Lucy Foster Madison

“ Nurse Johnson shivered as the sounds of the hunt came to them.
“A man hunt is always such a dreadful thing,” she remarked. “And whether it be for a slave or an enemy, I find my sympathy going with the hunted. I hope they won’t find this poor fellow. Yet I have no love for the English.”
“Thee is like the rest of us,” replied Mistress Owen. “A good hater of the enemy in the aggregate, but a commiserator of one who happens to be in a plight. Peggy, how restless thee is!”
“I am, mother,” answered Peggy rising, and going to the window. “This hath upset me.” ”

“ It seemed to Peggy and Sally that the highway lay over vast snow fields, and the glare of the sunlight on the snow began to blur and blind them.
“I should welcome the sight of bird or beast,” observed Nurse Johnson. “The stillness hath been oppressive to-day. ’Tis the hard part of winter travel. In summer there [Pg 131] is always the hum of insect, or the song of bird to while away the monotony of a journey, but in the winter there is naught to break the quiet. ’Tis as though all Nature slept under the blanket of snow. ”

“ Some hours later, having slept off fatigue, washed, and freshened himself from top to toe, Drayton approached the colonel’s quarters. On the piazza sat David Owen, with Peggy on one side of him, and Clifford on the other. His arm was about his daughter; his other hand rested on the younger man’s knee. It was a pretty picture; full of affection and quiet happiness. John Drayton stopped short at sight of it. His face whitened, and a look of consternation flashed into his eyes. Crushing his beaver over his eyes he wheeled, then strode away. ”

“ Why doesn’t thee mention Peggy’s services? Didn’t she ride in the cold and the storm to inform General Putnam of the spy, Molesworth’s plot? Hasn’t she worked to keep the hands, and the feet, and the backs of the army warm? I don’t believe that another girl in the Union hath knit so many mittens and socks, or made so many shirts as Peggy Owen hath. I can’t begin to tell all she hath done for the Cause; and yet just because she hath regard for her kin, which being a woman she cannot help, ye want to convict her of a misdemeanor. ’Tis monstrous! How can she help softness of heart? ”

“ What is pride of race when you are to die? And father? What will father say?”
“He is a soldier, Harriet. He knows that war hath its vicissitudes which to-day may bring victory; to-morrow, death. He knows this, and we, his children, should know it also. He would like us to meet this with courage and calmness.”
“I cannot,” she cried sobbing convulsively. “I cannot, Clifford. They mean to hang you, my brother; just as Fairfax Johnson was hanged. I cannot bear it.”
“Cousin David!” The boy turned appealingly toward Mr. Owen. His lips were white. ”

“ Once for the stranger whom we thought thee, and again for thyself. Get right in with me, child, and tell me all that hath befallen thee. Why, ’tis long since I have seen thee.”
“How beautiful she is,” spoke Robert Dale as he and Peggy rode on after Harriet had climbed into the coach beside Mrs. Owen. “How beautiful she is!”
“Is she not?” asked Peggy eagerly. “Methinks she grows more so every time I see her. Does thee not think so too, Robert?”
“I do not know, Peggy. This is the first time I have ever seen her. When you were at Middlebrook I was with General Arnold in Philadelphia. ”

“ The cry echoed and reëchoed through the streets of Tom’s River:
“Every man to the blockhouse! The British and refugees are approaching!”
It seemed but an instant until the village was aroused. Candles flashed in the windows, and lanthorns gleamed in the streets as the people prepared for the foe. Every man and boy capable of bearing a musket hurried to the fort, while white-faced women snatched their little ones from their cots, and huddled together for mutual comfort and consolation.
Peggy and Sally had awakened at the first alarm. ”

“ To the inmates of the farmhouse instead of melody the pines whispered a message of menace and despair.
“And now,” spoke Fairfax Johnson, as Thomas Ashley declared that there was no further danger of fire, “now I am going to see what hath become of my mother.”
“And I’ll go with you, nevvy. You must not think me hard and unfeeling, boy, but just now, when men are so scarce, we cannot afford to lose one unnecessarily. To have gone out to those men would have been certain death for you, and your mother did the best thing that could have been done. To be a patriot demands a great deal of us. ”

“ But he is not a spy, not an informer, not a deserter——”
“I KNEEL TO YOU, SIR.”
“Nor was Captain Johnson,” he reminded her. “Yet he was hanged most treacherously.”
“But not by Clifford, sir! Not by Clifford! He would scorn to do such a deed.” She stood for a moment, regarding him with such pleading that Peggy choked. Suddenly Harriet crossed the room and flung herself before him.
“Sir,” she cried seizing his hand, “Harriet Owen hath never knelt to mortal man before save her king. I kneel to you, sir, and I beg, I implore you to exercise clemency toward my brother. ”

“ I would not for the world offend her, Peggy. Will you try to make peace for me? Tell her,” he smiled involuntarily, “that she is the unreasonable one now; that if she will not listen she lays herself open to the charge of being English which would be a most dreadful downfall from the high estate of being an American.”
“I’ll tell her everything, my cousin. I am sure that all will be well as soon as she understands. And Harriet will come to thee this afternoon. Thee must not let this, or aught else make thee down-hearted, Clifford. ”

“ It was the first of March, 1782, and over the city of Philadelphia a severe storm was raging. A stiff wind, that lashed the black waters of the Delaware into sullen fury and sent the snow whirling and eddying before it, blew savagely from the northeast. The snow, which had begun falling the day before, had continued all night with such rigorous, relentless persistence that by the noon hour the whole city was sheeted with a soft white blanket that spread abroad a solemn stillness. ”

“ Peggy and Sally were Quaker maidens, well drilled in art of self-repression, so they made no scene as they bade their mothers farewell, and took leave of Nurse Johnson, her son and Robert Dale. In spite of their training, however, their eyes were wet, and neither was able to speak for a few moments after they left the house. Then Sally broke the silence.
“Peggy,” she said, “after this I shall always have the greatest sympathy for the poor wretches who are executed. I feel just as though I was about to be hanged.”
“So do I, Sally. How great a change is wrought by war! ”

“ So it came about that the next morning, so well wrapped up that they declared themselves unable to breathe, Peggy and Sally were helped into the big double sleigh that Fairfax had secured, and the journey toward New Jersey was begun.
There is something exhilarating about the beginning of any journey. Add to it youth, brilliant sunshine, the keen air of a frosty morning, and the high spirits of the maidens will be understood. ”

“ CHAPTER III ON THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA
“Nature imprints upon whate’er we see,
That has a heart and life in it, ‘Be free.’”
—Cowper.
“Yes, ’tis Clifford,” he said in a low tone. “I have escaped from Lancaster, where I was a prisoner, and am trying to reach New York. I should not have troubled you, Peggy, but the storm is so severe that I can go no further. But, my cousin, it may be of risk to shelter me.”
“Oh,” she cried clasping her hands in dismay. “What shall I do? What shall I do? Why, Clifford, both father and Robert Dale are here. ”

“ For answer Peggy slipped her arm about Sally’s waist, and the two sat down on the steps of the porch. The house was near the bay, and the restless lapping of the waves smote their ears with rhythmic dismalness. [Pg 218] A brisk southwest wind was singing through the pines, but after the tumult engendered by the alarm, the stillness seemed abnormal. The streets were deserted now, and the only sign of life came from the dim lanthorns of the blockhouse. Nothing was stirring save the waves, the wind, and the leaves of the forest. ”

“ Here Betty hath married her Frenchman and gone to France; Clifford is to come for Sally before he sails for England; and now there is Robert and Harriet. What does thee think of them?”
“I am much pleased,” answered the lady. “It will be the making of Harriet. Robert is of a strong, true nature which will command her respect. He hath invested her with every noble quality, believing her to be as lovely in character as she is beautiful in person. Harriet likes to be so considered. Peggy, rather than fall below his ideal she will become all that his fancy paints her.” ”

“ That Freedom might live they had been bereft of all, but life with its responsibilities still remained, so resolutely they put aside their woe to take up again the burden of living. Though loth to leave the bodies of the brave dead there was no alternative, so presently a sad procession wended its way into the Court House Road. As the forest was neared there issued from its confines a small body of armed men followed by several wagons. A cry of gladness burst from Sally at sight of the leader.
“’Tis Friend Ashley,” she cried. “Does thee not see, Peggy? ’Tis Friend Ashley!” ”

“ Were it not that the highway from Freehold to Trenton is infested by those miscreants of the pines, I should say go with one of the shore wagons to Trenton. As it is there is naught for you to do but to stay here.”
“Where there is a garrison for protection,” spoke Peggy with more lightness than she felt.
“It is small,” he said with hesitation. “Small, and the fort unfinished. I fear me that ’twill not withstand attack, even though it should be defended with stubbornness. But I must not make you uneasy. There may be no ground for apprehension after all.” ”

“ Now confess,” pinching Peggy’s cheek playfully, “you did not dream that I was aught other than Truelove Davis; did you?”
“N-no; and yet thee puzzled me,” said Peggy. “Oh, Harriet, thee should turn play actress.”
“Well, there are times when I think of it, cousin mine. ’Tis rare sport to make others believe that I am that which I am not.”
“But why did thee do it, Harriet? And to be here alone on the highway!”
“I wanted to see Clifford, Peggy. Neither father nor I had heard aught from him since the misfortune at Yorktown, save that he was at Lancaster. ”

“ So suddenly did she appear that both Robert and Peggy were guilty of staring. The youth was the first to recover himself.
“I cry you pardon, mistress,” he said springing from the saddle, and approaching the newcomer. “If this be your wagon, you are in trouble. Are you all alone?”
“And if I am, friend, what is it to thee?” The words as well as the manner of the questioner caused the young man to flush, but he answered promptly:
“A great deal. You are in trouble, and alone upon the highway. I repeat, ’tis a great deal to me, as it would be to any man to find a woman so situated.” ”

“ He might not do it. Thee knows how he feels about such things. He might deem it right to give Clifford up even though he be our cousin. I want father to do right, Sally, but I don’t want Clifford given up, either.”
“Why, of course thee doesn’t,” answered Sally briskly. “And of course, Peggy, ’tis quite right for thy father to feel as he does. I dare say Robert and Fairfax feel the same toward any who is an enemy to the country. ’Tis right for them, but we females are made of softer stuff. Don’t worry, but let thy cousin go home with me. ”