“Are we about to be disturbed again with the enemy?”
“Who do you call the enemy?” said the pedlar, raising himself erect, and giving the other a look, before which the eyes of Mr. Wharton sunk in instant confusion.
“All are enemies who disturb our peace,” said Miss Peyton, observing that her brother was unable to speak. “But are the royal troops out from below?”
“’Tis quite likely they soon may be,” returned Birch, raising his pack from the floor, and preparing to leave the room.
“And the continentals,” continued Miss Peyton mildly; “are the continentals in the county?”
Harvey was about to utter something in reply, when the door opened, and Caesar made his appearance, attended by his delighted spouse.
The race of blacks of which Caesar was a favorable specimen is becoming very rare. The old family servant, who, born and reared in the dwelling of his master, identified himself with the welfare of those whom it was his lot to serve, is giving place in every direction to that vagrant class which has sprung up within the last thirty years, and whose members roam through the country, unfettered by principles, and uninfluenced by attachments. For it is one of the curses of slavery, that its victims become incompetent to the attributes of a freeman. The short curly hair of Caesar had acquired from age a colouring of gray, that added greatly to the venerable cast of his appearance. Long and indefatigable applications of the comb had straightened the close curls of his forehead, until they stood erect in a stiff and formal brush, that gave at least two inches to his stature. The shining black of his youth had lost its glistening hue, and it had been succeeded by a dingy brown. His eyes, which stood at a most formidable distance from each other, were small, and characterized by an expression of good feeling, occasionally interrupted by the petulance of an indulged servant—they, however, now danced with inward delight. His nose possessed, in an eminent manner, all the requisites for smelling, but with the most modest unobtrusiveness—the nostrils being abundantly capacious, without thrusting themselves in the way of their neighbours. His mouth was capacious to a fault, and was only tolerated on account of the double row of pearls it contained. In person Caesar was short, and we should say square, had not all the angles and curves of his figure bid defiance to any thing like mathematical symmetry. His arms were long and muscular, and terminated by two bony hands, that exhibited on one side, a colouring of blackish gray, and on the other a faded pink. But it was in his legs that nature had indulged her most capricious humour. There was an abundance of material injudiciously used. The calves were neither before nor behind, but rather on the outer side of the limb, inclining forward, and so close the knee as to render the free use of that joint a subject of doubt. In the foot, considering it as a base on which the body was to rest, Caesar had no cause of complaint, unless, indeed, it might be that the leg was placed so near the centre, as to make it sometimes a matter of dispute, whether he was not walking backwards. But whatever might be the faults a statuary could discover in his person, the heart of Caesar Thompson was in the right place, and, we doubt not, of very just dimensions.
Accompanied by his ancient companion, Caesar now advanced, and paid his tribute of gratitude in words—Sarah received them with great complacency, and made a few compliments to the taste of the husband, and the probable appearance of the wife. Frances, with a face beaming with a look of pleasure that corresponded to the smiling countenances of the blacks, offered the service of her needle in fitting the admired calico to its future uses. The offer was humbly and gratefully accepted.
As Caesar followed his wife and the pedlar from the apartment, and was in the act of closing the door, he indulged himself in a grateful soliloquy, by saying aloud—
“Good little lady—Miss Fanny—take care of he fader—love to make a gown for old Dinah too.” What else his feelings might have induced him to utter is unknown, but the sound of his voice was heard some time after the distance rendered his words indistinct.
Harper had dropped his book, and he sat an admiring witness of the scene; and Frances enjoyed a double satisfaction, as she received an approving smile from a face which concealed, under the traces of deep thought and engrossing care, the benevolent expression which characterizes all the best feelings of the human heart.
* The Americans changed the names of many towns and streets, at the revolution, as has since been done in France. Thus, in the City of New-York, Crown Street has become Liberty Street; King Street, Pine Street; and Queen Street, then one of the most fashionable quarters of the town, Pearl Street. Pearl Street is now chiefly occupied by the auction dealers, and the wholesale Dry Good Merchants, for warehouses and compting rooms.
Chapter IV
“It is the form, the eye, the word,
The bearing of that stranger Lord;
His stature, manly, bold, and tall,
Built like a castle’s battled wall,
Yet moulded in such just degrees,
His giant-strength seems lightsome ease.
Weather and war their rougher trace
Have left on that majestic face;—
But ’tis his dignity of eye!
There, if a suppliant, would I fly,
Secure, ’mid danger, wrongs, and grief,
Of sympathy, redress, relief—
That glance, if guilty, would I dread
More than the doom that spoke me dead!”—
“Enough, enough,” the princess cried,
“’Tis Scotland’s hope, her joy, her pride!”
Walter Scott.
* * *
THE PARTY sat in silence for several minutes after the pedlar had withdrawn. Mr. Wharton had heard enough to increase his uneasiness, without in the least removing his apprehensions on behalf of his son. The captain was impatiently wishing Harper in any other place, than the one he occupied with such apparent composure, while Miss Peyton completed the disposal of her breakfast equipage, with the mild complacency of her nature, aided a little by inward satisfaction at possessing so large a portion of the trader’s lace—Sarah was busily occupied in arranging her purchases, and Frances was kindly assisting in the occupation, disregarding her own neglected bargains, when the stranger suddenly broke the silence by saying—
“If any apprehensions of me induce Captain Wharton to maintain his disguise, I wish him to be undeceived—had I motives for betraying him, they could not operate under present circumstances.”
The younger sister sunk into her seat colourless and astonished. Miss Peyton dropped the tea-tray she was lifting from the table, and Sarah sat with her purchases unheeded in her lap, in speechless surprise. Mr. Wharton was stupified; but the captain, hesitating a moment from astonishment, sprang into the middle of the room, and exclaimed, as he tore off the instruments of his disguise—
“I believe you from my soul, and this tiresome imposition shall continue no longer. Yet I am at a loss to conceive in what manner you should know me.”
“You really look so much better in your proper person, Captain Wharton,” said Harper with a slight smile, “I would advise you never to conceal it in future. There, is enough to betray you, if other sources of detection were wanting:” as he spoke, he pointed to a picture suspended over the mantle-piece, which exhibited the British officer in his regimentals.
“I had flattered myself,” cried young Wharton with a laugh, “that I looked better on the canvass than in masquerade—you must be a close observer, sir!”
“Necessity has made me one,” said Harper, rising from his seat.
Frances met him as he was about to withdraw, and, taking his hand between both her own, said with earnestness—her cheeks mantling with their richest vermilion—“You cannot—you will not betray my brother.”
For an instant Harper paused in silent admiration of the lovely pleader, and then, folding her hands on his breast, he replied solemnly—“I cannot, a
nd I will not;” he released her hands, and laying his own on her head gently, continued—“If the blessing of a stranger can profit you, receive it.” He turned, and, bowing low, retired, with a delicacy that was duly appreciated by those he quitted, to his own apartment.
The whole party were deeply impressed with the ingenuous and solemn manner of the traveller, and all but the father found immediate relief in his declaration. Some of the cast-off clothes of the captain, which had been removed with the goods from the city, were produced; and young Wharton, released from the uneasiness of his disguise, began at last to enjoy a visit which had been undertaken at so much personal risk. Mr. Wharton retiring to his apartment, in pursuance of his regular engagements, the ladies, with the young man, were left to an uninterrupted communication on such subjects as were most agreeable. Even Miss Peyton was affected with the spirits of her young relatives; and they sat for an hour enjoying in heedless confidence, the pleasures of an unrestrained conversation, without reflecting on any danger which might be impending over them. The city and their acquaintances were not long neglected; for Miss Peyton, who had never forgotten the many agreeable hours of her residence within its boundaries, soon inquired, among others, after their old acquaintance Colonel Wellmere.
“Oh!” cried the captain gaily, “he yet continues there, as handsome and as gallant as ever.”
Although a woman be not actually in love, she seldom hears without a blush, the name of a man whom she might love, and who has been connected with herself, by idle gossips, in the amatory rumour of the day. Such had been the case with Sarah, and she dropped her eyes on the carpet with a smile, that, aided by the blush which suffused her cheek, in no degree detracted from her native charms.
Captain Wharton, without heeding this display of interest in his sister, immediately continued—“At times he is melancholy—we tell him it must be love.” Sarah raised her eyes to the face of her brother, and was consciously turning them on the rest of the party, when she met those of her sister, laughing with good-humour and high spirits, as she cried, “Poor man—does he despair?”
“Why, no—one would think he could not—the eldest son of a man of wealth, so handsome, and a colonel.”
“Strong reasons, indeed, why he should prevail,” said Sarah, endeavouring to laugh, “more particularly the latter.”
“Let me tell you,” replied the captain gravely, “a Lieutenant-Colonelcy in the Guards is a very pretty thing”—
“And Colonel Wellmere a very pretty man,” added Frances.
“Nay, Frances,” returned her sister, “Colonel Wellmere was never a favorite of yours—he is too loyal to his King to be agreeable to your taste.”
Frances quickly answered—“and is not Henry loyal to his King?”
“Come, come,” said Miss Peyton, “no difference of opinion about the colonel—he is a favorite of mine.”
“Fanny likes majors better,” cried the brother, pulling her upon his knee.
“Nonsense,” said the blushing girl, as she endeavoured to extricate herself from the grasp of her laughing brother.
“It surprizes me,” continued the captain, “that Peyton, when he procured the release of my father, did not endeavour to detain my sister in the rebel camp.”
“That might have endangered his own liberty,” said the smiling girl, resuming her seat; “you know it is liberty for which Major Dunwoodie is fighting.”
“Liberty!” exclaimed Sarah, “very pretty liberty—which exchanges one master for fifty.”
“The privilege of changing masters at all is a liberty.”
“And one you ladies would sometimes be glad to exercise,” cried the captain.
“We like, I believe, to have the liberty of choosing who they shall be in the first place,” said the laughing girl; “don’t we, aunt Jeanette.”
“Me!” cried Miss Peyton starting; “what do I know of such things child; you must ask some one else, if you wish to learn such matters.”
“Ah! you would have us think you were never young—but what am I to believe of all the tales I have heard about the handsome Miss Jeanette Peyton.”
“Nonsense—my dear—nonsense,” said the aunt, endeavouring to suppress a smile; “it is very silly to believe all you hear.”
“Nonsense! do you call it,” cried the captain gaily; “to this hour General Montrose toasts Miss Peyton; I heard him within the week, at Sir Henry’s table.”
“Why, Henry, you are as saucy as your sister; and to break in upon your folly, I must take you to see my new home-made manufactures, which I will be bold enough to put in contrast with the finery of Birch.”
The young people rose to follow their aunt, in perfect good humour with each other and the world. On ascending the stairs to the place of deposit for Miss Peyton’s articles of domestic economy, she availed herself, however, of an opportunity to inquire of her nephew, whether General Montrose suffered as much from the gout, as he had done when she knew him.
It is a painful discovery we make, as we advance in life, that even those we most love are not exempt from its frailties. When the heart is fresh, and the view of the future unsullied by the blemishes which have been gathered from the experience of the past, our feelings are most holy—we love to identify with the persons of our natural friends, all those qualities to which we ourselves aspire, and all those virtues we have been taught to revere. The confidence with which we esteem seems a part of our nature; and there is a purity, thrown around the affections which tie us to our kindred, that after life can seldom hope to see uninjured. The family of Mr. Wharton continued to enjoy, for the remainder of the day, a happiness to which they had long been strangers; and one that sprung, in its younger members, from the delights of the most confident affection, and the exchange of the most disinterested endearments.
Harper appeared only at the dinner table, and he retired with the cloth, under the pretence of some engagements in his own room. Notwithstanding the confidence created by his manner, the family felt his absence a relief; for the visit of Captain Wharton was necessarily to be confined to a very few days, both from the limitation of his leave of absence, and the danger of a discovery.
All dread of consequences, however, was lost in the pleasure of the meeting. Once or twice during the day, Mr. Wharton had suggested a doubt as to the character of his unknown guest, and the possibility of the detection of his son proceeding in some manner from his information: but the idea was earnestly opposed by all his children; even Sarah uniting with her brother and sister in pleading warmly in favor of the sincerity expressed in the outward appearance of the traveller.
“Such appearances, my children,” replied the desponding parent, “are but too often deceitful; when men like Major André lend themselves to the purposes of fraud, it is idle to reason from qualities, much less externals.”
“Fraud!” cried his son quickly; “surely, sir, you forget that Major André was serving his king, and that the usages of war justified the measure.”
“And did not the usages of war justify his death, Henry?” inquired Frances, speaking in a low voice, unwilling to abandon what she thought the cause of her country, and yet unable to suppress her feelings for the man.
“Never!” exclaimed the young man, springing from his seat, and pacing the floor rapidly—“Frances you shock me; suppose it should be my fate, even now, to fall into the power of the rebels—you would vindicate my execution—perhaps exult in the cruelty of Washington.”
“Henry!” said Frances solemnly, quivering with emotion, and with a face pale as death, “you little know my heart.”—
“Pardon me—my sister—my little Fanny,” cried the repentant youth, pressing her to his bosom, and kissing off the tears which had burst, in spite of her resolution, from her eyes.
“It is very foolish to regard your hasty words, I know,” said Frances, extricating herself from his arms, and raising her ye
t humid eyes to his face with a smile—“But reproach from those we love is most severe, Henry—particularly—where we—we think—we know,”—her paleness gradually gave place to the colour of the rose, as she concluded in a low voice, with her eyes directed to the carpet,—“we are undeserving of it.”—
Miss Peyton moved from her own seat to the one next her niece, and, kindly taking her hand, observed, “you should not suffer the impetuosity of your brother to affect you so much—boys, you know, are proverbially ungovernable.”—
“And from my conduct you might add cruel,” said the captain, seating himself on the other side of his sister; “but on the subject of the death of André we are all of us uncommonly sensitive—you did not know him—he was all that was brave—that was accomplished—that was estimable.” Frances smiled faintly and shook her head, but made no reply. Her brother, observing the marks of incredulity in her countenance, continued—“you doubt it, and justify his death?”
“I do not doubt his worth,” replied the maid mildly, “nor his being deserving of a more happy fate; but I cannot doubt the propriety of Washington’s conduct. I know but little of the customs of war, and wish to know less; but with what hopes of success could the Americans contend, if they yielded all the principles which long usage had established, to the exclusive purposes of the British?”
“Why contend at all?” cried Sarah impatiently; “besides, being rebels, all their acts are illegal.”—
“Women are but mirrors, which reflect the images before them,” cried the captain, good naturedly.—“In Frances I see the picture of Major Dunwoodie—and in Sarah”—
“Colonel Wellmere,” interrupted the younger sister laughing, and blushing crimson. “I must confess I am indebted to the major for my reasoning—am I not, aunt Jeanette?”
“I believe it is something like his logic, indeed, child.”
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