quaint figure that stood
+on the broad porch watching me disappear; and she bravely--for the
+women were brave in those days--waved her hand in return, and then I
+rode on, for the moment saddened at the parting, for the die that day
+would be cast, and, though there would be mustering and drilling for
+many weeks before we took up our march to the northward, the hand of
+the cause would claim me as its own.
+
+I was riding thus through the forest when I heard hoof-beats behind me
+and a cheery halloo, and who should ride up but Dick Ringgold of
+Hunting Field, a lad of my own age and my true friend?
+
+"Why such a long face?" he laughed. "You look as if you were going to
+a funeral and not to a hunt that will beat all the runs to the hounds
+in the world. We are going to hunt redcoats and fair ladies' smiles
+and not foxes now; so cheer up, man."
+
+"Plague on it, Dick, you are ten miles from home and I am only one," I
+retorted. "You ought to have seen how bravely her ladyship tried to
+smile, too."
+
+"We will increase the number of miles then," said he, and reaching
+over he struck Toby across the flank. Well, Toby needs the curb at
+best, and it was a full half-mile before I brought him up and had a
+chance to give Dick a rating.
+
+But Dick only laughed.
+
+And so we rode on, across the low-lying plains of Kent, northward
+toward the borders of Cecil.
+
+For miles we would ride under the shadow of the dense forest, and then
+we would come to the wide-reaching fields of some great manor or
+plantation, the manor house itself generally crowning some gently
+rising knoll amid a grove of trees, with a view of the distant bay,
+or creek, or river, as the case might be; the cluster of houses, the
+quarters for the slaves, the stables and the barns, making little
+villages and hamlets amid the wide expanse of farm lands and the
+distant circle of the dark green forests.
+
+Then, again, a creek or river would bar our course, and we would have
+to ride for miles until we turned its head, or found a ferry or a
+ford, and so overcome its opposition. So on we rode until, as the day
+waxed near the noon hour, we came to the little hamlet of Georgetown,
+nestling amid the hills on the banks of the Sassafras. Crossing the
+river at the ferry, we began the last stage of our journey.
+
+The trail now skirted the broad lands of Bohemia Manor, and crossed
+the beautiful river of that name, embedded between the hills and
+wide-stretching farm lands.
+
+As we approached the banks of the Elk the country grew more rolling
+and wilder--in our front the Iron Hills rose up before us, crowned
+with forests, in sharp contrast to the low-lying country through which
+we had been passing.
+
+And now, as our appetites became pressing, we urged our horses on, for
+we had still many miles to travel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+WE MEET THE MAID
+
+
+We had just come in sight of the blue waters of the Elk, as it rolled
+between the forest-clad hills on either side, basking here for a
+moment in the sunshine, then lost in the deeper shadows of the
+overhanging forest.
+
+"There rolls the Elk," cried Dick. "Only ten miles more, and a stroke
+upon a piece of paper, and then, my boy, you are done for. A pain that
+eats its way ever inward, a thirst that never slackens, and over all
+the black night lowering down. Aye, so it is, Sir Monk of the Long
+Face; but we will have some fun before we are put under the sod or our
+bones are left to whiten on the sands."
+
+"That we will, Sir Richard. And now we are in for it, for here comes
+our first adventure. Is she ugly or is she fair? Which, Sir Richard?"
+
+For, as we reached the point where our road joins the river road, we
+saw, approaching along the lower road, a gentleman riding on a
+powerful horse, while behind him on a pillion sat a slight girlish
+figure, hidden in part by the broad shoulders of the rider.
+
+"By Jove, it is Gordon of the Braes," said Dick.
+
+"What, the suspected Tory?"
+
+"Yes; and that must be his daughter. They say she is the fairest lass
+in all the county of Cecil."
+
+"Tory or no Tory," said I, "with a fair face at stake, I will speak to
+him."
+
+They were as yet some distance off, but as the rider drew nearer to us
+we saw that he was a splendid specimen of manhood, such as I had but
+seldom seen before.
+
+While strong of frame and above the medium height, he carried himself
+and rode with a courtliness and ease that bespoke the accomplished
+horseman and gentleman. His splendid head and face showed the marks of
+an adventurous career, and all bespoke the blood of the family from
+which he had sprung, the Gordons of Avochie.
+
+But striking as was the figure of the rider, the glimpse we caught of
+the fair burden behind made us for the moment forget him.
+
+A slender figure it was that sat upon the pillion, with wonderful eyes
+of the darkest blue and hair of the deepest brown that waved and
+clustered around the temples--a mouth that was winsome and sweet, a
+small and aristocratic nose, a chin that was slightly determined,
+giving her altogether a queenly air, as she sat so straight and prim
+behind her father.
+
+"Sir," said I, making Toby advance and bowing to his mane, "as we are
+travelling the same way, will you permit us to accompany you? My
+friend is Richard Ringgold of Hunting Field and I am James Frisby of
+Fairlee."
+
+"It will give me pleasure," he replied, saluting courteously, "to have
+your company to the Head of Elk. I know your families and your houses
+well, and you, no doubt, have heard of me, Charles Gordon of the
+Braes."
+
+"That we have," said Dick Ringgold. "It was only a week ago that my
+mother spoke of your first coming to old Kent."
+
+"It was kind of her to remember me," he replied. "She was a great
+belle and a beauty in her youth."
+
+Dick smiled with pleasure, and I, taking advantage of a narrow place
+in the road, fell behind, and rode so I could talk to Mistress Jean,
+much to Master Richard's secret indignation. But she received me with
+a show of displeasure, and though I courteously asked her of her
+journey, it was some minutes before I knew the cause thereof.
+
+"Are you not," said she, and her aristocratic little head was in the
+air, "afraid to be seen riding with suspected Tories, you who wear the
+black cockade?"
+
+And then I remembered that I wore the emblem of our party.
+
+"Afraid!" I replied. "Afraid! We who have bearded the Ministers of the
+Crown in the broad light of day? Do you think I am afraid of our own
+men? Why, if Mistress North herself were half as fair as your ladyship
+of the Braes, I would ride with her through all the armies of the
+patriots, and no man would dare say me nay."
+
+A merry twinkle came into her eyes. "Would you wear the red cockade if
+she should ask you?"
+
+"Ah, Mistress Jean, would you seduce me from my allegiance to the
+cause of the patriots?"
+
+"To the cause of the patriots? What of your allegiance to the King?"
+
+"But the King himself has broken that, and forced us in self-defence
+to take up arms in revolt. Would you have me true to my people, or to
+the King, who is over the sea?"
+
+"To the King," she answered promptly, "for the King's Ministers may be
+bad men to-day and good to-morrow, but if you once strike a blow at
+the mother country and win, then the ties of love, of friendship, and
+of interest are severed for ever."
+
+"Yes; but she should have thought of that before she forced us to it."
+
+"What spoiled children you are," she cried. "Because the taffy is not
+as good as usual you want to pull the house down about our ears."
+
+Thus receiving and parrying thrusts, we rode along the banks of the
+Elk, and as we neared the ferry we met numbers of men travelling the
+same way with us, all bound for the great mustering, and though they
+returned our salutations, seeing the black cockade in our hats, they
+scowled on Gordon of the Braes.
+
+"There goes that dog of a Tory," I would hear them growl to one
+another as we passed.
+
+But Gordon rode on with a cool, indifferent, almost contemptuous
+manner, which made the frowns grow blacker, and the mutterings deeper
+and louder. But no man as yet sought to beard him, for his courage and
+his daring were well known throughout the shore, and it would have
+taken a bold man indeed to cross Gordon of the Braes.
+
+At last we came to the ferry and saw on the hillside, among the forest
+trees, the white tents, already taking on the appearance of a
+well-regulated camp. The little town amid the trees, busy with the
+life of the moving crowd, and bright with the uniforms of the Maryland
+Line, which we were soon to don, formed a curious spectacle as we
+entered.
+
+Every part of the province was represented. Here was a tall
+backwoodsman in his coonskin cap, buckskin shirt and leggings, with
+his long and deadly rifle, totally unadorned by the glint of silver or
+chasing on the barrel to betray him to his redskin neighbour--and you
+knew that one of Cresap's riflemen was before you.
+
+By his side, for the moment, was a young tobacco planter from Prince
+George. The youngster to whom he was talking, clad in the scarlet and
+buff of the Maryland Line, was a young dandy from Annapolis.
+
+And so it was all through the crowd, the frontiersman, the hard-riding
+country squire, and the city swell, all mingled together, and all
+animated with one all-pervading and all-engrossing thought--how best
+to secure the freedom of the country and resist the tyranny of the
+King.
+
+As we made our way through the crowd the faces grew dark as they saw
+the Tory, but as Dick and I rode on either hand, with our black
+cockades, the crowd murmuringly gave way before us, and though all the
+people were hostile to him, and he could not help but see it, he
+coolly looked them over and rode as if he had no enemy within a
+hundred miles.
+
+But the colour in Mistress Jean's cheek flamed high, and I saw her
+little hands clenched together, as if she would like to tell these
+rebels what she thought of their treatment of her father. And I,
+seeing the war signal so clearly on her cheek, and daring not the
+batteries of her eyes and wit, was discreet and said not a word.
+
+We took our way to the inn, kept by one John McLean, a genial host and
+Scotchman, who was well known in three provinces, and kept the finest
+inn for many miles around.
+
+He received us in a jovial way, for though he was a stanch patriot, he
+and Gordon had been friends for many years.
+
+"So, Mistress Jean, you have deigned to honour my roof with your
+presence. Welcome, welcome, all of you."
+
+And though I had swung myself off Toby to assist Mistress Jean to
+dismount, he was before me and swung her lightly to the ground.
+
+"I declare," he said, "you grow bonnier every day, lassie," which
+brought a blush to her cheek. Then, turning, he called his wife and
+placed Mistress Jean in her charge.
+
+"I am sorry to say, gentlemen, that the inn is very crowded, as you
+see, but I think I can find a place for you." Then drawing the Tory
+aside for a little way, we heard him remonstrating with him for coming
+to the town at such a time, when the feeling ran so strong and high
+against the Loyalist.
+
+"You risk your life," he said, "for the slightest spark or
+indiscretion will bring a mob, boiling and seething around you. The
+officers will not be able to hold the men in, as they are only
+volunteers, and have not yet felt the hand of discipline."
+
+But Charles Gordon shrugged his shoulders, and his reply came
+distinct and clear: "I thought you knew me better, McLean. I would
+not hide my head for a hundred or a thousand of them;" and he turned
+and went into the inn.
+
+The innkeeper made a gesture of despair. "That is always the way,"
+said he, "both in this country and the old; tell a Gordon of a danger
+and he will rush right into it, and then expect to come out safe and
+sound."
+
+We laughed, for the expression on the old Scotchman's face was so
+droll.
+
+"But now for your room, gentlemen;" and he led the way to a small room
+under the gable roof. "It is the only room I have left," he said, "but
+you are welcome to it."
+
+It was now somewhat late in the afternoon, but having made ourselves
+presentable and partaken of a lunch, we went to report ourselves to
+Captain Ramsay of the 1st Regiment of the Maryland Line.
+
+He received us at his tent door with a warm grasp of the hand. "You
+are the very lads I have been waiting for," he said. "I have two
+Lieutenancies to fill, and you are the men to fill them."
+
+"But, Captain," said Dick Ringgold, "we have not been tried yet. Let
+us go into the ranks and fight our way up, as so many better men than
+we are doing."
+
+I could not help admiring Dick for his modesty, and though I, too,
+said the same thing, I confess I hoped the Captain would not hear of
+it, and so it proved.
+
+"No, no," he said, and patted Dick on the shoulder. "I must have you;
+I know the blood that runs in your veins, lads, and that I will have
+no better fighting stock in the army." And thus it was settled, and
+we became officers in that Maryland Line, and--I say it with all due
+modesty--the most famous of all the fighting regiments in the struggle
+for the Great Cause.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+A FLASH OF STEEL
+
+
+That night we sat at the long table in the dining-room of the inn. All
+up and down its great length sat the officers of the Line--country
+gentlemen from Cecil, Kent, and as far south as Queen Anne, who had
+ridden thus far to see the mustering and to give it their countenance
+and their favour. Grave and sedate gentlemen many of them, men of
+affairs, the leaders of their counties, and delegates to the
+Convention and to Congress--men of the oldest and bluest blood in the
+province, of wide estates and famous names, whose families wielded a
+mighty influence in the cause of the patriots and gave it stability
+and great strength.
+
+Then there was the parson, a merry old gentleman, stout of form, with
+a round face and twinkling eyes, who in his youth was a mighty
+fox-hunter in spite of his cloth; even then, stout as he had grown,
+when he heard the music of the hounds, it was with difficulty he
+restrained the inclination to follow, which now, alas! was made
+impossible by his great weight. We who loved hard riding, hard
+fighting, and a strong will, admired him, and no man was more popular
+throughout the three counties than the fox-hunting parson. He knew the
+people and their ways, and was one of them.
+
+"I hear you are fire-eaters here," he said to a vestryman upon being
+installed.
+
+"Then we are well matched," came the reply, "for they say you are a
+pepperbox."
+
+So no gathering throughout the county was a success without the
+parson, and by the unanimous voice of the Line he was called to be
+their chaplain.
+
+We sat there in the long dining-room amid the hum of many voices, the
+glare of many lights, and the click of the glasses, as the wine was
+going around, when a young man who sat across the table from me rose
+with his glass poised between his fingers.
+
+He was a handsome man, of twenty-one or twenty-two, of dark and
+swarthy features, thick lips and nose, and hair as black as night,
+telling of the Indian blood in his veins.
+
+His name was Rodolph, and he was the son of a man more noted for his
+wealth than for his principles, but who was then at the city of
+Annapolis, a delegate from the county of Cecil.
+
+"I propose a toast," he cried, "that all true patriots should drink. A
+toast to the delegates of this county, who at the convention of the
+province in the city of Annapolis are standing as the bulwarks of
+liberty against the tyranny of the Crown."
+
+We were all on our feet in an instant to drink the toast, with a right
+goodwill, all except Charles Gordon, who sat at my right hand. He kept
+his seat and watched us with a cool, sarcastic smile upon his lips.
+
+"Is not the toast good enough for you?" cried Rodolph, with an ugly
+sneer upon his face.
+
+All eyes now turned to where Charles Gordon sat, and he slowly rose.
+
+"Drink to your delegates?" said he. "Not I. They are the scum of the
+county of Cecil, and you know it. I would as soon be governed by my
+slaves at the Braes as by such men as they are. I wish you joy of
+them." And bowing, he turned and left the room by a door that was near
+at hand.
+
+For an instant there was silence, then an uproar broke forth, and
+Rodolph sprang around the table to follow him, with several of the
+young men at his heels. But I, seeing the danger, with possibly a
+thought of a fair maid's eyes, threw myself before the door with drawn
+sword.
+
+"No man passes through this door," I cried, "unless he passes over
+me."
+
+The crowd drew back in surprise.
+
+"Since when," I shouted, for they hesitated, "have Maryland gentlemen
+learned to fight in mobs? If any one has an insult to resent, let him
+fight as becomes a gentleman, man to man."
+
+"Stand aside," shouted Rodolph, who was now before me, "and let me get
+at the traitor."
+
+"Put up your swords, gentlemen." I found I had a new ally in a tall,
+dignified gentleman, who took his place beside me, a Mr. Wilmer of the
+White House in Kent.
+
+"The lad is right," he said; "and you, Rodolph, I should think, would
+have had enough of Charles Gordon of the Braes."
+
+At this there was a laugh, which at the time I did not understand; but
+the company good-naturedly put back their swords and resumed their
+places at the table, all except Rodolph, who slipped away from the
+room.
+
+That night, as I lay upon my bed, dreaming, boylike, of the fair eyes
+of the Tory maid, and hoping that the part I had played in the matter
+of the toast might come to her ears and cause her to give me a smile
+at our next meeting, I heard the sound of footsteps coming down the
+passageway.
+
+"There is great danger," said a voice, which I recognised as the
+landlord's, as they were passing by my door. "Rodolph is stirring up
+the crowd, and though you might brave the mob, Mistress Jean--" and
+then the voices died away.
+
+"The mob" and "Mistress Jean." Clearly something must be afoot.
+Springing from my bed, I swore to myself, that, if anything happened
+to the Tory maid, I would make Phil Rodolph feel the edge of my sword.
+Hastily throwing on my clothes, I went to the window and looked out.
+The night was dark, the sky being full of drifting clouds, through
+which the moon faintly struggled; everything lay quiet and still in
+the village and the camp. Steps were heard upon the porch below, and
+then a horse was brought around from the stables. A moment later a
+horseman mounted, and I saw a slender figure on the pillion behind
+him.
+
+"Keep to the south road," said a voice, "they have only one sentry
+there."
+
+I did not wait to hear more, but slipped downstairs and out of a side
+door, and the next moment I was running softly through the camp to the
+outpost on the south road, for one of my own men was stationed there,
+and I knew that without orders or the countersign no man would pass
+that way that night. It was well I did, for as I drew near I heard the
+challenge "Who goes there?" and the answer "A friend."
+
+"Advance, friend, and give the countersign."
+
+"Maryland." But the Tory had missed it, and the next moment the
+sentry's rifle was at his shoulder, and I knew the cry for the officer
+of the guard would follow; so I stepped out from the shadow, and the
+sentry, seeing me, brought his rifle to a salute.
+
+"Lieutenant," he said, "he wants to pass, and has given the wrong
+countersign."
+
+"Yes," said I, drawing my hat over my eyes, for I did not wish to be
+recognised by Mistress Jean. "I heard. But I know them; let them
+pass."
+
+"Certainly, Lieutenant."
+
+"Thank you," said the rider, and a still softer "Thank you" came from
+his companion. I bowed, but said nothing, and stood there watching
+them disappear down the dark road until the sound of the horse's hoofs
+was lost in the distance.
+
+"Queer time of the night to ride, sir," said the sentinel.
+
+"Yes; but they have far to go."
+
+"Kent or Queen Anne's, sir?"
+
+"Down by Bohemia Manor."
+
+"That is where that old Tory Gordon lives; they say they are going to
+rout him out in the morning for insulting the committee last night. He
+is up at the inn, there, and Phil Rodolph says he is going to make it
+hot for him."
+
+"Mere talk, I expect. Good-night."
+
+"Good-night, sir."
+
+I took my way back to the inn, and when I crawled to my room once more
+and into bed, Dick Ringgold raised himself on his arm and said in a
+sleepy voice: "What's up, Frisby?"
+
+"Oh, nothing," I replied; "go to sleep." And I soon followed my own
+advice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE RED COCKADE
+
+
+The stirring notes of the bugle made us spring up in the morning, to
+find, when we were again downstairs, that every one was talking of the
+disappearance of Charles Gordon of the Braes.
+
+Master Richard marvelled much at the disappearance of the Tory, and,
+though I knew it was of the Tory maid he was thinking, I said not a
+word, but went on with my duties; and manifold they were for many days
+to come. The drilling of the raw recruits, who, though they were full
+of fire and _elan_, were not used to the strict obedience of orders,
+was at first very difficult. But soon there came the spirit and the
+pride that were to make them the best drilled troops, the dandies and
+macaronies of the army. And so, with the drilling of recruits and
+assisting Captain Ramsay in the formation of the regiment, a week
+passed by before a day came when Dick and I found a few spare hours on
+our hands. And having certain plans and purposes in view, and not
+wishing them to be known to Dick, I sat and watched for an opportunity
+to slip away.
+
+Master Richard, it was evident, had also some plans on foot, for after
+moving from the chair to the top of a box and then back again, he
+stretched his arms above his head, and, yawning, said: "I believe I
+will take a little canter down the south road; come along?"
+
+"No," I replied; "I am going to ride a short distance down the east
+road."
+
+"All right," said he, and springing from his chair, he went to order
+his horse. I soon followed, and, having seen Dick well on his way,
+rode for a short distance on the east road, then turned, rode back,
+and entered the road which runs along the bank of the Elk, by which we
+had entered the town on our journey from Kent. As I rode, I hummed a
+jovial hunting-song and touched Toby with the spur, for I was quite
+jubilant at having got rid of Dick and so well on the road to my
+adventure.
+
+My time was short and it was good twelve miles to the Braes, but
+Toby's sire was a son of old Ranter, and I knew he could do it in an
+hour and a half. So Toby felt the spur, and I barely noticed the miles
+as we flew along, until we came to the road that leads south to the
+Braes. Down this road we turned, and as we were so near the end of our
+journey I began to think of the reasons and excuses I should give for
+my visit. Reason! Pshaw! What better reason does a Marylander want
+than a pair of blue eyes? And if Mistress Jean should so much as
+demand it by the merest glance of those eyes, I would tell her so.
+Aye, but she is a Tory and wears the red cockade. True, but the fairer
+the enemy the more difficult the prize, the greater the glory and
+effort to win.
+
+And so, having justified my invasion of the stronghold of the Tory, I
+pricked Toby with the spur and rode on more rapidly, when, on turning
+a bend in the road where it is intersected by one from the east, whom
+should I come face to face with but Master Richard? For a moment he
+stared at me with open mouth, and I at him; then his brow grew dark.
+
+"I thought," he cried; but suddenly the humour of our meeting came
+over him. Thrusting his hands into his pockets, he broke out into a
+hearty burst of laughter, and I could do nothing but follow.
+
+"And so, Master Frisby, you rode down the east road."
+
+"And you, methinks, rode down the south." Again our laughter rang
+through the woods.
+
+"Come," he cried, "which is it to be? So fair a maid deserves two
+cavaliers, but we would be at sword points within a week, and I do not
+wish to lose the friendship of Mr. James Frisby of Fairlee."
+
+"A chance has brought us here, so let chance decide."
+
+"Agreed," said Dick, pulling out a sovereign, and with a twitch of the
+thumb, he sent it high in the air. "Heads, you win. Tails, I win."
+Then catching it as it fell: "By Jove, you have it. Present my
+compliments to Mistress Jean," he cried, with a grandiloquent bow,
+"and tell her how near she came to being Mrs. Dick Ringgold of Hunting
+Field."
+
+"That I will, Sir Richard." But Dick was gone, and I was left to ride
+on to the Braes.
+
+A long, rambling house it was, standing white amid the trees, a wide
+lawn around it stretching down to the creek at its foot; while beyond
+could be seen the sunlight gleaming on the bay. A quaint,
+old-fashioned place, the low roof already growing dark with age; the
+quiet air of ease and comfort brooding over all, making a fitting
+setting for the quaint, slender little lady that ruled its destinies.
+
+A negro took my horse; another showed me across the broad hall, with
+its hunting whips and trophies on the wall, to the parlour, and there
+I awaited the coming of the Tory maid. And as I sat there, gently
+stroking the toe of my boot with my whip, and thinking of that night
+at the inn, of that soft "Thank you" on the old south road, I heard
+the soft swish of her skirts, and, looking up, saw Mistress Jean
+standing in the doorway. A beautiful picture it was, like some old
+portrait of Lely's, the maid standing there framed in the old oak. And
+I, though I had been to the balls at the Governor's house the winter
+before, and was therefore a man of the world, sat staring for a
+moment. But she advanced, and I was on my feet with a low and sweeping
+bow.
+
+"Father is away," said she, "but in his name I wish to thank you for
+defending us at the inn that night."
+
+So she knew.
+
+"It was to save the honour of Maryland gentlemen," I replied modestly.
+"Heretofore they have not fought in mobs. But will you not thank me
+for yourself?"
+
+"When you turn loyalist, yes," said she.
+
+"Almost thou persuadest me to become a traitor."
+
+"You are that already," she said with spirit.
+
+"Yes, that is the way they have written 'Patriot' since Tyranny first
+stalked across the world. But patriot or traitor, Mistress Jean, I
+have already won one 'Thank you,' and I hope some day to win another."
+
+"Won one 'Thank you'--when and where?" and she looked at me with wide
+open eyes.
+
+Now every Marylander will admit that there are no more gallant fellows
+in the world than we are, and if any one chooses to dispute it, well
+and good, we are willing to cross swords with him any day, and so
+reprove him for his recklessness. Indeed, we have been called with
+truth the Gascons of the South, and, like those gallant gentlemen of
+old France, we have never hidden our light under a bushel, to use a
+homely phrase; and so when I saw Mistress Jean's air of surprise, the
+spirit of my race came over me.
+
+"Yes," I replied, "it was the sweetest 'Thank you' I ever heard."
+
+Again the mystified look.
+
+"But where?" said she again.
+
+"It was rather dark," I replied, "and the clouds were drifting across
+the sky, and you, I am afraid, did not know who it was who received
+that soft 'Thank you.'"
+
+"Were you the Lieutenant?"
+
+I bowed.
+
+"Oh," she said, and she stamped her tiny foot, "if you were only not a
+rebel!"
+
+"But even rebels have their uses."
+
+Thus it was we became good friends in spite of the traitor stamped
+upon my brow. Ere I knew it, the time approached when I had to mount
+and ride. But before I left, her soft hand rested for a moment in
+mine.
+
+"We march in a few days," said I, "to the North, to the Leaguer of
+Boston. There will be fighting there and bloody work. Can I not carry
+a single token?"
+
+Her nimble fingers flew to her hair, and took from thence a blood-red
+rose, and pinned it to my coat.
+
+"There," said she, "my red cockade;" and turning quickly, she ran into
+the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+SIR SQUIRE OF TORY DAMES
+
+
+"Well, Sir Squire of Tory Dames, did she smile on you?" The voice was
+harsh and rasping; looking across the table, I saw the sneer upon his
+lips. I had but entered a moment before the dining-room of the inn,
+after my long ride, and was about to take my seat, when Rodolph's
+sneering question made me pause.
+
+"That is more than you could ever win, my Mighty Lord from Nowhere," I
+retorted. At this there was a laugh from those about. An angry flush
+showed through even his dark and swarthy skin; for, being a burly
+bully of the border, he liked not being bearded thus by a youth.
+
+"You damned impudent puppy!" he cried, rising.
+
+But there stood a glass at my right hand, full to the brim, and ere he
+could say another word the red wine flew across the table straight
+into his face.
+
+"Take that!" I cried, "with the compliments of James Frisby of
+Fairlee!"
+
+A dozen men were now around us, and Rodolph, spluttering through the
+wine and swearing many oaths, demanded to be released from the hands
+upon his shoulders, shouting that he would shoot me like a dog.
+
+"It will give me pleasure to let you have an opportunity," I replied
+coolly. "It will be a rare chance for you to become a gentleman."
+
+And so, still muttering and swearing, his friends took him from the
+room, while I took my seat at the table. But I was not allowed to eat
+my meal in peace; for many gentlemen came to offer their services and
+to thank me. Rodolph's overbearing manners had long been unpopular
+among them, and the wonder was that he had not been forced to fight
+before. But I was determined that Dick should be my second, and so,
+thanking them all for their kind offers, I placed my hand on Dick's
+shoulder, and we went out together amid a volley of advice and
+friendly warning.
+
+Half an hour later, as I was examining my sword and Dick his pistols,
+there came a rap on my door, and two gentlemen entered; one was
+Captain Brooke, the other Lieutenant Barry of the Line.
+
+"Lieutenant Frisby," said Captain Brooke, as he advanced and bowed,
+"it is my painful duty to deliver you this challenge."
+
+"It is a pleasure to receive it from your hands," I replied,
+returning his courtesy. "Lieutenant Ringgold and Harry Gresham of Kent
+will act as my seconds, permit me to refer you to them."
+
+Dick now went out with them to Harry Gresham's room near by, where
+they would be safe from interruption, Gresham having volunteered with
+Dick to be one of my seconds, and I went on polishing my sword,
+waiting for the issue. At last Dick came back.
+
+"Well," he cried, "it is all settled. You are to fight to-morrow
+morning at sunrise down in the little meadow below the creek."
+
+"Swords, I suppose?"
+
+"No; pistols. I insisted on swords at first, it being our privilege;
+but Captain Brooke said that Rodolph had broken his arm the year
+before, and that it was still too weak to fight with. So I waived the
+swords and agreed to the pistols."
+
+"It is not quite as gentlemanly a weapon, but just as deadly. I have
+put a bullet through the head of a wild duck flying, and I think I can
+hit Phil Rodolph."
+
+"That you can," said Dick.
+
+It was a bright, clear morning as we slipped out of the inn on our way
+to the little meadow. The eastern sky was already tinged with crimson,
+and the blood-red lances across the heavens told of the coming dawn.
+The air was fresh and cool as it blew up the river from the bay, and
+our lungs drew in great draughts of it as we felt the breeze in our
+faces.
+
+"A splendid morning to die on," said Harry Gresham.
+
+"And to live on, too," I replied.
+
+"Stop your croaking, Gresham," put in Dick Ringgold. We walked on
+silently to the meadow, where we found that we were the first to
+arrive.
+
+Though I have stood on many a field of honour since that day, though I
+have felt the bullet tearing and burning its way through the flesh,
+and the sudden, sharp pain of the sword thrust, I shall never forget
+that encounter on the meadow beside the Elk, when I first faced the
+muzzle of a hostile pistol, and knew that the will behind it sought my
+life.
+
+It was not fear that I felt as I stood there, waiting for the coming
+of my adversary, for fear has always been foreign to my family, but a
+sort of secret elation. For that day, if I survived, though the down
+upon my lip was as yet imperceptible, I could take my place as a man
+among men. No longer would my boyish face keep me out of the councils
+of my elders, but I would have the right to take my stand and ruffle
+it with the best of them all. I was there to win my spurs as a man
+and a duellist, and to show to all the world that I had the courage of
+my race. For then, as it has ever been in the fair province of
+Maryland, we love above all else courage in a man; and so it was I
+waited with impatience Rodolph's approach, for it meant the casting
+off of the boy and the making of the man.
+
+We did not have long to wait, for Rodolph and his seconds soon
+followed us down the path, and each party saluted. Then Captain Brooke
+and Dick Ringgold measured off the paces, and threw for the choice of
+positions. Dick won, and I found myself standing near a small sapling,
+with my back to the rising sun, which as yet had not climbed over the
+tree tops, and so did not interfere with Rodolph's position. Facing
+me, twelve paces away, stood Rodolph, his dark, swarthy face darker,
+more Indian-like, and forbidding than ever; behind him stretched away
+the small glade, and the smooth green waters of the river, as they
+wound their way between the tall forests on either side. I remember
+watching a wild duck as he went swiftly flying down the Elk, when Dick
+Ringgold's "Are you ready?" suddenly recalled me to my position.
+"Yes," I nodded. Then came the even counting, "One, two;" but ere
+"two" had been uttered, I saw the flash of Rodolph's pistol, and felt
+the sharp pain of the bullet tearing its way into my side. While I,
+taken by surprise at such rank treachery, fired not so accurately as
+usual, and my bullet clipped his ear. Dick's sword was out in an
+instant, and I verily believe he would have run Rodolph through on the
+spot, as it was his duty and right to do, so base was the crime of
+firing before the time--a thing that had never been known among
+Maryland gentlemen before. But seeing me reel, he came to my
+assistance, and threw his arm around me.
+
+"Tie me to the sapling, Dick," said I, "and give me one more shot."
+
+"But no gentleman should fight with such a scoundrel!" cried Dick
+hotly.
+
+"I waive that, just one more shot."
+
+So, with Harry Gresham's assistance, they took Dick's sash and tied me
+to the sapling, and in this way enabled me to keep an upright
+position. Captain Brooke had come forward to inquire as to my injury,
+but Dick met him and demanded another exchange of shots. "My
+principal," he said, "waives the treachery that places your principal
+beyond the pale of men of honour. But," continued Dick, "if he should
+dare to fire again before the time, I will shoot him down where he
+stands."
+
+Captain Brooke flushed, and though we saw that it was painful to him
+as a man of honour to be the second of such a principal, he could do
+nothing but accept. "I will shoot him down myself," said he, "if he
+dares again to do it."
+
+He then returned to his party, and we saw by his angry gestures that
+he was warning Rodolph of the penalty if he should a second time
+transgress the rules of honour.
+
+Again we faced, and I could feel the strength ebbing fast from me, but
+I could see that Rodolph's face was pale, even through his swarthy
+skin. "One, two, three, Fire," came again the fateful words; but I had
+nerved myself for the final effort, and glancing down the polished
+barrel, I fired, at the same moment that Rodolph's pistol rang out.
+
+For a moment I saw him standing there, and then he lurched forward,
+with his arms in the air, and fell face downward as the mortally
+wounded do. With that there came a mist before my eyes, my hand fell
+to my side, and I remembered nothing more. They told me afterward that
+they carried me to the inn in the village, Captain Brooke assisting,
+after they had seen that Rodolph was dead. "Leave him there for
+awhile," said the Captain, as he came to assist Dick in my removal.
+"The dog had a better death than he deserved."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+A TALE IS TOLD
+
+
+I lay there at the inn, I do not know how long, but they told me
+afterward it was for many days, hanging on the brink between life and
+death, until one day I heard in my dreams the music of the fife and
+the rattle of the drums, and awoke to life and hope again. The
+sunlight was streaming through the south window across the counterpane
+of the bed, and outside could be heard the steady tread of marching
+men.
+
+"What troops are those?" I asked somewhat hazily, for I was still on
+the borderland of dreams.
+
+"They are the Maryland Line marching away to the North to join General
+Washington."
+
+"Marching to the North? Then I must join them." And I tried to rise in
+my bed, for it came back to me with a rush that I was a Lieutenant in
+the Line. But strong hands pushed me gently back upon my pillow, and I
+recognised now the voice of my nurse, Mrs. McLean.
+
+"No, no, Mr. Frisby; be still. You are a regular little bantam, but
+your spurs are clipped for some time yet."
+
+"Why, what is the matter, Mrs. McLean? How did I come here?"
+
+"Law bless the boy!" said the good old soul. "He has clean forgot."
+
+But the dull pain in my side soon brought back to me that clear, fresh
+morning on the bank of the Elk, and for a moment I lay still.
+
+"Did I kill Rodolph?" I asked.
+
+"That you did, lad; and no man deserved it more."
+
+Then I heard a heavy step in the passageway outside, and then a
+lighter one. The next moment the door opened and I saw my mother, more
+pale and fairy-like than ever, and behind her came Captain Ramsay,
+bluff and hearty, but looking very solemn at that moment. But they saw
+the news on Mrs. McLean's good-natured face, and when I spoke to my
+lady, the old-time happy look came back again, as she came to my
+bedside and kissed me, while the great voice of the Captain came
+hearty and strong.
+
+"Aye, lad, I told them that you would pull through; make a gallant
+fight, my boy, and you will have a shot at the redcoats yet."
+
+"But, Captain, you are marching away without me."
+
+"You will be in time for the fighting, never worry; lie still and get
+well. Half the young men in the Line are envying you, you rogue, for
+becoming a hero before them all." And the Captain took my hand, and
+bade me good-bye, for he must hurry away to join his regiment.
+
+A few minutes later there came the clank of a sword and a hurried
+step, and then the door burst open and in marched Master Dick in all
+the glory of his full regimentals. And so brave was the show that he
+made in his cocked hat, scarlet coat, with its facings of buff, and
+the long clanking sword, that I longed to spring up and don my own
+then and there. But my mother's finger on her lip caused him to stop
+the cheery greeting, and he came forward on his tiptoes, holding his
+sword carefully to keep it from clanking, for by this time I was
+growing weak again. Master Dick shook my hand gently and murmured,
+"Cheer up, old fellow, you will soon be with us again," but I could
+only give him a slight smile, for I was again on the borderland of
+dreams. Dick stood for awhile looking down on me; then he, too, had to
+depart. Gradually the steady tramp of marching feet died away, and
+everything became quiet and still again.
+
+The days passed by, week followed week, and though at first I gained
+strength but slowly, the process seeming a long and dreary one, the
+vigour of a youthful frame soon asserted itself, and I could feel the
+returning tide of health and strength. But as yet I lay there upon the
+great four-post bed, with my mother sitting near by, her dear face
+bending over the embroidery frame, as her deft fingers weaved
+beautiful designs with the silk. As I lay there, I would wander back
+again to that day before the duel, to the swift challenging glance of
+a pair of blue eyes as a blood-red rose was pinned to my coat. But
+that was so long ago, years it seemed to me, away back in the past, a
+memory as it were of a fairy tale heard from the lips of a grandmother
+before the big open fire in the great hall on a winter night; a fairy
+tale, aye, and she the Princess, with her blue eyes and hair of waving
+brown, with her step as light as the dew-drop, and her voice as low
+and soft as the breath of the Southern breeze in the spring; and then
+I would be her Prince Charming, with my coal-black horse. But, pshaw!
+I am becoming a child again; whereas I am a man, who has fought his
+duel as becomes a man, with a right to the sword by his side. And yet
+those blue eyes, what fate was in store for them? And would their
+challenging glance ever meet mine again? But here my mother stopped
+the trend of my thoughts for a moment.
+
+"James," she said, "John Cotton tells me that an old darky comes to
+inquire for you every night. Strange, is it not? We know so few
+people here."
+
+"Yes," I replied. "Does John Cotton know who he is?"
+
+"No; he refuses to tell, and all John Cotton can find out is that he
+leaves town by the river road. He appears to be a stranger to all the
+other darkies, and nobody seems to know him."
+
+By the river road! Could it possibly be, then, that it was the Tory
+maid who sent those many miles to see if I were in the land of the
+living or the dead? Ah, it was too pleasant a thing to dream of; too
+pleasant to have it shattered by the rough hand of fact. And so I said
+dreamily, "It is only one of John Cotton's stories, I suppose."
+
+Yet I would not have believed it otherwise for all of John Cotton's
+weight in gold. Thus it was I was thinking one day of the Tory maid,
+when the door opened, and a tall, dignified gentleman came in--the man
+who had stood by my side that day when with drawn sword I held the
+door against Rodolph and his followers--Mr. Lambert Wilmer of the
+White House in Kent.
+
+He came forward and greeted me with many kind phrases. While he sat
+talking to me of the duel and its cause, I thought of that great burst
+of laughter when he told Rodolph to put up his sword, as by this time
+he should have had enough of Gordon of the Braes, and I asked the
+reason for it all.
+
+"It is a long story, lad," said he, "but I will tell it to you."
+
+Then he told me how, many years before, Mistress Margaret Nicholson
+had been the loveliest girl in Kent, and the belle of the whole shore,
+and how there was not a bachelor within three counties who did not
+seek her as his bride, or who would not have sold his soul for a
+glance of her eyes or the soft pressure of her hand; and how when
+James Rodolph of Charlestown Hundred came riding down from Cecil and
+boasted of his wealth, his horses, and his slaves, swearing that he
+would win her or no one would, the suitors stood aside to see how he
+would fare with this the proudest of Kent beauties. To their dismay,
+he seemed to prosper well, until one day there disembarked from a
+vessel that came sailing up the broad Chester a young gentleman of
+distinguished appearance, who asked his way to Radcliffe, the home of
+the Nicholsons.
+
+"Now, the Nicholsons, as you know," said Mr. Wilmer, "are Scotch, and
+this young gentleman was Scotch, for his accent betrayed him, and we,
+thinking he might be a cousin and have brought news from over the
+water, welcomed him, and showed him the way to Radcliffe. He, though
+he was very reserved, told us that he had indeed come from over the
+sea, and bore a letter to the Nicholsons, who were old friends of his
+family, but of himself he would say no more. And so, when he strode
+off, we turned to Captain Hezekiah Brown of the Maid of Perth, who was
+a man who delighted to talk. From him we learned that his name was
+Gordon, and that there was a mystery about him, as people suspected
+him of being one of the young chiefs who had led that famous clan in
+the recent rebellion against the King. But this we held not to his
+injury, for there were still many lovers of the White Rose in the fair
+province of Maryland, and we afterward welcomed him the more heartily
+for it. From the advent of the stranger the good fortune of James
+Rodolph began to wane; for the rich planter of the border, with his
+wild and boisterous manners, was no match for the Scottish cavalier.
+It is true that he was penniless, but he was very handsome, of
+distinguished manners and address, and when it became known that he
+was out in 'forty-five' the mantle of romance that fell around Prince
+Charles was shared as well by him, and he became the hero of many a
+pair of fair eyes.
+
+"James Rodolph soon saw this, and his hatred grew from day to day, as
+his rival became more successful. One day there was a quarrel, and
+next morning, upon the smooth, sandy shore of the river, they met and
+fought it out. Rodolph was fiery, quick, and fierce; Gordon cool and
+steady; until Rodolph, growing weary and desperate, tried a foul and
+dangerous stroke, to find his rapier flying through the air, to fall
+with a splash into the river.
+
+"'I would not stain my blade by killing you,' said Gordon; and turning
+with the other gentlemen who had seen the foul stroke, he walked away,
+leaving him there.
+
+"And so it was that Rodolph came back to Cecil with a blot upon his
+name, and Gordon married the maid, and became in time the owner of the
+Braes, for she was an heiress as well as a great beauty. From that
+time has grown the feud which we may some day see the end of. And that
+is why the people laughed and Rodolph slunk away. For the old story is
+known throughout the shore, and Rodolph proved, in his fight with you,
+the bad blood in his veins. It never does to cross the white blood
+with the red, for the treachery of the Indian will taint the race for
+generations."
+
+Thus it was, by the light of this old tale of thirty years before, I
+saw and read the cause and reason of it all--of his fatal course, of
+our quarrel, and of the meeting by the banks of the river Elk.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE DEFIANCE OF THE TORY
+
+
+A few weeks later I was up and out, fast gaining strength and courage
+for the long ride to the northward to join the gallant fellows of the
+Maryland Line, who had taken up their line of march soon after the
+accident befell me. And though I was eager to be off, the surgeon
+would not let me go, and so, until I could gather strength for the
+long journey, I served as best I could my country and the commands of
+the Committee of Public Safety sitting at the Head of Elk. Thus it was
+I rode one day by the side of Edward Veasey, High Sheriff of the
+county of Cecil, carrying the writ and command of the Committee of
+Public Safety to Charles Gordon of the Braes, now a suspected Tory
+and a malcontent. And as I rode by the side of the High Sheriff on
+this most unpleasant task, I longed to turn back and let the Sheriff
+ride on alone; but duty held me as a point of honour. For as it was, I
+was carrying I knew not what ruin and destruction to the roof of the
+very house that once had received me as a guest and that sheltered the
+fairest eyes that had ever gazed in mine. And now I was to appear
+before that house as the bearer of ill-tidings. Ah, duty often wears a
+gruesome countenance; yet it is a sign of courage to face this duty
+down, and I sat more firmly in my saddle and rode nearer to the High
+Sheriff. He was a stern and determined man; he was short of stature,
+stout of frame, and sat his powerful horse like the fox-hunter that he
+was. But, though it was the height of summer, and the hills and the
+forests were green, the air laden with the odour of flowers, and the
+streams full and rushing, there was anything but a smile on the High
+Sheriff's face. For though he was no friend to Gordon of the Braes, he
+liked not the errand on which he rode, and would gladly have turned
+his horse's head with me.
+
+"If they want to fight," said he to me, "why don't they join the
+Maryland Line and leave men alone who are disposed to be quiet? They
+will have enough to do in repulsing the redcoats, and should not stir
+up opposition in the rear of our armies, which this persecution of
+private individuals will certainly do. I wish some other carried this
+writ, and I was with the lads fighting in the North."
+
+"Aye, so do I, but it is the order of the committee," said I grimly.
+
+"True, and as such must be obeyed."
+
+We had come to where the ferry crosses the Elk, and hailing it we
+were soon on the south bank and taking up again the road that leads to
+the Braes. Over the hills and dales of Cecil, the forest, streams, and
+rivers, the soft warm sunlight played, and nature blessed with lavish
+hand the harvest of the year. Seldom had she been more pleasing, the
+earth bursting with flowers and the very trees welcoming with
+outstretched arms the soft breezes wafted from the bay. And then,
+after some hours' travelling, we came to the Braes and I saw again the
+long rambling house amid the trees. I took a firmer grip upon my sense
+of duty and rode on. The clatter of our horses' hoofs as we rode up to
+the door announced us. A moment later Charles Gordon came through the
+open doorway on to the porch. Though I had seen him before, it seemed
+to me, as I saw him standing there, with the memory of the old tale
+in my mind, that I saw not the Tory, but one of those figures of
+romance that stepped out from the mystery and the haze of the North,
+when Prince Charles raised his standard in the Highlands, one of those
+heroic men who drew swords with Wallace and with Bruce, rallied with
+Montrose, and went to death with a cheer behind Bonnie Dundee at
+Killiecrankie, of such gallant bearing and bold and open countenance
+was he.
+
+"What brings you here, Mr. Sheriff, riding so fast?"
+
+"I come, Charles Gordon of the Braes," replied the Sheriff, "to serve
+on you the writ and summons of the Committee of Public Safety." And
+here he unfolded the summons and read aloud, sitting on his horse as
+he was:
+
+     "_Whereas_, Great complaints have this day been made against
+     Charles Gordon of the Braes, for that he has infamously
+     reflected on the membership of this Committee and the
+     deputies of this county who lately attended the Provincial
+     Convention,
+
+     "These are therefore requiring the said Charles Gordon of
+     the Braes that he appear before this Committee, at the house
+     of Thomas Savin at the Head of Elk, to-morrow at two o'clock
+     P.M., to answer unto said complaints.
+
+     "Hereto fail not on your peril.
+
+                    "JAMES RODOLPH, Chairman.
+
+     "To CHARLES GORDON of the Braes."
+
+Then spoke Charles Gordon:
+
+"Go tell those who sent you, Mr. Sheriff, that if they wish to see
+Charles Gordon they will have to come to the Braes to do so; that I
+will give them a right warm welcome, as my plantation is large enough
+to hold them all; but that if any of their rascally crew dare to
+approach the house, there will be lives lost; for I say to you, Mr.
+Sheriff, as I have said before and will say again, that James Rodolph
+and his committee are a set of infamous scoundrels, who have usurped
+such power and authority in troublous times as the King himself would
+not dare to claim. Tell them that I am at their defiance, that I do
+not recognise their authority, and that I have as much contempt for
+them as I have for their dogs."
+
+The old gentleman, for he must have been nearly sixty, looked splendid
+in his wrath, as he denounced the Committee of Public Safety. The ring
+in his voice told that the ire of the Scot was rising.
+
+For an instant the High Sheriff hesitated, as if he would turn and go,
+but then he said:
+
+"Charles Gordon, I spoke to you a moment ago as an officer of the law.
+I speak to you now as one who does not wish you an injury. Obey the
+order of the committee, and I will see that you have fair speech
+before it. Refuse and you will be declared a traitor and an outlaw,
+and the edict will go forth through all the province that no man shall
+buy of you, that no man shall sell to you, and he that shows you
+kindness will become an outlaw like yourself."
+
+Charles Gordon laughed.
+
+"Do you think I care a snap of a finger for their edict? There has not
+been a generation of my family that has not been at the Horn at
+Edinburgh for high treason. Do you think that I care when my neck has
+been on the block for the part I took at Preston Pans and Culloden? Go
+frighten the children with their edicts, but not an old Scot who has
+seen the claymores flash and led the charge for the King who is over
+the sea."
+
+"If you fought against the father, why not against the son?"
+
+"A fair question deserves a fair answer. When my head was on the
+block my life was saved by the intercession of the Duchess of Gordon,
+but upon conditions, and those conditions are these: That I should
+nevermore bear arms against the King, that I should leave the realm of
+Scotland, sail across the sea to the province of Maryland, there
+remain and never return. So, though I love not the King nor his race,
+I will not draw sword against him, for never yet has a Gordon broken
+faith with friend or foe. Yet for all that I will not take up arms for
+the King's cause unless I am forced to do so by such rascals as
+compose your Committee of Public Safety."
+
+"So be it, then, but I wish it were otherwise," said the Sheriff; and,
+turning, we rode away, leaving him standing there. As I entered the
+woods I looked back again, my eyes searching every window in the old
+house, but never a sign of the Tory maid did I see.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE BLACK COCKADE
+
+
+It was two o'clock next day when we rode up to the house where the
+Committee of Public Safety held its meetings, dismounted, and entered
+the room. Six gentlemen sat at the long table, and the room was
+crowded with hangers-on. They were men who stayed behind while the
+others went to the war; they fought the fight with their tongues, with
+writs of forfeiture for high treason, became great statesmen, and in
+time aspired to become members of the committee. How the worthy High
+Sheriff regarded them could be seen by the manner in which he brushed
+past them to stand before the committee.
+
+"What right have you to talk of liberty and of freedom, if you will
+not fight for it? Why are you not with Howard, Gist, Smallwood, and
+the other heroes who are making the name of the Maryland Line ring
+through the army?" he would ask, and they would turn away.
+
+The burly form and dark, swarthy face of the Chairman dominated the
+committee. As we entered and stood before him his dark eyes flashed.
+
+"Do you bring the body of Charles Gordon with you?" he demanded.
+
+"No; I do not. I bring his defiance, instead;" and the High Sheriff
+delivered the message of Charles Gordon to the committee.
+
+The committee glanced from one to another, and there was a big stir in
+the room. Then the Chairman was on his feet.
+
+"By a thousand devils," he swore, "Charles Gordon shall suffer for
+this. I will not stop until the Braes is razed to the ground, and I
+have driven him from the province. He is a Tory and a traitor, and a
+danger to the peace of the county. He will be up in arms next. Mr.
+Sheriff, summon a posse and ride to the Braes and bring us the body of
+Charles Gordon, dead or alive."
+
+"You will not accept the invitation to go to the Braes yourself,
+then?" asked the High Sheriff gravely, though there was the suggestion
+of a smile around the corners of his mouth.
+
+The Chairman hesitated. "No," he said; "it is absolutely necessary for
+the welfare of the county of Cecil that we should remain where we are
+and not engage in any brawls or tumults, for if we are killed who will
+take our places?"
+
+"That is true," said the High Sheriff ironically, "but have you
+considered, gentlemen, that Charles Gordon's wife was of the
+Nicholsons of Kent, who, as you know, are the leaders of the patriots
+in that county? How will they like it when they hear of your burnings
+and your razings?"
+
+The Chairman frowned. "You are right," he said; "we must proceed about
+it in a legal way, which is slow but sure. Mr. Clerk, institute
+proceedings against Charles Gordon for the forfeiture of his lands for
+high treason, and meanwhile we will publish him throughout the
+province as a Tory and a traitor. We will teach this Charles Gordon
+and all Tories what it means to contemn the authority and dignity of
+this province and its committee."
+
+And then applause broke out from the crowd; but the High Sheriff, who
+left the room with me, shrugged his shoulders and said: "If they had
+half of the courage of that Scot they would not be loafing around
+here, applauding James Rodolph. I am tired of it; I am going to resign
+and go to the front." He was as good as his word, for that very day he
+resigned the office of High Sheriff of the county of Cecil, packed his
+saddle-bags, gathered some volunteers about him, and rode away to the
+North, becoming in time a noted officer. But it was not until the
+month of August of that year that I was ready to follow him and felt
+equal to the length of the journey. On the night of the day before I
+took my departure I called John Cotton and ordered him to saddle Toby.
+
+John Cotton received the order with wide-open eyes, as it was growing
+somewhat late.
+
+"Fo' de Lord's sake, Mars Jim, what do you want Toby fo'? It's after
+ten o'clock."
+
+"Ask no questions, you black rascal, and bring Toby around in a
+hurry."
+
+Then his eyes fell on a cluster of red roses on my table, and a broad
+grin crept from ear to ear.
+
+"Sartin, Mars Jim, sartin;" and he was out of the door before my
+flying boot could repay the impertinence of that grin. A few minutes
+later I slipped out of the house to the stables, and, mounting Toby,
+was soon riding out of the silent town, having hit that rascal John
+Cotton across the shoulders with my whip for the snickering laugh he
+could not restrain as I was riding off.
+
+Have you ever ridden by the silent river after the night has fallen,
+and when it is far advanced? The great trees, rising far above you
+like the vaulted arch of a cathedral, overhanging the path down which
+you ride; the smooth flowing waters of the river, the towering dark
+mass on the farther shore, and over all the glorious moon shining
+down flooding everything with its silvery light, weird and fantastic,
+glinting now like polished steel upon the waters, now deepening the
+shadows of the forest, or flooding again with its glorious radiance
+some wide and sweeping stretch of water. And then, the unearthly
+silence of it all, the mournful howl of the wolf in the hills, and the
+piercing shrill cry of the wildcat, like that of a child tortured by
+the demons of hell; then the horror of its beauty, its stillness and
+its loneliness, comes over you; nervous chills become distinctly
+apparent, and you put spurs to your horse and ride on more rapidly,
+and the night is broken first by your whistle and then by your song.
+So it was, as I rode by the banks of the Elk, that night in early
+August, and my voice rang across the waters, as I sang the old
+Highland ballad:
+
+    The Gordons cam', and the Gordons ran,
+    And they were stark and steady,
+    And aye the word among them a'
+    Was, Gordons, keep you ready.
+
+A ballad that I heard a young girl sing one day not long before. Thus
+the length of my ride passed quickly away until Toby felt the soft
+grass under his feet as I rode silently across the lawn. Her window
+was high, it is true, but it was open to admit the fresh, cool breeze
+from the bay, and then I had not thrown quoits in my youth not to be
+able to surmount so small a difficulty. So I fastened a black cockade
+amid the blood-red of the roses, and, rising in my stirrups, threw
+them firmly and gently, and saw them rise in the air, top the
+window-sill, and fall with a slight thud upon the floor. I did not
+wait for more, but turned and rode away; but it seemed to me that as I
+gained the shadow of the forest and looked back I saw the faint
+suggestion of a girlish form standing at the open window. I looked
+once again and rode on.
+
+When morning came, I bade good-bye to my mother, mounted my black colt
+Toby, and rode away to join the Maryland Line, which was marching now
+from Boston, to meet the British before New York. As that day I
+crossed the line into the province of Delaware, I saw nailed to a
+great oak the proclamation of the Committee of Public Safety,
+denouncing Charles Gordon as a Tory and a traitor, and calling upon
+all persons to have no dealings with him, either in public or private,
+at their peril. And thus it was at every cross-roads in the county of
+Cecil, and in all the counties to the south and west, the edict had
+gone forth.
+
+Now in Maryland, as I have said before, we love, above all else,
+courage in a man, and so I rode under the oak, and tore down the
+proclamation, for I knew the courage of Charles Gordon, Tory though he
+was. I knew also that the proceedings of forfeiture had been
+instituted against him in the High Court of the Province, and that ere
+I set foot on the soil of Maryland again, he would be driven from the
+province, and it was for this that I paid this courtesy to the courage
+of an enemy, as I left my native plains behind me.
+
+It was a long road for a lad, but the people received me with open
+arms and urged me on when I told them whither I was riding. After
+several days of travelling along the shore of the Delaware and across
+the low-lying plains of New Jersey, I came to the banks of the Hudson,
+and saw across the water the great city of New York, its clustering
+houses and steeples. And then it was not long before I was on the
+ferry that conveyed me across the river, and heard the sharp ring of
+the pavement under my horse's feet as I rode toward the great common
+where lay the encampment of the troops. It was near twelve o'clock
+when I came to the camp of the patriots and asked my way of an officer
+to the quarters of the Maryland Line.
+
+"You must be a stranger," he said, "or you would know that the
+Maryland Line always has the place of honour in the camp;" and he
+showed me where their quarters lay.
+
+I felt aglow with pride when I heard this tribute to my countrymen. I
+thanked him and rode on. A few minutes later I was among them. The
+great voice of the Captain was giving me greeting; Dick Ringgold's
+hand was on my shoulder, as he took charge of me; and many of my kith
+and kin, old friends and neighbours who belonged to that famous
+corps, came forward to greet and welcome me to the camp. Thus, after
+many days of sickness and of travel, I took my place among the men who
+were about to face the great storm. True, at the time quiet reigned
+all along our front, which lay over beyond the heights of Brooklyn;
+but hot work was soon expected, as the British fleet had been seen in
+the offing, and it was only a question of time when the army would be
+landed and the attack begun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE RED TIDE OF BLOOD
+
+
+    Spruce Macaronies, and pretty to see,
+    Tidy and dapper and gallant were we;
+    Blooded, fine gentlemen, proper and tall,
+    Bold in a fox-hunt and gay at a ball;
+
+    Tralara! Tralara! now praise we the Lord,
+    For the clang of His call and the flash of His sword.
+    Tralara! Tralara! now forward to die;
+    For the banner, hurrah! and for sweethearts, good-bye!
+
+                JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER.
+
+
+It was on the 22d day of August that the rumour flew through the camp
+that the enemy had landed and was preparing to attack. But the hours
+flew by, and still no orders came, until the Line became restless, and
+the fear grew that the fight would begin before we could reach the
+field of battle. The sun began to sink over the Heights of Harlem
+when an aide rode into our lines. It was Tench Tilghman, who swung his
+hat and shouted as he went by: "You will have warm work in a day or
+two, boys!"
+
+We gave him a yell in reply, and started with renewed interest the
+preparations for the coming fight. A few minutes later came the orders
+that we were to march at dawn. The men received the news joyfully, and
+it was wonderful to see the change in their bearing; for while the
+doubt hung over them, they were restless and murmuring was heard all
+through the camp; but now all was laughter and gaiety. They prepared
+for the fight as one would prepare for the next county ball or a
+fox-hunt on the morrow.
+
+The stirring notes of the bugle ringing over the camp brought me to my
+feet with a bound, and I looked out of the tent to see a heavy mist
+over everything, and hear the sound of men's voices coming through it
+all around me. It does not take a soldier long to don his uniform, and
+I was soon out attending to my duties. At seven o'clock we were on our
+march to the ferry, crossing the East River at the foot of the main
+street of the small town of Brooklyn; then we took a road leading over
+a creek called Gowanus, and knew that we were marching to guard the
+right of the American line. Low-lying hills, heavily wooded, lay
+before us; it was in these woods that our line was called to a halt,
+and we took up our position for the battle. We lay there several days,
+with constant rumours flying through the camp of the enemy's advance,
+but yet they would not come.
+
+It was on the morning of the 27th of August that the great battle of
+Long Island, so disastrous for the patriot forces, broke upon us. The
+scattering shots of the skirmishers first made us spring to arms; then
+the sharp rattle of the musketry of Atlee's men and the boom of
+Carpenter's cannon on our immediate right told that the enemy was
+pushing them hard. Then through the forest trees came the line of the
+British advance. The fire extended along our whole front, while far
+over, to our left came the distant roar of cannon and musketry.
+
+"They are having a hot time over there," said Dick, "but why don't
+these fellows charge us?"
+
+"They will charge us soon enough," I replied. But it seemed as if they
+never would, for what promised to be an attack along our whole line
+dwindled down to a mere exchange of shots. Hour after hour went by,
+and yet they never advanced beyond a certain point except when a
+company or so would dash forward and a sharp skirmish would break
+forth for a moment or two, and then die away again. But far over to
+our left the sound of the battle came rolling nearer and nearer,
+telling the tale of Sullivan's men being driven in.
+
+"I do not like that," said Dick. "They are doing all the fighting,
+while we are merely exchanging courtesies with our friends six hundred
+yards away. Hello! There comes news."
+
+I looked behind us to a small hill, where Lord Stirling stood with his
+staff, and saw Tench Tilghman riding up at full speed. There was a
+hurried movement among the staff, and Stirling's glasses swept the
+country to our left and rear. A moment later an order was given and
+the aides came dashing down our lines, and then, to our disgust, came
+the order to retire.
+
+"Retreat!" cried one of the men. "Why, we haven't begun to fight
+yet!"
+
+"Steady, men," cried Captain Ramsay; "you form the rear guard and must
+hold the enemy in check," for they were beginning to advance as the
+regiments on each side of us withdrew. Then we began slowly to
+withdraw, but there came an aide riding swiftly to Major Gist.
+Pennsylvania and Delaware regiments took our place in the rear, and we
+were marched rapidly to the front. The heavy woods had heretofore
+prevented our seeing what was taking place, but now that we had come
+out to the opening a wild scene of terror and dismay lay before us.
+Gowanus Creek, deep and unfordable, with its sullen tide rising fast,
+lay like a great ugly serpent across our path, while over the meadow
+and far in our front the broken streams of fugitives were swarming,
+flying toward the bridge at the mill, the only hope of crossing
+Gowanus Creek. And as I looked, to my horror, the mill and the bridge
+burst into flames, catching the routed army as it were between the
+rising tide and the advancing legions of the victorious English. Then,
+as we watched it, a rumour grew and spread through the ranks, as such
+things will in battle, that a New England Colonel had fired the bridge
+to save himself and his regiment. How we cursed New England then, and
+swore that if we ever escaped we would have our reckoning with her and
+her people.
+
+"There they come!" cried Dick at my side, pointing to where a large
+stone house crowned a hill immediately in the rear and commanded the
+whole field of the terror-stricken fugitives.
+
+I saw the brilliant scarlet of their coats as they took possession of
+the hill and prepared to open fire.
+
+"They will have to be driven from there or we are lost," I answered.
+
+Then, as the prospect looked the darkest and the long line of the
+British formed to make their last advance, Lord Stirling rode up to
+our line.
+
+"Men of Maryland!" he shouted, "charge that hill, hold Cornwallis in
+check and save the army!"
+
+We answered with a yell, as he sprang from his horse to lead us.
+
+Ah, I shall never forget the pride with which we stepped out of the
+mass of flying fugitives, four hundred Marylanders, the greatest
+dandies and bluest blood in all the army, for this, the proudest
+service of the day. We formed for the charge as if on the drill
+ground; our evolutions and lines were perfect, and would have done
+credit to the grenadiers of the later empire. Stirling's sword was in
+the air, the drums were beating the charge, when there broke from the
+throats of our Marylanders the wild, thrilling yell of the southern
+provinces, and we leaped to the charge up the long hill, straight into
+the face of Cornwallis's army, a handful against thousands. Up, up the
+hill we dashed. A fire as of hell broke upon us and rattled and roared
+about our ears, thinning our ranks and strewing our pathway with the
+dead. Men fell to the right and to the left of me, and I strode across
+the bodies of the slain in my path; but still, over the roar of the
+cannon and the rattle of musketry, high and shrill rose the yell of
+the charging line. We swept up the hill, the crest was gained, and the
+British fell back before us, when we were met by a sheet of flame, a
+storm of lead and smoke and fire. We were raised as it were in the air
+and held there gasping for breath, and then we were swept back down
+the hill, struggling desperately to gain a foothold to make a stand.
+
+Again we saw Stirling glance over the meadow and the marsh behind us
+as we re-formed our line. His voice came ringing down our ranks.
+
+"Once again, men of Maryland."
+
+Once again! Aye, we knew how to answer that call, for the bodies of
+our comrades lay dotting the long hillside.
+
+"Once again, and charge home!" cried Ramsay.
+
+We sprang to the charge, and wilder, shriller, fiercer, more terrible,
+rose the yell--the yell of vengeance that seemed to pick the line up
+bodily and hurl it up the hill through the scorching, blistering storm
+and hail of lead, fire, and smoke. I remembered naught till the crest
+was gained, and Edward Veasey crying, "Charge home! Charge home!" and
+we dashed in upon the scarlet line. Ah me, for a moment, then it was
+glorious, as steel met steel, and we drove them, ten times our
+number, back, and rolled them up against the house and forced them off
+the plain. And then our hands were on the ugly muzzles of the guns,
+and Edward Veasey, springing on the carriage, cheered on his men. But
+ere it had died on his lips, so desperate was the struggle, the
+English Captain of the guns fired, and Veasey fell. I was but a dozen
+steps away, and, seeing Veasey fall, I dashed through the press of
+bayonets to where the English Captain fought.
+
+"Another one!" he cried, as we met face to face.
+
+"Yes, and the last;" and our swords met.
+
+"No time for that!" cried a voice at my side; then there was a flash,
+and the Englishman fell back into the arms of his men, and the guns
+were won for an instant. But only for an instant. Our men melted away
+under the storm of lead from the Cortelyou house, and the weight of
+the advancing regiments forced us back to the crest of the hill. Then
+slowly, step by step, down the hill they forced us, until we rested
+once more at its foot.
+
+But still the meadow, the marsh, and the creek were black with the
+mass of flying men seeking eagerly, desperately to escape, while
+between them and the victorious British stretched the ranks of the
+Maryland Line, now sadly thinned, for one-third of our men were dyeing
+the long dank grass with their blood. But that line, thin as it was,
+closed up the wide gaps in the ranks with as jaunty a step and as
+gallant a carriage as when they first stepped out for the charge.
+Their faces looked grim, it is true, for with the smoke and the fire,
+and the blood and the dust, the genius of battle had sketched
+thereon.
+
+For a few minutes we rested at the foot of the hill, for we knew that
+our work was not half done, and until the last fugitive was over
+Gowanus Creek we must check the British advance. A glance from Lord
+Stirling told us to charge, as he pointed up the long hill with his
+sword.
+
+Again there came the answering yell, the requiem for many a gallant
+soul, and the line once more swung forward to breast the hill. Up the
+long hill we toiled again, straight into the teeth of the fire.
+
+Again we gained the crest and fought them, man to man; again by weight
+of numbers they forced us off the crest, and sent us staggering,
+reeling down the hill, desperate now.
+
+Yet again Lord Stirling called on us to follow, and yet again we
+charged them home.
+
+Men lay wounded, men lay dying, all across the long hillside, and
+more than half our number were dead or sorely stricken.
+
+Yet it was for a fifth time that Stirling's voice rang clear, over the
+roar of the battle, and for the fifth time we picked up the gauge of
+their challenge, and swept forward in the charge.
+
+Thus for the last time we reached the crest, and for one heroic moment
+held our own, and then came reeling back from the shock. And, as I was
+carried down the hill with the retreating line, I saw the tall figure
+of Lord Stirling standing upright and alone amid the storm of bullets,
+courting death and disdaining to retreat.
+
+"To the rescue of Lord Stirling," I cried to the few soldiers who were
+around me. Dick, who was near, echoed my shout, and we dashed forward,
+determined to bring him off by force if no other way could be found.
+
+But we had not advanced a dozen yards before every man that was with
+us had fallen and only Dick and I reached Lord Stirling, who was
+calmly awaiting the end.
+
+"The day is lost, my lord," I cried, "but we have yet time to save
+you."
+
+"Save yourselves, lads," he replied; "you have done everything that
+men can do, but it remains for me either to die or surrender."
+
+"My lord," I cried; but at this moment Dick reeled. "Struck, by
+George!" he exclaimed, and I caught him as he fell.
+
+"See to your comrade," said Lord Stirling; "you have yet time to
+escape."
+
+So, throwing Dick's arms around my neck, for there was no time to
+parley under that rain of lead, I bore him quickly down the hill.
+
+But our work had not been in vain, for as a soldier came to my
+assistance I saw that the last of the fugitives had reached the other
+side, and the army for the moment was saved.
+
+And so, when we reached the banks of Gowanus Creek, we formed in line
+once more and gave a parting yell of defiance; then, turning, we
+plunged into the creek and swam to the other side, while the shot and
+grape from the English on the hill tore across the whole surface of
+the water.
+
+Dick was badly wounded, but, with the soldier's assistance, I swam
+with him across the creek and bore him safely out of the range of the
+fire.
+
+Ah, it was but a shadow of our former line when we formed once more,
+but the great General himself came to thank us, and that shadow of a
+line was worth a thousand men.
+
+Thereafter we claimed as our own the post of honour in advance or in
+retreat; during the famous march on the night after the battle, and
+in the retreat to White Plains, we formed the rear guard, and the army
+felt secure.
+
+There came a breathing time one day during the retreat, and the
+General rode up to our lines. We greeted him with the yell he loved to
+hear, for it brought back to him the Southland and the hunting fields
+of Old Virginia.
+
+Then he told our officers that he wanted us to pick out the youngest
+of our line to carry a special despatch to the Committee of Public
+Safety, sitting at Annapolis, announcing the battle and the famous
+part we had taken therein. The choice fell on me, as poor Dick was
+groaning in the hospital, but luckily out of danger from his wound.
+
+"Well, my boy, how old are you?" said the General, smiling down upon
+me, as I saluted.
+
+"Eighteen, General."
+
+"Do you think you can carry this safely?"
+
+"I was in the charge at Gowanus Ford, General," said I modestly.
+
+"I see," laughed the General, "you are a true Marylander. I wish I had
+more of you in the army."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE HARRYING OF THE TORY
+
+
+I was soon riding southward, the bearer of the message from General
+Washington to the Council of Safety, sitting at Annapolis; and as I
+rode, the people hailed me for my news, and gave me food and drink, so
+I could hurry on.
+
+At last I reached the borders of Maryland, and again rode under the
+old oak from which I had torn the proclamation. It was only a few
+weeks before, and I wondered what had been the fate of Charles Gordon.
+
+So, as I rode through the Head of Elk late that afternoon and came to
+the ferry there, I asked the boatman what they had done with him.
+
+"Forfeiture has been decreed," he answered, "and the new High Sheriff
+and James Rodolph have gone to-day with a posse and many men to root
+the traitor out."
+
+"How long ago did they start?"
+
+"About an hour."
+
+"What road did they take?"
+
+"The river road. They expect to reach there about nine o'clock.
+Jupiter! I'd like to be there and see the flames reddening the sky. It
+will be a grand sight." He looked longingly through the forest toward
+the Braes.
+
+"Something else will be dyed crimson, if I know that Tory right."
+
+"That there will be, sir; it will be a lovely scrimmage;" and he
+sighed at the lost opportunity.
+
+The boat grounded on the south bank, and I mounted Toby.
+
+"A pleasant ride, sir."
+
+"Thanks; good-night."
+
+"Toby," said I, as I patted his neck, "you have travelled many a mile
+to-day, old fellow; but you will have to cover the ground to-night as
+you never covered it before. They have an hour's start, and we have a
+longer distance to go; so double your legs under you, my boy, and go."
+
+Toby rising to the occasion, and the spirit of old Ranter proving
+true, he broke into the long even gallop that makes the miles pass
+swiftly. It was a race against time, against James Rodolph and his
+crew. I knew if once they gained the Braes, black death would stalk
+among the ruins, for Charles Gordon would never surrender.
+
+The night fell rapidly as we raced along and the miles flew by.
+
+As Toby and I drew near Bohemia Manor, where the road joined the one
+on which the posse was marching, I reined him in and rode more
+cautiously. It was well that I did so, for as I approached I heard
+the low murmur of men's voices and saw their figures in the dim light
+as they were marching by.
+
+I brought Toby to a halt. The road was cut off that way, so I wheeled
+him around to ride back a short distance to where the road skirted the
+open fields of Bohemia Manor. As Toby plunged forward in answer to my
+spur, I heard a cry and then a shot came whistling by. But I left them
+behind, and coming to the open fields, I put Toby at the fence and
+raced across the open country, through the lower fields to the Braes,
+Toby taking the fences in his stride.
+
+Then I dashed once more across the green lawn of the Braes and drew my
+sword hilt across the shutter.
+
+There was a stir in the room above me; the shutter was cautiously
+opened and I was covered by the muzzle of a pistol.
+
+"Who are you?" demanded a voice which I knew to be Charles Gordon's.
+
+"James Frisby of Fairlee," I replied. "I have ridden to warn you, Mr.
+Gordon. You have only a few minutes to escape in; James Rodolph, with
+a hundred men behind him, will be here in ten minutes."
+
+"Thank you, lad, for the information. I will give them a warm
+reception."
+
+"But you cannot hold the Braes against a hundred men; they will burn
+you out, and then Mistress Jean."
+
+"Hum; that is so, lad. Ride round to the rear of the house."
+
+I did so, and a moment later, they came out on the little porch. The
+old gentleman had buckled on his sword, and there were pistols in his
+belt. And she, ah! she never looked more bewitching. Her beautiful
+hair flowed wild about her shoulders, over the light dark mantle in
+which she was wrapped. By the flicker of the candle, I saw that a
+bright flush mantled her cheek, as she spoke rapidly.
+
+"Father, there is an English vessel a few miles down the bay. Call the
+slaves and escape to it."
+
+"But I cannot take you there."
+
+"I will carry her through the lines," I cried, "and see her safe in
+the hands of her aunt in Kent."
+
+They hesitated, but the noise in front of the house told of the
+approaching mob, and there was no time for parley. So, true to my
+race, I acted quickly, and stooping from my saddle I caught her up
+gently and placed her on Toby before me.
+
+"It is the only chance, lad. See that you carry her safely."
+
+"I will carry her through or die," I replied with deep conviction. At
+the touch of the spur Toby sprang forward under his double burden.
+
+"The creek," she cried.
+
+"Yes; but we can swim it."
+
+Indeed it was our only way, as the mob blocked the other roads of
+escape, so we rode boldly in and swam for the other side. The creek
+was several hundred yards wide, but Toby bore us bravely until we
+reached the southern shore, then he plunged forward, threw himself up
+the bank, and we were out of immediate danger.
+
+There we halted for a moment under the shadow of a great tree and
+looked back across the water.
+
+We heard the sound of many voices, the howling of the mob, and through
+the trunks of the trees flickered the glare of the torches. Suddenly
+shots rang out, a cry of dismay and rage followed, and then the flash
+of guns and a rattling volley crashed around the house.
+
+"By Jove, he is fighting it out!" But the slender figure on my arm
+trembled, and I saw that her face was white through the darkness.
+
+"He will escape, Mistress Jean," I said reassuringly; "trust an old
+Highlander for that." And I saw that her eyes were bright and tense,
+watching the scene across the water.
+
+"There he goes," she exclaimed joyfully; and there, gliding swiftly
+through the waters, where the shadow of the trees made the darkness
+more intense, was a long low boat rowed by stalwart slaves. The sound
+of the oars was drowned by the clamour of the mob.
+
+"If he passes the neck," I exclaimed, "he will be safe;" for the creek
+narrowed at its mouth until it was but a hundred yards wide.
+
+"Ride quick to the point," she said.
+
+So Toby plunged forward again at the pressure of my knees, and though
+he still went gallantly on, I could tell that the strain and the toil
+of the long march from the north, and his dash from the Head of Elk,
+were beginning to tell on him.
+
+At last we reached the mouth of the creek, and I brought Toby to a
+halt under the shadow of a clump of trees, where we could see and yet
+not be seen. I glanced for a moment out over the waters of the bay,
+and I saw, several miles to the southward, the gleam of a light as it
+fell on the waves; I knew it was the English man-of-war.
+
+But Mistress Jean's eyes were eagerly searching the waters of the
+creek, and she was straining her ears to catch the sound of the oars.
+Then we were rewarded. For at that moment we heard the long sweep of
+the oars in the water, and out from the mouth of the creek came the
+boat, the brawny negroes bending to their task.
+
+The commanding figure of the old Tory stood in the stern, looking back
+up the creek whence they came. Unconsciously my glance followed his,
+and I saw that the sky was crimson, and high above the tree-tops the
+flames licked the skies.
+
+"The Braes!" I exclaimed, and Mistress Jean was about to call out,
+when there came the sound of galloping hoofs on the other side. A
+horseman dashed into view, and rode into the water up to the
+saddle-girths. There was a flash, and the crack of a pistol broke the
+stillness of the night; then with a gesture of rage, the horseman rose
+in his stirrups and hurled the pistol far over the water; we heard the
+splash as it fell.
+
+Then the figure in the boat raised his clenched hand and shook it at
+the horseman and the flames.
+
+"You fired too quick, Mr. Rodolph," said the ferryman.
+
+"Yes, damn him, he has escaped." He turned his horse and rode into the
+darkness, while a soft voice whispered in my ear,--
+
+"Thank God."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY
+
+
+The sun had risen when we came once more in view of the groves of
+Fairlee. Toby's pace had degenerated into a walk, as if not to disturb
+the fair burden he bore, for she, overcome with fatigue and
+excitement, was quietly sleeping with her head on my shoulder. Toby
+picked his way like a dancing-master, and though the road was rough,
+never once did he stumble; he still bore himself gallantly for the old
+House of Fairlee. Ah! Toby, that road was miles too short for your
+master. Willingly would he have ridden thus, aye, until his hair had
+turned as white as snow on his brows, until the hand that guided the
+reins became too feeble to grasp them; aye, even unto the end of time.
+
+But before us lay Fairlee, and beyond that lay duty and the army.
+"Look once more, my cavalier," said I to myself; "look once more, for
+the moments are short, and in the days to come, in the dreary bivouacs
+and on the long marches, when the world seems bare and cold, the
+memory of that sweet face will brighten up with sunshine your
+existence and make it all glorious again. Oh, hang it, here is
+Fairlee!"
+
+"Mistress Jean," I whispered. I was loath to wake her, but it had to
+be done. "Mistress Jean!" I said, this time louder, and she awoke with
+a start. "This is Fairlee, and you can rest here with my mother, while
+I push on."
+
+"Fairlee? Why, where am I? Oh, I remember now. Did I go to sleep, Mr.
+Frisby?"
+
+"You did, Mistress Jean."
+
+A quick, blush came.
+
+"Oh," she said, "how can I thank you? I don't deserve----"
+
+"Ah, Mistress Jean, it is I who do not deserve that pleasure. I would
+go through a hundred fights to be able to do it again; but you are
+tired, and I will rouse the house."
+
+So, hammering on the door, I soon brought John Cotton to it. His
+woolly hair almost went straight on seeing me, and he started back,
+for he thought he saw my ghost.
+
+"Good Lord, Mars Jim," he stammered, "does that be you?"
+
+"Yes, you black scamp." And I soon convinced him of my real
+personality.
+
+"But, Mars Jim, who is dat you got wid you? It ain't one of dem
+Yankee ladies, is it?" For, I am sorry to say, John Cotton did not
+approve of the ladies in question, and was afraid I would "disgrace de
+family" if I married one of them. Before I could answer I heard a glad
+little cry, and there was my mother, coming down the stairway of the
+great hall.
+
+"How is my little lady?" said I, as I picked her up and kissed her,
+and then I introduced Mistress Jean to her and told her of our
+adventure at the Braes.
+
+Then my mother went up to her, in her stately little way, and took her
+hands in hers, and kissed and welcomed her to the House of Fairlee.
+
+So they made friends with each other then and there, as women do, and
+my mother led her away, up the broad stairs, and I stood looking after
+them. Then I turned to my own room, and, throwing myself on the bed,
+I slept the sleep of exhaustion for many hours.
+
+When the hour of my awakening came I sprang up, for there lay the
+despatch which I was to bear to the Council of Safety.
+
+Drawing on my riding-boots and buckling on my sword, I called John
+Cotton to bring my horse to the door, for several miles lay between
+Fairlee and Rock Hall, where the boat lay to take me to Annapolis.
+
+I walked across to the hall and on to the old porch, where I saw
+Mistress Jean standing, gazing wistfully out on the broad bay.
+
+"He is safe now, Mistress Jean."
+
+"Yes," she said with a sad smile, "but when shall I ever see him
+again?"
+
+"Just as soon as we whip them," I replied.
+
+"Then it will never be," came her retort.
+
+"Oh, ho! What will your uncle, Captain Nicholson, say when he finds he
+has such a fiery little Tory in his house? He will have to give up
+chasing the redcoats to suppress the Goddess of Sedition in his own
+camp."
+
+But at this Mistress Jean gave her head a toss and walked away to the
+end of the porch.
+
+Then John Cotton brought the horse to the steps.
+
+"Are you going so soon, Mr. Frisby?"
+
+"I must," I answered; "I am a bearer of despatches to the Council of
+Safety. I would gladly desert my trust to be your escort to
+Chestertown, but--"
+
+"The honour of the House of Fairlee stands in the way," said she
+mockingly.
+
+"Not that, my lady," I replied, bowing courteously, "but the fact that
+I would fall even lower in your good graces."
+
+"Well said, cavalier," she retorted, with a sweeping courtesy. "'Tis a
+pity that so fine a gentleman should be a rebel."
+
+"Or so fair a maid a Tory."
+
+"Is this a minuet?" came the laughing voice of my mother from the
+door.
+
+"Nay, mother, I am only bidding Mistress Jean good-bye with all due
+ceremony."
+
+A few moments later I was in the saddle, trotting slowly off, while
+behind me fluttered their handkerchiefs, waving good-bye.
+
+Rock Hall lies on a bluff, looking out across the bay. To the
+southward lies the Isle of Kent, with its fertile fields of waving
+grain, and off there on the horizon the greenish ribbon near the sky
+line tells where the hills of Anne Arundel lay.
+
+Down below, under the bluff, lay a long, slender boat, shaped like a
+canoe, but much larger, stouter, stronger, and far swifter, when the
+wind filled its sails and carried it like a bird skimming over the
+waters.
+
+"An English man-of-war is lying off the Isle of Kent now," said the
+old waterman in answer to my question, "but we can walk all around her
+in this boat."
+
+"Then we will start immediately," I replied, and placing my things on
+board we were soon under way.
+
+The wind caught our sails; we stood out into the bay gloriously, and
+she fairly flew through the water. As we rounded the Isle of Kent we
+saw, lying almost in our track, the English man-of-war, lazily rolling
+with the tide.
+
+Then there was a great bustle on board, and the sailors flew to the
+rigging, the sails filled with the wind, and through the port hole was
+run the ugly muzzle of a Long Tom. The waterman with me laughed
+merrily.
+
+"They think they can stop us," said he, but he never altered his
+course.
+
+So we bore down on her until there came a flash; a cannon ball came
+ricochetting across the water, but fell short by a hundred yards.
+
+The waterman chuckled. "That is about the right distance," said he;
+and the boat answering the helm, fairly danced around his Majesty's
+representative, always, by a saving grace, just beyond cannon shot.
+
+And when his Majesty's ship actually gave chase and sent a broadside
+after our impertinent piece of baggage the waterman fairly danced with
+delight and led her a merry chase down the bay until we were opposite
+Annapolis. Then with a flirt of her sail we bade them good-bye and ran
+for the mouth of the Severn. Gaining that, we soon passed the charred
+hulk of the Peggy Stewart and ran up beside the wharf, and I found
+myself walking the streets of that gay little capital.
+
+It was growing somewhat late, but I made my way at once to the State
+House, where the Convention of the Freemen of the Province sat, hoping
+still to find them at their deliberations. I paused for the moment
+when I came to the foot of the knoll on which the State House stands,
+for it had only recently been completed, and was the noblest building
+in America. Its massive proportions towered high above me, overawing
+the town at its feet, and commanding the country for miles around. But
+it was not a time for halting. Hurrying up the long flights of steps,
+I found myself in the great lobby, with its lofty ceilings and its air
+of vastness.
+
+The Convention had adjourned but a short time before, and the lobby
+was still filled with men. As I threaded my way through them my dusty
+uniform and muddy boots marked me out as a bearer of despatches.
+
+"News from the army--victory or defeat?" cried eager voices around me.
+Answer them I would not, but hurried on to the room where sat the
+Council of Safety, who held the fate and the fortunes of the province
+in its hand and was the heart and soul of the great revolt.
+
+An usher stood at the door, but, seeing my uniform, threw it wide
+open, and, as I entered, softly swung it to behind me. It was a lofty
+room in which I found myself, with immense windows looking out over
+the town and the sweep of the waters of the bay to the distant line
+of the eastern shore. A long, broad table extended down the centre of
+the room. Around it were seated some sixteen or eighteen gentlemen.
+Staid men and grave they were, past the middle age of life, for the
+younger men had gone to fight the battles of the republic; men who
+were fitted by experience to guide the province through the stormy
+scenes of the civil war.
+
+At their head sat a venerable gentleman whom I knew to be Matthew
+Tilghman, the patriarch of the Colony. At his right hand sat a man of
+sturdy build, ruddy countenance, and dark hair and eyes, more like a
+prosperous planter with many acres and numerous slaves than the man
+who was soon to become the Great War Governor of Maryland. All down
+the table on either side sat men with strong, determined faces, whose
+names bespoke the chieftainship of many a powerful family. A movement
+of interest ran down the table as I entered and delivered to the
+venerable Chairman the despatch. He broke the seal with nervous
+fingers, and then rising, read General Washington's despatch aloud
+amid intense interest.
+
+"Battle," "defeat," "rout," "Cortelyou House," "the Maryland Line."
+"Good, I see the boys did their duty," were among the many
+exclamations I heard around the table and when the despatch ended.
+
+"The bearer will describe the battle."
+
+They all turned to me, and Thomas Johnson said: "Come, young
+gentleman, tell us everything you saw and heard."
+
+So I took my place by the Chairman and told them of what I had seen
+and done, amid many interruptions and eager questions from the
+Council.
+
+Thus for a time, as I stood there, I became a man of importance,
+telling the tale of the battle, of the defeat and the rout, of the
+fiery charges, the death, the pain and the anguish of it all, until
+long after the night had fallen. But an end comes to all things, and
+Thomas Johnson, laying his hand on my shoulder, said:
+
+"Young gentleman, you must stay with me to-night."
+
+I accepted gladly, for the inns were crowded, and it was somewhat late
+in the evening to find a friend to take me in. We strolled across the
+State House grounds under the soft September skies, through the wide,
+dusty streets, until we came to the future Governor's house. Though it
+was late, we talked for yet another hour, and then, with a cheery
+good-night, I was shown to my room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE VETO OF A MAID
+
+
+Ah, I am afraid the clean white sheets, the soft springy bed, and the
+balmy September air proved traitor to me, after the hardships of a
+soldier's life in the field, the rough bivouac, and the hard ride from
+the North, for when I awoke with a start, I found the sun high in the
+heavens and the music of birds coming through the open window from the
+trees outside. Hurriedly dressing, I opened my door and went down the
+broad stairway into the old hall. Everything was quiet, not a soul was
+around. I wandered across the hall and parlour, and there I stood for
+a few minutes, looking out into the street, when a merry burst of
+laughter across the hall attracted my attention. The door of the room
+opposite was slightly ajar, and I saw that it was the library of the
+house; so crossing the hall, I gently rapped on the panel. A cheery
+"Come in!" was my answer. I obeyed the summons, threw the door open,
+and entered.
+
+"Why, it is our feather-bed soldier," came a merry voice from the
+broad window-sill, where sat two young ladies. A peal of ringing
+laughter followed; for, indeed, I was somewhat non-plussed to thus
+come upon two such laughing, merry girls.
+
+    One was dark, the other fair;
+    Both were sweet and debonair.
+
+Indeed they were very pretty, sitting there amid the quaint old
+surroundings, the heavy old book-presses, with solid oak doors, the
+wainscoting extending to the ceiling, the broad window-seats, the
+green trees, and quiet garden beyond. I knew at once that they must be
+daughters of my host, Mistress Polly and Mistress Betsy Johnson, at
+that time the reigning belles of the western shore.
+
+"Now I know what awaited me I shall never forgive that feather-bed," I
+replied, recovering from my confusion and making my best bow. "I would
+never have proved such a traitor to my cloth."
+
+"That is better," said Mistress Polly, the black-haired, dark-eyed
+one. "Come and report to us, sir. Do you not know that no officer
+returns from the army who does not immediately report to us?"
+
+"I understand their alacrity in doing so. I shall be among the first
+to obey the order hereafter."
+
+"Then, sir, come tell us of the battle, and what brought you hither so
+fast that the mud is still upon your boots?"
+
+Now, telling the account of the battle to two charming young ladies,
+whose bright eyes and eager faces told of the interest they took in my
+narrative, was a far different thing from telling the same tale before
+the powerful Council of Safety, and I am free to confess that I
+enjoyed the last far more than the first.
+
+Their exclamations and excited questions spurred me on, and I drew the
+picture of the battle with a stronger hand and painted myself a hero,
+which I am afraid I was far from being.
+
+But Mistress Betsy suddenly sat up straight, exclaiming:
+
+"Bless me, Polly, Mr. Frisby has not had his breakfast, and here it is
+near ten o'clock"--an outrageous late hour in those days.
+
+At this both Mistress Polly and Mistress Betsy sprang to their feet,
+and I was duly conducted to the dining-room, where a delightful
+breakfast awaited me, which I endeavoured to eat amid their sallies
+and their questioning.
+
+We were having a very gay time of it, when there came a heavy step
+through the hall into the room, and a cheery voice asked: "How is the
+soldier to-day? In good hands, I see." It was Thomas Johnson.
+
+"That he is, sir," I replied, rising, "and he thoroughly enjoys it
+too."
+
+"Spoken like a soldier," replied our future Governor, "and like a
+soldier you must leave at once, for the Council desire you to carry
+these despatches posthaste to General Washington."
+
+"No; he shall not," cried Mistress Polly, with a stamp of her foot.
+"He has promised to drive our four-in-hand to the races this
+afternoon, and I am not going to let that Council of old fogies rob us
+of the only soldier in town who has seen service for at least one
+day."
+
+"So that is the way the wind blows," said her father, pinching her
+cheek and laughing. "I will tell the great Council of Public Safety
+that they have been overruled by a maid."
+
+"It will not be the first time," she retorted. "Their wives overrule
+them every day."
+
+"I will ride all night to make it up," I suggested.
+
+"Never mind, my boy," he replied, "you deserve a little holiday; you
+need not leave Annapolis until nightfall, and Kent the following
+night, which will give you a chance to see your mother again. There, I
+hope this little minx will give me some peace now."
+
+The treaty was quickly sealed by a kiss, and Mistress Polly ran off to
+give the order for the coach-and-four, for the races began at one
+o'clock and the course was a short distance out of the city.
+
+There soon came a clatter of hoofs, a rattle, a slam and a bang, a
+whoaing, a yelling, and a confusion of noises.
+
+"They have put the colts in," cried Mistress Betsy with glee, and
+Mistress Polly was at the door crying, "Come on."
+
+"Great Jove!" said I to myself, as I seized my hat and followed after,
+for though I had driven many a wild team I had never done so through a
+town before. And four devils they were for a certainty, a little under
+size, but making up for that by the fire and vim of their proceedings.
+
+The heels of the wheelers were playing like castanets on the
+dashboard, while the leaders were in the air half the time as they
+swayed above the crowd of darkies, who, hanging on everywhere, were
+trying to hold them down, while the great coach swayed and rocked
+behind.
+
+There was a flash of skirts, a gleam of the smallest feet in the
+world, and Mistress Polly and Mistress Betsy were in their places, and
+I had sprung to my seat and gathered the reins in my hands.
+
+"All ready, Captain?"
+
+"Ready. Let go." They scattered like chaff. There was a flash of hoofs
+and they were off like a shot, their bodies stretched low to the
+ground, the great coach rolling and rocking behind.
+
+Luckily the street ended in a country road, for the street and the
+houses were gone in an instant, and we were rushing along between
+green fields. A column of dust rose up and whirled behind us, and the
+road stretched like a ribbon before, while the young ladies at my side
+laughed and clapped their hands in glee. After several miles the pace
+began to tell, I slowly brought them under control, and by the time I
+had come to the race-course I had them well in hand. We had gone
+several miles out of our way, but by taking a short cut we arrived at
+the races on time. I brought the four colts into the field with a dash
+and a flourish as they were preparing for the first race.
+
+The course was a great level field of greensward, oval in shape, with
+the track in beautiful condition. Far down the track on either hand,
+almost encircling the field, stretched the lines of the coaches,
+chariots, gigs, and wagons. Gentlemen on horseback and on foot, an
+eager, bustling crowd, gay with colours and bright faces, already
+tingling with the excitement of the coming race, made a stirring
+scene; for the Trinity of the Marylanders in the early days of my
+youth were the horse, the hounds, and a fight.
+
+But though the faces were fair, merry, and pleasant to look upon,
+though the chariots and four-in-hands were gorgeous and bedecked,
+there was a woful lack of cavaliers to make those damask cheeks
+mantle with a blush, for they were away fighting in the North. Thus it
+was, as I drove down the line in my uniform of scarlet and buff, to
+find a stand, that Mistress Polly and Mistress Betsy had their
+triumph, and many a fair face turned our way as we drove by, until I
+brought the coach to a halt in a good place next to the parson, where
+he sat his cob, watching the preliminaries.
+
+"Find the parson," said Mistress Polly judiciously, "and you will have
+found the best place in the field."
+
+"Oh, Mistress Polly, you are a minx," said that reverend gentleman.
+"How in the world could I make the youngsters come to church if they
+did not know I was a good judge of horseflesh as well as a minister?"
+
+"They are off," cried Mistress Betsy. The race had begun; but why
+describe the race? Those who have never seen a race are mere
+worthless creatures deserving no consideration, and those who have
+seen a race do not need a description. At the mere name they see the
+grand thoroughbreds at the line, their coats shining like satin in the
+sun, eager and ready to be off. Then the flag falls, and, amid the
+rustling of skirts and craning of necks, they are off. Ah, and then
+comes the glorious excitement of it all as you watch with eager eyes
+that ribbon of a track, and see now this one, now that one, slowly
+draw away from the bunch at the start, and the closing of the space
+again, until they become mere moving spots on the far side of the
+field. And then, that home stretch, with its thunder of hoofs, its
+roar of voices, and cheers and yells, as the grand beasts, with
+straining nerves and neck to neck, make the last great effort; and
+afterward the triumph, the waving of handkerchiefs, the great cheer
+that greets the victor, and the smiles of merry lips and laughing
+eyes. Those were the prizes we raced for, when racing was the pastime
+of gentlemen, and not an excuse for blackguardism and gambling, as
+to-day it is fast becoming. So my kind hosts and I made our little
+bets, and enjoyed ourselves right thoroughly, until the last race,
+which was won by a grandson of the great Selim, was over and done.
+Then I swung my four colts into the road again, and at a rattling pace
+returned to town.
+
+It was late now, and the sun was preparing to take its last dip behind
+the western hills; so I was forced to bid my charming hostesses adieu,
+and amid many good wishes and a waving of handkerchiefs, departed to
+seek my waterman, to begin my trip across the bay.
+
+The town became a blur, a dark mass behind us, broken by the twinkling
+of the lights through the gloom, as we swiftly glided down the Severn
+before the wind. Out upon the bay it was still light, and we steered
+for the north point of the Isle of Kent. The wind was fresh. With all
+sail set we skimmed the water before it, and ere many hours had passed
+we saw the light through the gloom of Rock Hall straight ahead. But
+the old waterman suddenly brought his helm around hard, and pointed
+her nose for the wide mouth of the Chester close at hand.
+
+"What is wrong?" I asked, and for an answer he pointed with his arm to
+where against the sky were outlined the tapering masts of a large
+vessel lying between us and Rock Hall.
+
+"That is a man-of-war," he said, "we will have to run up the river to
+Chestertown."
+
+"Agreed," said I, right readily, for I thought I might see Mistress
+Jean once more before I went back to the front.
+
+The mouth of the Chester was soon gained, and for hours, through the
+stillness of the night, we glided over its smooth waters, between low,
+heavily wooded banks, or the broad sweeping fields of some plantation,
+whose boundaries were lapped by the waters of the river. In the early
+morning, in the dusky gray hours, we ran along beside the wharf of the
+old county seat of Kent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE GREETING OF FAIR LIPS
+
+
+After wandering through the streets of this old town during the early
+hours of the morning, seeing it gradually wake into life and take on
+the quiet bustle of the day, I at last found myself before the inn,
+which had just been opened.
+
+The host was an old friend, and we were soon fighting over the battles
+again, when a shadow fell across us and I sprang to my feet.
+
+It was Capt. James Nicholson, one of the three brothers who fought
+their ships in sunshine and in storm, while there was a plank left for
+them to stand upon, carrying dismay through the English fleets by
+their desperate courage and daring. He was a man about forty years
+old, over medium height, but slender and of fair complexion, with
+light blue eyes and reddish hair, a typical descendant of that old
+Viking, Nicholson, who fought some famous fights under King Haco, and
+harried the coasts of Scotland until he gained a foothold there and
+founded the Scottish family of the name. The same open, bold
+countenance of the Admiral, the same frank and manly bearing, showed
+him to be a sailor and a fighter.
+
+"Hello, Frisby," said he, shaking my hand cordially. "With the dove so
+near I knew that the hawk would not be far away."
+
+I stammered out, as the landlord smiled, that I was forced to come to
+Chestertown to avoid the man-of-war lying off Rock Hall.
+
+"She is off Rock Hall, is she? Well, I shall have to chase her away
+with the Defence next week. But is that your only excuse for coming
+so far out of your way?"
+
+And when I protested that it was, he laughed genially, and, turning to
+the landlord, said: "He does not look like a knight-errant who flies
+to the rescue of maids, and Tory maids at that, does he? But see here,
+youngster, since you have brought this little traitress into my
+household, you will have to do your share in converting her to the
+true principles of liberty and democracy."
+
+"Keep that for the men, Captain," cried the landlord. "Keep that for
+the men; the women give us no peace, as it is, and if they once get
+those notions there will be no living with them."
+
+"Ah, you old reprobate, you had better not let your wife hear you."
+
+With this we left the inn, and going through some quiet streets, we at
+last came to Water Street, with its square brick houses, gardens and
+flowers, and green lawns leading to the river. Very substantial were
+the buildings, quaint and old-fashioned. A number of white steps led
+from the street to the porch of the Captain's house. When, at his
+motion, I opened the door and stepped into the hall, which was
+somewhat dark after the glare of the street, there came a flurry of
+lace, and soft arms were around my neck. And--well, what could a man
+do but return that kiss with interest? But the best things are but
+fleeting, for, when she glanced at my face, and saw who I was, she
+gave a little cry, broke from my arms, and vanished in confusion up
+the stairway, followed by the merry laughter of the real uncle, not
+the proxy.
+
+"You surely cannot object to that welcome, Frisby; but I must tell
+Mistress Jean to be more careful, or the army will lose a promising
+officer. They will not be able to keep you away from the town if this
+keeps on."
+
+So saying, he led the way to the rear porch where it overlooked the
+lawn and the river.
+
+Here we sat and talked until the breakfast-bell rang, and we went into
+the dining-room. I was as hungry as a trooper by this time, after my
+all-night experience on the Chester.
+
+The dining-room was a long room, with open windows looking out across
+the river and the fields.
+
+We had not as yet taken our seats, when through another door came
+Mistress Jean and Mistress Nancy Nicholson, her bosom friend and
+confidante, with their arms around each other's waists--a charming
+picture.
+
+The colour mantled high on Mistress Jean's cheek, and I am sure that
+mine played the traitor also, but Mistress Nancy came to the rescue by
+demanding news and particulars of her cavalier, for such she declared
+Mr. Richard Ringgold of Hunting Field to be.
+
+Answering, I told her that I had left him covered with blood and with
+glory, but on the fair road to recovery. And so, though Mistress Jean
+still showed a heightened colour, in telling of Master Richard's
+fortunes and escapes we broke the embarrassment of the meeting, and
+were soon fast friends again. It was a merry breakfast. Afterward the
+two young ladies and I walked in the garden by the river's edge and
+talked of many things,--of war and campaigning, for I claimed to be an
+authority by now, and quite a veteran,--of love; but that was too
+dangerous, for Mistress Nancy would look at me slyly and laugh as she
+asked if I was as great an authority upon the one as I was upon the
+other.
+
+I retorted that I had heard many a lecture on the subject from Master
+Richard, but otherwise knew nothing of the art, and then I begged her
+to take me as a pupil, so that in time I might become as great a
+scholar as Dick himself. But she roguishly recommended me to her
+Assistant Professor Mistress Jean Gordon, who, she told me, knew more
+of the art than she did herself. And then, having come to some boxwood
+alleys, she slipped away and left Mistress Jean and me alone.
+
+"They tell me, Mistress Jean, that love is war; may I ask what the
+fate of the prisoners is?"
+
+"As in real war," she replied, "those who surrender at discretion
+receive but scant courtesy, but those who make a gallant resistance
+are often victorious in their defeat."
+
+"I see that you love the old Highland fashion, where the bridegroom
+came with force and arms and bore the bride away."
+
+"Better swords and daggers, and hearts that are true, than silks and
+satins, Lowland fops and perfidy."
+
+"English swords have crossed ere this with Highland steel, and English
+hearts are as tried and as true as those that beat beneath the plaid,"
+said I, coming to the defence of my English ancestry.
+
+"So ho! Sir Rebel!" she cried in glee, "what means this defence of the
+hated redcoat? Do you not fear the shadow of the great committee that
+you preach treason so openly?" And she looked so bewitching in her
+little triumph that I had to thrust my hands into my pockets and turn
+away, so great was the temptation.
+
+"I will turn Highlander," said I, "if you do not stop."
+
+"Stop?" she said with the most innocent air in the world.
+
+"Aye," said I, "for if your Highlanders have ever been sturdy knaves,
+the Frisbys have ever been quick where bright eyes and ruby lips are
+concerned, and there is no telling what might happen." And I looked so
+determined and fierce that she broke into merry laughter in my face.
+
+"Your fate be upon you," said I solemnly; and--well, at that moment, I
+heard Captain Nicholson calling that my horse was at the door, waiting
+for me.
+
+"That means that I must go, Mistress Jean," and the laughter died on
+her lips, "go to join my comrades in the North in their struggle for
+the Great Cause. When you hear of battles and sieges and sudden
+deaths, will you sometimes think of the young rebel who rode with you
+from the Braes to Fairlee? For wherever he may be, whether in the
+glory of the rush and the sweep of the charge, or the gloomy and
+dismal retreat; whether in the camp on the bleak hillside, with the
+cold north wind blowing, or bivouacked in the Southern savannahs
+warmed by the rays of the sun; in the fatigue and the toil of the
+marches, amid the groans and cries of the dying, or the joy and
+triumph of the hour when the fight has been fought and won, your smile
+shall always be with him, the light of your eye in his heart. Will you
+think of him, or forget, Mistress Jean?"
+
+"I will think of him." Her voice was very low and sweet. Then I
+stooped and kissed her hand, the fairest hand that man ever looked
+upon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE RETURN OF THE TORY
+
+
+As I turned to ride away, after bidding good-bye to the Captain, I
+heard a voice calling me, and looking up, I saw Mistress Nancy at a
+window, and riding under it she commanded me to convey to Master
+Richard a tiny case wrapped in many papers.
+
+"And now, sir," said she, "here is something for you;" and she threw
+me a little case, which, on opening quickly, I saw contained a
+miniature of a fair young girl, with a wealth of dark brown hair, the
+loveliest eyes and the sweetest face.
+
+"Mistress Nancy," I cried, "you are my guardian angel." Placing the
+miniature over my heart, I threw her a kiss, and rode on my way
+rejoicing.
+
+I rode from Chestertown to Fairlee, where I bade my mother good-bye,
+and from there I took up the trail to the North, riding into camp one
+evening just as the sun was setting.
+
+I reported immediately to the great General, who thanked me for the
+speed with which I had carried the despatches and returned. And then I
+was once more among my old comrades of the Line.
+
+They crowded around me, one and all, for I had messages for many of
+them, and they were eager for the news of old Kent and the shore, and
+my welcome was right royal.
+
+And now, for a month or so, disasters came crowding upon our arms;
+defeat and death stalked through our ranks, and cast a gloom over the
+cause.
+
+We fought the fight at White Plains, and when Fort Washington fell
+many of our Maryland boys went to the hulks of old Jersey to find a
+last resting-place under the cold gray waters of Wallabout Bay. Amid
+constant marching, skirmishes, and defeats the months slipped away,
+and the cold gloomy winter was upon us. Ah, how cold and bleak and
+barren the hillsides looked after the smiling fields of Maryland,
+touched and warmed by the Southern sun! And then the cold, the bitter
+cold of it all, the white winding sheet of the snow and the ice made
+us shiver and hug the fire of dry fence-rails and button our
+threadbare coats more tightly around us, while we looked in despair at
+the toes peeping through the ends of our boots. But the great General
+knew how to warm the blood in our veins and drive the despair from our
+hearts, when on that bitterly cold Christmas night he led us across
+the Delaware and hurled us against the Hessians.
+
+It is true that we left a trail of blood as we marched, dyeing the
+snow with its crimson. Yet the fight itself was glorious, and when we
+came back in our triumph the cold and the snow were as nothing. We
+made sport of our rags and tatters and laughed the English to scorn.
+
+Then again when we struck them at Princeton seven days later, threw
+the dust in Cornwallis's eyes, and played with him as we willed, we
+were ready to follow our leader wherever he pointed the way.
+
+And so, after humbling the English, we returned to our camp for the
+winter, and there made ready for the spring, when we saw my Lord
+Cornwallis back on the Hudson again.
+
+Then we lay in Jersey, watching them over in New York, until far into
+the summer, ready to take up the march when the news should come of
+the destination of the English fleet that lay off Sandy Hook.
+
+At last one day there came a horseman spurring fast from the
+southward, bearing the news of a vast fleet that covered the waves of
+the Chesapeake and lay at that moment off the harbor of Baltimore,
+threatening it with fire and sword.
+
+Then there was a mighty bustle in the camp, and we whose homes were
+now in danger took up the march to the southward, eager to meet the
+foe.
+
+When we reached Philadelphia we found that the enemy had entered the
+Elk, and was now marching on the city, while the hastily called
+Maryland and Delaware volunteers threw themselves in the way, cutting
+off straggling parties and obstructing the advance.
+
+So we hurried on to assist them, and found ourselves on the evening of
+the 10th of September at the Brandywine, with the English advance but
+a few miles away.
+
+It was here that I met with one of the volunteers, who on hearing the
+English were in the Chesapeake had taken his rifle from the rack and
+joined in the defence. He came from lower Kent, but told me of the
+devastation all through the county of Cecil, wherever the enemy had
+laid its blighting hand.
+
+"They tell me," he said, "that the old Tory, Charles Gordon, whom they
+ran out of Cecil, is with Lord Howe, and high in his counsels. When
+they arrived in the Elk, Gordon, with a body of troops, marched all
+night and attacked the house of James Rodolph at dawn. Rodolph was
+away from home, and that is the only thing that saved him, for they
+say that Gordon swore that he would hang him if he once caught him. As
+it was, he gave Rodolph's house to the flames, and burned everything
+on the place. 'An eye for an eye,' said he, 'is a Highland saying as
+well as a Jewish one. I regret that I cannot destroy the land as
+well.' Rodolph, when he heard of it, stormed and swore, but he has not
+dared to venture within the confines of Cecil since."
+
+"Did Gordon do anything else?" I asked.
+
+"No. After he burnt Rodolph out he tried to stop Lord Howe from
+pillaging, but his lordship answered, 'You have had your turn, and now
+you must let the others have theirs,' and so the pillaging went on."
+
+But the planters and the yeomen who had risen at the first alarm hung
+on the flanks of Lord Howe's army, cutting off stragglers and
+scouting-parties, and confining the belt of desolation within narrow
+lines.
+
+At last came the 11th of September, the day when we met Lord Howe at
+the Brandywine, and were sent reeling back in disorderly retreat, when
+by a skilful march they outflanked our right wing and rolled it up.
+
+And then disaster followed disaster. Paoli came, that grim and bloody
+surprise at the dead of night. We had marched with Wayne and gained
+the rear of the British column, and lay for the night in a dense wood,
+waiting for the recruits under Smallwood, who was marching to join us,
+before we began our attack on the British rear.
+
+It was in the early hours of the morning, the blackest of the night,
+the hour before the dawn, when there came sudden shots from our
+pickets, and before we could spring to arms the Highland war-cry rang
+through the forest and the Black Watch swept over us. The wild forms
+of the Highlanders, the intense darkness, the surprise, the din and
+noise of the strife as those who could grasp their muskets made a
+desperate stand, struck terror through the camp, and ere the men could
+rally we were swept into the woods beyond. It seemed to me, as I was
+borne along in the press, I heard, high over the charging cry of the
+Scots, the voice of the old Tory cheering his men on. Certain it is
+that I saw him for a moment by the light of a camp-fire, sword in
+hand, urging on his wild Scots, who seemed to grow wilder under his
+leadership, as our line melted away before their advance.
+
+Ah! but it was grim and terrible. Our men, overcome by the surprise
+and the rout, carried terror into the camp of Smallwood's recruits,
+which was near at hand, and they, too, gave way.
+
+But the dawn came: with it we gathered our shattered forces together
+and marched back to join Washington.
+
+Philadelphia fell, but the tide soon turned; for at Germantown we once
+more met them and avenged the surprise at Paoli.
+
+But the thing that thrilled us through and through and set our banners
+high was the courage of our brothers of the Line, who, thrown into
+Fort Mifflin, held it in the teeth of the enemy's fire until every gun
+was dismounted and the fort itself levelled to the earth, leaving
+nothing to defend. It was a brave and gallant action, and we envied
+them for their good fortune.
+
+We had avenged Paoli at Germantown, yet this added another wreath to
+our banner. It was a thing to stir the blood and to set the pulses
+bounding to hear how those heroes fought under the crumbling walls of
+Mifflin, and prayed for the friendly cover of night to fall to hide
+them from that storm of fire and shell, and yet fought on.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE FLAG OF TRUCE
+
+
+The long hard winter soon came on, and we retired to Valley Forge to
+suffer and to bear what was far more deadly than the English
+bullets--the terrible cold and desolation of that dreary place. Cold,
+bitterly cold it was, as the wind came down from the mountains, swept
+over the broad fields, pierced through our torn and tattered garments,
+and racked our frames with pain. And yet, terrible as the exposure
+was, there stands out one bright day in all that dreary winter, one
+day, one hour in which I forgot all the cold and the hardships and
+would not have been elsewhere for anything in the wide world.
+
+It was near the setting of the sun on one of the bleakest and coldest
+days of the year. The sun itself was sinking behind the distant hills,
+and the sky was brilliant with its fiery javelins, which threw a lurid
+light across the cold gray heavens, the last protest of departing day
+against the approach of the chill dismal night. The snow lay heavy
+upon the ground, and spread like a great white pall over the sins and
+sorrows of the world. Before us stretched the road, unbroken and
+trackless; not a man had passed that way, for we stood guard at the
+outpost, and the flicker of the foeman's fire could be seen six
+hundred yards away, through the gloom.
+
+"Lucifer, but it is cold!" said one of the guard, as he threw another
+rail on the fire and held his hands out over the flames to warm them.
+
+"Aye; Old Nick himself would not be a bad acquaintance now--his smell
+of brimstone and sulphur might warm us up a bit," said another.
+
+We were making the best we could of it, under the lee of a high bank
+by the side of the road, where we had cleared a space and stacked a
+good supply of dry fence-rails to feed the fire during the night. The
+wind from the northwest swept over our heads, sheltered as we were by
+the bank, and we would have defied the cold that crept ever upward but
+for the rags and tatters that covered our frames. The men themselves
+were cheerful, as they sat hugging the fire, and laughed and joked at
+their hardships.
+
+"I wonder if those Highland devils will bother us to-night?" asked
+one, for the Black Watch held the outpost down the road.
+
+"They will be too busy warming their knees," came the reply from
+across the fire, and a laugh followed.
+
+"Hello, what is that?" for the thud of hoofs was heard on the road
+coming from the camp.
+
+"A flag of truce, by George!" said the sergeant. "Who on earth wants
+to go through the lines on a night like this?"
+
+The party, consisting of several troopers, an officer, and what
+appeared to be a woman on horseback, was soon within hailing distance,
+and I heard Ringgold's voice call out:
+
+"I say, Frisby, are you in charge here?"
+
+"Yes," I replied. "What's up?"
+
+"We have a prisoner here who wishes to go through the lines, but I
+don't know whether you will permit her or not."
+
+"Is she fair?" I asked. "For in that case she shall not pass unless
+she gives us a smile by way of tribute as she rides by."
+
+"Not even if George Washington so orders, sir," said a voice that I
+knew.
+
+"By the saints, my lady!" I cried, and I was by her side in an
+instant. "What brings you here, and why are you going within the
+English lines?"
+
+"Should not a daughter be with her father?" she asked.
+
+"But those bloody English, with all their fine trappings and their
+feathers! Nay, my lady, you have been disrespectful to the Continental
+Congress, as I can vouch for. You are our prisoner, and I will not let
+you escape thus, to smile on the wearers of his Majesty's uniform."
+
+But she laughed quite merrily, and answered my threat with "Lieutenant
+Ringgold, pray ride on with the flag of truce."
+
+"Dick Ringgold," I cried in my turn, "if you take less than ten
+minutes I shall be your deadly enemy for life."
+
+"All right, old fellow." Dick rode on toward the enemy's campfire with
+the bugler until he had gone about half the way, and then we heard the
+parley sounded and saw a stir in the opposite camp.
+
+"Mistress Jean," said I, returning to the charge, "you are perfectly
+heartless, and though I know the redcoats cannot help but fall in love
+with you, I warn you that if you smile on any one of them I shall go
+through the lines and seek him out, even into the heart of the city
+itself, though I have to swing for it."
+
+"You will never try anything so rash;" and now the laughter had gone
+from her voice.
+
+"That I will, my lady," I replied, "for I would rather dance on
+nothing than know that you belonged to another."
+
+"But you must not," said she. "You must not think of such a thing. You
+must promise me never to attempt it."
+
+"Nay, Mistress Jean, that I cannot promise. It would drive me mad to
+stand here on guard all the winter night and see the lights of
+Philadelphia off there in the east; to know amid all the gayety and
+the balls you reign supreme; to know I could not see you because of
+the miserable redcoats that guard the city. If they were ten times
+their number I would find my way through them to be once more at your
+side, Mistress Jean."
+
+Before she could reply the Highland officer broke in, for he had
+ridden up with Ringgold.
+
+"Mistress Jean, it gives me pleasure to be the first to welcome you to
+our lines. Your father told us of your coming, and there has been a
+rivalry between us as to who should be the one to escort you to the
+city."
+
+"That was kind of all of you; but how did you leave my father?"
+
+"Well, and eager for your coming."
+
+He was a splendid-looking young fellow, tall, broad-shouldered, and
+somewhat bony, with a voice that rang frank and true. He was a
+Highlander, every inch of him, and carried himself with a free and
+graceful carriage, and when I heard him tell Mistress Jean that he was
+a Farquharson and an old ally of her house, I knew I had at last met a
+dangerous rival. For, out of romances, it is not the villain, but the
+brave and frank gentleman who is most dangerous to the peace of mind
+of lovers, for they see in him what they themselves most admire, and
+by which they hope to win their ladies' love.
+
+"Lieutenant Ringgold, now," said Farquharson, "I am ready to receive
+Mistress Gordon from your hands, and to conduct her within our lines."
+
+"Far more ready than we are to let her go," answered Dick gallantly;
+"but it is the fortune of war." And then the two officers saluted and
+the exchange was made.
+
+So Mistress Jean bade us all good-bye right prettily, and I, being on
+the off side of her horse from the others, seized her hand as it hung
+by her side and kissed it several times. She at first did not withdraw
+it, and then, bending over, whispered, "Do not try to enter the city,
+for they will hang thee, and I would not lose so true a friend." Here
+her voice was very soft and low. I kissed her hand once again and she
+was gone.
+
+We watched their dark shadows down the road to the Highland outpost,
+as they moved like great blots across the snow. I stood, I do not know
+how long, gazing after them, when Dick's hand was on my shoulder.
+
+"Never mind, Frisby," said he, "we shall win the city in the spring,
+and then you may win her also."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE BALL OF MY LORD HOWE
+
+
+Many a night after that last parting I stood guard on that dreary
+outpost, gazing out across the snow at the dim lights of the city far
+to the eastward. Aye, for the city was gay that winter, gay with
+parties and dances, balls and dinners, and the bells rang as merrily
+as if we were not starving and dying out on the bleak, hillsides. Aye,
+those old burghers were warm and comfortable as they sat by their
+fires, with a glass of their wine or toddy at their side.
+
+True, my Lord Howe ruled the city with an iron hand, but he was a
+gallant gentleman, and his officers made good partners for their fair
+daughters at the balls. They were handsome in their scarlet uniforms,
+with their epaulets and their sabres, making, indeed, a very gallant
+show, while those ragged patriots out upon the snow had not shoes to
+their feet, and were altogether too disreputable to be admitted even
+to the kitchens of their houses. Then, again, runs not the Quaker law,
+"Thou shalt not fight"? And so the good old burghers threw another log
+on the fire and sat down to enjoy the cheerful blaze.
+
+The news came to us, sifted through the lines; we heard of their
+dances and their balls, and everywhere we heard that Mistress Jean
+Gordon was the belle of them all. The old Tory held high rank in the
+counsels of Lord Howe, and the daughter, by her grace and beauty,
+reigned it over the hearts of every gallant gentleman of his army.
+
+We heard of her refusing my Lord Paulet and several other gentlemen,
+noted among us for their hard fighting, whenever by chance we were
+opposed to them. And I, standing guard on the outpost, chafed in vain
+when I heard these tales, until one day chance decided me to risk all,
+to see her once more with my own eyes, and perhaps speak to her.
+
+There had been a skirmish on the outposts that day, and our men had
+captured an English officer, a Captain of the line. He was a talkative
+man, and while he was waiting to be sent to the rear as a prisoner we
+entertained him at our mess table, and he in turn told us the news of
+the town.
+
+"That must be a wonderful country, what do you call it, that eastern
+shore of yours?" said he, "if it contains any more beauties like
+Mistress Jean Gordon."
+
+"Ah, the Tory's daughter?"
+
+"Yes. She is the reigning belle of the whole town, and all our fellows
+are wild about her. I never saw so many fellows in love with one girl
+before, but Farquharson seems to have the best of it, while Lord
+Paulet stamps and swears."
+
+Now, we were loyal Marylanders--loyal, at least, to her wit and
+beauty, so then and there we proposed and drank the health of the Tory
+maid, while Dick chimed in with the amendment, "May she never marry a
+Britisher, but a patriot tried and true," at which our English Captain
+good-naturedly protested; and while they drank the toast I made a vow
+that ere a week was past I would be within that city.
+
+Fortune came my way, for as I left the mess-room that night I ran
+against Tom Jones of Cresap's old company of riflemen from the
+mountains of the West, the most daring and desperate spy in all our
+army. He was a man of powerful strength, as lithe and active as a
+panther, while his face was as immovable as that of an Indian, with
+never a sign thereon of the thoughts and passions of the man within.
+He was clad for the moment in the dress of the riflemen, a full suit
+of buckskin, leggings, hunting-shirt, and all, while carelessly thrown
+across one arm was his rifle, and in his belt was sheathed the long
+hunting-knife.
+
+"Lieutenant," said he, "I expect to return through your lines
+to-morrow night, so do not fire before you challenge."
+
+"Come this way, Jones," said I, leading him aside from the others. "I
+do not know which way you are going, but I want you to help me through
+the lines into the city. Can you do so?"
+
+"But, Lieutenant, they will be wanting to hang you if you are caught."
+
+"I will take that risk. I must be in the city within a week."
+
+Jones, like most great frontiersmen, was a man of quick decision and
+few words.
+
+"Meet me in an hour," said he, "at the Yellow Tavern."
+
+An hour later found me at the tavern in full uniform, for it was the
+only suit I possessed in which it would be possible to present myself
+before a lady, so dilapidated, torn, and ragged was my wardrobe. But I
+had a great storm-coat which hid the uniform and was an admirable
+disguise.
+
+The tavern was crowded. As I stood by the fire I did not at once
+notice a quiet, unassuming traveller who had just entered, until he
+brushed past my arm and whispered, "Follow me." I did so a few minutes
+later, for it was Tom Jones, who looked for all the world as if he was
+a quiet city merchant, born and bred within its limits. Yet you had
+but to notice his walk, and you saw at once that he was a
+mountaineer, for he threaded his way through the crowd as noiselessly
+as he did among his native forests, where the crack of a dead twig
+might mean his death by a hostile bullet.
+
+I followed him out into the night, and a dark and dismal night it was;
+the snow was falling heavily and you could not see three rods away.
+
+"We will follow the pike," said he, "until we see their camp-fire.
+They will not keep strict watch to-night, and we will have to keep in
+touch with the landmarks."
+
+We trudged along through the snow past the outpost where I had
+commanded so many nights, keeping the vigils by the weary hours; then
+we became more careful, as the Highland outpost was but a few yards
+away.
+
+"They will have their backs to the storm," said the spy, "and though
+it is dangerous to go to the windward of a foe, yet he is not so apt
+to hear us as he would be to see us if we tried the leeward side.
+Those Highlanders have keen eyes."
+
+So we flanked the outpost to the windward and passed them safely, and
+then Jones led me by many little bypaths and lanes until we came to
+the outskirts of the town. And though the guard at one time could have
+touched us as they passed, so dense was the storm that never for a
+moment was our safety jeoparded.
+
+At last the houses became closer and we found ourselves in the town,
+while every now and then a belated traveller met us, glanced our way
+and passed on, for by now it was far into the night. But when we
+reached the heart of the town, even at that hour, the streets became
+filled with carriages, and we met many officers and gentlemen,
+returning from a ball. My Lord Howe entertained that night, and it
+was a sign of loyalty and good faith for every one to attend.
+
+Though I became interested in seeing the muffled figures pass us, and
+the carriages hurrying through the street, I grew uneasy as I saw that
+Jones was making his way to the centre of the town, to the very door
+of Lord Howe's mansion. At last I remonstrated with him, but Jones
+growled in answer: "How can you throw the dogs off your track, if the
+snow does not fill it, but by mixing it with other tracks?"
+
+This was unanswerable. I followed him along the street until we were
+among the crowd before Lord Howe's door.
+
+It was a gay and brilliant scene, that ball of my Lord Howe, and
+though it was near the end, the music of the dance still floated
+through the wide entrance, while the figures of the dancers flitted
+across the windows, which were ablaze with lights. The guests were
+fast leaving; fair ladies and officers bravely uniformed were coming
+down the steps. There was a calling of carriages and of names, the
+slamming of doors and the muffled roll of the wheels as they drove
+off. I was about to move on with Jones, when I heard the major-domo, a
+sergeant of the guard, call out the carriage of Colonel Charles
+Gordon, and then I would have drawn back, as I had been forced into
+the front rank; for, though I knew that she must be at the ball, I had
+not thought to be brought so suddenly face to face with her. But ere I
+could do so, she came down the carpeted stairs leaning on her father's
+arm, graceful and beautiful, while by her side walked Farquharson in
+full Highland costume, eager and attentive. A smile was upon her lips
+as she listened, and then her eyes met mine. Her face went pale, and
+she was near fainting. Her father caught her as she slightly reeled,
+and Farquharson looked fiercely around to see what the cause was. But
+I was muffled up, and before he could demand the cause Mistress Jean
+was eagerly declaring that it was a mere nothing; and, as if to prove
+what she said was true, she hurried on to the carriage.
+
+Farquharson leaned for a moment into the carriage to bid them
+good-night, and then it rolled off into the darkness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+AN EXCHANGE OF COURTESIES
+
+
+"A narrow escape that for you, Lieutenant," said Jones. "But she was a
+plucky lass, and now it is time for us to be looking for cover."
+
+He turned down a narrow, quiet street until we came to a house set
+somewhat back in the yard.
+
+Jones now rapped very gently on the door; it swung open as if he was
+expected, and a moment later we found ourselves heartily welcomed by
+an old Quaker lady in a little room with a bright fire burning.
+
+"I thought thee would come, Brother Jones," said she, "and who is this
+braw lad thou hast brought with thee?" And she smiled on me.
+
+"He is one of our Lieutenants, who has a sweetheart in town, and is
+willing to risk his neck to see her," said Jones gruffly, but there
+was a twinkle in his eye.
+
+This completed my conquest, and the motherly old soul proceeded to
+take charge of me.
+
+"Who is thy lady love thou hast come to see?" And when I told her that
+she was a Tory she was much distressed, but eager to help me.
+
+"The Good Book says thou must not fight, but it also says thou must
+help thy friends and neighbours, so I will help thee."
+
+But at last, after chattering awhile she took a candle and showed us
+to our rooms. I was soon lost in the almost blissful comfort of clean
+white sheets and a feather-bed.
+
+When I awoke next morning Jones had already departed on his mission,
+leaving me a note telling me where to meet him the next night on our
+return to camp.
+
+All that day I kept close to the house, for I did not dare to venture
+forth in the broad day, as I was known to many, and it would not have
+gone well with me if I had met with those I knew.
+
+But at last the night began to fall, and, bidding my kind hostess
+good-bye, I made my way through the streets to the Tory's house.
+
+I soon found it--a square brick structure in a quiet street. I
+noticed, as I approached it, several dark alleys just at the right
+places for a rapid retreat if the worse should come to the worst.
+
+Then my hand was on the knocker, and its fall startled me as the
+clatter echoed far down the street and seemed to wake the very dead.
+
+A slave opened the door, who, though he glanced at me suspiciously,
+told me that his mistress was at home.
+
+Then in a moment my storm-coat was off, and I stood in the door of the
+drawing-room.
+
+It was a beautiful picture, the great strong Highlander on his knees
+at the feet of Mistress Jean begging for her hand, which she seemed to
+be denying him, for he was growing more and more passionate.
+
+For a moment, as I stood there, I could feel my hair grow gray, but
+the tumult and the conflict within me were short and I turned to go,
+for it seemed to me that she could not but care for so gallant a
+gentleman.
+
+But her eyes met mine, and then for a moment there was terror in them,
+and a cry broke forth from her lips.
+
+Farquharson, startled by her gaze, turned also, and, seeing me, was
+quickly on his feet, his face aflame with passion.
+
+"Sir," said he, advancing toward me, "do you not know the fate of
+eavesdroppers"--and then for the first time noticing my uniform,
+added, "and spies?"
+
+"I know the fate of those who call a gentleman by such names," I
+retorted coolly.
+
+"A gentleman?" and he laughed. "I will have you hanged for a dog of a
+spy before sunrise."
+
+"Pardon me, sir, but you are my prisoner until it shall suit me to let
+you go free."
+
+At this he laughed merrily.
+
+"Well said, Sir Rebel," he cried; "but permit me to pass before I spit
+you on my sword." And he drew and advanced upon me.
+
+"Permit me, sir, to use another argument;" and I drew my pistol and
+covered him. "Advance another step and I will blow your brains out."
+
+He glanced at me for a moment, but did not advance. "And further, let
+me suggest that we are in the presence of a lady, and it is not seemly
+for her to see the flash of weapons."
+
+At this he put up his sword.
+
+"To whom do I owe a lesson in gallantry?" he asked with a low and
+sweeping bow.
+
+"James Frisby, of Fairlee, a Lieutenant in the Maryland Line," I
+replied with equal courtesy.
+
+Mistress Jean had stood as though she were turned to stone during our
+exchange of courtesies, but now she seemed to recover.
+
+"Captain Farquharson," she cried, and she came and stood between us,
+"this is an old friend of mine. He saved my life at the Braes when we
+were raided by the rebels. You must promise me to let him go free out
+of the city."
+
+"Your wishes, Mistress Jean, are law," said he, "and shall be obeyed.
+I shall give him till morning to escape in."
+
+"Which I promptly accept," said I, "with the hope that I may be able
+to repay your courtesy if fortune should bring you within our lines
+some day."
+
+And so he bade Mistress Jean farewell, but as he passed me, I
+whispered to him:
+
+"Sir, some words have been said that need an explanation."
+
+"It will give me pleasure to offer you one at any place you may
+appoint."
+
+"Then meet me," I said, "two days hence at sunrise on the pike,
+half-way between the lines."
+
+"With swords or pistols?"
+
+"Swords."
+
+"I will be there;" and he passed on out.
+
+When he had gone, I turned to Mistress Jean, who urged me to leave at
+once.
+
+"You must go," said she, "for at any moment you may be tracked and
+discovered, and then----"
+
+"And then--what?" I answered, smiling. "Do you think, Mistress Jean,
+that I, who travelled for miles through the snow and the storm last
+night to catch one glimpse of your face, that I, who at last stand in
+your presence, would give a thought to the noose around my neck?"
+
+But she would not let me say her nay, and then her terror grew, until
+at last she told me that Lord Howe sometimes came home with her father
+at nine o'clock to talk over the plans of the spring campaign, and
+that every moment she expected to hear their voices in the hall.
+
+"The sight of your face, Mistress Jean, has repaid me for my journey;
+but if you bid me go, why, then, it is fate, and go I must." Then a
+thought came to me. "Mistress Jean, tell me this before I leave in the
+enemy's camp all that is dearest on earth to me: tell me if you love
+that Highlander, if you care for him." And she, who a moment before
+was urging me to leave, stood silent, with her face turned away from
+me, with never a word to say.
+
+And I, seeing how matters stood, took my courage in my hands, and,
+with a low bow, wished her good-bye.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE CROSSING OF SWORDS
+
+
+Sunrise, two days later, found Mr. Richard Ringgold and myself
+stamping our feet in the snow on the pike, half-way between the
+hostile lines.
+
+"I suppose they will let us fight here without interruption," said
+Dick.
+
+"No danger from that," I replied. "We will fight in that little
+hollow, where the outposts cannot see us."
+
+"Here they come," said Dick. We saw two officers approaching across
+the snow from the Highland outpost.
+
+They soon came up, and we saluted, while Dick and Captain Forbes,
+Farquharson's second, soon agreed upon the preliminaries.
+
+"Will you lead the way, gentlemen?" said Forbes.
+
+Dick and I led them to the little hollow between the hills, where a
+slight meadow formed a platform, as it were, for us to act our drama
+upon.
+
+Since my first duel with Rodolph on the banks of the Elk I had seen
+something of war and of battles, and considered myself an old hand in
+such encounters.
+
+And so I found myself looking Farquharson over and estimating his
+strength and his skill, for I knew him to be one of the best swordsmen
+among the Highlanders, while I could claim, with all due modesty, to
+be the best in the Maryland Line.
+
+He was a notable swordsman, you could see that at a glance; the
+powerful figure, yet as light and active as a cat, the muscles of his
+sword arm telling of long and patient handling of the weapon, while
+his cold gray eye spoke for his coolness and determination.
+
+He glanced at me, as we threw off our coats, in almost an indifferent
+manner, as if he had a duty to perform, which was to be done as
+quickly as possible, the mere suppression of a country bumpkin by a
+gentleman of fashion. I knew that would change as soon as our swords
+crossed, and smiled to myself. Then, being stripped to our shirts, we
+took our places and saluted.
+
+Click, and our swords rang true. Though he fenced somewhat carelessly
+at first, there came a surprised look and a sudden change in his
+manner, as I parried a skilful thrust and touched him lightly on the
+shoulder. He seemed to realise that he had no ordinary swordsman
+opposed to him, and quickly brought into play all his skill and
+fierceness in attack, throwing me on the defensive and forcing me
+gradually back.
+
+It could not last; no strength could stand it. When he found that the
+steel guard met every attack, that every thrust was parried, he
+relaxed the fierceness of his attack and began to fence with more
+skill and caution.
+
+Thus it was we fenced for several minutes, the clash of the steel
+ringing out in the cold, crisp air across the snow, and it came to my
+opponent that he had at last met a swordsman who was his equal in
+skill. From this on every moment he developed some new feint, some new
+attack, and, though I met them every one, it took my utmost skill to
+do so.
+
+But at last there came the end. He had assumed the offensive again and
+was pressing hard upon me, when he placed his foot upon a loose stone
+in the snow, which rolled. The sword flew from out his hand and he
+was down upon his knee.
+
+My sword was at his throat, and then my hand was stayed, for there
+came before me the vision of the Tory maid, standing with face averted
+in the square brick house in the city. That she might care, that she
+might be in terror then as to the fate that might befall him, flashed
+through my brain. I brought my sword to a salute, and returned it to
+its scabbard.
+
+"Sir," said I, as Farquharson rose, "it is a pleasure to have fought
+with so gallant a gentleman."
+
+"And I, sir," he returned, "am happy to have met so skilful a
+swordsman." And then, like gallant men who have fought and know each
+other's worth, we shook hands on the spot where a moment before our
+blades were thirsting for each other's blood.
+
+"It gives me pleasure," he continued, "to withdraw my remarks at
+Colonel Gordon's, as they arose from a misapprehension."
+
+"I will consider them as if they had never been said," I replied, "and
+I beg of you, on your return, to present my compliments to Mistress
+Gordon, and tell her that I send you to her as my wedding gift."
+
+"Why, is she to be married?" he asked in a startled way.
+
+"I believe so," I answered, "but she will tell you all about it."
+
+And so we returned to the pike, where we all saluted again, and
+retraced our steps to the lines.
+
+The spring was late that year. April had come before there came a soft
+warm breeze from the Southland, waking nature into life, and covering
+the hard frozen face of mother earth with wreaths and clouds of mist
+and moisture. From every hillside, from every frost-bound plain, the
+smoke of spring arose, and through the air there breathed the spirit
+of the reincarnated life of the world.
+
+How we of the Southland hailed it with joy, and drank in with our
+lungs this promise of a new life! We who loved the sunshine and the
+balmy breezes, the great joy of living amid fragrant fields and
+green-clad forests, we who hated the storms, the wind and cold of the
+North,--ah, how the blood in our veins welcomed this soft caress of
+the South! We threw off the terror of the winter, looked forward with
+glee to the opening of the spring campaign, and counted in
+anticipation the honours we were to win, the glory that would be ours.
+
+New life sprang up all through the camp; the troops left the busy duty
+of hugging the fires, the ranks filled up, and order and discipline
+once more became the order of the day.
+
+Rumours soon came creeping through the lines of a change in the
+leadership of the enemy's forces, but as yet they lay quietly within
+the city and showed not the teeth of offence. Thus we lay on the green
+hillsides of Valley Forge, busily preparing for the struggle which was
+certain to come, until far into the spring, without a sign of a
+movement on the part of the enemy.
+
+But with May came their new Commander-in-Chief, Sir Henry Clinton, and
+the departure of Lord Howe, and we knew that the time had at last come
+when some bold stroke would be played in the game of war.
+
+The gaps in our ranks had been somewhat filled, and we were ready and
+eager for active service as soon as the great General would give the
+command.
+
+At last came rumours of a retreat, that the English were preparing to
+desert the city and march across the plains of Jersey to where New
+York lay, sheltered by the waters of the sea and the rivers. We
+marched toward the Delaware to be ready to strike them when they
+moved.
+
+So, one day, as I stood on the outpost, guarding the nearest road to
+the city, I saw Jones approaching at full speed on an old horse, which
+he had evidently borrowed. I was ready for his news.
+
+"The British are crossing the Delaware; we will catch them in Jersey
+now or never," he cried, and then he had dashed past on his way to
+headquarters.
+
+My little guard received the news with a yell, and we looked forward
+eagerly for the order to join our regiment on the march.
+
+It was not long in coming, and on that night, the 18th of June, we
+crossed the Delaware, and started on the race across Jersey that was
+to end at Monmouth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE SANDS OF MONMOUTH
+
+
+For a week we hung on the flank of the enemy, waiting for an
+opportunity to strike, as we saw the immense train form on the right
+bank of the Delaware and take up its cumbersome march across the
+Jersey plains.
+
+With it marched the whole force of the British army of seventeen
+thousand men, who did their duty so well that we longed for an opening
+in vain.
+
+All through those blazing hot days of June we marched through the
+sands of Jersey, ankle deep as we trudged along, and it seemed as if
+the time for a trial of strength would never come. All to the east and
+south of us the great train of their wagons crawled along through the
+heat and the dust, and the sun glinted and gleamed on the points of
+the bayonets as the mass of their troops marched on.
+
+Slowly they crawled through the dusty roads of Jersey, and slowly they
+were crawling beyond the reach of our arms into the haven of safety.
+
+At last, on the 27th of the month, they reached the heights of
+Monmouth, within a day's march of their journey's end, while we lay
+five miles away at Englishtown, swearing low and earnestly at our
+luck.
+
+That night there came news to the camp that put new life in the men,
+and made them forget the heat and the toil of the march; the news that
+the great General had decided to risk a throw in the morning, and that
+our regiment was to be with the advance.
+
+And so, when Lee rode up to take command, we gave him a cheer, for
+though we disliked and distrusted the man, yet his coming meant a
+fight in the morning.
+
+Then there was a great stir in the camp; the men saw to their muskets,
+and the signs everywhere told of their eager preparations for the
+deadly struggle in the morning, while the cheery laugh and the
+snatches of song spoke well for the spirits of the men after the long,
+toilsome march of the day.
+
+The sun comes up out of the ocean early in Jersey, but even before its
+rays had cleared the pine tops our camp was stirring with life, the
+men preparing for the advance.
+
+But there seemed to be a fatality about it all; a hand, as it were,
+covered us and held us back, paralyzing the spirit of the men. Delay
+followed delay, and when at last the regiments took up the line of
+march, ours was held back until almost the last. The New Jersey
+volunteers had the post of honour, as they longed to revenge their
+ruined homesteads and devastated farms, and then our turn came.
+
+We marched out of Englishtown into the dreary country beyond. On every
+side sand dunes, former barriers of the ocean, raised their crests,
+covered with a straggling forest of stunted pines and scrub trees,
+which, in the passes in the hills, came down to the road, disputing
+the passageway, while in the shallow valleys lay the open fields and
+marshes. A dreary country withal, but where a small body of troops
+could hold the passes in the hills against many hundreds and make good
+their defence.
+
+We passed through the defile in the first range of hills, crossed the
+low valley, and then, after passing through the second defile, we had
+only to cross the one before us to be on the heights overlooking the
+enemy's position at Freehold.
+
+As we approached this last pass in the hills we were surprised to see
+a steady stream of our troops coming back in disorder through the gap.
+The men were retreating doggedly in broken ranks, and turning, as they
+trudged along, to look back, as if with half a mind to return.
+
+As they came streaming past our advance I called to a sergeant, an old
+backwoodsman whose courage I knew, and asked him of the battle and why
+he was not fighting.
+
+"Fight?" he cried indignantly, "why, damn it, Lieutenant, they will
+not let us fight. They ordered us to retreat before a musket was
+fired."
+
+At that moment Captain Mercer, an aide of the staff of General Lee,
+rode up to Colonel Ramsay, who was near me.
+
+He delivered an order rapidly, and then I heard Ramsay's voice ring
+out angrily. "Retreat?" he cried. "By whose order?"
+
+"By the order of General Lee."
+
+"But," he protested hotly, "we have not seen the enemy yet."
+
+Mercer shrugged his shoulders. "I only carry the order," he said.
+
+The stream of fugitives grew rapidly, becoming more disorderly,
+showing at every step the spread of the panic and the rout, as Colonel
+Ramsay stopped the advance and gave the order to retreat.
+
+Slowly and reluctantly we obeyed, and as we retired through the second
+pass in the hills we saw the British gain the opposite ridge and
+advance with cheers on the disorderly flying mass in the sandy valley
+behind.
+
+Every moment the press of the fugitives grew greater, and though we
+still maintained our formation and marched as on parade the retreat
+had turned into a rout. On every side and in our rear the broken
+ranks of the army poured past, demoralised and in despair, and ever
+nearer came the musketry and the cheers of the advancing English.
+
+"They will catch us before we get through the gap," said Dick, looking
+at the pass in front of us.
+
+"Then we will fight anyhow," I replied, "and General Lee can go to the
+devil."
+
+Whereupon our spirits began to pick up, and the men retreated more
+slowly than ever, glancing over their shoulders to see how near the
+head of the British column was.
+
+At last we came to the foot of the first pass, with its hills heavily
+covered with scrub pines. Behind us stretched the fields of broken
+troops, and we could see the red line of the British as they debouched
+upon the plain and drove the patriots before them.
+
+It was a wild scene of confusion and disorder, of demoralised retreat
+and rout; and then something happened.
+
+There was a stir in the pass in our front, a clatter of hoofs, and
+there appeared before us the General with his staff. He towered there
+with his great figure, a veritable god of war and of wrath.
+
+For a moment his eye swept the field, and his face flushed crimson
+with indignation and anger, as he saw the best troops of his army
+flying like sheep before the enemy. There was a storm in the air, and
+then, as Lee rode up, it broke.
+
+We heard his excited "Sir, sir!" and the General's angry tones, and
+then dismissing him contemptuously, he called to Hamilton to ask if
+there was a regiment which could stop the advance.
+
+Ramsay sprang forward.
+
+"My regiment is ready, General."
+
+"If you stop them ten minutes until I form, you will save the army."
+
+"I will stop them or fall," cried Ramsay, and, turning to us, he gave
+the order to "About face," and then crying that the General relied on
+us to save the army, he led us in the charge.
+
+Not a moment too soon, for, as the press of the fugitives was brushed
+aside by our advance, mingling in the midst of the disorderly mass,
+came the red line of the British, cheering and victorious.
+
+But suddenly the flying mass disappeared, and in their place came the
+yell of the Maryland Line, the long array of their bayonets bent to
+the charge, with all the fury and weight of their onset.
+
+For a moment the red line hesitated; then an officer, who looked
+strangely familiar, sprang forward, shouting:
+
+"They are nothing but dogs of rebels; charge and break them."
+
+The red line answered with a cheer, for their fighting blood was up,
+and they dashed forward to meet us.
+
+Then came such a clash of steel as is seldom heard, as the King's
+Grenadiers and the Maryland Line met in the shock of the charge. For a
+moment so close was the press that we could not wield our arms, and
+men fell, spitted on each other's bayonets.
+
+Then came a deadly struggle, as men fought desperately, hand to hand,
+and the lines swayed backward and forward as the weight of the numbers
+told. The ground was lost and gained, struggled for and won over and
+over, while the dead lay in heaps under our feet.
+
+It was in the midst of this deadly struggle, when I was fighting sword
+in hand amid the press of bayonets for my very life, that I saw
+Ramsay, who was near, cheering on his men, come face to face with the
+officer who led the charge of the Grenadiers. Then, in that storm
+centre, around which the roar of battle raged, there was a flash of
+steel and the swords crossed. But in the fury of the battle duels are
+short and fierce, and I saw Ramsay, who was already covered with
+wounds, falter for a moment, as the other lunged, and then he was down
+among the slain.
+
+Our line hesitated as Ramsay fell, and the English pressed on with a
+cheer. But I sprang forward, shouting to the men to save their
+Colonel, and they, answering my call, forced the English back, until I
+stood by Ramsay's body. But only for a moment; before we could raise
+Ramsay gently up and bear him off the field, there came another charge
+of the Grenadiers that forced us off our feet and hurled us backward,
+fighting desperately, leaving the body of our Colonel in the hands of
+the enemy. But in the _melee_ I found my sword crossing that of the
+officer who had fought with Ramsay, and instantly I attacked him
+fiercely, for I was burning to avenge Ramsay's fall. But he, with ease
+and coolness, parried all my thrusts and played with me as if I were
+but a child. Then, as I was growing desperate, he called to me, "Nay,
+lad, go try your sword on some one else and leave an old Scot alone. I
+would not hurt you for the world."
+
+I started and let the point of my sword fall, for it was the voice of
+the old Tory, whom I had not before recognised in the confusion of the
+fight. This slight hesitation almost led to my capture, for I had been
+fighting in advance of our line, and now I found myself in the midst
+of the English troops. So, saluting the old Tory hastily, I regained
+our lines.
+
+Then, fighting foot by foot and inch, by inch, we contested their
+advance, as the weight of numbers bore us backward up the hill into
+the pines. But every minute gained meant the salvation of the army.
+
+Ah, it was hot work there, ankle deep in the sand, with the broiling
+sun above us, while the smoke and the dust of the conflict filled our
+throats and eyes; but we staggered on and fought blindly, desperately,
+amid the din and the carnage.
+
+Ten minutes, twenty minutes--ah, there it is at last, and the roar of
+the opening battle broke out to the right and left of us, as the
+re-formed regiments went into the fight.
+
+Then to our left came the high piercing yell of our brothers of the
+Line, and we knew that the British were falling back before them. The
+Grenadiers struggled on for a moment longer, but the force of their
+charge was spent, and the fire of the new regiments forced them back
+in turn.
+
+But it was only for awhile, for they re-formed, and, under the
+leadership of the gallant Monkton, hurled themselves upon us once
+again.
+
+Monkton fell, and their lines shrivelled up under our fire. Then, as
+it was near the setting of the sun, Washington, glancing over the
+field, saw that the time had come and ordered the advance.
+
+Our whole line sprang forward, and, though we had borne the brunt, the
+toil, and heat of the day, not a man faltered. As the long line swept
+forward the British slowly retreated before us. We drove them across
+the plain and through the second pass, where night overtook us and
+stopped our pursuit.
+
+But then, when the fever of the battle left us, a great fatigue
+seized hold of our limbs, the men sank to the earth as they stood,
+and slept from very exhaustion.
+
+But we were soon to be aroused.
+
+Through the darkness came the sound of a horse's hoofs, and a voice,
+asking for Ramsay's regiment. I sprang up, answering, and saw
+approaching a body of horsemen. The foremost rider seemed an immense
+figure, as he advanced in the darkness; but I, who had seen him often
+before, knew him to be the great General.
+
+I immediately gave the alarm, and the men sprang to their feet and
+presented arms.
+
+And then, there under the pines, by the light of the stars, the
+General rode down our line, and, coming to the centre, we felt his
+glance fall over our ranks.
+
+"Men of Maryland," spoke Washington, and his voice rang clear through
+the pines, "once before at Long Island you saved the army, and to-day,
+for a second time, you have done so by your courage and tenacity. I
+thank you in the name of the army and the nation; I thank you for
+myself."
+
+A wild yell that broke from the Line was his answer. We forgot our
+fatigue and our wounds in the pride of the moment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+IN THE LINES OF THE ENEMY
+
+
+It was near the end of the first watch when an order came to me to
+pick out several men, go forward, feel the enemy's outposts, and see
+if the enemy was still retreating.
+
+Making my choice, I passed our pickets with three men, and made my way
+cautiously to the last pass in the hills which was in the enemy's
+possession at nightfall. But not a sign of their pickets or troops
+could I find; so I boldly advanced in the pass, and, crossing the
+ridge, found myself on the heights overlooking Freehold. It was a
+small town of scattered houses, and beyond it I could see the lights
+of the British camp-fires.
+
+But as the heights were not near enough for our purpose, we descended
+into the plain, and carefully made our way toward the town, where I
+knew certain patriots were, who, if I could once get speech with them,
+would tell me the whole plans of the enemy.
+
+We could hear the tramp of feet at the further side of the village,
+and all the sounds of an army in retreat. Being now so close to them,
+and in great danger, we moved with the utmost caution. Near at hand,
+on the outskirts of the town, stood a large, square stone house,
+separated from the rest of the houses by an immense garden. Having
+found a break in the hedge, we entered.
+
+It was an old garden, filled with boxwood walks and flowers run wild.
+Very prim at one time it must have been; but, now that the war had
+helped the return to nature, it was a wild and tangled mass.
+
+Making our way through the garden, a light was suddenly thrown upon
+our path, and, glancing up, I saw that it came from a window which,
+though it was on the first floor of the house, was yet some distance
+from the ground.
+
+Then the figure of a woman crossed the window, stopping for a moment
+to look out, while we stood in the shadow of the hedge, holding our
+breath. But she passed on, and I, determining to see into the room to
+discover whether it contained friend or foe, quickly gained the
+shelter of the wall of the house. The wall was of rough hewn stone,
+and with the help of my comrades' shoulders, I raised myself high
+enough to glance over the window-sill, and what I saw there made me
+drop to the ground quickly.
+
+Then, whispering to my comrades to stay where they were, I made my way
+to the rear entrance of the house, and, finding the door unfastened,
+softly entered the hall; and then I was standing in the door of the
+room from which the light came.
+
+A lamp stood on a table near a long horse-hair sofa with spindle legs,
+on which lay the figure of a man. The coat had been cut from his
+shoulder, which was swathed in many bandages, while the blood-stained
+rags on the table and the floor told of the seriousness of the wound.
+
+A slender figure was bending over him, gently arranging a pillow under
+his head.
+
+"Do you feel easier now, father?"
+
+"Yes, lassie." Then, a moment later, "Why does not Clinton send me a
+carriage? He surely does not intend to desert me here."
+
+"Captain Farquharson is searching for one," she answered. And then
+turning to the table, she saw me standing in the doorway. The colour
+left her face; she gave a little cry, for she thought there were many
+men behind me, and that all was lost. So, quickly putting my finger to
+my lips, I stepped back into the darkness of the hall, and as I did
+so, I heard the old Tory ask, "What's that?"
+
+"It was nothing," she answered. "I thought I saw a ghost."
+
+I stood there in the broad window waiting, for I knew she would come.
+
+Below me was the garden, heavy-scented with the odour of flowers, and
+the hum of the night insects was everywhere in the air. Close to the
+wall I saw the figures of my scouts. The noise of the tramp of feet,
+the creak of waggons, and the voice of command came to me from the
+village street.
+
+At last she came and stood before me. In her eyes were great pain and
+fear and suffering.
+
+"Tell me," she asked anxiously, "is there any danger for him?"
+
+"More danger for me than for him," I replied. "The whole American
+advance guard consists of three men and myself; the rest will follow
+in the morning."
+
+"Ah," she cried, and there was hope once more in her voice; "then we
+can escape."
+
+"If you can move your father by sunrise, yes," I replied.
+
+"But you," she said, and there was new anxiety in her voice; "you are
+in great danger here. When the soldiers come to remove father they
+will take you prisoner."
+
+"I care not, Mistress Jean," I answered, "for your eyes have held me
+prisoner for many a long day, and all the prison bars in the world are
+nothing to me so long as I can look into them."
+
+"Nay," she said, "you must not say such things to me."
+
+And I, taking this as a confirmation of all my fears and that at last
+Farquharson had succeeded in his suit, would have bade her good-bye
+and gone my way. But before I went I told her of my wishes for her
+happiness, and that I had met Farquharson and knew of his skill and
+courage.
+
+"Farquharson?" and her eyes were wide open in surprise. "I really
+believe you think I am going to marry him;" and she laughed so softly,
+bewitchingly, that--
+
+"Jean, Jean," I cried, now that hope and life had come back with a
+rush, "Jean, do you know that I love you; that I love the very ground
+on which you walk, the sunbeams in your hair, the very air you
+breathe? Ah! Jean--" But at that moment came the voice of the Tory
+calling her and the tramp of feet on the porch.
+
+"Let me go," she cried, for I held her hands in mine; "and fly,--that
+is the guard."
+
+"Nay," said I, "not till you give me a kiss. I will stay here and be
+captured first."
+
+There was a moment's hesitation, and then a flash of white arms, and
+the softest caress--ah, such a caress that the memory of it will go
+with me to the grave. And then she was gone.
+
+And I, not wishing to be captured now, slipped through the rear door
+to my men, and a short time later, having satisfied ourselves of the
+retreat of the enemy's forces, we made our way back over the hills to
+report to the General.
+
+We followed the enemy closely the next day, and did not draw off until
+we saw them beyond our reach at Sandy Hook.
+
+Then we took our way to the Jersey hills, and lay there for a time
+watching the enemy in New York.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE PASSING OF YEARS
+
+
+Then came a long period when it seemed almost as if peace had settled
+over the land, so seldom did the rattle of musket fire or the angry
+flash of guns break the quiet repose of the Jersey plains and farms.
+
+Far across the marshes lay New York, and behind its walls and the
+broad sweep of the waters the British army rested safe, while the army
+of the patriots, scattered among the forests, woods, and hills of
+Jersey and New York, lived, like Robin Hood's followers of old, and
+waited while the wheel of fortune turned.
+
+A year went by, when at the taking of Paulus Hook I first heard news
+of the welfare of the Tory and the maid, since the night of the
+Monmouth retreat.
+
+It was after an all-night march through the marshes of Jersey, often
+breast-high in the water, that we made a silent, deadly charge with
+the bayonet on the enemy's fort, and carried it before the sun had
+risen.
+
+We were retiring rapidly, after securing our prisoners, when one of my
+men called to me: "Captain, here's one of those Highland chiefs
+knocked on the head."
+
+I went to him and found that it was Farquharson, who had received an
+ugly blow on the head from a clubbed musket.
+
+A little whiskey between his teeth and water on his face revived him,
+and I was able, with the help of several men, to carry him along with
+our party.
+
+We made good our retreat, and when several days later I was in the
+main camp of the army, I went to the quarters where the prisoners were
+detained, and there I again met Farquharson.
+
+"Captain," said he, smiling, for he had almost recovered from his
+wound, "there is no entering a contest against you; fortune is always
+on your side."
+
+"My turn will come," I answered; "but is there anything I can do for
+you?"
+
+"I am afraid not, unless you bribe the guards to let me escape."
+
+"That would be clear against the articles of war," I replied. We fell
+to talking, and then it was I heard of the Tory and his daughter.
+
+"It was about Christmas time," said Farquharson, "that the King sent a
+message over the sea, granting him a pardon for the part he had taken
+in '45, for you know he was out then. The Sea Raven was about to
+clear in a week for Glasgow, and a sudden longing seemed to seize him
+to see once more the dash of the waters through the Braes of Mar and
+the heather-crowned hills of old Aberdeen; and so, within a week, they
+had sailed away; and as he left he said to me: 'A revolt drove me from
+old Scotland; another sends me back again. I wonder where fortune will
+end my days.' It is a strange fortune that has followed him through
+life."
+
+"It is, indeed," I replied.
+
+So they sailed away over the seas, gone back to their own land and
+people; and between that land and mine burned high the flame of war.
+But through the flame and across the broad stretch of the waters, I
+saw the form of the maid beckoning me on, and though my hope was
+well-nigh gone, I buckled tight my sword-belt and doggedly went
+on,--went on, through the long march to the southward, the toil, the
+hunger, and the defeat of the Camden campaign.
+
+The great triumph of Eutaw Springs and Cowpens, as we drove back
+Cornwallis from the hill country to the shore, rolled back the tide of
+invasion and drowned it in the sea.
+
+A year went by, bringing me adventures not a few, and with the
+adventures came wounds and honours; and when there came the news of
+the leaguer of Yorktown, it found me a full Colonel in the army of the
+South.
+
+It was not my fortune to be present at that last great feat of our
+arms, when the great General struck the blow that freed us for ever
+from the tyranny of the King.
+
+But when the news came down to us in the savannahs of the South we
+hailed it with joy, for we saw once more before us the quiet, smiling
+fields of Maryland, with the ease and comfort and plenty of it all
+that awaited but our coming to repay us for the years of strife and
+blood.
+
+And then at last came the order for us to take up the homeward march.
+The men took up the trail with as jaunty a step as when they first
+marched to the northward, long years before. The gay uniforms were
+faded and gone; rags and tatters had taken their places, while of the
+brave banner that was flung to the breeze at the Head of Elk nothing
+remained but the staff and a few ribbons that flaunted therefrom.
+
+But every tatter told the tale of a fight where the shot and shell had
+torn it as it waved above the charging line, the deadly struggle of
+the hand to hand, or marked the slow and sullen retreat.
+
+The men themselves were hardy and bronzed; from their ragged caps to
+their soleless shoes they bore the stamp of veterans. They showed the
+signs of their training in the angry school of war; wide indeed was
+the difference between the gay volunteers of '76 and the hardy
+veterans of '82. We swung along in our homeward march with a right
+goodwill, and at last came to the broad Potomac and saw the hills of
+Maryland beyond.
+
+Now the river itself to the low water-line of the southern bank is
+within the boundaries of Maryland. Wishing to be the first across the
+line, I rode my horse in to the saddle-girths, and let him drink
+thereof.
+
+A day later brought us to Annapolis, where we received the thanks of
+the State authorities, and with all due form and ceremony obtained our
+discharge and then dispersed to our homes.
+
+That very day I took a canoe, and, crossing the bay, found myself
+again on the steps of Fairlee.
+
+Once more my mother leaned on my arm, and, looking up at her tall,
+broad-shouldered son, with his epaulets of a Colonel, bronzed face,
+and hardy bearing, seemed proud and happy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE COMING OF THE MAID
+
+
+Many months had passed away, spring had come again, and the fair city
+of Annapolis lay in a mass of flowers. The vivid green of the old
+trees cast a delightful shade over all, tempting one to stroll through
+the quiet streets and byways, past the moss-grown walls, the
+old-fashioned gardens, buried in roses, and the stately, proud
+mansions of many of Maryland's best and bravest.
+
+I was standing on a step and above me stood Mistresses Polly and Betsy
+Johnson, who were railing at me now that I no longer wore a uniform
+and was simply a plain member of the Legislature.
+
+"He looked so fine in his brass buttons," said Mistress Polly.
+
+"A brave, bold, quite proper-looking young fellow," added Mistress
+Betsy.
+
+"And now just look at him," continued Mistress Polly pathetically; and
+they surveyed me sorrowfully, while malicious mischief played around
+the corners of their eyes.
+
+I laughed outright. I could not help it, so droll was the expression
+on their faces.
+
+"True, your ladyship," I said; "the toga does not fit a young man so
+well as the buckled sabre and glittering epaulets. But now that dull
+peace has come, the hall of the Legislature is the only place where
+you can throw the weight of your sword in the conflict and wield some
+influence in the great struggles of the country; would you have me
+idle?"
+
+"Nay, I would not have that," said Mistress Polly judiciously. "But
+your round head and big hands are just the things for a fight, and
+though your voice is--well--can be heard a considerable distance, I am
+afraid----" She paused, as if doubtful about its being put to any good
+use in the hall of the Assembly.
+
+Decidedly I was getting the worst of it.
+
+At this moment Dick Ringgold, who represented Kent with me, came
+swinging up the street, and, seeing me standing on the steps, hailed
+me with--
+
+"Hello, Frisby, have you heard the news?"
+
+"What news?"
+
+"Your old Tory friend Gordon is on the Sally Ann, from London, which
+has just come up the harbour."
+
+"Any one with him?" I asked anxiously.
+
+"Well," said Dick, maliciously drawling it out, "I heard some one say
+there was a young lady with him."
+
+I did not stop to protest against the laughter that followed me as I
+dashed down the street, or to Dick's shout as he called something
+after me. A few minutes later I was on the wharf.
+
+Out in the stream, swaying with the current of the tide, lay the Sally
+Ann, her tall spars tapering high in air, her decks full of bustle and
+activity, showing the journey's end and that the final preparations
+for disembarkation were under full headway.
+
+As I arrived a boat was pulling off from her side containing two
+passengers. As I saw them my heart gave a great bound; my hand went to
+my hat and swung it around my head. In answer to my signal came the
+fluttering of a handkerchief.
+
+"Sir," said I, as the old Tory stepped ashore, "let me be the first
+to welcome you back to old Maryland."
+
+"Would that all my enemies were like you!" he replied. "I hesitated
+long about returning, but Jean would have it so."
+
+And Mistress Jean said not a word as I took her hand in mine, but her
+face was mantled in scarlet and her eyes were downcast.
+
+The prim old garden of the Nicholsons never looked more charming, the
+flowers more sweet and beautiful, or the green boxwood hedges more
+suggestive of rest and repose; the lazy waters of the Chester rolled
+along at its foot, gently lapping the grass. Ah! the sun was shining
+on a glorious world that day, for Mistress Jean walked beside me.
+
+"Mistress Jean," said I, as we stood where the waters met the grass
+and looked out over the broad and silent river, flowing on and on as
+if to eternity, "our lives have been more like mountain torrents than
+the broad smooth river here. We have lived through the battles and
+sieges, seen blood and death and all the horrors of a great war, but
+now that peace has come, and our course lies through pleasant fields
+and verdant meadows, would it not be best for them to join and flow on
+as this great river does, Jean? Ah, Jean, you know how much I love
+you."
+
+And then she placed her hand in mine; her eyes spoke that which I most
+wished to know, and the very earth seemed glorious.
+
+I know not how long we stood there, when there came Mistress Nancy
+Nicholson's voice through the garden, calling, "Jean, Jean, where are
+you?"
+
+"Here," she answered; and with that Mistress Nancy came running round
+the hedge.
+
+"Oh, Jean," she cried, "Dick has proposed."
+
+And then, seeing me, she stamped her little foot, and cried, "Oh,
+bother!" blushing meanwhile as red as one of her roses.
+
+"And so have I, Mistress Nancy," I replied.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now, my children, I end this tale, sitting here on the old porch
+at Fairlee. The pen drops from my hand, but my eyes are not too dim to
+see the flash of the sunlight on the waters of the great bay through
+the break in the trees.
+
+Nor are they too dim, Miss Jean, in spite of the impertinent toss of
+your head, to see in you the likeness of the maid that led me such a
+wild dance in the days of my youth. And I promise you, if you do not
+smile on young Dick Ringgold and stop your outrageous treatment of
+him, I will not leave you a cent in my will.
+
+There, there; I retract every word that I said. Was there ever so
+audacious a monkey in the world?
+
+There, I have finished. Oh, yes, I forgot--
+
+"John Cotton, bring me some more mint."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tory Maid, by Herbert Baird Stimpson
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