CHAPTER XL.
From Tarborough our travellers continued their route towards the Pedee,by the main road which led through Cross creek, a small hamlet on CapeFear river, near the site of the present town of Fayetteville. Thegeneral features of the country were even more forbidding than those Ihave already described as characteristic of this portion of NorthCarolina. Even to the present day, cultivation has done but little tocheer up the natural desolation of those tracts of wilderness which liebetween the rivers. But at the early period to which the events I havebeen detailing have reference, the journey undertaken by our littlecaravan might be compared to that which is now frequently made throughthe more southern extremity of the Union, from the Atlantic to the Gulfof Mexico, an attempt seldom essayed by a female, and sufficientlytrying to the hardihood of the stoutest travellers. The forethought andattention of Horse Shoe Robinson, however, contributed to alleviate thepains of the enterprise, and to enable Mildred to overcome itsdifficulties.
In the present alarmed and excited state of this province, the partywere less liable to interruption in this secluded and destitute sectionof the country, than they might have been, had they chosen a lower andmore populous district; and the consciousness that every day'sperseverance brought them nearer to the ultimate term of their journey,gave new vigor, at least, to Mildred's capacity to endure the privationsto which she was exposed. But few vestiges of the war yet occurred totheir view. The great wilderness, like the great ocean, retains notraces of the passage of hostile bodies. Sometimes, indeed, the signs ofa woodland encampment were visible in the midst of the forest, on themargin of some sluggish brook or around a sylvan fountain, where theimpression of recent hoof-prints, the scattered fragments of brushwoodcut for temporary shelter, and the still smouldering ashes of campfires, showed that masses of men had been in motion. The deer fled,too, with a more frightened bound towards their coverts, as if latelyalarmed by the pursuit of the huntsman; but the images of devastation,which are associated with the horrid front of war in the mind of allfamiliar with its ravage, were absent. The eternal, leafy shade higharching over the heads of the wayfarers, furnished no object for humanvengeance; and it still sighed in the fanning of the breeze, as of oldit sighed before man claimed dominion in the soil it sheltered. A fardifferent scene was shortly to be looked upon by our venturesomefriends.
Several days had again passed by, for the journey through the wildernesshad been slowly prosecuted, when Robinson, towards the approach ofevening, announced to Mildred his conjecture that they were not far offthe Pedee. The banks of this river had been the scene of frequenthostilities, and the war that had been carried on here was of the mostruthless kind. The river is characterized by a broad, deep, and quietstream, begirt with a vegetation of exceeding luxuriance. Its periodicaloverflow seems to have poured out upon its margin a soil ofinexhaustible richness, that, for a mile or two on either side, forms astriking contrast with the low, barren sand-hills that hem in the riverplain. Along this tract of level border, all the way to the Atlantic,are found, as is usually the case throughout the Carolinas, the largeplantations of opulent gentlemen, who, by the cultivation of rice andcotton, turn the fertility of the soil to the best account. Thesepossessions, presenting the most assailable points to an enemy, and,indeed, almost the only ones in which the great interests of theprovince might be wounded, were, during the whole of that bloodystruggle which distinguished the days of the "Tory Ascendency," theconstant objects of attack; and here the war was waged with a vindictivemalignity, on the part of the British and Tory partisans, that isscarcely surpassed in the history of civil broils. The finest estateswere sacked, the dwellings burnt, and the property destroyed withunsparing rage. The men were dragged from their houses and hung, thewomen and children turned without food or raiment into the wilderness,and political vengeance seemed to gorge itself to gluttony upon its ownrapine.
The thoughts of Robinson had been, for some days past, running upon theprobable difficulties that might attend the guise in which he was nowabout to return to his native province. This was a subject of someconcern, since he ran a risk of being compelled either to desert hischarge, or to bring his companions into jeopardy, amongst the manypersons of both armies who were, at least by report, acquainted with hisname and his military connexions. He had explained to Mildred thenecessity of his appearing in some definite character, associated withthe object of her journey, and of which, upon emergency, he might claimthe benefit to retain his post near her. This matter was summarilysettled by Henry.
"In general, Mr. Horse Shoe, you can call yourself Stephen Foster: youknow Steve; and you can say that you are Mr. Philip Lindsay's gardener.Isaac, here, can let you enough into the craft to pass muster, if any ofthem should take it into their heads to examine you. Mind that, Isaac:and recollect, old fellow, you are only sister Mildred's waiting man."
"Sartainly, master," replied Isaac.
"And sergeant, I'll tell you all about Steve; so that you can get yourlesson by heart. You have a wife and five children--remember that. I'llgive you all their names by-and-by."
"Thanks to the marcies of God, that ar'n't my misfortune yet," saidHorse Shoe, laughing; "but, Mr. Henry, I have got conscience enough nowfor any lie that can be invented. The major and me talked that thingover, and he's of opinion that lying, in an enemy's country, is notforbidden in the scriptures. And I have hearn the preacher say thatRahab, who was not a woman of good fame no how, yet she was excused bythe Lord for telling the king of Jericho a most thumping lie, consarningher not knowing what had become of the two men that Joshua, the judge ofIsrael, who was a general besides, had sent into the town toreconnoitre; which was a strong case, Mister Henry, seeing that Rahab,the harlot, was a taking of sides against her own people. So, I likeyour plan and I'll stick by it."
This being agreed upon, it became one of the amusements of the road-sideto put the sergeant through his catechism, which was designed to makehim familiar with the traits of private history relating to the DoveCote and its appurtenances, that he might thereby maintain hisidentity, in the event of a close investigation. Horse Shoe was but anawkward scholar in this school of disguise, and gave Henry sufficientemployment to keep him in the path of probability; and, indeed, theyoung teacher himself found it difficult to maintain an exactverisimilitude in the part which it was his own province to play in thisdeception.
On the evening to which we have alluded, the sergeant, finding himselfwithin a short distance of the district of country in which he wasalmost certain to encounter parties of both friends and foes, adopted agreater degree of circumspection than he had hitherto deemed itnecessary to observe. His purpose was to halt upon the borders of theforest, and endeavor to obtain accurate information of the state ofaffairs along the river, before he entered upon this dangerous ground.Like a soldier who had a rich treasure to guard, he was determined torun no hazard that might be avoided, in the safe conduct of the lady inwhose service he was enlisted. In accordance with this caution, hedirected the cavalcade to move onward at a moderate walk, in order thatthey might not reach the limit of the woodland before the dusk of theevening; and also in the hope of finding there some habitation wherethey might pass the night. They had not advanced far in this mannerbefore the sergeant descried, at some distance ahead, a small log hutstanding by the road side, which, by the smoke that issued from thechimney, he perceived to be inhabited. Upon this discovery, he orderedthe party to stop and await his return. Then giving spurs to his horsehe galloped forward, and, after a short interval of absence, returned,made a favorable report of his reconnoissance, and conducted hiscompanions to the house.
The little cabin to which Mildred was thus introduced was the homesteadof an honest Whig soldier, by the name of Wingate, who was now inservice, under the command of one of the most gallant partisans that anycountry ever produced, Francis Marion, then recently promoted to therank of a brigadier. The inmates were the soldier's family, consistingof a young woman and a number of small children, all demonstrating bytheir
appearance a condition of exceedingly limited comfort. The hutcontained no more than two rooms, which exhibited but a scanty supply ofthe meanest furniture. The forest had been cleared for the space of afew acres around the dwelling, and these were occupied by a smallgarden or vegetable patch, meagrely stocked with scattered and halfparched plants; and by a cornfield, along the skirts of which some leanhogs were seen groping with a felonious stealthiness. A shed, in thesame inclosure, formed a rendezvous for a few half-starved cattle, thatprobably obtained their principal but slender support from theneighboring wood. Add to these a troop of fowls, that were now at roostupon one of the trees hard by, and we have, probably, a tolerablycorrect inventory of the worldly goods of this little family.
The woman of the house was kind and hospitable, and her attentions werein no small degree quickened by the application of a few pieces of moneywhich Mildred insisted upon her receiving--much to the discomfiture ofthe dame's self-possession--the boon consisting of hard coin, to anamount of which, perhaps, she had never before been mistress.
Mildred was exceedingly fatigued, and it was an object of earlyconsideration to furnish her the means of rest. Our hostess assisted byold Isaac, and officiously but awkwardly superintended by Horse Shoe,began her preparations for supper, to the abundance of which theprovident sergeant was enabled to contribute some useful elements fromhis wallet. In one of the apartments of the hut, a shock-bed was spreadfor the lady, and by the assistance of her cloak and some othercommodities which had been provided as part of her travelling gear, shewas supplied with a couch that formed no ill exchange for the wearinessof her long-inhabited saddle. Use and necessity are kind nursing-mothersto our nature, and do not often fail to endow us with the qualitiesproper to the fortune they shape out for us. This was not Mildred'sfirst experience of a homely lodging since she left the Dove Cote; and,as privation and toil have a faculty to convert the rough pallet of thepeasant into a bed of down, she hailed the present prospect of rest witha contented and grateful spirit.
The supper being dispatched, our lady was left alone with her hostess,to seek the repose of which she stood so much in need.
The sergeant now set about making provision for the rest of his party.This was done by erecting a shelter beneath one of the trees of theforest, opposite to the door of the cabin. It was composed of a fewboughs stacked against the trunk of the tree, sufficiently covered withleaves to turn aside any rain that might happen to fall. Under thiscover Horse Shoe appointed that he and his comrades should pass thenight, enjoining them to keep a regular watch for the security of thelady, whose welfare was now the object of his most sedulous attention.All these preparations were made with the exactness of military rule,and with a skill that greatly delighted Henry.
The long summer twilight had faded away. Mildred had been, from an earlyperiod, in the enjoyment of a profound slumber, and Henry and his negroally were seated at the front of their sylvan tent. The sergeant hadlighted his pipe, and now, taking his seat upon a log that lay near hispost, he began to smoke in good earnest, with a mind as free fromanxiety as if universal peace prevailed. In the sedate enjoyment of thisluxury, he fell into a descant on matters and things, interlarded withlong and strange stories of his own singular adventures, which he toldto the no small edification and amusement of Henry and the negro.
The habits of the experienced soldier were curiously illustrated in thethoughtful and sober foresight with which Robinson adapted his plans tothe exigencies of his condition, and then in the imperturbablelight-heartedness with which, after his measures of safety were taken,he waited the progress of events. His watchfulness seemed to be aninstinct, engendered by a familiarity with danger, whilst the steady andmirthful tone of his mind was an attribute that never gave way to theinroads of care. He was the same composed and self-possessed being in abesieged garrison, in the moment of a threatened escalade, as amongsthis cronies by a winter fire-side.
"In this here starlight, Mister Henry," he said, after he had puffed outtwo or three charges of his pipe, "I can't see your eyes, but by youryawning, I judge you are a little sleepy. Take my advice and turn in. Asodger ought to snatch his rest when he can get it. I'll keep guard overour young lady; the Lord protect her, for a most an elegant and oncommonprecious young creature! Fling your great coat upon the leaves, and goat it, my lad, like a good fellow."
"If I was at home Mr. Horse Shoe, at the Dove Cote, I could sit up allnight listening to your stories; but I believe I am bewitched to-night,for my eyelids, this hour past, have been snapping like rat traps. So,I'll just stretch out for an hour or so, and then get up and take myturn at the guard."
"Don't trouble your head about watching," replied Horse Shoe, "you arenot old enough for that yet. At your time of life, Mr. Lindsay, a goodnight's rest is the best part of a ration. And to-morrow, if I'm notmistaken, you will have need of all the strength you can musterto-night. As for me, it isn't much account whether I'm asleep or awake."
"Not so fast, sergeant," rejoined the youth, "I'm an older soldier thanyou take me for; Stephen and I have watched many a night for racoons.No, no, I'll have my turn towards morning. So, you and Isaac take thefirst part of the night between you, and if anything should happen, callme; I'm one of your minute men. So good night. My horse trots harderthan I thought he did."
It was not long before our boasted minute man was locked up in a spellapparently as profound as that which the legend affirms assailed theseven sleepers: and Isaac, not even waiting for the good example of hismaster, had already sunk upon the ground, with that facility whichdistinguishes his race, the most uncaring and happiest of mortals.
Horse-Shoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory Ascendency Page 42