Crestlands: A Centennial Story of Cane Ridge

  CHAPTER XXVIII.

  AT THE "BLUE HERON"

  Upon the evening preceding Abner's contemplated return to Kentucky, towind up his business there, and to hunt for evidence in regard to thePage brothers, he strolled down to the "Blue Heron," a tavern in anadjacent street. Entering the tavern, he found himself in the midst ofrather an exciting scene, occasioned by a bet just made as to therelative height of two men who were standing leaning on the bar. Bothmen were of unusual height. At a casual glance the younger of the two,a frequenter of the tavern, would appear to be the taller, by reason ofhis extreme slenderness of build. The older man was a stranger. The twotook their places in the center of the room, back to back; and it wasthen found that the older man was the taller by nearly an inch. Uponbeing measured, his exact height was ascertained to be six feet, twoinches.

  "Seems like I've shrunk some sence I wuz a young man," said the oldfellow in a jocular tone, as he pocketed the stakes; "for then Imeasured six foot, two an' a ha'f, in my sock feet. Thar wuz only onefeller in our reg'ment taller'n me, an' that wuz John Logan--'longJohn' we called him to 'stinguish him frum t'other John Logan, who wuzoncommon tall too, but nigh two inch shorter than 'long John.'"

  For a moment Abner was unable to utter a word; then, under cover of thenoise made by the hilarious group standing at the bar, drinking at theexpense of the man who had lost the wager, he drew the old man to oneside, and asked, "Were the two John Logans you speak of related?"

  "Not thet I knows on, stranger--yes, sence I come to think on it, theywuz said to be cousins. I remember, too, thet they hailed frum the sameplace--somewhars in Pennsylvany."

  "Can you tell me any more about them?" asked Abner, by a mighty effortmanaging to control his excitement, and to speak calmly.

  "I don't know much uv Jack Logan, as the shorter uv the two wuzcalled," replied the stranger, who gave his name as Sam Butler, "'ceptthet he wuz a fine feller, an' a brave soldier who wuz killed on thesame day, in the same fight, as long John wuz. They both fell atMonmouth Court-house. But I knew long John well. He wuz my messmate an'marchin' comrid, an' we slept many a night side by side on the ground,under the same blanket, when we wuz fortunit 'nough to hev blankets tokiver us. Why, I wuz by his side when he fell, killed by a bulletthrough his heart. I drug him offen the field, an' thet night holpedbury him in the trench whar we laid so many uv our men whut lost therlives in thet hot, awful fight."

  "Where was he from?"

  "He wuz borned in Kenelworth, Pennsylvany; but his folks moved 'roundconsider'ble. They wuz sort o' sheftless, I should jedge, an' neverstayed long in any place."

  "Was he married?"

  "He hed a wife in Philadelphy, though I hed never hearn him speak uvher. After he wuz dead, I found in one uv his pockets a worn letter,months old, frum her, dated Philadelphy; and I got her word uv hisdeath, though frum her letter I gethered thet they hedn't been gittin'on well together, an' thet she 'peared to think he had misused her, an'keered nothin' fur her. He wuz a reckless, drinkin', high-tempered,rough feller; but, Lordee! how brave, when it come to fightin'! Hewuzn't feared o' old Nick hisse'f or eny uv his imps."

  "What was his wife's name?"

  "Blest ef I kin re-collect, stranger. It's twenty-odd year ago, an' yousee, I----"

  "Was it Mary?"

  "No, I don't think thet wuz it."

  "Was it Sarah?"

  "Yes, thet's it. Sarah--Sarah Jane, thet's it. I'm pos'tive it wuzSarah Jane. Did you know eny uv her people?"

  "Yes, I think so," Abner replied, "but I'm still more interested in theother John Logan."

  "Well, sir, ez I said, I knew nothin' uv him, more'n whut I fust toldyou; but, stop, Peter Stump wuz his comrid, an' he----"

  "Is this Peter Stump living, and, if so, where?" was the next anxiousinquiry.

  "Why, yes, he's alive an' a-kickin'; leastways, he wuz last Mondaythree weeks ago, when I seen him at Pockville. He lives two mile southuv thar, on the road to Richmond."

  That night our much-tried hero went once more to the old box in thegarret, and took from it the miniature of his father, and the letter toMary, written the night before the battle. With these in his pocket,Abner the next morning went to Pockville. He had no difficulty infinding Peter Stump, and was soon in possession of information whichfilled him with renewed life and joy. Stump recognized the miniature asthat of his messmate, John (or Jack) Logan. Stump remembered the otherJohn Logan, and said that in features and sometimes in expression thetwo Logans were much alike, but that in complexion and disposition theywere utterly dissimilar. Jack Logan was of dark and sallow complexion,had curly black hair, and was about six feet, one inch in height. Hewas reserved, quiet, sober in his habits, and peaceably inclined. Theother John had a ruddy complexion, hair a shade lighter than hiscousin's, and a temper so fiery and quarrelsome that he was forever insome broil with his comrades. He was a hard drinker, too, and agambler. He was nearly two inches taller than Jack Logan, and was thetallest man in the regiment. Jack Logan, up to the beginning of thewar, had always lived in Kenelworth, but the other John Logan, althoughborn in Kenelworth, had lived a wandering life. Other facts which Stumprevealed explained the message in Jack Logan's last letter to Mary.Stump and Logan had been close friends, and the former had learned fromhis friend the reason of the hasty marriage. Mary Hollis, at the time,was living with her cousins, two old maidens, who were ardent Britishsympathizers, and, therefore, did their utmost to prejudice the younggirl against her lover, until he, fearing that if his sweetheartremained under the influence of her Tory relatives, she would finallybe estranged from him, persuaded her to marry him at once. It was justafter the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and Logan, elated by thesetwo victories for the American cause, was inclined, like many otherhopeful young patriots, to believe that the war would soon be over. So,although he knew that for the present he must be separated from hisbride much of the time, and that he was but poorly able to provide forher, rashly persuaded her to marry him. As the months went by, and theContinental army, instead of achieving fresh victories, was sufferingloss and increasing hardship, Logan grew more and more remorseful andunhappy about his young wife and infant son. The night before thebattle of Monmouth, he seemed to have a premonition of his fate on themorrow, and was more than ever troubled over the future for his wifeand babe. He wrote his wife, asking forgiveness for having persuadedher into the imprudent marriage, promising that if his life was spared,he would try to atone to her for all she had suffered, and begging herin any case to find shelter with her sister until the war would beover. After Logan was killed, Stump had himself managed to convey thisletter to Mary at Morristown; but he could only stay a few minutes withher, as his regiment was hurrying eastward. During the Virginiacampaign several years later, when Stump's regiment was with Lafayettearound Yorktown--about twenty miles from Lawsonville--he had intendedto ask for leave of absence, and go to see how it fared with his formercomrade's widow; but, hearing that she had married again and removed toKentucky, he did not go to Lawsonville.

  When Abner Logan returned to Williamsburg the day after his conferencewith Peter Stump, he found a letter from Mason Rogers. Mr. Rogers wrotethat he had questioned several men who had been in the fight at BlueLicks and who remembered the Page brothers well. The elder brother wasMarshall, the name of the younger was Marcemus. Rogers further wrotethat two women who had been in Bryan Station during the siege and whowere now living in Fayette County, remembered that Marcemus Page, afterhis escape from the Indians, had come back to Bryan's for the littleorphan boy whom he took to the mother's people in Virginia. Thesewitnesses could swear that it was Marshall Page's wife who had died atthe station in August, 1782, while the men were in pursuit of theIndians. Moreover, one of the women remembered that Marcemus Page hadtold her that he intended, after placing Marshall's little stepson inthe care of the boy's Virginia relations, to go on to Maryland. Thewoman also said that Marcemus had told her that his own wife, who haddied that spring on the way into Kentucky, was a native of Maryl
and,from Charles County.

  After hearing what these women said, Rogers, knowing that Barton Stonewas a native of Charles County, Maryland, had then gone to see him.Stone, though but a lad when his family had removed from CharlesCounty, remembered the Page family. There were two brothers, Marshalland Marcemus, and Marcemus had married Mary Beale, a cousin of Stone'smother; and soon afterward had left Maryland with his wife to join hisbrother somewhere in Virginia, intending to go on with him to settle inthe backwoods of Kentucky.

  After receiving Rogers' letter, Abner Logan lost no time in returningto Kentucky. The day following his arrival at Cane Ridge, he sent MajorGilcrest a note asking for an interview. The messenger brought back thenote unopened and the verbal message from Gilcrest declining to holdany intercourse with Abner or to receive any written communication fromhim.

  Rogers then advised communicating with the Major through a lawyer, butAbner felt that he must see Betty before he could decide upon thiscourse. He contrived, through Aunt Dilsey, to convey a note to thegirl. She wrote back that she would meet him that afternoon at theirformer trysting-place. Here, accordingly, the two lovers met, after aseparation of over half a year, and renewed their vows of love andfealty.

  Abner gave Betsy a full account of everything, and consulted with heras to the best way to communicate with her father; for it wasimperative that Major Gilcrest should immediately be made acquaintedwith Abner's true history and his right to the Hite inheritance. Betsyurged her lover not to place his affairs in the hands of a lawyer untilshe had first tried what she could do with her father. She also thoughtthat her mother, first of all, should be told everything. To this Abneragreed.

  That night Betsy had a long talk with her mother. Poor Mrs. Gilcrest,who for many years had been oppressed by the dark secret of her earlylife, felt now, when she had learned all that her daughter had toreveal, as if a great burden was lifted from her spirit. She rejoicednot only in the certainty that her own clandestine marriage was valid,and that her cousin had been a lawfully wedded wife, but also becauseof the knowledge that Abner Logan, whom she had always greatly liked,was the son of her well-beloved cousin and foster sister, Mary Hollis,and that he was in every respect a suitable mate for Betsy.

  In her relief and joy she felt that she now had courage to confess allto her husband. The next evening she nerved herself for this ordeal.

  Mrs. Gilcrest could not have chosen a less favorable occasion for herpurpose; for Major Gilcrest had just learned, through one of theservants, that Betsy had met her lover the afternoon before. He wasfuriously exasperated that his daughter had thus set at naught hiscommands; and he raved in so frenzied a style of disobedience,deception, and of the infamy of any girl who would hold clandestinemeetings with a man, that poor, cowardly Mrs. Gilcrest's newly acquiredvalor evaporated before the fire of her husband's wrath, and she darednot confess the secret she had withheld during all their married life.She did, however, intercede for Abner, venturing her conviction that inbirth and character he was fit to wed with Betsy. But the poor creaturewas so cowed by her habitual awe of her lord and master, and by hispresent irascible temper, as well as by the burden of her own yetunconfessed secret, that the stammering, incoherent tale she told ofthe two John Logans, of the time and place of Mary Hollis' death, andof Abner's being Andrew Hite's legal heir, was anything but convincing.Her feeble attempt at explanation and intercession, instead ofsoftening the obstinate Major, only wrought him up to a still higherpitch of exasperation.

  Mrs. Gilcrest's effort to enlighten her husband having failed, youngLogan engaged an attorney, through whom the lord of Oaklands wasperforce convinced of Abner's legitimacy and right to the Hitepossessions.

  But there still remained in the secret drawer of the Major's escritoirethose documentary proofs against "A. D.'s" political integrity, and inthe Major's mind those convictions of the young man's connection withdangerous Spanish intrigues. More than that, there was the Major'singrained obstinacy and his aversion to confessing himself in thewrong. So that, although he was not unduly covetous of the Hiteinheritance, and although, had he not been so harassed and imbitteredby his daughter's defiance, he would have rejoiced that Abner Logan waswell born and prosperous, just now he was in a humor the reverse ofrejoicing or yielding. Therefore his opposition to Betsy's suitor wasas firm as ever; and the two lovers appeared as far as ever from theattainment of their hopes.