Horse-Shoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory Ascendency

by John Pendleton Kennedy

  CHAPTER LIII.

  MILDRED MEETS AN AGREEABLE ADVENTURE.

  We left Mildred securely lodged with her new and kind-hearted friends,under the hospitable roof of the farmer, hard by the Yadkin. The readerhas, doubtless, found reason in the course of this narrative to marvelmuch that a lady so delicately nurtured should, with so stout a spiritand with such singular devotion, have tempted so many dangers, andexposed herself to such unwonted hardships, for the sake of the man sheloved. Perhaps, I might be able to clear up this matter, by referring tothe extraordinary conjuncture of circumstances that surrounded her. Itwas no secret that she fervently, and with her whole heart,--yea evenwith a fanatical worship,--loved the man she sought. Her affection hadbeen nursed in solitude, and, like a central fire, glowed with a fervidheat, unobserved at first, silent and steady: and by degrees herenthusiasm spread its coloring over the passion, and raised it into afanciful but solemn self-dedication. This warmth of feeling might stillhave been witnessed only within her family precinct, had it not beenthat, at a most critical moment, when her father's absence from the DoveCote left her without other resource than her own unaided counsel, shewas made acquainted that her lover's life was in imminent peril, andthat a word from her might perhaps avert his doom. We have seen withwhat anxious alacrity she set forth in that emergency upon herpilgrimage of duty; and how, as she became familiar with hardship anddanger, her constancy and resolution still took a higher tone, growingmore vigorous even with the impediments that lay across her path. Thismay seem strange to our peace-bred dames,--and little congruous withthat feminine reserve and shrinkingness which we are wont to praise: butwar, distress, and disaster work miracles in the female bosom, andrender that virtuous and seemly, which ease and safety might repel.Nature is a wise and cunning charmer, and, in affliction, makes thatforwardness not unlovely, which in tranquil and happy times she wouldvisit with her censure. If these considerations do not suffice toexplain the present movements of my heroine, I must beg my reader tohave patience to the end, when, peradventure, he will find a stillbetter reason.

  When morning came, Mildred was up with the first blush of light. Herthoughts had dwelt with a busy restlessness upon the late intelligence,and she had slept only in short and disturbed intervals. She wasimpatient to be again upon the road.

  Accordingly, as soon as the preparations for their journey could bemade, our party, now increased by the addition of Musgrove and hisdaughter, set forward on their travel towards Burk Court House.

  This journey was protracted through several days. The disturbed state ofthe country, produced by the active hostilities which were now renewed,made it prudent for our wayfarers frequently to halt amongst thefriendly inhabitants of the region through which they travelled, inorder to obtain information, or wait for the passage of troops whosepresence might have caused embarrassment.

  The considerate kindness of Allen Musgrove, and the unwearied attentionsof Mary, who, softened by her own griefs, evinced a more touchingsympathy for the sufferings of Mildred, every day increased thefriendship which their present companionship had engendered, and greatlybeguiled the road of its tediousness and discomfort.

  The journey, however, was not without its difficulties, nor altogetherdestitute of occurrences of interest to this history. The upperdistricts of North Carolina present to the eye a very beautiful country,diversified by mountain and valley, and gifted in general with a richsoil. Considerable portions of this region were consequently occupiedand put into cultivation at an early period of the history of theprovince; and, at the era of the revolution, were noted as the mostdesirable positions for the support of the southern armies. Thiscircumstance had drawn the war to that quarter, and had induced afrequent struggle to retain a footing there, by each party who came intopossession of it. Such a state of things had now, as we have beforeremarked, embarrassed the progress of our friends, and had evencompelled them to diverge largely from the direct route of theirjourney.

  It happened, a few days after leaving the Yadkin, that the hour ofsunset found our little troop pursuing a road through the deep andgloomy forest, which, for several miles past, had been unrelieved by anyappearance of human habitation. Neither Horse Shoe nor Allen Musgrovepossessed any acquaintance with the region, beyond the knowledge thatthey were upon what was called the upper or mountain road that extendedfrom Virginia entirely through this section of North Carolina; and thatthey could not be much more than fifteen or twenty miles north of BurkCourt House. Where they should rest during the night that was now athand, was a matter that depended entirely upon chance; and stimulated bythe hope of encountering some woodland cabin, they persevered in ridingforward, even when the fading twilight had so obscured their path as tomake it a matter of some circumspection to pick their way. Thus thenight stole upon them almost unawares.

  There is nothing so melancholy as the deep and lonely forest at night;and why it should be so I will not stop to inquire, but that melancholy,it seems to me, is enhanced by the chilliness of the autumnal evening.The imagination peoples the impenetrable depths of the wood withspectres, which the gibbering and shrill reptiles that inhabit theserecesses seem to invest with a voice; the earth beneath the feet,carpeted with "the raven down of darkness," has an indefinite surfacethat causes the traveller to think of pitfalls and sudden banks, andfearful quagmires; and the grey light of the glow-worm, or the coldgleam of the rotten timber, shine up through the gloom, like somewitch-taper from a haunted ground. Then, high above the head, the sombreforms of the trees nod in the night-wind, and the stars,--ineffectual toguide us on our way--are seen only in short and rapid glimpses throughthe foliage; all these things affect the mind with sadness, but thechattering of the teeth and the cold creep of the blood, renderedsluggish by a frosty atmosphere, make it still more sad.

  Mildred and Mary Musgrove experienced a full share of these imaginings,as they now rode in the dark, side by side; and, peradventure, anoccasional expression of impatience might have been heard, in whispers,between them. By degrees this feeling extended to Henry, and, in duecourse of time, seemed also to have reached the sergeant and the miller;for these two, as if suddenly struck with the necessity of making someprovision for the night, now came to a halt, with a view to inquire intothe comfort of the weaker members of the troop, and to deliberate onwhat was best to be done. To make a fire, erect a tent, and resort tothe contents of their havresacks for supper, were the only expedientswhich their situation afforded; and as these arrangements were but thecustomary incidents of travel, in the times to which we refer, they werenow resolved upon with but little sense of inconvenience or hardship. Itwas proper, however, that the party should encamp in some position wherethey might have water, and, with that object, they continued to moveforward until they should find themselves in the neighborhood of arunning stream--an event that, from the nature of the country, was soonlikely to occur.

  "There can be no moon to-night," said the sergeant, as they rode alongin quest of their lodging-place, "yet yonder light would look as if shewas rising. No, it can't be, for it is westward, as I judge, Allen."

  "It is westward," replied Musgrove, looking towards a faint light whichbrought the profile of the tree-tops into relief against the horizon."There must be fire in the woods."

  The party rode on, all eyes being directed to the phenomenon pointed outby Horse Shoe. The light grew broader, and flung a lurid beam towardsthe zenith; and, as the travellers still came nearer, the radianceincreased, and illuminated the summit of a hill, which, it was nowapparent, lay between them and the light.

  "We must rest here for a while," said the sergeant, reining up his horsein a dark and narrow ravine; "the fire is just across this hill infront. It would be wise to reconnoitre a little; there may be travellerscamping on the t'other side, or troops for aught we know; or it may bean old fire left by the last persons who passed. You, Allen Musgrove,stay here with the women, and I will ride forward to look into thematter."

  Henry accompanied the sergeant, and they both gallope
d up the hill. Whenthey came to the top, a rich and strange prospect broke upon theirsight. Some three or four hundred yards in advance, at the foot of thelong slope of the hill, a huge volume of flame was discovered envelopingthe entire trunk of a tall pine, and blazing forth with sudden flashesamongst the withered foliage. The radiance cast around from thisgigantic torch penetrated the neighboring forest, and lit up the treeswith a lustre more dazzling than that of day; whilst the strong shadesbrought into such immediate proximity with the sharp, red light, as itglanced upon every upright stem or trunk, gave a new and grotesqueoutline to the familiar objects of the wood. The glare fell upon thesward of the forest, and towards the rear upon a sheet of water, whichshowed the conflagration to have been kindled on the bank of some river.Not less conspicuous than the local features of the scene were thefigures of a considerable party of soldiers passing to and fro in idledisarray through the region of the light, and a short distance from thema number of horses attached to the branches of the neighboring trees.Horse Shoe and his young companion stood gazing for some moments uponthe spectacle, the sergeant in silent conjecture and perplexedthoughtfulness as to the character of the persons below, Henry intentonly upon the novel and picturesque beauty of the view.

  The light shone directly up the road, and fell upon the persons of ourtwo friends, a circumstance to which the sergeant seemed to give noheed, until Henry pointed out to him a horseman, from the direction ofthe fire, who was now advancing towards them.

  "Sergeant, turn back into the shade," cried Henry; "that man is comingafter us."

  "Keep your ground," replied Horse Shoe; "he has no ill-will to us. Hewears the dress of an honest man and a good soldier."

  "Who goes there?" called out the horseman, as he now came withinspeaking distance. "Stand and tell me who you are!"

  "Friends to the hunting-shirt and buck-tail," replied Robinson.

  "I am glad to hear you say so," rejoined the scout, as he advanced stillnearer. "Where from, and in what direction do you travel?"

  "That should be William Scoresby's voice of the Amherst Rangers,"shouted Henry, with animation; "as I live, it is the very man!"

  "Who have we here!" returned the horseman. "Henry Lindsay! our deputycorporal! Why, man, where did you spring from?" he added, in a tone ofjoyful surprise, as he offered Henry his hand.

  "Ho, sister Mildred--Mr. Musgrove!" exclaimed Henry, calling out at thetop of his voice to his friends, who were waiting behind forintelligence. "Come up--come up! Here's good luck!"

  And with a continued vociferation, he galloped back until he met hissister, and conducted her to the top of the hill, whence, following theguidance of William Scoresby, the party descended to the bivouac of theAmherst Rangers.

  Henry eagerly sought out Stephen Foster, and, having brought him intothe presence of Mildred, received from him a narrative of the course ofevents which had led to this fortunate meeting.

  The Rangers had marched from Virginia a few days after Mildred had leftthe Dove Cote. They had fallen in with Gates's shattered army atHillsborough, where, after tarrying almost a fortnight, they werefurnished an opportunity to take some active share in the operations ofthe day by the enterprise of Shelby against Ferguson, the knowledge ofwhich had reached them at Gates's head-quarters, whither a messengerfrom Shelby had come to ask for aid. The Rangers had accordinglyvolunteered for this service, and, with the permission of the general,were now on their way towards Burk Court House, there hoping to receiveintelligence that would enable them to join the allies.

  They had for some miles been marching along the same road taken by ourtravellers, not more than two hours ahead of them; and having reachedthe Catawba near sundown, had determined to encamp there for the night.The soldiers, unaccustomed to exact discipline, had, in sport, set fireto a tall pine which some accident of the storm had killed, and producedthe conflagration that had lighted Horse Shoe and his charge to thescene of the present meeting.

  It may be imagined that this incident afforded great satisfaction toMildred and her party, who were thus brought into connexion with anumerous body of friends, with whom they determined henceforth to pursuetheir journey. The first good result of this encounter was immediatelyexperienced in the comfortable though rude accommodation which theprompt and united efforts of the Rangers supplied to Mildred and herfriend, Mary Musgrove, in enabling them to pass a night of sound andhealthful sleep.

  On the following day, the Rangers and their new companions arrived atBurk Court House. They were here made acquainted with the fact that themountain troops were at this time moving towards Gilbert-town. Theyaccordingly, after a night's rest, resumed their march, and by atoilsome journey through a rugged mountain district, succeeded on thethird evening in reaching the little village which had but a short timesince been the head-quarters of Ferguson and the spot of Arthur Butler'scaptivity.

  They were now in advance of Campbell and his mountaineers; and, inwaiting for these troops, they were afforded leisure to recruitthemselves from the effects of their late fatigues. Good quarters wereobtained for Mildred and her companions. She required repose, andprofited by the present opportunity to enjoy it.

  The village at this moment was full of troops. Brandon and Lacy, withtheir followers, whom we have referred to in the last chapter, werealready there, in daily expectation of the arrival of the confederates;and amongst these men, Sergeant Robinson and his companion, the miller,found the means of relieving the tediousness of delay, to say nothing ofHenry, who had now become so decidedly martial in his inclinations, thatthe camp was to him a scene of never-fading interest.

  In two days Campbell's army entered the village, after a march of whichwe have already given a sketch to our reader. It was a duty of earlyconcern, on the part of Allen Musgrove and the sergeant, to apprise himof the presence of Mildred and her brother, and to communicate to himthe singular purpose of her mission. The effect of this was a visit byCampbell, Shelby, and Williams, to the lady on the evening of theirarrival. The two latter of these officers had already been personallyactive in the behalf of Arthur Butler, and all felt the liveliestinterest in his fortunes. The singular relation in which Mildred seemedto stand to the captive officer and the extraordinary zeal which herpresent mission betrayed in his cause, drew forth a warm sympathy fromthe generous soldiers around her, and there was even a tincture of theromance of chivalry in the fervor with which, on the present visit, theypledged themselves to her service. With the delicacy that always belongsto honorable and brave hearts, they refrained from inquiry into thespecial inducements which could so earnestly enlist the lady in theservice of their fellow-soldier, and sedulously strove to raise herspirits into a cheerful and happy tone by the hopes they were able toinspire.