CONCILIATORY BILLS.
That Seth was proud of being an officer in the Continental army both
Jacob and Enoch understood during the first hour spent in his company.
The fact was clearly apparent in his manner of showing them around
the encampment, explaining the location of the different troops, the
routine of a soldier's life, and displaying his proficiency in the
manual of arms.
"I never had an idea that there was so much to be learned before a
fellow could make any show as a soldier," he said when, the exhibition
drill being ended, he led the two boys to his quarters. "It seemed to
me only necessary to stand in line, or be able to load a musket; but
that is a very small portion of the work."
"I suppose you know it all by this time," Jacob said in an envious tone.
"Indeed I don't. I have only just begun to learn; but if I'm not a good
soldier within a year, it will be because peace is declared too soon,
or I have been wounded or killed. The members of our company are well
trained, and seem willing to help me along."
"If I couldn't find out all there was for a private to know in a week,
I'd give up trying," Master Ludwick declared emphatically.
"Then you may as well never try."
"I'm not certain that I shall."
"What?" and Seth looked thoroughly astonished. "I thought your greatest
desire was to enlist?"
"I've changed my mind about that since last night."
"Since last night? Why, after what you two have done it seems as
if the only thing left was to enlist. You surely can't go back to
Philadelphia----"
"That isn't so certain. Enoch is going with Greene, the spy, and if I
can give father the slip I shall travel in his company."
As a matter of course Seth was eager to understand what Master Ludwick
meant, and in the fewest possible words Enoch explained the proposition
that had been made to him.
"I suppose of course it's your duty to go if you can be of any
service," Seth said slowly; "but I have counted so much on having you
and Jacob for comrades that it will be a big disappointment. It is too
bad for you not to be members of the army now when it seems as if the
end of the struggle was close at hand."
"What has happened to make you think anything of that kind is near?"
Enoch asked in surprise. "Philadelphia is still in the possession
of the British; General Washington has not moved from these his
winter-quarters, and at the very beginning of the campaign General
Lafayette has been forced to retreat."
"But the alliance will make a great difference. Now that we are to have
the assistance of the French troops----"
"What do you mean?" and both Enoch and Jacob looked bewildered.
"Haven't you heard that the French king has acknowledged the
independence of the United States, and declares that he will befriend
us?"
"I knew last winter it was hoped such might be the case, but don't
understand that anything has been effected toward that end as yet."
"Then General Howe has succeeded in keeping the news from our people
better than I supposed possible. You should have been in camp here
from the third to the seventh of this month, and then you would have
understood what hopes every one is building upon the alliance. It was
announced to the army on the third, and on the seventh the soldiers
celebrated the good news."
"I wish our friends in Philadelphia could know of it," Enoch said, half
to himself.
"They will know before a great while, that you may depend upon. It is
rumored here that war is to be declared between France and England,
and that what are called 'conciliatory bills' have been offered in
Parliament."
"What do you mean by conciliatory bills?" Enoch asked in perplexity.
"As it has been explained to me, the British government will make peace
with the colonies----"
"That is what the king will try to do," a voice cried, and, looking
up, the boys saw Greene, the spy, who had approached near enough
to overhear a portion of the conversation without having been seen.
"Nothing short of our independence will, I hope, please our leaders.
The bills you speak of are merely deceptionary measures, so General
Washington says. The king will give us a little more liberty than
we have had; but doesn't propose to allow us to become a nation by
ourselves. You don't seem to be aware of how well we are progressing,
Enoch, my boy. The French king has declared himself our friend; there
is no question but that war will soon be proclaimed between France and
England, and what more particularly concerns you is, that the British
are making preparations to evacuate Philadelphia."
Enoch and Jacob looked at the speaker in surprise which bordered on
bewilderment.
"Do you mean that General Howe will march out of the city when there is
no necessity of his doing so?"
"He will unquestionably march out very shortly; but there is good
reason for the move. He has accomplished nothing by remaining there,
and fears he may find himself in trouble. Four days before the carnival
Howe issued an order for the heavy baggage of the army to be prepared
for embarkation at the shortest notice, and for the soldiers to lighten
their personal luggage. If that doesn't mean that the Britishers are
getting ready for some kind of a move I'm very much mistaken. There
is yet more news for you, boys. It is evidently a fact that peace
commissioners have been appointed by the king, and are now on their way
to this country."
"Can that be possible?" Enoch asked, and Seth nodded his head
triumphantly as he replied:
"You should have been here at Valley Forge to learn the news, not in
the city where the Britishers suppress everything that isn't pleasing.
There can be no question about the commissioners, as Mr. Greene says,
for it is reported in the army that Washington wrote to Congress
regarding the conciliatory bills and the fact that the commissioners
are coming to this country, saying in the letter: 'Nothing short of
independence, it appears to me, will do. A peace on any other terms
would, if I may be allowed the expression, be a peace of war.' You can
see we are progressing famously, and that the time is come when the
king realizes how nearly we have gained our independence."
"Then if I go to the city with Mr. Greene I may be fortunate enough to
see the Britishers marching out?"
"Who can say but that you will be the first to bring the news to this
army that the capital of our country is no longer in possession of the
enemy?" the spy added in a triumphant tone. "Now, I fancy, Master Ball,
you will have no hesitation about doing as I wish?"
"I am ready to go whenever you say the word."
"Then it is time we were making a move. General Dickinson wants to have
a word with you before we go, and I propose to set out as soon as your
interview is ended."
"What about my going too?" Jacob asked eagerly. "Surely I have been
able to do as much as Enoch--perhaps more, for he is willing to confess
that but for me he would never have known where to get horses for last
night's ride."
"That matter is already settled, Master Ludwick," Greene replied with
just a suspicion of a smile. "I committed to your father's care the
horse Enoch rode, for it would have cost me too much time to have
turned him over to the quartermaster in due form, and then promised
that I would not countenance your leaving camp."
"So my father had an idea I would want to go?"
"Yes, when he learned I was to take Enoch."
"He may think he can keep me here; but I doubt it," Master Ludwick
said sharply. "It will be necessary for him to watch me very closely,
because it doesn't appear to be such a hard matter to give him the
slip."
"You may think differently after making the attempt. Do you fancy the
men here are allowed to roam about at will?"
"I reckon I shouldn't have much trouble in getting away if I tried
hard."
"You will soon learn to the contrary, if you make the attempt. At all
events I am bound by my promise not to allow you to accompany Enoch
and I. Seth, if you want to send any word to your mother we may have an
opportunity of speaking with her before many days."
"If Enoch sees her he knows what I would say. I am more than contented,
for I am happy at being a soldier at last, and hope before this
campaign ends I shall have done that which will prove I am true to the
cause."
Greene was not disposed to make any further delay.
His instructions were to be in Philadelphia before the following
morning, and since at least half of the journey must be made on foot,
there was no more than sufficient time remaining to accomplish his
purpose.
Seth and Jacob accompanied Enoch to General Dickinson's quarters, and
waited outside until his interview with the commander of the New Jersey
militia was at an end.
"What did he say to you?" Master Ludwick asked when Enoch finally
emerged from the building.
"Nothing of much importance that I am at liberty to repeat," Enoch
replied guardedly. "He thanked you and I for what we did last
night----"
"I should think it was about time somebody thanked us," Jacob grumbled.
"Surely General Lafayette spoke very kindly."
"Yes; but that is all he did do."
"Well, General Dickinson didn't say very much more, and surely our
night's work wasn't so dangerous after all."
"Weren't we chased and fired at?"
"Yes; but not hit."
"Then I suppose if we had been killed they would have thought we had
done something wonderful," Jacob grumbled.
Enoch did not care to enter into any argument with his friend
concerning a matter which, in his opinion, had already been fully
discussed, and put an end to the conversation by extending his hands to
his comrades as he said:
"Good-by, fellows! If nothing happens to me, and the Britishers do
leave Philadelphia, you'll see me precious soon after they have gone."
"Try mighty hard to be the first to bring us the news," Seth said in a
cheery tone as he pressed Enoch's hand warmly, and Jacob added:
"You two fellows seem to be having all the luck, even though I am the
one who does most of the work."
"You get just as much luck as any of us," Enoch replied, "and perhaps
more than Seth did, for he had to walk all the way to Valley Forge, and
you rode. Now you have a good opportunity to enlist, and I hope you
will do so instead of moping because matters are not exactly to your
liking."
Then Master Ball, motioning to Greene that he was ready for the journey,
set off down the path which led to the main road.
"That boy of Ludwick's has got something in him if he would only give
it a fair chance to come out," the spy said when they were a short
distance away. "The trouble with him is that he made up his mind he had
done a wonderful thing in bringing information of the enemy's movements
last night, and counted so surely on being given a commission as a
reward that it has unfitted him for ordinary duties."
"Jacob means well at heart."
"I believe you, lad--that is to say, he did up to last night, but that
little affair seems to have spoiled him entirely."
"He will soon get over it, and by the time we come back, if we ever do,
he will be in a fair way to become as good a soldier as Seth appears to
be."
"Don't make the mistake, lad, of questioning whether we are ever coming
back. I grant you the work we're on is dangerous; but the chances of
our being captured are not as great as the possibility of our being
killed if we were going into battle. To anticipate danger is, to my
mind, a good bit like inviting it, and the man who expects to be shot
has given himself a deal of unnecessary worriment, if it so chances he
comes out of the engagement unscratched. If, when we get to work, you
are constantly thinking your arrest as a spy is certain to happen, you
won't be so keen on the scent of news as you would if the venture was,
to your mind nothing more than a pleasant excursion."
"I suppose you think I am frightened. Well, I am: but that won't
interfere with my doing all you require."
"I don't believe it will, lad. You have got the right kind of pluck,
and I am counting on your distinguishing yourself between now and the
time the Britishers leave Philadelphia. Here are our horses, and this
time you are riding a nag belonging to the Colonies; not one you have
been obliged to impress."
"I thought we would be forced to walk!"
"We shall ride as far as it is safe to do so, and stop at the farm
where I am supposed to be working. The man who owns it is a true
friend to the cause, and through him I am enabled to do very much more
than would otherwise be possible, for he supplies me with all the
vegetables I can sell. It isn't such a bad idea for him either, for
he gets the money at the same time he is serving his country, and the
market-stoppers never trouble me."
"What do you intend I shall do in town?"
"First of all, simply go home, providing we arrive there so early in
the morning that you can get in without being seen. If your mother
reports that the Britishers have been looking for you, leave town
immediately, and make your way back to the farm without giving any heed
to me. In such case I shall be deprived of your services, for we cannot
keep you here if you are under suspicion. Should it chance, however, as
I anticipate, that you are not known to have done more than aid Seth
Graydon's escape, you will simply loiter around the city as you have
been doing, meeting me in the market-place when you have anything to
report, and, in case of important news, such as you learned last night,
make your way to the farm at the earliest possible moment."
"You spoke to Seth of the chance that I might see his mother?"
"Yes, there is no reason why you should not go there, if matters are as
I suppose. In fact, Enoch, you will do exactly as you have been doing,
and with the assurance that I shall be on the alert in case any danger
threatens."
Greene spoke of the duties to be performed in such a matter-of-fact
tone, treating the business as if it was nothing out of the ordinary,
that long before they arrived at the place where the horses were to be
left all sense of peril which had hung over Enoch was dispelled, and he
felt confident of being able to successfully perform the work required
of him.
Not until nightfall was the first stage of the journey ended, when
the two partook of an appetizing meal, rested an hour, and then set
their faces cityward, each carrying on his back a small assortment of
vegetables.
"We shall be there a good while before morning," Enoch suggested when
the long tramp was begun.
"I count on arriving shortly after midnight."
"But you can't go to the market-place until sunrise."
"Neither do I want to do so, my boy. I shall have an excuse for
loitering around town, and you may rest assured I don't waste my time
during the hours of apparent idleness."
"I should think the Britishers would be suspicious of your getting into
town at midnight."
"Bless you, lad, I've done the same thing for the past three months,
and been stopped by the patrol so many times that now they all know me.
It no longer excites surprise because I am so particularly attentive
to my business. My explanation is that I get a better price for the
marketing if I am first upon the ground."
As the journey progressed the miles seemed to Enoch to have doubled in
length, and the burden on his back increased tenfold in weight; but he
toiled manfully forward, repressing, so far as possible, every evidence
of fatigue lest the spy should think him one easily discouraged.
As they neared their destination there was less inclination for
conversation, and when half an hour had passed in silence Greene said
in a cheery tone:
"Your friend Seth, with all his marching and counter-marching,
shouldering and carrying arms, isn't forced to work as hard as you have
been doing this night, lad."
"But I am not grumbling."
"I am well aware of that, my boy, and proud of the fact, for it shows
I wasn't mistaken in my estimate of you. I know you are tired, though,
for I am, and I have been over this road in the same fashion nigh on to
a hundred times. It is the hardest kind of hard work; but there's a big
satisfaction in doing it, for we know that it insures our safety when
we are among the Britishers."
"Suppose you should meet any of the enemy who had seen me when I was in
jail with Jacob? Wouldn't it cast suspicion on you?"
"Not a bit of it, lad, for I am ready in case that happens, and it
wouldn't be strange if something of the kind should occur. Here is the
story: You found it necessary to go to work in order to help support
your mother, because in these days I don't fancy she has as many
scholars, either in French or dancing, as a month ago, when times even
with the enemy were more prosperous. I have hired you to help me bring
in my goods."
"But doesn't it seem strange that you shouldn't come in with a wagon?"
"Not a bit of it, and for this reason: The Americans might seize my
horse, and pay for it with an order on Congress, or the British might
do the same thing and give me English gold. In either case I should be
the loser, if I was really what I represent myself, for horses can't
be purchased readily even though one is willing to pay a big price,
and that fact is well known. Only those farmers living near the town,
and who are assured of General Howe's protection because of their
Tory sentiments, venture with their beasts where it is so easy to lose
them."
It was half an hour past midnight when they had arrived opposite the
Carpenter mansion, and there, to Enoch's alarm, they were halted by a
patrol.
"It's only me, cap'n," Greene said when the command to halt was given.
"You still believe in the luck of being first at the market-place,
Daniel," the sergeant in command of the squad said with a laugh.
"And it is luck, cap'n. I haven't missed of sellin' all I've brought a
single day since you Britishers come here."
"And you think that wouldn't be the case if some one got in ahead of
you?"
"It mightn't be."
"But there are plenty who don't arrive until daylight, and yet sell all
their wares."
"I allow that's a fact, cap'n dear; but who gets the best price? The
early bird like me what can afford to haggle for an extra sixpence, or
them as have only time enough to sell out and get home before dark?"
"There may be some truth in that, my man; you appear to be a rare one
for driving bargains. But who is this with you?"
"A city-bred lad what has found out at last that he's got a livin' to
earn. He's the son of the Widow Ball on Letitia Street--she's an old
customer of mine. I sold her enough potatoes for winter early in the
fall, and got the money before I brought 'em in."
"You are not wise in your choice of an assistant, Daniel," the sergeant
said in an admonitory tone. "Young Ball isn't looked upon as an honest
lad."
"What do you mean by that?" and the alleged farmer gave evidence of
the liveliest alarm. "His mother told me he wouldn't take a pin's worth
that didn't belong to him."
"All of which may be true; but certain it is that he has been suspected
of having an affection for the rebels, and it isn't many days since he
came out of jail, where he was held on suspicion of having aided a spy
to escape."
"Oh, is that all you've got agin him? I allowed from the way you began
it was something serious."
"And don't you call acting the rebel a serious matter?"
"Not in a boy like him, cap'n. It's a way all young chaps have. They
think it's a sign of smartness to side with the under dog in the fight;
but after a few hard knocks that is thumped out of 'em, an' this one is
as loyal to the king as I am."
"It won't do any harm to keep your eye on him, at all events, Daniel,
for if he should indulge in more disagreeable practices he might get
not only himself, but you, into trouble."
"I reckon hard work will take all that out of him, and after he's
tramped in here a dozen times he'll be glad to stay at home instead of
cavorting 'round with the rebels, though I should be the last to say
anything agin 'em."
"What do you mean by that?" the sergeant asked sternly.
"Why, ain't they doing me a mighty good turn, cap'n? If it wasn't for
them all you Britishers wouldn't be here, and I should have to take
less than half-price for my truck, and trust the biggest part out at
that."
"Oh, I see," the sergeant replied laughingly as he ordered his men
to move on. "It's the pounds, shillings and pence that touch you more
deeply than anything else. Good-night to you, Daniel. Don't charge more
than three prices for your truck, and see to it that your assistant
behaves himself."
"It is evident there has been no very great hue and cry over you and
Jacob since yesterday afternoon," Greene said in a whisper as the
patrol passed on in advance, "otherwise the sergeant would have known
it. There's nothing now to prevent our carrying out the plan as I had
allowed. Keep your eyes open, lad, and don't stay in the house a single
minute after daylight."