'Twas when the fields were swept of Autumn's store,
And growing winds the fading foliage tore
Behind the Lowmon hill, the short-lived light,
Descending slowly, ushered in the night;
When from the noisy town, with mournful look,
His lonely way the meager peddler took.
--WILSON.
A storm below the highlands of the Hudson, if it be introduced with an
easterly wind, seldom lasts less than two days. Accordingly, as the
inmates of the Locusts assembled, on the following morning, around their
early breakfast, the driving rain was seen to strike in nearly
horizontal lines against the windows of the building, and forbade the
idea of exposing either man or beast to the tempest. Harper was the last
to appear; after taking a view of the state of the weather, he
apologized to Mr. Wharton for the necessity that existed for his
trespassing on his goodness for a longer time. To appearances, the reply
was as courteous as the excuse; yet Harper wore a resignation in his
deportment that was widely different from the uneasy manner of the
father. Henry Wharton had resumed his disguise with a reluctance
amounting to disgust, but in obedience to the commands of his parent. No
communications passed between him and the stranger, after the first
salutations of the morning had been paid by Harper to him, in common
with the rest of the family. Frances had, indeed, thought there was
something like a smile passing over the features of the traveler, when,
on entering the room, he first confronted her brother; but it was
confined to the eyes, seeming to want power to affect the muscles of the
face, and was soon lost in the settled and benevolent expression which
reigned in his countenance, with a sway but seldom interrupted. The eyes
of the affectionate sister were turned in anxiety, for a moment, on her
brother, and glancing again on their unknown guest, met his look, as he
offered her, with marked attention, one of the little civilities of the
table; and the heart of the girl, which had begun to throb with
violence, regained a pulsation as tempered as youth, health, and buoyant
spirits could allow. While yet seated at the table, Caesar entered, and
laying a small parcel in silence by the side of his master, modestly
retired behind his chair, where, placing one hand on its back, he
continued in an attitude half familiar, half respectful, a listener.
"What is this, Caesar?" inquired Mr. Wharton, turning the bundle over to
examine its envelope, and eying it rather suspiciously.
"The 'baccy, sir; Harvey Birch, he got home, and he bring you a little
good 'baccy from York."
"Harvey Birch!" rejoined the master with great deliberation, stealing a
look at his guest. "I do not remember desiring him to purchase any
tobacco for me; but as he has brought it, he must be paid for
his trouble."
For an instant only, as the negro spoke, did Harper suspend his silent
meal; his eye moved slowly from the servant to the master, and again all
remained in impenetrable reserve.
To Sarah Wharton, this intelligence gave unexpected pleasure; rising
from her seat with impatience, she bade the black show Birch into the
apartment; when, suddenly recollecting herself, she turned to the
traveler with an apologizing look, and added, "If Mr. Harper will excuse
the presence of a peddler."
The indulgent benevolence expressed in the countenance of the stranger,
as he bowed a silent acquiescence, spoke more eloquently than the nicest
framed period, and the young lady repeated her order, with a confidence
in its truth that removed all embarrassment.
In the deep recesses of the windows of the cottage were seats of paneled
work; and the rich damask curtains, that had ornamented the parlor in
Queen Street, [Footnote: The Americans changed the names of many towns
and streets at the Revolution, as has since been done in France. Thus,
in the city of New York, Crown Street has become Liberty Street; King
Street, Pine Street; and Queen Street, then one of the most fashionable
quarters of the town, Pearl Street. Pearl Street is now chiefly occupied
by the auction dealers, and the wholesale drygoods merchants, for
warehouses and counting-rooms.] had been transferred to the Locusts, and
gave to the room that indescribable air of comfort, which so gratefully
announces the approach of a domestic winter. Into one of these recesses
Captain Wharton now threw himself, drawing the curtain before him in
such a manner as to conceal most of his person from observation; while
his younger sister, losing her natural frankness of manner, in an air of
artificial constraint, silently took possession of the other.
Harvey Birch had been a peddler from his youth; at least so he
frequently asserted, and his skill in the occupation went far to prove
the truth of the declaration. He was a native of one of the eastern
colonies; and, from something of superior intelligence which belonged to
his father, it was thought they had known better fortune in the land of
their nativity. Harvey possessed, however, the common manners of the
country, and was in no way distinguished from men of his class, but by
his acuteness, and the mystery which enveloped his movements. Ten years
before, they had arrived together in the vale, and, purchasing the
humble dwelling at which Harper had made his unsuccessful application,
continued ever since peaceful inhabitants, but little noticed and but
little known. Until age and infirmities had prevented, the father
devoted himself to the cultivation of the small spot of ground
belonging to his purchase, while the son pursued with avidity his humble
barter. Their orderly quietude had soon given them so much consideration
in the neighborhood, as to induce a maiden of five-and-thirty to forget
the punctilio of her sex, and to accept the office of presiding over
their domestic comforts. The roses had long before vanished from the
cheeks of Katy Haynes, and she had seen in succession, both her male and
female acquaintances forming the union so desirable to her sex, with but
little or no hope left for herself, when, with views of her own, she
entered the family of the Birches. Necessity is a hard master, and, for
the want of a better companion, the father and son were induced to
accept her services; but still Katy was not wanting in some qualities
which made her a very tolerable housekeeper. On the one hand, she was
neat, industrious, honest, and a good manager. On the other, she was
talkative, selfish, superstitious, and inquisitive. By dint of using the
latter quality with consummate industry, she had not lived in the family
five years when she triumphantly declared that she had heard, or rather
overheard, sufficient to enable her to say what had been the former fate
of her associates. Could Katy have possessed enough of divination to
pronounce upon their future lot, her task would have been accomplished.
From the private conversations of the parent and child, she learned that
a fire had reduced them from competence to poverty, and at the same time
diminished the number of their family to two. There was a tremulousness
in the voice of the father, as he touched lightly on the event, which
affected even the heart of Katy; but no barrier is sufficient to repel
vulgar curiosity. She persevered, until a very direct intimation from
Harvey, by threatening to supply her place with a female a few years
younger than herself, gave her awful warning that there were bounds
beyond which she was not to pass. From that period the curiosity of the
housekeeper had been held in such salutary restraint, that, although no
opportunity of listening was ever neglected, she had been able to add
but little to her stock of knowledge. There was, however, one piece of
intelligence, and that of no little interest to herself, which she had
succeeded in obtaining; and from the moment of its acquisition, she
directed her energies to the accomplishment of one object, aided by the
double stimulus of love and avarice.
Harvey was in the frequent habit of paying mysterious visits in the
depth of the night, to the fireplace of the apartment that served for
both kitchen and parlor. Here he was observed by Katy; and availing
herself of his absence and the occupations of the father, by removing
one of the hearthstones, she discovered an iron pot, glittering with a
metal that seldom fails to soften the hardest heart. Katy succeeded in
replacing the stone without discovery, and never dared to trust herself
with another visit. From that moment, however, the heart of the virgin
lost its obduracy, and nothing interposed between Harvey and his
happiness, but his own want of observation.
The war did not interfere with the traffic of the peddler, who seized on
the golden opportunity which the interruption of the regular trade
afforded, and appeared absorbed in the one grand object of amassing
money. For a year or two his employment was uninterrupted, and his
success proportionate; but, at length, dark and threatening hints began
to throw suspicion around his movements, and the civil authority thought
it incumbent on them to examine narrowly into his mode of life. His
imprisonments, though frequent, were not long; and his escapes from the
guardians of the law easy, compared to what he endured from the
persecution of the military. Still Birch survived, and still he
continued his trade, though compelled to be very guarded in his
movements, especially whenever he approached the northern boundaries of
the county; or in other words, the neighborhood of the American lines.
His visits to the Locusts had become less frequent, and his appearance
at his own abode so seldom, as to draw forth from the disappointed Katy,
in the fullness of her heart, the complaint we have related, in her
reply to Harper. Nothing, however, seemed to interfere with the pursuits
of this indefatigable trader, who, with a view to dispose of certain
articles for which he could only find purchasers in the very wealthiest
families of the county, had now braved the fury of the tempest, and
ventured to cross the half mile between his own residence and the house
of Mr. Wharton.
In a few minutes after receiving the commands of his young mistress,
Caesar reappeared, ushering into the apartment the subject of the
foregoing digression. In person, the peddler was a man above the middle
height, spare, but full of bone and muscle. At first sight, his strength
seemed unequal to manage the unwieldy burden of his pack; yet he threw
it on and off with great dexterity, and with as much apparent ease as if
it had been filled with feathers. His eyes were gray, sunken, restless,
and, for the flitting moments that they dwelt on the countenance of
those with whom he conversed, they seemed to read the very soul. They
possessed, however, two distinct expressions, which, in a great measure,
characterized the whole man. When engaged in traffic, the intelligence
of his face appeared lively, active, and flexible, though uncommonly
acute; if the conversation turned on the ordinary transactions of life,
his air became abstracted and restless; but if, by chance, the
Revolution and the country were the topic, his whole system seemed
altered--all his faculties were concentrated: he would listen for a
great length of time, without speaking, and then would break silence by
some light and jocular remark, that was too much at variance with his
former manner, not to be affectation. But of the war, and of his father,
he seldom spoke and always from some very obvious necessity.
To a superficial observer, avarice would seem his ruling passion--and,
all things considered, he was as unfit a subject for the plans of Katy
Haynes as can be readily imagined. On entering the room, the peddler
relieved himself from his burden, which, as it stood on the floor,
reached nearly to his shoulders, and saluted the family with modest
civility. To Harper he made a silent bow, without lifting his eyes from
the carpet; but the curtain prevented any notice of the presence of
Captain Wharton. Sarah gave but little time for the usual salutations,
before she commenced her survey of the contents of the pack; and, for
several minutes, the two were engaged in bringing to light the various
articles it contained. The tables, chairs, and floor were soon covered
with silks, crapes, gloves, muslins, and all the stock of an itinerant
trader. Caesar was employed to hold open the mouth of the pack, as its
hoards were discharged, and occasionally he aided his young lady, by
directing her admiration to some article of finery, which, from its
deeper contrast in colors, he thought more worthy of her notice. At
length, Sarah, having selected several articles, and satisfactorily
arranged the prices, observed in a cheerful voice,--
"But, Harvey, you have told us no news. Has Lord Cornwallis beaten the
rebels again?"
The question could not have been heard; for the peddler, burying his
body in the pack, brought forth a quantity of lace of exquisite
fineness, and, holding it up to view, he required the admiration of the
young lady. Miss Peyton dropped the cup she was engaged in washing, from
her hand; and Frances exhibited the whole of that lovely face, which had
hitherto only suffered one of its joyous eyes to be seen, beaming with a
color that shamed the damask which enviously concealed her figure.
The aunt quitted her employment; and Birch soon disposed of a large
portion of his valuable article. The praises of the ladies had drawn the
whole person of the younger sister into view; and Frances was slowly
rising from the window, as Sarah repeated her question, with an
exultation in her voice, that proceeded more from pleasure in her
purchase, than her political feelings. The younger sister resumed her
seat, apparently examining the state of the clouds, while the peddler,
finding a reply was expected, answered,--
"There is some talk, below, about Tarleton having defeated General
Sumter, on the Tiger River."
Captain Wharton now involuntarily thrust his head between the opening of
the curtains into the room; and Frances, turning her ear in breathless
silence, noticed the quiet eyes of Harper looking at the peddler, over
the book he was affecting to read, with an expression that denoted him
to be a listener of no ordinary interest.
"Indeed!" cried the exulting Sarah; "Sumter--Sumter--who is he? I'll
not buy even a pin, until you tell me all the news," she continued,
laughing and throwing down a muslin she had been examining.
For a moment the peddler hesitated; his eye glanced towards Harper, who
was yet gazing at him with settled meaning, and the whole manner of
Birch was altered. Approaching the fire, he took from his mouth a large
allowance of the Virginian weed, and depositing it, with the
superabundance of its juices, without mercy to Miss Peyton's shining
andirons, he returned to his goods.
"He lives somewhere among the niggers to the south," answered the
peddler, abruptly.
"No more nigger than be yourself, Mister Birch," interrupted Caesar
tartly, dropping at the same time the covering of the goods in high
displeasure.
"Hush, Caesar--hush; never mind it now," said Sarah Wharton soothingly,
impatient to hear further.
"A black man so good as white, Miss Sally," continued the offended
negro, "so long as he behave heself."
"And frequently he is much better," rejoined his mistress. "But, Harvey,
who is this Mr. Sumter?"
A slight indication of humor showed itself on the face of the peddler,
but it disappeared, and he continued as if the discourse had met with no
interruption from the sensitiveness of the domestic.
"As I was saying, he lives among the colored people in the
south"--Caesar resumed his occupation--"and he has lately had a
scrimmage with this Colonel Tarleton--"
"Who defeated him, of course?" cried Sarah, with confidence.
"So say the troops at Morrisania."
"But what do you say?" Mr. Wharton ventured to inquire, yet speaking in
a low tone.
"I repeat but what I hear," said Birch, offering a piece of cloth to the
inspection of Sarah, who rejected it in silence, evidently determined to
hear more before she made another purchase.
"They say, however, at the Plains," the peddler continued, first
throwing his eyes again around the room, and letting them rest for an
instant on Harper, "that Sumter and one or two more were all that were
hurt, and that the rig'lars were all cut to pieces, for the militia were
fixed snugly in a log barn."
"Not very probable," said Sarah, contemptuously, "though I make no doubt
the rebels got behind the logs."
"I think," said the peddler coolly, again offering the silk, "it's quite
ingenious to get a log between one and a gun, instead of getting between
a gun and a log."
The eyes of Harper dropped quietly on the pages of the volume in his
hand, while Frances, rising, came forward with a smile in her face, as
she inquired, in a tone of affability that the peddler had never
witnessed from her,--
"Have you more of the lace, Mr. Birch?"
The desired article was immediately produced, and Frances became a
purchaser also. By her order a glass of liquor was offered to the
trader, who took it with thanks, and having paid his compliments to the
master of the house and the ladies, drank the beverage.
"So, it is thought that Colonel Tarleton has worsted General Sumter?"
said Mr. Wharton, affecting to be employed in mending the cup that was
broken by the eagerness of his sister-in-law.
"I believe they think so at Morrisania," said Birch, dryly.
"Have you any other news, friend?" asked Captain Wharton, venturing to
thrust his face without the curtains.
"Have you heard that Major Andre has been hanged?"
Captain Wharton started, and for a moment glances of great significance
were exchanged between him and the trader, when he observed, with
affected indifference, "That must have been some weeks ago."
"Does his execution make much noise?" asked the father, striving to make
the broken china unite.
"People will talk, you know, 'squire."
"Is there any probability of movements below, my friend, that will make
traveling dangerous?" asked Harper, looking steadily at the other, in
expectation of his reply.
Some bunches of ribbons fell from the hands of Birch; his countenance
changed instantly, losing its keen expression in intent meaning, as he
answered slowly, "It is some time since the rig'lar cavalry were out,
and I saw some of De Lancey's men cleaning their arms, as I passed their
quarters; it would be no wonder if they took the scent soon, for the
Virginia horse are low in the county."
"Are they in much force?" asked Mr. Wharton, suspending all employment
in anxiety.
"I did not count them."
Frances was the only observer of the change in the manner of Birch, and,
on turning to Harper, he had resumed his book in silence. She took some
of the ribbons in her hand--laid them down again--and, bending over the
goods, so that her hair, falling in rich curls, shaded her face, she
observed, blushing with a color that suffused her neck,--
"I thought the Southern horse had marched towards the Delaware."
"It may be so," said Birch; "I passed the troops at a distance."
Caesar had now selected a piece of calico, in which the gaudy colors of
yellow and red were contrasted on a white ground, and, after admiring it
for several minutes, he laid it down with a sigh, as he exclaimed,
"Berry pretty calico."
"That," said Sarah; "yes, that would make a proper gown for your wife,
Caesar."
"Yes, Miss Sally," cried the delighted black, "it make old Dinah heart
leap for joy--so berry genteel."
"Yes," added the peddler, quaintly, "that is only wanting to make Dinah
look like a rainbow."
Caesar eyed his young mistress eagerly, until she inquired of Harvey the
price of the article.
"Why, much as I light of chaps," said the peddler.
"How much?" demanded Sarah in surprise.
"According to my luck in finding purchasers; for my friend Dinah, you
may have it at four shillings."
"It is too much," said Sarah, turning to some goods for herself.
"Monstrous price for coarse calico, Mister Birch," grumbled Caesar,
dropping the opening of the pack again.
"We will say three, then," added the peddler, "if you like that better."
"Be sure he like 'em better," said Caesar, smiling good-humoredly, and
reopening the pack; "Miss Sally like a t'ree shilling when she give, and
a four shilling when she take."
The bargain was immediately concluded; but in measuring, the cloth
wanted a little of the well-known ten yards required by the dimensions
of Dinah. By dint of a strong arm, however, it grew to the desired
length, under the experienced eye of the peddler, who conscientiously
added a ribbon of corresponding brilliancy with the calico; and Caesar
hastily withdrew, to communicate the joyful intelligence to his
aged partner.
During the movements created by the conclusion of the purchase, Captain
Wharton had ventured to draw aside the curtain, so as to admit a view of
his person, and he now inquired of the peddler, who had begun to
collect the scattered goods, at what time he had left the city.
"At early twilight," was the answer.
"So lately!" cried the other in surprise: then correcting his manner, by
assuming a more guarded air, he continued, "Could you pass the pickets
at so late an hour?"
"I did," was the laconic reply.
"You must be well known by this time, Harvey, to the officers of the
British army," cried Sarah, smiling knowingly on the peddler.
"I know some of them by sight," said Birch, glancing his eyes round the
apartment, taking in their course Captain Wharton, and resting for an
instant on the countenance of Harper.
Mr. Wharton had listened intently to each speaker, in succession, and
had so far lost the affectation of indifference, as to be crushing in
his hand the pieces of china on which he had expended so much labor in
endeavoring to mend it; when, observing the peddler tying the last knot
in his pack, he asked abruptly,
"Are we about to be disturbed again with the enemy?"
"Who do you call the enemy?" said the peddler, raising himself erect,
and giving the other a look, before which the eyes of Mr. Wharton sank
in instant confusion.
"All are enemies who disturb our peace," said Miss Peyton, observing
that her brother was unable to speak. "But are the royal troops out
from below?"
"'Tis quite likely they soon may be," returned Birch, raising his pack
from the floor, and preparing to leave the room.
"And the continentals," continued Miss Peyton mildly, "are the
continentals in the county?"
Harvey was about to utter something in reply, when the door opened, and
Caesar made his appearance, attended by his delighted spouse.
The race of blacks of which Caesar was a favorable specimen is becoming
very rare. The old family servant who, born and reared in the dwelling
of his master, identified himself with the welfare of those whom it was
his lot to serve, is giving place in every direction to that vagrant
class which has sprung up within the last thirty years, and whose
members roam through the country unfettered by principles, and
uninfluenced by attachments. For it is one of the curses of slavery,
that its victims become incompetent to the attributes of a freeman. The
short curly hair of Caesar had acquired from age a coloring of gray,
that added greatly to the venerable cast of his appearance. Long and
indefatigable applications of the comb had straightened the close curls
of his forehead, until they stood erect in a stiff and formal brush,
that gave at least two inches to his stature. The shining black of his
youth had lost its glistening hue, and it had been succeeded by a dingy
brown. His eyes, which stood at a most formidable distance from each
other, were small, and characterized by an expression of good feeling,
occasionally interrupted by the petulance of an indulged servant; they,
however, now danced with inward delight. His nose possessed, in an
eminent manner, all the requisites for smelling, but with the most
modest unobtrusiveness; the nostrils being abundantly capacious, without
thrusting themselves in the way of their neighbors. His mouth was
capacious to a fault, and was only tolerated on account of the double
row of pearls it contained. In person Caesar was short, and we should
say square, had not all the angles and curves of his figure bid defiance
to anything like mathematical symmetry. His arms were long and muscular,
and terminated by two bony hands, that exhibited on one side a coloring
of blackish gray, and on the other, a faded pink. But it was in his legs
that nature had indulged her most capricious humor. There was an
abundance of material injudiciously used. The calves were neither before
nor behind, but rather on the outer side of the limb, inclining forward,
and so close to the knee as to render the free use of that joint a
subject of doubt. In the foot, considering it as a base on which the
body was to rest, Caesar had no cause of complaint, unless, indeed, it
might be that the leg was placed so near the center, as to make it
sometimes a matter of dispute, whether he was not walking backwards. But
whatever might be the faults a statuary could discover in his person,
the heart of Caesar Thompson was in the right place, and, we doubt not,
of very just dimensions.
Accompanied by his ancient companion, Caesar now advanced, and paid his
tribute of gratitude in words. Sarah received them with great
complacency, and made a few compliments to the taste of the husband, and
the probable appearance of the wife. Frances, with a face beaming with a
look of pleasure that corresponded to the smiling countenances of the
blacks, offered the service of her needle in fitting the admired calico
to its future uses. The offer was humbly and gratefully accepted.
As Caesar followed his wife and the peddler from the apartment, and was
in the act of closing the door, he indulged himself in a grateful
soliloquy, by saying aloud,--
"Good little lady--Miss Fanny--take care of he fader--love to make a
gown for old Dinah, too." What else his feelings might have induced him
to utter is unknown, but the sound of his voice was heard some time
after the distance rendered his words indistinct.
Harper had dropped his book, and he sat an admiring witness of the
scene; and Frances enjoyed a double satisfaction, as she received an
approving smile from a face which concealed, under the traces of deep
thought and engrossing care, the benevolent expression which
characterizes all the best feelings of the human heart.