ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA
"Nature imprints upon whate'er we see,
That has a heart and life in it, 'Be free.'"
--_Cowper._
"Yes, 'tis Clifford," he said in a low tone. "I have escaped from
Lancaster, where I was a prisoner, and am trying to reach New York. I
should not have troubled you, Peggy, but the storm is so severe that I
can go no further. But, my cousin, it may be of risk to shelter me."
"Oh," she cried clasping her hands in dismay. "What shall I do? What
shall I do? Why, Clifford, both father and Robert Dale are here. They
are of the army, and may deem it their duty to give thee up."
"I see," he said with some bitterness. "I should not have troubled
you, but I thought---- It did seem for the sake of our kinship that
you would give me shelter at least for the night."
"Stop!" she cried, laying a detaining hand on his arm as he turned to
go. "Thee is so hasty, Clifford. Of course I will help thee, but I
must think how to do it. As I said, father and Major Dale are here;
and Fairfax Johnson too. Of Virginia, thee remembers? Remain here for
a moment, my cousin. I will send Sukey out of the kitchen, and then
thee shall come in. 'Tis cold out here."
"After all," he said, his lips meeting in the straight line of
determination that she remembered so well, "I do wrong to ask aught of
you. There may be--nay, there is, risk in harboring me, Peggy. I must
not get you into trouble. Is there not a barn where I could abide for
the night?"
"Thee would freeze in the barn to-night," she cried. It had stopped
snowing, but the wind had increased in violence, and it was growing
colder. It would be bitter by night, the girl reflected, noticing the
fact in a perfunctory manner. "I could not bear to think of thee
there, my cousin. Thee is cold now. Thy lips are blue, and thou art
shaking. Wait for a moment. Thee must."
She pushed him back behind the door, then catching up the dish-pan
entered the kitchen hurriedly. Sukey, the black servant, was its only
inmate.
"Sukey," said Peggy trying to speak naturally, "has thee seen to the
beds yet? They should be well warmed for so cold a night as this will
be. And the fires? Is there wood in plenty? I will set the kitchen in
order if thee will look well to the up-stairs."
"Hit am done looked aftah," said Sukey drawing closer to the fire.
"Eberyt'ing's all right, Miss Peggy. Now yer kin jest go right erlong
ter yer fren's, and let ole Sukey red up."
"Thee must take more wood up-stairs," spoke the girl desperately.
"There must be an abundance, Sukey. Does thee hear?"
"Yes'm; I heahs, Miss Peggy," answered the black rising, and giving
her young mistress a keen glance. "I heahs, an' I'se gwine. Dem wood
boxes am full, ebery one of dem, but I'se gwine. Ef yer want ter talk
secrets yer might hab tole ole Sukey widouten makin' a 'scuse ter git
rid ob hur."
"Oh, Sukey, forgive me," cried Peggy laughing in spite of her anxiety
to get rid of the black. "Thee is the dearest thing that ever was. I
do want the kitchen a little while. Go up to my room, and thee will
find a string of yellow beads on the chest of drawers. Thee may have
them, Sukey, if thee will stay up there for a little while."
"Yes'm," answered Sukey, preparing to take her departure. "I don't
'prove nohow de way you all takes on wid Miss Sally," she grumbled as
she left the room.
Peggy sped to the entry as soon as the black had left it. "Come,
Cousin Clifford," she called, and Clifford Owen stepped forth. "Sukey
hath gone up-stairs, and thee can come in while I think what to do.
Come!"
She led the way to the kitchen as she spoke, and her cousin followed
her with visible reluctance. He brightened perceptibly at sight of the
great fire of hickory logs that blazed in the fireplace.
"Sit here, my cousin," said Peggy placing a chair in the corner
between the dresser and the wall where the light was shaded. "Keep thy
beaver on thy head as the Friends do, then if any one should come in
it will seem as though thou wert but a passer-by asking for something
to warm thee."
"'Fore George, but that smells good," ejaculated Clifford as the girl
placed a bowl of smoking hot pepper-pot before him. "What is it,
Peggy?"
"'Tis pepper-pot, Clifford. 'Tis made nowhere else in the states but
here in Philadelphia. It hath dumplings in it, which pleases most
boys. And now let me think while thee is getting warm."
Clifford regarded her anxiously for a moment, then the seductive aroma
of the pepper-pot overcame whatever of uneasiness that he may have
felt, and he fell to with a relish. Meantime Peggy's brows were
puckered in thought. What should she do with him? she asked herself in
perplexity. The temper of the people was such that it would not easily
brook any indulgence to the enemy. The penalty for harboring, or
aiding and abetting an escaping prisoner was fine, imprisonment, and
sometimes even public whipping. Should her father, pure patriot though
he was, be suspected of giving aid to one of the British prisoners it
would go hard with him. Not even his previous good record would save
him from the punishment. And so the girl found herself confronted
with a serious problem. She could not let her cousin go forth in such
weather, and yet her father must not be implicated in his escape. The
house was full. Where could the lad stay?
At this moment her eye fell upon a trap-door in the ceiling. There had
been until of late a ladder leading up to it, but two of the rounds
had been broken and it had been removed to the carpenter's shop. The
door opened into an airy apartment extending the whole length of the
kitchen, which was used for drying herbs which were cultivated in
ample quantities in the garden. Indeed the Owen house was the only
place in the city at the time where herbs could be had, and it was a
pleasure to Peggy and her mother to be able to answer the demand for
them. Could Clifford but climb up there, she reflected, he would be
safe for a time.
"Can thee climb, my cousin?" she cried eagerly. "Because if thee can
thee can stay up in the kitchen chamber."
"Is it warm?" asked the youth, casting a longing glance at the fire.
"Of a verity. It could not be otherwise, being above the kitchen.
Thee must not linger, Clifford. Some one is apt to come in at any
moment. See the door up there? Well, thee will have to get on the
table and I will hand thee a chair. Standing on that thee must try to
push the door open, and then draw thyself up into the room above. With
the door closed thou wilt be safe from prying eyes, yet thou wilt be
able to hear all that goes on below."
"That is fine, Peggy," commented the youth, his eyes lighting up. "You
are a cousin worth having, and have thought to some purpose."
He vaulted lightly upon the table as he spoke, and taking the chair
that Peggy handed him placed it firmly upon the table, mounting
thereupon. With a creek that set the girl's heart to beating the
trap-door was swung open, and the youth drew himself slowly into the
chamber above.
"I say," he said, peering down at Peggy, laughingly, "this is jolly.
It's as warm as toast and there is a fur robe up here. If I don't
answer you at any time you will know, my cousin, that I have gone to
sleep."
[Illustration: "CLOSE THE DOOR."]
"Close the door, Clifford," exclaimed Peggy. "I shall be uneasy until
thou art hidden."
"Don't be that, little cousin," he said almost gaily. "I feel like
another man already. I shall do royally, and I doubt if any one would
think of looking up here for an escaped Englishman."
He closed the door as he finished speaking, and heaving a sigh of
relief Peggy lifted the chair from the table and set it against the
wall. She had scarcely resumed her task of washing the pots and pans
when the door opened and Sally entered. She glanced about expectantly.
"I thought I heard thee talking to some one," she remarked. "Isn't
thee ever going to get through with those pots and pans, Peggy? Let me
help thee. We want thee to come in with us."
"Now you all jest go right erlong," spoke Sukey, who had followed
Sally into the room. "Yer ma, she come up and she say, 'Tell Miss
Peggy dat she am wanted in de sittin'-room right now.' Jest go right
erlong, chile. Sukey'll finish up heah."
"All right, Sukey." Peggy relinquished the task to the black, and
started for the door, saying in a tone that Clifford might hear: "I
will be out presently to see how thee gets along."
"Ef I doan git erlong any fas'er dan you all dese dishes gwine ter be
heah twel Chrismus," grumbled the darkey. "An' some-body's muss'd my
floah."
Peggy gave a startled glance at the sand, where telltale traces of her
cousin's presence were plainly in evidence. From the entry door to the
kitchen were tracks of snow, and on the sand in the kitchen there were
wet spots where the snow had melted. Clearly they must be obliterated.
"I'll fix the floor, Sukey," she said, beginning to brush up the wet
sand. "Sally, bring some dry sand from the box, please, and we will
have this fixed in a jiffy. Thee must not expect thy floor to keep
just so, Sukey, when there is so much company."
Presently, the floor resanded and the entry way swept, the two girls
started for the sitting-room. Peggy was thoughtful and Sally too, for
the nonce, was silent.
"Clifford will be all right where he is for a short time," mused
Peggy. "If he has to stay there for any length of time, though, 'twill
be most uncomfortable. I wonder if it would not be best to consult
with mother? Perchance she could think of some way out of the
difficulty."
She brightened at the thought, and just then Sally opened the door of
the sitting-room. Mr. Owen was in his great easy chair with his wife,
and Mrs. Johnson sitting near, interested listeners to some narrative.
The young people had withdrawn to the far side of the apartment and
formed a little group by themselves, of which Betty was the center.
She was giving an animated account of a recent assembly, and the
youths were so absorbed in the recital that they did not hear the two
girls approach. A smile came to Peggy's lips.
"Why, Betty is in truth a belle, Sally," she whispered. "How pretty
she hath grown! That gown doth indeed become her as thee said. It may
be that we tease her too much, for she is of a certainty entertaining.
I have never seen Fairfax so interested."
Betty caught sight of them before Sally could reply.
"Have ye come at last?" she cried. "I thought thee was never coming,
Peggy. It is not treating us right to leave us alone so long. And what
does thee think? Sally talks of going home. Has she told thee?"
"Oh, Sally!" uttered Peggy reproachfully. "Thee can't mean it? Why,
mother and I expect all of you to stay the night. Beside, 'tis too
cold for thee to go out."
"The very thing I told her," exclaimed Betty. "And she said," and a
note of indignation quavered into Betty's voice, "that if it were warm
enough to need a fan it was warm enough to go out."
"But, Betty, why do you use a fan in such weather?" questioned Robert
Dale laughing. "Here it is so cold that we can scarce keep warm, and
Mistress Owen hath called Sukey twice to attend the fire. Yet there
you sit and wave that fan. I have wished to ask you about it all day."
"Why, Robert, does thee not know that a fan is to a woman what a gun
is to a soldier--a weapon of offense and of defense?" explained
Betty airily. "When one is conversing should a pause occur in the
conversation one may offset any embarrassment by fanning slowly. So!"
She plied the fan to and fro as she explained.
"And do you need it often, Betty?" he asked slyly.
"Now that is mean, Robert. I would not have thought it of thee,"
pouted Betty. "I shall tell no more secrets anent the use of the fan,
sir. Thee would not insinuate anything so ungallant, would thee,
Captain Johnson?"
"No," answered the youth blushing deeply at being so appealed to, and
speaking with difficulty. "I would not, Mistress Betty. You--you
mean--there would be no pause, would there?" He stopped short as a
burst of merriment in which even Betty joined broke from the others.
"What did I say?" he asked in alarm. "What is it?"
At this moment there came the sound of many feet in the hallway, and
Sukey's voice was heard protesting loudly:
"Dar ain't nobody heah but de fambly, Mistah Officah. De fambly and
der company. 'Tain't no mannah ob use disturbin' dem. Der ain't no
Britisher 'roun' heah nohow."
"Why, what does this mean?" ejaculated Mr. Owen, rising and going to
the door. "What is the matter, Sukey?" he asked as he threw it open.