Books: Janice Meredith

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"Art struck of a heap by the resemblance?" demanded the
noisy officer.

"Go in, gentlemen," replied the tall one. "Well, my
man," he continued to Charles, "ye change figureheads
easily."

"Ay, 't is easier to get new figureheads than 't is to be true
to old ones."

A grave, almost stern look came into the officer's face,
making it at once that of an older man. "Then ye think
the old order best?" he asked, scanning the man with his
steady blue eyes.

The bondsman put his hand on the signboard. "'T is
safest to stick to an old figurehead until one can find a true
leader," he answered.

"And think you he is one?" demanded the officer, pointing
at the signboard.

Charles laughed and laid a finger on the chin of royalty.
"No man with so little of that was ever a leader," he asserted.
He reached down and picked up a different pot of paint from
the one he had been using, dipped his brush in it, and with
one sweep over the lower part of the face cleverly produced
a chin of character. Then he took another colour and gave
three or four deft touches to the lips, transforming the expressionless
mouth into a larger one, but giving to it both strength
and expression. "There is a beginning of a leader, I think,"
he said.

"Thou art quick with thy brush and quick with thy eyes,"
replied the man, smiling slightly and starting to go. In the
doorway he turned and said with a sudden gravity, quite as
much to himself as to the bondsman: "Please God that thou
be as true in opinion."

Left alone, the bondsman once more took his brush and
broadened and strengthened the nose and forehead. Just as
he had completed these, the tavern-keeper came bustling out
of the door. "Wilt seek Joe Bagby an' tell him tew git the
Invincibles tewgether?" he cried. "He intended tew review
'em tew-morrer fer the ginral, an' their Lordships says they'll
see 'em go through--Why, strap me, man, what hast thou
been at?"

"I've been making it a better portrait of the general than
it ever was of the king."

"But yer've drawn the wrong man!" exclaimed the publican.
"That quiet young man is not him. 'T is the heavy-nosed
man is his Excellency."

"Nonsense!" retorted the bondsman. "That loud-voiced
fellow is Leftenant-Colonel Lee, a half-pay officer. Many and
many 's the time I've seen him--and if I had n't, I'd have
known the other for the general in a hundred."

"I tell yer yer're wrong," moaned the hotel-keeper. "Any
one can see he's a ginral, an' 't is he gives all the orders fer
victuals an' grog."

Charles laughed as he descended from the barrel and the
cart. "'T is ever the worst wheel in the cart which makes the
most noise," he said, and walked away.

Two hours later the Invincibles were bunched upon the
green. As the diners issued from the inn, Bagby gave an
order. With some slight confusion the company fell in, and
two more orders brought their guns to "present arms."

"Bravo!" exclaimed Lee. "Here are some yokels who
for once don't hold their guns as if they were hoes."

Joe, fairly swelling with the pride of the moment, came
strutting forward. When he was within ten feet of the officers
he took off his hat and bowed very low. "The Invincibles is
ready to be put through their paces, your honour," he
announced.

"Damme!" sneered Lee, below his breath. "Here 's a
mohair in command who does n't so much as know the salute."

The tall officer, despite his six feet and three inches of
height, swung himself lightly into the saddle without using a
stirrup, and rode forward.

"Proceed with the review, sir," he said to Joe.

"Yes, sir--that is, I mean--your honour," replied Joe;
and, turning, he roared out, "Get ready to go on, fellows.
Attention! Dress

Instant disorder was visible in the ranks, some doing one
thing, and some another, while a man stepped forward three
or four steps and shouted: "Yer fergot ter git the muskets
back ter the first persition, Joe."

"Get into line, durn you!" shouted Joe; "an' I'll have
something to say to you later, Zerubbabel Buntling."

"O Lord!" muttered Lee to the other officers, most of
whom were laughing. "And they expect us to beat regulars
with such!"

"Attention!" once more called Joe. "To the right face--
no--I mean, shoulder firelocks first off. Now to the left
face." But by this time he was so confused that his voice sank
as he spoke the last words, and so some faced right and some
left; while altercations at once arose in the ranks that broke
the alignment into a number of disputing groups and set the
captain to swearing.

"Come," shouted one soldier, "cut it, Joe, an' let Charles
take yer place. Yer only mixes us up."

The suggestion was greeted by numerous, if various, assenting
opinions from the ranks, and without so much as waiting
to hear Bagby's reply, Charles sprang forward. Giving the
salute to the mounted officers, he wheeled about, and, with two
orders, had the lines in formation, after which the manoeuvres
were gone through quickly and comparatively smoothly.

The reviewing officer had not laughed during the confusion,
watching it with a sternly anxious face, but as the drill proceeded
this look changed, and when the parade was finished,
he rode forward and saluted the Invincibles. "Gentlemen,"
he said, "if you but conduct yourselves with the same steadiness
in the face of the enemy as you have this afternoon, your
country will have little to ask of you and much to owe." He
turned to Joe, standing shamefaced at one side, and continued:
"You are to be complimented on your company,
sir. 'T is far and away the best I have seen since I left
Virginia."

"And that is n't all, your honour," replied Joe, his face
brightening and his self-importance evidently restored. "We
are a forehanded lot, and we've got twenty half-barrels of
powder laid in against trouble."

After a few more words with Bagby, which put a pleased
smile on his face, the officer wheeled his horse. "Well, gentlemen,
we'll proceed," he called to the group; and, as they
were mounting, he rode to where Charles stood. "You have
served?" he said.

Charles, with the old sullen look upon his face, saluted, and
replied bitterly: "Yes, general, and would give an eye to be
in the ranks again."

The general looked at him steadily. "If ye served in the
ranks, how comes it that ye give the officer's salute?" he
asked.

Charles flushed, but met the scrutinising eye to eye, as he
answered: "None know it here, but I held his Majesty's
commission for seven years."

"You look o'er young to have done that," said the
general.

"I was made a cornet at twelve."

"How comes it that you are here?"

"My own folly," muttered the man.

"'T is a pity thou 'rt indentured, for we have crying need
of trained men. But do what you can hereabouts, since you
are not free to join us."

"I will, general," said Charles, eagerly, and, as the officer
wheeled his horse, he once more saluted. Then as the travellers
rode toward the bridge, the bondsman walked over and
looked up at his crude likeness of the general.

"Yer wuz right," remarked the innkeeper. "The young-lookin'
feller wuz Ginral Washington."

"Ay," exclaimed the man; "and, mark me, if a face goes
for aught, he's general enough to beat Gage--and that
the man paused, and then added: "that sluggard Howe.
And would to God I could help in it!"

XIX
SPIES AND COUNTER-SPIES

It was the middle of July when the squire and Phil returned
from New York, bringing with them much news
of the war preparations, of Washington's passing through
the city, and of the bloody battle of Bunker Hill. Of
far more importance, however, to the ladies of Greenwood,
were two pieces of information which their lord and master
promptly announced. First, that he wished the marriage to
take place speedily, and second, that at New York he had met
Mr. Evatt, just landed from a South Carolina ship, and intending,
as soon as some matter of business was completed, to
repeat his former visit to Greenwood,--an intention that the
squire had heartily indorsed by the warmest of invitations.
Both brought the colour to the cheeks of Janice, but had the
parents been watchful, they would have noted that the second
bit of news produced the higher tint.

Although Phil was still on apparently good terms with his
father, he was, from the time of his return, much at Greenwood;
and, his simple nature being quite incapable of deceit,
Janice very quickly perceived that his chief motive was not so
much the lover's desire to be near, as it was to keep watch of
her. Had the fellow deliberately planned to irritate the girl,
he could have hit upon nothing more certain to enrage her,
and a week had barely elapsed when matters reached a
crisis.

Janice, who, it must be confessed, took pleasure in deliberately
arousing the suspicion of Philemon, and thus forcing him
to reveal how closely he spied upon her, one evening, as they
rose from the supper-table, slipped out of the window and
walked toward the stable. Her swain was prompt in pursuit;
and she, quite conscious of this, stepped quickly to one side
as she passed through the last opening in the box, and stood
half-buried in the hedge. Ignorant of her proximity, Philemon
came quickly through the hedge, and was promptly made
aware of it by her hot words.

"'T is past endurance. I'll not be spied on so."

"I--I--Why, Janice, you know how I likes ter be with
you," falteringly explained Hennion.

"Spy, spy, spy--nothing but spy!" rebuked Janice; "I
can't so much as--as go to pick a flower but you are hiding
behind a bush."

"'Deed, Janice, you 're not fairsome ter me. After you
sayin' what you did about that rake-helly bondsman, 't is only
human ter--"

"To treat me as if I was a slave. Why, Peg has more
freedom than I have. If you--I'm going to the stable--to
see Charles--and if you dare to follow me, I'll--" The
girl walked away and disappeared through the doorway, leaving
Philemon standing by the box, the picture of indecision and
anxiety. "He does n't know that Charles was sent to the
village," thought Janice, laughing merrily to herself as she went
to a stall, and pulling the horse's head down put her cheek
against it. "Oh, Joggles dear," she sighed, "they are all
against me but you." She went from one horse to another,
giving each a word and a caress. Then she stole back to the
door and peeked through the crack, to find that her shadow
had disappeared; this ascertained, she went and sat down on
the hay. "If he tortures me, I'll torture him," was her
thought.

Janice waited thus for but a few minutes, when she heard
the rapid trot of a horse, which came to a halt at the stable
door. As that sound ceased, the voice of Charles broke the
silence, saying, "You stall the horse, while I see the
squire;" and, in obedience to this direction, some one led
Daisy into the stable. The gloom of nightfall made the
interior too dark for the girl to recognise the man, and,
not wishing it to be known that she was there, she sat
quiet.

For a good ten minutes the man waited, whistling softly the
while, before Charles returned.

"Waal, what luck?" asked the stranger ere Charles had
come through the doorway.

"Luck!" growled the bondsman. "The devil's own, as
mine always is, curse it!"

"From which I calkerlate that old Meredith wuz obstinate
and wud n't set yer free."

"Not he, plead my best. But that 's the last I ask of him;
and 't would have served him as well to let me go, for go I will."

"You'll go off without--"

"I will."

"Yer know what it means if brought back?"

"Double the time. Well, treble it, and still I'll do it. I
gave my word I'd help, and the general shall have the powder,
if for nothing else than to spite that dirty coward Bagby
though I serve thrice five years for' t. Tell the lads I'll lead
them, and if they'll meet me at Drigg's barn to-morrow evening
at ten we'll scheme out how to do it."

Without further parley the stranger walked away, and no
sooner had the crunch of his boots ceased than Janice came
forward.

Charles gave a startled exclamation as she appeared, and
caught the girl roughly by the wrist. "Who's this?" he
exclaimed.

"You hurt," complained Janice.

The bondsman relaxed but not released his hold at the
sound of her voice. "You've heard all I said?" he demanded.

"Yes. I--I did n't like to come out while the man was here."

"And you'll tell your father?"

"No," denied the girl. "I did n't want to listen by stealth,
but since I did, I'm no tale-bearer."

Raising the hand he held by the wrist, Charles kissed it.
"I should have known you were no eavesdropper, Miss
Janice," he said, releasing his hold.

"But--Oh, what is it you are going to do?" asked Janice.

"I have your word that it goes no further?"

"Yes."

"A secret letter came to the Brunswick Committee yester-morn
from General Washington, saying that it had just been
discovered that their powder account was a lie, and that there
were less than ten rounds to each man in stock. He knew by
some means of what is here, and he begged the committee to
send it to him; for if the British attacked him in his present
plight, 't would be fatal. And yet what think you the committee
did?"

"They asked you to take it to him?"

"Not they, the--Ah! there 's no words to fit them. Old
Hennion, mean hunks that he is, wanted them to write and
offer to sell it at double what had been paid for 't, while
Bagby would n't part with it on any terms, because he said
't was needed by the 'Invincibles' to defend the town. The
two voted down Parson McClave, who declared that Brunswick
should be laid in ashes rather than that Washington should
not be helped. Ah, Miss Janice, that 's a man for these
times."

"Then what dost intend?"

"The parson came to me to counsel what was best, and
'tween us we concocted a plan to outwit the time-servers.
There are plenty of fellows of spirit in the 'Invincibles,' and
't is our scheme to steal the powder some night, put it on a
sloop, and be to sea before daylight."

"How monstrous exciting!" exclaimed Janice, her eyes
sparkling. "And you--"

"I'll lead them. I'm desperate enough to do anything
that has risk. There's real fighting there, if the accounts
speak true, and perhaps a bullet will cancel both my shame
and my bond--ay, and my--my love for you. For I love
you, Miss Janice, love you more

Though taken very much by surprise, Janice drew herself
up proudly, and interrupted: "You forget--" she began.

"Of course I forget!" broke in the groom. "What would
love be worth if it did n't forget everything but itself? I
forget I'm a bond-servant, you 'd say. So I should if I were
a king. But you are too heartless to know what love is," he
ended bitterly.

"'T is not so," denied Janice, angrily; "but I'll love no
redemptioner, though he be as good-looking and good-tempered
as you are ill-natured and ugly."

"And who are you," demanded the man, passionately, "to
take such mighty airs? A daughter of a nobody, dubbed
Esquire because he is the biggest bubble in a pint pot."

"I shall not stay here to be insulted," cried Janice, moving
away. But in the doorway her exasperation got the better of
her dignity, and she faced about and said: "You evidently
don't know that my great-grandfather was Edward Byllynge."

The man laughed contemptuously. "Why, you little ninny,"
he retorted, "my great-grandfather was king of England!"

Janice caught hold of the lintel, and stood as if transfixed
for a moment, even the mortifying epithet of the groom forgotten
in her amazement. "A likely tale!" she ejaculated
finally when the first mute surprise was conquered.

The bond-servant had gained control of himself in the
pause, for he quietly rejoined: "'T is true enough, though
nothing to make boast of, save to those who set great store
by grandfathers." Then, in a sadder tone, he added:
"'T was a foolish brag I never thought to make, for it carries
more shame than honour, and 't is therefore best forgotten.
Moreover, I ask your pardon for saying what else I did; 't was
my tongue and not my heart which spoke."

The insult being atoned, Janice came back. "You said
you would tell me your history."

"But then--that was when I hoped--a fool I was." The
redemptioner paused, and then took a quick step toward
Janice with an eager look on his face and his hand outstretched.
"There is but one woman in the world can gain
the right to hear my sorry tale. May I tell it to you?"

Young and inexperienced as the girl was, the implication
of the question was too obvious for her to miss, and she
replied, "No."

The man dropped his arm and stood quietly for a moment,
then gave a short, abrupt laugh. "Either 't is my lot to
worship clay idols," he said, "or no woman is worth loving."

"Small blame to them for not loving you," rejoined Janice.

"Electing to marry a put like Hennion! There's a husband
of whom to be proud."

"At least he is no indentured servant," retorted the girl,
in her irritation, walking away from the stable. Once through
the garden and in sight of the house, she halted, her attention
attracted by some to-do about the porch. Coming
swiftly forward, it was to discover the squire there, candle in
hand, to light the dismounting of a horseman, and that no less
than Mr. Evatt.

"A welcome to ye," the host was saying. "Peg, tell
Charles to come and take this horse. Get ye into the house,
man; I'll hold him. Ah! Jan. Take Mr. Evatt in, lass,
and tell your mother we've a visitor."

Janice, feeling strangely shy, led the way to the parlour, and
when her mother, after the briefest of greetings, promptly
bustled off to order a glass of wine and to inspect the best
lodging-room--as guest chambers were then termed--her
embarrassment was sufficient to bring the blood glowing into
her cheeks, while, not daring so much as to meet Evatt's
eye, she hung her head and had much ado to keep from
trembling.

Evatt stood with a broad smile on his face and unconcealed
pleasure in his eyes, for in truth the girl made a picture to
charm any man; and not till Janice lifted her eyes, and shot
a furtive look at him, did he move toward her. He took her
hand and whispered: "For nine months I've thought me of
those lips and wondered when I should have taste of them.
Quickly, or thy father will--"

"You must n't!" gasped Janice, hanging her head more
than ever. "I'm to marry Philemon."

"Tush!" exclaimed the man. "I heard that tarradiddle
in York City. Why, thou 'rt promised to me, dost not remember,
and I'll not release thee, that I bind to. Wouldst rather
have that clout than me, Janice?"

Very falteringly and still with downcast face the girl murmured,
"No."

"Then I'll save ye from him, mark my word. Come, up
with your lips, and give me a kiss for the promise. What!
still frightened? 'T is nothing so terrible. A court lady
would have had a dozen kisses in the time I've pleaded.
And ye are no mere country hoyden, without manners or--"

Already Janice was raising her head, the possibility of
seeming countrified being worse even than a man's caress;
but her intended submission and Evatt's speech were both
interrupted by the clump of boots in the hall, and the pair
had barely time to assume less tell-tale attitudes when the
squire and Phil were standing in the doorway.

"Friend Evatt," ejaculated Mr. Meredith, "come to my
office at once. I've a matter needing your advice. Lass,
tell your mother to send us the Madeira and rum, with some
hot water, but let us not be disturbed."

Evatt made a grimace as he followed, and threw himself
into a chair with a suggestion of irritation.

"This lad, for a reason he won't tell," began the squire, as
he closed the door, "has kept eye on a bondsman of mine,
and this evening, as luck would have it, he stood upon a barrel,
by one of the stable windows, and overheard a pretty story the
fellow told to some one whom Phil could n't see. Tell it o'er,
lad, as ye told it me."

Hennion, thus admonished, retold the story of the powder,
as the bond-servant had related it to Janice. But two omissions
he made: the first being a failure to mention the connection
of his father with the matter, and the second the
presence of Janice in the stable.

"Here 's news indeed!" exclaimed Evatt.

"Ay. But what to do with it is the question."

"Do! Why, get word of it to Howe as quick as may be,
so that he may take advantage of their plight. We must send
him a letter."

"'T is easier said than done. Boston is encompassed, and
no man can get through the lines."

"I have it. The 'Asia' frigate, with her tender, lies in the
lower bay at New York; the latter can be sent round with a
letter to Boston. And ye shall bear it, lad," added Evatt,
turning to Phil.

"'T ain't no wish of mine," ejaculated Philemon.

"There is no one else we can trust. 'T will be but a
month's affair, at worst."

"But I don't care ter go," dissented Hennion. "I want
ter get married ter Miss Janice right off, an' not--"

"Come, squire, tell the fellow he must n't shirk his duty to
his king. He can marry your daughter any time, but now
the moment to do a service to his country. Why, man, if it
ends this rebellion, as it seems like to, they'll give ye a title--
and ye, too, squire, I doubt not."

"He speaks true, Phil. Here 's a chance, indeed. Put
the girl out of thy head for a time, and think a man's
thoughts."

"Ay," cried Evatt. "Don't prove the old saying:

'He who sighs for a glass without G,
Take away L and that is he.'"

It took much more urging to get Phil to yield, but finally,
on a promise of the master of Greenwood that he should wed
so soon as he returned, he gave a half-hearted consent. Over
the rum a letter to Sir William Howe was written by Evatt,
and he and Phil arranged to be up and away betimes in
the morning.

"That gets him well out of the way," remarked Evatt, as
in his bedroom he stripped off his clothes. "Now to be as
successful with Miss Blushing Innocence."

XX
THE LOGIC OF HONOURED PARENTS AND DUTIFUL CHILDREN

Philemon and Evatt were in the saddle by five the
next morning and a little more than an hour later held
consultation with Bagby. Everything except Phil's
intended mission was quickly told him.

"Jingo!" he remarked, and then whistled. "Why, 't is
stealing? Is n't there to be no law in the land? When do
they plot to rob us?"

"They meet this evenin' ter scheme it, an' a body can't tell
when they'll act."

"'T won't likely be to-night, but I'll keep guard myself, all
the same, and some of the Invincibles shall watch every night."

This warning given, and a bite taken at the tavern by way of
breakfast, the ride to Amboy was made in quick time. Here
a boat was secured, and the two were rowed off to the "Asia"
as she lay inside the Hook. Evatt had a long conference with
her captain in his cabin, and apparently won consent to his
plan; for when he returned on deck, a cutter was cleared away,
and Phil was told it would put him on the tender which was
to carry him to Boston. With many a longing glance at the
shore, he bade good-by to Evatt, who cheered him by predictions
of reward and speedy return.

Philemon gone, Evatt remained a short time in conference
with the chaplain of the man-of-war, and then returned to
Amboy. Once more taking horse, he set off on his return
to Greenwood, arriving there in the heat of the afternoon.
He was forced, by the absence of all the working force in the
hayfield, to stable his horse himself, and then he walked toward
what he had already observed from the saddle,--Janice, seated
upon a garden bench under a poplar on the lawn, making
artificial flowers. Let it be acknowledged that until the appearance
of Evatt the girl had worked languidly, and had allowed
long pauses of idleness while she meditated, but with his advent
she became the embodiment of industry.

"Odd's life!" the man ejaculated as he sat down beside the
worker. "'Twixt love's heat and an August sun, your lover,
Janice, has come nigh to dissolving."

Janice, with hands that shook, essayed to snip out a rose
petal which her own cheeks matched in tint.

Evatt removed first his hat and then his wig, that he might
mop his head. Having replaced the hirsute ornament, he
continued: "And thy father is as hot for thy marriage with
that yokel. He set the day yestere'en."

"When?" demanded the girl, looking up anxiously.

"What say ye to this day week?"

"Oh!" cried Janice. "Was ever maid born under such
a ha'penny planet?"

"Don't make outcry 'gainst your star when it has sent ye
a lover in the nick of time, ready to save ye from the
bumpkin."

Janice took a shy come-and-go glance at him and said:
"You mean

"What say ye to an elopement?"

"Oh!" exclaimed the girl, meeting Evatt's gaze eagerly.
"'T would be monstrous delightsome to be run off with, of
course; but--"

"But what?"

"Well--I--Mommy told me that in the province no
maid could be lawfully wed without her parents' consent."

"True," assented the tempter, "if she wed where the colony
law holds good. But we'll get round that by having the knot
tied on royal ground."

"Not in England?" said the girl, drawing back a little.

"Think ye I'd treat the lass I love like that?" responded
Evatt, reproachfully. "Nay. A friend of mine is chaplain on
the 'Asia' man-of-war, and he'll make no bones about helping
us. And as the king's flag and broad arrow puts the ship out
of the colony jurisdiction, 't will make the thing legal despite
the law."