Victor Carrington

“ Of the subsequent events—those which did not come under the head of politics—I learned but little; but, bring a newspaper man, I do not lack a fertile imagination.
Carrington had ridden twelve miles into the country. At eight o'clock the temperature changed and it began to snow. He turned and rode back toward the city, toward victory or defeat. Sometimes he went at a canter, sometimes at a trot. ”

“ The other's eyes widened in astonishment. "Me? Oh, you mean the steak and biscuits!" He laughed genially. "I guess you never were broke before! You pay that back to some other fellow who's in the same fix some day. That 'll be all right."
When they had parted from John King, Carrington asked:
"And now, dear, shall we go up to the theatre and borrow money from Jim Sawyer to get home on?"
"Oh no! I don't want to see people—yet," she said, a little catch in her voice. "Let's—let's go and pawn your watch!" ”

“ And all the time she knew—down in her heart she knew perfectly well that he was right and that her father was—"
"He was more sinned against than sinning," hoarsely interrupted Carrington. "He was old—and not very keen; he was a tool in the hands of a stronger man. I tried to bring that out."
Again she checked him with a gesture, refusing to meet his gaze, and by her own steady regard keeping him reminded of the listener across the table, to whom she apparently spoke. The man was now looking from one to the other, puzzled by evidences of a strong, uncharted undercurrent. ”

“ At this time, Rhode Island called for protection of her threatened ports, and two regiments of her militia were taken into Continental Pay. Washington was also advised that Great Britain had contracted with various European States for military contingents; that the sentiment in Canada had changed to antipathy, and that continual disaster attended all operations in that department. On the twenty-fourth he wrote to Schuyler: “We expect a very bloody summer at Canada and New York; as it is there, I presume, that the great efforts of the enemy will be aimed ”

“ Carrington clung on desperately to the fringe of society and confronted the world with a sweet, enigmatic smile. But there were moments, tense, panicky moments, when to herself she admitted the bitter truth. She had invariably just failed to secure her footing. Unless she could make good by a successful marriage, she was destined to remain always on society's outskirts, a precarious hanger-on, barely able to scrape along. ”

“ To Greene he wrote: “They can have no other capital object, unless it be Philadelphia.” It was then known that General Carleton retired from Crown Point November second, so that there was no danger of a British movement up the Hudson. He again wrote to Greene as to Fort Washington: “If we cannot prevent vessels from passing up, and the enemy are in possession of the surrounding country, what valuable purpose can it answer to hold a post from which the expected benefit cannot be had? I am therefore inclined to think that it will not be prudent to hazard the men and stores at Fort Washington ”

“ No detail under orders, and no call for volunteers, to break up the investment of the city, had been made. No excited commander, as on the seventeenth of June, 1775, tendered his services to lead British regulars against Cambridge, to seize and bring back for trial, as traitor, the arch-rebel of the defiant Colonists. Red uniforms were indeed resplendent in the sunlight; but there was no irrepressible impulse to assail earthworks, which had been the work of months, and not of a single night, and behind which twenty thousand countrymen eagerly awaited battle. ”

“ A more thorough going rascal never disgraced a neighborhood. He will be doing a really sensible thing if he sends that fellow adrift. I am gratified to find Carrington capable of acting with such sound common sense. ”

“ Anstruther growled. "Take all those plants out of your conservatory, and see if the thief hasn't vanished up the water pipe. I am sick of all these nervous fears and hysterical suspicions. It has always been the curse of my existence that I can never lay hands on an accomplice who is anything but a knave or a fool."
Without heeding the savage outburst, Carrington took one of the little silver lamps from the table, and, holding it up by its crystal receiver, advanced cautiously in the direction of the conservatory. Jack held his breath, and prepared for the worst. ”

“ The Honorable Rupert Carrington is no beauty, by all acounts. He’d pretty well run through his own money on the turf, and I should imagine old man Halliday’s dollars came along in the nick of time. I should say that for a good-looking, well-mannered, utterly unscrupulous young scoundrel, it would be hard to find his match! ”

“ Washington began the removal of valuable stores. He acted as quickly as if he were in Howe’s place, seeking the earliest possible possession of New York. On the twelfth, a Council of War decided that a force of eight thousand men should be left for the defence of Fort Washington and its dependencies. Of eight regiments of the very best troops, reporting three thousand three hundred and twenty-two present, the sick-roll reduced the effective strength twelve hundred and nine men. On the fourteenth, additional British vessels passed up East River, landing troops at Kipp’s Bay on the sixteenth. ”

“ But he immediately despatched southward the Maryland and Delaware troops, which had fought in nearly every battle with the skill of veterans, and the First Artillery, all under the command of the Baron De Kalb.
While sparing these well disciplined troops, Washington’s position involved vastly increased responsibility. On the twenty-fifth day of May, two Connecticut regiments mutinied, declaring that they would “march home,” or at least secure subsistence at the point of the bayonet. Handbills were printed in New York and distributed, urging the soldiers to desert. ”

“ It is the Continental Army of America, with Washington in command!
Only short halts at Derby, Chester and Wilmington delayed their march; and after each halt, that single word, “Forward!” as it ran down the lines, brigade after brigade, again brought shouts from spectators and soldiers alike.
General Sullivan, who had been detained in New Jersey to make an attack upon the British posts on Staten Island which failed of its anticipated success joined the command 185just in time for Brandywine. There was no timidity in this advancing army. Every heart beat with steady cadence. ”

“ Lady Rainault stared at her in bewilderment.
“The things you've missed?” she repeated.
“Yes. You've always been cared for,” Mrs. Carrington went on with gathering intensity. “I haven't! I've had to fight for my own hand. Everything that came to you naturally—luxury and position and a good time—I've had to get by angling for it. I'm sick of angling, sick of pretending! I want the real thing. And Billy can give it me. I've never had anything, never! I've always been on the edge. Oh, I know what people say; I'm an outsider. ”

“ The same unpatriotic principle of human nature affected all supplies of food and clothing. It has already been noticed that Washington was profoundly grieved that country people courted the British markets of New York, and that British gold was of such mighty weight in the balance of “stay-at-home comfort,” against personal experience in some distant camp. Starvation and suffering could not fail to arouse resistance to their constraints. The condition of the army was one of protracted agony. Lafayette wrote home to his wife as follows: “Human patience has its limits. ”

“ Upon assuming command of the Virginia militia, Washington decided that a more flexible system than that of the European government of troops, was indispensable to success in fighting the combined French and Indian forces, then assuming the aggressive against the border settlements. Thrown into intimate association with General Braddock and assigned to duty as his aid-de-camp and guide, he endeavored to explain to that officer the unwisdom of his assertion that the very appearance of British regulars in imposing array, would vanquish the wild warriors of thicket and woods, without battle. ”

“ Some leaders in certain Vermont circles corresponded with British officials in Canada; and such was the uneasiness which prevailed along the northern and northwestern frontier, that three regiments 296had to be sent to Albany, to compose the unrest of that single region. On the seventh of November, Washington wrote: “The American army is experiencing almost daily want; while the British army derives ample supplies from a trade with New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, which has by degrees become so common that it is hardly thought a crime.” ”

“ In order to secure ample warning of the arrival of the enemy and delay their approach, Washington established several small posts along the road to Princeton. The first, about a mile advanced, occupied rising ground well flanked by woods and supported by two pieces of artillery. Colonel Hand’s Rifles were pushed forward as far as Five Mile Creek; and even, off the road, a small supporting party held a defensive position at Shebakonk Creek, where heavy timber and broken ground afforded a good position for skirmishers to annoy an advancing force. ”

“ He wanted ten thousand men for the occupation of Newport, R.I., that he might threaten Boston, and make incursions into Connecticut. He demanded for the garrison of New York twenty thousand men; of which number, seventeen thousand should be available for field service. He asked for ten thousand more, for operations into New Jersey, where Washington had established a general Camp of Instruction for all troops arriving from the south; and still another ten thousand for operations in the Southern Colonies. ”

“ On the eighth of May, he wrote to Washington: “There is no fighting here, unless you have naval superiority; or, an army mounted on race-horses. Phillips’ plan against Richmond has been defeated. He was going to Portsmouth. Now, it appears that I have business with two armies, and this is rather too much. Each is more than double, superior to me. We have no boats, few militia, and no arms. I will try and do for the best. Nothing can attract my sight from the supplies and reënforcements destined to General Greene’s army. ”

“ A newcomer always found persons who knew people of consequence in his former city, persons from his college who would easily place him. Yet, for all that, where bluffing was not involved to the point of being obnoxious, Carrington was tolerant and allowed the newcomer every chance to make good; was not too cruel in its comments, too exacting as to previous records. It had the laxities of the great world and many of the fine distinctions of the smaller worlds which revolve around the life of old cities. ”

“ Upon reaching Virginia, he found that State to be thoroughly aroused for her own defence. General Leslie, whose departure from New York has been noticed, had fortified both Norfolk and Portsmouth, and this increase of the British forces had very justly alarmed the people. Washington had already sent Generals Muhlenburg and Weedon to Virginia to organize its militia, and they were endeavoring to confine the forces of Leslie within the range of his fortified positions. These officers had also served under General Greene, making their assignment eminently judicious. ”

“ For Carrington’s vision, though selfish, was broad. A multitude of men of the Carrington type have taken bold positions in the eternal battle for progress, and all have contributed something toward the ultimate ideal. And not all have been scoundrels.
Carrington’s vision, however, was blurred by the mote of greed. Dawes was flourishing; he intended to modernize 53 it, but in the process of modernization he intended to be the chief recipient of the material profits. ”

“ It had been growing slowly, provoked by his knowledge of the man’s evil designs on Marion Harlan. But now there had come into the first antagonism a gripping lust to injure the other, a determination to balk him, to defeat him, to meet him on his own ground and crush him.
For Carrington’s sneer had caused the differences between them to become sharply personal; it would make the fight that was brewing between the two men not a political fight, but a fight of the spirit. ”

“ Now, you couldn't do a thing like that to save your life!"
"No," quickly interpolated Carrington, anticipating confession; "she couldn't."
Jean lifted her glance, which had fallen, and her eyes were very somber. "I did once," she said. "I'm not— You are mistaken about me. I quarreled with him, once—because he was stronger than I—and for months I wouldn't speak to him—nor see him—nor answer his letters—although all the time I knew—" She faltered, her ebbing self-control further drained by the intensity of Carrington's gaze. ”

“ A glance 168at the map—“Operations in New Jersey”—will show that any movement of the American army to the west or south-west would uncover their defences at Middlebrook to any attack by the road running due north from Brunswick. Washington, anticipating the possibility of a general action, and resolved to select a good opportunity to bring it on, ordered all of the Continental troops at Peekskill, except one thousand effective men, to march in three divisions, at one day’s interval, under Generals Parsons, McDougall and Glover, to his support ”

“ Jack enjoyed his dismay with a feeling of grim satisfaction. But Carrington was not quite done with yet; evidently he had not sat at the feet of Anstruther for nothing. He looked up presently, and smiled with the air of a man who is only too willing to do anything for his client.
"Will you take a seat for a moment, Lady Barmouth?" he said politely. "I see that you know Miss Helmsley and Mr. Masefield. I must go and speak to our cashier for a moment."
"You cannot get the jewels yourself?" Lady Barmouth asked.
"No," Carrington explained. "Of course, we are bound to take precautions. ”