A COUNCIL OF WAR AT MRS. MARKHAM'S. THE SERGEANT SETS FORTH ON AN
ADVENTURE.
We return to Mildred Lindsay, who, comfortably sheltered under the roof
of Mrs. Markham, had found herself, after the repose of forty-eight
hours, almost entirely reinstated in her former strength; her thoughts
were now consequently directed to the resumption of her journey. The
gentle and assiduous attentions of the family whose hospitality she
enjoyed, were, however, not confined to the mere restoration of her
health. The peculiarity of her condition, thus thrown as she was amongst
strangers, in the prosecution of an enterprise, which, though its
purpose was not disclosed to her entertainer, was one manifestly of
great peril, and such only as could have been induced by some urgent and
imperious necessity, awakened in Mrs. Markham a lively interest towards
Mildred's future progress. This interest was increased by the deportment
of our heroine herself, whose mild and graceful courtesy, feminine
delicacy, and gentleness of nurture, were so signally contrasted with
the romantic hardihood of her present expedition. General Marion's
letter, also, in the estimation of the hostess, put her under a special
obligation to look after the welfare of her guest. Accordingly, now when
the third morning of our travellers' sojourn had arrived, and Mildred
thought of taking leave of the friendly family, the first announcement
of this purpose was met by an almost positive prohibition.
"You are young, my dear," said the matron, "in your experience of the
horrors of this civil war, and make a sad mistake if you think that your
sex, or any sufficient reason you may have to justify you in going on,
will protect you against insult, in case you should be so unfortunate as
to meet parties of the enemy."
"My object, madam," replied Mildred, "is to go into the very heart of
the enemy's ranks. My business is to see Lord Cornwallis himself. I
shall, therefore, proceed directly to his head-quarters. That being my
purpose, I shall not regret the opportunity to throw myself upon the
protection of the first band of loyal troops I may meet."
"Into Lord Cornwallis's presence!" said Mrs. Markham, with an expression
of wonder. "You have some very near friend who has suffered in the late
battle--a prisoner, perhaps?" As this question escaped the lips of the
lady, who had hitherto purposely forborne to inquire into the private
history of Mildred's journey, she shook her head distrustfully, and,
after some deliberation, added, "You will pardon me, my child, for what
may seem to be an idle curiosity--I seek to know nothing that you may
desire to keep secret--but your journey is so full of hazard to one so
young and helpless as yourself, that I fear you have not wisely
considered the evil chances to which you may be exposed."
"I have spent no thought upon the hazard, madam," replied Mildred.
"There is no degree of danger that should outweigh my resolution. You
guess truly--I have a friend who is a prisoner, and in sad jeopardy--and
more than that, dear madam, I have persuaded myself that I have power to
save him." A tear started in her eye as she added, "That is all I have
thought of."
"Then may a kind and merciful Heaven shield you! They little know the
heart-rending trials of war, who have not felt them as I have. These
rude soldiers, Miss Lindsay--I shudder at the thought of your trusting
your safety to them."
"My name, madam," replied Mildred, "I am ashamed to tell you, has all
its associations on their side--I must trust to its power to bear me
through."
"Not all, sister," interrupted Henry. "From the beginning up to this
day, I can answer for myself, I have never had a thought that didn't
take sides against the red-coats."
A faint smile played upon Mrs. Markham's features, as she turned to
Henry and said, "You are a young rebel, and a warm one, I perceive. Such
troubles as ours require grave advisers."
"My brother and myself must not be misapprehended," continued Mildred;
"I alluded only to my father's influence. I have heard that he enjoys
some consideration in the esteem of Lord Cornwallis, and it is upon the
strength of that I have ventured. Besides, I am well attended by a
careful and wise soldier, who rides as my companion and guide--one who
would not quietly see me harmed."
"Let him be brought into our consultation," said Mrs. Markham. "I would
not act without his advice. With your leave, I will send for him."
Henry and Alfred Markham, immediately upon this hint, went in pursuit of
Horse Shoe.
When that important and trusty personage arrived in the parlor, a
regular conference was opened, which, after a few discourses on the
general aspect of affairs--wherein the sergeant showed an abundance of
soldierly sagacity and knowledge, and a still greater share of warm and
faithful concern for the welfare of the sister and brother whom he had
in ward--resulted in the conclusion that measures should be taken to
ascertain the state of the country around, in reference to the
impression made by the late movements of Marion and his adversary; and,
especially, what character of troops occupied the region over which the
sergeant would be required to conduct his charge. This duty the sergeant
very appropriately considered as belonging to himself, and he therefore
determined forthwith to set out on a reconnoitring expedition. As we
propose to bear him company, we will, for the present, leave the family
in the parlor to the enjoyment of the kind communion that had already
nursed up a mutual affection between the hostess and her guests.
The sergeant took his departure alone, notwithstanding the urgent
importunities of Henry and his new companion, Alfred Markham, for
permission to accompany him--a request that was utterly denied by the
sturdy and cautious soldier.
"You are apt to talk too much, Mister Lindsay," he said, in answer to
the petition of the young men, "for such a piece of business as I have
in hand: for although, consarning your good sense, and valor both,
considering your years, I would not be thought to speak rashly of
them--but, on the contrary, to give you full praise and
recommendation--yet you know you want experience and use to these
duble-dealings and dodgings that the war puts us to; whereupon, you
mought fall to talking when it was best to be silent, and, in case of
our meeting a body, to be letting out somewhat too much, which is a
thing that discommodes in war more than you would believe. And besides
this, Master Henry, there might be, mayhap, a scrimmage, a chase, and
what not--in which consideration you would be only in my way, seeing
that I should be obliged to be thinking of you when all my wits would be
wanting for myself. No, no; upon no account is it reasonable that you
should be along. It is your business to sarve as a body-guard to our
young lady, who, I say, may God bless and take care of in this world and
the next! And so, Mister Henry, you have my orders to stick to your
post."
"Well, sergeant," replied Henry, "I must obey orders, and if you command
me to stay behind, why I cannot choose about it. But, sergeant, let me
give you a word of advice. Ride cautiously--keep your eyes to the right
and left, as well as straight before you--and don't let them catch you
napping."
"You studied that speech, Mr. Henry!" said Horse Shoe, laughing. "To
hear you, one mought almost think you had shaved a beard from your chin
before this. Look out, or your hair will turn grey from too hard
thinking! and now, my long-headed fellow-soldier, good bye t'ye!"
"You are not going without your rifle, Mr. Horse Shoe?" said Henry,
calling out to the sergeant, who had already trotted off some twenty
paces.
"That's another consarn for you to ruminate over," replied Horse Shoe,
in the same jocular mood. "Mine is a business of legs, not arms,
to-day."
The sergeant was immediately after this upon the highway, moving forward
with nothing, seemingly, to employ him but cheerful thoughts.
After riding for an hour upon the road that led towards Camden, he was
enabled to collect from the country people a rumor that some detachments
of horse were, at this time, traversing the country towards Pedee, but
whether friends or enemies was not known to his informants. In following
up this trail of common report, his vigilance quickened by the
uncertainty of the tidings, he arrived about mid-day at a brook which,
running between low but sharp hills, was crossed by the road at a point
where a bold mass of rock, some twenty feet in height, jutted down with
a perpendicular abruptness into the water. Here, as he stopped to survey
the narrow and winding course of the stream, his eye was attracted by
the projecting crag that thrust its bulk almost into the middle of the
channel; and, for a moment, he indulged the speculation of a soldier, as
he pondered upon the military advantages of such a post, either as a
point from which to reconnoitre an enemy, or as a vantage-ground on
which to dispute his passage of the ford. It not long afterwards fell to
his lot to turn this observation to some account.
A mile beyond this spot, and where the road, as it yet crept through the
bosom of the hills, was so obscured by forest as to afford not more than
fifty paces of uninterrupted view, his quick ear was struck with sounds
resembling the tramp of horses. Upon this conviction, it was but the
action of an instant for him to turn aside into the woods and to take a
station which might enable him to investigate the cause of his surmise,
without exposing himself to the risk of detection. The noise grew
louder, and what was vague conjecture soon became the certain report of
his senses. At the nearest turn in the road, whilst protected by a
screen of thicket, he could descry the leading platoons of a column of
horse advancing at a slow gait; and upon examining his own position he
became aware that, although the thicket might guard him from present
observation, it would cease to do so as soon as the squadron should
approach nearer to his ground. His thoughts recurred to the rock at the
ford, and, with a view to avail himself of it, he forthwith commenced
his retreat through the underwood that guarded the road side, as fast as
Captain Peter could get over the ground. It was not long before he was
removed beyond all risk of being seen by the advancing party, and he
thus found himself at liberty to take the road again and retire without
apprehension.
In Horse Shoe's reckoning, it was a matter of great importance that he
should obtain the most accurate information regarding the troop that he
had just encountered; and his present purpose was, accordingly, to post
himself in a secure position upon the rock and there maintain a close
watch upon the party as they rode beneath it. The brook was gained, the
ford passed, and the sergeant, after riding a short circuit towards the
rear of the little promontory, dismounted from his horse, which he
secured in the depths of the wood, and then clambered to the top of the
precipice, where he had barely time to conceal himself amongst the crags
and the thick shrubbery that shot up above them, before the headmost
files of the cavalry appeared descending the opposite hill.
As the column came gradually into his view upon the road which wound
down into the valley, it disclosed a troop of some twenty men, whose
green uniform sufficiently indicated the presence of a part of
Tarleton's command. He heard them call a halt upon the bank, and after a
few moments' rest, he saw them ride into the stream, and pass in files
around the base of the rock.
The passage of the brook occupied some time; for the thirsty horses were
successively given a slack rein as they entered the ford, and were
allowed to drink. This delay separated the platoons, and those who first
passed over had advanced a considerable distance before the stragglers
of the rear had quitted the stream. For some minutes that stir and noise
prevailed which, in a military party, generally attends the attempt to
restore order amongst confused or broken ranks. The frequent commands of
officers summoning the loiterers and chiding their delay, were given
from front to rear in loud tones, and the swift gallop of those who had
lingered in the stream, as they obeyed the order and hastened forward to
their places, sent forth a quick and spirited evidence of bustle, that
broke sharply upon the silence of the surrounding forest. These
indications of activity unfortunately pricked with a sudden astonishment
the ear of one who has heretofore figured, not without renown, in this
history--the lusty and faithful Captain Peter; who, not sufficiently
alive to the distinction between friend and foe, now began to snuff, and
paw the ground, and then with a long and clear note of recognition, to
express his feelings of good fellowship towards the unseen strangers.
Another moment, and the gay and thoughtless steed reared, plunged broke
his bridle, and bounded through the woods, with a frolicsome speed that
brought him into the midst of the troop, where he wheeled up and took
his place, like a disciplined charger, on the flank of one of the
platoons.
This incident caused the officer in command of the party to come again
to a halt, and to despatch a portion of his men to seek the owner of the
horse. An eager search commenced, which was almost immediately
terminated by the wary sergeant presenting himself to the view of the
troop, on a prominent and exposed point of the rock, where he seemed to
be busily and unconcernedly engaged with his jack-knife, in stripping
the bark from the roots of a sassafras tree that grew out of one of the
fissures of the cliff. Apparently, he gave no attention to the clamor
around him, nor seemed to show a wish to conceal himself from notice.
"Who in the devil are you--and what are you about?" exclaimed the
leading soldier, as he mounted the rock and came up immediately behind
Robinson, who was still fixed with one knee upon the ground, plying his
labor at the root of the tree.
"Good day, friend," said Robinson, looking up over his shoulder, "Good
day! From your looks you belong to the army, and, if that's true,
perhaps you mought be able to tell me how far it is from here to the
river?"
"Get up on your feet," said the other, "and follow me quickly! I will
take you to one who will oil the joints of your tongue for you, and put
you to studying your catechism. Quick, fellow, move your heavy carcass,
or, I promise you, I will prick your fat sides with my sword point."
"Anywhere you wish, sir, if you will only give me time to gather up this
here bark," said the sergeant, who, hereupon, heedless of the
objurgation of the trooper, deliberately untied the handkerchief from
his neck, and spreading it out upon the ground, threw into it the pieces
of bark he had been cutting, and then, taking it in his hand, rose and
walked after the soldier.
He was conducted to the troop, who were waiting in the road the return
of the men that had been despatched on this piece of service.
"Quick, quick, move yourselves! we have no time to lose," cried out the
officer in command of the detachment, as Horse Shoe and his guide came
in view: and then, after an interval of silence, during which the
sergeant walked heavily to the spot where the troop waited for him, he
added with an impatient abruptness, "Make few words of it, sir. Your
name, where from, and where are you going?"
"My name, captain--if your honor is a captain, and if I miscall you, I
ax your honor's pardon: my name is--is--Stephen Foster, Steve most
commonly."
"Well, whence do you come?"
"From Virginny."
"Fool! why do you stop?"
"You axed, I think, where I was going? I was going to get on my horse
that's broke his bridle, which I see you have cotched for me: and then
back to my young mistress, sir, that was taken sick over here at a
gentlewoman's house on Pedee. She thought a little sassafras tea might
help her along, and I was sent out to try and get a few scrapings of the
bark to take to her. I suppose I must have rode out of my way a matter
of some eight or ten miles to find it, though I told her that I thought
a little balm out of the garden would have done just as well. But women
are women, sir, and a sick woman in particular."
"This fellow is more knave than fool, I take it, cornet," said the
officer to a companion near him.
"His horse seems to have been trained to other duties than gathering
herbs for ladies of delicate stomachs," replied the other.
"My horse," interrupted the sergeant, "would have broken clean off if it
hadn't a been for your honor: they say he belonged to a muster in
Verginny, and I was warned that he was apt to get rampagious when there
was anything like a set of sodgers nigh him, and that is about the
reason, I expect, why he took it into his head to fall into your
company."
"Get on your beast," said the officer impatiently, "you must go with us.
If upon further acquaintance I form a better opinion of you, you may go
about your business."
"I am somewhat in a hurry to get back to the lady."
"Silence! Mount your horse, fall to the rear. Gilbert, attend to this
fellow, he musn't leave us," said the officer, as he delivered Horse
Shoe into the charge of one of the leaders of a platoon, and then put
spurs to his steed and moved to the head of the column.
It was in the afternoon when this incident occurred; and Robinson found
himself, during the remainder of the day, compelled to follow the troop
through a series of by-ways across the country, in a direction of which
he was wholly ignorant,--being also in the same degree unacquainted with
the object of the march. When the day closed they arrived at a
farm-house, where it seemed to be their purpose to pass the night; and
here the sergeant, towards whom no unnecessary rigor had been exercised,
was freely allowed to participate in the cheer provided for the party.
This rest was of short duration; for, before the coming of the allotted
bed-hour, a courier arrived, bringing a despatch to the leader of the
detachment, which produced an instant order to saddle and resume the
march.
Once more upon the road, the sergeant became aware, as well as he was
able to determine in the dark, that the party during the night were
retracing their steps, and returning upon the same route which they had
before travelled.
A half hour before the dawn found the troop ascending a long hill, the
summit of which, as Robinson perceived from the rustling of the blades
in the morning wind, was covered by a field of standing corn; and he was
enabled to descry, moving athwart the starlit sky, the figures of men on
horseback approaching the column. The customary challenge was given; a
momentary halt ensued, and he could hear the patrole--for such they
described themselves,--informing the officer of the detachment that
Colonel Tarleton was close at hand expecting their arrival. This
intelligence induced an increase of speed which, after a short interval,
brought the night-worn squadron into the presence of nearly a whole
regiment of cavalry.
The troops, thus encountered, were stationed upon the high-road where it
crossed an open and uncultivated plain, the nearer extremity of which
was bordered by the cornfield of which I have spoken. It was apparent
that the regiment had passed the night at this place, as a number of
horses were yet attached to the fence that guarded the field, and were
feeding on the blades of corn that had been gathered and thrown before
them. The greater part, however, were now drawn up in column of march,
as if but recently arrayed to prepare for the toil of the coming day.
Robinson was conducted along the flank of the column, and thence to a
spot in the neighborhood, where a party of officers assembled by a
sylvan tent, constructed of the boughs of trees, showed him that he was
at the head-quarters of the commander of the corps. This tent was
pitched upon a piece of high ground that afforded a view of the distant
horizon in the east, where a faint streak of daylight lay like the
traces of a far-off town in flames, against which the forms of men and
horses were relieved, in bold profile, as they now moved about in the
early preparations for their march.
A single faggot gleamed within the tent, and, by its ray, Horse Shoe was
enabled to discern the well known figure of Tarleton, as he conferred
with a company of officers around him. After the sergeant had waited a
few moments, he was ordered into the presence of the group within:
"You were found yesterday," said Tarleton, "in suspicious
circumstances--what is your name, fellow?"
"I am called Stephen Foster by name," replied the sergeant, "being a
stranger in these parts. At home I'm a kind of a gardener to a gentleman
in Virginia; and it isn't long since I set out with his daughter to come
here into Carolina. She fell sick by the way, and yesterday, whilst I
was hunting up a little physic for her in the woods, a gang of your
people came across me and fotch me here--and that's about all that I
have got to say."
A series of questions followed, by which the sergeant was compelled to
give some further account of himself, which he contrived to do with an
address that left his questioners but little the wiser as to his real
character; and which strongly impressed them with the conviction that
the man they had to deal with was but a simple and rude clown.
"You say you don't know the name of the person at whose house you
stopped?" inquired the commander.
"I disremember," replied Horse Shoe; "being, as I said, a stranger in
the parts, and not liking to make too free with axing after people's
names."
"A precious lout, this, you have brought me, Lieutenant Munroe," said
Tarleton, addressing the officer who had hitherto had the custody of the
sergeant. "You don't _disremember_ the part of Virginia you lived in?"
he added, pursuing his examination.
"They have given it the name of Amherst," replied Horse Shoe.
"And the father of Miss Lindsay, you say, resided there?"
"Sartainly, sir."
"There is a gentleman of that name somewhere in Virginia," said
Tarleton, apart to one of his attendants, "and known as a friend to our
cause, I think."
"I have heard of the family," replied the person addressed.
"What has brought the lady to Carolina?"
"Consarning some business of a friend, as I have been told," answered
Horse Shoe.
"It is a strange errand for such a time, and a marvellous shrewd
conductor she has chosen! I can make nothing out of this fellow. You
might have saved yourself the trouble of taking charge of such a clod,
lieutenant."
"My orders," replied the lieutenant, "were to arrest all suspicious
persons; and I had two reasons to suspect this man. First, he was found
upon a spot that couldn't have been better chosen for a look-out if he
had been sent to reconnoitre us; and second, his horse showed some
military training."
"But the booby himself was stupid enough," rejoined the commander, "to
carry his passport in his face."
"I have a paper, sir, to that purpose," said Horse Shoe, putting his
hands into his pockets, "it signifies, I was told,--for I can't read of
my own accord--that I mought pass free without molestification from the
sodgers of the king--this is it, I believe, sir."
"_To three suppers at the Rising Sun, four and six pence_," said
Tarleton, reading. "Tush, this is a tavern bill!"
"Ha, ha, so it is," exclaimed Robinson. "Well, I have been keeping that
there paper for a week past, thinking it was my certificate--and, like a
fool, I have gone and tore up the t'other."
"We are wasting time, gentlemen," said the commander. "Turn this fellow
loose, and let him go his ways. But hark you, did you hear of a fight
lately on Pedee, between some of our people and Marion--three days ago?"
"They talked of such a thing on the river," replied Horse Shoe.
"Well, and what was said?"
"Nothing in particular that I can bear in mind."
"Like all the rest we have tried to get out of him! You don't even know
which party got the better?"
"Oh, I have hearn that, sir."
"What did you hear? speak out!"
"Shall I give you the circumlocutory account of the matter?" asked Horse
Shoe, "or did you wish me to go into the particulars?"
"Any account, so that it be short."
"Then I have hearn that Marion gave the t'other side a bit of a
beating."
"Aye, aye, so I suppose! Another tale of this Jack the Giant Killer! And
what has become of Marion?"
"That's onbeknownst to me," replied Horse Shoe.
"Do you remember the fool we met at the Waxhaws last May?" asked one of
the officers present, of another. "This fellow might pass for a full
brother in blood--only I think this clown has the less wit of the two."
"As heavy a lump, certainly," replied the officer. "This, you say, is
the first time you have been in Carolina?"
"To my knowledge," replied the sergeant.
"It is broad day, gentlemen," said Tarleton; "we have been squandering
precious time upon an empty simpleton. Give him his beast and let him be
gone. Sirrah, you are free to depart. But, look you, if I hear any
reports along the road of your having seen me, or a word about my
coming, I'll ferret you out and have you trussed upon a stake twenty
feet long."
"Thank your honor," said Horse Shoe, as he left the tent. "I never
troubles my head with things out of my line."
Then seeking his horse he leisurely rode back by the way he had come;
and as soon as he found himself beyond the outposts of the corps, he
urged Captain Peter to as much speed as the late arduous duties of the
good beast left him power to exert.