Peggy Owen at Yorktown Part 7

"'I shall tell him naught, I dare not,' he said. 'Only go not near him before you leave, lieutenant. I know not what will happen if you do.'

"'And I know that whatever happens I must have a whole skin for the delivery of my despatches,' I answered laughing.

"Enclosed please find the letter your brother hath writ, and permit me to thank you for the enjoyableness of this little frisk. If I have gained an enemy, you at least have found a brother; so honors are even.

Whenever you have another service to perform you have only to call upon him who subscribes himself

"Your humble and devoted servant, "John Drayton.

"_To Mistress Harriet Owen_, "_Philadelphia, Pa._"

"The wretch!" cried Harriet, throwing the letter to the floor in a pet.

"How dare he act so? Oh, I wish that Clifford had run him through.

'Twere well for John Drayton that he had no sword. How dare he flout him in that manner?"

"Softly, softly, my child," spoke Mrs. Owen mildly, with difficulty suppressing her smiles, while Peggy laughed outright. "Methinks both the lads were at fault, but John wished only to satisfy himself of the other's ident.i.ty. And he did serve thee in that, Harriet. But why should Clifford wish to conceal it?"

"I know not," answered Harriet soberly. "I suppose 'twas because he feared father would make him withdraw from the service should he find him."

"Mayhap he explains the matter in his letter," suggested Peggy picking up the neglected enclosure, and handing it to Harriet.

"Oh, yes; the letter," cried Harriet tearing it open eagerly. "Why!" she exclaimed casting her eye quickly down the page. "He's angry! Just listen.

"'And is it true,'" began the missive without heading or beginning of any sort, "'that Harriet Owen, my sister Harriet, hath so far forgot her duty to her king as to labor in behalf of his rebellious subjects? And such an one as you have chosen to favor, Harriet! Could not the daughter of Colonel William Owen, of the Welsh Fusiliers, find a better object than this whippersnapper of a Yankee captain?

"'Harriet! Harriet! And has it come to this? Are you a traitor to your country and your king? To make a s.h.i.+rt for a rebel were infamy enough, but to embroider your name across its shoulders that all might see that Harriet Owen, a loyal subject of the king, was so employed surpa.s.ses belief.

"'Harriet, if this be true, if you have forgot what is due yourself, your brother, your father, your country and the most ill.u.s.trious prince that ever sat upon the throne-if you have forgot your duty to all these, I say, then never more shall I call you sister. Never will I write the name of Clifford Owen again, but go down to my grave under the one I have chosen.

"'But, my sister, I cannot believe it of you. I cannot believe that so short a time could change you so. Some one other than you must have made that s.h.i.+rt, and this popinjay of a captain-or is it a lieutenant? no matter!-hath stolen it to flaunt before me, and to stir me to anger.

"'Would that when I saw you in Philadelphia I had stopped, in spite of my captors. It was not permitted, and at the time, I was content that it should be so, for I feared that father might be with you. I dread his displeasure when he meets me; for, as you know, he hath, in truth, great cause to be offended with me. Should the matter have truth in it that you have become imbued with the virus of this rebellion, it may be that a short account of how I have been fighting for the glory of old Britain will bring you back to a realizing sense of your duty.

"'Know then that when I left you home,-and why did you ever leave there?

This country is no place for a girl bred as you have been.-After I had left there, I say, I obtained a commission by the help of Lord Rawdon. I think he knew who I was; we met him once, if you remember, but he said naught about the matter. He saw at once that I wished my ident.i.ty kept sub rosa, and the army was greatly in need of men. Of course it cost a pretty penny, and I expect a scene with father about it. Pray that I may distinguish myself ere we meet.

"'I came with Lord Rawdon to the colonies, and have been with him ever since, mostly in the province of Georgia. We conquered that colony and garrisoned Savannah, where you and father would, no doubt, have found me had not that storm driven Sir Henry Clinton elsewhere to land. I was sent to Charlestown after you left for Camden and was stationed there for some months. Then his lords.h.i.+p sent me to New York by sea with letters for General Clinton. I was tired of the Southern climate, and another gladly exchanged with me, and went South while I remained in New York.

"'There was lately some information to be procured about the rebel forces, and volunteering for the service I was captured by some of the enemy's scouts. There were a number of British prisoners in the rebel camp, and, as they seem not to be any too well supplied with rations, we prisoners are sent somewhere to the interior to be fed and kept out of the way of mischief. I think our destination is Charlottesville, where the Convention prisoners[[5]] are. 'Tis said that there is a regular colony of them at that place, which is, I believe, in the province of Virginia. There is to be a short stop at Fredericksburg before going on to the encampment of prisoners, for what reason I know not. If you will write immediately to that place I think I will receive it.

"'But, Harriet, dearly as I would love to hear from you, if you have grown to sympathize with these revolted colonies in this broil against the king, if you are false to your country, as that fellow would have me believe, then write me not.

"'How can one sympathize with such obstinate people as these rebels are?

When one is in their company they are barely civil, and that is, as Jack Falstaff says, by compulsion. They seem to grow stronger by every defeat. And why do they? They seem like Antaeus, of whom 'twas fabled that being a son of the G.o.ddess Tellus, or the earth, every fall he received from Hercules gave him more strength so that the hero was forced to strangle him in his arms at last. Would that our minister could send us a Hercules to conquer these rebels.

"'If you can secure my release, Harriet, do so. I am quite sure that Sir Henry Clinton, if the matter is brought to his attention, would exert himself regarding an exchange. As you are doubtless aware, an affair of this kind must be kept prominently before the notice of the great ones, else it will be shelved for some other thing that is pressed with more persistence. And yet, if nothing can be accomplished save by the connivance of that captain, lieutenant, or whatever he may be, I would rather a thousand times stay as I am. Write me, if you are still my loyal sister.

"'Wilson Williams (Clifford Owen).'

"If ever," spoke Harriet with tears of vexation filling her lovely eyes, "if ever I see that John Drayton again I will give him occasion to remember it. Clifford never wrote such a dreadful letter to me before.

Peggy Owen, 'tis no laughing matter."

"No," agreed Peggy merrily. "No, 'tis not, Harriet. And yet I cannot help but laugh. I cry thy pardon, my cousin, but, but--" Unable to finish she gave vent to another peal of laughter.

----- [3] Now Elkton, Maryland.

[4] Horn ink-bottle, and powder, or sand, to dry the written page.

[5] At Burgoyne's earnest solicitation General Gates consented that the surrender at Saratoga should be styled a "convention." This was in imitation of the famous convention of Kloster-Seven, by which the Duke of c.u.mberland, twenty years before, sought to save his feelings while losing his army, beleaguered by the French in Hanover. The soothing phrase has been well remembered by the British, who to this day speak of the surrender as the "Convention of Saratoga."

CHAPTER VII-HARRIET TAKES MATTERS IN HAND

"I feel less anger than regret.

No violence of speech, no obloquy, No accusation shall escape my lips: Need there is none, nor reason, to avoid My questions: if thou value truth, reply."

-"Count Julian," _Walter Savage Landor_.

"And if it had not been for your insisting upon it that s.h.i.+rt would never have been made," went on Harriet in an aggrieved tone.

"I think that 'twas I more than Peggy who persuaded thee to make the s.h.i.+rt," said Mrs. Owen quietly. "It was done to woo thee from thy fancies, Harriet, rather than with any purpose to get thee to aid our soldiers. If thee will write to thy brother and explain the matter to him he will forgive thee it. Further, according to John's letter, had it not been for that very same garment thy brother would not have acknowledged his ident.i.ty. So thou seest, my child, that good hath come out of it after all."

"Why, so it hath," acknowledged Harriet brightening. "I had not thought of it in that light, madam my cousin. And would you mind if my brother were to come here, if a parole can be obtained for him?"

"Of course he must come here," returned the lady with a smile of gratification. She was pleased that Harriet should show thoughtfulness for her convenience. It had not always been the case with either the girl or her father. Colonel Owen was wont to demand a thing rather than request it, and Harriet herself had been somewhat addicted to obtaining her desires in the same fas.h.i.+on at Middlebrook. Of late, however, she was evincing more consideration for both Peggy and herself. "David would not wish it otherwise."

"'Tis very kind of you, my cousin," said the girl with sudden feeling.

"But you will like Clifford. Indeed no one can help it."

"I am quite sure that we shall," responded Mrs. Owen graciously. "His letter bespoke him to be a lad of parts. And now as to the parole. That must first be accomplished before the exchange can be thought of; the latter will of necessity take time."

"How much?" queried Harriet. "I know that 'twas long before father got his, but that was in the early part of the war, before England had consented to exchange prisoners."

"I know not how long 'twill take, Harriet." Mrs. Owen threaded her needle thoughtfully. "Those things seem in truth to go by favor. As thy brother well says, if those in authority exert themselves it should be arranged quickly. If they do not then the matter drags along sometimes for months."

"Awaiting the convenience of the great," added the girl with some bitterness. "And such convenience is consulted only when they have need of further service. The past is always forgotten. Still, father stands well with Sir Henry, and I myself rendered him no little service by what I did at Middlebrook. I think,-nay, I am sure,-that if I can get his ear he will see that the affair is adjusted according to my wishes. I will write to him."

"It may be, Harriet, but thee must make up thy mind to endure some little delay. It seldom happens that there are not some rules or regulations to observe, all of which take time. For thy sake we will hope that Clifford's case will be the exception in such matters. We can do naught to-day about it because of the celebration, but to-morrow thou and I will go to Mr. Joseph Reed, the president of the council, who will advise us about the parole and anent the exchange also."

"Harriet," said Peggy suddenly, "does thee remember that when thy brother is exchanged he must return at once to the British lines? Thee had better not be too eager anent the exchange."

"But I intend to go back with him," Harriet informed her composedly.

"Thee does?" asked Peggy in surprise. "Why?"

"'Tis so much gayer in New York, Peggy. Don't you remember the times we had before father made us go South? Beside, I cannot hear at all from father here. As you know, 'tis almost impossible to get letters through the lines to him, and I have had no word since I have been here. I know not whether he is in Camden, where we left him, or with my Lord Cornwallis."