Horse-Shoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory Ascendency

by John Pendleton Kennedy

  CHAPTER XXII.

  AN ADVENTURE WHEREIN IT IS APPARENT THAT THE ACTIONS OF REAL LIFE AREFULL AS MARVELLOUS AS THE INVENTIONS OF ROMANCE.

  David Ramsay's house was situated on a by-road, between five and sixmiles from Musgrove's mill, and at about the distance of one mile fromthe principal route of travel between Ninety-six and Blackstock's. Inpassing from the military post that had been established at the formerplace, towards the latter, Ramsay's lay off to the left, with a piece ofdense wood intervening. The by-way leading through the farm, divergedfrom the main road, and traversed this wood until it reached thecultivated grounds immediately around Ramsay's dwelling. In the journeyfrom Musgrove's mill to this point of divergence, the traveller wasobliged to ride some two or three miles upon the great road leading fromthe British garrison, a road that, at the time of my story, was muchfrequented by military parties, scouts, and patroles, that wereconcerned in keeping up the communication between the several postswhich were established by the British authorities along that frontier.Amongst the whig parties, also, there were various occasions whichbrought them under the necessity of frequent passage through this samedistrict, and which, therefore, furnished opportunities for collisionand skirmish with the opposite forces.

  It is a matter of historical notoriety, that immediately after the fallof Charleston, and the rapid subjugation of South Carolina that followedthis event, there were three bold and skilful soldiers who undertook tocarry on the war of resistance to the established authorities, upon asettled and digested plan of annoyance, under the most discouragingstate of destitution, as regarded all the means of offence, that,perhaps, history records. It will not detract from the fame of otherpatriots of similar enthusiasm and of equal bravery, to mention thenames of Marion, Sumpter, and Pickens, in connexion with this plan ofkeeping up an apparently hopeless partisan warfare, which had thepromise neither of men, money, nor arms,--and yet which was so noblysustained, amidst accumulated discomfitures, as to lead eventually tothe subversion of the "Tory ascendency" and the expulsion of the Britishpower. According to the plan of operations concerted amongst thesechieftains, Marion took the lower country under his supervision; Pickensthe south-western districts, bordering upon the Savannah; and to Sumpterwas allotted all that tract of country lying between the Broad and theCatawba rivers, from the angle of their junction, below Camden, up tothe mountain districts of North Carolina. How faithfully these men madegood their promise to the country, is not only written in authentichistory, but it is also told in many a legend amongst the olderinhabitants of the region that was made the theatre of action. It onlyconcerns my story to refer to the fact, that the events which haveoccupied my last five or six chapters, occurred in that range morepeculiarly appropriated to Sumpter, and that the high road fromBlackstock's towards Ninety-six was almost as necessary forcommunication between Sumpter and Pickens, as between the severalBritish garrisons.

  On the morning that succeeded the night in which Horse Shoe Robinsonarrived at Musgrove's, the stout and honest sergeant might have beenseen, about eight o'clock, leaving the main road from Ninety-six, at thepoint where that leading to David Ramsay's separated from it, andcautiously urging his way into the deep forest, by the more private pathinto which he had entered. The knowledge that Innis was encamped alongthe Ennoree, within a short distance of the mill, had compelled him tomake an extensive circuit to reach Ramsay's dwelling, whither he was nowbent; and he had experienced considerable delay in his morning journey,by finding himself frequently in the neighborhood of small foragingparties of Tories, whose motions he was obliged to watch for fear of anencounter. He had once already been compelled to use his horse's heelsin what he called "fair flight;" and once to ensconce himself, a fullhalf hour, under cover of the thicket afforded him by a swamp. He now,therefore, according to his own phrase, "dived into the little roadthat scrambled down through the woods towards Ramsay's, with all hiseyes about him, looking out as sharply as a fox on a foggy morning:" andwith this circumspection, he was not long in arriving within view ofRamsay's house. Like a practised soldier, whom frequent frays has taughtwisdom, he resolved to reconnoitre before he advanced upon a post thatmight be in possession of an enemy. He therefore dismounted, fastenedhis horse in a fence corner, where a field of corn concealed him fromnotice, and then stealthily crept forward until he came immediatelybehind one of the out-houses.

  The barking of a house-dog brought out a negro boy, to whom Robinsoninstantly addressed the query--

  "Is your master at home?"--

  "No, sir. He's got his horse, and gone off more than an hour ago."

  "Where is your mistress?"

  "Shelling beans, Sir."

  "I didn't ask you," said the sergeant, "what she is doing, but where sheis."

  "In course, she is in the house, Sir,"--replied the negro with a grin.

  "Any strangers there?"

  "There was plenty on 'em a little while ago, but they've been gone agood bit."

  Robinson having thus satisfied himself as to the safety of his visit,directed the boy to take his horse and lead him up to the door. He thenentered the dwelling.

  "Mistress Ramsay," said he, walking up to the dame, who was occupied ata table, with a large trencher before her, in which she was plying thathousehold thrift which the negro described; "luck to you, ma'am, and allyour house! I hope you haven't none of these clinking and clatteringbullies about you, that are as thick over this country as the frogs inthe kneading troughs, that they tell of."

  "Good lack, Mr. Horse Shoe Robinson," exclaimed the matron, offering thesergeant her hand. "What has brought you here? What news? Who are withyou? For patience sake, tell me!"

  "I am alone," said Robinson, "and a little wettish mistress;" he added,as he took off his hat and shook the water from it "it has just sot up arain, and looks as if it was going to give us enough on't. You don'tmind, doing a little dinner-work of a Sunday, I see--shelling of beans,I s'pose, is tantamount to dragging a sheep out of a pond, as thepreachers allow on the Sabbath--ha, ha!--Where's Davy?"

  "He's gone over to the meeting-house on Ennoree, hoping to hearsomething of the army at Camden: perhaps you can tell us the news fromthat quarter?"

  "Faith, that's a mistake, Mistress Ramsay. Though I don't doubt thatthey are hard upon the scratches, by this time. But, at this presentspeaking, I command the flying artillery. We have out one man in thecorps--and that's myself; and all the guns we have got is this piece ofordnance, that hangs in this old belt by my side (pointing to hissword)--and that I captured from the enemy at Blackstock's. I was hopingI mought find John Ramsay at home--I have need of him as a recruit."

  "Ah, Mr. Robinson, John has a heavy life of it over there with Sumpter.The boy is often without his natural rest, or a meal's victuals; and thegeneral thinks so much of him, that he can't spare him to come home. Ihav'n't the heart to complain, as long as John's service is of any use,but it does seem, Mr. Robinson, like needless tempting of the mercies ofprovidence. We thought that he might have been here to-day; yet I amglad he didn't come--for he would have been certain to get into trouble.Who should come in, this morning, just after my husband had cleverly gotaway on his horse, but a young cock-a-whoop ensign, that belongs toNinety-Six, and four great Scotchmen with him, all in red coats; theyhad been out thieving, I warrant, and were now going home again. And whobut they! Here they were, swaggering all about my house--and calling forthis--and calling for that--as if they owned the fee-simple ofeverything on the plantation. And it made my blood rise, Mr. Horse Shoe,to see them run out in the yard, and catch up my chickens and ducks, andkill as many as they could string about them--and I not daring to say aword: though I did give them a piece of my mind, too."

  "Who is at home with you?" inquired the sergeant eagerly.

  "Nobody but my youngest boy, Andrew," answered the dame. "And then, thefilthy, toping rioters--" she continued, exalting her voice.

  "What arms have you in the house?" asked Robinson, without heeding thedame's rising anger.

>   "We have a rifle, and a horseman's pistol that belongs to John.--Theymust call for drink, too, and turn my house, of a Sunday morning, into atavern."

  "They took the route towards Ninety-Six, you said, Mistress Ramsay?"

  "Yes,--they went straight forward upon the road. But, look you, Mr.Horse Shoe, you're not thinking of going after them?"

  "Isn't there an old field, about a mile from this, on that road?"inquired the sergeant, still intent upon his own thoughts.

  "There is," replied the dame; "with the old school-house upon it."

  "A lop-sided, rickety log-cabin in the middle of the field. Am I right,good woman?"

  "Yes."

  "And nobody lives in it? It has no door to it?"

  "There ha'n't been anybody in it these seven years."

  "I know the place very well," said the sergeant, thoughtfully; "there iswoods just on this side of it."

  "That's true," replied the dame: "but what is it you are thinkingabout, Mr. Robinson?"

  "How long before this rain began was it that they quitted this house?"

  "Not above fifteen minutes."

  "Mistress Ramsay, bring me the rifle and pistol both--and thepowder-horn and bullets."

  "As you say, Mr. Horse Shoe," answered the dame, as she turned round toleave the room; "but I am sure I can't suspicion what you mean to do."

  In a few moments the woman returned with the weapons, and gave them tothe sergeant.

  "Where is Andy?" asked Horse Shoe.

  The hostess went to the door and called her son, and, almost immediatelyafterwards, a sturdy boy of about twelve or fourteen years of ageentered the apartment, his clothes dripping with rain. He modestly andshyly seated himself on a chair near the door, with his soaked hatflapping down over a face full of freckles, and not less rife with theexpression of an open, dauntless hardihood of character.

  "How would you like a scrummage, Andy, with them Scotchmen that stoleyour mother's chickens this morning?" asked Horse Shoe.

  "I'm agreed," replied the boy, "if you will tell me what to do."

  "You are not going to take the boy out on any of your desperateprojects, Mr. Horse Shoe?" said the mother, with the tears startinginstantly into her eyes. "You wouldn't take such a child as that intodanger?"

  "Bless your soul, Mrs. Ramsay, there ar'n't no danger about it! Don'ttake on so. It's a thing that is either done at a blow, or notdone,--and there's an end of it. I want the lad only to bring home theprisoners for me, after I have took them."

  "Ah, Mr. Robinson, I have one son already in these wars--God protecthim!--and you men don't know how a mother's heart yearns for herchildren in these times. I cannot give another," she added, as she threwher arms over the shoulders of the youth and drew him to her bosom.

  "Oh! it aint nothing," said Andrew, in a sprightly tone. "It's onlysnapping of a pistol, mother,--pooh! If I'm not afraid, you oughtn't tobe."

  "I give you my honor, Mistress Ramsay," said Robinson, "that I willbring or send your son safe back in one hour; and that he sha'n't be putin any sort of danger whatsomedever: come, that's a good woman!"

  "You are not deceiving me, Mr. Robinson?" asked the matron wiping away atear. "You wouldn't mock the sufferings of a weak woman in such a thingas this?"

  "On the honesty of a sodger, ma'am," replied Horse Shoe, "the lad shallbe in no danger, as I said before--whatsomedever."

  "Then I will say no more," answered the mother. "But Andy, my child, besure to let Mr. Robinson keep before you."

  Horse Shoe now loaded the fire-arms, and having slung the pouch acrosshis body, he put the pistol into the hands of the boy; then shoulderinghis rifle, he and his young ally left the room. Even on this occasion,serious as it might be deemed, the sergeant did not depart withoutgiving some manifestation of that light-heartedness which nodifficulties ever seemed to have the power to conquer. He thrust hishead back into the room, after he had crossed the threshold, and saidwith an encouraging laugh, "Andy and me will teach them, MistressRamsay, Pat's point of war--we will _surround_ the ragamuffins."

  "Now, Andy, my lad," said Horse Shoe, after he had mounted CaptainPeter, "you must get up behind me. Turn the lock of your pistol down,"he continued, as the boy sprang upon the horse's rump, "and cover itwith the flap of your jacket, to keep the rain off. It won't do to hangfire at such a time as this."

  The lad did as he was directed, and Horse Shoe, having secured his riflein the same way, put his horse up to a gallop, and took the road in thedirection that had been pursued by the soldiers.

  As soon as our adventurers had gained a wood, at the distance of abouthalf a mile, the sergeant relaxed his speed, and advanced at a pace alittle above a walk.

  "Andy," he said, "we have got rather a ticklish sort of a job before us,so I must give you your lesson, which you will understand better byknowing something of my plan. As soon as your mother told me that thesethieving villains had left her house about fifteen minutes before therain came on, and that they had gone along upon this road, I rememberedthe old field up here, and the little log hut in the middle of it; andit was natural to suppose that they had just got about near that hut,when this rain came up; and then, it was the most supposable case in theworld, that they would naturally go into it, as the driest place theycould find. So now, you see, it's my calculation that the whole batch isthere at this very point of time. We will go slowly along, until we getto the other end of this wood, in sight of the old field, and then, ifthere is no one on the look-out, we will open our first trench; you knowwhat that means, Andy?"

  "It means, I s'pose, that we'll go right smack at them," replied Andrew.

  "Pretty exactly," said the sergeant. "But listen to me. Just at the edgeof the woods you will have to get down, and put yourself behind a tree.I'll ride forward, as if I had a whole troop at my heels, and if Icatch them, as I expect, they will have a little fire kindled, and, aslikely as not, they'll be cooking some of your mother's fowls."

  "Yes, I understand," said the boy eagerly--

  "No, you don't," replied Horse Shoe, "but you will when you hear what Iam going to say. If I get at them onawares, they'll be mighty apt tothink they are surrounded, and will bellow, like fine fellows, forquarter. And, thereupon, Andy, I'll cry out 'stand fast,' as if I wasspeaking to my own men, and when you hear that, you must come up fulltilt, because it will be a signal to you that the enemy has surrendered.Then it will be your business to run into the house and bring out themuskets, as quick as a rat runs through a kitchen: and when you havedone that, why, all's done. But if you should hear any popping offire-arms--that is, more than one shot, which I may chance to letoff--do you take that for a bad sign, and get away as fast as you canheel it. You comprehend."

  "Oh! yes," replied the lad, "and I'll do what you want, and more too,may be, Mr. Robinson."

  "_Captain_ Robinson,--remember, Andy, you must call me captain, in thehearing of these Scotsmen."

  "I'll not forget that neither," answered Andrew.

  By the time that these instructions were fully impressed upon the boy,our adventurous forlorn hope, as it may fitly be called, had arrived atthe place which Horse Shoe Robinson had designated for the commencementof active operations. They had a clear view of the old field, and itafforded them a strong assurance that the enemy was exactly where theywished him to be, when they discovered smoke arising from the chimney ofthe hovel. Andrew was soon posted behind a tree, and Robinson onlytarried a moment to make the boy repeat the signals agreed on, in orderto ascertain that he had them correctly in his memory. Being satisfiedfrom this experiment that the intelligence of his young companion mightbe depended upon, he galloped across the intervening space, and, in afew seconds, abruptly reined up his steed, in the very doorway of thehut. The party within was gathered around a fire at the further end,and, in the corner near the door, were four muskets thrown togetheragainst the wall. To spring from his saddle and thrust himself one paceinside of the door, was a movement which the sergeant executed in aninstant, shouting at the same t
ime--

  "Halt! File off right and left to both sides of the house, and waitorders. I demand the surrender of all here," he said, as he plantedhimself between the party and their weapons. "I will shoot down thefirst man who budges a foot."

  "Leap to your arms," cried the young officer who commanded the littleparty inside of the house. "Why do you stand?"

  "I don't want to do you or your men any harm, young man," said Robinson,as he brought his rifle to a level, "but, by my father's son, I will notleave one of you to be put upon a muster-roll if you raise a hand atthis moment."

  Both parties now stood, for a brief space, eyeing each other in afearful suspense, during which there was an expression of doubt andirresolution visible on the countenances of the soldiers, as theysurveyed the broad proportions, and met the stern glance of thesergeant, whilst the delay, also, began to raise an apprehension in themind of Robinson that his stratagem would be discovered.

  "Shall I let loose upon them, captain?" said Andrew Ramsay, nowappearing, most unexpectedly to Robinson, at the door of the hut. "Comeon, boys!" he shouted, as he turned his face towards the field.

  "Keep them outside of the door--stand fast," cried the doughty sergeant,with admirable promptitude, in the new and sudden posture of his affairscaused by this opportune appearance of the boy. "Sir, you see that it'snot worth while fighting five to one; and I should be sorry to be thedeath of any of your brave fellows; so, take my advice, and surrender tothe Continental Congress and this scrap of its army which I command."

  During this appeal the sergeant was ably seconded by the lad outside,who was calling out first on one name, and then on another, as if in thepresence of a troop. The device succeeded, and the officer within,believing the forbearance of Robinson to be real, at length said:--

  "Lower your rifle, sir. In the presence of a superior force, taken bysurprise, and without arms, it is my duty to save bloodshed. With thepromise of fair usage, and the rights of prisoners of war, I surrenderthis little foraging party under my command."

  "I'll make the terms agreeable," replied the sergeant. "Never doubt me,sir. Right hand file, advance, and receive the arms of the prisoners!"

  "I'm here, captain," said Andrew, in a conceited tone, as if it were amere occasion of merriment; and the lad quickly entered the house andsecured the weapons, retreating with them some paces from the door.

  "Now, sir," said Horse Shoe to the Ensign, "your sword, and whateverelse you mought have about you of the ammunitions of war!"

  The officer delivered up his sword and a pair of pocket pistols.

  As Horse Shoe received these tokens of victory, he asked, with a lambentsmile, and what he intended to be an elegant and condescendingcomposure, "Your name, sir, if I mought take the freedom?"

  "Ensign St. Jermyn, of his Majesty's seventy-first regiment of lightinfantry."

  "Ensign, your sarvent," added Horse Shoe, still preserving this unusualexhibition of politeness. "You have defended your post like an oldsodger, although you ha'n't much beard on your chin; but, seeing youhave given up, you shall be treated like a man who has done his duty.You will walk out, now, and form yourselves in line at the door. I'llengage my men shall do you no harm; they are of a marciful breed."

  When the little squad of prisoners submitted to this command, and cameto the door, they were stricken with equal astonishment andmortification to find, in place of the detachment of cavalry which theyexpected to see, nothing but a man, a boy, and a horse. Their firstemotions were expressed in curses, which were even succeeded by laughterfrom one or two of the number. There seemed to be a disposition on thepart of some to resist the authority that now controlled them; andsundry glances were exchanged, which indicated a purpose to turn upontheir captors. The sergeant no sooner perceived this, than he halted,raised his rifle to his breast, and, at the same instant, gave AndrewRamsay an order to retire a few paces, and to fire one of the capturedpieces at the first man who opened his lips.

  "By my hand," he said, "if I find any trouble in taking you, all five,safe away from this here house, I will thin your numbers with your ownmuskets! And that's as good as if I had sworn to it."

  "You have my word, sir," said the Ensign. "Lead on."

  "By your leave, my pretty gentleman, you will lead, and I'll follow,"replied Horse Shoe. "It may be a new piece of drill to you; but thecustom is to give the prisoners the post of honor."

  "As you please, sir," answered the Ensign. "Where do you take us to?"

  "You will march back by the road you came," said the sergeant.

  Finding the conqueror determined to execute summary martial law upon thefirst who should mutiny, the prisoners submitted, and marched in doublefile from the hut back towards Ramsay's--Horse Shoe, with CaptainPeter's bridle dangling over his arm, and his gallant young auxiliaryAndrew, laden with double the burden of Robinson Crusoe (having all thefire-arms packed upon his shoulders), bringing up the rear. In thisorder victors and vanquished returned to David Ramsay's.

  "Well, I have brought you your ducks and chickens back, mistress," saidthe sergeant, as he halted the prisoners at the door; "and, what's more,I have brought home a young sodger that's worth his weight in gold."

  "Heaven bless my child! my brave boy!" cried the mother, seizing the ladin her arms, and unheeding anything else in the present perturbation ofher feelings. "I feared ill would come of it; but Heaven has preservedhim. Did he behave handsomely, Mr. Robinson? But I am sure he did."

  "A little more venturesome, ma'am, than I wanted him to be," repliedHorse Shoe; "but he did excellent service. These are his prisoners,Mistress Ramsay; I should never have got them if it hadn't been forAndy. In these drumming and fifing times the babies suck in quarrel withtheir mother's milk. Show me another boy in America that's made moreprisoners than there was men to fight them with, that's all!"