Peggy Owen and Liberty Part 17

As Thomas Ashley had said, all New Jersey was roused to action.

Hara.s.sed and harried as no other state had been, with the exception of South Carolina, at this time it seemed on the verge of extinction, and its condition was in truth deplorable. In the earlier years of the war it had been swept like a plague by the horde of hireling Hessians and the British army. In addition, the main army of the patriots had wintered for several years among its mountains, and drawn upon it for supplies until the state was all but beggared. But if liberty live the army must eat; so the farmers plowed, and sowed, and reaped, even though many dropped in the fields from the crack of an ambushed rifle.

As though suffering from the depredations of the pine robbers were not enough, there was added to the state's afflictions the incursions of the freebooters of the sea, and, far more bitter to bear--for civil war is ever without mercy and compa.s.sion--were the heinous outrages of the Tories. It was no wonder, with foes without and foes within, that the temper of the people had risen to fever heat, and that they were making determined efforts to rid themselves of their enemies.

The meeting was ended finally, and with saddened mien the family reentered the sleigh. Farmer Ashley's face wore a grave expression, while Fairfax's countenance betokened a set determination. He turned toward his mother abruptly.

"Mother," he said, "these girls must go home. New Jersey is no place for them."

"You never spoke a truer word, nevvy," chimed in his uncle. "They must go home; the sooner they start, the better 'twill be. So long as the snow lasts, the riding will be easy. Now, if you are willing to risk another encounter with the robbers, we will start with them Tuesday."

"But would not Friend Nurse and thy wife be left unprotected while ye were away?" questioned Peggy in troubled accents.

"Now, Peggy, don't wherrit over that," spoke Nurse Johnson. "The first thing to attend to is getting you girls home. I should never have another minute's peace if anything befell you. I ought never to have brought you into such danger, but I knew not that things were as they are here. Mary and I can take care of ourselves."

"It won't do, Hannah," said Thomas Ashley decidedly. "The girls must go of a truth, but you and Mary must have protection, too. Capable ye both are, but 'twould not do to leave ye alone. The journey to Philadelphia would take all of six days, there and back. That would mean fast going at that. Should there come a thaw there's no telling when we'd get home."

"Friend," broke in Peggy eagerly, "if thee could get us to Trenton there would be no need for thee to go on to Philadelphia. Both Sally and I have friends there who would see that we reached home safely.

Beside, the stage runs thrice a week from that point to our city, and should other means fail, we could take that."

"Come! that's well thought of," he cried quickly. "'Twould be but a day's travel to Trenton, if the snow holds. Mary and Hannah could bide in Freehold until our return; so we'll call the matter settled. Nevvy, we will start Tuesday."

"Then on Tuesday ye will both be gone," said Fairfax with such a sigh of relief that Sally, despite the gravity of the situation, could not forbear a little laugh.

"Oh, Peggy!" she cried, "why weren't we named Betty? Had we been Captain Johnson would not wish us gone as soon as we arrived."

"'Tis not as you think, Mistress Sally," he protested earnestly.

"Indeed, in truth "--he faltered, then continued manfully--"did I regard your friend as your words imply I would not consent to wait until Tuesday to take her back."

A puzzled look spread over Sally's face.

"Doth he mean that he is indeed fond of Betty?" she whispered to Peggy under cover of Thomas Ashley's laughter which followed the youth's response.

"I fear to say," was Peggy's amused reply.

And so, in spite of the fact that ravage and pillage had come very near to them in the night, they returned to the farm in much better spirits than would have been deemed possible when they left the meeting-house.

CHAPTER XIII

A WOMAN'S WIT

"Man is not born alone to act, or be The sole a.s.serter of man's liberty; But so G.o.d shares the gifts of head and heart, And crowns blest woman with a hero's part."

--_Author Unknown._

"Surely thee is not unpacking, Peggy?" questioned Sally as she entered their little room for the night. Peggy had preceded her by a few moments, and was now bending over her portmanteau. "It hardly seems worth while when we return so soon."

"I am just getting my diary, Sally," answered Peggy, drawing forth the book after several attempts to locate it. "Methought the time was propitious to make an entry. And of a verity that encounter with those robbers ought to make exciting reading for the Social Select Circle."

"'Twas a wondrous adventure," cried Sally with a shiver of pure enjoyment. "Since none of us received injury 'tis delightsome to have so stirring a thing to record for the girls. And oh, Peggy! is it not charming that I am with thee?"

"It is indeed, Sally. Anything is always more enjoyable when thee shares it with me; although I agree with Fairfax in wishing that we were at home."

"If we start Third-day we should be there soon, Peggy. Were it not for the danger I should like to stay a little longer."

"And so should I," responded Peggy. "There! that entry is finished, with a half page to spare. Wouldn't thee like to add something, Sally?"

"I'll wait until morning," decided Sally. "Although," she added, "perchance 'twould be best to do it now, as to-morrow will be the day before we leave, and consequently we are quite apt to be busy."

But Monday morning brought a clouded and softened sky; a brisk south wind arose, and the rain came driving. By Tuesday the wind had increased to a heavy gale, and the rain came with violence from the southwest. The snow-drifts that had been so white and fair became yellow, and smirched, and muddy, and lost their curves and lines. The roads were troughs of slush and water, impa.s.sable for any sort of vehicle. In spite of this condition of things Fairfax Johnson insisted that the maidens should be taken to Trenton.

"Why, son, 'twould be monstrous to send them forth in such weather,"

remonstrated his mother. "They would get drenched."

"Better that than to stay here," he declared, but his uncle interposed:

"'Twould never do, nevvy. You couldn't get as far as Freehold with the roads as they are. The rain won't last more than a few days; and if it keeps us in it works the same with the raiders by keeping them out.

They won't venture into Monmouth County until the weather changes.

They know too well the danger of the quagmires. We must bide our time, nevvy."

And with this the lad was forced to content himself. For three days the rain continued, and with its ceasing every vestige of snow had disappeared, leaving conditions worse than ever. The roads were very soft and heavy, and most perilous where they crossed the marshes.

Even the youth acknowledged that travel with a wagon was utterly out of the question. But he himself managed to ride into Freehold daily that he might meet with his company, and begin preparations to take the field as soon as offensive operations by the raiders were resumed.

So the days went by, but they were pleasant and busy ones for Peggy and Sally. True to their resolve to accept with cheerfulness whatever befell, their gay spirits softened and enlivened the gloom which might otherwise have settled upon the family. The mornings were devoted to housework and cookery; the afternoons to quilting the homespun bed-quilt which Sally had noticed in the frames on the night of their arrival. In the evenings all gathered about the great fireplace and indulged in such recreations as the farmhouse afforded. The girls had each set a pair of stockings upon the needles which they declared were for Fairfax, and, much to his embarra.s.sment, he was called upon every evening to note the progress of the work. After the fashion of the time the name, Fairfax, and the date, 1782, were knit in the threads.

Soon the raw winds of March gave place to softer ones which blew caressingly from the south, dispelling all fear of frost. The soft wet of the ground disappeared under the balmy sunshine, and the air was a fount of freshness. The glad earth reveled under the warmth of the sun, and hill and valley, wood and meadow, blossomed under the touch of spring.

Along the Hudson, Washington gathered his forces for a final campaign, for not yet would England consent to terms of peace, and urged with entreaty upon the states the need of men and supplies. But with resources drained, and rendered apathetic by the long years of fighting, the country believed that the crisis had pa.s.sed, and so responded slowly to the appeals of their leader. Each state had its own troubles that demanded attention, and the general welfare was lost sight of in the specific need. In New Jersey particularly, rent as it was by the internecine warfare, nothing was talked or thought but the putting down of its own individual enemies. As soon as the weather permitted the attacks of the loyalists were renewed with increased virulence. It was as though these people realized that with the coming of peace nothing would remain for them but expatriation, and so were determined to leave behind them naught but desolation.

And to stay this lawlessness the young captain with his company rode hither and thither over the county, pursuing the raiders with so much zeal and intrepidity that their rancor was aroused toward him. There came a day when Fairfax did not return in the evening as was his custom. Far away from the south-eastern part of the county had come the alarm that the refugees, under the leadership of Frank Edwards--a notorious desperado loyalist--had come down from Sandy Hook, and were approaching the neighborhood of Cedar Creek. Upon receipt of the intelligence the young captain had immediately set forth to prevent their marauding progress into the interior. A sharp skirmish took place which resulted in victory for the Monmouth defenders, and when at length they reentered Freehold, they bore with them the notorious Edwards, a prisoner, together with a majority of his Tory band. Thomas Ashley was jubilant when the youth arrived with the news.

"Keep after 'em, nevvy," he cried. "A few more such captures and old Monmouth may rest secure."

"Report hath it that nothing short of hanging will be given Edwards,"

Fairfax told him. "Few of the band will escape a sentence of some sort. Do you not think, Uncle Tom, that a few days could be taken now to get these maidens home? It preys upon my mind that they are still here."

"And upon mine also, son," said his mother gravely. "If these Tories are as vindictive as I hear they are there will be no safety for any of us since you have taken one of their leaders."

"She speaks truth, nevvy. These girls have no part in this war.

Pennsylvania hath woes of her own to endure. It is not just, or fitting that any of her citizens should be called upon to bear ours also. They shall go home."

So once again Peggy and Sally gathered their belongings together for an early start to Trenton. All the day before the maidens were in a pleasurable state of excitement. Each realized that New Jersey was no longer a place for them, so they were glad to go; still, there were regrets at parting from these people who had been so kind, and whom the vicissitudes of fortune might preclude them from ever seeing again. Full of this feeling, Peggy found herself the victim of a pleasing melancholy the night before they were to leave, and it was long past midnight ere she was able to sleep. How long she slept she did not know, but it seemed to her that she had just fallen into slumber when something caused her to open her eyes. For a few moments she lay in that strange debatable region between sleeping and waking when the mind cannot distinguish between the real and the imaginary.

All at once she sat up, fully awake, every sense strained and alert.

Something was wrong. What was it? She listened intently, but such an intense stillness reigned throughout the house that Sally's soft breathing smote her with a sense of disturbance. Parting the curtains of the bed she glanced apprehensively about the little chamber. The wooden shutters were closed, but through their bow-shaped openings came such a brilliant light that every object in the little room was plainly visible.