University of Virginia Library

40. CHAPTER XL.

From Tarborough our travellers continued their route towards
the Pedee, by the main road which led through Cross creek, a
small hamlet on Cape Fear river, near the site of the present town
of Fayetteville. The general features of the country were even
more forbidding than those I have already described as characteristic
of this portion of North Carolina. Even to the present day,
cultivation has done but little to cheer up the natural desolation of
those tracts of wilderness which lie between the rivers. But at the
early period to which the events I have been detailing have reference,
the journey undertaken by our little caravan might be compared
to that which is now frequently made through the more
southern extremity of the Union, from the Atlantic to the Gulf of
Mexico, an attempt seldom essayed by a female, and sufficiently
trying to the hardihood of the stoutest travellers. The forethought
and attention of Horse Shoe Robinson, however, contributed to
alleviate the pains of the enterprise, and to enable Mildred to overcome
its difficulties.

In the present alarmed and excited state of this province, the
party were less liable to interruption in this secluded and destitute
section of the country, than they might have been, had they chosen
a lower and more populous district; and the consciousness that
every day's perseverance brought them nearer to the ultimate term
of their journey, gave new vigor, at least, to Mildred's capacity to
endure the privations to which she was exposed. But few vestiges
of the war yet occurred to their view. The great wilderness, like
the great ocean, retains no traces of the passage of hostile bodies.
Sometimes, indeed, the signs of a woodland encampment were
visible in the midst of the forest, on the margin of some sluggish
brook or around a sylvan fountain, where the impression of recent
hoof-prints, the scattered fragments of brushwood cut for temporary
shelter, and the still smouldering ashes of camp fires, showed

that masses of men had been in motion. The deer fled, too, with
a more frightened bound towards their coverts, as if lately alarmed
by the pursuit of the huntsman; but the images of devastation,
which are associated with the horrid front of war in the mind of
all familiar with its ravage, were absent. The eternal, leafy shade
high arching over the heads of the wayfarers, furnished no object
for human vengeance; and it still sighed in the fanning of the
breeze, as of old it sighed before man claimed dominion in the soil
it sheltered. A far different scene was shortly to be looked upon
by our venturesome friends.

Several days had again passed by, for the journey through the
wilderness had been slowly prosecuted, when Robinson, towards
the approach of evening, announced to Mildred his conjecture that
they were not far off the Pedee. The banks of this river had
been the scene of frequent hostilities, and the war that had been
carried on here was of the most ruthless kind. The river is characterized
by a broad, deep, and quiet stream, begirt with a vegetation
of exceeding luxuriance. Its periodical overflow seems to have
poured out upon its margin a soil of inexhaustible richness, that,
for a mile or two on either side, forms a striking contrast with the
low, barren sand-hills that hem in the river plain. Along this
tract of level border, all the way to the Atlantic, are found, as is
usually the case throughout the Carolinas, the large plantations
of opulent gentlemen, who, by the cultivation of rice and cotton,
turn the fertility of the soil to the best account. These possessions,
presenting the most assailable points to an enemy, and, indeed,
almost the only ones in which the great interests of the province
might be wounded, were, during the whole of that bloody struggle
which distinguished the days of the “Tory Ascendency,” the constant
objects of attack; and here the war was waged with a vindictive
malignity, on the part of the British and Tory partisans, that is
scarcely surpassed in the history of civil broils. The finest estates
were sacked, the dwellings burnt, and the property destroyed with
unsparing rage. The men were dragged from their houses and
hung, the women and children turned without food or raiment into
the wilderness, and political vengeance seemed to gorge itself to
gluttony upon its own rapine.

The thoughts of Robinson had been, for some days past, running

upon the probable difficulties that might attend the guise in which
he was now about to return to his native province. This was a subject
of some concern, since he ran a risk of being compelled either
to desert his charge, or to bring his companions into jeopardy,
amongst the many persons of both armies who were, at least by
report, acquainted with his name and his military connexions.
He had explained to Mildred the necessity of his appearing in
some definite character, associated with the object of her journey,
and of which, upon emergency, he might claim the benefit to
retain his post near her. This matter was summarily settled by
Henry.

“In general, Mr. Horse Shoe, you can call yourself Stephen
Foster: you know Steve; and you can say that you are Mr.
Philip Lindsay's gardener. Isaac, here, can let you enough into
the craft to pass muster, if any of them should take it into their
heads to examine you. Mind that, Isaac: and recollect, old fellow,
you are only sister Mildred's waiting man.”

“Sartainly, master,” replied Isaac.

“And sergeant, I'll tell you all about Steve; so that you can
get your lesson by heart. You have a wife and five children—
remember that. I'll give you all their names by-and-by.”

“Thanks to the marcies of God, that ar'n't my misfortune yet,”
said Horse Shoe, laughing; “but, Mr. Henry, I have got conscience
enough now for any lie that can be invented. The major
and me talked that thing over, and he's of opinion that lying, in
an enemy's country, is not forbidden in the scriptures. And I
have hearn the preacher say that Rahab, who was not a woman
of good fame no how, yet she was excused by the Lord for telling
the king of Jericho a most thumping lie, consarning her not knowing
what had become of the two men that Joshua, the judge of Israel,
who was a general besides, had sent into the town to reconnoitre;
which was a strong case, Mister Henry, seeing that Rahab, the
harlot, was a taking of sides against her own people. So, I like
your plan and I'll stick by it.”

This being agreed upon, it became one of the amusements of
the road-side to put the sergeant through his catechism, which
was designed to make him familiar with the traits of private history
relating to the Dove Cote and its appurtenances, that he

might thereby maintain his identity, in the event of a close investigation.
Horse Shoe was but an awkward scholar in this school
of disguise, and gave Henry sufficient employment to keep him in
the path of probability; and, indeed, the young teacher himself
found it difficult to maintain an exact verisimilitude in the part
which it was his own province to play in this deception.

On the evening to which we have alluded, the sergeant, finding
himself within a short distance of the district of country in which
he was almost certain to encounter parties of both friends and foes,
adopted a greater degree of circumspection than he had hitherto
deemed it necessary to observe. His purpose was to halt upon
the borders of the forest, and endeavor to obtain accurate information
of the state of affairs along the river, before he entered upon
this dangerous ground. Like a soldier who had a rich treasure to
guard, he was determined to run no hazard that might be avoided,
in the safe conduct of the lady in whose service he was enlisted.
In accordance with this caution, he directed the cavalcade to move
onward at a moderate walk, in order that they might not reach
the limit of the woodland before the dusk of the evening; and also
in the hope of finding there some habitation where they might
pass the night. They had not advanced far in this manner before
the sergeant descried, at some distance ahead, a small log hut
standing by the road side, which, by the smoke that issued
from the chimney, he perceived to be inhabited. Upon this discovery,
he ordered the party to stop and await his return. Then
giving spurs to his horse he galloped forward, and, after a short
interval of absence, returned, made a favorable report of his reconnoissance,
and conducted his companions to the house.

The little cabin to which Mildred was thus introduced was the
homestead of an honest Whig soldier, by the name of Wingate, who
was now in service, under the command of one of the most gallant
partisans that any country ever produced, Francis Marion, then
recently promoted to the rank of a brigadier. The inmates were
the soldier's family, consisting of a young woman and a number
of small children, all demonstrating by their appearance a condition
of exceedingly limited comfort. The hut contained no more
than two rooms, which exhibited but a scanty supply of the meanest
furniture. The forest had been cleared for the space of a few

acres around the dwelling, and these were occupied by a small
garden or vegetable patch, meagrely stocked with scattered and
half parched plants; and by a cornfield, along the skirts of which
some lean hogs were seen groping with a felonious stealthiness.
A shed, in the same inclosure, formed a rendezvous for a few half-starved
cattle, that probably obtained their principal but slender
support from the neighboring wood. Add to these a troop of
fowls, that were now at roost upon one of the trees hard by, and
we have, probably, a tolerably correct inventory of the worldly
goods of this little family.

The woman of the house was kind and hospitable, and her
attentions were in no small degree quickened by the application of
a few pieces of money which Mildred insisted upon her receiving—
much to the discomfiture of the dame's self-possession—the boon
consisting of hard coin, to an amount of which, perhaps, she had
never before been mistrees.

Mildred was exceedingly fatigued, and it was an object of early
consideration to furnish her the means of rest. Our hostess,
assisted by old Isaac, and officiously but awkwardly superintended
by Horse Shoe, began her preparations for supper, to the abundance
of which the provident sergeant was enabled to contribute
some useful elements from his wallet. In one of the apartments
of the hut, a shock-bed was spread for the lady, and by the
assistance of her cloak and some other commodities which had
been provided as part of her travelling gear, she was supplied with
a couch that formed no ill exchange for the weariness of her long-inhabited
saddle. Use and necessity are kind nursing-mothers to
our nature, and do not often fail to endow us with the qualities
proper to the fortune they shape out for us. This was not Mildred's
first experience of a homely lodging since she left the Dove Cote;
and, as privation and toil have a faculty to convert the rough
pallet of the peasant into a bed of down, she hailed the present
prospect of rest with a contented and grateful spirit.

The supper being dispatched, our lady was left alone with her
hostess, to seek the repose of which she stood so much in need.

The sergeant now set about making provision for the rest of his
party. This was done by erecting a shelter beneath one of the
trees of the forest, opposite to the door of the cabin. It was composed

of a few boughs stacked against the trunk of the tree, sufficiently
covered with leaves to turn aside any rain that might
happen to fall. Under this cover Horse Shoe appointed that he
and his comrades should pass the night, enjoining them to keep a
regular watch for the security of the lady, whose welfare was now
the object of his most sedulous attention. All these preparations
were made with the exactness of military rule, and with a skill
that greatly delighted Henry.

The long summer twilight had faded away. Mildred had been,
from an early period, in the enjoyment of a profound slumber, and
Henry and his negro ally were seated at the front of their sylvan
tent. The sergeant had lighted his pipe, and now, taking his seat
upon a log that lay near his post, he began to smoke in good
earnest, with a mind as free from anxiety as if universal peace prevailed.
In the sedate enjoyment of this luxury, he fell into a
descant on matters and things, interlarded with long and strange
stories of his own singular adventures, which he told to the no
small edification and amusement of Henry and the negro.

The habits of the experienced soldier were curiously illustrated
in the thoughtful and sober foresight with which Robinson adapted
his plans to the exigencies of his condition, and then in the imperturbable
light-heartedness with which, after his measures of safety
were taken, he waited the progress of events. His watchfulness
seemed to be an instinct, engendered by a familiarity with danger,
whilst the steady and mirthful tone of his mind was an attribute
that never gave way to the inroads of care. He was the same
composed and self-possessed being in a besieged garrison, in the
moment of a threatened escalade, as amongst his cronies by a
winter fire-side.

“In this here starlight, Mister Henry,” he said, after he had
puffed out two or three charges of his pipe, “I can't see your eyes,
but by your yawning, I judge you are a little sleepy. Take my
advice and turn in. A sodger ought to snatch his rest when he can
get it. I'll keep guard over our young lady; the Lord protect her,
for a most an elegant and oncommon precious young creature!
Fling your great coat upon the leaves, and go at it, my lad, like a
good fellow.”

“If I was at home Mr. Horse Shoe, at the Dove Cote, I could

sit up all night listening to your stories; but I believe I am
bewitched to-night, for my eyelids, this hour past, have been snapping
like rat traps. So, I'll just stretch out for an hour or so, and
then get up and take my turn at the guard.”

“Don't trouble your head about watching,” replied Horse Shoe,
“you are not old enough for that yet. At your time of life, Mr.
Lindsay, a good night's rest is the best part of a ration. And tomorrow,
if I'm not mistaken, you will have need of all the strength
you can muster to-night. As for me, it isn't much account whether
I'm asleep or awake.”

“Not so fast, sergeant,” rejoined the youth, “I'm an older soldier
than you take me for; Stephen and I have watched many a night
for racoons. No, no, I'll have my turn towards morning. So, you
and Isaac take the first part of the night between you, and if anything
should happen, call me; I'm one of your minute men. So
good night. My horse trots harder than I thought he did.”

It was not long before our boasted minute man was locked up in
a spell apparently as profound as that which the legend affirms assailed
the seven sleepers: and Isaac, not even waiting for the good
example of his master, had already sunk upon the ground, with
that facility which distinguishes his race, the most uncaring and
happiest of mortals.