I was aroused early the next morning by Marcel, who stood at my bedside
shaking me vigorously.
"Get up, Bob," he said, "there is work for you to do."
He was dressed already, and regarding me curiously, his gaze containing
a faint suggestion of humor.
"What is it?" I asked, sitting up and rubbing my eyes sleepily.
"Your particular friend, Mr. Waters, is here with orders," he replied,
stepping to the door and giving a signal.
The big, red-headed orderly entered and handed me a letter, gazing the
while respectfully at the wall, although I was sure that in his inmost
heart he suspected us and enjoyed our danger. I took the paper and held
it a moment between thumb and finger, fearing to read its contents, but
in a moment I dismissed my alarm as unworthy of a man and broke the
seal.
Lieutenant Melville is ordered to take a file of men at
once and search the house of John Desmond for one Alloway,
an American soldier who escaped from the prison last night
and is believed to have hidden himself there. The search is
to be conducted with all the courtesy consistent with
thoroughness.
HOWE, Commander-in-chief.
I felt a rush of blood from the heart to the head when I read this
order. Who had betrayed Alloway? Marcel's fate and mine were in a way
bound up with his, and whoever had seen him entering the Desmond house
might too have seen me advising him to hide there. I looked fixedly at
Waters, but he was still gazing at the same spot on the wall and his
face was without expression. I studied his profile, the heavy
cheek-bones, the massive projecting jaw, and the steady black eyes, the
whole forming a countenance of unusual strength and boldness, and I felt
that he would dare anything. This was a man who could use his power over
Marcel and me merely for his own sport, torturing us until he chose to
crush us.
And then another thought, even more unpleasant, came into my mind.
Perhaps it was Mary Desmond herself who had betrayed Alloway! It was
altogether likely that she would discover him in her father's house. But
I rejected the thought the next instant, since, Tory though she was, she
could not have stooped to such an act.
"You can go," I said to Waters; and he left, first saluting both Marcel
and me, his face remaining a complete mask.
Then I showed the order to Marcel.
"I trust that you will find nothing," he said significantly, "but you
know, Lieutenant Arthur Melville of Newton-on-the-hill, Staffordshire,
England, that there is naught for you to do but go and do it."
"I know it," I replied, "and I shall not hesitate."
"Take care that you search properly," said Marcel, looking me straight
in the eye. I believed that he understood, but he said no more now, and
I went forth to do my distasteful duty. I took ten men and proceeded
towards the Desmond house. We attracted no attention in the street, as
soldiers had long since grown to be a common sight in Philadelphia, but
on the way we met Belfort and the Hessian Colonel Schwarzfelder, whom I
had thrown out of General Howe's room. They seemed to be acquainted and
on good terms, and I did not like this alliance of two men whom I knew
to be my enemies. I liked still less the question that Belfort asked me.
"On duty, eh, Melville?" he said jauntily, as if he knew what I was
about, but preferred that I should tell it.
I glanced at Schwarzfelder too, and noticed a sneering look on his face
as if he were prepared to enjoy a triumph over me. Perhaps it was
Belfort, after all, who was the cause of the proposed search. But I did
not hesitate to tell them the truth.
"I am going to search John Desmond's house for the man who escaped from
the prison last night," I replied calmly. "It is the order of General
Howe."
"And the beautiful Miss Desmond such a good Royalist!" said Belfort. "I
do not envy you."
"I do not envy myself," I replied frankly, and walked on with my men,
arriving presently at Mr. Desmond's house, which looked as if all its
occupants were yet asleep. And in truth they might well be, since the
sun was just showing his red rim above the eastern hills, and in the
west the mists of early dawn yet lingered.
I ordered my men to stand ready, and then I struck the door a
resounding blow with the great brass knocker. I listened a minute or
two, but no one answered, nor could I hear anything within the house to
indicate life and movement. I knocked a second and a third time, and
presently there was a sound on the inside as of some one moving a bar
from the door, which was opened the next moment by John Desmond himself.
He was fully dressed in sober Quaker gray, and regarded us with the
greatest sternness. I own that I was much embarrassed and felt extremely
uncomfortable. John Desmond was a man of imposing appearance and severe
countenance, and when he was angry, such being his present state of
mind, as any one could easily see, not even the most brazen subaltern
could be flippant in his presence.
"What is it?" he asked; "why am I summoned at such an hour by an armed
guard? May I ask if his Majesty's officers have begun a systematic
persecution of all those who are friendly to the Congress?"
"I am ordered to search your house, Mr. Desmond, for an American soldier
who escaped from the prison last night," I replied, "and who may have
hidden here. It is the order of General Howe."
The old man's eyes flashed with anger.
"I know nothing of this soldier," he said, "and there is nobody
concealed in my house, nor has there been."
I said to myself that he was a good actor, but I also saw Belfort and
Schwarzfelder standing on the other side of the street and I knew they
were watching me. Every consideration demanded that I do my duty
promptly.
"My orders are to search your house, Mr. Desmond," I said respectfully,
but in decided tones, "and surely you have seen enough of armies
recently to know what orders are. I shall have to enter and perform my
task."
"He speaks the truth, father, and we should not resist," said a voice
that I knew behind him, and Miss Desmond appeared in the hall, composed
and as beautiful as ever. My suspicion returned. Could it be possible
that this girl in her zeal for Britain would give up Alloway, and
thereby destroy both Marcel and me? But she could know nothing of our
false attire, and I quickly absolved her of that intention.
"Conduct your search," said Mr. Desmond; and placing six of my men about
the house as guards, I took the remaining four and entered. One,
Sergeant Blathwayt, an especially zealous man in the British cause, I
kept beside me in order that he might see how well I performed my trust,
as I knew not what consequences might arise from the incident.
Mr. Desmond, haughtily indignant, withdrew to his own room, saying that
the search was an outrage upon the rights of a peaceable citizen, and if
the British could find no better way of making war, they should not make
it at all. I took his rebuke in silence, feeling the truth of his words
and my own inability to resent them. Miss Desmond, too, was silent until
her father disappeared, and I watched her, wondering at the strength,
calmness, and courage that this young girl always showed. Did she ever
feel fear? In truth she must feel it, but never before had I seen a
woman who could so well conceal all emotion.
"Kindly continue the search, Lieutenant Melville," she said, in even
cold tones, "but I assure you in advance that my father tells you the
exact truth."
She added the last sentence proudly and with another uplift of her high
head.
"I trust, Miss Desmond, that for your father's sake the search will
prove fruitless," I said; "no one could wish a vain result of my task
more than I."
She did not acknowledge my courtesy, and I proceeded with the work.
Blathwayt, in his eagerness, was already poking among the rooms, looking
behind curtains, opening the clothes-closets, and seeking in all manner
of possible and impossible places for the hidden man. I did not rebuke
his zeal, but began to pretend also to a similar enthusiasm, although I
remained in constant fear lest we should discover Alloway. I was sure
that he was in the house somewhere, and I did not see how we could avoid
finding him, to the consequent ruin of Marcel and myself. Mine was a
most peculiar position, and the chills coursed down my spine. Yet Mary
Desmond's cold eye was upon me, and I would rather have died than shown
apprehension while she looked so at me. The strange mingling of motives
in her character and conduct, her loyalty to the Royal cause and her
equal loyalty to her father, impressed me even then in that moment of
danger.
We continued the search with vigor, going through all the rooms on the
lower floors, and then into the cellars. It was a large and fine house,
with spacious rooms, well stocked with furniture of mahogany and brass,
and we saw in the cellars so many bottles of Madeira and port and old
Spanish wines that the eyes of my English comrades began to glitter.
"'Ow I would like to 'elp loot this 'ouse," said a good-natured private
to me. I did not doubt the sincerity of his statement, but I saw no
chance for him.
Miss Desmond accompanied us into the cellars, and as far as she showed
any feeling at all, apparently wished to facilitate my task. The cellars
were so extensive, and contained so many dark recesses, that the search
there lasted a full half-hour. We were about to return to the upper
floors, when I noticed a small door painted the color of the stone wall,
and fitting into it so neatly that we might well have passed over it at
a first look. Blathwayt himself had not seen it, but my eyes lingered
there, and when I looked up Miss Desmond was gazing at me. My heart
began to beat more rapidly. Alloway was behind that little gray door. I
divined it at once. But what were Miss Desmond's feelings? What would
she wish me to do? Was her loyalty to her father overcoming her loyalty
to the king? And then another question intervened. I alone had passed it
by; would she call attention to it?
I hesitated a little, and then walked unnoticing past the door, but I
could not refrain from giving her a look of understanding, to tell her
that I had seen it but would save her father. Her eye glittered, whether
with scorn I could not say.
"You are overlooking the alcove, Lieutenant Melville," she said.
I paused, astounded, and I looked reproachfully at her, but her
expression did not change. Then I walked a little farther, as if I had
not heard, and she repeated,--
"You are overlooking the alcove, Lieutenant Melville."
The others were at the far end of the cellar and could not hear her.
"Miss Desmond," I said, "I have more regard than you for your father's
safety."
Her eyes flashed.
"Lieutenant Melville," she said, "I demand that you search the alcove."
I hesitated, murmuring that I did not think it worth while; no one could
lie concealed in such a small, close place.
"I shall report you to the commander-in-chief himself unless you search
it," she said, looking at me steadily.
There could be no mistake; her manner and her tone alike indicated
decision, and that I must obey. Yet I did not withhold these words,--
"I know that you are a Tory, Miss Desmond, but I did not think that you
would go to such extremes."
She made no reply, and surrendering all hope for Marcel and myself, I
turned the bolt and threw open the little door of the alcove.
It was empty!
I stood still, too much surprised to speak; relief, at that moment, not
having any part in my emotions, although it came later.
"You know now, Lieutenant Melville, that your belief is as false as it
was unjust," said Miss Desmond, proudly. "You have wronged my father."
"It is true," I confessed; and I confessed too, though not aloud, that
perhaps I had wronged some one else yet more. Then I called to Blathwayt
and censured him for overlooking the alcove.
"The fugitive might have lain there safely hidden from all of us," I
said, "but I saw the place, and perhaps we may find others like it."
He admitted his error humbly, and we passed to the other floors. Here
the feeling of relief disappeared from my mind, as we would surely find
Alloway near the roof since he was not in the cellar. We searched three
rooms, and then I put my hand upon the bolt fastening the door of the
third.
"It is my bedroom," said Miss Desmond.
"I regret to say that I am compelled to search it too," I replied.
She bowed, making no further opposition, and, turning the key, I
entered. It was a large, light apartment. In a corner the high bed stood
within its white curtains, there were heavy rugs on the floor, a little
round table of ebony, and at the far end of the room, tongs and shovel
of brass hung beside the grate, in which two brazen fire dogs upheld
haughty heads. It was a handsome room, worthy of its mistress, and yet I
could not spare it. I looked everywhere,--behind the curtains, under
the bed, and in the clothes-closets,--but I did not find Alloway.