John T. McIntyre

“ Ten minutes afterward a fleet of ships, with sails hanging from the rigging in shot-rent rags, and with hulls battered, leaking and [83] torn with canister, ran out of Charleston harbor in disorder.
“They carry your father with them, a prisoner,” said Major Marion, to Tom Deering, as they leaned, watching, upon a hot gun.
“But they shall not keep him,” cried the lad, “to die in their prison hulks! He shall be free! I am only a boy; but the whole British navy shall not keep me from him. ”

“ The Baron De Kalb, with a force of Continentals from Virginia, was marching south, and it was upon falling in with this army that Marion based his hope of safety. For it had not been long before the alarm was out; the swift, merciless dragoons of Tarleton and the skulking loyalists were after them night and day. How they escaped, they themselves could not afterward remember; the bay of dogs, upon their trail at night, would often startle them into renewed flight; the warning of a friend, or perhaps a slave, would cause them frequently to change their course by day. ”

“ The troops of General Gates were a rough, good-humored lot; it required but a moment for them to catch the truth of the boy’s remarks; and with one accord, the sergeant included, they burst into a cheer for the sincerity and heartiness of which there could be no doubt. Tom’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he waved his cap in response, wheeled his horse and dashed after his comrades.
“There is good stuff in them, for all their readiness to jeer,” he muttered to himself. “And they are big, strong, willing looking fellows, too; and should render an excellent account of themselves.” ”

“ Marion lost not a single man, and gained a great store of clothing, arms and ammunition, as Tom had predicted he would.
One after another these victories came; they were small in themselves but they gave the patriots courage; they revived spirits that had drooped since the taking of Charleston and the burnings and hangings by Tarleton and his fierce dragoons. As the leaves yellowed and fell, and long before the Christmas season set in, the cause of liberty once more grew bright in Carolina. ”

“ It was the signal that Cole had arranged with the released prisoners; and like magic it was answered. Through every door and window, it seemed, sprang a resolute man; before the Tories could raise a hand a shattering volley was poured into them. A cloud of smoke, cries and the sound of heavy blows were swept up the staircase; Lucy, her hand pressed to her wildly-beating heart, made as though to look over the rail at the awful [199] scene below. But Tom put her aside, almost roughly. ”

“ Tom turned to Cole. The great negro grinned; anything that his young master thought of doing was always of great interest [206] to Cole, because, as a rule, what his young master thought it worth while to do usually contained some spice of excitement. Tom knew what the slave’s grin expressed as well as though it had been in words.
“Good!” cried he. “We’re all agreed; and we’ll try it alone. It can do no harm, even if we fail.” ”

“ But almost at the first word General de Lafayette came to his feet with a spring, and his clinched fist struck the table a blow that made it dance.
“It was he,” came from his lips in almost a shout. “It was the arch-traitor Benedict Arnold himself! He is here with Phillips, and is leaving a trail of rapine behind him.” The marquis clapped Tom on the back, as he continued, regretfully: “My boy, you have escaped fame by a hair’s breadth; by to-night’s work on the road you came within the wink of an eye of writing your name with your sword-point upon the pages of your country’s history!” ”

“ The man who had lain upon the ground at the cabin door was limping painfully, with the aid of the woman, to a spring near at hand. The trooper whom Cole had unhorsed was attending to the wants of his wounded comrades.
“They must have surprised you,” said Tom. “How comes it that soldiers attack the homes of citizens?”
“British soldiers,” said one of the young men, bitterly, “do anything these times. They kill, burn and destroy; it does not matter much to them who their victims are so long as they refuse to take up arms for King George.” ”

“ It was just the luck of Tom Deering and Cole, after escaping from Charleston, to be pushing through a cane-brake on their way north one afternoon when dusk was about to creep out of the east. The section was well known to the boy and his servant, for they had ridden over it many times in pursuit of Tories during the period after the victory at Sullivan’s Island. Suddenly a series of shots rang out, followed by a woman’s scream; with one accord our friends spurred forward, their powerful animals crashing through the growth in long, swift bounds. ”

“ Captain Marion was pleased to regard Tom’s errand lightly, it seemed; a boy must always prove that his doings are worth the consideration of his elders. In spite of the fact that he recognized in Tom Deering no ordinary lad, Marion could not accept his word that his business with Colonel Moultrie [61] was not some hair brained freak. Tom saw all this in the dark, smiling face of the soldier before him; and he recognized the fact that he must come down to plain dealing and take him into the matter before he could hope to see the colonel. ”

“ The crown of Mark Harwood’s wide wool hat was plainly visible to Tom’s watchful eyes, sticking above a bush behind which he was crouching. Tom was careful not to let the spying Tory know that he was observed; and in a voice that he knew would reach the listener, he said to Cole:
“This will be a good place to bury it. It won’t do to let all this gold lie around now [98] when there is danger of the enemy coming. We’ll bury it here and make a note of the spot; when everything is quiet again, and the Tories gone, we can dig it up once more.” ”

“ Mr. Johnson had issued the same command and the bow of the pinnace was but a few yards from the gig’s stern. Tom’s burning eyes were fixed upon the frigate; somewhere in the dark loom of its hull was his father—the father whom he so longed [302] to see and whom he had vowed to liberate. Each stroke of the oars that carried him from him cut him like a knife.
“One dash,” he implored his uncle. “One swift dash and we can save him.”
“The frigate has lowered her boats,” said the skipper of the Defence. “It would be certain death to attempt it.” ”

“ Deering did, after his four thousand pounds had been recovered from the old well, was to see that the papers declaring Cole a free man were made out.
It was in vain that Cole protested,
“I don’t want to be a free nigger,” signaled he, complainingly, to Tom. “I want to live here on this plantation.”
Tom patted the giant negro’s great shoulder.
“It would be the most unhappy day of my [372] life, Cole, to see you leave the plantation,” said he. “But after what you have done, we can’t hold you in slavery. You must be a free man—as free, as completely at liberty as our country.” ”

“ Despite his rapid marches, Gates had the knack of keeping his men in good condition, and on the evening when Marion, with Tom Deering and Cole riding upon either side of him, and his nondescript band of woodsmen and fugitive militia at his heels, rode into it, the Continental camp was at its neatest and trimmest. The coonskin caps and wretched rags of the newcomers excited the jeers of the [127] smart regular troops as their owners went down the road, between the line of camp-fires, toward the general’s tent. ”

“ But, as fate willed it, the Catawba rose rapidly during the night; and, to Cornwallis’ consternation, was impassable for two days.
Greene now took command of Morgan’s division in person; Tom was sent out with a party to watch the movements of the enemy who, as soon as they could cross the river, were once more in hot pursuit. It was a race for the Yadkin, now; the Americans were weighted down with baggage and their progress was slow; the British carried nothing, practically, but their arms, and their march was made at great speed. ”

“ Galloping through such a swamp as that and along such a narrow, crooked track, in the darkness, was a most dangerous proceeding; but they were all young and danger, to their ardent spirits, meant but little.
The old mill of which Tom had spoken lay upon the west road—that is the road leading to the Congaree;—it was deserted and had fallen into ruins years before. It was seldom that any one troubled it with his presence; so it was an ideal spot for a surprise or ambuscade. [207] A sharp gallop of, perhaps, a quarter of an hour brought our four adventurers to the old mill. ”

“ Cole brought his best horse, a powerful, intelligent looking chestnut with strong lines of speed and bottom, around to the front of the house and Tom vaulted lightly into the saddle. Cole mounted another horse, a great bay, and followed his youthful master, as was his custom. There were not many horses upon the Deering plantation capable of supporting the great weight of the giant slave for any length of time and still make speed. ”

“ Natchez, it was thought, was an Indian of at least quarter blood; he had kept the inn by the roadside for many years, and was a queer, silent sort of an old man and an unquestioned though secret friend of the patriot cause. Marion had, at times, occasion to send a spy into Charleston; and it was always at the Indian’s Head—for so the inn was called—that the venturesome one found shelter.
When our friends drew rein before the inn door, Natchez, who seemed always to be stirring, came out. Tom gave him a quick signal and the old man peered up at him from under his bushy eyebrows, in surprise. ”

“ I had served a gun at Fort Moultrie and been under fire in a score of other places, sergeant, while you were still driving bullocks in the Virginia hay-fields.”
It was a fact well known to his comrades that the sergeant had, up to this time, never smelled gun-powder in actual battle; and when Tom finished speaking a roar of laughter went, directed at the big man; and he reddened angrily, and bit at his huge mustache.
“Never judge a dog by the color of his fur,” said Tom, delighted to have turned the laugh upon the other. “And never judge a man by the coat upon his back. ”

“ There is only one way to deal with rebels, and that is to crush them utterly—to have no mercy.”
“And from what I have just heard, and just seen, too, for that matter, you are acting upon your theory,” said Tom Deering, looking Colonel Tarleton angrily in the eye. [112] “You are a soldier—serving under the flag of what should be an enlightened nation; and do you not know that there is no excuse for such measures—that warfare does not sanction them?” ”

“ I like the practice of sword play.”
“The rapier,” said the Frenchman, “is a grand weapon—a gentleman’s weapon. I have taught many persons, and have studied the use of the cutlass, the broadsword, the pike, bayonet and dagger; but the rapier is the king of them all; with three feet of bright steel in his hand the master of the sword should fear the attack of nothing that breathes.”
He began buckling the long, slender weapons into their leather case, but paused and looked up at Tom, seriously. ”

“ Praise from the French soldier was praise indeed, for he had been a master of the sword in the regiments of King Louis, among which were the greatest swordsmen in the world. He had paused for a time at Charleston on his way from New Orleans to Philadelphia; and during his stay he taught the use of his favorite weapon to the young men of the city. [32] Tom was the youngest and most apt of his pupils; the youth’s strength, length of arm and sureness of eye made him a natural swordsman. ”

“ Some months had passed since the defeat of Gates; Colonel Marion had now begun to [149] make himself felt in the struggle, and his sudden ambuscades and unlooked-for onslaughts had made his name a terror to British soldier and Tory alike. Not a little of the credit of all this was due to the devotion to duty shown by Tom Deering and his faithful slave. The hoof-marks of Sultan and Cole’s bay charger, Dando, were imprinted upon every mile of territory between the North Edisto River and the Little Peedee. ”

“ Tom had been of great service to Major Marion in his expeditions against the Tories after the defeat of Sir Peter Parker’s fleet at Sullivan’s Island; the two had gradually [117] come to admire and trust one another greatly.
“I have my good horse,” answered the boy, “and I have a brace of pistols and a sabre; and, yes, there’s Cole, too; but that’s all; the British have all the rest,” sadly—“house, slaves, plantation and all.”
“So, I have been told, is the case with all the men in Charleston who had the courage to brave the king,” said Marion. ”

“ Tom gasped the words as he sank back upon the stairs, exhausted. “Strike hard; it’s our lives or theirs.”
At that time one of the party discovered Mr. Foster’s arms chest; the Tories threw themselves upon it with shouts of delight and in another moment a blazing volley swept up the staircase, the bullets singing spitefully past Cole’s ears. ”