THE TROOPERS MOVE WITH THEIR PRISONERS.
"Oft he that doth abide,
Is cause of his own paine,
But he that flieth in good tide,
Perhaps may fight again."--_Old Proverb._
It was with the most earnest solicitude that Butler and his companion
watched the course of events, and became acquainted with the character
of the ruffians into whose hands they had fallen. The presence of James
Curry in this gang excited a painful consciousness in the mind of the
soldier, that he had powerful and secret enemies at work against him,
but who they were was an impenetrable mystery. Then the lawless habits
of the people who had possession of him, gave rise to the most anxious
distrust as to his future fate: he might be murdered in a fit of
passion, or tortured with harsh treatment to gratify some concealed
malice. His position in the army was, it seemed, known too; and, for
aught that he could tell, his mission might be no secret to his captors.
Robinson's sagacity entered fully into these misgivings. He had narrowly
observed the conduct of the party who had made them prisoners, and with
that acute insight which was concealed under a rude and uneducated
exterior, but which was strongly marked in his actions, he had already
determined upon the course which the safety of Butler required him to
pursue. According to his view of their present difficulties it was
absolutely necessary that he should effect his escape, at whatever
personal hazard. Butler, he rightly conjectured, was the principal
object of the late ambuscade; that, for some unknown purpose, the
possession of this officer became important to those who had procured
the attack upon him, and that James Curry had merely hired this gang of
desperadoes to secure the prize. Under these circumstances, he concluded
that the Major would be so strictly guarded as to forbid all hope of
escape, and that any attempt by him to effect it would only be punished
by certain death. But, in regard to himself, his calculation was
different. "First," said he, "I can master any three of this beggarly
crew in an open field and fair fight; and, secondly, when it comes to
the chances of a pell-mell, they will not think me of so much account as
to risk their necks by a long chase; their whole eyes would undoubtedly
be directed to the Major." The sergeant, therefore, determined to make
the attempt, and, in the event of his success, to repair to Sumpter, who
he knew frequented some of the fastnesses in this region; or, in the
alternative, to rally such friends from the neighboring country as were
not yet overawed by the Tory dominion, and bring them speedily to the
rescue of Butler. Full of these thoughts, he took occasion during the
night, whilst the guard were busy in cooking their venison, and whilst
they thought him and his comrade wrapt in sleep, to whisper to Butler
the resolution he had adopted.
"I will take the first chance to-morrow to make a dash upon these
ragamuffins," he said; "and I shall count it hard if I don't get out of
their claws. Then, rely upon me, I shall keep near you in spite of these
devils. So be prepared, if I once get away, to see me like a witch that
travels on a broomstick or creeps through a keyhole. But whisht! the
drunken vagabonds mustn't hear us talking."
Butler, after due consideration of the sergeant's scheme, thought it,
however perilous, the only chance they had of extricating themselves
from the dangers with which they were beset, and promised the most ready
co-operation; determining also, to let no opportunity slip which might
be improved to his own deliverance. "Your good arm and brave heart,
Galbraith, never stood you in more urgent stead than they may do
to-morrow," was his concluding remark.
When morning broke the light of day fell upon a strange and disordered
scene. The drunken and coarse wretches of the night before, now lessened
in number and strength by common broil and private quarrel, lay
stretched on their beds of leaves. Their motley and ill-assorted weapons
lay around in disarray; drinking cups and empty flasks were scattered
over the trodden grass, the skin and horns of the buck, and disjointed
fragments of raw flesh were seen confusedly cast about beneath the tree,
and a conspicuous object in the scene were the clots of blood and gore,
both of men and beast, that disfigured the soil. Two new-made graves, or
rather mounds, hastily scratched together and imperfectly concealing the
limbs of the dead, prominently placed but a few feet from the ring of
last night's revelry, told of the disasters of the fight at the ford.
The brushwood fire had burned down into a heap of smouldering ashes, and
the pale and sickly features of the wounded trooper were to be discerned
upon a pallet of leaves, hard by the heap of embers, surrounded by the
remnants of bones and roasted meat that had been flung carelessly aside.
In a spot of more apparent comfort, sheltered by an overhanging canopy
of vines and alder, lay Butler stretched upon his cloak, and, close
beside him, the stout frame of Horse Shoe Robinson. In the midst of all
these marks of recent riot and carousal, sat two swarthy figures,
haggard and wan from night-watching, armed at every point, and keeping
strict guard over the prisoners.
The occasional snort and pawing of horses in the neighboring wood showed
that these animals were alert at the earliest dawn; whilst among the
first who seemed aware of the approach of day, was seen rising from the
earth, where it had been flung in stupid torpor for some hours, the
bloated and unsightly person of Hugh Habershaw, now much the worse for
the fatigue and revelry of the preceding night. A savage and surly
expression was seated on his brow, and his voice broke forth more than
ordinarily harsh and dissonant, as he ordered the troop to rouse and
prepare for their march.
The summons was tardily obeyed; and while the yawning members of the
squad were lazily moving to their several duties and shaking off the
fumes of their late debauch, the captain was observed bending over the
prostrate form of Gideon Blake, and directing a few anxious inquiries
into his condition. The wounded man was free from pain, but his limbs
were stiff, and the region of the stab sore and sensitive to the least
touch. The indications, however, were such as to show that his wound was
not likely to prove mortal. By the order of Habershaw, a better litter
was constructed, and the troopers were directed to bear him, by turns,
as far as Christie's, where he was to be left to the nursing of the
family. It was a full hour before the horses were saddled, the scattered
furniture collected, and the preparations for the march completed. When
these were accomplished the prisoners were provided with the two
sorriest horses of the troop, and they now set forward at a slow pace,
under the escort of four men commanded by James Curry. The two troopers
who bore the sick man followed on foot; Habershaw with the remainder,
one of whom had appropriated Captain Peter, whilst he led the horses of
the dismounted men, brought up the rear.
On the journey there was but little spoken by any member of the party;
the boisterous and rude nature of the men who composed the troop seemed
to have been subdued by sleep into a temper of churlish indifference or
stolid apathy. Peppercorn, or James Curry, as the reader now recognises
him, strictly preserved his guard over the prisoners, manifesting a
severity of manner altogether different from the tone of careless
revelry which characterized his demeanor on the preceding night. It
never relaxed from an official and sullen reserve. A moody frown sat
upon his brow, and his communication with the prisoners was confined to
short and peremptory commands; whilst, at the same time, he forbade the
slightest intercourse with them on the part of any of the guard. During
the short progress to Christie's he frequently rode apart with
Habershaw; and the conversation which then occupied these two was
maintained in a low tone, and with a serious air that denoted some grave
matter of deliberation.
It was more than an hour after sunrise when the cavalcade reached the
point of their present destination. There were signs of an anxious
purpose in the silence of the journey, broken as it was only by low
mutterings amongst the men, above which sometimes arose an expression of
impatience and discontent, as the subject of their whispered discussions
appeared to excite some angry objection from several of the party; and
this mystery was not less conspicuous in the formal order of the halt,
and in the pause that followed upon their arrival at the habitation.
The house, in front of which they were drawn up, was, according to the
prevailing fashion of the time, a one-storied dwelling covering an ample
space of ground, built partly of boards and partly of logs, with a long
piazza before it, terminating in small rooms, made by inclosing the
sides for a few feet at either extremity. Being situated some twenty
paces aside from the road, the intervening area was bounded by a fence
through which a gate afforded admission. A horse-rack, with a few
feeding troughs, was erected near this gate; and a draw-well, in the
same vicinity, furnished a ready supply of water. With the exception of
a cleared field around the dwelling, the landscape was shaded by the
natural forest.
A consultation of some minutes' duration was held between Habershaw and
Curry, when the order to dismount was given, accompanied with an
intimation of a design to tarry at this place for an hour or two; but
the men, at the same time, were directed to leave their saddles upon
their horses. One or two were detailed to look after the refreshment of
the cattle, whilst the remainder took possession of the principal room.
The first demands of the troop were for drink, and this being indulged,
the brute feeling of conviviality which in gross natures depends
altogether upon sensual excitement, began once more to break down the
barriers of discipline, and to mount into clamor.
The scenes of the morning had made a disagreeable impression upon the
feelings of Butler and his comrade. The changed tone and the ruffian
manners of the band, the pause, and the doubts which seemed to agitate
them, boded mischief. The two prisoners, however, almost instinctively
adopted the course of conduct which their circumstances required. They
concealed all apprehension of harm, and patiently awaited the end. Horse
Shoe even took advantage of the rising mirth of the company when drink
began to exhilarate them, and affected an easy tone of companionship
which was calculated to throw them off their guard. He circulated freely
amongst the men, and by private conference with some of the individuals
around him, who, attracted by his air of confiding gaiety, seemed
inclined to favor his approaches of familiarity, he soon discovered that
the gang were divided in sentiment in regard to some important subject
touching the proposed treatment of himself and his friend. A party, at
least, he was thus made aware, were disposed to take his side in the
secret disputes which had been in agitation. He was determined to profit
by this dissension, and accordingly applied himself still more
assiduously to cultivate the favorable sentiment he found in existence.
Whilst breakfast was in preparation, and Habershaw and Curry were
occupied with the wounded man in an adjoining apartment, the sergeant,
playing the part of a boon companion, laughed with the rioters, and,
uninvited, made himself free of their cups.
"I should like to know," he said to one of the troopers, "why you are
giving yourselves all this trouble about a couple of simple travellers
that happened to be jogging along the road? If you wanted to make a
pitched battle you ought to have sent us word; but if it was only upon a
drinking bout you had set your hearts, there was no occasion to be
breaking heads for the honor of getting a good fellow in your company,
when he would have come of his own accord at the first axing. There was
no use in making such a mighty secret about it; for, as we were
travelling the same road with you, you had only to show a man the
civility of saying you wanted our escort, and you should have had it at
a word. Here's to our better acquaintance, friend!"
"You mightn't be so jolly, Horse Shoe Robinson," said Shad Green--or,
according to his nickname, Red Mug, in a whisper; "if some of them that
took the trouble to find you, should have their own way. It's a d----d
tight pull whether you are to be kept as a prisoner of war, or shoved
under ground this morning without tuck of drum. That for your private
ear."
"I was born in old Carolina myself," replied Horse Shoe, aside to the
speaker; "and I don't believe there is many men to be found in it who
would stand by and see the rules and regulations of honorable war
blackened and trod down into the dust by any cowardly trick of murder.
If it comes to that, many as there are against two, our lives will not
go at a cheap price."
"Whisht!" returned the other, "with my allowance, for one, it shan't be.
A prisoner's a prisoner, I say; and damnation to the man that would make
him out worse."
"They say you are a merry devil, old Horse Shoe," exclaimed he who was
called Bow Legs, who now stepped up and slapped the sergeant on the
back. "So take a swig, man; fair play is a jewel!--that's my doctrine.
Fight when you fight, and drink when you drink--and that's the sign to
know a man by."
"There is some good things," said the sergeant, "in this world that's
good, and some that's bad. But I have always found that good and bad is
so mixed up and jumbled together, that you don't often get much of one
without a little of the other. A sodger's a sodger, no matter what side
he is on; and they are the naturalest people in the world for
fellow-feeling. One day a man is up, and then the laugh's on his side;
next day he is down, and then the laugh's against him. So, as a sodger
has more of these ups and downs than other folks, there's the reason his
heart is tenderer towards a comrade than other people's. Here's your
health, sir. This is a wicked world, and twisted, in a measure, upside
down; and it is well known that evil communications corrupts good
manners; but sodgers were made to set the world right again, on its
legs, and to presarve good breeding and Christian charity. So there's a
sarmon for you, you tinkers!"
"Well done, mister preacher!" vociferated a prominent reveller. "If you
will desert and enlist with us you shall be the chaplain of the troop.
We want a good swearing, drinking, and tearing blade who can hold a
discourse over his liquor, and fence with the devil at long words.
You're the very man for it! Huzza for the blacksmith!"
"Huzza for the blacksmith!" shouted several others in the apartment.
Butler, during this scene, had stretched himself out at full length upon
a bench, to gain some rest in his present exhausted and uncomfortable
condition, and was now partaking of the refreshment of a bowl of milk
and some coarse bread, which one of the troopers had brought him.
"What's all this laughing and uproar about?" said Habershaw, entering
the room with Curry, just at the moment of the acclamation in favor of
the sergeant "Is this a time for your cursed wide throats to be braying
like asses! We have business to do. And you, sir," said he, turning to
Butler, "you must be taking up the room of a half dozen men on a bench
with your lazy carcase! Up, sir; I allow no lolling and lying about to
rascally whigs and rebels. You have cost me the death of a dog that is
worth all your filthy whig kindred; and you have made away with two of
the best men that ever stept in shoe leather. Sit up, sir, and thank
your luck that you haven't your arms pinioned behind you, like a horse
thief."
"Insolent coward," said Butler, springing upon his feet; "hired ruffian!
you shall in due time be made to pay for the outrage you have inflicted
upon me."
"Tie him up!" cried Habershaw; "tie him up! And now I call you all to
bear witness that he has brought the sentence upon himself; it shall be
done without waiting another moment. Harry Gage, I give the matter over
to you. Draw out four men, take them into the yard, and dispatch the
prisoners off-hand! shoot the traitors on the spot, before we eat our
breakfasts! I was a fool that I didn't settle this at daylight this
morning--the rascally filth of the earth! Have no heart about it, men;
but make sure work by a short distance. This is no time for whining.
When have the Whigs shown mercy to us!"
"It shall be four against four, then!" cried out Shadrach Green,
seconded by Andrew Clopper; "and the first shot that is fired shall be
into the bowels of Hugh Habershaw! Stand by me, boys!"
In a moment the parties were divided, and had snatched up their weapons,
and then stood looking angrily at each other as if daring each to
commence the threatened affray.
"Why, how now, devil's imps!" shouted Habershaw. "Have you come to a
mutiny? Have you joined the rebels? James Curry, look at this! By the
bloody laws of war, I will report every rascal who dares to lift his
hand against me!"
"The thing is past talking about," said the first speaker, coolly. "Hugh
Habershaw, neither you nor James Curry shall command the peace if you
dare to offer harm to the prisoners. Now, bully, report that as my
saying. They are men fairly taken in war, and shall suffer no evil past
what the law justifies. Give them up to the officer of the nearest
post--that's what we ask--carry them to Innis's camp if you choose; but
whilst they are in our keeping there shall be no blood spilled without
mixing some of your own with it, Hugh Habershaw."
"Arrest the mutineers!" cried Habershaw, trembling with rage. "Who are
my friends in this room? Let them stand by me, and then--blast me if I
don't force obedience to my orders!"
"You got off by the skin of your teeth last night," said Green, "when
you tried to take the life of Gideon Blake. For that you deserved a
bullet through your skull. Take care that you don't get your reckoning
this morning, captain and all as you are."
"What in the devil would you have?" inquired Habershaw, stricken into a
more cautious tone of speech by the decided bearing of the man opposed
to him.
"The safety of the prisoners until they are delivered to the commander
of a regular post; we have resolved upon that!" was the reply.
"Curry!" said Habershaw, turning in some perplexity to the dragoon as if
for advice.
"Softly, Captain; we had better have a parley here," said Curry, who
then added in a whisper: "There's been some damned bobbery kicked up
here by the blacksmith. This comes of giving that fellow the privilege
of talking."
"A word, men," interposed Horse Shoe, who during this interval had
planted himself near Butler, and with him stood ready to act as the
emergency might require. "Let me say a word. This James Curry is my man.
Give me a broadsword and a pair of pistols, and I will pledge the hand
and word of a sodger, upon condition that I am allowed five minutes'
parole, to have a pass, here in the yard, with him--it shall be in sight
of the whole squad--I pledge the word of a sodger to deliver myself back
again to the guard, dead or alive, without offering to take any chance
to make off in the meantime. Come, James Curry, your word to the back of
that, and then buckle on your sword, man. I heard your whisper."
"Soldiers," said Curry, stepping into the circle which the party had now
formed round the room, "let me put in a word as a peace-maker. Captain
Habershaw won't be unreasonable. I will vouch for him that he will
fulfil your wish regarding the conveying of the prisoners to a regular
post. Come, come, let us have no brawling! For shame! put down your
guns. There may be reason in what you ask, although it isn't so much
against the fashion of the times to shoot a Whig either. But anything
for the sake of quiet amongst good fellows. Be considerate, noble
captain, and do as the babies wish. As for Horse Shoe's brag--he is an
old soldier, and so am I; that's enough. We are not so green as to put a
broadsword and a brace of pistols into the hands of a bullying prisoner.
No, no, Horse Shoe! try another trick, old boy! Ha, ha, lads! you are a
set of fine dashing chaps, and this is only one of your mad-cap bits of
spunk that boils up with your liquor. Take another cup on it, my merry
fellows, and all will be as pleasant as the music of a fife. Come,
valiant Captain of the Tiger, join us. And as for the prisoners--why let
them come in for snacks with us. So there's an end of the business. All
is as mild as new milk again."
"Well, well, get your breakfasts," said Habershaw gruffly. "Blast you! I
have spoiled you by good treatment, you ungrateful, carnivorous dogs!
But, as Peppercorn says, there's an end of it! So go to your feeding,
and when that's done we will push for Blackstock's."
The morning meal was soon despatched, and the party reassembled in the
room where the late disturbance had taken place. The good-nature of
Robinson continued to gain upon those who had first taken up his cause,
and even brought him into a more lenient consideration with the others.
Amongst the former I have already noted Andrew Clopper, a rough and
insubordinate member of the gang, who, vexed by some old grudge against
the fat captain, had efficiently sustained Green in the late act of
mutiny, and who now, struck with Horse Shoe's bold demeanor towards
Curry, began to evince manifest signs of a growing regard for the worthy
sergeant. With this man Horse Shoe contrived to hold a short and secret
interview that resulted in the quiet transfer of a piece of gold into
the freebooter's hand, which was received with a significant nod of
assent to whatever proposition accompanied it. When the order of "boot
and saddle" was given by Habershaw, the several members of the troop
repaired to their horses, where a short time was spent in making ready
for the march; after which the whole squad returned to the porch and
occupied the few moments of delay in that loud and boisterous carousal
which is apt to mark the conduct of such an ill-organized body in the
interval immediately preceding the commencement of a day's ride. This
was a moment of intense interest to the sergeant, who kept his eyes
steadily fixed upon the movements of Clopper, as that individual
lingered behind his comrades in the equipment of his horse. This
solicitude did not, however, arrest his seeming mirth, as he joined in
the rude jests of the company and added some sallies of his own.
"Give me that cup," he said at length, to one of the men, as he pointed
to a gourd on a table; "before we start I have a notion to try the
strength of a little cold water, just by way of physic, after all the
liquor we have been drinking," and, having got the implement in his
hand, he walked deliberately to the draw-well, where he dipped up a
draught from the bucket that stood on its brink. As he put the water to
his lips and turned his back upon the company, he was enabled to take a
survey of the horses that were attached to the rack near him: then,
suddenly throwing the gourd from him, he sprang towards his own trusty
steed, leaped into his saddle at one bound, and sped, like an arrow from
a bow, upon the highway. This exploit was so promptly achieved that no
one was aware of the sergeant's purpose until he was some twenty paces
upon his journey. As soon as the alarm of his flight was spread, some
three or four rifles were fired after him in rapid succession, during
which he was seen ducking his head and moving it from side to side with
a view to baffle the aim of the marksmen. The confusion of the moment in
which the volley was given rendered it ineffectual, and the sergeant was
already past the first danger of his escape.
"To horse and follow!" resounded from all sides.
"Look to the other prisoner!" roared out Habershaw; "if he raises his
head blow out his brains! Follow, boys, follow!"
"Two or three of you come with me," cried Curry, and a couple of files
hastened with the dragoon to their horses. Upon arriving at the rack it
was discovered that the bridles of the greater part of the troop were
tied in hard knots in such a manner as to connect each two or three
horses together.
A short delay took place whilst the horsemen were disentangling their
reins, and Curry, being the first to extricate his steed, mounted and
set off in rapid pursuit. He was immediately followed by two others.
At the end of half an hour the two privates returned and reported that
they had been unable to obtain a view of the sergeant or even of Curry.
Shortly afterwards the dragoon himself was descried retracing his steps
at a moderate trot towards the house. His plight told a tale upon him of
discomfiture. One side of his face was bleeding with a recent bruise,
his dress disarranged and his back covered with dust. The side of his
horse also bore the same taint of the soil.
He rode up to Habershaw--who was already upon the road at the head of
the remaining members of the squad, having Butler in charge--and
informed him that he had pursued the sergeant at full speed until he
came in sight of him, when the fugitive had slackened his gait as if on
purpose to allow himself to be overtaken.
"But, the devil grip the fellow!" he added, "he has a broad-side like a
man-of-war! In my hurry I left my sword behind me, and, when I came up
with him, I laid my hand upon his bridle; but, by some sudden sleight
which he has taught his horse, he contrived, somehow or other, to upset
me--horse and all--down a bank on the road-side. And, when I lay on the
ground sprawling, do you think the jolly runagate didn't rein up and
give me a broad laugh, and ask me if he could be of any _sarvice_ to me?
He then bade me good bye, saying he had an engagement that prevented him
from favoring me any longer with his company. Gad! it was so civilly
done that all I could say was, luck go with you, Mr. Horse Shoe; and,
since we are to part company so soon, may the devil pad your saddle for
you! I'll do him the justice to say that he's a better horseman than I
took him for. I can hardly begrudge a man his liberty who can win it as
cleverly as he has done."
"Well, there's no more to be said about it," remarked Habershaw. "He is
only game for another day. He is like a bear's cub; which is as much as
to signify that he has a hard time before him. He would have only given
us trouble; so let him go. Now, boys, away for Blackstock's; I will
engage I keep the fox that's left safely enough."
With these words the troop proceeded upon their march.