"Uncle Tom," spoke the youth imploringly, "they only want me. Let me at least make a dash for the woods. There would be a chance of escape, and "twould draw them away from here."
"Would they really take after Fairfax if they saw him taking to the woods?" queried Nurse Johnson abruptly.
"Of a truth, Hannah. You see they"d like to get him on account of capturing Edwards, but we won"t give him up. He"s too necessary to the country."
"Another place is on fire, friend," screamed Sally at this moment.
Both the youth and his uncle sprang for the blaze, beating the flames with heavy wet cloths. Under cover of the excitement Nurse Johnson threw her son"s long cloak around her, caught up his three-cornered hat, and, before they realized what she was about, had opened the rear door of the kitchen and darted out.
A shout went up from the raiders, telling that she had been seen. A few scattering shots followed, then the clarion tones of the leader rang out:
"Don"t shoot, boys. Take him alive. We"ve got him now."
"Mother!" cried Fairfax, springing toward the door. Tom Ashley caught him in an iron grip.
"Be quiet, nevvy," he said sternly. "Hannah"s got too much wit to be taken, and she hath saved you; and all of us, for that matter. You are too valuable to the country to be given to such wretches. Even though all the rest of us perish, you must live. Now help me put out this fire. Peggy, do you run up-stairs, and see what"s happening."
Up the stairs darted Peggy, with Mrs. Ashley and Sally following after. Too eager to be cautious she flung back a shutter, and looked out. The night was now far spent, and in the dim gray light of early dawn Nurse Johnson"s tall figure was not unlike that of her son. The intrepid woman had cleared the open s.p.a.ces of the yard, and was now under the great trees of the forest, with the raiders in full pursuit.
A few moments, and hunted and hunters were swallowed up by the long dark shadows of the woods.
CHAPTER XIV
MARCHING ORDERS
"Our bugles sound gayly. To horse and away!
And over the mountains breaks the day; Then ho! brothers, ho! for the ride or the fight, There are deeds to be done ere we slumber to-night!
And whether we fight or whether we fall By saber-stroke or rifle ball, The hearts of the free will remember us yet, And our Country, our Country will never forget."
--_Rossiter Worthington Raymond._
It was not until morning that the farmer and his nephew succeeded in getting control of the fire. When at length it was extinguished only a few charred timbers remained of the lean-to, and the dwelling itself was badly damaged. A heap of ashes marked the spot where the barn had stood, and the scene was one of desolation. The day had come, but there was no glory in the sunshine. The dank smell of early morning rose from the dew-drenched earth, but its freshness and fragrance were marred by the overpowering odor of smoke, and wet, charred wood. In the countless trees of the forest the birds were singing, but their songs fell upon unheeding ears. To the inmates of the farmhouse instead of melody the pines whispered a message of menace and despair.
"And now," spoke Fairfax Johnson, as Thomas Ashley declared that there was no further danger of fire, "now I am going to see what hath become of my mother."
"And I"ll go with you, nevvy. You must not think me hard and unfeeling, boy, but just now, when men are so scarce, we cannot afford to lose one unnecessarily. To have gone out to those men would have been certain death for you, and your mother did the best thing that could have been done. To be a patriot demands a great deal of us. To die is a small matter, but how we die is much. Your work is not finished. Until it is, nevvy, your life is not yours to lose needlessly. It belongs to the country. Even though Hannah be captured, it would not follow that aught of harm would come to her. She is a woman. But come!"
"Peggy," whispered Sally, "Friend Ashley reminds me of Brutus."
"Yes," answered Peggy gazing after Fairfax with misty eyes. "Duty to country is first, of course; but sometimes when the heart is torn with anguish over the sacrifice of a loved one it doth seem that duty asks too much of us. Oh, Sally! Sally! will peace ever come? Will the country ever be aught but torn and disrupted by warfare? I cannot bear it."
"Don"t, Peggy," came from Sally sharply.
Mrs. Ashley, who was moving about the fire preparing breakfast, came to them quickly. She gave each girl a gentle kiss, and a soft pat, saying:
"Now, now, "twill not do. After being such brave, helpful girls all night, are ye going to give way now? "Twill never do, sweetings. For the boy"s sake, ye must be brave. See! I have nice, hot coffee all ready. Run after them, and tell them that I want them to take a cup before going far."
"And we were going to be so brave," reminded Sally wiping her eyes.
""Tis all my fault," said Peggy, "but "twas the thought of----"
"Now be quick, or they will be gone too far," interrupted Mistress Ashley.
The two men were entering the confines of the forest when Peggy called to them:
"Mistress Ashley wishes that ye would take a cup of coffee before going, friends. She hath it already prepared."
Fairfax shook his head.
"Mother first," he said. "I could not take anything."
The tears came again to Peggy"s eyes.
"Yes, yes," she said chokingly. "Make sure of Friend Nurse"s whereabouts first. How brave she was! How----"
"Did I hear something said anent coffee, Peggy?" came Nurse Johnson"s voice, and from among the trees she came toward them. She was smiling, but her appearance was anything but cheerful. Her face was very pale, her hair was unbound and hung upon her shoulders in a tangled ma.s.s; her garments were dew drenched, and she limped painfully. With a bound her son reached her side.
"Mother! mother!" was all he could say.
"I thought ye"d get through, Hannah," cried Thomas Ashley. "I was just telling the boy so. Mary, Mary! Hannah"s come."
With cries and exclamations of wonder and joy they gathered about her, heaping caresses upon her until the good woman begged for mercy, declaring that she was hungry, and would have no breath left wherewith to partake of food. Then they bore her into the house, and while Sally and Peggy dressed the sprained ankle, Mrs. Ashley brought coffee, and Mr. Ashley cut great slices of ham, insisting that the occasion warranted a feast. But the son remained by her side as though he feared to leave her. They grew calm finally, and then Nurse Johnson told of her escape.
""Tis naught to make such a pother about," she said settling back comfortably in her chair, a cup of coffee in hand. "I knew that Tom wouldn"t be able to hold Fairfax much longer, and I wasn"t going to have those rascals get him if I could help it. Providence was on my side, for I seemed to have wings given me. I didn"t know that I could run so fast, but fear, aided by a few bullets, would develop speed in the most of us, I reckon.
"I had a little start of the Tories, though I knew that I could not keep it, when my foot caught in a vine, or root, and I fell. I tried to get up, but my ankle was sprained so I could not rise. Instead, in my efforts, I began to roll down the declivity, for the ground was slightly rolling where I had fallen, and over and over I went until presently the bottom was reached, and I came to a stop in a little hollow. Something stirred as I rolled into the thicket, and an animal, "twas too dark to see what it was, though it seemed like a doe, or a fawn, leaped up and bounded away through the forest. I heard the men go crashing after it, and it came to me that if I did not move they might pa.s.s on, thinking that the deer was their prey. That is all there is to it. So you see I did naught after all. Save for the mishap of a sprained ankle, and a little chill, I am no worse off than ye are."
"Oh! but the risk, Friend Nurse," cried Peggy.
"Was no greater than to stay here. We did not know of a certainty that the men would leave the house in pursuit. It was just a chance, but it happened to work all right. Now, Tom, what shall be done? Do you think the raiders will return?"
""Tis hard telling, Hannah. Sooner or later they will try to get the boy again. If Edwards is hanged they will stop at nothing to effect his capture. But, Hannah, every man in the company runs the same risk.
The thing to do is to have the men make headquarters here. "Twill be of mutual benefit, for "twill throw a safeguard about each member of the company."
"Yes," she agreed thoughtfully.
"And the girls?" uttered Fairfax. "What of them?"
"Until we have horses we can do naught, nevvy."
"Then horses we are going to have," he said with determination. "I shall start for Freehold now to see what can be done. There may be other news of the raiders, too."
"Go with him, Tom," cried his mother quickly. "There may be skulkers in the woods."
But Fairfax would not hear of this.