"Flatter and praise, commend, extol their graces,
Though ne'er so black, say they have angels' faces;
That man who bath a tongue, I say, is no man,
If with that tongue he cannot win a woman."
—— Two Gentlemen of VeronaIn making the arrangement by which Captain Lawton had been left, with Sergeant Hollister and twelve men, as a guard over the wounded and heavy baggage of the corps, Dunwoodie had consuited not only the information which had been conveyed in the letter of Col. Singleton, but the supposed bruises of his comrade's body. It was in vain that Lawton had declared himself fit for any duty that man could perform, or that he had plainly intimated that his men would never follow Tom Mason to a charge, with the alacrity and confidence with which they followed himself; his commander was firm, and the reluctant captain was compelled to comply with as good a grace as he could assume. Before parting, Dunwoodie renewed his caution to Lawton, to keep a watchful eye on the inmates of the cottage, and especially enjoined him, if any movements of a particularly suspicious nature were noticed in the neighbourhood, to break up from his present quarters, and move down with his party, and to take possession of the domains of Mr. Wharton. A vague suspicion of danger to the family had been awakened in the breast of the major, by the language of the pedlar, although he was unable to refer it to any particular source, or understand why it was to be apprehended.
For some time after the departure of the troops, the captain was walking to and fro, before the door of the "Hotel," inwardly cursing his fate that condemned him to an inglorious idleness, at a moment when a meeting with the enemy might be expected, and replying to the occasional queries of Betty, who from the interior of the building, ever and anon, demanded in a high tone of voice, an explanation of various points in the pedlar's escape that as yet she could not comprehend. At this instant he was joined by the surgeon, who had hitherto been engaged among his patients in a distant building, and was profoundly ignorant of every thing that had occurred, even to the departure of the troops.
"Where are all the sentinels, John," he inquired, as he gazed around with a look of curiosity, "and why are you here alone?"
"Off——all off, with Dunwoodie, to the river. Yon and I are left here to take care of a few sick men, and some women."
"I am glad, however," said the surgeon, "that Major Dunwoodie had consideration enough, not to move the wounded. Here, you Mrs. Elizabeth Flannagan, hasten with some food, that I may appease my appetite. I have a dead body to dissect, and am in a hurry."
"And here you, Mister Doctor Archibald Sitgreaves," echoed Betty, showing her blooming countenance from a broken window of the kitchen, "you are ever a coming too late; here is nothing to ate but the skin of Jenny and the body you are mintioning."
"Woman," said the surgeon, in anger, "do you take me for a cannibal, that you address your filthy discourse to me in this manner.——I bid you hasten with such food as may be proper to be received into the stomach fasting."
"And I'm sure its for a pop-gun that I should be taking you sooner than for a cannon-ball," said Betty, winking at the captain, "and I tell you that its fasting you must be, unless you will let me cook you a steak from the skin of Jenny. The boys have eaten me up entirely."
Lawton now interfered to preserve the peace, and assured the surgeon that he had already despatched the proper persons in quest of food for the party. A little mollified with this explanation, the operator soon forgot his hunger, and declared his intention of proceeding to business at once.
"And where is your subject?" asked Lawton, gravely.
"The pedlar," said the other, gazing on the sign-post; "you see I made Hollister put a stage so high that the neck would not be dislocated by the fall, and I intend making as handsome a skeleton of him, as there is in the States of North-America ——the fellow has good points, and his bones are well knit. Oh! Jack, I will make a perfect beauty of him. I have long been wanting something of the sort to send as a present to my old aunt in Virginia, who was so kind to me when a boy."
"The devil!" cried Lawton; "would you send the old woman a dead man's bones."
"Why not?" said the surgeon; "what nobler object is there in nature than the figure of a man—— and a skeleton may be called his elementary parts. But what has been done with the body?"
"Off!" echoed the panic stricken operator; "and who has dared to take it away without my leave."
"Sure jist the divil," said Betty; "and who'll be after taking yourself away some of these times too, without asking your lave."
"Silence, you witch," said Lawton, with difficultysuppressing a laugh; "is this the manner in which to address an officer."
"Who called me the filthy Elizabeth Flannagan," cried the washerwoman, snapping her fingers contemptuously. "I can remimber a frind for a year, and don't forgit an inimy for a month."
But the friendship or enmity of Mrs. Flannagan were alike indifferent to the surgeon, who could think of nothing but his loss; and Lawton was obliged to explain to his friend the apparent manner in which it happened.
"And a lucky escape it was for you, my jewel of a doctor," cried Betty, as the captain concluded. "Sergeant Hollister, who saw him face to face, as it might be, says it's Beelzeboob, and no pedlar, unless it may be in a small matter of lies and thefts, and sich wickednesses. Now a pretty figure you would have been in cutting up Beelzeboob, if the major had hung him. I don't think it's very asy he would have been under your knife."
Thus doubly disappointed in both his meal and his business, Sitgreaves suddenly declared his intention of visiting the "Locusts," and inquiring into the state of Captain Singleton. Lawton was ready for the excursion, and mounting they were soon on the road, though the surgeon was obliged to submit to a few more jokes from the washerwoman, before he could get out of hearing. For some time the two rode in silence, when Lawton perceiving that his companion's temper was somewhat ruffled by his disappointments and Betty's attack, made an effort to restore the tranquillity of his feelings, by saying——
"That was a charming song, Archibald, that you commenced, last evening, when we were interrupted by the party that brought the pedlar. The allusion to Galen was extremely neat."
"I knew you would like it, Jack, when youreyes were opened to its beauties," returned the operator, suffering his muscles to relax into a smile; "but when the brain has become confused by the fumes of wine ascending from the stomach, intoxication is liable to ensue, and the faculties by no means continue qualified to discriminate, either in matters of taste or of science."
"And yet your ode partook largely of both," observed Lawton, suffering no part of him to smile but his eyes.
"Ode is by no means a proper term for the composition," said Sitgreaves. "I should rather term it a classical ballad."
"Very probably," said the trooper; "hearing only one verse, it was difficult to affix a name to it."
The surgeon involuntarily hem'd, and began to clear his throat, although by no means conscious himself to what the preparation tended. But the captain rolling his dark eye towards his companion, and observing him to be sitting with great uneasiness on his horse, continued——
"The air is still, and the road solitary——why not give me the remainder——it might correct the bad taste you accuse me of possessing, to hear it."
"Oh! my dear John, if I thought it would correct the errors you have imbibed, from habit and indulgence, nothing could give me more pleasure."
"Try; we are fast approaching some rocks on our left——the echo from them, I should think, must be delightful."
Thus encouraged, and somewhat impelled by the opinion that he both sung and wrote with exquisite taste, the surgeon set about complying with the request in sober earnest. After carefully removing his spectacles from his eyes, and wiping the glasses, they were replaced with the utmostaccuracy and precision; his wig was adjusted to his head with mathematical symmetry, and his voice being cleared by various efforts until at length its melody pleased the exquisite sensibility of his own ear——then, to the no small delight of the trooper, he begun anew the ditty of the preceding evening. But whether it was that his steed became enlivened by the notes of his master, or that he caught a disposition to trot from Lawton's charger, the surgeon had not concluded his second verse, before his tones vibrated in regular cadence to the rise and fall of his own body on the saddle. Notwithstanding this somewhat inharmonious interruption, Sitgreaves resolutely persevered, until he had got through with the following words——
"Hast thou ever felt love's dart, dearest,
Or breathed his trembling sigh——
Thought him afar, was ever nearest
Then hast thou known what 'tis to feel
The pain that Galen could not heal.
Hast thou ever known shame's blush, dearest,
Suffuse thy cheek, like marble, clearest,
Then, silly girl, thou'st blush'd to own
A pain that Harvey e'en has known.
But for each pain of thine, dearest,
Or smart of keen love's wound,
For all that, foolish maid, thou fearest,
And mighty Hymen's art can heal
Each wound that youthful lovers feel.
"Hush!" interrupted the trooper; "what rustling noise is that, among the rocks?"
"Listen," said Lawton, stopping his horse. He had not done speaking when a stone fell at his feet, and rolled harmlessly across the path.
"A friendly shot, that," cried the trooper, "neither the weapon, nor its force, implies much ill will towards us."
"Blows from stones seldom produce more than contusions," said the operator, bending his gaze in every direction in vain, in quest of the hand from which the missile had been hurled; "it must be meteoric——there is no living being in sight, except ourselves."
"It would be easy to hide a regiment behind those rocks," returned the trooper, dismounting, and taking the stone in his hand,——"Oh! here is the explanation, along with the mystery." So saying, he tore a piece of paper that had been ingeniously fastened to the small fragment of rock which had thus singularly fallen before him, and opening it, the captain read the following words written in no very legible hand.
"A musket bullet will go farther than a stone, and things more dangerous than yarbs for wounded men, lie hid in the rocks of West-Chester. The steed may be good, but can he mount a precipice?"
"Thou sayest the truth, strange man," said Lawton: "courage and activity would avail but little against assassination, and these rugged passes." Remounting his horse, he cried aloud—— "Thanks, unknown friend——your caution will be remembered, and it shall never be forgotten that all my enemies are not merciless."
A meagre hand was extended for an instant over a rock, waving in the air, and afterwards nothing further was seen or heard by the soldiers.
"Quite an extraordinary interruption," said the astonished operator, "and a letter of a very mysterious meaning."
"Oh! 'tis nothing but the wit of some bumpkin who thinks to frighten two of the Virginians by anartifice of this kind," said the trooper, placing the billet in his pocket; "but let me tell you, Mr. Archibald Sitgreaves, you were wanting to dissect just now, a damn'd honest fellow."
"It was the pedlar——one of the most notorious spies in the enemy's service," returned the other; "and I must say, that I think it an honour to such a man to be devoted to the use of science."
"He may be a spy——he must be one," said Lawton, musing; "but he has a heart above enmity, and a soul that would honour a gallant soldier."
The surgeon turned an inquiring eye on his companion as he uttered this soliloquy, while the penetrating looks of the trooper had already discovered another pile of rocks, which jutting forward, nearly obstructed the highway that wound directly around its base.
"What the steed cannot mount, the foot of man can overcome," exclaimed the wary partisan. Throwing himself again from his saddle, and leaping a wall of stone, he began to ascend the hill at a place which would soon have given him a birds' eye view of the rocks in question, together with all their crevices. This movement was no sooner made than Lawton caught a glimpse of the figure of a man stealing rapidly from his approach, and disappearing on the opposite side of the precipice.
"Spur——Sitgreaves——Spur," shouted the trooper, dashing over every impediment in pursuit, "and murder the villain as he flies."
The request was promptly complied with, and a few moments brought the surgeon in full view of a man armed with a musket, who was crossing the road, and evidently seeking the protection of the thick wood on its opposite side.
"Stop, my friend——stop until Captain Lawtoncomes up, if you please," cried the surgeon, observing him to flee with a rapidity that baffled his horsemanship. But as if the invitation contained new terrors, the footman redoubled his efforts, nor paused even to breathe, until he had reached his goal, when, turning his on heel, he discharged his musket towards the operator, and was out of sight in an instant. To gain the highway and throw himself in his saddle detained Lawton but a moment, and he rode to the side of his comrade just as the figure had disappeared.
"Which way has he fled?" cried the trooper.
"John," said the surgeon, "am I not a noncombatant?"
"Whither has the rascal fled?" cried Lawton again, impatiently.
"Where you cannot follow——into that wood," returned the surgeon. "But I repeat, John, am I not a non-combatant?"
The disappointed trooper perceiving that his enemy had escaped him, now turned his eyes, which were flashing with anger under his dark brows, upon his comrade, and gradually his muscles lost their rigid compression, his brow relaxed and his eyes changed from their fierce expression, to the covert laughter which so often distinguished that organ in the trooper. The surgeon sat in dignified composure on his horse; his thin body erect, and head elevated with all the indignity of conscious injustice towards himself——his spectacles had been shaken down to the extreme end of the ample member on which they rested, and his eyes were glaring above them with the fullness of indignation.
A slight convulsive effort composed the muscles of the trooper's face, however, and he broke the silence again, by saying—— "Why did you suffer the rascal to escape——had you but brought him within the reach of my sabre, I would have given you a substitute for the pedlar."
"'Twas impossible to prevent it," said the surgeon, pointing to the bars, before which he had stopped his horse; "he threw himself on the other side of this fence, and left me where you see——nor would the man in the least attend to my remonstrances, or intimation that you wished to hold discourse with him."
"No!" exclaimed Lawton, in an affected surprise; "he was truly a discourteous rascal; but why did you not leap the fence, and compel him to a halt——you see but three of the bars are up, and Betty Flannagan could clear them, on her cow."
The surgeon, for the first time, withdrew his eyes from the place where the fugitive had disappeared, and turned his countenance towards his comrade. His head, however, was not permitted to lower itself in the least, as he replied——
"I humbly conceive, Captain Lawton, that neither Mrs. Elizabeth Flannagan, nor her cow, are examples to be emulated by Doctor Archibald Sitgreaves——it would be but a sorry compliment to science to say that a Doctor of Medicine had fractured both his legs, by injudiciously striking them against a pair of bar-posts." While speaking, the surgeon raised the limbs in question to a nearly horizontal position, that really appeared to bid defiance to any thing like a passage for himself through the defile; but the trooper, disregarding this ocular proof of the impossibility of the movement, cried hastily——
"Here was nothing to stop you man; I could leap a platoon through, boot and thigh, without pricking with a single spur. Pshaw, I have often charged upon the bayonets of infantry over greater difficulties than this."
"You will please to remember, Captain John Lawton," said the surgeon, with a most imposing air of offended dignity, "that I am not the riding master to the regiment——nor a drill sergeant——nor a crazy cornet——no, sir——and I speak it with a due respect for the commission of the continental Congress——nor an inconsiderate captain who regards his own life as little as that of his enemies. I am only, sir, a poor, humble man of letters, a mere Doctor of Medicine, an unworthy graduate of Edinburgh, and a surgeon of dragoons, nothing more I do assure you, Captain John Lawton." So saying, he turned his horse's head towards the cottage, and re-commenced his ride.
"Ay! you speak the truth," muttered the dragoon; "had I but the meanest rider of my troop with me, I should have taken the scoundrel, and given at least one victim to the offended laws of my country. But, Archibald, no man can ride well who straddles in this manner like the Colossus of Rhodes. You should depend less on your stirrup, and keep your seat by the power of the knee."
"With proper deference to your experience, Captain Lawton," returned the surgeon, "I conceive myself to be no incompetent judge of muscular action, whether in the knee or any other part of the human frame. And although but humbly educated, I am not now to learn, that the wider the base, the more firm is the superstructure."
"Yes, but damn it," cried Lawton, impatiently, "would you fill a highway in this manner with one pair of legs, when half a dozen might pass together in comfort——stretching them abroad like the scythes to the ancient chariot wheels."
The allusion to the practice of the ancientssomewhat softened the indignation of the surgeon, and he replied with rather less hauteur——
"You should speak with reverence of the usages of those who have gone before us, and who, however ignorant they were in matters of science, and particularly that of surgery, yet furnished many brilliant exceptions to the superstitions of the day. Now, sir, I have no doubt that Galen has operated on wounds occasioned by these very scythes that you mention, although we can find no evidence of the fact in cotemporary writers. Ah! they must have given dreadful injuries, and I doubt not, caused great uneasiness to the medical gentlemen of that day."
"There could not have been much science displayed, I think," returned the trooper, collecting himself into his usual manner; "and occasionally a body must have been left in two pieces, to puzzle the ingenuity of those gentry to unite. Yet doubtless they did it."
"What!" cried the operator in amazement, "unite two parts of the human body that have been severed by an edged instrument, to any of the purposes of animal life?"
"That have been rent asunder by a scythe, and united to do military duty," said Lawton.
"'Tis impossible——quite impossible," cried the surgeon; "it is in vain, Captain Lawton, that human ingenuity endeavours to baffle the efforts of nature. Think, my dear sir, in this case you separate all the arteries——injure all of the intestines——sever all of the nerves and sinews, and, what is of more consequence, you"——
"Enough," said Lawton, waving his hand; "you have said enough, Dr. Sitgreaves, and I am convinced. Nothing shall ever tempt me willingly to submit to be divided in this irretrievablemanner——a manner, I say, Dr. Sitgreaves, that puts at defiance all the arts of surgery."
"True——most true, my dear John," cried the surgeon with warmth, and forgetting his displeasure; "it removes all the pleasure of a wound, when you find it beyond the reach of science to heal."
"I should think so," said Lawton, rather drily.
"What do you think is the greatest pleasure in life?" asked the operator suddenly, and with all his confidence in his companion restored.
"That may be difficult to answer."
"Not at all," cried the surgeon; "it is in witnessing, or rather feeling, the ravages of disease repaired by the lights of science co-operating with nature. I once broke my little finger intentionally, in order that I might reduce the fracture and watch the cure; it was only on a small scale, you know, dear John; still I think the thrilling sensation, excited by the knitting of the bone, aided by the contemplation of the art of man thus acting in unison with nature, exceeded any other enjoyment that I have ever experienced. Oh! had it been one of the more important members, such as the leg or arm, how much greater must the pleasure have been."
"Or the neck," said the trooper; but their discourse was interrupted by their arrival at the cottage of Mr. Wharton. No one appearing to usher them into an apartment, the captain proceeded to the door of the parlour, where he knew visitors were commonly shown. On opening it, he paused for a moment, in admiration, at the scene within. The person of Col. Wellmere first met his eye, bending forward towards the figure of the blushing Sarah, with an earnestness of manner, that prevented the noise of Lawton's entrance being heard by either of the parties. Certain significantsigns, which were embraced at a glance by the prying gaze of the trooper, at once made him a master of their secret, and he was about to retire as silently as he had advanced, when his companion, pushing himself through the passage, abruptly entered the apartment. Advancing instantly to the chair of Wellmere, the surgeon instinctively laid hold of his arm and exclaimed——
"Bless me——a quick and irregular pulse—— flushed cheek and fiery eye——strong febrile symptoms, and such as must be attended to." While speaking, the doctor, who was much addicted to practising in a summary way, had already produced his lancet, and made certain other indications of his intentions to proceed at once to business. But Col. Wellmere, recovering from the confusion of the surprise, arose from his seat, rather haughtily, and said——
"Sir, it is the warmth of the room, that lends me the colour, and I am already too much indebted to your skill to give you any farther trouble——Miss Wharton knows that I am quite well, and I do assure you that I never felt better or happier in my life."
There was a peculiar emphasis in the latter part of this speech, that, however it might gratify the feelings of Sarah, brought the colour to her cheeks with a redoubled brilliancy, and Sitgreaves, as his eye followed the direction of those of his patient, did not fail to observe it.
"Your arm, if you please, madam," said the surgeon promptly, advancing with a bow; "anxiety and watching have done their work on your delicate frame, and there are symptoms about you that must not be neglected."
"Excuse me, sir," said Sarah, recovering herself with womanly pride, "the heat is oppressive,and I will retire and acquaint Miss Peyton with your presence."
There was but little difficulty in practising on the abstracted simplicity of the surgeon; but it was necessary for Sarah to raise her eyes to return the salutation of Lawton, as he bowed his head to nearly a level with the hand that held open the door for her passage. One look was sufficient; she was able to control her steps sufficiently to retire with dignity, but no sooner was she relieved from the presence of all observers, than she fell into a chair and abandoned herself to a mingled feeling of shame and pleasure.
A little nettled at the contumacious deportment of the British colonel, Sitgreaves, after once more tendering services that were again rejected, withdrew to the chamber of young Singleton whither Lawton had already preceded him.
