far away and a looming black close at hand; a star palpitated in the
colorless crystal-clear concave of the fading skies; the vernal stretch
of the savannas, whose intense green was somehow asserted till the
latest glimmer of light, ceased to resound with the voices of the herds;
only here and there a keen metallic note of a bell clanked forth and was
silent, and again the sound came from a farther pen like a belated echo;
the fire flaring out from the open door of the nearest hut of the
ranchmen's little hamlet gave a pleasant sense of hospitality and homely
hearth-side cheer, for it requires only a few nights under a tent or the
open canopy of heaven to make a woman, always the most artificially
disposed of all creatures, exceedingly respectful to a roof.
To be sure the interior of this roof was well garnished with cobwebs,
and Peninnah Penelope Anne's mother was so notable a housekeeper and had
inculcated such horror of these untoward drapings and festoons that the
girl was compelled to look sedulously away from them to avoid staring in
amazement at their morbid development and proportions. The
superintendent of the ranch--being an establishment of magnitude it had
several sub-agents also--was so occupied in putting the best foot of his
menage foremost, not being prepared for such company that, like many a
modern housekeeper, he let the opportunity for pleasure slip. When he
proffered tea--he had sent a negro servant all the way to Fort Prince
George for the luxury, where it could be found among the hospital
stores, for tea was too mild a tipple for the pioneer cow-drivers--he
suffered the egregious mortification of pouring out plain hot water,
having forgotten to put in the tea leaves to steep. He looked very hot
and ruefully distressed as he repaired his error, and would not, could
not meet the laughing eyes of his comrades, nor yet the polite glances
of his guests resolutely seeing naught amiss. He was oppressed with a
sense of the number and prominence of his dogs about the wide hearth of
his cabin; when the animals were therefore vigorously kicked out to make
more space, instead of retiring with the usual plaintive yelp of protest
appropriate to such occasions they took advantage of the presence of
guests of distinction and made the rafters ring and resound with their
ear-splitting shrieks, and it was even necessary to chase them about the
room before they could be ejected. Indeed, several with super-canine
strategy succeeded in countermarching their tormentors and remained in
the group about the fire, wearing that curiously attentive look peculiar
to an intelligent animal when animated conversation is in progress.
The blazing fire in the great chimney-place, that stretched almost half
across one end of the herder's cabin, illumined the walls and showed the
medley of articles suspended upon them,--horns, whips, branding-irons,
skins, cattle-bells, lariats, and such-like appurtenances of the ranch.
The little lady was seated in the centre of the group of ranchmen ranged
in a wide semicircle about the hearth of flagstones; the ethereal tints
of her shimmering attire showed all their highlights; her face and
golden brown hair seemed particularly soft and delicate in contrast with
the rough tousled heads and bearded countenances about her; here and
there the muzzle of a great animal, the flash of fangs and red glow of
formidable jaws, were half discriminated amidst the alternate flare of
the flames and flicker of the shadows,--all might have suggested the
"mystick Crew of Comus" to Richard Mivane, being the only person present
who had ever heard of that motley company, had not his thoughts been
otherwise engrossed. He meditatively cleared his throat, took a sip of
brandy and water, for he had long ago lost his genteel affiliations with
tea, and hopefully opened the subject of his mission.
A change fell upon the scene, instant, definite, complete. In the mere
broaching of business it might seem that beauty and charm are but
tenuous at best, and powerless to subdue the fiercer nature of man when
his acquisitive and aggressive commercial instincts are aroused. One of
the most devout admirers of Peninnah Penelope Anne tossed his head with
a very bellicose and bovine obduracy when he intimated an incredulity of
the statement that the herd had been stampeded without an ulterior
motive of malice or nefarious profit. The gentle soul who had assumed
the tendance and protection of the fawn held down as he listened a
shaggy intent head, like that of a bull about to charge, at the mere
mention of the shooting of the wolf. In fact, the suggestion of shadowy
monsters which the dusky flicker and evanescent flare of the fire
fostered and which was intensified by the proximity of open jaws, sharp
fangs, heavy muzzles, and standing bristles amongst them, owed much of
its effect to the unanimous expression of truculent challenge and averse
disfavor. There were frequent confirmatory emphatic nods of great
disheveled heads, the scarlet flushing of angry faces, already florid,
and now and again a violent descriptive gesture of a long brawny arm
with a clenched fist at its extremity. Richard Mivane's well-rounded
periods and gentlemanly phrasings were like the educated thrusts and
feints of an expert fencer who opposes his single rapier to the
bludgeons and missiles of a furious mob. He saw in less than five
minutes that the scheme of extenuation and conciliation was futile, that
retort and retaliation would be returned in kind, that the stoppage of
the pack-train from Blue Lick on the way to Charlestown was inevitable,
and that the redcoats, invoked by both parties, would doubtless become
embroiled with one or the other,--in short, bloodshed was a foregone
conclusion.
Much as this was to be deprecated in any event, it was suicidal amongst
these infant settlements by reason of the vicinage and antagonism of the
fierce and only half-subdued Cherokees, sullenly nourishing schemes of
revenge for their recent defeat and many woes. But when he urged this
upon the attention of the herders, the retort came quick and pointed:
"We ain't talkin' 'bout no Injuns!--the Cherokees never meddled with our
cattle! We'll settle about the stampede first, an' 'tend to the
Cherokees in good time--all in good time!"
Richard Mivane was not possessed of much affinity with the ruder
primitive qualities, the stalwart candor and uncultured forces of the
natural man; and never had these inherent elements appeared to less
advantage in his mind than when he was brought into disastrous conflict
with them. He only held his ground for form's sake, and often his voice
was overborne by the clamors of many responsive tones, all blaring and
arguing together. Much that was said he could not hear, and refrained
from speaking when he perceived from the loud contending faces that he
was denied for the nonce a rejoinder. But ever and anon the silver
vibrations of the little linguister's voice rose into the big bass
tumult as she rehearsed what had been said for her grandfather's
benefit, and the angry rush of sound stopped with an abrupt recoil for a
moment, then surged on as before.
She looked very mild and petite among them, quite like a sedate child,
her cheeks pinker than any of the rose tints of her apparel that were
her pride, her lips red and breathlessly parted, her eyes bright and
very watchful, her golden brown hair all red gold in the flicker of the
fire. There was one wild taunting threat that she did not repeat, as if
she thought it of no consequence,--the threat of personal violence
against Ralph Emsden. They had found out his name patly enough from
their own messenger to Blue Lick Station. They would take out their
grudge against him on his hide, they averred,--if they had to go all the
way to Blue Lick to get it!
Now and again they sufficiently remembered that indeterminate quantum of
courtesy which they called their "manners" to interpolate "No offense to
_you_, sir," or "Begging the lady's pardon." Throughout she preserved a
cool, almost uncomprehending, passive manner; and it was in one of the
moments of a heady tumult of words, in which they sometimes involved
themselves beyond all interpretation or distinguishment, that she
observed with a sort of childish inconsequence that they could get Ralph
Emsden easily enough if they would go to Blue Lick Station,--he was
there now, and his arm and shoulder were so hurt that he would not be
able to make off,--they could get him easily enough, that is, if the
French did not raze Blue Lick Station before the herders could reach
there.
If a bomb had exploded in the midst of the hearthstone, the astonishment
that ensued upon this simple statement could not have been greater. A
sudden blank silence supervened. A dozen excited infuriated faces, the
angry contortions of the previous moment still stark upon their
features, were bent upon her while their eyes stared only limitless
amazement.
"The French!" the herders cried at last in chorus. "Blue Lick Station!"
"It was razed once," she said statistically, "to the ground. The
Cherokees did it that time!"
Her grandfather, always averse to admit that he did not hear, noted the
influx of excitement, and was fain to lean forward. He even placed his
hand behind his ear.
"The French!" bellowed out one of the cow-drivers in a voice that might
have graced the king of the herds. "The French! Threatening Blue Lick
Station!"
The elderly gentleman drew back from, the painful surcharged vibrations
of sound and the unseemly aspect of this interpreter, who was in good
sooth like a bull in disguise. "To be sure--the French," Richard Mivane
said in response, repeating the only words which he had heard. "Our
nearest white neighbors--the dangerous Alabama garrison!"
A tumult of questions assailed the little linguister.
"Be they mightily troubled at Blue Lick Station?" asked one
sympathetically.
The little flower-like head was nodded with meaning, deep and serious.
"Oh, sure!" she cried. "And having the Cow-pens against them too--'tis
sad!"
"Zooks!" cried the bull in disguise, with a snort. "The Cow-pens ain't
against 'em--when the French are coming!"
"Why haven't they sent word to the soldiers?" demanded another of the
cow-drivers suspiciously.
"The soldiers?" she exclaimed incredulously. "Why--the Cow-pens sent
word that the soldiers were against Blue Lick too, and were going to
stop the station's pack-train. Maybe the stationers were afraid of the
soldiers."
To a torrent of questions as to how the news had first come, how the
menace lowered, what disposition for defense the stationers could make,
the little girl seemed bewildered. She only answered definitely and very
indifferently that they could easily get Ralph Emsden if they would go
now to Blue Lick, and take his hide,--that is, if the French and their
Choctaw Indians had not already possessed themselves of that valuable
integument,--as if this were their primal object.
"Why, God-a-mercy, child," cried the superintendent of the ranch, "this
news settles all scores; when it comes to a foreign foe the colonists
are brothers."
"And besides," admitted one of the most truculent of the cow-drivers,
"the cattle are all pretty well rounded in again; I doubt if more are
lost than the wolves would have pulled down anyhow."
"And the Blue Lick Stationers' horses can be herded easy enough,--they
are all on their old grass,--and be driven up to the settlement."
A courier had been sent off full tilt to the commandant at Fort Prince
George, and night though it was, a detail of mounted soldiers appeared
presently with orders to escort the ambassador and his linguister into
the presence of that officer.
For this intelligence was esteemed serious indeed. Although hostilities
had now practically ceased in America, the Seven Years' War being near
its end, and peace negotiations actually in progress, still the treaty
had not been concluded. So far on the frontier were such isolated
garrisons as this of Fort Prince George, so imperfect and infrequent
were their means of communicating with the outside world, that they were
necessarily in ignorance of much that took place elsewhere, and a
renewal of the conflict might have supervened long before their regular
advices from headquarters could reach them. Even a chance rumor might
bring them their first intimation of a matter of such great import to
them. Therefore the commandant attached much significance to this
account of an alarm at Blue Lick Station, because of a menace from the
nearest French at Fort Toulouse, often called in that day, by reason of
this propinquity, "the dangerous Alabama garrison."
For this reason, also, the hospitable hosts made no protest against the
removal of the guests to Fort Prince George, although it might seem that
the age of the one and the tender youth of the other ill fitted them to
encounter this sudden transition from the cosy fireside to the raw
vernal air on a misty midnight jaunt of a dozen miles through a primeval
wilderness. And in truth the little lady seemed loath to leave the
hearth; she visibly hesitated as she stood beside her chair with her
hand on its back, and looked out at the black night, and the vague vista
which the ruddy flare, from the wide door, revealed amidst the dense
darkness; at the vanishing point of this perspective stood a group of
mounted soldiers, "in column of twos" with two led horses, the scarlet
uniforms and burnished accoutrements appearing and disappearing
elusively as the flames rose and fell. The sounds of the champing of
bits and the pawing of hoofs and the jingle of spurs were keenly clear
on the chill rare air and seemed somehow consonant with the frosty
glitter of the stars, very high in the black concave of the moonless
sky. The smell of the rich mould, permeated with its vernal growths; the
cool, distinct, rarefied perfume of some early flower already abloom;
the antiphonal chant of frogs roused in the marsh or stream hard by, so
imbued her senses with the realization of the hour and season that she
never afterward thought of the spring without a vivid renewal of these
impressions.
Her grandfather also seemed vaguely to hold back, even while he slowly
mounted his horse; yet aware that naught is so imperative as military
authority, it was only his inner consciousness that protested. Outwardly
he professed alacrity, although in great surprise declaring that he
could not imagine what the commandant could want with him. The little
linguister, for her part, had no doubts. She was well aware indeed of
the cause of the summons, and so dismayed by the prospect was even her
doughty heart that the swift ride through the black forest was less
terrible to her than the thought of the ordeal of the arrival. But the
march was not without its peculiar trials. She shrank in instinctive
affright from the unaccustomed escort of a dragoon on either side of
her, looming up in the darkness like some phantom of the midnight. Even
her volition seemed wrested from her by reason of the military training
of the troop-horse which she rode;--he whirled about at the command
"right-wheel!" ringing out in the darkness in the crisp peremptory tones
of the non-commissioned officer, and plunged forward at the words "trot,
march!" and adjusted his muscles instantaneously to the acceleration
implied in "gallop!" and came to an abrupt and immovable pause at
"halt!"--all with no more regard to her grasp on the reins than if she
had been a fly on the saddle. As they went the wind beset her with cool,
damp buffets on chin and cheek; the overhanging budding boughs, all
unseen, drenched her with perfumed dew as she was whisked through their
midst; the pace was adopted rather with reference to military custom and
the expectation of the waiting commandant than her convenience; at every
sudden whirl responsive to the word of command she was in momentary fear
of being flung beneath the swiftly trampling hoofs of the horses on
either side of her, and despite her recoil from the bigness and
bluffness and presumable bloody-mindedness of the two troopers beside
her she was sensible of their sympathy as they took heed of the
instability with which she bounced about, perched up side-wise on a
military saddle. Indeed, one was moved to ask her if she would not
prefer to be strapped on with a girth, and to offer his belt for the
purpose; and the other took the opportunity to gird at the forgetfulness
of the cow-drivers to furnish her with her own pillion.
Nevertheless she dreaded the journey's end; and as they came out of the
forests on the banks of the Keowee River, and beheld the vague glimmers
of the gray day slowly dawning, albeit night was yet in the woods, and
the outline of the military works of Fort Prince George taking symmetry
and wonted proportions against the dappled eastern sky, all of blended
roseate tints and thin nebulous grays, her heart so sank, she felt so
tremulously guilty that had all the sixteen guns from the four bastions
opened fire upon her at once she would not have been surprised.
No such welcome, however, did the party encounter. The officer
commanding it stopped the ambassador and the linguister and let the
soldiers go on at a round trot toward the great gate, which stood open,
the bayonet on the musket of the sentry shining with an errant gleam of
light like the sword of fire at the entrance of Paradise. For now the
sun was up, the radiance suffusing the blue and misty mountains and the
seas of fog in the valleys. Albeit its dazzling focus was hardly visible
above the eastern heights, it sent a red glow all along the parapet of
the covered way and the slope beyond to the river bank, where only two
years before Captain Coytmore, then the commandant, had been murdered at
a conference by the treacherous Cherokees. The senior officer, Captain
Howard, being absent on leave, the present commandant, a jaunty
lieutenant, smart enough although in an undress uniform, was standing at
the sally-port now, all bland and smiling, to receive the ambassador and
his linguister. He perceived at once that the old gentleman was deaf
beyond any save adroit and accustomed communication. He looked puzzled
for a moment, then spoke to the sergeant.
"And who is this pretty little girl?" he asked.
The sergeant, who had heard of her prowess in the havoc of hearts among
the herders at the ranch, looked bewildered, then desperate, saluted
mechanically, and was circumspectly silent.
"I am not a little girl," said Peninnah Penelope Anne Mivane with adult
dignity.
"Ah, indeed," said the embarrassed and discomfited officer. Then,
turning to lead the way, he added civilly, "Beg pardon, I'm sure!"
If the sight of the sixteen guns on the four bastions of Fort Prince
George had caused Peninnah Penelope Anne to shrink from her normal
proportions, not too expansive at best, she dwindled visibly and
continually when conducted within the palisaded parapets, across the
parade, past the barracks, built for a hundred men but now somewhat
lacking their complement, and into the officers' quarters, where in a
large mess-hall there sat all the commissioned officers at a table, near
the foot of which the two strangers were accommodated with chairs. It
had so much the air of a court-martial, despite their bland and
reassuring suavity, that Peninnah Penelope Anne, albeit a free lance and
serving under no banner but her own whim, had much ado to keep up her
courage to face them. Naturally she was disposed to lean upon her
grandfather, but he utterly failed her. She had never known him so deaf!
He could neither hear the officers nor her familiar voice. He would not
even tell his name, although she had so often heard him voice it
sonorously and in great pride, "Richard Mivane Huntley Mivane, youngest
son of the late Sir Alexander Mivane Huntley Mivane, of Mivane Hall,
Fenshire, Northumberland." Now he merely waved his hand to deputize her.
In truth he shrank from rehearsing to these young men the reason of his
flight from home, his duel and its fatal result, although his pride
forbade him to suppress it. He had come to think the cause of quarrel a
trifle, and the challenge a wicked folly. It was a bitter and remorseful
recollection as his age came on, and its details were edifying in no
sense. Hence, as Peninnah Penelope Anne knew naught of the story she
could not tell it, and he escaped the distasteful pose of a merciless
duelist.
She gave his name with much pride, noting the respect with which the
officers heard it. She accounted for the incongruities of his presence
here as the result of a trip from England to the province, where, as she
said, "he was detained by the snare of matrimony." It was his own
phrase, for as a snare he regarded the holy estate; but the younger of
the officers were pleased to find it funny, and ventured to laugh;
whereat she grew red and silent, and they perforce became grave again
that they might hear of the French. Here she was vague and discursive,
and prone to detail at great length the feud between the Blue Lick
Stationers and the "cow-drivers" on the Keowee, evidently hoping that it
might lie within the latitude of the commandant's military authority to
take some order with the herder gentry,--for which they would not have
thanked her in the least! But the officers of the garrison of Fort
Prince George had thought for naught but the French, and now and again
conferred dubiously together on the unsatisfactory points of her
evidence.
"Do you suppose she really knows anything about it?" the commandant said
aside to one of his advisers.
Suddenly, however, her grandfather's hearing improved, and they were
able to elicit from him the reports which he had had at second hand from
the cow-drivers themselves, in retailing which he honestly conceived
that he was repeating genuine news, never dreaming that the information
had blossomed forth from his own mission.
While less circumstantial and satisfactory than the commandant could
have wished, the details were too significant and serious of import to
be ignored, and therefore he acted upon his information as far as it was
developed.
He ordered out a scouting party of ten men, and, that he might utilize
Blue Lick Station as an outpost in some sort where they might find
refuge and aid, he dispatched to the settlement a present of gunpowder
to serve in the defense of the station, in case of attack by the French,
and two of the small coehorns of that day, each of which could be
carried between two men, to assist the little piece already at the
station. In return for the prospective courtesy and shelter to his
troops, he wrote a very polite letter urging the settlers to hold out if
practicable, relying on his succor with men, ammunition, and provisions;
but if compelled to give way, assuring the stationers of a welcome at
Fort Prince George.
The herders at the cow-pens on the Keowee had also determined to
reinforce Blue Lick Station, and with a number of the runaway horses of
the settlers, rounded up and driven in strings, several of them set
forth with the British soldiers from the fort. In this company Richard
Mivane and his grand daughter also took their way to Blue Lick Station
in lieu of waiting for a pack-train with provisions from Charlestown, as
they had anticipated.