Horse-Shoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory Ascendency

by John Pendleton Kennedy

  CHAPTER XXI.

  "Now if you ask who gave the stroke I cannot tell, so mote I thrive; It was not given by man alive."--_Lay of the last Minstrel._

  It was a little before daybreak on Sunday morning, the fifteenth ofAugust (a day rendered memorable by the exploit of Sumpter, whocaptured, in the vicinity of Rocky Mount, a large quantity of militarystores, and a numerous escort, then on their way from Ninety-Six toCamden), that James Curry was travelling in the neighborhood of theEnnoree, some four miles distant from Musgrove's mill. He had a fewhours before left the garrison of Ninety-Six, and was now hieing withall haste to Blackstock's on a mission of importance. The night had beensultry, but the approach of the dawn had brought with it that refreshingcoolness which is always to be remarked in the half hour that precedesthe first blush of morning. The dragoon had had a weary night-ride, butthe recent change of temperature had invigorated his system and givenbuoyancy to his spirits. This effect was exhibited in his firstwhistling a tune, then humming the words of a ditty, and, finally, inbreaking forth into a loud full song, which, as he had a good voice andpractised skill, increased in loudness as he became better pleased withthe trial of his powers. The song was occasionally intermitted to giveroom to certain self-communings which the pastime suggested.

  "You may take it for sooth, that wit without gold,"

  he sang in the loudest strain, trying the words on different keys, andintroducing some variations in the tune--

  "Will make a bad market whenever 'tis sold."

  "That's true; your poor moneyless devil, how should his wit passcurrent? He was a shrewd fellow that wrote it down. Your rich man forwit, all the world over, and so the song runs:--

  "'But all over the world it is well understood That the joke of a rich man is sure to be good.'

  "True, true as gospel! Give the knaves dinners, plenty of Burgundy andPort, and what signifies an empty head? Go to college, and how is itthere? What is a sizer's joke? If the fellow have the wit of Diogenes,it is sheer impertinence. But let my young lord Croesus come out withhis flatulent nonsense, oh, that's the true ware for the market! JamesCurry, James Curry, what ought you to have been, if the supple jadefortune had done your deserts justice! Instead of a d----d dodgingdragoon, obedient to the beck of every puppy who wears his majesty'sepaulets; but it's no matter, that's past; the wheel has made its turn,and here I am, doing the work of the scullion, that ought to sit abovethe salt-cellar. Vogue la galere! We will play out the play. Meantime,I'll be merry in spite of the horoscope: come then, I like these wordsand the jolly knave, whoever he was, that penned them.

  "'You may take it for sooth that wit without gold.'"

  The singer was, at this instant, arrested at the top of his voice by ablow against the back of his head, bestowed, apparently, by someponderous hand, that so effectually swayed him from the line of gravity,as to cause him to reel in his saddle, and, by an irrecoverable impetus,to swing round to the ground, where he alighted on his back, with thereins of his horse firmly held in his hand.

  "Singing on Sunday is against the law," said a hoarse voice, that cameapparently from the air, as the darkness of the hour--which wasincreased by an overcast and lowering sky, as well as by the thick woodthrough which the road ran, prevented the stricken man from discerninganything that might have done him harm, even if such thing had beenbodily present. The soldier lay for a moment prostrate, bewildered bythe suddenness of this mysterious visitation; and when, at length, heregained his feet, he almost fancied that he heard receding from him,at a great distance, the dull beat of a horse's foot upon the sandyroad.

  Curry, who as a soldier was insensible to fear, now shook in everyjoint, as he stood beside his horse in a state of confused and ravelledwonderment. He strained his ear to catch the sound in the directiontowards which he thought he had heard the retreating footsteps, but hismore deliberate attention persuaded him that he was mistaken in hisfirst impression. Still more puzzled as he came into the possession ofhis faculties, of which the abruptness of the surprise had almost berefthim, he stood for some time mute; then drawing his sword with thealacrity of a man, who all at once believes himself in danger of anuplifted blow, he called out loudly,

  "Speak, and show yourself, if you be a man! Or if there be a party, letthem come forth. Who waylays me? Remember, I warn him, in the name ofthe king, that I am on his majesty's errand, and that they are not faroff who will punish any outrage on my person. By all the powers ofSatan, the place is bewitched!" he exclaimed, after a pause. "Once more,speak; whether you are to be conjured in the name of the king or of thedevil!"

  All remained silent, except the leaves of the forest that fluttered inthe breeze; and it was with an awkward and unacknowledged sense offaint-heartedness that Curry put up his sword and remounted into hissaddle. He first moved slowly forward in continuation of his journey;and, as his thoughts still ran upon the extraordinary incident, heapplied spurs to his horse's side, and gradually increased his pace froma trot to a gallop, and from that to almost high speed, until he emergedfrom the wood upon a track of open country. When he reached this spotthe day had already appeared above the eastern horizon; and reassured,as the light waxed stronger, the dragoon, by degrees, fell into hiscustomary travelling pace, and resumed the equanimity of his temper.

  About ten o'clock in the day he reached Blackstock's, where he arrivedin a heavy rain, that had been falling for the last three hours, andwhich had drenched him to the skin. So, rapidly dismounting and givinghis horse into the charge of some of the idlers about the door, heentered the common room in which were assembled the greater part of themilitia guard and of Habershaw's troopers. His first movement was totake the burly captain aside, and to communicate to him certain ordersfrom the commanding officer at Ninety-Six, respecting the prisoner;which being done, he mingled with his usual affectedly careless andmirthful manner amongst the throng.

  Butler, through the intercession of Bruce, had been indulged with somemitigation of the restraints at first imposed upon him; and he was, atthis moment, availing himself of the privilege that had been allowedhim, on account of the leaky condition of the barn in which he had spentthe night, to take his morning meal inside of the dwelling-house. He wasaccordingly seated at a table, in a corner of the room, with someeatables before him in a more comfortable state of preparation than hehad hitherto enjoyed. Two soldiers stood sufficiently near to render hiscustody effectual without much personal annoyance. As yet he had beenunable to glean anything from the conversation of those around him, bywhich he might form the least conjecture as to his probable destiny. Hisintercourse with his captors was restricted to the mere supply of hisimmediate wants. All other communication was strictly interdicted. EvenHabershaw himself seemed to be under some authoritative command, to denyhimself the gratification of either exhibiting his own importance, or ofwreaking his spleen upon his prisoner; and when Butler attempted to gainfrom Bruce some hint as to what was intended, the only answer hereceived was conveyed by the soldier's putting his finger on his lip.

  Butler knew enough of Robinson's hardihood and venturesome disposition,to feel perfectly confident that he would make good his promise to benear him, at whatever personal hazard; and he was, therefore, inmomentary expectation of receiving further intelligence from thesergeant in some of those strange, bold, and perilous forms ofcommunication, which the character of the trusty soldier warranted himin counting upon. His knowledge that Robinson had passed by Blackstock'son the day preceding, gave him some assurance that the sergeant was inthe diligent prosecution of his purpose to seek Sumpter, or some otherof the partisan Whig corps in their hiding-places, and to try thehazardous experiment of his (Butler's) rescue from his present thraldom,by a vigorous incursion into the district where he was now confined.With this calculation of the course of events, he was prepared to hear,at every hour of the day, of some sudden alarm; and ready to co-operate,by seizing the first moment of confusion to snatch up a weapon, andforce his way through the ranks of his gua
rd. It was with suchanticipations that now, whilst seemingly engrossed with the satisfactionof his physical wants at the table, he lent an attentive ear to theconversation which passed in the house between Curry and the company whowere clustered around him. The dragoon, at first, in a light and merryvein of narrative, recounted to his hearers the singular visitation hehad experienced before daybreak; and he contrived to fling over hisstory an additional hue of mystery, by the occasional reflections withwhich he seasoned it, tending to inculcate the belief to which hehimself partly inclined, that the incident was brought about through theagency of some pranking and mischievous spirit,--a conclusion which, atthat period, and amongst the persons to whom the adventure was related,did not require any great stretch of faith to sustain it. Some of hisauditors fortified this prevailing inclination of opinion, by expressingtheir own conviction of the interference of malignant and supernaturalinfluences in the concerns of mankind, and gave their personalexperience of instances in which these powers were active. Theconversation by degrees changed its tone from that of levity andlaughter into one of grave and somewhat fearful interest, according tothe increasing marvel which the several stories that were told excitedin the superstitious minds of the circle; and in the same proportionthat this sentiment took possession of the thoughts of the company, theybecame more unreserved in their language, and louder in the utterance ofit, thus giving Butler the full benefit of all that was said.

  "But, after all," said one of the men, "mightn't you have been asleep onyour horse, James Curry, and had a sort of jogging dream, when a limb ofa tree across the road, for it was a dark morning, might have caught youunder the throat and flung you out of your saddle: and you, not knowingwhether you was asleep or awake, for a man who is on duty, without hisnight's rest, sometimes can't tell the difference, thought it was somehobgoblin business?"

  "No," said Curry, "that's impossible; for I was singing a song at thetime, and almost at the top of my voice. I had been sleepy enough beforethat, just after I left Ninety-Six, near midnight, for I had ridden along way; but as it grew towards daylight I began to rouse up, so thatwhen this thing happened I was as much awake as I am now."

  "Then it's a downright case of ghost," said the other. "It knew you wasupon a wicked errand, and so that back-handed blow was a warning to you.These things are sometimes meant to be friendly; and who knows but thisoversetting you in the road might have been intended to signify that youhad better not meddle in cases of life and death. If you would take myadvice, you would just treat this Major Butler, that you tookprisoner"--

  Curry looked at the speaker with a frown, as he made a motion to him tobe silent. "Remember where you are, and who may hear you," he said in acautious voice, as he glanced his eye towards Butler, who was leaninghis head upon the table, as if in slumber.

  "Oh, I understand," replied the soldier of the guard. "I forgot he wasin the room."

  "The weather holds up," said Habershaw, who now walked into the house."The rain has slackened; and so, orderly, if you have had a bite ofsomething to eat, the boys had better be got ready to march. We have along way to go, and as the infantry march with us we shall get onslowly."

  "I think so, noble Captain," replied Curry. "I shall be ready to joinyou before you get your line formed."

  Orders were now issued by Habershaw, both to the troopers of his ownsquad and to the militia detachment, to put themselves in condition foran immediate movement. The clouds, during the last half hour, had beenbreaking away, and the sun soon burst forth upon the wet and glitteringlandscape, in all the effulgence of mid summer. During a brief intervalof preparation the party of infantry and cavalry that now occupied thehamlet exhibited the bustle incident to the gathering of the corps. Someran to one quarter for their arms, others to the stables for theirhorses; a cracked trumpet in the hands of a lusty performer, who herejoined the troop, kept up a continual braying, and was seconded by theceaseless beat of a slack and dull drum. There were some who, having puton their military equipments, thronged the table of the common room ofthe house, where spirits and water had been set out for theiraccommodation, and rude jokes, laughter, and oaths, were mingledtogether in deafening clamor.

  "Move out the prisoner," shouted Habershaw; "he goes with the infantryafoot. I'll never trust another of the tribe with a horse."

  "Follow, sir," said one of the sentinels near Butler's person, as hefaced to the right with his musket at an "advance," and led the way tothe door.

  Butler rose, and, before he placed himself in the position required,asked:

  "Where is it you purpose to conduct me?"

  "Silence!" said Habershaw sternly. "Obey orders, sir, and march whereyou are directed."

  Butler folded his arms and looked scornfully at the uncouth savagebefore him as he replied:

  "I am a prisoner, sir, and therefore bound to submit to the force thatconstrains me. But there will be a day of reckoning, both for you andyour master. It will not be the lighter to him for having hired such aruffian to do the business in which he is ashamed to appear himself."

  "Devil's leavings!" screamed Habershaw, almost choked with choler, "dareyou speak to me so? By my heart, I have a mind to cleave your skull foryou! My master, sir! You will find out, before long, who is master, whenHugh Habershaw has tied the knot that is to fit your neck."

  "Peace, villain!" exclaimed Butler; "I cannot come too soon into thepresence of those who claim to direct your motions."

  Here James Curry interposed to draw off the incensed captain, andButler, having received another order from the officer of the guard,moved out upon the road and took the place that was assigned him,between two platoons of the foot soldiers.

  The troopers being mounted and formed into column of march withHabershaw and his trumpeter at the head and Curry in the rear, now movedforward at a slow gait, followed by the detachment of infantry who hadthe prisoner under their especial charge.

  It was near noon when the party took up the line of march, and theyprosecuted their journey southward with such expedition as to taxButler's powers to the utmost to keep even pace with them over roadsthat were in many places rendered miry by the late rain. Towardsevening, however, the sun had sufficiently dried the soil to make thetravel less fatiguing; and by that hour when the light of day onlylingered upon the tops of the western hills, the military escort, withtheir prisoner, were seen passing through a defile that opened upontheir view an extensive bivouac of some two or three hundred horse andfoot, and occupying a space of open field, encompassed with wood andguarded in its rear by a smooth and gentle river.

  The spot at which they had arrived was the camp of a partisan corpsunder the command of Colonel Innis. A farm-house was seen in theimmediate neighborhood, which was used as the head-quarters of a partyof officers. Numerous horses were attached to the trees that bounded theplain, and various shelters were made in the same quarter, in the rudestform of accommodation, of branches and underwood set againstridge-poles, that were sustained by stakes, to protect the men againstthe weather. Groups of this irregular soldiery were scattered over theplain, a few wagons were seen collected in one direction, and, not faroff, a line of fires, around which parties were engaged in cooking food.Here and there a sentinel was seen pacing his short limits, andoccasionally the roll of a drum and the flourish of a fife announcedsome ceremony of the camp police.

  The escort marched quickly across this plain until it arrived in frontof the farm-house. Here a guard was drawn up to receive them; and, assoon as the usual military salute was passed and the order to "stand atease" given, Habershaw put the detachment under the command of thelieutenant of infantry, and, accompanied by Curry, walked into the houseto make his report to the commanding officer of the post.

  In a few moments afterwards Colonel Innis, attended by two or threemilitary men--some of whom wore the uniform of the British regulararmy--came from the house and passed hastily along the line of theescort, surveying Butler only with a rapid glance. Having regained thedoor, he was heard to say--

>   "It is very well; let the prisoner have a room above stairs. See that hewants nothing proper to his situation; and, above all, be attentive thathe be kept scrupulously under the eye of his guard."

  When this order was given, the Colonel retired with his attendants tohis quarters, and Butler was forthwith conducted, by a file of men, up anarrow, winding stair, to a small apartment in the angle of the roof,where he was provided with a chair, a light, and a comfortable bed. Hisdoor was left open, and on the outside of it, full in his view, wasposted a sentinel. He was too weary even to be troubled with the caresof his present condition; and, without waiting, therefore, for food, orseeking to inquire into whose hands he had fallen, or even to turn histhoughts upon the mysterious train of circumstances that hung over him,he flung himself upon the couch and sank into a profound and gratefulsleep.