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Janice faltered, then hurried to where her father sat, and,
throwing herself on her knees, buried her face in his waistcoat.
Something she said, but very sharp ears it needed to resolve the
muffled sounds into the words, "Oh, dadda, I'm afraid that I
care for him more than I thought."

"What!" for a third time demanded Mr. Meredith. "'T is
not possible I hear ye aright, girl. Why, a nine-months ago ye
were beseeching me, with your arms about my neck, to fulfil
my word to Phil."

"But that was because I feared Lord Clowes," eagerly explained
Janice, with her face withdrawn from its screen; "and
then I did not love--or at least did not dream that I did."

"Pox me, but I believe Clowes is right when he says the
sex are without stability," growled the squire, irascibly. "Put
this fellow out of your thoughts, and remember that ye were
promised long since."

"Oh, dadda, I want to be dutiful, and obedient I promise to
be, but you would not have me marry with my heart given elsewhere.
You could not be so cruel or--"

"Cease such bibble-babble, Jan. 'T is for your own good I
am acting. Not merely is this fellow wholly beneath ye in
birth and fortune, besides a rebel to our king, but there are facts
about him of which ye have not cognisance that should serve to
rouse your pride."

"What?"

"What say ye to an intimacy twixt this same Brereton and
Mrs. Loring?"

With the question the girl was on her feet, yet with down-hung
head. "He--I know he does not care for her," she
declared.

"Ye know nothing of the kind," retorted the squire. "I
bear in my pocket a letter from her to him of so private a
nature that she would not trust it to a flag, because then it must
be read, which Lord Clowes brought to me with the request that
I would in some way smuggle it to him."

"That means little," said Janice.

"And what say ye to his meeting her in New York, for that
is the purpose of her letter to him?"

"How know you that?" cried Janice.

"Because she writ on the outside that the commander at
Paulus Hook had been sent orders to pass him to New York."

"That proves no wrong on his part," answered the girl, her
head proudly erect. "Nor will I believe any of him." And
without further words she went from the room. But though
she went to bed, she tossed restless and wakeful till the sun
rose.

LII
SCANT WELCOME FOR MAN AND BEAST

The concealment of the master of Greenwood proved
easy affair, for it was now the harvest season and
the neighbouring farmers were far too engaged by
their own interests to have thought of anything else,
while the four miles was distance sufficient to deter the villagers
from keeping an eye on the daily household life. For their
own comfort, a place of concealment was arranged for the
squire in the garret behind the big loom; but thus assured of
a retreat, he spent his time on the second floor, his only precautions
being to avoid the windows in daylight hours and to
keep Clarion at hand to give warning of any interloper.

In the next few days Mrs. Meredith twice reverted to the
subject of their midnight discussion, but each time only to find
her husband unyieldingly persistent that Janice was pledged to
Philemon, and that if this bar did not exist, he would never
countenance Brereton's suit. As for the girl, she shunned all
allusion to the matter, taking refuge in a proud silence.

In September an unexpected event brought the difficulty to
a crisis. One evening, after the work of the day was over, as
they sat in Mrs. Meredith's room, waiting for the dusk to
deepen enough for beds to become welcome, a creak of the
stairs set all three to listening, and brought Clarion to his feet.
Though no repetition of the sound followed, the dog, after a
moment's attention, dashed out of the room and was heard
springing and jumping about, with yelps betokening joyful
recognition of some one. Reassured by this, yet wishing to
know more, Janice hurried into the hall. Coming from the
half-light, it was too dark for her to distinguish anything, so
she was forced to grope her way to the stairs; but other eyes
were keener, and Janice, without warning, was encompassed by
a man's arms, which drew her to him that his lips might press
an eager kiss upon hers.

"Who is it?" whispered the pilferer, after the theft.

"Oh, Colonel Brereton!" exclaimed the girl, in an undertone;
"I knew at once, but--"

"Forgive me if I frightened you, sweetheart," begged the
officer, softly. "I could not resist the impulse to surprise you,
and so tied my horse down the road a bit, that I might steal in
upon you unaware."

"But what brings you?" questioned the girl, anxiously.

Brereton, with a touch of irritation, answered: "And you can
ask? Even my vanity is forced to realise you waste little love
on me that you need explanation. Sixty miles and over I
have rid to-day solely that I might bide the night here, and
not so much as a word of welcome do you give me. But I
vow you shall love me some day even as I love you; that
you too shall long for sight of me when I am away, and caress
me as fondly when I return."

"I did not mean that I was not glad to see you," protested
the maiden; "but--I thought I thought you could not
leave the army."

"Know then, madam," banteringly explained the lover,
"that the court-martial which has been trying Lee for his conduct
at Monmouth has come to a verdict, which required
transmission to Congress, for confirmation, and as I enjoy
nothing better than two hundred and forty miles of riding in
September heats and dust, I fairly went on my knees to his
Excellency for permission to bear it. And now do you ask
why I wished it? Do I not deserve something to lighten the
journey? Ah, my sweet, if you care for me a little, prove it
by once returning me one of my kisses!"

"With whom art thou speaking, daughter?" demanded Mrs.
Meredith, losing patience at the continuance of the dialogue
she could just realise.

"'T is I, John Brereton, Mrs. Meredith," spoke up the intruder,
"come in search of a night's lodgings."

[Illustration: "I love you for your honesty, Janice."]

The information was enough to make the squire forget
prudence, in the spleen it aroused. "Have done with your
whispered prittle-prattle, Jan, and let me have sight of this
fellow," he called angrily.

"Mr. Meredith! you here?" cried the officer, springing to
the doorway, to make sure that his ears did not deceive
him.

"Ay, and no wonder 't is a sad surprise to ye," went on
Mr. Meredith, irascibly. "There shall be no more stolen
interviews--ay, or kisses--from henceforth, ye Jerry Sneak!
Come out of the hall, Janice, and have done with this courting
by stealth."

"I call Heaven to witness," retorted Jack, hotly, "if once
I have acted underhand; and you have no right--"

"Pooh! 't is not for a jail-bird and bond-servant and rebel
to lay down the right and wrong to Lambert Meredith."

"Oh, dadda--" expostulatingly began Janice.

"What is more," continued the father, regardless of her
protest, "I'll have ye know that I take your behind-back
wooing of my daughter as an insult, and will none of it."

"Is it prudent, Lambert, needlessly to offend Colonel
Brereton?" deprecated Mrs. Meredith.

"Ay. Let him give me up to the authorities," sneered the
husband. "'T will be all of a piece with his other doings."

"To such an imputation I refuse to make denial," said
Brereton, proudly; "but be warned, sir, by the trials for
treason now going on in Jersey and Pennsylvania, what fate
awaits you if you are captured. Even I could not save you,
I fear, after your taking office from the king, if you were
caught thus."

"Wait till ye 're asked, and we'll see who first needs help,
ye or I," retorted the squire. "Meantime understand that
I'll not have ye at Greenwood, save as a bond-servant. My
girl is promised to a man of property and respectability, and
is to be had by no servant who dare not so much as let the
world know who were his father and mother!"

It was now too dark to distinguish anything, so the others
did not see how Brereton's face whitened. For a moment he
was silent, then in a voice hoarsely strident he said: "No man
but you could speak thus and not pay the full penalty of his
words; and since you take so low an advantage of my position,
further relations with you are impossible. Janice, choose between
me and your father, for there can be but the one of us
in your future life."

"Oh, Jack," cried the girl, imploringly, "you cannot--if
you love me, you cannot ask such a thing of me."

"He puts it well," asserted Mr. Meredith. "Dost intend
to obey me, child, or--"

"Oh, dadda," chokingly moaned Janice, "you know I have
promised obedience, and never will I be undutiful, but--"

The aide, not giving her time to complete the sentence,
vehemently exclaimed, "'T is as I might have expected!
Lover good enough I am when you are in peril or want, but
once saved, I am quickly taught that your favours are granted
from policy and not from love."

"'T is not so," denied the girl, indignantly yet miserably;
"I--"

"Be still, Jan," ordered the father. "Think ye, sir, Lambert
Meredith's daughter would ever bring herself to wed a no-name
and double-name fellow such as ye? Here is a letter I
fetched to ye from that--Mrs. Loring: take it and go to
her. She's the fit company for gentry of your breed, and not
my girl."

"Beg of me forgiveness on your deathbed, or on mine, and
I'll not pardon you the words you have just spoken," thundered
the officer; "and though you stand on the gallows itself I will
not stir finger to save you. Once for all, Janice, take choice
between us."

"'T is an option you have no right to force upon me," responded
the girl, desperately.

"Ay, pay no heed to what he says, Jan. Hand him this
letter and let him go."

"If he wants it, he must take it himself," cried Janice.
"I'll not touch her letter."

The indignant loathing in the tone of the speaker was too
clearly expressed not to be understood, and Brereton replied
to it rather than to her words. "I tried to speak to you of
her--to tell you the whole wretched story, when last I saw
you, but I could not bring myself in such hap--at such an
hour--the moment was too untimely--and so I did not.
Little I suspected that you already knew the facts of my
connection with her."

"Despite the proof I myself had, I have ever refused to
credit when told by others what you have just owned," declared
the girl. "Nor will I listen to you. From the first I
scorned and hated her, and now wish never to hear of the
shameful creature again."

Without a word the officer passed into the hall, and began
the descent. Before he had reached the foot of the stairs
Janice was at its head.

"You'll not go without a good-by, Jack," she pleaded.
"Obey dadda I ought--but--Oh, Jack--I will--if you
will but come back--Yes, I will kiss you."

Brereton halted and clutched the banister, as if to prevent
either departure or return, and could the girl have seen the
look on his face she would have been in his arms before he
had time to conquer himself. But in doubt as to what the
pause indicated, she stood waiting, and after a moment's
struggle Jack strode through the hallway and was gone. So
long as his footsteps could be heard Janice stood listening to
them, but when they had died out of hearing she went into
her own room, and the parents heard the bolt shot.

There was something in the girl's eyes the next morning
which prevented either father or mother from recurring to the
scene, and time did not make it easier; for Janice, with a
proudly sad face, did her tasks in an almost absolute silence,
which told more clearly than words her misery. Probably the
matter would have eventually been reopened, but two days
brought a new difficulty which gave both Mr. and Mrs. Meredith
something else for thought.

Its first warning was from the hound, who roused his master,
as he dozed in an easy-chair one sleepy afternoon, by a growl,
and the squire's own ears served to tell him that horsemen
were entering the gate. The women on the floor below also
heard the sounds, and with a call to make sure that the
refugee was seeking his hiding-place, the mother and daughter
hurried to the front door to learn what the incursion might
portend.

From the porch they could see a half-dozen riders in uniform,
who had drawn rein just inside the gateway, while yet
another, accompanied by two dogs, rode up to where they
were standing.

"'T is General Lee," exclaimed Mrs. Meredith, as he came
within recognising distance. "Probably he wishes a night's
lodging."

It was far from what the officer wanted, as it proved; for
when he had come within good speaking distance he called
angrily, "Ho! ye are there, are ye, hussy? Still busily seeking,
I suppose, to be a pick-thanks with those in power by
casting ridicule on those they are caballing to destroy."

"I know not the cause for thy extraordinary words, General
Lee," replied Mrs. Meredith, with much dignity, "and
can only conclude that a warm afternoon has tempted thee
into a too free use of the bottle."

"Bah!" ejaculated Lee. "My bicker is not with ye, but
with your girl, who, it seems, has a liking for mischief and
slander."

"I am ignorant to what thee refers, sir, and cannot
believe--" began the mother.

"Deny if you can that she limned the caricature of me
which was handed about the theatre, and made me and my
dogs the laugh of the town for a week?" interrupted Lee.
"Only three days since I had a letter from a friend in Philadelphia,
telling me a journal of hers had been examined by
the council, and that therein she confessed it as her work."

"Indeed, General Lee," said Mrs. Meredith, apologetically,
"the child meant no--"

"I tell you I'm not to be mollified by any woman's brabble,"
blustered Lee. "I know 't is part and parcel of an attempt
to ruin my character. Even to this silly witling, all are endeavouring
to break me down by one succession of abominable,
damnable lies. The very court that has been trying
me would not believe that white was white as regards me, or
that black was black as regards this G. Washington, whom the
army and the people consider as an infallible divinity, when
he is but a bladder of emptiness and pride. I am now on
my way to get their verdict against me, and in favour of this
Great Gargantua, or Lama Babek--for I know not which to
call him--set aside, and I stopped in passing to tell you
that I--"

What the general intended was not to be known, for at this
point there came that which turned his thoughts. One of his
dogs, an English spaniel, neither interested in Janice's caricature
of Lee, nor in Lee's abuse of Washington, took advantage
of his master's preoccupation to steal into the house,--
a proceeding which Clarion evidently resented, for suddenly
from within came loud yaps and growls, which told only too
plainly that if there was no protector of the household from
the anger of the general, there was one who objected to the
intrusion of his dog. Scarcely had the sounds of the fight
begun than shrill yelps of pain indicated that one participant
was getting very much the worst of it, and which, was quickly
shown by the general roaring an oath and a command that
they stop the "murder of my Caesar." The din was too great
within, however, for Clarion to hear the order that both ladies
shouted to him, though it is to be questioned if he would have
heeded them if he had; and with another oath Lee was out of
his saddle and into the house, his riding-whip raised to take
summary vengeance.

Just as the general entered the hallway, the spaniel, wriggling
free from the hound's onslaught, fled upstairs, closely
pursued by the other dog, and after the two stamped the
officer. On the second floor the fugitive faltered, to cast an
agonised glance behind him, but sight of Clarion's open mouth
was enough, and up the garret stairs he fled. At the top he
once more paused, looking in all directions for a haven of
refuge; and seeing a man in the act of retreating behind the
loom in the corner, he fled to him for protection. When Lee
entered the garret, only Clarion, every bristle on end, was in
view, standing guard over a corner of the room; and striding
to him, the general lashed him twice with his riding-whip ere
the transgressor, with howls of surprised pain, fled. Then
Lee peered behind the loom in search of his favourite.

"Devil seize me!" he exclaimed. "What have we here?
Ho! a good find," he jeered, as he made out the squire. He
rushed to one of the windows, threw it up, and called a summons
to the group of horsemen, then came back as the squire
crawled from his retreat. "Little did I reck," gloated Lee,
"when I read at the tavern this very day the governor's proclamation
attainting you, that ye'd come to be my prize. And
poetic justice it is that I should have the chance to avenge in
you the insult of your daughter."

LIII
UNDER SHADOW OF THE GALLOWS

No prayer the women could make served to sway
Lee from his purpose, and without delay the
prisoner was mounted behind one of the escort,
taken to Brunswick, and handed over to the
authorities. When Mrs. Meredith and Janice, who followed
on foot, reached the town, it was to find that the squire was
to be carried to Trenton the next morning. A plea was made
that they should be permitted to accompany him, but it was
refused, and a bargain was finally made with the publican
to carry them.

The following evening saw them all in Trenton, Mr. Meredith
in jail, and the ladies once more at the Drinkers'. It
was too late for anything to be attempted that night; but early
the next day Mrs. Meredith, with Mr. Drinker, called on
Governor Livingston to plead for mercy.

"Had he come in and delivered himself up, there might
have been some excuse for special lenience," the Governor
argued; "but captured as he was, there can be none. The
people have suffered so horribly in the last two years that they
wish a striking example made of some prominent Tory, and
will not brook a reasonless pardon. He must stand his trial
under the statute and proclamation, and of that there can
be but one outcome."

When the suppliants returned with this gloomy prediction,
Janice, who held herself accountable for the calamity, primarily
by having secured the appointment of her father, and still
more by drawing the caricature which had brought such disaster,
was so overcome that for a time the mother's anxieties were
transferred to her. Realising this, after the first wild outburst
of grief and horror were over, Janice struggled desperately
to regain self-control; and when the two had gone
to bed, she successfully resisted her longing to give way once
more to tears, though no sleep came to her the night through.
Yet, if she brought pale cheeks and tired eyes to the breakfast
table, there was determination rather than despair in her
face and manner, as if in her long vigil she had thought out
some deliverance.

In what this consisted was shown by her whispered request
to Mr. Drinker, the moment the meal had been despatched,
to learn for her if Joe Bagby was in town, and to arrange
for an interview. Within the hour her emissary returned with
the member of Assembly.

"I suppose you have heard, Mr. Bagby, of my father's
capture," she said, without even the preliminary of a greeting.

"Yes, miss," said Bagby, awkwardly and shamefacedly;
"'t is news that did n't stop travelling, and 't was all over
Trenton before he'd been an hour in town. One way or
another, he and I have n't got on well, but I did n't wish him
or you any such bad luck, and I'm real sorry it 's come about."

"I wished to see you to ask--to beg," went on the girl,
"that you would persuade the Governor to set him free."

"But he'd not have the right to do that," replied Joe.
"He only can pardon the squire after the trial. And right
now I want to say that if you have n't settled on any lawyer,
I will take the case and do my best for your dad, and let you
take your own time as to paying me."

"Oh, Mr. Bagby," pleaded Janice, "Mr. Drinker is sure
that he will be convicted of treason. Can you not do something
to stop it?"

"I am afraid he is right, miss. About his only chance will
be for the Governor to pardon him."

"But only yesterday he said he should not," wailed Janice.
"Can you not persuade him?"

"Guess 't would be only be a waste of my time," answered Joe.
"He and I have disagreed over some appointments, and we
are n't much of friends in consequence. But aside from that,
he's a great trimmer for popularity, and the people just now
are desperate set on having the Tories punished."

"Don't say that," besought the girl. "Surely, if--if--
if I promise to marry you, cannot you save him?"

"If 't was a bridge to be built, or a contract for uniforms,
or something of that sort, I'd have real influence in the
Assembly; but I am afraid I can't fix this matter. The
Governor's a consarned obstinate man most times, and I don't
believe he'll listen to any one in this. What I can do, though,
if you'll just do what you offered, miss, will be to save your
property from all risk of being taken from you."

"Don't speak of it to me," cried Janice, wildly. "Do you
think we could care for such a thing now?"

"Property 's property," said Joe, "and 't is n't a good thing
to forget, no matter what happens. However, that can wait.
Now, about my being your lawyer?"

"I will speak to my mother," replied the girl, sadly, "and
let you know her wishes." And the words were so evidently
a dismissal that Bagby took his departure.

Without pausing to mourn over the failure, Janice procured
paper and pen, and set about a letter; but it was long in the
writing, for again and again the pages were torn up. Finally,
in desperation, she let her quill run on, regardless of form,
grammar, erasures, or the blurs caused by her own tears, until
three sheets had been filled with incoherent prayers and promises.
"If only you can save him," one read, "nothing you
ask of me, even to disobeying him, even to running off with
you, will I refuse. I will be your very slave." If ever a proud
girl humbled herself, Janice did so in this appeal.

The reading of the missive was begun the next day by an
officer seated in the "public" of the City Tavern of Philadelphia,
but after a very few lines he rose and carried it to
his own room, and there completed it. Then folding it up,
he thrust it into his pocket, once more descended the stairs,
and inquired of the tavern-keeper: "'T was reported that
General Lee came to town yesterday; dost know where he
lodges?"

"I hearn he was at the Indian King."

"Thanks," responded the questioner, and then asked:
"One thing more. Hast a stout riding-whip you can lend me
for a few minutes?"

"Ay, Colonel Brereton. Take any that suits you from the
rack."

The implement secured, the officer set out down the street,
with a look that boded ill for somebody.

Five minutes later, with one hand held behind his back, he
stood in the doorway of the public room of another ordinary,
arriving just in time to hear a man proclaim in stentorian
tones:--

"I tell ye, any other general in the world than General
Howe would have beat General Washington; and any other
general in the world than General Washington would have
beat General Howe."

"Hush!" said a man. "Here is one of his aides."

"Think ye I care?" roared Lee. "Colonel Brereton and
all others of his staff know too well the truth of what I say to
dare resent it. The more that hear me, the better."

Brereton strode forward to within three feet of Lee. "You
owe your immunity," he said, struggling to speak quietly,
"to the very man you are abusing, for not one of his family
but would have challenged you after your insulting letters to
him, had not General Washington commanded us all to refrain,
lest, if any of his staff called you out, it should seem like his personal
persecution. Your conduct to him was outrage enough
to make me wish to kill you, but now you have given me a
stronger reason, and this time there is no high-minded man
to save you from my vengeance, you cur!" There was a
quick motion of Jack's arm, a swishing sound, and the whip
was furiously lashed full across the general's face.

Lee, white with rage, save where a broad red welt stretched
from ear to chin, staggered to his feet, pulling at his sword as
he rose, but his three companions united to restrain him.

"Take your satisfaction like a gentleman, sir," insisted one,
"and not like a tavern broiler."

"I shall see Major Franks within the hour," remarked Brereton,
"and have no doubt he will represent me. But if you
wish a meeting, you must act promptly, for I shall not remain
in the city later than noon to-morrow."

It was just after dawn the next morning that five horsemen
turned off from the Frankford road into a meadow, and
struck across it to a piece of timber on the other side. One
of them was left with the horses, and the remainder took
their way to an open spot, where the trees had been felled.
Here the four paired off; and the couples held a brief
consultation.

"I care not what the terms be," Brereton ended, "so long
as you secure the privilege of advancing, for one of us goes not
off the field unhurt."