CHAPTER XXI
Oh! Henry, when thou deign'st to sue, Can I thy suit withstand? When thou, loved youth, hast won my heart, Can I refuse my hand? --_Hermit of Warkevorth._
The graduate of Edinburgh found his patient rapidly improving in health,and entirely free from fever. His sister, with a cheek that was, ifpossible, paler than on her arrival, watched around his couch withtender care; and the ladies of the cottage had not, in the midst oftheir sorrows and varied emotions, forgotten to discharge the duties ofhospitality. Frances felt herself impelled towards their disconsolateguest, with an interest for which she could not account, and with aforce that she could not control. She had unconsciously connected thefates of Dunwoodie and Isabella in her imagination, and she felt, withthe romantic ardor of a generous mind, that she was serving her formerlover most by exhibiting kindness to her he loved best. Isabellareceived her attentions with gratitude, but neither of them indulged inany allusions to the latent source of their uneasiness. The observationof Miss Peyton seldom penetrated beyond things that were visible, and toher the situation of Henry Wharton seemed to furnish an awful excuse forthe fading cheeks and tearful eyes of her niece. If Sarah manifestedless of care than her sister, still the unpracticed aunt was not at aloss to comprehend the reason. Love is a holy feeling with the virtuousof the female sex, and it hallows all that come within its influence.Although Miss Peyton mourned with sincerity over the danger whichthreatened her nephew, she well knew that an active campaign was notfavorable to love, and the moments that were thus accidentally grantedwere not to be thrown away.
Several days now passed without any interruption of the usual avocationsof the inhabitants of the cottage, or the party at the Four Corners.The former were supporting their fortitude with the certainty of Henry'sinnocence, and a strong reliance on Dunwoodie's exertions in his behalf,and the latter waiting with impatience the intelligence, that was hourlyexpected, of a conflict, and their orders to depart. Captain Lawton,however, waited for both these events in vain. Letters from the majorannounced that the enemy, finding that the party which was to cooperatewith them had been defeated, and was withdrawn, had retired also behindthe works of Fort Washington, where they continued inactive, threateningconstantly to strike a blow in revenge for their disgrace. The trooperwas enjoined to vigilance, and the letter concluded with a compliment tohis honor, zeal, and undoubted bravery.
"Extremely flattering, Major Dunwoodie," muttered the dragoon, as hethrew down this epistle, and stalked across the floor to quiet hisimpatience. "A proper guard have you selected for this service: let mesee--I have to watch over the interests of a crazy, irresolute old man,who does not know whether he belongs to us or to the enemy; four women,three of whom are well enough in themselves, but who are not immenselyflattered by my society; and the fourth, who, good as she is, is on thewrong side of forty; some two or three blacks; a talkative housekeeper,that does nothing but chatter about gold and despisables, and signs andomens; and poor George Singleton. Well, a comrade in suffering has aclaim on a man,--so I'll make the best of it."
As he concluded this soliloquy, the trooper took a seat and began towhistle, to convince himself how little he cared about the matter, when,by throwing his booted leg carelessly round, he upset the canteen thatheld his whole stock of brandy. The accident was soon repaired, but inreplacing the wooden vessel, he observed a billet lying on the bench, onwhich the liquor had been placed. It was soon opened, and he read: _"Themoon will not rise till after midnight--a fit time for deeds ofdarkness."_ There was no mistaking the hand; it was clearly the samethat had given him the timely warning against assassination, and thetrooper continued, for a long time, musing on the nature of these twonotices, and the motives that could induce the peddler to favor animplacable enemy in the manner that he had latterly done. That he was aspy of the enemy, Lawton knew; for the fact of his conveyingintelligence to the English commander in chief, of a party of Americansthat were exposed to the enemy was proved most clearly against him onthe trial for his life. The consequences of his treason had beenavoided, it is true, by a lucky order from Washington, which withdrewthe regiment a short time before the British appeared to cut it off, butstill the crime was the same. "Perhaps," thought the partisan, "hewishes to make a friend of me against the event of another capture; but,at all events, he spared my life on one occasion, and saved it onanother. I will endeavor to be as generous as himself, and pray that myduty may never interfere with my feelings."
Whether the danger, intimated in the present note, threatened thecottage or his own party, the captain was uncertain; but he inclined tothe latter opinion, and determined to beware how he rode abroad in thedark. To a man in a peaceable country, and in times of quiet and order,the indifference with which the partisan regarded the impending dangerwould be inconceivable. His reflections on the subject were moredirected towards devising means to entrap his enemies, than to escapetheir machinations. But the arrival of the surgeon, who had been to payhis daily visit to the Locusts, interrupted his meditations. Sitgreavesbrought an invitation from the mistress of the mansion to CaptainLawton, desiring that the cottage might be honored with his presence atan early hour on that evening.
"Ha!" cried the trooper; "then they have received a letter also."
"I think nothing more probable," said the surgeon. "There is a chaplainat the cottage from the royal army, who has come out to exchange theBritish wounded, and who has an order from Colonel Singleton for theirdelivery. But a more mad project than to remove them now wasnever adopted."
"A priest, say you!--is he a hard drinker--a real camp-idler--a fellowto breed a famine in a regiment? Or does he seem a man who is earnest inhis trade?"
"A very respectable and orderly gentleman, and not unreasonably given tointemperance, judging from the outward symptoms," returned the surgeon;"and a man who really says grace in a very regular and appropriatemanner."
"And does he stay the night?"
"Certainly, he waits for his cartel; but hasten, John, we have butlittle time to waste. I will just step up and bleed two or three of theEnglishmen who are to move in the morning, in order to anticipateinflammation, and be with you immediately."
The gala suit of Captain Lawton was easily adjusted to his huge frame,and his companion being ready, they once more took their route towardsthe cottage. Roanoke had been as much benefited by a few days' rest ashis master; and Lawton ardently wished, as he curbed his gallant steed,on passing the well-remembered rocks, that his treacherous enemy stoodbefore him, mounted and armed as himself. But no enemy, nor anydisturbance whatever, interfered with their progress, and they reachedthe Locusts just as the sun was throwing his setting rays on the valley,and tingeing the tops of the leafless trees with gold. It never requiredmore than a single look to acquaint the trooper with the particulars ofevery scene that was not uncommonly veiled, and the first survey that hetook on entering the house told him more than the observations of a dayhad put into the possession of Doctor Sitgreaves. Miss Peyton accostedhim with a smiling welcome, that exceeded the bounds of ordinarycourtesy and which evidently flowed more from feelings that wereconnected with the heart, than from manner. Frances glided about,tearful and agitated, while Mr. Wharton stood ready to receive them,decked in a suit of velvet that would have been conspicuous in thegayest drawing-room. Colonel Wellmere was in the uniform of an officerof the household troops of his prince, and Isabella Singleton sat in theparlor, clad in the habiliments of joy, but with a countenance thatbelied her appearance; while her brother by her side looked, with acheek of flitting color, and an eye of intense interest, like anythingbut an invalid. As it was the third day that he had left his room, Dr.Sitgreaves, who began to stare about him in stupid wonder, forgot toreprove his patient for imprudence. Into this scene Captain Lawton movedwith all the composure and gravity of a man whose nerves were not easilydiscomposed by novelties. His compliments were received as graciously asthey were offered, and after exchanging a few words with the diffe
rentindividuals present, he approached the surgeon, who had withdrawn, in akind of confused astonishment, to rally his senses.
"John," whispered the surgeon, with awakened curiosity, "what means thisfestival?"
"That your wig and my black head would look the better for a little ofBetty Flanagan's flour; but it is too late now, and we must fight thebattle armed as you see."
"Observe, here comes the army chaplain in his full robes, as a DoctorDivinitatis; what can it mean?"
"An exchange," said the trooper. "The wounded of Cupid are to meet andsettle their accounts with the god, in the way of plighting faith tosuffer from his archery no more."
The surgeon laid a finger on the side of his nose, and he began tocomprehend the case.
"Is it not a crying shame, that a sunshine hero, and an enemy, shouldthus be suffered to steal away one of the fairest plants that grow inour soil," muttered Lawton; "a flower fit to be placed in the bosomof any man!"
"If he be not more accommodating as a husband than as a patient, John, Ifear me that the lady will lead a troubled life."
"Let her," said the trooper, indignantly; "she has chosen from hercountry's enemies, and may she meet with a foreigner's virtues inher choice."
Further conversation was interrupted by Miss Peyton, who, advancing,acquainted them that they had been invited to grace the nuptials of hereldest niece and Colonel Wellmere. The gentlemen bowed; and the goodaunt, with an inherent love of propriety, went on to add, that theacquaintance was of an old date, and the attachment by no means a suddenthing. To this Lawton merely bowed still more ceremoniously; but thesurgeon, who loved to hold converse with the virgin, replied,--
"That the human mind was differently constituted in differentindividuals. In some, impressions are vivid and transitory; in others,more deep and lasting: indeed, there are some philosophers who pretendto trace a connection between the physical and mental powers of theanimal; but, for my part, madam, I believe that the one is muchinfluenced by habit and association, and the other subject altogether tothe peculiar laws of matter."
Miss Peyton, in her turn, bowed her silent assent to this remark, andretired with dignity, to usher the intended bride into the presence ofthe company. The hour had arrived when American custom has decreed thatthe vows of wedlock must be exchanged; and Sarah, blushing with avariety of emotions, followed her aunt to the drawing-room. Wellmeresprang to receive the hand that, with an averted face, she extendedtowards him, and, for the first time, the English colonel appeared fullyconscious of the important part that he was to act in the approachingceremony. Hitherto his air had been abstracted, and his manner uneasy;but everything, excepting the certainty of his bliss, seemed to vanishat the blaze of loveliness that now burst on his sight. All arose fromtheir seats, and the reverend gentleman had already opened the sacredvolume, when the absence of Frances was noticed! Miss Peyton withdrew insearch of her youngest niece, whom she found in her own apartment,and in tears.
"Come, my love, the ceremony waits but for us," said the aunt,affectionately entwining her arm in that of her niece. "Endeavor tocompose yourself, that proper honor may be done to the choice ofyour sister."
"Is he--can he be, worthy of her?"
"Can he be otherwise?" returned Miss Peyton. "Is he not a gentleman?--agallant soldier, though an unfortunate one? and certainly, my love, onewho appears every way qualified to make any woman happy."
Frances had given vent to her feelings, and, with an effort, shecollected sufficient resolution to venture to join the party below. Butto relieve the embarrassment of this delay, the clergyman had put sundryquestions to the bridegroom; one of which was by no means answered tohis satisfaction. Wellmere was compelled to acknowledge that he wasunprovided with a ring; and to perform the marriage ceremony withoutone, the divine pronounced to be canonically impossible. His appeal toMr. Wharton, for the propriety of this decision, was answeredaffirmatively, as it would have been negatively, had the question beenput in a manner to lead to such a result. The owner of the Locusts hadlost the little energy he possessed, by the blow recently receivedthrough his son, and his assent to the objection of the clergyman was aseasily obtained as had been his consent to the premature proposals ofWellmere. In this stage of the dilemma, Miss Peyton and Francesappeared. The surgeon of dragoons approached the former, and as hehanded her to a chair, observed,--
"It appears, madam, that untoward circumstances have prevented ColonelWellmere from providing all of the decorations that custom, antiquity,and the canons of the church have prescribed, as indispensable to enterinto the honorable state of wedlock."
Miss Peyton glanced her quiet eye at the uneasy bridegroom, andperceiving him to be adorned with what she thought sufficient splendor,allowing for the time and the suddenness of the occasion, she turned herlook on the speaker, as if to demand an explanation.
The surgeon understood her wishes, and proceeded at once to gratifythem.
"There is," he observed, "an opinion prevalent, that the heart lies onthe left side of the body, and that the connection between the membersof that side and what may be called the seat of life is more intimatethan that which exists with their opposites. But this is an error whichgrows out of an ignorance of the organic arrangement of the human frame.In obedience to this opinion, the fourth finger of the left hand isthought to contain a virtue that belongs to no other branch of thatdigitated member; and it is ordinarily encircled, during thesolemnization of wedlock, with a cincture or ring, as if to chain thataffection to the marriage state, which is best secured by the graces ofthe female character." While speaking, the operator laid his handexpressively on his heart, and he bowed nearly to the floor when he hadconcluded.
"I know not, sir, that I rightly understand your meaning," said MissPeyton, whose want of comprehension was sufficiently excusable.
"A ring, madam--a ring is wanting for the ceremony."
The instant that the surgeon spoke explicitly, the awkwardness of thesituation was understood. She glanced her eyes at her nieces, and in theyounger she read a secret exultation that somewhat displeased her; butthe countenance of Sarah was suffused with a shame that the considerateaunt well understood. Not for the world would she violate any of theobservances of female etiquette. It suggested itself to all the females,at the same moment, that the wedding ring of the late mother and sisterwas reposing peacefully amid the rest of her jewelry in a secretreceptacle, that had been provided at an early day, to secure thevaluables against the predatory inroads of the marauders who roamedthrough the county. Into this hidden vault, the plate, and whatever wasmost prized, made a nightly retreat, and there the ring in question hadlong lain, forgotten until at this moment. But it was the business ofthe bridegroom, from time immemorial, to furnish this indispensable towedlock, and on no account would Miss Peyton do anything thattranscended the usual reserve of the sex on this solemn occasion;certainly not until sufficient expiation for the offense had been made,by a due portion of trouble and disquiet. This material fact, therefore,was not disclosed by either; the aunt consulting female propriety; thebride yielding to shame; and Frances rejoicing that an embarrassment,proceeding from almost any cause, should delay her sister's vow. It wasreserved for Doctor Sitgreaves to interrupt the awkward silence.
"If, madam, a plain ring, that once belonged to a sister of my own--" Hepaused and hemmed--"If, madam, a ring of that description might beadmitted to this honor, I have one that could be easily produced from myquarters at the Corners, and I doubt not it would fit the finger forwhich it is desired. There is a strong resemblance between--hem--betweenmy late sister and Miss Wharton in stature and anatomical figure; and,in all eligible subjects, the proportions are apt to be observedthroughout the whole animal economy."
A glance of Miss Peyton's eye recalled Colonel Wellmere to a sense ofhis duty, and springing from his chair, he assured the surgeon that inno way could he confer a greater obligation on himself than by sendingfor that very ring. The operator bowed a little haughtily, and withdrewto fulfill his promise
, by dispatching a messenger on the errand. Theaunt suffered him to retire; but unwillingness to admit a stranger intothe privacy of their domestic arrangements induced her to follow andtender the services of Caesar, instead of those of Sitgreaves' man, whohad volunteered for this duty. Katy Haynes was accordingly directed tosummon the black to the vacant parlor, and thither Miss Peyton and thesurgeon repaired, to give their several instructions.
The consent to this sudden union of Sarah and Wellmere, and especiallyat a time when the life of a member of the family was in such imminentjeopardy, was given from a conviction that the unsettled state of thecountry would probably prevent another opportunity to the lovers ofmeeting, and a secret dread on the part of Mr. Wharton, that the deathof his son might, by hastening his own, leave his remaining childrenwithout a protector. But notwithstanding Miss Peyton had complied withher brother's wish to profit by the accidental visit of a divine, shehad not thought it necessary to blazon the intended nuptials of herniece to the neighborhood, had even time been allowed; she thought,therefore, that she was now communicating a profound secret to thenegro, and her housekeeper.
"Caesar," she commenced, with a smile, "you are now to learn that youryoung mistress, Miss Sarah, is to be united to Colonel Wellmerethis evening."
"I t'ink I see him afore," said Caesar, chuckling. "Old black man cantell when a young lady make up he mind."
"Really, Caesar, I find I have never given you credit for half theobservation that you deserve; but as you already know on what emergencyyour services are required, listen to the directions of this gentleman,and observe them."
The black turned in quiet submission to the surgeon, who commenced asfollows:--
"Caesar, your mistress has already acquainted you with the importantevent about to be solemnized within this habitation; but a cincture orring is wanting to encircle the finger of the bride; a custom derivedfrom the ancients, and which has been continued in the marriage forms ofseveral branches of the Christian church, and which is even, by aspecies of typical wedlock, used in the installation of prelates, as youdoubtless understand."
"P'r'aps Massa Doctor will say him over ag'in," interrupted the oldnegro, whose memory began to fail him, just as the other made soconfident an allusion to his powers of comprehension. "I t'ink I get himby heart dis time."
"It is impossible to gather honey from a rock, Caesar, and therefore Iwill abridge the little I have to say. Ride to the Four Corners, andpresent this note to Sergeant Hollister, or to Mrs. Elizabeth Flanagan,either of whom will furnish the necessary pledge of connubial affection;and return forthwith."
The letter which the surgeon put into the hands of his messenger, as heceased, was conceived in the following terms:--
"If the fever has left Kinder, give him nourishment. Take three ouncesmore of blood from Watson. Have a search made that the woman Flanaganhas left none of her jugs of alcohol in the hospital. Renew thedressings of Johnson, and dismiss Smith to duty. Send the ring, which ispendent from the chain of the watch, that I left with you to time thedoses, by the bearer.
"ARCHIBALD SITGREAVES, M. D.",_"Surgeon of Dragoons."_
"Caesar," said Katy, when she was alone with the black, "put the ring,when you get it, in your left pocket, for that is nearest your heart;and by no means endeavor to try it on your finger, for it is unlucky."
"Try um on he finger?" interrupted the negro, stretching forth his bonyknuckles. "T'ink a Miss Sally's ring go on old Caesar finger?"
"'Tis not consequential whether it goes on or not," said thehousekeeper; "but it is an evil omen to place a marriage ring on thefinger of another after wedlock, and of course it may bedangerous before."
"I tell you, Katy, I neber t'ink to put um on a finger."
"Go, then, Caesar, and do not forget the left pocket; be careful to takeoff your hat as you pass the graveyard, and be expeditious; fornothing, I am certain, can be more trying to the patience, than thus tobe waiting for the ceremony, when a body has fully made up her mindto marry."
With this injunction Caesar quitted the house, and he was soon firmlyfixed in the saddle. From his youth, the black, like all of his race,had been a hard rider; but, bending under the weight of sixty winters,his African blood had lost some of its native heat. The night was dark,and the wind whistled through the vale with the dreariness of November.When Caesar reached the graveyard, he uncovered his grizzled head withsuperstitious awe, and threw around him many a fearful glance, inmomentary expectation of seeing something superhuman. There wassufficient light to discern a being of earthly mold stealing from amongthe graves, apparently with a design to enter the highway. It is in vainthat philosophy and reason contend with early impressions, and poorCaesar was even without the support of either of these frail allies. Hewas, however, well mounted on a coach horse of Mr. Wharton's and,clinging to the back of the animal with instinctive skill, he abandonedthe rein to the beast. Hillocks, woods, rocks, fences, and houses flewby him with the rapidity of lightning, and the black had just begun tothink whither and on what business he was riding in this headlongmanner, when he reached the place where the roads met, and the "HotelFlanagan" stood before him in its dilapidated simplicity. The sight of acheerful fire first told the negro that he had reached the habitation ofman, and with it came all his dread of the bloody Virginians; his dutymust, however, be done, and, dismounting, he fastened the foaming animalto a fence, and approached the window with cautious steps, toreconnoiter.
Before a blazing fire sat Sergeant Hollister and Betty Flanagan,enjoying themselves over a liberal potation.
"I tell ye, sargeant dear," said Betty, removing the mug from her mouth,"'tis no r'asonable to think it was more than the piddler himself; surenow, where was the smell of sulphur, and the wings, and the tail, andthe cloven foot? Besides, sargeant, it's no dacent to tell a lone famalethat she had Beelzeboob for a bedfellow."
"It matters but little, Mrs. Flanagan, provided you escape his talonsand fangs hereafter," returned the veteran, following the remark by aheavy draft.
Caesar heard enough to convince him that little danger from this pairwas to be apprehended. His teeth already began to chatter, and the coldwithout and the comfort within stimulated him greatly to enter. He madehis approaches with proper caution, and knocked with extreme humility.The appearance of Hollister with a drawn sword, roughly demanding whowas without, contributed in no degree to the restoration of hisfaculties; but fear itself lent him power to explain his errand.
"Advance," said the sergeant, throwing a look of close scrutiny on theblack, as he brought him to the light; "advance, and deliver yourdispatches. Have you the countersign?"
"I don't t'ink he know what dat be," said the black, shaking in hisshoes, "dough massa dat sent me gib me many t'ings to carry, dat helittle understand."
"Who ordered you on this duty, did you say?"
"Well, it war he doctor, heself, so he come up on a gallop, as he alwaysdo on a doctor's errand."
"'Twas Doctor Sitgreaves; he never knows the countersign himself. Now,blackey, had it been Captain Lawton he would not have sent you here,close to a sentinel, without the countersign; for you might get a pistolbullet through your head, and that would be cruel to you; for althoughyou be black, I am none of them who thinks niggers have no souls."
"Sure a nagur has as much sowl as a white," said Betty. "Come hither,ould man, and warm that shivering carcass of yeers by the blaze of thisfire. I'm sure a Guinea nagur loves hate as much as a soldier loveshis drop."
Caesar obeyed in silence, and a mulatto boy who was sleeping on a benchin the room, was bidden to convey the note of the surgeon to thebuilding where the wounded were quartered.
"Here," said the washerwoman, tendering to Caesar a taste of the articlethat most delighted herself, "try a drop, smooty, 'twill warm the blacksowl within your crazy body, and be giving you spirits as you are goinghomeward."
"I tell you, Elizabeth," said the sergeant, "that the souls of niggersare the same as our own; how often have I heard the good Mr. Whitefi
eldsay that there was no distinction of color in heaven. Therefore it isreasonable to believe that the soul of this here black is as white as myown, or even Major Dunwoodie's."
"Be sure he be," cried Caesar, a little tartly, whose courage hadrevived by tasting the drop of Mrs. Flanagan.
"It's a good sowl that the major is, anyway," returned the washerwoman;"and a kind sowl--aye, and a brave sowl too; and ye'll say all thatyeerself, sargeant, I'm thinking."
"For the matter of that," returned the veteran, "there is One above evenWashington, to judge of souls; but this I will say, that Major Dunwoodieis a gentleman who never says, Go, boys--but always says, Come, boys;and if a poor fellow is in want of a spur or a martingale, and theleather-whack is gone, there is never wanting the real silver to make upthe loss, and that from his own pocket too."
"Why, then, are you here idle when all that he holds most dear are indanger?" cried a voice with startling abruptness. "Mount, mount, andfollow your captain; arm and mount, and that instantly, or you will betoo late!"
This unexpected interruption produced an instantaneous confusion amongstthe tipplers. Caesar fled instinctively into the fireplace, where hemaintained his position in defiance of a heat that would have roasted awhite man. Sergeant Hollister turned promptly on his heel, and seizingbig saber, the steel was glittering by the firelight, in the twinklingof an eye; but perceiving the intruder to be the peddler, who stoodnear the open door that led to the lean-to in the rear, he began to fallback towards the position of the black, with a military intuition thattaught him to concentrate his forces. Betty alone stood her ground, bythe side of the temporary table. Replenishing the mug with a largeaddition of the article known to the soldiery by the name of"choke-dog," she held it towards the peddler. The eyes of thewasherwoman had for some time been swimming with love and liquor, andturning them good-naturedly on Birch, she cried,--
"Faith, but ye're wilcome, Mister Piddler, or Mister Birch, or MisterBeelzeboob, or what's yeer name. Ye're an honest divil anyway, and I'mhoping that you found the pitticoats convanient. Come forward, dear, andfale the fire; Sergeant Hollister won't be hurting you, for the fear ofan ill turn you may be doing him hereafter--will ye, sargeant dear?"
"Depart, ungodly man!" cried the veteran, edging still nearer to Caesar,but lifting his legs alternately as they scorched with the heat. "Departin peace! There is none here for thy service, and you seek the woman invain. There is a tender mercy that will save her from thy talons." Thesergeant ceased to utter aloud, but the motion of his lips continued,and a few scattering words of prayer were alone audible.
The brain of the washerwoman was in such a state of confusion that shedid not clearly comprehend the meaning of her suitor, but a new ideastruck her imagination, and she broke forth,--
"If it's me the man saaks, where's the matter, pray? Am I not a widowedbody, and my own property? And you talk of tinderness, sargeant, butit's little I see of it, anyway. Who knows but Mr. Beelzeboob here isfree to speak his mind? I'm sure it is willing to hear I am."
"Woman," said the peddler, "be silent; and you, foolish man, mount--armand mount, and fly to the rescue of your officer, if you are worthy ofthe cause in which you serve, and would not disgrace the coat youwear." The peddler vanished from the sight of the bewildered trio, witha rapidity that left them uncertain whither he had fled.
On hearing the voice of an old friend, Caesar emerged from his corner,and fearlessly advanced to the spot where Betty had resolutelymaintained her ground, though in a state of utter mental confusion.
"I wish Harvey stop," said the black. "If he ride down a road, I shouldlike he company; I don't t'ink Johnny Birch hurt he own son."
"Poor, ignorant wretch!" exclaimed the veteran, recovering his voicewith a long-drawn breath; "think you that figure was made of fleshand blood?"
"Harvey ain't fleshy," replied the black, "but he berry clebber man."
"Pooh! sargeant dear," exclaimed the washerwoman, "talk r'ason for once,and mind what the knowing one tells ye; call out the boys and ride a bitafter Captain Jack; remimber, darling, that he told ye, the day, to bein readiness to mount at a moment's warning."
"Aye, but not at a summons from the foul fiend. Let Captain Lawton, orLieutenant Mason, or Cornet Skipwith, say the word, and who is quickerin the saddle than I?"
"Well, sargeant, how often is it that ye've boasted to myself that thecorps wasn't a bit afeard to face the divil?"
"No more are we, in battle array, and by daylight; but it's foolhardyand irreverent to tempt Satan, and on such a night as this. Listen howthe wind whistles through the trees; and hark! there is the howling ofevil spirits abroad."
"I see him," said Caesar, opening his eyes to a width that might haveembraced more than an ideal form.
"Where?" interrupted the sergeant, instinctively laying his hand on thehilt of his saber.
"No, no," said the black, "I see a Johnny Birch come out of hegrave--Johnny walk afore he buried."
"Ah! then he must have led an evil life indeed," said Hollister. "Theblessed in spirit lie quiet until the general muster, but wickednessdisturbs the soul in this life as well as in that which is to come."
"And what is to come of Captain Jack?" cried Betty, angrily. "Is it yeerorders that ye won't mind, nor a warning given? I'll jist git my cart,and ride down and tell him that ye're afeard of a dead man andBeelzeboob; and it isn't succor he may be expicting from ye. I wonderwho'll be the orderly of the troop the morrow, then?--his name won't beHollister, anyway."
"Nay, Betty, nay," said the sergeant, laying his hand familiarly on hershoulder; "if there must be riding to-night, let it be by him whose dutyit is to call out the men and set an example. The Lord have mercy, andsend us enemies of flesh and blood!"
Another glass confirmed the veteran in a resolution that was onlyexcited by a dread of his captain's displeasure, and he proceeded tosummon the dozen men who had been left under his command. The boyarriving with the ring, Caesar placed it carefully in the pocket of hiswaistcoat next his heart, and, mounting, shut his eyes, seized hischarger by the mane, and continued in a state of comparativeinsensibility, until the animal stopped at the door of the warm stablewhence he had started.
The movements of the dragoons, being timed to the order of a march, weremuch slower, for they were made with a watchfulness that was intended toguard against surprise from the evil one himself.
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