CHAPTER II.
WHEREIN THE READER IS INTRODUCED TO TWO WORTHIES WITH WHOM HE IS LIKELYTO FORM AN INTIMATE ACQUAINTANCE.
It was about two o'clock in the afternoon of a day towards the end ofJuly, 1780, when Captain Arthur Butler, now holding a brevet, some tendays old, of major in the continental army, and Galbraith Robinson wereseen descending the long hill which separates the South Garden from theCove. They had just left the rich and mellow scenery of the formerdistrict, and were now passing into the picturesque valley of thelatter. It was evident from the travel-worn appearance of their horses,as well as from their equipments, that they had journeyed many a milebefore they had reached this spot; and it might also have been perceivedthat the shifting beauties of the landscape were not totally disregardedby Butler, at least,--as he was seen to halt on the summit of the hill,turn and gaze back upon the wood-embowered fields that lay beneath hiseye, and by lively gestures to direct the notice of his companion to thesame quarter. Often, too, as they moved slowly downward, he reined uphis steed to contemplate more at leisure the close, forest-shaded ravinebefore them, through which the Cove creek held its noisy way. It was notso obvious that his companion responded to the earnest emotions whichthis wild and beautiful scenery excited in his mind.
Arthur Butler was now in the possession of the vigor of early manhood,with apparently some eight and twenty years upon his head. His frame waswell proportioned, light and active. His face, though distinguished by asmooth and almost beardless cheek, still presented an outline of decidedmanly beauty. The sun and wind had tanned his complexion, except where arich volume of black hair upon his brow had preserved the originalfairness of a high, broad forehead. A hazel eye sparkled under theshade of a dark lash, and indicated, by its alternate playfulness anddecision, an adventurous as well as a cheerful spirit. His wholebearing, visage and figure, seemed to speak of one familiar withenterprise and fond of danger:--they denoted gentle breedingpredominating over a life of toil and privation.
Notwithstanding his profession, which was seen in his erect andperemptory carriage, his dress, at this time, was, with some slightexceptions, merely civil. And here, touching this matter of dress, Ihave a prefatory word to say to my reader. Although custom, or thefashion of the story-telling craft, may require that I should satisfythe antiquarian in this important circumstance of apparel of the daysgone by, yet, on the present occasion, I shall be somewhat chary of mylore in that behalf;--seeing that any man who is curious on the score ofthe costume of the revolution time, may be fully satisfied by studyingthose most graphic "counterfeit presentments" of sundry historicalpassages of that day, wherewith Colonel Trumbull has furnished this age,for the edification of posterity, in the great rotunda of the Capitol ofthe United States. And I confess, too, I have another reason for mypresent reluctance,--as I feel some faint misgiving lest my principalactor might run the risk of making a sorry figure with the livinggeneration, were I to introduce him upon the stage in a coat, whosetechnical description, after the manner of a botanical formula, mightbe comprised in the following summary:--long-waisted--wide-skirted--narrow-collared--broad-backed--big-buttoned--and large-lapelled;--andthen to add to this, what would be equally outlandish, yellowsmall-clothes, and dark-topped boots, attached by a leather strap to thebuttons at the knee,--without which said boots, no gentleman in 1780ventured to mount on horseback.
But when I say that Captain Butler travelled on his present journey,habited in the civil costume of a gentleman of the time, I do not meanto exclude a round hat pretty much of the fashion of the presentday--though then but little used except amongst military men--with awhite cockade to show his party; nor do I wish to be considered asderogating from that peaceful character when I add that his saddle-bowwas fortified by a brace of horseman's pistols, stowed away in largeholsters, covered with bear skin;--for, in those days, when hostilebanners were unfurled, and men challenged each other upon the highways,these pistols were a part of the countenance (to use an excellent oldphrase) of a gentleman.
Galbraith Robinson was a man of altogether rougher mould. Nature hadcarved out, in his person, an athlete whom the sculptors might havestudied to improve the Hercules. Every lineament of his body indicatedstrength. His stature was rather above six feet; his chest broad; hislimbs sinewy, and remarkable for their symmetry. There seemed to be nouseless flesh upon his frame to soften the prominent surface of hismuscles; and his ample thigh, as he sat upon horseback, showed theworking of its texture at each step, as if part of the animal on whichhe rode. His was one of those iron forms that might be imagined almostbullet proof. With all these advantages of person, there was a radiant,broad, good nature upon his face; and the glance of a large, clear, blueeye told of arch thoughts, and of shrewd, homely wisdom. A ruddycomplexion accorded well with his sprightly, but massive features, ofwhich the prevailing expression was such as silently invited friendshipand trust. If to these traits be added an abundant shock of yellow,curly hair, terminating in a luxuriant queue, confined by a narrowstrand of leather cord, my reader will have a tolerably correct idea ofthe person I wish to describe.
Robinson had been a blacksmith at the breaking out of the revolution,and, in truth, could hardly be said to have yet abandoned the craft;although of late, he had been engaged in a course of life which had butlittle to do with the anvil, except in that metaphorical sense ofhammering out and shaping the rough, iron independence of his country.He was the owner of a little farm in the Waxhaw settlement, on theCatawba, and having pitched his habitation upon a promontory, aroundwhose base the Waxhaw creek swept with a regular but narrow circuit,this locality, taken in connexion with his calling, gave rise to acommon prefix to his name throughout the neighborhood, and he wastherefore almost exclusively distinguished by the sobriquet of HorseShoe Robinson. This familiar appellative had followed him into the army.
The age of Horse Shoe was some seven or eight years in advance of thatof Butler--a circumstance which the worthy senior did not fail to usewith some authority in their personal intercourse, holding himself, onthat account, to be like Cassius, an elder, if not a better soldier. Onthe present occasion, his dress was of the plainest and most rusticdescription: a spherical crowned hat with a broad brim, a coarse greycoatee of mixed cotton and wool, dark linsey-woolsey trowsers adheringclosely to his leg, hob-nailed shoes, and a red cotton handkerchief tiedcarelessly round his neck with a knot upon his bosom. This costume, anda long rifle thrown into the angle of the right arm, with the breechresting on his pommel, and a pouch of deer-skin, with a powder hornattached to it, suspended on his right side, might have warranted aspectator in taking Robinson for a woodsman, or hunter from theneighboring mountains.
Such were the two personages who now came "pricking o'er the hill." Theperiod at which I have presented them to my reader was, perhaps, themost anxious one of the whole struggle for independence. Without fallinginto a long narrative of events which are familiar, at least to everyAmerican, I may recall the fact that Gates had just passed southward, totake command of the army destined to act against Cornwallis. It was nowwithin a few weeks of that decisive battle which sent the hero ofSaratoga "bootless home and weather-beaten back," to ponder over themutations of fortune, and, in the quiet shades of Virginia, to strikethe balance of fame between northern glory and southern discomfiture. Itmay be imagined then, that our travellers were not without some share ofthat intense interest for the events "upon the gale," which every wherepervaded the nation. Still, as I have before hinted, Arthur Butler didnot journey through this beautiful region without a lively perception ofthe charms which nature had spread around him. The soil of this districtis remarkable for its blood-red hue. The side of every bank glowed inthe sun with this bright vermillion tint, and the new-made furrow,wherever the early ploughman had scarred the soil, turned up to view thepredominating color. The contrast of this with the luxuriant grass andthe yellow stubble, with the grey and mossy rock, and with the deepgreen shade of the surrounding forest, perpetually solicited the noticeof the lover o
f landscape; and from every height, the eye rested withpleasure upon the rich meadows of the bottom land--upon the variedcornfields spread over the hills; upon the adjacent mountains, withtheir bald crags peeping through the screen of forest, and especiallyupon the broad lines of naked earth that, here and there, lighted up andrelieved, as a painter would say, with its warm coloring, the heavymasses of shade.
The day was hot, and it was with a grateful sense of refreshment thatour wayfarers, no less than their horses, found themselves, as theyapproached the lowland, gradually penetrating the deep and tangledthicket and the high wood that hung over and darkened the channel of thesmall stream which rippled through the valley. Their road lay along thisstream and frequently crossed it at narrow fords, where the water fellfrom rock to rock in small cascades, presenting natural basins of thelimpid flood, embosomed in laurel and alder, and gurgling that busymusic which is one of the most welcome sounds to the ear of a weariedand overheated traveller.
Butler said but little to his companion, except now and then to expressa passing emotion of admiration for the natural embellishments of theregion; until, at length, the road brought them to a huge mass of rock,from whose base a fountain issued forth over a bed of gravel, and soonlost itself in the brook hard by. A small strip of bark, that somefriend of the traveller had placed there, caught the pure water as itwas distilled from the rock, and threw it off in a spout, some fewinches above the surface of the ground. The earth trodden around thisspot showed it to be a customary halting place for those who journeyedon the road.
Here Butler checked his horse, and announced to his comrade hisintention to suspend, for a while, the toil of travel.
"There is one thing, Galbraith," said he, as he discounted, "wherein allphilosophers agree--man must eat when he is hungry, and rest when he isweary. We have now been some six hours on horseback, and as thisfountain seems to have been put here for our use, it would be sinfullyslighting the bounties of providence not to do it the honor of a halt.Get down, man; rummage your havresac, and let us see what you havethere."
Robinson was soon upon his feet, and taking the horses a little distanceoff, he fastened their bridles to the impending branches of a tree; thenopening his saddle-bags, he produced a wallet with which he approachedthe fountain, where Butler had thrown himself at full length upon thegrass. Here, as he successively disclosed his stores, he announced hisbill of fare, with suitable deliberation between each item, in thefollowing terms:
"I don't march without provisions, you see, captain--or major, I supposeI must call you now. Here's the rear division of a roast pig, and alongwith it, by way of flankers, two spread eagles (holding up two broiledfowls), and here are four slices from the best end of a ham. Besidesthese, I can throw in two apple-jacks, a half dozen of rolls, and--"
"Your wallet is as bountiful as a conjurer's bag, sergeant; it is aperfect cornucopia. How did you come by all this provender?"
"It isn't so overmuch, major, when you come to consider," said Robinson."The old landlady at Charlottesville is none of your heap-up,shake-down, and running-over landladies, and when I signified to herthat we mought want a snack upon the road, she as much as gave me tounderstand that there wa'n't nothing to be had. But I took care to makefair weather with her daughter, as I always do amongst the creatures,and she let me into the pantry, where I made bold to stow away these fewtrifling articles, under the denomination of pillage. If you are fond ofIndian corn bread, I can give you a pretty good slice of that."
"Pillage, Galbraith! You forget you are not in an enemy's country. Idirected you scrupulously to pay for everything you got upon the road. Ihope you have not omitted it to-day?"
"Lord, sir! what do these women do for the cause of liberty but cook,and wash, and mend!" exclaimed the sergeant. "I told the old Jezebel tocharge it all to the continental congress."
"Out upon it, man! Would you bring us into discredit with our bestfriends, by your villanous habits of free quarters?"
"I am not the only man, major, that has been spoiled in his religion bythese wars. I had both politeness and decency till we got to squabblingover our chimney corners in Carolina. But when a man's conscience beginsto get hard, it does it faster than anything in nature: it is, I maysay, like the boiling of an egg--it is very clear at first, but as soonas it gets cloudy, one minute more and you may cut it with a knife."
"Well, well! Let us fall to, sergeant; this is no time to argue pointsof conscience."
"You seem to take no notice of this here bottle of peach brandy major,"said Robinson. "It's a bird that came out of the same nest. To mythinking it's a sort of a file leader to an eatable, if it ar'n't aneatable itself."
"Peace, Galbraith! it is the vice of the army to set too much store bythis devil brandy."
The sergeant was outwardly moved by an inward laugh that shook his headand shoulders.
"Do you suppose, major, that Troy town was taken without brandy? It'sdrilling and countermarching and charging with the bagnet, all three,sir. But before we begin, I will just strip our horses. A flurry of coolair on the saddle spot is the best thing in nature for a tired horse."
Robinson now performed this office for their jaded cattle; and havinggiven them a mouthful of water at the brook, returned to his post, andsoon began to despatch, with a laudable alacrity, the heaps of provisionbefore him. Butler partook with a keen appetite of this sylvan repast,and was greatly amused to see with what relish his companion causedslice after slice to vanish, until nothing was left of this large supplybut a few fragments.
"You have lost neither stomach nor strength by the troubles, sergeant;the short commons of Charleston would have gone something against thegrain with you, if you had stayed for that course of diet."
"It is a little over two months," said Robinson, "since I got away fromthem devils; and if it hadn't been for these here wings of mine(pointing to his legs), I might have been a caged bird to-day."
"You have never told me the story of your escape," said Butler.
"You were always too busy, or too full of your own thoughts, major, forme to take up your time with such talk," replied the other. "But, if youwould like me to tell you all about it, while you are resting yourselfhere on the ground, and have got nothing better to think about, why,I'll start like old Jack Carter of our mess, by beginning, as he used tosay when he had a tough story ahead, right at the beginning."
"Do so, sergeant, and do it discreetly; but first, swallow thatmouthful, for you don't speak very clear."
"I'll wash down the gutter, major, according to camp fashion and thenmy throat will be as clear as the morning gun after sun rise."
And saying this, the tall soldier helped himself to a hearty draught ofcool water mingled in fair proportion with a part of the contents of hisflask, and setting the cup down by his side, he commenced as follows:--
"You was with us, major, when Prevost served us that trick in Georgia,last year--kept us, you remember, on the look out for him t'other sideof the Savannah, whilst all the time he was whisking of it down toCharleston."
"You call this beginning at the beginning? Faith, you have started afull year before your time. Do you think yourself a Polybius or aXenophon--who were two famous old fellows, just in your line,sergeant--that you set out with a history of a whole war."
"I never knew any persons in our line--officers or men--of either ofthem names,"--replied Robinson,--"they were nicknames, perhaps;--but Ido know, as well as another, when a thing turns up that is worth notice,major; and this is one of 'em:--and that's the reason why I make mentionof it. What I was going to say was this--that it was a sign fit forGeneral Lincoln's consarnment, that these here British should make apush at Charleston on the tenth of May, 1779, and get beaten, and thatexactly in one year and two days afterwards, they should make anotherpush and win the town. Now, what was it a sign of, but that they and thetories was more industrious that year than we were?"
"Granted," said Butler, "now to your story, Mister Philosopher!"
"In what mo
nth was it you left us?" inquired the sergeant gravely.
"In March," answered Butler.
"General Lincoln sent you off, as we were told, on some business withthe continental congress: to get us more troops, if I am right. It was apity to throw away a good army on such a place--for it wa'nt worthdefending at last. From the time that you set out they began toshut us in, every day a little closer. First, they closed a door onone side, and then on t'other: till, at last they sent a sort offlash-o'-lightning fellow--this here Colonel Tarleton--up to Monk'scorner, which, you know, was our back door, and he shut that up anddouble bolted it, by giving Huger a most tremenjious lathering. Now,when we were shut in, we had nothing to do but look out. I'll tell youan observation I made, at that time."
"Well."
"Why, when a man has got to fight, it's a natural sort of thingenough;--but when he has got nothing to eat, it's an onnatural state. Ihave hearn of men who should have said they would rather fight thaneat:--if they told truth they would have made honest fellows for ourgarrison at Charlestown. First, our vegetables--after that devil took uphis quarters at Monk's corner--began to give out then, our meat; and,finally, we had nothing left but rice, which I consider neither fish,flesh, nor good salt herring"----
"You had good spirits, though, sergeant."
"If you mean rum or brandy, major, we hadn't much of that;--but if youmean jokes and laughs, it must be hard times that will stop them incamp.--I'll tell you one of them, that made a great hurra on both sides,where we got the better of a Scotch regiment that was plaguing us fromoutside the town. They thought they would make themselves merry with ourstarvation--so, they throwed a bomb shell into our lines, that, as itcame along through the air, we saw had some devilment in it, from thestreak it made in daylight; and, sure enough, when we come to look at iton the ground, we found it filled with rice and molasses--just to showthat these Scotchmen were laughing at us for having nothing to eat.Well, what do we do but fill another shell with brimstone and hogslard,and just drop it handsomely amongst the lads from the land o'cakes? Gad,sir, it soon got to the hearing of the English regiment, and such ashouting as they sot up from their lines against the Scotchmen! That'swhat I call giving as good as they saunt, major--ha ha ha!"
"It wasn't a bad repartee, Galbraith," said Butler, joining in thelaugh. "But go on with your siege."
"We got taken, at last," proceeded Horse Shoe, "and surrendered on the12th of May. Do you know that they condescended to let us go through themotions of marching outside the lines? Still it was a sorry day to seeour colors tied as fast to their sticks as if a stocking had been drawnover them. After that, we were marched to the barracks and put intoclose confinement."
"Yes, I have heard that; and with heavy hearts--and a dreary prospectbefore you, sergeant."
"I shouldn't have minded it much, Major Butler, it was the fortune ofwar. But they insulted us as soon as they got our arms from us. It was ablasted cowardly trick in them to endeavor to wean us from our cause,which they tried every day; it was seduction, I may say. First, theytold us that Colonel Pinckney and some other officers had gone over; butthat was too onprobable a piece of rascality,--we didn't believe oneword on't. So, one morning Colonel Pinckney axed that we mought bedrawed up in a line in front of the barracks; and there he made us aspeech. We were as silent as so many men on a surprise party. Thecolonel said--yes, sir, and right in their very teeth--that it was aninfamious, audacious calamy: that whenever he desarted the cause ofliberty, he hoped they would take him, as they had done some Romanofficer or other--I think one Officious, as I understood thecolonel--you've hearn of him, may be--and tie his limbs to wild horses,and set them adrift, at full speed, taking all his joints apart, so thatnot one traitorious limb should be left to keep company with another. Itwas a mighty severe punishment, whoever he mought'a been. The Britishofficers began to frown--and I saw one chap put his hand upon his sword.It would have done you good to witness the look the colonel gave him, ashe put his own hand to his thigh to feel if his sword was there--he sonaturally forgot he was a prisoner. They made him stop speakinghowsever, because they gave out that it was perditious language; and so,they dismissed us--but we let them have three cheers to show that wewere in heart."
"It was like Pinckney," said Butler; "I'll warrant him a true man,Galbraith."
"I'll thribble that warrant," replied Galbraith, "and afterwards make itnine. I wish you could have hearn him. I always thought a bugle horn thebest music in the world, till that day. But that day Colonel CharlesCotesworth Pinckney's voice was sweeter than shawns and trumpets, as thepreacher says, and bugles to boot. I have hearn people tell of speechesworking like a fiddle on a man's nerves, major: but, for my part, Ithink they sometimes work like a battery of field-pieces, or a wholeregimental band on a parade day. Howsever, I was going on to tell you,Colonel Pinckney put a stop to all this parleying with our poor fellows;and knowing, major, that you was likely to be coming this way, he axedme if I thought I could give the guard the slip, and make off with aletter to meet you. Well, I studied over the thing for a while, and thentold him a neck was but a neck any how, and that I could try; and so,when his letter was ready, he gave it to me, telling me to hide it sothat, if I was sarched, it couldn't be found on my person. Do you seethat foot?" added Horse Shoe, smiling, "it isn't so small but that Icould put a letter between the inside sole and the out, longways, oreven crossways, for the matter of that, and that, without so much asturning down a corner. Correspondent and accordingly I stitched it in.The colonel then told me to watch my chance and make off to you in theJarseys, as fast as I could. He told me, besides, that I was to staywith you, because you was likely to have business for me to do."
"That's true, good sergeant."
"There came on a darkish, drizzly evening; and a little before rollcall, at sun set, I borrowed an old forage cloak from CorporalGreen--you mought have remembered him--and out I went towards the lines,and sauntered along the edge of the town, till I came to one of yourpipe-smoking, gin-drinking Hessians, keeping sentry near the road thatleads out towards Ashley ferry:--a fellow that had no more watch inhim--bless your soul!--as these Dutchmen hav'n't--than a duck on a rainyday. So, said I, coming up boldly to him, 'Hans, wie gehet es'--'Geh zumTeufel,' says he, laughing--for he knowed me. That was all the Dutch Icould speak, except I was able to say it was going to rain, so I toldhim--'Es will regnen'--which he knowed as well as I did, for it wasraining all the time. I had a little more palaver with Hans, and, atlast, he got up on his feet and set to walking up and down. By this timethe drums beat for evening quarters, and I bid Hans good night; but,instead of going away, I squatted behind the Dutchman's sentrybox;--and, presently, the rain came down by the bucket full; it got verydark and Hans was snug under cover. The grand rounds was coming; I couldhear the tramp of feet, and as no time was to be lost, I made a longstep and a short story of it, by just slipping over the lines andsetting out to seek my fortune."
"Well done, sergeant! You were ever good at these pranks."
"But that wasn't all," continued Robinson. "As the prime file leader ofmischief would have it, outside of the lines I meets a cart with a manto drive it, and two soldiers on foot, by way of guard.
"The first I was aware of it, was a hallo, and then a bagnet to mybreast. I didn't ask for countersigns, for I didn't mean to trade inwords that night; but, just seizing hold of the muzzle of the piece, Itwisted it out of the fellow's hand, and made him a present of thebutt-end across his pate. I didn't want to hurt him, you see, for itwa'n't his fault that he stopped me. A back-hander brought down theother, and the third man drove off his cart, as if he had some suspicionthat his comrades were on their backs in the mud. I didn't mean totrouble a peaceable man with my compliments, but on the contrary, as thepreacher says, I went on my way rejoicing."
"You were very considerate, sergeant; I entirely approve of yourmoderation. As you are a brave man, and have a natural liking fordanger, this was a night that, doubtless, afforded you greatsatisfaction."
"When danger stares you in the face," replied Horse Shoe, "the best wayis not to see it. It is only in not seeing of it, that a brave mandiffers from a coward: that's my opinion. Well, after that I had a hardtime of it. I was afraid to keep up the Neck road, upon account of thesodgers that was upon it; so I determined to cross the Ashley, and makefor the Orangeburg district. When I came to the ferry, I was a littledubious about taking one of the skiffs that was hauled up, for fear ofmaking a noise; so I slipped off my shoe that had your letter, and putit betwixt my teeth and swum the river. I must have made some splashingin the water--although I tried to muffle my oars, too, for first, Iheard a challenge from the ferry-house, and then the crack of a musket:but it was so dark you couldn't see an egg on your own nose. There was alittle flustering of lights on the shore, and a turnout of the guard,may be; but, I suppose, they thought it was a sturgeon, or some suchbeast, and so made no more of it; and I got safe to the other bank."
"Faithfully and bravely, sergeant!"
"For the first three or four days the chances were all against me. Thewhole country was full of tories, and it wasn't safe to meet a man onthe road: you couldn't tell whether he was friend or enemy. I durstn'tshow my face in day-time at all, but lay close in the swamps; and whenit began to grow dark, I stole out, like a wolf, and travelled acrossthe fields, and along the by-ways."
"You had a good stomach to bear it, sergeant."
"A good stomach enough, but not much in it. I'll tell you anotherobservation I made; when a man travels all night long on an emptystomach, he ought either to fill it next morning or make it smaller."
"And how is that to be managed, friend Horse Shoe?"
"Indian fashion," replied the sergeant. "Buckle your belt a littletighter every two or three hours. A man may shrivel his guts up to thesize of a pipe stem. But I found a better way to get along than bytaking in my belt"----
"Now, for another stratagem!"
"I commonly, about dark, crept as near to a farm house as I moughtventure to go; and, putting on a poor mouth, told the folks I had atouch of the small-pox, and was dying for a little food. They wereChristians enough to give me a dish of bread and milk, or something ofthat sort, and cowards enough to keep so much out of the way, as not toget a chance to look me in the face. They laid provisions on the ground,and then walked away while I came up to get them. Though I didn't thinkmuch of the fashion I was waited on, and had sometimes to quarrel with abull-dog for my supper, I don't believe I ever ate with a betterappetite in my life. The first bread of freedom, no matter how coarse, aman eats after his escape from prison, is the sweetest morsel in nature.And I do think it is a little pleasanter when he eats it at the risk ofhis life."
Butler nodded his head.
"Well, after this," continued Horse Shoe, "I had like to have lost allby another mishap. My course was for the upper country, because thenearer I got to my own home the better I was acquainted with the people.That scrummaging character, Tarleton, you may have hearn, scampered off,as soon as ever Charlestown was taken, after Colonel Abraham Buford, whowas on his way down to the city when the news was fotch him of oursurrender. Buford accordingly came to the right about, to get out ofharm's way as fast as he could, and Tarleton followed close on hisheels. Think of that devil, major, trying to catch a man a hundredmiles away! It was a brazen hearted thing! considering, besides, thatBuford had a good regiment with him. When nobody thought it anythingmore than a brag, sure enough, he overhauls Buford yonder at theWaxhaws--onawares, you may say--and there he tore him all to pieces.They say it was a bloody cruel sight, to see how these English troopersdid mangle the poor fellows. I doubt there wasn't fair play. But, major,that Tarleton rides well and is a proper soldier, take him man to man.It so happened that as I was making along towards Catawba, who should Icome plump upon, but Tarleton and his lads, with their prisoners, allhalting beside a little run to get water!"
"Again in trouble, sergeant! Truly you have had full measure ofadventures!"
"I was pretty near nonplushed, major," said Horse Shoe, with a broadlaugh, "but I thought of a stratagem. I let fall my under jaw, and sotmy eyes as wild as a madman, and twisted my whole face out of joint--andbegan to clap my hands, and hurra for the red coats, like a naturalfool. So, when Tarleton and two or three of his people came to takenotice of me, they put me down for a poor idiot that had been turnedadrift."
"Did they hold any discourse with you?"
"A good deal; and, just to try me, they flogged me with the flats oftheir swords; but I laughed and made merry when they hurt me worst, andtold them I thanked them for their politeness. There were some of ourpeople amongst the prisoners, that I knew, and I was mortally afeardthey would let on, but they didn't. Especially, there was Seth Cuthbert,from Tryon, who had both of his hands chopped off in the fray at theWaxhaws; he was riding double behind a trooper, and he held up thestumps just to let me see how barbarously he was mangled. I was dubiousthey would see that he knowed me, but he took care of that. Bless yoursoul, major! he saw my drift in the first shot of his eye. Thinking thatthey mought take it into their noddles to carry me along with them back,I played the quarest trick that I suppose ever a man thought of; itmakes me laugh now to tell it. I made a spring that fetched me rightupon the crupper of Colonel Tarleton's horse, which sot him to kickingand flirting at a merry rate; and, whilst the creature was flounderingas if a hornet had stung him, I took the colonel's cap and put it uponmy own head, and gave him mine. And after I had vagaried in this sort ofway for a little while, I let the horse fling me on the ground. Youwould have thought the devils would have died a laughing. And thecolonel himself, although at first he was very angry, couldn't helplaughing likewise. He said that I was as strange a fool as he ever saw,and that it would be a pity to hurt me. So he threw me a shilling, and,whilst they were all in good humor, I trudged away."
"It was a bold experiment, and might be practised a thousand timeswithout success. If I did not know you, Robinson, to be a man of truth,as well as courage, I should scarce believe this tale. If any one,hereafter, should tell your story, he will be accounted afiction-monger."
"I do not boast, Major Butler; and, as to my story, I care very littlewho tells it. Every trick is good in war. I can change my face and voiceboth, so that my best friends shouldn't know me: and, in these times, Iam willing to change every thing but my coat, and even that, if I have awitness to my heart, and it will serve a turn to help the country. Am Inot right?"
"No man ever blames another for that, sergeant, and if ever you shouldbe put to the trial, you will find friends enough to vouch for yourhonesty."
"When I got away from Tarleton it wasn't long before I reached my owncabin. There I mustered my horse and gun, and some decent clothes; andafter a good sleep, and a belly full of food, I started for the north,as fast as I could, with my letter. I put it into your own hands, andyou know the rest."
"This will be a good tale for a winter night," said Butler, "to be toldhereafter, in a snug chimney corner, to your wife and children, whenpeace, as I trust it may, will make you happy in the possession of both.Your embassy has had marvellous good luck so far. I hope it may prove ahappy omen for our future enterprise. Now it is my turn, Galbraith, totell you something of our plans. Colonel Pinckney has apprised me of thestate of things in the upper country. Our good friend Clarke theremeditates an attempt to regain Augusta and Ninety-six; and we havereason to believe that some levies will be made by our confederates inVirginia and elsewhere. My business is to co-operate in thisundertaking; and as it was essential I should have the guidance of someman acquainted with that country--some good soldier, true andtrusty--the colonel has selected you to accompany me. These red coatshave already got possession of all the strongholds; and the tories, youknow, swarm in the country, like the locusts of Egypt. I stand in need,sergeant, of a friend with a discreet head and a strong arm. I could nothave picked out of the army a better man than Sergeant GalbraithRobinson. Besides, Horse Shoe," he added, putting his hand gently uponthe sergeant's shoul
der, "old acquaintance has bred an affection betweenus."
"I am a man that can eat my allowance, major," said Robinson, with anawkward diffidence at hearing the encomium just passed upon him, "andthat's a matter that doesn't turn to much profit in an empty country.But I think I may make bold to promise, that you are not like to suffer,if a word or a blow from me would do you any good."
"Your belt may be serviceable in two ways in this expedition, HorseShoe: it may be buckled closer in scant times, and will carry a sword indangerous ones."
"May I ask, major," inquired Horse Shoe, "since you have got to talkingof our business, what has brought us so high up the country, along here?It seems to me that the lower road would have been nearer."
"Suppose I say, Galbraith," replied Butler, with animation, "that thereis a bird nestles in these woods, I was fond of hearing sing, would itbe unsoldier-like, think you, to make a harder ride and a larger circuitfor that gratification?"
"Oh! I understand, major," said Horse Shoe, laughing, "whether it bepeace or whether it be war, these women keep the upper hand of us men.For my part, I think it's more natural to think of them in war than inpeace. For, you see, the creatures are so helpless, that if a man don'ttake care of them, who would? And then, when a woman's frightened, asshe must be in these times, she clings so naturally to a man! It standsto reason!"
"You will keep my counsel, Galbraith," interrupted Butler, "I have areason which, perhaps, you may know by and by, why you should not speakof any thing you may see or hear. And now, as we have spent a good hourin refreshment, sergeant, make our horses ready. We'll take the roadagain."
Robinson promised caution in all matters that might be committed to hischarge, and now set himself about saddling the horses for the journey.Whilst he was engaged in this occupation, Butler was startled to hearthe sergeant abruptly cry out--"You devil, Captain Peter Clinch! whatare you about?" and, looking hastily around, saw no one but the trustysquire himself, who was now sedately intent upon thrusting the bit intohis horse's mouth,--a liberty which the animal seemed to resent bysundry manifestations of waywardness.
"To whom are you talking, Galbraith?"
"Only to this here contrary, obstropolous beast, major."
"What name did you call him by?" inquired Butler.
"Ha, ha, ha! was it that you was listening too?" said Horse Shoe. "Ihave christened him Captain Peter--sometimes Captain Peter Clinch. I'lltell you why. I am a little malicious touching the name of my horse.After the surrender of Charlestown, our regiment was put in the chargeof a provost marshal, by the name of Captain Clinch, and his first namewas Peter. He was a rough, ugly, wiry-haired fellow, with no betterbowels than a barrel of vinegar. He gave us all sorts of ill usage,knowing that we wa'n't allowed to give him the kind of payment that suchan oncomfortable fellow desarved to get. If ever I had met him again,major, _setters parbus_--as Lieutenant Hopkins used to say--which islingo, I take it, for a fair field, I would'a cudgelled his pate forhim, to the satisfaction of all good fellows. Well, when I got home, Igave his name to my beast, just for the pleasure of thinking of thathang-gallows thief, every time I had occasion to give the creetur a digin the ribs, or lay a blow across his withers! And yet he is a most anexcellent horse, major, and a hundred times more of a gentleman than hisnamesake,--though he is a little hard-headed too--but that he larnt fromme. It really seems to me that the dumb beast thinks his name adisgrace, as he has good right, but has got used to it. And, besides, Ihear that the cross-grained, growling dog of a captain has been killedin a scuffle since I left Charlestown, so now I consider my horse a sortof tombstone with the ugly sinner's name on it; and as I straddle itevery day you see, that's another satisfaction."
"Well, sergeant, there are few men enjoy their revenge moregood-humoredly than you. So, come, straddle your tombstone again, andmake the bones beneath it jog."
In good glee, our travellers now betook themselves once more to theroad.
Horse-Shoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory Ascendency Page 4
