Kitabı oku: «The Minute Boys of York Town», sayfa 8
CHAPTER VIII
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SAUL
I had no difficulty in going from the American lines to the Hamilton plantation. I suppose that my Lord Cornwallis's desire to speedily fortify York Town so he might the better be able to prevent the "rebels" from doing him harm, was the reason why no scouting parties were met with, and even though I had come upon a dozen red-coats, there was little possibility harm would be done me, unless peradventure they had been sent out with special orders to make me prisoner because of my having entered the town of York under false pretences.
However, I did not look forward to anything of that kind, nor was there reason so to do. It did not seem probable any of the king's officers were aware of what we lads and Uncle 'Rasmus were striving to do, else had they made a descent upon us before I acted as messenger for the Jerseyman.
Because of having had no sleep the night previous, and being somewhat wearied with the tramp from the town of York, my eyes were heavy when I set out for my home; but the thought of seeing my mother once more, of being able to explain to her exactly what we counted on doing, together with the beauty of the morning, when everything around me spoke of peace, content and happiness, rather than of war, served to revive my spirits and my body until it was as though I had enjoyed a long period of repose.
But for that which hung about my neck like a millstone, meaning our having been forced to make a prisoner of Horry Sims, I would have been radiantly happy on this morning. As it was, however, I no sooner began to anticipate the pleasure of meeting my mother, or attempted to enjoy the beauties of nature, than I thought of that cowardly Tory cur lying in the loft of old Mary's cabin, where one or another of us must keep watch over him every hour of the day and night, and if so be he should succeed in giving us the slip despite all our vigilance then would we become fugitives, with all hope of regaining possession of Silver Heels dashed, and considerably more than an even chance we might find lodgement in the British guard-house.
Thus it was I journeyed on, one moment buoyant with hope, and the next cast down by fear of what the future might have in store for us who called ourselves Minute Boys, hoping the day might come when we would be able to give good proof that we had a right to such a title.
The journey came to an end finally, as must all journeys in this world whether they bring us to a haven of rest or a sink of iniquity, and then did I forget all things in the outside world that might give me pain or trouble, in the pleasure I had with my dear mother, telling what I had seen in the American camp, repeating the words father had said to me, or striving to make her believe it would be possible for Saul and me to accomplish that which we had set before us. At the same time I tried to keep in the background the dangers which must necessarily be encountered, unless peradventure the Americans made an immediate advance and were overwhelmingly successful.
I might have saved my breath so far as striving to hide from the good woman who loved me so dearly, the possible dangers in the path we had chosen. She had pictured them all in her mind, and I am bound to give her credit for not having magnified them in the lightest degree. She viewed the situation as you might expect a soldier's wife would, carefully weighing this possibility and that, until she had come to have even a better knowledge of all which threatened than had we ourselves.
It was, however, when I told her we had been forced to make a prisoner of Horry Sims that she grew white lipped, pressing me suddenly to her arms as if imminent danger threatened, and from that moment it was necessary I bring to bear upon her every argument at my command, else would she have set her foot down flatly that I should not return to the town of York.
I believe of a verity all my attempts at making her more friendly with our scheme which had been marred by the capture of the Tory cur, had been in vain but for the fact that I could plead the shame which would come upon me if I should abandon Pierre, Saul, or even Uncle 'Rasmus, after having done my share toward luring them into a position of peril.
She realized even better than I that it was my duty, having set out upon the road with these companions and accompanied them thus far, to bear my full share of all that might result. As a consequence, instead of demanding that I remain with her on the plantation, she held me pressed closely to her bosom while the tears ran down her cheeks unrestrained, until I was grown so faint-hearted and so grieved because of having involuntarily caused her suffering, that a feeling of timorousness began to creep over me.
Fortunately, however, I succeeded in calling back some portion of the courage which had fled before my mother's tears, and realized that if I would do my full duty, as a boy of Virginia should toward the comrades with whom he had bound himself, it was necessary I leave home without delay, for verily I believe had I remained there until the next morning I could not have summoned up spirit enough to venture into that town of York where the king's soldiers, like a pack of ravening wolves, were denned up after having committed upon a defenceless people all the injury within their power.
Of the parting with my mother that noon I cannot speak, even at this late day, so painful was it. I can see now her pale face as she stood on the veranda watching me walk away, doing my best not to look back upon that mournful picture, and yet turning my head again and again despite all efforts to the contrary.
Unkind though it may sound for me to say so, I must confess to a feeling of actual relief when a turn of the road shut out from my view the house and the dear, mournful figure on the threshold.
Once that had been blotted from my vision by distance I quickened my pace, and with every yard traversed on the road to York did my courage revive, until when I had arrived where it was necessary to put on an appearance of idle curiosity and total disregard as to the wasting of time, I felt almost as if I could work out alone and unaided this plan which we had formed to outwit the officer who represented the king.
It must seem strange to have one claim that at such a time, when my Lord Cornwallis's army was penned up so thoroughly by the French fleet to the seaward and Lafayette's forces to the landward, that a lad like me could wander at will inside the encampment.
Soldiers not familiar with what was done in Virginia at that day, might say it would be an absolute impossibility for even a lad like myself to pass through the lines unchallenged, because Lord Cornwallis knew well that a great number of us in Virginia were those whom he called rebels, and I was of sufficient age and intelligence to carry information to the Americans.
Yet it is true that on this day I saw idlers from plantations on both the York and the James rivers lounging around the British outer works, or passing the sentinels here and there along the line of entrenchments facing landward, without being challenged, or without hindrance in any form, and I, as a matter of course, followed these curious ones who would with their own eyes measure the strength of the king as it was displayed in Virginia.
Like them I entered the village with no one to say me nay. Because it did not seem prudent to go directly to old Mary's cabin, I wandered around through the village, gaping at this or that, and once feasting my eyes with a view of Silver Heels as she stood at the stable line knee-deep in sweet straw, munching her hay as contentedly as if she had been in her own box on the Hamilton plantation.
Then I went my way to old Mary's cabin, seeing the black, wrinkled face of Uncle 'Rasmus at the window while I was yet some distance away.
Hearing my footsteps he looked up with a smile of pleasure and of welcome, and I understood there was naught to hinder my entering, therefore flung the door boldly open and walked in to find myself in the embrace of the old man, who petted and fondled me as if I had been down into the very jaws of death, and was come back only through my own brave exertions.
It had ever been Uncle 'Rasmus's way to treat me as if I was a child, and heretofore it had given me great annoyance that he should stroke my cheeks lovingly, and croon about his "bressed baby," or "brabe little man"; but now that I was in the enemy's country where I might come to grief at any moment, these evidences of affection were welcome, nay, I craved them so ardently as to remain really nestling in his arms until the old man tired of treating as a baby the lad who counted to call himself a Minute Boy of York Town.
Then it was I asked concerning my comrades, and Uncle 'Rasmus replied that Pierre was in the loft above, doing his share of guard duty, and Saul had gone away shortly after breakfast, bent on seeking out his mare that he might feast his eyes upon her even as I had upon my own Silver Heels.
Just for an instant there came into my mind the fear that my cousin was forgetting himself by leaving little Frenchie so long on duty; but it was only a passing thought, and I gave no further heed to his absence as I went up the ladder into the bare room festooned with cobwebs and lighted by a single square aperture at either end, through which the breeze came without check.
Horry Sims, miserable Tory that he was, appeared to be having much the best of this imprisonment. Knowing that he could not escape save by making his way down through the scuttle, and desiring to spare him all the pain that might be prudent, our lads had left him unfettered and ungagged.
He was sitting on the blanket which he had rolled up to form a cushion, with his back against the side of the house near the chimney, and appeared to be taking solid comfort, although one might see by the expression on his face that the close confinement and the fear as to what might finally happen, was telling upon him.
On the contrary, Pierre was the one of that couple who appeared to be getting the worst of the business. He was sitting on the bare puncheons near by the scuttle, with his knees in his arms, looking as weary as a lad well could look, and I pitied the little fellow, remembering what delights had been mine during what had been much the same as a vacation, when I journeyed to the American lines and from there to the plantation.
"Finding it hard work, are you?" I asked, crouching on the floor beside him, and the dear little fellow, with that bright smile of his, shrugging his shoulders as if it was a matter of indifference, said cheerily:
"It is not as lively here as I have known it in New Orleans, and there is but little with which to occupy one's attention; but when Saul has come back I count on going down to the river bank and having a swim, if so be his majesty's red-coated servants do not forbid such sport."
"There is no reason why you should not go now, lad. Surely I can well afford to take your place after having wandered around the country to my heart's content."
"It is not fair that you should do guard duty after having just returned from a long tramp," he replied with a bright, winning smile. "How many hours did you sleep last night?"
I confess I had not realized that I might stand in need of slumber, and would have put the lad off with an evasive reply; but he persisted with his question until I was forced to admit that since leaving the town of York to carry the Jerseyman's message, I had not closed my eyes in rest, whereupon he insisted I go to the floor below, and seek the repose which he claimed I so sorely needed.
"Saul is certain to come back within a short time," he said, "and then it will be for him to take my place here. You are to sleep now, to the end that if work of any kind be demanded of us this night, you will be in condition to perform your share of it."
There was no gainsaying a lad like Pierre Laurens; it would have been much like resisting the entreaties of a girl friend, to set one's face against that which he desired, and I meekly obeyed him, leaving in the loft the prisoner who looked fairly well contented with the situation, and the jailor who appeared to be suffering from confinement.
On the floor below Uncle 'Rasmus had already made up such a bed of blankets as was possible, he having heard the conversation in the loft. Straightway I had stretched myself out on that poor apology for a couch, my eyes were closed in slumber, and I remained hour after hour in blissful unconsciousness of the world of war and of hate around me, until I was brought back to this earth and all the disagreeable realities by the pressure of Uncle 'Rasmus's hand upon my cheek.
"What is it? What's wanted?" I cried, springing up and striving to brush the slumber from my eyes, the cobwebs of sleep being so thick in my brain that for the instant I did not realize where I was.
Then I noted with no little of apprehension that the night had come. Already was the room so dark that save for the flickering of a few pine knots in the fireplace, one could not distinguish surrounding objects, and on fully recovering my senses I asked:
"Did Pierre Laurens go out for a swim as he counted on doing?"
"De po' little French boy am held right here, honey, kase he couldn't leabe dat scoundrel ob a Tory."
"But where's Saul?" I cried. "Hasn't Saul come in since he left this morning?"
"It's des dat what's aworryin' ob me, honey chile. Saul Ogden done lef here arter we got trou breakfas', an' 'lowed he'd loaf 'roun' de town a couple ob hours. I done heard him tell de little French boy dat he's gwine fo' to be back here arter he'd seen his mare, an' yet he ain' shown up sence. I tell you what it is, honey, I'se gettin' pow'ful skeered 'bout dat cousin ob yourn. It can't be he'd stay all dis yere time, knowin' he was boun' to habe an eye out on dat Tory cur, so's Pierre could get a sniff ob fresh air."
For an instant I stood irresolute, looking about me as I tried to guess what could have prevented Saul from keeping his word. During those few seconds it did not come into my mind that aught of evil might have happened; I only questioned what friend he could have met who thus delayed him, or what pleasure he found which would keep him away.
Then like a flash of light came the thought that neither friend nor pleasure could have prevented Saul from returning to his duty, and I understood that one of two things must have happened: He had either been arrested on some charge or another by the red-coated soldiers, or had through his ill temper got into a brawl, when he had been so grievously wounded that it was impossible for him to come back unaided.
I wheeled about suddenly, like one bereft of his senses, and clambered up the shaky ladder as if my very life depended on my gaining the loft within the shortest possible space of time. There, where by reaching out his hand he could touch that Tory sneak whom I longed to crush beneath my heel because he was causing us so much trouble, having the same as thrust himself into our keeping as a prisoner, sat little Frenchie, patient but nervous, as I could guess by his movements.
"Where is Saul?" I demanded fiercely, as if through some carelessness or inadvertence of Pierre my cousin had come to grief, and the little lad replied mournfully, having lost so much of his spirit during the weary time of waiting that he could seemingly neither shrug his shoulders nor wave his hands:
"I wish I knew, Fitz; but certain it is something serious must have happened to the boy, else he would have been back, as he agreed upon, within two hours from the time of leaving."
"Why did you not waken me that I might go out in search?" I demanded angrily, as if still believing he was at fault.
"It seemed to me necessary you should regain all your strength, that you might be able to meet the disaster which I feel is near upon us. There have been times when I was tempted to call for Uncle 'Rasmus, insisting he send you out at once; but I was checked by the thought that you had already endured much of labor and should be allowed the slumber which was needed."
"Nothing could be necessary at such a time as this, save that I went out in search of my cousin!" I cried, almost beside myself with grief and apprehension, for there was no longer any doubt in my mind but that Saul was either a prisoner in the hands of the red-coated soldiers, or else lay somewhere in the village wounded grievously, perhaps unto death.
"Now that you have come I will search throughout this entire town," and Pierre sprang to his feet as if to descend the ladder, whereupon I caught him frantically by the coat, for at that instant a horrible dread seized upon me, lest I be left alone with that Tory villain and have so much of temptation that it would be impossible to keep my hands from him.
"Why should we not both go?" I cried. "Why is it necessary one stay here when Uncle 'Rasmus may stand guard at the foot of the ladder?"
"Now you are talking wildly. Suppose we both went out, and Horry Sims, hearing footsteps, should go to one of the windows and cry for help? How would it be possible for Uncle 'Rasmus, old and crippled as he is, to prevent the mischief?"
"Then we will gag the Tory scoundrel and truss him up so he can neither move hand nor foot!" I cried. "Is he to stand in the way of our searching for Saul? Is he, after having done us whatsoever mischief lay in his power, to hold us back when perhaps the dear lad is needing us so sorely?"
"Don't gag me! Don't gag me!" Horry cried frantically. "I promise to make no sound, nor so much as lift a finger, if you will leave me free; but to have that gag in my mouth all night, would be murder."
"And so it would," Pierre added emphatically. "I believe both of us ought to go in search of Saul; but this fellow, Tory though he be, should not be forced to endure so much of suffering as would be his if you left him gagged and bound."
"What then will you do with him?" I asked, speaking more like a mad man than a lad who counted it would be possible for him to prove that he might be of service to the Cause through playing the part of Minute Boy. "Surely we can't hoist Uncle 'Rasmus up here into the loft."
"No; but we can take Horry Sims downstairs," Pierre replied quietly, and I cried in alarm:
"Take him to the lower floor where any one who passes may see him?"
"There is no need to leave him in public view," Pierre replied. "We can bind him securely in one corner of the room at Uncle 'Rasmus's feet, where the old negro can readily prevent him from making any outcry."
"But suppose one of the soldiers takes it into his head to enter?"
"That has not happened thus far, and we must take the chances that none will be so curious. Better that than put this fellow to torture."
Just then I believe of a verity it would have gladdened my heart to have seen Horry Sims suffering all the torments a human being can suffer; but fortunately, the little French lad had more good sense in his tiny body than had I in my lank carcass even though I towered head and shoulders above him, and he literally forced me to fall into his way of thinking, by bluntly declaring that he would not step outside the cabin door unless I displayed more of humanity.
I would almost sooner agree to set the young Tory free, than venture out in a blind search for Saul without having this little French comrade with me, and therefore it was I bore my part in disposing of the prisoner as Pierre had suggested.
We bundled him down through the scuttle as if he had been a bale of merchandise rather than flesh and blood, and then I warrant you but little time was spent in binding his hands and feet so securely that, unaided, he could not get free.
How Uncle 'Rasmus may have viewed being left in the cabin to act the double part of jailor and helpless invalid, I know not. He had heard, as a matter of course, all our conversation in the loft above, and when we came down with Horry Sims and began to tie his feet, the old negro shoved his chair into one corner, saying as he did so that we should put the fellow where he could have him under his hand. Then, seating himself, with a blanket over his knee which might also serve to cover Horry in case visitors entered, he was ready to do his share of the work.
I was not satisfied to leave the two alone, unless Uncle 'Rasmus was armed, and would have set out in search of some weapon, although I knew not where to procure one, but that Pierre said with something almost approaching impatience in his tone:
"Are you so blind, Fitz Hamilton, that you can't see whether Uncle 'Rasmus is armed or not? With that cane of his I dare venture to say he could strike a man dead with one blow; while that is in his hand and Horry lying at his feet, the Tory is completely at the old man's mercy."
All this was true, as I should have seen before Pierre spoke, and when we had the miserable cur of a prisoner disposed of in a corner of the room where the old negro could, if need arose, cover him with the blanket which was supposed to be needed by himself as an invalid, it appeared to me we need not fear going about in the village while the cabin was unguarded save by Uncle 'Rasmus.
It would not have been like the little French lad to linger many seconds after our preparation had been completed, and immediately he satisfied himself that matters had been arranged to the best of our ability, he opened the door, going out into the night as he motioned for me to follow.
It must have been that news had come into the town of York during the afternoon concerning a threatened advance of the Americans, for even though it was night the Britishers were working at their fortifications, having torches of pine knots stuck up here and there, and it seemed as if every man of that army of seven thousand was using either the pick or the shovel, or directing the movements of those who worked with their hands.
"Can it be that our French general is advancing?" Pierre whispered gleefully to me, and because I wished it might be so, it was in my mind almost a certainty that the Americans were closing in on this town of York, with the intent of giving battle to our enemies.
We at once turned our steps toward the quarters of the Rangers, for there was good reason to believe that Saul, on leaving the cabin in the morning, would have gone there first in the hope of getting a glimpse of his mare, and as we came upon a group of soldiers who were at work upon one of the redoubts I barely smothered an exclamation of delight, for there I saw Morgan, the Jerseyman, his coat off, shoveling dirt as if his one desire on earth was to prevent the Americans from entering York.
So thick is my head that I would have gone directly toward him, thinking only to tell of Saul's disappearance and ask his advice concerning what we had best do; but as I stepped forward Pierre clutched me firmly by the arm, and at the same instant I saw a warning look in Morgan's eyes as he recognized us.
Fortunate it was that I had sense enough to obey instantly both the look and the grasp on my arm, otherwise had I betrayed him to his death, and us lads to a prison.
I was faint with the sickness of fear on realizing what might have been brought about by my stupidity; but Pierre led me straightaway in the direction we had been pursuing, and before the dear lad could speak I said, noting that we were beyond ear-shot of any of the king's soldiers:
"Forgive me, lad, forgive me! I came near to doing that which could never have been undone, and remembering the terrible danger I was like to have placed you and Morgan in, it maybe that in the future I shall walk and act more as a thinking boy should."
"No harm has been done, Fitz," and little Frenchie caressed my coat sleeve as if it was he instead of me who had so nearly wrecked three lives. "So long as you didn't speak to Morgan, and no one could have noticed that you recognized him, it is as if we hadn't seen the man."
It was ever little Frenchie's way to do what he might to soothe the feelings of one who had gone wrong, and flinging my arm above his neck regardless of whosoever might see, I hugged him to my side as if he had been a sister.
Owing to the unusual activity all around us we were able to go at will throughout the village, seemingly arousing no suspicions, for hardly a man noticed us, and we searched every foot of the encampment save, as a matter of course, the guard-houses or the buildings occupied by Britishers, until having satisfied ourselves that Saul was not lying in some out-of-the-way place unable to move because of wounds.
"It must be that the Britishers have made him a prisoner," Pierre said thoughtfully as we wandered down to the river bank where we could converse without fear of being overheard. "If he had provoked a quarrel with any of the soldiers, or the lads who came from the plantations, we should have found him ere this. We may set it down as a fact that he is held in one of the guard-houses."
"Then what is to be done?" I cried impatiently, and to my surprise Pierre replied calmly:
"Nothing; at least, nothing now. Of ourselves we cannot hope to find him; but must wait until we have speech with Morgan. He is the one of all others in this town of York who can help us."
"And we are shut out from him by the fear that we may betray an acquaintance," I said bitterly, whereupon Pierre added, speaking in a soothing tone:
"It is only for a few hours, lad. There is no question but that he will seek us out when the opportunity comes, to learn if you succeeded in your mission, or if any word was sent to him, and we must wait."
"But in the meanwhile Saul is lying in one of these wretched places a prisoner, even as is Horry Sims in old Mary's cabin," I cried bitterly.
"True, Fitz, and we will hope that it is the worst which has befallen him; but how are matters to be mended by us who are much the same as prisoners ourselves? To go about making inquiries of any we chance to meet, would be the same as begging that we be arrested on whatsoever charge he lies under. It is what may be called the fortune of war, and you, and Saul, and I must show ourselves as Minute Boys should, by accepting whatever comes with the knowledge that we are aiding the Cause."
"Valuable aid we have given the Cause by coming into this town and looking at two horses which were stolen!" I cried savagely, and Pierre added, again caressing my arm:
"Don't forget that you succeeded in carrying a message which Morgan could not have delivered save at the cost of destroying his usefulness as a spy."
"And yet that had nothing to do with Saul's arrest, if so be he is a prisoner."
"Now you are unreasonable. Let us go back to the cabin and there wait until the Jerseyman comes. Whether the time be long or short, we by fretting and fuming cannot cut off a single minute. If remaining idle seems hard, remember, Fitz Hamilton, that by going ahead blindly we may make matters worse than they are now."
Of course I realized that all Pierre had said was true. No fellow could listen to the little lad when he was talking so earnestly and imploringly, without understanding how much of sound sense was in that tiny body of his, and for at least the tenth time since we set out from the Hamilton plantation counting to call ourselves Minute Boys, did I resolve that in the future I would never make protest at any command he might give, but would fall in readily and cheerfully with every suggestion of his.
He led me back to old Mary's cabin much as a nurse leads a petulant child, and when we neared the door I was like to have forgotten Saul's possible plight as the fear came over me that here might we have met with fresh disaster.
It was a wondrous relief to enter the rude cabin and find Uncle 'Rasmus still seated in his invalid's chair, with Horry Sims lying at his feet, and in my joy and relief I clasped both the old negro's wrinkled hands so tightly that he cried out with pain.
There was little need he should ask whether we had been successful in our search, because we had returned as we departed; but I could not refrain from acquainting him with our ill fortune by saying in a sorrowful tone:
"We have neither heard nor seen anything of the dear lad, and it must be that the Britishers are holding him prisoner."
"De Lawd's will be done, honey! De Lawd's will be done! Ef dat po' chile Saul hab fell inter de han's ob de Britishers, we'se boun' to set here sorrowin' widout liftin' a han' to help him."
"Uncle 'Rasmus is saying much the same as I did, Fitz dear," Pierre interrupted. "It is the fortune of war, and whatsoever comes to us while we are striving to play our part, must be borne. There is no reason why we should not hope for the best, at least until the Jerseyman comes, as I feel positive he will at the first opportunity."
