The Hidden Children

saddle, gazing at the tavern and at what remained of the tavern sign, which seemed

ew glazed windows still remained unbroken; the remainder had been filled with blue paper such as comes wrap

et at the northeast angle of the house, where sill a

s white-faced hornets were still hard at work repairing their partl

mell the smoky wood. The damage i

or, continuing to examine the dismantled sign wh

unless they lied to us at Ossining. Can yo

stle Church road. All is drawn on my map as we see it here before us; and this should b

ard and drove his rifle-butt at the door, "There's a man hiding

," said Bo

the hornets buzzing aloft under the smoke-stained e

he Northland gazed back as solemnly, sobered once more to encounter the trail

And with never a word of lip our heavy thoughts responded: "We know, old house! We know! But at least you still stand; and in the

; and his voice was once more coo

o dismount. Which I did stiffly; and our rifleman escort scrambled from his

ghost within," I said again,

r what the inhumanity

stood silent and cringing before us. Slowly rubbing his workworn hands, he made us a landlord's bow as

"Now, what's amiss, friend? Is there death within

ce as colorless as his drab smalls and faded hair. Yet what he said s

, eh?" inquired Boyd,

her-cape,

stained table, and placed his rifle against it. Then, slipping cartridge sack, bullet pouch, a

w of our corps here below,

re eyes rested on me for

w,

the uniform

he said in

an? Whose?" insist

r shook

organ's! Sixth Company, sir; Major Parr! And a likelier regiment and

said the m

ughed a

youthful and winning smile which so often carried home with it his reckless will-where women were concerned-"we're down from Albany and we wish the Bedford folk to know it. And if the gallant fellows hereabout de

lid landlord gazed back at him with his faded, lack-lustre eyes-eyes that we both understood, alas-eyes made dull with years of fear, made old and hopeless with unshed tears, stupid from sleepless nigh

ith him, leading the three tired horses. We were still yawning and drowsing, stretched out in our hickory chairs, and only kept awake by the flies, when our landlord re

e alone again,

ng. And so we are, after a fashion; but neither this state nor Pennsy

breast of my rifle shirt and spread

. "Roads a-plenty, too. Well, it's odd, Loskiel, but in this cursed, debatabl

athly face," I said. "Lord! What a very shad

re little children lie scalped in the ashes of our frontier-where they even scalp the family hound that guards the cradle. But here in this sleepy, open countryside, with its gentle hills and fertile valleys, broad fields and neat stone walls, its winding roads and orch

"Even when a lass smiles on us it se

y filling their prisons with us and scalping us with their savages! They are slowly but surely marking our people, body and face and mind, with the cursed imprint of slavery. They're stamping a nation's very features with the hopeless lineaments

rywhere," I said,

to be dead. Why, Loskiel, the very power of will has deserted them; they are not civil to us, but obsequious; not obliging but subservient. They yield with apathy and very quietly what you ask, and what they apparently suppose is impossible for them to retain. If you treat them kindly they receive it coldly, not gratefully, but as though you were compensating them for evil done them by you. Their countenances and motions have los

the sunshine through a

, "so sweet and still and kindly to me after the twilight of endless forests where

ose hay fields; the gardens that lie in the sun are but tangles of weeds; no sheep stir on the hills, no cattle stand in these deep meadows, no wago

ws on the table, his handsome head supported by both hands. A

to long for the dusk of trees and for the honest scalp yell to cheer me up

s like to be ended t

ded: "As for any recruits we have been ordered to pick up en passant, I see small

ring stupidly at the cloudless sky. He followed me back to the taproom, and we reckoned wi

ys?" inquired Boyd, care

is own name pronounced so loudly, bu

at villain, one James Holmes

r," he w

me to keep an

red an ordinary. I took it

is this ras

, sir, some

he not formerly Colone

s,

nd they made him Lieutenant-

s,

at?" snarled B

hester Refuge

his refugees. He'll be back here

s been

did

ng, cut down, and hung again when they revived. Most of the sheep, cattle, and horses were driven off. Last year thousands of bushe

the banditti fro

ile the Tories plundered and killed. It is usually that way, sir. And ou

y burn n

y have promised to

e no troo

s,

t tr

ment and Sheldon's Hor

o permit this banditti to terrify and

n mildly. "It would require many troops to co

riousness and nodded toward me with a forced smile. "I am twenty-two years of age," he said, "and Mr. Loskiel here is no older, and we fully expect that when we both are past forty we w

ened, ashamed, burning with a fierce resentment against the fate that in three years had turned us i

an, one Major Ebenezer Lockwoo

, s

, that see

ote the details of our forest dress, stealing stealthily from the fringe on legging and hunting shirt to the Indian beadwor

ys," and read in the man's unsteady eyes distrus

aid I gently. "Three ye

years. And, as you sa

dly at me, he rolled back his sleeves, first one, then

that?" asked

f the marau

are but one living sore! Did

es. It will never q

ould be said of him that he feared anything. And he had told me that, were h

ervous fingers. The landlord replaced the oil-soaked rags, rol

l us where we may find Majo

ter a moment I saw his expression alter, as though some spark

ead," he said; and Boyd halted to listen-and

e and practice among men engaged on such a mission as were we. It was f

ilence, H

of the village of Poundridge. It is the headquarters

ies to the ea

, about f

the map,

g shirt; we examined it, and H

bsently, and said: "Do y

hat bruised mind had subsided sufficiently for him to compose his thoughts. Little by little, however, he came to himsel

ow him," he sai

re i

on our

had come to interview, as well as to see Ma

ereabout are Mohican,

d his very apathy gave the

e off?" asked Boyd

w Mohicans to go. B

el

ckbridge Indians, and the Siwa

aro. We believe that Luther Kinnicut knows where this Sagam

know not one Indian from the next, only that the sava

t away to the barn to bring up our horses. And presently our giant rifleman appeared leading the horses, and still munch

ular troops. I'll have nobody reproaching Morgan's corps that the men lack proper respect-though

asked Hays what we had to fear on our roa

he Legion Cavalry, sir-M

ing de

of our party meet. And Major L

s that

is all

and we rode slowly out into the Bedford R

corps being strange in these parts. However, they must have known us for foresters and riflemen of one party or t'other; and, as we advanced, and there being only three of us, and on a highway, too, very nea

e and there a woman smiled faintly at him the last vestige of sober humour left him and he was more

aron were ever dinning discipline and careful respect for rank into the army's republican ears, there was amon

tenance of rank. For once-though it seems incredible-men and officers were practically on a footing of ignorant familiarity; and I have heard, and fully believe, that the majority of our re

and most prone to relax, not toward the rank and file-yet, he was often a shade too easy there, also-but wi

always gay-that if at times he seemed a little selfish or ruthless in his pleasures, not sufficiently mindful of others or of consequences, I found it easy to forgive and overlook. Yet, fond as I was of him, I never had become familiar with him-why, I do not know. Perhaps becaus

you see that little maid in the o

I nodded

ys say that,"

say that, and it

he added frankly. "Why, look you, Loskiel, even in the wilderness somehow I always have contrived to discover a sweetheart of some sort or other-yes, even in the Iroquoi

r reputation

rotested. "Don't say

etticoat, if its wearer were pretty. But my own notions had ever inclined me toward quality. Which is not strange, I myself being of unknown parentage and birth,

memoir is read, only one man knew-and one other. For I was discovered sleeping beside a stranded

d place I will tell you who I am and why he was kind to me. For his was not a warm and kindly character, nor a gentle nature, nor was he an educated man himself,

bly kind to me. And when with the Butlers, and Sir John, and Colonel Claus, and the other Tories he fled to Canada, there to hatch most helli

rely requested, if I could not conscientiously so declare, at least that I remain passive, and attend quietly to my

ation and was already sold; Guy Johnson roamed a refugee in Canada, and I, since the first crack of a British musket, had lear

ose I had made at College and in the regiment; and the former would likel

had become my only home; the officers my p

ntention before I enlisted, and the letter went

ugh something stronger than hatred for the cause I

d. And so he ended, saying that, through him, no harm should ever menace me; and that in the fullness of time, when this vile rebellion ha

I was or why Guy Johnson had been kind to me

all of my life except these last three battle years-seemed already so far sway, so dim and unreal, that I could scarce realise I had not be

so accustomed to its not unpleasant weight that, at moments, thinking, I realised that I would not kno

ng. Only the strong character and exceptional man is ever fitted

who frowned, seeming to consid

know what use I could make of the blessings of peace for which w

eisure with the ladies," I suggested smilingly.

ve I, a poor rifleman, who may not ev

ed in our corps. I said: "Heave

red and uncurled, and no side locks, I tell you, Loskiel, I earn every kiss that is given me-or forgiven. Heigho! Pe

which followed. Rock outcrops became more frequent, and the hard-wood growth of oak, hickory and chestnut seemed heavier and more extensive than in Bedford town. But there were orchards; the soil seemed to

t as we advanced. After a few moments' riding we saw the first cattle that we had seen in many days. And now we began to find this part of the Westchester country very different,

ssing or even to anticipate it from far off. But nobody appeared to be afraid of us, and

g shyly at us from behind stone walls and palings. Also, in barnyards we saw fowls, which was mor

e in the world," said Boyd. "And the women lo

a thing to suddenly close my throat so that I could not find my voice to answer Boyd; for ever before me grew the almost forgotten vision of Guy Par

er-helmeted dragoon barred our

ford highway, and, consulting our map, turned bac

n, to the rail of which their horses were tied; and we saw other men with guns, doubtless militia

ifleman, only a courteous but sober salute as we rode through Poundridge town and out along the N

uth, then, at four corners, turned sharp to the east. And there, across a little brook,

foot regiment, militia officers, village gentlemen whose carriages stood waiting; and some of these same carriag

military convoy was passing, raising a prodigious cloud of dust. I could see, and faintly hear, sheep and cattle; there was a f

as gnawing its nails and awaiting this same convoy; and I

r. "Our friend the Major seems to have a houseful.

owded roadway we could see a noble house with its front doors wide open and a group of la

Loskiel," he said, "we're like to cut a most contemptible figure among such grand folk-what with our leather breeches, and saddle-reek for the only musk we we

is pretense of hurt vanity, even under th

ry; and there was a great noise of hammering, too, from a meadow below, where, a soldier

r the ridge yonder," he said. "O

ilding the barracks, there had been a camp; and the place was still smelling stale enough. Tents were now being loaded on ox wagons; and a c

e embers of the smoky fires, some moused and pr

camp-women, whose sullen attitude discouraged their gallantries. She was dressed in shabby finery. On her hair, which was powdered, she wore a jaunty chip hat tied under he

and for the second time I noticed the comedy-if you choose to call i

repeated Boyd; "Do y

ous circle to open; and I heard her quick, uneven breathing as

rty. She's sobbing." I glanced at her. "Why, she's but a child,

ts the men seemed instantly to know me for an officer, whether by my dress or

laughing, others seeming to be ashamed, they made haste to clear out. I followed them, with a nod of reass

ere he stood. "But had I been fortunate enough to think of intervening,

camp drab?" I

inted. I've discovered that," h

e making sheep's eyes at yonder ragge

half year's pay to see her w

y smiled at. But now, somehow-perhaps because there might have been some excuse for this one-perhaps because what a man rescues he will not willingly leave

e of my elbow; and we moved on, he turning his ha

real beauty I have ever seen, in lady born or beggar; and I

d not

a while below

der-in ragged ribbons and a withered rose.

s we entered the gatew

int, Loskiel-whatever s

id I. "Are you bro

r, too; and because of it a stra

on class could win a second glance from me. In which,"

t the same, one day