A LONG GOOD-BYE
On the evening of the 15th of August, the Commandant of Johnstown Fort
stood aghast to see a forest-running ragamuffin and three scare-crow
Indians stagger into headquarters at the jail.
"Gad a-mercy!" says he as I offered the salute, "is it _you_, Mr.
Drogue!"
I was past all speech; for we had wolf-jogged all the way up from the
river, but from my rags I fished out my filthy papers and thrust them at
him. He was kind enough to ask me to sit; I nodded a like permission to
my Oneidas and dropped onto a settle; a sergeant fetched new-baked
bread, meat, buttermilk, and pipes for my Indians; and for me a draught
of summer cider, which presently I swallowed to the dregs when I found
strength to do it.
This refreshed me. I asked permission to lodge my Oneidas in some
convenient barn and to draw for them food, pay, tobacco, and clothing;
and very soon a corporal of Continentals arrived with a lantern and led
the Oneidas out into the night.
Then, at the Commandant's request, I gave a verbal account of my scout,
and reminded him of my instructions, which were to report at Saratoga.
But he merely shuffled my papers together and smiled, saying that he
would attend to that matter, and that there were new orders lately
arrived for me, and a sheaf of letters, among which two had been sent in
with a flag, and seals broken.
"Sir," he said, still smiling in kindly fashion, "I have every reason to
believe that patriotic service faithfully performed is not to remain too
long unrecognized at Albany. And this business of yours amounts to that,
Mr. Drogue."
He laughed and rubbed his powerful hands together, peering
good-humouredly at me out of a pair of small and piercing eyes.
"However," he added, "all this is for you to learn from others in higher
places than I occupy. Here are your letters, Mr. Drogue."
He laid his hand on a sheaf which lay near his elbow on the table and
handed them to me. They were tied together with tape which had been
sealed.
"Sir," said he, "you are in a woeful plight for lack of sleep; and I
should not detain you. You lodge, I think, at Burke's Tavern. Pray, sir,
retire to your quarters at your convenience, and dispose of well-earned
leisure as best suits you."
He rose, and I got stiffly to my feet.
"Your Indians shall have every consideration," said he. "And I dare
guess, sir, that you are destined to discover at the Tavern news that
should pleasure you."
We saluted; I thanked him for his kind usage, and took my leave, so
weary that I scarce knew what I was about.
How I arrived at the Tavern without falling asleep on my two legs as I
walked, I do not know. Jimmy Burke, who had come out with a light to
greet me, lifted his hands to heaven at sight of me.
"John Drogue! Is it yourself, avic? Ochone, the poor lad! Wirra the
day!" says he,--"and luk at him in his rags and thin as a clapperrail!"
And, "Magda! Betty!" he shouts, "f'r the sake o' the saints, run fetch a
wash-tub above, an' b'ilin' wather in a can, and soft-soap, too, an'
a-bite-an'-a-sup, or himself will die on me two hands----"
I heard maids running as I climbed the stairway, gripping at the rail to
steady me. I was asleep in my chair when some one shook me.
Blindly I pulled the dirty rags from my body and let them fall anywhere;
and I near died o' drowning in the great steaming tub, for twice I fell
asleep in the bath. I know not who pulled me out. I do not remember
eating. They say I did eat. Nor can I recollect how, at last, I got me
into bed.
I was still deeply asleep when Burke awoke me. He had a great bowl of
smoking soupaan and a pitcher of sweet milk; and I ate and drank, still
half asleep. But now the breeze from the open window and the sunshine in
my room slowly cleared my battered senses. I began to remember where I
was, and to look about the room.
Mine was the only bed; and there was nobody lying in it save only
myself, yet it was evident that another gentleman shared this room with
me; for yonder, on a ladder-back chair, lay somebody's clothing neatly
folded,--a Continental officer's uniform, on which I perceived the
insignia of a staff-captain.
Spurred boots also stood there, and a smartly cocked hat.
And now, on a peg in the wall, I discovered this unknown officer's
watch-coat, and his sword dangling by it, and a brace o' pistols.
But where the devil the owner of these implements might be I could not
guess.
And now my eyes fell upon the sheaf of letters lying on the table beside
me. I broke the sealed tape that bound them; they fell upon the bed
clothes; and I picked up the first at hazard, which was a packet, and
broke the seal of it. And sat there in my night shift, utterly astounded
at what I beheld.
For within the packet were two papers. One was a captain's commission in
the Continental Line; and my own name was writ upon it.
And the other paper was a letter, sent express from the Forest of Dean,
five days since, and it was from Major General Lord Stirling to me,
acquainting me that he had taken the liberty to request a captain's
commission in the Line for me; that His Excellency had concurred in the
request; that a commission had been duly granted and issued; and
that--His Excellency still graciously concurring and General Schuyler
endorsing the request--I had been transferred from the State Rangers to
the Line, and from the Line to the military family of General Lord
Stirling. And should report to him at the Forest of Dean.
To this elegant and formal and amazing letter, writ by a secretary and
signed by my Lord Stirling, was appended in his own familiar hand this
postscript:
"Jack Drogue will not refuse his old friend, Billy Alexander. So for
God's sake leave your rifle-shirt and moccasins in Johnstown and put on
the clothing which I have bespoken of the same Johnstown tailoress who
made your forest dress and mine when in happier days we hunted and
fished with Sir William in the pleasant forests of Fonda's Bush."
I sat there quite overcome, gazing now upon my commission, now upon my
friend's kind letter, now at my beautiful new uniform which his
consideration had procured for me while I was wandering leagues away in
the Northern bush, never dreaming that a celebrated Major General had
time to waste on any thought concerning me.
There was a bell-rope near my bed, and now I pulled it, and said to the
buxom wench who came that I desired a barber to trim me instantly, and
that the pot-boy should run and fetch him and bid him bring his irons
and powder and an assortment of queue ribbons for a club.
The barber arrived as I, having bathed me, was dressing in fresh
underwear which I found rolled snug in the pack I had left here when I
went away.
Lord, but my beard and hair were like Orson's; and I gave myself to the
razor with great content; and later to the shears, bidding young Master
Snips shape my pol for a club and powder in the most fashionable and
military mode then acceptable to the service.
Which he swore he knew how to accomplish; so I took my letters from the
bed and disposed myself in a chair to peruse them while Snips should
remain busy with his shears.
The first letter I unsealed was from Nick Stoner, and written from
Saratoga:
"FRIEND JACK,
"I take quill and ink to acquaint you how it goes with us here in
the regiment.
"I am fifer, and when in action am stationed near to the colours
for duty. Damn them, they should give me a gun, also, as I can
shoot better than any of 'em, as you know.
"My brother John is a drummer in our regiment, and has learned all
his flamms and how to beat all things lively save the devil.
"My father is a private in our regiment, which is pleasant for all,
and he is a dead shot and afeard of nothing save hell.
"I have got into mischief and been punished on several occasions. I
like not being triced up between two halbards.
"I long to see Betsy Browse. She hath a pretty way of kissing. And
sometimes I long to see Anne Mason, who has her own way, too. You
are not acquainted with that saucy baggage, I think. But she lives
only two miles from where my Betsy abides. And I warrant you I was
put to it, sparking both, lest they discover I drove double
harness. And there was Zuyler's pretty daughter, too--but enough of
tender memories!
"Anna has raven hair and jet black eyes and is snowy otherwise. I
don't mean cold. Angelica Zuyler is fair of hair but brown for the
rest----
"Well, Jack, I think on you every day and hope you do well with
your Oneidas, who, we hear, are out with you on the Schoharie.
"Our headquarters runner is your old Saguenay, and he is much
trusted by our General, they say. Sometimes the fierce fellow comes
to visit me, but asks only for news of you, and when I say I have
none he sits in silence. And always, when he leaves, he says very
solemnly: 'Tell my Captain that I am a real man. But did not know
it until my Captain told me so.'
"Now the news is that Burgoyne finds himself in a pickle since the
bloody battle at Oriskany. I think he flounders like a big
chain-pike stranded belly-deep in a shallow pool which is slowly
drying up around him.
"We are no longer afeard of his Germans, his General Baum-Boom, his
famous artillery, or his Indians.
"What the Tryon County lads did to St. Leger we shall surely do to
that big braggart, John Burgoyne. And mean to do it presently.
"I send this letter to you by Adam Helmer, who goes this day to
Schenectady, riding express.
"I give you my hand and heart. I hope Penelope is well.
"And beg permission to remain, sir, your most humble and obliged
and obedient servant,
"NICHOLAS STONER."
I laid aside Nick's letter, half smiling, half sad, at the thoughts it
evoked within me.
Young Master Snips was now a-drying of my hair. I opened another letter,
which bore the inscription, 'By flag.' It had been unsealed, which, of
course, was the rule, and so approved and delivered to me:
"DEAR JACK,
"I am fearfully unhappy. This day news is brought of the action at
Oriska, and that my dear brother is dead.
"I pray you, if it be within your power, to give my poor Stephen
decent burial. He was your boyhood friend. Ah, God, what an
unnatural strife is this that sets friend against friend, brother
against brother, father against son!
"Can you not picture my wretchedness and distress to know that my
darling brother is slain, that my husband is at this moment facing
the terrible rifle-fire of your infuriated soldiery, that many of
my intimate friends are dead or wounded at this terrible Oriskany
where they say your maddened soldiers flung aside their muskets and
leaped upon our Greens and Rangers with knife and hatchet, and tore
their very souls out with naked hands.
"I pray that you were not involved in that horrible affair. I pray
that you may live through these fearful times to the end, whatever
that end shall be. God alone knows.
"I thank you for your generous forbearance and chivalry to us on
the Oneida Road. I saw your painted Oneida Indians crouching in
the roadside weeds, although I did not tell you that I had
discovered them. But I was terrified for my baby. You have heard
how Iroquois Indians sometimes conduct.
"Dear Jack, I can not find in my heart any unkind thought of you. I
trust you think of me as kindly.
"And so I ask you, if it be within your power, to give my poor
brother decent burial. And mark the grave so that one day, please
God, we may remove his mangled remains to a friendlier place than
Tryon has proven for me and mine.
"I am, dear Jack, with unalterable affection,
"Your unhappy,
"POLLY."
My eyes were misty as I laid the letter aside, resolving to do all I
could to carry out Lady Johnson's desires. For not until long afterward
did I hear that Steve Watts had survived his terrible wounds and was
finally safe from the vengeance of outraged Tryon.
Another letter, also with broken seal, I laid open and read while Snips
heated his irons and gazed out of the breezy window, where, with fife
and drum, I could hear the garrison marching out for exercise and
practice.
And to the lively marching music of _The Huron_, I read my letter from
Claudia Swift:
"Oneida; Aug: 7th, 1777.
"MY DEAREST JACK,
"I am informed that I may venture to send this epistle under a flag
that goes out today. No doubt but some Yankee Paul Pry in
blue-and-buff will crack the seal and read it before you receive
it.
"But I snap my fingers at him. I care not. I am bold to say that I
do love you. And dearly! So much for Master Pry!
"But, alas, my friend, now indeed I am put to it; for I must
confess to you a sadder and deeper anxiety. For if I love you, sir,
I am otherwise in love. And with another! I shall not dare to
confess his name. But _you saw and recognized him_ at Summer House
when Steve was there a year ago last spring.
"Now you know. Yes, I am madly in love, Jack. And am racked with
terrors and nigh out o' my wits with this awful news of the Oriska
battle.
"We hear that Captain Walter Butler is taken out o' uniform within
your lines; and so, lacking the protection of his regimentals, he
is like to suffer as a spy. My God! Was he _alone_ when
apprehended by Arnold's troops? And will General Arnold hang him?
"This is the urgent news I ask of you. I am horribly afraid. In
mercy send me some account; for there are terrible rumours afloat
in this fortress--rumours of other spies taken by your soldiery,
and of brutal executions--I can not bring myself to write of what I
fear. Pity me, Jack, and write me what you hear.
"Could you not beg this one mercy of Billy Alexander, that he send
a flag or contrive to have one sent from your Northern Department,
explaining to us poor women what truly has been,--and is like to
be--the fate of such unfortunate prisoners in your hands?
"And remember who it is appeals to you, dear Jack; for even if I
have not merited your consideration,--if I, perhaps, have even
forfeited the regard of Billy Alexander,--I pray you both to
remember that you once were a little in love with me.
"And so, deal with me gently, Jack. For I am frightened and sick at
heart; and know very little about love, which, for the first time
ever in my life, has now undone me.
"Will you not aid and forgive your unhappy,
"CLAUDIA."
Good Lord! Claudia enamoured! And enamoured of that great villain, Henry
Hare! Why, damn him, he hath a wife and children, too, or I am most
grossly in error.
I had not heard that Walter Butler was taken. I knew not whether
Lieutenant Hare had been caught in Butler's evil company or if, indeed,
he had fought at all with old John Butler at Oriska.
Frowning, disgusted, yet sad also to learn that Claudia could so rashly
and so ignobly lavish her affections, nevertheless I resolved to ask
Lord Stirling if a flag could not be sent with news to Claudia and such
other anxious ladies as might be eating their hearts out at Oneida, or
Oswego, or Buck Island.
And so I laid aside her painful letter, and unfolded the last missive.
And discovered it was writ me by Penelope:
"You should not think harshly of me, Jack Drogue, if you return and
discover that I am gone away from Johnstown.
"Douw Fonda is returned to Cayadutta Lodge. He has now sent a
carriage for to fetch me. It is waiting while I write. I can not
refuse him.
"If, when we meet again, you desire to know my mind concerning
you, then, if you choose to look into it, you shall discover that
my mind contains only a single thought. And the thought is for you.
"But if you desire no longer to know my mind when again--if
ever--we two meet together, then you shall not feel it your duty to
concern yourself about my mind, or what thought may be within it.
"I would not write coldly to you, John Drogue. Nor would I
importune with passion.
"I have no claim upon your further kindness. You have every claim
upon my life-long gratitude.
"But I offer more than gratitude if you should still desire it; and
I would offer less--if it should better please you.
"Feel not offended; feel free. Come to me if it pleaseth you; and,
if you come not, there is in me that which shall pardon all you do,
or leave undone, as long as ever I shall live on earth.
"PENELOPE GRANT."
When Snips had powdered me and had tied my club with a queue-ribbon of
his proper selection, he patched my cheek-bone where a thorn had torn
me, and stood a-twirling his iron as though lost in admiration of his
handiwork.
When I paid him I bade him tell Burke to bring around my horse and fetch
my saddle bags; and then I dressed me in my regimentals.
When Burke came with the saddle-bags, we packed them together. He
promised to care for my rifle and pack, took my new light blanket over
his arm, and led the way down stairs, where I presently perceived Kaya
saddled, and pricking ears to hear my voice.
Whilst I caressed her and whispered in her pretty ear the idle
tenderness that a man confides to a beloved horse, Burke placed my
pistols, strapped saddle-bags and blanket, and held my stirrup as I
gathered bridle and set my spurred boot firmly on the steel.
And so swung to my saddle, and sat there, dividing bridles, deep fixed
in troubled thought and anxiously concerned for the safety of the
unselfish but very stubborn girl I loved.
* * * * *
I had said my adieux to Jimmy Burke; I had taken leave of the Commandant
at the palisades jail. I now galloped Kaya through the town, riding by
way of Butlersbury;[42] and saw the steep roof of the Butler house
through the grove, and shuddered as I thought of the unhappy young man
who had lived there and who, at that very moment, might be hanging by
his neck while the drums rolled from the hollow square.
[Footnote 42: A letter written by Colonel Butler so designates the place
where the ancient Butler house is still standing. The letter mentioned
is in the possession of the author.]
Down the steep hill I rode, careful of loose stone, and so came to the
river and to Caughnawaga.[43]
[Footnote 43: Now the town of Fonda.]
All was peaceful and still in the noonday sunshine; the river wore a
glassy surface; farm waggons creaked slowly through golden dust along
the Fort Johnson highway; fat cattle lay in the shade; and from the
brick chimneys of Caughnawaga blue smoke drifted where, in her cellar
kitchen, the good wife was a-cooking of the noontide dinner.
When presently I espied Douw Fonda's great mansion of stone, I saw
nobody on the porch, and no smoke rising from the chimneys, yet the
front door stood open.
But when I rode up to the porch, a black wench came from the house, who
said that Mr. Fonda dined at his son's that day, and would remain until
evening.
However, when I made inquiry for Penelope, I found that she was
within,--had already been served with dinner,--and was now gone to the
library to read and knit as usual when alone.
The black wench took my mare and whistled shrilly for a slave to come
and hold the horse.
But I had already mounted the stoop and entered the silent house; and
now I perceived Penelope, who had risen from a chair and was laying
aside her book and knitting.
She seemed very white when I went to her and drew her into my embrace;
and she rested her cheek against my shoulder and took close hold of my
two arms, but uttered not a word.
Under her lace cap her hair glimmered like sun-warmed gold; and her
hands, which had become very fine and white again, began to move upward
to my shoulders, till they encircled my neck and rested there, tight
linked.
For a space she wept, but presently staunched her tears with her laced
apron's edge, like a child at school. And when I made her look upon me
she smiled though she still breathed sobbingly, and her lips still
quivered as I kissed her.
* * * * *
We sat close together there in the golden gloom of the curtained room,
where only a bar of dusty sunlight fell across a row of gilded books.
I had told her everything--had given an account of all that had
befallen my little scout, and how I had returned to Johnstown, and how
so suddenly my fortunes had been completely changed.
I told her of what I knew of the battle at Oriskany, of the present
situation at Stanwix and at Saratoga, and of what I saw of the fight at
the Flockey, where McDonald ran.
I begged her to persuade Mr. Fonda to go to Albany, and she promised to
do so. And when I pointed out in detail how perilous was his situation
here, and how desperate her own, she said she knew it, and had been
horribly afraid, but that Caughnawaga folk seemed strangely indifferent
to the danger,--could not bring themselves to believe in it,
perhaps,--and were loath to leave their homes unprotected and their
fields untilled.
But when I touched on her leaving these foolish people and, as my wife,
travelling southward with me to the great fortress on the Hudson, she
only wept, saying, in tears, that she was needed by an old and feeble
man who had protected her when she was poor and friendless, and that,
though she loved me, her duty still lay first at Douw Fonda's side.
Quit him she utterly refused to do; and it was in vain I pointed out his
three stalwart sons and their numerous families, retainers, tenants,
servants, and slaves, who ought to care for the obstinate old gentleman
and provide a security for him whether he would or no.
But argument was useless; I knew it. And all I obtained of her was that,
whether matters north of us mended or grew worse, she would persuade Mr.
Fonda to return to Albany until such time as Tryon County became once
more safe to live in.
This she promised, and even assured me that she had already spoken of
the matter to Mr. Fonda, and that the old gentleman appeared to be quite
willing to return to Albany as soon as his grain could be reaped and
threshed.
So with this I had to content my heavy heart. And now, by the tall
clock, I perceived that my time was up; for Schenectady lay far away,
and Albany father still; and it was like to be a long and dreary journey
to West Point, if, indeed, I should find Lord Stirling still there.
For at Johnstown fort that morning I was warned that my General Lord
Stirling had already rejoined his division in the Jerseys; and that the
news was brought by riflemen of Morgan's corps, which was now swiftly
marching to join our Northern forces near Saratoga.
Well, God's will must obtain on earth; none can thwart it; none
foretell----
At the thought I looked down at Penelope, where I held her clasped; and
I told her of the vision of Thiohero.
She remained very still when she learned what the Little Maid of
Askalege had seen there beside me in the cannon-cloud, where the German
foresters of Hainau, in their outlandish dress, were shouting and
shooting.
For Penelope had seen the same white shape; and had been, she said,
afeard that it was my own weird she saw,--so white it seemed to her, she
said,--so still and shrouded in its misty veil.
"Was it I?" she whispered in an awed voice. "Was it truly I that the
Oneida virgin saw? And did she know my features in the shroud?"
"She saw you all in white and flowers, floating there near me like mist
at sunrise."
"She told you it was I?"
"Dying, she so told me. And, 'Yellow Hair,' she gasped, 'is quite a
witch!' And then she died between my arms."
"I am no witch," she whispered.
"Nor was the Little Maid of Askalege. Both of you, I think, saw at times
things that we others can not perceive until they happen;--the shadow of
events to come."
"Yes."
After a silence: "Have you, perhaps, discovered other shadows since we
last met, Penelope?"
"Yes; shadows."
"What coming event cast them?"
After a long pause: "Will it make his mind more tranquil if I tell him?"
she murmured to herself; and I saw her dark eyes fixed absently on the
dusty ray of sunlight slanting athwart the room.
Then she looked up at me; blushed to her hair: "I saw children--with
_yellow_ hair--and _your_ eyes----"
"With _your_ hair!"
"And _your_ eyes--John Drogue--John Drogue----"
The stillness of Paradise grew all around us, filling my soul with a
great and heavenly silence.
We could not die--we two who stood here so closely clasped--until this
vision had been fulfilled.
And so, presently, her hands fell into mine, and our lips joined slowly,
and rested.
We said no word. I left her standing there in the golden twilight of the
curtains, and got to my saddle,--God knows how,--and rode away beside
the quiet river to the certain destiny that no man ever can hope to
hinder or escape.