CHAPTER I.
“We owe no allegiance, we bow to no throne;
Our ruler is law, and the law is our own;
Our leaders themselves are our own fellow-men,
Who can handle the sword, the scythe, or the pen.”
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Vermont was ushered into political existence midst storm and
tempest. We speak both metaphorically and literally; for it is
a curious historical fact, that her constitution, the result of the
first regular movement ever made by her people towards an
independent civil government, was adopted during the darkest
period of the revolution, at an hour of commotion and alarm,
when the tempest of war was actually bursting over her borders
and threatening her entire subversion. And, as if to make the
event the more remarkable, the adoption took place amidst a
memorable thunder-storm, but for the happening of which, at that
particular juncture, as will soon appear, that important political
measure must have been postponed to a future period, and a
period, too, when the measure, probably, would have been defeated,
and the blessings of an independent government forever
lost, owing to the dissensions, which, as soon as the common
danger was over, New York and New Hampshire combined to
scatter among her people. The whole history of the settlement
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and organization of the state, indeed, exhibits a striking anomaly,
when viewed with that of any other state in the Union. She
may emphatically be called the offspring of war and controversy.
The long and fierce dispute for her territory between the colonies
above named had sown her soil with dragon teeth, which
at length sprang up in a crop of hardy, determined, and liberty-loving
men, who, instead of joining either of the contending parties,
soon resolved to take a stand for themselves against both.
And that stand, when taken, they maintained with a spirit and
success, to which, considering the discouragements, difficulties,
and dangers they were constantly compelled to encounter, history
furnishes but few parallels. But although every step of her progress,
from the felling of the first tree in her dark wilderness to
her final reception into the sisterhood of the states, was marked
by the severest trials, yet the summer of 1777 — the period to
which the remainder of our tale refers — was, for her, far the most
gloomy and portentous. And still it was a period in which she
filled the brightest page of her history, and, at the same time, did
more than in any other year towards insuring her subsequent
happy destiny.
In the beginning of this eventful year, the people of Vermont,
by their delegates in formal convention assembled, had declared
themselves independent —
“Independent of all save the mercies of God,”
as the poet, who has furnished us the heading of this chapter, and
who has so strikingly embodied the feelings of those he describes,
has significantly expressed it. And having taken measures for
publishing their declaration to the world, the convention closed
their proceedings by appointing a committee, selected as combining
the most happily an acquaintance with form and precedent
with a knowledge of the ways and wants of the people, to draft
a constitution to be submitted to a new convention, which the
people were invited to call for that purpose. In response to that
call, a new convention assembled at Windsor, in the month of
July following, and proceeded, with that diligence and scrupulous
regard to the employment of their time for which the early public
bodies of this state were so noted, to take into consideration
the important instrument now submitted to them as a proper
basis on which to erect the superstructure of a civil government,
suited to the genius and necessities of an industrious and frugal
people — a people who, though keenly jealous of their individual
rights, and exceedingly restive under all foreign authority, had
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yet declared their willingness, and even their wish, to receive and
obey a system of legal restraints, if it could be one of their own
imposing. For five days, from rising to setting sun, this convention
employed the best energies of their practical and enlightened
minds in discussing and amending the document before them.
But their labors for the present, if not forever, had well nigh been
lost; for, soon after they had assembled, on the sixth day of their
session, and while they were intently listening to the reading of
the instrument for the last time before taking a final vote on its
adoption, their proceedings were suddenly brought to a stand by
the alarming news, loudly proclaimed by a herald, who appeared
on his foam-covered horse before their open door, that Ticonderoga,
the supposed impregnable barrier of frontier defence, had
fallen, and our scattered troops were flying in every direction
before a formidable British army, that was sweeping, unopposed,
along the western border of the state, flanked by a horde of merciless
savages, from whose fearful irruptions not a dwelling on
that side of the mountains would probably be spared!
This intelligence, so unexpected and so startling, too nearly
concerned the members of the convention, not only as patriots,
but as men, to permit their entire exemption from the general
consternation and dismay which were every where spreading
around them; and many a staid heart among them secretly trembled
for the fate of the near and dear ones left at homes in which
the red tomahawk might, even at that very moment, be busy at its
work of death; while the bosoms of all were burning to be freed
from their present duties, that they might seize the sword or musket
and fly to the relief of their endangered families, or mingle
in the common defence against the haughty invaders of their soil.
Any further proceedings with the subject on hand, at such a moment,
were soon perceived to be utterly impossible; and a majority
of the members began to press eagerly for an immediate
adjournment. But while a few of their number, sharing less than
the rest in the general agitation, or being more deeply impressed
with the importance of accomplishing, at this time, an object now
so nearly attained, were attempting to resist the current, and prevent
any action on the motion to adjourn, till time was gained for
reflection, an unwonted darkness, as if by the special interposition
of Providence, suddenly fell upon the earth. The lightnings
began to gleam through the dark and threatening masses of
cloud that had enveloped the sky, and the long, deep roll of thunder
was heard in different quarters of the heavens, giving warning
of the severe and protracted tempest which soon burst over
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them with a fury that precluded all thought of venturing abroad.
The prospect of being thus confined to the place for some hours,
and perhaps the whole day, taking from those moving it all inducement
for an immediate adjournment, they now began to take
a cooler view of their situation; and soon, by common consent,
the business on hand was resumed. The reading of the constitution
was finished; and, while the storm was still howling
around, and the thunders breaking over them, that instrument
was adopted, and became the supreme law of the land.*
One thing more remained to be done; and that was, to constitute
a provisional government to act till the one pointed out
by the constitution just adopted could be established. This was
now effected by the appointment of that small body of men since
known as the Old Council of Safety of Vermont, and noted alike
for the remarkable powers with which they were clothed, and
the remarkable manner in which those powers were exercised;
for, from the nature of the case, and the emergency in which
these men were called to act, they were almost necessarily invested
with the extraordinary combination of legislative, judicial,
and executive power. But this power, absolute and dictatorial
as it was, they never abused or exercised but for the public
good; and in this they were cheerfully sustained by the people,
who felt that they were thus not only sustaining the cause of
freedom, but the laws which were of their own providing, and
which they were anxious should be obeyed.
To that unique assembly, of whose origin we have been speaking,
we propose next to introduce the reader. In obedience to
an order of the convention, issued at the moment of its hasty
dissolution, near the close of the memorable day before described,
the different members of this newly-appointed body, many of
whom, it is believed, were also members of the one just dissolved,
had promptly convened at Arlington. But finding themselves
here endangered by the near vicinity of the enemy, they had
adjourned into the more interior town of Manchester, within
whose barricade of mountains they could proceed with their deliberations
with little fear of interruption. And here, conscious
that the eyes of all were turned anxiously upon them, in the expectation
that they would provide for the safety of the infant
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state, whose destinies had been committed to their hands, they
commenced the worse than Egyptian task devolving upon them —
that of making adequate provisions for the public defence, while
the means were almost wholly wanting; for, with scarcely the
visible means in the whole settlement, in its then exhausted and
unsettled condition, of raising and supporting a single company
of soldiers, they were expected to raise an army. Without the
shadow of a public treasury, without any credit as a state, and
without the power of taxing the people, — which, by the constitution
just adopted, could only be done by the legislature not yet
called, — they were required to do that for which half a million
of money might be needed. Such were the difficulties by which
they were met at the outset — difficulties which, to men of ordinary
stamina and mental resources, would have been insurmountable.
But these were not men of ordinary stamina, either moral
or mental. They had been selected by the representatives of
the people for the qualities which would fit them to guide the
helm of state in this difficult and alarming crisis. And, unshrinkingly
proceeding to the discharge of their high responsibilities,
they soon evinced, by their conduct, that the confidence reposed
in them had not been misplaced; for the glorious results of the
field of Bennington, and the incessant and harassing warfare on
the flanks of the enemy which both preceded and followed that
event, and which drew forth from its despairing leader his best
apology for his defeat and surrender, were, far more than is generally
supposed, the fruits of the combined energy and talents of
that unequalled little band of patriots and statesmen.* But the particular
time we have chosen for lifting the curtain from their secret
proceedings was at the darkest and most disheartening hour they
were doomed to experience, and before the united mind of their
body had been brought to bear on any measure which afforded a
reasonable promise of auspicious results. The army of Burgoyne
was then hovering on their borders in its most menacing attitude.
Marauding parties were daily penetrating the interior, and plundering
and capturing the defenceless inhabitants, while each day
brought the unwelcome news of the defection of individuals who
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had openly gone off to swell the ranks of the victorious enemy,
to whose alarming progress scarcely a show of resistance had yet
been interposed. Nor was this the end of the chapter of trials
and discouragements that awaited the council. Another blow
was to be added, more calculated than all to test their firmness
and bring home to their bosoms a sense of the perils of the crisis,
and the necessity of immediate action, unless they should conclude
to yield at once to the current of destiny which seemed to
be setting so strongly against them. But let us present the mortifying
and disgraceful event, to which we last alluded, in another
form, in which the historic pen, that thus far in this chapter has
only been employed, may be legitimately aided by the pencil of
fancy, while we bring the leading individuals of this body to view,
and sketch the details of a scene as truthful in outline as it was
important in result.
The long summer day was drawing to a close. It had been
thus far spent by the council, as had been the several preceding
days of their session, in discussing the subject of the ways and
means of doing something to avert the doom that hung over their
seemingly devoted state. But up to this hour their deliberations
had been wholly fruitless. Project after project for the means of
raising military forces had been brought forward and discussed;
and each in turn had been thought to be impracticable, and had
been consequently abandoned, till, wearied with their unavailing
labors, and discouraged at the dubious prospect before them, they
now began to think of giving up business for the day, when the
door-keeper, with unwonted haste and an agitated manner, entered
the room, and announced to the astonished members of the council
the alarming tidings that one of their own body, and, until
that day, an active participator in their discussions, had proved a
Judas, and was now, with a band of his recreant neighbors, on
his way to the British camp. The news fell like a thunder-clap
on the council, producing, at first, a sensation not often witnessed
in so grave an assemblage. But no formal comments were
offered; and, after the commotion had subsided, all sunk into a
thoughtful silence, which we will improve by our promised introduction
to the reader of the leading members of the council.
Separated from the rest by a sort of enclosure composed of
tables strung across one end of the apartment, which was a
large upper room of an inn, hastily fitted up for the occasion,
conspicuously sat the president of the council, the venerable
Thomas Chittenden, the wise, the prudent, and the good, who was
to Vermont what Washington was to the Union; and who, though
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not possessing dazzling greatness, had yet that rare combination
of moral and intellectual qualities which was more fortunate for
him — good sense, great discretion, firmness, honesty of purpose,
benevolence, and unvarying equanimity of temper, united with a
modest and pleasing address. And by the long and continued
exercise of this golden mean of qualities, he was destined to leave
behind him an honest, enduring fame — a memorial of good
deeds and useful every-day examples, to be remembered and
quoted, both in the domestic circle and in the public assembly,
when the far superior brilliancy of many a contemporary had
passed away and been forgotten. He was now something over
fifty; but so fine were his physical endowments, and so temperate
and regular had been his habits, that time had scarcely left a
trace on his manly brow; and his fair and well-moulded features
had almost the freshness of youth. And notwithstanding the unpretending
simplicity of his deportment, and the extreme plainness
of his dress, the large arm-chair, in which he now reclined,
furnished probably by some considerate matron of the
neighborhood for his special convenience, could not have found,
in the broad land, an occupant who would have filled it with more
native dignity, or one better fitted to restrain by courteous firmness,
and by tact guide into safe and appropriate fields of action,
the less disciplined and more fiery spirits of the body over which
he presided.
Let us now take a glance at the more prominent members of
this notable little band of public conservators. Here, immersed
in thought, sat, side by side, like brothers, as they were, the two
Fays, those intelligent, enterprising, and persevering friends of
freedom and state independence. And there sat the two Robinsons,
alike patriotic, and active, or able, according to the different
spheres of action in which they were about to be distinguished —
one in the tented field, and the other on the bench and in the
national councils. In another place was seen the short, thick-set
form of the uncompromising Matthew Lyon, the Irish refugee,
who was willing to be sold to pay his passage to America, for the
sake of getting out of the despotic moral atmosphere of the old
world, into one where his broad chest, as he was wont to say,
could expand freely, and where his bold spirit could soar unclogged
by the trammels of legitimacy. In his eagle eye, in
every lineament of his clear, ardent, and fearless countenance,
indeed, might be read the promise of what he was to become —
the stern democrat, and the well-known champion of the whole
right and the largest liberty. In contrast to him, near by, was
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seen the tall, commanding form, and the firm and thoughtful
countenance, of Benjamin Carpenter, who had just arrived, with
pack and cane, from Guilford, from which he had that day come
on foot by a route designated by marked trees, through the mountain
wilderness, nearly thirty miles in extent. Farther on, and
seated before an open window, was Thomas Rowley, the first
poet of the Green Mountains. He was here because he was a
public favorite, a trusty patriot, and something of a statesman.
But, like most other poets, he was not without his peculiarities
of temperament, as might have been seen by his manner and
movements even in this staid assembly; for, as if disgusted with
a tedious and profitless debate, and determined also not long to
be troubled by the disconcerting news just announced, he had
now evidently cast these cares from his mind, to indulge in the
more congenial employment of gazing out upon the landscape,
over which his kindling eye might have been seen to wander, till
it rested, in rapture, on the broad empurpled side and bright
summit of the lofty Equinox Mountain, whose contrasted magnificence
was growing every moment more striking and beautiful in the
beams of the low-descending sun. On the opposite side of the room
stood the mild and gentlemanly Nathan Clark, the future speaker
of the first legislature of Vermont; and by his side, the dark
and rough-featured Gideon Olin, an embryo member of Congess,
was leaning against the wall, with a countenance of mingled
sternness and gloom.
By the side of one of the tables, in front of the president,
might also have been seen the stout, burly frame, and the
matter-of-fact and business-like countenance, of Paul Spooner,
engaged in writing a despatch. And as the last, though not as
the least, among the strongly contrasted characters of this assembly
of whom we propose to take note, let us turn to the youthful
secretary of the council, Ira Allen. So much the junior of his
colleagues was he, indeed, that a spectator might well have wondered
how he came to be selected as one of such a sage and
elderly body of councillors. But those who procured his appointment
knew full well why they had done so; and his history
thenceforward was destined to prove a continued justification of
their high opinion of him. He was of an active, mercurial turn,
and, as might have been seen, was not inclined to remain long
in one place or posture. He had now thrown aside his rapid pen,
and, with a quick, light step and deeply-cogitating air, was
traversing back and forth the open space between his table, in
front of the president, and the closed door of the apartment.
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Both in form and feature, he was one of the handsomest men
of his day; while a mind at once versatile, clear, and penetrating,
with perceptions as quick as light, was stamped on his Grecian
brow, or found a livelier expression in his lucid black eyes
and other lineaments of his strikingly intellectual countenance.
Such as he appeared for the first time on the stage of public
action was the noted Ira Allen, whose true history, when written,
will show him to have been, either secretly or openly, the originator,
or successful prosecutor, of more important political measures,
affecting the interests and independence of the state, and
the issue of the war in the Northern Department, than any other
individual in Vermont, making him, with the many peculiar traits
of character he possessed, one of the most remarkable men
of the times in which he so conspicuously figured.
“I have finished, Mr. President,” said Spooner, now breaking
the gloomy silence which had, for an unusual interval, pervaded
the assembly — “I have finished the despatch, suggested by your
honor, requiring the attendance of the absent member from the
east side of the mountain — General Bayley. And having put it
into the form of a familiar letter, I have ventured to enlarge
somewhat on our perplexing situation, especially in the matter
of the miserable Squire Spencer, whose treasonable desertion I
little dreamed, when I commenced writing, I should have the
mortification of announcing.”*
“That is well,” responded the president; “and we must look
up some suitable messenger to convey it to its destination. But
I had hoped to forward, by the same hand, the despatch requesting
the aid and coöperation of New Hampshire, which has been
deferred till some definite action of our own should enable us to
inform the council of that state what we of the Grants propose
to do ourselves towards the object for which we invoke their
assistance. This they will doubtless consider essential to be
known, before listening to our call, as otherwise they will not
know whether they will find among us more friends to assist than
enemies to impede them. But what can we now tell them? I
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will submit to you, gentlemen of the council,” he continued, in
a kindly expostulating tone — “I will submit to your good sense
and patriotism, whether it is not now time to adopt some decided
course to be pursued. We must not be disheartened by a few
untoward circumstances. Providence not unfrequently frowns on
us for our own good. And who shall say, in the present instance,
that our deliberations have not been wisely and kindly rendered
of no effect till after Spencer's desertion, since, had we adopted
a plan of operations while he was here, the whole of it, by this
time, had been in the possession of the British general? But be
that as it may, the event of this man's apostasy, of itself, instead
of making us timid and irresolute in action, should but render us
more prompt and decided. The people, as we all feel painfully
conscious, I presume, expect much from us. Shall we disappoint
them in every thing? Because we cannot consistently do all
that may be expected, shall we resolve to do nothing? I have
listened to your objections to levying a general tax upon the people,
as the means of raising a military force; and, with you, I
consider them valid; for to infringe the constitution, just adopted,
by an arbitrary taxation, would be setting a dangerous precedent,
and one which would come with a bad grace from those of us
here who helped to adopt it. No; we must resort to other means.
We can, if we will, borrow, pledging ourselves as individuals,
with such others as we may find willing to stand sponsors with
us, that the state shall hereafter pay the debt; or we may resort
to voluntary contributions. I am aware the people are unable to
contribute much. I am aware that a great portion of the inhabitants
have been driven from their homes, and are now living on
the hospitality of the rest. But for all this, the people can and
will cheerfully contribute something — more, I think, than we
should be willing to require of them. I have ten head of cattle,
which can be spared for the emergency. But am I more patriotic
than you, and hundreds of others in the settlement? My wife
has a valuable gold necklace. Hint to her to-day that it is needed
for the public service, and, my word for it, to-morrow you will
find it in the treasury of freedom. But is my wife any more
public-spirited than yours and many others among us? Gentlemen,
I await your propositions.”
During this moderate, but really well-timed and effective appeal
of the president, drooping heads began to be raised, perplexed
and desponding countenances grew brighter, and by the
time he had closed, several speakers were on their feet, eager to
respond.
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“Mr. Carpenter has the floor, I think, gentlemen,” said the
president.
“I rose,” said Carpenter, “but to give my hearty response
to the sentiments of the chair. It is time, high time, for some
definite and decided action. Less talking and more action shall
henceforth be my motto. I have not now, it is true, any digested
proposition to present to the council; but I soon will have one,
unless others are offered; for, in this emergency, it is little short
of a crime to dally any longer.”
“Ay, action! action!” responded several voices.
“Action let it be, then,” said Rowley, the next rising to speak.
“If it be true, as has been urged, Mr. President, that we cannot
raise money by general assessment without exceeding our powers
and disaffecting the people, and that we must depend on voluntary
contribution, which receivers, appointed for the purpose, may
more appropriately gather in than ourselves, why are we needed
here? I will, therefore, make a proposition, which, while it
will be obnoxious to none of the objections brought against other
plans of defence, will give gentlemen as much action as they
want. I propose, Mr. President, that each of us here, before
any more of us run away to the enemy, seize a standard, repair
singly to the different hamlets among our mountains, cause the
summoning drum to beat for volunteers, and lead them, when
obtained, to do battle in person with this Jupiter Olympus of a
British general, who has so nearly annihilated the country by
proclamation.”
“Tom Rowley all over! but a gallant push nevertheless,”
vivaciously exclaimed Samuel Robinson, in an under tone.
“And yet, Mr. President,” he continued, dropping the jocose,
and now rising to speak in form — “and yet, if our colleague's
spirited proposal could be carried into effect, and men be found
to volunteer under such military leaders as most of us would
make, — or if the different towns, as has been suggested by others,
would order out the militia on our requisition, — even then, it
appears to me, we should raise a permanent and regularly enlisted
force, to serve a rallying point or nucleus for the militia, or our
patriotic friend's army of volunteers. I therefore move, as I
was about to do when others claimed the floor — I move the raising
of a regular force, however small our means may compel us
to make it; and as the smallest to be thought of, I will name one
company of one hundred men, to be raised and supported by
one of the methods suggested by the president.”
“And I,” said Clark, promptly rising — “and I, believing we
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may venture to go a little higher than that, I propose we vote
to raise two companies of sixty men each.”
“No, no!” cried several voices; “one company! Means
can be found for no more than one.”
“Yes, yes! the larger number first, Mr. President! I go for
two companies,” cried others.
“And I go for neither, Mr. President!” said Ira Allen,
stopping short in his walk, and turning to the chair. “For I
believe the council, on a little reflection, will conclude to do
something more worthy of the character of the Green Mountain
Boys, than the raising of the paltry force which even the best
of these propositions involves. And I doubt not the means of so
doing may be soon and abundantly supplied, without infringing
the constitution or distressing the people. And I therefore
move, sir, that this council resolve to raise a full regiment of
men, forthwith appoint their officers, and take such prompt and
speedy measures for their enlistment, that, within one week,
every glen in Vermont shall resound with the stir of military
preparation.”
“Chimerical!” said one, who, in common with the rest of the
council, seemed to hear, with much surprise, a proposition of
this magnitude so confidently offered, when the doubt appeared
to be whether even the comparatively trifling one of Clark would
be adopted.
“Impossible, utterly impossible to raise pay for half of them,”
responded several others.
“Don't let us say that till we are compelled to do so,” said
the patriotic Carpenter, in an encouraging tone. “This proposition
jumps so well with my wishes, that I would not see it hastily
abandoned. For, although I confess I do not pretend to see
where the requisite means are to come from, yet some new light,
in this respect, may break in upon us by another day. And
could we but see our way clear to sustain this proposition, we
should feel like men again.”
“Amen to all that,” responded Clark. And as the hour for
adjournment has now arrived, I move that our young colleague,
who offered this proposition with so much confidence in the discovery
of a way to carry it into execution, and who is said to be
very fertile in expedients, be appointed a committee to devise
the ways and means of paying the bounties and wages of the
regiment he proposes to raise; and that he make his report to
the council by sunrise to-morrow morning.”
“Second that motion, Mr. President,” cried Lyon, in his usual
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full, determined tone of voice and strong Irish accent. “I go for
the whole of Mr. Allen's proposition, means or no means. But
the means can, must, and shall be found, sir! We will
put the gentleman's brains under the screws to-night,” he continued,
jocosely turning to Allen; “and if he appears here in the
morning empty-handed, he ought to be expelled from the council.
Ay, and I'll move it, too, by the two bulls that redeemed
me!”*
“I accept the terms,” replied Allen, bowing pleasantly to the
former. “Give me a room by myself, pen, ink, paper, and a
lamp, and I will abide the condition.”
“For your lamp, Mr. Allen, as your task is to discover money
where there is none, I advise you to borrow the wonderful lamp
of Aladin,” gayly added Rowley, as the question was put, and
carried; and the council, in a half-serious, half-sportive mood,
broke up, and separated for the night.
At sunrise, the next morning, as had been proposed, the
council punctually assembled to receive the promised report of
their committee. Most of them, from having lodged in the same
house, were aware that Allen had spent the whole of the intervening
time on the business which had been committed to his
charge; for, hour after hour, during that important night, they
had heard the sound of his footsteps, as he continued to walk his
solitary chamber, intensely revolving in his teeming mind the
vexed question, upon the decision of which he felt the last
chance of making a successful stand against the invaders of the
state would probably depend. And this and the expectation, which
had somehow been generally raised, that he would present some
feasible plan for carrying out his proposals, the character of
which no one could conjecture, caused his appearance to be
awaited with no little curiosity and solicitude. They were not
left long in suspense; for scarcely had the president called the
council to order, before Allen came in, holding in his hand an
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open sheet of paper, to which, as the yet undried ink showed, he
had just committed the result of his night's labor.
“Is the committee, appointed at adjournment last evening, prepared
to make his report?” asked the president.
“Fully, your honor,” promptly responded Allen, who accordingly
then rose and said, —
“My report, Mr. President, consists of two parts. The first
comprises the nomination of a list of officers, from colonel to
subaltern, for a regiment, to be styled The Rangers. The second
part involves the subject more particularly committed to me, and
proposes the means of raising and supporting them. As the
first will be useless unless the second is adopted, I will submit it
without present reading, and proceed at once with the second
and more important proposition, which, after a long and patient
consideration of every argument for and against the measure, I
have concluded to recommend to the council, as the best and
most effectual means of securing the desired end. And that
proposition, for the sake of convenience, as regards the action of
the council on the principle involved, I have thrown into the form
of the following resolution: —
“Resolved, That by specific decree of this council, and under
regulations hereafter to be made, the estates, both real and personal,
of all those who have been, or hereafter may be, identified
as tories, aiders and abettors of the enemy, within this state, be
confiscated for the military defence thereof; and that so much
of said estates as may be needed for the payment of the bounties
and wages of the regiment now proposed to be raised, be forthwith
seized, and within ten days sold at the post, for that purpose,
by the officers appointed by this council to execute its
orders and decrees in that behalf.”
The speaker, without offering any further remark in explanation
or defence of the measure he had reported, resumed his seat,
and calmly awaited the expression of the council. But they
were taken by such complete surprise by a proposition at that
time so entirely new in the colonies, so bold and so startling in
its character, that, for many minutes, not a word or whisper was
heard through the hushed assembly, whose bowed heads and
working countenances showed how deeply their minds were
engaged in trying to grapple with the momentous subject, upon
which their action was thus unexpectedly required. At length,
however, low murmurs of doubt or disapproval began to be
heard; and soon the expressions, “unprecedented step!” —
“doubtful policy!” and “injury to the cause” became
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distinguishable among the over-prudent in different parts of the room;
when Matthew Lyon sprang to his feet, and, bringing his broad
palms together with a loud slap, exultingly exclaimed, —
“The child is born, Mr. President! My head has been in a
continual fog, every hour since we convened, till the present moment;
and I could see no way by which we could even begin to
do all that the exigency required, without running against law, or
distressing the people. But now, thank God, I can see my way
out. I can now see, at a glance, how all can be speedily and
righteously accomplished. I can already see a regiment of our
brave mountaineers in arms before me, as the certain fruits of this
bold, bright thought of our sagacious and intrepid young colleague.
Unprecedented step is it? It may be so with us timid republicans;
but is it so with our enemies, who are this moment threatening to
crush us, because we object to receive their law and precedent?
How were they to obtain the lands of the half of Vermont, which,
it is said, they recently offered the lion-hearted Ethan Allen, if he
would join them, but by confiscating our estates? What has become
of the estates of those in their own country, who, like ourselves,
have rebelled against their government? From time
immemorial they have been confiscated. Can they complain,
then, at our following a precedent of their own setting? Can they
complain because we adopt a measure, which, in case we are vanquished,
they will not be slow to visit on our estates, to say nothing
of our necks? Can these recreant rascals themselves, who have
left their property among us, and gone off to help fasten this very
government upon us, complain at our doing what they will be the
first to recommend to be done to us, if their side prevails? Where,
then, is the doubtful policy of our anticipating them in this measure,
any more than in seizing one of their loaded guns in battle,
and turning it against them? Injury to the cause, will it be? —
Will it injure our cause here, where men are daily deserting to
the British, in belief that we shall not dare touch their property,
to strike a blow that will deter all the wavering, and most others
of any property, from leaving us hereafter? Will it injure our
cause here to have a regiment of regular troops, who will, perhaps,
draw into the field four times their number, in volunteers?
If this be an injury, Mr. President, I only wish we may have a
few more of them; for, with a half dozen such injuries, by the
two bulls, we would rout Burgoyne's whole army in a fortnight.
Yes, Mr. President, this measure must go; for it promises every
thing to cause, and threatens nothing that honest patriots need
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fear; and had I a hundred tongues, they should all wag a good
stiff ay for its adoption.”
“A bold measure, boldly advocated!” next spoke Carpenter.
“But as bold as it is, Mr. President, I rise not to condemn it, but
rather to say, that I am determined to meet it fairly, and without
fear; and if, when I get cool enough to trust myself to make a
decision, the objections to it appear no more formidable than they
now do, I will give it my hearty support.”
“If the public should call this a desperate remedy, they must
recollect that it is almost our only one,” remarked Olin, in his
cool, quiet manner. “Nothing venture, nothing have; — let us
go for it who dare!”
“Let us oppose it who dare!” warmly responded Lyon. “The
measure will be a popular one; and let it once be known among
the people, as I promise gentlemen it shall be, that this proposition
was considerately recommended to us by a committee we appointed
for the purpose — let this be known, and who among us has
nerve enough to stem the storm of popular indignation that will
burst on his head, for the timid and cowardly policy which led
him to go against it?”
“Vermont,” added Rowley — “Vermont was the first to show
her sister states the way to take a British fort; let her also be the
first to teach them the secret of making tories bear their proportion
of the burdens of the war. I am already prepared to give the
measure my support, Mr. President.”
Almost every member, in turn, now threw in a few observations.
The doubts and fears of the more cautious and wavering gradually
gave way; and it soon became evident that the measure had
found too much favor with the council to be resisted. Lyon, with
his rough and pithy eloquence, had broken the ice of timidity at
the right moment; and he and the originator of the measure, at
first the only unhesitating members of the assembly, perceiving
the gathering current in its favor, now warmly followed up their
advantage; and, within two hours from its introduction, the resolution
was adopted. This was immediately followed by the passage
of the decree named in the resolution, specifying the names of
those thus far fairly identified as openly espousing the British
cause in Vermont, and declaring their estates forfeited to its use.
Allen's proposal to raise a regiment of rangers was then, as a
matter of course, unanimously carried, and the officers he had
nominated were, with a few alterations, as unanimously appointed.
All were now animated with a new spirit. Hope and confidence
had taken the place of doubt and despondency in their bosoms,
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and the remainder of the day was spent in carrying out the details
of their plan, which all agreed should now be put in execution,
with the greatest possible promptitude and secrecy. In this, as
soon as the different appointments, made necessary for the execution
of the decree, were completed by the united action of the
council, all the members, individually, took an active part. And
for many hours, they might have been seen sitting round the tables,
silently and intently engaged with their pens; some in drafting
despatches to be sent to New Hampshire and Massachusetts,
some in writing confidential letters, unfolding their plan, and asking
the coöperation of the leading men in the different parts of
their own state, and some in making out commissions for the
military officers, or the commissioners and other officers of confiscation;
while others were out, scattering themselves about
town, warily and cautiously inquiring out prompt and trusty messengers,
to be despatched, as soon as it was dark, simultaneously
and post-haste, to convey these important missives to their different
destinations round the country. And all being accomplished,—
the blow struck, and the machinery put in motion, — the
council concluded to adjourn, to meet again in a few days at
Bennington, the interim to be spent by them in repairing to their
respective spheres of influence among the people, and there taking
an active part in defending and explaining their measures, and
assisting to carry them into operation.
Such was the origin of those temporary tribunals in Vermont,
subsequently termed courts of confiscation, which formed a prominent
feature in her early history, and which furnished, it is believed,
the first example of the exercise of this extraordinary
power ever known in the United Colonies during the revolutionary
struggle. And whatever may have been the effects of this
retributive policy in other states, its results here were salutary
and important. It put an immediate stop to any further espousing
of British interests, especially among men of property, while,
within the astonishingly short space of fifteen days, it brought a
regiment of men into the field, well armed and prepared for instant
service, — thus securing those advantages to the defenders
of liberty, in the peculiar posture of their affairs in which it was
introduced, and giving that impetus to their military operations,
without which the brilliant successes that marked the ensuing
campaign in Vermont could never have been obtained. Of this
there can scarcely be a doubt. And scarcely less doubt can
there be, that the important measure in question would not have
been brought forward and adopted at the crisis, in which alone
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the advantages it then secured could have been derived from it,
but for its sole projector, the sagacious, scheming, and fearless
Ira Allen.
Speculative writers have often amused themselves in tracing
great events to small causes. And in this they have oftentimes
so wonderfully succeeded, as to show, beyond the power of man
to refute, some of the most trivial circumstances of life, considered
by themselves, to have caused the revolutions of empires. Were
we to make out an instance of this character, to be added to the
many other remarkable ones which have been noted by the curious,
it should be done by tracing the independence of America to
the measure which Allen so boldly projected, as he walked his
lonely chamber, on the eventful night we have described. The
independence of the colonies was, at that dark crisis, balancing,
as on a pivot; and the success of Burgoyne must seemingly
have turned the scale against us. The success of Burgoyne, at
the same time, hung on a pivot also; and the victory of Bennington,
with all its numberless direct and indirect consequences, as
now seems generally conceded, turned the scale of his fortunes,
when his success, otherwise, could scarcely have been doubtful.
But the victory of Bennington would never have been achieved
but for the decided and energetic movement of Vermont, which
alone secured the coöperation of New Hampshire, or, at least,
insured victory, when, otherwise, no battle would have been hazarded.
And that essential movement of Vermont would never
have been made but for the bold and characteristic project of
Ira Allen.
All this, to be sure, is but supposition; but who can gainsay
its truthfulness?
eaf721n1* Through inadvertence arising out of the unsettled state of the times,
or design among the leaders who might have fears for the result, the constitution
was never submitted to the people for their ratification or rejection;
but, no questions ever being raised on account of this informality,
it was acquiesced in as valid and binding.
eaf721n2* A finer tribute of praise to the Green Mountain Boys could scarcely
have been given, than the one involved in Burgoyne's letter to Lord Germain,
written about the time of the battle of Bennington, in which he
says, “The Hampshire Grants, a country unpeopled, and almost unknown,
in the last war, now abounds in the most active and the most
rebellious race of men on the continent, and hangs like a gathering storm
on my left.”
eaf721n3* The original letter from Paul Spooner to General Jacob Bayley, of
Newbury, written in council, requiring the attendance of the latter, and
informing him of Spencer's defection, and the gloomy situation of affairs,
is still preserved, and affords, notwithstanding the disheartening news it
communicates, a striking proof of the determination of that body to struggle
on to the last against the mountain of difficulties, which, at this dark
crisis, seemed to lie before them.
eaf721n4* Matthew Lyon, who very soon became much noted as a leading
partisan in the legislature of Vermont, and subsequently more so as
member of congress from Kentucky, having, as before intimated, been
sold to pay his passage from Ireland to Connecticut, where he landed,
was afterwards redeemed by the payment of a pair of bulls to the purchaser,
by a gentleman of that state, for whom he was permitted to labor,
at liberal wages, till this novel kind of indebtedness was cancelled. And
as this bold and singular man entered upon the scenes of life as a successful
freeman, he was fond of boasting of the romantic manner in which he
became one, while the expression, “By the two bulls that redeemed me,”
became his favorite oath on all occasions.
-- 021 --
CHAPTER II.
“Say what is woman's heart? — a thing
Where all the deepest feelings spring;
And what its love? — a ceaseless stream,
A changeless star — an endless dream —
A smiling flower, that will not die —
A beauty and a mystery!”
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While the scenes last described were occurring at Manchester,
in the Council of Safety, whose secret and unforeseen action was
about to be felt in the remotest corners of the state, an athletic,
well-formed, though plainly-dressed young man, whose fortunes,
in common with those of hundreds around him, were suddenly and
unexpectedly to be affected by the movements of that body, might
have been seen, in the evening twilight, moving, with slow and
apparently hesitating steps, across a new-mown field, towards a
neat and commodious dwelling, situated on the main road leading
from the town just named, to the south, and near where it
entered the then fast increasing little village of Bennington.
Though he wore no regular military uniform, or arms that were
visible, yet there was that in his gait, manner, and general appearance,
which indicated the recent occupation of a soldier;
while the natural cast of his bold, manly features, and the clear,
calm, and steady expression of his fine countenance, all combined
to show him a man of coolness and courage; and that, consequently,
the seeming timidity and indecision of his present movements
were attributable to some passing doubts respecting the
issue of the business on hand, or other causes of a similar character,
rather than any general want of firmness and resolution.
After advancing within a stone's throw of the house, he turned
into a clump of small trees, which, extending along the outer
border of an unenclosed garden to the north of the establishment,
had concealed his approach; and here taking a position that
commanded a view of the front and rear entrances of the house,
he seemed to await some expected event, with manifestations of
considerable uneasiness and solicitude. In a few moments, a
slight stir, as of company taking leave, was heard in the front
part of the house; and very soon a fashionably-dressed personage,
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of a somewhat swaggering deportment, accompanied with many
of those supercilious airs with which the colonial loyalists of
the times often thought to dignify their carriage among despised
republicans, made his appearance in the yard, where, equipped
for riding, stood a stout, well-conditioned horse, which he approached
and led out some distance into the road, preparatory to
mounting. He then paused, and, with a hasty glance around
him, covertly drew forth, from a concealed girdle apparently, a
pair of good-sized pistols, and carefully examined their flints and
priming; after which he replaced them, and, vaulting into his
saddle, rode leisurely away along the road leading northward.
In the mean time, the person first described retained his position
within his leafy concealment, where, unseen himself, he had seen
and watched from the first, with keen interest, all the movements
of the other, whom, at length, he seemed to recognize, with
recollections which caused him to recoil, and his whole countenance
to contract and darken with angry and disquieting emotions.
He was not allowed much time, however, for indulging
his disturbed feelings; for scarcely had the object of his annoyance
disappeared, before his attention was attracted by a slight
rustling sound somewhere within the garden; when, turning his
head, the frown that had gathered on his brow suddenly gave
place to a look of joyful animation, as his eager eye caught a
glimpse of the light, fluttering drapery of a female, who, with
soft, rapid tread, was gliding along the outer edge of the screening
shrubbery towards him. The next instant he was at her
side, ardently grasping her half-proffered hand, and tenderly
gazing into her sweetly-confused countenance.
“How grateful,” he began, after a broken salutation — “how
grateful I should be for this obliging attention to the note I sent
you, soliciting a meeting which —”
“Which my gallant preserver of old will be pretty sure to
misconstrue, I fear me,” interrupted the maiden, with a half-murmured,
sportive laugh.
“No, Miss Haviland,” he replied, too intent on a serious
demonstration of his feelings to respond in the same spirit — “no,
I am not so presuming; nor do I wish to count on the former
service, which you so magnify, and which has induced you, perhaps,
to grant this interview.”
“In part, I confess,” was the answer to this implied question.
“I suspected — I feared so,” he rejoined, despondingly. “Would
to Heaven you could have acted entirely aside from that motive,
and then I might have found cause to hope. But now,” he
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[figure description] Page 023.[end figure description]
added, with suppressed emotion — “now — But O, how can I
harbor the chilling thought of being doomed to love without a return!
Say, fairest and best, must this indeed be so?”
The downcast look and the quick-heaving bosom were the
only reply; and the impassioned lover, gathering courage even
from these uncertain indications, proceeded: —
“Years, eventful years, have passed away, my dear Miss Haviland,
since your face, like some unexpected vision, first greeted
my sight, and its image, at the same moment, as a thing not to
be resisted, sunk deep into my heart. And there, from that
hour to this, it has constantly remained — remained in spite of
all my attempts to exclude it; for I struggled hard to banish it,
as I had so much reason to do. You were the daughter of wealth
and prosperity — I the son of poverty and misfortune; and, what
was more revolting to my pride, you were found with my political
opponents — my oppressors — nay, in the closest connection,
apparently, with my bitterest foe. But with all the aid which
these thoughts and associations were calculated to lend me, I
struggled in vain. And when I was driven, poor, sorrowing, and
desperate, from my home, by the wrongs and insults of this same
man, of whose position towards you I was not left in doubt, I
carried that image with me. It would not be eradicated; it
would not even fade; but became more deeply impressed, and
grew more and more vivid with time and change. In the stirring
scenes of military life into which I then entered, — in the
hour of battle, the exhausting march, the horrors of a prison-ship,
the perilous escape, and the lone wanderings through the
wilderness, till I again reached the soil of freedom, — in all these,
the impress remained unweakened, constantly presenting itself to
my thoughts by day, and shaping my dreams by night. And it
was this, when, on my return, I came into this quarter, where I
had learned our scattered troops were rallying, and where I found
myself near you — it was this that brought me to your father's
dwelling — it was this, which, in spite of the coldness of my
reception by all but yourself, urged me to the repeated visit, in
which I was driven with insults from your house.”
“Not by me, Mr. Woodburn,” interposed the fair listener, in
kindly and earnest tones — “not by me, nor by my consent or
sanctioning. And it was mainly to show you this that I was
induced to grant your request for this, on my part, I fear, imprudent
meeting. No! O, no, sir, I have never forgotten — I can
never forget — to whom I am indebted for my life; and gratitude,
as well as respect for his general character, will ever forbid
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[figure description] Page 024.[end figure description]
aught but kind and courteous treatment at my hands. And I hope
you will make some allowance for my father, who feels so
strongly that the people, whose cause you espouse, are criminally
wrong.”
“I do make an allowance,” responded Woodburn — “great
allowance for his imbittered state of mind towards the defenders
of the American cause; but does that fully account for the
course he pursues towards me?”
“To be frank with you, sir, it does not,” she replied, after
some hesitation. “There are those often with my father, who
are not backward in fanning his prejudices, and perhaps in instigating
the undeserved treatment you have received. I may be
unwise in saying this; but justice to all, it appears to me, requires
that you should be apprised of it. You will not surely make use
of this to embroil us?”
“Certainly not; but what you communicate is hardly news to
me. I well understand that the principal one of those to whom
you allude is no other than the person who just rode away from
your house.”
“You saw him, then? I am thankful you did not come in
collision with him; for he is a man you must avoid. Yes, that
was indeed Colonel Peters.”
Colonel Peters! Colonel, did you call him? Has he, then,
actually joined the British forces, and received a commission for
such a post in their army?”
“Yes; but I had supposed this was known, else I might have
hesitated to disclose it, lest his frequent visits here might implicate
my father, who, I hope, may be induced to remain neutral in this
unhappy contest.”
“Fear not, fair friend. No advantage shall be taken of this,
through my means, to the injury of your father. But, tell me,
does that officious adviser of your father still urge a suit, and
plead an engagement, of which, I have inferred, you would not be
sorry to be relieved?”
“He does,” answered the maiden, sadly — “he does urge a
suit, and insist on an engagement, of which he knows I wish to be
relieved.”
“Why should he do this?”
“Perhaps he counts on the effect of events to reconcile me —
events which he seems to expect will shortly happen — the complete
triumph of his cause, the disgrace, banishment, or death of
its opposers, and his own elevation thereby to stations which, he
thinks, no woman will refuse to share with him. He counts
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[figure description] Page 025.[end figure description]
much also, probably, on the aiding influence of my father, who
feels warmly interested in his success, and believes with the other,
that he, who is so loyal, while so many of his standing are otherwise,
cannot fail of reaping a brilliant harvest of rewards, which,
with the connection they propose, will reflect lustre on our family.”
“Then it does not occur to them,” said Woodburn, with a smile
at this specimen of that loyal air-castle building in which the tories
of the revolution seemed to have so extravagantly indulged — “it
does not occur to them that it is even possible these splendid
schemes may fail, in the failure of their cause in this country,
which has thus, in anticipation, been parcelled out into dukedoms
and lordships, to reward its sanguine adherents?”
“One would think not, from their conversation on the subject,”
replied the other.
“And what thinks she, whom they would have so much interested
in this great issue?” asked Woodburn, encouraged to the
question by the manner and tone of her last remark. “Has it
never occurred to her mind that their cause, as strong as they
deem it, is destined to fail; that even this vaunting army, which
hangs so menacingly on our borders, may be swept away by the
vengeance of a wronged, an insulted, and now aroused people;
and that this despised people have right and Heaven on their side;
and by the blessings of that Heaven, while they do battle in the
consciousness of that right, will yet triumph, and become an independent
nation, to which even her present haughty foe will do
reverence?”
“It has,” replied the maiden, warmly and with emphasis — “it
has, Mr. Woodburn; and — why should I attempt to conceal it? —
and I have wished — for I could not help it, though against the
feelings, and, perhaps, the best interests of a generally kind
parent — I have long secretly wished, and even prayed, for your
success; because I could not stifle the conviction of the truth of
what you assert respecting the wrongs of the American people,
and the justice of their cause.”
“Sabrey Haviland,” exclaimed the surprised and delighted
lover, “as long as I have respected and loved you, I have never,
till this moment, known you — never half appreciated the worth
of your character!”
“What you may appreciate highly, sir, others may as highly
condemn,” she meekly responded. “I have said more to you
than I have ever expressed to human being; and I may be wrong—
wrong in saying it to you — wrong in saying it or believing it
at all.”
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[figure description] Page 026.[end figure description]
“Wrong? O, no, no, noble girl!” he rejoined, with increasing
animation; “no, you are not wrong; you are right — right in your
convictions, right in the wish, the prayer, and the declaration.
Men will honor your honest independence, exercised against so
much to bias and prejudice, so much to tempt and dazzle you;
and Heaven will approve and bless you. But with such sentiments,”
he added, in tenderly expostulating accents — “with such
sentiments, dear lady, will you doom me to plead my heart's
cause in vain? Will you still adhere to a lover active in the
work of oppression which you condemn, and reject his rival,
equally active in the cause you approve and pray for?”
“I see my error, Mr. Woodburn,” she replied, with an air of
self-reproach and of slightly-offended pride, which, however, gave
way to kindly tones, as she proceeded; “I have unintentionally
helped you to an argument, while I am constrained to decide that
no argument, so long as I stand in my present position, must prevail
with me. Do not, then, O, do not press me with questions
like these. You know not the extent of my perplexities, and I
may not explain. Besides, are these the times to engage in such
affairs, when the next hour may lead to an eternal separation,
or place our respective destines as wide as the poles asunder?”
“But will you not allow me even to hope for the future?” still
persisted the lover.
“Why should I bid you tantalize yourself with hopes so likely
to prove futile, when nobler thoughts should engross you? Look,
Mr. Woodburn,” she said, pointing, with charming enthusiasm,
towards the distant summits of Manchester, then beginning to be
dimly visible in the rays of the rising moon, “cast your eyes
northward! Beneath yon blue mountains is gathered the council
of your people. There also rolls the recruiting drum of your brave
Warner, who needs men like you; or if, as you intimated, you
are waiting to engage in a different corps, which your council is
expected to raise, would not your attendance there be more
worthily bestowed, than in adding to the perplexities of one already
so thickly surrounded with difficulties, and one who, to your
suit, cannot say yea, while she would be pained to say nay?”
“Cruel girl, but noble in your cruelty!” exclaimed Woodburn,
with mingled disappointment and admiration. “I will forbear to
press my suit for the present, but not forever. I will heed the
lesson of patriotism you have given me, but only to remember my
fair prompter with deeper devotion.”
“Hark!” said the other, starting; “I hear my father's chiding
voice in the house, inquiring for me. I must go. Adieu, Mr.
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Woodburn. With this tendered hand of friendship and gratitude,
adieu.”
“If it must be so, my precious, my beautiful one, farewell to you,
also.”
Lips uttered no more, but the mute pause that followed, while
eye met eye, and hand lingered in hand, was not meaningless.
The fond lover was not permitted, however, to prolong the entrancing
moment, which, as the slightly-returned pressure of the small
white hand, closely imprisoned in his own, told him, had not been
reluctantly vouchsafed him; for, quickly arousing herself, the
maiden broke from his clinging grasp, and tripped silently away,
leaving him gazing after her retreating form, and listening to the
soft and decreasing sounds of her light footsteps upon the grass,
till the jar of the closing door, to which she had directed her
devious course, made him feel that he was alone, and that the
charm of the place was gone.
With a sigh, he turned from the spot, and soon gained the
highway; when, taking the direction in which his rival and foe
had departed, he walked musingly onward, heedless alike of the
cool and balmly air of the evening, or the quietly reposing beauties
which the light of a full moon, now beginning to peer over
the eastern hills, was gradually unfolding around him, and intent
only on the dreamy images with which love and his new-fledged
hope seemed conspiring for a while to amuse his willing mind.
At length, however, a quickened pace, a firmer tread, and a
prouder bearing, showed that a different and less peaceful train
of thought was springing up within.
“So this evil genius of mine, it seems,” he muttered, “who
forever appears in my path to snatch from me every prize I set
my heart on, is secretly an officer in the British service, commissioned,
probably, to head a regiment of tories, whom he is now,
by his false statements and delusive promises, attempting to gather
from the weak and wavering of our overawed people. This
must be instantly made known. Heavens! what effrontery! —
to be playing the spy under the garb of pretended neutrality, and
seducing away the deluded men under our very noses, to lead
them back to fall with fire and sword on their kindred and neighbors!
And I am to be the particular object of his vengeance, I presume,
from the significant hint she gave me to avoid him. Avoid
him! He shall be spared much trouble to find me if that is what
he wants. He is now the country's foe, and lawful game with me.
I would that I could meet him to-night — yes, this night; and if I
thought I could overtake him — stay, why can't this be done? —
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only three miles start, probably, and on a moderate trot; while my
horse is a fleet one, and — and — we will try it.”
By this time he had reached a log-house, and barn of the same
materials, which fronted a small opening on the left side of the
road, and which was the residence of a recently-married and here
settled friend, in whose care he had left his horse before proceeding,
as on the lady's account he did, through the adjoining wood
and Haviland's broad fields beyond, to the clandestine interview
with her that we have described. And now turning in towards
this rude establishment, he hastily proceeded, without calling at the
house, directly to the barn, that was partially enclosed by one of
those close-laid, high, pole fences which the settlers usually constructed
round their barns to protect their flocks against the depredations
of wild beasts. Within this strong enclosure, the owner's
cattle, consisting of a pair of oxen, cow, and two or three young
creatures of the same species, were now quietly chewing their
cuds, with those occasional wheezing grunts, which with them
seem so indicative of animal enjoyment; while in one corner
stood the horse of which Woodburn was in quest — a little model
of a creature, of a lively, attent appearance, as now particularly
manifested by a low, earnest, recognizing whinny, and by instantly
starting off, in a sort of half trot towards the bars of the
enclosure, as her master came up on the other side.
“Yes, yes, Lightfoot, you shall go now, and as fast as you desire,
this time,” responded the latter, throwing himself over the
bars, and patting the animal on the neck, as he passed on to the
barn for his saddle and bridle.
To equip his willing steed, examine the trusty pistols, which,
like his foe, he carried about his person, let down, pass through, and
replace the bars, occupied him but a moment, and he was about
springing into his saddle, when he was hailed from the house.
“Halloo, there, Woodburn, is that you?” exclaimed a cheerly
voice, as a stout-built, crank, honest-looking young man, without
hat or coat, came out of the door, and with a free and careless
air made his way towards the other; “but what is your hurry?
Nothing unpleasant has befallen you in your affair over yonder,
that makes you feel like being off in this sly and hasty manner,
has there?”
“No, Risdon, not quite so bad as that yet,” replied Woodburn,
taking all in good part.
“How much better, then? Come, Harry, I have taken stones
enough out of your path, and thrown them into that of your rival
there, to earn a candid answer to such a question.”
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“True, sir; but you ask more than I am permitted to know
myself. I can neither get accepted nor rejected. She, however,
has given me fresh reason to admire her. She is no common
girl, friend Risdon.”
“There is not a finer or fairer in all the Green Mountains; but
what is that fresh reason you name?”
“The discovery that at heart she is warmly with us in the good
cause.”
“That is, you hope, and therefore believe so, eh?”
“I have a much better reason than that, sir, for my assertion.
She has, within this hour, told me so herself.”
“Ah! Well, then, it is indeed so; for Sabrey Haviland never
uttered aught but perfect truth and sincerity in all her life. Why,
God bless her for her spunk and independence, living and visiting,
as she mostly has, from a child, in that circle of high-toned and bitter
tories. And it argues well for your suit, too, Woodburn, which
till now I have considered rather an unpromising one; for it tells
me that she will struggle hard to get free from the fetters which
Peters and her father have fastened on her, and by which, counting
on her high sense of the sacredness of all promises and contracts,
they suppose have secured her beyond the least fear of escape.”
“Do you allude to any thing other than the mere consent
which she formerly gave to Peters's proposals of marriage, and
which, I had supposed, constituted the only engagement existing
between them?”
“Yes, a far stronger case, which I have learned by way of my
wife, since I last conversed with you on the subject.”
“Ah! What is it?” eagerly demanded the lover.
“Why, as I gathered it, the case was this,” answered the other.
“The old man, as well as Peters, you know, must always do things,
if possible, after the English custom; and both thinking more of
property than women, they got up a regularly-written marriage
contract, or settlement, by which one bound himself to give the
other his daughter, with such and such a dowry, and the other to
marry the daughter, and settle such and such sums on her and
her heirs; all to be void in case the marriage fell through by
fault of the girl. But to provide against this, they made another
part to the instrument for her to sign, in which they made her
solemnly promise and covenant to marry Peters, and none else;
otherwise she was to forfeit her birthright in her father's estate.
This they somehow or other at last induced her to sign and seal;
thus binding herself hand and foot forever, with but one single
advantage, which, it seems, she had the wit to get added to the
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contract before she would sign it; and that was, that the time of
fulfilling the contract, or day of the marriage, was to be left
to her.”
“What a detestable conspiracy for a father to enter into against
the rightful liberty and happiness of a daughter!” exclaimed
Woodburn, after a pause, during which surprise and indignation
kept him silent. “That, then, explains the hints she has several
times thrown out to me respecting some peculiar trials and difficulties
to which she was subjected. But was she of age when she
signed that paper?”
“No; but she probably, in her great scrupulousness, would long
hesitate to break the engagement on account of that, or the fraudulent
means they doubtless used to draw her into the shameful
affair. Nevertheless, I would persevere. Her right to stave off the
fellow, with her known wish to get rid of him, may yet procure
her an honorable release; or she may be brought to take a different
view about the binding nature of a promise obtained under
such circumstances; or, as a last resort, that paper may be got
out of his possession by some scheme or other. So I think you
will worst him in the long run, in spite of his present advantages
of the father's help, his own wealth, and —”
“And his recent promotion,” interrupted Woodburn, “which is
to be the stepping-stone to the dukedom of Vermont, the reward
for betraying his country, and the glittering bait, which, in anticipation,
is already held out to this besieged, but bravely resisting,
girl!”
“What do you mean, Woodburn?” bluntly said the other, in
surprise.
“I mean,” replied the former, “that Peters has lately received
a colonel's commission in the British service, and is even now
secretly but actively engaged, I suspect, in trying to seduce the
people with British gold, and raise troops among us to coöperate
with Burgoyne.”
“You astonish me. Why, the hypocritical rascal has been
giving out word about here, that, as he had friends and interests
on both sides, he had concluded to remain neutral! Are you sure
you have been correctly informed?”
“Quite sure. But while you may conjecture the source of my
information, remember that it is to work no injury to the family
of my informer.”
“Ay, I understand, now — 'tis true, then; and you are correct,
too, in your suspicions about his present movements. That will
account for the existence of the hard dollars that have so
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strangely made their appearance about here within a few days. But
will he be suffered to prosecute his plans here among us? What
better is he than a spy?”
“Nothing.”
“He must be nabbed, then; and we will let him find his duke's
coronet in a crow's nest, on the limb of some old hemlock, to
which we will soon have him dangling in the air, unless our authorities
wish to give him a more respectable gallows. What say you
to that, Harry?”
“That you are not the first to think of it — that is, so far as to
have him captured. He rode away from Haviland's in this direction,
and at a moderate pace, just as I, unperceived by him,
reached there, about an hour ago, on his way, doubtless, to one
of the tory haunts in Manchester. My mare has a fleet foot,
Risdon; so you now understand why I was in a hurry to be off,
don't you?”
“I do; but Heavens! Woodburn, you are not going to give
chase alone?”
“Yes; no horse but mine probably could overtake him before
he reaches his associates; besides, since it was hinted to me that
he would seek my life, I am willing to give him a chance to take
it, where neither he nor I shall have help or witness.”
“Are you armed?”
“With dirk and pistols, as he only is.”
“A rather hazardous push, Harry. But go, and God prosper
you to take him, and with him that mischievous document. And
one thing more: if you live to reach Manchester, tell that Council
of Safety, that if they don't do something soon, we, the people,
will set up for ourselves in war-making. I, for one, don't
believe I can keep my hands off my rifle three days longer.”
“Ay, ay,” said Woodburn, springing into his saddle. “And
now, Lightfoot, here is a loose rein for you. Go!” he added,
striking with his heels the body, and with his hands the mane of
the impatient animal, that, at these well-understood signs, gave
an irregular plunge or two ahead, and then shot off like an arrow
up the road.
-- 032 --
CHAPTER III.
“What heroes from the woodland sprung,
When, through the fresh-awakened land,
The thrilling cry of freedom rung,
And to the work of warfare strung
The yeoman's iron hand!”
[figure description] Page 032.[end figure description]
Leaving Woodburn to the hot and eager pursuit that patriotism
and private animosity had prompted him to undertake, we will
now precede him a few miles on the road, for the purpose of introducing
and accompanying another old acquaintance, who was
also destined to become an actor in the wild and stirring adventures
of the night.
Near the southern confines of Manchester, about nine o'clock,
the same evening, a youth of the probable age of twenty, of a
sandy complexion, and of a rather slight, but evidently tough,
wiry frame, with a short rifle on his shoulder, and powder-horn
and ball-pouch slung at his back, was making his solitary way
on foot along the main road towards the town just mentioned.
As he now reached the Batenkill, where the stream, here first
beginning to find a more peaceful flow, after its headlong descent
from the Green Mountains, intersected the road, he suddenly
paused and began to muse, with the air of one who has been
struck by some new thought tending to divert him from his
settled purposes; and, slowly passing on to the bridge, which,
after the rude construction of the times, had been thrown across
the river at this place, he took a seat on one of the side-timbers,
or binders, as they were usually termed, and, in accordance
with an old and inveterate habit, generated probably by the
peculiar circumstances of his early life, began to commune with
himself aloud.
“I wonder what this new business is they want you should do,
Bart? Harry said it was a secret matter when he handed over
the paper,” he continued, pulling out and abstractedly unrolling
a small wad of white paper, “a kinder private commission, or
something, which he would explain about, after I had gone and
got his letter to the girl, as he met me on my way back. But
why don't he meet me fore this time? It's pesky strange he
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should hang back in a woman affair so! Why, he would go —
like enough has gone — but then how could he miss me? O
Lord, Bart, what a stupid pup! He passed you when you was
napping it in the bushes at that cool spring! I'll bet my old hat
on't! Well, we shan't see much more of him to-night, likely,
seeing it is love he's doing, and such a moon as this holds the
candle; and we may as well be trying to find out this business
without him. So let's be digging out what the paper says.
Harry and the rest of 'em don't know I can read writing; but
I can, when driv to it; though I think we won't let 'em know
that, Bart; for no knowing what cunning things we may find out
if they don't mistrust it. Now let's look. Why, I can see as
plain as day!” he added, holding up the writing to the bright
moonlight, and beginning to spell out the well-known bold and
distinct characters of the secretary of the council, as follows: —
“To Bartholomew Burt: —
“You are hereby appointed by the Council of Safety to go
through this and the neighboring towns, bordering on the British
line of march; to spy out the resorts of the tories; to mark
and identify all inimical persons; to gain all the information
that can be obtained respecting the movements of the enemy at
large; and make report, from time to time, to this council or
some field officer of our line.*
“Ira Allen, Secretary.”
eaf721n5* Those who may doubt the probability that such a commission would
be issued by this body, would do well to consult that part of the journal
of their proceedings, at this period, which has been preserved and published,
in which will be found several similar ones, to serve as specimens
of the many contained in the part that was lost, and to show how
searching were the operations of these vigilant guardians of the cause of
liberty in Vermont, and how various the instruments they made use of
to effect their objects.
“Good! grand!” exclaimed the excited soliloquist, starting
up and snapping his fingers in high glee. “This will be a great
thing for you, Bart. Yes, and then how gentlemanly and respectful-like
it sounds to be called Bartholomew, in that way!
Bart, we'll go it for them; and have a touch of the trade this
very night, if you please. But where shall we begin? Let's see,
now. Why, there's old mother Rose's haunt up the great road
here, where, I do think, she must hatch out tories, same as a
hen does chickens, they are so thick about there. Then there's
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Josh Rose courting that up and a coming sort of girl you saw
at Howard's tother day, when you called with Harry for a drink
of water. Now, wouldn't the fellow be apt to let out secrets
there that we could get hold of, and put us on some good scent?
Ah! that's it; so now up the river for Howard's, as a beginning,
hit or miss, Bart.”
While this singular genius is proceeding on his proposed destination,
in the hope of accomplishing something to show himself
worthy of the curious trust that had been so unexpectedly reposed
in him, we will occupy the breathing spot, thus afforded
in our narrative, in apprising the reader, more definitely than
we have yet done, of the main incidents that had marked the
checkered fortunes of the two adventurers whom we have now
again brought upon the scene of action, since we left them.
When Woodburn and Bart left the state, under the circumstances
described in the closing chapters of our first volume, they
proceeded directly to Cambridge, where the revolutionary army
was then gathering for the siege of Boston, enlisted, for two
years, into the continental service; and actively participated in
all the most important movements of the army in the campaign
that immediately succeeded. They were at Bunker Hill, on that
memorable day of fire and blood, so glorious for the yeoman
patriots of New England, and so fearful for her foes, —
“When first, as at Thermopylæ,
The battle shout of freemen rose;
Firm as their mountains, and as free,
They nobly braved encountering foes.”
And in the following autumn, they, in the same company, in
which Woodburn, for bravery and good conduct, had been made
a subaltern officer, marched with that division of the army which
Arnold, with almost unequalled energy and fortitude, and amidst
privation and suffering untold, led through the snow-clad wilderness
of morass and mountain, to the distant Quebec. And
there, in the onset, in which the high-souled Montgomery fell,
they were together cut off from their company and made prisoners;
when, after having, for nearly a year and a half, endured the
sufferings of a British prison-ship, they together escaped at Halifax,
wandered, half naked and starving, through the seemingly interminable
forests of Brunswick and Maine, to the American settlements,
and finally reached home; not there, however, long
to repose, but soon to repair, with yet unbroken spirit, to the
new scene of action, at which their countrymen were beginning
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[figure description] Page 035.[end figure description]
to rally to meet the formidable invasion of the hitherto victorious
Burgoyne.
We will now resume the thread of our narrative. A walk
of twenty or thirty minutes brought Bart to the log-tenement of
Howard, who was a soldier in the continental service, now absent
on duty, having left his house and business in charge of his wife,
a woman no less noted, in her neighborhood, for energy in conducting
her domestic affairs, than for the patriotic spirit with
which she espoused the American cause. She and her daughter,
a rustic beauty of eighteen, of keen perceptions, and even rare
good sense, when her frolicsome disposition would allow her to
exercise it, were now the only permanent inmates of this secluded
cabin, which consisted of but two rooms, with a front entrance
leading through an entry into either of them, and another door at
the end of the house opening into the one usually occupied by
the family as both sitting-room and kitchen.
“A light in both rooms, by the pipers!” exclaimed Bart, as,
after having cautiously approached, he paused to reconnoitre the
house. “The fellow is there at his traps, as sure as a gun!
Now what's to be done, Bart? 'Twon't do to go in and show
yourself, and have that torified scamp carry away word that you
are mousing round the country nights, will it? No, but I'll tell
you what, if it want for the name of sneaking and evesdropping,
we would creep round back of the room where they be, and hark
through the cracks; like enough get a peep, and so learn something.
But such things they expected of you, didn't they, Bart?
Must be so, I think. Then suppose we throw the name and
blame of it on the council, and try it, mister?”
Taking a wide sweep round the house, Bart soon approached
that part of it, on the back side, in which he rightly conjectured
the young people were sitting; and gliding up to the wall with
steps as noiseless as those of a mousing fox, he discovered a
crevice between the logs, from which the moss calking had fallen
out so as to permit a small pencil of light to escape. Guided by
this, he quickly gained, after applying his eye to the aperture, a
distinct view of the couple within, and was enabled, at the same
time, to catch every word of their variously modulated conversation.
They were seated at different sides of a light-stand, on
which a candle was burning, she assiduously engaged, to all
appearance, with her needle on some light sewing work, and he
no less diligently, with his penknife, on a pine chip, which he
was essaying to shape into a human profile, that of his mistress,
as might be surmised from the sly glances with which he seemed
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[figure description] Page 036.[end figure description]
occasionally to scan her features. Though now dressed in his
smartest fustian, he yet appeared awkward and ill at ease;
while the timid and hesitating air, with which he seemed to
regard his fair companion, indicated much conscious uncertainty
respecting the place he might hold in her affections. She, on
the contrary, seemed quite self-possessed, and wore the air of
one not particularly solicitous about pleasing, which gave her as
much advantage over him in her manner as she obviously possessed
in her person; for, besides a good form and a wholesome
roseate bloom, she had one of those polyglot countenances which
seem almost to supersede the necessity of speaking — a trait she
very prettily exhibited while listening to the forced hints and innuendoes
of her lover's conversation, as she occasionally lifted her
head, now with a blush, now with a smile, and now with a frown,
that caused his eyes to drop to the floor as quick as those of a
rebuked schoolboy. Thus far, she had not opened her lips; but
now, as her suitor, turning in his chair, brought a hitherto shaded
arm into view, and displayed upon his sleeve a common brass
pin, (usually denominated in those days the Canada pin, as this
article, then almost excluded from the toilet by the war, rarely
found its way into this section except through the intercourse of
the tories with that province,) her attention was suddenly excited;
and turning a sharp and searching look upon him, she said, —
“Where have you been lately, Josh?”
“Why?” he replied, evidently surprised at the question and
manner of the girl.
“That, sir,” she responded, significantly pointing to the pin.
“Such articles don't get here but in one way, in these hard
times, which compel us to put up with thorns for pins, and
half tories for beaux,” she added, with a meaning and roguish
look.
“Won't you accept it, Vine?” he said, obviously disconcerted,
but pretending not to understand her allusions.
“Not unless you tell me honestly how you got it, sir,” she
replied, decisively.
“O, picked it up somewhere; don't remember now,” he evasively
answered.
“That, now, is a thumper, I know,” she rejoined, with a pretty
toss of the head. “But you don't put me off so. The fact is,
Josh, I suspect you have been among the tories to-day. Now be
honest, and tell me, sir.”
And for the next ten minutes the determined girl plied her
reluctant and perplexed companion, by all the means which her
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ingenuity could invent, to accomplish her object; teasing, coaxing,
and threatening by turns, till, being unable to resist any
longer, he replied, —
“Well, I will tell you; and it can't do any hurt either, for
they will all be out of reach before morning.”
“Who will be out of reach?” eagerly demanded the other.
“The men that my brother Samuel enlisted. You knew he
had got a captain's commission in General Burgoyne's army, I
'spose.”
“We heard so; but has Captain Samuel Rose been in town
to-day?”
“Yes; for I may as well tell the whole, now I've begun.
The captain has been all day at the house of brother Asa Rose,
who lives out of the way, there, in the woods, over beyond the
great road, you know. Well, he had agreed to meet all he had
enlisted in this section there at sunset, and lead them off to the
British camp, after people were abed. I was there just before
dark, and saw them; sixteen in all, besides the captain, all armed
and equipped, and he in full uniform; and he looks complete in
it, too, I tell you.”
“But what was you among them there for?”
“O, I wanted to see Sam, and bid him good-by, you know, as
he was going off, never to come back, for aught I knew; that
was all, upon honor, now.”
“Perhaps it was; but one thing I wish you to understand, Josh
Rose, and that is, if you take up for that side of the question,
openly or secretly, your visits here —”
“O, I shan't; no notion on't, not the least in the world; so
don't worry; though candidly, Vine, I don't believe it's much
use for your folks to think of standing out any longer. Why,
hundreds are joining the British every day, and what will be left,
in a short time, can do nothing towards stopping such an army as
Burgoyne's.”
“What are left will be apt to try it, I think, sir.”
The subject was now dropped; and the girl, after a thoughtful
pause, commenced on a theme more agreeable to her suitor, and,
for a short time, was unusually sociable and gracious; when she
rose, and, carelessly remarking she must be excused a moment,
left the room, and passed out through the front door, with noise
enough in opening and closing it to leave the other in no doubt
as to the direction of her exit.
“Well, Bart, what do you think of that?” whispered our listener
to himself, as now, on the departure of the girl from the
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[figure description] Page 038.[end figure description]
room, he withdrew from his peeping-hole. “Now, I pretend to
say, I wouldn't take a gold guinea for what we have got through
that crack, nor two either, if our legs will carry us to the village
and rally help quick enough to have that batch of tories nabbed
before they are off. But let's jest edge along against the mother's
room, and see if there is any discovery to be made there, before
we start.”
Being equally fortunate in finding an opening into the room to
which his attention was now directed, Bart cautiously peered in;
when his eye soon fell on the solitary occupant, a fine, resolute-looking
matron, quietly employed in knitting by the light of a
torch stuck in one of the stone jambs of the broad fireplace. He,
however, had scarcely time to note these circumstances before
the door was softly opened, and the girl who had just left the
other room entered on tiptoe, and whispered in her mother's
ear something that seemed to produce an instant effect on the
hitherto sedate and listless countenance of the latter; for, starting
to her feet, she stood gazing at the other with a flashing eye,
and listening with the keenest interest, as some further particulars
were added to the communication.
“Are you sure he was not fooling you?” said the mother.
“Very sure,” replied the daughter, significantly holding up the
Canada pin.
“Well, Vine,” rejoined the former, with the air of one whose
resolution is taken, “you whip back to your post the same way
you came; and see that you keep him here till — say about midnight,”
she added, exchanging a meaning glance with the daughter,
whose hand was already on the latch to depart.
No sooner had the intermingling tones of conversation in the
other room apprised the woman that her daughter had there joined
the unsuspecting suitor, than, hastily seizing bonnet and shawl,
she noiselessly left the house and glided out into the road. After
hesitating a moment here, respecting the course she should take,
apparently, she made up to the log-fence enclosing an adjoining
field, threw herself over it with the lightness of a boy, and, striking
off directly west, almost flew over the ground, till she reached
the boundaries of their little opening; when she fearlessly
plunged into the dark and pathless recesses of the wood lying
between her and the main road, to which she was evidently
directing her course.
“There! just as I told you,” muttered Bart, who, inwardly
vexed that the secret he had been hugging, as exclusively his
own, should be shared by another, for fear measures might be
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[figure description] Page 039.[end figure description]
taken to deprive him of the sole honor and profit he had promised
himself of communicating it, had been jealously noting what had
occurred. “Just as I told, Bart; the old woman has got your
story, and there she goes, streaming off with it, like the house
afire, for the great road, through woods, swamp, and all! Well,
it's too late to try to stop her now, to save her the trouble of
going, cause you'd frighten her, likely; besides, she'd find out
you'd been listening. But we'll follow and keep track of her;
may be she'll get lost, and we can cut by her; or may be we
can seem to come kinder accidentally on her, and contrive to
get employed to do her errand, and so let her go back.”
With this resolution, he immediately gave chase; and by occasionally
pausing, after entering the forest, to listen to the rustling
of her garments as the intrepid woman rushed through the tangled
thickets on her way, or the cracking of dry twigs under her rapid
tread, he was enabled to trace her course and keep within hearing
distance, though not without exertions which drew forth many an
exclamation of surprise at the speed with which, at such a time
and place, she got over the ground. At length, they both reached
the opening on the other side of the forest opposite to a good-sized
house on the main road.
“I vags,” exclaimed Bart, pausing and wiping the perspiration
from his face with his sleeve, as he emerged from the wood,
“if the perlite Frenchman, they tell of, who thought women had
no legs, had followed this one through a mile-swamp at the rate
she has gone, he would think a little different about the matter, I
guess. But never mind the tramp, Bart, but still keep your eye
on her. There she goes smack into that house over yonder,
which is — let's see, now — Why, that is Major Ormsbee's, who, I
remember now, Harry told me, was her brother. Well, Bart,
seeing you are fairly beat in this business, let's work along over
into the road against the house, and see what comes of it.”
Scarcely had Bart gained his proposed situation in a nook of
the fence, before the major, followed by his son, came bustling
out into the yard.
“Jock!” he said, hastily turning to his son, “you run to the
barn, and saddle and bring out my horse, while I slip over to
Captain Barney's. But who have we here?” he added, espying
and approaching Bart. “Who are you, friend?”
“Well, you may call me any thing but a tory and I won't
complain, major.”
“That's right. O, I believe I know you now — the comical
chap I have seen with Woodburn, at Warner's encampment.
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[figure description] Page 040.[end figure description]
All right. Glad you happen here just at this time — we have
business on hand.”
“I know it.”
“Know it! how? You didn't come with my sister?”
“No; after her; but got at the wrinkle about the gang down
yonder before she did; and am now on my way to the council,
or the camp, with the news.”
“That I propose to do myself. I have a fleet horse, and it
will be best I should go with the news myself. Besides, I wish to
put you, with the few others I can raise hereabouts, on the track
at once. You shall lose nothing by it; so turn in here, and go
with me.”
Content with this assurance of an officer known to be in the
confidence of the council, and quite willing to make one in the
expected affray, Bart cheerfully complied. And the two hurried
on to the house the major had named; where, fortunately, they
found not only the owner, but another fearless patriot, by the
name of Purdy, to both of whom the news just received was
communicated; when a hasty plan was devised among them for
the capture of Captain Rose and his band of recruits, who, it was
supposed, had not yet left the neighborhood, even if they had
started from their place of rendezvous.
The dwelling of Asa Rose, which had been selected by the
tory captain as a secluded and safe rallying-point for his band,
was situated in the wood, about three fourths of a mile west of
the main road, and the residence, thereon, of the old widow Rose,
who has been already mentioned, and who was the mother of a
hopeful brood of either open or secret loyalists, as their father,
an extensive land-owner, who died about the beginning of the
war, was before them. This old establishment of the Rose
family, well known through the country as the harboring-place
of the disaffected, was a little over a mile from the bridge over
the river, at the south, and about half that distance from the
residence of Major Ormsbee, at the north, where our handful
of spirited friends were now rallying; while from the road,
about half way between the two, diverged the path, which
wound round south-westerly to Asa Rose's, and from which the
tories were expected to emerge on their way out of the neighborhood.
“Here comes Jock with my horse,” said the major, taking
the reins from the boy, a sturdy youth of sixteen, who had not
forgotten to bring his gun with him. “Well, captain,” he continued,
leaping into his saddle, “you understand the
-- 041 --
[figure description] Page 041.[end figure description]
arrangement; three of you to take the path to their rendezvous; one
to go on to old mother Rose's, and, if they are there, give the
signal; the long howl of a dog, remember; but if they are not
there, to join the rest, and scout round, watch and delay them;
while I, on my way, start out Pettibone and others, and send them
directly through the woods to Asa Rose's to get into the rear.
All understand, do you?”
“Ay, ay, major.”
“Well, then, God prosper you all, till I can get on with a
platoon of Warner's boys for the rescue.”
So saying, the major dashed off at full speed towards the
village; while Barney and his men, with no less spirit, hurried
on to their respective destinations, in the opposite direction. The
place where the latter were to separate being soon reached, appearances
examined, and no discoveries made, the captain, with
Purdy and young Ormsbee, struck off from the road, and proceeded
cautiously along the bushy outskirts of the path before
mentioned as leading to the supposed rendezvous, leaving to Bart
the task of going on and reconnoitring the old establishment on
the main road, at which, it was believed, the tories would be sure
to call, on their way out, to take a last treat from mother Rose's
ever-ready bottle, and perhaps some provisions from her cupboard,
to invigorate them for their long night march to the British
camp. A short walk now brought Bart in close vicinity to the
house he was appointed to reconnoitre; when, gliding silently
along under cover of the fences, tall weeds, and other screening
objects, he quickly made a circuit round the buildings, contriving,
as he did so, to peer into the barns, sheds, and even into most of
the rooms of the capacious old dwelling. He perceived, however,
no indications of the presence of any but females about the
establishment; though, from the movements of these, and especially
those of the old woman, who was busily engaged in cutting
up large quantities of bread and cheese, and in replenishing her
junk bottles, he became satisfied that the company, of whom he
was in search, were shortly expected. Having made these observations,
he retired from the house, crossed over the road into
the opposite field, and was marking out a course for himself
through the wood, which would intersect the path taken by his
companions, and enable him to join them somewhere near the
tory rendezvous, when his ear caught the clattering of horse-hoofs,
approaching, at a furious pace, up the road from the south.
And so rapid was the advance of the coming horseman, that
Bart had scarcely time to gain the covert of a clump of shrubbery
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[figure description] Page 042.[end figure description]
standing by the fence, over against the house, before the former
made his appearance, and, turning into the yard, galloped up to
an open window, and addressed a hasty inquiry to the mistress
of the house; when, hardly waiting for the negative reply that
appeared to be given, he suddenly wheeled about, and, regaining
the road, pursued his course with renewed speed.
“Why!” exclaimed Bart in surprise, as he caught a view of
the man's features; “as sure as a gun, it is Harry's old troubler,
that he thought he'd killed once, and felt so guilty about it, till
he heard he didn't. But what can the fellow be up to here, in
such a hurry, just at this time? Don't like the looks on't, exactly.
Bart, hasn't this tall tory got wind of our movement, somehow,
and come on to warn the gang, that, not finding here, he has
gone to meet? Let's be off and try to trace him. But hark!
Do you hear that? Another coming from the same quarter!
yes, and scratching gravel took, like Mars, I should think, by the
way his horse's feet strike the ground! Here he comes! What!
it is, by mighty — it's Harry and Lightfoot in full chase! Go it,
Lightfoot! Catch him, Harry! Stuboy! stuboy!” he added, in
low, eager shouts of exultation, as the recognized horseman
passed, like a flash, by his place of concealment.
Springing forward to a small elevation in the field, which commanded
a broken view of the road to the path before described,
and even a small portion of the latter, Bart tasked both eye and
ear to the utmost, in trying to trace the dimly-discerned forms
of the receding horsemen, now obviously but a short distance
asunder, his object being to ascertain whether Peters would keep
on in the main road, or, as he suspected his intention to be, strike
into the path to Asa Rose's, and try to reach the tories before
he should be overtaken. For one moment, in which he lost sight
of both pursuer and pursued, Bart stood in doubt; but the next,
the changing direction of the still audible sounds, and the slight
glimmerings of the sparks from the horse's hoofs, now seen
extending out in a line nearly at right angles to the course they
had been pursuing, sufficiently apprised him that his suspicions
were correct. Waiting, therefore, no longer than to ascertain
this, he turned and plunged into the wood on his left; and taking
the course he had already decided on for joining his companions,
and being now incited to his utmost exertions of speed by his
anxiety to reach the other road in time to warn Woodburn of the
trap into which his antagonist was doubtless intending to draw
him at the tory rendezvous, or to be ready to lend any needed
assistance in case a collision took place between them before
-- 043 --
[figure description] Page 043.[end figure description]
reaching it, he made his way through the opposing obstacles of
the thickets with a rapidity, probably, that a wild Indian could
not have equalled, till he suddenly found himself in the path
of which he was in quest, within a few rods of the small opening
where stood the suspected log-tenement of Asa Rose. His first
act now was to stoop down and examine the soft ground in the
road, to ascertain whether Peters and his pursuer had passed the
place. A moment's inspection, however, confirming him in the
negative, he rose and bent a listening ear in the direction of their
expected appearance; but no sounds reached him indicative of
their approach. While standing here in doubt respecting the
course next to be pursued, his attention was attracted by a commotion
at the house; when, stepping forward towards the edge
of the opening, he caught a glimpse of the whole body of the
tories, with their leader at their head, just leaving the house and
moving silently, and with a quick step, in the road towards him.
Stealing softly away from his post of observation, he retreated
rapidly along the path, some hundred yards into the wood; when
he fortunately encountered Barney and his two men, to whom
he hastily communicated all the discoveries he had made since
he left them.
Fearing, from the non-appearance of Peters and his pursuer,
of whom, strangely, nothing had yet been seen or heard, that
the former had given the latter the slip in some by-path, which
would enable him to reach the tories in the rear, or otherwise
apprise them of the danger of proceeding, Barney instantly
adopted the bold resolution of attempting the immediate capture
of the whole band by stratagem, trusting to the firmness and
ingenuity of himself and his men to keep, or get them forward,
till the expected reenforcement should arrive.
“We must multiply ourselves, and then act according to circumstances,”
he said, after apprising his men of his project, which
they eagerly seconded.
“I will multiply into a platoon of ten, and be their orderly,
if you will let me have my own way in the managing of 'em,
captain,” said Bart, entering with great spirit into a plan in which
his peculiarities so well fitted him for taking a leading part.
“Well, then,” replied the other, “take a station in the bushes
five or six rods ahead; the rest of us will take our coverts here,
on different sides of the road. You must all act for yourselves,
and on the hints of the moment; but I will take the lead, and
give you such clews as the case may require.”
Scarcely had this fearless little band settled themselves in their
-- 044 --
[figure description] Page 044.[end figure description]
respective stations, before the tories, marching in close Indian
file, made their appearance, and came forward wholly unsuspicious
of danger. They were permitted to advance unmolested,
till they were nearly all between the two points of ambush;
when Captain Barney, stepping partly out from his concealment,
presented his gun, and exclaimed, —
“Stand! Surrender, or die!”
“Halt!” cried the surprised, though not frightened, tory captain,
who was not only a fine-looking, but cool and capable,
young officer — “halt, till we see what all this means.”
“You will soon find out what it means, unless you surrender,”
rejoined Barney, in a bold and confident tone. “I give you one
minute to decide. Attention there!” he continued, as if addressing
a numerous band of concealed forces — “attention there,
right, left, and front platoons! Every man at his station and
ready for the word!”
Purdy and Ormsbee now made a simultaneous movement in
the bushes, on the different sides of the road, by stepping about,
hitting their guns against the trees, and thrusting out the muzzles
at various openings towards the enemy; while, at the same time,
the clicking sounds, as of the irregular cocking of a dozen muskets,
with as many distinct movements of men, apparently, were
heard in the direction of Bart's concealment in front.
“Stand to your arms!” exclaimed Rose, to his men, who now
began to show signs of fear and uneasiness.
“Don't all take aim at the captain, you fools!” shouted Bart,
from his covert, to his men of straw; “don't do that, I tell
you! There's enough of 'em to furnish each of you a separate
mark, nearly. There, that looks more like it! All cocked and
ready?”
“Hold up there, Sergeant Burt!” cried Barney; “don't fire
yet. Let us spare their lives if we can. Purdy,” he continued,
turning to the man concealed on his right, “you may give the
signal, now, for the reserve platoons, in front and rear, to advance,
and close up on the road. The minute is nearly out, and
I perceive we have got to make a demonstration before they will
surrender.”
The signal howl was then accordingly given, and, to the great
joy of the assailants, immediately answered by Pettibone, who,
having reached his destination in the rear of the house, and seen
the tories decamping, was now, with another man, cautiously
advancing towards the scene of action in the wood; while nearly
at the same moment, as it strangely happened, the sharp reports
-- 045 --
[figure description] Page 045.[end figure description]
of three pistols, fired in quick succession, rang through the forest,
a short distance on the road to the north. The noise of fire-arms,
which, to the assailants, portended a rencounter between Peters and
Woodburn, and filled them with anxiety for the fate of the latter, was
taken by the tories as an answer of the signal from the pretended
corps in front, and so completed their dismay that some of them
threw down their arms, and began to cry out for quarter.
“The minute is out; shall we fire, Captain Barney?” exclaimed
Bart, in a tone of impatience.
“Your answer, Captain Rose,” sternly demanded Barney —
“your answer this instant, or —”
“I yield,” said the reluctant tory leader. “We surrender ourselves
prisoners of war.”
“'Tis well, sir,” responded the former. “Lay down your
arms, then, here in the road, advance twenty paces, and wait
further orders.”
While this order, which was thus given for the double purpose
of enabling the victors to get between the tories and their guns,
and to give time for Pettibone and his associate to come up, was
being carried into effect, Bart, who had been burning with impatience
for a chance to go to the assistance of his endangered friend,
Woodburn, slunk noiselessly from his post, and made his way,
with all possible speed, towards the spot from whence the noise
of the firing appeared to proceed.
But let us now return to note the issue between the belligerent
horsemen. Woodburn having come in sight of his antagonist
soon after crossing the river, and the latter then taking the alarm,
the chase had proceeded, as witnessed by Bart, till the parties
struck into the by-road leading to the tory rendezvous; when the
former, concluding that Peters would not have turned in here
without the expectation of finding friends and defenders near,
now redoubled his exertions to overtake him, and bring on an
encounter while it would have to be decided by individual prowess,
and before his foe should reach assistance to render the pursuit
futile or dangerous. But notwithstanding his efforts, he soon
lost sight of the other in the short turns of the winding and thicklyembowered
path which they soon entered. Expecting, however,
that the next turn in the road would reveal the object of his pursuit,
he dashed ahead some distance; when, becoming satisfied
that his antagonist had given him the slip by riding out of the
road into some nook or side-path in the wood, he retraced his
way nearly to the opening, vainly endeavoring to discover the
concealment of the fugitive. Vexed and disappointed at being
-- 046 --
[figure description] Page 046.[end figure description]
thus balked, Woodburn was on the point of giving up the chase,
when he caught a glimpse of the other, emerging from a thicket
into the road, not a hundred yards distant, and setting off on a
gallop in the direction first taken. Incited to fresh exertion,
Woodburn now shot forward after his flying foe with a velocity
which none but a horse trained to the rough paths of the wood
could equal, and which, consequently, soon brought the parties in
close vicinity of each other. Peters, now seeing no further
chance to escape, suddenly pulled out a pistol, and, turning in
his saddle, discharged it at Woodburn, who, wholly unharmed by
the badly-aimed instrument, instantly returned the fire. The
bullet of the latter, grazing the person of the former, entered the
head of his startled and rearing horse, just back of the ears, and,
after two or three fearful plunges onward, brought him to the
ground. Leaping from his falling horse, the desperate loyalist
gained his feet and discharged another pistol at Woodburn; when,
perceiving his opponent still unhurt, and about to make a rush
upon him, he leaped over the body of his dying horse, still
floundering in the edge of the bushes, and, in the noise thus occasioned,
and in the screening smoke of his own fire, made good
his escape into the forest.
“Come back, miscreant! coward!” shouted Woodburn, dismounting,
and leaping forward to the place where the other had
disappeared — “come back, and decide your fate or mine.”
But the new-made tory colonel, who was more a coward from
conscience than nature, in the present instance, perhaps, did not
see fit to accept the challenge for a further personal combat. And
Woodburn, judging that any attempt to pursue him in the woods
would be useless, reluctantly gave up the chase, and turned to
go back to his horse; when Bart, running up and peering an
instant at the dying horse and then at his friend, rushed by the
latter, and, throwing himself on the neck of his loved pony, fell
to hugging and fondling her in an ecstasy of delight.
“O Lightfoot! Lightfoot!” he exclaimed; “lucky divil that
you are, not now to be sprawling and kicking, like your tory
brother there in the bushes! Yes, that you are, Lightfoot; and
you shall have an oat-supper to-night that would make a horse
laugh, for catching up with the rapscallion.”
“Bart!” said Woodburn, in surprise; “how did you get
wind of this? But no matter. You have come too late.”
“Know it — couldn't help it, though — had other fish to fry
first, that musn't cool. Captain Rose and sixteen other tory prisoners
are on the road here, just below.'
-- 047 --
[figure description] Page 047.[end figure description]
“Prisoners! how? By whom taken?”
“O, Captain Barney, and Bart, and I, and Mr. Stratagem, and
one or two others.”
“What, only three or four of you to seventeen?”
“No; I was a flanking party of ten in the bushes, and sargeant
of 'em — cocked all their guns for 'em, by cocking and
uncocking my own — talked for 'em all, out of seven corners
of my mouth at once, and kept 'em from firing till the word, you
know. We heard your firing, and called you the front-guard;
and — and we took 'em — every dog of 'em.”
“Bravoes! and no fool of an exploit on your part neither,
Bart, if all this is so. But are the prisoners secured? Had we
not better hasten to join the escort?”
“No, two or three more came up just as I left, and there's
enough now to manage in that quarter; but the advance-guard
here must be kept up till we get 'em out to the great road, lest
the sneaks slink away into the woods as they pass along the road,
and slip through our fingers as your smart trooper did just now.
Let's see — about eight strong we will have this guard, I guess.
I will be rank and file, and you shall be the officer. Come,
mount! They'll be poking their heads along in sight in a moment.
Ay, there they come! Advance-guard!” he now added,
in a loud, commanding tone, as the slow tread of the prisoners,
advancing along the devious and closely-embowered path, became
audible — “advance-guard! Attention the whole! Prepare to
march! — march!”
And accordingly he then, as Woodburn mounted and rode
slowly on behind, commenced the enactment of his assumed part,
always keeping within hearing, but never within distinct view, of
the prisoners; now jabbering in as many voices as the most expert
ventriloquist, and now sternly commanding, “Silence in the
ranks!” — now getting up a seeming scuffle among his men, and
now driving them, with thwacks and curses, to their places; and
now again softening his tones and cracking jokes with his men, —
Smith, Johnson, &c., — who, in as many different tones, were heard
to return various sharp and comical retorts, which raised shouts
of laughter and made the forest ring with the sham merriment.
And thus he proceeded, to the secret amusement of the victors,
all of whom perfectly understood the artifice, till they emerged
from the woods into the open grounds on the main road, when
they were met by Major Ormsbee with a small detachment of
regular soldiers. The tories were then, for the first time, permitted
to know the smallness of the force that had captured them;
-- 048 --
[figure description] Page 048.[end figure description]
when, amidst showers of gibes and shouts of laughter, at their expense,
from the Green Mountain Boys, the chapfallen creatures
were wheeled into the main road, and hurried on at a lively pace
to the village of Manchester, to be kept as prisoners of war, or
tried as spies, as the higher authorities there should see fit to
decide.*
“Captain Woodburn!” exclaimed the clear, animated voice
of one coming out of the door of the honored tavern before
described, in the village of Manchester, as the person thus
addressed, who had just arrived with those escorting the prisoners,
was describing the capture to a crowd gathered round him in the
yard — “Captain Woodburn, your most obedient! I am glad my
patience in waiting for your arrival is rewarded by the good news
which Powell, our landlord here, has just told us you bring. But
come, sir, a word in your ear, if you please.”
Woodburn turned and confronted the bright and smiling countenance
of Ira Allen, who was beckoning him from the crowd.
“Certainly, Mr. Allen; but why honor me with that appellation?”
responded the former, stepping aside with the ardent young
secretary.
“Because I have the warrant for so doing in my pocket — a
captain's commission for you, my dear sir, if you will believe me.”
“Indeed!”
“Yes, we have done something in the council at last worth
talking about — voted to raise a regiment of Rangers forthwith,
and appointed all the commissioned officers, Samuel Herrick heading
the list as colonel.”
-- 049 --
[figure description] Page 049.[end figure description]
“A gallant fellow, who will honor the post. But how about
the means of paying and supporting such a force? You lately
held taxing the people, without their consent, too bold a measure,
I thought.”
“We did, but have nevertheless adopted a bolder one.”
“What is it?”
“Decreed the confiscation of the estates of the tories, appointed
the necessary officers to execute the decree, and despatched messengers
to them with commissions, instructions, and with orders
to put the machine immediately into motion. By to-morrow night
many of those on our black list will —”
“Your black list?”
“Yes, already mostly made out for operations. But what is
there to startle you in that?”
“Nothing; and yet I cannot forbear asking if that list includes
one in whose family you may guess I feel some interest.”
“I fear so, and regret that the proofs are so strong as to
require it.”
“Could not action in that case be deferred? An angel is pleading
with him to remain neutral.”
“If she were a whig angel, Woodburn, I know not —”
“She is, she is — firmly, devotedly.”
“Indeed! Well, for your sake, Woodburn, I am glad of it. And
as the political hue of petticoats has already been permitted to
have an influence, in some instances of the kind, in making up the
list, it may have in this case. But the old man's enmity to our
cause is so notorious, that I fear his estate must go, though the
daughter, if she prove true, will not be forgotten on the question
of a future restoration of her share of the property. But I am
neglecting my chief business with you. We have fixed your
present destination for the other side of the mountain, where
among your old acquaintances, it was thought, you could raise a
company most expeditiously.”
“But where is the money to come from to pay my recruits?
Even in case these estates are sold, who among us, these times,
has money to purchase them?”
“The answer to that question involves a secret which is known
to but a few of us, and which must not be further revealed. Suffice
it that there is yet among us abundance of money, besides
the British gold that is beginning to be scattered along our border,
to meet our present requirements. You will be supplied in season.”
“I am content, and ready to depart.”
-- 050 --
[figure description] Page 050.[end figure description]
“How soon can you start?”
“This hour, if necessary.”
“Retire, then, and obtain a few hours' sleep; but be off before
day. Here are your commission and instructions, by which you
will see that your subalterns are to be of your own appointing.
Good-night, and God speed you on your way. Remember that
we expect much of you, and that I stand voucher for your good
conduct. And remember, also, my dear fellow,” added the
speaker, in a low, confidential tone, “that the interests of your
fair friend could not be in better keeping.”
“You have laid me under deep obligations to you, Mr. Allen,
for all this,” began Woodburn, with grateful emotion.
“Yes, to do well; but not a word of thanks will I hear. So
off with you to your rest. Begone, sir!” said Allen, pushing the
other away, with that winning smile and kindly playful manner,
with which he ever so wonderfully contrived to gain the hearts
and control the actions of all whom he wished to make friends.
eaf721n6* This band of tories were, the next day after their capture, marched to
Arlington, where the question was raised, and sharply discussed, whether
they should be considered as prisoners of war, or tried as spies, the latter
being insisted on by Mathew Lyon, and some others of the more bold and
ardent friends of the American cause, who declared that Captain Rose, at
least, should be tried and hung as a spy. A jury, however, — Eli Pettibone,
Esq., presiding as civil magistrate, — was allowed the prisoner; when, more
probably, from sympathy for the manly but misguided young officer, whom
they had known as a pleasant neighbor, than from want of proof, he was
acquitted as a spy, and, with the rest of his band, removed to Northampton
jail as prisoner of war. Considerable favor, also, seems to have been extended
to the other brothers, some of whom married into whig families,
through whose influence, it is said, they retained their estates, none of the
extensive Rose property being confiscated, except that of Captain Samuel
Rose, which is now the residence of the Hon. J. S. Pettibone, from whom
these particulars have been obtained, his father being one of the captors,
and his uncle the magistrate, above named.
-- 051 --
CHAPTER IV.
“It is not much the world can give
With all its subtle art;
And gold and rank are not the things
To satisfy the heart.”
[figure description] Page 051.[end figure description]
The day following the occurrences noted in the preceding
chapter was an eventful one to the Haviland family, developing
circumstances calculated to hasten the crisis to which the conflicting
feelings and conduct of the father and daughter had been
for some time silently tending, and to give a new turn to their
respective destinies.
It was late in the afternoon. No event had thus far during
the day occurred to mar the usual tranquillity of the family; and
Haviland, yet uninformed of the untoward affair which befell his
party the last evening at Manchester, and little dreaming of the
bold and decisive measures adopted by the Council of Safety,
was seated at a table in his usual sitting-room, examining, with a
satisfied and triumphant air, a map of New York, on which he
was tracing out the intended route of the British army in its
hitherto victorious way from the St. Lawrence to Albany. At
length he began to muse aloud, partly to himself, apparently,
and partly to his daughter, who, with a pensive brow, was seated
at an open window in the same room, quietly engaged with her
needle-work.
“As soon as General Burgoyne can clear the road of the trees
and other obstructions, with which the rebels, in their impotent
spite, have filled it, so that he can move on to the Hudson, how
that grand army will sweep away the feeble and undisciplined
bands that may venture to oppose its victorious march! And
when a junction of the British armies is formed at Albany, what
can this infatuated people think of doing then? With the north
completely cut off from the south, as will then be the case, what
can these two sections, which together can hardly raise a respectable
force, do, when thus divided and prevented from all concert
and coöperation? Ay, what will they do then? Come, Sabrey,”
he added, turning with an exulting air to his daughter, “perhaps
-- 052 --
[figure description] Page 052.[end figure description]
you, who appear to have so high an opinion of rebel prowess —
perhaps you can answer the question?”
“I may be better prepared to answer the question, perhaps,
when I see the junction you anticipate really effected. Burgoyne
has not reached Albany yet,” replied the other, with playful significance.
“Be sure not; but what is to prevent him? What force can
the rebels oppose that he will not scatter like chaff before the
wind? None! I tell you, girl, their doom is sealed!”
“It might be, if they would consent to let you fight their battles
for them, father. But the battle which they are preparing to
give Burgoyne they will choose to fight themselves, I imagine.
A few Bunker Hill lessons, on his way, might materially alter the
general's prospects.”
“Bunker Hill? Pooh! Why, we routed them even there,
behind their breastworks. Besides, we never had so fine an
army as this in the field before. I only wish I was as sure of
some good commission in Burgoyne's army, as I am that he will
march triumphantly through to Albany, and thus bring this unnatural
war to a close.”
“Would you think of going into that army, father, should
you receive such an appointment?” asked the daughter, in a tone
of surprise and expostulation.
“Why, I should be proud to be there, Sabrey, in an army
that contains so much of the first talents and chivalry of England.”
At this stage of the conversation, a man rode up to the door,
and, dismounting and entering the house, handed to Mr. Haviland,
after inquiring his name, a gorgeously-sealed packet.
Haviland, after examining the seal a moment, bowed low to
the stranger, and inquiringly observed, —
“From General Burgoyne, I believe?”
The messenger, nodding in the affirmative, and saying he was
directed to wait for an answer, the former broke open the
missive, and found in it, by singular coincidence, an answer to
the prayer he had a few moments before indirectly uttered; a
commission, or appointment in the commissary department of
the British army. After perusing the paper a second time, he
turned, and, with a consequential air, handed it to his daughter,
whose countenance instantly fell as she glanced over the suspected
contents.
“You cannot seriously think of accepting this appointment,
father,” she said, with a look of concern; “you cannot think of
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leaving your quiet and comfortable home, and engaging, at your
age, in the fatigues and dangers of the camp?”
“Why not, Sabrey?” replied the other, reprovingly. “From
my knowledge of the country, I can be of great use in procuring
the supplies which the army will need, as the general doubtless
foresaw; and I consider it my duty to the king to lend my feeble
aid when called. The post is not, it is true, a very high one;
but it is honorable and lucrative, and I shall accept it.”
If this is Miss Sabrey Haviland, I have a letter for her also,”
here interposed the messenger, rising and presenting the letter in
question.
Sabrey broke open the proffered letter, which proved to be
from her friend Miss McRea, and ran thus: —
“You remember your promise, Sabrey, to visit me the first
opportunity. That opportunity now occurs. Captain Jones and
other friends have presented your father's name at head-quarters
for promotion; and he has now, I am informed, received an
appointment. If he accepts, as I am sure he will, I hope you will
accompany him, and remain with me. I have just received one
of those letters so precious to me: he says the army will probably
move on to Fort Edward next week, the obstructions in
the road being now mostly removed; so that, by the time you
arrive, I shall probably be enabled to introduce you to the beautiful
and accomplished ladies of whom he has so much to say, —
such as the Countess of Reidesel, Lady Harriet Ackland, and
others, who accompany their husbands in the campaign. But
you will perhaps say that he is interested in praising these ladies
for the love and heroism which prompt them to brave such
fatigues and dangers for the sake of their lords, since he is
warmly urging me to consent to an immediate union, that I may
follow their example. He says, in his last letter, — and I think
truly, — that I cannot long remain where I am, in a section which,
he evidently anticipates, will soon become a frightful scene of
strife and bloodshed; and that I must therefore go away with
my friends, and leave him, perhaps forever, or put myself under
his protection in the army. And he seems hurt that I hesitate in
a choice of the alternatives. On the other hand, my connections
and friends here think it would be little short of madness in me
to yield to my lover's proposal. The people about here are
greatly alarmed at the expected approach of the British army,
which is known to be accompanied by a large body of Indians.
Many are already removing, and nearly all preparing to go.
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The crisis hastens, and yet I am undecided. Prudence points
one way, love the other. What shall I do? O Sabrey, what
shall I do? Should you come on with your father, I think I
should feel a confidence in going with you to the British encampment.
Come then, my friend, come quickly; for I feel as if I
could not go without friends, and especially a female friend, to
accompany me; while, at the same time, I feel as if some irresistible
destiny would compel me to the attempt. And yet why
should I hesitate to take any step which he advises? Why refuse
to share with him any dangers which he may encounter? And
why should my anticipations of the future, which have ever, till
recently, during my happy intimacy with Mr. Jones, been so
bright and blissful, be clouded now? I know not; I know not
why it should be so; but lately my bosom has become disturbed by
strange misgivings, and my mind perplexed by dark and undefined
apprehensions. I must not, however, indulge them; and
your presence, I know, would entirely dissipate them. I repeat,
therefore, come, and that quickly. Adieu.
“Yours, truly, Jane McRea.”
The messenger in waiting, having been invited into another
room to partake of some refreshment, and the father and daughter
being thus left again by themselves, the latter now handed the
other for his perusal the affectionate but too truly boding letter of
her fated friend.
“And what answer do you intend to return to this kind and
pressing invitation of your friend, Sabrey?” asked Haviland,
after attentively reading the epistle.
“That I do not think it advisable to accept it, at this time,
father,” answered the girl.
“Why not advisable?” asked the other, in a censorious
tone. “I see nothing to object to in the step, going, as you will,
under the protection of a father; while it will introduce you to a
circle which few American girls can ever reach.”
“I feel quite willing to forego the honor of such an introduction,”
coolly returned the daughter. “And were it otherwise,
the very letter that brings me the invitations unfolds enough to
deter me from the undertaking.”
“You wholly mistake your friend's meaning,” responded the
former. “Her apprehensions are merely the natural effect of
maiden timidity. I think, as her lover seems to do, that the
safest place for her is with the British army. So I think it will
be for you; for I know not what punishment will be inflicted on
-- 055 --
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these settlements for their rebellious and treasonable conduct.
And it is my wish to separate myself and family from them, before
the day of reckoning arrives. I shall, therefore, expect you
to attend me.”
As the daughter was about to reply, a domestic came in and
announced the arrival of Colonel Peters; and the latter, the next
moment, with a dark and sullen brow, unceremoniously entered
the apartment. He did not, however, deign immediately to unfold
the cause of his evident ill-humor, but contented himself
with listening to the news, which the elated Haviland was prompt
to impart in relation to his own promotion, the invitation received
by his daughter to accompany him to the army or its vicinity,
and his thus far rejected advice to her to accede to the proposal.
The cold countenance of Peters brightened with selfish delight
at the recital; for in the old gentleman's appointment, his determination
to accept it, and his intention of taking his daughter
with him, if she could be so persuaded, the former saw the triumph
of his machinations to involve the family inextricably in
the royal cause. But that triumph would not be complete, unless
the daughter, whose predilections for Woodburn and the American
cause were more than suspected, could be kept within the
scope of loyal influence. He therefore secretly resolved that,
if her father left the settlement to join the army, she should not
be left behind, but should be induced or compelled to accompany
him. He consequently was not slow to add his advice and entreaties
to those of the father. This he did for a while with
some show of respect and kindness; but finding her still immovable,
he at length became irritated, and assumed a tone of
dictation so inconsistent with the natural delicacy of a lover, that
she declined any further conversation with him on the subject.
“Where will you go, perverse and blinded girl?” now interposed
the father, reproachfully. “You would not stay here alone
and unprotected, would you?”
“I should not hesitate to do so on account of any molestation
which American troops would offer me,” replied Sabrey, with a
significant emphasis on the word American. “And should others
approach, I would go to my connections on the other side of the
mountains.”
“Miss Haviland may have her private reasons for wishing to
remain in this section of the country,” said Peters, with an ill-suppressed
sneer, turning to the father.
“Will you please explain your meaning, sir?” demanded the
girl with spirit.
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[figure description] Page 056.[end figure description]
“I mean,” replied Peters, “that she who would hold clandestine
meetings with one whom her father has seen fit to eject from
his house, might see the advantage of remaining where her interviews
could be enjoyed without molestation.”
“Sabrey Haviland, is that true?” asked the old gentleman,
with a gathering frown.
“She will hardly deny, I think,” said Peters, “that the fellow
was here soon after I left last night. At all events, he was seen
to leave the premises in pursuit of me. By whom he was informed
of the direction I took, I know not; but I know he overtook
me, beset me like a ruffian, and shot my horse by a ball
intended for the rider.”
“Is all that true, I repeat?” again fiercely demanded Haviland
of his daughter, in a burst of rage.
But without deigning one word of reply either to the insulting insinuations
of Peters, or the angry and ill-timed demand of her
father, Sabrey, with cheeks glowing with offended delicacy and just
indignation, rose from her seat, and was about to leave the apartment,
when her step was arrested by the altered voice of her
father, who, quickly becoming sensible of the harshness of his
conduct from its visible effects, now spoke to her in a softened
and more expostulatory tone.
“Surely, Sabrey, you are not going to deny my right, as a
parent, to question you, or at least ask you for an explanation
respecting charges which have the appearance of involving your
character?”
“I might not,” said she, coolly, but respectfully; “and indeed,
I should not, at another time, have refused to answer your
question so far as I could, however harshly it was put to me;
but I must still decline to do so in this presence!” she added,
glancing towards the abashed Peters, with an air of scorn to
which her usually serene and benignant countenance never before,
perhaps, gave expression.
“Perhaps, Miss Haviland,” said Peters, stung by the remark
and manner of the other, and now rallying for the revenge to which
such minds are prone to resort — “perhaps Miss Haviland, on
a little more reflection, may be willing to acknowledge that I,
also, am not wholly without a right to ask for an explanation in
an affair which she seems to admit requires one.”
“I am not aware, sir,” promptly responded the maiden, so
much aroused by the cool arrogance of the other, as to forget her
determination to hold no more conversation with him — “I am
not aware, sir, of having admitted any necessity of an explanation.
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And had I done so, I should be very far from acknowledging your
right to require it of me.”
“It is possible,” rejoined the former in the same strain — “it is
possible Miss Haviland may be willing to qualify her last remark
a little, when she is reminded of the existence of a certain marriage
contract, to which she voluntarily became a party.”
“I need no prompting to make me mindful of that evidence of
my youthful indiscretion, sir,” responded Miss Haviland; “nor
should I be likely to forget the particular provisions of an instrument,
the thought of which has cost me, as my entreaties to be
released from it should have apprised you, so many painful
regrets. But, while mindful of all this, I have yet to be informed
of the provision which, till the contract is consummated, gives
you any control over my actions, or right to require me to account
for or explain them.”
“If the instrument, which I have somewhere about me, I believe,”
replied the other, with his usual cold indifference, as he
took the document from his pocket, and began, with a business-like
air, to glance over the contents — “if the instrument does
not express, or rather if it is not admitted to presuppose and
give me, any of the rights I have named till it is consummated,
then it is time that I should insist on its consummation, which,
as few others would have done, I have so long forborne to
urge.”
“I perfectly agree with Colonel Peters,” interposed Mr. Haviland,
catching at the last suggestion in his growing alarm for
the success of his favorite scheme, which the unexpected state
of feeling here displayed taught him might be endangered, if not
speedily consummated. “I perfectly agree with him, that this
business has already been sufficiently delayed; and I think, as
the family is now about to break up, that the final ceremony had
better be performed before we go, or, at the farthest, when we
reach the army, where, as Sabrey would perhaps prefer, it
might take place at the same time as that of her friend, who is
similarly situated.”
“You forget,” said the maiden, now freshly aroused at this
combined attempt to make her forego her last remaining privilege
in the abhorrent negotiation — “you both forget that the very
instrument, by which you claim to dispose of my hand, expressly
leaves to me, and to me only, the right and privilege of deciding
upon the time for that ceremony, by which you would now, it
seems, so summarily consummate your unmanly scheme. And,
thank Heaven!” she continued, turning to the nonplused suitor,
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[figure description] Page 058.[end figure description]
with an air of decision and fearlessness which the excitement of
insulted feeling could only have given her — “thank Heaven, I
had the forethought to insist on a privilege now so precious to
me; for let me assure you, sir, that distant will be the day when
I shall fix on a time for consummating a contract, wrung from
girlish inexperience, to gratify selfish ambition or mistaken views,
in the first place, and now claimed to hold me like a sold article
of merchandise, for the use and control of one whose feelings,
principles, and whole character are every way uncongenial with
my own.”
“What! — how!” exclaimed the irritated and evidently astonished
Haviland, who, in his obtuseness, even now, could not perceive
what objection his daughter could have to a match esteemed
by him so advantageous. “What can this mean? Why, the
girl must be demented! You to decide on the time! Why,
reasonable time is all that was meant by that, if it is not so expressed!”
“That is all; nothing more,” eagerly chimed in Peters.
“If a part of the instrument is to be construed differently from
what is expressed, and as you choose, why not other parts, and as
I choose?” calmly asked the unmoved girl. “If so, then its
power to bind me shall cease with this hour.”
“What folly!” again exclaimed the old gentleman, balked and
chafing worse than before. “Why, don't the infatuated girl know
that, to say nothing about losing prospects which no other young
lady in the country would reject — that by marrying any other
man, she will forfeit her birthright in my estate, and make herself,
as she will deserve to be, a beggar?”
“I have no thought of marrying any other man while in my
present embarrassing position,” quickly retorted the former, with
an offended air. “But should I wish to do so, I should hardly be
deterred from it by either of the considerations you have just
named, I think. And, indeed, if the mercenary and ambitious
motives, which you would have actuate me, were alone to be my
guide in such a step, I could see but little temptation for the sacrifice
in the honors and wealth which are so much to depend on a
triumph that, for all your boasts, I believe will never be accomplished;
while the failure, if the same justice is meted out to you
which you seem to be meditating for others, will leave you with
a branded name, and no estate here to give or withhold.”
“Silence! audacious girl,” exclaimed the baffled loyalist, unable
longer to endure the calm but scorching rebuke involved in
the reply of his daughter. “I will listen to no more of your
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[figure description] Page 059.[end figure description]
railings. This comes of being allowed to mingle with an ignorant,
rebellious populace. But that evil shall, at least, be remedied.
You will attend me to the army, where, I trust, your eyes may
soon be opened to your folly.”
“You may perhaps compel me to go, sir,” responded the still
unawed maiden; “but if you do so, let me warn you against all
hope of thereby rendering my feelings less repugnant to the
scheme we have been discussing, or of changing my views of the
cause in which you are about to embark; for I will now openly
declare, what I have often before left you to infer, that I have
no sympathies for those who come to oppress and enslave my
country; nor will I ever aid or sanction their ignoble purposes —
not even to the withholding any intelligence I may gain of their
movements, which may avert disaster or peril from our struggling
people.”
“Hurrah for the tory's daughter!” now burst on the ears of
the astonished group, from a band of armed men standing immediately
beneath the open but thickly vine-clad windows without,
whither, it seemed, they had approached unperceived, and thus
become unintentional listeners to the last part of the foregoing
dialogue, which they were still hesitating to break in upon, when
their admiration of the heroic girl's declarations led to the irrepressible
burst of applause just mentioned — “Hurrah for the tory's
daughter! She shall be remembered for that!”
The party within instantly rose to their feet at so strange and
unexpected a salutation. Peters, aware, from the experience of
the last night, that his capture was sought, was the first, as might
be expected, to take the alarm. With a hasty step towards the
window, and an equally hasty glance through the screening
foliage at the new-comers, he hurriedly retreated through a
door leading to the rear of the house. Haviland, scarcely less
alarmed, though having no conception of the main object of the
visit, advanced, with evident perturbation, to the front door, when
he was met at the threshold by the secretary of the Council of
Safety, who, bowing politely, proceeded to apologize for the noisy
outbreak of his attendants, which, contrary to his wishes, he said,
had been made to announce his arrival.
“Attendants, sir?” exclaimed Haviland, casting a flurried
glance at the file of soldiers in the yard — “attendants — armed
men led up here to my door? Who are they? What is their
business, and yours, sir? This affair needs explanation, sir.”
“Well, sir, if so, I am here to give it,” composedly replied
Allen. “But, as you appear somewhat agitated, let us walk in
and talk over the matter calmly.”
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Mechanically complying with the suggestion, Haviland turned
and led the way into the room, where his daughter still stood,
mutely awaiting the development; when the secretary, after
bowing with marked respect to Miss Haviland, with whom, it
appeared, he was slightly acquainted, resumed, —
“The Council of Safety, sir, having determined on defending
the state to the last extremity, in the present crisis, have perceived,
with deep regret, that there are those in our midst who
hesitate not either to take up arms against their countrymen, or,
what is no better, secretly to aid the enemy, and harbor and conceal
in their houses hostile emissaries, trying to seduce our people.
And not perceiving the policy or justice of longer permitting
their cause thus to be endangered, the council have decided on
a measure for promptly remedying the evil — a measure which
they had less hesitation in adopting, as they believed, from the
repeated threats of the loyalists, they would only be anticipating
their opponents by inflicting penalties, that, in case of the conquest
of this country, will be visited on themselves. They have
passed a solemn decree, sir, to confiscate, for the public use, all
the estates of both of the classes of loyalists I have named, among
one of which, at least, they have abundant proof, I regret to say,
to warrant them in classing Esquire Haviland. And they direct
me to permit him to take one of the horses, lately his own, and
depart, with the least possible delay, for the British camp, where,
they think, he more properly belongs.”
The arrogant loyalist, who had hitherto looked upon the Council
of Safety with utter contempt for either their powers or their
efficiency, was now perfectly thunderstruck at the announcement
of so bold and unexpected a measure; and, for some moments,
his mouth seemed wholly sealed against any remonstrance to a
step which, not for public good, but for his own aggrandizement,
he was conscious of intending to recommend to the British government
in relation to the estates of the leading rebels, and especially
those of the treasonable body by whom, as had just been so truthfully
told him, his selfish designs had now been anticipated.
Soon rallying, however, he wrathfully muttered, —
“They dare not do it; their audacity will not carry them to that
length. But if they do,” he continued, with louder and more
menacing tones — “if they do attempt to carry out their plundering
purposes, I will bring down upon them, within eight and forty
hours, a British force that will give them enough to do to take
care of themselves and their own property, without meddling with
that of others.”
-- 061 --
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“That is what we supposed you would be glad to do, in any
case,” quietly responded Allen. “It but swells the proof against
you, and goes to confirm the justice of the decree.”
“O, do not say any more, father,” interposed Miss Haviland,
with much feeling. “Do not, I beg of you, further and more
inextricably involve yourself. You know how gladly I would
have saved you from this; how often warned you of the consequences
of persisting in your course. Perhaps it is not too late
to retract, even now. Who knows but the council, who have
done this but from a sense of duty to their country, and with no ill
will against you personally, may yet be induced, if you will send
in a pledge of neutrality, to reverse their sentence as regards
you, and still leave you in possession of your property and a
quiet home? I myself, feeble girl as I am, would go before
them to intercede for you; and perhaps this gentleman would
assist me,” she added, with an appealing glance to Allen.
“Most gladly,” replied the latter, touched at the magnanimity
of the girl, in her distress — “most gladly, and with great hope
of success.”
“Do you hear that, father?” said the other, eagerly; “do you
hear what I feel — I know — may yet be done for you? Then
do not reject my petition, but retract, and give up your intention
of joining these invaders of your country.”
“No,” replied the old gentleman, after a moment of apparent
wavering — “no, never! Let the plunderers take possession
of my estate here for the short time they will be enabled
to hold it, if they will. To-morrow morning I start for the British
camp.”
“It is as I feared,” observed Allen, turning to the daughter;
“but your efforts to rescue your father, Miss Haviland, and the
noble stand you have taken on this occasion and before, are, let
me assure you, appreciated by myself, and will not fail to be so
by those of more controlling influence. And although this property
will, in a few days, be sold by those duly appointed, and
now here to guard and dispose of it, yet the government, which
has the power to confiscate, will have the power to restore; and
I have no fears that your own interests will eventually be made
to suffer by a measure which may now appear as harsh to you as
it appeared necessary to the upright and patriotic men who felt
themselves constrained to adopt it. In this you may trust, I
think, as regards the future. As for the present, I am only empowered
to offer you an asylum in some friendly family of the
neighborhood, with ample means of support, or, if you prefer, a
-- 062 --
[figure description] Page 062.[end figure description]
safe coveyance, with a female attendant, should you desire it,
to any family in a more distant part of the state.”
“My daughter will probably go with me, sir,” said Haviland,
resentfully.
“No, father,” said the girl, firmly; “that army is no proper
place for a young lady, and especially one of my views. I shall,
for the present, go into the family of our neighbor Risdon; but
in a few days, I will gratefully accept of Mr. Allen's offer of a
conveyance, and, as I proposed to you a short time ago, go to my
connections on the other side of the mountains.”
“Your wishes will be attended to in this or any other respect
as soon as you shall please to signify them, Miss Haviland,” said
the secretary, as, bowing a respectful adieu, he now departed,
with part of his armed attendants, for other and similar visits,
which remained to be accomplished that night among the unsuspecting
tories of that vicinity.
Within an hour or two after the departure of Allen, or as soon
as the growing darkness would enable a skulker to approach unseen,
a man, who was of the latter description evidently, might
have been discovered slowly and cautiously making a circuit
round the house, but at so respectable distance from it as to
escape the observation of the guard now stationed at three or four
commanding points about the premises. When he had reached
a point nearly opposite to the back door, he ventured up to the
border of the intervening garden, and gave a low, significant
whistle. After a momentary silence, a slight rustling was heard
in a thick patch of corn occupying a portion of the garden, and
Peters, who, it will be recollected, passed out in this direction,
and who, perceiving his retreat cut off by men already posted in
the fields, had here lain concealed till now, cautiously emerged
from his covert, and came forward to the spot where the other
stood awaiting his approach.
“Well, Redding,” said Peters, in a low voice, as he came up,
“when I asked you this morning to come here to Haviland's to-night
to see me, before I went to the army, I didn't exactly expect
you would have to call me out of a corn patch to receive
my orders. But how came you to know or suspect I was here?
You have not ventured in there, I take it?” he added, leading
the way into the field, which the guard had now left.
“No,” replied the other; “I caught a glimpse of the fellows
in the yard as I came in sight, and, mistrusting what was to pay,
from what I had just heard of their movements this forenoon in
Manchester, and other towns thereabouts, I struck off across the
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[figure description] Page 063.[end figure description]
pasture, where I luckily encountered the old squire, who walked
out there, after the leader of the gang had left, and who told me
of your concealment, and all.”
“Yes, he came to the back door, here, the first chance he
could get, to see if I had escaped, when, contriving to apprise
him where I was, I had got a moment's talk with him just before.
But what have you heard about their movements in other places
to-day?”
“Why, I met Asa Rose going post-haste to warn our friends in
this direction to be on their guard. He says they have seized on
the estates of all the Rose family, and every other leading loyalist,
as far as they could hear, in all that section; and, in several
instances, put the owners themselves under guard. What do you
say to all that, colonel?”
“Glad of it. Though an act of lawlessness and audacity
which I did not once dream of their attempting, and which, even
now, they will not dare to carry out, should they have time to do
so before their brief career is arrested, yet I am glad the rebel
fools have done it; for, between you and me, Redding, I have
had my doubts whether the British government, which is ever too
merciful, would take their estates from them, when we come to
subdue them, as you know we have talked; but now vengeance
will be swift and certain. Their estates will all be seized and
given to the deserving.”
“Ay, that's it!” exclaimed the perfidious minion, with a
chuckle of satisfaction; “it will give us our revenge, and at the
same time supply us with the needful. I have a good many
scores to settle with the people about here; and I know of the
farm of a certain rebel that I shall ask for my share, as I think I
justly may, seeing how active I've been this summer.
“Yes, yes,” replied Peters, rather impatiently; “but there must
be no more wavering and turning with you. What you ask you
must earn, remember.”
“You see if I don't! only name what you would have me do,
colonel!” eagerly responded the other.
“Well, I will now,” said the former, coming to a halt. “Yes,
as we are, by this time, fairly out of reach and hearing of these
foiled rebels, who have so kindly yielded me a pass through this
side of their watch, thinking, doubtless, that I could not have been
in the house when they surrounded it, but should be there this
evening — yes, I will give you my orders now, which will embrace
a fresh item or two above what I intended before some of
the occurrences of this afternoon. Well, in the first place, you
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[figure description] Page 064.[end figure description]
are to proceed to Castleton, and join the northern company there
collected and ready for operations at the Remington rendezvous.
You will then become the guide and assistant of the leader of that
force, which is to move on to some secret and safe place, to
be selected by you (as you know the localities, and the leader
don't) in the woods near the Twenty Mile Encampment, where,
acting as the advanced corps of our planned expedition to the
Connecticut by that route, they will remain concealed as much
as possible, till further orders, watching all movements of the
rebels, and drawing in every trusty loyalist that can be approached.
And mark me, Redding, while there, or elsewhere,
remember, that accursed Woodburn is a doomed man, and is to
be taken, if found, and kept for my disposal. And I have another
order, which must be left still more to your especial management.
Haviland's daughter, with whom you know, I suppose,
how I am situated, has got some dangerous notions into her head,
and, refusing to hear to her father, who wishes her to go with
him to the army, has determined to go to her relatives, over the
mountain, in a carriage the rebels have promised to provide
her. She will be along that road, probably, soon after you get to
your rendezvous. She must be stopped, and conducted, with
good treatment, mind you, back, through some secret route, to
the British camp, where her father, though he knows nothing
of my plan, will be glad to receive and keep her. And now I
will be off to my horse, which I luckily left at the house of a
friend, on the cross road, about a mile to the west of us.”
“Will you go far on your journey to-night?”
“About seven miles, to the house of another friend, where I
am to be joined by the squire in the morning, and, with him,
proceed directly to the army.”
“How soon are we to hear from you?”
“Within ten days, or sooner. I shall, with all possible despatch,
organize and prepare the force designed for the purpose;
when I shall sweep on through Arlington and Manchester, and,
after teaching them a few lessons in that quarter, proceed at once
to join you. There! you now know all; go, and remember that
secrecy and vengeance are the watchwords.”
“Ay, ay; I am your man for all that, colonel,” responded the
heartless tool, as the two now separated to depart on their different
destinations.
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CHAPTER V.
“What nearer foe is lurking in the glade? —
But joy! Columbia's friends are trampling through the shade!”
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One of the earliest and most noted of the houses of public
entertainment in Vermont was that of Captain John Coffin, situated
in the north part of Cavendish, on the old military road, cut out,
in the French wars, by the energetic General Amherst, with a
regiment of New Hampshire Boys, and extending from Number
Four, as Charleston on the Connecticut was then called, to the
fortresses on Lake Champlain. This tavern, at the time of the
revolution, being on the very outskirts of the settlements on the
east side of the Green Mountains, was long the general resort
of the soldier and the common wayfarer for rest and refreshment,
before and after passing over the long and dreary route of mountain
wilderness lying between the eastern and western settlements
of the state. And to the soldier, especially, it was a favorite
haven; the more so, doubtless, from the congenial character
of its frank, fearless, patriotic, but blunt and unpolished landlord,
whose substantial cheer and hearty welcome, money or no money,
usually caused him to be looked upon as a friend, as well as a
good entertainer. To this then widely-known establishment we
will now repair, to note the occurrences next to be related in the
progress of our story.
On a dark and cloudy afternoon, about ten days after the events
related in the last chapter, a company of five persons were assembled
in the rudely finished bar-room of the inn just described.
Of these, three were strangers, or pretended strangers, to the
house and each other; having dropped in at different intervals
during the afternoon. Of the two others, one was the landlord,
whose burly frame, rough, open features, and fear-nought countenance
need have left none in doubt of either the physical or
moral traits which experience proved he possessed. The other,
a somewhat tall, thin, gaunt man, of a weather-beaten visage, and
a sort of sly, scrutinizing look, was an old acquaintance of the
reader. As of old, his large powder-horn and ball-pouch were
slung under his left arm, and his long, heavy rifle, standing by
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his side, was resting on the sill of the open window, beneath
which he had seated himself, so as to enable him to note what
might be passing without as well as within. The manner in
which the latter and the landlord occasionally exchanged glances,
implied a previous and familiar acquaintance, the usual manifestations
of which seemed to be repressed by the presence of the
three guests first named, who were evidently objects of the secret
suspicion of the former. But all this, for some time, might have
passed unheeded by any but close observers; for few remarks,
and those of the briefest and most common-place kind, were
offered; and an inclination for silence and reserve was manifest
among the company.
A circumstance at length occurred, however, which quickly
awakened the landlord from his apparent apathy, and brought
some of the leading characteristics of the man at once into view.
A very large and powerfully-made black dog, which belonged to
the house, had just marched into the room, and laid down to
sleep in the middle of the floor; when one of the strangers,
whom we have noticed, in returning from the bar, where he had
been for a drink of water, trod on the animal's tail, either through
accident or design — probably the latter; — at least the landlord
seemed to suspect so; for his countenance instantly flashed with
indignation, and, turning abruptly to the aggressor, he said, —
“What was that done for, sir?”
“Done for?” replied the other, indifferently. “Why, it was
done because the dog was in my way. If he don't want his tail
trod on, he must keep out from under foot; that's all.”
“Well, sir,” rejoined the former, in no gentle tones, “I don't
know who you are; but whether whig or tory, gentle or simple,
I shall just take the liberty to tell you, that if I was sure you did
that intentionally, I would pull your ears for you; for, if any
living being has a good right to remain undisturbed, and do as he
likes in this house, it is that dog. Roarer, come here, my old
friend,” he added, turning to fondle the creature, that now, dropping
the menacing attitude he had assumed towards the aggressing
stranger, came up and thrust his huge snout into his master's lap.
“Yes, old fellow, while I live, you shall never want a friend to
avenge your wrongs, though I have to fight a regiment to do it!
And aint I right in that, Dunning?” he still further remarked,
turning to the hunter.
“Der yes, if needful,” replied the latter; “but the ditter dog,
I'm thinking, would ask no favors, if you would give him leave
to der do his own work on meddlers.”
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“O, that wouldn't do, you know, Tom,” rejoined the former;
“for, if I but said the word, Roarer would tear him in shoe-strings,
as quick as you could say Jack Roberson! No; I'll settle
the hash myself. And I am now ready to hear the fellow's
explanation,” he added, again turning sternly to the aggressor.
But the last-named questionable personage, not relishing the
course matters were taking, now, in a subdued and altered tone,
promptly disclaimed any intention of touching the dog, and expressed
his regret at what had happened.
“O, that's enough,” said Coffin, instantly cooling off. “All
right now, Roarer. You may lie down again, sir,” he continued,
waving away the dog, that had faced round, and still stood suspiciously
eyeing the offender. “Yes, that's enough; we'll call
the matter settled. But by way of explaining to you, who are
strangers, what I have said about that dog's claims to my friendship
and protection, I must tell you a story, which will show you
how much the noble creature is deserving at my hands.
“Six years ago, the seventh day of last March, as I was returning
from the settlements on Otter Creek, a distance of from
twenty to thirty miles, through the then entire wilderness, with
the snow nearly five feet deep on a level, and the weather so cold
and stormy, that I was compelled to travel with great-coat on, as
well as snow-shoes, I undertook to cross one of the ponds in
Plymouth on the ice, which I supposed perfectly sound and safe
for any thing that could be got on to it. But for some reason or
other, there seemed to have been one place, concealed from view
by the snow, so thin and spongy, that the moment I stepped upon
it, I went down some feet below the surface into the water, while
the snow and broken ice at once closed over me. And although
I succeeded in forcing my way up through the slush, and getting
my head above water, yet I soon found it, hampered as I was
with snow-shoes and great-coat, impossible to get out. As sure
as I tried to raise myself by the treacherous support at the sides,
so sure was it to give way, and precipitate me back into the water.
But still I struggled on, till chilled to the vitals, so benumbed that
I could scarcely move a limb, and growing weaker and weaker
at every effort, I could do no more; and I saw myself gradually
sinking for the last time. O heavens! who can describe my
sensations — who conceive the thousand thoughts that flashed
through my mind at that horrible moment! But just as I was
on the point of giving up in despair, I caught a glimpse of my
dog (that had taken a circuit wide from me after some game)
coming on to the pond. I raised one faint shout — it was all I
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could do, — and, though nearly a half mile off, he heard it, and
came on, with monstrous bounds, to the spot. In a moment he
was there; and, after giving me one look, — I can never forget
that look, — he slid down to the very verge of the hole to try to
assist me. With a struggle, I made out to raise one hand out
of the water within his reach. He seized the cuff of my coat,
and, drawing back with the seeming strength of a draught-horse,
he, with one pull, brought me half out of the water. With a desperate
effort on my part, and another on his, the next instant I
was lying helpless, but safe, on the ice, while the dog fairly
howled aloud for joy! I said safe; for as hopeless as some
might have viewed my situation, even then, wet, benumbed,
nearly dead with cold and exhaustion, and many miles from any
human help or habitation, as I was, yet rallying every energy I
had left me, and rolling, kicking, and pawing, to put my blood in
motion, and regain the use of my limbs, I soon got on to my
feet; when, seizing my gun, that I had hurled aside as I went
down, I made for a dry tree in sight, fired into a spot of spunk I
luckily found on one side of it, kindled a fire, warmed and dried
myself, set forward again, and reached home that night; but
with feelings towards that dog, sir, that I can never know towards
any other created being — not even, in some respects, towards my
wife and children. Yes, sir; I will not only fight, but, if need be,
die for him.”
While the captain was relating his oft-told but truthful adventure
with his justly-prized dog, the quick eye of Dunning
caught, through the window, a glimpse of a recognized form,
approaching in the road from the east; and slipping out unnoticed
from the room, he beckoned the approaching personage
round the corner of the house, and when safely out of the
hearing and observation of those in the bar-room, he turned to
the other, and said, —
“Der devil 's in the wind, Captain Harry!”
“How so? Have you discovered the suspected rendezvous?”
“Der yes; and more too.”
“Indeed! where is it?”
“Ditter deep in the thickets, on the west side of the pond
nearest the great road over the mountains.”
“Ah, ha! but their numbers? any more, probably, than the
small club we supposed?”
“Der double, and then the ditter double of that, if it don't
make more than twenty.”
“You surprise me, Dunning. Are you sure?”
-- 069 --
[figure description] Page 069.[end figure description]
`Sure as that I am der talking to Captain Woodburn.”
“Impossible! It must be some secret meeting of the disaffected
in this quarter.”
“Der not that, but a regularly armed force, and, with the ditter
exception of two or three about-home tories, may be, all strange
faces, including a sprinkling of red skins, brought along with
them for ditter decency's sake, I suppose.”
“But how could such a force get so far into the interior undetected?
How dare they venture on so hazardous a movement?
and what can be their designs in so doing?”
“Der here is something that ditter tells a rather loud story about
that; at least, as to the matter of intentions,” said the hunter,
by way of reply, taking a crumpled paper from his cap and
handing it to the other.
Woodburn took the paper, and eagerly ran over its contents;
which to his astonishment he found to be a copy of an order from
General Burgoyne to Colonel Peters, detailing the plan of an
expedition, to be conducted by the latter, with one hundred loyalists
and a company of Indians, by way of the head waters of
Otter Creek, across the mountains to Connecticut River, where
this force was to be joined by the loyal troops from Rhode
Island, and directing him “to scour the country, levy contributions,
take hostages, make prisoners of all civil and military
officers acting under Congress, collect horses, and, after proceeding
down the river as far as Brattleborough, return to the
great road to Albany.”*
“How did this get into your hands, Dunning?” demanded
the surprised and excited officer, as soon as he had mastered the
contents.
“Der well, having crept along near the edge of the pond
within ten or twelve rods of their camp, I was lying in the bushes
for discoveries; when ditter one of 'em — their leader, I suppose—
came down to the pond, for observation, likely; and, while
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[figure description] Page 070.[end figure description]
peering up and down the shore, a gust of wind blew his hat off
into the water. But though he regained his ditter hat and disappeared,
I soon saw a piece of white paper blowing along in
the water towards me. After a while, it reached the sort of point
where I was, and lodging against a bush, I secured it, and found
it this same thing. What do you think of it, captain?”
“Why, it unfolds a plan too bold for credence.”
“Not too bold for my ditter credence, captain.”
“Then you think it no feint?”
“Der no, sir, but a regular bred expedition, which they mean
to push as soon as more force arrives. I have been ditter
watching things a little since I got at this wrinkle. They have
spies out in every direction. 'Tis not an hour since I espied a
fellow peering from the corner of the woods up yonder, who, I
think, must be that treacherous ditter devil, David Redding; and
there are three now in the bar-room of the same kidney.”
“Ah! well, all this may be. Such an expedition may have been
set afoot at the instigation of such fellows as Spencer, who,
having left the Council of Safety before any thing was done, and
while its distracted counsels seemed to preclude all prospect that
any thing would be done for the defence of the state. Ay, that
is it; and little dreaming of what has since transpired, Peters,
who is probably behind, with the main force, has sent forward
this as a sort of pioneer corps, who, coming over a route now
mostly deserted by our people, have penetrated here nearly to the
Twenty Mile Encampment, without once suspecting what is going
on through the rest of the state. But that is a secret, which,
thanks to the prompt patriotism shown by our young men in enlisting,
we shall now soon be able to teach them; for my company
is already nearly full; and, if you have notified the recruits
you enlisted, Sergeant Dunning, they will all be here for mustering
by to-morrow night.”
“All done, as in der duty bound, captain; and six of my men
said they would be here this evening.”
“Indeed! there will be almost enough of us, if your six recruits
all get in, to make a pounce upon this nest of vipers to-night.
Let's see; six — you, myself, and Captain Coffin, and —”
“And der Bart, if he comes; ditter don't you expect him
along here to-night?”
“I do. Miss Haviland, according to the letter of Mr. Allen,
who wrote some days ago, to apprise me of her coming, would
have started, I calculate, this morning; and Bart, whom I immediately
despatched to act as her guard on the way, will of
-- 071 --
[figure description] Page 071.[end figure description]
course come with her. They will probably arrive before long,
now — unless —” and the speaker suddenly paused at the
new and startling thought that now seemed to occur to him.
“Unless,” said Dunning, guessing the thoughts of the other,
and taking up the supposition — “unless beset by some of this
crew, who are ordered to take prisoners and hostages. But der
stay; didn't I catch the glimmer of a distant horseman then?”
he continued, pointing along the partially wooded road to the
west. “There! that was a clearer view; and, by the ditter
darting kind of gait of the horse, I should think it might be
Lightfoot, and the short rider the critter we've been talking
about.”
The hunter's eye had not misled him; for in a few minutes
the horseman emerged from the forest into open view, and confirmed
the conjecture that had just been made respecting his
identity. As he neared the house, perceiving Woodburn and
Dunning beckoning to him from behind the buildings, he threw
himself from his saddle, leaped over the fence, and approached
them.
“The news, sir? What is it? Speak!” eagerly exclaimed
Woodburn, as Bart, with a downcast and troubled look, drew
near.
“Bad as need to be, consarn it!” replied the latter, with an
air of mingled vexation and self-reproach. “But I couldn't
help it.”
“Help what? What has happened? Where is the lady?”
rapidly asked the alarmed and impatient lover.
“Taken prisoner by the tories, as I guessed 'em. She and
Vine Howard, that come with her, and the boy that drove 'em.”
“How? when? where?”
“Why, as we were coming down this side the mountain, and
when nearly to the bottom, five or six fellows, with guns, rushed
out of the bush, seized the horse, pulled out the women, and
hurried them off with two of their number into the woods towards
the pond; while the rest made a push to take me, who
was riding just behind. But firing a pistol in their faces, and
giving Lightfoot my stiffest sign, we dashed through or over
them, and escaped, with their bullets whistling after us, one after
another, till we were out of reach.”
“These ladies shall be rescued before I sleep, or I will perish
in the attempt,” said Woodburn, with stern emphasis. “Let us
arm and set forward immediately with the best force we can
raise.”
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“There is a thing or two to be ditter done first, it strikes me,”
observed Dunning, with his usual coolness; “that is, if we don't
want enemies both before and behind us, on the way.”
“What is that, Dunning?”
“Secure those three chaps in the bar-room, or they'll be ditter
sure either to be on our heels, or get there before us to raise the
alarm of our coming.”
“Are they armed, think you?”
“With ditter knives only, I'm thinking — their guns may have
been left in the point of woods yonder, in charge of the spy I
named, who, now I ditter think on't, ought to be taken about the
same time, for fear of some secret signal being given.”
The suggestions of Dunning, who, as the reader will already
have inferred, had been made a sergeant in Woodburn's company
of Rangers, were at once approved by his superior, who accordingly,
as the first step, despatched him and Bart to the woods,
where the man conjectured to be in charge of the arms of his
comrades was supposed to be concealed. After waiting till the
two others might have had time to gain the woods in question,
Woodburn left his stand, and, passing round to the front of the
house, boldly marched into the bar-room, where the three suspected
personages still sat listening to the stories with which the
landlord, who suspected what was in progress, seemed intent on
amusing them. They, however, now seemed suddenly to lose
all interest in the recital going on, and, after exchanging uneasy
and significant glances, simultaneously rose to depart.
“You are my prisoners, gentlemen,” said Woodburn, stepping
before them and presenting a cocked pistol.
For a moment, the surprised tories stood mute in alarm and
doubt, alternately glancing from their armed opponent to the
landlord, and from the latter to the door and windows, as if
weighing the chances and means of escape. But, the next instant,
two of them suddenly turned, and drawing and flourishing their
knives behind them, sprang for the open windows, with the intention
of leaping through them.
“At 'em, Roarer!” exclaimed Coffin, seizing one escaping tory
by the leg, and hurling him back with stunning effect upon the
floor.
The dog was but little behind his master in drawing back, by
a grip in his clothes, the other to the floor, where he was glad to
lie without offering further resistance to the grim and growling
conqueror standing over him. The third, in the mean while, not
daring to stir lest a worse fate should befall him, standing as he
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[figure description] Page 073.[end figure description]
was directly before the muzzle of Woodburn's pistol, and seeing
the situation of his comrades, immediately submitted; when all,
giving up their concealed arms, now quietly yielded themselves
as prisoners.
In a few minutes after the surrender of the tories, their guns
were brought in by Dunning and Bart, who found them at the
suspected place, though the traitor, Redding, whom they identified,
had just taken the alarm, and was seen retreating over a distant
knoll as they came up to the spot.
The prisoners being left in charge of the landlord's oldest boy,
who was armed for the purpose, and the dog Roarer, the rest of
the company now retired to another part of the house, to devise
measures for the rescue of the fair captives, for which a preliminary
step only had as yet been taken. Having at length fixed on
the plan of operations which they believed most promising of auspicious
results, they immediately commenced their hasty preparations
for the bold adventure. And Dunning's six recruits luckily
arriving in season, the whole company, now consisting of ten
resolute woodsmen, and led on by a man fully resolved to succeed
or perish, set forward, a little after sunset, for the scene of action,
which was several miles distant from the tavern. According to
the plan that had been adopted, two men were to proceed to the
eastern shore of the pond, take a log canoe, and, under cover of
the darkness, row silently over to some point beyond, but near
the tory encampment; and, after making what discoveries they
could respecting the situation of the captives, lie in ambush and
await the operations of the rest of the company, who were to proceed
round by the road, enter the woods, and gain a post on the
other side of the encampment, and, by a feigned attack, draw
off the tories, and thus afford the former a favorable moment to
rush from their concealment and release the captives. And if
they found this impracticable, they were then to shout aloud the
watchword, To the rescue! when both parties of the assailants
were to make an earnest and desperate onset on the foe. Dunning
and Bart, from their known sagacity and skill as woodsmen,
and coolness and intrepidity in action, were the two men selected
to undertake the more difficult and hazardous part first mentioned.
After a rapid and silent march of about an hour, the company
reached the vicinity of the pond, just as the last suffusions of an
obscured twilight disappeared in the west, and halted a few minutes,
that the different parts of the plan might be repeated and
clearly understood by all before separating.
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“Remember the arrangement, boys,” said Woodburn, addressing
Dunning and Bart, in a voice which betrayed the intense solicitude
he felt in the event at issue. “Recollect the first and main
object is to release and get off the ladies, and if this can be done
within the hour we will give you for the purpose, as it possibly
may be, before we make any demonstrations in front, so much
the better; if not, proceed in the manner agreed on. And may
Heaven favor the innocent, whose cause, remember, is mostly in
your hands.”
With this the company separated, and each party proceeded to
their different destinations. We will follow the two intrusted with
the most difficult part of the enterprise.
eaf721n7* The document here quoted was brought to General Stark on his
advance through Vermont; and there can be but little doubt of its
genuineness; as it afterwards came out, in the trial of Burgoyne, in the
British Parliament, that such an expedition was actually started, but
subsequently changed for that of Bennington. How considerable a portion
of the whole intended force penetrated into the interior is not ascertained.
But we have the authority of the oldest inhabitants for asserting,
that a portion of this force did cross over the mountains, and some of
them even reached Springfield; when, owing to the unexpected movements
they found going on among the people, and the rumored advance
of Stark, all, who were not taken, speedily decamped.
-- 075 --
CHAPTER VI.
— “The first that hears
Shall be the first to bleed.”
[figure description] Page 075.[end figure description]
The hunter, followed by his young comrade, now leaving the
rest of the band to proceed to their contemplated stand by the
main road, struck off into the woods to the right, and, with silent
and rapid steps, led the way to the south-eastern shore of the
pond. Here finding, as he seemed to have expected, a capacious
canoe, dug out from the trunk of some huge pine, he drew it forth
from its concealment, beneath a mass of fallen trees projecting
over the bank, and, bidding Bart enter with the oars, and placing
one knee on the stern, with a grasp on the sides, gave a push
with his foot from the shore, which sent his rude craft surging out
far into the open expanse of water before him. Before applying
the oars, however, and while the canoe continued to move under
the impulse it had thus received, its occupants employed themselves
in bending their heads to the water, and listening for any
sounds that might indicate the presence of others abroad on the
pond. The night, as it was yet moonless, and as the sky was
overclouded, was consequently a dark one; and the adventurers
could distinguish little else but the dark outlines of the Green
Mountains, that rose high in the western heavens, casting, by their
huge shadows, an impenetrable pall of darkness over the intervening
space beneath, from which not a sound rose to the ear,
save an occasional short croak of some waterfowl, or the low,
sullen dash of the waters along the shores.
“Nothing out on the pond, guess, but loons, ducks, and sich
like,” quietly observed Bart, raising himself from his listening
attitude; “nor can I make out any sounds from the nest of 'em
you say there is over on the shore yonder. Ma'be they've pulled
up stakes and are off with their traps, the wimin folks and all —
shouldn't wonder, single bit.”
“Now I reason a little ditter different,” replied the sergeant.
“They may be getting oneasy and suspicious, because their spies
we took there at Coffin's don't return; and so keep still, and put
out their fires, lest the absent ones be dogged back, and their rendezvous
thus discovered; but I der don't believe the company
-- 076 --
[figure description] Page 076.[end figure description]
would clear out till they knew what become of them. They are
still there, I'm apt to think; so we will now put forward — first
up north a piece, on this side, and then across and down to a little
cove there is near their encampment.”
So saying, Dunning took up one of the oars, and, with long,
vigorous, but noiseless strokes, sent the boat rapidly ahead; while
the other took a position most favorable for a lookout. In this
manner, and taking turns at the oar, they soon, by the course they
had marked out for themselves, reached the western side of the
pond, and, heading round, moved cautiously along the shore
towards the hostile encampment.
“Ah! there! one — two — yes, three camp fires, I can der
catch glimmers of occasionally,” softly exclaimed Dunning, rising
up in the boat, and peering ahead for observation. “I was right—
the ditter rapscallions are there, snug in their quarters, but had
wit enough to build their fires behind logs, or something, so as not
to be seen from 'tother side. We are within the ditter matter of
three hundred yards of 'em, now; so carefully, Bart, and don't
let your oar graze the boat, or any thing, to give out the least
sound; for they've ears, it's der probable, as well as we.”
A short time now sufficed to bring them to the small cove,
at which the hunter had proposed to land. Here, under the
screen of an impervious tangle of brushwood and fallen tree tops,
which intervened between them and the foe, they drew up their
boat on to the shore. They then, after taking off their shoes,
which they left in the canoe, carefully crawled up the bank,
passed round the thicket, and paused to listen. The sounds of
voices conversing in low tones in one spot, the slow steps of a
sentinel in another, and the snoring of some hard sleeper in a third,
were soon detected by the quick ears of the anxious listeners.
“As I thought,” whispered Dunning, putting his mouth close to
the ear of the other: “the head ones are ditter suspicious and
watchful; but we must try what can be done — at least to find the
spot where they've put the gals. There's a ditter old shanty I
used to camp in, about fifty yards ahead; and as that is probably
the best they've got, I've been thinking they may have cooped
'em in there. Suppose you, who are lightest and smallest, creep
forward to it, for ditter discoveries. I will follow half way, and
wait.”
Without demurring to the suggestion, Bart immediately set forward,
on his hands and knees, in the direction indicated by his companion.
Carefully removing every dry twig and leaf from each
place where he wished to bear his weight, and moving as
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[figure description] Page 077.[end figure description]
noiselessly as the preying cat along the ground, he made his way onward
till he had gone far enough, as he judged, to reach the
expected shanty; when he paused to listen and reconnoitre. But
now all seemed perfectly still. Not the slightest sound of any
kind reached his ears; while it had, in some unaccountable manner,
suddenly become so pitchy dark that he could not distinguish
a single object before him. And he began to feel confused and
doubtful about proceeding, when, by the action of those secret and
undefinable sympathies, perhaps, by which, it is said, we sometimes
become apprised of the presence of others before we are
informed by the senses, he all at once became impressed with the
idea that some person was near him. He therefore strained his
senses to the utmost in trying to discover what objects might be
before or around him; but all, for a while, to no purpose. In a
short time, however, his ear caught the sound of a deep sigh, the
softness of which told him it came from a female, within a few
feet of him. With a palpitating heart, he now doubtfully attempted
to move forward, when he suddenly perceived his head on the
point of coming in contact with some broad, high obstacle, which
seemed to rise like a wall before him. Surprised, and still more
confused than before, he retreated a few paces, and looked upward,
to try to make out the nature of the obstacle before him;
when he discovered it to be the backside of the very shanty of
which he was in search. The strange darkness, which had so
suddenly overshadowed him, and which was caused by the obstruction
of the skylight by this rude structure, being now explained,
and every thing made clear to his mind, he cautiously
moved round towards the front of the shanty, to find the entrance,
no longer doubting that those he sought were within. On reaching
the front corner, so as to enable him to peer round it on that
side, he soon made out the entrance; but directly across it, to his
disappointment, he discovered the half-recumbent form of a man,
with a musket leaning on his shoulder. After a few hurried observations,
in which he discovered, by the decaying fires before
them, several other shanties or tents among the trees, a few rods
in front, Bart again slunk back to the spot he had just left, and
was about to retrace his way to his companion, when a new
thought occurred to him, and, moving up to the back of the shanty,
which was formed by broad pieces of thick bark standing slantingly
against a pole supported by crotches, and, placing his mouth
to a crack, softly whispered the names of the captives, and turned
his ear to the spot to catch the hoped-for response. For the first
moment, all was still; but the next, the catching of a
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long-suspended breath, and even, as he thought, the rapid beatings of a
fluttering bosom, became audible. Presently a slight movement,
as of a cautiously changed posture, was heard within; and the
next instant a pair of soft lips came in contact with his ear at the
crevice, articulating, in sounds scarcely above the slightest murmur
of the air, —
“Who speaks my name?”
“Bart,” replied the other. “You know what I'm after. Can
one of the barks between us be removed without alarming your
keeper?”
“I fear — but he seems asleep — try it,” was the measured and
hesitating reply.
After slightly essaying several of the pieces of the bark he wished
to remove, he at length commenced operations at the bottom of
one of them, and gently forcing it aside, inch by inch, in a short
time effected an opening sufficient, as he judged, for the egress
of the captives, and that too, he felt confident, without attracting
the attention of the dozing guard.
“Now feel your way out; and, without stirring a twig or leaf,
creep on after me,” whispered Bart.
And receding a few paces from the opening, he paused to
await the result. In a moment he had the satisfaction of perceiving
a female form slowly emerging from the narrow passage
into the open air without.
Supposing her companion to be immediately behind, he now,
with a whispered word of encouragement, led the way from the
spot. With frequent pauses, both to assure himself that he was
followed by his charge, and to listen for any stir among the foe
that should indicate a discovery of the escape, he continued to
creep forward till he encountered Dunning, when, the latter taking
the lead, they all moved on, one after another, in the same
cautious manner as before, and soon reached the landing in safety;
but as they emerged from the bushes, and the hunter turned to
congratulate the ladies on their escape, it was now, for the first
time, discovered that but one of them was present.
“Bart, how is this? ditter tell me — where is the other?” demanded
Dunning, in a tone of disappointment and vexation.
But Bart, equally disappointed and perplexed, was mute; and
the lady, who proved to be Miss Howard, replied, —
“Miss Haviland, if not retaken, is now wandering in the woods.”
“Der wandering in ditter woods, and you not with her?”
again demanded the former, with an air of mingled surprise and
reproach.
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“Yes, sir, but I did not intend to desert her,” promptly replied
the girl. “Perceiving we were not watched very closely by the
man they put over us, she and I had thought of a plan of escaping
into the woods and getting round into the road. And while he was
talking with another, that he had stepped forward a little ways to
meet, we slipped out undiscovered, and gained a thicket; when
finding I had left my shawl, I, contrary to Miss Haviland's advice,
I will own, ventured back to get it, and was detected, just as I was
leaving the shanty a second time, and her absence discovered.
This made a stir among them, and they ordered off scouts after
her along the pond towards the road, which was the way I pointed
when they were threatening me if I didn't tell. But she must
have heard all and escaped.”
“Escaped! ditter deuse of an escape that; for a woman to
get out into a forest full of Indians in search of her,” replied the
still unreconciled hunter. “But what course has she der taken,
think ye, gal?”
“The one we planned, likely; and that was, to take a wide
sweep round their camp, gain the road, and make for the tavern,
which she said was not far off,” replied the other.
“Well,” said Dunning, in a more mollified tone, “though der
dogs is in the luck, to be sure, yet half a loaf is better than none.
We must save what we have got; so into the canoe there with
ye, gal; and you, Bart, take her across, der find Harry, whom I'd
ditter rather you would meet first, and tell him you have left me
this side to go in search of the other, who, if found, can most
likely be got to the road as well the way she set out as this, in the
shape things now stand.”
Although this conversation scarcely occupied a minute, and
although, while the hunter was yet speaking, Bart and his fair
friend were in their respective positions in the boat, which instantly
shot out silently and swiftly into the pond, under the vigorous push
given it by the former, yet the event showed that they had been
none too speedy in their movements; for, at that instant, a sudden
bustle in the tory encampment, which was quickly followed
by the confused sounds of voices making rapid inquiries and
giving orders, together with the stealthy tread of approaching
footsteps, apprised the fugitives that not only was their escape
discovered, but probably also the direction they had taken.
“Der narve it, narve it, Bart! The ditter divils are after ye!”
shouted the hunter, hastily retreating from the shore, and disappearing
in the nearest thicket.
And scarcely had he gained a covert, before his place was
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occupied by four or five of the enemy, who came rushing down
to the water; when, discovering the receding boat, then not fifty
yards distant, the acting leader of the band fiercely exclaimed,
“Put about there instantly, and come ashore, or we'll fire and kill
every person in the boat!”
“O, but you'll kill us if we come back,” replied Bart, splashing
round his oar as if turning the boat, which in fact was going
swiftly ahead.
“No, we won't,” responded the leader, deceived by the apparent
simplicity of the reply; “but be quick, or we fire!”
“Well, seeing you aint going to hurt us,” said the former,
carelessly, while at the same time directing, in a whisper, the
girl to throw herself close on the bottom of the canoe, he silently,
but with all his might, bent himself to the oar.
“Why,” said the leader, after a short and doubtful pause, as
he peered out in the darkness at the dimly-seen boat — “why,
aint the fellow still moving ahead? He is, confound him: fire!”
“Let drive, then!” sung out Bart, with the greatest sang froid,
as he hastily cast himself down in the boat.
The next instant several bullets struck the boat, or whistled
over it, as the fierce flashings and deafening reports of as many
exploding muskets burst from the shore with startling effect on
the darkness and silence of night.
“I vown! but that an't so bad shooting as might be, in the dark
so,” exclaimed Bart, hastily springing up and seizing his oar.
“They are more at the business than I thought 'em; and we
may as well be a little further off afore they have time to load
and fire agin, guess,” he added, suddenly changing the direction
of the boat from the course it had been taking, and playing the
oar with an energy which showed rather less indifference to his
proximity to the hostile marksmen behind him than his words
might seem to imply.
The tories, in the mean while, who had foolishly all discharged
their pieces at once, fell to loading again as fast as was possible
for them to do in the dark. But before any of them was ready
to fire, the last traces of the fugitive boat had vanished from their
view.
They were, however, after giving vent to their vexation in a
volley of curses upon the fellow who had thus outwitted them, in
getting beyond controlling distance, preparing to fire again, at
random, in the direction in which the canoe was last seen moving,
when their attention was suddenly arrested by firing in the woods,
a short distance to the south, which seemed to be an exchange of
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shots between their pickets and some enemy assailing them from
that direction. They therefore hurried back to their companions,
and with them rallied to make a stand against the force which all
supposed was about to storm their encampment. But to their
agreeable disappointment, though an occasional shot continued to
be directed towards them by persons who seemed to be lurking
in the distant thickets, no tangible force made its appearance;
for the firing which had so alarmed them, and caused them to
call in all their scouts within hearing, and make every preparation
for a desperate resistance, was, as the reader will have already
imagined, but the feint made by Woodburn's party, who, hearing
the reports of the guns discharged at the escaping canoe, and
partly divining the cause, had advanced from their concealment,
and begun to make the diversion agreed on at the outset. But
not receiving the signal promised, in case help was needed, and
feeling doubtful how to act, most of them fell back, and ceased
operations, till Bart, who had, in the mean time, reached the
shore, and, with the fearless girl he had released, hastened round
to their post, arrived and informed them of all that had occurred.
On receiving this aggravating intelligence, Woodburn, now almost
frantic with disappointment and anxiety, instantly withdrew
to the road with all his band, except two left to keep the enemy
in a state of alarm; when they all, including even the heroic
Vine Howard, immediately scattered in different directions through
the dark forest in anxious search for the luckless Miss Haviland,
to whom we will now return, for the purpose of following her in
the wild and perilous adventures she was destined to encounter
on that eventful night.
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CHAPTER VII.
“Unshrinking from the storm,
Well have ye borne your part,
With woman's fragile form,
But more than manhood's heart.”
— Whittier.
[figure description] Page 082.[end figure description]
The observation is no less true than trite, that no one knows,
till he has tried it, what he can do or endure. And as just as is
the remark in a general application, it is, we apprehend, more
strikingly so when applied to the gentler sex; for, from the
position they occupy in social life, their powers of action or endurance
are so seldom fully put to the test, that they are generally
far less conscious than men of what deeds they might accomplish,
or what degree of suffering they might endure, in emergencies
calculated to call forth the highest energies of their physical and
moral natures. And if there be any disparity between the number
of heroes and heroines in the world, such emergencies as we have
named are only wanting, we believe, to make up any deficiency
that may be found in the latter.
When Miss Haviland ascertained that her too venturous
companion had been intercepted and retaken, in the manner
mentioned in the preceding chapter, she for a moment greatly
hesitated whether to return and yield herself again to her captors,
or persevere in her attempt to escape. But, beginning to suspect
the true source of the present misfortune, which, if her suspicions
were just, pointed only at herself, and thinking that her escape
would soon lead to the voluntary release of her companion, she
quickly decided on the latter alternative, and glided noiselessly
away into the depths of the forest.
After proceeding in a direct course from the camp to such a
distance as should preclude the possibility that any ordinary
sound made in walking through the woods would reach her captors,
unless they were in actual pursuit behind, of which her often
strained senses had as yet given her no evidence, she turned short
to the south, and, in pursuance of the hasty plan formed by herself
and companion at the outset, now made her way, as fast as
the darkness and the usual obstacles of the woods would permit,
towards the road, her only guide being the parallel swells of land,
which, running north and south, rose, as she had luckily noticed
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before dark, in successive lifts up the mountain to the west.
Still hearing no sounds of pursuit, she began to entertain strong
hopes that she should be permitted to reach the road unmolested.
In this, however, she was doomed to be disappointed; for, in a
short time, a cracking, as of dry twigs under the tread of some
one stealthily advancing, arrested her attention, and brought her
to a stand. Fortunately, no part of her dress was sufficiently
light-colored to betray her. And, having nothing to fear from
this, and believing that, by placing herself in close contact with
some natural object, she might still have a good chance to be
passed undetected, she glided to the nearest tree, and, placing
her back to the side opposite to the suspected foe, awaited his
approach in breathless silence. Presently he came up, and,
after pausing a moment within a few yards of her, apparently
to listen and reconnoitre, he passed by so near as to graze
the bark of the tree behind which she stood, and moved carelessly
on some distance before again pausing to repeat his reconnoissance.
She drew a long breath; but, before she dared
move from her stand, the sounds of other approaching feet reached
her ears. And soon two more men, evidently on the same search,
passed by her, at different distances to the east, and, like the first
one, bent their courses northward. After waiting till all sound
of their receding steps had wholly died away, she again moved
forward, and soon had the satisfaction of finding herself in the
road, but a short distance from the spot where, a few hours
before, she and her attendant had been captured. It remained
now to get beyond the tory encampment. Could she be permitted
to pass down the mountain, in the road, but a half mile, she
might then consider the danger mostly over, and proceed on to
the tavern in comparative safety. And, though aware that this
portion of the way might be scarcely less dangerous than any she
had passed over, yet, tempted by the facility with which it could
be accomplished in the road, she resolved to make the attempt,
and accordingly, with a guarded but rapid step, began to move
down the sloping way before her. But she had proceeded but a
short distance, when she was startled by the loud report of fire-arms
in the direction of the tory encampment, which, as already
described, were, just at that moment, being discharged at the
escaping canoe. While pausing in doubt at the meaning of this
unexpected outbreak, the random firing of Woodburn's party,
which we noted as soon following that of the tories, now burst
from the forest a little before her on the left, and greatly increased
her perplexity. Suddenly conceiving the idea, from
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these circumstances, that the tories had been assailed in their
rear, and were now retreating towards her, and this notion being
the next moment confirmed by the glimpses she caught of a dark
form emerging from the bushes on the left, whom she mistook
for a foe, she hastily turned and fled, in agitation and alarm, into
the opposite forest bordering the road on the south, having thus
approached within a few rods of the very men who were in
search of her, and thus unconsciously eluded their friendly grasp.
Though intending soon to turn her course eastward, so as to
come out again into the road at such a point as should place her
beyond any danger of a recapture, yet, urged by her fears lest
her foes should cross the road and overtake her, she pressed on
so far into the depths of the woods, that when she paused to change
her course, she became confused and doubtful respecting the
direction she should take to regain the road in the manner she
had proposed. She had now no further knowledge of the make
of the land, or the situation of the hills, by which she could be
guided. But at length, fixing on a course which she thought most
likely to be the right one, she again set forward, slowly picking
her way through the swampy and tangled tract of forest into
which she seemed now to have entered. In this manner she
pursued her dubious course onward nearly an hour, every moment
expecting that the next would bring her out into the road.
At length she fell in with a small stream, which she rightly
judged to be one of the brooks running into Black River, and
which, from what she knew of the course of that river, she supposed
would lead nearly in the direction she sought to go. But
on stooping down to feel the current, she, to her great surprise,
found it running in a course directly opposite from what she
expected. Scarcely knowing now which way to direct her steps,
she passed over the stream, and, with a sense of desolation,
growing out of the thought that she was lost in the depths of the
wilderness, which she had never before experienced, wandered
on, and on, for several of the successive hours of that dark and
dismal night. At last she came to the top of a high swell,
where, the new aspect presented in the slope of the forest before
her naturally causing her to pause, she dropped down upon an
old mossy log to rest her worn and wearied frame, and try to
collect her confused and scattered faculties. While here endeavoring
to rally her sinking spirits, and compose her thoughts
so as to look more coolly on her situation, she began to discern,
through the openings of the foliage, the dark outlines of a high
mountain, rising, at the distance of two or three miles, directly
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in front of her. It now occurred to her that, like other persons
lost in the woods, of whom she had heard, she might have been,
all this time, wandering in a circle, and that the mountain before
her might be the very one she supposed she had left far behind
her, west of the tory encampment. If this supposition should
prove correct, the long-sought road must lie somewhere between
her and the mountain in view, and a little more perseverance in
that direction would consequently put an end to those perplexities
which were now becoming more painful and dread than any
sensations she had experienced from the pursuit of her enemies.
Encouraged by the gleam of hope which this thought imparted
to her almost despairing mind, she started up, and again nerved
herself for the task of meeting the many difficulties which she
knew, at the best, yet remained to be overcome. It had, by
this time, in consequence of a scattering of the clouds, or the
rising of a waning moon, become perceptibly lighter, and, for the
next hour, her progress was much more direct and easy. By
this time, she came to a spot in the forest which was sufficiently
open to give her another and fairer view of the mountain she
had been approaching. She looked upon its dark sides a moment,
and the pleasant delusion under which she had been laboring
wholly vanished from her mind. She saw it could not be
the mountain she had hoped to find it, nor indeed any she had
ever seen; and she again gave herself up as lost, perhaps,
irretrievably lost, far away and deep in the dark recesses of a
howling wilderness, from which she might never be extricated.
And yet her usual firmness did not wholly forsake her. “Is not
your life of more value than many sparrows in the sight of Him
who careth for all?” she mentally exclaimed; and she was
calmed and comforted by the ready affirmative which her faith
responded.
While casting about her in doubt respecting the next step to be
taken, she discovered traces of what was evidently once an imperfect
road, or path, which seemed to extend through a partial
opening towards the mountain. Thinking it might possibly lead
to some human habitation, or at least to some place preferable to
the open forest for rest and shelter till the return of daylight, she
resolved to follow it. As she proceeded on, she began to detect
marks of the woodman's or hunter's axe in the trees, here entirely
cut down, and there girdled, or denuded of their bark as
high as the hand could reach. These indications of the former
presence of men appeared to grow more frequent as she went
on; and at length she came out into a small opening in the forest,
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in the midst of which stood a roughly-constructed log-house, or
shanty, with a regularly-formed bark roof still standing. The
remains of smaller and less durable shanties were also visible in
the vicinity of the former.*
With a cautious and hesitating step, Miss Haviland drew
near to this rude structure, and at once perceived, by the appearance
of the unguarded loop-hole window, and the open entrance,
before which the untrodden wild weeds were growing, that it
was untenanted. Approaching still nearer, and peering into the
window, she discovered, in one corner of the deserted apartment,
a comfortable-looking bed, composed of branches of the hemlock,
which she rightly concluded had been collected and used
by hunters, who occasionally made the place their quarters for
the night. Immediately concluding to avail herself of the advantages
which this shelter and primitive couch seemed to promise
for obtaining the rest her exhausted system so much needed, she
entered, and, throwing herself down on the soft and yielding
boughs, soon surrendered herself to the influence of the grateful
repose, and fell asleep. She was soon, however, awakened —
by what she knew not, unless by the feeling of uneasiness and
apprehension, by which she now found herself unaccountably
agitated. She had heard, or read, of those mysterious intimations,
by which, it is said, we sometimes instinctively become apprised
of impending danger, when there is no apparent cause for apprehension,
and when reason utters no warning. If such instances
ever in reality occurred, this might be one of them; or
the impression might have been unconsciously received from
actual sounds, which came from foes now secretly lurking near,
and which, as it is known often to be the case, had fallen on her
slumbering ear, and disturbed and troubled, without fully awakening
her. But whatever the cause of the strange foreboding,
the effect soon became too strong and exciting to permit her
longer to remain passive. And she arose to examine the apartment,
and see what precautions could be taken to render it more
safe against the intrusion of enemies, whether they should come
in the shape of men or wild beasts. On approaching the entrance,
she discovered, standing by the side of it against the wall,
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[figure description] Page 087.[end figure description]
a sort of rough door made of long cuts of thick bark, confined
by withes to two cross-pieces, and intended, evidently, as there
were no contrivances for hanging it, to be set up against the
entrance on the inside as a barrier against the cold, or the unwelcome
intrusion of any thing from without. But it had become
so water-soaked and heavy, and the end on which it stood so
firmly set in the ground, that she found, on making the attempt,
her strength unequal to the task of removing it. And she turned
away to look for other means of protecting herself from danger.
Casting her eyes upward, she perceived, lying loose on the
beams, or rather poles, extending across the room above, several
long pieces of bark, which had been left there, probably, when
the roof, of the same material, was constructed. And it immediately
occurred to her, that, if she could mount this loft, she might
so dispose of herself there as to escape the observation of any
human intruders, and, at the same time, be out of reach of any
wild beasts that should enter the room below. Accordingly,
going to one corner, she began to mount by stepping on the projecting
sides of the logs in the two converging walls, and soon
succeeded in reaching the loft, and forming, from the bark, a
piece of flooring sufficiently strong and broad to bear her weight
and screen her person from observation. Upon this she extended
herself, face downwards, with her eyes placed to a small aperture,
to enable her to see what might happen in the room below, and
silently, but with highly excited expectation, awaited the event.
But what event did she expect? She could not tell; and yet
she was wholly unable to divest herself of the continually intruding
idea that something fearful was about to occur; and
impelled by the singular apprehension, she could not help listening
for sounds which might herald the approaching evil. For
some time, however, no sounds reached her ears, except those
low, mingled murmurs which are peculiar to the forest in the
stillness of night. But at length her quickened organs were
greeted by some noise which she knew was not a fancied one;
and the next moment the sound of human footsteps became distinctly
audible. Presently she heard voices at the door, and then
saw two dark forms cautiously entering the room below. After
walking around the apartment and thrusting the muzzles of their
guns into corners, with the apparent purpose of ascertaining whether
any one was concealed within, they approached the pile of boughs
before described, and gave vent to their satisfaction at finding so
good a bed, in a short, guttural ugh! which proclaimed them,
to the trembling listener above, to be Indians, and of those,
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[figure description] Page 088.[end figure description]
doubtless, who had been sent out in pursuit of her. They then
proceeded to draw up the old door and barricade the entrance;
after which they set their guns against the wall, and camped
down on the bed in the corner.
It would be difficult to describe the sensations with which the
hapless girl witnessed what had occurred; and these, with the
fear of what might still be in store for her, nearly filled the
measure of her distress and perplexity; for although she had
thus far escaped observation, and although she soon had the
satisfaction of knowing, by the heavy and measured breathing
which reached her ears, that her foes had sunk into a deep sleep,
yet how was she, even now, to avoid falling into their merciless
hands? Should she attempt to descend and escape through the
window, could she effect her purpose without being heard and
detected? She feared not. And should she remain in her
present situation till daylight, would her terrible visitors then
awaken and depart without discovering her? This alternative
appeared to her even less promising than the other. And yet
one of the two courses must be adopted. Which should it be?
While anxiously reflecting on the subject, fresh noises in the
woods arrested her attention. These were also the sounds of
footsteps, but evidently not those of any human prowler. With
a light, quick pat, pat, pat, the animal came up to the door,
paused, and snuffed the air through the crevices. He then
moved along to the window, reared himself on his hind legs,
thrust in his nose, and after giving two or three quick, eager
snuffs there also, withdrew, and trotted off, at a moderate pace,
a short distance into the forest, where he appeared to come to a
sudden halt. The next moment, the long, unearthly howl of a
wolf rose shrill and tremulous from the spot, and died slowly away,
in strange, wild cadences, among the echoing mountains around.
Sabrey instinctively shuddered at the fearful sound, but instantly
turned her attention to the sleeping Indians, whom she expected
to hear rousing up and rushing out with their guns after the insidious
prowler. But they, to her surprise, snored on, unconscious
of the danger. The howl was soon repeated, when short,
faint responses, in the same shrill, savage modulations, became
audible in every direction in the surrounding forest. These answering
cries, growing more distinct and loud every moment, in
their evident approach to the spot where the first signal howl
was given, now fully apprised the agitated listener of the fearful
character of the scene which was likely soon to occur beneath
or around her. In an incredibly short space of time, the
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[figure description] Page 089.[end figure description]
gathering troop of famished monsters seemed to be arriving and arranging
themselves under their invoking leader, to be led on to
the promised prey. And soon the trampling of multitudinous
feet evinced that they were in motion and cautiously advancing
towards the house. The next moment, they all appeared to have
assembled under the window, and paused, as if to plan the mode
of attack. After a brief interval, in which no sounds could be
distinguished but the low, suppressed snuffing of the troop for
the scented prey, a large wolf leaped up into the narrow aperture,
paused a second, and then quickly thrusting his balanced body forward,
dropped noiselessly down on the ground floor within. Another,
and another, and another, followed in rapid succession, till more
than half a score of the gaunt, grim monsters had landed inside,
and silently arranged themselves in a row before the bed of their
intended victims, who still strangely slept on. One more fearful
pause succeeded, in which the greedy band seemed to be eagerly
eyeing the fated sleepers, and marking out portions of their
bodies for the deadly gripe; when suddenly springing forward,
they all fiercely pounced upon the victims, and, with the seeming
noise of a thousand wrangling fiends, mingled with the sharp,
short, half-stifled screeches of human agony, that were heard in
the hideous din, seized, throttled, and tore them, limb from limb,
to pieces, and bore off the dissevered parts, munching and
snarling, to different corners of the room. The noise now for a
short time subsided, and nothing was heard but the low, broken
growls of the cannibal troop, as they busily craunched the bones,
and tore the flesh on which they were making their horrid feast.
Then followed the fierce and noisy encounters for the decreasing
fragments, till none were left worth contending for.
At this juncture, two of the half-glutted but still ravenous
gang, relinquishing the well-picked bones on which they had been
laboring, rose, and, advancing into the middle of the room, stood
a moment listlessly viewing the operations of the rest; when they
suddenly started, and, turning slowly round and round, began
busily to snuff the air, and throw their noses upward in search
of some fresh game that appeared now to have struck their keen
olfactories. The affrighted maiden, who had been witnessing
this hideous scene from her hitherto unsuspected concealment
above, with blood curdling in horror at the sights and sounds that
reached her recoiling senses, now shuddered in fresh alarm; for
she but too well understood what this new and fearfully-significant
movement of the wolves portended. And, instinctively withdrawing
her face from her loop-hole of observation, she hastily
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[figure description] Page 090.[end figure description]
drew herself up in the middle of her frail support, so as to be as
far as possible out of the reach of her expected assailants. But
they at once detected the slight sounds occasioned by her movement,
and, now guided by two senses instead of one, instantly
began to gnash their teeth, and, with wild howls, to leap upward
after their newly-discovered prey. And although her position
was more than seven feet from the ground, — a height which, it
might be supposed, could not have been reached by this class of animals
in a perpendicular leap, — yet so desperate had the present
gang become by the taste of human blood, that they soon, in their
determined and constantly-repeated efforts, began to strike and
seize the beams with their teeth, by which they would hang suspended
a moment, and then drop back again to the ground for
another trial. The terrified maiden now gave herself up as lost,
and tried to quell the tumult of her frenzied feelings, that she
might meet her approaching fate, as dreadful as it was, with
calmness and resignation. But the terrific noise of her maddened
assailants, as they leaped up, snapping, snarling, and howling, in
demoniac chorus, and made nearer and nearer approaches every
moment to her person, once more aroused her natural instinct for
self-preservation; and she arose, and, standing upon her feet,
involuntarily bent over one end of her support to catch a view
of what was passing below.
In withdrawing her shrinking gaze from the fiercely upheaving
heads and fiery eyeballs which there greeted her, she espied the
guns of the Indians still standing against the wall, almost directly
beneath her, with the muzzles extending upward within the reach
of her arm. With the rapid process of thought which danger is
known often to beget, a new plan of deliverance, suggested by
the discovery just made, was instantly formed and digested in
her mind. And in its pursuance, she drew a white handkerchief
from her pocket, and, hastily folding it together, threw it down to
the farthest corner of the room below. As she had anticipated,
the whole gang rushed after it. And instantly seizing the opportunity
thus afforded to execute her design, she hastily balanced
herself on the edge of the bark the most nearly over the guns,
reached down her arm, grasped one of the muzzles, and drew
up the heavy weapon, just in time to escape the baffled brutes as
they came bounding back, with redoubled howls of rage and disappointment,
to the spot. Too much accustomed, in the new
settlement in which she had been mostly reared, to the sight and
even handling of fire-arms not to know how to use them, she
cocked the piece, and, again advancing to the edge of her
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platform, pointed down into the thickest of the infuriated pack, and
fired. One wild, piercing yelp followed the deafening explosion;
and, the next instant, all the survivors of the hushed and frightened
gang were heard scrambling through the window, and scattering
and fleeing off with desperate speed into the surrounding
forest. With the last sounds of the retreating steps of the wolves,
and with the relief which a returning sense of safety brought to
the over-wrought feelings of the maiden, all her strength gave
way, and, sinking down, weak and helpless as an infant, she
sobbed out, in the broken murmurs of an overflowing heart, her
gratitude to Heaven for her deliverance from the horrid death
from which she had so narrowly escaped. For a while she could
only tremble and weep; but at length the violence of her emotions
began gradually to subside, exhausted nature would be
cheated no longer, and she sunk into slumber, too sound, happily,
to permit her to dream over the fearful scenes of the past.
When she awoke, it was broad daylight, and all was quiet within,
while without the birds were chanting their morning melodies.
At first she could scarcely believe that the scene she had passed
through was not the distempered imaginings of some frightful dream.
But there, on the blood-stained floor beneath her, lay the carcass
of a dead wolf, and the scattered bones of the slain Indians, to
attest the dreadful reality. Hastening down from the loft into
the room, and averting her eyes from the revolting spectacle, she
hurried forward with a shudder to the door, effected an opening
sufficient for her egress, and rushed out into the open air, of
which she now drew a long, grateful inhalation, more expressive
than words of the deep sense of inward pleasure she experienced
in being freed from this den of horrors.
Believing that, by the advantages daylight would now afford
her, she might be able to retrace her way to the road, she immediately
sought out and entered the old path by which she had
approached the cabin; and this serving to indicate the general
course she must pursue to accomplish her purpose, she followed
it back to the end, and then passed on through the forest in the
same direction. She had proceeded but a short distance, however,
before she was startled by the unexpected appearance of a
man advancing through the thick intervening undergrowth directly
towards her. As she was about to strike out obliquely into the
forest to avoid him, her steps were arrested by his voice calling
out to her.
“Don't be alarmed at a friend, young lady,” he said, in a plausible
manner, as he came forward and stopped at a respectful
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distance — “don't be alarmed at my appearance, at all; for you are
the one, I take it, that we are searching for. It is Miss Haviland,
is it not?”
“Yes, sir,” replied the latter, looking doubtfully at the man,
whom she thought she had somewhere before seen — “yes, that
is my name; but as there may be both friends and foes out in
search of me, you will excuse me for saying that I do not know
to which of these you belong.”
“True, true,” said the other, in a wheedling tone — “true; I
don't blame you for being a little cautious. So I must tell you
that, living in these parts, and being acquainted with Captain
Woodburn, I volunteered, when I heard you were lost last night,
to go with the rest in search of you. And being now so lucky
as to find you, I will conduct you out to Coffin's — four or five
miles from this, I suppose — where your friends are anxiously
waiting to see or get word of you.”
Although our heroine was not exactly pleased with the manner
and countenance of the man, yet the charm of the name of
Woodburn, to whom he had so artfully referred, restored her
confidence, and she at once and thankfully accepted of his proffered
guidance, little suspecting that she had yielded herself to
the most subtle of her foes — the deceitful and treacherous David
Redding!
eaf721n8* Colonel Hawks, while traversing the wilderness of Vermont, in the
French wars, with a regular force, among whom was the then Captain John
Stark, once encamped near the foot of the mountain, in the south part of
Cavendish, where the incident we are narrating is supposed to have occurred.
The mountain still bears the name of Hawks's Mountain, and the
traces of the encampment, it is said, are still visible.
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CHAPTER VIII.
“Then marched the brave from rocky steep,
From mountain river, swift and cold.
The borders of the stormy deep,
The vales where gathered waters sleep,
Sent up the strong and bold.”
— Bryant.
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The bold and decisive measures of the Council of Safety had
by this time begun to manifest themselves in results little anticipated
by the adherents of the royal cause in Vermont. The
latter, emboldened both by the presence of a powerful British
army on their borders, and the doubts and difficulties which, for
a while, were known to have embarrassed and rendered ineffectual
the deliberations of their opponents, had become so assured and
confident of an easy conquest, that in some sections they proceeded
openly in the work of enlistment, and in others pushed
forward their parties into the very heart of the interior, before
perceiving their error; while, by their representations at head-quarters,
they completely deceived Burgoyne and his advisers
respecting the true state of feeling that animated the bosoms of
the great mass of the people — a fact made abundantly evident,
not only by the subsequent confessions of that general, but by all
his operations at the time, and especially that of the short-sighted
expedition, which we have before shown him to have planned and
set afoot, under Peters, to the Connecticut River. It was no wonder,
therefore, that when they now suddenly discovered the whole
state in motion — armed men springing up in every glen, nook,
and corner of the Green Mountains, and concentrating to join
another no less unexpected, and no less formidable force, which
was understood to be rapidly advancing from New Hampshire —
it was no wonder they were taken wholly by surprise, and slunk
silently away to their retreats, or immediately fled to the British
army, whom they still neglected to undeceive.
It was about one week subsequent to the events last recited;
and the interim had been marked with little, as far as immediately
concerned the action of our story, and those of its personages to
whom we must now return — with very little to which pen can do
justice, except what the reader's imagination probably has already
anticipated; for though thrilling events may be described with a
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good degree of adequacy, there are yet certain states of highwrought
feeling that language can never but feebly portray. The
search for the lost maiden, on the eventful night of her capture
and escape, had been, as the reader will have inferred, as vain
and fruitless as it was agonizing to her lover, and anxious to all.
The renewal of the search next day, till afternoon, had been no
better rewarded. More force having then arrived, the tory encampment
was assailed, but found empty of occupants, who had, some
hours before, scattered and fled. Still unwilling to relinquish his
object, Woodburn, with a small party of his friends, continued his
efforts in wider ranges through the forest, which, on the third
morning, brought him to the cabin in which her most fearful
trials had occurred; when the dead wolf, the remnants of the
slain Indians, not yet wholly carried off by the foxes or returning
wolves, the guns, the torn and blood-stained earth, and, above all,
the white shreds of some part of female apparel, discolored and
scattered round the room, told a tale, that, in spite of the entreaties
of his sympathizing friends, who deemed the evidence not
yet wholly conclusive, drove the appalled lover, in a frenzy of
grief and horror, from the dreadful scene.
It was about a week, as we have said, after that night of adventure
and excitement. Three companies of the newly-enlisted
regiment of Rangers, embracing all the recruits yet raised on the
east side of the mountains, were paraded in the road before Coffin's
tavern, while their officers were standing listless on the grass
in front, and occasionally throwing inquiring glances along the
road to the east, as if awaiting some expected arrival from that
quarter. At length Woodburn, on whose brow rested an air of
gloomy sternness, advanced, and calling his sergeant and scoutmaster,
Dunning, to his side, in a low tone, imparted to him some
private order or suggestion; when the latter, beckoning from the
ranks his and the reader's old acquaintance, Bill Piper, who was
also a subaltern in the same company, the two laid aside their
guns and equipments, and proceeded leisurely down the road, the
way in which the attention of all seemed directed. After proceeding
about a quarter of a mile, they came to a turn in the
road, which, now becoming invisible from the tavern, led down a
long hill, and entered an extended piece of woods nearly another
quarter of a mile distant.
“Well,” said Dunning, here pausing and casting his eyes forward
to the woods, “they der don't seem to make their appearance
yet. I ditter think they must have halted there by the brook
to drink and rest a little; so we will stop at this point, where we
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can see both ways; and when the troops begin to show themselves,
we'll then give the signal.”
With this, they threw themselves down in the cool shade of a
tree by the way side, and, for a while, yielded themselves to that
listless, dreamy mood, which reclining in the shade, after exercise,
on a warm day, almost invariably induces.
“Dunning,” said Piper, at length rousing up a little, and drawing
from his pocket a well-filled leathern purse, which he carelessly
chinked against his upraised knee, by way of preliminary—
“Dunning, it is a mystery to me where all this stuff comes
from. Six weeks ago, it was thought there were scarcely a thousand
hard dollars, except what was in tory families, in all the
Grants. Now, there must be well on to that sum even in our own
company, every recruit having been paid his bounty and month's
advance pay, in silver or gold, on the spot. Where does it come
from?”
“From the sales of the der tory estates, of which they have
been making a clean sweep, you know,” replied the other.
“Yes, yes, we all know that, I suppose; but where do the purchasers
of these estates get the money to buy with?” rejoined
the former.
“I never ditter catechized them about it,” said the hunter,
evasively.
“Nor I,” remarked Piper; “but I have lately heard a curious
story about the matter. They say there has been a sort of homespun-looking
old fellow, that nobody seems to know, following the
commissioners of sales round, from place to place, with an old
horse and cart, seemingly loaded with wooden ware, or some such
kind of gear, for peddling; and that he has bid off a great part
of all the farms, and stock on them, which have been sold, paying
down for them on the spot in hard money, which they say he
carries about with him tied up in old stockings, and hid away in
his load of trumpery. Some mistrust he is a Jew; and some are
afraid he is a British agent, not only buying up farms, but also the
Council of Safety, who are also strangely full of money these
days.”
“That last would prove a rather ditter tough bargain for him
and his masters, I reckon,” responded the hunter, dryly.
“Yes, that is all nonsense, no doubt,” observed Piper. “But
still it is a mystery to my mind, how money, that a short time
ago was so scarce, should now all at once be so plenty; and that
was the reason I raised the question before you, who generally
know pretty near what is going on among our head men, and
who, I thought likely, could easily explain this secret.”
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“No,” said the other; “no, Bill; there might be der trouble
about that. When a state secret falls into my ears, it is not so
easy to get it out of my mouth. I've got an impediment in my
ditter speech, you know,” he added, with a slight twinkle of the
eye.
“Your mouth goes off well enough on some public matters, I
find,” remarked Piper, with an air fluctuating between a miff and
a laugh.
“Der yes, to say, for instance, that the decree to confiscate
and sell the tory estates was a ditter righteous one — has worked
like a charm — called out the rusty dollars from their hiding-places
thick as der bumblebees in June — ditter drove off the blue
devils from among the people, and raised a regiment of men in
less than three weeks!”
“Ah! and a fine regiment, too, it will be. I long to see it all
brought together, for I don't know a tenth of them — men or officers—
not even our colonel.”
“Herrick? Well, I can't der quite say I should know him
now; but he is a ditter go-ahead fellow, who loves the smell of
gunpowder nearly as well as Seth Warner himself, whose pupil
he is in the trade. We shall have the pleasure of seeing him in a
few minutes, probably, as Coffin told me he passed along here night
before last, on the way to Number Four, to come on with Stark.
That may be told without ditter mischief.”
“And so may another thing, perhaps, which I should like to
know, Dunning.”
“Der what is that, Bill?”
“Why, you know that Bart, the night after we discovered the
place where we supposed the girl was destroyed, disappeared, and
has not been here since. Where have they sent him, and what
after?”
“Piper, you are as brave as a lion, and as strong as a horse,
der doubtless; but your tongue may ditter need training, for all
that. Still, as you mean right, and will probably learn to bridle
that unruly member only by practice, I will, for once, put you to
the trial. Bart has gone a spy to the British camp. Though
Harry, in his despair, would for a while believe nothing but that
she was der dead, or worse, yet, as I and others, putting all
things together, hoped and reasoned ditter different, in part, and
thought she might not have been killed there, but retaken; and,
for fear of pursuit, hurried off directly to the British, he concluded
to despatch Bart to his friend Allen, of the Council, to take advice,
and then proceed, in some disguise or other, right into the
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lion's den — ascertain whether the girl was there — and, after
ditter learning what he could about the enemy's movements, return
with the news.”
“Well, I'll be chunked if the project wan't a bold one! But
if any creature on earth can carry it out, it is Bart; and he will,
unless they get word from this quarter that such a fellow is among
them. Ah! I now see the need of a close mouth on the subject,
and will keep one, thanking you kindly, Dunning, for your caution
and confidence.”
“It will be all right, I presume, Bill, now you perceive Bart's
neck may depend on your ditter discretion. But who have we
there?” added the speaker, pointing down the road towards the
woods.
While Dunning and Piper were thus engrossed in conversation,
two men, on foot, had emerged from the woods and approached
within a hundred yards, before attracting the attention of the former.
They were without coats, or in their shirt sleeves, as, in
common parlance, is the phrase for such undress; and, having
handkerchiefs tied round their heads, and carrying in their
hands rough sticks, picked up by the way-side, for canes, they presented
an appearance, as they leisurely came along up the
ascending road, with occasional glances back towards the woods,
that left Dunning and his companion wholly in doubt, while
attempting to decide who or what they were.
“Now, who knows,” said the wary hunter, “but they may be
der tory spies, hanging round the skirts of Stark's army, and
intending soon to be off cross-lots to the British, to report his progress.
I'll ditter banter them a little, at all hazards, before we
let 'em pass.”
But as the strangers drew near, their appearance grew less and
less like that of the ordinary footpads for whom they had been
taken; and there was something in their bearing which considerably
shook, though it did not wholly alter, the hunter's intention
to banter them. One was a strongly-built, broad-chested man,
with a high head, hardy brown features, and a countenance betokening
much cool energy and decision of character. The other
was rather less stocky, and slightly taller, of quicker motions, but
withal a prompt, resolute-looking person.
“Well, my friends,” said the former, coming up and pausing
before the expectant Rangers, with an air that seemed to challenge
conversation, “this is Coffin's tavern here ahead, I suppose. Will
the captain be pleased, think ye, to see a little company about
this time?”
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“Der yes,” replied Dunning, eyeing the speaker with a curious,
half doubtful and half quizzing expression. “Yes, if of the
right sort, he wont ditter cry, I reckon. But the captain is sometimes
rather particular — for instance, if you should happen to
be tories —”
“Tories! — do we look like tories?” demanded the former,
glancing to his companion with a droll, surprised look.
“Why der no,” replied the hunter, a little abashed, “I ditter
think not.”
“Well, I had hoped not,” rejoined the man. “But who are
you, my friend — one of the Green Mountain Boys, that we hear
so much about?”
“Not far from the mark, sergeant, or commissary, or whatever
is your ditter title; for you belong to the army that's at hand, I
take it?” said Dunning.
“O, yes,” briskly returned the other, again looking at his companion,
and joining him in a merry laugh. “Yes, I am one of
them, and mean to have a hand in stirring up Burgoyne, when
we reach him, I assure you.”
“That's right, commissary!” exclaimed Dunning. “You are
a der chap of some pluck, I'll warrant it. I begin to ditter like
you. What shall I call your name, friend?”
“My name is John Stark, if you will allow,” replied the stranger,
with an amused look.
“John Stark? Why, that's your der general's name!” said
the hunter, incredulously. “Come, come, friend, you are ditter
gumming me. I have seen John Stark — Captain Stark, that was
then — now general — the same that was bought back by our
folks for a white pony — ditter dog cheap, too, as the British
will find, before he is der done with them, or I mistake the
amount of fight that's in the critter, amazingly.”*
“Thank you, sir!” heartily exclaimed the former, now evidently
as much gratified as amused at what he heard. “In behalf
of that same John Stark, I thank you, sir, for your good
opinion of him. But where, my good fellow,” he continued, with
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a look of lively interest, “where did you ever fall in with Captain
Stark?”
“Why, in the old war, when he der marched through here with
Colonel Hawk, I ditter acted as the colonel's guide over the
mountains to Otter Creek. Stark, as I've said, was one of the
captains, though I wasn't much with him, to be sure,” replied the
hunter, becoming more doubtful and puzzled every moment, at
the turn matters were taking.
“Ah! yes, yes, — our hunter guide on that rough march! I
remember now. Well, well, the fault is not wholly on one side,
after all!” said the other, musingly.
“Der — der — ditter how? der — ditter —” began Dunning,
opening his eyes with an uneasy stare.
“This is General Stark, my boys,” here quickly interposed the
other gentleman. “I see by your badges that you belong to the
Rangers. I am your colonel, Herrick, and this the general himself,
who, by way of relief from a long ride in the saddle, threw
off his uniform, like myself, down in the woods yonder, and
walked on, while the troops were halting to refresh a moment, and
recover from the effects of their march in this scalding heat, before
they made their appearance at your rendezvous. They will
now be on the move shortly.”
“Der — der — ditter —” cried the confused hunter, rising hurriedly
to his feet, and lifting his cap, in a tremor of respectful
deprecation, before the general, while his tongue began to trip
and fly in the vain attempt to get out an apology — “der — der—
ditter — ditter — ditter —”
“Never mind, my brave fellow!” exclaimed Stark, with a
hearty slap on the other's shoulder; “never mind a mistake so
naturally growing out of our unmilitary guise. No offence, even
had your remarks been less pleasant. But you, sir! — why, you
have paid me the greatest compliment I ever had in my life!”
“No — no offence whatever to either of us,” added Herrick.
“But yonder come the columns of our friends and helpers from
New Hampshire. If you are here to give notice of their approach,
as I suppose, make the signal, and back to your post. And here,
general,” he continued, pointing to two fine-looking and gayly caparisoned
horses, now led up by waiters, with the coats, swords,
sashes, and great military cocked hats of the denuded officers
swinging on their arms — “here, general, come our horses and
uniforms. Let us rig up before a worse mistake shall befall us.”
With a curious mixture of chagrin and gratification at what had
just occurred, the two Rangers now made the appointed signal, and
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hurried back to join their companions in arms at the tavern. And
in a few minutes, the fine little brigade of the hardy and resolute
New Hampshire Boys, headed by their intrepid leader, now
equipped in imposing regimentals, and mounted on his curvetting
charger, came pouring along the plain in all the pomp of martial
array, and were received by the customary military salutes, and
the reiterated cheers of their congenial welcomers of the Green
Mountains.
The hour that succeeded was a bustling and a joyous one.
The greetings, the introductions, the mutual compliments for deeds
done at Ticonderoga and Bunker Hill, and the merry jokes given
and taken, as the mingling forces partook of the good cheer prepared
for the whole at the expense of the public or patriotic individuals,
together with the strong community of feeling that agitated
their bosoms in view of a common object to be accomplished,
and common dangers to be encountered, — all combined
to render the scene one of no ordinary interest and animation. At
length, the drums of the different companies began to beat to arms,
and the soldiers were seen gathering at their respective stands, preparatory
to the march of the combined forces across the mountains.
At this juncture, a single horseman came galloping along the
road from the west; and, the next moment, Ira Allen, the active
and untiring secretary of the Council of Safety, with a countenance
betokening good or exciting news, rode up to the door,
and, throwing himself from the saddle, turned to receive the
greetings of his acquaintances gathering round him. With a significant
look and gesture to Woodburn to follow, he led the way
to an unoccupied room, at length found in the crowded tavern.
“What news do you bring, Mr. Allen?” said Woodburn, with
an effort at calmness, as soon as the two were by themselves.
“That which will scatter the blackest part of that cloud on
your brow, I trust, my dear fellow,” replied Allen, with an animated
and exulting air. “Here, look at this!” he added, pulling
out and presenting a small and closely-folded letter.
With trembling eagerness, Woodburn seized the missive, and,
with a glance at the well-known hand of the superscription, “To
Captain Woodburn, or Mr. Allen, of the Council,” opened it, and
read as follows: —
“I am at the British head-quarters — not exactly a prisoner,
but evidently a closely-watched personage, having reached here,
with my captors, after a forced and fatiguing journey, which,
however, was not made unpleasant by any disrespectful
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treatment. Although the party, to whom I became a prisoner, have
been frightened back or recalled, and the expedition, of which
they were the advance, given up, yet I think it my duty to say,
that another, and much more formidable one, is in agitation against
Bennington. I hope our people will be prepared for it, and
show these haughty Britons that they do not deserve the name of
the undisciplined rabble of poltroons and cowards by which I here
daily hear them branded.
S. H.”
We will not attempt to describe the emotions of Woodburn on
the occasion. But the letter disclosed that which involved more
momentous interests than those merely that concerned the individual
feelings of a lover. And it was soon concluded to lay it
before General Stark, who, with Colonel Herrick, was then called
in, the letter shown, and all the attending circumstances, past and
present, so far as concerned the public to know, fully explained.
Mean while the troops were drawn up, in marching order, before
the tavern, and stood wondering why their general did not
appear, or, at least, give order for the column to move onward.
At length, however, the long expected leader, attended by
those with whom he had been in consultation, made his appearance
at the door, and ordered the horses of those who were to
travel mounted to be led forward.
“There's something more than common on John Stark's mind,”
whispered a tall New Hampshire Boy, to his fellow in the ranks.
“See how his eyes snap! I am an old neighbor of his, you know,
and can read him like a book. I shouldn't be surprised if we
heard from him soon; for he an't one of those that like to keep
chawing on a thing that makes him feel, but wants to out with it,
and always will, unless he has good reason for a close mouth.
Yes, I'll bet a goose we hear from him before we start.”
The speaker had conjectured rightly. Stark was heard to say
to Allen, —
“Mount and ride along against the centre there, sir, where you
can best be heard. We must have it; for, besides preparing
their minds for what they probably must soon meet, it will make
a battle cry for your boys and mine as potent, for aught we can
tell, as was the name of Joan of Arc among the Frenchmen.
The officers, with Allen, then sprung into their saddles; and as
the latter reached his allotted post, and faced round to the lines,
the general commanded attention, and added, —
“My men, let me introduce you to Mr. Allen, the patriotic
secretary of the Vermont Council of Safety, and say that I hold
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myself voucher for the truth of what he shall tell you. Listen to
his communication.”
The secretary, now bowing respectfully to the attentive and
already prepossessed ranks before him, began by saying that
among the recreant few of any note in the Green Mountains, who
had basely deserted their country and joined the enemy, there
was one who had a daughter of whom he was wholly unworthy.
The speaker then proceeded to relate Miss Haviland's noble stand
for the American cause, from which she was not to be allured or
driven by all the inducements and menaces held out by a tory
father and lover, both of whom had received royal commissions —
her absolute refusal to go with them, on their late departure for
the British army, and her more recent capture and abduction,
while on her way to her friends, by the probable instigation of the
rejected lover, and with the connivance, perhaps, of the father; all
of which was concluded by reading the letter just received, it was
added, by a trusty messenger, who had gone in disguise to the
enemy's camp to receive it, and who had now returned to keep
open the important communication.
“Men of New Hampshire!” now cried Stark, in a loud, animated
voice, as with flashing eyes he glanced over the throng of
upturned and excited faces before him, “is it any wonder the
Green Mountain Boys are so gallant and brave in fighting for
their wives and sweethearts, when such is a specimen? Will
you join them in defence of their homes and country, and help
fulfil this matchless girl's expectations when we meet that taunting
foe at Bennington, as by God's favor we will? If so, then
let it now be told in three cheers for the good cause, and as many
more as you please for The Tory's Daughter!”
The next instant, as the bidden drummers brought their sticks
to the bounding parchment of their instruments with blows that
seemingly would have thrown their arms from their shoulders, a
thousand men were seen leaping wildly into the air, and giving
their patriotic response in a round of cheers that rent the ringing
heavens above, and shook the startled wilderness for miles around
them.
“Order in the ranks!” at length broke in the deep, stern voice
of the general, as the last cheer was dying away. “Prepare to
march! March!”
And the excited troops could scarcely be kept in their places,
as, with the stirring strains of lively fife and rattling drum, they
went rushing and pouring along on their way to the seat of war.
eaf721n9* When General Stark was exposed for sale in Montreal, by the Indians,
by whom he had been captured in the French war, and some of
his countrymen were trying in vain to make his savage master set a price
on him, an English gentleman happened to ride by on a handsome white
pony, which so greatly struck the Indian's fancy, that, pointing after the
coveted animal, he exclaimed, “Ah! ugh! me take that you get him.”
Whereupon the gentleman was followed, the pony purchased, and, with
it, the captive Stark redeemed.
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CHAPTER IX.
“In dreams the haughty Briton bore
The trophies of a conqueror.”
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The scene of our story changes to the vicinity of the Hudson,
to which the eyes of millions were now turned as the theatre
of approaching events, on which hung, perhaps, the great issue
of the American revolution. Although both parties seemed to
look upon the matter at stake as one of immense magnitude, yet
far different were the views and feelings which, at this time, pervaded
the two opposing armies. The British, flushed by their
successes, and confident in that strength before which every opposing
obstacle had thus far given way, were looking down with
little other than absolute contempt on the American forces in
their front, believing them wholly incapable, either from numbers
or courage, of opposing any serious resistance to their march,
when they chose to move forward. And here thus lay their
proud and infatuated chief for weeks, dreaming of coronets,
frittering away the time in feasting with his officers, and indulging
himself and them in all the follies which characterized their
gay and licentious camp. On the other hand, the Americans,
deeply sensible of the consequence of suffering their enemies to
effect their contemplated junction at Albany, were vigilant, active,
and determined. Though firmly resolved to dispute the way of
the invader to the death when they must, they yet preferred, for
a while, the policy of embarrassing and impeding him, rather
than openly exposing themselves to his attacks. Whole brigades
were therefore employed in the work of destroying the bridges,
blocking up the roads with fallen trees, and putting every possible
obstruction in the way of his advance, so that his delay, where he
now lay at Fort Ann, might be protracted till a sufficient force
could be gathered to meet him with a more reasonable hope of
success.
And every hour that hope waxed stronger and stronger. Every
day brought fresh accessions of strength to their self-devoted
bands, and every gale wafted to their gladdened ears the sounds
of the warlike preparations of an aroused and indignant people
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gathering from afar to the rescue; and they began to breathe
more freely while they thought, as with trembling solicitude
they still did, of the fearful meeting that must now soon follow.
At the time which we have selected for opening the scene
that forms the next connecting link in the chain of our tale,
although the road had been at length opened, and a few detachments
thrown forward to the Hudson, the main part of the British
army still lay at Fort Ann; where their long lines of tents,
marked, at intervals, by the colors of the different regiments
flying from their slender flagstaffs, were now seen stretching,
a city of canvas, over the plain. A little apart from this imposing
array stood a small number of dwelling-houses of different
sizes, irregularly scattered along on both sides of the road
towards the south, over the largest of which floated the broad
British flag, proclaiming it the head-quarters of the commanderin-chief.
The next, in size and commodiousness, among these
various structures, — all now occupied by the general officers and
other favored personages of the army, — was a large, low farmhouse,
which the intermingling devices of the British and Hanoverian
flags, conspicuously displayed from the roof, denoted to
be the quarters of General Reidesel, suite, and well-known family.
This last building seemed now to be the principal point of attraction.
Gayly dressed officers and ladies were seen entering the doors, or
standing inside at the open windows; while the sounds of the
familiar greetings, lively sallies, and merry laughter of the assembled
and assembling company, sufficiently indicated the convivial
character of the scene about to be enacted within. Let us
enter. Around a long and richly-furnished table, in the principal
apartment, were just seated those who deemed themselves the
élite of that boastful army. Its notorious chief, the weak and
wise, vain-glorious and energetic Burgoyne, occupied the post
of honor, at the head, and the fair hostess, the amiable, learned,
and vivacious Countess of Reidesel, the foot of the table; while,
at the sides, were ranged, according to the prevailing notions
of precedence, the variously-ranked individuals composing the
rest of the company, among whom, with other officers of less
note, were Generals Reidesel and Frazier, Major Ackland and
his devoted wife, together with several Americans, including the
elated Esquire Haviland and his beautiful daughter. The latter,
who, sorely against her inclinations, had been prevailed on, or
rather constrained, by her father to attend him to the entertainment,
was seated by the side of Lady Ackland, to whom she
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seemed shrinkingly to cling as a sort of shield against the free
glances she was compelled to encounter from the eyes of those
whom it was there counted treason to repulse.
The feast proceeded. With the constant bandying of compliment,
joke, and repartee, among the merry and self-satisfied lordlings
who assumed the right of engrossing the conversation,
course after course came and passed in rapid succession, till a
sufficient variety of viands and other substantial esculents had
been served to warrant the introduction of the lighter delicacies
of the dessert. But still there seemed to be a saving of appetite,
a looking for some expected dish that had not yet made its appearance,
on the part of several of the guests, and especially
on that of the pompous votary of Mars, who had been installed
master of the ceremonies, and who at length ventured to say, —
“I had looked, my lady hostess, to have seen, ere this, among
your many other delectables, the fulfilment of your ladyship's
promise gracing the table, in the shape of the blackbird pie,
wherewith we were to be regaled, at your entertainment, if your
polite note of invitation was rightly read and interpreted.”
“O, the blackbird pie!” replied the countess, with a sprightly
air and a charming touch of the German brogue. “I was waiting
to be reminded of that; for there is a condition, which I wish
to propose to your excellency, before the promised extra can make
its appearance.”
“Ah! What is that, my incomparable cateress?” asked the
former.
“Why, only that you carve and serve the pie to the company
yourself, mon general,” archly replied the countess.
“A challenge to your chivalry, general, which no true knight
can refuse to accept,” cried Frazier and others.
“I yield me, and accede to the condition,” said Burgoyne,
gracefully waving his jewelled hand, and joining in the general
laugh.
“It is well,” said the countess, with a finely-assumed air of
mock gravity, as she raised her exquisite little table bell, which
now, under her rapidly-plied fingers, sent its sharp jingle through
the house.
The next moment, a liveried servant, whose countenance
seemed slyly gleaming with some suppressed merriment, was
seen advancing with a broad, deep dish, tastefully crowned by
the swelling crust of snow-white pastry, which tightly enclosed
the supposed contents beneath.
At a motion of the indicating finger of the hostess, the
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tempting dish was brought forward, and carefully placed on the table
before the many-titled carver, amid a shower of compliments to
the distinguished artificer of so fine an edible structure, from him
and many others of the admiring company. The general now
rose, and, intent only on a dexterous performance of the duties
of his new vocation, gave a preliminary flourish of knife and
fork, and dashed into the middle of the pie; when lo! through
the rent thus made in the imprisoning crust, out flew half a scoro
of live blackbirds, which, fluttering up and scattering over the
dodging heads of the astonished guests, made for the open windows,
and escaped, with loud chirping cries, to their native
meadows! At first, a slight exclamation from the gentlemen, a
half shriek from the ladies, then a momentary pause, and then
one universal burst of uproarious laughter, followed this strange
dénouement of the little plot of the playful countess. She, it
appeared, had engaged a fowler to bring her a couple of dozens
of blackbirds, which, by a net, he had taken, and brought to her
alive; when, keeping part as they were, she contrived up the
scheme to amuse and surprise her guests here described, and,
slaying the rest, made of them a veritable pie, that was now
brought forward, and partaken, with great gusto, by the delighted
company.
At length the cloth was removed, and the table replenished
with bottles and glasses. Then followed the usual round of
toasts — “the health of the king,” — “the invincibility of British
arms,” — “success to the present expedition,” — and, with many
a deriding epithet, “confusion to the rebels and their ragged army.”
“Fill, gentlemen,” said Burgoyne, after the subjects above
named had been sufficiently exhausted — “fill up your glasses
once more; for, in descanting on the public responsibilities and
glory of the soldier, let us not be unmindful of those private felicities
which are to reward his prowess. I give you,” he added,
with a significant glance at our heroine — “I give you, ladies and
gentlemen, the health and happiness of our two loyal American
officers, Colonel Peters and Captain Jones, the prospective bridegrooms
of the double wedding of to-morrow, extremely regretting
that both of the fair participants of the happy occasion, instead of
one, are not here to give the beautiful response of their blushes to
the sentiment.”
As the lively applause with which this toast was received and
drank was subsiding, the ladies, to the great relief of the astonished
and confused Miss Haviland, now rose and retired to
another apartment. Here, pleading some excuse for an
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immediate departure, Sabrey hurried out through a back way, and
escaped unperceived to her father's quarters, a small adjoining
cottage, where she had lodged since his arrival in camp, and
where she now secluded herself, to endeavor to fathom the plot
which the unexpected and unwarranted announcement just indirectly
made, together with some other circumstances of recent
occurrence, plainly told was in progress to insnare her.
But it may here be necessary, for a clear understanding of
some things which have preceded and others which may follow,
to revert briefly to the experience of the luckless maiden since
placed in her present uncongenial and embarrassing position.
When Miss Haviland, on the termination of her compulsory
journey, arrived at the outposts of the British army, she was conducted,
by the order of some one evidently apprised of her coming,
immediately to her father's quarters. The old gentleman, at the
somewhat awkward meeting that now took place between them,
seemed both surprised and gratified at seeing her there; and
though his manner betrayed a sort of guilty embarrassment,
arising, perhaps, from the consciousness of his former harshness
to her, he yet at once, and pointedly, disclaimed having had any
agency in her abduction, which he laid to the chances of war; to
which, he contended, her perverse and unadvised conduct had
been the means of exposing her. Peters, also, who soon made
his appearance, joined in the disclaimer; and tendering some
empty apologies for what had happened, which, he said, grew
out of the mistake of a subordinate officer in construing an order
in relation to taking hostages from the enemy, in certain cases,
offered to convey her back, if she chose it, as soon as found consistent
with her safety. The offer, however, was never repeated;
and his own conduct very soon belied his assertions, and convinced
her of the truth of her suspicions from the first, that he
was the sole instigator of the outrage she had received, and that
it was still his purpose to detain her and keep her in a position
which would enable him the more effectually to prosecute his
designs; for although in the few formal calls he continued to
make at the house, he never pressed his suit, but seemed rather
to avoid the subject, as if determined to afford her no opportunity
to repeat her former refusals, she yet quickly perceived that he
was busy at his intrigues to bring about, by the agency of others,
and by secret management, what by himself, or by any open
and honorable means, he despaired of accomplishing. All this,
from day to day, unfolded itself in the renewed importunities
and reproaches of her father, the added entreaties of Jones, the
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lover of Miss McRea, then soon expected in the British camp to
be married, in the reports which had been put in circulation to
place her in a false light, — that of a perverse and coquettish
girl, — in the efforts made to force her into social parties, where
the opinions of all were obviously forestalled, and especially in
the contrived introductions she was compelled to undergo to those
who had evidently been enlisted as intercessors, among whom
were some whose ambiguous conduct often greatly annoyed, and,
at times, even filled her bosom with perplexity and alarm.
Such was the position of the unhappy girl at the time of her
reluctant attendance as one of the guests of the merry party we
have described. Although annoyed, sickened, and disgusted at
what she had daily witnessed, and vexed and indignant at the contemptible
artifices and intrigues of Peters, which, however intended,
were beginning to be the means of exposing her to new
trials, yet, till what took place at that party, she had entertained no
serious apprehension that any attempt would be made to coerce
her into a marriage which she had so decidedly repudiated.
But the announcement which had just been so strangely made,
coming as it did from so powerful a personage, and one, at the
same time, whose equivocal behavior, when she had casually met
him, had excited her deepest aversion, now gave her to understand
that such an attempt was indeed about to be made by the
assumed arbiters of her fate, and that her resistance to the contemplated
scheme, should she be able to make one against the
overawing influence that was about to be brought to bear upon
her, and even her acquiescence, she feared, was to be followed by
persecutions, from the thought of which she shrunk with dismay.
She might have taken that announcement, perhaps, as a mere
ruse, as in part it really was, got up to place her in a predicament
in which most females would yield rather than become the principal
actor in the scene that would follow further resistance; or
she might have viewed the whole as a contemptible fabrication,
but for a circumstance of that morning's occurrence. Captain
Jones had called and apprised her that he was about sending an
escort to Fort Edward for his betrothed, informed her that the
next morning was appointed for his wedding, and concluded by
making his last appeal to induce her to consent to be united to
Peters at the same time.
And it was this occurrence, in connection with the former, that
had so thoroughly alarmed her.
While pondering on the means and chances of escaping the
threatened destiny, she perceived from her window that the
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company at Reidesel's had broken up, and were scattering to their
respective quarters. And presently her father entered her room,
and after announcing that he had been honored by the commander-in-chief
with a mission to Skenesboro', from which he
should not be able to return till late at night, presented her a
sealed billet, and immediately departed. With a trembling hand
she opened the suspected missive and read, —
“Miss Haviland will pardon the mistake involved in the sentiment
delivered at Lady Reidesel's table. Its author, however,
cannot but think that the full arrangement which he had supposed
to have been already settled may still be effected in season. And
he therefore proposes, if Miss H. will permit, a call for friendly
intercession, at twilight this evening.”
With a flushed and flashing countenance the offended maiden
instantly sprang to her feet, and paced the room several minutes
in silent agitation. Her naturally mild spirit was at length evidently
aroused for some decided action; and the manner in which
it was to be commenced appeared soon to be determined in her
mind.
“Ay, and the step, as bold as it may be, shall first be taken,” she
said, as, preparing to leave the house, her burning thoughts began
to press for utterance. “Ay, if it will not avail me, in bringing
aid to escape from this den of iniquity, or protection to remain,
it shall, at least, serve as a proclamation of villany, which shall
yet be heard in every house and hamlet of the American people!”
The next moment she was in the street; and, with hurried step,
making her way to General Reidesel's quarters. Instantly seeking
a private interview with the readily assenting countess, she
frankly and without reserve told the whole story of her wrongs,
and implored assistance in escaping the toils that had been spread
for her, or, at least, the protecting shield of an influence which
should enable her to withstand them. And the effect of her
forceful recital soon showed her that she had not over-estimated
the discernment and magnanimity of the noble lady she was addressing.
“Well, that is right, my bonny rebel, as they call you!” said
the countess, encouragingly. “And it is the spirit in a woman
which I like, and which I will have no hand in repressing. Yes,
I see clearly, now, what I half suspected before — the man who had
you brought here, where he could more surely noose you, is repugnant
even to the misery; and some of those he has been fool
enough to enlist as intercessors, are still more dreaded. Ah!
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wicked, wicked Briton! But, do you know, he is king here;
and that it is treason to talk, and worse treason to try to thwart
him?”
“I have greatly feared so, my lady.”
“What, then, do you propose to do, wherein I could befriend
you?”
“Leave the army before night.”
“Have you a carriage at command, and a protector?”
“I have, strictly speaking, neither, madam.”
“Then how can you go?”
“On foot, and alone, unless I chance to engage one to attend
me in the character of a servant.”
“You are a brave one, my young lady. But they will be likely
to detain you at the outposts.”
“I had supposed so, and therefore came here with the hope
that, after you had heard my story, you might be moved to prevail
on your husband to give me a pass.”
“O girl, girl! No, no, he would not dare to do it, after finding
out the cause, which he must first know,” exclaimed the lady, in
a tone of kindly remonstrance. “He would dare do no such thing.
But I would, in such a case; indeed I would! And, stay, let
me see!” she continued, rising and opening the general's desk.
“Here are several passes which he keeps for occasions of hurry,
all signed off and ready, except inserting the name of the bearer.
O, what shall I do? I am tempted to write your name in one,
and trust to your honor and shrewdness to shield me, in case of
your failure, from exposure and blame.”
“Will your hand-writing be acknowledged, madam?”
“O, yes, I don't hesitate on that account; for I often fill up
the general's passes under his direction.”
“O, then, dear madam, as I know you would do by a daughter,
do by me — trust to my discretion, and hesitate no longer.”
The good-hearted countess soon yielded, and our heroine, with
tears of gratitude, mutely imprinted a farewell kiss on her cheek,
and departed with the coveted pass in her pocket.
When Miss Haviland reached her chamber, she seated herself
by an open, but partially curtained window, where, unseen herself,
she could easily note what was passing in the street below,
to which her attention seemed somewhat anxiously directed. She
had been but a few minutes at her post of observation, before she
was apprised, by the hooting of boys, and the gibes and laughter
of the idling soldiers, with whom the street, at this hour, was
commonly thronged, that some unusual spectacle was
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approaching. And peering forward through the folds of the curtains, she
beheld, amidst a slowly-advancing crowd, a meanly-clad, simplelooking
country youth, wearing a ragged broad-brim, and mounted
on an unsightly, donkey-like beast, whose long tail and mane
were stuck full of briers, and whose hair, lying in every direction,
seemed besmeared with mange and dirt; all combining
to give both horse and rider a most ungainly and poverty-struck
appearance. The fellow was trying to peddle apples, which he
carried in an old pair of panniers swung across his pony's back,
and which seemed to be bought mostly by the boys, who with
them were pelting him and his cringing pony, to the great mirth
of the bystanders. While the crowd, and the object of their attention,
were thus engaged, at a little distance, an officer, who was
passing, paused near the house, and, calling a couple of soldiers
to his side, said to them, —
“Keep your eyes on that fellow with the scurvy pony yonder,
and if you notice any thing suspicious in his movements, arrest
him. It appears to me I have seen him in almost too many
places to-day.”
An expression of concern passed over Sabrey's countenance,
as she heard these words, and she gave an involuntary glance to
the object thus pointed out, who, as she thought from his appearance,
had also heard the order himself, or at least guessed its
import. But instead of making off, as she expected, he spurred
up his pony, and, coming directly up to the officer, asked him,
with an air of confiding simplicity, to buy some of his apples,
which he said were “eny most ripe, and grand for pies.”
“Who are you, fellow?” said the officer, without heeding the
other's request.
“Who I be? I am Jo Wilkins. But aint you going to buy
some of the apples?” persisted the former.
“Blast your apples!” impatiently replied the officer; “that
is not what I want of you. Where do you live?”
“Up in the edge of Arlington, when I'm tu hum — next house
to uncle Jake's great burnt piece there, you know,” answered
the other; “but these ap —”
“Whom are you for? King or Congress?” interrupted the
officer.
“Who be Congus? I don't know him,” said the former, with
a doubtful stare.
“Well, then, whom do you fight for?” resumed the somewhat
mollified officer.
“Don't fight for nobody tu our house, — cause dad's a
Quaker — but then if you'd buy —”
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“Yes, yes; but you must tell me, honestly, what you came
here for to-day, and who sent you, my lad.”
“Why, dad sent me to sell the apples, cause he wants the
money to buy some rye with. But I've been all round, and aint
sell'd half, they kept bothering me so. And now its time to go
hum, and nobody won't buy 'em!” said the speaker, with a
doleful tone, and evident signs of snivelling.
“Well, well, my honest lad,” responded the commiserating
and now satisfied officer; “don't mind it — nobody wants to
harm you. There is half a crown to pay you for my part of the
bothering.”
“Why, you going to buy 'em all?” eagerly asked the other,
as, with a grin of delight, he clutched the precious metal.
“No, no,” said the former, kindly. “I don't wish for any of
your apples — they are too green, though they may do for
cooking. You would be most likely to sell them in some of these
houses.”
“Well, now, I vown! I never thought of that! jest's likely's
not I mought, you!” exclaimed the fellow, brightening up.
“Good mind to go right straight into this ere house and try it —
will, by golly!” he added, leaping nimbly from his pony, swinging
his panniers on his arm, and hurrying off round for the back
door.
“Don't molest the poor simpleton any more, but disperse to
your quarters,” said the officer, now waving his ratan to the
scattering crowd; and resuming his walk up the street.
Waiting no longer than to hear this order, and see that it was
about to be obeyed by the crowd, Sabrey hurried down to the
kitchen, where she encountered the object of her solicitude
standing within the door, holding up the half crown between the
fingers of one hand, and snapping those of the other, with a look
that needed no interpreting.
“Your disguise, Bart,” said the maiden, looking at the other
with a smile — “your disguise is so perfect, or rather, the new
character, in which you this time appear, has been so well acted,
that had it not been the afternoon you set for your third appearance,
I should have never known you. I think you make a better
Quaker boy than you did a crazy man last time, or buffoon and
tumbler the first one. But what have you been able to gather,
to-day?”
“Pretty much all that's afoot, guess. The movement on
Bennington is begun. Peters's corps of tories and Indians have
gone on to Cambridge; and he, who is off to the lake, to-day, to
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consult with Skene and others about the expedition, is to follow,
some time to-morrow, as is the German regiment picked out for
the service. Got at it all, think?”
“Nearly. It is the plan, however, I understand, that when
the stores are secured at Bennington, the troops are to proceed to
Manchester, make prisoners of all the Council of Safety, and
others of the principal men whom they can find, and return
through Arlington.”
“They've got to get there, first, guess, and then catch 'em
afterwards. But have you fixed out a letter about that and other
things, ready for me to take? I'm aching to be off with the
news.”
“No, Bart. I have just discovered plots to entrap me that have
made me resolve to die before I will remain here any longer.
My old persecutor, and others a thousand times more powerful,
are in league against me.”
“The girl that killed the wolf would stand the racket against
big bugs and all, rather guess, if she tried it. Don't know, though,
being about woman matters so.”
“Ay, sir, to a woman there are human monsters more terrible
than all the wolves of the forest. And I am determined on attempting
to escape from this place without another hour's delay;
with you, if you will permit.”
“Yes, glad to go into it; and by Captain Harry's request, I
was a going to propose the same thing myself, even without your
new reasons. But this getting you off before dark, which you
name, may be rather ticklish, miss. How did you think to
manage it?”
“Look at this, sir!” said Sabrey, exhibiting her permit by
way of reply. “Signed by a man whose authority, I think, will
not be questioned, and allowing me, with my servant, to pass
through the lines to my friends in the country. I engage you
to act as that servant, Bart.”
“I vags, now, if that aint lucky!” exclaimed the former,
with glistening eyes. “Yes, lucky enough, whether it come by
ploughing with heifers or steers. But, let's see a bit, though.
How will my turning servant to a lady, all at once, tally with
the stories I've been telling, — that is, till we get beyond all who
heard 'em? Don't know about that. But look here, miss!” he
added, beckoning the other to the window. “Do you see that
tall old pine, standing alone, nearly in a line with the road, a
mile or so off there, at the south?”
“Yes, very clearly.”
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“Well, that tree, which is beyond, and out of sight of the last
pickets, stands near a house where a widow woman lives, who
washes fine clothes for some of the officers, but wants to keep in
with all sides, and so asks no questions and tells no stories. My
saddle and fixings are hard by there, in the bushes. Now, suppose
I go on there alone, and be scrubbing up Lightfoot, and
feeding her with these apples, to pay her for playing Quaker so
well. Can you get on to that place by the help of the pass, and
tell straight stories, if questioned, about your servant being at the
wash-woman's, fixing things?”
“If you think it wisest, as it may be, I will try, and be there
within an hour, if not detained. If I am, do not desert me, Bart,
but return to this kitchen at dusk.”
“Agreed! But you'll go it without the ifs, I reckon,” said
Bart, swinging his panniers to his shoulder, and departing with
full confidence in his ability to effect an escape perilous to
them both, but made much more so to him by the new charge he
had so cheerfully undertaken.
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CHAPTER X.
“But a gloom fell o'er their way,
A fearful wail went by.”
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Fortunately for Miss Haviland, all those who had been
enlisted to act as spies upon her movements happened, that
afternoon, to be absent, or busily engaged in a quarter of the
encampment from which all view of her proposed path of escape
was intercepted by intervening buildings. Much to her relief,
therefore, on setting out on her perilous journey, she was permitted
to pass forward through the street unquestioned, and without
exciting any particular observation. And when she arrived at
the outpost, the soldier on duty, with a bare glance at her offered
pass, respectfully motioned her to proceed on her way. A short
walk then brought her to the house to which she had been
directed; and here, finding every thing in readiness, she immediately
mounted the now strangely-improved pony, and, with her
trusty attendant on foot, set forward, at a quick pace, in the main
road leading from the lake to Fort Edward. Their way was now
mostly through a deep forest, and over a road which every where
exhibited evidence with what perseverance and skill the Americans
had labored to destroy and block it up, and with what incredible
exertions it had been reopened by their opponents, wholly
untaught in the easiest modes of accomplishing the Herculean
task. In some places, long causeys over miry morasses had
been entirely torn up, and every log of which they were composed
drawn off beyond the means of recovery; and, in others, streams
had been dammed up, causing extensive overflows, or turned from
their natural channels, and thus made to wash out impassable
gulfs. Every bridge had disappeared, and all the surrounding
timber rendered useless for constructing more; while, for mile
after mile, one continued mass of gnarled and crooked trees,
here pitched together in seemingly inextricable tangles, and there
piled mountains high, had been felled into the road, which even
now had scarcely been made passable by the toiling thousands
who, for weeks, had been employed upon it. In consequence
of this, and the time spent in making circuits round in the woods,
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to avoid parties of the enemy, who were seasonably discovered
by the wary guide to be still at work, in several places, in trying
to improve some of the worst portions of the road, the progress
of our heroine was slow and toilsome. And it was not till after
a dreary and fatiguing ride of several hours, that she and her
attendant began to emerge into the more open country bordering
the Hudson.
“Now, miss,” said Bart, falling in by the side of the maiden,
and speaking in a low, cautionary tone — “now we are coming
out on to the river, and at a spot that I feel kinder shyish of.”
“On what account, Bart?” asked the other, with a glance
of concern.
“Well, it's for a reason I have, and then one or two more on
top of that,” replied the former, with his usual indirectness. “In
the first place, it is a sort of a torified neighborhood about there,
which may hold those more likely to mistrust and snap us up,
than the regular-built enemy, who may, some of 'em, be there
too, likely; as a regiment, or so, have already gone on, by this
same road, to Fort Edward, which is not a great ways beyond.”
“Is there no way to avoid going through the place?” asked
Sabrey.
“That is what I'm thinking about,” replied Bart, musing.
“But one thing is certain, you must be got somewhere, and a
little reconnoitring be done, before we try to go through or
round the pesky place. Now, here on the left is a pine thicket,
that reaches along, and comes to a point, very near this Sandy
Hill place, as they call it; and by entering the woods, and keeping
on in a line with the road, we both might gain a spot, in that
point, where we could safely see enough of what is going on
there to judge of the rest.”
“I am unacquainted with the locality, and the character of the
inhabitants, and shall, therefore, be wholly guided by you,” responded
Sabrey, reining up in compliance with the motions,
rather than the words, of the other. “But what means have
you had of ascertaining what you suggest respecting the
place?”
“Why, I came this route the last spying trip I made,” replied
the former; “and being afoot — crazy folks don't ride, you
know — I kinder naturally kept going back and forward, and
calling at places on the road to inquire for swamp angels, or blue
dogs I had lost, or some sich-like whimseys, till I managed to find
out who and what lived in most every house, all the way to
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Bennington. It is a tory concern of a place, and a sort of rendezvous
for those running away from our parts. One fellow, of the
last sort, came plaguy nigh knowing me; and would, forzino,
if I hadn't suddenly gone into a fit, to screw my features out
of his acquaintance. Yes, we may as well be turning in here, I
am thinking.”
In accordance with the plan just suggested, Miss Haviland now
turned her willing steed, and plunged directly into the dark forest
bordering the road on the left. Here following her guide, who
kept some rods in advance to select and point out the places
affording the most feasible route through the thick undergrowth,
she slowly, and with no little personal inconvenience, made her
way forward in the proposed direction, till she at length succeeded
in reaching the desired station, which was the top of a low,
woody bluff, commanding, from some portions of it, a near and
distinct view of the hamlet, in the opening below, of which the
intended reconnoissance was to be made. Bart, now assisting
the maiden to dismount, and directing her attention to a mossy
hillock at hand, as an eligible seat or bed for resting herself,
turned the pony loose to crop the bushes, and disappeared to
commence his observations. In a few minutes he returned, and,
having reported the discovery of a safe and easy route for passing
to the east of the public road, as far as it might be necessary
to avoid it, proceeded to reconnoitre the houses below. And
taking a well-screened seat on a log, lying on the verge of the
bluff, he looked long and intently.
“Well, sir, what discoveries are you making there?” at length
asked Sabrey, wondering at his prolonged silence.
“Why, nothing very alarming, be sure,” replied the other.
“The place looks as if it was deserted, except one house; but
there's something going on about that which I don't somehow
seem to understand. Suppose you throw a few of those evergreen
vines near you over your head and shoulders, to prevent
your dress from attracting notice, and come here to help me read
out the puzzle.”
In compliance with the unexpected suggestion, the maiden
instantly rose, and, preparing herself, as directed, cautiously
advanced and seated herself at his side. The road they had
recently quitted was in plain view, a little distance to the right,
and continued distinctly visible as it swept round towards the
broad Hudson, whose tranquil surface was gleaming with the
reflected brightness of the low-descending sun. On each side
of the road, till it disappeared over a distant swell, were
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scattered, at irregular intervals, the dwellings to which allusion has
been made. Among the nearest and most respectable of these,
stood, in a retired situation considerably to the east of the highway,
the house presenting the questionable appearances to which
Bart's attention had been directed. On one side of the spacious
yard, or lawn, in front of this building, stood, tied to a post,
and impatiently pawing the ground, a noble-looking horse,
equipped with a richly-caparisoned side-saddle; while near by,
under the fence, sat, patiently smoking their pipes, three Indians,
one of whom, as was evident by their contrasted bearing and accoutrements,
was a chief, and the other two his attendants. Near
the principal entrance was drawn up a two-horse team, having
the appearance of awaiting the reception of persons about to depart
on some journey. At length the family, consisting evidently
of father, mother, and their children, slowly, and in seeming
mournful silence, issued from the door, and approached the wagon,
when the former, lifting the latter into the seats, again turned
an anxious look towards the house, and, with his companion,
whose handkerchief was frequently applied to her eyes, stood
lingering and hesitating, as if reluctant to part with some object
of their solicitude still remaining behind. Presently the agitated
couple returned to the door, and, with gestures of grief and supplication,
appeared to be making a last appeal to one standing
just within the entrance, whose partially disclosed form, and
white fluttering decorations, proclaimed her to be a gayly-dressed
female.
“It acts some like a funeral there,” observed Bart, doubtfully;
“but then those Indians, that seem to be waiting for some one —
and that horse with the lady's saddle on him, which they appear
to have the care of, and which looks, by the trim, like a British
army horse — and —”
“Bart, do you know who lives there?” interrupted Sabrey,
with a sudden start.
“A tory,” replied the other; “but not a fighting one, I gathered.
That's him and his wife standing before the door, I take
it. His name is Mc — something.”
“Merciful Heaven!” exclaimed Sabrey. “I understand it
all now. That lady, in the door, is dressed for her wedding —
those before her are her brother and sister-in-law, pleading with
her to go with them, instead of taking the questionable step she
is evidently meditating. O that I dared rush down to the side
of her well-judging friends, and join them in dissuading her from
listening to the ill-timed summons of her lover; and especially
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from going with such an escort as the infatuated man appears to
have sent for her!”
Although Miss Haviland was wholly unprepared for here finding
the residence of her friend, Jane McRea, which she had
supposed to be in another and more distant locality, yet her quick
perceptions, in combining the past and present circumstances, had
not misled her. It was, indeed, that lovely and hapless girl, passing
through the last trial she was destined ever to be conscious of
undergoing, — that of the distracting conflict of emotions produced
by being now finally compelled to decide between the behests of
prudence and of love, — between the advice and entreaties of
confessedly kind and judicious relatives, and the opposing counsels
and impassioned importunities of an idolized lover. Deeply
and anxiously, that afternoon, had the thought of her situation
engrossed the mind of our heroine, who both expected and dreaded
to meet her on the way — expected, because her coming had
been announced; and dreaded, not only on account of the pain it
would occasion to witness her disappointment, and resist her entreaties,
but also on account of the danger of the unintentional
betrayal which would be likely to attend a meeting with that
guileless creature of the affections and her probable escort. And
it was now with the mingled emotions naturally called up by the
associations of former friendship, the contrast between the circumstances
of the past and present, together with fears and anxieties
for the future, that Sabrey, after a few brief explanations to her
attendant, resumed her observations of the scene before her, which,
she hoped, might still result in the triumph of wisdom over the
delusive pleadings of love.
At length, she who had now become the principal object of
solicitude in the family group, to which the attention of our concealed
spectators had been directed, followed, with slow and hesitating
steps, her still importuning friends into the yard, where, in
her bridal robes of vestal white, and with her rich profusion of
bright and wavy tresses hanging like a golden cloud over her
shoulders, she stood at once a vision of loveliness and an object
of commiseration. Again and again did those friends appear to
renew their entreaties, at which the agitated girl seemed sometimes
to waver, and at others to reply only with her tears; till at
length the former, evidently wearied with their fruitless attempts,
and despairing of success, ascended their vehicle, and drove off
at a rapid pace, along the road to the south, without turning their
heads to look behind them. Once, as she stood, like one bound
by some fatal spell to the spot, wistfully gazing after the receding
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wagon, a momentary relenting appeared to come over the
wretched maiden. She irresolutely ran forward a few paces,
and, imploringly stretching forth her white arms, uttered a faint,
sobbing cry of, “Come back! O, come back!” But the late appeal,
which would have so gladdened the hearts of those for whom it
was intended, was destined to be unheeded. The cry was lost in
the din of their rattling wheels, as they urged on their horses, as
if anxious to escape from the painful scene. And the poor girl,
dropping her arms, and turning hopelessly away to a small tree
near by, leaned against the trunk for support, and, for a while,
seemed to yield herself wholly a prey to the wild grief which
now burst forth from the dreadful conflict of emotions that was
rending her distracted bosom. At length she appeared to be
slowly regaining her self-possession, and now soon fully arousing
herself, she advanced towards the Indians, and, by signs, signified
her readiness to attend them. With eager alacrity, the horse was
led up for her to the door-step; when, lightly throwing herself
into the saddle, she immediately set forth along the road to
the north, preceded by the chief, and followed by his dusky
assistants.
“Well, the poor thing has settled it at last,” observed Bart, drawing
a long breath. “But I aint so sure that those red characters,
who appear to feel so crank at having got her started, will be
allowed to get far with their prize, without seeing trouble.”
“Why, sir?” asked Sabrey, wiping away the sympathetic tears
that had started to her cheeks at what she had been witnessing —
“why do you make such a remark?”
“Well, it may not amount to any thing, be sure,” replied
the other. “But having had one eye on the lookout, during
this affair at the house, I noticed, a while ago, some five or six
scouts, slying along on the other bank of the river, over there,
and crossing in a boat, and entering the woods on this side. By
their appearance, I think they must be Continentals from our
army below; and if it is these Indians they have been spying
out, and are after, they will waylay them along here somewhere,
likely.”
“O, if they could but take her from these creatures, and send
her to her friends!” said the former, with emotion.
“Yes, but I hope they won't attempt it,” said Bart; “for if
these Redskins, who are probably to have a smart price for getting
her safe to camp, should find themselves about to be robbed of
her, there's no telling what they would do.”
At this juncture, their attention was arrested by the sounds of
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footsteps approaching in the road from the north; and, the next
moment, a second party of Indians, headed by a tall, fierce-looking
chief, emerged into view, and advanced nearly to the edge
of the woods; when the chief, beholding the other party coming
on with their charge, suddenly halted, and stood awaiting their
approach, with an air of doubt and disappointment, and with looks
that plainly bespoke his jealous fears of losing the reward, which,
it appeared, the short-sighted lover, in his impatience at the delay
that had occurred, had offered him also to bring off his betrothed.
The bold and arrogant air of the newly-arrived party, standing in
the middle of the road, and seemingly intending to dispute the
path, caused the others, as they now came up, to pause, as if for
parley or explanation; when a fierce and angry debate arose
between the rival chiefs, in which the new comer, with dark
scowls and menacing gestures, demanded the exclusive possession
of the lady, which the other, at first mildly, and then in a tone of
defiance, persisted in refusing. At length the latter, under the
pretence of wishing to obtain water, but with the real object,
probably, of avoiding a collision till some compromise could be
effected, approached the alarmed maiden, and led her horse out
into a little opening in the bushes on the left, where a cool and
inviting spring was seen bursting from beneath the wide-spreading
roots of a stately pine-tree standing in the background; and here
leaving her under the shade of the tree, still sitting on her horse,
he and his attendants gathered round the spring for the purpose
of quenching their thirst. At this instant, white streams of smoke,
followed by the startling reports of muskets, suddenly burst from
a neighboring thicket, and the band of concealed scouts, with
challenging hurrahs, were seen springing from their coverts, and
rapidly gliding from tree to tree towards the spot. The astonished
and unprepared Indians, who had escaped death only by the distance
from which the missiles of their assailants had been discharged
upon them, all, with one accord, slunk instantly away
into the surrounding bushes.
Scarcely had they disappeared, however, before the tall chief,
whose ill-omened appearance and conduct we have noted, again
darted out into the opening; when, with a quick, wild glance
around him, and a yell of fiendish triumph, he rapidly whirled
his arm aloft, and, the next instant, the glittering tomahawk was
seen, like a shooting gleam of light, swiftly speeding its way on
its death-doing errand.
One solitary, piercing shriek, suddenly cut short, and sinking
into an appalling groan, rose from the fatal spot; while the white
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robes of the victim, like the ruffled pinions of some suddenlystruck
bird, came fluttering to the ground. The deed was done;
and the spirit of the beauteous and unfortunate Jane McRea had
left its mangled tenement and fled forever!*
A momentary pause ensued; when, amidst the intermingling
shouts and cries of murder and vengeance, that now burst from
both scouts and Indians, the fiend-like perpetrator of the foul deed,
who had been seen to leap forward towards his fallen victim with
his scalping-knife, bounded back into the road, and, there holding
up and shaking the gory trophy at his rival, immediately
plunged into the forest and disappeared. The next moment a
detachment of British cavalry, who had been sent out to intercept
the scouts, came thundering down the road, and put an end to the
tumult. Turning away in horror from the spot, now made dangerous
by the presence of the British, who, on seeing what was
done, and learning the facts, soon began to scatter in all directions
after the murderer, Miss Haviland and her guide hastily resumed
their journey by the route which the latter had discovered for
avoiding the road, and which they pursued till dark, when, arriving
at the house of a family in the interest of the American
cause, they found a comfortable shelter for the night, and the
repose so much needed to counteract the effect of the agitating
events of the day on our heroine, and fortify her for the trials
yet in store for her.
eaf721n10* From the various published accounts of the massacre of Miss McRea,
we have followed, in our illustrations of that melancholy tragedy, as far
as our limits and plan permitted us to carry them, the one deemed by us
the most probable. By way of finishing the details of the horrible scene,
however, it may be proper here to state, that Captain Jones, the strangely
infatuated lover, having despatched, for the reward of a barrel of rum,
one party of Indians after her, and then a second one, for the same reward,
had started to meet her, when, encountering the murderer with the scalp,
which he recognized by the peculiar color and length of the hair, he hastened,
in a state bordering on absolute distraction, to the fatal scene. A
British officer, with a few attendants, had, in the mean time, removed the
corpse to a wagon by the road side, and was guarding it, when the lover
arrived to claim it. But his lamentations were so terrible, and his conduct
so frantic, that it was deemed advisable to remove him, and bury the remains
from his sight. From that hour, the bereaved lover was an altered
and ruined man. And he died soon after, as there is every reason to believe,
of a broken heart.
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CHAPTER XI.
“Still on? Have not the forest gloom,
The taunt of foes, the threatened doom,
Shaken thy courage yet?”
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The indefatigable Bart, after seeing the object of his greatest
solicitude in safety for the night, that of his next, his loved
Lightfoot, well stabled and fed, and, lastly, his own wants supplied,
determined, with his usual caution and forethought, on making a
little tour of observation to Fort Edward, now some miles in the
rear, for the purpose of gathering what new intelligence could
be gained respecting the movements of the enemy, which might
both enhance the value of his budget of news to carry home,
and enable him to shape his course more understandingly and
safely on the morrow. Accordingly, in the new disguise of a
barefooted, bareheaded, coatless farmer's boy, with a basket of
green corn to sell for roasting slung on his arm, he proceeded
on foot to the recently-established rendezvous of the enemy at
the place above named, and boldly entered their encampment.
Here he soon made discoveries that filled him with uneasiness,
and, finally, those which thoroughly alarmed him for his own
and the safety of his charge. The whole camp was in a state
of bustle and commotion. Colonel Baum, in anticipation of the
time fixed for his march, had just arrived with his appointed
force, and was intending, after allowing his troops a short
respite, to press immediately forward that night on the contemplated
expedition. Bands of painted Indians, who had also arrived
from the main army since dark, were feasting and drinking
in grim revelry, or enacting the frightful war-dance, on the outskirts
of the encampment. Parties of tories were constantly
coming in from the surrounding towns, receiving arms, and departing
to their different allotted stations, to act as pickets to the
force about to advance, or as scouts to scour the country along
the road to the south. And at last, to crown all, Peters and
Haviland, with a small number of attendants, all bearing, on
their bespattered persons, evidence of hard and rapid travelling,
rode hurriedly into camp, and announced that a dangerous spy
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had, that afternoon, been at the head-quarters of the main army,
audaciously abducted a young lady, and with her escaped in
this direction, for the arrest of whom a handsome reward should
be paid.
“It is time you and I was jogging, Bart,” muttered the unsuspected
personage within hearing, who deemed himself not the
least interested in this unexpected announcement, as he gradually
edged himself out of the camp, and made his way, with unusual
haste, back to his quarters for the night.
Scarcely had the first faint suffusions of morning light begun
to be distinguishable in the chambers of the east, before the well-recruited
Lightfoot stood pawing at the door, as if impatient to
receive and bear off her precious burden from the scene of
danger. In a few minutes, the fair fugitive, in answer to the
summons of her vigilant attendant, came forth, evidently refreshed
by her repose, and, in a good measure, recovered from the
shock occasioned by the sad and fearful spectacles of yesterday.
Without any allusions to the startling discoveries he had made
since they parted for the night, other than the quiet remark that
he had ascertained that it might not be wholly safe for them to
proceed any longer in the main road, Bart assisted the lady to
mount, and led the way on their now doubly difficult and hazardous
flight. Striking off obliquely to the left, into a partially
cleared pine plain, and then, after thus proceeding a while, again
turning to the right, they directed their course forward in a line
parallel to the great thoroughfare to the south, but at a sufficient
distance from it to insure them against the observation of all who
might be passing therein, or scouting along its borders. And on,
on, now through open fields, and now through dense forests, now
through splashy pools, or rapid rivers, and now over sharp pitches
or deep ravines, now in cross-roads or cow-paths, and now in
trackless thickets, now over fenny moors, and now along the
rocky declivities of mountains, — on, on, did they pursue their
toilsome and weary way through the seemingly interminable hours
of all the first half of that eventful day.
At length, however, believing themselves many miles beyond
the rendezvous of Peters's corps, who were understood to have
been selected as the pioneers of the expedition, they emerged
from the woods, and fell into the main road leading up the
winding Walloomscoik to the village of Bennington. Greatly
rejoiced that, at last, she could be permitted to travel in a smooth
road with some assurance of safety, and encouraged by the
prospect of soon reaching the friends and acquaintance of her
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old neighborhood, from whom she was confident of a cordial
welcome, our heroine now rode on with lightened feelings and
renewed spirits. But she soon perceived, by the manner of her
guide, as he examined the appearances of the road, as he went
on, and occasionally cast uneasy glances before and behind him,
that he did not consider it yet time to rejoice. And soon he
stopped short, and observed, —
“There are too many tracks in this road for my liking, and not
of the right kind to read well, either.”
“I hope you will indulge in no unnecessary alarms, Bart,”
said the other, reluctant to leave the road, as she supposed he
was about to advise. “You, who yesterday manifested little
uneasiness, to-day, when we are farther removed from danger,
have appeared extremely cautious and apprehensive, I have
thought. Why such a change, while the reverse would seem so
much more rational?”
“Well, miss, the question is not so onnatural as it might be, I
reckon,” replied the former; “and I have been expecting you'd
wonder some why I led you on such a jaunt as we've had. But
the fact was, your chance of getting off has been a little scaly,
to day, to say nothing of the shadow of a rope that's been round
my own neck in the mean time.”
“I cannot comprehend you, Bart,” said the maiden, with a
look of surprise and concern.
“Spose so; for I have held in, cause I thought I wouldn't
worry your mind till needful, which it may be now; so I'll tell
you the whole kink,” replied Bart, proceeding to relate his last
night's discoveries, and then adding, —
“Now a party of the enemy — for I saw a moccason track
just now, and none on our side would be in such company as
that means — a party of 'em have gone on before us; and my
notion is, that we strike off through this bushy pasture to the
left.”
“Let us do so, then, if such is our situation, and that without
a moment's delay,” cried Sabrey, in alarm at the unexpected
disclosure.
“Well, perhaps it an't best to fret about it, jest at this minute,”
responded the imperturbable guide — “I kinder want to make an
observation or two, before we start,” he added, ascending an
elevation near by, which commanded a view of the road both
ways for a considerable distance.
After glancing along the road in front, a moment, he turned
and bent his searching gaze in the other direction, where he
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soon appeared to discover something that both interested and
disturbed him.
“It is, by Herod! it is the whole main body, Germans and
all, at their rations, within a mile of us, and their pickets on the
move in this direction!” he at length exclaimed, hastily quitting
his post of observation.
Hurrying down to the side of the startled maiden, he sprang to
the nearest length of the fence, here enclosing the road, and
grappling, with main strength, the topmost of the heavy poles
of which it was composed, soon effected a breach sufficiently
low to allow the horse to leap over without endangering the seat
of the rider.
“Here, go it, Lightfoot! gently! there you are! Now off
with ye, as if the divil was at your heels!” cried Bart, as the
horse, with her fair burden, dashed lightly through the breach,
and cantered off in the direction indicated by the finger of her
master.
Pausing to replace the fence, lest the opening should attract
the notice of those coming on behind, Bart rapidly followed, and, in
another minute, the fugitives were safely screened from observation
by the thick foliage of the different clumps of bushes, which they
managed to keep between them and the road they had just quitted.
“There is a house,” said Bart, musingly, after they had proceeded
a while in silence — “there is a house about half a mile
ahead, and nearly the same distance from the great road, with
woods between, which is a place I called at when I came down,
and which I had been all along calculating to turn off to, for a
short stop, as we might shape our course to do now, if not somewhat
risky.”
“A little rest and refreshment would certainly be very acceptable,”
said the other, “if it could be safely obtained. Who
lives there?”
“Well, some folks.”
“Loyalists?”
“Tories, d'ye mean? No, not by a jug full.”
“Who are they, then, sir?”
“The man,” said Bart, glancing up to his wondering companion,
with an odd air of shyness, as he provokingly persisted
in his evasions — “the man is one of Warner's sergeants, and a
sort of relation to somebody that I thought likely would be
visiting at his house by this time. And — and I guess we'll
venture there, considering,” he added, suddenly dashing some
distance ahead, under pretence of pointing out the way.
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After winding their course a while among the variously grouped
little thickets that studded the old pasture, they at length entered
a tall forest of maple, which the incisions in the trees, together
with the marks of an old boiling-place, that they soon reached, proclaimed
to be the sugar orchard, belonging, probably, to the establishment
they were seeking. And, now falling into a beaten path,
they soon perceived, by the glimpses of an opening which they
occasionally caught through the trees, that they were drawing near
to the object of their search. The serpentine course of the path,
however, and the undergrowth, so thick as to be nearly impervious
to the sight, prevented any direct view of the opening; and
they passed on without any very exact notions of its propinquity,
till a sudden turn of the path brought them unexpectedly to the
edge of the wood, and in full view of the house, not a hundred
yards distant; when, to their astonishment and dismay, they beheld
the place in possession of a large party of the enemy.
Bart instantly caught the bridle, and was turning the horse for
the purpose of fleeing back into the forest, when five or six armed
men sprang out from the bushes behind and around them, cutting
off their retreat in every direction. And the next moment they
were prisoners to the minions of the vindictive Peters.
Bart's quick eye had told him, at a glance, that there was no
chance for him to escape; and, before his natural looks could be
noted, he had become transformed into a lout of so stolid and
inoffensive an appearance, that his captors seemed greatly disappointed,
and evidently entertained doubts whether he could be
the one they supposed they were about to secure. And it was
not till his pale and trembling fellow-prisoner had been conducted
off on her horse some rods, that they could make him seem to
comprehend that he was a prisoner, and must go with them. He
then burst out into a piteous fit of weeping, and, passively receiving
the kicks and cuffs of his keepers to get him in motion, went
bawling along, like a whipped schoolboy, towards the house.
“I thought 'twould be jes so!” he exclaimed, between his sobs
and outcries. “I most knowed when that man hired father to have
me go to show the woman the way — I most knowed she was
running away, and would get me into some scrape. Then the
man, like enough, had done something, so he darsent go any
furder with her. And now they'll lay it all to me — boo-hoo!
oo-oo-oo!”
“Conduct the lady into the house!” said the officer in command,
as the prisoners were led into the yard — “conduct her
into the house, and set a guard round it, till orders can be got
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from the colonel. And as to this bawling devil,” he continued,
turning with a scrutinizing, but somewhat staggered look, to the
blubbering Bart, “take him to the barn, where I just noticed
some good cords, bind him hand and foot, and guard him closely.
He will make less noise within an hour from now, I fancy.”
“But, your honor,” began one of the scouts who had brought
in the prisoners —
“Yes, yes,” interrupted the other, “I have just been informed
of his pretences; but there's an even chance that he is shamming,
and the fellow we want, after all. Do as I have ordered.”
Bart was now led into the open barn, which stood facing the
yard, and projecting in the rear over a steep bank, making from
the floor, on the back side, that was also open, a perpendicular
fall of nearly a dozen feet. He was then ordered to sit down in
the middle of the floor, when two of the half dozen keepers who
had him in charge, with many a half taunting, half pitying joke
at his doleful whimpering, carelessly proceeded to prepare the
cords for binding him, while the rest laid aside their guns, and
went searching about the barn for eggs, all, notwithstanding the
caution of their commander, being evidently so much impressed
with the idea of his innocence as to disarm them of the vigilance
usually exercised on such occasions. At this juncture, just as
the two men, one standing before and the other behind him,
were in the act of stooping to take his legs and arms, Bart started
to his feet with the suddenness of thought, and giving the one in
his rear a paralyzing kick in the pit of his stomach, grappled
round the legs of the other, and, bearing him, in spite of all his
struggles, across the floor, leaped with him from the verge to the
earth below. Managing to keep uppermost in the descent, Bart,
as the man struck heavily on the ground, leaped unhurt from the
senseless body, and, with the speed of a wild deer, made his way
to the nearest point of woods, which he fortunately reached just in
time to avoid the volley of bullets that was sent after him by the
rallying guard from whom he had so strangely escaped. While
the balked tories, in the general commotion that now ensued, were
giving vent to their rage and mortification, in cursing one another
and the more particular object of their wrath, whom they concluded
it was useless to pursue, a long, shrill whistle was heard
issuing from another point of the forest, to which it was thought the
escaped prisoner could not have had time to pass round. Scarcely
had the sound died away, when a movement, accompanied by
a low snorting, was heard in the high-fenced cow-yard, into which
Lightfoot had been turned for safe keeping. The whistle was
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soon repeated, and the next moment the sagacious animal was
seen rearing herself nearly upright in the air, and then, with a
prodigious leap, throwing herself over the fence into the field
beyond. Although the tories, for a while, as little comprehended
this movement of the pony, as they did, at first, that of her master,
yet they raised the alarm that the horse had broken away;
and a dozen men threw down their guns, and ran out into the
field to head her; but, dashing at and through them, like a mad
Fury, she bounded off at full speed, and soon disappeared in the
woods in the direction in which the whistling had been heard,
leaving the baffled pursuers and their associates now fully to
perceive how completely they had all been outwitted and outdone
by both horse and master.
Much of our happiness is the result of contrast. A slight alleviation,
unexpectedly springing out of a disheartening misfortune,
not unfrequently affords a comparative pleasure more keenly
appreciated than unalloyed blessings arising out of the ordinary
circumstances of life. The pleasure of Miss Haviland was
equalled only by her surprise, when, on entering the house, she
found her former fellow-prisoner, the sprightly and fearless Vine
Howard, a transient but favored inmate, whose presence here
now fully explained the enigmatical language of Bart, on the
way, while it soon raised a shrewd suspicion of the cause of the
awkward shyness he had exhibited in making his partial and
roundabout revelations. Their mutual salutations, inquiries, and
explanations, had scarcely been exchanged, before they were
called to the window by an outcry and commotion among the
tories without; when they had the unspeakable satisfaction of
witnessing the escape of Bart, for whose situation and fate they
had both, from different causes, felt the deepest commiseration
and the most gloomy apprehensions.
“Now,” said the animated Vine, as she turned exultingly away
from the gratifying scene that had opened by the escape of Bart,
and closed by that of his pony — “now, Sabrey, if they will let
you remain here till dark, I will see what I can do towards effecting
your escape, which, to be candid about it, I mainly came
here to favor. But whether you escape, remain, or are dragged
back to the British camp, I will not this time be separated from
you.”
The proffered assistance of the spirited girl, however, at least
so far as related to the contemplated attempt to escape by night,
was not destined to be called in requisition. In a short time, a
messenger was seen to arrive; upon which the whole party of
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tories commenced preparations for an immediate departure.
Presently a closely covered vehicle, drawn by one horse, appeared
coming from the main road, and approaching the door.
The next moment, the officer, whom we have already noted, entered
the house, and told Miss Haviland she was required to
depart.
“This young lady attends me, if I am compelled to go, sir,”
said Sabrey, firmly, pointing to Vine, who instantly advanced
and locked her arm within that of the former, by way of confirming
the assertion.
“Such are not my orders,” responded the officer, with an air
of slight perplexity.
“Then I go not with you alive, sir,” said Miss Haviland, with
calm determination.
“Nor will I be separated from her, by you, while I am living,”
added Vine, with no less spirit.
“Well, well, ladies, you must have your own way, I suppose.
But be prompt; the carriage waits for you,” replied the officer,
stepping back to the door.
In a few minutes more, the ladies presented themselves at the
door, and, without accepting the offered assistance of their summoner,
entered the unoccupied vehicle, which was now immediately
put in motion, and conducted on in the rear of the main
column of the tories, who had already commenced their march
towards the great road. As they emerged from the short piece
of forest through which their way now led, the exciting spectacle
of a large body of troops, moving in military array along
the road, accompanied by the hum of mingling voices, the steady
tramp of men and horses, the rattling of tumbrels, and the heavy
rumbling of artillery, unexpectedly burst upon the senses of the
startled maidens. Baum's select and finely-equipped regiment
of Germans and British occupied the front, and Peter's motley
corps of tories and Indians the rear of the long-extended column.
As the head of the detachment in possession of the fair
prisoners reached the road, they came to a halt; when, after
waiting till the corps to which they belonged had mostly passed
by, they, to the agreeable disappointment of the girls, turned in,
and moved on with the rest towards that little anticipated scene
of defeat and death from which so few of them were destined to
return.
“By this time,” observed Vine to her thoughtful companion,
after they had concluded the remarks which the novelty of their
situation naturally elicited — “by this time, Bart, at the rate he
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will be likely to ride, has nearly reached Bennington, now less
than ten miles distant; and in another hour after, if the news he
carries has the effect on our army there that I anticipate from what
I learned when I came down, these fellows will be met on the
way by a force which they cannot be expecting to see. Can
they, do you suppose?”
“I think not,” replied Sabrey, “or we should have been sent
back, at once, to the British camp, as we expected; but, believing
he shall meet with no serious opposition, and probably fearing I
should find some means to escape, if sent back, my magnanimous
persecutor concludes to drag me round with him and his
minions, that I may be watched more closely, till, having completed
his anticipated triumphs, he is ready to return.”
“But where is Peters?” asked the other; “where is that
remarkable gentleman now, that he don't present himself here,
to pay his respects, or make his apologies, or assure you of your
safety, or frame some story by the way of accounting for his
conduct, or, at least, of smoothing the matter? One would suppose
the fellow would want to say something on the occasion.”
“Yes,” replied the former; “but he wishes to see me as little
as I do him, I presume. Should he find it impossible to avoid
me, however, he would probably come up boldly, and say my
detention was a mistake of his subaltern; or that he only directed
it to afford me a safe escort to my friends in the Grants.”
“There would be a deal of love in such doings.”
“He entertains none; not one particle now, if he ever did, for
me, Vine.”
“What the deuse, then, does he want with you?”
“Indeed, I hardly know myself.”
“Marry you?”
“If he does still aim at that, it is with no honorable motives.
I have had some strange suspicions, lately, and I feel but too
thankful at this prospect of a battle, for I shall cheerfully meet
all dangers I may encounter from the flying bullets of our people,
for my chance of a release.”
“Chance, Sabrey? Why, I know our side will get the victory,
when we shall be made prisoners to — well, to about the
right sort of fellows, probably,” added the girl, with a merry
laugh.
The conversation was here interrupted by the scattering reports
of musketry somewhere in front, which instantly threw the whole
line into commotion. An immediate halt was commanded, and
the troops hastily formed in order of battle, as well as the ground
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would permit. Glancing over the line in front, from the small
elevation on which they chanced to have stopped, the girls perceived
that the head of the column had reached the banks of the
stream that here crossed the road, and were rapidly deploying
into the fields, to the right and left, to be prepared to receive
their yet invisible foe. The bridge over the stream had just been
torn up, and its scattered wrecks were seen floating down the
stream below. While Baum was hurrying forward his artillery to
the front, a body of about two hundred Americans emerged from
their coverts in the bushes, some distance from the opposite bank,
and, with an ominous shout of defiance, discharged their guns,
and disappeared over the hill beyond, before the slow Germans,
who alone were yet near enough to do any execution with muskets,
were ready to return a single shot. A strong guard of
pickets, consisting of tories and Indians, were now sent forward
to ford the stream, and keep watch of their retreating assailants,
while the few wounded and dying wretches who had experienced
the effects of American marksmanship were carried back on
hastily-constructed litters to a house in the rear, affording the
shocked maidens, as they were borne by groaning and writhing
in their agony, a sad and sickening foretaste of the fearful scene
of blood and carnage they were destined soon to witness. As
soon as the bridge was repaired by the engineers, who were
occupied nearly two hours in rendering it passable, the column
was put in motion, and again moved forward, but much slower
and more cautiously than before; for there was something in the
manner of this attack, as unimportant as it was, and even in the
shouts of their assailants, that had disturbed the minds, and cast
a visible shade of thoughtfulness over the countenances, of these
hitherto self-confident and boastful invaders of the Green Mountains.
For the next three or four miles, however, they moved on
unmolested; when, coming to a hamlet of log-houses scattered
along the highway on both sides of the stream, that, here again
crossing the road, wound through a smooth meadow of considerable
extent, the word Halt! halt! rang loudly, and from company
to company, through the line, with an emphasis and significance
that instantly apprised all that trouble was at hand.
The next moment all were in commotion, hurry, and alarm.
Amidst the furious beating of the rallying drums, and the mingling
clamor of dictating voices, the cannon were detached from
the horses, run forward, and unlimbered; the fences on each side
of the road were levelled to the ground, and the whole force rapidly
thrown into battle array, the tories taking position in the
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meadow on the right, and the regulars on the more elevated
grounds to the left of the road, there to await the foe, understood to
be approaching in unexpected strength just beyond the thick copse
which terminated the opening on the east. While this was transpiring,
the officer who had before taken charge of Miss Haviland and
her friend came forward, and, summoning them from their carriage,
hurried them to a large, strongly-built log-house, around
which a company of tories had been posted, when, bidding them
enter and take care of themselves, he hastened back to his post,
to take part in repelling the menaced onset. Neither that day nor
the next, however, was destined to be the one which was to cover
the untrained freemen of New England with the deathless laurels
of Bennington. Stark, after marching out into the open field,
offering battle, and vainly manœuvring to draw the enemy from
their advantageous ground, retired about a mile, and encamped
for the night, leaving Baum to intrench himself in his chosen
position, and despatch expresses to Burgoyne to apprise him of
his unexpectedly perilous situation, and ask for reënforcement.
-- 134 --
CHAPTER XII.
“Sad was the year, by proud oppression driven,
When transatlantic liberty arose,
Not in the sunshine and the smile of Heaven,
But wrapped in whirlwinds, and begirt with woes,
Amidst the strife of fratricidal foes.”
— Campbell.
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The house, into which our heroine and her attendant had been
ushered for safe keeping during the expected conflict, was divided
into two compartments, and separately occupied by a couple of
young farmers, and their still more youthful and recently espoused
wives, twin sisters, by the names of Mary and Martha. But as
happy a social circle as these close and interesting ties should
have continued to render the inmates, the fiend of discord, with
the approach of the opposing armies, had just entered in among
them. One of the young men was a whig, and the other a tory;
and the wives had very naturally adopted the predilections of
their respective husbands. The young men had, as yet, however,
taken no active part in the public quarrel; and, while the war
was at a distance, their difference of opinion had not been permitted
very essentially to disturb their friendly intercourse. But
now, as the war was brought to their door, the sight of the two
hostile armies, coming together for deadly conflict on the great
issue in which their hitherto repressed sympathies were oppositely
enlisted, had aroused the demon of contention in their
friendly bosoms. The boastful assumptions of the tory, uttered
in his excitement at beholding the imposing display of the British
forces around him, were promptly met by the counter predictions
of the other. Retort, recrimination, and darkly-hinted menaces
followed, till jealousy and rancor seemed completely to have
usurped the place of all those fraternal feelings that lately blessed
their peaceful abode.
Such was the painful and ill-omened scene which was passing
in the apartment of the brother who had espoused the cause of
his country, where both families were assembled to witness the
anticipated battle, when the unexpected entrance of the girls put
an end to the altercation; and it soon after being announced that the
Americans had retreated, the tory, followed by his wife, retired,
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with an exulting sneer, to his own room, leaving the fair strangers,
as it happily chanced, to the care and more congenial companionship
of the young patriot and his warmly sympathizing
Martha, who now kindly supplied their wants, and then conducted
them to their attic chamber, where, it being now nearly dark,
they immediately betook themselves to their homely but grateful
couch. And, overcome by the fatigues and harrowing anxieties
of the day, they soon fell asleep, expecting to be roused in the
morning by the din of the battle, which they felt confident was
yet to take place before the invaders would be permitted to advance
farther on their boasted mission of plunder and outrage.
But the next day was to be marked by the battle of the elements,
rather than of men. The morning was ushered in by a
storm of unusual violence. And as the day advanced, so seemed
to increase the power of the tempest. The black, flying clouds,
deeply enshrouding the mountain tops, and dragging the summits
of the low, woody hills around, closer and closer begirt the darkened
earth. Heavier and heavier dashed the deluging torrents
against the smitten herbage of the field, and the trembling habitations
of men; and louder and louder roared the wind, as it went
howling and raging over the vexed wilderness, as if in mockery
of the intended conflict of the feeble creatures of earth, who now
stood shrinking and shivering in its rain-freighted blasts.
Miss Haviland and her friend, in the mean time, closely kept
their little chamber; and as little enviable as were their sensations
under the terrors which the tempest, as it roared around the
rocked dwelling, naturally inspired, it was soon with feelings of
thankfulness that they found themselves permitted to remain even
there unmolested; for their ears were continually shocked, and
their liveliest apprehensions often excited, by the profane vociferations,
the noisy ribaldry, and lawless conduct of the tories, who,
driven from their drenched tents, which afforded them but a feeble
protection against the fury of the storm, had crowded into the
lower rooms of the house, where, half stifled, and jostled for
want of space, they filled up the stairway, and repeatedly attempted
to force open the fastened door of the trembling inmates
of the apartment above. But the latter were at length permitted
to experience a temporary relief from this source of annoyance
and apprehension. Towards night the tempest lulled, and the
rain abated, when the tories left the house, and joined in the universal
rejoicing of the troops of the encampment, that the discomforts
and sufferings of the storm were over. It soon became
manifest, however, that they had been relieved of one evil only
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to be disturbed by another. In a short time, the American scouting
parties began to show themselves on the border of the field,
in various directions around the encampment. Presently, the
sharp crack of the rifle, followed by the whistling of bullets, and
the fall of one of their number, in the midst of the startled camp,
apprised them of the danger of remaining longer inactive. And
Baum, astonished at the temerity of his foes, and scarcely less so
at their evident ability to do execution with small arms at such a
distance, instantly issued orders to fit out parties of tories and
Indians, to go and dislodge them. At this juncture, the girls
received a visit from their friendly hostess, who, with a troubled
look, entered their room, and, after telling them that she and her
sister had been, like themselves, little else than prisoners in the
other chamber, proceeded to inform them that her husband, impressed
with a sense of duty to his country, had secretly stolen
off, during the preceding night, to the American camp; and that
his tory brother-in-law, from whom she had contrived to conceal
her husband's absence through the morning, had just discovered
the fact, and, with bitter imprecations, seized his gun and rushed
out to join the parties fitting out to fight his countrymen. Scarcely
waiting to finish her hurried communication, the agitated woman
hurried down and joined her no less excited sister in the yard, to
witness the expected encounter of the opposing skirmishers;
while Sabrey and Vine, sharing with the sisters, though less
keenly, perhaps, in the interest of the event, took post at their
window, which commanded a clear view of the scene of action,
and looked forth for the same purpose.
A company of tories were cautiously stealing along a low,
bushy vale, towards the most westerly of the opposite woody
points, from which the firing had proceeded. On the extreme
right of the field, under a clump of tall evergreens, was seen the
encampment of the Indians, who were in lively commotion, and
evidently preparing to join in the meditated sally. One, whose
stature, accoutrements, and bearing denoted him to be a chief,
and principal leader of the band, appeared to be actively engaged
in giving orders, and pointing out the course to be taken to reach
some designated station in the woods. But just as the whole
party were beginning to file away in their usual fashion, their
steps were suddenly arrested by a rapid discharge of rifle-shots,
that burst upon them from behind an old bush fence on the border
of the forest, about a hundred yards to the east; when the
tall chief, and three or four of his followers, in different parts of
their line, were seen leaping wildly into the air, and then pitching
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headlong to the earth, to rise no more. The next instant, every
dark form had vanished, and their places of refuge were only distinguishable
by the occasional reports of their guns, as the protracted
skirmish gradually receded within the depths of the forest.
Meanwhile, the tories had proceeded on their destination undiscovered,
till they reached the termination of their screening ridge
on the left, which brought them within fifty yards of the bushy
point where the largest party of their opponents lay concealed,
unsuspicious of any immediate attack. Here the former made a
brief pause, when they rushed forward with a loud shout, and,
after a rapid exchange of shots, and a brief hand to hand conflict,
drove the others from their ground, and compelled them to
flee across the intervening opening to the opposite jungle, for
protection. A cry of exultation now burst from the lips of the
wife of the tory, as she witnessed this successful onset of her
husband's party, and, crowing over her disappointed sister, she
began to treat the insignificant result as the certain precursor of
the speedy flight of the whole rebel army. But her triumph was
of short duration; for, almost the next moment, the discomfited
party, in conjunction with the band of their associates, to whose
covert they had retreated, sallied out, and, returning impetuously
to the charge, sent a fatal shower of bullets into the huddled
ranks of the unprepared tories, and soon routed them entirely
from the woods, from which they were seen flying, in wild disorder,
towards the encampment. The rallying wife of the whig
now, in turn, broke out in retaliatory exclamations of joy and exultation.
But her triumphs, also, were destined to be cut short
as speedily as those of her equally thoughtless sister, but in a different,
and far more sorrowful manner.
A man, bearing the lifeless body of one of the slain on his
shoulders, now emerged into view, and came hurriedly staggering
along over the field, directly towards the house. The instant
the careless eye of the elated Martha fell on the approaching
figure, it became fixed as if enchained by a spell. The half-uttered
word she was speaking suddenly died on her faltering
tongue. An instinctive shudder seemed to run over her; and,
for nearly a minute, she stood gazing in motionless silence.
“What is that? O! what is that?” at length burst sharply
from her blanched lips.
But no one answered; and she again relapsed into the same
ominous silence, and continued gazing with the same burning
intensity, till the man, with a look of conscience-smitten agony,
came up, and laying down his burden on the grass, gently turned
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it over, and presented to her the face of her slain husband; when
shriek after shriek broke, in quick and startling succession, from
her convulsed bosom, and she was carried, in a state of wild
and fearful frenzy, into the house. The homicide was the tory
husband, who, having met his victim in the fight, and acting, as
he averred, under an irresistible impulse, had singled out and
slain one, whom, the next moment, he would have given worlds
to have been able to bring to life.*
The scattered forces of the sky now again began to collect,
the rain to descend, and the angry winds to roar through the surrounding
forest, compelling both the assailed and assailants to
retire from the fields and woods to their respective places of rendezvous
for shelter. And soon night closed over the scene, and
shrouded every object from view with its Egyptian darkness.
Widely different were the feelings and impressions which the
events of that afternoon had imparted to the troops of the two
opposing armies. The advantages gained, though not very important
or decisive, had yet been almost wholly on the side of the
Americans. Their different parties of scouts and skirmishers,
who, with the first slackening of the storm, had filled the woods
in every direction around the British encampment, had slain or
disabled, in the various encounters of the day, more than thirty
of their opponents, and, among them, two Indian chiefs, whose
destruction caused a rejoicing proportioned to the exasperation
which their presence here had occasioned. And the effect
of the whole had been to banish the last remaining doubts
of success from their bosoms, and make them long for the hour
when they should be permitted to meet the foe in regular battle.
The losses and defeats of the royal forces, on the other hand, had
proportionally depressed their feelings, and filled them with dark
forebodings of the fate which was in store for them. Nor did
these feelings, in conjunction with the natural effect of the gloom
and physical discomforts of their situation, long fail of a characteristic
manifestation among the contrasted bands of that fated
army. And strange and fearful were the sights and sounds which
their encampment exhibited during the night of storm and darkness
that followed. The sullen oaths and outlandish grumbling
of the Germans, delving and splashing away at their unfinished
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intrenchments, — the noisy execrations of the exasperated tories,
moving restlessly about from tent to tent, and swearing revenge
for their losses, — the sputtering of the Canadians, — the frightful
whooping of the discontented savages, as their dark forms were
seen darting about in the flickering light of their camp fires, and,
finally, the groans and blaspheming curses of the poor wretches
who had been wounded in the skirmishes of the day, all mingling
with the wailing of the wind, and the ceaseless pattering of the
rain, combined to form a scene as wild and dismal as language
could well paint, or even imagination conceive, and throw over
this devoted spot of earth more of the air of the regions of the
damned, than of the abodes of human beings.
But what, in the mean while, were the thoughts and sensations
of the hapless maiden, whose fate and fortune seemed to have
become so strangely involved in the movements and scenes we
have been describing? To her the day had been but a varying
scene of gloom and wretchedness — of maidenly terror and painful
excitement. And night had come only to be made still more
hideous by its accumulated horrors. Shuddering at the strange
and appalling sounds, that constantly assailed her recoiling senses
from without, and pained and distressed at the ceaseless wailing
of the bereaved and heart-broken wife within — often startled
and alarmed at the noisy intrusions of the heartless tories in the
room below, and their frequent threats, and even occasional attempts
to get into her apartment above, and tortured by the anxieties,
suspense, and apprehension she felt respecting the fate for
which she might be reserved, independent of the more immediately-menaced
evils around her, she lay, hour after hour, during
the first watches of that fearful night, tremblingly clinging to her
less-troubled companion, and earnestly praying for death, or the
approach of morning, to relieve her from some of the horrors
of her situation. But at length her exhausted system yielded to
the requirements of nature, and her senses became locked, and
her cares lost, in the forgetfulness of slumber.
She and her attendant were awakened, the next morning, by
the reveille of the clangorous brass drums of the Hessians, and
the mingling hum of the stirring camp around them. Attiring
themselves with that haste which, whether required or not, is usually
consequent on a state of great anxiety, they ran to the window
and glanced out over the landscape. But what a contrast
with what it yesterday presented! The black storm-cloud, that
had so closely brooded over the earth, had been rolled away, and the
cerulean vault above was as calm and cloudless as if storm and
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tempest had never disfigured its beautiful expanse. The air was
full of balmy sweetness; and soon the golden sun, slowly mounting
over the eastern hills, poured down his floods of light upon
the varigated landscape, transforming the still-weeping forest into
a sea of glittering diamonds, converting the hitherto unnoticed
openings on the surrounding hill-sides into bright spots of smiling
verdure, and adding a brighter tint to the yellow fields of waving
grain, that stood ripening in the valley, soon to be trod and trampled
by other than peaceful reapers' feet: —
“For here, far other harvest here
Than that which peasant's scythe demands,
Was gathered in by sterner hands,
With musket, blade, and spear.”
Slowly rolled the bright hours of that calm and beautiful morning
away, as Miss Haviland, with her attendant, sat by the window,
often and axiously glancing along the road to the east,
to catch a glimpse of that army, in whose movements all her
hopes were centred, making its expected advance. But it came
not. No American — not even a scout or skirmisher — any
where made his appearance; and no signs of a battle were visible
in any quarter, unless they might be gathered from the busy labors
of the British troops in putting their arms in order, or the unusual
stillness and the air of anxious suspense that seemed to pervade
their whole encampment. Noon came; and still all remained
quiet as before. That hour, and the next, also, passed away with
the same ominous stillness; and the desponding girl began seriously
to fear, that the Americans had indeed retreated from the
vicinity, and left her and the country alike at the mercy of the
foe. But just as this depressing thought was taking possession
of her mind, a sound reached her ears from afar, that caused her
suddenly to start to her feet with a look of joy and animation that,
for weeks, had been a stranger to her countenance.
eaf721n11* The scene here introduced is drawn from an incident belonging to the
local history of the battle of Bennington, and is but one among the many
sad and touching occurrences which tradition has preserved as connected
with that memorable conflict.
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CHAPTER XIII.
“Death to him who forges
Fetters, fetters for the free!”
— Eastman.
[figure description] Page 141.[end figure description]
“Did you hear that?” exclaimed the maiden, with flushed
cheek and kindling eye.
“Hear what?” asked her surprised and wondering companion,
who had heard nothing to warrant so sudden a change in
the other's demeanor.
“That sound from the forest yonder,” answered Sabrey,
pointing over to the wood bordering the opening to the south.
“But hush! listen! it may be repeated. There — didn't you
hear it then?”
“I heard nothing but the hooting of an old owl over there.
What do you make out of that?” responded Vine, still surprised
and doubtful.
“I make much out of it: but let us listen further,” answered
the other.
They did so; and presently the same slow, solemn hoot of
the bird just named rose more loud and distinct than before.
And scarcely had the last sound died away in its peculiar
melancholy cadence, when the solitary report of a musket
sent its echoing peal over the valley from the forest in the opposite
direction.
“There! the story is told,” exclaimed Sabrey, exultingly.
“Three hoots of the owl is the secret watchword of the
Rangers. The admirable imitation we have just heard was doubtless
given by him who communicated to me this fact, and gave
me a specimen of his faculty of making the sound as we were
coming through the woods in our recent flight. It here shows, unless
I greatly err, that his regiment is passing round to the rear of the
enemy; while the gun we have just heard must proceed, I think,
from some other force going round through the woods on the
opposite side, — these sounds being a concerted interchange of
signals to apprise each other and General Stark of the progress
they have made towards the appointed station. In fifteen minutes,
this camp may discover itself surrounded and assailed on all
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sides by men who know what they are fighting for. Then,
Vine, then comes the struggle we have been praying to witness.
O, may Heaven prosper the defenders of their homes, and enable
them to triumph over their haughty foes.”
The conjectures of Miss Haviland respecting the plan of attack
which the Americans had adopted were well founded. Colonel
Herrick, with his brave and spirited regiment of Rangers, had been
despatched through the woods to the rear of the enemy, where
he was to be joined by nearly an equal force of militia, under the
command of Colonel Nichols, coming through the forest, also, in
an opposite direction; while the remaining and larger portion of
the army was to advance in front, in time to commence with the
former the general attack. And, in a short time, the long, deep
roll of drums, swelling louder and louder on the breeze, announced
that Stark, with the main body, was in motion, and
rapidly approaching along the road from the east.
Quickly every part of the British camp was in lively commotion.
And the hasty mounting of field-officers, the flying of the
scattered troops to their respective standards, the furious beating
of the drums to arms, and the deep, stern words of command,
mingling with the rattling of steel, and other sounds of hostile
preparation, all plainly told that they were at length aroused to
the conviction that their opponents in front were coming down
in full force upon their encampment; and that something more
might now be required to insure their safety, than the empty
vaunting, and the supposed intimidating display, of British uniforms
and brass cannon, which had thus far marked the expedition,
and constituted its only achievements. And scarcely had
the different divisions of their motley army become arrayed and
fixed in their line of battle, which consisted of the regulars
within their strong field-works on the elevated plain on the left,
and the Canadians and tories behind their more imperfect defences
stretching from the former across the meadow on the right—
scarcely had this been done, before their line of pickets, which
had been placed among the trees at the eastern termination of
the field, suddenly broke from their station, and came disorderly
rushing back to the encampment. Presently a dark body of men
in motion began to be perceptible through the openings of the
wood along the line of the winding road; and, in a moment
more, Stark's noble little brigade of sturdy and resolute peasant
warriors came pouring into the field.
Wheeling in beautiful order into battle array, they came to a
halt in the open plain near the border of the woods. Stark, then
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[figure description] Page 143.[end figure description]
advancing, rode slowly along the front of the line, and, at length
pausing, ran his practised eye collectedly over the firmly-standing
ranks and dauntless faces before him; when, raising his massive
form to its full length, he raised his glittering sword, and pointed
to the hostile lines.
“Yonder, my men,” he said, in a voice whose clear, deep, and
ringing tones, in the stillness which at the moment prevailed, distinctly
reached the attent organs of our fair listeners — “yonder,
my brave men, stand the red-coats, your own and your country's
foe — their army a mongrel crew of Hessian hirelings,
fighting for eight-pence a day, or thereabouts; of tories, who
come to ravage and enslave the land that gave them birth; and
lastly, of Indians, dreaming of scalps and plunder! Are you not
better men? Have you not nobler objects? Call you not yourselves
freemen, with hearts to defend your homes and country?
If so, then let your deeds this day prove it to the world! As for
myself, my resolution is taken, — the field and foe is ours by set
of sun, or Molly Stark this night will sleep a widow.”
Three hearty cheers, bursting spontaneously from the listening
ranks before him, told the gratified leader that he had not overrated
the spirit and enthusiasm of the men to whom his brief but
effective appeal had been addressed.
The British forces, in the mean time, awaited the approach of
their opponents in silence. Baum even forebore to open upon
them with his cannon, in the delusive hope that they would prove
to be one of the large bodies of friendly inhabitants, who, he had
been assured, would rise up in arms to join his standard as he
advanced into the interior. His suspense, however, was soon
ended. A scattering volley of musketry, followed by a distant
shout, rose from the woods in rear of the station occupied by the
Indians. And suddenly the whole body of the savages, contrary
to their usual custom, quitted the woods, and came rushing into
the camp of their allies with manifestations of the greatest surprise
and dismay. The next moment, Herrick, at the head of his
long files of Rangers, emerged into the open field, rapidly formed
them into column, and advanced towards the rear of the enemy's
intrenchments; while, at the same time, Nichols and his corps
were seen approaching from the forest in an opposite direction, to
form the contemplated junction, and move on with the former to
the combined assault. The moment the Indians obtained a view
of both these forces, and perceived they were converging together
so as to form a continuous line of battle along the rear,
they began to manifest the greatest uneasiness and alarm. And
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their innate dread of being surrounded soon becoming too strong
for the restraints of discipline, they broke from their position, and,
like a flock of wild horses, commenced a tumultuous flight across
the field towards the woods in open space between the two approaching
forces of their opponents, who, quickly changing
fronts, poured in upon them a rapid succession of destructive
volleys. A fierce shout now burst from the ranks of the assailants;
and, when the smoke rose, a line of dark, lifeless forms
marked the green field nearly to the woods; others were seen
crawling, like wounded reptiles, to the nearest coverts; while all
the rest of the savage foe had disappeared forever from the
field. Herrick and Nichols having now resumed their march,
and Stark put his corps in motion, the three divisions, with two
small flanking detachments, despatched along the woods to the
right and left of the main body, all moved steadily on to the
different points of attack. They were not permitted, however,
to advance far unmolested; for suddenly every part of the
royal lines became wrapped in clouds of mingling smoke and
flame; while the heavens and earth seemed rent by the deafening
crash of exploding muskets, and the jarring concussions
of cannon, which instantly followed. Unmoved, however, by
the tremendous outbreak, the American forces all moved steadily
and rapidly forward till the forms of their opponents could be
discerned beneath the lifting smoke, when they poured in a
storm of fire and lead which told with dreadful effect on the
shrinking lines before them. The general fire thus fatally delivered
was speedily returned; and the battle now commencing
in fearful earnest in every part of the field, both armies became
so deeply concealed in the whirling clouds of smoke, which
enveloped them, that the opposing forces could be distinguished
only in the fierce gleams of musketry and the broader
blaze of cannon that burst incessantly along the lines, filling,
with the mingled uproar of a thousand thunders, the rocking
valley and reverberating mountains around.
In the mean while, our heroine and her companion, who, at the
first shock of this terrible onset, had shrunk back in consternation
from view of the scene, sat listening on their humble couch
to the fearful din that assailed their recoiling senses in every
direction around them from without, with feelings which can be
far more easily imagined than described. For more than an
hour, while the battle continued to rage with increasing violence,
and showers of bullets were heard every moment striking and
burying themselves in the logs composing the walls of their
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[figure description] Page 145.[end figure description]
seemingly devoted shelter, the amazed and trembling girls remained
in the same position, dreading to look out upon the field, lest their
eyes should be greeted with the sight of the death and carnage
which they full well knew must there be going on to a fearful extent
among both friends and foes. But Sabrey's increasing
anxiety for the result, at length, mastering all other considerations,
she arose, and, against the remonstrances of her companion,
advanced towards the window.
“How awful!” she exclaimed, as she glanced out on the
terrific conflict.
“Too awful to witness, unless there were some use in so doing,”
responded Vine. “If we were permitted to mingle in the
fight with our friends, I, for one, would be willing to brave all
the horrors of the battle for the good I might do; but, as this
cannot be, why should we expose ourselves to danger so uselessly?
Now, I do entreat you, Sabrey, to venture no farther, she
continued,” as the former, reaching the window, leaned forward
for a full view of the scene. “Step back from that dangerous
spot; don't you hear the bullets rattling, like hail, round the
building?”
“Yes, but there is no danger where I stand, I presume; but
if there were, I could no longer forbear watching the issue of a
contest in which my own fate, as well as that of friends, is so
deeply involved,” replied Sabrey, with desperate calmness, as
she continued to rivet her gaze on the field below.
“If you will look, then,” said the other, “tell me what you
see going on.”
“I will,” answered the former, “as far as I can distinguish any
movements. But, at present, both sides are so completely concealed
in the smoke that enshrouds them, that I can only discern
dark forms in active motion along the lines, as the blaze of their
fire-arms reveals portions of their ranks. The struggle, however,
is evidently a dreadful one! In that continued, deafening crash
which you hear, flames and smoke seem to be vomited forth
from the earth, as if from the mouth of a volcano.”
“There seems to be less firing now,” observed Vine, after
listening in silence a few minutes. “Can you perceive any new
movements afoot? Can't you distinguish any of the words of
command, or any thing that is said among that uproar of voices,
which, between the booming of the cannon, once in a while,
plainly reaches my ears?”
“Ay,” returned the other, intently bending her ear towards
the scene of action — “ay, I think I can, now. Hark! I hear
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one voice in particular, rising loud over all others; but it is the
voice of one in prayer, invoking the God of battles to strike with
the free, and aid in bringing down quick destruction on their foes.
How mightily he cries to Heaven for succor and success!”
“Where is he? among the rest in the fight?”
“No, not directly in the battle, I should think, but a little
aloof, in the rear of this end of the American lines. There!
I can now distinguish his form coming obliquely out of the
smoke in this direction.”
“Who is he?”
“I know not; but he seems a venerable old man, and his long,
white locks are streaming in the wind, as, with a grasped musket
in his hands, and the cry of The sword of the Lord and Gideon
on his lips, he rushes towards the foe.”
“What! to encounter them alone?”
“Yes, alone, and in advance of all others. Now he takes his
stand in front of a group of tories partially concealed by the
bushes on the bank of the stream. There! he raises his gun,
and crying, God have mercy on your soul, fires, and his victim
pitches headlong to the ground. They return his fire, but harm
him not; and he again raises his gun, and, with the same prayer
for mercy on the soul of the foeman he has singled out, fires,
and another tory falls heavily to the earth. Mercy! they are
now rushing forward to slay the old man! But now they are
met by a party of the Americans, running forward with shouts,
For the rescue of Father Herriot! Both sides fire; and again
all are enveloped in the cloud of smoke that rolls over them.”
“Father Herriot — Father Herriot,” said Vine, musingly.
“I have heard a great deal said about one they call Father
Herriot, lately; but can he be here fighting?”
“Why, who and what is he, that he should not be here?”
asked the other.
“A sort of preacher, I believe,” answered Vine, “but rich
enough to have bought several large tory estates; though where
he came from, or how he got so much hard money as he seems
to have, nobody can tell.”
A fresh and general outbreak between the opposing lines here
interrupted the conversation, and turned Sabrey's attention again
to the field. And for nearly another fearful hour did she keep
her stand at the window, heedless of the danger from the bullets
which were whistling round her head, and unable, in the agonizing
anxiety she felt for the result, to withdraw her eyes from
that dread field, where the continued thunders of the artillery
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and musketry, shaking the solid earth along the line of conflict,
proclaimed the battle to be still raging with unabated fury.
At length, a brisk breeze sprang up in the north-west, and the
battle cloud rolled heavily away before it from the field, disclosing,
not only the relative positions of the opposing forces, but
the awful picture of carnage that every where strewed the blackened
earth. Mutually anxious to avail themselves of this opportunity
to ascertain each other's situation, both parties at once
suspended operations, for the purpose of obtaining observations
which should enable them to resume the battle with more deadly
effect. The deafening roar of musketry which, for nearly two
hours, had shaken the embattled plain like one continued peal of
thunder, was now heard rolling away, in dying echoes, among the
far-off hills, leaving only the monotonous din of the martial
music, kept up to drown the cries of the wounded, and the heavy
booming of Baum's artillery, that still maintained its regular
fire on the hill, though only to send — as it now became evident
it had done from the first — its iron missiles high and harmlessly
over the heads of the Americans, into the tops of the crashing
forest beyond.
“Is the battle over?” asked Vine, as the noise of fire-arms
thus subsided.
“No — that is, I conclude not,” hesitatingly answered the
other, still more closely rivetting her anxious gaze on the unfolding
scene before her. “No, I think not — I trust not; for the
British yet remain unconquered.”
“Can you see them now?”
“Yes; the wind is driving away the smoke, and both armies
are now fast becoming visible.”
“Do our men maintain their ground?”
“Ay, and more. They have advanced almost to the hostile
intrenchments; and there they stand face to face with their foes;
and with ranks less thinned, thank Heaven, than I should think
possible after withstanding so long the dreadful fire to which they
have been exposed; though I can distinguish the forms of many
poor fellows stretched upon the earth.”
“And have not the ranks of the enemy suffered also?”
“Severely, it is evident. The ground along their lines as far
as I can see, and especially that part opposite to the station occupied
by the Rangers, whom I can distinguish by their green uniform,
is thickly strown with the bodies of the slain. And if our men
could see the destruction they have caused behind those intrenchments
to encourage them! But stay! what means that commotion?
Can it be? Heaven forbid! But it is so. They fly!”
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“Who fly?” eagerly demanded Vine.
“The Americans — Stark's division — and all is lost, when one
more effort might have given them the victory! O that they
could but know the advantages they have gained! If my feeble
voice could but reach them, I would rush out and raise it, though
I perished in the attempt!” rapidly exclaimed the heroic girl,
agonized at the thought that her countrymen were actually retreating
from a field she believed so nearly won. “Ay, and who
knows but I might be heard, or, at least, understood?” she added,
glancing hurriedly through the window to the grounds round the
house, to see what might be there to prevent her from trying to
put her half-formed resolution into execution.
In looking out, with this object, her eye fell on the rude portico
running along that side of the house, the narrow, flat roof of which
rose within a few feet of her window. And, suddenly changing her
purpose, she hastily tore out the fastenings of the window, removed
the sashes, and leaped down to the roof of the portico, and stood in
open view of the greater partion of both armies. But still regardless
of her exposure, she advanced to the verge of the roof, and, turning
towards the Americans, waved high her kerchief, and essayed to
lift her voice over the tumult, in words which, she hoped, would
catch their attention and arrest their supposed flight. But the
Americans, who had only fallen back a short distance to avoid
the now unobstructed aim of the enemy, and prepare for a fresh
onset, had already come to a stand, but were at first too busily
engaged in loading their guns, and watching the motions of their
foes, to observe her. The tories, however, whose forces were posted
in the more immediate vicinity, instantly noted her appearance,
and pointed her out to their officers, who, at once, appeared to
read her intentions. And the next moment Colonel Peters, now
for the first time presenting himself to her sight since her recapture,
rode up; and, with a countenance flushed with suppressed
passion, commanded her to retire within the house. A look of
ineffable scorn was the only reply the maiden vouchsafed to give
him, while she redoubled her exertions to attract the attention of
his opponents. Stung by this public exhibition of her disdain,
and defiance of his commands, the tory chief hastily raised a
pistol towards her, and, in a fierce and menacing tone, demanded
an immediate compliance with his orders.
“God have mercy on your soul!” was at that instant heard
issuing from a covert near the American lines, in the well-known
voice of Father Herriot. With the exclamation came the report
of a musket, and at the same time a bullet struck and shattered
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in his hand the raised pistol of the dastardly Peters, who, casting
away the remnant of the weapon to which he had been indebted
only for his life, hastily wheeled and galloped back to his post,
barely escaping the shower of balls that, as he had rightly anticipated,
was sent after him from the nearest of his foes.
But although the maiden had failed at the onset to attract the
attention of the Americans by her attempt, as she had designed,
yet the incident, to which the bold step she had taken gave rise,
more effectually subserved her purpose. The firing had at once
drawn all eyes to the spot. Presently the low hum of questioning
voices was heard running through the American lines, while many
an uplifted hand was seen pointing to her conspicuous form, as,
still undeterred from her purpose, she stood waving her signal
kerchief towards them. And the next moment the loud and cheering
cry, Forward, to the rescue of the Tory's Daughter! burst
from the Rangers, and was speedily caught up and echoed in
lively acclamations, from detachment to detachment, through the
whole encircling lines of the assailing army, which, with one impulse,
now threw itself forward towards the foe. And, unmoved
by the tremendous but hasty and misdirected fire that every where
met them on the way, they swept onward like an avalanche to
the very foot of the tory intrenchments; when, pausing only to
pour in their devouring volleys, they mounted the works, and,
raising their clubbed muskets, dashed down, with shouts of defiance,
upon the recoiling ranks of the amazed and panic-stricken
foe, who, unable to withstand the force and fury of the onset,
instantly gave way and threw down their arms, or scattered and
fled in every direction.
Astonished and alarmed at beholding all his outworks so suddenly
and unexpectedly stormed and carried, Baum seemed
immediately to have resolved on a desperate effort to retrieve the
fortunes of the day. And in a few minutes he was seen at the
head of a long column of his grenadiers, issuing from his intrenchments
on the hill, and bearing down with hasty step on the assailing
forces below. But the next moment, that imposing column,
with its luckless leader, disappeared before the enfilading fire of
the death-dealing Rangers, like frost-work before the breath of a
furnace; while, nearly at the same time, an upleaping cloud of
smoke and flame, followed by the shock of an exploding ammunition
wagon within the principal works, completed the only signal of
encouragement that was wanted by the already flushed assailants
to decide them on an immediate attempt for the completion of
their triumph. And before the dull roar of the explosion was lost
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among the echoing hills, the deep-toned voice of the intrepid
Stark, ever eagle-eyed to see, and prompt to seize, an advantage,
was heard rising over the tumult, in ordering the final assault,
which, having leaped from his horse, and sprung forward to the
head of a forming column, he was the next moment seen, with the
air of a roused lion, leading on in person. In one minute more,
all the various forces, not required to guard the prisoners already
taken, were in motion, and, with flashing eyes, and rapid, determined
tread, charging up the ascending grounds towards the different
sides of the doomed redoubt; in another, they were furiously
rushing over the embankments, and pouring their bristling columns
in resistless streams down upon the weakened and dismayed forces
of the Germans and British in the enclosure. Then succeeded
the rapid, scattering reports of pistols and musketry, the sounds
of fiercely-clashing steel, and the wild cries of those struggling
hand to hand in deadly contest, and the wilder shrieks of the
wounded, all rising in mingled uproar from the spot. Then all
was hushed in a momentary stillness; and then rose the long, loud
shout of a thousand uniting voices, pealing forth to the heavens the
exulting acclamations of victory!
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CHAPTER XIV.
“The strife, that for a while did fail,
Now trebly thundering, swelled the gale.”
— Scott.
[figure description] Page 151.[end figure description]
Like the rapidly-flitting scenes of some dioramic exhibition
passed the crowding events of the next half hour before the half-bewildered
senses of our heroine. The sudden appearance of
Woodburn in the now deserted yard of her prison-house, whither,
the moment the battle was won, he had hastened, with the usual
anxiety of the lover made intense by the distracting fear that she
might have been carried off by the escaping tories, — his eager
inquiries for her presence and safety, — her own involuntary
but silent response to his calls, by rushing out to meet him, and
placing herself under his coveted protection, — the hurried congratulations
that passed between them, — the complimentary
greetings of the gallant hero of the day, and other distinguished
persons soon gathering around her and her fair companion, as
they stood shrinking from the admiration and applause which the
conduct of one, and the position of both, had called forth from
the lips of all, — their welcome escape from the embarrassing
scene, in a carriage, under the guidance of Bart, to whom they
were given in charge by Woodburn, as he hastily departed, at the
head of a chosen band of followers, in pursuit of Peters, and a
body of tories that were discovered to have escaped, — the passage
of the vehicle through the contested field, ploughed up by
artillery, blackened by the fire and smoke of battle, and strewed
with the dying and the dead, among whom the busy groups of the
dismissed soldiery were every where scattered in pursuit of their
different objects — here to collect plunder from their slain enemies,
and there to minister to the wounded, or search among the
fallen for missing comrades, — all these followed so rapidly upon
a victory, the sudden announcement of which had nearly overpowered
her with joyful surprise, that it was not till she and her
companion had passed beyond the confines of the battle-field, and
entered upon the comparatively solitary road leading towards the
village of Bennington, to which they were now directing their
course, that she could realize her happy deliverance. Then, for
the first time during that terrible day, the woman in her prevailed,
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and she melted into tears. But they were the tears of joy and
gratitude, that she and her native land, whose immediate fate had
so singularly become interwoven with her own, had alike been
permitted to triumph. We must, however, leave her and her
friend to indulge their overflowing feelings, and listen to the recitals
of the no less happy Bart, who had been in the hottest of the
fight, while they pursue their unmolested way to their present
destination — we must now leave them, and return once more to
the field of battle, where the dismissed troops were still busily
engaged in gathering up the trophies of war, preparing refreshments,
and exulting over the glorious result of the conflict, little
dreaming of any further appearance of the enemy after so signal
a defeat.
But hark! What means that heavy firing which suddenly
comes echoing over the forest from the west? Does it portend
only some skirmish on the line of the retreat, where a portion
of the foe have come to a stand to shield the rest, or favor their
escape? No; it is the booming of the deep-mouthed cannon,
and not those of the defeated forces; for they have left all theirs
behind them. While every eye and ear, through the hushed field,
were turned in anxious perplexity towards the ominous sounds, a
horseman came dashing at full speed along the wood-begirt road
from that direction, loudly proclaiming, as he drew near, the
startling intelligence, that the broken and flying bands of the
enemy had been met and rallied by a reënforcement of five hundred
fresh veteran troops, well supplied with artillery; and the
whole, making a more formidable army than the first, and evidently
resolved to retrieve the lost credit of the day, and revenge
themselves on the victors, were rapidly approaching, and within
two miles of the place!
The next moment the loud and quickly repeated cry of “To
arms! to arms!” rang far and wide over the field. Then followed
the rapid roll of the alarm drums, the rattling of hastily-grasped
muskets, the trampling of hurrying feet, and the confused
clamor of voices; while the scattered and commingling
bands of the surprised troops were seen throwing down their
plunder, or leaving the half-partaken meal, and flying, in all
directions, to their respective rallying points, to be ready to meet
the menaced onset, and die, or keep the field they had so gloriously
won. But notwithstanding the spirit and alacrity with
which the troops responded to the call, so rapid was the advance
of the enemy, that, before Stark, with all his energy, could collect
much more than half his former forces, refit them with am
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munition, and bring them into line, the British, led on by the cool
and experienced Breyman, and driving before them the detachment
of Americans sent in pursuit of the fugitives, came pouring
into the field; and, immediately throwing themselves into battle
array, opened a tremendous fire, with cannon and small arms,
upon the half-formed lines of their opponents, gathering to dispute
their passage in front. The Americans returned the fire,
which, though partial and irregular, was yet so well directed as to
put a temporary check upon the advance of the foe. But the
latter, seeing the unprepared condition of the former, and becoming
confident of an easy victory, were soon again upon the
advance; while Stark, destroying the breastworks that had sheltered
the foe in the first action, as far as the time would permit,
and dragging the captured cannon along with him, slowly fell
back, continuing to make his dispositions, and pour, from time to
time, as he went, his well-aimed volleys upon the thinning ranks
of his pursuers. At length, however, he took his stand, resolved,
in despite of all his disadvantages, to make a final and desperate
effort to regain the lost mastery of the field. But closer and
closer pressed the exulting and determined foe; and, although
well and bravely did his weakened and exhausted men repel the
fierce charges of their assailants, yet it soon became evident that
they could not long withstand the repeated assaults of those heavy
and disciplined columns upon their unequal lines. Both the men
and their officers began to exchange doubtful and despairing
glances; and even their bold and unyielding chief was seen to
look uneasily around him. But at that critical juncture, when
the fate of the free seemed trembling doubtfully in the balance,
an inspiring shout rose from the copse-wood bordering the road in
the rear. And the next moment, the far-famed regiment of Green
Mountain Boys, whose earlier arrival had been prevented by the
storm of the preceding day, emerged into view; and, led on by
the chivalrous Warner on his fiery charger, that would know no
other rider,* advanced with rapid and resolute tread directly to
the scene of action.
“Warm work, warm work here, Colonel Warner,” said Stark,
as the other dashed up to his side for his orders.
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“Ay, general; but we will make it still warmer for the Redcoats,
at least, if you will give us a chance at them in front of
your line,” promptly responded the gallant officer.
“That chance you shall have, with the thanks of my exhausted
troops, to whom, and myself, your presence, at this time, my
brave friend, could scarcely be more welcome,” said Stark, with
a frankness and cordiality of manner which attested the pleasure
he felt at the other's timely arrival.
“Thank you — thank you, general,” replied Warner, galloping
back to his regiment, and commanding their attention.
“Soldiers,” he exclaimed, in his clear, trumpet tones, throwing
back his tall, superb form, and displaying his noble and beautifully-arched
brow — “my brave soldiers, shall this be our battle,
and our victory?”
A deafening cheer was the affirmative response.
“In God's name, on, then!” he resumed, in a voice of thunder—
“on, and avenge yourselves for country's wrongs, and
for your flogging at Hubbardton.”
In eager obedience to the welcome command of their idolized
leader, who now led the way, with flashing eyes and waving
sword, they all swept on through the opening ranks of their
loudly-cheering companions in arms, rapidly deployed into line,
and, the next instant, wrapped themselves in the flame and
smoke of their own fire, which burst, with an almost single report,
into the very faces of the astonished foe, whose ranks went
down by scores before the leaden blast of that terrible volley.
And, by the time they had recovered from the shock of the unexpected
assault, the relieved and encouraged forces of Stark,
now strengthened by the arrival of additional numbers of the
scattered militia, and formed into new and more effective combinations,
returned with fresh ardor to the contest. And, as the
different detachments, moving resolutely on, with flying colors
and rattling drums, to the various points of attack assigned them
in front and around the hostile squares, reached their allotted
stations, they successively poured in their withering volleys till
the rebounding plain trembled and shook beneath the tumult and
thunders of a conflict, to which, in obstinacy and sanguinary
fierceness, few engagements on record afford a parallel. On
one side was discipline, with revenge, the hope of reward, and
the fear of the disgrace attending defeat, to incite them to action.
On the other side, the stake was home and liberty; and these,
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as the trained officers of Europe soon found to their astonishment,
often more than compensated for the lack of discipline and military
experience; for, in contending for a stake of such individual
moment, every man in the ranks of freedom, though frequently
wholly untrained, and in battle for the first time in his life, at
once became a warrior, fighting as if the whole responsibility of
the issue of the battle rested on his own shoulders. And, in
every part of the field, deeds were performed by nameless peasants
rivalling the most daring exploits of heroes. Here a company
of raw militia might be seen rushing upon a detached
column of British veterans, firing in their faces, and, for want of
bayonets, knocking them down with clubbed muskets. There
old men and boys, with others who, like them, had come unarmed
and as spectators of the battle, would spring forward after some
retreating band, seize the muskets of the slain, and engage, muzzle
to muzzle, with the hated foe. The intrepid Stark, harboring
no thought but of victory, and as regardless of exposure as the
unconscious charger that bore him through the leaden storm, was
every where to be seen; now heading an onset — now dashing
off to rouse or rally a faltering column, and now leaping from
his horse to show his inexperienced men how to load and fire
the captured cannon; while Warner and Herrick, fit men to
second the efforts of such a chief, were constantly storming, like
raging lions, in the smoke and fire of the hottest of the fight;
here breasting, with their brave and unflinching regiments, the desperate
assault, and there, in turn, leading on the resistless charge.
Thus, with the tide of war alternately surging to and fro, like
the wild waves of the ocean lashed by contending winds, continued
to rage this fierce and sanguinary conflict, till the sun
went down in the semblant blood with which the smoke of battle
had enshrouded him.
But now, soon an unusual commotion, attended with new
and rapid movements, was observable among the contending
forces of the field. Presently an exulting shout rose from the
American lines; and the enemy were seen at all points to be
giving way. Their retreat, however, though rapid, was yet, for
a while, conducted with order; and they repeatedly turned and
made desperate efforts to resist the fiery tide that, with gathering
impetus, was rolling after them. But vain and fruitless were all
their attempts; for, while their whole rear was wasting with
frightful rapidity, under the terrible volleys which were poured
upon it, in one incessant blaze, by the hotly-pursuing squadrons
of Stark and Warner, a strong detachment of the heroic Rangers,
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under the daring lead of the now half-maddened Woodburn,
rushed forward and fell upon their flank with a fury that threw
their pierced and staggering columns into such disorder and confusion
as to destroy their last indulged hope of escaping in a
body from their infuriated pursuers. And, the next moment, their
whole force broke, and, abandoning their cannon and baggage,
fled in a tumultuous rout from the field, some escaping along
the road, some yielding themselves prisoners on the way, and
others, to avoid their outstripping pursuers, seeking refuge in the
surrounding forest. But neither road, nor field, nor forest, were
this time permitted to afford many of them the means of escape,
or shield them from the harassing pursuit of the exasperated
Americans, who, in furiously-charging columns, overthrew, shot
down, or captured, all their broken and flying bands within reach,
in the road and open grounds, or in small parties, or singly,
closely followed and boldly encountered them in the woods,
whose dark recesses soon resounded with the scattering fire, the
clashing steel, and the hurrying shout, of the pursued and pursuing
combatants.
But of the scores of promiscuous conflicts and personal encounters
which marked the finale of this memorable triumph,
and made so conspicuous the prowess of the heroic men
by whom it was achieved, it were in vain for us, within our
limits, to attempt a description. There was one of these encounters,
however, which the approaching development of our story
requires to be more particularly noted. And, for this purpose,
we will now change the scene to a wild glen, far within the
depths of the forest, where, hedged in by an impassable morass
in front, and steep ledges of rocks on either side, a gang of a
half dozen of the fugitive tories, headed by an officer in British
uniform, had turned round with the desperate ferocity of wild
beasts, to give battle to the indefatigable pursuers, who had followed
them from the battle-field with a vigilance and speed from
which there was no escape, and with such demonstrations of
marksmanship as had already told fatally on nearly half their
numbers on the way. But those pursuers, as wary as they were
brave and untiring, with the double object of concealing the inequality
of their numbers, which were but four, and securing
the advantages that a choice of positions in all sylvan contests
especially affords, had instantly fallen back to a line of hastilyselected
coverts, stretching across the gorge, and had now become
wholly invisible to their advancing foes, who soon paused
in turn, and, shielding themselves behind the bodies of trees,
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stood eagerly peering out to catch sight of the objects of their aim.
Suddenly the sharp report of a rifle burst from a bush-covered
cleft in the rocks nearly abreast of one of the exposed flanks of
the tories; and the tallest of their number, with a wild start, and
half-uttered oath, floundered into the bushes and fell. The next
moment, our old acquaintance, Bart Burt, who, having conveyed
the ladies to their destination, had sped back to the battle-field
in time to participate in the last part of the final action, was seen
stealthily creeping round the point of the ledge, from which the
fatal shot had issued, and approaching the leader of the concealed
assailants, who, as the reader may have already anticipated, was
no other than Captain Woodburn.
“Bart,” said the latter, “you have executed my order as no
other man could. But whom have you slain? Not Peters?”
“No — couldn't get him in range; but did as well, though —
may be better — fixed out the only one whose aim I was 'fraid
of — the big, fierce-looking whelp that shot father Herriot, in our
last sally in the field; the same that made that bullet-hole in
your coat on the way here; and the same, too, who would have
finished me, likely, but for the glancing of his bullet on a bush
before me. But I have settled all the grudges at a blow, now.”
“You have done bravely; but did you discover who they
are — any of them besides the leader, Peters?”
“Yes, two of 'em, who are, as Dunning and Piper surmised,
Dave Redding and Tiger Fitch, that beauty of a constable, who
bothered us so in old times, at Guilford. He's now some kind
of an officer among 'em, guess; and, dead or alive, I'm bound to
have him; though, if you've any particular plan, captain, I'll
follow it, instead of going round to 'tother ledge for another pick
of the flock.”
“I have one; and that is, to draw their fire, or most of it, and
then rush upon them. You may creep on, then, to Dunning and
Piper, and, with them, contrive and execute some plan to effect
that object, and I will stand here ready to order, and lead the
charge, at the favoring moment.”
Bart now, with the noiseless tread of a cat, rapidly glided
away into the bushes and disappeared on his errand. In a few
minutes, the cracking of sticks, as if under the pressure of cautiously
moving feet, was heard in a thicket of bushes within full
range of the guns of the tories, who, now safely ensconced behind
the new coverts, to which, in alarm at Bart's fatal shot, they
had betaken themselves, instantly turned their attention in that
direction; and, levelling their pieces, keenly watched for the
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expected exposure of the persons of some of their opponents. Soon,
the dim outlines of two or three apparently human forms could be
traced in the thicket, rising up one after another, with the quick,
hesitating motions of men intent on a stealthy reconnoissance of
the objects before them. And, the next moment, every tory, but
one, sent the contents of his gun at these supposed forms of the
lurking besiegers. But instead of beholding, as they had anticipated,
the riddled bodies of the dreaded foe dropping to the
earth, they soon discovered, to their astonishment and dismay,
that the empty coats and caps, which the outwitting Rangers had
raised on their ramrods over their prostrate persons, were the
only sufferers.
“Der — der — der — ditter ready!” shouted Dunning, in a
voice which at last went off like the terminating clap of a rattling
thunder peal, as he and his two associates leaped, coatless, from
the ground, to be prepared for the instant execution of the expected
order.
“On, then, and suffer not a wretch of them to escape you
alive!” exclaimed their impatient leader in reply, dashing forward
himself, and leading in the headlong onset which they all
now made on the foe.
Taken by complete surprise by this rapid and unexpected
movement of the assailants, now bursting upon them with cocked
and levelled rifles, the dismayed tories, at first, made no attempts
at escape or resistance; while part of them threw down
their half-loaded guns, and stepped out from their coverts.
“Surrender at discretion, or take the consequence!” sternly
cried Woodburn, pausing within twenty yards of the tory
leader.
“We are in your power, sir, I suppose,” replied Peters,
evasively, and in a tone of affected submission, as, avoiding the
burning gaze of the other, he threw a significant glance to the
tory who had reserved his charge at the fruitless fire just made by
the rest of his party.
In an instant, the gun of the latter, who still stood behind a
tree shielding him, as he supposed, from the other Rangers, was
levelled at Woodburn, whose attention was too intently fixed on
his chief foe to notice the movement. But before the finger of
the assassin was permitted to tighten on the trigger, a bullet from
the unerring rifle of the watchful Dunning had pierced his brain;
and his gun, as he fell over backwards, exploded harmlessly into
the air. Three of the tories, however, taking advantage of the
momentary confusion occasioned by the noise and smoke of the
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guns, made a desperate spring for the surrounding thickets, and
succeeded in breaking through the line of their assailants, three
of whom instantly gave chase, leaving Woodburn to cope alone
with the rival foe, whom he had vainly sought through the day
to confront in battle. Peters threw a quick, furtive glance around
him; and, for an instant, seemed hesitating whether he should
attempt to follow the example of the rest of his band; but another
glance at the watchful and menacing eye of his opponent
gleaming at him over the barrel of the deadly rifle, taught the
folly of any such attempt, and, throwing down his weapons, he
said, —
“I yield myself a prisoner of war, sir.”
“A prisoner of war!” exclaimed Woodburn, repeating the
words of the other, in a tone of bitter scorn. “After signifying
your submission, and then instigating an attempt to shoot me,
you hope to be received as a prisoner of war, do you? Villain!”
he added, advancing and presenting the muzzle of his piece
within a yard of the other's breast — “villain, your last claim to
mercy is forfeited!”
“You would not slay an unarmed man, and a prisoner, would
you?” said Peters, recoiling, and casting an uneasy glance at his
opponent.
“Yes,” replied the former, with increasing sternness, “if,
like you, in defiance of all the rules of war as well as honor, he
would do the same to me the first moment he had it in his
power. No submission shields the life of an outlaw from any
one disposed to take it. But you shall have one minute for
uttering your last request, if you have any such to make.”
Being now thoroughly alarmed by the words, as well as the
demeanor of his incensed captor, the once haughty loyalist
fell on his knees, and humbly besought the other to spare his
life.
“Live, then, wretch!” said Woodburn, at length moved to
both pity and contempt by the entreaties and abject manner of
the former — “live then, if you choose it, to be dealt with as
a traitor and a spy, by men who will award you your deserts with
more coolness, doubtless, than I should have done, but with no less
certainty.”
“O, spare me from that,” pleaded the abased supplicant, with
redoubled earnestness. “Kill me on the spot, if you will; but
spare me from that fate. Allow me to be delivered up as a
prisoner of war, and I will consent to any thing — yield any
thing you wish. I will insure you, by my influence at the
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British camp, any advantage in a future exchange of prisoners
you may ask; and —”
“Peace, miserable craven!” interrupted Woodburn. “I could
promise you no exemption, if I would, from a punishment
which our exasperated people will justly say you have brought
upon your own head.”
“And I will also,” resumed Peters, encouraged by the
somewhat softened tone, and slightly hesitating manner of the
other — “I will also relinquish all claims, and forego all interference,
in matters that may have stood in the way of your
private interests and wishes.”
“I will make no pledges, nor grant, nor receive any terms, at
your dictation, sir,” said the former, haughtily.
“I will trust to your magnanimity to a fallen foe,” then, rejoined
Peters, rightly appreciating, for once, the character of his
conqueror. “Here, take this,” he continued, drawing a carefully-preserved
document from his pocket, and extending it towards
the other — “take it, and deliver it to the one whom it
most concerns. Tell her it was voluntarily relinquished, and
that I will trouble her no more.”
As small as was the measure of credit which Woodburn's
judgment told him should be accorded to the motives prompting
this unexpected course in his old enemy, it nevertheless quickly
banished every vindictive feeling from his generous bosom; and,
after a momentary hesitation, he took the proffered document,
glanced at its contents, and silently deposited it among his other
papers. But soon growing jealous of himself lest he should
compromit the policy which his superiors might deem it just and
wise, under the sanction of the stern rules of war, to enforce,
he restrained himself from making any immediate reply. And,
the next moment, he was relieved from what apparent necessity
there might be for so doing, by the approach of the first of the
returning Rangers.
“Where is your prisoner, Piper?” he asked, turning to the
latter, now coming up.
“He would not be taken alive, sir; and the order was to let
none escape in that condition,” replied the broad-chested subaltern,
with a significant look.
“In order, then, that you go not home empty-handed,” rejoined
Woodburn, “I will give you charge of my prisoner,
Colonel Peters here, whom you will conduct to Bennington
Meeting-House, whither the prisoners of the day were ordered,
and where you will deliver him to the officer in command,
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as a prisoner of war — at least for the present; for any doubts
that may arise about his final disposal can be settled hereafter.”
“Der well, captain,” exclaimed Dunning, whose tall, gaunt
form, in the rear of his prisoner, the infamous David Redding,
whom it had been his lot to capture, was now seen emerging
from a thicket near by — “here is one, about whom we shan't
be bothered with der doubts, a great while, if his captor can have
his say.”
“Aha! — but what is your say about him, sergeant?” said
Woodburn, smiling.
“Der well,” replied the other, “I say, if the ditter devil don't
take him from a traitor's gallows, then we may just as well have
no devil.”
“I shall not be the one to gainsay you in that, sergeant,”
responded Woodburn. “But hark! what is the uproar yonder?”
he added, pointing out into the woods in a direction from whence
the sound of an occasional stiff whack! followed by groans,
curses, and calls for protection, were now heard to issue.
On turning their eyes towards the spot, the company beheld
Bart, with his rifle in one hand, and a long beechen switch in the
other, driving in before him the whilom constable, Fitch, who
was chafing, like a chained bear, under the lash which his
catechizing captor was administering every few yards on the
way.
“Why are you so rough with him, Bart?” expostulated Woodburn,
as they came up.
“Well, captain, I have a reasonable wherefore for it — may
be,” answered the former, gravely.
“What is it?” asked the other.
“Why,” replied the imperturbable Bart, “perhaps I don't remember,
and perhaps I do, how a chap of about my size sat
sweating near two cool hours, at the sight of an ugly-looking
bunch of beech rods, that a certain constable had ordered for his
back. And as 'twas no fault of his that the matter wasn't carried
out at the time, and, as I always thought there was a mistake
made as to the one whose back ought to take it, I felt rather
bound to have the order executed now, and in a manner to set all
to rights between us.”
“Well, well, boys,” said Woodburn, with a good-humored
smile, “you must all be indulged in your notions, I suppose, at
such a glorious hour as this. But you may now be moving
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on with your prisoners to the field, and thence by the road to
Bennington. Business calls me there by a nearer route, and
at a quicker pace. You shall find good cheer awaiting your
arrival.”
So saying, he struck off rapidly from the rest, and soon disappeared
in the forest.
eaf721n12* It may be interesting, to the antiquarian at least, to learn that the
splendid war-horse, which Warner was known to have rode in all his
battles, could neither be mounted nor managed by any except the colonel
and his son, then a lad of sixteen or seventeen, who attended his father
in the service mainly on that account. This fact I have from the lips of
Colonel W.'s second son, now living in Lower Canada.
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CHAPTER XV.
“Sing it where forests wave, —
From mountain to the sea,
And o'er each hero's grave, —
Sing, sing, the land is free.”
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It was evening; and all that met the eye was joy and animation
in the little village of Bennington, in which, not only the
great body of the opposing armies, either as conquerors or prisoners,
but the best portion of the patriotism, wisdom, and beauty
of young Vermont, were now congregated. There her statesmen
and sages — many of whom had mingled in the strife of the day—
were gathered to rejoice over a result which their own heads,
and hearts, and hands, through the anxious days and nights of the
preceding month, had been unceasingly engaged in securing for
their country and their homes. There, too, the old men and
striplings, drawn from all the neighboring settlements by the
ominous sounds which had reached them from the distant battle-field,
and there the maids and matrons, whose solicitude for the
near and dear ones, supposed to be engaged in the conflict, would
not permit them to stay behind, were all found mingling with the
victors, and participating in their exultations. Bright lights were
streaming from every window, or dancing in every direction in
the streets; while the smiling faces and animated voices, every
where seen and heard among the commingling throng, seemed to
tell only of a scene of universal joy and triumph. But as joyous
and lively as was the scene, in its predominating features, it was
yet not without its painful contrasts. The broken sob, or the low
wail of sorrow, was heard rising sadly on the night air, in every
interval that occurred in the more boisterous but irrepressible
manifestations which characterized the hour. And, even in the
same dwellings, these two contrasted phases in war's exciting but
melancholy picture were not unfrequently presented; for, while
in one room might be heard the notes of joy and exultation, in
another might be distinguished the stifled groan of some wounded
soldier, or the lamentations of the bereaved over the body of a
slain relative.
Among the most noted of the class last mentioned was the late
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residence of Esquire Haviland, situated in the outskirts of the
village, and recently occupied as the quarters of the officers of the
Rangers, on the invitation of the patriotic but singular and mysterious
man, who, at its sale by the commissioners of confiscation,
had purchased the establishment, among several others of a valuable
description thus sold in this section of the country. To
this residence, the scene of a former portion of our story, we will
now once more, and for the last time, repair.
While in one part of the building the officers just named, with other
distinguished persons, were engaged in discussing the incidents
of the day, in another and more retired apartment, on a pillowed
couch, lay the wounded Father Herriot, who, having been stricken
down in the last moments of the battle, as before intimated, had
been borne hither to complete the willing sacrifice he had made
of his life to the cause of his country. On a small table, within
his reach, lay several documents, which were fresh from the hand
of that ready writer, the accomplished secretary of the Council
of Safety, who had just left the apartment. And around his bed
stood those in whom all his private interests and sympathies had
been for some time secretly concentrated, though to two of them
personally unknown till a few hours before, when he had been
brought in wounded and committed to their care. Those persons
were Henry Woodburn, Bart Burt, Sabrey Haviland, and Vine
Howard, who, ignorant of his particular wishes or intentions, and
wondering why the presence of all of them should be desired at
the same time, had been summoned to his bedside to hear his last
communication and receive his blessing.
“My prayer is answered,” said Herriot, after looking round
affectionately a while upon his expectant auditors, who, at his
request, after the room was cleared of other company, had advanced
to his bedside. “My last prayer has been to be permitted
to see all of you, in whose personal welfare I have been led to
take a peculiar interest, assembled before me while life and reason
remained, so that I could commune with you; and the prayer
has been graciously answered. Still, when, at the close of our
first, and, as we all then supposed, final triumph to-day, Miss Haviland,
with her friend, at my request, was conveyed here to her
former home, of which I had become the purchaser, I then
thought to have met you all here this evening under circumstances
in which I could have actively shared with you in the
rejoicings that our victory so naturally calls forth, as well as in
the happiness, which, as far as regards you, I believed I could
superadd by my own acts. But He who holds the fate of
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individuals, as well as that of armies, in his hands, has seen fit to
deny me such participation; and He doeth all things well.”
“Your wound is not necessarily a mortal one, Father Herriot;
and I trust you may yet live to enjoy the fruits of a victory you
have contributed so much by your bravery to win,” observed
Woodburn, feelingly.
“That may not be. I feel the destroyer busily at work here,
undermining the citadel,” responded the other, placing his hand
on that part of his chest where the bullet had entered. “But I regret
not having made the poor sacrifice of my life for so righteous
a cause. And though I shall not live to see the happiness I would
be the means of imparting, yet the wish and the duty of doing what
I proposed to that end remains to be fulfilled, and for this purpose
I have requested your presence.”
The speaker here paused, as if at a loss how he should open
the subject which seemed to rest on his mind. But at length he
resumed: —
“Miss Haviland, what you have done and suffered for the cause,
in which you so nobly took your stand, is known to many. The
part you have acted in the events of this day is known to still
more; but have not those events had a bearing on your happiness
beyond what would arise from the bare liberation of your
person?”
“They have, sir,” replied the maiden, frankly, but with an air
of surprise at the unexpected question.
“And have I been correctly informed, by the person who has
just left us, and who has long been my confidential friend and
adviser, that, by the relinquishment of a certain contract, you are
now left free to bestow your hand on one whose character and
feelings may be more congenial with your own?”
“Why am I questioned in so unusual a manner, and by one so
much a stranger?” asked the former, in a half-remonstrating,
half-beseeching tone.
“I knew,” rejoined the other, “that you, as well as the rest of
those present, might, at first, wonder why and how I should have
kept myself apprised, as I confess I have long done, of all that
concerned the individual interests, and even inclinations, as far as
could be conjectured of each of you. And I know, also, that my
ways are not like those of other men. But cannot you trust to
the motives of a dying man, and let him proceed in his own manner?”
“I can — I will, Father Herriot,” answered Sabrey, touched
by the appeal. “And I will not affect to misunderstand you. I
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have been freed from fetters under which I have suffered — perhaps
unnecessarily — both persecution and embarrassment of
feeling. And I am thankful,” she continued, throwing a grateful
glance to Woodburn — “greatly thankful for that generous forbearance
by which this was effected without bloodshed. Yes, I
am free, doubly free; but whoever takes me,” she added, slightly
coloring, “must now receive a penniless bride.”
“Perhaps not,” said Herriot, musingly — “perhaps not. But I
did not mean to be understood as imposing any conditions to the
act I was about to perform, after ascertaining your entire deliverance
from the power and supposed claims of one whom I deem a
bad man, as well as a foe to his country. Here, deserving girl,”
he continued, taking up one of the documents from the table and
extending it towards her, “here is a deed of gift, from me to you,
of all this, which was your father's estate. Take it; it is freely
given and worthily bestowed.”
Surprise at an act as unexpected as it was munificent, kept all
mute for some seconds; when Sabrey, whose sensibilities were too
deeply moved to permit her to speak, threw upon the donor a look
which her grateful emotions made more eloquent than any language
she could have summoned for a reply; and then, turning,
she silently extended her hand to Woodburn, with the deed still
lying across the open palm.
“Which? — the hand or the paper?” asked the latter, in a low
tone, and with a slightly apprehensive air.
“Either, or both,” replied the maiden, as a blush stole over her
conscious cheek.
“The hand, then,” exclaimed the delighted lover, grasping the
coveted prize, and bearing it in triumph to his lips.
“It is all right; but no words,” said Herriot, making a motion
for silence to Woodburn, who was about to address him — “no
words. I have much to say — let me proceed. Bart,” he continued,
after a thoughtful pause, as he turned to the young man
who had stood mutely noting the proceedings with a puzzled look—
“Bart, do you remember the old Rose Homestead, which
was confiscated, and also purchased by me?”
“Well, yes,” replied Bart, looking up with an inquiring, doubtful
expression — “yes, for as many as two several reasons, or
more,” he added, with one glance to Woodburn, and another,
and more significant one, to Vine, who was standing demurely at
his side.
“Would you like it for your own?” asked the former.
“My own!” exclaimed Bart, casting an incredulous but
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searching look at the other's countenance, in which, however, he
read something that at once changed his demeanor; and, in a softened
and respectful tone, he replied to the question, “Yes, Father
Herriot, as soon as the smell of toryism got fairly out of it, I
would like it grandly, that's a fact.”
“It is yours, then, as this deed will show,” said Herriot, handing
to the surprised and hesitating young man the instrument in
question; “it is yours; but have you no one to share it with
you?”
“Well, don't know exactly, but may be the chap that helped
me fix up my spy disguises, and gave me so many good hints
for ferreting out the tories, won't object much to that, seeing we
have had considerably the start of the captain and his lady here,
in the way of finished bargains,” replied Bart, turning, with an
expression of droll gravity, to the blooming girl at his side, who,
thereupon, with an arch and blushful smile, placed her hand in
his, which had been extended to receive it.
“Who are you, Father Herriot?” exclaimed the now completely
surprised Woodburn; “who are you, to take such an
interest in us, and bestow on us gifts so valuable, with so little
hope, as you can have, of any adequate return?”
“Listen, and you shall be answered,” replied Herriot; “for
the time has now arrived when you all should know the relation
in which we stand to each other; and I know not but I have
already delayed the disclosure of this fact too long. Perhaps I
should have made it, as I had nearly done, when, at the breaking
out of the war, you and Bart visited my hermit cabin in the vicinity
of the Connecticut. But when I found you about to embark
in the cause of liberty, for which I stood ready to make any sacrifice,
I concluded to defer it, lest the discovery, which I had but
then just made myself, should turn you from a service that I
thought none were at liberty to withhold. I therefore, after communicating
to you enough to lead you, in case of my death, to
all the knowledge I wished you to obtain, encouraged you on
your way. And it has all, doubtless, been for the best; for who
knows but your individual exertions were needed to turn the
scale which has been so long trembling at equipoise? But the
events of this day,” continued the patriot, kindling at the thought—
“the events of this day, which will be memorable through all
time, have turned that scale in favor of American freedom. I read
it with a prophetic eye, which is made for me too clear for error
or misconception. Our avenging armies will henceforth go on
conquering and to conquer, till the last vestige of British usurpation
is swept from the land.”
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Here the speaker paused a while to recover from his exhaustion,
and indulge his mental vision, apparently, with the enrapturing
glimpses he was catching of the future destiny of his country.
But soon arousing himself from his reverie, he resumed, —
“Harry Woodburn, you had once a paternal uncle?”
“I have been told so,” was the reply.
“Who, by his folly and wickedness, disgraced himself and
ruined your father,” proceeded the former.
“I had such an uncle,” responded Woodburn, with an expression
of gathering interest and surprise; “or, rather, I had an
uncle, who, though not a bad man, was, I have understood, at one
time, a very indiscreet one; and, by his indiscretion, lost his own
property, and deeply involved that of my father. But I do not
feel to condemn him as much as your words imply you expect I
should.”
“Or as he has always condemned himself,” rejoined Herriot,
with an air of deep self-abasement. “But I thank God for giving
me the means, and the will, for making ample restitution to such
as remain of my injured brother's family, or of my own. Harry,
I am that uncle. I am the erring Charles Woodburn.”
“I am surprised, deeply surprised,” said the other; “for, attributing
the interest you have taken in me to other causes, I
have, till within a few minutes, been totally unprepared for such
a revelation. And now it seems as if it could not be. You could
not have much resembled my father, and you bear another name.”
“I did not strikingly resemble my more staid brother, in person
or character,” responded the former, meekly; “and my reasons
for assuming another name are explained by the circumstances
under which you first saw me, the accused of a revolting
crime, of which, as I then declared, I was never guilty. And
this the wicked men, who combined against me, and hunted me
out, even in this new settlement, full well knew. But they knew,
also, that I had somewhere at command the large amount of
money that had been left me by a wealthy and heirless gentleman,
whom I had previously rescued from death. Are you now
satisfied that I am the man I claim to be, and, as such, willing to
acknowledge me?”
“Fully, now — not only satisfied of the identity, but willing,
nay, proud to acknowledge the relationship,” said Woodburn,
with warmth and rising emotion. “Nor is this all, my uncle,
my friend! The acts you have just performed will ever —”
“Enough, enough!” interrupted the former; “but let me go
on. I have still another and more humiliating duty to perform.
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Bart,” he continued, turning, with an agitated countenance, to the
young man, “as forsaken and guideless as you have been, many a
parent has had a less deserving offspring. And had you not done
more for yourself than he, who should have been your protector
and guide, has done for you, you had been less than nothing
among men. But listen; for the story of your origin, which,
thus far, has been as a sealed book to you, must now be disclosed.
Your father contracted a private, but legal marriage, with a woman,
who, as the world falsely esteemed it, was below him in
station; and, in his pride, he refused to acknowledge her, and,
having squandered the property that should have been applied to
her support, absconded from the country. In after years, however,
conscience drove him back, but only to find her dying of
destitution and a broken heart, and to learn from her last words
that the offspring of their connection, a male infant, had been
thrown unacknowledged on the charity of the public. Aroused
by a new sense of duty, he diligently sought for the child — followed
it from its first lodgment to its next asylum in the city;
from that to another in the country; and then, through various
shifts and wanderings, till the trace was lost far in the interior;
when he gave up the search, and again left the country. In the
process of time, he once more returned to New England, in
altered circumstances, and located himself in this settlement,
where he soon met with a youth, whose countenance so strikingly
resembled that of his deceased wife, as to put him instantly on
inquiry and research, which, in a few weeks, resulted in supplying
the broken chain of evidence, and in identifying the youth as
his lost son. Bart, you were, and still are, that son. I was, and
still am, that father. Do I die, my much injured son, acknowledged
and forgiven?”
The young man was too deeply affected by his surprise and
emotion to utter a word in reply; but tears, which all the wrongs
and hardships he had endured had failed to wring from him, now
stole out on his sunburnt cheeks, testifying, not only his gratification
at the discovery, but that the slumbering fountain of a naturally
generous nature was now effectually stirred within his
bosom. And the speaker, seeming satisfied with the answer
which this evidence implied, soon proceeded: —
“Little more now remains to be imparted. You remember,
Harry, that at the visit at my cabin, to which I have already alluded,
I showed you two small casks, labelled `Printer's Type,'
concealed under a stone in the cellar?”
“I do; and the impression they caused of the absurdity of
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bringing that kind of property into our new settlement,” replied
the other.
“They were so marked for greater security,” resumed the
former; “for they contained silver coin, and, at that time, nearly
all the property I possessed. Of these, one has been recently
appropriated to the purchase of confiscated estates, whenever a
lack of money in others was likely to prevent a sale at a fair
value. The other remains in the same spot. And this, and the
rest of my property, except what I have just conveyed, and except,
also, bequests of small farms to Dunning and Piper, for
their friendship to you, and faithfulness to the cause, you will find,
by my will here on the table, to be equally divided between you,
my son and nephew. And now,” he added, in a faltering
tone, and in accents of touching tenderness, now, my children,
having said all I wished to communicate, I will commend you
to our common Parent above. Kneel and receive my blessing.”
Hand in hand, and side by side, with the fair sharers of their
gushing sympathies, the young men now reverently knelt around
the dying patriot, and bowed their faces beneath his outspread
hands to receive the proffered blessing, which was then pronounced
with much fervor, but with the last words he was destined
ever to utter; for after waiting a while after he had ceased
to speak, the tearful group gently removed his hands from their
heads, and arose to be greeted by a face pale in death.
-- 171 --
CONCLUSION.
[figure description] Page 171.[end figure description]
On a summer afternoon, nearly a year after the occurrence of
the events last described, there was an unusual gathering in the
village of Bennington. As early as one o'clock, multitudes of
people were seen pouring in by every road leading into the place
from the surrounding country, and filling up the streets with a
promiscuous crowd of all ages, sexes, and conditions. And as
the hour of two approached, the commotion increased to a degree
which plainly showed that some crisis was at hand; and soon the
dense throng, gathered in the vicinity of the Green Mountain
Tavern, then the principal place of public resort, broke away
into groups and companies, and began to flock towards a newlyerected
gallows, standing, at no great distance, on the neighboring
common. Here arranging themselves, as they came up, in
a circle round the ill-omened structure, they assumed the attitude
of spectators awaiting the advent of some promised spectacle.
Presently a clamor rose from the outer part of the crowd, as,
with the exclamations, “There comes the new Overseer of the
Tories!”* “There comes Dunning and his gang of beauties!”
They pointed to a column of some dozens of variously-clad, dejected-looking
men, headed by a well-armed officer in the continental
uniform, just coming round a corner into view, and
advancing towards the spot.
“Der open there to the right and left!” cried the commander
of this unique company, as he marched them up to the crowd.
“Make way for Mother Britain's ditter darlings! The coming sight
is as much for their der benefit as your ditter fun. There, halt!”
he continued, bringing the submissive creatures into their allotted
place. “Now, the first one of you that attempts to sneak away
from the sight, takes a der pistol bullet. So face the music without
flinching. It will ditter do you good.”
Scarcely had this transpired before the crowd, whose attention,
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for the moment, was too much engrossed to notice the approach
of the principal procession, now close at hand, was again thrown
into commotion by the sound of a muffled drum, followed by the
loud cry of, “Clear the way for the prisoner and his escort!” in
a voice whose well-known tones never fell unheeded on the ears
of a Green Mountain assemblage. With magic quickness, a clear
space opened through the ranks of the receding throng, in the
direction of this fresh summons, when the first object that met the
eye was the towering form of Ethan Allen, mounted on a large
black horse; he having recently returned from his captivity, and
been appointed, in the quaint language of his commission, “to conduct,
in behalf of the state, the trial and execution of that inimical
person, David Redding.”* Next to Allen came the prisoner,
riding in an ox-cart, and sitting between two armed men, who
were acting as his special guards. Then followed a company of
soldiers, under the command of another of our old acquaintances,
Bill Piper, who had been promoted to a captaincy in a volunteer
service then recently projected; while the president, secretary,
and members of the Council of Safety, succeeded by a band of
private citizens, brought up the rear of the procession. On reaching
its destination, the team was brought to a stand immediately
beneath the gallows, which was a naked cross-tree, set into the
ground like a sign-post, and wholly unprovided with platform, or
other of the usual adjuncts of such structures. The prisoner was
then ordered to stand up in the cart, when the noose at the end
of the rope, dangling from the arm above, was securely adjusted
round his neck, and every thing made ready for the awful moment.
Ira Allen, having mounted some object at hand, then addressed
the people in an eloquent exhortation on the duty and policy of a
faithful and unwavering adherence to the cause of the country,
which he enforced by giving a rapid sketch of the character and
career of the wretched traitor before them, as contrasted with those
who had been true to that cause, and especially those who had
captured him.
“Of the four brave men,” he said, in conclusion, “who, at such
odds and risk, pursued and took the prisoner and his party, on that
glorious occasion, two are present, and in positions which amply
testify the high estimation that has been placed on their gallant
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conduct. The others, the two Woodburns, who remained in the
army, are — as I learn from letters I have recently seen from them
to their scarcely less heroic young wives, left to conduct the affairs
of their respective homes — now in New Jersey, acting under
the eye of their beloved Washington, whose confidence in them,
in their different spheres of action — one as the honored colonel
of a regiment, and the other as the most trusty and adroit manager
in the secret service — they consider their sufficient reward, and
one that was only wanting to crown that which, on the eve of
our memorable battle here, they received in their wives, and the
wealth obtained through the romantic disclosures of their dying
relative, the lamented Father Herriot. And of the party taken
alive by those gallant men, the tory leader, Peters, was exchanged
for several of our imprisoned officers, and at a bargain which
secured us advantages not to be obtained by stretching his worthless
neck; and he has retired into Canada, to sink into insignificance,
despised and hated by those whom his misrepresentations
respecting the alleged easy conquest of our state so completely
deceived. Fitch, after having ransomed himself by the payment
of all he could raise, offered through his fear of a fate to which,
after all, he probably would not have been condemned, sneaked
back to his old haunts in Guilford, where he perished miserably
by the hand of one whom former wrongs, committed in acts of
official cruelty and extortion, had made desperate. And the
other, and last of the infamous trio, now stands before us, to
make atonement for his crimes by an ignominious death on the
gallows.”
When the speaker had concluded, the prisoner, after glancing
around him, with that fitful, furtive, and restless expression, which
at all times so strongly marked his countenance, turned to Ethan
Allen, and meekly begged permission to address tbe multitude.
“Why — yes,” hesitatingly replied the rough old hero, who
had been sitting upon his horse, moodily looking at his watch lying
in his broad palm, and occasionally exhibiting signs of impatience
at the length of his more wordy young brother's remarks —
“yes, it may be right enough, that you should have your say,
unless you want to preach some more of your damnable tory
doctrines to the people. But be short, sir. Your hour is nearly
up; and I do not intend that the earth shall be polluted by your
living presence one moment beyond the time.”
Immediately availing himself of this ungracious permission, the
prisoner turned, shrinkingly, towards the crowd, and said, —
“All you who hear me, I hope, will take warning by my
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miserable end — an end to which I have been brought, in my opinion,
only by my inconstancy. In the first place, I adhered to my oath
of allegiance, and supported the king; but, finding myself in danger,
I enrolled myself under the new state, and went for the
authority of Congress. Conscience, however, quickly carried me
back to the royal cause, which I again supported a while; and
then, being over-persuaded by my neighbors, I came out once
more openly for the state, and went for it till the approach of
Burgoyne emboldened me to risk another change, and go for my
old master. But, being soon taken in arms, I must now untimely
perish. It is, therefore, my advice to you all — never fluctuate as
I have done; but you who are for the States, stick by the States;
and you who are for the king, stick by the king, and prove —”
“And so,” fiercely interrupted old Ethan — “so you would
have an interminable war, would you? Take your treason along
with you to Tophet, ye doubly-damned miscreant! I will have
no more of it here. Teamster, drive on the cart!”
The teamster did so; and the next moment the traitor Redding
was launched into eternity.
THE END.
eaf721n13* The Overseer of the Tories, an officer peculiar to the times, and perhaps
to the locality, was one to whom was intrusted the general surveillance
and control of that class of persons, to prevent them from
communicating with the British, and see that they did not pass over the
limits of the farms, or town lines, within which, under various penalties,
they were doomed to remain, unless called out by such officer for some
public service, such as clearing out the highways, &c., to which they were
held subject.
eaf721n14* David Redding, the only person ever executed in Vermont for political
offences, was, after changing two or three times from the American to the
British cause, and two trials, hanged July 11, 1777, at 2 o'clock, P. M.
Back matter
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BAKER'S ELEMENTARY MUSIC BOOK.
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Thompson, Daniel P. (Daniel Pierce), 1795-1868 [1851], The rangers, or, The Tory's daughter: a tale, illustrative of the Revolutionary history of Vermont, and the Northern Campaign of 1777 [Volume 2] (Benjamin B. Mussey and Company, Boston) [word count] [eaf721Ta].
