The Minute Boys of York Town

I must admit that just for the instant there came into my heart a great fear lest that which Saul had said might be true, and then I thrust it from me, saying in my mind that I would not so wrong a lad who had all the marks of gentlemanly breeding. Surely, even though he might at some other time be willing to play us false, he would not do so while we were in such deep sorrow.

"If he is playing fair with us, why should he at this minute be hand in glove with that Tory scoundrel?" Saul whispered hoarsely, as he sat up to gaze after the two who were walking rapidly down the road in the direction of our home. "Why did he not have speech with us? Surely he knows where we are."

"To have spoken when he passed would have been to tell Horry Sims that we were lying in hiding while he went into York Town to pick up such information as might be possible. The chances are the lad met the young Tory – came across him by accident, of course, and could do no less than show a friendly front, unless he was minded to much the same as tell him we were counting on making reprisals because of the loss of our horses."

Although this was the reasonable, and, to my mind, the only explanation of little Frenchie's behavior, Saul would not at first admit it; but insisted that there must be treachery somewhere else than in Horry Sims's heart, and thus he argued until I verily believe he convinced himself that our little comrade from New Orleans could have done no different. Then came the question as to whether we should remain where we were, or start homeward, for now it was too late for us to make any venture into the town of York even though we had been so minded.

Saul was for pushing on hurriedly, and, overtaking the young Tory, flog him within an inch of his life. It was all I could do to hold him back sufficiently long to repeat again and again that a flogging was all too poor a punishment for the crime he had committed, and that if we should lay hand against him now we might, and very likely would, put a stumbling block in our way, for until the moment came when we could repay the debt in full, it was absolutely necessary we seem to hold ourselves friendly with this fellow who had dealt us such a cruel blow.

I forced Saul to listen to me so long that it would have been useless to set out in pursuit, and after that again came the question as to whether we ought to go on our way homeward, or wait where we were.

It was fortunate we spent so much time in such discussion; fortunate that Saul differed from me as to what we had best do, for while we lay there disputing we heard a crashing of the underbrush where the growth was thick, and a moment later little Frenchie, looking heated and so nearly breathless that for a full minute he could not speak so we might understand, came into view.

Panting, and with the perspiration streaming down his face, he threw himself headlong on the ground beside me, breathing like one who had been running a race, until it was possible to have control over his voice, when he said hurriedly, as if eager we should understand all the reasons for his movements without loss of time:

"I was forced to go a certain distance with that young villain, else would he have mistrusted that you might be near about."

"How did you get rid of him?" I asked. "Why might he not suspect something when you broke away instead of continuing on so far as his home, which lay directly in your path, if you were heading for the Hamilton plantation?"

"I made out that I knew of a short way through the woods, which would take me directly out of his path, and when we were come to that trail which leads off toward the York river I left him, although he was mightily surprised at hearing that such a course would bring me to your home more directly than if I continued on the road."

"Where did you pick him up?" Saul asked impatiently. "Why did you waste time on the scoundrel? It would seem to me that after all he has done it was your business to flog, rather than make friends with him."

By this time Pierre had so far recovered his breath that it was possible for him to speak distinctly, and without undue effort. Rising to his feet and shrugging his shoulders as he spread his hands palm outward, he said in his mild voice, and with that peculiar accent:

"To have done so, my friend, would have been to show myself an enemy to you. While I was striving to make my way inside the British lines, pretending that I was simply bent on curiosity, he came up, seemingly having a right of way everywhere within the encampment, and when he greeted me civilly, evidently wondering why I was there alone, I could do no less than treat him as I would have done yesterday, in the hope that something might drop from his lips which would aid me in my search."

"And did it?" I asked eagerly, for now I began to understand that by bearing himself friendly toward Horry Sims, Pierre had succeeded where otherwise the chances were he must have failed.

"Indeed it did," the lad said in a tone of triumph. "It was far better than if I had indulged in a game of fisticuffs with him, because his red-coated friends would speedily have come to his relief."

"What did you learn?" Saul demanded fiercely.

"Where your mare and Fitzroy's Silver Heels are stabled," was the quiet reply, whereupon I sprang up as if within my body was a stout steel spring which had lately been released.

"You learned where they were stabled?" I cried excitedly.

"Ay, that I did," Pierre replied with a shrug of the shoulders, "and without any great labor, for Horry Sims led me at once, and meeting with no interference from the soldiers, to where all the horses which had been taken from the Hamilton plantation were quartered, showing them to me as if it caused him great pain in the heart because such an injury had been done a neighbor."

"What did he say about it?" Saul demanded.

"He told me that he was walking along bent only on coming into that town of York in order to see the British encampment, when a squad of Rangers rode past him leading your mare and Fitzroy's Silver Heels. Then I asked if he had no suspicion such a thing might have been thought upon by the Britishers, and he replied that until he was come this time to York Town he had never seen the Rangers. In fact, had not believed they were with my Lord Cornwallis's army, all of which went to prove that he, the snakey Tory, told the red-coated soldiers where they might find the largest and best supply of saddle beasts."

"Did he explain how it chanced he could wander at will inside the encampment, and also take with him a companion?" I asked.

"He told me he had come upon a lieutenant of Tarleton's Legion, who, when Cornwallis was in James Town, had been quartered at the Sims plantation, and that this officer had made the way plain for him, saying he might visit the encampment at will."

If there had been any question in our minds up to this time as to the guilt of Horry Sims, no doubt now remained. We knew, because of having seen the scoundrel, that he had had speech with Simcoe's Rangers before the horses were seized, and his story that one of Tarleton's officers had been quartered at the Sims plantation during Cornwallis's short stay in James Town I knew to be absolutely false. He had played the traitor deliberately, and as the price of his treachery gained admission to the encampment, most like vouched for by the officer who had met him on the road that morning.

"The hope is," Pierre said after a short pause and with that indescribable gesture, "that the Tory Horry will not suspect I took the trail to York river for any other purpose than that of gaining the Hamilton plantation as quickly as might be."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because it is not well he should know I have been in your company this day, else he might suspect that we know of his treachery. It is in my mind that we must keep him to the belief that we know nothing whatsoever concerning his misdeeds of this day."

"But how can we come at the scoundrel save he does know that same thing?" Saul cried, he ever being hot-headed and not inclined to listen to any plans or arguments when he was burning for revenge, or excited by the desire for pleasure.

"I have in mind," Pierre said, waving his hands in that odd fashion, "that which I believe will give the Tory lad into our keeping, where we may do by him without fear of interference – "

"What is it?" I asked eagerly, for all that time we had been awaiting the lad's return from the town of York I had turned over and over in my mind without avail, plans for laying the Tory villain by the heels.

"It may not be that I shall explain everything now," little Frenchie said as he shrugged his shoulders, "and for the very reason that it is not as yet plain in my own mind. I have a plan which, if it can be worked out, will not only give him to our hands; but also gain possession of at least the mare and Silver Heels despite the fact that they are within the British encampment."

CHAPTER III

UNCLE 'RASMUS'S ADVICE

Plead though I might, little Frenchie would give us no hint as to the plan of which he had spoken; but when we were on our homeward way, walking well within the cover of the foliage lest we inadvertently come upon Horry Sims, he turned the conversation upon such of the fortifications of the town of York as he had seen, and both by his tone and by his manner did I understand that he would give us no inkling whatsoever of that which he had in mind concerning Silver Heels and Saul's mare.

The lad must have seen more of military movements than we had fancied, for he knew full well all the names of the different kinds of fortification, and could explain their construction, speaking at times almost as a veteran soldier might have spoken.

Although Saul and I knew nothing whatsoever concerning such matters, we understood from Pierre's speech that he had not only taken note of each half-completed redoubt or bastion; but knew full well what part each might be called to play in the defences of the town, if so be our American army made an attack.

He told us that the British line extended on an irregular course from the river to the sloping grounds in the rear of the village near what is known as the Pigeon Quarter, and was seemingly intended, when completed, to entirely surround York Town. Across the peninsula of Gloucester and just in the rear of that settlement, he said that another line of entrenchments was being thrown up.

From what he had seen of the completed work, as well as that which was half finished, or but just begun, he announced that there would be seven redoubts and six batteries on the land side, all to be connected by entrenchments, and that on the river bank preparations were making for a line of batteries, the largest, or grand battery, being near the church.

As for outworks, Pierre said there would be three redoubts on the margin of the ravine to the southwest of the town, another a little eastward of the road to Hampton, two on the extreme right near the river, and the Fusileer's redoubt on the left.

He also told us that my Lord Cornwallis had made his headquarters at Governor Nelson's house, for it can well be understood that our governor of Virginia, noted for more than a leaning toward the cause of liberty, would not remain within the limits of York Town, or anywhere that it was likely the Britishers could get hold of him, while General Cornwallis was occupying this portion of our state of Virginia.

More than this: Little Frenchie in his quiet way had learned that my Lord Cornwallis's army numbered nearabout seven thousand men, meaning that such number of British troops were encamped either at Gloucester or in the town of York.

When I questioned him as to how he had gathered all this information, which it seemed to me none save an adroit man might gain, he put me off with a laugh, declaring that while Englishmen and Frenchmen were natural enemies, these red-coated soldiers seemed to take an especial liking for a small French boy who had lived no nearer France than New Orleans.

It came into my mind more than once that mayhap Pierre had found even among the king's troops an old friend, improbable though this possibility might be; but if such was the case the lad never admitted it, and to this day it is impossible for me to say how he learned so much concerning York Town and the enemy who occupied it, in that one visit of four or five hours.

The pain in my heart caused by the theft of Silver Heels was in no degree lessened as we journeyed on, now listening to what little Frenchie had to say regarding the situation of affairs at York Town, and again, either Saul or I breaking out in some wild plan for regaining possession of our horses, which, if put into execution, would have led to our arrest, if not to our death.

Then we were arrived home, and although I might have expected it, I was thoroughly surprised at finding everything in confusion. The greatest excitement prevailed everywhere among the people, and work was seemingly at a stand-still.

As a matter of course, my father was not at home, he being with the American army somewhere in the North, and I wondered much that Dalton, the overseer, had not set matters straight, for many hours had elapsed since the visit of the red-coated thieves.

Uncle 'Rasmus was the only one among the slaves or the servants who appeared to have regained possession of his senses, and he was sitting in the stable-yard as I had seen him almost every day of my life when the sun was shining, meditatively chewing a straw and looking straight ahead as if he could see in the distance that which was not visible to other eyes.

The old fellow was apparently unmoved by the bustle and confusion everywhere around him, and I, certain of finding in him a sympathizer, went to speak with him even before visiting my mother.

"Are all the horses gone, Uncle 'Rasmus?" I asked, seating myself by his side, while Saul and Pierre followed my example.

"All de saddle hosses, chile. De Britishers done took ebery las' hoof dat was wuff takin'."

"And Silver Heels with them," I said in a tearful voice.

"Yes, chile, Silber Heels is wid de res'. I kind'er 'lowed it was gwine ter break your heart, honey, but dere was nuffin' ole 'Rasmus could do to stop it, kase it seemed like dis yere stable-yard was plum full ob red-coats, all ob 'em swearin' an' laughin', till it seemed like dey was jes' achin' to 'buse some ob us niggers scandalous, an' I 'low dey would, ef we'd giben 'em de least little word ob back talk."

"Do you know who sent them here, Uncle 'Rasmus?" Saul asked suddenly, and the old negro nodded his head as he replied:

"I'se done gone hab my 'spicions, chile. Dere's plenty ob plantations nearer de town ob York dan dis yere, an' yet 'cordin' to what I heard de sogermen say, dey haben't been anywhere else yet. So I was 'lowin' dat some ob de folks 'roun' here, dem as claim to hab a mighty big love for us, set 'em on."

"Can't you guess who it was, Uncle 'Rasmus?" Saul continued, and the old man replied in a dreamy tone:

"I done hab my 'spicions; but in dese yere times when you don' know who's your friend more'n half de time, dere ain' any sense in talkin' right out what you'se tinkin'. I'se 'lowin' I can guess who set de red-coats aflame."

"You couldn't guess in a week," Saul interrupted, "because you're thinking it might be some one of the planters, like Master Sims, instead of which it was that worthless son of his – Horry."

Watching Uncle 'Rasmus closely, I fancied that this information was not new to him, and straightway fell awondering how it was that this old negro who seldom strayed out of the stable-yard, let alone going away from the plantation, should have an inkling of what might be done so far away as the Sims place.

"Pierre has been to York Town, Uncle 'Rasmus, and he knows where Silver Heels and Saul's mare are quartered."

"An' is dat all he knows, chile?"

"It strikes me that's finding out considerable in one day," and then I explained how it was little Frenchie was able to move about York Town as he had, after which Uncle 'Rasmus asked in a hopeful tone:

"Did he fin' out, chile, which ossifer was gwine to ride Silber Heels, an' which one laid his mark on Saul's mare?"

As a matter of course Pierre could not give the information; but he explained with great minuteness where the horses were stabled, and I was impatient with him because of wasting so many words when it could do no good.

Much to my surprise Uncle 'Rasmus drank it all in, and when little Frenchie had come to an end of his overly long story the old negro said, taking the straw from his mouth and holding it in the air as if to ascertain from which direction came the wind:

"I reckon I'se 'bleeged to be goin', chillun. For an ole man like Uncle 'Rasmus it's quite a journey from here to de town ob York, an' ef I counts on doin' it 'twixt now an' sunrise, I'd better get my ole legs amovin'."

"York Town, Uncle 'Rasmus?" I cried in surprise, and well I might, for within the past three years I had never seen the old negro go as far from the house as the cotton fields.

"Dat's what I said, chile, an' I'se 'bleeged to be amovin'."

"But why are you going there, Uncle 'Rasmus?" I cried, catching him by the arm to insure his attention, and he replied dreamily, but, as it seemed to me, with a certain air of decision:

"I 'low it's time I was lookin' arter Marse Hamilton's house down yander, whar ole Mary libed when he done set her free."

"There's no need of your looking after that old shanty, Uncle 'Rasmus," I cried. "Surely father gives no heed to it now; it isn't worth half a dozen shillings, except for firewood."

"I know dat, honey; I'se done foun' all dat out, but sumfin's tellin' me dat it's time I was lookin' arter Marse Hamilton's property what's been lef dere in de town ob York, whar de Britishers am rampagin' an' rarin' 'roun' like dey was gone crazy."

"But you'll starve to death there, Uncle 'Rasmus. I don't fancy there are very many of old Mary's goods left in the hovel, for if I remember rightly young Dinah laid claim to the greater portion, and how will you get along for something to eat?"

"I was kind'er 'lowin', chile, as how you an' Saul, an' maybe little Pierre as you call him, would tend out on de ole man, des enough to fetch now an' den what he was needin' to hol' de soul in his body."

"But if, as Pierre says, the British entrenchments run back of the town as far as the Pigeon Quarter, then old Mary's cabin must be inside, and how would we be able to get through the lines?"

"Well, chile, I ain' got any great lub for de Britishers; but I'se 'lowin' dey ain' so hard-hearted as to hold out a couple ob chillun what wanted to feed a pore ole nigger. It kind'er seems as if dey'd be 'shamed to let your Uncle 'Rasmus starbe, eben ef he is no 'count kase ob bein' so ole, specially ef all dey'd hab to do to keep him erlong, was to let a couple or three chillun in de lines."

It was all blind to me, this sudden whim of Uncle 'Rasmus to take up his quarters in old Mary's cabin, which was hardly more than the veriest shanty, and while I stood looking at the old man, trying to get some glimmer of truth out of what was fast becoming a mystery, little Frenchie's face lighted up wondrously, as he leaped forward, seizing the old darkey by both hands while he cried joyously:

"It's a great plan, Uncle 'Rasmus, it's a great plan! I'll go with you a good part of the way so's to help along, for of course you count on carrying something."

"I spects I'se boun' to hab a blanket, chile, an' sumfin in de way ob food, kase I ain' sich a foolish ole nigger as to tink I could get trou a sogerman's lines in de night, an' so I'll be needin' sumfin for a bed ef nothin' more."

"But if you are foolish enough to go to York Town, what's the sense of starting to-night? Why not wait till morning? You say yourself you don't expect to get through the lines after dark, therefore why sleep on the ground when you could stay here in comfortable quarters?" Saul cried, whereupon Pierre, turning from Uncle 'Rasmus, said to the lad:

"Can't you understand that this old negro is paving a way for you and Fitz to get at your horses?"

"I may be a thick-head; but I surely can't see how taking up his quarters in old Mary's cabin, where we've got to carry food to him every day or two, is helping us along very fast," Saul cried angrily, and little Frenchie, throwing back his shoulders, laughed heartily, finding something so comical in Saul's words that it was a full minute before he could make reply.

Then he said, his voice all atremble with mirth:

"Don't you see that Uncle 'Rasmus is making a reasonable excuse for you to go into the town of York every day, if so be you're minded? Can't you understand that once he's in old Mary's cabin there's good reason why we should spend the night with him now and then? Suppose we carried Uncle 'Rasmus food three days running, it would become necessary to explain that the old man had been intending to come out to the plantation; but since we had lost our horses we were forced to feed him as best we might, because he was too feeble to walk home. Can't you also see," Pierre continued eagerly, "why the old man wants to get there in the night? He counts on sneaking through the lines, instead of meekly lying down on the ground, as he has said, and intends, if so be it is possible, to get into old Mary's cabin without making known to the Britishers that he has just come into the village; but rather counts on letting it be understood that he has been there ever since they entered the town."

"It's amazin' how some ob dese yere chillun can pick up an idee what oder folks am tryin' to hide," Uncle 'Rasmus said as he patted little Frenchie on the head, and then hobbled toward his cabin as if he was so feeble that only with the greatest exertion could he drag one foot after another.

Surely I was thick-headed on that afternoon, for even after Pierre had made full explanation of Uncle 'Rasmus's intended movements, it was a good five minutes before the whole scheme came plain in my mind, and then I realized that this old negro of ours was about to do more toward regaining possession of Silver Heels, if indeed she ever did come into my possession again, than all of us lads with our noisy talk.

He would take up his abode in the town of York, sneaking through the lines, if so be it was possible, to the end that the British might not know he had just come in from the outside, and once there the way was open for all three of us lads to wander at least so far through the town as old Mary's cottage. It would be strange indeed, after the red-coats were accustomed to seeing us come and go, for there could be no question but that we would get permission to minister to the poor old negro, if we could not venture further and further inside the lines until, should fortune favor us, we might be able to go whithersoever we desired.

At all events, with Uncle 'Rasmus dwelling in the town – with Uncle 'Rasmus ill and needing our attention, we would be enabled to spend our time in York without arousing even the suspicions of that miserable snake whom people call Horry Sims.

Of course, so far as the little scoundrel was concerned, he might well wonder how it chanced that Uncle 'Rasmus had gone into the town of York, for whenever any of the lads had come around the Hamilton plantation they had been accustomed to seeing the old negro sitting in his favorite place in the stable-yard; but I could see now as the scheme came home to me, that it would be possible, in case Horry Sims made inquiries, to let it be understood that Uncle 'Rasmus had gone there some days before my Lord Cornwallis's army entered the town, being stricken so ill he could not be safely moved.

In fact, I saw nothing but brightness in the future, and all through this old negro whom I had seen sitting in the stable-yard chewing straw day after day until he had come to seem much like one of the dogs or the horses, having no mind of his own; but implicitly obeying the will of his master.

Having come to fully understand all of benefit which might accrue to us in this move of Uncle 'Rasmus, I would have aided the old negro to the best of my ability, and insisted that he wait until I go to this plantation or that where I might borrow a horse to carry him; but he would have none of it.

He was bent on entering the town of York in his own way, and alone. The only assistance he would agree to, was that we might carry his blankets and scanty store of provisions a certain portion of the distance, and when I would have insisted on bringing out some delicacies from the house, he positively refused to accept them, whereupon I urged almost angrily to be allowed to do as I pleased, until little Frenchie, whose head is ever clear, said to me laughingly: