"Oh, the general"s home! The general"s beautiful home will be burned!"
With the words came a realization of the necessity for action. With an effort she threw off the numbing dread that beset her, and turning fled swiftly to the mansion. As she reached the porch Mr. Lund Washington came to the door.
"You are just in time," he called cheerily. "Breakfast is ready, and Mrs. Washington feared if you lingered much longer "twould be cold. Is not the view--Why! what hath happened?" he broke off catching sight of her pale face.
"The British!" panted Peggy. "The British are coming up the river!"
With an exclamation of alarm Mr. Washington sprang past her and hurried toward the wharf. At the same moment cries and shouts rent the air and from all over the plantation the negroes came running. Some were ashen with terror, and ran into the house weeping and wailing. The bolder spirits gathered on the banks of the river to watch the approach of the vessel. From the mansion came Mrs. Lund Washington and Mrs. Johnson, alarmed by the outcries and uproar of the darkies.
"And what is it, my dear?" asked Mrs. Washington as Peggy sank weakly on the steps of the porch. "Why are you so pale? Know you the cause of the commotion?"
"It"s the British," repeated the maiden fearfully. "A British ship is coming."
"A British ship!" Each woman"s face paled at the words. They were fraught with such awful meaning. They too stood stricken as Peggy had been with terror. Then Mrs. Washington spoke calmly, but it was with the calmness of despair:
"Let us not despond. It may be that they will exempt this place from destruction. Let us hope."
"No," said Peggy with conviction. "They will not spare it. "Tis our general"s home. They have tried so many times to capture him; there have been so many plots to kill him, or for his betrayal, that anything that can strike a blow at his heart will be used. I fear, oh, I fear the worst!"
Meantime the cruiser drew up alongside the wharf. As soon as the vessel was made fast the captain stepped ash.o.r.e and approached the spot where Mr. Lund Washington stood.
"What plantation is this?" he demanded brusquely.
"It is Mount Vernon," replied the overseer.
"Mount Vernon, eh? The seat of the rebel leader?"
"It is General Washington"s home, sir," was the reply.
"So I thought, so I thought," returned the officer with a chuckle. "Are you in charge here?"
"Yes; I am Lund Washington, General George Washington"s relative, and represent him during his absence," Mr. Washington informed him with dignity.
"And I am Captain Graves of the English navy," responded that officer pompously. "In command of the "Acteon" there. Now, sir, I want breakfast for my crew, and that quickly. And then supplies: flour, corn, bacon, hams, poultry and whatever else there may be on the estate that will feed hungry soldiers. Now be quick about getting them."
"And if I refuse?" said Mr. Washington.
"Refuse!" roared the officer. "If you refuse, by St. George I"ll burn every building on the place and run off all your negroes. Now do as you please about it."
Mr. Washington hesitated no longer.
"I will comply with your demands," he said simply. He would do anything rather than that the general should lose his home.
"And mind," called Captain Graves, "I want no dallying."
"There will be none," answered the overseer quickening his footsteps.
"Wife," he said as he reached the porch where Peggy and the two women awaited him, "we must have breakfast for the crew as quick as it can be gotten. Do you see to it while I attend to what is wanted for supplies."
Peggy looked up in amazement, thinking that she had not heard aright.
"Is thee going to give them breakfast and supplies from General Washington"s place, sir?" she asked.
"I must, my child," replied Lund Washington sadly. "The captain threatens to burn the houses, and run off with all the slaves if I do not. I cannot help myself. They would take what they want anyway."
"Then thee should let them take it," cried Peggy excitedly. "The general won"t like for thee to feed the enemy from his stores. He won"t like it, friend."
"I am in charge of the property," repeated the overseer. "If anything happens to the place while "tis in my charge I will be responsible. I will comply with any reasonable demand rather than have the plantation razed."
"The general won"t like it," Peggy reiterated in a low tone as Mr.
Washington began to give orders to the slaves concerning the supplies while his wife hastened to see about breakfast. "He won"t like it. I know that he would rather have his home burned than that the enemy should be supplied from his plantation. Oh, I know he won"t approve of it."
"Lil" missy"s right," declared a venerable darky who stood near. "Ma.r.s.e George ain"t gwine ter laik hab"n de enemy fed offen his c.r.a.ps. "Tain"t fitten dat he"d fight "em, an" feed "em, too."
"That is just it," declared the girl turning toward him quickly, surprised that a negro should grasp the point of honor affected. "What is thy name?" she added. "I should like to know it."
"Lawsy, missy! doan you know old Bishop?" said the old darky, bowing deeply. "Why, I wuz Ma.r.s.e George"s body sarvant all froo de French an"
Indian Wahs. Bin wif him most ebbrywhar, old Bishop has. Too old to go enny mo" dough, an" so he has Mista Willum Lee to look aftah him. P"raps you might hab seen Mista Lee. A black, sa.s.sy n.i.g.g.a, lil" missy."
"Yes," answered Peggy smiling. "I know him, Bishop. I used to see him often at Middlebrook. And so thee is Bishop?"
For Peggy had heard General Washington speak affectionately of his former body servant. Bishop was too old now for camp life, but he had, as he said, served General Washington through the French War. He was almost eighty years old now. There were deep furrows upon his cheeks, his hair was gray, and his form was bent by the weight of his years, but old Bishop knew his master"s heart, and knew that that master would rather lose his whole property than to have it succor the enemies of his country.
So the venerable darky and the maiden watched with sorrow the labor of the slaves as they ran back and forth to the ship, laden with flour, hams, bacon from the storehouses; chickens, geese and turkeys from the poultry yards; fruits and vegetables from the cellars; while the air was filled with the shrill cries of swine being slaughtered.
It was over at last. The crew had been fed; the ship was heavily laden with supplies, and with a sarcastic acknowledgment of their courtesy the captain weighed anchor and sailed away. And then the family sat down to a belated breakfast.
The meal was a mere pretense, however, and soon after it the cabriolet was brought round, and Peggy and her companions set forth once more upon their journey.
"I wish," said Mrs. Johnson as they drove away from the mansion, "I wish you were safe at home, Peggy. I don"t believe that I am doing right in permitting you to go on."
"I must," spoke Peggy quickly. "There is my cousin dying, friend nurse.
I must go on. Does thee fear an invasion of the whole state?"
"It looks as though the invasion were here, Peggy. Of course, it may be but a predatory incursion as others have been before, but I fear, I fear--" ended the good woman shaking her head.
"How much longer will it be before we reach Williamsburg?" inquired the girl.
"We should be there the fourth day from this," replied Nurse Johnson.
"Of course it may be the right thing for you to go on, as you are so near the end of the journey; but I do wish you were safe at home."
"I shall lose no time in returning after I have done all for my cousin that can be done," declared Peggy. "I think mother would wish me to go on now, but when all is over--"
"Then you must get back as quickly as possible," said the nurse.
After all Peggy and old Bishop were right regarding General Washington"s feelings concerning the raid on the plantation.
"It would have been a less painful circ.u.mstance to me," he wrote to his representative when he heard of the matter, "to have heard that, in consequence of your non-compliance with their request, they had burned my house and laid my plantation in ruins."