With the Swamp Fox

wn greater kindness, nor done more to soothe my grief, than they did during t

stant of the loss of his horses, since it was only the fortunes of war, which must be expected. A third would have pressed f

ry little after hearing the st

im with the knowledge that General Gates had been overwhelmed; but later I h

s affair, and when it is done neither you nor I will have

nd I remained alive, we would struggle as men do who have no fear of dea

heard no one speak of the great disaster

n the adventure before us an opportunity to do somewhat by w

the word to advance was given; but not in such fashion as I had supposed from wha

the little troop would ride into Barfield's Tories even as they had among

done, as I afterwa

ould tell, would be sufficient to preven

ames' nephews were in that vicinity, it would be immediately know

ad suffered defeat that morning must have, by

ecaution, and while he counted on making an attack despite the difference in numbers, it

while the remainder of the brigade rode off at right angles, in such direction as

companied, and I, surprised that a part of the brigade rode a

ding to make an attack," my uncle replied. "After thus showing themselves the squad will beat a retreat, causing it to appear as if they were surprised by s

, and, cruel though I had ever considered it,

in the vain attempt to rescue Percy; but now it seemed as if, sho

s our commander

n, with not a man dismounted, for we counted upon riding the Tories down when they sh

king well after his steed lest one of the animals whinny at the supreme moment, thus g

ain I was in such position that it would be possible to get out of the wood with the least possible delay when t

we had waited-the thunder of ho

e the Tories into yet hotter pursuit, and far in the distance cou

er stopped to question how many of ours might be killed in this attempt to deal out punishment to the enemies of

the Williamsburg men riding madly down, not a saddle emptied, and be

the alert, and when the road in front of us appeared to be one dense mass of ho

oys, and

ad been leveled in deadly aim, for at such short range eac

ir steeds as the squad they had been pursuing halted and fired their

rifle, and then it seemed to me

idst of that scrambling, terrified mass of human beings, and cried al

d men who had set out in pursuit of our decoys, and yet after

y sheep, we could not hav

s we had done the night previous. Then on, and on, striking down a foe here and there until we were come, nearly the whole briga

e true to the Cause had been virtually crushed by the defeat of General Gates, on

s two lads when I threw myself from the horse and clasped to my he

an hundred words for

ved under Major Gainey, came upon them by chance, and, as a matter of course, he wa

m who became the jailer

pt under guard of Sam, who did all that lay in his power,

the encampment, and was lying there in the vain hope that some opportun

e encampment, and Gavin hoped the moment had

n the chase, because of superior numbers, he ve

ing straight through it in their wild terror, thus causing a panic among the guar

free; but in imminent danger of bein

the intrenchments, they awaited our coming, and when

l next morning, and during the evening Gavin Wit

upon the old man as a comrade, and well we mig

of the command spent the time discussing how it might be possible for so small a force to uphold the cause

," and more than one man in the brigade whose fidelity to the Cause could not be questioned

dens the king had put upon them; but, fortunately for the Cause, General Mario

e must submit, those two gallant gentlemen were planning for the future-planning as to

oped that the general would call upon us for some especial mission, even as he had when we were sent to spy out Barfield's camp

ast from the Tories' provisions as hurriedly as

e our preparations for the march, not a man believed there wa

ss those whom we had routed were greater cowards than was generally believed, they would

ke from the Tory stores so much of provisions for himself, or provender for his horse as could be carried conveniently behind him, we fancied it was

, all understood that som

pment for another, we went forward at a leisurely pace, making no halt until the sun was high in the

ck the road leading from Georgetown to Nelson's Ferry, and the word was whispered from man to man that th

on to Camden crosses Santee River at Nelson's Ferry, and here, above all o

cerning the blunder of General Gates, and before nightfall we understood beyond a peradventure that the story told

purpose, learned that our unfortunate countrymen were being sent as rap

which we started, with no evidence of going into camp, when Gavin

which we have traversed the Williamsburg district apparently for no other purpose tha

me special information?"

y count upon its being true, altho

with no great show of enthusiasm, for I was weary to th

ed from observation, and that is the most reliable inform

eem as if much time had been wasted," Percy replied laughin

g sent to Charleston as rapidly as possible, and you will admit with me that all must pass through this same place toward which we are bound. It is General Mari

me into my mind, all sense of fatigue was lost sight of in the relief which was mine at knowing we would

d myself were so near to exhaustion that we could not hold the pace an hour longer; but now it was as if I h

oon had suggested was known to be true, until one of the general's aides

l would spe

ied gleefully, "and now has come our t

ile. "These special missions are not the safest, and sometimes he who se

ave as comrades you and Bob, it matters little how much of unp

serious countenance, while I was in much perplexity as to whether two lads like Percy and m

ne we found the general and Ma

peed, and we rode alongside of the general, Percy

certain that portions of Cornwallis's force guarding American prisoners will pass there from time to time within the next eight an

say next, and Gavin Witherspoon rode up that he might attrac

give me timely information of their coming. Within an hour we shall halt, and then it is you who must push forward so far as the animals can go. Continue on until having come to a point ten or twelve miles above the Ferry. There remain, in whatsoev

rstanding that this was the signal for dismissal, reined in our

us wonderfully, and indeed we had need of something to raise our courage, for much talking about the disasters wh

be fortunate if a British bullet finds lodgment in our bodies with sufficient force to wipe us out of existence, for such a death as tha

d that he claimed little share in these forebodings. "If to be shot is good fortune, then we may rejoice

all, it would seem as if a soldier's death, coming before the last blow to the colonies had been struck, was a kindly thing. However, we are like to go ten miles above Nelson's Ferry and bac

inking far more of my mother than of the Cause, for Gavin Witherspoon's words had

ed by the halting of the command, and Percy said, sei

Bob, and we must make as many miles 'twixt now an