University of Virginia Library

2. CHAPTER II.

The Skinners followed Captain Lawton with
alacrity towards the quarters occupied by the
troop of that gentleman. The captain of dragoons
had on all occasions manifested so much
zeal for the cause in which he was engaged—was
so regardless of personal danger when opposed to
the enemy, and his stature and stern countenance
contributed so much to render him terrific at such
moments, that they had, in some measure, procured
him a reputation distinct from the corps in
which he served.—His intrepidity was mistaken
for ferocity, and his hasty zeal for the natural love
of cruelty. On the other hand, a few acts of clemency,
or more properly speaking, of discriminating
justice, had with one portion of the community
acquired for Dunwoodie the character of
undue forbearance.—It is seldom that either
popular condemnation or applause falls where it
is merited.

While in the presence of the Major, the leader
of the gang had felt himself under that restraint
which vice must ever experience in the company
of acknowledged virtue, but having left the house,
he at once conceived that he was under the protection
of a congenial spirit. There was a gravity in
the manner of Lawton, that deceived most of those
who did not know him intimately, and it was a
common saying in his troop, that “when the captain
laughed he was sure to punish.” Drawing

near his conductor, therefore, the leader commenced,
with inward satisfaction, the following
dialogue—

“'Tis always well for a man to know his friends
from his enemies.”

To this prefatory observation, the captain made
no other than an assenting sound, that could not
be called a word.

“I suppose Major Dunwoodie has the good opinion
of Washington?” continued the Skinner in
a low, confidential tone, that rather expressed a
doubt than asked a question.

“There are some who think so,” returned the
captain ambiguously.

“Many of the friends of Congress in this county,”
the man proceeded, “wish the horse was led
by some other officer—for my part if I could only
be covered by a troop now and then, I could do
many an important piece of service to the cause,
that this capture of the pedlar would be nothing
to.”

“Indeed!” said the captain, drawing familiarly
nigh him and lowering his voice, “such as what?”

“For the matter of that—it could be made as
profitable to the officer, as it would be to us who
did it,” said the Skinner, with a look of the most
significant meaning.

“But how?” asked Lawton, a little impatiently,
and quickening his step to get out of the hearing
of the rest of the party.

“Why near hand to the Royal lines, even under
the very guns of the heights, might be good
picking if we had a force to guard us from De
Lancey's men, and to cover our retreat from
being cut off by the way of King's-Bridge.”

“I thought the refugees took all that game to
themselves,” said the captain.

“They do a little at it, but are obliged to be

sparing among their own people,” returned the
fellow in perfect confidence. “I have been down
twice under an agreement with them: the first
time they acted with honour—but the second they
came upon us and drove us off, and took the
plunder to themselves.”

“That was a very dishonourable act indeed,”
said Lawton; “I wonder that you associate with
such rascals.”

“It is necessary to have an understanding with
some of them, or we might be taken,” returned
the Skinner. “But a man without honour, is
worse than a brute—do you think Major Dunwoodie
is a man to be trusted?”

“You mean on honourable principles,” said
Lawton.

“Certain—you know Arnold was thought well
of, until the Royal Major was taken.”

“Why I do not believe Dunwoodie would sell
his command as Arnold wished to,” said the captain;
“neither do I think him exactly trust-worthy
in a delicate business like yours.”

“That's just my notion,” rejoined the Skinner,
with a self-approving manner that showed how
much he was satisfied with his own estimate of
character.

By this time they had arrived at a better sort of
farm house, the very extensive out-buildings of
which were in tolerable repair for the times.
The barns were occupied by the men of the
troop in their clothes, while their horses were
arranged under the long sheds which protected
the yard from the cold north wind, and were quietly
eating, with their saddles on their backs, and
bridles thrown on their necks, ready to be bitted
at the shortest warning. Lawton excused himself
for a moment to the Skinner and entered his
quarters. He soon returned holding in his hand

one of the common lanterns used by the men
when working on their steeds, and led the way
towards the large orchard that surrounded the
buildings on three sides. The gang followed the
leader in silence, who suspected the object to be the
facility of communicating further on this interesting
topic without the danger of being overheard.

Approaching the captain, he renewed the discourse
with a view of establishing further confidence,
and giving his companion a more favourable
opinion of his intellects.

“Do you think the colonies will finally get the
better of the King?” he inquired with a little of
the importance of a politician.

“Get the better!” echoed the captain, with
impetuosity—then checking himself, he continued,
“no doubt they will—if the French will
give us arms and money; we can drive the Royal
troops out in six months.”

“Well so I hope we will soon,” said the Skinner
hastily, being conscious of his having meditated
joining the refugees for some time, “and then
we shall have a free government, and we, who
fight for it, will get our reward.”

“Oh!” cried Lawton, “your claims will be indisputable,
while all these vile tories, who live at
home peaceably to take care of their farms, will
be held in the contempt they merit. You have
no farm I suppose?”

“Not yet—but it will go hard if I do not find
one before the peace is made.”

“Right; study your own interests and you study
the interests of your country—press the point of
your own services, and rail at the tories, and I'll
bet my spurs against a rusty nail, that you get to
be a county-clerk at least.”

“Don't you think Paulding's party were fools
in not letting the Royal Adjutant-General escape?”

said the man, thrown off his guard by the
freedom of the captain's manner.

“Fools!” cried Lawton, with a bitter laugh;
“Ay fools indeed—King George would have paid
them better, for he is richer. He would have
made them gentlemen for their lives. But, thank
God, there is a pervading spirit in the people that
seems miraculous. Men who have nothing, act
as if the wealth of the Indies depended on their
fidelity—all are not villains like yourself, or we
should have been slaves to England years ago.”

“How!” exclaimed the Skinner, starting back
and dropping his musket to the level of the other's
breast, “am I betrayed then—and are you my
enemy!”

“Miscreant!” shouted Lawton, his sabre ringing
in its steel scabbard as he struck the musket
of the fellow from his hands, “offer but again to
point your gun at me, and I'll cleave you to the
middle.”

“And you will not pay us then, Captain Lawton?”
asked the Skinner, trembling, and noticing
a party of mounted dragoons silently encircling
the whole party.

“O! pay you--yes—you shall have the full
measure of your reward—there is the money that
Colonel Singleton sent down for the captors of the
Spy,” throwing a bag of guineas with disdain at
the other's feet. “But ground your arms, you
rascals, and see that the money is truly told.”

The intimidated band did as they were ordered,
and while they were hastily employed in this
pleasing avocation, a few of Lawton's men privately
knocked the flints from their muskets.

“Well,” cried the captain, “is it right—have
you the promised reward?”

“There is just the money,” said the leader,

“and we will now go to our homes with your permission.”

“Hold!” returned Lawton, with his usual gravity;
“so much to redeem our promise—now for
justice; we pay you for taking a Spy, but we
punish you for burning, robbing, and murdering—
seize them, my lads, and give them each the Law
of Moses--forty save one.”

This command was given to no unwilling listeners,
and in the twinkling of an eye the Skinners
were stripped and fastened, by the halters of the
party, to as many of the apple-trees as was necessary
to furnish one to each of the gang; swords
were quickly drawn, and fifty branches cut from
the trees like magic: from these were selected a
few of the most supple of the twigs, and a willing
dragoon was soon found to wield each of these
new weapons. Captain Lawton gave the word,
humanely cautioning his men not to exceed the
discipline prescribed by the Mosaic Law, and
directly the uproar of Babel commenced in the
orchard. The cries of the leader were easily to
be distinguished above those of his men, and the
circumstance might be accounted for, by Captain
Lawton's reminding his corrector that he had to
deal with an officer, and he should remember and
pay him unusual honour. The flagellation was
executed with great neatness and despatch, and
was distinguished by no irregularity excepting that
none of the disciplinarians began to count until
they had tried their whips by a dozen or more
blows, by the way, as they said themselves, of
finding out the proper places to strike. As soon
as this summary operation was satisfactorily completed,
Lawton directed his men to leave the
Skinners to replace their own clothes, and to
nount their horses, as they were a party who had

been detailed for the purpose of patroling lower
down in the county.

“You see, my friend,” said the captain to the
leader of the Skinners, after he had prepared himself
to depart, “I can cover you to some purpose when
necessary. If we meet often, you will be covered
with scars, which, if not very honourable, will be
at least merited.”

The fellow made no reply, but was busy with
his musket, and hastening his comrades to march;
when, every thing being ready, they proceeded
sullenly towards some rocks, at no great distance,
which were overhung by a deep wood. The
moon was just rising, and the group of dragoons
could easily be distinguished where they had been
left. Suddenly turning, the whole gang levelled
their pieces and drew the triggers. The action
was noticed and the snapping of the locks was
heard by the soldiers, who returned their futile
attempt with a laugh of derision—the captain
crying aloud—

“Ah! rascals, I know you--and have taken
away your flints.”

“You should have taken away the one in my
pocket too,” shouted the leader, firing his gun in
the next instant. The bullet grazed the ear of
Lawton, who laughed as he shook his head, and
said, “a miss was as good as a mile.” One
of the dragoons had noticed the preparations of
the Skinner, who had been left alone by the rest
of his gang, as soon as they had made their abortive
attempt at revenge, and was in the act of
plunging his spurs in his horse as the fellow fired.
The distance to the rocks was but small, yet the
speed of the horse compelled the leader to abandon
both money and musket, to effect his escape.
The soldier returned with his prizes and offered
them to the acceptance of his captain, but Lawton

rejected them coolly, telling the man to retain
them himself, until the Skinner appeared in person
to claim his property. It would have been a
business of no small difficulty for any tribunal
then existing in the new states, to have enforced
a decree of restitution of the money, for it was
shortly after most equitably distributed by the
hands of Sergeant Hollister, among a troop of
horse. The patrole departed, and the captain
slowly returned to his quarters, with an intent of
retiring to rest. A figure moving rapidly among
the trees in the direction of the wood, whither the
Skinners had retired, caught his eye, and, wheeling
on his heel, the cautious partisan approached it,
and to his astonishment saw the washerwoman at
that hour of the night, and in such a place.

“What, Betty!—walking in your sleep, or
dreaming while awake,” cried the astonished
trooper, “are you not afraid of meeting with the
ghost of ancient Jenny in this her favourite pasture?”

“Ah, sure, Captain Jack,” returned the suttler
in her native accent, and reeling in a manner that
made it difficult for her to raise her head, “its
not Jenny, or her ghost, that I'm seeking—but some
yarbs for the wounded. And its the vartue of the
rising moon, as it jist touches them, that I want.
They grow under yon rocks, and thither I must
hasten or the charm will lose its power.”

“Fool, you are fitter for your pallet than wandering
among those rocks—a fall from one of them
would break your bones—besides, the Skinners
have fled to those heights, and should they see
you, would revenge on you a flogging they have
but just now received from me. Better return
old woman, and finish your nap—we march in the
morning, I hear.”

Betty disregarded his advice, and continued her

devious route to the hill side. For an instant, as
Lawton mentioned the Skinners, she had paused,
but immediately resumed her course, and was
soon out of sight among the trees.

On entering his quarters, the sentinel at the
door inquired if he had met Mrs. Flannagan—and
told his captain she had passed there, filling the
air with threats against her tormentors at the
“Hotel,” and inquiring for the captain in search
of redress. Lawton heard the man in astonishment—appeared
struck with a new idea--walked
several yards towards the orchard, and returned
again; for several minutes he paced rapidly to
and fro before the door of the house, and then
hastily entered it, threw himself on a bed in his
clothes, and was soon in a profound sleep.

In the mean time the gang of marauders had
successfully gained the summit of the rocks, and
scattering in every direction buried themselves in
the depths of the wood. Finding, however, they
were unpursued, a thing which was impracticable
for horse, the leader ventured to call his band together
with a whistle, and in a short time succeeded
in collecting his discomfited party at a point
where they had but little to apprehend from this
new enemy.

“Well,” said one of the fellows, while a fire
was lighting to protect them against the air, which
was becoming severely cold, “there is an end to
our business in West-Chester. The Virginia
horse will soon make the county too hot to hold
us.”

“I'll have his blood,” muttered the leader,
“if I die for it the next instant.”

“Oh, you are very valiant here in the wood,”
cried the other with a savage laugh; “why did
you, who boast so much of your aim, miss your
man just now, at thirty yards?”

“ 'Twas the horseman that disturbed me, or I
would have ended this Captain Lawton on the
spot—besides, the cold had set me a shivering,
and I had no longer a steady hand.”

“Say it was fear, and you will tell no lie,” said
his comrade, with a sneer. “For my part, I think
I shall never be cold again—my back burns as if
a thousand gridirons were laid on it, and that not
very gently.”

“And you would tamely submit to such usage,
and kiss the rod that beat you?”

“As for kissing the rod, it would be no easy
matter I'm thinking,” returned the other. “Yes,
mine was broke into such small pieces on my own
shoulders, that it would be difficult to find one big
enough to kiss; but I would rather submit to
losing half my skin, than to losing the whole of it,
with my ears in the bargain. And such will be
our fates if we tempt this mad Virginian again.—
God willing, I would at any time give him enough
of my hide to make a pair of Jack books, to get
out of his hands with the remainder. If you had
known when you were well off, you would have
stuck to Major Dunwoodie, who don't know half
so much of our evil-doings.”

“Silence, you talking fool,” shouted the enraged
leader; “your prating nonsense is sufficient
to drive a man mad—is it not enough to be robbed
and beaten, but we must be tormented with your
folly—help to get out the provisions, if any is left
in the wallet, and try and stop your mouth with
food.”

This injunction was obeyed, and the whole party,
amidst sundry groans and contortions, excited
by the disordered state of their backs, made their
arrangements for a scanty meal.—A large fire of
dry wood was burning in the cleft of a rock, and at
length they began to recover in some measure

from the confusion of their flight, and collect their
scattered senses. Their hunger appeased, and
many of their garments thrown aside for the better
opportunity of dressing their wounds, the gang
began to plot measures of revenge.—An hour was
spent in this manner, and various expedients were
proposed, but as they all depended a good deal on
personal prowess for their success, and were attended
by great danger, they were of course
rejected. There was no possibility of approaching
the troops by surprise, their vigilance being
ever on the watch; and the hope of meeting
Captain Lawton away from his men was equally
forlorn, for the trooper was constantly engaged in
his duty, and his movements were so rapid, that
any opportunity of meeting with him at all
must depend greatly on accident. Besides, it was
by no means certain, that such an interview would
result happily for themselves. The cunning of
the trooper was notorious, and rough and broken
as was West-Chester, the fearless partisan was
known to take desperate leaps, and stone walls
were but slight impediments before the charges of
the Southern horse. Gradually, the conversation
took another direction, until the gang determined
on a plan which should both revenge-themselves,
and at the same time offer some additional stimulus
to their exertions. The whole business was
accurately discussed, the time fixed, and the manner
adopted—in short, nothing was wanting to the
previous arrangement for this deed of villainy,
when they were aroused by a voice calling
aloud—

“This way Captain Jack—here are the rascals
ating by a fire—this way, and murder the thieves
where they sit—quick, lave your horses and shoot
your pistols.”

This terrific summons was enough to disturb

the philosophy of the gang entirely, and springing
on their feet, they rushed deeper into the wood,
and having already agreed upon a place of rendezvous
previously to their intended expedition,
they dispersed towards the four quarters of the
heavens—certain sounds and different voices were
heard calling to each other, but as the marauders
were well trained to speed of foot, they were soon
lost in the distance.

It was not long before Betty Flannagan emerged
from the darkness, and very coolly took possession
of what the Skinners had left in their flight—these
were food, and divers articles of dress. The
washerwoman deliberately seated herself, and
made a meal with great apparent satisfaction; for
an hour she sat with her head upon her hand in
deep musing, then gathered together such articles
of the clothes as seemed to suit her fancy, and
retired into the wood by herself; leaving the fire
to throw its glimmering light on the adjacent
rocks, until its last brand died away, and the place
was abandoned to solitude and darkness.