The Boys of Old Monmouth Part 20

"What thee needs now, friend Thomas," he said, when at last the lad's story was ended, "is a good rest. Rachel has a bed ready for thee."

Tom followed his friend to the room upstairs, and soon stretched himself upon the bed. How grateful it seemed to the weary lad! For a moment he gazed at the four high posts, but soon everything was forgotten and he was asleep.

How long he slept he did not know, but he was awakened by Nathan, who called to him and said, "Friend Thomas, there is some one below who desires to see thee."

Tom leaped from the bed and followed the Quaker down the stairs, wondering who it was that wished to see him. There were confused thoughts in his mind of the British officer and Benzeor, but he was not in the least prepared for the sight upon which he looked when he entered the room.

CHAPTER XVIII

A RARE BEAST

IT is necessary now for us to turn and follow some of the movements of that army which Tom Coward was so eager to join.

Sir Henry Clinton fully understood that he had little to gain from an engagement with Washington's army at this time. The Americans were not holding any position which he desired to gain, their stores and equipments were of slight value, and if Washington should be defeated, the result would be that his men would simply be scattered in the surrounding region, where they would still be free to carry on their straggling methods of warfare, and hara.s.s the British by falling upon their baggage trains and shooting at the men as they marched along the country roads.

On the other hand, Clinton's stores were numerous and of no little value. The loss of them would be a serious blow to the redcoats, while the possession of them by the Continentals would put new life into the cause of the poorly equipped patriots. And above all of these things, the danger which now threatened from the approach of a French fleet led the British commander to hasten forward to the defense of New York, which he feared was likely to be the first place to be attacked by the allies of the colonies.

The very motives which caused Sir Henry to wish to avoid an engagement were those which appealed most strongly to Washington to enter into one.

He had but little to lose and much to gain. A defeat for the British would mean a weakening of the defense of New York, and the long train of baggage wagons was a most tempting prize. The possession of those stores would replenish the scanty supplies of the Americans; and, as we know, Washington had eagerly pushed his army forward, hoping to gain a position in advance of the British and fall upon them in some advantageous position which he himself could select.

The main body had advanced as far as Hopewell, as we have already learned in the course of this story, but there had halted for a brief time. The weather had been unusually trying, and as a consequence the men were suffering intensely. Even the "oldest inhabitants" had never known such a summer. The thermometer had climbed well up into the nineties and then had stayed there. The frequent thunder showers apparently did not cool the air and afforded no relief, as the sultriness seemed to be increased by each one. The roads had become heavy and well-nigh impa.s.sable in places, and when at last the men had marched to the plains of Hopewell, Washington wisely halted to give them their much needed rest.

Another matter led the great commander to remain there for a time. He had now gained a position which offered him a considerable advantage, and he wished to call a council of his officers to consult concerning his further movements.

Accordingly, the second of the councils since the army had departed from Philadelphia was then called, and the one question in the mind of the commander was this: "Will it be advisable to hazard a general engagement?"

General Charles Lee, who was second in command, and was by some even then suspected of being in secret league with Howe, was present, and his voice was soon heard. Lee was a Welshman, brilliant in certain ways, and had seen much service in the armies of Europe. Many had preferred him to Washington as the commander-in-chief of the American armies, and Lee himself was not averse to the idea. He affected to regard Washington with contempt, looking upon him as a man who lacked military training and of but little ability. His jealousy already had been the cause of many serious troubles, and at the present time, in spite of the fact that he had been exchanged for the British general Prescott, captured in a manner not unlike that in which Lee himself had been taken in a previous winter at Morristown, he apparently was unmindful of all the regard bestowed upon him, and was not unwilling to see Washington make some mistakes which would bring upon the leader the anger of his fellows, and perhaps open the way for Lee to gain his position. This view of the case is certainly to be preferred to that which marked him simply as a traitor and in league with the enemy, although in all likelihood both, in a measure, were correct. Probably Washington understood the man thoroughly at the time, and we may be certain that his troubles were not decreased by his knowledge.

Lee was possessed of a strikingly ugly face, and his plain features were the cause of many rude jests among the soldiers who were opposed to him.

But whatever his lacks in personal beauty or moral character may have been, he at least had a most persuasive tongue. His eager and impulsive manner, his commonly accredited ability, and his foreign training, which had great influence among many of his ruder and unpolished companions, caused some of the men about him to become ready listeners to what he had to say.

In the council which Washington called at Hopewell, Lee exerted himself to the utmost to oppose the proposition to enter into an engagement with the advancing British. So persuasive were his words that the majority of the officers voted with him that it would not be advisable to detach more than fifteen hundred men from the main body to hara.s.s the enemy on their flank and rear, while the remainder of the army should preserve their present position relative to the British, and be governed by circ.u.mstances.

Just what Lee's motive was is not fully apparent. Whether he wished to avoid a battle or simply desired to cause Washington to fail in taking advantage of the favorable opportunity, which Lee himself must have seen had presented itself, is not clearly known. It may have been a combination of both wishes.

General Wayne bitterly opposed the proposition of Lee, and generals such as Greene, Lafayette, Steuben, and others, expressed themselves as being decidedly of the opinion that, at the very least, twenty-five hundred men should be detached from the main body and sent forward to carry out Washington's plan.

Lee's motion, however, prevailed; but while Washington seemingly consented to the decision of the council, we can now see, as we look backward, that his own purpose was not changed. Perhaps he was strengthened in his opinion by the words of General Wayne and General Greene, spoken after the breaking up of the a.s.sembly, for we know that they then expressed themselves very freely to their leader.

Apparently yielding to the expressed wishes of the majority, Washington dispatched General Scott with fifteen hundred men "to gall the enemy's left flank and rear," as he expressed it in the letters he wrote that day to General d.i.c.kinson and the president of the Continental Congress; and on the following day advanced with his army to Kingston, and halted there on the very day when Tom Coward arrived at the house of Friend Nathan Brown in Cranberry.

As Tom came down the stairs and entered the room below, his surprise was great when he saw young Lieutenant Gordon standing before him.

"Where--where did you come from?" said the astonished boy. "I thought they chased you out into the woods!"

"So they did. So they did," laughed the young officer; "but that doesn't mean that I was bound to stay there, does it? I had spent the night with Friend Nathan here, and I had such a good time I almost decided to come back for another. And then, too, I left a lad here whose face haunted me, he looked so scared and white."

"I was scared," said Tom, "for I thought they'd got you. How in the world did you ever manage to get away from them?"

"Oh, I've learned by experience," replied the lieutenant, laughing.

"This was about the closest call I ever had, and once there, when my horse slipped on the barn floor, I thought I was done for; but it's all come out right, you see. When I once got into the woods I knew I was all right, and I didn't have to go very far, either. About noon I thought I'd venture back and see what had become of Friend Nathan and Tom Coward, for I didn't believe those redcoats would stay here very long after they found out that our army is over here by Kingston."

"Kingston?" said Tom quickly. "Kingston? Why, that's only ten miles from here!"

"Correct, my son; correct. They'll be nearer yet, very soon."

Tom was excited in a moment, and eagerly began to ask many questions.

The young lieutenant replied to them all, and then said to the Quaker, who had remained silent during the conversation, "And now, Friend Nathan, you feel sure that those redcoats will carry the word back to Clinton that we've turned out of our way to meet them, do you?"

"Verily, I do," replied Nathan. "It was for the very purpose of learning the plans of Washington that they dared to venture as far as this. I endeavored to learn from the soldier what effect he thought his report would have upon the British leader, but he did not speak in many words.

Doubtless he considered them valueless to a man of peace. But thy surmise is correct, I doubt not."

"Then the sooner we put out of this the better, Tom; that is, if you're still of the same mind you were day before yesterday."

"I'm ready to go," replied Tom eagerly.

The thought of the American army being only ten miles away aroused all his enthusiasm once more. He knew nothing of camp life, and the hardships were not in his thoughts. He knew that he had no place to which he could go, and now that he had left Benzeor's home he felt like an outcast. Besides, he had dreamed of joining the army, and, now that at last the longed-for day had arrived, all his curiosity and eagerness returned in full measure.

"But I haven't any horse and you're mounted," he added. "I don't see how I can go with you. You can't wait for me to trudge along on foot."

"That is something of a poser," replied the lieutenant. "No, it's a fact I can't waste much time on the road with such news as I have to carry back to camp. Perhaps my horse will carry double part of the way."

"I have a beast I might let thee have," said Nathan.

"That's the way to talk!" said the lieutenant eagerly. "Where is this horse of yours?"

"It is out in the back lot in the woods. My heart was filled with fears of the war men, and I dared not to leave any of my property within their sight."

As Nathan still hesitated, the lieutenant said quickly, "Hurry up, Nathan! Get your horse and let us start. We've no time to lose."

"Thou knowest that I am a man of peace," said the Quaker slowly. "It is not for me to waste my property in this wicked war."

"That's the way the wind blows, is it?" laughed the lieutenant. "Well, I don't know that I can promise you very much, but I'll do what I can for you after I get back to camp. But I'll tell you what, Nathan, you'll not be the loser to give up the horse to us, and with a good grace, too.

Both of the armies are likely to pa.s.s this way, and you won't have much left on your place, I can tell you. Now, if you give it up you may get something for it, and then, too, you'll have the credit of doing something for your country."

"What did the war men give thee, Friend Thomas? Did I not hear thee say that the war men rewarded thee for thy services?"

"Yes," said Tom quickly, drawing the two half joes forth from his pocket as he spoke. "Here they are. You can have them and welcome."

"The beast is not what would be considered a valuable one, Friend Thomas, and yet he is still capable of rendering some service to me. I will take one of thy half joes and leave the other with thee. Then thou canst see that I am suitably repaid after thou hast joined thy comrades in the war."

The young lieutenant slyly winked at Tom as the lad handed the man one of his half joes, and then said, "Hurry up, Nathan! We've got to start soon, and ought to be off now. We'll do the best we can for you, as we said. You're going to give us something to eat, aren't you, before we go?"

"It shall be according to thy desire. Rachel, if thou hast some milk and a small portion of corn bread, set it before these guests whilst I am gone for my beast."

The old man departed, and his wife carried out his request. The lieutenant and Tom at once seated themselves at the table and hastily ate the food she set before them, for neither knew when another opportunity might be found. In the ten miles which lay between them and the army of Washington many adventures might be awaiting them, and it was only the part of wisdom to make the most of the present.