“But how?” asked Lawton, a little impatiently, and quickening his step to get out of the hearing of the rest of the party.
“Why near hand to the Royal lines, even under the very guns of the heights, might be good picking if we had a force to guard us from De Lancey’s men, and to cover our retreat from being cut off by the way of King’s-Bridge.”
“I thought the refugees took all that game to themselves,” said the captain.
“They do a little at it, but are obliged to be sparing among their own people,” returned the fellow in perfect confidence. “I have been down twice under an agreement with them: the first time they acted with honour--but the second they came upon us and drove us off, and took the plunder to themselves.”
“That was a very dishonourable act indeed,” said Lawton; “I wonder that you associate with such rascals.”
“It is necessary to have an understanding with some of them, or we might be taken,” returned the Skinner. “But a man without honour, is worse than a brute--do you think Major Dunwoodie is a man to be trusted?”
“You mean on honourable principles,” said Lawton.
“Certain--you know Arnold was thought well of, until the Royal Major was taken.”
“Why I do not believe Dunwoodie would sell his command as Arnold wished to,” said the captain; “neither do I think him exactly trust-worthy in a delicate business like yours.”
“That’s just my notion,” rejoined the Skinner, with a self-approving manner that showed how much he was satisfied with his own estimate of character.
By this time they had arrived at a better sort of farm house, the very extensive out-buildings of which were in tolerable repair for the times. The barns were occupied by the men of the troop in their clothes, while their horses were arranged under the long sheds which protected the yard from the cold north wind, and were quietly eating, with their saddles on their backs, and bridles thrown on their necks, ready to be bitted at the shortest warning. Lawton excused himself for a moment to the Skinner and entered his quarters. He soon returned holding in his hand one of the common lanterns used by the men when working on their steeds, and led the way towards the large orchard that surrounded the buildings on three sides. The gang followed the leader in silence, who suspected the object to be the facility of communicating further on this interesting topic without the danger of being overheard.
Approaching the captain, he renewed the discourse with a view of establishing further confidence, and giving his companion a more favourable opinion of his intellects.
“Do you think the colonies will finally get the better of the King?” he inquired with a little of the importance of a politician.
“Get the better!” echoed the captain, with impetuosity--then checking himself, he continued, “no doubt they will--if the French will give us arms and money; we can drive the Royal troops out in six months.”
“Well so I hope we will soon,” said the Skinner hastily, being conscious of his having meditated joining the refugees for some time, “and then we shall have a free government, and we, who fight for it, will get our reward.”
“Oh!” cried Lawton, “your claims will be indisputable, while all these vile tories, who live at home peaceably to take care of their farms, will be held in the contempt they merit. You have no farm I suppose?”
“Not yet--but it will go hard if I do not find one before the peace is made.”
“Right; study your own interests and you study the interests of your country--press the point of your own services, and rail at the tories, and I’ll bet my spurs against a rusty nail, that you get to be a county-clerk at least.”
“Don’t you think Paulding’s party were fools in not letting the Royal Adjutant-General escape?” said the man, thrown off his guard by the freedom of the captain’s manner.
“Fools!” cried Lawton, with a bitter laugh; “Ay fools indeed--King George would have paid them better, for he is richer. He would have made them gentlemen for their lives. But, thank God, there is a pervading spirit in the people that seems miraculous. Men who have nothing, act as if the wealth of the Indies depended on their fidelity--all are not villains like yourself, or we should have been slaves to England years ago.”
“How!” exclaimed the Skinner, starting back and dropping his musket to the level of the other’s breast, “am I betrayed then--and are you my enemy!”
“Miscreant!” shouted Lawton, his sabre ringing in its steel scabbard as he struck the musket of the fellow from his hands, “offer but again to point your gun at me, and I’ll cleave you to the middle.”
“And you will not pay us then, Captain Lawton?” asked the Skinner, trembling, and noticing a party of mounted dragoons silently encircling the whole party.
“O! pay you--yes--you shall have the full measure of your reward--there is the money that Colonel Singleton sent down for the captors of the Spy,” throwing a bag of guineas with disdain at the other’s feet. “But ground your arms, you rascals, and see that the money is truly told.”
The intimidated band did as they were ordered, and while they were hastily employed in this pleasing avocation, a few of Lawton’s men privately knocked the flints from their muskets.
“Well,” cried the captain, “is it right--have you the promised reward?”
“There is just the money,” said the leader, “and we will now go to our homes with your permission.”
“Hold!” returned Lawton, with his usual gravity; “so much to redeem our promise--now for justice; we pay you for taking a Spy, but we punish you for burning, robbing, and murdering-- seize them, my lads, and give them each the Law of Moses--forty save one.”
This command was given to no unwilling listeners, and in the twinkling of an eye the Skinners were stripped and fastened, by the halters of the party, to as many of the apple-trees as was necessary to furnish one to each of the gang; swords were quickly drawn, and fifty branches cut from the trees like magic: from these were selected a few of the most supple of the twigs, and a willing dragoon was soon found to wield each of these new weapons. Captain Lawton gave the word, humanely cautioning his men not to exceed the discipline prescribed by the Mosaic Law, and directly the uproar of Babel commenced in the orchard. The cries of the leader were easily to be distinguished above those of his men, and the circumstance might be accounted for, by Captain Lawton’s reminding his corrector that he had to deal with an officer, and he should remember and pay him unusual honour. The flagellation was executed with great neatness and despatch, and was distinguished by no irregularity excepting that none of the disciplinarians began to count until they had tried their whips by a dozen or more blows, by the way, as they said themselves, of finding out the proper places to strike. As soon as this summary operation was satisfactorily completed, Lawton directed his men to leave the Skinners to replace their own clothes, and to nount their horses, as they were a party who had been detailed for the purpose of patroling lower down in the county.
“You see, my friend,” said the captain to the leader of the Skinners, after he had prepared himself to depart, “I can cover you to some purpose when necessary. If we meet often, you will be covered with scars, which, if not very honourable, will be at least merited.”
The fellow made no reply, but was busy with his musket, and hastening his comrades to march; when, every thing being ready, they proceeded sullenly towards some rocks, at no great distance, which were overhung by a deep wood. The moon was just rising, and the group of dragoons could easily be distinguished where they had been left. Suddenly turning, the whole gang levelled their pieces and drew the triggers. The action was noticed and the snapping of the locks was heard by the soldiers, who returned their futile attempt with a laugh of derision--the captain crying aloud--
“Ah! rascals, I know you--and have taken away your flints.”
“You should have taken away the one in my pocket too,” shouted the leader, firing his gun in the next instant. The bullet grazed the ear of Lawton, who laughed as he shook
his head, and said, “a miss was as good as a mile.” One of the dragoons had noticed the preparations of the Skinner, who had been left alone by the rest of his gang, as soon as they had made their abortive attempt at revenge, and was in the act of plunging his spurs in his horse as the fellow fired. The distance to the rocks was but small, yet the speed of the horse compelled the leader to abandon both money and musket, to effect his escape. The soldier returned with his prizes and offered them to the acceptance of his captain, but Lawton rejected them coolly, telling the man to retain them himself, until the Skinner appeared in person to claim his property. It would have been a business of no small difficulty for any tribunal then existing in the new states, to have enforced a decree of restitution of the money, for it was shortly after most equitably distributed by the hands of Sergeant Hollister, among a troop of horse. The patrole departed, and the captain slowly returned to his quarters, with an intent of retiring to rest. A figure moving rapidly among the trees in the direction of the wood, whither the Skinners had retired, caught his eye, and, wheeling on his heel, the cautious partisan approached it, and to his astonishment saw the washerwoman at that hour of the night, and in such a place.
“What, Betty!--walking in your sleep, or dreaming while awake,” cried the astonished trooper, “are you not afraid of meeting with the ghost of ancient Jenny in this her favourite pasture?”
“Ah, sure, Captain Jack,” returned the suttler in her native accent, and reeling in a manner that made it difficult for her to raise her head, “its not Jenny, or her ghost, that I’m seeking--but some yarbs for the wounded. And its the vartue of the rising moon, as it jist touches them, that I want. They grow under yon rocks, and thither I must hasten or the charm will lose its power.”
“Fool, you are fitter for your pallet than wandering among those rocks--a fall from one of them would break your bones--besides, the Skinners have fled to those heights, and should they see you, would revenge on you a flogging they have but just now received from me. Better return old woman, and finish your nap--we march in the morning, I hear.”
Betty disregarded his advice, and continued her devious route to the hill side. For an instant, as Lawton mentioned the Skinners, she had paused, but immediately resumed her course, and was soon out of sight among the trees.
On entering his quarters, the sentinel at the door inquired if he had met Mrs. Flannagan--and told his captain she had passed there, filling the air with threats against her tormentors at the “Hotel,” and inquiring for the captain in search of redress. Lawton heard the man in astonishment--appeared struck with a new idea--walked several yards towards the orchard, and returned again; for several minutes he paced rapidly to and fro before the door of the house, and then hastily entered it, threw himself on a bed in his clothes, and was soon in a profound sleep.
In the mean time the gang of marauders had successfully gained the summit of the rocks, and scattering in every direction buried themselves in the depths of the wood. Finding, however, they were unpursued, a thing which was impracticable for horse, the leader ventured to call his band together with a whistle, and in a short time succeeded in collecting his discomfited party at a point where they had but little to apprehend from this new enemy.
“Well,” said one of the fellows, while a fire was lighting to protect them against the air, which was becoming severely cold, “there is an end to our business in West-Chester. The Virginia horse will soon make the county too hot to hold us.”
“I’ll have his blood,” muttered the leader, “if I die for it the next instant.”
“Oh, you are very valiant here in the wood,” cried the other with a savage laugh; “why did you, who boast so much of your aim, miss your man just now, at thirty yards?”
“ ’Twas the horseman that disturbed me, or I would have ended this Captain Lawton on the spot--besides, the cold had set me a shivering, and I had no longer a steady hand.”
“Say it was fear, and you will tell no lie,” said his comrade, with a sneer. “For my part, I think I shall never be cold again--my back burns as if a thousand gridirons were laid on it, and that not very gently.”
“And you would tamely submit to such usage, and kiss the rod that beat you?”
“As for kissing the rod, it would be no easy matter I’m thinking,” returned the other. “Yes, mine was broke into such small pieces on my own shoulders, that it would be difficult to find one big enough to kiss; but I would rather submit to losing half my skin, than to losing the whole of it, with my ears in the bargain. And such will be our fates if we tempt this mad Virginian again.-- God willing, I would at any time give him enough of my hide to make a pair of Jack books, to get out of his hands with the remainder. If you had known when you were well off, you would have stuck to Major Dunwoodie, who don’t know half so much of our evil-doings.”
“Silence, you talking fool,” shouted the enraged leader; “your prating nonsense is sufficient to drive a man mad--is it not enough to be robbed and beaten, but we must be tormented with your folly--help to get out the provisions, if any is left in the wallet, and try and stop your mouth with food.”
This injunction was obeyed, and the whole party, amidst sundry groans and contortions, excited by the disordered state of their backs, made their arrangements for a scanty meal.--A large fire of dry wood was burning in the cleft of a rock, and at length they began to recover in some measure from the confusion of their flight, and collect their scattered senses. Their hunger appeased, and many of their garments thrown aside for the better opportunity of dressing their wounds, the gang began to plot measures of revenge.--An hour was spent in this manner, and various expedients were proposed, but as they all depended a good deal on personal prowess for their success, and were attended by great danger, they were of course rejected. There was no possibility of approaching the troops by surprise, their vigilance being ever on the watch; and the hope of meeting Captain Lawton away from his men was equally forlorn, for the trooper was constantly engaged in his duty, and his movements were so rapid, that any opportunity of meeting with him at all must depend greatly on accident. Besides, it was by no means certain, that such an interview would result happily for themselves. The cunning of the trooper was notorious, and rough and broken as was West-Chester, the fearless partisan was known to take desperate leaps, and stone walls were but slight impediments before the charges of the Southern horse. Gradually, the conversation took another direction, until the gang determined on a plan which should both revenge-themselves, and at the same time offer some additional stimulus to their exertions. The whole business was accurately discussed, the time fixed, and the manner adopted--in short, nothing was wanting to the previous arrangement for this deed of villainy, when they were aroused by a voice calling aloud--
“This way Captain Jack--here are the rascals ating by a fire--this way, and murder the thieves where they sit--quick, lave your horses and shoot your pistols.”
This terrific summons was enough to disturb the philosophy of the gang entirely, and springing on their feet, they rushed deeper into the wood, and having already agreed upon a place of rendezvous previously to their intended expedition, they dispersed towards the four quarters of the heavens--certain sounds and different voices were heard calling to each other, but as the marauders were well trained to speed of foot, they were soon lost in the distance.
It was not long before Betty Flannagan emerged from the darkness, and very coolly took possession of what the Skinners had left in their flight--these were food, and divers articles of dress. The washerwoman deliberately seated herself, and made a meal with great apparent satisfaction; for an hour she sat with her head upon her hand in deep musing, then gathered together such articles of the clothes as seemed to suit her fancy, and retired into the wood by herself; leaving the fire to throw its glimmering light on the adjacent rocks, until its last brand died away, and the place was abandoned to solitude and darkness.
CHAPTER III.
“Thou rising sun, whose glandsome ray,
Invites my fair to rural play,
Dispel the mist, and clear the skies,
And bring my Orra to my eyes.
“No longer then perplex thy breast,
When thoughts torment, the first are best;
Tis mad to go, ’tis death to stay,
Away, to Orra, haste away.”
Lapland Love Song
While his comrades where sleeping, in perfect forgetfulness of their hardships and dangers, the slumbers of Dunwoodie were broken and unquiet. After spending a night of restlessness, he arose unrefreshed from the rude bed where he had thrown himself in his clothes, and without awaking any of the group around him, wandered into the open air in search of relief. The soft rays of the moon were just passing away in the more distinct light of the morning; the wind had fallen, and the rising mists gave the promise of another of those autumnal days, which, in this unstable climate, succeed a tempest with the rapid transition of magic. The hour had not arrived when he intended moving from his present position; and willing to allow his warriors all the refreshment that circumstances would permit, he strolled towards the scene of the Skinners’ punishment, musing upon the embarrassments of his situation, and uncertain how he should reconcile his sense of manly delicacy to his love.--Added to this dilemma, was the dangerous situation of Henry Wharton. Although Dunwoodie himself placed the most implicit reliance on the captain’s purity of intention, he was by no means assured that a board of officers would be equally credulous, and independent of all feelings of private regard, he felt certain that with the execution of Henry would be destroyed all hopes of an union with his sister. He had despatched an officer the preceding evening to Col. Singleton, who was in command in the advanced posts, reporting the capture of the British Captain, and, after giving his own opinion of his innocence, requesting orders as to the manner in which he was to dispose of his prisoner. These orders might now be expected every hour, and his uneasiness increased, in proportion as the moment approached when his friend might be removed from his protection. In this disturbed state of mind the Major wandered through the orchard, and was stopped in his walk by arriving at the base of those rocks which had protected the Skinners in their flight, before he was conscious whither his steps had carried him. He was about to turn, and retrace his path to his quarters, when he was startled with a voice bidding him to--
The Spy, Volume 2 Page 2