FORTUNES fQ1 
 
 OF A PARTI SAM m ol 
 
 E,B. SMITH m GO. 
 
C.C, 
 
 1877 1 
 
 cm 
 
CANOLLES: 
 
 FORTUNES OF A PARTISAN OF '81 
 
 BY JOHN E8TEN COOKE. 
 
 DETROIT: 
 E. B. SMITH & COMPANY. 
 
 1877. 
 
Copyright by 
 JOHN ESTEN COOKE. 
 
 isrr. 
 
CANOLLES: 
 
 THE FORTUNES OF A PARTISAN OF '81. 
 
 I. 
 
 UNDER THE MOON. 
 
 On a May evening in the year 1781, just as the sun 
 had disappeared, a man riding a powerful black horse 
 emerged from the great morass known as the " White 
 Oak Swamp " on the right bank of the Chickahom- 
 iny, in Virginia, and went at a long steady gallop 
 in the direction of James River. 
 
 An hour's ride brought him in sight of a large and 
 imposing house. This house, known time out of mind 
 as " Chatsworth," fronted southward toward the river, 
 from which it was separated only by a sloping lawn 
 and a low fence, and a single glance showed that it 
 had once been the residence of a man of great posses- 
 sions. The facade was long and elegantly decorated, 
 the portico, extending the entire length of the build- 
 ing, was reached by a broad flight of stone steps, and 
 through the trees to the right and rear were seen 
 extensive stables, outhouses and servants' quarters. 
 Over the, gateways were armorial devices in stone; the 
 garden fell in terraces, ornamented with edgings of 
 box ; the place, it might be seen, had once been splen- 
 
 985798 
 
4 CANOLLES. 
 
 did. But now all things were going to decay. The 
 sward was overgrown with weeds, the fences were 
 falling, the outhouses and quarters were deserted, and 
 some plaster had fallen from the ceiling of the porch 
 and lay where it fell. Everywhere, in the house, the 
 grounds, the inclosures, were the evidences of poverty 
 and neglect. 
 
 The man coming from the White Oak Swamp made 
 a circuit, and halting his horse in a little clump of 
 trees not far from the front of the house, remained for 
 some time looking at it in silence. He was appa- 
 rently from twenty-five to twenty-eight, rather low in 
 stature, broad-shouldered, and wore a nondescript cos- 
 tume, half that of a civilian, half that of a soldier. 
 There could be little doubt, however, that the latter 
 was his true character. From his holsters protruded 
 a pair- of horseman's pistols, and around his waist was 
 buckled a strong leather belt, sustaining a heavy 
 broadsword. His air above all was that of the soldier 
 cool, resolute and commanding. His face, not un- 
 handsome, but bronzed by sun and wind, had a pecu- 
 liarly phlegmatic expression that of a man not likely 
 to be surprised or daunted by anything but with this 
 phlegm was mingled both pride and melancholy. The 
 motionless figure seemed to suit the scene and the hour. 
 The last flush of sunset had faded in the west; above 
 the tree tops glimmered faintly now a thin crescent 
 moon slowly sailing through diaphanous clouds ; the 
 murmur of the great stream came like a lullaby through 
 the deepening gloom, and the walls of Chatsworth 
 looked ghostly in the dim moonlight. 
 
UNDER THE MOON. O 
 
 "Well," mattered the horseman, "I have come on 
 an errand which will probably result in nothing; yes, 
 that will be the result. And yet I must hold this 
 interview. I wonder if the fair one will insult me very 
 grossly ? Doubtless. " 
 
 He threw a keen glance around him, as though recon- 
 noitering from habit, and touching his horse with the 
 spur, rode up and dismounted in front of the house. 
 An old horse-rack, leaning from age, stood near, but 
 the man did not tie his horse there. He led the animal 
 to an abandoned outhouse in the rear, where a door 
 stood open, concealed him in the building, and, return- 
 ing to the front of the house, went up the broad steps 
 and knocked. 
 
 A light had just appeared in the apartment to the 
 right, and at the sound made by the falling of the great 
 bronze knocker, a shadow was thrown upon the tar- 
 nished lace curtain at one of the windows ; the shadow 
 remained stationary for a moment, then it disappeared, 
 then a step was heard in the hall, and a voice said be- 
 hind the door : 
 
 " Who is that? " 
 
 " A friend," was the reply of the man. 
 
 " What friend ?" 
 
 " If Miss Talbot will open she will discover," said 
 the man. " An enemy would find little difficulty in 
 forcing an entrance." 
 
 There was a short silence. Then, as though the 
 logic of the speaker had produced conviction, the door 
 opened, and the light from the room fell upon the 
 horseman. 
 
6 CANOLLES. 
 
 '"You, sir! " exclaimed the person who had opened 
 a young lady " you here, sir ? " 
 
 " Myself, madam," said the stranger coolly. 
 
 " Your business ? " 
 
 " To prove myself the friend of Mrs. Talbot and her 
 nieces. " 
 
 "Indeed!'" 
 
 She was about to add something more to this chill 
 exclamation, but apparently changing her mind turned 
 her back and swept with a haughty air back into the 
 room, which was occupied by an elderly lady and a 
 young girl. The apartment had about it the same air 
 of past splendor seen in the exterior of the mansion. 
 The walls were heavily wainscoted in rich paneling, 
 but the woodwork had warped and shrunk. The cor- 
 nices were superb, but in many places had fallen. 
 The marble mantle-piece had cracked from side to side. 
 The gilding of the portrait frames had nearly disap- 
 peared, and the once fine carpet was in rags. Some 
 old carved-back chairs, an antique center-table on 
 which burned a single candle in a silver candlestick, 
 and a rug in holes, were all the furniture. 
 
 The elderly lady, who was knitting with tremulous 
 fingers, wore a frilled cap, a black dress, and a white 
 handkerchief which passed around her neck was se- 
 cured by an ancient breastpin in the front. Beyond 
 these commonplace externals there was nothing to at- 
 tract in her appearance. The younger persons were 
 more striking. The one who had admitted the visitor 
 was about twenty-five tall, dark-haired, dressed with 
 what might be called tarnished elegance, but undenia- 
 
UNDER THE MOON. 7 
 
 bly a beauty. The eyes were dark and penetrating, 
 and the complexion superb ; but the fair face was 
 spoiled by an expression of discontent and ill-humor, 
 which had ripened into positive scorn and anger, now 
 as the stranger entered. Her companion was appa- 
 rently about nineteen, and quite different in appear- 
 ance ; her hair of a rich brown, her eyes blue, her face 
 of a pure oval, and her figure petite and slender. Her 
 dress was as simple as her companion's was pretentious, 
 and the bodice, with its long waist and opening at the 
 neck in the fashion called " Marie Stuart/' distinctly 
 outlined an exquisitely maidenly figure. In face and 
 form there was an indefinable grace and freshness; the 
 girl had about her that indescribable something sought 
 to be expressed by the word feminine. She seemed 
 made to love and be loved to confide and be confided 
 in. The brilliant eyes of the elder dazzled and repelled 
 a little the dove's eyes of the younger drew you. 
 And these opposing characters were seen even in their 
 positions and attitudes. The elder sat with head erect 
 in the full blaze of light, looking coldly straight at the 
 new comer. The younger occupied a low seat nearly 
 in the shadow, near the mantle-piece, her head dropped 
 a little, and she stole from beneath her long lashes a 
 searching glance at the visitor. 
 
 He advanced into the -centre of the room, bowed, 
 and remained standing. 
 
CANOLLES. 
 
 II. 
 
 WHAT TOOK PLACE ON A MAY NIGHT. 
 
 The stranger remained thus erect and motionless for 
 some moments, leaning one hand on the center table, 
 and looking thoughtfully around him, especially at 
 the old portraits, whose eyes seemed to fix themselves 
 upon him in the dim light. From this fit of absence 
 he was now aroused abruptly. 
 
 "Well, sir?" said the elder young lady, flirting her 
 train around with evident irritation. 
 
 The stranger's eyes fell from the portrait, and he 
 looked at her coolly, but with a lurking expression 
 of satire on his swarthy face. 
 
 " You would say, madam, that it is time for me to 
 explain the object of my visit?" 
 
 " Yes sir!" 
 
 " An unwelcome one, apparently, at least to yourself 
 personally, madam." 
 
 " As you please, sir ! " 
 
 He looked at the young lady with grim interest, and 
 said, coolly : 
 
 " My object in visiting Chatsworth this evening, Miss 
 Talbot, is to inform you that this place is no longer safe 
 for unprotected ladies, and to counsel you to leave it." 
 
 " You are very good, sir ! " was her almost scornful 
 reply, " and where shall we go ?" 
 
 " To the house of some friend in the upper country." 
 
WHAT TOOK PLACE ON A MAY NIGHT. 
 
 " We are unprotected ladies, as you say. How are we 
 to take this journey without an escort?" 
 
 She looked straight at him as she spoke, and evi- 
 dently waited for and anticipated his reply : 
 
 " I am at your service, madam, and that of your 
 aunt and sister, if you desire it." 
 
 The reply came back as suddenly as a blow : 
 
 "I, for one, sir, prefer the tender mercies of the 
 British to placing myself under your protection." 
 
 Again the expression of grim interest came to the 
 stranger's face ; he exhibited no other indication of any 
 feeling whatever. 
 
 " So be it, madam," he said quietly; " it is for you to 
 decide in a matter that concerns yourself. The times 
 are troubled. Gen. Phillips is within a few miles of 
 you on his way to Petersburg, and Lord Cornwallis is 
 advancing, and will soon arrive. These gentlemen are 
 gentlemen, but troops are hard to control. The horse- 
 men of Col. Tarleton, especially, are said to be an unruly 
 set. With or without justice they are stigmatized as 
 robbers and marauders ; and marauders, permit me to 
 add, madam, are bad visitors for unprotected ladies." 
 
 The elder young lady who alone took part in the 
 colloquy had listened to these w r ords with an expression 
 of distain, amounting to insult. At the word marauders 
 however, she suddenly raised her head and iixed a pair 
 of flashing eyes upon the stranger. 
 
 " Marauders, did you say, sir ? Colonel Tarleton a 
 marauder ? " 
 
 " His' troops at least bear that repute, madam, 
 whether deserved or not." 
 
10 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Well, sir," said the lady, with a curl of her beautiful 
 lip, " has it never occurred to you that there are other 
 marauders in this war besides Colonel Tarleton?" 
 
 " Doubtless there are such, madam," was the cool 
 reply. 
 
 " Persons," continued the lady, flushing with scorn 
 and anger, " persons who are neither Americans nor 
 British, neither friends nor enemies, who prey on all 
 indiscriminately who, actuated solely by a base love 
 of gold, by a low passion for plunder " 
 
 She paused, panting. All at once the younger sister 
 rose to her feet. Her face, too, was burning and her 
 eyes flashing. 
 
 " For shame, sister! " she exclaimed, " to thus return 
 kindness by insult to meet the offer of friendship with 
 such bitter words, such words as no lady should address 
 to a gentleman ! " 
 
 The elder turned her head and stared at the speaker 
 with as much astonishment as wrath. 
 
 "Indeed, Miss!" she exclaimed with a sort of ex- 
 plosion, " when will you speak again ? I am to be 
 lectured and directed in what I am to say by you! " 
 
 " I do not lecture you ; but you have no right to speak 
 thus. You do not speak for me. You shall know that 
 at least." 
 
 Before the astounded elder sister could reply the 
 stranger took three steps forward, raised the hand of 
 the younger to his lips, bowing as he did so, and said 
 in a low voice : 
 
 " Thanks, Fanny ! " 
 
WHAT TOOK PLACE ON A MAY NIGHT. 11 
 
 He then turned to the elder and said, with perfect 
 composure : 
 
 u Madam expresses herself so plainly that it is im- 
 possible to misunderstand. I at least do not. But I am 
 losing time. My proposition is refused, I see. So be it. 
 I beg to take my leave now, as I have far to ride to- 
 night." 
 
 He bowed, exchanged a long look with the younger 
 sister, still erect, flushed and beautiful in her indigna- 
 tion, and slowly left the room. As he disappeared he 
 looked over his shoulder this time at the old portraits 
 on the wall, especially at that of a very beautiful woman. 
 As he did so, an expression of melancholy tenderness 
 came to his face, and a breath resembling a sigh escaped 
 from his lips. 
 
 He w r ent out of the house, walked in the dim light of 
 the crescent moon to the out-building where his horse 
 was concealed, and was about to mount, when the 
 trample of hoofs was heard approaching up the river's 
 bank. 
 
 The stranger concealed himself in the outhouse, and 
 looked and listened. 
 
 Suddenly a troop of about twenty-five mounted men 
 swarmed into the grounds, and a person evidently in 
 command leaped to the ground, throwing his bridle to 
 one of the men, and knocked at the door. The stranger 
 stole from tree to tree, and had just come in sight of 
 the door, when it was opened, and the light fell on the 
 person who had knocked. He was a young man wear- 
 ing the uniform of an English lieutenant of cavalry, and 
 a sound like a low scream was heard from the house. 
 
CANOLLES. 
 
 " Do not be alarmed, madam," came in response to 
 the scream, " there is no reason whatever why you 
 should be. I am aware that there are none but ladies 
 here, and only beg that I may rest a moment." 
 
 He turned to the troop, ordering " Keep your ranks 
 let no man stir." 
 
 With which words- he entered. 
 
 The stranger, concealed in the shadow of a large 
 oak, remained motionless for about a minute. Then he 
 seemed to form a sudden resolution. Stealing in the 
 same cautious manner from tree to tree, he gained the 
 rear of the house, silently went to a small porch at the 
 back door, raised a window noiselessly and as silently 
 entered an apartment in rear of that which he had just 
 left. 
 
 All his movements had indicated a perfect knowl- 
 edge of the localities, and he now stole toward the door 
 between the two apartments, through the key-hole of 
 which a long ray entered the dark room. 
 
 Placing himself at this key-hole, and alternately ap- 
 plying his eye and his ear, he looked and listened, and 
 what he saw and heard from his place of concealment 
 we shall proceed to describe. 
 
WHAT THE LISTENER OVERHEARD. 13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 WHAT THE LISTENER OVERHEARD. 
 
 The British officer a young man of about twenty- 
 five, slender, with light hair, a joyous expression, and 
 clad in a rich uniform covered with gold braid was 
 standing in the middle of the apartment, his plumed hat 
 in his hand. 
 
 The ladies had risen -and were trembling. 
 
 " I beg you will dismiss apprehension of annoyance 
 from myself or my command, madam," he said, in a 
 frank, gay voice, addressing Mrs. Talbot, " and will re- 
 sume your seats. I am Lieutenant Ferrers, of the 
 British cavalry, and if you have ever heard of me you 
 must have heard that I am not a very dangerous visitor 
 to ladies." 
 
 The ladies sat down ; the officer remained standing. 
 
 " I have the pleasure, I believe, of seeing the family 
 of Colonel Cartaret?" 
 
 " No, sir," said the elder of the young ladies, speak- 
 ing for- the rest as in the interview with the stranger. 
 
 " Ah, then I was misinformed," returned the smiling 
 young officer. " Is not the name of this estate Chats- 
 worth, the former residence of Colonel Cartaret, who 
 espoused the English side when the present war broke 
 out?' 7 
 
 " Yes, sir," replied the young lady, who had recov- 
 ered her calmness, and even began to direct the artil- 
 
14 CANOLLES. 
 
 lery of her beautiful eyes upon the officer, " this is 
 Chats worth, but " 
 
 " Ah ! I understand now. You would say, madam, 
 that you are neither relatives of Col. Cartaret nor 
 sympathizers in his political views." 
 
 " We are cousins only." 
 
 "And good American sympathizers, doubtless!" 
 came in the same gay tone. "Well, that is natural, and 
 I am far from attributing any fault to you for being 
 such ! The fact is unimportant, and I am myself no 
 very savage partisan. Partisan ! The word reminds 
 that I am on a little expedition to hunt up one of these 
 same gentry ; but now since you are good patriots, 
 ladies, I cannot ask you to assist me." 
 
 "To assist you, sir? In what manner?" said the 
 young lady. 
 
 " By giving me information. To be plain, madam, I 
 am looking for a certain Capt. Canolles, chief of a band 
 of- well, marauders, I may call them. Can you tell 
 me where I can find this Canolles?" he added, laughing. 
 
 Canolles, listening within a few feet of the speaker 
 for the stranger secreted in the adjoining room was that 
 personage waited, with a grim smile on his lips, for 
 the young lady's reply. It came promptly. 
 
 " He was in this room a quarter of an hour ago." 
 
 " In this room ? " exclaimed the officer, turning 
 quickly toward the door. 
 
 " But it is useless to pursue him. He is miles away 
 by this time." 
 
 " He is your friend, perchance ? " 
 
 " No, indeed ! " 
 
WHAT THE LISTENER OVERHEARD. 15 
 
 "Your enemy?" 
 
 The young lady hesitated. Then she said coldly : 
 
 " Everything connected with that person is a subject 
 of perfect indifference to me ! " 
 
 " Ah ! I see, madam. Despite your patriotic views 
 you cannot approve of Capt. Canolles a mere marau- 
 der.' 7 
 
 " Who could ? " 
 
 " You are right, madam. He is said to fight under 
 no flag, to have no end in view but booty, and even to 
 rob both sides alike." 
 
 " That is his reputation." 
 
 " A strange character. Who and what is he ?" 
 
 " Ask him, sir ! " suddenly came from the young 
 sister, and the officer turned quickly, with a smile on 
 his lips. 
 
 " Right, right ! " he said, " and I hope soon to have 
 an opportunity to address the question to him. To be 
 frank, ladies," he went on in the same gay tone, " Gen. 
 Phillips, in whose command I have the honor of serv- 
 ing, desires particularly to lay his hands on this worthy 
 Canolles. On the General's first expedition up the 
 river one of his sailing vessels was boarded in the night 
 not far from this spot and the crew overpowered before 
 assistance could reach them. Unfortunately the vessel 
 contained a considerable sum to pay off the troops, and 
 this was carried off." 
 
 "Doubtless by the person you are in search of," said 
 the tall young lady. 
 
 "Yes, madam. The vessel was set on fire, after the 
 crew were turned loose in the boats, and they reported 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
16 CANOLLES. 
 
 that they had heard the marauder addressed by his 
 men as Capt. Canolles." 
 
 Canolles, listening attentively, came near uttering a 
 low laugh. 
 
 " A daring affair," the smiling young officer went 
 on, " and perfectly within the rules of honorable war- 
 fare, if these men they are called "Rough Riders/' I 
 believe fought under the American flag. But they 
 had no flag whatever, I am informed. So the General 
 would be extremely glad to have an interview at his 
 headquarters with the Captain." 
 
 " In which laudable desire you aim to gratify him, 
 sir!" came from the smiling lips of the elder of the 
 young ladies, who continued to reply to the officer. 
 She had not ceased to direct toward him the same 
 flashing glances brilliant, provoking, far from hos- 
 tile and it was easy to see that the young Briton was 
 more and more struck by her beauty. 
 
 " Allow me to admire your penetration, madam ! " 
 he went on in his former tone. " The General ardently 
 longs to see this same Canolles, and even has another 
 motive. He is on his way from Brandon to Peters- 
 burg has some more money under convoy and we 
 naturally have a nervous apprehension that the worthy 
 Canolles will attempt to lay his hands on that also, 
 since booty is his game and the main chance of his 
 object in warfare." 
 
 Canolles. looking and listening through the keyhole, 
 lost, suddenly, his expression of grim enjo}^ment, and 
 bent close, with an ardent light in his eyes. The con- 
 
WHAT THE LISTENER OVERHEARD. 17 
 
 versation had evidently assumed anew and far stronger 
 attraction for him. 
 
 " There is no danger, I trust," said the lady, " of 
 another such robbery. Gen. Phillips is then on his 
 way to Petersburg? There was such a rumor." 
 
 " Oh, it is no secret, madam, and I may inform you 
 of the fact without scruple. Perhaps I was less justi- 
 fiable in speaking of the gold which the general con- 
 voys with him. That was somewhat imprudent." 
 
 " Imprudent, sir? " 
 
 The officer laughed. 
 
 " You may give information of the fact to General 
 Lafayette, who is not far distant, or " 
 
 The officer paused, again laughing. 
 
 " Or some one may be concealed here listening. 
 In that room, for instance." 
 
 He pointed to the room in the rear. 
 
 " Oh, if that is your only fear, sir, you are at liberty 
 to satisfy yourself." 
 
 The officer took two steps toward the door. Ca- 
 nolles, bending close, did not move ; but lie quietly 
 stole his hand to the hilt of his broadsword. 
 
 " Have I your permission to look, madam ?" said the 
 young officer. " Pardon me, but war is an unceremo- 
 nious trade." 
 
 " You are perfectly at liberty, sir, although that 
 room has long been unused, arid the door, I think, is 
 locked." 
 
 " Do you give rne your word that no one is concealed 
 there?" 
 
 " My word of honor, sir." 
 2 
 
18 CANOLLES. 
 
 'The officer came back. 
 
 " That is enough, madam. I should be ungallant, 
 indeed, to doubt an assurance issuing from such lips." 
 
 A glance of unmistakable admiration accompanied 
 these words, and the person to whom they were ad- 
 dressed bashfully cast down her eyes. 
 
 " I may add," said Lieut. Ferrers, " that even if 
 what I have said came to Gen. Lafayette's ears it would 
 prove of no advantage to him. The convoy is strongly 
 guarded, moves with the army, and it would prove 
 utterly impossible to capture it, even if the attempt 
 were made by a corps d'armee." 
 
 The young officer bowed, put on his hat and added: 
 
 " I now beg to take my leave, ladies. The boats in 
 which I crossed will be in danger if I do not return by 
 daylight. I propose to scout toward the swamp in 
 which our Capt. Canolles makes his den, I am inform- 
 ed; and as he moves, it is said, by night on his march- 
 es, I may succeed in having an interview with him. 
 Believe me, that another interview that which I have 
 had the pleasure to hold this evening already has been 
 highly agreeable " the look of admiration was repeat- 
 ed " and I shall always think of Chatsworth with 
 pleasure. Excellent Col. Cartaret! I had the honor to 
 know him a perfect gentleman, acting from sincere 
 convictions, and dead now in exile. That is sad, but 
 war is always a sad affair. He had a son, he told me, 
 in the American army ; he spoke of him with great 
 tenderness. But I must take my leave, ladies. I have 
 not asked you to inform me where I should find our 
 Capt. Canolles, nor what his errand here was this 
 
WHAT THE LISTENER OVERHEARD. 19 
 
 evening. If good fortune serves me I shall cross 
 swords with him to-night." 
 
 The young lieutenant then bowed, went out of the 
 room, and was heard ordering " attention !" Then his 
 sabre clanked against the stirrup as he mounted. 
 
 He had scarcely left the apartment when Canolles, 
 holding up his long broadsword carefully to avoid be-, 
 ing heard, noiselessly retired, passed through the win- 
 dow in the rear, and stealing toward the outhouse in 
 which his horse awaited him, leaned against a tree 
 trunk and saw the British troopers slowly defiling out 
 of the grounds, the dusky figures dimly visible in the 
 faint light of the crescent moon. 
 
 When they had disappeared he mounted his black 
 horse, leaped the low fence in rear of the house and 
 set off swiftly in the direction of White Oak Swamp. 
 
20 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAFER IV. 
 
 IN THE WHITE OAK SWAMP. 
 
 " White Oak Swamp " is a great morass extending 
 from a point northeast of Richmond, along* the western 
 bank of the Chickahominy to the boundary of Charles 
 City, and nearly to the banks of James River. It is 
 a strange weird tract the home of. the venomous moc- 
 casin, and the melancholy whippoorwill, whose cry 
 comes from the far depths like that of some mysterious 
 guardian of the swamp. All here is solemn and de- 
 pressing. The almost impenetrable thickets bar all 
 advance. The ground is slimy and treacherous. You 
 place your feet upon a prostrate log, and it suddenly 
 turns. You attempt to pass an open space apparently 
 of greensward, and you sink to your waist or your horse 
 to his girth. Tangled vines festoon the trees, from 
 which you are saluted by the unearthly laughter of the 
 owl tall flags wave their broad blades above the ooze, 
 from which comes the threatening hiss of reptiles. 
 Sad and sorrowful by day, this swamp is strange and 
 menacing at night. To move through it even by day 
 is difficult, to penetrate it by night an utter impossi- 
 bility, unless to a person familiar with every foot of the 
 path over which he advances. 
 
 Canolles reached the edge of the dreary tract, riding 
 at a long gallop, and disappeared in its depths. The 
 moon gave scarcely any light, but he seemed to make his 
 
IN THE WHITE OAK SWAMP. 21 
 
 way steadily and surely, picking his path without hesi- 
 tation, and guided, it seemed, by the north star glitter- 
 ing through the tangled foliage overhead. 
 
 He went on thus for about half an hour. Then he 
 emerged on an open space, beyond which a dull-looking 
 entrance of slimy water stretched. He crossed the 
 space, reached the dull expanse, and at a peculiar cry 
 stopped and repeated it. A third cry came ; he at once 
 plunged into the water, and in a few moments reached a 
 sort of island of considerable extent, where a group of 
 about twenty men of the most outlandish appearance 
 were gathered around a blaze. In the background were 
 seen a number of half subterranean huts, built of boughs 
 plastered with mud. Kear these huts were tethered to 
 the stunted trees as many horses as there were men. 
 
 Canolles made a sign to a person w T ho seemed second 
 in command, and, retiring with him, held a rapid con- 
 sultation. The two then returned, and at a low order 
 from Canolles the men hastened to their horses and 
 mounted. This manoeuvre was effected so rapidly that 
 in two minutes the troop was in line ; and placing him- 
 self at the head of the column, Canolles led the way 
 back over the route by which he had come. 
 
 Defiling slowly and silently through the swamp a 
 band of phantoms apparently in the dim light the 
 Rough Riders at last reached firm ground ; and then, at 
 an order from their captain, who led the way, set for- 
 ward in an easterly direction at a swift gallop. The 
 hoof strokes of the horses made no noise in the sandy 
 road, and no word was uttered by any one in the troop. 
 In an hour a faint glimmer in front indicated that they 
 
22 CANOLLES. 
 
 were approaching the banks of the river, and at a move- 
 ment of the hand from Canolles the men halted. 
 
 Canolles then went forward alone, his horse walking 
 slowly. He was following the road moving from a well- 
 known ferry to Chats worth, and soon discovered that his 
 calculations were correct. Lieut. Ferrers must have 
 landed at this point; and there before Canolles, as he 
 cautiously drew near the bank, were the large flatboats 
 in which the British troopers had been ferried across. 
 A brief reconnoissance showed that only a few men had 
 been left to guard the boats, and returning silently to 
 his command, Canolles ordered them to move forward. 
 
 In five minutes the few men at the boats had been 
 captured, and the boats were in possession of the partisan, 
 who ordered his troops to dismount and embark with 
 their horses. This was rapidly done the prisoners 
 were also placed on board and the boats then moved 
 silently from shore, breasting the broad current which 
 shone in the dim light of the setting moon. 
 
 The chances seemed to be that Lieut. Ferrers would 
 not enjoy his desired interview on this night with Capt. 
 Canolles, who having the choice presented to him of 
 crossing sabres on the north bank of James River with 
 the young Englishman, or going in pursuit of the trea- 
 sure under convoy of the British troops on the south 
 bank, unhesitatingly made choice of the latter. 
 
 In. a few moments the boats, crowded with the dusky 
 figures of men and horses, were lost in the darkness. 
 Then the splash of the paddles slowly died away in the 
 distance, and finally no sound disturbed the silence but 
 the subdued murmur of the great stream singing its 
 low song in the calm spring night. 
 
FERRERS ROUSES THE WRONG GAME.' 23 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FERRERS ROUSES THE WRONG GAME. 
 
 The boats containing Canolles and his horsemen had 
 just disappeared in the darkness, through which glim- 
 mered the faint light of the setting moon, when quick 
 shots were heard in the distance above Chats worth, on 
 the banks of the river; the sound drew nearer; then 
 came shouts, the clash of sabres, the trample of hoofs, 
 and suddenly the shore swarmed with the troops of 
 Lieut. Ferrers, with a force of American cavalry close 
 upon their heels. 
 
 The aim of the British troops was evidently to gain 
 their boats. Seeing that they had disappeared the men 
 lost hope, called aloud for quarter, and in spite of every 
 attempt made by Lieut. Ferrers, threw dbw r n their arms. 
 
 At this spectacle, Ferrers uttered a volley of exple- 
 tives, and driving his horse with the spur violently 
 through the chaotic mass huddled on the bank, crossed 
 sabres with the leader of the Americans, coming on with 
 long leaps of his horse in front of his men. He was a 
 young man of about twenty-three, and bore the most 
 astonishing resemblance to Canolles, except that his face 
 was fresher and more youthful and his expression gay 
 and impulsive. He wore the uniform of an American 
 lieutenant of cavalry, was plainly an excellent horseman, 
 and meeting Ferrers full tilt crossed sabres, and a hand- 
 to-hand fight ensued. How it would have ended it is 
 
24 CANOLLES. 
 
 difficult to say, as they seemed equally matched. A 
 third person decided the result. This was an American 
 trooper, who seized Ferrers from behind, dragged him 
 from the saddle, and in an instant the young English- 
 man was beneath the trampling hoofs of the horses, 
 exposed to imminent peril of his life. So great indeed 
 was this peril, that, brave as the young man was, he 
 closed his eyes, when he suddenly felt an arm around 
 him, and he was lifted to his feet. He opened his eyes, 
 looked at the person who had thus rescued him from 
 being trampled to death, and saw that it was the young 
 American officer. 
 
 Then this quick dialogue ensued: 
 
 " You are in command of this force, sir ? " said the 
 American. 
 
 " Yes/' returned Ferrers. 
 
 " Surrender, then. You are overpowered. It is not 
 your fault, for my force is double your own: Order 
 your men to surrender, sir ! " 
 
 "Surrender! cursed word!" exclaimed the young 
 Englishman with a rueful laugh. But he gave the 
 order, and then shaking himself as though to recover 
 from his stunning, added : 
 
 "You are Capt. Canolles?" 
 
 "Canolles? No." 
 
 "Who then ? Your name and rank, that I may at 
 least know whose prisoner I am." 
 
 " My name is Henry Cartaret, and I am Lieutenant 
 of the Virginia Light Horse." 
 
 " Henry Cartaret!" exclaimed the young Englishman. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
FERRERS ROUSES THE WRONG GAME. 25 
 
 " Cartaret, of Chats worth." 
 
 " Once," was the rather sad reply. 
 
 " The son of Col. Henry Cartaret, who left Virginia 
 at the beginning of the war?" 
 
 " He was my father." 
 
 Ferrers seized the young American by the hand and 
 shook it heartily. 
 
 " So you are really Harry Cartaret, of whom I have 
 heard your father speak ? I knew T him well and loved 
 him as much as I respected him, which was a great deal. 
 Glad to make your acquaintance, Harry ! though 
 never was such a devilish introduction ! " 
 
 The gay youngster rubbed his shoulder, which had 
 been bruised in his fall, and added with his light laugh, 
 which seemed to defy trouble : 
 
 " Who would have dreamed of my falling into such 
 a trap to-night ! first the bad luck of meeting a force 
 double my own, and then my boats gone ! Who under 
 heaven could have extracted them ? I'd have made a 
 stand and got off, my dear Cartaret, but for this cursed 
 ill luck ! Well, well, it is the fortune of war. Some 
 good fellow of your party now in our hands will be 
 benefited when I'm exchanged. Then I'll be after you, 
 perhaps, and catch you napping patience, and shuffle 
 the cards?" 
 
 The two young fellows laughed like schoolboys, and 
 half an hour afterward Lieut. Harry Cartaret and Lieut. 
 Tom Ferrers were riding along amicably towards Gen. 
 Lafayette's headquarters, followed by the American 
 troops in charge of the prisoners. 
 
26 CANOLLES. 
 
 As they passed Chatsworth Ferrers said, with the 
 laugh which nothing seemed able to suppress: 
 
 " You were not concealed there to-night ?" 
 
 " Concealed?" 
 
 " Yes, in that room in the rear?" 
 
 " What room ? " 
 
 " And they gave you no warning did not put you 
 on my track?" 
 
 " Who ? I had no warning. I met your force by 
 pure accident as I was returning from a scout." 
 
 " Oh ! well, then, the devil's in it. I am the victim of 
 bad luck, and against bad luck no fellow can light? 
 But I'm glad they did not betray me especially that 
 tall one she's a beauty." 
 
 " The tall one?" 
 
 " I mean the taller of the two young ladies at Chats- 
 worth." 
 
 "Oh! Eleanor Talbot?" 
 
 " Do you know her ? " 
 
 " She is my cousin." 
 
 " Well, my dear Harry, you see I knew your father, 
 who liked me too, and I feel like a friend of the family, 
 which makes me unceremonious well, all I have to 
 say is that you've a devilish handsome cousin ! " 
 
 " You have seen her ? " 
 
 "I called this evening, in pursuit of a certain Can- 
 olles. By the by, who is Canolles ? The ladies seemed 
 acquainted with him." 
 
 The laughing face of Harry Cartaret grew sad. 
 
 " He is a person about whom there are many and 
 conflicting reports," he said. 
 
FERRERS ROUSES THE WRONG GAME. 27 
 
 " Very well. But suppose we come across him to- 
 night?" 
 
 " Come across him ? " 
 
 " Yes. 7 ' 
 
 "What then?" 
 
 " He may attack you." 
 
 " Attack me ? " 
 
 " Why not ? He is said to make war on his own 
 responsibility to fight against both sides and to have 
 no flag but his own." 
 
 Cartaret gravely shook his head and replied : 
 
 " He will not attack me." 
 
 " Are you certain of that ? " 
 
 " Perfectly certain." 
 
 " And why should he not ? " 
 
 " I may tell you some day I cannot tell you now." 
 
 " Oh, pardon me, my dear fellow. I'm afraid IVe 
 been indiscreet." 
 
 "No indiscretion at all, believe me," returned Car- 
 taret. 
 
 " And so I am not to be rescued ! " laughed Ferrers. 
 " I see I must give up all hopes of that dramatic scene ! 
 Think what a farce it would be ! I cross the river to 
 beat up the quarters of the worthy Canolles you and I 
 meet each other you take me prisoner but before you 
 can reach headquarters with your valuable capture, 
 presto ! change ! Canolles appears upon the scene, and 
 rescues from your clutches the very person who came 
 to hunt him ! Ha ! ha ! " 
 
 Cartaret laughed in reply, and the young men rode 
 
28 CANOLLES. 
 
 on side by side in gay talk, with the air rather of old 
 friends than chance acquaintances. 
 
 Meanwhile Canolles crossed the river, formed his 
 men in column, and was silently advancing through the 
 darkness toward the camp of Gen. Phillips, on the Pe- 
 tersburg road. His information was thorough and mi- 
 nute. A cocked pistol and the promise of a heavy sum 
 in gold had acted upon one of the men captured with 
 the boats. Canolles knew where to find a wagon con- 
 taining ten thousand pounds sterling, and seemed to 
 have made up his mind to have it in spite of Gen. 
 Phillips and his whole army. 
 
THE SPUING OF 1781. 29 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE SPRING OF 1781. 
 
 At the opening of our narrative the curtain had just 
 risen on the great fifth act of the Revolutionary drama. 
 
 Beginning at Concord six years before, the war had 
 steadily drifted southward. The thunder of cannon 
 had rolled on from Boston to Long Island, then to the 
 banks of the Delaware, then to the environs of Phila- 
 delphia, then to the Carolinas, and now Lord Corn- 
 wallis, after marching and counter-marching, advancing 
 and retreating, through the swamps and rice fields, was 
 coming to open the last campaign of the war on the 
 soil of the Old Dominion. 
 
 Virginia had been spared in a great measure the 
 ravages of w r ar in her own dominion, but now the 
 heavy hand was to fall upon her in her turn. The con- 
 flict on her soil had opened with January, 1781, when 
 Arnold, with about one thousand men, chiefly royalists 
 brought from the north, advanced to Richmond, burned 
 a part of the place, laid waste the surrounding region, 
 and then, hotly pressed by the brave Gen. Nelson, in 
 command of the Virginia militia, had retreated to 
 Portsmouth, where he awaited further orders from his 
 British employers. 
 
 His orders came in April, but the British officers, who 
 regarded him with ill-concealed disdain, were spared 
 the mortification of again marching under him as their 
 
30 CANOLLES. 
 
 commander. Gen. "William Phillips was assigned to 
 lead the English column, which now ascended James 
 River toward Petersburg. The force sailed up the 
 river, landed at City Point, at the mouth of the Appo- 
 mattox, pushed forward to Petersburg, and the place 
 was attacked and fell into the hands of the British in 
 spite of hot resistance from the Americans under 
 Baron Steuben. 
 
 Then opened on the party of James River a brief 
 and animated episode of the war. Arnold was sent to 
 Osbornes, a village on the river, where he attacked and 
 destroyed a small American fleet, burning and captur- 
 ing two thousand hogsheads of tobacco, then a species 
 of currency. Meanwhile Phillips, whom Arnold 
 hastened to join, advanced northward to Manchester, 
 opposite Richmond ; attempted to cross ; discovered 
 that Lafayette had arrived on the day before and was 
 ready to fight him ; retired ; descended the right bank 
 of the river to Bermuda Hundred, burning on his way 
 the thriving town of Warwick, a larger place than 
 Richmond and an important post, and embarked again 
 for Portsmouth. 
 
 It was on this expedition that an American prisoner 
 is said to have made his historic response to Gen. 
 Arnold. 
 
 " If the Americans should catch me," asked Arnold, 
 " what would they do with me ? " 
 
 " They would bury with military honors the leg 
 which was wounded at Saratoga/' replied the prisoner, 
 " and hang the remainder of you on a gibbet." 
 
 Before reaching Portsmouth, Gen. Phillips was met 
 
THE SPRING OF 1781. 31 
 
 by a boat bringing him orders to retrace his steps 
 Lord Cornwallis was on his march and would form a 
 junction with him at Petersburg. 
 
 This was on May the 6th. Three days afterwards, 
 that is to say on May the 9th, Gen. Phillips had re- 
 ascended James River, reached Brandon on the southern 
 shore, landed his troops there, and was rapidly ad- 
 vancing to again seize upon Petersburg, where Lord 
 Cornwallis was daily, almost hourly, expected. 
 
 It was now a race between Phillips and Lafayette 
 which should first reach the place. The brave young 
 Frenchman had been assigned by Washington to the 
 command of the American forces in Virginia had 
 made a forced march of 200 miles to reach Richmond ; 
 arrived in time to protect the place, and rightly sup- 
 posing that the reappearance of Phillips in the upper 
 waters of James River meant Petersburg and the 
 junction with Lord Cornwallis, hastened toward the 
 threatened point to occupy the town and prevent the 
 union there of the English armies. 
 
 This brief and rapid summary of the state of things 
 toward the middle of May, 1781, will inform the reader 
 of the surroundings of the various personages of this 
 narrative : Lord Cornwallis advancing steadily from the 
 south in the direction of Petersburg, Gen. Phillips 
 pushing on from Brandon to form a junction with 
 him, and General the Marquis Lafayette hurrying from 
 Richmond as fast as he could drag his cannon in the 
 direction of Petersburg to occupy the town, and with 
 his right hand stretched toward Cornwallis and his left 
 toward Phillips, hold them asunder. 
 
32 CANOLLES. 
 
 We return now to our narrative, which aims to pre- 
 sent rather a series of pictures and portraits than to 
 record historic events. 
 
 This was the situation of the pieces on the great 
 chess-board of war when the gay young Englishman, 
 Lieut. Ferrers, crossed James River near " Chats- 
 worth " to scout along the northern bank in the direc- 
 tion of White Oak Swamp, with the object which we 
 have heard him state, and when the worthy Capt. 
 Canolles, chief of Rough Riders, and fighting under 
 no flag but his own, overheard the object which his 
 enemies had in view, declined the challenge, and seiz- 
 ing the boats in which Ferrers had crossed, went on a 
 far more business-like errand to the south bank which 
 errand, as the reader must have surmised, was to beat 
 up the quarters of Gen. Phillips, and seize upon his 
 ten thousand pounds sterling. 
 
CANOLLES REAPPEARS. 33 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CANOLLES REAPPEARS. 
 
 It was the morning of the 10th of May, 1781 the 
 day after the scene just described. 
 
 The long harsh thunder of cannon shook the hills on 
 which the town of Petersburg stood ; and the brilliant 
 sunshine flashed back from burnished gun-barrels, 
 bayonets and scarlet uniforms swarming on the wide 
 plateau on the outskirts of the eastern suburb of 
 " Blandford," which, with " Pocahontas " on the north 
 bank, formed the village, town or borough of Peters- 
 burg. 
 
 Gen. Phillips had distanced his adversary. Knowing 
 how much depended upon the occupation of Peters- 
 burg, the English commander had'not lost a moment 
 on the march, had pushed forward from Brandon as 
 soon as his troops landed, and late at night had entered 
 Petersburg, just as the vanguard of Lafayette was ap- 
 proaching the spot from the northward. 
 
 With the dawn came the roar of cannon. Lafayette 
 had posted his artillery on Archer's Hill, an eminence 
 on the north bank of the river, opposite the town; 
 opened on the English camps in the direction of Bland- 
 ford, and hour after hour the long roar of the Ameri- 
 can cannon continued, to which the British guns re- 
 plied. 
 
 Let us now follow the fortunes of one of the chief 
 3 
 
34 CANOLLES. 
 
 personages of this history, whose fate it was to become 
 better acquainted with the English commander than he 
 probably desired to be. 
 
 " Bollingbrook " was the handsome, broad-winged, 
 low-pitched mansion of the wealthy McBolling, crown- 
 ing one of the Blandford hills. In the main apart- 
 ment of this house, a room of considerable size and 
 furnished with the utmost taste and even luxury, a 
 man of middle age, clad in the undress uniform of a 
 British Major-General, was lying upon a couch, and 
 breathing heavily. Every detail of the personal ap- 
 pearance of this individual indicated pride, and a 
 haughty and unbending disposition. It was not an 
 unattractive face, otherwise ; and plainly that of a man 
 of birth and breeding. Thomas Jefferson wrote of 
 him that he was " the proudest man of the proudest 
 nation on earth, " and his impression certainly did not 
 belie his character. This was Major-G-eneral William 
 Phillips, commander of the English forces in Virginia. 
 
 He was plainly the victim of a bilious fever. His 
 face was flushed, his breath came in gasps, and when 
 the rush of the American shell was heard passing over 
 the house, he muttered in hoarse and labored accents : 
 
 " Why won't they let me die in peace ? " 
 
 Opposite the couch sat a tall officer apparently above 
 sixty. His appearance was striking. His face was of 
 a uniform red, arid his hair and mustache he wore no 
 beard or whiskers was snow-white. His command- 
 ing stature, curt and unceremonious bearing, and non- 
 chalant tone of voice, best described by the word grunt, 
 stamped him as a peculiar individual. You might see 
 
CANOLLES REAPPEARS. 35 
 
 that Col. Lord Ferrers for that was the officer's 
 name cared for nothing or nobody, was a sort of 
 high-hred Diogenes, of a cynical turn, not without a 
 dash of humor, and was an intimate friend of the 
 British commander, for they addressed each other in 
 the most informal manner. 
 
 Phillips breathed heavily, and from time to time 
 turned restlessly on his couch. 
 
 " Why did I ever come to this wretched country, 
 Ferrers ?" he groaned. "I am burnt up with fever 
 contracted in the marshes around that hole, Ports- 
 mouth ! My pulse seems on fire ! I have a presenti- 
 ment that I shall die of this attack.' 7 
 
 " Nonsense !" grunted Lord Ferrers ; " but you are 
 right about the country. Never was such a damnable 
 region on the face of the globe !" 
 
 " And then to have that man Arnold for my second 
 in command!" continued Phillips, feverishly. 
 
 " Cursed traitor ! Sold his country or tried to 
 for ten thousand pounds the canaille!" returned 
 Ferrers. 
 
 " And this canaille, as you rightly call him, will be 
 your commander when I die." 
 
 "Hope you won't die, Phillips! Arnold command 
 me! I would rather have the devil himself over me." 
 
 The English commander breathed heavily. 
 
 "And then this last and crowning enemy ! to have 
 my money chest a second time seized under my very 
 nose by this bandit Canolles the very man who 
 boarded my tender and robbed me before. Was there 
 ever such an insolent or successful affair? Lucky.jl 
 
36 CANOLLES. 
 
 have one satisfaction. The leader of the gang Ca- 
 nolles himself is in my hands, and he shall hang or 
 have a bullet through him before to-morrow. 7 ' 
 
 " Right highwaymen take the risks Canolles lights 
 under no flag, I'm told. What were the particulars? 
 I was in the advance, and have heard none of the de- 
 tails." 
 
 " I will tell you what took place in a very few words. 
 I had halted the troops within a mile or two of this 
 place the vanguard having entered and taken posses- 
 sion, as you know when the detachment guarding 
 the baggage wagon was attacked while asleep in biv- 
 
 O O O O JL 
 
 ouac, the men cut down as they sprang to arms, and 
 the money chest carried off before the alarm was given 
 to the rest of the army. A more daring affair I never 
 heard of; and the leader of the gang Rough Riders 
 they call themselves must have proceeded on sure in- 
 formation, obtained I know not how or where." 
 
 " Ask him, as you have hold of this same leader. 
 How was he caught ? " 
 
 " While fighting with desperation. The money was 
 first hurried off unluckily it was in a number of small 
 sacks, gold and Bank of England notes and then 
 Canolles faced about with, a part of his command, made 
 charge after charge to cover his retreat his men all 
 got off and their leader would no doubt have been as 
 successful, but his horse was shot under him, fell, and 
 before he could extricate his feet from the stirrups in 
 which his spurs had become entangled, he was seized 
 and made prisoner." 
 
 " A brave fellow, at least." 
 
CANOLLES REAPPEARS. 37 
 
 " A robber! A common thief! Fighting under no 
 flag!" 
 
 "Well, that's ugly devilish ugly!" grunted Fer- 
 rers, " and the rascal must hang, I .suppose. The 
 money is clean gone, eh ? " 
 
 "Every penny! The marauders vanished like so 
 many phantoms in the darkness." 
 
 " They were pursued ? " 
 
 " Of course and the detachment sent in pursuit 
 came. up with them, or rather in sight of them, as they 
 crossed the river." 
 
 " You mean the Appomattox ? " 
 
 "Yes. There was just light enough from the stars 
 to see them swimming their horses in the middle of 
 the stream. They landed near Bermuda Hundred, and 
 no doubt found some means to cross James River to 
 White Oak Swamp, where this Virginia swamp fox 
 kennels with his booty." 
 
 "Well," said Ferrers, "of all the cursed, devilish, 
 unlucky contretemps that I ever heard of, this is the most 
 diabolical. I was going to send to the paymaster this 
 very morning for my pay not a penny in my purse 
 and here all the gold is gone ! It is necessary to hang 
 that man, Phillips! No, don't hang him. He's a 
 brave scoundrel. Shoot him like a soldier. Never be 
 harsh on a game highwayman like that! " 
 
 "I will consider. First, however, for an interview. 
 I must know, or endeavor to discover, where he ob- 
 tained his information in regard to the convoy." 
 
 " I should like to hear. The fact is, the affair is 
 interesting. This Can oil es must be a desperado, 
 
38 CANOLLES. 
 
 indeed, to attack the whole British army with a hand- 
 ful of men. I owe him a personal spite for carrying 
 off my pay, but " 
 
 " To say nothing of the paj^ of the troops they are 
 already grumbling. But I'll have him here before 
 detailing the squad to shoot him." 
 
 Gen. Phillips summoned an orderly and directed 
 that Canolles should be brought to headquarters. He 
 then turned to Col. Ferrers, and said : 
 
 " By the by, where is your nephew ? Was he not 
 sent to scout along the north bank of the James! " 
 
 " Yes, to hunt up this same Canolles. They must 
 have crossed each other while he was after Canolles, 
 Canolles was after us ! " 
 
 A low laugh curled the white mustache of Ferrers. 
 It was easy to see that his indignation at being robbed 
 of his pay was tempered by grim admiration of the 
 pluck of the robber. 
 
 For some moments the artillery fire had begun to 
 slacken, and it now r died into silence. 
 
 "What is the meaning of that?" said the General, 
 whose feverish face became more and more flushed. 
 
 " Our friends yonder seem tired, or their ammunition 
 has given out." 
 
 "Summon a staff officer and let us ascertain, Fer- 
 rers." 
 
 He was saved the trouble. An officer entered at the 
 moment and announced that a flag of truce had just 
 crossed the river in a boat, and that in the boat he had 
 recognized young Lieutenant Ferrers. 
 
 " The devil you did ! " exclaimed Lord Ferrers. 
 
CANOLLES REAPPEARS. 39 
 
 " So the rascal Tom has been caught, eh ? Serves him 
 right," 
 
 " Meet the flag/' said Gen. Phillips, " and ascertain 
 its object, Do not stand on technical forms there's 
 nothing to conceal here. Bring the flag to head- 
 quarters. Some courtesy of Lafayette is under this, 
 and no one shall say that William Phillips allowed 
 himself to be surpassed even by a Marquis." 
 
 The officer saluted and left the room. At the same 
 moment an orderly entered, touched his hat, and said : 
 
 "Here is the prisoner you sent for, General." 
 
 "Canolles?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Bring him in ; let the guard remain outside." 
 
 A moment afterwards Canolles was ushered into the 
 apartment. 
 
40 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE EXAMINATION. 
 
 Cariolles entered with a firm tread, his frame erect, 
 and his whole bearing indicating no emotion whatever. 
 
 " The rascal's a soldier, at all events ! " muttered 
 Ferrers ; " he must have nerve to look like that with a 
 rope around his neck." 
 
 Gen. Phillips, with lowering brows, his face growing 
 more and more feverish, said in a husky voice : 
 
 " You are the person who attacked my convoy last 
 night?" 
 
 " Yes," said Canolles. 
 
 " Your name is Canolles ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " You are an American officer ? " 
 
 " I might tell you that I am I should tell a false- 
 hood. I am not." 
 
 " You are not an American officer, sir, and do not 
 fight under the American flag ? " 
 
 " I do not." 
 
 " Under what flag then do you fight, in Heaven's 
 name?" 
 
 " Under my own." 
 
 Gen. Phillips knit his brows, and fixed his eyes 
 sternly upon the cool face eyes burning with fierce 
 and growing wrath, but not destitute of an expression 
 of respect for the prisoner's courage. 
 
THE EXAMINATION. 41 
 
 " I need not inform you, sir," he said coldly, "that 
 the words you have just uttered are your own death- 
 warrant." 
 
 Canolles slightly inclined his head. 
 
 " I know that perfectly well, General." 
 
 " And still you have uttered them ? " 
 
 " Yes. I might say that I fight under the Virginia 
 flag here it is " he drew from his breast a small 
 square of silk, on which was painted the Virgin of the 
 Virginia shield, "hut such a plea, I am aware, would 
 be absurd in your eyes, since England makes war on 
 the American States, not on the State of Virginia." 
 
 "Diable!" uttered Ferrers, "a cool hand, if there 
 ever was one ! " 
 
 And seeing that G-en. Phillips was too faint or too 
 indignant to continue the interrogatory, he said: 
 
 "Let me question the prisoner, General I am really 
 anxious to ascertain his views and theory in making 
 war on his Majesty." 
 
 Canolles shook his head. 
 
 " I regret not to be able to enlighten you on that 
 point, Colonel." 
 
 " You decline to clear up the mystery, then ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Humph ? " grunted Lord Ferrers, " that's queer. 
 You must have an object." 
 
 " I have." 
 
 "Which you will die without accomplishing." 
 
 " No; it will be accomplished." 
 
 " Hey ! accomplished ? My friend, you are jesting." 
 
 " I am in earnest." 
 
42 CANOLLES. 
 
 Col. Ferrers suddenly rose in his chair, and said : 
 
 " That gold you carried off accomplishes, then, your 
 object in making your private war? " 
 
 " Precisely, Colonel." 
 
 Ferrers turned to Phillips and said : 
 
 " General, you hear ! Of all the mysteries that ever 
 were heard of! but there is something under "this 
 that Pd like to fathom ! " 
 
 " Conduct the examination as you think best," said 
 Phillips, breathing heavily, " I am really too ill to take 
 any part in it." 
 
 "Very well and so, my friend," said Ferrers to 
 Canolles, " you have your own ends in view. You 
 have declared war on Great Britain on your private 
 account. This, to say the least, is irregular in a mili- 
 tary point of view and yet you persist in concealing 
 your motive. Why not fight under the Continental 
 flag?" 
 
 " I am not a soldier of that army." 
 
 " And that is not your flag ? " 
 
 " I have said that it was not." 
 
 " You decline further explanation ? " 
 
 " Yes, Colonel." 
 
 " Then there's no more to say, and I regret to inform 
 you, my friend, that there can be but one course to 
 pursue in your case." 
 
 Canolles again inclined his head. 
 
 " You regard me as a common highwayman, 
 Colonel," he said; " so be it I have at least the heart 
 of a soldier, and I speak to a soldier. Your bullets do 
 not frighten me." 
 
THE EXAMINATION. 43 
 
 " Good spoken like a man. Gold or no gold pay 
 or no pay at least you shall not hang if I can prevent 
 it, but die the death of the cool fellow you are." 
 
 A third time Candles' slightly moved his head. His 
 color had never blanched, and his eye retained its 
 steady and unmoved expression. 
 
 " A last word," said Lord Ferrers, " as to a matter 
 rather of curious interest than of any importance. You 
 must have obtained the most accurate and reliable in- 
 formation as to the wagon containing the gold last 
 night. Now, curiosity is one of my foibles. I have said 
 that you should die a soldier's not a highwayman's 
 death if I, George Ferrers, have a say in the matter. 
 Well, relieve my curiosity. Who gave you your infor- 
 mation in regard to the money chest ? " 
 
 Canolles looked fixedly at him. 
 
 " You are Col. Lord Ferrers ? " 
 
 " Yes ; why do you ask ? " 
 
 " A relative of Lieut. Ferrers, who was scouting on 
 the north bank of the James River last night ? " 
 
 " His uncle. But what has all this to do with the 
 attack you made on the convoy and the seizure of the 
 gold, which, I assure you, was a devilish disagreeable 
 occurrence as far as I am concerned, inasmuch as I am 
 therefore deprived of my pay." 
 
 A grim smile touched the face of Canolles these 
 two cool personages, accustomed to laugh under all 
 perils, seemed to understand each other, and might 
 have been suspected of being father and son. 
 
 " I ask if you are related to Lieut. Ferrers, for a 
 single reason," said Canolles. 
 
44 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " The person who gave me the information of the 
 convoy was Lieut. Ferrers." 
 
 As Canolles uttered these words the door opened and 
 Lieut, Ferrers entered the apartment. 
 
THE LIKENESS. 45 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE LIKENESS. 
 
 Col. Ferrers, losing sight for the moment of the 
 singular statement of Canolles, greeted his nephew 
 with a satirical laugh and a grunt. 
 
 " So you were caught, were you, my young popin- 
 jay ? " he said. " How did that come about, and what 
 brings you back so soon ? " 
 
 But Lieut, Ferrers seemed scarcely to hear the words. 
 Jle was looking with an expression of the utmost 
 astonishment at Canolles. 
 
 " Who is this, uncle ? " he said. 
 
 " The prisoner ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Well, this is the gentleman whom you expected in 
 the innocence of your youthful and confiding disposi- 
 tion to catch napping last night in the direction of 
 White Oak Swamp ! " 
 
 The young man replied by a bewildered look which 
 evidently excited the elder's amusement. 
 
 " You went out to shear, and came back shorn, it 
 seems, Monsieur, my nephew, as they say in delightful, 
 devilish Paris ! You went to capture Canolles, and 
 were captured yourself." 
 
 " And this person ? " 
 
 "Is Canolles in person." 
 
 " Canolles ? " 
 
46 CANOLLES. 
 
 " The very man, though you seem to doubt it." 
 
 " Impossible ! " 
 
 " Why is it impossible ? " 
 
 " Capt. Canolles is, or has the reputation of being, a 
 common plunderer. And this man good Heavens ! 
 What an astonishing likeness ! " 
 
 " A likeness of whom ? " 
 
 " Of Lieut. Henry Cartaret, who captured me, a son 
 of Col. Henry Cartaret." 
 
 " Of my friend Henry Cartaret, of ' Chatsworth ? ' " 
 
 " The very same." 
 
 " Humph ! That's a queer idea. Henry Cartaret was 
 the soul of honor his son in the American army must 
 be the same. What has either of them to do with the 
 worthy Capt. Canolles, freebooter ? " 
 
 " I cannot tell you. But I can assure you that the 
 two men might be taken for each other, though the 
 expression of face is not the same." 
 
 " Strange enough ! How is that, my friend ? " he 
 said to Canolles. 
 
 " How reply to an absurdity, Colonel, or account for 
 a mere coincidence?" said the person addressed. 
 
 " The voice ! It is the very same ! " exclaimed Lieut. 
 Ferrers. 
 
 Here Gen. Phillips, who seemed suffering greatly, 
 said in a painful voice : 
 
 " Pardon me, Colonel, but this interview is too much 
 for my strength. Allow me to abridge it. Lieut. Fer- 
 rers will be good enough to report briefly the circum- 
 stances of his capture." 
 
 The young man saluted, and said : 
 
THE LIKENESS. 47 
 
 " I am ashamed to have to inform you, General, that 
 my failure in the expedition I undertook was complete, 
 and, worse still, that my company were either cut 
 down or captured to a man. Permit me to add, in 
 simple justice to myself, that this was the result of bad 
 fortune, rather than of any fault on my part. I crossed 
 James River, as I was directed, left a guard at the 
 boats, stopped for a brief space to obtain information 
 at a house where I was expected to find friends, and 
 had not gone half a dozen miles beyond, moving with 
 extreme caution, when a force at least double my own 
 of American cavalry came in on my rear. I at once 
 wheeled my column and charged them, but found that 
 the force was too heavy to promise much. I therefore 
 cut through toward the boats, pursued by the enemy, 
 and arrived only to find that they had been carried off." 
 
 "Aha!" said Lord Ferrers, suddenly glancing at 
 Canolles, "I think I understand who laid hands on 
 your boats. A gentleman of the name of Canolles, or 
 I'm mistaken. Eh, friend ? " 
 
 Canolles bowed. 
 
 " Yes, Colonel. It was I who captured the boats of 
 Lieut. Ferrers." 
 
 " Very well ; but let us hear the rest. Gen. Phillips 
 is unwell." 
 
 "The Americans were commanded by Lieut. Carta- 
 ret. I was compelled to surrender and was conducted 
 to Gen. Lafayette's headquarters, who, ascertaining 
 who I was, very readily allowed me to attempt an ex- 
 change and even to accompany the flag of truce, which 
 is without in charge of the gentlemen of your staff, 
 General." 
 
48 CANOLLES. 
 
 " I have no American officer of your rank, Lieu- 
 tenant. I might exchange this prisoner Canolles for 
 you. but he is not an American officer, and Gen. Lafay- 
 ette would not accept him. He is even said to attack 
 both sides. You will therefore return with the flag of 
 truce and convey to the gentlemen composing it the 
 purport of my reply. Now, for the rest. Col. Ferrers, 
 you will be good enough to assemble a drumhead court- 
 martial in one hour from this time to try the prisoner, 
 here under charges as a spy and marauder, unprotected 
 by the American flag. I do not insist that he shall be 
 hanged and he is evidently no common robber. If 
 found guilty under the charges, a detail will be made 
 for his execution by shooting. The man is a soldier at 
 least, and shall have a soldier's death." 
 
 "Thanks, General," said Canolles. 
 
 A movement of the hand indicated that Gen. Phil-- 
 lips wished to be left alone, and the persons present 
 went toward the door. 
 
 As Lord Ferrers passed Canolles he said : 
 
 " There is one thing that puzzles me still, my worthy 
 friend. You stated it is a singular statement that 
 my nephew, Tom Ferrers, gave you information of 
 that convoy." 
 
 " Yes," said Canolles. 
 
 "I!" exclaimed young Ferrers, who overheard the 
 words. 
 
 " Unconsciously, no doubt, sir," said Canolles, with 
 his immovable coolness. "You, no doubt, recall your 
 visit last night to Chatsworth! " 
 
 " Certainly, Captain." 
 
THE LIKENESS. 49 
 
 " I was near you." 
 
 "Near me!" 
 
 " In the adjoining room." 
 
 Young Ferrers looked deeply mortified, exclaiming: 
 
 "And the ladies knew as much?" 
 
 "No." 
 
 " They were ignorant of your presence?" 
 
 "Entirely." 
 
 " The eldest, especially? I mean Miss Eleanor 
 Talbot?" 
 
 " She was no more aware of the fact than the rest." 
 
 " And you overheard " 
 
 " All you said. Let it he a lesson to you, Lieu- 
 tenant, not to whisper military secrets. Birds of the 
 air may carry the matter, and 7 ' the old grim smile 
 came hackr " some desperado or swamp fox like myself 
 may be lurking within earshot of you." 
 
 The young man looked earnestly at him. 
 
 "Are you really a desperado a mere plunderer?" 
 
 "Do not all men tell you so?" returned Canolles. 
 
 " Yes, but was there ever such a likeness ?" 
 
 "You would say " 
 
 " To Harry Cartaret, as perfect a gentleman as I ever 
 knew ! " 
 
 Canolles listened with an impenetrable expression 
 and made no reply. 
 
 "I cannot conceive it possible," Ferrers added, "that 
 a man with your face could be a mere bandit, as you 
 are styled. Were you really such, I should hate you 
 for that likeness ! " 
 
 Canolles looked fixedly at the speaker and said coolly: 
 
50 CANOLLES. 
 
 "Do not hate a man, Lieutenant, who, in twelve 
 hours, or sooner, will be a corpse. That saddens you, 
 I see you have a loyal face and a loyal heart, I am 
 sure but death does not frighten me. When it comes, 
 I will face it unmoved." 
 
 Canolles saluted, and was reconducted to prison by 
 the guard, and Tom Ferrers returned with a heavy 
 heart, and a vague sentiment that the supposed marau- 
 der was not what he seemed, to the American head- 
 quarters. 
 
 An hour afterwards the American cannonade recom- 
 menced, and again the crash of shell was heard as they 
 tore through the houses of ^Blandford. 
 
 Bollingbrook finally became so dangerously exposed 
 in the range of the fire that Gen. Phillips, in whose 
 veins the fever burned more and more fiercely, was 
 urged to take refuge in the basement story of the house. 
 He reluctantly consented, and was assisted down the 
 stairs by some of his staff. 
 
 As a cannon shot passed, whizzing by the window, 
 he again muttered : 
 
 " Why won't they let me die in peace ? " 
 
LAFAYETTE AND HIS MINIATURE. 51 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LAFAYETTE AND HIS MINIATURE. 
 
 It was the evening of the day on which the scene 
 just described had taken place, and the sun, about to 
 set, threw long shadows over the banks of the Appo- 
 mattox and the slow moving current. 
 
 A handsome marquee, to employ the term then 
 applied to the tents used by superior officers, stood on a 
 knoll not far from the American batteries, which had 
 ceased firing, and the surroundings of the marquee 
 indicated that it was occupied by the commanding 
 officer of the Americans. A finely caparisoned horse 
 was tethered to a bough near, and champed his bit and 
 pawed the ground impatiently; an orderly walked to 
 and fro in front of the tent ; and from its summit 
 floated a long streamer. 
 
 The light of sunset, plunging through the opening 
 of the tent, fell upon a camp couch covered with a 
 colored blanket, on which lay a fine cocked hat decor- 
 ated with gold lace, a pair of riding gauntlets reaching 
 nearly to the elbow, and a richly ornamented sword ; 
 also on two or three camp stools, and a table contain- 
 ing pen, ink and paper. 
 
 The marquee had only one occupant. He was a boy- 
 ish-looking individual, apparently about twenty-three 
 years of age, with a bright and animated face, brilliant 
 eyes, a long, straight and prominent nose, and a lofty 
 
52 CANOLLES. 
 
 forehead, retreating somewhat, but clearly indicative 
 both of intellect and resolution. He wore the Conti- 
 nental uniform, with heavy buff facings, epaulets, a 
 stiff standing collar and a voluminous white cravat 
 and ruffles ; his hair was tied behind with a ribbon ; 
 and on his left breast was a decoration a Maltese 
 cross suspended by a ribbon. 
 
 For the moment the officer seemed to have quite lost 
 sight of all his surroundings to even be unconscious 
 where he was and his whole attention was plainly 
 given to an object which he held in his hand, and was 
 gazing at with absorbing attention. 
 
 This object was a small medallion of gold, set with 
 diamonds, and contained an exquisitely painted minia- 
 ture. The miniature represented a young girl scarcely 
 " out of her teens," and the face was one of extraor- 
 dinary beauty and sweetness. The hair was carried 
 back from the white temple in the fashion called la 
 Pompadour, adopted at the court of Marie Antoinette, 
 and the beautiful shoulders emerged from a cloud. 
 The head was bent sideways, and looked at you with a 
 winning smile it was a little duchess of the ancient 
 regime making love to some one with her beaux yeux, 
 and her dimples and roses. 
 
 Lafayette for the young officer was Marie Paul 
 Joseph Roche Yves Gilbert Mathias de Lafayette, 
 Marquis and Major-General in the American army 
 remained motionless, gazing at the picture, and his gay 
 face assumed an expression of exquisite tenderness. 
 He pressed the miniature to his lips, and murmured, 
 " Chere Anastasie! " 
 
LAFAYETTE AND HIS MINIATUKE. 53 
 
 Then the gallant-looking young fellow burst into a 
 laugh. 
 
 "Horreur!" he exclaimed, "a man kissing his 
 spouse's picture, and breaking out into exclamations 
 the exclamations of a garcon sighing with his first 
 love ! How absurd ! But no is it so absurd to love 
 one's wife ? and one might pass a quarter of an hour 
 worse than in thinking of Anastasie de Nooilas de la 
 Lafayette where she sleeps yonder across the sea ! " 
 
 He fell into a fit of musing. 
 
 " Is it not strange," he murmured, " that I should be 
 here, and Madame la Marquise 1 there ? But no, it is 
 better ! a name in history is better than the softest 
 arms, I think ! And then to have known his Excel- 
 lency and been trusted by him that is better still, is it 
 not, Anastasie ? " he said, addressing the picture with 
 a smile on his lips ; " better than to hold even you in 
 one's embrace and hear your musical voice." 
 
 He pressed his lips once more to the medallion, 
 which seemed to smile at him, replaced it in his breast, 
 where it was secured by a delicate steel chain passed 
 around his neck, and with a sigh turned toward the 
 table on which lay the papers. 
 
 He had scarcely begun to peruse the official looking 
 documents which he opened, and in whose bold clear 
 handwriting any one familiar with it might have rec- 
 ognized the writing of Gen! Washington, when the 
 rapid gallop of ahorse was heard approaching the mar- 
 quee, a cavalier with jingling spurs a-nd clattering sabre 
 was heard dismounting, and a strong, bluff voice ex- 
 claimed : 
 
54 CANOLLES. 
 
 " This is Gen. Lafayette's marquee ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir," replied the orderly. 
 
 " Tell him that his friend Mad Anthony Wayne has 
 come to see him ! " 
 
 "Who, sir?" 
 
 " Mad Anthony Wayne ! " 
 
 The orderly was still in a maze at this odd announce- 
 ment, when he was pushed aside, Lafayette hastened 
 out of the tent, and hurrying with beaming eyes toward 
 the visitor, exclaimed : 
 
 " Welcome ! Welcome, my dear Monsieur Ulnsense ! 
 The hour is happy that brings you. Come ! Come ! " 
 
 And opening his arms he caught to his breast the 
 soldierly figure of a man clad in the uniform of a Major- 
 General, covered with dust, and glowing with a pleasure 
 apparently equal to that displayed by his host. 
 
MAD ANTHONY." 55 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Major-General Anthony Wayne, universally known 
 in the army as " Mad Anthony " for his reckless courage 
 and unfailing gayety, was about thirty-five years of age, 
 tall, vigorous, and with something dashing, off-hand 
 and attractive in every movement of his person and 
 every tone of his voice. When he walked he seemed 
 to move on steel springs; when he spoke he laughed, 
 gesticulated, and never kept still. You could see that 
 this was a strong, tough, headlong military machine, 
 of which the mainsprings were gayety and courage. 
 
 "Welcome ! welcome ! " repeated Lafayette drawing 
 him into his tent. " What news from his Excellency? " 
 
 " He is coming if not now, a little later and then, 
 my dear Lafayette, look out for thunder ! " 
 
 "He was well?" 
 
 " As strong as iron." 
 
 " Heaven be thanked. Do you know, my friend, 
 there is no one, and never was, like his Excellency?" 
 
 " Know it? Yes, I know it both the man and the 
 soldier !" cried Wayne. "You remember what I told 
 him at Stony Point?" 
 
 "You said" 
 
 " I said to Washington, Til storm hell, General, if 
 you'll only plan it." : 
 
 "Mad Anthony! no, brave Anthony! I do not 
 
56 CANOLLES. 
 
 recall that ; but stay ! I recall another thing. In the 
 attack you were shot down and fell on your knees 
 when you exclaimed < March on! carry me into the 
 fort! for I will die at the head of my column ! ' ' 
 
 "My very words! and you would have said the 
 same, I'll make oath ! " 
 
 Mad Anthony thereupon threw his hat upon the 
 table and said : 
 
 " My command is moving toward the Rappahannock 
 to reinforce you I left them and rode a hundred miles 
 to confer with you no mere despatches for me when 
 I can talk face to face ! I'll tell you everything, but at 
 present I could eat a wolf with sour krout sauce like 
 that used in my native country, Pennsylvania." 
 
 " Pardon ! " exclaimed Lafayette. " My poor head ! 
 "Why did I forget?" 
 
 He gave orders to a servant, the table was promptly 
 spread, and Major-G-eneral "Wayne devoured everything 
 before him after which he drew a long breath of satis- 
 faction. 
 
 " Now to talk ! " he said. 
 
 An animated conversation ensued between the 
 friends, relating to the anticipated advance of Corn- 
 wallis, the junction between himself and Gen. Phillips, 
 and the probable result of the campaign, of which 
 Wayne seemed to have no doubt. It was a striking 
 spectacle, the interview between these two brave and 
 joyous young soldiers, thoroughly devoted to the cause, 
 never doubting how the great struggle would terminate, 
 and resolved to stake all that they possessed, including 
 
"MAD ANTHONY." 57 
 
 life itself, on the ultimate achievement by the American 
 colonies of their national independence. 
 
 At last the eyes of Wayne began to drowse; he 
 yawned, then laughed, then yawned again, and, declar- 
 ing that he must sleep, if only for an hour, lay down 
 on Lafayette's camp couch, and in a few moments was 
 sound asleep. 
 
 Scarcely had the long breathing of the bluff soldier 
 indicated that he had entered the land of slumber when 
 a voice was heard without asking for Gen. Lafayette, 
 an officer entered the tent, and Lafayette rising and 
 holding out his hand said, cordially : 
 
 " Ah! it is you, my brave Cartaret ! " 
 
 " Myself, General, and I have come to make an 
 earnest request which I trust you will not refuse me," 
 returned the young lieutenant in a voice of deep emo- 
 tion. 
 
 Lafayette looked intently at Cartaret. He was exceed- 
 ingly pale, and the deepest sorrow was stamped upon 
 the bloodless cheeks. It was evident that something 
 had occurred to move the young man to the very depths 
 of his being; and as plain, from his erect carriage and 
 resolute bearing, that he had made up his mind to pur- 
 sue some course which involved peril and required the 
 nerve of a soldier. 
 
 " A request," said Lafayette, losing his smiles. 
 "Need I tell you, my dear Cartaret, that I shall grant 
 it if it is possible ? " 
 
 " You can do so, General." 
 
 " Tell me how." 
 
58 CANOLLES. 
 
 " You sent a flag of truce to-day to the English 
 camp.' 7 
 
 " Yes," said Lafayette ; " ostensibly to procure an 
 exchange of the young Lieut. Ferrers really to slacken 
 my cannon fire and husband my ammunition without 
 leading the enemy to suppose that my supply was 
 small." 
 
 Cartaret saluted. 
 
 " The exchange was not effected, as you know, 
 General." 
 
 "It was not effected." 
 
 " There were no American officers in the enemy's 
 hands." 
 
 "None." 
 
 " Except the officer called Canolles ? " 
 
 Lafayette shook his head. 
 
 " He is not an officer not even an American soldier. 
 He has no flag is a plunderer even plunders us, it is 
 said. An exchange of Lieut. Ferrers for him is im- 
 possible, dear Cartaret." 
 
 The young man allowed his head to droop upon his 
 breast. His brows were knit, and he preserved for 
 some moments a gloomy silence. 
 
 " Yes, yes," he said at length. " I ought to have 
 known that and I know it yes! It is useless to 
 speak of such an exchange, General. And yet " 
 
 He stopped, his face glowing, his eyes full of earnest 
 emotion. 
 
 Lafayette looked at him fixedly, and it was easy to 
 see that his look was one of strong sympathy and 
 some curiosity. 
 
"MAD ANTHONY." 59 
 
 " You would say, Lieutenant " 
 
 Cartaret did not reply. 
 
 " Speak ! " said Lafayette. " You speak to a friend 
 as well as to your commander. What moves you ? 
 What have you to do with this person Canolles, and 
 what request have you to make ? " 
 
 " I have much to do with him," said Cartaret, in a 
 low voice. 
 
 " You know him ? " 
 
 "Well." 
 
 "And " 
 
 " I have come to tell you plainly why it is not possi- 
 ble for me to reflect calmly that at daylight, probably 
 to-morrow, the person of whom we are speaking will 
 die, and to beg, if necessary to entreat, that you will 
 grant me permission to take a detachment from my 
 company men on whom I can count " 
 
 "A detachment! with what object, Lieutenant? " 
 
 " To enter the English lines, cut my way through 
 whatever I find in my path, and rescue him ! " 
 
 " Kescue him ! Rescue whom ? " 
 
 " Canolles," replied Cartaret. 
 
60 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FANNY TALBOT. 
 
 The sun was about to set on the same evening that 
 which witnessed the interview between Gen. Wayne 
 and the Marquis de Lafayette. Fanny Talbot, the 
 younger of the sisters presented to the reader at Chats- 
 worth, was walking in the grassy grounds attached to 
 the mansion, along the banks of the river. 
 
 The evening was perfectly still. The broad stream, 
 flowing with a musical murmur under the wide boughs 
 of drooping trees, was dotted here and there with the 
 white triangular sails of the little barks of fishermen 
 .living on its banks ; and this low, sweet murmur seemed 
 to be the lullaby of some fairy Undine of the river, 
 dreamingly saluting with her song the gold of sunset, 
 the stars which began to twinkle in the orange sky, and 
 the rising rnoon. From the tender grass peeped up 
 myriads of flowers, the sweet, shy children of the 
 spring; the songs of birds were faintly heard as they 
 sank to rest, and a light breeze passed like an almost 
 imperceptible whisper through the delicate May leaves. 
 It was the hour for dreams for musing on the past or 
 the future and Fanny Talbot seemed to follow idly 
 those dreams or recollections which make up so much 
 of the pleasures or the pains of human life. 
 
 There was something fascinating in the appearance of 
 this young and gracious creature as she wandered slow- 
 
FANNY TALBOT. 61 
 
 ly aloDgthe grassy slope in the quiet evening; in every 
 movement of her person might be discerned the inde- 
 finable charm of youth, freshness, and the sweet dawn 
 of emotion slowly broadening into the fuller day. 
 There was even another and more secret charm about 
 her, impossible to describe that singular attraction of 
 some human beings which escapes analysis, but reveals 
 its presence, like some delicate and exquisite perfume, 
 that sways all hearts, and is a thousand times more 
 powerful in its influence than mere physical beauty. 
 
 This subtle charm accompanied Fanny Talbot wher- 
 ever she moved. Just on the threshold of womanhood 
 the spring bud opening slowly into the summer flow- 
 er she seemed to be looking forward to the full devel- 
 opment of her being with timid emotion and surprise. 
 But a single glance at the young face showed that her 
 nature was not weak on the contrary, that her charac- 
 ter was strong and resolute. She was, indeed, all wom- 
 an in her organization both timid and firm, both pli- 
 able and unbending. Under the shy manner you could 
 see this force of character, and felt that if the moment 
 came this girl would be capable of opposing her will 
 with unfaltering nerve to any obstacle in her path. Of 
 her life during the period preceding the moment when 
 she is presented to the reader, we shall say a few words 
 only, leaving the full development of the circumstances 
 shaping her character and laying the foundation of her 
 after fate to future pages of this narrative. She was 
 the daughter of a very distant cousin of Henry Cartaret, 
 of Chatsworth, and on the death of her parents, which 
 occurred during her childhood, had been taken home to 
 
62 CANOLLES. 
 
 Chatsworth with her elder sister Eleanor, where she 
 had grown to girlhood under the fostering care of the 
 excellent gentleman at the head of this large establish- 
 ment. As Mr. Cartaret was himself a widower, he had 
 also offered a home in his house to Mrs. Talbot, an 
 aunt of the two girls, one of those estimable old ladies of 
 whom there is little to say except that they are neutral 
 in everything, gliding through life like highly respect- 
 able lay figures on wheels persons in whom you can 
 never find the least fault whom you respect, and most 
 justly, for the absence in them of bad qualities, and 
 who are entirely uninteresting. 
 
 Fanny grew up in the kind, home atmosphere at 
 Chatsworth, and naturally formed an attachment for 
 the playmate who most frequently shared her rambles 
 in search of wild flowers and birds' nests her cousin, 
 Henry Cartaret. When she was still very young the 
 youth one day quite startled her by the most unex- 
 pected of proposals namely, that she should marry 
 him as soon as he attained his majority. Fanny received 
 this proposition with the air of a startled fawn, colored 
 and promptly refused him. This ill success had a 
 marked effect on the youth. He had been full of the 
 gayest spirits, prone to laugh at everything, to sing 
 snatches of song from pure light-heartedness as he 
 walked or rode, or lolled on the portico, but when 
 Fanny refused him all this disappeared. He became 
 deeply melancholy and lost all his smiles. He seemed 
 to have no power to bear up against his misfortune ; 
 and this indeed was the weak place in a character 
 otherwise admirable. Henry Cartaret was kindly, 
 
FANNY TALBOT. 63 
 
 sweet-tempered, of the highest and nicest sense of 
 honor, but he wanted what .is called in rough but 
 expressive metaphor "backbone." Everybody loved 
 him, and felt an impulse to protect him. Now, when 
 the world feels like protecting a man it does not watch 
 his eye for the indication of his will ; and Fanny Talbot, 
 following her sure woman's instinct, knew that her 
 playmate was not the person she should marry. Never- 
 theless, his deep melancholy had its effect. A woman 
 is always a woman, that is to say, unhappiness in others 
 makes her unhappy, and the instinct of her heart is to 
 remove this unhappiness if she can. So Fanny began 
 to sigh as she pondered in her chamber or her solitary 
 walks; to think with pity of poor Harry, who was 
 breaking his heart about her and never smiled now. 
 One day they met in a glade of the woods, about twi- 
 light, whither each had gone unknown to the other, 
 and when they returned to Chatsworth, at nightfall, 
 Fanny had yielded to his suit, and promised to marry 
 him. 
 
 She had yielded from compassion, not from love, and 
 reflection told her as much. The result was that she, 
 in turn, fell into melancholy. Many times she nearly 
 made up her mind to go to him and tell him that she 
 had mistaken her feelings, and rashly promised what 
 she ought not to perform. But it was impossible. The 
 young man was in the seventh heaven of happiness, 
 and then her word was plighted plighted ! The girl's 
 sense of honor was extremely high. She had given 
 her word her honor was involved she must keep her 
 
64 CANOLLES. 
 
 word, not forfeit her honor, and marry one whom she 
 now felt she did not love ! 
 
 This account of Fanny and her fortunes in the years 
 preceding the opening of our narrative must suffice for 
 the present. When events took place resulting in the 
 disappearance of Henry Cartaret, Esq., from Chats- 
 worth, the two young ladies and Mrs. Talbot remained 
 at the old homestead with a few aged servants, and in 
 time Henry Cartaret went into the army, where his 
 gayety and the courage of his blood made him a favorite. 
 He became lieutenant, enjoyed his life and his grade, 
 and through his days and hours ran, like a thread of 
 gold, the thought that Fanny would marry him as soon 
 as the war was over. Such were the relations between 
 the two young persons in the month of May, 1781. 
 
 Was this all about Fanny? The reader is probably 
 too experienced a peruser of the works of the respect- 
 able composers of fiction who swarm in all the fields of 
 modern literature to suppose any such thing. The 
 writer of these pages scarcely merits any credit for 
 frankness when he states that there was much more in 
 the life, as in the character, of Fanny Talbot than is 
 here recorded. What the romance of her young life 
 was, and whither the current of events was to sweep 
 her this for the present must be a secret known only 
 to her historian. The dramatic interest of his narra- 
 tive, if it possess any interest, demands that he should 
 await the proper moment for recording many additional 
 particulars in relation to Fanny and other personages ; 
 and let us not forget, what seems about to be forgotten 
 at the present time, that this dramatic interest is a 
 
FANNY TALBOT. 65 
 
 legitimate and most important element of compositions 
 aiming to delineate the fortunes as well as the charac- 
 ters of men and women. When not forgotten it is 
 denied, and we are told that metaphysical analysis and 
 subtle apothegm are the true material with which the 
 best fiction should be built. Is that so certain ? Do 
 not Shakespeare, Fielding, Scott arid all the masters 
 tell us stories ? The story is the canvas meant to catch 
 the mind and bear along the vessel; in the hold you 
 may stow away, if you choose, the wealth of Ophir and 
 Golconda. So, may it please the gentle reader, as was 
 said in the good old times, this narrative relates the 
 fortunes of Canolles and some other people, aiming to 
 tell not only what manner of human beings they were, 
 but what befell them. 
 5 
 
66 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FANNY AND ELEANOR. 
 
 Fanny was still strolling along the banks of the 
 river when she heard a step behind her, and turning 
 her head saw Eleanor. 
 
 Miss Eleanor Talbot had never been a person of 
 happy disposition, never good-natured, and more than 
 all, never under any circumstances contented. Unde- 
 niably beautiful, and endowed it would appear with the 
 gift of giving those who gazed at her pleasure, she was 
 rarely pleased herself, and, indeed, passed her life in 
 complaining of the "stupid " hours she was forced to 
 pass in the unutterably stupid shades of Chatsworth. 
 Without a taste for reading that blessed resource of 
 a life spent in retirement without a fondness for the 
 little home pursuits petting flowers, the deft use of 
 the needle, music, .or other simple and innocent 
 methods of passing her time, Eleanor Talbot found her 
 life drag on, not dance as it should have danced at 
 twenty ; and if her heart could have been opened and read, 
 the mainspring of that rather cold machine would have 
 been found to be a persistent longing for wealth, ease, 
 fine dresses, society and admiration. "Wanting these, 
 all else was insipid to her the gold of sunset, the 
 songs of birds, the flow of the quiet river, and all the 
 fairy sounds blown on the winds of May, which month 
 of months had indeed for her no greater charm than 
 
FANNY AND ELEANOR. 67 
 
 the russet and chill November. In a word, Miss 
 Eleanor Talbot was poor and wanted to be rich; 
 unknown and wanted to be pointed at and admired. 
 She vegetated at Chatsworth, that stupid, stupid place, 
 and there, beyond, was the great delightful world, 
 where everybody would burn incense, she was sure, 
 before the shrine of her beauty entitled, she was per- 
 suaded, in her inmost being, to have a shrine and 
 incense. 
 
 There were some particulars in the past life of this 
 handsome young lady which were a little curious, as 
 we shall show in due time. At present, let us speak 
 of her interview on this evening with Fanny. 
 
 She seemed unusually dissatisfied and out of temper 
 indeed, so much so that the beautiful face had lost 
 all its beauty and grown sour. 
 
 " Here you are dawdling, dawdling, dawdling, mop- 
 ing, moping, moping," she said. "For Heaven's 
 sake, stop ! " 
 
 " I was not moping, Eleanor,' 7 said Fanny, quietly. 
 She seemed quite accustomed to her sister's tone. 
 
 " Oh ! well, I suppose that you mean to say that you 
 enjoy this sort of thing," replied the elder, waving her 
 hand in a decidedly disdainful fashion by way of indi- 
 cating the surrounding landscape. " For my part, I 
 wtould just as lieve be a fish and live in water, there 
 rather.' 7 
 
 Fanny made no reply a circumstance which seemed 
 to excite more ill-humor than ever in her companion. 
 A little irony and disdain were plain in her voice now 
 
68 CANOLLES. 
 
 as she went on. She smiled it was not a very pleas- 
 ant smile arid said : 
 
 " No doubt your ladyship is far more happily consti- 
 tuted than myself. You enjoy what is stupid, and are 
 satisfied with what is commonplace from the posses- 
 sion of more intelligence and simpler tastes than other 
 people ! " 
 
 It was plain that Miss Eleanor Talbot was in one of 
 those amiable moods peculiar to certain persons, when 
 to vent their feelings is a sort of necessity to " squab- 
 ble " the greatest of enjoyments. Fanny looked at her 
 quietly as before, and said : 
 
 " You know very well, Eleanor, that I claim no 
 superiority to any one in intelligence or taste I wish 
 you would not taunt rne in this manner, and find fault 
 with me on every occasion." 
 
 There was a little irritation in her tone as she ended, 
 but it was very slight. Her companion greeted it, 
 slight as it was, with evident pleasure. 
 
 " So I am not the only person with a temper! " she 
 exclaimed. " Even the perfect Miss Fanny Talbot h-as 
 her little weakness in the same direction ! " 
 
 " I am not out of temper/'' 
 
 " It marvelously resembles it." 
 
 " Well, if I am, you make me so, Eleanor. I do not 
 know what it is in you that annoys me when I feel least 
 like being annoyed." 
 
 " Indeed, madam ! So I am a virago ? " 
 
 " No, but you worry people. If I were you I would 
 not do so." 
 
FANNY AND ELEANOR. 69 
 
 Miss Eleanor Talbot made her companion a little 
 mock ironical courtesy. 
 
 u Advice from your ladyship is highly valued. I 
 shall attempt to follow it, and let me see in what 
 particular should I strive to correct my unhappy dispo- 
 sition ? I am fault-finding, dissatisfied, ill-humored 
 is that all?" 
 
 Fanny made no reply. 
 
 " And no doubt all these amiable traits were dis- 
 played, according to your ladyship's opinion, in the 
 interview last night with that hero of romance, Mr. 
 Canolles." 
 
 Fanny fixed her eyes calmly upon her sister, and 
 said : 
 
 " Yes, I think they were." 
 
 " Oh, indeed ! ! ! " 
 
 Three exclamation points alone can convey an ade- 
 quate idea of the tone of these words. 
 
 " You were unjust to him, and I wonder how you 
 could bring yourself to speak so to one with whom 
 well, to him in tones so violent to employ no stronger 
 word." 
 
 It was evident that the long-enduring Fanny was be- 
 coming irritated for some reason, in her turn. Her 
 face flushed a little and her head rose almost haughtily. 
 
 " Oh ! indeed ! I am violent, to employ no stronger 
 word, am I ! Then, Madame the Duchess, to employ 
 the stronger word. Because I spoke plainly to a com- 
 mon robber a notorious plunderer I was 'violent!' " 
 
 Fanny lost patience and exclaimed : 
 
70 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Yes, and unlady-like, if you wish me to use the 
 other word I referred to." 
 
 The younger had become nearly as much out of tem- 
 per now as the elder the reader must decide upon the 
 relative demerit attached to each in this highly dis- 
 creditable proceeding. At the word " unlady-like " 
 Miss Eleanor Talbot felt, to judge from her expression 
 of countenance, a strong desire to "box" her com- 
 panion ; but, gentle as Fanny looked on ordinary occa- 
 sions, there was that now in her face and carriage of 
 person which did not encourage the idea that she would 
 submit to such an indignity very quietly. Had you 
 seen her one hour before, you would have said that the 
 result would have been an outburst of tears. Looking 
 at her now, that theory appeared very doubtful indeed. 
 
 Miss Eleanor,- relinquishing if she had conceived the 
 design of personal assault, had recourse to the sharper 
 female weapon. 
 
 " Oh, very well, madam ! Very well, indeed ! So I 
 am a violent, ill-natured, fault-finding, unlady-like ter- 
 magant ! I am a coarse, wrangling, insulting, ill-bred 
 and generally objectionable creature ! I am the black 
 sheep of the household, while Mademoiselle is the meek 
 and snow-white lamb ! I am only fit to be taunted and 
 outraged to my very face, and all because I am not 
 quite as warm an admirer, to employ no stronger word, 
 as Mademoiselle is, of a low marauder a person no 
 better than a thief." 
 
 These words evidently broke down Fanny's remain- 
 der of self-control. The barrier gave way and the 
 waters rushed. 
 
FANNY AND ELEANOR. 71 
 
 " You should be ashamed, Eleanor ! ashamed, I 
 say ! Remember but it is useless to remonstrate with 
 you ! I begin to think that there is something heart- 
 less in you ! " 
 
 "At least I am not love-sick, and while engaged to 
 one" 
 
 "Stop !" exclaimed Fanny; "if you drive me too far 
 I will tell you some unwelcome truths." 
 
 "Tell them !" was the angry reply. 
 
 " No, I will not let us part from each other. You 
 irritate me beyond expression ! " 
 
 " Very well, madam; just as you please. But as we 
 have had the pleasure to speak of the honorable Mr. 
 Canolles, I will inform you of what a servant has just 
 reported, that he was captured by the British last night 
 while endeavoring to break into a money chest, and is 
 probably by this time hanging by the neck, as the 
 American flag does not protect such people as himself." 
 
 Fanny Talbot turned her head quickly, and all the 
 color faded from her cheeks. 
 
 " Is this true ?" 
 
 . " Oh ! I see the intelligence is not very agreeable. 
 Yes, it is true. The men who escaped report it." 
 
 "Captured?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "In the hands of the enemy?" 
 
 " I do not know," said Miss Eleanor, with a mocking 
 laugh, "whether he is precisely in the hands of the 
 enemy, as you doubtless understand the phrase, or not. 
 He has probably had his neck encircled by a halter 
 Ions; before this." 
 
72 CANOLLES. 
 
 Fanny turned suddenly. It was wonderful to see 
 what tire flashed from her eyes. 
 
 " Do you know what I meant when I said that I 
 would tell you some unwholesome truths if you goaded 
 me further ? " she said passionately. 
 
 Eleanor actually quailed "before the young girl's eyes. 
 
 "I meant that it is not a very graceful thing for a 
 lady to speak as you have done both to and of a person 
 whom she would have given her hand to if he would 
 have accepted it ! " 
 
 Miss Eleanor actually panted with rage, but Fanny 
 went on before she could speak : 
 
 " You dare not deny it ! You know it to be the 
 truth ! You know that your hatred of a gentleman 
 yes! I say a gentleman who has never offended you, 
 springs from your bitter resentment at his not respond- 
 ing to your advances, and for this alone. For no other 
 reason for no wrong he has ever done you you taunt 
 and insult him when he comes to offer us a friendly 
 service you speak to him as no lady has the right to 
 speak to any one and last, worst, hatefulest of all, 
 you revel in enjoyment of the thought that he has died 
 a disgraceful death, with a halter around his neck, as a 
 common criminal ! " 
 
 Miss Eleanor shook with anger, and exclaimed : 
 
 " I will make you repent this !" 
 
 " You do not frighten me," was the defiant reply, 
 u and you cannot be more ill-natured than you always 
 have been ! " 
 
 Tears suddenly came to Fanny's eyes. She was evi- 
 dently thinking of the terrible news. 
 
FANNY AND ELEANOR. 73 
 
 "Oh, me ! it cannot be true. I must Oh, me !" 
 
 She walked hurriedly away. When she had gone a 
 few paces she turned and said to her sister in a low, 
 hopeless tone : 
 
 " I am sorry I spoke to you as I did. I did not mean 
 to you goad me until all that is bad in me is excited, 
 and I say what I regret. What you said of my feeling 
 for him is not true. I do not say that you know it to 
 be untrue. But oh ! how could you, Eleanor ! how 
 could you at such a moment? it was cruel, cruel! 
 But I will say nothing more. Captured ! dead, per- 
 haps!" 
 
 "With heaving bosom, and sobs which she could not 
 suppress, Fanny Talbot walked away, her sister stand- 
 ing still and looking after her, and in a few minutes 
 she was lost sight of in the dense foliage of the woods, 
 the gentle May winds whispering in her troubled ears. 
 
74 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE COURAGE OF A GIRL. 
 
 " Miss Fanny ! " 
 
 The voice came from a clump, of bushes within a 
 few feet of the young lady, and she started and turned 
 her head. 
 
 " It is only me Walter/' said the voice ; and a boy 
 about sixteen pushed aside the boughs and emerged 
 into the open space near the young lady. He was a 
 bright-eyed, gallant-looking young fellow, with a spry 
 and alert bearing, a lithe and active figure, and wore 
 a nondescript dress ; around his waist was a leathern 
 belt containing a single pistol. 
 
 The boy was the son of a poor schoolmaster of the 
 vicinity named Hay field, who had recently died one 
 of those plain, respectable characters formerly having 
 charge of what were called "Old Field Schools" 
 and was well known to all at Chatsworth. Lured by 
 his love of adventure, Walter Hayfield had, on finding 
 himself an orphan, joined the company of Canolles, 
 and was almost the sole person in the rough band to 
 whom the latter gave his confidence. In return, the 
 youth had conceived for Canolles an enthusiastic 
 admiration and affection ; and of the confidential rela- 
 tions existing between them the interview which now 
 took place furnished ample evidence. 
 
 " You frightened me," said Fanny, "and I think my 
 
THE COURAGE OF A GIRL. 75 
 
 nerves were already shaken. Oh ! tell me tell me all 
 you know what I mean/' 
 
 " About the fight and .the captain's capture, you 
 mean, Miss Fanny ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes is it true ? " 
 
 The boy shook his head sadly. 
 
 " It is true, Miss Fanny. We attacked the British 
 baggage train and had a hard fight. All got off but 
 the captain and myself." 
 
 " You ? " 
 
 " I was captured, too, but escaped in the dark after- 
 wards. I determined to escape at all risks, to do what 
 the captain told me to do." 
 
 " What was that, Walter ? " 
 
 The boy took from an inner pocket of his coat a 
 sealed package. 
 
 " The Captain gave me this a week ago. He seemed 
 to have an idea that something unlucky was about to 
 happen to him. In case he was either killed or cap- 
 tured which he said would amount to the same I 
 was to deliver this paper to you, Miss Fanny." 
 
 Fanny took the paper, opened it, and the boy could 
 see that her hand trembled a little. 
 
 Several sheets of paper were covered with writing in 
 a firm, distinct hand, and the young lady ran through 
 them with nervous rapidity. As she read, her face 
 grew alternately red and pale. It was wonderful to see 
 the variety of expressions which chased each other over 
 her countenance as she read. At one time a deep blush 
 covered her cheeks, and her heart throbbed with what 
 seemed to be a delicious confusion, even with a sort of 
 
76 CANOLLES. 
 
 delight. Then a proud light shone in her beautiful 
 eyes, and she murmured some words which her com- 
 panion could not hear. Then her cheeks suddenly 
 became colorless, and an expression of acute pain 
 contracted her lips, which trembled visibly, and tears 
 ran down her cheeks. 
 
 " Ah ! it was like him like him ! " she exclaimed, 
 hastily refolding the letter and placing it in her bosom ; 
 " and I understand now why he was so anxious for me 
 to have this if any misfortune happened to him ! Ah ! 
 thank you, thank you, Walter? I would not have failed 
 to receive this letter for worlds it was so good in you ! " 
 
 As though mastered by nervous emotions she walked 
 along rapidly, the boy following her, toward the river. 
 Her eyes were fixed on a point toward the west, in the 
 direction of Petersburg. 
 
 " Oh ! can nothing be done ? " she exclaimed. " Can 
 nothing be done to save him ? I do not believe that they 
 would be so cruel. Eleanor said it to make me suffer '" 
 
 She turned quickly and said : 
 
 " Walter ! " 
 
 " Miss Fanny ! " 
 
 " Do you believe that that he is dead ? " 
 
 The boy, who seemed to have caught some of his 
 companion's emotion, replied : 
 
 " The} 7 would not shoot him without trying him first, 
 and there has hardly been time for that the fight was 
 last night." 
 
 "But think! they fear and hate him! Oh! this 
 terrible thing of fighting without a flag ! " 
 
THE COURAGE OF A GIRL. 77 
 
 "Bad enough, Miss Fanny; and I have over and over 
 hegged the Captain to have one, but he would not." 
 
 " Oh ! if something could be done ! If something 
 could be done ! Gen. Phillips is the English com- 
 mander at Petersburg, is he not?" 
 
 "Yes, Miss Fanny." 
 
 " What is his character ? " 
 
 " They say he is a man of high temper, but a gen- 
 tleman and a man of honor." 
 
 "Do they say that?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 The young lady walked on nervously, flushing and 
 trembling. 
 
 " Walter," she suddenly said, " do you love Captain 
 Canolles ? " 
 
 "You know how much, Miss Fanny ! " 
 
 " Do you care for me ? " 
 
 "You know I do." 
 
 " Will you help me to save him ? " 
 
 "The Captain?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " I would go the end of the world and do anything 
 to save him." 
 
 " Then tell me how I can get to Petersburg this 
 very night. I must go and now ; there is not a mo- 
 ment to lose, if it is not already too late ! " 
 
 The boy looked with deep surprise at his companion, 
 and said : 
 
 " You go to Petersburg, Miss Fanny, and to-night ! 
 Are you in earnest ? " 
 
78 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Yes, yes I am in earnest. I have resolved, and 
 whether you help me or not I will go." 
 
 The boy shook his head. 
 
 " How can you?" 
 
 "You must find the means, and go with me. It is 
 this that I meant when I said you must help me. 
 Think! think! Walter! Do not fail me now." 
 
 He was mastered by her excitement and began to 
 reflect his face as flushed as her own. 
 
 " It is a desperate attempt, Miss Fanny," he said at 
 length, " but it is not impossible." 
 
 " Ah, I knew you would think of a plan. You are 
 as intelligent as you are brave ! What is it ? " 
 
 Thus appealed to, Walter said : 
 
 " It is this, Miss Fanny but where could you go 
 to what house, even if we reached Petersburg?" 
 
 " Do not trouble yourself about that, Walter. I have 
 a dear friend who will be too glad to see me. What is 
 your plan ? Make haste. Time is passing passing!" 
 
 The boy at once proceeded to inform the young lady 
 of his plan. This was to cross the river in a boat, pro- 
 cure horses, which he felt sure he would be able to do, 
 and then he and the young lady would set out straight 
 for Petersburg, ride into the British lines if possible 
 unseen, and if they could not enter the town without 
 capture, submit to that. They would represent them- 
 selves as residents of the place, recently on a visit to 
 friends in the country, and if this was hot sufficient, as 
 a last resource they could inform their captors that 
 they had important information to convey to Gen. Phil- 
 
THE COURAGE OF A GIRL. 79 
 
 lips which would ultimately ensure the interview 
 which the young lady desired with the British General. 
 
 " For that is what you wish, is it not, Miss Fanny ? " 
 said the youth. 
 
 "Yes, yes ! and you may say with a clear conscience 
 that I have important information. This here in this 
 paper ! " She placed her hand upon her hreast. " Yes, 
 I must see Gen. Phillips at once. And now, Walter, 
 when shall we go?" 
 
 Everything was promptly arranged. Fanny was to 
 return to the house, put on the wrapping made neces- 
 sary by the cool night, and, stealing undiscovered from 
 the house, meet the boy at a spot agreed upon on the 
 river's bank, where he would have the boat in waiting. 
 They would then set out without further delay on their 
 expedition. 
 
 Half an hour afterward Fanny, who had hastened 
 back to Chats worth, stole away, her figure muffled in 
 a cloak and hood, from the mansion ; hastened by 
 paths well known to her through the moonlit woods 
 and open fields, and reached the point on the river 
 bank which they had fixed upon. Walter was await- 
 ing her in a small row-boat half hidden beneath the 
 boughs of a large oak, and assisted her into the little 
 craft, which rose and fell upon the surges gleaming in 
 the moonlight. 
 
 At the last moment he said : 
 
 " Miss Fanny, I am afraid this is a wild affair, and I 
 do not know that I ought to help you to expose your- 
 self to the danger of a night ride through a country 
 which is occupied by the British." 
 
80 CANOLLES. 
 
 "I must risk the danger, even if it were greater." 
 
 " Think" 
 
 "No, Walter, do not let us think, or if we think of 
 anything let it be of the death that is hanging over 
 one you love. We must not think. There are times, 
 Walter, when desperate expedients must be resorted 
 to. I must do what is in my power to-night, or I should 
 be miserable to the day of my death. Come, come, do 
 not delay. Every moment is precious ! " 
 
 Her passionate words overcame all the youth's scru- 
 ples. Taking the oars, he sent the boat with one long, 
 vigorous sweep into the current, and in ten minutes it 
 had disappeared like a waning shadow in the moonlit 
 night. 
 
THE COURT-MARTIAL. 81 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE COURT-MARTIAL. 
 
 Our narrative has been obliged to pass from 'camp 
 to camp to return, as it were, on its steps, and to relate 
 what occurred in different places nearly at the same 
 moment. 
 
 All the scenes described in the pages immediately 
 preceding took place on the afternoon of the 10th of 
 May. One other scene on the same day and almost at 
 the same hour is still necessary to an intelligent com- 
 prehension of the events which befell the personages 
 of the drama. 
 
 Nearly at the instant when Henry Cartaret requested 
 the Marquis de Lafayette to authorize his night attack 
 for the rescue of Canolles, and when Fanny, with 
 flushed cheeks and heaving bosom, was reading the 
 paper brought to her by Walter, a court-martial con- 
 sisting of six officers, presided over by the seventh, had 
 assembled in a tent pitched on one of the Blandford 
 hills, near the old church of that name, and in the 
 immediate vicinity of Gen. Phillips' headquarters. 
 
 The marquee had no furniture but a common pine 
 table, a few chairs and a camp couch. On the latter 
 was seated, in a careless attitude, Col. Lord Ferrers, 
 the Judge-Advocate. 
 
 From time to time Col. Ferrers looked with ill-con- 
 cealed distaste, even with covert hostility , at the presid- 
 6 
 
82 CANOLLES. 
 
 ing officer of the court-martial, who wore the uniform 
 of a brigadier-general. He was a man of middle age, 
 with a hawk nose, glittering and waiy eyes, firm lips, 
 and a defiant expression, such as may be seen on the 
 faces of men conscious that all around them are 
 unfriendly. A slight limp, observable when he moved, 
 seemed to indicate that one of his leg's was a false one. 
 
 o 
 
 His entire personal appearance was striking, but not 
 very pleasant Such, to the outward eye, was Gen. 
 Benedict Arnold, the unshrinking soldier, but the po- 
 litical Judas of America. 
 
 His connection with the court-martial assembled to 
 try Canolles for that was the object of the court 
 was of his own choice, and may be explained in a very 
 few words. The wagon containing the gold carried 
 off by the partisans had been under charge of Arnold's 
 division, holding the rear. The disappearance of the 
 treasure, reflecting as it did upon Arnold, had excited 
 his wrath to the utmost, and having met Col. Ferrers, 
 and learned from him that Canolles was to be court- 
 martialed immediately, he had volunteered to preside 
 over the court. To this Col. Ferrers had demurred, 
 saying that it w r as unprecedented for a general officer 
 to take part in the trial of so obscure a person. But 
 Arnold had insisted, Ferrers had been obliged to yield, 
 and when the court assembled, Gen. Arnold appeared 
 as the presiding officer. 
 
 He sat now at the head of a camp table, stiff, cold and 
 unbending. On his dark face seemed written in letters 
 of fire the consciousness that the British officers around 
 him in their inmost hearts despised him. 
 
THE COURT-MARTIAL. 83 
 
 He raised a paper from the table, and said in a hard 
 and metallic voice : 
 
 " Gentlemen of the Board, you will please answer to 
 your names. 77 
 
 The list was then read, beginning with the name of 
 Col. Ferrers, Judge-Advocate, and each man replied 
 " Present " when his name was pronounced. 
 
 "You are aware, gentlemen," Arnold then said, 
 " that this Board is assembled to examine into the case 
 of the man Canolles, who robbed the convoy last night 
 of the money for the pay of the troops. The question 
 to be examined will be whether the attack was made 
 by regularly enrolled soldiers of the American army, 
 or by common marauders. Is it your pleasure that 
 the prisoner should now be introduced ? " 
 
 "Yes," was the reply of Ferrers and the other 
 officers. 
 
 " Bring in the man Canolles." 
 
 At ihis order, a sergeant stationed at the door of the 
 tent made a sign to some one without, and a moment 
 afterwards Canolles was ushered into the tent. He 
 advanced with a lirm tread, surveying the members 
 of the court one by one, after which his eyes remained 
 intently fixed upon Gen. Arnold. 
 
 "Are you the person called Canolles?" said the 
 latter. 
 
 "Yes," was the reply. 
 
 "Was it you who attacked the convoy last night? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Are you or are you not a regularly enrolled 
 
84 CANOLLES. 
 
 soldier or commissioned officer of the American army, 
 fighting under the American flag ? " 
 
 " Before replying to that question," replied Canolles, 
 in his unmoved voice, " I desire to address a question 
 in my turn to the President of the Board." 
 
 " Ask it," said Arnold. 
 
 " Is or is not the President of the Board Brigadier- 
 General Arnold ? " 
 
 Arnold's eyes suddenly flashed it might have been 
 supposed that he suspected what was coming. 
 
 " The meaning of your question ? " he said. " You 
 are arraigned here to be tried, and it is for the court to 
 interrogate you, not for you to interrogate the court." 
 
 " Is there a Judge- Advocate present? " said Canolles, 
 coolly: 
 
 " Yes," said Ferrers., rising, " I am the Judge- 
 Advocate." 
 
 "You represent both the court and the person 
 arraigned," said Canolles. " Is or is not my question 
 a proper one ? " 
 
 Ferrers grunted, and grumbled out sardonically : 
 
 " A devilish mysterious one don't understand it 
 but don't see what harm there is in asking it if it is 
 your fancy." 
 
 Arnold set his teeth close, and said with suppressed 
 wrath : 
 
 " I waive further objection ; what is your question ? " 
 
 "I repeat it," said Canolles. " Is or is not the Presi- 
 dent of the Board Gen. Benedict Arnold ? " 
 
 "lam." 
 
THE COURT-MARTIAL. 85 
 
 "Then- 1 protest against trial by a court over which 
 he presides." 
 
 "You protest?" 
 
 " Gen. Benedict Arnold is a traitor ! " 
 
 The words were pronounced clearly and coolly, 
 Canolles fixing his eyes as he spoke intently on the 
 face of the person he addressed. Arnold rose to his 
 feet, pale with rage, and seemed about to rush upon 
 Canolles. 
 
 " Insolent wretch ! " he exclaimed, " what do you 
 mean by daring to grossly insult the court?" 
 
 "I mean," said Canolles, "that Gen. Benedict 
 Arnold attempted to sell his country for 10,000 the 
 exact sum carried off last night by myself, sword in 
 hand and betrayed a brave young Englishman, John 
 Andre, to his death. The President questions me I 
 reply. I demand a fair trial to be tried by a court 
 presided over by an officer and a gentleman." 
 
86 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 CANOLLES AND ARNOLD. 
 
 It is impossible to describe the effect of the words 
 uttered by Canolles on Gen. Arnold and the officers of 
 the court. 
 
 " I call on the officers present to protect the dignity 
 of the court from this gross outrage ! " gasped Gen. 
 Arnold with positive rage. 
 
 Lord Ferrers grinned. 
 
 " The fact is," he said, with a gruff sound which was 
 a grunt or a laugh, " the proceeding of the prisoner is 
 highly irregular." 
 
 Arnold's brow knit fiercely, and he said : 
 
 " Col. Ferrers is moderate in his characterization of 
 this insolence ! " 
 
 Ferrers uttered the same ambiguous sound. 
 
 " I would observe to the court," he said, " that this 
 discussion interrupts the business before it. The pro- 
 test of the prisoner is a matter of no moment. If the 
 court is ready, I will proceed to interrogate him, and 
 we will hear what he has to say." 
 
 Arnold sat down, pale, and suppressing his rage with 
 difficulty, for he saw on the faces of the officers that they 
 secretly sympathized with the defiant protest of Ca- 
 nolles. 
 
 " I am content," Arnold said in a low and stern voice, 
 for this man of unfaltering nerve seemed inaccessible to 
 
CANOLLES AND ARNOLD. 87 
 
 such emotion as would have characterized another, " I 
 am content that the examination of the prisoner shall 
 proceed without further interruption, and to make no 
 reply to his insolent speech a speech which, if uttered 
 by an officer and a gentleman, should be answered at 
 the sword's point! The examination will proceed." 
 
 Ferrers turned to the prisoner and said: 
 
 " Well, as that matter is decided, my friend, I advise 
 you to cease this irregular and unpleasant protesting, 
 and answer the questions I ask you, or those asked by 
 the Board to begin " 
 
 "It is useless," said Canolles calmly. "I will save 
 the court the trouble of interrogating me by making a 
 general statement." 
 
 " Exculpating yourself? " 
 
 " Condemning myself." 
 
 " Stop," said Ferrers, rising and confronting the 
 prisoner. " You are a brave fellow, Candies, whether 
 you are a marauder or not, and it shall not be said that 
 George Ferrers, acting as Judge- Advocate, allowed an 
 accused to sign his own death-warrant." 
 
 Canolles shook his head. 
 
 " I have known from the first that I was a dead man, 
 Colonel," he said, " otherwise I should not have ac- 
 knowledged my true character to Gen. Phillips and 
 yourself. Were I to assert now that I am an American 
 soldier, fighting under the American flag, what would 
 be the difficulty in ascertaining the truth of my state- 
 ment ? You have only to send a flag to Gen. Lafayette, 
 and I inform you now what the reply would be : That 
 the person called Canolles is not an American soldier, 
 
88 CANOLLES. 
 
 nor commissioned officer ; that he makes war on his 
 own account ; that he cannot be exchanged, and, being 
 outside the pale of military law, must be left to his fate." 
 
 A murmur ran through the court, and every eye 
 was fixed upon Canolles. 
 
 " The devil ! " muttered Ferrers, " there's nothing to 
 reply to that ; but of all the cool hands " 
 
 He left the sentence unfinished, and, addressing 
 Canolles, said : 
 
 " You are right, friend ; there are witnesses enough 
 to prove everything, and the Marquis Lafayette could 
 do nothing for you. I swear I regret it I respect a 
 man, marauder or no marauder, who faces death as you 
 do. But what infernal idea ever got into your head, 
 inducing you to risk yourself so, fighting under no 
 flag ? I am myself an English soldier and prefer my 
 own colors, but a flag carried by a man like George 
 "Washington might suit you, I think." 
 
 " I do not like the American flag," was the reply of 
 Canolles. 
 
 " Humph! tell me why." 
 
 " It is useless, sir the considerations preventing me 
 from fighting under the American colors are purely 
 personal." 
 
 A species of growl and sigh mingled issued from 
 beneath the white mustache of Col. Ferrers, and he 
 knit his brows. 
 
 "You will not explain anything, then?" he said. 
 "Reflect; there may be circumstances connected with 
 your refusal to act with the enemies of England which 
 
CANOLLES AND ARNOLD. 89 
 
 will operate upon the court and affect their decision in 
 your case." 
 
 Canolles shook his head. 
 
 " There are no such circumstances." 
 
 " Give us an opportunity to form our own opinion, 
 at least." 
 
 " Useless, Colonel, wholly useless, and certain con- 
 siderations make it unagreeable to me to enter upon 
 the subject." 
 
 Again Ferrers uttered the sound resembling a grunt 
 and a sigh. 
 
 " What all this means, Heaven only knows," he 
 growled, " and of all the affairs in which I have been 
 engaged come ! make a clean breast of it, Canolles ! 
 I swear you are no mere low-born plunderer you are 
 a gentleman, born and bred, if I am entitled to form an 
 opinion, and there is something behind all this. Come ! 
 don't be a Quixote ! Who and what are you really ? " 
 
 Canolles shook his head. 
 
 "I am not a Quixote, and nothing I could tell you 
 could affect your decision." 
 
 Ferrers sat down with an expression of furious ill- 
 humor, and Arnold said: 
 
 " Is the court ready to consider the case ? As the 
 accused acknowledges the charges it is useless to sum- 
 mon witnesses to prove them. There is now but one 
 question for the court to decide what punishment and 
 form of punishment should be visited on one entering 
 the British lines at night, without a flag, and " 
 
 Canolles turned quickly and fixed his eyes upon 
 Gen. Arnold so abruptly that he paused. 
 
90 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Is it permitted me to ask the president of the court 
 a question ? " he said. 
 
 " Yes," said Ferrers, before Arnold could reply. 
 " Yes ! The request is a small one for a brave fellow 
 in your position." 
 
 " I proceed to ask it," said Canolles, who had never 
 moved his eyes from the face of Gen. Arnold. " The 
 President of the court affirms that the question before 
 the court is the proper punishment arid mode of pun- 
 ishment of a man entering the British lines at night 
 without a flag. Is that the shape in which the question 
 is to be propounded?" 
 
 " It is," said Arnold. 
 
 " It is proposed, therefore, to inflict upon me the 
 death of a spy ?'" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Does the President of the court rely on military 
 precedent for that decision ?" 
 
 "I do." 
 
 " What precedent ? The execution of Major John 
 Andre?" 
 
 Arnold started as if some venomous reptile had bit- 
 ten him, and in spite of his enormous self-control 
 turned suddenly pale. 
 
 " I will make my question plainer," added Canolles, 
 who spoke as coolly as before. " Major John Andre, 
 Adjutant- General of the British army, entered no, he 
 did not enter, he was betrayed into the American 
 lines in a manner probably well known to the President 
 and members of this Board. He was arrested, tried, 
 and the verdict of the American court-martial was that 
 Major Andre having entered their lines at night and 
 
CANOLLES AND ARNOLD. 91 
 
 without a flag, ought to be considered as a spy, and as 
 such was executed by hanging, not by shooting. Is it 
 the precedent in the case of Major Andre that the Presi- 
 dent of this court relies on in my case, approving it?" 
 
 At these words there was a dead silence in the tent 
 a silence so deep that the measured steps of a sentinel 
 fifty yards distant were distinctly heard. 
 
 Gren. Arnold, w r hose eyes burned like fire in his pale 
 face, was seen twice to attempt to speak; but each time 
 something seemed to rise in his throat and choke him. 
 
 " The President of the court does not reply," said 
 Canolles, whose face had assumed an expression of ex- 
 treme disdain, " then he doubtless means that he ap- 
 proves the death by hanging of John Andre, of the 
 British army. Well, sir, I a mere robber and marau- 
 der, as you take me I disapprove it. I say that John 
 Andre was not a spy, and according to military law 
 was guilty of nothing unworthy of an officer and a 
 gentleman. I say if expediency required his execution 
 he ought to have been shot like a soldier, not hanged 
 like a felon. I say more, sir, and am glad to have the 
 occasion to say it that in my opinion the person de- 
 serving death was the American officer who betrayed 
 him, as he betrayed his country, for money Brigadier- 
 General Benedict Arnold. I am a mere freebooter, 
 you say, sir, and you are going to shoot or hang me. 
 Well, I give you my word of honor that I would rather 
 be shot or hanged than to wear the uniform you wear 
 at the price you paid for it." 
 
 Arnold seemed ready to start from his seat with fury. 
 His dark face turned white with rage, audit is probable 
 that but for the interposition of Col. Ferrers some scene 
 
92 CANOLLES. 
 
 of actual violence would have ensued. Ferrers gave 
 an order to the guard, Canolles was conducted under 
 guard from the tent, and in the midst of unheard-of 
 agitation the court proceeded to consider the prisoner's 
 case. 
 
 There was little hope of mitigating his punishment. 
 The charges were acknowledged that the prisoner 
 had with hostile intent entered the British lines at 
 night, without uniform, flag or commission ; and in 
 spite of the appeals of Lord Ferrers, which were short 
 and full of rude eloquence, the verdict of the court was 
 that the prisoner Canolles ought to suffer death. 
 
 "What death?" said Ferrers, in his roughest and 
 harshest accents, glancing at Arnold as he spoke ; "be- 
 cause I give the court notice that if any attempt be 
 made to inflict the penalty of hanging, I have Gen. 
 Phillips' promise his promise as a man of honor, sir 
 that the form of death shall be shooting ; and before I 
 will sign as Judge-Advocate any other decision of this 
 court, I will retire from my official place here, or I will 
 tear up the paper when it is laid before me ! " 
 
 Arnold, trembling with rage, could only mutter, 
 hoarsely : 
 
 u It is for the court to decide." 
 
 The vote was taken, and it was decided that the pris- 
 oner should be shot to death. 
 
 The court then rose, and the verdict was transmitted 
 to Gen. Phillips, lying burnt up with fever at Boiling- 
 brook House, who affixed his trembling signature to it, 
 and appointed sunrise on the next morning as the time 
 of the prisoner's execution. 
 
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXECUTION. 93 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXECUTION. 
 
 It was between eleven and twelve o'clock at night. 
 Canolles was seated writing at a table in a room of a 
 small house not far from Blandford Church. This 
 house had been the residence of a citizen of the town 
 who had fled with his family on the approach of the 
 British forces, and had been taken possession of as the 
 quarters of the officer of the guard, and a place of im- 
 prisonment for persons arrested by the provost of the 
 army. Canolles had been conducted thither when dis- 
 missed from further attendance on the court-martial, 
 and confined in one of the apartments, with a sentinel 
 before his door. 
 
 He was now seated, as we have said, at a table upon 
 which burned a single tallow candle, and was busily 
 engaged in writing pen, ink and paper having been 
 readily supplied him by the officer of the guard, who, 
 himself a soldier, had a soldier's sympathy for a man 
 who faced his fate with the coolness of the prisoner. 
 
 A painful interest always attaches to the demeanor 
 and conduct of a human being who is about to find 
 closing upon him the dark door of the tomb, and who 
 knows that it is about to close upon him. That moment 
 is calculated to test the courage of the human heart 
 arid try the steadiest nerves. But yesterday free, safe, 
 alive with the fullest life, and now fettered, condemned, 
 
94 CANOLLES. 
 
 with death approaching steadily and surely ! At one 
 instant a strong and active man, with every pulse 
 bounding, every muscle obedient to the will, every vein 
 full of warm, red blood, with the sun shining for you, 
 the birds singing, with the laughter of happy children 
 in your ears, and all the abounding charms of various 
 and delightful life your own ; and at the next moment, 
 or soon, so soon ! to be an inert clod without sense or 
 motion! The nerves are tried at such a time, and a 
 man shows speedily whether he is brave or the opposite. 
 It was plain that Canolles was a brave man. His 
 face was quite composed, arid his hand perfectly firm 
 as he continued to write on steadily. He was still 
 engaged in writing when a step was heard without, a 
 brief colloquy ensued, apparently between the sentinel 
 and some other person, then the door opened and Lord 
 Ferrers came in. 
 
 The old militaire was as erect and gruff as ever, his 
 tall figure towered as stiffly as was its wont, and his 
 snow-white mustache covered lips as bluff and firm in 
 their expression as before. Looking closer, .neverthe- 
 less, any one might have seen in the old soldier's eyes 
 an unusual softness an unmistakable trouble. He 
 looked at Canolles for a moment without speaking, 
 then he advanced rapidly, holding out his hand, and 
 growled : 
 
 "Well, comrade, I'm come to see you." 
 Canolles rose, pressed the hand held out, and said: 
 "Thanks, my dear Colonel. But I did not require 
 any assurance that your visit was the visit of a friend 
 of one soldier to another who is about to die." 
 
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXECUTION. 95 
 
 " You are right," returned Ferrers in his curt voice, 
 each word jerked, as it were, from his lips, " and I take 
 no credit to myself for coming. I can't sleep. This 
 devilish affair of yours keeps me awake. What infernal 
 complication of diabolical circumstances ever got you 
 into this hobble? I'll tell you one thing. If you don't 
 relieve my mind on this subject it will torture me all 
 my life. Good Heavens ! Here you are throwing away 
 your chances of life there may be chances ; you are 
 no mere plunderer. What in Heaven's name ever 
 brought you to this wild plan of fighting under no flag? " 
 
 Canolles leaned back in his chair, his right arm rest- 
 ing on the table, and seemed, from the absent expres- 
 sion of his eyes and the fingers drumming on the table, 
 to be lost in reflection. Ferrers, seated opposite, looked 
 intently at him, and if the old nobleman's thoughts had 
 been translated into words, these words would probably 
 have been: "What cursed nonsense to say that this 
 man is alow marauder!" Indeed, everything about 
 Canolles, face, figure, bearing every expression and 
 attitude, however unconscious, indicated high breeding. 
 You might have conceived that this human being had 
 been led to the commission of crime, perhaps to be- 
 lieve him capable of plundering from mere love of 
 money was impossible. 
 
 For some moments Canolles remained sunk in this 
 pensive mood a species of reverie taking him away 
 from the actual place and time then he awoke, as it 
 were, and said: 
 
 " I must beg you to pardon my ill-breeding, Colonel 
 I fear I am becoming too much addicted to this bad 
 
96 CANOLLES. 
 
 habit of reverie but there is scarcely time now to 
 break myself of it," he added with a smile. "I shall 
 never be cured of it!" 
 
 Ferrers knit his brows. 
 
 "Stop that smiling, comrade," he growled, "and 
 don't make me like you any better than I do ! Do you 
 know whom you resemble when you smile in that 
 way ? " 
 
 "Kesemble?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Do I resemble any one else ?" 
 
 " Yes, you do you are the image, the very picture 
 of Hartley Ferrers." 
 
 "Who is Hartley Ferrers?" said Canolles. 
 
 Ferrers looked at him for a moment in silence a 
 look keen and sorrowful. 
 
 " I think, sometimes," he said, " that you are Hart- 
 ley!" 
 
 " My dear Colonel," said Canolles, " you have not 
 even told me who the person you refer to is, or was." 
 
 " He was my son." 
 
 " Your son ? " 
 
 "Yes," grunted Lord Ferrers, " a poor, impulsive 
 boy couldn't control him wild for adventure, new 
 countries and the life of a wanderer. Poor fellow ! 
 instead of being contented with home, he went off, 
 shipped on board an outward-bound vessel, and was 
 never heard of afterwards." 
 
 " A very sad event, Colonel, and I sincerely sympa- 
 thize with you in your affliction." 
 
 The old militaire sighed. 
 
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXECUTION. 97 
 
 " All the worse as I have no other children, and Lady 
 Ferrers is long since dead. The strange thing is that 
 you so closely resemble my poor Hartley, which will 
 account in some measure for my liking you, comrade. 
 Your resemblance to the poor boy is startling. But it 
 is, of course, a mere coincidence an accident." 
 
 " Of course," replied Canolles. 
 
 " And now," said Ferrers, " to come to the object of 
 this visit." 
 
 " It has, then, an object other than to soothe the last 
 moments of a brother soldier ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " What object, Colonel ? " 
 
 " To save you, if I can, from the bullets that will tear 
 you to pieces at sunrise." 
 
 Canolles shook his head. 
 
 "You cannot save me Colonel," he said with a smile, 
 " unless you have devised some scheme which has never 
 yet occurred to my mind." 
 
 "I have devised the scheme to obtain from you a 
 full statement of the motives inducing you to make 
 war on the British forces in Virginia, without doing so 
 under the protection of the American flag. - The devil. 
 Do you suppose that I am an idiot and don't see that 
 something must be under this infernal folly of yours, 
 Canolles ? Do you suppose that you can fool me into 
 the belief that you. are a common highwayman, read} 
 to take a purse ; or a low thief stealing money frorn 
 Gen. Phillips' chest for love of the money and nothing 
 else ? If you think so, you are daft, as they say in Scot- 
 land. You are a gentleman. I'll swear you are in every 
 7 
 
98 CANOLLES. 
 
 sense a man of honor ; and now speak, comrade ! 
 Tell me what drove you to this cursed blunder, and I'll 
 go tell Phillips." 
 
 Again Canolles shook his head. Leaning his right 
 elbow on the table, he rested his temple lightly upon 
 his hand, in an attitude of easy grace, and said : 
 
 " My dear Colonel, do you know it is a matter of 
 regret to me that I have made your acquaintance so 
 late ? Your sympathy quite moves me, and makes me 
 long to live to know you better. Unfortunately, your 
 plan is useless." 
 
 " Useless? " 
 
 " It is trouble thrown away. There is nothing in my 
 motives, or in my discarding the protection of the 
 American flag, to alter the decision of the British com- 
 mander in my case." 
 
 " Hang it ! let me judge! You acknowledge that 
 you had peculiar reasons." 
 
 "Certainly; I have or had my private reasons. I 
 say had, you see. I have pretty well bidden life fare- 
 well." 
 
 Ferrers repeated obstinately, knitting his brows : 
 
 " Let me judge! let me judge!" 
 
 " And let* me repeat, Colonel, that it is chimerical to 
 indulge any expectation of affecting the action of Gen. 
 Phillips by informing him of my personal motives. It 
 was impossible for him to act otherwise than he has 
 done under the circumstances. Approval of the find- 
 ing of the court was a necessity, lam perfectly well 
 acquainted with military law, and knTnv what I risked 
 when I attacked your troops last night, without a flag 
 
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXECUTION. 99 
 
 or a commission. Call me what you will spy, rob- 
 ber, what not it is immaterial. My punishment is 
 properly death/' 
 
 Ferrers looked at the man who uttered these cool 
 words with a singular mixture of grief and anger. 
 
 " For the last time, Canolles," he said, "what mys- 
 tery is under all this affair? Once more, I say, there 
 is no deceiving me as to your rank or character. I 
 have lived more than sixty years in this second-rate 
 world, and I've known all sorts of people hob-nobbed 
 with Dukes and clinked cups with beggars and I 
 think I know a gentleman when I see one and you 
 are one, and as brave as steel to boot." 
 
 " Thanks, friend, for such you are." 
 
 " Your friend ? Yes, I am your friend. Do you 
 suppose I don't make up my own opinions ? Do you 
 think that infernal traitor and rascal Arnold's opinion 
 of you had any effect on George Ferrers ? If you do, 
 you are most damnably mistaken ! If anything, his 
 hostility to you raised you in my estimation. I don't 
 call a scoundrel, that tries to sell his country andiets 
 a brave boy like Andre go to his death, a good judge 
 of the character of a gentleman and soldier; and when 
 you told him as much in the court, you delighted me 
 it was the happiest moment I've passed for years. 
 Yes, I am your friend, and George Ferrers don't make 
 a friend of everybody. If I could save your life, I 
 would not eat or sleep till I had saved it." 
 
 " I know that," said Canolles, his soldierly face lit 
 up by a bright smile. 
 
 " And you will not aid me," said Ferrers. 
 
100 CANOLLES. 
 
 " It would be useless to make the attempt. To 
 every man there is an appointed hour, Colonel ; he 
 advances to that hour through a hundred battles un- 
 harmed, but when the hour has struck he falls. Well, 
 my hour has come. I face the conviction with calm- 
 ness, because it is in my blood not to shrink, and I do 
 not regret life as much, perhaps, as you suppose. I 
 have lived for a particular object, and that object, I 
 may assure you, is now accomplished, or will be. Had 
 you not captured me I should have disbanded my men 
 very soon, if not at once, and disappeared like a leaf 
 blown on the wind I should have left Virginia never 
 to return. Well, all is reversed, you see. I fall into 
 your hands you take my life, which belongs to you 
 I give it up without a murmur and so all ends, 
 Colonel!" 
 
 Ferrers inflated his chest with air and then abruptly 
 expelled it. 
 
 " Canolles," he said, " I'd give a thousand pounds if 
 you had escaped ! To hear you talking in tnis way 
 just before you are shot is enough to make a man cry 
 like a baby. To think that you are to come to your 
 end so suddenly ! That you are to die in the flush of 
 youth, health, strength, happiness r 
 
 He stopped with a choking intonation. Canolles 
 smiled. 
 
 " Are .you perfectly certain that I am happy and will 
 regret life, Colonel ? " 
 
 " You ought to." 
 
 Canolles shook his head with the same sad smile. 
 
 " Humph ! " grunted Ferrers, attempting to conceal 
 
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXECUTION. 101 
 
 his emotion under satire, " perhaps it is a matter of 
 indifference to you whether you live or die ? " 
 
 " To be frank with you, it is." 
 
 Ferrers looked keenly at the speaker. 
 
 " You have some secret trouble, comrade." 
 
 A slight color slowly stole over the face of Canolles, 
 and he said in a low voice : 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Can I do nothing to relieve you of it?" 
 
 " Nothing it is hopeless," was the reply, in the 
 
 same low voice, accompanied by a heavy sigh. 
 
 " Nothing is hopeless," grunted Ferrers. 
 
 " This is. The subject depresses me, Colonel. I 
 need all my good spirits, you see, and to speak of this 
 would make me profoundly sorrowful. My life has 
 been an unfortunate one let us say no more. But 
 you shall know all about it when I am dead." 
 
 He pointed to the paper which he had been writing, 
 and added : 
 
 " In this and another paper I have stated briefly but 
 clearly the motives actuating me during my career, Tor 
 the information of two persons. One paper has by this 
 time reached its destination. Of this, which I have 
 just completed, you must take charge, Colonel, and see 
 that it is delivered to the person whose name I shall 
 write upon it. I shall not seal it you may read it if 
 you desire to do so." 
 
 "What!" exclaimed Ferrers, "does that paper 
 lying there upon that table contain your personal 
 history ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
102 CANOLLES. 
 
 "All about you?" 
 "All." 
 
 "An explanation of your object in making war on 
 England without marching under the American 
 flag?" 
 
 " A full explanation." 
 
 " Humph ! Then as you have no objection to my 
 reading the paper hereafter, I'll read it now." 
 
 He extended his hand, as he spoke, toward the 
 paper, but Canolles as quickly interposed his own hand 
 to protect it. 
 
 " Let me beg you to delay a little while, friend. 
 You know it will not be long." 
 
 " No ; let me read it now. Something tells me that 
 the contents of that paper may, if known to me, and 
 in turn to Gen. Phillips, have a vital bearing on your 
 fate." 
 
 Canolles replied with a slow, incredulous movement 
 of his head : 
 
 "Again I assure you that the idea is chimerical. 
 G-en. Phillips will not, cannot allow anything here 
 written to influence him." 
 
 " Then let me read the paper for my own personal 
 satisfaction," exclaimed Ferrers; "you cannot deny a 
 request so slight as that, Canolles, to the man you call 
 friend." 
 
 Canolles hesitated. 
 
 " It would only lead," he said, " to questions, discus- 
 sions, further explanations and all that would simply 
 make me gloomy, without any imaginable advantage, 
 Colonel." 
 
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXECUTION. 103 
 
 But Col. Ferrers seemed to have obstinately set his 
 mind upon seeing the writing on the paper before the 
 hour of the prisoner's execution. 
 
 " I will ask you no questions there shall be no 
 discussion. " 
 
 He extended his hand once more toward the paper. 
 
 " Come, let me see it ! " 
 
 Canolles withdrew his own hand, saying as he did 
 so : 
 
 " Well, Colonel, as you attach so much importance 
 to reading this, which, after all, you will be at liberty 
 to read in a very few hours, I do not see why I should 
 further oppose your desire. Since I am not unwilling, 
 and even desire, that you should know my history and 
 see that my motives have not been mean or mercenary, 
 why should I refuse your request." 
 
 " I may read, then ? " 
 
 "You are at full liberty to do so, Colonel." 
 
 And Canolles leaned back in his seat, pushing the 
 written sheets toward the old soldier, who ardently 
 extended his hand to grasp them. 
 
 Before he could do so a sudden and rapid firing was 
 heard in the vicinity of the house, and through the 
 window could be seen quick sheets of flame lighting 
 .up the night, and resembling the flash of the fire-fly's 
 light. 
 
 Col. Ferrers, with the instinct of the soldier, started 
 to his feet, grasping the hilt of his sword. 
 
 " An attack ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 Suddenly the long roll of the British drum was 
 
104 CANOLLES. 
 
 heard, and shouts and orders resounded the troops 
 were evidently being gotten hastily under arms. 
 
 "I must go there! " exclaimed Col. Ferrers, losing 
 sight of all else ; and in the midst of the firing, which 
 still continued without abatement, he hastily left the 
 apartment. 
 
THE NIGHT ATTACK. 105 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE NIGHT ATTACK. 
 
 Young Harry Cartaret, at the head of twenty-five 
 picked men, had passed the Appomattox by wading 
 and swimming, and failing to surprise and overpower 
 in silence the picket guards upon the bank of the river 
 had made a sudden and resolute attack on nothing less 
 than the whole British army. 
 
 In proceeding to this desperate extremity he had not 
 acted from mere foolhardiness and hair-brained im- 
 pulse. His plan, as unfolded to Gen. Lafayette, had 
 been wholly different, and by no means uncertain of 
 success. He had ascertained from a thoroughly trained 
 scout belonging to his company, whom he had sent 
 across the river for the purpose, that Canolles was con- 
 fined in a house situated only a short distance from the 
 banks of the river; and he relied on surprise, not on 
 attack, to rescue the prisoner. The moon would set 
 between ten and eleven, and the young officer then 
 proposed to cross the river in silence, under cover of 
 darkness, steal upon the picket guard of only a few 
 men, capture or overpower them without the use of 
 fire-arms, in order to avoid an alarm and in the event 
 of success, the rest seemed comparatively easy. The 
 British troops would be apt to rely with confidence on 
 the pickets to alarm them in case of an attack, and so 
 obscure a prisoner as Canolles would not probably be 
 
106 CANOLLES. 
 
 heavily guarded. Once inside the British line of sen- 
 tries Cartaret meant to advance to the house, surprise 
 the sentry there, take him prisoner without noise, and 
 then it would not be difficult to pry open the ordinary 
 door and lock confining Canolles, after which the party 
 would return as quietly as they came, or if necessary 
 cut their way back to the river, plunge in and escape. 
 
 There were chances that his reckless project would 
 prove fortunate. War largely depends on surprising 
 an enemy ; and what an enemy does not suspect gen- 
 erally succeeds. Cartaret relied on the boldness of his 
 plan for success, and on the excellent composition of 
 the detachment he commanded. They \vere one and 
 all thorough fighters, ready to follow him anywhere ; 
 and just as the moon sank and profound darkness set- 
 tled down, he set out silently, having full permission 
 from Lafayette, and soon reached the banks of the 
 river. 
 
 All was still. The subdued murmur of the stream 
 seemed to render the silence still more profound. 
 Cartaret first entered the sluggish current, which gradu- 
 ally grew deeper; it mounted now to the waists of the 
 young man and his followers; then to the shoulders ; 
 then they began to swim, quietly holding their arms 
 out of the water. 
 
 Advancing thus like a line of shadows, the party 
 gradully drew near the southern bank, and under the 
 guidance of the scout whom he had sent across to gain 
 information, and w r ho now swam beside him, Cartaret 
 made for a little cove overshadowed by drooping boughs, 
 where a landing was silently effected. 
 
THE NIGHT ATTACK. 107 
 
 Whispered orders were now passed along the line 
 that the men should look to their pistols to ascertain if 
 the powder was wet, but to immediately return them 
 to their belts, and on no account to use them unless by 
 express orders. This was silently done, dry powder 
 replaced the wet in cases where the spray had damped 
 the priming, the arms were replaced, and Cartaret then 
 advanced in front with six men, crouching down and 
 slowly approaching the English picket, who was seen 
 dimly through the darkness slowly pacing to and fro 
 on his beat, 
 
 Cartaret waited until his back was turned. Then 
 he sprang upon him, and before he could make any 
 resistance or discharge his musket, seized him and 
 made him prisoner. Not a sound had been heard. So 
 far the expedition was a success. The man, who was 
 quite prostrated by the suddenness of the assault on 
 him, was ordered to keep silent on peril of his life he 
 exhibited not the remotest desire or intention to dis- 
 obey the order and Cartaret at the head of his men, 
 and guided by the scout, advanced rapidly in the direc- 
 tion of the house in which Canolles was confined. 
 
 Unfortunate!}^ the intended surprise met with an 
 unexpected obstacle. Gen. Phillips was a cautious 
 soldier, and had posted an interior as well as an exterior 
 picket, and on this, consisting of a vidette and a heavy 
 picket guard, Cartaret now suddenly came. 
 
 At the very moment when the presence of this guard 
 was ascertained, the guide whispered : 
 
 "There is the house, Lieutenant." 
 
 He pointed as he spoke through the darkness, and 
 
108 CANOLLES. 
 
 Cartaret saw against the dull night sky the dim outline 
 of the house occupied by Canolles. 
 
 "It is impossible to surprise the picket! " was the low 
 reply of Cartaret, whose heart sank. 
 
 " Yes, Lieutenant," said the cool fellow, in the same 
 tone, "but you can attack it!" 
 
 "Is there any chance of success ? I cannot have my 
 men cut to pieces for nothing." 
 
 "Maybe they'll not be cut to pieces. Everything is 
 in a surprise, Lieutenant. The army's asleep. We-'ll 
 capture or kill the guard in five minutes." 
 
 Cartaret still hesitated. 
 
 "Do you think the men will follow me?" 
 
 " Not a man will fail you." 
 
 " Pass the word then for every man to have his arms 
 ready. If the surprise fails, we'll depend on hard fight- 
 ing and take the chances." 
 
 "All right, Lieutenant." 
 
 And the order was communicated in a low tone to 
 the men, who, so far from failing their commander, 
 seemed to receive it with enthusiasm. 
 
 Cartaret then advanced and was promptly challenged. 
 He made no response, and the discharge of the senti- 
 nel's musket came like an echo to the challenge. At 
 this sound the guard suddenly rose, arms in hand, 
 shouts resounded, a rapid firing succeeded, and a deter- 
 mined combat took place in the darkness, lit up only 
 by the quick jets of flame from the muzzles of the 
 guns, seen by Ferrers and Canolles. 
 
 All this had occurred in a very few moments. The 
 picket guard, unfortunately for Cartaret, chanced to be 
 
THE NIGHT ATTACK. 109 
 
 composed of excellent material; and, although taken 
 by surprise and unaware of the size of the attacking 
 force, they fought obstinately, thus giving Lord Ferrers 
 time to reach the scene of the encounter. 
 
 The old nobleman with drawn sword rushed into the 
 midst of the combatants. The tongues of flame enabled 
 him to take in the whole situation at a glance ; and 
 shouting, "Stand fast, men; they are only a squad I" 
 he advanced in front, exposing himself needlessly to 
 the American fire. 
 
 In spite of the obstinate resistance of the picket, Car- 
 taret would probably have overpowered them, reached 
 the house and carried off Canolles; but the firing had 
 alarmed the forces, the hill suddenly swarmed with red 
 coats, and by order of Col. Ferrers the assailants were 
 promptly surrounded. 
 
 Further fighting was plainly useless on the part of 
 Cartaret a single glance assured him of that and he 
 gave the order to his men to save themselves. A num- 
 ber of them succeeded in doing so in the darkness, and 
 Cartaret, with half a dozen of his best men, covered 
 their retreat, fighting step by step as they retired. 
 
110 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 TO WHOM CANOLLES HAD WRITTEN. 
 
 It soon became obvious that Cartaret would not be 
 able to effect bis retreat. Suddenly a ring of red coats 
 closed around him. 
 
 " Surrender ! " cried a voice that of Col. Ferrers 
 and the glare of torches hastily kindled at a camp-fire 
 near lit up the figure of the old militaire, sword in hand, 
 six feet from the young American and his few men. 
 
 " Surrender ! To whom ? " was the reply. 
 
 " To me, Colonel Ferrers that is to say, unless you 
 prefer being cut to pieces ! " 
 
 As he spoke, the old nobleman lowered his sword 
 and burst into a grim laugh. 
 
 " Car-taret, or the devil take me!" he exclaimed. 
 "Saw you once before the image of a friend of mine. 
 So you came over to capture the army, eh ?" 
 
 " Not precisely, Colonel I surrender, of course." 
 
 "A night attack with a company, within a stone's 
 throw of headquarters! What a farce! But that's 
 your lookout." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " And I've no fault to find. George Ferrers in his 
 time has amused himself in something like the same 
 way." 
 
 Cartaret took his sword by the blade and presented 
 
TO WHOM CANOLLES HAD WRITTEN. Ill 
 
 the hilt to Ferrers. The old soldier looked at him with 
 the same grim humor, and grunted : 
 
 "What's that for?" 
 
 " I surrender my sword." 
 
 "I don't want your sword. Keep it." 
 
 He turned and gave an order the troops were 
 directed to return to their quarters with the prisoners, 
 except Cartaret, and then taking the young man fami- 
 liarly by the arm, Lord Ferrers said : 
 
 " Come on, my young friend. Phillips will wish to 
 ascertain from you what led you to make this crazy 
 attack, and as the poor fellow is sick, you ought to 
 gratify him." 
 
 Cartaret replied gloomily: 
 
 " I have no objection to inform Gen. Phillips or you, 
 Colonel, what my object was." 
 
 " Well, tell me." 
 
 " I came to rescue a prisoner in your hands! " 
 
 " What prisoner ? " 
 
 " His name is Canolles." 
 
 " Canolles ! You came over to rescue Canolles ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Humph! wonders will never cease! What on 
 earth have you to do with Canolles ? You take an 
 interest in him ? " 
 
 " A deep interest." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " It is my secret, or rather his own." 
 
 " A devilish strange fellow, on my honor this 
 Canolles ! There is no end of mystery about him, and 
 
112 CANOLLES. 
 
 he seems to make friends of everybody. The fact is a 
 curious one, as he's merely a highway robber." 
 
 " I assure you, Colonel," exclaimed Cartaret, " that 
 he is nothing of the sort." 
 
 " Not a robber ?" 
 
 "ISTo more than you or I! " 
 
 "Humph! well, you don't call him a man of honor 
 and a regular soldier?" 
 
 " He is a man of the nicest honor whether a regular 
 soldier or not depends on technical definition." 
 
 " He fights without a flag." 
 
 " True." 
 
 " Then he is a marauder, unless peculiar circum- 
 stances control his action." 
 
 " Such peculiar circumstances exist." 
 
 "What are they?" 
 
 Cartaret shook his head. 
 
 " I have informed you, Colonel, that the origin of 
 my deep interest more than deep interest in the per- 
 son calling himself Capt. Canolles was his secret, not 
 mine, since he wishes it to be preserved intact. I now 
 say as much of the motives actuating him, to which you 
 have referred." 
 
 "Well," exclaimed Ferrers, "I, too, take a deep 
 interest in Canolles. And one reason is that he is 
 like a son of mine roving about somewhere, if he's not 
 dead." 
 
 The words were uttered in a low, deep tone. Car- 
 taret looked at the speaker quickly, but made no reply. 
 
 "I think sometimes," added Ferrers, in the same 
 deep tone, " that Canolles is that son." 
 
TO WHOM CANOLLES HAD WRITTEN. 113 
 
 Cartaret was silent in the same strange manner. 
 Then he said slowly, and with the air of one who 
 means every word he utters to make its impression and 
 engrave itself on the memory : 
 
 " Col. Ferrers, you have lived long enough to know 
 that the most improbable things are often true, have 
 you not?" 
 
 "I have." 
 
 " Do you think it impossible that Capt. Canolles is 
 your son ? " 
 
 The young man could feel a slight tremor run through 
 the old soldier's arm. For some moments he was 
 silent. Then he muttered : 
 
 " No nothing is impossible but this is " 
 
 Suddenly he clutched the young man's arm and 
 dragged him in a direction nearly at right angles to 
 that in which they had been moving. 
 
 " Where are you conducting me, Colonel ? " said 
 Cartaret. 
 
 "To prison." 
 
 " Then we are not to visit Gen. Phillips ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " For the simple reason that I don't want you to talk 
 with him." 
 
 " Not talk with him ?" 
 
 " Or tell him what brought you over the river to- 
 night." 
 
 " Your reason ? " 
 
 " A sound one," grunted the old soldier. " Phillips 
 is a passionate fellow naturally, and is burnt up with 
 8 
 
114 CANOLLES. 
 
 fever, too. If you tell him you attacked bis troops to 
 rescue Canolles, he'll fall into a rage, and the last 
 chance for the prisoner will be lost." 
 
 " Are there any chances ? " * 
 
 "I'm afraid not one, but if there are, I'll not preju- 
 dice them. Come along ! I'll take you to the house 
 where he is a prisoner." 
 
 " And I shall see him!" exclaimed the young man 
 in an ardent tone. 
 
 " Why not?" growled Ferrers. "Yes, you shall see 
 him ! And I mean myself to see him, too. I've seen 
 and had a talk with him already to-night." 
 
 " Indeed !" 
 
 " A long talk ; but I must see him again something 
 takes me back." 
 . What is that?" 
 
 " To find out who and what he is. He declined tell- 
 ing me by word of mouth, but had explained everything 
 in a paper that he had written. I was to deliver this 
 paper to somebody the name was not yet written upon 
 it after reading it myself; and Canolles had just con- 
 sented that I should read it to-night when you began 
 your small display of fire-works yonder and interrupted 
 us. But come in ! In fifteen minutes from this time 
 there'll be no longer any secret in this affair." 
 
 They had reached the house; and raising his head 
 Lord Ferrers saw that the light was still burning in the 
 chamber of Canolles. 
 
 Passing the -sentinel, who saluted, Ferrers said to 
 Cartaret : 
 " Oblige me by shutting yourself up for half an hour 
 
TO WHOM CANOLLES HAD WRITTEN. 115 
 
 in that room on the left, where you will find a camp 
 couch if you are tired. I will then return, and you 
 shall have the interview you wish with your friend." 
 
 He then crossed the passage, entered the room occu- 
 pied by Canolles, closed the door, and peered through 
 the dim light of the tallow candle, which was sputter- 
 ing and nearly out. 
 
 Canolles had his right arm on the table, with the 
 hand doubled up, and his forehead rested easily on the 
 hand. The attitude was that of thought or of sleep. 
 As Lord Ferrers drew nearer he saw that the hand 
 rested upon the paper written by Canolles, which had 
 been folded and addressed to the person for whom it 
 was intended. 
 
 " Comrade !" said Ferrers. 
 
 Canolles did not move, and the old soldier, who was 
 now at his side, could hear his long, tranquil breathing. 
 The man who was to be shot at sunrise was sleeping as 
 sweetly as an infant. 
 
 An expression of singular softness came to the face 
 of Ferrers. The stern brows relaxed, arid something 
 resembling tears shone in his eye. 
 
 " Poor fellow ! brave fellow !" he murmured. " I 
 knew he would be cool to the last. But the paper ! 
 the paper !" 
 
 He bent down and attempted to draw it from beneath 
 the closed hand of Canolles. The sleeper stirred, his 
 regular breathing ceased, and the hand seemed to close 
 down more heavily on the paper. 
 
 " I'll wake him if -I try to get it away from him !" 
 muttered Ferrers, and I swear I would not wake him 
 
116 CANOLLES. 
 
 at such a time as this for ten thousand pounds sterling ! 
 No, no, old George Ferrers ! remember this is a soldier 
 like yourself and he'll be dead at sunrise! Sleep on, 
 comrade forget your troubles take your rest but 
 there's no harm in my looking to see what name is on 
 that letter, as I'm to convey it to the person you intend 
 it for." 
 
 He stooped down, slightly moved the hand which the 
 touch told him was quite calm and composed, like face 
 and forehead, and looked by the last glimmer of the 
 tallow candle at the address. This address was : 
 
 " Lieutenant Henry Cartaret, 
 
 Army of the Marquis de Lafayette." 
 
AT " BOLLINGBROOK." 117 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AT " BOLLINGBROOK." 
 
 It was nearly sunrise. The fresh and balmy air of 
 the May morning sweeping across the Blandford hills 
 entered the open windows of an apartment in the 
 " Bollingbrook House/' and gently fanned the feverish 
 forehead of a man leaning languidly back in an easy 
 chair and looking out upon the beautiful landscape. 
 
 Gen. Phillips had risen half an hour before, slowly 
 made his toilet without assistance donning an undress 
 uniform and while all in the house were still asleep 
 had repaired to the drawing-room the apartment 
 which we have entered once before and here, lying 
 rather than sitting in his easy chair by the open win- 
 dow, he seemed to indulge in a mood of sorrowful 
 musing. 
 
 The landscape upon which his eyes were fixed was 
 singularly lovely. Immediately in front was Blandford 
 Church, even then nearly half a century old, with its 
 ivy-covered walls and grassy knoll glimmering with 
 white tombstones. To the right and left were the tents 
 of the army. Beyond a belt of forest formed a fore- 
 ground to ranges of hills whose outlines fell gradually 
 away toward the south ; and the scattered houses of the 
 triple villages, Blandford, Petersburg and Pocahontas, 
 the quiet, lazy-looking river, the budding leaves, the 
 early flowers and bird songs, and the perfume of dawn 
 
118 CANOLLES. 
 
 these made up an exquisite picture, and exerted an 
 influence evidently sweet and soothing to the sick sol- 
 dier, who, free for the moment from the cares of com- 
 mand, seemed to be carried back to other scenes, perhaps 
 to earlier and happier years. 
 
 It was a proud and martial face the face of General 
 William Phillips but it had now grown soft; and a 
 certain wistful, longing expression had come to the 
 eyes ordinarily stern and rather cold. In his face there 
 was none of the ill-humor which had characterized it 
 during his interview with Col. Ferrers. A sad smile, 
 even, came at certain moments to his lips, and looking 
 toward the old Blandford church, he murmured : 
 
 " Life is, after all, a strange affair at best what the 
 next hour will bring forth remains still a mystery." 
 
 He stopped, mused, then added : 
 
 " I have a presentiment that I shall die here, and if I 
 should I shall doubtless be buried yonder near that old 
 church. Am I looking now at my own grave?' 7 
 
 He mused again for some moments in silence; then 
 he murmured : 
 
 " Well, well what matters it ? I should have chosen 
 to die, if I had had the power to choose, on the field, 
 in harness the death of a soldier. Instead, I die from 
 a fever in my bed for I feel that I shall die ; still, all 
 is the same.' 7 
 
 The songs of the birds flitting from tree to tree filled 
 up the pause which followed, and seemed to soothe the 
 weary -looking man. There was something inexpres- 
 sibly sweet in the gay warbling, and the red birds 
 passed from tree to tree like balls of animated fire. 
 
AT " BOLLINGBROOK." 119 
 
 The orioles seemed wild with joy at the coming of 
 spring ; the blue birds poured forth an incessant flood 
 of rejoiceful notes; and, sweeter than all, from the top- 
 most spray of an elm in the Bollingbrook grounds, an 
 "English mocking-bird"* filled the air with what 
 seemed a concert from every feathered songster of the 
 fields and forests. 
 
 The feverish forehead of the soldier drooped; his eyes 
 assumed a dreamy and almost tender expression ; he 
 seemed to have gone back to his youth perhaps to 
 some early love and was a boy again, when suddenly 
 a drum rolled, jarring harsh and ominous on the morn- 
 ing air. 
 
 At the sound Gen. Phillips rose suddenly in his 
 chair, and turned his head with the air of a man who 
 is listening. Again the drum rolled and he uttered a 
 sigh. 
 
 "I had quite forgotten," he murmured, "that poor 
 fellow is to be shot at sunrise, and yonder is the red 
 flush that precedes his death." 
 
 Again his head drooped. 
 
 " Strange ! " he muttered, " strange human life ! To- 
 day, a living, breathing man; to-morrow nothing. 
 Yesterday, this partisan Canolles was free, strong, 
 full of hope and the sense of enjoyment, and in ten 
 minutes from this time, by order of a worm like my- 
 self the worm calling himself William Phillips he 
 will pass from earth riddled by musket balls. And 
 then, in turn, comes the fate of the person who sends 
 
 * Why called the "English" mocking-bird I do not know, as the bird is 
 found nowhere except in America. The prefix "English" is, however, com- 
 mon in Virginia, and seems meant to indicate the best species of singers. 
 
120 CANOLLES. 
 
 him to his death ! He dies the death of a soldier, and 
 is more fortunate than I am : for I shall die burned up 
 by this fever this terrible fever ! " 
 
 Again the roll of the drum was heard, and on the 
 slope of the hill in front might be seen the detail of 
 men drawn up and ready to perform their melancholy 
 duty. The red flush in the east gradually deepened, 
 and the sun was near his rising. 
 
 "Poor fellow!" murmured Phillips, "after all, he is 
 to be pitied rather than blamed. Who knows ? It 
 was doubtless the result of bad training. He was not 
 surrounded by the sweet amenities, perhaps, of home, 
 but thrown with rough, coarse characters, who warped 
 his life and brought him to these evil courses. And 
 yet this man seemed no common plunderer. He even 
 had about him the indefinable something indicating 
 the gentleman. Well, well, I cannot take account of 
 that. My duty must be performed. A court-martial 
 tries and finds him guilty he is condemned to death 
 I am forced to approve the sentence of the court. There 
 is, there can be, no hope whatever for him." 
 
 The door behind the speaker opened, and an orderly 
 put his head in. 
 
 "The guard with two prisoners, sir," he said. "I 
 told them you could not see them, but one is a young 
 lady, who is crying and says she must see you." 
 
 "Crying?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 The face of Gren. Phillips darkened. 
 
 " No outrage, I trust. By Heaven ! if there is, the 
 
AT "BOLLINGBROOK." 121 
 
 perpetrator shall swing by the neck, be he man or 
 officer." 
 
 "I don't think it's that, sir," was the orderly's reply. 
 " The young lady says she has important information 
 to give you." 
 
 "Important information ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Who is the other prisoner?" 
 
 "A young man, sir rather a boy." 
 
 " Place a chair for the young lady that arm chair 
 and admit both the prisoners." 
 
 A few moments afterwards Fanny Talbot and Walter 
 Hayfield were introduced into the apartment. 
 
122 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE INTERVIEW. 
 
 As Fanny entered, Gen. Phillips rose and made a 
 courtly inclination. A single glance had told him that 
 the young girl was a lady entitled to all the respect he 
 could pay her. 
 
 " Be good enough to take a seat, madam," he said, 
 pointing to the arm chair, which the orderly had drawn 
 forward in obedience to his directions. 
 
 " Oh ! no, sir ! no, no ! I cannot sit down," exclaimed 
 Fanny, whose eyes streamed with tears. " There is 
 not a moment to lose ! I must speak, and speak 
 quickly ! " 
 
 Gen. Phillips fixed a penetrating look upon the 
 young lady and said : 
 
 " I will hear with pleasure what you desire to say, 
 madam. May I ask with whom I have the honor of 
 conversing ?-" 
 
 " My name is Fanny Talbot, sir, and I have come to 
 beseech you to spare the life of Capt. Canolles ? " 
 
 At these words the face of Gen. Phillips lost its mild 
 expression and grew cold. It was plain that he had 
 misapprehended the object of the young lady's visit. 
 The orderly informed him that she was crying, and had 
 come to communicate important information, from 
 which he had concluded that she had either some com- 
 plaint to make or some intelligence to give him. It 
 
THE INTERVIEW. 
 
 now became obvious that her aim was to plead with 
 him in behalf of Canolles to work, if possible, upon 
 his feelings by entreaties and tears and knowing that 
 there was no possible ground for pardoning the pris- 
 oner, he shrunk from being subjected, in his weak and 
 feverish condition, to an interview as trying as it would 
 be fruitless. 
 
 " I pray you will be seated, Miss Talbot," he said,, 
 coldly ; " or that you will permit me to resume my own 
 seat. I am ill and must sit down." 
 
 He sank back in his chair and added : 
 
 " You subject me to unnecessary pain by this inter- 
 view, Miss Talbot. I am not aware of the relations 
 you sustain toward the prisoner Canolles ; but, even if 
 he were your brother the nearest and dearest person 
 to you in the world I regret to be obliged to inform 
 you that it is impossible for me to interpose in his 
 case." 
 
 Fanny sank down in her chair and covered her face 
 with her hands, sobbing bitterly and apparently unable 
 to command her voice sufficiently to speak. 
 
 Gen. Phillips looked at her with an expression of 
 sincere pity. 
 
 " If I could spare the life of this person, Miss Tal- 
 bot," he said, " I give you my word of honor I would 
 do so I would have done so without your interposi- 
 tion. But this is impossible. I am not only a man 
 I am an official. The prisoner has forfeited his life by 
 his own act. He has had a fair trial. He has ac~ 
 knowledged the truth of the charges against him. A 
 court strongly desirous of sparing him, if possible 
 
124 CANOLLES. 
 
 for there never was apparently a braver man has been 
 compelled to condemn him, in accordance with the 
 laws of war. I have been compelled to approve the 
 sentence of the court or fail in my duty. I am there- 
 fore powerless, whatever distress you may feel at the 
 prisoner's fate." 
 
 Fanny rose, removing her hands from her wet face, 
 and exclaimed : 
 
 " But if there is something that you do not know ! 
 if the prisoner is not the common plunderer you 
 think him ! if he is a gentleman ! as true and noble 
 as any human being that ever lived ! if his object in 
 attacking the convoy was to accomplish an end which 
 all persons must respect him for wishing to accom- 
 plish" 
 
 The poor girl stopped, choked by tears, and Gen. 
 Phillips pushed back his chair, gazing at her with the 
 utmost astonishment. 
 
 " Miss Talbot ! " he exclaimed, " you must have lost 
 your reason under the pressure of distress. The pris- 
 oner a gentleman ! true and noble ! his object one 
 that ought to be respected ! Surely you are unaware 
 of what you are saying." 
 
 " Oh ! no ! no ! every word I say is true." 
 
 " Impossible ! " 
 
 Her face suddenly flushed with joy. 
 
 u But if I prove what I say ! if I show you that the 
 prisoner's motives were not only unselfish, but noble, 
 then you will pardon him, will you not? Oh! Gen. 
 Phillips, people say that you are a man of the highest 
 honor that this principle guides you in all things; 
 
THE INTERVIEW. 125 
 
 and I appeal to it now your authority here is above 
 all" 
 
 " But the meaning of all this, Miss Talbot," inter- 
 posed Gen. Phillips, with feverish emotion, "the 
 meaning ! Speak quickly ; the hour is at hand for the 
 prisoner's execution ! If you have proof of what you 
 allege in his favor, it behooves you to produce it 
 promptly. You say justly that my authority is con- 
 trolling, as the head of the army. Yes ; but I, in turn, 
 am controlled by the laws of war. I can stay the exe- 
 cution of the prisoner if it seems proper for me to do 
 so ; but I must have some valid reason ; and, you will 
 pardon me, Miss Talbot, for adding that I do not feel 
 at liberty to base such official interposition upon the 
 mere oral statement of any person." 
 
 " I have better proof than my own words ! " ex- 
 claimed Fanny ; " written proof! " 
 
 The trembling fingers of the young lady were in- 
 serted in the opening of her dress in front, laced after 
 the fashion of the times, with cord over a chemisette. 
 
 " Written proof, Miss Talbot!" said Gen. Phillips. 
 " Ah! that is what I ask ! I ask nothing better than 
 to be able, consistently with my duty, to save the life 
 you plead for ! Marauder or not, Can oil es is a brave 
 soldier ! The proof the proof, Miss Talbot ! " 
 
 Fanny made no reply. She stood as motionless as if 
 she had suddenly been turned to stone. The hand 
 she had placed in her bosom remained there. Her 
 eyes were fixed. Her face was as white as snow. 
 
 " The proof, the proof, madam ! " repeated Gen. 
 Phillips ; " and I must again call your attention, Miss 
 
126 CANOLLES. 
 
 Talbot, to the fact that time is passing the prisoner's 
 fate hangs in the balance ! In ten minutes it will be 
 too late." 
 
 Fanny did not reply. She was fumbling in the 
 bosom of her dress, and trembling. 
 
 " I I it was here," she murmured in a low voice, 
 "-in my bosom. I thought it was safe but but in 
 the darkness, while riding fast I have lost it ! " 
 
 'As she uttered these words her eyes closed, her 
 slender figure wavered as a flower wavers when the 
 wind strikes it, and but for Gen. Phillips, who started 
 up and supported her, she would have fallen fainting 
 to the floor. 
 
THE INTERVIEW. 127 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 AT SUNRISE. 
 
 A military execution is one of the saddest incidents 
 attending war. It depresses' the most careless, and 
 appals the bravest, for there is something brutal and 
 repulsive in the whole proceeding calculated to revolt 
 the most hardened spectator. Death in action is one 
 thing to be shot to death by a file of soldiers is an- 
 other. In combat the pulse is hot; the smoke, the 
 uproar, the smell of gunpowder fires the blood a man 
 falls then as a soldier, and dies the death of a soldier. 
 Shot to death by sentence of court-martial, he dies like 
 a hunted animal run down and knocked on the head. 
 His life is coldly extinguished by human beings who 
 have no ill-feeling toward him, who perhaps pity him. 
 He is the victim of an army regulation. He is not 
 killed in open fight, man against man ;. he is quietly 
 put to death by a detail of infantry who fire on him at 
 the word, see him fall, and then march back to their 
 quarters to breakfast, while others dig a grave and 
 place the corpse in it, and the whole affair is forgotten. 
 Of the brutal thing called war, the most brutal feature 
 is the military execution. 
 
 Canolles faced his fate, repulsive as it was, with un- 
 shrinking nerves. It is not without reason that the 
 world respects courage in a man, since the trait is one 
 which gives human nature a certain superiority and 
 
128 CANOLLES. 
 
 mastership over fate itself. The man who can look 
 death in the face without the tremor of a nerve is 
 greater than what is opposed to him and Canolles had 
 this courage to meet his fate with a steady eye. 
 
 "We left him asleep in his prison with Col. Ferrers 
 looking at him ; and this tranquil slumber continued 
 unbroken throughout the rest of the night. Ferrers 
 would neither wake him himself nor allow any other 
 person to do so. Giving express orders to this effect 
 to the guard, and informing Cartaret that his interview 
 with the prisoner should take place toward dawn, he 
 returned to his quarters, directed his orderly to wake 
 him in two hours, and stretching himself on a camp 
 couch fell asleep. 
 
 Ferrers had resolved to ascertain the contents of the 
 paper written by Canolles as soon as he woke, for which 
 there would be ample time ^ and then, if there were 
 any circumstances connected with the attack on the 
 convoy calculated to change the light in which the 
 court had viewed it, he meant to repair immediately to 
 the quarters of Gen. Phillips, apply for a reprieve, and 
 thus afford Canolles another chance for his life. 
 
 Such was the plan formed by Col. Ferrers. Unfor- 
 tunately he lost sight of the fact that his orderly might 
 be as drowsy as himself. This proved to be the fact. 
 The man nodded on his post, gradually his head sank, 
 and in a quarter of an hour he was asleep. 
 
 Two, three, four hours passed day came the east 
 began to redden and Col. Ferrers still slept on. The 
 camp stirred officers moved to and fro the stifled 
 hum of the forces came on the morning air, and still 
 
AT SUNRISE. 129 
 
 the old militaire, overcome by loss of rest in the earlier 
 hours of the night, continued to sleep as tranquilly as 
 the man whom he had ordered to wake him. 
 
 Suddenly the roll of a drum was heard, and Col. 
 Ferrers rose hastily to his feet, rubbing his eyes, and 
 looking around him. 
 
 All at once the truth flashed upon him. He had 
 overslept himself, and the orderly had failed in his 
 duty! 
 
 The face of the old soldier flushed with passion, and 
 rushing upon the man, who was just awake, he be- 
 stowed upon him a kick so violent that it literally 
 hurled him out of the tent. This was succeeded by a 
 volley of oaths and curses, which seemed to relieve in 
 some measure the soldier's indignation, and then 
 hastening from the tent he went rapidly in the direc- 
 tion of the house where Canolles had been confined. 
 
 Passing the sentinel quickly he hastened into the 
 apartment where he had left the prisoner. It was 
 vacant. Canolles was nowhere to be seen ; but on the 
 table lay the packet addressed to "Lieut. Henry Car- 
 taret," Canolles having added the words, "Deliver this 
 to Col. Lord Ferrers when I am dead." 
 
 The heart of the old militaire died within him. While 
 he was sleeping day had come ; Canolles was to be shot 
 at sunrise ; he had already been conducted to the place 
 of execution, and a single glance through the window 
 showed him the disk of the sun slowly rising above the 
 summit of the forest trees toward the east. 
 
 Seizing the packet and thrusting it into his breast, 
 he rushed from the room and on past the sentinel. 
 9 
 
130 CANOLLES. 
 
 " They have gone with the prisoner Canolles ? " he 
 cried to the soldier. 
 
 "Yes, sir," was the reply. 
 
 "How long?" 
 
 "About a quarter of an hour, sir." 
 
 "And the other officer captured last night did 
 he and Canolles meet?" 
 
 "No, sir; had your orders not to disturb the prisoner, 
 sir." 
 
 Col. Ferrers hastened, almost running toward the 
 spot, nearly a quarter of a mile distant, where a group 
 and the gleam of gun barrels indicated the locality of 
 the approaching tragedy. His face burned like fire 
 behind the snow-white mustache; his breast heaved 
 with emotion and the unwonted exertion. Grasping 
 tightly the paper left by Canolles he hurried on, vainly 
 endeavoring to attract the attention of the men com- 
 prising the fatal group. 
 
 Habituated to such spectacles, and familiar with the 
 details of military executions, Lord Ferrers could follow 
 every manoeuvre and calculate the possibility of his 
 reaching the spot before the order to fire was given by 
 the officer commanding the detachment. This seemed 
 now utterly impossible. The sun had risen above the 
 forest in full majesty, and the detachment which had 
 been detailed for the execution of the prisoner were 
 evidently awaiting the order of the officer in command 
 to perform their melancholy duty. 
 
 Canolles stood facing them, with his hands unbound 
 and his head bare. The former favor he owed to the 
 soldierly sympathy of the young officer who had been 
 
AT SUNRISE. 131 
 
 detailed to superintend the execution. , The officer had 
 made his appearance at the quarters occupied by the 
 prisoner a little after dawn, and had found him awake, 
 and folding the sheets of the paper which he had 
 written. 
 
 " Good morning, Lieutenant," said Canolles, court- 
 eously addressing the young Englishman hy the title 
 which his uniform indicated. " I see you have come 
 for me." 
 
 " Yes, Captain I am sorry to say it." 
 
 " The duty is not agreeable to you I see very well, 
 Lieutenant; but we cannot pass through this world 
 without being called upon to perform at times what is 
 repulsive. You are a soldier, sir, hence you lament 
 the necessity of giving the order to your men to tire on 
 a brother soldier, marauder though he be." 
 
 " I do not believe you are a marauder, sir," said the 
 young officer with some emotion ; " I was within earshot 
 during your trial, and am willing to pledge my honor 
 that you are a gentleman." 
 
 " Thanks," was the reply of Canolles. " Sympathy 
 is grateful to a man when he is surrounded by enemies 
 and about to die." 
 
 " You have as many friends as enemies in the 
 British army." 
 
 "But I die all the same," said Canolles in the same 
 calm voice. " Well, it is the fortune of war. I have 
 played and lost, and will stand the forfeit. A last 
 favor now it is slight." 
 
 " I will grant it if I can, with all my heart." 
 
 " I hoped to see a friend this morning before sun- 
 
132 CANOLLES. 
 
 rise Lord Ferrers. "We were conversing last night 
 when the American attack took place a mere skirmish, 
 no doubt and he was forced to leave me. I expected 
 him to return he was doubtless unable to do so. I 
 was sure, however, that I would see him this morning, 
 as I think I have his friendly sympathy, and he is 
 anxious to ascertain the contents of this paper." 
 
 " Of that paper?" 
 
 " Yes, what is written here interests him, or will. 
 There is now no time. Oblige me by seeing that the 
 paper is delivered to him after my death. I have made, 
 as you will see, an endorsement upon it requesting as 
 much." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! I will deliver it! Do riot fear, Captain ! " 
 exclaimed the young officer, nearly giving way to 
 sympathetic emotion. 
 
 "Thanks once more, Lieutenant; and now I am 
 ready. A last favor I shall make no attempt to 
 escape on the way to the ground leave my hands free. 
 I am a soldier, not a malefactor." 
 
 " Your wish is granted, Captain." 
 
 " And now I am at your orders, sir." 
 
 The young Englishman turned toward the door, so 
 much moved that he lost sight of the paper, which re- 
 mained lying upon the table. Canolles followed him, 
 the guard was put in motion, and the melancholy party 
 proceeded to the place of execution. 
 
 They soon reached it, and the men were drawn up in 
 line. Canolles turned and looked toward the east. The 
 red flush indicated that the sun was about to rise. 
 
AT SUNRISE. 133 
 
 " My time is short," said the partisan. " Give me a 
 moment, Lieutenant, to say my last prayer. I die a 
 Christian as well as a soldier. I believe with all my 
 heart and soul in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 
 He clasped his hands, closed his eyes, and his head 
 drooped ; for a few moments his lips were seen moving. 
 He then raised his head, and standing straight as an 
 arrow, fixed his eyes immovably on the detachment. 
 
 " Oblige me by inspecting the arms, Lieutenant," he 
 said, "I wish to die at the first discharge." 
 
 Nearly blinded by tears the young officer obeyed, 
 inspecting and returning the muskets, one by one. He 
 then took his post on the right of the detachment. 
 Canolles was standing ten or fifteen paces in front. 
 
 " Are you ready, Captain?" faltered the young 
 Englishman. 
 
 " Ready ! " was the reply in the resolute tone of the 
 soldier. 
 
 The English officer turned away his head as though 
 to hide from his eyes the terrible spectacle of a human 
 being torn to pieces by bullets, and hurled back, 
 drenched with blood. 
 
 "Present !" he muttered. 
 
 The soldiers presented. 
 
 "Take aim!" 
 
 The gleaming barrels fell like a single weapon, and 
 were directed at the prisoner's heart. 
 
 " Fire ! " trembled on the officer's lips, when a shout 
 was heard behind him, and turning his head he saw 
 Lord Ferrers hastening toward him with violent gesti- 
 culation. 
 
134 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Hold ! " shouted Lord Ferrers, and he was seen 
 pointing in the direction of the quarters of Gen. 
 Phillips, about four hundred yards distant. 
 
 In front of Bollinghrook House was seen a confused 
 group of men and horses, and in the midst of them a 
 young girl waving a paper. She seemed about to rush 
 with it toward the place of execution, but it was 
 snatched from her hand, one of the men leaped on 
 horseback, and a moment afterward was seen approach- 
 ing at headlong speed, digging the spurs into his horse 
 at every bound, and waving the paper above his head. 
 
 "Ground arms!" cried the young officer to the file 
 of men, and hastening toward the horseman he seized 
 the paper and tore it open. 
 
 It contained these words, in the handwriting of Gen. 
 Phillips : 
 
 "Arrest the execution of the prisoner Canolles, who is reprieved 
 until further orders. PHILLIPS." 
 
 " Thank God ! " cried the young man, and he hurried 
 to Canolles and grasped his hand. 
 
 " You are reprieved, Captain ! " he said. 
 
 "And a devilish close graze it was .'""exclaimed a 
 panting voice behind the officer. " Well, Lieutenant, 
 there is no further use for this file of men, I suppose?" 
 
 "None whatever, Colonel." 
 
 And ordering a corporal to march the detachment 
 back to their quarters, the officer said to Canolles : 
 
 " Take my arm, Captain. I am afraid you will have 
 to go back to prison ; but you are safe. I never knew 
 a reprieved man to suffer! " 
 
 " Faith ! here's another arm at your service, Canolles," 
 
AT SUNRISE. 135 
 
 said Lord Ferrers. " I meant to offer it to you on 
 your way to this spot, only I reached the prison too 
 late." 
 
 Canolles seemed to sustain his sudden good fortune 
 as coolly as he had faced approaching death. 
 
 " Ah ! " he said. " So you were at the prison, Colo- 
 nel, after I left it?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "You saw the paper addressed to you?" 
 
 "Yes, here it is." 
 
 Canolles extended his hand and took it. 
 
 " Since I am not dead, Colonel," he said, " I must 
 resume possession, for the present, of this paper." 
 
 "Humph!" 
 
 " The reprieve, short as it may be, materially alters 
 things. But be content I shall probably be shot soon, 
 and then the paper will reach you." 
 
 The Colonel muttered some ill-humored words, add- 
 ing : 
 
 " I wonder what induced Phillips to grant the re- 
 prieve ? I think I saw a woman yonder, but may I be 
 shot if I know who she can be !" 
 
 It was indeed Fanny, who had succeeded in moving 
 Gen. Phillips. Reviving from her fainting fit, she had 
 poured forth, with passionate sobs and tears what the 
 lost paper had contained, and doubtless the agony of 
 her tones and the spectacle of the beautiful face con- 
 tracted with anguish had a fuller effect than the perusal 
 of the paper could possibly have had. 
 
 She was still speaking when Gen. Phillips went to 
 the table, fortunately containing pen, ink and paper, 
 
136 CANOLLES. 
 
 and hastily wrote the reprieve, after which he called an 
 orderly. 
 
 " Your friend is reprieved until further orders, Miss 
 Talbot. I can grant you so much, consistently with 
 my duty, after listening to your very singular state- 
 ment." 
 
 Fanny seized the paper, exclaiming : " Oh ! thank 
 you ! bless you, Gen. Phillips ! " and rushed out of the 
 room. 
 
 " Follow this young lady," said Phillips to the or- 
 derly. " Take that paper, and ride at full speed to the 
 place where Canolles is about to be shot. Lose no time ; 
 make signals as you ride ; deliver it to the officer ; it 
 is a reprieve !" 
 
 What followed we have seen. As the door closed 
 on the orderly, Gen. Phillips sank back faintly in his 
 chair. 
 
 " Well," he murmured, " if I die, as I think I shall 
 very soon, one of my last official acts has been to grant 
 mercy to a poor fellow-creature and I in turn may 
 have mercy perhaps granted to me ! What a strange 
 and moving story ! Well, something told me from the 
 first that this man Canolles was no common plunderer 
 and I feel that what that poor girl stated is true. 
 Poor girl ! How devoted in her! how superior women 
 are to men in this noble trait of unswerving devotion ! " 
 
 He rose and went to the window, through which he 
 saw the arrival of the orderly and the delivery of the 
 paper. 
 
 " He is saved!" he said. "When I am gone his fate 
 will be decided by others." 
 
THE DEATH OF PHILLIPS. 137 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE DEATH OF PHILLIPS. 
 
 Gen. Phillips had been only too accurate in fore- 
 casting his fate. The scenes which have been described 
 took place daring the day and night of the tenth and 
 on the morning of the eleventh of May. 
 
 On the thirteenth of May, while the American forces, 
 under the Marquis de Lafayette still confronted the 
 British army in Petersburg, Gen. William Phillips, 
 " the proudest man in the proudest nation upon earth," 
 breathed his last in the Bollingbrook House from the 
 effects of bilious, fever. 
 
 He was buried, as he anticipated and probably de- 
 sired, in the graveyard attached to the ivy-clad old 
 Blandford church. The ceremonies were imposing. 
 Mourning insignia were seen everywhere, the bands 
 played the Dead March, and the army, with reversed 
 arms, followed the hearse, containing the remains of 
 their commander, warmly beloved, in spite of his hot 
 temper and pride, for his many excellent qualities of 
 heart. 
 
 The long cortege wound up the Blandford hill, the 
 coffin was removed from the hearse by Lord Ferrers 
 and the other pall-bearers, and lowered slowly to its 
 last resting place. The sublime burial service of the 
 Episcopal Church was then read by an army chaplain 
 a sudden volley of fire-arms rolled above the grave in 
 
138 CANOLLES. 
 
 honor of the dead soldier and an hour afterward a 
 mound of green turf, under the shadow of the Bland- 
 ford walls, alone indicated the spot where Gen. William 
 Phillips was sleeping his last sleep. 
 
 The command of the army devolved upon Gen. 
 Arnold, as next in rank, until the arrival of Lord Corn- 
 wallis, who was on his march from the South in the 
 direction of Petersburg. 
 
THE SEQUEL. 139 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE SEQUEL. 
 
 We shall now, before passing to other scenes of the 
 narrative, relate the sequel of events occurring at 
 Petersburg in this month of May, 1781. 
 
 The elevation, by the death of Gen. Phillips, of Gen. 
 Arnold to the supreme command of the British forces 
 at Petersburg, aroused in Lord Ferrers, and the officers 
 almost without exception, a sentiment of the deepest 
 indignation and even disgust. The feeling in the army, 
 as afterwards in London, in reference to Arnold, was 
 general and unmistakable. Compelled to carry out 
 the stipulations made between him and Sir Henry 
 Clinton a certain grade of rank and a certain amount 
 of money for the surrender of West Point the Eng- 
 lish government had given him the rank and paid the 
 money, but there all had ended. The officers of the 
 army were obliged to salute the uniform he wore and 
 obey his orders, but they were not obliged to personally 
 associate with him, and absolutely refused to do so. He 
 was despised by them as a turncoat and traitor to his 
 colors, and the idea now of being subject to the orders 
 of such a person was revolting. Lord Ferrers espe- 
 cially, who had never made any secret of his own pro- 
 found contempt for Arnold, expressed in the most pub- 
 lic places and with utter carelessness his sentiments. 
 " The fellow's a malefactor ! " he growled. " What 
 
140 CANOLLES. 
 
 the devil does the War Office mean by putting a jail- 
 bird in command over British officers and gentlemen ? 
 
 We regret that respect for the proprieties and a fear 
 of shocking the reader prevents us from recording the 
 expressions indicated by the space here left blank. 
 Such a salvo of oaths, resembling a broadside of can- 
 non, generally concluded the observations of Col. Fer- 
 rers on the subject of Gen. Arnold, and other officers 
 indulged in denunciations as bitter, if not as eloquent 
 and striking. 
 
 The officers, headed by Col. Ferrers, were in this 
 state of mind in regard to Arnold, when it suddenly 
 became known that an order had just been issued re- 
 versing the reprieve of Canolles by Gen. Phillips, and 
 directing that the sentence of the court-martial con- 
 demning him to death should be executed in twenty- 
 four hours. 
 
 When -he received this information Col. Ferrers re- 
 paired to the quarters of Gen. Arnold, remained shut 
 up alone for an hour with that officer, and those who 
 were within hearing knew from the loud and angry 
 voices that a tempestuous interview was taking place. 
 The details of this interview were known to no persons 
 but those who took part in it; but it was afterwards 
 discovered that Lord Ferrers had protested indignantly 
 against the death of Canolles ; had nearly advanced to 
 the point of a personal defiance of Gen. Arnold; and 
 had left the apartment in a rage, muttering curses, and 
 expressing his opinion of Arnold in a voice loud 
 enough to be heard by every one in his vicinity. 
 
THE SEQUEL. 141 
 
 An hour afterwards Gen. Arnold was called upon to 
 undergo a second interview, though of a different 
 character. 
 
 Fanny Talbot, accompanied by Walter, who had been 
 permitted to go free, had repaired to the house of the 
 friend whom she had mentioned, Miss Lucy Maurice, 
 the daughter of a gentleman of the town, and had here 
 remained without seeking an interview with Canolles, 
 but employed every means of interesting those around 
 her in his case. She had been visited daily by Lieut. 
 Henry Cartaret, who had succeeded in procuring his 
 release on parole the object of Col. Ferrers, who ef- 
 fected his release, being to exchange him for Lieut. 
 Tom Ferrers, a prisoner, as the reader will recall, in 
 the hands of the Americans. Harry, who had prompt- 
 ly visited Canolles in his prison, now joined his exer- 
 tions to those of Fanny to procure the pardon of the 
 partisan, and like Fanny was shocked by the sudden 
 intelligence that Canolles would be shot on the next 
 morning. 
 
 The interview which Gen. Arnold was now called 
 upon to pass through, immediately after that with Col. 
 Ferrers, was with Fanny. 
 
 The young lady remained pleading with the British 
 commander for more than two hours. The colloquy 
 with Ferrers had been loud and angry this one was 
 full of sobs and tears on Fanny's part, to which Gen. 
 Arnold made only cold and brief replies. It was plain 
 that he would no more yield to the entreaties and tears 
 of Miss Talbot than to the indignant protest of Col. 
 Ferrers. The truth was that the denunciation of him- 
 
142 CANOLLES. 
 
 self by Canolles during the session of the court-martial 
 had violently enraged Gen. Arnold, and he was not a 
 man to forgive a person who had so bitterly insulted 
 him. Every word uttered by the partisan rankled in 
 his memory his fury had settled down into a cold 
 resolution to wreak revenge upon him and finding the 
 occasion unexpectedly present itself, he seized it, 
 allowing no prayer to move him. 
 
 The result was that all Fanny's entreaties were un- 
 heeded. They even aroused in him a sullen animosity. 
 He would send the man who had publicly insulted. him 
 to his death, if only to announce his defiance to the 
 officers of the army, with whose sentiments towards 
 himself he was perfectly familiar. As to this girl the 
 sweetheart, perhaps, of the prisoner she should not 
 even see him again. The result of the interview, 
 therefore, was melancholy it had better have never 
 taken place. When she left him, he said briefly to the 
 officer of the guard : 
 
 "Send that young woman out of the lines of this 
 army under guard in an hour and tell her that I 
 order her not to return." 
 
 And two hours afterwards poor Fanny, mounted 
 upon the horse which she had ridden on her entrance 
 into Petersburg, was outside the lines', making her way 
 with bitter sobs and tears, and pitied by the very 
 soldiers who had escorted her, to Chatsworth. 
 
 On the same night Lord Ferrers returned to the 
 quarters of Gen. Arnold and presented him with a 
 petition signed by nearly every officer in the army, 
 asking that Canolles might be reprieved until Lord 
 
THE SEQUEL. 143 
 
 Cornwallis had an opportunity to decide upon his case. 
 Arnold received the paper stiffly and in silence, inform- 
 ing Lord Ferrers coldly tfiat he would consider it and 
 return it in an hour with his endorsement. To this 
 Lord Ferrers had nothing to say; he returned to his 
 quarters, and in an hour the petition was brought back 
 to him by an orderly. The endorsement on it was as 
 follows : 
 
 "Returned disapproved. The prisoner Canolles was tried by 
 court-martial and condemned to death as a marauder. As I see no 
 reason to disapprove the action of the court, it is hereby approved, 
 and the prisoner Canolles will be executed at sunrise to-morrow. 
 
 "B. ARNOLD, Brigadier-General." 
 
 Col. Ferrers, on perusing this endorsement, fell into 
 such a rage that he nearly burst an artery. He repaired 
 to Canolles' prison arid had a long private interview 
 with him that night, promising to return at daylight. 
 
 When he approached the door of the house, just as 
 the first gray of dawn touched the dampness, he was 
 surprised to observe that no sentinel was posted in 
 front of it. 
 
 A step further brought him to the gateway of the 
 in closure. He opened it suddenly his foot struck 
 against something, and looking down he saw that it was 
 the body of a man, evidently the sentinel on post. He 
 seemed to have been stunned, probably by a blow from 
 the butt of a musket on the back of the head, as his 
 hair was bloody and his breathing indicated that he 
 was not dead. 
 
 Lord Ferrers walked slowly into the house, a grim 
 smile curling his white mustache. 
 
 " Glad of it," he muttered. " Canolles is safe, and 
 
144 CANOLLES. 
 
 his Excellency Gen. Benedict Arnold will probably 
 have a fit ! " 
 
 The old militaire wound u with a positive chuckle, 
 and went straight to the room occupied by Canolles. 
 It was vacant, but he saw by the dim light struggling 
 through the window that a paper was lying upon the 
 table. He took it up, held it to the light and read : 
 
 " For Colonel Lord Ferrers : 
 
 "I shall not be here, my dear Colonel, in all probability, to receive 
 the visit which your brave heart made you promise. I am free, or 
 soon shall be. A youth of my command, called Walter Hayfield, 
 has just surprised the sentinel, stunning him with a blow from his 
 own musket, and opened my prison door. 
 
 "As the moment is critical, and the alarm may be given, I must 
 deny myself the pleasure of writing more. 
 
 "I have not left the paper containing a statement of my motives 
 and an account of myself, since it was to be delivered to you only 
 when I was dead. As it is possible that I may escape, I must retain 
 it for the present, even from one to whom 1 owe more than 1 can 
 express. ' ' CANOLLES. " 
 
 Col. Ferrers uttered a loud laugh, and his snowy 
 mustache again curled toward his eyes with enjoyment. 
 "Well, of all the cool fellows !" he exclaimed. "How 
 is it possible not to admire a man like that?" 
 
 All at once the house swarmed with the guard, who 
 had just discovered the escape of the prisoner. 
 
 At their head, half-dressed only, was the officer of the 
 night, the young lieutenant who had exhibited so much 
 sympathy for Canolles when conducted to his execution. 
 
 "What is the matter? What has occurred?" he 
 exclaimed, rubbing his eyes. "You here, my Lord?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Something has happened ? " 
 
THE SEQUEL. 145 
 
 " Certainly something has happened, Lieutenant 
 Canolles has given Arnold the slip !" 
 
 He leaned over and took the young fellow's arm, 
 exclaiming, with another laugh : 
 
 "And I wouldn't have him recaptured for a thousand 
 pounds ! " 
 
 10 
 
PART II. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 BY MOONLIGHT. 
 
 Under the moonlight of a summer night, two girls, 
 in the grounds of Chatsworth, were holding one of 
 those private and confidential interviews dear to the 
 hearts of maidens in their bloom. 
 
 The theater of war had suddenly been shifted from 
 the south side to the heart of the Commonwealth of 
 Virginia. Reaching Petersburg soon after the death 
 of Phillips, Lord Cornwallis had assumed command of 
 all the British forces, crossed James River, advanced 
 upon Lafayette, who retired before him toward the 
 Rappahannock, and penetrated the interior, with the 
 sword in one hand and the torch in the other. 
 
 A brief and fiery episode of the long conflict fol- 
 lowed fiery in every sense, since Col. Tarleton, the 
 revengeful chief of the English cavalry, defeated 
 by Morgan at the Cowpens, made the hot weather 
 hotter still by setting fire to mills, barns and private 
 dwellings proceeding, it appeared, upon the theory 
 that war meant war on the unarmed as well as the 
 armed, on non-combatants as on enemies sword in 
 hand. Old men were arrested, negro servants carried 
 off, cattle killed, the throats of suckling colts cut, hen- 
 houses rifled and the whole region laid waste. Wher- 
 ever Col. Tarleton moved he left behind him blood, 
 tears, mourning, and the prospect of starvation for the 
 
150 CANOLLES. 
 
 poor women and children, flying from their homes in 
 flames. 
 
 A hasty dash at Charlottesville, whence the Legis- 
 lature escaped ; a fruitless attempt to seize Gov. Jeffer- 
 son at Monticello then news came that Lafayette was 
 marching to give the English battle, and Lord Corn- 
 wall is, apparently so anxious to prevent the boy Lafay- 
 ette from escaping him, fell back rather ingloriously 
 towards the lowlands, pursued, by his young opponent. 
 
 Such was the condition of things when our narrative 
 resumes its course, and its personages reappear upon 
 the scene. 
 
 The summer night at Chatsworth was exquisite. 
 Twilight was just deepening into dark, but a full-orbed 
 moon, soaring through light clouds, poured a flood of 
 dreamy splendor on the field, the forests and the river. 
 
 At the foot of the Chatsworth grounds, and imme- 
 diately upon the banks of the stream, was a mass of 
 rock nearly covered by that exquisitely delicate species 
 of Virginia moss resembling emerald velvet; and over- 
 shadowing this rock was a solitary pine, which had 
 thrust itself through a cleft, and expanding slowly with 
 the passing years, now towered aloft, the deep green 
 tassels of its crown bending over the water. In these 
 tassels of the great tree the river breeze seemed always 
 whispering, and the low memorial murmur prompted 
 to those dreams which spring from memory. From 
 the rear or land side a narrow pathway ran around to 
 the river front, gradually ascending; and here, near 
 the summit, and just beneath the stump of the pine, 
 was an indentation forming a seat entirely hidden from 
 
BY MOONLIGHT. 151 
 
 an observer on the lawn above. From this romantic 
 retreat, on spring, or summer, or autumn days, you 
 looked out on the river, with its white sails hovering 
 like waterfowl with outspread wings upon the current, 
 on the far misty headlands opposite, and the blue sky 
 drooping down on the far line of forests. At the hour 
 when we visit it now all this was only dimly visible, 
 but there was an added charm. The great moon had 
 thrown across the breast of the stream a long pathway 
 of light, and as the river breeze gently agitated the 
 current this pathway broke into silver ripples, over 
 which the feet of fairies might have danced a bridge 
 of beams conducting them to some midnight revelry 
 to which " the horns of Elfland faintly blowing " 
 summoned them ! 
 
 The hiding place in the " Moss Rock," for so the 
 spot was called, was occupied, however, on this night 
 of summer, by two maidens incontestably of mundane 
 flesh and blood most attractive if not fanciful or poetic 
 beings, with slender but by no means aerial figures, 
 faces not at all misty in the morn, but blooming like 
 the blush rose, and white arms, which the summer 
 evening had induced them to divest of all covering. 
 
 One of them Fanny Talbot presented a strong 
 contrast to her companion, apparently of about the same 
 age as herself. Fanny, with her large, mild eyes, full 
 of that dove-like softness which we have described,' and 
 her bearing as composed, was the precise opposite, in- 
 deed, of the other Lucy Maurice, the friend with 
 whom she had stayed in Petersburg when she had gone 
 thither intent on saving Canolles. Lucy was brunette, 
 
152 CANOLLES. 
 
 tall, with black eyes, raven hair, and white teeth, spark- 
 ling with perpetual smiles. In the brilliant eyes, flash- 
 ing with the spirit of fun, the rosy cheeks and the red 
 lips, never compressed or drawn down with prim re- 
 serve, you read the very soul of mirth, health, and that 
 buoyant life which seems to defy melancholy, and 
 make its possessor as happy in the dark days as in the 
 bright ready, if the sun will not shine, to supply from 
 within a sunshine of its own. 
 
 Miss Lucy Maurice had wound her arm, maiden 
 fashion, around the waist of Fanny the two heads 
 leaned back side by side against the rock brown and 
 raven curls entangled, and this was the dialogue which 
 ensued between the young ladies. 
 
LUCY MAURICE AND FANNY TALBOT. 153 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WHAT LED MISS LUCY MAURICE TO VISIT MISS FANNY 
 
 TALBOT. 
 
 But perchance the reader does not wholly relish this 
 unceremonious manner of introducing a new person- 
 age without an explanation of her presence. This 
 explanation is simple. 
 
 When Fanny went on her brave expedition to Pe- 
 tersburg, she sought refuge there, as we have seen, with 
 a friend of hers, the daughter of a gentleman of the 
 town. She and Lucy Maurice were old and dear 
 friends, having been schoolmates in the place ; and the 
 warm-hearted Lucy, without making any indiscreet in- 
 quiries in regard to Fanny's motives, had assisted her 
 in every manner in her power, quietly deferring to the 
 future that myriad of questions which burned upon her 
 pretty lips. This silence was the result of delicacy and 
 a fear of increasing the evident pain and agitation of 
 her friend. When Lieut. Harry Cartaret, however, 
 made his appearance as a prisoner on parole, and she 
 formed his acquaintance, it appeared to Miss Lucy that 
 her reticence was no longer necessary, and she desired 
 the young soldier to inform her who the person called 
 Canolles really was, since Fanny's interest in a mere 
 freebooter was incredible. To this plain question 
 Harry Cartaret had made an evasive reply, looking 
 very gloomy. But gradually his gloom was dissipated 
 
154 CANOLLES. 
 
 by the brilliant light of Lucy Maurice's eyes, and it 
 soon became plain to that astute young lady that she 
 was making a conquest of the youthful son of Mars 
 an idea which evidently had never in the least entered 
 Lieut. Harry's mind. 
 
 Had Miss Lucy indeed known that this handsome 
 young fellow was engaged to be married to Fanny, such 
 was her loyalty and affection for her friend that she 
 would have walked over burning ploughshares before 
 she would have flirted with him would have turned 
 her back abruptly on her new admirer. Of the rela- 
 tions between Fanny and Harry Cartaret she was, 
 however, perfectly ignorant. Then, having in the dull 
 war days very little to amuse her, and delighted to 
 show the young British officers, whom she treated with 
 immense disdain, how very different and more charm- 
 ing she could be when a rebel admirer appeared, Miss 
 Maurice suddenly deployed all her feminine artillery; 
 her bright eyes shot forth smiles full of fascinating 
 preference ; she paraded herself side by side with 
 Harry on the front porch of her father's house at twi- 
 light, as the young British warriors clanked by in gal- 
 lant uniforms and with envious glances, and in every 
 manner strove to say to those jealous youths, "How 
 stupid you seem to me, and how I detest you ! Here 
 beside me, playing with the rose I gave him, and 
 whispering to me, is a person I prefer a thousand times 
 to you ! " 
 
 It was delightful to tell the young British dandies 
 this without speaking to them, and Miss Lucy keenly 
 enjoyed the ceremony, even proceeding so far as to 
 
LUCY MAURICE AND FANNY TALBOT. 155 
 
 deliberately repair at dewy eve to the grassy grounds 
 around the old Blandford church, much frequented by 
 romantic British youths, 'and there, leaning with con- 
 fiding sweetness on the arm of Harry, stroll slowly in 
 the pleasant evening with her eyes cast down, a modest 
 color in her cheeks, and pressing to her lips with bash- 
 ful confusion a rosebud gave no doubt, the observant 
 youths concluded, of her love for the devilish con- 
 founded rebel fellow let out on parole ! 
 
 These feminine bumming birds will act thus; but 
 sometimes they hover too close to the flowers, and the 
 leaves suddenly close and hold them. Lucy began to 
 be interested in Harry Cartaret without being aware 
 of it. She had flirted with him for her amusement and 
 to wreak her spite upon the young militaires, her ene- 
 mies, but gradually her feelings became engaged, and 
 she grew far less demonstrative. There were now no 
 more tete-a-tetes upon the porch with sweet side glances 
 from sweet eyes ; no more promenades around Bland- 
 ford, and wicked, languishing tones and stolen looks 
 Miss Lucy Maurice became bashful in reality, and the 
 change had a stronger influence than ever on her 
 admirer. It was plain that Harry Cartaret had fallen 
 in love with Miss Lucy Maurice, and that he was con- 
 scious of it now a consciousness which did not, how- 
 ever, seem to afford him much enjoyment. He grew 
 moody, yielded to fits of gloom, and would sit for a 
 long time without speaking in the presence of Lucy, 
 who was nearly as silent as himself. 
 
 He was engaged to Fanny Talbot, and he was in 
 love with Lucy Maurice. There was the source, of 
 
156 CANOLLES. 
 
 course, of poor Harry's gloom. It was not his fault, 
 lie argued with himself he had never meant in the 
 least to fall in love with the pretty face beside him 
 he had simply opened his eyes one morning to find 
 that she had made him a hopeless captive and yonder, 
 at Chatsworth, was his 'betrothed awaiting him; for 
 Fanny, the reader will remember, had been sent out of 
 the British lines by Gen. Arnold. 
 
 Poor Harry brooded over this unfortunate state of 
 things, and felt that he was not acting like a gentleman 
 in the least. But his passion remained unchanged. 
 What was he to do ? he asked himself. Tell Fanny 
 frankly that his love had changed ? Impossible ! That 
 appeared to him in the light of absolute dishonor, and 
 dishonor must never attach to the name of Cartaret ! 
 Keep his troth with Fanny ? His heart sank at the 
 thought. How marry one when his heart was wholly 
 given to another? In whatever direction he turned all 
 was perplexity and misery, and it was with something 
 like relief that the young fellow heard one morning 
 that he had been exchanged for Tom Ferrers, and was 
 at liberty to return to the American camp. He had a 
 last interview \vith Lucy the most silent, awkward 
 and constrained interview on the part of both then 
 with some muttered words, and a sudden blush, he 
 bowed over her hand, touched it slightly with his lips, 
 and left her left a maiden who proceeded to run up- 
 stairs to her chamber, throw herself on her bed and 
 burst out crying. 
 
 Then Miss Lucy Maurice, drying her eyes, proceeded 
 to mope and render her affectionate family uneasy in 
 
LUCY MAURICE AND FANNY TALBOT. 157 
 
 reference to her health. What could have produced 
 so sudden a change in her? each asked the other. The 
 heat? Or was Petersburg so dull and humdrum now 
 since my Lord Cornwallis and all his followers had 
 marched away that it oppressed her? Yes, doubtless 
 these were the explanations of the young lady's depres- 
 sion; the heat and dullness of the town. So it was 
 suggested that she should have change of air. It was 
 utterly shocking that so healthy a damsel should rise 
 from breakfast without having swallowed a mouthful ! 
 and the suggestion took the practical form, "Go and 
 make a visit to Fanny Talbot, at Chatsworth, where 
 the river breezes will bring back your appetite .for 
 breakfast!" 
 
 Lucy indifferently acquiesced; her father escorted 
 her to Chatsworth, where Fanny met her with the 
 warmest affection, Miss Eleanor with great politeness, 
 and Mrs. Talbot with that subdued interest which she 
 bestowed equally upon every occurrence ; and then 
 Miss Lucy proceeded, most unexpectedly and against 
 all romantic rules, really to get back her appetite. 
 Youth, like truth, is mighty and will prevail. At 
 eighteen the stomach if we may use that inelegant 
 term, for which, nevertheless, there is no more elegant 
 substitute is a great foe of romance. Youth demands 
 food, and food produces health, and health produces 
 " feeling well," and feeling well produces cheerfulness, 
 and cheerfulness that enjoyment of life resulting in 
 smiles and roses. So Lucy grew rosy, and smiled now 
 as gaily as ever, and she and Fanny deported them- 
 selves very much like two school-girls on a holiday. 
 
158 CANOLLES. 
 
 Fanny had courageously thought and fought down her 
 own feeling of depression, and had recovered all the 
 brave tranquillity of her calm, brave character. She 
 and Lucy had avoided with sedulous care any allusion 
 to their more private and personal matters, while 
 indulging upon all else with perfect unreserve; and 
 such was the state of affairs, when rambling out on 
 that summer night by moonlight, the young ladies 
 ascended the narrow pathway and ensconced themselves 
 in the hiding place under the great pine on the Moss 
 Eock. 
 
AT THE " MOSS ROCK.' : 159 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 AT THE. " MOSS-ROCK/' 
 
 " Who is Canolles ? I might as well tell you, Fan, 
 that I have been burning yes, burning! to ask that 
 question for a whole month, and unless it is agreeable 
 to you to, contemplate the spectacle of your friend sud- 
 denly bursting and expiring from pent-up curiosity you 
 will extremely oblige by relieving her feelings, as it 
 were unlacing her corsage, and allowing her to get a 
 little breath." 
 
 This from Miss Lucy Maurice, and then quick laugh- 
 ter from Fanny. 
 
 " Do you know one compliment I have always paid 
 you, Lucy? " 
 
 " I do not. I know I have paid you one thousand 
 behind your back." 
 
 " I am sure you have. Well, the especial one I have 
 paid you is believing that you have no curiosity." 
 
 " Me ! " screamed Miss Maurice, with doubtful gram- 
 matical correctness. " Good gracious ! If there is any 
 one dear delightful vice I have in the purest perfection 
 it is curiosity ! " 
 
 " I do not believe that." 
 
 " It is perfectly true." 
 
 " But why do you care to know who Capt. Canolles 
 is, Lucy, and why do you suppose that I can tell you, 
 if there is anything to tell?" 
 
160 CANOLLES. 
 
 " You will please not play the female diplomat with 
 me, Miss Talbot, and attempt to throw dust in my eyes. 
 * Why do I suppose that you can tell me ?' Because 
 you rode through the British lines at night to save his 
 life, and saved it." 
 
 Fanny blushed a little and then laughed to hide what 
 seemed some confusion. 
 
 " Well," she said, " of course it would he absurd in 
 me, Lucy, to say that I do not take an interest in that 
 is know Capt. Canolles " 
 
 " I think it would!" said the vivacious Lucy, with 
 frank laughter. 
 
 " Know him, that is," continued Fanny, " better than 
 some other people. Yes, Lucy, I am acquainted with 
 him and have a sincere friendship for him; but you 
 must let me add, dear, that I cannot tell you anything 
 more than this." 
 
 "'Dear'! oh! yes! You are growing suddenly 
 affectionate. You are * dear '-ing me now ! I'll be 
 your 'darling 7 next, when I'm to be shut up and si- 
 lenced." 
 
 " You are my darling, now," said Fanny, with her 
 charming smile, and quietly turning her head so that 
 her cheek lightly touched that of Lucy, after which 
 brief and flitting exhibition of feminine fondness she 
 resumed her dignity by withdrawing the cheek. 
 
 " Oh ! very well. Here we are billing and cooing 
 like two ring-doves in love with each other," exclaimed 
 Lucy, " and I suppose if one of the stronger vessels of 
 the masculine sex were to see us his lordly nose would 
 turn up in scorn of such lackadaisical proceedings ! 
 
AT THE " MOSS ROCK." 161 
 
 Men never believe that women care anything for each 
 other, and as to their kisses, they declare that we 
 always kiss just before we begin to scratch each 
 other." 
 
 " We at least have never yet scratched each other, 
 Lucy." 
 
 " And I trust we are not going to begin on the pres- 
 ent occasion. But shall I be frank, Fan ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I feel a violent desire to scratch you now ! You 
 know I am dying with curiosity. I have attempted to 
 express my feelings by that lovely figure of a corsage 
 that is too tight to let one breathe and you will tell 
 me nothing." 
 
 " Lucy, dear," said Fanny, repeating the obnoxious 
 form of address, "I would tell you everything I know 
 about Capt. Canolles, as he calls himself and by one 
 of the strangest chances in the world I know everything 
 connected with him but I cannot. He wishes to. re- 
 main to all but a few persons only what he appears to 
 be, for the present at least; and to reveal his secret 
 even to you would not be honorable in me. You see 
 I am speaking candidly and seriously. I do not at- 
 tempt to conceal from you I cannot that Capt. Ca- 
 nolles is not the person he seems to be. Who and what 
 he is I have no right to say, darling." 
 
 " There it is at last ! I knew it was coming. i Dar- 
 ling! ' Very well. I see, Fan, there is no more to say. 
 Keep your secret. Only one other question." 
 
 " Ask it, and if I can answer it I will." 
 
 Miss Lucy looked her companion full in the eye. 
 11 
 
162 CANOLLES. 
 
 " My question is going to be indiscreet." 
 
 " I am sure it will not be." 
 
 "Well, you shall form your own opinion, and you 
 must tell your ' dear darling' this at least. Is Capt. 
 Canolles 1 am almost afraid !" 
 
 "Goon!" 
 
 " Is Capt. Canolles that is, does he are there 
 that is to say any peculiar relations existing between 
 yourself and that gentleman ? " 
 
 " None in the world ! " Fanny replied emphatically, 
 with the same blush. 
 
 " Well, I am glad to hear that. I've no doubt your 
 friend is a gallant fellow everybody says so but you 
 should marry some staid and respectable squire, with a 
 big mansion-house, not a wandering soldier, who car- 
 ries his house on his back that is, in a roll behind his 
 saddle." 
 
 Fanny, recovering her calmness, greeted these words 
 Avith a smile : 
 
 " Will you follow your own advice ?" 
 
 "I? I have no intention of marrying.''' 
 
 " You say that a little sadly, Lucy. I hope you have 
 not gone, like the dear imprudent thing you are, and 
 lost your heart to anybody?" 
 
 It was Lucy's turn to blush, which she proceeded to 
 do, not with the moderation of her friend, but in the 
 most vivacious and unmistakable manner. In fact, 
 Miss Lucy Maurice turned crimson, and vainly essayed 
 to laugh. 
 
 " Of course not. How absurd I should be." 
 
AT THE "MOSS ROCK/' 163 
 
 " You have seen no one then to fancy ? " 
 
 " No one whatever." 
 
 Fanny remained silent for some moments ; then she 
 said quietly : 
 
 " Do you know an idle thought occurred to me?" 
 
 " What idle thought?" 
 
 " You will certainly laugh, but the fancy came. Shall 
 I tell you what it was ?" 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " I have a cousin in the army." 
 
 " Indeed ! And pray what is the meaning of that 
 sudden and apparently irrelevant statement, madam ?" 
 
 "A cousin who is an acquaintance of yours." 
 
 " Of mine ! " 
 
 A quiet flush followed ; it was plain that Miss Lucy 
 Maurice began to understand what was coming. 
 
 "A cousin whose name is Henry Cartaret whose 
 acquaintance you made, you remember, at Petersburg." 
 
 " Yes I believe I did see him once or twice." 
 
 "Why, Lucy! you know you saw him more than 
 once or twice before I was sent from the town ! " 
 
 " I did not count the number of times," was the 
 reply, in a tone of affected indifference. 
 
 "Well, to speak plainly, I thought, perhaps, that 
 you and Harry might take a fancy to each other." 
 
 "What an idea!" 
 
 "The idea is not so absurd. He is very brave and 
 handsome, and somebody else is very pretty, as well as 
 otherwise attractive." 
 
 "Call me 'dear,' now, and ' darling,' do." 
 
164 CANOLLES. 
 
 " I would like to call you cousin and you would be 
 my cousin if you were married to Harry." 
 
 "Well, I am sorry to say that we shall never be more 
 closely related than we are at present, my dear/' said 
 Miss Lucy, in a tone of decided pique. " Lieut. Cartaret 
 and myself are merely acquaintances, and to set at rest 
 forever, Fan, any suspicions you may have upon any 
 such subject, I beg to inform you that there are no 
 private or personal relations of any description what- 
 ever existing between myself and your cousin, the 
 lieutenant." 
 
 "I am sorry." 
 
 "As you are so very great an admirer of his, and so 
 ardently desire that my happiness should be consum- 
 mated in the manner you intimate which you evidently 
 think would be the result why not set your own lady- 
 ship's cap for his lieutenantship ? this paragon whom 
 you desire for your friend ? " 
 
 Fanny made no reply. The color slowly mounted 
 to her face. She was evidently hesitating. 
 
 " You have not answered me ! " said Lucy. 
 
 Fanny still hesitated. Then she said : 
 
 " Lucy, I should have told you something about 
 myself before this time." 
 
 " Something about yourself?" 
 
 " You are my oldest and dearest friend, Lucy, and 
 you and I should have no secrets from each other." 
 
 " Certainly we should not; but what in the world do 
 you mean, Fan ? " 
 
 "I mean " 
 
165 
 
 The young lady again hesitated. 
 
 "You mean . For Heaven's sake relieve my 
 
 suspense. You mean " 
 
 " I am engaged to be married to my cousin, Henry 
 Cartaret." 
 
166 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SHOWING THAT IT IS HIGHLY IMPRUDENT FOE YOUNG 
 LADIES TO TALK IN THEIR SLEEP. 
 
 A silence so deep that the whispers of the great pine 
 sounded positively loud followed Fanny's announce- 
 ment that she was engaged to Harry Cartaret. Lucy 
 did not speak, but her friend felt the heart against her 
 arm beat more rapidly. 
 
 "What is the matter, Lucy?" she said, "something 
 seems to agitate you." 
 
 "Agitate me! "Not in the least!" was the low 
 response, accompanied by a short laugh. "What in 
 the world makes you think so ? " 
 
 "I can feel your heart beating, and you are positively 
 blushing." 
 
 "What a fancy ! So you are engaged to Lieutenant 
 Cartaret?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Since how long?" 
 
 "Two or three years." 
 
 "And and the engagement is not particularly 
 agreeable, I suppose; a very natural conclusion, you 
 must allow, Fanny, as you seem desirous of bestowing 
 your fiancee upon your friend ! " 
 
 Fanny hesitated. 
 
 "A natural conclusion, I must confess," she said at 
 length. 
 
YOUNG LADIES TALKING IN THEIR SLEEP. 167 
 
 " What other could I possibly come to ? " 
 
 Lucy again attempted a light laugh, only half suc- 
 ceeding, and added: 
 
 "When a lady is engaged to a gentleman the theory 
 commonly accepted is that she proposes to espouse 
 him. If, instead of proposing to espouse him, she is 
 anxious to dispose of her interest in the beloved one, 
 or the one who ought to be beloved, to another person, 
 we are at liberty to form a conjecture at least that she 
 repents of her contract and would like to terminate 
 confidential relations with the dear object!" 
 
 Fanny sighed and said : 
 
 "Years alter things so in this world, dear. I was 
 almost a child when I became engaged to Harry." 
 
 "And the woman would like to select for herself, 
 not merely ratify the child's selection." 
 
 " I do not care to select anybody/' 
 
 " You do not ?" 
 
 "Indeed, no." 
 
 " On your word of honor, Fan?" 
 
 "On my word of honor." 
 
 Lucy Maurice's pretty face assumed a rather wicked 
 expression. 
 
 "I only asked," she said innocently, "since some- 
 thing had made me suppose that Miss Fanny Talbot 
 had But I must not tell tales." 
 
 "Telltales?" 
 
 " I dreamed perhaps it was only a dream " 
 
 " You dreamed ! " 
 
 " That is to say, Fan, it was you who dreamed." 
 
168 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Your words are a puzzle to me, dear. Please tell 
 me plainly what you mean." 
 
 "Shall I?" 
 
 "Yes, yes!" 
 
 " You will not be put out with me ? " 
 
 " Certainly not." 
 
 "Even if I appear in the light of an eavesdropper ?" 
 
 " An eavesdropper you ! " 
 
 " Or something of the sort at least." 
 
 "It is impossible that you could ever act in such a 
 character, Lucy. You are the very last person in the 
 world I should ever suspect of such a proceeding." 
 
 " And yet I have been guilty of it," was the reply. 
 
 " I do not believe a word you say. You listened ? 
 overheard? Where did you listen, and when; and 
 what was it you overheard persuading you that I had 
 any well, preference for any one ? " 
 
 " I will tell you, as I see that you are bursting with 
 curiosity, my dear," Miss Lucy responded, with another 
 laugh, ""and, in order that my explanation may have 
 that deep interest which attaches to the pretty pictures 
 in the romancy, I will first describe the scene of the 
 incident which I purpose to relate, beginning in the 
 true style of romance. Shall I ? " 
 
 " Lucy, there is some wickedness under all this," said 
 Fanny, smiling. " I never saw that expression upon 
 your face that wicked smile unless you were about 
 to sacrifice some one to your fondness for teasing." 
 
 " Very well ; but allow me to proceed." 
 
 " I shall try not to interrupt you." 
 
YOUNG LADIES TALKING IN THEIR SLEEP. 169 
 
 Assuming a grave expression, or attempting to do so; 
 Miss Lucy Maurice continued : 
 
 "Once upon a time there were two young ladies 
 living in an ancient manor house I believe it was in 
 England but having always labored under a disgrace- 
 ful weakness in reference to localities, the points of the 
 compass and topography in general, I am unable to be 
 precisely accurate, upon the point in question. The 
 name of the house I am able to say, however, was 
 ' Chatsworth,' and to this hospitable abode one of the 
 young ladies above described had come on .a visit to the 
 other above described. I deceive myself. I have not 
 described them. Let me proceed to do so in a few 
 brief pages, in order that a distinct idea may be formed 
 of the personages who are the heroines of the deeply 
 interesting incident about to be related." 
 
 Miss Maurice laughed, sotto voce, and went on : 
 
 "Fancy two young creatures of eighteen, the one 
 called Fanny, the other Lucy the former a dear, sweet, 
 languishing, romantic maiden, with the softest and 
 dearest eyes, and so lovely that all loved her ; the lat- 
 ter a wicked, heartless creature, dark, spiteful, fond of 
 making all around her miserable " 
 
 "What an absurd caricature of both your heroines!" 
 said Fanny, smiling. 
 
 "Oh, no! quite accurate! perfectly accurate, I 
 assure you ! " 
 
 " Very well, Miss ; but the incident.'' 
 
 " The incident? Do you imagine, Miss Talbot, that 
 I am so ignorant of the rules of the great art of 
 
170 CANOLLES. 
 
 romance writing as to rush into my subject in such an 
 abrupt mariner as you suggest ? I have just said that 
 I propose dedicating a few brief pages to the portraits 
 of my heroines." 
 
 " Let me imagine them." 
 
 " Impossible where would be the fair authoress if 
 she thus cut short her narrative and wasted her mate- 
 rial ? Do you wish me to take refuge.in thrilling meta- 
 physical analysis, superbly superior to incident and 
 interest? Have you read 'Sir Charles Grandison?' 
 If not, go peruse that sweet romance and see how many 
 words Mr. Richardson manages to employ, keeping the 
 reader in delightful suspense as he proceeds, which I 
 think, however, is better, after all, than the metaphysi- 
 cal analysis." 
 
 Fanny shook her head and Lucy went on : 
 
 " Well, as your ladyship is impatient, I will spare 
 you the rest, and rush to my denouement by saying that 
 on a beautiful summer night it was the month of 
 June, the moon was but fill up the picture ! Enough, 
 that the two maidens had retired to rest in one cham- 
 ber and one bed not in two chambers and one bed, 
 observe, my dear ! " 
 
 " Go on ! go on ! Lucy. You are incorrigible ! " 
 
 " Had retired to bed, as I said before I was inter- 
 rupted," continued the incorrigible one, " and was 
 sound asleep, when suddenly suddenly " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " When suddenly what do you think ? That a 
 musical instrument was heard without, in the dreamy 
 moonlight, and a rich deep voice was heard to accom- 
 
YOUNG LADIES TALKING IN THEIR SLEEP. 171 
 
 pany it in a madrigal ? No I guess again. Was it a 
 rope ladder thrown aloft in order that one of the 
 maidens might elope with the lover in whose face her 
 cruel parents had slammed the front door ? No! guess 
 again. What was it that occurred so suddenly ? You 
 observe I use the term suddenly." 
 
 " Yes, I observe it since you have used it, you fool- 
 ish girl, nearly half a dozen times. I shall not guess 
 at all. What was this sudden incident? " 
 
 " Well, one of the maidens suddenly awoke ! " 
 
 " And was that all ? A romantic incident, in 
 truth ! " 
 
 " Not astounding, I confess, but confess in your turn 
 that my manner of prefacing the incident excited your 
 curiosity to ascertain the sequel." 
 
 " Which is quite unworthy of such an elaborate 
 introduction." 
 
 " True, but observe that I am following the estab- 
 lished rules of romance- writing." 
 
 " Please forget them and come to the point. One of 
 the maidens awoke a bat flew into the room, per- 
 haps" 
 
 " No ! no ! In that case I that is, she would have 
 died with fright." 
 
 O 
 
 " So the one who woke was the dark beauty?" 
 
 " Yes. It was probably a whippoorwill crying from 
 a tree near the house which aroused her ; at all events 
 she rose in bed and gazed around her with startled 
 eyes." 
 
 " Why not say sleepy eyes ? " 
 
 " Sleepy is prosaic and unworthy of romantic use. 
 
172 CANOLLES. 
 
 Startled! startled is the word; with startled eyes! 
 And there, strange to say, plain before her in the moon- 
 light, so clearly outlined in the brilliant beams pouring 
 through the tall window of the chamber, decorated 
 with rich carvings, and old furniture, through long 
 mysterious shadows so clearly outlined, I say, that 
 the eye took in without difficulty every detail connected 
 with the figure there before her was was can y6u 
 imagine what she saw ? " 
 
 "Not possibly!" 
 
 " There before her in the moonlight was her com- 
 panion, sound asleep." 
 
 "Pshaw!" exclaimed Fanny. "Luce and goose 
 rhyme pat, and to the purpose !" 
 
 " Very well ; if that is the manner in which my 
 efforts to interest are to be treated, I shall not fur- 
 ther trouble your ladyship or relate the incident." 
 
 " There is, then, a real incident? " 
 
 " Certainly there is, or was." 
 
 " If you will tell me what it was I will strive to listen 
 in silence." 
 
 "Very well. lam not unforgiving to proceed to 
 the incident. There before the maiden who had waked 
 up was the maiden who was asleep, and I assure you 
 she was a beauty. Do not let me yield to the raptures 
 of description, but simply observe that she was lying 
 with one white arm placed gracefully beneath her head, 
 her beautiful brown curls tucked carelessly about her 
 snowy forehead, and her lips just parted, showing the 
 pearls beneath orient pearls in vivid contrast to the 
 rich carnations of the pouting lips, and the sweet 
 blush-roses blooming in the maiden cheeks." 
 
YOUNG LADIES TALKING IN THEIR SLEEP. 173 
 
 " Lucy," said Miss Fanny, " of all the geese I have 
 ever " 
 
 " You said you'd not interrupt me, Miss, and your 
 word is broken. But to terminate this narrative. The 
 maiden was asleep, as I have previously related, and 
 her sleep was tranquil at first. As her companion, 
 however, gazed at her, her features contracted, and an 
 expression of pain and terror passed over them, effacing 
 all their tranquillity. Then she began to murmur some 
 broken words she uttered a name " 
 
 "Ah!" said Fanny, in a low tone "a name?" 
 
 "The maiden's words were uttered in a piteous 
 voice " 
 
 "What were they?" said Fanny, in the same low 
 tone. 
 
 " Oh, no ! no ! do not take his life ! Hartley ! Hart- 
 ley ! I shall die if you die since reading that paper ! " 
 
 Fanny's head sank until her face was entirely con- 
 cealed in shadow. 
 
 " Did I say that ?" she murmured. 
 
 "Yes, Fan," was the reply of her friend in a serious 
 and earnest tone; and now, dear, you must forgive me 
 for even seeming to have wished to overhear what you 
 muttered in sleep. I could not avoid hearing what 
 you said, and have not the least desire to have you 
 explain anything. Forgive my thoughtless jest about 
 your interest in some one in some one bearing the 
 name you uttered." 
 
 " The name ?" came from Fanny, in the same voice. 
 
 " The name of Hartley." 
 
 Fanny was silent for a long time. She then said in 
 a low, earnest tone : 
 
174 CANOLLES. 
 
 " I have nothing in the world to forgive, Lucy, dear, 
 and it would be very unjust indeed to find fault with 
 you for simply hearing. Some of these days you shall 
 know all about everything, and the person whose 
 name escaped me that night. I cannot tell you now, 
 for reasons you shall know fully some day, perhaps 
 very soon. Does that reconcile you to your friend's 
 concealment?" 
 
 "A hundred times, Fan !" exclaimed the impulsive 
 Lucy, bestowing an earnest kiss upon the other's cheek; 
 "and now, as it is getting late, let us stop talking and 
 go home." 
 
 Fanny arose, and they were about to descend the 
 narrow pathway leading around the Moss Rock, down 
 to the grass of the lawp, when the tramp of hoofs was 
 heard coming down the bank of the river. 
 
 They started and listened. There were no troops in 
 this region, though Lord Cornwallis was known to be 
 on his retreat near Richmond. In war times, however, 
 the unknown is always the suspicious, since it may be 
 the dangerous, and the two girls hastily descended the 
 rock, reached the lawn, and ran, arm in arm two flit- 
 ting phantoms of the moonlight night toward the 
 house. 
 
 Before they could reach it, the trample of hoofs was 
 near at hand, dark figures emerged from the forest, 
 and a troop of about twenty men, evidently from their 
 uniform English cavalry, rode into the ground. 
 
THE PAYMENT. 175 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 THE PAYMENT. 
 
 In order that the reader may form an intelligent con- 
 ception of the scene which now took place at Chats- 
 worth and in its vicinity, it will be necessary to return 
 to the preceding night and relate some occurrences at 
 and near the then small town of Eichmond. 
 
 Just as night had fallen two persons were holding an 
 interview in a small house on the slope of what was 
 and still is called "Shockoe Hill," and from the papers 
 lying upon the table before them it was plain that the 
 interview was one of business. 
 
 One of these persons was a gray-haired merchant of 
 the place, a quiet-looking old gentleman, clad in black, 
 who leaned back in his arm-chair and gazed at his 
 companion with a smile of evident satisfaction. 
 
 This companion was our friend Capt. Canolles, clad 
 in his ordinary dress, half military, half civilian. 
 Around his waist was a belt containing a brace of 
 pistols, but no broadsword, and his hat and gloves lay 
 upon a chair beside two canvas bags plethoric appar- 
 ently with coin. 
 
 The countenance of Canolles wore its habitual ex- 
 pression of calmness, or perhaps phlegm would be the 
 more appropriate word. The dark eyes of the soldier 
 were fixed upon the old merchant with a thoughtful 
 air, and he had evidently been speaking whilst the 
 
176 CANOLLES. 
 
 other listened. For the moment there was silence in 
 the apartment only through the open door was heard 
 a subdued murmur of voices, apparently those of two 
 persons seated on the steps leading to the front door of 
 the small house, overshadowed by the boughs of an 
 elm two persons who seemed to be conversing confi- 
 dentially under the friendly stars of the summer night, 
 and with the murmur mingled from time to time the 
 quick sound of a horse impatiently pawing. 
 
 " Well," said the old merchant, " all is then arranged, 
 Captain, and nothing remains but to execute the paper." 
 
 "Nothing, my dear Mr. Atwell," was the reply of 
 Canolles. 
 
 "Before finishing our business, however, Captain," 
 continued the old man, .with a smile, " may I beg you 
 to afford me information in a private matter ? " 
 
 " A private matter? " 
 
 " I would ask of you some particulars in reference to 
 your young friend, Walter Hayfield." 
 
 " Ah! in reference to Walter?" 
 
 The merchant nodded. 
 
 " I have peculiar reasons for ascertaining his char- 
 acter, origin, and any other details you may be pleased 
 to give." 
 
 " I will inform you with great pleasure. He is the 
 son of a very estimable gentleman with whom I was 
 very well acquainted Mr. Hayfield, of Charles City 
 at one time the owner of a very good estate, which he 
 lost by generous living, and afterwards a teacher. He 
 was greatly esteemed, and Walter is the counterpart of 
 
THE PAYMENT. 177 
 
 his father a young man of the highest character and a 
 great favorite with me." 
 
 " I am glad to hear that, Captain. An old man of 
 business like myself is disposed to consider nothing so 
 reliable as the voucher on such occasions of a gentleman 
 of your character. It is not flattery to you to say, Cap- 
 tain, that when you tell me a thing I require no more, 
 and know that it is so." 
 
 Canolles inclined his head and replied : 
 
 " I am truly pleased to find, Mr. Atwell, that a 
 tolerably thorough acquaintance with each other during 
 a number of years has impressed you with the same 
 good opinion of myself that I most certainly entertain 
 for you. But is it indiscreet in me to inquire why you 
 are so anxious to know "Walter's character? Do you 
 propose to offer the youngster a place in your counting- 
 house turning the youthful militaire into a clerk?" 
 
 " Perhaps," said the old merchant, smilingly. 
 
 Canolles shook his head. 
 
 "I do not think he will accept an offer even so ad- 
 vantageous, but do not know." 
 
 " Suppose I were to propose to him in time to become 
 my partner and successor?" 
 
 Canolles looked at the speaker with some astonish- 
 ment and said : 
 
 " I confess you puzzle me greatly, Mr. Atwell. You 
 have not informed me of the source of this interest in 
 Walter at which, however, I must add, -I am greatly 
 pleased, since my own interest in him is warm." 
 
 The merchant, with the same smile on his lips 
 12 
 
178 CANOLLES. 
 
 slowly pointed through the door through which came 
 the low voices. 
 
 " Listen, Captain," he said. v 
 
 "Ah!" was the reply, "I really think I begin to 
 understand little Miss Annie." 
 
 "Yes," said the old merchant, smiling, "Annie and 
 Walter have fallen in love with each other, like the 
 two foolish young people they are, and I made up my 
 mind twenty years ago, my dear Capt. Canolles, never 
 to thwart another love affair, as the phrase is, unless 
 under a solemn obligation of duty. I say another 
 you are an old friend, and I will explain the word. I 
 had a very dear daughter, who placed her affections 
 upon a poor but estimable youth. In my narrow- 
 mindedness I refused my consent to their union, and, 
 I fear, worried the poor child into marriage with a 
 richer suiter. The marriage was a wretched one, and 
 my dear girl soon died, and from that moment I 
 resolved never again to interfere on such occasions, 
 save in the event of utter unworthiness in a suitor." 
 
 "And you are right, Mr. Atwell. A father is justi- 
 fiable in opposing a daughter's marriage with an un- 
 worthy person who will make her miserable by his 
 vices or his neglect. Simple want of money, where 
 there is good character and energy, should not prove 
 an insuperable bar." 
 
 " I fully agree with you." 
 
 " So you have resolved not to oppose Walter's union 
 with Miss Annie ? " 
 
 "I shall favor it since hearing from your lips so high 
 a character of him. And I am not acting, perhaps, so 
 
THE PAYMENT. 179 
 
 generously as you imagine. I am seventy-two, and 
 must soon pass away. Annie is my only child now, and 
 would be left without a protector. If she marries 
 Walter, I shall take him as a partner. He will succeed 
 to the business when the war and my life end, both 
 which will, I think, occur very soon and I shall sleep 
 in peace. 7 ' 
 
 " The most rational of plans, Mr. Atwell," said 
 Canolles, " and I assure you the information of your 
 intention quite delights me. Well, as Walter's affairs 
 are all arranged now, and I have business to-night, 
 oblige me by terminating our own affairs. I will pro- 
 ceed to count the sum I have brought you to discharge 
 the remainder of the obligation." 
 
 As he spoke, Canolles opened the canvas bags and 
 emptied their contents upon the table. The merchant 
 pushed back the chair. The spectacle was dazzling. 
 Before him lay a pile of guineas and Bank of England 
 notes, evidently amounting to many thousands of pounds 
 sterling; and the bright gold coin sparkled in the 
 light of the lamp swinging above. 
 
 " Be kind enough to inform me of the exact amount 
 still due, Mr. Atwell/' said Canolles. " We may then 
 calculate the interest, and the residue still owed you 
 may be paid." 
 
 The old merchant hesitated, then he smiled. 
 
 "That is a magnificent sight," he said, pointing to 
 the coin and bank notes, "in the eyes at least of a 
 merchant, necessarily intent, you know, Captain, all 
 his life upon gain." 
 
 " I do not believe," returned Canolles, with the same 
 
180 CANOLLES. 
 
 smile, " that you have spent your life with any such 
 exclusive object, Mr. Atwell. You have the repute of 
 possessing a large fortune well, I am perfectly certain 
 that, to employ" the common phrase, 'there is not a 
 dirty shilling in the whole/ ? 
 
 Mr. Atwell exhibited unmistakable gratification as he 
 listened to these words, and said: 
 
 " That is my proudest boast, Captain ; and now," he 
 smiled, " in return for your line compliment, I shall 
 charge you no interest." 
 
 "I cannot accept such a renunciation," was the 
 reply. 
 
 " The present premium on coin will prove a full 
 substitute." 
 
 u No; oblige me by computing the interest." 
 
 " Then it shall be on the lowest terms." 
 
 'With which the merchant took a pen, made the cal- 
 culation, and handed the slip of paper containing it 
 for he was far too prudent and economical to use a 
 whole sheet to Canolles. 
 
 "Ten thousand two hundred pounds seven shillings 
 and sixpence," the partisan read aloud. 
 
 "Precisely, Captain." 
 
 " You place the rate of interest at nearly nothing." 
 
 The old merchant shook his head obstinately. 
 
 " I will not accept one penny more," he said ; "either 
 that or the naked ten thousand pounds." 
 
 " 80 be it," said Canolles; " I see that I cannot over- 
 come you, my old friend." 
 
 lie proceeded to count out ten thousand two hun- 
 dred pounds seven shillings and sixpence, first ex- 
 
THE PAYMENT. 181 
 
 hausting the gold, and then continuing with the Bank 
 of England notes several of the latter being left. 
 The merchant carefully placed the sum in an old escri- 
 toire, double-locked it, returned to his seat, took up a 
 legal-looking document, and, affixing his signature to 
 it, handed it to Canolles, who wrote some lines upon 
 it, folded and sealed it, and then placed it in his breast. 
 
 " That part of my plan is accomplished," he mut- 
 tered, rising. " Now to finish and get away from 
 Virginia." 
 
 "You will not leave us to-night, Captain," said Mr. 
 Atwell. 
 
 " I must, my good friend ; I have business which 
 demands my attention. But before I go I propose to 
 make you a present." 
 
 " A present?' 7 
 
 Canolles went out of the house, passed the two in- 
 distinct figures on the front steps, lost beneath the 
 shadow of the elm, and, going to his horse, tethered 
 near, unstrapped something from the saddle and re- 
 turned to the apartment. 
 
 " You are a good Virginian, are you not, Mr. 
 Atwell?" 
 
 " I believe there is no better living." 
 
 You must have heard with indignation of the out- 
 rages committed by Col. Tarleton, who marched 
 through Richmond yesterday on his retreat. 
 
 " With bitter indignation, Captain." 
 
 " Would you like to possess a slight memorial of the 
 worthy Colonel, whose proceedings, I must say, I ap- 
 prove of no more than yourself? " 
 
182 CANOLLES. 
 
 u A memorial ? " 
 
 Canolles unfolded the bundle in his hand, unstrap- 
 ped from his saddle. 
 
 " There is Col. Tarleton's uniform coat," he said, 
 " no doubt his very best, and reserved for gala occa- 
 sions." 
 
 " Indeed ! " exclaimed Mr. Atwell, gazing at the fine 
 garment, which was heavily decorated, well-nigh cov- 
 ered, indeed, with gold lace. " This is really Tarle- 
 ton's coat, Captain ? " 
 
 " Yes. Should you doubt it you have only to look." 
 
 He took from the pocket of the coat a gold snuff- 
 box, upon the lid of which was cut the name " Banas- 
 tre Tarleton," and a paper which he unfolded arid held 
 up before the merchant., 
 
 " See, this is a special order signed by Lord Corn- 
 wallis and addressed to Lieut-Col. Tarleton." 
 
 " What a prize ! Did you capture the coat, Cap- 
 tain ? " exclaimed the delighted merchant. 
 
 " Yes, two days ago. I, too, have a spite against the 
 Colonel for his cruelties in Virginia in Virginia, I 
 say, inasmuch as I do not consider that I have any- 
 thing to do with outrages elsewhere and I attacked 
 him on his way down, killed some of his troopers and 
 captured this coat from his headquarters." 
 
 " Indeed, I shall preserve it, Captain, as a treasure." 
 
 Canolles held out his hand, and calling, " To horse, 
 Walter ! bid the fair Miss Annie good-night ! " went, 
 after shaking hands with the old merchant, toward the 
 door. 
 
 "Captain! Captain ! " the latter cried. 
 
THE PAYMENT. 183 
 
 Canolles turned his head. 
 
 " You have left this," said the merchant, pointing, to 
 the bank notes lying on the table, " at least five hun- 
 dred pounds." 
 
 " I really have no use for it," was the reply of Ca- 
 nolles ; " put it away, my old friend, to purchase a 
 wedding gift for little Miss Annie when she is the bride 
 of Walter Hayfield, to whom I owe my life." 
 
 With these words Canolles saluted the merchant, 
 then the young lady as he passed her, and mounted. 
 Walter followed a low sound, very much resembling 
 a kiss, issuing from the shadow of the elm as he did 
 so and then the two horsemen, who had turned the 
 heads of their animals eastward, disappeared in the 
 night. 
 
184 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IN WHICH CANOLLES INFORMS WALTER THAT HAVING AC- 
 COMPLISHED HIS AIM HE IS ABOUT TO LEAVE VIRGINIA 
 FOREVER. 
 
 It was a bright starlight night, and the air was per- 
 fectly still as Canolles and Walter rode out of Rich- 
 mond, eastward, in the direction of the Cbickahominy. 
 
 The partisan seemed to be lost in thought, and went 
 on in silence, his rein lying upon his horse's neck his 
 chin resting on his breast. Walter, reflecting the 
 mood of his chief, rode beside him without speaking, 
 and they went on thus for half an hour over the sandy 
 road, which gave back no sound two phantom horse- 
 men, one would have said, moving to some rendezvous 
 in the shades of the White Oak Swamp, which they 
 were approaching. A yellow light in the east, just 
 touching the summits of the pines, indicated that the 
 moon would soon rise toward her noon, and no sound 
 whatever disturbed the stillness but the faint complaint 
 of the whippoorwill. 
 
 At -length Canolles raised his head, and turning to 
 his companion said in the quiet tone habitual with him : 
 
 " Walter, you were talking to-night with your friend 
 Miss Annie, were you not ? " 
 
 The blush on the boy's face was plain in the star- 
 light. 
 
 "Yes, Captain." 
 
CANOLLES ABOUT TO LEAVE VIRGINIA. 185 
 
 " A charming little lady; let me compliment you on 
 your choice." 
 
 Walter blushed more violently than before, but made 
 no reply. 
 
 " Your affairs are no secret from me/' continued 
 Canolles, how in a tone of unwonted softness, " and 
 the proof is that Mr. Atwell and myself discussed them 
 in our interview this evening.' 7 
 
 " You and Mr. Atwell, Captain?" 
 
 "Yes why not? Is there anything so strange in 
 the fact? and can you suppose me indifferent to the 
 welfare of one who saved my life at the risk of his 
 own, as you did at Petersburg ? " 
 
 " Oh, that was nothing, Captain. If there had been 
 a thousand times more risk it would have been my 
 place to run it, after all your kindness." 
 
 " Thanks, Walter ! The kind feeling you speak of 
 was in response to your own personal regard for me. 
 The fact remains that but for you I should not be rid- 
 ing here to-night, but sleeping in the Blandford ceme- 
 tery, or near it. Let us leave that and come to business. 
 Mr. Atwell consents to your union with his daughter, 
 and designs to make you his partner first, then his 
 successor." 
 
 Walter thrilled with delight, and seemed too much 
 overcome to speak. 
 
 " All was arranged to-night, after Mr. Atwell had 
 ascertained from me such particulars relating to your- 
 self as a prudent father has the right to know where 
 there is a question of bestowing a daughter's hand 
 upon a suitor." 
 
186 CANOLLES. 
 
 "Oh! thank you! thank you, Captain! You say 
 enough to make me understand that it is to you that I 
 arn indebted for my happiness ! " 
 
 " This union will then make you happy, will it, 
 Walter? 7 ' said Canollesin the tone of a father, address- 
 ing a son whom he loves. 
 
 "Happier than I can tell you, Captain; for why 
 should I not say it ? for I love Annie better than my 
 life ! " 
 
 " That is not a very strong expression in your case, 
 Walter," was the partisan's smiling response. " I have 
 seen you risk your life so bravely that you must use 
 some other phrase." 
 
 " And Mr. Atwell really consents ?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed. So you see your partisan career will 
 soon end, and my young hawk will be transformed into 
 a quiet domestic bird, with a dame partlet, and perhaps 
 a brood of young chickens to look after." 
 
 Walter colored, looking both delighted and sad. 
 
 " There is only one thing," he said, " to trouble me." 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 "I cannot bear the thought of leaving you, Captain." 
 
 Canolles shook his head. 
 
 " You could scarcely go with me, where I am going." 
 
 " Where are you going?" 
 
 " I shall soon disband the Rough Riders and leave 
 Virginia." 
 
 " Leave Virginia ? " 
 
 " Forever." 
 
 Walter discerned in the tone of this single word the 
 deepest sadness, and exclaimed : 
 
CANOLLES ABOUT TO LEAVE VIRGINIA. 187 
 
 " Leave Virginia and forever ! Something troubles 
 you, Captain ! What is it ? " 
 
 Canolles did not reply. 
 
 " And disband the men not one of whom but would 
 die for you, rough fellows as they are?" 
 
 " Still we must part. My end is accomplished. I 
 should have disbanded them before this time soon 
 after the attack on the British convoy below Petersburg 
 but for one thing I mean the outrages of Col. 
 Tarleton. I wished to take a little private vengeance 
 on that gentleman before I went." 
 
 Canolles paused, then went on : 
 
 "Listen, Walter/' he said. " There are some things 
 connected with my life which I have not spoken of 
 even to one to whom I am as much attached as I am to 
 you, nor can I speak of them now. Every man has at 
 some time some peculiar object in view, toward which 
 he is impelled by peculiar considerations or feelings; 
 and such an object has decided my own career. As I 
 have informed you, my aim is now fully reached; 
 nothing detains me in Virginia, my first and last love 
 she will soon be freed from her invaders, for the war 
 is near its end and I shall go." 
 
 " You do not go cheerfully," was the boy's low re- 
 ply ; " your voice is so sorrowful. Tell me what trou- 
 bles you, Captain ! is it is it " 
 
 The boy stopped. 
 
 " Finish your sentence, Walter." 
 
 " You will not be angry ! " 
 
 " Have I ever been angry with you? " 
 
 " I scarce ever saw you angry with anybody." 
 
188 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Then speak. You would ask me " 
 
 "If your trouble is connected with with the young 
 lady I gave that paper to Miss Fanny Talbot ?" 
 
 Canolles, turning his head a little from the boy, 
 made no reply. 
 
 " For if you think," exclaimed Walter impulsively, 
 " that that she is not a friend more than a friend 
 to you you are greatly, very greatly mistaken." 
 
 " Mistaken ! Greatly mistaken ! Your meaning, 
 Walter?" 
 
 " She loves you ! loves you with her whole heart, 
 Captain!" 
 
 Canolles turned a little pale, and replied : 
 
 " What a fancy ! unless you mean that she has a 
 friend's regard for me no more." 
 
 " Remember her brave ride ! " 
 
 " That is a great deal and nothing. I should have 
 expected such a thing from her, and was not surprised. 
 But ' more than a friend,' do you say? That is absurd." 
 
 " It is true, Captain, and if you will listen, I will tell 
 you why I know what I say is true." 
 
 Walter proceeded to inform Canolles of his inter- 
 view with Fanny on the evening when he delivered 
 the paper, repeating her expressions and describing her 
 emotion. Canolles listened, with the same slight pal- 
 lor, but said nothing until Walter terminated his nar- 
 rative. Then he slowly shook his head and replied: 
 
 "All that is mere fancy, Walter; and now let us 
 end this talk, which can lead to nothing. Your un- 
 founded surmise, even if true, could have no effect in 
 inducing me to remain in Virginia. In a few days I 
 
CANOLLES ABOUT TO LEAVE VIRGINIA. 189 
 
 shall leave the country. The enemy are retiring from 
 Virginia, and I have no longer any business here. 
 Perhaps I shall strike one more blow at the excellent 
 Col. Tarleton. We know each other personally, as we 
 were face to face when I attacked him above Richmond 
 and drove him half-dressed from his tent. I confess I 
 should like to signalize my departure from Virginia by 
 either capturing him or making him feel the weight of 
 my hand before I go. I may have the opportunity, 
 since he is not far off from us now." 
 
 a lle is on this side of the Chickahominy, Captain," 
 exclaimed Walter with ardor, and his young blood 
 suddenly excited by the prospect of an attack. 
 
 "Good ! then we'll look him up, Walter; but first I 
 must " 
 
 "Halt!" exclaimed a voice from the front; "who 
 goes there?" 
 
 "Friends," replied Canolles; "and as I recognize 
 your voice, Harry, it is unnecessary that I should halt." 
 
 "Hartley!" exclaimed the voice. 
 
 " In person," returned Canolles, continuing to ad- 
 vance, followed by Walter. 
 
 Fifty yards in advance a horseman was posted in the 
 road, with a detachment of mounted men near. 
 
 "You, Hartley?" said the dusky horseman. "What 
 good fortune ! I wished of all things to see you to- 
 night ! " 
 
 And spurring forward the young lieutenant grasped 
 the hand of Canolles, whom he seemed almost ready to 
 clasp in his arms. 
 
190 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CANOLLES AND HARRY CARTARET. 
 
 Walter Hayfield had checked his horse a few paces 
 distant from the two horsemen, and now heard them 
 exchange a few words which he could not distinguish. 
 Then Harry Cartaret turned his horse, rode back to 
 his company, gave an order to one of his officers, and 
 then again joined Canolles. 
 
 " Wait here for me, Walter," said the latter to his 
 companion, "I wish to say a few words to Lieut. Car- 
 taret then we will ride on." 
 
 The two men turned into a field, where a group of 
 seven pine trees rose like dusky phantoms in the moon- 
 light, which now began to glimmer above the trees, 
 and halting beneath the pines, dismounted. 
 
 " You say you wished to see me to-night, Harry," 
 said Canolles. "Well, that is curious, as I was in pur- 
 suit of you when you halted me." 
 
 U 0h! yes! yes, Hartley! My dear Hartley!" ex- 
 claimed the young man. " I wished longed, I should 
 say to see you, and tell you how much I love you 
 how noble you are in my eyes." 
 
 Canolles fixed a penetrating glance upon his com- 
 panion a glance full of surprise and inquiry. 
 
 "Ah!" he said quietly, "you have a warm heart, 
 Harry. It is unnecessary to tell me that, or let me see 
 it. I know very well that you love me marauder as I 
 am; and you know my affection for you is as great." 
 
CANOLLES AND HARRY CARTARET. 191 
 
 "You are not a marauder! You are a Chevalier 
 Bayard! a thousand times nobler than the noblest 
 human being I have ever met ! " 
 
 Canolles looked at his companion in the same sur- 
 prised manner. 
 
 " Thank you, Harry," he said. " I do not recognize 
 your good sense, but I do your warm heart." 
 
 " My good sense more than all." 
 
 "What do you mean ?" 
 
 " I know you at last, Hartley ! " 
 
 "'At last?" 
 
 " All your grand self-sacrificing affection for me an 
 affection I can never repay while I live, but will never 
 consent to profit by ! " 
 
 Canolles was plainly in a maze, and his penetrating 
 eyes demanded an explanation. 
 
 " So you wished to see me to-night. For what pur- 
 pose ?" he said. 
 
 " To tell you that I have come into possession of 
 something belonging to you, which should at least be 
 returned to you." 
 
 "What is that, Harry?" 
 
 " This paper." 
 
 He put his hand into his breast and drew out a small 
 package. 
 
 " Before returning it, let me tell you how I came 
 into possession of it. When the enemy returned from 
 Petersburg I was detached by Gen. Lafayette to cross 
 the Appomattox and harass their rear. I did so, fol- 
 lowing them down toward City Point, and chancing to 
 stop at the small house of a plain countryman by the 
 
192 CANOLLES. 
 
 roadside, in order to gain information, observed an 
 open paper lying upon his table." 
 
 "Ah!" said Canolles, "some order accidentally 
 dropped by the enemy?" 
 
 " That was my conjecture, and I seized the paper, 
 asking the countryman where he had obtained it, or if 
 the enemy had left it. He replied that he had found 
 it lying in a wood road near a sort of bridle path 
 leading by a short cut toward Petersburg and think- 
 ing it might prove of some value brought it home." 
 
 "Naturally; but he ascertained speedily what the 
 paper contained ? " 
 
 " Not at all. He could not read." 
 
 " Oh ! I see. But as you, my dear Harry, are some- 
 what more accomplished, you proceeded to decipher 
 the document." 
 
 "Yes," said Harry, in a low tone. 
 
 " And this mysterious document but, one thing 
 
 puzzles me." 
 
 " What is that ? " 
 
 " Why you should have begun by saying that you 
 wished to return this paper to me, as my property." 
 
 " To you or another person." 
 
 " Another person ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "What person? and what can be your meaning, 
 dear Harry ? You puzzle me enormously. What 
 under Heaven have I to do with a paper picked up by 
 chance on the roadside between Petersburg and City 
 Point?" 
 
 Harry Cartaret had unfolded the paper and now held 
 
CANOLLES AND HARRY CARTARET. 193 
 
 it out toward Canolles, who took it and looked keenly 
 at it. 
 
 The moon had just risen above the trees and fell 
 with a flood of light upon the paper. It was that 
 which Canolles had directed Walter to deliver to Fanny 
 Talbot, and which she had dropped from her bosom on 
 her night ride to Petersburg. 
 13 
 
194 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE COMMISSION. 
 
 Canolles had scarcely read three lines of the paper 
 in his own handwriting, when the hand holding it fell 
 at his side and his head slowly drooped until it rested 
 upon his breast. He was leaning against the trunk of 
 one of the seven pines, and the moonlight fell clearly 
 upon both his own figure and that of Harry Cartaret. 
 
 The resemblance between the two was more extra- 
 ordinary than ever. Canolles seemed to have lost some- 
 thing of the brown, almost swarthy tint of his face 
 possibly from his close confinement in Petersburg and 
 Harry was burned darker by the summer sun. Their 
 resemblance to each other was thus almost perfect, and 
 but for their different uniforms they would scarcely 
 have been recognized one from the other. 
 
 Canolles, as we have said, had let the hand holding 
 the paper fall at his side, and for some moments his 
 eyes remained fixed upon the ground. He then raised 
 his head and looked at his companion. 
 
 " Did you read this, Harry ? " 
 
 " Yes," was the low reply. 
 
 "All?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " I am sorry/' was the grave reply of Canolles. 
 
 " I know I had no right to do so," said the young 
 man, with a quick color in his cheeks. U I am not 
 
THE COMMISSION. 195 
 
 given to reading papers not addressed to myself; but 
 remember, Hartley, how I found this that I thought 
 it would pr.ove an army order, dropped by the enemy. 
 I therefore looked at it, read ten lines, read on, could 
 not cease reading, and did not stop until I had come to 
 the last line and your signature. Blame me if you 
 will say that it was a want of good breeding yes ! 
 but you cannot make me regret that I read that paper, 
 for it has shown me who is the noblest man in this 
 world, and made me love him more even than I did 
 before ! " 
 
 He spoke impulsively, and tears came to his eyes, 
 
 Canolles looked at him with the same soft glance 
 even a softer one than that bestowed upon "Walter Hay- 
 field. A sigh escaped him and he said : 
 
 "It is truly unfortunate that you ever found this 
 paper, which. I surely never intended you to see. How 
 it was lost by the person to whom it is addressed 
 unless dropped on her ride I cannot divine. But that 
 inquiry is now idle. The mischief is done. The ulti- 
 mate result, however, will be the same." 
 
 "No!" exclaimed Harry Cartaret, "it must not be 
 the same ! I will never consent ! " 
 
 He rested one arm on the shoulder of Canolles, then 
 embracing him, as it were, and looking at him with 
 moist eyes through which shone a smile, said : 
 
 "Noblesse oblige, Hartley! It is impossible for one 
 of the Cartarets'to act otherwise than as a Cartaret! 
 People say I am not very brilliant in intellect, I believe. 
 At least I know what is imposed upon me by the name 
 I bear ! " 
 
10() CANOLLES. 
 
 "No one acquainted with you ever doubted that, 
 Harry. Men carry their natures on their faces. I for 
 one know an honest man or a scoundrel as soon as I 
 see him. The rascal's face says, 'lam a rascal!' the 
 gentleman's, * I am a gentleman ! ' To cease my moral- 
 izing. You have no choice here. It is I who impose 
 your action upon you." 
 
 "Never, never/' 
 
 " In the more important particulars it is already 
 imposed." 
 
 "The more important? Yes! I understand and I 
 have no reply to make to that. Yes, there I am fet- 
 tered ; as to the other I swear, Hartley, that rather 
 than " 
 
 " S wear not at all ! " was the reply of Canolles, with 
 a smile almost tender on his lips. "Let the future 
 decide your action, Harry, be it what it may and now 
 let us forget all this." 
 
 "But " 
 
 "Let us say no more about it, Harry. You love me 
 and I love you. We go different ways, but I think we 
 shall love each other to the end. Not another word 
 now let the American lieutenant of cavalry and the 
 Virginia marauder part in peace ! " 
 
 "You are no longer a marauder if you ever were 
 one !" was the reply of the young man, who seemed to 
 feel the uselessness of further remonstrance, at least 
 for the present, on the subject of discussion. 
 
 " I am not a marauder, do you say, Harry ?" 
 
 The young man drew a second paper from his pocket 
 and presented it to Canolles. 
 
THE COMMISSION. 197 
 
 "What's that? 3 ' he asked. 
 
 "Your commission as captain of Partisan Rangers, 
 from the Governor of Virginia." 
 
 " Ah ! you have put yourself to the trouble of pro- 
 curing that?" 
 
 "Yes, your non-commissioned fighting has already 
 exposed you to imminent danger of death, Hartley, and 
 might again without this paper. I applied to Governor 
 Jefferson long ago for this commission, but he informed 
 me that he had scruples against making out such a 
 commission, unless it was proposed to have it approved 
 and countersigned by the Continental authorities." 
 
 "And you rightly supposed that I would accept no 
 such commission ! " exclaimed Canolles. 
 
 "I knew you would not! " 
 
 " I should not have accepted it if his Excellency 
 Governor Jefferson had begged me to do so on his 
 knees!" 
 
 Henry Cartaret sighed, as though the reply of his 
 companion caused him deep regret; but it was equally 
 plain that he knew all argument would be thrown 
 away. 
 
 "I therefore informed Mr. Jefferson," he continued, 
 " that I feared there were obstacles in the way of your 
 acceptance of the commission if granting it were 
 coupled with the conditions mentioned by him, and no 
 longer pressed the application." 
 
 "Right! But here is the paper." 
 
 " If you look at it you will perceive that it bears the 
 signature of, not Mr. Jefferson, but of Thomas Nelson, 
 
198 CANOLLES. 
 
 Governor of Virginia a brave man, and a noble title, 
 which, I predict, he will render nobler." 
 
 "I know him very well, and I assent to your predic- 
 tion." 
 
 " He has been Governor, as you are aware, since the 
 first of June, and no sooner had I renewed my applica- 
 tion than Gov. Nelson exclaimed : ' Commission him ! 
 Yes, I will commission him, and without if or but or 
 asking leave of anything ! I am Governor of Virginia, 
 and I commission a Virginian to fight the battles of 
 Virginia/ He then had the commission made out, 
 signed it, delivered it to me and here it is." 
 
 Canolles took the paper, placed it in his breast, and 
 said : 
 
 "I take this paper as a Virginian ready to fight the 
 battles of Virginia. You see I use the words of that 
 brave soldier and statesman. The war is near its end 
 I may strike again only once, but I will strike with 
 this paper on my person beside the Virginia flag I 
 carry." 
 
 With these words Canolles mounted his horse ; his 
 companion imitated him, and they rode back to the 
 highway, where, at a sign from the partisan, Walter 
 joined them he and Harry exchanging a grasp of the 
 hand, evidently as old friends. 
 
 " And now, Harry, pass me through your picket I 
 must go below," said Canolles, pointing toward James 
 River. 
 
 Harry Cartaret did so, the dusky horsemen dividing 
 to allow them to pass, and fifty yards further they 
 parted with a close grasp of the hand. 
 
THE COMMISSION. 199 
 
 " I had forgotten," said Canolles, turning* back. 
 
 "Forgotten?" 
 
 " Keep this paper for me in safety, for the present, 
 Harry." 
 
 He gave him the sealed document which he had re- 
 ceived from Mr. Atwell in return for the ten thousand 
 pounds. 
 
 " What is the paper?" asked the young lieutenant. 
 
 "You shall read and see," was the reply of Canolles, 
 "only I attach a single condition to your doing so." 
 
 "What condition?" 
 
 " That you shall only do so one month from this 
 time. If I am dead in the meanwhile it will be differ- 
 ent. You may then read the paper at once." 
 
 The two men exchanged another pressure of the 
 hand and rode in opposite directions, Canolles and 
 Walter penetrating deeper and deeper into the thicket, 
 which soon swallowed the two horsemen in its moon- 
 lit depths. 
 
200 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A RECONNOISSANCE RECONNOITERED. 
 
 The partisan and his companion had ridden a mile 
 or two, and were pursuing a road which gradually 
 obliqued in a southern direction it was what is called 
 to-day the " Charles City Road " when they all at 
 once became aware that other persons beside themselves 
 were abroad. 
 
 A muffled noise of hoofs was heard in front, and 
 Canolles checked his horse and listened. 
 
 The sound did not grow louder indeed, it gradually 
 became fainter. There was no doubt that the horse- 
 men apparently a considerable party were moving 
 in the same direction as the partisan and Walter. 
 
 " Well, I think some of our friends of the other fac- 
 tion are on an expedition to-night/' said Canolles; 
 " in all probability on a reconnoissance. The right 
 flank is the flank to guard that accounts for Harry's 
 being where we found him and these gentlemen are 
 riding toward James River, either to plunder the farms 
 of horses or find if there is any American force in this 
 direction." 
 
 He dismounted, and stooping down examined the 
 road, leading his horse by the bridle and glancing 
 keenly from side to side. 
 
 " A squadron at least/' he said at length, " the hoof- 
 marks amount to that. What do you say, Walter?" 
 
A RECONNOISSANCE RECONNOITERED. 201 
 
 "I think about fifty, Captain. " 
 
 "My own estimate. Well, let us try and find out 
 who they are, and discover what they are after." 
 
 Canolles mounted, touched his horse with his spur 
 and set forward at a gallop, knowing well that the 
 noise made on the march by fifty men the clash of 
 sabres against stirrups, and the smiting of hoofs 
 would completely drown the sound of his own and 
 Walter's gallop on the sandy road. 
 
 They went on thus for about half a mile, the noise 
 growing gradually louder; and then a dusky mass was 
 seen in front moving slowly, evidently at a walk, over 
 the white road against which the figures were clearly 
 defined in the moonlight. 
 
 When he was within two hundred yards of the party 
 Canolles stopped and seemed to reflect. 
 
 " We might join the column as stragglers, Walter," 
 he said. " Nobody would be the wiser as the road is 
 so narrow yonder that the shade of the pines makes all 
 dark but that does not answer my purpose." 
 
 " Your purpose, Captain ?" 
 
 " I am anxious to know who these people are, where 
 they are going, and what their object is." 
 
 "Yes, Captain." 
 
 " Well, joining the column as one of them would 
 not tell me much, I could ask no questions, and pri- 
 vate soldiers know nothing. I will go around." 
 
 "Around?" 
 
 " To the front, and try to find out what I wish to 
 know. You ought to be enough of a partisan, Wal- 
 ter," he added, observing a puzzled expression on the 
 
202 CANOLLES. 
 
 countenance of the boy, " to understand what plan I 
 mean to pursue." 
 
 " I am ashamed to say I do not, Captain/' 
 
 " Well, come with me, my boy, and take a little 
 lesson it may be useful to you." 
 
 With these words Canolles wheeled to the left, and 
 penetrated the morass for about a quarter of a mile. 
 He then turned to the right again, made his way with 
 the skill of an experienced night rider through the 
 almost impenetrable thickets, and gradually obliquing 
 toward the road over which the column -was passing, 
 soon came within sound of voices. 
 
 " Listen/' he said to Walter, taking no pains to sup- 
 press the tones of his voice. 
 
 " Unless I am mistaken we are opposite the head of 
 the column, and the voices we hear are those of the 
 officers commanding, and riding in front." 
 
 " Yes, Captain ! " exclaimed Walter, now highly ex- 
 cited, and even delighted. 
 
 "If we can manage to keep near enough to these 
 worthies, we may, perhaps, hear what they have to say, 
 and discover who they are, too." 
 
 As Canolles spoke, the moon, which had been ob- 
 scured for some moments by a cloud, sailed out in full 
 majesty above the fringe of the pines, and the bright 
 light fell upon two British officers, whose figures were 
 distinctly visible to Canolles and Walter through an 
 opening in the thicket. 
 
 One of these officers was the tall, stiff, commanding, 
 white-mustache, ruddy-faced Col. Ferrers. The other, 
 who rode on his left, and was nearer to the partisans, 
 
A RECONNOISSANCE RECONNOITERED. 203 
 
 was a young man apparently from twenty-five to twen- 
 ty-eight, short of stature, swarthy, with a thick-set per- 
 son and muscular limbs, and wore the uniform of a 
 Lieutenant-Colonel of cavalry of the British army. 
 
 " That is my especial personal friend, Col. Tarleton," 
 said Canolles. " Lord Ferrers you know, Walter. 
 But where are they going ? " 
 
 Despite every effort made by the partisan he could 
 not hear what the two officers were saying to each 
 other which, indeed, amounted to very little. They 
 spoke only at intervals, and then in low tones. 
 
 Canolles checked his horse, making a sign to Walter. 
 
 " The undergrowth is too thick to go nearer," he 
 said, quietly, " we should be seen, and shot or cap- 
 tured if we tried to force our way through the thicket, 
 as the noise would be heard. Now, I do not wish 
 either to be killed or captured at present." 
 
 " NOT I, Captain ! and for the same reason you do 
 not." 
 
 " What reason ? " 
 
 " You are going to attack them! " 
 
 " I attack them ? " said Canolles, laughing. " Why, 
 they are two or three to one, if all my men were even 
 here." 
 
 "Which makes it all the more agreeable to you, 
 Captain. Don't try to deceive me as to your inten- 
 tions ! " 
 
 Canolles smiled this time, and said: 
 
 " Well, let us halt here and count them, if possible, 
 as they pass. There is the head of the column, fifty 
 paces behind the officers. Make your own count, 
 
204 CANOLLES. 
 
 Walter, and I will make mine, and then we will com- 
 pare them." 
 
 Holding his rein carelessly in his left hand, and rais- 
 ing his right hand with the forefinger extended, Ca- 
 nolles moved the finger after the fashion of a shepherd 
 counting his sheep, and Walter imitated him. When 
 the last man had defiled by, the partisan turned his 
 head and said : 
 
 " Well, how many, Walter? " 
 
 " Fifty-two, Captain." 
 
 " Good." 
 
 " What was your count ? " 
 
 "Fifty-two." 
 
 Having uttered these words Canolles made his com- 
 panion a sign, wheeled to the left, and apparently dis- 
 missing from his mind all further interest in the recon- 
 noitering party, penetrated the densest part of the 
 Swamp. 
 
 Anybody, however, who had been in the vicinity of 
 the British bivouac toward dawn, and followed them 
 afterwards as they continued their march southward 
 about sunrise, would have been aware, from slight 
 noises in the Swamp, that some person or persons, 
 moving stealthily, had the British squadron in view, 
 and were tracking it step by step as it advanced. 
 
A PROFANE ACQUAINTANCE. 205 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 IN WHICH A PROFANE ACQUAINTANCE OF THE READER RE- 
 APPEARS UPON THE SCENE. 
 
 The events just related occurred, as the reader has 
 been informed, on the night preceding that on which 
 Miss Fanny Talbot and Miss Lucy Maurice held the 
 interview at the picturesque " Moss Rock/' in the 
 Chatsworth grounds, an interview which was inter- 
 rupted in the manner we have described that is to 
 say, by the tramp of approaching horsemen, and then 
 the appearance of a body of British troopers swarming 
 on the grassy lawn. 
 
 The two young ladies, indulging a natural feminine 
 terror, were running to seek shelter in the house, when 
 one of two officers riding in front of the column a 
 short, swarthy and thick-set young man in a colonel's 
 uniform suddenly struck spur to his horse, crying : 
 
 " Halt ! " 
 
 The horse started forward under the spur, but all at 
 once was arrested and rose up on his haunches. 
 
 The officer, whose eyes were fixed upon the young 
 ladies, turned his head furiously to ascertain the mean- 
 ing of this incident. 
 
 It was occasioned by a very simple circumstance. 
 
 The white-mustached Colonel Ferrers our old 
 acquaintance of Petersburg who rode beside him, 
 
206 CANOLLES. 
 
 had caught his bridle, and abruptly arrested the further 
 progress of the animal. 
 
 The young officer gave way to rage. 
 
 " Your meaning, Lord Ferrers ! " he exclaimed, 
 knitting his brow and scowling at Ferrers, who quietly 
 released his hold upon the bridle ; " your meaning in 
 this very extraordinary proceeding ! " 
 
 " My meaning, eh ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir!" 
 
 " Damme ! " was the reply of Lord Ferrers, in a gruff 
 voice, indicating great indifference at his companion's 
 anger; " I mean, my worthy Colonel Tarleton, that I 
 am in command here, and that it is not my habit to 
 ride over the fair sex, or allow them to be ridden over 
 damme ! " 
 
 Tarleton for the young officer was that well-known 
 personage looked furious, but evidently knew his 
 companion too well to reply. He saluted stiffly, rein- 
 ing in his horse, and Lord Ferrers advanced in front 
 of him, bowing to the trembling girls as he did so. 
 
 " Good evening, young ladies," he said gruffly, " will 
 you be good enough to inform me what the name of 
 this house is, as all the houses in Virginia have names, 
 I'm told, and this is a devilish tine one beg pardon ! " 
 
 " Chatsworth, sir, 7 ' said Fanny, who had recovered 
 from, her fright. 
 
 "Chatsworth? Once the residence of Mr. Henry 
 Cartaret?" 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Humph ! I thought it was somewhere in this vi- 
 cinity. Might have known it from the advice of a 
 
A PROFANE ACQUAINTANCE. 207 
 
 certain gentleman, that we bad better move in tbis 
 direction a rascal here behind me eh, Tom?' 7 
 
 The rascal in question Lieut. Ferrers rode for- 
 ward, saluting the young ladies as he did so. 
 
 " So," said Lord Ferrers, " this is Chatsworth, is it, 
 where you spent the evening once, eh ? and the rest of 
 the same night in the American camp ? " 
 
 " Exactly, sir," w T as the laughing response of Lieut. 
 Tom Ferrers, "and I assure you I should like to repeat 
 the evening, though not the rest of the night." 
 
 " Very well do as you choose ; but it's devilish 
 risky, I can tell you." 
 
 " I'll risk it, sir." 
 
 "But not without permission from Us belles chate- 
 laines, I can tell you ! No forcing your society on 
 ladies while I'm about. I'm going to halt here for 
 half an hour to rest the horses, but no man or officer 
 enters this house without my permission ; and what's 
 more, if there is any damage done to the grounds or 
 property, I'll arrest the officer, or mount the man on a 
 wooden horse without stirrups damme ! " 
 
 Having made this announcement in a tone distinctly 
 heard by everybody, Lord Ferrers turned to the girls, 
 saluted in the same brief fashion, and said : 
 
 " Is it agreeable to you, young ladies, that I should 
 go in and rest, with two or three of my officers ? If 
 unagreeable to you, say so, and there'll be an end 
 of it." 
 
 " Of course, sir," was the reply of Fanny; and Lord 
 Ferrers, turning to Tom, said : 
 
 " Lieut. Ferrers, you will march the troop to that 
 
208 CANOLLES. 
 
 opening yonder in the woods beyond the grounds, 
 order the men to dismount, but not to picket the horses, 
 and see that no damage is done to fences or any other 
 property." 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " I will hold you responsible. After seeing that my 
 orders are obeyed, you may leave your subordinate in 
 charge and come to the house here, if you fancy. I 
 am going in with Col. Tarleton." 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 "Will you go in, Colonel?" 
 
 Tarleton rather stiffly assented, and, leaving their 
 horses in charge of an orderly, while Lieut. Tom Fer- 
 rers marched off the men, the two officers followed the 
 young ladies into the Chatsworth house. 
 
COL. TARLETON. 209 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 IN WHICH COL. TARLETON LAYS HIS HAND UPON HIS SWORD. 
 
 It was in the highest degree entertaining to observe 
 the effect produced by the entrance of the stately old 
 Lord Ferrers and the short athlete Col. Tarleton in 
 their rich uniforms on the excellent Mrs. Talbot. That 
 aged lady, sitting with her knitting in her hands, and 
 her hair primly arranged under her white cap, pre- 
 sented the picture of astonishment and apprehension, 
 and the helpless way in which she looked from the 
 visitors to Fanny and Lucy, and then to the superb 
 Miss Eleanor enthroned in state in her arm-chair near 
 the window, was comic in the extreme. 
 
 Miss Eleanor Talbot was far from exhibiting any 
 similar emotion. On' the contrary, she returned the 
 admiring glances of bluff old Lord Ferrers and the. 
 keen gaze of Tarleton with perfect coolness ; and was 
 indeed with her richly arranged hair, her red lips and 
 roses a personage calculated to excite the admiration 
 of any one. 
 
 Lord Ferrers made the bow of the nobleman he was, 
 and took the seat to which Miss Eleanor Talbot 
 motioned him with a careless movement of her jeweled 
 hand Col. Tarleton taking another. 
 
 " I have the pleasure, I and Col. Tarleton, I believe," 
 said Col. Ferrers, " of making the acquaintance of Mrs. 
 Cartaret and her daughters?" 
 14 
 
210 CANOLLES. 
 
 "!N" n o, sir," faltered Mrs. Talbot; "we are only 
 relations of the late Mr. Cartaret. " 
 
 "Ah ! Well, madam, I have at least the satisfaction 
 of visiting relatives of that excellent gentleman at his 
 house of Chatsworth, the name of which I have fre- 
 quently heard him mention. I knew Mr. Cartaret very 
 well in England, both when he was a young man at 
 Oxford, and later. I may even say that I believe there 
 is.a distant connection between our families certainly 
 the tie of friendship was strong; both my brother, 
 Lord Ferrers, now dead, and myself, were intimate and 
 cordial friends of Mr. Cartaret." 
 
 " Y es, sir," said Mrs. Talbot, gradually recovering 
 her equanimity in some degree. 
 
 " It is the unhappy result of war, madam," continued 
 Col. Ferrers, "to produce these apparent antagonisms, 
 and bring a soldier often, as an enemy, to the house of 
 his friend. I say apparent antagonisms, for I need 
 scarcely assure you that it is not an enemy who enters 
 the house of Henry Cartaret when George Ferrers 
 enters it. You will,' therefore, I beg, ladies, dismiss 
 all apprehension of annoyance, and be at your ease. If 
 so much as a twig is broken here by officer or man I 
 will make him rue it, whatever be his rank." 
 
 A sound resembling a suppressed growl issued from 
 the lips of Col. Tarleton, who had listened to these 
 elaborate assurances of the old militaire with ill-subdued 
 disapprobation. Lord Ferrers half turned his head, 
 but as at that moment Lieut. Tom Ferrers came in, he 
 took no farther notice of the young colonel. 
 
 Tom Ferrers entered and executed a low bow, the 
 
COL. TARLETON. 211 
 
 feather of his cocked hat trailing on the floor. His 
 glance embraced the whole group, but suddenly 
 remained fixed on the superb Miss Eleanor, who 
 returned his salute with an unmistakable smile of 
 recognition. 
 
 " I have the great pleasure of renewing my acquaint- 
 ance with Mrs. Talbot and the Misses Talbot," said 
 Lieutenant Tom, not looking in the least at the aged 
 lady or Fanny, but continuing to gaze with unbounded 
 admiration at Eleanor. 
 
 " Take a seat, sir," said that young lady, with a fasci- 
 nating glance, and she made an almost imperceptible 
 movement of her hand toward a seat beside her, which 
 Lieutenant Tom. hastened to occupy. 
 
 A suppressed chuckle issued from the lips of Lord 
 Ferrers, who was sitting with his sword between his 
 knees, his left hand grasping the weapon, his right 
 hand resting on his thigh. 
 
 " It seems to me, my good sir," he said, "that when 
 I give a military order to an officer of my command I 
 am entitled to a brief report from the officer in ques- 
 tion, as to whether my orders are obeyed." 
 
 "Oh! beg pardon, Colonel the fact is yes, sir! 
 Your orders have been obeyed." 
 
 " Devilish quick ! " grunted the old soldier, with his 
 grim smile. 
 
 " I left Lieut. Jones in command, sir, with express 
 orders." 
 
 "Have the goodness to repeat those orders for the 
 satisfaction of the ladies." 
 
 "Your orders, sir, were that no depredations of any 
 
212 CANOLLES. 
 
 description should be committed by officers or men on 
 pain of severe punishment." 
 
 " Good, and I swear the punishment will follow, on 
 the word of George Ferrers. War is war with me it 
 is not rapine." 
 
 Col. Tarleton had listened to this colloquy with 
 obvious impatience. He seemed to be aware that the 
 old miUtaire was not a person with whom he could 
 venture far ; but carried away now by his impatience, 
 he said stiffly : 
 
 " It is a pity, sir, that the American officers in the 
 Carolinas did not in the last campaign participate in 
 your liberal views, and practice them in reference to 
 the loyalists adhering to the cause of his Majesty." 
 
 "I Lave nothing to do with the American officers," 
 was the indifferent reply. " I take my own precautions 
 to prevent outrage." 
 
 " Rather an elaborate precaution in an eilemy's coun- 
 try, if I am permitted to express an opinion, sir." 
 
 " That is your opinion, eh ?" said Lord Ferrers, in a 
 tone of mingled indifference and hauteur. 
 
 " Yes, sir, and if your lordship will allow me to say 
 it, I am somewhat at a loss to comprehend this extreme 
 solicitude in reference to persons in arms against his 
 Majesty, or sympathizing with those in arms against 
 him." " 
 
 " I will reply to that," said Lord Ferrers, gruffly. 
 " In the first place, this house is or was the property of 
 Henry Cartarct, my friend, and a gentleman of the 
 highest character. In the second place, it is at present 
 occupied only by ladies." 
 
COL. TARLETON. 213 
 
 "The rebel ladies are worse than the rebel gentle- 
 men," said Col. Tarleton, laying ironical emphasis on 
 the word gentlemen. "You will please, however, 
 allow me to add, my Lord, that the fair rebels stand 
 much higher in my estimation. The gentlemen are an 
 illiterate set those at least whom I have met." 
 
 " They are eh ? " grunted Lord Ferrers. " Who ? " 
 
 "Well, my Lord, I give you as an instance Col. 
 
 William Washington. He is so illiterate that he is 
 
 o 
 
 hardly able to write his name ! " 
 
 Lord Ferrers was looking at Fanny and saw her 
 cheeks suddenly flush. 
 
 " What do you say to that, madam?" he said, with 
 his grim smile. " Are you not disposed to say any- 
 thing in defense of your countryman ? " 
 
 " I could easily reply to Col. Tarleton," exclaimed 
 Fanny, with her head proudly erect. 
 
 " Reply, then ! Reply, madam," said Lord Ferrers, 
 who seemed to scent some retort at Col. Tarleton's 
 expense. " So Col. William Washington is able to 
 write his name, eh ? " 
 
 " Col. Tarleton should have at least discovered, sir, 
 that Col. Washington knows how to make his niark!" 
 
 At this palpable allusion to the defeat of Tarleton 
 by Col. Washington Lord Ferrers uttered a laugh. 
 
 "Madam!" exclaimed Tarleton, suddenly flushing 
 with anger, " I should be happy to meet your friend 
 Col. Washington ! " 
 
 " I thought you had made his acquaintance, 'or, at 
 least, had seen him," Fanny replied. " If you had 
 
214 CANOLLES. 
 
 looked behind you at the battle of the Cowpens you 
 would have enjoyed that pleasure, sir ! "* 
 
 Lord Ferrers shook from head to foot with merri- 
 ment at this answer, and, throwing back his head, ut- 
 tered a louder laugh than before. As to Tarleton, he 
 was so much enraged that by a movement evidently 
 unconscious, his hand darted to his sword-belt. 
 
 Fanny did not shrink at this furious gesture, but 
 with head erect, fixed her proud eyes on his scowling 
 face. It was Lord Ferrers who broke the silence. 
 The old soldier's mirth had disappeared in an instant 
 at Tarletoirs threatening gesture, and his eyes Hashed. 
 
 u Miss Talbot ! " he said, twisting his white mustache, 
 a dangerous sign with him always. 
 
 The young lady turned her head. 
 
 " Say just what you please, Miss Talbot, 7 ' added 
 Lord Ferrers ; " Col. Tarleton knows better than to 
 insult a lady in my presence ! "t 
 
 As he uttered these words he turned round and 
 fixed his eyes upon Tarleton with a hauteur evidently 
 galling in the extreme to the latter. With his dark 
 face flushed, and his voice altered by the effort to sup- 
 press his anger, Tarleton replied : 
 
 " Lord Ferrers is good enough to read me a lesson 
 a somewhat unnecessary one, I must be permitted to 
 add, as I have insulted no one. As my presence here, 
 however, is obviously distasteful, I will not inflict it 
 further." 
 
 He. rose, saluted stittty, and went out of the room, 
 
 * These retorts at Col. Tarleton's expense are historical 
 t This speech is also historical. 
 
COL. TARLETON. 215 
 
 Lord Ferrers returning his salute after the same 
 fashion, but making no effort to detain him. 
 
 "Kather a fiery young gentleman," grunted Lord 
 Ferrers as he disappeared. "An excellent cavalry 
 officer, and not a had fellow, but with a devil of a 
 temper when anything excites him ! " 
 
 As he spoke, Lord Ferrers looked carelessly around 
 the apartment. All at once he started, and then fixed 
 his eyes with an expression of the deepest astonishment 
 upon one of the portraits. 
 
 "Who in Heaven's name "is that, madam?" he ex- 
 claimed, addressing Fanny. 
 
216 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE PORTRAIT. 
 
 The emotion of Col. Ferrers as he gazed at the por- 
 trait was so remarkable that for a moment a profound 
 silence reigned in the apartment. The portrait repre- 
 sented a young gentleman, or rather a youth, of about 
 seventeen, with dark hair curling at the temples, and 
 an open, ingenuous, and even noble face. 
 
 The original of the picture was evidently either 
 Canolles or Harry Cartaret, to judge from the likeness 
 to them, and allowing for the greater roundness and 
 freshness of youth, Lord Ferrers had exclaimed : 
 
 " Who in Heaven's name is that, madam ? " 
 
 The question was addressed to Fanny, but a quick 
 look of constraint, and an apparent conviction that 
 caution was necessary in replying, made the young 
 lady hesitate. 
 
 " Is my question disagreeable ? Is there any objec- 
 tion to responding to it ? Is there any reason why I 
 should not be informed who is or was the original of 
 that portrait, madam ? " exclaimed Lord Ferrers. 
 
 Fanny hesitated still, when the worthy Mrs. Talbot 
 came to the rescue. 
 
 "Oh, no! no, indeed, sir!" said the excellent and 
 nervous lady. " That is a portrait of Hartley ! " 
 
 " Hartley ! " exclaimed Lord Ferrers, pushing back 
 
THE PORTRAIT. 217 
 
 his chair so suddenly that his scabbard clashed against 
 the floor. " Who was Hartley ? " 
 
 So completely paralyzed was good Mrs. Talbot by 
 this abrupt exclamation that she began to tremble, and 
 the frills of her cap nodded nervously. Before she 
 could speak, Fanny interfered and said quietly : 
 
 "The portrait is that of a friend of the family, sir. 
 And now as you have been so courteous, may I beg 
 you to grant me a single request ? " 
 
 " Make it, madam," said Lord Ferrers in a voice of 
 great emotion, and continued to gaze fixedly upon the 
 picture, which as fixedly returned his gaze. 
 
 " My request is that you will not press for a reply to 
 your question, sir, or seek to ascertain the original of 
 this portrait. I can only explain this request so far as 
 to say that there are reasons at present why the original 
 does not desire to be identified with the picture." 
 
 Lord Ferrers looked at the speaker with an expres- 
 sion of utter bewilderment. 
 
 " I am sure," said Fanny, in her sweet, earnest voice, 
 "that you will not insist upon a question which it 
 would be painful to us to reply to further." 
 
 "I will not certainly you are at liberty, madam 
 but good Heavens ! what a likeness ! " 
 
 " I have your word, then, sir ? " 
 
 " Yes, madam since you insist, I shall give it. But 
 one other question you say I must not seek to dis- 
 cover who the original of the portrait is. Then the 
 original is not dead." 
 
 Fanny hesitated ; then said : 
 
 "He is not, sir." 
 
218 CANOLLES. 
 
 Lord Ferrers listened to this reply with the deepest 
 emotion. 
 
 " He is living ? " he exclaimed. 
 
 " He is, sir." 
 
 " Is he in Virginia in America ?^ is he " 
 
 " I must recall to you your promise, sir," Fanny 
 interposed. "You have given me your word that you 
 would ask no further questions in reference to this 
 picture." 
 
 Lord Ferrers sank back in his chair. 
 
 " If I have given my word I will keep it," he mur- 
 mured in a voice which was scarcely recognizable. 
 " So the portrait is that of a person still living ' of a 
 friend of the family' of this family ! " 
 
 His eyes were again raised to the picture, and an 
 expression of profound tenderness slowly came to his 
 face the white mustache on his lip shook slightly. 
 
 " That portrait is the picture of Hartley Ferrers ! " 
 he muttered, "or old George Ferrers is blind or losing 
 his senses ! " 
 
 A deep silence had settled on the apartment, and no 
 word was uttered either by Lucy, seated by Mrs. 
 Talbot, or Eleanor and Lieut. Ferrers, who had been 
 engaged in what seemed a most intimate and confiden- 
 tial colloquy, carried on in a low, nearly inaudible tone, 
 the young lady listening or speaking with eyes cast 
 down, a slight rose tint in her cheeks, and from time 
 to time a quick, furtive glance at her ardent com- 
 panion. 
 
 The evident emotion of Lord Ferrers had impressed 
 
THE PORTRAIT. 219 
 
 every one, however, so forcibly that all was stillness 
 for the moment in the apartment. 
 
 Suddenly a rapid firing was heard in the direction of 
 the bivouac of the British troopers, and Lord Ferrers 
 started up, losing sight instantly of all but his duty as 
 a soldier. 
 
 " Something is going on yonder which it behooves 
 me to know, ladies ! " he exclaimed gruffly. " I beg to 
 bid you good evening." 
 
 A moment afterward he and Tom Ferrers had left 
 the house, leaped on their horses, and were going at 
 full speed in the direction of the firing. 
 
220 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 HOW COL. TARLETON ARRIVED TOO LATE. 
 
 Canolles, with about twenty-five men, had attacked 
 the British detachment, dismounted and off their 
 guard. 
 
 It is unnecessary to inform the reader that after turn- 
 ing his back on the advancing column on the night 
 before, the partisan had hastened to get his men under 
 arms, and that the mysterious noises in the Swamp 
 accompanying the enemy's movements were made by 
 Canolles and his Rough Riders. 
 
 There was for this man apparently, as for his follow- 
 ers, a singular attraction in partisan warfare the 
 tracking an enemy as a hunter tracks his game until 
 the moment arrived for a sudden attack. It had for 
 him all the charms of tiger hunting in the Indian 
 jungle, and on this occasion Canolles took an unwonted 
 interest in the prospect of an encounter, as one of his 
 opponents was Colonel Tarleton, for whom he had con- 
 ceived, as a Virginian, a great hatred. It was obvious 
 that the expedition of the enemy had for its object 
 either a reconnoissance or the collection of supplies, 
 though what had induced Lord Ferrers and Tarleton 
 both to take part in it Canolles could not imagine. 
 
 The plain course before the partisan, however, was to 
 follow the manoauvre of the column until a favorable 
 moment came for attacking it ; and this he did all day 
 
HOW COL. TARLETON ARRIVED TOO LATE. 221 
 
 long, keeping entirely out of sight even of the British 
 flankers a manoauvre easy of execution from his perfect 
 knowledge of every road and by-road in this singular 
 region of thicket and swamp land. 
 
 Reconnoitering in person at every favorable point, 
 Canolles observed every incident of the inarch ; the 
 halts at farm houses, where, controlled by Lord Fer- 
 rers, the troopers were not permitted to leave their 
 horses or indulge in any outrages; the occasional hesi- 
 tations as to the course to pursue, and all the details of 
 the movements of cavalry in an enemy's country. 
 
 Evening came at last, and when Lord Ferrers- and 
 Tarleton entered the Chatsworth grounds, Canolles, 
 who had halted his men a quarter of a mile off and 
 ridden forward alone, observed from a clump of trees 
 in rear of the house all the details of the interview be- 
 tween the British officers and the two young ladies 
 the hand laid by Ferrers on Tarleton's bridle, the en- 
 trance of the two officers into the house, and the 
 march of the British troopers to the glade beyond, 
 where they were seen to dismount, tie their horses to 
 the boughs of the trees, and rest. 
 
 The moment for the attack had evidently arrived, 
 and Canolles returned to his men at a swift gallop, and 
 gave his orders. At the word the Rough Riders moved 
 rapidly, but in profound silence, through a narrow 
 road in the wood, just visible beneath its overhanging 
 boughs in the moonlight; and in fifteen 'minutes he 
 was in sight of the British detachment, scattered about 
 and, many of them, with their arms unbuckled. 
 
 Tarleton was not present. Chafing at the reproof 
 
222 CANOLLES. 
 
 administered to him by Lord Ferrers, and disposed for 
 the moment to nurse his wrath in solitude, he had 
 walked down to the bank of the river, and reaching 
 the vicinity of the Moss Rock, had leaned against a 
 tree, and was indulging, sotto voce, in some muttered 
 words, neither very elegant in themselves, nor very in- 
 dicative of regard for his superior officer. 
 
 From this moody reverie he was startled by the firing 
 from the British bivouac. 
 
 In fact, Can oil es had made, as we have said, a sud- 
 den and determined attack upon the British troopers, 
 and before Tarleton or Lord Ferrers could reach the 
 spot, the struggle was substantially over. Taken com- 
 pletely by surprise, and having in young Lieut. Jones, 
 left in charge by Tom Ferrers, a mere youth, wholly 
 incompetent to contend with a soldier like Canolles, 
 the men had made only a brief resistance, many of 
 them from their unarmed condition no resistance at 
 all ; and when Tarleton and Lord Ferrers approached 
 the spot the panic was general. 
 
 Lord Ferrers and his nephew were in front, followed 
 close by Tarleton, who had caught his horse from his 
 orderly in the grounds and came on tit a headlong 
 gallop. 
 
 Before Lord Ferrers reached the bivouac he was sur- 
 rounded and captured. 
 
 The old nobleman was in a rage, but, even excited as 
 he was, could not be blind to the fact that his captors 
 were treating him with most scrupulous respect. In 
 spite of the vigorous sweep of his broadsword, which 
 cut more than one of the Rough Riders out of the sad- 
 
HOW COL. TARLETON ARRIVED TOO LATE. 223 
 
 die, no attempt was made to injure him he was simply 
 secured and his horse led off by the bridle, the old 
 cavalier cursing and swearing in a manner violent 
 enough to make the blood run cold. 
 
 O 
 
 Canolles, by whose orders, it is unnecessary to say, 
 this respect had been paid to Lord Ferrers now turned 
 his attention to the opponent whom he wished to meet 
 in person Col. Tarleton. 
 
 Tarleton came on, his horse driven by the spur, and 
 making long bounds. His face, seen clearly in the 
 moonlight, was furious. In no mild mood before, in 
 consequence of the scene in the Chatsworth drawing- 
 room, the surprise of his men made his rage overflow. 
 With drawn sword, and form bent forward in the short 
 stirrups, drawing up his knees, he made straight at 
 Canolles, who came to meet him, and whom he evi- 
 dently recognized. 
 
 " It is you ! I thought so ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 "And you! I knew that!" was the answer of 
 Canolles. 
 
 The 'two horsemen rushed together as they spoke, 
 and their broadswords clashed. 
 
 It was easy to see that both were superb riders and 
 swordsmen. A dozen cuts, right, left and front, were 
 parried. 
 
 " Good ! " cried Canolles, whose face glowed, " it 
 really is a pleasure to engage a good strong wrist, like 
 yours, Colonel." 
 
 "I will make your pleasure short, Mr. Marauder!" 
 was the furious reply. 
 
 "If you can!" Canolles laughed; and, shortening 
 
224 CANOLLES. 
 
 his sword, he was about to plunge it into Tarleton's 
 breast, when one of the British fugitives, who had 
 completely lost control of his frightened horse, ran 
 violently against the animal on which Canolles was 
 mounted. 
 
 The shock was so great that Canolles was hurled 
 back and nearly unseated. Before he could recover, a 
 panic-stricken rush of troopers in red coats completely 
 separated him from Tarleton, who seemed to be borne 
 away in the melee. Whether forced thus from the field 
 against his will, or seeing that by flight alone he could 
 escape capture as he had seen at the Cowpens Col. 
 Tarleton certainly did not reappear. He and the rem- 
 nants of the force, including Tom Ferrers, disappeared 
 in headlong flight in the woods. 
 
 Canolles reined in his horse, dancing on all four feet, 
 and turned to Walter Hay field, who was near him. 
 
 He was laughing. 
 
 "I promised you I would lay my hand once more on 
 the worthy Col. Tarleton !" he said. 
 
 " And you laid it rather heavy, Captain ! The defeat 
 is out and out." 
 
 " So it seems and let them go. I could never catch 
 up with them, and I want no prisoners. Order the 
 recall to be sounded at once, and get the men in line." 
 
 Walter wheeled his horse. 
 
 " Wait a moment. My orders in reference to Lord 
 Ferrers are obeyed?" 
 
 " Yes, sir. He was captured without injury to him, 
 although some of the men suffered." 
 
 " Very well." 
 
HOW COL. TARLETON ARRIVED TOO LATE. 225 
 
 "He is under guard and not under guard, as I 
 ordered ?" 
 
 " Yes, sir. ?J 
 
 " He retains his arms? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Well. See that no one makes any attempt to de- 
 prive him of them or annoy him in any manner it 
 will be at their peri). I repeat that he is to be treated 
 with profound respect." 
 
 Walter saluted. 
 
 " When the men are in column you will take com- 
 mand and move back with them by the Malvern Hill 
 road to the Swamp. I am going before on the same 
 road." 
 
 Walter saluted again. 
 
 "A last word," said Canolles. "You will give or- 
 ders that none of Lord Ferrers' questions are to be 
 answered. He will ride in front of the column, twenty 
 paces in advance, wearing his arms, and unguarded ; 
 and you will ride with him." 
 15 
 
226 CANOLLBS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 HOW COLONEL LORD FERRERS RODE IN AN UNEXPECTED 
 DIRECTION, AND WITH WHOM HE SUPPED. 
 
 An hour afterwards the Rough Riders, accompanied 
 by a few prisoners, were moving back in column 
 through the devious bypaths of the pine thickets 
 towards White Oak Swamp. 
 
 Canolles was not visible. Lord Ferrers rode in front 
 of the column, very much as if he were in command; 
 and this impression had to support it the fact that he 
 still wore his sword, and his pistols were still in his 
 holsters. There were no indications whatever that he 
 was a prisoner no guard rode near him, and Walter 
 Haytield moved respectfully several paces in rear, like 
 an aide-de-camp following his general. 
 
 The column moved on through the moonlight, 
 gradually approaching the White Oak Swamp. The 
 silence was profound; the hoof strokes of the horses 
 on the sandy road were so light as only to make it more 
 striking. 
 
 Lord Ferrers moving alone, in advance, seemed at 
 last to be oppressed by this mysterious nocturnal march, 
 and turning his head, said to Walter gruffly: 
 
 " Ride up." 
 
 The boy obeyed. 
 
 "What the devil does all this mean?" growled the 
 old militaire. 
 
WITH WHOM LORD FERRERS SUPPED. 227 
 
 "Mean, Colonel?" 
 
 " So you know me, eh ?" 
 
 " You rank, naturally from your uniform, as Colo- 
 nel," returned Walter, correcting his slip of the 
 tongue. 
 
 " Well, I repeat my question. What is the meaning 
 of what has occurred to-night ? Whose prisoner am 
 I? Where is your commander? You are not too 
 young, my friend, to command this troop, and I have 
 known some devilish good soldiers and officers no 
 taller than you who had six-footers under them, and 
 deserved to but you wear no evidence of rank. Who 
 and what are you and your men, and where is your 
 officer?" 
 
 Walter smiled and said respectfully : 
 
 " You ask me a great number of questions, Colonel 
 more than I can reply to in a breath." 
 
 " Reply to each singly, then ! " growled Lord 
 Ferrers. 
 
 " Will your Lordship first reply to one I shall myself 
 ask you?" 
 
 " My Lordship ! humph ! So it seems I am better 
 known than you make out! " 
 
 Walter, conscious of another lapsus linguce, was a 
 little taken aback, but answered quickly : 
 . "I heard one of the prisoners utter your name and 
 title, my Lord. 7 ' 
 
 " Very well ; ride up close, and let's talk, my young 
 friend, for this infernal swamp is enough to depress a 
 man's spirits." 
 
 " It is rather melancholy, Colonel." 
 
228 CANOLLES. 
 
 " But, thank Heaven ! you can't make much out of 
 old George Ferrers with your swamp and your night 
 riders damme! Ha! ha! I take things as they 
 come, mon garcon; but I indulge a slight curiosity to 
 know who the devil has captured me, and where we 
 are going?" 
 
 "Your Lordship has not promised to reply to my 
 question." 
 
 " Ask it." 
 
 " Has your Lordship been treated with respect and 
 due consideration?" 
 
 " Yes ; I'll say that for you damme ! Fve been 
 handled as gingerly as if I were a piece of porcelain. 
 I made a good right and left cut in the fight yonder, 
 but nobody took the trouble to cut at me in return. 
 Then you leave me my arms; I ride in front without 
 a guard, and I even have, ha ! ha ! an aide-de-camp ! " 
 
 " Very much at your orders, my Lord ; I am glad 
 to find that you are disposed to look at things so 
 philosophically. " 
 
 Lord Ferrers smiled grimly. 
 
 " I like your lingo, my young friend. You talk 
 like a book ! Well, I've always been a little or a good 
 deal of a philosopher. War is a game you play, and 
 win or lose ; and why not make up your mind to take 
 the chances of the cards? I am an English soldier 
 making war on you Americans. I follow my flag and 
 you follow yours ; each takes his chance. I am cap- 
 tured well, other people have been captured before 
 I don't care a button, as I'll soon be exchanged, no 
 doubt. My only sentiment at present is one of slight 
 
WITH WHOM LORD FERRERS SUPPED. 229 
 
 curiosity to know what officer of the American army 
 has caught me napping." 
 
 At the words, "What officer of the American 
 army, " Walter, rememhering the orders of Canolles, 
 was more than ever on his guard. 
 
 "Your Lordship must pardon my not replying," he 
 said; " as you may soon rejoin your flag by exchange, 
 it might be imprudent. It is a good rule not to answer 
 the questions of an able opponent. Were I to tell you 
 that Gen. Lafayette was present to-night you would 
 know that his force was in this vicinity, would you 
 not?" 
 
 Lord Ferrers uttered an absolute guffaw. 
 
 "Sharp!" he said, "infernally sharp, my young 
 friend. I begin to think that I have the honor of con- 
 versing with the real commanding officer of these wor- 
 thies moving in our rear." 
 
 Walter smiled. 
 
 " If you are not, who is ?" 
 
 " That is, after all, the question, Colonel." 
 
 Lord Ferrers knit his brow and seemed to reflect. 
 
 " Do you know, Mr. Impromptu Aide-de-Camp," he 
 said, " that if I did not know to the contrary I should 
 suppose one thing ? " 
 
 " What is that, Colonel ?" 
 
 " That your commanding officer was a former friend 
 of mine." 
 
 " A former friend, Colonel ? " 
 
 " A certain Captain Canolles, chief of Rough Eiders/* 
 
 " Capt. Canolles ? Canolles?" returned Walter, with 
 a puzzled air. 
 
230 CANOLLES. 
 
 "You must certainly have heard of that gentleman 
 eh?" 
 
 " The name is not unfamiliar to me. He was a par- 
 tisan, I believe?" 
 
 " Yes, and a devilish keen fellow, I can tell you, 
 commanding a troop just like yours, and in this very 
 region. The fact is, I begin to think that I have made 
 the acquaintance to-night of the gentlemen Rough 
 Riders in person only, Canolles cannot be your com- 
 mander for two excellent reasons." 
 
 " Two reasons, Colonel ?" 
 
 " He left the country some time since. He told me 
 at Petersburg that he would be off at once and in the 
 second place, he and I are old companions, and he 
 would never have attacked or captured me." 
 
 "You are a friend of Captain Canolles, Colonel?" 
 
 "Yes, and no man better deserved friends than 
 Canolles a devilish brave, splendid, cool, magnificent 
 fellow, or George Ferrers is no judge ! " 
 
 Walter could not conceal his satisfaction at this 
 speech. 
 
 " I really should have liked to know a person whom 
 your Lordship esteemed so highly," he said ; " and now, 
 my Lord, as I find we are entering upon dangerous 
 ground, you will allow me to precede you and show 
 you the way." 
 
 " The devil ! " grunted Col. Ferrers, with his short 
 laugh; "we are in a drawing-room, it seems ! Well, 
 go on, my friend, but don't tumble me, man and 
 horse, in a quagmire, if you can avoid it." 
 
 " Your Lordship need not fear the road is practi- 
 
WITH WHOM LORD FERRERS SUPPED. 231 
 
 cable and I know it perfectly. You have only to ride 
 directly in my rear/' 
 
 Walter passed ahead, and the column entered the 
 White Oak Swamp. The scene was similar to that 
 described in earlier pages of this narrative. A vast 
 expanse of thicket water sleeping in the moonlight 
 a tangled undergrowth here and there, wholly impene- 
 trable the mournful cry of the whippoorwill, which 
 was answered from time to time by the weird laughter 
 of the owl from the remote depths of the pine and 
 oak thicket. Such was the great White Oak Swamp 
 on the night when Lord Ferrers entered it. The 
 moonlight surrounded every object with a mysterious 
 attraction with which the weird mingled, and the Eng- 
 lish officer gazed around him with curious interest. 
 
 The column, with Walter and Ferrers in front, moved 
 on thus mile after mile, now on firm ground, now 
 through large expanses of shallow, nearly covered by 
 the long, lush swamp grass, and at last came to a con- 
 siderable sheet of water, beyond which was a sort of 
 island. Walter pushed on, the water reaching to the 
 girth. Lord Ferrers and the column followed, and 
 five minutes afterwards they gained the island, which 
 seemed of considerable extent and was nearly covered 
 with trees. 
 
 To the right a light glimmered, and in the direction 
 of this light Walter, after giving an order to the men, 
 led the way, followed by Col. Ferrers the troop defil- 
 ing to the left, where they soon disappeared in the thick 
 foliage. 
 
 "As it is forbidden to ask questions, my young 
 
232 CANOLLES. 
 
 friend," said Lord Ferrers, "I will not inflict the said 
 questions. I content myself with the observation that 
 I am devilish curious to know where we are going, and 
 whether we are to have any supper ? " 
 
 " I think I can promise you some supper, Colonel." 
 
 " Glad to hear it. I'm as hungry as a wolf, and as 
 thirsty as a dozen fish." 
 
 " The Captain has some excellent rum, too, I believe." 
 
 " The Captain ? There's a captain eh ? " 
 
 " Yes, my Lord." 
 
 "And he's here?" 
 
 "! I think so." 
 
 " Introduce me without delay ! ha ! ha ! Excellent 
 rum ! and what did you say was the menu, my friend?" 
 
 " I think there's an old ham we have some excellent 
 hams in Virginia, my Lord and some fried chicken, 
 which is also agreeable when one is hungry, and perhaps 
 a few potatoes, peas, and such trifles." 
 
 Lord Ferrers drew rein, and, stopping, looked at 
 Walter with solemnity. 
 
 " My young friend," he said, "it seems that ques- 
 tions are not to be asked, but I mean to ask one. Are 
 you jesting with your miserable captive ? Ham ! 
 chicken ! potatoes ! peas ! and excellent rum ! And 
 this to a soldier a wolf who has eaten nothing for 
 nearly twenty-four hours ! My friend, are you wantonly 
 trifling with the feelings of a fellow-creature?" 
 
 " By no means, my Lord. There is old black Wil- 
 liam preparing supper." 
 
 Indeed a sable figure was seen busily engaged at a 
 fire beneath an oak near a rude cabin, through the 
 window of which light shone. 
 
WITH WHOM LORD FERRERS SUPPED. 233 
 
 "Good Heavens! " cried Lord Ferrers with an elec- 
 tric gesture, "'tis true! It is not an illusion of the 
 brain! ha! ha!" 
 
 " I would never deceive you on so serious a subject, 
 Colonel !" laughed "Walter. 
 
 " And my host awaits me ? " exclaimed Lord Ferrers 
 with beaming countenance. 
 
 " I think so, my Lord." 
 
 " Then en evant! my young friend; lead on." 
 
 We have arrived, my Lord. Allow me to take your 
 horse/' 
 
 " Not at all. Here is a bough." 
 
 And Lord Ferrers tied his own horse, Walter imita- 
 ting him, and then leading the way toward the cabin 
 about twenty paces distant. 
 
 It was a rustic affair, with a chimney of logs built 
 up outside, and had a door and window on the side 
 which Lord Ferrers now approached. As they drew 
 near, a rich and savory odor invaded the atmosphere 
 an odor of broiled ham and eggs, broiled chicken 
 and other edibles. Lord Ferrers closed his eyes and 
 drew a long breath through his nostrils. 
 
 "I no longer regret my capture," he said, "if this 
 is a specimen of my rations during my captivity." 
 
 " We shall try to make them better, my Lord," 
 Walter said, with a laugh. " Remember what short 
 notice we had of the pleasure of your company to- 
 night!" 
 
 "Yes you say 'we,' I observe. You are, then, a 
 friend of his Excellency the Chief? " 
 
 " A very warm friend." 
 
234 CANOLLES. 
 
 " And we are about to see him ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Delighted to know him ; but I swear I regret one 
 thing." 
 
 " What is that, my Lord ? " 
 
 " That your captain is not Canolles ! I would rather 
 hobnob to-night in the Swamp with that lad of mettle 
 than sup with the Premier Duke of England." 
 
 The door of the cabin had opened as he was 
 speaking. 
 
 " You have your wish, my Lord/' said Canolles, 
 appearing in the doorway, " and I assure you I recip- 
 rocate your preference in reference to yourself." 
 
THE SUPPEK. 235 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE SUPPER. 
 
 The sudden appearance of Canolles standing in the 
 doorway of the cabin seemed to fill Col. Ferrers with 
 the utmost astonishment. He stopped short, exclaim- 
 ing : 
 
 " You ! " 
 
 " In person, my dear Colonel," replied Canolles, 
 whose face indicated unmistakable pleasure. " What 
 surprises you ? " 
 
 " Nothing surprises me in this curious world," 
 grunted Lord Ferrers with affected indifference, though 
 it was perfectly plain that his pleasure at the meeting 
 was as great as that felt by his host ; but here you are, 
 and I don't mind saying I'm devilish glad to see you, 
 Canolles!" 
 
 The partisan had advanced quickly to receive his 
 guest, with his hand extended to bestow a cordial 
 grasp. Lord Ferrers extended two fingers. 
 
 " So it's not your ghost, or simulacrum ? " he said. 
 " They didn't make a ghost of me, too, eh ? in the 
 fight yonder, and we are not meeting in Hades ? " 
 
 " The surroundings are rather prosaic for that classic 
 region, Colonel," laughed Canolles, " and you may 
 perceive an odor unknown probably to Achilles and 
 Ulysses that of a Virginia ham." 
 
 " I do ! " was the old Colonel's emphatic response. 
 
236 CANOLLES. 
 
 "Ambrosia never equaled it, and I catch a glimpse of 
 bottles yonder which contain, Fll venture to swear, 
 something a long way ahead of nectar ! " 
 
 " You shall test the question, Colonel. But come 
 in ! come in ! I never hoped to have the good for- 
 tune to see you beneath my roof." 
 
 Canolles drew the Colonel in, and Walter, having 
 repaired to the bivouac of the troop at the other ex- 
 tremity of the small swamp island to carry an order, 
 the friends found themselves alone in the cabin. It 
 was a rude affair, with one room only and unboarded 
 rafters. A broad fire-place, a rough table, a camp couch 
 and two or three rustic arm-chairs, evidently the handi- 
 work of some member of the command these objects 
 were seen by the light of two tallow candles, burning 
 in superbly chased silver candlesticks. On the camp 
 couch lay the hat, gloves, and belt containing the 
 broadsword of the partisan. Canolles hastened to re- 
 ceive the cocked hat and accoutrements of Lord Fer- 
 rers, which he deposited beside his own, and then draw- 
 ing up the chair of honor a broad-seated affair with 
 sturdy arms said : 
 
 " Sit down, Colonel, and let me say that no one could 
 be more welcome here than yourself." 
 
 "Humph! well, that's highly flattering to a pris- 
 oner, i' faith ! " 
 
 " A prisoner ! You do not seriously consider your- 
 self a prisoner ? " 
 
 " What else am I ? " 
 
 " You are a guest do not doubt that for a moment, 
 my Lord." 
 
THE SUPPER. 237 
 
 Ferrers looked at Canolles -with his grim-looking 
 smile and said : 
 
 " So I'm in a cavern of the Arabian Nights, where 
 all's unreal ! I've dreamed all this, then ! There was 
 no fight to-night; I was not captured; we have not 
 been marching through the most damnable roads that 
 I ever laid eyes on, except that I could not see where I 
 was riding, and I am free to depart from this abode of 
 the genii whenever I choose eh !" 
 
 " At this very moment, if you desire, Colonel, with 
 an escort to conduct you; but you will not go before 
 supper, I hope." 
 
 " If I do I'm but let us not be profane ! " 
 
 " No doubt you are hungry ?" 
 
 " Hungry ? No wolf ever approached me ! " 
 
 " Then I will order supper." 
 
 Canolles called to the dusky figure at the fire, and a 
 muttered response as of some high functionary dis- 
 turbed in important business came back. 
 
 " I venture to assure you, my Lord," he said, " that 
 you will not have long to wait." 
 
 " Glad of it; but while we are waiting, tell me were 
 you not in command yonder to-night ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "You laid a trap for us, eh ?" 
 
 " Not for you for another person." 
 
 "Col. Tarleton, eh?" 
 
 "Precisely." 
 
 " Hey ! I begin to understand now. You do not 
 indulge a very strong affection for that excellent young 
 man!" 
 
238 CANOLLES. 
 
 " I do not, naturally, since I am a Virginian. Col. 
 Tarleton has carried the torch as well as the sword 
 wherever he has moved." 
 
 " Fact ! I have told him twenty times to stop that 
 damnably disgraceful way of making war. but nothing 
 came of it. Cornwallis don't know of it, or lets him 
 do it, and though I rank Tarleton, he is not under me 
 except on occasions such as this to-night, when we 
 went together on a reconnoissance." 
 
 " I saw you on the march and regretted your pres- 
 ence, but you are far too good a soldier to blame my 
 attack on that account." 
 
 " Who could be so absurd ?" 
 
 " I could only give the strictest orders that you should 
 be treated with the utmost respect. Were my orders 
 obeyed ? If not" 
 
 " To the letter ! Not a finger touched rne. I was 
 lifted gently from the saddle like a delicate young 
 female, most tenderly cared for and marched to this 
 charming retreat at the head of the column, and ap- 
 parently in command of my captors 
 
 " Whither I preceded you, Colonel, in order to have 
 some supper ready for you. Here it is." 
 
 As Canolles spoke, an aged African, with snow-white 
 hair and clad in a mass of rags, appeared at the door 
 in the rear, and coming in saluted the company with 
 respect and dignit} T . On one arm he bore a snowy 
 cloth and napkins ; in the other hand some plates of 
 exquisitely delicate porcelain-like china, knives, forks 
 and silver spoons. With the air of long practice, evi- 
 dently in a gentleman's family, he covered the rude 
 
THE SUPPER. 239 
 
 table with the cloth, placed the damask napkins neatly 
 folded beneath the plates, arranged the knives, forks 
 and spoons by a single movement, it seemed, of the 
 hand, and then silently retired. 
 
 " Humph !" grunted Lord Ferrers; " do you know, 
 my friend, there's not a major domo in the finest castle 
 in England that could have done that better? " 
 
 " Old William is well trained, Colonel. An old 
 family servant." 
 
 " Of yours ? " 
 
 " Of my father before me. He wore a black suit and 
 white gloves once, and stood behind some distinguished 
 company. He is in rags now, as you see, and every- 
 thing is changed, except the company." 
 
 Lord Ferrers turned his head and looked at the 
 speaker. 
 
 "Canolles!" he grunted, "do you know that I'm 
 more puzzled to-night than I ever was before to know 
 one thing ? " 
 
 "What is that, Colonel ?" 
 
 " To understand what the devil ever made a man of 
 your rank in society turn marauder ! " 
 
 Canolles laughed. 
 
 " My rank in society ? I'm a mere swamp rider, as 
 you see." 
 
 " I see nothing of the sort exactly the contrary. 
 But all this can be put off' until after supper. I never 
 could talk when the center of my system was in the 
 condition that it is at present." 
 
 " Very well, Colonel ; here is something which 1 
 hope will revive you." 
 
240 CANOLLES. 
 
 Old William had entered with a pile of dishes, all 
 of the same exquisite china; and these contained an 
 old Virginia ham, red and juicy, chickens fried and 
 stewed, roast lamb, early peas, potatoes and other vege- 
 tables, and a Virginia hoe cake. 
 
 " To table, my guest," said Canolles ; " but first try 
 and adopt our Virginia habit of an appetizer." 
 
 He went to a corner and returned with two long- 
 necked bottles with dusty labels. 
 
 "This is excellent Jamaica rum," he said, presenting 
 one. " I know it to be ten years old and this is old 
 Madeira, or at least has attained its majority, as you 
 may see from the year, '1759,' upon the label." 
 
 An expression of rapture passed over the face of 
 Col. Ferrers. 
 
 " Rum ten years old ! and Madeira twenty-two ! " he 
 cried. "Is this scene a dream, then ? Or am I in the 
 cave of the Arabian genii, where all will flit ere one 
 can cry out < Hold?'" 
 
 " Not in the least, my dear Colonel. You are in the 
 White Oak Swamp in Virginia. This is simply a good 
 bottle of wine from my father's cellar, and nothing 
 before you will flit until that imp of darkness, William, 
 clears the table." 
 
 Canolles drew up the chairs, and they took their 
 seats, the face of Col. Ferrers glowing with the same 
 profound expression of satisfaction. Old William had 
 brought the glasses and fresh water, had opened the 
 wine and Jamaica, and the supper began and went 
 upon its way, evidently to the extreme enjoyment of 
 Lord Ferrers. 
 
LORD FERRERS COMES TO THE POINT. 241 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 IN WHICH LORD FERRERS COMES TO THE POINT. 
 
 Lord Ferrers consumed his supper with the deliberate 
 gusto of an epicure not the least in a hurry, and the 
 perseverance of a hungry soldier. An hour afterward 
 it had come to an end the table was cleared, and host 
 and guest were seated opposite each other in the light 
 of the two candles in their silver candlesticks. 
 
 " Well, my dear Colonel, I hope you have supped to 
 your satisfaction," said Canolles, " or at least, which is 
 much with us soldiers, have ceased to be hungry." 
 
 " Supped to my satisfaction ! Are you making fun 
 of me, Canolles ? Never in the finest Paris cafes have 
 I supped as I have supped to night! " 
 
 " Delighted to hear it Colonel," laughed Canolles. 
 
 " Your i old Virginia ham,' above all, is past the 
 power of words. How are the animals fed w r hich pro- 
 duce that wonder ? What is the secret of the flavor it 
 imparts ? It is grand it is imperial ! It is the prince 
 of edibles. Your lamb conciliates respect but your 
 ham, my friend, arouses in me an enthusiasm which I 
 cannot express." 
 
 " You are good enough to make flattering observa- 
 tions, and I recognize your well-known courtesy, my 
 Lord," said Canolles, with a smile. 
 
 " Humph ! " grunted Col. Ferrers, " I am not at all 
 16 
 
242 CANOLLES. 
 
 flattering, comrade I am just. As well say that this 
 old Madeira I am sipping is an ordinary vintage." 
 
 " I believe that to be good." 
 
 "It is superb. I have in my time quaffed many 
 flagons, comrade ; but I do not quaff a beverage like 
 this. I taste it with the tip of the tongue and the edge 
 of the lips, for fear that I shall feel it in my head and 
 lose the flavor. " 
 
 In fact the Colonel, who had only swallowed a single 
 mouthful of the strong Jamaica rum, and then aban- 
 doned it, had tasted his Madeira with the air of a hum- 
 ming bird hovering over a flower, apparently with the 
 apprehension that some of the delicate aroma would 
 escape him. And the good wine had responded to 
 this flattering treatment. Co-operating naturally and 
 healthfully with the excellent supper partaken of 
 slowly by the old soldier with the wisdom of a true 
 epicure it had warmed his faculties, exhilarated with- 
 out exciting his spirits, and he had evidently reached 
 that stage of physical well-being when the body and 
 the mind are in their most favorable condition. Mirth 
 beamed in his eye good-fellowship in the manner in 
 which he hobnobbed with Canolles and with his 
 white mustache and ruddy face he was the model of a 
 jolly old militaire and gentleman. 
 
 " Well, Colonel,' 7 said Canolles, " you must be aware 
 that nothing pleases a host so much as to have his 
 guest pleased with his entertainment Nothing now 
 remains but to inform you that an escort will await 
 you at daylight if you desire to go so soon back to 
 
LORD FERRERS COMES TO THE POINT. 243 
 
 the English pickets ; and to add that if you are sleepy, 
 your bed is ready." 
 
 " Sleepy ? " said Lord Ferrers. " What an idea ! I 
 was never more wide awake in all my life, and I mean 
 to cling to that bottle of Madeira, Canolles, until I see 
 the bottom/' 
 
 u Well, I'll assist you." 
 
 "Like the jolly boy you are ! And why not make 
 the ' winged hours ' nit on with song? Come, give me 
 a song ; you shake your head then you shall hear the 
 favorite of the late Lord Ferrers." 
 
 And in a jovial, rollicking, and richly musical voice 
 the old soldier trolled forth the famous ditty beginning : 
 
 " There was a jolly beggar, 
 
 And a begging he was bound, 
 And he took up his quarters 
 All in a landart town. 
 
 " And we'll go no more a-wooing, 
 
 A-wooing in the night ; 
 We'll go no more a-wooing, boys, 
 Though the moon shine ne'er so bright !" 
 
 Clear, sonorous, and full of the richest spirit of mer- 
 riment, rang out the " loud, lilting chorus," and old 
 Lord Ferrers as he sang was a sight to see. He sat 
 with his shoulders thrown back, his stately old head 
 erect, his eyes laughing, his white mustache clearly 
 relieved against the ruddy cheeks, curling with the 
 mirth that shook his frame. 
 
 " Bravo ! " cried Canolles as he ended, " what an ad- 
 mirable tenor you have, my lord ! " 
 
244 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Ho ! ho ! now you are flattering me, comrade ! My 
 song's not equal to your Madeira by long odds!" 
 
 "It is admirable ! You will sing me something 
 more, I hope a song of sentiment." 
 
 " If you like. What shall it be ? Stay ! I'll sing 
 you something Fve not sung for years it was the fa- 
 vorite of a person whom you wondrously resemble." 
 The old nobleman uttered these words in a voice of 
 deep sadness, and his head drooped. Silence reigned 
 for some moments in the cabin, and Lord Ferrers 
 seemed the prey of some sorrowful memory. Then 
 slowly, in a deep, rich, nearly tremulous voice, he began 
 the old Scottish song, " The Flowers of the Forest," 
 which seems in its long murmur full of sadness, like 
 the sig'a of the winds of autumn. As he proceeded 
 his tones grew sweeter, sadder, more affecting, and 
 penetrated to the heart of his listener. At last the 
 song ended in a long sigh, as it were, and again there 
 was silence. Each of the two men turned away his 
 head to conceal the traces of tears ; those in the eyes 
 of Lord Ferrers seemed to spring from memories con- 
 nected with the song, those of Canolles from the pro- 
 found effect produced upon his feelings. 
 
 " Well, well," said the old nobleman, arousing him- 
 self; " all that is buried in the grave, comrade. It is 
 many a year since I sang that song. Your face made 
 me sing it once more looking at you I think of one 
 who's gone a boy whom. I loved more dearly than 
 all else on this earth save the mother that bore him. 
 Enough this unmans me let us not speak further 
 of it." 
 
LORD FERRERS COMES TO THE POINT. 245 
 
 Canolles bowed his head with deep respect, and for 
 some moments the silence was unbroken. Then, with 
 a deep sigh, Lord Ferrers rose erect in his chair and 
 said to the partisan : 
 
 "Well, friend, I have endeavored to entertain you 
 with my old cracked voice in your turn entertain me 
 or rather satisfy my curiosity. Do you remember 
 when you were at Petersburg and condemned to death, 
 you authorized me to read a paper in which you had 
 related the story of your life ? We are alone now 
 tell me that story." 
 
246 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HENRY CARTARET, OF CHATSWORTH. 
 
 Canolles, leaning back in his chair, with one arm 
 extended upon the table at his side, the fingers idly 
 thrumming, for some moments remained silent. He 
 was evidently reflecting. The dreamy eyes of the 
 partisan were plainly looking upon other scenes, and 
 his memory filled with figures belonging to the past. 
 
 He roused himself from the reverie at last, and 
 seemed to think that some apology for it was due to 
 his guest. 
 
 "A bad and very uncourteous habit this, dear 
 Colonel," he said ; " but you will pardon me my dream. 
 Life, after all, is little better." 
 
 "I don't know,' 7 was Lord Ferrers' reply, in his 
 habitual, short, gruff voice. " I've found it devilish 
 real, and I thought you, the headlong partisan and 
 Rough Rider, Canolles, would have little or nothing to 
 do with dreams reveries. " 
 
 " A natural conclusion, but not correct. I am the 
 dreamer of dreamers, and take refuge in hard riding 
 and fighting to escape these dreams." 
 
 " They are not pleasant, then ? " 
 
 u They are not." 
 
 " Humph ! Well, that brings us back to the main 
 point. Tell me your history and observe, comrade, 
 that I am not making the least apology for my blunt 
 
HENRY CARTARET, OF CHATSWORTH. 247 
 
 request. I liked you from the moment I laid eyes on 
 you. I came near cursing Arnold to his face as a pol- 
 troon and scoundrel when he signed your death-war- 
 rant. You are a wondrous likeness, I've said, of one 
 who has left me no more of that who and what 
 are you ? " 
 
 Canolles looked at Lord Ferrers with his old grim, 
 melancholy smile. 
 
 " Why not go for information to the first person you 
 meet ? " he said. " They will tell you that I am a free- 
 booter, a bandit, a highwayman that I rob both sides, 
 and fight like a free lance of the middle ages, for 
 money, and only for money so much for the what I 
 am ; and as to the who, is it not natural to adopt the 
 obvious theory that I am sprung from the dregs of the 
 social cauldron, that I am 'base, common, and popu- 
 lar ' and fitly associate myself with the rough fellows 
 I command, my equals, save, perhaps, in will and 
 brain?" 
 
 " A single word, Canolles/' said Lord Ferrers. 
 " Stop all that talk. Don't expect to fool old George 
 Ferrers. If you are a marauder you have left your 
 social rank to become one. What I want to know 
 without further parleying is who you are and what 
 made you adopt this wild idea of fighting under no 
 flag ? Will you tell me, or will you riot ?" 
 
 " I will tell you everything/' Canolles replied with 
 his melancholy smile. " The story need not be long, 
 which is fortunate, perhaps, as it will not be gay ; and 
 I no longer object to speaking frankly. You recall the 
 scene in Petersburg on the night before my expected 
 
248 CANOLLES. 
 
 execution, when, regarding myself already as a dead 
 man, I authorized you to read the paper in which I 
 had explained all that I now propose to explain viva 
 voce. Well, it is a dead man in another sense who 
 now speaks to you a man whom after to-night you 
 will probably never see again. Having attained the 
 aim I had in view in becoming a commandant of par- 
 tisans, I have no longer anything to induce me to re- 
 main in Virginia, I should before this time have dis- 
 banded my troops, but for the satisfaction of striking 
 at Col. Tarleton for his many outrages. I shall now 
 disband the men and leave Virginia forever hence I 
 may speak with candor, and even desire to speak. 
 You have known me as a mere plunderer, apparently; 
 why not let you know me as a gentleman ? I must have 
 seemed to you eaten up by a base greed for gold. Why 
 not let you see that of all the treasure I have seized I 
 retain not so much as a single penny ? Why, in one 
 word, my dear Lord Ferrers, should I not open my 
 breast to you, a faithful and devoted friend, so that in 
 going away never to return, I may not rest under these 
 imputations, but carry with me at least the good 
 opinion of a man whose good opinion I value ? " 
 
 " You have that now, don't doubt it. The devil ! I 
 think you heard me say what I thought of you the 
 very morning you were brought to poor Phillips' head- 
 quarters. Well, I've never wavered in that opinion. 
 I know as well as I know I am in existence that there 
 is some mystery in your past life something other 
 than the love of gold that has made a marauder of a 
 gentleman. Tell me what it is it is not necessary at 
 
HENRY CARTARET, OF CHATSWORTH. 249 
 
 all for securing or retaining ray good opinion. I say 
 you have that. My curiosity is the sentiment I want 
 gratified, Canolles." 
 
 " It shall be gratified, Colonel," returned Canolles, 
 " and you will probably be surprised to ascertain how 
 very simply and briefly the apparent mystery of my 
 career may be explained." 
 
 " I am the eldest son of Henry Cartaret, of Chats- 
 worth, dead in poverty and exile. My name is Hartley 
 Canolles Cartaret the name Canolles being derived 
 from my mother, who came of an old French Huguenot 
 family, emigrants to Virginia for conscience sake, and 
 the name Hartley from your brother, the late Lord 
 Hartley Ferrers, to whom my father, as you may be 
 aware, was bound by ties of most intimate, almost 
 tender friendship." 
 
 " I know it well ! Astonishing ! So you are a son of 
 Henry Cartaret ! Humph ! Is it possible ? Well, he 
 was not only my friend, he was a relation of ours; and 
 no doubt that accounts for your remarkable likeness to 
 my poor boy. These resemblances often come out 
 strongest, at intervals, skipping a generation or gene- 
 rations. So you are a son of Henry Cartaret ? " 
 
 "Yes, but to proceed with my story, Colonel. I was 
 born at Chats worth, at that time a grand manor, the 
 abode of wealth and luxury for my father's posses- 
 sions were large and here in this good old Virginia 
 home I passed my childhood and youth a happy Vir- 
 ginia boy, loving everybody, and they say beloved by 
 all. My disposition was naturally mild and my affec- 
 tion very strong. I remember well what passionate grief 
 
250 CANOLLES. 
 
 I experienced at the death of my dear mother soon 
 after the birth of my younger brother, Harry, and 
 going back in memory I now recall a thousand trifles 
 indicating to my mind, beyond all doubt, that by nature 
 I was intended for anything rather than to take part in 
 this dirty and bloody trade of war, to which, as you 
 will see, I was driven by outraged love and pride, which 
 I must confess have made me quite relentless. 
 
 " For my younger brother Harry, whom you have 
 seen, I think, at Petersburg, I cherished the warmest 
 affection, and this affection, thank Heaven, has never 
 changed, nor has his changed for me. Our likeness to 
 each other seemed to draw us more closely together, 
 and I have never known the time when my first instinct 
 was riot to interpose myself between him and danger, 
 as I know it has been his first instinct when peril 
 threatened me, an evidence of which you had in his 
 night attack to. rescue me when I was condemned to 
 death. But warm as my love was for Harry and 
 never did brother love brother more than I loved him 
 my devotion to my father very far exceeded it. Had 
 you known him, my father, you would easily have 
 understood this devotion, almost passionate in its 
 character and extent. Colonel Cartaret as he was 
 called after the Virginia fashion was indeed a remark- 
 able person. I have encountered in my life, short as 
 it has been, many eminent individuals, but none quite 
 up to his moral and mental stature. He was the soul 
 of sweetness and benignity tall, erect, courtly, with 
 the gentlest smile for every one around him, and a hand 
 as open as the day to any one in distress and in a 
 
HENRY CARTARET, OF CHATSWORTH. 251 
 
 circuit of twenty miles there was scarce a poor family 
 who at some time had not been relieved by him' in their 
 hoar of need. To enter his presence was like going 
 into the sunshine, and from my earliest years I recall 
 his exquisite and caressing smile. His politeness was 
 princely, and bestowed upon the low equally with the 
 high. The poorest was as welcome in his house as the 
 richest ; and he would rise from his wine and leave the 
 most elegant company to go and listen to some poor 
 person who came to him for relief. 7 ' 
 
 " Yes, all that is true. I knew Henry Cartaret as 
 well as you did," grunted Lord Ferrers. 
 
 " Then you know, my Lord," continued Canolles, 
 "that my father possessed other traits, also, than those 
 I have noticed. When I said just now, in referring to 
 him, that he seemed to me to be in some respects the 
 most remarkable person I have ever known, I referred 
 to the singular union in him of the most apparently 
 incompatible traits. Under this sweet and gentle ex- 
 terior this suavity and kindness which I have never 
 seen surpassed was not only an intellectual organi- 
 zation of the first order, but also a very powerful and 
 obdurate will, and a temper which, once aroused, made 
 him a dangerous adversary. I may sum up this account 
 of my father by saying that he seemed to me to be a 
 mixture of the lion and the -lamb up to a certain 
 epoch in his life I saw only the lamb. The day came 
 when the lion revealed himself." 
 
 Canolles paused. 
 
 " Continue, friend," the old nobleman gravely said, 
 "and be assured that I take the deepest interest in all 
 
252 CANOLLES. 
 
 that you tell me. I see with your eyes, and have before 
 me the widowed gentleman, loving and beloved by all 
 around him you and your younger brother, simple, 
 affectionate country boys, like the boys of our dear old 
 England the great house of Chatsworth, with its ele- 
 gant company all the places, the faces, the members 
 of your happy family group." 
 
 " There were other members of the group, my Lord, 
 whom I was about to mention Mrs. Talbot and her 
 two nieces, distant relatives of the family. My father, 
 hearing some years after the death of my mother that 
 these ladies were reduced in fortune, invited Mrs. Talbot 
 and her nieces to make their home at Chatsworth. 
 They assented, became cherished members of the house- 
 hold, and they have remained at the old manor house 
 up to the present time, even after the alienation of the 
 property and my father's death of which circumstance, 
 with others, you shall have, in a few moments, an ex- 
 planation." 
 
 Again Canolles paused and his eyes assumed the old 
 dreamj 7 look; but they slowly filled with blood, his 
 swarthy face was slightly tinted with color, and a latent 
 flush, as it were, came from beneath the dark eyelashes. 
 
 " I now come to the main substance of my narra- 
 tive," he said, the tone of his voice growing stern, 
 almost harsh, as he proceeded. " The political agitation 
 heralding the present armed struggle began, and young 
 as I was at that time the year 1765 I well remem- 
 ber the general excitement. My father was a member 
 of the House of Burgesses, and as he had taken me 
 with him on a visit to Williamsburg, the capital, I was 
 
HENRY CARTARET, OF CHATSWORTH. 253 
 
 a personal witness of the celebrated debate on the 
 Stamp Act. Mr. Henry offered some resolutions which 
 aroused a storm, since they distinctly declared that the 
 Virginia Burgesses alone had the right to tax Virginia. 
 This was regarded by many members as an open de- 
 fiance of Parliament, and the resolutions were bitterly 
 opposed by some of the greatest patriots of the day, 
 as premature and injudicious. My father came to 
 Henry's support, and advocated the resolutions in a 
 speech of passionate eloquence. I still remember the 
 fire of his eyes, and the grandeur of his appearance, 
 as he drew himself to the full height of his tall stature, 
 exclaiming: i Treason? Does the gentleman seriously 
 characterize these resolutions as treason ? Treason 
 against whom or what? Against the King of En- 
 gland ? It is not the King of England who taxes the 
 colonies ! Against a body of country gentlemen call- 
 ing themselves the House of Commons, or a body of 
 titled gentlemen calling themselves the House of 
 Lords ? I have yet to learn that a subject can be guilty 
 of treason against a subject ! The resolutions before 
 the House declare that the Burgesses of Virginia alone 
 have the right to tax Virginia, since in the House of Bur- 
 gesses of Virginia alone are the people of Virginia re- 
 presented. Is that true or false ? If it be true, the 
 resolutions ought to pass. I am conservative in my 
 views, sir. I love England next to my own country, 
 but I would rather lay my head on the block, so help 
 me God, t than shrink from asserting the just rights of 
 my native country Virginia ! ' 
 , "I have given you nearly the exact words uttered by 
 
254 CANOLLES. 
 
 Col. Cartaret. I cannot convey the proud accents of 
 the loyal voice, pleading passionately for the assertion 
 of right. The resolutions passed largely, I am sure, 
 from the effect of my father's speech and he was re- 
 garded from that time by Mr. Henry, and Mr. Jeffer- 
 son afterwards, as an ardent revolutionist, bent on 
 effecting a separation between the colonies and the 
 mother country. Any such desire, however, was ut- 
 terly absent from his breast. He loved England with 
 all his heart her ancient Church establishment, her 
 social fabric of class, her ancestral glories her poets, 
 statesmen, law-givers were his and with his far-seeing 
 glance he saw that the new regime would overthrow all, 
 from turret to foundation, inaugurating upon the ruins 
 of the fabric toppled down an equalizing democracy 
 which would sweep before it, like a torrent, all the 
 debris of the old world of his affections. Of this he 
 spoke to me often, pointing out the tendency of the 
 moment toward separation. One day when Col. 
 Washington, now the great leader of the colonies, was 
 at Chatsworth it was about the year 1774, 1 believe 
 they sat over their wine conversing upon political 
 affairs, and I recall as distinctly as though it had been 
 yesterday, that both gentlemen absolutely agreed with 
 each other in reference to a separation from the mother 
 country, Col. Washington expressing himself upon the 
 subject in terms so strong and tones so animated that 
 it was plain he regarded- such a severance with abso- 
 lute repugnance, and never dreamed that events could 
 render it necessary. 
 
 "I grow tedious, perhaps, my Lord but this preface 
 
OF CHATSWORTH. 255 
 
 was essential to a just comprehension of the events 
 which I am now about to relate. Col. Cartaret, after 
 serving in the Burgesses, took no further part in pub- 
 lic affairs until the opening of the present conflict, re- 
 maining at home and passing his time in what he loved 
 better than all else, the supervision of his estate for 
 he was passionately devoted to country life. He enter- 
 tained a great deal of company, and among this com- 
 pany were some of the first statesmen of the epoch 
 Mr. Edmund Pendleton, Mr. Edmund Randolph, Mr. 
 George Mason, and others, who agreed with him in 
 every particular, and looked with unconcealed regret 
 upon the possibility of being forced to a separation and 
 war with England. You knew Col. Cartaret, my 
 Lord, and must be aware that his political opinions 
 were not based upon personal considerations. He was 
 quite superior, I need scarcely say, to any such weak- 
 ness, and in advocating as he did moderate action in- 
 stead of precipitation, was actuated by a very high 
 sense of duty and a true love for his country about to 
 be plunged into a bloody and, as he thought, unneces- 
 sary conflict in pursuit of a fancied good which he 
 firmly believed would turn out a deplorable evil. J)o 
 you say that he was mistaken that America is about 
 to gain her end ? Xery well, my Lord. To each his 
 opinion. This continent will doubtless become the 
 seat of a great democracy; a mighty empire of the 
 people success to it but leave Col. Cartaret, who has 
 sealed his opinions by poverty, exile and death, his at- 
 tachment for England, the home of his family, the old 
 constitutional monarchy, essentially a republic, which 
 
256 CANOLLES. 
 
 has proved the sole bulwark against absolute govern- 
 ment on the continent of Europe. 
 
 "Well, the year 1776 came. The fire, which had 
 been so long smouldering broke forth. The country 
 was convulsed from one end to the other, and the Gen- 
 eral Congress found itself called upon by the ardent 
 revolutionists to formally decree a separation between 
 England and the colonies. Of this Congress my father 
 was a member.' 7 
 
WHAT HAD TAKEN PLACE IN CONGRESS. 257 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 WHAT HAD TAKEN PLACE IN CONGRESS. 
 
 " Col. Cartaret had accepted the appointment of del- 
 egate to the General Congress with the greatest reluc- 
 tance and only after long hesitation. He was well 
 aware that his opinions were not in unison with those 
 of the great men of the community, and that, instead 
 of proving of any service, he would only embarrass 
 the body in the action they were now plainly bent on 
 taking. 
 
 " These opinions were fully stated to the gentlemen 
 who brought the appointment. The reply was brief; 
 the people of Virginia were willing to trust to the ac- 
 tion of the man who had supported Henry in '65. Col. 
 Cartaret then said that until the further development 
 of events nothing should induce him to vote for a de- 
 claration of separation from England, and consequently 
 formal war between the countries. The response was 
 that the gentlemen of the Burgesses left Col. Cartaret 
 and all her delegates wholly untrammeled. His action 
 would be taken, unless he was distinctly instructed, in 
 accordance with his own views of the interest of the 
 colony ; and overcome at last, Col. Cartaret accepted 
 the appointment and repaired to Philadelphia, where 
 in the summer of 1776, as you are aware, my Lord, 
 the great, passionate, bitter struggle soon began on the 
 question whether the colonies should or should not de- 
 17 
 
258 CANOLLES. 
 
 clare themselves independent states and make war on 
 England formally to support their declaration. 
 
 " I come now to the vital portion of my narrative 
 to the incidents which drove my father from this 
 country, to sink, eventually, a sorrow-stricken man, 
 into his grave. He never wavered in his opinions to 
 the last; but the bread of exile is bitter, and the 
 chords of his great heart snapped under the strain. 
 
 " The sittings of Congress were often secret, and no 
 record was made of many of the most passionate debates 
 the body indulging a natural apprehension that, in 
 the event of failure, certain persons would be singled 
 out by the British Government as ringleaders, and 
 made to suffer for their action. This was notably so 
 in the case of the resolutions offered by Mr. Lee, that 
 the colonies should declare themselves independent 
 neither the name of the mover or seconder having 
 been entered on the journals. 
 
 " I have scarce sufficient equanimity, my Lord, to 
 enable me to protract my account of what now occurred 
 in connection with Col. Cartaret. He remained obdu- 
 rately unconvinced of the propriety of a declaration at 
 the moment. That the necessity for such a proceeding 
 might arise he acknowledged it was even probable 
 that the country would be driven by events to take that 
 step. But a formal separation and declaration of war 
 were not yet necessary, he urged ; and if any possibility 
 remained to avoid that course, it was, he said, incum- 
 bent on the Congress, as a body of statesmen and 
 patriots, not to act under the influence of passion, but 
 spare the country, if possible, the fearful effusion of 
 
WHAT HAD TAKEN PLACE IN CONGRESS. 259 
 
 blood which must ensue. These views he advanced 
 with all the powers of his passionate eloquence, and 
 for many days, during which the bitter conflict of 
 opposing opinions went on night and day, Col. Car- 
 taret found at his back a powerful party, which shared 
 his views. 
 
 " In support of this statement, if it requires any sup- 
 port, take the expression used on his return to Virginia 
 by Mr. Jeiferson, that this powerful opposition to the 
 Declaration at that time resembled the ceaseless action 
 of gravity, weighing upon us by night and by day. I 
 give you his exact words, of which I am accurately 
 informed ; and they will serve to dissipate the fancy, 
 widely prevalent at this time, that there was in the 
 Congress no wide divergence of opinion. There was 
 a bitter difference, on the contrary, and Col. Cartaret 
 was the leader of the party for deferring action until 
 the prospect before the country was clearer. 
 
 " Hour by hour, however, the sentiment of the body 
 in favor of prompt action grew stronger, and Col. 
 Cartaret, finding that any further struggle was useless, 
 abandoned the contest, and, retiring to a seat in a 
 remote part of the hall, listened in silence whilst the 
 desultory debate yet continued. He was not permitted 
 to retire in peace. Smarting under the lash which 
 Col. Cartaret had more than once applied to him in 
 debate, a delegate, as remarkable for his personal 
 insignificance as for his flippant and reckless harangu- 
 ing day after day, singled his now silent adversary out 
 as the mark of his denunciation. I will not repeat the 
 insulting expressions of this person, of which my 
 
260 CANOLLES. 
 
 father informed me afterwards. It is enough to say 
 that every base motive was attributed to him personal 
 absence of nerve, apprehension that the cause would 
 fail and that he would lose his estate, and the speaker 
 even intimated that British gold was at the bottom of 
 the action of the gentleman from Virginia. Can you 
 imagine anything more insolent than that, my Lord," 
 said Canolles, with knit brows and the old dangerous, 
 latent flash of the eye, " to charge Henry Cartaret, of 
 Chatsworth, with personal apprehension to attribute 
 to him the apprehension of pecuniary loss and to hint 
 that he had been bought? Well, there was something 
 still worse behind, as you will discover. When his 
 adversary had taken his seat, Col. Cartaret rose, and, 
 beginning his reply with the words, 'Mr. Speaker, 
 who is that person ? ' proceeded to utter what has been 
 described to me as the most bitter and powerful speech 
 of the Congress. There can be little question that the 
 tone of it was injudicious, and that Col. Cartaret 
 regretted in calmer moments the phraseology employed, 
 if not the sentiments uttered. The result was to 
 enrage the more ardent revolutionists, and, to end my 
 account of this painful scene, a resolution strongly 
 denunciatory of the sentiments and expressions of one 
 of the delegates from Virginia was offered, promptly 
 seconded, and passed by the House, as indignant at the 
 tone of my father's reply as he had been at the attack 
 made upon him in the first instance. 
 
 " The result of this scene, which took place in secret 
 session, was that Col. Cartaret at once resigned his 
 seat in Congress; the resignation was accepted, and he 
 
WHAT HAD TAKEN PLACE IN CONGRESS. 261 
 
 returned to Chatsworth without having voted either 
 for or against the Declaration of Independence. He 
 promptly reported to the Virginia Convention, then in 
 session, the details of his course in Congress, and the 
 Convention took no action upon the paper, laying it on 
 the table. This my father, in his indignant mood, at 
 the moment profoundly resented and although Mr. 
 Pendleton and other eminent friends assured him that 
 the gentlemen of the Convention retained unanimously 
 the highest sense of his untarnished honor, and would 
 not even investigate the subject, Col. Cartaret would 
 not accept this non-action as just, and retired to Chats- 
 worth, whence, a year or two afterwards, after mort- 
 gaging his estate, he went to England, where, worn 
 out with the passionate conflict into which his consci- 
 entious opinions had placed him, he soon afterwards 
 died." 
 
 " After refusing," said Lord Ferrers, " the honor of 
 Knighthood and the Governorship of Jamaica, with a 
 salary of 20,000 a year." 
 
 " I thought it useless to recall that circumstance to 
 your mind, my Lord, as my father's refusal to accept 
 rank or emolument in his situation was natural. 
 Indeed, all his sympathies were with the colonies, and 
 he expressed them freely. He refused to return to 
 America although urged incessantly to do so by 
 friends in Virginia from a sentiment most powerful 
 with him, pride. He had acted in Congress from the 
 highest motives of public duty, with the good of the 
 country and that alone at heart. The result had been 
 
262 CANOLLES. 
 
 a public and official insult inflicted upon him by the 
 Congress and this he never forgave." 
 
 " And he was right," growled Lord Ferrers. " These 
 civilians curse 'em ! never tolerate a difference of 
 opinion, and throw mud at people who won't think as 
 they think! I'd like to have a regiment of 'em under 
 my command, but they never get near enough to know 
 the smell of gunpowder. Well, now, Canolles, tell me 
 about yourself, and your own story." 
 
COL. FERRERS PROPOSES A TOAST. 263 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 HOW COL. FERRERS PROPOSED A TOAST. 
 
 Canolles slowly passed from indignation to melan- 
 choly, and uttered a deep sigh. 
 
 " I need not consume much time in speaking of my- 
 self, my Lord," he said sorrowfully, " and there are some 
 circumstances connected with my career since the death 
 of my father which I regret not to be ahle to refer to 
 even to so true a friend as yourself. With the exception 
 of these I shall use no concealment, and tell you frankly 
 my motives in entering upon a course of partisan war- 
 fare without the pale of the American flag. 
 
 " When these events occurred I was just entering 
 upon manhood, and my father's exile embittered my 
 whole life. My attachment to him had, as I have in- 
 formed you, been the master sentiment of my being, and 
 I could not forgive the American cause the wrong in- 
 flicted by the American Congress. Nothing would in- 
 duce me to join the Continental forces, although Harry 
 did so promptly under the effect of the war fever. I re- 
 mained at Chatsworth moping and unhappy, and was 
 fast settling down into a confirmed misanthrope. For 
 this there were other reasons I am unable to state them 
 at this moment. I can only inform you that I fell into 
 a deep melancholy, and shrunk from the sight of a hu- 
 man face even." 
 
264 CANOLLES. 
 
 " But your cousins those handsome young ladies 
 were still at Chatsworth, eh?" said Lord Ferrers. 
 
 "Yes," said Canolles, in a low tone. 
 
 " Faith ! I think they are worth looking at." 
 
 Canolles made no reply and Lord Ferrers, looking 
 keenly at him, suddenly felt, as by a species of instinct, 
 that something in connection with one of the young 
 ladies must have occasioned in part the melancholy 
 alluded to by his companion. At once his high breeding 
 came to his relief, and he said : 
 
 " But I am interrupting you, comrade. Go on with 
 your story telling me what you please and no more 
 than you please." 
 
 Canolles inclined his head as though accepting this, 
 and said : 
 
 " Well, my Lord, I was moping, as I said, at Chats- 
 worth, and day by day grew more melancholy. All the 
 good fortune of the Cartarets seemed to be reversed. My 
 father was dead in exile, the estate of Chatsworth was 
 hopelessly mortgaged, I was a waif, an estray, a poor 
 sorrowful youth, prevented even from seeking in the 
 career of arms some distraction from my melancholy, 
 and the future had in it no ray of light or comfort. 
 From this apathy I was at last aroused. Harry came 
 home wounded, and for some months was confined to his 
 bed, his poor, pale face full of suffering, as it was full of 
 sweetness. I have said that next to my father he was 
 the nearest to my heart. I loved him indeed with all 
 my soul and when he returned to the army, as he soon 
 did, I had formed my resolution. I was, I said to my- 
 self, a poor useless creature, of no good to myself or 
 
OOL. FERRERS PROPOSES A TOAST. 265 
 
 others ; why not change my whole life and make myself 
 of some benefit to Harry ? I was the eldest son, and 
 the Chatsworth estate, if ever relieved of the mortgage, 
 would be my property. But why should I look for- 
 ward to that, or care ? I was utterly unhappy cared 
 naught indeed for my life but there was my dear 
 Harry, the very reverse in all things of myself. To ex- 
 plain he was and is still engaged to the younger of my 
 two cousins, Miss Fanny Talbot ; and if I could only do 
 something to redeem the property, give it to Harry, 
 and then take my melancholy face out of sight, then 
 Harry's future would be full of sunshine, and I should, 
 after all, have done some good in the world. " 
 
 " I understand! " grunted Lord Ferrers. 
 
 " How to effect the redemption of the estate was the 
 question," continued Canolles. " The mortgage amount- 
 ed to nearly twenty-five thousand pounds sterling in 
 gold, and it was doubtful if that much coin could be 
 found in all Virginia certainly I had no means of pro- 
 curing it, no security to offer for any such loan." 
 
 " Aha!" said Lord Ferrers. " I now begin to under- 
 stand ! You formed the project of effecting your loan 
 from Gen. Phillips, eh?" 
 
 " Precisely, my Lord," replied Canolles, the grim 
 smile replacing the melancholy, "and I set about the 
 negotiation without delay. I have said that nothing 
 could have induced rne to fight for a cause whose 
 authorities had insulted and outraged my father; but I 
 was far from having any objection to making war on 
 the British if they invaded Virginia, my native coun- 
 try, and after my father and my brother, my first and 
 
266 CANOLLES. 
 
 last love. In a word, the plan which I now formed, and 
 soon carried out, was to raise a troop of partisans, in- 
 flict all the injury possible upon the invaders of Vir- 
 ginia soil, and, as an offset to these public services, 
 appropriate to myself any captured property, to be 
 converted into money which money I designed 
 promptly to pay to a Mr. Atwell, the holder of the 
 mortgage on Chatsworth, and so redeem the estate. 
 Not for myself, I repeat for my brother, who I may 
 inform you is at this moment the undisputed owner of 
 the estate, wholly unincumbered." 
 
 "And a devilish fine property too? " laughed Lord 
 Ferrers ; " but go on, comrade." 
 
 " I had no difficulty," continued Canolles, " in carry- 
 ing on my plan. I had a large acquaintance among a 
 certain class along the river hunters, fishermen and 
 other rough but brave and trusty young fellows. In a 
 word, Colonel, I raised my troop, established my head- 
 quarters here in the White Oak Swamp, and dropping 
 my full name to call myself simply Capt. Canolles, have 
 been making war for some months on my private 
 account under no flag but my own. Of course, this 
 proceeding is irregular, and I have secured the repute 
 of a marauder; am even reported, although it is the 
 purest calumny, to make war on both sides but I 
 risk my person and fight man to man, often against 
 odds, to free Virginia from the public enemy. Am I 
 a bandit?" 
 
 Lord Ferrers burst into laughter. 
 
 " You are a soldier, and a devilish cool one, com- 
 rade and, speaking for myself, I approve with all my 
 
COL. FERRERS PROPOSES A TOAST. 267 
 
 heart of your motives and course that is, old George 
 Ferrers does. Colonel Ferrers, of course, regards you, 
 officially, as an outlaw." 
 
 " Very well , Colonel," said Canolles, a ghost of a smile 
 flitting across his face in response to the broad merri- 
 ment on the ruddy countenance of Lord Ferrers, " and 
 now I believe I have come to the end of my narrative. 
 Thanks to the army chest of Gen. Phillips, which I 
 have had recourse to upon two occasions, I have dis- 
 charged the mortgage on Chatsworth ; transferred the 
 title of the entire estate to Harry ; and he now has the 
 paper in his possession. Thus my work is done and I 
 disappear. I scarcely know whither I shall go, or what 
 career is before me. I shall fall in some foreign war, 
 no doubt. I only know that I am going to leave Vir- 
 ginia, never to return to it. I shall at least have the 
 happiness of knowing that my brother is happy. The 
 war is about to end, I think; this seems to be the last 
 campaign Harry will marry his cousin and keep up 
 the family' at Chatsworth and so all ends, you see, 
 Colonel. The sun will shine again on our good old 
 home on a bridegroom and bride bearing the name of 
 Cartaret and the poor marauder Canolles will have 
 the satisfaction of knowing that it is he who has 
 brought back the sunshine ! " 
 
 The partisan smiled, but the tones of his voice were 
 profoundly sad ; and Lord Ferrers, with his keen ear 
 and eye, had little difficulty in understanding that his 
 companion was a prey to the deepest melancholy. 
 
 " Well, well," the partisan added, " I have told you 
 a long and very sad story, have I not, friend ? But life 
 
268 CANOLLES. 
 
 is almost always sad. Let us now rest. You must be 
 weary from remaining so long in the saddle. There is 
 your bed. Old William, you see, has improvised one 
 for me also." 
 
 " Not before I give you a toast, Canolles ! " exclaim- 
 ed Lord Ferrers, emptying into his glass the remnants 
 of wine in the bottle which he had promised to cling 
 to until he saw the bottom. 
 
 " A toast, my Lord ? " said the partisan, sadly. 
 
 " The health of a friend I esteem as a soldier and 
 gentleman ! " 
 
 And raising his glass above his head, the white-mus- 
 tached nobleman exclaimed : 
 
 "I drink health and long life to the marauder. 
 Canolles ! " 
 
THE ROUUH RIDERS. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE ROUGH RIDERS. 
 
 With the explanation given by Canolles of the mo- 
 tives actuating him in entering upon his eccentric ca- 
 reer, and his resolution to disband his troop and leave 
 Virginia, the drama aiming to set forth his fortunes 
 might be supposed to terminate or if not to terminate, 
 to reach one of those convenient halting places where 
 so many writers bid their personages farewell, leaving 
 the sequel of the drama to the reader's imagination. 
 
 But the writer of these pages is unwilling to close 
 so abruptly his narrative, and dismiss with so little 
 ceremony the children of his fancy the brave parti- 
 san, the bluff old English soldier, and Walter, Lucy, 
 Fanny and the rest. These persons are not shadows 
 merely to him, as perchance they may be to the reader; 
 phantoms only, like the evanescent shapes, the flitting 
 forms we see at twilight, when each bush is a figure, 
 each rustle of the leaves the whisper of some living 
 thing. They are rather real personages of flesh and 
 blood, with their loves and hatred, their joys and sor- 
 rows, their tears and their laughter, living actual lives, 
 and not mere dream lives in the fine domain of Fancy- 
 land ! 
 
 So, may it please the friendly reader, we are not go- 
 ing to abandon Capt. Canolles and the stories of his 
 fortunes. Other adventures remain to be related. All 
 does not end with the explanation of his aversion to 
 
270 CANOLLES. 
 
 espousing the Continental cause, and the attraction ex- 
 ercised over him by British gold. The writer even 
 ventures to vaguely intimate that in the life of the par- 
 tisan there was still a secret a sentiment which he 
 guarded carefully, even from his friend Lord Ferrers, 
 and this will be set forth now in a few concluding 
 pages, which will aim also to narrate some additional 
 scenes in which the chief persons of this drama were 
 the actors. 
 
 In spite of their long conversation and late sitting up 
 in the hut in White Oak Swamp, Lord Ferrers and 
 Canolles awoke with the first gleam of daylight glim- 
 mering through the tangled thickets, and went out to 
 breathe the morning air cool and fresh from its pas- 
 sage over the surrounding water and under the dense 
 shade of the intertangled foliage. 
 
 There was nothing longer to detain the old soldier 
 at the quarters of Canolles, as he was not in any sense 
 a prisoner; and learning from his guest that he desired 
 to return at once to the British army, camped on the 
 Chickahominy a few miles distant, the partisan left him 
 to go to the bivouac of the Rough Riders and detail an 
 escort. 
 
 He was absent for an hour nearly, and on his return 
 exhibited unwonted emotion. He had been detained 
 by the necessity of making arrangements for carrying 
 out, on this day, the resolutions he had formed to ter- 
 minate his connection with the brave fellows whom he 
 had so long commanded. We shall not describe the 
 scene, or the emotion of his old companions at this an- 
 nouncement, which, in spite of the fact that all knew 
 
THE ROUGH RIDERS. 271 
 
 of their captain's determination, filled them with the 
 deepest sorrow. 
 
 Canolles retained with difficulty his own self-posses- 
 sion. He repressed his feelings, however ; directed a 
 division between the men of his command of all the 
 'camp contained, reserving nothing for himself; and, 
 having informed the partisans that he would see them 
 again and issue his last orders to them, tore himself 
 away, with a flush in his cheeks and a moisture in his 
 eyes which they had never before seen. 
 
 Old William had prepared breakfast, and Lord Fer- 
 rers proved himself as mighty a trencherman as on the 
 night before. Canolles ate nothing, and hearing with- 
 out the hut the tramp of horses, rose from table. 
 
 " There is your escort, my Lord," he said, "awaiting 
 your good pleasure. I ordered ten men to report here 
 under your young aide, Walter Hayfield, and conduct 
 you as a guard of honor to the British picket line." 
 
 "And you " 
 
 " I go with you, as a matter of course. Believe me, 
 I should always regret and reproach myself for having 
 lost this hour of your company." 
 
 " Devilish fine fellow ! " grunted Lord Ferrers half 
 inaudibly, " how can-a man help liking such a brave as 
 this who talks so ? " 
 
 " You say, my Lord; " 
 
 " I say, I am ready." 
 
 They buckled on their arms, left the hut, and mount- 
 ing their horses set out at the head of the roughly clad 
 detachment, which Lord Ferrers had greeted with a 
 curt nod of friendly recognition, for the English pick- 
 ets. 
 
272 CANOLLES. 
 
 The ride took place nearly in silence. Each seemed 
 busy with his own thoughts, and a few words only were 
 exchanged. At last they emerged from the swamp, 
 entering upon a tract of open ground, beyond which a 
 long line of lofty trees, festooned with wild honey- 
 suckle and other forest creepers, indicated the course 
 of the sluggish river. To their left, at the edge of a 
 clump of trees, a figure on horseback, motionless in 
 the morning light, was visible. 
 
 " There is your vidette, I think, my Lord," said 
 Canolles, "and the picket is near." 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Then we must part here, as it is not my intention 
 to charge your redcoats, and I do not wish them to 
 charge me." 
 
 "Yes, we must say good-bye, and I repeat to you, 
 Canolles, that I um devilish sorry to do so on my 
 honor?" 
 
 " And I, my Lord ; but you know the adage, ' The 
 best friends must part, as the longest day must end.' ' 
 
 Lord Ferrers remained motionless, knitting his 
 white mustache and looking at Canolles with a long, 
 lingering regard, in which it was easy to read his emo- 
 tion. The partisan, too, had fallen, it seemed, into one 
 of his moods of dreamy reverie. 'Suddenly he aroused 
 himself and said : 
 
 " Yes, yes, my Lord ! this parting is sorrowful, very 
 sorrowful to myself, since it is more than doubtful 
 whether we shall ever meet again. It is my intention, 
 as I informed you, to disband my troop at once and 
 leave Virginia, which I now -regard as virtually freed 
 
THE ROUGH RIDERS. 273 
 
 from occupation by the English forces, since Lord 
 Cornwallis is retiring after declining battle, and is 
 known to intend transferring his army to the North. 
 So I shall have no solicitude as to my good old State, 
 and go with an easy conscience. There are your 
 friends yonder ; you have only to wave your handker- 
 chief on the point of your sword, and ride into your 
 lines. Farewell, my Lord ; health and happiness 
 attend you." 
 
 " Thanks! " said Lord Ferrers, gruffly, " but do you 
 know there is one thing I don't in the least believe, 
 Canolles?" 
 
 " What's that, my Lord?" 
 
 " That we are not going to meet in future." 
 
 "It is improbable." 
 
 "I'll lay you a hundred to one we do ! At least it 
 depends on you. Come and see me in England. The 
 war, I agree with you, is virtually over, and I'll not be 
 sorry to go home again not in the least. Come and 
 see me, I say, comrade, at my home in Hertfordshire." 
 
 " Such a visit, I need not assure you, would be a 
 happiness to me, but I shall not probably be in Eng- 
 land." 
 
 "You are going to the Continent?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Give up this idea, Canolles, and stay at home at 
 your house of Chatsworth." 
 
 " That is no longer my own." 
 
 " Marry, I say, and settle down, and abandon this 
 wild project of exiling yourself. Exile is bitter, com- 
 rade." 
 
274 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Bitter enough, I have little doubt like life. But 
 I do not wish to remain in Virginia. Something ban- 
 ishes me let me keep my own counsel as to that and 
 now, my Lord, if you will not say farewell, let it be ' to 
 our next meeting.' ' 
 
 " Good ! That's the way to talk ! " 
 
 And exchanging with Canolles a close grasp of the 
 hand, accompanied by a look which indicated the 
 deepest interest in his companion, Lord Ferrers rode 
 to the English picket, made himself known, and entered 
 the British lines the partisan returning with his de- 
 tachment toward his bivouac in the Swamp. 
 
 On the way he gave Walter Hayfield, who rode be- 
 side him, his last instructions. 
 
 "I shall disband the Eough Riders this evening, 
 Walter," he said, " but they are one and all determined 
 to join the regular American forces, and I wish them 
 to become a part of Harry's command, which they, 
 too, desire. You must, therefore, ride to the Ameri- 
 can camp and inform Harry that I am about to transfer 
 my troop to him, to have the men at once enrolled." 
 
 " And you, Captain ?" 
 
 "I?" 
 
 " You are going?" 
 
 " Yes, I shall leave Virginia." 
 
 The boy's head sank. 
 
 " Why not yourself enter the American army in 
 command of your own troop?" 
 
 Canolles slowly shook his head, and the youth 
 seemed to feel that all argument was unavailing. 
 
 " But, Captain ! think," he faltered, "you cannot 
 
THE ROUGH RIDERS. 275 
 
 go off in this way at a moment's notice ! You must 
 have arrangements to make persons to bid farewell, 
 and your passage abroad to secure if you go by sea, as 
 I understand you design." 
 
 " As to securing a passage, yes," said Canolles ; "as 
 to delaying 'to bid anyone good-bye, no ! There is 
 nothing further to detain me, and I shall see no one." 
 
 "Not even " 
 
 Walter hesitated, with flushed cheeks and a sudden 
 moisture in his eyes. 
 
 " Even you would say ? " 
 
 " Miss Fanny," said Walter ; "it would break her 
 heart for you to go without bidding her good-bye." 
 
 " Fanny ! break her heart ! your words are idle, 
 Walter ! " Canolles exclaimed with sudden emotion. 
 
 " Oh, no, Captain, they are not idle. I have told 
 you once before, and tell }~ou once again, that shall I 
 go on ? " 
 
 " No," said Canolles in a low tone, " you are dream- 
 ing and if what you say, absurd as it is, had the 
 soundest reason in it, that would only be another ob- 
 stacle in the way of an interview.' No, I shall not see 
 her, or any one. I shall go with old William to the 
 Glen Lodge, where I shall remain for two or three days 
 while making my few arrangements." 
 
 " The Grlen Lodge ? You mean the hunting lodge, 
 near Chatsworth ? " 
 
 " Yes, the small lodge built by my father for enter- 
 taining hunting parties of guests a secluded spot, you 
 know, sylvan and hidden where I shall not be discov- 
 ered by any one. After seeing Harry you will report 
 
276 CANOLLES. 
 
 to me here ; if I am not here, then I shall be at the 
 Glen Lodge. You will march the men to Harry's 
 camp at once. That is plain, is it not, dear Walter? " 
 
 "Yes, Captain!" the boy murmured with a sob, 
 " only too plain ! Oh! why do you go ? " 
 
 Canolles smiled sadly. 
 
 " ' It is written/ as the Orientals say," he replied, 
 " and now let us speak no further of this ; I am heavy- 
 hearted to-day." 
 
 They soon reached the Swamp island, and Walter 
 set out on his mission to Harry Cartaret, to notify him 
 that the troopers would immediately offer themselves 
 for enrollment under the American flag. Canolles then 
 gave his orders to old William, who quietly and in si- 
 lence collected his master's personal effects, including 
 the silver service brought from Chats worth, and stowed 
 them in bags on a pack-horse. Then, as the light of 
 evening began to steal over the Swamp, Canolles as- 
 sembled the men. 
 
 This intention, as we have seen, had been announced 
 to them. His blow at Tarleton, he had informed them, 
 would be the last that he would strike. Each and all 
 had promptly assented to his proposal that they should 
 become a part of the command of his brother; and 
 having informed them that Walter would conduct 
 them, after his departure, to the American camp, he 
 went along the line, grasping the hand of every man 
 of the troop in turn. 
 
 The scene was picturesque and full of emotion. The 
 long shadows of approaching sunset ran through the 
 Swamp, and the red light fell upon the rude faces of 
 
THE ROUGH RIDERS. 277 
 
 the Rough Riders, many of them bathed in tears, which 
 had a strange look on the bearded cheeks. It was 
 plain that this parting with their beloved leader sent a 
 pang through the hearts of the rough fellows who had 
 fought with him so often. Canolles himself was not 
 exempt from agitation. The faces before him were as- 
 sociated in his memory with scenes of desperate com- 
 bat, sword to sword, with night marches, forest biv- 
 ouacs with perils shared together and martial merri- 
 ment and rejoicing by the camp fire in the Swamp. 
 Every man was a close personal acquaintance, even a 
 friend for Canolles had been rather the chief of a 
 hunting party than an officer in command of troops. 
 The parting was thus painful to him, too ; and it was not 
 without a tremor in his firm voice that he bade them 
 in a few soldierly words farewell. 
 
 The parting was one in which Canolles seemed to 
 feel that he could not trust himself longer, and waving 
 his hand, he mounted his horse, and followed by old 
 William on his pack animal, was soon lost to sight. 
 
 As he disappeared the men burst forth into cheers 
 which rang through the Swamp, and must have startled 
 the pickets of the two armies posted near. 
 
 It was the farewell of the Rough Riders to their be- 
 loved commander. 
 
278 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 WHAT TOOK PLACE ON THE SAME NIGHT. 
 
 When this scene was taking place in the Swamp 
 bivouac, Walter Hayfield was far on his way to the 
 American camp. 
 
 Fortune favored him. A detachment of the Vir- 
 ginia Light Horse was stationed at the forks of the 
 road which he approached, and hearing the challenge 
 of the man on post, an officer, who had been lying un- 
 der a tree fifty paces distant, rose and came forward. 
 Walter recognized Harry Cartaret, who, recognizing 
 the youth in turn, called out to the sentinel to pass him 
 through the picket. 
 
 " I thought I knew you, Walter," said the gay young 
 officer, as the youth rode up. 
 
 " And I was at first a little doubtful whether you 
 were yourself or not, Lieutenant," was the reply. 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Harry, " in this old coat, you 
 mean." 
 
 In fact the young man, who usually appeared in a 
 fine full dress uniform, gaily decorated with gold braid, 
 wore on this evening the shabbiest of old undress coats, 
 entirely divested of any insignia of rank, faded, dingy, 
 and covered with dirt. In this equipment the dazzling 
 young Lieutenant Harry Cartaret was almost unrecog- 
 nizable. He resembled rather a Rough Rider than an 
 American officer, and Walter was struck suddenly by 
 
WHAT TOOK PLACE ON THE SAME NIGHT. 279 
 
 the exact resemblance he bore in dress as in face to 
 Canolles. 
 
 Harry beckoned the youth toward the tree where he 
 had been lying down, and said : 
 
 "Well, I am rather a shabby-looking fellow to-day, 
 Walter ; dress goes for a great deal in this world, I 
 confess, and that is why I am in this old coat." 
 
 "Why, Lieutenant?" 
 
 " In order to keep my best uniform for fighting and 
 visiting the fair sex! You see a man ought to dress 
 in his best when he goes into action, so that in case he 
 is captured he will be treated with consideration, and 
 not thrust into a dirty guard-house with the rank and 
 file." 
 
 "Eight, Lieutenant." 
 
 "And need I explain my motive in reserving my 
 braided uniform for that other agreeable occupation 
 visiting young ladies ? If it is well to be in full 
 dress when you go to fight, is it not as rational to wear 
 your very finest coat when you advance upon that other 
 and more dangerous enemy in furbelows and flounces, 
 ready to exterminate you with the flashing artillery of 
 their eyes ? " 
 
 " I understand, Lieutenant." 
 
 " So, to w T ind up this interesting explanation, Walter, 
 I am here on a mere fatigue duty, looking out for 
 stragglers, and I wear my shabbiest coat so shabby 
 that I might be taken for a follower of a certain worthy 
 Capt. Canolles ! But we have talked enough on this 
 point. Sit down here by me and tell me what brought 
 you?" 
 
280 CANOLLES. 
 
 Walter threw his bridle over a bough, and taking a 
 seat near Harry, said : 
 
 " I came to see you, Lieutenant." 
 
 "To see me?" 
 
 "Yes, Lieutenant.' 7 
 
 Harry Cartaret for the first time observed the deep 
 sadness in the face and voice of his companion, and 
 said, anxiously: 
 
 " You came from Hartley ? You bring bad news. 
 Tell me what it is ! " 
 
 " Good and bad news both, Lieutenant. You may 
 think a part, at least, is good news it is all bad to me. 
 Capt. Canolles has by this time disbanded the Rough 
 Riders, and is going to leave Virginia never, as he 
 says, to come back." 
 
 Walter then described the capture of Lord Ferrers, 
 how he had been released and escorted back to 
 the English lines, and how Canolles had then announced 
 his resolution in the evening to terminate his connec- 
 tion with the partisan troop, who one and all would 
 report to him (Harry Cartaret) for enrollment under 
 the American flag. 
 
 At this intelligence the face of the young oflicer 
 filled with pleasure, and he rose quickly to his feet. 
 
 "Thank Heaven!" he exclaimed. "This fighting 
 without a flag has preyed on my spirits day and night ! 
 Now there will be no more of it ! Hartley will no 
 longer be in danger, if he is captured, of being shot as 
 a marauder, as he nearly was at Petersburg ! Thank 
 Heaven that he has come to this resolution, and sends 
 me his brave fellows ! Oh ! yes, I will enroll them 
 
WHAT TOOK PLACE ON THE SAME NIGHT. 281 
 
 they are a magnificent present ! They will be a full 
 company, and I shall be commissioned captain, too ! " 
 
 " I will bring them here to-night, Lieutenant." 
 
 "Oh, no! I will go and see Hartley and receive 
 them in person ! This moment, Walter this very 
 moment ! There is nothing going on in this quarter ; 
 I can easily leave a subordinate in my place for a few 
 hours." 
 
 As he spoke, Harry Cartaret went quickly to his 
 horse, which was tied to a bough, rode to where the 
 men of his detachment were lying beside their horses, 
 a little in rear, and having given his orders, returned 
 to Walter, when they both set out at full gallop in the 
 direction of the island in the Swamp. 
 
 On the way the young lieutenant asked a hundred 
 questions, particularly inquiring in reference to the 
 intended movements of Canolles after leaving the 
 Rough Riders. Walter could only inform him that the 
 partisan had stated his intention of leaving Virginia in 
 a few days, perhaps in two or three; and that mean- 
 while he designed taking up his lodging in the small 
 deserted hunting lodge on the Chats worth estate. 
 Harry listened with earnest attention and some sadness 
 to this account, making no comment until Walter had 
 finished speaking. He then said : 
 
 " Well, the main thing is that this irregular and 
 dangerous fighting without a flag has come to an end. 
 As to Hartley's leaving Virginia, we will see about 
 that. Time enough for me to see him before he takes 
 ship. The Rough Riders first! How far is it to the . 
 camp, Walter?" 
 
282 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Less than a mile, Lieutenant. Here we are at the 
 Swamp." 
 
 They penetrated the thicket just as the twilight was 
 deepening into night ; but the moon was shining, and 
 they had no difficulty in threading their way through 
 the devious paths, all of which were well known to the 
 young lieutenant's companion. At last the moat-like 
 circuit of water surrounding the Swamp fastness ap- 
 peared; they plunged through, and Harry Cartaret, 
 accompanied by Walter, found himself in the midst of 
 the Rough Riders. They were nearly one and all per- 
 sonally known to him, as they had been recruited in 
 the neighborhood of Chatsworth, and the young man 
 had in old days been a favorite with them from his gay 
 and cordial disposition and his fondness for their own 
 occupation of hunting and fishing. At his appearance, 
 therefore, they received their future commander with 
 a shout of welcome, and in ten minutes Harry had 
 made them a speech, they had expressed their desire 
 to serve under him, and preparations were made for a 
 prompt march to the American camp. 
 
 Harry Cartaret had looked around for Canolles as 
 soon as he reached the island. He was nowhere to be 
 seen, and he was soon informed that the partisan had 
 left them more than an hour before, going no one 
 knew whither. Harry rode with Walter to the hut 
 which had been the headquarters of his brother. It 
 was open, melancholy and deserted. The moonlight 
 falling through the window lit up the rude table at 
 which Lord Ferrers and Canolles had supped. 
 
 " A body without the soul!" mattered the young 
 
WHAT TOOK PLACE ON THE SAME NIGHT. 283 
 
 man, "but, thank Heaven! Hartley will hide himself 
 here no more ! " 
 
 Returning to the bivouac they found the partisans 
 ready to march, every man with his sword buckled 
 around his waist and his rude wrappings behind his 
 saddle, and at the word of command they fell into 
 column, and Harry, with Walter beside him, gave the 
 word, " Forward ! " 
 
 At the word the column began to move slowly, and 
 descended into the water, through which they denied 
 in a long line dusky phantoms in the dim moonlight. 
 
 Walter had advised that the troop should proceed to 
 the American camp by another and better road than 
 that which he and Harry had followed in coming. 
 This led in a direction somewhat nearer to the British 
 lines than was desirable ; but confiding in their perfect 
 knowledge of the locality, and their good broadswords > 
 the Rough Riders moved on without solicitude, and 
 soon emerged from the thicket on a broad flat space 
 covered with broom-sedge, waving now in the gentle 
 night wind. 
 
 Suddenly Walter laid his hand on Harry Cartaret's 
 arm, and w r hispered : 
 
 " Hist! who are those yonder, Lieutenant ?" 
 
 " Those dark figures coming out of the woods ? " 
 
 He pointed quickly to a dusky mass moving toward 
 them with muffled hoof strokes. 
 
 " Yes," said Walter. 
 
 " The enemy !" exclaimed Harry Cartaret. " They 
 are after us ! " 
 
 And turning to the Rough Riders he shouted : 
 
284 CANOLLES. 
 
 " Form fours ! Draw broadswords ! Charge ? " 
 
 A loud voice from the dusky mass was heard giving 
 nearly the same order, and the two columns rushed to- 
 gether that of the British evidently far outnumbering 
 the body of Rough Riders. 
 
 Cartaret crossed swords with the leader of the Eng- 
 lish, a short, thick-set officer, riding a powerful horse, 
 who, dropping his rein as they came together, drew a 
 pistol and fired almost in Harry Cartaret's face. 
 
 The flash lit up like a quick lurid glare the entire 
 person of the young American, and Tarleton for the 
 leader of the English was that officer uttered a sud- 
 den shout of joy. 
 
 " Canolles ! " he cried, " I am in luck to-night ! I 
 came to hunt you, my dear Captain Canolles ! to pay 
 you my respects in return for hunting me ! I have you, 
 my good Canolles, my worthy freebooter without a 
 flag ! and at sunrise, if I do not kill you, you will swing 
 from the gallows with a hempen cravat around your 
 neck!" 
 
 These words were shouted between every clash of 
 the broadswords. Colonel Tarleton was evidently con- 
 vinced that Harry Cartaret, in his plain, rough dress, 
 and commanding the Rough Riders, was no less a per- 
 sonage than Canolles. 
 
AT GLEN LODGE. 285 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 AT GLEN LODGE. 
 
 It was the evening succeeding these scenes. The 
 sun was just setting, and his last beams full upon the 
 sylvan building called Glen Lodge, which stood in a 
 picturesque hollow in the hills less than a mile from 
 Chatsworth. This house, as the reader has been in- 
 formed, had been built by Mr. Henry Cartaret for the 
 convenience of hunting parties and for woodland festi- 
 vities. Many a youth and maiden had wandered 
 through the grassy grounds, or seated themselves on 
 the rustic chairs beneath the great oaks ; and under 
 the roof many an excellent repast presided over by 
 old William in respectful silence had been partaken 
 of by the bright beauties and the gay gallants of the 
 years preceding the war; beauties whose golden hair 
 was dashed with silver now from long and cruel anxiety; 
 gallants who had exchanged their lace, embroidery and 
 ruffles for rude home-spun coats, to shoulder the mus- 
 ket or buckle on the broadsword and follow Washing- 
 ton. 
 
 The sunset fell lovingly on the little chalet it was 
 scarcely rude which, lost under overhanging boughs, 
 seemed dreaming still of the merry fetes champetres it 
 had looked on in the past. The windows of its three 
 or four small apartments were closed by shutters, with 
 the exception of the main room on the ground floor, 
 
286 CANOLLES. 
 
 opening on the graceful verandah, with its slender, 
 airy-looking pillars and into this apartment now 
 plunged the last rays of sunset, lighting up the dilapi- 
 dated furniture, which had never been removed a 
 table, some chairs, and a wicker work lounge compris- 
 ing the whole. 
 
 The spot was utterly deserted. A little stream ran 
 rippling at the foot of a knoll near by, disturbing with 
 its murmurs the sweet silence of evening. This sound 
 and the " cheef-cheef" of some Swamp sparrows set- 
 tling to their rest in the foliage, was all that gave life 
 to the quiet scene, which otherwise might have been 
 taken for some painting, full of the charm of rustic 
 silence, loneliness and beauty. 
 
 The sun had just descended to the summit of the 
 western woods, and was poised on the verdant fringe 
 like a golden shield, when the loneliness of the scene 
 was dissipated by the appearance of a figure at the ex- 
 tremity of the grounds, coming on slowly toward the 
 sylvan chalet 
 
 Fanny for it was our little heroine had strolled 
 out from Chatsworth, with no object but to find in 
 solitude an opportunity to indulge undisturbed in 
 reverie ; and more by chance than from design had 
 found herself in the vicinity of Glen Lodge, which she 
 was quite familiar with. The spot she supposed to be 
 entirely deserted, as it had been for years, and there 
 were indeed no traces whatever of the presence of any 
 human being. Canolles, who had reached the lodge 
 on the preceding evening, had ridden away to make 
 arrangements for his voyage to Europe ; and old 
 
AT ULEN LODGE. 287 
 
 William, his henchman, was either asleep in a small 
 outbuilding, or had gone to see his friends at houses in 
 the neighborhood. 
 
 The spot was then as lonely and deserted as if Canolles 
 had never returned to it. Fanny, coming on slowly, 
 with her fair face drooping toward her bosom, her eyes 
 half closed, and veiled by the long silken lashes, a wild 
 flower in her hand and one in her hair, resembled some 
 fairy genius of the spot, as beneficent and kind as she 
 was beautiful. 
 
 For a long time now Fanny had fallen into low spir- 
 its. What was the origin of this depression ? Youth 
 should bring happiness, but Fanny, although young, 
 was evidently not happy. The roses in her cheeks had 
 turned to snowdrops, and the mobile lips, though red 
 still, had about them that downward curve which indi- 
 cates the presence of some weight upon the heart. 
 But the beauty of the girl was even more exquisite 
 than before, and as she entered the small hunting lodge 
 and stood in the mild light of evening, gazing around 
 her with dreamy eyes, nothing more fascinating could 
 be imagined than her face and figure. 
 
 Unconsciously, and as though slightly fatigued, she 
 looked around for a seat, and saw the wicker lounge. 
 She seated herself, placed her elbow upon the curved 
 arm, rested her bent head on the palm of the hand, 
 and closing her eyes gave herself up evidently to 
 musing. 
 
 The beautiful eyes had closed by the will of their 
 owner ; but very soon it was plain that they remained 
 shut without further exercise of volition. Weary in- 
 
288 CANOLLES. 
 
 deed from her long walk, and yielding to the languid 
 summer evening, with its drowsy influences, Fanny had 
 fallen gently, or rather glided, into slight slumber, as 
 easily and unconsciously as a dove that folds its wings 
 at twilight. 
 
 Light as her sleep was,, she did not hear the hoof 
 strokes of a horse on the grass without, or a step on 
 the portico. The step drew nearer, crossed the thresh- 
 old, resounded on the bare floor and then Fanny 
 woke with a start. Canolles was standing before her 
 in the light of sunset, looking at her. 
 
 His face was sad and quite pale under the bronze 
 produced by sun and wind. His head drooped, and 
 his eyes were fixed upon her with an expression of 
 such melancholy that her own eyes filled with tears. 
 
 " You, Fanny ! " he said in a low tone ; " you here ! " 
 
 " And you ! " she murmured ; " how do I find you 
 at Glen Lodge, Hartley? I thought you were in the 
 Swamp with your Rough Riders. " 
 
 Canolles shook his head slowly, in the manner habit- 
 ual with him. 
 
 " I have left the Rough Riders. They are disbanded, 
 and my life as a soldier has ended." 
 
 " Ended ! Oh ! how glad I am ! And now now 
 you are coming home ! " 
 
 The partisan repeated the movement of his head. 
 
 " I am going away. In three days I shall leave Vir- 
 ginia, Fanny." 
 
 " Leave Virginia ! Why do you leave Virginia, all 
 your friends your dear old home all you love, and 
 those who love you ? " 
 
AT GLEN LODGE. 289 
 
 " I must. Let me not speak of it, Fanny. It is sad 
 enough to give up all, but I shall have the consolation 
 of knowing that I leave happiness behind me." 
 
 Fanny could not suppress her tears. The accent of 
 the speaker's voice was so unutterably sad that as she 
 listened to it her head drooped, her cheeks were bathed 
 in tears, and her bosom heaved with an agitation which 
 she was plainly unable to control. 
 
 "Happiness?" she murmured in a voice, faltering 
 and stopping as it were at every syllable; " happiness? 
 Do you think that I am happy ? " 
 
 "Why should you not be?" was the response of 
 Canolles in a voice nearly as low as her own. " You 
 are young, beloved, the war is nearly ended, and shall 
 I go on ? " 
 
 She made no reply. 
 
 " You are the affianced of one of the noblest young 
 fellows that ever lived my dear Harry, who loves you 
 with all his heart." 
 
 The head bent lower the pale face grew a little 
 paler. 
 
 u He will soon come back to you now," Canolles 
 went on; "you and he will be Lord and Lady of 
 Chatsworth, Fanny " he attempted to smile "and 
 will represent the Cartarets in our old home. Is it 
 possible that he did not tell you that we had so ar- 
 ranged our family affairs ? We have succeeded in re- 
 lieving the estate from all debts and incumbrances, and 
 as I am called away, my dear Harry naturally takes my 
 place, and supports the family name with you to aid 
 him." 
 
 19 
 
290 CANOLLES. 
 
 Still the head drooped lower, the face grew paler. 
 
 " You do not speak, Fanny/' he went on, " indeed 
 you seem unwell. Have I said anything to wound 
 you ? to hurt your feelings ? I would not do so for all 
 the world. You know that! You know how much 
 how much I love you! I am going now. Let us 
 part loving each other ; that at least I have the right to 
 ask, as I am leaving you, never, perhaps, to see you 
 again ! " 
 
 His voice trembled, and his very frame shook. His 
 lips opened, and he was about to speak again, but only 
 a quick exclamation came from them. The slender 
 form of the girl swayed like a lily beaten by the 
 wind, her eyes closed, and she fell forward, fainting, 
 into the arms of Canolles. 
 
 # # * * * -;- * 
 
 Half an hour afterward they were seated side by 
 side, and the tears and smiles and blushes of the girl, 
 with the happy light in her companion's eyes, told 
 clearly that the two hearts had spoken. 
 
 Suddenly, in a moment, all the old misunderstanding 
 had disappeared. Canolles knew now that Fanny had 
 loved him " long and dearly," and she knew, too, that 
 he had been about to leave Virginia forever in conse- 
 quence of a hopeless passion for her. 
 
 " Then I need not go now ! " he said, looking with a 
 proud smile and eyes full of profound tenderness at the 
 beautiful, shy face, " I may stay in Virginia ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes why should you not? " she whispered, in 
 her innocent, true voice. " And so you thought that 
 Harry and I were still engaged ? But I forgot that 
 
AT GLEN LODGE. 291 
 
 you could not have known we only yesterday had an 
 explanation. I discovered long since that I had quite 
 mistaken my feelings, and was very wretched. I was 
 about to write and tell him so, when he came, and I 
 found that he too was not happy did not wish to 
 marry me ;- and, do you know why ? " 
 
 She laughed through her tears it was the hearty 
 laugh, full of sunshine. . 
 
 " Because Miss Lucy Maurice had taken my place 
 my friend whom he met at Petersburg." 
 
 Canolles listened with an expression of joy and won- 
 der which made his face radiant. 
 
 " Miss Maurice !" he exclaimed, " the young friend 
 you stayed with when you came to save me ! Who 
 would have dreamed of such a result, Fanny ? Oh, 
 yes ! you saved me twice, not once only, by your brave 
 ride ! You saved my life and my love !" 
 
 She turned away her head. 
 
 " You loved me first ! that paper told me every- 
 thing how noble you were in giving up all to Harry ! 
 me with the rest, because you thought he loved me ! 
 Now I know all and and how could I keep from " 
 
 The sentence ended in a murmur. 
 
 * * . # * # # * 
 
 Thus these two faithful hearts had spoken at last, 
 and all was cleared up. A portion only of the happy 
 colloquy has been here recorded. Such scenes are not 
 for the garish day and the eyes of readers who would 
 perhaps laugh if we were to set down all this man and 
 woman said to each other, agitated, wondering, trem- 
 bling almost, under the weight of their new and unex- 
 
292 CANOLLES. 
 
 pected happiness. It had taken only a little time to 
 explain all now, not the least shadow of misunder- 
 standing remained Canolles was riot going, he would 
 
 remain in Virginia, and Fanny would be his own. 
 
 * # # # * # * 
 
 When they parted in the grounds of Chats worth, 
 with a long embrace, and Canolles returned to Glen 
 Lodge, a new world seemed to have dawned for them 
 both. Fanny went along with steps almost bounding j 
 the face of the gracious creature was full of child-like 
 joy; and the countenance of Canolles had undergone 
 a transformation even more remarkable. The haunt- 
 ing sorrow of brow and lips had been swept away, as 
 the shadow of a cloud is swept from the landscape by 
 the winds of August ; and the partisan went on with a 
 rapid step, his head erect, his cheeks glowing, his 
 whole frame instinct as it were with a new life. 
 
 He had just reached and entered Glen Lodge, on 
 which the shadows of night were descending, when 
 his ear caught the swift gallop of a horse. 
 
 The gallop drew nearer; a horseman appeared at the 
 edge of the opening in front of the lodge ; reached the 
 grass plat, threw himself to the ground, and Canolles 
 recognized Walter Hayfield. 
 
 The boy was pale, agitated, and so faint that he tot- 
 tered as his feet reached the ground. 
 
 " Walter ! " exclaimed Canolles, " you are ill ! You 
 bring bad news ! What has happened ? " 
 
 " Oh ! Captain ! Lieut. Harry is captured by Tarle- 
 ton who swears he is no other than yourself, Captain 
 Canolles ! He will hear no denial he was tried by 
 
AT GLEN LODGE. 293 
 
 drum-head court-martial to-day, and condemned to 
 death as a marauder, fighting without a flag ! I es- 
 caped they shot me in the arm, you see, as I got off 
 but it is nothing ! " 
 
 Canolles had listened without a word, but his face 
 had grown extremely pale. 
 
 " He is condemned, you say ?" came now in low 
 tones from his lips. 
 
 " To be shot at sunrise." 
 
 " Where is Tarleton's camp?" 
 
 " Near Spencer's Ordinary, below the Chickahom- 
 iny." 
 
 " At sunrise, did you say ?" 
 '" Yes, Captain." 
 
 Canolles went into the house and buckled on the 
 belt containing his broadsword. Then he slowly un- 
 buckled it again, and laid down the weapon. Then 
 he went to where his horse was still ^standing and 
 mounted. 
 
 "You will remain here," he said, in his old brief 
 accent of command. " William will see to your 
 wound. I can find Tarleton's camp. There is time 
 between this and sunrise." 
 
294 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 TEN MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE. 
 
 The first red flush of sunrise had begun to appear 
 on the fringe of pine hemming in a glade near Spen- 
 cer's Ordinary, below the Chickahominy, where the 
 cavalry of Col. Tarleton were encamped. 
 
 The camp was already astir. The British and Amer- 
 ican forces were dangerously near to each other the 
 former having rapidly retreated to this locality, and the 
 latter having as rapidly followed. They were now face 
 to face, though separated from each other by an inter- 
 vening body of woods which concealed both com- 
 mands; and under these circumstances Col. Banastre 
 Tarleton, who was an excellent cavalry commander, 
 was all eyes and ears, and had his men ready to mount 
 at a moment's notice. 
 
 There was evidently, however, an additional source 
 of interest, not to say excitement, in the camp. In 
 front of Tarleton's tent a file of men were drawn up, 
 each grasping his carbine, and two or three staff ofiicers 
 were standing at the opening of the tent, looking at 
 and listening apparently to something which was going 
 on there. 
 
 The scene which absorbed their attention was a sin- 
 gular one. Lolling on a camp couch, and moving his 
 spurred boot backward and forward so that at each 
 
TEX MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE. 295 
 
 movement the rowel tore a fresh hole in the cavalry 
 blanket spread on the couch, Col. Tarleton, swarthy, 
 thick-set, stern and forbidding, was looking with ill- 
 dissembled anger at another person standing erect 
 before him. 
 
 This person was Harry Cartaret, who after a desper- 
 ate resistance, had been overpowered and captured in 
 the fight near White Oak Swamp, together with a few 
 of his men. The result of this capture we have heard 
 stated by Walter Hayfield. Deceived by the remark- 
 able likeness of the young man to Canolles, by his 
 fatigue uniform without insignia, and by the fact that 
 he was in command of the Rough Riders, Tarleton had 
 remained obstinately convinced that he had captured 
 the veritable Canolles, his personal foe, who had struck 
 him so heavily near Chats worth ; and in spite of the 
 young man's statement that he was not Canolles, but 
 Lieutenant Cartaret, of the American army, had 
 hastily tried him, the improvised Court had found him 
 guilty of marauding without a flag, and he had been 
 condemned to be shot at sunrise on this morning. 
 
 Harry Cartaret's attitude was erect, calm and proud. 
 There was no trace of apprehension at his approaching 
 fate in eye or lip. The constitutional courage of 
 the Cartarets evidently defied the idea of death to 
 shake it, and the brief colloquy which now ensued 
 clearly indicated that the young American did not 
 mean to plead for his life. 
 
 " You requested to see me?" said Tarleton, curtly. 
 
 " Yes," said Cartaret. 
 
 " Well, I have little time to give to interviews ; the 
 enemy are within half a mile." 
 
296 CANOLLES. 
 
 " "What I have to say will not consume ten minutes," 
 was the calm reply of the young officer, " an amount 
 of time which I presume may be allowed a man who is 
 about to be shot, sir." 
 
 " Yes, I allow you ten minutes." 
 
 He took out his timepiece and looked at it. 
 
 " You are entitled to as much as that," he added, 
 grimly, " as it is just ten minutes to sunrise." 
 
 "When I am to be shot. Well, sir, so be it. A 
 soldier ought not to shrink before bullets for the pain 
 of death they inflict he takes that risk on the field and 
 everywhere; and you may see I do not myself shrink." 
 
 " You do not you are brave enough. That is not 
 where your fault lies. It lies in fighting for money, 
 and robbing " 
 
 "Not in attacking and defeating Col. Tarleton, since 
 I am Capt. Canolles, you say." 
 
 At the slight disdain of the young man's tone Tarle- 
 ton's brow darkened more than ever. 
 
 "You are in a position which gives you the right to 
 say what you please," he said ; " I cannot bandy words 
 with a man who will be dead in an hour." 
 
 " In ten minutes, probably, or less," was the calm 
 reply, "and I have no desire to bandy words. I have 
 assured you that I am not Capt. Canolles, and you do 
 not believe me. You assemble a drum-head court, 
 which goes through the form of a trial, and condemns 
 me well-nigh without a hearing. I am to be shot, 
 though I am Lieutenant Henry Cartaret, of the Amer- 
 ican cavalry. Well, sir, nothing is left me but to bear 
 my fate like a soldier, leaving you to discover some 
 
TEN MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE. 297 
 
 day, and I trust, sir, to lament my fate my murder 
 you will then call it. I requested this interview not to 
 beg for my life, but to ask what I have the right to ask, 
 even if I were a marauder, as you style me." 
 
 "What? I decline further discussion of the question 
 of identity. ~No sane human being can doubt that you 
 are Capt. Canolles. Every man in the troop you 
 attacked near Chats worth swears to your identity. 
 When captured you were in command of your Rough 
 Riders. You deny your own identity, but the thing is 
 absurd. Your career has been such that it is necessary 
 to make an example of you, as Gen. Phillips attempted 
 to do at Petersburg, from which you escaped. You 
 were fairly tried, you are justly condemned. The 
 time has passed to discuss that further. What is your 
 request?" 
 
 " That you will sent into the American lines these 
 letters." 
 
 The young, officer took from his breast two letters, 
 both unsealed. 
 
 " For whom are these letters?" said Tarleton. 
 
 " One is addressed to a young lady who at the present 
 time is on a visit to Miss Talbot, of Chatsworth. If I 
 am not mistaken, you have seen her." 
 
 " I have seen the ladies at the place you mention, 
 and remember that one of them exhibited very little 
 breeding." 
 
 " Is it possible ? They belong to what people some- 
 times laugh at us for calling our Virginia aristocracy, 
 and I had supposed that even Col. Tarleton would not 
 mistake their position in society." 
 
298 CANOLLES. 
 
 "I said nothing about their position in society,' 7 was 
 the gruff reply of the English officer. "I said that I 
 was treated discourteously. But we are losing time. 
 If your letters are unsealed I will send them. To 
 whom is the second ? " 
 
 " To Capt. Canolles." 
 
 "To Canolles!" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " This is a farce, sir," said Tarleton, frowning, "and 
 you show singular bad taste in spending your last 
 moments of life in enacting a comedy, since you your- 
 self are Canolles ! " 
 
 " So be it ; but you have promised to forward my 
 letter, which you may see is directed to ' Capt. Can- 
 olles, Glen Lodge, near Chats worth. 3 ' 
 
 "I will read both and send them." 
 
 " You will not forego the reading, then even that to 
 Miss Maurice? I confess I should like to have that 
 remain unread." 
 
 " Impossible. War is a risky business, sir. A 
 sealed letter might give the enemy a full diagram of* 
 the English position and amount of force." 
 
 Cartaret sighed. 
 
 " I must yield, then and I prefer to have the letter 
 sent open than not sent at all." 
 
 He laid both on the table, and added : 
 
 " I am now at your service, sir. I have already said 
 my prayers, and I am ready." 
 
 Tarleton looked with a singular expression at Car- 
 taret. 
 
 "You have given me reason to personally hate you." 
 
TEN MINUTES BEFORE SUNRISE. 299 
 
 he said, with a keen flash of the eye, " since you have 
 twice surprised me, and the last time defeated me in 
 open fight ; but you are a brave man and I am glad 
 the court did not condemn you to be hanged as a spy." 
 
 Tarleton rose and called the officer of the guard. 
 
 "The prisoner Canolles will be taken," he said "to 
 the place assigned, bandaged, and shot." 
 
 A stir was visible in the group without. 
 
 " A moment!" said a voice at the opening of the 
 tent. 
 
 " Who is that?" said Tarleton. 
 
 " Captain Canolles," was the reply. 
 
 And the partisan came into the tent. 
 
300 CANOLLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE BBOTHEKS. 
 
 The first rays of sunrise fell upon the figure of Ca- 
 nolles, standing unarmed and perfectly quiet in the 
 opening of the tent. Tarleton, looking at him, gave 
 an unmistakable start. The extraordinary resemblance 
 which the partisan bore to Cartaret evidently aroused 
 in him the greatest astonishment. 
 
 " Canolles ! " he exclaimed ; " so I was about to shoot 
 the wrong person." 
 
 " Yes," said Canolles, calmly; " and I will do you 
 the justice, sir, to say that I think you would have 
 regretted it. You have the reputation of cruelty and 
 an unscrupulous mode of warfare, but it is hard to 
 regard an English officer and gentleman as a cold- 
 blooded barbarian." 
 
 " You are right, sir," said Tarleton, scarcely recov- 
 ered from his astonishment ; "so you are the real 
 Capt. Canolles? May I ask how you came to be 
 here ? " 
 
 " I came to save the life of my brother, who was 
 about to be shot from his likeness to myself." 
 
 "Your brother?" 
 
 "Yes; this gentleman is my brother, Lieutenant 
 Henry Cartaret, of the American army." 
 
 " And you" 
 
 " Capt. Canolles, at your service," was the calm 
 reply. 
 
THE BROTHERS. 301 
 
 The appearance, expression, attitude of the partisan 
 were all perfectly cool and composed. Natures like 
 that of the man whom we have essayed to delineate 
 under the name of Canolles have this predominant 
 trait that when impelled by the dictates of feeling or 
 duty to adopt any course, however perilous nay, 
 fatal they banish, from that moment, all nervous 
 emotion, face the fate before them calmly, and die, if 
 they are forced to die, like brave men. 
 
 Tarleton looked for some moments fixedly at the 
 speaker ; then he said : 
 
 " How happens it that you are here ? Were you 
 captured ? " 
 
 " I was not. I surrendered myself. I had informa- 
 tion of the capture of my brother, of his trial and the 
 fate before him, owing to his resemblance to myself, 
 and I came to take his place. Is that so astonishing, 
 sir ? I do not know how it is in your country, but in 
 Virginia we keep our faith of gentlemen, and do not 
 allow innocent blood to be shed when it is our own 
 that is forfeited certainly not the blood of a brother." 
 "You are right, sir," was Tarleton's reply, with a 
 flash of the eye at Canolles not devoid of ste"rn admira- 
 tion ; " you are a soldier and a brave man." 
 He turned to an officer and said : 
 " The execution is suspended. March the men to 
 quarters and keep Lieut. Cartaret under guard. You 
 will then summon a court to examine into the case of 
 Capt. Canolles." 
 
 Harry Cartaret was standing near the opening of the 
 tent, trembling from head to foot. All the coolness 
 
302 CANOLLES. 
 
 with which he had faced impending death had deserted 
 him. His face was pale, his eyes swollen by tears, and 
 his breath came in gasps. As the order was given that 
 he should be conducted away, he suddenly turned as 
 though under a passionate impulse, and threw his arms 
 around Canolles." 
 
 " Oh ! 'brother ! brother ! why did you come here?" 
 he cried : " why not let them shoot me ? I am worth 
 nothing ! and you are the head of the house ! " 
 
 He sobbed like a child, burying his face in the breast 
 of Canolles. The partisan seemed to share his emo- 
 tion ; when he spoke, his voice was brief and husky. 
 
 " I came because I bear the name you bear, Harry, 
 and because it is my blood, not yours, that these people 
 want; and I do not wish my brother to die for me ?" 
 
 He held the young man close in his arms, and, bend- 
 ing down, placed his lips as tenderly as a father might 
 have done, on his brother's forehead. A moment 
 afterward Harry Cartaret, shaking from head to foot, 
 and uttering sobs, was conducted away. 
 
 " Now for our business, Colonel," said Canolles to 
 Tarleton. 
 
THE BROTHERS. 303 
 
 CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 THE SENTENCE. 
 
 Col. Tarleton, leaning back upon his camp couch, 
 looked at Canolles with the same expression of stern 
 admiration. Compelled by the exigencies of our nar- 
 rative to exhibit only the harsher traits of this well- 
 known personage, we have not dwelt upon certain 
 phases of his character redeeming it from entire con- 
 demnation. Col. Banastre Tarleton, who had proved 
 himself the scourge of the Carolinas, burning and lay- 
 ing waste the whole land, was popular at his home in En- 
 gland, a gentleman by birth and breeding, if curt and 
 brusque in manners, and had a soldier's admiration for, 
 and sympathy with, the cool courage which faces death 
 unmoved. Looking now, as we have said, at the calm 
 figure of the partisan, this sympathy was obvious in the 
 expression of his countenance, and he said slowly : 
 
 " So you have come to die in place of your 
 brother?" 
 
 " Yes," said Canolles. 
 
 " I repeat that your act is that of a brave man ; that 
 you were a true soldier I knew for I have felt the 
 weight of your hand. You followed me step by step, 
 did you not, before that fight near the Chatsworth 
 House ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " The thing was excellently managed, sir. Pity that 
 
304 CANOLLES. 
 
 a genius for war such as you possess should not have a 
 fair field, and that you persist in this discreditable 
 excuse the word I will say injudicious habit of fight- 
 ing without a flag or commission." 
 
 " I have both." 
 
 " Ah ! Exhibit them ! " said Tarleton, starting up. 
 " You have a flag a commission ! Glad of it I ask 
 nothing better than to have some warrant for not treat- 
 ing you as a common freebooter, as you are aware un- 
 der other circumstances I must." 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Your commission first." 
 
 Canolles drew from his breast the commission sent 
 to him by Gov. Nelson. As Tarleton unfolded it, a 
 small silken flag on which was painted the Virginian 
 coat of arms a virgin trampling upon a tyrant fell 
 from it. 
 
 "You have there my commission and my flag," 
 Canolles said coolly. Tarleton ran his eye over the 
 commission, let the hand holding it fall at his side, and 
 looked for some moments with knit brow upon the 
 ground. 
 
 " I am afraid," he at length said, " this paper will 
 avail you nothing with the Court who will examine 
 your case. The question is a nice one, doubtless, but 
 the letter of military law is against you, since the 
 offenses you are charged with were committed prior to 
 the date of this commission even conceding that it be 
 a valid commission." 
 
 " I am aware that I have little or nothing to expect 
 from it," returned Canolles, " and only exhibited it at 
 your request." 
 
THE SKNTENrK. 305 
 
 He took the paper from Tarleton, picked up the flag, 
 and returned both to his breast. 
 
 " I will die with these on my person," he said. 
 
 Again Tarleton knit his brows. 
 
 " I swear I regret this whole business," he said, " and 
 if I had known you were the man you are, I would 
 never have attacked you with a view to your capture. 
 Even now but the wish is idle ! The Court is sum- 
 moned there is my officer of the day coming, paper 
 in hand, to report that they are assembled." 
 
 Canolles inclined his head, making no reply. 
 
 Tarleton was correct in his supposition. An officer 
 entered and reported that the Court to examine into 
 the case of Capt. Canolles was waiting. 
 
 Tarleton rose and said with the same expression of 
 stern sympathy on his swarthy face : 
 
 " Make your defense as able as possible. I leave all 
 to the Court." 
 
 Canolles made the same movement of the head, and 
 said calmly : 
 
 " I shall do so. To be frank, I have a desire to live 
 at present." 
 
 He was then conducted from the tent under guard. 
 * * # # * * * 
 
 Two hours afterward Col. Tarleton, who seemed to 
 be laboring under unwonted emotion, and sat with his 
 brows knit and his eyes fixed upon the ground, was 
 aroused from his moody abstraction by the entrance of 
 the officer of the day. 
 
 " The finding of the Court in the case of Capt. Ca- 
 nolles, Colonel," said the officer. 
 20 
 
306 CANOLLES. 
 
 Tarleton snatched the paper so abruptly from the 
 officer's hand that he nearly tore it asunder. It con- 
 tained these words : 
 
 " The Court assembled to examine into the charges 
 against Capt. Canolles find as follows : That Capt. 
 Canolles having made war on his Majesty without war- 
 rant or commission, except a paper of recent date, 
 purporting to be signed by a Mr. Nelson, calling him- 
 self Governor of Virginia; and the said Capt. Ca- 
 nolles having been shown to have robbed the convoys 
 of his Majesty in the night time without a flag, the 
 Court is unanimously of the opinion that he ought to 
 suffer death." 
 
 Tarleton allowed his hand to fall. 
 
 " Fools ! " he muttered ; " the man is a soldier, and 
 made war like a soldier, for his birthplace ! " 
 
THE END OF ALL. 307 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE END OF ALL. 
 
 Tarleton had scarcely uttered these words when the 
 long roll of cannon was heard near at hand, and he 
 started to his feet, dropping the paper, upon which, 
 either by accident or intention, he placed his heel, 
 grinding it into the earth. 
 
 " Sound the bugle to horse ! " he shouted. 
 
 And rushing from the tent he threw himself on 
 horseback, nearly overturning as he did so the orderly 
 who held the animal by the bridle. 
 
 " To horse ! to horse ! " he shouted, passing at a 
 furious gallop through the camp ; and at the same mo- 
 ment the ringing bugles sounded the same order. 
 
 Tarleton did not wait for his men, who were seen on 
 all sides running to their horses. He went at the same 
 headlong gallop in the direction of the ominous roll of 
 the cannon. As he passed a tent larger than the rest, 
 apparently a guard tent, he saw Canolles and Harry 
 Cartaret in the midst of a group of officers at the open- 
 ing. Passing like some warlike meteor, Tarleton had 
 only time to salute Canolles and send these words be- 
 hind him : 
 
 " Who knows ? We may cross swords yet, Captain ! " 
 
 And to the Court : 
 
 " Suspend action in this case till further orders ! " 
 
 As he spoke, a cannon shot, skimming the low fol- 
 
308 CANOLLES. 
 
 iage surrounding the camp, struck the tent pole fair 
 and square, hurled it to the ground, and passing on 
 disemboweled a horse which one of the cavalrymen 
 had just mounted. Man and horse were overthrown, 
 and when two additional shots whizzed through the 
 camp the greatest confusion ensued. On all sides the 
 men hastened to fall into line, and still nearer and 
 nearer came that ominous roar, with which suddenly 
 mingled now the sharp rattle of musketry and the 
 
 round of ringing cheers. 
 
 * # * * * * 
 
 The battle of Spencer's Ordinary was one of those 
 combats which decide absolutely nothing, but are full 
 of the glare and glory of war. 
 
 Following Cornwallis step by step as he retreated 
 toward the Chesapeake, Lafayette, now reinforced by 
 " Mad Anthony' 7 Wayne and Baron Steuben, had come 
 up with the English commander just as he was retiring 
 from Portsmouth. 
 
 The brief and hot engagement at Spencer's Ordinary 
 ensued, and nothing but the impetuous courage, almost 
 the audacity, of Wayne saved the Americans from the 
 consequences of an attack planned by the enemy, so 
 to say, and meant by them to result in Lafayette's de- 
 struction. 
 
 Lord Cornwallis had taken up a strong position, 
 covered by a morass in front and on his flanks, through 
 which a narrow causeway was the only means of pas- 
 sage. Then, throwing into the way of the Americans 
 a dragoon and a negro, who were to pretend they were 
 deserters, and give the requisite false information, the 
 English commander waited, 
 
THE END OF ALL. 309 
 
 The design had fall success. Lafayette believed that 
 his opponent's main force had crossed the James River, 
 leaving behind a detachment only; and this detach- 
 ment Wayne was ordered, with eight hundred men 
 and three cannon, to attack. 
 
 The reader has made the personal acquaintance of 
 this gay and headlong Pennsylvanian with the mer- 
 curial mirth of a boy and the nerve of a veteran. " Mad 
 Anthony" moved at, the word, Lafayette followed across 
 the causeway of the morass, and suddenly the long 
 thunder of artillery began that thunder which had 
 aroused Tarleton in his tent on the British left. 
 
 Lafayette had meant to crush the enemy, amounting, 
 as he supposed, to a detachment only. He soon found 
 that their entire army was in his front, and that retreat 
 or destruction were the alternatives before him. The 
 whole British army rose suddenly from the waters of 
 the morass, as it were, and at a glance "Mad Anthony" 
 saw the trap. To retreat was the only hope ; but to 
 retreat he must attack first, and he threw his eight 
 hundred men with impetuous courage on the English 
 front. 
 
 The very audacity of the charge imposed upon the 
 enemy. They moved with caution, thinking the force 
 before them large. This gave time for the withdrawal 
 of the troops. They retired rapidly across the morass, 
 abandoning their guns, and Lord Cornwallis, thinking 
 the retreat a feint to draw him into an ambush, halted. 
 
 Thus ended the battle, the British army soon con- 
 tinuing to retreat. It only connects itself with the 
 fortunes of our personages from the fact that both 
 
310 CANOLLES. 
 
 Cauolles and Harry Cartaret made their escape during 
 the confusion. 
 
 This escape had been effected with far more ease 
 than might have been supposed possible. The two 
 prisoners were mounted on spare horses to move with 
 the cavalry, as the camp was instantly broken up ; and 
 watching their opportunity, they broke away from 
 their guards, dashed into the morass pursued by shots, 
 and reached the American lines just as they were 
 retiring. 
 
 Getting a superb horse in front of his line, drawn 
 up'to cover the retreat of Wayne, the young Marquis 
 Lafayette, wearing his brilliant Major-General's uni- 
 form, with the decoration on the breast, awaited with 
 glowing face the expected counter attack of the 
 British. 
 
 Wayne's war-thinned battalions slowly fell back, 
 emerging from the morass, and their commander 
 galloped up to Lafayette. 
 
 " A real trap, my dear General ! " cried the gay and 
 impetuous Pennsylvanian, saluting gallantly with his 
 broadsword, and laughing as he spoke. 
 
 " A guet-a-pens, indeed, my dear M. L'Insense! my 
 brave Mad Anthony ! But you emerge you were not 
 caught! And listen to this they are not about to 
 attack. You make them afraid." 
 
 " Yes! There is one thing only I regret the loss 
 of my guns ! Give me the order and I'll go back and 
 recapture them ! " 
 
 " No, I will not do that ! You would not retake 
 them shall I tell you what you would do, mon ami?" 
 
 " Tell me." 
 
THE END OF ALL. . 311 
 
 " You would die at the head of your column, as you 
 wished to do at Stony Point." 
 
 And with these words, which sent a thrill of sol- 
 dierly joy through the heart of Wayne, Lafayette 
 wheeled his horse, when suddenly he found himself 
 face to face with Cartaret and Canolles. 
 
 " You ! " he exclaimed. " You, my brave Cartaret 
 escaped and safe ! " 
 
 " Myself, General/' replied the young officer, " and 
 this is my brother, whom you know as Capt. Canolles." 
 
 " Canolles ! " exclaimed Lafayette, spurring forward 
 and grasping the hand of the partisan. " The brave 
 of braves! the hard rider and fighter of the Swamps!" 
 
 " At your service, General," was the partisan's reply. 
 
 " Au! mon cher.Capitaine, my brave Cartaret has told 
 me of you it was not so necessary. It goes without 
 saying I knew you were un brave ! " 
 
 And raising his plumed hat with all the grace of his 
 nation, the Marquis Lafayette saluted Canolles before 
 the eyes of the whole army. 
 
CANOLLES. 
 
 EPILOGUE. 
 
 Need we lengthen out our chronicle? You can see, 
 can you not, good reader, that everybody was married ; 
 that the war brought peace and happiness, and the 
 land reposed that repose came to the hearts and lives, 
 too, of our personages tried by so many strange vicis- 
 situdes? 
 
 A few words only are necessary in terminating our 
 narrative. 
 
 Miss Lucy Maurice was married to Lieut. Harry 
 Cartaret, and Miss Eleanor Talbot, soon after the war, 
 to Lieut. Tom Ferrers. It is, we trust, unnecessary to 
 add that Miss Fanny Talbot espoused a certain Capt. 
 Canolles, ex-bandit and marauder. 
 
 The partisan, now the most peaceful of citizens, re- 
 fused to take back Chatsworth from his dear Harry, 
 declaring that the management of so large an estate 
 would prove a weariness to him ; and he and Fanny 
 went to live at the little chalet of Glen Lodge, where 
 they were regularly visited by "Walter Hayfield and his 
 young wife. 
 
 And one day in the month of April, 1782, there ap- 
 peared at the gate of the sylvan lodge a familiar face 
 a tall, white-mustached individual, accompanied by a 
 French nobleman and servants, on a tour to the moun- 
 tains. 
 
 "Who lives here?" the white mustache demanded 
 in a gruff voice, from his post on horseback, Then as 
 
EPILOGUE. 313 
 
 he saw a figure appear at the door of the woodland 
 lodge, he burst forth into laughter, profanity and de- 
 light. 
 
 That night, Lord Ferrers, the Marquis de Chastellux 
 and Canolles sat up late. The long hours passed like 
 moments, and Lord Ferrers seemed to revel in gay 
 recollections. 
 
 " What was better than all, Canolles, was that night 
 in the Swamp!" he exclaimed. "What wine! what 
 wit and to think that I have just been supping again 
 with you, old boy!" 
 
 He raised his glass. 
 
 " Do you remember a toast I drank that night in the 
 Swamp ? " 
 
 "Tell me what it was, my dear Colonel," said his 
 host, laughing. 
 
 " It is useless to tell you, as I mean to drink it 
 again ! " 
 
 And, with glass raised high above his head, and 
 ruddy, martial, beaming face, the brave old militcdre 
 exclaimed : 
 
 " A health to the robber and marauder of the Swamp 
 CANOLLES ! ' ? 
 
We s7ia.ll pizblisTt about 
 
 SONGS FOR GOLD LOCKS 
 
 BY 
 
 CLARA DOTY BATES. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 CHARLOTTE DOTY FINLEY. 
 
 The popularity that these ladies have obtained through 
 their contributions to the NURSERY, WIDE AWAKE, ST. 
 NICHOLAS, and other illustrated periodicals, will be greatly 
 increased by this fresh volume. The drawings are original, 
 and full of life and beauty. We prophesy for it a large 
 
 demand. 
 
 E. B. SMITH & CO. 
 
985798 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY