CHAPTER XXIV.
THWARTED.
"They laugh who win." --SHAKESPEARE.
As the candle kindled under the orderly's hand Tarleton, who had sprungtoward the door, found himself within a foot of Joscelyn, whom the lightrevealed standing in the open doorway with a hand lifted to eitherlintel.
"You find me guarding the postern, colonel," she said, smiling, althoughher very knees were shaking under her with nervous trepidation.
"How came the light to go out?" he demanded angrily.
"Surely, that is a matter for you to explain. I was far from it at thisend of the room," she answered coldly. Then presently added, "Perchance'twas struck by some of the things you threw out of the chest; or didthe orderly jar the plank on which it sat? You see the floor is quite aloose one. No fourth person could have put it out without my perceivinghim, _and I swear to you I have seen no human being save our party ofthree_ since coming up the stair."
This was the truth; for she had not once glanced behind the door, andshe spoke the words slowly, looking the while straight into Tarleton'seyes. He turned his searching gaze from her, but evidently he was notsatisfied, for as she moved from the door he snatched the light, andstepping beyond her, and so on up the hall, looked into both of therooms he had recently examined. As he paused at her door with the candlelifted above his head, the scene swam before Joscelyn's eyes. If heentered, there would be discovery--murder. It seemed an interminableminute that he stood thus; then the blood came again to her heart with arush, for he turned back from the threshold, and, calling for anotherlight to leave in the hall, he went again to finish his examination ofthe attic. Not a box was left unemptied, not a barrel or chest or shelfthat was not searched as for some tiny object that might secrete itselfin a crack. Joscelyn, leaning against the open door, watched the processin silence save for occasional mocking suggestions or biting comments,to most of which he gave no heed. A lurking suspicion of her, added tohis fear of ridicule at headquarters, made him doubly cautious, so thathe never turned his back upon her for an instant, and now and then hepaused and looked at her keenly and curiously; but she only gave him asatirical laugh for his pains. But the search could not go on forever,and at last he had to announce that he had finished. Joscelyn longed toleave the door open, that Richard might creep back; but they had foundit locked, and so, fearful of arousing suspicion, she made no objectionwhen Tarleton, having looked behind the door, locked it and handed herthe key. On every step of the stair her spirits rose, so that her cheekswere brilliant and her eyes shining, when at the bottom Barry met them,and relieving her of her basket and candle, placed them on the table.There was no need to ask the result of the search; Tarleton's face was aproclamation of defeat. After a few pleasantries with Barry as to how hehad guarded the steps, and how many ghostly spies he had seen gliding upor down, Joscelyn opened the dining room door, saying, with a return toher stately courtesy:--
"And now, Colonel Tarleton, we will finish our task, an it please you.His lordship will be consumed with impatience for your return."
Sullenly Tarleton followed her lead; he intercepted the glance she shotat Barry, and felt himself a butt for her ridicule, and his temper wasnot improved thereby. The ransacked pantries and closets gave up nothingthat was alive except a mouse, at whose wild antics, Joscelyn and Barrylaughed like a couple of children, their mouths full of cake which thegirl had cut from the loaf on the shelf. It was such a relief to laugh,to do anything to ease the tense strain upon her nerves and composure.It was raining without, and she sat with Barry by the dining room fire,while Tarleton and the orderly investigated the cellar and theoutbuildings. Those few moments alone with her finished the subjugationof the young man's heart. He knew that for him there could be nohappiness in the future unless she shared it with him; and he wastelling her so in hesitating whispers--for his very earnestness had madehim shy and awkward--when the return of the searching party put an endto the interview.
Joscelyn stood upon the veranda as Tarleton mounted for the ride, andcried out with her tantalizing mockery:--
"Commend me to his lordship, and say that you came upon a fool's errand,and carry back but the fruit of such a quest."
She would have said more, but her mother plucked her by the sleeve withfrightened command; and so with an enchanting change of manner sheturned to Captain Barry, who had lingered on the step, and begged thathe would ere long give them again the pleasure of his company. Her wordswere meant more as a rebuff to Tarleton by contrast with the sharpthings she had said to him; but the younger officer construed them intoan acknowledged preference for himself, and his quick pulses throbbedwith a foretaste of that sweetest victory a man can win--the captureof a beloved woman's heart. As he rode away with his companion, he knewnot if it still rained or was clear; the mud of the streets might havebeen drifts of bright-hued blossoms for all the notice he gave it; evenhis resentment against Tarleton was forgotten in this sweet dream oflove which, amid the shadows of war, had suddenly opened before himas a flower unfolds its petals to the dawn. At supper with hisfellow-officers, he heard none of the jests upon Tarleton's failure ofthe evening, so busy was he recalling every word and look of the girlwho in one short week had made the world as a new creation for him. Thetime for his wooing would be short, and the morrow was too remote forhis impatient heart; and so ere another hour went by he was againknocking at her door. Much to his chagrin, he found other guests beforehim, for hardly had he quitted the house ere Mary Singleton arrived andannounced that she meant to tarry all night.
"Eustace and some of his friends are coming later; so, my dear, you mustlet me run upstairs at once and change this damp gown for something morecomfortable and becoming. When you see who is with Eustace, you willunderstand why I want to look so charming. My maid has my bag in thekitchen. Come."
Another menace! Would she never be free from discovery, Joscelynwondered. And taking her friend by the shoulders, she pushed herplayfully into the parlour.
"'Tis easy enough to guess who is coming, by the happiness in your eyes.But there, go make your duty to mother while I have a fire kindled in myroom; then shall you make yourself as beautiful as a dream ere it runsto a nightmare."
Upstairs she raced, stopping in the hall only long enough to unlock theattic door. In her room was a slight noise; and she was about to callRichard softly, when by the fireplace she perceived the maid blowing thecoals into a blaze.
"That will do, Peggy. Go down at once and get a pair of your dry shoesfor Mistress Singleton's maid, that she may shortly be ready to help hermistress dress."
Peggy obeyed; and then Joscelyn heard her name called, and saw thecurtains of the bed-tester shaken as by some one standing behind them,and Richard's head and shoulders came to view. Answering the look in hiseloquent eyes, she put out her hand with a quick impulse to meet his;but at that moment the door was flung open, and Mary rushed in.
"They have come already, and 'tis as much as my chances with EdwardMoore are worth to have him see me in this garb; so I fled for my life,"she cried, laughing and panting together.
Joscelyn dared not look toward the bed curtain; surely, the fates hadcombined against her! She stood quite still and let Mary run on with herconfidences concerning young Moore, salving her conscience with thethought that a second listener could not matter when a human life was atstake. But when Mary, too intent upon the mirror to look at the bed,shook down her hair and began deliberately to unfasten her bodice,Joscelyn grew desperate. She could not permit this.
"Wait until--until the fire burns, Mary," she cried, that she mightgain a few minutes to think. But Mary only laughed and went onunhooking, raving about blue eyes and a tall figure; to all of whichJoscelyn agreed, striving to fasten the hooks again until Mary pushedher off in a small pet. Then, with a last frantic effort, she upset,with a palpably awkward movement of her elbow, a pitcher that stood onthe dresser; and as the deluge of water came down she cried to Mary togo at once to her mother's room, where was a be
tter fire, and she wouldfollow with her things. It was a most open bit of acting, without ashadow of plot or diplomacy; but Mary was too intent upon her loveaffair to notice, and so went obediently into the next room, talkingstill of Edward Moore. As Joscelyn gathered up some ribbons and lacefrom the bed, she whispered as though to the curtained post:--
"The attic door is open--there is no one in the hall."
Then did the post seem suddenly alive, for a hand caught hers, and avoice full of love and gratitude said in her ear:--
"God bless you! Good-by."
Ten minutes later, trying the attic door, she found it locked fromwithin; and, leaving Mary in the hands of the maid, she went down thestair with a light heart, for the day's trials were over at last, andshe might cease to wrack her brain for expedients and deceptions. Otherguests had followed Barry, and the house was soon full of echoinglaughter and snatches of song, with the low hum of conversation, likethe ripple of a brook, running ceaselessly underneath the lightersounds.
As soon as Joscelyn laid eyes on Eustace she knew something was amiss,and he was not long in letting her know what it was, upbraiding herbitterly for her cruel speech of last night.
"You were not content that those rude men were searching her house, butmust add to her humiliation. What demon of cruelty possessed you?"
"It was the meanest thing I ever did," she said, with something like asob; "and, Eustace, if you can only get Betty to forgive me, there isnothing I will not do for you."
"Small chance I have to win forgiveness for you or favour for myself,"he answered gloomily. "I wish I had been here last night; she shouldhave known she had at least one friend, though I lost my commission byit. Only once have I seen her, and then but for ten minutes, with hermother freezing the life out of us with her cold stare."
"If I arrange a meeting between this and your departure, will you sparea few moments from your wooing to plead for me?"
"Yes; but can you do it?"
"Slip away up to mother's room and write her a note; I will see that shegets it this night," and, mollified, he went.
Upstairs in the attic, shivering under the blankets behind the bigchest, Richard hearkened to the subdued echoes of gayety from below andwent over thoughtfully the events of the day. All the morning andafternoon he had felt the nets closing about him, and when he readJoscelyn's hasty warning he knew that death stood at his elbow. Not thathope died, but what could hope do in such straights? He made ready asshe bade him, folding the blankets and straightening the carpet, puttinghis boots into a barrel under a lot of old shoes and odds and scraps.Then with his ear to the door, he had waited for what seemed a draggingage. Always his care was for Joscelyn. Even when, during the search, thedoor was opened, and he stood crushed against the wall with his would-becaptors and murderers not six feet away, the uppermost thought in hismind was for her, anxiety for her safety, admiration for her magnificentcourage. Slipping out of the room in that momentary darkness, he hadfelt like a traitor deserting the thing on earth dearest to him, and hadcursed the fate that sent him away. But the supreme moment came when,crouching by her bed, he saw through the tester curtain the Britishofficer pause in the door with his lifted light. One step out into theroom, and the flimsy curtain could not have hidden the figure of the manbehind it. On that one more step hung life or death. Breathless, Richardwaited, his unsheathed dirk in his hand. He knew this man,--hated as noother Englishman was hated through the length and breadth of theland,--standing thus unconscious of any danger, was utterly within hispower. One strong upward blow where the heart was left uncovered by thelifted arm, and the cause of American liberty would lose one of itsdeadliest enemies. But the guards below, the soldiers swarming in thestreet--and Joscelyn! At thought of her the murderous instinct in hissoul was quelled, and without so much as a relaxed muscle, he sawTarleton turn from the room. Then he had hidden himself more carefullyand waited for her coming. Mistaking for her the maid who came to lightthe fire, he was near to self-betrayal; and he could not remember how hehad gotten out of sight when later on Mary burst into the room; butlying now at full length under the sloping rafters, he smiled at themeasures Joscelyn had used to dispose of her, recognizing that subtleloyalty which would, in dire straits, give up a friend's love secret toanother, but would not without an effort sacrifice that friend'smodesty.
Brave girl, what a spirit and resolution were hers! And yet he had seenher cry over a dead wren and flinch from the sight of his hunting-gun.And how many trials and perils he had drawn upon her by his presence,although if taken he had resolved to live only long enough to proclaimher blameless. Well, when the revel down below should be over, he wouldsteal away, for he would be a source of danger to her no more. And,besides, Greene needed his information. He must face his fate and takewhat chances he might; that was a scout's fate and duty; and so heplanned his course. By and by he left his couch and stood at the door totry and separate Joscelyn's voice from the medley of sounds that madetheir way up to him; the least scrap of a sentence would be as balm tohis aching heart. But he listened long in vain; all was a confusedbabble; then suddenly a voice called her, and she answered clearly thatshe was sitting on the stair with Captain Barry. And somebody said, "Ofcourse." And then there was a general laugh that somehow set Richard'sblood in a strange tingle of pain.
So she was sitting there just below him, within sight if he but dared tocrack the door. And such a longing came upon him that he did turn thekey and made a little opening, and saw the back of her head and herscarlet bodice as she bent down to some one sitting below her. A keenjealousy smote him; who was her companion, was he handsome or homely? Ofcourse he was making love to her; no one could look that close into hereyes and not love her. And she,--was she smiling with the sweet shynesshe loved but wanted no other man to see? It was only by a supreme effortof will that he dragged himself away and fastened the door again. Wouldthey never go, those idle gossiping people with their thoughts absorbedby pleasure and merriment--never go and let her come to him for just oneminute of divine joy? How he hated them all for staying; and above all,how he hated that man on the stairs whispering his heart into her ear.
Presently there came the clatter of dishes, and then he remembered hehad had no supper and it must be close upon midnight. With the coming ofthe dark the wind had risen and the garret was bitterly cold; but busywith plans for his escape and with thoughts of her, he scarcely noticedhow stiff and numb his limbs were.
An hour later there were calls of "good-by," and the sound of openingand closing doors below, mingled with shrill feminine voices calling forwraps, and out in the street the stamping of horses. Then silencereigned, and he knew the guests had departed. Presently there was a slowtread upon the stairs, and Mistress Cheshire called back some directionsto those below. Then a lighter, quicker step followed, and MarySingleton went singing to Joscelyn's room. Fifteen, perhaps twentyminutes of intense silence went by, and then a slender thread of lightshone under the door; and so faint as to be almost inaudible, a tap fellon the panel. Quickly as possible he drew the bolt and opened the door,but only just in time to see Joscelyn enter her own room and close thedoor. On a table, in reach of his hand, stood a shaded candle and besideit was his supper. It was for this she had called him; but hungry as hewas, he forgot it in his bitter disappointment that he was not to speakto her. Time pressed, however, and soon he was back in the attic,devouring the food she had left. Particularly grateful to him was themug of steaming hot tea.
"Tax or no tax, it cheers me up, temptress that you are, sweetJoscelyn. Perchance a Continental toast may override the Royalistpoison lurking in it, and so I pledge Nathaniel Greene and his trustedscout--particularly the scout." He laughed softly as he drained the cup.
Physically he was strengthened and warmed for the flight before him, buthis heart was heavy with disappointment and dread. Once he abandoned theidea of attempting to escape; the house had been searched and the guardremoved, therefore he was safer here than anywhere else, and he must seeher before he went. B
ut more unselfish council prevailed; it was not hissafety only that must be considered. The knowledge he had gained wouldbe of inestimable value to Greene; the going of the guard left the wayopen to him, and it was duty, not personal inclination, that mustdictate his course.
He waited until the tall clock below chimed one, and then made ready forhis departure. He had resolved not to tell Joscelyn of his plans even ifhe might have spoken with her, for he wanted her sleep troubled by noanxiety for him; but the yearning of his heart found expression in thefarewell he left upon the senseless panels of her door. Then, boots inhand, he crept downstairs and into the dining room. Here the rear doorfastened with a latch, the string of which was drawn inside at night.Softly he stepped out, closing it behind him, and stood a moment pushingthe string back through its hole, that those behind might be safe; then,hugging the fence, he crept to the gate and was soon in the alleyoutside. The darkness, the soft mud, and the howling wind were all inhis favour. He knew his way even in the gloom, and so, making now andthen a detour to avoid a public street or a possible sentry post, hecame at last to the outskirts of the town, keeping always in thedirection opposite the British camp. The bridge he knew must be wellguarded, and so must the road over the mountains; hence he kept directlyacross the fields to where the river bends under the cliff called"Lovers' Leap." Ahead of him, behind a clump of bushes, burned a lowfire, and he crept up on hands and knees to hear what the two mensitting there were saying. One of them was surlily poking the fire:--
"If we break camp to-morrow, how the devil can we march over such soggyroads?"
"The Guildford road is not so bad," was the answer; and although Richardwaited a long time, he heard nothing else. And so like a ghost he creptinto the drifting rain and soon gained the river, repeating to himselfthat last sentence which might be the keynote to the British movements.
His knowledge of the country folk stood him in good stead, for soon hewas untying a canoe from a gum tree not far from a lonely cabin. Often,when a boy, he had gone with the owner fishing in this boat, tying it upto the tree roots when the day's sport was done. The river was turbulentfrom the recent downpour, and in the darkness he went furtherdown-stream than he intended; but at last he drew into a cove of weedsand reeds, and leaving the boat there he plunged into the forest beyond.But he was not lost, and ere the dawn came he had found a friend, andwell mounted he pressed on to carry the news he had gathered to theAmerican camp; and as he rode, he thought always and with a gnawingbitterness of the view he had had of Joscelyn's head as she bent down tocatch the love words of that invisible suitor.