CHAPTER XIV
THE VIRGINIA CAPITAL
They were on a large schooner, and while Robert looked forward witheagerness to the campaign, he also looked back with regret at theroofs of New York, as they sank behind the sea. The city suitedhim. It had seemed to him while he was there that he belonged in it,and now that he was going away the feeling was stronger upon him thanever. He resolved once more that it should be his home when the warwas over.
Their voyage down the coast was stormy and long. Baffling windscontinually beat them back, and, then they lay for long periods indead calms, but at last they reached the mouth of the James, goingpresently the short distance overland to Williamsburg, the town thathad succeeded Jamestown as the capital of the great province ofVirginia.
Spring was already coming here in the south and in the lowlands by thesea, and the tinge of green in the foliage and the warm winds weregrateful after the winter of the cold north. Robert, eager as alwaysfor new scenes, and fresh knowledge, anticipated with curiosity hisfirst sight of Williamsburg, one of the oldest British towns in NorthAmerica. He knew that it was not large, but he found it even smallerthan he had expected.
He and his comrades reached it on horseback, and they found that itcontained only a thousand inhabitants, and one street, straight andvery wide. On this street stood the brick buildings of William andMary, the oldest college in the country, a new capitol erected in theplace of one burned, not long before, and a large building called theGovernor's Palace. It looked very small, very quiet, and very content.
Robert was conscious of a change in atmosphere that was not a merematter of temperature. Keen, commercial New York was gone. Here,people talked of politics and the land. The men who came intoWilliamsburg on horseback or in their high coaches were owners ofgreat plantations, where they lived as patriarchs, and feudallords. The human stock was purely British and the personal customs andmodes of thought of the British gentry had been transplanted.
"I like it," said Grosvenor. "I feel that I've found England again."
"There appears to be very little town life," said Robert. "It seemsstrange that Williamsburg is so small, when Virginia has many morepeople than New York or Pennsylvania or Massachusetts."
"They're spread upon the land," said Willet. "I've been in Virginiabefore. They don't care much about commerce, but you'll find that alot of the men who own the great plantations are hard and goodthinkers."
Robert soon discovered that in Virginia a town was rather a meetingplace for the landed aristocracy than a commercial center. The arrivalof the British troops and of Americans from other colonies broughtmuch life into the little capital. The people began to pour in fromthe country houses, and the single street was thronged with the besthorses and the best carriages Virginia could show, their owners,attended by swarms of black men and black women whose mouths wereinvariably stretched in happy grins, their splendid white teethglittering.
There was much splendor, a great mingling of the fine and the tawdry,as was inevitable in a society that maintained slavery on a largescale. Nearly all the carriages had been brought from London, and theywere of the best. When their owners drove forth in the streets or thecountry roundabout they were escorted by black coachmen and footmen inlivery. The younger men were invariably on horseback, dressed likeEnglish country gentlemen, and they rode with a skill and grace thatRobert had never before seen equaled. The parsons, as in England, rodewith the best, and often drank with them too.
It was a proud little society, exclusive perhaps, and a little bitprovincial too, possibly, but it was soon to show to the world a groupof men whose abilities and reputation and service to the state havebeen unequaled, perhaps, since ancient Athens. One warm afternoon asRobert walked down the single street with Tayoga and Grosvenor, he sawa very young man, only three or four years older than himself, ridinga large, white horse.
The rider's lofty stature, apparent even on horseback, attractedRobert's notice. He was large of bone, too, with hands and feet ofgreat size, and a very powerful figure. His color was ruddy and high,showing one who lived out of doors almost all the time.
The man, Robert soon learned, was the young officer, GeorgeWashington, who had commanded the Virginians in the first skirmishwith the French and Indians in the Ohio country.
"One of most grave and sober mien," said Grosvenor. "I take him to beof fine quality."
"There can scarce be a doubt of it," said Robert.
But he did not dream then that succeeding generations would reckon thehorseman the first man of all time.
Robert, Willet and Tayoga saw the governor, Dinwiddie, a thriftyScotchman, and offered to him their services, saying that they wishedto go with the Braddock expedition as scouts.
"But I should think, young sir," said Dinwiddie to Robert, "that you,at least, would want a commission. 'Twill be easy to obtain it in theVirginia troops."
"I thank you, sir, for the offer, which is very kind," said Robert,"but I have spent a large part of my life in the woods withMr. Willet, and I feel that I can be of more use as a scout andskirmisher. You know that they will be needed badly in the forest.Moreover, Mr. Willet would not be separated from Tayoga, who in theland of the Six Nations, known to themselves as the Hodenosaunee, is agreat figure."
Governor Dinwiddie regarded the Onondaga, who gave back his gazesteadily. The shrewd Scotchman knew that here stood a man, and hetreated him as one.
"Have your way," he said. "Perhaps you are right. Many think thatGeneral Braddock has little to fear from ambush, they say that hispowerful army of regulars and colonials can brush aside any force theFrench and Indians may gather, but I've been long enough in thiscountry to know that the wilderness always has its dangers. Such eyesas the eyes of you three will have their value. You shall have thecommissions you wish."
Willet was highly pleased. He had been even more insistent than Roberton the point, saying they must not sacrifice their freedom andindependence of movement, but Grosvenor was much surprised.
"An army rank will help you," he said.
"It's help that we don't need," said Robert smiling.
The governor showed them great courtesy. He liked them and hispenetrating Scotch mind told him that they had quality. Despite hishunter's dress, which he had resumed, Willet's manners were those ofthe great world, and Dinwiddie often looked at him withcuriosity. Robert seemed to him to be wrapped in the same veil ofmystery, and he judged that the lad, whose manners were not inferiorto those of Willet, had in him the making of a personage. As forTayoga, Dinwiddie had been too long in America and he knew too much ofthe Hodenosaunee not to appreciate his great position. An insult or aslight in Virginia to the coming young chief of the Clan of the Bear,of the nation Onondaga would soon be known in the far land of the SixNations, and its cost would be so great that none might count it. Justas tall oaks from little acorns grow, so a personal affront may sowthe seed of a great war or break a great alliance, and Dinwiddie knewit.
The governor, assisted by his wife and two daughters, entertained athis house, and Robert, Tayoga, Willet, and Grosvenor, arrayed in theirbest, attended, forming conspicuous figures in a great crowd, as theVirginia gentry, also clad in their finest, attended. Robert, withhis adaptable and imaginative mind, was at home at once among them. Heliked the soft southern speech, the grace of manner and the goodfeeling that obtained. They were even more closely related than thegreat families of New York, and it was obvious that they formed acultivated society, in close touch with the mother country, intenselyBritish in manner and mode of thought, and devoted in both theory andpractice to personal independence.
As the spring was now well advanced the night was warm and the windowsand doors of the Governor's Palace were left open. Negroes in liveryplayed violins and harps while all the guests who wisheddanced. Others played cards in smaller rooms, but there was no suchbetting as Robert had seen at Bigot's ball in Quebec. There was somedrinking of claret and punch, but no intoxication. The general notewas of great gayety, but with proper r
estraints.
Robert noticed that the men, spending their lives in the open air andhaving abundant and wholesome food, were invariably tall and big ofbone. The women looked strong and their complexions were rosy. Thesame facility of mind that had made him like New York and Quebec, suchcontrasting places, made him like Williamsburg too, which wasdifferent from either.
Quickly at home, in this society as elsewhere, the hours were all tooshort for him. Both he and Grosvenor, who was also adaptable, seeinggood in everything, plunged deep into the festivities. He danced withyoung women and with old, and Willet more than once gave him anapproving glance. It seemed that the hunter always wished him to fithimself into any group with which he might be cast, and to makehimself popular, and to do so Robert's temperament needed littleencouragement.
The music and the dancing never ceased. When the black musicians grewtired their places were taken by others as black and as zealous, andon they went in a ceaseless alternation. Robert learned that theguests would dance all night and far into the next day, and thatfrequently at the great houses a ball continued two days and twonights.
About three o'clock in the morning, after a long dance that left himsomewhat weary, he went upon one of the wide piazzas to rest and takethe fresh air. There, his attention was specially attracted by twoyoung men who were waging a controversy with energy, but withoutacrimony.
"I tell you, James," said one, who was noticeable for his great shockof fair hair and his blazing red face, "that at two miles Blenheim isunbeatable."
"Unbeatable he may be, Walter," said the other, "but there is no horseso good that there isn't a better. Blenheim, I grant you, is asplendid three year old, but my Cressy is just about twenty yardsswifter in two miles. There is not another such colt in all Virginia,and it gives me great pride to be his owner."
The other laughed, a soft drawling laugh, but it was touched withincredulity.
"You're a vain man, James," he said, "not vain for yourself, but vainfor your sorrel colt."
"I admit my vanity, Walter, but it rests upon a just basis. Cressy, Irepeat, is the best three year old in Virginia, which of course meansthe best in all the colonies, and I have a thousand weight of primetobacco to prove it."
"My plantation grows good tobacco too, James, and I also have athousand weight of prime leaf which talks back to your thousandweight, and tells it that Cressy is the second best three year old inVirginia, not the best."
"Done. Nothing is left but to arrange the time."
Both at this moment noticed Robert, who was sitting not far away, andthey hailed him with glad voices. He remembered meeting them earlierin the evening. They were young men, Walter Stuart and James Cabell,who had inherited great estates on the James and they shipped theirtobacco in their own vessels to London, and detecting in Robert asomewhat kindred spirit they had received him with great friendliness.Already they were old acquaintances in feeling, if not in time.
"Lennox, listen to this vain boaster!" exclaimed Cabell. "He has agood horse, I admit, but his spirit has become unduly inflated aboutit. You know, don't you, Lennox, that my colt, Cressy, has allVirginia beaten in speed?"
"You know nothing of the kind, Lennox!" exclaimed Stuart, "but you doknow that my three year old Blenheim is the swiftest horse ever bredin the colony. Now, don't you?"
"I can't give an affirmative to either of you," laughed Robert, "asI've never seen your horses, but this I do say, I shall be very gladto see the test and let the colts decide it for themselves."
"A just decision, O Judge!" said Stuart. "You shall have an honoredplace as a guest when the match is run. What say you to tomorrowmorning at ten, James?"
"A fit hour, Walter. You ride Blenheim yourself, of course?"
"Truly, and you take the mount on Cressy?"
"None other shall ride him. I've black boys cunning with horses, butsince it's horse against horse it should also be master againstmaster."
"A match well made, and 'twill be a glorious contest. Come, Lennox,you shall be a judge, and so shall be your friend Willet, and so shallthat splendid Indian, Tayoga."
Robert was delighted. He had thrown himself with his whole soul intothe Virginia life, and he was eager to see the race run. So were allthe others, and even the grave eyes of Tayoga sparkled when he heardof it.
It was broad daylight when he went to bed, but he was up at noon, andin the afternoon he went to the House of Burgesses to hear thegovernor make a speech to the members on the war and its emergencies.Dinwiddie, like Shirley, the governor of Massachusetts, appreciatedthe extreme gravity of the crisis, and his address was solemn andweighty.
He told them that the shadow in the north was black and menacing. TheFrench were an ambitious people, brave, tenacious and skillful. Theyhad won the friendship of the savages and now they dominated thewilderness. They would strike heavy blows, but their movements wereenveloped in mystery, and none knew where or when the sword wouldfall. The spirit animating them flowed from the haughty and powerfulcourt at Versailles that aimed at universal dominion. It became theVirginians, as it became the people of all the colonies, to gathertheir full force against them.
The members listened with serious faces, and Robert knew that thegovernor was right. He had been to Quebec, and he had already metFrenchmen in battle. None understood better than he their skill,courage and perseverance, and the shadow in the north was very heavyand menacing to him too.
But his depression quickly disappeared when he returned to the brightsunshine, and met his young friends again. The Virginians were asingular compound of gayety and gravity. Away from the House ofBurgesses the coming horse race displaced the war for a briefspace. It was the great topic in Williamsburg and the historic names,Blenheim and Cressy, were in the mouths of everybody.
Robert soon discovered that the horses were well known, and each hadits numerous group of partisans. Their qualities were discussed bythe women and girls as well as the men and with intelligence. Robert,filled with the spirit of it, laid a small wager on Blenheim, andthen, in order to show no partiality, laid another in another quarter,but of exactly the same amount on Cressy.
The evening witnessed more arrivals in Williamsburg, drawn by the newsof the race, and young men galloped up and down the wide street in themoonlight, testing their own horses, and riding improvisedmatches. The rivalry was always friendly, the gentlemen's code thatthere should be no ill feeling prevailed, and more than ever theentire gathering seemed to Robert one vast family. Grosvenor wasintensely interested in the race, and also in the new sights he wasseeing.
"Still," he said, "if it were not for the colored people I couldimagine with ease that I was back at a country meeting at home. Do youknow anything, Lennox, about these horses, Blenheim andCressy--patriotic fellows their owners must be--and could you give achap advice about laying a small wager?"
"I know nothing about them except what Stuart and Cabell say."
"What do they say?"
"Stuart knows that Blenheim is the fastest horse in Virginia, andCabell knows that Cressy is, and so there the matter stands until therace is run."
"I think I'll put a pound on Blenheim, nevertheless. Blenheim has amuch more modern sound than Cressy, and I'm all for modernity."
There was an excellent race track, the sport already being highlydeveloped in Virginia, and, the next day being beautiful, the seatswere filled very early in the morning. The governor with his wife anddaughters was present, and so were many other notables. Robert,Tayoga and Grosvenor were in a group of nearly fifty youngVirginians. All about were women and girls in their best springdresses, many imported from London, and there were several men whomRobert knew by their garb to be clergymen. Colored women, their headswrapped in great bandanna handkerchiefs, were selling fruits orrefreshing liquids.
The whole was exhilarating to the last degree, and all the youth andimagination in Robert responded. Dangers befell him, but delightsoffered themselves also, and he took both as they came. Severalpreliminary races, improvised the day before, w
ere run, and theyserved to keep the crowd amused, while they waited for the greatmatch.
Robert and Tayoga then moved to advanced seats near the Governor,where Willet was already placed, in order that they might fulfilltheir honorable functions as judges, and the people began to stir witha great breath of expectation. They were packed in a close group for along distance, and Robert's eye roved over them, noting that theirfaces, ruddy or brown, were those of an open air race, like theEnglish. Almost unconsciously his mind traveled back to a night inNew York, when he had seen another crowd gather in a theater, and thenwith a thrill he recalled the face that he had beheld there. He couldnever account for it, although some connection of circumstances wasback of it, but he had a sudden instinctive belief that in this newcrowd he would see the same face once more.
It obsessed him like a superstition, and, for the moment, he forgotthe horses, the race, and all that had brought him there. His eyeroved on, and then, down, near the front of the seats he found him,shaved cleanly and dressed neatly, like a gentleman, but like one inpoor circumstances. Robert saw at first only the side of his face, themassive jaw, the strong, curving chin, and the fair hair crispingslightly at the temples, but he would have known him anywhere and inany company.
St. Luc sat very still, apparently absorbed in the great race whichwould soon be run. In an ordinary time any stranger in Williamsburgwould have been noticed, but this was far from being an ordinary time.The little town overflowed with British troops, and American visitorsknown and unknown. Tayoga or Willet, if they saw him, might recognizehim, although Robert was not sure, but they, too, might keep silent.
For a little while, he wondered why St. Luc had come to the Virginiacapital, a journey so full of danger for him. Was he following him?Was it because of some tie between them? Or was it because St. Luc wasnow spying upon the Anglo-American preparations? He understood to thefull the romantic and adventurous nature of the Frenchman, and knewthat he would dare anything. Then he had a consuming desire for theeyes of St. Luc to meet his, and he bent upon him a gaze so long, andof such concentration, that at last the chevalier looked up.
St. Luc showed recognition, but in a moment or two he lookedaway. Robert also turned his eyes in another direction, lest Tayoga orWillet should follow his gaze, and when he glanced back again in aminute or two St. Luc was gone. His roving eyes, traveling over thecrowd once more, could not find him, and he was glad. He believed nowthat St. Luc had come to Williamsburg to discover the size andpreparations of the American force and its plan, and Robert felt thathe must have him seized if he could. He would be wanting in hispatriotism and duty if he failed to do so. He must sink all his likingfor St. Luc, and make every effort to secure his capture.
But there was a sudden murmur that grew into a deep hum ofexpectation, punctuated now and then by shouts: "Blenheim!" "Cressy!""Cabell!" "Stuart!" Horses and horsemen alike seemed to have theirpartisans in about equal numbers. Ladies rose to their feet, and wavedbright fans, and men gave suggestions to those on whom they had laidtheir money.
The race, for a space, crowded St. Luc wholly out of Robert'smind. Stuart and Cabell, each dressed very neatly in jockey attire,came out and mounted their horses, which the grooms had been leadingback and forth. The three year olds, excited by the noise andmultitude of faces, leaped and strained at their bits. Robert did notknow much of races, but it seemed to him that there was little tochoose between either horses or riders.
The circular track was a mile in length, and they would round ittwice, start and finish alike being made directly in front of thejudges' stand. The starter, a tall Virginian, finally brought thehorses to the line, neck and neck, and they were away. The whole crowdrose to its feet and shouted approval as they flashed past. Blenheimwas a bay and Cressy was a sorrel, and when they began to turn thecurve in the distance Robert saw that bay and sorrel were still neckand neck. Then he saw them far across the field, and neither yet hadthe advantage.
Now, Robert understood why the Virginians loved the sport. The test ofa horse's strength and endurance and of a horseman's skill andjudgment was thrilling. Presently he found that he was shouting withthe shouting multitude, and sometimes he shouted Cressy and sometimeshe shouted Blenheim.
They came around the curve, the finish of the first mile being near,and Robert saw the nose of the sorrel creeping past the nose of thebay. A shout of triumph came from the followers of Cressy and Cabell,but the partisans of Blenheim and Stuart replied that the race was notyet half run. Cressy, though it was only in inches, was stillgaining. The sorrel nose crept forward farther and yet a littlefarther. When they passed the judges' stand Cressy led by a head and aneck.
Robert, having no favorite before, now felt a sudden sympathy forBlenheim and Stuart, because they were behind, and he began to shoutfor them continuously, until sorrel and bay were well around the curveon the second mile, when the entire crowd became silent. Then a sharpshout came from the believers in Blenheim and Stuart. The bay wasbeginning to win back his loss. The Cressy men were silent and gloomy,as Blenheim, drawing upon the stores of strength that had beenconserved, continued to gain, until now the bay nose was creeping pastthe sorrel. Then the bay was a full length ahead and that sharp shoutof triumph burst now from the Blenheim people. Robert found hisfeelings changing suddenly, and he was all for Cressy and Cabell.
The joy of the Blenheim people did not last long. The sorrel cameback to the side of the bay, the second mile was half done, and ablanket would have covered the two. It was yet impossible to detectany sign indicating the winner. The eyes of Tayoga, sitting besideRobert, sparkled. The Indians from time unknown had loved ball gamesand had played them with extraordinary zest and fire. As soon as theycame to know the horse of the white man they loved racing in the sameway. Their sporting instincts were as genuine as those of any countrygentleman.
"It is a great race," said Tayoga. "The horses run well and the menride well. Tododaho himself, sitting on his great and shining star,does not know which will win."
"The kind of race I like to see," said Robert. "Stuart and Cabellwere justified in their faith in their horses. A magnificent pair,Blenheim and Cressy!"
"It has been said, Dagaeoga, that there is always one horse that canrun faster than another, but it seems that neither of these two canrun faster than the other. Now, Blenheim thrusts his nose ahead, andnow Cressy regains the lead by a few inches. Now they are so nearlyeven that they seem to be but one horse and one rider."
"A truly great race, Tayoga, and a prettily matched pair! Ah, the bayleads! No, 'tis the sorrel! Now, they are even again, and the finishis not far away!"
The great crowd, which had been shouting, each side for its favorite,became silent as Blenheim and Cressy swept into the stretch. Stuartand Cabell, leaning far over the straining necks, begged and prayedtheir brave horses to go a little faster, and Blenheim and Cressy,hearing the voices that they knew so well, responded but in the samemeasure. The heads were even, as if they had been locked fast, andthere was still no sign to indicate the winner. Faster and fasterthey came, their riders leaning yet farther forward, continuallyurging them, and they thundered past the stand, matched so evenly thatnot a hair's breadth seemed to separate the noses of the sorrel andthe bay.
"It's a dead heat!" exclaimed Robert, as the people, unable torestrain their enthusiasm, swarmed over the track, and such was theunanimous opinion of the judges. Yet it was the belief of all that afiner race was never run in Virginia, and while the horses, coveredwith blankets, were walked back and forth to cool, men followed themand uttered their admiration.
Stuart and Cabell were eager to run the heat over, after the horseshad rested, but the judges would not allow it.
"No! No, lads!" said the Governor. "Be content! You have two splendidhorses, the best in Virginia, and matched evenly. Moreover, you rodethem superbly. Now, let them rest with the ample share of honor thatbelongs to each."
Stuart and Cabell, after the heat of rivalry was over, thought it agood plan, shook hands wit
h great warmth three or four times, eachswearing that the other was the best fellow in the world, and thenwith a great group of friends they adjourned to the tavern where hugebeakers of punch were drunk.
"And mighty Todadaho himself, although he looks into the future, doesnot yet know which is the better horse," said Tayoga. "It iswell. Some things should remain to be discovered, else the salt wouldgo out of life."
"That's sound philosophy," said Willet. "It's the mystery of thingsthat attracts us, and that race ended in the happiest mannerpossible. Neither owner can be jealous or envious of the other;instead they are feeling like brothers."
Then Robert's mind with a sudden rush, went back to St. Luc, and hissense of duty tempted him to speak of his presence to Willet, but heconcluded to wait a little. He looked around for him again, but he didnot see him, and he thought it possible that he had now left thedangerous neighborhood of Williamsburg.
As they walked back to their quarters at a tavern Willet informed themthat there was to be, two days later, a grand council of provincialgovernors and high officers at Alexandria on the Potomac, whereGeneral Braddock with his army already lay in camp, and he suggestedthat they go too. As they were free lances with their authorityissuing from Governor Dinwiddie alone, they could do practically asthey pleased. Both Robert and Tayoga were all for it, but in theafternoon they, as well as Willet, were invited to a race dinner to begiven at the tavern that evening by Stuart and Cabell in honor of thegreat contest, in which neither had lost, but in which both had won.
"I suppose," said Willet, "that while here we might take our fullshare of Virginia hospitality, which is equal to any on earth,because, as I see it, before very long we will be in the woods whereso much to eat and drink will not be offered to us. March and battlewill train us down."
The dinner to thirty guests was spread in the great room of the tavernand the black servants of Stuart and Cabell, well trained, dextrousand clad in livery, helped those of the landlord to serve. Theabundance and quality of the food were amazing. Besides the resourcesof civilization, air, wood and water were drawn upon forgame. Virginia, already renowned for hospitality, was resolved thatthrough her young sons, Stuart and Cabell, she should do her best thatnight.
A dozen young British officers were present, and there was muchtoasting and conviviality. The tie of kinship between the old countryand the new seemed stronger here than in New England, where theEngland of Cromwell still prevailed, or in New York, where the Dutchand other influences not English were so powerful. They had begun withthe best of feeling, and it was heightened by the warmth that food anddrink bring. They talked with animation of the great adventure, onwhich they would soon start, as Stuart and Cabell and most of theVirginians were going with Braddock. They drank a speedy capture ofFort Duquesne, and confusion to the French and their red allies.
Robert, imitating the example of Tayoga, ate sparingly and scarcelytasted the punch. About eleven o'clock, the night being warm,unusually warm for that early period of spring, and nearly all theguests having joined in the singing, more or less well, of patrioticsongs, Robert, thinking that his absence would not be noticed, walkedoutside in search of coolness and air.
It was but a step from the lights and brilliancy of the tavern to thedarkness of Williamsburg's single avenue. There were no streetlanterns, and only a moon by which to see. He could discern the dimbulk of William and Mary College and of the Governor's Palace, butexcept near at hand the smaller buildings were lost in the dusk. Abreeze touched with salt, as if from the sea, was blowing, and itstouch was so grateful on Robert's face that he walked on, hat in hand,while the wind played on his cheeks and forehead and lifted hishair. Then a darker shadow appeared in the darkness, and St. Luc stoodbefore him.
"Why do you come here! Why do you incur such danger? Don't you knowthat I must give warning of your presence?" exclaimed Robertpassionately.
The Frenchman laughed lightly. He seemed very well pleased withhimself, and then he hummed:
"Hier sur le pont d'Avignon J'ai oui chanter la belle Lon, la."
"Your danger is great!" repeated Robert.
"Not as great as you think," said St. Luc. "You will not protectme. You will warn the British officers that a French spy is here. Iread it in your face at the race today, and moreover, I know youbetter than you know yourself. I know, too, more about you than youknow about yourself. Did I not warn you in New York to beware ofMynheer Adrian Van Zoon?"
"You did, and I know that you meant me well."
"And what happened?"
"I was kidnapped by a slaver, and I was to have been taken to thecoast of Africa, but a storm intervened and saved me. Perhaps theslaver was acting for Mynheer Van Zoon, but I talked it over with Mr.Hardy and we haven't a shred of proof."
"Perhaps a storm will not intervene next time. You must look toyourself, Robert Lennox."
"And you to yourself, Chevalier de St. Luc. I'm grateful to you forthe warning you gave me, and other acts of friendship, but whateveryour mission may have been in New York I'm sure that one of yourerrands, perhaps the main one, in Williamsburg, is to gatherinformation for France, and, sir, I should be little of a patriot didI not give the alarm, much as it hurts me to do so."
Robert saw very clearly by the moonlight that the blue eyes of St. Lucwere twinkling. His situation might be dangerous, but obviously hetook no alarm from it.
"You'll bear in mind, Mr. Lennox," he said, "that I'm not asking youto shield me. Consider me a French spy, if you wish--and you'll not bewholly wrong--and then act as you think becomes a man with acommission as army scout from Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia."
There was a little touch of irony in his voice. His adventures andromantic spirit was in the ascendant, and it seemed to Robert that hewas giving him a dare. That he would have endured because of hisadmiration for St. Luc, and also because of his gratitude, but theallusion to his commission from the governor of Virginia recalled himto his sense of duty.
"I can do nothing else!" he exclaimed. "'Tis a poor return for theservices you have done me, and I tender my apologies for the actionI'm about to take. But guard yourself, St. Luc!"
"And you, Lennox, look well to yourself when Braddock marches! Everytwig and leaf will spout danger!"
His light manner was wholly gone for the moment, and his words werefull of menace. Up the street, a sentinel walked back and forth, andRobert could hear the faint fall of his feet on the sand.
"Once more I bid you beware, St. Luc!" he exclaimed, and raising hisvoice he shouted: "A spy! A spy!"
He heard the sentinel drop the butt of his musket heavily against theearth, utter an exclamation and then run toward them. His shout hadalso been heard at the tavern, and the guests, bareheaded, began topour out, and look about confusedly to see whence the alarm had come.
Robert looked at the sentinel who was approaching rapidly, and then heturned to see what St Luc would do. But the Frenchman was gone. Nearthem was a mass of shrubbery and he believed that he had flitted intoit, as silently as the passing of a shadow. But the sentinel hadcaught a glimpse of the dusky figure, and he cried:
"Who was he? What is it?"
"A spy!" replied Robert hastily. "A Frenchman whom I have seen inCanada! I think he sprang into those bushes and flowers!"
The sentinel and Robert rushed into the shrubbery but nothing wasthere. As they looked about in the dusk, Robert heard a refrain,distant, faint and taunting:
"Hier sur le pont d'Avignon J'ai oui chanter la belle Lon, la."
It was only for an instant, then it died like a summer echo, and heknew that St. Luc was gone. An immense weight rolled from him. He haddone what he should have done, but the result that he feared had notfollowed.
"I can find nothing, sir," said the sentinel, who recognized in Robertone of superior rank.
"Nor I, but you saw the figure, did you not?"
"I did, sir. 'Twas more like a shadow, but 'twas a man, I'll swear."
Robert was glad to have the sentinel'
s testimony, because in anothermoment the revelers were upon him, making sport of him for his falsealarm, and asserting that not his eyes but the punch he had drunk hadseen a French spy.
"I scarce tasted the punch," said Robert, "and the soldier here iswitness that I spoke true."
A farther and longer search was organized, but the Frenchman hadvanished into the thinnest of thin air. As Robert walked with Willetand Tayoga back to the tavern, the hunter said:
"I suppose it was St. Luc?"
"Yes, but why did you think it was he?"
"Because it was just the sort of deed he would do. Did you speak withhim?"
"Yes, and I told him I must give the alarm. He disappeared withamazing speed and silence."
Robert made a brief report the next day to Governor Dinwiddie, nottelling that St. Luc and he had spoken together, stating merely thathe had seen him, giving his name, and describing him as one of themost formidable of the French forest leaders.
"I thank you, Mr. Lennox," said the Governor. "Your information shallbe conveyed to General Braddock. Yet I think our force will be toogreat for the wilderness bands."
On the following day they were at Alexandria on the Potomac, where thegreat council was to be held. Here Braddock's camp was spread, and ina large tent he met Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, Governor de Lanceyof New York, Governor Sharpe of Maryland, Governor Dobbs of NorthCarolina and Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, an elderly lawyer, butthe ablest and most energetic of all the governors.
It was the most momentous council yet held in North America, and allthe young officers waited with the most intense eagerness the newsfrom the tent. Robert saw Braddock as he went in, a middle-aged man ofhigh color and an obstinate chin. Grosvenor gave him some of thegossip about the general.
"London has many stories of him," he said. "He has spent most of hislife in the army. He is a gambler, but brave, rough but generous,irritable, but often very kind. Opposition inflames him, but he likeszeal and good service. He is very fond of your young Mr. Washington,who, I hear is much of a man."
The council in the great tent was long and weighty, and well it mighthave been, even far beyond the wildest thoughts of any of theparticipants. These were the beginnings of events that shook not onlyAmerica but Europe for sixty years. In the tent they agreed upon agreat and comprehensive scheme of campaign that had been proposed sometime before. Braddock would proceed with his attack upon FortDuquesne, Shirley would see that the forces of New England seizedBeausejour and De Lancey would have Colonel William Johnson to moveupon Crown Point and then Niagara. Acadia also would betaken. Dinwiddie after Shirley was the most vigorous of the governors,and he promised that the full force of Virginia should be behindBraddock. But to Shirley was given the great vision. He foresaw thecomplete disappearance of French power from North America, and, toachieve a result that he desired so much, it was only necessary forthe colonists to act together and with vigor. While he recognized inBraddock infirmities of temper and insufficient knowledge of hisbattlefield, he knew him to be energetic and courageous and hebelieved that the first blow, the one that he was to strike at FortDuquesne, would inflict a mortal blow upon France in the New World. Inevery vigorous measure that he proposed Dinwiddie backed him, and theother governors, overborne by their will, gave their consent.
While Robert sat with his friends in the shade of a grove, awaitingthe result of the deliberations in the tent, his attention wasattracted by a strong, thick-set figure in a British uniform.
"Colonel Johnson!" he cried, and running forward he shook handseagerly with Colonel William Johnson.
"Why, Colonel!" he exclaimed, "I didn't dream that you were here, butI'm most happy to see you."
"And I to see you, Mr. Lennox, or Robert, as I shall call you," saidColonel Johnson. "Alexandria is a long journey from Mount Johnson, butyou see I'm here, awaiting the results of this council, which I tellyou may have vast significance for North America."
"But why are you not in the tent with the others, you who know so muchmore about conditions on the border than any man who is in there?"
"I am not one of the governors, Robert, my lad, nor am I GeneralBraddock. Hence I'm not eligible, but I'm not to be neglected. I mayas well tell you that we are planning several expeditions, and thatI'm to lead one in the north."
"And Madam Johnson, and everybody at your home? Are they well?"
"As well of body as human beings can be when I left. Molly told methat if I saw you to give you her special love. Ah, you young blade,if you were older I should be jealous, and then, again, perhaps Ishouldn't!"
"And Joseph?"
"Young Thayendanegea? Fierce and warlike as becomes his lineage. Hedemands if I lead an army to the war that he go with me, and he scarcetwelve. What is more, he will demand and insist, until I have to takehim. 'Tis a true eagle that young Joseph. But here is Willet! Itsoothes my eyes to see you again, brave hunter, and Tayoga, too, whois fully as welcome."
He shook hands with them both and the Onondaga gravely asked:
"What news of my people, Waraiyageh?"
Colonel Johnson's face clouded.
"Things do not go well between us and the vale of Onondaga," hereplied. "The Hodenosaunee complain of the Indian commissioners atAlbany, and with justice. Moreover, the French advance and thesuperior French vigor create a fear that the British and Americans maylose. Then the Hodenosaunee will be left alone to fight the French andall the hostile tribes. Father Drouillard has come back and is workingwith his converts."
"The nations of the Hodenosaunee will never go with the French,"declared Tayoga with emphasis. "Although the times seem dark, andmen's minds may waver for a while, they will remain loyal to theirancient allies. Their doubts will cease, Waraiyageh, when the kingacross the sea takes away the power of dealing with us from the Dutchcommissioners at Albany, and gives it to you, you who know us so welland who have always been our friend."
Colonel Johnson's face flushed with pleasure.
"Your opinion of me is too high, Tayoga," he said, "but I'll not denythat it gratifies me to hear it."
"Have you heard anything from Fort Refuge, and Colden and Wilton andthe others?" asked Robert.
"An Oneida runner brought a letter just before I left MountJohnson. The brave Philadelphia lads still hold the little fortress,and have occasional skirmishes with wandering bands. Theirs has been agood work, well done."
But while Colonel Johnson was not a member of the council and couldnot sit with it, he had a great reputation with all the governors, andthe next day he was asked to appear before them and General Braddock,where he was treated with the consideration due to a man of hisachievements, and where the council, without waiting for the authorityof the English king, gave him full and complete powers to treat withthe Hodenosaunee, and to heal the wounds inflicted upon the pride ofthe nations by the commissioners at Albany. He was thus madesuperintendent of Indian affairs in North America, and he was also ashe had said to lead the expedition against Crown Point. He came forthfrom the council exultant, his eyes glowing.
"'Tis even more than I had hoped," he said to Willet, "and now I mustsay farewell to you and the brave lads with you. We have come to theedge of great things, and there is no time to waste."
He hastened northward, the council broke up the next day, and thevisiting governors hurried back to their respective provinces toprepare for the campaigns, leaving Braddock to strike the first blow.
The Shadow of the North: A Story of Old New York and a Lost Campaign Page 15