"Bob," said Marcel, as we rode under escort towards the American army,
"the British have dealt handsomely with us,--we have no right to
complain of Sir William Howe,--but how about the Americans?"
"The Americans are our countrymen."
"Which proves nothing. When I am at fault, I would rather receive the
sentence of my official enemy than that of my official friend."
"Don't talk of it," I replied. "We have fared so well in the first four
acts of this play that our luck cannot change consistently in the fifth
and last."
"Yet I would there were no fifth," he grumbled. I said nothing more,
wishing to dismiss the subject from my mind. But I had been thinking of
it before Marcel spoke, and his words chimed so well with my own
thoughts that my apprehensions grew. The subject would not depart merely
because I ordered it to do so. We had left our army without leave.
Practically, we were deserters, and General Washington, as all the world
knows, was a severe man where a question of military discipline was
concerned.
"But I am not sorry I went," I said aloud. I was thinking of Mary
Desmond and that thrilling night ride of ours when the hoof-beats of my
horse rang side by side with the hoof-beats of hers. I remembered the
flush on her face and the light in her eye.
"I am not sorry either," said Marcel, aloud. Of what he was thinking I
do not know. Perhaps that same wild strain in his blood which had led us
into the adventure was speaking. Yet I should, and shall be, the last
man in the world to blame him for it.
It was a glorious day. The wind blew, the grass waved, and the sun
shone. A young man could not remain unhappy long over misfortunes yet
unfelt. My memories were pleasant and so were my comrades. A half dozen
other American officers, to be exchanged for an equal number of the
enemy, accompanied us, and the two British officers in charge of the
escort, of whom Catron was one, were men of wit, manners, and friendly
temper. We made a lively party and found one another agreeable. We had
always possessed the liking of Catron, but in truth we now seemed to
have his unbounded admiration as well.
"Ta-ra-ra, ta-ra-ra," rang the British bugle through the forest,
announcing our approach to the American army. The journey had been all
too fast. I never thought that I would part from an enemy with so much
reluctance, and I became grave again when the first American sentinel
stopped us.
Our mission was explained, and an officer came and attended to the
exchange. We bade our friends the British, good-bye, and then, according
to orders, walked towards headquarters for instructions. As we passed
down one of the camp streets we heard a cry of surprise, and looking
about saw Sergeant Pritchard to whom we had once bade a good-bye that he
thought would be eternal.
We dropped back a little behind the others.
"Sergeant Pritchard," said Marcel, "you owe me a dinner, but as
provisions are scarce in the American camp I will not collect it."
This was generous of Marcel, but I suspect that the true cause was his
unwillingness to dine in state with a sergeant.
"I reported that you had taken the places of the Englishmen and gone to
Philadelphia," replied the good sergeant. "He made no comment in my
presence, and I know not what he said to the general about it. Nor do I
know what will come of the matter."
Then he shook his head gloomily.
"General Washington should behave as handsomely as Sir William Howe,"
said Marcel, and I was quite sure that it was General Washington's duty
to do so.
I acted as spokesman, and laid the case before our colonel, concealing
nothing save my ride with Mary Desmond. He was a middle-aged man,
amiable, and he liked us. In truth, both us had been fortunate enough to
receive his praise for good service in action, but he could see no
mitigating circumstances.
"There is nothing to do but report the case to the commander-in-chief,"
he said. "I am sorry, for I esteem you two boys, and you have been of
value."
His solemn, even despondent tone depressed us. We began to feel afraid
of the future and to wonder what General Washington would say to us. Our
period of suspense was not long, as within two hours we were summoned to
appear before the commander-in-chief.
An aide led us to his headquarters, a small square log-house such as
frontiersmen build for themselves. A sentinel was watching at the door,
but we passed in and stood before the general, who was alone writing at
a table.
The aide withdrew to the further end of the room and left us standing
there, watching the goose quill, held in the large muscular hand, as it
travelled over the paper, writing perhaps the instructions for our own
execution as deserters. I shall never forget the few minutes that we
stood in that room hearing only the scratch of the quill on the paper. I
have dreamed of them often, and have awakened to hear the rustle of the
quill in my ears.
No one could feel frivolous or flippant in the presence of General
Washington. The air was never very warm about him, and I have noticed
that it is usually so with men of great mental powers and great
responsibilities.
On went the goose quill. Scratch! Scratch! I hate the sound of a goose
quill to this day. I looked at the silent aide, but his face gave no
encouragement. I looked at Marcel, but he was looking at me for the
same purpose, and neither was able to be a help to the other.
The general wiped the goose quill and put it away. Then he turned to us,
and his face was as stern as any into which I ever looked. I saw no ray
of mercy in those severe, blue eyes.
"Lieutenant Robert Chester?" he said to me. I bowed, and then Marcel
bowed when his name, too, was called.
"You deserted, according to your own confession, to the enemy, and Sir
William Howe, not thinking you of sufficient value, has sent you back to
me."
I flushed at both the charge and the irony, and protested that we were
not deserters, and had never meant to be. Moreover, we had sent word by
Sergeant Pritchard of our intention. Then I begged him to let me repeat
the whole story. He bowed slightly, and told me to proceed. I fear that
I was disturbed somewhat by the steady gaze of those cold, blue eyes,
which never left me, and I limped more than once in my narrative.
Whenever I did so, he made me go back and take up the loose thread. It
was his way to be exact in all things.
"A likely tale! A likely tale!" he said, when I finished, "and does
credit to your powers of narration. I shall not enter into a discussion
of its truth or falsity; but even if true, you left without permission,
the army to which you belonged and masqueraded as officers of the enemy.
It seems to me that you have succeeded in being false to both Americans
and British, and I do not see how anything could be more serious, though
you young gentlemen may choose to call it an adventure or a jest or a
whim. Sirs, a great war is a deadly matter, and it is not to be won with
jests!"
The blue eyes grew colder and sterner than ever. I wished to say
something, but I could think of nothing that would avail, and I was
silent. I fear that my lips trembled, not from fright, but at the
rebuke. I know my comrade's did, and Philip Marcel, the gay and
irrepressible cavalier, was wordless for once in his life.
"Take them to the guard-house, Mordaunt," said the commander-in-chief to
the aide, "and we will have them disposed of to-morrow. See that they
have no chance to escape. Nor shall they be permitted to send messages
to any one."
Then he turned his cold face away, and began to write again. I think
that the shock of this sudden and terrible sentence was taken from me by
the flame of indignation that leaped up in my heart. We were no
deserters, however foolish we had been, and however great the liberty we
had taken! I felt that we did not deserve such a punishment. Both Marcel
and I had served our country well, and to put us to death for this
adventure, although it might come within the military law, was harsh,
beyond all measure. I considered ourselves martyrs.
"Do not be afraid that we will try to escape," I burst out, "and if this
is to be the reward of men who serve their country, no wonder that our
cause is in such straits!"
He did not appear to notice us, but wrote calmly on, and the deadly
scratching of the goose quill was unbroken. The aide beckoned to us,
and we followed him from the room.
"I am sorry, very sorry," said Mordaunt, when we were outside, "and, in
truth, I think that your sentence is far too severe."
His face showed deep concern.
"Don't be afraid that we will repeat your opinion to your hurt in the
general's good graces," said Marcel, with a laugh that was pathetic. "We
won't have many opportunities in the next twenty-four hours, and after
that--well, the best story in the world will not interest us."
We were put in a one-room house of logs, and we sat there in silence for
many hours watching the day fade. I was still hot with indignation. We
deserved punishment, it was true, I repeated, but not death, an
ignominious death such as that decreed for us. What good end could be
served by such a deed?
But with the fading of the day my anger faded also. Then I thought of
Mary Desmond, the curve of her check, the blue of her eye, and the
sunshine in her hair. She did not hate me I knew. "O Mary," I said under
my breath, "I shall never see you again!" and I covered my face with my
hands.
"Bob," said Marcel, presently, holding out his hand, "forgive me."
"Forgive you, for what?"
"For leading you into that wild adventure. It was I who dared you to do
it, who provoked you into joining me."
I could not accept any such assertion, and I told him so, adding that I
did not wholly regret our excursion into Philadelphia.
"Miss Desmond!" said Marcel, understandingly, "she is worth any man's
winning, and you might have won her if--if--"
Then he stopped abruptly and stared blankly at me, unwilling to finish
the sentence. The night came presently, and they brought us food, which
we scarcely touched. There was no light in our prison, but through the
single iron window we could see flickering camp-fires outside. The low
murmur of the army came to us.
We sat on our stools for a long time in silence. I was trying to prepare
myself for the future, and I suppose that Marcel was occupied with a
similar task. It must have been past 10 o'clock when the door of the
prison was opened and our colonel came in. Sincere sorrow was written
plainly on the good man's face.
"I have heard about you," he said, "and I went to him at once, and
pleaded with him. I urged your previous good service and your youth, but
I could not shake him a particle. There have been too many desertions
lately, and the army is at a low ebb. You are officers, and your fate
will be an example for all."
"Our case is past mending," said Marcel. "We thank you for your good
wishes and your efforts, but I don't think that anything can be done."
"That is so," said the colonel. "The next life is what you must now
consider."
Our colonel was a good man and a good soldier, but he was never noted
for tact. Somehow he could not get off the subject of our execution, and
when he left with tears in his eyes, and an expressed hope that he might
deliver our last messages for us, he took with him our few remaining
grains of courage, and we felt that death was very, very near.
Bye and bye, two more officers whom we knew well came to bid us
good-bye. They had obtained permission from the general, they said, and
they too had interceded for us, but fruitlessly; they could offer us no
hope whatever. They were frank in condemning the severity of General
Washington, and this knowledge that our friends regarded our punishment
as far out of proportion to our crime, made it all the more bitter to
us.
"General Washington may be a great man and a fine commander," said
Marcel, after they had gone; "but he will never get forgiveness for
this."
I pressed my dry lips together and said nothing. In an hour three more
officers came, and one by one bidding us farewell went out again. Their
gloomy manner depressed us still further.
"Curse it!" exclaimed Marcel. "I wish they wouldn't come here with their
solemn faces, and their parting sermons! They make me afraid of death!"
He expressed my state of mind exactly, but there were more farewells. It
was about midnight when the last of them came, a major who had been a
minister once, and was never known to laugh. He talked to us so
dolefully about the future, and the duty of all men to be prepared for
the worst, that my nerves were jumping, and I could scarce restrain
myself from insulting him. We were glad to see him go, and if ever I was
thoroughly unprepared for death it was when the major left us.
The long night dragged wearily on, every minute an hour. Once I laughed
aloud in my bitterness, when I thought of Mary Desmond hearing the news
of my death.
We slept by snatches, a few minutes at a time; but we were wide-eyed
when the day came. I saw black lines under Marcel's eyes, and I knew
that my own face was haggard too. The sentinel brought us breakfast; but
did not retire as we ate, and when I looked at him inquiringly, he
said,--
"Your escort is waiting outside."
The food choked me, and I could eat no more. "Come," I said to Marcel,
"let's get it over."
We arose, and, walking out at the door, met soldiers who fell in before
and behind us. The camp, or at least nearly all of it, was yet
slumbering. Only a few fires were burning. Over the forests and fields
the new-risen sun shone with a clear light.
They marched us to a little grove, and there General Washington and a
half-dozen officers, our colonel among them, met us.
"I think that he might have stayed away," said Marcel, when he saw the
commander-in-chief.
But General Washington, looking closely at us, said: "You do not appear
to have slept well."
"Our time was so short that I thought we could not afford to waste any
of it in sleep," I replied, with a sad attempt at a jest.
"General, kindly shoot us at once and have done with it!" exclaimed
Marcel, who was ever an impatient man and now, expecting death, felt awe
of nobody.
"Who said that I was going to have you shot?" asked General Washington,
regarding us intently.
"Did you not tell us so yesterday?" I exclaimed.
"Not at all," he replied, his grim face relaxing. "I merely said that I
would dispose of you to-day. I said nothing about shooting. That is an
assumption of your own, although it is what you had a right to expect,
and perhaps my words indicated such action. At any rate you seem to have
had a fore-taste of what you expected."
The officers, all high in rank, our colonel among them, laughed aloud.
At another time I would have been deeply mortified, but not now. I began
to see. I understood that our punishment was not to be death; but we had
already paid the price, the night's expectation of it.
"Fortune loves us," whispered Marcel to me.
"What did you say?" asked the commander-in-chief, seeing the motion of
his lips.
"I was telling Lieutenant Chester how thankful we should be that our
understanding of your words was a misunderstanding," replied Marcel,
promptly, and with that smile of his which few people could resist.
"Call it a jest. Do you imagine that you are the only jesters in this
camp?" said the general, laughing a little. "I thought that you needed
punishment, and you were too brave and useful to be shot. So I decided
upon another plan, and I think it has been successful."
This, they say, was the only jest of General Washington's life, but I
thank God that he made the exception. Marcel joins me.
"Moreover, some pleas have been made in your favor," continued the
general. "Sir William Howe himself, before leaving, took the trouble to
write to me and ask that you be treated gently. You are lads whom he
loves, he said. Certainly I could afford to do so small a favor for the
man who has made it necessary for his successor to give up to me the
city of Philadelphia. And there is a young lady, too, who speaks well of
you."
"A young lady!" I cried, suspecting.
"Yes, a young lady, Miss Mary Desmond, to whom we owe much, and who has
just added to our debt, because last night when you were preparing so
well for your future life, she was riding to us with the news that the
British were about to depart from Philadelphia. She has told too, Mr.
Chester, how she met you that night you were on the way to warn us of
the British attack, and how you rode on together. The circumstance was
much in your favor. Yonder she is. You might speak to her, and then make
ready for duty, like the valiant and loyal officers that you have been
always--that is nearly always."
He smiled in kindly fashion, and patted us both on the shoulder. We
thanked him with deep and fervent sincerity, and then I hurried away to
Mary Desmond.
She stood under the boughs of one of the trees, holding her horse by the
bridle.
"I am glad to see you, Lieutenant Chester, in your own proper guise,"
she said.
I took her warm little hand in mine, as I replied: "And I to see you
again in yours." Then I added: "You have brought the news that the
British are leaving Philadelphia?"
"Yes," she replied.
"Then may I come to see you there, still in my own proper guise?"
"If General Washington gives you time," she replied. "But to tell you
the truth, I don't think you will stay long in Philadelphia. Now,
good-bye."
I helped her upon her horse, and she gave me her hand again. Perhaps I
held it a second or two longer than custom demands, but of that I shall
say nothing more.
I watched her as she rode away, the morning sunshine rippling on her
hair, a slender figure, yet so strong and brave. There, I knew, beat a
dauntless heart. Her spirit and courage led me on to love her from the
first, and then the mystery about her, the strange, magnetic charm had
drawn me too. She might take my love and tread upon it if she would, but
it was hers, and no woman could ever dispossess her.