CHAPTER XXI--A RASH RESOLVE
"How much the heart may bear, and yet not break! How much the flesh may suffer and not die! I question much if any pain or ache Of soul or body brings our end more nigh: Death chooses his own time; till that is sworn, All evils may be borne."
--Elizabeth Akers Allen.
"Has thee had any news of the army lately, friend nurse?" questionedPeggy one morning a week after Harriet's arrival.
Nurse Johnson glanced quickly about to make sure that they were alonebefore she replied:
"I had a short letter from Fairfax a few days since, Peggy. He said thatthe Marquis had received word that a force under General Wayne wascoming to help in the defense of the state. He was on the point ofbreaking camp at Richmond and marching up to the border to meet him.Cornwallis hath already begun operations on the south side of the James.'Tis said that he boasts that the people will return to their allegianceas soon as they find that their new rulers are not able to give themmilitary protection. With that end in view the earl hath established averitable reign of terror wherever his troops march. He is harrying andravaging all plantations, running off the negroes, or inciting themagainst their masters. In truth," ended the good woman with somebitterness, "if aught escaped the vigilance of the invading forces underPhillips and Arnold it hath been reserved only for the keener eye of amore pitiless enemy."
"And thy son, friend nurse? Is he well?" inquired the girl, for a shadowlay on Nurse Johnson's brow that was not caused by the tidings ofCornwallis' ravages, harrowing as they were.
"I am worried about him, Peggy," she admitted. "He is in truth far fromwell, and feared an attack of fever when he wrote. He did not like toask for leave to come home, the need of men is so great; but felt thathe must do so did he not get better."
"How dreadful a thing war is!" sighed Peggy. "The poor fellow! to be illand weak yet to stay on because of the need the country hath of men.'Tis heroic, friend nurse."
"Ah, child, 'tis little a mother cares for heroics when her only son issuffering for lack of care. Sick and starving also, it may be."
"I have been selfish," broke from the girl remorsefully. "I have been sofull of my woe that I had forgot how our poor soldiers are in want ofeverything. It hath seemed to me at times that I could not bear to staydown here longer. Thee knows I have not heard from mother at all. I knowshe must be worried if she hath not heard from me."
"Your being here is cause for worry," said the nurse soberly."Williamsburg is in the path of the armies, though it does seem asthough we had been visited enough by them. Would that you were home,Peggy, but I see no way of your getting there. The expresses can scarceget through."
"Thee said that General Wayne was to join the Marquis," spoke the girleagerly. "He is from my own state, friend nurse. I make no doubt butthat he would help me could I but reach his lines. And the Marquis----Why,Robert Dale is with the Marquis' forces! I remember now that Betty toldme he had been placed there for valor. Thee sees that I have plenty offriends could I but reach our own lines unmolested."
"'Tis not to be thought of," said Nurse Johnson shaking her headdecidedly. "No, Peggy; 'tis irksome to stay here under the conditions ofthings, but I see not how it can be helped. Ah! here is your cousin. Howbeautiful she is!"
"Where are you going, Peggy?" asked Harriet as she entered the room, herwonderful gray eyes lighting into a smile at Nurse Johnson's last words.
"I am going to the college to see the museum of natural history,Harriet. Will thee come with me?"
"Not I, Peggy. Such things are too tiresome," yawned Harriet. "AndClifford won't go for a ride. He said that he had something to attend toto-day. 'Tis no use to tease Cliff when he makes up his mind. He isworse than father."
"Well, if thee won't come," and Peggy tied the ribbons of her leghornhat under her chin, "thee must not mind if I go."
"I wish I were back in New York," pouted her cousin. "'Tis slow downhere. Had I known that Clifford was so well I would not have come.However, there will be some amusement when the army under LordCornwallis gets into quarters. I dare say father will take a house then.Of course he will want us to look after it."
"Is thy father with Lord Cornwallis?" asked Peggy quickly.
"Of course, Peggy. The Welsh Fusileers always stay with him. When weleft him at Camden he was to join Cornwallis, you remember."
"Yes," assented Peggy absently, "but I had forgot for the moment."
In thoughtful mood she left the cottage. It seemed to her as though shewere caught in the meshes of a web from which there was no escape. Herewere Clifford and Harriet with the possibility of Colonel Owen appearingupon the scene at any moment. When he came Peggy knew that she would beunable to do anything. If only she could reach the American lines, shethought, a way would be opened for her to proceed to Philadelphia.
The air was rife with rumors concerning the capture and narrow escapesof the postriders. It seemed almost next to impossible for them to getthrough to Philadelphia! How then could she, a mere girl, hope toaccomplish what they could not?
"And yet," Peggy mused, "I must try. I dare not wait until CousinWilliam comes for he will take Harriet and me with him wherever he goes.I know not how it will end."
She had reached the college campus by this time, and now pausedthoughtfully looking up at the statue of Norborne Berkeley, LordBotetourt,--most beloved of all the royal governors,--which had beenerected on the green.
"I bid you good-morrow, little cousin," spoke a voice pleasantly, andPeggy started to find Clifford beside her.
The lad smiled at the glance of surprise that Peggy gave at his mode ofaddress, and continued:
"I thought you had deserted me entirely. Was care of me so irksome thatyou are glad to be rid of me?"
"No, Clifford; but thee had thy sister," responded Peggy who had intruth left the brother entirely to his sister. "Thee had no need of melonger, as thee is not now an invalid."
"True, I am no longer an invalid, Cousin Peggy. Still are there not somematters to be settled betwixt us? Why have you not reproached me for mydoubt of you?"
"When thee found that I had spoke naught but truth what more was thereto be said, my cousin?" queried Peggy seriously. "Thy conscience shoulddo the reproaching."
"And it hath," he rejoined. "You have given me no opportunity to askpardon but I do so now. There were many things that I did not know thatHarriet hath told me. There are still many that require explanation inorder to have a good understanding of affairs. But this I have gathered;all of us, father, Harriet and I, seem to be under deep obligation toyou and your family. And my debt is not the least of the three. I wishto repay you in some measure for your care of me. As my excuse I canonly say that while I knew that we had cousins in this country I knewlittle concerning them. I left home shortly after father came over, andso knew naught of his stay with you. And that captain with the shirtHarriet made----" he paused abruptly and clenched his hands involuntarily."I thought you were like him and all other Americans I had met," hecontinued--"boasting braggarts who had wooed my sister from her trueallegiance. I cry your pardon, my cousin. Will you give it me?"
"For all doubt of me, thee has it, Clifford," responded the girlsweetly, touched by his evident contrition. "But for what thee thinks ofAmericans, no. There are some among us who are not as we would have thembe. Among all peoples the good and bad are mingled. I dare say thee isnot proud of all Englishmen. We are not a nation of braggarts, as theethinks. It hath taken something more than braggadocio to repulse thysoldiers for six long years. It hath taken courage, bravery and a grimresolution to win in spite of famine and the greatest odds that ever anarmy faced. Those things belong not to boasters, my cousin."
"A truce, a truce," he cried. "I am routed completely. I admit thatAmericans have bravery. Odds life! and tenacity also, when it comes tothat. Where get they that obstinacy that enables them to rise afterevery defeat?"
"Where do they get it?" she asked. "Why, from their English blood, ofcourse. Thee and thy fellows forget that they are of thine own blood.Oh, the pity of it! And see how thy people are treating this state!"
"'Tis fortune of war," he uttered hastily. "And that brings me to thepith of this interview. I have intelligence that Lord Cornwallis ismarching toward Richmond, which he will reach the last of this week.Therefore, I shall escort you and Harriet to Portsmouth to-morrow, andsee you aboard the 'Iris,' bound for New York. I wish to join the earlat Richmond, and I wish to see you in safety before doing so."
"Thee must leave me out of such a plan, Clifford," spoke Peggy quietly."I am not going to New York. When I was there before only the river laybetwixt my mother and me, yet I was not permitted to cross it. I shouldbe a prisoner as thee would be in Philadelphia. I could not bear it."
"But you cannot remain here, Peggy," he remonstrated. "I am doing whatseems to me the best that can be done for you. The country is overrun bysoldiers of both sides. Were you able to get through the British linesthere still remain the rebels."
"Thee has no need to trouble concerning me at all, my cousin," spokePeggy with some heat. "If I can reach the rebel lines, as thee callsthem, I shall be sent through. I am not going to New York in any event."
"I shall not permit you to remain here," he said, determination writtenon every feature. "I am your nearest male relative in this part of thecountry, and as such I shall do what I think is best for you. Come,little cousin, be reasonable. Harriet shall use her influence, once NewYork is reached, to see that you go to your mother. Will not thatcontent you?"
"It doth not content me," replied the girl, her whole nature roused toresistance. Too well she knew what Harriet's promises were to rely uponthem. "I am grateful to thee, Clifford, for thy thought of me; but theemust give o'er anything that hath New York for its end and aim."
"But I cannot let you stay here," he cried again. "The game is up as faras these people are concerned. I cannot let you remain to be a sharer intheir miseries and distresses. Be reasonable, Peggy."
"I am reasonable, Clifford. Reasonable with the reason born ofexperience. These people are my people. If I cannot get home I prefer toshare their misery, rather than to be at ease among the British. Attendto thy sister, but leave me to do as I think best, I beg."
"'Tis futile to talk further concerning the matter," he said. "You mustbe made to do what is best for you." With this he left her.
"I can tarry here no longer," Peggy told herself as she watchedClifford's retreating figure. "My cousin is sincere in the belief thatit is the best thing to do. Were Harriet to be relied upon----But no; toomany promises have been broken to trust her now. I must try to get toour lines. I will go in the morning."
The light was just breaking in the east the next morning when Peggysoftly stole into the stable where Star was, and deftly saddled andbridled the little mare.
"We are going home, Star," she whispered as she led the pony out of thestable and yard to the road. "It will all depend on thee, thou dearthing! Do thy very best, for thee will have to get us there."