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The situation of the party in Mr. Wharton's
dwelling, was sufficiently awkward during the
short hour of Cæsar's absence; for such was the
astonishing rapidity displayed by his courser, that
the four miles of road was gone over, and the
events we have recorded, had occurred, somewhat
within that period of time. Of course the gentlemen
strove to make the irksome moments fly
as swiftly as possible; but premeditated happiness
is certainly of the least joyous kind. The
bride and bridegroom, from a variety of reasons,
are privileged to be dull, and but few of their
friends seemed disposed, on the present occasion,
to dishonour their example. The English Colonel
exhibited a proper portion of uneasiness at
this unexpected interruption to his felicity, and
sat with a varying countenance by the side of Sarah,
who seemed to be profiting by the delay, to
gather fortitude for the solemn ceremony. In
the midst of this embarrassing silence, Dr. Sitgreaves
addressed himself to Miss Peyton, by
whose side he had contrived to procure a chair.

“Marriage, Madam, is pronounced to be honourable
in the sight of God and man; and it may
be said to be reduced in the present age to the
laws of nature and reason. The ancients, in

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sanctioning polygamy, lost sight of the provisions of
nature, and condemned thousands to misery; but
with the increase of science, have grown the wise
ordinances of society, which ordain that man
should be the husband of but one woman.”

Wellmere glanced a fierce expression of disgust
at the surgeon, that indicated his sense of the
tediousness of the other's remarks; while the
spinster, with a slight trembling at touching on
forbidden subjects, replied with an extremely
dignified inclination of her body—

“I had thought, sir, that we were indebted to
the christian religion for our morals on this subject.”

“True, Madam,” replied the operator, “it is
somewhere provided in the prescriptions of the
apostles, that the sexes should henceforth be on
an equality in this respect. But in what degree
could polygamy affect holiness of life? Certainly
it was a scientific arrangement of Paul, who was
much of a scholar, and probably had frequent conferences
with Luke, whom we all know to have
been bred to the practice of medicine, on this
important subject.”

To this profound discussion, the spinster made
no other reply, than another bend of her body,
that would have struck an observant man dumb;
but Captain Lawton, placing the point of his
sheathed sabre on the floor, folded his hands
across the hilt, and leaning his chin thereon, threw
singular glances with his searching eyes, alternately
from the surgeon to the bridegroom.

“Yet this practice still prevails,” said the
trooper; “and in those very countries where it
was first abolished by the christian code. Pray,
Colonel Wellmere, in what manner is bigamy
punished in England?”

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Thus addressed, the bridegroom raised his eyes
to the countenance of the other, but they quickly
sunk again under the prying look they encountered;
and an effort banished the tremor from his
lip, and restored some of the colour to his cheek,
as he replied—

“Death!—as such an offence merits.”

“Death and dissection,” continued the operator;
“it is seldom that the law loses sight of eventual
utility in a malefactor. Bigamy in a man is
certainly a most heinous offence.”

“More so, think you, than celibacy?” asked
Lawton, a little archly.

“Even so,” returned the surgeon with undisturbed
simplicity; “he who remains in a single
state, may devote his life to science and the extension
of knowledge, if not of his species; but
the wretch who profits by the constitutional tendency
of the female sex to credulity and tenderness,
incurs all the wickedness of a positive sin,
heightened by the baseness of deception in its execution.”

“Really, sir, the ladies are infinitely obliged
to you, for attributing folly to them as part of their
nature.”

“Captain Lawton, in man the animal is more
nobly formed than in woman. The nerves are
endowed with less sensibility—the whole frame is
less pliable and yielding; is it, therefore, surprising,
that a tendency to rely on the faith of her
partner, is more natural to woman than to the
other sex?”

Wellmere, unable at this moment to listen
with any degree of patience to the dialogue, sprung
from his seat, and paced the floor in disorder.
Pitying his situation, the reverend gentleman, who,
in his robes, was patiently awaiting the return of
Cæsar, changed the discourse, and a few minutes

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brought the black himself. The billet was handed
to Dr. Sitgreaves; for Miss Peyton had expressly
enjoined Cæsar, not to implicate her in any manner
in the errand on which he was despatched.
The note contained a summary statement of the
several subjects of the surgeon's directions, and
referred him to the black for the ring; it was instantly
demanded, and promptly delivered. A
transient look of melancholy clouded the brow
of the operator as he stood a moment, and gazed
silently on the bauble; nor did he remember the
place or the occasion, while he soliloquized as follows:

“Poor Anna! gay as innocence and youth could
make you, was thy heart when this cincture was
formed to grace thy nuptials; but ere the hour
had come, God had taken you to himself. Years
have passed, my sister, but never have I forgotten
the companion of my infancy;” he advanced to
Sarah, and, unconscious of observation, placing
the ring on her finger, continued, “she for whom
it was intended, has long been in her grave, and
the youth who bestowed the gift, soon followed
her sainted spirit; take it, Madam, and God grant
that it may be an instrument in making you as
happy as you deserve to be.”

Sarah felt an unaccountable chill at her heart,
as this burst of feeling escaped from the surgeon;
but Wellmere offering his hand, she was led before
the divine, and the ceremony began. The
first words of this imposing office, produced a
dead stillness in the apartment; and the minister
of God proceeded to the solemn exhortation, and
witnessed the plighted troth of the parties, when
the investiture of the ring was to follow. It had
been left, from inadvertency, and the agitation of
the moment, where Sitgreaves had placed it;—a
slight interruption was occasioned by the

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circumstance, and the clergyman was about to proceed,
when a figure glided into the midst of the party,
that at once put a stop to the ceremony.—It was
the pedlar:—his sunken and cowering eye no longer
avoided the look of others, but glared wildly
around him, and his whole frame was agitated
by an exertion that had shaken his iron nerves.
But all these emotions passed away like shadows
from a fleeting cloud, and assuming a look of deep
humility and habitual respect, he turned to the
bridegroom, and bowing low, said—

“Can Colonel Wellmere waste the precious
moments here, when his wife has crossed the
ocean to meet him? The nights are long, and
the moon bright;—a few hours riding would take
him to the city.”

Aghast at the suddenness of this extraordinary
address, Wellmere for a moment lost the command
of his faculties. To Sarah, the countenance of
Birch, wild and agitated as it was, produced no
terror; but the instant she recovered from the
surprise of his interruption, she turned her anxious
gaze on the features of the man to whom she
had just pledged herself for life. They afforded the
most terrible confirmation of all that the pedlar affirmed;
the room whirled around with her, and she
fell lifeless into the arms of her aunt. There is
an instinctive delicacy in woman, that for a time
seems to conquer all other emotions however
powerful, and through its impulse, the insensible
bride was immediately conveyed from sight by her
friends, and the parlour was deserted to the wondering
group of men.

The confusion of the fall of Sarah, enabled
the pedlar to retreat with a rapidity that would
have baffled pursuit, had any been attempted, and
Wellmere stood with all eyes fixed on him in
ominous silence.

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“ 'Tis false—'tis false as hell!” he cried, striking
his hand to his forehead. “I have ever denied
her claim; nor will the laws of my country compel
me to acknowledge it.”

“But will not conscience, and the laws of
God?” asked Lawton.

Before Wellmere could reply, Singleton, who
had hitherto been supported by his servant, moved
into the center of the circle, and with cheeks
glowing with animation, and eyes that flashed fire,
exclaimed—

“Thus is it ever with your nation, proud Englishman;
your boasted honour, where is it? obligatory
only among yourselves,—but have a care,”
striking the hilt of his sabre, “each daughter of
America has a claim upon the protection of her
sons, and there are none so helpless, but a countryman
can be found to avenge her injuries, or redress
her wrongs.”

“ 'Tis well, sir,” said Wellmere, haughtily, and
retreating towards the door—“your situation protects
you now: but a time may come—”

He had reached the entry, when a slight tap on
his shoulder caused him to turn his head;—it was
Captain Lawton—who, with a smile of peculiar
meaning, beckoned to him to follow. The state
of Wellmere's mind was such, that he would gladly
have gone any where to avoid the gaze of horror
and detestation that glared from every eye he
met. They reached the stables before the trooper
spoke, when he cried aloud—

“Bring out Roanoke.”

His man appeared with the steed caparisoned
as when ready for its master; and Lawton. coolly
throwing the bridle on the neck of the animal,
took his pistols from the holsters, and continued,
“You said truly, Colonel Wellmere, when you
pronounced George Singleton unfit for combat—

[figure description] Page 082.[end figure description]

but here are weapons that have seen good
service before to-day—ay! and in honourable
hands sir. These were the pistols of my father,
Colonel Wellmere; he used them with credit in
the wars with France, and gave them to me to
fight the battles of my country with. In what better
way can I serve her than in exterminating a
wretch who would have blasted one of her fairest
flowers?”

“This injurious treatment shall meet with its
reward,” cried the Englishman, seizing the offered
weapon eagerly, “and the blood lie on the
head of him who sought it.”

“Amen!” said Lawton; but hold, a moment,
sir. You are now free, and the passports of
Washington are in your pocket;—I give you the
re;—if I fall, there is a steed that will outstrip
pursuit; and I would advise you to retreat without
much delay, for even Archibald Sitgreaves would
fight in such a cause—nor will the guard above be
very apt to give quarters.”

“Are you ready?” asked Wellmere, guashing
his teeth with rage.

“Stand forward, Tom, with the lights;—fire!”

Wellmere fired, and the bullion flew from the
epaulette of the trooper in fifty pieces.

“Now then the turn is mine,” said Lawton deliberately,
and levelling his pistol.

“And mine!” shouted a voice, as the weapon
was struck from his hand; “can you find nothing
to do but to shoot at a man, as if he was a turkey
at a Christmas match? By all the devils in hell,
'tis the mad Virginian—fall on my boys, and take
him; this is a prize not hoped for.”

Unarmed and surprized as he was, Lawton's
presence of mind did not desert him: he felt he
was in the hands of those from whom he was to
expect no mercy; and as four of the skinners fell

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upon him at once, he used his gigantic strength to
the utmost. Three of the band grasped him by
the neck and arms, with an intent to clog his efforts,
and pinion him with ropes. The first of these
he threw from him with a violence that sent him
against the building, where he lay for a moment
stunned with the blow. But the fourth seized
his legs, and unable to contend with such odds, the
trooper came to the earth, bringing with him both
of his assailants. The struggle on the ground was
short but terrific;—curses, and the most dreadful
imprecations were uttered by the skinners, who
in vain called on three more of their band that
were gazing on the combat in nerveless horror, to
assist in securing their prize. A difficulty of
breathing, from one of the combatants, was heard,
accompanied by the stifled moanings of a strangled
man; and directly one of the group arose on his
feet, shaking himself from the wild grasp of the
others. Both Wellmere and the servant of Lawton
had fled; the former to the stables, and the
latter to give the alarm—and all was darkness.
The figure that stood erect, sprung into the saddle
of the unheeded charger—sparks of fire
from the armed feet of the horse, gave light
enough to discover the trooper dashing like the
wind towards the highway.

“By hell he's off!” cried the leader, hoarse
from rage and exhaustion; “fire!—bring him
down—fire, I say, or you'll be too late.”

The order was obeyed, and one moment of awful
suspense followed, in the vain hope of hearing
the huge frame of Lawton tumbling from his steed.

“He'd never fall, if you had killed him,” muttered
one; “I've known them Virg nians sit their
horses with two and three balls through them; ay,
even after they were dead.”

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A freshening of the blast, wafted the tread of a
horse down the valley, which, by its speed, gave
assurance of a rider governing its motion.

“Them trained horses always stop when the
rider falls,” observed one of the gang.

“Then,” cried the leader, striking his musket
on the ground in a rage, “the fellow is safe!—
to your business at once. A short half hour will
bring down that canting sergeant and the guard
upon us. 'Tis lucky if the guns don't turn them
out. Quick, to your posts, and fire the house in
the chambers—smoking ruins are good to cover
evil deeds.”

“What is to be done with this lump of earth?”
cried another, pushing the body that yet lay insensible,
where the grasp of Lawton had deprived it
of animation, “a little rubbing would bring him
too.”

“Let him lie,” said the leader fiercely; “had
he been half a man, that dragooning rascal would
have been in my power;—enter the house, I say,
and fire the chambers—we can't go amiss here;—
there is plate and money enough to make you all
gentlemen—yes, and revenge too.”

The idea of silver in any way was not to be
resisted; and, leaving their companion, who began
to show faint signs of life, they rushed tumultuously
towards the dwelling. Wellmere availed
himself of the opportunity, and stealing from the
stable with his own charger, was able to gain the
highway unnoticed. For an instant he hesitated,
whether to ride towards the point where he knew
a guard was stationed, and endeavour to rescue
the family, or, profiting by his liberty, and the exchange
that had been effected by the divine, to
seek the royal army. Shame, and the consciousness
of guilt, determined him to take the latter
course, and he rode towards New-York, stung
with the reflection of his own baseness, and

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harrassed with the apprehension of meeting with an
enraged woman, that he had married during his
late visit to England, but whose claims, so soon as
his passion was sated, he had resolved never
willingly to admit. In the tumult and agitation of
the moment, the retreat of Lawton and Wellmere
was but little noticed, the condition of Mr.
Wharton, and the exhaustion that succeeded
the excitement of George Singleton, demanding
the care and consolation of both the surgeon
and the divine. The report of the fire-arms first
roused the family to the sense of a new danger,
and but a minute elapsed before the leader and
one more of the gang entered the room.

“Surrender, you servants of King George,”
shouted the leader, presenting his musket to
the breast of Sitgreaves, “or I will let a little of
your tory blood from your veins.”

“Gently—gently, my friend,” said the surgeon;
“you are doubtless more expert in inflicting
wounds than in healing them; the weapon that
you hold so indiscreetly, is extremely dangerous
to animal life.”

“Yield, then, or take its contents,” exclaimed
the other.

“Why and wherefore should I yield?—I am a
practitioner of medicine, and a non-combatant.
The articles of capitulation must be arranged with
Captain John Lawton, though yielding I believe
is not a subject on which you will find him particularly
complying.”

The fellow had by this time taken such a survey
of the group, as convinced him that little
danger was to be apprehended from resistance,
and eager to seize his share of the plunder, he
dropped his musket, and was soon busy in arranging
divers articles of plate in bags, with the assistance
of one of his men, so that it would

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be in the most convenient situation to accompany
them in their retreat. The cottage now presented
a most singular spectacle;—the ladies were
gathered around Sarah, who yet continued insensible
in one of the rooms that had escaped the
notice of the marauders. Mr. Wharton sat in a
state of perfect imbecility, listening to, but not
profiting by, the words of comfort that fell from
the lips of the clergyman, who soon became too
much terrified with the scene to offer them. Singleton
was lying on a sofa, shaking with debility,
and inattentive to surrounding objects; while the
surgeon was administering restoratives, and looking
at the dressings, with a coolness that mocked the
tumult. Cæsar, and the attendants of Captain
Singleton, had retreated to the wood in the rear
of the cottage, and Katy Haynes was flying about
the building, busily employed in forming a bundle
of valuables, from which, with the most scrupulous
honesty, she rejected every article that was
not really and truly her own.

But to return to the party at the Four Corners.
When the veteran had got his men mounted and
under arms, a restless desire to participate in the
glory and dangers of the expedition came over
the washerwoman. Whether she was impelled to
the undertaking by a dread of remaining alone,
or a wish to hasten in person to the relief of
her favourite, we will not venture to assert;
but, as Hollister was unwillingly, giving the
orders to wheel and march, the voice of Betty
was heard exclaiming—

“Stop a bit, sargeant dear, till two of the boys
git out the cart, and I'll jist ride wid yee—'tis like
there'll be wounded, and it will be mighty convanient
to bring them home in.”

Although inwardly much pleased with any cause
of delay to a service that he so little relished,

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Hollister affected some displeasure at the detention,
and replied---

“Nothing but a cannon ball can take one of my
lads from his charger, and it's not very likely that
we shall have as fair fighting as cannon and musketry,
in a business of the evil one's inventing;—
so Elizabeth, you may go if you will—but the cart
will not be wanting.”

“Now sargeant, dear, you lie any way,” said
Betty, who was somewhat unduly governed by her
potations; “and wasn't Captain Singleton shot off
his horse but tin days gone by?—ay, and Captain
Jack himself too; and didn't he lie on the ground
face uppermost and back downwards, looking grim?
and didn't the boys tink him dead, and turn and
lave the rig'lars the day?”

“You lie back again,” cried the sergeant
fiercely, “and so does any one, who says that we
didn't gain the day.”

“For a bit or so—only I mane for a bit or so,”
said the washerwoman; “but Major Dunwoodie
turn'd you, and so you lick'd the rig'lars. But the
Captain it was that fell, and I'm thinking that
there's no better rider going; so, sargeant, it's the
cart that will be convanient. Here, two of you,
jist hitch the mare to the tills, and it's no whiskey
that you'll be wanting the morrow; and put the
piece of Jinny's hide under the pad—the baste is
never the better for the rough ways of the county
Westchester.” The consent of the sergeant being
obtained, the equipage of Mrs. Flanagan was
soon in readiness to receive its burthen.

“As it is quite uncertain whether we shall be
attacked in front or rear,” said Hollister, “five of
you shall march in advance, and the remainder
shall cover our retreat towards the barrack, should
we be pressed. 'Tis an awful moment to a man
of little learning, Elizabeth, to command in such

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a service; for my part, I wish devoutly that one
of the officers was here; but my trust is in the
Lord.”

“Pooh! man, away wid yee,” said the washerwoman,
who had got herself comfortably seated,
“the divil a bit of an inimy is there near—march
on hurry-skurry, and lit the mare trot, or it's but
little that Captain Jack will thank yee for the
help.”

“Although unlearned in matters of communicating
with spirits, or laying the dead, Mrs. Flanagan,”
said the veteran, “I have not served
through the old war, and five years in this, not to
know how to guard the baggage.—Doesn't Washington
always cover the baggage? I am not to be
told my duty by a camp follower. Fall in as you
are ordered, and dress.”

“Well, march, any way,” cried the impatient
washerwoman; “the black is there already, and it's
tardy the Captain will think yee.”

“Are you sure that it was a real black man that
brought the order?” said the sergeant, dropping
in between the platoons, where he could converse
with Betty, and was equally at hand to lead either
way.

“Nay,” said the washerwoman, “and I'm sure
of nothing, dear. But why don't the boys prick
their horses, and jog a trot; the mare is mighty
uneasy, and it's no warm in this cursed valley,
riding as much like a funeral party as old rags is
to continental.”

“Fairly and softly, aye, and prudently, Mrs.
Flanagan,” said the veteran; “it's not rashness
that makes the good officer. If it is a spirit that
we have to encounter, it's more than likely that
he'll make his attack by surprise;—horse are not
very powerful in the dark, and I have a character
to lose, good woman.”

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