Books: Janice Meredith

P >> Paul Leicester Ford >> Janice Meredith

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41

"You know the country," he said; "show me where the
Raritan can be forded."

"Here, here, and here," replied Brereton, indicating with
his finger the points. "But this rain to-night will probably so
swell it that there'll be no crossing for come a two days."

"Then if we destroy the bridge Cornwallis cannot cross for
the present?"

"No, your Excellency. But if 't is their policy to again try
to outflank us, they'll send troops from Staten Island by boat
to South Amboy; and by a forced march through Monmouth
they can seize Princeton and Trenton, while Cornwallis holds
us here."

"'T is evident, then, that we can make no stand except at
the Delaware, should they seek to get in our rear. Orders
must be sent to secure all the boats in that river, and
to--"

A knock at the door interrupted him, and in reply to his
"Come in," an officer entered, and, saluting, said hurriedly:
"General Greene directs me to inform your Excellency that
word has reached him that a brigade of the New Jersey militia
have deserted and have seized and taken with them the larger
part of the baggage train. The commissary reports that the
stores saved will barely feed the forces one day more."

Washington stood silent for a moment. "I will send a
message back to General Greene by you presently. In the
meantime join my family, who are Supping, Major Williams."
Then, when the officer had left the room, the commander sat
down at the table and rested his head on his hand, as if weary.
"Such want of spirit and fortitude, such disaffection and
treachery, show the game to be pretty well up," he muttered
to himself.

Brereton who had fallen back at the entrance of the aide,
once more came to the table. "Your Excellency," he said,
"we are but losing the fair-weather men, who are really no
help, and what is left will be tried troops and true."

"Left to starve!"

"This is a region of plenty. But give me the word, and in
one day I'll have beef and corn enough to keep the army for
a three months."

"They refuse to sell for Continental money."

"Then impress."

"It must come to that, I fear. Yet it will make the farmers
enemies to the cause."

"No more than they are now, I wot," sneered the aide.
"And if you leave them their crops 't will be but for them to
sell to the British. 'T is a war necessity."

Washington rose, the moment's discouragement already
conquered and his face set determinedly. "Give orders to
Hazlett and Hand to despatch foraging parties at dawn, to
seize all cattle, pigs, corn, wheat, or flour they may find, save
enough for the necessities of the people, and to impress horses
and wagons in which to transport them. Then join us at
supper."

Brereton saluted, and turned, but as he did so Washington
again spoke:--

"I overheard what you were saying in the public room,
Brereton," he said. "Some of my own aides are traducing
me in secret, and making favour with other generals by praising
them and criticising me, against the possibility that I may
be superseded. But I learned that I have one faithful
man."

"Ah, your Excellency," impulsively cried the young officer,
starting forward, "'t is a worthless life,--which brought disgrace
to mother, to father, and to self; but what it is, is yours."

"Thank you, my boy," replied Washington, laying his hand
affectionately on Brereton's shoulder. "As you say, 't is a
time which winnows the chaff from the wheat. I thank God
He has sent some wheat to me." And there were tears in
the general's eyes as he spoke.

XXVI
NECESSITY KNOWS NO LAWS

While the family of Greenwood were still at the
breakfast-table on the following morning, they
were startled by a shriek from the kitchen, and
then by Peg and Sukey bursting into the room
where they sat.

"Oh, marse," gasped the cook, "de British!"

Both the squire and Janice sprang to the windows, to
see a file of soldiers, accompanied by a mounted officer, drawn
up at the rear of the house. As they took this in, the line
broke into squads, one of which marched toward the stable,
a second toward the barn, while the third disappeared round
the corner of the house. With an exclamation the squire
hurried to the kitchen and intrenched himself in the door
just as the party reached it.

"Who are ye, and by what right do ye trespass on my
property?" he demanded.

"Git out of the way, ole man," ordered the sergeant.
"We hev orders ter take a look at yer store-room and cellar,
an' we ha'n't got no time to argify."

"Ye'll not get into my cellar, that I can tell--" began
the squire; but his remark ended in a howl of pain, as the
officer dropped the butt of his musket heavily on the
squire's toes. The agony was sufficient to make the owner of
Greenwood collapse into a sitting position on the upper step
and fall to nursing the injured member.

Janice, who had followed her father into the kitchen, sprang
forward with a cry of sympathy and fright, just as the mounted
officer, who had heard the squire's yell, came trotting round
the corner.

"No violence, sergeant!" he called sternly.

[Illustration: "Trenton is unguarded. Advance!"]

"Not a bit, sir," replied the aggressor. "One of the boys
happened ter drop his muskit on the old gentleman's corns,
an' I was apologisin' fer his carelessness."

"You dreadful liar!" cried Janice, hotly, turning from her
attempted comforting of the squire. "He did it on--oh!"
She abruptly ended her speech as the mounted officer uncovered
and bowed to her, and the "Oh!" was spoken as
she recognised him. "Charles--Colonel Brereton!" the
girl exclaimed.

"Charles!" exclaimed Mrs. Meredith, coming to the door.
"Hoighty toighty, if it is n't!"

"I am very sorry that we are compelled to impress food,
Mrs. Meredith," said the aide; "but as it is useless to resist I
trust you will not make the necessity needlessly unpleasant."

"Ye 're a pack of ruffians and thieves!" cried the
squire.

"Nay, Mr. Meredith," answered the aide, quietly; "we
pay for it."

"In paper money that won't be worth a penny in the
pound, come a month."

"That remains to be seen," responded the officer.

"'T is quite of a piece that a runaway redemptioner should
return with other thieves and rob his master!" fumed the
owner of Greenwood.

Brereton grew red, and retorted: "I am not in command
of this force, and rode out with them at some sacrifice to save
you from possible violence or unnecessary discomfort. Since
you choose to insult me, I will not remain. Do your duty,
sergeant," was the officer's parting injunction as he wheeled
his horse and started toward the road.

"Stick him with yer bagonet, Pelatiah," ordered the
sergeant, motioning toward the squire, who, still sitting in the
doorway, very effectually blocked the way. Pelatiah, duly
obedient, pricked the well-developed calf of the master of
Greenwood, bringing that individual to his feet with another
howl, which drew sympathetic shrieks from Mrs. Meredith and
Janice.

Evidently the cries made it impossible for Colonel Brereton
to hold to his intention, for he once again turned his horse
and came riding back. By the time he reached the door the
squire had been shoved to one side, and the men could be
heard ransacking the larder and cellar none too quietly.

"Though you slight my services," the aide explained, "I'll
bide for the present."

Meanwhile the parties that had been detached to the other
points could be seen harnessing oxen and horses to the hay
cart, farm waggons, and even the big coach, and loading them
from the corn-crib and barn. Presently the cortege started for
the house, and here more stores of various kinds were loaded.

During the whole of this operation the squire kept busily
expressing his opinions of the proceedings of the foragers, of
the army to which they belonged, and of the Continental
cause generally, which, but for the presence of the staff officer,
would have probably led to his ducking in the horse trough,
or to some other expression of the party's displeasure.

"I see ye take good care to steal all my horses, so that I
shall not be able to ride to Brunswick and report ye to the
commander," he railed, just as the last armful of hams and
sides of bacon was thrown into the coach. "We heard tales
of how ye robbed and plundered about York, unbeknownst to
the general, and I've no doubt ye are thieving now without
his knowledge."

"If you want to get to Brunswick you shall have a lift,"
offered the aide. "We'll drive you there, and I'll see to it
that you have a horse to bring you back."

"Ay. And leave my wife and daughter to be outraged by
you villainous Whigs."

Again Brereton lost his temper. "I challenge you to prove
one case of our army insulting a woman," he cried. "And
hast heard of the doings of the last few days? Of the conduct
of British soldiers to the women of Hackensack and
Elizabethtown, or of the brutality of the Hessians at Rahway?
At this very moment Mr. Collins is printing for us broadsides
of the affidavits of the poor miserable victims, in the hopes
that we can rouse the country by them."

"'T is nothing but a big Whig clanker, I'll be bound!"
snorted Mr. Meredith.

"I would for the sake of manhood they were!" said the
officer. "I was once proud to be a British soldier--" he
checked himself sharply, and then went on: "If you fear for
Mrs. Meredith and Miss Janice, take them with you. I'll
see to it that you all return in comfort."

Although the squire had no particular fear of the safety of
his womankind, he did not choose to confess it after what he
had said; and so, without more ado, his wife and daughter
were ordered to don their calashes and cloaks. Then the
odd-looking caravan, of five vehicles, nine cows, and four
squealing pigs, started,--Mrs. Meredith and Janice and the
squire seated on the box of the coach, while the driver
bestrode one of the horses.

The excitement of the drive was delightful to Janice, and it
was not lessened by what she heard. The aide rode beside
the coach, and at first tried to engage her in conversation, but
the girl was too shy and self-conscious to talk easily to him,
and so it ended in chat between the officer and Mr. and Mrs.
Meredith, in which he told of how he had secured his position
on the staff of the general, and gave an outline history of the
siege of Boston, the campaigning about New York, and the
retreat to Brunswick.

"I knew the rake-hells 'ud never fight," asserted the squire,
at one point.

"Like all green troops, they object to discipline, and have
shown cowardice in the face of the enemy. But the British
would not dare say as much as you say, after the lessons
they've had. The fault is mainly with the officers, who, by
the system of election or appointment, are chiefly politicians
and popularity-seekers not fit to black boots, much less command
companies and regiments. Here in this town, the life
was sapped out of the 'Invincibles' by their own officers; but
the parson went among the men this morning, and the best of
them formed a new company under him and enlisted for the
year. And those who helped me take the powder to Cambridge
volunteered, and have proved good men. All they
need are good officers to make them good soldiers."

"What did ye with that rogue Evatt?" demanded the
squire, his mind recalled to the subject by the allusion to the
powder; and Janice hastily caught hold of the fore-string of
her calash to pull the headgear forward so that her face should
be hidden from the aide. Yet she listened to the reply with
an attentive if red face.

"Our kidnapping of him not being easy to justify, I did not
choose to take him to Cambridge and so, when we spoke a
brig outside Newport, bound for Madeira, I e'en bargained his
passage on her. 'T is naturally the last I ever heard of him."

Then poor Janice had to hear her father and mother express
their thanks to the officer and berate the runaway pair;
and the painful subject was abandoned only when they drove
into Brunswick, where its interest could not compete with that
of the masses of soldiers camped on the green, the batteries of
artillery planted along the river front, and the general hurly-burly
everywhere.

"You had best sit where you are, ladies," the aide remarked,
"for the inn is full of men;" and the two accepted
his suggestion, and from their coign of vantage surveyed the
scene, while the squire, tumbling off the waggon, demanded
word with the commander-in-chief.

"I'll tell him you wish speech with him," said Brereton,
dismounting and going into the tavern.

It is only human when one is in misery to take a certain
satisfaction in finding that misfortune is not a personal monopoly.
While the squire waited to pour out his complaint, he
found farmer after farmer standing about with similar intent;
and, greatly comforted by the grievances of his neighbors, he
became almost joyous when Squire Hennion, following a long
line of carts loaded with his year's harvest, added himself to
the scene, and with oaths and wails sought in turn to express
his anger and misery.

"Tew rob a genuine Son o' Liberty," he whined, "ez hez
allus stood by the cause! The general shall hear o' 't. I'm
ruined. I'll starve. I'll--"

"Ho, ho!" laughed Mr. Meredith, heartily. "So sitting on
both sides don't pay, eh? And a good serve out it is to ye, ye
old trimmer. What! object to paper dollars, when ye are so
warm a Whig? What if they are only worth two shillings in
the pound, specie? Liberty for ever! Ho, ho! This is
worth the trip to Brunswick alone."

Colonel Brereton came out of the tavern with a paper in his
hand, and called the squire aside.

"Mr. Meredith," he said in a low voice, his face eager, yet
worn with anxiety, "I find that since I left camp this morning
the rest of the New Jersey and all of the Maryland flying
camps have refused to stay, and have left us, though Cornwallis's
advance is at Piscataway, and as he is pushing forward
by forced marches he will reach the Raritan within two hours."

"No doubt, no doubt," assented the squire, gleefully.
"Another week will put him in Philadelphia, and then ye
rebels will dance for it. No wonder ye look frighted,
man."

"I am not scared on my own account," replied the officer,
bitterly. "A dozen bullets, whether in battle or standing
blindfold against a white wall, are all the same to me. I'll
take the gallows itself, if it comes, and say good quittance."

"Ay," grunted Mr. Meredith, "go on. Tip us a good
touch of the heroics."

The aide smiled, but then went on anxiously: "But what I
do fear, and why I tell you what I do, is for--for--for Mrs.
Meredith and--The loss of this force leaves us barely three
thousand men to fight Cornwallis's and Knyphausen's fifteen
thousand. We shall burn the bridge within the hour, but
that will scarce check them, and so we must retreat to the
Delaware."

"And how does this affect me?"

"Every hour brings us word of the horrible excesses of the
British soldiery. No woman seems safe from--For God's
sake, Mr. Meredith, don't remain here! But go with our
army, and I'll pledge you my word you shall be safe and as
comfortable as it is in my power to make you."

"Tush! British officers never--"

"'T is not the officers, but the common soldiers who straggle
from the lines for plunder and--while the pigs of Hessians
and Waldeckers, sold by their princes at so much per head,
cannot be controlled, even by their own officers. See, here, is
the broadside of which I spoke. I have seen every affidavit,
and swear to you that they are genuine. Don't--you can't
risk such a fate for Mrs. Meredith or--" Brereton stopped,
unable to say more, and thrust the paper he held in his hand
into that of the squire.

"I'll have none of your Whig lies puffed on me!" persisted
the squire, obstinately.

The officer started to argue; but as he did so the gallop of a
horse's feet was heard, and Colonel Laurens came dashing up.
Throwing himself from the saddle, he flung into the tavern;
and that he brought important news was so evident that
Brereton hurriedly left Mr. Meredith and followed. Barely a
moment passed when aide after aide issued from the inn, and,
mounting, spurred away in various directions. The results
were immediate. The carts were hurriedly put in train and
started southward on the Princeton post-road, smoke began to
rise from the bridge, the batteries limbered up, and the regiments
on the green fell in and then stood at ease.

While these obvious preparations for a retreat were in progress
a coloured man appeared, leading so handsome and
powerful a horse that Janice, who had much of her father's
taste, gave a cry of pleasure and, jumping from her perch,
went forward to stroke the beast's nose.

"What a beauty!" she cried.

"Yes, miss, dat Blueskin," replied the darky, grinning
proudly. "He de finest horse from de Mount Vernon stud,
but he great villain, jus' de same. He so obstropolus when he
hear de guns dat the gin'l kian't use him, an' has tu ride ole
Nelson when dyars gwine tu be any fightin'."

Janice leaned forward and kissed the "great villain" on his
soft nose, and then turned to find the general standing in the
doorway watching her.

"I have not time to attend to your complaints, gentlemen,"
he announced to the two esquires and the group of farmers, all
of whom started forward at his appearance. "File your
statements and claims with the commissary-general, and in due
time they'll receive attention." Then he came toward his
horse, and as he recognised the not easily forgotten face he
uncovered. "I trust Miss Janice remembers me!" he said, a
smile succeeding the careworn look of the previous moment,
and added: "Had ye been kind, ye'd have kept that caress
for the master."

Janice coloured, but replied with a mixture of assurance
and shyness: "Blueskin could not ask for it, but your Excellency--"
Then she paused and coloured still more.

Washington laughed, and, stooping, kissed her hand.
"Being a married man, must limit the amount of his yielding
to temptation," he said, finishing the sentence for the girl.
"I would I were to have the honour of your company at dinner
once more, but your friends, the British, will not give us
the time. So I must mount and say farewell."

Janice turned an eager face up to the general, as he swung
himself into the saddle. "Oh, your Excellency," she exclaimed
below her breath, "dadda would think it very wicked
of me, but I hope you'll beat them!"

Washington's face lighted up, and, leaning over, he once
more kissed her hand. "Thank you for the wish, my child,"
he said, and, giving Blueskin the spur, rode toward the river.

"If Philemon was only like his Excellency!" thought the
girl.

XXVII
A CHECK TO THE ENEMY

There followed a weary hour of waiting, while first
the carts, then the artillery, and finally the few
hundred ill-clad, weary men filed off on the post-road.
Before the rear-guard had begun its march,
British regiments could be discerned across the river, and presently
a battery came trotting down to the opposite shore, and
a moment later the guns were in position to protect a crossing.
This accomplished, a squadron of light dragoons rode into the
water and struck boldly across, a number of boats setting out
at the same moment, each laden with redcoats. While they
were yet in mid-stream the Continental bugles sounded the retreat,
and the last American regiment marched across the green
and disappeared from view.

Owing to the fact that the coach had not been parked with
the waggons, but had been brought to the tavern door, the baggage-train
had moved off without it,--a circumstance, needless
to say, which did not sadden the squire. It so happened that
the vehicle had stopped immediately under the composite portrait
sign-board of the inn; and no sooner was the last American
regiment lost to view than the publican appeared, equipped
with a paint-pot and brush, and, muttering an apology to the
owner of the coach, now seated beside his wife and daughter
on the box, he climbed upon the roof and, by a few crude
strokes, altered the lettering from "Gen. George the Good
into "King George the Good." But he did not attempt to
change the firm chin and the strong forehead the bondsman
had added to the face.

Barely was the operation finished when the British light
horse came wading out of the water and cantered up the river
road to the green, the uniforms and helmets flashing brilliantly,
the harness jingling, and the swords clanking merrily.

"There are troops worth talking about," cried the squire,
enthusiastically.

He spoke too quickly, for the moment the "dismount"
sounded, twenty men were about the coach.

"Too good horses for a damned American!" shouted one,
and a dozen hands were unharnessing them on the instant.
"A load of prog, boys!" gleefully shouted a second, and
both doors were flung open, and the soldiers were quickly
crowding each other in their endeavours to get a share.
"Egad!" announced another, "but I'll have a tousel and a
buss from yon lass on the box." "Well said!" cried a fourth,
and both sprang on the wheel, as a first step to the attainment
of their wishes.

Mr. Meredith, from the box, had been shrieking affirmations
of his loyalty to King George without the slightest heed being
paid to him; but there is a limit to passivity, and as the two men
on the wheel struggled which should first gain the desired
prize, the squire kicked out twice with his foot in rapid succession,
sending both disputants back into the crowd of troopers.
Howls of rage arose on all sides; and it would have fared
badly with the master of Greenwood had not the noise brought
an officer up.

"Here, here!" he cried sharply, "what 's all this pother
about?"

"'T is a damned Whig, who is--"

"A lie!" roared the squire. "There is no better subject
of King George living than Lambert Meredith."

The officer jeered. "That's what every rebel claims of
late. Not one breathes in the land, if you'd but believe the
words of you turncoats."

"'T is not a lie," spoke up Janice, her face blazing with
temper and her fists clinched as if she intended to use them.
"Dadda always--"

"Ho!" exclaimed the officer, "what a pretty wench! Art
a rebel, too? for if so, I'll see to it that guard duty falls to
me. Come, black eyes, one kiss, and I'll send the men to
right about."

Janice caught the whip from its socket and raised it threateningly,
just as another officer from a newly arrived company
came spurring up and, without warning, began to strike right
and left with the flat of his sword. "Off with you, you
damned rapscallions!" he shouted. "Leftenant Bromhead,
where are your manners?"

"And where are yours, Mr. Hennion, that ye dare speak so
to your superior officer?" demanded the lieutenant.

There was no mistaking Philemon, changed though he was.
He wore a fashionable wig, and his clothes fitted well a figure
that, once shambling and loose-jointed, had now all the erectness
of the soldier, but the face was unchanged.

"I'll not quarrel with you now," swaggered Philemon.
"If you want ter fight later I'm your man, an' if you want
ter go before Colonel Harcourt with a complaint I'll face you.
But now I've other matters." He turned to the trio on the
box, and exclaimed as he doffed his hat: "Well, squire, didst
ever expect sight of me again? An' how do Mrs. Meredith
and Janice? Strap my vitals, if I've seen such beauty since I
left Brunswick," he added airily, and making Janice feel very
much put out of countenance.

"Welcome, Philemon!" cried Mrs. Meredith, "and doubly
welcome at such a moment."

"Ay," shouted the squire, heartily. "Ye arrived just in the
nick o' time to save your bride, Phil." A remark which sent
the whip rattling to the ground from the hands of Janice.
"An' ye a king's officer!" he ended. "Bubble your story
to us, lad."

"There ain't much ter tell as you don't know already. Sir
William put no faith in the news I carried, thinkin' it but a Whig
trick, and so they held me prisoner. But later, when 't was
too late ter use it, they learned the word I brought them
was true; so they set me free, and as there was no gettin'
away from Boston, the general gave me a cornetcy, that I
should not starve."

"I'll lay to it that there'll be no more starvation now that
you 're back home," cried the squire, "though betwixt your
cheating old sire, who'll pay no interest on his mortgages,
and the merchants gone bankrupt in York, and now this loss
of harvest and stock, 't is like Greenwood will show but a lean
larder for a time. But mayhaps now that ye've gone up in
the world, ye'd like to cry off from the bargain?"

"But let me finish the campaign by capturin' Philadelphia,
and dispersin' Washington's pack of peddlers and jail-birds,
which won't take mor'n a fortnight, and then you can't name
a day too soon for me, an' I hope not for your daughter.
You can't call me gawk any longer, I reckon, Janice?"

"Thou camst nigh to losing her, Phil," declared Mrs.
Meredith.

"Ay," added the squire. "Hast heard of how that scoundrel
Evatt schemed

"Oh, dadda!" moaned Janice, imploringly.

"No scoundrel is he, squire, nor farmer neither; he bein' Lord
Clowes," asserted Phil. "He joined our army at New York,
and is Sir William's commissary-general an' right-hand man."