POUNDRIDGE
We now approached the door of the manor house, where we named ourselves
to the sentry, who presently fetched an officer of Minute Men, who
looked us over somewhat coldly.
"You wish to see Major Lockwood?" he asked.
"Yes," said Boyd, "and you may say to him that we are come from
headquarters express to speak with him on private business."
"From whom in Albany do you come, sir?"
"Well, sir, if you must have it, from General Clinton," returned Boyd
in a lower voice. "But we would not wish it gossipped aloud."
The man seemed to be perplexed, but he went away again, leaving us
standing in the crowded hall where officers, ladies of the family, and
black servants were continually passing and repassing.
Very soon a door opened on our left, and we caught a glimpse of a
handsome room full of officers and civilians, where maps were scattered
in confusion over tables, chairs, and even on the floor. An officer in
buff and blue came out of the room, glanced keenly at us, made a slight
though courteous inclination, but instead of coming forward to greet us
turned into another room on the right, which was a parlour.
Then the minute officer returned, directed us where to place our
rifles, insisted firmly that we also leave under his care our war axes
and the pistol which Boyd carried, and then ushered us into the
parlour. And it occurred to me that the gentleman on whose head the
British had set a price was very considerably inclined toward prudence.
Now this same gentleman, Major Lockwood, who had been seated behind a
table when we entered the parlour, rose and received us most blandly,
although I noted that he kept the table between himself and us, and
also that the table drawer was open, where I could have sworn that the
papers so carelessly heaped about covered a brace of pistols.
For to this sorry pass the Westchester folk had come, that they trusted
no stranger, nor were like to for many a weary day to come. Nor could I
blame this gentleman with a heavy price on his head, and, as I heard
later, already the object of numerous and violent attempts in which, at
times, entire regiments had been employed to take him.
But after he had carefully read the letter which Boyd bore from our
General of Brigade, he asked us to be seated, and shut the table
drawer, and came over to the silk-covered sofa on which we had seated
ourselves.
"Do you know the contents of this letter?" he asked Boyd bluntly.
"Yes, Major Lockwood."
"And does Mr. Loskiel know, also?"
"Yes, sir," I answered.
The Major sat musing, turning over and over the letter between thumb
and forefinger.
He was a man, I should say, of forty or a trifle more, with brown eyes
which sometimes twinkled as though secretly amused, even when his face
was gravest and most composed; a gentleman of middle height, of good
figure and straight, and of manners so simple that the charm of them
struck one afterward as a pleasant memory.
"Gentlemen," he said, looking up at us from his momentary abstraction,
"for the first part of General Clinton's letter I must be brief with
you and very frank. There are no recruits to be had in this vicinity
for Colonel Morgan's Rifles. Riflemen are of the elite; and our best
characters and best shots are all enlisted--or dead or in prison----"
He made a significant gesture toward the south. And we thought of the
Prison Ships and the Provost, and sat silent.
"There is," he added, "but one way, and that is to pick riflemen from
our regiments here; and I am not sure that the law permits it in the
infantry. It would be our loss, if we lose our best shots to your
distinguished corps; but of course that is not to be considered if the
interests of the land demand it. However, if I am not mistaken, a
recruiting party is to follow you."
"Yes, Major."
"Then, sir, you may report accordingly. And now for the other matters.
General Clinton, in this letter, recommends that we speak very freely
together. So I will be quite frank, gentlemen. The man you seek, Luther
Kinnicut, is a spy whom our Committee of Safety maintains within the
lines of the lower party. If it be necessary I can communicate with
him, but it may take a week. Might I ask why you desire to question him
so particularly?"
Boyd said: "There is a Siwanois Indian, one Mayaro, a Sagamore, with
whom we have need to speak. General Clinton believes that this man
Kinnicut knows his whereabouts."
"I believe so, too," said the Major smiling. "But I ask your pardon,
gentlemen; the Sagamore, Mayaro, although a Siwanois, was adopted by
the Mohicans, and should be rated one."
"Do you know him, sir?"
"Very well indeed. May I inquire what it is you desire of Mayaro?"
"This," said Boyd slowly; "and this is the real secret with which I am
charged--a secret not to be entrusted to paper--a secret which you,
sir, and even my comrade, Mr. Loskiel, now learn for the first time.
May I speak with safety in this room, Major?"
The Major rose, opened the door into the hall, dismissed the sentry,
closed and locked the door, and returned to us.
"I am," he said smiling, "almost ashamed to make so much circumstance
over a small matter of which you have doubtless heard. I mean that the
lower party has seen fit to distinguish me by placing a price upon my
very humble head; and as I am not only Major in Colonel Thomas's
regiment, but also a magistrate, and also, with my friend Lewis Morris,
a member of the Provincial Assembly, and of the Committee of Safety, I
could not humour the lower party by permitting them to capture so many
important persons in one net," he added, laughing. "Now, sir, pray
proceed. I am honoured by General Clinton's confidence."
"Then, sir," said Boyd very gravely, "this is the present matter as it
stands. His Excellency has decided on a daring stroke to be delivered
immediately; General Sullivan has been selected to deal it, General
Clinton is to assist. A powerful army is gathering at Albany, and
another at Easton and Tioga. The enemy know well enough that we are
concentrating, and they have guessed where the blow is to be struck.
But, sir, they have guessed wrong!"
"Not Canada, then?" inquired the Major quietly.
"No, sir. We demonstrate northward; that is all. Then we wheel west by
south and plunge straight into the wilderness, swift as an arrow files,
directly at the heart of the Long House!"
"Sir!" he exclaimed, astonished.
"Straight at the heart o! the Iroquois Confederacy, Major! That is what
is to be done--clean out, scour out, crush, annihilate those hell-born
nations which have so long been terrorizing the Northland. Major
Lockwood, you have read in the New England and Pennsylvania papers how
we have been threatened, how we have been struck, how we have fought
and suffered. But you, sir, have only heard; you have not seen. So I
must tell you now that it is far worse with us than we have admitted.
The frontier of New York State is already in ashes; the scalp yell
rings in our forests day and night; and the red destructives under
Brant, and the painted Tories under Walter Butler, spare neither age
nor sex--for I myself have seen scalps taken from the tender heads of
cradled infants--nay, I have seen them scalp the very hound on guard at
the cabin door! And that is how it goes with us, sir. God save you,
here, from the blue-eyed Indians!"
He stopped, hesitated, then, softly smiting one fist within the other:
"But now I think their doom is sounding--Seneca, lying Cayuga,
traitorous Onondaga, Mohawk, painted renegade--all are to go down into
utter annihilation. Nor is that all. We mean to sweep their empire from
end to end, burn every town, every castle, every orchard, every grain
field--lay waste, blacken, ravage, leave nothing save wind-blown ashes
of that great Confederacy, and of the vast granary which has fed the
British northern armies so long. Nothing must remain of the Long House;
the Senecas shall die at the Western door; the Keepers of the Eastern
door shall die. Only the Oneida may be spared--as many as have remained
neutral or loyal to us--they and such of the Tuscaroras and
Lenni-Lenape as have not struck us; and the Stockbridge and White
Plains tribes, and the remnants of the Mohicans.
"And that is why we have come here for riflemen, and that is why we are
here to find the Sagamore, Mayaro. For our Oneidas have told us that he
knows where the castles of the Long House lie, and that he can guide
our army unerringly to that dark, obscure and fearsome Catharines-town
where the hag, Montour, reigns in her shaggy wilderness."
There was a long silence; and I for one, amazed at what I had
heard--for I had made certain that we were to have struck at
Canada--was striving to reconcile this astounding news with all my
preconceived ideas. Yet, that is ever the way with us in the regiments;
we march, not knowing whither; we camp at night not knowing why. Unseen
authority moves us, halts us; unseen powers watch us, waking and
sleeping, think for us, direct our rising and our lying down, our going
forth and our return--nay, the invisible empire envelops us utterly in
sickness and in health, ruling when and how much we eat and sleep,
controlling every hour and prescribing our occupation for every minute.
Only our thoughts remain free; and these, as we are not dumb,
unthinking beasts, must rove afield to seek for the why and wherefore,
garnering conclusions which seldom if ever are corroborated.
So I; for I had for months now made sure that our two armies in the
North were to be flung pell mell on Quebec and on Niagara. Only
regarding the latter place had I nearly hit the mark; for it seemed
reasonable that our army, having once swept the Long House, could
scarcely halt ere we had cleaned out that rat's nest of Indians and
painted Tories which is known as Fort Niagara, and from which every
dreadful raid of the destructives into Tryon County had been planned
and executed.
Thinking of these things, my deep abstraction was broken by the
pleasant voice of Major Lockwood.
"Mr. Boyd," he said, "I realise now how great is your need of riflemen
to fill the State's quota. If there is anything I or my associates can
do, under the law, it shall be done; and when we are able to
concentrate, and when your recruiting party arrives, I will do what I
can, if permitted, to select from the dragoons of Sheldon and Moylan,
and from my own regiment such men as may, by marksmanship and
character, qualify for the corps d'élite."
He rose and began to pace the handsome parlour, evidently worried and
perplexed; and presently he halted before us, who had of course risen
in respect.
"Gentlemen," he said, "I must lay bare to you our military necessity,
embarrassment, and mortification in this country of Westchester, so
that you may clearly understand the difficulty of furnishing the
recruits you ask for.
"South of us, from New York to North Castle, our enemy is in
possession. We are attempting to hold this line; but it is a vast
country. We can count on very few Continental troops; our militia has
its various rendezvous, and it turns out at every call. The few
companies of my regiment of foot are widely scattered; one company left
here as escort to the military train an hour ago. Sheldon's 2nd Light
Dragoons are scattered all over the country. Two troops and
headquarters remain now here at my house."
He waved his hand westward: "So desperate is our condition, gentlemen,
that Colonel Moylan's Dragoons have been ordered here, and are at this
moment, I suppose, on the march to join us. And--I ask you,
gentlemen--considering that in New York City, just below us, there are
ten thousand British regulars, not counting the partizan corps, the
irregulars, the Tory militia, the numberless companies of marauders--I
ask you how you can expect to draw recruits from the handful of men who
have been holding--or striving to hold--this line for the last three
years!"
Boyd shook his head in silence. As for me, it was not my place to
speak, nor had I anything to suggest.
After a moment the Major said, more cheerfully:
"Well, well, gentlemen, who knows after all? We may find ways and
means. And now, one other matter remains to be settled, and I think I
may aid you."
He went to the door and opened it. The sentry who stood across the hall
came to him instantly and took his orders; and in a few moments there
entered the room four gentlemen to whom we were made known by Major
Lockwood. One of these was our Captain of Minute Men. They were, in
order, Colonel Sheldon, a fretful gentleman with a face which seemed to
me weak, almost stupid; Colonel Thomas, an iron-grey, silent officer,
stern but civil; Captain William Fancher, a Justice of the Peace, Judge
of the Court of Common Pleas, and holding his commission as Captain of
Minute Men; and a Mr. Alsop Hunt, a Quaker, son-in-law of Major
Lockwood, and a most quiet and courteous gentleman.
With one accord we drew chairs around the handsome centre table, where
silver candlesticks glimmered and a few books lay in their fine, gilded
bindings.
It was very evident to us that in the hands of these five gentlemen lay
the present safety of Westchester County, military and civil. And to
them Major Lockwood made known our needs--not, however, disturbing them
in their preconceived notion, so common everywhere, that the blow to be
struck from the North was to be aimed at the Canadas.
Colonel Sheldon's weak features turned red and he said almost peevishly
that no recruits could be picked up in Westchester, and that we had had
our journey for our pains. Anyway, he'd be damned if he'd permit
recruiting for riflemen among his dragoons, it being contrary to law
and common sense.
"I've a dozen young fellows who might qualify," said Colonel Thomas
bluntly, "but if the law permits Mr. Boyd to take them my regiment's
volleys wouldn't stop a charge of chipmunks!"
We all laughed a little, and Captain Fancher said:
"Minute Men are Minute Men, Mr. Boyd. You are welcome to any you can
enlist from my company."
Alsop Hunt, being a Quaker, and personally opposed to physical
violence, offered no suggestion until the second object of our visit
was made known. Then he said, very quietly:
"Mayaro, the Mohican Sagamore, is in this vicinity."
"How do you know that, Alsop?" asked Major Lockwood quickly.
"I saw him yesterday."
"Here in Poundridge?"
Mr. Hunt glanced at Colonel Thomas, then with a slight colour mounting
to his temples:
"The Sagamore was talking to one of the camp-women last evening--toward
sundown on the Rock Hills. We were walking abroad for the air, my wife
and I----" he turned to Major Lockwood: "Betsy whispered to me, 'There
is a handsome wench talking to an Indian!' And I saw the Sagamore
standing in the sunset light, conversing with one of the camp-women who
hang about Colonel Thomas's regiment.".
"Would you know the slattern again?" asked Colonel Thomas, scowling.
"I think so, Colonel. And to tell the truth she was scarce a slattern,
whatever else she may be--a young thing--and it seemed sad to us--to my
wife and me."
"And handsome?" inquired Boyd, smiling at me.
"I may not deny it, sir," said Mr. Hunt primly. "The child possessed
considerable comeliness."
"Why," said Boyd to me, laughingly, "she may be the wench you so
gallantly rescued an hour since." And he told the story gayly enough,
and with no harm meant; but it embarrassed and annoyed me.
"If the wench knows where the Sagamore may be found," said Major
Lockwood, "it might be well for Mr. Loskiel to look about and try to
find her."
"Would you know her again?" inquired Colonel Thomas.
"No, sir, I----" And I stopped short, because what I was about to say
was not true. For, when I had sent the soldiers about their business
and had rejoined Boyd--and when Boyd had bidden me turn again because
the girl was handsome, there had been no need to turn. I had seen her;
and I knew that when he said she was beautiful he said what was true.
And the reason I did not turn, to look again was because beauty in such
a woman should inspire no interest in me.
I now corrected myself, saying coolly enough:
"Yes, Colonel Thomas, on second thought I think I might know her if I
see her."
"Perhaps," suggested Captain Fancher, "the wench has gone a-gypsying
after the convoy."
"These drabs change lovers over night," observed Colonel Thomas grimly.
"Doubtless Sheldon's troopers are already consoling her."
Colonel Sheldon, who had been fiddling uneasily with his sword-knot,
exclaimed peevishly:
"Good God, sir! Am I also to play chaplain to my command?"
There was a curious look in Colonel Thomas's eyes which seemed to say:
"You might play it as well as you play the Colonel;" but Sheldon was
too stupid and too vain, I think, to perceive any affront.
And, "Where do you lodge, gentlemen?" inquired our Major, addressing us
both; and when he learned that we were roofless he insisted that we
remain under his roof, nor would he hear of any excuses touching the
present unsuitability of our condition and attire.
"Gentlemen, gentlemen! I will not accept a refusal," he said. "We are
plain folk and live plainly, and both bed and board are at your
disposal. Lord, sir! And what would Clinton think were I to send two
officers of his corps d'élite to a village ordinary!"
We had all risen and were moving toward the door. A black servant came
when the Major pulled the bell card, and showed Boyd and myself to two
pretty chambers, small, but very neat, where the linen on the beds
smelled fresh and sweet, and the westering sun struck golden through
chintz curtains drawn aside.
"Gad!" said Boyd, eying the bed. "It's long since my person has been
intimately acquainted with sheet and pillow. What a pretty nest,
Loskiel. Lord! And here's a vase of posies, too! The touch
feminine--who could mistake it in the sweet, fresh whiteness of this
little roam!"
Presently came our rifleman, Jack Mount, bearing our saddle-bags; and
we stripped and washed us clean, and put on fresh linen and our best
uniforms of soft doeskin, which differed from the others only in that
they were clean and new, and that the thrums were gayer and the
Iroquois beadwork more flamboyant.
"If I but had my hair in a snug club, and well powdered," sighed Boyd,
lacing his shirt. "And I tell you, Loskiel, though I would not boast,
this accursed rifle-shirt and these gaudy leggings conceal a supple
body and a leg as neatly turned as any figure more fortunately clothed
in silken coat and stockings!"
I began to laugh, and he laughed, too, vowing he envied me my hair,
which was yellow and which curled of itself so that it needed no powder.
I can see him yet, standing there in the sunshine, both hands gripping
his dark hair in pretense of grief, and vowing that he had a mind to
scalp himself for very vexation. Alas! That I remember now such idle
words, spoken in the pride and strength and gayety of youth! And always
when I think of him I remember his dread of fire--the only fear he ever
knew. These things--his brown eyes and quick, gay smile--his lithe and
supple person--and his love of women--these I remember always, even
while already much that concerned this man and me begins to fade with
the stealthy years.
While the sun still hung high in the west, and ere any hint of evening
was heard either in the robin's note or from the high-soaring martins,
we had dressed. Boyd went away first, saying carelessly that he meant
to look to the horses before paying his respects to the ladies. A
little later I descended, a black servant conducting me to the family
sitting room.
Here our gallant Major made me known to his lady and to his numerous
family--six young children, and still a seventh, the pretty maid whom
we had seen on approaching the house, who proved to be a married
daughter. Betsy, they called her--and she was only seventeen, but had
been two years the wife of Alsop Hunt.
As for the Major's lady, who seemed scarce thirty and was six years
older, she so charmed me with her grace, and with the bright courage
she so sweetly maintained in a home which every hour of the day and
night menaced, that even Mrs. Hunt, with her gay spirits, imperious
beauty, and more youthful attractions, no more than shared my
admiration for her mother.
In half an hour Lieutenant Boyd came in, was presented, and paid his
homage gayly, as he always did. Yet, I thought a slight cloud rested on
his brow, but this soon passed, and I forgot it.
So we talked of this and that as lightly as though no danger threatened
this house; and Boyd was quickly at his best with the ladies. As for
me, I courted the children. And I remember there were two little maids
of fourteen and eleven, Ruhannah and Hannah, sweet and fresh as wild
June roses, who showed me the tow cloth for our army which they were
spinning, and blushed at my praise of their industry. And there was
Mary, ten, and Clarissa, eight, and two little boys, one a baby--all
save the last two children carding or spinning flax and tow.
It was not easy to understand that this blooming matron could be mother
of all of these, so youthful she seemed in her Quaker-cut gown of
dove-colour--though it was her handsome, high-spirited daughter who
should have worn the sober garb.
"Not I," said she, laughing at Boyd. "I'd sooner don jack-boots and be
a dragoon--and we would completely represent a holy cause, my husband
with his broad-brim and I with my sword. What do you say, Mr. Boyd?"
"I beg of you first to consider the rifle-frock if you must enlist!"
urged Boyd, with such fervour that we all laughed at his gallant effort
to recruit such beauty for our corps; for even a mental picture of
Betsy Hunt in rifle-frock seemed too adorable. Mr. Hunt, entering,
smiled in his quiet, embarrassed way; and I thought that this wise and
gentle-mannered man must have more than a handful in his spirited young
wife, whose dress was anything but plain.
I had taken the tiny maid, Clarissa, upon my knees and was telling her
of the beauty of our Northland, and of that great, dusky green ocean of
giant pines, vast as the sea and as silent and uncharted, when Major
Lockwood bent over me saying in a quiet voice that it might be well for
me to look about in the town for the wench who knew the whereabouts of
Mayaro.
"While there is still daylight," he added, as I set Clarissa on the
floor and stood up, "and if she be yet here you should find her before
supper time. We sup at six, Mr. Loskiel."
I bowed, took leave of the ladies, exchanged an irritated glance for
Boyd's significant grin, and went out to the porch, putting on my light
round cap of moleskin. I liked neither my present errand, nor Boyd's
smile either.
Now, I had not thought to take with me my side-arms, but a slave waited
at the door with my belt. And as I buckled it and hung war-axe and
heavy hunting blade, I began to comprehend something of the imminent
danger which so apparently lurked about this country. For all military
men hereabouts went armed; and even in the house I had noticed that
Major Lockwood wore his sword, as did the other officers--some even
carrying their pistols.
The considerable throng of people whom we had first seen in the
neighborhood of the house had scattered or gone off when the infantry
had left. Carpenters were still sawing and hammering on the flimsy new
barracks down in the meadow, and there seemed to be a few people there.
But on strolling thither I saw nothing of the wench; so turned on my
heel and walked briskly up the road.
About the village itself there was nothing to be seen of the girl, nor
did I know how to make inquiries--perhaps dreading to do so lest my
quest be misunderstood or made a jest of by some impertinent fellow.
In the west a wide bank of cloud had pushed up over the horizon and was
already halving the low-hanging sun, which presently it entirely
swallowed; and the countryside grew luminously grey and that intense
green tinged the grass, which is with us the forerunner of an
approaching storm.
But I thought it far off, not then knowing the Hudson's midsummer
habits, nor the rapid violence of the July storms it hatches and drives
roaring among the eastern hills and across the silvery Sound.
So, with a careless glance aloft, I pursued my errand, strolling hither
and thither through the pleasant streets and lanes of old Poundridge,
always approaching any groups of soldiers that I saw because I thought
it likely that the wench might haunt her kind.
I did not find her; and presently I began to believe it likely that she
had indeed gone off a-gypsying after the escort companies toward
Lewisboro.
There is a road which, skirting the Stone Hills, runs east by north
between Cross Pond and the Three Lakes; and, pursuing it, I came on a
vidette of Sheldon's regiment, most carelessly set where he could see
nothing, and yet be seen a mile away.
Supposing he would halt me, I walked up to him; and he continued to
munch the green bough-apple he was eating, making me a most slovenly
salute.
Under his leather helmet I saw that my dragoon was but a child of
fifteen--scarce strong enough to swing the heavy sabre at his pommel or
manage the sawed-off musket which he bore, the butt resting wearily on
his thigh. And it made me sober indeed to see to what a pass our
country had come, that we enlisted boys and were obliged to trust to
their ignorance for our protection.
"It will rain before sundown," he said, munching on his apple; "best
seek shelter, sir. When it comes it will come hard."
"Where runs this road?" I asked.
"To Boutonville."
"And what is Boutonville?"
"It's where the Boutons live--a mile or two north, sir. They're a wild
parcel."
"Are they of our party?"
"Oh, yes, sir. But they hunt the leather-caps as we hunt quail--scare
up a company, fire, and then track down the scattered."
"Oh; irregulars."
"No, sir, not skinners. They farm it until the British plague them
beyond endurance. Then," he added significantly, "they go a-hunting
with their dogs."
I had already turned to retrace my steps when it occurred to me that
perhaps an inquiry of this lad might not be misunderstood.
So I walked up to his horse and stood caressing the sorry animal while
I described to him the wench I was seeking.
"Yes, sir," he said seriously, "that's the one the boys are ever
plaguing to make her rage."
"Do you know her?"
"By sight, yes, sir."
"She is one of the camp followers, I take it," said I carelessly.
"I don't know. The boys are ever plaguing her. She came from the North
they say. All I know is that in April she was first seen here,
loitering about the camp where the White Plains Indians were embodied.
But she did not go off with the Continentals."
"She was loitering this afternoon by the camp of Colonel Thomas's men,"
I said.
"Very like, sir. Did the men plague her?"
"Yes."
He bit into his apple, unconcerned:
"They are all after her. But I never saw her kind to any man--whatever
she may be."
Why, I did not know, but what he said gave me satisfaction.
"You do not know which way she went?" I asked.
"No, sir. I have been here but the half hour. She knows the Bouton boys
yonder. I have seen her coming and going on this road, sometimes with
an Indian----"
"With a Sagamore?"
He continued his munching. Having swallowed what he chewed, he said:
"I know nothing of savages or Sagamores. The Indian may have been a
Sagamore."
"Do you know where he is to be found?"
"No, sir, I do not."
"Perhaps this young girl knows?"
"Doubtless she does, seeing she journeys about with him on the ridge
yonder, which we call the Rock Hills."
"Do you know her name, soldier?"
"They call her Lois, I believe."
And that was all the news I could get of her; and I thanked the boy and
slowly started to retrace my steps toward the village.
Already in the air there was something of that stillness which heralds
storms; no leaves on bush and tree were now stirring; land and sky had
grown sombre all around me; and the grass glimmered intensely green.
Where the road skirted the Stone Hills were no houses, nothing, in
fact, of human habitation to be seen save low on the flank of the rocky
rampart a ruined sugar house on the edge of a maple ridge, I do not
know what made me raise my head to give it a second glance, but I did;
and saw among the rocks near it a woman moving.
Nor do I know, even now, how at that distance and in the dusk of a
coming storm I could perceive that it was she whom I was now seeking.
But so certain was I of this that, without even taking thought to
consider, I left the highway, turned to the right, and began to mount
the hillside where traces of a path or sheep-walk were faintly visible
under foot among the brambles. Once or twice I glanced upward to see
whether she observed me, but the scrubby foliage now hid her as well as
the sap-house, and I hastened because the light was growing very dim
now, and once or twice, far away, I thought I heard the muttering of
thunder.
It was not long before I perceived the ramshackle sap-house ahead of me
among the maples. Then I caught sight of her whom I was seeking.
It was plain that she had not yet discovered me, though she heard me
moving in the thicket. She stood in a half-crouching, listening
attitude, then slowly began to retreat, not cowering, but sullenly and
with a certain defiance in her lithe movement, like some disturbed and
graceful animal which is capable of defending itself but prefers to get
away peaceably if permitted.
I stepped out into the clearing and called to her through the
increasing gloom; and for a moment thought she had gone. Then I saw
her, dimly, watching me from the obscurity of the dark doorway.
"You need have no fear of me," I called to her pleasantly. "You know me
now, do you not?"
She made no answer; and I approached the doorway and stood peering into
her face through the falling twilight. And for a moment I thought I had
been mistaken; but it was she after all.
Yet now she wore neither the shabby chip hat with its soiled blue
ribbon tied beneath her chin, nor any trace of hair powder, nor dotted
kerchief cross-fastened at her breast and pinned with the withered rose.
And she seemed younger and slimmer and more childish than I had thought
her, her bosom without its kerchief meagre or unformed, and her cheeks
not painted either, but much burned by the July sun. Nor were her eyes
black, as I had supposed, but a dark, clear grey with black lashes; and
her unpowdered hair seemed to be a reddish-chestnut and scarce longer
than my own, but more curly.
"Child," I said, smiling at her, I know not why, "I have been searching
for you ever since I first saw you----"
And: "What do you want of me?" said she, scarce moving her lips.
"A favour."
"Best mount your cobbler's mare and go a-jogging back, my pretty lad."
The calm venom in her voice and her insolent grey eyes took me aback
more than her saucy words.
"Doubtless," I said, "you have not recognized in me the officer who was
at some slight pains to be of service----"
"What is it you desire?" said she, so rudely that I felt my face burn
hot.
"See here, my lass," said I sharply, "you seem to misunderstand my
errand here."
"And am like to," said she, "unless you make your errand short and
plainer--though I have learned that the errands which bring such men as
you to me are not too easily misunderstood."
"Such men as I----"
"You and your friend with the bold, black eyes. Ask him how much change
he had of me when he came back."
"I did not know he had seen you again," said I, still redder. And saw
that she believed me not.
"Birds sing; men lie," said she. "So if----"
"Be silent! Do you hear!" I cut her short with such contempt that I saw
the painful colour whip her cheeks and her eyes quiver.
Small doubt that what she had learned of men had not sweetened her nor
taught her confidence. But whatever she had been, and whatever she was,
after all concerned not me that I should take pains to silence her so
brutally.
"I am sorry I spoke as I did," said I, "--however mistaken you are
concerning my seeking you here."
She said nothing.
"Also," I added, with a sudden resurgance of bitterness that surprised
myself, "my conduct earlier in your behalf might have led you to a
wiser judgment."
"I am wise enough--after my own fashion," she said indifferently.
"Does a man save and then return to destroy?"
"Many a hunter has saved many a spotted fawn from wolf and fox--so he
might kill it himself, one day."
"You do yourself much flattery, young woman," I said, so unpleasantly
that again the hot colour touched her throat and brow.
"I reason as I have been taught," she said defiantly. "Doubtless you
are self-instructed."
"No; men have taught me. You witnessed, I believe, one lesson. And your
comrade gave me still another."
"I care to witness nothing," I said, furious; "far less desire to
attempt your education. Is all plain now?"
"Your words are," she said, with quiet contempt.
"My words are one with my intention," said I, angrily; far in spite of
my own indifference and contempt, hers was somehow arousing me with its
separate sting hidden in every word she uttered. "And now," I
continued, "all being plain and open between us, let me acquaint you
with the sole object of my visit here to you."
She shrugged her shabby shoulders and waited, her eyes, her expression,
her very attitude indifferent, yet dully watchful.
"You know the Sagamore, Mayaro?" I asked.
"You say so."
"Where is he to be found?" I continued patiently.
"Why do you desire to know?"
The drab was exasperating me, and I think I looked it, for the
slightest curl of her sullen lips hinted a scornful smile.
"Come, come, my lass," said I, with all the patience I could still
command, "there is a storm approaching, and I do not wish to get wet.
Answer my civil question and I'll thank you and be off about my
business. Where is this Sagamore to be found?"
"Why do you wish to know?"
"Because I desire to consult him concerning certain matters."
"What matters?"
"Matters which do not concern you!" I snapped out.
"Are you sure of that, pretty boy?"
"Am I sure?" I repeated, furious. "What do you mean? Will you answer an
honest question or not?"
"Why do you desire to see this Sagamore?" she repeated so obstinately
that I fairly clenched my teeth.
"Answer me," I said. "Or had you rather I fetched a file of men up
here?"
"Fetch a regiment, and I shall tell you nothing unless I choose."
"Good God, what folly!" I exclaimed. "For whom and for what do you take
me, then, that you refuse to answer the polite and harmless question of
an American officer!"
"You had not so named yourself."
"Very well, then; I am Euan Loskiel, Ensign in Morgan's rifle regiment!"
"You say so."
"Do you doubt it?"
"Birds sing," she said. Suddenly she stepped from the dark doorway,
came to where I stood, bent forward and looked me very earnestly in the
eyes--so closely that something--her nearness--I know not what--seemed
to stop my heart and breath for a second.
Then, far on the western hills lightning glimmered; and after a long
while it thundered.
"Do you wish me to find this Sagamore for you?" she asked very quietly.
"Will you do so?"
A drop of rain fell; another, which struck her just where the cheek
curved under the long black lashes, fringing them with brilliancy like
tears.
"Where do you lodge?" she asked, after a silent scrutiny of me.
"This night I am a guest at Major Lockwood's. Tomorrow I travel north
again with my comrade, Lieutenant Boyd."
She was looking steadily at me all the time; finally she said:
"Somehow, I believe you to be a friend to liberty. I know it--somehow."
"It is very likely, in this rifle dress I wear," said I smiling.
"Yet a man may dress as he pleases."
"You mistrust me for a spy?"
"If you are, why, you are but one more among many hereabouts. I think
you have not been in Westchester very long. It does not matter. No boy
with the face you wear was born to betray anything more important than
a woman."
I turned hot and scarlet with chagrin at her cool presumption--and
would not for worlds have had her see how the impudence stung and
shamed me.
For a full minute she stood there watching me; then:
"I ask pardon," she said very gravely.
And somehow, when she said it I seemed to experience a sense of
inferiority--which was absurd and monstrous, considering what she
doubtless was.
It had now begun to rain in very earnest; and was like to rain harder
ere the storm passed. My clothes being my best, I instinctively stepped
into the doorway; and, of a sudden, she was there too, barring my
entry, flushed and dangerous, demanding the reason of my intrusion.
"Why," said I astonished, "may I not seek shelter from a storm in a
ruined sugar-house, without asking by your leave?"
"This sap-house is my own dwelling!" she said hotly. "It is where I
live!"
"Oh, Lord," said I, bewildered, "--if you are like to take offense at
everything I say, or look, or do, I'll find a hospitable tree
somewhere----"
"One moment, sir----"
"Well?"
She stood looking at me in the doorway, then slowly dropped her eyes,
and in the same law voice I had heard once before:
"I ask your pardon once again," she said. "Please to come inside--and
close the door. An open door draws lightning."
It was already drawing the rain in violent gusts.
The thunder began to bang with that metallic and fizzling tone which it
takes on when the bolts fall very near; flash after flash of violet
light illuminated the shack at intervals, and the rafters trembled as
the black shadows buried us.
"Have you a light hereabout?" I asked.
"No,"
For ten minutes or more the noise of the storm made it difficult to
hear or speak. I could scarce see her now in the gloom. And so we
waited there in silence until the roar of the rain began to die away,
and it slowly grew lighter outside and the thunder grew more distant.
I went to the door, looked out into the dripping woods, and turned to
her.
"When will you bring the Sagamore to me?" I demanded.
"I have not promised."
"But you will?"
She waited a while, then:
"Yes, I will bring him."
"When?"
"Tonight."
"You promise?"
"Yes."
"And if it rains again''
"It will rain all night, but I shall send you the Sagamore. Best go,
sir. The real tempest is yet to break. It hangs yonder above the
Hudson. But you have time to gain the Lockwood House."
I said to her, with a slight but reassuring smile, most kindly intended:
"Now that I am no longer misunderstood by you, I may inform you that in
what you do for me you serve our common country." It did not seem a
pompous speech to me.
"If I doubted that," she said, "I had rather pass the knife you wear
around my throat than trouble myself to oblige you."
Her words, and the quiet, almost childish voice, seemed so oddly at
variance that I almost laughed; but changed my mind.
"I should never ask a service of you for myself alone," I said so
curtly that the next moment I was afraid I had angered her, and fearing
she might not keep her word to me, smiled and frankly offered her my
hand.
Very slowly she put forth her own--a hand stained and roughened, but
slim and small. And so I went away through the dripping bush, and down
the rocky hill. A slight sense of fatigue invaded me; and I did not
then understand that it came from my steady and sustained efforts to
ignore what any eyes could not choose but see--this young girl's
beauty--yes, despite her sorry mien and her rags--a beauty that was
fashioned to trouble men; and which was steadily invading my senses
whether I would or no.
Walking along the road and springing over the puddles, I thought to
myself that it was small wonder such a wench was pestered in a common
soldier's camp. For she had about her everything to allure the grosser
class--a something--indescribable perhaps--but which even such a man as
I had become unwillingly aware of. And I must have been very conscious
of it, for it made me restless and vaguely ashamed that I should
condescend so far as even to notice it. More than that, it annoyed me
not a little that I should bestow any thought upon this creature at
all; but what irritated me most was that Boyd had so demeaned himself
as to seek her out behind my back.
When I came to the manor house, it had already begun to rain again; and
even as I entered the house, a tempest of rain and wind burst once more
over the hills with a violence I had scarcely expected.
Encountering Major Lockwood and Lieutenant Boyd in the hall, I scowled
at the latter askance, but remembered my manners, and smoothed my face
and told them of my success.
"Rain or no," said I, "she has promised me to send this Sagamore here
tonight. And I am confident she will keep her word."
"Which means," said Boyd, with an unfeigned sigh, "that we travel north
tomorrow. Lord! How sick am I of saddle and nag and the open road. Your
kindly hospitality, Major, has already softened me so that I scarce
know how to face the wilderness again."
And at supper, that evening, Boyd frankly bemoaned his lot, and Mrs.
Lockwood condoled with him; but Betsy Hunt turned up her pretty nose,
declaring that young men were best off in the woods, which kept them
out o' mischief. She did not know the woods.
And after supper, as she and my deceitful but handsome lieutenant
lingered by the stairs, I heard her repeat it again, utterly refusing
to say she was sorry or that she commiserated his desperate lot. But on
her lips hovered a slight and provoking smile, and her eyes were very
brilliant under her powdered hair.
All women liked Boyd; none was insensible to his charm. Handsome, gay,
amusing--and tender, alas!--too often--few remained indifferent to this
young man, and many there were who found him difficult to forget after
he had gone his careless way. But I was damning him most heartily for
the prank he played me.
I sat in the parlour talking to Mrs. Lockwood. The babies were long
since in bed; the elder children now came to make their reverences to
their mother and father, and so very dutifully to every guest. A fat
black woman in turban and gold ear-hoops fetched them away; and the
house seemed to lose a trifle of its brightness with the children's
going.
Major Lockwood sat writing letters on a card-table, a cluster of tall
candles at his elbow; Mr. Hunt was reading; his wife and Boyd still
lingered on the stairs, and their light, quick laughter sounded
prettily at moments.
Mrs. Lockwood, I remember, had been sewing while she and I conversed
together. The French alliance was our topic; and she was still speaking
of the pleasure it had given all when Lewis Morris brought to her house
young Lafayette. Then, of a sudden, she turned her head sharply, as
though listening.
Through the roar of the storm I thought I heard the gallop of a horse.
Major Lockwood lifted his eyes from his letters, fixing them on the
rain-washed window.
Certainly a horseman had now pulled up at our very porch; Mr. Hunt laid
aside his book very deliberately and walked to the parlour door, and a
moment later the noise of the metal knocker outside rang loudly through
the house.
We were now all rising and moving out into the hall, as though a common
instinct of coming trouble impelled us. The black servant opened; a
drenched messenger stood there, blinking in the candle light.
Major Lockwood went to him instantly, and drew him in the door; and
they spoke together in low and rapid tones.
Mrs. Lockwood murmured in my ear:
"It's one of Luther's men. There is bad news for us from below, I
warrant you."
We heard the Major say:
"You will instantly acquaint Colonels Thomas and Sheldon with this
news. Tell Captain Fancher, too, in passing."
The messenger turned away into the storm, and Major Lockwood called
after him:
"Is there no news of Moylan's regiment?"
"None, sir," came the panting answer; there ensued a second's silence,
a clatter of slippery hoofs, then only the loud, dull roar of the rain
filled the silence.
The Major, who still stood at the door, turned around and glanced at
his wife.
"What is it, dear--if we may know?" asked she, quite calmly.
"Yes," he said, "you should know, Hannah. And it may not be true,
but--somehow, I think it is. Tarleton is out."
"Is he headed this way, Ebenezer?" asked Mr. Hunt, after a shocked
silence.
"Why--yes, so they say. Luther Kinnicut sends the warning. It seems to
be true."
"Tarleton has heard, no doubt, that Sheldon's Horse is concentrating
here," said Mr. Hunt. "But I think it better for thee to leave,
Ebenezer."
Mrs. Lockwood went over to her husband and laid her hand on his sleeve
lightly. The act, and her expression, were heart-breaking, and not to
be mistaken. She knew; and we also now surmised that if the Legion
Cavalry was out, it was for the purpose of taking the man who stood
there before our eyes. Doubtless he was quite aware of it, too, but
made no mention of it.
"Alsop," he said, turning to his son-in-law, "best take the more
damaging of the papers and conceal them as usual. I shall presently be
busied with Thomas and Sheldon, and may have no time for such details."
"Will they make a stand, do you think?" I whispered to Boyd, "or shall
we be sent a-packing?"
"If there be not too many of them I make a guess that Sheldon's Horse
will stand."
"And what is to be our attitude?"
"Stand with them," said he, laughing, though he knew well that we had
been cautioned to do our errand and keep clear of all brawls.