"Oh! Henry, when thou delgn'st to sue,
When thou, lov'd youth, bast won my heart,
——The graduate of Edinburgh found his patient rapidly improving in health, and entirely free from fever. His sister, with a cheek that was, if possible, paler than on her arrival, watched around his couch with vigilant care, and the ladies of the cottage had not, in the midst of their sorrows and varied emotions, forgotten to discharge the duties of hospitality. Frances felt herself impelled towards their disconsolate guest, with an interest for which she could not account, and with a force that she could not control. The maid had unconsciously connected the fates of Dunwoodie and Isabella in her imagination, and felt, with all the romantic ardour of a generous mind, that she was serving her former lover most, by exhibiting kindness to her he loved best. Isabella received her attentions with a kind of vacant gratitude, but neither of them indulged in any allusion to the latent source of their uneasiness. The observation of Miss Peyton seldom penetrated beyond things that were visible, and to her the situation of Henry Wharton seemed to furnish an awful excuse for the fading cheeks and tearful eyes of her niece. If Sarah manifested less of care than her sister, still the unpractised spinster was not at a loss to comprehend the reason. Love is a species of holy feeling with the virtuous of the female sex,and seems to hallow all that comes within its influence. Although Miss Peyton mourned with sincerity over the danger which threatened her nephew, still she indulged her eldest niece, with motherly kindness, in the enjoyment that chance had given her early attachment. War she well knew was a dreadful enemy to love, and the moments that were thus granted to his votaries were not to be thrown away.
Several days now passed without any interruption to the usual vocations of the inhabitants of the cottage, or the party at the "four corners." The former were supporting their fortitude with the certainty of Henry's innocence, and a strong reliance on Dunwoodie's exertions in his behalf, and the latter waiting with coolness the intelligence that was hourly expected of a conflict, and their orders to depart. Captain Lawton, however, waited for both these events in vain. Letters from his major announced that the enemy, finding the party which was to co-operate with them, had been defeated and was withdrawn, had retired also behind the works of Fort Washington, where they continued inactive, but threatening momentarily to strike a blow in revenge for their disgrace. The trooper was enjoined to vigilance, and the letter concluded with a compliment to his honour, zeal, and undoubted bravery.
"Extremely flattering, Major Dunwoodie," muttered the dragoon as he threw down this epistle, and stalked across the floor of his room to quiet his impatience. "A proper guard have you selected for this service——let me see——I have to watch over the interests of a crazy, irresolute old man, who does not know whether he belongs to us or to the enemy. Four women; three of whom are well enough in themselves, but who are not immensely flattered by my society, and the fourthwho, good as she is, is on the wrong side of forty—— some two or three blacks——a talkative house-keeper that does nothing but chatter about gold and despisables, and signs and omens——and poor George Singleton——Ah! well a comrade in suffering has a claim on a man, next to his honour in the field, and an engagement with his mistress——so I'll make the best of it."
As he concluded this soliloquy, the trooper took a seat and began to whistle to convince himself how little he cared about the matter, when, by throwing his booted leg carelessly round, he upset the canteen that held his present stock of brandy. The accident was soon repaired, but in replacing the wooden vessel, he observed a billet lying on the bench, on which the liquor had been placed. It was soon opened and he read——"the moon will not rise till after midnight——a fit time for deeds of darkness." There was no mistaking the hand; it was clearly the same that had given him the timely warning against assassination, and the trooper continued, for a long time, musing on the nature of these two notices, and the motives that could induce the mysterious pedlar to favour an implacable enemy in the manner that he latterly had done. That he was a spy of the enemy Lawton knew, for the fact of his conveying intelligence to the English commander-in-chief of a party of Americans that were exposed to the enemy, was proved most clearly against him on the trial for his life. The consequences of his treason had been avoided, it is true, by a lucky order from Washington, which withdrew the regiment a short time before the British appeared to cut it off, but still the crime was the same; perhaps, thought the partisan, he wishes to make a friend of me, against the event of another capture; but, at all events, he spared my life on one occasion,and saved it on another. I will endeavour to be as generous as himself, and pray that my duty may never interfere with my feelings. Whether the danger, intimated in the present note, threatened the cottage or his own party, the captain was uncertain, but he inclined to the latter opinion, and determined to beware how he rode abroad in the dark. To a man in a peaceable country, and in times of quiet and order, the indifference with which the partisan regarded the impending danger, would be inconceivable. His contemplations on the subject were more for devising means to entrap his enemies, than to escape their machinations. But the arrival of the surgeon, who had been to pay his daily visit to the Locusts, interrupted his meditations. Sitgreaves brought an invitation from the mistress of the mansion, to Captain Lawton, desiring that the cottage might be honoured with his presence at an early hour on that evening.
"What!" cried the trooper, "then they have received a letter also."
"I think nothing more probable," said the operator; "there is a chaplain here from the Royal Army, who has come out to exchange the British wounded, and who has an order from Col. Singleton for their delivery. But a more mad project than to remove them now was never adopted."
"A priest, say you——is he a hard drinker——a real camp-idler——a fellow to breed a famine in a regiment?——or does he seem a man who is in earnest in his trade?"
"A very respectable and orderly gentleman, not at all given to intemperance, judging from the outward symptoms," returned the surgeon, "and a man who really says grace in a very regular and appropriate manner."
"Certainly, he waits for his cartel; but hasten, John, we have but little time to waste. I will just step up and bleed two or three of the Englishmen who are to move in the morning, in order to prevent inflammation, and be with you immediately."
The gala suit of Captain Lawton was easily adjusted to his huge frame, and his companion being ready, they once more took their route towards the cottage. Roanoke had been as much benefited by a few days rest as his master, and Lawton ardently wished, as he curbed his gallant steed, on passing the well-remembered rocks, that his treacherous enemy stood before him mounted and armed as himself. But no enemy, nor any disturbance whatever interfered with their progress, and they reached the Locusts just as the sun was throwing his setting rays on the valley, and tinging the tops of the leafless trees with the colour of gold. It never required more than a single look, to acquaint the trooper with the particulars of every scene that was not uncommonly veiled, and the first survey that he took on entering the house, told him more than the observations of a day had put into the possession of Dr. Sitgreaves. Miss Peyton accosted him with a smiling welcome that exceeded the bounds of ordinary courtesy, and evidently flowed more from feelings that were connected with the heart than from manner. Frances glided about, tearful, and agitated, while Mr. Wharton stood ready to receive them, decked in a suit of velvet, that would have been conspicuous in the gayest drawing-rooms on the continent. Col. Wellmere was in the uniform of an officer of the household troops of his prince, and Isabella Singleton sat in the parlour, clad in the habiliments of joy, but with a countenance thatbelied her appearance, while her brother by her side, looked with a cheek of flitting colour, and an eye of intense interest, like any thing but an invalid. As it was the third day that he had left his room, Dr. Sitgreaves, who began to stare about him in stupid wonder, forgot to reprove his patient for his imprudence. Into this scene, Captain Lawton moved with all the composure and gravity of a man whose nerves were not easily discomposed by novelties. His compliments were received as graciously as they were offered, and after exchanging a few words with the different individuals in the room, he approached to where the surgeon had withdrawn in a kind of confused astonishment to rally his senses to the occasion.
"John," whispered the surgeon, with awakened curiosity, "what do you think?"
"That your wig and my black head would look the better for a little of Betty Flannagan's best flour; but it is too late now, and we must fight the battle armed as you see——why, Archibald, you and I look like militiamen flanked by those holiday Frenchmen who have come among us."
"Observe," said Sitgreaves, in increasing wonder, "here comes the army chaplain in his full robes as a Doctor Divinitatis——what can it mean?"
"An exchange," said the trooper; "the wounded of Cupid are to meet and settle their accounts with the god, in the way of plighting their faith to suffer from his archery no more."
"Oh!" ejaculated the operator, laying his finger on the side of his nose, and for the first time comprehending the case.
"Yes——oh!" muttered Lawton, in imitation—— when turning suddenly to his comrade, he said fiercely, but in an under tone, "Is it not a crying shame, that a sunshine-hero, and an enemy, should thus be suffered to steal away one of the fairest plants that grows in our soil——a flower fit to be placed in the bosom of any man."
"You speak the truth, John; and if he be not more accomodating as a husband, than as a patient, I fear me that the lady will lead a troubled life."
"Let her," said the trooper indignantly; "she has chosen from her country's enemies, and may she meet with a foreigner's virtues in her choice."
Their further conversation was interrupted by Miss Peyton, who, advancing, acquainted them that they had been invited to grace the nuptials of her eldest niece and Col. Wellmere. The gentlemen bowed in silence at this explanation of what they already understood, and the good spinster, with an inherent love of propriety, went on to add, that the acquaintance was of an old date, and the attachment by no means a sudden thing. To this Lawton merely bowed, but the surgeon, who loved to hold converse with the virgin, replied——
"That the human mind was differently constituted in different individuals. In some, impressions are vivid and transitory; in others, more deep and lasting:——indeed, there are some philosophers who pretend to trace a connexion between the physical and mental powers of the animal; but for my part, madam, I believe that the one is much influenced by habit and association, and the other subject to the laws of science."
Miss Peyton, in her turn, bowed her silent assent to this remark, and retired with dignity, to usher the intended bride into the presence of the company. The hour had arrived when American custom has decreed, that the vows of wedlock must be exchanged; and Sarah, blushing with a variety of emotions, followed her aunt to the withdrawing room. Wellmere sprang to receive the hand that she extended towards him with an avertedface, and, for the first time, the English Colonel appeared conscious of the important part that he was to act in the approaching ceremonies. Hitherto his air had been abstracted, and his manner uneasy; but every thing excepting the certainty of his bliss, seemed to vanish at the blaze of loveliness that burst on his sight with the presence of his mistress. All arose from their seats, and the reverend gentleman had already opened the volume in his hand, when the absence of Frances was noticed: Miss Peyton again withdrew in search of her niece, whom she found in her own apartment, and in tears.
"Come, my love, the ceremony waits but for us," said the aunt, affectionately entwining her arm in that of her niece; "endeavour to compose yourself, that proper honour may be done to the choice of your sister."
"Is he——can he be worthy of her?" cried Frances, in a burst of emotion, and throwing herself into the arms of the spinster.
"Can he be otherwise?" returned Miss Peyton; "is he not a gentleman?——a gallant soldier, though an unfortunate one? and certainly, my love, one who appears every way qualified to make any woman happy."
Frances had given vent to her feelings, and, with an effort, she collected sufficient resolution to venture again to join the expecting party below. But to relieve the embarrassment of this delay, the clergyman had put sundry questions to the bridegroom; one of which was by no means answered to his satisfaction. Wellmere was compelled to acknowledge that he was unprovided with a ring, and to perform the marriage ceremony without one, the divine pronounced to be impossible. His appeal to Mr. Wharton for the propriety of this decision, was answered affirmatively, as it wouldhave been negatively, had the question been put in a manner to lead to such a result. The owner of the Locusts had lost the little energy he possessed, by the blow recently received through his son, and his assent to the objection of the clergyman, was as easily obtained, as his consent to the premature proposals of Wellmere. In this stage of the dilemma, Miss Peyton and Frances appeared. The surgeon of dragoons approached the former, and as he hand ed her to a chair, observed——
"It appears, Madam, that untoward circumstances have prevented Colonel Wellmere from providing all of the decorations that custom, antiquity, and the canons of the church, have prescribed as indispensable to enter into the honourable state of wedlock."
Miss Peyton glanced her quiet eye at the uneasy bridegroom, and perceiving him to be adorned with what she thought sufficient splendour, allowing for the time and the suddenness of the occasion, she turned her look on the speaker with a surprise that demanded an explanation.
The surgeon understood her wishes, and proceeded at once to gratify them.
"There is," he observed, "an opinion prevalent, that the heart lies on the left side of the body, and that the connexion between the members of that side and what may be called the seat of life, is more intimate than that which exists with their opposites. But this is an error that grows out of an ignorance of the scientific arrangement of the human frame. In obedience to this opinion, the fourth finger of the left hand is thought to contain a virtue that belongs to no other of its class, and is encircled, during the solemnization of wedlock, with a cincture or ring, as if to chain that affection to the marriage state,which is best secured by the graces of the female character." While speaking, the operator laid his hand impressively on his heart, and bowed nearly to the floor as be concluded.
"I know not, sir, that I rightly understand your meaning," said Miss Peyton, with dignity, but suffering a slight vermilion to appear on a cheek that had long lost that peculiar charm of youth.
"A ring, Madam——a ring is wanting for the ceremony."
The instant that the surgeon spoke explicitly, the awkwardness of their situation was comprehended. She glanced her eyes at her neices, and in the younger she read a secret exultation that somewhat displeased her; but the countenance of Sarah was suffused with a shame that the considerate aunt well understood. Not for the world would she violate any of the observances of female etiquette. It suggested itself to all the females of the Wharton family, at the same moment, that the wedding ring of their late mother and sister was reposing peacefully amid the rest of her jewellery, in a secret receptacle that had been provided at an early day, to secure the valuables against the predatory inroads of the marauders who roamed through the county. Into this hidden vault, the plate and whatever was most prized made a nightly retreat, and there the ring in question had long lain, forgotten until at this moment. But it was the business of the bridegroom, from time immemorial, to furnish this indispensable to wedlock, and on no account would Miss Peyton do any thing that transcended the usual courtesies of her sex on this solemn occasion; certainly not until sufficient expiation for the offence had been made by a due portion of trouble and disquiet. The spinster, therefore, retained the secret from a regard to decorum, Sarah from feeling, and Frances from both, united to dissatisfaction at the connexion. It was reserved for Dr. Sitgreaves to break the embarrassment of the party by again speaking:
"If, Madam, a plain ring that once belonged to a sister of my own——" The operator paused a moment, and hem'd once or twice; "if, Madam, a ring of that description might be admitted to this honour, I have one that could be easily produced from my quarters at the "corners," and I doubt not it would fit the finger for which it is desired. There is a strong resemblance between——hem—— between my late sister and Miss Wharton in stature and anatomical figure, and the proportions are apt to be observed throughout the whole animal economy."
A glance of Miss Peyton's eye recalled Colonel Wellmere to a sense of his duty, and springing from his chair, he assured the surgeon, that in no way could he impose heavier obligations on him, than by sending for that very ring. The operator bowed a little haughtily, and withdrew to fulfil his promise, by despatching a messenger on the errand. The spinster suffered him to retire; but unwillingness to admit a stranger into the privacy of their domestic arrangements, induced her to follow and tender the services of Cæsar instead of Sitgreaves' man, who had been offered by Isabella for this duty——her brother, probably from bodily weakness, continuing silent throughout the whole evening. Katy Haynes was accordingly directed to summon the black to the vacant parlour, and thither the spinster and surgeon repaired, to give their several instructions.
The consent to this sudden union of Sarah and Wellmere, and especially at a time when the life of a member of the family was in such imminent jeopardy, was given from a conviction, that theunsettled state of the country, would probably prevent another opportunity for the lovers meeting, and a secret dread on the part of Mr. Wharton, that the death of his son, might, by hastening his own, leave his remaining children without a protector. But notwithstanding that Miss Peyton had complied with her brother's wish to profit by the accidental visit of a divine, she had not thought it necessary to blazon the intended nuptials of her niece to the neighbourhood, had even time been allowed: she thought, therefore, that she was now communicating a profound secret to Cæsar and her housekeeper.
"Cæsar," she commenced with a smile, "you are now to learn, that your young mistress, Miss Sarah, is to be united to Colonel Wellmere this evening."
"No, no——I tink I see em afore," said Cæsar, laughing and chuckling with inward delight, as he shook his head with conscious satisfaction at his own prescience; "old black man tell when a young lady talk all alone wid a gem'man in a parlour."
"Really, Cæsar, I find I have never given you credit for half the observation that you deserve," said the spinster gravely; "but as you already know on what emergency your services are required, listen to the directions of this gentleman, and take care to observe them strictly."
The black turned in quiet submission to the surgeon, who commenced as follows:
"Cæsar, your mistress has already acquainted you with the important event about to be solemnized within this habitation; but a ring is wanting, and by riding to the mess-house at the Four Corners, and delivering this billet to either sergeant Hollister or Mrs. Elizabeth Flanagan, it will speedily be placed in your possession. On its receiptreturn hither, and fail not to use diligence in both going and returning, for my patients will shortly require my presence in the hospital, and Captain Singleton already suffers from the want of rest."
By this time the surgeon had forgotten every thing but what appertained to his own duties, and rather unceremoniously left the apartment. Curiosity, or perhaps an opposite feeling, delicacy, induced Miss Peyton to glance her eye on the open billet that Sitgreaves had delivered to the black, where she read as follows:——it was addressed to his assistant.
"If the fever has left Kinder, give him nourishment. Take three ounces more of blood from Watson. Have a search made that the woman Flanagan has left none of her jugs of alcohol in the hospital;——renew the dressings of Johnson, and dismiss Smith to duty. Send the ring, which is pendent from the chain of the watch that I left with you to time the doses, by the bearer.
"Archibald Sitgreaves, M. D. Surgeon of Dragoons.
Miss Peyton yielded this singular epistle to the charge of the black, in silent wonder, and withdrew, leaving Katy and Cæsar to arrange the departure of the latter.
"Cæsar," said Katy, with imposing solemnity, "put the ring when you get it, in your left pocket, that is nearest your heart; and by no means indivour to try it on your finger, for it is unlucky."——
"Try him on a finger?" interrupted the negro, stretching forth his bony knuckles; "tink a Miss Sally's ring go on old Cæsar finger?"
"'Tis not consequential whether it goes on or not," said the housekeeper; "but it is an evil omen to place a marriage ring on the finger of another after wedlock, and of course it may be dangerous before."
"I tell you Katy," cried Cæsar, a little indignantly, "I go fetch a ring, and neber tink to put him on a finger."
"Go——go then, Cæsar," said Katy, suddenly recollecting divers important items in the supper that required her attention; "and hurry back again, and stop not for living soul."
With this injunction Cæsar departed, and was soon firmly fixed in the saddle. From his youth, the black, like all of his race, had been a hard rider; but charged with a message of such importance, he moved at first with becoming dignity, and bending under the weight of sixty winters, his African blood had lost some of its native heat. The night was dark, and the wind whistled through the vale with the chilling dreariness of the blasts of November. By the time Cæsar reached the grave-yard, that had so lately received the body of the elder Birch, all the horrors of his situation began to burst on the mind of the old man, and he threw around him many a fearful glance, in momentary expectation of seeing something superhuman. There was barely light sufficient to discern a being of earthly mould emerging into the highway, and apparently from the graves of the dead. It is in vain that philosophy and reason contend with our fears and early impressions, but Cæsar had neither to offer him their frail support. He was, however, well mounted on a coach-horse of Mr. Wharton's, and clinging to the back of the animal with instinctive skill, he abandoned the rein to the pleasure of the beast. Hillocks, woods, rocks, fences and houses flew byhim with the rapidity of lightning, and the black had just began to think where and on what business it was, that he was riding in this headlong manner, when he reached the place where the two roads met, and the "Hotel Flanagan" stood in all its dilapidated simplicity. The sight of a cheerful fire through its windows, first gave Cæsar a pledge that he had reached the habitation of man, and with it came all his dread of the bloody Virginians;——his duty must, however, be done, and dismounting, he fastened the foaming animal to a fence, and approached the window with cautious steps, to listen and reconnoitre.
Before a blazing fire sat sergeant Hollister and Betty Flanagan, enjoying themselves over a liberal donation from the stores of the washerwoman.
"I tell yee sargeant, dear," said Betty, removing the mug from her mouth, "'tis no reasonable to think it was any thing more than the pidlar himself; sure now, where was the smell of sulphur, and the wings, and the tail, and the cloven foot?——besides sargeant, its no dacent to tell a lone famale that she had Beelzeboob for a bed-fellow."
"It matters but little Mrs. Flanagan, provided you escape his talons and fangs hereafter," returned the veteran, following his remark by a heavy potation.
Cæsar heard enough to convince him, that danger to himself from this pair was but little to be apprehended. His teeth already began to chatter from cold and terror, and the sight of the comfort within, stimulated him greatly to adventure to enter. He made his approaches with proper caution, and knocked with extreme humility at the door. The appearance of Hollister with a drawn sword, roughly demanding who was without, contributed in no degree to the restoration ofhis faculties; but fear itself lent him power to explain his errand.
"Advance," said the sergeant with military promptness, and throwing a look of close scrutiny on the black, as he brought him to the light; "advance, and deliver your despatches:——but stop, have you the countersign?"
"I don't tink a know what he be," said the black, shaking in his shoes.
"Who ordered you on this duty did you say?"
"A tall massa, with a spectacle," returned Cæsar; "he came a doctering a Capt. Singleton."
"'Twas Doctor Sitgreaves; he never knows the countersign himself——now, blackey, had it been Captain Lawton, he would not have sent you here close to a sentinel without the countersign; for you might get a pistol bullet through your head, and that would be cruel to you, for although you be black, I am none of them who thinks niggurs haven't no souls."
"Sure a nagur has as much sowl as a white," said Betty; "come hither, ould man, and warm that shivering carcass of yeers by the blaze of this fire. I'm sure a Guinea nagur loves heat as much as a souldier loves his drop."
Cæsar obeyed in silence, and a mulatto boy, who was sleeping on a bench in the room, was bidden to convey the note of the surgeon to the building where the wounded were quartered.
"Here," said the washerwoman, tendering to Cæsar a taste of the article that most delighted herself, "try a drop, smooty, 'twill warm the black sowl within your body, and be giving you spirits as you are going homeward."
"I tell you, Elizabeth," said the sergeant, "that the souls of niggurs are the same as our own, and how often have I heard the good Mr. Whitfield say, that there was no distinction of colour in heaven. Therefore it is reasonable to believe, that the soul of this here black, is as white as my own, or even Major Dunwoodie's."
"Be sure he be," cried Cæsar, a little tartly, who had received a wonderful stimulus by tasting the drop of Mrs. Flanagan.
"Its a good sowl that the major is, any way," returned the washerwoman, "and a kind sowl—— aye, and a brave sowl too; and you'll say all that yeerself, sargeant, I'm thinking."
"For the matter of that," returned the veteran, "there is one above even Washington, to judge of souls; but this I will say, that Major Dunwoodie is a gentleman who never says, go, boys——but always says, come, boys; and if a poor fellow is in want of a spur or a martingale, and the leather-wack is gone, there is never wanting the real silver to make up the loss, and that from his own pocket too."
"Why, then, are you here idle, when all that he holds most dear are in danger," cried a voice with startling abruptness; "mount, mount, and follow your captain——arm and mount, and that instantly, or you will be too late."
This unexpected interruption, produced an instantaneous confusion amongst the tiplers. Cæsar fled instinctively into the fire-place, where he maintained his position in defiance of a heat that would have roasted a white man. Sergeant Hollister turned promptly on his heel, and seizing his sabre, the steel was glittering in the fire-light, in the twinkling of an eye; but perceiving the intruder to be the pedlar, who stood near the open door that led to the stoop in the rear, he began to fall back towards the position of the black, with a kind of military intuition which taught him to concentrate his forces. Betty alone stood her ground by the side of the temporary table. Replenishing the mug with a large addition of the article known to the soldiery by the name of "choke dog," she held it towards the pedlar. The eyes of the washerwoman had for some time been swimming with love and liquor, and turning them good naturedly on Birch, she cried——
"Faith, but yee'r welcome, Mister Pidlar, or Mister Birch, or Mister Beelzeboob, or what's yee'r name. Yee'r an honest divil, any way, and I'm hoping that you found the pittlicoats convanient——come forward, dear, and fale the fire; Sergeant Hollister won't be hurting you for the fear of an ill turn you may be doing him hereafter—— will yee, Sargeant, dear."
"Depart, ungodly man," cried the veteran, edging still nearer to Cæsar, but lifting his legs alternately as they scorched with the heat, "depart in peace. There is none here for thy service, and you seek the woman in vain. There is a tender mercy that will save her from thy talons." The sergeant ceased to utter aloud, but the motion of his lips continued, and a few scattering words of prayer were alone to be heard.
The brain of the washerwoman was in such a state of confusion, that she did not clearly comprehend the meaning of her lover, but a new idea struck her imagination, and she broke forth——
"If it's me the man seeks, where's the matter, pray——am I not a widow'd body and my own property? And you talk of tinderness, Sargeant, but it's little I see of it, any way——who knows but Mr. Beelzeboob here is free to spake his mind—— I'm sure it is willing to hear that I am."
"Woman," said the pedlar, "be silent; and you, foolish man, mount——arm and mount, and flee to the rescue of your officer, if you are worthy of the cause in which you serve, and would not disgrace the coat that you wear." The feelings of the pedlar communicated to his manner the power of eloquence, and he vanished from the sight of the bewildered trio, with a rapidity that left them uncertain whither he had fled.
Oh hearing the voice of an old friend, Cæsar emerged from his quarters, with a skin that was glistening with moisture, and fearlessly advanced to where Betty stood in a maze of intellectual confusion.
"I wish a Harvey stop," said the black; "if he ride down a road, I should like to go along;——I don't tink Johnny Birch hurt his own son."
"Poor ignorant wretch!" exclaimed the veteran, recovering his voice with a long drawn breath; "think you that figure was of flesh and blood?"
"Harvey an't a berry fleshy," replied the black, "but he berry clebber man."
"Pooh! sargeant dear," exclaimed the washerwoman, "talk rason for once, and mind what the knowing one tells yee; call out the boys, and ride a bit after Captain Jack,——rimimber darling, that he told you the day, to be in readiness to mount at a moment's warning."
"Ay, but not at a summons from the foul fiend. Let but Captain Lawton, or Lieutenant Mason, or Cornet Skipwith say the word," cried the veteran, "and who is quicker in the saddle than I am?"
"Well sargeant, how often is it that yee've boasted to myself, that the corps was'nt a bit afeard to face the divil."
"No more be we, in battle array, and by day-light; but it's fool hardy and irreverent to tempt Satan, and on such a night as this; listen how the wind whistles through the trees, and hark! there is the howlings of evil spirits abroad."
"I see him," said Cæsar, opening his eyes to awidth that might have embraced more than an ideal form.
"Where?" interrupted the sergeant, again instinctively laying his hand on the hilt of his sabre.
"No——no," said the black, "I see a Johnny Birch come out of he grave——Johnny walk afore he bury'd."
"Ah! then he must have led an evil life indeed," said Hollister; "the blessed in spirit lie quiet until the general muster at the last day, but wickedness disturbs the soul in this life as well as in that which is to come."
"And what is to come of Captain Jack?" cried Betty angrily; "is it yee'r orders that yee won't mind, nor a warning given? I'll jist git my cart and ride down and tell him that you are afeard of a dead man and Beelzeboob; and it is'nt succour he may be expicting from you?——I wonder who'll be the orderly of the troop the morrow then?——his name won't be Hollister, any way."
"Nay, Betty, nay," said the sergeant, laying his hand on her shoulder, "if there must be riding to-night, let it be by him whose duty it is to call out the men and set an example.——The Lord have mercy, and send us enemies of flesh and blood."
Another glass confirmed the veteran in a resolution that was only excited by a dread of his Captain's displeasure, and he proceeded to summon the dozen men who had been left under his command. The boy arriving with the ring, Cæsar placed it carefully in the pocket of his waistcoat next his heart, and mounting, shut his eyes, seized his charger by the mane, and continued in a state of comparative insensibility, until the animal stopped at the door of the warm stable, whence he had started.
The movements of the dragoons being timed to the order of a march, were much slower, and were made with a watchfulness that was intended to guard against surprise from the evil one himself.
