CHAPTER XIII--THE APPEARANCE OF THE ENEMY
"The word went forth from the throne: 'Reap down their crops with your swords! Harry! ravage! Hound on the rage of your hireling hordes, Hessian and savage!'"
--Leonard Woolsey Bacon.
For one long moment the girl stood staring at that flag, so strickenwith terror as to be incapable of motion. Too well she knew the meaningsof its presence. The descent of a British ship upon any part of thecoast at this time brought destruction and ruin to all that lay in itspath. Fire and sword, ravage and waste followed in its wake. And thiswas a British cruiser, and it was headed for Mount Vernon. Peggy wrungher hands in anguish and a sob broke from her lips.
"Oh, the general's home! The general's beautiful home will be burned!"
With the words came a realization of the necessity for action. With aneffort she threw off the numbing dread that beset her, and turning fledswiftly to the mansion. As she reached the porch Mr. Lund Washingtoncame to the door.
"You are just in time," he called cheerily. "Breakfast is ready, andMrs. Washington feared if you lingered much longer 'twould be cold. Isnot the view----Why! what hath happened?" he broke off catching sight ofher pale face.
"The British!" panted Peggy. "The British are coming up the river!"
With an exclamation of alarm Mr. Washington sprang past her and hurriedtoward the wharf. At the same moment cries and shouts rent the air andfrom all over the plantation the negroes came running. Some were ashenwith terror, and ran into the house weeping and wailing. The bolderspirits gathered on the banks of the river to watch the approach of thevessel. From the mansion came Mrs. Lund Washington and Mrs. Johnson,alarmed by the outcries and uproar of the darkies.
"And what is it, my dear?" asked Mrs. Washington as Peggy sank weakly onthe steps of the porch. "Why are you so pale? Know you the cause of thecommotion?"
"It's the British," repeated the maiden fearfully. "A British ship iscoming."
"A British ship!" Each woman's face paled at the words. They werefraught with such awful meaning. They too stood stricken as Peggy hadbeen with terror. Then Mrs. Washington spoke calmly, but it was with thecalmness of despair:
"Let us not despond. It may be that they will exempt this place fromdestruction. Let us hope."
"No," said Peggy with conviction. "They will not spare it. 'Tis ourgeneral's home. They have tried so many times to capture him; there havebeen so many plots to kill him, or for his betrayal, that anything thatcan strike a blow at his heart will be used. I fear, oh, I fear theworst!"
Meantime the cruiser drew up alongside the wharf. As soon as the vesselwas made fast the captain stepped ashore and approached the spot whereMr. Lund Washington stood.
"What plantation is this?" he demanded brusquely.
"It is Mount Vernon," replied the overseer.
"Mount Vernon, eh? The seat of the rebel leader?"
"It is General Washington's home, sir," was the reply.
"So I thought, so I thought," returned the officer with a chuckle. "Areyou in charge here?"
"Yes; I am Lund Washington, General George Washington's relative, andrepresent him during his absence," Mr. Washington informed him withdignity.
"And I am Captain Graves of the English navy," responded that officerpompously. "In command of the 'Acteon' there. Now, sir, I want breakfastfor my crew, and that quickly. And then supplies: flour, corn, bacon,hams, poultry and whatever else there may be on the estate that willfeed hungry soldiers. Now be quick about getting them."
"And if I refuse?" said Mr. Washington.
"Refuse!" roared the officer. "If you refuse, by St. George I'll burnevery building on the place and run off all your negroes. Now do as youplease about it."
Mr. Washington hesitated no longer.
"I will comply with your demands," he said simply. He would do anythingrather than that the general should lose his home.
"And mind," called Captain Graves, "I want no dallying."
"There will be none," answered the overseer quickening his footsteps.
"Wife," he said as he reached the porch where Peggy and the two womenawaited him, "we must have breakfast for the crew as quick as it can begotten. Do you see to it while I attend to what is wanted for supplies."
Peggy looked up in amazement, thinking that she had not heard aright.
"Is thee going to give them breakfast and supplies from GeneralWashington's place, sir?" she asked.
"I must, my child," replied Lund Washington sadly. "The captainthreatens to burn the houses, and run off with all the slaves if I donot. I cannot help myself. They would take what they want anyway."
"Then thee should let them take it," cried Peggy excitedly. "The generalwon't like for thee to feed the enemy from his stores. He won't like it,friend."
"I am in charge of the property," repeated the overseer. "If anythinghappens to the place while 'tis in my charge I will be responsible. Iwill comply with any reasonable demand rather than have the plantationrazed."
"The general won't like it," Peggy reiterated in a low tone as Mr.Washington began to give orders to the slaves concerning the supplieswhile his wife hastened to see about breakfast. "He won't like it. Iknow that he would rather have his home burned than that the enemyshould be supplied from his plantation. Oh, I know he won't approve ofit."
"Lil' missy's right," declared a venerable darky who stood near. "MarseGeorge ain't gwine ter laik hab'n de enemy fed offen his craps. 'Tain'tfitten dat he'd fight 'em, an' feed 'em, too."
"That is just it," declared the girl turning toward him quickly,surprised that a negro should grasp the point of honor affected. "Whatis thy name?" she added. "I should like to know it."
"Lawsy, missy! doan you know old Bishop?" said the old darky, bowingdeeply. "Why, I wuz Marse George's body sarvant all froo de French an'Indian Wahs. Bin wif him most ebbrywhar, old Bishop has. Too old to goenny mo' dough, an' so he has Mista Willum Lee to look aftah him. P'rapsyou might hab seen Mista Lee. A black, sassy nigga, lil' missy."
"Yes," answered Peggy smiling. "I know him, Bishop. I used to see himoften at Middlebrook. And so thee is Bishop?"
For Peggy had heard General Washington speak affectionately of hisformer body servant. Bishop was too old now for camp life, but he had,as he said, served General Washington through the French War. He wasalmost eighty years old now. There were deep furrows upon his cheeks,his hair was gray, and his form was bent by the weight of his years, butold Bishop knew his master's heart, and knew that that master wouldrather lose his whole property than to have it succor the enemies of hiscountry.
So the venerable darky and the maiden watched with sorrow the labor ofthe slaves as they ran back and forth to the ship, laden with flour,hams, bacon from the storehouses; chickens, geese and turkeys from thepoultry yards; fruits and vegetables from the cellars; while the air wasfilled with the shrill cries of swine being slaughtered.
It was over at last. The crew had been fed; the ship was heavily ladenwith supplies, and with a sarcastic acknowledgment of their courtesy thecaptain weighed anchor and sailed away. And then the family sat down toa belated breakfast.
The meal was a mere pretense, however, and soon after it the cabrioletwas brought round, and Peggy and her companions set forth once more upontheir journey.
"I wish," said Mrs. Johnson as they drove away from the mansion, "I wishyou were safe at home, Peggy. I don't believe that I am doing right inpermitting you to go on."
"I must," spoke Peggy quickly. "There is my cousin dying, friend nurse.I must go on. Does thee fear an invasion of the whole state?"
"It looks as though the invasion were here, Peggy. Of course, it may bebut a predatory incursion as others have been before, but I fear, Ifear----" ended the good woman shaking her head.
"How much longer will it be before we reach Williamsburg?" inquired thegirl.
"We should be there the fourth day from thi
s," replied Nurse Johnson."Of course it may be the right thing for you to go on, as you are sonear the end of the journey; but I do wish you were safe at home."
"I shall lose no time in returning after I have done all for my cousinthat can be done," declared Peggy. "I think mother would wish me to goon now, but when all is over----"
"Then you must get back as quickly as possible," said the nurse.
After all Peggy and old Bishop were right regarding General Washington'sfeelings concerning the raid on the plantation.
"It would have been a less painful circumstance to me," he wrote to hisrepresentative when he heard of the matter, "to have heard that, inconsequence of your non-compliance with their request, they had burnedmy house and laid my plantation in ruins."
So sensitive was this man concerning anything that would seem to touchhis honor.