Altsheler, Joseph - [Novel 09]

by In Hostile Red (lit)

  Above the crackle rose the louder notes of the field-pieces, and then I thought I heard the sound of cheering, but I was not sure. We could see naught of this dim and distant battle but the flame of its gunpowder. The night was too heavy for any human figure to appear in its just outline ; and I saw that I would have to judge of its progress by the shifting of the line of fire. The British attack was delivered from the left, and the blaze of the musketry extended along a line about a half-mile in length. Though while the light was leaping high at one place it might be sinking low at another, yet this line was 238

  The Night Combat

  always clearly defined, and we could follow its move- ments well enough.

  The lino was stationary for full fifteen minutes, and from that circumstance we could tell that the Americans had profited well by the warning and were ready to receive the attack. Still, the action was sharper and contested with more vigor than I had expected. Having made the attack, the British seemed disposed to persist in it for a while at least But presently the line of fire began to bend back towards the west at the far end.

  "The British are retreating!" exclaimed Miss Desmond.

  " At one point, so it would seem," I said.

  " Yes, and at other points too," she cried. " See, the centre of the fiery line bends back also."

  This was true, for the centre soon bent back so far that the whole line was curved like a bow. Then the eastern end yielded also, and soon was almost hidden in some woods, where it made but a faint quivering among the trees. In truth, along the whole line the fire was dying. The sputter of the musketry was but feeble and scarce heard, and even the drum seemed to lose spirit and call but languidly for slaughter.

  " The battle is nearly over, is it not ? " asked Miss Desmond.

  " Yes," I replied, " though we could scarce call it a battle. Skirmish is a better name. I think that line of fire across there will soon fade out altogether."

  I chanced to be a good prophet in this instance, for in five minutes the last flash had gone out and there 23'J

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  was naught left but a few echoes. It was clear that the British had suffered repulse and had withdrawn, and it was not likely that the Americans would follow far, for such an undertaking would expose them to destruction.

  I now suggested to Miss Desmond that it would be the part of wisdom for us to begin our return to Philadelphia, and we were preparing for de- parture, when we heard the approach of horsemen, and in a moment or two Wildfoot and three of his men approached. " It was not a long affair," said the leader, " though there was some smart skirmish- ing for a while. When they found that we were ready, and rather more than willing, they soon drew off, and they are now on the march for Philadelphia. I tell you again, Miss Desmond, that you have rid- den bravely to-night, and this portion of the Ameri- can army owes its salvation to you."

  " My ride was nothing more than every American woman owes to her country," replied Miss Desmond.

  " True," replied Wildfoot, " though few would have had the courage to pay the debt. But I have come back mainly to say that some of my scouts have brought in Lieutenant Belfort, sorely bruised, but not grievously hurt, and that he will have no opportunity to tell the English of your ride to-night, Miss Desmond, at least not until he is exchanged."

  I had forgotten all about Belfort, and his capture

  was a lucky chance for both of us. As for the other

  Englishmen who had pursued us, I had no fear that

  they would recognize me, even if they saw me in the

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  daylight, and they had seen me but dimly in a hot and flurried pursuit.

  Captain Wildfoot raised his hat to us with all the courtesy of a European nobleman and rode away with his men, while we turned our horses towards Philadelphia, and were soon far from the hill on which we had stood and witnessed the battle's flare. Miss Desmond knew the way much better than I did, and I followed her guidance, though we rode side by side.

  " You do not ask me to keep this matter a secret," I said, at length, when we had ridden a mile or more in silence.

  " Is not your own safety as much concerned as mine ? " she asked, looking with much meaning at my gay British uniform.

  " Is that the only reason you do not ask me to speak of it ? " I said, still bent upon going deeper into the matter.

  " Will you speak of it when I ask you not to do so?" she said.

  I did not expect such a question, but I replied in the negative with much haste. But presently I said, thinking to compliment her, that, however my own sympathies might be placed, I must admit that she had done a very brave deed, and that I could not withhold my admiration. But she replied with some curtness that Captain Wildfoot had said that first, which was true enough, though I had thought it as early as he. Had it been any other woman, I would have inferred from her reply that her vanity was offended. But it was not possible 16 241

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  to think such a thing of Mary Desmond on that night.

  " Have you any heart for this task ? " she asked me, with much suddenness, a few minutes later.

  " What task ? " I replied, surprised.

  " The task that the king has set for his army, the attempt to crush the Colonies," she replied.

  There was much embarrassment in the question for me, and I sought to take refuge in compliment.

  " That you are enlisted upon the other side, Miss Desmond," I replied, " is enough to weaken the attachment of any one to the king's service."

  " This is not a drawing-room," she replied, looking at me with clear eyes, " nor has the business which we have been about to-night any savor of the drawing-room. Let us then drop such manner of speech."

  She was holding me at arm's length, but I made some rambling, ambiguous reply, to the effect that a soldier should have no opinions, but should do what he is told to do, which, though a very good argu- ment, does not always appease one's conscience. But she did not press the question further, which was a relief to me.

  When we became silent again, my thoughts turned back to our successful ride. On the whole, I had cause for lightness of feeling. Aided by chance or luck, I had come out of difficulties wondrous well. Within a very short space I had seen our people twice triumph over the British, and I exulted much because of it.

  I think I had good reason for my exultation 242

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  aside from the gain to our cause from these two encounters. While accusing us of being boasters, the British had quite equalled us at anything of that kind. I think it was their constant assump- tion of superiority, rather more than the tea at the bottom of Boston Harbor, that caused the war. Then they came over and said we could not fight. They are much better informed on that point now, though I will admit that they showed their own courage and endurance too.

  Our return journey was not prolific of events. The night seemed to have exhausted its fruitfulness before that time. When we were within a short dis- tance of the British lines, Miss Desmond pointed to a low fann-hou.se almost hidden by some trees.

  "That is my retreat for the present," she said. " It was from that house I started, and I will return to it. For many reasons, I cannot be seen riding into Philadelphia with you at this hour."

  "But are the inhabitants of that house friends of yours ? " I asked, in some protest.

  " They can be trusted to the uttermost," she re- plied briefly. "They have proved it. You must not come any farther with me. I have a pass and I can come into the city when I wish without troublesome explanations."

  "Then I will leave you," I replied, "since I leave you in safety; but I hope you will not for- get that we have been friends and allies on this expedition."

  " I will not forget it," she said. Then she thanked me and rode away, as strong and upright and brave

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  as ever. I watched her until she entered the trees around the house and disappeared. Then, although I migh
t have fled to the American camp, I turned towards Philadelphia, a much wiser man than I was earlier in the night.

  Some of the stragglers were coming into the city already, and it was not difficult for me, with my re- cent practice in lying, to make satisfactory explana- tion concerning myself. I told a brave tale about being captured by the rebels in the rush, my escape afterwards, and my futile attempts to rejoin the army. Then I passed on to my quarters.

  In the course of the day the entire detachment, save those who had been killed or wounded in the skirmish, returned, and I learned that Sir William was much mortified at the complete failure of the expedition. He could not understand why the rebels were in such a state of readiness. I was very uneasy about Marcel, but he rejoined me unharmed, although he admitted that he had been in much trepidation several times in the course of the night.

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  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE Keeping up Appearances

  I WISHED to hold further conversation with Marcel that morning on a matter of high in- terest to both of us, but I did not find the opportunity, for we were sent on immediate duty into different parts of the suburbs. Mine was soon finished, and I returned to the heart of the city. I noticed at once that the invading army had suffered a further relaxation of discipline. Evidently, after his failure of the preceding night, Sir William took no further interest in the war, and but little in the army, for that matter, except where his personal friends were concerned. But most afflicting was the condition of mind into which the Tories had fallen. Philadelphia, like New York, abounded in these gentry, and a right royal time they had been having, basking in the sunshine of British favor, and tickling themselves with visions of honors and titles, and even expecting shares in the confiscated estates of their patriot brethren.

  Now they were in sore distress, and but little of my pity had they. Among the rumors was one, and most persistent it was too, that a consequence of the French alliance would be the speedy evacuation of Philadelphia by the British, who would in all probability seek to concentrate their strength at New 245

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  York. This was a misfortune that the wretched Tories had never foreseen. What ! the British ever give up anything they had once laid their hands upon ! Tiie descendants of the conquerors of Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt, the grandsons of the men who had humbled Louis the Great at Blenheim and Malplaquct, to be beaten by untrained, half-armed, and starving farmers ! The thing was impossible. And Tory and Briton vied with each other in crying to all the winds of heaven that it could not be. The British were most arrogant towards us in those days, for which reason we always took much satisfaction in beating them, admitting at the same time that they were brave men, and we never cared much about our victories over the Hessians, who, to tell the truth, were very fierce in the pursuit of a beaten enemy, but not quite so enduring in the main conten- tion as the British.

  But I had ever had more animosity against the Tories than the British, and I felt much secret delight at their manifest and troublous state of mind. Some, who had their affairs well in hand, were preparing to depart with their beloved British, who little wanted such burdens. Others were mourning for their houses and goods which they had expected to see wrenched from them as they would have wrenched theirs from the patriots. All seemed to expect that the American army would be upon them immediately, such were their agitation and terror. Curses, too, were now heard against King George for deserting his faithful servants after making so many great promises to them. Well, it is not for those who 246

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  shake the dice and lose, to complain. We, too, had had our sufferings.

  Nevertheless, the British, as is their wont, put a good face upon the matter. That very night, many of the officers were at a reception given with great splendor at the house of a rich Tory, and they talked of past triumphs and of others soon to be won. I also was there, for I had contrived to secure an invitation, having special reasons for going.

  As I had expected, Miss Desmond was present. She seemed to neglect none of the fashionable gay- eties of the city, and to me she looked handsomer and statelier than ever. I wished for some look, some suggestion that we had been companions in danger, and that we were rather better friends than the others present ; but she was cold and proud, and there was nothing in her manner to show that we had ever met, save in the formal atmosphere of the drawing-room.

  " I hear, Lieutenant Melville," she said, " that you were in the unfortunate attack last night and fell into the hands of the rebels."

  " Yes, Miss Desmond," I replied, " but good for- tune succeeded bad fortune. I escaped from them in the darkness and the confusion, and am back in Philadelphia to lay my sword at your feet."

  Such was the polite language of the time ; but she received it with small relish, for she replied, with asperity,

  " You have barely escaped laying your sword at the feet of the rebels. Is not that enough of such

  exercise ? "

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  Then some British officers, who heard her, laughed as if the gibe had no point for them.

  I had no further opportunity for conversation with her until much later in the evening. The rooms were buzzing with the gossip of great events soon to occur ; and though I sought not the part of a spy, and had no intent to put myself in such a position, I listened eagerly to the fragments of news that were sent about. This was not a matter of difficulty, for all were willing, even eager, to talk, and one could not but listen, without drawing comment and giving offence.

  " T is reported," said Symington, a colonel, to me, " that the French king will despatch an army in great haste to America. But we shall not care for that shall, we, Melville? I, for one, am tired of playing hide-and-seek with the old fox, Mr. Wash- ington, and should like to meet our ancient foes the French regulars in the open field. Then the fight- ing would be according to the rules as practised by the experts in Europe for many generations."

  I thought to throw cold water upon him, and said I feared the Americans and the French allied might prove too strong for us ; and as for the ancient rules of war, campaigns must be adapted to their circum- stances and the nature of the country in which they are conducted. If the Americans alone, and that too when at least one-third of them were loyal to our cause, had been able to confine us to two or three cities practically in a state of besiegement, what were we to expect when the full might of the King of France arrived to help them ? 248

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  But he would have naught of my argument. He was full of the idea that glory was to be found fight- ing the French regulars in the open field according to the rules of Luxembourg and Marlborough. But I have no right to complain, for it was such folly as his that was of great help to us throughout the war, and contributed to the final victory over the greatest power and the best soldiers of Europe.

  Although much interested in such talk as it was continued by one or another through the evening, I watched Miss Desmond. Now, since I knew her so well, or at least thought I did, she had for me a most marvellous attraction. At no time did she betray any weakness in the part she played, and though more than once she found my eyes resting upon her, there was no answering gleam. But I was patient, and a time when I could speak to her alone again came at last. She had gone for air into the small flower-garden which adjoined the house after the fashion of the English places, and I, noting that no one else had observed her, followed. She sat in a rustic chair, and, seeing me coming, waited for me calmly, and in such manner that I could not tell whether I came as one welcome or repugnant. But I stood by her side nevertheless.

  " You have heard all the talk to-night, Lieutenant Melville, have you not ? " she asked.

  " I suppose that you have in mind the new alliance with the French that the rebels have made?" I said.

  " Yes," she said. " That has been the burden of our talk."

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  " I could not escape it,
" I replied. " It is a very promising matter for the rebels, and for that reason a very unpromising one for us."

  " The French," she said, " would consider it a glo- rious revenge upon us for our many victories at their expense, if they could help the rebels to certain triumph over us. It would shear off the right arm of England."

  I looked with wonder at this woman who could thus preserve her false part with me when she knew I knew so well that it was false. I thought she might never again refer to our night ride, our com- panionship in danger. It was not anything that I wished to forget. In truth, I did not wish to forget any part of it. Yet if I had reflected, I should have seen that she had reason to forget that night's ride, since she must distrust me. Evidently Wildfoot had not told her who I was, and while I must be a friend in some way or the ranger would not have let me go, she could not guess the whole truth.

  "Do you think, Lieutenant Melville," she asked, turning a very thoughtful face towards me, " that this alliance will crush the English, or will the French intervention incite them to more strenuous efforts ? "

  " I think, Miss Desmond," I replied, piqued and suddenly determining to play my part as well as she, "that we will defeat Americans and French com- bined. You know we are accustomed to victory over the French."