"Would you think it strange, your excellency, if they were not lenient?" Ruth inquired.
"Why should they not be, Miss Newville?"
"Would they not be likely to regard those who support the king as their enemies?"
"Why should they? You have not taken up arms. Of course, General Ruggles and Captain Coffin might be regarded as obnoxious, and would have to take care of themselves."
"But will they not say we have given moral support to their enemies, and is not moral support likely to be as heinous in their sight as the taking of arms? If we ask them to be lenient, will they not inquire if the king"s troops were merciful when they set Charlestown on fire?"
Ruth asked.
A flush came upon the face of General Howe. Although he commanded the troops at Bunker Hill, he had not ordered the burning of the town.
General Gage was responsible for that act. He felt a little uncomfortable over the question, for the latest newspapers from London told him the people of England condemned the destruction of the homes of so many inhabitants.
"I am free to say it was rather hard on them thus to have their homes destroyed without a moment"s notice," he replied.
"Will not," Ruth inquired, "the provincials think his majesty"s forces were wanting in leniency when they recall what was done at Falmouth a few days ago, where the inhabitants were given only two hours to remove from the town? Not one minute over that would Captain Mowatt grant them, though women went down on their knees before him. Was it not inhuman for him to fire bombs among the panic-stricken mult.i.tude, setting the buildings on fire, destroying the homes of five hundred people? If his majesty"s officers do these things, what may we not expect from the provincials, should it ever come our turn?"
"We will do what we can, Miss Newville, not to have it your turn."
"I do not doubt it, my lord; but I was thinking of possible contingencies."
Again Berinthia noticed a flush upon the face of General Howe.
"I will admit, Miss Newville, that in war, the unexpected may sometimes happen, and possibilities are not comforting subjects for contemplation. I do not antic.i.p.ate disaster to the troops under my command."
"Shall we drink the health of our gracious sovereign?" said Mr.
Newville.
The others drained their gla.s.ses, but Miss Newville"s and Berinthia"s were not lifted from the table.
"What, daughter! What is the meaning of this? Not drink the health of the king!" Mr. Newville exclaimed.
"No, father. I could drink to his own personal welfare, wish him health, happiness, and long life, but our drinking to the sentiment means approval of his government. I cannot do that. I never can think it right to burn the homes of innocent people without a moment"s warning, as was done at Charlestown. The people of Falmouth never had done anything against the king except to prevent Captain Mowatt from loading masts and spars on board his ship for the use of the king"s navy. That was their offense, and yet the town was wantonly destroyed.
I cannot think such a course is likely to restore the alienated affections of the people to the king. More, I fear the contingencies of war may yet compel us to suffer because of these unwarranted acts."
Mr. Newville sat in silence, not knowing what to say. He had been outspoken in his loyalty. He never had contemplated the possibility of failure on the part of the king to put down the rebellion, but if General Howe were to evacuate Boston, what treatment could he expect from the provincials? The words of Ruth brought the question before him in a startling way.
"Those are my sentiments, also," said Berinthia.
"I see, Miss Brandon, that you are of the same opinion, which, of course, I expected in your case, but hardly from Miss Newville," said Captain Coffin.
"Yes, I am of the same way of thinking," Berinthia replied.
"You will not, ladies, decline to drink the health of the queen, I trust?" said General Howe, as Pompey refilled the gla.s.ses.
"Oh no, I will drink it with pleasure. The queen, of course, does not stand for mismanagement, as does the king, and we will not spoil our dinner by talking about the sad events," Ruth replied.
General Howe entertained them with an account of his boyhood days, his service with General Wolfe at Quebec, how the troops climbed the steep river bank at night and won the battle on the Plains of Abraham.
Captain Coffin laughed with Berinthia and Ruth over good times he had enjoyed with them. Yet all were conscious that spectres unseen had come to the banquet. The ghost confronting General Howe was whispering of starvation, of possible humiliation through forced evacuation; the one glaring at Mr. and Mrs. Newville told of a possible departure from their home, to become aliens in a foreign land.
"May I ask Miss Newville to favor us with music?" said General Howe, when they were once more in the parlor.
"With pleasure, your excellency," said Ruth, seating herself at the harpsichord and singing "The Frog he would a-wooing go," "The Fine Old English Gentleman," and then with a pathos that brought tears to the eyes of the commander-in-chief, "True Love can ne"er forget."
During the dinner, and while Ruth was singing, they could hear the deep reverberations of the cannonade. The provincials in Roxbury were sending their shot at General Howe"s fortifications on the Neck, and his cannon in reply were thundering towards the works at Cobble Hill.
"Miss Newville," said General Howe, "I cannot express my thanks to you for your entertainment. While listening to your charming melodies I have been thinking of the strange, incongruous accompaniment, the uproar of the cannonade, but I have, in a measure, been able to forget for the moment the worries and perplexities that surround me. I trust I may be able to do something to add to your happiness some day." He rose to take his departure.
"Thank you, your excellency; I am glad if I have been able in any way to make it a pleasant hour to you and General Ruggles, and my old acquaintance, Captain Coffin. Your excellency can add much to my happiness and that of Miss Brandon. One of your subordinate officers, who I think has not been long here, Colonel Hardman, has notified Miss Brandon that he is going to take possession of her home to-morrow and turn her and her invalid parents out of doors. Berinthia, you have the colonel"s order, I think?"[76]
[Footnote 76: "I am by a cruel necessity turned out of my home; must leave my books and all I possess, perhaps to be destroyed by a licentious soldiery." Andrew Eliot to Thomas Hollis, _Proceedings Ma.s.s. Hist. Society_, vol. xvi.]
Berinthia took the doc.u.ment from her pocket and handed it to General Howe, who ran his eye over it and seemed to be thinking.
"Is your father loyal to the king, Miss Brandon?" he asked.
"In the same sense that I am, your excellency. You know that I did not drink the health of the king because I protest against the course he is pursuing towards the Colonies; my father does the same."
"You have a brother, I think, in the provincial army?"
"I suppose that Tom is there. He did what he could to defeat your excellency at Bunker Hill. Possibly it was his bullet that went through your excellency"s coat. He attempted to defeat the king"s troops just as they attempted to defeat him, and succeeded. You give your allegiance to the king; he gives his to liberty, and is fighting for it just as conscientiously as your excellency is fighting for King George and the crown."
"As your father sides with the provincials, and as your brother is in arms against our most gracious sovereign, may I ask if you can give any good reason why my subordinate officer should not take possession of your home?"
"Pardon me, may I ask if your excellency will kindly favor me with any good reason why my parents should be driven from their beds in midwinter, that one of the king"s officers may have comfortable quarters? Does your excellency think such a course of conduct will tend to restore to the king the alienated affections of his late subjects?"
"Then, Miss Brandon, you do not consider yourself, at this moment, one of his subjects?"
"I do not. I cannot own allegiance to a sovereign who burns the homes of an inoffensive community, standing for their rights and ancient liberties."
"I admire your frankness, Miss Brandon, as I do that of Miss Newville.
Have you a pen at hand?"
Ruth brought a pen and ink-horn; General Howe wrote upon the doc.u.ment, and handed it to her.
"I cannot go back on my promise to do something for you, Miss Newville, to add to your happiness and Miss Brandon"s, and I trust I never shall do anything that will lead you to think I am insensible to the claims of humanity," he said, bowing and taking his departure.
Berinthia read what he had written:--
It is hereby ordered by the general-in-chief commanding his majesty"s forces, that Miss Brandon shall be allowed to remain in possession of her home till this order shall be countermanded.
HOWE, Major-General.
In bright uniform, with stars upon his breast, Colonel Hardman, accompanied by the members of his staff, knocked at the door of the Brandon home. Mark Antony was unceremoniously pushed aside, and the officers entered the hall.
"You can inform the lady of the house, n.i.g.g.e.r, that Colonel Hardman and staff have come to take possession of the premises and"--
The sentence was not finished, for Berinthia, queenly in her dignity, stood before him. Colonel Hardman, obedient to etiquette, removed his hat. It was not an old woman, wrinkled and toothless, but a young lady, calm and self-possessed, confronting him.