And though amidst the calm of thought entire,
Some high and haughty features might betray
A soul impetuous once--'twas earthly fire
That fled composure's intellectual ray,
As Etna's fires grow dim before the rising day.
--Gertrude of Wyoming.
It was near the close of the year 1780 that a solitary traveler was seen
pursuing his way through one of the numerous little valleys of
Westchester. [Footnote: As each state of the American Union has its own
counties, it often happens that there are several which bear the same
name. The scene of this tale is in New York, whose county of Westchester
is the nearest adjoining to the city.] The easterly wind, with its
chilling dampness and increasing violence, gave unerring notice of the
approach of a storm, which, as usual, might be expected to continue for
several days; and the experienced eye of the traveler was turned in
vain, through the darkness of the evening, in quest of some convenient
shelter, in which, for the term of his confinement by the rain that
already began to mix with the atmosphere in a thick mist, he might
obtain such accommodations as his purposes required. Nothing whatever
offered but the small and inconvenient tenements of the lower order of
the inhabitants, with whom, in that immediate neighborhood, he did not
think it either safe or politic to trust himself.
The county of Westchester, after the British had obtained possession of
the island of New York, [Footnote: The city of New York is situated on
an island called Manhattan: but it is at one point separated from the
county of Westchester by a creek of only a few feet in width. The bridge
at this spot is called King's Bridge. It was the scene of many
skirmishes during the war, and is alluded to in this tale. Every
Manhattanese knows the difference between "Manhattan Island" and the
"island of Manhattan." The first is applied to a small District in the
vicinity of Corlaer's Hook, while the last embraces the Whole island; or
the city and county of New York as it is termed in the laws.] became
common ground, in which both parties continued to act for the remainder
of the war of the Revolution. A large proportion of its inhabitants,
either restrained by their attachments, or influenced by their fears,
affected a neutrality they did not feel. The lower towns were, of
course, more particularly under the dominion of the crown, while the
upper, finding a security from the vicinity of the continental troops,
were bold in asserting their revolutionary opinions, and their right to
govern themselves. Great numbers, however, wore masks, which even to
this day have not been thrown aside; and many an individual has gone
down to the tomb, stigmatized as a foe to the rights of his countrymen,
while, in secret, he has been the useful agent of the leaders of the
Revolution; and, on the other hand, could the hidden repositories of
divers flaming patriots have been opened to the light of day, royal
protections would have been discovered concealed under piles of
British gold.
At the sound of the tread of the noble horse ridden by the traveler, the
mistress of the farmhouse he was passing at the time might be seen
cautiously opening the door of the building to examine the stranger; and
perhaps, with an averted face communicating the result of her
observations to her husband, who, in the rear of the building, was
prepared to seek, if necessary, his ordinary place of concealment in the
adjacent woods. The valley was situated about midway in the length of
the county, and was sufficiently near to both armies to make the
restitution of stolen goods no uncommon occurrence in that vicinity. It
is true, the same articles were not always regained; but a summary
substitute was generally resorted to, in the absence of legal justice,
which restored to the loser the amount of his loss, and frequently with
no inconsiderable addition for the temporary use of his property. In
short, the law was momentarily extinct in that particular district, and
justice was administered subject to the bias of personal interests and
the passions of the strongest.
The passage of a stranger, with an appearance of somewhat doubtful
character, and mounted on an animal which, although unfurnished with any
of the ordinary trappings of war, partook largely of the bold and
upright carriage that distinguished his rider, gave rise to many
surmises among the gazing inmates of the different habitations; and in
some instances, where conscience was more than ordinarily awake, to no
little alarm.
Tired with the exercise of a day of unusual fatigue, and anxious to
obtain a speedy shelter from the increasing violence of the storm, that
now began to change its character to large drops of driving rain, the
traveler determined, as a matter of necessity, to make an application
for admission to the next dwelling that offered. An opportunity was not
long wanting; and, riding through a pair of neglected bars, he knocked
loudly at the outer door of a building of a very humble exterior,
without quitting his saddle. A female of middle age, with an outward
bearing but little more prepossessing than that of her dwelling,
appeared to answer the summons. The startled woman half closed her door
again in affright, as she saw, by the glare of a large wood fire, a
mounted man so unexpectedly near its threshold; and an expression of
terror mingled with her natural curiosity, as she required his pleasure.
Although the door was too nearly closed to admit of a minute scrutiny of
the accommodations within, enough had been seen to cause the horseman to
endeavor, once more, to penetrate the gloom, with longing eyes, in
search of a more promising roof, before, with an ill-concealed
reluctance, he stated his necessities and wishes. His request was
listened to with evident unwillingness, and, while yet unfinished, it
was eagerly interrupted by the reply:
"I can't say I like to give lodgings to a stranger in these ticklish
times," said the female, in a pert, sharp key. "I'm nothing but a
forlorn lone body; or, what's the same thing, there's nobody but the old
gentleman at home; but a half mile farther up the road is a house where
you can get entertainment, and that for nothing. I am sure 'twill be
much convenienter to them, and more agreeable to me--because, as I said
before, Harvey is away; I wish he'd take advice, and leave off
wandering; he's well to do in the world by this time; and he ought to
leave off his uncertain courses, and settle himself, handsomely, in
life, like other men of his years and property. But Harvey Birch will
have his own way, and die vagabond after all!"
The horseman did not wait to hear more than the advice to pursue his
course up the road; but he had slowly turned his horse towards the bars,
and was gathering the folds of an ample cloak around his manly form,
preparatory to facing the storm again, when something in the speech of
the female suddenly arrested the movement.
"Is this, then, the dwelling of Harvey Birch?" he inquired, in an
involuntary manner, apparently checking himself, as he was about to
utter more.
"Why, one can hardly say it is his dwelling," replied the other, drawing
a hurried breath, like one eager to answer; "he is never in it, or so
seldom, that I hardly remember his face, when he does think it worth his
while to show it to his poor old father and me. But it matters little to
me, I'm sure, if he ever comes back again, or not;--turn in the first
gate on your left;--no, I care but little, for my part, whether Harvey
ever shows his face again or not--not I"--and she closed the door
abruptly on the horseman, who gladly extended his ride a half mile
farther, to obtain lodgings which promised both more comfort and
greater security.
Sufficient light yet remained to enable the traveler to distinguish the
improvements [Footnote: Improvements is used by the Americans to express
every degree of change in converting land from its state of wilderness
to that of cultivation. In this meaning of the word, it is an
improvement to fell the trees; and it is valued precisely by the
supposed amount of the cost.] which had been made in the cultivation,
and in the general appearance of the grounds around the building to
which he was now approaching. The house was of stone, long, low, and
with a small wing at each extremity. A piazza, extending along the
front, with neatly turned pillars of wood, together with the good order
and preservation of the fences and outbuildings, gave the place an air
altogether superior to the common farmhouses of the country. After
leading his horse behind an angle of the wall, where it was in some
degree protected from the wind and rain, the traveler threw his valise
over his arm, and knocked loudly at the entrance of the building for
admission. An aged black soon appeared; and without seeming to think it
necessary, under the circumstances, to consult his superiors,--first
taking one prying look at the applicant, by the light of the candle in
his hand,--he acceded to the request for accommodations. The traveler
was shown into an extremely neat parlor, where a fire had been lighted
to cheer the dullness of an easterly storm and an October evening. After
giving the valise into the keeping of his civil attendant, and politely
repeating his request to the old gentleman, who arose to receive him,
and paying his compliments to the three ladies who were seated at work
with their needles, the stranger commenced laying aside some of the
outer garments which he had worn in his ride.
On taking an extra handkerchief from his neck, and removing a cloak of
blue cloth, with a surtout of the same material, he exhibited to the
scrutiny of the observant family party, a tall and extremely graceful
person, of apparently fifty years of age. His countenance evinced a
settled composure and dignity; his nose was straight, and approaching to
Grecian; his eye, of a gray color, was quiet, thoughtful, and rather
melancholy; the mouth and lower part of his face being expressive of
decision and much character. His dress, being suited to the road, was
simple and plain, but such as was worn by the higher class of his
countrymen; he wore his own hair, dressed in a manner that gave a
military air to his appearance, and which was rather heightened by his
erect and conspicuously graceful carriage. His whole appearance was so
impressive and so decidedly that of a gentleman, that as he finished
laying aside the garments, the ladies arose from their seats, and,
together with the master of the house, they received anew, and returned
the complimentary greetings which were again offered.
The host was by several years the senior of the traveler, and by his
manner, dress, and everything around him, showed he had seen much of
life and the best society. The ladies were, a maiden of forty, and two
much younger, who did not seem, indeed, to have reached half those
years. The bloom of the elder of these ladies had vanished, but her eyes
and fine hair gave an extremely agreeable expression to her countenance;
and there was a softness and an affability in her deportment, that added
a charm many more juvenile faces do not possess. The sisters, for such
the resemblance between the younger females denoted them to be, were in
all the pride of youth, and the roses, so eminently the property of the
Westchester fair, glowed on their cheeks, and lighted their deep blue
eyes with that luster which gives so much pleasure to the beholder, and
which indicates so much internal innocence and peace. There was much of
that feminine delicacy in the appearance of the three, which
distinguishes the sex in this country; and, like the gentleman, their
demeanor proved them to be women of the higher order of life.
After handing a glass of excellent Madeira to his guest, Mr. Wharton,
for so was the owner of this retired estate called, resumed his seat by
the fire, with another in his own hand. For a moment he paused, as if
debating with his politeness, but at length threw an inquiring glance on
the stranger, as he inquired,--
"To whose health am I to have the honor of drinking?"
The traveler had also seated himself, and he sat unconsciously gazing on
the fire, while Mr. Wharton spoke; turning his eyes slowly on his host
with a look of close observation, he replied, while a faint tinge
gathered on his features,--
"Mr. Harper."
"Mr. Harper," resumed the other, with the formal precision of that day,
"I have the honor to drink your health, and to hope you will sustain no
injury from the rain to which you have been exposed."
Mr. Harper bowed in silence to the compliment, and he soon resumed the
meditations from which he had been interrupted, and for which the long
ride he had that day made, in the wind, might seem a very
natural apology.
The young ladies had again taken their seats beside the workstand, while
their aunt, Miss Jeanette Peyton, withdrew to superintend the
preparations necessary to appease the hunger of their unexpected
visitor. A short silence prevailed, during which Mr. Harper was
apparently enjoying the change in his situation, when Mr. Wharton again
broke it, by inquiring whether smoke was disagreeable to his companion;
to which, receiving an answer in the negative, he immediately resumed
the pipe which had been laid aside at the entrance of the traveler.
There was an evident desire on the part of the host to enter into
conversation, but either from an apprehension of treading on dangerous
ground, or an unwillingness to intrude upon the rather studied
taciturnity of his guest, he several times hesitated, before he could
venture to make any further remark. At length, a movement from Mr.
Harper, as he raised his eyes to the party in the room, encouraged him
to proceed.
"I find it very difficult," said Mr. Wharton, cautiously avoiding at
first, such subjects as he wished to introduce, "to procure that quality
of tobacco for my evenings' amusement to which I have been accustomed."
"I should think the shops in New York might furnish the best in the
country," calmly rejoined the other.
"Why--yes," returned the host in rather a hesitating manner, lifting his
eyes to the face of Harper, and lowering them quickly under his steady
look, "there must be plenty in town; but the war has made communication
with the city, however innocent, too dangerous to be risked for so
trifling an article as tobacco."
The box from which Mr. Wharton had just taken a supply for his pipe was
lying open, within a few inches of the elbow of Harper, who took a small
quantity from its contents, and applied it to his tongue, in a manner
perfectly natural, but one that filled his companion with alarm.
Without, however, observing that the quality was of the most approved
kind, the traveler relieved his host by relapsing again into his
meditations. Mr. Wharton now felt unwilling to lose the advantage he had
gained, and, making an effort of more than usual vigor, he continued,--
"I wish from the bottom of my heart, this unnatural struggle was over,
that we might again meet our friends and relatives in peace and love."
"It is much to be desired," said Harper, emphatically, again raising his
eyes to the countenance of his host.
"I hear of no movement of consequence, since the arrival of our new
allies," said Mr. Wharton, shaking the ashes from his pipe, and turning
his back to the other under the pretense of receiving a coal from his
youngest daughter.
"None have yet reached the public, I believe."
"Is it thought any important steps are about to be taken?" continued Mr.
Wharton, still occupied with his daughter, yet suspending his
employment, in expectation of a reply.
"Is it intimated any are in agitation?"
"Oh! nothing in particular; but it is natural to expect some new
enterprise from so powerful a force as that under Rochambeau."
Harper made an assenting inclination with his head, but no other reply,
to this remark; while Mr. Wharton, after lighting his pipe, resumed
the subject.
"They appear more active in the south; Gates and Cornwallis seem willing
to bring the war to an issue there."
The brow of Harper contracted, and a deeper shade of melancholy crossed
his features; his eye kindled with a transient beam of fire, that spoke
a latent source of deep feeling. The admiring gaze of the younger of the
sisters had barely time to read its expression, before it passed away,
leaving in its room the acquired composure which marked the countenance
of the stranger, and that impressive dignity which so conspicuously
denotes the empire of reason.
The elder sister made one or two movements in her chair, before she
ventured to say, in a tone which partook in no small measure of
triumph,--
"General Gates has been less fortunate with the earl, than with General
Burgoyne."
"But General Gates is an Englishman, Sarah," cried the younger lady,
with quickness; then, coloring to the eyes at her own boldness, she
employed herself in tumbling over the contents of her work basket,
silently hoping the remark would be unnoticed.
The traveler had turned his face from one sister to the other, as they
had spoken in succession, and an almost imperceptible movement of the
muscles of his mouth betrayed a new emotion, as he playfully inquired of
the younger,--
"May I venture to ask what inference you would draw from that fact?"
Frances blushed yet deeper at this direct appeal to her opinions upon a
subject on which she had incautiously spoken in the presence of a
stranger; but finding an answer necessary, after some little hesitation,
and with a good deal of stammering in her manner, she replied,--
"Only--only--sir--my sister and myself sometimes differ in our opinions
of the prowess of the British." A smile of much meaning played on a
face of infantile innocency, as she concluded.
"On what particular points of their prowess do you differ?" continued
Harper, meeting her look of animation with a smile of almost
paternal softness.
"Sarah thinks the British are never beaten, while I do not put so much
faith in their invincibility."
The traveler listened to her with that pleased indulgence, with which
virtuous age loves to contemplate the ardor of youthful innocence; but
making no reply, he turned to the fire, and continued for some time
gazing on its embers, in silence.
Mr. Wharton had in vain endeavored to pierce the disguise of his guest's
political feelings; but, while there was nothing forbidding in his
countenance, there was nothing communicative; on the contrary it was
strikingly reserved; and the master of the house arose, in profound
ignorance of what, in those days, was the most material point in the
character of his guest, to lead the way into another room, and to the
supper table. Mr. Harper offered his hand to Sarah Wharton, and they
entered the room together; while Frances followed, greatly at a loss to
know whether she had not wounded the feelings of her father's inmate.
The storm began to rage with great violence without; and the dashing
rain on the sides of the building awakened that silent sense of
enjoyment, which is excited by such sounds in a room of quiet comfort
and warmth, when a loud summons at the outer door again called the
faithful black to the portal. In a minute the servant returned, and
informed his master that another traveler, overtaken by the storm,
desired to be admitted to the house for a shelter through the night.
At the first sounds of the impatient summons of this new applicant, Mr.
Wharton had risen from his seat in evident uneasiness; and with eyes
glancing with quickness from his guest to the door of the room, he
seemed to be expecting something to proceed from this second
interruption, connected with the stranger who had occasioned the first.
He scarcely had time to bid the black, with a faint voice, to show this
second comer in, before the door was thrown hastily open, and the
stranger himself entered the apartment. He paused a moment, as the
person of Harper met his view, and then, in a more formal manner,
repeated the request he had before made through the servant. Mr. Wharton
and his family disliked the appearance of this new visitor excessively;
but the inclemency of the weather, and the uncertainty of the
consequences, if he were refused the desired lodgings, compelled the old
gentleman to give a reluctant acquiescence.
Some of the dishes were replaced by the orders of Miss Peyton, and the
weather-beaten intruder was invited to partake of the remains of the
repast, from which the party had just risen. Throwing aside a rough
greatcoat, he very composedly took the offered chair, and
unceremoniously proceeded to allay the cravings of an appetite which
appeared by no means delicate. But at every mouthful he would turn an
unquiet eye on Harper, who studied his appearance with a closeness of
investigation that was very embarrassing to its subject. At length,
pouring out a glass of wine, the newcomer nodded significantly to his
examiner, previously to swallowing the liquor, and said, with something
of bitterness in his manner,--
"I drink to our better acquaintance, sir; I believe this is the first
time we have met, though your attention would seem to say otherwise."
The quality of the wine seemed greatly to his fancy, for, on replacing
the glass upon the table, he gave his lips a smack, that resounded
through the room; and, taking up the bottle, he held it between himself
and the light, for a moment, in silent contemplation of its clear and
brilliant color.
"I think we have never met before, sir," replied Harper with a slight
smile on his features, as he observed the move ments of the other; but
appearing satisfied with his scrutiny, he turned to Sarah Wharton, who
sat next him, and carelessly remarked,--
"You doubtless find your present abode solitary, after being accustomed
to the gayeties of the city."
"Oh! excessively so," said Sarah hastily. "I do wish, with my father,
that this cruel war was at an end, that we might return to our friends
once more."
"And you, Miss Frances, do you long as ardently for peace as your
sister?"
"On many accounts I certainly do," returned the other, venturing to
steal a timid glance at her interrogator; and, meeting the same
benevolent expression of feeling as before, she continued, as her own
face lighted into one of its animated and bright smiles of intelligence,
"but not at the expense of the rights of my countrymen."
"Rights!" repeated her sister, impatiently; "whose rights can be
stronger than those of a sovereign: and what duty is clearer, than to
obey those who have a natural right to command?"
"None, certainly," said Frances, laughing with great pleasantry; and,
taking the hand of her sister affectionately within both of her own, she
added, with a smile directed towards Harper,--
"I gave you to understand that my sister and myself differed in our
political opinions; but we have an impartial umpire in my father, who
loves his own countrymen, and he loves the British,--so he takes sides
with neither."
"Yes," said Mr. Wharton, in a little alarm, eying first one guest, and
then the other; "I have near friends in both armies, and I dread a
victory by either, as a source of certain private misfortune."
"I take it, you have little reason to apprehend much from the Yankees,
in that way," interrupted the guest at the table, coolly helping himself
to another glass, from the bottle he had admired.
"His majesty may have more experienced troops than the continentals,"
answered the host fearfully, "but the Americans have met with
distinguished success."
Harper disregarded the observations of both; and, rising, he desired to
be shown to his place of rest. A small boy was directed to guide him to
his room; and wishing a courteous good-night to the whole party, the
traveler withdrew. The knife and fork fell from the hands of the
unwelcome intruder, as the door closed on the retiring figure of Harper;
he arose slowly from his seat; listening attentively, he approached the
door of the room--opened it--seemed to attend to the retreating
footsteps of the other--and, amidst the panic and astonishment of his
companions, he closed it again. In an instant, the red wig which
concealed his black locks, the large patch which hid half his face from
observation, the stoop that had made him appear fifty years of age,
disappeared.
"My father!-my dear father!"--cried the handsome young man; "and you, my
dearest sisters and aunt!--have I at last met you again?"
"Heaven bless you, my Henry, my son!" exclaimed the astonished but
delighted parent; while his sisters sank on his shoulders, dissolved
in tears.
The faithful old black, who had been reared from infancy in the house of
his master, and who, as if in mockery of his degraded state, had been
complimented with the name of Caesar, was the only other witness of this
unexpected discovery of the son of Mr. Wharton. After receiving the
extended hand of his young master, and imprinting on it a fervent kiss,
Caesar withdrew. The boy did not reenter the room; and the black
himself, after some time, returned, just as the young British captain
was exclaiming,--
"But who is this Mr. Harper?--is he likely to betray me?"
"No, no, no, Massa Harry," cried the negro, shaking his gray head
confidently; "I been to see--Massa Harper on he knee--pray to God--no
gemman who pray to God tell of good son, come to see old fader--Skinner
do that--no Christian!"
This poor opinion of the Skinners was not confined to Mr. Caesar
Thompson, as he called himself--but Caesar Wharton, as he was styled by
the little world to which he was known. The convenience, and perhaps the
necessities, of the leaders of the American arms, in the neighborhood of
New York, had induced them to employ certain subordinate agents, of
extremely irregular habits, in executing their lesser plans of annoying
the enemy. It was not a moment for fastidious inquiries into abuses of
any description, and oppression and injustice were the natural
consequences of the possession of a military power that was uncurbed by
the restraints of civil authority. In time, a distinct order of the
community was formed, whose sole occupation appears to have been that of
relieving their fellow citizens from any little excess of temporal
prosperity they might be thought to enjoy, under the pretense of
patriotism and the love of liberty.
Occasionally, the aid of military authority was not wanting, in
enforcing these arbitrary distributions of worldly goods; and a petty
holder of a commission in the state militia was to be seen giving the
sanction of something like legality to acts of the most unlicensed
robbery, and, not infrequently, of bloodshed.
On the part of the British, the stimulus of loyalty was by no means
suffered to sleep, where so fruitful a field offered on which it might
be expended. But their freebooters were enrolled, and their efforts more
systematized. Long experience had taught their leaders the efficacy of
concentrated force; and, unless tradition does great injustice to their
exploits, the result did no little credit to their foresight. The
corps--we presume, from their known affection to that useful animal--had
received the quaint appellation of "Cowboys."
Caesar was, however, far too loyal to associate men who held the
commission of George III, with the irregular warriors, whose excesses
he had so often witnessed, and from whose rapacity, neither his poverty
nor his bondage had suffered even him to escape uninjured. The Cowboys,
therefore, did not receive their proper portion of the black's censure,
when he said, no Christian, nothing but a "Skinner," could betray a
pious child, while honoring his father with a visit so full of peril.